#Initiative Arizona Desert Stars

[elgaberino-mcoc]

spreadsheet cleanup TWO-GUN KID

yes he was in #Battlrealm3 but I never finished his spreadsheet entry 

ComicVine: 347 issues Fandom: 220 appearances across 11 variants 1 video game

high-priority I do recommend him for @MCOCwishlist

- Other Gabe

[brokehorrorfan]

Phase IV will be released on 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray on March 26 via Vinegar Syndrome. Adam Maida designed the new cover art for the 1974 sci-fi horror film are include; the original poster is on the reverse side.

Acclaimed title designer Saul Bass (Psycho, North by Northwest) makes his lone directorial effort from a script by Mayo Simon (Futureworld). Michael Murphy, Nigel Davenport, and Lynne Frederick star.

Phase IV has been newly restored in 4K from its 35mm original camera negative with HDR and mono sound. The 84-minute theatrical cut and an 89-minute preview version are included.

Special features for the three-disc (one 4K UHD, two Blu-ray) set are listed below.

Special features:

84-mintue theatrical version (4K UHD + Blu-ray)

89-minute preview version (Blu-ray)

Theatrical audio commentary by film historian Matthew Asprey Gear

Evolutions: The Making of Phase IV - 48-minute documentary with Jeffrey Bass, actor Michael Murphy, screenwriter Mayo Simon, archivist Sean Savage, and Saul Bass biographer Pat Kirkham (new)

Formicidae Sinfonia: The Music and Sounds of Phase IV - 15-minute featurette with composer Brian Gascoigne and electronic music artist David Vorhaus

Deleted shots and sequences

Raw footage from the original ending montage sequence

Theatrical trailer

Still gallery

Following a mysterious eclipse-like solar event, scientists begin to notice strange and unexplainable behavioral changes in ants. While initially written off as an unconcerning anomaly, it soon becomes apparent that the creatures have developed advanced intelligence along with the ability to work collectively. Scientists Ernest Hubbs and James Lesko have been transferred to a futuristic lab in a remote part of the Arizona desert in which to study these phenomena. However, when the ants begin to attack and kill both wildlife and humans, Hubbs and Lesko realize that the entire human race might now be at a deadly evolutionary disadvantage to the tiny insects...

Pre-order Phase IV.

[elephant-in-the-pride-parade]

Ooo your fic writing asks list had a lot of fun options! Imma go with #19: What's the most interesting topic you've researched for a fic?

This is really really hard 😂😂😂

So the thing about interesting topics is that they often sorta come about as collateral to whatever I was trying to research. Usually I have an idea for the plot. I only need to do enough research to confirm if the idea is scientifically sound or if I need to include some supernatural hijinks to make it plausible. And then I wind up down a rabbit hole of a bunch of other things I did not intend to research, but here we are anyway.

Needed to know how long a body would take to decompose / what evironments would preserve it best and oh wow. Did you know how toxic modern embalming can be for the environment. (Also if you ever need to engineer a mummy for a story. Try freezing, sealing in a dry environment, or soaking in a bog for best results).

Needed to know if my characters could dig a well in a high desert. Oops accidentally read half of a 50 page report on an Arizona geological survey. And by the way did you know that the deepest Depth-to-Water in Arizona is over 2,000 feet down. (I had to scrap a plotpoint after that discovery).

Honestly by far the most interesting discovery was that salamanders can breathe through their skin, and regrow their limbs (weirdos) these being tangential discoveries from the initial point of the research. Which was that Janeway and Paris probably did not do the horizontal tango to make their three salamander children. More likely he dropped a sperm packet on the ground. And she "internalized" it. 🦎🦎🦎

This next one is a spoiler for an upcoming chapter so under the cut...

Only in Star Trek do you need to ask the real questions. Like what if a cold blooded character was gestating a warmblooded hybrid child (no one tell me Cardassians aren't cold blooded. I am 80,000 words in. It's too late now). This took a jigsaw puzzle's worth of google searches to piece together. Differences in Cold vs. Warmblooded species. What organs contribute to warm-bloodedness. Can thyroid hormones cross a placenta. I digress - Did you know that the same evolution that spurred the development of warm-blooded circulatory systems also leaves the body more vulnerable to cardiac damage. (I forget exactly how I found myself at this discovery but good god damn did it come in handy).

[dxsole]

🏍️ SIDE MUSE | Jerome "Rome" Dunn

Character Relation: Didi's ex-boyfriend and wanted criminal.

Didi first met Jerome (He was sometimes nicknamed Rome and suffered through many Roman Empire jokes) in Arizona during her annual travels throughout the States. In truth, she was on her way out, having quickly learned that she didn't quite care for Arizona; it was too dry and dusty and while the scenery in some parts of the state was lovely, the trade-off was her hair getting a little split from the dry heat. Terrible.

Unfortunately for her and her hair, before she could make her exit she met Rome. He was greasy and foul-mouthed, mumbling through some accent she had no ear for as he sat on his motorcycle, nursing a few black and blues he had recently sustained. And he was a redhead and if you've talked to Didi longer than a day you'll know she's a sucker for a redhead.

Rome ran with a motorcycle gang and initially, it didn't seem like anything too dangerous. They were all rather cordial to her whenever Rome brought her around, and some had partners as well and they'd all ride off together— It all felt very cinematic; just some beautiful, heated summer romance that wouldn't last long but be very, very fun in the meantime. And you know how Didi is— she wants people to love her more than she loves them, and whenever she's bored of the domesticity or the location, she'll just try to leave.

But she couldn't seem to leave Rome.

Surprisingly, Didi had met her match when it came to being convincing. To this day she isn't sure what Rome had that made her so pliable, but it was dangerous. Even too dangerous for Didi.

She could complain and he'd somehow persuade her to be satisfied with what he could give her, the promise of more always lingering in the back of his words. Even when at the start of their relationship it was established that Rome often went off for a few days to do something for the crew. Didi would pester him for information and he'd always manage to curve her questions.

She eventually stopped asking, especially when he'd come back with more cash in hand and a spring in his step, showering her with all that lost affection.

It was later revealed he was dealing drugs and making arms deals, the gang he was riding with was not as innocent as she initially thought— not that Didi cared about any of that, honestly. Rome could have convinced her to stay if he promised to keep her safe and sated. Rome could have convinced her of anything, actually.

And he almost did. Late-night talks about getting hitched were almost appealing. She'd be his little wife, always there when he needed her, wanted her, and she could— well, that's eventually what forced her to leave.

Those little trips turned into weeks. The higher the risk, the greater the reward, or so he always told her— whatever else he was doing meant more money but also more time away from her. The lack of attention was slowly fueling the fire, making rage bubble up inside her; it was finally that one day in his trailer home when she looked around and realized; this wasn't what I wanted at all.

Rome...Rome she wanted and everything the Roman Empire he was building had to offer. But not the rest of it. Not this stupid, flaming state. Not the weeks apart. Not the...sitting alone in a damn trailer park when she could be by the pool of a five-star resort, not feeling sorry for herself. Not feeling so discarded.

