#also funny it’s in the same article they use to prove they’re gonna break up soon but ignore that bit lol

[daisysmalia]

Thinking about how Oliver said he wants BuckTommy to continue in a similar thread to Tarlos 🫨

[floatingbook]

Goddammit, thank you for that Page post. I've read discussions about it on tumblr, ovarit and even saidit, and EVERYWHERE the so called feminists were shitting on her for... Being short ig?? Having a big forehead?? And like you said calling her a "teenage boy". This honestly made me feel so disgusted, especially since I'm also short (taller than Page tho) and gnc.I guess this whole thing proves how actually difficult it is to unlearn the misogyny we grow up with :(

Anon was referring to this post. And these kind of reactions are draining. They just make me so, so tired. I mean, a lesbian, one in the public eye, who has spoken before about how she’s been abused and harassed, who has spoken about the shame and self-hatred she’s had to face for being a lesbian, who’s always seemed uncomfortable in “feminine” clothing, and decides to wear the clothes she’s comfortable in and cut her hair in a manner that appeals to her — and let’s be honest, none of the women criticising her when the Time article came out were commenting on lesbophobia or how Page’s decision impacts public perception of lesbians and sex stereotypes; all that mattered was her appearance — and every woman with spare time and zero empathy just decide to insult her style choices. Talk about community, talk about sisterhood. I guess I’m a “ugly teenage boy” too if they pass me in the street and women’s liberation is freedom to dunk on lesbians.

It’s misogyny, plain and simple. A woman has different political beliefs, and instead of criticising those beliefs, that woman is reduced to her appearance and her experiences lose all credibility, she is discounted, because she doesn’t have the right appearance. She’s an “ugly teenage boy”, she’s a “hag”, she’s “unhygienic”, she’s “old”, no man is ever going to want her, she’s gonna end up alone. The same old trope, rehashed, and always directed at women. But yes, I guess the women trashing Page’s choice of plain tees, jeans, sneakers and short hair can call themselves “feminists” because they do know how to spot a woman (read here: the appropriate target for a reduction to appearances only). Given that climate, it’s no wonder Page turned to the gender nonsense to get a break. At least no one there is giving her shit for just wanting to exist*. 

Moreover, I thought one of the point of feminism was that no woman owes you beauty? That no woman owes you a performance to have her opinions considered, or to be extended, you know, basic respect? But I kept seeing women acting as if another woman had to fit their own standard of appearance to be afforded that basic respect. And it’s really funny (and by that I mean terribly sad) how feminists normally agree that make-up, high heels, flimsy and short  impractical clothing are part of the tools men use to oppress us daily, but as soon as a woman rejects them she’s dog-piled? Way to encourage the behaviour you want to see in the world.

It’s also lesbophobia unleashed. There’s never this level of vitriol to criticise heterosexually-partnered women in the public eye who perform extreme femininity, even if their behaviour is way more negative for all the women and girls who come across media where they appear. It’s always directed at lesbians who refuse to conform, who refuse to perform femininity, who choose to exist in their natural state. These women don’t seem to be bothered by who will be hit in the cross-fire. They forget that what Page was wearing in these pictures is the kind of clothes any woman might wear to be comfortable. They forget that there are plenty of lesbians out there who feel at home in that kind of clothes and who wear them daily. They forget that the very women they’re always asking solidarity from are also a direct target of this rabid appearance insulting.

I don’t think it proves how difficult it is to unlearn the misogyny we grow up with; I think it highlights how many women don’t care about unlearning that misogyny. They aren’t even trying. There is no remorse, as highlighted by this anon I got, who should have been able to get it. It looks like for many women, at least in the “Western world”, feminism is just a space to vent about how mean men are, before going right back to the status quo. There’s no want for change, no real will for action. And lesbians keep getting called would-be-men, like the old homophobia. The world is still the same.

*Again, I don’t caution her choice, hating your body and the misogyny/lesbophobia you face is never going to be solved by pretending you can identify out of oppression, but that’s not really the subject here. The subject is criticising women for their physical appearance and for choosing practical clothing (which is misogyny).

[lollybliz]

bout to make a Monster of a fic rec post here we go

heyo @jinx108! We’ll start with the complete ones because sometimes you’re just not in the mood to wait for the last chapter, you know? I don't remember details of all of these so i’m just going to copy the author’s summary rather than write my own. I am literally just going through my bookmarks, I got 400 of these to sort through. if ive talked to or am familiar with the author im gonna mention them, but if I mention you and you don't want me to have Please tell me and i’ll remove it.

If you’re not into spoilers Please Tread Carefully, I don't watch out for that stuff so I wont know to label it

1>Crushing Truth by Bunzuku: Tododeku. “Romance is hard enough for a teenager to understand when they have a good relationship role model. For Shoto, it takes two excited meddlers for him to even realize what his feelings really are.“

2>Disowned by b00mgh: tododeku + others. Unrated, some traumatic elements. “Shouto freaks out under a bridge and I use the word "grass" a lot more than I really should. Izuku does his stupid martyr thing and everyone makes continuous references to his propensity to break his bones. Aizawa goes "oh FUCK my kids are dying again" and his students use him as emotional (and physical) support. A friend requests angst, I say what kind, she say idk make someone get disowned and i say oh this I can absolutely provide my good buddy.”

3>cotton candy hands by @chonideno: Kiribaku. I will take Any excuse to rec this fic, its the most fluffy pile of feels Good Lord. also the first fic I ever bound into a physical book. “Studying to become a hero requires knowing how to take care of yourself. Sometimes you might need help on the way so if your crush offers to do your hair for you or to give you a well-deserved back rub, it'd be stupid to say no. A series of soft vignettes in which a love-struck Kirishima and a touch-starved Bakugou care for each other and it's definitely not making their hearts jump through hoops, they’re never this close to kissing, no, they're totally best friends bro“

4>Catching Sight of the Storm by neo7v: Kiribaku, tododeku. A considerable amount of Whump and related angst, and kinda sad tbh. “Blind. Quirkless. Useless.The first two things were stated clearly by the doctor that sat about five feet in front of Izuku. The third was a word that Kacchan called him everytime he failed to make the jump on whatever forest excursion they were on or when he ran into a tree because he hadn’t seen it. “I’m so, so sorry, Izuku.” Was his mom giving up on him already? But he could still be a hero if he tried hard enough, right? Quirkless or not. Blind or not. Just because Izuku was useless now didn’t mean he would stay that way forever, right? *** A Blind!Izuku AU”

5>Yell Heah by fakecharliebrown: Chatfic. M a n y pairings. technically complete, but part of an ongoing series. “Iida creates a group-chat for Class 1-A. It doesn't go as planned.“

6>Sunshine by Rosey_Note: BIG SAD. tw- failed suicide attempt. KiriKamiBaku. “They didn't deserve to put up with his crappy mood. Because Denki Kaminari did not feel like Sunshine right now. And they deserved sunshine. In fact, Denki didn't feel much of anything right now.“

7>Electric Connection by  Onlymostydead: ShinKami. “Kaminari's quirk has always had... Weird side affects. Like his ADHD. And his constant energy. And his insomnia, which wouldn't leave him be right now, when he really needed to just get some sleep. But, thankfully, he has good friends.“

8>The Best (The Worst) by Onlymostydead: no romantic pairing. tw- rampant transphobia, both outside and internalized. “Bakugou Katsuki has known who he was since he was four years old. He was a boy, it was as simple as that. Around his friends, at school... But things couldn't just be that simple, could they?“

9>Lichtenberg Figures by Q_loves_you: no definite romantic pairing. “Kaminari Denki has a very powerful force of nature running through his body. Kaminari Denki doesn't want to hurt anybody. He doesn't always get what he wants, and "anybody" does generally include himself.“

10>Eventuality by KikaTouka: ill be honest I don't remember this one at all, I maaaay not have read it yet :/. anyway. ShinKami. “Shinsou learns more than just hero lessons after being transferred to 1-A.“

11>Pickup Lines for the Soul by MustardSoup: ShinKami. “Denki is twelve when he is flicking through the TV channels and lands on an old RomCom movie about soulmate marks – specifically the same type that he has. “I can’t believe I’ve had to walk around with a cheap pickup line written on my ankle my entire life because of you!” The leading lady yells at the leading man as he stares at her in awe. Denki laughs. “Oh no.” His mother says, watching him. “Oh no, indeed.” His sister repeats quietly.“

12>caught in my own web by @anxioussailorsoldier: ShinKami. “Shinsou needs some help after getting caught up in his capture weapon. Kaminari enters from stage left.“

13>not so summer love by nataliya: ShinKami. “Class 2-B’s common room, although typically quiet, was currently filled with five students—three slowly giving up on homework, one bitching about noise and another that rushes through the front door. “We’ve been waiting for you—” Mina starts, but Kaminari’s vaulting over the back of the couch, eyes wide as he practically buzzes out of his skin, emitting light like crazy as currents dazzle across strands of hair. “I have a big ugly crush,” He steps off the couch and onto the coffee table, much to Bakugou’s chagrin, “On big ugly Shinsou.””

14>Blamed by coldandhotsoba: ShinKami. Tw- they fuckin kill a guy and its a lil nasty. “This was not how the day was supposed to end. They were supposed to end the day like they do most nights.  Kaminari clutching onto him like a koala as he slept, wrapped in the millions of tacky blankets Kaminari had bought. Warm and safe in their bed. It was not supposed to end with both of them tied up in some cold metal room.“

15>Lightning Scars by Present-Mics-Scream (write_your_way_out): Shinkami. “It's hard to be confident in your abilities when you're surrounded by people with incredible quirks. Shinsou Hitoshi would know better than anyone. Sure, he was admitted to the hero course in his second year, but being admitted to the hero course, and keeping up with the rest of the class are two different things. Lucky for him, Kaminari is there to prove that the flashiest quirks come with the largest drawbacks.“

16>See No Evil, Hear No Evil by randomfan188: no romantic pairing. “Kaminari Denki is legally blind. When he forgets to wear his contacts and breaks down during math class, comfort appears in the strangest of ways.“

17>how not to enjoy the weather, an article by kaminari denki by dreamtowns: no defined romantic pairing. “If there was one thing Kaminari hated the most in a world wth villains, it would have to be thunderstorms.“

18>”Studying” by emmyrox22: ShinKami, EraserMic. “Shinsou and Kaminari have been “studying” together for a while (but not for school). Shinsou gets stopped by his dads on the way to another “study” session and mistakes are made“

19>Weaknesses by sunflowerstorm: ShinKami. “Kaminari's quirk and storms compliment each other in the worst way, but he's convinced he can deal with it on his own... until he really can't any longer. When Shinsou accidentally overhears Aizawa confronting Kaminari about recent changes in behaviour and hears about the hell his quirks been putting him through, he can't just pretend he never heard. He wants to help.“

20>it’s hurt denki hours by memeingfultrash: ShinKami + others. ““Certain members of our class are...under the impression that...you’re the traitor.” Denki’s body went cold and felt like he was going to short circuit. ~some of class 1a believes that denki is the traitor and avoid him”

21>Petition to replace Mineta with Shinsou- (signed by Kaminari Denki) by CharaTheQuartz: ShinKami + others. This is one of my favorites, I go back to reread it from time to time. It SAYS 41/42, but that's just a glitch cus chapter 36 doesn't exist for some reason, I talked to the author about it and its fine. “Mineta brings shame to the color purple. You know who does not bring shame to the rich color, but pride and sexual tension to one infatuated Kaminari Denki instead? Shinsou Hitoshi, aka sexy zombie man, aka the most perfect hunk of a man to walk planet earth, aka future husband. Shinsou has finally gotten his chance to prove himself to the hero course, and he did more than prove himself. The only question left unanswered is whether he will start in A or B, and how Kaminari can manipulate the end result.“

22>How to Get a Boyfriend (in Four Easy Steps!) by e1ana: ShinKami, EraserMic, + others. “Step 1: Get kicked out of the house by your homophobic parents. Step 2: Run headfirst into your brooding, mysterious crush. Step 3: Sleep in his dad’s (see: your homeroom teacher) house Step 4: Watch everything you thought you knew go to shit. This isn’t exactly the sweet, romantic plan that Kaminari Denki longed for. Will everything be ok, or will step 5 be to crash and burn?“

23>Bakugou and Todoroki’s Foolproof 5-Step Plan to Fuck with Mineta Minoru by Anubis_2701: Kiribaku, TodoDeku, + others. This is another one of my favorites, and the one I am currently folding and sewing into a physical book. you learn how to do funny things when bored and quarantined ig. “It was a simple enough idea; screw around with the resident bastard of Class 1-A to let him know that his medieval ways and perverted behaviour weren't going to be tolerated by even the most career-focused of UA's students. To say that things had snowballed was an understatement. Todoroki had no idea how he had ended up sitting on Bakugou's floor at 1 am, holding a dossier of incriminating material that would make the FBI slobber, but he wasn't sure he wanted to know. The long and short of it was, fuck Mineta.”

