#he was teamed up with danny as he was a newbie and found out danny was pressured into this!!

[ghostbsuter]

Inspired by that one episode in Young Justice.

—

"You could leave with me," 'Gray' nods at him, there is the familiar, mischievous smile. Yet the sincerely in which he offers his hand, it reflects in his eyes.

Danny reflects back on his life, staring at his partner, how Freakshow had gotten him into this Circus in the first place.

"Where would we go?" He relents, grasping the offered hand to hold it simply. The weight of the appendage is calming for his racing heart.

'Gray' softens, leaning against him. Their outfifs– tight on their bodies, colourful for the eyes of the people. Ruffles, dark and gooey to fit the theme of the circus, showing more skin than comfortable– it was home.

After so long, it had become home and Danny isn't sure if he could leave it.

(Is that how Freakshow never lost any workers even after his staff broke? Did they become dependent on him just as he has?)

"Everywhere." His performance partner replies, reassures with his presence and Danny soaks it in.

They would move tomorrow, but 'Gray' would not come along.

[okimargarvez]

12x16 - detailed analysis

In this episode we have two interesting scenes; you can consider the first as a true garvez scene, while the second is just a moment of them, with other members of the team present.

Scene 1

Penelope picks up the phone and asks “What do you want, newbie?”. But her tone, the way she curls her lips... she is flirting.

Luke laughs. But this time he decides to play hard. You can see in the last frames that he is flirting back. The way he bends his head, his expression in general, his mischievous eyes. He replies: “Still with that? Come on. You need some new material”.

This is her first reaction. Surprising. Amazament, but in a good way, as you can see in the second frame. Because she likes to flirt with him, whatever she can say. The fact is, and I already said it, but I need to repeat in this place, that she flirts and flirted with everyone, but not all play the same game. Luke likes to tease her as much as Pen, at least at the beginning of their "relationship" (because since s15 he clearly wants more than just flirting, but she prefers to keep herself safe behind the flirt). Follow her face while she talks.

“Ok, whatever you say..."

"El Nuevo."

"Hunky Newster."

"New kid on the no, that one's too much on the nose.” she stops herself.

Luke forces himself to be professional and keeps his mind focused on the case. But he laughs again, pleased, enjoying her rambling. He replies “All right, whatever."

Then he finally turns seious "I need you to check out an address for me.”

And, like in a mirror, she comes to her Garcia supergenius side. “Sure. Shoot.”

He then says “11637 Woodycrest Avenue. It's an apartment building in the Bronx. Any criminal activity that might relate to Danny White.”. We see Penelope concentration while Luke adds information. It's really sad that we can't know if she is concentrated on Luke voice or the screen.

“Hold yourself. Searching now. Just your garden variety vandalism, drug possession. It's all pretty standard for a condemned building.”.

“Wait, it's condemned?” Luke is really surprised. She found as always the relevant information; that's not news, but he just can't get used to.

She answers “Mm-hmm. Has been for months. It's scheduled to be demolished, but, uh, something's holding it up. Permit issue.”. Penelope nods with conviction at the end of her sentenceas reinforce what she is saying.

Then, Luke has his surprise for her. “Thanks, Garcia." he starts saying "You truly, you are the best.” and he is not lying.

Penelope can't believe it. But she is happy. Her lips curl in a happy smile. She cares about Newbie opinion. That's the question. And she still - spoiler - in the last season (CME or 16). She asks: “Really?”.

He is waiting for it. Luke concludes his sentence, adding just an adjectiv: “Available.” then hangs up. He laughs at the screen of his phone, like he was making raspberry. He is confident he was the winner of this battle. But her revenge will come. Luke is so proud of himself and his stupidity.

You can guess she is annoyed. A lot. She exclaims “Newbie.”. Side note: this is the last time she said it for a long time; Newbie will come back only at the end of S15.

Then we come back to Luke, that is still so prouf of his joke, but turns professional when Emily and Walker reach him.

-

Scene 2

The team calls Garcia for know what she discovers about the case. She in her office with JJ.

As I already said, we should consider it like a moment with some garvez shades and not like a proper scene. The first shades is when the camera shows Luke so concentrated when he listens to Penelope talking about the case. The fact is that the camera focuses on him exactly when she starts talk, after JJ, and this creates a link between them, especially because it last only 2 seconds, then we see Garcia talking.

But the revenge is coming. Walker asks something and she replies flirting with him. She says “Oh, so good, new guy, who doesn't feel new because your deep baritone voice comforts me." JJ looks at her like she wants to ask her "are you drunk or on drugs?"

Penelope is still taliìking and the camera shows us Walker reactions. And Rossi. So different from Luke's, don't you think? "The answer is yes.”. Then we see Luke reaction. Exactly. Why we jave to see it? What does mean in a cinematographic context? He is not her boyfriend or a particular relative. But the sequence of this frames, Walker-Rossi and then Luke, suggests a link, again, between what Penelope said and Luke react, even if this time the joke wasn't directly for him. And the link is renforced by the fact Luke looks at Walker (and we can guess that the other man looks back at him). He keeps laugh, then stops and stays with a weird smile on the lips. Considering another moments, like in 12x22, when Morgan touches her in front of him, we can guess that this is his way of showing jealousy. But he is also amazed, in a good way, by her revenge. He is sure, he knows that she made all of this for him. Side note: we keep hear Penelope talking about the case, while we see Walker-Rossi-Luke reactions.

After a pause, we have another moment. Penelope explain what happened to a girl, something similar with their case and we see Emily and Luke listening, then he makes his question. “There any foul play?” and she is quick to answer “Inconclusive. There was a thunderstorm that night, so the crime scene was compromised.”.

Analysis of garvez scenes

[eventheodds]

@millionsnife

"You sure that camera will last in the cold?"

Meryl looks up at the one who's speaking to her, a scowl on her face. Daniel. Or Danny as the others call him.

She just calls him Daniel, but whenever she says his name, it's without any camaraderie or warmth. He's teased her since the beginning of this expedition, the others doing nothing to intervene as they believe it's all harmless fun.

Being sent so far from base, or any semblance of a commune at all, can be quite taxing, as they had been reminded time and time again over the Bernardelli news feed. Meryl truly wonders how there's any signal out here that can catch said station without dissolving into pure static. It's really not her department, of course.

Roberto is in charge of communications, making sure that their equipment is functional and operational in such extreme circumstances. He calls her Newbie and it grates on her nerves as much as Daniel's teasing, but at least Roberto is honest.

"It'll do fine," she snaps and she can tell that Daniel has got a retort at the ready.

"Why'd they send a journalist out here is beyond me," he says with an upturn of his upper lip. And there it is.

"The Bernardelli's wish for transparency concerning this expedition and want the public to know what is going on considering this location, as far as it may be from any human settlement, remains a mystery. You could even say, given my role in this expedition, that I'm the eyes and ears and mouth of this group—it's my job to report back any findings while out here. So, to sum up, this is why they sent a journalist."

She can hear snickering behind them, and when she looks beyond Daniel, she can see the rest of their team trying to hold in their laughter but failing miserably. Meryl thinks she catches a smirk on Roberto's lips.

—

She just knew that Daniel would find a way to get back at her. Even if this was all purely coincidental, just some fluke, it makes her feel a little better placing the blame on him. She never liked him to begin with and the feeling has always seemed mutual.

"Very funny, Daniel!" Her voice echoes throughout the ice-covered cave, but there's a sharpness to it as her voice bounces off the walls before disappearing further and further into the depths. There's no response back and Meryl feels unsettled with each step she takes.

She thinks about retracing her steps, thinks she can remember where they came from, but something stops her dead in her tracks. A sharp gasp leaves her as she raises her camera and starts clicking away, pressing the button and rewinding the film after each click.

Meryl had not noticed them before, she'd been too panicked to even have a proper look, but once she saw the organic markings from within the ice, markings that were etched with such precision upon the rock formation underneath, she knew she had found what the others had missed.

"They're real...," her voice is but a breath, air leaving her lips with each word spoken as she takes a step closer to one of the ice pillars so she can get a better look.

From the corner of her eye, she notices...something.

Maybe a trick of the light, since the cave isn't completely enclosed, and whatever light from the dual suns overhead has managed to filter its way into here, but it moves with purpose as opposed to anything gradual. When she turns, it disappears. And when she looks back at the markings, she can see it from the corner of her eye again.

It toys with her, like whoever, or whatever, this light belongs to knows she's there. It senses her presence.

[talzane]

I've been seeing a lot of Damian and Danny Twins AUs lately, but they always seem to recognize each other by appearance. They're two kids raised by the League to, assuredly, be a deadly duo at least until Ra's decided one of them had to go. Once Robin starts working with Batman--depending on the canon, he's also trained by the League--those team(twin) fighting lessons and years of practice should come back like muscle memory. For Danny, that should resurface at least a little as he works with Tucker, Sam, Jazz, and possibly Valerie (for this specific AU it would make a *lot* more sense if Valerie was added since she can also fly and then have Danny train her to fight like a Leaguer beside him).

Somehow, probably a ghost nut convention, Danny ends up in Gotham. Batman has been incapacitated and captured by Scarecrow, who is once again bragging about his latest fear toxin that will bring Gotham to its knees, starting with its Dark Knight. Danny has to help a fellow vigilante out and heads off, following the signals of Gotham's shades to Scarecrow's base. Danny, being cautious for once in his vigilante career, surveys the base, and sneaks in.

Robin, the only other bat in Gotham by some misfortune, decided to sneak off to "rescue" his father all by himself. He had no clue who the newbie breaking in Scarecrow's base was, but his father wouldn't want him to let them die, which is why he found himself following the *glowing* imbecile.

*Nice going Fenton, you could have just turned intangible. I guess old habits must come back,* and not wanting to miss another opportunity for improved sneaking, Danny promptly turned invisible and broke left as he continued to creep farther into the building.

*How did that idiot manage to evade me?* Damian wondered with no small hint of irritation after he entered by the same entrance and turned towards his right.

Minutes later, both teens entered into a large, open area. Apparently Scarecrow had set up shop in a large warehouse with ample office space at the front, which the boys had found empty of threats, to their mutual frustration. Danny, still invisible, flew to the rafters and slowly drifted deeper into the warehouse towards the source of the noise and lights he could see. Robin kept to the right of the warehouse, grappled to the rafters and swiftly darted along them towards the area where Scarecrow was likely holding his father.

As Danny neared the back of the warehouse, several things became very clear. The first was that his eyes had been correct, those were *actually* massive vats of chemicals. The second was that massive vats of chemicals without lids existed somewhere outside his parents' basement. The third was that this "Scarecrow" guy, with all his advanced chemistry lab set up, advanced formulas, TV cameras, hired thugs, and insanity was...just a dude with a sack on his head. Danny shook his head, *this is why I don't fight humans.*

Robin, on the other hand, was primarily focused on finding a way to neutralize the thugs around Batman long enough to free him. Robin thought for a moment, Damien Wayne thought for a moment, and Damien al'Ghul thought for a moment. Something in his gut told him his plan would work, and father had said to trust his gut unless it told him to kill people.

Robin leapt from the rafters onto the thug nearest Batman and after absorbing the rest of his fall with a precise roll to his right into the back of another's ankles (ACL tear if done right...or wrong for the rollee), he darted, again towards his right, attempting to clear a space around the objective.

Danny, from his vantage on the rafters, saw a flicker of motion before *Robin* dropped through his field of view and instinct kicked in, pulling Danny after him. Danny, feeling years out of practice, barely avoided twisting his now-much-larger ankle on the shoulder of the goon he crashed onto, and his roll to his left into the next thug's calves was horribly off target to the point he had to yank the man's feet from under him with ghostly strength, but this fight felt...right.

Damian noticed the stutter after his partner landed, that didn't normally happen. *Normally? Ttt, father isn't so clumsy...*

After a minute, perhaps two, had passed, a small space and a shorter window had appeared for Damian to free Batman.

Danny, appreciating the moment he and his mysterious partner had bought, made eye contact with their objective. Tall, dark, brooding, bat-obsessed, and intimidating was putting it mildly. The Batman was terrifying and his gaze was fixed on Danny, so Danny pointedly looked away from him and returned to his job, keeping watch. Dam-- his brot-- Danny had never been that great at rescuing the target anyway, he'd made the best distractions when necessary though. *Could have just phased the bindings off him, stupid,* the voice in the back of his head chided him. *Great going, Fenton. Really slipping up today aren'tcha?*

Damian's hands fumbled for less than half a second as he released Bruce from the table, but he couldn't help it, that had felt...just like before. As the bindings fell away, Batman removed himself from the table and focused the full might of his glare on Scarecrow.

"Forgive me, Dark Knight, if I'm not afraid of your...theatrics. You see my new toxin will--"

An echoing, teenaged voice cut him off, "Blah, blah, crumble the Dark Knight to ruins and bring Gotham to Wisconsin or something, just give up already!"

Scarecrow's mask twisted to match the sick grin underneath, "Is this a new bat for me to te--"

"Am not," the voice, coming from the glowing figure, retorted.

The few goons who had managed to regain their feet since the first beatdown slowly worked to form a perimeter between the 'Crow and the Bats (and co).

"Good, then try *this*!" Doctor Johnathan Crane cried as he hurled a small vial filled with a yellow fluid at Danny's feet. Both Batman and Damian lunged to make space and time to don their filtration masks, but the glowing figure didn't move and vial smashed between his feet.

Damian's heart clenched in fear, *Why didn't you move!?*

The Bat's eyes narrowed.

Danny breathed in the sweaty aroma. *Ugh,* "Dude, was this supposed to smell like gym shorts?"

The Scarecrow stood amidst the vast chemical distillery he had set up in his months out of Arkham, behind the wall of hired muscle he had found, and his jaw fell slack. All his calculations had amounted to was the smell of used gym shorts!?

While the 'Crow's brain tried to reset from Danny's perfect distraction, Danny turned his head back to face Robin with his customary, cocky grin.

Damian recognized the signal for what it was and they sprung back into action together, in sync. As they bounded through the remaining thugs like scythes through a wheat field, every thug they threw was stomped out by the other, every combat roll to quickly find a new angle was covered, and every opening was protected just like they'd been doing this for years.

The fight came to an end to the symphony of Scarecrow's screams, "It's not possible. It's just not! My formula was perfect!" They ended when Batman, who had already handcuffed the pleading lunatic, had knocked him out for "resisting arrest."

Danny and Damian stood near each other to catch their breath, supposedly, but they were appraising each other. Their physiques matched, even if one of them glowed, the eyes matched, even if they shouldn't, and the hair, which was still waving around despite the lack of wind, definitely didn't match, but Damian had a feeling.

Robin was dressed like a stoplight. It was really not Damian's style...at least not back then, but maybe it could have been by now. The hair was the same, he couldn't make out the eyes through whatever was covering them, but this was Damian, no doubt about it.

Danny stepped closer to Robin. Robin's body language immediately became tense in a falsely disaffected manner. Definitely Damian. Danny swooped in for a hug and turned his head intangible, *Ha! Got it right that time!*

When Damian swung at the mystery glowstick's head, he didn't expect his fist to go through it, but his fist certainly collided with their ribs.

Yup, it's Dami.

Damian let himself relax, this was Danyal. Somehow, he was alive, and Damian returned the hug. He'd kill Danyal for not telling him he was still alive later.

"Robin!"

Damian's eyes cracked open to see the disapproving figure of Batman glaring down at him.

"Report!"

In case it wasn't clear, Danny was "slipping up" because he was running on instincts from his days with Damian, not cause he's having problems.

[hawaii5-0gurl]

A Marine and A Seal: Part 2

Paring: Steve McGarrett X Reader (Eventually)

Characters: Reader, Daniel Green (OC), Nick Collins (OC), John Sparks (OC), Duke Lukela, Kono Kalakaua, Chin Ho Kelly, Danny Williams, Steve McGarrett, Reader’s Parents

Word Count: 3703

Warnings: Angst, Language, hint of flirting, Minor Misunderstanding 

A/n: this is part 2 of ?? I haven’t finished writing it just yet. So I don’t have an exact number yet.

Feedback is always welcome. The Good and the Bad. It actually helps me as a newbie writer.(Yes I consider myself a newbie...)

