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sapphires-and-silver-linings · 2 years ago

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The Betrayer | Chapter Four: Now You Know

Nothing is fine.

Pairing: Albert Wesker/F!Reader, Chris Redfield/F!Reader

Tags: Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Death Mention

Notes: Chapter 4 is here! I am... so sorry... for how angsty this is, but also no I'm not. I made myself cry writing this, and hope the emotions come across as intended. Also, I know Lucky is a reader insert, but I really just wanted to give her a backstory and personality. I even envision her in my head in a very specific way lol. Hope you don't mind the lack of ambiguity because bringing her character to life has been such a joy. I am so in love with Chris Redfield it makes me look stupid. Wesker lovers, I promise our boy is coming. It is a slow-burn fic, and I needed/wanted to set up the world and give a lot of information before things take off. I put a lot of work into the worldbuilding though, so I hope you like it as I drop bits and pieces of that and explain it as I go. This story does have a set plot, but I'm keeping the chapters kinda fast and loose so I can make things up as I go. Chapter 5 is in the works. Anyway, hope you enjoy reading this installment as much as I enjoyed writing it! Please leave a comment if you can, the feedback is always good for the writing process!

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Day 1; Survivors’ Camp

Carlos let out a low whistle as you wrapped up your story. “You know what? I think Chris was right. You are one lucky girl.”

“I just can’t believe you weren’t fired for that,” Leon scoffed, incredulous.

You chuckled. “Oh, I almost was. When I came to in the hospital, my captain absolutely chewed my ass out. So did Chris. I don’t think I’ve ever seen either of them so mad.”

“Well, if it were my girl’s life on the line, I think I’d be pretty miffed,” Carlos replied, crossing his arms over his chest.

You gave him a strange look. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Could he know about–no… that’s not possible.

Carlos responded with a laugh, “Oh, just that–”

Before he could finish his sentence, the survivor who helped Chris set up the large pot over the fire cleared his throat. He was young, roughly Claire’s age, with a very dramatic coif and a long-sleeved green shirt pushed up to his elbows. Everyone turned to look at him expectantly.

He waved one hand in the air dramatically and you could see Chris roll his eyes behind him, forcing you to stifle a giggle. “Ladies and gents, dinner is served.”

You heard various cheers and mutters of impatience at the declaration before everyone started forming a line in front of the two men. Chris was pouring the contents of the pot into a collection of mismatched bowels with a large ladle as the other survivor handed them out.

Carlos only gave you a shrug instead of finishing his answer to you and made his way to the back of the line. You turned to Leon, exasperated, and he just offered you a sympathetic smile.

The two of you stood, and you swayed a bit on your injured ankle. Leon was quick to grab your arm, letting you use him to steady yourself.

“Thanks, it feels like it hurts worse every time I walk on it. Though I should probably just push through,” you said with gritted teeth, trying to find your balance without his assistance.

“Or maybe you should stay off of it as much as possible. I can just bring you a bowl if you want.”

You shook your head. “No, I can’t let this slow me down too much. If I’m picked for a trial tomorrow, I need to be able to walk on it. Just… give me a second to adjust.”

“If you insist,” he replied as he watched you wince in pain. “Chris wasn’t lying when he said you were stubborn.”

You guffawed, “Coming from him, of all people? Pot meet kettle. He’s probably the most stubborn person I know, and that’s coming from someone who worked with cops for a decade.”

There was a small, amused grin on Leon’s face. “Yeah, I’m aware. But I think all of us have to be at least a little stubborn to make it in a place like this. Keeps the morale up, I guess.”

He helped you hobble over to the line, which was dissipating quickly. The hungry survivors spread out to the many seats scattered around the clearing, talking animatedly to each other. It was so lively and pleasant compared to the heaviness that persisted before and during the trial. It was like they were celebrating moving past another day, and you couldn’t blame them.

When the two of you reached the end, the last to get your food except for the men serving it, you pulled away from Leon to stand on your own. “I think I can manage now, thank you. Go on ahead of me.”

“If you’re sure,” he said, almost reluctantly. You waved him forward and he begrudgingly stepped up to get a bowl before leaving you to it.

You limped up to the survivor in front of you and he offered you a concerned look. “You, uh, gonna be okay there, lady?”

“Yeah. Believe it or not, I’ve had worse days.” You were only half-lying.

He smiled as he gave you your food. “You must be Lucky, right?”

You groaned as you pinned Chris with a dirty look over the younger man’s shoulder. Chris pretended not to notice.

“I can’t seem to escape that nickname,” you told the survivor. “Even in this nightmare world, it follows me.”

He chuckled lightly. “Well, I think it’s cute. And it suits you.”

“Shouldn’t the patron be giving compliments to the chef and not the other way around?” you replied, taking a sip from the bowl.

The stew was hot and burned your mouth a bit, but it was delicious, whatever was in it. Maybe that was the hunger talking, though.

“Just the sous-chef, this time. I’m Steve, by the way.” He offered you his hand and you shook it.

“Well, Steve, it’s nice to meet you.” You glanced around at the others as you retracted your arm. “I guess I have my work cut out for me getting to know everyone.”

“I wouldn’t sweat it too much,” he assured, grabbing his own bowl from Chris now that they were the last two left. “We live in pretty close quarters, and we’re all bound to end up in a trial together, eventually.”

“I guess that makes it easier,” you mumbled.

“You know, if you want to socialize, you can come eat with me and my friends.”

You glimpsed at Chris to see what he thought about that, and he just shrugged, as if to say, ‘Up to you.’

You returned your attention back to Steve. “Sure. I’d like to get a head start on making introductions anyway.”

“Cool, follow me.”

You gave Chris a half-assed salute and he waved you off as he headed to wherever he planned to eat his meal. You trailed after your new friend.

Steve led you to a long table at the far side of the clearing, a group of kids in their late teens sitting in the surrounding assortment of chairs. Rebecca and Claire were there, apparently already companions with the others.

You felt rather old standing in front of these teenagers, being roughly a decade older than most of them, but it reminded you of the times you had to entertain your little brother and his friends over the years. It was almost nostalgic.

“I know Chris said so earlier, but this is Lucky,” Steve spoke, introducing you.

“You already know Claire and Rebecca. Obviously,” he stated, sweeping his hand towards them. He then pointed across the table at a girl wearing a striped sweater and the boy who sat next to her in a dark jacket. “But this is Nancy and Jonathan. We came here together.”

He then referred to a young woman in a blue button-up, a sad-looking girl with short dark hair, another girl in a beanie and a flannel, and a boy with messy hair who looked like he’d never slept a day in his short life, “That’s Laurie, Cheryl, Nea, and Quinten. They came alone.”

You waved–some of them either returning the favor or nodding to acknowledge your presence–and sat down between Steve and Claire.

“So how’d you get injured?” Quentin asked conversationally as you slurped at the stew in your grasp.

Before you could swallow and reply, Nea interjected with a distinctly European accent, ��I heard she was chased down by a giant spider.”

Claire jumped in, “The spider didn’t give her the injuries. Ghost Face did.”

“You got away?” Jonathan questioned, looking surprised.

“She didn’t just get away. She killed him,” Claire corrected, looking slyly at you.

“Bullshit!” Nea exclaimed, crossing her arms. “Nobody’s downed a killer on their own. Especially not their first night in the realm. That’s impossible.”

“Well, believe it, Nea. She did. She’s a badass.”

“It’s not like you were there. She could be lying.”

“I know her! She’s not a liar!”

“I know you’re only defending her cos she’s screwing your brother.”

You spit your food out onto the table, everyone who was intently listening to the bickering between the two girls quickly turning to you. You wiped your face with the back of your hand. “Excuse me?”

“Nea, that was too far,” Nancy warned before addressing you. “If it is true you killed Ghost Face, I think that’s really impressive.”

“Yeah, if you could manage that, you might be able to help us get out of trials alive more often,” Jonathan added, wrapping an arm around the girl.

Out of the corner of your eye, you could see Steve tense up.

Drama, much, you thought.

Nea rolled her eyes. “Better that than get in the way, at least.”

The group half-heartedly agreed and the discussion moved swiftly to different topics.

You watched on in amusement as you witnessed the typical teenage bullshittery unfold before you.

There was the weird tension between Steve, Jonathan, and Nancy on one side of the table, though Nancy seemed to be avoiding it by conversing with Laurie. On the other end, Nea and Claire bickered good-naturedly, Quentin looked like he wasn’t all there, and Rebecca and Cheryl, who sat side-by-side, were quietly talking amongst themselves.

Steve noticed your silence as he glanced over at you, leaning in to whisper, “I know it's a weird bunch, but we all have each other’s backs.”

You smiled, appreciating that despite everything, at least these kids got some form of normalcy.

If only they didn’t have to be here at all.

The thought of your brother being stuck in a place like this was more painful than you could bear to imagine. Chris must have been devastated when he realized Claire was trapped here too. Your heart ached for him.

Suddenly, a hush fell over the clearing and you all turned to face the campfire. Standing on the other side, illuminated by the flames, was a young blonde woman wearing cowgirl boots and cut-off jean shorts. Her entire left arm was covered in a floral tattoo, leading from her shoulder down to her wrist, where a beat-up old guitar was held aloft in her hand.

“That’s Kate,” Laurie informed you. “She was a singer before she was brought here. She doesn’t do performances every night, though, so you’re lucky to get to see it so soon!”

“Well, it is her name, isn't it?” Nea snarked.

Laurie only gave her an exasperated look.

“It’s a special night, y’all. We have a new survivor here with us, and I think we should all give her a warm welcome! This is for Lucky!” Kate called out.

Every single person in the camp turned to look at you—some smiling, some curious. You felt incredibly exposed by the attention.

Steve clapped your shoulder and you heard Carlos wolf-whistle from across the clearing. Jill reached over and smacked him on the arm. He had the audacity to look wounded by the playful action.

The campsite went quiet again when Kate started strumming her guitar. After a few chords, she began to sing.

It was possibly the most beautiful and captivating voice you’d ever heard, even though you didn’t recognize the lyrics.

Looking around you, it was clear everyone else felt the same way, their eyes glued to the woman who swayed and tapped her foot as she crooned her sad but hopeful melody.

When she finished, there was thunderous applause that echoed off the walls of the encampment.

She bowed, her face flushed by the reaction, before she spoke again, “This next one’s a dance song! I want everyone to get up and groove!”

There was a flurry of movement as a bunch of people stood and made their way to the middle of the camp, taking partners with them. Claire strode over to Leon to ask him to dance, and you saw him rub the back of his neck sheepishly as he let her pull him into the fray.

Nancy and Jonathan went together, Steve watching them with a clenched jaw.

He got to his feet and faced you. “You wanna dance with me?”

You gave him an apologetic smile. “Sorry, Steve. I can barely walk, let alone dance.”

“Right, yeah. No problem,” he replied, a little embarrassed by the rejection. He turned to Laurie. “Would you?”

She smiled up at him and took his hand. “Why not?”

The others at your table sat back to watch in amusement as the large group twirled in tandem. Those who weren’t dancing were stomping their feet and clapping along.

“Care to join me?” You were startled as Chris sidled up to you, his large hand outstretched.

He had shed his green tactical vest, revealing his white S.T.A.R.S. shirt underneath. The top few buttons were undone and you could see a small tuft of his chest hair poking through the gap. His muscles were barely contained by the snugly fit article of clothing, making you avert your gaze in embarrassment for even looking.

Dude is built like a grizzly, you mused.

You recovered quickly and answered him, “The ankle, Redfield. I don’t think I’d be able to keep up.”

He leaned down and swiftly lifted you, setting your feet on top of his own. “Don’t worry, Lucky, I can do it for the both of us.”

You couldn’t stop the giggle from escaping you as he spun you into the shifting masses.

You were a little shocked to see Carlos and Jill paired together nearby, as Jill had always been more of a wallflower, preferring to watch you and the others live it up at the bars and clubs your friend group often visited back home. Carlos was leading and seemed very suave about it, despite his usual air of goofiness. Jill was smiling wider than you’d ever seen as they danced, her face flushed pink in the campfire light.

“They seem… awfully close,” you remarked to Chris.

He followed your gaze and chuckled. “You could say that. Carlos only had eyes for her the moment he got here. She clearly likes him back but won’t admit it.”

You then saw Claire and Leon together. Claire seemed to be the one in charge and Leon, bless his soul, was stiff as a board and tripping over his own feet. They were both laughing.

“I think your lil sis has a crush,” you teased Chris, absentmindedly twirling the hair at the nape of his neck between your fingers. He shivered and you wondered if it was the chilly night air, though he had always been a furnace of man and rarely got cold.

“I’m keeping an eye on it,” he replied with a scowl. “I know she’s an adult, but she’s still my kid sister. Leon’s a decent guy, but he has a thing for Ada. I worry Claire will get hurt.”

“You can worry all you like, Chris, but the heart wants what it wants. You can’t protect her from everything. She needs to learn that lesson on her own if things don’t shake out.”

He sighed, his grip on your waist tightening ever-so-slightly, “I know, I know. It’s just… so much is out of our control here. It’s hard not to double down on the ways I can protect her.”

“She’s an independent spirit, Chris. You’ll only push her away.”

“You’re right,” he admitted, eyes meeting yours.

You grinned brightly up at him. “I always am.”

He snorted, “Don’t get ahead of yourself, Lucky. I have a whole filing cabinet of times you proved yourself wrong.”

You dropped one of your hands to press against your chest, mockingly flattered. “Aww, you keep a filing cabinet just for me?”

“Definitely. It’s for moments like this, so I can keep you in check,” he joked.

“I don’t know whether to be impressed or offended.”

“Hmm,” he thought aloud, dipping you, “probably a bit of both.”

He pulled you upright and you were pressed against him, your head resting on his broad chest. You were so close, you could hear his heartbeat under your ear, the soft rhythm of it calming to you.

Trailing your gaze up to his face, you found an intensity in his half-lidded eyes you didn't think you had ever seen before.

You weren’t sure why, but you felt your own heart skip a beat.

You came back to your senses when the song finally ended, those around you pulling apart and chatting excitedly. Kate started to gear up for another one, but you were utterly exhausted. Chris noticed.

“It’s been a long day, Lucky. We should go find you a room so you can get settled. You should rest,” he told you, his hand lingering against your side.

“That’s the best thing you’ve said all night.”

He laughed and the two of you bid goodnight to those you passed by who weren’t preoccupied with dancing.

You reached the edge of the clearing and Chris turned to you. “There’s a few empty shacks and open rooms in the facility. You can have your pick.”

You considered it for a moment. “Where are you staying?”

“Why, you wanna be roommates?” he teased.

“No, more like neighbors. I think I’d feel… safer… knowing you’re close by,” you replied honestly.

His gaze softened. “The group that’s from our world is staying in the facility. Most of the others are uncomfortable with sleeping there, but we don’t really mind it.”

“The facility it is, then.”

He nodded and helped you enter the aforementioned structure, leading you down a corridor lit only by hanging lanterns, the wall lined with doors. He finally stopped and pointed to the room in front of you. “This one’s free to take. You’ll be next to Ada.”

“What about you?” you questioned out of curiosity.

He gestured down the hall. “I’m just over there. If you ever need me at night, don’t be scared to knock on my door, got it?”

You agreed before you followed him into your new room. It was dark until Chris pulled out a matchbox from a drawer and lit a candle sitting in the shadows. As the flickering light filled the room, you took in the space before you. It was pretty drab, with cracking white walls, a stained linoleum floor, a dresser, a couple of side tables, and a bare full-size mattress on an old wooden frame.

“It isn’t much, I know, but the beds here aren’t terrible.”

“Are there any blankets around?” you asked, a bit worried you would freeze in only your S.T.A.R.S. shirt.

“Oh, right. We tend to put extras in the dresser when a new survivor arrives. Here, I’ll help you get set up.”

With that, the two of you made quick work of covering the mattress with some worn, moth-eaten bedding. There were even a couple of lumpy pillows, which you couldn’t really complain about, considering the night before you had nothing of the sort.

“Well,” Chris said as you plopped onto the bed, kicking off your boots, “I think that’s all. I can find you some new clothes tomorrow.”

“Thank you. For everything. I don’t know what I would have done if you didn’t find me,” you confessed earnestly.

“I told you when we first started working together that I’d have your back, no matter what.”

“Not even being stuck in hell can change your mind, huh?”

“Nothing could.”

“Stubborn ass.”

“You’re one to talk.”

You smiled at him warmly and he held your gaze for a moment until he half-turned to the door. “You should get some sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Before he could leave, you called after him, “Chris, wait. I know it’s late and we’re both tired, but… you told me you’d explain what happened to the other members of S.T.A.R.S.”

The cheerfulness he had shown prior seemed to be sucked straight from his body. He didn’t immediately turn back to face you.

“Are you sure? It might be better to hold off until you’ve gotten some rest.”

“I’m sure, Chris. I don’t think I can wait any longer.”

He sighed, slowly making his way over, and sat on the side of the bed right next to you. “Where should I start?”

You rotated on the mattress to face him, your hand falling on his forearm. “From where we landed in Raccoon Forest.”

“Here goes.”

And with that, he told you about the horrifying events that unfolded that night.

Joseph was the first to reach the Bravo team’s chopper, and he discovered the mutilated body of Kevin Dooley. You didn’t know him very well, but his face still popped into your head at his name. He wasn’t a member of S.T.A.R.S., but you had been acquainted with him prior to its conception. He was a great pilot and always dependable. You felt your stomach tie up in knots.

Chris’s voice was tight when he then explained that Joseph was killed shortly after. Torn apart by a pack of rabid dogs. You and Jill had shot at them repeatedly, but they didn’t stop. You felt your eyes misting over.

Joseph… He was one of your closest friends on the team, and you had been partnered up with him on more than one occasion. You could see his smile in your head–imagined his lighthearted teasing.

Now he was dead.

Your grip on Chris’s arm only clenched further. You were fighting back tears as he continued.

Your group fled, being chased by the hounds after Brad had abandoned you, and entered a mansion in the middle of the forest. The “Spencer Mansion”, Chris called it. Barry was separated from your team in the chaos, and you had thought the worst.

Wesker had told you to split up. You and Chris remained together, while he and Jill paired off. The thought of being parted from them made you anxious.

The two of you were then faced with these terrifying creatures that had once been people, apparently infected with what Chris called the “T-virus”, which made them hungry for human flesh. You and Chris stumbled across a few corpses of your fellow S.T.A.R.S. members who had met that grisly fate.

You struggled to keep your composure.

Eventually, you had run into Rebecca tending to a very wounded Richard. He had been bitten by a snake, or so you had been told, despite the bite being incredibly large.

