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longdeadking-moved-blogs · 2 years ago

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ok hi guys i have. genloss thoughts.

so we've seen a few different "archetypes" for characters, right? we have the hero (ranboo), the side characters (charlie and sneeg), the antagonists (the puzzler and demon charlie), the background characters (niki, austin, etc), and who i'm calling the crew (the ghouls & rats, the cameramen, and the drones). (hetch is his own thing but i will Get to him, also security and squiggles.)

all these archetypes are very distinct, there's not a lot of overlap between them (the only exceptions i could think of would be frank, who doesnt really count since he's not. yknow. alive. and rat-rae, who has speaking lines, but is still obviously crew.)

i'm thinking, these archetypes almost seem like... a life cycle. let me explain.

first, showfall finds a Hero. they need to be naive, blinded by fear and hope. so the Hero needs to be the first step. and there are three directions the Hero can go after that.

if the Hero is just... boring, uninteresting, going through the motions, they become Crew. the masks (or the goo, in the case of the ghouls) control them permanently.

if the Hero goes the way ranboo did, there are two options. either they die, and stay dead (or restart, becoming a Hero again), or they live and move on to the next step - becoming an Antagonist.

Antagonists have more freedom than Heroes (squiggles outright says they let the puzzler do whatever he wants), but they're still under showfall's control. the freedom is helpful because it makes them more interesting, but it also makes them unpredictable.

once an Antagonist has run their course, there's three options again. if they're too complacent, they become Crew. if they're too volitile or if showfall needs some drama or a Hero needs a win, they die. but if they prove to still be useful, they move on. they become a Background Character.

seems like a weird jump, right? but we saw it happen, with charlie. he died as demon slime, then reappeared as patient charlie.

also, i think this is the reason neither Antagonists lasted more than an episode. they need a lot of Background Characters, so turnover is quick.

by the time Background Characters arrive, they have developed personalities. or, more accurately, a single trait that showfall can monopolize on. charlie was slimy. niki was nice. austin was gay (a nice nod to the token gay trope, btw). and Background Characters switch up the formula a bit.

i think, by the time you get to this point, you aren't at risk of becoming Crew. or at least, it isnt likely (i'm thinking rat-rae was a BG Character who got turned into crew, which is why she can talk). no, instead, your two options are as follows:

you can stay a Background Character, "dying" and being reset every episode.

or, if you're a fan-favorite, you get upgraded to Side Character.

again, we saw this happen with charlie, and also with sneeg. i believe sneeg became a Side Character between episode 1 and 2, which is why he was allowed to see beyond the 4th wall. gotta have your characters be a little haunted, right? it's a horror show, after all.

and if you become a Side Character, there's not a lot of places to go. viewers will recognize you in different shows, so the question is - what does showfall do when a Side Character's show ends?

once again, they have two options. death or promotion.

and this time, the promotion is a little different.

so. hetch. a villian for sure, but he's in a weird position. he tells ranboo - and the viewers - during the final scene that he's just following orders. he wears his own mask, same as ranboo. but why? why have this weird, semi-canon, rebel traitor figure?

i think hetch made it to the final archetype. a subsection of Crew that's picked out for a special characteristic. anything that makes them truly compelling. i think the wire monster made it here, too (they were so consistently rebellious that showfall had to strip away all of their humanity, leaving them a mess of wire).

hetch became a Mascot.

hetch, the wire monster, and squiggles went through every step, proved their worth, and what did they get in return?

knowledge, but not freedom. never freedom.

and i think if we'd voted live, ranboo would have made it all the way as well.

#the kings decrees #genloss #genloss spoilers #gl!ranboo #genloss theory #long post #im going insane over here guys #you dont understand #it's a cycle... all of them are disposable... cogs in a machine... you dont understand!!!#inspired by watching charlie go from Silly Guy to Sillier Guy to Oh God I'm Going To Die Here #genloss archetype theory

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glsneeg-enthusiast · 7 months ago

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both. i want both.

pleahs

cannibalism and gay sex

so franks fr a corpse right just under the filter i hope you know that. and he was canonically friends with sneeg and its. implied. theyre in love. if you just watch the show. and the gay sex is funny haha unless you think about it and how mlm couples are always portrayed in media. like brokeback mountain for example (praying youve watched it) was turned into a big fucking joke about the characters constantly having sex when thats not at all what it was about and im using that as reference. gay men are always portrayed/watered down to three tropes (constantly having sex, gay because its funny, or guy thats "straight") and thats what showfalls all about. and clearly austin represents the last one and sneeg and frank were the second but theyre also the ones that have sex jokes centered around them so you can only Assume right. anyway sneeg still sees frank as The Real Guy so whats stopping him from doing things youd normally do with your boyfriend yknow. and theres also like. sex holiness metaphor but thats a whole nother thing and idk if youre deep into the rc thoughts like that

and i have like a whole thing about the cannibalism that ive sent to someone before that im not rewording and typing so im just pasting it -> sneeg ate frank which is caused by a whole thing in itself right because slimecicle wasnt feeding him in the cage and he didnt even get through the cooking show where slimecicle tried to feed ranboo like twice but even if he did get that far he probably wouldnt have eaten any of it anyway with how he talks about slimecicle right. and its more or less implied that sneeg had been in the cage with franks body for atleast a little while and he would still have to eat something. and slimecicles a cannibal so why would he even bring sneeg food in the cage when theres already food in there with him? and even if you were to ignore all that sneeg was still the only one that consistently ate throughout episode two. and its really implied that all the food in general is organs n such just under a filter because slimecicle was eating it and then in episode two in the candy room when vinny tries the candy he spits it out and says its disgusting but sneeg didnt have a problem with it he was eating the entire time they were in there. sneeg knew frank before he died and if you take the "everything about the characters is a metaphor for how media portrays things" seriously you can assume that they were in love with eachother which leads to really the main reason i think showfall would kill frank and not bring him back like they do with everyone else because evidently theyre homophobic. anyway you put sneeg in that cage with franks body and nothing to eat he will eventually have to eat frank to stay alive whether he even knew frank was dead or not. and cannibalism can be a metaphor for so much like sure i guess from a meta perspective you can take the cannibalism in the show as a metaphor for how audiences just take and take but in universe they really are eating people. and innocent cannibalism is traumatic and awful and would add the layer to the characters that everyone always talks about but i really do think the idea of sneeg eating franks body is so much more compelling than charlie unknowingly eating some guts that was served to him. cannibalism isnt an easy thing it takes hands and teeth and bravery and you really do have to be set on it to do it. and it wasnt like he could leave the body after eating or get rid of it or anything and no matter what kind of cannibalism it was he still was carrying around whatever was left of frank and talking to it like frank had never died at all and in the bad hat scene when the filter broke for sneeg he had to have seen that frank was dead and fucked up from getting eaten. and with the idea that they were in love you can take the cannibalism as a metaphor for it because even after frank was permanently dead he wouldnt leave sneeg because sneeg ate him and its not like showfall could just undo that even with how powerful they are they could never undo that sneeg had bloodied himself and touched and tore and consumed and loved frank no matter how many times they reset him or how many times they kill him in gruesome ways

#this doesnt even make sense god bless #im going on about a whole lot of nothing here im so sorry

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mysimsyuri · 3 months ago

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FUCK IT im infodumping abt swap au frank lore on here. ive been listening to his playlist a lot today and he wont. leave. my brain.

ok so i know ive shared that frank is canonically dead before but ive got a swap au where. youll never guess. he Isnt /lh

(the gist is just that he survives whereas nick doesnt, and thus takes his place in the story. a Lot of things change cuz frank and nick are Different People !)

ok so,, i Was originally gonna have the main plot points be the same so its still recognizably the same story but tbh. i think gatsby wouldnt die. frank isnt held back by catholic guilt and whatever else is wrong with him (affectionate ofc) i dont think hed let that happen

today ive specifically been thinkin abt chapter 8 and like... frank still leaves for work (he Does still do the "theyre a rotten crowd" bit but he changed his wording cuz hes Different. hed prolly say smth gay like "theyre all ASSHOLES and youre worth the GOD DAMN lot of em" (he swears a lot)) but he comes back like an hour or two later like ".....i changed my mind."

