#i love how casually superheroes just came up with their superhero names in the classic comics.

[sciderman]

thinking of spider-man's first silly little suit (and his silly little webwings)

thinking of you all the time (webwings)

[chiseler]

Hero of Our Nation

I first encountered Roger Ramjet on a Chicago public access station in 1983. It was part of an early morning show apparently aimed at stoner insomniacs. The show came on at five and also included episodes of Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp, that awful Beatles cartoon, and a weather report clarified by some appropriate pop song (“Here Comes the Sun” or “Here Comes the Rain Again”). I was usually up and around that early for some godforsaken reason, and originally started watching on account of Lancelot Link. Always did love that Lancelot Link. But Roger Ramjet was, well, let’s just say it was a revelation.

Roger Ramjet, “ that All-American good guy and devil may care flying fool” (as he compulsively introduces himself) was a none too bright and none too coordinated drug-dependent space age superhero in an ongoing battle against the assorted forces of evil (or more specifically, N.A.S.T.Y.) to preserve the American Way of Life. He was square-jawed, straight-laced, straight-faced, and True Blue if little else, so hyper-patriotic that nearly every time his name is spoken aloud an American flag, a bald eagle, or a rotating ring of stars appears on the screen. After catching one or two episodes, I forgot all about Lancelot Link.

The show was easy to overlook, especially when squeezed between the Beatles and some secret agent chimps with a psychedelic band. The episodes were only five minutes long (maybe seven with the abrasive theme song filling out the opening and closing credits), and were so crudely drawn and animated it might at a glance seem like something a couple of junior high school kids threw together in their basement one weekend. The shows were so primitive they hardly bothered with niceties like “backgrounds” satisfied instead to settle for rudimentary suggestions of a setting. But the writing was so sharp and the voice talent so good what it really felt like, if you paid attention, was a spoof of a ‘40s radio serial like Sky King or Gangbusters, complete with a soap opera organ and illustrated by a handful of jerky drawings scratched out by someone’s kid. People who thought Jay Ward’s Bullwinkle and Dudley Do-Right were crude when compared with the output from Disney or Warner Brothers had no idea what “crude” meant. 

Looking at it today what it reminds me of more than anything are the paper cutout animations of the earliest episodes of South Park, before they upgraded to Flash. Along with the lo-fi stylistics, the humor was clearly aimed at an adult audience while pretending otherwise.  You may not find any child molestation jokes or crass religious cracks in Roger Ramjet, but for 1965 the lightning-fast humor was pretty hepcat and sophisticated, with undisguised satirical references to the Cold War, Central American turmoil, and the  Vietnam War (“Hey kids, this is Roger Ramjet,” demanding that you stay tuned to this station to see my next adventure,” Roger announces in his commanding superhero baritone. “Or I’ll see to it that all you little rascals are drafted.”) . Mixed in with the topical jokes we also get some highly unlikely name drops, from Noel Coward and Henry Cabot Lodge to James Joyce and bawdy nightclub performer Rusty Warren, as well as film parodies and  literary nods to the likes of Catch-22 and Catcher in the Rye.  It’s also a little less than what you might call racially sensitive by modern standards (consider Mexican revolutionaries The Enchilada Brothers, Beef and Chicken).

While a lot of the more timely jokes might be lost in the murk of the over 50 years since it first aired, there’s plenty of rapid-fire absurdity that’s timeless, from the misspelled title cards punctuating the narration to the self-consciously dumb coked-up adventures.

Bullwinkle aired from ‘61 to ‘64. Roger Ramjet came along a year later and Jay Ward’s influence is undeniable. The difference was Roger Ramjet crammed the equivalent number of bad jokes, references, and plot twists of a typical 8-part Bullwinkle serial into each five-minute episode, both mirroring the rapid-fire screwball dialogue of the ‘30s and the frenetic quick-cut comedy to come along a year or two later in shows like The Monkees and Laugh-In.

The episodes were produced with essentially no budget and were cranked out very quickly by a small team of writers, voiceover artists and animators with solid day jobs in radio and TV. They were all seasoned pros, some dating back to the days of classic radio, who worked on the show after hours as a way of letting off a little steam and tossing around a few cynical, subversive  cultural jabs their day jobs wouldn’t allow. The show was created originally by animator Fred Crippen  (who went on to work on some pretty dreadful crap like the Extreme Ghostbusters  and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) and Ken Snyder, an ad exec who moved over into producing cartoons. They brought in a remarkable team of voice talent and comedy writers, including Gene Moss (the voice of Smokey the Bear) Jim Thurmam (who did a lot of kids shows including Sesame Street), Dick Beals (the original voice of Gumby), and the great Gary Owens, a drive-time deejay in LA who would get national recognition soon enough as the on-screen announcer for Laugh-In. Although they would all get specific credits in the end (Crippen as director, Moss as a writer) it was a communal effort, in which everyone contributed to the writing, and everyone, even the executive producer, did a few of the voices. Apart from the regular crew, careful listeners might also catch a few uncredited guest appearances by some surprisingly big names (I’m told Sinatra and Dean Martin appear in an episode, but I’m still looking for that one). Owens was the star, though, as his ability to read the most ridiculous lines in a dramatic deadpan made him the perfect Roger Ramjet. Together they made 156 episodes (about 150 still exist), which were sold directly into syndication in ‘65 as half hour shows, each containing three unconnected adventures. I can’t say as I’m exactly sure who they thought their target audience was at the time, except maybe each other.