You and Chris tried to find an antidote while Rebecca remained at his side, but you were too late. Richard died right in front of your eyes, just like Joseph had.

Your breath caught in your throat thinking about the sweet man–how he only wanted to protect everyone.

He suffered until the very end.

Chris had to pause to collect himself and you took the opportunity to prepare for what he was about to tell you next.

“We split up with Rebecca again, and you and I kept moving. We were ambushed by a group of those things, and although we were taking them out one by one, they had us surrounded. You ran out of bullets, and while trying to reload, your cast made you fumble and–”

“And what..?” You dreaded his next words.

“One of them got too close. It… it bit you. Tore into you. I managed to fight it off, but you were hurt. Badly. I couldn’t think straight. I just grabbed you, shoved some of them out of the way, and ran for it. I found Rebecca and we holed up in a bedroom nearby. She did her best to stop the bleeding, but you were fading fast. She had to leave to get more medical supplies, and I stayed with you. I somehow got through to Wesker, the radio signal going in and out the whole night, and he showed up shortly after.”

“What happened next, Chris?”

“Rebecca… didn’t make it back in time. You–” his words were trapped in his throat as he stared down at your hand wrapped firmly around his arm. His jaw clenched.

“You died, Lucky.”

You were stunned, unable to comprehend what he had just said.

Me? Dead?! you thought, mouth hung open and eyes wide. No, that’s not possible. That can’t be…

But as the words really sunk in, you knew he was telling the truth. Chris would never lie to you, not about something like this.

And how he and Jill acted when they first saw you earlier that day? The uncharacteristic emotion, the way Chris held you so tightly to him as if he never wanted to let go? The way he acted so weirdly uptight the first few hours after reuniting?

If Jill had been taken in September, you would have been dead for two months. Chris grieved you for five years. You couldn't imagine how it must have been for them to find you in that old farmhouse.

“I wish I–I wish I could have done more to save you. I’m sorry.” He refused to meet your gaze, so you planted your hands over the sides of his jaw, pulling him back to face you. He had never looked more defeated–more broken–the entire time you had known him as you regarded his tired visage.

He was always the strong one. The one who could rally everyone together and push through all odds. Stubborn and bold and so rigid in his convictions, it sometimes drove you crazy.

And here he was, his warm brown eyes shining with unshed tears, the guilt and the grief weighing down on him like a stone tied to his neck.

“It’s not your fault,” you whispered firmly, your thumbs stroking his skin in a feather-light touch.

His eyes closed at your words, a few stray tears escaping their corners. You had never seen him cry before. Chris didn’t let himself be vulnerable like this.

How heavy a burden he must have carried all this time. You don’t think you could have held it together that long if the roles had been reversed.

“Thank you,” was his only reply.

He pulled away to wipe his eyes and you let him, dropping your hands from his face.

A moment of silence passed between you, and you were reminded that the story was not over. You might have died, but you knew at the very least Chris and Jill survived that night.

“Chris, can you tell me what happened after I…” you couldn’t finish.

He knew what you meant and took a deep, shaky breath. “Rebecca and I, we just… pushed forward. All we could do. We learned Umbrella was behind everything and that Wesker, he–”

Chris no longer looked broken.

He was angry.

“Wesker betrayed us.”

You felt your heart stop. “What are you talking about?”

“He knew about all of it, Lucky. He was in on it.”

“No. No. He would never do that to us,” you defended, voice raising.

He would never do that to me.

Chris grabbed your wrist and held it tight. “I know it's hard to take in, but it's true. He knew what was going on in those woods, in that mansion, and he led us all to our deaths.”

“But… why..?” was all you could muster.

“He was working for Umbrella the whole time. Umbrella created S.T.A.R.S. and instated him as captain. He was a traitor, right under our noses. He also roped Barry into helping him. Threatened his family.”

You thought of your older teammate and felt sympathy for him. If it was your family in peril, you knew you would have done the same thing.

“How does it end, Chris?” you asked finally, needing to know.

“We cornered Wesker in the lab under the mansion. He shot Rebecca–”

“Oh my god.”

“She survived, don’t worry. But Wesker showed me this… this monster Umbrella had created. The Tyrant, he called it. It broke free and ripped right through him.”

You were horrified. Sure, he betrayed you all, but this? This was too much.

“Jill, Rebecca, Barry, and I managed to escape. Brad came back to get us, the jackass. The whole place blew sky-high. We’d hoped that it would contain the virus.”

“So Wesker… Wesker’s dead.” It felt like your tongue fought you to admit the words, laying heavy in your mouth. You stared at a large crack in the wall across from you, unsure of what else to focus on.

To lose him like this…

“We thought he was,” Chris muttered.

Your eyes snapped over to him. “What does that mean?”

“He survived somehow. I ended up fighting him months later. He got away then, too.” The look on Chris’s face was the closest thing to hatred you’d ever seen from him.

Despite everything he told you, though, you were relieved.

Your captain lived.

At the expense of so many of your friends' lives, you reminded yourself bitterly.

You still weren’t finished, though. “Leon and Carlos said something happened to the city in September. What was that about?”

Chris sighed deeply, that mounting rage dissipating immediately as he released his grip. “After the mansion, we wanted to do a full investigation of Umbrella. We knew there was corruption in the R.P.D., so we had to tread carefully. I got myself into some trouble as an excuse to take a ‘vacation’ in Europe, where I was looking into one of Umbrella’s international branches. Jill stayed in Raccoon City to keep an eye on things. And then, towards the end of September, everything back home went to shit.”

He continued, “There was an outbreak of the virus. Destroying the mansion didn’t stop the spread. The city was in chaos. Jill, Carlos, Claire, and Leon barely made it out alive before the government sent out a nuke. The whole city was leveled.”

You panicked. “My family–what happened to my family?!”

Chris couldn’t bring himself to look at you.

“Chris, please, tell me,” your voice broke as you pleaded with him, seizing one of his hands desperately in two of your own.

“Your parents… they didn’t–they didn’t make it.”

The tears you had been holding back finally sprung forward, wetting your dirty cheeks. The salt of them stung the cut on your face, but the pain building up inside of you was far worse.

“What about Kitty? Tic?” you asked of your younger siblings.

Those weren’t their real names. Kitty, who was only eight years old, got her nickname when she was a baby.

Your stepmother had this plump ginger cat, aptly named “Cheddar”. He hated everyone, especially you. You recalled when you were thirteen finding the miserable creature chowing down on a piece of plastic bag from the day’s grocery run. You quickly scooped him up and pulled it from his mouth, and in his gratitude for saving his life, he sliced his claw all the way from your temple down to your cheek. If you looked closely, you could still see the faint white line in the mirror, slightly raised against the rest of your skin.

But the one person that cat didn’t hate was your baby sister.

And she absolutely loved him.

So much so that her first words were not “mama” or “dada”, but the joyful declaration of “kitty!” before she burst into a fit of laughter. Your parents called her that ever since.

Your brother, on the other hand, received his nickname from you.

Even as a child, he never liked gum.

“It hurts my jaw,” he had whined. “Tic Tacs are just better! I can roll them around 'til they melt in my mouth. Superior candy.”

“Okay, you little freak,” you told him in jest, picking up the preferred mints and tossing them to him, the two of you wandering the isles of the nearby gas station after he begged you to take him for a car ride. “I’m gonna start calling you ‘Tic Tac Boy’ from now on.”

You kept your word, but over the years, it shortened to “Tic”. You used it so often, even his friends started referring to him by the moniker. He was begrudging at first, but then he just accepted it (guessed it served you right when Chris did the same thing to you a couple of months ago).

He had just turned sixteen.

The man before you looked tense, his brows furrowed as he chose his words carefully, “Kitty, she… she was with your parents.”

A sob wrenched itself from your throat, burning all the way up from the stabbing agony that started behind your ribs. You ripped your hands from Chris, digging your fingernails into your own legs hard enough to draw blood. You would have, were it not for your thick cargo pants protecting the flesh of your thighs from the filthy, jagged edges.

Kitty’s chubby, angelic little face and bright smile flashed through your mind. You could hear her gleeful shrieks as you chased her through the house, tickling her every time you caught up.

Gone. It was all gone.

Your brain bombarded you with the image of her charred corpse, nothing but the shape of her tiny body remaining in the ruins of the city you both grew up in. The city you both loved.

You could see your parents holding her between them, trying with all they could to shield her from the blast, heads bowed and pressed together.

Chris pulled you into his embrace, your face shoved into his chest as your wails echoed in the small room, muffled only slightly by the cotton of his shirt.

“She was just a baby, Chris! She was just a baby!”

“I know. I’m sorry, Lucky. I’m so sorry.” His large hand ran over the top of your head soothingly as you shook violently in his arms.

You don’t think you had ever felt so hopeless in your life, not even after your mother died.

Your brother, though. Chris didn’t say what happened to your brother.

You pulled back, a crazed sort of look in your eye. “Tic, what about Tic?!”

“He was the only one who made it out.”

Relief flooded through you. “Thank god. Thank god he’s okay.”

There was one good thing. One silver lining peeking through blackened clouds.

He lost everyone and everything he ever loved, you thought, anguished on your kid brother’s behalf, but at least he’s alive.

Chris looked like he wanted to say more but refrained as he watched you unravel before him.

“Is there… is there anything else?” you managed.

You were trying to keep from breaking into pieces, but it felt like your whole body was revolting against you–like it wanted to rip itself open and spill all this grief onto the floor, desperate for any way to get it out of you.

He shook his head. “No. That’s everything.”

You nodded, thinking for a moment you could pull yourself back together. But one thought of your parents, of your little sister, had you crumbling all over again.

“I think… I think I need to be alone,” you told him with shaky breaths, hating the tremor that laced your voice.

“Are you sure?” He looked reluctant to let you go, to leave you there, suffering by yourself.

You needed it, though–needed to feel this pain that shuddered through you, sharper than any blade or broken bone. If you didn’t let it out, you thought it might kill you.

But you didn’t want anyone, even Chris, to witness you fall apart completely.

“Please, go.”

He nodded, squeezing you against him one last time, and stood. When he reached the door, hand on the knob, he turned to you with a sorrowful expression on his face.

“If I could go back and change it all, Lucky, I would in a heartbeat.”

You gave him a ghost of a smile through your tears as you responded, “I know.”

With that, he was gone.

You fell forward against your bed, screaming at the top of your lungs into the pillow beneath you until your voice withered in your throat.

Nothing is fine.

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

Masterlist | Previous | Next

#albert wesker x reader #chris redfield x reader #albert wesker #chris redfield #dead by daylight #resident evil #dbd #re #the betrayer

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paigelts05 · 2 years ago

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FNAF, Renegade AU - Mechanics voulenteerie stick around

https://www.deviantart.com/paigelts05/art/FNAF-Mechanics-voulenteerie-stick-around-863941650

Published: Dec 13, 2020

Renegade File Server Location: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23843413

voulenteerie is a pun on voulentary and eerie. Its been ages since I've drawn my main FNAF OC, PT, and it's about time I drew her again. Deciding on a background for the drawing took forever, but it turned out really well aside from the part where my grey colouring pencil decided that it hated me and went and made the background rather scratchy in some places. Other than that, it turned out ok. Also, as I wanted to make the background more detailed, I decided that I would add some 'childrens drawings' similar to what you'd see in the games. One of these is a reference to another drawing of mine that I posted a while back. Whilst I did start this drawing in late August, I actually finished it mid September. The thing that has been taking so long has been writing a story to go with it. It took a while to figure out a fitting storyline and write something, not to mention that I'm pretty busy these days, so having the time to work on the story has been pretty rare. Given that PT designated herself as the team bodyguard, I decided to have the story lean into that. °*•:•*•.•*•:•*°*•:•*•.•*•:•*°*•:•*•.•*•:•*° °•.🌹 Story 🌹.•°

=°•.🌹.•°= 'With the amount of times a kid had seen backstage, or wandered off into the office, I'm surprised they aren't freaked out by the animatronics. Well, a lot of them seem to know they're animatronics, but what part of a the big strong lady singlehandedly lifting an animatronic that was currently being controlled by a ghost - in the middle of the day - isn't scary?' "The part where they think it's part of the show?" PT shot up and stared at the tiny ginger engineer who had spoken to her. "What?" Fritz said in response to his colleague and friend's stare, "were ya just thinking out loud?" "I was thinkin in my 'ead. Can you read my mind?" "Nope. Pretty sure ya were speaking out loud," Fritz packed his tools up as he spoke, "so, where's Krass? He was supposed to meet us." "Getting nagged by Gerald, probably," PT huffed, looking at the drawings on the walls of the corridors, several of them depicting disturbing incidents. Incidents, that in a just world, wouldn't exist, let alone exist so frequently that children get to see them at a restaurant of all things. Upon seeing a drawing of a yellow bear shaped blob towering over a red splotch, her grip tightened on her axe, "being able to suplex circus baby means shit all against something that doesn't even always have a physical form." She looked back over at Fritz, whose orange jacket was stained black and brown with motor oil: their casual clothes a stark reminder that they were here off their own backs tonight for reasons other than honest work. "So," she begun to walk towards their next point of interest: pirates cove, "are we going to say or do anything about the door still?" "Nah. Freddy did it some time after you left for the night the other day." "That's your story?" "And it's true. I'm stickin' to it." "I know, I'm just messing with you." The cove was as grim as ever. The curtains stained with a grotesque mix of pizza, motor oil, vomit, and blood. The part that touched the ground was the worst affected, so with a pair of scissors, PT sliced the manky part of the curtain off before placing it in a carrier bag. "If the janitors were actually paid to clean this damn thing, it wouldn't fall to me to do this. Hopefully this place will shut before the curtains have to be replaced. And just for that, this scrap is going to the cops instead of the incinerator." "Obvious much, but what'd they want with a scrap of mouldy fabric?" Fritz asked, trying not to puke. "See who the blood belongs to." PT replied, looking a bit green in the face herself as she tossed the bag onto a nearby table before climbing up onto the stage. Even though it was the middle of the night and the animatronics were active, Foxy slinked to the back of the cove. PT had won several fights against the animatronics before, and would not hesitate to throw hands again, and as a result, the animatronics respected her out of fear. The only animatronic who didn't have this fear instilled in them was the one who was the root of all her recent problems: Golden Freddy. "One word to your brother and I'll tear your ears off." PT growled as she begun to lift a hatch up that was in the stage. Inside the hatch was an old dusty control room: a relic of the days where the animatronics legs served little to no function and all their actions were governed by a person. This location had those rooms built, but by the time the place had opened under its original name back in the 80's, the rooms were already obsolete, and by the time the 90's rolled around and the location was rebranded to the most recent smaller scale Freddy's restaurant type, these rooms were more secret than the rooms that were actually supposed to be a secret. Upon picking up some rather dusty papers and tools, she clambered out the control room and got to work on the stages actual control panel - the one above ground at the back of the stage. Sparks flew through Foxy as she messed about with the box, fixing wires and resetting dials. PT's rubber soles shoes prevented her from getting electrocuted, but the robotic fox didn't have that luxury. Once she was done, she reset the clock on the panel to the correct time before closing and locking the panel's casing. "So, that's the control panel in the cove fixed. This one shouldn't activate during that day any time soon. What else was sus," she said as she batted the dust off herself and pocketed the items she had taken out of the control room. "Recover kitchen footage." Fritz said, reading off a list he had stored in his pocket. "Right," PT said as she picked up the bag containing the gross fabric. "Let's take the long way through the office. If that kid's picking on Krasnyy again I'll give him something to cry about." The two then walked down the corridor and came to the office, where they found Krasnyy in his security guard uniform looking rather exhausted. "You ok?" PT asked, to which Krasnyy replied with a nod and a weak thumbs up. "Is that a yes? You seem knackered." Krasnyy replied with an awkward silence before pointing at the tablet - probably the most advanced bit of tech in the building and it was crudely wired up to a plethora of cameras that were aincient in comparison - and taking a deep breath. "Show up on cameras. Drain energy. Speaking hurts." Krasnyy sometimes knew how to get a point across in the fewest words possible and today was one of those days, so both PT and Fritz knew that Gerald (Golden Freddy according to himself and the other animatronics) had been showing up in the cameras, and tormenting Krasnyy by somehow draining his energy. A pang of rage coursed through PT's mind; she wasn't sure if it was Blake's thoughts or her own, but she loathed Golden Freddy. It's mere existence with mostly taking a non-physical form was counterplay to what made her a good defender to her friends, and the fact that there was little she could do about the brat was truly enraging. It may have been a child, but that monster wasn't a child anymore, and hadn't been for years. "If he shows up again, shriek, and I'll come running and see what I can do," she said, wanting to stay calm. With the current people in the building being herself, Krasnyy, and Fritz, she was the most level headed one of the trio, so if she wasn't calm, there would be no-one left to be calm, "we're just going to the kitchen. We're going to see what we can recover from the camera. We'll be back soon." Krasnyy nodded, and PT nodded back before leaving the office through the east doorway and heading up to the kitchen. The two of them stayed quiet, listening out for any animatronics, or any signs of activity from Golden Freddy. Making it to the kitchen without incident, they located the camera. "Shattered," PT huffed, looking at the camera whose peices were strewn across the floor, "Looks like I'll be fitting a replacement. Wonder why the bastards hate this camera so much." Upon examining the remains of the camera for himself, Fritz grabbed a handfull of things that looked like solid state devices and circuit boards and shoved them into his bag. "I'll recover the footage when I get 'ome. No point in tryin'a do this in near zero light while being stalked by robots. That's just askin' for bad news." "Talking about news, I want to see if Krasnyy's ok before we set off. The camera was the last thing on the list, and it's nearing six anyway." As the two of them went to leave the kitchen, they found that the door had locked somehow, dispite the door not having a lock. "How? Like, seriously? What is this?" PT said as she repeatedly tried to barge the door open. Fritz, on the other hand, was getting flashbacks to watching Freddy tear the parts and services door off its hinges. Behind them, a child's laugh rang through the kitchen. Both of them ignored it and kept looking at the door. The laugh rang out again, louder, and somehow sounding more exasperated than a laugh should be able to sound. Again, they ignored it, and soon after the second laugh ended, the door gave way. Back on track to the office, PT remarked, "I was just copying you there - ignoring it. I would have propper thrown hands if I was on my own, but I guess you know how to deal with that thing better than I do." "Having to learn fast does have its perks," Fritz replied as they stepped back into the office, and Krasnyy looked awfully glad to see them. "So, did he silence you again?" PT asked, feeling like she kind of knew what was up. "Yep. Knew you were here." Krasnyy seemed almost disappointed in himself, dispite there being no damage and nothing he could have done. With a reassuring smile, PT responded "Well that really sucks. At least we've got what we've came for. The boss never shows up until half past, so we'll stay with you until six. The buildings power puts a dampener on that kid, so whilst you already know he's going to stalk the shit out of you, he can't hurt you outside of night shift hours." "Surprised you remembered," Krasnyy smiled back. And in what felt like a fast few minutes, the night was over. Day staff rolled in, and PT and Fritz left the building in plain sight, going completely unquestioned by their colleagues. Upon handing the relics from the old control room and the bag of gross fabric over to Mike, they finally breathed a sigh of relief. =°•.🌹.•°= °*•:•*•.•*•:•*°*•:•*•.•*•:•*°*•:•*•.•*•:•*°

#2020 #fnaf #fnaf au #fnaf oc #fnaf original character #art #artwork #FNAF Renegade AU #Renegade AU #Renegade AU Guards #PaigeLTS05's Faves #fnaf fanart #fnaf OC PT

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just-my-fandom · 4 years ago

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Rocky Road P8 (JJ Maybank x Routledge! Reader)

Part 8

Summary; Reader and JJ make up. After going fishing with Ward, John B reveals the truth suddenly to the reader about their father. The chief is now dead. John B and Sarah run away.

