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gabriel-agreste-has-no-rights · 5 years ago

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Rating: T

Summary: Marinette needs a model to finish her figure drawing portfolio. If drawing Chat Noir will distract him from asking why she refuses to ask Adrien, then she'll make it work. (It's not like his suit leaves much to the imagination, anyway.)

Word Count: 4729 | Chapter 1/2

Notes: See AO3 for notes. tldr: the main genre is humor and despite what you may think, there are no sexy times

XXX

“This is terrible!” Marinette flopped face-first onto her bed and wailed into her pillow. “I’m going to fail figure drawing, and get kicked out of the design major, and never get an internship and starve trying to get commissions and I won’t be able to afford cookies for you which means you’ll have to find a new chosen and Chat Noir will hate me and—”

“Marinette, breathe!” Tikki ordered, lightly smacking the part of her cheek that wasn’t buried in her pillow. “You’re catastrophizing again! None of that is going to happen.”

On a conscious level, Marinette knew that. But that didn’t particularly matter right now when her mind was racing and the final due date for her portfolio was days away and there was no way for her to catch up now.

The figure drawing lab was closed for the models to prepare for their finals. This wouldn’t be a problem, except she had missed too many classes due to akuma attacks to finish the pieces she needed. All she had were five out of fifteen finished drawings and six loose sketches, hastily abandoned while she made increasingly awful excuses to go transform. “I need to go water my plant” had been the most recent. It was a miracle Professor Carbonneau hadn’t kicked her from the class already, considering how coveted the seats were.

But it didn’t matter if she was technically in the class if she couldn’t draw enough live models to pass.

“It’s hopeless, Tikki. There’s no way they’ll let me retake this class. I barely got a spot in the first place.”

“It’s not hopeless,” her kwami said more softly. “You’re Ladybug. You’re luckier than that. And you’ve worked too hard to fail now. I know you’re stressed, but you can’t give up!”

She rolled over onto her back, shoulder brushing a drawing that had slid down the wall and gotten lodged in the crack next to her bed. She pulled it out only to crumple it and toss it towards her trash can. Even the better designs she’d hung from a wire with tiny clothespins felt more like mockery than inspiration right now.

“If I wasn’t Ladybug, I wouldn’t have had to miss so much class in the first place.” She sighed.

“I know, Marinette.” Tikki patted her shoulder consolingly. “I wish it didn’t have to be so hard on you. You give everything you have into both being Ladybug and creating your art. You shouldn’t have to give up one for the other.”

In a way, it felt like she already had. She’d never abandon Paris, no matter how frequently fighting Hawkmoth’s villains cut into her classes. But could she really abandon her dreams of becoming a designer either?

“You’re right, Tikki. I’ll… figure something out.” She smiled and rubbed Tikki to her cheek. “I can look up reference pictures online, I guess. The details won’t be as good as drawing from life, especially for the size of paper I have to use, but it’ll have to work.”

“I could always model for you!” Tikki joked, flashing a few poses she’d surely seen from the Agreste magazines Marinette used to have plastered everywhere. She figured she’d look weird enough to her flatmates from her odd sleeping habits and patrol times without adding photos of her old crush into the mix.

“Thanks for the offer, Tikki.” Marinette giggled at the kwami’s attempt to look flirty. “But I think this course is meant to teach human anatomy.”

“I bet one of your other friends would model for you if they knew how important this was,” she insisted. “What about Adrien?”

“No!” Marinette smacked her fist to her forehead to try to dislodge the image of Adrien shirtless and posing for her that came unbidden. “I can’t ask him! I’m trying to actually get art done, not drool all over the carpet.”

“I haven’t seen you drool in a while. Not over him, anyway.” Tikki smiled knowingly, and Marinette glared.

“I do not drool over Chat Noir either.”

“I never said anything about him.”

She groaned, flopping back and wishing the mattress would just swallow her up already. She didn’t drool over Chat. He’d gotten over his crush on Ladybug before they came to university. Unlike her, apparently, he knew how to move on.

Not that it mattered, because she didn’t have time for a boyfriend! She was stressed enough as it was!

She took a few deep breaths and pulled herself back to the matter at hand: finishing her portfolio. She wouldn’t dare ask Adrien to model for her, even if there was a slim chance he’d actually do it. They were finally comfortable as friends, and while she was used to staring at nearly-nude models in class, she didn’t trust herself to not make things weird again if she had to stare at him in his underwear for hours.

Though unfortunately, he was probably the only one of her friends used to sitting and being stared at for hours. Maybe it would be worth it…?

“Nope, nope, not doing it.” She shut her eyes again. She hadn’t been able to confess to Adrien in the past four years. There was no way she could risk revealing her crush in such an embarrassing way, even to save her final grade.

...Granted, she’d done worse. He’d gotten her constipation pills and she hadn’t given up.

“What are you not doing?”

“ACK!”

Marinette bolted upright, nearly toppling off of her bed at the voice from the window. For a moment it had sounded like Adrien himself, summoned by her thoughts. Thankfully, it was just the blond boy who was a more regular visitor to her fifth-story window.

“Chat!” She whirled to scowl at him through the windowscreen. “Don’t you know it’s rude to eavesdrop?”

How long had he been there? Had he heard Tikki? Had he heard her not-confess to drooling about him?

“You left the window open.” He shrugged from his perch on the outer ledge.

She had left the window open because she needed some fresh air to keep from suffocating under the pressure of her deadlines. Sure, usually the open window meant Chat was welcome in, but…

Actually, maybe Chat Noir was exactly who she needed right now.

“I guess I did.” She sighed before prying off the screen to let him in.

He slipped over the sill, bowed, and produced a pink rose from behind his ear.

“For your hospitality.”

She laughed and tucked it in the vase on her desk, replacing the wilting flower he’d brought her last week. She was lucky her roommates weren’t as nosy as Alya, or she’d never hear the end of it.

“You know, if you’d really wanted to get me something, you could’ve brought the rabbit miraculous.” She leaned back against her creaking desk as he took his usual spot on the cushion in the corner of the room.

It was a joke, but as she said it, the idea sounded tempting. Alix wouldn’t mind parting with Fluff for a day while she patched her portfolio back together, would she? If she weren’t worried about causing some kind of temporal paradox, she would’ve done it.

“Rabbit? Sorry, someone else has already hopped on that one.” He grinned, crossing his legs beneath him. “You don’t feel like squeaking by with the mouse again?”

She stifled a laugh. “You’re terrible.”

“But you’re smiling.” Only he could look so smug about it. She always frowned just to prove him wrong. But she did feel better already, the way she always did around him. “So what’s up? I didn’t come to my favorite civilian’s house just to drop a few amazing puns.”

“Awful puns.”

He waved her off. “Anyway, I just wanted to see how you were doing, with finals coming up and everything. Akuma attacks always spike around now, you know.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” She rubbed her temples.

“Don’t worry, though. Ladybug and I have special patrol routes this finals week. We’ll take care of any akumas faster than you can say ‘thank you Chat, you’re the best superhero ever’.”

Despite everything, she laughed. The daily patrols would be just one more stress placed on her, but it was necessary after Finalizer destroyed the entire university last semester. But Chat was surely dealing with the same thing, and he’d still taken the time out of his studying to come make sure she was alright.

“Thank you Chat, you’re the best superhero ever,” she said with a teasing grin. She didn’t expect the blush that spilled out from under his mask.

“I-I guess I am pretty great.” He rubbed the back of his neck.

“And I guess bragging about yourself is supposed to scare off akumas, huh?”

“Yeah, I mean—hey!” He pouted, sending her giggling again.

“Sorry, sorry.” She joined him on the ground by the cushion. “You are great. I wasn’t expecting you, but I’m really glad you came.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. It’s just… been a long day.” She sighed. “I missed my last class today, and now I don’t know how I’m going to finish my portfolio for my final.”

“Are you feeling okay?” He reached out to press his palm over her forehead, as if he’d be able to feel anything through his glove. “I’ve heard people get sick around finals week, too. Do you want soup? I can bring back some soup—or juice maybe? What do you like when you’re sick?”

“Stop, Chat, I’m not sick.” Though her face probably warmed enough at his concern to pass as a fever. “I just missed class because… um—I stayed up too late studying and accidentally fell asleep!”

“Oh.” He pulled back his hand and nodded sagely. “That makes sense.”

She held in a sigh of relief. “Anyway, I need to finish at least four more figure drawings before… three days from now? Which wouldn’t be a problem except I need a live model and it’s not normal for friends to strip down to draw each other.”

He shrugged. “Doesn’t sound that weird to me.”

She pointedly did not imagine him stripping down in front of her. ...Not entirely, anyway.

“Yeah, well, unless you want to model for me—”

“I will.” He grinned before pink tinged his cheeks. “Um, or I would. I don’t think I can take off my suit without revealing my identity.”

“You—take off—” She made some noise that vaguely approximated a keyboard smash. Not because of the thought of seeing him shirtless! But he really trusted her that much, even as a civilian?

“Sorry, forget I offered. It was stupid.” He suddenly looked even more embarrassed than her, which was saying something.

“No, no! I—I really appreciate it, Chat Noir.” She squeezed his arm and smiled gently. “I would never ask you to detransform for me, but it means a lot that you even thought about it. Really.”

“You know you’re one of my best friends, Marinette. Of course I would. Besides, I’m used to—nevermind.” He ruffled the hair at the back of his neck. “Anyway, I’d gladly model for you if I could. But hey, don’t you have a friend who’s literally a model? Why don’t you ask him?”

Her eyes widened at the sudden subject change. “A-Adrien? NO! I—I mean I can’t, I—” She groaned and dropped her head in her hands. It was bad enough for Tikki to tease her, but if Chat Noir found out about her maybe-not-so-old crush? She would never hear the end of it.

“Why not?” His head tilted, his brow creasing beneath his mask. “He is your friend, right?”

“Yes.” She sighed. Just a friend, who would probably not enjoy her ogling him half-naked. Which wasn’t the point! She was just trying to pass her class, not stare at boys!

Maybe she should ask Alya at this rate. She was ride-or-die enough to do it. But Alya had a worse finals schedule than any of her friends, with all the journalism papers she’d put off while chasing akumas for the Ladyblog. Nino, then? No, he had several music scores to finish composing.

Adrien probably had as much work as the rest of them, with his math and physics classes. It wouldn’t make sense to ask him.

“Then I don’t see what the big deal is,” Chat said. “I’m sure he’d love to model for you.”

“He’s probably busy,” she said, which was true. “And besides, modeling for figure drawing is completely different from clothes modeling. You have to hold poses much longer, and some of them are weird, and you have to, you know, wear a lot less clothes.”

Her face burned. She was stupid to even bring it up; she was just digging herself an even deeper hole.

“I think you underestimate how long photoshoots take,” he quipped back, and she raised an eyebrow.

“How would you know, anyway?”

“I-I wouldn’t! I just think, all things considered, he’s your best choice. I’m just trying to suggest what’s best for your grade, as a good, supportive friend should do.”

“Uh-huh.” She frowned. It did seem a bit odd how insistent he was on this. Had he guessed her not-so-secret-crush after all? “It doesn’t matter, because it’s not going to happen.”

“But—”

“Nope,” she cut him off, shoving him a little to make room for herself on the cushion. He scooted to let her smush in next to him. “I’d sooner draw you suited up.”

“...Would that work?”

She glanced at his chest, which was about at her eye level with the way she was slouched against him. She never really thought about it before—really, she hadn’t—but the suit didn’t leave too much to the imagination. If she used Chat as a model and just fudged a few parts, would anyone really be able to tell? It would definitely be easier to get the proportions right than it would be drawing from a screen, especially for the quick gestures that were supposed to comprise a third of her portfolio.

And if it distracted him from asking about Adrien, well, that was just a bonus.

