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horansqueen · 4 years ago

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You & Me : chapter 40

A Niall Horan fanfiction ; rated MA

Sequel to AM CONVERSATIONS

CHAPTER 1 || CHAPTER 2 || CHAPTER 3 || CHAPTER 4 || CHAPTER 5 || CHAPTER 6 || CHAPTER 7 || CHAPTER 8 || CHAPTER 9 || CHAPTER 10 || CHAPTER 11 || CHAPTER 12 || CHAPTER 13 || CHAPTER 14 || CHAPTER 15 || CHAPTER 16 || CHAPTER 17 || CHAPTER 18 || CHAPTER 19 || CHAPTER 20 || CHAPTER 21 || CHAPTER 22 || CHAPTER 23 || CHAPTER 24 || CHAPTER 25 || CHAPTER 26 || CHAPTER 27 || CHAPTER 28 || CHAPTER 29 || CHAPTER 30 || CHAPTER 31 || CHAPTER 32 || CHAPTER 33 || CHAPTER 34|| CHAPTER 35 || CHAPTER 36 || CHAPTER 37 || CHAPTER 38 || CHAPTER 39

NOTES:

-one chapter is her pov, the next is his -4.3k -im sorry, i never proofread, i hate it. -there WILL be smut. but not only smut. -this is a romance, comedy, smut story. -for the summary, check my MASTERLIST.

READ AM CONVERSATIONS AGAIN ON WATTPAD HERE

- notes: i hope this isnt too much and that youre still enjoying this story! its almost over tho, so if you have any request please send them asap! I have a few more chapters planned but I could always add a few filler chapters if you guys send me ideas. so yea, thank you!

if you want to be on the list of blogs i notify when this is updated, just message me :)

requests! : here are the requests i used. im sorry about the Julia one, they couldnt have a very big and deep talk because it was Liv’s chapter but I still wanted to add her in because i really like her :) hope its okay!

TAKE A LOOK AT THE CHARACTERS HERE

Chapter 40 : Her chapter

OLIVIA

May 7th, 2018

It was quite late but we were both packing our things in silence. I had waited last minute to do it while Niall had to wait until he was back from his concert, which resulted in us doing it together. I missed going to see him play and sing and the thought made something stir in my stomach. I couldn't believe I stopped myself from going to see him do what he loved the most to do in the entire universe just because I was scared of what some losers could write in an online article. The more I thought about it, the more I found that completely ridiculous. I was about to mention something about it when I heard Niall talk, breaking the silence.

"Oh, I totally forgot to give you that." He leaned closer to me and handed me a small box that was wrapped in pretty pink paper. I frowned but took it in my hand anyway as he shrugged. "A fan told me to give it to you. Apparently, she was really sad when we broke up."

I stared at the small box on y hand and licked my lips. I knew most of it were just rumors, but I also knew that some people believe everything they'd read online. Still, this time, I couldn't blame them since it was the truth. I quickly unwrapped it and grabbed the note first, reading it out loud.

"We thought Niall was the biggest One Direction fan in the world, but we've seen you multiple times with random One Direction merch and we thought you may enjoy this."

I frowned more but when I saw the necklace, I let out a louder laughter. It made Niall frown too and I looked up at him with a smirk, bringing my hand closer to him. Around my fingers was hanging a necklace with his face on it. It seemed to be very old merch, probably from 2011, and I saw him grimace.

"No, Liv!" he whined as I put it around my neck and I chuckled again.

"Hey, it's a gift!" I argued. "Besides, I didn't have this one. I love it."

"You're such a pain." he joked, making me laugh this time.

I didn't see it coming but he literally jumped on me and I fell on the bed with a high scream. He pinned me down and started tickling me, holding both my wrists with one hands as the fingers of the other squeezed my waist, making my body jerk.

"Noooo! Niall stop!"

I squirmed, kicking him and hitting him without really knowing or controlling what I was doing. It took him a few seconds to stop and he stared down at me with a smirk as my lips were parted. I was panting low, not even able to enjoy his body on top of mine.

"Please, let me wear the necklace." I almost begged in a low voice.

His eyes roamed on me for about a minute and finally, the left corner of his lips raised up and he nodded once before moving closer to kiss me.

I had decided to follow him in Spain even if I had no idea when I'd have to fly back to California. We still had a few episodes to film but I was hoping Niall could come with me. He only had a few concerts left before he'd be off for a few weeks and even if he had to fly to the UK at the end of the month, I was thinking he could spend almost two weeks with me. I knew all we did was live in our luggage, going from airports to airports but at the same time, we were together and it's really all that mattered to me.

His lips moving slowly against mine made my heart twist in my chest. I loved him so much, I always would and I knew it. I was starting to trust him again, so much that the tiny ball of fear that seemed to live permanently in my stomach was now gone. I had decided that I wanted to live this plenty, to not hold grudges of fears that came from our past. I wanted to move forward and I knew that we had both changed for the better.

May 8th, 2018

We woke up early to catch our flight and I put my sunglasses on because I knew I looked exhausted. They were heart shaped but were black instead of my usual pink or purple ones for the simple reason I thought it would be less obvious to the people around that I had puffy and tired eyes. I didn't mean travelling if it meant being with Niall, but that didn't mean it was it wasn't sucking up all my juice.

I didn't expect the airport to be crowded but it was, and I moved my head down, trying not to catch anyone's attention. The fans started screaming, the paps started yelling at Niall to look their way, and when one of them moved too close to us, I felt my heart jump in my chest and without thinking, I grabbed Niall's hand. I realized my mistake and quickly let go of it only to feel his fingers tighten around mine. I could swear the flashes became even more intense right after and I glanced at Niall, licking my lips as I heard similar questions being yelled around us.

"Are you two back together?"

"Did you cheat on Dylan and Heidi together?"

"Are all the rumors true?"

We both held each other's hand tighter at the sound of all these questions being thrown at us and we kept walking as they followed us. I could feel my heart beat so hard in my chest that I felt like it was about to escape. I swallowed hard trying to relax a bit as I kept glancing at my boyfriend.

"Does that mean we're official?" Niall asked me, squeezing my fingers even more after he stopped walking, and moved closer to make sure I was the only one who heard.

I turned his way and licked my lips, trying to ignore the flashes and the sounds of the cameras. I was not used to that much attention, or at least, not as intense as it was being at that moment, but even if it was a bit intimidating, I was not scared.

"Do you want us to be?"

His gaze moved on my face as he studied me before sending me a fond smile. "Yes, I do."

I sent him a gentle smile that turned into a very big one. "We're official then."

"Fuck yes." he whispered, making me chuckle.

He pulled on my hand and we started walking again but as we were about to pass the gate, he quickly and roughly moved our hands up to show our intertwined fingers and it surprised me so much I felt my heart skip a few beats.

"FUCK YES!" he repeated in a yell, making me burst into laughter this time.

If I wasn't sure Niall loved me, I definitely was now. The fact that he literally told the world we were together proved much more than anyone could believe. I knew he was private, and so was I. I also knew he didn't like his private life to be in the spotlight, or talked about, or known, and him showing everyone, fans and paps included, that we were an item by throwing our hands up just showed me how committed he was. People would talk about us and the wrong things we did to Dylan and Heidi, people would definitely criticize us as individuals but also as a couple and I knew that for a while, people would stop talking about his music and my tv show only to blab shit about our love, but he thought it was still worth it and even if I was a bit surprised, it touched me more than I thought it would. And just like that, the blinded trust I had for Niall until he broke up with me was back, and I knew that this time, it would be different.

---

We took a nap when we arrived at the hotel and when I woke up, it was the middle of the afternoon and Niall's arm was wrapped around me as he was laying on his stomach. I ran my fingertips on his arm and reached his back, making him groan slightly. He looked so good, his eyes closed, his bottom lip a bit over his upper one in a cute pout and his hair a bit messy. It made something come alive inside me and I realized that we went through so many things to get back pretty much where we used to be. The difference was us and the way we had grown, and I knew that what we lived when we were away from each other was needed to have the relationship we had at that very moment.

I tried not to wake him up and sat up slowly and gently in bed, rubbing my eyes and yawning before grabbing my phone. I knew he didn't want me to but I searched for his name and mine in google and a bunch of pictures from the airport appeared. My lips curled more at the picture of us walking away while Niall held our hands up together. I stared at it for a few minutes and pressed my lips together, feeling suddenly ecstatic and a bit dizzy. It was really happening. I was back with Niall and we were happy together. In all the months we were apart, I had wished for it, but I never thought it would really happen at some point.

"What are you looking at?" he mumbled low, taking me out of my thoughts. "You're smiling."

I turned to him and my excited smile turned into a fond one. His eyes were half-closed and his face was still pressed on the pillow. In fact, I was pretty sure he hadn't moved at all and looking at him made something stir in my stomach. There was nothing I loved more than waking up with him, except maybe falling asleep in his arms.

I tilted my head and let the left corner of my lips raise up before turning the screen his way. It took him a few seconds to let what he was seeing sink in and he smiled too.

"Oh look, that's us telling the world we're back together." he pointed out slowly and in a low tone, an amused smile curling his lips. "I'm sorry, I'm never that impulsive normally. But I've been waiting for that for a while." He paused and I felt his arm hold my waist tighter before he squirmed a bit and put his head on my lap. "It's okay though, because this is meant to last, so everyone may as well know now. What do ya say?"

I brought my hand to his head and ran my fingers in his hair gently, making his eyes flutter. "I agree." I whispered, making him smile more.

"We're gonna get married and have a few kids. And dogs, too. I love dogs."

This time, I chuckled and licked my lips. He had mentioned marriage a few times in the past weeks and I loved it. He used to be so scared of commitment and the future and now he was literally planning it for us.

"You know what we should do now?" he asked, making me shake my head. "Stay in bed all day. Order food, watch tv, and make out. Champagne and you. That sounds perfect."

I smiled widely. "Gotta celebrate the fact that we're official, now."