24>Colour Theory by chancellorxofxtrash: TodoBakuDeku. this one’s a series. “Midoriya/Bakugo/Todoroki slow burn soulmate AU. All three of them are nerds with their own emotional issues, trying to navigate their way through becoming heroes, and their own relationship with each other.“

25>Summer Sunshine by Mara97: TodoDeku. Ever want a Barbie in a mermaid tale/Bnha crossover? No? well here you go anyway! “Instead of worrying about college, Izuku spends his summer vacation finding out his father is, supposedly, a dead merman king and going on a quest to dethrone the current king, Endeavor. Along the way, Izuku becomes close to the three journeying with him, makes friends with strangers, starts crushing on an unattainable prince, and, in the end, learns to love himself. Oh, and he saves a kingdom, too.“

26>The snowflakes on our skin and the flames in our soul are one (and the same), my love by missunderstuffyou: TodoDeku, Kiribaku. this is one of the ones I keep a running reread comment going on. its at,,, 6, atm.  “Before your quirk begins to present itself, the soulmate link comes through, and suddenly whatever you write upon your own skin appears on the body of your soulmate. As your soulmate writes to you, the emotions they feel follow through the ink.Izuku Midoriya is four years and a few months old when he first feels the slight ebbing in his arms. It doesn’t hurt… he can just feel something, and it’s enough to make him sprint into his mother’s arms screaming that his quirk is coming. She had been washing in the kitchen, and the sudden screech as her son rockets into her side is enough to make her jump with panic, immediately grabbing at him and looking for cuts and bumps before she understands his words and the stupidly bright, alight smile on his face with large, watery, hopeful eyes. Shoto Todoroki doesn’t feel his soulmate connection open up. It is drowned in the aches of a small body worked far too hard.“

27>It was dark inside the closet by Chad_Champion69420: Pre-ShinDeku? maybe? its tagged shindeku but like. it’ll make sense if you read it. “Midoriya is invited to a party. He and Shinsou decide to play a little trick on the rest of the party during Seven Minutes in Heaven.”

28>how to woo your local trash gremlin: a comprehensive guide by Todoroki shouto by wonhaebunny: TodoBaku. this is the fic that dragged me into todobaku, fun fact. “five times shouto tries to confess to bakugou, and one time he doesn't bother tryingaka: wikihow is a scam and bakugou is a terrible, terrible boy“

29>top ten photos taken right before disaster by Shookspeare: ShinDeku. “Izuku participates in a harmless prank, only to end up ruining it and running for dear life.“

30>Secrets to Share by pechebaie: no definite romantic pairing. “Kirishima comes out first, and nothing changes. Kirishima and Kaminari still hang out to complain about class and talk about boys - and sometimes girls, too, in Kaminari’s case; he still plans stupid pranks with Sero that get them sent to the principal’s or nurse’s office every time; Ashido still kicks his ass at Mario Kart without hesitation; and Bakugou doesn’t get angry at him any more than he usually does.“

31>What One Hides by Pinalinet: TodoDeku. “All Might gives class 1-A an unusual assignment that results in Midoriya Izuku and Todoroki Shouto attending a weekly acting class. But with a mysterious villain targeting individuals without Quirks, and a developing issue of Todoroki's own, an after-school assignment is the least of their worries.“

32>whether or not we’re fated, we’re meant to be by juurensha: KINDA SPOILERY. TodoDeku + others. “Todoroki didn’t have a soulmark for most of his life.His siblings all did, but up until the day of the U.A. entrance exam, he had shoved the idea aside. It’s not like they could help him anyway. And then a 9 appears on his chest, and a green-haired boy barrels into his life with a fire and ice soulmark on his arms, and suddenly Todoroki cares very much about all this could mean.”

33>The Midnight Shift by meiishu @meiishu @totallytodoroki (idk which you’d rather I attach so I went with both): ShinKami. ““Hey Toshi,” Denki says, and he laughs, clearly embarrassed. He’s got on a jean jacket that did him absolutely no help and a white tee shirt that is currently stuck to his torso. It’s got a pikachu design in the center. “By any chance, do you sell umbrellas?” “You really went out in this weather.” Hitoshi deadpans, instead of dignifying that with an answer. or hitoshi works the midnight shift at the gas station, which also doubles as a pokestop for pokemon go. of course, denki is a regular.”

34>Rock the House by AkabaneKayo: ShinKami. “It wasn’t just his bed. It was his entire fucking room shaking. Only one thought crossed his mind at that moment: “Holy shit. My room is haunted.”“

35>Technically, they’re morning kisses by CharaTheQuartz: ShinKami. “Most nights, Shinsou cannot fall sleep. Neither can Kaminari. It seems counterproductive to have a sleepover then, but they try to make it work. And they fail, but that is okay.“

36>someone to call mine by nearly_theyre: ShinKami, EraserMic “From: Me wish you were here, denks From: kitten 💛💘💛 what if i was tho? OR Four times Denki snuck into Hitoshi's room and one time he walked through the front door.“

37>Pretty by Onlymostydead (noticing some repeat authors? me too): no definite romantic pairing. “(Or, Kaminari still can't figure out bra clasps.) Kaminari has never really felt good about himself. Herself? Whichever way, not knowing doesn't make anything easier. Especially when he (she?) and Mina have their bodies swapped during training, and everything seems too right.“

38>If I offer you my hand, will you take it? by bleukitsune: Kiribaku. SPOILERY. ““Why?” Kirishima leaned back on his hands, trying to create some space between them. Too close. The ash-blond looked really nervous, his usually arrogant and cunning demeanor gone. “What do you see when you look at me? Kirishima is worried. Bakugou is hurting. After his confrontation with Midoriya, he finally reaches out to him. “

Theres way more but I haven't tagged them properly yet so that m a y come later if I can ever finish going through and adding my sorting tags.

and then a last few that Are Not Complete but im really very fond of them. not as many as id like to add, but my hands are getting tired tbh.

39>State of Mind by GuardianOfTheLoaf: no relationship YET but its looking like it’ll be either tododeku or shindeku, probably the former. EraserMic. tw- childhood neglect and severe depression. Izuku’s not a happy kid. “Izuku was a late bloomer, his quirk lying dormant until his tenth birthday when in a fit of emotion he grabs his mother and she disappears. With All Might slowly restoring his confidence Izuku begins the difficult journey into becoming a hero.“ 18/? chapters.

40>Izuku Eats His Problems by CosmicAce: ShinDeku. Izuku’s a flerkin, what more could you want? “His whole life, Izuku Midoriya was taught to keep his powers, his Quirk, hidden from the world. His kind were feared, hunted to near extinction because of it. He just wants to show people he’s different. That he can be a HERO. And nothing is going to stop him. Even if his Quirk IS like an eldritch abomination.“ 43/? chapters

and then probably my current favorite bnha fic- although it fights with Apertum Mortem for that spot but that ones d a r k and not here-

41>family of the year by periiwren: EraserMic. “Hitoshi is done. Done with moving around every few months to a couple that will scrutinize him and eventually dump him right back where he started. Good thing he’s well past his strike limit now- at least he can stay in one place, be content to age out of the system and finish out his training with Aizawa. Maybe transfer into the hero course, maybe be a hero- but none of that was guaranteed. The only thing for sure was that he was going to stay in that center for the rest of his childhood. Or so he thought- because Aizawa Shouta and Yamada Hizashi have other plans.“ 24/? chapters. we’ve been informed that this one’s gonne be l o n g and im Very Grateful.

42>Here There Be Dragons by here_and_there: pre-ShinDeku. “Izuku looked at the small circle Aizawa had motioned to in front of them. "I won't fit," he whispered, thinking. He raised his hand, tentatively. Sighing, Aizawa grumbled, "What?" "I-I have a question. Actually, two." His teacher just stared at him, unimpressed. Izuku continued. "Can we activate our quirks before we step into the ring?" Aizawa looked up into the sky, muttering something Izuku didn't hear. "If you must." "O-Okay. Uh, second question. You said we have to stay inside the circle, right?" "Yes." The man looked disappointed, not only in Izuku but in himself for letting the kid speak. "Great. Uh... does that include tails?"“ 6/? chapters.

43>Another Option by sandersonsister: TodoBakuDeku, Touya/Hawks, Dabi/Hawks. Potentially Spoilery, depends on whether horikoshi has the guts to confirm Touya. this one is waiting around the corner with a baseball bat, its really cute, and then r e a l l y painful. it might be getting better though. maybe. it might be getting worse. “When Touya stops his mother from hurting Shouto, he decides enough is enough. He needs to get out of this house and he's taking his baby brother with him.“ 33/? chapters.

That's it i’m done for now, oof. maybe ill edit more onto this post later, maybe i’ll just make another one. hope some of these work!

[kassies-take]

A Page From Maggie’s Book

Can you do a Maggie Sawyer x best friend reader badass team up where reader is new to superhero work and decides to go on a ride along with Maggie to see how police handle threats or something? 

@healthtobination

A/n: Sorry it’s taken awhile for me to do this

Warning: Rape, violence

Maggie Sawyer x BestFriend!Reader 

Word Count:  1747

“Do I get a gun?” you asked after putting on bullet proof gear. 

Maggie scoffed, “you think I am going to give you a gun? That’s funny.” 

“It was worth a try,” you shrugged. 

“You don’t need a gun when you’ve got force fields.” 

“Are we going to stop a robbery? Car chase? Ooh a...”

Maggie chuckled. “You’re cute, I’m a detective officer not a patrol officer.”

“So what do you do?”

“First off, you don’t need this.” Maggie gestured to the bullet proof vest. “till necessary. Second detectives don’t have your typical police cars, we’re stealthy, we find information. Our ride is unmarked cars.”

“What information do you find?” You asked leaning against Maggie’s desk

“We find anything and everything about suspects, their high school, the clubs they join, the name of their family pet, their sister’s name, parents name, job, friends. Everything.”

“So what do we do now.”

“Research.”

You tapped a pen on your knee continuously. The constants ticks made Maggie look at you with a raised eyebrow. She rolled closer to the right side of her desk, took out a key and opened the bottom cabinet. The detective pulled out a thick beige folder and handed it to you.

“What is this?”

“Victims.”

“Victims? Of?”

“Look through them.”

The file revealed multiple women with rape at the bottom.

“All of these women were rapped?” You flipped though several pages.

“You’ve worked with Alex and Kara before, they both go way to fast into action. Punching their way into things. We go the whole way, we want the man responsible to rot in hell. We find evidence and we don’t hold back and we do it for them.”

“Kara and Alex catch the guy. Kara’s a reporter so she has to get evidence.”

“Most of the time, Alex or Kara catch the guys but they get away from lack of evidence. Little Danvers may have evidence but she does not get to control the jury, or how the other side uses the evidence.”

“Sawyer, come have a look at this.”

