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nickmaghighlights · 1 year ago

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Nick Mag Highlights - #20 April 1996

Greetings and various apropos felicitations. Once again it’s time for another issue of Nick Mag Highlights! Today we’ll be heading back to the 90’s and taking a trip through issue #20. Ready to see if this “Mega Movie Issue'' is really as mega as it says? Then let’s get on with the show!

Man, that cover is a blast from the past for me, and it might just be the same for some of you. I haven't seen the film adaptation of James and The Giant Peach ever since I was a kid. I forget how I even first experienced it, since I couldn’t have seen it in theaters and I never owned a physical copy. I think a babysitter put it on for me once.

Whatever the case, despite the time it's been I can still envision a smattering of visuals and emotions from the experience. So it must’ve been good if it’s managed to still stick with me positively all these years later. I guess a grade-a art style and memorable visuals will do that for a film. So as shallow as these behind-the-scenes “previews” tend to be when it comes to Nick Magazine, I’m still excited to go down memory lane and hopefully gleam one or two cool bits of trivia.

Beyond my nostalgia bias though I’ve gotta say I’m surprised by the lack of promises this cover is making. A preview of James and The Giant Peach and a “Special Flip Book” is all you’ve got to wow the proverbial audience here, Nick? Even issue #1 promised more content on its cover to grab your attention if Ren & Stimpy weren’t enough for you. Let’s hope 20 issues in they weren’t starting to struggle for content.

You can read along too, if that’s what you wanna do. The issue’s right here.

Alright, go ahead and roll your eyes, but I’ve got a thing or two to say about this Cheetos ad. Or rather, “Chee●tos”, as it's called here and would be titled as such until Frito-Lays dropped the hyphen from the name in 1998. Not the worst name change, if I’m being honest.

First off, let’s just bask in the moment for a second. This is a wacky snack from the 90’s, even a “spinoff snack”, if you will, of a still very popular snack brand… that hasn’t been brought back to capitalize on nostalgia!

Yes, Cheesy Checkers have yet to return to shelves since their discontinuation in ‘98. Suffice to say, I’m stunned. In a world where Ecto-Cooler returned from the grave, Trix Yogurt is still readily available, Boo Berry, Count Chocula and all those other monster-themed cereals manifest themselves every Halloween, and the McRib seems to come back whenever the heck it feels like, Cheetos Cheesy Checkers of all things is barred from re-entry into the mainstream to take advantage of your sorely missed childhood.

Guess they really just weren’t popular enough? You can’t capitalize on nostalgia if there’s no nostalgia to capitalize on, after all. And yet it seems like a foolproof idea for a snack if you ask me. Waffles and waffle fries have already proven that checkerboard patterns are naturally delicious. And on top of that it even had a rad commercial featuring an awesome Chester Cheetah puppet. What’s not to like? I guess 33% more cheese is crossing the line of “Dangerously Cheesy” into something more like… “Hazardously Cheesy”.

Oh, and by the way. I may have never had a bag of Cheesy Checkers, but I sincerely doubt the snack pieces were that big. You really want me to believe one checker is nearly 1/3rd the size of this magazine page? They don’t even look that big in the commercial.

Just like the cover said, this is indeed a movie-themed issue. And I’ve got good news regarding this: I actually know about movies! Well, I like movies, anyway. Okay, I know more about movies than I do about music, which should mean my dissection of the content at hand will be a little more thoughtful than my retrospective of the music-based issue from last time. Hopefully, anyway.

Can’t help but feel these jokes are trying a little too hard. I guess when you’ve got to come up with twenty and base them all off of movies and TV shows, it can’t be easy. It probably doesn’t help either that there’s only like, three or four good puns in the whole world to begin with.

Anyway, look. Bugs Bunny in Nickelodeon Magazine. Woah.

Well, it’s a little less surprising for those, ahem, in the know.

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Nickelodeon actually aired Looney Tunes shorts for more than ten years, from 1988 to 1999. Once Warner Bros. established their new kids’ entertainment channel, Cartoon Network, they were pretty quick to take back their old school cartoons to bolster their numbers a bit. Although even following the departure of the classic Looney Tunes, Nickelodeon would go on to license other Warner Bros. content for their channel in the following years, airing shows such as Animaniacs and Tiny Toon Adventures in the early 2000s.

Oh, how convenient! Now I can prove my film expertise by trouncing this quiz and-

Hey! Some kid already answered two of the questions. Well now there’s no point in doing the quiz now. Its sanctity has been compromised.

But yeah, this book’s been written in just a bit. Sorry if that bothers you, but it’s not like I can clean the pages off. I do kinda wish the scan was totally clean just for the sake of archival purposes, but as long as the marks stay minor I’m not too picky. If anything I guess it helps make things a little more interesting. Kinda adds to the whole “time capsule” aspect of it, doesn’t it?

Shouldn’t be an issue so long as it’s not-

Ah, criminy! The kid got me again! Now this is stepping over the line. Answering a quiz question or two is one thing, but completely solving the hidden pictures puzzle promoting the home video release of Babe? That sours my mood. I don’t even feel like watching Babe now.

This a neat activity: a screenplay for two kids to act out and potentially film like a home movie. It actually caught me off guard with its originality, and in hindsight it seems like a no-brainer. Kids love to play pretend after all, and I know I certainly loved shooting little movies with my family’s cheap digital camera. Well, here kids, we came up with the story for you. Go nuts. Not to mention it's a good excuse to whip up a plate of grilled cheese sandwiches.

Here’s a nifty fun fact for you: The writer of this screenplay activity, David Lewman, has basically been on Nickelodeon’s speed dial since the 90’s. He’s written tons of Nickelodeon tie-in books, spanning a bunch of different franchises including SpongeBob SquarePants, Jimmy Neutron, Rugrats, among many others. If you’ve read a SpongeBob book before, I say look him up. There’s a good chance you were reading something of his.

Kind of nice of them to make a whole game out of their adspace, eh? I mean, I’m guessing the amount of people who played isn’t particularly high, but… uh… The art is cool!

Speaking of the art, you never see these mascots in 2D anymore. Which I find unfortunate because I think they look a lot cuter and tolerable here.

Also wow, you can see the orange and brown candies before their designs were finalized. Or before their transitions, either or. Very proud of them regardless!

Pretty awesome article here about some of the gimmicks that filmmakers tried out during the black-and-white days of cinema. Love a bit of history alongside my Nickelodeon.

While we’re here, I’d like to contribute my own similar black-and-white movie gimmick factoid that I find amusing:

In 1961, a film called Mr. Sardonicus featured a gimmick called the “Punishment Poll”, where each audience member was given a card to decide the fate of the titular villain, Mr. Sardonicus, by either showing the side of their card with a thumbs-up or thumbs-down on it right before the end of the film. Once the total was tallied, the theater was supposed to show the ending with the most votes.

The funny part is that the movie only has one ending. The gimmick was just a total lie and the only ending filmed was the one with the negative outcome for Mr. Sardonicus, so I guess the director was pretty confident that potential audiences would mostly be comprised of sadists that want to see a bad guy get his comeuppance.

Speaking of the director, Mr. Sardonicus just so happened to be directed by a mister William Castle, who also directed four out of the six films listed in the magazine article here. Guess those gimmicks really were good for profits.

Imagine watching a whole movie while sitting in a pool. Now stop imagining! I don’t like that very much. Your eyelids would prune shut before you could even see the ending.

Man, all these movie gimmicks and funky types of theaters is making me wish I was around when movies were more of an event. Y’know? The movie theater experience has pretty much been ironed out at this point, so the idea of watching the big screen outside or with the looming possibility of a big plastic skeleton popping out and waving around is particularly alluring. Take note, modern movie theaters, this may be your way of competing with streaming!

What? No, it doesn’t bother me at all that whoever owned this magazine already filled out this Sanrio quiz advertisement. Why would I be ENRAGED and UPSET about that!?!? IT'S NOT EVEN A BIG DEAL!!

… Anyway this ad is weird. I guess they didn't know how to market Sanrio in the west yet*. Cause I'm not exactly the most familiar but I'm pretty confident blaring red and yellow colors and funky multicolor Wow! text isn't exactly befitting of the Sanrio spirit. Also there's not really any point to the quiz. It's not like you can mail in your answers and get a free Hello Kitty lunchbox or something. I guess they just figured that kids love quizzes and will always jump at the opportunity to do them, circling the correct responses in permanent pen ink, and causing them to not consider the possibility that someoNE MIGHT WANT TO READ THE MAGAZINE AD AFTER THEM AND WOULD WANT IT MAINTAINED IN PEAK CLEANLINESS FOR THE SAKE OF THE SANCTITY OF THEIR ONLINE BLOG i must calm myself.

*Which is weird to me, because Hello Kitty feels like one of those characters who’s always been popular. Like Mickey Mouse or Steven Spielburg.

Don’t mind me, just gonna insert this contest page here so that if I ever do the issue that contains the actual responses, I can link back to here and go full circle. Pretty excited to someday see the responses! I wonder what they could be. I also wonder why you had to include a phone number with your response. Maybe Tommy Pickles congratulated you on the phone?

Okay, so I think this issue might be missing pages. I can’t prove that exactly, considering I don’t have the real thing sitting in front of me, but the way this ad has text that’s oddly cut off on the right side leads me to believe this was a two page spread originally. Maybe not, maybe the magazine was really like this and it's a printing error, maybe they spilled juice on the design document for page two and couldn’t fix it in time for publishing.

Whatever the case, I really wish I had that Aaahh!!! Real Monsters hat.

A rather understated cover for this edition of The Comic Book, and I can appreciate it. Simple and effective bit of zaniness with a spin on the old “fake-can-with-a-scary-thing-that-pops-out-when-you-open-it” gag. This comes to us from award-winning illustrator Jim Woodring, who’s got probably one of the nicest websites of any artist I’ve mentioned on this blog so far, so kudos. I took a look through his gallery, and it’s a lovely trip, so go take a look if you want some eye candy.

Been a while since we’ve last seen the Southern Fried Fugitives on this blog, one of Nick Magazine’s earliest recurring comic series. Unfortunately they’re not exactly in top form here, I’d say, even as someone who’s not the biggest fan of the comic to begin with. This is essentially a bit of filler so they could make their deadline and finish up the next “all new real adventure” that this episode tells you of at the end. I mean, I get it, this comic usually spanned a full three or four pages, I’m sure they took quite a bit of time. I just don’t really appreciate being shown a gross naked stitched up chicken.

A great hidden picture puzzle here, I could see kids having a lot of fun with this one and just looking through all the art. I guess my only issue would be that none of the answers are exactly hidden, since almost every figure in the page is related to one of the film titles below. But that’s a small nitpick considering that for just one activity of a much larger publication, it’s still pretty entertaining and eye-catching.

And here we’ve got ourselves what the powers at be call Smudgy and Scribbly. A comic about two inventive robots that I thought were supposed to be pencil erasers at first considering their names. I’m not sure if these abstract little guys ever had more than one or a couple of comics, but I know they didn’t stick around forever, since this is the first time I’m hearing of them. They’re cute! They’re fun! They don’t have a lot of personality per se, but that’s okay, because they eat fruit cocktails. And that’s a lesson for the kids.

I’ve been really impressed with this issue so far! They’ve really been making the most of the movie theme, what with aforementioned stuff like the quality movie gimmick article and the nice hidden picture puzzle. And to top it all off now we’ve even got an interview with Siskel & Ebert, two of the most famous film critics of all time. I’m not even sure how many kids at the time would appreciate this sort of thing, but whoever did must’ve been pretty happy. Said interview was conducted about three years before Siskel’s incredibly unfortunate passing, and three years after being parodied in an episode of Doug.

Anyway, yeah the interview questions are really silly, but that’s pretty par for the course by now. I just think it’s just cool they’re even in an issue of Nickelodeon Magazine at all.

Talking about the calendar included with each issue has become a bit of a tradition for this blog by now, hasn’t it? Although I’m sure I probably forgot to mention it one time. Overall this one’s not bad, it’s chock-full of facts and the little set-up & punchline at the Charlie Chaplin section is a ‘lil funny. And I think it’s sort of themed around artisans, maybe? Well worth being pinned on your bedroom door if you ask me, the only problem is that you’d also be ripping out a page of the Siskel & Ebert interview that’s printed on the back of this. At least the kid who wrote all over the magazine showed some restraint there.

Oh come on… I spoke too soon about showing restraint. The kid ripped out the flip book! What a trick… now I’ll never know what it looks like. At least we have the instructions here, which also could be doubly used for instructions on how to make your own flipbook by following the format, which is cool. Sorry for anyone who clicked on this post because you wanted to see the flipbook specifically. Sorry to you.

Moving past a five page article about the history of movies and movie effects (which is solid but doesn’t have much for me to say about), we now come across the cover story: James and the Giant Peach. And this is an alright interview, but it’s especially good for Nickelodeon Magazine! The questions for the film’s director, Henry Selick (director of The Nightmare Before Christmas and Coraline, among others), actually allow for some pretty nice informative detail regarding the process of stop-motion animation and how aspects of it work. For an interview intended for kids, this is great, especially for ones with an interest in the medium.

Interviews, interviews, and more interviews! If you’ve ever wanted to learn all that you could ever want to know Kenan & Kel, these are the pages for you. It’s nice to hear that apparently these guys were good friends off set, I guess. But y’know it’s never really bothered me finding out that seemingly inseparable co-stars actually aren’t best friends in real life like it does for a lot of people, I can still watch MythBusters perfectly fine even if I know Adam and Jamie aren’t going to go get drinks together after they finish dropping a car off a mountain for science. Acting’s still a job and I’m not expecting people to become friends just because they both stand in front of the same camera.

But hey, if K&K really were as good of friends as this magazine says, that’s really cool for them. Pretty lucky too, since this was just mere months away from the premiere of their own All That spinoff show, Kenan & Kel, which ran for four years, and less than a year before the premiere of their own movie, Good Burger*, so being friendly must’ve helped when they were spending that much time together. Not to mention they’re getting back together for Good Burger 2, so I guess when your legacies are so intrinsically tied together, I guess you’re bound to find some things to like about each other.

*One of my favorite comedies by the way, and no I’m not sorry. There’s very few films that match its vibes.

Feels like I should mention the 9th annual Kids’ Choice Awards was just around the corner, which featured such notable moments like Jim Carrey taking home two awards for Ace Ventura and his performance in Batman Forever, alongside Free Willy winning “Favorite Animal Star” for his(?) performance (?) in Free Willy 2: Willy Goes to Chile*. That category in particular got pretty heated, considering he was up against fierce competition in the form of Babe from… Babe. “Gangsta’s Paradise” by Coolio won best song. Although Brandy would beat out both Coolio and Michael Jackson for winner of “Favorite Singer”, so it wasn’t exactly a Coolio sweep, per se.

But of course, the real big winner of that night was Tim Allen, for winning “Favorite TV Actor” and being enacted into the Nickelodeon Hall of Fame (yes, for real). All while Home Improvement won ”Favorite TV Show”, which I find is an outright snubbing of the also nominated Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Again, just my opinion.

*(Okay, it was actually called Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home, but I like my idea more).

Before we go, I’d just like to draw attention to this winner of a parade float idea contest held in a previous issue, finally presented in all its glory here. No offense to the kid who designed it but I can only imagine the type of child nightmares that could spawn from a giant Elvis making its way down the street, pulled along by his Elvis impersonating minions. Just a thought.

This was a really good issue, I’m actually pretty shocked with how much of it I found interesting and entertaining, even now as an adult. They really put their all into this one and I think the movie theme really paid off.

Some parts I didn’t get to were the aforementioned article on the history of film and film effects, which isn’t a bad read, especially if you’re into the good old days of practical effects.

There was an interview with at-the-time child star Michelle Trachtenberg, to promote the upcoming release of the Nickelodeon film Harriet the Spy, which featured her in the starring role. I partly didn’t talk about it because I didn’t think there was much to say, and partly out of spite because that movie was pretty bad. Also because I’m running out of available image slots on this post. But mainly the first two reasons! Sort of.

Oh, yeah, and that alien mongrel QZ made another appearance, answering kids’ questions and just looking gross as usual. Avoid page 52 at all costs!

So yeah, that’ll do it! I’m glad I got to tackle another 90’s issue. I’ve also been thinking about branching out a bit, maybe talking about other Nickelodeon books, or heck, maybe even doing retrospectives of some of their shows! If anybody’s interested or has any requests (Nickelodeon Magazine related or otherwise), feel free to let me know. Otherwise I’ll just keep using my little spinner board that I use to make all decisions related to this blog.

Until next time, have a good one, and keep on reading!

#nmh post #90s #1996 #nickelodeon #magazine

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systemadministratorclu · 11 months ago

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Ask fandom game for Atlantis!

The first character I first fell in love with:

Milo James Thatch. How could I not? Look at him, he's adorable!