"Damn right."

After a few hours, we were done eating and the bottle of champagne was empty. We were still laying in bed but I had stopped following the movie and kept staring at the ceiling. What took me out of my thoughts, once again, was Niall's voice. I blinked a few times, trying to get back to my senses, and he raised his eyebrows at me.

"Mm?" I asked, making him laugh.

He stopped the movie quickly before grabbing the sheets of the bed, pulling them over our heads and once again locking us together in our safe place. I smiled at him and turned my body his way as he did the same. It was always a bit stifling to stay under the covers for a while but at the same time, it made me feel secure like nothing else did.

"How hard did that champagne hit?" he asked with a chuckle.

"Mm, i'm tipsy." I admitted, laughing too.

"Me too." he let out, his eyes roaming on my face. "You know I want to marry you for real, right? I want to promise to be yours forever. I want to literally show everyone that no one else will ever mean to me as much as you mean to me."

"I want it too. I want to be your wife. Niall I want it more than anything."

I felt my heart jump in my chest at my confession and we kept looking at each other for a few minutes in silence. He found my left hand and brought it up to his eyes level before running his thumb gently on my ring finger. I bit my bottom lip, trying to imagine what it would feel like to be his wife, and I swallowed hard, almost ashamed that I let my mind wonder so far.

"One day..." he just murmured before looking up in my eyes. "How many kids?"

"Five." I let out, making his eyebrows raise.

"Jesus Christ, do you want to kill me, woman?"

This time, I started laughing and he pulled me closer with a groan, letting his lips press against mine before pulling slightly away. I waited until he spoke again, my lips curling more and more with every passing seconds.

"You're not serious?" he just asked, making me laugh, this time.

"How many do you want?"

"Two, maybe three." he admitted before I kissed him again, sucking gently on his upper lip.

"Then two or three we'll have." I breathed out against his mouth as he held me closer.

"And we'll live in London, and keep a house in Cali, how's that?" he proposed in a murmur. "I'll bring you to Las Vegas to get married. We'll have the best honeymoon because I'll make you cum twenty times a day for a whole week."

I started laughing against his mouth and he smirked. "Where are we going for that?"

"Bali?" he suggested.

"Mm, don't tempt me." I joked as he laughed again, deepening the kiss and making me close my eyes. "What's on your mind, Horan?" I asked lower and more seriously.

"Well, how about we practice making those two-three kids now?" he offered, making me chuckle. "I really want to make love to my official girlfriend and future wife."

"Hey, I didn't say yes just yet." I joked as his lips traveled on my jaw and neck.

"But you will yea? You just accepted to be my official girlfriend so it's a good start. You'll be my wife and marry me?"

"If you want to spend your life with me, how can I say no to that?"

"That's what I thought." he just said, giving himself a swing and making me laugh even more as he got on top of me.

I spread my legs a bit as he nibbled on the skin of my neck and I groaned when I felt his hard dick press on my inner thighs. I was tired and still a bit tipsy but the way he whispered, the sound of his voice, the feeling of his body on top of mine... all of this was too good and I felt like I never had enough of him. Even after all this time, I wanted him as much as I used to, even more, probably, and the way he was all over me made me think he felt the same.

"I want to bury my cock so deep inside you right now." he whispered, bringing his mouth back on mine. "You're so fucking beautiful. I love you so much, Olivia. You made me so happy today."

I reached for his boxers and pulled them down as much as I could, his words making my heart twist and jump in my chest. I didn't think Niall could love me as much as he seemed to, I didn't know he could want to be with me to the point where he would literally hold my hand and show everyone that we were together in a crowded airport. I had no idea he was waiting for this, I didn't know that it would make him react like that to be my official boyfriend. All of this made sense, of course, but it was just hitting me that Niall really loved me as much as I loved him and that he didn't want to lose me again.

"Please Niall, just do it." I begged him in a murmur, reaching between my legs and pulling my panties aside before grabbing his cock and lining it up.

His hip movement was slow and as he pushed himself inside me, I felt my eyes roll back and a moan escaped my lips. I moved my knees up as he lied on top of me, holding himself on his elbows as he started thrusting in and out of me slowly. It felt like torture but at the same time it was so good I moved my chin up, feeling his lips leave kisses on it.

"I love you, can't believe you're my girlfriend again." he whispered, his lips brushing against my skin.

"I was always yours, Niall. I've always been yours. Since I was 6 years old. I knew I belonged to you." I replied just as low and without thinking. "I was just scared you didn't belong to me"

He pushed himself deeper inside me and it felt so good I let out an other whimper. He remained still, waiting for my eyes to open again and meet his, and I felt one of his hands slip in my hair while the other moved a lock out of my eyes.

"I belong to you." he confessed, making a shiver run across my back. "All this soulmate shit? I believe in it now. I have to."

I bit my bottom lip, making him glance at my mouth before looking back in my eyes.

"I love you. I fucking love you." I had barely finished my sentence that he was pressing his mouth against mine again, this time fucking me harder and faster.

My back arched after a few minutes and I moaned in his mouth this time, right before his thrusts became unsteady and a bit sloppy. The orgasm felt amazing and I gripped his arms as I felt his muscles tighten. I pressed my thighs on each sides of him, pushing myself against him in motion with him as he came. Nothing felt better than that post orgasm feeling with Niall on top of me. His lips found mine and he kissed me slowly but deeply for a while until we both got down of our highs and even a little bit after.

"I'm so happy you followed me here." he admitted with a smile as I tilted my head on the pillow.

"Me too." I licked my lips and raised my eyebrows. "Are you gonna follow me back to Cali in a few days?"

"Nothing will stop me from going with you. Nothing."

He rolled off of me and I pushed the covers to breathe fresh air, just realizing that I needed it. Niall grabbed my hand and I focused back on him as he stared at my fingers, making me try to suppress the smile stuck on my lips.

"Please come to my show tomorrow." he just let out, his fingers brushing gently against mine, exactly where a wedding ring would be. "We're officially together now, so we don't care who sees you or what they see."

My heart skipped a beat and I licked my lips nervously. It would be a good start but it stressed me to think that people would start judging us even more, now that we were official. I knew Niall was not going to start kissing me or anything in public but I still felt nervous.

"Okay." I let out low feeling myself tear up. I swallowed my tears but I could see my boyfriend getting emotional too and I sniffed. "I love you Niall. I don't ever want to be away from you anymore."

He brought one of his hands to my cheek and I felt the warmth of his skin against mine as he moved closer to lean his forehead against mine.

"I'm never leaving again. I promise on my life. I'm here to stay. What we have will never die, okay?"

I nodded quickly and bit my bottom lip as I felt a tear run down my cheek. I could swear he was tearing up too and I pressed my parted lips against his. "Okay."

May 9th, 2018

I hadn't realize how much I had missed watching Niall sing and play. He was always the kid who was singing, dancing, or playing guitar when we were younger, and it always brought a bunch of people around him. He seemed so untouchable, even for me, who was his best friend. Now, with the literal crowds and album selling, it was even more obvious, but a lot less scary. The fact that I knew he loved me definitely helped but watching him do what he's always loved but this time, as a living, was just breathtaking. He was breathtaking.

I chuckled when he winked at me subtly and I rolled my eyes with a smile until I felt a hand on my arm. I jumped slightly and turned again to look at Julia who was smiling widely at me. I thought I knew what she was going to say but instead, she pulled me close into a tight hug. It took me a few seconds to answer it but when I did, she jumped a few times, bringing me with her, and finally pulled away.

"I saw the video!" she said happily, her lips curled into a bit grin.

"The video?"

"Of you two at the airport!"

I felt my cheeks turn a soft shade of red as they burned a bit and cleared my throat, looking away. I knew there were pictures but I was not aware someone was filming. Come to think about it, it was not surprising, after all. I felt two strong arms wrap around my neck from behind and I smiled immediately, recognizing the touch and the perfume. It was crazy how he still affected my moods but I could also see that I influenced his, and that made our relationship so much better.

"Niall!" he let go of me to hug Julia and I smiled, taking a step away. "I'm so happy for you! I knew it would happen! I told you you had to keep hope!"

Niall's eyes found mine and his smile faltered as his embrace around his friend loosened.

"I sort of... confided in Julia." he admitted, licking his lips as mine parted. "I know you wanted me to keep the secret, but I didn't know what to do, and I felt like shit... I needed to talk to someone."

He looked at me with fear in his eyes, as if I was going to turn on my heels and leave, but I just tilted my head on the side while staring at him.

"Hey, I understand. She's one of your closest friends." I pointed out with a shrug before sending him a smile. "I talk to Louis about almost everything." I shrugged again. "Besides, I like her."

Julia smiled more and grabbed my arm, pulling me closer to them to hug both of us at the same time. I laughed and after a few seconds, she pulled away and smiled again.

"I'll wait for you guys backstage. We're going to celebrate right?" she asked as Niall and I glanced at each other, a bit unsure. "It's one of my last shows! We have to go grab a drink together!"

"Sure, we'll do that."

She left with a big grin and I turned to Niall who was smiling fondly at me. I frowned, my lips still curled, but I had to admit that the way he was looking at me made something twitch in my stomach.

"Thank you." he whispered, bending down to kiss the top of my head.

"For?"

"For wanting to get to know my friends. I know you get along great with all our childhood friends, and my cousins and all, but I've made great friends while doing this job, and you never really seemed to be interested in befriending them too, well, except for Harry, Louis and Liam.”

I shrugged a shoulder and looked away before looking back at him and raising my nose in a small grimace. "You used to hang out with many celebrities, especially when you were dating Heidi. I don't know, Niall, to me, it's a bit intimidating." I admitted. "I never felt like I fitted with them, or belonged with those famous faces. It's just weird to me."

"I'd love to present them to you. I promise they're great."

I stared at him and after a while, my lips curled again. "Sure, I'd love to meet them." I just gave in and by seeing the smile on his face, I knew it made him happy. "Let's start with Julia. I already know I love her."