You followed Maggie down the hall. The other officer played a footage. A view over the city.

“Real-estate, so what.”

“Wait,” The camera flew closer towards a window. Past the window was a girl changing.

“This is disgusting,” you glared at the screen.

“We’ve got a peeping Tom,” Maggie crossed her arms.

“It gets worse,” the screen cut to a bed room corner showcasing the whole master bed room.

A blond millennial woman in a pink shirt and grey sweatpants, walked from what was assumed the bathroom towards the bed. Seconds later a man in a mask pushed her onto the bed. There was obvious signs of struggling from the girl. You turned away as the man ripped open her sweatpants and began thrusting into the woman.

“He’s not a peeping Tom, he’s a serial rapist.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You sat in Maggie’s passenger seat blankly staring at the the dashboard.

“Feet off the dash!” Maggie was as equally as pissed as your were.

“He clearly is the one in the video! Why can’t we use that?”

“We know it’s him, but for all we know it could be a man in a mask.”

“Ugh!!!!” You kicked at dash board. “You know what makes this more frustrating!”

“You kicking my car?”

“No, it’s that parents are more afraid of their kids being gay than they are of their kids being rapist or sex offenders.”

“At least your parents didn’t kick you out of the house.”

“You’ve got a point.”

~~~~~~~~~~

It has been a few days since you and Maggie saw those tapes. You were currently twirling your pen going over notes Maggie took home. You had refused to play any games, even when the rest of Superfriends told you it would be a good way to destress.

“Everything is a dead end right now.” Maggie sighed, explaing to Superfriends about the case.

“Did you guys talk to any of the victims?”

“Yeah we did, one of the ladies said he took her necklace.”

“Did he take anything else from them. You know beside this whole thing?”

“We’re looking through it now. We did find that he went to this coffee shop frequently.” Maggie responded.

“Any of the victims connect there?”

“No nothing. I’m gonna check it out tomorrow see if any of the employees notice him or look through cameras if they have any.”

“Bring me along?”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“I know this case is important but can we get on with the game?” Alex frowned.

You opened your mouth to say something but Alex stopped you before you could.

“I’m not being insensitive (n/n). I’m very annoyed and as pissed as you are. But the point of tonight was to get your mind off this and have a mental break.” She picked up the dice.

“Lena’s on her IPad going through projects, and Kara is writing an article.” You pointed your thumbs to the side.

Nia peeked over Kara’s shoulder. “Actually they’re sexting each other.” She sipped her wine.

“What now?” You peeked at Lena’s IPad.

“Little Danvers,” Maggie smirked.

“What! Let me have a moment with my girlfriend.”

“That moment better be CONSENSUAL!” You threw popcorn at Kara.

“Why are you only throwing popcorn at me! Not that I mind.” Kara popped a few piece into her mouth.

“Cause I expected it from Lena and not you.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“The workers say he comes often but doesn’t usually stay.” Maggie sighed.

“The other regulars say he just gets coffee and leaves.” You rested your chin on one hand.

“It’s not a dead end yet we can still check the cameras.”

The black and white video showed the suspect parking his car, walking into the coffee shop and leaving in the opposite direction. After several videos of the same action you and Maggie got up from your seats.

“Where ever he goes it must be in walking distance if he doesn’t take his car.”

“Mags... you know how in shows people rent out a storage unit to hide evidence or dead bodies.”

“Yeah what about it?”

“There’s one across the street.”

“Get ready with your shields.” Maggie pulled out her gun from her holster.

“We’re not calling for backup?”

“By the time backup gets here he could be gone.”

You followed after Maggie. Your heart beated against your chest. Clear honeycomb like patterns surrounded your two hands.

Besides a couple of people and a few boxes the units were sickenly quiet. The two of you reached a corridor with flickering lights. The circuit was either cut or it was done on purpose.

Your hands were shaking at the thought. Fear flashed across your face and the shields began to glitch. Maggie on the other hand pulled out a flashlight and sneaked with it over her gun.

Maggie slowed her steps as one of the units were opened. It was deserted yet filled with a twin bed, a few boxes, a blue bike, what seems to be a beaten teddy bear, water bottles, paper towels all lightened by a desk lamp.

“Dispatch this is 129F40, I’m gonna need back up at Studio Self Storage on Conova and Mar-”

A loud yell and a slam against metal met the officer and dispatchers.

“(Y/n!)”

Maggie joined kicking the man away after he threw a punch at your face. He was not giving you any time to recover and use your shields.

He moved his attention onto Maggie after you struggled to stand from the two head traumas you recieved. Maggie was good but he wrestled the gun out of her hands. He overpowered her and slammed her against another metal door.

Maggie pushed maneuvered her legs up against the wall and pushed him back against the other side. She threw punches.

You got up, crossed your arm on your shoulders and pushed forth a shield to move the man away from Maggie.

~~~~~~~~~~

“All officers and firefighters calling all back up, officer is in distress. Officer 129F40 is in distress.”

Dispatcher said over the radio. Alex immediately looked over at J’onn. “That’s Maggie’s number!”

They heard several grunts, as they immediately recognized Maggie and your voices. They also heard a whooshing sounds knowing that that was you and your shields.

Alex reaches towards her ear to activate the com.

“Kar-“

A gunshot echoed around the room before it went silent.

Kara rushed towards you and Maggie as she reached the self storage. She led the police and found Maggie sitting next to you. Kara rushed over scanning your body for the gunshot wound.

“She’s fine. She has a concussion and a few bad scratches.” Maggie said.

“A few? Her eye is swollen shut and her shoulder is dislocated, don’t forget to mention the other cuts on her face.”

You grinned at Kara. “We got him.”