Much like William Conrad in Bullwinkle, each show opened with our narrator, Steve Allen alum Dave Ketchum, setting the mood and the scene (“In today’s depressing episode,” he’d begin with dramatic enthusiasm, or maybe it was an “existentialist episode,” “phlegmatic episode,” “rickety episode,”  “hairy episode,” or “ethnic episode”). Then we’re out of the gate at a breakneck pace, with a flurry of gags coming from every direction. “Ramjet rode into Boot Hill,” we’re told,  “where the men were men and the women were men, which can get pretty old after awhile.”

While none of the shows are connected, there are a few recurring characters and locations worth remembering: Roger hails from Lompoc, an actual California town (“where nothing ever happens, and seldom does”) and  takes his orders from General G.I. Brassbottom, a no nonsense military man who “hadn’t had an original idea since he was a civilian.” He’s also assisted by Yank, Doodle, Dan, and Dee, the unusually chubby  kids who make up the American Eagle squadron. Like Roger, all the members of the squadron wear their white jumpsuits and flight helmets at all times (Roger even wears his helmet on dates), and in true superhero sidekick fashion, their primary job is to get Roger out of scrapes and make sure his drugs are handy. 

That’s one little detail more than a few casual viewers have taken umbrage with. Roger, see, is a pretty hapless character most of the time, but he repeatedly saves the world thanks to a little help from his Proton Energy Pills (PEP), which take five seconds to kick in, then give him the strength of 20 A-Bombs for 20 seconds. Modern viewers seem a little uncomfortable with the idea of a superhero gulping amphetamines in order to function, but all I can say is, well, it was a different time, and hey, it worked for Roger and Elvis both.

The proton energy pills come in handy when dealing with his arch-nemesis Noodles Romanoff, the short, trench coat and fedora wearing head of N.A.S.T.Y. (the National Association of Spies, Traitors, and Yahoos). Romanoff may not have a Natasha, but he does have a gang of cronies and thugs who all mumble in unison (save for one, who can’t seem to get the rhythm). 

Along with Romanoff and his gang, Roger also has to contend with some lanky alien robots, the Solenoids (voiced by executive priducer Ken Snyder), and their repeated efforts to invade the planet in assorted ridiculous ways (in one episode, they begin kidnapping all the Miss America contestants, who “were disappearing faster than co-eds at a Dartmouth weekend.”)

When not saving the world, Roger found himself competing with the smarmy hotshot test pilot Lance Crossfire (who sounds an awful lot like burt Lancaster) for the affections of Lotta Love, the fickle Southern belle with a taste for the finer things in life.

Then there are the adventures themselves. Some seem standard superhero fare, but only to a point. Earth is besieged by flying saucer attacks (sort of). Roger’s hometown is terrorized by a werewolf (sort of). Roger plays tennis with a kangaroo, or becomes the first man to surf in space,  or, in a personal favorite, attempts to stop the flow of bootleg comic books into America’s drug stores.

Actually, there’s an interesting moment in that one that revealed just how subtle you could be even with animation this unsophisticated. Okay, so Noodles Romanoff, see, is replacing real comics in drug store racks with bootlegs in which popular superheroes are humiliated, all in an effort to destroy the morale of America’s children. After Brassbottom shows Roger a few examples (the issues include “Superman Gets Beat Up by a Chicken!” and “Ratman Stubs His Toe!”) he explains that if this sort of thing continues, “America’s kids won’t have anyone to look up to except YOU, Ramjet.” Then, for just an instant in that crude and jerky style, Roger cuts his eyes toward the camera, revealing in that moment everything we needed to know, namely that it’s what he’s always wanted.

Thirty years on and that still sticks with me.

In the end, though, the characters and storylines are secondary at best In Roger Ramjet. At heart it’s  a matter of trying to keep up with all the lightning-quick  jokes and wordplay, the non-sequiturs and references. In the five minute span of one cowboy-themed episode I counted nods to at least seven classic Western films, from High Noon to She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, and I suspect I missed a few. It really is such a dizzying blur of dialogue and bad puns and cultural references, sometimes, christ, even just references to old jokes that take the form of bad puns (“Waiter, there’s a spy in my soup” or “how many angels can swim in the head of a beer?”), that absurd as it all is, repeated viewings are a necessity to catch everything. It’s a bit like having the complete contents of an issue of MAD magazine jammed onto a single page. It can make your head hurt after a while, but it’s worth it. Whether the density and the pace make it better or worse for stoner viewing is something, I guess, each stoner will need to answer for him or herself. Lots of bright colors, though.

