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ot3 · 4 years ago

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i watched red vs blue: zero with my dear friends today and i was asked to “post” my “thoughts” on the subject. Please do not click this readmore unless, for some reason, you want to read three thousand words on the subject of red vs blue: zero critical analysis. i highly doubt that’s the reason anyone is following me, but hey.

anyway. here you have it.

Here are my opinions on RVB0 as someone who has quite literally no nostalgia for any older RVB content. I’ve seen seasons 1-13 once and bits and pieces of it more than once here and there, but I only saw it for the first time within the past couple of months. I’ve literally never seen any other RT/AH content. I can name a few people who worked on OG Red vs. Blue but other than Mounty Oum I have NO idea who is responsible for what, really, or what anything else they’ve ever worked on is, or whether or not they’re awful people. I know even less about the people making RVB0 - All I know is that the main writer is named Torrian but I honestly don’t even know if that’s a first name, a last name, or a moniker. All this to say; nothing about my criticism is rooted in any perceived slight against the franchise or branding by the new staff members, because I don’t know or care about any of it. In fact, I’m going to try and avoid any direct comparison between RVB0 and earlier seasons of RVB as a means of critique until the very end, where I’ll look at that relationship specifically.

So here is my opinion of RVB0 as it stands right now:

1. The Writing

Everything about RVB0 feels as if it was written by a first-time writer who hasn’t learned to kill his darlings. The narrative is both simultaneously far too full, leaving very little breathing room for character interaction, and oddly sparse, with a story that lacks any meaningful takeaway, interesting ideas, or genuine emotional connection. It also feels like it’s for a very much younger audience - I don’t mean this as a negative at all. I love tv for kids. I watch more TV for kids than I do for adults, mostly, but I think it’s important to address this because a lot of the time ‘this is for kids’ is used to act like you’re not allowed to critique a narrative thoroughly. It definitely changes the way you critique it, but the critique can still be in good faith. I watched the entirety of RVB0 only after it was finished, in one sitting, and I was giving it my full attention, essentially like it was a movie. I’m going to assume it was much better to watch in chunks, because as it stood, there was literally no time built into the narrative to process the events that had just transpired, or try and predict what events might be coming in the future. When there’s no time to think about the narrative as you’re watching it, the narrative ends up as being something that happens to the audience, not something they engage with. It’s like the difference between taking notes during a lecture or just sitting and listening. If you’re making no attempt to actively process what’s happening, it doesn’t stick in your mind well. I found myself struggling to recall the events and explanations that had immediately transpired because as soon as one thing had happened, another thing was already happening, and it was like a mental juggling act to try and figure out which information was important enough to dwell on in the time we were given to dwell on it.

Which brings me to another point - pacing. Every event in the show, whether a character moment, a plot moment, or a fight scene, felt like it was supposed to land with almost the exact same amount of emotional weight. It all felt like The Most Important Thing that had Yet Happened. And I understand that this is done as an attempt to squeeze as much as possible out of a rather short runtime, but it fundamentally fails. When everything is the most important thing happening, it all fades into static. That’s what most of 0’s narrative was to me: static. It’s only been a few hours since I watched it but I had to go step by step and type out all of the story beats I could remember and run it by my friends who are much more enthusiastic RVB fans than I am to make sure I hadn’t missed or forgotten anything. I hadn’t, apparently, but the fact that my takeaway from the show was pretty accurate and also disappointingly lackluster says a lot. Strangely enough, the most interesting thing the show alluded to - a holo echo, or whatever the term they used was - was one of the things least extrapolated upon in the show’s incredibly bulky exposition. Benefit of the doubt says that’s something they’ll explore in future seasons (are they getting more? Is that planned? I just realized I don’t actually know.)

And bulky it was! I have quite honestly never seen such flagrant disregard for the rule of “show, don’t tell.” There was not a single ounce of subtlety or implication involved in the storytelling of RVB0. Something was either told to you explicitly, or almost entirely absent from the narrative. Essentially zilch in between. We are told the dynamic the characters have with each other, and their personality pros and cons are listed for us conveniently by Carolina. The plot develops in exposition dumps. This is partially due to the series’ short runtime, but is also very much a result of how that runtime was then used by the writers. They sacrificed a massive chunk of their show for the sake of cramming in a ton of fight scenes, and if they wanted to keep all of those fight scenes, it would have been necessary to pare down their story and characters proportionally in comparison, but they didn’t do that either. They wanted to have it both ways and there simply wasn’t enough time for it.

The story itself is… uninteresting. It plays out more like the flimsy premise of a video game quest rather than a piece of media to be meaningfully engaged with. RVB0 is I think something I would be pitched by a guy who thinks the MCU and BNHA are the best storytelling to come out of the past decade. It is nothing but tropes. And I hate having to use this as an insult! I love tropes. The worst thing about RVB0 is that nothing it does is wholly unforgivable in its own right. Hunter x Hunter, a phenomenal shonen, is notoriously filled with pages upon pages of detailed exposition and explanations of things, and I absolutely love it. Leverage, my favorite TV show of all time, is literally nothing but a five man band who has to learn to work as a team while seemingly systematically hitting a checklist of every relevant trope in the book. Pacific Rim is an incredibly straightforward good guys vs giant monsters blockbuster to show off some cool fight scenes such as a big robot cutting an alien in half with a giant sword, and it’s some of the most fun I ever have watching a movie. Something being derivative, clunky, poorly executed in some specific areas, narratively weak, or any single one of these flaws, is perfectly fine assuming it’s done with the intention and care that’s necessary to make the good parts shine more. I’ll forgive literally any crime a piece of media commits as long as it’s interesting and/or enjoyable to consume. RVB0 is not that. I’m not sure what the main point of RVB0 was supposed to be, because it seemingly succeeds at nothing. It has absolutely nothing new or innovative to justify its lack of concern for traditional storytelling conventions. Based solely on the amount of screentime things were given, I’d be inclined to say the narrative existed mostly to give flimsy pretense for the fight scenes, but that’s an entire other can of worms.

2. The Visuals + Fights

I have no qualms with things that are all style and no substance. Sometimes you just want to see pretty colors moving on the screen for a while or watch some cool bad guys and monsters or whatever get punched. RVB0 was not this either. The show fundamentally lacked a coherent aesthetic vision. Much of the show had a rather generic sci-fi feel to it with the biggest standouts to this being the very noir looking cityscape, which my friends and I all immediately joked looked like something from a batman game, or the temple, which my friends and I all immediately joked looked like a world of warcraft raid. They were obviously attempting to get variety in their environment design, which I appreciate, but they did this without having a coherent enough visual language to feel like it was all part of the same world. In general, there was also just a lack of visual clarity or strong shots. The value range in any given scene was poor, the compositions and framing were functional at best, and the character animation was unpleasantly exaggerated. It just doesn’t really look that good beyond fancy rendering techniques.

The fight scenes are their entire own beast. Since ‘FIGHT SCENE’ is the largest single category of scenes in the show, they definitely feel worth looking at with a genuine critical eye. Or, at least, I’d like to, but honestly half the time I found myself almost unable to look at them. The camera is rarely still long enough to really enjoy what you’re watching - tracking the motion of the character AND the camera at such constant breakneck high speeds left little time to appreciate any nuances that might have been present in the choreography or character animation. I tried, believe me, I really did, but the fight scenes leave one with the same sort of dizzy convoluted spectacle as a Michael Bay transformers movie. They also really lacked the impact fight scenes are supposed to have.

It’s hard to have a good, memorable fight scene without it doing one of three things: 1. Showing off innovative or creative fighting styles and choreography 2. Making use of the fight’s setting or environment in an engaging and visually interesting way or 3. Further exploring a character’s personality or actions by the way they fight. It’s also hard to do one of these things on its own without at least touching a bit on the other two. For the most part, I find RVB0’s fight scenes fail to do this. Other than rather surface level insubstantial factors, there was little to visually distinguish any of RVB0’s fight scenes from each other. Not only did I find a lot of them difficult to watch and unappealing, I found them all difficult to watch and unappealing in an almost identical way. They felt incredibly interchangeable and very generic. If you could take a fight scene and change the location it was set and also change which characters were participating and have very little change, it’s probably not a good fight scene.

I think “generic” is really just the defining word of RVB0 and I think that’s also why it falls short in the humor department as well.

3. The Comedy

Funny shit is hard to write and humor is also incredibly subjective but I definitely got almost no laughs out of RVB0. I think a total of three. By far the best joke was Carolina having a cast on top of her armor, which, I must stress, is an incredibly funny gag and I love it. But overall I think the humor fell short because it felt like it was tacked on more than a natural and intentional part of this world and these characters. A lot of the jokes felt like they were just thrown in wherever they’d fit, without any build up to punchlines and with little regard for what sort of joke each character would make. Like, there was some, obviously Raymond’s sense of humor had the most character to it, but the character-oriented humor still felt very weak. When focusing on character-driven humor, there’s a LOT you can establish about characters based on what sort of jokes they choose to make, who they’re picking as the punchlines of these jokes, and who their in-universe audience for the jokes is. In RVB0, the jokes all felt very immersion-breaking and self aware, directed wholly towards the audience rather than occurring as a natural result of interplay between the characters. This is partially due to how lackluster the character writing was overall, and the previously stated tight timing, but also definitely due to a lack of a real understanding about what makes a joke land.

A rule of thumb I personally hold for comedy is that, when push comes to shove, more specific is always going to be more funny. The example I gave when trying to explain this was this:

saying two characters had awkward sex in a movie theater: funny

saying two characters had an awkward handjob in a cinemark: even funnier

saying two characters spent 54 minutes of 11:14's 1:26 runtime trying out some uncomfortably-angled hand stuff in the back of a dilapidated cinemark that lost funding halfway through retrofitting into a dinner theater: the funniest

The more specific a joke is, the more it relies on an in-depth understanding of the characters and world you’re dealing with and the more ‘realistic’ it feels within the context of your media. Especially with this kind of humor. When you’re joking with your friends, you don’t go for stock-humor that could be pulled out of a joke book, you go for the specific. You aim for the weak spots. If a set of jokes could be blindly transplanted into another world, onto another cast of characters, then it’s far too generic to be truly funny or memorable. I don’t think there’s a single joke in RVB0 where the humor of it hinged upon the characters or the setting.

Then there’s the issue of situational comedy and physical comedy. This is really where the humor being ‘tacked on’ shows the most. Once again, part of what makes actually solid comedy land properly is it feeling like a natural result of the world you have established. Real life is absurd and comical situations can be found even in the midst of some pretty grim context, and that’s why black comedy is successful, and why comedy shows are allowed to dip into heavier subject matter from time to time, or why dramas often search for levity in humor. It’s a natural part of being human to find humor in almost any situation. The key thing, though, once again, is finding it in the situation. Many of RVB0’s attempts at humor, once again, feel like they would be the exact same jokes when stripped from their context, and that’s almost never good. A pretty fundamental concept in both storytelling in general but particularly comedy writing is ‘setup and payoff’. No joke in RVB0 is a reward for a seemingly innocuous event in an earlier scene or for an overlooked piece of environmental design. The jokes pop in when there’s time for them in between all the exposition and fighting, and are gone as soon as they’re done. There’s no long term, underlying comedic throughline to give any sense of coherence or intent to the sense of humor the show is trying to establish. Every joke is an isolated one-off quip or one-liner, and it fails to engage the audience in a meaningful way.

All together, each individual component of RVB0 feels like it was conjured up independently, without any concern to how it interacted with the larger product they were creating. And I think this is really where it all falls apart. RVB0 feels criminally generic in a way reminiscent of mass-market media which at least has the luxury of attributing these flaws, this complete and total watering down of anything unique, to heavy oversight and large teams with competing visions. But I don’t think that’s the case for RVB0. I don’t know much about what the pipeline is like for this show, but I feel like the fundamental problem it suffers from is a lack of heart.

In comparison to Red vs. Blue

Let's face it. This is a terrible successor to Red vs. Blue. I wouldn’t care if NONE of the old characters were in it - that’s not my problem. I haven’t seen past season 13 because from what I heard the show already jumped the shark a bit and then some. That’s not what makes it a poor follow up. What makes it a bad successor is that it fundamentally lacks any of the aspects of the OG RVB that made it unique or appealing at all. I find myself wondering what Torrian is trying to say with RVB0 and quite literally the only answer I find myself falling back onto is that he isn’t trying to say anything at all. Regardless of what you feel about the original RVB, it undeniably had things to say. The opening “why are we here” speech does an excellent job at establishing that this is a show intended to poke fun at the misery of bureaucracy and subservience to nonsensical systems, not just in the context of military life, but in a very broad-strokes way almost any middle-class worker can relate to. At the end of the day, fiction is at its best when it resonates with some aspect of its audience’s life. I know instantly which parts of the original Red vs Blue I’m supposed to relate to. I can’t say anything even close to that about 0.

RVB is an absurdist parody that heavily satirizes aspects of the military and life as a low-on-the-food-chain worker in general that almost it’s entire target audience will be familiar with. The most significant draw of the show to me was how the dialogue felt like listening to my friends bicker with each other in our group chats. It required no effort for me to connect with and although the narrative never outright looked to the camera and explained ‘we are critiquing the military’s stupid red tape and self-fullfilling eternal conflict’ they didn’t need to, because the writing trusted itself and its audience enough to believe this could be conveyed. It is, in a way, the complete antithesis to the badass superhero macho military man protagonist that we all know so well. RVB was saying something, and it was saying it in a rather novel format.

Nothing about RVB0 is novel. Nothing about RVB0 says anything. Nothing about it compels me to relate to any of these characters or their situations. RVB0 doesn’t feel like absurdism, or satire. RVB0 feels like it is, completely uncritically, the exact media that RVB itself was riffing off of. Both RVB0 and RVB when you watch them give you the feeling that what you’re seeing here is kids on a playground larping with toy soldiers. It’s all ridiculous and over the top cliche stupid garbage where each side is trying to one-up the other. The critical difference is, in RVB, we’re supposed to look at this and laugh at how ridiculous this is. In RVB0 we’re supposed to unironically think this is all pretty badass.

The PFL arc of the original RVB existed to show us that setting up an elite team of supersoldiers with special powers was something done in bad faith, with poor outcomes, that left everyone involved either cruel, damaged, or dead. It was a bad thing. And what we’re seeing in RVB0 is the same premise, except, this time it’s good. We’re supposed to root for this format. RVB0 feels much more like a demo reel, cutscenes from a video game that doesn’t exist, or a shonen anime fanboy’s journal scribbling than it feels like a piece of media with any objective value in any area. In every area that RVB was anti-establishment, RVB0 is pure undiluted establishment through and through.

#long post #really long post guys. look out !#rvb

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elysiashelby · 4 years ago

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In Another World - T. Shelby Imagine Ch. 11

Paring: (Eventual) Thomas Shelby x Aliena Welsh (OC)

Fandom: Peaky Blinders

Word Count: 8,081

WARNINGS: Angst, Alcohol Consumption, Cursing, Brief Mention of Intimate Situations (smut HINTED, like joke about), Sexual Harassment

Summary: It’s a few weeks after the season 1 finale, Aliena finds herself lost within the family dynamic and her place in the their world. She’s no longer a nanny to John’s kids, Finn is rebelling against school work, and she finds herself done with her cleaning- fairly quickly. How will she deal with this restlessness? How will she cope in a world that’s not her own?

MASTERLIST CHAPTER 10 CHAPTER 12

A/N: This chapter doesn’t have a lot of Tommy in it. This is the beginning of Aliena’s detachment from the Shelby Family. Thomas will be mentioned frequently, but he most likely have the bare minimum of involvement.

It’s been abar two weeks since Tom killed Billy Kimber. Everything is...different. I can’t put it into words. Me place within the family is undefined. Since John’s married, I’m no longer needed to take care of the kids. Now, I knew this but he and Esme made it official.

I wasn’t to be ‘round unless they called.

I understood. I mean Esme is a new wife and they are in their honeymoon stage. Going at it like rabbits. I felt bad for the kids. I didn’t even get to say goodbye. I only see them when they come ‘round the house.

Luckily, they are warming up to Esme. There wasn’t any bad blood in the first place, but— you just never know when a new wife comes into the picture.

I was still teaching Finn, but since I didn’t have any other students, I was really grilling into him. He’s beginning to hate school even more. It’s just that I practically have nothing to do!

I don’t have to clean two places anymore. I just clean the main house and I kept on top of me tasks all the time, so that means I practically don’t have anything to do! That’s where Finn comes in. I assigned him more homework and reading, but he doesn’t want anything to do with it.

Especially after doing Kimber over, the boy idolizes Tom too much.

So, here I am at me special place just relaxing. Letting the wind go through me hair was always welcomed. I was just swinging and adamantly trying not to think. I took in me surroundings. But, that soon came to an end when I started to get nauseous.

I put me feet down and stopped. I didn’t get up, though. I just sat there, silently. I reach down and started running me hands through the tips of the grass. I sang to meself “I just want to be the one you love.” I sang ‘til even that gave me a headache.

I sighed and stopped singing. I sat up straight and hopped off the swing. I took two steps back and just appreciated the nice breeze. I tucked a piece of hair that was in me face and started walking back home.

It didn’t feel nice walking by meself for so long. I mean it was nice at first, but then I started getting paranoid. Worried that I would just get pinched off the side of the road. Only when me feet hit the familiar cobblestone, did I feel safe.

Safe under the Peaky Blinders’ protection. What if I’m no longer needed? Do they just give me money and send me on me way? Do I just go and mooch off of Cassie? I mean, technically, didn’t they have that right?

I stopped walking and took the time to massage me temples.

“Are you all right, love?” asked a concerned woman.

I picked up me head and put on a smile. It was fake, of course, but polite. “Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks for asking.”

We exchanged smiles and nods and I went on me way. The second I wasn’t facing her, me smile fell. I was starting to feel lethargic again. That was also a bad sign.

By the time I reached the front door, I was feeling a lot of things at once. I was annoyed, tired, hungry, and lost. I sighed again while opening the door. It was probably abar six in the evening. I took the pins out of me hat and hung it up. Then, I had to put those same pins in me mouth as I took off me coat. I hung that up as well.

I took those pins from me mouth and placed them in a pocket in me skirt. I dusted off me hands and walked into the kitchen. I was gonna start making dinner. Decided shepherd's pie would do everyone some good.

As I was cooking Arthur came in. How did I know it was him, you ask? He brings along the stench of sweat and booze, of course.

“Whatcha cookin’ there, Ali?” Arthur asked before he took a seat down at the table. He took off his cap and smooth down his hair.

I smiled. “I’m cooking some shepherd’s pie.”

“Ah, thank fuck! When’s it gonna be ready?”

I shrugged. “Not long now. Are you gonna stay or do I need to hound you down like the rest of your family?”

He sniffed. “Nah, I’ll be in me office.” The chair scraped against the floor as he got up, and then he left the room.

I turned back ‘round and grumbled to meself, “So, I’m chasing ya down like the rest of them.” I took a step back and leaned on the table. I rubbed me forehead and exhaled audibly. Eventually, I sat down ‘til the scran was ready.

I got three plates, put two forks in me pocket, and cut out three slices for the family members I knew where in the shop. I took only two, though. Using me bum, I opened the doors to the shop and heard the bustling of men.

Not men looking to lay bets, but employees shifting to count up bets and such. I walked past them all. Esme was sitting at a desk as was Polly. I walked up to Polly.

“Dinner, Pol.” I said, rather monotone.

She looked up at me ‘n smiled. “Thank you, love. Leave it there.”

I nodded and set it down at the edge of her desk. As I took a fork out of me pocket, I asked. “Happen to know where Tommy is?” I set it on the plate.

She picked up her head again, but was gazing somewhere else in thought. Her finger pressed against her lip. “I think he’s doing some business. Talking up plans with the architect that’s designing the company headquarters. Better leave him a slice for him to get on his own. Don’t go chasing him at this time of night.”

I nodded and walked over to Arthur’s office while placing a fork on his plate. I knocked and he told me to come in.

“Here ya are!” I said as I placed his food beside him.

He made some breathy noise of excitement before saying, “About damn time. I was about to chew me arm and leg off. Thanks, Ali.”

A quick smile flashed on me face and I said, “Your welcome” before leaving. It turns out I had another slice to cut. So, I served John and Esme some dinner. Finn was out and abar. Polly said to just let him be. That he was being a child, so I just ate by meself at the kitchen table.

While I was eating, the phone was ringing off the hook. I rushed to it and answered.

“Hello, this is 6 Watery Lane?”

“A call from suite 226 at the Ritz Hotel. A Ms. Cassiopeia Johnson for Ms. Aliena Welsh. Do you accept?”

“Yes, I accept.”

“Connecting you now.”

I sighed and twirled me finger ‘round to wire.

“Ali! Are you free tonight?” Cassie shouted through the phone.

I clutched me forehead. “Yeah and every other night. Why?”

“Feel like going to a party?”

Me eyes widened and anxiety shot through me body. I looked ‘round as if I was going to get in trouble for ‘aving this conversation.

“I- uh. I’m not sure, Cass.”

She groaned exaggeratedly. “Come on, Aliena. You said it yourself, you have nights off now. So, let’s go to a party.”

I scoffed. “What kind of party?”

“Don’t worry! It’s casual. The girls and I are going down to the London clubs, and we wanted you to come. So, don’t wear any of those extravagant dresses Angie bought you. Wear something you can sweat in.”

I rolled me eyes while wearing a smirk. “Cass, you and me have different definitions of clothes we can sweat in, but yeah— I get your meaning. Okay, let me just make sure, okay? Stay on the phone.”

“Okay, hurry up.”

I left the phone off the hook and sped walked back into the shop. I walked up to Polly.

“Hey, Polly. Is it alright if I go out?”

Her head snapped up and her face contorted in confusion. “Go out? With who?”

“Me friends. Cassie, Angie, Tina. I’ve told ya abar them before.”

Her eyes darted from side to side then she nodded. “All right. Before careful, love, all right. Don’t be out too late. You get into any trouble call Tommy or the house. Be safe.” She stood up, smooth me hair down, and kissed me cheek.

I couldn’t help the grin on me face as I thanked her and ran back to the phone.

“She said yes! I’m gonna go get ready.”

Cassie squealed into the phone. “Yay! We are going to have so much fun!”

I hung up the phone and raced into me room. I slammed the door behind me and threw open me closet. I took out any “party” dresses that I had hung up.

I wanted to look absolutely breathtaking.

Between abar five different dresses, I decided on a navy blue dress. Your typical 1920’s design.

I quickly threw off me previous clothes and even me undergarments. I went to me drawers and found black stockings and a garter belt to match. I had to go through a different drawer to get a black bra. When I finished putting those on, I scrambled to stand in front of me mirror.

I had to back up a lot to see me whole body in it. I stared for a while. Looking for imperfections. I turned to me side and pinched me stomach. I had a little bump, but I didn’t find meself demeaning meself as usual. I felt...sexy.

I squealed at meself and bent over into meself. Me hair flying as I did so. After I had me little moment, I stood back up, me hair flipping back, and kept me hand over me mouth. I dropped it and went to put on the dress.

Once I had it on, I sat at me desk in front of me mirror and began to do me makeup. I went more for a blue smokey eye to match me dress. I didn’t add any contour or blush, but I added highlight and a pink nude lip. I blew meself a kiss and got up. I walked back to me closet and bent down to open the drawer at the bottom.

I picked out me black purse. I opened its doors and took out me four-inch black heels. I put them on and hiked the purse up me shoulder. Then, I was stuck waiting for Cassie’s honk.

As I waited, I kept brushing out me hair. I knew I would look like the odd women out with hair as long as mine, but I didn’t care. I liked how I looked. With me finger, I touched up me lipstick slightly when I heard that infamous honking.

A shit-eating grin spread across me face and I raced out the door. When I made it out the door, Cassie was standing there waiting for me.

We shrieked when we saw each other and ran into each other’s arms. We laughed as we swayed each other.

“Oooh, I’m so glad you decided to come.” Cassie sighed and pushed me back a little while maintaining our hug. “Look at you! Oh, Angie, Tina! Look at our baby. All grown up.”

She used me shoulders to guide me in front of the car. Angie clapped before bringing her hands over her mouth. Tina was just all smiles.

I was so hyped up that I couldn’t stop the ugly smile on me face. While fanning meself, I begged. “Guys, stop! Let’s just get this show on the road!”

I climbed into the car and Cassie followed suit.

Their hands were all over trying to inspect all of me outfit. I fought off their hands, eventually.

“Okay, okay, enough! Which club are we going to?”

Cassie looked at Angie as did Tina. Angie made eye contact with the both of them before she bugged out her eyes.

“What?” She shouted then sighed, defeatedly. “I mean, we can start with the one we frequent the most. It’s real nice there. Shiny.” Angie said that last part in a childish voice while looking at me.