Warning(s); Mentions of death, mentions of getting sick (vomit)

A/N; PLEASE READ. There’s a lot of scenes I really didn’t feel like writing, such as the whole death of the chief, etc. So, I combined episodes 8, 9, and 10 together. So technically, this is the last part. But I will include an epilogue

Taglist; @bibliophilewednesday @sexualparkour @jjpouggues @poguestyle17

“So we’re okay?”

It’s the morning after. You and JJ sit on opposite edges of the hot tub, legs knee deep in the warm water.

“Yeah,” Your lips tilt in a small smile, JJs arms propped on his knees as his hands take your own, “Only if you promise to stop acting psycho,”

“Oh, totally,” JJ nods, releasing one of your hands to run it through his hair, “If me getting super drunk and having a terrible hang over last night doesn’t change me, then I don’t know what will,”

“J,” You warn, JJ huffing a short laugh before he nods, leaning forward so your faces were nearly inches apart,

“I promise,” He murmurs, raising his hand to cup the back of your neck and pull your lips against his, “Because I love you. And I’m not going to let my stupidity make me lose you,”

“Good,” You hum, raising your own hands to his hair, his body leaning forward enough to where he steps into the hot tub, arms wrapping around your waist,

But before he can pull you into the water yourself, Kiaras call to your brother causes you to pull away and look over your shoulder, JJ looking around you to watch as John B stomped across the yard of your home with a stone look on his face,

“John?” You call as Kiara did, sliding off the edge of the hot tub to slide on your flats, watching your twin brother move inside the Chateau, “JB,”

“Uh, what’s that all about?” Pope asks, as you shrug and move up the steps to the front porch, pausing as John B desperately searched for something,

“You all right, man?” Pope questions, “What’s up?”

“What’re you looking for?” Kiara rushes, irritated at the silence your brother gave to the group,

You watch as John B pulls the hand gun from under the couch cushions, “John B, what do you need the gun for?”

“Talk to us-,” JJ demands, and you move forward as soon as John B shoves JJ away, onto the pull out mattress,

“John B, what the fuck are you doing?” You shout, moving after John Bs retreating form to the backyard, “If you’re still mad at JJ from yesterday, we’re fine! We made up!”

“I don’t give a damn about the two of you,” John B grumbles, and you pause to watch him climb on JJs motorbike,

“Dude!” JJ shouts, John B finally turning with an angry snarl,

“Ward knows about the gold!” He shouts, and you huff a breath, heart nearly stopping at his next words, “He killed dad,”

“What?” You whisper, JJ quick to move up to you as John B sped away, JJs hand at your upper arm.

Your eyes leave John Bs retreating figure to look at JJ, hand resting at your stomach as you watched JJs mouth move, but no words were heard,

“Baby,” JJ calls, lifting a hand to caress your face as you swallow, thickly, “Hey, hey. Look at me,”

Quickly, you shake your head, exhaling sharply as Kiara moved up next to JJ, “She’s going to be sick-,” Kiara and Pope watch, alarmed, as you duck behind the parked van, JJs hand running down your back as you cough, violently,

“Hey, alright,” JJ murmurs, pulling you into him as his gaze shifts up to his other friends, watching Pope run a hand over his head and look in the distance where John B had left.

“Okay, I’ve never seen John B like that. We should honestly be going to the cops,” Kiara speaks from her spot at the front end of the HMS Pogue, your brows pinched as you look at her,

“And what would we say, Kie? Ward Cameron killed Big John? They’re going to think it’s some- fucking grieving mechanism for me and John B,” You huff, face hot and eyes puffy,

“They’re not gonna believe us if we tell them anything revolving Ward,” JJ states, and Pope raises his goggles,

“Hey, I see Ward,”

“I don’t know if I should be glad he’s alive for John Bs sake or not,” You mutter, tossing a rock that was in the boat into the water,

“Looks alive to me. Let’s go,” Pope orders, and you look up in confusion,

“Wait. What?”

“Obviously Mr. Cameron is fine, and even if John B was here, he isn’t now, okay?” Pope shakes his head, “Plus, I have the biggest, most important moment of my life in six hours,”

“Yeah, well, our friend is in trouble,” Kiara states, Pope shrugging his shoulders,

“I’m in trouble! Guys, I haven’t been home in three days. My dads probably put all my shit on the street by now,”

“So, you’re just gonna bail?” Kiara asks, and you look at JJ with pinched brows so the blonde moves up, protectively, “This is about friendship, this is about Pogues for life!”

“Where were you when Big John went missing? Huh?” Pope hisses, your eyes watching as Kiara glanced at you, “You weren’t there. You weren’t there for John B, or Y/N,”

“Guys,” You plea, pressing yourself into JJs front, “Kie, just let him go home,”

“No, I want her to remember,” Pope snarls, finger jabbing at Kiara, “Remember your kook year? You forgot about us. Y/N lost her best friend. Her dad goes missing and you werent there for her,”

“Give me a break!” Kiara demands, shoving Popes front so Pope shoved her back, JJ quick to release you and move between his two friends,

“Guys, cut it out!” JJ orders, your arms wrapping around yourself as you blink away the burn in your eyes, “If I’m the one mediating then we’ve hit rock bottom,”

“Let’s just go home,” You murmur, JJ looking at you as you move to the wheel of the boat,

“I’ve got it,” JJ soothes, pointing to the front end of the boat where Pope departed to. “Pope, we’ll drop you off,”

You inhale a deep, slow breath, raising your hand to rub at your eye in exhaustion.

“John B, you have to go,” You stare at your twin brother. Peterkin was dead. John B was framed for her murder. “I’m sorry I was such an ass. To you, and to Sarah, but I can’t let you go to jail, for a murder you didn’t commit,”

“You weren’t an ass,” John B forces himself to chuckle, attempting to pull a smile to your face. He fails. “You were being a protective, annoying sister,”

You huff your own laugh, licking your lips, “I’m serious, John. Get Sarah, and go,”

John Bs movements are swift. His arms slide around you in an embrace, tightening around you when hearing your sniffle.

“I love you sis,” He mutters, “Seriously,”

You lean back, hitting his chest, “I love you too. Dick,”

You step away, watching John B step onto the boat JJ lended to John B. “Remember dude,” JJ steps up, arm sliding across your shoulders, “Brownsville. We’ll see you in Mexico in two months,”

“Got it,” John B smiles, watching you slide your arm behind JJs back and take his hand with your free, “Take care of her, JJ,” JJ glances down at you, “I mean it,”

The boat pulls off with a heave. Your eyes blur, looking up at JJ with a smile that matched his.

“Hands up!”

Twirling around, you barely catch a glimpse of Shoupe raising his gun before JJ pushes you behind him. In unison, the group of four raise their hands, your eyes wide,

“Where the hell is he?” Shoupe asks, roughly, “Where the hell is he?!”

“JJ,” He continues, “I see you’re living up to your name. Pope? How about you? This isn’t a fucking game!” Shoupe eyes shift to yours, “Your father would be really disappointed in you young lady,”

“Dont ever bring up my father,” You step up, one of JJs arms dropping to grasp your waist, but immediately pulls it back when Shoupe pins your hands behind your back.

“Let’s fucking go,”

“Sit down. Don’t move,” You look up from your spot inside the tent. Cops, everywhere. You felt sick again.

JJs hand takes yours, squeezing enough to guide your attention to him, where his blue eyes meet your own. JJ shifts your intertwined hands to his lap, thumb brushing across the back of your hand.

You flinch at the rough crack of thunder.

“We lost them,” Shoupe mutters, almost as soon as your ears began to ring. Like the day prior, you see everyone’s mouths moving, but no words.

Except JJ. “What do you mean you lost them?” JJs hand leaves yours as he stands, and you suddenly zone back in, “You had them on radio!”

“The storm cut out their signal,” Shoupe sighs, dropping the talkie in his hand. His head shakes, “We lost them,”

JJ is first to turn to you. Just as quick, your ears begin to ring, not hearing him call out to you. Lost them. Lost, as in, dead? Like Big John?

“Baby,” JJ tries, again, the large group watching as he knelt in front of where you still sat and raised his hands to your face, “Hey, can you hear me?”

JJ is forced to watch as you gasp in a deep breath. With a shattered sob, you nearly fall forward, JJs arms quick to catch you and pull you up into his arms.

“He didn’t do it,” You heave, eyes wide despite the tears that blocked your vision, “He didn’t- didn’t kill anyone,”

JJs arms tighten around you, before he slides his hands back to your face a second time, thumbs attempting to wipe the tears from your cheeks. Forehead against yours, he exhales a shuddered breath as you began to break down.

“Sweetheart-,” Kiaras mom barely leans away from Kiara to extend her hand to you, your head shaking as your eyes finally pinch shut in defeat,

“No,” You whisper, JJs own face crumbling, “No, no. JJ-?”

JJs arms slide around your shoulders, ducking his nose into your hair as your own grab at his button up, feeling Kiaras mom press herself behind you in another wall of comfort.

First Big John. Now, John B and Sarah?

A/N; Well that ended like shit, lol. Again, yes. I did skip a lot of scenes revolving the last three episodes. But honestly? They were unnecessary. But leave ALL feedback as you can, and I hope, pray that you enjoyed this story. It’s been a pleasure.

#jj maybank drabble #jj maybank one shot #jj maybank imagine #jj maybank x reader smut #jj maybank x reader #jj maybank #kiara carrera #pope heyward #john b routeledge #sarah cameron #ward cameron

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m4tthewmurd0ck · 3 years ago

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burn ~ matt murdock x oc (chapter 1)

literally just made this account and have 0 followers but hello! anyone that might’ve stumbled across this. long time fan, first time… poster? idk. i write on wattpad (so far it’s social media stories, a (tom holland) peter parker x oc, and a billy hargrove x oc). matt is one of my comfort characters and i’ve finally worked up the courage to write for him! figured this would be a good place to post bits before i start actually publishing on wattpad. of course, i’m finally doing this story and as we know netflix is removing daredevil and the defenders in less than a week, so… love that for me i guess. hopefully i can find somewhere else to watch them or disney+ or hulu quickly picks them up as i’m writing because even though i’ve obviously watched both shows, visuals while i’m writing based on a show or film are always a big help. ANYWAY i’ll get on with it. i’ll do a “continue reading” for the actual story because chapter 1 is just over 1.8k words lol. ALSO last note I swear, this first chapter is pretty plot heavy but i wanted to set up for future chapters and i figured get a lot of it out of the way at once. but my main character isn’t a lawyer, and she doesn’t have a job that deals with any type of law enforcement so it’s lots of original content very very soon!

My OC: Cassiopeia “Cassie” Nelson portrayed by Crystal Reed. As you can guess by the last name, she’s Foggy’s sister. Her name has meaning, I chose it specifically and I do touch on it multiple times throughout the story (but she does go by Cassie)

FOGGY, FOGGY, FOGGY. It took a few more rings before Matt finally woke up. When he answered the phone, he was still half asleep.

"Hello?"

"Good morning sunshine!"

"What time is it?"

"Half past get the hell up. What was that? Was that a moan? Do you have somebody in bed with you? The paralegal! Is it the para over at— never mind, I don't wanna hear about it. No, I do wanna hear about it! What was she like?"

Cassie groaned and snatched the phone from her brothers hand, unable to listen to any more of his nonsense. "Morning Matt."

"Cassie," he sat up, a small smile on his face.

"What my dear, dear brother was supposed to tell you was that meeting with the real estate agent is in less than an hour, 45 minutes actually. Are you still in bed?"

"Nope," the smile turned into a grin, as he was technically telling the truth. He'd just stood up a good few seconds before she asked that question.

Foggy elbowed her, and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "I'm supposed to tell you that the real estate agent won't be your type, so try not to be so charming."

"What I'm hearing is you think I'm charming?"

"Alright Murdock. I can tell you're smiling. I said no such thing."

Foggy leaned closer, "the lady told me she thinks blind people are God's mistake!"

"I think he gets the message," Cassie laughed, shoving him away. She turned her attention back to the phone call, "alright get up and get ready, we've gotta go bribe a cop. And to my FBI agent listening in on this call, that was a joke!"

Just a short while later Cassie stood there half with shame, as Foggy handed Brett the paper bag.

"You're right, it ain't the careers," Brett turned to face Cassie. "You have a good day Cass," giving her a small nod before he turned and began to walk the other way.

"Hey why does she get a goodbye? Alright well thanks buddy!"

"One of these days that's gonna get you in trouble you know," Cassie shook her head as they continued walking down the street.

"Nah, we're good pals." Foggy shrugged. "That'll work in our favor, just you wait."

It wasn't long before they reached the correct street, and found Matt waiting just a couple of buildings over. Cassie did the same thing she always did, walked up and stood about a foot to his left, waiting for him to notice.

Of course, he noticed right away. She'd been wearing the same perfume that Matt quickly came to recognize.

"Hey Cassie," he pulled her in for a hug.

"Morning Foggy. Oh good morning Matt!" Foggy mumbled to himself.

Deliberately ignoring her brother, Cassie once again turned her attention to Matt. "You guys ready to tour your new place?"

"Hey technically your name is in the business too, so really it's all of our new place."

Cassie couldn't help but laugh. "That mean I'm the boss, since Nelson comes before Murdock?"

"Yes ma'am."

Foggy pretended to gag. "No more flirting. Please, I am begging you both," he looked to the entrance of the building and pointed towards a blonde woman waving to them from the front door. "Thank God let's go."

Matt held his arm out, and Cassie linked hers through. Another thing that they'd been doing a while. Starting back in college when Matt figured out that Cassie scared easily, and that any little noise would make her jump. Whenever the three friends were walking home at night, he'd hold out his arm and call himself her seeing eye dog, saying he'd guide her. Now it was just a habit.

Foggy gagged again, but remained silent as he walked ahead of the two.

"—and two offices. Corner suite has a view of the Hudson. You can flip a coin with your partner for it."

Cassie had to hold back her laughter as Matt said that Foggy could have the room with the view.

As the realtor, who then introduced herself as Susan Harris, stumbled her way through an apology and introduction, Cassie took that minute to walk around.

"Hey Cassie?" Matt called her over when they'd finished talking. "Care to walk a guy around the space?"

They linked arms once again, Cassie guiding Matt around as Susan talked them through the history of the building, assuring them that since the incident, the building had barely been touched.

As Foggy and Susan had a little back-and-forth about the price of the space, Cassie led Matt around the room they'd just walked into.

"So, what do you think?" Matt paused, turning to face her. "And be honest. If it's ugly you have to tell me. You know, because I'm blind."

"I," She paused, trying to work out exactly what to say. "I think it could use a good sprucing up. But I like it. It's... a fun... fixer-upper?"

Matt held his arm out again, heading back towards the sound of Foggy's voice. "We'll take it."

Cassie's eyes went a little wide, and Foggy stared at him, clearly not expecting that.

"Well— we will talk about it because we're not sure we can afford even this... palace unless we make some changes to our current clientele policies."

"My partner and I are having some disagreements over the direction of Nelson and Murdock. I believe we're here to defend the innocent—"

"And I believe the innocent includes everyone not yet convicted of a crime," Foggy cut him off.

"What do you think?" Susan looked at Cassie, curious.

It dawned on her that Susan probably assumed she was another partner simply because of her last name.

"Oh I— my last name is Nelson but I'm not—"

"Wanting to disagree with her brother," Matt jumped in. "She agrees with me though."

Cassie stayed quiet just for the amusing look on Foggy's face. Truthfully, she did agree with Matt more. She knew that there were lawyers forced to defend clients that they knew were guilty every day, and didn't even want to think about what it would do to Matt and Foggy if they became those types of lawyers.

As the two men bickered between themselves about who they should and shouldn't defend, Susan and Cassie just stood there, both a little amused.

"Alright!" Cassie claps her hands, drawing the attention to her. "If you are done fighting, I'm sure Susan would like a definitive answer."

Matt puts a hand of Foggy's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.

Although reluctantly, Foggy sighs. "We'll take it."

Outside, they emerge feeling a little victorious. It may set them back a bit, but but in the end even Foggy admits he feels good about this big step that they're taking.

"We should celebrate!"

"Don't you boys have to get back to work?" Cassie glances down at her watch. "Remember you barely scheduled enough time in your day for this meeting."

"She's right, I didn't even realize what time it was," Foggy slides his phone back into his pocket. "You going home?"

Nodding, Cassie pulls her phone out and mentions she's going to call an Uber. She knows it's cheaper to use her subway pass, but just wants to grab something to eat and quickly head home. When the app shows that the driver is less than five minutes away, she's relieved. "I think so. I'm off for the next three days. The gallery is getting a quick remodel for one of the rooms so I'll probably just be on my couch watching TV until I go back to work."

Without warning, a guy comes zooming around the corner, riding an electric bike on the sidewalk. Matt pulls Cassie to the side less than two seconds before he rides by them.

"Dude come on watch where you're going!" Foggy yells. "Seriously. Hey, are you good?"

"Yeah," Cassie breaths a sigh of relief. "Thanks Matt."

"Are you sure you're okay?" He gives Cassie a soft pat on her shoulder, able to tell that her heart is still racing.

"Yeah, just a little spooked. Glad you pulled me out of the way so I didn't get run over. Talk about deja vu huh, like college all over again."

Before Matt can respond, Cassie notices something. "Hey, where'd this bruise come from?" She gently puts her hand on his cheek, careful to avoid the actual bruise.