he also Does stop wilson but gets shot in the process,, and gatsbys like "omg old sport are you okay :((" and franks like. bleeding out on the ground like "what do you think pal,,," (he calls ppl pal and buddy. idk where this came from tbh it just feels Right)

idk what happens after that tbh. ive had the thought that gatsby just,, leaves after that but idk. its both hilarious and heartbreaking to think abt frank getting the "happy ending" w him that nick never got to but also like,, its a tragedy. smths gotta happen. WHAT IF FRANK DIED SFHDGJK YOU CANT ESCAPE FATE BITCH!!!!! thats funny as hell actually

ok wait back to the general swap stuff cuz like. i wanna share as much as i can while im thinkin abt them...

frank is very much Not related to daisy that would be Weird. he Does however meet tom at a speakeasy and they like,, kinda hit it off?? tom likes the cut of franks jib and while he does make frank kinda uncomfortable hes like. the closest thing he has to a friend in this new place (and also frank mentions that he knew a guy named nick in the war and tom is like "...i know a nick. hes dead?" and thats how frank gets invited to dinner the next day)

also daisy tries to set up frank and jordan but frank doesnt like to lie and isnt catholic abt being gay so hes just like "listen pal. im sure youre neat and all but im a faggot" and jordans like "oh i know. me too" and now theyre friends<3 besties even<3

AND frank just straight up tells gatsby hes handsome when he sees him. gatsbys all "im gatsby :) i thought you knew im sorry :)" and frank, drunk off his ass on champagne, is like "my god. youre the most beautiful man ive ever seen. i think im going to cry"

ok that. might be it. im all outta juice. (for this particular au anyway,, i have so much for some of my others.... one day ill share the entire lore for the au where everyone is happy and alive together<3 yay<3) goodbye

#styx says #nanksby📗🎙️💸#🩷frank🎙️#this isnt the au my aforementioned fic takes place in btw i just wanted to yap abt him lol #i loveee my silly little guy !! also i didnt get into it too much but he is incredibly sad abt nick. whereas nick tries his best to forget #frank kinda wallows in it. i could go off in another post abt his feelings toward nick and i Will just give me a little while cuz i dont #wanna be annoying lmao #anyhow. francis cuttling. think abt him for me.... pleas....#somebody take this burden off my shoulders im dyin over here

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atlasalexanderwrites · 2 years ago

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Welcome Home Baby Brother (a Queen!Reader x Malcolm Merlyn verse one shot)...

IMAGINE...being the eldest child to Robert Queen, (Being in a relationship with Malcolm Merlyn,) and having your baby brother, Oliver, come back from the dead after five, long years.

Word Count: 1,868

Warning: Possible out-of-character canon characters! Spoilers for any readers who haven’t watched Arrow (I guess lol)

A/N: This one got longer than I expected it to so I’ve decided to make it a two parter! PART SEVEN(7) will be a continuation of Oliver’s return home!

A/N2: I hope you all enjoy!

PT 1 2 3 4 5 7

(GIF ISNT MINE FOUND IT ON GOOGLE IMAGE! WILL REMOVE IF ASKED)

“You killed my Father and Brother.” The words had spilled from your mouth with so much belief, each syllable coated with a venom that might as well have been acid. You had been so angry, and your words had caused you to grow even more so.

You had stared across that coffee table at Malcolm, each of you seated on separate lush couches in his Merlyn Global, Starling City Branch office. Your gaze was made of daggers, your hands tightened into fists as you spoke once more.

“I don’t know why, not yet, but I will find out somehow and when I do…when I get proof that you caused the Queen’s Gambit to go down, I will watch you burn in hell.”

After a quick exchange of words, back and forth, you had sworn you wouldn’t regret your actions as you brought your knee up, driving it into his chest with a force nowhere near what you had meant to hit him with.

You hadn’t thought that you would regret hitting him, taking your anger and well-hidden grief out on him.

You had believed so deeply the whispered secrets you had accidentally overheard Moira and Frank say in the entry hall of your family’s mansion, there had never been a reason not to believe your dead father’s wife, and that belief had led you to Malcolm’s office. That belief led you to drive your knee into his chest after realizing how big his hands were compared to your own, after realizing that Malcolm wasn’t a man to mess with, after realizing that...that for once in your life you had been rash and let your emotions cloud your better judgement.

You had sworn not to regret it, he argued otherwise as his hand wrapped tightly around your throat.

You still believed that he had done something to your father’s yacht.

Malcolm swore otherwise. He had been oh, so convincing.

Even now, that moment between the two of you - the first ever kiss you had shared - was cloaked in confusion for you. Why had it happened? It came out of nowhere. Had he said something else before his lips were pressed to your own? Was it really just you staring up at him like an injured animal, confused and hopeless, that pulled him forward and led to that kiss?

Was there another moment you weren’t aware of? Something that even now was out of place, hidden in plain sight?

You were left so confused after that. Every time you saw him, for months after, all you could do was fight against whatever pull he had suddenly gained on you. Breathless with your thoughts always racing, you had sworn to yourself that Malcolm hadn’t killed your father and brother, but you had already placed yourself in Malcolm’s radar and even if you had truly wanted nothing to do with him, there was no way he would have allowed it until he was done.

Confused or not. Understanding what you were getting yourself into or not.

You chose Malcolm Merlyn to be your one selfish thing in life after spending your entire life being the good girl. The Golden Queen Child. The one who never stepped a single toe out of line.

Whether it ended badly or not...whether Malcolm turned out to be the bad guy or not...you chose him and all the pain that came with him.

You may have underestimated how much pain that was.

And what that pain could cause when left to fester and spill over.

“...believed to have died five years ago when his family’s yacht went down during a storm, Starling City’s Oliver Queen - of Queen’s Consolidated - has been found alive...”

On television sets across the country this broadcast was being shown. For complete strangers, it meant nothing to them. Wow. A billionaire playboy had been found after his family’s boat was lost at sea. Cool. For those in Starling City who knew of the Queen family, of Oliver in particular, there was a mixed reaction. Some were excited to have the well-known party boy back in town; the city was never dull with Oliver Queen around. For others, there was apprehension and sadness. If Oliver was alive, what about the others who had been on that yacht with him? Why did Oliver get to live, and the others didn’t?

And you?

For you it meant everything.

You were alone in the home you shared with Malcolm; he was overseas on a business trip and you had just returned from a very long day at Queen’s Consolidated when your late-father’s wife had called in a rush, ordering you to turn on the nearest television.

Whatever you had expected it to be, it certainly wasn’t a news broadcast reporting your baby brother to still be alive. Reporting that Oliver had survived the Gambit going down, reporting that Oliver had been shipwrecked for the last five years, and reporting that your father’s only son was on his way home.

Shock wasn’t a strong enough word to describe the feeling that immediately settled in your stomach when realization of what the news broadcast was reporting finally registered.

You could hear Moira saying something on the other end just before the call ended, your step mother having hung up.

Your cell was abandoned on the coffee table as you sat on the couch, watching the broadcast over and over. At one point, there was a far away live feed showing an airstrip and a crowd of people screaming as a dozen people descended from the single airplane that sat on the runway.

You couldn’t make out which was your brother; all of them kept their heads down and hurried to the awaiting cars.

Was it really him? Was he truly alive?

How long had you prayed for this? How long had you asked God for a miracle and to bring back Oliver? You had even offered up your own life if it meant your stepmother and Thea would have Oliver back.

And now it’s happening. And instead of taking his place, we’re both alive. We’re both here...neither of us will be taken away from Moira and Thea.

There was no thought then about the changes that happened in your family; there was no thought about things that rock Oliver’s world, about the things that were going to be a shock - things that could upset him.

Moira and Walter.

Malcolm and I.

Thea’s attitude.

Tommy and Laurel...whatever is happening between the two of them even if Tommy tries to hide it.

You wondered if your father had had any last words. You wondered if Oliver had been there with him if Robert Queen had lived long enough to say goodbye to his middle child.

And you wondered what kind of person Oliver was returning to Starling City as. Was he a playboy still? What horrors had he been forced to live through on that island?

Are you still my baby brother, Ollie?

Please. Please still be my baby brother.

How is one meant to act as they stand in their family’s home, waiting for a long-believed dead family member to be brought home?

You wished you had the answer as you stood in the living room, heart racing, and waited for Moira to return home. Nervously, you played with the ring on your left hand and hoped that everything went alright at the hospital.

“...your room is exactly as you left it...”