“You know what? I think it would.” She grinned and scrambled up to get her drawing board, which she’d dropped against her desk as soon as she’d gotten home, too exhausted to store it properly. Part of the giant pad of newsprint was coming off of its clips, and she adjusted it before propping it up against the foot of her bed. It was even less comfortable than the benches in the drawing lab, but it would do.

“You—really?” He beamed.

“Of course, silly cat. I might not be able to use you for the detailed figures, but need gesture drawings too. Your suit is tight enough that—nevermind.” She flushed again. This was such a bad idea.

But it would work. If she could be professional with Chat Noir while fighting akumas, then surely she could be as professional as she was with the paid figure drawing models.

She expected him to tease her over that last comment, but he just sprung up and started striking ridiculous poses.

“So, how do you want me?” He flexed, and she snorted.

“Not like that. These are warm-up gestures, so let’s have you do a few that you can hold for at least thirty seconds. They can be standing or sitting or using props, it doesn’t matter.”

“Props, huh?” He tapped his chin before reaching behind his back for his baton. It wasn’t like it was unusual for models to pose with staves in class, but she still had a feeling she was going to regret giving Chat Noir that permission.

Two seconds later when he had an arm and a leg wrapped around his baton, she knew she regretted it.

“How’s this?” He asked, flashing a toothy grin.

“Chat.” She glared, and he laughed before stopping his joking attempt at pole dancing.

“Sorry, sorry.” His grin was unrepentant, but he rested the baton behind his shoulders instead. “Better?”

She shook her head while letting out a little laugh. He was just such a dork.

“Sure, that’ll work.”

She fished her conté sticks out of her pencil case, set a thirty second timer on her phone, and swore that she wouldn’t make this awkward.

She looked up to find him pursing his lips in a kissy face.

Aaaand she promptly burst out laughing.

“If you’re going to make that face, I’ll have to ask someone else to model for me.”

“Nooooo! I’ll be good, I promise!”

True to his word, he schooled his face into a neutral expression. His charcoal-lidded eyes peered up through golden bangs.

She forgot to breathe for a few seconds.

“Marinette? Is this better?”

“Uh—y-yeah! That’s great, just hold that until the timer goes off, then switch poses.”

She pressed the start button and brought her conté to the paper before she could get lost in his eyes again.

From there, it was much easier. She was used to staying professional during her figure drawing classes, and all she was doing was capturing his form, not the bright green shade of his irises. Not that the sharp curves of his shoulderblades and defined calves couldn’t be distracting too. But the timer helped with that; she couldn’t lose focus when her warm-ups each lasted thirty seconds.

“How do you draw so fast?” He asked after shifting to pose where he knelt close to her sketchpad.

Her face colored in embarrassment. It was much harder to draw someone when they could watch you. Gesture drawings weren’t particularly interesting to the untrained eye; he probably thought she was wasting his time drawing glorified stick figures.

“Woah,” he breathed.

“Stay still,” she said before he could learn farther into her space.

“Sorry.” He snapped back into position. “It’s just your drawings—I don’t know much about art, but they just. They look like they’re moving.”

“You can tell?” She smiled hopefully, briefly forgetting about the timer. “That’s the point of gestures. It’s to warm up and get the form on paper without getting lost in details. It’s not what I draw the most, since I’m taking this class to prepare to draw my fashion designs, but I’ve enjoyed it a lot.”

“It really shows. And you can do this even though you missed so many classes?”

“Er—well I do practice outside of class as much as I can. It wasn’t easy.” She’d nearly snapped her conté sticks from frustration those first few weeks. Professor Carbonneau was pretty lenient with her students, but that didn’t stop her from comparing her drawings to all of the studio art majors who had clearly been practicing for much longer. She knew her art still wasn’t the top of the class, but as long as she could pass with a grade high enough to stay in her major, she would be grateful.

The timer buzzed, reminding them both to get back to work.

“Let’s move it up to a minute this time,” she said.

“Whatever the Princess wishes.” Chat Noir bowed, holding the pose for her to draw.

She laughed and went back to putting him down in black and white.

Tension leaked out of her as she swept her conté in long arcs, soft shadows, sharp edges. Somehow Chat Noir was a much better model than she’d expected. He barely twitched under her scrutinizing gaze. Every once in a while he cracked a joke that set her line shaking, and she had to force herself to glare at him.

It was normal. It was fun. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

At least, that was what she thought until they finally got to the fifteen-minute pieces.

Fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes of staring at her partner lounging on the cushion like a real model. Taking down the contours of his legs and side and maybe-occasionally just staring at his chest.

If he noticed, he was at least kind enough not to comment.

She swallowed, glanced at the timer, and kept drawing. This one would be for her portfolio; she couldn’t afford to get too distracted. Not that she should find him distracting in the first place.

“Let’s take a break. You’ve been at this for a while,” she said when the timer finally went off. She folded the cover back over her sketchpad and set it aside.

“You’re the one who’s been drawing. All I had to do was sit there.” He shrugged.

“That must not be easy to do for so long, though. In our class, the models get breaks every thirty minutes.”

“Really?” His eyes widened. “That must be nice.”

“We can’t have anyone falling asleep on us,” she joked, standing and holding out a hand to help him to his feet. “Come on, I’ll order us a pizza. It’s the least I can do after everything you’ve done for me.”

His cheeks pinked below his mask. “It’s nothing, really. I’m a pro at sitting and looking pretty.”

She rolled her eyes, but unfortunately couldn’t argue with that.

XXX

“So,” Chat Noir said before swallowing a mouthful of pineapple pizza, “did you get enough drawings for your class?”

“Not quite.” Marinette sighed, running her fingers over the edge of the paper plate in her lap. “I still need a few thirty-minute pieces. I don’t want to keep you here all night, though.”

“You know cats like to stay up late, Princess.” He winked. “But in this case, I do actually have a study session early tomorrow. What if I came back tomorrow afternoon?”

“Hmm… I guess that could work.” She took a bite of her pizza. “I didn’t want too many drawings of the same model, but I don’t have many other options. And you are really good at this. I just wish I could...”

“Could what?”

“I could really use someone who doesn’t wear a full body suit for the longer poses.” She sighed. “Your suit’s too shiny for me to pass it off as skin, and I can’t make up the shading from scratch. My professor will know.”

“There’s always Adrien,” he said with a smirk.

Marinette had half a mind to throw her pizza at him. “Why won’t you let that go?”

“Because I know for a fact he would love to help you out.” He shook his crust at her.

Her face flushed at the word love. She thought she was better than this by now!

“Really? And how can you be sure?”

“Because I—uh—because…” He glanced back and forth before shoving the pizza crust into his mouth.

“Come on, spit it out, Chat—no not literally!” she exclaimed when he frantically spat the crust back onto his plate.

He sheepishly grinned and put the slobbery food back in his mouth. She smacked her forehead, probably getting pizza grease there.

“You’re gross, you know that?”

He swallowed. How he didn’t choke on the crust, she didn’t know.

“But you love me anyway.”

“Keep dreaming, kitty.” She managed to get it out without so much as a stutter, despite the heat remaining in her cheeks. Whatever feelings she did or didn’t have for Chat, it wasn’t like she could act on them. Not when they couldn’t know each other’s identities, and not when she still couldn’t get over Adrien.

Not when he’d already gotten over her.

“Anyway, what were you trying to tell me?” She asked before she could dwell on that.

“Oh. Uh.” This time he didn’t have any more food to use as a distraction. His eyes darted back and forth before he sighed. “I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but… IthinkAdrienhasacrushonyou.”

Marinette felt her brain cells fizzle out at trying to process that sentence. She had to have misheard, hadn’t she? “Come again?”

“Adrien,” he said more clearly, “has a crush on you.”

Was she dreaming? She was dreaming. She had to be.

“And how would you know that?” She asked, her voice a little higher than normal.

He crossed his arms. “A cat never reveals his secrets. And besides, even if I’m wrong—which I’m not—he’d still help you because you’re his friend, and he cares about you. So I really think you should ask him, or else I’ll use my superheroly powers to get him to model for you myself.”

“You wouldn’t.” Her eyes narrowed, though her heart was beating out of her chest. Adrien? Having a crush on her? It wasn’t like they’d seen each other too often this semester, with both of them being busy with their classes. Why would he like her now?

At first she thought he was going to argue, but then he seemed to deflate. “Fine. I’m sorry for being so pushy, I just… you really don’t like him, do you? Did something happen?”

Why did he seem so hurt by that? “N-no! I mean, I do like him, I like him a-a lot actually, and—you can not tell him this,” she threatened with a finger near his nose.

He went cross eyed trying to look at it, but nodded.

She dropped her hand. This was stupid. If Chat knew about her crush… she’d worried about him teasing her, but really, he was her friend. Her best friend. She had to keep enough secrets from him because of her identity. It would feel good to at least be able to share one.

“I’ve had a crush on Adrien forever, Chat,” she finally admitted. “That’s why I didn’t want to ask him to be my model. I don’t want to get distracted. I need my drawings to be the best they can, and I especially don’t need him catching me ogling him.”

Her face burned. It was one thing to share secrets, but maybe she didn’t need to share that much.

He laughed. Was her crush really that funny? He almost sounded surprised though, like there was any chance she wouldn’t fall for a sweet, caring, kind friend who also happened to be unfairly attractive. Maybe he was only surprised because he thought puns and roses were the way to a girl’s heart.

(His way had worked too, though, hadn’t it?)

“So you want to ogle him.” He wiggled his eyebrows.

“Yes—no—shut up!” She shoved him, and he collapsed laughing on the carpet.

“I’m hurt, Marinette. And here I thought you wanted to ogle me.”

“I hate you,” she said through her fingers as she contemplated ways to erase this conversation from existence. Could a Lucky Charm do that? “I can’t believe I ever thought I liked you.”

“Ouch. And here I thought your dad’s punches hurt. Whoever made up that ‘sticks and stones’ saying was a liar.”

It took her a moment to realize he was referring to the time her papa was akumatized. Of course he wouldn’t expect that she actually liked him now.

That was for the best though. She wasn’t supposed to admit that, not as Marinette, especially not when she’d just learned Adrien (probably) had a crush on her. She could hardly go out with Adrien when Chat Noir snuck in her window a few times a week, could she?

It hurt too much to think of letting her strange more-than-friendship with her partner go.

“So, you think there’s time for one more drawing?” he asked, brushing his hands off on his suit.

“If you’re still up for it.” She couldn’t turn down the opportunity, even if she was even more afraid of giving her feelings away now. Besides, if he thought she only liked Adrien, he wouldn’t notice her acting weird. Right?

“Of course. Can’t deny you the opportunity to capture all this.” He flexed his arms in a few different poses.

“You know, I was going to thank you, but now I think that might go to your head.” She laughed.

“Ah, it’s too late for that.” He grinned. “You’ve already inflated my ego beyond repair.”

She didn’t see how, but he was already holding his pose, one hand on his hip, the other arm flexing up near his head. His legs were braced in a slight squat that would probably hurt to hold for too long, but left her with an all-too-good view of his quads.

She set her timer for thirty minutes and hoped that she could keep her secrets to herself a little longer.

#marichat #miraculous ladybug #fic tag #marinette dupain cheng #chat noir #tali writes #charcoal lines #humor

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lifemuchgreener · 6 years ago

Text

Brothers Trust - Chapter 9

STORY SUMMARY: You enter the Brothers Trust contest on a whim, not expecting to win. But what happens when you do?

CHAPTER SUMMARY: Your plans for the summer change suddenly when you don’t get a good grade in one of your classes and have to retake it as a summer class. Everything is going okay until an exposé is published about your relationship with Tom just days before the premiere of Spider-Man: Far From Home.

WARNINGS: Swearing and ANGST.

WORD COUNT: 1744

AUTHOR’S NOTE: 👀👀👀 also: Y/C/N refers to the name of the college or university you go to for the sake of this story.