If anyone else had asked that question, Matt would've been quick to shut them down. But he had a soft spot for Cassie ever since they met. And he loved that she cared and asked. Secretly loved it though, he'd never say it out loud.

"Just... clumsy, that's all."

Cassie raises her eyebrows, clearly skeptical and not sure if she was buying that Matt was just clumsy. But she decided to leave it alone for the moment because a car pulls up, ready to take her back to their apartment.

"I'll see you both later," Cassie grins as she hugs them goodbye. "Nelson and Murdock have their own place! I want to make you both dinner to celebrate, let me know when okay?"

Foggy nods, always willing to accept a free meal, especially from his sister. Cassie always said the kitchen was probably her favorite place, and she was the best cook that he knew.

"That sounds good," Matt smiled, opening the car door to Cassie's ride home. "Maybe tomorrow night if we're not caught up with work?"

"Okay, just let me know. I just went grocery shopping so I won't need to go out and buy anything. Bye guys!"

Once they went their separate ways, Cassie was practically giddy with joy as she unlocked the door to her apartment. She ended up adding a stop to the ride, swinging by her favorite restaurant before going home.

After a quick shower and getting into clothing that was a lot more comfortable, she settled on the couch.

While she ate, she thought about the day. And as it happened quite often, her thoughts turned to Matt. That wasn't the first bruise she'd seen on him. Hell, that wasn't even the first bruise she'd seen that week. She normally always let it go since he assured her he was fine, although lately she was more curious, and concerned. But what could've happened?

After a moment, she came to a small conclusion. Matt couldn't possibly be just that clumsy. Yes, as he often pointed out as if she couldn't have possibly already known, he was blind. Something had to be going on with him though... right?

#daredevil #matt murdock #mattmurdock #charliecox #charlie cox #foggy nelson #foggynelson #elden henson #eldenhenson #crystalreed #crystal reed #matt murdock imagine #matthew murdock #nelson and murdock #he’s a really good lawyer #avocados at law

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see-arcane · 4 years ago

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Gotta say, I’m reading your fics and one of the things that really stands out as a good point to me is how you point out that team human is unfair to Jon, and how they directly facilitates his indoctrination into the fears, but for his own self loathing. Like, Daisy killed people and Basira said nothing to her, but Jon takes a statement and is almost put down. Helen is made of lies and Melanie is her friend, but Jon can never be trusted because he’s an avatar. It’s how a toxic group gets to you, they lure you in and make sure the outside is too hostile for you to leave again, or even want to in extreme cases. It’s a really good point to make and I like how you repeatedly address it in your writing

-unbuttons my coat to reveal a shirt reading JONATHAN SIMS DEFENSE SQUAD PRESIDENT-

Really though, out of all of them, I think Georgie and post-Buried Daisy had the most potential as genuine friends for him before the tail end of season 4 came along and Did What It Did. Hell, Georgie was doing the head-in-the-sand routine halfway through s4. Basira went full Cop Mode when Jon came back to life and Melanie has always been an asshole to him, with or without using the Slaughter as a crutch.

The reason I put a spotlight on it so much in my stories is based on:

1) The TMA canon never managing to address this. Ever. No one comes to Jon’s defense when he needs/deserves it. Even Martin gets snippy about things Jon himself can’t control and plugs his ears through most of season 5 rather than acknowledge what he’s going through.

2) Trying to counteract a lot of fandom works I’ve seen that take the Competent Podcast Lady (c) ball and run with it, painting Jon as some idiot caricature of himself while hyping up the women into grrl powrr pastiches that just don’t match up with what we hear in the podcast. No matter how desperation has forced these people--especially Jon--to deem each other ‘friends,’ it’s made pretty clear that most of them don’t really gel beyond being couples/comrades/part of the Shit On Jon 25/7 Brigade. (Jon included.)

These people have consistently let Jon down as friends and allies since the midpoint of the series and really haven’t improved. What little pity-acknowledgment we got in the penultimate episodes only turned to more salt in the wound when they all immediately shot Jon down during the Hill Top Road debate***. They haven’t developed. They haven’t acknowledged how awful they’ve been to Jon and how self-serving their choices have been.

I’ve tried to get across that they’re neither the Team Do-No-Wrong Girlbosses that fandom morphs them into, nor are they 110% horrible shrews in my writing. They’re people. And no matter how heroic or decent or well-meaning they might be in a different setting, there is an unspoken habit among them to dump their vitriol on Jon for anything eldritch-awful that pops up. Or, you know, breathing wrong.

Put in a more realistic context, they’re the kind of people you could almost be friends with--up until you see how terribly they treat that one ‘technically-a-friend’ kid who’s so desperate for camaraderie they’ll swallow whatever insults, blame, or demands the others throw at them.

And I can tell you from experience that is a shitty position to be in.

(Jon, wherever you are, I hope you land someplace with real friends.)

#in which I will die bitter about This One Thing In Particular #jonathan sims #basira hussain #melanie king #georgie barker #martin blackwood #daisy tonner #the magnus archives #my writing

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kdramafeminist · 4 years ago

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Performative Badassery & Women in Kdramas

When I said I wrote an essay, I meant essay. This is a long one! Grab a snack and venture below the read more. I’ll see you at the end!

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You know the feeling. The drama begins. Our female main lead walks onto screen. She’s a successful businesswoman, a hotshot detective, clever lawyer, smartass retail worker, etc, etc. She stares down a random man to prove she’s the powerful one here. Or kicks some ass. Or rattles off a bunch of demands to her workers. Or talks fast to show off her intelligence.

Then she meets the male lead. There’re fireworks. Slowly we find our female lead has a softer side. Good to know. 3-dimensional and complex characters are important. It’s nice to see women on-screen who are both capable and emotional. Kick ass and feminine.

But slowly... something starts to go wrong. She seems to be crying more than showing literally any other kind of emotion. And is it just me or is she getting saved and manhandled and flustered quite a lot for a woman who we were told was so well put together? Sure, the circumstances are extreme. But they’re extreme for the male lead too and he seems to be managing just fine for some reason. Also, if both of them are ordinary people with no on-screen fighting experience, how come he’s so great at throwing fists out of nowhere and she’s busy keeping hidden or needing rescuing? Exactly how many times can one person just faint like that without anyone checking to see if she has a medical condition?

By the drama’s end our lead has gone through trials and tribulations. She’s fallen in love too, I’m happy for her. But... now that the story’s ending and she’s getting in one last chance to show us she’s a “badass”, why am I left feeling hollow? She’s showing us how tough she is but... we ALL spent this whole drama watching her have absolutely no agency or such a little amount that she might as well have been trying to put out a fire with a water-pistol. It’s almost like her previous badassery (in whatever form it may have been - I don’t mean badass only in terms of being able to throw a good punch) was just a façade. A way to hook in female viewers like me who want to see something more than a wilting wallflower or one-trick Cinderella. But the tiniest knock and the cardboard house collapses.

And no matter how many times we get throwaway lines about her being “the smartest/toughest/scariest/most capable one here” it doesn’t ring true compared to the actual character we’re watching.

Rom-coms, melos and sagueks especially (but many more genres besides), have a real problem when it comes to performative badassery in their female characters. The writers give us a female lead they claim is hyper competent, but the reality is totally different. Any plot that features romance, almost always features this. Honestly the way the start of the relationship in dramas actively MURDERS the female character’s agency could be its own essay so I won’t go deep, just know the two are 100% linked.

The “Faux Action Girl” Problem

A Faux Action Girl happens when a writer wants the popularity that comes with having a cool action girl character, or they want the praise that comes with writing a lead that breaks gender norms, or they want to be lauded for writing a FL whose more capable & progressive than the female kdrama lead we’d imagine, but they don’t end up actually giving us her. Instead we get the fake or faux version. The reasons are usually a combination of:

Relying on outdated tropes. Wrist grabs, damsels in distress, a girl fainting so she misses some vital plot related moment to increase runtime etc...

Sexist worldviews. As a by-product of being Korean which is still a heavily sexist country because of the holdover of Confucianism mixed in with the Christianity westerners brought over that leads many writers to (often without even realising) inserting moments that inadvertently reduce their female leads because they think that’s what correct or natural for the female character based on their opinion of women in general. Even if it doesn’t actually fit the type of character they’ve set out to create.

Executive meddling. Producers who think their demographic wouldn’t be able to handle a real badass but also know their female viewers want more complexity and agency in their FLs these days and so give us the paper-version instead of the 3D model.

This character’s more “badass” traits are nearly always just an Informed Ability (the writers tell us via other characters what she can do but never actually show us on-screen these same things) or we only ever see her utilise them once/twice at the beginning and maybe if we’re lucky once at the end, but never again.

It really hurts.

The “Badass Decay/Chickification” Problem

Sometimes she really is a legitimate action girl though. She’ll be a cop whose good at her job or an ordinary citizen whose well-versed in taekwondo. She has actual moments on-screen to prove herself.

Well. She has moments in episodes 1 and 2. Then she almost always goes through Badass Decay/Chickification. Which means that writers (& producers) believe that if we don’t see her having a softer side, she’ll become unrealistic or unlikeable.

They fix her. So she becomes more vulnerable. As the only girl on the team (usually), she becomes the one who ends up injured more often or needs rescuing most. Her life begins to revolve entirely around her romance and nothing else. (Meanwhile the male leads gets to have the romance and keep his side-quest - have you noticed that? If the FL is really lucky she gets to keep one side-quest too, maybe a dream job or solving some family mystery. Never more though.. only men get to be complicated here). Once she was competent... now it feels like she legitimately had a personality transplant.

Is this even the same person we began with?

The “Worf Effect” Problem

Worf Effect is when the danger/power level of a villain is shown to the audience by making him successfully attack/hurt/ruin the plans of someone that the audience knows is skilled. This isn’t a bad thing alone and writers use it all the time. We need to acknowledge the villain as a proper threat and this is a useful way to do it!

But in kdramas it’s something used almost always against the lead female character. The one we’ve seen is intelligent, or strong-willed or quick-witted.

And because it’s always her, this character begins to look weak. If this writing trope is abused, her reputation as the "biggest, toughest" etc. begins to look like it never existed and we’re back to her having an informed ability.

That this is something that happens to the female characters not only more often but almost exclusively is a sign of sexism. Plain and simple.

Competent, Real Badass Female Characters Aren’t Scary

If you’re going to sell me a capable woman, give me her.

Not someone who has one very unique, specialised skill but otherwise can do nothing else except for that one time when her one skill is useful.

Or has built up her own empire, implying a certain level of smarts, business ability or networking skills, but then once she’s removed from it she becomes so utterly useless it begs the question how she built that empire in the first place.

Or has a rep as the detective whose taken down the toughest guys off-screen, but whatever skills she used to do that seem to disappear the moment anything really challenging happens on-screen.

I’m not saying she needs to win all the time. Of course she doesn’t, how boring is that? All I’m asking is that when she loses, it’s in keeping with the character I’m supposedly watching. A woman that can kick ass can still be outwitted. A clever woman can be physically beaten. A street-smart girl can be foiled by rules and regulations. A leader-type can be beat by someone whose more unconventional.

It’s not difficult to write someone like this. I know the writers can do it because every male lead is written this way. I’ve never once, whilst watching a badass male lead lose, get beaten and cry, thought “oh no, his badassery was fake all along!”

Because when he loses it makes sense. It’s in character. There’s a solid plot reason behind why it happens.

Meanwhile my ladies who are meant to be able to kick ass and take names somehow just got kidnapped out of nowhere?

Make it make sense!

Consistent Characterisation is Good Writing

I get wanting moments where one is injured and the other fusses over them. I love those moments! All I ask is more imagination taken to get us to that point. Make it in-character. If my taekwondo black belt is kidnapped, I want to see her really fight. I want the kidnapping to be shown as genuinely tough on the people trying to nab her. Imagine how much more satisfying it would be to see her fight off all these bad guys, yet still end up losing? How much more heart-breaking?

We’d be so much more invested in the mind games or politics the villain is playing if the female lead we’ve been told is good at that stuff is playing the game just as hard. When she loses it’ll hurt more.

Writers need to stop being afraid that her remaining capable in some way diminishes the masculinity, attractiveness, prowess or “hero” status of the male lead. Trust me. It doesn’t. Ever.

It’s not a case of either/or. We don’t think less of the male lead because his partner is as capable as him in whatever way that may be. Instead, we think more of them both. Once a romance begins, the heightened worry both characters have for each other should only make both of them stronger in whatever area they’re skill lies in. Not just make the man a sudden defence wall and the woman a worrying mess.

I’m sure everyone who reads this can immediately think of at least one drama with a FL who is a Performative Badass. I know I had about ten in mind as I wrote this.

There are exceptions. Cases where the badass gets to stay a badass. Usually these cases happen in genres without romance because like I said above, those problems are linked. But I can think of a few romcoms/sageuks/melos where it happens too.

But those are the minority.

Women in kdramas. Give them agency. Make their characterisation genuine, not just a bit-part for the sake of a cool trailer. Not just one moment someone can edit into a “badass multifemale” video edit - only for us to watch the drama from the clip and discover we’ve been sold a lie.

How satisfied would we be?

Writers! Give us a story we enjoyed because of the excellent characterisation. A new female character we can add to our lists of faves. Women who proved themselves as consistently badass as their first scenes claimed. Women in kdramas who, no matter what problem they faced, don’t become echoes or paper-thin versions of who we were promised.

Actual, complex, layered, enjoyable, KICK-ASS AND BADASS female leads.

Wouldn’t that be a miracle.

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PS. This is an open notice that it’s OKAY to reblog with added commentary/thoughts/rambles of your own. I would *love* to see it if you have anything to add.

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(Disclaimer: This essay was written with a specific female character type in mind. I am not saying every FL needs to be a badass or hyper competent. Soft, shy, physically weak female characters exist and can be just as realistic and complex. There’s a few I can think of who I adore. Instead my essay is very specifically about characters who are *meant* to be badass from the start but then... don’t end up being. So, yeah, before anyone claims I’m some angry feminist who needs every FL to be some tough martial artist or something. Absolutely not! Diversity is amazing and interesting. All I ask is that when I am told I’ll be getting a badass in a drama I get her. Not have my heart broken by the fake wilting flower I find in her place. Ok. End disclaimer. ^^)

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Also I’m tagging a bunch of you because you reblogged my post saying you wanted this so here! TY for making it to the end ^^

@kdramaxoxo @islandsofchaos @storytellergirl @vernalagnia-blog @lostindramas @salaamdreamer @planb-is-in-effect

#kdrama #kdrama discourse #kdrama feminist #women in kdrama #badass women #strong female lead #though to be clear I am an angry feminist lmfao #how does a woman living in this world not be tbh

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bloodbenderz · 4 years ago

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humaniterations (dot) net/2014/10/13/an-anarchist-perspective-on-the-red-lotus/ this article from oct 2014 is very dense — truly, a lot to unpack here, but I feel like you would find this piece interesting. I would love it if you shared your thoughts on the points that stood out to you, whether you agree or disagree. you obv don’t have to respond to it tho, but I’m sending it as an ask jic you feel like penning (and sharing) a magnificent essay, as is your wont 💕

article

i know this took me forever 2 answer SORRY but i just checked off all the things on my to do list for the first time in days today so. Essay incoming ladies!

ok im SO glad u sent me this bc it’s so so good. it’s a genuinely thoughtful criticism of the politics in legend of korra (altho i think its sometimes a little mean to korra unnecessarily like there’s no reason to call her a “petulant brat” or say that she throws tantrums but i do understand their point about her being an immature and reactionary hero, which i’ll get back to) and i think the author has a good balance between acknowledging like Yeah the lok writers were american liberals and wrote their show accordingly and Also writing a thorough analysis of lok’s politics that felt relevant and interesting without throwing their hands up and saying this is all useless liberal bullshit (which i will admit that i tend to do).

this article essentially argues that the red lotus antagonists of s3 were right. And that’s not an uncommon opinion i think but this gives it serious weight. Like, everything that zaheer’s gang did was, in context, fully understandable. of course the red lotus would be invested in making sure that the physically and spiritually and politically most powerful person in the world ISNT raised by world leaders and a secret society of elites that’s completely unaccountable to the people! of course the red lotus wants to bring down tyrannical governments and allow communities to form and self govern organically! and the writers dismiss all of that out of hand by 1. consistently framing the red lotus as insane and murderous (korra never actually gives zaheer’s ideas a chance or truly considers integrating them into her own approach) 2. representing the death of the earth queen as not just something that’s not necessarily popular (what was with mako’s bootlicker grandma, i’d love to know) but as something that causes unbelievable violence and chaos in ba sing se (which, like, a lot of history and research will tell you that people in disasters tend towards prosocial behaviors). so the way the story frames each of these characters and ideologies is fascinating because like. if you wanted to write season 3 of legend of korra with zaheer as the protagonist and korra as the antagonist, you wouldn’t actually have to change the sequence of events at all, really. these writers in particular and liberal writers in general LOVE writing morally-gray-but-ultimately-sympathetic characters (like, almost EVERY SINGLE fire nation character in the first series, who were full on violent colonizers but all to a degree were rehabilitated in the eyes of the viewer) but instead of framing the red lotus as good people who are devoted to justice and freedom and sometimes behave cruelly to get where theyre trying to go, they frame them as psychopaths and murderers who have good intentions don’t really understand how to make the world a better place.

and the interesting thing about all this, about the fact that the red lotus acted in most cases exactly as it should have in context and the only reason its relegated to villain status is bc the show is written by liberals, is that the red lotus actually points out really glaring sociopolitical issues in universe! like, watching the show, u think well why the fuck HASN’T korra done anything about the earth queen oppressing her subjects? why DOESN’T korra do anything about the worse than useless republic president? why the hell are so many people living in poverty while our mains live cushy well fed lives? how come earth kingdom land only seems to belong to various monarchs and settler colonists, instead of the people who are actually indigenous to it? the show does not want to answer these questions, because american liberal capitalism literally survives on the reality of oppressive governments and worse than useless presidents and people living in poverty while the middle/upper class eats and indigenous land being stolen. if the show were to answer these questions honestly, the answer would be that the status quo in real life (and the one on the show that mirrors real life) Has To Change.

