#100% why Ross hasn’t been posting

[conflictofthemind]

I'm confused. Do you also no longer believe in spoilers about filming in the church and filming the flashback?

Noooo not really, it’s more about a different saga of events that’s been going down on Twitter for like ten days now. We have multiple different people saying different things about the same supposed leak? It’s gotten ridiculous

[puppypeter]

These are all dark fics, READ THE TAGS before reading the fics. It is your responsibility to check whether what you are about to read is something that you can stomach. While most of these fics are based around trauma, recovery etc many feature triggering scenes or flashbacks as well as darker themes. Please be safe and don’t read them if they can be triggering for you! Proceed with caution! Most of them are Hydra Trash, but still not just the ugly bits as I like there to be a plot. Hiding them below the cut:

between scylla and charybdis | 21590 words

Sam Wilson has been witness to a lot of things he wishes he could unsee. Civilian families shot dead in their cars because of miscommunications at checkpoints. Riley’s body spiralling to the ground in a smoke-plumed plummet. His own face in his bathroom mirror after waking up hung-over as hell at two in the afternoon, the day after the anniversary of Riley’s death, year after year after year.

And now, in an abandoned bunker on the outskirts of Boston, a seemingly unremarkable manila folder at the bottom of a filing cabinet.

Berceuse | 10730 words

There are strange, new things Bucky needs from Steve.

Dreamers Often Lie | 11040 words

As far as Bucky remembers, sex is something that is painful and terrifying if you wake up while it's happening. As the Asset, sleeping through sex was a rare treat. When Steve lets Bucky know he's interested in a sexual relationship, what Steve doesn't know is that they have fundamentally different ideas of what that entails.

despite the threatening sky and the shuddering earth (they remained) | 71532 words

“They really didn’t want the mask to come off.” Hill thumbed through the scans, and pulled out a film that she then handed over to Sam, face mostly expressionless but for the flat line of her pursed lips.

Sam accepted the film and held it up to the light, angling so both he and Steve could see it, squinting at the outline of the Winter Soldier’s skull, and the blips of unnatural white that showed up, God, in his brain, not to mention about half his teeth, plus the mask, with its thin protrusions—

“Those are pins,” Steve realized. He looked over at Hill. “The mask—it’s nailed to his face.”

Hill’s face was as unmoved as ever. “Like I said. They really didn’t want it coming off.”

Fire And Water For Your Love | 77084 words

When the Avengers investigate an abandoned HYDRA base on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D., they unexpectedly encounter a dark-haired man with a torn metal arm, who leads them to an even more shocking discovery deeper inside the base. The Avengers must reconcile what they have found with the lies S.H.I.E.L.D. has been telling for decades.

Give An Inch | 5070 words

The Captain has a warm smile and clear, open eyes. The Soldier knows these are tricks. He's fallen for them before and he won't do it again.

Humans As Gods | 4818 words

"HYDRA's scientists had been delighted to find their serum-reversal procedure had worked. Their jubilation was dampened by the discovery that Steve's smaller self might no longer be Captain America-sized but was still 100% Steve Rogers, and Steve Rogers was now mad enough to spit nails. A minor oversight in the design of the containment area meant that smaller-Steve had simply wriggled out of the now ridiculously-oversized restraints like an angry ferret escaping a paper bag, and punched the nearest technician in the nuts.

Chaos ensued."

HYDRA scientists successfully de-serum Captain America, only to discover that they are utterly unprepared for Steve Rogers. Meanwhile, the Winter Soldier follows his instructions to the letter. This works out just great.

The Only One That Needs To Know | 6571 words

Bucky can't control his body. He can only control what secrets he keeps.

I Was Wearing My Blue Coat | 11503 words

Following exposure of his past as the Winter Soldier, anonymous postings of explicit video footage, 63 charges of murder and the wrath of the Internet, James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes finally steps into the limelight and tells his story to Zenat Patel of the New York Times.

Compliance Will Be Rewarded | 4767 words

Someone told him once: "Compliance will be rewarded," and he remembers pressing his head against a man’s leg in open supplication. He remembers hands in his hair, and a gentle grip on the back of his neck. He remembers a man telling him "so good, so good for me aren't you?" And he remembers nodding his head in a desperate attempt to be exactly as good as he was supposed to be.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Bucky Barnes is physically free from Hydra, but the hold on his mind lingers still. All he wants is to go home, and he'll do anything he can to get there.

To Burn Your Kingdom Down | 12370 words

The Avengers go after a Hydra splinter cell with a nasty habit of brutalizing their prisoners. Steve has some ugly history with them, and when a rescue mission gone wrong leaves him and Sam in enemy hands, the situation gets uglier still.

Worth The Wound | 7709 words

The asset knows that maintenance is better than punishment. But with Steve, maintenance becomes more pleasant, soft and gentle and everything he could dream of. It was only natural that he decided to prolong that maintenance a little longer.

The Spaces In-Between | 6971 words | Part 1 of What We Tried So Hard To Hide Away

"Memories are like buckets of water: they weigh on the heart and the brain until the body fails. You're blessed to stay forgetful and young, Soldier."

Sometimes blessings feel like curses.

Illuminate The Scene | 7086 words | Part 2 of What We Tried So Hard To Hide Away

The doctors had wanted to keep the Soldier. Shock him and freeze him until he was fixed, or tear him to scrap if he couldn’t be repaired so that he wouldn’t be an entirely wasted investment. Steve is the only thing stopping them.

When the Soldier can't trust his own body, how can he trust anything?

All These Riots Of Broken Sound | 83790 words | Part 1 of Forever Is A Close And Honest Friend

When Steve and the team return to Avengers tower to find Bucky gone, they must venture into B.A.R.F. to figure out what triggered him to leave and hunt those who wronged him. Trapped in a simulation of Bucky's worst memories with rogue HYDRA agents waiting to strike, 100 years of secrets, lies, pain and love drive the team to their limit and push Steve towards a realisation that is a century in the making.

I Was Lost But Left A Trace | 3585 words | Part 2 of Forever Is A Close And Honest Friend

Disorientated, the Asset reached up to wipe at the moisture on its cheeks and was shocked to find it clear, instead of the crimson it has been expecting. It didn’t understand why this misidentification had caused uproarious laughter from the technicians.

“It is not blood,” the Asset told him, “but it is still a malfunction.”

This sobered the technician a little, and he nodded tightly.

“Yes. It is. But we will fix you.”

I’ll Always Be Blamed For The Sun Going Down | 9907 words | Part 3 of Forever Is A Close And Honest Friend

He knows he’s in the right place. He has heard the guys at the docks laugh and joke about the queers who come out after dark, looking to earn a little extra cash. He has seen the johns, when he’s been out late enough, skulking in the shadows like predators hunting for their next meal, looking for something in particular. Sometimes they look at him.

A small, rusty pen knife that his father had picked up in Europe during the Great War sits heavy in the breast pocket of his jacket. Just in case.

Book Of The Moon | 16019 words | Part 4 of Forever Is A Close And Honest Friend

In 1929, Bucky Barnes falls in love for the first time and resigns himself to never telling a soul, let alone Steve, the object of his affections. In 1943, half a world away from the man he can never have and fighting for his life and his sanity, something new begins to bloom.

Habeas Corpus | 18054 words

An unexpected incident in the field leaves Steve Rogers facing the infiltration of a Hydra base and retrieval of important intelligence, all while pretending to be the Winter Soldier. Unfortunately, there are important aspects of the Soldier's past that Bucky hasn't disclosed, and Steve has no idea what he's really walking into.

Bullies | 14979 words

Written for the MCU trash meme prompt:

I wanna see Steve being messed with by his secretly-HYDRA coworker buddies. I want them generally fucking with him, "accidentally" doing terrible things to him or getting Steve into awful situations, telling jokes that aren't really jokes, gaslighting, performing sexual-assault hazing under the guise that "that's what people do now," pressuring him into other sex shit, anything, just fuck Steve up.

Steve isn't failing to fully catch on because he's dumb or oblivious: it's just that he is Steve, so he wants to believe the best of everybody, and he doesn't want to believe that he could be working for/with bullies and that (as Natasha says) he essentially died for nothing.

Not Unwanted, Not Unloved | 50320 words

They'd resigned themselves to never becoming parents - until Bucky gets pregnant and drops off the grid without even a whisper to his mate about his condition. Steve will still raze the earth to find him, but that doesn't mean he likes what he finds.

The Tones That Tremble Down Your Spine | 13889 words

Tony tells him they’re planning a party for Steve’s birthday. He knows how parties are supposed to go.

Lacuna | 62875 words

The Winter Soldier doesn't remember Steve Rogers, but he needs Rogers' help.

OR: The one where Bucky doesn't remember Steve, but falls in love with him anyway.

Not A Perfect Soldier | 93354 words

In a world where HYDRA was wiped out in the '40s, Steve is found by the Army rather than SHIELD. General Thaddeus Ross wants a perfectly obedient super-soldier at his command, and to that end, he sets out to break Steve to his will. As Steve struggles to come to terms with all he has lost, his life in captivity is only made bearable by the presence of another prisoner-- another super-soldier known only as "Soldat". Then the Avengers strike a deal with Ross to "borrow" him for missions, and Steve is faced with a team who dislikes him, an organization he doesn't trust, and the question of what he's willing to do to escape Ross's clutches.

For Want Of Him | 103174 words

It's the twenty-first century, and Steve Rogers has never been more alone. Everything he knew, everyone he loved, is now gone, and a dark, bitter loneliness claws at him, raking bleeding gashes into his heart. And then there's Brock Rumlow. Rumlow is like salt in his wounds; vicious, and cruel. But his dark brown hair and teasing smirk reminds Steve of someone long dead, and his New York accent sounds like home...He's a soldier like him...he understands. And Steve makes the fatal mistake of trusting him.

The Same Measure | 4943 words

The Winter Soldier was never allowed to stop unless an injury was too grievous.

To Be Unmade | 5114 words | Part 1 of Alexander Pierce Should Have Died Slower

For the asset, things only ever get worse. The external scars fade quickly enough. The internal ones dig deeper and deeper.

But the internal scars are called love, and doesn't that make them worth the hurt?

Do Not Put In The Icebox | 7143 words | Part 2 of Alexander Pierce Should Have Died Slower

When the asset malfunctions on a mission, Rumlow and Rollins learn more than they ever wanted to know about Pierce's hobbies.

And then everyone has pancakes.

The Knowing Makes It Worse | 4130 words | Part 3 of Alexander Pierce Should Have Died Slower

No is a bad word and invites punishment.

Or, Alexander Pierce is a very bad man who delights in manipulating and degrading the asset.

Love Is For Children | 5303 words | Part 4 of Alexander Pierce Should Have Died Slower

Bucky understands how the game works. He can't understand why it makes Steve cry.

But Natasha and the other Avengers are there to help.

I Just Wanted To Be Sure Of You | 4461 words | Part 5 of Alexander Pierce Should Have Died Slower

Bucky has Bucky Bear; it's only fair for Natasha to have something of her own.

Visiting a toy store wasn't strictly necessary, but if Tony wants to throw money around, no one's going to complain.

“Till The End Of The Line | 6069 words | Part 6 of Alexander Pierce Should Have Died Slower

It's hard to take a friendship right back up when so much has changed over seventy years.

Particularly when HYDRA's conditioning resurfaces.

*if you feel that any of these fics shouldn’t be in this list please just send me a message! :) I have read them all but over the past 1+ years so some of them I might not remember all the details of :)

[ks-caster]

Beth Liveblogs Black Widow

Bought that premium access on Disney+ so I can have the privilege of pausing for snacks and using subtitles as needed - so let’s go! 

Beth’s Spoiler-Free Review: Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the movie - the plot was compelling, the characters were likable, and the stunts were really excellent. I felt like hair and makeup dropped the ball on realism multiple times which I was sad about, because how she looks seems to be pretty important to Nat so I expected it to be done well in her movie. 

I did not like the way they framed the tail end (denouement - obviously because this movie is mid-series we know how it ends to an extent) - I felt like the connect-up to Infinity War was lackluster, especially compared to how enjoyable and dynamic the rest of the film was.

Spoilery live-reactions are under the cut. Click at own risk! Feel free to rebagel with your own impressions, thoughts, jokes and rebuttals!

The movie begins with a young Nat with blue dyed hair and visible roots, showing her natural red. Do you know how hard it is to get natural red out of hair, enough to make it blue and not green? And I’m supposed to believe that a middle-school age girl in 1995 Ohio had access to these chemicals? I’ll give her the white hair in IW/Endgame because she’s an adult with a lot of experience as a spy altering her appearance. But as a child? In the 90s? While her family is apparently in hiding? Sus.

The scene with Alexei laying on the on the wing while Nat learns to fly? AMAZING stunts. Amazing. AND someone in an action movie is finally smart enough to shoot the tires.

Nice skills on young Nat, getting the gun. Since we know from Endgame that Nat’s father is named Ivan, we know that Alexei isn’t really her dad. She also refers to presumably the red room as going “back.” Was she lent out to these agents to legitimize their family?

-0-

Nice knife moves, Yelena - I love the hand switch.

Ooooh so she was being mind controlled and the red stuff freed her? Interesting.

-0-

Nat is in Norway - visit Thor! He’d love to have you. (I’m mixing up my timeline, aren’t I?)

Supplies Dude whose name I didn’t catch refers to the Avengers breakup as a divorce - I kinda love it. It’s accurate!

BUDAPEST omg are we finally going to get the story?? Are we??

Box dye? I’m supposed to believe she got all that red out of her hair with flippin’ Loreal? Really? And that toner isn’t even the color she ultimately went - it’s too yellow. Sus.

-0-

Oop, looks like Nat got caught up in Yelena’s desertion.

Do not give Nat your metal frisbee, robocop - she’s been around Steve long enough that she knows how to use it.

I laughed out loud when she did the string him up thing with the cables - literal spider move, I love it!

Mystery box is empty - classic bait and switch.

-0-

BUDAPEST - WE ARE IN BUDAPEST - IT’S HAPPENING PEOPLE

Nat closing the door behind her is a small thing but I appreciate it - no sneaking up behind her.

When Yelena throws Nat in the kitchen and her feet hit the door and she spins before she hits the ground? That was a helluva stunt.

Oooooh honey. No body left to check is ALWAYS movie code for they lived.

Dreykov’s daughter? Another hint from Avengers 2012? C’mon, movie.

Riding the chimney down? Another incredible stunt. 

Dreykov can scan his soldiers’ bodies and terminate them if they’re too damaged to keep fighting? Big yikes. With Nat where she is character development wise, the stakes are now much higher because if she injures an opponent they may be killed remotely.

“Do you want me to chase him down and un-steal it?”

The car door under the bike was an excellent stunt - as was the car going into the subway. Though I’ve never seen a subway entrance big enough to admit a car.

Who hasn’t wanted to slide down the middle to avoid the crowded escalators lol.

Yelena making fun of Nat’s sexy poses I am LIVING omg.

Running water for wounds. RUNNING WATER. NOT ALCOHOL. The vodka goes on the INSIDE for the pain - the running water cleans the OUTSIDE. If there’s a convenience store then there’s a bathroom, with running water. Cleansing with something like alcohol is a LAST RESORT and you do not look like you’re at that point resource-wise. I thought these ladies were supposed to be highly trained in all of the things?