Kara took a look further down the corridor and found a glaring bloody man with his hands cuffed through the bed frame.

~~~~~~~~~~

You sat on the bed at Luthor Family Children’s Hospital. You got most of the injuries from the first surprise attack. Your arm was in a sling and several bandages on your face. Maggie only had a busted lip.

“I can’t believe you two went in with no back up.” Alex scolded.

“To be fair, they did catch the rapist.” Lena said from one of the chairs. “And without the help of Supergirl.”

“What took you so long anyways Kara?” Alex looked over at her sister.

Kara turned red.

“You weren’t!” You looked between Kara and Lena.

“Well we still proved that National City does need police officers and detectives after all.”

“No we proved that Superfriends is a good team. Half of this duo doesn’t even get paid.” You were still upset. “But Kara could take a page from Maggie’s book, instead of ogling at Lena.”

“Hey!”

[yutaya]

Iron Fist Rewatch: 1x01: Snow Gives Way

-Someone barging into Ward's office acting like they own the place and also know Harold is alive must have sent such a jolt of fear through Ward for a second

-Ward puts himself between Danny and Joy when it seems like Danny might get physical

-Ward tells Joy not to have Danny arrested - Harold concerns?

-Danny PTSD set off by the elevator turbulence?? But he was fine going up. Just stress induced? He's shaking.

-FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DO NOT BREAK INTO THAT HOUSE

-Joy's dog just disappears after this episode?

-Danny just meditates or something to get that dog to calm down. Calms his mind so as to seem not a threat / not present? Is Danny some sort of animal whisperer? I'm now positive that at some point during Danny and Ward's Adventures Across Asia, they were stranded somewhere for some reason, Ward is complaining about being stuck in some muddy backwater hick town or whatever, Danny just sort of strolls up to some large animals (attached to a cart? Wait, that would be stealing. Hm...) goes all zen state, then says to Ward "they'll take us to the next town" like that's a normal series of events and not COMPLETELY INSANE, DANNY, WHAT THE F---.

-Pictures on Joy's shelf: Harold with his arm around young Joy, all six of them on some vacation. Rands + Meachums kind of separated in this photo, though. Don't people normally stand closer together in group photos? Also, young Joy much shorter than young Danny. Note: Wendall's hands on both Heather and Danny's shoulders. Harold's hand on Joy's shoulder. Ward and Danny both have hands in pockets.

-"Dad says rules are for pussies" ;___; (Young Ward refusing to pay monopoly rent because he just doesn't want to. Starting the corrupt financial elite training off early, huh?)

-"Oh, here comes Mommy and Daddy to protect you and give you lots of hugs and kisses and tell you what a sweet little boy you are. It's disgusting. *sweeps all the game pieces off the table even though they've clearly been playing for awhile and it's not like Danny just won he was only asking for like $200*" Ward, you dramatic bitch. Also, they were literally only saying they were home, not necessarily rushing in to protect Danny from the Big Bad Ward refusing to pay $200 monopoly money. Metaphorically, I suppose this is still Ward being a sore loser, though. It's not monopoly Danny beat him at, it's having parents who love him. T_T AND THEN HE LIES ABOUT IT, PLAYING THE BELEAGUERED BABYSITTER, ASDFGHJKL - WARD. (Note: neither Danny nor Joy speak up against this blatant unfairness. Previous failure? YOU'RE SUCH A BULLY, WARD.)

-Big Al is first person to be friendly to Danny and I'm sure Danny doesn't forget it. Headcanon Danny is def actively caring towards 'lower class', including homeless and drug addicts, and actually sees + treats them as equals. Classism definitely a theme in these shows with the people who struggle financially like Colleen being the kindest and most charitable and the rich being assholes.

-But also why is he informing Danny that the internet can be used as a search engine with no prior indication in their conversation that Danny doesn't know this? I mean, Danny does not, in fact, know this, but.

-In the news article, the photo of the Rands is the same one in Joy's apartment, but the Meachums are not there. However, they are not merely cropped out: the background extends into the spot they should occupy. Did some poor news article graphic designer have to go find a photo of that tourist spot background at the exact right angle and photoshop them together to get rid of the Meachums, or was Joy's photo a photoshopped family vacation image, which could have explained the awkward distance between the two families, even though it wouldn't have been that hard in editing to set them all closer together? Maybe they all still went on the same vacation together, but instead of asking a passerby to take a photo for them, both families took photos of each other and then someone combined them at a later date? Practically speaking, that still means the angle would be likely to be off for the background, and it's also suspicious that there are zero other tourists around. These rich families rented out the entire space?? Would lend to lack of external parties to take a group pic for them. Obviously, IRL explanation is they're all photoshopped onto a static background, but fun to think of the in-universe reasons. ...Actually, most likely explanation is that they took multiple photos - Rand only, Meachum only, maybe also kids only, Wendall+Harold only, etc, as well as group. So this entire train of thought is inconsequential. Oops.

-Harold had a big event funeral, "mayor and everything"? That must have been fun for both Harold and Ward, with significantly different usages of the word 'fun'.

-Hello Joy, not only did I follow you home to accost you at your front door the morning after I attacked the security at your workplace to enter your probably restricted top floor executives offices, I also did extensive research into your childhood history down to the position you and your friend played on your childhood soccer team, oh and also I broke into your house yesterday where I interacted with your dog. Now watch while I prove my physical prowess by flipping over a taxi.

-Bird flying into city while Danny meditates?? Symbolically, follows the idea of the bird flying through the pass that was Danny's sign to leave K'un Lun and return to NYC. Spiritually - what? AU where the bird is Danny's spirit animal and he's connected to it / seeing through its eyes right now. For the HDM AU fans: bird could be Danny's separated dæmon? (Would a HDM AU Danny's dæmon be a dragon? Honestly, idk how much dragon stereotypes match Danny's personality. Would have to think about that. Would be funny if someone else had the dragon dæmon, not any of the Fist holders.)

-Danny. Danny. Colleen JUST HUNG THAT FLYER UP. Take one of the little tabbies, if you must, that's what they're for, but don't take the entire flyer down! Those cost money, you know. And it takes time to cut all those little tabbies out and then go around hanging the flyers up.

-Colleen be like "dear god, this is why you shouldn't be nice to people, they start trying to hit on you, @ random park dude, please stop talking at me and following me while I continually shift out of your line of vision"

-Danny: "Hey you speak Chinese? I speak Chinese." Colleen: "I'm Japanese you dick. :)"

-Ward: I'm gonna make sure our personal security team is guarding you against this clear and present threat, but also we're still not calling the police??

-Ward turns this from either a crazy homeless guy or a scam artist into a potential organized corporate sabotage - the kind of threat that Joy is more easily able to compartmentalize her emotions on and crush under her heel?

-Ward just gets into a moving vehicle with someone he has verbally acknowledged as an active threat to his family. Did you have ANY stranger danger safety lessons growing up, Ward?

-Danny now appears to be actively threatening Ward, while using the reasoning that Ward and everyone else have been seriously trying his patience and he's in danger of losing his temper, but he's still giving Ward one last chance to back down. Note: this is a technique commonly employed by abusers, and probably more triggering to Ward than Danny knows, even though Danny probably actually does think he's being sincere as opposed to manipulative.

-->Aaaand Ward responds by ratcheting up instead, because of course he does, IMMEDIATELY leading to the gun to head scene. oh, geez.

-Danny provides personal details - probably this is the moment Ward starts to believe it might actually be Danny somehow, against all logic and reason. He looks shaken, then immediately starts trying to gaslight Danny. asdfghjkl WARD.

-->Ward lying to Danny's face and putting himself in the position of the righteous with Danny as the person in the wrong when they both know it's a lie is very reminiscent of the monopoly scene from when they were kids and the implied constant behavior from when they were kids. But this time, Danny doesn't accept it the way he did as a kid. He stares at Ward, remembering this pattern, actively teetering on PTSD flashback mode, and fights back. Makes Ward think he might be about to kill them both - while having flashbacks that hinder his ability to stop so Danny in hindsight gets freaked out about what he almost did too. (Note: looking freaked out and claiming he didn't mean to almost kill them both just now was probably more concerning to Ward rather than less.) And then he promises he'll be back because this isn't over. gdi, Danny, no wonder Ward wants you gone asap.

-Colleen, trying to tell Danny to go away because he's being a creeper: TAKE A HINT TAKE A HINT

-Danny, casually: Oh yeah Master Lei Gun "The Thunderer" used to smack me hard in the face with the practice swords

-Colleen bringing a sword to a gun fight

-Danny grabs enemy's gun, but not to use as weapon/defense - only to disarm it and run off - which Colleen sees.

-What festival is this that's happening in Chinatown? Has anyone figured out an IF timeline? Could compare dates to real world events, see if there's any potential cross over.

-None of these bystanders so much as bother to look at the fistfights happening 2 feet away from them

-Ward sitting in his office eating his food (it has decorative greens so you know it's ~fancy~) and answers his phone smiling because he's expecting the good news that Danny-probably-an-impersonator-but-also-potentially-maybe-not-but-we're-not-thinking-about-that-Ward-get-a-hold-of-yourself is dead. Way to be a villain stereotype, Ward. I know you try real hard at it so good job uwu

-Harold intro. Ward clearly at his beck and call and just as clearly resentful of it. "I think...” *resigned* “-of course, right away." is such immediate shorthand for someone abusing the power imbalance. (Note: Ward puts off approaching Harold with the "Danny problem" until night 2, tries to handle it quietly until he has implicated himself (Danny now knows Ward tried to have him killed) and Danny is still present and now an even bigger threat)

-So many elevators. All express to specific floors/areas? This lobby is so unsettling. Elevator leads to another hall full of elevators, then stairs, then handprint access to hall with second elevator into penthouse. (Note: Ward is one of those people who press the close door button multiple times with a frustrated facial expression)

-Ward to Harold: "How do you even know about that? ...Shit. Are you behind this? Is this another one of your stupid tests?"

-Harold to Ward: "I wish you would take things like this more seriously, so I don't see my company destroyed."

-Photos on Harold's shelf: young Joy, posed photo of Meachums in formal-ish clothing, Harold's hands on both kids shoulders, indistinguishable group of people on a bridge(?) somewhere. Group photo atop a fancy box, Joy photo in front of the Meachum family photo. On Harold's desk: another photo of young Joy, this one looks like one of those posed school photos where they have the kid stand against a "tree" backdrop.

-Ward says out loud that he could ignore Harold and Harold wouldn't be able to do anything about it. Harold casually observes that Ward is now and has always been childish. Ward remarks that Harold has been telling Ward he's disappointed in him his whole life. Harold is still disappointed in Ward right now.

-Harold: this is how you make your employees loyal to you. *proceeds to display his complete dominance over Kyle, who looks nervous and threatened by the direct attention* Ward: "Jesus, Dad, what the hell is wrong with you?" (Still doesn't do anything to remove Kyle from this situation though)

-Harold lectures at Ward as if everything Ward has ever done is wrong, always, including snapping his fingers at him when he starts to speak himself, like a bad dog, and listing off things that Ward has already brought up to Joy as if Ward is an incompetent who would never consider those angles himself

-Ward makes a snide comment, Harold snaps at him, Ward smiles a little bit because he has succeeded in getting under Harold's skin for a moment

-Harold: Leave this to me. I'll tell you exactly what to do. Ward: Like always. Harold: Like always.

-Awww, Danny was rushing back to tell his new friend Al all about Ward sending people to kill him, possibly looking for advice? ;_; (Also, why is there a foreboding music significance to Al having a bird tattoo? Does this ever come back??? I don't remember this mystery going anywhere.)

-Danny is lurking in Joy's office. He doesn't say anything even slightly reassuring, like that he has an appointment, just heavily implies that he snuck in. sigh.

-"I'm not gonna hurt you," Danny laughs, after displaying a whole lot of extremely threatening behavior. Joy smiles, drugs him, and buys time until it kicks in.

[minijenn]

In More Ways Than One (Commission Oneshot)

AN-Heyyoooo! Finally finished my first writing commission! And boy I really loved working on this one. It was SO much fun and honestly its a huge fluff fest. Just so you know going in, this is a Poly MK oneshot, so if that’s not you’re thing then you may not be into this. Either way, I’d like to give an anonymous thanks to the person who commissioned this! Like I said it was a delight to write. So... enjoy!

***

“Alright, everyone. I’ve gathered you all here this afternoon for a very important matter,” Ford paused, taking stock of the aptly concerned expressions his brother and the Gems were sending his way. “I have reason to believe that something… might be wrong with the children.”

A beat of silence followed at this, the gathered group exchanging brief, bewildered glances before Pearl finally cut in with a loud sigh of relief. “Oh thank goodness, I’m not the only one to think the same thing! The four of them have been acting strange for weeks now! Please tell me you three have noticed it too, haven’t you?”

“Eh, normally I’d think you and Sixer are being paranoid, as usual,” Stan remarked, crossing his arms. “But those kids have been more out there than usual lately. Heck, just the other day I saw Mabel knitting a sweater-”

“That’s hardly out of the ordinary, Stanley,” Ford noted. “Mabel knits sweaters almost constantly.”