You met Walter’s gaze only briefly before he was heading into the entrance hall to greet your stepmother and brother.

You followed, remaining in the doorway - taking a moment to take Oliver in.

He looked the same. And the smile he gave your family’s maid, Raisa, melted your heart. There he was. Your sweet, baby brother.

A door shut from upstairs, drawing Oliver’s attention just as Raisa informed Moira that “Mr. Merlyn” would be joining the family for dinner.

Tommy, of course, as Malcolm was still away on business.

You barely acknowledged that small exchange, honestly, as you watched Oliver focus entirely on the stairs. On Thea.

Your heart broke all over again at their reunion; tears streaming down your cheeks as you watched your baby brother and baby sister interact after the tragedy that had fallen your family that fateful night when the Gambit went down during that storm.

Look at them dad. Look at us.

You weren't sure where the thought came from; it had been so long since you had thought about what your father would think if he could see the family he left behind. It reminded you of the pain and the sadness you had felt when you realized that only Oliver had returned, that Robert Queen was truly gone forever.

“Y/n,” Oliver’s voice saying your name pulled you from your thoughts before you could spiral down any further.

At first it didn't even register that he had spoken, and then you lifted your gaze and met his, stared back at your brother who looked so happy after reuniting with Thea. Happy, but with a darkened undertone that later you would wonder how much Oliver had gone through while he was shipwrecked?

Still, even with the onslaught of curiosity and thought...a sob ripped its way from your chest as you rushed forward and finally hugged your brother, holding Oliver for the first time in five years (but oh lord did it feel like so much longer).

"Oh Oliver. Olive." Thea and others referred to him with the nickname Ollie, but he had always been Olive to you. Since the day five year old you so proudly and confidently held newborn Oliver Queen for the very first time and swore to protect him with your own life.

As the two of you got older, your use of the nickname had faded; Oliver got older and became embarrassed by it, but as it slipped from your lips then your brother didn't cringe away from you as he would have years earlier, instead, Oliver's arms tightened around you and softly whispered the nickname he had childishly given you when he was a baby just learning to talk. A nickname he hadn't used since he became a teenager.

There was so much you wanted to tell him; so much you just wanted to start catching him up on. You wanted to apologize for being a bitch toward him the last time you saw him; for treating him like he was a mistake and worthless, useless to the Queen family name...

He knew. You knew that your baby brother knew how sorry you were and how grateful you were to have him back by that bright, Oliver Queen smile he gave you when the two of you finally ended your hug.

“Y/n/n,” your nickname, again, fell from Oliver’s mouth and you wanted to start breathing all over again. “You still look bossy.”

“Yeah well...” you cleared your throat and laughed shortly, “I have two younger siblings who need a bossy older sister. They’re always getting into trouble, you know.”

Oliver just chuckled and whispered, “Don’t I know it.”

You smiled, at the time oblivious to the hidden something in his words.

A/N3: I hope you all enjoyed it and that it’s a worthy addition to the series! Apologies for it taking a while to get typed out and posted! Please consider liking, reblogging, leaving a comment, and donating to my Kofi! Thank you so much! Please stay safe and healthy!

~ Atlex0616

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escapetothelake · 3 years ago

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rusty lake theory: frank vanderboom died at some point between 1935 and 1939 and was reincarnated as the cat from cube escape: birthday

there is no evidence for this, they just eat fish the same way and im tired

#do i believe this?#...maybe #but fr i hope frank's gonna make a reappearance #and no frank isnt canonically dead #should i tag this as spoilers??#frank vanderboom #dale vandermeer's cat #dale vandermeer #ig #cube escape birthday #rusty lake roots #cube escape #rusty lake #my headcanons #my theories #conthiracy speory #samuel’s crackpipe #mine

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donutfrost · 3 years ago

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you’re fucked up in the head, frankie

#frank morrison #dbd #dead by daylight #legion #the legion dbd #tw parental abuse #tw alcohol #tw blood #i think fandom frequently forgets frank is a canon abuse survivor #how much endurance has he developed against people who hurt him and neglect him? how much pain is he used to experiencing?#not to mention probably hiding it from the rest of the legion since he probably sees his hurt as a sign of weakness or thinks itll dissuade #them from liking him #i think about.. death is not an escape #and for frank its not #even if getting dragged into the fog isnt exactly death (for him)#regardless #no matter where frank is he will always be exploited for some authoritys gain #and theres nothing he can do about it. the powerlessness and the rage continue #as he tries to grasp some sort of autonomy from the world who brought him into it with none #i have thoughts.

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that-sarcastic-writer · 3 years ago

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Girl's Got Attitude (Frank Castle)

Pairing: Frank Castle X Latina!Reader

Summary: you get caught in the crossfire as a result of Frank's intervention. You're both getting shot at and you react in the only way you know, with lots of yelling, cursing and shooting at people. Loosely takes place during s1 of Punisher when Frank is believed to be dead.

Warnings: canonical violence, mentions of blood, guns, people getting killed, some couple bickering between Frank and reader, cursing obviously, some light fluff at the end.

WC: 3k

A/N: this is going to flop, 100% im calling it right now. But yes, yes I know this isnt exactly self insert because I'm specifying the readers ethnicity, but I just wanted to get some representations for myself and for any other PR/latin reader that wished they got to see this in fics. I promise that's literally the only thing I specify, reader is still physically neutral, I dont use any physical descriptions or anything that falls into OC territory. Just let me have this one. If anyone feels too awkward reading this because of the readers ethnicity then that's totally understandable and you're free to skip it. And if you're cool with it, I hope you enjoy it, this one was a personal favourite.

Reblogs and feedback are highly appreciated!

Sometimes you put your judgment into questions. Sometimes you wished you were more reasonable. That you didn’t act on impulse all the time. It would save you a lot of trouble, and pain.

But tonight wasn’t one of those times. You needed to do this, for his and for your sake.

But maybe you should’ve probably questioned the choice of meeting spot. It was this abandoned construction site, like so many in NYC. But this place felt like the air would give you tetanus. You were gonna make sure you got your shot as soon as possible after this. It was dark and cold, and definitely felt eerie. You had a bad feeling in the pit of your gut, but you got this feeling a lot, you just learned to be cautious and stay alert, but you never backed down. You looked around, eyes squinted and alert trying to find any immediate threats. There wasn’t anyone. Yet.

You shuddered softly, the cool night breeze hitting the back of your neck, so you hugged yourself in an attempt to keep your body warm. You swore that if they didn’t show within the next five minutes you were going to walk. To be completely honest, you didn’t actually know why you were there, you just knew some people had been looking for you, going to the same places you went to, talking to the people you knew just to get a hold of you. That would’ve been understandable, but from what you were told, they were pretty sketchy, and very persistent, and not exactly nice. So you wanted to see what they wanted, in person. You were prepared though, your handgun was strapped securely to your hip, but it was hidden under your shirt and jacket. You had a few spare magazines in your jacket and you had a spare knife strapped inside your boot. You weren’t about to walk into an ambush naked.

“Fuck this.” You shook your head, the time had passed and nobody came, so you figured it was just a bluff. You sighed heavily, turning around to walk the way you came from, but when you did you ran right into a group of men, you counted six. That you could see. You squinted your eyes, eyeing the front man. You didn’t know them by name, but you had seen them around, bars, shooting ranges, the typical military men type of scene. They were dressed like that too. Not exactly like the military, but like they were a team of some sort. Great.

“Y/N L/N is it?” The front man asked, looking down at you with a raised eyebrow and a small grin. Ugh. You had to suppress the urge to roll your eyes.

“Depends who’s asking.” You shrugged, a shit eating grin plastered on your lips.

“You got a piece?” You snorted, making a gesture with your hands and an ‘duh’ expression on your face. “Lose it then.”

“Not a chance buddy. But I’m not gonna use it. You keep your hands off yours and I’ll keep my hands off mine. We can stay civil, don't you think?” You slowly raised your hands up, showing they were empty and nowhere near your hip. They didn’t look convinced, you could see the ones in the back had their hands on their hips, like they were getting ready to be given green light to shoot. Great. “Listen I don’t know who you are or what you want with me, but if you wanted to kill me there were easier ways to do that, you didn’t have to hunt down my people to bring me here.”