Niall laughed and cupped my face, tilting my chin up before reaching for my mouth with his. "And I know I love you."

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onewaywardwitch · 6 years ago

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Just A Typo (6/?)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Hacker!Reader

Summary: It was a simple challenge between a very competitive group of friends. A challenge that ended very differently than anticipated.

Warnings: Language

Word Count: 2275

A/N: I’m so happy to finally get to post this part! I’ve been most excited for this one. Thanks for all the love on the previous parts, enjoy part 6!

If someone had told me a month ago that I'd be spending my days working as the security analyst for Stark Industries and my nights chatting with the Avengers, I'd have asked how much they had to drink. It's amazing how an illegal act can completely turn your life around, and not in the ‘sent to prison’ sense.

Fortunately for me, Wanda took me under her wing. She was determined to have another female presence around in a tower overflowing with testosterone and I wasn’t complaining. I appreciated her company just as much as she did.

Everyone was far more welcoming. Well, almost everyone. Natasha still seemed adamant on ignoring me. But with Sam constantly joking around with me, it was easier to forget about it. I had become a common visitor of the residents upstairs and I loved getting to know their actual personalities rather than the superhero personas the world had grown so used to seeing. Like how Tony won’t speak to anyone before his morning coffee. Or how Bruce has to be brought food throughout the day, or else he would simply forget to eat.

But Bucky remained an enigma that I couldn’t crack.

It wasn’t that we didn’t spend time together. We did. And many times, I enjoyed being near him more than some of the louder Avengers. We were never hanging out alone, though. He was a lot quieter when I was around, but I didn’t take it personally. He was obviously still a bit nervous being around anyone other than his teammates, but I liked to think that I was growing on him. At least he sat down and talked to me with everyone else now, instead of just running out of the room. And I adored having more than just two friends. The top floor had quickly become a second home to me.

~~~~~

I ran my hand through my hair for what felt like the seventh time in five minutes. For some reason, the system I was planning on installing for Stark Industries was not cooperating with me. I was forced to keep changing around the algorithm and every new sequence was rejected, not working in the slightest. It didn’t help that I had already gone through a full pack of Haribo and had none left. Timothy, one of my co-workers with a strange love for the worst movies ever made, kept glancing at me every time I let out a frustrated groan. Whenever he looked over, he opened his mouth as if to ask me something, before closing it again. It didn’t take long for me to snap.

“If you’ve got something to say spit it out. You look like a fish doing that.” I should have felt bad for snapping at him. He was a nice enough person, and I had been informed by the secretary down the hall that he harboured a small crush for me. Unfortunately for him, I was prepared to pick a fight with anyone. He just happened to be on the receiving end of it.

“I, um, I was just wondering if you... if you needed a hand with whatever you're working on?” he asked me, nervously wringing his hands.

I stared blankly at him. My lack of response caused his expression to change from slightly hopeful yet nervous, to absolutely terrified.

Stop it, don’t be a bitch, he’s just being nice. You can do this, politely decline his offer. There's no need to make a scene.

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

Well, that didn’t work.

“Am I not capable of doing it myself now, huh? I can do it perfectly fine. The system is stupid, that’s all. I don’t need your help because you'll end up pissing me off even more than you already have.”

Wow, ok, enough. Close your mouth. Bite your tongue. Walk away. Do anything other than talking to him.

“And also, you are literally the only person in the world who actually likes ‘Sharknado’.”

Why? Why would you say that? You absolute idiot.

I turned back to the computer that I was incredibly close to smashing as I ignored Tim’s deflated expression. He moved back to continue on with whatever he was working on himself. I typed in new lines of code on my screen, praying that these would work. While I waited for the outcome, I started to feel a bit guilty. I was stressed about my job that I was really desperate not to lose and I was taking it out on whoever was closest to me, which just so happened to be Tim.

“Oh shit!”

The second I turned to apologise, I felt hand on my shoulder, scaring the absolute crap out of me.

“Sorry! I called your name and you didn’t answer. You looked deep in thought,” Bucky said uncertainly. I instantly relaxed in his presence and chuckled.

“It's ok, my fault anyway. I should have been paying attention to what was going on around me. It just gets interesting up here sometimes,” I tapped my head as I spoke.

Great, now he thinks you're a lunatic.

Bucky offered me a small smile, which I had come to expect from him. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Tim. I tried to ignore him. I really did. When he first saw Bucky come over to me his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. That look of awe turned to one of amusement when he saw me make a complete fool out of myself. I stared pointedly at him until he got the message and returned to his computer. Bucky raised his eyebrows at me, and I shook my head in reply.

So much for Tim’s apology.

Bucky cleared his throat. “Um, Tony sent me to get you. He wanted to talk to you about, er… something computer related, I think.”

“He could have called me, you know. You didn’t have to come all the way down here.”

“He wanted me to get you in person. Plus, I had to talk to someone down in communications anyway.”

I nodded and got up to leave with Bucky, completely forgetting about the system that had me wound up only minutes ago.

~~~~~

Why does elevator music always make everything so uncomfortable and awkward? I was desperately searching for a way to fill the silence but for once in my life my mind was blank. I heard Bucky mumble something, seemingly to himself. I brushed it off before he spoke up more confidently.

“I like your jumper.”

I swear, I had never turned red so quickly. It felt like my whole face was on fire. How did everything he say make me feel so giddy?

“Thanks! But it's actually my friend, Angie’s. She left it at my apartment a few days ago and I haven’t had a chance to return it yet. I don’t know why I said that, it's a lie. She forgot it at mine over a year ago and I really like it.” I didn’t think I could blush any harder. I was wrong.

“You're really close with your two friends, huh?” Bucky questioned. I relaxed quickly. I always found it easier to talk about anything that wasn’t about me directly.

“They're complete idiots, but I love them. They're my family. I'd be lost without them. I mean, Becca’s good fun and Angie is our designated babysitter most of the time.”

He let out a low laugh. “I guess I know how she feels. I'm always running around after Steve, trying to make sure he doesn’t get himself killed.”

“Really?”

Bucky also seemed more at ease with the direction the conversation had taken. “It was worse back in the 40’s though. He was picking fights left, right, and centre. There was no super soldier serum to help him back then. He was just a kid with good intentions and twig-like arms.”

The ding of the elevator interrupted our chat. We stepped out, but I paused before we walked any further. Bucky turned to question me, and I stared open-mouthed at him.

“God, I was such a bitch to Tim!” I exclaimed suddenly, Bucky looking at me in surprise. “He was just trying to help me, and I-.“ I couldn’t even finish my sentence as I was overcome by fit of giggles. “I told him that nobody likes ‘Sharknado’ except for him!”

“Shark what?”

“Have you never heard of ‘Sharknado’? We have to watch it! It's a terrible film.”

“If it's so bad why do I have to watch it?”

“Because, it's a good bad movie. You watch it knowing it's going to be terrible and then you just give out about it afterwards. The full 21st century experience,” I explained to a very perplexed superhero. “Let’s go, best not to leave his royal highness waiting.”

~~~~~

Turns out Tony had summoned me to ask a single question about my work, before requesting advice on the nicest cafés in the area to bring Pepper to. We spent nearly an hour arguing over which is nicer, pancakes or waffles. He refused to accept the fact that pancakes are clearly superior and resorted to folding his arms and huffing like a child.

I finally made a move to leave when Tony told me he had some Avengers business to attend to.

“Next time you want a chat,” I said to him as I put on my jacket,” just give me a call. You didn’t need to send poor Bucky all the way down to me. He probably has better things to be doing.”

Tony snorted. “You’d think so, wouldn’t you? He volunteered to get you. The second I mentioned I needed to talk to you, he all but ran off to find you.”

I scoffed and chose to ignore what Tony had said. “Bye, Mario!” I yelled back to him, making sure to close the door on his sounds of annoyance.

~~~~~

Some people can sense bad things just before it happens. Hairs standing on the back of your neck, chills down your spine. Some sort of sixth sense, I guess. Unfortunately, I wasn’t one of those people.

I was sitting in my empty, broken bathtub with my laptop, as you do, when I heard the crash. My head shot up immediately, staring at my bathroom door that I had left slightly ajar.

“It's nothing, you're imagining things.” I tried to convince myself I was hearing things until I heard what I assumed was one of my mugs crashing to the ground.

I could feel my heart thumping in my chest, and I willed myself to calm down. Placing my laptop carefully aside as quietly as I possibly could, I crawled out of the bath and creeped my way towards the door.

I peered my head out, nervously chewing on my lower lip. It was only a matter of seconds before I gasped and closed the door in panic. I made sure to do so silently and I held a hand over my mouth to control the ragged breaths that I could no longer control.

With shaking hands, I locked the door and took out my phone that felt stuck in my pocket. My only focus was calling the first person that popped into my head.

“Come on, come on,” I muttered, begging for a small ounce of luck.

“Miss me already?”

I sighed in relief. “Tony, there’re people in my apartment. Can you- can you send someone over please. I'm kind of panicking.”

There was a momentary pause and a sharp intake of breath on the other side of the phone before-

“Y/N listen to me. You need to get out of there right now. We’ll be there as fast as we can. Can you get to your front door?”

“I can’t, they’ll see me.”

“Shit,” I heard Tony breath out. “Alright, odds are they’re looking for your laptop so hang tight, hopefully they won’t be looking for you.

I groaned internally and stared at my laptop that I had forgotten about in the bath. Just my luck.

“Yeah, that’s not going to work. My laptop is with me.”

“You bring your laptop to the bathroom?”

“Some people bring their phones, I bring my laptop. Stop judging me.”

Tony decided to ignore my last comment, instead informing me that they were on their way. He asked if I could still hear the people in my apartment.

“Um, no, I don’t think I- “

The bang on the bathroom door made me jump and I clutched the phone tighter. I covered my mouth with my hand, willing myself to stop shaking. A second bang, and I took a few steps backwards slowly. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the door that I knew wouldn’t withstand much more. It took me a few seconds to realise that Tony had been shouting my name.