Prologue: here

Chapter/Day One: here

Chapter/Day Two: here

Chapter/Day Three: here

Chapter/Day Four: here

Chapter Five: here

Chapter Six: here

Chapter Seven: here

Chapter Eight: here

Your second semester of school flies by even faster than the first semester did. Maintaining a long distance relationship with one of the world’s current most popular actors, keeping up with all of your classes, and finding time for anything else is not an easy feat but you manage. At least you think you do.

“Yes!” your roommate exclaims loudly which startles you from packing up things on your desk. “Grades were just uploaded.”

She’s been refreshing her laptop browser for the last hour and a half, eagerly waiting to see what her final grades are. You’re not too worried so you’ve decided to get some packing done but you figure a five minute break to check your grades won’t hurt.

You open up your laptop, log into your student account, and click the link that will take you to your grades.

“Holy fuck,” you say, staring at the one unimpressive letter in front of your eyes.

“What’s wrong?” your roommate asks.

“I, uh.” You swallow hard, your throat suddenly feeling dry. “I got a D.”

She’s silent for a moment. “Ah, well...at least that’s a passing grade?”

You shake your head. “It’s a class for my major -- it doesn’t count. I don’t get credit. Fuck.”

She instantly tries to do some damage control. “What’s the course number? I’ll see if they’re offering it over the summer.”

You tell her the number and close your eyes as she does a search. This can’t be happening.

“They’re offering it over the summer,” she says. “It’s going to be okay. You can just take it again without disrupting your four-year plan.”

“Summer classes are so expensive. And it costs a lot of money to stay on campus during the summer, too -- I can’t afford that.”

“Move in with Andrew and me,” she says. “We’ve already signed the lease for an apartment nearby. He’s taking a couple of summer classes to get ahead and I’m staying in the area for my internship with the local newspaper. We were going to look for a third person to split the apartment with anyway.”

“Who’s Andrew?”

“That guy that tried to ask you out last semester,” she says. “We, uh, took a class together this semester and we’ve been dating for a few months. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want it to be weird.”

You haven’t really talked to Andrew since that party in November. That’s why you don’t remember his name -- who needs Andrew when your boyfriend is Tom Holland?

“Could I? Is that okay?” you ask.

She smiles at you. “I wouldn’t have asked if it wasn’t okay.”

So you move from your dorm room into a cute little apartment down the street with your roommate and your roommate’s boyfriend, who just so happens to be the same guy who asked you out on a date during your first semester. The first month together goes smoothly despite this: you enjoy meals together at the tiny kitchen table, you have movie marathons, you binge-watch Netflix.

It’s the end of June when shit hits the fan.

You wake up to the consistent buzzing of your phone which is extremely annoying; it’s a Friday and you’d like to sleep in because your class only meets on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Normally when you post a selfie or something you’ll wake up with a few hundred notifications -- some of Tom’s fans still like and comment on every new picture you post despite the contest being nearly ten months ago. But you haven’t posted a picture recently which is what confuses you.

You unlock your phone and check Instagram to see what all the fuss is about since that’s where the majority of the notifications are coming from. Tom Holland fan accounts are tagging you in photos, which isn’t anything new, but it’s the actual photos that they’re tagging you in that make your heart skip a beat. They’re photos that nobody would have access to except for you and Tom.

Tom kissing your cheek. You kissing his. Your fingers intertwined. A selfie you took with Tom and Tessa. All photos you had taken together when you visited for New Years and had printed out on special paper in the school library so you could put them on your wall next to your signed picture with him.

Your first thought is that someone hacked into the school’s printing system somehow and released the photos on Tumblr or maybe one of the Reddit threads that has to do with Marvel. But then you notice that all the comments on the pictures are talking about some sort of article. You figure that doing some investigating will be easier to do on a bigger screen so you grab your laptop and do a search in Google for ‘tom holland girlfriend 2019.’

The first result is for some magazine that you have never heard of. The article in particular, titled “Tom Holland Has A Secret Girlfriend...OMG!” was evidently posted three hours ago. You click on the link and immediately begin to read.

Move over Zendaya...Tom Holland’s got a new girl! But is she really that new?

Her name is Y/F/N Y/L/N and she’s a student at Y/C/N. You may recognize her from this picture--

There’s a break in the paragraph to show the picture of you and Tom that Nikki had taken on the day you visited the Far From Home set.

--because she was the winner from a contest put on by an organization created by the Holland family back in the summer of 2018. Holland and Y/L/N started a long distance relationship in the fall and she spent a portion of her winter vacation at his place in London.

There’s another picture. This time it’s you and Tom laying in his bed post-sex. Both of you are topless and while the sheets are covering your chest, it’s pretty obvious that you two had just been at it: your hair is disheveled and your lips are more colored than normal from kissing. Beads of sweat glisten on Tom’s hairline and there’s a lovely flush across his cheeks as he presses a kiss to your bare shoulder.

You’re instantly infuriated. How fucking dare someone post such an intimate picture of you two without your permission? You scroll back up to the top of the page instead of continuing to read and your eyes widen with surprise when you find the byline.

You push yourself off of your bed and throw open the door of your tiny bedroom. Your heart is beating fast as you check the small living room and kitchen. The bathroom door is open and nobody is in the shower. Without a second thought you throw open their bedroom door, not caring what you’ll find on the other side.

But that’s empty too. There’s no sign of her or him.

“Fuck!” you swear loudly, tears starting to spill from your eyes. You fist your hands into your hair and let out an angry scream. “How fucking could she?”

You double over onto the floor like you’ve been punched in the stomach. You’re pretty sure a punch would hurt less than this betrayal of trust from a person you thought was your friend. You continue to cry and scream, pounding your fists against the carpeted floor. You’re grateful that nobody lives below you.

You stop crying when you hear the sound of your phone ringing in your bedroom. You pick yourself up off of the floor and sulk to your room, a whole new wave of tears coming over you when you see that it’s Tom who’s calling.

“I’m so sorry,” you sob into the phone, trying to control your voice the best you can. “Tommy, I’m so sorry.”

“Shh,” he says and even though you feel like the world is falling apart, his voice still manages to comfort you.

“I didn’t know she would,” you take a deep shaky breath. “I don’t know why…”

“That doesn’t matter right now,” he says. “It happened and now we have to do some damage control. I wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

“Well, I’m not okay.”

He sighs. “I mean, like, I wanted to make sure she didn’t have a knife to you or something.”

“She doesn’t. I can’t even find her. She’s not in the apartment.”

“You need to get out of there,” he advises. “I don’t want there to be a confrontation between you two. Go to a coffee shop or a park or something. Just get out of the apartment before she gets back.”

You put Tom on speakerphone as you get ready to leave.

“How do we do damage control?” you ask.

“I’ll take care of it,” he says. “I’m going to talk to everyone I know and see what they think I should do because babe, I know it might sound like I know what I’m doing, but I totally don’t. I’ve never had to deal with anything like this before and I want to get advice on what to do.”

“So what do I do?”

“I need you to wait,” he says. “Don’t reply to anything yet. I’ll text you as soon as I figure out what to do.”

“Fuck, Tom, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault so stop apologizing. Lay low for a little bit. I’ll send you a message as soon as I come up with a plan.”

“Okay,” you say. “I can do that.”

“Good.” You can hear him smile through the phone despite the stressful situation. “I’ll talk to you later.”

You hang up the phone and dry your eyes off with the sleeves on your shirt. You grab your phone charger, apartment keys, and bag before heading out the door. Your feet lead you to a little coffee place not too far away and you sit at a table in the back, attempting to distract yourself with games on your phone as you impatiently wait for Tom’s message.

What do you think about joining me for the movie premiere on Monday?

Your fingers dance across your phone screen as you write back your reply of: That’s the plan you’ve come up with?

Will you or won’t you? Harrison’s already arranged for an Uber to pick you up and drive you to the airport and if we don’t cancel it within the next minute they’ll still charge him.

Yes, you type back. Yes. I’ll go with you.

Good. See you tonight, love.

Taglist: @deadlyaffairs, @strrwberries, @le-papillon-chatoyant, @smexylemony, @carolborges890, @ineedsomemoremetime, @loxbbg, @mac-demarco1, @howdycharlie, @rebekahs-worlds-blog, @parkersvinyl, @ballerinaphan, @lovesdeath, @tom-hollands-eyelash, @supercool-holland, @tomspideyweb, @literallygooutofmyfreakingmind, @corteousdolan, @iwillalwaysbevictorious, @simplechicwithacrazedheart, @allofthebitters, @julliene0806, @kittyisabel, @aliceinwhateverland, @tomshollanddarling, @emmyfignewton, @hollandfangirl, @tommyswolves, @saintlystark, @imthwipped, and @kristyesteven

#tom holland #tom holland x reader #tom holland smut #tom holland fanfiction #marvel smut #marvel x reader

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wingedpurplekangaroo · 7 years ago

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How to UNmake a Pink Pussy Hat, part one

I know, it’s a difficult thing to create something or be gifted a handmade present and then unmake it. But people are hurting, and we can do something to ease their pain. Let’s tackle it together!

Step one: Take a photo of your pink pussy hat. Take many, if you’d like. Just like we’ve learned for decluttering, once we have a pic we have it forever, and we can get rid of the physical object. Take a moment to relish warm memories and say goodbye.

(Aw, you’re a sweet hat. My friend made you, and I who can’t crochet or knit added the cute kitty face. It’s a nice collaboration. I love my friend. I love that my embroidery skills are good enough to add a kitty face semi-competently. Though I didn’t finish the eyes, because I was falling asleep on a plane on the morning of January 20, 2017 by then.)

Step two: Find an end and start unravelling. Begin with your last end. If you get stuck, use your Special Scissors to help you out. Everyone has Special Scissors, mine are from my Grandma and may have been made at the very beginning of last century. Whoa!

(I would love to say that I stopped loving the pussy hat the first time I heard that a fellow feminist was upset by them. Unfortunately, not. I loved the pink pussy hat for being The Great American Craft Project, this thing that so many women made for their fellow feminists, individual and unique symbols of love. Retaking the whole concept of Pinkwashing as a power color, and maintaining the bond with felines, an animal closely tied to femininity for so many centuries.)

Step three: Lose the details. Any finishing touches that you added to your pink pussy hat will be difficult and fussy to undo, but with patience and time you can wiggle them free. It’s okay to use Special Scissors or other tools to help.

(The whole concept of pink pussy hats as a transphobic/white-woman-centered symbol confused and frustrated me for a full year. Sure, the word “pussy” is a sly reference to some genitals, but it’s pretty odd to think of mainstream middle-aged white women walking around with their own vulvas/vaginas on their heads by the millions. Besides, taking pride in bits that can’t even be uttered on the Senate floor is a radical, empowering act.)

Step four: When urged by friends, take a break. This is difficult work! Snuggles and discussions to work out what you think you know from the lived experience of others is vital.

(Some months ago, I talked to a very good friend who’s a white trans woman, and she felt mixed about the whole issue. To paraphrase, she agreed with me that no symbol of womanhood will be 100% universally loved, and added that trans women are not a hive mind- some hate the pussy hat, some love it, many have mixed feelings like she did. She also pointed out that some trans women do have vaginas. But ultimately, if marginalized people are feeling hurt, we should listen and immediately stop hurting them.)

Step five: Sometimes the unmaking goes slowly, and you have to pick at it from a different direction. There’s definitely more than one yarn-end in your hat, so if one doesn’t seem to be doing much, pick up another. Yes, a hole in the middle might open up and look weird.

(I took the conversation I had with that trans friend and held up all the parts of it that agreed with me- confirmation bias at it again. So, okay, PINK pussy hats may hurt people, but I also have one in the colors of the Bi Pride Flag- just a tiny bit of pink, mostly purple and blue. That’s okay, right?)

Step six: Keep checking in with friends, setting the work down when it starts to frustrate you is the difference between a perfectly unmade hat and a tangle of knots and cut ends that you’ll just have to throw out. Stopping and resting is so important.