“Let’s just cut the shit yeah? You seen Frank Castle lately?” And just like that your lips went into a flat line. You bit the inside of your cheek and scoffed softly, you were taken aback but you tried to play it off by feigning confusion. You were good at keeping a blank face and showing little to no reaction at all.

“Newsflash, pendejo, Frank Castle is dead, and has been for a while. Didn’t ya hear? Are you new in town or something?” You chuckled mockingly, scoffing softly. You were good at putting up a front, but deep down it freaked you out. Frank was supposed to be dead to the public, nobody other than a few people were supposed to know he was alive. And the fact that some sketchy looking men were asking about him worried you.

“I thought I told you to cut the shit. Listen mamacita I would suggest you start talking. It’ll be a whole lot easier for all of us.” You internally cringed at the name, it almost made you throw up in your mouth.

“Call me that again and I swear I will cut your tongue off.” You huffed, your whole demeanor changed to defensive and tense. You pushed your lips together and glared at him with a clearly distasteful expression on your face as you watched him get all up in your face. “Frank Castle is dead. So unless you think I can bring people back from the dead then I have no fucking idea what you want from me.”

“I don’t think you heard me right mamacita,” you clenched your jaw, fist clenching to stop you from taking a swing. But you wished you had, because before you could react, the front man grabbed the back of your head and he tangled your hair around his fist, making you hiss in pain. He got all up in your face, so close that you smell the nauseating mix of tobacco and liquor in his breath. Your hand hovered over your hip, ready to grab your gun and start shooting, but the man got the same idea. He pulled out his own gun and pressed it right against your jaw. “You think we don’t know you’ve been whoring yourself out to Castle? He pissed off a lot of people by coming back from the dead, and it will be a lot easier for you if you tell us where to find him. I’ll make it quick, there’s no need to mess up this pretty face.”

“Kiss my ass, pendejo.” You spat on his face, jaw tight and eyes narrowed. He was going to kill you anyway, you weren’t going to give them what they wanted. He pressed the barrel with more force against your jaw and he gripped your hair so tight you almost felt like your hair was being ripped out. The man puffed out air angrily, his face getting crimson red. You screwed your eyes shut, getting ready for whatever was coming your way, whether that was a bullet or a punch.

You let out a small scream when you heard the deafening sound of a gunshot and you felt blood splatter on your face. You jumped, gasping for air when you realized you were in fact still breathing. You opened your eyes, frantically scanning for the shooter, it wasn’t any of the four other men there, in fact, they were just as shocked as you were. It took another gunshot to get you to snap out of your small shock. You reacted when you saw the body of another of the men pile up next to the man that had his gun pointed to your face mere seconds ago and your survival instincts took over. You pulled your gun out of your hip and shot the man that was closest to you in the head without a second thought. He dropped dead instantly. You took the opportunity to get cover. You had to jump and run around to avoid the bullets that were going your way. You eventually found cover behind a wall of cement. When you turned to face the men agai. they were down to two now. What the fuck. You only shot one of those, but there were four bodies on the ground. Who the fuck was helping you? You didn’t tell anybody you were coming here, bad idea now that you thought about it. But there was a more important question still unresolved, where the fuck was this other shooter.

“Carajo.” You cursed, switching between shooting at the remaining men and getting cover. You got one down, but as a result of the distance and them also taking cover, you were down a magazine. Well great. You took cover to change magazines, dropping the empty one to the ground and grabbing the new one from inside your jacket. When you turned back to the scene there were now eight men. “Que mierda? Fuck.” You cursed when you realized there were probably more hiding somewhere. You just kept on shooting. You got another one down. But there were two bodies on the ground. Thanks unknown shooter, you guessed.

You could only shoot so much before you were down to your last magazine, you weren’t counting on this turning into a one against all type of shoot out. You leaned your head against the concrete wall and held the gun to your chest, taking out the magazine and cursed under your breath when you realized you were down by half. Well this was it, you guessed. You pushed the clip back to resume shooting, but when you did you saw two of the remaining six drop to the ground, also very dead. You frantically looked around for the unknown shooter, because those shots weren’t sniper shots anymore, they were handgun shots, from up close. When you turned your head to the side you spotted a man you’d recognize anywhere.

“Castle! Que cojones? What the fuck are you doing here!?” You shouted at him, he wasn’t too far, maybe a little over five feet away, he was also getting cover. Frank turned his head when he heard you, he didn’t look too amused to say the least.

“The hell do you think I’m doin’? I’m savin’ your dumb ass!” He shouted back, glaring daggers at you as he also took shots at the remaining men. It was surprising how he could shoot people without actually looking, because he was just glaring at you.

“Well I sure as hell didn’t need saving! You made it worse, puto imbecil!” You shouted at him, shooting a glare at him when you turned to keep taking shots. There were only four now. Better. For now.

“Don’t curse at me in Spanish woman, I saved your ass!” You had no idea how a man with such a deep and raspy voice could shout so much, and so loud and clear too, but he did.

“Ugh puta madre. I’m out!” You groaned and squeezed your eyes shut in frustration when your gun ran out of ammo. You looked over at Frank, he was still shooting so he probably still had some ammo left. “Cover me, I’m going over there!” You waited for him to nod at you and moved to shoot again before you made a run for it.

Frank was still shooting and you were still running, too many things going all at once to stay aware of every little thing happening around you, so when you were about to take cover behind the concrete wall next to Frank, you felt something burn in your shoulder, and in a matter of seconds that burning turned into excruciating pain, so you cried out in pain.

“Agh! Goddamnit!” You got cover next to Frank, you threw your head back in pain and squeezed your eyes shut, placing your hand where you felt the pain, and who would’ve guessed, there was blood pouring from your shoulder. Nice.

“You okay?” Frank asked with a bit of panic in his voice, he heard you scream but he didn’t see the blood until he actually looked at you, his eyes grew but his jaw was tight and eyebrows furrowed into a deep frown. “I’m gonna get you out of here sweetheart.” And without another word he was gone from your side.

You hissed in pain as you moved to peek over your shoulder and you wanted to face palm yourself, and punch Frank right in the face when you saw him stand dead in the middle of the gunfire. You knew he didn’t care, this man was damn near immortal at this point. There were only four of the men left, nothing Frank hadn’t handled before. He took all of them out in a spawn of a minute, a mixture of headshots and just a bunch of fatal gunshots to several body parts. But they were all dead on the ground by the time he ran out of ammo. You let out a sigh of relief when you saw the last one of them drop to the ground. But you knew it wouldn’t be long before more of them came for you, or Frank, probably for Frank.

“Sweetheart?” Frank called out to you, wiping the dripping sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand as he approached you, seeing you slouched against the cement wall, blood dripping from your shoulder.

“Hey Frankie, nice of you to join me.” You shot him a shit eating smile, knowing he damn well could see you were in a lot of pain.

“C’mon..” He mumbled with a bit of annoyance at the nickname and grabbed your hand, helping you stand up straight. You hissed in pain at the subtle movement. It hurt like a bitch.

“Agh, me cago en la puta madre que te pario.” You glared at him, sucking in a sharp breath. You knew it wasn’t his fault you got shot, but it kind of was his fault. He blinked a couple of times and scrunched up his face in confusion, like the words that had just come out of your mouth were registering in his head and it took him a minute to process.

“The fuck are you shitting on my mother for?” He finally said, a bit offended and scoffed. You were surprised he understood that one. He threw an arm over your uninjured shoulder and led you back to where he had his van. “I didn’t shoot you, what are you cussin’ at me for?”

“I didn’t need your help Castle,” you huffed, calling him by his last name rather than his first, a sign you were pretty pissed off. “They were looking for you, you know. Someone knows you’re alive. And I got shot because they wanted your ass.”

“Yeah I know..” He mumbled with a small groan and looked down at you, seeing the way your expression changed from pissed off to confused. “I might’ve uhm.. Y’know, gotten taped by a cop car camera. It’s on the news and shit.”

“Fuck sakes Frank. The whole point of faking your death is to y’know, have people believe you’re fucking dead so they don’t try to kill you, again.” You let out a frustrated sigh, shooting him another death glare. He looked back at you with a clearly unimpressed look and shook his head at you.

“Yeah no shit.” He muttered, opening the passenger’s side of his van and helped you get in despite your visible protests. But he gave you an annoyed look, one of those looks that said to just do as he said and not protest. You knew that look pretty well.