“Yeah, but when does she ever knit a sweater like this before?” Stan held up said sweater, clearly larger than the articles Mabel usually knitted for herself, though what was by far the most peculiar thing about it was the large heart stitched onto its center, a bold ‘S + M” carefully embroidered right over it. “If this doesn’t prove who Mabel’s latest crush of the week is, then I don’t know what does.”

“Oohhhhh man…” Amethyst looked genuinely anxious as she stared at the sweater. “That’s… gonna be pretty awkward for Mabel, especially when she finds out about Steven and Connie…”

“Why?” Pearl asked, confused. “What’s going on between them?”

“Uh, isn’t it obvious, P? They’re totally nuts for each other! I didn’t wanna say anything, mostly cause I don’t really like getting into Steven’s personal biz like that, but yesterday I saw Connie give him a kiss on the cheek! The cheek, you guys! That’s like, something I thought was gonna happen forever ago, but hey, at least its happening, even if they are pretty late to the party…”

“Oh, Amethyst, don’t be absurd!” Pearl huffed, doubtful. “As… admittedly adorable of a couple as Steven and Connie would make, a-and Steven and Mabel for that matter, I’m afraid its just plain to see that he’s not interested in either of them that way,”

“Oh yeah?” Amethyst challenged. “Then who is Steven crushing on?”

“Dipper, of course,” Pearl concluded, firm in her answer.

“What?!” Amethyst, Stan, and Ford exclaimed in surprised unison.

“Oh come now, don’t tell me none of you have noticed the obvious attraction between those boys,” Pearl frowned. “The sheer devotion and dedication Steven and Dipper consistently show for each other should be proof enough alone that their feelings towards each other are more than merely platonic. But there’s even more to it than that; last week, I happened to walk in on them forming Stepper sheerly for the sake of their own enjoyment. They tried to play it off as more than that, but I could tell by the look in Stepper’s eyes that he was loving every second the two of them were together.”

“Well, if your… theory is correct, Pearl,” Ford said, clearly uncomfortable with so much discussion of a topic like romance. “Then what of Mabel and Connie?”

“Well… who’s to say they don’t feel the same way towards each other?” Pearl shrugged. “They have been spending much more time than usual as of late anyway. And there’s no denying they have, what humans typically call ‘biology’ with each other.”

“You mean ‘chemistry’?” Stan corrected, dryly.

“What? No. That doesn’t make any sense, people can’t share chemistry, most chemicals are typically dangerous to humans anyway, right?”

“Anyway,” Ford interjected. “Speaking of chemistry—or ‘biology’ or whatever you’d prefer to call it, if any of the kids shares that sort of compatible dynamic, then clearly its Dipper and Connie. As respectably intellectually minded as they both are, they’d easily make a perfect pair.”

“So what, you’re saying they belong together cause they’re both huge nerds?” Stan asked, sending his brother a critical look.

“N-no!” Ford quickly backpedaled, flustered. “I have proof; a few days ago, I saw the two of them… w-well, they were—ugh, I suppose the only way to say it as that they were ‘holding hands’ as they walked down to the house from the temple. Just the two of them. Alone.”

“Pfft, so? That doesn’t prove anything!” Amethyst scoffed.

“I-I’d say it proves quite a bit!” the author exclaimed defensively. “Its further than I ever got with a girl, after all.”

“Yeah, ‘cause you’ve got no charm, Ford,” Stan remarked, sending his brother a playfully teasing jab. “Then again, Dipper doesn’t really make much charm either, which it’d be an easy bet that both you and Pearl are wrong about Connie or Steven bein’ into him.”

“Well, if that’s the case, then your idea of Steven and Mabel being an item is every bit as preposterous,” Pearl remarked. “They’re close, yes, but Steven and Dipper are much closer.”

“Uh, no, Steven and Connie are, duh,” Amethyst cut in.

“But that doesn’t work because Connie’s already with Mabel!” Pearl countered, hands on her hips.

“Who, might I remind you, is actually with Steven,” Stan pointed out, exasperated.

“Which is fine because Connie and Dipper are both speaking for each other anyway,” Ford noted, resolute.

“You mean they’re spoken for, poindexter,” Stan corrected once more. “Geez, you nerds don’t know anything about this whole romance thing.”

“Well, then why don’t we ask someone who does?” Pearl retorted, turning to the sole member of the group who had yet to weigh in on the matter. “Garnet, what do think about all this?”

So far, Garnet’s expression had remained largely neutral as ever as she sat apace from the others, apparently not interested in engaging in on the conversation whatsoever. But as she finally turned to Pearl to give her thoughts, she was unable to keep her reaction to their ongoing speculation in any longer. A reaction that was, at least as far as the others were concerned, the very last thing any of them could have expected.

She laughed.

In fact, she laughed so hard that she was practically hysterical, a fact that genuinely unnerved the others as they were so used to the Gem leader’s steady sense of calm. Which was why, as baffled as they all were, they quickly pressed for an explanation behind it.

“Hey! What’s so funny, shades?” Stan asked, somewhat cross.

Garnet didn’t answer right away, instead slamming her first down on the table as she laughed even harder. When she finally did regain her composure enough to respond, she was still chuckling to herself all the while. “You’re all wrong.”

“What do you mean, we’re wrong?” Ford scoffed, aptly confused.

“Yeah, what are you saying, G, that none of the kids are into each other?” Amethyst asked, not following.

“Because I find that incredibly hard to believe, all things considered,” Pearl added, shaking her head.

“No,” Garnet said, still laughing. “Its exactly the opposite, really.”

“…Ok, now I really don’t get it,” Amethyst said, exchanging a lost glance with Pearl, Stan, and Ford. “G, what are you talking about here?”

“It’s actually really simple,” Garnet smiled brightly, clearly elated over something, even if none of the others knew what that something was. “Which is why I should let them explain it for themselves.”

The Gem leader nodded over to the shack’s front door as it opened at that exact moment, all four of the kids entering in. None of them apparently knew of the company gathered in the den as they conversed casually, a conversation that, when paired with their clear body language, provided more than enough of an explanation as to exactly what was going on.

“You know, we really should think of how we’re gonna break this to everyone…” Dipper noted with something of a worried frown.

“What, you mean the whole thing about the four of us all dating each other?” Steven asked rather bluntly and blatantly. “Because I think we should—oh….”

The young Gem immediately stopped short as all four of the kids noticed they had a captive audience in the den listening in. As if plainly stating it wasn’t enough, their relatively new interconnected relationships were all but proven by just how closely they all lingered to each other. Mabel was holding hands with Steven’s, his free arm resting on Connie’s shoulder while his fingers were interlaced with Dipper’s, who also had an arm wrapped around Connie as she did the same for him. Their expressions were awash in the same sort of mutual surprise that the adults in the room all shared, save for Mabel, who simply shrugged in blithe acceptance over being discovered like this.

“Welp, I guess this is one way to tell ‘em, huh?” she said, grinning over to her brother and her partners.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait,” Pearl cut in before any of the others could, getting up from her seat to approach the kids. “You four are actually…?”

“Um… yeah, we sort of are…” Connie admitted, shifting nervously a bit. Even so, both Steven and Dipper quietly steadied her, their respective grips on her tightening protectively ever so slightly.

“And this has been going on for…?” Ford trailed off, aptly curious.

“A few weeks, at least,” Steven replied, unable to hold back a fond smile as he glanced over at Mabel, Connie, and Dipper. “Though I guess we always kinda felt this way deep down…”

“Ok, am I the only one who has about a billion questions about… all of this?” Stan said, generally gesturing to all four of the kids.

“Yeah, we… kinda figured you guys would,” Dipper remarked with a plaintiff shrug. “Which is sorta why we decided to not tell any of you about it until we figured out the best way to.”

“But now it looks like we don’t have a choice!” Mabel quipped, clearly more excited that they had been found out than the others. “So… fire away! Who’s up first with question number one!?”

“Uh, I guess I am?” Amethyst raised her hand. “What I wanna know is just how the hey all this happened? What made you guys decide you wanted to, ya know, make it official?”

“Actually, its kind of a crazy story,” Connie said with a somewhat forced laugh. “We all kind of realized our, uh, feelings for each other at different times and in different ways…”

***

Connie sighed contently, basking in the warm sun reflecting off the lake as Steven finished off the last few notes of a peaceful ukulele tune beside her. Rare was the moment shared between just the two of them, but she was grateful for this moment all the same. Especially one as blissfully sweet and calm as this.

Even so, she did sit up a bit when the young Gem’s simple song came to an end. “That’s a new one,” she noted with a smile. “Did you write it yourself?”

“Heh, yeah…” Steven glanced away, somewhat bashful. “It’s just… something special I’ve been working on for awhile now for, uh… for someone.”

“Oh?” Connie asked, intrigued. “For who?”

“Oh, uh, y-you know,” the young Gem shrugged. He hardly ever got this flustered but it was clear that was the case now, much to Connie’s growing confusion.

“Um, no, I don’t know,” she chuckled. “You haven’t told me that part yet, Steven.”

“Oh, right…” Steven laughed as well, albeit a bit forced. “Uh, a-actually, Connie, I…  I wrote that song for… I-I mean, I wrote it as… k-kind of… a love song, I… I guess.”

“A love song?” Connie raised an eyebrow at this, not sure of what to make of it. Though for some reason, unknown worry and excitement rushed through her all at the same time. “W-well, who’s the lucky, uh, girl?”

Steven hesitated, deeply blushing as he glanced away from her with an anxious, yet elated smile. Connie jolted in surprise as she felt his hand lightly skim over hers. Time seemed to stop as he leaned in closer to her until, both very suddenly and incredibly slowly, their lips met at the exact same time. The kiss only lasted for the briefest of moments before they both parted out of nerves alone. Even so, neither of them could back out of it without wearing the largest of smiles over the line they had finally, finally crossed.

“T-think you can take a guess?” Steven asked quietly, leaning his head against Connie’s slightly.

“Yeah…” Connie’s smile deepened as she stole another kiss from him, this time on the cheek, though it was no less sweet and satisfying then their first. “I think I can.”

***

It wasn’t a rare occurrence for Dipper and Connie to practice their sword fighting together outside of their weekly lessons with Pearl. The two would often head out to an open, yet private clearing in the woods, to go head to head against each other in friendly spars to sharpen their skills. Though lately, their training sessions had shifted focus somewhat. They would spend about an hour or so clashing their blades, though they’d pass even more of their time together simply sitting within the peace of the forest engaged in deep, but pleasant conversation. Today however, they had agreed to focus their efforts on their training, their swords clanging in a constant rhythm as they did their best to outmaneuver each other.

“Remember what Pearl keeps telling you, Dipper!” Connie called with a playful smirk as she came in for another broad swing. “You gotta keep yourself covered!”

“Oh, I’ll keep myself covered,” Dipper taunted back just as wryly. “As long as you keep your footing steady.”

Connie noted his attempt to knock her down by sidestepping out of the path of his sword before going in for another attack. “Uh, speaking of steady….” She began a bit leadingly as their swords clanged. They kept on each other, pressing against their respective swords as their faces drew in close amidst the tension. “I was wondering…”

Dipper easily caught her drift, his cheeks suddenly lighting red in as his pressure wavered somewhat. “O-oh yeah? Wondering what?”

Connie took the opportunity as she saw it, elbowing him hard enough to send him plummeting hard to the grassy ground. Dipper flinched as her sword slammed into the ground right next to his head as she leaned down over him, smirking with both confidence and apprehension at the same exact time. “I-I was just wondering if you’d like to, uh… go there. W-with… with me?”

For a moment, the most Dipper could do was stare up at her in shock as she continued to hover over him. But then, acting on a burst of boldness that was far more than the kind he usually carried, he leaned upwards, giving her a small, short, but soft kiss on the cheek. “Of course,” he said with a joyous laugh he was powerless to contain. “Of course, I would love to.”

“And I’d love it if you did that again,” Connie grinned just as warmly.

“Well, since you won this round, how can I say no?” he complied, meeting her halfway as they came together in another kiss, equally matched in both their skill with a blade and their affection for one another.

***

“Ok, Steven, are you ready for… the lightning round?!” Mabel asked with daring grin.

“Lightning round?” the young Gem asked, intrigued. The two of them had spent the past several hours engaged in a rousing game that they had come up with all on their own. It didn’t have any official name, but the basic rules involved going back and forth on cards of personality-based questions they had come up with earlier. They were randomly selected, which of course, added another layer of fun and excitement to an already unpredictable game as it was.

“Yeah! No thinking about your answers, you just gotta blurt ‘em out as soon as you hear the question,” Mabel explained. “Are you game, Universe?”

“You bet I am!” Steven grinned enthusiastically as he drew the first question card. “Ok, you’re up first. If you could go on vacation anywhere in the world, where would it be?”

“Easy, Belgium, I heard their chocolate is the best, ever!” Mabel took another card to pose a question to the young Gem. “Who would win in a fight, Lonely Blade or Tiger First?”

“Tiger Fist! He’s got punches to spare! Next question, who do you have a crush on?”

“You!” Mabel gasped, realizing that she truly had answered the very question she had written without a single thought whatsoever. Which, of course, was why she immediately attempted to backpedal out of embarrassment alone. “I-I… I mean-”

“Wait… really?” Steven asked, putting his card down as he looked to her with wide eyes. “Mabel, y-you… have a crush on me?”

