#Brain o’halloran x reader

[myveryownfanfiction]

18+ MINORS AND THOSE WITHOUT AGE IN BIO DNI

tags: @illiana-mystery, @iobsessoverfictionalmen

warnings: swearing, mention of sex

“and then she flipped her shit because I was upset about…” Dante glanced over at the teens in the back. “Ya know.” I stood up on my toes as I reached to hang the string of bats.

“you’re telling me Veronica got upset about your number but then got mad at you for being upset about her number?” I asked, nodding as dante pushed on my waist to move me over to the left. We shared a smile as the roller chair squeaked with the movement. “That’s bogus as fuck man.”

“Right?” Dante exclaimed. “She’s allowed to be upset but I’m not?” I shrugged as I secured the last of the bats. Dante lifted me up and helped me off the chair.

“thanks.” I said before grabbing the box on the counter and pulling it towards me. “What did Randall say?”

“he was stuck on 37.” Dante groaned, leaning on the counter next to me.

“course he was.” I said, rolling my eyes. “I swear the only thing on that boys mind…” I grabbed the pumpkin lights and frowned as I looked at the ceiling. “Any idea to hang these?” Dante looked at the lights before looking at me.

“you could climb on my shoulders.” He shrugged. “Or we could wait for Randall and we could watch him fuck it up.”

“And then we’d have to fix it anyway.” I pointed out. Grabbing the lights and draping them over my neck, I hopped on the counter. “Alright. Let’s go.” Dante moved between my legs and positioned me over his shoulders before standing up. “Whoa.” I laughed as I nearly hit my head on the cigarette drawer. Dante laughed and tightened his grip on my legs.

“now don’t kick me and don’t pull my hair.” He warned as he moved towards the first hook in the ceiling.

“sounds kinky.” I teased, gently tugging on his hair. Dante smacked my leg, smirking up at me. “Ok. So she goes postal. What are you gonna do about it?”

“well I have to break up with her don’t I?” He asked. I shrugged, dante grabbing my legs as the motion made me shaky.

“over 37?” I asked, leaning forward to miss the light and look at Dante at the same time. “I mean that’s a bit much.”

“no.” Dante groaned. “Her going postal. She hit me over 12. Then she turns around and loses her shit when I’m understandably pissed at 37. She didn’t even know that she was performing sexual acts outside of sex! Feels like people took advantage of her.”

“it kind of does.” I agreed. “So how’s that gonna make you look?”

“well she’ll just have to accept it.” Dante sighed. “If she wants to believe it was over the 37…fine. But I can’t stay in a relationship where my feelings aren’t taken into account or shit on.” Dante reached into the box and handed me the last strand of lights. “Finish these and I’ll work on the clings.”

“you got it boss.” I said, taking the lights and hanging them over the cigarette drawer. “Let me know how it goes with her. I’ll take you out for ice cream.” Dante turned and knelt down so I could sit on the counter.

“I kind of already did it.” Dante rubbed the back of his neck as he turned to look at me. I raised an eyebrow at him. “I also told her there was already someone else.”

“took you long enough hicks.” I smirked at him. Dante blushed as he leaned in and kissed me. “Thought I’d have to settle for Randall.” Dante made a face as he grabbed the clings.

“even jay is better than him.” Dante groaned. I laughed as I swung my legs over the counter. Hopping down, I rang up the teens. Dante nodded at them as they left. “Think this shit hole is festive enough?” Dante stepped back and shrugged.

“if the boss wants more he can do it himself.” He said, hopping the counter and pulling out the sign saying to take change when applicable. “Now come here.” He sat down, his back against the counter and legs stretched out in front of him. I smiled and laid down on top of him, turning my head to kiss him as he wrapped his arms around me.

[rebelsofshield]

Panels Far, Far Away: A Week in Star Wars Comics 6/19/19

The rebels may be warriors for justice and galactic revolution, but that can’t always be the case, right? Three different Star Wars comics from Marvel explore the gray areas of galactic war this week.

Star Wars #67 written by Kieron Gillen and art by Angel Unzueta

After nearly thirty issues and four years of story, Kieron Gillen’s wild run on Star Wars comes to a close with the climactic finale to “The Scourging of Sho-Torun.” 

With Queen Trios dead and the partisans having turned Leia’s tactical strike into a potential worldwide cataclysm, our band of heroes desperately attempts to escape with their lives and prevent disaster.

Gillen and artist Angel Unzueta aim for fun and excitement here and the results undeniably deliver. After a run that at times tread rather close to being somber and tragic, it is a bit jarring to see Star Wars make a marked turn towards the lighter and playful here at the end of its latest incarnation, but the creative team here operates at such a fast story telling clip that it’s hard not to get caught up in it all. Whether its TIE fighter chases through the depths of Sho-Torun or surprising acts of heroism by unexpected characters, Gillen keeps the creative twists and turns flying.

The result does end up feeling a tad anticlimactic and thematically confused though. While Gillen does write some great interactions between him and Han, Benthic Two Tubes and his partisans end up being the largest problem here. When their involvement in Leia’s strike on Sho-Torun predictably turned into a mission of vengeance, Benthic became an entertaining wild card to an already complex story. Unfortunately though, Gillen pivots maybe too hard to making Benthic’s revenge responsible for the mission’s hiccups and takes away from the intriguing character study of Leia that this arc originally seemed set upon. Leia does get to put the pieces back together of her mission, but any message that was trying to be said about her flirtations with darkness feels lost in the midst of all the chasing and escaping.