(Also, whenever 6yo me and friends played pretend with the characters of this movie, I was always Milo. And I wore glasses at the time, and he was the first movie hero I'd seen that wore glasses, so it was kind of a 'ooh, someone like me!' thing)

The character I never expected to love as much as I do now:

Commander Lyle Tiberius Rourke. I actually think Disney kinda dropped the ball a little bit with this one. He could've been a much more dynamic character, especially with the background they give him on the collector's edition dvd (his struggles in school gives me 'undiagnosed learning disability' vibes and he definitely has some form of PTSD from his time in the military. As much combat as he saw and as many times as he was wounded, there's no way he doesn't). A friend and I were even saying he could've been a sympathetic antagonist who wanted to try and end World War 1 (which literally begins July 1914, a few months before the movie takes place) making him kind of a 'Justified Asshole' for you AITA readers (basically, it'd be like "on one hand, yeah, what he did sucks, but also, we Get It. He had a good reason, and there really was no good option here') Instead, the motive they give him (make a fuckton of money) is kinda stupid because it was hinted earlier on that everyone's already going to make a fuckton of money just for going on this expedition.

Basically, the more I looked into him and asked questions and looked beyond just what we see onscreen (because there IS more there. He's a human, and humans are nowhere NEAR as simple as just what we see onscreen), the harder it was to hate him.......Also, I wrote some fanfics with a canon-divergent version of him that I now adore. More on that in a moment.

The character everyone else loves that I don’t:

Helga Katrina Sinclair. She creeped me out from the get-go, from the first time I saw this movie (in theaters, which was AWESOME). Like, the instant I saw her, the 'EVIL!' alarms in my brain went off. If I'd been asked to guess who was the main antagonist of the movie before seeing the end, I definitely would've said her. She still gives me the creeps, and I find it incredibly easy to write her as a main villainess in my fanfics (especially Heart of Hell, where she goes full-on evil queen Disney villain on steroids, doing shit even Disney's most evil don't do)

That said, I have read some AU versions of her (that make her not so evil) that I do like.

The character I love that everyone else hates:

Gotta go with Rourke again. Poor guy is pretty universally hated by the fandom (undeserved, I think, but I'm not going to start another Rourke rant here. I'll spare you this time, but he seriously does not deserve the amount of hate he gets.)

The character I used to love but don’t any longer:

Probably Kida. Don't get me wrong, I still like her a lot (badass warrior princess/queen FTW!!) Just not the way I used to, mainly because I no longer ship her with Milo. (No offense to him, but she really doesn't need a man. Let her be the epic queen she is on her own.)

The character I would totally smooch:

Milo, because the look on his face would be priceless and hella cute. And Rourke, just to see the look on his face as he realizes THAT'S why I needed the stepstool (he's 6'4", I'm 5'2")

The character I’d want to be like:

Milo again! (I kinda am in that I'm a frickin' nerd. However, I am not a genius with near superhuman intelligence)

Also Audrey. She don't take shit from anybody, but she's really sweet to her friends and even if she's really snarky with them, you can tell she really cares about them.

The character I’d slap:

Gaetan "Mole" Moliere, and affectionately unless he says whatever he said to Kida. Slapping him seems to be a thing in this group.

A pairing that I love:

Scholmander (Milo/Rourke). This should NOT be a surprise to anyone here who knows me. This became a thing for me because I at first thought "no way could it ever work without being toxic/abusive", then I saw a part of an edit someone did, then wrote a fanfic, then went "holy shit, it works without being toxic/abusive!", wrote three more fics, and now I've written a bunch more, I have more planned, I RP it on here, and it's canon to me now. I love them so much.

A pairing that I despise:

Rourke/Helga. Well, anyone with Helga, really, but especially this. I honestly think if he didn't have her so close to him all the time, he might not have acted as 'evil' as he did in the movie. I think she has a lot more influence than anyone, even Rourke, thinks. The best thing I can compare it to is that she's like Grima Wormtongue in LOTR. Except she's not serving another power, just herself. (And yes, I have read stuff/looked at art for this, and it just felt wrong, gave me those Wormtongue vibes)

Also don't like her with Milo. That just SCREAMS 'toxic/abusive' with all the emotional/psychological manipulation and gaslighting that would likely occur because he's got such a gentle heart and is a little naive at times, thus easily taken advantage of.

#thanks for the ask!#atlantis: the lost empire #milo james thatch #milo thatch #lyle tiberius rourke #lyle rourke #commander rourke

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lillylvjy · 1 year ago

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meow, the idea of jealous ghost!wilbur goes fucking crazy bonkers and the complexities of just wishing you were alive goes crazy goes awesome crazy awesome cool

He wishes he wasn’t jealous of you, didn’t crave everything you had. Your warmth, your life that was so abundant sometimes it burned him just to touch you. Everything you were was so opposite of what he was. Wilbur was cruel, cold, and desperate while you were kind, considerate, and willing to give and give.

It’s when you are out, living life outside of the walls he is constricted to he feels his anger curing into something worse, times he understands violent hauntings more than he knows the causal relationship between all of you. Tommy never got bitter, was eager to ask you about your day, sit on that old couch, and put on a movie he would never have a chance to see in theaters.

Wilbur would pout, listen through walls for trailing laughter even as he craved closeness.

“Wil?” you called into a room even though the act of walking around and calling a ghost’s name made you feel silly. He hummed, made himself known, and when a smile immediately reached your face he felt his cold heart ache. “Missed you for the movie? Thought it would be something you liked,”

“Sorry,” he says after a pause, and he’s surprised when you walk towards him. Your body heat reaches out through the open air, giving him that steady thrum of life. It’s only around you he can forget, only without you does being dead hurt so much. You smile at him, something lopsided and sweet. He wants to kiss you, say sorry, ask you to stay, to stop leaving him alone.

“It’s fine! maybe you and I can watch it another time?”

anyway !

The amount of angst y’all are letting me put into this au is so very appreciated-

But love- OMG! This is like- YES.

like whenever you say your going out or just going out or simply garden- he gets a little angry and annoyed. Like- why do you have to be the fortunate one? Why do you always have to silently rub it in that you get to go outside and enjoy the sun and wind and rain?

And yes- when your talking about your day he looks like a kicked puppy. He’s upset. He’s jealous that you got to experience that, while all he did was walk around, cleaning little things for you and watching the world go on around him.

But- when you look at him like that, and bring your warmth remotely near him, he’s immediately melting. And if the urge to kiss you got any worse- it certainly was now. To kiss you forever. To hold you and never let you go. He just wants you.

but he’ll deal with it! /j

#bro the brainrot goes crazy right now-#lilly’s ask #love <3

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silvermoon424 · 2 years ago

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What other books/movies/shows are you into besides magical girl stuff? And what are your favorite lesser known (in your opinion) magical girl stories??

Lately (for like at least the past 2 years lol) I've been super into Youtube video essays and commentaries, including on media I haven't watched/read yet. I would say Youtube videos are most of what I consume in my free time instead of movies or tv shows (or even anime); I have ADHD so it's really hard for me to focus on things, whereas with Youtube videos I can just pause and resume them whenever I want.

In general though, I really love the horror genre; I'm always reading horror manga or horror stories, and I love short horror films and full-length horror movies. M3GAN was the most recent movie I saw in theaters, and I don't go to theaters very often (although it's not a very scary movie lmao). I also love true crime. So yeah, magical girls, horror, and true crime are my go-tos, lmao.

I do love reading, but I don't really read any series (again, ADHD and commitment issues). With books I tend to gravitate towards realistic fiction; I like sci-fi every now and then, but I'm really not into fantasy for some reason. Oh, and I play video games sometimes. Mostly Pokemon, I love Pokemon and have since I was little.

I love podcasts, too. The only one I follow religiously right now is Last Podcast on the Left (HIGHLY recommend, they're awesome), but I also frequently listen to Behind the Bastards, Some More News, Redhanded, Dark History, Swindled, and any of Michael Hobbe's podcasts.

Sorry I'm so boring and didn't give more specific answers, lol. I do have a long list of tv shows and movies (and anime) that I've watched and enjoyed, but I'm not really currently following or hyperfixating on anything. Like I said I mainly just watch Youtube and listen to podcasts nowadays because of my focus issues. I really want to make a spreadsheet of all the Youtubers I recommend but there's like 400 of them so the task is pretty daunting, lol.

EDIT: Just saw your other question. My go-to for lesser-known magical girl stories is always Mermaid Melody!

#personal

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kylekozmikdeluxo · 1 year ago

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Welp, there goes another Halloween/spoopy season. October is my favorite time of the year, but it's starting to feel like a Charlie Brown football as life has gotten very *very* hard for me over the past couple of years: COVID, moving out, watching people I've known and loved my whole life being marched down a right-wing maga anti-lgbtqia rabbit hole, and still trying to settle into my new life. It's still lonely at the moment, with very little opportunities. New no job, no friends outside of the internet made, etc.... But I have to keep pressing ahead, no matter how grim the country looks to be in a year and no matter what's going on close to home...

I mean, November 1st - today - is Samhain. The Gaelic festival that ends the harvest season. And really, that's all it is... Why does widespread love of spoopy stuff end after October 31st? When there's a whole month ahead of us that's, weather-wise, as beautiful as October and full of autumnal stuff?

Capitalism.

What ever Halloween's origins may be, I feel it's largely been commodified much like Christmas... And hell, most holidays, let's be real here. In that it's just this capitalist rush-rush-rush of stuff to buy, things to do. Like, Christmas stuff was on the store shelves at the beginning of October this year. Whenever I went into, say, a Walmart or a Kohl's... Christmas stuff... Everywhere. In early October. This is a personal attack.

I know that not everyone celebrates Thanksgiving, but we have a whole-ass month ahead of us. Like, can we CHILL with the Christmas stuff already? If you want to celebrate it this early, go right ahead! That's awesome that you can happily be in the spirit this early. I technically start feeling ghoulish around the end of August, maybe mid-September... But I feel like the mass-market just pushes it aggressively on us. I want to enjoy November for its beautiful weather and colors and aesthetics, you know? What if I still want my Halloween decorations up? What if I still want to watch horror movies?

Technically, I can. Plus, there have been horror movies that were released in November. A couple recent examples I can think of are OVERLORD and FREAKY. I saw the former in theaters during a snowstorm, lol. We have a horror movie literally called THANKSGIVING opening in a few weeks. Hell, one of the all-time Halloween classics, OVER THE GARDEN WALL, began airing in early November the year it was released. Maybe there is no date. Time is just a construct, and the lot of us weirdo hearts out there who love the creepy stuff just keep going. Even well after Halloween.

But there's a sense of loneliness to it, I feel. After the world packs up, and trades jack-o-lanterns for sleigh bells, that initial high of everyone being in on that stuff during what I feel is - weather-wise - the most beautiful time of year... It feels kinda desolate afterwards. Like a desert, almost. Like, after Halloween, wouldn't it be cool if wherever you lived did more freaky-themed events, fun stuff, and other things? Just in case you might've missed the boat (like I did this year, I was busy last week) or had a crappy Halloween day (like I did)? Like, November is the perfect month to keep that going.

Even when you start feeling merry and holly jolly, there's still a rushed-ness to everything. Maybe it's because I'm in my 30s now, but everything feels so fast... It's kinda scary sometimes. I understand working and having a job, and keeping up with my creative endeavors. I know I have some situations I have to figure out, and anxiety demons to overpower, but part of me also wishes that things weren't so hectic. Ya know? All the holidays, really. All the times of year, just rushing rushing by...

#autumn #post halloween #in my 30s #adult life #reflecting

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smilexcaptainx · 3 years ago

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Final Exam

Pairing: Peter Parker x Reader

Request: Could do an imagine with Peter Parker where the reader is overworking herself trying to study for an exam. Peter invites her to do things, but she always refuses because she feels like she needs to keep studying. Peter decides to get together with The Avengers and plan a little fun activity to trick her into doing so she can finally learn to have some fun. Thanks!

Warning(s): None

A/N: I hope you enjoy!

Word Count: 869

masterlist

When you first met Peter, you knew you two would be best friends. You two were the dynamic duo. You were so intimately close to him, he shared his biggest secret to you. You always thought Peter was heroic, but when you discovered that he was an actual superhero, it was awesome.

Peter always claimed that you were a great escape from his superhero schedule. Whenever you two were together, it was as if he was a normal teenage boy. What you weren't aware of though was that he had a major crush on you. He thought you didn't know, but knowing Peter, he's pretty bad at hiding things.

You knew that Peter liked you, and the feelings were mutual, but you just didn't know how to express it the correct way. Currently, it was finals week at Midtown High School and you were overwhelmed with the textbooks, papers and relearning everything from the very beginning of the year.

Peter claimed that you knew what to do. You've been studying for the final exam ever since the beginning of the year. Yet, you still felt like you couldn't do it. You didn't feel prepared. Peter has been your study partner for the past study dates, and even he believed that you were going to ace the exam.

It was difficult for you to convince yourself that you were going to do well. On the days that you didn't study with Peter, you would study alone in your bedroom. Peter was concerned because he didn't want you to overwork yourself. He has seen you when you overwork yourself before, and he hated seeing you so run down.

Peter decided to visit you in your bedroom this morning, and no surprise, Peter found you on your bed with papers scattered all around you.

"Y/N, I have two tickets to go see Volunteer Of Stardust tonight at the movie theaters," Peter announced, waving the tickets in the air. He sighed as he didn't see you look up. "Come on Y/N. We've been wanting to see this movie ever since it got released."

"I know Pete, but I have things to do," You commented, swinging your eyes up to see his disappointed face. "I'm sorry but maybe we can see it next week. You can get Ned to go with you. I'm sure he'll want to go."

"I don't want to go with Ned," Peter claimed. "I want to go see the movie with you Y/N."

"That's sweet but—"

"When will you take a break?"

"After I take the exam."

"Whatever," Peter sighed, opening your bedroom door back open. "I'll be at my place if you need me."

Peter slammed the door behind him, giving you the impression that he was mad. You stared at the door, wondering if you needed to catch him before he left. You looked back at your stuff. You had to admit, you have been studying for a long time. The movie was something that you wanted to go see with Peter for a long time.

You huffed in defeat as you closed your laptop and move the papers aside as you slid off of your bed. Luckily for you, Peter's place was in walking length from your home. You left your bedroom and went outside to see if his car was still present. As you turned the corner to the driveway, you were immediately pelted by a nerf dart.

"What the—"

"GET HER!!!"

You shrieked in fear as you felt what felt like a thousand nerf darts hit you. You soon felt a tap on your shoulder. You turned to see Peter holding two nerf guns.

"Here take one!" Peter shouted, tossing you a nerf gun. Surprisingly, you caught it. "Let's destroy them!"

You cocked the gun with a smile. You had forgotten how much you loved nerf gun fighting with Peter was. You ran to take cover from the darts. You kept peeking out of the bush and started shooting everyone else, except for Peter. The people that you hit dramatically fell to the ground and acted like they were out.

After a while, it was down to only you and Peter. You got out of your spot and saw him slowly walking up to you. His gun was facing you, so you pointed yours at him.

"There can only be one Y/N," Peter called out, gripping tighter onto his gun. "And it's going to be me."

You shot the first dart but Peter was quick and dodged it. He ended up shooting his shot and got you straight in the face. As the dart fell to the ground, you groaned in frustration. You dropped the gun and Peter just laughed. He put his gun down and walked up to you.

"I win."

"Yeah yeah I know," You replied with a smile. "That was fun though. Thanks Peter."

"You know what else would be fun?" Peter asked, slowly making his two tickets visible again. You rolled your eyes with a grin. "Volunteer of Stardust?"

"I'm down. Let's do it Peter."

"YES!" Peter screeched in joy, engulfing you in a tight hug. You laughed as he picked you up off the ground. "WOOHOO!!!"

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

Feedback is always welcome!

I do not own this gif.

Credit goes to the owner!

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Permanent Tag List:

@altriestowrite

#imagine #peter parker #peter parker imagine #peter parker imagines #marvel #marvel imagine #marvel imagines #spiderman #fanfiction #fanfic #peter parker fanfiction #peter parker fanfic #tom holland #peter parker x reader #imagines

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popculturebuffet · 3 years ago

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Rumble Review: Time For Some Kaiju Bollocks Lads! (Comissioned by WeirdKev27)

Hellooooooo bloggers. I’m Jake I review stuff and today I have a special treat today courtsey of my boy @weirdkev27 who requested this likely because I like animation, I like wrestling, and felt i’d be a good fit to cover an animated wrestling movie about giant monsters. He was right.

I won’t pretend to be the most dedicated wrestling fan: I haven’t watched any of the shows weekly in a long time due to not having a way to (Though I would with AEW and probably will with NXT 2.0 if it’s any good now I have Peacockcockcock), and when it comes to knowing basic moves that arne’t finishers.. I very much don’t.

But I also won’t pretend i’m NOT one either: I have sting and new day funkos proudly displayed next to my ken from street fighter and captain underpants funkos respectively, I watch OSW Review religiously, and I bring up restling bollocks of years past whenever I can. I also find the sport facinating from how much skill and effort it takes to how much true love people have of the sport.. to how much potetial’s been wasted by ego and stupidity. It’s a truly awesome and facenating sport and I don’t like the crap it gets sometime. Sure they know the finishes ahead of time, the fueds themselve are built entirely on scripts.. but it’s one of the greatest shows around because of this. They craft powerful stories in and out of the ring. .and when they don’t it can be REALLY, REALLY hilarious so unless something’s truly terrible, you’ll usually have some fun watching wrestling.