“Eres putamente anormal. I hope you know that.” You muttered under your breath, hissing in pain when you tried putting on the seatbelt. Frank got in the driver’s seat and once again looked at you like his brain had just short circuited. He squinted his eyes and mouthed 'what the fuck'.

“In English please. I can’t understand you when you talk shit in Spanish, sweetheart.”

“I said you’re a fucking idiot and that I’m going to break your nose again if you don’t take me home to take the bullet I got in my shoulder because of your impulsive ass. Did you understand that or should I draw you a damn picture?” You huffed, there was so much attitude and frustration in your tone that Frank was taken aback. He was driving but he turned to look at you, lips pursed and jaw tight, but his eyes weren’t hard like before.

“Listen sweetheart I had to. I wasn’t about to sit there and watch that dipshit shoot you, or worse. I didn't mean for you to get shot, you know damn well I would rather get shot instead.” Frank was always rough, not great with words, but you knew when he was being genuine and when he was trying to be sweet, in his own way, but he tried. “I’m gonna patch you up okay? You’ll be okay.”

“I know, I know. I’m still worried, Frank. The people that killed your family, I think they’re coming after you now. I don’t want you to die.” You said softly now, your demeanor slowly changing as soon as the adrenaline and anger faded and the worry came crashing in.

“I ain’t dying sweetheart, not yet. Don’t worry ‘bout me alright? Let’s just get you home first, we’ll figure out the rest later okay?” His voice was still rough, it always was, but his tone was softer, caring even, you could’ve sworn you even saw a small smile. You couldn't help but feel a bit of relief, you knew you would keep each other safe.

“I’m gonna take your word for it, but I swear to God Frank Castle if you die I’m going to drag your ass from hell, kill you again and then I’m going to drag you back out because I need you.” You frowned, sniffling softly and blinking a couple of times to avoid tearing up, but you didn’t know if it would be from pain or from emotion. Probably both. Frank sighed heavily and nodded, taking your hand and squeezing reassuringly.

“Glad we agree on somethin’ sweetheart.”

#frank castle #frank castle x reader #frank castle x female reader #frank castle fanfiction #the punisher #marvel tv #x reader

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tigerdrop · 4 years ago

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Cringe is dead, talk to me about the funny half-life men and their relationship

okay here is my essay. it is titled These Guys Actually Like Each Other, and Gordon Freeman Is Just Kind Of A Dick*

(disclaimer: these are just my 2 cents. dont take me too seriously! im just some guy online who has watched this shit too many times.)

first things first. these guys actually like each other. this is a key aspect of their relationship. benrey, obviously and textually, digs gordon freeman - you dont flirt that heavily with guys you arent into, and so much of what he says and does is geared around making gordon crack up. thats pretty gay.

but the counterpart to this is that gordon freemans pretty fucking gay for benrey, too. you may say, “oh, but word of god says its not requited!” and to you i will say: bull shit. gordon is uniquely obsessed with benrey compared to all the other characters. if gordon didnt like the fucking guy, he wouldnt giggle with him and share in-jokes with him and bring him up every 5 seconds when benreys not around. thats concern, bro. thats worry. thats real shit

but i cant blame people for thinking that gordon freeman genuinely doesnt like benrey. benreys partially responsible for some of the worst things that have happened to him, the Arm Thing among them. and gordons very insistent afterward that he doesnt like benrey. he even goes so far as to try to kill benrey a couple times. to this, i must argue that gordon freeman is just kind of a dick.

lets talk facts here. canon. Lore. from the moment we hop into gordons shoes, we can see that he is a jerk to every npc on his way into black mesa. this is his default: a dude who just runs his mouth and says rude shit. he calls tommy a freak within 5 minutes of meeting him. he infantilizes the guy and barely considers him a real scientist. he doubts that bubby is a real name for like no fuckin reason. in “real life”, this is because its funny, and wayne is trying to make a funny half-life stream. in a textual sense, this is because gordon “hlvrai” freeman is a dick. this is the way he acts, consistently, throughout the series.

(brief aside: this is why the whole “gordon is a nice guy and a great dad” characterization baffles me. the way he actually acts in canon is, in short, bitchy and lacking in self-awareness. and i love that for him, i really do. it makes the moments where he just tries to be a nice guy stand out. but thats the thing: his intermittent moments of decency and kindness are not the whole of his personality! this dude kind of sucks most of the time!)

the way that gordons general asshole attitude extends to benrey is complicated. in fairness, benrey makes it his job to annoy the shit out of gordon as much as possible, and that warrants a negative attitude, but gordons pretty paranoid and ends up blaming benrey for nearly everything that happens to him, regardless of if its warranted. this is a pattern he exhibits both before and after the Arm Thing. its a little bit of a dick move! especially considering that, prior to the whole “betrayal” subplot (which was not exactly planned very far in advance), benrey is no more malicious or annoying than anybody else gordons having to travel with.

(okay, this is kind of a subjective evaluation, but still. my point stands that benrey is not any more of a hindrance to his progress than anybody else in the science crew, and neither is he particularly more violent or murderous. hell, gordon freeman has probably killed more guys than benrey. benrey just tends to get.......special treatment.)

all that said, i am still convinced that gordon really fucking likes benrey. please consider with me the following: it would be remarkably easy for gordon to just ignore him and do what he has to do, but he doesnt. he could stop engaging. he could stop thinking about benrey. he could stop bringing benrey up to the rest of the crew every time benrey leaves to do his own thing for awhile. but he doesnt. and, again, yeah, the extra-textual reason for this is “two guys are doing an improv comedy thing and bouncing off of scorpy is kind of the point”, but within the text it reads to me as gordon not being about to get the dude off his mind.

and this is in addition to all the times we see gordon being genuinely nice and receptive toward benrey! its in the little things: laughing the hardest and longest at benreys jokes. only ever reciprocating that stupid underwater “BBBBB” thing with benrey. trying to catch benrey when he falls, despite his insistence moments earlier that benrey should hop in the wack ass crystal generator and get hypermurdered. fondly remarking that benreys sweet voice sounds beautiful. his sort of flustered responses to most of benreys overt flirting. none of this is the way normal people react to a guy they hate. this is all fuckin gay to me, man.

its this combination of the outward insistence that gordon hates benrey with his inner eagerness to be around him and think about him and engage with him that gives off strong “repression” vibes, to me. for whatever reason - pride, embarrassment, resentment - gordon maintains a front of hating the guy and wanting to kill him for a lot of the series, but it doesnt gel with the way he fucking giggles and plays along half the time that benrey starts fucking with him. its a game, and that game is one of the only ways gordon knows to manifest affection for him.

(remember “oh my god, hes got a knife!”? that was the gayest shit i ever seen in my life. tittering like a schoolgirl while benrey chases him around like “im gonna get you haha”. insanity.)

the cool thing about repression is that you can have it manifest in a lot of ways! and this is where things like “headcanons” and “my own personal affection for repressed bisexual men” come in. a lot of how i characterize their relationship is an extrapolation of a lot of things like gordons canonical insecurity issues/anxiety, gordons whole anti-bootboy thing screaming “internet wokeboy who means well but probably has a lot of repressed baggage” to me, etc.

how do you get massive amounts of sexual repression out of what you see in canon, you might ask? well. if wayne would stop having gordon talking about being jerked off by the suit, or talking about chugging a 40-gal drum of potion and having to hold his piss, or worrying about being eaten by benrey the moment he sees benrey at setscale 10, maybe i would have a higher opinion of gordon “hlvrai” freeman and whatever latent psychosexual issues hes got going on. but here we are

i havent even touched yet upon how benrey feels about gordon. this one is helpfully made a little more plain by the fact that benrey very much wants to suck his dick in canon. (i dont even have to go into details. we all know.) but IMO the best part about this ship isnt just that they dig each other, but how. benrey gets overtly flirtatious in the second half of the series, but IMO his preferred method of flirting is just fucking with gordon: chasing him with knives, shoving him around in a bathroom, trying to get scans of his feet. but all in like a slapstick, giggly, fun-and-games sense, you know? at least when it works.

a lot of the time, though, it doesnt work out that way. he clearly just likes doing it whether or not gordon responds positively. which is, you know, Weird. not very nice. but also in line with the way everybody else treats gordon freeman. gordons kind of the universes chew toy in any given universe, and the same holds true here. hes kind of helpless......subjected to 4 demons attempting to make his life as difficult as possible. in a way its cathartic.