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After getting back to base, you and Rolland were taken to the hospital. You made sure they took care of him first before they even looked at you. You were in your room waiting to hear what was going on with Rolland, when you had an unexpected visitor.

The knock on the door got your attention. You looked up from your computer to see Green standing in the doorway of your hospital room.

“What do you need Daniel?”

“Umm… I just came to check on you and let you know that Rolland is out of surgery. He’s going to make a full recovery.”

“Thanks for the update, and I’m fine. I have had a lot worse than this trust me.” When he hung around you could tell there was something on his mind. “Anything else?”

“Yeah, I wanted to apologize.” He all of a sudden became shy, he rubbed his hand on the back of his neck. “I was a complete ass to you when I found out you were leading the team. I was more worried about the fact that you were a woman than how overqualified you are. Then I ended up getting you shot. I am more than sorry about that. You were an amazing leader, one of the best I have seen. You were going to sacrifice yourself to save the rest of us, hell you almost did.” You held your hand up to get him to stop talking.

“Listen, you’re not the only one who doesn’t like having a female leader. I have dealt with worse Marines trying to get me kicked out of missions. When I came into the Marines, I busted my ass night and day to be one of the best, while most men did only the required work.” You just shrugged. “Thank you, but if you ever have someone out in the field that is not willing to do even half of the things I did today, then they should really reconsider a career change. You don’t enlist in any branch just for the hell of it, we do it to help, save and protect people. If that means giving up my own life to save another, I’m going to do it.”

Before either of you could speak again, your commander came walking in.

“Major, it’s good to have you back.” You tried to sit straighter, but your commander waved you off.

“It’s good to be back Sir, even if I am a little banged up.”

“I know you wanted to talk to me about taking a leave of absents. I have to be in D.C. tomorrow so I figured it would be easier to come and talk to you before leaving.”

“Yes sir, I did. I need to take some time off to think about things. The marines have been my entire life at this point, and I am starting to think that it might be time to consider other things.”

“You want to be discharged?” You had completely forgot about Green.

“Not exactly. I was thinking maybe Reserves for now. I haven’t exactly made up my mind.” You sent a look over to him, hopefully he would shut up.

“Well, I will grant your Leave, but we are going to have a more private talk.” He looked over to Green who was looking down at the floor. “But if this is something that you really want to do, I’m sure we can figure it out.”

“Thank you, sir.”

After he left the room, there was this awkward tension. Green hadn’t looked up; you were just sitting there trying to figure out why he cared so much.

He left without saying another word.

“Are you really going to leave?”

“I’m not completely leaving, if I’m needed, I will be back. I have spent the last eighteen years in the Marines, I don’t know anything else. You never know I might absolutely hate being a civilian and want to come back immediately when my leave is over. This is something I need to do.”

You were released from the hospital after two days. You went home and started packing your bags. You had planned most of your trip while you were in the hospital. You just needed to confirm the dates with your hotel. When it came time to leave, Sparks and Collins wanted to drive you to the airport. They weren’t happy with your decision, but they understood why you had to do it. Green on the other hand had been avoiding you for the last week. Every time you tried to talk to him, he said he was busy, even when he wasn’t.

About a week and a half later, you had to do one last meeting before you could leave. This meant you had to be in your Dress Greens, and you would have to go to the airport in them. You hated the idea of that, but you can’t change it. After the meeting you grabbed you bags and carried them to Collins’s truck. Just as you were about to load up someone came up behind you guys.

“Room for one more?” Green was standing there, you turned around to see him.

“I don’t know, you sure you can handle me leaving like and adult now?”

“Yes. I’m sorry I was acting like a child.”

“Alright, load up.”

The ride to the airport wasn’t too bad. You were just going to miss these idiots. You started wondering if you were making the right decision, but quickly shot that down. You were, this is something you were doing for you. If you didn’t do it then you might regret it later.

Once you got to the airport, Collins parked in the lot, all of you got out and you hugged them goodbye. You went to grab your bags, but Green grabbed for them first. You looked at him confused.

“We’re going to walk you in, come on let’s go.” He said as he threw one of the bags to both Collins and Sparks.

“You don’t have to do that. I’m sure you guys have to get back.”

“No, we have the rest of the day off.” Sparks gave you a big smile.

You walked into the airport, checked your bags and got your ticket. All of you walked over to TSA, you stopped and looked at all of them.

“Well, I guess this is goodbye.” You gave them a small smile.

“No, it’s see you later. You’re not going to get away from us that easily. Even if you decide to leave.” Collins was the first to hug you.

“Yeah, no matter what you do we will always be there for you.” Sparks following behind Collins.

Green walked up to you and just pulled you into a hug.

“Let me know when you get there safely. I mean let us know when you get there.” You let out a small chuckle.

“Definitely, I will do that.” You let go of him, looking to all of them. “Stay safe boys. If I find out something happens to any of you, I will personally come back just to kick all of your asses.”

“Yes Ma’am.” They all said in unison, they gave you a salute.

You turned away and walked through security. They stayed there until you were completely out of sight. You had a 10-hour flight ahead of you. you were simply happy that you had nobody sitting next to you.

You had decided to go to Hawaii to visit your parents. They had retired to Hawaii about 5 years ago. You had lived there when you were in your teens. It was your favorite place that you had been moved too. You even made some friends there, that you still keep in contact now.

You haven’t seen them in a long time. Even though they only retired 5 years ago, it has been many more since you have seen them. You have been busy doing missions, training recruits, etc. You weren’t even able to go to their retirement party because you were overseas. You have tried to stay in contact with them, but those phone calls were few and far between.

Now you were sitting outside of their house. You didn’t tell them you were coming, you wanted it to be a surprise. You just wished that you could have changed out of your dress greens. You stepped out of your rental truck, adjusted your uniform before closing the door. As you were walking up to the front door you saw the curtains move, as if someone were watching you. Once you got to the door you rang the doorbell, you slightly turned away from it to look around their neighborhood.

The door opened behind you, as you turned back around you kept your head down slightly.

“Please don’t tell me something happened to Y/n.” Shit…

“I knew I should have changed.” You looked up to see your mother with tears in her eyes.

“Oh, you ass.” She immediately wrapped you in a hug. She ended up hitting you in the back while she was crying on your shoulder. “You sacred the shit out of me!”

“I’m sorry mom. I didn’t really think about it.” You looked up to see your father coming up behind you mother.

“Pipsqueak?” you mother let you go; you were in your father’s arms almost instantly.

“Dad.”

“What are you doing here? Not that we aren’t happy to see you, I figured you would be training or saving the world.” He let you go to pull you over to have a seat. You mother sat down next to you while your father sat in his chair off to the side of you.

“I decided to take leave for the first time, instead of being forced to take it.” You took your cover off and placed it in your lap. “Actually, I have been thinking of transferring to the reserves. I want to see what the world has to offer, outside of combat boots and fatigues.”

“Woah! Are you serious? Y/n, the Marines has been what you wanted to do ever since you were little. Are you sure you want to do this?” Your father sat forward in his seat to look directly in your eyes.

“I know it has. It’s just after my last mission, I started thinking about life and all the things I wanted out of it. I absolutely love the Marines and I wouldn’t trade my experiences for anything in the world. It’s just in this moment I just need to figure things out for me.”

“So, are you going to move to Hawaii?”

“I think so. This was one of my favorite places to be growing up. I even called Kono and Chin to see what they were up too. I’m going to meet them after I came to see you guys, at ‘Iolani Palace. I figured while I was there, I would pick up an application for HPD.”

You could see that your mother didn’t like the idea of you going from one high risk job to another. She just wanted you to be safe.

“Are you sure HPD is where you want to go? If you are trying to get away from all of that, I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“It’s a lot less risk than the Marines mom. Plus, it’s something that I can learn fast and adding my military background it’s one of the few jobs I would be good at.” You turned to her giving her had a reassuring squeeze.

You stayed with your parents for a few hours before you needed to leave. Once again you didn’t have time to change before going to see Kono and Chin like you had hoped. Your mother barely let you out the door, she made you promise to come back for dinner and to bring Chin and Kono if you could.

You walked into the Palace; you didn’t really know where to go. You saw a few officers and civilians around. You walked up to the officer behind the desk to ask where to go.

“Excuse me.” You quickly looked at his name plate. “Sgt. Lukela, I’m looking for Officer Chin Ho Kelly. He didn’t give me many instructions on where to go.” He looked up and was instantly taken back. He stood up before speaking.

“Yes, he is a part of the Five-0 task force. They are on the second floor, there are signs that lead you to them. I could call and have her here in a few minutes, or I could escort you there.” He looked at you with a nervous smile.

“No that’s okay Sir. I’m sure I can find it.” You were about to leave but turned back. “Are you alright?”

“Yes Ma’am, just wasn’t expecting to see a Marine in here today.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean to make you nervous. I just didn’t have time to change out of my uniform.” You gave him a quick goodbye before heading up the stairs.

You followed the signs just like he had told you, you came to a couple of glass doors. You saw someone inside, but you could instantly tell it wasn’t Chin. This guy was shorter and had blonde hair. He looked up from a table to see you, he started walking over to you. You opened the door and walk in.

“Can I help you?” You could see him look you up and down.

“I am looking for Officers Kelly and Kalakaua. I’m supposed to meet them here somewhere.” You gestured around.

“There are in their offices. I’ll get them.” He turned away to go to the offices.

“Thank you…”

“Danny.” He said turning back with a smile.

“Thank you, Danny. I’m Y/n.”

He walked into an office in the left, you saw Chin’s head pop up with a large grin on his face. Danny moved to another office, while Chin got up from his desk to come out. Kono did the same, she even ran around Danny to get to you faster. She came running to you and pulling you into a hug. Chin came and hugged you both. Danny came up behind them.

“Y/n, I have missed you!” Kono practically yelled in your ear.

“It’s good to have you back here.” Chin joined in on the hug.

“Guys, umm I’m still not fully healed yet.”

They quickly let go of you, you grabbed your shoulder. You massaged the spot for a few seconds, before looking up at them.

“Sorry.” They said simultaneously.

“Are you alright?” Danny chimed in.

“I’m good, just recovering from being shot twice.” You said with a blank face, just to see his reaction. He looked shocked to say the least. You laughed a little. “I was in Afghanistan not too long ago; a few things didn’t go as planned. The important thing is that we made it out alive and we completed our mission.”

“Oh, well I hope you heal quickly. Also thank you for your service.”

“Thank you, and it’s my honor to serve.”

“Maybe we will see you around here again before you have to leave.”

“That could be fun, but I’m hoping to be around for a while.”

“Awesome. I have to get back to work before Steve comes back, but it was nice to meet you Y/n.”

“You too Danny.” He walked away and you looked back to Chin and Kono. “So, how have you guys been?”

“We are good, but we want to hear about you. How long are you here for?”

“Well, I’m here for two weeks then I go to D.C. for a little while. Then I’m back for good-ish.”

“What does that mean? Are you leaving the marines?” they had confused looks on their faces.

“Not exactly.”

You explained your plan to them. Telling them nothing is set in stone. You were going to see how the two weeks go first before making a final decision. At this point after seeing them and your parents your mind was made up. You were going to transfer to the reserves, that way if you were really needed you could still help.

You talked to them for a while. You had gotten Chin and Kono to agree to come to dinner. You made them promise not to bring up your last mission. You didn’t tell your mother the full story because you knew she would be upset. Your father knew but he knows better than to tell her what happens out in the field. Even though on some level you knew your mother knew, she was a Marine and she knows what can happen.

Just as you were leaving you asked Chin about where you could get an application for HPD. He walked you back down to the main desk and asked the officer you talked to earlier for one. After getting it, you quickly filled it out and turned it back in. Chin had to go back to work, you said goodbye to him. As you were walking out of the Palace, you weren’t paying attention and accidently bumped into someone.

“I am so sorry! Are you okay?” You took a step back and looked up at the person.

“No, it was my fault, I wasn’t paying attention.” He looked down at you, pausing for a moment before extending his hand. “I’m Steve.”

“I’m Y/n.” You shook his hand. The two of you held on a little too long, before you broke the trance. “Umm, I’ glad you’re okay but I do have to get going.”

You let go if his hand and started moving around him. He just watched you walk away. You turned back to see him staring at you. He gave you a wave, you waved back, before proceeding to your truck.

You went to your hotel, checked in before going to your room. You sent a text to your boys to let them know that you made it to Hawaii in one piece. They all got back to you saying have a good time and stay safe. You made sure to hang up your uniform before taking a long-awaited shower. You just stood there washing away the day, you finally had a chance to really relax. After your shower you got dressed in jeans, a tank top and a flannel to top it all off. You grabbed your gun and placed it in its holster, you never went anywhere without it. Then you grabbed your backpack and your keys before heading out the door to your parents’ house.

When you pulled up in front of their house, you could see Kono’s car pulling up behind you. Chin was also with her; they got out of her car and came over to you.

“You ready for this?” Chin questioned when he was you fidgeting.

“Yeah, it’s just weird being here and not in some foreign country fighting for something.”

“It’s going to take some getting used to. I think its weirder to see you in normal clothes. I think I have only ever seen you in a uniform.” Kono and Chin let out a small laugh.

“I know.” You put your arm around Kono. “I am loving it; I feel so free.” You moved your arms around just to emphasize how free you felt.

“Are you guys just going to stand outside all night? Or are you going to come in and have dinner with us?” Your father called from the doorway.

“We are coming Dad.” You looked to your friends. “We better go before he locks that door.” You quickly moved towards the door with Kono and Chin close behind.

You stayed there for a few hours. Your father was asking for stories. Of course, you left certain details out, for your mother sanity. You asked Chin and Kono about Five-0. They told you all about it. Then they talked about the people they work with, their boss Steve McGarrett and how he was a Navy Seal. Then they talked about Danny who transferred here from New York to be closer to his daughter Grace. You told your parents that you had put in your application for HPD. Your father was excited for you. Once again, you could see your mothers head drop at the thought.

You spent a few more hours there talking and having a good time. When it started getting to late Chin Kono and yourself said your goodbyes. When you left the house, you walked them to Kono’s car.

“Well, that was fun.” You smiled at them.

“Yeah, it was. We should get together again before you go to D.C.” Chin said as he gave you a hug.

“Definitely.”

“We could invite Danny and Steve. Since you are trying to get a job at HPD, you will be seeing them every once in a while.” Kono gave you a long hug.

“Sure, that sounds good.” After that you said your goodbyes and left.

Once you arrived at your hotel, you put your gun in the drawer of the nightstand. Then proceed to get ready for bed. You change into a pair of shorts, leaving the tank top on. You grabbed your laptop and climbed into bed. You started looking for apartments and houses. You may have made your decision, but you still have a lot of things to consider and things to do.

You have found a few apartments and houses that you are willing to go see. At this point you were leaning more towards the apartments; just in case you are called back to duty. One of the few pluses of being in the Marines is that you traveled so much, which means you don’t have a lot of things. So, if you have to pack up and leave it is going to be easy for you.

After a few hours, you finally decided it was time to stop and try to get some sleep. You have a lot to do in the next few days. You turned off your laptop and set it on the bedside table. After making sure your alarms were set and your phone was plugged in, you laid down and slowly fell asleep.

@Ohana (Everything) Tags:

@camillyb   @wanniiieeee  @gurkiloni​  @fanfictionaddiction99​

Series Tags:

@shipatheart @dannjulie

Steve McGarrett Tags:

@hails-halstead​ @healojane  @summer-children​ @multiplecelebritycrushesat16

[mona-stay]

Prompt - Sweetpea splits up with Josie but he's in love with y/n his long time FRIEND

Pairing Sweetpea x reader (riverdale)

Warning - none really, some angst and maybe worthless feelings

Story

 

Sweetpea had spent most of the night drinking as his relationship with Josie McCoy had ended; he knew it was just a summer fling, but it still hurt in a small way.

For a while Josie had been a distraction for Sweetpea, well every girl he'd dated was. Although he'd never admit it out loud, he was in love with someone else: someone who, in his eyes, was too good for him. She was beautiful, funny, smart, and knew Sweetpea better than anyone. Fangs included. So instead of showing his feelings, he hid them; having strings of one-night stands to block her out of his head and heart. Not one ever worked.