(A previous white woman blunder I’d made online had given me a very important key. I was a member of a PoC-led activist group. I saw two discussions happening on social media at the same time: one in a larger activist group where PoC and transgender people kept saying, “this is why the pussy hat hurts me” and being shouted down by angry white people. The second discussion was inside that PoC-led activist group, expressing their despair that white people were just not listening to their cries of anguish. Whoa. What was hurting more than the initial pain was being ignored and silenced by white feminists. Ohhhhhhh . . . I know that feel!)

Step seven: Eventually, you will find a thread that pulls easily, and now things will move quickly. You may be tempted to rush at this point, but you still need to move steadily to reclaim the most yarn for a different project.

(Then I looked back to the disparaging remarks various PoC/trans friends had been saying about the pussy hats. I really plugged them in with that anguish being expressed all over the internet. And the thing that really kicked my ass? Finally realizing that a trans WoC I’d been trying to get closer to was actively distancing herself from me because of how stubbornly I was clinging to my chosen symbol of nearly-united womanhood. I was so angry at myself as the penny finally dropped!)

Steps eight through seventeen are in How to UNmake a Pink Pussy Hat part two!

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ayma-nidiot · 5 years ago

Text

In the White Light - Prideshipping fic Chapter 7

Also on AO3.

Chapter 7 – I’ll Soar Away

As shocked as he was, Yami Yugi allowed Kaiba to let him go, instead of trying to break free of his hold. “Kaiba… What is the meaning of this?”

“Dammit, are you as dumb as that shorter Yugi? Never before has someone told me that a game could be fun. Never before has someone provided me with a worthy challenge! Can’t you see, Pharaoh? I’m in love with you!”

“You… are?”

“Why are you surprised? Don’t you remember that time?”

“Oh!” Luckily, Yami Yugi wasn’t so dense as to have forgotten about the time travel to ancient Egypt.

“You would do all of that for me… Tell me, Pharaoh, do you feel the same?”

“Kaiba…” Between that kiss and this question, Yami Yugi’s mind was in such a fog that he couldn’t formulate an answer.

“Hey, what gives?” Joey interrupted. “Don’t put Yug on the spot like that! You know, you’ve always creeped me out because you’re way too rich for someone your age. Now you’re hitting on my best friend? Well, sort of my best friend.”

“Yeah. Don’t you think we have bigger things to worry about… Like, avoiding all of these monsters, for instance?” Téa added. “We just got done dealing with the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon, and we need to move!”

Wanting to avoid the topic of his dragon form, Kaiba replied in his usual grumpy manner, “Yeah, I know that!”

Just then, a familiar German voice called out from afar, “Mr. Kaiba! Mokuba! Are you guys hurt?”

“Roland! No, we’re fine,” Mokuba replied.

“That’s good, but I bring terrible news… The KaibaCorp building has been taken over by and monsters!”

“Great, more monsters…” Kaiba wasn’t too ecstatic to go back out there after what he had just gone through – unless, of course, it was in the name of his company.

“I’ve got a chopper ready for you and your… acquaintances, sir.”

“Thank you, Roland.” As everyone boarded this chopper, Kaiba spoke, “But may I remind you that I’m not your boss anymore?”

“Nonsense!” Another KaibaCorp employee answered. “We’re with you through the end.”

“See, Seto? We’re all here to support you?” Mokuba smiled as the chopper took off.

After an hour of awkward silence, Kaiba finally spoke up, “So let me guess. It’s Dartz, isn’t it?”

“Correct, sir. We’ve already dispatched a research team at the museum to decipher some tablets. We can learn even more about our enemy this way.”

Could have done that a week ago…

“I regret to inform you that Dartz has bought out all of KaibaCorp’s shares, too. They’ve hacked into your account as well as the building.”

“Well, that’s nothing I can’t handle.” Kaiba could tell the chopper was close to their destination. “As the former president, I am really the only one who needs to go in there. But just out of curiosity, is anyone coming?”

“I will, Seto!”

“Mokuba, no. You’ve been through enough danger for one day. Stay with Joey and the others, where it’s safe.”

“Uh… I guess… Téa, Joey, Mokuba, and I will go find the cops,” Tristan affirmed.

“So you guys are so creeped out by me kissing Yugi that you don’t want to be anywhere near me? Is that it?”

It was then that Yami Yugi spoke up and said, “I’ll go with you.”

Kaiba tried not to show his inner joy at this news as everyone exited the chopper, faced unexpectedly with Duke Devlin and two strangers.

“Professor! Rebecca! Duke!” Téa greeted these strangers. “It’s good to see you’re well!”

“Eh?” Kaiba only needed to take one look at the little girl, Rebecca, to decide he didn’t like her. “This isn’t a field trip, kid. You need to go home and take care of your grandpa.”

“Looks can be deceiving, Kaiba.” Rebecca pushed up her glasses. “If you’re going to retake KaibaCorp, then you’re going to need someone who can hack the computers. Someone like Grandpa and I.”

“Fine, then. I suppose you could tag along, kid.” Kaiba turned around as Yami Yugi went after him.

“I’m not a kid!” Rebecca and her grandfather followed suit. “Why don’t you try showing a little more gratitude for those of us sticking our butts out here for you!”

“Yeah, whatever.” The four soon arrived at two trap doors with ladders. “You need to take that trap door over there to get to the control room. Yugi and I will go this way.”

“Right! You’re going to be glad I ‘tagged along’ for this ‘field trip!’” With that, both Rebecca and her grandfather had taken off.

Though he was now alone with Yami Yugi, Kaiba didn’t let the events of a few hours prior cloud his judgment. “Try to keep up, Yugi,” he dared as he led the pharaoh down the other trap door and started running when they reached the floor.

“Keep up? To where?”

“This here is a shortcut to my central computer, designed for emergencies. Dartz shouldn’t have been able to disable it.” Kaiba explained when they reached the door to an elevator, and used his card key to open it. “See? Now come in.”

Yami Yugi had no qualms about entering the elevator, but as it started up, he couldn’t look Kaiba in the eye.

Ugh, this tension is killing me. Though the elevator ride was short, Kaiba didn’t exactly feel comfortable in this situation either. “So, um… Thanks for doing this for me, even though you could be doing your time travel thing instead.”

“Sadly, as things are right now, I can’t just leave the modern world as it is. My selfish wishes are nothing compared to what people of this time are going through.”

“Such a desire to fight for what you believe in… How gorgeous.”

Hearing such kind words, Yami Yugi could finally look at Kaiba again. Before he could say anything, a one-eyed furry monster dug a hole through the ceiling of the elevator and then through the elevator doors.

“What in the fu- No, it doesn’t matter what that was; we’re getting off here and now,” Kaiba asserted, ramming his Duel Disk into the elevator buttons. “Let’s go! Help me get these doors open!”

Even though the elevators were now broken, prying the doors proved to be easy; however, the new task of traversing the monsters that appeared wouldn’t be.

“They all have a weird green symbol on their heads… Yugi, what does this mean?”

“It means that these are real monsters, not holograms of yours.”

That’s what I was afraid of… Kaiba gulped. Only this time, I have to face these monsters as a human. “These can’t be real monsters! You’re no better than the lunatics who took over KaibaCorp.”

“Oh, they are. I don’t know how, but monsters from a different universe have found their way into our world. Do you have any better ideas, besides my ‘superstitious bullshit’ ideas?”

“I think you’ve gone batshit, but this isn’t the best time to argue.”

“We’ve got nothing to lose!” Yami Yugi proclaimed, getting his Duel Disk ready for battle and prompting Kaiba to do the same. “Let’s go, Kaiba!”

“Vorse Raider, go!” Kaiba called forth a monster.

“I summon my obnoxious Celtic Guardian!” Yami Yugi spoke as he put this card on his Duel Disk. He knew that these mid-level monsters would not be able to last long, and led Kaiba to the other end of the corridor. “Make a run for it! Say… There’s a card key slot here. You can get us through this door, right?”

“What do you think I am, stupid?” Kaiba attempted to use his card key to get in, but only got an “access denied” response, even after trying twice.

“Yes… Yes, I certainly think you are.” When Yami Yugi looked up again, the enemy monsters approached even more closely. “Our monsters are gone… We’re done for!”

“No you’re not!” sounded a voice from the card key slot.

“Rebecca!”

“Need some help, boys?” Rebecca spoke as the doors opened, letting Kaiba and Yami Yugi enter the next corridor safely, and her voice continued over the P.A. “With my computer, I can hack into the KaibaCorp system. Kaiba, let me know if you want me to upgrade your system for you.”

“Can it, you kid… I mean… Thanks.”

“However, there’s just one problem… I can’t access the central computer.”

“But I can! Incidentally, guess where we just arrived? I’ll take it from here.” With that, Kaiba got to work on the central computer right awake. “With this, we can enhance those photos my men took at the museum.”

Kaiba swiped his card key again as the computer took biometric from him. “Voice recognition, set! Reboot with the backup system! Begin analyzing images! Cross-reference all the archaeological databases!”

“You… came prepared,” Yami Yugi remarked.

“It’s a week’s worth of hard work.” Symbols and inscriptions showed up on the large LED screens above, and Kaiba asked, “Professor, if you can hear me, what do these inscriptions mean?”

“Let’s see… They translate to, ‘After its 10000-year-long slumber, the black serpent will swallow the sun, and then paradise will rule once more.’”

“That insignia… I know I’ve seen it before…” Kaiba spoke as he typed into the computer. “It’s… the symbol of a secret financial organization, Paradius! And its president is… Oh, no! Yugi, it’s Dartz! This situation just got a lot stickier… We don’t know what we’re up against.”

“As a matter of fact, I do. You see, during a vision quest, I saw that man fight in an ancient Atlantean war. What confuses me, though, is how this 10000-year-old man is still alive today.”

“Make no mistake about it, I am indeed very much alive,” a voice spoke before the computers started to blow up, and distorted shadows started taking their places.

“Who are you? Show yourself!” Kaiba demanded.

“My, oh my… If it isn’t Seto Kaiba and the legendary so-called pharaoh. How is Timaeus’ eye, by the way?”

“Dartz!” Starting into the eye of his new enemy. Kaiba drew the Fang of Critias from his deck and held it at the ready. “Give me back my company, you prick!”

“And release the souls you’ve stolen!” Yami Yugi held the Eye of Timaeus in his right hand. “Duel us!”

“Hmm, let me think about it…” Dartz crossed his legs as he floated in the air, and looked up. “No.”

“That does it!” Kaiba and Yami Yugi summoned their dragons in unison. “We summon the dragons Critias and Timaeus!”

“Timaeus, attack!” Yami Yugi ordered.

But before Timaeus’ attack could hit Dartz, he had summoned a dragon, which shattered into a thousand holographic pieces.

“I don’t feel like dueling you today… Farewell, gentlemen!”

“Wait! Dartz, come back!” Yami Yugi shouted, but to no avail as the dragons – and warped shadows – disappeared to reveal the real world again.

“We can worry about Dartz later…” Kaiba noticed more monsters breaking in through the doors, and opened another elevator as an escape route. “Come in, quickly!”

Fortunately for them, this elevator was much quicker than the last one, and promptly took Kaiba and Yami Yugi to the roof. That didn’t mean Kaiba enjoyed what awaited him thence. “Great, what a surprise! More monsters!”

“There are too many of them, even for monsters as strong as ours.” Yami Yugi wasn’t afraid, even in the face of these odds, and said, “I know the best way to stop them.”

“Yugi, are you insane? I’ll call a plane and-” Kaiba wanted to search his deck for a strong monster before Yami Yugi could sing more words of the incantation. But it was just then that a couple of Assault Wyverns grabbed his arms and dug their claws into them. “Oh, no…”

Too busy dealing with the monsters in front of him, Yami Yugi didn’t notice the Red-Eyes Black Dragon about to attack him from the rear.