So they avoid answering these questions honestly in order for the thesis statement to be that the status quo is good. and the only way for the show to escape answering these questions is for them to individualize all these broad social problems down into Good people and Bad people. so while we have obvious bad ones like the earth queen we also have all these capitalists and monarchs and politicians who are actually very nice and lovely people who would never hurt anyone! which is just such an absurd take and it’s liberal propaganda at its best. holding a position of incredible political/economic power in an unjust society is inherently unethical and maintaining that position of power requires violence against the people you have power over. which is literally social justice 101. but there’s literally no normal, average, not-politically-powerful person on the show. so when leftist anarchism is presented and says that destroying systems that enforce extreme power differentials is the only way to bring peace and freedom to all, the show has already set us up to think, hey, fuck you, top cop lin beifong and ford motor ceo asami sato are good people and good people like them exist! and all we have to do to move forward and progress as a society is to make sure we have enough good individuals in enough powerful positions (like zuko as the fire lord ending the war, or wu as the earth king ending the monarchy)! which is of course complete fiction. liberal reform doesn’t work. but by pretending that it could work by saying that the SYSTEM isnt rotten it’s just that the people running it suck and we just need to replace those people, it automatically delegitimizes any radical movements that actually seek to change things.

and that’s the most interesting thing about this article to me is that it posits that the avatar...might actually be a negative presence in the world. the avatar is the exact same thing: it’s a position of immense political and physical power bestowed completely randomly, and depending on the moral character and various actions of who fills that position at any given time, millions of people will or won’t suffer. like kyoshi, who created the fascist dai li, like roku, who refused to remove a genocidal dictator from power, like aang, who facilitated the establishment of a settler colonial state on earth kingdom land. like korra! she’s an incredibly immature avatar and a generally reactionary lead. i’ve talked about this at length before but she never actually gets in touch with the needs of the people. she’s constantly running in elite circles, exposed only to the needs and squabbles of the upper class! how the hell is she supposed to understand the complexities of oppression and privilege when she was raised by a chess club with inordinate amounts of power and associates almost exclusively with politicians and billionaires?? from day 1 we see that she tends to see things in very black and white ways which is FINE if you’re a privileged 17 yr old girl seeing the world for the first time but NOT FINE if you’re the single most powerful person in the world! Yeah, korra thinks the world is probably mostly fine and just needs a little whipping into shape every couple years, because all she has ever known is a mostly fine world! in s1 when mako mentions that he as a homeless impoverished teenager worked for a gang (which is. Not weird. Impoverished people of every background are ALWAYS more likely to resort to socially unacceptable ways of making money) korra is like “you guys are criminals?????!!!!!” she was raised in perfect luxury by a conservative institution and just never developed beyond that. So sure, if the red lotus raised her anarchist, probably a lot would’ve been different/better, but....they didn’t. and korra ended up being a reactionary and conservative avatar who protected monarchs and colonialist politicians. The avatar as a position is completely subject to the whims of whoever is currently the avatar. and not only does that suck for everyone who is not the avatar, not only is it totally unfair to whatever kid who grows up knowing the fate of the world is squarely on their shoulders, but it as a concept is a highly individualist product of the authors’ own western liberal ideas of progress! the idea that one good leader can fix the world (or should even try) based on their own inherent superiority to everyone else is unbelievably flawed and ignores the fact that all real progress is brought about as a result of COMMUNITY work, as a result of normal people working for themselves and their neighbors!

the broader analysis of bending was really interesting to me too, but im honestly not sure i Totally agree with it. the article pretty much accepts the show’s assertion that bending is a privilege (and frankly backs it up much better than the original show did, but whatever), and i don’t think that’s NECESSARILY untrue since it is, like, a physical advantage (the author compares it to, for example, the fact that some people are born athletically gifted and others are born with extreme physical limitations), but i DO think that it discounts the in universe racialization of bending. in any sequel to atla that made sense, bending as a race making fact would have been explored ALONGSIDE the physical advantages it bestows on people. colonialism and its aftermath is generally ignored in this article which is its major weakness i think, especially in conjunction with bending. you can bring up the ideas the author did about individual vs community oriented progress in the avatar universe while safely ignoring the colonialism, but you can’t not bring up race and colonialism when you discuss bending. especially once you get to thinking about how water/earth/airbenders were imprisoned and killed specifically because bending was a physical advantage, and that physical advantage was something that would have given colonized populations a means of resistance and that the fire nation wanted to keep to itself.

i think that’s the best lens thru which to analyze bending tbh! like in the avatar universe bending is a tool that different ethnic groups tend to use in different ways. at its best, bending actually doesn’t represent social power differences (despite representing a physical power difference) because it’s used to represent/maintain community solidarity. like, take the water tribe. katara being the last waterbender, in some way, makes her the last of a part of swt CULTURE. the implication is that when there were a lot of waterbenders in the south, they dedicated their talents to building community and helping their neighbors, because this was something incredibly culturally important and important to the water tribe as a community. the swt as a COLLECTIVE values bending for what it can do for the entire tribe, which counts for basically every other talent a person can have (strength, creativity, etc). the fire nation, by contrast, distorts the community value of bending by racializing it: anyone who bends an element that isn’t fire is inherently NOT fire nation (and therefore inherently inferior) and, because of the physical power that bending confers, anyone who bends an element that isn’t fire is a threat to fire nation hegemony. and in THAT framework of bending, it’s something that intrinsically assigns worth and reifies race in a way that’s conveniently beneficial to the oppressor.

it IS worth talking about how using Element as a way to categorize people reifies nations, borders, and race in a way that is VERY characteristic of white american liberals. i tried to be conscious of that (and the way that elements/bending can act in DIFFERENT ways, depending on cultural context) but i think it’s pretty clear that the writers did intend for element to unequivocally signify nation (and, by extension, race), which is part of why they screwed up mixed families so bad in lok. when they’ve locked themselves into this idea that element=nation=race, they end up with sets of siblings like mako and bolin or kya tenzin and bumi, who all “take” after only one parent based on the element that they bend. which is just completely stupid but very indicative of how the writers actually INTENDED element/bending to be a race making process. and its both fucked up and interesting that the writers display the same framework of race analysis that the canonical antagonists of atla do.

anyway that’s a few thoughts! thank u again for sending the article i really loved it and i had a lot of fun writing this <3

#this is 2.1k words LMFAOO #asks #analysis #do i have an analysis tag?#crit #lok crit

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postmodernmulticoloredcloak · 4 years ago

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And now I’ve watched episode 3 of Walker because of reasons. (You guys asked, that’s reasons.) #2

If you guys haven’t seen part 1, go see it immediately. Because of reasons. This time, reasons is Slutty Glitter Cowboy Stripper. No, it’s not a joke.

Yeah, I’m not sure what’s happening either.

I can’t believe they’re airing cowboy strippers in Supernatural’s air slot and Dean Winchester isn’t there. I think this is why they had to kill Dean, because otherwise he would have ripped through the CW’s show layout and appeared in Walker sponteneously, instantly adopting Walker’s entire family and friends as his own and single-handedly implementing the depolicement of the state of Texas, with Castiel rolling his eyes at him in the background while he murders ICE agents at the US-Mexican border.

*slides the CW a twenty euro bill* so I have an idea for season 2 of Walker

Anyway, there’s this lady Walker and Ramirez are doing a stakeout on, a woman called Torreto who is presumably part of some criminal organization since they’re doing a stakeout on her, and who’s bisexual given she was being entertained by a lady and a guy at a strip club. Which is like, fine, not problematic at all, alright.

So the stripper straddles her and is like ~wanna come with me in the back, and she’s like ~maybe another time, and he’s like ~torreto i saw cops outside you probably wanna come to the back with me, and she’s like ~mmm yeah that sounds like a good idea. We were rooting for you, slutty glitter cowboy stripper! We were all rooting for you! Or not.

Meanwhile, Walker has horrible car manners.

Also, he asks her how her parents were to her growing up, which is a question you normally ask to people you’re not close to when you want to do some small talk. For some reason she brings up a friend she had some ~crazy teen years~ with, called Garrison, which doesn’t make me think of angels in Supernatural, no, I am a normal person.

But then people start coming out of the strip club, but not Torreto. So they go in.

Torreto is not there, so Walker just stops the first person he sees and he’s literally like ~excuse me, do you know if there’s someone in the back. The visual is hilarious

“Excuse me, sir, have you seen my brother from another show, I suspect he might be here”

Give me a spinoff about this strip club.

Anyway, the guys answers, “No, why, you two interested?” to which they immediately answer “no!” at the same time, and share a look which makes me think we’re supposed to be like ~~ooh, talking in unison moment! or something...?

Meanwhile their truck gets stolen, and Walker yells that his bobblehead is in there. Cue disgruntled Jared face.

Oh man. We are at the title card. It’s less than 6 minutes. This will never end.

It was night, now it’s day, and Stella and August are walking around Austin. He’s mimicking David Attenborough, describing the teenagers around them as though he was doing a documentary about animals.

Two girls approach them, bringing up a party that’s taking place tomorrow. She says it’s not the best idea with her court date approaching. The girls are like, your dad can figure something out, he’s an elite ranger or something and also owes you for disappearing for a year. She’s like, he’s being kind of cool, I don’t want to ruin this, and the girls “call BS” because this is like “the best party of the year”.

Ruby, the girl August has been hanging out with, appears and August goes from “nah the party is not my thing” to “I’ll totally be there” in like 0.02 seconds.

I cannot overstate how much I am not interested in high schooler drama.

Meanwhile, at the Walker Seniors’ place, Walker’s parents are preparing the table for a family dinner. From their banter we can infer someone’s who ~is like family although he isn’t “blood”~ is coming for dinner and Grandpa Walker doesn’t like him at all and actually expects the guy to steal their china and bourbon. “It’s been years, could you please give him a chance?” Grandma Walker says, and he accepts, although she grabs the fancy bourbon from behind his back.

Meanwhile, at the police station, all the cops are having a briefing about Torreto, the woman at the strip club. She apparently steals weapons all over Texas and sells them over the border at triple the cost. Remember that Torreto escaped from Walker and Ramirez because she stole their truck while they were inside the strip club. Ramirez is worried she’ll already become the laughingstock of the precinct.

Uh. James plays security camera footage from outside the strip club. Walker and Ramirez’ truck was stolen by Torreto and the cowboy stripper himself.

Obviously the other cops laugh when Ramirez admits it was her truck.

James tells them to find Torreto, find the truck, and find out who the naked cowboy is.

I have a bad feeling about this.

Then Walker drives home, and as soon as he gets out of his car, you know how in the Supernatural pilot Dean gets into Sam’s apartment and wrestles him before revealing it’s him to ~test if his fighting skills are rusty and laughs when Sam realizes it’s him? Alright, now think intensely and guess how Walker’s like-a-brother best friend is introduced. Think intensely! It’s really difficult to guess!

Something something about violence and male intimacy except this is too ridiculous to, you know, write something serious about it.

“Oh, man!” the guy laughs, lying on the ground where Walker threw him. “The look on your face!”

“You son of a-”

“Oh, c’mon man, don’t talk bad of a mother I never knew.”

I’m facepalming soooo hard. This is the first thing we learn about him (well, after the fact that he definitely stole something from the Walkers’ house in the past), that he never knew his mother!

HOLY FUCKING SHIT

GUYS

I AM SO SORRY

I am faceblind I didn’t realize

THE GUY IS THE STRIPPER

I REPEAT

THE “DEAN BUT IN JARED PADALECKI’S MIND” CHARACTER IS THE SLUTTY GLITTER COWBOY STRIPPER

THIS IS NOT A DRILL

I SWEAR MY HANDS ARE COLD AND CLAMMY

I AM EXPERIENCING EMOTIONS NO WORDS EXIST IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE TO DESCRIBE

Oh my god guys. I am so sorry.

“You did your touchdown victory dance before you stole my partner’s truck!” Walker exclaims. “I should arrest you right here and right now!”

The guy acts like he has no idea what Walker is talking about, and says he’s in town to see his best pal.

Walker keeps accusing him, but then his mother appears, super thrilled to see him, and Walker lets is go.

They’re at dinner (NotDean brought wagyu steaks, which obviously means he does crime for a living) and Walker’s mother tells him to say grace, which he does in a semi-serious, semi-mocking way. Obviously NotDean does not believe in god, but he’s grateful for the people around him.

Stella calls him uncle, in case you missed that this is supposed to be a friend whom Walker loves likeabrother.

He talks about jobs he did here and there, and Walker and his brother tease him asking if he’s been to some prisons around the country. Stella doesn’t get the joke and NotDean explains it to her, adding, “now, from what I hear, I’m not the only outlaw in this family”. Grandpa Walker leaves the room.

NotDean asks Stella if she’s going to the bonfire (the party they were talking about earlier) and tells her that her mother started the thing when they were young. She didn’t know that. This is supposed to be a Meaningful moment.

Meanwhile the stolen truck is found... at Walker’s ranch. Gasp! What a shocking turn of events.

NotDean gives Stella advice on how to act in court to get on the judge’s good graces, “which means acting”. “Please don’t get legal advice from a criminal” walker’s brother Liam says. Is the gay brother also a NotDean of sorts, to be fair? Well, CriminalNotDean tells her to dress her best and cry. ActualbrotherNotDean tells her to use the correct legal arguments. Walker just stops them, quoting something Ramirez said earlier in the episode, “nobody benefits from the easy route”. Stella is like, what does that mean, which, mood, but Grandma Walker interrupts bringing in a plate of different hot chilis. Apparently they have a tradition of a competition. Which we don’t even see. Boo.

Ramirez finds the truck... right outside the Walkers’ house. Grandpa Walker, who’d gone outside, points a rifle to her and she explains what she’s doing there. They introduce themselves and she is like, sir why is the man who stole my truck inside your house? “Wife invited him to dinner.”

She’s like, I need to arrest him. But he’s like, I bet there’s not enough evidence to arrest him, or my son would have done it. Join me for steak and burbon in the bunkhouse! As one does. So they have wagyu and bourbon together, and she asks him what’s the guy’s story.

So NotDean and Walker grew up together, NotDean had a rough life, “my wife has a soft spot for strays, she can’t give up on him”. But Grandpa Walker doesn’t feel the same. He tells her that she cannot arrest him tonight, but it’s only a matter of time before the guy gives her enough rope. He adds that Walker has a blind spot for faces from the past, and needs someone to fix that.

Meanwhile dinner’s over and NotDean calls a uber. He and Walker arrange to meet the next day and hang out like old times. Eventually, Walker tells him that if he is involved in this case, he will have to take him down. “Theoretically, if you catch me.” They do a manly hug with manly pats, and the guy leaves. “Theoretically, go to hell,” Walker says after he’s left.

The next day, NotDean brings Walker to a storage in the middle of nowhere... full of cursed objects, no wait, wrong show. What’s inside the storage is the red Mustang. Walker is shocked that he hasn’t lost it in some bet - which apparently is how he got the car from Walker in the first place. Now NotDean says that, after everything Walker’s been through, he deserves a chance to win it back.

Glowy flashback of Walker and his wife in the car, right after the scene in the beginning of the episode. They bet it during poker night, decision of Emily, because Walker is “starting to get attached to her”. Emily teases him for calling the car a she, and Walker decides to call the car Stella.

They gave their daughter the name of a car they lost at poker.

Oh. She tells him she’s pregnant.

So, apparently, they had their first daughter when they were broke, to the point they had to try and get money at poker for a bigger place and baby things. That’s... kind of irresponsible.

Meamwhile, Ramirez goes to James to tell him about the thing, but James already figured NotDean was involved, because apparently stealing things and returning them is just something he does. “Why are you so calm about this?” she asks. He says because they cannot pin anything on him. Questioning him could scare the big crime lady. So he tells her to just keep an eye on him. “Walker, Torreto or Hoyt [NotDean]” she asks. “Yes” he answers.

Blah blah. I apologize, I’m being too detailed. I’m just bored by this. Ah, a butcher’s truck was stolen right after the strip club thing, guess where NotDean got the wagyu steaks.

Walker and NotDean go to the bar with the bartender who’s their friend, and NotDean flirts with her. They start playing poker, when Ramirez arrives, and has some banter with NotDean and spills some glitter on him that she found in the truck. He buys her a drink and she arrests him for trying to bribe a police officer. Walker is shocked.

At the precinct, he says they cannot prove he’s working with big crime lady. But she brings up he stole the wagyu steaks.

She calls him out for trying to be everyone’s friend even if they do something wrong, also with Stella.

She says she can hold NotDean for 24 hours, long enough to figure out the big crime lady’s plans. Common trope in cop shows. Arrest someone without proof, you have to release them after 24 hours, but the cop finds proof and bam, forgiven for arresting someone without proof.

I know you’re bored, I’m bored too.

Actually, nope, it goes differently and kind of worse. In the interrogation room, Ramirez offers NotDean a deal: he tells her where the big crime lady’s weapon deal is happening, and walks free. He points the location on a map and he compliments her. Walker is watching from the cameras and is shook.

Meanwhile the bonfire is happening, and Stella is there with her girl friends. So is August, breakdancing to impress girls. We don’t care.

Meanwhile, a lot of cops in serious cop gear surround the location NotDean pointed at. Nobody’s there, though.

What is there, is the red Mustang with the creepy bobblehead in it and a letter from NotDean that says he gives him the car back because it was always his wife’s.

Walker figures out where the deal is actually happening - the storage where the red Mustang was before.

Meanwhile, at the bonfire, August is drunk on booze he stole from Grandpa Walker and brought to the party. He asks Stella if she’s trying to drive their father away, breaking the law and all, he asks if she wants him to leave again. Then he throws up. She calls Walker but he obviously doesn’t answer. So she calls her uncle, who’s doing shopping with his partner or something. They’re buying cake? Doing cake testing for their wedding? Maybe.

Meanwhile, NotDean calls Grandma Walker to tell her he cannot go mushroom hunting with her tomorrow but needs to leave town, and he’s sorry to let her down again. She tells him that just because his family’s bad, doesn’t mean he is too. “You saved my boy, and I’ll never forget that” she says. Oooh, that’s so intriguing!, nobody says. They share a cute moment and then he hangs up, while the weapon deal goes down around him.

Uncle Liam and his partner pick up the kids, and Stella asks him if he’ll be in court with her tomorrow. He says he can’t, because it’s her father’s decision to make.

August turns up music and they all sing in the car. It’s funny how everyone’s got better chemistry with everyone else except with Walker. I know it’s, like, on purpose for plot reasons, but still, Walker’s interactions with everyone feel so stilted compared to anyone else. And it’s not the other characters are that compelling.

The police arrives at the location of the weapon deal, and NotDean gets arrested trying to steal the truck again. Ramirez gives a speech how that’s hard but it’s the right thing to do. Walker makes a comment about tough love, implying Stella needs to get that too.

The next day, they leave for Stella’s court thing on the red Mustang. It took Walker three episodes, but now they also have a cool classic car to show off! Yay! *eyeroll*

Meanwhile, Grandma Walker and Grandpa Walker have a conversation about their failing marriage or something.