Now he found himself drunk, and once again, on the steps of y/n’s home not knowing what he was gonna say when she opened the door. 

"Looking for me?", her voice behind made him jump.

Turning to face her, he smiled seeing her lifting up a full bottle of vodka. 

"Wanna be my drinking partner?" he shouts; mentally kicking himself for sounding dumb. Why did he always look like a goof around her? He cursed to himself.

You smile back: "Sure", before finding your keys and opening the door. 

This wasn't unusual Sweets. often turned up drunk, looking for his favourite drinking partner. This never bothered you before. In fact, you loved being around Sweetpea, loved being the key word. However, it had been clear for years that he saw you as a friend; a good and close friend, but a friend all the same. There had been numerous times when Sweetpea would put an arm around your shoulders calling you his best friend.

You'd learnt to live with him calling you a best friend, to compartmentalise your feelings. For a while it worked. That was until his fling with Josie started. It hurt seeing them together, maybe because it was more than a one-night stand. Maybe he liked her more than he said.

Mid-way through the summer break you found yourself distancing yourself from Sweetpea and others in the group, taking on more shifts at the Wyrm.

"I thought you'd be home by now?" he asked, while getting glasses out of the cupboard. His pouring out two extra-large drinks didn't go unnoticed by you.

"I've been working the night shift this week. I took Hogeye for 100 in pool tonight". You laughed showing off your winnings, before putting them away.

Pea shook his head. "We really should team up in doubles", he joked, while taking a big swig from his glass.

"You know there would no one to give you a challenge if we did", you teased back. 

That was the thing: no matter your feelings, you both fell into friends mode, in spite of what was going on in your head.

"I'm a bit surprised to see you. I thought you and the Northside lot were camping?" you asked, sensing something was up, as he had drunk more than half of his glass before you had even started.

He rolled his eyes with a snarl across his lips. "Nar... Josie and I were over, so there's no point being there. Who cares? She was just a bit of fun". To anyone else, this would have sounded convincing, jerky even. Others would have bought the Playboy line, but you could see the hurt in his eyes; most likely the same look from which you spent years hiding.

"She's a fool. You deserve someone real, not some fake Northside diva!" you say, trying to sound supportive, yet not too happy with the news.

He finished the rest of his drink, one last massive mouthful. Squinting his eyes as the alcohol burnt his chest on its way down, he said: "couldn't agree more, but who cares? I'm over her".

He wasn't lying. He was over Josie in a way; annoyed at how she blew him off for sure. The emotional connection was gone.

The topic of Josie was dropped pretty much then. For the next few hours, the pair of you listened to music, having your usual debate over which bands were better. You told him about things at the Wyrm: how you'd started taking on the late shifts, helping Hogeye kick out the drunks who wouldn't leave really could be your new calling in life.

"I would have loved to have seen you chucking out Danny. 'Bet he was fuming... " he said, chuckling, while imagining you push a six feet long Serpent out the bar. "What else 'been happening?" he asked.

"Well, two new girls did their Serpent dance. I'm surprised you missed it", you said, knowing Pea never missed a dance, "Showing support", he'd say in defence. Heck, for your dance he was front row and centre. His intense stare kept you focused, staring back at him while you moved and danced.

He laughed, asking if any were fit, earning an eye-roll from you. He was more drunk than normal, possibly giving him both courage and an excuse for his next comment: "never mind newbies. When are you getting back on that pole?" he asked, with a cheeky wink.

You raised your brows at him but couldn't hide the shade of pink your cheeks started turning. "Coz' I work the bar", you answer, not sure from where his comment came.

He stood up, changing the music to a different song. "Well, you're wasted behind a bar. You're one of the best dancers I know" he said, seductively holding out his hand to you. Again, this was something Sweetpea wouldn't dare do prior, even when drunk. But right now he was using it to fuel his actions he'd denied himself for so long.

You took his hand, unsure what was going on his head. He clumsily tugged you, trying to dance. You almost fall over his giant feet, but he caught you in his arms. For the next hour or so the pair of you danced, laughed, and finished Sweet pea’s bottle of vodka, as well as almost one of your own. You were happy; it was just like old times, minus Fangs and Toni.

Sweetpea had spent the past hour building up the courage to make his move even though he didn't exactly know what that was yet. He poured the last of the alcohol into glasses, watching y/n shake her hips, arms over her head. He watched intently as she turned, showing him a full view of her ass. He bit his lips, watching her move as sway. He was holding on to what little restraint he had to not go over and grab it. He smiled as she turned to face him, her eyes were glassy and bright with a smile to match. The song changed, and to his delight it was a slower, sexier one.

He came over close, putting his hands on your hips, moving with your rhythm. Although he'd done this before, something this time felt different. Maybe it was the way he was staring in to your eyes, or the wolfish smirk, which looked  like he was planning something. Or maybe the way it all made you feel. Your heart pound against your chest, your breathing had quickened. Just like putty in his hands.

Sweetpea thought it was now or never. He lifted his hand to your chin, tilting it up as he bent down to capture your lips with his. They were soft, as you always imagined they would be. For a second, you kissed him back, enjoying the thing you had craved for years. His hand, still on your hip, tightened, pulling you closer to him. His kiss deepened when you grabbed his shirt.

You both pulled away. Your mind was hazy with a mix of thoughts running through it at the same time. A few seconds on your head felt like eternity. All your wants here in your hands, yet some rational voice in your head reminded you of his recent break up.

Was this all it was, Sweetpea getting over Josie? Were you his rebound? If so, how will it affect your friendship afterwards? You'd rather not destroy the connection you had, for one night of everything you ever dreamed.

Sweetpea smiled, happy, until he studied your shell-shocked face. He was unable to read whether you liked it or not. A bit worried he moved in for a second kiss, the moment his lips touched he could feel you pushing him away. He took a step, looking confused. "We shouldn't do this", you said, in a low voice.

You saw him tense up, his jaw clenched, as well as his fists. It was only the look in his eyes that showed the sadness he was feeling. "Why?" he asked, through gritted teeth. His tone wasn't angry like he looked.

You swallow hard, partly for not believing what you were saying, wanting to just run back and kiss him again. "You've just split with Josie. I don't want to be your rebound girl. There are enough Southside sluts you can use for that", you say, trying to sound kind in hopes that he'd see your point. "I care about you enough to not let us wreck our friendship like this", you add.

The F-word was like a knife to his chest. You said it, proving his original thoughts, You'd never love him like he loves you. He nodded, not sure what to say, nor trusting his voice not to crack. Turning to finish his drink, he mumbled a weak apology before getting his jacket to leave.

You told him not to leave as he opened the door, but he just gave you a half-smile before walking out. When the door shut, you collapse on the couch, silent tears run down your face as you cradle a cushion. Your heart was screaming, "what have you done?"; your head still trying to think if it was the right thing to do. You went to bed thinking out of all the times you imagined kissing Sweetpea, you'd never imagined it ending with you crying alone.

Sweetpea wasn't feeling much better. He walked out the trailer park, your words running in his head. "Why did I have to kiss her?", he asked himself aloud before punching a beat-up street sign. The first punch felt good, so he hit it again and again until his stamina started to wear. His knuckles were grazed and cut. He opened and closed his fingers, the pain now noticeable. Sinking to the floor, his head in his knees, he finally broke down.

You didn't leave your trailer all of Sunday, not wanting to face the world after the kiss went wrong. However, on Monday, you had to work. Working meant the possibility of running in to Sweetpea. You wanted to see him, but didn't know what to say after pushing him away. The thought of it made you cringe, still regretting your actions.

Outside you can hear the buzz coming from within the bar. Maybe work was a good idea. If it's busy, you won't have time to think. You walked though the door, the first person you saw was him. It didn't help Sweetpea being one of the tallest in there, standing at six-feet three inches. 

He saw you walk inside. Turning back to the pool table, he hit his ball with more force than necessary. He looked up seeing you head to the hatch near to bar, dumping your bag. The sounds of Toni's protest made him look back. "I don't know what's wrong with you today, but if you keep hitting balls like that, you're gonna crack one", she moaned.

He didn't answer her, just took his next shot; it was softer than the last, but the sound of the hit was anything but calm. To add more annoyance to his mood, Cheryl had to open her mouth: "Why's he throwing a fit after my girl, Josie, dumped his ass?", in a sassy remark.

Annoyed, he growled:  "I'm not throwing anything. It was a summer fling. Summer is over now. I couldn't care that it is over", he yells, unconvincingly. Right now he wasn't bothered what they all thought, as long as they didn't know the truth.

Fangs asked what happened but Sweetpea ignored the question, focusing on the game which he was in the middle of. When he didn't answer, Cheryl took delight in spilling the gossip to Fangs. He tried ignoring them but Cheryl's voice was hard to block out, especially when she said things like: "Josie was slumming it with him. A last bit of fun before New York", and "becoming a star, she had to drop the dead weight". With each comment his knuckles got tighter and tighter around his cue.

You walked over with a tray of drinks Toni had ordered. You asked Hogeye to take it, but he wouldn't. The closer you got, the more you heard Cheryl’s comments, basically saying that he wasn't good enough.

On the best of days you didn't like Cheryl; she's loud, obnoxious, and full of herself. You only tolerated her because of Toni's and Jughead's relationships with her, but right now you were struggling to keep your cool.

You could tell Sweetpea was struggling too, his face was like thunder, his knuckles as white as rocks. You wanted to go and tell him that it's okay, to ignore her, but the way he looked at you made you decide against it. You placed the tray down giving Pea a small smile, but he didn't return it. You wished it were because of Cheryl, but knew deep down it was a knock to your friendship.

"Well I have been telling her all summer that she's better off without him", you heard Cheryl say. That was it, you couldn't take any more of her slating him. You span around to face the venomous redhead. "Who the fuck do you think you are?" you snap.

She looked at you with her faux shook, "excuse moi?" she asked in her fake and bitchy way.

You stepped closer so she couldn't mistake you this time. "You heard me. How dare you come here making out he's not good enough." Your arm shot up, pointing at Sweetpea. "He's the nicest, funniest guy going. Your diva-slut mate wasn't slumming it, he's the realest guy that fake bitch will ever have. If you think she was, what does that say about you and MY girl?" This time you gesture towards Toni who was now walking back from the bathroom, unaware as to why her mate and girlfriend looked like they were about to come to blows.

Sweetpea watched you go off at Cheryl, a mix of happy and hurt, listening to you defend him. The argument in front of him faded as he was lost in his own trail of thoughts, only broken when he saw Cheryl slap y/n. That was after you had shoved her back, hard. He dropped his cue, but before it had even touched the floor, she punched Cheryl back.

Both girls attacked each other. Toni dragged Cheryl away, while Sweetpea took you out back to cool off, mainly because he was the only one strong enough to drag you out the bar and handle the kicks or hits that landed his way; something neither of you were a stranger to, what with the past bar fights and scraps.

 

You paced outside, a string of insults at Cheryl coming from your mouth. Sweetpea just watched you in silence, not knowing if he should walk back inside or not. He also wanted to know why you went off like that too. Yes, you'd had fights before, never having started one like that though. When you finally finished ranting, he asked "what was all that about?"

"What? She's vile, and after hearing her talk shit about you... like you're nothing, made my blood boil. Plus, it's about time someone gave her a nose job", you shout back, still angry from the small fight. "The bigger question is: why did you just stand there, and let her talk trash about you in your own place?", you ask, folding your arms.

He shrugged his shoulders in reply, "why bother? It's Blossom, she talks trash about everything; not something to get worked up over. Ignoring her hurts her more", he said, hoping you'd buy his excuse.

You didn't. You knew him better: the sly look to the side, the way he slid his hand down the back of his head. His signals. You took a step forward.

"Yeah that might be true, but there is something you're not saying", you point out.

He doesn't look at you, keeping his eyes to the ground he mumbles, "nothing". He goes to turn away back inside, when you grab his arm. He stopped, his body tense, still not turning back to look at you. So instead, you walked in front of him.

When he finally looked at you, the hurt was visible in his eyes; the same look he gave you when he left that night, the same eyes he had when you entered the bar, and when you first brought the drinks over.

"I've known you for as long as I can remember. I know something's wrong, and you'd normally tell me what's on your mind. Now please stop looking at me like I killed your dog", you plead.

"She's right", he says, whispering. Your brows crossed; you couldn't believe your ears. Was he really saying that he believed those things? "what do you mean?", you asked confused.

"Cheryl, that bitch. She's right about me: I'm not good enough! Tell me something that wasn't a lie! I am trailer trash, a worthless gang member; no real money or goals", he shouted back, releasing his pent-up anger he'd held in all night.

You pushed him hard. "Look. Josie thinks she's the next Beyoncé. You don't need a girl like that. You're more than ten times good enough for girls like Josie and Cheryl, for that matter. You deserve someone who see how incredible you are Pea, someone who will love you the way you are", you say, hoping he'd listen and believe you. You meant every word and wanted to show him.

He snorted and rolled his eyes at you. "I couldn't care about Josie; I never had any real feeling for her. She was something to take my mind off someone else. I wasn't good enough for too, so there's no point trying to make me feel better", he stated with a raised voice. By the time he said the first something his tone lowered and wavered.

You wanted to tell him you weren't lying. What you said was how you felt, how you wish you hadn't denied his kiss, and most importantly who the girl was. But none of that came out. The most your brain mustered was: "she's an idiot".

Sweetpea passed you. "Yes you are", he whispered to himself, not realising you'd heard it. You turned around so fast it could have given you whiplash.

"What did you say?", you asked.

Sweetpea froze. He didn't know what to say. He didn't think it could hurt anymore than being rejected, so he decided to tell you, and suffer now rather than let it drag on as it had.

"You! You rejected me. The one person I loved more than anyone. I could deal with being friends for so long, but no matter what, you would be on my mind. I knew you were too good for me, so I tried sleeping with other girls. I started a fling with Josie but none of them made me feel the way you do. I thought, well nothing else worked, so maybe just coming to tell you... but I couldn't see how, so I just kissed you. I was right, I you didn’t want me too.”

He didn't mean to say as much as he did, but once he started, it all just came out. He looked at you, when you didn't speak, seeing a smirk on your face, almost like you were holding in a laugh. "Oh, now you're gonna laugh at me. Reject then laugh"

You put a hand on his chest, shaking your head. "I'd never laugh at you and I'd never reject you because you're not good enough. I did it to protect my own feelings. I couldn't be a rebound. I love you too much for it to be a one-time thing", you say with a smile.

It took a second or two for your words to sink in. His eyes widened "did you just say...?" but never finished.

"I love you, yes" you say for him. "I always have, Pea, but never thought you liked me. Let's face it, I'm no Josie, nor the type you normally go for", you say, hearing how weird it came out.

He brought his face in close to yours, cupping your cheek in his hand. "No, you're better", he said before kissing you. When it ended, Sweetpea smiled. You looked up at him, seeing the joy. "If I do it again, you're not gonna say no this time", he joked.

You shook your head, leaning in for a second kiss, proving to him you would never reject or push him away again. This one was more passionate than the first. He held you close, one hand on your back, the other in your hair. You wrap yours around his neck, tugging on the hair your fingers reach.

When he felt the small pull, he deepened the kiss, his lips moved in sync faster and harder, but with a tenderness too. When he pulled away, you felt a little breathless. "Wanna get out of here?" you say, biting your lip to remember the feel of his.

"Thought you were working?" he asked; giving you a devilish smirk, knowing perfectly well neither of you were going back inside.

"Nar, we can feed Hogeye some line like I needed to calm down after that Blossom bitch. Hooking up with a sexy Serpent was just an added bonus", you giggle. You walked off towards his bike. He slipped his arm around your waist. He couldn't believe his dreams had come true. His only regret? That he'd not said anything sooner.

[chayacat]

Devil’s Sweet Star (4)

Fandom: Dead by Daylight

Ghostface x Female Reader  

Rated M for Violence, Language and Smut  

***

Every person on this planet has a different mentality. Some will laugh at all things because they always see the good side, others will buy French fries in the shape of animals or candies because they’ll have kept their children's souls. Those with a deranged mentality will be locked up in suitable institutions and those who are self-centred prepare as evil strategies as they are to reach glory and power. But do you know what's common to all of us? The sweet desire for perfection.