Though her hands were still tightly pressed against her mouth, Mabel nodded, feeling as though her heart was crashing and burning at an alarming rate. For so, so long now she had done everything she could to keep her feelings a secret from the young Gem. But now that she had voiced them aloud, however accidental, there was no taking them back.

“S-since… when?” Steven asked, still trying to wrap his head around the idea.

“Since the first time we formed Maven,” Mabel admitted with a long, relenting sigh.

“That long? W-well… why haven’t you told me until now?”

“B-because!” Mabel huffed, throwing an arm over her eyes as she flopped back onto the couch. “I didn’t want it to ruin everything! I mean, you’re probably the first guy I’ve ever really really liked! All of those other boys were just dumb flings that I tried to distract myself with but you’ve always been different! Y-you’re… your special. But now that you know…”

“Now that I know,” Steven caught Mabel by surprise taking her hand and offering her a bright, reassuring smile. “I think its time you knew that… I-I think I feel the same way.”

Mabel froze, as if her entire world had been turned upside down at this news. In all the best of ways. “W-what?”

“Yeah, of course, I do!” Steven said, still beaming. “We have so much in common, and you’re always so much fun to hang out with. Not to mention you’re already one of my best friends, so who says we can’t we be more than that if we want to?”

“Y-yeah,” Mabel happily agreed, still in a state of delighted disbelief as she found herself falling into Steven’s open arms. “Who says we can’t?”

***

Due to Connie’s somewhat sheltered upbringing, she hadn’t had the chance to see too many “classic” movies, which was why Mabel had decided to make it her responsibility to introduce her to all of her favorites. They had dubbed the new tradition “Movie Mondays”, and on a rainy, dour Monday like this, staying in with warm blankets and a sweeping romantic comedy, it was a perfect way to pass the time. But what neither of the girls had been expecting was for this particular film to strike such an emotional cord with both of them.

Connie found herself tearing up as the couple on screen confronted each other in the rain, the dramatic orchestral score saying far more than mere words ever could. However, as the pair raced towards each other in a deep, loving embrace, she found herself glancing over at Mabel instead. She was, simply put, weeping, her sobs soft and deeply impacted as she burrowed her face into the collar of her sweater. For a moment, Connie watched her, dumbfounded, until, acting on impulse alone, she found her own hand slowly gripping Mabel’s beside her.

And from there, the girls’ attention turned away from the movie… and towards each other instead.

As soon as their eyes met, that was where they stayed: solely on each other and nothing else. Maybe it was the gentle pattering of rain on the shack’s roof, maybe it was the movie’s romantic music soaring to a triumphant peak, or maybe it was something else entirely. But, as if pulled by magic or magnetism or something else entirely, they came together in a kiss, soft, slow, and so, so sweet.

And when they finally parted, they were equally matched in satisfaction and confusion.

“M-Mabel…” Connie whispered, skimming her own lips with her fingertips. “Y-you… I didn’t know you were… o-or even that I was-”

“M-me either…” Mabel blushed deeply. “W-what a way to find out, huh?”

“Y-yeah, but… I don’t know if I really understand. No offense, but you’ve had so many crushes before, s-so… why am I the one who… y-you know.”

“Gosh, there’s so many reasons, where do I even start?!” Mabel smiled brightly, warming Connie’s heart even more than it already was. “You’re so smart and brave and pretty and like, a million other great things! Yeah, I’ve had a lot of crushes before, but none of them have been anywhere near as amazing as you are, Connie!”

“N-no one’s… ever… I-I’ve never…” Connie stopped herself, far too overwhelmed by joy and affection to really say anything else. So instead, she decided to let her actions do the talking. She took both of Mabel’s hands this time, offering her the happiest smile she could muster before pulling her in close. Mabel reciprocated by tossing a nearby blanket over them both, shrouding them in warmth and comfort as they drew to kiss once more.

They all but missed the end of the movie, but neither of them minded. After all, they had just found a much better pastime to enjoy together instead.

***

“I’m so glad we decided to do this more often,” Stepper smiled as he settled into his fused form, reclining out on the grassy ground to watch the lofty clouds above him. “So am I, being together like this feels… so nice. Yeah… it really does��”

The fusion sighed quietly, closing his eyes to enjoy the warm peace of the afternoon. However, that peace was soon broken as both his birthmark and gemstone flashed with a single, simple thought that both of his halves happened to share with each other at the exact same time.

“I wish we could always be together…”

Stepper darted upright with a gasp, his face warm and his heart and mind both racing. And yet, somehow, despite his shock, he remained, Steven and Dipper still united by their mutual apparent affection for one another. “I-I… you really feel the same way? You really feel the same way!” As torn between dumbfounded and elated as the fusion was, he couldn’t hold back a small, tight laugh as he ran a hand through his hair.

“I-I mean…. I’ve I think I’ve been feeling it every time we fuse…” he said to himself, his lower arms holding him in a lose hug of sorts. “So have I. Its… warm, and bright, and… amazing.”

Stepper lay back in the grass once more, his upper arms returning the very same hug his lower arms were providing him. “If we really want to stay together, then why don’t we? Even when we’re apart? Wait… do you mean…? Yeah, I do…. I-is that ok?  No, its even better than ok,” He paused, practically brimming over with far too many wonderful emotions to even count, all of which sustained him, steadied him, solidified the strong bond that composed his very being.

“For the longest time I-I didn’t want to tell you about this because I had no idea what it even really was….” Stepper closed his eyes, savoring this moment for all it was worth and wishing that it would never have to end. “But now I know, beyond any shadow of a doubt, exactly what this feeling is. So do i…”

His gem and birthmark shimmered once more as the fusion spoke, both halves of his whole confirming exactly what they were to each other, and all that entailed. “It’s love.”

***

“And from there, we just figured we all might as well just be together,” Connie finished off the lengthy round of romantic anecdotes. “That’s not… weird to you guys, is it?”

“B-because this really is how we feel about each other!” Dipper interjected almost defensively. “Yeah, its… sort of unconventional, but… it just… works for us.”

“And we’re loving ever second of it!” Mabel grinned, raising her and Steven’s held hands up high.

“And… we’re hoping you guys will respect that,” Steven said as he looked to the adults hopefully. “So…? What do you think?”

At first, none of them said a single word, all of them looking to the kids with rather unreadable expressions. Though at last, Pearl spoke, breaking the heavy silence. “Well… you’re not wrong about it being ‘unconventional’…”

“But who cares?” Amethyst asked, reclining back in her seat. “If it makes you dorks happy, then hey, why not go for it?”

“Yeah, exactly,” Stan agreed with a bit of a grin. “You runts are always together anyway, might as well be together together, you know?”

“Yes, I suppose there’s no harm in it,” Ford smiled with a supportive nod. “After all, the bonds between the four of you are quite admirable. Though, um… Dipper, Mabel, isn’t it a bit… odd for you two to be sharing the same significant others like this?”

“Eh, we’re getting used to it,” Dipper shrugged.

“It’s not like there’s plenty of both Steven and Connie to go around!” Mabel quipped, sending a fond smile towards the pair, which they readily returned.

“Well, as long as you kids know what you’re doing,” Pearl concluded. “We wouldn’t any want you to get hurt if… if things go wrong.”

“I don’t think that’s something they’ll have to worry about,” Garnet said, offering the kids a profoundly proud smile. “After all, when love is as strong as the kind they have for each other, it always finds a way to survive. I know that from experience.”

The Gem leader lowered her shades, winking her third eye at the kids, filling them with all of the mutual hope they could have needed that their newfound interconnected relationships with each other were destined to last. Now that everything was out in the open, a bit more casual conversation over said relationships continued, though the support towards them on all sides was quite clear. With their worries of rejection and disapproval cleared away, the kids were able to slip away from the impromptu meeting feeling a shared sense of happiness and relief, one that wasn’t bound to fade away too quickly.

“Well, that went way better than I ever thought it would,” Dipper noted as the four of them lay down together on the attic floor later on.

“Yeah, it did….” Steven smiled. “See, I told you guys that it would all be ok when we told them!”

“Heh, you did have a point,” Connie smirked as she stole a small kiss on the cheek from him.

“So…” Mabel chimed in with daring grin. “When do you think we should tell them that we’re all dating Pacifica too?”

“Uh… maybe let’s save that bombshell for after the dust from this one settles,” Dipper said, somewhat apprehensive.

“Still, for now, everyone finally knowing about us is… really nice,” Steven sighed contentedly, feeling Dipper and Connie’s respective grips on his hands tighten as Mabel sent him a flirtatious wink. It was as though the sheer amount of love and devotion shared between all four of them (technically five of them) couldn’t be contained. And for Steven, Mabel, Dipper, and Connie alike, that was just fine. “In more ways than one…”

[squillynerdsout]

Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (Review)

Spoiler alert I guess, but this cut has been out for a while and it’s not too hard to find.

This movie really left me conflicted. The first half is incredible, up to that point I was thinking this was one of the best superhero movies I had ever seen. The acting was great, the dialogue was witty and genuinely funny when it wanted to be, and the villains were threatening (the scene where Zod makes the president kneel to him really sticks out as a powerful moment). The second half, however, does not measure up.

Starting with the really good parts, a surprise to me was how great of a character Lois Lane was, she’s not just the damsel in distress like I expected from a superhero movie of the time. She was confident, capable, and even manages to outsmart Superman as she tries to prove that he and Clark Kent are the same person. Not to mention the amazing performance from Margot Kidder, who makes Lois such an instantly likable part of the film, and easily my favorite character. For all the shortcomings this movie has, she was consistently great in every scene she was in.

Now onto the plot. I’ll cover the first half quickly since I just really enjoyed it and have very few problems with it. The rest of the movie is gonna take a while, though.

The movie starts back on Krypton as General Zod, Non, and Ursa are unanimously convicted by Jor-El and several judge faces on TV screens that I guess were too good to show up in person. Fast forward to many years later, and a redirected missile frees the intergalactic prisoners and they land on the moon, where they kill some astronauts before making their way to Earth. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor breaks out of prison in the most comedic sequence in the movie, and one of my favorite parts. As the Kryptonians quickly rise to power, Lex tracks them down and offers information about Jor-El’s son in exchange for increasing amounts of land as he helps them more.

While all of that is unfolding, Lois Lane starts to suspect that her cowardly loser of a coworker is also the most powerful man on the planet. After testing her theory in another one of the movie’s funniest scenes, Lois and Clark are put on an assignment in Niagara Falls, posing as a newlywed couple while writing an article. Lois is a huge motivator for Superman throughout the movie, as he falls in love with her while trying to keep his secret identity and wanting her to feel the same way about Clark Kent as she does about Superman. Eventually, feelings are reciprocated, Lois tricks Clark into revealing his double identity to her, and then...

The second half happens.

Clark explains to Holo-Dad that he’s in love with Lois and feels that he deserves some happiness after saving the world from Lex Luthor in the first movie. Jor-El basically tells him he’s a selfish little bitch and that if he wants to be with a human so badly, he’ll have to give up all of his power and become one. He goes ahead and does it, and immediately gets the shit beaten out of him by the local hot dog restaurant bully. Right after that, he sees Zod on TV, saying he wants to kill Superman. He then reveals to Lois that he heard the Kryptonians’ reign of terror developing before he decided to give up his power, but he chose to ignore it so he could be with her.

I get the power of love and whatever, but there’s no way Superman would be aware that three supervillains with all of his powers have come to Earth and obviously plan to destroy it, and then decide to ignore it. He should know better than anyone that no military on the planet is capable of killing 3 Supermen, and the only person smart enough to stand a chance is on their side. Could he really not wait, like, 2 days to make his big commitment to Lois and retire?

Anyway, Superman pleads with Holo-Dad until he gets his powers back and eventually meets up with the villains, and there’s a big explosion-filled battle in Times Square because someone forgot to spread the product placement throughout the movie (the Coca-Cola plugs I didn’t mind too much, but the Marlboro ads just left a bad taste in my mouth, no pun intended. It’s a family-friendly movie about Superman and they’re promoting cigarettes? Really?).

I won’t go on too much about the special effects because it’s a 38 year old movie so of course it hasn’t aged perfectly. Some of the effects actually hold up pretty well, but there are some real stinkers in the Times Square scene especially; the green screening for the villains is particularly laughable. When Superman flies, it still looks believable enough that he’s flying, but Zod and the others just flail around like Pumaman and it looks really bad.

After the Times Square fight, the major characters all have a final confrontation at the Fortress of Solitude, and Superman uses a pretty clever plan to beat them, inverting the machine that took his powers away to instead remove the powers of the Kryptonians outside the chamber and shielding himself inside. It’s a cool idea but then the movie just completely falls apart for me. No, the way he beats them is not as dumb as throwing a big cellophane “S” like he does in the theatrical cut, but it’s still very anticlimactic.