In 1965 there was nothing new about making cartoons with adult sensibilities in mind. Betty Boop and Bugs Bunny were made to be shown as short subjects to largely adult audiences. Jay Ward’s cartoons a few decades down the line were near-revolutionary for smuggling hip, subversive political humor into what had become an exclusively child-friendly format. What made Roger Ramjet so radical was it’s blend of ‘30s radio style with mid-’60s cynicism, as well as its foreshadowing of our shrinking attention spans, a hyper-condensed proton pill of comedy and commentary disguised as just another dumb, low-rent superhero cartoon. Although it’s barely remembered today, its influence is still evident in most any subversive animated show you can name, even if they’ve slowed things down a bit.

by Jim Knipfel

[eddiestattoos]

Smallville chronicles part 62 (Chloe's chronicles pun very much intended. But no I've never seen them) warning, there's a lot going on. Fortune. You get me. Carry on

Oh boy its lionel

"Rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated" LIONEL YOU LITERALLY DIED 3 YEARS AGO YOU WERE SHOVED OFF A ROOF YOU FOOL

"What. No hug for your long lost daddy" I'll give E2 Lionel one thing. He amuses

The way Chloe is just laying on top of, admiring Oliver as he sleeps. I used to not like her all that much (way back in like season 1 and 2) now I want what she's got

Did I really just say that? Oh boy I've officially lost it

Also love that they've set up their bed in the middle of watchtower

Wait so uh, watchtower was bought by Jimmy. Lol this isn't weird at all

I'm going to stop because you know. I'm insane

I could take quotes from this Chloe Ollie bed scene but I'd be quoting the entire damn thing so I'll just leave it

Go mama K!!

Mama K??

Martha really just ripped off her sling

Chloe considers Martha as her mom!!

Oliver's non green arrow undercover outfit

Lois trying to make sure her muffins get noticed

"Lois. Don't worry. I've been impressed with you for years"

"That is so low rent and so rebel"

"Well what father doesnt want to make his son happy" he says after Lex tells him killing him was the greatest moment of his life

Chloe's outfit 😂

"That explains the smell of old spice and young ambition"

"I just need you to hack into a couple national news websites" "how many?" "All of them"

"You're a convicted felon" oh but so are you Lionel

"Well snow dad's been a little frosty lately right? Maybe we should figure out a different way to get that genie back in the bottle"

Mama K defending her son!!

"How can you be so good Clark?"

The way Clark whipped Lionel across the ground after pulling him from the mansion

The Luthor mansion burning to the ground was not something I expected to see ever

Lois and Chloe taking their stand against the vra!!!

"You have no idea how much you mean to people Clark Kent" my heart!!

"I saw me, I mean Clark Kent, disguised with glasses and a bad haircut"

Mama bear Tess!

Ok well.... that's peachy

"Look Clark. I want to plan this wedding as much as I wanna jump off of a building"

"Please tell me you didn't hop across the pond for a gallon of milk" "what makes you think I'd be in England?" Clark you're standing on Big Ben

"That better be some damn good milk Smallville" "Smallville. I must be in trouble"

"I think Oliver Queen would be an absolute fool to let someone like you get away" there is not a single Chlollie scene I don't enjoy

"I feel like I can't believe you did this to my jacket" I mean yeah it's terrible but it's somehow better

"You are going global now, which is awesome quite frankly"

"Why don't I just save you the trouble and superspeed out all on my own, ok. Whoosh"

"A phone call from your wife, Mr Jones"

*trying to keep it together* "hello dear"

"It's an adrenaline thing. See I'm little bit bigger than you"

Ok that whole Clark's telescopic visions with his eyes changing. Why are we just getting this now?

"You know, when I said I wanted to spoon earlier, this isn't really what I had in mind"

"This is definitely the most romantic of my recent kidnappings"

"Yeah he's right, we should probably introduce ourselves" *takes them all out**Chloe knocks dude out with a book*

That kiss after they kicked ass

"The last thing we want is a billionaire superhero ex fugitive kicking down the door of a sex club"

My ninja baby Oliver

"Don't leave goldilocks out in the cold"

"Should we just serve up charcoal too"

"It's my power I can call it whatever I want"

"Now stay put" "like hell" come on Clark you should've known there was no chance Ollie would

"You just have to act like you're re miserable" "that shouldn't be a problem"

"When they see this adorable blond, and you are, on this adorable blond's arm" I love Ollie calling himself an adorable blond. I mean, he's not wrong

NO OLLIE NOOOOO why did he have to get tagged

Ok I've arrived at what I've heard is one of the best eps of the series so I'm excited. But still scared for Ollie

I nearly pissed myself when Clark woke up with a lemur on him

He has a ring on 😂😂 Chloe?? I'm crying laughing already

*throws chip bag in closet for lemur*

What is Chloe's dress?