Ah perfection... A utopia for all of us, an invisible thing that everyone wants to achieve. Everything we do has to be perfect: our work, our schooling, our life, our family, our friendly relationships... We always want EVERYTHING to be perfect. And we are outraged, angry, sorry when a tiny drop of water overflows our vase of perfection. Danny is one of the best examples.

He calculates everything down to the smallest detail, analyses all possible situations, so that his murders are perfect. And so far, he's getting there! not the slightest suspicion, not the slightest, tiny evidence of his involvement in all these crimes. He could have been an actor given the talent to play the comedy he owns.  

But artists like him must know how to bow out and change places. And that's exactly what he's been thinking about since that night in addition to his next victim. To the point of falling asleep at his desk. He had turned what was to be used as a guest room into an office, with a sofa, in case tiredness prevented him from going to his bed.  

He rubbed his eyes before getting up and heading to the kitchen to make a coffee. He needed to have clear ideas and a clear mind. Then he returned to his office and glanced at the map while sipping. Red crosses were on it, indicating the cities he had already made. Next to the map was a table where most barred names were inscribed, that was none other than his “hunting table”.  

“Well, well... What's going to be my next destination after Roseville? Ontario? No... The Canadian cold is unbearable and then the snow may slow me down in my leaks. Houston? Tss no no no... I don't want to be executed.”

His gaze was on Florida, the state that saw him born. It would be a good idea and down there he could be FINALLY himself. To present himself as Danny Johnson and never as Jed Olsen. But his family lives there, his "parents" who throughout his childhood repudiated him and treated him as a trash. That's why he left, so does he really want to go back? Only the day his parents died. Danny shook his head with a sigh. He prefers to forget his darkest years of his life.

“I still have time to think about it. No one suspects me as usual. So, there's no need to rush my escape.”  

He looked at his "hunting board," including the names inscribed on it. Since the time he lives here, some names have come to mind, including Travis who is no longer of this world. The first in his list is none other than that dear Mike Harris. If Jed held back, Danny couldn't stand him anymore. Why all this? Because he thinks he's better than everyone else and can't stand the competition? Poor idiot that you're Mike, your ego will lead you to your loss and to tell you the truth you won't miss anyone.

Second on the list was Horace McKellan. That wretched rich man who threatened to close your business. A real jerk's face. Danny already smiles at the thought of sticking the knife in his stomach to eject his guts, dismembering him pieces by pieces, hearing his screams and begging you to stop ... Oh my God, what a pleasure it's going to be.

Other names appeared on this chart, people who were mostly had done anything wrong in particular and others who are real rubbish for society, even if Danny had nothing to do with it. Then as he went along, his eyes landed on a name... Particular. A person who made him ask a lot of questions. That person? It's you.

What was he going to do with you? An umpteenth victim with no interest or reason to kill you except for... have fun? Or keep you alive and make yourself... His toy? It's an idea that made him smile a lot and he already imagine you as his toy, his property, his little pet that he can frighten when and where he wants, without ever killing you.  

He put a question mark next to your name while waiting to decide your fate. Until then he has plenty to deal with. He took another sip of his coffee when he heard someone knocking on the door. He came out of his office, which he locked, and then went to the front door where he came face to face with Mr. Lawson, the owner.

“Mr. Lawson? Is there a problem?” He said.  

“oh no, nothing special! You are so caught up in your work that you forgot to get it back your mail. I bring it to you and I took the opportunity to retrieve the advertisements even though you put the label they continue to put you in the mailbox.”

“oh...Thanks sir, I must admit that with work, I forgot simple things like that. I’ve heard that you’ve got some problems with some tenants?”  

“oh yes! Those little hooligans on the 4th floor are always late on their rent, when I tell them, it's limit if they don't slam the door in my face! No respect! they should work more instead of doing nothing of their day!”

“Sure. Well, I got some work to do sir, good luck with the hooligans and... Take care of yourself.” Danny replied before gently close the door.

Then he throws his mail on his table, he doesn’t really care about all that stuff. He was about to return to study his next victims when his phone rang.

“Yoooooo Jeddy! How are you? I don't mind you, do I?”

“No, not at all Mattew. What’s going on? You're not working today?” answers Danny.

“Yes, but the boss makes a meeting with everyone. So, he wants you to take your cute little ass back to the office. And quickly, visibly it looks important. You know how the boss is when someone is late.”

“I see it too many times with you.” Laughs Danny “Tell the boss I coming right now.”  

He hangs up and took his belongings before locking his door. He walked to his car, opened it, went inside and drove towards the newspaper's office. he passed security and went upstairs to fall face to face with Mike. If there was one person he didn't want to see when he arrived, it was him.

“Mr. deigns to finally show himself... Come on Olsen, you're wasting our time. In addition to my nerves.” said Mike a little angry before entering the meeting room.  

Danny breathes deeply before entering too and close the door seeing that everyone is here. He notices Melina and Mattew talking in a corner and decided to join them, he needed to laugh a little and these two are real comedians. Mr Hembrook came in and shut the door making everyone silent. Then he goes to his chair and put some folder on the table.

“Well, it seems that everyone is here so, we can start the meeting. If I ask you to come here today, it’s because I've some big news for you. First of all, the head of the journalists' convention contacted me last night to find out if we intended to participate this year. I responded favourably and also told him that I would contact him again to give him the names of those who would go there. As you know, the reputation of the Roseville gazette extends a little further than our small town and if we could make ourselves known in other states, it would allow us to fill our newspaper a little more.”

“Great, boring convention is coming...I'm excited” said Melina ironically.  

“Ahem. Then I heard that a certain Richard Hoggins gives a reception in a few days to celebrate the signing of his new trade. All those rich people who break our feet will be there including Horace Mckellan. I know these two were working together, and I can feel the scheming in this story. So, in order to "cover" this reception I convinced Mr Hoggins to bring a small team from our newspaper.”  

“wow that's more exciting than the convention” said Mattew happily as Jed nods.  

Danny smiles wildly, maybe he can learn more about McKellan and found new preys if he goes there?  

“So, I need to know now who's going to go where to tell the organizers and Mr. Hoggins. I thought of Mike, Karen and Thomas at the convention. And for the reception ... I think Melina, Mattew and our little Jed would be the perfect trio.”

“WHAT ??” says Mike by failing to stun. “But Boss! This is impossible, I mean...Jed is kind of a newbie here. For a scandal like that, we need someone more...experienced more suitable. With all due respect, I think it's best for my team to take care of Mr. Hoggins' reception and Jed's go to the convention.”

“If I may say so...” starts Jed who surprised everyone: “As you said SO kindly Mike, I'm a newbie. But that's my strong point: no one will suspect me of spying or snooping if no one knows me. no one will pay attention to me and I can discreetly sneak into the crowd.”

“I like that mindset. You definitely convinced me kid. I'm going to make the phone calls. I'm counting on you to resent a great scandal.” said Mr Hembrook before leaving the meeting room followed by the others reporters. Melina and Mattew left too and when Danny was about to leave the room, Mike pushed him and closed the door, then stuck him to the wall, his arm at Danny’s throat.

“You're lucky we're in the office Olsen because I SWEAR to god, I'm going to kill you. But beware, by pushing me to the limit, you’ll quickly regret the consequences. I don't know what game you're playing, you little shit... but accidents happen much faster than you think.” He grunts before punching him in the face and in his stomach, leaving Danny on the floor as he leaves the room.  

Danny got up and wiped his nose with a hand gesture to make sure he wasn't bleeding from the nose, which fortunately for him was not the case. The rage grew in him, he wanted only one thing: to kill Mike there now, without worrying about what the others would say. But he couldn't afford it for the moment, he would grill his cover. He had to take it upon himself as Jed but Mike loses nothing to wait: Ghostface intends to return the device to him.

The rest of the day went relatively well even though Mike behaved like a real bastard towards 'Jed'. Luckily, he could count on Mattew and Melina to make it all more bearable. The trio headed to the exit, telling each other jokes, each one more stupid than the others. Danny shakes his head with a smile, they are unrecoverable.

“Hey, are we eating together tonight ? I know a small Japanese restaurant that will nail you to your seats at the end of the meal.” said Melina.

“Ha! No meal is consistent enough to nail me to my chair!” answers Mattew proudly.  

“I wonder how you eat so much without gaining weight. you could cause the loss of all the restaurants in town.” replies Melina with a smirk before laughing when she saw Mattew sulking. “What about you Jed?”

“Sorry, I would have liked to come but... I feel a little tired” he responds with a little smile.

“oh... Say instead that you prefer to go for a coffee at the Nebula... The boss is pretty cute. Maybe you should think about settling down with someone someday. I don't bother you with that. Rest well Jed. And get ready to play spies!” Said Melina before leaving with Mattew.  

Danny drives back at home thinking about how he’s going to kill that bastard Mike. So many things pass through his mind... He parked and when he raised his head, he saw you through your window, cleaning and tidying your home. He hasn’t decided about your fate but he’s got time. He doesn’t know you enough to make a decision.

He quickly went to his apartment to retrieve his bag which contained his camera. He wanted to stalk someone tonight, another potential victim who had done nothing to him, but that he's going to kill for one reason or another. Another trophy in his hunting board.

As for you, you can sleep peacefully. Your little star will continue to shine tonight. Until the devil in the white mask came to steal it...Or smash it down forever.  

***

(Finished! this time I wanted to focus mainly on Danny, on how he operates. Tell me what you think! I hope you’ll enjoyed it! And remember if you want to have a closer look of Danny, check out @arkkosun’s page!  His/her work is amazing! Also Check @sleepydaydreamz and @horror-ink’s pages! They're so great! See ya! )  

[willmcgarrett]

@tanixrey

William hadn’t known he would come to Honolulu until two days before the flight took off. He decided to use this moment to surprise his older brother and introduce him to his new niece. As it was a business trip, he had a wonderful hotel room, a suite in the Hilton Hawaiian Village, that could also house his nanny, Vicky, which was who was taking care of Delylah at that very moment.

He had heard of the new team members his brother had assembled, but had not met any of the newbies yet. He was pretty curious to meet the young blood Steve had told him about. As it turned out the security guard remembered him - the physical similarity to Steve probably made that easier. He still gave him his ID as he gave him a visitors pass.

Making his way up he found the HQ of Five-0 rather empty. Neither Steve, nor Danny were anywhere to be seen. Louis Grovers office was empty, too, as well as Chins former office. Konos former office was however occupied by a young woman. So, Will guessed, he would meet a newbie first.

“Hey there. I’m looking for Detective Williams and Commander McGarrett.”

[amethystpath-writes]

Prompt: Branding

Fandom: Original

@badthingshappenbingo

Tumblr has been acting extremely awful for the past couple of days. I’ve posted this before, but for some reason, the whole story disappeared! Luckily, I copied it because I knew it would happen. So, my last prompt wasn’t reblogged, here is the link to it; https://amethystpath.tumblr.com/post/185822873307/current-prompt-requested-x

Now, be warned, the story below is the longest I have ever written on here!

**********************************************

Lucas waited impatiently for the hero to arrive. It was becoming stuffy beneath the decorative mask on his face. His suit was too tight in the pits. The pant-legs were too short. Luke couldn’t be any more uncomfortable than what he was, waiting for the newbie.

The plan was simple. Both Luke and Danielle were new to the nemesis schemes. Heroes and villains, it was different from the lives they used to live. Lucas was going to use that against her for sure. He knew what she lived through because he went through the exact same thing. What better way to distract the hero than to point out their similarities of the enemy?

Luke kept his eyes glued to the door from the second floor. His peripherals were rather limited with the mask on his face. Gods, he couldn’t wait to take the damned thing off. He could have taken it off, everyone already knew each other, but Danielle wouldn’t know, and that was precisely the reason that he kept it on. He wasn’t going to reveal himself right away. He would wait for the smoke to swirl in just the right way so that he could magically appear before her eyes. Not that he couldn’t do that himself; Luke traveled by splitting matter and traveling in that dimension between. He could appear on the Eiffel Tower if he really wanted to, assuming he knew the location exactly. He traveled better when he could see precisely where he was going.

As Lucas watched the doors, others swayed to the music playing. It wasn’t a regular party where Meghan Trainor bopped on a loud speaker. No, Luke appreciated a different style, surprising for his age. He liked classical. He liked a piano. He appreciated a nice, upbeat jazz, too.

Halfway into a song, Lucas smirked as the hero strolled in. Gods, she stuck out like a sore thumb. He never told her that it was a black and white masquerade. She showed up in a brilliantly forest green dress, even adorned with an emerald necklace. He admired her confused expression as it seemed she was trapped in a black white movie. And as instructed, everyone in the room pretended she never walked in. Luke even heard one of the guest gasp and say, “Did you feel that, Harold?” as Danielle tapped her shoulder, to which Harold responded, “No, dearie. Someone probably just brushed by, another masquerader.” A masquerader, indeed, one that they all knew well.

Luke made his way down the stairs finally, never taking his eyes off of the green dresses swishing throughout the room. He waited until she was right in front of the fireplace before vanishing, just to appear inches from her face. She gasped, taking a step back and almost falling from the shock. “You’re him, aren’t you?” She spoke in a whisper. She didn’t want any civilians involved. Danielle tried to talk the villain into a different meeting place, one that didn’t involve any regular humans. Instead, he threw a masquerade. Danielle had hope; maybe having a crowd was a good thing. Perhaps they weren’t superhuman, but with enough of them working together, they could overpower Lucas if he tried anything to extreme.

Luke ripped the mask off of his face, the string snapping, and he tossed it in the fire. “In the flesh.” He flashed a charming smile. “Your turn.” He gestured to the fire, but Danielle wasn’t ready for her identity to be revealed. “Oh, come on, Danny, dear. There is no need for masks when we already know each other’s faces, right?”

How does he already know my name? “You don’t know my face, but I know yours well now. I think that was a mistake on your half. Clumsy, I might add. It’s okay,” she assured, “You’re new to this.”

“You think you’re any better than me?” Luke chuckled, grabbing a glass of white wine from a server passing by. He swirls the liquid in the glass before taking a mighty gulp. “Care for a drink? You can have a sip of mine.” He pushed the glass in her direction, she took a step back.

“Of course I’m better than you. Maybe I’m new to this whole gig, too, but at least I fight for the right side. These people,” Danielle gestured to the room, and continued in a hush, “These people are innocent. They have no business with you. They don’t involve themselves in our world, so why must you involve them?”

“The humans have no business with me? You say they don’t involve themselves, but isn’t that just the problem?” Lucas took another large gulp of his wine, pacing back and forth as the hero stood with her back to the fire. He threw the glass to the floor once it was empty, shattering it. The guests paid no heed, continuing to dance around it. “They ignored you, didn’t they, just as the people in this room have? When you pleaded for help because all of a sudden, you were getting these- these abilities- these powers. And you didn’t know what to do with them. You were scared. You were the only one you knew like yourself. And you were so bloody terrified that you would lose control! But then, what did they do when you begged for help? Nothing. You lost control, you killed someone. It was an accident, no one means to lose control, but it happened and they all blamed you, didn’t they?”

Danielle stayed silent. She fiddled with the jewel around her neck. It was true. Everything he said was true. She took someone’s life. Maybe it was an accident, but it could have been avoided. If someone would have just listened to her, only once, it could have been prevented. But she snapped. She was angry and it slipped. Suffocation, she stripped the air from their lungs. The worst part of it was that she couldn’t stop once she started. She saw them gasping for air that they would never reach, she relished in the sight. She wouldn’t have stopped if she wanted to. Yet, that good side of her, that human side knew that it was wrong, so she found others like her, her team, the people she fought by with now.

“Yes, I do involve them, it’s because they should have been when I needed them.” Luke stopped his pacing, now walking with a destination. Danielle jumped, back arching, as he reached passed her for a metal stick by the fireside. It had a funny shape at the end, flat, but with symbols, maybe backwards letters. He stuck the metal in the fire, watching as it heated with a brilliant red.

Danielle could feel her breaths becoming more and more shallow as they began to accelerate. Just as Lucas had experienced before, it was hard to breathe beneath the mask. She let a tear of panic absorb into the mask before she took it off, holding it nervously in her hands. “They are just as scared as we are...” She took a step back, hoping to escape silently. It was foolish to come here alone, but that was the deal. The villain claimed he had a team of his own that was more than willing to attack the heros’ base if Danielle didn’t comply. If she appeared, he would call off his team. They were both new, they were even against each other. But she was regretting her choice now as she noticed the glint of madness in her enemy’s eyes.