“Could be fun though.” “I saw where he put the keys” “Top drawer green cabinet.” I love their chaos.

Yelena’s vest and its pockets and the resulting conversation are positively majestic.

“You are sensitive.” “You’re a very annoying person.”

-0-

Do! Not! Move! Around! Like! That! While! Getting! A! Tattoo!!!! That poor artist was trying his best and Alexei just...

Ooooh was Red Guardian like Captain Russia? Interesting.

“Just don’t make a scene.” “You made a scene didn’t you.”

David Harbor running up that wall and then wiping out after the guard shocks him... I really loved that stunt, especially since they don’t show him being all super cut - he’s a big guy! He’s allowed to have fat over his muscles and still be a strong dude! I love it.

“Such a poser.” Girl, you need to meet Loki - he does a lot of hair flips too lol.

The sibling energy between the girls during the rescue!!!

“Whooooooa... this would be a cool way to die.” Yelena, I’m not necessarily disagreeing with you but get your head in the game girl.

Poor Alexei - he never gets to do the dramatic escape from *inside* of the aircraft.

Hang on, no ovaries? So all of these women are now in immediate, surgically-induced menopause? The uterus part makes sense if the intent was to prevent them from getting pregnant if they have sex during a mission, but, what, they gotta be on estrogen supplements for the rest of their lives? That’s just really poor planning. Like it was hilarious the way Yelena went into the biology of it to make Alexei uncomfortable, but that really doesn’t make sense to do to your superhero kids. It’s just bad science.

Love that Yelena keeps her vest even after she changes into her matching white flight suit. That vest better make it to the end of the movie.

-0-

“Honey, we’re home.” I 100% expected her to shoot him on sight tbh. it would have been funny.

Alexei squeezing into the uniform is such a post-pandemic feel. Also all of the fancy braids at that table; I see where Natasha got her propensity for them.

Animal cruelty warning, ugh. Poor piggy Alexei.

Oooh the photo album and Natasha remembered staging the pictures; they’re emotional for her but in a different way.

I wonder if robocop’s shield is actually Alexei’s.

The singing between Alexei and Yelena was a really beautiful moment because it was neither auto-tuned-good nor hilariously bad - it felt really real, especially the way Yelena’s so choked up she can barely make sounds come out.

Uh-oh, mama has one of those monitor your vitals and kill your ass suits. The suits I understand - the eyeliner though... when and why did she do her makeup?? That’s not really the thing that comes to mind for me when I’m getting ready to do something athletic, like say kidnapping my supersoldier fake family.

“This is a much less cool way to die.” Also WTF why would they do that. Wouldn’t it be easier to get the information out of her while her brain is still attached to, y’know, her mouth??

CLEVER CLEVER CLEVER they switched outfits and faces ooooooh like mother like daughter.

The door opening as Alexei is leaning against it dramatically bahahahaha

I love the plan. I’m thoroughly weirded out that Melina has a red wig just lying around that perfectly immitates Natasha though. 

“Yelena, it’s mama. You have a two-inch blade in your belt.”

Oh. My. God.

Antonia.

A pheromone lock preventing them from hurting them if they’re close enough to smell him - I like it. It’s clever and new.

Bahahaha poser! You posed I saw you! Still love the vest.

Natasha is really good at manipulating people’s emotions to get what she wants - I mean, scary good. So if she’s provoking Dreykov into beating her up, there’s a reason. 

“Using the only resource the world has too much of - girls.” Kill him. 

-0-

When I say I whooped out loud... SEVERING THE NERVE. Thank you for your cooperation. YAAAAAAS QUEEN.

-0-

“Slight change of plans - we are going into a controlled crash.” The way she said that was just so mom-like omg!

-0-

The grenade as a delivery system was super smart - but yikes what if she’d mistimed it and blew Natasha up? Also, after the beating she took and how hard she had to wack her own face into the desk to sever her olfactory nerve and the amout of blood we saw her leave behind from doing that, her face should be a LOT more messed up, come on makeup department.

“Get as far away from here as possible.” And then keep going because General I-Collect-Supersoldiers-Like-Stamps Ross is about to turn up at your location looking for trouble and he’d snap you ladies up like there’s a fire sale and you’re going out of stock.

This crash doesn’t look all that controlled, Melina. I’m starting to suspect that most of the widows won’t live long enough to make their own decisions...

All of the aerial stunts were amaaaaaazing - the way Nat slowed herself by sliding down the panels so Antonia could catch up with her and she could deploy her parachute... 

The vest survived the movie!!!

Fuuuuuck Ross is showing up and he sucks and I hate him and I’m super worried that he’s gonna take the vest from Nat if he takes her into custody. Please don’t let her lose the vest. 

Okay, there is now zero reason for Nat to stay behind. They have an aircraft. She had plenty of time to just board it and leave?

-0-

Okay okay okay Ross did not get her and did not take the vest. But am I supposed to believe she bleached her hair, toned it blonde, and then re-bleached and re-toned it to silver? Who does that? That would be terrible for her hair. Her scalp would be burned all to hell from the amount of chemicals needed to not only get all that red out but THEN get the blonde toner out. Y’know what color silver toner is? Blue/purple. Y’know what happens when you mix that with yellow? Green. And not a nice green either (I speak from experience). No. Her hair at the end of the movie? Cancelled. 

-0-

SHE GOT THE DOG!!!

Oh, ouch. Big ouch. I hurt like a lot now. This is so not an okay way to end the -

...

Countess I-Forgot-Your-Name-Already?

Oh no. Oh no. That’s worse. That’s a lot worse. We are now setting up the Hawkeye series and I while I’m horrified that this was how they ended the film, I gotta say that’s going to make for some wonderful angst in that series on both Clint and Yelena’s parts and I am here for it!

OVERALL IMPRESSION

I really, really enjoyed this movie, I thought the story was compelling, the stunts were really excellent, and I liked the character dynamics and the twist

I did not like the ending - it just sort of fell off quickly and didn’t feel satisfying after an otherwise really fun movie. I also take issue with the hair and makeup as shown among the characters, as seen in my several rants to that effect.

I would have liked to have seen a few more childhood/training flashbacks, and absolutely would have loved a cameo from Jeremy Renner (not just his voice) and to see him and Nat meeting and him giving her the whole dad speech that he does so well - bonus points if she could have then quoted him to Yelena or Antonia, showing the way that multiple people had a formative effect on her (an answer to the “The Avengers aren’t really your family either” comment).

[harrywavycurly]

Interview with the Horans!

This is a compilation of questions I’ve received for Niall and Delilah to answer and I did it as if they were sitting down doing an interview, I hope you enjoy and that it helps give you an insight into the lives of the Horans! If you have no clue what I’m talking about Niall and Delilah are from my Insta Story you can find here! 

Q: How did you two meet?

Niall: At an after party of a sports event I believe? She’s gonna kill me if I got it wrong. 

Delilah: Really? An after party? You’re so annoying. We met at a sports event that I didn’t want to go too but my friend Phoebe dragged me to it and I ran into Niall at the bar it was all super casual.

Niall: Ya sure, if ya call her almost knockin me over ta order a bloody drink casual. 

Q: How did you ask Delilah to be your girlfriend? 

Niall: Oh god uh I jus sat her down and asked her if she wanted to be exclusive an she laughed at me cos she was like “who the hell uses the term exclusive? you’re such an old man” dat was probably after we had been on like four or so dates. I jus enjoyed bein round her. 

Delilah: It was super cute, he gets all blushy and adorable. He was nervous and I have no clue as to why, he had already asked to share my calendar with him to see what dates work for us and everything. Like that’s a pretty big deal. 

Q: What’s a normal day in the life like for the Horans?

Niall: nine times outta ten shes up before me, she was like dat even before the girls. She can stay awake till six in da bloody mornin and be up at eight ready to rock n roll. S’a bit disturbin, but our days when M’not on tour are very like every other married couples... jus wit a set of twins.

Delilah: We go on a walk in the mornings, we’ve been doing that ever since I was pregnant, and while on the walk is when we lay out the game plan for the day. So if he has any meetings or anything he’ll tell me so I can plan my day around it. So like yesterday he had a photo shoot for something-

Niall: Cos m’a model now. Just so ya know.

Delilah: Right...so anyway he had his model thing so the girls and I brought him lunch and he was home at a decent time to help with their bedtime routine.

Niall: I feel like we are pretty normal ta be honest like we don’t do a lot of extravagant shit.

Delilah: Not anymore no.

Niall: We were never like jet settin on tons of trips and stuff we’ve always kinda just went from New York to California. We like ta lay low.

Delilah: As low as a former member of one of the largest boy bands in the world can lay....he forgets who he is sometimes. But yes we do kinda just stick to the two places and don’t go out much unless it’s to dinner because I like to eat out a lot. It’s a problem that I’m working on. Oh and Niall likes to go to parties without me but that’s not typically part of a normal day in the life of us.

Niall: M’not even gonna go der wit you.

Q: Speaking of parties, Delilah it’s pretty obvious you don’t like being left at home while Niall goes and has fun.

Delilah: Yeah he’s an asshole. He met Post Malone while I was at home trying to get comfy with my damn pregnancy pillow! And him and Shawn just are super annoying when they get drunk together. But I don’t mind him having his bro time and going out without me, I just like being dramatic.

Niall: Yeah m’da worst at like tryin ta plan parties and invitin her cos half the time they are so last minute and I know she does not do last minute.

Delilah: No I need at least four hours to prepare myself to be around people and to like get dressed and all that not so fun stuff. 

Q: Who said I love you first?

Niall: She did. During an argument matter of fact, it was pretty memorable. 

Delilah: I said it during a moment of passion Niall James not a full blown argument. it was like a “God why do I have to love you so much?” Don’t make it sound so dramatic. 

Niall: M’pretty sure yelling it in the middle of a “passionate argument” is the same as jus sayin it in an argument babe but okay. 

Delilah: It’s totally different, you’re just a dumb boy you wouldn't understand.

Q: Rumor has it you two broke up briefly while Niall was on tour just after releasing Flicker. Is that true? 

Delilah: Yes it’s true. Couples take breaks. Look at Ross and Rachel, it worked out fine for them. 

Niall: Really ya gonna bring Ross and Rachel into dis? They suffered fo a few years before actually bein happy...

Delilah: I mean are you upset that I forgave you too soon? 

Q: Why did you two break up?

Delilah: Yeah Niall why did we break up? 

Niall: Yer such an arse. Uhhh can we skip dis one? We’re allowed like one skip right? 

Delilah: Nope. The people want to know and you always say you’re a man of the people. 

Niall: I cheated. Next question please. 

Q: What songs on Flicker are about Delilah?

Niall: None of em. 

Delilah: Did you hear that world? I was not the muse for that sad ass album so stop blaming me for breaking this man’s heart. 

Niall: Slow hands is bout her I guess, it was written after a date wit her to a bar so yeah, slow hands s’bout her. 

Delilah: I'll allow that one. 

Niall: Oh and So Long. But that’s not on the album so...but most of the songs I didn’t necessarily write wit anyone in mind more of an emotion I wanted ta get across. 

Q: When the two of you were dating who was the best at keeping in touch with the other?

Niall: She was at first then I’d say it was pretty even once we got a bit mo serious. We always had a good long chat at the end of each day tho no matter if we only exchanged two texts throughout the day.

Delilah: In the beginning I was just nosey and wanted to know what he was doing all the time. Then I realized he legit is either in the studio or he’s playing golf or at some sort of event. We still do the phone call each night when he’s away. 

Q: What’s something you love about each other? 

Niall: Easy! Her love of life, she is someone that ya jus wanna be around cos she will make ya smile and makes ya ten times happier jus being in the same room as her. 

Delilah: Awe you’re so sweet! I honestly love the fact Niall will never tell you anything just because he knows you want to hear it, he doesn’t sugar coat things and I know that sounds odd to like love that about someone but it’s just refreshing. I love knowing that if I ask him for his opinion it's going to be 100% honest and how he truly feels and sometimes it makes me want to smack him but mostly I just appreciate what he has to say. 

Niall: Oh an I love her laugh. 

Delilah: Niall also has a very nice ass so you can put that down as something I love as well. 

Niall: Delilah Grace...m’not arguing though.

Q: So Niall this is mainly for you, how has it been dealing with how often Delilah posts about your private life since normally you like to keep that to yourself.

Delilah: Ohhhh good question!

Niall: I don’t mind it really, s’not like she posts pics of me doin anythin scandalous. I think she shows another side ta me dat the fans enjoy, it shows them dat I’m like I always say, a normal guy wit jus an abnormal job. Also her captions are jus...somethin else she has such a way wit words.

Delilah: He laughs so hard at the photos I post of him looking annoyed. He loves those the best.

Niall: I’d also say she’s da reason my posts have gotten a bit more personal. She’s helped me realize dat my Instagram an twitter doesn’t have ta jus be all Niall Horan the musician. The fans and everyone wanna jus get ta know me.

Delilah: You’re welcome world.

Q: So you two have been married for almost a year now right? What’s been the best part of being married?

Delilah: I get lots of free stuff, it’s pretty freakin great if I’m being honest. 

Niall: Ignore her, yes we’ve been married almost a year now, hard ta believe s’only been a year. 

Delilah: I mean having the girls seemed to take up a big part of the year so I’d honestly say the best part of being married so far is just knowing he’s fully mine now and I get to be in his life forever. Sounds lame when I say it out loud.

Niall: I think the best part is jus knowin that she’s there. Like she always has my back on anythin an bein able to point to her an be like “oh dats my wife.” I enjoy that quite a lot if m’bein totally honest wit ya. 

Q: So the twins they are adorable by the way, what was your initial reaction when you found out you were having twins?

Niall: I absolutely almost shit myself it took me completely off guard.

Delilah: Same! But really I was kinda hoping I was having twins because lord was I getting huge kinda faster than I had anticipated.

Niall: It’s also in the long run good cos we only wanted two so like boom! One an done is what they say right?

Delilah: No one says that about kids you weirdo.

Niall: S’for sure a thing people say even bout kids. 

Q: Who takes care of the kids more?

Delilah: Me, just because Niall has a job while I stay home all day in my sweatpants eating.

Niall: Obviously it’s Delilah, she is an actual angel fo everythin she does for the girls and myself even. An jus fo the record she doesn’t wear sweatpants all day, she eventually puts like dem leggin type pants on.

Delilah: Thanks honey. 

Q: So Delilah what would you do if you came home to Niall asleep on the couch when he’s supposed to be watching the girls?

Delilah: It depends. If the girls are also asleep I’d probably cry at how cute they all look passed out.

Niall: Dey are way cuter dan me when they’re alseep.

Delilah: But if he’s asleep and they aren’t...oh hell will be raised in the Horan house. I’d probably smack him with a throw pillow and never let him live that moment down. Like even Shawn hasn’t fallen asleep while watching the girls yet and he’s only watched them after they are asleep so Niall and I can go have dinner alone. 

Q: So is Shawn The Godfather?

Niall: Did he tell you to ask dat?

Delilah: He’s one of them yes.

Niall: We have two godfathers and two godmothers.

Delilah: We are just extra like that, don’t even ask why. 

Q: Last question, how have you handled the fans response towards your relationship? The overall response seems to be everyone pretty much adore the two of you.