Didi bought a ticket out of town and ranted to anyone who would listen about how some fucking man had convinced her to stay in this Godforsaken desert and she actually fucking LISTENED to him.

Funnily enough, she and Rome are on okay terms today. She swears she would never willingly step into the state of Arizona again, but she still has his number. Sometimes he texts her to see how his girl's doing. Sometimes she calls him when she's in a bind in the States, and Rome always seems to come to her rescue, despite Didi usually yelling at him in the end. He always took her rage rather well.

Rome has even funded a few of her trips back to France when Jasper cut her off— even met her at the airport, reminding her she could come home anytime she wanted with that smug, shit-eating grin of his.

Didi told him he should be a politician with how much bullshit he spewed. Or a cult leader.

[cinemagooey]

Monkey Business

There's a new Planet of the Apes sequel in theaters now, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. It's the perfect time to go a little bananas over the OG film that made the industry go ape-sh%$ crazy, and peek at the franchise that made billions for Fox.

Charlton Heston all tangled up in Planet of the Apes (1968)

Twentieth Century Fox had a monkey on its back.

It was 1968 and the studio had taken a huge gamble by greenlighting a movie based on an obscure french novel called La Planèt Des Singes, when no other studio wanted to touch it.

The science fiction plot was way out there for one thing - monkeys evolving into super-intelligent rulers of the world? Humans devolving into mute beasts? Fuggetaboutit. Audiences wouldn't buy it. And the cost of making the futuristic film seemed rife with financial risk.

The original Planet of the Apes novel cover

But a VP at Twentieth Century Fox, Richard F. Zanuck (scion of the studio founder), was intrigued by the screenplay, co-written by The Twighlight Zone's own Rod Serling.

And the man who had taken the biggest gamble by gobbling up the rights to the novel, Arthur P. Jacobs, a former publicist to Marilyn Monroe and Gregory Peck, just wouldn't shut up about it, convincing Zanuck that this was going to be a gorilla of a hit. It helped that Charlton Heston, an A-lister star, had signed on to play the lead.

Charlton Heston a/k/a Moses

Despite initial fears that audiences would laugh at the ape costumes and shake their heads at the plot, Zanuck moved forward (after signing his mistress to play the crucial role of Nova, the female companion to Heston's Captain Taylor). In 1967 filming began in the high heat of the Arizona and Utah deserts.

Charlton Heston as Taylor and Linda Harrison as Nova, the primitive female who managed to keep her brows perfectly shaped and teeth pearly white - even during apocalyptic times!

Filming Planet of the Apes, 1967

The summer heat, which got upwards of 120 degrees, made life pretty unbearable for the cast members. Kim Hunter, the actress who played Zaria and had to endure several hours in heavy prosthetics, resorted to taking valium. Jeff Burton, who played the doomed astronaut Dodge, fainted from the heat. The unforgiving landscape was treacherous and some equipment had to be brought in by mule packs. But it paid off handsomely when audiences flocked to see this groundbreaking sci-fi movie.

The premise is ingenious: four astronauts blast off from Cape Canaveral to explore the universe for six months. When their spaceship crashes on a mysterious planet, the three surviving astronauts strike out to explore the surroundings, realizing that they've not only landed on a strange planet, but have arrived 2,000 years into the future. Captain Taylor, upon his first encounter with primitive, mute humans, states wryly: "If that's the best they've got around here, in six months we'll be running the planet."

Not so fast, Taylor. Turns out talking apes run this planet and have created a society not unlike mankind did back on earth - complete with a socieo-economic and racial class system, a religion that explains why apes are the superior being, and heated debates on faith vs. science that rile up the status quo.

Who runs the world? Apes

Government officials are left scratching their furry heads at Taylor, the only astronaut to survive an ape attack - they've never met a human who can talk and reason. What to do with this strange creature, who is scheduled to be gelded and lobotomized?

Two compassionate apes, Zaria (Kim Hunter) and Cornelius (Roddy McDowell) who believe that apes evolved from humans, come to Taylor's rescue and set into motion an epic ending that has gone down in the annals of film history as one of the best movie twists ever made.

Turns out Taylor was home all along

Planet of the Apes became a blockbuster hit and spawned an impressive franchise that includes 10 movies: Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970), Escape From the Planet of the Apes (1971), Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972), Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973) {boy they were really riding the gravy train for a few years, eh?} Planet of the Apes reboot (2001) , Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014), War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) and of course Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024). It also birthed a television series with a 14 episode run in 1974, and a Saturday morning animated series in 1975. And let's not forget the endless paraphernalia that can be found on ebay (70's metal lunchbox, anyone?).

Of course, there were action figures, too

Twentieth Century Fox made a killing and that monkey on it's back in 1968 turned out to be nothing to sweat about at all. On the contrary, Planet of the Apes became a cultural juggernaut, despite film critic Roger Ebert's cheeky 1968 review of the film, encouraging viewers to see it, even if they have to "condescend" to the movie:

"You have nothing to lower," he wrote, "but your brow."

[fletchwindowtint]

Amazing Information about Window Tinting Options

When was the last time you gave window shading any thought? Maybe it was to achieve the best appearance for your new vehicle. Maybe you mulled over everything for security and to keep individuals from seeing inside your car. Then again, maybe it occurred on one of Arizona's normal hot, splendid days. Have you ever sat in your vehicle on a hot Scottsdale day? Yowser! On one of our regularly splendid days, the temperature inside a vehicle can push toward 120 degrees.

You could require offshoot's exchange concealing to protect both your family and your vehicle from devilishness and high temperatures. A vehicle's inside temperature can be reduced by as much as 70% with window concealment. What a division! Moreover, 3M improvement window concealment gives close to 100% dismissal of and protection against the malicious UV light outflowing from the sun.

We offer an assortment of window concealing by san antonio fletch window tint at Desert Vegetation Window Tone. Considering everything, window concealment isn't only for vehicles! We give window concealment to vehicles, homes, and affiliations.

Shower painting, paint security, non-brilliant, twofold quick, complicated, inventive, and, incredibly, clear window films are among the window film decisions we make. You can get help from our experts in picking the best tone for your essentials. We are a natural SunTek window film and 3M turn of events. Our predominance can convey the top-notch results you would anticipate from a player in the Scottsdale window concealing business sector for more than 20 years, whether you truly figure concealing the windows of your home should save energy, give the most preposterous UV security to your family, or give your corporate development a full-scale facelift.

You benefit from Thorny Plant Window Assortment's 18 years of industry experience. Concealing is the sole thing to which we are committed. This means that you will recognize our entire limit when you present your commitment to us. Supporting our prosperity is our obligation to initially class establishment, mindful watchfulness, and five-star client support. The two top window film makers on the planet are the ones we work with. Your firm will be completely guaranteed and cautious about creator guarantees, nearby establishment guidelines, and essential prohibitive advantages thanks to our relationship with the Scottsdale window concealing industry.