“You have a choice right now, Danny.” She hated that he called her that. “You realize that the humans are not there for you in any way that I can be. I share the same story, sweetheart. You and I are the exact same. We have a friendly dance here together. Or,” he emphasized the ‘or’, alarming Danielle that the other option was something she would like no better than the first. “You can run back to your team and tell them of my location, have a fight. But, I won’t send you back without a little something to prove that you disobeyed them. I know you are not supposed to be here right now. If I return you to your crew with my mark? They’ll never trust you again. You had a secret meeting with a villain and you bear his mark. They will throw you out into the real world, the one you escaped from, the one where the humans blamed you for something that you couldn’t control! You will not belong nowhere.”

Danielle already knew her answer from the beginning. She wouldn’t succumb to his ideas. Maybe they didn’t listen to her, maybe they shunned her, but it was still her fault. She did lose control and that wasn’t their faults. She didn’t blame the humans for being angry or for being scared. Danielle was scared right along with them!

Danielle lifted a hand up, doing to the villain what she did to the humans several years ago. She was going to take away his oxygen. She could control her powers now, she wouldn’t kill anymore people than what was necessary. Her only target was the villain. She channeled her energy onto his smiling face as he lifted the metal pole and began directing it towards her.

“You realize that a man who travels in a dimension of no atoms, has no need for oxygen, right?”

No. No, no, no. That was how he appeared out of nowhere! Danielle wasn’t able to figure out how he had done it, she knew it was some sort of teleportation, but she didn’t understand how it worked until now. He practically ignored matter, ignored space; he didn’t even have to breathe at all. “No,” The word slipped out in a desperate tone. The hot metal was getting too close, too close. “Look, you don’t-” She took another step back, only to fall into a vice grip. She gasped, looking to her shoulders where two hands lied almost restfully, like they weren’t even trying to hold her down, yet she couldn’t move. Danielle pushed against them, trying to make them lose balance, but it only resulted in them moving one arm to wrap tightly against both her arms, across her chest, and moving the other across her stomach. She was pulled against a chest, she couldn’t move. Her neck was the only thing that had mobility, but what was that going to help?

“I was going to let you go back to your heroes. They would have known you hadn’t meant to betray them, but you went on trying to kill me, and well...I think you might be fun to have around.”

There was nowhere to go, no way to escape. Danielle could have sworn these were just humans! How could she have been so stupid to believe that the villain would just call off his team altogether? They were here and they were all too aware of what was happening. They were probably enjoying it, too.

“Please,” It came out as a choke as the arm holding her still was pushing so tightly against her chest. “You can’t- Don’t do this.” No escape, there was no escape and Danielle could feel the heat hovering just below her collarbone. “Let me go! Please!” She was crying now, unable to breathe.

Lucas pushed the scolding hot metal deep into his victim’s flesh. It sizzled as her skin burned and she screamed. She screamed so loudly that her voice cut out as if she was trying to sing a note that was too high for her range. Her tears were never ending and even ran down her chin until it eventually came into contact with the singed flesh. It stung, and it burned.

Danielle wanted nothing but for the pain to take her out, to pass out, or Hell, she wouldn’t pass up dying. She had never felt pain so severely before, nothing she had ever gone through was ever as bad as this. She felt so weak, so pitiful. She had only ever been on the team for three weeks and hadn’t even been on a mission, aside from this one which she had assigned herself to.

Almost the hero’s entire shoulder felt stiff, and ached with a pain that she could never describe. It felt even worse when the person, the superhuman holding her captive dropped her. She was too weak and pain stricken that she couldn’t hold herself up. The mark clashed with the ground and she cried out once again. Lucas only stood over her, smiling to himself at his work. It was only his first few weeks, too, but he was fairing much better than her.

[tay1019411]

This is all we know

It’s been years since the asteroid. Danny and the gang are now attending college together, each pursuing careers, forming new relationships, and amending past rivalries. But, this new chapter in life starts to get more complicated with ghost attacks increasing and old enemies teaming up (Post PP but Danny/Vlad DIDN’T reveal identities. Fentons and Valerie know Danny’s secret, string of oneshots connected by one problem)  

Part 1  Part 2  Part 3

  (Part 4) Roomies

"What happened to your arm?"

Danny half-shrugged at his biology lab partner, Casey. She was as tiny as Sam, but the similarities ended there. She had blond hair that was currently pulled into a French braid stopping mid-back and hazel eyes.

She was looking at his arm, which was wrapped with gauze and resting in a sling. He hated wearing it but promised his mom he wouldn't take it off for at least two days, despite telling the matriarch that he was fine without it. But, when your mom was a ninth degree black-belt in possession of a thermos, you did what she said, and there wasn't much room for argument.

"I fell." He knew it was a stupid lie but couldn't really think of any other excuse right on the spot like this. Sam was usually the one who thought of them.

Casey raised a skeptical eyebrow at him, but luckily didn't push any further. "Does it hurt?"

"Nah, just annoying." Danny sat on the stool next to hers and took out a pencil and the required lab workbook. Luckily, he could still write since it was his left arm that was broken, but the sling was still annoying.

The rest of class went by pretty quickly. It was frog dissection day. Since his arm was out of commission, Casey had to do most of the actual dissection while Danny took notes, but it wasn't all that bad since they were let out early.

"Hey, Danny, wait up."

Danny was already in the hallway when he heard the very familiar female voice. He looked back to see Casey. He waited for her to catch up, maybe he forgot something. Between all the random ghost attacks and strange team-up between Ember and SkulkTech, he had been a bit scatter-brained the last few days. He couldn't stop thinking there was something much deeper going on than just the usual animosity the ghosts had for him; it was just too coordinated. Usually, by now, somebody should have shouted out their evil plans to destroy him and take over the world.

"Man, I had to call your name three times before you answered. You're really out of it today," she said once she caught up with him.

"Yeah, just a lot on my mind I guess."

Danny began walking towards the main entry way, knowing Tucker was probably already waiting for him outside. Both of their classes were in the same building, and he usually got out early all the time. Casey followed alongside him, matching his stride.

"Problems with Sam?"

Danny looked at her, trying to figure out why she would ask that. She was looking at him strangely, but he decided to just ignore it. Maybe it was a girl thing to automatically assume that.

"No, Sam's great. Just other stuff, I guess, school and stuff." Plus, the raging ghosts that seemed to have an out-of-the-blue increased desire to kill him.

"Oh, your internship with Mr. Masters. He still has you working nights?"

He forgot he told her about that.

Casey liked to invite Sam and him to parties and local bars a lot. After the fifth "I can't," she pressed him further why. He had to come up with a more permanent excuse why since he usually patrolled at nights. Between patrol and studying for classes, he rarely had time to go out. Besides, the moments when he did have time, he just wanted to spend it with Sam or Tucker and Dash, not in some crowded bar. Since he and Vlad were already on good terms and was giving him a scholarship already, he blurted out about an internship for the local billionaire and mayor. It was actually a pretty good lie and worked with all the other times ghost attacks interfered with his life, especially since Vlad had no problem covering for him.

"Yeah, that too," he said, hoping she would stop asking so many questions. He opened the door to outside, holding it open for Casey to pass through.

Tucker was leaning against one of the stair railings. When he saw Danny and Casey, he walked over, smirking. Danny nodded towards him.

"Hey, Tucker," Casey greeted with a smile.

"Hey, Casey," Tucker said, his smirk widening. Danny raised an eyebrow at him, not really knowing why he was smiling like that at her. He thought Tucker was interested in Valerie still, not Casey.

Not wanting to think this any further, especially since this could lead to a very pissed off Valerie, which Danny definitely did not want to get into, he looked back at Casey, trying to end this quickly before Tucker said anything else. "I'll see you later."

He quickly pulled Tucker away, but was too slow, his friend still had time to turn back to Casey. "Yeah, see you later, Casey!"

Danny gave him a questioning look. "Why are you being so weird."

Tucker laughed, then looked at Danny as if he was expecting him to join in.

Danny just gave him another questioning look, still confused on why Tucker was even acting this way.

Seeing that Danny wasn't getting the joke, Tucker just rolled his eyes. "I thought by the time we got to college you would be less clueless, but I think it only got worse."

Danny glared at him. He hated the clueless jokes. Okay, well, he didn't hate when Sam joked around about it. He rarely ever minded that, especially since it made her laugh, but for Tucker and the other guys, it was different. It felt like he was missing out on some big joke, and even worse, he was the joke he didn't get.

They came to a stop at a large building.

"Tucker, why are we going to the gym?" Danny asked, giving his friend a questioning look. He wasn't really paying attention as they walked, following Tucker's lead.

"Promised Dash we would meet him here."

"I can't work out with this thing on," Danny said, making a motion with his arm

"We will be there for motivation." Tucker smirked, entering the building.

They easily found Dash. He was the only tall and extremely muscular student in the building, considering this was during the time a lot of people either had another class or went back to their dorms.

The two boys weaved around the various workout equipment, making their way to their friend.

Dash spotted the two easily and waved them over. His gaze zeroed in on Danny's arm. "What happened to the arm?" Dash nodded towards the sling supporting Danny's left arm.

"Ember and SkulkTech."

"They're double-teaming, now?" Dash picked up two fifty pound dumb-bells, beginning his first set.

"Yep," Danny said as he watched Dash lift the weights with each rep.

"Parents go nuts?" Tucker asked, sitting at the bench on the other side of Dash, taking a granola bar from his bag and taking a bite out of it.

Danny gave him a look.

Tucker looked at the granola bar then back at his friend. "What?"

"We literally just had lunch two hours ago."

"So, it's my 2 o'clock snack!" he justified, taking another bite.

Danny rolled his eyes, choosing to ignore that comment and answer the previous question. "Mom did. Dad was pretty cool though. Luckily, Vlad was there to be a buffer."

"I will never get used to the fact that you just used luck and Vlad together in the same sentence," said Tucker.

Danny laughed. "You and me both."

"You guys had something against Masters or something? I thought he was helping us out," Dash said, putting down the weights for a small rest period in between sets.

Danny exchanged a look with Tucker. Danny wasn't exactly comfortable when the topic came to Vlad and how he used to be his archenemy. Only Tucker and Sam knew about how Vlad was half-ghost and used to be Plasmius. He didn't want anybody else to know; it wasn't his secret to tell despite the complications it was probably going to cause with the other people that knew his own secret, his parents for sure.

Before Tucker could say anything, Danny stepped in, knowing his friend wasn't exactly the best at the whole secret thing. "It used to be kinda weird between him and me because he had a thing for my mom and hated my dad."

Dash looked over at Danny, giving him a disgusted look.

"Yeah," Danny laughed. "But, now, it's cool. He's over it and pretty much made amends with my dad."

"That's still kinda messed up."

"You have no idea," Tucker laughed.

Danny glared at Tucker. Sometimes he really wondered how he made it this far without everybody knowing his secret with his friend's big mouth.

Luckily, Dash didn't seem to notice, rolling his eyes as he started loading the bar at the bench-press station with weights.

"How did the date go with Paulina?" Tucker asked from his bench.

Danny gave Dash a questioning look. "You went on a date with Paulina?"

Dash laughed. "Where have you been? The date was like a week ago."

Danny shrugged. "Ghosts," he supplied. It was getting weirder now. The ghosts were attacking a lot more lately, and the frequency increase was not the only thing that was weird about it.

"Yeah," Dash said knowingly. He laid on the bench, positioning himself so the bar was over his chest. "You haven't been at the apartment lately. I thought you were just with Sam."

"I wish," Danny said as Dash began his set. "The ghost attacks are happening a lot more now, and that's not the only thing. They are changing their patterns."

"How is that bad?" Dash puffed out as he lifted the incredibly weighted bar with effort.

The answer to that would have been obvious to any seasoned ghost-hunter. Danny sometimes forgot how Dash was still new to the whole ghost-hunting gig, having been told only six months ago about his extracurricular activities. Ever since then, Dash enthusiastically offered his help whenever he didn't have football practice or a game. Danny had to admit, for being a newbie, Dash caught on pretty well. He was a pretty good back-up when Sam and Tucker were not available.

"Ghosts are very habitual in pretty much everything they do. For them to change like this…I don't know," Danny said, struggling to come up with some sense behind all of this. "It's just weird."

Dash finished his set, rising to sitting position. "Did your parents have any ideas about this?"

"They're stumped too."

"Yeah, yeah, the ghosts are upping their game to kill Danny. What else is new," Tucker interrupted. "More importantly, how did the date go?"

Danny glared at his friend, but instead of a retort, he just rolled his eyes.

"Why do you want to know so bad?" Dash asked, giving Tucker a look.

"I'm living vicariously through you, that's why."

Dash's look turned sympathetic. "Valerie still giving you a tough time?"

Tucker laughed. "Baby steps. Don't want to spook her."

Danny raised an eyebrow. "Spook her? You do know she is a ghost-hunter, right?"

"No shit," Tucker said, rolling his eyes. "I'm just trying to make sure she doesn't kick my ass."

"I'm still trying to get why you have a thing for her," Dash said. "She's kinda scary."

"As the guy she shot at for the majority of high school, I second that," Danny said with a laugh.

"You're one to talk," Tucker said towards Danny. "Face it Danny, you and I just like the dangerous ones. Also, she's hot."

"And, there it is," Dash said with a laugh before going back under the bar to start another round of reps.

[cerealmonster15]

Whiskey and Tango headcanon / fic-esque thing idk it’s just me saying disorganized words about the boys bonding and falling in love or something 

Whiskey meets tango on the taddy tour

Whiskey is super in awe that he’s at the school of THE jack Zimmermann and is on the team that THE jack zimmermann Played on

There’s so much he wants to know

But he doesn’t wanna like.... ask stuff

This was jack Zimmermanns team, he’s gotta play it cool and can’t risk looking like a dork

But this other dude, Tony? He’s going all out and shameless asking any question he’s ever had. Whiskey can’t really think of him as a dork, though, considering he has a lot of the same wonders

Whiskey sticks to tango to get The Lore and throws in a few of his own questions

So by the end, tango’s already asked for whiskeys phone number “so we can be newbies together!” Tango thinks it’ll be less intimidating to have someone to fumble through the beginning with. Whiskey nods as he types his number into his new teammate’s phone.

Whiskey isn’t the most chatty guy, but that doesn’t seem to deter tango

Multiple times a day, whiskey gets a new text, generally from a confused tango trying to figure something out or are just random things about his day

“Do u know where building e is?”

“My history professor looks like Danny devito but i dont think it’s actually him”

“How do I get the cereal out of the dispensers in the cafeteria” “wait nevermind i figured it out” “i have way too much cereal now”

“I saw a really fat caterpillar this morning wanna see a picture”

“When you go to the bookstore are you supposed to wait at the line for them to call you over or do you just walk right up to a cashier as soon as they’re open”

At first, whiskey thought it was strange and maybe a little cumbersome to be bombarded with this boy’s questions. Whiskey figured Tango didn’t have any other friends to ask, but surely would grow bored of whiskeys no-more-than-concise replies once he found other people to talk to. But for now, whiskey figured he’d at least answer what he could or throw out an “idk” to the mysteries. No need to make his only friendquaintence on the team upset by completely ignoring him

Surely tango would get bored of him eventually with how lively the rest of the team was.

Except tango absolutely does not get bored of whiskey

The texts don’t taper off

Tango doesn’t stop shouting a greeting to whiskey whenever he sees him, even from great distances

He doesn’t stop asking whiskey how his day and classes are going during down time before and after practice

Tango even starts asking whiskey to do things outside of practice

And doesn’t stop offering even when whiskey comes up with excuses of why he’s too busy

Tango is different

And whiskey is grateful. Whiskey knows he struggles to connect with people. He finds others exhausting and confusing and he puts up an icy exterior to save himself extra anxiety or stress

Most people give up after a few tries, and while he doesn’t completely blame them, he can’t say he never gets lonely

But tango is different

The second month of the school year is going strong

Whiskey’s headed back to his dorm after a long lab or something when his phone buzzes in his jean pocket

It’s tango, naturally

“Hey, u out of lab? Wanna get dinner w/me?”