Niall: Oh it’s been great really, only a few people here an there have some shitty remark ta say but it’s always something stupid.

Delilah: I think after the first two years it just switched and it’s been for the most part pretty nice. I think at first the fans just didn’t know how serious this was going to be and everyone legit loves Niall so they wanted to make sure I was worthy of him. But I mean we’ve been together for so long now that they’ve fully accepted me.

Niall: Dey have realized she’s not goin anywhere. I mean she met me when I was still in One Direction like jus before the hiatus so she’s been through a lot wit me and the fans love er.

Delilah: Diall till death.

Niall: Oh yeah dats our Uh..what they call it? Ship name? Diall!

[sweetcatastrophex]

This kid I know just shared this tweet on Snapchat and said: “Crazy how everyone has to be Politically Correct to the point where you can (sic) let someone know they are extremely unhealthy.”

I replied: Lizzo is popular bc black fat women are finally being represented in mainstream pop music culture when they were previously ignored, despite their obvious talents. And who isn’t encouraging exercise and good diet? Bc she does… lol she posts about her exercises all the time. And I’m posting this on Tumblr to add: If there’s an obesity epidemic in the country, why does the onus fall on her, an individual, to coach every person through their diet and exercise habits? Why is that burden on her? I didn’t see Watkins criticize Rick Ross or Action Bronson for not encouraging exercise... Not to mention that obesity is linked to genetic factors. So again, why is it her job to denounce obesity rather than doctors’?

Gonna just log our convo. He said: It took her how long to do it. and it’s not healthy to be the size she is, there’s no excuse for putting your own body through something like that and then pass it off as normal. it’s not I said: but he said it is normal when he stated there’s an obesity epidemic. it’s a widespread issue. how do you know she hasn’t been exercising since she was 8? you don’t. bc she’s fat she can’t sing in public? why didn’t that guy criticize Rick Ross? Action Bronson? Fat Joe???? He said: I actually do know she hasn’t been exercising since 8 because I did my research for this exact situation. and she’s using her platform publicly to say being the size she is is okay. also rick ross has completely transformed himself and promotes a healthy lifestyle. and action and joe aren’t using their platform to encourage obesity I said: lmao that’s not a research based finding, you don’t know her therefore you don’t know her habits especially since she was little. rick ross rapping about drugs and crimes is promoting a health lifestyle? 😂 no. so why aren’t action bronson and fat joe telling people to exercise? according to this logic they should. He said: you are deflecting so hard right now it’s hilarious. here, go yell at him *links to tweet* I said: lmao i already am on the tweet and i’m not deflecting you just don’t like that i’m pointing out the double standard. why is it her job to denounce obesity? and not doctors? He said: its not her job, imo no celebrities should voice their opinions bc it can sway the gullible. however people gotta be retarded to not understand her weight is beyond unhealthy. shes also whats happening now, you cant dwell on the past. and doctors do but thanks to trump everyone thinks doctors dont know shit also u cant say shit about the rappers “promoting drugs” as if we both dont smoke 😂 I said: i think celebs should absolutely use their platforms to spread awareness about issues. and Fat Joes and Actions weight is also obviously unhealthy so where are the tweets about that? or news stories from the past? ... weed isn’t a drug in my eyes, or a healing one rather than harmful one. i’m talking about the oxys and xannys and cocaine that they all love to promote which actually contribute to deaths He said: we have evolved from past mistakes. i would think shed wanna better her future and this generation. guess i was wrong I said: is that why DJ Khaled is so famous? lol letting fat people perform is “past mistakes?” yikes. again, she exercises regularly and it’s not her job to influence an entire generation. and obesity is linked to genetics He said: that man is so unhealthy idk how he’s alive tbh. and no perform is not the problem (or something like that). the mistake is allowing yourself to get like that. and yes it is but it’s not 100% the cause. being careless is too I said: yeah but some people could exercise every day til they turn blue in the face and still not be skinny He said: me I said: doesn’t make them unworthy of performing He said: where are you getting this performance from. I have no problem with ppl performing whatever size or shape I said: bc lizzo is a performer. so then what’s the problem He said: she promotes her obesity. that’s not a good thing I said: how? how does she promote obesity? i see her posting about exercise and healthy eating 🤔 He said: got u hold on *links to Lizzo says body positivity has become too commercialized...* I said: body positivity is commercialized. i’ll ask again how is she promoting obesity? He said: did u read the article. heres another *links to blacknews.com/... legrand h clegg lizzo image of...* (TLDR black people flaunt their degradation, and other shocking misogynistic and racist comments) I said: yeah did u? lolll He said: yes I said: so you still haven’t said how she promotes obesity He said: the article explained it. shes normalizing it I said: but obesity is already normal since it’s widespread. then fat joe and dj khaled are promoting it too He said: yes they are. also i love how you deflect it to someone else. and just because something is widespread that doesn’t make it normal. thats like saying covid is normal and we should just live with it instead of do something about it I said: nah you should look up the definition of normal. and its not deflecting (lol) it’s pointing out the double standard. they’re all top charts musicians. so why call out lizzo and not dj khaled He said: i have plenty of times when he was relevant. why not accept the fact its serious I said: he’s still relevant he produces songs. again lizzo isn’t a doctor so the responsibility doesn’t fall on her. plus you said celebs shouldn’t comment on things He said: but they do anyway so if they dont like the backlash then they can hop off social media. and like you said theyre “performers” he doesn’t perform because of his health. no disrespect but you don’t seem like you researched khaled at all I said: 😂 you dont need to research dj khaled to know he’s been performing. again double standard to not bash him while ur at it. and celebs have every right to post whatever they want to just like me and u He said: oh so everyone is the same? I said: everyone has the same freedom of speech He said: correct. im talking about the obesity I said: what about it He said: how serious it is I said: it is serious and doctors should talk about it more He said: 100%

[imaginetonyandbucky]

Can someone do a story where the Soldier is the main personality in bucky/winter headspace and that he sides with tony in the whole winter soldier civil war arc? It can have anything else but i would perfer no steve/tony. Thankyou.

Combined with:

May I have post-CW angst please? Heart-wrenching, sad sad angst. Happy ending, ofc. Please, no Steve bashing - both Tony and Bucky love their friend.

No Steve bashing was SUPER easy, since I love Steve and would never bash him, even when he’s made some pretty dumbass decisions. :D I’m not sure I was able to give AwesomeBees exactly what she wanted (I couldn’t bring myself to have the Winter Soldier as the main personality, and I know my feelings on the Accords are pretty clear), but I tried!

On AO3

Everything Good

“Hey,Boss,” F.R.I.D.A.Y. said, “Captain Rogers is on the phone. He wantsto speak to you.”

Itwas late afternoon at the Facility, and Tony had his hands full—literally—with Rhodey,helping him during one of his physio sessions. Honestly, Rhodey was lucky he wasgripping the parallel bars, because Tony was so shocked he nearly dropped him.

“Uh,yeah. Put him through, Fri. Wait.” Tony glanced at the therapist, thengrimaced apologetically at Rhodey. “You two good without me, kids?”

“Yousure you’re up for this, Tones?” Rhodey asked instead of answering. Tonywas sure he’d have put his hand on Tony’s shoulder if he didn’t need both ofthem to hold onto the bars for dear life. He’d come a long way in the lastcouple months or so, but a spinal injury wasn’t something you could just walkoff. Even with a mobile brace.

Unlessyou were Steve Rogers, probably. Not that Tony had come close to paralyzinghim. That had been more what Tony had done to Bucky, though for a moment thereTony had honestly thought Steve was going to decapitate him and he reallyneeded to stop thinking about that.

“Iwas born up for this, Rhodeybear,” Tony said. He was absolutely certainhis grin looked 100% fake, but he held it like parallel bars while Rhodeystared at him. Tony let that painfully accessing gaze settle until Rhodey justlet out a breath and gave Tony a sad, knowing smile.

“Just,be careful,” Rhodey said. “I know how hard this whole thing’s been onyou. I don't—”

“Ipromise I’ll be home by midnight with a full tank of gas, Dad,” Tony saidbreezily, cutting Rhodey off. He turned his back and strode to the locker rooms,waving over his shoulder and taking merciless advantage of how his best friendcouldn’t follow him. It was a dick move for sure; just one more thing to feel guiltyabout. God knew Tony was used to that.

(More after the break!)

“Okay,F.R.I.D.A.Y., put him through.” Tony was sitting on the bench in theshower cubicle he’d designed specifically for Rhodey. Half the showers hadalready been disabled-accessible (never knew when one of the regular-humantypes would be badly injured), but Tony had made sure the one for Rhodey wasspacious, non-slip and top of the line for ease of use. He also knew he hadabout half an hour at least before Rhodey would finish his physio and wheel orstagger his way in here to use it.

Andhey, Tony could always take a shower after the call, if he needed to scrubhimself clean. Win/win.

“Tony?”

Thatwas…Yeah, okay, that was definitely Steve’s voice. But also not Steve’s voice.In that Tony had never heard Steve sound like that. Not even in Tony’sScarlett-Witchy hallucination where the guy was dying. Steve had just soundedaccusing, then. Angry. Of course, that hadn’t been reality, just Tony’s ownfucked-up brain playing pretend. Not that things had ended up particularlydifferently in reality, really. Other than nobody dying.

Notfor lack of tying, Tony’s brain couldn’t help pointing out. He knewhe needed to stop doing that.

But,Steve. Specifically his voice. Tony had never heard Steve sound that badbefore. Steve sounded terrible. Not just tired, though if hewas still in Wakanda it was going on 1:00 AM. No, Steve sounded like he was atthe end of his rope, but there wasn’t enough slack to tie a knot. And therewere hungry wolves circling in the ravine.

LikeTony had felt in the missile silo, watching Steve pick up his friend and walkaway.

“Yeah,it’s me,” Tony said, heart pounding. Normally he might’ve added somethinglike, ‘What’s up, Capsicle?’, go for bravado when inwardly he was quailing. ButSteve sounded like death and he’d never appreciated Tony’s pretense anyway. SoTony went for honesty instead. “You sound terrible. What’s wrong?”

“Ithink….” Steve took a breath that sounded like he he’d been crying.“I think Bucky’s dead.”

Tonynearly dropped his phone. As it was, if it’d been anything other than aStarkphone his white-knuckled grip might’ve cracked the screen. “Oh myGod,” he said, hushed with sudden, aching fear. “What do you mean,you think he’s dead? What happened?” A million scenarios were alreadyswarming like hornets through Tony’s mind: Bucky vanished in the Wakandanwilderness; Bucky abducted by Ross, or Hydra, or taken by one of the manycountries where Hydra had unleashed him; Bucky trapped in his broken Wakandan cryochamber, entombed like a bug in amber; Bucky in a coma, succumbing to poison orillness or (Dear God, please no) the unforeseen effects ofthe damage Tony inflicted on him.

“Was…wasit me? What I did?” Tony asked, small-voiced with terror. It was horriblyselfish, disgustingly self-centered of him to even ask. But Tony couldn’t not.If Bucky died, part of Steve would die with him. Tony didn’t think he couldhandle finding Bucky only to lose him again. But if Bucky died and it was Tony’s fault….

Therewould be no hope for reconciliation, no hope for the Avengers ever again. Tonywould have gained a nemesis worse than anything he could every imagine. Otherthan himself.

“Wedon’t know,” Steve said, and maybe it was the lack of certainty, but ithit like a fist to Tony’s solar plexus. A metal fist to his reactor and God he needed to fucking stop.“Shuri said…” Stevepaused, obviously steeling himself. “She said it was possible. That…that theshock of his arm being destroyed like that might’ve caused some neurologicaldamage. And then there was the kick to the head.”

Tonyclosed his eyes, clutching the phone to his ear so he wouldn’t slam it into theshower wall. “I’m sorry,” he said, voice thick and rough and gratingin his ears. “Steve. I—”

“Isaid we don’t know, Tony,” Steve cut him off, as ifthat was supposed to make him feel better. “Shuri said it was possible.But, Winter said it didn’t make a difference.”

Tonyhad spoken to Shuri, before. She’d assumed Steve and Bucky would want to comeback to the U.S. at some point, so as a courtesy she’d sent Tony the specs forBucky’s new arm. It was a sleek, beautiful thing he was privileged to be ableto understand. Shuri was still a child, but her intellect already shone like asun.

Hedidn’t know Winter, but it was a terrible relief to have someone say whateverhappened wasn’t Tony’s fault. Except it was hard to imagine Shuri being wrongabout anything. “Is Winter a neurologist?”

Hecould practically hear Steve’s confusion. “No,” he said.“Winter’s Bucky.”

Tonywaited a beat, then another. It still didn’t make any sense. “I don’tunderstand,” he said, though something in Steve’s voice had a cold, quietdread creeping up Tony’s spine.

“Winter’sBucky,” Steve said, as if it would be more comprehensible with repetition.His sigh sounded as heavy as the ice that buried him. “The doctorswho…accessed him said it’s called Dissociative Identity Disorder.” He madea sound that had almost nothing to do with laughing. “I didn’t even know thatwas a thing that could happen to people. But, yeah. Bucky isn't…Bucky anymore.He calls himself ‘Winter’. He’s not the Winter Soldier,” Steve addedquickly, “He hasn’t done anything like what happened in Berlin. He hasn’thurt anyone at all. He’s just….” Steve pulled in another breath thatshuddered. “He’s not Bucky.”

Tonyhadn’t even been thinking about the terrifying, snarling juggernaut who’d beatthe shit out of him in Berlin, but that didn’t stop ice flooding his guts whenSteve reminded him. Tony knew Shuri had removed the trigger words from Bucky’shead. But, yeah. Nice to hear Steve’s bestie hadn’t shoved him through anotherwall.

“Why?”Tony asked, still trying to wrap his head around Dissociative IdentityDisorder and Steve calling him for anything. “Whathappened?”

“Idon’t know.” Steve swallowed. “Winter said he needed to protectBucky. After…after what happened. So he wasn't…he wasn’t gonna let him outanymore. And. And I tried to talk to Bucky, but Winter wouldn’t let me. And…andwhat if he’s dead? What if he’s not, not even there anymorebecause it’s just Winter now? What if Bucky’s gone, and, andI—”

Stevestarted sobbing. Great, wracking gulps of air, each one followed by ashuddering gasp like cracking bone. “What if he’s dead,Tony? Oh, God. Oh, my God. What do I do? What am I going to do?”

“Whoa,whoa. Shh. It’s okay. Nobody’s dead, Steve,” Tony tried. Then,“Bucky’s not dead!” Forcefully, when Steve just made a broken noiseof negation. “That’s not how it works! It doesn’t work like that. Honest.I’m no expert, but, it doesn’t work like that. None of the identities die,okay? They’re just…in the background. Or something. I’m not sure about thatpart. But I promise you, Bucky is not dead.”

“Really?”Steve sniffled. He sounded so desperate for hope that Tony, who had troublewith other peoples’ emotions at the best of times, nearly broke down himself.“You’re sure? He wouldn’t talk to me.”

“Yeah,well, you said Winter was protecting him, right? So, he’s probably in his happyplace. I wouldn’t want to come out either.” Tony winced, wondering ifSteve would think that sounded as much like bullshit as Tony did. He stood andleft the shower stall, then strode into the hallway with his phone mashed tohis ear. He knew appallingly little about psychology, considering how manydisorders he’d been diagnosed with over the years. It was about an eight hourflight to Wakanda in a Quinjet; plenty of time to read up on the subject.