"Yeah well my memory etch a sketch is blank too"

Chloe just goes in public in this weird ass wedding dress

"Are those Emil's pants?"

"Holy matrimony that's my signature"

Clark runs into the wall

😂😂😂😂😂

"Well Emil always was an overachiever"

Emil and Tess duet 😂😂

"I'm looking for the girl I came in here with last night. She probably insulted you more than once"

"Clarkie, there's only one person I know that can make an armored car go adios in seconds" drunk Tess 😂

Oliver and Lois are just casually on a rail bed

Ollie's face hugging Lo 😂😂

His face when he comes to is even better

"Morning. Sorry" I'm still crying

Oliver's giggle when he sees his outfit

I may not get through anymore eps tonight because I'm taking 20 minutes per scene here

"Clark you're beeping"

The truck is in the barn 😂😂😂

"I hate to break it to you but the last thing I want to go around with for the rest of my life is a lie propagated by my ex boyfriend" "oh"

"There's something stuck in my bra" "that's not my territory anymore"

"I can't believe in my first drunken night out I lose Lois, commit a felony, and I land my friend in jail. I'm so reckless"

Why is Chloe still in that dress?

"My lucky lemur"

Huge siren flashbacks with Lois and Ollie tied up

"One, two, shuffle"

"I didn't exactly bring my green arrow gear to the bachelor party"

"Lois? Oliver?" The dance scene 😂😂

The casino fight this is beautiful

"The only one getting luckier tonight is yours truly" *knocks him out* who needs green arrow when you have plain old Oliver Queen

I just noticed Ollie lost the bra

"Way to go all in gorgeous" "back at ya hot stuff" I love Chlollie

"I found it in a puddle of champagne in the limo"

THE VIDEO 😂😂😂😂 I'm not going to bother quoting the whole thing

"A monkey?!" Chlo it's a lemur

"I hope you weren't gonna run off without your husband"

Now I have to endure some Ollie free eps and that's sad but here goes

"Tess. You didn't have to come all the way out here. There's caffeine givers in metropolis"

"he's outside in the car"

They made a child with Lex AND Clark's dna? This can only go one way

"I'm saving him from an encore performance of daddy dearest"

"Your son is dead Lionel" have I ever mentioned I love Tess?

"Mutation's a bitch"

"Are you like my dad?" "I prefer brother"

"Are you trying to tell me that Conner is the genetic lovechild of Clark Kent and Lex Luthor?" I hate that I laughed at that sentence

"But how is Lex able to shake up a human krypto cocktail without you realizing it?"

"Hold on chicken little"

Lois is pretty. That is all

Clark just standing there in a burnt shirt

It's like Kara all over again

"I was just stopping by to see how things are going but it looks like I should've brought marshmallows"

Well oops the child found out

Just when I was starting to like this kid

Oh good lord the kid is on red k this'll be fun

"Believe me I'll trade a little motion sickness for a bullet in the bonnet any day"

Lol Connor ok. This kid just grabbed a jacket and a necklace for Lois for

*Lois tosses stolen necklace back to police* "sorry"

"You destroyed Lex with your secrets and lies" Bull. Shit.

That fur coat is a look Lo

"I'll speed you away to Paris"

"It may bring out his inner angst a little but it doesn't turn him into this"

Clark busting the ring

Damnit Lionel

How does everyone but Clark bust kryptonite with their heat vision

Ok I did not miss the classical music in every Lionel scene

"You'll always be a Luthor" oh but she won't

"I hope it's not too presumptuous but I figured you needed a last name"

"I'm sure that when we have kids of our own, you will be an amazing father" damn right he will

[thundercakes22]

Fireman AU

Steve loves Career Day. He always wins.

His mother would scold him for thinking about it that way, but it’s the truth. While often rewarding, being a firefighter is dangerous, exhausting and gut-wrenching. He works long hours, sees a myriad of things he'll never speak of, and spends too much time away from his daughter. His job is hard. But today? Today he gets to stand at the front of Thea’s class, look across the sea of giddy six year old faces and make his little girl proud.

Sitting in the back of the classroom, Steve glances around at the competition, er, other parents. He knows Mrs. Danvers works on the Hill, and the Carters are music producers. Yolanda is an accountant. Garrison is a contractor. And he’s pretty sure little Halle’s parent, who’s name Steve can never remember, owns a little boutique downtown.

Suckers, he thinks. Steve came ready with his helmet, an extra set of bunker gear for the kids to try on and a few classic “cat stuck in a tree” anecdotes. He has this in the bag.

Thea’s teacher is thanking Yolanda for her riveting  summation of tax code, when someone new comes scuttering into the room. Wincing in apology, the broad shouldered man ducks his head and slinks to the back of the room, pausing only to wink and wave a finger at a child in the third row. Steve barely notices him (busy contemplating his impending victory) until the man catches his eye, almost tripping over an empty chair in the process.