Ramirez goes to the bar to apologize to the bartender for arresting NotDean. They have a drink together and if lesbians were watching this they’d start shipping them, but no lesbians are watching this. They’re wiser than me.

Stella got like a gazillion hours of community service and her license suspended. She’s upset, but since she has her license for one more day he teaches her how to drive the Mustang.

Wait. Americans don’t learn to drive normal cars when they get their license?? They only learn to drive cars with automatic gear?? What the hell??

They drive while August runs after the car to get over his hangover or something.

Would be a cute moment if the entire thing wasn’t so cheesy and weird.

Well. We know NotDean is a recurring role so we’ll see more of him. (Well, I’m not sure I will be there to watch, because this is boring af.)

This episode used all its interest coins in the strip club scene and then became dreadfully boring. I don’t even have some witty line to close this post.

This was a rollercoaster that went my brain go through a blender in the first six minutes or so and then killed the remaining braincells through boredom.

That’s it guys. What can I say. This is the CW’s Walker. Yee.

#marghe watches walker for some darned reason #cw's jared: legit texan

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inklingofadream · 3 years ago

Note

Plsssss do Daisy for your ask game! Based on your writing you definitely have some galaxy brain opinions on her aksjsndb

First impression- "ugh cop lady she's mean to jon :/ oh no she's gonna kill Jon!" My opinions on Daisy are the same as the common experience with Charles Vane of Black Sails, where on first watch everyone's like "ew, this guy" but by the end of the series and on every subsequent rewatch at least half of people have switched to "it's my guy!!! i love him!!!"

Impression now- It's my girl!!! I love her!!!

Favorite moment- the first time she comes into Jon's office to hang out post-Buried. Idr the episode, but she asks if she can like, stand in the corner while he records a statement. Close second is when she does the same thing to Martin, with the explicit purpose of having company, and even though he's deep in the Lonely he says sure

Idea for a story- hmm i think my best really Daisy-centric plot bunny rn is the mad max: fury road au. I think i've mentioned it once or twice, it's got Jonah/Elias as Joe, Basira, Jon, Sasha, and Tim as the Wives, Martin, Melanie, and maybe Georgie as War Boys, and Daisy as Furiosa. With evil library as the central motif/villain's goal instead

Unpopular opinion- the people who hate hate hate Daisy bc she's a cop like. Don't get it. like not liking the character for that reason's totally reasonable, but i've seen some ppl react to any mention of her (and to a lesser extent basira) like you've tried to set them on fire, and will write her/them out of aus, or even express the opinion that you can't put them in aus bc they have to be cops and cops bad, but making them Not Cops is missing the point. And while I agree that making the Not Cops is often missing the point, so is abhorring their characters like this (keep saying them but it's mostly daisy basira gets a pass for being a lil bit beholding i think, so you can take her that direction and ignore the cop stuff). like them being cops Is The Point, thematically. and while it's totally fair to not like them or stories about them because of that, that doesn't mean any fanwork about Daisy is automatically police apologia, even if she's written sympathetically. This tends to crop up a lot in the anti-redemption arc for anyone crowd that likes to declare characters too evil to change, which is missing the point in a different way, but it's not exclusively them. Like abolish the police! But after that we do have to continue living in a world with my neighbor Mike The Cop, we can't just exile him from society. even aside from the police stuff, realizing that you've been convinced of your rightness for a long time, but have actually drifted far away from your original goals and morals without realizing, and trying to change for the better, is a generally rad theme to get into! and also sometimes u just wanna talk about a cool werewolf lady and her friends. that's fine too.

Favorite relationship- in general, the obvious choice is her and Jon, but her and martin is a close second (some of my most popular posts are martin and daisy ones lol). if we're talking romance, Daisira is really the only game in town as far as i'm concerned. well... you could maybe do a fun au where basira's the buried one and the basira/melanie interseason thing i like to posit is instead melanie/daisy, with them feeding into the worst of each other and... well, there's a bonus story idea!

Favorite headcanon- femme daisy rights!!!!! she deliberately chose "daisy" as her nickname, to the point of getting mad when people call her literally anything else including her job title. there's nothing wrong with alice, and if she wanted to go more butch ally and al are right there. i love the idea of a daisy who often has blood under her nails, but also always has nail polish on, even if it's chipped. who wears the skirt version of her police dress uniform even though most policewomen opt for the slacks. actually 3rd fic idea: femme daisy who's had longish hair for a long time, and is attached to it, but can't stand it after the Buried. but really misses how it makes her feel girly and cute even when she's otherwise just wearing, like, pjs. and the gang cheering her up by watching like Roman Holiday and stuff, with very girly Audrey Hepburn's pixie cut, making her feel better about The Gender

#tma #the magnus archives #daisy tonner #ask games #asks #mine #concepts #writing #the cop daisy bad thing is particularly annoying bc i see it a lot from ppl who otherwise #get real upset about Respecting The Story's Themes even tho someones writing like. a coffeeshop au

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polar534 · 4 years ago

Text

Jersey Stealing Pt.2

Well. You all need to stop liking my stuff. It only encourages me. Anyways, Jersey Stealing is now at a 4 parter so I lied before apparently. I just got done writing part 3 so I’ll post the second part here now! Honestly it’s the most boring of the 4... so... apologies. I’ve said too many numbers now.

Also eventually I’ll learn how tumblr works and actually just... make a master post... or like link back to previous parts. Ah... dreams. Anyways, we meet a new character today. Apologies in advance, this do be the boring part out of the bunch.

***

“Ms. Noceda?”

“Can you tell me about Luz’s classmates?”

The dish dropped from the woman's hands. The sound of it clattering back into the sink echoed throughout the quiet house.

“I’m sorry!” Amity yelped as the sharp sound caused her to wince.

Camilla turned around quickly, holding up her hands with a smile on her face.

“No, no. It’s fine.” Camilla reassured her gently. “The last time I was asked that, it wasn't a pleasant talk.”

“So, it’s not good then.” Amity sank deeper into her seat at the kitchen table.

In all honesty, there was a part of her that already knew that the truth wasn't pretty. It was the same part that caused a painful twist of her heart whenever her girlfriend 'shut down'.

Camilla sighed. She reached over to the counter and grabbed a towel, drying her hands as she sat down on the opposite end of the small table.

"Well, I'm sure I don't need to tell you this but Luz has always been..."

"Odd." Amity finished for her.

The older lady nodded and suddenly the bags under her eyes seemed to darken. Camilla Noceda looked tired.

"At first, it wasn't such a big deal. Every little child starts off 'odd'." Camilla chuckled. "But eventually all the other kids grew up, while Luz's imagination grew wild."

Amity clenched her fists. She knew where this story was going. Knew how easy of a target a girl like Luz was. After all, it wasn't too long ago that she would jump on the 'odd' ones at school.

"She began to make her classmates feel... uncomfortable. Those who didn't go out of their way to avoid her, lashed out, especially because my daughter doesn't exactly know how to take no for an answer."

"That's an understatement." Amity laughed softly as Camilla cracked a small smile.

"Every school we tried her in had it's own problems. Eventually I think Luz finally understood how the other kids felt about her. That was about when we found a school that seemed to work... but of course there were still problems. And there was also Bryce."

Amity's ears twitched. Bryce? Camilla must've noticed her confusion as the older lady lifted her glasses and rubbed her nose tiredly.

"Bryce was, or rather is, a mean kid who thinks he deserves the world. And because he is the 'star athlete' of the school and is well liked by all the teachers... he usually gets it."

Guilt began to twist in Amity's heart. This sounded all too familiar.

"Him and Luz always got into it. He was the only person who ever managed to bother her. Everyone else she simply... ignored."

Camilla sighed heavily and looked at the table. Amity could tell it bothered her, the way Luz was treated. The witch wondered if Camilla was happier now that Luz had found so many friends in another world.

Or if maybe she was still just stuck in the past.

Amity pushed aside her feelings and Camilla's both as she tried to puzzle together what might have happened the other night. If it was just another spat with Bryce, well, Amity saw how Luz used to handle Boscha. That kinda fighting didn't get to her like this...

Even now, 2 days later, it was obvious something was still bothering Luz.

As Amity sat there, sinking further and further into her chair, another question entered her mind. One that she just had to know... even if it was painful.

"Was there anyone?" The witch blurted out after a short pause.

Camilla looked up at her quizzically.

"Anyone who was... nice to Luz? Or at least gave her a chance."

Amity's heart sank as Camilla shook her head sadly.

"I wouldn’t call the girl nice, but Luz always came home gushing about a Sasha. She was a fine enough girl, never joined the other kids in bullying Luz. I think that’s why Luz held on to the hope that one day they could be friends."

***

“Alright. What’s up with Luz?”

Amity turned as the team captain of the Otter’s skated up to her. The witch immediately turned her head back to look at her girlfriend, sitting quietly in the players box, scribbling something in her notebook.

Luz hadn’t moved all practice.

“Yeah, we noticed all right.” Lokte acknowledged Amity’s unspoken question as she turned back to them with a heavy sigh,

“I don’t know.” Amity answered sullenly.

The witch had nothing. Even the answers Camilla gave her this morning didn’t seem to help. Her shoulders slumped as Lokte lined up for their next shot.

A loud crack echoed around the rink as the puck sailed straight into the goal. Amity’s eyes flicked up once again to Luz. Normally a shot like that would have her out of her seat and cheering.

Instead, the rink remained quiet.

Lokte kicked up some ice as they skidded back around to rest near Amity again. Leaning against their stick, they raised an eyebrow.

“You don’t know?"

"No." Amity growled, digging at the ice with her skates. "And it's getting worse..."

Lokte shifted, tossing their stick in the air flippantly. Amity could tell Luz's behavior was worrying them too. They were anxious to do something.

"All I know is that something happened at our game the other night. Luz ran into her old classmates."

Her captain growled, and Amity knew why. When the team first started to bond with both her and Luz, they wanted to know why they weren't enrolled in any local school. It was a fair question and Luz told them that they were too cool for school. Amity only told the truth to some of her teammates later. About how poorly Luz was treated and how she had decided to be homeschooled when she came back from 'camp'.

Lokte was one of the more vocally upset ones, having been treated similarly themselves for being who they were. Amity watched as their face changed into a slightly more hopeful expression.

"Wait, you said this happened the other night? My brother goes to Luz's old school, he went to the game with a couple of his friends. I'll bother him about it when I get home. See if the little weasel heard anything." Lokte grinned.

Amity could only stare at them, she glanced back up to Luz as her fingers curled tighter around her stick.

"Try to get names for me. I understand if Luz doesn't want to talk, but I'm looking forward to having a... conversation... with whoever is responsible for this."

Amity felt a gloved hand on her shoulder. Turning around she saw was met with the supportive eyes of her team captain.

"I'll let you know as soon as I know." They nodded.

***

- Is Luz home?

- Yeah she's asleep. Why?

- I'm coming over.

Amity stared at her phone. The short conversation with Lokte happened only a few minutes earlier. She didn't know where they lived, or how they knew where she lived. The witch could only guess it had to do with her girlfriend who was currently passed out, snoring, on her lap. Amity dropped the phone to her side and let her face sink into Luz's hair. In the background she could hear the movie that they had put on earlier, but she couldn't care less about it at the moment.

Amity loved the end of every night, when she was finally able to have Luz all to herself. Squeezing the human ever tighter, Luz sleepily snuggled further into her girlfriend’s arms with a large smile on her face.

The witch sighed as she heard a buzzing come from nearby. It was her phone. She felt a sharp flicker of annoyance, before gently kissing Luz's forehead and leaning back to check it.

Swiping across the screen she answered the call.

"Hey. I'm out front. You're going to want to hear this." Lokte voice answered, their tone guarded.

Amity glanced down at Luz who was still snoring away.

"Alright, give me a moment." Amity told them quietly, hanging up.

Taking a deep breath, she shifted Luz aside her on the couch. Her girlfriend groaned softly, but Amity simply grabbed the blanket and pulled it up to tuck her in, silencing any sleepy protest that would follow. Leaning down she swiped her jersey off the floor and gave it to Luz. For being almost entirely asleep, Luz snatched it quickly from Amity's hands, relaxing back into sleep as she buried her face into the material.

Amity smiled softly. She already couldn't wait to get back under the blankets with her. Grabbing a coat from the front closet, the witch opened the door and slipped out into the night. Standing on the front lawn, Lokte held a squirming kid by the ear.

"Come on, let me go already!!"

"Tell her what you told me!" Lokte ordered sharply, letting the boy's ear go and shoving him forward.

Amity raised an eyebrow. This must've been the little brother.

"Fine. Yeesh! Like I told my sibling over here," the boy turned around to glare at the hulking figure of Lokte before turning back to Amity, "I went to the game with a group of my friends. Sasha and Bryce left to go grab some snacks and when they came back Sasha was really shaken up and Bryce was pissed. They told us something about a really creepy delusional girl who was stalking you. Claiming to be your girlfriend."

Amity's eyes narrowed.

"I don't see why I'm in trouble! We were just watching out for Amity. I mean Bryce usually over exagerrates everything but this was serious. Sasha looked genuinely freaked out, and nothing EVER gets to her. They told the girl that they would call the cops on her if she came near you and then we left shortly after. That's it. That's all that happened. I don't even know what the creep looked like."

Amity's mind was buzzing with anger. She could feel her face going red and had to remind herself to breathe as she heard the two siblings begin to squabble.

"You little, THAT WAS LUZ! Amity's actual girlfriend!"

The boy's eyes widened as they shot between Amity and Lokte.

"Wha- I didn't, I didn't know that!! I swear! The way Bryce was describing her you'd think she was some sort of criminal!" He yelped as Lokte grabbed him by the scruff of his jacket.

"Go. Wait. In. The. Car." They growled. "We'll talk about your choice in friends later."

The boy shrank under his sibling's glare and Amity felt a small bit of pity. Lokte was no small person, they towered over pretty much everyone they met and had the muscles to match. Being on their bad side had to be terrifying, but in actuality that was nothing compared to the pure fury radiating off of Amity as the brother's words registered.

After they watched their brother climb back into the car, Lokte turned to Amity and immediately flinched in fear under the witch's furious stare.

"Looks like I'll be paying Luz's old school a visit tomorrow." Amity growled after a short pause.

Lokte's fear eased only a bit as their eyes lit up with mischief. "Let me know if you need anything."

"I'll see you tomorrow at practice." Amity nodded, ignoring the suggestion as she turned to walk back into the house.

She stopped with her hand on the door handle and turned around. Lokte was climbing back into their car. The teammates shared a look as Amity nodded.

'Thank you.' She mouthed.

Lokte gave her a small smile.

'Anytime.' They mouthed back, turning on the car and pulling away.

When Amity went back inside, she crawled back into Luz's arms, squeezing her close. Tomorrow, she would have to talk with Luz about what she had learned, but tonight?

Tonight Amity buried her head deep into Luz's shoulder, her anger draining rapidly under her girlfriend's warmth.

Regardless of how Luz was always somehow able to relax her, Amity laid there wide awake. Wishing she could do something, anything, to somehow fix the years of emotional abuse Luz had suffered.

All she could do however was hold Luz closer and wait until morning...

#toh #toh au #the owl house #lumity #Hockey AU #part 2 of 4 now because I have problems #will probably post the 3rd part soon #the owl house au

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giftedpoison · 3 years ago

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symbolism, tone & flashback :0

Thanks for the ask!! :) Symbolism: What does writing mean to you? How has it impacted your life?

Writing has always been present in my life when I was kid I found fanfiction through the message boards (that no longer exist rip) on nick.com And I ran with it. I still have so many stories that I attempted to write growing up sitting in old notebooks that I’ll treasure forever even if they are blatant rip offs of whatever shows I had interest in as a child. (predominantly Charmed, Ghost Whisperer, and House of Anubis.) It means everything to me and I can’t imagine it not being in my life. Though I did have a few years where I wasn’t writing fiction only essays and I can’t imagine how I went those years without writing a drop of fiction. Tone: Why do you write? Do you write for a purpose or just for fun? I actually do it for a little of both. I have a lot I want to say a lot I want to present to the world one day (though oftentimes I’m not sure I even want to present them at all) but I also write for fun a lot of times too. Like I’ve been dabbling in fanfiction. But with my original work there is always something that comes from a part inside me that is screaming to be heard. It’s also really fun just coming up with characters and settings which I’m slowly learning how to do better at that. Flashback: Post a short excerpt from an old piece. How much has your writing changed since then? You had me going all the way back to my old Quotev account for this one. Well its been a week and some days since I've went shoppping which means time to go shopping again. So I grabbed my jacket and sunglasses and headed out. I decided to jog instead of walk to the store.When I got there I found they had decided to change where things are put on the shelves since its not exactly a 24 hours 7 days a week. It was only open on Wensdays, Sundays, Fridays, and Thursdays. But it was open from 6:00 til 7:30. After an hour of searching and finding the stuff I need I was ready to check out. "Do you have a store card?" The lady at the cash register asked. "No," I said. Then I just stood there watching her scan the items. Finally she was done. "Your total is $42.99." She said. I fished out my wallet and pulled out two twenties and three ones. She took the money and rang it up. "Your change is one cent," She said handing me my recipt and my change. I took it and grabbed my bags which there was a lot of them and headed on the walk home. This was from a story I wrote that was about an orphan girl who was living alone and not going to school (the character was supposed to 15 and I was 13 at the time of writing it) and she then meets this neighbor boy and he saves her from living alone basically by like I think calling the cops on her at the end of the story or something weird? That or his family adopted her. I can’t remember. There’s so much to unpack in this excerpt it physical pains me. And you could tell I had no sense of the world at all. But I can safely say I proofread now. And I don’t use speaker tags like it will kill me if I don’t. Also this is like the most pointless scene ever. It added nothing to the character development or the plot. There was no descriptions in this scene or any of it’s surrounding scenes either. I also do not write in first person anymore. I am firmly a third person type of writer now. My characters also aren’t so flat and tend to have a more prominent monologue in their head that shape their personality. It also isn’t trying so hard to be edgy.

#writblr #writer asks

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popculturebuffet · 4 years ago

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Ducktales: New Gods On The Block! Review or THE INCREDIBLE STORKULES: COCKBLOCKER OUT OF MYTH!

We’re back, and i’m doing away with intros, for now, i’m trying to see if offering people a bit of the review makes them more receptive to reading it and now we’re nearing the end of this hellyear, and the trump presdency, i’m going into this one with a ton of energy, so let’s get quackin!