Look at our blend to see a piece of the different completed things we offer for the business, home, and vehicle markets. Visit our site to dive even more significantly into the parts of 3M or SunTek improvement, then read on for likely the most widely recognized demands and issues with tintingea. Our exhibit district and tremendous show sheets connect with our vehicle clients to absolutely investigate all we offer that would be valuable in spite of our Lord's heading. To determine your issues, we can offer in-store encouragement or a free report. There is no such thing as a little work in our book!

For More Info:-

learn more at flecth window tint

fletch window tint san antonio

Source URL:- https://sites.google.com/view/fletchwindowtint6/home

[atlanticcanada]

'It just seemed like a no-brainer': N.S. man completes 6,300-km hike from Mexico to Canada

A Nova Scotia hiker recently made the trek of a lifetime when he hiked from the Mexican border to Canada in 175 days.

Colin MacDougall's journey averaged 36 kilometres a day, for a total of more than 6,300 kilometres.

MacDougall says he went through six pairs of shoes during his hike.

"I approximately wore through a pair of shoes every 1,000 kilometres, so yeah, I burned through around $1,200 worth of shoes," he said.

As to why he chose to make such a massive trek, MacDougall says he's always looking for ways to challenge himself, both physically and mentally.

"And I've kind of heard about these long-distance trails through friends and media, and initially I heard about the Appalachian Trail, but since we live in the Appalachian, I decided I wanted to kind of go west coast and that's when I found out about the Pacific Crest Trail," he said. "And it just seems to travel through such a diverse landscape that I've never even seen or touched or imagined. So, it just seemed like a no-brainer to me to just go over there."

As far as the scenes and views MacDougall experienced during his adventure, he says many were "unimaginable."

"You start out in the desert, and then you make your way up to the High Sierra. And then you travel through Oregon, which some people view as mundane, but then you go to Washington and Washington and the Sierra are absolutely breathtaking. They're just somewhere you have to be."

According to MacDougall, he didn't shower, sleep in a bed or take a rest day for 32 days at one point due to a deadline with his visa.

"That was in Arizona. So, I kind of had a bit of a deadline because my visa was expiring and I really wanted to finish the Arizona Trail, and just with the nature of the difficulty with the trail, we were some of the first people to go through the season because of the visa issues and yeah. We just really couldn't take any rest days. There's no time to go shower, there's no time to sleep in a bed. It was just basically hike all day every day."

He says he was able to finish his trek one day before his visa expired.

"So, if I didn't do that, I probably wouldn't have finished."

In total, Macdougall lost 25 pounds during his adventure, and experienced temperatures from as low as -6 Celsius to as high as 44 Celsius.

As far as where he was able to get some rest, he says he used a very thin mattress to sleep on at night.

"Most people would not be able to sleep on it and think it's quite uncomfortable, but when you're hiking around 40 kilometres a day on average, on a day when you're hiking, you can almost fall asleep standing up," he said.

"I generally cowboy camped, which is just sleeping under the stars and not in a tent. I don't think I slept in a tent until 89 days into my trip, so through all of California I just slept under the stars and I just had a little sleeping bag or quilt over me. And I generally just used random things as my pillow, like a food bag, or my down jacket."

"For food, that's when it gets a bit more difficult because you have to eat these high-calorie dense foods. You don't want to be carrying a lot of weight, you don't want to be carrying something that might spoil or go bad, so you're generally eating a lot of sugar, you're generally eating a lot of salt and I wouldn't cook or prepare my food. I generally would just eat it how it was or I would do something called cold soaking, where you soak your food in cold water and eat it the way it is, like ramen noodles."

Following his hike, MacDougall says it was a bit of a shock returning back to his normal life.

"You're kind of just used to being by yourself or with a couple of close friends that you met along the way. So, initially I came back and was kind of just surrounded by many people just because I also had a small presentation on the subject and it was a bit surreal. It kind of felt like I was disassociating a bit and I just didn't know what to do with myself, and I just found myself just kind of sitting around all day and just kind of dying to get back outside," he said.

"Eventually, I went for a small hike with friends and it was kind of what I needed."

As far as Colin's next adventure, he already has plans in the works.

"So, I'm actually heading out in, I believe, 10 days to fly to New Zealand and I'm going to hike a trail known as Te Araroa , and that's a 3,000-kilometre hike across New Zealand from the north island to the south island."

MacDougall is chronicling his adventures on social media.

from CTV News - Atlantic https://ift.tt/G7nLKv0

[worldnews2day]

Jake Paul vs Anderson Silva Fight Review

Jake Paul, for the first time in his professional boxing career, would exchange blows with a fighter claiming a winning boxing record.  Here Jake Paul vs Anderson Silva review we brought for you. Paul is set to take on former UFC middleweight champion and all-time MMA great Anderson Silva in a Showtime pay-per-view main event on Saturday, October 29. Paul (5-0, 4 KO) is expected to eventually return to action after a fight against Tommy Fury - brother of WBC Heavyweight Champion Tyson Fury - and Hasim Rahman Jr. Silva (3-1, 2 KO) is the next development in Paul's rise to competitiveness and the third UFC alum he will face inside a boxing ring. Paul has ousted acclaimed collegiate wrestler and Olympian Ben Askren and mighty former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley. Silva is by far the most boxing-oriented MMA fighter Paul has faced. "The Spider" is noted for its movement and striking prowess and is much larger than Escrane and Woodley. Paul had most recently defeated Woodley via KO in the sixth round in December 2021. It was a crushing right hook that struck Woodley. WHO ARE HOSTING LOVE IS BLIND SEASON 3? JOURNEY OF DWAYNE JOHNSON THE ROCK WWE TO BLACK ADAM Silva followed former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz's first-round KO in September 2021 with a split decision victory over former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. The fight was nearly derailed during fight week - which would be the third consecutive for Paul this year - after Silva's comments surfaced where he said he was kicked out twice at training camp less than a month ago went. Silva later made a statement saying that he misquoted and that he meant to say that he had been dropped twice. But the Arizona commission took those initial comments seriously enough to call an emergency meeting and make sure Silva was healthy enough to fight. They considered him fit to fight and hence the action would continue as planned. Elsewhere on the cards, 18-year-old rising prospect Ashton Silve is back in action when he takes on Braulio Rodriguez in Super Featherweight. Silve is undefeated 7–0 and all seven will end in the knockouts. He recently turned down other major promotions to be among Paul's most valuable promotions, leaving the boxing community a bit of a shock. Now, he wants to take the next step in his development against Rodriguez, who is 20-4 as a pro but hasn't fought since 2019. Plus, two more Celebrity level matches fill in the rest of the undercard. Former UFC middleweight - and Silva rival - Uriah Hall makes his pro boxing debut when he takes on former NFL outback Le'Veon Bell. Hall, 38, was cut by the UFC in July following a decision loss. Now, he faces Bale, who is coming off a TKO win over Adrian Peterson in an exhibition bout in September. In another celebrity bout, Nick and Nate Diaz teammate Chris Avila face social media star "Dr. Mike" Warshawski. Below are the full fight cards for Saturday night in Glendale, Arizona, along with the latest odds from Caesar Sportsbook. Be sure to stay on this page throughout the week for the latest news, in-depth features and expert selections for the main event ahead of the action. Match Odds: FAVORITE              UNDERDOG                               WEIGHT CLASS Jake Paul -220      Anderson Silva +180              185-pound catchweight Paul vs. Silva Venue Date & Time:  Date:                Oct. 29 | Start time: 9 p.m. ET Venue:              Desert Diamond Arena, Glendale How to watch:   Showtime PPV, Price: $59.99 Read the full article