“Yugi! Watch out behind you!”

Though Kaiba now escaped from the monsters holding him back, it was too late, as the Red-Eyes Black Dragon set Yami Yugi’s back on fire. “Aaaaah!”

“Yugi!” Kaiba desperately searched his deck for a water-based card. “Water Hazard, do your thing!”

“Kaiba… Thank you,” Yami Yugi spoke when Water Hazard dissipated. “Even after I… practically rejected you. Even though you appear to be… urk! Even if you appear to be a… cruel person, I know there’s some good… in you… No matter what… Joey says…”

“I don’t give a damn about that right now! Just… please, don’t die…”

“What’s already dead can’t die, you know that.” Yami Yugi let out a weak chuckle, then passed out.

“Pharaoh… Pharaoh, no!” Kaiba cried as he held Yami Yugi’s unconscious body close to him. He hardly noticed, but all the while he felt a warm light brewing within him. “Please… I love you. I want to save you… Please, dear gods, I’ll do anything.”

Though this event occurred at the roof of the KaibaCorp building, Téa and Tristan could see a column of light towering to the sky.

“Oh, gosh… Tristan, something is happening at KaibaCorp, and it doesn’t look good!”

“Hey, what’s happening?” Rebecca – along with Duke and her grandfather – had caught up with the pair at last.

“Something tells me that Kaiba and the pharaoh are in trouble!” Tristan started running before the others could really get a handle on what was going on. “Come on, guys, let’s go!”

“Um… I don’t understand, but I trust you.” With that, Rebecca followed the others in the direction of the KaibaCorp building.

Still aglow, Kaiba hoisted Yami Yugi onto his back. With all the confidence he could muster, he jumped off the roof, and after freefalling for five seconds, he had morphed into the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon once more.

“Raaaaar!” Kaiba unleashed a Shining Burst on the Red-Eyes Black Dragon that had attacked them, disintegrating it instantly.

This attack – and a few others that followed – was loud enough to awaken Yami Yugi, who had been sleeping at the base of Kaiba’s neck. “Kaiba…”

Having just defeated the last of the nearby enemies, Kaiba turned his head slightly to get a good look at the pharaoh.

“Don’t be shocked; I know it’s you, and I know you’ve saved me… I’m so fortunate… to have someone like you.” Yami Yugi reached his arms as far as he could around Kaiba’s neck, burying his face into it while he hugged him.

Too embarrassed now, Kaiba simply continued to fly while facing forward.

Before Kaiba could fly much further, Yami Yugi’s friends noticed the both of them – and Téa was the first. “Hey, it’s that Shining Dragon again! And he’s got the pharaoh!”

“You’re not getting away this time! I’m going to save the world from you today! Hermos, go save Yug!”

This time, Kaiba wasn’t so far into his own madness that he couldn’t think for himself. Oh Dweeb Patrol, your timing couldn’t be any worse! Unable to parry the Claw of Hermos in time, Kaiba had taken the full blow, plummeting to the ground along with Yami Yugi.

“Yugi! I’ve got you!” Téa caught Yami Yugi right before he could hit the concrete.

“Wait, look who else it is… It’s Kaiba! W-Whoah!” Before Joey could react, Kaiba landed on top of him, though Joey felt well enough to get up right away. “Ow, lay off the steaks, ya turd.”

“Ngh…” Kaiba managed to awaken upon crashing on top of Joey. “For the record, this ‘turd’ just saved your friend the pharaoh.”

“But we didn’t even see you up there on that Shining Dragon…” Joey ran a hand through his hair, and in a mocking tone he said, “Wait, let me guess. The dragon ate you and you somehow managed to slice it open from the inside. Quite a tall tale, if you ask me.”

“Joey, look!” Rebecca pointed at the claw wound on Kaiba’s chest.

“No way… That’s from the Claw of Hermos! So do you mean to tell me…”

“It’s about time you twerps figured it out. That dragon was me.”

“What?!” Everyone exclaimed in unison.

Kaiba used the ball of his hand to help himself get up. “And did I mention that I was the same dragon that you guys attacked about a week ago? The same dragon that fled from you because I was too damned afraid to show my face to the pharaoh?”

“Yeesh… Sorry.” Joey felt tempted to punch Kaiba earlier for landing on him, but let it go. “Look, for what it’s worth, we’ve helped you take back KaibaCorp… Well, at least the building. Isn’t that a good enough apology?”

“Hmph.” Kaiba held out a hand to shake, which Joey accepted. “Even I know to give credit when credit is due. But don’t expect me to be this nice again!”

Just when things started to get cozy, Joey could hear a loud motorcycle in the distance. He couldn’t quite catch the face of his opponent, but noticed a flash of spiky brown hair. “That was Valon…”

“I’m sorry?”

“Valon, come here, ya bastard!” Without another word, Joey had taken off in the direction of that motorcycle.

“Joey, you reckless buffoon, wait up!” At those words, Tristan was gone too.

“Must want revenge on him for stealing Mai Valentine…” Téa turned back to her friends. “So… So is Yugi- I mean, the pharaoh going to be okay?”

Kaiba scooped Yami Yugi up and carried him bridal style. “Once I get him to the hospital, yeah.”

“Don’t be stupid! You’re almost as badly injured as he is!”

“You underestimate me.” Kaiba left the vicinity before his own employees could find him. Besides, the pharaoh has his own score to settle, and I’ll make certain he does.

#yugioh #kaiba x atem #kaiba x yami yugi #ygo #prideshipping

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bapakharyoso · 6 years ago

Link

A 20-year-old powerlifter sustained a horrific leg injury Sunday while competing in the World Raw Powerlifting Eurasian Championship in Khabarovsk, Russia.

Yaroslav Radashkevich, who hails from the Russian city of Blagoveshchensk, was attempting to squat a starting weight of 250kg (about 550lbs) when his left leg began to buckle underneath him, causing him to collapse.

The victim was rushed into a hospital in Khabarovsk where he was diagnosed with a serious compound fracture to his right tibia, the Daily Mail [1] reports.

WARNING: The following video contains graphic material:

Radashkevich told Russian outlet Amur.Info [2] that he began experiencing minor ankle pain while training

A 20-year-old powerlifter sustained a horrific leg injury Sunday while competing in the World Raw Powerlifting Eurasian Championship in Khabarovsk, Russia.

The victim was rushed into a hospital in Khabarovsk where he was diagnosed with a serious compound fracture to his right tibia, the Daily Mail [1]reports.

WARNING: The following video contains graphic material:

Radashkevich told Russian outlet Amur.Info[2] that he began experiencing minor ankle pain while training about two weeks before the competition but did not think it would prove to be an issue.

"I thought that it was just pulled, so I did not pay attention," he said. "I just had painkillers, trained, prepared. I was also advised it would pass by itself, heal."

Unfortunately, the young athlete believes the horrible injury will likely put an end to his powerlifting career.

“I can hardly return to this sport following such an injury," he told Amur[3]. "I had achieved a lot but I will have to quit my hopes and ambitions as rehabilitation will approximately take six months."

RELATED: The most gruesome sports injuries in recent history:

23PHOTOS

The most gruesome sports injuries in recent memory

See Gallery

Boston Celtics forward Gordon Hayward (20) sits on the court after injuring his ankle during the first half against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena. (Photo by Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports via Reuters)

Kevin Ware #5 of the Louisville Cardinals is tended to by medical personnel after he injured his leg in the first half against the Duke Blue Devils during the Midwest Regional Final round of the 2013 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium on March 31, 2013 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

BUFFALO, NY - FEBRUARY 10: Richard Zednik #20 of the Florida Panthers grabs his neck and skates off the ice after being cut during the third period against the Buffalo Sabres on February 10, 2008 at HSBC Arena in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Bill Wippert/NHLI via Getty Images)

Boston Red Sox pitcher Bryce Florie (R) is helped by the team's trainer as Florie is taken off the field on a cart after being hit in the face by a line drive from the New York Yankees' Ryan Thompson in the ninth inning at Boston's Fenway Park, September 8, 2000. The Yankees beat the Red Sox 4-0. (Photo via Reuters)

Quarterback Joe Theismann #7 of the Washington Redskins is helped by teammate Mark May #73 and others after being injured when sacked by linebacker Lawrence Taylor #56 of the New York Giants during a Monday Night Football game at RFK Stadium on November 18, 1985 in Washington, DC. Theismann suffered a broken leg. Talking with Taylor is defensive lineman Leonard Marshall. (Photo by George Gojkovich/Getty Images)

Armenia's Andranik Karapetyan sustains an injury while competing during the Men's 77kg weightlifting competition at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on August 10, (Photo credit GOH CHAI HIN/AFP/Getty Images)

France's Samir Ait Said reacts after injuring his leg while competing in the qualifying for the men's vault event of the Artistic Gymnastics at the Olympic Arena during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on August 6, 2016. (Photo credit THOMAS COEX/AFP/Getty Images)

Jeremy Lane #20 of the Seattle Seahawks breaks his arm after an interception as he is tackled by Julian Edelman #11 of the New England Patriots in the first quarter during Super Bowl XLIX at University of Phoenix Stadium on February 1, 2015 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

Team USA guard Paul George is carted off the floor on a gurney after suffering a lower leg injury during the USA Basketball Showcase at Thomas & Mack Center. (Photo by Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports via Reuters)

NaVorro Bowman #53 of the San Francisco 49ers gets injured while striping the ball from Jermaine Kearse #15 of the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field on January 19, 2014 in Seattle, Washington. The Seahawks defeated the 49ers 23-17 to win the NFC Championship. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images)

Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey reacts after breaking his leg during their English Premier League soccer match against Stoke City in Stoke, northern England February 27, 2010. (Photo via REUTERS/Nigel Roddis)

Buffalo Sabres Goal tender Clint Malarchuk (R) grasps his throat after suffering a serious neck laceration. The life threatening injury was caused when players Steve Tuttle and Uwe Kruppe collided near the goal and caused Tuttles's skate blade cut into Malarchuk's jugular vein. Blues defenseman Tom Tilley (L) calls for medical attention. (Photo via Getty Images)

Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Jason Kendall is tended to by a trainer after fracturing his ankle in the fifth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers in Pittsburgh July 4. Kendall stumbled over first base trying to beat out a bunt. (Photo via Reuters)

Denver Broncos wide receiver Ed McCaffrey (L) falls to the ground with a broken left leg after being tackled by New York Giants safety Shaun Williams in the third quarter in Denver September 10, 2001. (Photo via REUTERS/Gary C. Caskey)

Janos Baranyai of Hungary screams in pain after dropping the weights during the Men's 77kg weightlifting competition event at the University of Aeronautics and Astronautics Gymnasium during Day 5 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 13, 2008 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)

Long jumper Salim Sdiri of France is carried away by paramedics after he was hit by a javelin during the Golden Gala IAAF Golden League at the Olympic stadium in Rome July 13, 2007. (Photo via REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi)

Starting tailback Willis McGahee is attended to after injuring his knee against Ohio State University during the National Championship Fiesta Bowl held at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, AZ. Ohio State defeated Miami 31-24 in double overtime to win the national championship. (Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

Jessica Dube of Canada is wheeled off the ice after being slashed in the face by the skate of her partner, Bryce Davison of Canada (being lead, wearing skates), while competing in the original dance portion of the ice dancing competition during the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships February 8, 2007 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

New York Mets' center fielder Carlos Beltran (L) collides with right fielder Mike Cameron as they dive for a triple in shallow center field hit by San Diego Padres' David Ross during the seventh inning at Petco Park in San Diego August 11, 2005. Cameron was taken away on a stretcher. (Photo via REUTERS/Mike Blake MB/JJ)