We open with the Scrooge and Kids on a quest to get a golden helmet he’s been after for years and has been one of his lifelong goals using a carefully crafted plan with all the kids skills needed. Okay i’ll admit that last part is unique to this show: given how interchangable the boys are outside of this continuity, I assume he’d just throw them at the monster like Pikmin as a distraction while Donald grabbed the helmet and just grow new ones in his vast venture bro style clone mine if they happen to die. Thankfully there’s no Child Death but there is Child Failure as the team comes back sad and defeated and doubting themselves.. Della having a confetti cannon ready to celebrate dosen’t help. Though it does bring me to the subject of Della being out of focus this season. It’s a mixed bag for me: On the one hand I do get it, as she was the main focus of last season, even more than Louie, and now we’ve gotten to know her, she can sit back and play more of a supporting role, especially since Donald , who himself was more of a supporting character the past two seasons, is now getting more screentime and Beakly’s getting fleshed out more. Their trying to balance a rather massive cast, so it’s natural the one whose already got a ton of focus at this point would take a back seat and all around the show’s done a far better job giving everyone screentime this season. Launchpad has been lacking of late but given a Darkwing Duck spinoff is probably in the cards, and he’s had tons of episodes at this point compared to Donald and Beakly, i’m understanding of it.

On the other.. there’s still a lot of stories to tell with her: We still haven’t had her deal with Scrooge basically erasing her for a decade at all nor Donald hiding her past from the kids.. he had reason and all, but he still made their mother a stranger to them. They had no stories, nothing to really go on for 10 years. That’s gotta have impacted both the kids and gotta hit della hard at some point that her father-uncle and brother both just kinda.. erased her to the kids. Plus we don’t know how she’s been adjusting to have a life OUTSIDE the kids especially since she’s been sitting out so many adventures, likely to let Scrooge have time with them and be a good daughter and mother and what not, but still there’s a LOT of ground to cover they simply haven’t yet. The Donald and Della plot we did get, while glorious, didn’t really add anything to either’s likely strained relationship and it’d be nice to give the two a subplot to work this out. Granted this might all be coming in the Castle McDuck Episode for all I know, but I can’t pin all my hopes and dreams on that one. And this all COULD’VE easily happened off screen.. but it’s something the audience really wants and needs. I’m not sure if we’re getting it and that worries me. But again theirs a large chunk of the season to answer this if this is the last one, and another season possible if it’s not, so i’m willing to wait for it. I’m just getting impatient is all.

That being said this episode makes up for the Della Deficet as she’s one of the main driving forces of this side of the episode. I’ll get into that more in a second but Della’s been on the rare misfire adventure and knows Scrooge’s stages of grief and that he’ll come out of it with a better plan. Unfortunately for the kids that plan dosen’t include them and Scrooge runs off to assemble a better team leaving the kids utterly devastated. One of the other main driving forces besides depressed children and the greek gods is scrooge being really bad with people, but i’ll get to that.

Point is the kids understandable emotional devastation and Della trying to mom for all of them at once because Launchpad had to get to his other job and is taking Beakly this weak to teach him and Drake how to raise a child, is interrupted by said Zeus ASSHAT RAPIST OUT OF MYTH! Along with Storkules COCKBLOCKER OUT OF MYTH and Selene, DELLA’S FIRST TIME WITH A WOMAN OUT OF MYTH! There here because Zeus has lost his powers, as the Gods all collectively decided he was a dick and voted him out of office.. er stripped him of his powers. Sorry an asshole, narcacistic, sociopathic racist getting removed from his position of power happening a few days after the election was called.. the timing just could not have been better. But yeah Zeus is out, roll credits. Join me after them and after the cut for the rest of the review.

So yeah the Gods are fed up with him, and Selene and Storkules are there to pick a worthy inheritor to his Laurel Wreath, his lighting bolts, and his collection of playboys he keeps alphabatized in his mancave.. also his mancave will also go to the winner. Storkules however, having a one track mind, notices Donald isn’t there and goes to find him. The kids are all eager to try but Selene is there for Della, which they all agree makes sense: I mean she has the disposition and sexual appitite of a green god but without all the rampant sex crimes and murder, and given most of them have clearly copped to the times except Zeus, that’s a plus. Plus she and Selene have already been together before so the fact they can smooch into infinity along with all the fun stuff is a nice bonus. It’s not like Storkules isn’t selecting his candiate soley with his 13 inch penis, so ther’es a precident. But Della, seeing the kids clearly need this more than she does, convinces her once and future girlfriend to let them try out. I really do wish we got more of the two this episode but what we get is great, and Selene reluctantly agrees after Della makes the valid point their STILL more mature than her dad. The fact Zeus punctuates this by getting into a “No you” contest with an 11-12 year old probably helped. As for where Donald is he’s preparing for a date with Daisy! Horay. I’ve been waiting for Daisy to come back since the last time she was here, and Donald has naturally been considerate: Setting up a bunch of hearts, flowers, some punch that is likely just box wine and sprite, he has a budget and throwing all his garbage in the pool with bricks because he’s still Donald. Romantic, a good dad.. but still a disaster of a person who dosen’t know quite how to live like an adult... which naturally I immensely relate to and hope i’m lucky enough one day to have a lady or fella to hide all my garbage from. I mean i’m probably dying alone, but that’s likely my old buddy crippling depression talking. Oh you old scamp.. please fuck off an die. But enough chilling looks into my psyche, point is Storkules barges in to ruin it, and eat his carefully made grilled cheese. As though Storkules may be incredible he’s also STORKULES, GOD OF NOT REALLY READING THE ROOM. Daisy comes in, and we find out it’s their second date.. and i’m assuming their first wasn’t that time they ended up in a direct to video sequel to Die Hard that’s still far better than Die Hard 5.. then again a colonoscopy is preferable to that movie so I Dunno. But she’s nice, friendly, if put off by the big sweaty man suddenly in their date. Storkules COCKBLOCKER OUT OF MYTH, does not help matters by, upon hearing that seeing how in love they are, and finding out it’s the second date assumes their getting married and hugs them in THE SWEATY ABS OF STORKULES. Do me next.

Back at the God Tests, god I love a job-ish thing that lets me say that, Louie is up first, and being Louie has thought up a plan that benifets him wether he wins or looses but one that has serious underlying issues he hasn’t thought of. Naturally it turns out to be a gold touch which, as with Midas, works out about as well as you’d expect.. with Dog Murder and mass murder to follow. Selene undoes it, So Louie gets nothing. And yeah this has been a major issue this season that while I talked about it back in “Let’s Get Dangerous” bares repeating: Louie feels like he learned NOTHING from the events of last season. He still likes, he still dosen’t think plans through, and he still cheats. In contrast Dewey DID grow from his season.. it’s subtle, he’s still the same loveable trainwreck and pre-teen Hank Venture he’s always been, but he no longer hides secrets or family stuff and is more of a team player. Still an egotsitical one, but it’s there. But Louie.. hasn’t changed at all. He’s still conviving, still thinks only in short term.. it’s only once or twice like with the Impossibin the events of last year really seem to have sunk in. It feels like the writer’s couldn’t figure out how to write a smarter Louie and just gave up. It’s really disheartning especially when most other character development, subtle and otherwise, sticks.

While Huey sweats over his turn and Della tries to encourage, we cut back to the date which is going okay, Daisy’s trying to roll with it but Storkules, TERRIBLE WINGMAN OUT OF MYTH really isn’t good at talking Donald up or letting them get to know one another. While things breifly get better when Daisy brings up her career and Donald talks it up like the loving soon to be boyfriend he is, Storkules FUCKUP OUT OF MYTH screws things up by saying, when she explains to him she hasn’t made any Toga’s because she works primarily in dresses that she can “work up to them eventually. “ As proof this is the best Daisy she dosen’t dump Donald immidetly despite none of this being his fault and him trying to explain he didn’t invite him, but instead just makes an angry, and understandably so , face and goes to powder her beak.. which is clearly code for “Scream Obscenities into Donald’s Mirror for the next ten minutes”. Which if it already wasn’t abundantly clear they were perfect for each other this would be the clincher. Donald wants Storkules to go and TRIES to tell him, but Storkules just assumes he wants him to make a big romantic gesture for them and goes to “let Cupid’s Arrow” strike her. Donald understandably wants conformation he doesn’t mean that literally. Spoiler alert: He does.

IT’s Huey’s turn next at playing god and he decides to be God of Intuition, gaining future sight so he can know everything and prevent tragedy. We instead get a damn funny scene where after adjusting to his powers he tries to prevent a breakup.. only to play both parts himself and cause it anyway. Just some great acting from Danny Pudi there. We get some more as Huey slowly melts down from the information, traumatizing a kid and nearly getting beat up with a guy who wants to “Beat up the freak for making everyone uncomfortable” which..

Yeah it’s not acceptable for what looks like a grown adult, or even a Teenager if that was an intent, to whale on a CHILD, let alone ANYONE for being “a Freak”. I mean yes Huey did screw up big, not mass murder bit but still.. but he’s still a fucking child. As someone who was prone to breakdowns at that age, and up to present day... I take this personally, especially since I see Huey as high functioning autsitic. So this hits home as i’ve had many people just tell me to get over it instead of trying to help. So yeah fuck this guy, take off that Gizmoduck shirt you do not deserve it. We fans do though, I hope that becomes real merch.

But yeah Huey failed and Zeus is gloating..mostly because in his already considerably warped brain, he thinks that if they all fail he dosen’t get it. Selene explains basic logic to him: If they fail to find a new god here, they’ll just keep looking. Zeus naturally has a tantrum as Scrooge enters, wondering why the kids care about god powers and Della, being a supportive mom, tries to get him to encourage them. He instead focuses on his team. Again, we’ll get to him trust me. Selene also calls her dad out on the fact he hasn’t done anything good since defeating the titans centuries ago. Naturally being THE GREATEST SHITHEAD IN ALL OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY Zeus takes the exact wrong lesson from this and calls his brother Hades to whip up a titan for him to fight because that was her point and not that your an irredemible dick tip who their desperate to replace and who was dethroned because no one liked you, not even your horrible presumibly now ex wife. I mean unlike DC Comics Zeus he’s not planning a cou but only because he has no powers. Hades however is well aware his brother has no powers, as the gods have been talking about it and laughing about it because Zeus sucks eggs. Also Hades has a great goth look and personality here as well as muscular arms to hold my bi ass at night. A-Plus character design. I may also have a thing for goths and emos I never realized I had. Just an observation.

Back at the boat Donald and Daisy are enjoying drinks, which again has to be wine.. I mean again box wine, Donald needs a lot of booze after a hard days nearly getting murdered and Costco has great deals on it, but still booze. They cuddle a bit and it’s fucking adorable.. and Storkules WHO JUST KIDDNAPED HIS COUSIN CUPID AND STOLE HIS SHIT naturally ruins this moment by first trying to fire one date rape arrow at them, then takes donald’s rampant headshaking no as a sign to fire all of the arrows... with Daisy ending up in the water and unsettling the garbage. Granted Donald COULD’VE prevented this by explaning things to her.. but i’m betting he didn’t simply because he’s.. tired of this shit. He’s tired of adventure, tired of it intruding on his life and just hoped Storkules was gone and out of sight and didn’t have a chance to prepare for that till it was too late. NOW Daisy storms off.. but unlike say Cabs Daisy, whose a living nightmare, or Comic Daisy, whose not a great person but has her moments depending on the comic, she has VALID REASON. Donald lied to her about garbage and dind’t just take it out like a normal Duck, and didn’t just outright yell at his friend to leave on their date, a friend who just attacked her and already insulted her. IT’s understandable, especailly given a line coming up she’d WANT to leave and leave Donald behind. Donald however is naturally miserable and it finally gets through Storkules thick skull he messed up and he runs off to cry while Donald miserably floats among the garbage and my heart both relates to that nad breaks seeing it. I mean .. Daisy meant a lot to him: After years of presumibly avoiding dating, or if he did not doing so for long, to focus on the boys, after a year of putting their needs ahead of his and living with his demanding uncle, of being dragged out of a normal if miserable life and into a less miersable but adventerous one he didn’t want, of being stranded in space and on an island wondering if his kids would be okay.. he finally not only has time for himself, and his sister back after years of thinking her dead and thus someone else to take care of the kids needs for a while without feeling any guilt over it or worrying about them, but found someone special. She’s talented, beautiful, charming, and understanding. And most importanlty she LISTENS to him and throughly likes Donald for who he is. And he looses that only PARTLY due to his won incomptence but mostly because someone he already barely allows in his life came in and ruined it. Once again the adventure and everything took something from him and while not nearly as big as loosing his sister, it still fucking hurts to once again have one small bit of something just for himself, one bit of normalcy, one person who loves him for who he is now through and through.. and it’s seemingly gone. It’s why I like this relationship even if this part panes me: Donald can FINALLY be happy... finally have someone who genuinely cares about him. This also boils down Storkules character and why I don’t ship the two of them: He’s a good god, he’s brave, compasionate, carring, and generally wants the best for donald and does genuinely love him.. but he also dosen’t care really what DONALD wants half the time. He’s the embodiment of Donald’s biggest gripe with his life: No one listens to or repsects him or what he wants. Storkules wants Donald the adventurer, Donald the brave, Donald the undaunted, DONALD THE IDEALIZED VERSION THAT ONLY EXISTS IN HIS HEAD. He dosen’t really get Donald isn’t the same person, and even that person wasn’t into him. Not because he’s a man, like his sister Donald could easily be bi or pan.. but because he’s just SO MUCH and Donald’s family is already SO MUCH.. and that was BEFORE the kids and the launchpad. Donald has made peace with adventuring but it’s still clearly not his faviorite thing while for Storkules adventure and experince is his life. Storkules needs someone like him and Donald needs someone down to earth, someone who can HANDLE the amount of chaos that follows him and the famly, but someone whose .. normal. And Daisy is that. If you ship then fine fine, but I just don’t because they just don’t go together and both deserve a partner they can truly be a partner with, not someone they clearly don’t understand or someone they DREAD visiting. They both deserve better than that.

Back on the god plot, it’s Webby’s turn as she becomes Goddess of Friendship. And helps the mood at the pier by spreading sunshine.. and then deals with the pier’s greatest menace and my honorary uncle, because he’s really not much worse than some of my actual uncles...

GLOMGOLD, SCOURGE OF CHILDREN’S KIDDIE RIDES. Because of course a seemingly regular habit for Glomgold is hogging a children’s ride he somehow fits into. Of course it is. It’s cheap and he’s not the best human being but I love him anyway. Webby heats it up to scare him then tries to get the kids to hug before having a breakdown at everyone not being happy. This does fit with her personality.. I didn’t think so at first but thinking back her first response in any friendship crisis is to panic and overreact. Her reaction to her best friend telling her she may have to stop sleeping over with her and her sister/webby’s giflriend because of magic danger is an implied death threat. She’s getting BETTER with people, but she still dosen’t have the life experince to fully deal with it and naturally upon seeing things get worse and worse goes on a lighting filled rampage Selene thankfully stops and likely undoes. Though Glomgold is likely on the moon now. He’ll be fine.

Dewey is last and auditions.. but forgets the god part and fails which fits him perfectly and is a great bit. The kids have all washed out and are depressed about it. While Della is hopeful when talking to Selene, Selene gently explains to her girlfriend she shares with a space alien that the kids just aren’t ready and that maybe the power of a god just isn’t the thing you give to a kid for a self esteem boost. Della MEANS well here, she just wants her kids, Webby very much included, to feel good and get their self esteem back after Scrooge swallowed it whole. But Selene is right that this is just too much power, and given it nearly drove Huey insane and nearly made Louie and Webby murderers, she has a point. It’s a good thought, but Selene needs an actual replacement for her dad. Sadly though this breaks the kids further after this and they slink off and Selene gets she messed up.. while she was right to reject them, she missed WHY Della was trying so hard. However credit where it’s do unlike her brother, while she dosen’t try to fix her issue, it’s likely out of emotional maturity: she knows just saying nice things to the kids wouldn’t help them or would wring hollow and their mom is better for that. IT’s things like this that are going to make her a good step mom.. yeah i’m shiping Della with both her girlfriends at once. Just because I gave up on her and Launchpad dosen’t mean poly’s off the table, and frankly selene is strong enough to win Penumbra’s favor and Penumbra has the kind of pepper and violence a greek goddess likes in her women. They’d be cute all together. I likes it.

Less cute is ZEUS, SCHEMING BOWL OF ELEPHANT PISS OUT OF MYTH!, who realizes his greatest gift isn’t his powers: I’ts manipulating his children.

And since he found a sad STORKULES POOR SAD BOY OUT OF MYTH. , and hears his issue, with Storkules hilarious sitting in his poppa’s lap, he spins it into getting what he wants: Saying since he and his wife, and Storkules mother in this version apparently I dunno, fell in love with battle, summoning Chronos will do just that for Donsy. Granted for most people your dad’s tale about how he met your step mom who tried killiing you a bunch and who he’s cheated on dozens of times would raise a red flag, but STORKULES IS THICK AS A BRICK.. in both senses of the word and calls forth Chronus.

Daisy meanwhile is driving her car away, but is battling with herself. On one hand she doesn’t want to play mother to a guy who can’t dispose his trash or his weird friends. On the other she admits she can really be herself around Donald. We then get the most telling line though.. “You do not need to fall for another man who needs saving!”

That.. is clearly setup for the future. It MIGHT be Gladstone but it could be anyone. Hell it could be someone entirely new. She also could have a kid like we’ve all wanted. We could get a canon version of Juinor.. not named Donald Juinor because 1) He’s not donald’s son and 2) that name’s been forever tainted and we all know which living bottle of axe body spray to blame. I.. genuinely can’t wait to find out who this is and I expect we will before the season’s up and i’ts nice to see Tress, like last time, get to dig into some emotional complexity with the character instead of just yelling at Donald or talking about bows and stuff. Here she grapples with herself as she does love Donald but the past has burnt her a lot. But as a wise pansexual once said “ But I think it's important for us to remember that sometimes, sometimes it does work out. And even though everything inside us is telling us to protect ourselves, when you've got it, don't let it go. And I am telling you, that you have got it, if you want it. “ Love is hard, love is messy, maybe that among many other things is why i’m alone. But it’s worth it when you take the time.. and upon seeing a giant monster heading for Donald’s house, Daisy realizes he is worth it.. or that frustrated with him right now or not she dosen’t want him to die. Either way she’s a coming and i’m gathering hornets in a box in ancipation of finding out who hurt her so I can mail them to him. I popped an H on there so I know it has hornets.