sorry. i got sidetracked. anyway, benrey very much likes to mess with him and unnerve him and demean him and i will be perfectly frank with you: that is hot. i have problems and illnesses and one of them is that i am a masochist who goes crazy for that kind of thing. calling gordon a “dirty lil boy” and telling him to “look at the mess [he] made” is some straight up kink scene shit.

i like to imagine that a lot of this behavior isnt caused just by the guy who played him wanting to be funny and antagonistic, but by benrey as a character not really understanding what constitutes “pushing a joke too far”. hes not human, and whatever he is doesnt have a very normative way of understanding the world around him, full of people who actually get hurt for real and die for real. benrey expresses what seems to be genuine surprise and distress after the Arm Thing, as if he didnt know that his actions would have serious consequences. and it doesnt seem to fully sink in afterward, either.

it reads a lot to me like hes used to video game rules and treating people around him like NPCs. if they get hurt, its no big deal, because its not real. he likes jamming random buttons on gordons interface and seeing what comes out. its probably a lot of fun for him, the same way that seeing a streamer or a youtuber suffer for our amusement is fun. its like, you know, in my opinion, gordons very cute when hes frazzled. hes also cute when hes laughing. pushing gordons buttons has a 50/50 chance of either of these things. and this is how he ultimately flirts with gordon: by pulling his pigtails.

but at the same time, benrey does legit care about gordon and knows some boundaries. benreys the one most often shooting at enemies to protect gordon, and he spent most of the last act trying to convince gordon to turn around and not fight him because they were friends (best friends, to be specific). he just lacks a lot of the emotional intelligence it would take to express the feeling of “he digs gordon and likes seeing his face get all red and sweaty regardless of the cause”. and gordon lacks the emotional intelligence it would take to express the fact that he doesnt know if he likes or hates benrey and hes scared as hell that its the former

because, lets be real. unironic benrey-liking is a sign of problems disorder. just look at all these words ive written about it.

can you imagine? this bizarrely powerful, non-human entity that can shrug off gunfire and grow to the size of a building has decided that youre his new plaything. benreys the bored guy booting up skyrim and fucking around in the console, and gordons the hapless favorite follower that hes taken a liking to. its a really fun dynamic IMO

after all this, its safe to say my title is a little misleading. the asterisk stands for * and So Is Benrey, Actually. they are both kind of awful dudes who thrive off of teasing each other and they deserve each other. and i am crazy about it. thank u for coming to my TED talk

#asky #careposting

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angel-of-death-diangelo · 8 years ago

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What if Nico Di Angelo isnt a son of Hades, but of Ares. Nico technically wasnt claimed, everyone just figured it out. I think Ares becuase like Frank, he can summon soldiers. So i think everyone thought he was a son of Hades because he summoned the dead. But the dead he summoned were soldiers. *MIND BLOWING UP RIGHT HERE"

That's a really cool theory, and while it may not be canon, it's a really cool au idea!There was that flashback where we saw Hades with Nico and Bianca and Maria, but it's still a really cool thought! Thanks for sharing it with me I should write this!

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adrianicsea · 8 years ago

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iasip good ending: mac and dennis and charlie get together, rich gay dee is canon, frank is dead; iasip bad ending: nobody gets together, frank is alive, charlie is still obsessed with the waitress, dennis isnt out; iasip true ending: the gang opens for boyz ii men. thats it,

i would argue that the bad ending is chartress being endgame but yes i agree with all of this

#iasip//#Anonymous #asks

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gwenvengers · 5 years ago

Text

[repost]

after finished the lost hero, im starting on the son of neptune. ill be doing what i did with the previous book (commentary and thoughts) spoilers ahead!!!

• PERCY HAS A PANDA PILLOW PET AJAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA

percy is still making dumb sarcastic comments and its making me so happy

"does he clean stables" "no" ...but percy you literally cleaned the stables in the battle of the labyrinth lmao

wait so... theres an entire new city?? with roman families? of demigods and stuff? and this is all in san francisco?? thats so cool but im still confused to how that works...

i love don sm

I DONT LIKE OCTAVIAN HE JUST KILLED MY FAVORITE CHARACTER- THE PANDA PILLOW PEt WTF OCTAVIAN

wait does- does nico not remember him?? why is he being a shady little asshole rn

frank just reminds me of neville longbottom

aww. poor nico :(( he almost called hazel bianca...im glad he has another sister tho

WHY IS NICO NOT LETTING PERCY KNOW ABOUT GROVER AND HIS PAST WTF its making me so mad

dakota is mr d's son..... and he's... addicted to kool aid. i love this book

okay fun quest yay.

of course frank is canadian. like, are we even surprised. he has so much canadian energy

percy hardly even remembers her but he's still planning his future w annabeth and i think thats beautiful.

reyna isnt hitting on percy is she?? i cant tell but if she is... reyna, baby. ily but pls stop.

no nevermind i dont think she was

its canon that hazel got her mouth washed out with soap for saying "shit"

basilisks.... that sounds a bit familiar huh

is "schist" the new "dam"

lol it totally is

ella is adorable and idk why she made a friends reference but i love it

hes remembering more and more memories yay

also lady. pls stop being mean to him. frank and percy are very respectful of women, ok.

okay so .... they dont hate men... but they "like to show them who's in charge". the amazons are just a bunch of tops.

.... hazel is a horse girl

so is percy but wbk that since day 1

i may or may not be a little bit gay for hylla

and kinzie

arion cussing at frank and percy just being like "oh wow.... 😳" is what i live for

ella. did you just say smthing about annabeth?? why is she walking alone? is she OKAY?? like... "wisdoms daughter walks alone, the mark of athena burns through rome", that doesnt sound very positive. nothing better happen to annabeth or ill throw hands.

i cant get over that percy is franks great great great great (etc) uncle. thats amazing

HE REMEMBERS CAMP HALF BLOOD NOW IM CRYING

im not kidding i started fuckin crying

i love that percy lost his memory and is piecing this situation together better than anybody else has yet

"it was totally a sisterly kiss" yeah bitch it better be no its cool. im fine. i love hazel ik she would never do anything like that

TYSON AND MS O'LEARY WERE LITERALLY ON HIS TRAIL THEY COULDVE CAUGHT UP W HIMMM

percy is an avid frank & hazel shipper rn and i love it

HE REMEMBERS SALLY AND PAUL HELL YEAH

wait so is frank an animagus

oh dam.... he can be literally any animal? thats SICK

percy just? no he didnt. okay but wtf did he just do? im so confused is he? DROWNING??

"frank refused to believe percy was dead" me too, frank, me too.

"welcome to canada, idiot" THE WAY I LAUGHED-

lemme just say: i like frank and hazel SO MUCH MORE than jason and piper. i enjoyed their backstories a lot more, their personalities, and their relationship. i mean, i dont hate jason and piper's relationship but reading it compared to frank and hazel felt a lot more awkward and forced. frank and hazel are my babies. i love them. jason and piper.... not so much :/

oh... percy wasnt even harmed. or phased.

he was really just like "whats up guys? the fall? oh yeah, lol its fine. just a normal tuesday for ya boy percy jackson. yeah i fall a lot. did it one time in st louis. that was pretty cool" gods, i love him.

"hazel' said percy, 'im going to literally wash your horse's mouth with soap'" didnt that happene to hazel? for saying shit? that's probably where arion learned that from.

yay his memory is completely back. its. about. time.

percy wanting to ring nico's neck for pretending like he didnt know him IS THE BIGGEST MOOD

tyson and ella tyson and ella tyson and ella tyson and ella tyson and ella tyson and el-

I MISSED TYSON HE'S SUCH A SWEETIEPIE AWWWW ALSO HIM JUST BEING SO HAPPY THAT HES RELATED TO FRANK. THE CUTEST

chb is so much better because they just give you necklace beads for a year/summer at camp. meanwhile cj is so hardcore like... chill. its super annoying theyre all "ooooh we're so basass! we magically burn letters and stripes onto our arms. i bet you guys arent cool as us 😎" like stfu

julia. is. the. cutest. ever.

pls uncle rick, give us a series of her growing up and being super cool and kicking ass

"The scroll is from Leo. He is funny and small." thank you, tyson. you successfully explained leo's entire character perfectly in 2 sentences.