Notthat he had any idea what he’d do about it, once he gotthere. But, Steve had called him for a reason. And even if that was tomore-or-less accuse Tony of making Bucky mentally ill, Tony couldn’t listen toSteve crying his guts out and just do nothing. “I’m heading to the landingpad right now. I can be at the palace in eight hours. Do you want me to bringanything? Anyone?” he asked, thinking as he moved. “Wanda’s offsomewhere with Vision, but she’s got that hand-wavy telepathy stuff. Icould—”

“Winterwanted to talk to you,” Steve said. “He didn’t say why, exactly. But itsounded like he wants assurance you’re not going to try to kill him anymore.”

Tonystopped moving so fast he practically gave himself whiplash in the corridor.His first reaction was a blood-hot flare of rage. “You sure as fuck neverpull your punches, do you?”

Therewas a second of stunned silence. “I don’t understand,” Steve said atlast. “I just meant, Winter doesn’t want Bucky to come out. And, he reallywanted to talk to you. So I thought…maybe if you can promise you won't…attackhim again, it’ll help?”

Tonyforced back the anger he knew wasn’t really aimed at Steve. “I don’t getit, though. Why would that help? I mean, I won’t attack him again.” Itfelt important to say it out loud. “But, it’s not like I’m a threat to himwithout my armor. When I tried to fight him in Berlin he kicked my ass.”

“Thatwas the Winter Soldier,” Steve said. “The trigger words compelled himto come out.”

“Oh.”There wasn’t much else he could say to that. It made sense, considering howBucky had seemed more lethal before the silo. Which, honestly, only made Tonyfeel that much worse. He rubbed his forehead. “You really think Winter’staken over for Bucky because of me?”

“Idon’t know,” Steve repeated bleakly. “But…you really hurt him, whenyou blasted his arm. And I think you would’ve killed him if I hadn’t stoppedyou.” He hesitated, maybe waiting for Tony to deny it. Tony couldn’t.“So,” Steve went on a too-long moment later, “maybe that’s whatWinter was thinking about. When he took over. That this way you couldn’t hurt Buckyanymore.”

“Fuck,”Tony muttered. Like he didn’t already feel badly enough about this whole mess. “Look.Steve? I…” He gritted his teeth. No time like the excruciating present,right? “I’m sorry. For what it’s worth, I am so, so fucking sorry for whathappened. I know the Accords ended up a fucking trash fire, but I’d really….Fuck,” he said on an exhale. “I was counting on you, okay? I thoughtthat you, of all people, would understand why no one with super powers shouldbe running around without any kind of control. After Ultron I really thoughtyou’d agree with me about that. But not only did you not agree, you wereperfectly happy to fuck me over, as well as everything I’d been trying toaccomplish, to go on a field trip with your fugitive buddy—”

“Buckyshould never have been a fugitive,” Steve snapped. “And you know whywe went to Siberia. I wasn’t happy to ‘fuck you over’, Tony! I never wanted togo against you! I wanted your help! But you’d already signed the Accords. Ourhands were tied just as much as yours.”

“Idid help you!” Tony said. “I lied to Ross and went to find you. Iwanted to help.”

“Iknow,” Steve said. “And when you arrived, I was grateful. I thought…Ithought we could start mending fences. Trust each other again. But we know howit turned out.”

“Youlied to me,” Tony said. “You’re talking about trust, but you lied by omission, and then you lied to myface.”

“Andthen you tried to kill my best friend!” Steve shot back. “The oneperson who hadn’t done anything wrong. Even T'Challa could see that. Whycouldn’t you?”

“Idon’t know!” That was, ironically, a lie. Tony did know. He absolutelyknew why he’d lost all reason and self control and had almost done somethingunforgivable to a man he actually admired. He took a couple breaths through histeeth, forced himself to keep going. “I wanted to hurt you,” he saidat last. There was an awful, sickly relief in finally admitting it. “You’dbetrayed me by not signing the Accords. With your fucking perfect teeth andperfect morality.“—Tony wondered if Steve’s perfect hearing caught thefinger quotes—"You had to be so Goddamn self-righteous you couldn’t even consider my point of view. And I was trying! I was trying sodamn hard to do the right thing. To protect everyone. To make all the damagewe’d done mean something. But you wouldn’t even consider it.”

“Iread the Accords, Tony,” Steve said. “And I found—”

“Youcould have tried!” Tony shouted over him. “Youcould have tried, but you didn’t. And it hurt. I can admit it. It hurt likehell.” It still hurt: This was years’ worth of pain he couldn’t hold backanymore. It felt like when Obie had torn the reactor out. “And then I gotto see the Winter Soldier killing my parents. And you knew. You knew he’d done it, but you chose your friend overme. So you betrayed me again. First by lying by omission, then by lying to myface. “And I just….

“Ilost it, okay?” Tony said. “I just fucking lost it. I wanted to hurthim, for what he did. And I really wanted to hurt you. Iwanted you to feel the way I felt.”

Hecould hear Steve swallow in the silence on the other end of the line.“Bucky didn’t deserve that,” Steve said quietly. “Maybe…maybe Idid. But Bucky didn’t.”

“Iknow,” Tony said. “And I’m sorry. I am so fucking sorry. I had a reallybad couple days and a fucking truckload of daddy issues, and I took it out onhim. And I will never forgive myself for that.” He gave a sharp, unhappysmirk, “That was actually what I’d intended to lead with, when I startedtalking a minute ago. Kind of lost the train there.”

“You’reright,” Steve said, and Tony gasped. “I should’ve tried harder to seeyour side with the Accords, not just what I didn’t like about it. I could havetried to get them amended, come up with something we all could agree on. I’mused to acting with minimal oversight, but I also used to work on behalf ofS.H.I.E.L.D., and before that it was the S.S.R. I do understand the necessityof checks and balances. But I was scared of our hands being tied when peopleneeded us the most.

“AndI never should’ve lied to you, Tony,” Steve said. “I was a coward. Itold myself I was doing it for you, but I was doing it for myself. For Bucky. Icouldn’t bear the idea of you hating him. But I can’t help thinking that if I’djust, grown a fucking spine, the video wouldn’t have been…so hard to take. Forany of us. I was a lousy friend, and I’m sorry.”

“Oh,”Tony said again, just as lost for words as before. “Thank you.” He didn’tknow if he could forgive Steve for what he’d done. Tony had been flayed alive.The fact that what Tony had done in retaliation was worsedidn't—couldn't—change that. “I, um, would’ve helped Bucky anyway.”

Heowed Bucky so much more than that. It was the least he could do to begin tomake things right.

“Iknow,” Steve said, and Tony’s shriveled, shrunken heart unfurled a bit,like an underfed flower reaching for the light. “I know you would. Thankyou. I can’t tell you how much this means to me.”

“Thendon’t,” Tony said, all breeze and bravado. “Don’t worry about it. Seeyou on the flipside.”

Hehung up, then asked F.R.I.D.A.Y. to tell Rhodey where he was going, and to havehis armor meet him at the Quinjet, just in case. Not that Tony was expectingtrouble, but, better safe than sorry. And he hadn’t been feeling all that safethese days. Amazing how that happened, being alone.

Onephone call couldn’t change that, but….

ButTony’s heart had something to reach for. It was a start.

Read the rest on AO3!

[starlessskies94]

Mrs Morgan (Arthur/FReader)

I took the plunge and finally wrote a reader/Arthur oneshot! Was it a mistake? Probably. Is it any good? Probably not. Do I regret it? Nah!

So this is obviously based off of the fishing trip with little Jack from the game but I've changed some things around. I hope it's okay as I still not 100% confident with reader inserts. Part two will be posted soon and will feature Arthur. Hope you guys enjoy!

As a young girl, you never thought you ever would’ve lived such a life as you had. On the run from the law after committing numerous crimes, you hadn’t thought twice about for the sake of a big payout. Living out in the wilderness with a gang that welcomed you among them; to the point you had eventually become family.

Robbing and scamming your way through the country with them as the years passed by. Well and truly proving yourself as a valuable member to Dutch and Hosea.So it wasn’t a surprise when you married Arthur; the two of you taking more jobs together; to the point your protective bond had blossomed into something more.Most had expected it sooner or later, and couldn’t have been happier the day you came back to camp with the news that you were finally man and wife.

Then Blackwater had happened and you’d never been more afraid to lose your husband than you had been in the weeks following the massacre.

When you reached Horseshoe Overlook, it had been a moment to take a much needed sigh of relief. The camp itself was beautiful, peaceful and had a breathtaking view over the cliff edge. You’d stayed along with the other women making the camp as homey as possible while the men scoped out the town and Dutch contemplated your next move. You could sense the strain it was taking on Arthur though; riding out every couple of days to take care of job after job. Fetching an endless supply of things people had requested. But knowing your husband as you did watching him doing everything with a courteous contented smile; you knew deep down he needed a break. Which was why, you practically jumped at the opportunity to spend some time away when Abigail had quietly asked if you both minded taking Jack out for a while. At first it had started with the idea of a simple fishing trip but you managed to convince her to let you take the young boy on a camping trip for the night. With the promise of not traveling too far away from camp. Just far enough away to give you all the quiet you’d all craved in the busy chaotic weeks it had taken to get to your new spot.

So you’d watched from afar as Jack; sat just in front of his Uncle Arthur, playing with the mare’s wispy mane by the top of her withers as you rode down the path towards the woodland by the river. When you found the perfect spot, you both made quick work of hitching the horses to graze, pitching the tent and lighting the campfire while Jack picked the flowers he found by the tree stumps. Watching his Aunt and Uncle darting back and forth with childish amusement on his little face. Arthur had promised to teach him how to fish the next morning; though the boy hadn’t seemed all that excited about it. But you had a feeling once he’d gotten the hang of it, it might be quite fun for him to learn a new skill. As the evening settled in, you realized foolishly you’d forgotten to bring anything for your supper and Jack’s stomach was growling loud enough for you both to hear. Fortunately Arthur had brought his bow and rifle offering to ride out to catch something. You’d protested at first; worried about being left to watch over Jack by yourself. You loved the little boy as you would your own but that didn’t mean you didn’t doubt your skills when it came to motherly instincts. It somewhat surprised you when Arthur expressed his unshaken confidence in your abilities however and you were left rather speechless as the Outlaw rode off further down into the forest leaving you and Jack alone. As the sun began to set; you admired the beautiful rays of light that were slowly dying away behind the horizon. “Aunt Y/N, when is Uncle Arthur coming back?” Jack piped up. “I’m so hungry.” You smiled taking a seat beside him at the roaring fire. “Aw don’t worry Jack; I'm sure he won’t be long...” The sudden rustling in the trees caught your attention as you pulled Jack closer; as first you suspected it to be Arthur on his way back but you quickly realized...you were very wrong. “What a fine young man, and in such complex circumstances.” Keeping your hand firmly on Jack's shoulder, you gently guided him behind you as you glared at the well dressed men slowly pacing towards you. “Y/N...right? Y/N L/N? Or is it Morgan now?” The man smirked menacingly. “What do you want? Who are you?” You snapped. “We’re looking for someone actually...your husband as a matter of fact.” He stood back; placing a hand on chest before gesturing to the man beside him. “Agent Milton; Agent Ross. Pinkerton Detective Agency.” As you took a closer look at the men in their well made suits, it was then you noticed the badges pinned to their jackets and your stomach dropped at the revelation. You needed to get rid of these men before Arthur got back to camp and you needed to do it quickly. Milton strode forward, his hand coming to rest upon his holstered pistol. You weren’t sure if he was planning to use it but you were damn sure you’d use yours if the situation called for it. “See Mrs Morgan; your husband is a wanted man. Five thousand dollars for his head alone.” “Jesus five thousand dollars?” You mocked with bitter smile. “Well I’m sure if he were here; he’d offer to turn himself in for that kinda money. But I don’t know where he is; I haven’t seen him since Blackwater.” Milton chuckled but his laugh was both cold and humorless. “Now we both know that’s not true Mrs Morgan, I think you know exactly where your husband is and you’re protecting him.” He accused. “Which is fine; it is after all, a wife’s duty to protect her husband but what if I told you, you could truly save him.” You were ashamed to admit that your interest was peaked at the offer. Your curiosity getting the better of you. “What do you mean?” Milton’s brows twitched and you noticed the faint curl of his lip as he began to smile; clearly believing he’d caught you at your weakness. “See... thing is Mrs Morgan; I’m not interested in Arthur or anyone else in that band of degenerates you’ve chosen to run with! I just want Van Der Linde! You tell your husband; wherever he may be, to bring me Dutch and you have my word that he will not swing.” He concluded. And you could tell by the conceited gleam in his darkened eyes that the man truly believed you were going to take the deal and sell both Dutch and Arthur out. But this man didn’t know you and he sure as hell didn’t know what you were capable of. Your blood was already boiling at them having to gall to ambush you like this and you could feel Jack trembling behind you from the fear these strange men had caused. Maybe this was motherly instinct after all. Because the urge to slaughter the men before you was quickly rising. “Oh my husband won’t swing anyways. You see, he hasn’t done anything wrong! Aside from not play the games to your rules.” You hissed back much to Milton’s obvious disappointment. “Well that is a shame Mrs Morgan.” He said bluntly, his associate Agent Ross slowly raising his rifle to aim at you and Jack. “And here I thought a fine woman like yourself could be reasoned with; course one might question your judgment in the first place, seeing as you’ve chosen to tie yourself to a degenerate murderer like Morgan.” He shared a mocking chuckle with Ross and in that moment you broke; pulling your pistol from your hip and aiming it straight at Milton's head. “You enjoy being a rich man’s toy do ya?! Take your offer and your buddy here and go to hell!” Your eyes burned with pure hatred as you glared at him; your other arm protectively wrapped around Jack as the boy sniffled away silent tears. And you were more than prepared to kill these men if you needed to; fortunately Milton seemed to get the message loud and clear as he raised his hands in a mocked surrender. “Oh we're leaving Miss don't you worry. But know this; Your husband is a savage and he will die savagely. You all will! Good day Mrs Morgan. Pleasure speaking with you.” You felt your resolve begin to crack as they mounted and turned, riding away. Keeping cool long enough until they were out of sight, dropping your gun to the ground and falling to you knees to hug Jack close. “Who were those men Aunt Y/N?” He whispered, quivering with fear in your arms. With your heart breaking; you lifted the boy into your arms and carried him towards your tent. Your fingers softly stroking his back to soothe him. “Ain’t nobody Jack....you don’t have to worry about them okay?”

You kneeled slowly, letting Jack wrap himself up in the blanket you'd brought for him, your fingers tentatively reaching out to wipe away his stray tears. You didn't know where Arthur had gotten too, but you prayed that he was okay.

[writeinmysoul]

I feel the need to state that this isn’t an attack on tony but an attack on extreme tony stans and y’all reasonings.

Disclaimer before y’all dumbasses get in my comments and say stupid shit about my opinions on tony. I genuinely like tony stark. He’s a really great hero and he’s flawed but good. And he tries. He tries so hard. But he’s still so flawed, but that’s part of why he’s such a good hero, because sometimes, he’s the most relatable and human out of most of them, and y’all assholes seem too forget that.