Back at the mansion the mood is bleak as heelllllllllll with Louie ordering pizza minus the toppings and Della’s attempt to give the kids hot choclate just getting an ow from Webby. It does make sense: Scrooge and adventuring are their lives.. if he dosen’t need them.. how would they ever do it themselves? Plus their 11 and 13 and at that age kids are very fragile so having their mentor and grandpa reject them like this really hurts, not helped by Scrooge proudly announcing his new team and trying to awkwardly bounce not getting this is his fault, though Della is staring at him with a look that just screams.

But before Della can stab her Dunkle, we cut to a depressed donald who switches from one natural state, Depression, to another, fearing for his life, as Chronus arrives and Huey rightly wonders how he’s here. The kids all defer to Scrooge while Della continues to just be the best. Seriously for the entire episode her only throught is her kids, and their emotional well being and had this crisis not popped up she probably would’ve stabbed scrooge then yelled him out for hurting her babies. She’s graduated from trying to be a mom but having issues with it due to mentally still being in her 20′s, to genuinely being GREAT at the job. Good on her. Daisy is naturally horrified to arrive to find Donald being eaten while Storkules is overjoyed. I WOULD say his stupidity’s overplayed this episode.. but he’s never displayed good judgement before why start now? It fits his character and his joy turns to distress when Chronus eats donald.. and has a cage in his tummy. with glass walls. I dunno, it’s a cool design. Daisy is understandably pissed and yells at it for eating her boyfriend, which gets an adorable oh boy oh boy from donald> Again love is rough, but one jackass screwing with you does not equate to every man or woman or person you date being a jackass. Daisy has realized this. Storkules is overjoyed, but soon finds himself and his sister fihgting Chronus and honestly both are damn impressive doing so. Seriously when the justice ducks form.. give htem a call. I mean She has moon beams and he’s a greek god.. plus Drake and Launchpad could use a third.. I mean he fits better there and Drake is already dating one manchild, and is one to a smaller extent, another won’t hurt. Just consider it shippers.. or foursies with Morgana because as this episode shows Storkules is bi as he is mighty. he’s Bighty. But the god squad fails, and gets eaten and Zeus’ time to shine predictably ends with an “I’ve failed immediately”, to no one’s suprise.

Scrooge starts working on a plan as he and Della, naturally scale the colossus. We then get the scene that’s been boiling all episode: When Scrooge wonders where the kids are, Della calls him out pointing out they’ve been plauged with doubts about him replacing them.. because he literally was replacing them, and when Scrooge is earnestly suprised by that Della points out the obvious: Their children, as I said their fragile and as Della puts it, Scrooge puts a LOT of pressure on them, something she likely knows from experince. And this is what i’ve been leading up to and putting a pin in all episode: Scrooge himself. It’s something I thought of days ago but this episode hammers in heavily: Scrooge really dosen’t have a ton of personal social skills. Sure he can work a board room pitch, lead a team of adventuerers, and run a vast empire while never forgetting the human element, for a lack of a better term, he’s not lacking in empathy or the ablility to talk to people, but when it comes to reading them it’s just surface level. He’s genuinely been show to struggle with empathy, with feeling someone elses emotions or realizing them till they’ve already been hurt. He spent a good ten years desperatley trying to bring Della back, avoding his pain and guilt instead of talking to Donald and making amends with him. His relationship with Goldie took decades to get anywhere healthy as he just put his walls up and assumed she’d never change when, as we’ve seen now, she always could she just needed a push. And when confronted by the kids he lashed out and then pushed them away instead of mending the wounds he created. Even on a much smaller level, when Lena and Violet ended up along next week he’s utterly lost when Adventure isn’t on the menu and only picks up from being baffled by two normal ish (One’s a parnaomal expert the other is the paranormal) joining him once it’s clear at least one of them fits right in with his intrests. He can deal with people on a problem by problem basis, but he’s just not good at dealing with their emotional needs or opening up. It’s why this works so well: his oblviousness fits. To him and the way his brain works, the crown is just a problem to solve and he just needs diffrent tools to fix it, not realizing replacing the kids for a mission would bother them or they’d ever think they were replaceable. Until now I hadn’t seen much similarity to Huey but both.. are just not great with PEOPLE. They put them in boxes, try to solve problems that way.. it’s just their specific issues that way are diffrent. Scrooge can anticapte the unknown and how people he’s fighting act.. but can’t anticipate personal hurt and pain well because he bottles all his up. When checking off a problem.. i’ts just something he dosen’t consider and thus his biggest blindspot, the thing he has to overcome time and time again: How his family feels and how he can deal with it. Here however he deals admirably.. now he KNOWS there’s a problem, and in a genuine show of character development over the past three seasons, he apologizes fully, saying their the best team he could ask for, better than zeus and don’t need his powers and they can get the helm together. Instead of putting up walls.. he’s letting his in and showing humility, which given Scrooge’s ego.. is a tall order. But for those kids, for his strength, it’s no small feet. Of course said speech gets Him and Della eaten, but the kids, now reinegized, ahve time to plan, with Daisy further stalling by roaring at Chronus to stop. Because she’s fucking awesome and Storkules finally gets that. The kids however take the leaves and breifly retake their powers, Dewey’s is for dance naturally, and use them together to take down Chronus, freeing everyone else, defeating the titan and throwing him back into the pits. Donald and Daisy reunite and get a RELLY sweet moment, blushing and looking lovingly at one another, getting lava on each other, before kissing. STORKULES, DOSEN’T GET THEY DON’T WANT A THIRD PARTNER OF MYTH, of course interrupts and hugs them hostage for the remaider of the episode. I’m assuming Beakly , when she got home, pried htem out and explained them not wanting a third int heir relationship to him, and it’s a weak end to the plot as Storkules learned nothing and one of the weaker parts of this episode. The rest is stronger as the kids and Scrooge plan to make another run at the helmet and Selene wonders off to “use your shower” and then order pizza.. so she basically just asked Della out. And has used her shower before.

I mean again, she can have two partners. This episode alone has earned that and they seem like they’d mesh. Penny would just have to learn some lessons about sharing and godly vagina’s is all. Nothing wrong with that. And what about Zeus.. no one asked but he gets his wreath back only to fall in the pit, with Hades naturally laughing his ass off.. and likely also taking Zeus’ laurel back. So Zeus is trapped in hell with a goth mocking him. HORAY! HAPPY END. Final Thoughts; This was a pretty good one. It does have it’s weak spots: Storkules learned nothing, the kids stories endings were easy to see coming and there wasn’t enough Dellene. But really despite that. .it’s still a solid episode mostly because it’s REALLY damn funny. The comedic timing is just pitch perfect and while like most of the plots I could see the rhythm of the donsy plot, the reasons for it were all funny and fresh and the scene with Daisy in her car was a nice bit of character building/clear setup for the future. And showing off Della’s own character developement and history with scrooge, the latter without ever having to mention it, really brought the episode up, as did the guest cast’s game voice acting and timing. This episode is far from perfect, but it’s still a fun episode that felt needed despite not being tied into the main plot: Bringing back some old friends, and having an intresting story to tell. Plus we got more Donsy so there’s that. Overall while not the BEST episode of the series, it was a funny, enjoyable half hour of television and sometimes, that’s enough. If you liked this review follow me or more, and if there’s an episode of Ducktales from seasons 1 or 2 you’d like me to cover, you can comission it for 5 bucks, 5 bucks an episode, 5 dollars off your order when you comission more than one, via my personal messages. You can also follow me on patreon at patreon.com/popculturebuffet if you want. NEXT WEEK: FLASHBACK EPISODE! BABY DONALD AND DELLA! BRADFORD ORIGIN STORY! POSSIBLE HORTENSE AFTER SO LONG! MY BODY IS READY!

#ducktales #donald duck #daisy duck #donsy #delumbra #delene #della duck #selene #storkules #scrooge mcduck #dewey duck #huey duck #louie duck #hades #chronus #chronos #new gods on the block!#new gods on the block #ducktales spoilers

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madsdefencesquad · 4 years ago

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Okay I got boooored so here’s a Kevison magazine fic I wrote for Kevison nation coz I love yous and we deserve to see Kevin talk about his fam magazine-stylez coz you know he’ll be gushing all the time about them, like you just KNOW IT.

Kevin Pearson on life, fatherhood and what’s next for him by x March 2028, Spring edition

It’s been twelve years since the impassioned The Manny star Kevin Pearson announced to the world that he will be quitting the role that had started it all for him. Pearson’s public meltdown was excruciating, to say the least, but it was this very act of defiance that led the actor towards the path of the actor-crusader that he is now known for—a revolutionary who defied the odds and ultimately defined him as one of the greatest actors of his generation.

After a slew of tabloid-worthy dalliances with famous co-stars including the soap operatic love triangle with Tony award-winner Olivia Maine and his Back of an Egg co-producer and playwright Sloane Sandburg, to the court-ordered rehab stint after a DUI arrest, Kevin Pearson has done nothing but illicit the kind of stories that tabloids are desperate to display and monetise from in full view. All of these seemed the perfect pivot points for the actor, basking in the affordances of all this fame and fortune albeit in a trajectory of a complete career-destruction, but the actor was by no means deterred in proving that he can and should be taken seriously in his acting craft.

Pearson came through with striking, emboldened performances: a soldier with an inability to confront his demons in the Ron Howard-helmed World War II flick opposite Sylvester Stallone, and an embittered cop in the M Night Shyamalan action flick Stairs to Nowhere. But it wasn’t until his role as a disingenuous trial lawyer in the 2020 Jordan Martin Foster film Glass Eye that earned him his first ever Academy Award nomination and eventual win that proved to the world that when he puts his mind to it, Kevin Pearson can truly achieve the kind of acting greatness worth the lauded applause.

Pearson, who was born and raised in Pittsburgh before moving to New York and eventually Los Angeles, has spent a good amount of his life in the public eye. Though his sunny, easy-going persona and physicality have been compared to the likes of Chris Hemsworth and (supposed rival) Chris Evans, the Pittsburgh-bred Pearson doesn’t feel the need now to prove that he is anything but a conscientious actor and a dedicated family man.

It’s a warm, spring afternoon when I ring the buzzer of a sprawling floor-to-ceiling glass residence tucked away in a town in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The little lady of the house, barefoot in a floral-print dress, greets me with an encouraged wave from her father, who is cradling her against him upon opening the front door. “She’s not normally this shy,” Kevin says with an affectionate grin as he leads the way to the sitting room, his little girl curiously taking peeks at me with what I garner is her mother’s soft blue eyes given Kevin’s famous warm browns.

The newly built residence is a remarkably private house perched on a dramatic hillside overlooking a panoramic view of the verdant surrounds, which Kevin says, “keeps the family very safe from prying eyes.” This feature, of course, was at the forefront of his mind prior to laying its foundations there.

“There’s one main reason as to why I chose to build here specifically,” he says. “But I’m not gonna bore you with the details. Let’s just say, I’m honoring a memory. Makes me sound real poetic, doesn’t it?”

Throughout Kevin’s career, he’s been known to talk quite candidly about his love and appreciation for his mother, Rebecca Pearson, with his Oscars acceptance speech having heavily featured his immense gratitude to her as would a loving son. But, as we move along the elegantly furnished corridors with him pointing and elaborating at the various artworks decorating the walls and the spaces, it is obvious that Kevin has an unrivalled affection for his wife that is quite notably special.

We make our way to a sitting area outside where we are entreated to the sounds and sights of a naturally filtered swimming billabong with cascading falls—a modern feature incorporated with the Japanese Zen garden landscaping that is just breathtaking to behold in person. “I wanted to make it feel as authentic as the ones you find in Japan,” he says, sitting on one of the cushioned recliners. He pours me a glass of red wine while he settles for chilled tonic, his little girl now helping herself to some olives and crackers.

There is an air of rare contentment around Kevin as he laughingly recalls his twins’ daily shenanigans. “Nothing really compares to coming home to them,” he says. “And I’m not trying to sound ungrateful or anything, but I’ve been [working my whole life] and I’ve only had my wife and kids just short of a decade, and that’s nothing! So, I do what I can to be home in as most days of the year as I can.”

When asked whether he’s perhaps heading into the territory of acting retirement in favour of other pursuits like directing or producing, Kevin thinks it can go either way.

“The other night in bed my wife suggested I do voice acting,” he says, to which his little girl unintentionally responds to in glee as she, her feet now strapped in light-up sandals, runs the width of the garden (within sight of her dad, of course) with her Jessie and Bullseye dolls held high. “She knows me too well,” he says fondly of Madison, his wife of eight years now. “I’d love to have my kids watch a movie that dad’s in without having to wait till they’re teenagers. And I hate thinking of my babies as teenagers! God, it’s just the worst age!”

Kevin recalls his teenage years with the kind of accepted embarrassment fit for a 48-year-old, but he laughs saying, “But I see a little more of their mom in them than me so that gives me hope. I’d hate to think I passed on angsty teen Kevin to either one of them. Just serious kudos to my parents for putting up with me all those years. I must’ve been a nightmare.”

From endorsing the des Resistance popular eau de parfum for men to his Armani-clad behind splashed on every billboard in the country (much to his chagrin and to his wife’s entertainment), Kevin Pearson has always been quite the go-getter, and though his “yes man” days in the industry are over, he’s always open to other ways in which he can challenge himself in his craft without compromising the time spent with his family.

“They’re my first priority, no questions asked,” he says. For a kid, who grew up in a middle-class family with parents whom had high hopes for their future, Kevin says that now, as a father himself, his perspective has shifted as to what’s really important and what’s not.

“I think a lot of the time there’s an expectation for your kids to meet the standard their parents have set or even go beyond it,” he says. “But that’s just toxic, you know? And it puts a lot of pressure on them to be someone that they’re not and not meant to be.”

Kevin is candid about his insecurities as an actor and as a father and as a husband, but there is a masterful acceptance there that he gives full credit to his wife. “We’re not perfect people, perfect parents,” he says. “And we’ll never be. That’s just a fact of life. But getting to do this with your person, the love of your life makes the biggest difference. I used to think that my parents had the greatest love story ever, and I used to really idolise it, you know, but honestly I think Madison and I can probably rival that.” And he thinks that if he’ll ever write, direct or produce a script, it’ll be about him and his wife’s sweeping and unconventional love story that will be the “tear-jerker of the century. Like, A Walk to Remember or The Notebook level but like better!”

I ask him what Madison would think of his plans to unleash their love story to the world, and as if on cue, he fishes his phone from his pocket and utters a “just a sec” before leaving to grab his daughter and take the call.

Following his game-changing Academy Award win in 2021, Kevin had let himself free fall in the industry as a kind of versatile actor in roles where he sweeps you away with gut-punching monologue deliveries coupled with an intensity that comes in through the eyes. He hasn’t delved into comedy since his Manny days though, but there is a certain cajoling ease in his demeanour that could easily challenge his funny bone.

“It’s Madison,” he returns not long after and settles himself down again, his daughter handing me a pizza-shaped play-dough I pretend to munch on. “She’ll be home soon. You should meet her. You’d love her! Everyone does not that it’s surprising.”

And who could deny that offer?

Kevin shows me a photograph of the twins on his phone at their cousin’s birthday whom they celebrated with in California last week and qualms that they’re growing up way too fast—yet another reiteration that he is as doting of a father as he is a consummate actor. He thinks that though Hollywood is a lot less ageist in terms of film and TV roles, there is still that pressure not to succumb to filling a role just because you’re the right age for it.

“Ever since my kids were born, I’ve been approached to do a lot of dad roles. Like my agent would send me about five scripts a week where my character is supposed to be this stereotypical dad. I’ve rarely taken any of them because I feel like it’s like they’re just trying to fit me in to a role just because I can say, ‘Oh hey, yeah I’m a dad now, I know what that means or what that looks like’, and not that that isn’t a good thing per se, but there’s a difference between the director wanting me to put my own spin to it as Kevin Pearson the actor versus them just wanting Kevin Pearson the dad. The way I approach parenting my kids, the way my wife and I do it, would be different to the way my character in this film would parent his kids. Sure, there may be certain overlaps, but it’s not going to be full Kevin Pearson the dad, you know? So, it’s hard with that kind of expectation.”

As the sun dips a little lower and it gets a little cooler, Kevin takes us back to the house just in time to finally meet Madison and their little boy, who looks strikingly like his father though, upon closer inspection, actually looks a little more like his mother. But there is one undeniable feature of the twins that definitely comes from both parents: the adorable identical dimples adorning their little chins.

Madison Pearson is as beautiful in person as she looks in photographs standing beside her husband in premieres and events. With her light-blue eyes and warm, soothing voice that sounds both delicate and excited at the same time, Madison is nothing but the embodiment of all things lovely.

“She grounds me,” he says adoringly, watching Madison and their kids flit about in the kitchen arranging dinner. “There isn’t much I can say that’s good about me if it hadn’t been for her. I can be ambitious and sometimes there’s always that pull towards something bigger but not necessarily better and she tells me honestly. She calls me out. And everyone needs that, you know? A frank person who won’t sugar coat anything, but they do it because they love you.”

It’s easy to imagine Kevin in gritty noir films playing bad cop, good cop or even as an intimidating trial lawyer, but Kevin as a family man is the role that is perfectly suited for him, almost like it’s created especially for him. As a father, he thrives on the affections of his kids, and as an actor, he finds pleasure in what’s he’s good at. And as a husband, his smile is the widest. “Not gonna lie, her not even being slightly jealous of that one time I did a love scene still gets to me,” he jokes. But it’s obvious that it bothers him not one bit. He enjoys being Madison Pearson’s more than anything.

“It’s crazy to think that people are inspired by what I do and who I am when for most of my life, it was 100% the other way around. It’s a huge responsibility, really, but I take it as it goes. I have my kids on the back of my mind now every time I make any decision, and I have a wife to love and support too, so it’s easier to not feel trapped by people’s opinions and expectations of you when you’re too focused on them and being the best person you can be for you and for them. So, it’s about growing every day, and enjoying all that life has to offer, and making every moment count.” x

Particular shoutout to my GC gals coz like ILY 5EVS @wallofweird @betweensunflowersanddaffodils @thisiskevison @thesocietalmisfit @tryalittlejoytomorrow @lullabiesandgoodbyes @flythesail @ourfinehouse @elephantsneedwater @holding-up-the-universe @smoakingpinklipstick @purpleinthesky

#kevison #kadison #seriously let's get rid of this tag @ sterling better not be annoying af next ep aye!!#hope you enjoyed kevin gushing about his family lol #i'll probs make another one but less formal and more kevison-centric #but I just love love loveeeee imagining dad! and husband!kevin sah much #so don't mind meee #anywhooo #kevin and madison #kevin pearson #this is us madison #kevison fanfic #kevison fic #i have not written in 5eva but boyyyyyy this was sah much fun #Kevin Pearson #TIU #tiu spoilers

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