This 28 June 1997 file photo shows referee Lane Mills (L) stepping in as Evander Holyfield (R) reacts after Mike Tyson (C) bit his ear in the third round of their WBA Heavyweight Championship Fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV. A decade after his infamous 'Bite Fight' victory over Mike, Holyfield still dreams of retaking boxing's heavyweight throne and considers most reigning champions 'beatable'. The 44-year-old US veteran will fight 41-year-old American Lou Savarese in a 10-round affair 30 June 2007 in El Paso, Texas, seeking the fourth victory in a row since making a comeback after being banished by New York officials following a loss. (Photo credit JEFF HAYNES/AFP/Getty Images)

Defensive end Connor Barwin #98 of the Houston Texans goes down with an ankle dislocation in the first quarter against the Indianapolis Colts at Reliant Stadium on September 12, 2010 in Houston, Texas. The Houston Texans won 34-24. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)

STARKVILLE, MS - NOVEMBER 23: Nick Fitzgerald #7 of the Mississippi State Bulldogs is attended to by medical staff after an injury during the first half of an NCAA football game against the Mississippi Rebels at Davis Wade Stadium on November 23, 2017 in Starkville, Mississippi. (Photo by Butch Dill/Getty Images)

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More from Aol.com: Second horse dies in four days at Santa Anita, marking 25th death since Dec. 26[4] Three-time Formula One champion Niki Lauda dies [5] How Brooks Koepka went from overlooked amateur to the most dominant golfer in the world and possible heir to Tiger Woods’ throne[6]

References

^Daily Mail (www.dailymail.co.uk)

^Amur.Info (www.amur.info)

^Amur (www.amur.info)

^Second horse dies in four days at Santa Anita, marking 25th death since Dec. 26 (www.aol.com)

^Three-time Formula One champion Niki Lauda dies (www.aol.com)

^How Brooks Koepka went from overlooked amateur to the most dominant golfer in the world and possible heir to Tiger Woods’ throne (www.aol.com)

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#Russian powerlifter snaps leg during competition in gruesome viral footage - AOL

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arielsojourner · 8 years ago

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LOOSE ENDS/FUTURE HEAD CANONS “Luke and Vader Save the Galaxy” - Some final snippets in this universe as requested focusing on what happens for our favorite clones in the future. As you can see, I stole my favorite ideas from the EU. The rest of the masterpost you can find on my main Tumblr page. Thanks everyone!

-The holonet figures out Anakin and Padme are married and have twins near the end of the Tatooine campaign. (Not that the they were hiding it, but it certainly didn’t help that Hack Squad had set up several holomedia accounts and groups for clone brothers to post and share photos and stories and keep in touch with each other. Several of the troopers had holocameras and like taking pictures of their Jedi General goofing off and being something other than a stoic Jedi.) Holosnaps of Anakin embracing Padme and carrying his children cause a massive crash of several popular holomedia sites. The Jedi Order neither censured nor expelled him. When Ventress later posted her own holosnaps of Obi-Wan and Duchess Satine, the Jedi Order again said nothing. As Master Windu later remarked when some journalists just wouldn’t leave him alone, the Order had much more important business to take care of and deal with.

-The GAR reformed under the Reconstruciton Accords into the Republic Reconstruction Forces or RRF, and was no longer just a military force. The Force sensitive clones form the Jedi Corps branch of the RRF. Luke’s first students are clones but he is not adverse to teaching anyone who has the ability, regardless of age and his students take up the tradition. Force training is offered at nearly every Home Base where clones have made their communities on half a dozen different worlds. Many parents choose not to give up their children for Search when their children can learn how to be Jedi and stay in touch with their families. It leads to widespread changes within the Order and in the centuries that follow, the time will be referred to by scholars and lore masters as the Era of Reconciliation between a variety of Force traditions both old and new.

-Luke continues to help people and travel the galaxy with the RRF and his students. He opens a formal Jedi academy and training facility on Yavin IV and the planet is claimed as a formal home planet for the clones. He is confronted by the Noghri some years later who have tracked him down and they pledge loyalty to him in honor of what he and Vader did to protect their planet. The clones and the Noghri warriors get along like a house on fire and together manage to cause even more chaos and help an even greater number of people throughout the galaxy.

-Luke visits the Order’s Temple on Coruscant only once at Master Plo and Master Kenobi’s invitation. During the tour he asks them quite candidly why they are bothering to reconstruct the Temple over what feels like a Sith Shrine that is seeping malevolence into the very air. Master Jocasta Nu who overhears the question, fires back that he is the foolish one settling his Academy on Yavin IV. Luke thanks her for her concern but informs her that the Sith Ghost of Exar Kun was handily disposed of with the help of ghost!Vader and his students before anyone moved into the old Temple structure and the planet now is a beacon of Light. Coruscant, cannot say the same. The Order moves off Coruscant within two years after Luke’s first and only visit. The land still belongs to them though and they let the gardens retake the entire Temple District before they leave Courscant.

-Luke finds time to keep up with racing and ensures that when his old model X-Wing is finally released onto the market he buys one for his personal use. It isn’t the same without Artoo, though. He still is invited out with clones for nights on the town. He visits dozens of systems and explores the galaxy. He keeps a careful distance from Anakin and Padme’s family, not wanting to interfere until Leia attends Young Legislators Camp one summer and in an effort to stop Luke from moping dejectedly around the house for being abandoned by his sister, Anakin brings Luke to Yavin IV for Jedi summer camp. Luke and Luke bond and are so similar in mannerism and mood that they spend the entire summer joined at the hip. The clones and those familiar with clone culture take it in stride. They don’t find it odd at all to have little Luke following grown up Luke around.

-Ventress settles up the bets she took for the 501st eventually. She takes one look at Luke and Luke on Yavin IV and knows who the winner is. She sends the substantial credit pot to Chatterbox without a word.

-Satine and Obi-Wan bicker over the finer points of pacificism and the Jedi Code for the rest of their lives.

-Ahsoka Tano delays her Knighting by over two years, choosing instead to stay with Anakin and when not with Anakin, traveling with various clone troopers (but mostly Captain Rex and Commander Cody) as part of their ongoing mission to tackle the Datapad of Disasters that Luke maintains from his Father’s memory. She insists that Barriss is Knighted alongside her which further delays things since it takes at least the approval of 4 High Council Members to be present for the Knighting outside the Temple. After her Knighting, a party rivaling the celebration after the Battle of Theed is held.

-Barriss Offee ends up leading a group of medic clones on mercy missions all across the galaxy. She walks unmolested through brutal firefights and defies all governments and treaties to treat the sick and the wounded. She ends up in command of the Medical Corp of the RRF. It is rumored she has not raised her saber in attack or defense since the day the chipped clones were triggered, and only then to defend others, not herself. She never returns to the Temple, but at Ahsoka’s insistence joins her friend at her Knighting and receives official Knighthood herself.

–Ventress always wanted revenge. It was what drove her to the Dark Side. Luke had once told her the best revenge was living well. She isn’t sure that she is living well, being the friend of largely moronic battle droids and the diplomatic voice of the Separatist Alliance systems before and after the Reconciliation Accords are signed. She never wanted power or influence, but now she has both. When she grumped about it to Luke he laughed and says that is what made her a good leader. She never marries but she and Quilan Vos have four terrifying daughters together.

-Fives takes several clone apprentices over the years, and becomes a formidable leader and eventual high admiral of the RRF navy. It is one of the proudest days of his life when he takes command. With Echo serving with him, they lay the groundwork for clones to live and work in a variety of different arenas not just in military operations, always looking to help the innocent and those suffering above all else.

–Hardcase is the first of the clone brothers to take an apprentice and begins training Loops as soon as he can. The two of them are tireless in coordinating and leading the decades long battle against the remnants of the Zygerrian slave empire. In the end, Hardcase sacrifices his life to save his former apprentice and thousand of child slaves and finally destroys entire slaving civilization once and for all. He is memorialized with a statute at the Jedi Academy on Yavin IV and another in the Order’s Temple proper. Loops however, believes that the most important memorial to his dear teacher and older brother are the several drinking songs written in his honor still sung in cantinas around the galaxy to this day.

–Chatterbox doesn’t so much choose an apprentice as an apprentice named Rob chooses him. Rob is cheerful and talks enough for the both of them and latches on to his older brother and won’t let go. People wonder how exactly Chatterbox manages to train Rob to be a powerful Jedi since Chatterbox is still very much a brother of few words. Eventually, Chatterbox succeeds 99 as the representative of the clone brothers. It is his gift of listening to the Force that proves instrumental in reaching a peaceful resolution to the galactic invasion the Reformed Republic faces fifty years after the death of Sidious. His one and only speech on the matter was so persuasive it is remembered as the catalyst for peace and responsible for saving trillions of lives. Chatterbox is named one of the most influential speakers of the time, an irony that never fails to have his brothers’ all laughing until they cry. In the future, historians will mourn the fact that only one recording of Chatterbox’s speeches survived because with his powers of oration and his name he obviously was a prolific speaker. It is such a shame that all other records of Chatterbox’s public speaking have been lost, historians mourn centuries in the future.

–Waxer and Boil go back to Ryloth and there an orphaned Numa remembers her brothers and isn’t going to let them go again. They end up adopting her and several other war orphans. Eventually they lead galactic efforts to aid the orphans of the Clone Wars finding homes. Many children are adopted by the newly freed clone soldiers following their example. With encouragement from Senator Organa and Senator Amidala, they eventually leave the army proper and focus on leading the humanitarian efforts under the banner of the RRF.

-Captain Rex and Commander Cody like the good soldiers they always were, never retire. Their aging slows to a crawl for several decades before continuing on at a moderate pace. They spend the rest of their lives working with the Luke’s Jedi and their favorite Generals and Commanders maintaining peace in the galaxy. While Anakin Skywalker will always be considered the General of the 501st and Obi-Wan Kenobi will always have the loyalty of the 212th, the two battalions frequently operate under the joint command of Ahsoka Tano and send troopers to support Luke’s growing squads of Force sensitive clones on missions.

When they have free time, Rex’s favorite thing to do is to travel with Commander Tano to visit the Skywalker family and the Jedi Academy on Yavin IV. Cody loves to work training the new cadets who are interested in joining the RRF, showing his younger brothers how it is really done. Cody is also one of the few active military clones that Duchess Satine welcomes to Mandalore.

-Over time, the 104th reforms, takes in members of the Coruscant Home Guard and becomes a permanent detachment protecting the Order wherever it may call home. Master Plo couldn’t be happier. Plo Koon is the first Order master to take a clone cadet as a Jedi Padawan on the understanding that there will be none of this “no attachment” business. Master Koon agrees.

-When Luke Skywalker, taught the Force by his father and by his other self and by half a dozen clone Force Sensitives and Obi-Wan reaches his teen years, Yoda himself travels to Naboo and asks if Luke Skywalker will be his padawan learner. The discussion that follows at the twins’ birthday party is an interesting one to say the least.

-It is a good thing that the RRF diversifies from the GAR. Fifty odd years after the death of Sidious during an invasion from the Unknown Region, the RRF with its Jedi Corps, its Refugee programs, Medcorps, Slicer teams, and its good old fashion troopers are quick to react and stand with the Jedi Order to defend the galaxy. They manage to stop the fleet before it passes through the Outer Rim. It is a costly campaign and in the end it is Luke using the Force to throw the alien fleet out of orbit of the Dantooine system that wins the day and allows the rest of the fleet to arrive under the command of Admiral Fives and General Anakin Skywalker and his children and stop the invasion before it starts.

#star wars au #luke and vader save the galaxy #father and son save the galaxy #clone wars

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deniscollins · 6 years ago

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Navy SEALs Were Warned Against Reporting Their Chief for War Crimes

Navy SEALs are regarded as the most elite commando force in the American military. What would you do if you were a platoon member and your highly decorated platoon chief awarded for bravery commits shocking violent acts in Iraq, stabbing a defenseless teenage captive to death, picking off a school-age girl and an old man from a sniper’s roost, and indiscriminately spraying neighborhoods with rockets and machine-gun fire: (1) nothing, he is a decorated chief and you are in a war situation, (2) inform the platoon chief’s commander, (3) meet with other members and together inform the platoon chief’s commander, (4) something else, if so, what? Why? What are the ethics underlying your decision?