So while I wasn’t going to see this one back when it was set for theaters.. I probably was eventually. Not a major priority but I would’ve gotten to it even if Kev hadn’t thrown money at me. Probably not any time this year but still. It’s a wrestling film with Kaiju starring Will Arnett and Terry Crews. You.. you don’t need a lot to get me in the door unless it ended up being really bad. And at worst critcally rumble was met with a resounding

Not really loved by critics but not really loathed either. So will I find myself in the middle or suprised? That’s for you fine folks to find out under the cut.

Rumble is VERY loosely based on the Graphic Novel “Monster on the Hill”, something I DO want to check out sometime as it has it’s own unique premise: in it it’s set at the turn of the century and in this world monster attacks aren’t revilved but praised. People are proud to be scared by their local monsters but in the small locale of stoker on Avon, the people have a depressed monster named Rayburn, so it’s up to the local scientest and his boy sidekick to make this monster shine. It’s brilliant and I will read it at some point.

Rumble takes the bare basics: every town having a monster, their proud of, int their station. A monster named Rayburn. And the town being named Stoker after of course Bram Stoker writer of Dracula. But it updates it in it’s own unique brilliant way that still feels creative as hell, to the point I feel monster on the hill could be reapdated with the original premise and a monster name change and no one would notice.

In the world of Rumble, instead of each town having a monster to scare people, each town has a monster due to the world wide monster wrestling league. See in this setting since ancient times monsters have naturally duked it out as much like with big sweaty men, you get a bunch of giant monsters together eventualy two are going to want to punch each other or need to have a ladder match for child custody. Eventually Human and Monster worked together to convert this into monster wrestling and the rest is history.

As for how any of this works. .that’s one of the films high points. They put a LOT Of thought into this so as a result Monster Wrestling for the most part has clear rules, setup and pulls from not just wrestling but other sports to make it FEEL like an actual sports system while still simplified enough to work.

As such the basic setup is the same as a standard pro wrestling match just with Kaiju: two monsters enter, beat each other up with cool acrobatic moves and powerful holds, and the winner usually wins by pinfall. But there are nice tweaks that add bits from boxing and other sports. For boxing, since it gets the most, the count is at 10 and monster wrestler have coaches who help them plan stratagey. Granted Wrestlers have managers, but coaches here work more like boxing coaches than wrestling managers so.. there you go.

The fights are also unscripted, or to put it in wrestling terms a shoot. Most wrestling based films do this to highten the tension and what not as “this is for realllll”, since honestly i’ts the same principal real matches use: like in a film wrestling is scripted.. but your still invested in who wins or looses anyway if the story’s told right. There’s also rounds, which again makes sense with both the coatches and not being pre-planned.

WMW also throws in some bits and pieces of other sports: each town having a monster is much like towns having sports teams, complete with home stadiums, and the ring is in octagon instead of a square much like MMA, which makes perfect sense: the combatants are bigger and thus need more room to manuver even when you make the rings kaiju sized.

We don’t get any special conditoin matches like regular wrestling.. but that’s fair as it keeps it simple for the story. If they end up making a sequel, which I hope for, THEN they can bring in stuff like weapons and cages to help amp it up. But keeping it just to one on one pinfall matches for this keeps the focus on the fights and the story instead of wondering how this new gimmick works. Again common thing in wrestling movies, with both no holds barred and ready to rumble saving special stipulations for the final matches and having regular matches first. And yes I may cover both films here some day. One is so bad it’s good the other is ready to rumble. Not even David Arquette could save it and that is a hard bar to clear. Speaking of which if there’s a sequel PLEASE cast David Arquette as an evil manager or a monster himself. Dude needs more work and deserves more work because he’s fucking awesome. He’s also a former wcw champion, fought AGAINST them making him champion because itw as ab ad idea, then donated that money to people in wrestling who needed it. Guy is a legend and loves this buisness and I love him for it.. and for Scream. God bless Dewey.

So naturally this sport has it’s own legends, and the peak of them all was Rayburn, backed by his coach the equally legendary Jimbo Coyle. Rayburn was Monster Wrestling’s biggest draw, like Stone Cold Steve Austin or Goldberg, until one day he and Jimbo vanished at sea never to be seen again. I geninely thought the film was setting it up for them to return at the end but no, they don’t. As far as the film’s concerned they dead. Maybe they wanted to keep something up their sleeves for a sequel, maybe it was in an original draft, maybe they just wanted to kill them without it being too graphic, I don’t know. I’m just the jackass who finds it darkly hilarious a godzilla-sized kaiju... went out drowning to death. I don’t have all the answers.

Rayburns home city was Stoker which naturally suffered a bit after loosing i’ts biggest draw but has started to recover and now has it’s big chance to make it back as they have a new beefy boy to promote: Tentacular, a giant handsome shark man with tranlucent tatoo like skin things played by Terry fucking Crews. I can’t belivie it’s taken almost two years to get to Terry on this blog but he’s FINALLY here. Terry Crews is a terrific man, a hell of an actor and utterly killed it with Brooklyn 99 as Terry Jeffords, cumilating in Terry breaking through the wall like the Kool-Aid Man.

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God I miss this show. So the town’s all happy for it with signs, merch and buzzing to the jimbo coyle memorial stadium. Chief among them is Winnie Coyle, Jimbo’s daughter played by Geraldine Viswanathan of Blockers.. where she played John Cena’s daughter. Yes really. The irony is not lost on me.

Winnie is a huge fan of her dad, monster wrestling and is essentially our surrogate as she prepares to enjoy the match. So we get our first proper match complete with entrance music! Which isn’t very good! Yeah let’s talk about that: Tentacular gets a very generic r and b song that feels like a studio mandate. It’s mostly galling because one of this films MANY production companies, seriously there’s like a full minute even for a modern movie it’s rediculous, is WWE Stuidios. And it’s not a passing sponsorship: while they didn’t take creative control far as I can tell we see a sign promoting a kaiju version of smackdown in one scene and one of the later matches has the NXT 1.0 logo in the background. Which is awkward given they’d switched, very infamously given they fired tons of stars and changed who ran it, to 2.0 the same year this ende dup coming out but still. Point is they coudl’ve leant them some good entrance music.

It’s not a budget thing either. That i’d be fine with except his oponent uses Fancy for his entrance after using Rue Britania to start. So they CAN afford lisecned tracks, they just either couldn’t, as I could see paramount picking some of the songs, or failed to use better ones. Like fancy is not a terrible song... but it’s just not a great ring entrance for the wrestler in question. When you have access to masterpieces like “Glorious”, “The Game” and “My Time is Now”, among SO many others at yoru fingers why the hell do you go with Fancy?

As for the opponent he’s one of my faviorite monsters of the film: King Gorge, a giant bulldog with bullhorns and whose also british... a LITERAL british bulldog. Though weirdly despite this refrence there’s only two kaiju here who refrence wwe history specifically, this being a refrence to Davey Boy Smith “The British Bulldog” and the other we’ll again get to.

And our beefy heroes bring up another of the films strengths: monster design. Each monster is unique, beauituflly animated and fun to look at. It makes it so each match no matter the length is never boring and always keeps your attention and it makes it so some have logical weaknesses to exploit. I REALLY wish this had gotten a video game tie in and hope it does some day as this would be REALLY fun to play if done properly. But to watch.. still fucking cool.

And the weakness thing is a major plot point as Winnie, having grown up around wrestling, can spot weaknesses. Thus when it seems Tentacular might loose, she runs down to point out a tell she noticed he has. She’s almost rebuffed by her dad’s old sidekick and sexist asshat Siggy, played by of all people Tony Danza. But Tentcular ignores him trying to play whose the boss and listens: Gorge has a tell when he’s about to ramp up: he licks his nose. So Tentacular uses that, suckers him and succesfully beats him

But as you probably guessed by the fact that the guy on the poster is NOT a bara terry crews shark... Tentacular isn’t a great guy. Not wanting to be overshadowed by rayburn. Tentacular announces despite having just won the championship and the town needing it he WON’T be repping Stoker and is moving to slitherpool. It’s a heck of a heel turn, nice work movie. I also didn’t peg Terry Crews as someone who’d be a great heel, he mostly plays nice guys, boisterious guys or boisoterous nice guys but he’s a fucking natural at it, and only gets better as tentacular gets more heelish. And what’s a good wrestling heel without a slimy manager. Thus we enter my boy Ben Fucking Schwartz as Jimothy-Bret Chadley III. But since that name is so dumb it warps the fabirc of time, space and my patience i’m just going to call him Jean Ralphio since he’s basically playing the character again just less horny. He’s an obnoxious rich kid with a lot of money whose parents barely tolerate him whose...

I mean Jimothy isn’t up to faking his own death or getting run over by a lexus levels of greatness but he could get there someday.

Anyways Jean-Ralphio’s family bought him a stadium in Slitherpool, fucking over Stoker and leaving everyone, Winnie in paticular devistated. Well maybe not more than fred who remodeld his diner sign to honor the guy who just peaced out with a rich kid to go work somewhere else. Fred is great by the way, he’s voiced by Monk and Wings alumnus Tony Shaloub.

Things are worse than that though as it turns out without a monster, the funding for the stadium goes away too and puts the towns jobs in jeapordy. So the mayor and city council.. are planning to sell it to put up a parking lot. Winnie is upset about this.. but while in theory they could get another monster in practice the town needs the money the sale would give to live so it seems stuck.

Okay two things about this. The first is simple:

THIS IS CONTRIVED AS ALL HELL

The monster wrestling world has to have even dumber laws than the kayfabe world of wrestling for this to BEGIN to make sense. And keep in mind THIS once happened in the world of wrestling

Yes i’m calling this dumber than a ladder match with a prize.. and for those of you not familiar with wrestling or this match.. yes this DID in fact happen. And THAT is still smarter than the time , RECENTLY Rey Rey lost an EYEBALL during a match in kayfabe. Yes again, really.

My point is an athlete being able to walk out, with no consequences, potetntail lawsuits or pentalites from Stoker or the various stadium backers makes no sense for anything OTHER than plot purposes. Sure sports teams leave.. but sports teams aren’t one person. Tentacular would get sued into oblivion. And yes I know he’s a giant sexy shark man who could just eat a human lawyer.. but this is a world where humans and monsters live side by side. That means that not only are there probably monster lawyers, not every monster wants to chokeslam i’m sure, but monsters are held to the same laws as humans. Within reason I mean there are probably allowances for accidently stepping on a car or something, it happens, but my point is there had to be a contract. This isn’t like in wrestling when a wrestler turns heel. And again look up, wrestling kayfabe law is fucking insane and nonsensical. You can bet anything on a wrestling match. Dominick Mysterio isn’t the only person to be bet on a wrestling match. Buff Bagwell’s MOTHER was the prize in one match, on a forklift rather than a poll but still.

But my problem with all this is all that shit has been wrestling being kinda nuts or neceisated on the dramatic payoff in situation being guys hitting each other with chairs. As such a LITTLE wiggle room is okay...again wrestling’s taken in in insane directions like “winner has to make his opponent loose his eye”, but still. This film is a wrestling film yes, so some bollocks betting is expected and is used for the climax.. but having this entire exit dosen’t

On top of that while most towns seem to have a monster, the fact is an open slot for a monster, especially from a town that has now produced TWO champions, would send tons of monsters flocking to fill the stadium. The film seems to forget , which is VERY werid given how much it understands wrestling, that a LOT of wrestlers.. grew up watching other wrestlers on tv. Looking up to them. Wanting to be them. So while Tentacular turns up his ... nose? Do sharks have noses? does it matter for a shark tentacle man? I don’t know. Point is while Tentacular scoffs at being in rayburn’s footsteps, tons of monsters would KILL to not only have a town to represent but for it to be RAYBURN’S town. Sure the coach they have now is an inexperinced 20 something.. but for a film that’s in part about the love of the game it forgets wrestlers are fine with working up the card. So the 90 day “get another monster” thing makes no sense to me when it shoudln’t be that hard to get a workable monster. It’d take time to get another champ sure.. but loosing the champ isn’t their fault and investors would rather get merch than a quick payout from something as stupid as a giant parking lot for a town in the middle of nowhere.

The second isn’t as frustrating but it is very noticiable

THIS FILM IS PACKED WITH SPORTS AND ANIMATION CLICHES TO A LUDICROUS DEGREE

Look while I feel animation is more of a medium than a genre the fact is, having seen 80 dozen animated family films in my life time they have certain narrative tropes writers like to use a lot, and some of those become cliches very quickly because they use them all the damn time. It’s simple storytelling.

So it’s impressive this film uses MOST of them, while also using one or two sports movie cliches for good measure because this is a wrestling movie after all and they love those as much as any sports movie.

And cliches can be used well and sometime their often used for good damn reason to the point you can’t do a film without them. This film has montages for instances but the fact is a sports film.. just isn’t the same without one and we all know it. And i’m not even a sports guy but it’s just something that’s baked into the genre. But here it comes off as a lazy way to avoid having to build a plot or deeper characters so they can focus on what they clearly care about: the world. And the world for this movie, as iv’e said, is fucking amazing. Without it this movie wouldn’t be as good as it is. Outside of that... headache above, it’s incredibly well thought out. But you can have a well thought out world AND a good story. Inside Out, Toy Story, Incredibles, films that aren’t pixar probably, they put in effort for the world AND tell a great story with it. This film is enjoyable, I don’t question that. But it COULD’VE been better if they put some effort in on the story and characters.

Instead that leaves me to use my faviorite tool the counting gag to show just HOW many, good and “oh god not this again” are baked into the film

So already from the setup of the film we have: young scrappy hero who no one belivies in, young scrappy hero who idolizes a dead parent and wants to be them, supportive mother for said hero, opening where a heroes dream falls apart after building up their expectations of finally making them, main villian who seems nice but is actually a dick (earlier than most but still counting it), comedic sidekick for said villian, crotchety old bastard who dosen’t like hero because they different, having to save the town, having to save the local sports team, having to save a thing from being demolished, no one but our hero and one or two other people beliving in saving said thing, the hero only having one parent left, a place that was once great but has now fallen on hard times or changed from what the hero remembers, bumbling rich idiot and the hero having to learn to not be the person they idolize but themselves or as spider-verse brilliantly put it “don’t do it like me, do it like you”.

So that’s

CLICHE COUNT: 13

You can see why I didn’t start the count till now as there’s SO many in just TWENTY MINUTES OF SCREEN TIME, yes 20 we haven’t even gotten into the meat of the film yet, that if I did it’d wreck the pacing. And you’d think “Well okay it’s just a bit frontloaded iwth them” but no it has more in the pocket. Yes somehow. I do like this flim but my god did they not put a lot of effort into making the story or characters feel fresh or new and given the budget, beautiful animation and wourld they damn well should’ve.

Anyway Winnie heads to go fetch them a monster, so we actually get to see the underground scene. Fitting WWE’s view of any promotion that isn’t them it’s a dingy fight club where anything goes. This is also where the Kayfabe comes in as these matches are predetermined... granted here it’s so the owner, Lady Mayhem, can fix the bets, but like real worked matches they still take a lot of altheticisim and it’s unclear if EVERY match is worked or not, but probably.

Winnie is taken with a female monster named Razorback, played by WWE and NXT Women’s champ winner and the boss Becky Lynch, who have I have the utmost repsect for.. and did not recognize in this film as she dosen’t use her regular voice so it’s a bit of a confusing cameo but hey, it’s still nice to have her. Razorback laughs winnie off, though unlike the other thing I get this: she’s making decent money, has fans, and would have to give all that up to play by regular rules and possibly loose. As we learn league matches are winner take all, so there’s a chance of not getting paid, something that just isn’t a problem here as long as you play by Lady Mayhem’s rules.

So Winnie is depressed and goes to a bar to get drunk... so she’s at least 21? Anyway the guy at the bar is a friendly fella who points out the monster he bet on in the current match, a big horned red guy played by Will Arnett... who Winnie recognizes. Turns out this guy is Rayburn Junior, now going by Stupendous Steve, and she played with him. Which itself is confusing.. not the size things, monsters start out pocket sized here and grow into being kaijus. He was like a toddler sized whent hey played. No what’s confusing is the characters are close to the same age in flashback or only a few years apart at most yet steve is played like a decade older than her. Again for a film with such tight world building the slips just make me pound my head into a desk that much more that they didn’t catch this or think this through.

Anyways naturally Winnie goes to talk to him, he tries to ignore her and the resulting mess causes steve to accidently win his match.. that he was supposed to and was trying to throw. Steve tries to run but gets stopped by a giant furry ball thing man, a great little onster deisgn and is forfced to confront lady mayhem whose mad the match got borked and wants her money back in 90s day or it’s his ass. And i’d say a wrestling promoter getting this thretaning over a mistake would be a bit much but A) this is an underground fighting ring, she can make her own rules and getting the money back is more important than whose fault it was. and B) This is how the actual owner of the actual biggest company acts.

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Vince McMahon Frightens Me Count : 1

And yes this is a promo.. but Vince ACTUALLY ACTS LIKE THIS BACKSTAGE. The only seperation between real vince and kayfabe vince is that each one commited diffrent crimes.

So Steve is understandably pissed at Winnie and not really into going home, given the whole changing his name and running away thing. But given he has a pissed off monster after him for money and 90 days to get it he has no other options so he reluctantly agrees.