I glared at her before grumbling, “Shut it.”

I may have disclosed me affliction for shiny things.

The rest of the ride was filled with mindless chatter. Just catching up with what has happened in our lives.

Tina shuffled over to me eventually and took me hand in hers. She was playing with me nails.

“How are things with you and Thomas?” She asked me softly. Her eyes flicked up to mine before looking back at me nails.

I hummed while sighing deeply. “Well, we’re not the same. He’s just so much busier now. It’s a win in itself that we’re not at odds with each other, but I wish it was like before Grace. We were so close. Well, I was closer to him than he was with any of his family members.” I leaned closer to her ear and whispered. “We slept in the same bed for Christ’s sake.”

She gasped while looking into me eyes, horrified.

I knew she wasn’t gonna take it well. I gave her a sheepish smile. “It was nothing indecent. I swear! Thomas has trouble sleeping because of the war. I put him to sleep while talking to him and sometimes he would talk to me too.” I looked off thinking abar all the moments we shared.

Tina said nothing for a while ‘til she asked. “So, are you two in a good place or not?”

I rolled me eyes. “If you’re looking for a direct answer then, yes. Yes, we’re in a good place.”

Her cheeks turned red and she gave me a sheepish smile. I softly scoffed.

The car stopped and we all hopped off. I followed them as they walked into the club. The doormen greeted them and opened the door for us.

Angie clapped her hands and turned toward me. “What are you drinking?” She asked me.

I shrugged me shoulders. “I’ll drink whatever youse drink.”

She rolled her eyes before she turned back ‘round and toward the bar. I mocked her expression as she walked away. Cassie linked me arms with hers and began to lead me to a table.

We sat down and I set down me purse. Cassie did the same, but dug through her purse for a ciggie. She propositioned me for one and I took one.

“Wow! Look at you!” Cassie said with her jaw dropped, a smile fighting for its place. “Just going all out tonight, are you?” She then cackled to herself.

I giggled at her as I held the stick between me teeth. I fished through me purse and found me lighter. I’m not familiar with the types of lighters, but if I had to describe this one— it would be a lift arm. I think it was anyway. There was a time where I did research types of lighters for a story, but I wasn’t expecting to remember on the fly.

Oh, how I miss the internet!

I flicked the wheel and inhaled. I pushed the arm back down, snuffing out the flame then tossed it on the table. I took the ciggie from me lips and let out the smoke.

“So,” I began to ask. “What do you guys usually do?” I looked ‘round saw people dancing, talking. The room was super loud. I was, in a way, used to it, but it hurt me ears at the same time.

The dances were so old, to me. They danced like animals, but I saw a couple of tangos. Some were doing the Charleston.

I would never experience modern clubs. Grinding against strangers and jumping like nobody was watching. Loud music pumping through speakers. Hell, club music! Electronic music, or for Christ’s sake— music with words! I would never get to listen to the music that got me blood pumping and made me feel like the most attractive woman in the room.

Cassie chuckled before she puffed out a cloud of smoke. “Well, first, we have a drink or two. To take off the edge, then we dance.”

I looked over at Tina who nodded and smiled. I scoffed playfully before blowing raspberries. Angie came over, a bottle and drinks in hand, and a ciggie hanging off her lips. Tina shot up from her seat and rushed to help her.

Cassie and I sneak a glance at each other. Though, in all honesty, the interaction was innocent. They distributed the drinks and I instantly went to drink when me hand was smack.

Angie had her eyebrows furrowed at me in a glare. I looked back at her confused.

“Let’s make a toast.” She announced over the blaring jazz music. “A toast for Aliena’s first outing!”

Everyone made mischievous smiles at me, I returned it with a mocking one as I tilted me head from side to side.

Cassie giggled. “May she drunkenly hook up with a stranger and forget all about Mr. Thomas Shelby.”

While I didn’t want Cassie’s toast to come true, exactly, I still clinked glasses with the lot of them. We, collectively, tipped our heads back and downed our glasses.

I groaned at the taste as did Tina. Angie and Cassie both whooped in excitement.

“More! More!” Cassie chanted as she grabbed the bottle and starting pouring us another round.

I took another puff of me ciggie. I could see I didn’t have many left. Left it burning for too long. I shrugged me shoulders as I took another inhale. I could always bum one off of them.

Two more glasses later, I was dragged to the dance floor by Cassie. I tried begging her to let me go, but she wouldn’t. I tried telling her that all I knew how to do was sway, but she said that she would teach me.

And, boy, did she try!

I swear I was getting it all wrong, but she was swearing that I was doing great.

Our hands were entwined and I shouted. “I’m not doing it right, Cassie!”

She shook her head as she brought me in so close that our lips were practically touching. “You’re dancing better than me. Stop thinking about it, Ali. Let yourself go.”

I wanted to. I really wanted to, but how could I lose meself to jazz music! How was I supposed to lose meself to jazz music?

I cringed. I literally cringed. I took a deep breath and cradled me forehead. “Cass,” I shouted. “Let’s get a drink, yeah?”

She pouted and her face contorted in frustration, but she followed me back to the table nonetheless. At said table, was Angie and Tina along with two new gentlemen friends. Angie looked like she was having a good time while Tina— not so much.

Angie noticed us first. “You guys are back already?” She asked.

Cassie nodded. “Yeah. Aliena wanted another drink.” Her tone, somewhat snappy.

I resisted the urge to roll me eyes as I grabbed the bottle and poured meself a glass.

I heard one of the men clear their throat. Angie sighed before announcing their presence. I gave them each a polite smile and nodded. I didn’t acknowledge them. They weren’t me type anyhow.

I tipped back abar two more drinks before I tapped Cassie’s shoulder and nodded back to the dance floor. Her face lit up in glee as she took me head and we ran to the dance floor.

I felt the booze lower me inhibitions. I listened to her words and let meself go. I was in a mix between the music in me head and the music that thundered in the club. I was in a mix between the dances Cassie taught me and the dances I knew from back home.

I ran me fingers through me hair and kept them as I swayed me waist. I let me hands roam me body as I did a body roll. I swayed me hips from side to side. I let me eyes flutter close and I embraced the music in me head.

I only stopped when I felt someone’s hand creep on me shoulder. I twirled ‘round to face the man who dared lay a hand on me.

He smirked and shouted. “Mind, if I joined you?”

I looked at him up and down then scoffed. “Fuck off!”

His eyes widened and he left. I watched him leave. I walked closer to Cassie and pulled her to me. She giggled and then I turned ‘round. I grabbed her hands and made them roam me body as I grinded into her.

Eventually, she got into the groove of it.

“Men are looking at us.” She whispered in me ear.

I smirked and reopened me eyes. I titled me head back and whispered into her ear. “Let them.”

We danced for a little while more. I could see and feel all of these eyes on us. I felt so ethereal yet scared at the same time. All it took was one macho man. One macho man to try and demand that either us are entitled to give him a dance.

So, with thought like that plaguing me mind— I stopped dancing and pulled Cassie back to the table.

I hadn’t even noticed that women were glaring at us as well ‘til we were walking back to our table.

We sat down while panting. I felt so hot. Angie chuckled at the sight of us.

“Where’s tweedle dee and dum?” I asked as I pinched a ciggie from one of their cases.

Angie scoffed. “Hopefully somewhere else. Fucking pricks!”

I inhaled as I lit it up. I knocked down the arm as I asked. “The fuck happened?”

Angie’s eyes darted to Tina’s, who was looking down at the table.

Tina sat up straighter and I could see her gulp. Her eyes kept shifting to me from the table. “The bastard put his hand up me dress.”

I felt rage surge me. I held me ciggie between two fingers as I shot up. Me hands slammed on the table. “Where’s the fucking bastard? I fuckin’ kill ‘em.”

Angie scoffed. “Calm down, Aliena. Already embarrassed them as much as I could.”

I looked over at Angie and gave her a satisfied smile. If it was Angie, then yeah— she made them wish they’d never been born.

Cassie stroked Tina’s arm before saying, “How about you and Angie go and have your turn on the dance floor. Ali and I will hold down the fort.”

Angie looked at Tina who just nodded. They got up from their chairs and walked onto the dance floor. I exhaled smoke through me nose and looked over at Cassie.

She smiled at me. “What was that? On the floor.”

I smirked. “I let myself go.”

She giggled while tipping her head back. “Now, if Mr. Thomas Shelby knew you could dance like that. I bet he would be the one on his knees for ya. Not the other way around.”

I chortled at that. The bad thing that once she said it, I could imagine it. I could see Thomas Shelby on all fours for me as I sat in his chair at his future office with me legs wide open. But the thing is, I didn’t want to be the one in control. It’s just a personal preference.

Cassie slid a glass to me and I happily took a drink. I tsked after.

Cassie was staring at me with this questionable look in eyes.

“What?” I asked with a giggle.

She squinted before sighing. “Why won’t you make the first move? You’re about to turn 18 and that woman isn’t in the picture anymore. Why not just,” She began to flail her hands ‘round herself. “Make the first move!”

I glanced away as I thought abar how to answer her. I sat up straighter and rested me back against the chair. “I won’t ever make the first move because I’m afraid of rejection. I’ve been rejected by all the males in my life that I have asked out. In my mind, I can’t convince myself that he will be different. Why? Because I’m shielding myself from feeling that embarrassment and sadness that would come from a rejection.

Plus, like you said. Grace isn’t in the picture anymore, but that was like two weeks ago, Cassie! If he accepted me right now, I wouldn’t be able to perceive that other than him using me to be his rebound.”

I took the ciggie from me lips and titled me head back as I exhaled. Then, I picked up me glass and downed it.

Cassie tapped the table with her fingernail before sighing and looking away. I started bobbing me head to enjoy meself. Cassie’s face contorted into something devilish. I squinted me eyes in suspicion.

“What’re you looking at?” I turned ‘round and saw two men sitting at the bar. Me eyes widened and I just zipped back ‘round. I shook me head. “You better not even-!”

It was too late as I saw the shit-eating grin on her face as she looked at me. I blew raspberries while rolling me eyes.

His name was Christian and he was an accountant. He was attractive, for sure. But, we weren’t hitting it off like that. I pretended to be engaged, but anything he was saying was going in one ear and out the other.

I nursed me bevvy as I dragged me fingertip along the rim of the glass. When I picked up me head ‘n saw Angie and Tina walking back with more than a pep in their step, I swear I thanked God.

“Hey!” I shouted while effectively cutting off the dude. “How was it? Your feets aching yet?”

Angie scoffed before her tipped toward Christian. She stared at him even harder while arching her neck forward. “Can you get up? You see women coming back from the dance floor and you don’t give your seat up! What kind of man are you?”

I looked away as I slapped me hand over me mouth. The guy stuttered and scrambled out of the chair. Angie just held up her hand and began collecting her stuff.

“I, for one, am tired of this place. Let’s go, girls.” Angie announced.

‘Say less.’ I thought.

I already had me stuff in me purse, so I got up and shuffled toward Tina. I stroked her arm and asked. “Are you alright, hun?”

She nodded while hiking up her purse on her shoulder. “Just want to get out of here. Too many eyes.”

I looked ‘round and sure enough, she was right. Some men had the balls to keep on looking. I rolled me eyes as it contorted in disgust.

“Yeah, we’ll leave soon.”

Cassie flirted with that guy ‘til we left. She groaned exaggeratedly as she raked her fingers through her hair. “What the fuck, guys? I was still talking to him.”

I scoffed. “Don’t worry, Cass. I’m sure you’ll find someone else to satisfy you at the next bar.”

Angie nodded. “Yep. Looks like scum raided that bar tonight.”

By the end of the night, I was a fucking mess. I was stumbling ‘round and me speech was slurred. I was conscious of everything. I felt like it anyway, but something was telling me that I would forget bits and pieces in the morning.

Oh! Cassie did indeed get her scratch itched. She had sex in the restroom. We cheered and laughed at her for it. Turns out that Tina and I were more alike than I originally thought. Though, I believe the reason for that was because neither of us were on the prowl. Angie and Cass, on the other hand, were.

So, right now, Cass was giving me a ride back home.

I stuck me head out of the car and let the wind whip through me hair. I howled while extending me arm out. I could hear giggles in the car. When I felt content, I went back into the car. I draped over Angie and rested me head on her shoulder. I was sitting on me knees, so it worked.

I smiled, drunkenly. Angie stroked me face and whispered. “You are so beautiful. Like so beautiful. It kills me that you’re stuck in that dump of a home. If you were born into me own world, you’d be sought out by all the lords and their sons.”

I psh-ed her words while hiding me face in her arm. “Why, thank you! I think you’re quite stunning yourself.”

“Marry rich, Aliena. So, we can see each other all the time.”

We stared into each other’s eyes for a while. ‘Til I broke it by smiling and cackling. She joined in on me laughter.

The car had to stop eventually and when it did— they wouldn’t let me go!

I let all me weight go as I tried to get out of their grasps. “Let me go, you wenches!”

Cassie aw-ed. “Stay with us, Ali. Just come back into the car and sleep over!”

Tina, who was very fucking bladdered, chimed in. “Yeah, stay with us, Ali!”

I giggled while tipping me head back. “No!” I shouted. “I have work tomorrow!”

Their grip on me, eventually, loosened and I fell back on me arse. I laughed and moaned from the pain as me hand sluggishly went to soothe the pain. They laughed while crashing into each other.

“Fuck off ‘n go home!” I shouted while waving them off.

With ungraceful movements, Angie closed the car door as the other two fell back into the car. I stumbled to get back on me feet and opened the door.

I sighed and looked ‘round. It was fucking dark and nobody was there. I didn’t take a coat, so I just hung up me purse. I tried to bend over and take off me heels, but I ended up leaning forward ‘n had to catch meself.

I giggled at me actions. Then, I heaved a big sigh and raised a fist to me forehead as I winced in discomfort. I crashed into the wall on me left and debated whether or not I wanted to go into the kitchen for water ‘n bread.

I burped loudly which caused me hand to fly over me mouth and then I chuckled. But, then that feeling contorted into something bad. I ran over to the sink and held me hair back as I vomited into the sink.

I coughed and gathered all the spit in me mouth and spat it out a couple of times. I groaned as I slumped to the side.

I’m so fucking tired!

I coughed a few more times as I turned on the faucet. I let the water wash away me vomit and I scooped some water to wash away the taste in me mouth. When I was done, I stumbled back into the living room and threw meself on the couch.

I got comfortable and fell asleep.

“For fuck’s sake, Aliena.” I heard someone say. I groaned and refrained from opening me eyes. I didn’t want to fucking wake up right now!

Then, I felt someone pick at the hem of me dress and suddenly, me lower half was warmer. Not a second later, arms were under me knees and neck. I furrowed me eyebrows and whined in annoyance.

They started shushing me ‘n telling me to go back to sleep. However, against their wishes— me eyes fluttered open. It was Tommy. I couldn’t stop the smile on me face from happening and as I attempted to snuggle into his chest.

“Warm.” I muttered.

He shushed me again and repeated himself.

I could feel the both of us jolt as he walked upstairs. I tried falling back to sleep, but felt like that wasn’t becoming a possibility.

Slowly, with me hand, I hovered it over his cheekbone. He looked down at me. I stared into his eyes and whispered. “So pretty.” His facial expression didn’t change.

He just repeated himself yet again before he began to walk again. I let me hand drop and I closed me eyes. I tried focusing on the sound of his breath and the way his chest rose and fell.

I let him lay me in bed and tuck me in. As he turned ‘round to leave, I shot me hand out and grasped his wrist. “Stay with me?” I asked.

Tommy looked down at me hand and slowly, he backtracked and sat down next to me. A grin broke out on me face. I tried getting comfortable all while trying to cuddle with him, but it was too awkward since all I would be doing is putting me face near his arse.

Tommy cleared his throat then said something. Me eyes fluttered open and I hummed questioningly.

“Move over.” He repeated. And so, I did.

Tommy laid down next to me and I, immediately, cuddled into his side. I didn’t even give him time to properly lay his arm ‘round me shoulders. I just sought out to comfort of his scent and warmth.

I felt his torso shake with laughter, but no sound came out.

“Now, go back to sleep, Ali.”

I was able to follow through on that order that time.

When I woke up, me head was pounding, there was this god awful taste in me mouth, and I had light sensitivity. I groaned and held me head as I slowly got up. I held me head up as me elbows rested on me knees.

Then, I looked to me side. There was a note on me nightstand. I grabbed it and read it.

‘Take it easy today. - Thomas’

I rolled me eyes, but I was actually brimming with happiness on the inside.

‘So, that wasn’t a dream.’ I thought.

I got to me feet and worked on getting dressed for the day. I settled for a fuzzy, grey long-sleeved shirt, a blue pleated skirt, and stockings. These ones went all the way up to me waist. When I was done, I trudged over to me desk and worked on getting last night’s makeup off.

I’m such a better beaut! I had to use so many cotton balls and wipes. I sighed as I covered me face with me hands. I spread me hands and looked at meself in the mirror. I stretched down me face before letting it go. I let me left arm fall and I laid me head down on it.

I desperately did not want to go downstairs. But, I have a fucking job to do! I whimpered before getting up and slipping on boots. After that, I made me way downstairs.

As I turned into the kitchen, I should have known Polly would have been there. Sipping away at her mornin’ cuppa tea. She looked at me through hooded eyes. I looked away before looking back at her.

She set her cup down and leaned forward in her seat. “Well, aren’t you going to tell me how your night was?”

The only thought that went through me mind was, ‘Thank fuck!’

For several nights in a row, me nights have been nothing but partying. I’ve been getting up with a hangover from the night before, finishing me duties, making dinner, eating dinner, getting ready to go out, and then Cassie would pick me up.

When I left, I would drink so much that anything would fly out of me mouth as slurs and I was stumbling into people. Then, I would be dropped off home and luckily, I have been making it to me room. Oh, but first. I would vomit in the sink, or eat bread and drink water. So far it’s been a 50/50 chance for either.

Right now, I was dancing with a bottle in me hand by meself. Being drunk and dancing was freeing. I wasn’t thinking for once and I was just letting go. I didn’t have to worry abar who I was within the Shelby clan. I wasn’t overthinking every interaction I had with everybody I came across. I wasn’t obsessing over Thomas fucking Shelby.

I brought the bottle to me lips and took a swig. Cassie looked over at me and stumbled toward me, and I did the same. With me free hand, I cradled the back of her head and brought her forehead to meet mine.

“Are you having fun?” She asked me over the blaring music.

I nodded while gigglin’. “Yeah, what about you?”

She nodded too before stealing me bottle away. I protested and reached for it, but she stomped away. She couldn’t exactly manage a run, right now. I spluttered at the sight. When I stood up straight, I felt someone place their hands on me hips.

I didn't have to look behind meself to know it was some fella.

“Want some company, love?” He asked me.

I pondered it for a while before I decided on me answer. “I’m only lookin’ to dance. You got that?”

As he chuckled, I could feel his chest vibrate. “Sure, love.”

I rolled me eyes and started to dance to me own music. When I felt something hard press up against me arse, I pushed him away and started walking away. He tugged me back.

“Oi, slag. Finish what you started.” He shouted in me face.

I scoffed before stomping on his foot and kneeing his crotch. “You have a hand, use it!” I yelled as he doubled over. I shoved him to the ground and walked away.

I was instantly smothered by hands.

“Oh my god! I can’t believe you just did that! You just did that!” Angie exclaimed.

“That was so fucking awesome. Look at you, bad-ass!” Cassie shouted.

Tina just had this big-arse smile on her face.

I laughed while shaking me head. “I’m glad youse enjoyed it, but unless he came here alone— we need to leave.”

We shuffled to our table, got our stuff and left. The night breeze whipped through our hair. I was falling into Cassie and Tina as we walked side by side.

I groaned exaggeratedly before shouting, “Should we just go to the flat? De’ fuckin’ weirdos are out tonight!”

Cassie cackled. “Maybe it’s because your dancing is driving men wild.”

I scoffed while pivoting me hip toward her. “I don’t give a fuck abar what they see. I’m not there to satisfy them. I’m ‘aving a fuckin’ dance.”

“So, you won’t make the first move, but you don’t want men to make the first move on you either… How does that work?” Tina quipped.

I craned me neck toward her before glaring at her. “Okay, Tina! Some liquid courage, right now, huh? No, I’m playing! I don’t know how it works, but it’s gonna be up to me if I want to give them me time. Okay? Okay.”

Angie snapped her fingers before saying. “Exactly! Exactly! Anyway, Ali’s right. Let’s head to the flat.” She hailed a taxi and we all got it.

I left the window open and leaned me head against it. That was ‘til Angie made me shut it. I blew raspberries at her, but did it anyway.

It didn’t take that long to reach the hotel and Angie paid. I was too busy walking up the steps. I saw the familiar doorman.

“Good evening, Ms. Welsh.” He greeted me. Mr. Wilson was an older man in his late 40s. That’s all you have to remember.

“Evening, Wilson.” I flashed him as smile and walked through the door he held open for me. I stumbled straight to the elevator and saw that I was walking way ahead of me friends.

I groaned while tipping me head back. The met me eventually and when the liftman spoke, I jumped. I didn’t notice that he was in here.

Cassie had to practically drag me out of the things since I had snoozed off. We were all full of cackles and giggles as we stumbled to Cassie’s flat. Once the door open and I crossed the threshold, I groaned extra exaggeratedly.

Angie shouted at me to shut up. I ignored her and worked on taking off these fucking devil heels. I threw them out of sight, out of mind then launched meself onto the bed.

“Open a bottle!” I chanted. “Open a bottle!”

When I heard the pop of a bottle, I cheered and flung meself back up. Cassie, Tina, and Angie were all sitting at the table. I trudged over to it and sat down rather unlady like.

I took the pins out of me hair and shook it out while throwing them on the table.

“So, Aliena, why did you turn down that man?” Angie asked.

I shrugged me shoulders. I didn’t expect her to be the one to ask that. “Didn’t feel like he was the one. Yaknow?” I reached for the glass of wine she’d just poured me and sipped it.

“Who will be the one?” Cassie quipped as she drank some of her wine.

Me gaze snapped toward her and I said without hesitation. “Perhaps it could be you.”

She as well as Tina spluttered. I smirked, victorious.

I sighed. “Why are you all so concerned with me love life so much? If it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. Right now, I’m not looking for meaningless sex nor am I looking to be in a relationship.” I realize that I didn’t say those words with perfect clarity, but— perhaps I did at the same time.

Tina cleared her throat. Everyone’s head turned to her.

“Because… Because we want to see you happy as the baby in the group.”

I blinked a couple of times as did everyone else apparently ‘cause once the three of us made eye contact with each other, we started cackling. I mean this was some heavy cackling. The kind that would embarrass you if your significant other heard it.

“No, but seriously— she’s right.” Cassie said through pants.

I sobered up real quick.

Angie continued. “Yeah. Look, this Thomas Shelby doesn’t seem like the kind of guy for you. I mean, hasn’t he made you cry like more than ten times, already? You don’t even want to find out if he likes you back. Why don’t you just find someone new?”

I blinked slowly as I tried to process what they said. I shook me head and muttered. “I’m gonna head to the loo.”

I closed the door behind me and stumbled to the sink. I was holding meself up on the sink and I looked up at me reflection. I took in a loud shuddering breath.

They didn’t understand. Tommy wasn’t a bad person, he was just ambitious. They don’t know abar his affectionate side like I do. The Tommy who joked and smiled with me at night. That Tommy was mine to adore on sleepless nights. The Tommy that makes me cry is very real, but it’s not even his fault. It’s mine.

It’s me who’s a coward. I already told them me reasons for not confronting him abar me feelings, why can’t they just accept that. I don’t want to have a bunch of one-night stands that’s not me! Why are they pushing me to do it when they don’t even do that to Tina? Is it because I’m a virgin?

I choked as I exhaled and wiped me eyes. I looked up at me reflection again and saw that I now had raccoon eyes. I blinked quickly while groaning to meself. The mascara was stinging me eyes. I opened the cabinet and scavenged for Cassie’s makeup remover items.

I’m not going to hold on to Tommy forever. I knew that in me heart. I had too precious of a goal to do that shit. Plus, the choice will be made for me in two years time. If Tommy knocks up Grace, that is. If he does, then I’m done. He loved her and only her. I have no right in the matter nor am I gonna kick up a fuss. I’m just glad to be in their lives.

I cherished his character for so long and so intensely that I actually managed to be “transported” to the Peaky Blinder Universe. Even if I don’t end up with him, this is still an excellent shot at life. I know things abar the future that will help me descendants. As ugly as this is, I can make a profit out of ideas that were invented in me timeline.

Me future doesn’t have to be completely uncertain anymore.