Whiskey is always surprised that tango remembers when whiskey’s told him when he does or doesn’t have class

Maybe today’s the day he should let his guard down JUST A LITTLE and just for tony

“Sure. Where?”

A few moments later and his phone buzzes again

“I dunno usually when I wander off campus I find some pretty cool places but then I can never find them again?? We can explore together?”

Whiskey isn’t sure wandering around in search of food is really how he wants to spend his evening, but he’s become more intrigued to see how tango interacts with the world around him and figures he may as well give it a shot

“K.”

This becomes a weekly thing

Slowly, whiskey gets more comfortable with tango, even texting first sometimes or greeting tango when tango doesn’t see him first

He even invites tango to come chill in his dorm one Friday after classes when his roommate leaves for the weekend

Whiskey’s been to tango’s room by now a few dozen times, but this is tango’s first time at whiskey’s and he is thrilled to see how whiskey lives

whiskey’s room is organized and minimalistic, but tango still finds plenty of items to ask about 

eventually they end up laying on whiskey’s floor just talking about anything and everything. whiskey talks about how much pressure he feels to succeed and be strong and unfeeling

tango talks about feeling so lost and nervous about the unknown future

theyre both such scared freshman. tango says hes glad he met whiskey and that he feels a little less afraid with whiskey around.

whiskey waits a few moments before telling him “...um, yeah, uh, me too.” he worries his hesitance will make him sound insincere, but tango doesnt seem bothered.  he grins at whiskey, who gives a small smile in return. 

the next day, tango’s at the haus Very Early in pursuit of chowder and bitty to give him love advice

initially, he doesnt find them, but dex. he and dex start talking about the comp sci homework before tango just

“yeah the program kept giving me errors but after a few hours i found out i just had a bracket missing”

“ugh, that’s the worst”

“yeah. also i think i have feelings for whiskey what do i do about that”

“well- wait what!???”

dex needs a moment to process that whiplash-inducing transition, but once tango fills him in with a bit more detail he’s ready to help. with tango’s permission he calls on chowder and nursey (the latter reluctantly so) for help because theyve got Experience

it’s the four of them spitballing ideas, the frogs arguing on what is or isnt Appropriate yet Effective and also Romantic

then tango spies whiskey coming in and going to a different part of the haus so he jumps up like “oh there he is!! wish me luck!” and hes already gone while the frogs are like “wait what dont you need to prepare more?? we didnt settle on a solution?? tango????????????”

but tony tangredi’s got a one track mind at this point and catches up to whiskey

“whisk- er, uh, no, conner!”

whiskey turns around like ?? cause maybe tango usually sticks to nicknames, at least inside the haus/at practice. “uh, whats up ton-?”

“your face is nice!!!!”

“...thanks?”

“um... i also like... the rest of you”

“are you feeling okay”

after a few more stumbles, whiskey thinks he’s decoded what tango’s getting at,,, but whiskeys kinda awkward about just saying things so he has to fumble to meet tango halfway

“i.. uh..  youve got a nice face, too”

but eventually they get a date scheduled for that evening. it’s simple and nice- they go out for dinner and get ice cream after. they walk to the dorms together and share a first kiss together with some nose bumping

and of course the team loves and supports them as they did with bitty and jack and everythings great the end

[h50europe]

Hawaii Five-0 thoughts - I wanted to wait until the season is over but I couldn’t help myself as I have so many thoughts in my mind and at some point, they all wanted out. Forgive me for this verbal diarrhea. 

Where do you go to, my lovely?

I was pissed when they came up with Danny talking about retirement. I felt it was not a good idea. His character has deteriorated over the years, and the retirement talk didn't help at all. And I wondered what this trash talking was all about. Soon, we should learn that Danny already had a plan for his retirement. He wanted to open a restaurant. At first, we thought it was cute when he opened up and told Steve about it. We also thought it was cute on their rally through the jungle with a bomb strapped to the bed of their truck. Last but not least we couldn't help but smile when Steve came up with the idea to call the restaurant Steve's shortly before the bomb was about to explode. And we finally laughed out loud when the bomb exploded, and Steve's and Danny's hearing was impaired due to the blast and Danny said, "You can't name a restaurant Steve's." And Steve was close to tears and so full of joy that he thanked his friend from the bottom of his heart because he had considered it.

So far so good. This was back in season 7. Before season 8 aired PL was gushing about the upcoming events and what he had planned for it. With two main casts leaving there was room for a reboot of the reboot. Two new members were found shortly and also almost every character on the show that practically guest starred from time to time was upped to recurring. I remained skeptical but was totally open to giving it a try. I was still open for anything when PL babbled about the restaurant. Though I had my doubts, and here I have to quote Uncle Vito:

"What the hell are you guys thinking, anyway? Open up a restaurant; it is a terrible idea. And then into the fact that you know nothing about the business because if you did, you would know that it is a fulltime backbreaking grind just to squeeze out a few bucks of profit. Not something you do on a side like a hobby because you think you know about a thing or two about good food. Any schmuck who watches the food network thinks he's an expert. But you're not special. You're not even average. And when it comes to stuff like this…you are terrible."

That said, I could not agree more. What still bugged me were PLs remarks about that plot in TV-Line's interview from August 2017:

“It’s a longterm thing,” Lenkov affirms. “And who knows — the way they’re sort of going at each other, and given their different points of view with regards to building this business as something to retire into, it may never even happen! Because it’s just one hurdle after another.” - Lenkov

But in success, I suggested, maybe the stage can be set for a workplace sitcom offshoot that would cause less wear-and-tear to Alex O’Loughlin’s famously weary joints? - TVLine

“Yeah, down the road,” Lenkov responded with a laugh. “Many years down the road. Season 15!”

As much as I love Alex and as much I want him to do less action stuff, a sitcom, especially a poorly written one, is not what I have in mind when I am watching H50 and the interactions of Steve and Danny.

In another interview with CBS.com PL had also promised THIS, also from August 2017:

Fans love Danny and McGarrett's "carguments," will we keep seeing those next season? - CBS

Absolutely. Alex and Scott do a great job riffing off of each other, so it's always fun for us to write around the rhythm they've built over past seasons. - Lenkov

Sorry, but that was a flat-out lie. By this time he had already known in which direction McDanno was heading and it was definitely no carguments.

For me, it looks that they came up with the restaurant plot as a substitute for said carguments.

Let's go back to the beginning of season 8 when we were curious about it. The newbies were introduced as well, and things seem to work out fine. We were happy and so full of hope that this season was even going to be much better than season 7. Unfortunately, it happened that Scott hurt his arm while he was on the mainland and so they had to make some rearrangements as he was wearing a brace for some time. Like with his knee injury his real-life health issue was woven into the plots. What I didn't like was the reason for this timely addition; Danny blamed it on Steve because he bought a cheap ladder. Sorry guys, couldn't you have written that Danny was clumsy and caused that to himself? Is it really necessary to make Danny look like an ass who considers Steve incompetent to buy a ladder that is not safe enough to work with? Guess, they could've done better with that (and did when I think about the good old days).

But that was just the beginning of the endless misery called restaurant plot. It was clear that Scott couldn't do much action stuff with that brace on his arm. So we got a little more intel – probably more than we wanted – on the restaurant thing. And why all of us were hopefully waiting for some progress an some more McDanno action when the brace came off, we became disappointed with each episode that passed by. Steve and Danny were now reduced to the restaurant with their, sometimes, nasty bickering – because we haven't seen much of the witty, fluffy, easy –going banter from the early seasons lately. While we were eagerly waiting to see them working cases together, PL had, as usual, other plans.

A 3 episode arc was launched shortly before Christmas. It started with a case on a boat where the teamed was exposed to a biochemical weapon. Soon all of them were affected by this nasty stuff but Lou, assisted by Adam – who meanwhile returned to Hawaii while Kono was still deep undercover – managed to get an antidote.

The episode led into of the most wonderfully written and out carried episodes we've seen in a while 8.10 (for me, it is still my fav episode ever) though it started with a huge shock for everyone as the team was still in quarantine and Danny got shot by a stranger. While Steve, Tani, and Junior did all that they can to save Danny's life, he's in and out while one of his lungs is collapsing and he's about to choke. In this life-threatening limbo, Danny hallucinates about the future.

The first scene of this episode shows Steve's in full swing. Both guys have obviously retired and are now running a beautiful Italian restaurant. While Steve is taking care of the staff and the welfare of the guests, Danny has taken over the kitchen. You can see how Scott and Alex enjoyed playing these parts as they were so different from what they usually do on the show.

Later we see Danny with Grace at her wedding (the reception is held at Steve's house), and in another scene, Steve and Danny are at Charlie's promotion as a police officer with the HPD. We learn that Tani and Junior are married and that Tani was now leading the task force.

The last sequence of Danny's trip into the future presented him and Steve in their late 70s. Both are sitting on the chairs in Steve's yard and having a conversation about Danny's grandchild and other stuff.

Even without wearing McDanno goggles, these scenes touched most of us, as we see that in Danny's mind the two of them grew old together and lived in the same place. There was no mentioning of girlfriends or wives, which caused some protests from the not so McDanno friendly part of the fandom. But I don't want to get into that because the haters gonna hate.

This episode led us into the Christmas episode that was also nicely written but had not as much significance for me as 8.10.

With that said I thought it could only get better. And I wondered how they would top such an episode. Speaking frankly, they didn't. Instead, they sucked and messed up badly.

Looking back at this episode, I think the only reason they showed it was to dangle the McDanno-carrot right in front of our faces. This episode's sole purpose was to egg us on, to keep us watching. As much as I love this episode if it were something on the internet it would be called click bait. Yes, we were baited into keep on watching. While we were waiting episode after episode that the restaurant thing was picking up pace nothing really happened. On the contrary. 8.12 had been a pivotal episode for this season because the new big badass was introduced to the audience. Or better his actions to make sure he could rule every dirty business on the island by killing all the crime bosses who got incarcerated in a special facility after an FBI agent along with his family was killed by a bomb. It would've been a really good episode if Danny wasn't missing. It wasn't even mentioned where he was when the whole thing went down. And given to what happened in the episode and Steve's state of mind afterward he would have needed Danny badly, and so would've had the team, as they could've used every helping hand.

This is not about Scott and his agreement of doing five episodes less/season. It would not have been a first that episodes were filmed out of order due to scheduling or other reasons. Why didn't they do it in that case? At some point, I stopped wrecking my brain about it.

Therefore in the upcoming episodes more precious screen time was wasted on the restaurant plot that meanwhile turned into a never-ending story. Because of the boys facing so many obstacles that any sane person would've given up already. I think it is no fun watching someone going bankrupt or being a nervous wreck and arguing all the time. Whereas cases are worked by someone else or pairings, we haven't had on the show before, as Danny was and is constantly MIA without any explanation. So was Steve in episode 8.17 (but in his case Alex was prepping for his directional debut in episode 8.18). Maybe it would've been wiser to choose an episode where we could've overseen his absence more or less.

Though it was nice to see Danny taking over the lead when Steve is not there it is exactly the issue I am dealing with.

Going back to the early seasons, we always had Steve and Danny working together. Even when GP and DDK were added to the team, it was well written and happened smoothly. Nowadays, I have to admit that sometimes it feels like the introduction of the newbies is forced down our throats. Not that I don't like Tani and Junior. Both are nice characters with some potential but many plots of season 8 feel written lackluster. And often I have the impression it even shines through the acting. Means the actors look bored in certain scenes or something like that. I can't point my finger at it; it just feels off.

As much potential season 8 was offering, in the beginning, it deteriorated at some point. Steve and Danny aren't working many cases together. The restaurant plot feels like listening to a broken record. There are pivotal episodes where Danny is God knows where. Adam's plot is kind of wobbly, and I wonder where this is going to lead us as his plot is interlaced with the entrance of the still unknown big badass that is looming over the island like dark clouds on a stormy day.

Furthermore, the episodes are crammed with different arcs; currently, we have three of them running parallel which is not working. It is like TPTB knows that the show might come to an end at some point – no surprise after eight seasons – and they have to squeeze in whatever is possible, instead of focusing on core relationships and plots. I wonder if we will learn who the new King of crime in town is by the end of the season or if they leave it open to cause a major cliffhanger to make sure all of us are tuning in when season 9 starts. I do not doubt that we get a renewal, as some people are eager to make it up to episode 200, no matter what the price might be to get there.

As for episode 8.18 and aside from Alex directional debut it will be the episode where the secret of who shot Danny (we got the name of the guy in episode 8.17, but that's it with info so far) and why will be revealed. Because the incident that triggered this guy's actions lies at the beginning of Danny's career way back in Jersey. Means, we will have some flashbacks. Nevertheless, it is also going to be a multi-arc episode. But I do hope it focusses on the right arc. As we all know hope dies last.

If you made it that far, congrats. You've earned yourselves some nice brownie points. Also, I want to point out that this only reflects my thoughts.

See you on March 30th, 2018 with Alex directional debut in episode 8.18.

[bestonlinemarketingcompany]

Google Algorithm Update

The Google algorithm is constantly changing. In 2018 alone, Google ran 15,096 Live traffic experiments, and launched 3,234 updates to its search algorithm.

Not all updates have significant impact on the search results. This page covers the top 150 updates to how search results function from 2000-2019. Updates are a blend of changes to:

·         Algorithms

·         Indexation

·         Data (aka Data Refreshes)

·         Google Search UIs

·         Webmaster Tools

·         Changes to ranking factors and signals

Before we get into the timeline of individual google updates, it’s going to be helpful to define a handful of things upfront for any SEO newbies out there:

Google’s Core Algorithm

SEO experts, writers, and audiences will often refer to “Google’s Core Algorithm” as though it is a single item. In reality, Google’s Core Algorithm is made up of millions of smaller algorithms that all work together to surface the best possible search results to users. What we mean when we say “Google’s Core Algorithm” is the set of algorithms that are applied to every single search, which are no longer considered experimental, and which are stable enough to run consistently without requiring significant changes.

Google Panda (2011-2016)

The Panda algorithm focused on removing low quality content from search by reviewing on-page content itself. This algorithm focused on thin content, content dominated by ads, poor quality content (spelling/grammar mistakes), and rewarded unique content. Google Panda was updated 29 times before finally being incorporated into the core algorithm in January of 2016.

Google Penguin (2012-2016)

The Penguin algorithm focused on removing sites engaging in spammy tactics from the search results. Penguin primarily filtered sites engaging in keyword stuffing and link schemes out of the search results. Google Penguin was updated 10 times before being integrated into Google’s core algorithm in September of 2016.

RankBrain (2015-Present)

This machine-learning based AI helps Google process and understand the meaning behind new search queries. RankBrain works by being able to infer the meaning of new words or terms based on context and related terms. RankBrain began rolling out across all of Google search in early 2015 and was fully live and global by mid-2016. Within three months of full deployment RankBrain was already the 3rd most important signal contributing to the results selected for a search query.

Matt Cutts

One of the first 100 employees at Google, Matt Cutts was the head of Google’s Web Spam team for many many years, and interacted heavily with the webmaster community. He spent a lot of time answering questions about algorithm changes and providing webmasters high-level advice and direction.

Danny Sullivan

Originally a Founding Editor, Advisor, and Writer for Search Engine Land (among others), Danny Sullivan now communicates with the SEO community as Google’s Public Search Liaison. Mr. Sullivan frequently finds himself reminding the community that the best way to rank is to create quality content that provides value to users.

Gary Illyes

Google Webmaster Trends Analyst who often responds to the SEO community when they have questions about Google algorithm updates and changes. Gary is known for his candid (and entertaining) responses, which usually have a heavy element of sarcasm.

Webmaster World:

Frequently referenced whenever people speak about Google algorithm updates, webmasterworld.com is one of the most popular forums for webmasters to discuss changes to Google’s search results. A popular community since the early 2000’s webmasters still flock to the space whenever major fluctuations are noticed to discuss theories.

For more details on our products and services, please feel free to visit us at: Social Media Marketing, Internet Marketing, Search engine marketing, Internet Marketing Company, Best Online Marketing Company India.