Steve is played by Will Arnett himself.. who while having a penchant for manchildren in general.. is basically playing a younger bojack before he REALLY fucked up his life: he has issues with his dad, who in this case put way too much pressure on following his legacy (Something they needed to do more with honestly), is sarcastic, lazy and has a paunch belly. I’m not complaining mind: watching a giant kaiju bojack horseman is a good afternoon. Just an observation is all. So now once again it’s time for some more cliche counting! We have protaganist whose dad never understood them, main character is saddled with the best they can get, sarcastic jaded snarking male paired with peppy female who gets him to be a better person, villian with minon who is goofy yet suprisingly intimidating, secondary villian who is only in the plot to move it along and the one i’m suprised is a cliche, chacter character owing a lot of money or money substitute to a shady mob boss.

Cliche Count: 19

So this unlikely duo head back to Stoker. To get training. Also we get Winnie’s mom, and I almost forgot to include this, saying “use the monster you have not the monster you want”. Which one, phrasing, and two... you probably could’ve got this across without just yelling your point at the audience.

As you’d expect things don’t go great as the idea of getting up at 6 is foriegn to steve who flat out refuses. So Winnie decides to shove his words of “get me a match and i’ll do the rest” down his throat.. not literally, he’d probably swallow her by accident.

So to kick the guys ass into shape she books him a match. And the setting is really cool: it’s at a shiping yard with plenty of spectators at night, so it’s surrounded by boxes, having a sort of underground feel but without being underground like the last match. Feels like they slammed Ken and Zangiefs stages from Street Fighter II together honestly, shit’s awesome.

His opponent is Ramarilla Jackson

A... well gorilla. NOt a lot of ram in him though weirdly. You’d think with the name. But he’s got hammer like hands so he has SOMETHING going for him. Winnie tries coaching steve who rebuffs her... till he tries to play it like he does and play dead. After going back to his corner Winnie announces the catch: as I mentioned earlier Monster Wrestling Matches are winner take all. So while the cash payout is enormous you get nothing from jobbing. And this structure does make sense: it gives every match stakes as the winner gets paid and gurantees a decent sized match. Squash matches, i.e. one wrestler steamrolling another, have their place and are a staple of the industry.. but they just don’t work in a version of it with such a small roster: ther’es likely only so many registered towns (Jimothy-Ralphio had to get his parents to buy him a staidum and stadiums irl are expensive so imagine them for kaiju) so having them get clocked in 12 seconds dosen’t work. So Steve has to actually put in effort, which terrifies him. With ya man. But Winnie has a plan

No really, she pegs Ramarilla has having great offense but no stamina. Hence if steve can just keep away from him long enough he’ll tire out and Steve will net the W. It’s not PRETTY.. but they also don’t have any other options. So steve runs around the ring, sadly not to yakkity sax, and even though he ends up on top of the containers running from ramarilla at one point.. he still wins. Technically. This also brings us to our next cliche, a character winning their first match or whatever in a sports movie entrely by luck or circumstance despite doing really bad.

Cliche Count: 20

The match dosen’t go over well though as we get one of the films handful of talking heads segment. Though sadly instead of getting actually wrestling color commentary people for this.. they got two guys I haven’t heard of as a giant angler fish type kaiju and his black human cohost. The Angler guy is a likeable enough guy, rooting for our heroes while his human pal.. lis an angry dick who constnatly raves about how “this isn’t really wrestling”. And he’s one of the more annoying parts of the film as if I wanted to hear some guy say “this isn’t wrestling” without it being funny intresting or anyhting i’d go refollow Jim Cornette. And yes the irony that a character whose a strawman for guys like Cornette is black does not escape me.

So while running worked once they have to up their game but once again, as you’d expect things don’t go well which means it’s time to up the count as it’s time for the two to have a blow up followed by an emotional moment that helps them connect better.

Cliche Count: 21

Again I don’t hate these tropes, this one’s fine, but i’ve seen it in so many animated movies. IN this case Winnie keeps trying to make Steve follow his dads old plays and train like him till he snaps.. and accidnetly blows away the book. To his credit though, he apologizes and the film does give us a valid reason this dosen’t work for him: during the training earlier he gets a flashback where his dad tried to railroad him into doing his moves, being kind of a dick about it.

And this has given steve a complex as he explains: He ran away from stoker for the same reasons Tentacular strutted away: he was tired of being compared to his dad. It creates a nice contrast between the two: Both have a valid wish in NOT wanting to be compared to Rayburn constantly. The diffrence is how they went about it. Steve left sure, but he left when Stoker had another monster, was disappointing nobody and simply wanted to find his own path away from his dad. He did it unhealthily, fight clubbing and hiding , but you can’t blame him after having what had to be a pretty shitty childhood being constantly told “you have to live up to my legacy son!” and never allowed to be himself.

Tentacular by contrast IS allowed to be himself.. but is so insecure and resentful of his town having a history before him, of not being THE center of attnetoin but the succesor to an all time great, of being just SLIGHTLY in someone’s shadow, something he’d likely of crawled out of with time.. .he abandons a bunch of people who NEED him just to satisfy his own ego. Just to be the best and spite a guy he likely never knew simply because he HAS to be center of attention nor nobody is.

And it’s why Winnie eases up on Steve: he still needs to train and shape up sure, but she now sees she was trying way too hard to be her own dad. Sure JImbo didn’t abuse her.. but she’s not him and Steve’s not rayburn and if she wants to save her town.. she has to start thinking like herself and let Steve be himself.

So she starts over, asking what steve enjoys. And after relatable answers like napping and sitting, he gives one that’s also relatable, even if he’s far better at it than me: dancing. While naturally as you’d expect he denys it , which gives us another one as “character has goofy passion they deny that gives them the

Cliche Count: 22

Still it works. As Winnie notes wrestling is mostly footwork. And other things but she’s not wrong, so she simply translates that into dancing, which not only gets steve actually motivated, but bonds the two as we finally get a proper training montage

Cliche Count: 23

There’s another montage later, but i’m only counting for the one. Just because it happens twice dosen’t mean i’m going to double it’s spot on the count. So steves next match against a lucha style lizard man goes much better as his salsa means steve can easily dodge, and dances his way to a victory and the pin. It’s geninely charming and fun to watch.

My issue with it is more the commentary guy I mentioned: he just wont’ stop raving about how “dancing isn’t wrestling”. One Fandango, Tyler Breeze, Disco Inferno, Brodius Clay and Too Cool would like to have words with you and two... it comes off as whining over a gimmick that’s not tha tbad and is unique and intresting, with Steve showing real dancing tequnique while being badass. Besides i’ve seen and heard of SO many gimmicks that are worse. And since I got you here

Let’s do this.

We have Akeem the African Dream, a white man pretending to be a black man in a dashiki, Kerwin White, a latino man forced to pretend to be a white man, Beaver Clevage, you don’t want to know and if you do.. i’m so sorry, Paul Vergil, first a pirate then incest, Issac Yankem DDS, the Repo Man, both self explaintory, Sparky Plug, the nascaar driver/wrestler, Bastion Booger, he nasty, Atom Bomb, he from the future, Arachniman, guess, Hornswoggle, he’s a leprechaun, Lumberjack WIlliam Regal, HE’S A MAN, SUCH A MAN, Mike Awesome as both the fat chick thriller and that 70′s guy, again both self explantiory, Hugh G. Rection, yes really, The Booty Man, again YES REALLY, Zodiac, who befor eyou say “that sounds kind of cool” he went yes no yes, THE YETAAAYYYy, who was actually a mummy, and the king of all thorughly stupid , throughlly laughed at , throughly questionable gimmicks, THE SHOCKMASTER!

youtube

I have no words, such poetry. And so many questions. Even if he HADN’T fell over the wall.. he’s still a paunchy man in a glittery stormtrooper helmet and black vest who sounds like dr.claw. Just one of these thigns woudln’t hurt his drawing power but why all at once?

So yeah we get a montage as steve gets in shape and fights more opponents the major one being Jokerzuna, basically gamera combined with yokozuna, a sumo wrestler wwe legend. Since he’s a big boy, Steve has to practice with Razorback to be able to life him dirty dancing style, allowing steve to eventaully win.

So our heroes are on the up and even get a match with Gorge... it’s because Gorge is still traumatized form his last loss but still.

Then thigns take a turn as the mayor and councilwoman decided to sell anyway because fuck this plot making any sense. Like.. you guys HAVE the monster now, even if he’s a comedy babyface, he’s still a mo nster. They can’t legally pull the money. That was the problem.

Also “shockingly” given he hasn’t been in the film for an hour despite being the obvious final boss, Tentacular is behind it, wanting to tkae his petty wrestling dickery from regular heel to “ric flair buying hulk hogan’s orphanage on baywatch” levels of heel by ruining the town. The mayor agrees and even lets jimothy sign it on his back and Winnie is left crushed by everyone being stupid. Like.. you get more money from having a monster you can slwoly make a champ than a fucking parking lot. and your selling to someone obviously and transparently shady! Just find another billionare who WANTS a monster fighting franchise and let him buy it!

So both me and Winnie get some and while Steve TRIES to help her, she’s down which leads to him going back to pay his debts and her moping, so we hit another as we get “the heroes have a falling out and things are really bad”.. only really stupidly handeled because them going bad makes no sense and Steve has no reason to go back to throwing fights or any motivation too anymore. Paying his old boss back? Sure, but why does he go back there? Why any of this?

God my head hurts, so point is Steve comes back and after getting jabbed in the eye, makes his own inspirisng speech to winnie, pointing out he dosen’t want to go back to who he was, and even if they loose the stadium.. they have each other. He wants to be a better person and knows she has it in her.. and he actually has a plan to save things.

So as Jimothy Ralphio gets booed and Tentacular prepares to blow it up real good.. nothing happens

Naturally our heroes stopped it, with Steve making an entrance and offering a match: he wins, Tentacular dosen’t tear it down. Tentacular, who choked steve earlier, laughs it off at first.. till steve reveals himself as Rayburn Jr, taking back his dad’s name. Not for a legacy or because of the pressure.. but because it’s the only way to help his friend.

And thus he offers Tentacular the one thing he can’t turn down: a chance to completely and utterly destroy rayburns legacy and once and for all remove him form his predecessors shadow. It’s also a brilliant play: even if Tentacular wasn’t such an egotistical manchild that he coudln’t resisit the chance to beat up the closest thing he has to rayburn and prove himself once and for all, and he does not, given there’s news coverage of this event, hence every character we’ve met finds out the reveal about steve, Tentacular will look weak if he dosen’t honor the bet, and it means Winnie can book it in stoker, so the town likewise gets a GIANT match with all the buisness that comes with it: the prodigal son of rayburn himself versus the man who wants to bury his legacy. It’s a perfectly built build for this match and awesome as hell. And since the bet is ONLY for Steve to go three rounds (Winnie got excited), the town gets it’s money either way: if they win and keep the stadium, they now have a monster who just surivived three rounds with the champ and lived and whose the son of their biggest hero. He’s both guarnatteed a future title shot and bigger matches from this. If he looses.. well the contract isn’t void then and they still get the money needed to keep going. But it still works because the stakes are personal: our heroes are fighting for their dad’s legacies and for themselves against someone we want to see go down. And often.. that’s what makes a good wrestling match. The belts nice but it’s the beef between the two fighting over it, the struggle to get there tha makes it FEEL gigantic. Also big bet based entirely on a sports match

Cliche Count: 24

That said while this was a big swing Winnie isn’t dumb: She knows Tentacular is a massive step up from the mid carders and low carders they’ve been facing. Thankfully the town bands together and makes a neat obstacle choice. So we get a training montage.. sadly not set to I get knocked down as is teased as the song peters out after Steve gets knocked down but it still works.

The town thing is eh for me though: While I like them coming together they never feel like a character, something you need for this film.

So steve trains, cleverly using some shipping boxes to simulate the tentacles and runs a gauntlet before running up a hill while winnie tries to kill him with a forklift, ole. He wins and IT’S TIME FOR YOUR MAIN EVENT. RABOGRRGLE

The atmosphere is tense, thigns are set, let’s do it to it: So Steve gets the only proper entrance music of th emovie, a salsa version of eye of the tiger. A bit of an easy choice for the song being covered sure.. but it’s so damn cool I can’t help but love it. Tentacular gets another nothing song and we GET READY TO RUMBLLLLE complete with Micheal buffer, the guy who made up that catchphrase. Before the match Steve has a bout of nerves both due to seeing his dad on the banners in the stadium and his opponent. So Winnie gives him a rousing speech (Steve told her not to earlier then wonders why she didn’t before now because it helps), pointing out how far he’s come and how he’s his own monster and can win this by being himself and you know the rest. Oh almost forgot, be yourself moral

Cliche Count: 25

This pumps him up and round one goes their way, with steve dancing through the danger and dodging everything. But then things get clever as instead of just having tentacular counter it normally, finally taking the match seriously etc. But no smartly the narrative dosen’t have his own arrogance be his downfall like you’d expect. I mean that trope works, just ask Vlad Masters, but here they went with something that works better: tentacular and old man whose name i’m not bothering to look up more than once thought ahead. Thus when Steve tries salsaing away next round.... Tentacular TANGOES with him. Besides giving us furries what we asked for it’s a damn clever twist, showing that as much as they dont’ LIKE the whole dancing gimmick, Tentacular isn’t above learning it. It also shows that while Winnie netted him the championship.. this guy DID earn it himself. He’s a dick sure, but he’s not an incomptient dick.

He also chokes steve, again because that was clearly someone on the team’s thing, and is forced to let go with old man whose name I dont’ care about urging Winnie to give up. SHe almost does... but Steve dosen’t want her to. Even if he’s at risk of getting hurt worse.. he wants to try. It’s not about the stadium, or about jimbo, it’s about the two of them proving they can do this.

So he lets Winnie actually coach him, using a combo of his agility and dancing ablility with actual wrestling moves. THis leads to a REALLY awesome and tense third act: while, let’s face it, we know their going to win, this movie isn’t rocky after all, the film does what a good wrestling match does: has you buy into the narrative: you dn’t FEEL that steve’s win is guarnateed so you buy totally into it hoping for him to.

The finish is equally spectacular.. and kind of hilaroius. Steve tries to do an elbow drop, tentacular throws a chair.. except it’s people sized so it instead goes flying past him and only hits him in teh eye scausing him to tumble over. But even with that our two combatants are too exausted and it’s down to if they can even stand. Tents can, but it seems like Steve is out.. until the crowd starts clapping in time thanks to winnie’s mom, the beat slowly rasing him as the croud chants “RAYBURN JUINOR (CLAP CLAP) RAYBURN JUNIOR”

Steve gets up and does his dad’s finishing move on a dazed and shocked tentacular, winning the match, saving the stadium.. and to his shock WINNING the championship. Tentacular is left beaten and in disbelief, Jim-Ralphio gets hit with a chair in one of the best gags of the film and we end with a dance party.

Cliche Count: 26

Still for once this one works as.. what else were they gonna do? Honestly.

Final Thoughts:

Rumble is FAR from a perfect film. As the count up there suggests ther’es a lot of well trod ground and some very annoyingly baffling plot points. But despite this.. it’s still really fun. It truly loves wrestling and celebrates it, the animation is gorgeous and the cast is great. IT’s a truly fun movie if not a great one and I genuinely want it to get a paramount+ spinoff series. Wrestling is perfecctly built for a show a week format and there’s tons more to do from here: where does Steve go from here? whose he fight next? what next level opponents does he fight now? Who from his past will come out of the woodworks now he’ scome out as Rayburn jr? How do he and Winnie handle the pressure of being #1 in the world. What’s tentacular do now? Lots of good questions, please answer them. So yeah not the best film.. but I had fun anyway and if you love wrestling or will arnett, then you’ll enjoy taking three rounds with this film.

If you enjoyed this review and want to see me step into the ring for some more, follow this blog, consider joining my patreon to help keep it going, and follow me on twitter. Thanks for reading, see ya real soon and until next time.. a winner is you.

23 notes · View notes

purrincess-chat · 3 years ago

Text

Marinette Dupain-Cheng’s Spite Playlist: Remix CH23

There’s a lot happening in this chapter XD Poor Eliott. I have a surprise for everyone next chapter. I hope you’re all ready for it! See you next Friday!

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Chapter 23: Break Free

“Help!”

“Why? What’s wrong?” Marinette clutched her purse. “Is there an akuma?”

“Worse,” Eliott moaned. “Lisette asked me on a date, and I kind of accidentally said yes.”

Marinette breathed a sigh of relief and rolled her eyes. “Eliott, that’s not an emergency.”

“Yeah, don’t scare me like that!” Macy swatted his arm.

“Sorry.” Eliott winced.

“So, why is having a date with Lisette a bad thing? I thought you liked her,” Martin said.

“Well, yeah, but that doesn’t mean I want to go out with her!” Eliott replied.

“I’m confused.” Martin turned to Macy, who sighed.

“Eliott is the most flirtatious person in school, but he malfunctions when people flirt back.” She explained.

Eliott collapsed onto the couch with a groan, burying his face in his hands. “What am I gonna do?”

“You can always back out if you don’t want to go.” Marinette suggested while preparing the tea.

“That’s just it. I do want to go.” Eliott sighed. “I like Lisette—more than I thought I would. She’s smart and funny and down-to-earth. I’ve just never been on a date before.”

Marinette carried a tray over and set it on the coffee table, plopping down beside him. “I’m sure you’ll be fine. Lisette is nice.”

“What are you two going to do?” Martin asked.

“We’re going to a movie.”