But no one can ever understand that. Not Cassie, Angie, Tina, Polly, or even Tommy could understand. I can plan me future with almost 100% guarantees that it will be a success.

It’s so tiring, though. I’m so tired of pretending to be someone I’m not. I have to remember lie after lie after lie.

I heaved for air as I slid down the sink. There was a knock at the door.

“Aliena, are you all right in there?”

I nodded, even though they couldn’t see me. “Yeah. I’m fine. Just need some time alone, please.”

“Okay.” Cassie said with a shaky voice.

I’m not upset at them. I’m upset with the truth their words held. I needed to get over Thomas Shelby. I knew that better than anyone. But, I was gonna do it me own way. Nobody can do it for me. I’m gonna do it at at me own time, nobody is gonna plan it for me.

I got up and wiped the tears that fell. I crawled over to where the toilet paper was, rolled some ‘round me hand and blew me nose. I threw it away and finally stood up. I walked back into the room where they all stared out me.

I pointed to the bed and whispered that I was going to sleep. They acknowledged it and I did as I said I was going to do.

I knew better than anyone that I shouldn’t be in love with Thomas Shelby. That he could get me killed, cheat on me, or ya know— create a toxic relationship. But, I didn’t see us as that. That’s what we were like on the surface. There’s unspoken words that are exchanged between us, always.

I knew he wasn’t good with words or actions because of the war and the business empire he wants to build. Do I get caught in the crossfire sometimes? Yes. Does me mental health suffer because of it? Yes, of course, it does! I’m human and a very emotional one at that!

I knew that some people think that Thomas Shelby was an absoulte arsehole and he is, but I saw why he was like that. I understood it. I would be that way too. I am that way. I do harbor similar feelings, but I also don’t want to be in a leadership position. I don’t want that dominance that Tommy does.

And, he does crave it.

I can’t fix him just like he can never fix me. But in my heart of hearts, I knew he may be the only one who understood these dark thoughts of mine just like I did his. But sometimes that isn’t enough.

I knew people like him craved an innocent partner at times. Not innocent in nature, but in their actions. They see the good in people, they’re optimists. A “low-born” man who is fascinated with a “high-born” woman because of her naive feisty nature.

I wasn’t any of that. I saw the worst in people. I consider meself a realist, but I’ve been called a pessimist. I was born from a middle-class family. And while I am bratty, yes, bratty. I’ve been labeled this by too many friends and family members to try downplaying me character now. I just want to feel safe. I want warmth. I want someone to hold me and tell me that everything’s alright.

I sniffled and wiped me nose.

Truth is, right now, I’m in limbo. I’m surrounded by people who have good intentions but I’m feeling more depressed than ever.

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monvoisin-naruto · 3 years ago

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Why Lawlight is meaningful ship

A quick analysis on why Lawlight's one of the most meaningful ships : So starting with : Light never hated L as person , he only despised him as an "obstacle" in his way restricting him from becoming the so-called 'God of the new world' but , you've ever even taken notice , Light always had a twisted mind from the beginning. He scored good marks , everybody appreciated him , his parents were proud of him etc etc but he never really had any interest in any of those things , he never dated bcs he wasn't interested in having a platonic relationship with anyone. He was bored of literally everything . That's why when the cursed notebook fell and he happened to know it's potential ; as immature as he was ,he thought he could change the world albeit his main aim was actually just to ease his boredom . But even after beginning to kill criminals and ridding the world of such rodents, he wasn't satisfied because it was too easy . His insatiable desire to find something interesting to ease his boredom ; something that he found challenging was what led him to develop a strong and indivisible bond with L. In other words , The only ever person he truly felt a connection to was L How you may ask ? Well , Kira and L had a lot of similarities which is why they were two sides of the same coin. They both were bored , were manipulative liars , Almost paring in intellects , hated to lose . Given that , albeit when L lied to Light about being his only friend, he did mean it too , ofc not as a genuine amiability but as a strong sense of understanding because Light/Kira was the only ever true person to pose a true challenge to L and ever look through his true calibre and vice versa . They both knew what monster the other was since no matter what facade the other put on; that facade or demenuor could faze everybody but not eachother. They literally shared the strongest bond in the whole anime , a bond driven by mutual respect, hatred , a deep sense of understanding and the desire to out-manoeuvre the other. They were paradoxical , that's what made them interesting and intriguing. And what's truly tragic about them is that they were who once supposed to work together as partners (as confirmed by the author) are now bound to hunt eachother down as eachother's nemesis and add meaning into eachother's lives as rivals . Even L's English VA said " they were the only ones to ever understand eachother , it's such a waste that they're eachother's nemesis " . Not to mention, Light genuinely missed L after his death and even mocked Near at how inferior he was to L. Plus, if you're talking about sexualities, I don't think their sexualities were even ever confirmed. Light showed no romantic interest in women , Plus he's really a sexist ( if you've read the manga, there are certain panels that suggest that) so I personally infer him as gay ( MY OPINION) and I think sexualities don't matter when it comes to ' shipping ' bcs it's more about the dynamics and chemistry that the characters share rather than gender/sexualities/romantic connection/etc . Now again I know their dynamics isn't everyone's cup of tea and it's fine !! But don't expect everything to be mlm bcs even an anti- fujoshi like me ships them and they're my OTP.

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Краткий анализ того, почему Лолайт является одним из самых значимых шипов (с помощью гугл переводчика, мне было впадлу редачить текст):

Итак, начнем с: Лайт никогда не ненавидел L как личность, он презирал его только как «препятствие» на его пути, мешающее ему стать так называемым «Богом нового мира». 'но, как вы даже заметили, у Лайта всегда был извращенный ум с самого начала. Он набирал хорошие оценки, все его ценили, его родители гордились им и т. д., но он никогда не интересовался ни одной из этих вещей, он никогда не встречался ни с кем, потому что его не интересовали платонические отношения с кем-либо. Ему казалось скучным буквально всё. Вот почему, когда проклятая тетрадь упала, он случайно узнал её потенциал; каким бы незрелым он ни был, он думал, что может изменить мир, хотя на самом деле его главная цель заключалась в том, чтобы облегчить себе скуку. Но даже после того, как он начал убивать преступнико�� и избавлять мир от таких грызунов, он не был удовлетворен, потому что это было слишком легко. Его ненасытное желание найти что-нибудь интересное, чтобы облегчить скуку; то, что ему показалось трудным, привело его к развитию прочной и неделимой связи с Л. Другими словами, единственным человеком, с которым он действительно чувствовал связь, был Л. Как вы можете спросить? Что ж, у Киры и L было много общего, поэтому они были двумя сторонами одной медали. Им обоим было скучно, они были лжецами-манипуляторами, Почти равнодушными к интеллекту, ненавидели проигрывать. Учитывая это, хотя когда L солгал Лайту о том, что он его единственный друг, он тоже имел в виду это, конечно, не как искреннюю любезность, а как сильное чувство понимания, потому что Лайт / Кира был единственным настоящим человеком, который бросил настоящий вызов. L и когда-нибудь смотреть сквозь его истинный калибр и наоборот. Они оба знали, каким чудовищем был другой, поскольку независимо от того, какой фасад у него был; этот фасад или манера поведения могли смутить всех, но не друг друга. Они буквально разделяли самую сильную связь во всем аниме, связь, движимую взаимным уважением, ненавистью, глубоким чувством понимания и желанием перехитрить другого. Они были парадоксальными, что делало их интересными и интригующими. И что поистине трагично в них, так это то, что они были теми, кто когда-то должен был работать вместе как партнеры (как подтверждено автором), теперь обязаны охотиться друг на друга как на врагов друг друга и добавлять смысл в жизни друг друга как соперники. Даже английский VA L сказал, что «они были единственными, кто когда-либо понимал друг друга, это такая потеря, что они враги друг друга». Не говоря уже о том, что Лайт искренне скучал по L после его смерти и даже высмеивал Ниа над тем, насколько он уступает Л. Плюс, если вы говорите о сексуальности, я не думаю, что их сексуальность когда-либо подтверждалась. Лайт не проявлял романтического интереса к женщинам, плюс он действительно сексист (если вы читали мангу, есть определенные панели, которые предполагают это), поэтому я лично считаю его геем (МОЕ МНЕНИЕ), и я думаю, что сексуальность не имеет значения, когда Дело доходит до «доставки», потому что это больше связано с динамикой и химией персонаже��, а не с полом / сексуальностью / романтическими связями и т. д. Теперь я снова знаю, что их динамика не всем нравится, и это нормально !! Но не ждите, что все будет mlm bcs, даже такой антифуджоши, как я, отправляет их, и они мои OTP.

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ponett · 5 years ago

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i was finally able to see the bad star war that everyone said was bad. as it turns out, it was bad. here’s a read more post with my thoughts on it so that i don’t spam my twitter with spoiler tweets

for a baseline: i like the original trilogy, but i don’t think any of those movies are perfect. i think the prequels had some good ideas but i were mostly terrible. i love the clone wars (both versions) and rebels. while i admit that tfa was extremely similar to a new hope, i thought it was executed great and had a wonderful new cast that showed a ton of promise. i liked rogue one, although i found its first act really sloppy. and i have some quibbles about tlj, but it had an incredibly strong vision and actual themes, and i’d consider it my favorite in the series

i’m exactly the kind of person who was always going to hate the rise of skywalker, because it’s basically a bad fanfic written by someone who didn’t like tlj and wanted to “fix” the story. like that bizarre story treatment jenny nicholson read for this movie. the bad one. it was like that

it wasn’t all bad i guess. here are the small things i liked:

some of the new environments were cool. there was cool imagery and practical effects work

i appreciated that the moon of endor where the death star wreckage was wasn’t just the one with the ewoks, and thought the vibe there was cool

zorii bliss’s armor was really cool

the image of the fleet of star destroyers all lined up was striking

i liked that the ghost showed up for the final battle

i liked that ahsoka was one of the jedi voices rey heard, even though that kind of implies that ahsoka is, uh... dead?

while extremely fucking trite and dumb, i’ll admit the closing scene on tatooine got me. yeah, rey has no real connection to this place and it’s just a nostalgic throwback, but i’m a sucker for full circle endings like that

uh. that’s about it

this movie kicks off in the middle of an action scene and just kind of keeps jumping to new setpieces nonstop until it’s over. new characters and locations get introduced and then moved past in the blink of an eye. there’s no time to let any of it sink in. it feels like abrams crammed two movies worth of shit into this one to make up for the the fact that some people didn’t like tlj, and as a result none of it resonates. i just felt so empty throughout most of the film. events were happening on screen and none of it mattered

thoughts about individual elements:

LEIA

putting the scenes with the recycled footage of carrie fisher at the beginning of the film completely took me out of it. it was so obvious that she wasn’t really responding to what was being said, and the conversations had just been built around the limited leia lines they could use

the dialogue scenes with leia felt like a space ghost interview

C-3PO

was in this movie a lot for some reason? i guess abrams wanted to make up for how little c-3po there was in the last two movies. they tried to have that emotional moment where his memory is wiped, but then they just turned his memory loss into a big joke?? and then he got most of his memories back anyway

in general, the movie is afraid to let the audience be uncomfortable for long. 3po’s memory loss. the supposed deaths of chewbacca and babu frik, that sort of thing. you’re not allowed to be sad. after tlj so effectively built tension throughout the film and really pushed the heroes to the brink, this is a disappointment

LANDO

is here because he needed to show up, and because it’s a throwback to have him pilot the falcon again. he’s just kind of there with little to do and no arc

FINN, POE, AND ROSE

before the movie came out, i had low expectations. all i really wanted was to get one last fun adventure with the new characters. when i started to hear about the spoilers, my expectations sank even lower. but maybe i would still get this

nah! rose gets like two minutes of screentime because redditors hated her, and finn and poe are barely even characters. they don’t have arcs in this film, they’re just sidekicks on rey’s journey

finn really hurts. prior to tfa’s release, finn was framed as the new star. this was, of course, a bait and switch, as rey was really the new jedi. (finn apparently IS force sensitive according to this one, but hey! we can only have one big jedi hero, so like leia before him, i guess we’ve gotta wait for some EU novel to give finn a lightsaber)

but finn was still a central character in the last two films, and he had so much potential. he was a stormtrooper who defected! that’s something new! that’s interesting! it complicates the black and white morality of the series. but no. that’s been all but abandoned at this point

many have complained about how tfa establishes that basically all the stormtroopers are people who were kidnapped as children and brainwashed by the first order... but then they still have no qualms about gleefully killing them. in the first two movies i was like “yeah, it sucks that they have to kill those guys, but if it’s to prevent genocide, it’s understandable. that’s just war. maybe they’ll touch on it in the last movie.” so in this one, they kept reminding the audience that the stormtroopers were enslaved as children. jannah is even introduced as another stormtrooper who defected like finn. but then... it goes nowhere. finn doesn’t get any first order troops to defect. they don’t care about the other stormtroopers. how many hundreds of thousands of enslaved soldiers did they kill when they blew up those star destroyers

it was nice to see finn and poe take the charge as leaders in the end, but it also feels like they didn’t take the lessons from tlj to heart. the whole point of that story was that one-in-a-million shot heroic suicide missions aren’t worth it, and that they’re more useful to the resistance alive than they are as martyrs. but then in the climax of this film they take like 30 ships to go fight a fleet of a hundred fucking star destroyers

on the subject of that final battle: i thought that the ending of tlj was so powerful. the resistance was decimated, but they still had hope, because they knew there were others out there who could help. people like rey, or the broom boy, who came from nothing but had good hearts. in this one, though, they say that apparently nobody responded to the leia’s call for help in the entire year since the last film. everyone only shows up during the climax after lando’s like “no, but for real guys, we need help”

and i did think that that sequence was cool. and i did like seeing the ghost among the ships. it was fun. the message that fascists like the first order rule by making people feel isolated, and that they’re defeated by realizing that good people are never alone? that was good. i thought that was a strong message. but it’s such a minor footnote on a movie that’s so bad in so many other ways

oh and they made the latino dude a drug dealer. okay. thanks for that

KYLO REN

i hate that they redeemed kylo and i hate the way they did it

yes, him being coerced to turn to the dark side by snoke (who was apparently just a puppet controlled by palpatine all along (UGH)) as a kid was tragic. but that doesn’t excuse his actions. kylo was given infinite second chances throughout the trilogy, and every time he responded with violence. he killed so many people himself, and willingly took part in a fascist regime that killed billions. yes, his story is sad, but he’s not some poor little boy, he’s thirty fucking years old and he vents his trauma by slaughtering innocent people

literally the entire main trio of the original trilogy died because of this asshole. han tried to talk to him in the first movie, and got stabbed and dropped into a pit. luke died astral projecting to face him in tlj. and now leia just kind of arbitrarily died to flip the switch in his brain from bad to good from across the galaxy. it’s literally as simple as that. he doesn’t have a personal journey here. he just stops being evil because his mom made him through the force

like, again. all those enslaved stormtrooper grunts who had been brainwashed since they were kids? gunned down. but giving kylo endless second chances is the most important thing in the world

and then they end the movie by having this creepy abusive stalker genocidal asshole sadboy kiss rey, retroactively framing their dynamic as a romantic one. just, gross as hell. even in this one, for most of the film, all he does is threaten rey and boss her around

i dunno. i thought the first order were interesting as antagonists. yeah, they were just the empire 2.0. but i thought it was appropriate! the idea was that just because palpatine was dead and gone didn’t mean that fascism was gone. there were still hateful people who wanted to rule the galaxy via genocide. like how we still have nazis in the 21st century. except, oops! palpatine was actually alive and pulling the strings the entire time, so now that theme’s out the window. we just have to kill him again FOR REAL this time and now the galaxy will actually be safe

people wondered where the first order would go after snoke died in tlj. but it was so obvious to me? kylo was in charge. kylo was always the most interesting bad guy. just let him call the shots and be the final adversary. but no. that wasn’t good enough. we had to bring back palpatine as the jrpg final boss to have an epic conclusion

REY

oh, poor rey. youtube critics got mad that a girl could be a strong jedi without being related to some other powerful force user from the old movies, so now she’s stuck being a palpatine forever

i will admit, the protagonist of the new movies being related to palpatine but still being a good person in spite of her heritage... that could have been something. but it’s so clearly not what they had in mind from the start, and it spits in the face of the last movie’s themes. it turns out greatness CAN’T come from anywhere. it has to come from one of these select few Special Bloodlines

oh! and this ALSO reframes rey’s parents abandoning her and selling her into slavery as an act of kindness, because they had to hide her from her spooky evil grandpa. so THAT’S fun. (edit: OH! and luke and leia knew about rey the whole time!!! and didn’t go out and look for her!!!!)

it’s just. it’s so bad what they did to rey. i don’t know if i even have much to elaborate on there, everyone’s already said how stupid it is

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overall, i still wouldn’t say it’s the WORST star wars movie. it’s more watchable than the phantom menace, that’s for damn sure. the actors put in effort. the sets and practical effects are nice. it’s just so... empty

tros possibly feels the closest to how i imagined the new trilogy would be when it was first announced, but in a bad way. a movie built entirely on established ideas of What Star Wars Is with nothing new to bring to the table. it’s like a bad eu novel. just recycled imagery, cameos from characters we already know, palpatine coming back from the dead, that sort of thing. it’s a movie made by committee to appease reddit. it’s nothing

now i gotta use that free trial of disney plus to watch the mandalorian and wash the taste out of my mouth i guess

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exodusmc · 4 years ago

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Insider 05

Genre: Power au, war au, rebel au

Words: 1937

Paring: Light manipulator Baekhyun x Reader

Side character/s: Exo,

Warning!: Mentions of bombings and loss of life

a/n: Sorry sorry for being bad at updating. I said that I would try but it didnt go so well:( But I hope everyone is having a good day!

Gif is not mine

Previous Next

“I spy with my eye...a green thing!” You never thought someone could be so annoying but Jongdae proved you wrong. He never stopped talking or grinning, forest eyes gleaming in dawn.”Come on, guess!”

“I will throw you out the window if you don't shut it!” Jina hissed, gaze still where she drove, through the forest on a small road which had been overgrown. Her skin looked tan from the sun even if the rebels spent the majority of their time underground, a tattoo of a tree following her arm. Tattoos were something you had only seen on performers, like the piercing, because it was illegal to have them in the army..

“Why are you so boring!”Jongdae may have said something leaning towards displeasure but his tone was only teasing, just like his smile.”I’m just trying to have a good time and get to know our Y/n!”

You didn't look away from the window, kept staring at the dull world outside. The world which was slowly getting back together, you had read about it in a highly classified letter, and that was why you suspected that the blue pills were used. If people could easily grow their own crops and get their own fresh water, then the republic would lose both money and power. They were starting to get afraid of their own people, since it was not only people like Baekhyun who had enough but also the poor. Anger fueled everything according to you, both the rebellion and the iron fist of those who were on top of the throne.

“Well she doesn't seem to want to hear it so shut it!”the car hummed along, undisturbed by anything happening around it, even as the trees lessened and the fields started to appear, grey as the skyline but yellow flowers grew in them, just like hope in broken hearts.

“You seem happy..”Yixing had a warm smile on his face, crutches helping him stand in the training room.

Baekhyun turned to look at him, cheeks were still thin but color was slowly returning to the doctor’s face. He was happy, simmingly more in peace with light and not scared like he used to be. Chanyeol really helped him get back.

“ I am…”over Baekhyun’s heart was the pin resting, green petals fanning out like a shield for his mind and life force.

“That’s good..”the doctor glanced to the other side of the white room, eyes landing on Sehun and Chanyeol.”I just wanted you to know that I may be gone for a little while..”

Baekhyun’s orbs widened, mouth drying up. Was Yixing leaving too? Why were everyone leaving him all of a sudden? The lull of panic snaked under his skin, something he didn't want to feel, something he forced down.

“I will spend some time with Junmyeon and Kyungsoo...we have some things to look up, but don't worry, I won't be far away.” Yixing smiled, breathing out the old air.”It’s important for you to know that Y/n didn't have a choice but to become who she is..and it’s important that you never forget that because we need her if we are ever going to get peace..”

The doctor stared right in his eyes, studied what was behind them. Baekhyun would play a big part in what was to come but so would you and it meant that Chanyeol couldn't go and make him hate you while Yixing was gone.

“This is it! The long journey can begin!” Jongdae sighed dramatically, hand over his heart as the backpack hung over his shoulders. Blonde hair ruffled around, grin plastered across round lips.”We will miss you Jina! Oh, what shall we do without your guidance?!”

Jina rolled her eyes, both you and Minseok got out of the car as well. Around you were natur greyish but no walls could be seen anywhere, everything was just open. No one was around, you were alone but free at the same time.

“I feel sorry for you..”Jina addressed you for the first time, never having said a word to you through the whole trip. Her dark eyes held a softness you guessed she hadn't been able to show before, probably because who she thought you were.”You have to be alone with these two for a long time...Minseok can be annoying too..”

The named man had an offended look on his face, mouth slightly open and gaze moving between himself and Jongdae, like he couldn't believe who he was compared to. You didn't know how to react at the clear teasing between them, the sympathy Jina seemingly showed you, because in the army there were only orders for you, orders you gave, never the dynamic of humans.

“We are not annoying!”a gasp left Jongdae, arm falling around your shoulders. It felt weird, foreign to you, so much so your whole body tensed up and he felt it too, concerned filling his eyes for a second.

Jongdae knew who you were, what you had done, but he had a hard time actually invisoning you like the reaper Chanyeol swore on. You seemed lost and empty, your eyes so hollow he sometimes wondered if you felt anything at all.

“Whatever...I need to go, good luck.”the engine roared to life, tires screaming as she turned. Jina disappeared again, leaving you three behind, on your way to a place you didn't know.

“ I promise you Y/n, we will have so much fun!”Minseok rolled his eyes, watching the surroundings. It looked empty but planes could come anytime, cars as well. The army was out there but so was the rebels. A sigh passed his lips, the sun slowly falling down. He had to find a good place to take shelter before the darkness took over the world.

“The northern part of us has been bombed…”Junmyeon leaned forward, pointing at a map before moving the finger towards where their base where, metall gleaming by his collar ”The survivors have been taken to the rock but they are having a difficult time taking care of everyone..”

“Are there many of them?”Kyungsoo asked, black hair falling down his forehead, eyes deep and dark.

“No...around a hundred of three hundred..”Yixing’s heart hurt as Junmyeon spoke, thinking of all the lives which were lost, taken away by hate. It may have been a small hideout but it was still humans who had died.”But I’m sending you guys and some more medical staff there as aide..”

Kyungsoo nodded, glancing towards Yixing. The doctor still had some problems with walking but it seemed like he was doing better, unlike someone.

“Everyone will get there through the underground tunnels so that’s why I’m sending you with them Kyungsoo..”Junmyeon straightened up, his head full with what to do. If it was worth it going back and searching for more survoiurs or if they had enough supplies to help.

Ever since you, Baekhyun and Yixing came to the rebels, things had moved quickly. More blue hospitals had been raided and destroyed, but it meant a stronger wave of soldiers from the republic. A whistleblower had sent him a message about an increase of weaponry and orders to shoot anyone in the poorest districts. War was coming closer and closer, but where were they ready? Maybe...unfortunately only as long as you were on their side. You knew the inside so you could destroy it, you were their brightest, deadliest weapon but they lost you. Junmyeon hoped to make you even deadlier by giving you a reason besides an order to fight.

“How..How is he?”Kyungsoo suddenly asked, breaking Junmyeon out from his own mind. A sad smile formed over his lips, reddish brown hair floating before his eyes.

“He is stable but..they aren't sure which way it leans..”Jongin had been shot right above his heart, shattering an artery and leaving him almost dead but they managed to save him, at least keeping him from dying. Kyungsoo was closest with him and the paleing of tan skin made him stay awake by the white bed for days.”He will make it, you know how stubborn he can be when he knows someone is waiting..”

Sweat poured down your forehead, shoulders aching slightly but you didn't let it show, only stared forward as Jongdae whined over something. You had been walking for about six hours, the terrain slowly filling with trees, but the sun was almost down and so was your water.

“Let me help you..”Minseok took your bottle, hand slowly starting to glow light blue. You watched as your lukewarm water became ice cold. It was his power, ice. A funny feeling stirred in your stomach, a feeling you didn't understand. Why was he helping you? Why was it making you warm?

He didn't say anything when he gave you back the bottle, a ghost of a smile flashing over his lips before he frowned at Jongdae’s whine, he too wanted cold water.

Staring at the flames dance over the wood, you still felt that weird feeling even as the sky was painted with millions of stars. It was uncomfortable for you, like giving your enemy as face and a life.

“Both these bases are still hidden and without suspicion from the republic..”Minseok unfolded a map, finger landing on two spots. You recognised one as the base you were currently heading towards.”So we shouldn't have to fear being seen from people on the ground but the air is a different story..”