It’s him. Steve’s never seen him without the cowl but he would know that jawline anywhere. He feels a smile break over his face, eyes roaming over the figure, familiar even without the wings strapped to his back.

Captain freaking America smiles back, revealing that signature gap and confirming Steve’s intuition. The same Captain America who Steve has been flirting with on the job for the last six months. The two literally bumped into each other on the 10th floor of a collapsing building, and have been running into each other ever since. Just last week, Steve bandaged his ribs after a hard fall during a fight against some notably hostile aliens.

“Thank you,” the Captain had smirked. “I’m always glad to see my favorite first responder, but getting your hands on me has been a treat.” Steve had all but giggled, lightly shoving him away from the ambulance.

“You’re lucky this is all you need from me today, Cap. Watch your left flank,” he’d scolded with a smile. If Steve’s fingers rest a bit too long on his shoulders, neither of them mention it.

The jet pack roared to life, and the wings sprouted from his back. “Mmm, why would I when I have you to patch me up?” And he was gone.  

And now he was back. Standing next to Steve, in Thea’s classroom of all places.

“Lieutenant.” If Steve needed any more confirmation, his voice is it. Low, as if trying to avoid distracting the children or drawing more of the teachers ire. Amused, like he knows exactly what Steve is thinking. Definitely him.

“Captain,” Steve murmurs, lips trembling with the urge to grin.

“Call me Sam.”

“Steve.”

They don’t shake hands, but the way their eyes linger mean more to Steve than so casual a touch could.

The end of another parent presentation breaks the moment, the two looking away to clap with the rest of the room.

“Are you…” Steve starts, unsure how to ask the question. He glances down at the thick circular case Sam has placed at their feet.

“Yeah,” Sam ducks his head and Steve’s heart stutters over how charming it is. “I promised my daughter, Akilah, she could be the one to spill the beans.” He shrugs like it’s no big deal. As if revealing his secret identity for his child’s Career Day isn’t just about the sweetest thing Steve’s ever heard.

“Besides, who’s gonna top superhero?” he adds with that damn smirk. Steve’s heart sets off again, faster than before.

Steve openly beams at him, unable to hold it in. It only grows when Sam responds with a radiant smile of his own.

Steve doesn’t stand a chance. He doesn’t think he’s ever been so thrilled to lose.

Samtember prompt fill

--15 of 30

[imdoingthismspaintadventure]

Worm Interlude 2 -- In which two sisters clean up a street

There were very few things, in Victoria Dallon’s estimation, that were  cooler than flying.  The invisible forcefield that extended a few  millimeters over her skin and clothes just made it better.  The field  kept the worst of the chill from touching her, but still let her feel  the wind on her skin and in her hair.  Bugs didn’t splat against her  face like they did against car windshields, even when she was pushing  eighty miles an hour.

Time for an interlude, it seems we will be getting these between arcs! From the point of view of different characters, to flesh out the world and the story. I always love when stories do that, put us in a point of view different from the main character. If done right, it adds so much richness to the setting.

It seems our interlude protagonist has the power of flight, plus some sort of force field that actively shields her against friction and particles. We learn this in the same paragraph where we also see how much she enjoys using her flight, so we both get characterization and powers at the same time. Nice!

Spotting her target, she whooped and plunged for the ground, gaining  speed where anyone else would be slowing down.  She hit the asphalt hard  enough to crack it and send fragments of it into the air, touching  ground with her knee and foot, one arm extended.  She stayed in that  kneeling position for just heartbeats, letting her platinum curls and  the cape that was draped over one of her shoulders flutter in the wake  of air that had followed her descent.  She met the eyes of her quarry  with a steely glare.  

Superhero landing!

I would certainly be intimidated if she landed in front of me like that! She gives me lots of superhero vibes in terms of her overall alignment.

She’d practiced that landing for weeks to get it right.  

Pfft. Okay she’s also a bit of a dork, and very human.

The man was a twenty something Caucasian with a shaved head, a dress  shirt with the sleeves rolled up, jeans and work boots.  He took one  look at her and bolted.  

You, sir, look like an underling of someone, and the way he nope’d out of there also gave me mook vibes.

Victoria grinned as he disappeared down the far end of the alley.  She  rose from her kneeling position, dusted herself off and ran her fingers  through her hair to tidy it.  Then she raised herself a foot off the  ground and flew after him at an easy forty five miles an hour.  

Classic superman-like superspeed / flight / superendurance is such a nice power to have. I bet you feel like a god.

It didn’t take a minute to catch him, even with the head start she had  given him.  She flew just past him, grazing him.  An instant later, she  came to a dead stop, facing him.  Again, the wind made for a dramatic  flourish as it stirred her hair, her cape and the skirt of her costume.  

She’s really theatric with all this, and I kinda love it. I feel like this guy is thoroughly outmatched.

“The woman you attacked was named Andrea Young,” she spoke.

The man looked over his shoulder, as if gauging his escape routes.