“Tony,” I whispered,” please tell me you’re nearby.”

I could hear him talking to someone else, his impatient tone not doing anything to reassure me.

“Still 10 minutes out, kid.”

Before Tony could even finish his sentence, the door came crashing down. I screamed, trying to shield my eyes from the splintered wood.

A man dressed entirely in black tactical gear made a move to grab me, and I dropped my phone in a panic.

“TONY!” I screamed. My attempt to remove myself from his grip was futile. He had grabbed my body and dragged me to where the rest of his team were waiting in my now destroyed kitchen. I was so distracted that I didn’t notice the fist that flew towards my face before everything went black.

Taglist (open):

(if there’s a strike through your name it means I couldn’t tag you)

(if I forgot to tag you just send me a message)

@amybarter15 @imperialoath @throw-some-music-my-way @mamaraptor @marbleowl @lydklein1 @wantingtobekorra @alysawrites @uhholyhazza @ladymelissastark @sarcasm-n-insomnia @foxylupines @myrabbitholetoneverland @amazingficsthatididnotwrite @markusstraya @padfootormoose @worldofchoices @just-some-stuff-in-life @colie87 @catsandbooksinafarawayplace @littleblackdressxx @thequirkypeach @astronomicparker @asguardiansoftheavengers @awesome-alysia @sebbystanlover-vk @unknownwonder @wowstiless @d-eracine

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lieutenant-pride · 5 years ago

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i was just thinking about that rant i made about avengers infinity war and how i saw avengers endgame a little while ago, well after it got out of theaters because i wasn’t truly willing to give marvel money for that, and now i just wanna go off the hook about the movie because i can ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

i’m not even putting it in a read-more for spoiler purposes so much as putting it in a read-more because it might end up being long, but there are spoilers ahead anyway so for those five people who haven’t seen endgame and do care, be wary

funny thing is, i actually didn’t hate this like i expected to when i heard that time travel was one of its core constructs, but you know what i still don’t think it was worth the hype altogether and here is why

perhaps to make up for the fact that they didn’t kill any of the OG avengers, or for the fact that they probably didn’t need to exist in the first place, the snap apparently killed literally every single member of Hawkeye’s family that is not Clint himself. i guess we need an excuse for him to turn into Ronin, so let’s make his family expendable, why not

this film does us the discourtesy of confirming shuri’s fate as one of the fallen from last movie and the russos will pay dearly for this

the idea of destroying the stones with their own power was already proven a thing in the last movie when wanda did just that with the mind stone (while holding off five other infinity stones and a titan worth of power with one of her hands, by the way) but given the massive shockwave that occurred from THAT stone’s destruction? are you really willing to tell me he snapped again, had half his body disintegrate, and then the glove with all six stones just puffed into smoke?

actually how cool would that have been? that they arrive on the garden planet of whatever and thanos is just a fucking toasty corpse in a crater, and they realize what he had to do for that to happen? now i feel a little cheated

man, i knew from square one when i saw the first few trailers for this film that okoye was gonna get sidelined HARD, and she had maybe one or two spoken lines in the whole film? i get it, there are a lot of characters to go over in this big epic conclusion to the MCU’s biggest property/ies, but they definitely could’ve given the black panther cast a bit more love than this. i think i’m just salty over that bit though

did ronin kill in the comics? was that a thing he did? was he basically clint barton going jason todd for a little while, was that what it was? because please point me in the direction of those books if so

i really, really can’t argue much about the pym particle bits and the quantum realm (was that the one?) because time travel is a lot like nuclear physics when it comes to movies and comics and just works however the writer needs it to work in that situation, whether that refers to the means or the ends. i am glad however that antman gets this much attention as if he’s a legit member of the avengers. you know. like how he was one of the og members in the comics.

you know what i can argue about? how they try to sell their first attempt at time travel anWAIT JUST A MINUTE I FORGOT ABOUT BIG BANNER WHAT IS THIS HOW DID HE EVEN MANAGE THAT SHIT

i guess he had like five years to study and figure out how to make himself hulk on the outside without sacrificing the banner brains, but i’m very curious as to what the purpose is in doing that, since he was having more issues releasing hulk during the previous film and also the fact that he really had zero reason to fuse the two together. like, what threats was banner gonna face? what evildoers did he need hulk work for? if he needed some muscle of his own he could’ve just worked out????

you can also say that was bruce’s character arc during the first film actually, which is fine, but i’d like to note that if it is, then his character arc is resolved completely off-screen

listen, i get it. tony and pepper are a thing that had to happen, according to literally every film before this. i still think pepper deserves better or at least someone who doesn’t cause her as much stress as tony has caused for her. i mean i guess if that boy brings in the money though, do what you gotta ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

we get one scene of ronin at work and i kind of love it? i kinda wish we got to see more of his work, but i get why we don’t. this is like, the best thing that clint has to offer in this film

oh right i almost forgot, that first attempt at time travel with scott “having time moved through him.” cute gag, but this definitely doesn’t fly with scott’s first mingling with time travel and the quantum realm or whatever, and if we’re to assume they mostly repeated what they did during the post-credits scene of antman and the wasp, then why did this even have a risk of happening????

that was a cute gag though, mainly because paul rudd is a treasure

and since i’m discussing the time travel bits: the time travel in this movie is handled fairly well, and it introduces the prospect of timelines diverging rather than just having one singular strand of time flow! great! cool! but this has some bumps here and there in the film for the sake of drama, and this is the first instance:

clint travelling back to see his family for just a split moment of time. this is a moment that toys with rules constructed later, though i think that is a mixed bag and maybe i missed this detail. in every instance after this one, when the cast wants to return to a specific time in the future (their actual timeline and present) they sync up their time gps thing, but in this case? clint has no chance to do that. we don’t cut out a single second of his trip in the past, and i don’t recall him even looking at the time gps ONCE, and yet he can be forcibly pulled back to the present???

this is actually one of the only faults i can think of in the time travel, and they probably actually set that gps ahead of time, so whatever, maybe they actually handled time travel well here???

some o y’all people out here had the audacity to tell me that tony stark was the one who called steve roger’s ass “america’s ass” when it was in fact scott lang, and tony in fact called to question steve’s ass in that scene, and it is YOU i will not forgive for this heinous error

tony actually did nothing wrong in attaining the tesseract; he just got his head smacked in by a surprise hulk coming out of the stairwell

actually this made me remember a thing: couldn’t they have sent someone to grab the tesseract in asgard in case something went wrong in new york? they were right about picking the right year and time to get three infinity stones in new york, but they also managed to pick the right year and time to get two stones in asgard, so why not snatch that up as a failsafe?

thor really fucked over an alternate timeline by grabbing mjolnir from them, huh. cap couldn’t return that shit, after all; they need mjolnir for when we finally get the Mighty Thor. like, good moments between him and his mom, and that whole “i’m still worthy” thing was great, but are we gonna talk about the timeline that got fucked over for that???

so did they not discuss WHY they needed two people going to vormir ahead of time, or what? did nebula not tell them? she totally did, right? like did she not mention WHY gamora didn’t come back with thanos after he got the soul stone? why are they surprised when the mention of a sacrifice comes into play???

apparently only women die in vormir, and usually to advance the character arcs of men. i dunno i wouldn’t be too sore about this hawkeye sacrificing himself

i’ll be honest i don’t care MUCH about black widow but like let’s be real how much was hawkeye giving to the narrative???

also apparently they can’t do anything about getting nat back, which is inherently bullshit by the fact that gamora still exists in the past and you could very easily bring a nat from another timeline without fucking up yours. it’s fine; you had no problem doing that with mjolnir

how did they shrink the entire warship thanos was on exactly, and how long did they take to get that tech right???

what exactly is thanos’ weirdass boomerang blade made of that it can shred a vibranium shield?

anyway so they pay homage to every hero from the past twenty-odd films real quick, and they make the right choice in putting the black panther crew first, but i can’t help but think about how this is all just fanservice

wanda comes in to remind us that thanos ain’t shit without the infinity stones and NEARLY KILLS HIM ON HER OWN so someone explain to me why she doesn’t AFTER she gets back up???? like, can we assume killing thanos would put an end to most of this fight and send the rest of his forces running?

i already mentioned the fanservice level that came with the heroes entering on the scene, right? let’s not forget that the shot of all (minus one) the marvel women coming together is also mostly fanservice with no real meaning and it could’ve been cut from the movie and the narrative would not be too heavily adjusted, just as a reminder that marvel isn’t really treating the women of their properties well on film

thanos got real fucked up after two snaps and banner got fucked up after one snap, and you’re seriously telling me tony - a regular ass human being - lasted long enough to snap at all???

seeing peter and ned reunite with one another (i guess they both got snapped if they’re both still high school students ACTUALLY DID PETER’S WHOLE SCHOOL GET SNAPPED OR WHAT HAPPENED????)

okay but actually, the peter and ned reuniting scene got me much harder than any amount of tony’s death and funeral

seeing the wakanda crew serving up looks during tony’s funeral just reminds me that okoye got maybe two lines in the whole film, t’challa got Maybe One, and shuri got shafted for lines, and that makes me sad

i think Old Cap reuniting with sam on the bench is great and all, and a real good closing to steve’s character, however i have some questions to ask about it, namely how steve ended up in the same timeline after we made ABUNDANTLY CLEAR we were playing by diverging timeline rules, unless what you’re trying to tell me is that there was an Old Steve that just existed in our timeline the whole time and the fact that we never focused on Peggy significantly enough allowed yall to sneak that in

i also have to ask how in god’s name y’all didn’t take note of the man sitting at the bench out by the lake where you were performing your time jumping shenanigans?????

but yeah overall not actually a bad conclusion. tony’s dead, so that’s a plus. we won’t get any more of america’s ass in these films, which is a minus, but it could be worse

#rant #avengers endgame #endgame spoilers #because we still marking those i guess #i dunno i just wanted to rant about it

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natasha-cole · 7 years ago

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Worlds Collide Chapter 17

Pairing: Billy Moran x Reader

Summary: Reader’s mother pays another visit. Feeling small after the unexpected discussion; Reader’s bad mood spills over into her work life. Her grumpiness and the rumors that are going around prompts Misha to step in as a friend. What was simply a dinner between friends, is already being looked at as something else entirely.