Jongdae leaned forward, eyes following the lines, face serious for the first time ever. He looked different when he wasn't goofing around.

“The way Junmyeon suggested is kinda safe, I mean we will walk through mainly forest..”Minseok hummed in response, studying the marks on the map.

“We are far away from any bigger city but we usually keep away from visiting different bases, especially if we walk on the ground, so the surroundings may have changed…”the fire sparked, gave of some warmth but you were still hot, listening half hearted as they discussed, however, something caught your interest.

“How do you go to different places then?”both of them looked at you, surprised that you chose to speak.

“There are people who can manipulate earth and there are tunnels underground, so we use them for ninety percent of our travel…”so that was why it was so hard to find the rebels, they hid and they never had to go out. The republic started to look more in the air over the last years, searching there as if they could find them there.”..but Kyungsoo had something else he was going to do and there aren't so many in our group…”

Jongdae shrugged when he finished answering, falling down on the ground. He was done eating, becoming lost in the wide sky. Minseok had a wary glimt in his eyes, unsure if you could be trusted or if it would be dangerous to talk with you about some things.

“What is the most common power?”the reports you had read said that it was between water and fire, but you had never cared before.

“Ah...I don't know..It’s not healing and probably not lightning either..”Jongdae grinned at his own power, pride swelling his chest.”..Maybe water?”

“It’s a hard thing to answer because everyone's a little different and we have no clue how many there are out there..”Minseok held your gaze, voice soft as he spoke.”But let’s try to get some sleep now…”.

Tags: @shesdreaminginoverdose

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vivacia-18 · 5 years ago

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May the 4th be with you recs!

Because fanfic is the reason I’m finally getting into Star Wars after all these years XDD

I’m gonna include the fic summaries and my takes, so plopping these under a cut for length. If you haven’t already read these, please go give them some love. And if you have, go give them some more! XD

I’m a fix-it, (at least mostly) everybody lives and (hopefully) nobody dies kinda gal, so while I certainly like something that hits in the feels, I don’t care for angst with no payoff at the end. Many of these are ongoing, but I’m confident enough in the overall feel of them to rec with that in mind. I also like long fics, so most of my recs will reflect that.

Hunting Towards Heartstill by blackkat

Pairing: Mace Windu/ CC-2224 Cody

Status: Complete, 45 chapters

Summary: Plo has an idea. Mace agrees, and everything snowballs right into hell from there.

(Or: Mace and Cody get married in order to give the clones citizen status. Before they can focus on that, though, they're going to have to deal with ancient Sith artifacts, evil prophets, plots to overthrow the Supreme Chancellor, lost planets, monsters warped by Sith alchemy, inconvenient feelings, and Darth Sidious turning his eye on a potential new apprentice. Just...not in that order.)

Notes: Kat’s going to have her whole section recc’d in a minute, but this one is near and dear to my heart, so it get’s a special spot. This is the one that got me into the Star Wars fandom at all. And by “into the fandom” I mean I have never seen/read a single piece of Star Wars media outside of gifsets and funky graphic t-shirts in my entire life. And now here we are XDD

In short, as with anything kat writes, the characterization is top-notch, the wit even more so, and the feels will leave you broken to pieces only to bring you back together better than when you started at the end of it all. Enjoy <3

All of blackkat’s Star Wars fics, by she who never expected to be a part of this fandom so everyone thank sol for being a bastard and cher for having terrible, amazing, tempting, too-good prompts XD

Notes: As promised, I did indeed just link all of blackkats Star Wars fics XD Most are one shots, with several longer ongoing, and one very special one complete. Pairings and settings will vary, but I can promise you one thing: you can absolutely trust kat with your heart, no matter how angsty it seems (tho take those cliffie warnings seriously!). Enjoy, and may the Force be with you! <3

The Hero With a Thousand Faces by beamirang

Pairing: Jango/Obi-Wan

Status: Part 1 is a one-shot prologue, part 2 ongoing

Summary: “We’re going to kidnap a Jedi?” Boba sounds far more excited by the prospect than most twelve-year-olds probably should. And, because he’s Jango’s boy, because he’s too kriffing smart for his own good, he catches on way too quickly. “Wait. Are we kidnapping your Jedi?”

Notes: Fantastic characterization and writing - very witty (as one would expect with Obi and Fett XD) but also excellent on the heavier emotional aspects as well.

The Desert Storm by Blue_Sunshine

Pairing: None

Status: 17 parts complete, part 18 ongoing

Summary: In Tatooine legend, the sandstorm is Lukka, the Fury, both cleansing and damning. Lukka, the slaves believed, was Justice, was he who remade the world, and remade the soul.The storm screams at him, and Obi-Wan Kenobi screams back.

Notes: It’s a time travel fic! It’s one of my favourite tropes when done correctly, and this one certainly does :) Love the characters, they have so much depth and growth over the series. And while this far it is 100% a “everybody lives nobody dies” kinda story, there is no sacrifice in plot or narrative tension. Wonderful proof that there can be other narrative stakes in a story than just character death.

Under One Flag by NeurotropicAgentX

Pairing: Padme Amidala/Obi-Wan Kenobi/Darth Maul

Status: Two single chapter parts. Marked as incomplete with no further updates since 2017, but the chapters stand alone, no cliffhangers.

Summary: The story of how Padmé Amidala becomes the reluctant Empress of the galaxy and acquires a pair of Force-sensitive bodyguards. Deals with the light and dark side conflict, the politics of an Empire, and Dathomirian Culture.

Notes: A fun little read! The dynamics between the three were interesting, and who doesn’t love the idea of Empress Padme? :D

By A Barista by Tomatosoupful

Pairing: Obi-Wan/Anakin

Status: Complete, 7 chapters

Summary: Obi-Wan/Anakin, Modern Coffee Shop AU unapologetically set in Australia. Some Star Wars story lines and character arcs adapted into modern coffee versions.Anakin doesn't really know why Qui-Gon hired him despite having no experience in coffee making or table service, and he knows this bothers the barista, Obi-Wan, but hey, at least he gets to look at the handsome guy while he complains.

Notes: Another fun little read! I love social disaster Ani in modern settings, ngl XD

The Snowball Effect by Ghost_Owl

Pairing: Obi-Wan/Anakin

Status: Complete, 2 chapters

Summary: Anakin had not meant to nail the cute guy from his building in the face with a snowball.Obi Wan had absolutely meant to hit him back.

Notes: Another cute read! Once again Ani is a disaster, and Obi-Wan only less so by direct comparison XD I particularly remember this story for the author coining the phrase I now recognize as my favourite paring trope - two halves of a whole idiot XDD

Reprise by Elfpen

Pairing: None

Status: 7 parts, current part ongoing

Summary: Ben Kenobi dies aboard the Death Star in the year 0 BBY. He wakes up shortly thereafter in the Jedi temple in the year 41 BBY. Haunted by memories and regret, Ben must forge a new path for himself in the Jedi Order of his youth while navigating the murky waters of time travel. Crafting a better future from bitter experience is hard, but learning to heal is even harder. Major AU.

Notes: This one I found on the heels of Desert Storm, and while they are initially cut from the same cloth, you’ll find they immediately develop their own unique flavours. If you like time-travel fix-its (which I do ;D) then this is a great read, and has some lovely art to go with it!

Life and What Comes After by Ibelin

Pairing: None

Status: First part one-shot complete, second part ongoing

Summary: Obi-Wan dies on Jabiim. Anakin blames himself, doesn't know how to go on and yet - he does. Maybe the Force rewards that kind of thing, or maybe he just gets lucky, but when a mission lands Anakin on a vaguely familiar planet, he gets a second chance to do what he knows he should have done in the first place: save his master.(And maybe a chance to save the galaxy, too.)

Notes: *Don’t worry, Obi-Wan does not in fact die!*

Ngl, what attracted me to this fic in the first place was the tag “Unrealistically Well-Adjusted Anakin Skywalker” X’D For all they say that though, his growth as a person is actually written very believably - he’s still Ani, but you see the work he put in. And damn do I love me some real communication between Obi and Ani, and damn do we ever get that here. Obi kinda backtracks that a bit with his own self-esteem issues in part two, but I have no doubt the boys will get through it!

Definitely recommend, it’s got some really wonderful family feels <3

Witness Me by SLWalker

Pairing: Obi-Wan/Maul

Status: 7 parts, final story part(s) ongoing (part 5 is the main series that’s ongoing, part 6 scattered one-shots, part 7 art for the series)

Summary: Instead of escaping to Lotho Minor, Maul's captured by the Order. Obviously, that changes everything.

Notes: I’m currently reading this one! The first several parts focus on building the relationship between Obi and Maul. Then in part 5 we start to focus more on Maul growing as his own person, though he is absolutely still Obi-Wans other half. Get ready for some clone feels, because I guarantee you will fall hard and fast for the Blackbirds once you meet them <3 <3 <3 I also appreciate that while there is definite censure for the Jedi council as a whole for certain decisions, and Anakin is his canon disaster self, there is no character bashing or throwing under buses, and conversely no hero worship either. Thus far everyone is treated fairly - I really enjoy that we tend to see not only several outside views of characters and situations, but also a lot of introspection as well.

If you’re in it for the people, this story is very much for you <3

#star wars #fanfiction #recs #may the fourth be with you #never thought I'd spend several hours of my life reccing star wars fanfic #but here we are XD #hope someone gets a good read outta this!#<3 <3 <3 #also really hope that readmore works #this thing is hecking looong ^^;

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duhragonball · 5 years ago

Text

Dragon Ball Z Movie 11: Bio-Broly

Sigh...

Okay, Bio-Broly.

The 11th DBZ movie premiered on July 9, 1994, as part of the Toei Anime Fair. This would have been right after Episode 232 aired, but before Episode 233. So a fan in 1994 could watch Majin Buu hatch from his magic ball, then go to the theater to see this movie, and then see Buu begin wrecking everyone’s shit.

This is widely regarded as one of the worst, if not the worst Dragon Ball movie. In 2015, Team Four Star made a list of the top 24 movies and specials, and Bio-Broly was at #21, beating out various specials, the live-action movies, and its sister film, “Broly: Second Coming.” The only real surprise was that they ranked Movie 11 above Movie 10, but I think they made a pretty good argument for that. Movie 10 is pretty darn bad. I think 11 is worse, but I’ll admit it’s a close call.

Does anyone actually like this movie? I don’t just mean “Does anyone think it’s pretty okay?” To be honest, I’ve been looking forward to watching this one again, and there’s some cute moments and decent action in this one. It’s a DBZ movie. There’s a lot of worse things I could be watching instead. I’ll take “Bio-Broly” over a Harry Potter film festival any day. When I say Movie 11 sucks, that’s kind of dishonest of me, because it just sucks compared to the rest of Dragon Ball.

No, what I’d like to know is, is this movie anyone’s favorite, or near-favorite? My assumption has always been that Movie 11 is in everyone’s bottom three. But you never know. Team Four Star’s Kaiser Neko loves Movie 2, and hates Movie 6, and that blew my mind when I found that out. He’s wrong of course. Meta-Cooler is rad, and Dr. Wheelo is dumb, but it just goes to show that there’s no accounting for taste. So I’m just throwing the question out there. There must be someone out there who really digs Bio-Broly. They’re fascinated with Lord Jaguar, and the purple slime, or they’re just super-into Android 18. Maybe this was one of the first DBZ things you saw, or you saw it at an early age, and it left a lasting impression. If you’re out there, drop me a line. I’d be interested to hear your perspective.

But for now, I’m here to rip this movie a new one, so if this is your favorite one, be warned.

So, just to make my case, I’d like to skip ahead to the ending of the movie and start there. Bear with me for a moment.

On the Grand Kai Planet, Goku’s eating lunch, when he gets word that Broly is running amok in hell, and King Kai wants him and Pikkon to go down there and beat his ass.

Somehow, Bubbles is the one relaying the message to Goku, and I have no idea how, since he can’t talk.

Anyway, Goku’s ready to rock.... just as soon as he finishes eating, wokka wokka. Goku, you rascal!

And that’s how the movie ends. We’re not going to get to see Goku fight Broly in hell. I’m pretty sure this epilogue was only included to work Goku into the film, and to establish that Broly will never bother anyone ever again.

The thing is, wouldn’t you like to see Goku and Pikkon fight Broly in hell? Wouldn’t you rather see that than what we ended up getting in Movie 11? Because Movie 11 doesn’t actually feature Goku or Broly. They’re both dead. Vegeta and Piccolo aren’t in this movie either. Gohan isn’t in this movie.

And this is why Movie 11 ticks me off so much. Maybe it’s objectively better than Movie 10, but at least Movie 10 was up front with you. It attempted to act as a sequel to Movie 8. Broly comes back, and it’s up to Gohan, Goten, Trunks, and Videl to deal with him in Goku’s absence. It’s not very good, but it at least delivers on the promise of a second Broly fight. Movie 11, on the other hand, is trying to do a Broly movie without Broly. Worse, the movie seems determined to rub my nose in it.

I mean, let’s take a look at all the major characters in Movie 8.

Broly

Paragus

Goku

Vegeta

Future Trunks

Gohan

Piccolo

In Movie 10, that list gets whittled down to this

Broly

Gohan

To be sure, I think that’s part of the point of Movie 10. A lot has changed over the years, and when Broly wakes up, he’s lost in a world that’s moved on. It’s up to Gohan to finish up his father’s old business. The problem is that a lot of what made Movie 8 so good lay in those jettisoned characters. It was Paragus who laid the insidious trap for Vegeta. It was Future Trunks who went along just to investigate and save his father from his own ego. It was Goku’s presence that sent Broly into an epic meltdown. It was Piccolo who bought them time, and got Vegeta to shake off his fear and join the fight. It was Vegeta who put aside his pride and gave Goku the power he needed to win the day. When Movie 10 cut all of those characters, they cut out most of what made the first Broly movie work so well. By himself, Broly was reduced to a dopey monster.

In Movie 11, the Movie 8 cast was pared down even further. Here’s a list of all the Movie 8 main characters who were major players in Movie 11.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Yeah, there is no list, because they’re all gone. Goku makes a cameo in Movies 10 and 11, but that hardly counts. Krillin appears in all three movies, but only in a supporting role. Kid Trunks is in all three movies, but he’s a baby in the first one. In the second one he doesn’t even know who Broly is.

I’m not pointing this out to knock the main cast of “Bio-Broly”. My point is just that they tried to do a second and third Broly movie without the character dynamics that made the first one work. What’s the point of having Android 18 fight a clone of Broly? She doesn’t even know who that is. If you’re going to do an 18 movie, have her fight a clone of Dr. Gero, or Cell. At least then there’d be some impact.

Okay, let’s get into this. This movie is essentially a continuation of Episode 226 of the anime, where 18 offered to take a dive so Mr. Satan could win the 25th Tenakichi Budokai. All he had to do was pay her 20 million zeni, which is twice as much as the grand prize for the tournament. But Mr. Satan’s rich, so I guess he could afford it, and he agreed to her terms. In this movie, 18 has dropped by his mansion to collect. Krillin and Marron are waiting outside with Goten and Trunks. Apparenly Krillin had promised to treat them to lunch once 18 got her money.

Meanwhile, this other dude lands on the property in an air-limo, and as soon as he steps out of the car, his pants fall down and he falls in the pool while trying to catch his hat. This is Menmen, and I really don’t know what the deal is with this guy. They seemed determined to give him lots of gags and personality, except he really isn’t important enough to the story to justify that effort.

So while 18 is breaking stuff and demanding her payment, Menmen just waltzes right into the room and issues Satan a formal challenge. Satan brushes the guy off, until he mentions that Mr. Satan wet the bed in 6th grade.

That’s when Satan realizes that Menmen’s cousin must be his childhood friend, Lord Jaguar. Well, that’s what he’s called in the dub. In the original version, he’s called “Baron Jaga Batta”, which is apparently a wordplay involving potatoes. The Japanese word for “baron” resembles another word for a type of potato, and “jaga batta” means “Buttered Potato”. He also lives in “Mei Queen Castle”, and this is a reference to May Queen potatoes. I always thought “Lord Jaguar” was a little too badass a name for the guy, and now I see the truth. I’ll keep calling him that, though.

For some reason, the two of them get down on the floor while they talk about this. The story is that Satan and Jaguar both studied martial arts as children, but when Satan defeated him, Jaguar gave up fighting, and he’s never heard from him since. Also, at some point Satan must have pissed his futon and Jaguar found out about it, so now he’s blackmailing Mr. Satan. If he refuses the challenge, Jaguar plans to go to the press and reveal to the world that Mr. Satan is a bedwetter. Honestly, would anyone even believe that? Would anyone care? Well, Mr. Satan doesn’t want to chance it, so he accepts the challenge. Only he won’t be fighting Jaguar, but a team of Bio-Warriors he’s assembled. As long as they don’t have glowing golden hair, Satan likes his odds, so he’s down to clown.

But 18 is not. Well, specifically, she doesn’t seem to care if Satan fights these guys, just so long as she goes with him, to make sure he doesn’t try to run out on her without paying. I don’t really understand this. Why should 18 bother with any of this? She wants the money, and she seems to think Mr. Satan has the money, so why let him leave the house at all? For that matter, if Jaguar’s in such a hurry, Menmen could probably cut her a check to get her to stand aside.

So 18 tells Krillin to head home with the kids while she sticks with Satan. But Goten and Trunks have stowed away in the trunk of Menmen’s car, because... I dunno, I guess whoever wrote this part watched Speed Racer that day.

Krillin could fly after them and fetch Goten and Trunks, but Marron has to go potty. He runs inside Satan’s house to find a toilet, but the dialogue indicates that he doesn’t make it in time. So here’s another reason this movie is the worst: Piss jokes as a running gag. It’s not that DBZ doesn’t indulge in this sort of humor from time to time, and honestly, I’m down for a good piss gag once in a while. Hey, we all gotta go sometime. But this movie is just relentless with it, like it doesn’t know how to do anything else.

I don’t get why Goten and Trunks are so fascinated with this trip to Jaguar’s place. I mean, they get a gorgeous view of the ocean this way, but they could have done this by flying under their own power. Anyway, cool dolphins.

"Tee hee! What if this seawater was pee?” -- The screenwriter, probably.

And here’s May Queen Castle. A little ostentatious, don’t you think?

When they arrive, we see all these nude, bug-eyed dudes working out in the courtyard. These are the Bio-warriors, not to be confused with the Bio-Warriors from Movie 2, which were also very stupid. Jaguar comes out to greet Satan, and he’s astonished to see Jaguar looking so out of shape. Also, he probably hasn’t grown since they last saw each other, but whatever.

While they talk, Goten and Trunks are snooping around, and they encounter Jaguar’s dog, Hei. I think Hei is supposed to be some sort of genetically engineered creature like the Bio-Warriors, but he might just have a very stylized design, kind of like Commander Red’s weird-looking cat. Anyway, Goten calms the dog down because he’s good with animals.

There’s a cute gag here where the boys overhear Jaguar talking about the biotechnology used to create the Bio-Warriors, and Trunks tells Goten that biotechnology is genetic engineering, which he knows because his mother and grandfather are scientists. Goten asks what genetic engineering is, and Trunks is stumped, so he just says it’s biotechnology. Goten is young enough that he is impressed by this answer.

I don’t know, maybe I should take the time to explain this properly. I learned about DNA from G.I. Joe cartoons, and I think Jurassic Park was a popular enough movie that everyone’s familiar with the concept, but just in case: Living things are made up of many, many cells, and each cell contains DNA, molecules whose structure represents the “instructions” for building a particular organism. In theory, if you had a sample of DNA, you could use it to grow an entirely new specimen of the creature it came from, which is called a clone. Or you could modify the DNA to produce a different creature. This is what people talk about when they say “GMO’s” with regards to food. A lot of modern agriculture relies on crops that have been genetically modified to resist disease or to produce more food. It creeps people out because they’re used to thinking of genetic engineering as mad scientists making horrible monsters, like in this movie. But the reality is that humans have been genetically modifying organisms for thousands of years. Breeding dogs and cattle to favor certain trait is just another kind of genetic engineering. The apples we eat are grown through asexual grafting rather than by planting seeds. Most of the fruits we know of look completely unlike the wild versions they originated from.

Anyway, Jaguar leads Satan to a battle stage, and Trunks and Goten like the look of the place, but then they notice someone familiar next to Jaguar...

It’s Maloja from Movie 10. As you may recall, he was the guy who wore a purple tie around his head and convinced the people of Natade Village to sacrifice their children to appease the mountain god.

So here’s the thing. I watched this movie before I saw Movie 10, mainly because I had no idea that this would be a direct sequel. “Return of Cooler” was the first movie to follow the plot from the one before it, but “Bio-Broly” is the first one to act as the sequel to a sequel. So when Goten and Trunks reognized this guy and had a flashback about him, I was amazed.

Anyway, the Bio-Warriors are way too strong for Mr. Satan, so he asks 18 to take care of them in his place. For some reason, he told Jaguar that she was his star pupil, and she didn’t see any reason to dispute this. 18 agrees to save his bacon, but it’ll cost him another 20 million zeni.

Jaguar isn’t so keen on that idea, because this is his show, and he wants to organize brackets for this. I have no idea how that diagram is supposed to work. Is this some sort of round robin thing? We’ll be here all week...

But 18 insists on a battle royal, much like the one she fought in during the 25th Budokai. Jaguar objects, but then Goten and Trunks offer to participate as well, and I guess that satisfies Jaguar, since there’d be an equal number of fighters on each side?

He asks the Bio-Warriors to make a “village fest”, and 18 corrects him by saying he wants a “bloodfest”. That’s the gag with Jaguar. He says the wrong words sometimes, and someone has to correct him. I have no idea why.

Anywy, Satan’s group wins without Mr. Satan even having to get involved. Maloja takes this as his cue to leave, but Jaguar insists that he stick around while he plays his “trump card”.

Satan tells him to bring it on, since he figures no one could be any match for his squad.

Then Jaguar has the walls of this arena lift up to reveal a vast scientific complex all around them. This is impressive to see, but I don’t get why it should change anything. He just uses this to grow Bio-Warriors, and we already saw how those did.

Then the movie kind of goes off the rails a bit. Instead of just unleashing his best fighter, Jaguar just kind of sits there while Goten and Trunks take a tour of the facility. They look at the Bio-Warriors growing in tanks, and talk to the scientists.

Then they spot one specimen with a tail and...

Yeah, it’s Broly.

Again, this was a shock to me, because I hadn’t seen Movie 10 when I first watched this, so it was weird that Goten and Trunks knew who Broly was, and that they had fought him before. He’s supposed to be dead, so what’s the deal?

Ah, good another piss joke. Just what we needed.

While Jaguar’s scientists very slowly release his next fighter, Goten and Trunks confront Maloja, figuring that he must have something to do with Broly. Maloja explains that when they showed him up in Movie 10, he lost the confidence of the Natade villagers, and he couldn’t find work anywhere else.

Apparently, Maloja witness the fight in Movie 10, and knew that Broly had been killed. But then he found the space pod that brought Broly to Earth, and discovered some of his dried blood inside. He took a sample and sold it to Jaguar, whose scientists used it to create a clone of Broly.

I find all of this pretty hard to swallow. The only part that makes sense is that Maloja might have watched Broly die and that he would have become fascinated enough with Broly to discover his pod.

The rest, not so much. How did Maloja know about Jaguar? Did he just stroll up to the front door of May Queen castle with a beaker of blood crust in his hand? How do the scientists know that their Broly clone is so much stronger than the other Bio-Warriors? None of these characters know anything about Saiyans or ki.

Goten and Trunks ask him why he would do all of this, after seeing the terrible power of the original Broly. Maloja knows what’ll happen when they release the clone, which is why he’s cutting out now. Okay...

One reason I wanted to watch the movies and TV episodes in order was to get a handle on what the movies were referencing. Obviously, 18′s business with Mr. Satan is a direct reference to the 25th Budokai, but in addition to that, there is a similiarity between Jaguar’s relationship with Broly and Babidi’s with Majin Buu. They’re both little creeps who seek to unleash forces they don’t understand, all to settle a petty grudge. Like Babidi, Jaguar is convinced that he has full control over the situation. Like Gohan against Buu, Goten and Trunks decide that their best bet is to destroy Broly with a Kamehameha before he can wake up.

Except the clone is already aware of his surroundings, and when he senses Goten and Trunks powering up their attack, he bursts out of his tank in full-on Legendary Super Saiyan form. All the green glop that was in the tank with him sort of stays put for a second, and then spills away.

The scientists, led by Dr. Kori and Nain, have a contingency for this, and they raise a containment wall around the broken tank. The thing is, they seem more worried about the culture fluid than the Super Saiyan who was soaking in it.