Angel Unzueta’s potential final issue of Star Wars proves to be one of his strongest. Although his detailed and expressive faces at times still feels a little uncanny or separate from their bodies, this action heavy issue feels dynamic and energetic. The explosive collapse of Sho-Torun feels suitably apocalyptic and scenes of the Falcon diving through molten magma and collapsing super structures are a visual treat.

At the end of it all, it will be sad to see this creative team go even if “The Scourging of Sho-Torun” proved to not be the strongest story they would produce. Gillen in particular proved to be one of the most influential and inventive voices in the new canon and its hard to undersell how important some of the creative choices he made on Darth Vader and Doctor Aphra have shaped not only the Marvel line but the franchise as a whole. I would be happy to see him back someday.

Score: B

Star Wars Doctor Aphra #33 written by Simon Spurrier and art by Wilton Santos, Caspar Wijngaard, and Andrea Broccardo

Conceptually, “Unspeakable Rebel Superweapon” is shaping up to be one of the strongest story arcs that Simon Spurrier has envisioned for this series to date. It’s premise blends elements of Rogue One, Indiana Jones, and Killing Eve style spy thrillers into a strange and colorful character piece that feels up the series’ alley and fits Spurriers particular sense for the weird side of the galaxy.

Turns out that magic Jedi gun that Aphra snatched last issue is more than just a valuable artifact. It may contain the design blue prints to an off the books rebel superweapon that may be useful in assassinating Emperor Palpatine. Also turns out that stealing this artifact combined with her recent actions on Milvayne landed her on the Empire’s most wanted list. Also turns out that Aphra’s ex-Imperial lover, whom she brain washed with a telepathic squid, is now a member of one of the rebellion’s most ruthless espionage units. Combine that all with some thematic throughlines about morality and motherhood, we are on track for another rich arc of Doctor Aphra.

Throwing Aphra into a sect of the rebellion that not only makes use of the archaeological plot points of her career but also stretches traditional ethics is a great move by Spurrier. While the flashback sequences with Aphra and her mother may lay it on a bit thick, making Aphra (and the reader) enter into a morally sticky faction of normally heroic characters is fruitful playing ground for writer and character. If past arcs of Spurrier’s run were about reinforcing Aphra’s chaotic and dangerous character, maybe the future of her story is finding out how that character may still be used to do some good.

Making Tolvan a prickly rebel spy is also a great twist and it’s nice to see her evolve as a character outside of being the object of love and misfortune for Aphra’s latest schemes.

Unfortunately, “Unspeakable Rebel Supreweapon” is still struggling visually. Wilton Santos, Caspar Wijngaard, and Andrea Broccardo all take on pencil duties here with Chris O’Halloran and Stephane Paitreau doing colors. That’s a lot of hands in the visual pot and the result is rather underwhelming. Of the three main pencilers, Wijngaard is again the most successful. While there is little apparent editorial logic to who draws what, Wijngaard handles most of the flashbacks and expository panels and these are often the most striking and fun images of the book. Whether it’s Jedi Apostate Oo’ob striding a starfighter and shouldering his experimental weapon or Tolvan and her team of spies letting loose on a group of hapless Imperials, Wijngaard’s moments in the spotlight are stellar. Santos struggles however. In particular, his decidedly sparse and underdetailed environments, which are done no favors by the coloring, lack the diverse and lived in aesthetic that one would expect from Star Wars or even past arcs of this title. It’s disappointing as the script for this story is so strong that its underwhelming visuals become all the more of a letdown.

Score: B

Star Wars TIE Fighter #3 written by Jody Houser and art by Roge Antonio and Geraldo Borges

Last week saw the release of Del Rey’s latest Star Wars novel, Alexander Freed’s Alphabet Squadron, which harkens back to the military procedurals of the 90’s X-Wing series. I’m only about 100 pages into the book, but so far Freed has managed to bring to life rebel aces in a way that hasn’t been felt in sometime with characters that are exciting but also heartbreakingly human. Jody Houser has a much shorter and very different mandate with TIE Fighter, but so far the book and comic are managing to be fitting pairs.

Perhaps Houser’s biggest success so far is making us naturally root for “the bad guys.” It may help that that the forces Shadow Wing are fighting are mostly other Imperials, but this makes one of the few pieces of current canon with Imperial leads that doesn’t actively feature defectors among its protagonists. Shadow Wing are loyal to the Empire, but Houser so far has done a decent job of setting up these five pilots as relatable “everymen.” They aren’t necessarily blameless individuals, but they are understandable as people and it makes them engaging protagonists all the same.

This third issue of TIE Fighter explodes the central conflict and as a result Houser and artist Roge Antonio really get to let loose with well-crafted dogfight set pieces. Antonio captures the chaos of starfighters chasing each other through space with the appropriate intensity, but also thankfully, never loses sight of the central cast. Action scenes are clear, intense, and exciting.

That being said, there are some emotional beats here that TIE Fighter fails to fully sell. Whether it is the suddenness that they happen or that Houser hasn’t yet earned the emotion for these moments, there are beats that should sting or surprise but instead slip by quickly and passively. Maybe TIE Fighter would have benefited with just a bit more downtime for its cast before throwing them into this chaos? Who knows, but it’s hard not to leave this issue without feeling kind of hollow.

Score: B-