Word Count: 3381

Warnings: angst

Notes: Hey, Misha is back!

Catch Up: Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16

You returned home following what had been the most disappointing and awkward convention weekend of your life. You weren’t sure if word had spread throughout the group, but you knew that Kim knew what had happened. You figured it was only a matter of time before she opened her mouth to everyone else. That and the fact that it was probably obvious that something was up based on the way Billy went out of his way the rest of the weekend to make sure to not cross paths with you, led you to believe that everyone had figured it out.

You were a mess of feelings right now. Generally, you avoided feelings at all costs; but you felt exhausted, angry, and sad at all once. No matter how hard you tried to pretend that Billy leaving you wasn’t a big deal, you had honestly never felt so devastated in your life.

Still, your mother’s words played in your mind. Everything she had to say about him before had started to ring true now that you were no longer together. Perhaps he had been using you and quickly found his escape when you decided to make a stupid statement that hurt his feelings. You had given so much to him, only to have him walk away because you apparently didn’t know how to filter yourself.

You angrily found Jen’s number on your phone, knowing that you had to touch base with her at least. It had been a few days since you had any contact with anyone, and based on her incessant calls to you, you figured something was up.

“What do you want?” You asked when she finally picked up.

“You’re the one who called me,” she responded.

“Yeah, only because my call history is made up of nothing but your number.”

“Yeah, I’ve been trying to get a hold of you, but you’re being very difficult lately.”

“Don’t act as if that’s a new thing.”

“Look, I’m only checking in based on what’s going around on social media.”

“What now? People can’t stop talking about that thing with Misha?”

“No, it’s not that anymore. Now it’s mostly about how you and that guy might be on the rocks.”

“What?” You asked in frustration. “How is that even a thing right now?”

“You do realize that these fans are observant of everything? There’s been some mention about how things seemed off over the weekend. Neither of you were your usual selves, and the lack of pictures on Instagram have been concerning to some people.”

“We’re done,” you replied through gritted teeth. “Billy and I are no longer together. So whatever they’re saying is true.”

“I assumed as much,” she chuckled.

“This is funny to you?”

“No. Not at all. Your mom and I just figured something had happened.”

“Of course, I almost forgot that you two were so close.”

“She made plans to come out to check on you.”

“When?”

“She should be there tonight.”

“And you just now tell me this?”

“Well, I knew a couple of days ago,” she explained. “But someone doesn't answer her calls.”

You didn’t know when to expect your mother; but you sat around that night anyway. You could have been a jerk and gone out, leaving her to fend for herself instead of waiting for her; but you knew that wouldn’t go in your favor.

When she finally did show up, you breathed out heavily as you made your way to the door. It never did get easier having to greet her. Even if you knew ahead of time that she was visiting, you couldn’t shake the heavy sense of fear and anxiousness that set in just by thinking about her being in the same room as you.

“I love that you just assume I’m around and not busy,” you said as you opened the door to her.

“Child, I know your schedule. I also know you better than you do.”

“Still, I could have been out or something.”

“You’re not though,” she replied with a grin. “Are you going to invite me in?”

You stepped aside, holding the door open for her with a sigh.

“I know why you’re here and I just- really don’t want to hear it.”

“I didn’t come to say ‘I told you so’ but…”

“I get it.”

“What happened?” She asked. She looked at you almost sympathetically. Anyone else would think that she really felt bad, but you could always tell when her concern was condescending.

“It doesn’t matter,” you replied. “You were right. You’re always right.”

“I tried to warn you. Honestly, it hurts my feelings that you never take my advice. You know that I know what’s good for you and I can tell who’s coming into your life to mess it up. He was a bad guy, and you knew it. You’re too busy trying to defy me though.”

You didn’t bother trying to argue with her. You knew deep down that Billy was not a bad guy. None of this had happened because of him; it had been all you. Unfortunately, you had learned to not take responsibility for your own actions at a young age. Not because you didn’t want to or that your mother never made you; it was simply because admitting that you were wrong only left you open for her to make you feel like shit.

“What happened?” She continued. “Did he leave you for that cute blonde that I warned you about?”

“No,” you answered simply. “It wasn’t anything like that.”

She tilted her head at you as if she were waiting for an explanation.

“It doesn’t matter,” you continued. “It’s over, and you and Jen got what you wanted.”

“Oh sweetie,” she cooed. You cringed at the term of endearment, knowing that she was about to say something to make you feel bad about yourself. “Do you really think your unhappiness makes me happy?”

You raised your brows at her, not willing to answer her again.

“Oh well,” she said with a happy smile. “On to the next. Don’t let one man ruin what you have going for you. I did try to prevent that all along, you know.”

“What is it that you’re trying to say?”

“I’m saying; since you’re finally done with him, it might be in your best interest to move on. Preferably with someone who actually matters.”

“Can we not do this right now?” You replied with a sigh. “My relationship literally just ended.”

“There’s no better time than now to bounce back. You really want people to see you sitting around feeling bad for yourself?”

“Trust me, no one is seeing me at all.”

“I can talk to Jen about setting you up with someone. There’s got to be at least one single man on that show that you’re on who worth anything.”

You watched as she scrolled through her phone, unsure of what she was even considering. You were tired and frustrated. This was so like her; not even letting you heal from disappointment before she was shoving her own agenda in your face.

“No,” you said firmly. “I don’t want that. I’m not ready for that.”

“Don’t be an idiot,” she laughed. “Do you remember what happened when you and James broke up? Or, rather when he left you when he realized the pay wasn’t worth it.”

You choked back the need to cry as she brought it up. You didn’t know what was worse; hearing that name again or hearing your own mother make a joke of the humiliating experience of someone being paid to date you without your knowledge.

You thought about how set you had been on firing Jen, and in turn getting rid of your mom. It had been a discussion that you had originally had with Billy, and now all you could think about was how you had hurt his feelings by ignoring the issue when he brought it up. You knew that you had messed up by only taking the advice when it had been offered by Rob instead. You didn’t know much about how to act in relationships; but even now you understood that it was probably best to not to disregard your partner's thoughts just because you didn’t view him as being as successful as you.

You had done a lot of thinking over what you had done wrong; and while you were aware of what you had done, you found it difficult to admit to it to anyone else.

You realized now; as your mom sat here, spewing off thoughts about how to help you and what she could do to keep you from making more stupid decisions; you weren’t going to get rid of anyone. She was the type of person who would always figure out how to work her way back into your life, she had been doing it this entire time without you knowing. Maybe it was best not to take anyone’s advice. The very thought of getting rid of people and starting over already exhausted you, maybe it wasn’t worth it.

“Can we- can we just talk about this some other time?” You cut her off. You had zoned out and not heard most of what she had been rambling about. You were just tired.

“In this business, you don’t really have time to just sit around and mope about your life.”

“I have literally just been dumped. Forgive me if I’m not in the mood for this.”

“You’re not going to cry, are you?”

“Of course not,” you mumbled, still working hard to hold back whatever it was that you were feeling right now.

“Good, you know how I feel about that.”

You returned to Vancouver still in a mood. You were still feeling something like sadness; only now mixed with a hint of anger at the way your mother had shown up to remind you of what a failure you were. You were forced to sit back and listen to her talk as she made plans on how to completely erase the fact that Billy had even existed in your life. For some reason, the idea of him was too much for her, and she let it be known how upset she was that you had even gone down that road with someone like him.

Nothing that you did helped shake the way you were feeling recently. You spent most of your time moping around set, not really into it when it came time to actually film scenes. You didn’t realize how terrible you had been until Misha finally pulled you aside when the director called it for the day.

“Hey, you doing okay?” He asked.

“I’m fine.”

“You don’t seem fine. And, if you’re not, I get it.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You know everyone knows about you and Billy, right?” He said Billy’s name quietly, almost as if he was trying to protect your feelings by not discussing it casually.

“I wasn’t really aware that it was out there.”

“Just for the record, he just told some of us. It wasn’t a huge thing; I think he just wanted to get it out there. You know, get it over with.”

“It’s fine,” you replied, faking a smile. “I’m over it.”

“Really?” He asked, looking surprised. “You two were really into each other. I can’t imagine that you’d be over it in a week?”

“I’m used to disappointment,” you said. You bit your tongue, not really wanting to have said that Billy had been a disappointment. In truth, it wasn’t him at all that left you feeling so terribly.

“Come on,” he said with a smile. He linked his arm with yours and began to walk with you.

“Where are we going?”

“Dinner. I have the feeling that you’ve been wallowing in self pity for the last week.”

“I’m not really-”

“I get it. I do. But, you can’t just hole up and dwell on it. Come on, we can talk.”

Out of everyone that you actually got to act alongside on the show, Misha had always been the one you got along with most. Yes, you had come out of your shell with everyone else when you began seeing Billy; but there had been only one person who you truly felt never judged you. It’s not like you and Misha hung out as friends on the regular, in fact, you didn’t recall ever spending time alone with him like this. He had always just been someone who went out of his way to say hi and who you felt okay with maybe venting about a day with.

The two of you were seated at a local restaurant, engaging in small talk for a bit before he brought up the inevitable again.

“I’m not going to ask what happened,” he began. “It’s not my business. But you know that you can talk to me when something is bothering you.”

“Forgive me if I don’t. It’s not easy for me to talk to anyone really; which is probably a big part of why Billy left me.”

“Oh, he left you?” Misha asked, a look of something like surprised on his face.

“Yeah, it doesn’t matter. It’s not that surprising really.”