Naturally, Clone-of-Broly breaks out easily, spilling green glop everywhere.

Then he turns into a glop monster himself.

Annnnnd here’s Bio-Broly, folks. Drink it in.

Hei runs up and starts barking at Bio-Broly, but before they can fight, Hei gets too close to the culture fluid that’s spilling all over the platform they’re on. Hei is immediately dissolved and abosrbed into it.

So here’s the deal with the culture fluid. Inside the tanks, it’s not a problem. But when it’s exposed to the air, it turns into a mindless monster like the Blob, consuming other life forms and replicating uncontrollably. I guess that answers one of the things that’s bugged me for years. I never understood why this fluid was so dangerous, yet they soak all of their monsters in it. Apparently it’s only dangerous in the presence of air. And I guess this is why it didn’t alter Clone-Broly’s appearance until he stepped out of the tank.

On the other hand, why didn’t it kill the clone completely, the way it killed Hei?

Lord Jaguar doesn’t seem to care about Bio-Broly’s appearance or the leaking culture fluid. He just wants Bio-Broly to beat up Mr. Satan. In turn, Satan asks 18 to handle this, and she agrees, for another 20 million. I’ve lost track of his tab, but I think he’s up to 60 million zeni.

But 18 quickly realizes that Bio-Broly is too much for her to handle, and Jaguar sends him to attack Mr. Satan.

Goten and Trunks rescue him...

...And they charge into battle.

Of course, there’s still the culture fluid to worry about. As the three of them fight, they wreck the whole facility, which causes even more purple glop to spill out. Fortunately, most the casualties are Bio-Warriors, and the dumbass scientists who should have known better.

So in the last movie, the original Broly pretty much kicked the crap out of Goten and Trunks, and the only reason they lasted as long as they did was because Broly was too dumb to finish them off. This time, the boys don’t have Gohan to help them, but it doesn’t seem to matter much, because they can read Bio-Broly’s moves a lot more easily. In other words, Bio-Broly is clearly weaker and slower than the original. By itself, that isn’t such a bad thing. The bad guy needs to be weaker because he’s fighting weaker opponents: Goten, Trunks, and 18. So at least this movie took the time and effort to explain why this battle is more even than the ones in Movies 8 and 10. Maybe it was the cloning process, or the culture fluid, or some other issue, but this clone of Broly isn’t as strong as the original one.

But that’s still a let-down, because the general pattern with these DBZ films is to raise the stakes, nor lower them. There’s some counter-examples to this, notably Hirudegarn in Movie 13. But at least Hirudegarn was a whole other character. If Janemba had returned from Movie 12, and Goku beat him without using fusion, then he would clearly be weaker than he was in Movie 12. And what would the point of that be? Why bring a villain back if he’s going to be weaker than his last appearance?

As much as I hate how they keep bringing back Frieza, as least they’ve handled him properly. Mecha-Frieza was much stronger than the original version, and the only reason he died so quickly was because Trunks was that much stronger When he came back in Movie 15, he got a new form to allow him to keep up with Goku and Vegeta. A weaker Frieza would be pointless. You might as well introduce a new character. But that’s basically what they did with Broly. He had a strong start, and then he came back weaker in Movie 10, and even weaker in Movie 11. I mean, it’s not even really Broly this time, but you get the idea. Toei went out of their way to clone him just so he could return for a third appearance.

Meanwhile, Jaguar’s island is getting overrun with purple glop. I don’t know if this is because new glop got spilled during the fight, or if the stuff we started with has had time to grow.

Maloja supposedly bugged out, but he’s actually been somewhere in Jaguar’s home, filling a sack with cash. Was this the money Jaguar paid him, or is he just stone cold robbing Jaguar before he leaves? Either way, the purple glop drips in from the vent and kills him.

A bunch of scientists try to escape in an elevator, only for it to get stuck and flooded with purple glop.

Back at the fight, things go haywire for Goten and Trunks because they can only hold off Bio-Broly by working as a team. When Goten wanders off to rescue people from the culture fluid, Trunks gets his ass kicked.

18 tries to step in and help, but she gets overwhelmed. Then Krillin shows up and pulls her out of harm’s way just in the nick of time.

Krillin’s the best, but he still can’t save this movie.

Bio-Broly nearly shoots them with green hand energy...

But then Mr. Satan falls on Bio-Broly, distracting him long enough for Goten and Trunks to step in.

Honestly, that’s the problem I have with this fight. It’s pretty well-produced, with some good action sequences and nice teamwork between all the players, but so much of it is played off as slapstick. 18′s the only serious one here. Krillin’s kind of a sidekick, and Satan’s comic relief, and Goten and Trunks are as chilidish as they are strong. On the other side, you’ve got Bio-Broly, who literally has no motivation here at all. I assume he’s only fighting on instinct. He was literally born today.

Apparently Jaguar draws the line at murder, so he commands Bio-Broly to stand down. Only Bio-Broly just attacks him instead. Was he ever under Jaguar’s control? Who cares?

Krillin throws a Kienzan disc to save Goten...

But Bio-Broly’s head just reattaches itself after getting cut off. D’oh!

Things look pretty bad at this point. Goten and Trunks can’t fight and save people at the same time. Then Trunks realizes that he might be able to use one crisis to solve the other.

First, he moons Bio-Broly, because of course he does.

Then he lures him over to a vessel of culture fluid and blasts it open so it’ll spill on to the jerk when he approaches.

It doesn’t spill right away, but then it finally does, and Bio-Broly is covered in purple glop.

Although, I don’t understand why this should work, since Bio-Broly was already exposed to this stuff from the beginning. Why should it kill him now?

Well, it doesn’t exactly. A big purple Bio-Broly emerges from the glop like it’s going to attack Goten and Trunks....

But then it sort of collapses, like this was Bio’s last gasp or something.

When Goten recovers, Trunks explains that he beat Broly with his strongest muscle... his brain. Up yours, Trunks, this is Dragon Ball Z. Nobody wants to see you outsmart the villain. Especially when the villain is mindless to start with.

Anyway, there’s still purple crap all over the place. I guess it must be self-replicating, because I don’t see why they would have had this much of it on hand.

The gang evacuates the survivors. Krillin carries Nain to safety, and gets her to hold on tight.

18 is not amused. Hey, who’s watching their kid right now? Master Roshi? That’s a terrible idea.

Trunks saves Jaguar and Menman, and Jaguar is amazed that anyone would bother to rescue him, since he’s responsible for the plot of Movie 11. “Look,” Trunks tells him, “this movie is bad, but it’s not nearly as terrible as ‘Hocus Pocus’ or ‘Seven Pounds.’“

Everyone crowds onto boats that put as much distance from the island as possible. Why is there a child here? Did the scientists have their families on this island?

But that still doesn’t solve the problem of the culture fluid. Dr. Kori theorizes that its power increased when it absorbed Bio-Broly, making it even more aggresssive than it was before. It’ll eventually expand until it covers the entire world.

Meanwhile, Mr. Satan is trying to swim away from the stuff, and as he kicks up seawater, he splashes it on the glop, which causes it to solidiy.

Goten notices this and realizes that seawater will deactivate the fluid. I always thought that was a little too convenient, but now that I know it only becomes dangerous when exposed to air, that makes a little more sense. Cover it in enough water, and it can’t get the air it needs to sustain it.

So the boys and Krillin fire off a Kamehameha at the shore, which kicks up a big enough wave to flood the entire island. You know, I once saw a T-shirt based on this scene at a Hot Topic, if you can believe it.

I don’t see why they needed to do this at all, though. The fluid was already confined to an island, so it would have just died off on its own after absorbing all the available biomatter, right? But I guess it’s better to resolve this sooner than later.

Then another giant Purple Glop Bio-Broly rises up out of the water.

And it immediately solidifies. This is stupid. They already pulled this gag earlier, so why would anyone believe it now, after they’ve already killed the monster twice over?

Goten and Trunks blast it to pieces anyway, just to be safe.

And we’ll never see Broly again! Until 2018. Thankfully, Broly IV was a much better movie than this turkey.

Below, Mr. Satan pleads for someone to pull him out of the water. 18 offers to help him....for 40 million zeni. Damn, girl. 18′s the coldest bitch in the land, and she’s adorable.

Anyway, Mr. Satan swims away, which I can only assume means he can’t afford to pay. The thing is, I think 18 kind of has to save him. I mean, if he drowns, she can’t collect any money from him, right?

From there, we get that scene I already talked about with Goku and Bubbles, and that’s the end of the movie.

The end credits here are notable, because they feature original animation of Goten and Trunks’s early childhoods. I’ve seen people on the internet ask where these are from, and the answer is here, in th closings credits of this movie.

And yeah, there’s another piss joke. Great job, Movie 11.

On a personal note, the ending theme “Dragon Power Mugendai“ is what inspired the name of this blog, “Duhragonball”, because the refrain is “DORAGON! DORAGON POWAA” which sounds a lot like “Duh-ragon”, and I thought that would be cute.

And that’s it for Movie 11. Not a complete trainwreck by any means, but still a very poor showing by DBZ standards. These movies really took a bad turn starting with Bojack, but it’s over now. In March 1995, Toei would premier a new movie. One that would be better than ten Super Bowls. But we’ll get to that...

#dragon ball #2019dbliveblog #dbmovieliveblog #bio broly #goku #goten #trunks #android 18 #krillin #mr satan #bubbles #marron #maloja #lord jaguar #menmen #dr kori #nain #hei

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panic-angel3314 · 7 years ago

Text

Once, Twice, Three Times Blessed- The Shield x Reader- Part Two/?

Parings: Alpha!Roman x Alpha!Dean x Eventual Alpha!Seth x Eventual Omega!Luna(OC)

A/N: So the idea that sparked this was literally me wanting to cuddle the fuck out of each of these men and just I am greedy and fuck and just want all of them to my self lol, my wrestling babes no I would definitely share :p As always thank you to my eternal inspirations these babes are my literal driving force: @theworldiscolorful , @therealfivefeetoffuckingfury , @noscetiipsum , @monsteramongmen-tamer , @empress-with-the-crown and many more I love you all so very much <3

A/N 2: Okay so, I know I’ve been teasing this forever and I swear I haven’t given up on it. I just like to write and edit in layers because I feel like it adds more detail and idk maybe it’s still shitty writing anyway. I really hope this was worth the wait for that who asked and continued to encourage me to continue with the Series. I’d like to note that the Moon Goddess(Selene)will be played by Kate Beckinsale from the Underworld series because she’s bae and hot as hell. And then I have chosen Jason Momoa to play Erebus her first Alpha mate. Which will make sense in later chapters. I really wanted this chapter to have more smut but that’s the part I’m stuck on at the moment and I thought the ending of this part was a good place to stop.

Warnings: m/m, m/f, ABO Dynamics and all including Knotting, NSFW, 18+ Only please, Smut, Unprotected Sex (No glove no love y'all c'mon), Fluff, Maybe Angst? But not much, Cursing and I’ll add later when the grittier parts come up.

Summary: Luna has been told all her life how special she was. Her crazy prophecy spewing grandmother mother even said the Moon Goddess would bless her with not one but three true mates. What happens when she finds those mates but they’re already in a pack together? Will they let her in? Will she join the pack? And what interest does a certain Bayou pack lurking around the shadows take on her? Will love prevail or will evil intention of another pack come to fruition? Find out in this story about love, prophecies and the rising of one pack above another….

Word Count: 9k+, Sorry guys I don’t know what a short chapter is :P

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

All tags are welcome, I’ll be posting soon so I can get an official taglist and I am truly sorry if I missed anyone.

Whimpering and answering growls had caused the Lunatic to wake up from his restful slumber. Thing was, the growls were not his own, in fact, it was the very familiar growls of his mate’s Seth. Peering up from sleep riddled eyes, Dean caught sight of his Little Omega and Alpha mate in quite the compromising position, which had his own Little Lunatic that was standing to attention, throbbing in his sweatpants with unbridled want. Dean watched in awe as his pup mate, Seth, held tight to their Little Omega by her curvy hips, his nose buried deep in her scent glands, as they both unconsciously rutted up against one another, creating a mixture of scents that had Dean’s mouthwatering.

...SWEET MATES...SMELL LIKE HOME... WANT...PROTECT MATES...LOVE MATES...

Dean’s inner wolf was howling with delight as the human side was so entranced by the scene before him. So hypnotized, that he didn’t even notice himself still tangled together with Luna until her pulsing heat brushed against his sensitive member that was still very much awake.

...MMMM WET, SO WET...SWEET LITTLE KITTEN...WANT MATE...CLAIM...OURS...

Dean continued to observe his mates as his Little Kitten subconsciously began to ground tantalizing circles with her ass against Seth’s not so ‘little architect’. Every backstroke was met with an equally torturous front stroke causing her hot wet heat to create a delicious friction on his own thigh, still very much entwined with hers, driving the Lunatic and his wolf insane.

.... LAVENDER AND RAIN...PINEWOODS AND WARM APPLE PIE...SOOTHE MATES...

.... CLAIM MATES...THEY NEED YOUR KNOT...

...Will you calm the fuck down not everyone wants ‘The Lunatic Special’ this early in the morning...

.... SWEET MATES...NEED ALPHA...CARE FOR MATES...

.... Jesus alright but our mates have other needs besides sex, just give me a fucking minute...

Scrubbing his hands through his messy curls and down beard splattered cheeks, again Dean was hit with the intense smell of his mates’ arousal, but that wasn’t all... was that bacon he smelt?

Only food could bring the Lunatic out of such a hot intense bubble of arousal his mates had created, leading to his next question.

Dean surveyed their suite, careful not to jostle his blissfully unaware mates, finding his Alpha nowhere in sight. Instead of panicking, Dean gently nudged Roman through their bond link so that he didn’t scare the beejeezus out of his Alpha this early in the morning. Dean felt the answering warmth Ro sent his way saying he’d be in the room in just a minute, with breakfast in tow.

“Try to wake up Babygirl and Baby boy. They need to eat before we have a serious talk about everything.”

Dean looked down at his mates and then his own hard-on, inwardly groaning before answering his Alpha,

“I’ll try Ro, but you should see them right now, fuck I just want to join them.”

“Join them?” Roman questioned, only this time out loud as he walked through the suite door coming upon the very arousing sight of all three of his mates in his bed, two of them very preoccupied with one another while other watched on in adoration. Notes of lavender, pinewood, and just hint of leather created an odd but pleasurable scent that was home for Roman and his wolf, causing him to stirring in want of his mates.

... MATES... CLAIM... HOME... PACK... OURS...

The pleased rumble that made its way from deep within his chest had Dean frozen in his spot, while Luna and Seth ceased their actions, soon joining the waking world.

Dean, completely ignoring his wanting cock, placed a quick but loving kiss to his Kitten’s flushed cheek, and gently untangled himself from her. Hopping up, he grabbed the breakfast tray from Roman, planting an equally chaste kiss to his Alpha’s plush lips. Roman, on the other hand, was still dazed by the sight before him. Though his two youngest mates were now awake, neither one of them seemed to want to move from their spot.

Luna’s wolf whimpered at the thought of separating from Seth... WANT MATE... SMELLS LIKE HOME... WANT TO BE CLAIMED...

... Down girl, first, you need to talk about stuff before you just hump someone in their sleep...

...NOT JUST SOMEONE... MATE! OUR MATE!.....

.... You need to calm down girl. I can’t think when you’re all riled up...

“M’ sorry Princess. Didn’t mean to come on so strong. But being near you just really has my wolf excited, me too if it wasn’t obvious.” Seth spoke through his growly morning voice. Luna blushed furiously at his little innuendo, too embarrassed to move and Seth too needy to let his omega go just yet kept the mates in place.

Sniffing the air, Roman could instantly tell each mate was on the cusp of a full-blown heat/rut wave, the sweet and heady smell had the animal inside chomping at the bit to be set free. As much as he’d love to sate each one of his mates’ needs in every way, the human part of his brain won out. Quickly the Big Dog strode towards the ensuite bathroom to grab some temporary suppressants for his two mates.

...WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!.... CLAIM MATES! THEY NEED ALPHA......THEY NEED TO BE SATED... DOMINATED... KNOTTED...

.... That’s not how this works Big Dog... we are more than just our animal and you need to calm down and let me take the reins, I don’t want to scare our Babygirl...

...FINE BUT I WON’T BE PATIENT MUCH LONGER... ALPHA WANTS TO CLAIM HIS OMEGA...

Roman made a promise to himself that they would talk about the soulmate/mate ship bond before anything would proceed further. While the animals within them all knew just who they belonged too and what they wanted, the human side needed to make the conscious decision for itself. Roman never wanted any of his mates to be a slave to the animal side, himself included, and he’d be damned before he’d force anyone to bond with him unwillingly. However, in the very deepest recesses of Roman’s mind, he feared that once her heat wore off, Luna would want nothing to do with the Shield boys.

Shaking off his negative thoughts, Roman walked back into the room presenting both Luna and Seth their perspective medication.

Already each of them was sat up and while Seth was cuddled into Dean side eating the breakfast that was being fed to him; Luna was on the other side of the bed cuddled back into Roman’s jacket with a very shy and embarrassed look on her face.

.... BEAUTIFUL MATE ...SCARED... GO TO MATE... SCENT HER... MAKE HER FEEL LIKE PACK...

It broke Roman’s heart to see her like that, so unsure of her place. That being said, carefully he gave Seth his meds quickly kissing his over-eager pup mate, receiving a happy rumble from him. Roman then walked toward his Babygirl, gently placing her on his lap ignoring her weak protests and scenting her until his wolf was satisfied she smelt like safe and home.

“Easy Ro, she’s still really embarrassed about nearly humping Seth and me to completion in her sleep.” Dean quickly told his Alpha through their bond link.

All Dean received was an answering wink before Ro gently placed his hand underneath Luna’s chin, causing her to shiver in pleasure at the way his touch was cooling the heat within her body. His scent alone had her insides melting.

... RICH CHOCOLATE AND EARTHY...

“Here Babygirl, take this, it’ll help sate the heat for a bit. I really want to talk to you about everything before we go any further.”

... OUR ALPHA... CARES FOR US... SUBMIT TO ALPHA...

The only answer he received, though, was a timid nod and a soft thank you as she washed down the pill with the orange juice that was given to her.

“Babygirl, there is nothing to be embarrassed about. I think we can all agree that heat and ruts can make us do some really weird things, especially when our mates are also cycling with us.”

“Yeah Kitten you should’ve seen The Big Dog and me last month, I’m pretty sure the tech guy who walked in on us was scarred for life. Plus, you’ll never hear me complain about being woken up to such a beautiful sight like this morning.” Dean chuckled gruffly, trying to ease his Kitten’s wariness. It made his heart skip a beat when he caught the little giggle slipping from her supple lips, lips he couldn’t wait to taste, bite, lick and explore.

... SWEET LITTLE KITTEN... HAPPY KITTEN... WANT MY LITTLE KITTEN...

Seth could smell the change in Dean’s chemosignals, the lust and arousal pouring out of his mate had Seth dropping the bacon in hands and with more force than intended, smashing his lips to Dean’s in a desperate kiss that was literally all tongue and teeth.

...MUSK, LEATHER, AND WHISKEY ...

NEED... LUST... WANT MY LUNATIC...

Luna watched the scene unfold and couldn’t help squirming in her Alpha’s hold, burying her face into his scent glands, and whimpering with the new wave of arousal permitting the air. Though the overwhelming need of knot was placated, the overall want was still at the forefront of both Luna and Seth’s mind.

...MATES NEED THIER ALPHA...SATE OUR SWEET MATES... MATE THEM... LOVE THEM...

... Easy Big Dog, talk first, mate later...

... WON’T BE PATIENT FOR MUCH LONGER... WANT OUR MATES...

Releasing a very powerful rumble, Roman caught the attention of all three mates. Unfortunately, the three pairs of lust glazed eyes staring back did not help the situation in his nether regions. Lucky for them, Roman took his job as Pack Alpha very seriously and while he wanted nothing more than to dominate and claim all three of his mates, sating all their needs. Ro knew better than to succumb to his primal desires. Particularly with something so important on the line: the matter being whether or not Luna will fully accept the mateship of all three Alphas.

“Baby boy you need to calm down over there. We can’t be getting everyone excited. We still have some very important things to discuss.” He reprimanded while stroking his little omega’s hair, attempting to calm her a bit. The Alpha tone Roman used, though, did not help the continual wetness seeping into Luna’s black lace panties causing her to squirm uncomfortably.

Turing his attention back to the little omega in his arms, Roman gently removed her head from its place in the crook of his neck so that they were now eye to eye.

“Listen Babygirl, I know this is a lot to take in. Primarily having three Alpha mates to consider. But, we can all say with certainty we want you as our omega. And we’d be honored to help you through your heat cycle if you so choose to accept our courtship.”

The moment the words left Roman’s mouth each mate waited with bated breath. Luna, on the other hand, bore into the Alpha’s soft grey eyes finding nothing but sincerity and truth in them. She thought she’d be more nervous about this moment but in a way, she had been groomed by her grandmother for this for most of her life. And already each Shield member had cemented their special place in her heart, thus making the decision a no-brainer.

Even though her career had become her main focus as of late, all she ever dreamt about was finding her three mates that were promised to her. It wasn’t their fault over the years she had begun to lose hope.

...YES!!... WE WANT MATES... ALL MATES... FOUND HOME... FOUND OUR ALPHAS...

After quickly weighing all her options Luna finally spoke up, “I’ve been waiting for you, all of you for so many moons I was beginning to think I’d never find Y'all, but now that I finally have…. I- I don’t think there is a chance in hell I could let any of you slip away. Last night … just felt right, being surrounded by all of you, I-I finally felt like I belonged. Like I found my…. home.”

Home, something each of the Shield men had been searching for, for most of their lives not knowing it wasn’t just anyone place or even person for that matter. But now that they’ve found their little moon, they can honestly say they’ve found their true home.

...OMEGA ACCEPTS...LOVE...PROTECT...

CLAIM...

Both Seth and Dean’s wolves were over the moon with excitement. Scrambling from their spots on the bed, after carefully setting breakfast aside, Seth and Dean both pounced on their Alpha and Omega. Kisses were placed all over each of the couple’s faces, spilling little ‘thank yous’ between each one. The hearty laughs and harmonious giggles had each Shield mates’ heart soaring in a happiness none of them could comprehend.

Had they done it? Had they finally found their missing piece? And would they be able to cement that piece before an unknown entity could strip it away from them, possibly forever?

All these questions lie in the deepest of places in each Alpha’s mind, especially with the Wyatt threat lurking. But now was not the time for that, now was a time for celebration and consummation of the bond between all members of the Shield pack.

“Alright, Alright, easy you two. We only have a small window before Seth and Babygirl go into full-blown heat again and I’d like for us all to eat a little something before the ‘festivities’ begin.”

Oh Roman, ever the caring Alpha, funny enough it was Luna’s stomach growling that answered the Alpha’s statement.

Looking towards his Babygirl, Roman couldn’t stop the dazzling smile that adorned his face, never before had he felt so full of love and happiness. Who knew this whole time all they were missing was her, their little moon goddess?

“I think it’s time we got you something to eat. Sound good Babygirl? I made you your favorite.” Luna looked to her Alpha, curious as to what he had cooked and how he knew what her favorite was. Gliding his thumb across her soft cheek as he held her sweet face in his hands, Roman answered her unasked question, “A little birdie told me of your weakness for waffles and crispy bacon.”

Squealing in delight, Luna thanked her Alpha with a kiss on his cheek and then proceeded to make grabby hands towards her Lunatic, indicating she wanted the breakfast he had set on the bedside table.

Chuckling at her childlike actions, Dean quickly grabbed the set-aside breakfast. But, before he presented it to her, Roman carefully adjusted both himself and Luna. Resting his back against the headboard in the middle of the giant bed, Roman moved Luna so that she was sitting in between his outstretched legs, her back resting comfortably against his strong broad chest. Luna began wiggling in delight at the warmth and comfort her Alpha provided as well as the prospect of waffles and bacon, her absolute favorite. Enamored by all the little interactions between his two mates and the cute little mannerisms of his Kitten, Dean began to sport his own dimply smile across his rugged face.

After setting the breakfast tray in the middle of his mates, Dean sat by Roman’s left side while Seth flanked his right.

Ro watched as all three mates happily dug into the breakfast he had provided. The Alpha in him swelling with pride at providing for the pack. Happy purrs could be heard between bites as each mate ate more than their fair share.

Luna, noticing their Alpha not partaking in the food provided, leaned back against his tattooed shoulder, presenting him with a very hearty slice of bacon.