[larbyamiroucheblog]

Top 7 SEO Blogs in 2020

Larby Amirouche is a digital marketer that has been part of some of the biggest and most successful campaigns. He has been in the industry for a long time and he believes that SEO blogging is the future.

What Is SEO Blogging?

SEO blogging is the practice of optimizing a blog’s content. It also includes the website architecture and HTML coding for search engines.

Creating an SEO blog also includes tasks like on-page optimization, plugins installation, page loading speed improvement and internal linking.

Importance Of SEO Blogging

Research says search engines are an important source of traffic for blogs. A recent survey of over 1000 bloggers found that SEO was their second most important source of traffic after social media.

If you own a website, you must optimize your webpages including your blog posts. By doing this, you are making your website more visible to people. How? Because when they type relevant keywords with your product or service via search engines like Google your website or blogs can appear.

Larby Amirouche On Top 7 SEO Blogs In 2020

More and more people are drawn into SEO and blogging, here are seven SEO blogs that you must visit according to a digital marketer, Larby Amirouche.

SEMrush:

Digital marketing people know that SEMrush is offering the best SEO site audit tools available on the internet. Aside from these tools, SEMRush also provides an insightful blog. They have guest authors writing a variety of topics.

These topics range from digital marketing, SEO, Social Media, and PPC, including industry news and updates.

This site was founded by Dmitri Melnikov & Oleg Schegolev. Currently, SEMrush has an average of 28 posts per month and these posts contain about 2,056 words each.

Because this site allows guest writers, many well-known names have contributed to their blog Gael Breton (Authority Hacker), Ryan Stewart (WEBRIS / From The Future), and more.

Yoast:

Have you ever heard of Yoast? Most probably, yes especially if you have a WordPress website. This is the free SEO software that makes it easy to optimize your pages.

Most of the blogs posted on Yoast are helpful information about both Technical and Content SEO. Yoast also provides analytics for you while helping you optimize your ecommerce site. All of these are happening while you make the most out of WordPress.

If you are a newbie in this field, check out Yoast because it is specifically geared for beginners or those who may not have a strong SEO foundation.

The bulk of their articles are written by Joost de Valk, CEO and founder of the company, who’s also an experienced WordPress developer. I’ll admit that not all of Yoast’s blog posts are very well-written, but there are certainly some gems in there.

Backlinko:

If you think that you created great content, but it’s not being recognized by search engines, you must check out Backlinko.

Brian Dean has created one of the most outstanding SEO Blogs. He is very widely known for the Skyscraper Technique which many SEOs use to get backlinks.

Brian is a sole contributor for this blog. He manages to publish worthy articles with very detailed information including case studies and examples of how things work.

Even though it is lengthy compared to other blogs, his posts have an average of 3,400 words each, Brian’s blog is definitely worth your time.

Most of Backlinko’s content contains actionable SEO and content marketing advice.

Beginners will find these blogs very useful but most of the posts are geared toward people with a next-level knowledge of SEO and digital marketing professionals who need more advanced strategies.

Moz:

Founded by Rand Fishkin and Gillian Muessig in 2004, Moz has been a household name among SEOs since then.

Moz published the best marketing blogs today. Recently they have published comprehensive step-by-step guides to website redesign, conversion optimization, and many more. One of Moz’s infamous blogs is the “Beginners Guide to SEO”.

Aside from useful blogs, Fishkin also teaches a weekly “Whiteboard Friday” lesson on SEO, search engines, content creation, and many other topics.

and their ever-growing collection of Whiteboard Friday videos.

Overall, Moz Blog is an excellent source of information for multiple aspects. They have an array of blogs on online marketing and SEO. They also have news articles that tend to be more focused on how-to’s and resources, like cheat sheets on improving local SEO.

However, many of their posts are growing increasingly stale, Some have gone years without an update.

Search Engine Land:

If you are into digital marketing and SEO, you will agree that Search Engine Land is one of the leading daily publications today.

Search Engine Land helps its readers to keep up in the fast paced digital marketing world. This blog is a 24/7 news source with the latest trends, feature announcements, and breaking stories related to digital marketing.

The editorial news staff, led by Editor-In-Chief Matt McGee provides great on-going information and news. Search Engine Land is also open for blog contributions from the leading names in digital marketing.

Danny Sullivan founded the site in 2006 after leaving Search Engine Watch — one of the oldest blog sites launched in 1996. SEW houses a mixture of guides and news articles

On the other hand, Search Engine Land is a blog entirely focused on SEO news. The team publishes a lot of content. Roughly 135 posts per month.

If you want to stay up to speed with the state of the SEO industry, SEL is definitely worth following.

Search Engine Roundtable:

If you want short yet insightful updates about digital marketing and SEM, this is the blog for you. Most of the posts in Search Engine Roundtable are quite short, but they serve their purpose of giving updates to the SEO community everyday.

Founder and author Barry Schwartz has succeeded in reporting some of the most interesting threads taking place at the SEM forums. Aside from that, this blog also provides more in-depth details. Search Engine Round Table gives readers a pulse of what is going on in the SEO industry.

Since December 2003 this SEO news website has been publishing, on average, 5–6 posts per day. SER also accepts submissions from the search community.

SEO by the Sea:

SEO by the Sea is one of the most interesting full-fledged SEO blogs on the web. The blog gives a wide range of posts from search optimization, analytics up to web spam.

Bill Slawski, the author, president and founder of SEO by the Sea also shares his knowledge on how Google works, how Google might work, and how Google could work in future.

Through his blog, Slawski was known for breaking down and analyzing many Google patents and whitepapers. These kinds of topics make his blog a great place to learn new stuff, particularly on why search engines do what they do.

SEO by the Sea is one of the established blog sites, creating insightful posts since 2005. On the other hand, Slawski has also established his credibility in this field. He has been engaged in professional SEO and internet marketing consulting for nearly three decades.

Summary

Larby Amirouche has been in the industry for quite some time now but these SEO blog sites are still a great help for him. These sites are great sources of credible and updated information. You can never be outdated especially in a competitive industry like digital marketing.

Originally Posted: https://larbyamirouche.com/2020/08/24/larby-amirouche-top-7-seo-blogs-in-2020/

[grapsandclaps]

GRAPS AND CLAPS - THE LONDON WEEKEND EDITION

Back from break and a good chat with Andrew Gibney - a newbie fan to PROGRESS who has started coming to shows (good fella) we returned with Natural Progression Series action with 'The Battle of the Dans' with Danny Jones facing Danny Duggan. Sadly this didn't warm the cockles of my heart and with the women's match this was maybe the weakest match on the card with Duggan picking up the roll up win in a very long 13 minutes over Jones. I do feel a missed opportunity has been made here with the NPS not having someone like a Soner Durson in it after his breakout year in the North West last year, he would have been a perfect fit for this tournament over your likes of Jones & Duggan.

Sixth match up was a 3-way Tag Team Title Match between Champions - The Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson & James Drake) vs Jimmy Havoc & Mark Haskins vs Sexy Starr (Jack Sexsmith & David Starr). Another alright tag match but a predictable result with the GYV's picking up the victory over Sexy Starr with David Starr taking the final pinfall from the Ticket to Mayhem finisher. It has to be noted that a close pinfall attempt by Jack Sexsmith to win the match was broken up by Jimmy Havoc who had been earlier eliminated in the match, so looks like we could be getting Havoc/Haskins vs Sexsmith maybe in New Orleans.

Havoc and Haskins have now lost 2 in a row, so there momentum as a dangerous force is wilting away and takes them out of contention for further Tag Team Title shots. Who next for the Grizzled Young Vets?? Aussie Open or Mills & Mayhew but we are lacking in new options.

Main Event time now with Champion Travis Banks facing Challenger and Thunderbastard winner Flash Morgan Webster who at the start of the match sent newly found ally Vicky Haskins to the back so he could fight this battle on his own. Once again Travis Banks was greeted with a chorus of boos from the PROGRESS audience who for some reason have gotten tired of Banks invincible title reign despite him being someone you would instantly like to get behind, but since the turn of the year the tide has changed.

Lasting 17 minutes, this built to a very good match but was marred by a 'Dusty Finish' with Flash celebrating with the title only for original referee Paz over ruling the decision due to a foot on the rope that 2nd referee Chris Roberts didn't see (very similar to Dunne vs Andrews from last year). In amongst the restart TK Cooper interfered to help Banks, but whilst Webster tried to fend off TK he was caught by a Cheeky Roll Up from Banks for an unpopular win in some fans eyes. So in that match we had 2 supposed heel turns in Banks & TK and Flash who had grown a darker side coming across as a sympathetic good guy at the end.

After the match a gloating Banks addressed the crowd comparing himself to another well known fan favourite Roman Reigns, but in amongst all of this gloating the sounds of Dvorak were heard and out popped Atlas Champion Walter who sent Banks packing to rapturous applause and it is now looking like we could have a Champion vs Champion match in the offing soon.

Show done, it was time to get back home on the train to have a good chat with Mr and Mrs Taff Master and Shauna. I arrived back around the Midnight hour in Rochdale singing along to Barcelona by Freddie Mercury (Like you do!) to finish off a hectic two days.

In closing, a tale of two shows with WXW being the best show of the weekend. PROGRESS did have it's moments of goodness but there is some questionable booking at the moment in key areas of the card, I do trust PROGRESS to get it right somewhere along they way to Wembley Arena but I am just not feeling that 'Must See' nature of things with them nowadays - just my over riding opinion sadly.

[recentanimenews]

THE GREAT CRUNCHYROLL RE:ZERO REWATCH Comes to a Close in Episodes 21-25

Hello, everyone! Welcome back to the final installment of THE GREAT CRUNCHYROLL Re:ZERO REWATCH! My names Danni Wilmoth, and I’ll be your host through episodes 21 - 25 of Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-. In last week’s episodes, we saw Subaru finally turn things around and deliver one of the most infamous rejections in anime history. We pick up this week in the midst of a spectacular battle wondering if we’ll get any sort of resolution before season’s end. 

  I’ve gotta say, I didn’t expect to like Re:ZERO as much as I do now. I’ve never quite bought into the appeal of isekai anime that isn’t focused on moms, but I suppose that’s because I never really gave them a chance. I also understand why some friends of mine told me they thought Re:ZERO got better as it went along and others that thought it got worse. I do think the show lost a lot of the mystery that made its first half so appealing, but by the time that happened I had already completely bought into this incredible cast of characters. I can’t think of a single character I didn’t like in Re:ZERO. Not many shows can say that. 

    Before that, though, I’d like to shout out Heavenspiercing for totally having my back on the whole “I love Emilia” thing: 

  “This is the first time he's been openly honest about his feelings, and he's saying it to Rem of all people. Why is that? Well, it's because he knew that voicing his feelings, conveying the conviction and determination behind them, is the answer Rem most wanted. Because it was that determination to never give up on those he cared about that Rem fell in love with.”

  Seriously, cut him some slack! With that out of the way, it’s time to find out how the rest of the Crunchyroll Features team felt about this final batch of episodes!

    This season wrapped up with Subaru finally reuniting with Emilia and apologizing for his past actions. Do you believe he’s really changed and earned this reunion? He’s still throwing himself wildly into danger for her sake every chance he gets.

  René: I do expect him to still be kind of reckless in the upcoming second season—though less to the detriment of others. I hope that Subaru has grown enough so that he thinks about the impact his actions have on others from now on.

  Paul: Earning forgiveness is not just about admitting one's past mistakes and how they've harmed people, but also actively working to do better in the future. I feel that Subaru has had a genuine change of heart, albeit one that isn't completely visible to the other characters yet due to the nature of Return by Death. The world of Re:ZERO is perilous, and now at least Subaru is taking bold, heroic action in order to try to mitigate that danger for others. That's what Emilia has been doing all along, so Subaru emulating her example is a good thing.

  Noelle: I think it’s still a little too hard to tell. One thing for certain is that Subaru has no doubt improved himself and learned from some of his mistakes. That deserves credit! I think it’s more how the show is framing things that gives me my doubts, because Subaru has very earnestly admitted his misgivings and swallowed his pride in some respects. Unfortunately, how he views Emilia is something we’re not privy to, and that’s the biggest thing that he had to learn. Everything else though, he seems to have taken to heart and credit where credit is due. 

  Jared: While his apology did feel at least sincere, it still seems too soon to tell if he’s legitimately changed or not. In essence, it hasn’t been that long since the big blow of with Emilia and his breakdown with Rem, so it’s hard to say that he’s truly and fully changed. Perhaps he’s actually on the road to that. Although, I will say he kind of put himself in a bad situation since he doesn’t want to selfishly help Emilia, but prioritizing helping one person in general is kind of selfish in general, so he kind of put himself in a pickle there. I think as a whole though, I was more bummed with Emilia just wholeheartedly reaccepting him again so soon.

  Kevin: I think that he’s honestly realized his past mistakes and wants to grow. Whether he will actually change or will continue to mess everything up… well, I guess season 2 could prove me wrong, but after this rewatch his track record seems pretty weighted against him just learning a lesson and moving on.

  Carolyn: In real life I would heavily doubt it. That fast? Under so much stress and trauma? Healing takes time. But he did seem to mean it and he does seem to have actually learned from his mistakes. Though I still would have liked to see him step back just a bit more. He was quite confident that Emilia would eventually return his love and I guess that’s not a bad thing in and of itself but combined with his past entitlement, I would have liked to see a little more space given there.

  Kara: Subaru is Subaru. He has a track record of messing up, going into the absolute depths of despair, crawling his way back up by remembering how to care about other people, and then hitting a point of self-realization. I don’t think any of those moments are worthless, because each of them shows some progress—admittedly he seems to be “three steps forward, two steps back.” For the moment, I do believe he’s realized that he was acting from a very selfish place, and I do believe he’ll at least attempt to do better. But if he got it right from here on out, we wouldn’t have a season 2 coming, would we?

  David: While I doubt he will be a completely different character going forward, I do think he will be acting with a different perspective and with different priorities. That’s what basically the entire second half of the show was about, so at the very least I would hope that wasn’t all for nothing.

  Joshua: Watching Subaru in these episodes and thinking back to his behaviour in past weeks, I think he’s finally matured a great deal. His apology was overdue, but it felt like it genuinely came from the heart, and those earnest feelings are likely what Emilia responded to. It was an incredibly touching moment, seeing Subaru finally process and own up to his behaviour, and to see Emilia finally receive the acknowledgement she’d longed for. Subaru’s gone through an awful lot, and he’s definitely changed for the better, so yeah—he deserved it. I don’t think Subaru’s recklessness will ever change. When Emilia’s involved, there’s no lengths he’ll go to. Hopefully there’ll be a difference in how he goes about now he’s realised the price of his own selfishness, however.

  Austin: I think he’s at least become more self aware, which I’d say has earned his reunion. It’d be a little silly to expect him to suddenly do a complete 180, at least to me, so hopefully more awareness of how his actions affect and are perceived by others will nudge him in the direction of making more rational (and healthy) decisions.

    It’s hard to believe we’re already done, isn’t it? For the newbies here, how did the show stack up against your early expectations? And for those who’d already seen it before, do you feel any differently about it now compared to before our rewatch?

  René: I appreciated a lot more of the small things and was able to focus on the mysteries that aren’t solved within this first season, like the details of the relationship between Ram and Roswaal and why Emilia chose to pose as Satela in the first loop. It definitely strengthened my appetite for the second season and I can’t wait for it to finally come out.

  Paul: Re:ZERO was better than I anticipated, and I didn't find Subaru as detestable as I thought I would. Even at his peak levels of narcissism, I could understand why he was behaving in such a bone-headed manner, and I pitied him despite how much of his suffering was self-inflicting by his own selfish actions. I didn't expect that, and I also appreciate how richly realized the world feels. There's a lot going on outside of Subaru and his circle, enough to fill entire spin-off novels.  

  Noelle: I think it’s one of the better isekai that I’ve managed to watch. The plot was speedy and intriguing, and I found myself wanting to marathon it instead of waiting for segments per week, which is a pretty good sign. Overall, I think I had a pretty good time, even if I still have quite a few misgivings. I’d still be up to watch season two though. 