“Now, I would have thought that you had done the leaving by the way he was acting last weekend.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, he looked pretty devastated for someone who did the dumping. He didn’t say much, kept to himself the entire time. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that guy like that.”

“Well, I’m not sure why he would be so upset about it. But, I’m honestly okay. Even if I was the one who was dumped.” You forced a smile, staring at Misha from across the table.

“You don’t seem okay.”

“I’ve just been- off lately.”

“A break up will do that to a person.”

“Can I ask you something?” You began. You leaned in slightly, resting your elbows against the table as you caught his undivided attention.

“Ask away.”

“Why does it feel like there’s this- hole in my chest?” You felt the tears well up again as you admitted to the unfamiliar feeling that you had been experiencing. You forced them back again, studying Misha as you waited for an answer.

“I’m pretty sure that’s called heartbreak,” he said. He gave you a look of sympathy as you allowed yourself to be vulnerable for a moment.

You shook your head in response, not willing to admit that you could have a broken heart. In order for that to happen, you had to be weak. To be weak was unacceptable.

“What? You love him, right?” Misha caught on to your denial, quickly throwing in the fact that you had loved Billy immensely. You had never felt the way that you did about him with anyone else. Even through your tough exterior, you knew that everyone else could see it. You had allowed yourself to be vulnerable with Billy; he was the only person that you ever considered being that way with.

“Of course I do.”

“Well, when people that we love walk away from us, that feeling is heartbreak.”

“I’ll get over it,” you replied as you rolled your eyes.

“You never forget your first.”

“Really? Are we in high school?” You asked, getting defensive not that he seemed to be calling you out on something. “It’s not that big of a deal. Besides, how would you even know if he was my first anything?”

“Trust me, I know more about everyone than I ever wanted to.”

“I’m humiliated.”

“It’s sweet,” he smiled.

“Does everyone know that I was a- you know; before him?”

Misha cringed slightly, now feeling bad that he had said anything.

“I’m sorry,” he laughed. “Really though, don’t ever tell the girls anything that you want to keep a secret.”

“Just when I thought I was making actual friends…”

“You know, everyone still likes you. None of what was said was done with the intent of hurting you. I think everyone was just happy that you were finally letting yourself be a part of the group. Everyone was happy to see him happy finally.”

“If being a part of this group means having my private life discussed like that, maybe I don’t want to be a part of it anymore. Besides, the only reason anyone tried to be nice to me was because Billy told them to. I’m not an idiot.”

“No, you’re not,” he agreed. “Which is why I’m wondering how someone like you can supposedly fuck up with a guy like Billy. He was so into you, it was gross really.”

“That’s me,” you smiled. “The unexpected fuck up.”

“Well, just for the record, even fuck ups can be unfucked.”

You chuckled, focusing on your drink in front of you.

“What happened exactly? That is, only if you want to tell me.”

“I told him that the advice that he gave me about something meant more coming from someone who understands me better.”

“Oh no,” Misha muttered. “You did not say that to him.”

“Yeah, I did,” you replied, knowing that this was exactly what had caused him to leave. You still didn’t understand fully why it was such a deal breaker for him, but you understood that it obviously hurt his feelings. “I mean, it’s true. Rob is an actor like me, why wouldn’t I listen to his advice? Also, Billy is just a musician, he doesn’t understand this life the way that someone like Rob, or even you do.”

“Wow,” he exclaimed, “you’re serious?”

“What?!”

“You never take another man’s advice over your boyfriend’s advice. About anything. Just sayin’.”

“It doesn’t matter. Apparently I screwed up one too many times and that was the last straw.”

“Have you tried talking to him? Maybe apologizing?”

“Please don’t tell me that you’re here to try to give me advice on how to win him back.”

“Not at all. I try not to involve myself in relationships that aren’t mine.”

“Then what are you doing?”

“I just thought you could use a friend. Someone to listen to you.”

“Maybe you could do that without the added advice.”

“Okay,” he replied. “I’ll work on that.”

It wasn’t until you got home late that night when you realized that maybe it hadn’t been such a great idea to have dinner with Misha.

You absentmindedly opened your Twitter app, just wanting to check in on any updates from people you may know. You felt your breath catch when the first thing you saw was a tweet that tagged you and Misha.

“Maybe I’m confused, but you don’t generally go out with the same guy that you were accused of cheating on your boyfriend with not too long ago. Especially when rumor has it that said relationship has ended.” Attached to the tweet was a a picture of you and Misha at dinner from earlier tonight. It was an innocent enough photo, the two of you sitting across from each other. You assumed it had been snapped by a fan, possibly the same one who wrote the ridiculous accusation.

Now that you looked at it from an outsider's viewpoint, you realized that it did all look pretty bad. You weren’t aware that people outside of those that you worked with knew about your split, but it was obvious that they were talking.

You scrolled through your feed, stumbling across more tweets similar to the first one. For the first time in a while, you felt yourself begin to panic. It seemed that everyone was insinuating the worst. The comments ranged anywhere from people defending you and Misha’s quasi-friendship, to people dredging up those pictures from before and going on about how you were obviously unfaithful, to people expressing their disappointment in Misha himself.

You forced yourself to exit the app and set your phone aside. You were upset now. Upset that it was even a discussion that something might be going on on between the two of you, upset that you didn’t have Billy to turn to anymore, upset for Misha and what all of this could mean for him and his own family, and more upset with yourself for the way you seemed to be screwing up everyone’s lives as you worked on destroying your own.

Tag List: @winchestergirl-13 @thecandylovingarchangelgabriel @capital-eyyyy-ohhh @barba-booty @narisjournal-blog @waywardswain @laffytaffyhumor @destielschild @sorenmarie87 @smoothdogsgirl @kocswain @culturebay @itsfunnierin-enochian @typicalweirdbookworm @angelsandhuntersgalore @riversong-sam @emoryhemsworth @hunterpuff @mandilion76 @anayacortez @camelotandastronauts @cyrilconnelly @jpadjackles @sirraxa @thewordsmithofhell @chocolategate @livingthelifeofafangirleverday @lucerospn1detc @nerdyforyourbooks @rblstrash@your-sparklywinnercollection

#billy moran x reader #worlds collide #billy moran rpf

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innuendostudios · 8 years ago

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Video Games Are Better When We Don’t Get Prescriptivist About Storytelling

Oftentimes, when I read an essay by Ian Bogost, I start wondering which of the following is Ian Bogost’s deal:

A. Ian Bogost argues a position because he believes it. B. Ian Bogost argues a position because he thinks it’s interesting and he thinks he can argue it, without much interest in whether or not he believes it. C. Ian Bogost is the kind of Philosophy major who sees no difference between A and B.

I wondered this when his ostensible review of Flappy Bird argued that games are inherently ugly, and I wondered it recently in his new piece, ostensibly a review of What Remains of Edith Finch, which argues games are inherently bad at storytelling.

As a person who grew up on adventure games and last year spent forty hecking minutes talking about what games get right about storytelling that no other media do, you can imagine: I am so, so, so bored of this take.

I mean, hey, I appreciate that the next time some YouTube commenter says that my defenses of interactive narrative are arguing against a straw man, I have an article literally titled Video Games Are Better Without Stories to link them to. (Just kidding, I don’t read the comments.) But, honestly, someone writes this take every six months or so. This time it’s Ian Bogost, next time it will be Raph Koster or Frank Lantz. In game critics circles, we never really got past Ludology vs. Narratology, the debate where Ludologists insist that systems interaction and raw game design are what make games games, and Game Narratologists are fictional gremlins who live under the beds of Ludologists. Bogost's arguments aren’t particularly new.

Much of the substance of the article have already been pored over: Patrick Klepek pointed out that, whether or not you think games should tell stories, people are going to tell stories with games, so this argument is pointless. (Patrick’s piece also links to Danielle Riendeau’s Twitter dissection of Bogost’s piece, which goes through several of its major points.) Austin Walker followed up by pointing out that even a bad story can make a game better than it would be with no story at all. If you care about the history of these arguments, Errant Signal summed up why Ludologists keep tilting at windmills over two years ago, and Emily Short wrote some thoughts in 2011 when it was Jon Blow’s turn to make this argument. (Jon shows up in the comments and they have an... interesting back and forth.) And, for broader context, Elizabeth Sampat brought up how, if Ian Bogost were a woman, male gamers would certainly accuse him of trying to ban narrative games, but, since he’s a man, his arguments will probably be used by male gamers to dismiss narrative indie games.

Before I get to the thoughts I want to add to this discussion, I’ll focus on one of the better exchanges I saw on Twitter: Scott Benson brought up what we could call The Myth of the Medium Store: the Medium Store is the place where, once you’ve thought of a killer story you want to tell, you pick out the best medium for telling it. The Games Are Bad At Stories take typically stems from the idea that most game narratives would be better served had they picked a different medium from the Medium Store.

Scott points out that, in the real world, Medium Stores don’t exist. Giant Sparrow didn’t make What Remains of Edith Finch because they thought it would work better as a game than as a film; they made it as a game because they’re game designers. I run into this framing in my own work and it causes me all kinds of anxiety - why do I make video essays? Do I adequately justify the use of video in my work? Couldn’t I just write articles like a normal person? And I can come up with all kinds of answers to this question: video allows me to illustrate points in a matter of seconds that would take paragraphs to render in text; I think text is just as much a medium as video, and I don’t think most print articles have to justify their use of text; these days video reaches a wider audience than text does on the internet, which makes it a more viable medium for me. But these are all ways of answer a question that I no longer believe is worth asking. I make video essays because I’m a video essayist. In some fantasy world where anyone can become good at any medium, maybe I would choose print over video. But, in this world, with this brain I was stuck with, I am better at video essays than I am at writing articles. I enjoy it more. My writing works best when it’s meant to be read aloud. Video works for me. That’s reason enough.