Roman would have been quick to refuse if it wasn’t for those bright grey-blue puppy dog eyes staring back at him, causing his heart to ache in need to please his Omega. So, playfully Roman leaned towards his Omega’s outstretched hand, his own hands still firmly placed on her curvy hips as his thumbs were rubbing calming circles on each love handle. He ate from her hand growling every now and then when she’d pull the food away from his open mouth. Shrieking and laughing as he’d jokingly snap at her fingers, licking them like a dog when she’d get close enough, then leaving little kisses anywhere he could reach.

Finally, he had finished the piece of bacon and she was on to feeding him parts of her waffles. Shaking his head though Roman refused the offered food, “Nuh-uh Babygirl, I want you to eat first then I will.” Even now Roman couldn’t quell his Alpha instincts of feeding his Omega first until she was full and satisfied, then he would partake in breakfast.

Luna wasn’t having it though, so she moved to slightly dirtier tactics. Nuzzling her face into Roman’s scent glands, Luna murmured against the sensitive skin, “Please Alpha, want you to eat too.” She pouted against his skin.

Groaning, Roman’s eyes nearly rolled to the back of his head from the feeling of her soft warm lips dancing across the crook of his neck. Right before he was about to protest once more, Luna began purring hoping to entice her Alpha further.

Roman couldn’t believe how this tiny Omega already had him so wrapped around her finger, reducing him to putty in her hands. He could just see the future mischief this would bring but it only endeared her more to his heart.

Seth and Dean both exchanged knowing looks as they watched the pair in their bout of wills. Turns out their little moon could be just as stubborn as the rest of them.

“Ok, ok. You win this time Babygirl but only because I want you to finish eating before your heat kicks back up.”

Nodding quite happily, Luna turned her body sideways so she could watch as her Alpha got his fill. Every now and then Roman would hold up a bit of waffle for her, to which she gladly ate. This went on until all the plates were clean and each Shield mate was well fed, happy, and full.

After each mate was well and done, Dean stood up to remove the left-over kitchenware, causing Luna to look up from her spot in Roman’s comfortable hold. Looking up into her Lunatic’s electric blue eyes, Luna whimpered low in her throat, asking without speaking just where he thought he was going.

SWEET KITTEN...LICKS AND CUDDLES...

“Easy Kitten just clearing off the bed. I’ll be right back.” Leaning over Dean reached for his Kitten’s chin, placing a loving kiss on her pouty pink lips. It was the first kiss they would share that wasn’t a chaste kiss on the cheek or temple. The kiss was a prelude to the loving relationships she would now create with each Shield member. Dean let out his own pleased rumble as he backed away and saw his Kitten turn to literal mush, giggling and blushing like mad.

...SUCH A SHY BEAUTIFUL KITTEN...MINE...

“Don’t be shy Kitten, there is a lot more where that came from.” And with a wink, he was off to quickly put away the trash and dishes.

Luna couldn’t help but burrow herself back into Roman’s embrace, nuzzling herself into the warm crook of his neck. A spot that would soon become her favorite place to be, feeling utterly at peace snuggled into her Alpha.

Reaching from his spot next to Roman, a jealous Seth spoke up,

“Hey, what about me, Princess? Don’t I get a kiss too.” Playfully pouting towards his little moon, big brown puppy eyes and all. Luna was convinced her mates’ sole purpose in life was to reduce her to nothing more than a blushing mess. Seth’s warm whiskey eyes and the love shining through them was enough to cause her heart to beat right out of her chest. Gone was the take no shit Omega, gone was the strong and brave Warrior Selene, here and now was Luna the sweet, caring, and playful little Omega surrounded by the strength and protectiveness of her pack. Something she didn’t take lightly. All the walls she had built came down to pieces in seconds while surrounded by her mates. Realizing this, each Shield mates’ heart grew that much more for the sweet Omega in their arms.

Looking up to her pup mate Luna shook her head yes still too shy to use her words at the moment.

AWW SWEET LITTLE PRINCESS ...KISS HER!...

If she wasn’t a pile of mush already Seth’s answering smirk would’ve surely done her in. Leaning in the pair shared a slow sensual kiss, lips dancing in a sensual but natural rhythm. The kiss had both primal and human sides reveling in the intimacy. As Roman watched the exchange between his sweet mates, he couldn’t help but want to join in.

...SUCH BEAUTIFUL MATES ...WANT TO CLAIM...

As they broke the kiss Roman decided to voice the inner rambling spurred on by his wolf,

“What about Alpha, Baby boy?”

Seth groaned low in his throat at, not only the sight of Luna’s blissful state but also the want and dominance of Roman’s voice. Without a second thought, Seth leaned over Luna, who was still very much sandwiched between the two Alphas, to share a very needy and intense kiss. Grabbing Seth by the scruff of his neck, Ro let him know just who was running the show. The charge in their scent and the heat in her belly, made Luna begin to squirm once more. Not wanting to be left out, Luna began to nip at the exposed skin of Seth’s neck, honing in on his scents glands, the very same scent glands that would one day bear her mark. Seth began to growl at the sensation overload, never wanting it to end, it was the sweetest of tortures. Luna, on the other hand, was surrounded by scents of warm apple pie and freshly baked brownies. The scents of her mates nearly sent her into a frenzy and the warmth created between their bodies only added to her euphoria.

Walking back in Dean was greeted to the erotic sight of all his mates entangled together, causing him to groan at the intense arousal permeating the air, “Please tell me you aren’t starting without me” He rasped before diving into the bed, smack dab in the middle of all three mates breaking apart the hottest of kisses yet.

“Not even, Lunatic, your kiss is what started this. You got Baby boy all fired up. I also think we’re in for a long morning.” Roman stated ruefully, earning a few quiet giggles from the omega in his lap. Giggles that vibrated against the sensitive skin of his neck, where her new home had become.

The Lunatic couldn’t take it anymore, he had been dying to hold his little moon since the moment he woke up and now seemed as good a time as any. Eagerly Dean reached over scooping the little omega out of his Alpha’s lap to plop her down into his. Earning a shocked but soft yelp from Luna. What happened next though shocked all four mates.

...MY MATE ...CHALLENGE ...PROTECT OMEGA...

Spilling from Roman’s mouth was a snarled growl that could’ve brought any opposing Alpha to their knees, his eyes flashing a crimson red. Frozen in his spot was Dean not wanting to anger his Alpha but still very much confused as to why it happened.

...UPSET MATE ...CALM ALPHA...

Speaking up was Luna, but weirdly enough her eyes began to take on a bright white hue as her voice came out as a low enchanting rasp, “Alpha? Are you okay?” As she reached out to touch him, broken was the trance that befell Roman and gone was the charged kinetic energy in the air. Returned was the Ro they all knew and loved.

Blinking away his own red eyes and clearing his throat, Roman looked to his three startled mates ashamed.

...SCARED MATES ...SO SORRY....

“Yeah, Babygirl. Dean.” He nearly sobbed saying his name, “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what came over me. Uh-hem. Watch our two mates while I go grab something from the kitchen. Ok?” Luna whined as she could feel the hurt in her mate’s heart and not wanting him to deal with it alone, she reached out towards him much like a toddler would a parent. Seeing her reaction had his stomach in knots. He didn’t want to leave her but he did need a minute to figure out what the hell just happened. Never before had his wolf, or himself for that matter, acted like that towards his mates least of all Dean. Dean was his first love, first true mate he’d claimed. Roman trusted Dean above anyone else and it truly hurt his heart to see the look of fear on his face, on all their faces.

“It’s ok Babygirl. Alpha just needs a minute. I’ll be right back I promise.” Sealing his promise with a chaste kiss on her cheek, the Alpha was gone to sort out his swirling thoughts.

Watching Roman leave the room caused both herself and her wolf to whine and whimper.

...SAD MATE... GO TO ALPHA... LOVE HIM...

Dean paused and looked down at his little Kitten, where she sat in his lap, her gaze still very much on the threshold their Alpha had left through. Had he just heard the thoughts of her wolf?

None of the bond links created between the pack had ever formed until after they had been bitten, marked, or claimed as a true mate. But something was different about his little Kitten and he knew it from the moment they met, she was something special.

Turning her in his arms and carefully laying her down between himself and Seth, he took her delicate little face in his war-torn hands.

“It’s ok Kitten, Alpha just needs a minute. He’ll be right back I promise.”

Dean sealed his promise with a sweet lingering kiss, trying to melt away all the sadness and worries his little mate had. Her wolf could smell the scent of leather and whiskey pouring out of her Lunatic and it had her momentarily purring in delight from the comfort it provided.

...MMM... LEATHER AND WHISKEY... SWEET MATE ...

Again, though the thoughts were not only heard but felt by the Lunatic and it nearly had him stuttering in the kiss.

Reaching out too to soothe his little mate was Seth, running his big warm calloused hands up and down the length of her curvy body trying to relax her as she laid in their Lunatic’s embrace.

...ALPHA IS STILL SAD ...FIX IT... GO TO MATE!...

Dean paused their kiss to look deep into his Kitten’s eyes. Staring back at him were eyes filled with lust and want but in his heart, Dean knew Luna wanted him to check on their Alpha.

...GO CHECK ON ALPHA ...WE NEED TO COMFORT ALPHA...

Kissing his little Kitten one last time Dean was up and off the bed leaving a confused looking Omega in his wake, Seth too rut brained to notice.

“Dean, wait come back?” Came her soft voice as she reached out to him. Turning back to embrace his little mate, Dean extended his hand to gently stroke her face, soothing any worry that might still be lingering.

“What is it, Kitten?”

“Where are you going?”

“To check on Alpha, Babydoll.”

Her eyes lit up hearing his response causing him to flash her a dimply grin.

“It’s okay Kitten. I’ll be right back. Take care of Sethie while I’m gone. But don’t start the main event without us ok?”

Luna blushed at his innuendo, giggling at her silly Lunatic.

... AWW SWEET MATE ... SHY LITTLE KITTEN...

“Dean!” She whined, hiding her face in her pillow.

“Aw, I’m sorry Babydoll. But there is nothing to be ashamed of. Come on.” He coaxed her face out of the pillow, caressing her cheek as he spoke, “Give your Lunatic a kiss to remember you by.” This man, she thought, cheeky as ever.

...SILLY MATE... KISS HIM...LOVE MATE...

Leaning up towards her Lunatic, Luna positioned herself within a breaths distance of his lips, waiting for him to close the gap. But just as Dean went in for the kill, Luna pulled away teasingly, giggling at his reaction. Playfully Dean growled at his Kitten before going in for a second attempt only to be teased further. But as Luna was too busy giggling at her Lunatic, he made his move. Slotting their lips together Dean didn’t pause in his assault, gently encasing her beautiful face in both his hands while his tongue wasted no time in invading her mouth.

... MMM... KITTEN TASTES SO SWEET... SMELLS LIKE HOME...WANT MORE...

Dean’s chest rumbled while little moans and whimpers were poured into the kiss. Dean didn’t let up until he had his fill causing his little Omega to become breathless. Finally, though, Dean let up looking up to see Seth so entranced by the display of love and want between his mates.

Winking towards his mate. “Watch her while I go get Ro but don’t think I don’t see you over there Baby boy. You know the rules, no starting without Alpha.” He commented noticing Seth’s naughty hands wondering the expanse of their precious mate.

Seth let out a whine in response burying his nose in Luna’s hair, causing her to turn in his hold to see what had caused her mate’s distress. Turning around she left sweet little kisses on Seth’s face every once in a while, stopping to nip at his pouty lower lip.

Watching Luna soothe their pup mate caused all kinds of feelings to be built up inside Dean. He knew this was a moment all the mates should be present in, bonding with one another to create a strong link, that apparently Dean already shared with his little moon. Without wasting any more time, he was off in search of a very handsome, very brooding Alpha.

Sniffing the air, Dean could smell the overwhelming regret and sadness on his Alpha mate. Roman’s overall earthy and fresh baked brownies scent was dulled to nothing more than lawn clippings and cheap chocolate, all rich notes dissipated with his mood. This heightened Dean’s awareness and began to make his wolf, even more, stir crazy.

... SAD MATE... FIX IT... LOVE MATE...NOW...

Dean walked up to his otherwise occupied mate, wrapping his strong arms around Roman’s thick but cut waste. Resting his head on Roman’s shoulder blades, Dean began to purr in an effort to melt away the sadness surrounding his Alpha, rubbing his hands up and down his chest as he went. After a minute, Roman caught Dean’s hands, kissing each set of knuckles lovingly, then gripping his hands firmly entwined with his and placing them right atop his heart.

.... MMMM CHOCOLATE ...MATE STILL SAD...

Moving his head so that his mouth grazed the shell of Roman’s ear, Dean finally spoke up in that deep gravelly tone his mate loved so much,

“Ro, you can’t beat yourself up about this. I’m fine, Seth is fine, Luna is fine.”

He punctuated each name with enthusiastic nips to Roman’s ear alternating between the shell and lobe.

“I know it’s... it’s just that’s never happened before. I mean you’re my first mate for goddess’s sake!” Roman released Dean’s hands and throwing his own up in the air in frustration.

Forcefully turning his big Samoan in the hold, he still kept him in, Dean reached up towards his mate’s crestfallen face and gently encased it in his calloused hands, imploring his mate to hear reason, “It’s different, Superman, she’s different. I know you can feel it, she’s special and it scares the crap out of you, hell it scares me too. But I know damn well she’s ours for a reason. The moon goddess doesn’t make mistakes, you know that better than anyone.”

Holding tight to Dean’s wrists on either side of his face Roman finally meets his mate’s gaze, seeing nothing more than adoration and love in it.

...LOVE ...LOYALTY... TRUST...SWEET MATE...

“Roman Reigns, I love you, and I will always love you, ya hear me. I know our road wasn’t easy. But I’m here and I will always be here. By your side, forever until the moon goddess calls me home.” Dean tells his mate with a conviction that burnt hotter than a thousand suns. Seeing this, Roman did something in that moment, something he had ever rarely done in their relationship and that was submitting to his younger Alpha mate. Baring his neck, his most vulnerable spot, Roman whined low in his throat asking his mate for forgiveness.

...SUBMIT TO MATE ...ASK FORGIVENESS ...

Dean was shocked but rather than hesitate, he acted on pure instinct. Nipping at Roman’s mate mark Dean had given him way back when he licked and sucked until he could feel the tension leaving his Alpha’s body and smell his scent return to the delicious mouthwatering scents of earth and freshly baked brownies. Roman quickly became mush in his mates hold and finally, he let himself be forgiven.

“There is nothing to forgive ok?” Dean gave one last kiss to his mate mark. “Now, get your ass in gear because there are two very needy mates in there who are waiting for their Alpha. And there is also a sweet little Omega in there who really wants to see her Alpha. She’s worried about you Ro.”

Roman was shocked, he was convinced he made an ass of himself and totally broke what little progress he had made with his Little Omega.

“Really? Even after that bullshit display of Alpha Brain?”

Dean just shrugged his shoulders but didn’t lose the look of intensity in his blue eyes as he said,

“I don’t know how to explain it, Ro. But it seems like she knows what we’re feeling even before we do. I don’t if it’s an Omega thing but I can tell she’s really affected by our emotions. She’s the one who sent me in here, little minx wouldn’t take no for an answer. All I’m saying is she’s going to be the death of us, Uce.” The Lunatic laughed ruefully thinking about all the future mischief his little mate’s influence will have on the trio of Alphas.

“I hear you, Mate. I really do I just need a minute longer. Go ahead and check on our little mates and I’ll be right there.”

Dean gave a look of uncertainty towards his Alpha but Roman didn’t let him feel that way for long. Grabbing Dean by the scruff of his neck Roman pulled him in an embrace so full of love and passion, it caused the Lunatic to become dizzy.

“Alright sheesh Ro. Any more heat and I would’ve been burned alive.” He chuckled looking at the face of his loving Alpha, just basking in his presence and thanking the Moon Goddess every day for blessing him with such caring mates.

“Sorry, Dean. I just, I Fucking love you and I don’t want you to worry about me. I’m the pack Alpha for Christ sakes.”

“So, what if you’re ‘Pack Alpha’, I worry about you just the same because it’s my job and I Fucking love you too.”

Dean roughly placed a kiss on his Alpha’s mouth, cheekily slipping in his tongue to join the party. Roman rumbled as the kiss created a warm tingling feeling, starting from the tips of his toes, traveling all throughout his body and settling a warmth within his core.

...HAPPY MATE...SATISFIED ...HAPPY ALPHA...

Dean’s wolf was finally satisfied enough to give him the few minutes he requested. So, with one last searing kiss, Dean left Ro to his own devices.

“Don’t take too long Alpha. You’ve got a very eager pup mate in rut, in bed with our heat-induced Omega.”

Roman’s answering rumble was enough for Dean to know Ro wouldn’t be too far behind him.

Taking a minute to slow down his breathing, Roman tried to calm all the swirling emotions that were running rapidly through his mind. Roman knew his little moon was special but he was terrified, terrified he wasn’t strong enough to care for someone so special. He was the pack alpha and his mates were his number one priority. That priority being to provide for the pack and make them happy. It’s what he lived for. Unfortunately, Roman felt a foreboding, especially with Wyatt’s lurking. The darkness that encompassed them was palpable and he’d be damned if he’d let them get near his Luna.

Then there was Luna. Finally, after searching for her for years, he’s finally found their pack Omega. Luna was literally a goddess come to earth and he couldn’t believe that Selene, the Moon Goddess, blessed him with such a special mate. What if he wasn’t enough? What if he wasn’t Alpha enough to care for three mates, her in particular? What if the heat wore off and she realized he and his mates were not what she wanted?

SHE IS OUR MATE ...OF COURSE, SHE WANTS US...

...Listen, big guy, there is more than just instinct. The moon goddess blessed all her children with free will, regardless of true mate status...

...THIS IS NOT THE CASE ...SHE WANTS US... I FEEL IT... YOU FEEL IT ...CLAIM MATE... BOND TO MATE ...PROTECT MATE...

...Not yet Big Dog. I will when we go into rut. But for now, I just want to focus on her and Seth. They need us right now...

...THEN GO TO MATES... WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR...?

...Goddess please give me the strength to be the best Alpha I can. All I want to do is do right by the mates you have blessed me with. Please watch over my pack and protect them with your love and light...

“Tell me again why she is so important.”

Selene began to become exasperated with her love and his nonexistent memory span. But the minute he wrapped her up in his strong arms, solid chest to her delicate back, she became putty to his will, especially with him mouthing at her mate mark.

“Because my love, there is a darkness that grows threatening the lives of our children, her especially. I blessed her with my own essence so that she can be the beacon of light in a world I can no longer walk. She is also blessed with three Alpha mates of her own to protect her, just like you all protect me.”

Tensing in his stance her mate asked the question he feared most.

“This darkness, My Moon, is it the same darkness that once threatened your life? The same darkness I fought off, swearing to never see its return.”

Turning in her lover's arms the Moon Goddess placed a gentle hand on his rugged cheek looking deep into his rich hazel eyes.

“I’m afraid so my Love and now we live in a time so easily influenced by those that would look to harm them. But she is different. She will lead them, my little warrior, my sweet little moon.”

Looking towards the lake water where the image of the Alpha in question played.

“And him? You say he will protect her like I have protected you?” Smiling ruefully at her worried mate she answered,

“He will my Love, he is just scared. He wants her to willingly choose him. He respects my law of free will and I cannot fault him for that.”

Erebus snarled at that answer, looking toward his son of the moon,

“You might not, but I can. He leaves her vulnerable! She still has not come into her powers and can be easily manipulated by those who lie in the shadows.”

Settling her apprehensive mate with a kiss Selene spoke once again.

“Have faith my Love, everything will reveal itself in due time.”

She spoke as her hand ran through the water clearing the image of Roman praying for her guidance. Roman just needed to follow his heart and trust his little moon and all will reveal itself soon enough.

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pendragonfics · 7 years ago

Text

Family

Paring: Jim Hopper/Reader

Tags: female reader, adopted children, family dynamics, journalism, domestic fluff, spoilers for Stranger Things 2.

Summary: Sometimes, family isn’t nuclear, with the happy little American love story where it’s all good and well. Family is two adults who found each other in their times of need, and a miracle child.

Word Count: 2,355

Current Date: 2017-11-03

It’s dark when he comes home, but you’re awake. You’ve been awake for almost fifteen hours, and despite sore eyes, an aching headache, and sore limbs, you’re sitting up, to see the door open, and close very slowly. To see the way Jim takes off his shoes, peels off his socks, puts his hat upon the rack by the window. He looks as tired as you feel – in the moonlight through the window, you can see the lines above his eyebrows, beside his eyes.

Jim’s barefoot and stifling a yawn, working on undoing the buttons on his uniform. You watch as he walks toward you in the kitchenette, but as he turns the paraffin lamp, he jumps a little, but still quiet. You’re sitting on the bench, beside the sink, legs dangling like a novelty made-at-home dolly, wearing one of Hopper’s holey old shirts and boxers.

“You scared me,” he says, low, quiet. “What are you doing up so late?”

You shrug, gesturing to the cup of tea growing cold beside you. “Story came to me, couldn’t stop, and then couldn’t sleep.” You take a sip from your cold tea, and wince, “Why are you home so late?”

There could be a myriad of answers. Kids egged a house down on an avenue in town – perhaps he’d helped an elderly lady at the grocery store pack her bags into her late husband’s station wagon, maybe the paperwork wasn’t done on time and Flo stopped him until it was completed. But there wasn’t any egg on his wrinkled uniform, nor groceries in his arms, or ink on his hand.

“Found a kid walking around town, all alone. Drove them home.” His smile wan, he moved past you, flicking the stove on heat up the soup you made earlier for yourself and El. “Flo wanted to know how the story’s coming along.”

You make a noise. “Slow. Be better if I didn’t screw up my last typewriter.” You hummed, showing your hands to your boyfriend, hands that were covered in pen scratches and ink transferred from the paper.

“________, those things don’t come cheap,” he mutters, taking his dinner from the fridge, shoving it in the microwave.

“Ellie went to bed happily again.” You change the subject, tapping your bare foot lazily on the cabinets.

Jim raises an eyebrow. “Ellie?” he asks.

You shrug, drawing a knee to your chest, watching as the screen on the magical microwave oven counts down the seconds until it pings! “She doesn’t like me calling her Jane, and you know I feel funny calling her a number. She’s a teenager, Jim, Ellie suits her, I think.” You pause, and sliding down from the countertop, you add, “She was kind of bummed she didn’t get a goodnight kiss from her dad.”

The clock on the wall clicks over to the new hour, reading the hour that the witches come out to play. Or at least, that’s what your mother used to tell you back home in Boston, before the split as a child when your dad moved you to Hawkins.

“She called me Dad?” Jim asks, just as the sausages and gravy are ready.

You nod. “Right before nodding off. Said she missed your scratchy kisses.” You grin, eyes scrunching up like there’s no greater happiness in the world than seeing the person you love described so simply. “I missed your scratchy kisses too.”

Jim takes his meal to the table, smiling to himself. You stand there in the kitchen, still, swaying. It’s almost like you’re caught between being awake, and overtired, or perhaps you’re imitating a ghost caught between this world and the one beside it, swaying in the breeze of life. But you snap out of your moment when Jim’s fork clanks against the table, and carrying the paraffin lamp to the table, you sit opposite, silent.

While you’re not as important in your workplace as Jim; you’re just a journalist at the local newspaper, writing the little things that happen around the place. The editor in chief had a ‘real’ writer for the larger stories, saying you were second rate because you were more creative, and wrote things that weren’t real (or maybe because you were a woman). One day you’ll be published, a shiny hardcover in the hands of the nation – but until then, you wrote about the effects of the weather on chicken farming in the outer-regions of Hawkins.

It was a strange paring, your father said – you, and Jim. The divorced recluse of a police chief, and the daydreaming old maid who wrote. But you hadn’t talked to him in ten years, so what he thought didn’t matter to you. You weren’t that old. Thirty-five was just a number. Hopper insisted you were young – but then again, he’d gone to hell and back, fought in the war, lost his first family. He thought he was as old as the mountains themselves, and at the best of times (as well as the worst) doubted why you loved him as much as you did.

“________, you’ve got the thousand-mile stare.” Jim hums, and you’re brought back to the moment, instead of inside your head. He glances to his dinner, almost all eaten, and says, “What about you head to bed, and I follow?”

You nod, too tired to speak. But when your head hits the pillow, you’re gone, consumed by sleep’s touch.

---

You’re standing before the mirror on the basin, hairbrush in hand. Except, it’s not your hairbrush, and you’re not checking out your reflection in the mirror. Instead, you’re carefully carding the tines through your adoptive daughter’s hair, trying to get her in the habit of brushing her unruly locks. El’s face is composed of unadulterated joy, eyes bright, mouth stretched wide with excitement.

“Big day today,” you say, running your fingers through the last bit, untangling a knot the size of your thumbnail. “First day of school.”