I just realized how fucking much I hate tony stans like. It took me a second to realize why tho since I actually do like tony stark. But I realize, I’m really just extreme anti tony Stan narratives. At least half the time, people act like tony was never wrong and could do no wrong. Even tho part of the reason people even like him is because of his fuck ups and want to do better or right. Because he was real and had his struggles and it’s so easy to sympathize with him and such. And yet, tony stans will still sit there and act like he has literally never done any wrong. He’s done a shit ton of wrong in his life, which is part of the reason he’s constantly wanting to do better and work harder and help more people. Like it’s literally a whole fucking part of what makes him who he fucking is. Then you’ll sit there and act like Ultron wasn’t 100% his fault. I’m so fucking sick of hearing the whole, “no one listened to him. He said what was coming and no one cared. Blah. Blah. Fucking blah.” Bitch, I can’t listen to someone who ain’t fucking talking to me. He deliberately created Ultron behind his team’s back when he hadn’t even talked to them about what was to come until he royally fucked up after the fact. But everyone pretends that the reason they weren’t ready for thanos is because no one listened to him. Shut tf up. Like.

And the whole accords thing. Like. It’s straight bullshit. And tony was on his shit when he thought they were a good idea. And like, a huge motivating factor for it is his guilt, cause from iron man 1-3, it is extremely fucking unlikely he would’ve fucking signed it then. Probably not even after the first avengers. And who’s to really say if he would’ve signed it if it wasn’t for the fucking mom that confronted him. And like, i understand his intentions in both age of Ultron and I’m civil war. And his intentions were good and I get it. But like, you still massively fucked up. And what pisses me off about him in civil war is that, they don’t need to be held accountable for the battle of New York cause that was strictly the government’s fault. No one else’s. Age of Ultron? Strictly Tony’s and partially Bruce’s fucking fault. So why does the whole team need to be punished for him not talking to his fucking team? Civil war? Both Steve and Tony’s cause neither of them would sit the fuck down and actually fucking compromise. Steve was too fucking stubborn and tony was too fucking blinded by arrogance and guilt and naïveté. “Do it now or it’ll be done to us later.” That shit. wow. Like, bro, it’s already being fucking done to you. You have no real other options. Sign or stop. That’s not a real choice bro. Wtf. And in what world do you think that’s a good argument to sign?nah. Fuck you. For a genius, you’re dumb asf. Like. And what really pisses me off is the fact that like, we still know he’s still going to blatantly fucking ignore most of the rules. You got peter on your side right, but you know he doesn’t want to tell his aunt who he is, so you clearly must’ve not told him all the accords would’ve said if he still fought. Cause the accords would’ve wanted his identity too. So we know that when the time came, Tony would push to let peter keep his identity secret when they tried to force peter to identify himself. And we know the government would do it cause they did it in the defenders and agents of shield. Right. So tony was gonna ignore that rule for peter or he was gonna force peter to reveal himself which is fucked on both ends.

Then, he ignored the accords when he went to Steve in Siberia and wanted it off record so he wouldn’t have to be held accountable like the others would’ve if they came back. So fuck out of here. And we know, tony doesn’t follow fucking rules. The only people he was willing to listen to half the time was pepper and Steve. And that wasn’t always either. He was sure as hell not going to follow every rule laid out even tho he’s the reason it got as far as it did. And what really really pisses me off, and I really didn’t think about this til now, is the fact that like, he wouldn’t trust his own fucking suits in the hands of the government. But he’s willing to trust his teammates’ lives and missions in the hands of the government? Really? Gonna trust Bruce’s life in the hands of secretary Ross who has been wanting to experiment on Bruce and get his hands on him? Wanna trust your teammates’ lives in the hands of the people who repeatedly lie to you and have their own agendas that they will no doubt invoke onto the team? Man. Like, fuck the team, they’re not the only people who are affected by this. You’re affecting hundreds if not more, heroes fucking lives just because you’re fucking feeling guilty for your own fucking creation even tho you’re not gonna follow the rules you fucking signed.

And what pisses me off about most of these tony stans that all wanna fucking get behind the accords is, y’all call team cap fans dumbasses and shit. But like, you’re the ones stupid enough to trust a government that has proven themselves faulty in every fucking mcu movie. And you know goddamn well that if they had a president such as trump and his cabinet, how fucking fucked every single one of them would be. Especially once Sam took over the mantle as captain America. So fucking tell me again why you’re dumb enough to fucking trust the accords? Fuck y’all. That shit ain’t going to do anything but more harm than good. And when people refuse to sign and refuse to fight, where tf will you be when there’s no more heroes. Fucking dead. Which is why they’ll fucking fight even if they don’t sign. Which then, they’re risking both their lives and their freedoms for your dumbasses. Fuck you. There’s a lot more I could say. But I’m tired of typing on my phone.

Sidenote, Steve Rogers may be my fave, but he’s not why I made this post. At least, not the sole reason, part of why was an “anti Steve” tagged post that was saying “you’re either team iron man or team dumbass.” And I’ve made a lot of posts like this before, even without factoring in Steve, but it irritates me when people act like Steve was the only fuck up. And i see some dumbass posts about why Steves team was bad or whatever. And some of the arguments, esp any single one includes Bucky are so beyond idiocy. I can rant about Steve’s stupid ass decisions too. Lying to tony about his parents? Really Steve? Really you fucking asshole? What really pissed me off with Steve is smashing Tony’s chest plate in, I have never been more pissed at my fave. And not compromising. Tony didn’t compromise, but neither did fucking Steve. And it was ridiculous and on both their heads that it got as far as it did. Steve is only seeing things in black and white, and it isn’t always like that. But neither or tony was trying to see down the middle. It was a whole fucking mess.

Also, this doesn’t change the way I feel about anti Tony’s. Y’all dumb as shit too. Like, your arguments and opinions are worse than extreme tony stans. Like, you just really want to hate on him for the dumbest things and act like he hasn’t grown or changed and I can shoot every single one of your arguments down but you’re dumb and won’t listen like, so fuck out of here. Y’all will say anything to try to prove tony is oh so bad, and yet, you don’t even acknowledge the shit that’s worn acknowledging in point out actual supported flaws, such as shit I mentioned. So stfu and sit tf down.

Anti Steve’s? Y’all can sick my dick or my clit, but your opinions are also fucking irrelevant, and I will fight you. Really tho, I would fight any mcu hero anti. Like, none of them deserve to be absolutely hated. I understand just not caring much about a character one way or another, but then y’all will hate any fucking character for the dumbest reasons and it pisses me off. I will defend every single fucking mcu hero, but I will also call them out for the shit that they did. Like. You can like a hero or anyone really, and acknowledge fault or flaws. But y’all just ain’t got common sense. So leave me alone. Like. Fuck outta here. Anyway. I’m done for real, goodnight. I would turn off comments if I knew how to, but I don’t so whatever.

[fabricadeconhecimentos]

The Complete Copywriting Course : Write To Sell in 2019

WANT TO BE A BETTER COPYWRITER?Are you struggling to make sense of all the information out there?  Are you stuck for words? Or just plain don't know where to start?LEMME KNOW IF THIS SOUNDS FAMILIAR:You sit down to write but the words don't come. When they do, they sound floppy, lifeless, flat on the page. Worse, you feel kinda greasy, gloopy -- a little bit 'scuzzy'.And even though you've studied blog post after blog post....Read a few copywriting books....Fallen down endless YouTube rabbit holes....Maybe taken other copywriting courses - eek!!There's still one issue.You're writing isn't working. It's not generating the clicks, shares, downloads and SALES you know you deserve.If that sounds about right, then keep reading...Do you want expert tips to give you a competitive advantage?Do you want access to repeatable formulas and processes? Would you like scientifically-proven techniques to boost your confidence?How about fun, interactive copy missions... to help you lock down the info?And brilliantly handy templates you can overwrite... time and time again?If you want to learn how to write really great copy -- quickly and efficiently -- sign up to The Complete Copywriting Course, today.  With 7000+ students, a consistent rating of 4.6 out of 5 and over 1000 glowing 5-star reviews... you'll be good hands.★★★★★ "As an absolute beginner, I found it to be incredibly useful in understanding the fundamentals of an essential part of online business. Thank you for offering such a comprehensive course." Ross Cessna★★★★★ "Short, straight to the point and an excellent course for anyone who is new to copywriting. Tons of useful tips and tools that I know will make a huge difference in my writing from now on. I'm over the moon excited about putting everything I've learned into practice:-)" Marita Marcolongo★★★★★ "This course the best I have taken so far. You get valuable information that makes your copy way better. Thanks for sharing your knowledge!" Mouhamadou Diouf★★★★★ "Absolutely brilliant! Easy to follow, incredibly educational and packed with resources. Thanks Tam - what a wonderful human you are." Nerissa George★★★★★ "This course is a perfect match for me. I like the way the content is presented. Very useful and straight to the point." Sonja Aleksic★★★★★ "Great course! Time and money well spent. Practical and inspiring. I'm really excited to start my career in copywriting." John Selvey★★★★★ "This course actually makes me excited to start marketing using copy and to be more persuasive." Kasey D★★★★★ "I always thought copywriting was complicated until I took this course. I really see myself doing this for a living. I can't wait to complete the next course on portfolio creation. Thanks for the examples and resources that really add credibility to what you teach." Keenya Tynes★★★★★ "I've been down the Youtube rabbit hole trying to learn anything I could about copywriting, and I've already learned more in this class in LESS time. Tamsin is engaging and breaks down copywriting into actionable, replicable steps. My brain is literally buzzing. I feel like I finally GET it. I also love how many opportunities there are to practice what I'm learning, so I know it's going to stick. The confidence this class has given me is priceless. P.S. This is the first training I've taken on copywriting that hasn't bored me to tears. You can tell so much thought, heart, and soul went into making this training. THANK YOU! :)" LindseyNo other course on Udemy gives you all the fundamental tactics you need -- in just three hours.  No faff, no nonsense. Just binge-worthy video tutorials, packed with fun, easy-to-remember missions, tools and techniques.Let me emphasise that again....EASY-T0-REMEMBER... That's the key to your success, right?If you’ve taken other copywriting courses and found them to be too long, too drawn out, too theoretical... and you're STILL not seeing results?  It's probably because it's impossible to absorb all the information. Which is such a shame. Because learning how to write persuasive copy has the potential to change everything for you.  Check out some reviews from my lovely students below. See for yourself how people are already seeing wonderful results after taking The Complete Copywring Course.★★★★★ "I'm only about 35% through the course and have already had so many "WOW" moments! I actually said "Wow" out loud each time Tamsin made an especially eye-opening point. I am amazed at her gift for words and how she can spin such tempting copy! I never knew how powerful and valuable the skill of copywriting could be, and now I'm really excited to know even more about it and to get better at it.Update: I've completed the course and have learned so much from Tamsin. She's been so generous in sharing her tips and expertise. Her warm and engaging manner makes me want to continue watching her videos. Though I'm not so confident in my abilities, I'm excited to put what I've learnt into building a part-time gig in copywriting." Brenda Chung.★★★★★ "Just the fundamentals section covered more than most copy writing books I've read. I'm moving on to the advanced techniques, and I can't wait. Gonna be learning till late tonight. Better than Netflix." A. Jackson★★★★★ "Best copywriting course on Udemy! Practical and easy-to-follow." Carys. S.★★★★★ "Amazing course! I learned so much. The lessons were light and beautifully explained,the visuals also helped a lot. The information is relevant and applicable, I started taking action immediately. I loved Tamsin's personality and her voice was easy to listen to. I liked that certain things were repeated in various sections, it solidified the information in my head. I will certainly be going over the lessons. This course gave FAR more value than it costs. I would highly recommend it and will be on hunt for any other content this instructor has out there. Thank you Tamsin!"  Christina F-ThomasWELCOME and great to see you here!My name’s Tam and I’m the copywriter behind some of Udemy’s best-selling courses. My marketing career spans 18 years. For six of those, I've been running a successful copywriting business. The flexibility and freedom to work from anywhere, at any time, is what gets me bouncing out of bed every morning. On top of that, doing something creative that feeds my inner science geek AND pays the bills? Couldn't ask for anything better. I believe copywriting is THE most useful (yet underated) skill ANYONE can have.  And I genuinely can’t wait to share what I've learned with you.It doesn't matter what you do, or what your goal is... it's your words that win hearts, minds and pockets.  You could be an app developer, a solopreneur, a digital marketer, a VA, a freelance fashion designer, a florist, an IT engineer, a business coach, a high-flying CEO, an artisan baker, an inventor, a tech startup founder, a branding agency, an Instagram wannabe, a fitness instructor, or a kickarse web designer. If you want to achieve your goals, it all comes down to your WORDS. The words on your website, in your emails, newsletters, pitches, proposals and brochures.  Yup, your COPY.And when you can write to persuade? Endless possibilities in your life and business open up to you.So whether you’re a complete beginner or looking to refresh your skills, this course is for you. And I'm going to walk you through the exact steps I take to remember complex topics -- and how I implement them to run a profitable copywriting business. And how YOU can too. :)★★★★★ "This course was so informative and has empowered me to get started with my freelance copywriting business right away. The content flowed well and I feel prepared to go it on my own!"  J. Smith★★★★★ "SO HELPFUL!!!" Ryan★★★★★ "It’s so obvious now why our copy wasn’t working before. We were making every classic mistake. The tips and tricks I’ve learned on this course have completely changed the way I’m writing. The how to guide make it easy to follow. Now all I need is practice! Add to this the lectures are engaging and get to the point quickly. Thanks Tamsin." Suean Pascoe>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>IMPORTANT NOTE: I DO NOT use fake reviews. EVER. All my reviews are 100% genuine. Sadly and unfortunately, there are less ethical instructors using underhand strategies to boost their ratings (and diminish the ratings of honest instructors, like me.)  Udemy is working hard to combat this, but some continue slip through.So when you choose a course, please, PLEASE, watch some of the videos, and decide for yourself based on quality. And be EXTREMELY wary of courses promising to make you rich without doing any work, or through automation! You cannot automate copywriting! Thank you! Read the full article

[ellawritesficssometimes]

Note: This post will use Swiss psychologist Kubler-Ross’s model of grief to analyze how Prussia has come to terms with his death/ potential [future unconfirmed] death.

Kübler-Ross’ Model:  

Having worked with terminally-ill patients, Kübler-Ross recognized universal themes in which people passed on. There were certain phases that her patients experienced before dying. While the model isn’t successive in that patients don’t have to experience one phase in order to experience the next and that some patients don’t necessarily experience all stages, these themes were a common phenomenon that she observed. It’s not measurable and empirically supported, but it does provide a good description of the phenomenon.

The stages, which can be experienced several times throughout the dying process are: Denial and isolation, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.

Denial is pretty self-explanatory. The person refuses to accept the reality that they’re dying and will usually avoid talking about it all together. Mostly, there is a partial acceptance of their death (e.g., recognizing their fatal diagnosed illness). It’s very rare where the person will maintain a consistent denial until death. This stage is ultimately characterized by numbness and stoicism. What’s isolating is that the person refuses to accept any other reality but the one they’ve constructed.

Anger is also fairly explanatory.  Once the denial can’t be maintained and upon recognizing their lack of control over the situation, the person gets angry and resentful. This entails displacing their anger and projecting it onto everything around them, including their family members.