And my favorite response to Scott’s tweets (included in the link above) was Carolyn Petit’s: “A movie with the same plot as Gone Home would be fundamentally [about] different things, or [about] the same things in fundamentally different ways.“

Carolyn says, in far fewer words that me, what I was trying to get at in the ending of Story Beats: it doesn’t matter whether you think the plot element of “main character makes friends with an inanimate object” works “better” in Castaway or Portal, because the two are accessing completely different sets of emotions in the audience. Watching Tom Hanks say goodbye to Wilson and throwing the Companion Cube in an incinerator yourself are not the same experience. Comparing them is like comparing a chicken egg to a Faberge egg; which is better? The question is meaningless. You can’t cook with a Faberge egg and you don’t leave a chicken egg on your mantle. They are superficially similar but they serve very different purposes.

(And after watching the Super Bunnyhop video about What Remains of Edith Finch’s Cannery level, I don’t understand how Bogost can argue that this scene would work better as a non-interactive film.)

So, most of the valid talking points having been picked over, what’s left for me to say?

I think what’s most frustrating to me about Bogost’s take, and takes of this kind, is that it’s easy. I should throw Bogost a bone and mention that he has authored some very, very good games writing in his time (and so have Koster, Lantz, and Blow). I don’t mean to sell him short. But writing off interactive narrative is and always has been intellectually lazy.

It’s not difficult to look at a medium and see what it has difficulty doing that another medium does well. Video games have trouble with pacing, with players who fuck with the system instead of roleplaying, and with branching narratives quickly becoming too unwieldy to author content for. Movies have none of these problems, so it’s very easy to point at these issues and say Edith Finch would be better as a movie.

What is much harder, and, to me, a lot more interesting, is articulating what a storytelling medium does well.

Yes, movies fair better than games in these areas: they have tight pacing, the protagonists stay in character, and their narratives are linear. But those qualities are not what makes movie stories good. We don’t walk out of a movie raving about how the story didn’t branch and the main character didn’t jump up and down on their sidekick’s head. What really makes a movie work at storytelling is often more intangible, and harder to fit into a pithy list of reasons why movies are better than video games at telling stories.

It would be just as easy, and just as intellectually lazy, to mount a defense of telling stories in novels and not in films. After all, films have a famously hard time adapting themselves from novels without drastic changes. Movies tend to be very external, where novels can easily give us a character’s thoughts, and the only (inelegant) solution most movies offer for this is voiceover. Movies tend to be capped at 2 hours, 3 tops unless you’re on the arthouse circuit, and that streamlining tends to be far, far less nuanced than a novel that may take the better part of a month to work through. But, again, no one says what makes novels great is that they are long and very internal - by that definition, Hemingway was a terrible writer.

What makes a medium good at storytelling is a set of mostly aesthetic reactions. What makes movies good at stories is their essence: moving pictures can do things that text can’t. Watching a semi-truck flip over in The Dark Knight works in a way it never would on the page, in the same way the narrative payoff at the end of Braid works in a way that it never would on the silver screen.

When we start talking about a medium’s essence, it’s tempting to get, well, essentialist: that if that hard-to-quantify something about games is interactivity, than games should focus on that interactivity to the exclusion of as much else as possible. Games are systems, so they should focus on systems, and systems work better when they aren’t hampered by stories. But, again, this is like saying a movie shouldn’t involve sound because sound is a radio thing, and shouldn’t involve words because that’s a book thing, and shouldn’t have actors because that’s a theater thing - motion pictures are at their best when they are just pictures and motion. This is, obviously, ludicrous. Games can be just as additive as any other medium. Games are moving pictures, and text, and music, and actors, and interactivity. Even a tiny amount of interactivity added to an otherwise mostly filmic experience can make all the difference - this is what makes The Walking Dead work.

We are acclimated to the ways that telling stories in any medium other than games is weird. Films never mounted a defense against “why isn’t this a novel?” We just raised a few generations of people with narrative films until they forgot to ask the question, until no one would think to ask such a dipshit question. Novels, movies, plays, radio dramas, operas, they all have their weirdnesses as storytelling media, we are just so acclimated to those weirdnesses that we don’t see them. We see past them to what makes them valuable.

I’ve spent the last couple months while I was finishing up school keeping myself level by playing a lot of adventure games. I love adventure games. If someone is giving me a lens through which something I love is worse, I will accept that lens if it reveals discrimination, racism, homophobia; “this thing you love is bigoted” is a worthwhile perspective. “This thing you love is, by the criteria I’ve just outlined, inauthentic” is not a worthwhile perspective. “What Remains of Edith Finch would work better as a film” is not dissimilar from “What Remains of Edith Finch is not a real game.” It’s a way of saying that an experience you may have found worthwhile wasn’t actually worthwhile, and I don’t see how this enriches anything. This won’t make better games. This won’t make better stories. This just tells designers (not directly but implicitly) not to make games they want to make and players not to enjoy games that they enjoy.

Ian Bogost isn’t saying anything that Jon Blow wasn’t saying in 2008. Every time a piece like this gets written, all the people who enjoy stories in games come out and write their rebuttals, and however many months later another article comes out that ignores every bit of it. This conversation doesn’t advance because the people arguing against story in games consider the conversation over. They repeat themselves as though they’re waiting for everyone to get the message. Meanwhile, people like Aaron Reid and Porpentine and Anna Anthropy and Brendon Chung keep doing unprecedented things with stories in games and they keep finding their audience. Only one side of the game narrative conversation is advancing, and that’s the side that interests me.

It’s not a real discussion. This is little more than a way of “heating up the takes.” An article about Flappy Bird that says it’s kind of janky in a way that’s interesting is a valid but rather uninteresting article; an article about how Flappy Bird proves that all games are grotesque? That’s a hot take. Ditto how an article about how What Remains of Edith Finch is interesting but might have worked better as a film contorts itself into an article about how the entire medium of games has failed at storytelling. And, I’m sorry all, but I’m over it. I hear new arguments defending stories against Ludologists every few months, and I haven’t heard a new argument against game narrative in nine years. These opinions are not just bad, they’re boring.

So can we be done with this now?

#writings #interactive story #ludology vs narratology #ian bogost

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repwincoml4a0a5 · 8 years ago

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HUFFPOST HILL - Muslim Ban Now 5% Less Racist

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Senior White House officials are gunning for Reince Priebus, and at this rate, the only things left in the White House come 2018 will be Donald Trump, Kellyanne Conway and the ignited Resolute Desk they use to keep warm because someone forgot to pay the heating bill. Sean Spicer hasn’t held an on-camera briefing in over a week, so we’re just going to assume he’s been wearing that Easter Bunny costume the whole time. And Ben Carson said slaves came to the U.S. as immigrants seeking opportunity, reminding us of the film “Amistad,” in which the protagonist commandeered a slave ship, beelined it to the nearest right-to-work state and opened up an Arby’s franchise. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Monday, March 6th, 2017:

TRUMP SIGNS REVISED EXECUTIVE ORDER - Elise Foley and Cristian Farias: “There are some other key differences from the new executive order and the one Trump signed in late January, which has not been in effect since a court ruled against the government on Feb. 3. Trump’s new order still blocks all refugees for 120 days but does not single out Syrians for an indefinite ban. It bars certain individuals from six Muslim-majority countries for 120 days rather than the original seven ― Iraqis are not not affected ― and exempts current visa holders…. These seemingly contradictory positions have emboldened the lawyers who have been in court fighting the original ban. They received ammunition last week when an administration official reportedly told CNN that the release of a new executive order would be pushed back because Trump’s joint address to Congress was so well received…. ‘If the administration genuinely believed that the ban is urgently needed to protect national security, then one would assume they would not delay issuing a new order for political reasons,’ Lee Gelernt, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney who is leading the travel ban challenge in Brooklyn federal court, said in an email last week. “ [HuffPost]

The president’s favorite Muslims: “[W]ith less fanfare, the president and his advisers have repeatedly praised a troika of Muslim-led governments, explicitly arguing that working with them will serve some of Trump’s most controversial goals and implicitly using those relationships to suggest that he is tolerant of Islam. The three regimes — Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates — are part of the loose web of traditional U.S. partners, but they stand out for the distinctive characteristics they share. Opaque cliques control the government, and unaccountable security services tightly regulate independent political activity ― particularly that of the transnational Muslim Brotherhood movement, which frequently calls for free elections ― in the name of patriotic loyalty…. The priority now is Muslim ‘management’ — the idea that Washington’s best bet is empowering its favorite regimes, even if their actions are deplorable and self-defeating, because the Muslim-majority world is inherently savage. “ [HuffPost’s Akbar Shahid Ahmed]

Oh ffs, Ben Carson: “Ben Carson made his debut as secretary of Housing and Urban Development Monday by telling agency employees about the virtues of the ‘can-do’ American society. Carson said this value system was best exemplified by slaves, whom he characterized as immigrants who came to the United States with very little and worked very hard.” [HuffPost’s Amanda Terkel]

HOW LONG CAN THEY KEEP THIS UP? Alexander Mallin and Jordyn Phelps: “White House press secretary Sean Spicer declined Monday to provide specific support for President Donald Trump’s recent tweets accusing former President Barack Obama of wiretapping Trump Tower, but defended the posts by saying ‘there’s no question that something happened.’ … The press secretary expressed uncertainty about whether the president would be willing to admit that his tweeted allegations were baseless should he be unsatisfied with the conclusion of a Congressional investigation.” [ABC News]

THAT TIME STEVE BANNON PRAISED MCCARTHYISM - Number of times Steve Bannon has praised McCarthyism: 1; Number of times he’s denounced anti-Semitism: 0. Chris Massie and Andrew Kaczynski: “Donald Trump’s chief White House strategist Steve Bannon said in 2013 that Sen. Joseph McCarthy was right in his 1950s campaign claiming widespread Communist infiltration into the United States government. The Wisconsin senator’s inquisitions of those he suspected of communist ties ― which eventually led to his censure by the United States Senate ― was a key moment in the Red Scare and led to the coining of the term ‘McCarthyism.’ Over the weekend, President Trump accused former President Obama of McCarthyism, making the unsubstantiated allegation the president wiretapped his phones in Trump Tower during the campaign.” [CNN]