“Eli, that’s the easiest date ever. You just sit in silence for two hours,” Macy said pointedly.

“But what if I spill my drink in my lap? Or in her lap? Or what if I trip over my shoelaces or start sweating really badly-” Eliott was spiraling faster than Marinette usually did with Adrien.

“Eliott, none of those things are going to happen. Just relax, and you’ll be fine.” When Eliott remained quiet, Marinette placed a hand on his shoulder. “I know you’re scared, but I talked to Lisette at her party a few weeks ago. She’s really sweet, and I can tell she really likes you.”

“I guess…” Eliott sighed.

“You’re the smoothest guy I know. Girls at school actually swoon when you walk by.” Macy took a seat on his other side. “Marinette is right. You’ll be fine.”

“I’m just so nervous. I really like Lisette, and I don’t want to screw anything up.” He lowered his gaze to his lap, and Macy pursed her lips.

“Tell you what, why don’t we turn it into a group date? I’ll take Martin, and Marinette can ask Adrien. That way we’ll all be there for you if you start to get nervous.” Macy suggested.

“Marinette can ask who?” Heat spread rapidly across her cheeks. Things with Adrien were certainly escalating, but Marinette wasn’t sure she was confident enough to make the first move!

“Oh, don’t you start!” Macy giggled. “Looks like Martin and I are going to be supporting both of you nervous Nancys.”

Martin’s cheeks darkened three shades, but he didn’t protest. Eliott wasn’t the only one panicking now. How did this happen?

“I don’t want to drag you guys into this if you don’t want to,” Eliott said.

Marinette eyed him with pursed lips. It wasn’t that long ago that her old friends were helping her plot scheme-after-scheme to win Adrien over. When she’d been afraid, they had her back. Even if they were gone now, Marinette could still extend the same support to her new friends. Besides, Adrien might finally be able to kiss her—that would be a dream!

Taking a deep breath, Marinette offered Eliott a smile.

“We’re your friends. We’ve got your back,” she said.

“Thanks, Marinette. Sorry I crashed your celebration.” Eliott flicked his gaze down to the macarons on the tray.

Marinette pulled him in for a tight hug, and Macy and Martin joined in. Eliott relaxed in their arms. The past few months had been a rollercoaster for better and worse. Marinette had lost friends, gained friends, been presented with opportunities she only ever dreamed of. With Adrien closer to her than ever, she was finally starting to feel at ease, and although Lila’s threats still loomed over her, they were drifting further away. Marinette was burying her past more than ever, and soon enough, she was going to break free.

♪♫♪ New Romantics ♪♫♪

“Evening, m’lady. How is the prettiest girl in the world?” Adrien grinned when she answered his video call.

Marinette leaned back in her desk chair, her knitting abandoned in her lap much like Adrien’s Chinese notecards were in his. It had been a few days since Eliott’s meltdown, and she still hadn’t asked Adrien to be her date. Time was running out, but how could she ask the cutest boy in the world on a date when he said things that made her so flustered? Adrien had gotten bolder with his compliments, even slipping in the occasional pet name, and it made her brain all floaty. Although, this one was her least favorite...

“She’s fine, but are you really going to call me that?”

“What’s wrong with m’lady? You don’t like it?” His perfect eyebrows knitted together.

“It’s…okay. I just think other names are cuter,” she said.

What was it with blond boys calling her m’lady? She finally got Chat Noir to stop calling her that, she didn’t need Adrien to start now.

“Well, what would you prefer I call you?” he asked, those green eyes hooding in a way that made her heart skip. Why did he have to be so gorgeous?

“You can call me whatever you want. Just not m’lady.” She crossed her arms over her chest, cheeks burning.

“Hmm.” Adrien studied her. “Well, I could call you my incredibly beautiful, angelic, and talented goddess, but that’s a little long.”

“Only a little.” She giggled.

He tapped his chin. “How about my radiant queen? My sweet macaron? Mon ange?”

Marinette’s head was spinning. She had hoped to get over her nerves when she and Adrien started dating, but as it turned out, she wasn’t prepared for all the attention at all.

Adrien chuckled when she covered her rosy cheeks with her hands, leaning against his fist with a soft smile.

“I suppose I’m getting ahead of myself. I haven’t even taken you on a proper date yet. I need to earn the right to call you those things,” he said.

Now was her chance.

“Um, actually, I wanted to ask you…” She pressed her palms together between her knees to hide how the shook. “See, Eliott has a date this Saturday, and he’s super nervous, so we all promised to make it a group date to support him. I was hoping if you were free that…you could be my date?”

“Okay.”

“I mean, it’s mostly just to support Eliott, so it’s not an actual date-date. Eliott just didn’t want to go alone, and we’re his friends, so we just want to make sure he feels comfortable. N-Not that I wouldn’t go out on a real date with you! I’d love to, if you wanted, and I guess this could count as a real date, but if you wanted to go on a date with just the two of us, that would be fine too. We could always pick a different day, and-”

“I’d love to be your date this weekend,” Adrien said.

Marinette breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh. Well, then awesome!”

“I’ll beg Nathalie to rearrange my schedule, so I can free up some time.” He promised.

“Kay.” Marinette tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear with a smile. “I hope you can come. I mean, Eliott really needs us, but also I want to… I’d be really happy if we got to spend time together.”

“Me too.”

“Adrien, I-” Her chest tightened, declarations shooting from her lungs to her lips, but Marinette caught them on her tongue. Out of all of her confession attempts, this time she was sure he’d reciprocate, but it didn’t feel right to say it now. A more cowardly Marinette would have confessed over video call, but she was done hiding behind cards and voice messages. These feelings were her most prized possession, and when she finally shared them with Adrien, she wanted to do it in person.

“Um,” she said. “I guess, I’ll see you Saturday?”

“I’ll do everything I can to be there.” He bit his lip. “See you soon, mon ange.”

“Yeah, see you soon.”

♪♫♪ Into You ♪♫♪

“How do I look?” Eliott asked.

“The same way you did five minutes ago,” Macy said pointedly.

Eliott paced the length of the sidewalk outside the movie theater where Marinette sat with Macy and Martin, tugging at his collar.

“Do I have anything in my tee-”

“Nope.” Macy cut him off.

“Eliott, you look great. No one’s as smooth as you, so just relax.” Marinette meant to be reassuring, but it didn’t pause his pacing.

Marinette leaned back, letting the sun warm her cheeks. Puffy, white clouds feathered the clear blue sky—the perfect weather for a date. She checked her phone again and bit her lip.

Nathalie cleared my afternoon today, so I’ll see you soon, mon ange!

Adrien would be arriving soon too. Their first date! It was finally happening. How many nights had she lied awake dreaming of this day? They’d gotten closer in the last month since she left. It was odd, but maybe it was true when they said absence made the heart grow fonder. Adrien certainly seemed interested in her now, calling her cute nicknames and complimenting her more frequently. She was starting to get used to it, or at least, she didn’t foam at the mouth whenever he flirted now. It was progress, considering she could barely talk to him a few months ago.

“Town car at 3 o’clock. Deep breaths, Eliott,” Macy said. She stood up and brushed the dust from her shorts. “You’re going to be fine. We’re all here for you.”

Marinette and Martin joined them as Lisette’s chauffeur opened her door, and two adorable blonde buns crawled out in a pink dress. Eliott stiffened, and Macy elbowed him. When he didn’t move, Macy rolled her eyes and stepped forward.

“Hey, Lisette. I love your dress,” she said.

“Thanks!” Lisette fluffed her skirt.

“Don’t you think she looks cute, Eliott?” Macy urged.

“Uhh, yeah, it’s fine.” Eliott rubbed the back of his neck.

Two hands pinched Marinette’s sides, and she startled, nearly dropping her phone into the gutter. Skilled hands caught her phone and spun her around without missing a beat, mischievous green eyes twinkling with amusement.

“Boo!”

“Adrien!” She flailed against his chest, and he shifted his weight to steady her. How was he always so graceful? “You scared me!”

“Sorry. I couldn’t resist.” He chuckled, leaning his forehead against hers. “Forgive me?”

“This time,” Marinette said.

Adrien placed a soft kiss to her knuckles. “It’s good to see you.”

Before Marinette could get too worked up, Macy cleared her throat.

“Okay, looks like everyone is here. Shall we head inside?” She gestured to the theater.

Adrien’s hand brushed hers as they walked, timid and inquisitive. Marinette’s cheeks warmed, and she mustered the courage to slip her hand in his. Adrien twined their fingers, giving her palm an affectionate squeeze.

Another set of hands gripped their shoulders, and Eliott burst between them, shoving them apart.

“So, I was thinking for seating arrangements that we could do guys on one side and girls on the other,” he said.

“Or-” Macy interjected, leaning against the concessions counter- “you could sit by Lisette, and Marinette and I can sit by Adrien and Martin.”

“Another idea: Why don’t I sit between you and Marinette, then Lisette can sit on Marinette’s other side, and Martin and Adrien can sit together?” Eliott countered.

“Actually, I agree with Macy. I want to sit by Marinette.” Adrien took her hand again.

“Tell you what, why don’t Adrien and Marinette sit on the end, then Martin and I can sit next to you and Lisette in the middle.” Macy proposed.

“I think that sounds fair,” Lisette said, flashing Eliott a shy smile.

“Uhh, yeah. That could work, I guess…” He shoved his hands in his pockets.

“Great!” Macy beamed.

After purchasing their concessions, they made their way to their theater. Adrien held the door open for Marinette with a gentlemanly bow, and she bit back a smile. The theater was sparsely populated, giving them no shortage of seats near each other. Macy led the way to a row in the middle and ensured that everyone abided by the seating arrangements.

Eliott hesitated by his seat, shifting his weight. “Uh, I’m going to run to the bathroom, so I don’t have to get up during the movie.”

“Okay.” Lisette smiled up at him.

“Hurry back.” Macy gave him a stern look as he scurried back up the aisle.

Adrien gathered a few popcorn kernels and tried to catch them in his mouth. Marinette giggled after each failed attempt which only egged him on. When he finally caught one, he bowed theatrically, and she offered him a soft clap. He cast her a playful smirk, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Ya know, that was pretty impressive. I’d say I deserve a reward,” he said.

“What kind of reward?” Marinette asked, heart skipping a beat.

“Well, I have one in mind, but a gentleman always asks first.” He leaned in, eyelids hooding. “Will you reward me, mon ange?”

Marinette cupped his jaw in one hand, savoring how it made his breath hitch. Did she make his heart skip too? She’d never considered what physical reactions Adrien had to her. What thoughts kept him up at night?

Tilting her head, she closed her eyes, but before their lips touched, clumsy hands scrambled at their legs. They separated, cheeks hot as Eliott crawled over them to his seat.

“Sorry!” he whispered as the lights dimmed.

Adrien wasn’t deterred by the interruption. As the previews began, he draped an arm around Marinette’s shoulders, and she leaned against his chest. It felt as perfect as she’d always dreamed, but Marinette’s bliss was short-lived when Eliott tripped over Macy into her lap.

“Hey! Sorry, uh, do you guys have any napkins?” he asked.

“No, we didn’t grab any.” Marinette shook her head.

“Okay, I’m just gonna run out and get some.” Eliott climbed over Adrien.

Marinette and Macy exchanged concerned looks. It wasn’t the only time Eliott got up during the movie. First it was napkins, then he wanted the same kind of chocolate Marinette bought. Next, he needed a drink refill, then he needed to go to the bathroom because he chugged all of his refill.

“Where are you going now?” Macy hissed, tugging his shirt the next time he got up.

“Another refill.” He waved his empty cup.

Macy facepalmed.

“Fine. I’ll go.” She snatched the cup away from him and pointed to his seat. “Go. Sit.”

Eliott slumped back to his seat with a pout, and Macy slid up the aisle, grumbling to herself.

“Poor Eliott. He’s so nervous, he can’t even stay in his seat,” Marinette whispered.

“I don’t think he’s sat for longer than five minutes the whole time.” Adrien added.

To prove his point, Eliott moved back up the aisle. Since Macy was gone refilling his drink, Marinette was in charge.

“Where are you going?” she asked.

“Bathroom.”

“You just went twenty minutes ago,” Marinette said pointedly.

“I drank a lot of soda!” He shot back.

“The movie’s almost over. Can’t you wait?” She glanced at Lisette who was eyeing their exchange with furrowed brows.

“I pee a lot when I’m nervous! Marinette, please don’t make me pee my pants on a date.” Eliott pressed his palms together.

Another patron shushed them, and at Marinette’s permissive sigh, Eliott sprinted from the theater. Lisette sank in her seat, leaning against her fist. Marinette flicked her gaze between Lisette, Adrien, and the exit. She turned to Adrien, an apology on her lips, but he flashed her an understanding smile.

“Go.” He pressed a soft kiss to her knuckles. Why did he have to be so perfect?

She rose from her seat and chased after Eliott, her knuckles still tingling. As much as it pained her to leave Adrien, Eliott needed her more. He was curled into a ball outside the theater door when Marinette found him.

“Hey.” She placed a hand on his shoulder. “You okay?”

He peeked up at her with tortured eyes.

“No. I’m totally freaked! I can’t sit still for longer than ten seconds without feeling like I’m gonna throw up. I haven’t been this nervous since my first audition.” He lowered his head with a sigh. “Maybe I’m not cut out for dating.”

“Don’t say that.” Marinette chided. When he buried his face in his knees, she sat beside him. “If it makes you feel any better, I used to be the same way with Adrien. I could barely get two words out around him. My legs would get so jittery and gelatin-like that I could barely walk. I thought for sure he’d think I was insane, but ya know what? He never minded.”

She leaned her head back with a smile. “And now today, he and I almost kissed, and I was totally fine. Which, by the way, you so owe me for interrupting.”

“Sorry.” Eliott sighed. He stretched his legs out in front of him and leaned his head back to mirror Marinette’s position. “I feel like I ruined everything today.”

“There’s still time to save it,” Marinette said, “and you can always try again. I can’t tell you how many times I screwed up with Adrien. If Lisette really is the right person for you, then things will work out. The right people stay by your side, no matter how crazy you look.”

“Yeah, I guess.” He tapped his feet together. “I just really like Lisette, and it freaks me out. I’ve never really felt like this before. It’s all…new.”

“Maybe you should tell her that. I’m sure she’ll understand.” Marinette prompted.

Eliott offered her a smile, standing up and helping her to her feet. He pulled her in for a tight hug, leaning his head against hers. “Thanks, Marinette. I’ll reserve a romantic do-over date for you and Adrien.”

“I just want you to be happy, Eliott. We all do. That’s why we came along today,” Marinette said. “We’re always here for you.”

“I know. I’m really lucky to have friends like you and Macy.” Eliott pulled back with a sigh. “She’s going to kill me later.”

“Or she could do it right now.” Macy pressed the cold cup to his cheek, and Eliott flinched away with a yelp. “I see you got up again.”

“Yeah, sorry.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “But I think I’m good now. Marinette calmed me down.”

“Good. Let’s go back in and-” Macy’s voice trailed off as people started exiting their theater. “Don’t tell me-”

When Adrien, Martin, and Lisette walked out, Eliott slumped.

“Movie’s over,” Adrien said with a wince.

“That’s okay! Why don’t we all go get ice cream! I looked up Andre’s location while I was standing in line for drinks. He’s not that far from here.” Macy held up her phone.

“I could go for some ice cream.” Adrien glanced at Marinette with a smile.

“Yeah, ice cream sounds great.” Eliott echoed, casting Lisette a shy smile.

When they made it outside, Marinette slipped her hand into Adrien’s, twining their fingers together once more. Eliott was ahead of them chatting with Macy and Martin, so there was no risk of being interrupted. But… If Macy and Martin were with Eliott, where was Lisette?

Marinette stopped in her tracks, dropping Adrien’s hand as she spun around. Lisette hadn’t moved from the curb outside the theater. She picked at loose threads on her skirt, head low. Marinette abandoned Adrien for the second time, and Lisette looked up with a frown as she approached.

“You were wrong,” Lisette said.

“What?”

“About Eliott. I don’t think he likes me at all.” Lisette clarified.

“No! Eliott is just nervous.” Marinette insisted.

“I was nervous too! I kept telling myself that he said yes for a reason, but he’s barely even looked at me all day. I just can’t, Marinette.” Her big brown eyes bubbled with tears as a silver car rolled to a stop in front of them. “I’ll see you later.”

“Wait! Don’t go!” Marinette pleaded. Her head snapped up, eyes widening in horror. “Lisette, look out!”

#mdcspr #my writing

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fingergunsbidean · 4 years ago

Text

A Journey in Bisexuality

Word Count: 4.3k Pairings: Dean/Castiel (main), Dean/OMC, Dean/Lee, Dean/Garth Warnings: Underage feelings for Harrison Ford, internalized homophobia, mentions of homophobia but no homophobic actions are done towards Dean, drunken kissing, NSFW elements but no smut, alcoholism implied, and mentions of John Winchester’s A+ parenting, but no actual interactions with him. Summary: A character study of Dean and his journey with discovering and accepting his bisexuality.

Note: I was NEVER actually planning on posting this. I’m NOT a fic writer lol. I actually wrote this as a self paragraph in a 1x1 ten months ago, but I thought we could all use some Dean going to therapy and healing after that finale, so here we are.