"demigodishness" -leo valdez

WAIT WHATS SJSKSJKWOSJDHSJk the BIGGEST PLOT TWIST I WASNT EXPECTING THAT WTF IM SO CONFUSED IS SAMMY LEO???? WAIT WH A T

they didnt answer my questions

i finished it! it was amazing! the argo II is here, im excited for more reunions. this book was so much better than the lost hero in my opinion.

i will be starting the mark of athena tomorrow morning. the commentary should be out soon after!

[Repost]

i finished rereading the pjo series last night. but ive never read the hoo series, which im about to start right now. so im gonna be writing my thoughts. as a warning, i will be spoiling these books as i go, so please dont read this if you dont want to be spoiled. other than that, enjoy.

my first initial thoughts last night were "i miss this series (pjo) and i wanted to start this new series asap, but i needed time to register the nostalgia. so im about to start it and. WHERE ARE THE FUNNY CHAPTER NAMES!?!?? uncle rick what the heck :(( maybe theres a reason for it but i always got a good laugh at trying to figure out what the heck the chapter names were talking about. 2nd, its reminding me of the kane chronicles, just because of the different perspectives. we start with jason and i believe we get new perspectives throughout the book which is really cool. and i know im gonna love these new characters but i really just want percy's perspective back. i know ill get used to it but its just making me sad

okay so i really love the characters so far. i was expecting the coach to be the monster- which im totally glad he wasnt because that would just sound wayyyy too familiar (tlt anyone??). leo is my fav of the trio rn. also im so happy because annabeth just showed up!! yayyyy

they officially called percy her boyfriend!! BUT HES MISSING?!?!? :((( WHAT THE HECK

update: leo is still my favorite.

update: rachel is a lot more likable in this book. which i enjoy. i know people are saying to not hate rachel for kissing percy (which isnt why i hate her- i just never fell in love w her character, she seemed super annoying and was always in the way of things.) but i really do like her in this book. so thats chill!

okay so. im enjoying this book more and more. im not very far into it, even though ive had all day. i have online school, but ive also been sick and exhausted, so i took, like, 10000 naps. so rn im at the part where jason said the rest of the great prophecy. i really love that theyre at the campfire, it feels like home again. (CHEESYYYYY i knowwww) but really, it feels like the old camp half blood. even though there are new kids and clarisse isnt there (i miss clarisse sm), i still really love that it feels like the same chb. i also rly miss mr d :(( but its ok

hera is a bitch.

piper mclean is ceo of "im not like other girls" and idk how to feel about it

i also LOVE leo's backstory!! and leo himself.

i have a serious question. is clarisse not at camp rn? like whats up with that? you CANNOT TELL ME. that when leo rides in on festus, she would not charge at it and KILL HIM (festus). i know that dragons and drakons arent the same, but theyre pretty similar right? and after what happened to silena? you know that clarisse finna kill any drag(k)on that comes near her. shes gonna defend her friends, friendly dragon or not

wait it was metal... what the heck

im trying my best to get through it... im way too attached to percy and annabeth and the og's and i need to give this book a shot but its hard lmao

satyrs make me rly happy for some reason so im glad that the coach is awake.. its also sad the dragon died :/

piper saying "oh god" rather than "oh gods" is bothering me. i guess its because shes still confused and new to all of this but HONEY

my favorite line in this book is: "dont catch your panties on fire, valdez" bro i love coach hedge

YES YES YES YES HUNTERS WHOOOOOOOOO THALIA BABY I MISSED YOUUU

aeolus is so funny omg. uncle rick is so creative, there are so many amusing jokes in this chapter. im enjoying myself a lot right now. this is EXQUISITE WRITING. *chef kiss*

wait. why did piper just all the sudden become super funny and confident now lmao. she just became head counselor and is threatening drew?? where was that in the middle of the book. i like characters with good personalities. but its ok bc i rly like her now....

okay okay to be fair, she was new to all of this and was prob super confused. and ig leo's job is to make the witty and humorous comments but piper just felt so... bland throughout the book. until now ofc.

not a big fan of my boy jason

i would die for mellie.

• leo is still my favorite between the three and i dont think that will ever change. hes on my top tier list right next to annabeth and percy

MELLIE IS SO PURE I LOVE HER AND IM SO HAPPY SHE GOT A JOB FOR PIPERS DAD 🥺🥺🥺🥺

CLARISSE IS HERE!!!!!!! CLARISSE BABY I MISSED YOU. ITS THE LAST CHAPTER AND I MISSED YOU AND YOUR SNARKY COMMENTS SO DAM MUCH

who the hell is "MIRANDA" gardiner???? i only know of "KATIE" gardiner. WHO TF IS THIS IMPOSTER WHERE IS KATIE

my heart does a little "awww omg it ajaowheiwodndj" whenever annabeth calls percy "my boyfriend" 🥺🥺 LIKE BITCH ITS OFFICIAL WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

the last line... im-

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'A total blast': our writers pick their favorite summer blockbusters ever

New Post has been published on https://writingguideto.com/must-see/a-total-blast-our-writers-pick-their-favorite-summer-blockbusters-ever/

'A total blast': our writers pick their favorite summer blockbusters ever

As the season heats up on the big screen, Guardian writers look back on their picks from the past with killer sharks, mournful crime-fighters and time-traveling teens

Face/Off (1997)

Photograph: Allstar/Cinetext/PARAMOUNT

Madman bomber Nicolas Cage stole John Travoltas dead sons life. So gloomy FBI agent Travolta steals Cages face. When Cage steals his face and his wife and freedom John Woos Face/Off becomes the biggest, wackiest and most operatic summer blockbuster in history, a gonzo combustion that flings everything from pigeons to peaches at the screen.

Hong Kong cineastes might applaud a script with roots in the ancient Sichuan opera genre Bian Lian, where performers swap masks like magic. Popcorn-munchers, of which I am front row center, are here to watch whack job Cage and soulful Travolta, two actors who love to go full-ham, play each other and go deep inside their iconographies. Call it hamception. Or just call it a crazy swing that hits a home run as Cavolta and Trage battling it out in a warehouse, a speedboat and, of course, a church. As Cage-as-Travolta gloats to Travolta-as-Cage, Isnt this religious? The eternal battle between good and evil, saint and sinners but youre still not having any fun! Maybe hes not, but we sure are. Bravo, bravo. AN

Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

Photograph: David James/Publicity image from film company

Theres been an increasing sense of desperation clinging to the majority of roles picked by Tom Cruise in recent years. Outside of the still shockingly entertaining Mission: Impossible series, he was miscast in the barely serviceable Jack Reacher and its maddeningly unnecessary sequel, his awards-aiming American Made was throwaway and his franchise-starting The Mummy was a franchise-killer. But four summers ago, he picked the right horse just maybe at the wrong time.

Because despite how deliriously fun Edge of Tomorrow was in the summer of 2014, audiences didnt show the requisite enthusiasm. It was a moderate success (enough to warrant a long-gestating sequel) but it should have packed them in, its combination of charm, invention and sheer thrills making it one of the most objectively successful blockbuster experiences in memory. The nifty plot device (Cruise must relive a day of dying while battling aliens over and over again) allowed for some dark gallows humor and a frenetic pace that kept us all giddily on edge while it also contained a dazzling action star turn from Emily Blunt whose fearless Full Metal Bitch wrestled the film away from Cruise. Blame its relative failure on the bland title? Cruise fatigue? Blockbuster over-saturation? Then find a digital copy to watch and rewatch and repeat. BL

Back to the Future (1985)

Photograph: Allstar/UNIVERSAL/Sportsphoto Ltd./Allstar

Back to the Future very nearly wasnt a summer blockbuster. The reshoots required after Eric Stoltz was booted off, then the fact Michael J Foxs Family Ties commitments meant he could only shoot at night all meant filming didnt wrap until late April. Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg duly pencilled in an August / September release.