Stabbing a defenseless teenage captive to death. Picking off a school-age girl and an old man from a sniper’s roost. Indiscriminately spraying neighborhoods with rockets and machine-gun fire.

Navy SEAL commandos from Team 7’s Alpha Platoon said they had seen their highly decorated platoon chief commit shocking acts in Iraq. And they had spoken up, repeatedly. But their frustration grew as months passed and they saw no sign of official action.

Tired of being brushed off, seven members of the platoon called a private meeting with their troop commander in March 2018 at Naval Base Coronado near San Diego. According to a confidential Navy criminal investigation report obtained by The New York Times, they gave him the bloody details and asked for a formal investigation.

But instead of launching an investigation that day, the troop commander and his senior enlisted aide — both longtime comrades of the accused platoon leader, Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher — warned the seven platoon members that speaking out could cost them and others their careers, according to the report.

The clear message, one of the seven told investigators, was “Stop talking about it.”

The platoon members eventually forced the referral of their concerns to authorities outside the SEALs, and Chief Gallagher now faces a court-martial, with his trial set to begin May 28.

But the account of the March 2018 meeting and myriad other details in the 439-page report paint a disturbing picture of a subculture within the SEALs that prized aggression, even when it crossed the line, and that protected wrongdoers.

According to the investigation report, the troop commander, Lt. Cmdr. Robert Breisch, said in the meeting that while the SEALs were free to report the killings, the Navy might not look kindly on rank-and-file team members making allegations against a chief. Their careers could be sidetracked, he said, and their elite status revoked; referring to the eagle-and-trident badges worn by SEALs, he said the Navy “will pull your birds.”

The enlisted aide, Master Chief Petty Officer Brian Alazzawi, warned them that the “frag radius” — the area damaged by an explosion — from a war-crime investigation of Chief Gallagher could be wide enough to take down a lot of other SEALs as well, the report said.

Navy SEALs are regarded as the most elite commando force in the American military. But that reputation has been blotted repeatedly in recent years by investigations of illegal beatings, killings and theft, and reports of drug use in the ranks. In January, the top commander of the SEALs, Rear Adm. Collin Green, ordered a 90-day review of the force’s culture and training; the results have not yet been made public.

As Chief Gallagher’s men were sounding an alarm about killings in Iraq, his superiors were lavishing praise on him. An evaluation quoted in the investigation report called Chief Gallagher the best chief of the 12 in the team, and said, “This is the man I want leading SEALs in combat.”

A few days after the March 2018 meeting, the chief was awarded a Bronze Star for valor under fire in Iraq.

A month later, the seven platoon members finally succeeded in spurring their commanders to formally report the killings of the three Iraqis to the Navy Criminal Investigation Service, by threatening to go directly to top Navy brass and to the news media.

Chief Gallagher was arrested in September on more than a dozen charges, including premeditated murder and attempted murder. If convicted, he could face life in prison. He has pleaded not guilty and denies all the charges.

The chief’s lawyer, Timothy Parlatore, said the Navy investigation report, which was first reported by Navy Times, does not offer an accurate account of what happened in Iraq. He said that hundreds of additional pages of evidence, sealed by the court, included interviews with platoon members who said the chief never murdered anyone.

At the same time, some conservatives have rallied to Chief Gallagher’s defense, raising money and pressing publicly for his release.

Chief Gallagher, through Mr. Parlatore, declined to be interviewed for this article.

The Navy has charged Chief Gallagher’s immediate superior, Lt. Jacob Portier, with failing to report the chief’s possibly criminal actions and with destroying evidence. Lieutenant Portier has pleaded not guilty. Through his lawyer, he, too, declined to be interviewed.

The investigation report indicates that a number of other high-ranking SEALs also knew of the allegations against the chief, and did not report them. But no one else has been charged in the case.

Chief Gallagher learned of the March 2018 meeting soon after it happened, the report indicates, and he began working to turn other SEALs against the accusers.

“I just got word these guys went crying to the wrong person,” Chief Gallagher wrote to a fellow chief in one of hundreds of text messages included in the report. To another, he wrote: “The only thing we can do as good team guys is pass the word on those traitors. They are not brothers at all.”

Citing his texts, the Navy kept the chief in the brig to await trial, saying it believed he had been trying to intimidate witnesses and undermine the investigation. He denies that accusation as well.

The chief’s wife, Andrea Gallagher, and his brother, Sean Gallagher, have appeared repeatedly on Fox News and other news outlets, calling the chief a hero and demanding his release. They say the allegations against Chief Gallagher were concocted by disgruntled subordinates who could not meet his demanding standards and wanted to get rid of him.

A website soliciting donations for his defense says it has raised $375,000, and a prominent veterans’ apparel maker is selling “Free Eddie” T-shirts.

Spurred by the Gallagher family, 40 Republican members of Congress signed a letter in March calling for the Navy to free the chief pending trial, and soon after, President Trump said on Twitter that he would be moved to “less restrictive confinement.” Chief Gallagher was released from the brig and is now restricted to the Navy Medical Center in San Diego, according to a Navy spokeswoman.

Ms. Gallagher did not respond to requests for comment.

Chief Gallagher, who is 39 and goes by the nickname Blade, is known as a standout even among the elite SEALs. Over the course of five deployments with the SEALs, he was repeatedly recognized for valor and coolheaded leadership under fire. He is qualified as a medic, a sniper and an explosives expert, and has been an instructor at BUDS, the force’s grueling training program. To hundreds of sailors he trained, he was a battle-tested veteran who fed them war stories while pushing them through punishing workouts in the surf.

Investigators’ interviews with more than a dozen members of Alpha Platoon, included in the Navy’s criminal investigation report, as well as other interviews with SEALs, offer a more troubling portrait of the chief.

When Chief Gallagher took over leadership of the platoon in 2015, SEALs said, he already had a reputation as a “pirate” — an operator more interested in fighting terrorists than in adhering to the rules and making rank.

A number of platoon members told investigators that at first they were excited to be led by a battle-hardened “legend,” but their opinion quickly shifted after they were deployed to Iraq in February 2017 to help retake Mosul from Islamic State fighters.

The SEALs in the platoon did not respond to requests for interviews for this article. Their names and those of others who have not been identified publicly in court have been withheld from this article at the request of the Navy, because of the covert nature of their work.

A spokeswoman for Naval Special Warfare, Cmdr. Tamara Lawrence, said that while they are commandos, SEALs are still expected to follow the same laws as all other troops, adding, “It’s called special operations, not different operations.”

The investigation report said several members of the platoon told investigators that Chief Gallagher showed little regard for the safety of team members or the lives of civilians. Their mission was to advise Iraqi forces and provide assistance with snipers and drones, but they said the chief wanted instead to clear houses and start firefights.

He would order them to take what seemed to be needless risks, and to fire rockets at houses for no apparent reason, they said. He routinely parked an armored truck on a Tigris River bridge and emptied the truck’s heavy machine gun into neighborhoods on the other side with no discernible targets, according to one senior SEAL.

Chief Gallagher’s job was to plan and oversee missions for the platoon, but platoon members said he spent much of his time in a hidden perch with a sniper rifle, firing three or four times as often as other platoon snipers. They said he boasted about the number of people he had killed, including women.

Photos from the deployment that were stored on a hard drive seized by the Navy show the chief aiming sniper rifles and rocket launchers from rooftops in the city.

Two SEAL snipers told investigators that one day, from his sniper nest, Chief Gallagher shot a girl in a flower-print hijab who was walking with other girls on the riverbank. One of those snipers said he watched through his scope as she dropped, clutching her stomach, and the other girls dragged her away.

Another day, two other snipers said, the chief shot an unarmed man in a white robe with a wispy white beard. They said the man fell, a red blotch spreading on his back.

Before the 2017 deployment, Chief Gallagher ordered a hatchet and a hunting knife, both handmade by a SEAL veteran named Andrew Arrabito with whom he had served, text messages show. Hatchets have become an unofficial SEAL symbol, and some operators carry and use them on deployments. Chief Gallagher told Mr. Arrabito in a text message shortly after arriving in Iraq, “I’ll try and dig that knife or hatchet on someone’s skull!”

On the morning of May 4, 2017, Iraqi troops brought in an Islamic State fighter who had been wounded in the leg in battle, SEALs told investigators, and Chief Gallagher responded over the radio with words to the effect of “he’s mine.” The SEALs estimated that the captive was about 15 years old. A video clip shows the youth struggling to speak, but SEAL medics told investigators that his wounds had not appeared life-threatening.

A medic was treating the youth on the ground when Chief Gallagher walked up without a word and stabbed the wounded teenager several times in the neck and once in the chest with his hunting knife, killing him, two SEAL witnesses said.

Iraqi officers who were at the scene told Navy investigators that they did not see the captive die, but disputed the stabbing account, saying it seemed out of character for the chief.

Minutes after the death, Chief Gallagher and his commanding officer, Lieutenant Portier, gathered some nearby SEALs for a re-enlistment ceremony, snapping photos of the platoon standing over the body.

In recent years, photos of re-enlistment ceremonies in unusual circumstances — while scuba diving or skydiving, for instance — have gone viral on social media. The chief’s variation would have reinforced his image as a hard-charging pirate, one SEAL said.

A week later, records show, Chief Gallagher texted a picture of the dead captive to a fellow SEAL in California, saying, “Good story behind this, got him with my hunting knife.”

But his platoon did not see it as a good story, according to the investigation report: The SEALs called a platoon meeting and discussed how to keep the chief away from anyone he could harm.

When senior platoon members confronted Chief Gallagher about the captive’s death, they said, he told them, “Stop worrying about it, they do a lot worse to us.”

The SEALs told investigators they reported the killing to Lieutenant Portier that night and at other times during the deployment, but the lieutenant took no action. They said the lieutenant had trained under Chief Gallagher at BUDS and “idolized” him.

Members of the platoon hoped the chief would be reprimanded when they returned home from Iraq in August 2017, according to the report. It didn’t happen. The report said they spoke repeatedly to the lieutenant’s superior, Commander Breisch, and to Chief Alazzawi and another Team 7 master chief, but were told to “decompress” and “let it go.”

Commander Breisch and Chief Alazzawi disputed that account. They told investigators that they had no knowledge of the alleged war crimes until the March 2018 meeting, and that they had encouraged anyone in the platoon who had witnessed anything criminal to report it to Navy investigators.

The Navy declined to make Commander Breisch or Chief Alazzawi available for interviews, citing the continuing investigation.

Each member of the SEAL team had a duty to report wrongdoing as soon as possible, said Lawrence Brennan, a retired Navy captain and military lawyer who now teaches law at Fordham University. But he added, “The willingness of an institution to turn a blind eye is common.”

“It’s especially true in warfare communities,” he said. “And in the SEALs, you don’t just keep it in the family, you keep it in the immediate family.”

Chief Gallagher had been accused of serious misconduct before. According to the investigation report, Army Special Forces troops serving with him in Afghanistan in 2010 reported that, as a sniper, he had shot through an Afghan girl to hit the man who was carrying her, killing them both. Commander Breisch told investigators in 2018 that the 2010 report had been investigated and no wrongdoing had been found.

In 2014, the report says, Mr. Gallagher was detained at a traffic stop, where he allegedly tried to run over a Navy police officer; he was released to his commander, and there is no record of punishment in the report. Soon after, he was promoted to chief.

Among the text messages included in the investigation report are some between Chief Gallagher and another SEAL chief, David Swarts, who is being prosecuted for the beating of detainees in a separate casedating from 2012.

Chief Gallagher told Chief Swarts about his looming investigation and said he felt he could not trust anyone any more. When Chief Swarts responded that he never thought SEALs would report one another, Chief Gallagher replied, “Me either, those days are gone.”