[santacarlacirca1987]

devil’s lapdog. (VAMP!MICHAEL EMERSON AU)

(A/N: au by @fleouriarts, thank you so much for letting me write for your au!) WORD COUNT: 1,214 WARNINGS: corruption arc, blood and gore, murder, all that stuff expected with lost boys. CHARACTERS: David, Michael Emerson, Marko, Paul, Dwayne and Sam Emerson.

Michael grabbed the railing protecting the beach from the drunkards that would’ve stumbled onto the beach without it and gazed out among the crowd of people on the beach, then he turned his head and booked it for where he saw them, those stupid gang members that started it all. He shoved Marko out of the way which earned a quick “Hey!” from Paul, who was sitting on the railing, probably previously looking down at the beach. Once he’d shoved Marko, he’d got to the man who started it all, the one that gave him that stupid-ass ‘wine’ in that jewel encrusted bottle. He lunged forward and grabbed David by the collar of his trenchcoat and pulled him close, but he didn’t look offput at all, he looked like he’d expected this to happen, he was so fucking calm and smug, Michael hated it. David grabbed back at Michaels collar of his leather jacket with one of his hands while the other held his cigarette. “Where is she?” Michael growled out, half surprised at how odd it was for him to be this pissed, he was always so mild-mannered and polite, always the quiet one out of his friend group back in arizona. It must’ve been that ache in his stomach to cause him to be so damn irritated, and it was all because of him, because of the four of them. David opened his mouth and smirked like a smug bastard as he blew smoke into the face of Michael, who struggled not to flinch at it “Take it easy, Michael.” “Where is Star, David?” He punctuated the man's name with a tug of his jacket, pulling their chests together, that was how close they were in distance. His dumbass smirk widened into a cruel grin as he said “If you want to ever see Star again, you better come with us now.” He let go on MIchaels collar and Michael did the same to him, he’d gone and got his bike and drove along with them through the beach and the forest trail, he thought they were going to Hudson’s Bluff, but they ended up at a medium sized party down in some part of the deserted beach, far away from the carnival attractions and smell of popcorn and cotton candy on the boardwalk. The boys kicked their kickstands down, and so did Michael, but Michael didn’t move to get off his bike and move to the small tree with low lying branches like the gang members did, they climbed up onto the tree branches and David shouted “Michael,over here!” in a commanding tone, but suddenly it shifted to a semi-sadistic undertone with grim intents “You won’t want to miss this.” “Yeah Mikey, c’mon over!” Either Marko or Paul had shouted, Michael’s head was on the verge of spinning as he got off his old second-hand bike and swung his leg over a branch and straddled it, putting his hands on either side of it to keep himself upright. Michael watched the unfamiliar men party out on the deserted part of the beach, they danced around like drunken toddlers around the bonfire, but his people-watching was interrupted by David’s voice,“Initiations over Michael,”  and when he looked up to him, his face was covered in shadow, “Time to join the club.” Then he leaned towards Michael and the shadow no longer covered his face, his face had… morphed into something supernatural, something horrifying. Michael heard laughter surrounding him and looked at Dwayne, then Marko, and lastly he turned to Paul, whose faces all resembled David’s, a morphed version of the men’s faces. He looked towards the drunk men partying around the bonfire and clenched hard onto the tree branch he’d been straddling, he felt the gnawing pit in his stomach grow as he saw the men dance around the fire, perfectly unaware of what was going to happen, Of the fact they were the prey and not the hunters in this world. Michael heard and felt a rush of wind by his face and looked to the tree branches where the boys had been, but they were gone, And then he looked forward and saw them, up in the sky, flying. Just like he had a night or so ago, except they were in control, not like they’d just accidentally launched themselves out a window, but like they had a plan on what to do and where to go. They flew up, high in the sky then they rocketed down, as Michael watched them tear into the men, who were now screaming like all hell, he felt his eyes become foggier and his ears began to ring, his head was fuzzy too. He saw little black dots creep into the corner of his visions and thought he was going to faint or something, but he felt his face begin to morph, his bone structure altered to discard the human facade he’d been hiding behind for a couple days now, David was right, initiation was over, It was time to join the club. - x - Sam hadn’t really been asleep the whole night, he hadn’t been able to sleep since he knew Michael had left the house, so he only startled more when he heard a floorboard creak and his door close, he turned his back to the wall and sat up, turning on his bedside lamp only to see a stuffed beaver on his bedside table, right next to his lamp. “I wish grandpa’d stop given’ me this stupid things..” He mumbled and he threw the blanket off of his legs and stood, he grabbed the beaver and looked into its beady little eyes “And you bud, are never going to see the light of day again.” He walked to his closet and opened the door, shoving it in with the other poor little creatures his grandpa had ‘gifted’ him with. He felt a presence in his room, right next to him, so he froze for a moment before looking to where the closet door covered his window, which he’d left closed, He saw the curtains moving, and heard wind blowing and the trees outside rustling. He took a deep breath and slammed the closet door shut, and what he saw next was terrifying. His big brother, covered in blood and looking half feral with a glint of cruel glee in his eyes and a man with bleach blonde hair standing next to him, his arms resting on the barely taller man’s shoulders while a smug smirk covered his face. Sam’s breath caught in his throat, as how cheesy as it sounds, he felt like his heart would stop right then and there and he’d keel over dead, His big brother, the one that tucked him in at night and read him bedtime stories when he was younger, the one that taught him to whistle, to blow gum and ride a bike, was gone. Replaced with a little lap dog for a devil. “I know who I am now, Sam.” Sam almost sobbed at the neglect of his nickname ‘Sammy’, the one Michael always used, he only ever called him sam when speaking to other people about him or when he was pissed, This wasn’t his Michael, it was someone completely different.

[elgaberino-mcoc]

Round 1, Marco Division Two-Gun Kid vs Toxin

Opening Round for #TournamentOfBattlerealmFuture #battlerealm3 @MARCUSPACK16 Division

Winner gets divisional 3 seed for Round 2 Loser gets eliminated

TWO-GUN KID vs  TOXIN

VOTE!