She bounces on the balls of her feet at the sound of the word school, meeting your eyes in the mirror. When you first met El, she’d acted all shy like a woodland creature, then, after time went on, moody like a storm about to break. That was before all the commotion with the Hawkins lab and the passing of Mr. Newby. Now she’s sunshine in a bottle, threatening to explode.

“What was your…favourite?” she asks, selecting the right words.

You beam. “I loved the library. They have books on everything there.” You fluff out her head of curls with both hands, the hairbrush tucked under your arm, and add, “But my favourite class was where we read the books.” You peer out of the bathroom, seeing where Jim is lacing his boots, a piece of toast between his teeth as he rushes out the door, “Your dad liked it more in gym.” You remember the way he looked back in high school in the uniform, and you chuckle.

“Gym?” El asks. “Mike said it’s hard.”

You shake your head. “You’re not Mike, though, are you?” You ask her, and moving before her, you kneel, pushing the hair from her eyes away, you add, “Hey, Ellie,” you see your reflection in her eyes, a hesitant smile now on her lips. “You’ve got this.”

“I’ve got this.” She repeats.

“Okay, time to go!” Jim calls out from the other room. At this, El runs around you, her new overalls sliding down her legs, curls bouncing. “________, have you got the keys?”

“Yeah!” you exclaim, jangling them from your pocket. “Have you got Ellie’s bag?”

“I’ve got it!” She shouts, the sound of the sheriff’s wagon door slamming followed suit. You’re almost out of the door, and from the backseat, El makes the horn toot and hollers out the open window, “C’mon! I don’t want to be late!”

She’s not late – in fact, when you two walk her into the administration building with her, she’s run away as her class schedule is handed to her, off to walk to class with Mike, Dustin, Lucas, Max and Will. Mr. Clarke stills her running, and from the window in the wall, you see her smile is big, group of friends even bigger.

“Your daughter seems excited to be here, Mr. and Mrs. Hopper,” the older office lady smiles, handing you a copy of El’s class schedule.

You glance to Jim, and he to you, scrambling over your words, until you manage to say, “We’re not – I mean, we’re just –,”

She raises an eyebrow, and goes on to say, “School ends at three, and if we have any trouble, I’ll make sure to get Principle Coleman call.” She smiles once more, and looks at your hand, holding Jim’s, “Are you sure you two aren’t married?”

---

You’re at work, staring at the typewriter that’s screwed to the desk, waiting for the fingers attached to your creative soul to pick up something and translate it to words. But sitting there doesn’t help, and when you return from the coffee machine, you’re face to face with your boss, whose fingers are pawing through your reporter’s journal, eyeing the notes you’ve made over the last six months in its pages.

“Saw you were stuck, ________,” he places your notebook down, the cover thwacking the desk very un-quietly. “You’ve been all over Hawkins, and still, found nothing worth writing about.”

You nod, cradling the cup of hot coffee close to your chest. “That’s right, sir.”

He hums. “Maybe what you need to consider is something a little closer to home?” He asks, and with that, goes off on his way by Debbie the copier for his regular demands of the poor P.A.

You still. Closer to home? You think about how boring your home life is, until you realise how un-boring it is, and inspired, you sit, and over the next four hours of the work day, manage to churn out and edit something that could be read by the people of Hawkins.

---

I grew up alone. I suppose we’re never alone; we have a mother, a father, a community. My parents left each other when I was young, and my father worked nights when I was at school. People didn’t want to be my friend, since I was a loner. I had my books, I had my mind, I had my mind to write the passages for books to come.

When I was at college, my boyfriend was fighting in the end of the Vietnam War. When I was starting at the newspaper, my boyfriend was married to another woman. When I re-met my boyfriend, he had acquired the position of sheriff at Hawkins Police station. He had lost so much in his life, and when we met, not for the first time as gangly teenagers who wanted so much more than what fate would give us, but when we were adults, hardened by life in our own ways, brought into moulds by our own hardships, there was something there. That feeling of loneliness.

This was not a conventional love story. I never wanted to grow up to be in a cul-de-sac, to do what any of my relatives could have done. I am a woman, making decisions for myself, loving a man who can make decisions for himself. And together, we love our girl, who can make decisions very well for herself. Sometimes, family isn’t nuclear, with the happy little American love story where it’s all good and well. Family is two adults who found each other in their times of need, and a miracle child.

You see, together, you are not without hope. You just can’t be – two heads, two hearts are better than just one. Since this we have solved mysteries buried deep beneath the dirt under Hawkins, Indiana, and found something that wasn’t loneliness to bond ourselves.

“It’s, uh, pretty feminist,” your boss commented, glancing up from the type-written paper near the end of the working day, “Is this what you’re willing to submit?”

You nod.

“It’ll be printed for tomorrow.” He slides it into his pile, extinguishing a cigarette in a cup on his desk. “Keep an eye out, ________.”

---

You’re waking up slowly, gently, when there’s what feels like an earthquake. But no, there isn’t another disaster falling over Hawkins – instead, it’s El, bouncing on the bed, wearing the Star Wars t-shirt that you bought her when you took her to see Return of the Jedi. In her hands is a crumpled newspaper, scrunched by her hands. You glance beside you, to see what Jim makes of this morning tyranny, but he’s not beside you, snoring as usual. Instead, he’s behind El, watching the both of you.

“What is this, a bouncy house?” you ask, pushing yourself up from the covers. “What’s the news, Ellie?”

Her grin widens. “You’re famous, Mom!”

You’re caught on the word famous, and peering forward to see what your daughter has, you almost miss the word mom and you feel overwhelmed. But then you see on the newspaper page caught between El’s pre-teen fingers your name, and beneath it, your words. You feel faint suddenly, even though you’ve been awake for all of two minutes, and let out a breathy laugh.

“I’m famous?” you ask, pretending to peer closer at the page, and instead, take El in your arms, and tackle her to the bed. “How about I’m the luckiest lady in all of Hawkins!” you laugh, tickling your daughter’s side. She squirms, laughing, and from the doorway, so does Jim. “Come on, let’s have a big family hug.”

El laughs, and before you know it, you’re all sitting on the bed, cuddled up like you’re hiding from a snowstorm, but instead of it being bad, you’re all in a fit of laughter. When El excuses herself to call Mike on the walkie-talkie, Jim leans into your ear, whispering, “You have no idea how much I love you both.”

You raise a brow at that, replying, “I’m pretty sure you do, Chief.” You kiss his cheek, and glancing to the door, where El could appear any second, and murmur, “She called me Mom!”

#jim hopper #chief hopper #jim hopper x reader #chief hopper x reader #stranger things x reader #stranger things fanfic #stranger things imagine #chaotic--lovely #pendragonfics #Female reader

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driftingglass · 7 years ago

Note

You reblogged Naruto, so do you have any casual ship there? This is for the ship ask, of course. (Also, do you have casual parings? Like BrOTP or you don't seeing a fanart of or somewhere in between both?)

Ah, gosh, I got way more of these than I expected. Haha. I’ll be glad to do one from Naruto! I only watched the first… eighty to ninety episodes or so of the first series a couple years ago, so I didn’t grow up with it.

I do have a very unorthodox ship, though, that may or may not be pleasing.

So, sorry about that.

I really enjoy… Kakashi and Sakura [ KakaSaku] . *Hides in shame.*

Sakura would be older, obviously, but for some reason I thought this ship was super controversial and interesting. Also, again, they’re my favorites from the anime, and some part of me thought it was intriguing enough to ship.

I don’t even know why. *Shrug.* But since you asked, Anon, I’ll do the thing!

(And I’ll answer your other question at the very end. :D)

Who’s the Cuddler: Hm. I think Kakashi would actually be the cuddler in this situation. Sakura seems like the type who would be more emboldened as she grows older, and something about their dynamic makes me think that Kakashi would find it both admirable and endearing.

Who Makes the Bed: Sakura. I think that even though she’s marginally younger, even at twenty years of age or something or when or if they were ever together, she would still be the more “adult” in this context.

With more mundane things I could picture Sakura having an almost snobbish pride in how she does these things. Making the bed would just be one of many things that she thinks she’s the best in, but… yeah she probably messes up and forgets like any other normal person. Especially if Kakashi’s more lackadaisical attitude rubs off on her.

Who Wakes Up First: Sakura. Although I could picture Kakashi getting up early on occasion too, at least before Sakura. They’re both pretty disciplined people and I could see both of their routines falling into place, though Kakashi is a lot less stern about it when it comes to his own schedule.

(I mean, he’s constantly late to showing up to his own scheduled training sessions with Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke, so…)

Who Has the Weird Taste in Music: This is a tough one. I’m not sure what they would listen to, but it would be pretty hilarious if Kakashi in particular had a fondness for an unexpected genre. Not sure which, though? Maybe it’s something so unorthodox that the only person who can relate to his tastes is Naruto.

Who is More Protective: Ah, protectiveness is a quality in all the ships I like that is pretty heavily exemplified. Kakashi and Sakura are no different, though they’re more varied by comparison to others.

Kakashi being Sakura’s teacher and knowing her well into adulthood would influence his natural protective mannerisms that we’ve seen before in the anime, despite the subtlety. Sakura would take pride in that, I think, but also be a bit oblivious to it in some ways. I could see her being very protective of anyone she loves and cares about, Kakashi not excluded. It’s a consistent string in this ship that I could see to be very legitimate.

Who Sings in the Shower: Kakashi and Sakura both sing in the shower… this just seems like it makes so much sense. Sakura would be more shameful about it, though, and more easily embarrassed when teased.

Who Cries During Movies: Sakura. Kakashi would love the opportunity to both tease her and “comfort” her both during and afterwards, though.

Who Spends The Most While out Shopping: Ah, Sakura. I think it’s established (I could be wrong though) that she’s a bit of a spender in certain settings. Kakashi loves his dirty magazines and whatnot, but he also seems to be the type of person who comes off as a minimalist. He would spend money for Sakura on occasion, but I doubt he would be a worse spender than her.

Who Kisses More Roughly: Kakashi. Does this really need to be debated?

Who Is More Dominant: Again, Kakashi.

My Rating Of the Ship From 1-10: When it comes to ships, especially edgier ones like this, I like to think of my context with them both in my own theoretical little world and in the canon universe itself. Since I never, ever ship my ships in-canon (except for KilluGon… and even then that’s pushing it), this result will have two ratings!

The KakaSaku ship gets an 8/10 for out of canon, and 7/10 for in-canon.

Okay, Anon. Thanks for the ask!

I actually have a lot of BROTPS. Like, outside of my ships… I love me some friendships and platonic awesomeness. I’m dead serious.

Right now BNHA is the source of my BROTPS. I’m sure if I like another anime with a huge cast that has struck me as fondly as BNHA, then this will change, but… that’s a very unlikely occurrence! So, sorry for the lack of variety!

My favorite BROTP at the moment is Bakugou Katsuki & Kirishima Eijirou (followed closely by Bakugou Katsuki & Uraraka Ochako) and Izuku Midoriya & Todoroki Shouto.

Love me some bros.

So yeah! That’s it! The cast of BNHA is really big, so it’s easy to have those in that particular anime. It would take quite a long time for me to go through… say, Naruto or something, to pick that out.

#Please Send Me a Ship and I Will Tell You...#KakaSaku #Kakashi Hatake #Sakura Haruno #Naruto #Ship #Wow High School Ship Lol #And I Guess College Too a Little Bit #Crack Ship #Character Discussion #Anonymous #Headcanons

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track-three · 7 years ago

Text

master feels after the finale

(i had a big, pan-episode writeup dealing with my dear child twelve, but the internet crashed and tumblr ate it, so, let’s just get to the nitty gritty)

this episode was, ultimately, the biggest mixed bag for me, not mixed bag as in, i feel somewhere in the middle about it, but that there were bits i desperately loved and were as good as doctor who could possibly be, and bits that really made me cringe and retcon them in my head.

so i’ll start with the good - the very, very good: the master working with themselves. hurting the doctor where he’s most vulnerable; his companions, his faith, his desperate hope that he might finally have his friend back. that first 10 minutes, where i honestly shivered and felt that this was the meatiest little segment i’ve seen in some time: the doctor, no cards left to play…both masters, murdering his friend, taunting him, then...making out with themselves? i mean, wow. that’s peak horrible. that’s kind of peak master there. but i wanted to see the conflict in that. i wanted to see the doctor’s hurt, more than just 2 lines about bill…i wanted to see how that flat-out cruelty impacted his faith, his belief in the master, i wanted to see him struggle to fight for what was “right”. his belief in the master felt far too easy after that, and i think not following through with the emotional consequences of those first 5-10 minutes...well, it took a lot of the power out of the “redemption” arc, that had been so nicely set up! simm!master’s character was, well, interesting. i do feel like he was a little under-done in terms of depth; ok, ok, i mean - roast me - i know rtd’s simm was a yelly maniac...but i feel like he had a lot more dynamic range. moffat’s simm seems to have two modes only: comic relief, and rampant, indiscriminate cruelty.

and that to me felt very inauthentic, it felt like it was sort of reducing him to a catchphrase. kinda how i felt about ten in day of the doctor but shh that’s for another post i did love the humour, honestly, i adored how cheerful and light this master was. but he seemed to lack a lot of the fury, the pain, the insecurity he did in rtd’s run. i can’t imagine seeing moffat’s master tear up, the way we saw rtd’s. he is just too cold.

that really leads me on to the second lil criticism i have - yes, the master is cruel. very cruel, actually. he’s done some of the worst things this franchise has seen. but there is one thing that defines his cruelty: it’s for the sole sake of getting to the doctor. yeah, he’s gleeful and certainly gets off on causing pain to others...because he knows this is a weapon the doctor is almost powerless against! his conscience, his guilt, his insistence to care for the little person, his refusal to accept collateral damage; the master can turn them all against him, can make the doctor crumple, with one well-placed strike. the master treats those things as weaknesses, faults - he doesn’t understand those qualities and wants to make the doctor see, like he sees, that they’re only holding him back. that’s why he hurts him. he loves the doctor - but he hates him - but he loves him. he wants the doctor to realise they’re not so different, after all. he wants to punish the doctor for being the things he cannot.

i do feel that in making simm utterly remorseless...or, i guess, indiscriminately remorseless is probably more my issue, and interspersing it with some of the best comedy this season has seen, it cut out a lot of that depth. there were some shockingly dark and meaty moments with simm, but man, without the hate and the pain and contempt behind them, they just felt cold. bit too cold.

but, honestly, he wasn’t the only master who suffered from Not Quite Enough Nuance. i felt that after spending the whole season fleshing out this redemption arc, and michelle’s utterly stunning performance - because she played it totally ambiguous as to what the master was actually feeling, and where she stood - i...didn’t ultimately understand her choice. i wanted to understand it, i wanted to believe it, but one speech didn’t really sell it for me! i mean. oh my god, was it an amazing speech. but i can’t believe that the reason the master, finally, chooses to fight with the doctor is “because he’s right”. of all the reasons, that one is the least believable to me. it undermines their friendship, their love. “because he’s my friend” would have been a...far more epic development, i personally think, and i feel a little snubbed by it all.

i do think that if this episode hadn’t tried to do so MUCH in one go, and had pared itself right down to master/master/doctor/cybermen + oh shit, bill, and not done the children, and the nardole/lady love plot, and the doctor’s regeneration, and the companions coming back, and heather, and the first doctor....! well, yeah. it was a lot, and i feel that the master’s story would have been more fleshed out if it was allowed to be the main plot of this finale. i think world enough and time worked better as an episode for this reason.

(not to say, oh my god, that i didn’t die during all of the regeneration/heather/one stuff. you bet i did. and i loved it. buuut i just sort of think that was a 3-parter, not a 2-parter in there.)

in terms of what they chose to do...well, i liked the concept. i think the actions are very believably master. thing is, though...we’ve established that the master would definitely rather die, than let the doctor, somehow, beat them. and the story 100% paid respect to that. but i felt that the finality of that story really sort of sat weirdly with me. ok, hear me out: ending simm’s regeneration by his other self murdering him? i can get behind that. ending the master’s ENTIRE life by his other self murdering him - no, i really can’t. to sell this entire story as really, an ending for the master’s arc in general, feels very...oh, i don’t know, it feels like cutting the character short. i think ending the master with a redemption arc does not quite do justice to the whole point of the doctor and the master. their relationship is just not as simple as good and evil, and i resent it being taken down to that.

in the end, what was that segment trying to show us? i believe it was trying to show us the entire, core conflict that will always end in tragedy for the doctor and the master: they both want to be with each other so very much, and they could never live with themselves, either one of them, if they did. and i honestly believe that the beauty and sadness and inevitability of that could have been done without making both masters kill each other.

that said. oh, i do love the bit where they laughed themselves silly. that was gorgeous. that was so them: backstab each other, and forgive in the same breath. that whole scene was so them. i’d accept all of it wholeheartedly, if it wasn’t treated as such a final resting place, a denouement for the master as a person.

i think this is representative of a larger moffat problem, which i’m going to touch on because i want to: moffat always seems to need to leave his “mark” on established events?? you know - the TARDIS noise is “leaving the brakes on”. the doctor’s real name, dealt with about 5 times in his run alone. he undoes the time war. he creates his own classic doctor instead of celebrating the existing ones. he takes ownership of the 13-regeneration-limit...even when the doctor is technically only strictly on number 12 (13?). he re-does the genesis of the daleks, just to have his own prints on it. there’s lots of other stuff too, but this kind of reeks of it to me...he has to have the final say on lots of doctor who canon, and he’s had his final say on the master. and i simply don’t agree.

the good thing about treating some things as sacrosanct (eg, the TARDIS, the Doctor’s name, etc) is that it allows all of us to form our own interpretations, and yeah. i do wish that this vision hadn’t been treated as the only answer to the master’s arc.

oh. and because i haven’t touched on it: i’m so here for the master flirting with themselves. blatantly. but you know, it sucks that we have simm/gomez, gomez/twelve, and the sexuality knob has been turned up as far as it can without breaking the rating on those...but we still can’t display m/m doctor/master. and i think that’s just really sad.

(HI FIVE FOR BILL/HEATHER THOUGH.)

p.s. i’m also so here for the eyeliner. i mean....the master putting on eyeliner. on camera. welcome to the future, goddamn.

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lineffability · 8 years ago

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Why are you so dead set on shipping Chendy tho?? They are kids, they have their whole lives to figure out their sexuality, who they wanna be with etc You don't imagine yourself falling in love at such a young age?? Their interactions are more sisterly and pure, don't taint them. I'm against all Wendy ships tbh

“Dead set”? I’m not dead set I just… ship them? Because I love the healthy and wholesome relationship between them and their dynamic appeals to me?

I will try to answer this very thoughtfully…

Young girls fall in love. Young girls do fall in love and yes of course that’s young love, but a crush is a valid thing?? “You don’t imagine yourself falling in love’?? Have you never been young? When did you have your first crush? Imagining falling in love is all young girls ever do. (I exaggerate.) This is exactly the age where people start to figure out their sexuality!! Having crushes and kissing is part of finding out what love is and what it means to you. Hell, there are adults who have never been in love. This isn’t about The One True Love Of Your Life, this is about two young girls liking each other romantically, whatever that entails. They don’t have to stay together forever, but they are happy in the moment. Isn’t that the same for… most ships? Romantic feelings come gradually, they don’t suddenly appear when you turn 18?? Especially in a world that revolves around the search for love and happiness.

Being gay is not “for adults only”. This is so important!!! I mean, look at posts like this. Being gay is not dirty or sinful or ‘not for kids’! Kids are gay! And that is excellent! I think it’s important to normalize young people of the same sex falling in love. If you think about it, there’s plenty of that with kids of the opposite gender. It begins with kindergarten playmates and parents (jokingly) ‘arranging marriages’. What is is about kids of the same sex having elementary school ‘hand-holding’ crushes? Why is that suddenly wrong? Food for thought.

Figuring out your sexuality starts exactly at this age. “They have their whole lives to figure out their sexuality.” I feel like that’s a bit of a misguided sentiment? When do you realize you are straight? When do you ‘figure that out’? Being gay is part of who a person is, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with realizing that as early on as possible. It is healthy. Everyone’s journey is valid, and yes there will be a process of figuring things out and to some people that will happen only later in life, but it does not become less valid just because you are young. You don’t have to write an Adult Essay about why you are now gay and hand it in to be approved by the Gay Council to finally be granted Official Gay Status.

Shipping does not equal sex. Obviously!!!This should go without saying, especially if the characters are minors. While it is a fact that young people do have sex, whether you like it or not, this is not something that should be described in graphic detail in fic or art!! Good grief! DO NOT explore that aspect with minors!! Having a ship is not the same as sexualizing a ship! (It often goes hand in hand because people mostly ship… well, not adults but older teens, if we’re talking about anime/manga. The protagonists are often still minors lmao. But it is not the same!!) Be aware of that distinction!

Representation is important. And if representation does not exist in canon, it is very okay and good to create it in fandom spaces. I know your point wasn’t the gay/straight ships dichotomy, BUT if it had been girl and boy sacrificing themselves for each other in the name of love in canon (which happened, whether you choose to interpret it as platonic or romantic love) would you also be saying “aw, friendship is so important!!” ?? Which brings me to my next point:

(I’m joking. I’m sorry. Couldn’t resist.)

Gals being pals. The eternal problem. You think their interactions are more sisterly? That’s fine! Shipping is subjective. But desperately forcing all w/w relationships into this ‘they’re just very very very good friends!!!’ drawer is not quite fair. Because there are romantic w/w relationships! Lesbians exist! This is a problem much more prominent in bi/lesbian ships simply because girls being physically and emotionally intimate with each other is completely normalized, whereas boys often do not have such freedom, sadly. But ignoring women in love is just willfully closing your eyes. Perhaps because you (in a general sense, not you personally) might be more uncomfortable with it than you like to admit? Great brotps are just as important as ships and it’s everyone’s free choice to decide which they prefer for a certain relationship! But do keep in mind this very real problem of overlooking romance because you personally don’t want it to exist. As for the whole concept of ‘purity’ and becoming ‘tainted’ by love… er. I don’t like that. At all. How does (gay) love/affection taint a person?! Because I do think this is about being gay. That word choice was really uncomfortable and unfortunate. I’m not even going to adress this because it will make me angry. Love does not taint a person?! (And if this was about sex then…ew? I have never and will never even think about that. That was your thought. So…)

Platonic shipping vs Romantic shipping. There is no better or worse!!! Enough said. We’ve been over this one many times in many fandoms.

It’s all about being age appropriate. It matters how you ship a ship. Especially in the matter of young love. I agree that you have to be careful with younger ships because it can be a sensitive topic. I think the problem when you say ‘I ship these two girls’ is that shipping has become so tied-in with sexual ideas that people just immediately (for some horrible, sad reason) think ‘They must want these two young girls to fuck! They must be pedophiles!” And that is just horrible. Sadly enough there are people who do want that, and those are pedophiles and should not go anywhere near fandom spaces (or real life children). Thiscan and should never be tolerated! Be aware of creeps in fandom spaces… (I think it’s also important to stress that this whole ask is dealing with love between young people. Not between a young person + a much older adult person. That is gross and never ever okay.)But that is not at all what shipping two young people should be about. Obviously!!! This should all be so obvious, I don’t know why I have to write it out in so much detail, but alas. Be age-appropriate!!! Crushes are okay, first kisses are okay, exploring who they are as people and why they fell/are falling in ‘love’ is okay, silly cute drabbles are okay… respect that they are children!!!(A little excursus: Isn’t there this shipping trope where people turn their adult ships into kids because it’s “cute“?? Whatever floats your boat, I guess, but I’ve never been a fan of that. Personally I find it even weirder when it’s just one person of the ship…? But I digress.) I mean: ‘childhood friends to lovers’! You could fill a library with fanfiction about that! But if they’re young in canon suddenly that’s forbidden?? Shipping young people has to be APPROPRIATE and has to be handled carefully and respectfully! Don’t hurt or disrespect people!Nobody has to ship any ship but it’s also not wrong to like a pairing of younger people as long as it is DONE RIGHT (e.g. no smut for god’s sake, no marriage, no adult themes, no paring of one young person with an adult(!!!) etc. it’s really not that hard). And if you don’t want to ship a young person at all, then obviously that is perfectly fine too! Personally I definitely prefer adult ships, but beautiful and age-appropriate (!!! I cannot stress this enough) relationships can be a source of joy no matter the age range.When I, once in a while, find myself really liking a dynamic between younger people, then I give special care to portray their relationship in exactly that innocent, child-like way and handle them with a lot of caution and respect.

If you ship two younger people, please be aware that they are children and deserve to be treated as such!!!