Grunt attacked a civilian and they sent the superhero cavalry to make him super regret it?

“Don’t even think about it, fugly,” she told him, “You know I’d catch  you, and trust me, I’m already pissed off enough without you wasting my  time.”

“I didn’t do anything,” the man snarled.

“Andrea Young!” Victoria raised her voice.  As she shouted, she  exercised her power.  The man quailed as though she’d slapped him.  “A  black college student was beaten so badly she needed medical attention!   Her teeth were knocked out!  You’re trying to tell me that you, a  skinhead with swollen knuckles, someone who was in the crowd watching  paramedics arrive with an expression bordering on glee, you didn’t do  anything!?”

Oh so he’s neonazi filth. Ugh.

I was already kinda unsympathetic to him from the start, but now he can choke.

Fuck his shit up, Victoria.

“I didn’t do nothing worth caring about,” he sneered.  His bravado was  tempered by a second look over his shoulder, as though he’d very much  like to be elsewhere right that moment.  

Fuck this guy. He’s also cowering like a little bitch and trying to look all brave in front of no one, like an idiot.

She flew forward, her fists catching him by the collar.  For just a  moment, she contemplated slamming him up against a wall.  It would have  been fitting and satisfying to shove him hard enough against the brick  to crack it, then drop him into the dumpster that sat at the wall’s  base.  

Taunting a girl who can absolutely ruin his fucking life, maybe not his best idea.

He almost got literally dumpstered.

Instead, she pulled up a little, bringing the two of them to a stop.   They were now just high enough above the ground that he’d feel  uncomfortable with the height.  The dumpster, mostly empty, was directly  below him, but she doubted he was paying attention to anything but her.  

Ah, threatening him with falling from great heights! The batman strat! Or one of them anyway.

“I think it’s a safe bet to say you’re a member of Empire Eighty-Eight,”  she told him, meeting his eyes with a hard stare, “or at least, you’ve  got some friends who are.  So here’s what’s going to happen.  You’re  going to either tell me everything the triple-E’s have been up to, or  I’m going to break your arms and legs and then you’re going to tell me everything.”  

Empire Eighty-Eight huh? Since the last time I heard the name, I’ve been informed about the 1488 dogwhistle, which I had never heard in spain. So yeah this guy is definitely part of some neonazi group, and is all around human garbage.

The group seems pretty big if it has a lot of unpowered mooks, kind of reminds me of Lung and his boys. I bet them and these guys wouldn’t really get along.

As she spoke, she ratcheted up her power.  She knew it was working when he started squirming just to avoid her gaze.

“Fuck you, you can’t touch me.  There’s laws against that shit,” he blustered, staring fixedly over one shoulder.

She turned up her power another notch.  Her body thrummed with current – waves of energy that anyone in her presence would experience as an emotional charge of awe and admiration.  For those with a reason to be afraid of her, it would be a feeling of raw intimidation instead.

Oh so she not only has superman-like powers! She also has an intimidation factor! That is fascinating. It makes her enemies afraid and everyone else feel awe at her presence. ...That sounds a little creepy if it influences normal people but I see how it can give a massive advantage against villains and criminals, in conjunction with her other powers!

“Last chance,” she warned him.

Unfortunately, fear affected everyone differently.  For this particular asshole, it just made him dig in his heels and become obstinate.  She could see it in his body language before he opened his mouth – this was the sort of guy who reacted to anything that spooked or unsettled him with an almost mindless refusal to bend.

“Lick my hairy, sweaty balls,” he snarled, before punctuating it with a spat, “Cunt.”

It makes sense that someone like him would get defiant in a moment like this. Still probably not the best judgement. Fear (even this artificial one) is usually there for a reason.

She threw him.  Since she could bench press a cement mixer, though it was hard to balance something so large and unwieldy, even a casual toss on her part could get some good distance.  He flew a good twenty five or thirty yards down the back road before hitting the asphalt, and rolled for another ten.

He was utterly for still for long enough that Victoria had begun to worry that he’d somehow snapped his neck or broken his spine as he’d rolled.  She was relieved when he groaned and began to pull himself to his feet.

Damn, with a power like hers she really has to be careful to not accidentally kill someone. If she can throw a grown healthy adult like that, sending him flying across the street, she could just as easily end anyone who doesn’t have super-endurance.

I wonder if that is actually a problem in this world? Accidental manslaughter via a missuse of super-strength.

“Ready to talk?” she asked him, her voice carrying down the alley.   She didn’t move  forward from where she hovered in the air, but she did let herself drop closer to the ground.

Pressing one hand against his leg to support himself as he straightened up, he raised his other hand and flipped her the bird, then turned and began to limp down the alley.

....what is this guy even doing? She just yeeted your ass to the other side of the street! Since when is pissing dangerous superheroines a good idea??

What was this asshole thinking?  That she would just let him go?  That, what, she would just bend to his witless lack of self preservation?   That she was helpless to do any real harm to him?  To top it off, he was going to insult her and try to walk away?