Dean is fourteen when he starts looking at Harrison Ford differently. It’s not just him, it’s all his favorites, but right now it’s all about Harrison Ford.

His dad is on a hunt in the next town over, leaving Sam and Dean in some cheap motel. For once, he’s not itching to join him, because the local cable is having an all day Harrison Ford marathon, starting with Star Wars and ending with Indiana Jones.

He’s always admired the guy. He’s good looking, knows how to handle a gun, wears an awesome hat, and always wins the hot girl in the end.

The thing is that Dean always wanted to be him, and as he watches Indi somersault out of the way of an oncoming boulder, he still does, but there’s something more there tonight that he hasn’t noticed in the past.

His cheeks feel flushed and there’s heat tickling underneath his skin. At first, he thinks he’s getting a fever or something and moves over to the other bed, just in case he’s contagious.

The space does nothing to help Dean though, and his pink cheeks grow bright red when Indiana kisses Willie in Temple of Doom. As the music swells, and he lowly says the words “primitive sexual practices,” Dean finds that he’s picturing himself in Willie’s place, with Harrison Ford looming over him and dipping down to kiss him deeply.

The realization of what he’s doing crashes into him, leaving him a little sick to his stomach as he snatches the remote and turns the TV off abruptly. He swallows roughly to chase away the sick feeling and gives Sam a feigned apologetic look.

“I–uh–think I’m gettin’ sick or something. I’m going to bed,” He says. But hours after the lights are turned off and he’s buried under the covers, he’s still wide awake.

⚤ ⚤ ⚤ ⚤

Dean is seventeen, and this is the longest they’ve stayed in one place since he watched their house in Lawrence disappear from the backseat in the Impala.

When their dad took on a pretty big case in Florida, he left the Sam and Dean with Bobby, and then…just kind of left them there. It’s been three months. At first he was pissed. He’s old enough to go on hunts with his dad. He’s been on plenty, while Sam was safely hidden away in a motel.

“You gotta watch over Sammy,” John said, like he always does when Dean asks to go.

It felt like a shitty excuse at the time, but now he can’t imagine being away from his little brother this long, and while he’ll never admit it, he’s glad he left them with Bobby.

For the first time, Dean actually knows the names of the other kids in his class. He has decent grades, and he’s even considering trying out for the baseball team.

Sammy seems happy too. Dean has seen the poor kid get ripped away from school after school, trying to keep his sobs quiet in the backseat as their dad drove away from yet another town. He hates himself for thinking of it, but when he sees how settled Sam is at Bobby’s, he hopes their dad doesn’t come back.

And maybe he’s happy too, and he tries not to feel guilty, but it’s not like his dad will ever know. Whenever he shows up for them, Dean will follow with a “yes, sir,” like he always does.

Until then, he just lets himself be a normal seventeen year old for once. He even found a group of friends and everything, a few guys from his gym class. There’s Matt, Jordan, and Aaron with the too blue eyes, or at least that’s what he calls him in his head. As if he’d ever have the nerve to call him that aloud.

Thoughts about boys creep up on him like itch, dull at first but the more he ignores it the more insistent it becomes. When he first noticed these…feelings, he told himself, “It’s a celebrity crush, it’s fine. Everyone gets those.” But then it grew into, “It’s just some stranger in a diner, it’s fine. You’ll never see him again,” and now it’s, “It’s just your good looking friend, it’s fine.”

It’s fine, it’s fine, it’s fine.

It’s not fine, but Dean pushes it down and pretends it’s not there. Besides, he hasn’t stopped noticing girls. If anything, he’s notices them more. As long as that’s the case, there’s no reason to act on these feelings or even acknowledge them.

His dad doesn’t want a whole lot from him. He wants him to protect Sam and be a good hunter, but Dean sure as hell knows what he doesn’t want for him, and that’s being with another guy like that, especially when he’s still attracted to girls. He’s seen the way his dad looks at gay guys, heard the comments he makes under his breath, and there’s no way that’s the kind of life he wants for his sons.

So, every time Aaron gives him the kind of smile that makes his chest warm or he finds himself staring too long, he reminds himself of all the reasons why this can’t be a thing. And just because Dean is thinking things he shouldn’t be, doesn’t mean Aaron is too.

He needs that reminder right now as the four of them are packed together in a crowded movie theater, seeing Scream. At some point, Aaron scooted closer to Dean’s side, pressing their shoulders together.

The screams from the crowd sound like a dull roar in his ears when Aaron’s pinky brushes against his, and he holds his breath as he slowly tangles them together, until they’re practically holding pinkies.

He should rip his hand away, he even stiffens as he prepares himself to, but then his shoulders sag as he leans further into the touch. He doesn’t want to pull away. His eyes burn as he stares fixedly at the screen with how badly he doesn’t want to pull away.

They stay like that for the rest of the movie, sneaking glances at each other, but keeping the touch to just their shoulders and pinkies. When the credits roll, Dean finally pulls away, stretching as he stands to try and come off as casual as possible.

They toss their popcorn in the trash and talk about the movie as they head out of the theater. Matt and Jordan give them a quick pat on the shoulders before heading off, and before Dean can go searching for Bobby’s truck in the parking lot, Aaron grabs his elbow to keep him from leaving.

“Dean?” His blue eyes flicker from Dean’s face to the ground nervously, “I was wondering if you wanted to hang out sometime. Like without Matt and Jordan.”

Dean feels his throat close as he struggles to get air in his lungs, worried that his popcorn might come back up. He doesn’t know why he’s acting like this. There’s nothing wrong with hanging out just the two of them, but from the way Aaron’s blushing he has a feeling it’s more than that.

“You mean like…” He trails off, unsure if he can even say it, but Aaron beats him to it.

“Like a date, yeah. I don’t know if you–if you’re–well, I thought I’d try, at least,” He gives a nervous look as he braves meeting Dean’s gaze.

His first instinct is to be furious, to fly off the handle at him for even daring to assume that Dean isn’t anything but straight, to tell him he doesn’t swing that way and storm off, maybe even get a punch in, but he’s frozen.

Despite all his promises to himself that he wouldn’t ever acknowledge this thing that follows him around, he starts entertaining the idea of letting himself have this. His dad is on the other side of the country, he’ll never find out. Nobody has to know if they keep it to themselves. He can just try it this once to get it out of his system and then stick to girls.

“Yeah, okay,” Dean chokes out before he even fully gives himself permission to, and he knows he needs to leave now before he chickens out, “I gotta go. Uh–I’ll call you.” Aaron lets out a huge, relieved breath before giving Dean one of those grins that make his insides squirm with delight, and he smiles back, giving him a playful wink before walking away.

He spends the drive back to Bobby’s going between panic and excitement, planning out potential date ideas but also rehearsing ways to turn Aaron down. As he pulls into the Salvage yard and sees the Impala, he realizes it’s all for nothing and feels strangely numb. It’s time for the next hunt, and he knows with absolute certainty that he’ll never see Aaron again. It’s for the best, he tells himself.

Who was he fucking kidding anyway?

⚤ ⚤ ⚤ ⚤

Dean is twenty-one and drunk on the beach. His vision is a little fuzzy, and when he looks up at the sheer amount of stars in the pitch black sky, he feels dizzy, causing him to stumble into the body beside him.

“Watch it, brother. You don’t wanna eat sand,” A husky voice laughs as he grips Dean’s shoulders with strong hands to steady him.

Lee can’t fill the hole that Sam left when he went off to Stanford, but having him around helps him feel a little less like he’s suffocating. John swung by Texhoma in hopes to recruit his old buddy for a hunt, but got his son instead. Dean and John were glad for the turn of events for different reasons. His dad admired how strong of a fighter Lee was, his training precise enough for John’s Marine standards.

Dean just admired him, in general. He’s having a hell of a time ignoring it when his dad is always there. Maybe, it’s just his paranoia talking, but it feels like he’s watching Dean too closely, noting how he acts around Lee. Which is what inspires their first escape from John Winchester in a slew of rowdy drunken activities.

After he caught them wasted in a middle of a hunt, they started being more discreet about it, so while John was dead asleep in his motel room, the two of them snuck off to a bar and then stumbled their way to the closest beach.

Lee’s hands on his shoulders make him feel both grounded but also like he’s teetering over the edge of a cliff. The moon illuminates his face from where it’s hovering near Dean’s, his blue eyes boring into his.

In his drunken state, he forgets what they were talking about, or if they were even talking at all, and all those walls he’s been building around himself for the past decade feel flimsy, like the slightest nudge will knock them all down.

Dean’s gaze flickers wildly over his face before landing on a piece of hair that fell over his eyes. “You have sand in your hair,” He drunkenly giggles and lifts a hand to pull the sand out before tucking the errant hair behind Lee’s ear. Instead of dropping his hand like he planned to, he cups his friends cheek instead, his thumb absently brushing over his soft skin.

“Dean,” Lee breathes, low and rough, and it sends a tingle down his spine.

“Hey,” He answers, because it feels like the right the thing to say in the moment, or maybe he just doesn’t know what the hell to say when they’re standing this close and he wants nothing more than to just close the remaining distance, give into this want that’s been burning in his chest for years.

Something like recognition shows in Lee’s eyes before he clasps the back of Dean’s neck and draws him down to seal their lips together in a tentative kiss. It’s more gentle and hesitant than his actual first kiss, but it makes his entire body practically sing.

He hears a desperate noise over the sound of the waves, and he thinks it might’ve come for him, but he doesn’t care. He can beat himself up for that later, but for now, he sighs against Lee’s lips and deepens the kiss, letting himself have this.

⚤ ⚤ ⚤ ⚤

Lee is the longest relationship he’s ever had, which is pretty sad, considering it lasts for about a month. But in that month, they find creative ways to sneak around his dad and even get caught up in some kind of wild orgy with triplets.

It all crashes and burns when a case in Arizona goes horribly, horribly wrong, and Lee can’t just move past it. He quits hunting and leaves Dean to go back home, giving him one last lingering kiss before he drives away.

With hardly anything more than a dismissive grunt, John leaves shortly after, deciding Dean is finally old enough to hunt on his own, and that they’ll cover more ground to find whatever killed mom if they split up. The fact that his dad trusts him to do this on his own should be enough to fill him with pride, but it feels more like punishment, and for the first time in his life, he’s completely alone.

A week after Lee and his dad left, he’s sitting in the parked Impala, dialing Sam’s number.

“Heya, Sammy,” He greets his brother, trying to keep his voice as nonchalant and cheerful as possible.

They talk about Sam’s homework and friends, and Dean tells him about some interesting hunts, leaving out the most recent one. He doesn’t tell him about dad leaving, but Lee is on the tip of his tongue. Part of him wants to tell Sam–to get this weight off his shoulders, for one more person to know, so it doesn’t feel like some big fever dream.

“Sam,” He starts, his tone suddenly serious. “I’m…” He stops. He’s what? He’s not gay, but he obviously ain’t straight either. But who says he has to label himself right this second though? He can just tell him about Lee. “I…” He tries again, but the words just don’t come.

That time he agreed to go on a date with Aaron, he told himself it’d be a one time thing to get it out of his system, and while this wasn’t Aaron, that’s what Lee can be. A one time thing. Something that Sam doesn’t need to know about.

“I gotta go. Take care of yourself, okay?”

⚤ ⚤ ⚤ ⚤

Dean is thirty and fucking grateful for it. It’s 2009, and not 2014. He still has time to fix this. When he whips around and sees Cas standing there on the empty street, there’s a look on his face that Dean can only describe as tenderness, and that makes him believe he really can fix this.

“That’s pretty nice timing, Cas,” Dean breathes shakily, overwhelmed by the sheer relief that this Cas is his Cas, not the version he left in 2014.

“We had an appointment,” Cas replies, and there’s so much warmth in his gravely voice that Dean wants to chase it and hold it close to his chest.

He feels his face do something that’s probably too open and too fond, but he doesn’t do anything to mask it. Instead, he firmly rests a hand on the angel’s shoulder and looks him straight in the eye before saying, “Don’t ever change.”

Dean wouldn’t say Cas has much variety in his facial expressions, so the hint of a smile he gets in return feels huge. It reaches his eyes more than his lips, and something about that makes it more genuine.

This isn’t the first time Dean felt something after prolonged eye contact with the guy, far from it, but it’s usually a shock of heat or desire–this is something else entirely. He just wants to find more ways to earn looks like this, which seems impossible with the apocalypse around the corner, but he wants to try.

It’s been nearly a decade since he told himself he wouldn’t let himself act on feelings for another man, but shit has changed. His dad is dead, and that’s not enough to erase the shame that still washes over him any time he accidentally checks out another dude, but John Winchester is not an excuse anymore.

The world is ending, isn’t this the best time to say fuck it and try?

⚤ ⚤ ⚤ ⚤

Dean is thirty-two, and he’s very naked, and very sticky. He curses himself under his breath for not taking the time to clean up before passing out, but he must’ve worn himself out.

For a second he forgets where he is or who he was with the night before, but when he cracks an eye open, he sees peeling yellow wallpaper from the ugly ass motel room he’s been staying in. He blindly reaches a hand out behind him and makes contact with an equally naked and sticky body.

“Hey, watch the hand,” A very familiar voice laughs from behind him, causing Dean to whip around in surprise, wincing at the soreness that follows.

“Garth?” He asks wearily.

“Yeah, who else? We didn’t even drink last night, don’t pull the forgotten one night stand act with me, Dean Winchester,” Garth chastises him gently, propping himself up on his elbow as he smiles down at him.

Dean blinks a few times to try and wake himself up, and when he’s feeling a little less disoriented, the night before comes back to him–and, oh yeah, he remembers it. Who would’ve thought a little guy like Garth could be such a firecracker in bed? Maybe, he somehow sensed that about him, and that’s why he was so eager to find out.

In the short time he’s known Garth, he wouldn’t say he’s had many dirty thoughts about him. He didn’t have many thoughts about anyone these days, not since Cas…Dean quickly ends that train of thought there. The nightmares are enough.

The thing with Garth just kind of happened, between the goodbye hugs, and the comments about how good he smells, the little smiles he keeps sending Dean’s way, he figured why the hell not?

He wasn’t disappointed with his choice either. Garth was surprisingly strong and confident, which are all things Dean likes in his partners. He just wouldn’t usually go for someone he sees so often–makes things awkward.

“I remember,” He gives a quiet laugh before clearing his throat awkwardly, looking from Garth’s bare chest to the sheets. “Look, Garth, I–uh–I’m not really looking for a relationship or anything,” He begins, and it feels so overused and rehearsed.

He hates having this talk, which is why he usually sticks to waitresses or women, and the occasional man that he won’t ever see again. He doesn’t want to shoot Garth down, but after Cas–he just thought things would be different by now. He thought they would be different now, but that hope died when he pulled Cas’s soaking trench coat out of the water.

He doesn’t know what he kind of response he expects, but it’s definitely not for him to throw his head back with a loud laugh. “Oh, Dean, I should’ve known you’d be this funny the morning after. Look at you, trying to give me the it’s not you, it’s me talk. We’re fine, buddy. Just two guys looking for a night of fun,” He shakes his head and gives Dean’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

Dean feels his entire body sag in relief, and now that, that awkwardness is out of the way, he feels his body react to Garth’s close proximity, the memory of the night before has him ready to go all over again.

Resting a hand on the hunter’s naked hip, he leans in until their noses brush, “In that case, round two?” He asks, his voice practically a quiet purr.

“Round two,” Garth agrees before pulling him in for a heated kiss.

⚤ ⚤ ⚤ ⚤

“I don’t know. I guess that was the first time I did something like that without feeling guilty after. I didn’t really even think about the fact that he was a dude that time,” Dean recounts, picking at a stray thread on his jeans.

He’s forty-one and the world is still turning. Chuck is gone, Jack and Eileen are back, Cas is human, Sam is okay, and everything should be fine. But it turns out that peace on earth doesn’t erase decades worth of repression and trauma.

It took storming out of a few therapist’s office before he found the right one. Dr. Williams, or Charlotte, is pretty nice, so far. She listens to all his stories that would sound absolutely insane to an outsider, and hardly bats an eye.

Usually, they talk about Hell or Michael, but somehow the subject shifted to his history with men today, starting with him telling her about the ring he got Cas for Christmas. The one he almost didn’t give him–the ring that isn’t an engagement ring despite the looks Sam keeps giving him, but hopefully isn’t just a friendship ring either.

“And how do you feel now? With Castiel? Do you still feel ashamed of your feelings or sexuality?” She asks calmly as she looks up at him over her notebook.

Dean grimaces at that word–sexuality. He’s had so many years to accept the fact that he isn’t straight, that he likes men too, that he more than likes a particular man specifically.

Still, he can’t get himself to say the actual word, not even in his own head. His old man has been dead for thirteen years, and it still feels like he’s looming over his shoulder whenever he even considers it.

Sometimes, he wishes he told him when he accidentally wished him back into existence, but he’s glad he didn’t. Of all the people who deserve to hear it first, it’s not his dad. The fact that he even thinks that, tells him these sessions are doing something.

“Sometimes…yeah,” Dean mutters and nervously licks his lower lip, “I know my family won’t care. Hell, they probably already know, but I don’t know. I just can’t shake it, I guess.”

“You don’t have to come out,” Charlotte tells him, and her voice isn’t too gentle like some of the other Therapist’s were, but it’s not too matter-of-fact either, which is why he likes her so much.