Believing that Superman has once again stripped himself of his abilities, Zod commands him to kneel, take his hand, and swear an oath of surrender. In admittedly a pretty cool moment, Superman crushes his hand when he takes it and throws him into the conveniently placed bottomless pit. In attempt to avenge Zod, Non tries to fly at Superman and kill him, but hasn’t seemed to realize why Zod was so easily defeated. He lunges forward, but since he can’t fly, he just falls to his death in the same pit and it’s a really goofy way for his character to go out. Ursa finally realizes what happened, and then Lois kills her by, well, take a wild guess.

And so, with the Kryptonians defeated and Lex Luthor...somewhere (not still inside the Fortress of Solitude, I hope, since Superman destroys the place with his heat vision. He does weirdly disappear after the Kryptonians die in the Donner cut with no explanation though), Lois and Clark have a heartfelt moment as Superman chooses to sacrifice his relationship to continue being the protector Earth needs. It’s a bit of a downer ending, but I liked how the movie shows Superman accepting the responsibilities of his role and moving forward.

So yeah, the third act kind of lost me at points, but at least it redeemed itself in the end-- OH GOD NO WAIT

Yep, in its last moments, Superman once again turns back the clock to prevent the entire movie from happening. It reminded me of the end of Deadpool 2 when Wade is given the time travel device, and instead of doing anything meaningful with it, he goes back in time to kill Ryan Reynolds twice and save only a single member of his X-Force, although I guess in this movie it’s a little more meaningful, and not fourth wall breaking.

Superman’s plan is to go back to right before Lois became suspicious of Clark being the big blue boy scout and makes a foolish pushover of himself. Then he goes back to the hot dog bully, this time with superpowers, and beats him up. I guess he also prevents Zod, Non, and Ursa from escaping the Phantom Zone, but I just watched the movie and I can’t recall them making as big of a deal out of that as they did with beating up the hot dog bully.

These last few minutes are almost enough to destroy the entire experience of the movie, with an ending no better than if Clark woke up in a cold sweat and realized it was only a dream.

I’ve never actually seen the original cut, but now I’m even more interested in seeing what changes it made to the movie and if its ending was any better. Sorry this was such a long post, this is an interesting movie and I really wanted to talk about it.

[mfmagazine]

Mason Summers

Article by Victoria Laurey

After experiencing this incredible band for myself, I have to agree with the many critics out there about these guys. The stroke of the guitars with the rhythm of the drum causing such intensity was nothing more but just pure enjoyment. As they played their all time hits, “Ghost of Panama” to “I, Parasite”, they captivated the audience’s mind for the lyrics had taken them to another realm. Mason Summers is an upcoming punk band that has become highly respected by those who dare to dream outside the box.

Mikey Scars, lead vocals/guitar, lives up to the band’s reputation for being funny and interactive with the audience. Whether it’s taking a fan’s glasses and hat to add to his wardrobe or throwing a stuffed toy Gorilla to crowd surf, these guys sure know how to keep us entertained. MAC, drums, shocks us all by appearing in a cow costume in the middle of the performances. Lydia Danger, bass/vocals, is the strong woman figure.

You can hear the journey of what is known as Mason Summers in their voices. How the empowering messages they convey within their strings and heart pounding motions gravitating off the floor into our legs, allowing us to make that jump. That jump is to feel that there is always a way if you believe in something beyond the boundaries we confined ourselves to. With their edgy punk style, rocking out to the beat of literally, “their own drum” this is one of the many bands that will change punk music as we know it to become.

Where did each of you originate from and what was it like growing up there?

Mikey: I was raised in California, then Arizona, then North Carolina.  Kind of different environments.  The west has a laid back atmosphere. The south, such as North Carolina, is famous for being relaxed and hospitable but honestly if you challenge any of their ideas or ways that relaxedness is non-existent.  They're not big fans of change in the south.  Even with changes that are necessary and good.

Lydia: I'm from Hyattsville, MD, right outside D.C. I've lived in this area my whole life, and it's been pretty cool growing up here. I do think people who grow up around D.C. start to take it for granted, though. Because it's right there, you don't feel any need to go there, you know?

MAC: Baltimore, MD. Neighborhood was quiet most of the time. My parents wanted my sister and I to have a better education than public school kids, so we went to Catholic school from K to 12th grade.

How did you guys meet and what sparked Mason Summers?

MAC: We were friends first. We met on campus at University of MD church. Mikey wanted to start a new punk band and he needed a drummer. I hadn't played very much drums, but I could hold a beat. A lot of people think one of us in the band is named "Mason Summers", but that's not the true....maybe one day you'll know the secret.

Lydia: If I remember rightly, we picked the name because MAC did a couple summers of masonry work in high school or something like that. Who can keep track of these things?

Mikey: Yeah, we all were going to the same church for a while.  I think we all realized not many Christians are into punk, so we had this good common ground in punk that we bonded on, and we needed to make a pretty killer band to prove that even Christians can do it.  I’ll give away the true secret behind the name (sorry MAC and Lydia). The name, Mason Summers, we got by throwing darts at a phone book.  The darted landed on a name - Mason Summers.   A legend was born, baby.  A legend was born.

What's the story behind the Gorilla?

Mikey: I've got a better question.  How can you NOT have a big gorilla onstage?  Every band that doesn't have a gorilla on stage should be fined; heavily, heavily fined.

MAC: What gorilla? I think you're hallucinating!

Lydia: Yeah, what gorilla?

Where was your favorite place that you have played?

MAC: I loved playing over in the UK during our summer tour. We played two London gigs and they were full of interesting stories....for example, while we were hanging out in front of the venue, about 1,000 nudist started rolling by on their bicycles. All while being escorted by the police. They were protesting oil consumption...and clothes! My favorite was the guy in orange and black stripes; his name was Tony.

Mikey: Yeah, my favorite venue was in London actually.  12 Bar Club in London.  Great venue, great wild local crowd.

Lydia: Picking favorites is always so hard. I really enjoy playing the Ottobar in Baltimore. That place just has such an awesome atmosphere, and you are practically guaranteed to have a really fun time.

What is the sound behind your favorite bands being Green Day, Rancid, or even The Clash that had a real impact on "your" individual sound?

Mikey: It's all about high energy rock n roll with a great steady drum-beat, and singing about something other than your typical love song.  The bands I most admire sing about socially relevant issues, faith, or other aspects of life not explored much by most rock bands.  I love a high energy band that steps outside the box when it comes to lyrical content.

MAC: A lot of time during band practice, we just sit around and talk about what sounds good and what needs to change in a song. The popular punk bands have a large influence on us, so we try to give homage to those bands, while keeping the sound fresh.

Lydia: We're all about energetic music that can make you happy, and that you can have good time listening to. Also, we like to have a varied sound, which I think you definitely find in the Clash, and to a certain extent Rancid and Green Day.

What's the craziest thing that ever happened on tour?

Mikey: To elaborate on MAC’s nude cyclist story, yeah, in London we arrived to the 12 Bar Club hours before it opened.  So we were standing on the sidewalk when suddenly about 500 naked bicyclists rode past us.   Apparently that day they were protesting oil consumerism......by riding bikes.....naked.  We've got pictures of these cyclists to prove this actually happened.  Unfortunately those pictures ain't pretty (or legal cause of all the human anatomy flying around out there) so don't expect to see them soon.  Unless you’re willing to pay for the pictures?  But then that makes you a complete degenerate and we WILL laugh at you.

Lydia: Yes, suddenly around the corner comes droves of naked cyclists. Very crazy!

MAC: I hate our band van. Can someone buy us a new one, please?! One time we were on tour in Ohio and the transmission blew. Long story short, we had to spend $2,000 to transport this van from Ohio to Maryland, and then another $2,000 to fix the thing. Needless to say, I hate being in Ohio and I hate that van.

What is the message behind my favorite song "Ghost of Panama" or any of your personal favorites that you have written?

MAC: Mikey can answer that one.

Mikey: Regarding Ghosts of Panama, I'm just going to encourage you and any fans to watch "The Panama Deception". You can watch it in segments on youtube.com.   But one of my personal favorite songs of ours is "Pride".  Despite the title, it's actually a very anti-pride song.   Pride breaks down human relationships, whereas humility builds people up.  I'm always excited to write very positive songs but every once in a while, as with a song like "Pride", I love writing against a great evil, like the destructiveness pride brings into the world.

What are your individual hobbies that you guys indulge in when you're not performing?

Mikey: I love to cook.  I can make a pizza so good you'll find yourself weeping hysterically after one bite.

MAC: The usual - long walks on the beach, reading romance novels, and eating bon-bons. What else is there to do?

Lydia: I'm a reader, if that counts as a hobby. I really enjoy books.

MAC: Lydia is a nerd.

Who would you love to collaborate with?

Mikey: I'd like to collaborate with Joe Strummer from The Clash.  I don't think that's gonna happen though.  His death was a big factor there. Someone living who I admire greatly musically is Paul Westerberg of the Replacements.  If he wants to write a song together I'm totally down.  Paul baby, have your people call my people. We'll talk, we'll sing, we'll brunch - like we used to be, like a family.

MAC: I would like to hang out with the veteran punk rock bands that play Warped Tour every other year just to trade stories about life and the road. Everyone has a story to tell.

Lydia: I would be psyched to collaborate with Rancid. They have a really cool sound.  

You guys were involved in helping out at an orphanage in Nicaragua. What was that experience like and what got you involved?

Mikey: Nicaragua was such a powerful experience for me.  My church has been heading there to help out for the past three summers and this was the first time I had the opportunity and perhaps the finances to participate.  I went because I really wanted to see God active in the world, active in a place with far less than we have here in the U.S.   And I wanted to serve God in a vastly different environment and culture than I'm used to.  I saw how content people can be when they have only Jesus to sustain them and little else.  It was simply powerful and deeply moving.

Lydia: That was a really life changing experience. Getting to see how other people live, and how content they are with what they have, which is significantly less than we have here, was really awesome. Our church was doing a week long missions trip there, and we were available to go. I'm really glad we did.

What is your personal message behind "say no to emo"?

MAC: I think it’s pretty clear - Don't be so emo!...and go get a haircut!

Lydia: It's just that we like people to have fun when they come to a concert. Some of the emo culture seems to be about being too cool to enjoy yourself or to enjoy being with other people.

Mikey: There's enough self-focus in the world.  The emo scene and the indie scene are built entirely around self-focusedness and apathy to the concerns and needs of others.  That's the opposite of the world I want to see, where people put the needs of others first and their own needs last.

What is one thing your individual closets that you cannot live without?

Lydia: Apparently I can't live without black and white polka dots. I'm very fond of them.

MAC: Underwear....I chafe easily!

Mikey: My sequined polyester suit.  I look luscious in it. L-U-S-C-I-O-U-S.  I can put that suit on, put on my best pair of prick sunglasses, look in the mirror, and say "Today is going to be MY way."   Cause I'm Mikey Scars, baby.  Men want me, women want to be me.

[didimentionthatimawriter]

Dealing with COVID-19

I’m still in college and am planning on graduating this semester, and having to transition from living in a dorm and going on fast food runs with my friends after rehearsal almost every night to living at home and being completely dependent on my parents for the first time since high school has been a difficult transition to say the least. With my school closing, I lost my job, got kicked out of my dorm, my commencement was postponed to an unknown date, my Senior play was cancelled, last choir concert and voice recital all gone, all in one day. With a few emails all sent within a few hours, I suddenly had to come to grips with all of that, plus the fact that I wouldn’t be able to say goodbye to most of my friends since I wasn’t coming back next semester, and make plans to move out of my dorm as soon as possible. I broke down. I cried the hardest I had since I was a little kid. 

That was weeks ago. I’ve been keeping in contact with some of my friends, and I’ve been trying to stay grateful about the things I still have. For example, I have internet access, which I learned recently is not as common in my home state as I thought, so many students in neighboring counties aren’t able to complete their work online. I don’t have a job anymore, but both of my parents still do because they both are able to work from home. I watch the news and hear about how many people are losing their jobs and don’t have a way to pay their bills this month, and it just makes me more grateful. 

Still, I find myself getting depressed pretty regularly. Funny enough, it’s almost always in the evenings. So I’ve been trying to deal with this the best way I can. I’m gonna share a couple of those things here in case someone who is in a similar situation can find them useful.