[bravadoseries]

STARS & STRIPES + PHASE ONE

THE AVENGERS (2012) (dir. Joss Whedon)

When Thor's evil brother, Loki, gains access to the unlimited power of the energy cube called the Tesseract, Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D., initiates a superhero recruitment effort to defeat the unprecedented threat to Earth. Joining Fury's "dream team" are Iron Man, Captain America, Lady Liberty, the Hulk, Thor, the Black Widow, and Hawkeye.

THE LONG HAUL (2012) (dir. Phoebe Waller-Bridge)

On July 4th, Steve Rogers is in the middle of Arizona with a broken down car and the daughter he didn’t know he had until three months ago.  There’s no better way to celebrate nasty-95 than in the desert.  

LADY LIBERTY: LEGACY (2012) (dir. Leslye Headland & Jamie Babbit)

Following the events of The Avengers, Audrey Carter-Rogers embarks on a dangerous mission in Rome chasing down stolen Chitauri technology and unearthing a secret from her own past.  Accompanied by veteran operatives Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton, along with DGSE agent Delphine Lamontagne and rookie Kate Bishop, Carter-Rogers faces her history with the Winter Soldier while carrying the burden of her parents’ legacy.  

THE TOWER (SEASON 1) (2012) (dir. Michael Schur)

Earth’s Mightiest Heroes set into a new normal - this time, as roommates.  Featuring the Tower’s other residents, including scientist Jane Foster and her assistant Darcy Lewis, as well as Clint’s new protogee Kate Bishop, this Michael Schur dramedy picks up where The Avengers left off.  Over the course of a year and a half, the trials of love, heroism, and one lucky dog will transform the Avengers from a team into a family.

BLACK WIDOW: OPUS (2013) (dir. Cate Shortland)

At the Joffrey Ballet Academy in Chicago, a bomb goes off on Swan Lake’s opening night.  When the attack is claimed by the Red Room, an attempt to kill a defected Widow named Oksana Godunova, Natasha Romanoff must face her past in order to protect an innocent life.  

THE TOWER (SEASON 2) (2013) (dir. Michael Schur)

Following the Siege of Chicago, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes return to Avengers Tower for the summer—and romance, weddings, and family reunions guarantee this will be a summer to remember.  From Michael Schur, season 2 of the hit TV series The Tower is full of love, chaos, and of course—Lucky the dog.  

THOR: THE DARK WORLD (2013) (dir. Alan Taylor)

In ancient times, the gods of Asgard fought and won a war against an evil race known as the Dark Elves. The survivors were neutralized, and their ultimate weapon—the Aether—was buried in a secret location. Hundreds of years later, Jane Foster, accompanied by her assistant Darcy Lewis and her bodyguard Audrey Carter-Rogers, finds the Aether and becomes its host, forcing Thor to bring her to Asgard before Dark Elf Malekith captures her and uses the weapon to destroy the Nine Realms—including Earth.

[aion-rsa]

Why Kid Cosmic Is About “People, Not Powers”

https://ift.tt/3an0ID5

This feature contains some spoilers for Netflix’s Kid Cosmic.

After exploring the stretches of space, wonder, and imagination in shows like Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends and Wander Over Yonder, Craig McCracken returns to the realm of superheroes with Kid Cosmic, a more direct, comic book-esque take on the genre than his first smash hit show, The Powerpuff Girls. 

The show stars Kid, a young boy who finds a set of superpowered stones, and from there, all heck breaks loose. In the midst of fighting waves upon waves of aliens and creatures from other worlds, however, is an earnest, realistic story about a boy dealing with grief, and the small town that unites behind him through it all.

Den of Geek got a chance to chat with Craig over email about the show, about what it means to be a superhero, and how Netflix allowed for Kid Cosmic to explore that in a more mature, “all ages” way that’s arguably beyond the scope of most animated kids shows.

Den of Geek: Kid Cosmic is about a kid who is so engaged in comic books that when a set of super-powered stones literally lands at his feet, he wants to be a real superhero, arguably at some pretty significant costs and risk. What influenced you to come up with this specific premise? How do you view this, and the serial, thematic nature of it, against the immense number of superhero based media in the world today?

Craig McCracken: I was inspired by the supreme confidence that kids have at that age. I, like a lot of kids, dreamt of being a superhero when I was young, and in my fantasies I was always amazing and really good at it. I had that same confidence with my drawing when I was young. I drew all the time, I studied every cartoon and comic I could get my hands on, and I had the passion to do the job. I couldn’t understand why I had to grow up and go to art school before I could have that career, I was ready for the job at 12! 

The answer was that I wasn’t good enough yet, I had way more to learn (still do!). So I took that personal childhood experience with my drawing and applied it to superpowers instead. The thing that I feel sets Kid Cosmic apart from other hero-based media is that it’s focused less on epic hero mythologies and more on the smaller human stories. In writing the series we always reminded ourselves it’s about the people not the powers. 

Style wise, the show is heavily indebted to the classic comic book/serial look. The framing and storyboarding; the uses of fonts in the credits; the nifty end cards with the characters on fake comic books. One thing I’ve noticed, specifically, is that the movements at points were jumpy, as if frames were missing. Was that a conscious choice? Do you think that adds to the look and feel you’re going for?

A lot of the choices that we made in Kid were based on the fact that these are real people in the real world, they aren’t cartoon characters. So with the animation we avoided overly smooth and flowy actions or lots of squash and stretch, things that you associate with “cartoons.”  If an action felt natural on 3s or 4s we kept it. 

New Mexico as a setting is an inspired choice. There’s something freeing about its wide expanse of desert, but also terrifying in its (from a kids’ perspective) unexplored nothingness. How do you think the setting reflects the themes?

It’s not specifically New Mexico but sort of a generic rural southwest desert vibe. It could be New Mexico, it could be California, it could be Arizona, basically it’s a remote enough place where a spaceship could crash and not a lot of people would know about it. The other thing that is nice about the desert is that it forces you to tell a story about the characters because there is no surrounding environment for the characters to get distracted by, it’s a flat empty stage to play in. It’s also alone in the middle of nowhere, sort of like Earth is in the greater universe. 

This is, relatively speaking, darker than most kids animated shows. It has pretty brutal alien deaths, and while they’re dispatched in unique ways (colorful blood, “de-rezzing” out of existence), they’re still a bit more intense then what’s usually out there. How was Netflix in responding to this? Do you feel there may be a kind of commentary here on how sensitized kids may be to the kind of violence they witness in superhero comics and films?

Again that’s the reality creeping in, even though there is fantastic stuff happening, Kid Cosmic doesn’t take place in a fantasy world. Danger exists, the stakes are high. This just increases Kid’s struggle and makes it more real. At the beginning, Netflix said this isn’t specifically a “kid’s show” it’s an all ages show that can be watched by young viewers, families, animation fans, anybody. So from their perspective, anything that you might see in a big summer superhero movie was fair game. 