#Navy SEALs

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garancefranke-ruta · 7 years ago

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The resistance is organized and ready in district where Trump is visiting

Conor Lamb reacts to winning the Democratic nomination for Pennsylvania’s District 18 special election. (Photo: Jeff Swensen for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

MOUNT LEBANON, PA. — Former Marine Capt. Conor Lamb has been described as a central casting vision of a heartland American politician. A former assistant U.S. attorney general and novice political candidate, he’s running in a special election to replace eight-term Republican Rep. Tim Murphy, who resigned last fall following news reports that the family-values conservative had asked his mistress to get an abortion.

Pennsylvania’s 18th district, including affluent suburbs of Pittsburgh and working-class areas on the West Virginia border, has been the definition of a safe Republican district. Donald Trump won the district by 20 points. It’s not on the Swing Left map for flipping red districts to blue, and it’s not a priority red to blue district for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. In fact it’s so red that in the last two election cycles, no Democrat even challenged Murphy there, allowing him to win each time with 100 percent of the vote.

But Donald Trump’s visit to the district on Thursday to shore up support for the Republican candidate, State Rep. Rick Saccone, a stalwart Trump defender and surprise victor of the GOP primary, shows just how much has changed since the reality TV star was elected president.

Public polling by Gravis Marketing at the start of the year showed Saccone with a 12 point lead, but internal polls show the race much closer, in the single digits. In a low-turn-out special election, in an environment where Democratic statehouse candidates in ruby red districts across the country are improving on their party’s 2016 performance by 15 to 27 points, a Democratic victory here no longer looks impossible, even if it the odds remain against it.

GOP Pennsylvania state Rep. Rick Saccone had announced he was running for the U.S. Senate, but after eight-term Rep. Tim Murphy stepped down switched gears and won the primary to run as the Republican candidate in the state’s 18th congressional district. (Photo: Marc Levy/AP)

But if Lamb has a shot in this race, any shot at all, it will be because of an uprising in the district that began long before his candidacy. Since the 2016 election, a grassroots rebellion has been upending politics as usual in Southwestern Pennsylvania and across the state, driven in large measure by suburban middle-aged women.

If a Democratic wave carries Lamb into office in the March 13 election, it will be one that has been building, drop by drop, since the day Trump was elected.

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The story of the fight by Democrats to retake PA- 18 doesn’t start with Murphy’s resignation on October 21, or even with the revelations over the summer that he’d had an affair.

It started a year ago, when women like Lara Huber, 40, went to the Women’s March in Washington D.C., taking their rage and disappointment over Hillary Clinton’s loss and Donald Trump’s victory to the streets. It was the beginning of a process of self-education and activism that has flowered across the state, even in the reddest precincts.

“I was not an activist prior to November 8th,” Huber told Yahoo News at one of the organizing meetings for the activist group 412 Resistance, held in an upstairs backroom at the public library in Dormont, a working-class suburb just outside of Pittsburgh that’s easy to drive to from across the South Hills. “I voted in every election. I read the newspaper. I thought that was good enough.”

After Trump was elected, though, it was clear that wouldn’t be good enough any more. As it did for women in communities across the country, the Women’s March had two powerful effects on her – it created a sense of solidarity and momentum when she was looking for a way to express her despondency over the election outcome, and it suggested concrete steps for action that took her life in a surprising new direction.

“We came off the march and we were like, let’s go, let’s go, let’s go,” said Huber, who lives in Castle Shannon. “And we all started creating these little groups.”

Nevertheless they persisted: Four members of 412 Resistance, including Valerie Fleischer (right) and Lara Huber (second from right) show off their tattoos. In the spring of 2017, the group hosted a fundraiser in Pittsburgh where women got tattoos of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnellâs words, which have become a feminist rallying cry. (Photo: Garance Franke-Ruta/Yahoo News)

Other women in the South Hills were following similar paths, using step-by-step instructions sent by older national groups such as MoveOn and new insurgent ones like Indivisible, along with emails from the Women’s March organization based in New York City.

“The first action was, have a postcard party,” recalled Huber of how 412 – the name refers to the Pittsburgh and Allegheny County area code — Resistance got its start. “And I created a Facebook event and I invited my friends and thought a few of them would show up and support me—and about 37 people showed up and most of them were not my friends, they were new people.” Today 412 Resistance counts more than 500 members, and is working to elect its most active members to district and county positions within the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, hoping to reshape and reinvigorate it from the inside. And its members are working to elect Conor Lamb – canvassing for him, phone-banking for him, putting up lawn signs and talking to their friends and neighbors about how their lives and communities might be affected by changes to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act.

Lynn Hughes, 34, a registered independent until Trump’s win radicalized her, tells a similar story. “Before the Inauguration, MoveOn.org called for community meetings all across the country to resist Trump at a local level. I was like, I have a house, I can just host a meeting,” she said after a meeting at a Panera in Mount Lebanon co-hosted by 412 Resistance and the group she founded in mid-January, Mount Lebanon Rise Up. “I never intended to be any kind of organizer really.”

But then she tapped into something, she recalls: “I thought maybe five people would show, and I think there ended up being 20 people, and then we had one person walk in from off the street. She saw my signs and she parked her car, and came in. So then we just started talking about what we should do at a local level. Someone mentioned the Indivisible Guide and so we kind of became an Indivisible group. People started finding us through there. At our next meeting we had 60 people, then the meeting after that we had over 100.” Today the group has more than 300 members, and there are at least eight Indivisible groups working in the 18th district to fight the Trump agenda and elect Lamb.

In the group’s early days, Hughes followed the MoveOn.org community meeting agenda instructions, which suggested forming committees. Then those took on a life of their own. The biggest ones focused on gerrymandering – Pennsylvania is one of the most heavily gerrymandered states in the country — and planning for the midterm elections. The goal from the start was to create enough momentum in the district to attract a strong Democratic challenger to Murphy, and provide a deep network of grassroots volunteers, and maybe even money, for that eventual candidate’s campaign to rely on.

They got their chance sooner than expected. “It came about eight months earlier than we had planned. But we were ready,” said Valerie Fleischer, 40, a mother of two and member of 412 Resistance who has since the election begun to consider running for office herself and is now taking a training class for would-be women candidates by Emerge America.

A meeting of 412 Resistance at the Dormont Public Library last spring. (Photo: Garance Franke-Ruta/Yahoo News)

Another Mount Lebanon Rise Up committee spun off into a group called Mondays with Murphy, targeting Murphy’s field offices around the district with vivid, boisterous — and sometimes musical — protests every Monday that eroded support for him in the district even before his affair went from local rumor to national news.

“I thought, I’m not going to be standing on the sidelines when something so crucial is happening,” said Mykie Reidy, a former Bernie Sanders delegate and part-time copywriter who set up Mondays with Murphy’s planning committee and went on to emerge as a leading activist in the district. “I needed some more bodies on board, especially if we’re going to last until Nov. 2018. And as time went on every week there was another assault of some kind on people’s rights and their well-being and it really wasn’t that hard to keep it going because there was a new inflammation all the time.”

Mondays with Murphy morphed, after the congressman’s resignation, into Progress 18 PA. By that point it had more than 500 members. And when the time came for the Democratic Party’s convention to select a nominee, it threw its weight against the main primary competitor to Lamb, Gina Cerilli. A coalition of 10 of the new Southwestern Pennsylvania resistance groups, claiming collectively more than 20,000 members in the 18th district or near enough to it to be a source of volunteer labor for an eventual candidate, sent a letter to the Democratic Party announcing they would not do work on her behalf, owing to her anti-abortion position and other actions she had taken to alienate the progressive upstarts.

Protestors with Tuesdays with Toomey outside Pennsylvania Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey’s Pittsburgh district office. (Photo: Garance Franke-Ruta/Yahoo News)

Further flexing their muscle, members of the resistance groups had also been working to become Democratic committee members so they could attend the more than 500-person convention to select the party’s nominee. They succeeded in winning a small number of slots that allowed them to be in the room where the decision was made. Lamb led six other candidates on the first round of balloting and won overwhelmingly over Cerilli on the second round.

“We were ready to make it competitive in the general election. The fact that a shameful resignation — that he had to leave office in shame only sweetened the deal,” said Fleischer.

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Pennsylvania’s 18th district stretches from the gritty working class suburbs south of Steel City through a stretch of tony communities full of stand-alone homes where regional CEOs and business leaders reside, continuing south and west through coal mining communities and rural areas whose rolling hills are indistinguishable from those across the district’s southern and western borders with West Virginia. The residents are more than 90 percent white and substantially more suburban than rural.

It is an oddly shaped district, drawn in the last round of redistricting in the state in such a way as to be especially favorable to Republicans. It covers parts of Alleghany, Greene and Washington counties and a spur juts out to take in part of Westmoreland County to the east.

Activists groups in each of those counties are now doing grassroots volunteer organizing for Lamb — even in the GOP stronghold of Westmoreland County, where Voice of Westmoreland has grown from a lone man holding a banner outside the courthouse a year ago to a group of more than 200.

Angela Aldous, 37, a hospice nurse by day, is one of the lead organizers of Voice of Westmoreland, an issues-based organization that started early last spring when six people who had met protesting outside Murphy’s district office and the local courthouse against Trump’s refugee ban decided to build something more pragmatic and less “sporadic.”

“None of us knew what we were doing,” she said. “So we did that training through Harvard, the Resistance School,” an independent training project created by students at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government in the spring of 2017. The digital training tools national groups were providing became a huge part of their life. They did MoveOn’s Resistance Summer Online Trainings as well. “I don’t know how many teleconferences we’ve been on,” Aldous said. She’s also been listening in on conference calls from a local health policy group, and did a Sierra Club lobby day training.

Though formally non-partisan, the group finds its members casting their lot with Lamb, because Saccone did not answer the group’s policy position questionnaire and Lamb provided detailed answers.

An umbrella group of more than two dozen resistance groups across the state called Pennsylvania Together operated as another tutor. And the educating went both ways, as Aldous and her Westmoreland colleagues were able to provide a perspective from Trump country about what messages they think would work and what could be alienating in communities like hers, where Trump’s personality appeals to many voters. They may, for example, be worried about what impact changes to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act would have on the local opiate epidemic and people’s ability to get care, for example, she said, and be more open to a local issues based conversation than any direct attacks on the president.

Lamb, a former assistant U.S. attorney and U.S. Marine Corps veterans running to represent Pennsylvania’s 18th congressional district, leaves the American Legion Post 902 after a rally on January 13, 2018 in Houston, Pennsylvania in the southwestern corner of the state. (Photo: Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)

“It really will be local people talking to each other that will make the difference,” in the special election, said Hannah Laurison, a Philadelphia-based leader of Pennsylvania Together and a force behind Tuesdays with Toomey, which has been targeting Sen Pat Toomey’s district offices with weekly protests since the winter of 2017. “The left is energized and organized in a way it hasn’t previously been and that makes races competitive.”

The Republican Party is meeting this new energy with more resources than it’s previously had to pour into the 18thdistrict. The Congressional Leadership Fund, a Super PAC affiliated with House Speaker Paul Ryan, has opened two offices in the district and committed to hiring 50 full-time door-knockers to get the vote out for Saccone. Trump’s visit puts the race on the national map, and makes it a fresh test of his ability to influence down-ballot elections after the Roy Moore debacle in Alabama. Mike Pence is scheduled to visit in February and continue the push for Saccone.

Even if Lamb loses on March 13, the resistance groups have no intention of disappearing. There will still be a general election in November, a second chance to elect Lamb or another Democrat, with a longer runway to build the organizing infrastructure they’ve been working to create.

And even if they lose then, every new Democrat they turn out and mobilize, every person who moves from a passive to an active participant in the process is one more person who can achieve one of their other long-term goals: rebuilding the Democratic firewall in Pennsylvania in time for 2020.

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