  Jared: To me, it’s a tale of two halves. The first half has an interesting mystery and gimmick that keeps you invested, but the second half you have to deal with the height of Subaru being bad and the gimmick losing its luster. It also has the problem of most adaptations where you’re only getting a tiny portion of the story, which isn’t a knock against it, but is still unfortunate. I also thought at times the character writing bordered on being real bad, especially when it came to the romantic interests where they get reduced down to just being tools for Subaru’s drive and determination and that’s it. I suppose with all of that, it was worse than what I was initially anticipated. 

  Kevin: I’ve seen this show I think three times before, with one viewing being with my Mom, which ended after the White Whale. This time, I think I actually had a more mellow reaction that previous viewings. Sure, I still liked Rem and Subaru talking for most of episode 18, but I found more faults and nitpicks than in previous viewings. Likewise, I used to think that the last arc wasn’t really a good ending, that the show should’ve ended with the White Whale. Binge watching the series over a couple of weeks kept Subaru’s motivation at the forefront, and so the last arc now seems a lot more fitting, since his entire goal is to rescue Emilia. 

  Carolyn: I had never seen it before and it was very different from the impressions I sort of had when we first started. I think I was thinking it was like a video game sort of thing? I liked the fantasy aspect, I liked how dark it got. The characters are great and the story is great. I’m a fan.

  Kara: Honestly loved it within a single episode. It’s got time loops, nightmare fuel, character development, more nightmare fuel… and as much as I bag on Subaru, it’s obvious that we’re actually meant to feel that way about him and want him to do better. Put me down as extremely pro-Re:ZERO… enough that I went and bought one of the shirts from the capsule collection on the Crunchyroll Store.

  David: Every time I watch this show I like it more. I think the main thing I’m taking away from this rewatch is being more scared than ever about how many ways future seasons could mess everything up, but in a way that speaks to how much I like it in the first place.

  Joshua: Despite having owned the Blu-rays for a while, this was my first time watching since the original broadcast! I’d say that I’ve gained a new appreciation for Subaru’s narrative arc. I admittedly found it hard to let go of my first impression the first time around, but reliving this gradual transformation made me realise just how multifaceted a character Subaru is. He’s not perfect by any means, but I wish far more protagonists had this kind of growth. I also find it hilarious that I was once creeped out by Betelguese. This time around, I just found him pitiful. Watching Subaru outright toy with him in these episodes was delightful. In contrast however, my opinion of Crusch has shot up. Rem’ll still have a special place in my heart, but Crusch is definitely best girl now.

  Austin: I forgot a good amount of the details between now and when I watched it back when it first aired, but I remember liking it a lot then and still did this time around as well. Something that did apparently change is I was much more emotional watching it this time around and probably cried at least once a week rewatching it.

    We’ve heard a lot of arguing ever since Re:ZERO started over who Best Girl is. We all know now that it’s obviously Beatrice, but there’s one important question left unanswered: who in Re:ZERO is Best Boy?

  René: By the classical definition, I’d have to choose Puck but I’m instead gonna buy with Betelgeuse. I love out of control villains already and Yoshitsugu Matsuoka is a treasure when voice characters like this. It’s a real shame that he often gets cast as regular nice guy or well-meaning hero because him eating the scenery is just pure joy to listen to.

  Paul: I'm putting my Best Boy vote down for Felix. Not only is he essential as the main healer of the series, but he also doesn't demonstrate any of the stiff attitude and honor-culture baggage displayed by other knights like Reinhard and Julius, and that puts him as prime Best Boy material in my book.

  Noelle: I do love a good knight, so I am initially privy to Reinhard, but I found myself liking Julius, especially by the end. In the start, everything is framed from Subaru’s POV, so he comes off as very malicious, but it turns out he’s the type that will give respect to those that have earned it. And that’s pretty good!  

  Jared: I would probably also go with Felix, although I did come around on Julius near the end as well since they fleshed out his and Subaru’s relationship.

  Kevin: Uhh excuse me, what do you mean unanswered? Did the White Whale erase Wilhelm from your memory or something?! Oh wait, of course it didn’t, because Best Boy Wilhelm’s sheer badassness and emotional catharsis killed it, along with any competition for the title (although even I have to admit that he might fit better as “Best Dad”)!

  Carolyn: Wilhelm for sure. He’s just a good guy.

  Kara: Thirding Wilhelm. Leaving some wiggle room for Al, though. He seems like a bro.

  David: I pick Julius after being reminded of the neat little character arc he goes through, but an honorable mention goes the Otto the Carriage Guy, who sort of gets dragged through the mud in every timeline but still manages to be pretty reliable (when he isn’t having his mind poisoned by the White Whale’s mist).

  Austin: Felix! Definitely not at all influenced by Yui Horie voicing him in Japanese. Nope. Not one bit.

  Joshua: There’s simply no competition—it’s Wilhelm. His love for Theresia was both tragic yet heartwarming, but that moment when he finally avenged his beloved and was able to triumphantly put that chapter of his life to peace, was sublime. Besides, he’s a kick-ass old man who survived far more than his body should have let him, and we know he had a grumpy emo phase too!

    We already know that there’s more Re:ZERO coming, are there any characters or aspects about the world you’d like to see addressed in greater detail?

  René: I can’t wait for Emilia to get more time in the spotlight, so that the world as a whole can see how right I’ve been all these years putting her on a pedestal. I will have so much fun to go full “Told you so” mode once the second season comes out. Besides that, I’m looking forward to finally meeting Satela in person (since the trailer already showed her off).

  Paul: Although these episodes end on a high-point, the story of Re:ZERO is just getting started, so I'd like to see more about the royal selection, more about Roswaal's plans to slay the dragon, and more about Subaru's connection to the Jealous Witch. I'd like more of everything, really. I'd even like some more resolution for what's going on with Elsa, the “Bowel-Hunter” assassin from the earliest episodes. She seemed like a major antagonist, so I'm surprised that she hasn't resurfaced.

  Noelle: I want to know what Satella’s deal is! She is obviously a person with considerable influence, and is even connected to Subaru’s curse, but we never really know anything about her? It’s her cult that causes most of the problems, and we know she’s a major antagonistic figure, but what does she want? Why Subaru? Tell me more!

  Jared: There’s a ton of mysteries still left to tell that I’d hope they’d get to address in the second season. Everything with Satella and why she’s very into grabbing Subaru’s heart all the time, why Subaru has his ability, what’s truly up with folks like Roswaal, the royal selection, and probably completely new things that will crop up to keep Subaru from his goal. The bad thing is though that all of that might be too much to cover all in another season.

  Kevin: Basically everything that they’ve hinted at in the show. I would love to go out of Legunica to see the northern Provinces (where Elsa’s from and may well be hiding), I definitely want to know more about Roswaal’s plan to kill the dragon. What was Ram referring to when she said she’d take half the villagers to the Sanctuary? What’s up with Dollar Store Sun Bro Al? Is Subaru really the Archbishop of Pride? Why in the first timeline did Emilia introduce herself as Satella? I’m not even sure that a season two would answer everything, but I’m really excited for more, even if it mostly brings up new questions, rather than answering the ones I already have. 

  Carolyn: I will echo René but in fewer words: Emilia.

  Kara: I’d be up for seeing any of the above, but I for sure want more Return by Death logistics. Does something in particular cause the alteration of Subaru’s save points, or is it just narrative causality? Why did he get isekai’d over in the first place? Satella, I need to know your logic here.

  David: I mostly want more of the Royal Election. That concept got introduced and then mostly put back away after Subaru had his temper tantrum, but I’m very interested in everyone involved.

  Joshua: I definitely want to know more about the different plot threads, like Roswaal’s scheme, Subaru and Emilia’s ties to Satella, and the Witch Cult. Betelguese said he represented Sloth and that every sin bar Pride had an archbishop, right? So that means there are others out there for us to meet too (please no spoilers if you’ve read the light novel!). On a purely personal level though, I really want to see more Beatrice. She’s such an enigmatic character with a peculiar position in the world as we know it, so I’d like to learn more about that.

  Austin: I’d love to see more of Anastasia, Frederica, and Felt outside of the royal selection process, kind of like how Crusch got in these last few episodes. I feel like there are certain plot threads they absolutely have to follow on, like Satella and the Witch’s Cult, so having a little slice of getting to see more of these characters and getting to know them outside of them playing political 3D chess would be nice.

    Finally, what were your highs and lows for Re:ZERO as a whole?

  René: My absolute high was how the show portrayed the importance of acknowledging other people’s viewpoints and how not doing it can quickly turn for the worse. Even if you don’t agree with someone, it’s important to be aware that not everything centers around you—something that a lot of isekai sadly go against. I wish we could get more stories with an actual moral instead of just wish fulfillment from this genre.

  My low point unfortunately remains the backstory of the twins. It’s probably my biggest sore spot with the series as it still stands as the one less elegant storytelling part due to it being so shoehorned. Maybe I’d even be more positive on Rem as a character if that hadn’t been the case.

  Paul: My high point for the series is all of the work that went into making Subaru such a flawed but ultimately redeemable protagonist. I'm glad that he's finally pulling his own weight at the end, and although he still has to rely on stronger characters for all of the fighting, at least now he's using his brains to solve problems, rather than just going with his gut and hoping everything works out. My low point is that presently, the TV series of Re:ZERO is only about one-quarter to one-third of a complete narrative. I hope the upcoming second season has a chance to tie up some of the plot threads that have not yet been resolved.

  Noelle: My high point is honestly, Subaru. As much as I’ve ragged on him, it’s so (unfortunately) rare for isekai to challenge the bravado of their protagonists. Protagonists don’t deserve to have everything handed to them, especially romance and good will, just because they’re shiny people. Subaru acknowledging his own powerlessness and that he has to prove himself instead of expecting things to fall into his lap is good. Really good. I don’t think he’s made a complete transformation, but he is progressing and I appreciate that. Low point is that the cult sure came out of nowhere. I can’t really feel this major impending threat for bad guys that sprung out of the ground suddenly. If they had a little more setup, I wouldn’t have this issue, but it felt like they were thrown in there and didn’t amount to much. The whale felt like more of a threat. 

  Jared: I think my high point was just trying to figure out all of the mysteries and questions that kept popping up throughout the season, even if most of them weren’t answered. I also enjoyed a lot of the side characters that showed up and the world of Re:ZERO is interesting. Low points would be how the writing shifts poorly for Emilia and Rem in the latter half. I still don’t like Subaru and think you could replace him with anyone because he feels like a generic slate. Return by death really lost its luster near the end as well because anytime something bad would happen for Subaru, you knew that he’d get bailed out by that. It’d probably worked better if this story was the length of this first season and that was it. Going forward it’s going to be incredibly difficult to put him into any sort of danger because that kind of drama and tension will be cancelled out since he’ll just come back again and somehow find a way to fix things.

  Kevin: High - I absolutely love Wilhelm in the White Whale fight. We’ve previously seen that he’s a competent fighter, at least able to train Subaru, and those preceptive enough might’ve made the family name connection to Reinhart, but we finally get to see him fight all out, and get his backstory at the same time, both showing his motivation for fighting and why this fight in particular means so much to him. The same fight also shows Subaru truly in control of things for the first time in the series. He’s not just putting on a brave face or fooling himself into thinking he knows what’s happening, he is directly aiding a plan and even helping to push it forward when many others have given up hope. Low - How they decided to end the show. Back when the show was first airing, as we were nearing the ending people started speculative whether we were going to get to some specific line. No one seemed to spoil what it was (I also didn’t look too hard, for fear of spoiling it), but as best I can tell, the shot of Subaru opening his mouth was the start of whatever that line was. Sure, for fans who know what’s coming, that’s apparently a really big cliffhanger, but for the rest of us it’s just a strange way to end.

  Carolyn: My high is absolutely the dark mystery surrounding Subaru’s first few deaths. Who did it? Why did it? What the heck is up with Roswaal’s castle? I was definitely into that. Low without a doubt was the scene in which Rem pours her heart out to Subaru only for him to decide he’d rather have Emilia… right after asking Rem to run away with him… right before asking Rem to stay loyal to him anyway. Geez. 

  Kara: Two high points. First, just the way it looked, especially the more horrific elements. There was something about the moments of horror (especially Subaru’s descent into madness on the trips back to Roswaal’s place) that really felt like a very liminal nightmare, and creating that effect well isn’t easy. Second, Subaru’s presentation as a flawed character. I see a lot of shows with jackass protagonists where we’re encouraged to forgive them everything they do, or given all the reasons why things are so bad that they “deserve” to act like a jerk. But even after seeing all his friends die repeatedly, we’re still reminded that Subaru is a work-in-progress who can and should do better. My low point is I get the sense I’m missing a lot having not read the books. I guess that’s a low point I can fix myself, though…

  David: Echoing others, my high point is Subaru as a protagonist, in no small part because of how underwritten he makes other already rote-feeling isekai protagonists feel. My low point is just the general feel-bad of essentially nothing being resolved in the entire course of this season. It feels like endless plot threads were constantly being thrown into the mix but none of them were dealt with. Hopefully the second season starts tying some of those up before inevitably introducing more.

  Joshua: Just so we don’t end on a bum note, for a change of pace I’ll lead with my low points! The first, is actually one I’m still feeling after discussing it last week: the second half’s juggling of the witch’s cult and white whale felt unfocused. This wasn’t helped by the white whale actually feeling far more threatening than Betelguese in the end. One thing that’s always niggled me though, is how Subaru’s returns just wipe out chunks of character development. Then, having lost that, why are people so willing to trust him without enough scrutiny? Sure, he can’t explain Return by Death to anyone, but shouldn’t more people to be asking, even if they can’t get the answer?

  I echo my friends’ comments about Subaru’s character arc, especially in relation to other isekai series. As a whole though, while the genre is arguably stagnating with more and more works that are either derivative or just plain bland, Re:ZERO stands out perhaps the best in the genre. The series also really knows how to twist my heart with dramatic scenes, like Subaru pleading for Felix and Julius to kill him in this batch—such a powerful scene. I also love Re:ZERO’s characters and their emotions that allowed me to connect with them. Subaru, Rem, Emilia, Wilhelm, Crusch, Betty… they’re all great in their own way.

  Austin: Something I noticed on a rewatch is I absolutely love the happy notes this show hits on. Emilia telling Subaru her name, Rem crying after being saved by Subaru, Rem’s monologue, Wilhelm avenging his wife, and so on all feel incredibly satisfying and hit at the perfect moments. All of the suffering and trial and error Subaru goes through and us having to follow along the whole way gives even bittersweet moments this feeling of relief I really really love. Alongside characters that feel more human than I honestly expected from a show like this, these scenes all got me at the very least a little bit teary eyed.

  Low point on the other hand is hard. That said, back when I first watched the show I had a complaint that it really liked introducing characters and leaving it at that while showing the story was absolutely capable of fleshing them out with cases like Wilhelm. Just fleshing out some interesting characters makes me wish everyone was fleshed out; I want to know more about Felt and her upbringing before finding out she was a dragon priestess, I want to know more (or really anything) about Roswall instead of him just being a wall of mystery, I want to know more about each of the knights, I want to know more about everyone! Obviously a lot of this is due to the show only getting two cours but it still upset me quite a bit a few years ago.

    Counters:

Weekly:

Barusu - 1

Subaru Deaths - 1

Methods of Death - Assisted Suicide

  Overall:

Barusu - 32

Subaru Deaths - 11

How Subaru Died - Disembowelment, Disembowelment, Stabbing, Curse, Combination (Curse+Dismemberment), Slit Throat / Torture, Suicide, Freezing, Beheading, Freezing, Assisted Suicide

  And just like that, the GREAT CRUNCHYROLL Re:ZERO REWATCH comes to a close! Thank you all so much for joining us on this fun journey as we watch shows and discuss them weekly. Stay tuned for updates on the next chapter of THE GREAT CRUNCHYROLL REWATCH!

  CATCH UP ON THE REWATCH:

Episodes 16-20: Moby Dick with Catboys

Episodes 11-15: Enduring Heartbreak

Episodes 6-10: From Apples To Demons

Episodes 1-5: Starting Life in Another Rewatch

Re:ZERO Introduction Questions

  What are your answers to the above questions? What show are you hoping we rewatch next? Let us know in the comments below!

        -----

Danni Wilmoth is a Features writer for Crunchyroll and co-host of the video game podcast Indiecent. You can find more words from her on Twitter @NanamisEgg.

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