1. Take this time to learn something new. I found out that Fender is doing three months of free guitar, bass, and ukulele lessons, so I’m borrowing my dad’s acoustic guitar and practicing for a few minutes a day, and it makes me feel a little better to see the progress I’m making. So I encourage everyone reading this to take up something they’ve been interested in but kept putting off trying. Drawing? Knitting? Music? The states and their capitals? It doesn’t matter, if it interests you, then try it out. 

2. Exercise. I’ve been doing yoga and going for walks every day. It’s another thing that makes me feel like I’m accomplishing something, because there’s something about sitting on the couch that makes me feel like I’m being lazy even when I’m doing school work. Honestly, my routine could use some work because doing everything early in the morning and sitting for the rest of the day is proving to not be great for my body, so I’m going to try doing a yoga/strength workout in the morning and scheduling short walks throughout the day. Honestly, walking is a great way to take a break during study sessions. It clears my mind and gets me moving, so I’d recommend that to other people. The best part about walking is you don’t need any equipment to do it. If you can’t go outside because of weather or something and don’t have access to a treadmill, then you can always walk around your house. 

3. Work on creative projects. It doesn’t matter what it is, just set aside time every day to create something. For any other writers out there, Camp NaNoWriMo is this month and in July, (it’s basically the same as the event in November except you can choose your own goal and project). I’m most likely not going to win this month because I made my goal a little too ambitious, but I’m not too worried about that. 

Also, NaNoWriMo is doing a series of activities that they call StayHomeWriMo where they make a daily list of creative things to do while you’re at home. I think it’s worth looking into even if you don’t write very much or haven’t participated in NaNoWriMo before, because they have activities for social, physical, and mental well-being as well as creative. Here’s the link: https://nanowrimo.org/stayhomewrimo 

4. Show gratitude. Like I said, this is something I’m still working on, but countless articles say that gratitude journaling every day can help make you become happier and more satisfied with what you have. I’m making it a personal goal this month to pick out a journal and take a minute or two every night before I go to bed to write down something that made me happy that day, or something that I’m grateful for. Here’s an informative video that explains some benefits to gratitude journaling: https://youtu.be/WPPPFqsECz0

Not to mention, whether it’s good or bad, this is a historical event the we’re living through, and it may be cool to have a diary from this weird time to look back on in the future. 

5. Follow news from credible sources. I know that the news can be depressing, but knowing what’s going on in the world is incredibly important right now, and make sure that it’s a credible news source. Washington Post, New York Times, NPR and other places like that are good sources. Rumors and misinformation created to cause panic have been spreading on social media, and they’re working. My friends and family are constantly worrying about some crazy story that always turns out to be false, (if it says a shutdown is coming so you won’t be able to leave your house to get groceries or other essentials for the next month or two, check it, because most likely it isn’t true). So the next time you read something that confuses you or makes you start to worry, double check the sources and don’t give in to fear, and it can save you from a lot of unnecessary anxiety and stress. When in doubt, check the CDC’s website. They’re going to have the most up to date and accurate information about COVID-19. Your state’s web page will be a good place for important information about what kind of shelter in place orders you may be under and what exactly they mean. 

And that’s what I have so far. I may add more later, but feel free to share and add things to the list, share how you’re dealing with the virus, or something that you’re grateful for. 

Stay safe. Listen to doctors. Be calm and use common sense. Be kind to others. And most of all, stay strong. No matter what you’re going through or how hard this has impacted you, remember that this will eventually pass and one day this will be in the history books. 

[alisonfloresus]

The Play With Plague: TNA Report For 4/30/09

Welcome everyone, to my first article, and the first TNA report in a long time. I’m gonna start this off by letting you know that right now TNA is my favorite now. And why? Very simply, they never went PG. They’re still doing what has worked for them in the past; having hardcore matches, writing real storylines, not the Dr. Seuss crap that we’re currently receiving for grandpa Vince and the WWE. Anyway…TNA is the only wrestling report that I’d be able to write without turning it off. Regardless, here’s what were gonna be looking at tonight.

Preview: The Godfather’s Revenge The 3-D Invitational will continue Madison Rayne vs. Awesome Kong (Stretcher Match) Abyss vs. Cody Deaner (Cody can use weapons) Last week, Jeff Jarrett says he will fire Mick Foaly Who knows what’ll happen with Lashley Kevin Nash & Booker T vs. AJ Styles and Samoa Joe

The show starts with JJ walking away from a meeting ticked off. Hmm I wonder why? JB asks what the Mick Foaly situation, and Jeff walks away with a, “No comment”. Foaly comes out and explains that not only is he the Executive Shareholder, he’s also the TNA Champion, and Jeff can’t fire him. That’s good news. An untouchable Mick Foaly. Next week the ring will probably be made of tacks.

The MEM comes out to the ring, all but Sting. Kurt starts on a rant about how he’s the Godfather and he’s in charge, and brings it back to respect. And he’s coming for Mick. He makes Jeff the offer that if he’s in the Four-Way Match at Sacrifice, whoever pins him will become the Godfather of the Mafia. Please Sting save us!!! He then informs Foaly that Kurt’s going to take over his office and his job tonight. Back to Mick and JB, who asks Mick about what Kurt just said, who responds (Being Mick Foaly of course) What’d Kurt say? What? A takeover?!? Jeff comes in and wants to kick Mick’s [ beep ]. He says normally he could handle Kurt, but he has 25 stitches above his eye and can’t see well, and then Mick asks him to watch his back tonight. Wow. I didn’t think Foaly could seem any stupider after the “Cactus Jack Smack Attack”, but I was wrong.

We come back to the Mafia and Lauren. Not paying attention until Scott Steiner comes in and says he wants Jarrett. Kurt says that he needs Scott tonight. Guess that’s the end of that discussion.

MATCH 1: 3-D Invitational. Motor City Machineguns vs. Amazing Red and Suicide. Wait who? Apparently some guy in TNA 5 years ago. Whatever. I know the Guns are in it, and that’s good enough because I love watching these guys wrestle. Fast paced, tag team action.

Someone make this match happen. Ultimate X: MMG vs. London and Kendrick vs. Kofi and Evan Bourne vs. Speed Muscle. AWESOME.

Anywho, Beer Money and the team of Eric Young and Trevor Murdoch both advance in the tournament. Shelly and Red start off. Lock up, a few counters, then Red hit’s a jumping arm drag off the ropes. Okay starting to like him. Red does a hurricurana and Suicide comes in. Leg drop and a Gorilla press to Shelly. Red comes back in and gets leapfrogged to the corner, and then takes a double MMG kick to the head. Sabin’s in, and we see some sweet double team from the guns, including a double dropkick with Red in the Tree of woe and some crazy flipping. Sabin has Red in an octopus stretch, and after some failed move, Red does some crazy double flipping neckdrop, and it looked sweet. Suicide comes in and does a double rolling somoan drop to the guns, one grounded, then slamming the other on top. MMG pulls some kicks to Suicide, then Red comes in and does a modified spinning power bomb. It was weird, in a good way, and he took out Sabin. Suicide Solution on Shelly for the win, and then disappears.

Winners: Amazing Red & Suicide.

Overall a really good opening match. Fast paced, with a returning TNA alumni. I do love the X-Division though.

Match Rating: 8/10

Angle Promo.

We come back to the Beautiful People. Shoot me in the head. They may be hot, but just too dumb for me. Knowing them they’ll prove me right. Lauren says that on paper, Rayne doesn’t have a chance against Kong. And on cue, the brainless blonde comes in, Love since there are three of them, and makes a speech that would make a idiot cry, mentioning that on paper Lee (civil war general) was supposed to invade Poland (WW2, oh and not even in the US), and that Steve-O was supposed to win Idol. I have nothing more to say, partly because my IQ took a big dip watching that. I need the break to recover.

Abyss promo.

Then we see Abyss and Lauren talking about his match, where his opponent can use weapons and he can’t, because that will help him get over his use of weapons. Ya, a coma would do that to someone. Billy Bob Thorton and ODB come out, and The Ultimate Redneck starts trash talking Abyss. I think he’s been hanging around the Beautiful People. Stupid really is contagious. The most exciting part of that was ODB’s hair.

More Angle promos.

Foaly is trying to recruit the Guns to help him. Talking about his stitches. The guns say they have bigger issues, but Foaly wants to help. They want to know who Suicide is, and he tells them its Al Snow. Stupid is a bigger issue in TNA than Swine Flu right now.

Match 2: 3-D Invitational. Homicide vs. Doug Williams & Brutus Magnus. Hernandez gets taken out backstage by the British Alliance or whatever they’re called. I don’t like them. Anyway, so it’s a handicap match. Predictable, with Homicide getting a few good spots. What is TNA’s deal with death? Homicide, Suicide, Jay Lethal.

Winners: Williams and Magnus.

Not really interesting, and again, predictable.

Match Rating: 4/10. Dragged on way too long when we knew the outcome.

More damn Angle promos. Please no more. Please Dixie help me.

Match 3: Stretcher Match. Madison Rayne vs. Awesome Kong Rudy Charles clears the arena to make it a fair match. HA!!! Kong does a choke slam, clothesline, puts her on the stretcher, 6 count, pulls her off, Implant Buster. 7 count, Kong pulls her off again, Awesome Bomb. The crowd chants for one more, and she obliges. 10 count and this is over.

Winner: Awesome Kong (who would’ve guessed?)

Match Rating: 5/10. It was short, so that’s why its higher than the last one.

The Beautiful People freak out over Rayne and call for help. As medical professionals are taking her out on a stretcher. As they are headed to an Ambulance. Idiots.

Promo. Please no Kurt, no Kurt. YES!!! Nash!!! No…damn you Dixie. It’s a MEM promo. So Kurt’s still there.

The Motor City Machineguns are back out, and they say they know who Suicide is. Al Snow? No, they call out Christopher Daniels. Close guns, about two weeks ago you would’ve been right. They rant about him getting fired (twice actually), him on the Indy circuit, and how much he wanted to get back to TNA. Shelly says that they have the same build. Then…he actually said this…I mean come on Daniels that [ beep ] is unmistakable. Dear god. There’s something you’ll never hear in the WWE. Eventually, Chris gets tired of this and lays a beat down on the guns. They run out, and we go to the back where…

Mick Foaly is now back talking to Samoa “Taz 2.0” Joe. Yes Mick we know you have stitches, please shut up about them. After his plea, Joe just walks away, and Mick says he needs to go to plan C.

Match 4: Cody Deaner w/ ODB vs. Abyss (Cody can use weapons) Okay so Jeff Gordon grabs a tray and hits Abyss in the head. Nothing. Then Billy Bob grabs a trash can lid and repeats. Blood, and laughter. Cody gets a Kendo stick, but Abyss grabs it. He thinks about using it, then chops him across the chest. He crawls to ODB who dumps the contents of her flask in his mouth. Yes. That’s TNA right there. He sprays whatever drink it is in Abyss’s face and hits him twice with the garbage can, with Abyss now on the ropes. Kendo stick to the head and Abyss goes down!!! Oh no he didn’t he’s still up. He hits him about 8 more times and Abyss is still up. Deaner grabs a chair and finally floors Abyss. Then…he takes a wrench…out of his phanypack. What the hell. He tries to hit Abyss, and runs into a Black Hole Slam.

Winner: Abyss

Decent match, some hardcore moments. The most hardcore was still probably ODB’s hair. It was a good looking slam for the win. Really funny too.

Match Rating: 6/10

And now…ANOTHER DAMN KURT ANGLE / MEM PROMO!!!!!

Lauren is now interviewing Daphnie, another of Dr. Stevie’s Patients. Blah blah, she has a thing for Abyss. Okay, the crazy emo nut job I can understand, but Lauren? Come on.

JB is in the back with the Mafia. It’s boring, the women were arguing, and Angle was the voice of reason.

Matt M-m-m-m-m-organ is now out roid raging. Anyone remember the stutter he had in WWE? He wants in the Mafia.

So now maybe we can have an actual match…no its another interview. AJ and Lauren. AJ says he doesn’t want the nation of violence, he wants the Samoan Submission Machine. He doesn’t know if he can trust him. How many interviews am I supposed to sit through? It’s a two hour show, there are five matches.

Rhino and his soldier friend promo. Why not? Sum up, Rhino’s training the guy, apparently has tourettes, but calls it tough love.

Match 5: Kevin Nash & Booker T vs. AJ Styles & Samoa Joe. Oh yeah, we have matches. Joe doesn’t come out. Booker and AJ start, trade armbars, AJ dropkicks. Nash in, and gets trapped in the corner. AJ punches and spears, then Kevin powers out. Puts AJ on the turnbuckle, who puts Kevin in a sleeper. Booker comes in, Aj clotheslines, takes Booker out, flying forearm to Nash. Joe comes out.

Back with Booker in control. Double team on AJ, Joe comes in and takes Book and Nash down. Dropkicks Nash, and they both go outside the ring. Booker hits AJ with the Legends Championship. Pin. Winners: Booker T & Kevin Nash

Match Rating: 7/10

Mick’s talking to someone who headlined Wrestlemania about his stitches, and tells them to get Angle when he says now.

Guess what? Yep another MEM promo.

Angle comes into the office. Foaly says “now” to no avail. Mick asks why are you so angry? So Mick negotiates with Kurt to let him hit him with something to make them even. One chair shot. No guitar shot. No thats JJ’s call for a chair. It was weird, and also funny. Watch the TNA replay at the end to see it. So while on the phone, Foaly hits Kurt with the phone. He goes to the closet where the mystery headliner was supposed to be. He opens it, and there are golf clubs in there. What? Oh. Foaly pulls a sock off of one of them, and its Mr. Socko. The lights go out, and someone in a skull hoodie hits Foaly with a chair. Unzips the hoodie, and its Sting. Huh?

So that’s my first report. It was an…interesting show. Too many promos, not enough matches. And three of them were squashes. But some cool twists. Damn I’m out of words. So I’m out.

from JournalsLINE http://journalsline.com/2017/07/11/the-play-with-plague-tna-report-for-43009/ from Journals LINE https://journalsline.tumblr.com/post/162867463965