Bargaining is a sort of middle ground. If they’ve consistently denied their death and are still angry at everyone and everything, including God, they will attempt to bargain with their fate. The lack of control renders them childlike in that they’ll wish for a postponement of their death with the implicit promise that they won’t ask for anything else.

Ex: “Just let me live past one last Christmas. That’s all I ask.”

Depression is seen as a necessary phase if the person is to die peacefully and with a state of acceptance. Rather than trying to cheer the person up, Kubler-Ross recommends encouraging the person to accept their sorrow.

Acceptance includes neither an angry or depressed state. Nonetheless, it shouldn’t be mistaken for happiness. They may not even feel anything. This final stage typically involves the person withdrawing into themselves. They don’t want too many visitors and are more contingent on their family members presence as their support rather than verbal communication.

That said, the best example where I 100% believe Himaruya has used this model is with Prussia. Regardless of what he personifies/ personified, it can’t be denied that Prussia has become weaker and may or may not fade away.

In my interpretation, his character song, Mein Gott!, is an exemplification of Prussia’s unwilling confrontation with the possibility of his death. He goes through all stages with the exception of anger. Just like the model, Prussia flips through the stages in a non-linear manner and experiences them several times throughout the song [x].

Denial: 

“Someone is calling, I'm being called Alright, leave it to me; let’s go More! More! To the east and to the west I’ll keep running”

He hears the call of death but runs away from it.

“The awesome me's the most supreme! The strongest! The one who gets the last laugh, yeah! Is the awesome me, of course! Danke!  The best! The most fearsome! You guys can praise me I’ll show you my massive dream A succession of victories for sure!

…

All of the maps will someday be in these hands... I’ll laugh as I run through That’s right, it’s not because I’m weak It’s because I’m too strong”

He hasn’t come to terms with the fact that he’s not the political superpower he used to be. Instead, he deflects by boasting about his strength in a hypermasculine way.

Ex: Prussia flat-out lies to Germany when the latter recognizes that his bite wound has taken an abnormal amount of time to heal…for a nation, that is.

The isolation pertains more to how Prussia himself feels alone.

Ex: When asked why Prussia is so alone, Himaruya answers that it’s because of the “pitiful state of an enclave he’s in,” [x].

Enclave has two distinct meanings. In this case, I interpret it as Prussia feeling different and excluded from other nations whose immortality still remains.

Definition: ENCLAVE, a place or group that is different in character from those surrounding it.

“Danke! Everyone! Come here! Let’s exchange email addresses? Being alone is too much fun Everything will be in these hands! Just you wait!”

Bargaining:

“Mein Gott! 

In a pinch! Punch! Sometimes even a warrior starts shaking (...I’ll leave things at this point) A reverse in the situation, I’m going to be hasty!”

(Beobachten Sie es bitte, Fritz Vater) x 3

(Watch over me please, Father Fritz)”

Here, it’s evident that Prussia desires to reverse his weakened state. He bargains with fate by asking Fritz, his father figure, to watch over him.

Ex: Prussia has a picture of Fritz on his night table. It gives him a sense of security, insulating him from his fear of dying.

Depression:

“Hey little bird chirp for my sake It will heal me; niyo niyo!”

Prussia actively recognizes that he’s been weakened. His sorrow is displaced to his bird, whom he hopes will cheer him up.

“This is bad, a panda that will bring happiness I won’t be fooled.”

In the 2009 April Fools’ Event, China gives Prussia a panda with the promise that it’ll bring him happiness.

Acceptance:

“Alone in my room I’ll write it today too A memorial of the awesome me More! More!”

We all know that Prussia’s been writing diaries since he was little. It’s the mention of a memorial that signifies his acceptance of death.

There’s also the recognition that Germany is his successor.

Ex: When asked if Prussia will disappear, Himaruya doesn’t rule out the possibility [x].

That said, it still amazes me how people still conceive Hetalia as thoughtless, random, and simple. With the large volumes of intertexts and historical and theoretical references woven into the series, it’s anything but.

[dontcallmecarrie]

Hello! I hope your day is going swell. I know that you're probably very busy, but I want to see tony go all out Merchant Of Death from the beginning of this arc also. If its not going into TWiFFON and if you have the time, would you consider either doing a mini fic or even just an outline of how that would play out? Thank you!

This has been sitting in my askbox for a while, but…well, another test, another round of post-test stress-related jitters, and it’s been a while since I’ve done a shatterpoint, hasn’t it? Especially since things are getting serious in TWiFFON in a way that makes it tricky for me to get into the mindset necessary for writing it.

As an fyi, crackiness incoming, especially since this is my post-exam rambling [plus minor profanity of the ‘fuck my life’ variety]. Do not expect seriousness here, but some spoilers for what’s going to happen to Ross might show up. Under the cut, because RIP mobile users otherwise.

So. Tony Stark, the Merchant of Death. 

It’s not a title he’s proud of, is the thing. Especially now that he’s out of the game, and all; he’s about as proud of it as Bruce is about the Hulk, and for similar reasons, only Tony was 100% alert and sober when casually discussing weapons of mass destruction with generals during the Merchant of Death’s heyday. 

He’s not proud of it. But he’s also not above keeping it in reserve, if push comes to shove because his patience can only go so far. In TWiFFON, the first time the Merchant of Death officially made an appearance was after the JCTC breakout, because he finally hit his limit with Ross.

However, I’ve mentioned earlier that I was very tempted to bring him out earlier. Far, far earlier—as in, the first time Ross makes an appearance. 

So, in one. life, Tony noticed he was like a hair away from going Merchant of Death, when Ross was presenting the Accords, and dialed it back. 

Here, however…

Tony Stark hadn’t had any coffee that morning.

It may not have sounded like a major detail, but given it was who-the-fuck-knows in the morning, and he’d just finished all of his planned politicking for the week when Ross decided now was the best time to present the Accords to the team, it meant his patience was already flagging since before he saw the asshat’s stupidly self-satisfied smirk, and so when Ross decided to try and pull the same shit he’d done as a General, that was it.

Because he may not trust the Avengers, and odds were they’d like him even less after seeing the Merchant of Death, but right now he was out of fucks to give. He’d been trying to decide if he was more indifferent to the team than he disliked Ross, but this last round made his choice for him. 

Here, he goes full-on Merchant of Death when Ross presents his version of the Accords, and the team gets a front-row seat to seeing what happens when Tony gets serious.

He pulls absolutely no punches whatsoever, doesn’t break eye contact with Ross when he pulls out his phone and calls his legal team right there and then. No details, but enough to prove he’s not messing around, and then hangs up with a vicious smile that basically has Ross running because in the span that brief, one-sided conversation everyone in the room heard, they’ve realized just what it meant to piss off Tony Stark.

Specifically, why it was a bad idea, and how obvious it was that Ross hadn’t thought this through—because, in the span of a few minutes, he now has a multinational corporation gunning for him, with some of the best legal teams on the planet. 

Ross pretends he doesn’t flee, pretends he’s not on the defensive and trying to figure out how to take on the Merchant of Death. [He fails miserably.] The minute he’s out he door, Tony’s expression doesn’t change when he turns to the team, and with that same smile, says, “He won’t be a problem soon, taking him down shouldn’t take too long.”

Then he visibly warms up and approaches Rhodey to go in for a hug, teases Vision for forgetting the other Widow’s Bite, and leaves soon afterwards, complaining about coffee—and leaving the team to reassess everything they knew about Tony Stark, because what the hell.

Things are only downhill from there, really.

Within the next week, headlines are being made, as the encryption of SHIELD’s files on anything related to Ross ‘mysteriously’ get cracked by an ‘anonymous hacker’, and go viral. The timing could not have been worse, as world’s getting wind of what the UN’s talking about possible Accords. Specifically, someone manages to get his version of the Accords online. It may not sound that bad, but this is Ross’ version of the Accords, aka the US’ official version—and it does not look good, especially when compared to the one being pushed for by a record-breakingly large international coalition. 

All in all, Ross is not making his country look good, and combined with the incredibly-intimidating-and-still-growing lawsuit Stark Industries is filing against him? Well, President Ellis isn’t a fool—he drops him like a hot potato, to the applause of basically the entire world.

In the back, the team’s seeing all this go down, and quietly going “what the hell”, because they’ve never seen Tony this way, have only seen him messing around or in mission mode before. This is their first encounter with the Merchant of Death going all-out against an enemy, and in that moment, they all quietly decide they do not want to get on his bad side. Ever. 

Also, they’re getting slightly less Lex Luthor vibes from him, what with being distracted by all the media’s attention about the Accords, and, since Ross’ visit to the team was made public what with the clusterfuck surrounding his version of the Accords, soon they get inundated with legal counsel to actually explain how the Accords’ll work.

[and thus averting the bulk of Civil War]

Talk about the clauses and how it’s an international thing, about how if they try to barge into other countries to fuck shit up [the way Ross did Brazil, the way they did Johannesburg and Lagos] they’ll be persona non grata too, and basically drilling it into the team’s head about how the Accords actually work. Ross’ situation is quickly turning into a cautionary tale, now, because the lawsuit’s a monster and there’s rumors several countries’re thinking of joining in. 

The more time goes on, the uglier it gets, too, especially because…

Tony is not a happy camper, and he hates everything, how the fuck is this his life. Because this is the latest storm in a series of them, just the last round of paperwork he’s had to deal with, and the fact that he had to bring out the Merchant of Death to get shit done is actually not a good thing in his book [again, he’s not proud of it].

The only silver lining is that there’s a finishing line to this mess, and that he can vent his frustration via the legal battle going on.  And even that’s mired in a snarl of issues he doesn’t want to think about, because the longer this goes on, the more the world’s seeing the Merchant of Death and thinking he’s a responsible adult who knows what he’s doing when really he just wants some coffee and maybe a nap, and that leads to…weird consequences.

Specifically, there’s quite a few people looking at him, now. Even more specifically, some of those people are looking at him working with his company, coordinating with Pepper and Legal and PR and the Council and various other countries, and the newly-vacant position for Secretary of State, and going “hey, there’s an idea”. 

[I did mention this was crack, right? Yep.]

So, no. Tony is not a happy camper at the moment. At. all. Especially since the press is now in on it too, and wasn’t that an embarrassing headline? And it comes up again and again, in interviews and articles and Thor knew what else—”Tony Stark for Secretary of State?”

…yeah, that’s a no. Hells no, haven’t these people ever heard of conflicts of interest?! 

Made even worse, since it turns out the speculation wasn’t actually bs, and Tony hadn’t even finished his coffee when the goddamn President of the United States of America called him to ask about it, how the fuck was this his life.

Suffice it is to say, Tony is so, so tired by the time the lawsuit’s over. 

On the plus side, at least shit got done? Ross’ career is now dust, the Avengers are now no longer his headache, they’re some committee’s problem now. Danvers, the head of said committee, looks like she has a good head on her shoulders, and Tony wishes her luck. [All the luck.]

Even better, now that people’re taking him seriously, he can finally work on a global planetary protection program without getting laughed out of the room [looking at you, Avengers], or having to resort to do it all on his own.

[that being said, this is still going to happen in TWiFFON, albeit for different reasons]

Thanos arrives to an Earth that is ready for war, with the Merchant of Death as its first line of defense.

Things that didn’t really come up but happened in the background:  

—Zemo tried to frame Bucky, but his plan was contingent on a time crunch provided by Ross, which didn’t happen. The UN didn’t get bombed, since the scandal surrounding the Accords made for more interest in it, and tighter security. 

—That being said, Tony still finds out about his parents. Somehow. Probably thanks to either Steve or Natasha being the ones to break the news to him, because now that they’ve seen how he is with enemies they’d much rather keep him as an ally. 

—Irony is, for all that Tony’s not proud of the Merchant of Death, it’s also just about the only way the rest of the team’ll respect him; Tony playing nice just got him dismissed as a guy who doesn’t take things seriously, but the Merchant kicking ass and taking no prisoners? Another thing entirely. 

Basically, the main difference here from TWiFFON is that canon gets derailed even earlier, and the team is actually on the table after the Civil War arc ends, instead of in prison or what-have-you.

[roseate7]

Re: your latest post about McDavid- i’m Not a McDavid fan in anyway (he’s even more dull than Crosby’s public persona, I hated his Trump costume, and from fan accounts seems like a bit of a jerk) and I am a Crosby stan, but I do think you’re downplaying McDavid’s accomplishments a bit. Winning two Art Rosses in a row isn’t nothing, nor is having 2 100 point seasons in a row in this era. I think Crosby was a better player in his prime- his shot was WAY better, vision, tenacity, etc, tho.

That’s just the point though, and kind of a good litmus test, is that I never commented on McDavid’s personal achievements apart from saying that he isn’t living up to the mega hype created about him in anything but his personal points scoring. Which I’m afraid is true, considering that his narrative is about beating absolutely everyone - active or retired - as the best of all time. There’s simply no reason outside of being an Oilers fan to think that, and I’ll get to more of at the end*. But the point is that when you suggest that he’s not beaten Crosby, it’s taken as the same as saying he’s no good. That’s a bad sign for a player.

There are plenty of talking points about McDavid - the majority of them are his speed and points generating ability which a fair amount of current players in the NHL can boast - but none of it stands out as his own because the entire narrative of his professional career is about unseating Crosby from his place among the top 10 greats of all time (or top 5 depending which era of hockey you mean).

And McDavid absolutely has had it in his power to deter that narrative because as I said in my post, Crosby managed to deflect it early on and ever since. But the literal headline of “BETTER THAN CROSBY” (yawn) only serves to make non-Oilers fans laugh. Sportsnet alone has been generating headline after headline about the NHL100 despite it being widely panned in hockey after last year’s omission of Evgeni Malkin. Not to mention - and I adore Carey Price - how high Price is on that list this year. No one takes that list seriously lol. It’s like Alex Ovechkin being called The Greatest Athlete. No one listens to ESPN and them choosing a hard-partying part-time captain of a team known as chokers who has to be specifically goaded into training was a great reminder of why.

Hey, I have no reason not to give McDavid the same fair attention I do to all young players because I want the league to have great young players. Just as I wanted Crosby to be great even though I’d lived with Gretzky and Lemieux in my lifetime. There’s no sense of threat for me and for most older fans because we know this drill. All we hope is that hockey stays great.

But apart from having sports media, Oilers fans and only slightly less-obviously McDavid himself simply telling me that this talented youngster has already beaten the greatest active player in the league, the evidence isn’t there. Sure, certain hardware and certain records he’s beaten Crosby in. But that’s the rub of modern hockey: McDavid will be unseated in those before he knows it when you look at the fitness and skill of rookies nowadays. Gone are the days of resting on borrowed individual laurels throughout your career because in just one or two drafts, the hottest new thing will come along to be better. Crosby is more than just an active player in that, he’s still one of the biggest thrills about it. McDavid… is too early to tell. The ride is good for now. But it’s not matching the selling price of besting everyone in the world.