#ask #fandom wank #Anonymous #im done and...wait when did i write this much #jeeezzeee #well #if this doesnt get my point across then i dont know what will

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urfavepisces · 8 years ago

Text

How Would You Feel (Bucky Barnes X Reader One Shot)

Paring: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Word Count: 2,391

Warnings: this one is like 85% smut ya’ll, unprotected sex, light choking, dry humping and cussing

A/N: I hope ya’ll enjoy this one. I wrote it while drunk so there’s that lmao

It’s raining on a February evening, your apartment is dimly lit with a few candles scattered throughout the living room and dining room. It’s peaceful as you sit with Bucky, enjoying the quiet and the beautiful jazz song that plays from the speakers in your home. It’s so easy being with him, there are no expectations when you two are together. It doesn’t matter what you are doing, just being with each other is enough.

You’re laughing about the latest prank Sam pulled on him and Bucky glares at you but a smile soon ebbs it’s way onto his lips at the beautiful sound.

“You two are too much.” You snort unexpectedly which has Bucky clutching his stomach at the sound.

However in that moment he decides that he’s in love with it and he prides himself in being able to make you produce such a sound. Bucky loves to see you being so open with your emotions and expressions. And it gives a boost to his ego to know he gets to see you like this.

A few strands of hair fall from your bun and lay randomly onto your face when Bucky bright eyes latch onto yours. He’s lost in this moment with you, he never thought he’d be able to get this close to someone before and it has his heart beating rapidly at the newfound information.

“What did Sam do?” You finally calm down from your laughing to ask him. Bucky had forgotten what they had been talking about the minute he looked at you, so he hurriedly racked his brain to remember. Twirling the fork in his hand to gather more of the linguini he’d brought for dinner, he finally recalled what Sam had done in retaliation after Bucky had stolen all of his underwear, hiding them up on the roof of the tower. Those two could never stop pulling pranks on one another.

“He started screaming at me, you know Sam. I’m sure there’s something waiting for me back at the tower.” He plopped the fork into his mouth, swallowing the tasty pasta instantly.

You shrugged before gathering your plate and getting up to place the dish into your sink, “Well you can stay here tonight. I mean just so you can dodge whatever Sam has planned for you of course.”

After you’ve rinsed the dish and placed it to the side on the counter, you turn to see Bucky staring at you.

“Is there something on my face?” You bring your hand to the corner of your mouth, instantly self conscious.

“No, just admiring the view.” His eye fell into a wink that had your stomach doing back flips.

Bucky always had this effect on you. Just having him look in your direction had your knees buckling.

You laugh to break the tension and grab your glass filled with Hennessy and coke. It wasn’t the smart choice to be drinking this specific alcohol but you’d had a difficult week in court defending your client. But you’d won, so you were half celebrating and half self medicating the stress that developed.

When you sit back down on your seat across from Bucky, he’s looking at you and hasn’t stopped since he’d knocked on your door. His large icy blue eyes studied your face, it seemed he’d wanted to commit every detail to memory. Breaking the silence you spoke up, “Take a picture, it’ll last longer.” You winked, not thinking much of what you said.

His focus on you hadn’t wavered one bit, “You got a camera? Because I’d love to.”

Your heart couldn’t stop with the incessant beating, a tall tale that you were nervous of the situation you were in at the moment. And it wasn’t a bad nervous at all but you were excited of what could happen. Especially since you’d been pining over Bucky Barnes for over a year and a half.

You offered a half ass smile in return, gulping down the rest of the dark liquor and picking up the bottle that sat on the glass table in between you two, pouring it until it filled half of the glass.

Unbeknownst to you Bucky had inched closer until his knees softly knocked into yours almost making the large bottle almost slip out of your hold but you’d recovered rather quickly. When you’d finally closed the lid to it and looked up at him, his face was inches from yours, “God you’re gorgeous.”

His left hand rising to the side of your face, lightly grasping onto your cheek. You were Irrevocably happy in this moment with Bucky, finally seeing how he felt for you had your heart flying into the clouds. Words weren’t needed when he gazed at you if you were the only person that existed in his world.

Excepting this change in the dynamics of your relationship, you moved your head so you could place light kiss to the palm of his large hand,

The action made Bucky smile even wider, his heart had also started to beat rapidly at the fact that you two could become more than friends. Something he’d wanted for a long time and something he’d hope one day would come.

The apartment was eerily silent, the only sound was the relaxing jazz music playing and the raindrops that pattered the roof.

“I wanna kiss you. Is that okay?” His question making you fall even harder for the man.

Knowing your voice would be nothing but a mess, you gave a slight nod in his direction.

His nose touched the tip of yours before his hand firmly grasped onto your jaw, tipping your head backwards and his lips finally pressed softly against yours. His lips were so soft, making you regret all the time you two spent not indulging in this activity. The kiss at first was innocent just two sets of lips pushed against each other but then both his metal and flesh hand are fully cupping your face bringing you out of your chair. You’re flush against his body, legs haphazardly straddling his hips. Bucky draws a moan out of you by biting down onto the pillowy flesh of your bottom lip, thus giving him the opportunity slip his tongue into your mouth massaging it against yours. His hands move from your jaw down to your waist, kneading the flesh making you produce more sounds that has him groaning in reciprocation.

Then he’s slipping them underneath the oversized shirt you’re wearing, the skin to skin contact making you pull away from his swollen lips and bringing them to his jaw, pressing several kisses to the sharp muscle before you make your descent to his neck. You press a light kiss to the space just below his ear, making him jerk his upwards to yours. You grind your hips down wanting to feel more of him and the action makes him let out a loud groan.

Your hands work quickly on unbuttoning his jeans and roughly pulling his zipper down.You’re pulling out of his embrace, causing him to whine at the loss but when you’re bending down and pulling off of the fabric from him, he doesn’t mind it all.

When his jeans are finally off and you’ve thrown them behind you not caring where they land, you’re on top of him again. The thin material of your black shorts that sat just below your cheeks allows you to feel Bucky and he’s already insanely hard. Your hips grind down on their volition wanting to feel more and pretty soon you two have worked up a rhythm that has you two panting uncontrollably. Bucky is groaning while he moves his lips from your mouth down to the expanse of your neck, biting down on the supple skin and caressing it afterwards with his light feather kisses.You can’t control any of the movements of your hips as they eagerly meet each of Bucky’s thrusts and forget about holding back on the moans, you’re practically whimpering at this point. On a particular thrust, you grab onto his neck pushing his face into the crevice of your neck harshly needing to feel every part of Bucky.

You two have soaked through your prospective undergarments, both your wetness and Bucky’s pre-cum creating a lubrication that forces you two to move faster against each other. Both of you chasing this insatiable high that you’ve two wanted for so long.

“O-Oh God, Bucky!” You’re crying out.

He moves a hand so that he fully grasps your thigh, spreading your leg so that he can press deeper into your core that has your head falling backwards in pleasure.

“You’re so beautiful like this baby.” His deep voice flows through your ears and it turns you on even more.

The light fabric of of both his boxer briefs and your shorts makes it even easier to feel every part of him firmly pressed against your soaked pussy, you can feel the thick vein that runs along the underside of his dick and it has you reaching your high fast.

No person has been able to you get off just by dry humping alone and the fact alone has you taking note that you should never let Bucky Barnes go. But more than that you’ve fallen in love with this amazing man.

Bucky’s metal arm wraps around your waist, locking your core tight against his dick which sends your eyes rolling to the back of your head in pure ecstasy.

The air has been knocked out of you, the pleasure almost becoming too much to handle as your clit roughly rubs against the swollen head of his penis repeatedly. Needing something to anchor yourself, you thread your fingers through the strands of his dark hair, pulling at the root making Bucky let out a guttural groan, the sound going straight to your aching core.

From your view, you can see him gulp, “Uh-You keep pulling on my hair like that, I’m going to need to be inside of you soon.” His words making you take a course of action you hadn’t thought you were capable of until now.

The need for him to be inside of you becomes desparate at this point so quickly stand up and pull your shorts off throwing them to the side and then you’re back on top of him.

Your hand slips between you two, pulling your underwear to the side then pulling on the band of his boxer briefs and slipping inside to grab his hard on. When you pull it out, it slaps against his toned stomach.

You definitely caught him by surprise, his eyes completely dilated to the point where there is only a small ring of grey circling the black pupil.

Your hand fists his thick length, “What are you waiting for Sergeant?” The rank he previously held falling from from your lips has his stomach contracting and slapping your hand away.

“Who knew you could be so damn sinful huh?” He’s sliding the head up and down your lips, the feeling making you want to know what it’s like to be full of him.

You’d had enough of the teasing at this point, your hand covers his metal one and you guide him to your entrance but his voice momentarily stops you from the action taking place.

“Is this really want you want?” He was always a gentleman.

You roll your eyes but still smile at the man before you for being so chivalrous, “Yes Bucky, I want this and I want you.”

Your admission leaves him beaming and soon he’s sinking into you with one quick thrust. The angle, causes him to hit spots no other person has been able to reach before. You can feel every inch with every drag of his hips and it has you eagerly matching his movements.

Soon you two are reaching your peaks, the sounds your bodies are making are obscene but it fuels you to the point where you’re bouncing up and down on his dick.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck—God!” Bucky’s words are muffled from where his mouth is pressing kisses along your neck.

When you clench down on a particular thrust, he’s clasping onto your throat putting a fair amount of pressure onto it, the action spurs you to move quicker making him slip out almost entirely then pound back into you

“Buck I’m close. I need to cum.” You don’t even know why you’re begging at this point, he hasn’t even denied you of it.

His arms encircle your torso pulling you incredibly tight against him, “Come on baby girl, you can cum. I need you to, Gahh—you feel so good. So tight for me.”

His words of encouragement paired with the swivel of his hips has your vision starting to blur. You cry out his name as your body goes rigid and thighs tremble against his hips. Bucky grabs both thighs in his hands, spreading your legs farther and he starts moving your body on his own. Your body has no time at all to recover from the second orgasm before he’s working you up to the third and when your walls begin to hold him like a vice grip, he’s done for.

He’s pushing his head to your shoulder, teeth biting down onto the skin and then he’s filling you. Each spurt of his cum causing your third orgasm to come to fruition until you’re squirting all over him and you.

The action surprises you because it hadn’t happened with anyone before. You bury your face into the crook of his neck.

Both of your chests are heaving with the lack of oxygen intake but Bucky speaks disrupting post sex haze, “You’re amazing, so gorgeous.”

The corners of your mouth turn up into a sheepish smile, “You sure do know how to make a girl feel special even after sex.”

His chest rumbles with laugher but he settles down fast and his electric blue eyes bore into yours, “I love you.”

You didn’t think your heart could take anything else but hearing him saying those three words has it soaring with happiness.

You smile and lightly kiss his lips, “I love you too.”

#bucky barnes x reader #Bucky x reader #bucky barnes smut #bucky barnes one shot

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sfaioffical · 8 years ago

Photo

Since its founding in 1871 as the first art organization west of the Mississippi, San Francisco Art Institute’s history has been collected—150 years of artists, scholars, and exhibitions. Housed in the Anne Bremer Memorial Library and the campus’ iconic tower, the in-situ archive spans from the founding documents of the San Francisco Museum of Art to early acid-trip induced exhibitions. A new exhibition, Ghosts of the Tower, and a recently-awarded two-year grant—from Institute of Museums and Library Services (IMLS) to digitize and make widely accessible the Exhibitions and Public Programs Collections—will open up the archive for research, conservation, and conversation.

This conversation with Jeff Gunderson, SFAI Special Collections Librarian and Archivist, and Julian Wong-Nelson, Archives Assistant and Digital Specialist, offers some archival insight into conservation, institutional memory, and exploring the collection firsthand.

Stephanie Smith (SS): Give us an overview of the archive project.

Jeff Gunderson (JG): The grant is going to put the SFAI archives in better shape, and make it more visible to the rest of the world too. The overall project is to re-house the collection into archivally sound containers and folders, pare down the triplications and quadruplicates, and to really get a good idea what is in the archive. We have a pretty good conception of what those things are—documenting the exhibition history of this place going back to 1871—but there are always some great nuggets to be discovered that could give good insight into the history of exhibitions and public programs at the Art Institute. Julian's been going through them for now a couple of years, a year and a half maybe?

Julian Wong-Nelson (JWN): Yes, it's been in a year and a half. I started on circulation and pretty quickly asked for extra projects. I had some interest in exhibition archives already, and then went from there. I think the original project started as just re-housing.

JG: That's right, and you turned it into something even better by making essentially a checklist of everything too. It evolved from there, and you made it really dynamic. In a lot of ways you immersed yourself in it, so it's nice to have a co-conspirator like you.

JWN: Yeah, in cahoots. SS: What type of objects are in the archive?

JG: It is truly an institutional archive. Each department has boxed and stored materials, and that storage has become the archives, whether from the public relations office, the academic affairs office, or the photography department.

Now there have been objects that have appeared in those archives … probably because it's an art school. Whether it's something like the John Cage chair, posters, or photographs during different periods, both internal and external. There are some ceramic pieces too in the archives.

SS: What are some of surprises you’ve found in your archive dives so far?

JG: I think a lot of research and history is really biographical—you get a good sense of people from the letters that they may have written. In our collection, there are some great ones from Fred Martin [Professor Emeritus, Painting].

There are some exhibitions that I wasn't aware of until relatively recently. Maybe five or six years ago I came across this great exhibition called The Experience that Jerry Burchard, who was a photo faculty member and had been a student, organized in 1966—the middle of the heyday of LSD culture. The artists all took hallucinogens and then photographed for a 24-hour period. It's a good sense of the time and a good sense of those people who were part of that exhibition too, because they were all pretty well known photographers—Steven Arnold, Chris and Sharon Gray, Phillip Perkis, and Burchard.

JWN: It says a lot about the institution largely too, what kinds of shows were being held at certain periods.

Often you'll find artist sketches of how the show is supposed to look, like gallery design maps, which are really interesting. You can then try and match it up to the photographs and see if they got to have their way or if it went very differently...

The correspondence is fascinating too. There are a lot of letters saying, "You lost my painting.” It’s also worthwhile thinking about, where does all of our correspondence go?

JG: Yeah. The born digital thing worries me. We'll deal with the paper stuff first, which has a longevity to it.

JWN: Right, that's a much more manageable project.

JG: It’s interesting to see, as Julian said, ephemera from different time periods. Also, a lot of the shows that Philip Linhares did when he was gallery director were really really fascinating—they didn't have much to do with what you might think was art. There was an exhibition on hot rods (The Hot Rod Aesthetic, 1968) and one on toys (A Christmas and New Years Exhibition of Toys, 1970). You could tell that they felt they had license to do whatever they wanted and that they weren't being constricted by collectors, board members of a museum, or even the art community. It was just sort of freewheeling. I think that's evidence of the time and evidence of this place.

SS: How long has the archive been formally managed?

JG: In the late 1970s there were maybe ten people who worked in the library, and now we have four people, and Julian now is overseeing this archival project. At that time, there was one person, Harry Mulford, who had been here since the early 1960s. He took it under his wings to try to give some order to the archival material which had always been around this place. I have never met him, but he left probably only a half a year or so before I started. We should have him come by and be part of this project.

Mulford did a lot of work. In many respects he planted the seed to really pay attention to the archives here. At one point the Archives of American Art wanted to take the collection but Stephen Goldstine, who was president of the school at the time, wouldn't let them do it. He thought that that legacy should remain here and was part of the proprietary interests of the San Francisco Art Institute and should be here for all. That was the wise decision... It would have been a crucial component to the Archives of American Art’s holdings but it would have gotten lost. It does better here.

People have always found it here too, whether curators, historians, or writers. They know this material is here and they've been able to track it down but with it in better order and in better shape and the knowledge that we will put to it, people will understand that there is more here to cull from.

SS: Having it accessible here at SFAI means that people can leaf through it and have a more physical relationship to the object. It’s always a wonderful thing to touch history.

JWN: There is something really important about, especially for students, getting to physically access archival material. It demystifies the past and you get interested in the mundane, like the dense paper trail of loan forms. Knowing how much an artwork was insured for can provide a lot of information about how the artist or galleries valued their work. That history is really important to be able to touch and understand. Especially as we move into a more digital age, sometimes students don't even understand typewriters, so it's really great for them to look at documents that were typewritten or done by hand. For example, the Eadweard Muybridge reference in the hand-written minutes from the San Francisco Art Association’s board [which approved the 1878 public screening of the artist’s Zoopraxiscope]. It's just important to have access in that regard—not just intellectual but physical.

JG: The fact that a very good selection of these things will be online, I hope it will encourage people to come and do research here. That will give them the entire context of what it is they're going to be writing about. It's nice to have a place, or a kind of commons, where those archives exist in-situ and where people can come together and cross paths with each other. It's nice to put people together face-to-face with archival materials, but also with students and faculty who are interested in the same kinds of topics.

SS: Describe the campus exhibition, Ghosts of the Tower, which coincides with this project.

JWN: One part is about providing access to the community, specifically students, for research projects, and having these interests shape the early direction of the overall project. Like, what do we prioritize for digitization? What do we prioritize for processing? We’ll be taking the community’s interests and responding in a really dynamic way. I also am excited to interact with students around research projects—Jeff already does this on a daily basis. I thought it would be really awesome to be able to extend that even further into the archive.

JG: It's been really terrific in the last two or three years for faculty to engage their students with the archives. Whether it's for a research paper, seeing primary source materials of these odd things of their ancestors, as well as to, as you say, touch those documents in some respects. It'll be fun to have this exhibition in the gallery where they can see more of it because they're interested in the underpinnings of the legacy, whether it's the way it's stored in the tower or in the back room here in the library, or the way that it's dealt with from sort of a conservation standpoint.

Hopefully they will have input as to what should be scanned or what is of interest to them. It'll be great to see their take on it all.

JWN: Yeah, a couple of months ago somebody was asking me about SFAI's punk history and I was like, "We can dig it up. We can find out." Maybe there are more material in exhibitions, we don't know yet, but they are interested in it. From conversations I've had with students, they're really interested in the school history so this is a really good way for them to get involved, feel some ownership over the material, and have fun.

SS: What are the stories behind the original photos of the Diego Rivera Gallery before the mural, and Diego Rivera in front of the finished mural, The Making of a Fresco Showing the Building of a City (1931)?

JG: The first one is that gallery space, which I think was called the Antique Room according to the architectural plans at that time. I think the architect Arthur Brown designed it as the cathedral part of the Italian hillside village that he designed with the bell-tower, and the courtyard as a little plaza. A tapestry covered the main wall where the Diego Rivera mural resides, and we'll have to dig into it to see what that exhibition was about. The photograph is probably from 1927 or so, right when the building was built.

The other photograph turned up not too long ago because of this project, as we were going through the exhibition archives. Becky [Rebecca Alexander, Library Technician, Special Collections Specialist] found an exhibition that was held in the mid 1970s of drawings that Diego had done, preparatory cartoon drawings for the mural. The drawings were owned by the school, but then exhibited in the gallery along with this photograph of Diego Rivera on the scaffolding after finishing the mural. He sits beside William Gerstel, who had commissioned the mural, and architect Arthur Brown.

We didn't know that photograph was in the archive, we thought we only had a newspaper clipping of it. But, when that photograph was used for that exhibition decades ago, instead of being placed back with our historical photographs, it was left in the exhibition file. No one had looked at that exhibition file since until Becky found it going through the paper trail of that exhibition. It's a really nice photographic find, because we didn't have a photograph of Diego Rivera on this campus. We're still looking for one of Clyfford Still on campus. It may turn up in this …

JWN: It may turn up.

SS: What were some of the other exhibitions we looked at today in the archives? JWN: We also looked at the film exhibition, Four and Seven, from 1977. George and Mike Kuchar were in that one, as well as Carolee Schneemann and Gunvor Nelson.

JG: The sculptor Robert Howard too. He was from a whole different generation but it was his home movies, I think, that he had taken in 1920's Paris. So it was this wild range of filmmaking that was not traditional film at all, just personal and non-narrative film. And the great Kuchar brothers.

JWN: Yeah, I think I brought that one out because it has that wonderful catalogue, the tiny catalogue. It’s also such a great example of sort of the kinds of films that were coming through SFAI during that period. It was a huge range, a really great survey of all kinds of weird, out there films—a really expansive understandings of what film meant.

JG: I think that show was curated by Al Wong, who was a student here and by that time a film faculty member. He was areally fascinating film-installation artist too.

SS: We also looked at Jay DeFeo’s Adaline Kent exhibition at SFAI.

JG: Is that the one with all the slides, the installation slides?

JWN: Yeah.

JG: When the Whitney Museum did that big Jay DeFeo retrospective a few years ago, they were interested in trying to track down everything possible about Jay. When they latched onto the fact that those shows existed here, we tracked those down, it was nice to find this wealth of slides, 35mm slides of installation views. They were very curious as to how it was laid out and everything and those things proved that.

It emphasizes the importance of doing as much of this now as possible, just because those slides were encapsulated in plastic sheets which will really will get ruined in a lot of ways and we managed to digitize them okay and get them… and they were certainly of use but it does show how, as great as paper lasts, there are aspects of it whether it's paper clips and staples, but primarily the plastic sleeves that photographs might be in, rather than good archival sleeves, that could really destroy stuff over time.

JWN: Yeah, when I first started, we actually weren't planning on rehousing slides because there's only so much resources, so much time. Just rehousing the paper was the goal but then we realized really quickly that the plastic had started breaking down and producing this oil. We bought archival sleeves for the slides…

JG: That's right. That was one of the first things that you did do and you ... I think you found most of those...

JWN: Yeah, I mean that probably took the longest time initially because it's just done individually, and you have to keep the order and the direction. But yeah the damage from things like paper clips is pretty immediately apparent because of all the rust and you just see the stains but generally those are in places that aren't going to actually obscure information.

JG: You can clip it off if need be. It's not terrible.

JWN: Exactly, you're not going to lose like a ton of vital information because it's in the corner but a slide that's got that goo on it, it was just totally ruined, there's no way. So it's good we're doing this now.

SS: Tell us about your trajectory from MA student and working in the library to your continued affiliation with SFAI.

JWN: Yeah, it's a really awesome opportunity. I think that it was really exciting to be involved as a student in the project, where initially I had thought I would write my thesis on something that I found in the archive and it ended up being more of a passion project. It's great I got to continue doing it and I'm very excited to get to share that sort of excitement with the larger student body because I know that so many of them are really fascinated by it too.

In some ways it's sort of a foreshadowing for my own research.

JG: Well, I think it is personal as much as anything. If it resonates with them personally then they will gravitate to it. But across the board, so many people have been interested in segments of it and overall the archival too; it's wonderful to share it with the students like that. We got very lucky with you though, as somebody who just delved right into it.

JWN: Head first.

Ghosts of the Tower is on view at the Atholl McBean Gallery from January 26 through April 8, 2017. Learn more »

This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, grant number MA-30-16-0455-16.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is celebrating its 20th Anniversary. IMLS is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries(link is external) and 35,000 museums. Our mission has been to inspire libraries and museums to advance innovation, lifelong learning, and cultural and civic engagement. For the past 20 years, our grant making, policy development, and research has helped libraries and museums deliver valuable services that make it possible for communities and individuals to thrive. To learn more, visit www.imls.gov and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

The views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Image credits: 1) Installation views of Jay DeFeo's Adaline Kent Award exhibition, Selected Works Past and Present, Emanuel Walter Gallery, 1984. 2) Julian Wong-Nelson working in Ghosts of the Tower in the Atholl McBean Gallery; Photo by Marco David. 3) Installation view of Ghosts of the Tower in the Atholl McBean Gallery; Photo by Marco David. 4) Poster from Robert Williams’ exhibition, 1995. 5) Poster from Art Against War, an exhibition featuring Robert Arneson, Robert Colescott, Chuck Eckart, Mike Osterhout, Marie Thibeault, and John Woodall, 1983. 6) George Kuchar's entry in the group exhibition catalog, Four and Seven, a film series curated by Al Wong, 1977. 7) Jeff Gunderson and Julian Wong-Nelson in the Anne Bremer Memorial Library. 8) John Cage chair used during his “ONE7” performance at San Francisco Art Institute (1991). 7) Flyer from Bonnie Sherk’s exhibition The Farm: An Environmental and Social Process, 1976. 9) Photo from The Experience (1966). 10) Entry in San Francisco Art Association Board of Directors minutes, July 1878, giving Eadweard Muybridge permission to exhibit “his photographs of trotting horses.” 11) Diego Rivera on the scaffolding after finishing the The Making of a Fresco Showing the Building of a City (1931) alongside William Gerstel and architect Arthur Brown. 12) Installation view of the Antique Room (now known as the Diego Rivera Gallery), circa 1927.

#SFAI archive #SFAIarchive #San Francisco Art Institute #SFAI #IMLS #IMLS Grant

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