I want to talk about the Kid himself, who, to be blunt, is a lot to handle in the first few episodes. The approach seems to be that the Kid needs to learn a lesson about humility and what it means to be a “true hero.” But I’m also fascinated by his tragic backstory. It’s portrayed vaguely, but hints at his motivation. Do you feel that keeping the specifics of what happened to the Kid at arms’ length works to prop up the theme?

I wanted to tell a story about a real kid and kids at that age aren’t perfect. They make mistakes, they may be a bit intense or selfish and are hard to deal with sometimes. It’s part of growing up and maturing. Often heroes for young viewers are portrayed as aspirational. They always do and say the right things. I wanted Kid to be more realistic and relatable. 

Read more

TV

Why The Great North Isn’t Just Another Bob’s Burgers

By Shamus Kelley

TV

How The Ren & Stimpy Reboot Reignited the Debate Around Animation Gatekeepers

By Kevin Johnson

As far as his backstory goes, my father passed away when I was 7 so what motivates Kid to want to be a hero is very close to me. We felt he should have a more sincere motivation in wanting to be a hero other than it would be fun and cool. It had to come from a real place and losing his parents and wanting to stop bad things from happening felt more true. Keeping that part of the story at arms’ length was a way to keep the overall tone of the season balanced. Even though Kid carries this real and heavy weight around with him, we didn’t want it to drag down the overall fun and energetic tone of the series. 

Stuck Chuck is portrayed as the Kid’s conscious – specifically, his self-doubt, his frustrations, his lies. Can you go into more about the conception of this character?

Frank Angones, who I did early Kid development with, and I are both huge Buckaroo Banzai fans and we were talking about a scene that got cut out where after the Lectroid ship was destroyed Buckaroo found some random Red Lectroids left behind who forgot to get on the ship. We thought the idea of having to deal with random aliens was hilarious. So we applied that to Stuck Chuck, and what started out as a joke turned into an absolutely essential character. Chuck is not only a constant threat to Kid’s life but he is a constant threat to his confidence. He’s like an anti-Jiminy Cricket and is one of my favorite characters in the show. 

Later in the season, there’s a big twist in who the real villains are, and in the process, the depiction of superheroic antics are pushed up to a ridiculous degree. It almost feels like a winking satire of the whole “Space Force” thing. Was that intentional? Do you think there’s a tension that exists between the depiction of superheroes and their connection, however tenuous, to a military aggressiveness that merits more discussion?

I get asked that a lot, but I came up with Earth Force Enforcement Force long before Space Force. Aggressiveness is the right word. As a fan of superheros I’m tired of being told dark stories about heroes more focused on fighting and winning wars than actually helping the innocent victims of those conflicts.  I miss good guys that are actually “good guys.”

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

The ending, to keep things vague, is a pretty sudden transition from the initial premise. If granted a season 2, what other themes would you explore? Do you think you’ll be able to keep a solid grasp on the true nature of superheroics, if you place them in a new setting where over-the-top superheroics would be necessary?

We want to explore other ideas of what it really means to be a hero. If season 1 was “heroes help” what other aspects are essential to be a hero? So we plan on exploring that idea but through the experience of some of the other characters. Namely how does a teenage waitress from Earth suddenly lead a team of regular people to save the universe? Again it’s about the people, not the powers. 

The post Why Kid Cosmic Is About “People, Not Powers” appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3b7FtUX

[sixohsixoheightfourtwo]

who likes comPLETEly wild 1940s technicolor noir films?? is that you?? Please in that case watch DESERT FURY, a totally bonkers 1947 melodrama set somewhere in nevada. The Nitrate Diva posted about it on twitter, saying it “must be seen to be believed” and I simply Cannot turn down such a recommendation.

in Desert Fury: the world’s oldest 19 yr old student Paula (Lizabeth Scott, who’s sort of lauren bacall-like) comes home to the desert town of ‘chuckawalla’ where her mother Fritzi (Mary Astor) runs casinos (and i think also brothels??). Meanwhile racketeer EDDIE BENDIX (budget clark gable john hodiak) and his ‘pal’ johnny (wendell corey) blow into town .... and Paula, for some reason, Falls In Luv or something with him. It’s based on a story by Ramona Stewart written for the glossy womens’ magazines when she was still in college. so you KNOW it’s gonna be OTT idfic.

On a formal level the actual best things about this are probably the Cinnamon Tography — glorious technicolor etc, actual location shooting in arizona, luridly bright — and the miklos rozsa score. Also Edith Head’s costumes: Lizabeth Scott gets approximately 9000 high-glam outfit changes; the film is clearly designed as a star vehicle for her.

on an INFORMAL level.... it is an amazingly weird ride.  Eddie turns out to be an old boyfriend of her mother Fritzi. Fritzi’s treatment of her daughter veers towards queasily pseudo-incestuous — calling Paula ‘baby’ all the time (UGH!), insisting Paula calls her by her first name, because ‘mother’ is ‘cold’ and not ‘companionable’. Burt Lancaster is ... also here, hating every second he’s in this film as Paula’s dumbass rodeo-champ-turned-cop love interest. (this was literally the second film he shot, he apparently thought it was total crap but had to do it as he was under contract. his best scenes tbh are with Mary Astor)  

Oh and Paula mysteriously resembles Eddie’s DEAD WIFE .... which is why he’s interested in her. And his wife died under Suspicious Circumstances. And people keep slapping each other in the face.

But also — eddie bendix and his pal johnny ryan .... are Gay. OK no, eddie is bisexual. Any time they’re in a scene together they’re framed together, presented as a duo. sometimes they are shirtless drinking tea together. they have lived and worked together for years and years. How did they meet? according to eddie.... johnny picked him up at 2am in times square: 

It was in the automat off Times Square about two o’clock in the morning on a Saturday. I was broke. He had a couple of dollars. We got to talking. He ended up paying for my ham and eggs… I went home with him that night… We were together from then on.

hello? hello??

ok so there’s a line about how there was a spare room at his mother’s boardinghouse or w/ever but it feels v much thrown in to appease censors. 

Paula and Eddie start their affair and there are some great scenes where johnny is initially apparently NOT threatened by eddie having a girlfriend... and then realises what’s up and tries to separate them. the tone is v much — I’m really just paraphrasing his dialogue here — johnny’s been with him for 15 years, he’s outlasted other women, women don’t want to know the Real Eddie, unlike johnny. johnny keeps calling eddie ‘good-looking’. It’s the 1940s and J and E are the Bad Guys ... so no spoilers but it doesn’t end well for them, altho Johnny is the most sympathetic character in this film and you can fight me about it. But for about 75 minutes you get so caught up in trying to figure out how this film has a functional gay couple that you forget the Hays Code exists.