Fortunately for the Penguins franchise and it’s fans, Crosby’s individual achievements and records are a side note to what make him considered by the league as the greatest living player. Those individual achievements are and continue to be staggering, especially considering that he’s come back multiple times from career-ending injuries and extended periods out. (I am a Kariya fan, don’t @ me) Crosby’s sources of greatness and ability to drive every team he captains to success time and again are not qualities currently being displayed in any great degree by McDavid. It’s a false economy to use Crosby as his barometer for success. Actually, a guy like Ovechkin would be a perfect comparison for McDavid if it weren’t for hockey’s inherent inability to cross NA and Russian streams. Big celebrity, out to beat everybody, one big hot shot skill he’s known for, lots of hardware and personal glory, captaincy that’s adequate but honestly debatable and probably better in someone else, and even when his team is losing he’s winning in popularity and points. I’ll even give up credit for this idea if someone will kick start replacing Crosby with Ovechkin in McDavid’s The Newness.

*The truth is that McDavid is extremely talented, but each generation has big talents with immense promise. The hockey saviour mentality is as old as the hockey I’ve been watching. I’ve seen a lot of them come and stay, and a lot of them and go without much of a footnote. What you will see time and again in evidence and as stated by folks who really know hockey is that the greats who stood the test of time remained standing because they had a team-oriented mentality and they loved the game even in the tough times.

McDavid is a part of the individual celebrity era that’s taken hold these past couple of drafts. He’s exactly what younger fans want: active on social media, comfortable being in the spotlight and his achievements are particularly effective on short hockey memories. Those achievements are even more effective for his own personal PR. He is at least willing if not participatory in permitting the narrative of him being permanently attached to Crosby’s name and career. He’s a celebrity.

But there is no point in continuing this association because the qualities of Crosby’s playing that will always make him a more desirable choice in the league’s fantasy draft are the same qualities that have kept him behind in the runnings for hardware and plaudits: team-centric, unselfish, a playmaker, unfailingly self-disciplined and modest. When you look at the usual list of all time greats, those qualities are resoundingly more valuable than a slap shot, being the fastest or putting up the best show for their own points every game. You don’t become an all time great in team sports by individually being great, and you certainly don’t make a great captain in the mercurial sport of hockey by being primarily lauded as a points scorer or a celebrity. It’s why someone like Ovechkin will retire never having been able to catch up the lead Crosby established early on in their supposed interpersonal competition. He’ll still be famous, but he won’t have the same esteem.

When Crosby was the age McDavid is now, he had turned down an offer of captaincy in order to take it at a better time for the team and enjoyed a glittering young personal career while garnering a respect for his selflessness and vision. All without trying to be someone else or follow in their wake. He just played hockey the best way you can play it for the good of your team and presented himself the best way you can for the good of the sport. But Crosby is not a celebrity, he only gained celebrity by being the best and becoming esteemed in a way and to a degree that arguably only Gretzky and Orr have been in hockey history.

Crosby at thirty-one, and not remotely on a “downward slope of his career” (lmao back-to-back Cups and then a playoff appearance in which he logged club record playoff points does not a downward slope make) already is one of the all time greats and he’s considered so by the all time greats.

And that is exactly why, unlike other players, Crosby is still active and placed at the top but already has younger players trying to become him. This is the first time in my personal knowledge of hockey history that a player who is not only not retired but still in the stride of his career, has been considered someone that younger players already use as a playbook for their own careers. He’s not a competitor to them, he’s already had the kind of career they want to look back on. Except he’s not even close to done. Thirty-one now is not thirty-one as it used to be on a hockey player’s body. Thirty-one on someone as disciplined as Crosby is not thirty-one at all.

So it’s time to disentangle McDavid from Crosby and have him do his own thing, whether that turns out to be brilliance or not. That’s his job. He’ll do a lot better by focusing inward rather than on Crosby and the media/fanbase surrounding him will flatter him better if they stop basing his every success on the constant basis of being better than someone else.

And it’ll prove a lot less disappointing in the long run if he isn’t placed in positions now that he hasn’t earned. That method is always, every single time, disastrous for a young player’s development.

[merrylittlehogwartsrp]

Happy Holidays, Moni! We are thrilled to “invite” Draco Malfoy (fc Austen Butler) back to Hogsmeade for a little forced Winter Cheer. We were most excited about how Draco fared Post-War and how the Post-War climate effected the Malfoy holiday traditions.

Please pack your bags and send in your tumblr. Additional information can be found here!

OOC DETAILS:

NICKNAME: Moni

AGE (must be 18+): 26

PRONOUNS: She/her

ACTIVITY ESTIMATE: I’m in the middle of transitioning to a new job but I should be able to reply at least a few times a week. If something happens, I usually contact/update the main the let them know that I’m too busy and need a hiatus until I can get myself together.

CHARACTER DETAILS:

FULL NAME & NICKNAMES: Draco Lucius Malfoy

BIRTHDATE: June 5th, 1980

BLOOD-STATUS: Pureblood

* GENDER IDENTITY: cisgender male

* GENDER PRESENTATION/PRONOUNS: male, he/him

* SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Bisexual (I want explore this depending on chemistry)

CHARACTER SITUATION:

OCCUPATION: Potioneer at St. Mungos.

HOUSING: A Condo in Diagon Alley

SOCIAL STANDING: Once viewed as the only heir of two of the biggest Pureblood houses in the UK, he is now living his very own “redemption” arc. Many are unsure of what his true intentions are but they are very interested to see how long and far he takes this new point of view.

CHARACTER CONFIGURATION:

TALENTS/WEAKNESSES - + Potions, Charms, Occulumency; - Anything to do with Animals that isn’t his owl or cat, Divination, Teamwork

STRENGTHS/FLAWS - Intelligent, Clever, Ambitious; Cunning, Self-Centered, Spoiled

CHARACTER HISTORY: please write one short paragraph for each.

FAMILY BACKGROUND: As the only son and heir to Malfoy (and most likely Black) family, Draco was spoiled by his parents since day one. His father was filled with pride and wanted his son to be his mini me. His mother wanted to give him the world and raise him be a proper young pureblood wizard. Brought up to believe that he was superior than everyone else, it was Draco’s belief that no one could reach his level. As a Malfoy, he only deserved the best. Best clothes, books, toys, and friends. When these things weren’t available to him, he made sure to make everyone around him miserable. Malfoy’s never showed their true feelings, however. That was showing weakness. And no one wanted to be weak like mudbloods, blood traitors, and filthy muggles. He was grateful that his parents brought him up the RIGHT way. They were Purebloods after all. They had to make sure to set the proper example for all.

LIFE DURING THE WAR: Hogwarts was very much a home to Draco. He was surrounded by friends, endless amount of books and resources, and the ability to prove to everyone how wonderful he was. Unfortunately Harry Potter, The Red Weasel, and Mudblood Granger was around to annoy him every chance that he had. What he distaste most of all was how Potter and Granger always got the attention in certain classes. Sure he would joke to scare them into thinking that the Dark Lord would snatch them up. But he had no idea that he would one day be forced into becoming a Death Eater and that his jokes would become reality. To him, there was nothing in this world more important than pleasing his father. Lucius Malfoy was his idol after all. So when his family was in trouble, Lucius wanted to prove his loyalty. Those two years were hard for Draco. He never imagined that earning power in this way would be so hurtful, cruel, and in many ways disgusting. When Potter and his friends were presented to the Dark Lord, Draco found himself lying to save the people he despised. Maybe it was how he was being treated by the Dark Lord or maybe he was truly waking up to the reality that all of this was 100% problematic and f-ed up. Whatever the reason, throughout the war Draco saw what it was like to receive kindness in return. This resulted in him being saved by the one person he thought he would hate for the rest of his life.  

LAST THREE YEARS: After the War, Draco wasn’t sure how to feel. Kindness was shown to him by his enemies and his family name was now tarnished. Was there any hope for him? For the Malfoy name? For his future? For the first time in his life, he had t start from scratch. He was resourceful in his planning and saw that if he was going to survive this new world, he had to commit to changing. After attending many court hearings, he was let off the hook due to him being a minor when he became a Death Eater. To show his gratitude, he started to help create potions to give to the injured from the war. Giving back to others was weird at first but when he started getting the acknowledgement and praise from his success, he felt that feeling he had when he was a child. A community service project turned into a job and soon he found his place in the world again. Some may not believe this new change of heart (especially with him working hard to help out the mud….sorry Muggle-Borns) but he likes this new feeling of accomplishment that he is getting through this line of work. He is grateful that he isn’t in jail and grateful for the second chance. He won’t take things or granted any more. He’s already seen that outcome and doesn’t want to go back.

HOLIDAY DETAILS:

Draco has always loved how his family has celebrated Christmas. It was a three day event for them. Though they would never admit it, they based their celebrations off of old Muggle traditions that has been a part of the Malfoy family since the 1880s. Maybe they were attracted to the whole idea of tradition on such a precious holiday. Or maybe it was the sense of warmth that the family would NEVER admit they were missing. It’s a mystery that no one in the family talks about and probably for the best too.

The first day starts with Breakfast. A small group of family members from both sides come to Malfoy Manor. Once Breakfast is over, the Malfoy’s prepare for their annual Christmas Eve Ball. Family, friends, and associates are invited by invitation only to this black tie event. To outsiders, it may seem like a stuffy Pureblood party. Yet to those invited and in the inner circle, it’s a time of joy and being around family. Dinner is served at 8 on the dot and then dancing starts at 9:30. Gifts are exchanged at midnight  with most people leaving right after.

On Christmas day, The Malfoy’s have a quiet Christmas brunch and exchange their own gifts with each other. They don’t have a religion that they follow or a figure that they worship. Yet they do enjoy visiting the abandon Abbey down the rode to pay their respects to Malfoys from the past that were laid to rest. That evening, They visit the Black side of the family, something Draco didn’t care much about. Being with them was like walking on glass.

On Boxing Day, the Malfoy family gives their House Elves a half day off. They spend the day going through old artifacts and privately cleaning out old rooms that they don’t want the House Elves to enter. They then usually go out of the country for a few days and return for the new year.

These were traditions that Draco remembers from when he was a child. All of this stopped after his 4th year. His father was so busy with trying to impress the Dark Lord and climb the ranks of the Death Eaters, that Draco hasn’t had a real Christmas Holiday since then. This proposed party is a chance for Draco to try something new. Though he loves celebrating the holidays with his mother, just having a small Christmas dinner together seems lonely. Maybe surrounding himself with people would bring some familiarity to his life.

OOC SUPPLEMENT:

SHIPS: Draco/Hermione: My favorite crackship. I know it isn’t that popular but I see so many similar characteristics of the two. It would be awesome to explore this either as a relationship or a friendship (or both lol). I know Draco was a horrible jerk to Hermione but it would be nice to play things out and see how they go. Draco/Astoria Greengrass: We don’t know much about Astoria but it would be cool to explore what type of person she is and why Draco might be attracted to her. Draco/Chemistry: I’m all about Chemistry. So if things seem to be clicking between out characters, I’m open to try and see where things go!

CHANGES: Nope!

FACECLAIM: Austen Butler, Ross Lynch, Jackson Wang

[itwasjustmisplaced]

I tuned in to watch ED for the first time in weeks too but I was left wondering why did I bother. The hugs with roblivion were sweet but I wish they had spaced out Liv's storyline after Aaron's prison hell. I'm still not gripped or invested yet like I thought I would be. And how many cheating plots can one soap have? I swear they are reusing the dialogue now

Kind of how I feel every day I watch. For me my biggest issue with Liv as a character has always been they tried to hard to make her a mini Aaron and this move of putting her jail is just like the icing on the cake. I even laughed yesterday there was a nice SPICE poster behind Steve to remind us of last years terribly done prison plot. 

But yeah, it just feels like the only way Emmerdale currently knows how to bring drama to a couple is to have them cheat. It’s kind of been IM’s go to since he started. We can even go back to Coira’s break up which really happened cause  Cain kissed Charity. I am sure there are some breakups that weren’t 100% because of cheating over the past two years but all the big ones have stemmed from poorly executed cheating plots. That should not be your go-to way to break up a couple or create drama. There is literally no build up to these moments and most characters feel OOC when they do it. I am still baffled why Cain did that with Charity or even Peter with Priya. I would say the most frustrating part about it all for me is there is literally no build up minus one or two episodes to these huge moments. Graham and Megan interacted for the first time last week and now they had sex, which fine but couldn’t we have spent the last month building up to that moment? Showing Graham and Megan interacting and slowly drawing closer and them finding solace in the fact they both lost children or something. It was kind of like how last year Vanessa and Adam were suddenly friends again so he could kiss her and they didn’t interact again post that. It just makes you wonder what the point is of it all.

There is just something really off about all of the storytelling right now and really the whole time under IM. Either a story is rushed to the point that no one is invested or it’s dragged out and rushed at the end it falls flat. I just kind of look back on some of the big plots of the last year and I won’t lie most of them just don’t feel worth it at the end of the day. The short-term stalling drama in the middle doesn’t have any lasting effect or the story feels rather pointless in the end cause things are just not addressed or glossed over to bring the story to an end. Nell was completely pointless and hasn’t been mentioned since she ran off to scam another person. Dragging out Lachlan right now is pointless cause nothing has changed since January so I don’t know why we are doing this cause they aren’t even changing the stakes for him properly. The amount of people who would have cared back in January is exactly the same, maybe even less. They glossed over a ton of the stuff related to both Coira and Robron’s breakups and things that happened in the middle of those stories, which sort of defeats the point. Sure they address some of it but it’s all in one episode and that just doesn’t fix it or make it feel natural. 

It also feels like they are creating convenient relationships to advance plot points, i.e. Pete and Rhona for Ross, while also trying to create two stories together but not investing properly in either so you aren’t engaged fully. Instead of the two stories naturally playing off each other they kind take turns and it just doesn’t work. I am thinking mostly of Tracy and Charity because Tracy’s trauma has felt completely dropped in all this to advance Charity’s story. Mostly I don’t care much about anything happening. I literally said that about the last few weeks about how it’s impressive how little I care and I pay attention. 

And you are not wrong about them resuing dialogue, because David literally said some of the same things that Robert did in the reveal when he talking about cheating with Leyla. Graham basically pulled a Rebecca yesterday in a nicer way with Megan. It’s just really bad right now and far too predictable. I am sure Megan and Graham will either be an affair or pregnancy cause they are so unoriginal. 

All I can think about is how last year from Ashley’s death to Emma’s death how nothing really happened that was important or had massive consequences. The whole summer was awash with poorly executed plots and stuff that literally didn’t matter in the long run. Sure there were some moments but most of it was just utter garbage. I am guessing we are in for that again this year cause I am sure we are going to have some big moments but everything that is set up right now just doesn’t work or feels aimless. Even spoilers are boring. But I digress.

[junker-town]

MLB players are not happy with the Astros’ ‘weak’ apology and lack of punishment

Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images

“They sure as shit need to do more than what they already did.”

One of the central goals of punishment is to discourage the recurrence of the event in question. The early read on the Astros sign-stealing penalties is MLB wasn’t nearly harsh enough.

Astros players were granted immunity by Major League Baseball during their investigation, and no players are expected to be punished in the soon-to-be-published Red Sox investigation either. Houston and Boston aren’t the only teams accused of skirting baseball’s rules, with at least seven other teams named by Astros personnel as electronic sign stealers in MLB’s investigation, per Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated.

The only way to rebuild trust in the game after this debacle is to make sure this malfeasance doesn’t happen again, which means stricter rules for use of video rooms around the league, and harsher penalties for rule-breakers, including the players. It’s something the players union would have to agree to through collective bargaining. Judging from the response to the Astros scandal, it might not be hard to drum up support.