....he IS probably counting on you being a “good guy”, yeah.

But by the way her internal thoughts are going, he may have made a liiitle mistake with all this.

“Screw you too,” she hissed through her teeth.  Then she kicked the dumpster below her hard enough to send it flying down the little road.   It rotated lazily through the air as it arced towards the retreating figure, the trajectory and rotation barely changing as it knocked him flat.  It skidded to a halt three to five yards beyond him, the metal sides of the dumpster squealing and sparking as it scraped against the asphalt.

...did she just throw an entire dumpster on top of him? Like, as a projectile weapon??  Is this poor asshole still alive???

This time, he didn’t get up.

“Fuck,” she swore, “Fuckity fuck fuck.”  She flew to him and checked for a pulse.  She sighed, and then headed to the nearest street.  She found the street address, grabbed her cell from her belt and dialed.

Oh fuck she might have gone and done it. Used excessive force and super-murdered a suspect. What even happens in cases like this, then?

She seemed to be panicking but then calmed down when she checked for a pulse, so he’s probably still alive, even if knocked out.

It seems to have spooked her enough to make a phone call though.

“Hey sis?  Yeah, I found him.  That’s, uh, sort of the problem.   Yeah.  Look, I’m sorr- ok, can we talk about this later?  Yeah.  I’m at Spayder and Rock, there’s this little road that runs behind the buildings.  Downtownish, yeah.  Yeah?  Thanks.”

Victoria returned to the unconscious skinhead, checked his pulse, and listened intently for changes in his breathing.  It took a very long five minutes for her sister to arrive.

“Again, Victoria?” the voice disturbed her from her contemplations.

She called her sister for help! Does her sister have superpowers too? Maybe some sort of healing or stasis power, so they can avoid him dying, if he’s in a really critical state?

Again, huh? Oof, is excessive force a thing with you Victoria? She might not be as “purely heroic” as I thought. Seeing a lot of gray here as well. Trigger-happy or reckless heroes can be VERY dangerous in certain settings.

“Use my codename, please,” Victoria told the girl.  Her sister was as different from her as night was from day.  Where Victoria was beautiful, tall, gorgeous, blonde, Amy was mousy.  Victoria’s costume showed off her figure, with a white one-piece dress that came to mid-thigh (with shorts underneath) an over-the shoulder cape, high boots and a golden tiara with spikes radiating from it, vaguely reminiscent of the sun’s rays or the statue of liberty.  Amy’s costume, by contrast, was only a shade away from being a burka.  Amy wore a robe with a large hood and a scarf that covered the lower half of her face.  The robe was alabaster white and had a medic’s red cross on the chest and the back.

Oh I like both of their designs a lot! And the contrast between them!

Victoria is a white and gold goddess with statue of liberty and/or divine motifs, which matches up with both her demeanor so far, and the power itself, especially the fear/adoration part.

Amy, on the other hand, reminds me of a final fantasy white mage, so the possibility of her being a healer is even higher (she even wears a red cross!). Also, just by visual design alone, she may be more introverted in comparison to the extroverted nature of her sister. She is like a star radiating light, while Amy is hiding herself with her clothes.

“Our identities are public,” Amy retorted, pushing the hood back and scarf down to reveal brown frizzy hair and a face with freckles spaced evenly across it.

“It’s the principle of the thing,” Victoria replied.

“You want to talk about principles, Glory Girl?” Amy asked, in the most sarcastic tone she could manage, “This is the sixth – sixth! – time you’ve nearly killed someone.  That I know about!”

“I’m strong enough to lift a SUV over my head,” Victoria muttered, “It’s hard to hold back all the time.”

Ooh interesting! Ok so a couple of things:

1) Amy looks cute, with her frizzy hair and freckles, in comparison to her sister’s more traditionally “beautiful” look.

2)Their identities are public??. Sooo....is that a thing particular to them, or to a group they belong to?? Cause I don’t remember very well, but I think Armsmaster kept his identity secret, didn’t he??

It’s very interesting that there are superheroes with public identities! I suppose that turns them into celebrities, even in their private lives, but isn’t that dangerous? Aren’t there villains who would attack their homes or families?

3)It seems Glory Girl is indeed a bit sketchy with the way she uses her super-strength, having six close calls with killing someone just because of an excess of force. I wonder if she can learn to regulate just how hard she needs to hit, because that seems dangerous!

“I’m sure Carol would buy that line,” Amy said, making it clear in her tone she wasn’t, “But I know you better than anyone.  If you’re having trouble holding back, the problem isn’t here -” she poked Victoria in the bicep.  “It’s here-” she jabbed her sister in the forehead, hard.  Victoria didn’t even blink.

“Look, can you just fix him?” Victoria pleaded.

“I’m thinking I shouldn’t,” Amy said, quietly.

“What?”

“There’s consequences, Vicky.  If I help you now, what’s going to stop you from doing it again?  I can call the paramedics.  I know some good people from the hospital.  They could probably fix him up alright.”