There’s a clip on youtube of Eddie Muller (a critic who specialises in noir) introducing a screening of Desert Fury — he calls it “the gayest movie I have ever seen coming out of Hollywood in the 1940s . . . the relationship between John Hodiak and Wendell Corey in this film is sort of not to be believed”. He also has them at #2 on his list of “Film Noir’s Top 10 (Maybe) Gay Couples” (first is John Dall and Farley Granger in Rope — and they really WERE gay).

anyway there u have it. quarantimes film rec: DESERT FURY, 1947. I watched it on a second-hand spanish-language DVD because there’s no UK release. It's on dvd/bluray in the US. u can probably also find it thru... other channels idk I didn’t look

[scifigeneration]

NASA's TESS spacecraft is finding hundreds of exoplanets – and is poised to find thousands more

by Daniel Apai and Benjamin Rackham

This artist’s impression shows a view of the planet Proxima b orbiting the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the solar system. ESO/M. Kornmesser

Within just 50 light-years from Earth, there are about 1,560 stars, likely orbited by several thousand planets. About a thousand of these extrasolar planets – known as exoplanets – may be rocky and have a composition similar to Earth’s. Some may even harbor life. Over 99% of these alien worlds remain undiscovered — but this is about to change.

With NASA’s new exoplanet-hunter space telescope TESS, the all-sky search is on for possibly habitable planets close to our solar system. TESS — orbiting Earth every 13.7 days — and ground-based telescopes are poised to find hundreds of planets over the next few years. This could transform astronomers’ understanding of alien worlds around us and provide targets to scan with next-generation telescopes for signatures of life. In just over a year, TESS has identified more than 1,200 planetary candidates, 29 of which astronomers have already confirmed as planets. Given TESS’s unique ability to simultaneously search tens of thousands of stars for planets, the mission is expected to yield over 10,000 new worlds.

These are exciting times for astronomers and, especially, for those of us exploring exoplanets. We are members of the planet-hunting Project EDEN, which also supports TESS’s work. We use telescopes on the ground and in space to find exoplanets to understand their properties and potential for harboring life.

Undiscovered worlds all around us

Worlds around us await discovery. Take, for example, Proxima Centauri, an unassuming, faint red star, invisible without a telescope. It is one of over a hundred billion or so such stars within our galaxy, unremarkable except for its status as our next-door neighbor. Orbiting Proxima is a fascinating but mysterious world, called Proxmia b, discovered only in 2016.

Scientists know surprisingly little about Proxima b. Astronomers name the first planet discovered in a system “b”. This planet has never been seen with human eyes or by a telescope. But we know it exists due to its gravitational pull on its host star, which makes the star wobble ever so slightly. This slight wobble was found in measurements collected by a large, international group of astronomers from data taken with multiple ground-based telescopes. Proxima b very likely has a rocky composition similar to Earth’s, but higher mass. It receives about the same amount of heat as Earth receives from the Sun.

And that is what makes this planet so exciting: It lies in the “habitable” zone and just might have properties similar to Earth’s, like a surface, liquid water, and — who knows? — maybe even an atmosphere bearing the telltale chemical signs of life.

NASA’s TESS mission launched in April 2018 to hunt for other broadly Earth-sized planets, but with a different method. TESS is looking for rare dimming events that happen when planets pass in front of their host stars, blocking some starlight. These transit events indicate not only the presence of the planets, but also their sizes and orbits.

Finding a new transiting exoplanet is a big deal for astronomers like us because, unlike those found through stellar wobbles, worlds seen transiting can be studied further to determine their densities and atmospheric compositions.

By measuring the depth of the dip in brightness and knowing the size of the star, scientists can determine the size or radius of the planet. NASA Ames

Red dwarf suns

For us, the most exciting exoplanets are the smallest ones, which TESS can detect when they orbit small stars called red dwarfs – stars with masses less than half the mass of our Sun.

Each of these systems is unique. For example, LP 791-18 is a red dwarf star 86 light-years from Earth around which TESS found two worlds. The first is a “super-Earth,” a planet larger than Earth but probably still mostly rocky, and the second is a “mini-Neptune,” a planet smaller than Neptune but gas- and ice-rich. Neither of these planets have counterparts in our solar system.

Among astronomers’ current favorites of the new broadly Earth-sized planets is LHS 3884b, a scorching “hot Earth” that orbits its sun so quickly that on it you could celebrate your birthday every 11 hours.

Artist’s impression of an exoplanet transiting a red dwarf star. ESO/L. Calçada

No Earth-like worlds yet

But how Earth-like are Earth-sized planets? The promise of finding nearby worlds for detailed studies is already paying off. A team of astronomers observed the hot super-Earth LHS 3884b with the Hubble Space Telescope and found the planet to be a horrible vacation spot, without even an atmosphere. It is just a bare rock with temperatures ranging from over 700 C (1300 Fahrenheit) at noon to near absolute zero (-460 Fahrenheit) at midnight.

The TESS mission was initially funded for two years. But the spacecraft is in excellent shape and NASA recently extended the mission through 2022, doubling the time TESS will have to scan nearby, bright stars for transits.

However, finding exoplanets around the coolest stars — those with temperatures less than about 2700 C (4900 F) — will still be a challenge due to their extreme faintness. Since ultracool dwarfs provide our best opportunity to find and study exoplanets with sizes and temperatures similar to Earth’s, other focused planet searches are picking up where TESS leaves off.

Illustration of TESS, NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

The worlds TESS can’t find

In May 2016, a Belgian-led group announced the discovery of a planetary system around the ultracool dwarf they christened TRAPPIST-1. The discovery of the seven transiting Earth-sized exoplanets in the TRAPPIST-1 system was groundbreaking.

It also demonstrated how small telescopes — relative to the powerful behemoths of our age — can still make transformational discoveries. With patience and persistence, the TRAPPIST telescope scanned nearby faint, red dwarf stars from its high-mountain perch in the Atacama desert for small, telltale dips in their brightnesses. Eventually, it spotted transits in the data for the red dwarf TRAPPIST-1, which — although just 41 light-years away — is too faint for TESS’s four 10-cm (4-inch) diameter lenses. Its Earth-sized worlds would have remained undiscovered had the TRAPPIST team’s larger telescope not found them.

Two projects have upped up the game in the search for exo-Earth candidates around nearby red dwarfs. The SPECULOOS team installed four robotic telescopes – also in the Atacama desert – and one in the Northern Hemisphere. Our Exoearth Discovery and Exploration Network – Project EDEN – uses nine telescopes in Arizona, Italy, Spain and Taiwan to observe red dwarf stars continuously.

The SPECULOOS and EDEN telescopes are much larger than TESS’s small lenses and can find planets around stars too faint for TESS to study, including some of the transiting Earth-sized planets closest to us.

This artist’s concept shows what the TRAPPIST-1 planetary system may look like, based on available data about the planets’ diameters, masses and distances from the host star, as of February 2018. NASA/JPL-Caltech

The decade of new worlds

The next decade is likely to be remembered as the time when we opened our eyes to the incredible diversity of other worlds. TESS is likely to find between 10,000 and 15,000 exoplanet candidates by 2025. By 2030, the European Space Agency’s GAIA and PLATO missions are expected to find another 20,000-35,000 planets. GAIA will look for stellar wobbles introduced by planets, while PLATO will search for planetary transits as TESS does.