Players reported to spring training camps across the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues this week, and several had thoughts on the Astros, their punishment, and incredibly weak apology.

The aggrieved

This was Cody Bellinger’s opening comment ... pic.twitter.com/tJaQr03TeV

— Alden Gonzalez (@Alden_Gonzalez) February 14, 2020

Justin Turner on the Astros World Series championship: “It’s hard to feel like they earned it.”

— Molly Knight (@molly_knight) January 25, 2020

You can see how visibly pissed Cody Bellinger is when talking about the Astros pic.twitter.com/QUXiNwzbxd

— Blake Harris (@BlakeHarrisTBLA) February 14, 2020

Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez referenced Jose Altuve’s pennant-winning home run in Game 6 of last year’s ALCS, after which Altuve was adamant that none of his teammates rip off his jersey. Rumors abound about the Astros wearing buzzers beneath their jerseys, which to date have been denied by several on the team. MLB has as yet found no evidence of the buzzers.

“I can tell you that if I hit a homer and I get my team to the World Series, they can rip off my pants. Everything. They can rip everything off,” Sanchez told reporters Thursday. “If I get my team to the World Series, hitting a walk-off homer like that, they can rip anything off.”

Aroldis Chapman allowed that home run to Altuve, and Thursday told reporters, “I think a lot of people have seen that video. It’s a popular video right now. If you look at his actions, it’s a little suspicious, right? But at the end of the day, I just don’t know.”

#Dodgers Alex Wood on possibility opponents will take it out on Astros by throwing at their hitters: "You would be hard pressed to say no. I mean, they messed with a lot of guys lives. I don't condone that type of behavior. We certainly don't play them. ..." (cont)

— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) February 14, 2020

"and they'll get suspended more games than any of those guys got for the biggest cheating scandal in 100 years. It'll be pretty ironic when that happens because I'm sure that's how it will end up playing out." 3/3

— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) February 14, 2020

When he thought he was being traded to the Angels, Ross Stripling started wrestling with whether he would intentionally throw at an Astros hitter to retaliate. He concluded he probably would, at the right time, in the right place. I think it’s a fascinating question.

— Pedro Moura (@pedromoura) February 14, 2020

The Dodgers lost the 2017 World Series to the Astros, and the Yankees lost the ALCS in both 2017 and 2019 to Houston, so their beefs are more personal. But other teams have players angry about the Astros, too.

Other players

Rob Manfred has failed the game he was tasked to protect. He should resign. This is a joke. The Astros just gave us all the double bird and walked away.

— Tony Barnette (@HeyBarn) February 14, 2020

Sean Manaea was pretty unimpressed with the Astros presser this morning. “They didn’t own up to anything, they all just sort of said the same thing. They want to move on but they haven’t even said what they’ve done.”

— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) February 13, 2020

Manaea was unswayed by Jim Crane’s contention that the cheating did not affect games. “Then what’s the point of doing it then? Why are you all cheating if you don’t think it’s going to affect the game? You’re not doing it to try to lose or stay the same.”

— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) February 13, 2020

Indians pitcher Mike Clevinger said of the Astros, “I don’t think any of those motherfuckers should be able to look us in the eye. They should feel ashamed.”

In 2017, an Astros player FaceTimed Chris Archer to tell him he was tipping pitches. That was a lie. The Astros were banging a trash can. “It sucks when you dedicate your whole life to something, and somebody’s out there doing some shady shit like that.”https://t.co/xMHZkwMTsx

— Stephen J. Nesbitt (@stephenjnesbitt) February 13, 2020

Stephen Strasburg, the 2019 WS MVP, with more high heat for the Astros: "Someday I’m gonna hopefully have some grandkids and sit down and talk to them about the experience of the World Series and not really feel ashamed of it at all."

— Tyler Kepner (@TylerKepner) February 14, 2020

Andrew Heaney wants the Astros to fess up: pic.twitter.com/2YMTcSEySH

— Maria Torres (@maria_torres3) February 12, 2020

If the Astros want to “move on” from this mess .... maybe actually own up to it and be accountable, or just keep “BS”ing ... which is what they will do and this will linger and tear them apart ‍♂️ @MLB

— Shawn Kelley (@kelleytime27) February 13, 2020

Didn’t impact the game lol

— Michael Hermosillo (@mhermosillo10) February 13, 2020

Todd Frazier retweeted an article in which a body language expert said Altuve wasn’t telling the truth and “the whole thing was scripted bull.”

Daniel Descalso, on the Astros presser/apology today: “It’s hard to judge the sincerity. I don’t know them and don’t know what’s going on in their head but it felt a little scripted.”

— Jesse Rogers (@ESPNChiCubs) February 13, 2020

Andrelton Simmons took the “petty” route on his IG story after the Astros’ apology today. pic.twitter.com/VDB85OO0gX

— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) February 13, 2020

Let’s say someone messes up. Messes up bigly, even. And the truth is that they really don’t care about messing up. At all. In fact, they would do it all over again, and you know this. Asking for a friend, would you rather receive:

— Trevor Bauer (@BauerOutage) February 13, 2020

that’s it? What a f*#*!!! joke. I’m old, retired, out of the game so screw my thoughts but damn lol. All people want is something from the heart if it’s there. Something!!

— David Freese (@DavidFreese) February 13, 2020

I’m no expert, but I am a human who understands what remorse looks like. Didn’t really see that. Just some smugness and rehearsed blanket answers.

— Trevor Plouffe (@trevorplouffe) February 13, 2020

Mike Bolsinger, who allowed four runs while recording just one out in a relief appearance in Houston at the height of the Astros’ electronic sign-stealing in August 2017, is suing the team.

“I want my lawsuit to lead to positive change,” Bolsinger opined in The Washington Post. “Baseball is at an important crossroads. How the game responds to this scandal will define its credibility and its existence for years to come.”

Bolsinger hasn’t pitched in the majors since that disastrous outing, is no longer on a 40-man roster and is not part of the union. But his sentiment is shared by many players around the league, and that’s going to be important going forward.

[newstechreviews]

Over 100 million people tune in annually for the Super Bowl, the U.S.’s most-watched televised event. Most are in it for the football. Some for the commercials, and others for the nachos. But it can often feel like there’s just as much hype around the Halftime Show as the part involving sports. And for good reason: the Super Bowl Halftime Show is not only the pinnacle of pop stardom, but it also provides endless fodder for water-cooler conversation, a sub-15-minute spectacle that consistently spawns viral moments that live on well past the final touchdown.

“It’s like winning the Oscar. It’s the biggest show that there is. It has the biggest audience,” Jennifer Lopez explained after she was announced as one of this year’s Super Bowl LIV stars. The other is Shakira, the Colombian entertainer and Grammy-winning artist who rose to fame in the 2000s with hits like “She Wolf” and “Hips Don’t Lie.” They’ll break up the action between the two teams competing this year, the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs.

Together, Lopez and Shakira’s planned performance on Feb. 2 at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens marks a major turn of events for the Halftime Show, which has, in the past few years, been subject to criticism for its choices of performers, and whose performers have in turn been criticized for tacitly supporting the NFL during a time of controversy.

The two women are making history, not only for sharing the stage in a dual act for their first time together, but also because they will be the first Latin headliners at the Super Bowl. “I think it’s a very important moment for our community, for the Latino community in this country,” Lopez said in a press conference on Jan. 30. “The Super Bowl is a very American event, as American as it can get. It will also be a reminder of the heritage of this country, which is one of diversity, and that’s what we will be celebrating on Sunday,” added Shakira.

A history of controversy and disappointment

The Super Bowl has not always been the world’s biggest stage. (See: early years that featured local marching bands as the main event.) But for decades now, crowds have come to anticipate its outsized spectacle, now a stage to some of our most famous musical artists. Yet a history of controversy has dogged the show since 2003, when Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson starred in one of the most-publicized wardrobe snafus of all time. After that, organizers pedaled back their ambitions, bringing on a series of classic rock headliners.

The past decade has been a mixed bag as the show has tried to inch back toward real-time relevance: 2011 brought the The Black Eyed Peas, followed by Madonna, Beyoncé (with a cameo from Destiny’s Child), Bruno Mars, Katy Perry, Coldplay (with a cameo from Beyoncé), Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake and finally Maroon 5 in 2019. Almost all of the acts brought on extra performers to amp up the energy and broaden their musical options.

In particular, the last five years — starting with a family-friendly set from Mars, then Perry’s zany, viral-Left-Shark show, Coldplay’s underwhelming offering, Timberlake’s less-than-triumphant return and Maroon 5’s lackluster set — have many questioning the place of the Halftime Show in the American pop landscape. On the world’s biggest stage, we expect the most, but we seem to be let down time and again. (The exceptions here are Lady Gaga — whose over-the-top pop diva persona was a natural match for the event — and Beyoncé, whose “Formation” performance packed a punch of historical significance.)

View this post on Instagram

Waiting for my cue like … Only 🔟 days until #SuperBowlLIV! ✨🏈 ✨ The countdown is on. Are you ready? #PepsiHalftime #SBLIV @guess @niyamasol

A post shared by Jennifer Lopez (@jlo) on Jan 23, 2020 at 1:00pm PST

A sharp — and intentional — departure

Enter Lopez and Shakira, who are familiar faces to American audiences, but a sharp departure in look and sound from the Halftime Show’s past. “Shakira being from Barranquilla, me being from the Bronx — the two of us never could have imagined we would be playing at the Super Bowl one day,” Lopez said. Shakira spoke to their Latin heritage: “The Latinos are going through a difficult time in the U.S. right now, and it’s very important for us to convey a message of unity and also to show what a relevant force the Latin community is in this country: how much we have to offer, our idiosyncrasies, our culture.”

Lopez also reiterated the importance of female role models in this Super Bowl. “The two teams that are playing are run by women,” she reminded us, likely referring to 49ers coach Katie Sowers and Norma Hunt, the matriarch of the Chiefs, “and then you’ve got two women headlining the halftime show. That statement alone for me is empowering. When I think of my daughter and all the little girls of the world to be able to have that to see two Latinas doing that in this country at this time, it’s very empowering for us.”

It’s no coincidence that two Latin artists were tapped this year, when the Super Bowl is being held in Miami, one of the U.S.’s most diverse cities with a population that’s over 75% Hispanic or Latino. And it reflects a broader trend in popular music to embrace Latin music, which has been climbing in mainstream radio, chart and streaming popularity in the U.S., thanks in part to crossover hits like 2017’s “Despacito,” Camila Cabello’s salsa-based “Havana” and Cardi B’s “I Like It.” In fact, Americans consumed more Latin music than country or EDM starting in 2018. (The broad “Latin” designation can often include a range from reggaeton and salsa to the pop, trap, and rock music produced by artists deemed Latin.)

View this post on Instagram

‪Five days! #SuperBowl #HalftimeShow #SBLIV 🏈🎤‬ @nfl

A post shared by Shakira (@shakira) on Jan 28, 2020 at 8:18am PST

Two women at the height of their careers

When the Super Bowl artists were announced, however, some critics were skeptical of the choices. Lopez famously hails from the Bronx (Jenny from the Block, anyone?) and Shakira is from Colombia, although she has made Miami her home base. But Miami has plenty of homegrown talent: Enrique Iglesias, Jason Derulo, Ricky Martin and Flo Rida all call it home, as have DJ Khaled, Camila Cabello, Gloria Estefan and Rick Ross. And then there’s Pitbull, the original Mr. 305 himself (now Mr. Worldwide).

This criticism doesn’t necessarily hold up if you look at the show’s history; the Super Bowl has never matched its location to its stars in the past, although Maroon 5 was subject to similar complaints last year in Atlanta. It’s likely Lopez and Shakira will look to this roster of Miami locals to boost their show; neither are strangers to collaboration, and rumors have popped up that Khaled will be onstage. Pitbull, who featured on Lopez’s 2011 hit “On the Floor,” is currently slated for a pregame performance alongside a long list of major stars.

So what should audiences expect? If all goes well, we’ll see two women at the height of their careers, having toiled for decades to keep themselves relevant — although they’ve never performed together for a major event. (It should be noted that solo female acts are rarely given an opportunity of this size past a certain age, either. Lopez is now 50, and Shakira will be celebrating her 43rd birthday on Super Bowl Sunday.)

This is certainly Lopez’s time to shine: she’s been riding an upswing of popularity thanks to her critically-acclaimed role in last year’s Hustlers, and despite the fact that she hasn’t released an album since 2014, she has decades of material to pull from and a few more recent singles with zest (see: “Dinero” with Cardi B and DJ Khaled). Lopez loves a showgirl moment of glitter and sparkle; she has a penchant for dialing up the dancing and shimmying onstage; and she brings a steady warmth and professionalism, fresh off of a Las Vegas residency in 2018 and ensuing arena tour.

Shakira, meanwhile, made a mark with 2010 World Cup theme song, appeared as a coach on The Voice from 2013 to 2014, released a Grammy-winning album (El Dorado) in 2017 and followed it up with a major world tour. She’s currently one of Spotify’s most-streamed artists — the most-streamed Latin artist on the platform, in fact, and one of the world’s best-selling artists — and has kept up a steady stream of output, including the hit “Chantaje” with Maluma and recent songs “Clandestino” (also with Maluma) and “Me Gusta” with Anuel AA, keeping up easily with her Latin contemporaries and showing off her willingness to collaborate with those pushing Latin pop and reggaeton forward.

WireImage—2009 Kevin MazurShakira and Jennifer Lopez at the 2009 Latino Inaugural Gala – Celebrando El Cambio at Union Station on January 18, 2009 in Washington, D.C.

A complicated moment

Shakira and Lopez enter the Super Bowl conversation at a complicated time in its political history, however. Backlash lingers over the NFL’s choice to sideline Colin Kaepernick; players continue, in protest of racial injustice in America, to take knees during the National Anthem (this year to be sung by Demi Lovato, on a major comeback). Rihanna even reportedly turned down the performance slot in 2019 in solidarity with Kaepernick, and Maroon 5 was targeted for their choice to participate.

But this August, the NFL announced a partnership with Roc Nation, the company helmed by hip-hop mogul and public Kaepernick supporter Jay-Z — a move for which the latter received criticism. Part of Roc Nation’s new role: to assist in the selection of NFL performers. “The National Football League has the platform and opportunity to inspire change across the country,” Jay-Z said in a statement. “This partnership is an opportunity to strengthen the fabric of communities across America.”

So far, that change has been hard to see in a meaningful way as the football season has rolled on as usual. But optics — and spectacle — are crucial. And the Super Bowl Halftime Show is nothing if not the ultimate spectacle. This show is a chance for the NFL to gesture toward the changes Jay-Z has insinuated are coming.

“It’s very Shakira and it’s very Jennifer. It’s a lot of energy, it’s very entertaining, there are heartfelt moments… It’s packed,” Lopez said of what to expect. “I think J-Lo and I are here redefining paradigms of age, race, background,” Shakira added. “What matters is the message. We’re here, and we have a lot of stuff to say.” It’s well past time for them to rightfully join the ranks of the Beyoncés, Katy Perrys and Lady Gagas of the world, who have shined in the Super Bowl spotlight. The bar might be low, but Lopez and Shakira seem eager to raise it.