“Not with an official statement, at least. You should do what you’re comfortable with. Like, next time you watch Star Wars, instead of keeping all those thoughts about Harrison Ford to yourself, say them aloud.”

Dean merely raises a brow in response, he’s pretty sure nobody wants to hear what he has to say about Harrison Ford. He’s come up with way too many jerking off fantasies to that guy. Most of his thoughts are something along the lines of, “I’d sell my soul to fuck Harrison Ford.”

Charlotte seems to catch on quick and lets out an amused snort, “The safe for work version.”

“Yeah, I’m not sure there is a safe for work version,” Dean points out and waggles his brows suggestively before dropping the act and sagging a little in his seat, his face going blank in thought.

“I know that uh–that being bisexual is okay,” He stammers out and rubs the back of his neck as it prickles with nerves, “Which is what I am, I mean, bisexual. I’m just trying to believe that it is.”

It’s the first time he actually said it, and it wasn’t nearly as terrifying as he thought it would be. He still feels sick with anxiety, and like he wants to drink an entire bottle of whiskey when he gets home, but the fact that he did it at all lifts a huge weight from his shoulders.

Charlotte gives him an impressed nod and jots down a few notes, “Well, that’s a good start.”

⚤ ⚤ ⚤ ⚤

After his session, he comes home and gives some flimsy excuse about his whereabouts before pouring himself a drink. Cas isn’t in the kitchen or his room, but it doesn’t take Dean long to track him down.

The new human spends a lot of time in the same spot these days. Shrugging on a coat, he brings his glass outside and walks to the little area Cas so carefully turned into his garden.

Dean doesn’t announce his presence, just watches from a safe distance as Cas mutters quietly to his plants. The sun occasionally glints off the silver ring on his middle finger, and it brings a fond smile to his lips.

After everything they’ve been through, after losing him so many times, Dean can’t believe he’s really here. It’s not perfect, Cas is struggling with his new humanity, and the distance between them hasn’t been fixed, but it’s still good.

And Dean loves him.

“I’m in love with Cas,” He mentally tells himself, another thing that he’s known for ages but has been too damn scared to actually put into words. It’s just as nerve-wracking as his confession to Charlotte earlier, but it still brings him peace.

He doesn’t know when he’ll tell Cas, or if he ever will, but right now he’s okay just telling himself. He’s okay just standing here and watching him garden. It’s more than he thought he’d ever have.

#destiel #destiel fic #dean winchester #spn #supernatural #dean is bi #mine

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cdelphiki · 4 years ago

Text

It was dumb.

No. Not dumb.

It was really, really, exceptionally stupid.

Being afraid of a little rain was probably the lamest thing a person could possibly be afraid of.

What was even scary about storms?….. Anymore?

Jason had a house now.

Sure, it wasn’t like, forever or nothing. But it was at least for now. And for now was long enough to protect him from the storm outside.

And yet, here he was. Hiding under his comforter, trying to ignore the cacophony of noises outside.

People who said rain was relaxing were high, Jason was fairly certain. High or really, really crazy. Because the harsh static of the constant downpour only made Jason more anxious. Even the gentle pitter-patter of a drizzle was the prelude to the deafening onslaught of far too much rain for the city’s sewers to handle, and Jason couldn’t handle any of it.

The crash of another bolt of lightning made Jason jump so hard, he nearly tumbled off his bed. His heart was hammering so hard, he was amazing no one could hear it.

But then again, the rain outside was so loud, there was no way anyone could hear anything but it.

And he was immensely grateful Bruce had skipped patrol. Because the last thing he wanted was for Bruce to come ‘check on him.’ Bruce might have thought he was sneaky whenever he poked his head in on Jason at 2 in the morning, but he wasn’t. And now Jason was happy, because the last thing he wanted was for Bruce to find him cowering under his covers, afraid of a storm.

A freaking storm.

It was insanely dumb. Jason knew why storms happened. He understood about cloud formation, positive and negative charges, and all that fun stuff. He’d read all about it in one of his school books.

That didn’t stop his heart from racing or his hands from shaking. And when another bolt of lighting hit, this time probably only 500 yards from the Manor, Jason leapt to his feet.

It was dumb. It was really, really dumb, but he could not be alone anymore.

He couldn’t.

He needed… he didn’t know what he needed. He needed to not be alone.

Before he could think better of it, Jason found himself standing in the hall, looking down at the doors ahead of him. There was Bruce’s room on one side. Door wide open, as he always left them to encourage them to wake him, or something. Jason just found it annoying, because it meant he couldn’t sneak past Bruce at night to go downstairs.

Perhaps that was Bruce’s plan.

On the left was Dick’s door. Shut, as always. And entirely unoccupied. Per the norm. Damian’s was next to it, and just barely cracked, so the dog could come in and out as he pleased.

The dog.

“Ace,” Jason whispered, trying to keep his voice quiet enough so not to wake Bruce.

He couldn’t deal with Bruce right now. He might ask questions.

And Jason did not want to talk about how the storms reminded him of being stuck outside in late fall, unable to find adequate shelter, freezing cold, soaked to the bone, and shivering while the rain kept coming. Didn’t want to think about how it took days to fully dry out after that, nor how the ground was wet for a week.

Or the case of pneumonia he’d developed, that landed him back in foster home for the third time. Stupid clinic being a rat.

Bruce would be super caring and understanding and he’d listen and hug Jason, probably. Then offer to stay up with him and watch movies, or drink hot cocoa. And Jason… kind of wanted that. But he couldn’t handle it. He wanted to cry just thinking about it, and Jason was so over crying. So freaking tired of doing it.

The dog, though. The dog wouldn’t ask him questions. He’d just lay with Jason and be there for him.

Ace was awesome like that.

But when Jason said, “Ace” again, this time a little louder, all he heard was the jingling of Ace’s tags. Deep inside Damian’s room.

From experience, Jason knew Damian was a heavy sleeper. Like, a really heavy sleeper. One time he fell asleep on the couch, and he and Bruce continued talking at a normal level for an hour, and Damian didn’t seem to notice one bit. Bruce was able to carry him up to bed afterward, all without Damian so much as stirring.

It was wild.

Would totally get him killed, one day, but probably okay for him right now. As long as he was safe in the Manor, that was. With the literal Batman watching over him.

Jason was kind of a little jealous of how deeply he could sleep. If only Jason could sleep through even the lightest footsteps passing his room at night.

Or storms.

“Ace,” Jason whispered again, nudging the door open just enough so he could stick his head in. Once his eyes adjusted to the darker room, he had to blink.

Because Ace wasn’t on the ground, where he normally spent the night, ‘guarding’ Damian.

No.

He was up in Damian’s bed, under the covers with him, tucked up against his side.

And Damian was there, wide awake, looking right back at Jason.

“Jason?” he said, far too loudly for Jason’s liking. Considering Bruce’s door was right there. Like, five feet away!

A crack of lightning flashed outside Damian’s window. And even with the half a second warning, Jason couldn’t suppress the flinch at the loud crash that followed. “Sorry,” he said, slipping into Damian’s room and shutting the door more, in hopes that Bruce wouldn’t hear them talking, “I was just… uh.”

The fuck was he doing? He couldn’t tell Damian he was looking for the stupid dog because he was scared, now could he? What would Damian say to that? He’d probably laugh at him.

Or start calling for Bruce to come fix it…

“Checking on Ace?” Damian asked, pushing himself up into a sitting position. Ace, in response, whined at Damian and pressed up against Damian’s side more, “Did you know he’s scared of storms?”

Ace was afraid of storms, too? Why would he be scared of them?

Well, he supposed the noises were very loud and Ace was a dog. Practically a baby. He didn’t understand what caused storms.

“Yeah,” Jason said, standing a little straighter and crossing his arms across his chest, “Yeah, I just wanted to make sure he was okay.”

It was perfectly reasonable for Ace to be afraid of them. That was a valid excuse. Poor Ace.

Jason, however. He had no good excuse. It was just rain. And some thunder and lightning.

And trauma, Bruce’s voice whispered in the back of his head.

Stupid fucking Bruce saying stupid fucking things like that to him all the time.

When another crack of thunder made Jason jump and bump up against the door behind him, Damian frowned. “He’s okay as long as he gets to sleep with someone,” Damian said, running a hand through Ace’s fur.

“Oh.”

That made sense. Ace didn’t want to be alone, either. Why would anyone want to be?

Because they weren’t being fucking stupid like Jason, probably.

Jason wasn’t sure what to do now, though. Ace was with Damian and probably wouldn’t follow Jason, even if he asked. Ace was Damian’s dog. Damian was Ace’s favorite person. He wouldn’t want Jason as a substitute.

Maybe Jason could sneak past Bruce’s room real fast and go into one of the interior rooms downstairs. The theater, maybe. It had no windows. If he turned the TV on, he—

“You can join us if you want,” Damian said, eliciting another flinch from Jason.

Stupid fucking storm making him all jumpy.

Good thing Bruce wasn’t there to see, he’d get his dumb little frown on his face, similar to the one Damian wore. But Bruce would ask dumb questions like ‘what do you need to feel safer?’

Stupid fucking Bruce. Who made him like that?

Staying in Damian’s room would be admitting he was scared, and he wasn’t…

…admitting it.

Aloud.

“That’s okay, I’m gonna—“

“It’ll make Ace feel better,” Damian cut in, “he likes it when more of his people are near. Sometimes we go into Dad’s room.”

“Oh.” That actually made sense. Ace was a guard dog. If the storm scared him, he probably liked knowing as many of his people were safe as possible.

Jason still wasn’t convinced he was one of Ace’s people, but Damian kept insisting he was, so maybe…

“Are you sure?” He didn’t exactly want to crowd Damian’s space, either.

“Yeah.” Damian pulled his blanket over, making room on the other side of Ace for Jason to crawl in.

Figaro, Damian’s cat, had been underneath the blanket, too, apparently. Jason hadn’t even noticed her, but she protested loudly when the blanket over her moved. Her collar jingled when she jumped down off the bed and crossed the room.

She brushed past Jason, tail up in the air, just as snooty as always, and paused at the door. When Jason didn’t open it for her instantly, she mewed at him.

Loudly.

It was like she was trying to wake everyone in the house, just like she’d been woken.

Jason opened the door for her and she raced across the hall into Bruce’s room. Based on the startled snort Bruce made, she hopped up on him.

Stupid cat was trying to wake everyone.

“Figaro,” Jason heard Bruce mumble, his bedsprings creaking for a second as he grumbled something else Jason couldn’t quite make out.

Jason held his breath, willing Bruce to not get up and check on everyone. But when the bed settled again, and no footsteps followed, Jason let it out in a quiet sigh.

“Okay,” he whispered, “but I’m gonna get my own blanket. Be right back.”

On tip toes, Jason rushed back to his room and grabbed his comforter. It was huge, so he wrapped himself up in it and let the rest of it drag behind him, like an oversized cape.

Was this what Batman felt like all the time? His cape seemed like it would be heavy, even if it didn’t drag the ground. How did he even run around with it? Jason could barely walk down the hall without tripping all over himself.

The storm outside was already calming down, but Jason knew there were several more cells following the one passing. He’d looked at the radar. The storms weren’t going to stop until well after breakfast.

Ace would definitely need the company all night, Jason was sure.

He was extra careful not to wake Bruce on his way back to Damian’s room and very quick to crawl up into the bed, opposite from Damian.

Jason wasn’t used to sleeping with other people in the same room, much less the same bed, but Damian had crashed in Jason’s room once already. It hadn’t been bad.

Maybe a little nice.

He would have never thought it’d be so easy to fall asleep with someone else in the room.

Even though Damian was a heavy sleeper, there was something relaxing about knowing someone else was there. Someone Jason could trust not to be a jerk to him. Damian was just a little kid. And a pretty nice one, at that.

Staying in Wayne Manor was turning him soft…

“We can watch a movie," Damian mumbled, from where he’d curled up next to Ace again, clearly half asleep already.

“You said you’re not allowed.” The last thing Jason wanted was to get Damian in trouble.

He wasn’t quite sure how Bruce punished Damian, since usually all he did was say something like ‘knock it off’ or raise his eyebrows at Damian, and Damian stopped whatever he was doing. Even though he doubted it’d happen, he’d feel terrible if he got Damian hurt just cause he was too scared to fucking sleep.

“Dad won’t care,” Damian mumbled, “there’s no school tomorrow.”

Jason looked at Damian skeptically. The rule was ‘no tv after bedtime.’ Jason wasn’t sure it mattered what day of the week it was.

Damian was, apparently, confident in his opinion Bruce wouldn’t care, because he sat up and grabbed the remote, then handed it to Jason.

It took Damian telling him twice more that it was ‘really fine, just pick something,’ for Jason to actually power on the projector and flip through the kids movie files.

In the end, he found an old cartoon for them to watch instead of a movie, and snuggled down in his blanket, all cocooned up so only his face was showing.

Predictably, Damian fell asleep within 7 seconds of the first episode playing. But the gentle snores from him, as well as the warm weight of Ace against Jason’s side, did help Jason relax a ton.

The storm kept raging outside. At times, the wind howled against the windows, and the rain fell so hard it sounded like hundreds of people were on the fucking roof, stomping. Not to mention the thunder and lightning, which continued to hit nearby.

Even with all that going on, Jason found himself jumping less and less.

And about four episodes in, he started to doze.

Sleeping while it was raining wasn’t something Jason had done in years.

But that night, he slept right through the rest of the storm. If the thunder kept up, Jason didn’t notice it.

When he was finally roused by Ace, well after breakfast, the sun was peeking through the curtains and birds were chirping outside.

Damian yawned dramatically as he stretched and said, “See. Told you Dad wouldn’t care.”

“Yeah.”

Maybe he wouldn’t care next time there were storms, either.

Because… Jason had to admit. He’d never felt as at peace as he did that morning.

He never wanted that feeling to end.

#jason todd #damian wayne #batman #batfam #batfamily #batbros #robin #baby jay #baby damian #fanfiction #pennyverse #c writes #i TOTALLY forgot I usually cross post my oneshots #LOL #so im reposting this like this and gonna delete the link post #but cross posted to ao3!!!#called 'a burnt child' on there

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itcamefromthetoybox · 3 years ago

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The Battling Busboy

“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” Marvel Studios’ latest super hero film, just hit theaters, and with it came some great new toys! And this being a toy review blog… I’m sure you can gather where I’m going with this. We’re gonna review some toys! Now, last week, we did something a little different and reviewed a two-pack instead of one toy. Well, we’re doing it again! So let’s take a look at the “Shang-Chi vs. Death Dealer” set.

As of this writing, I haven’t seen the movie yet. With the COVID Delta variant on shelves and my health held together by little more than coffee and a desire to own tiny plastic things, I don’t feel super-duper about going to theaters any time soon. This means I don’t know much about these characters from the movies, especially since I’m avoiding spoilers, and everything I do know is from the comics.

In the comics, Shang-Chi was originally the son of famous literary villain Fu Manchu, and was created back when Marvel had the rights to the Fu-Manchu books and was looking to cash in on the kung-fu craze of the 70’s. Hell, the comic that eventually became Shang-Chi was originally going to be an adaptation of a show called “Kung-Fu.” Despite his dad being so obviously evil that it was cartoonish, Shang-Chi didn’t realize his dad was the bad guy until he was sent to kill Fu Manchu’s enemies from the book, at which point, Shang-Chi realized, “oh crap, my dad’s evil!” Later books would retcon out Fu Manchu, because he was literally the original racist stereotype for Chinese master villains, and replace him with… pretty much the same thing but with a new name, because Marvel was fine with the racism but had lost the book rights and didn’t want to get sued. The movies, however, were like, “yeah, racism and borderline copy right violations might cut into our profit margins.” So they made Shang-Chi’s father an updated version of Iron Man’s comic book arch foe The Mandarin. Shang-Chi has popped up throughout the years as an Avenger, a recurring friend of Spider-Man, the dude everyone who needs to learn martial arts goes to, and whenever there’s a massive crowd shot of heroes. He’s also had several one-shots, short stories, and mini series, all of which is not bad for a guy who has no super powers.

His enemy in this two-pack, his father’s henchman Death Dealer, was someone who I initially knew nothing about. But, it’s 2021 and Wikipedia is a thing, so that got fixed fast. In the comics, Death Dealer was a former member of British intelligence agency MI-6, who was also a spy for Shang-Chi’s father. Upon being discovered, he fled and was given a pretty great costume and sent to fight Shang-Chi, who he actually managed to capture. Shang-Chi managed to eventually escape and later fought Death Dealer at his dad’s base in China, where he actually killed the villain by burning him to death. Because fire is usually the answer to whatever problems you may face.

Now that we all know who the hell these people are, let’s talk toys! For the Shang-Chi movie, Marvel’s released a bunch of toys. Shocking, I know. There’s the highly articulated Marvel Legends line, aimed at collectors, two figures for the Marvel Titan Heroes line of simplified 12-inch figures, and a small line of 6-inch figures with different features, in addition to toy accessories and a toy dragon that looks awesome. The set we’re looking at is from the main toy line, where most of the figures have different gimmicks. In this case, Shang-Chi has the power to roundhouse kick anyone who pisses him off, and Death Dealer has the ability to get roundhouse kicked in the face, because the toy budget meant only one figure in this set got to do something cool.