“Atlas Shrugged,” but for people who don’t think Jared Taylor is a wingnut: “Trump aide’s repeated references to The Camp of the Saints, an obscure 1973 novel by French author Jean Raspail, reveal even more about how he understands the world. The book is a cult favorite on the far right, yet it’s never found a wider audience. There’s a good reason for that: It’s breathtakingly racist. ‘[This book is] racist in the literal sense of the term. It uses race as the main characterization of characters,’ said Cécile Alduy, professor of French at Stanford University and an expert on the contemporary French far right. ‘It describes the takeover of Europe by waves of immigrants that wash ashore like the plague.’” [HuffPost’s Paul Blumenthal and JM Rieger]

Like HuffPost Hill? Then order Eliot’s book, The Beltway Bible: A Totally Serious A-Z Guide To Our No-Good, Corrupt, Incompetent, Terrible, Depressing, and Sometimes Hilarious Government

Does somebody keep forwarding you this newsletter? Get your own copy. It’s free! Sign up here. Send tips/stories/photos/events/fundraisers/job movement/juicy miscellanea to [email protected]. Follow us on Twitter - @HuffPostHill

SWORD OF DONALDCLES HANGING OVER PRIEBUS - All the Baileys in all the bowls of cereal might not be enough to soothe Reince’s pain. Alex Isenstadt and Josh Dawsey: “In interviews, more than a dozen Trump aides, allies, and others close to the White House said Priebus, the 44-year-old chief of staff, was becoming a singular target of criticism within the White House. They described a micromanager who sprints from one West Wing meeting to another, inserting himself into conversations big and small and leaving many staffers with the impression that he’s trying to block their access to Trump. They vented about his determination to fill the administration with his political allies. And they expressed alarm at what they say are directionless morning staff meetings Priebus oversees that could otherwise be used to rigorously set the day’s agenda and counterbalance the president’s own unpredictability.” [Politico]

HELL HATH NO FURY LIKE A PRESIDENT UNHAPPY WITH WHAT HE’S SEEING ON ‘MORNING JOE’ - How deep is your state (hooowww deep is your state). Philip Rucker, Robert Costa and Ashley Parker: “This account of the administration’s tumultuous recent days is based on interviews with 17 top White House officials, members of Congress and friends of the president, many of whom requested anonymity to speak candidly. Gnawing at Trump, according to one of his advisers, is the comparison between his early track record and that of Obama in 2009, when amid the Great Recession he enacted an economic stimulus bill and other big-ticket items…. Trump, meanwhile, has been feeling besieged, believing that his presidency is being tormented in ways known and unknown by a group of Obama-aligned critics, federal bureaucrats and intelligence figures — not to mention the media, which he has called ‘the enemy of the American people.’ That angst over what many in the White House call the ‘deep state’ is fomenting daily, fueled by rumors and tidbits picked up by Trump allies within the intelligence community and by unconfirmed allegations that have been made by right-wing commentators. The ‘deep state’ is a phrase popular on the right for describing entrenched networks hostile to Trump.” [WaPo]

SCOTUS SIDESTEPS TRANSGENDER CASE - Cristian Farias: “The Supreme Court on Monday decided not to rule on a high-profile transgender rights case that could have clarified whether federal law covers gender identity discrimination in public schools. Lawyers for both the Gloucester County School Board and high school student Gavin Grimm had urged the court to move forward with the case ― even though the Trump administration decided last month to roll back federal guidance that a lower court had determined covered transgender students using bathrooms that align with their gender identity. The justices’ order Monday, which was unsigned, vacated that lower court ruling ‘in light of’ the Departments of Education and Justice deciding on Feb. 22 to no longer enforce the prior guidelines. The Obama administration originally put those guidelines in place, and a federal judge later blocked them. The high court asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit to look at the case again and decide what to do with it now that the transgender guidance is no longer on the books.” [HuffPost]

ONE GROUP SUPPORTING THE PRESIDENT IS EFFECTIVE - One day, we’re going to be taken down because some 17-year-old named Vsevolod is able to acquire our browser history. Michael Riley: “Russian hackers are targeting U.S. progressive groups in a new wave of attacks, scouring the organizations’ emails for embarrassing details and attempting to extract hush money, according to two people familiar with probes being conducted by the FBI and private security firms. At least a dozen groups have faced extortion attempts since the U.S. presidential election, said the people, who provided broad outlines of the campaign. The ransom demands are accompanied by samples of sensitive data in the hackers’ possession. In one case, a non-profit group and a prominent liberal donor discussed how to use grant money to cover some costs for anti-Trump protesters. The identities were not disclosed, and it’s unclear if the protesters were paid. At least some groups have paid the ransoms even though there is little guarantee the documents won’t be made public anyway. Demands have ranged from about $30,000 to $150,000, payable in untraceable bitcoins, according to one of the people familiar with the probe.” [Bloomberg]

POLL: AMERICANS WANT SPECIAL PROSECUTOR - “About two-thirds of Americans say a special prosecutor should investigate contacts between Russians and Trump campaign associates, according to a new CNN/ORC poll, and 55% say they are at least somewhat concerned by reports that some connected to the Trump campaign had contact with suspected Russian operatives. However, the steady stream of news about investigations into those contacts doesn’t appear to have affected President Donald Trump’s approval rating, which ticked up only one percentage point ― 44% to 45% ― from January. Concerns about the reported contacts are closely tied to partisanship, with 71% of Democrats saying they are ‘very concerned’ about it while 54% of Republicans say they have no concerns ‘at all’ about the reports.’” [CNN]

A Republican has joined the open primary to fill the House seat vacated by Tom Price. His first ad features him shoveling elephant shit on camera.

REPUBLICANS HELL-BENT ON MOVING HEALTH CARE BILL NO ONE LIKES - The latest great idea is to make sure fewer people get help as an enticement to the Freedom Caucus. Rachael Bade and Paul Demko: “In a concession to win over conservatives resistant to their Obamacare replacement plan, House Republican leaders are proposing to curb who would qualify for tax credits to purchase health insurance…. The latest version of the bill, dated March 6, also removes a controversial cap on the tax exemption for employer-sponsored health insurance. That provision almost certainly would have sparked opposition from business groups, and Democrats had already pilloried it as an unseemly tax on health benefits. The current plan also delays repealing many of Obamacare’s taxes until 2018, a year later than previously proposed.” [Politico]

TERRIBLE AND SPOILED PERSON EMPLOYED BY TRUMP ADMINISTRATION - Also the only Giuliani that is going to get to one. Annie Karni: “President Donald Trump has brought on Andrew Giuliani, the son of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, to work in the Office of Public Liaison and Intergovernmental Affairs, two sources familiar with the hire told POLITICO. In his new post, Andrew Giuliani, who once dreamed of becoming a professional golfer, helped organize the Patriots’ upcoming visit to the White House after their come-from-behind Super Bowl victory, and also assisted First Lady Melania Trump’s staff during Trump’s speech before a joint session of Congress last week. The younger Giuliani has known the Trump family for years…. Andrew Giuliani is the son of the former mayor and his ex-wife, Donna Hanover. The political scion had hoped for a career as a professional golfer, and made headlines in 2008 when he sued Duke University for cutting him from the varsity golf team after he threw an apple at a teammate and threw and broke a golf club in a parking lot, according to the lawsuit. The suit was eventually dismissed.” [Politico]

WE’RE DEFINITELY GOING TO MISS OUT ON A TRUMP-GUY FIERI MEET - Andy Kroll: “For nearly eight years, the Obama administration regularly released the names of visitors to the White House and the adjoining executive branch office buildings, along with the dates of their visits and the names of the officials who hosted them. The visitor logs provided a rare glimpse of the comings and goings of the most powerful office in the world. Will President Donald Trump continue the practice of releasing the visitor logs? The administration won’t say. Mother Jones recently put the question to the Trump White House on several different occasions. The answer: silence.” [Mother Jones]

YOU JUST MISSED THE BEST (WORST) AIRBNB RENTAL OF YOUR LIFE - “Host was very prompt, but am worried about kompromat now.” Eli Rosenberg: “The apartment has spacious windows, a sleek kitchen and expansive views of Manhattan. It boasts a prime location close to Central Park and Rockefeller Center and promises all the excitement of a luxury apartment in Midtown Manhattan. And it was available for a substantial, but not completely unheard-of, price of about $300 to $450 a night through the home rental website Airbnb. Renters would just need to go through an extensive Secret Service screening downstairs. The rental was inside Trump Tower. The listing was taken down last week hours after The New York Times contacted Airbnb for comment. But the apartment had been available to rent since at least last September — long after the building that helped make Mr. Trump famous was turned into an operation center for his campaign. And it remained available, and as its Airbnb listing noted, quite popular, for about a month and a half after Mr. Trump’s inauguration.” [NYT]

BECAUSE YOU’VE READ THIS FAR - Here’s a delightful mashup of Alex Jones losing it.

TURNS OUT THERE ARE A LOT OF WOMEN IN THE WORLD - Rachel Sadon: “Without a single flurry in the forecast, Alexandria City Public Schools will close the system’s 17 schools on Wednesday. Instead of snow, a planned nationwide strike on International Woman’s Day is responsible. More than 300 staffers had already asked to take the day off, an ‘unusually high number of requests,’ superintendent Alvin L. Crawley said today in a note to families. That is about six times higher than a typical day, according to ACPS spokesperson Helen Lloyd. ‘This is not a political statement. This is not a political decision,’ she says. ‘It’s a matter of safety and a matter of our ability to deliver instruction.’ Inspired by striking Yemeni bodega owners in New York and the Day Without Immigrants, organizers of the Women’s March called for the strike.” [DCist]

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TWITTERAMA

@BrandyLJensen: 2 Travel 2 Ban

@meganamram: I’m starting to regret illegally voting twice for donald trump

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