But then people started seeing it. Test scores were off the scale. Said producer Frank Marshall: Id never seen a preview like that. The audience went up to the ceiling. So they bagsied the best spot the year had to offer 3 July hired a squad of sound editors to work round the clock and two print editors with instructions to get properly choppy. They did, and those big trims tightened yet further one of the tautest screenplays (by Bob Gale) cinema has ever seen. The only bit of fat they left was the Johnny B Goode scene: sure, it didnt advance the story, but the kids at those test screenings knew we were gonna love it. Back to the Future is a pure shot of summer cinema: grand, ambitious, insanely entertaining. Deadpool, Avengers, take note: a blockbuster can be smart as hell so long as it wears it lightly. In the end, by the way, the film spent 11 weeks at number 1 at the US box office. Thats essentially the whole summer. CS

Teminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

Photograph: Allstar/TRISTAR/Sportsphoto Ltd./Allstar

The first film I ever saw at the cinema was The Rocketeer. We drove into Bradford city centre, bought our tickets at the Odeon and sat through the 1991 tale which followed the fortunes of a stunt pilot, a rocket pack and a Nazi agent played by Timothy Dalton who sounded like he was from Bury rather than Berlin. The way into the multiplex there was a huge poster for Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Arnie sat on a Harley with a shotgun cocked and ready. My dad was a huge fan of the original but he still couldnt swing taking a seven-year-old to see it. It wasnt until I borrowed a VHS copy that I finally got to see what was behind that image. Skynet, dipshits, T-1000s, a nuclear holocaust and a motorbike chases on the LA river.

Blockbusters dont usually have that edge: theres a more brazen mainstream appeal. But Judgment Day was and still is an exception. It did huge numbers at the box office (more than $500m), was a rare sequel that was arguably better than the original and introduced really odd bits of Spanish idiom into the Bradford schoolyard lexicon. I probably would have been scarred for life watching it as a seven-year-old, but as a teenager it gave me a story I doubt Ill ever get tired of revisiting. LB

The Dark Knight (2008)

Photograph: Allstar/WARNER BROS.

The summer of 2008 was a busy one: Barack Obama emerged from a contentious democratic primary to become the first ever black presidential nominee of a major party. The dam fortifying the entire global financial system was about to burst. China hosted its first ever Summer Olympics. But somehow, and not exactly to my credit, what I remember most from that summer is the uncanny, ridiculously over-the-top publicity blitzkrieg that preceded the release of The Dark Knight, which has since emerged as not just an all-time great summer blockbuster, but an all-time great American film, period.

There were faux-political billboards that read I believe in Harvey Dent; a weirdly nondescript website of the same name; Joker playing cards dispersed throughout comic book stores, which led fans to another website where the DA was defaced with clown makeup. Dentmobiles, Gotham City voter registration cards, a pop-up local news channel: the marketing campaign might have seemed excessive had the movie not so convincingly topped it. Ten years later, as films like Deadpool and Avengers: Infinity War try to reach those same heights of virality, The Dark Knight remains the measuring stick by which every superhero movie, and superhero villain, is measured. JN

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Photograph: Jasin Boland/AP

In many ways, Fury Road is summer: arid, scorching, bright enough to be squinted at. The driving force behind all the high-impact driving is scarcity of water, the essence of life in a desert where death practically rises up from the burning sand. Even in the air-conditioned comfort of a multiplex auditorium in Washington DCs Chinatown, watching George Millers psychotic motor opera left this critic sweaty and parched. My world is fire and blood, warns the weary Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy) in the scripts opening lines. Staggering out of a theater into the oppressive rays of the sun, it sure can feel that way.

Millers masterpiece fits into the summer blockbuster canon in a less literal capacity as well, striking its ideal balance of dazzling technical spectacle and massively-scaled emotional catharsis. There was plenty of breathless praise to go around upon this films 2015 release, much of it for the feats of practical-effects daring, but the hysterical extremes of feeling cemented its status as a modern classic. I cant deny that Ive watched the polecat sequence upwards of a dozen times, but Millers film truly comes alive in Furiosas howl of desperation, and in Maxs noble disappearance into the throng. CB

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo

Its the music, its the giant boulder, its the Old Testament mysticism, its the whip, its the Cairo Swordsman, its Harrison Fords crooked smile, its the bad dates, its Karen Allen drinking a sherpa under the table, its the melted faces and exploding heads. Its all these things plus having the good fortune of seeing this at the cinema at a very young age, therefore watching most of it through my terrified fingers. (Indy tells Marion to keep her eyes shut during the cosmic spooky ending; way ahead of you there!)

The modern blockbuster as we know it was created by Steven Spielberg with Jaws and George Lucas with Star Wars, so the hype was unmatched when the two collaborated in 1981 with Raiders of the Lost Ark. As a kid I had no idea this was a loving homage to cliffhanger serials from the 30s and 40s, I took it as pure adventure. The seven-and-a-half minute desert truck chase (I dont know, Im making thus up as I go) is probably the best action sequence in all of cinema (John Woos Hard Boiled does not have a horse, sorry), but watching as an adult one notices a lot of sophisticated humor, too. (Indy being too exhausted to make love to Marion, for example, is something that didnt connect when I was six.)

Its strange to think I watched these cartoon Nazis on VHS with my grandparents who had escaped the Holocaust, and no one benefits when you do the math to figure out how young Marion was when, as Indy puts it, you knew what you were doing. But for thrills, laughs and propulsive camerawork (though a little mild Orientalism), nothing tops this one. JH

Independence Day (1996)

Photograph: Everett/REX/Shutterstock

Short of actually calling their film Summer Blockbuster, rarely can a films height-of-summer release date been so central to a films raison detre. This being the mid-90s, when po-mo and self-referentiality was all the rage, brazenly hooking your tentpole film to 4 July was seen as a pretty smart idea.

Fortunately, all the ducks did line up in a row for ID4: a game-changing performance from Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum at (arguably) his funniest, a rousingly Clintoneque president in Bill Pullman and most importantly in that run-up to the millennium physical destruction on a gigantic scale. Much comment at the time was expended on the laser obliteration of the White House (an early shot from the Tea Party/Maga crowd?), but I personally cherish director Roland Emmerichs signature move of detonating cars in somersault formation. Like many other huge-budget films then and since, Independence Day was basically a tooled-up retread of cheap-as-chips format of earlier decades though who these days would roll such expensive dice on what is essentially an original script, with no comic book or toy branding as a forerunner? We shall never see its like again. AP

Aliens (1986)

Photograph: Allstar/20 CENTURY FOX/Sportsphoto Ltd./Allstar

An Aliens summer is one for moviegoers who prefer to sit in in darkened rooms when the sun is shining; the brutal confines of the fiery power plant make an excellent subliminal ad for air conditioning. In 1986, James Cameron took Ridley Scotts elegant, iconic horror template and turned it into an all-out action blockbuster, forcing Ripley once again to face down her nemeses in a breathless fug of claustrophobia, sweat and fear. Its relentlessly stressful and unbelievably thrilling.

I first saw Aliens many years after its initial release. Owing to its sizeable and long-lasting legacy, it was at once immediately familiar, yet also brisk and brutally fresh. I understood that it was a classic, but I wasnt prepared for just how good it is, for the pitch-perfect management of tension, the pace that never really lets up, the emotional pull. The maternal undertow of Ripleys protection of Newt, and the alien mirror of that, adds a level of heart unusual in most blockbusters, and her frustration at being a woman whose authority must be earned again and again, and then proven again and again, remains grimly relevant, 30 years on. Its also a total blast. Now get away from her, you bitch. RN

Jaws (1975)

Photograph: Fotos International/Getty Images

It is the great summer blockbuster ancestor the film that in 1975 more or less invented the concept of the event movie. And unlike all those other summer blockbusters, Steven Spielbergs Jaws is actually about the summer; it is explicitly about the institution of the summer vacation, into which the movie was being sold as part of the seasonal entertainment. It is about the sun, the sand, the beach, the ocean and the entirely justified fear of being eaten alive by an enormous shark with the appetite of a serial killer and the cunning of a U-boat commander. And more than that: it is about that most contemporary of political phenomena: the coverup, the town authorities at a seaside resort putting vacationers at risk by not warning them about the shark. The Jaws mayor has become comic shorthand for the craven and pusillanimous politician.

A blockbuster nowadays means spectacular digital effects, but this film is from an analogue world. It bust the block through brilliant film-making and an inspired score from John Williams, summoning up the shark with a simple two-note theme which became the most famous musical expression of evil since Bernard Herrmanns shrieking violin stabs in Psycho took the place of actual knife-slashing. I still remember the excitement of the summer of 1975, and the queues around the block at the Empire, in Watford, round the corner from the football ground. The inspired brevity of the title meant the word was repeated over and over again to fill the marquee display: JAWS JAWS JAWS as if they were screaming it! PB

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