However, even among the thousands of planets that will soon be found, the exoplanets closest to our solar system will remain special. Many of these worlds can be studied in great detail – including the search for signs of life. Discoveries of the nearest worlds also represent major steps in humanity’s progress in exploring the universe we live in. After mapping our own planet and then the solar system, we now turn to nearby planetary systems. Perhaps one day Proxima b or another nearby world astronomers have yet to find will be the target for interstellar probes, like Project Starshot, or even crewed starships. But first we’ve got to put these worlds on the map.

Timeline of discoveries of exoplanetary systems within 50 lightyears of the Sun. Credit: Project EDEN/ Daniel Apai and Benjamin Rackham.

About The Authors:

Daniel Apai is an Associate Professor of Astronomy and Planetary Sciences at the University of Arizona and Benjamin Rackham is a 51 Pegasi b Postdoctoral Fellow at Massachusetts Institute of Technology

This article is republished from our content partners over at The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

[redhoodssweetheart]

Stargazing Confessions

Genre: College AU

Pairing: Tony x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 1.2K

Requested: Anon

Warnings: Fluff

Description:  You and Tony have been best friends for years.  One night when the two of you are stargazing he admits his feelings for you.

Taglists: Are open, please send an ask and see this post for more information.

You and Tony had been best friends since you had met at freshman orientation at your college. He was funny and sarcastic and you loved how easy it was to laugh with him.

Still, even after four years the two of you were still together. But the only problem?  You had developed feelings for him. And you weren’t sure if Tony would reciprocate those feelings.

You would understand. A relationship could ruin the friendship. That didn’t mean it wouldn’t hurt if he rejected you. So that was why you had bit your lip and kept your feelings to yourself.

Even now you watched him as he drew up designs for a new invention on his laptop. You knew he wanted to work at his father’s company when he graduated and design things that would help the world.

“I can feel you staring a hole in my head,” he looked away from his computer screen and grinned at you.

You playfully shoved him, “I don’t know how you do it. How can you design things so quickly?  You came up with this idea what last night?”

He tapped the side of his head with his pen, “Magic.”

That made you roll your eyes, “I think you’re just full of yourself.”

“You love it,” you nearly choked on your drink. Your eyes wide as you glanced back at him but he was back to studying his computer again.

You all worked in silence for a little while longer, café patrons coming and going as time ticked on and on. It was late in the afternoon when you slammed your book shut and leaned back in your chair. “The words are beginning to swim,” you rubbed your tired eyes and stretched.

Tony mimicked you, his back popping as he did so.  “Wanna do something fun tonight?”

You looked over at him wondering what he had cooking in that kind of his, “I’m listening.”

“You. Me. Stargazing. Tonight.  There’s supposed to be some kind of meteor shower that we’re supposed to be able to see.”

You smiled at Tony, that sounded really nice to you after a long stressful week of classes and studying, “I’d love that, Tony.”

“Great!  I’ll pick you up at eleven,” he said before sliding out of his seat and heading for the cash register to get a to-go cup before heading back to his place until he came to pick you up tonight.

You rushed home and began preparing for your night out with Tony. Tossing clothes around your room and complaining that there was nothing there. When you finally landed on a nice outfit you jumped in the shower and began your routine for getting ready. You wanted to look perfect for tonight.

You knew it wasn’t a date but maybe something would happen and you could work up the courage to tell Tony you had feelings for him.  You scoffed, yeah that was really happening.

Eleven o’clock on the dot Tony rang the doorbell.  You pulled open the door to see him wearing a nice sweater and the jeans you loved, “Hey, I brought flowers.”  He held up a bouquet of your favorites and you took them, bring them to your nose and inhaling their sweet scent. “I have the perfect spot picked out.”

“Can’t wait,” you said as you disappeared into your kitchen to get a vase of water for them. “I heard it’s a new moon so the stars should be perfect tonight.”

He was leaning against your couch when you came back out and sat the flowers on the coffee table. “That’s why I suggested it for tonight.”  He held out his arm and you looped yours through his.  “I know the perfect place to go to do this too.”

You arched an eyebrow, “Oh really?  And where is that?”

“The roof,” he pushed open the door for the stairs and led you up them.  When you reached the top of the stairs Tony revealed a small area set up where the two of you could comfortably recline and watch the stars together.  

You stepped over to the blanket and looked up at Tony, “This is great, Tony.  You didn’t have to go through all this trouble.”

He shrugged, “It was nothing, really.  Plus we both could use a night off and I thought that this would be perfect for us.”

The two of you settled in and laid back, your arms touching as you gazed up at the sky.  You could make out the stars but because of the light pollution, there weren’t as many as you would have liked.  “I wish we didn’t live in the city like this,” you admitted.  “It makes it harder to star gaze.

“One day you and I will take a trip to the desert and we can see all the stars that we want to there.”  He fell quiet the two of you returning your gazes to the sky where you saw the first signs of the meteor shower starting.  “There!”  He pointed to one and your face lit up into a smile when you saw it.

“It’s so beautiful,” you whispered.

“Yeah it is,” he replied.  You felt his hand lightly brush yours and then he laced his fingers with yours.  “Hey Y/N,” he whispered.

You looked at him, there was an unfamiliar look in his eyes, almost like he was vulnerable.  “Yeah, Tony?”

He took a deep breath to steady himself, “There’s something I wanted to tell you and I thought tonight would be a good time to do it.”  He paused, looking back up at the sky.  You had never seen him like this, he was usually so confident.  “I love you, Y/N.”

That took you by surprise, but your mind was telling you that he didn’t mean it in the way that you hoped he did.  “I love you too, Tony.”

He shook his head, “No, I love you.  As in more than a friend kind of love.”  He laughed, “Realized it about a month ago when you were flirting with Rogers.”  He finally met your wide-eyed gaze.  “I got jealous and I kept telling myself that it was okay if you liked him back because we’re just friends, but I don’t want to be just friends anymore.  I’ve fallen in love with you and I want to be with you.”

Your mouth dropped open, the shock of what he had just said getting the better of you.  Once the initial shock began wearing off you steadied yourself and said, “I’ve been in love with you since sophomore year, but I didn’t want to tell you and possibly ruin our friendship.  I’ve been wanting to tell you since forever.”

His smile returned and he squeezed your hand, “Sooo, do you wanna go out with me sometime, on a date?”

“I’d love that,” you responded.

“Great I’ll book the flights to Arizona so we can do some actual stargazing.”  You weren’t sure if he was joking or if he was being serious.  Sometimes it was hard to tell with him.

You decided not to say anything, you knew there would be no talking him out of something once he had the idea in his head.  Inside you curled up beside him and bit your lip to keep from grinning too wide when he wrapped his arms around you.

A month after your graduation Tony made good on his word and booked a flight for you and him to fly to Arizona and go stargazing in the desert.  It was the best date you had had in a long time.