When Shang-Chi does it, it looks cool. When I do it, my pants rip.

Both figures in this set look really great. Excellent sculpting, wonderful detailing, they just look really good. Since it’s his movie, we’ll talk about Shang-Chi first, though. His articulation is all around his shoulders and legs. He’s also got a ball jointed head, but the sculpting means he can’t look up, so not entirely sure why they didn’t just use a swivel joint here. He’s got no knee or elbow articulation, which is a shame, but that’s because this figure is all about his gimmick, which we’ll get to in a second.

Finally, a toy for all my stock photo needs.

First, I do want to talk about an issue I have with this figure. His hair feels like a more rubbery plastic than the rest of his head, which makes for a weird sensation to touch. I know that’s a minor complaint, but it really bothers me, especially since I also grabbed the other Shang-Chi in this line, and he doesn’t have this issue. I don’t know if it’s a weird quirk of the plastic used for this toy’s head or if the hair’s a separate piece that was attached, or what, but it does bother me and might bug anyone with a sensory issue you might want to give this to, so keep that in mind.

The quality of this picture matches how I feel when I touch the toy’s hair.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk about the gimmick. The way it works is that there is a spring-loaded swivel in Shang-Chi’s right thigh, directly next to his crotch. You raise his left leg into a kick position, turn his body on the swivel, and let go. There’s a button on the back of his right leg that’s meant to hold him in place until you’re ready for him to kick, but it doesn’t do that great a job holding him and also requires you to constantly hold it in to make use of it.

You must grip the handsome man’s strong, powerful thighs.

As for Death Dealer, like I said before, he is very well-detailed. I was delighted by that. His articulation, on the other hand, isn’t exactly stellar. He has excellent shoulders and a ball joint head, but the sculpting prevents him from looking up and he has no elbows. His legs have articulation, but it is really limited by his costume’s robes, which block the legs from moving too much, and he has no knees. His right hand has a dagger molded into it and his left hand is sculpted into a grabbing gesture, so he also can’t hold anything. He’s definitely the weaker figure in the set and is clearly here just so Shang-Chi can kick him in the face.

Who needs good leg articulation when you have an outfit like this?

Who exactly is this set for? Well, clearly, it’s for the kids. It has a fun gimmick with simple figures that are fun for kids to play with and have no accessories that can be lost. The packaging also has no screens or windows, so the figures come in the open, meaning kids can touch them in the stores. The set goes for about $15, which does feel like a fair price. Just keep in mind what I said about Death Dealer’s articulation and Shang-Chi’s hair. That’s all I have to say, so I’m signing off and wishing you happy toy hunting!

#MCU #marvel cinematic universe #Shang-Chi #Death Dealer #Toy #Toys #toy reviews #toy review #review #reviews #marvel #shang-chi and the legend of the ten rings

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moonlit-imagines · 3 years ago

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Okay cool, that's what I thought but I thought I'd ask just in case haha.

Meredith • Titans please • extra choice: sibling • Female she/hers • sexuality: straight (kind of ace/demi spectrum?🤷‍♀️but also romantic at heart lol)

-likes: Redemption arcs, nerding out over an interest with someone, animals, disney and disney world, Musical theater (cant sing to save my life tho opps),history and museums(love old artifacts and places, a friendly debate(especially about nerdy things)

-dislikes: initiating the conversation, cocky people, rude people, bugs, when people verbally attack something I love, healthy food lol

-hobbies: dance, Video editing, traveling and going on adventures, watching movies and shows

-extra info about you/any random stuff: Physical touch is my love language, tho often too scared to initiate it. But hugs and cuddling are my fav things ever. Can be super awkward but like I think cute awkward? Super innocent. I'm annoyingly empathetic, often over little things like someone getting their feelings hurt. Extroverted introvert, I like to be included and LOVE adventures but I NEED my alone time to recharge.

Ambitious, super passionate, super sweet. Can always find a positive in any situation. super over sensitive tho and think everyone hates me and that I'm annoying. I can be super intense sometimes and steam roll but it's because I'm super passionate. I get excited about any and everything. Both a kid at heart and an old soul. Dad issues.

Thanks so much girl and congrats again!!!(and sorry if this was too long lol)

thank you mer!!! (and don’t worry about it!! it’s perfect)

s/o: gar logan and you are total nerds together. he’d never gotten to experience anything super fun outside of TV and gaming media considering his previous life, but when the titans were reformed, disneyland wasnt too far away from san diego. you guys may have taken bruce’s cash and had a few dates around there, and who could really blame you? it was an awesome date location. you wanted to show gar everything exceptional in this world.

enemy: jason todd was family, but he annoyed the crap out of you. always cynical, always rude, always moody, always treating everyone like they were doormats. you knew he was dealing with a lot, you went through it too when you worked with bruce, but it was no excuse to treat everyone around him so awful, so you’d attempt to make him back off whenever you could because that just wasn’t right.

best friend: rachel roth just gets you. she always has. the idea of serenity and privacy that you have resonates with her and she’ll give it to you whenever you need, even ward other people off when you need it. and she’ll keep you company in silence while you each do your own thing if you so choose. it’s nice just spending time with her while trying to relax on your own and you know she’d do anything to make you feel comfortable.

sibling: dick grayson and jason todd were both adopted by bruce wayne, so you became one big happy family. not really, though. dick was a brother to you and he was actually pretty protective, too. you two were an amazing team and saw eye to eye for the most part. jason was newer, you tried figuring him out but all you learned is that he was bitter and really needed friends. he didn’t want them, though. you’d work on it, for sure.

#captainshazamerica #ask #shipping event #4k event

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jaskiers-sweetkiss · 4 years ago

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Sunset Swerve - Part 1

Pairing: Luke x OC

Word Count: 2.1K

Series Summary: Apollo 81 and Sunset Curve had been rival bands since their creation, and their leaders, Jordan Moss and Luke Patterson, had despised each other even further. Things were just looking up for both bands as they get the opportunity to play at the Orpheum but a few bad hot dogs send Luke, Alex, Reggie, and Jordan to early graves before they get the chance. 25 years later the ghosts of Sunset Curve accidentally release Jordan from an old Apollo 81 demo and tensions between her and Luke immediately flare. However, they need to band together to finally accomplish their life-long goals: to play their music for the world.

Warnings: uhh some cursing, mentions of death (I mean, the main characters are ghosts)

A/N: I’m officially obsessed with this show and its characters and I would very much like my own hot ghost band please and thanks. Please let me know what you think and send me an ask if you’d like to be tagged in future chapters!

Teaser Part 2 Masterlist

___

The relatively empty theater erupted into cheers when Sunset Curve finished their soundtrack. Jordan didn’t deign to join the venue’s staff in their congratulations; though the band clearly deserved the praise, she’d never admit it out loud. Sunset Curve were good, and if Jordan didn’t despise their lead singer so much she’d probably be a fan but that simply wasn’t the case. She and Luke had been rivals since grade school and it was only fitting that they both started their own bands and had been competing for venues for years. What didn’t make sense was that when Sunset Curve booked a headliner at the Orpheum, they recommended Apollo 81 as their opening act. Jordan could only assume Luke had done it to rub in the fact that they were headlining the Orpheum but still, the venue was a hotspot for record execs- Sunset Curve had given them a huge opportunity to go big.

“We gotta fuel up before the show, I’m thinking street dogs,” Luke’s proclamation was met with cheers from Alex and Reggie, and Jordan rolled her eyes, lifting off the column she’d been leaning against to go find her own band.

“Moss, you in?” Luke called from the stage and Jordan startled, turning to give the boy a look of bewilderment. “C’mon, it’s on me.”

Jordan narrowed her eyes suspiciously but nodded anyway, adjusting her cross-body bag as she made her way to the guys. She watched bemusedly as Bobby made a beeline towards the cute Orpheum employee.

“You guys are really good,” she complimented. “I’ve seen a lot of bands, been in a few myself. I was really feeling it. You guys too.” She said, turning towards Jordan and the girl couldn’t help but beam at the complement.

“That’s what we do this for,” Luke said, clapping his bandmates on the back. “I’m Luke, by the way.”

“Hi, I’m Reggie.”

“Alex.”

“Bobby.” The boy pushed Luke behind him and Jordan stifled a laugh.

“Jordan.” She introduced herself.

“It was nice meeting you guys. I’m Rose,” the girl introduced and Jordan began digging through her bag.

“Here’s our demo and a t-shirt,” she said, pulling them from her bag and offering them to Rose.

She kept a small supply of the merch on her at all times, anything to get their name out there.

“Geez, Moss. We offer you food and you try to outdo us?” Luke said, elbowing Reggie who looked confused for a second before offering up the merch in his hands.

“Oh! And here’s our demo and a t-shirt size beautiful,” he said with a wink, trying to outdo her and flirt at the same time. Jordan rolled her eyes.

“Thank you,” she gasped sincerely before slinging the shirts over her shoulder. “I’ll make sure not to wipe the tables with these ones.”

“Oh! Good idea!” Alex chimed in. “Whenever they get wet they sorta.. fall apart in your hands.”

Jordan snorted as the other guys blanched and the information.

“Don’t you guys have to go get hot dogs?” Bobby looked pointedly at the guys, silently urging them to leave before they could embarrass him further.

Luke grinned, hitting Bobby’s chest with the back of his hand as he leaned in towards Rose, “He ate a hamburger for lunch.”

The rest of the guys grinned as they walked out the venue’s back door. Jordan turned to smile apologetically at Rose and wave goodbye before jogging to catch up with the guys, her bag hitting her hip as she went.

When she caught up to them in the alley behind the theater Luke was going on about something cliche, wanting a connection with everyone through music or something. Jordan wanted to scoff but, well, she kind of agreed.

She and Reggie broke away from the group at the same time to hand out some of their t-shirts to the fans in line. They were in and out before the fans recognized them, resulting in them calling their names as the pair walked away.

“Great minds think alike, huh?” Reggie joked, bumping her shoulder with his own lightly as they caught up to the rest of the group.

Jordan laughed before furrowing her brow in confusion. When had Sunset Curve started treating her like she was one of them?

It must just be the exhilaration of playing the Orpheum, she concluded as they arrived at their destination.

“Uh, do you guys normally get your hot dogs out of the back of a car?” Jordan remarked, equal parts skeptical and disgusted as she looked down the ally at Sam & Ella’s.

“Relax, Moss,” Luke chided. “A hot dog’s a hot dog.”

Jordan rolled her eyes but followed them anyway, the four of them getting their hot dogs and crowing around the back of the Oldsmobile to add their condiments.

“It would be nice to eat somewhere where the toppings aren’t in the back of an Oldsmobile.” Alex acknowledged, accidentally getting pickle juice all over the owners’ jumper cables.

Once satisfied with their creations the boys plopped down on the sofa across the ally and Jordan perched on one end next to Reggie.

“This is awesome you guys. We’re playing the Orpheum!” Luke began to monologue as the guys looked at him with smiles on their faces. “I can’t even count how many bands played here and then got huge.”

Pride swelled up inside Jordan. Sure Apollo 81 was only the opening act, but they were still about to make their big break right alongside Sunset Curve. There was something poetic about it, two rivals about to achieve their dreams together.

“Eat up boys, and girl,” Luke added, grinning at Jordan. “‘Cause after tonight, everything changes.”

Like a scene right out of a movie, they all grinned at each other before taking their first bites.

Jordan grimaced at the flavor, remembering why she wasn’t a big fan of hot dogs.

“That’s a new flavor,” Alex said, sounding concerned but Reggie and Luke laughed it off.

“Chill man,” Reggie said nonchalantly. “Street dogs haven’t killed us yet.”

____ 25 years later ____

“Hey, what’s this Apollo 81 stuff doing in here?” Reggie called out into the garage.

The guys had just returned from the beach, their spirits lifted by their little jam session. Reggie had immediately poofed up to the loft, curious about what other items were left behind . Luke was sitting on his couch, lyric notebook in hand, inspired by his newfound ability to summon his guitar at will. Alex was laying across the couch with his feet in Luke’s lap, having just previously announced that he was considering taking up knitting to pass the time.

“Maybe Julie’s mom was a fan?” Alex answered, getting up from the couch to join Reggie in the loft, his interest piqued. Neither of the boys noticed the way Luke stiffened at the mention of the band.

Reggie nodded in response to Alex’s theory.

“I wonder what happened to them anyway?” He was sitting on the floor of the loft, the box in his lap as he rifled through some of the memorabilia- mostly flyers from their performances, from small open mic nights to the Orpheum. Reggie pulled out the Orpheum flyer. “Do you think Jordan survived that night? I mean, she was with us when we died but not in that weird room.”

“I don’t know Reg, I can’t see how she would’ve survived when we didn’t.”

“You think she’s still in her own black room? By herself?”

“That’s really depressing Reggie.” Alex deadpanned. “She probably passed on, y’know?”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” Reggie brightened, returning the Orpheum flyer to the box and continuing to sift through it, Alex leaning over his shoulder as he did.

“Hey! Their demo!” He said excitedly, holding up the CD case. “I always secretly liked their music.”

“I think we all did,” Alex said thoughtfully, falling forward when Reggie poofed out from under him.

Reggie reappeared below the loft, making his way to the CD player left by their new band setup.

Before Alex or Luke realized what was happening Reggie had hit play on the machine and Apollo 81’s “Lost” was blasting through the garage.

“Woah! Reggie, people can hear that and Julie’s not here!” Luke exclaimed, jumping up from the couch to turn it off at the same time that Alex poofed down from the loft.

Before either of them could reach the CD player, something that could only be described as portal-esque opened up in front of them and the sound of the demo was drowned out by a feminine voice yelling “What the hell?!”

___

Jordan hit the ground hard as she was dropped from the portal. She didn’t even bother to stand up, instead letting herself fall flat on her back with a groan, her eyes shut.

What now? Another black room to sit in? She thought with a sigh. Death sucks.

“Is this how Julie felt?” A voice whispered.

The sudden awareness that she wasn’t alone startled Jordan and she quickly sat up, her eyes flying open only to be met with some of the last faces she had seen before she died.

She couldn’t help it, she immediately screamed and the guys started screaming too.

After a moment, the shock wore off (well, sort of anyway. She still had no idea what was going on) and the screaming stopped. Luke nervously offered a hand, presumably to help her up off the floor but she scowled and pushed it away, standing up on her own.

“Why am I back in your garage?” She asked, glaring slightly at the boys as if they were to blame, which they might’ve been. “And how the hell did you change the decor so fast?”

“Okay, well, it’s a little complicated-“ Reggie started but Alex put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

“Well, you remember when we died, right?” Alex said in a much softer voice than Reggie, and Jordan nodded.

“You mean when you fed me a poisonous hot dog before I could perform at the Orpheum.” She said, glaring at Luke specifically.

“Hey! If you’ll recall, we all ate those hot dogs and we all missed our chance to play the Orpheum.” Luke bit back, immediately becoming defensive.

“Man, I really thought the twenty-five years might’ve quelled their rivalry,” Reggie muttered to Alex and Jordan whipped around to face him.

“Did you just say it’s been twenty-five years?” She shrieked and Alex groaned at his friend’s lack of tact.

“Yeah,” Alex answered, glaring at his bandmates to shut them up. “We died in ’95 and it’s 2020 now.”

“You’re telling me I was alone in that room for twenty-five years?” She asked, her voice becoming louder and more aggressive as she went on.

“Bet probably cried the whole time like Alex did.” Luke snarked and Jordan’s expression grew livid.

“Okay, first of all, crying is a completely reasonable reaction to dying. And second of all, fuck you, you emotionless piece of-“

The song change from the CD player caught her attention and her face broke into a self-righteous grin.

“Were you guys listening to our music?” She asked rhetorically, eyes gleaming at the discovery.

Luke scowled, stalking over to the CD player and turning it off.

“Aw, c’mon, that was one of my favorites,” she whined, following Luke’s steps towards the player and hitting play. Well, she tried to hit play but her finger went right through it.

Luke laughed triumphantly and Jordan stuck her tongue out at him, crossing her arms like a petulant child.

“Oh, very mature, Moss.”

“Oh, I’m immature? Even in death you’re still a whiny, jealous, dickhead!“

“Please! If anyone’s whiny and jealous it’s you!”

“Should we do something?” Alex asked in a whisper, leaning towards Reggie but unable to take his eyes off the two bickering ghosts in front of them. They were like a train wreck.

“Nah, just let them get it out of their systems,” Reggie responded, sounding confident despite past experience with the two.

“You are so self-obsessed!”

“Are you kidding me? You’re the queen of self-obsession!”

“Oh my gosh, I can’t do this!” Jordan exclaimed. “I’m out! See you in hell, asshole!”

“No, Jordan, wait!” Luke called but Jordan had already poofed away.

He slumped to the ground with a groan, head in his hands. “I have to go get her.”

“I’ve got it,” Alex said, resting a comforting hand on his shoulder before poofing away himself.

“You don’t think we’ll actually go to hell, do you?” Reggie filled the sudden silence and Luke shook his head, poofing out of the garage as well.

Part 2

#jatp #julie and the phantoms #jatp fic #julie and the phantoms fic #luke patterson #Luke Patterson fic #jatp luke #jatp luke fic #luke jatp #luke jatp fic #luke x oc #luke patterson x oc #reggie peters #jatp reggie #alex mercer #jatp alex #julie melina #ghost oc #musician oc

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