Seems Amy is fed up with her sister dodging responsabilities for her recklessness, and wants her to learn the consequences of her behaviour and hopefully excercise more caution. This also confirms that Amy is indeed some kind of healer. Also is Carol their mother or caretaker??

Hey, hey, hey,” Victoria said, “That’s not funny.  He goes to the hospital, people ask questions.”

“Yeah, I’m well aware,” Amy said, her voice hushed.

“This isn’t, like, me getting grounded.  I’d get pulled into court on charges of aggravated assault and battery.  That doesn’t just fuck with me.  It fucks with our family, all of New Wave.  Everything we’ve struggled to build.”

On the other hand, facing the consequences could mean that their whole family takes the blame.

New Wave...it seems Amy and Victoria have a whole family of superheroes, like The Incredibles! Is New Wave’s gimmick that the identities are public? The fact that excessive force threatens the founding purpose of the group leads me to think that revealing their identities is an attempt to gain the trust of the general public.

Amy frowned and looked at the fallen man..

“I know you’re not keen on the superhero thing, but you’d really go that far?  You’d do that to us?  To me?”

Amy pointed a finger at her sister, “That’s not me.  It’s not my fault we’re at this point.  It’s you.  You’re crossing the line, going too far.  Which is exactly what people who criticize New Wave are scared of.  We’re not government sponsored.  We’re not protected or organized or regulated in the same way.  Everyone knows who we are under our masks.  That means we have to be accountable.  The responsible thing for me to do, as a member of this team, is to let the paramedics take him, and let the law do as it sees fit.”

So, New Wave is not government sponsored, like the protectorate is!

On one hand, we have the Protectorate, which is a state-funded professional justice league, with secret identities and constumed antics and such.

On the other, we have New Wave, which is a freelance family of heroes with their identities public and emphasizing accountability and probably a more modern, refreshing approach to superheroing (which kinda goes with the new wave name)

I really like the world building we’ve got going on here. It doesn’t seem to be going that well if Victoria here nearly killed a crook due to an excessive use of force though. At least it seems Amy is more level-headed and wants her sis to also be more careful.

Victoria abruptly pulled Amy into a hug.  Amy resisted for a moment, then let her arms go limp at her sides.

“This isn’t just a team, Ames,” Victoria told her, “We’re a family.  We’re your family.”

Heh, what Victoria is pulling here is the exact sort of emotional manipulation that a spoiled family member pulls when trying to get away with something scot-free. They’ve got a sister dinamic, that’s for sure!

The man lying just a matter of feet away stirred, then groaned, long and loud.

“My adoptive family,” Amy mumbled into Victoria’s shoulder, “And stop trying to use your frigging power to make me all squee over how amazing you are.  Doesn’t work.  I’ve been exposed so long I’m immune.”

Oh wow, seems like Victoria was trying literal emotional manipulation by way of her powers, but Amy has been exposed for so long she’s inmmune. So.... one can build an inmmunity to that aspect of her power?

Also it’s a bit disturbing to think of Victoria using her emotional powers to make her family subtly like her more.

And Amy is adopted! She did look very different from Victoria, based on that description we got earlier.

“It hurts,” the man moaned.

“I’m not using my power, dumbass,” Victoria told Amy, letting her go, “I’m hugging my sister.  My awesome, caring and merciful sister.”

The man whined, louder, “I can’t move.  I feel cold.”

Amy frowned at Victoria, “I’ll heal him.  But this is the last time.”

Victoria beamed, “Thank you.”

The bastard deserves it, but it’s kind of funny how nonchalant they are being with his continued pain in the background.

Seems Amy has finally caved-in to her demands and will heal this badly wounded piece of shit. (Victoria totally acts like a spoiled brat who broke a toy during all this, which is a bit terrifying with a power combination like hers)

Amy leaned over the man and touched her hand to his cheek, “Slingshot break to his ribs, fractured clavicle, broken mandible, broken scapula, fractured sternum, bruised lung, broken ulna, broken radius -“

“I get the point,” Victoria said.

“Do you?” Amy asked.  Then she sighed, “I wasn’t even halfway down the list.  This is going to take a little while.  Sit?”

Victoria crossed her legs and assumed a sitting position, floating a half foot above the ground.  Amy just knelt where she was and rested her hand on the man’s cheek.  The tension went out of his body and he relaxed.

Holy shit, Victoria really pummeled him badly! I guess that’s what happens when a superwoman toys like that with a normal human.

Also Amy can analyze and diagnose what a person has wrong in their body with just a touch? And can remove all pain, also with a single touch? On top of some form of healing?

That is ...incredible. She could revolutionize the world of healthcare and be an incredible professional doctor! Just the analysis part of it alone! It’s just ...so good.

“How’s the woman?  Andrea?”

“Better than ever, physically,” Amy replied, “I grew her new teeth, fixed everything from the bruising to the scrapes, and even gave her a head to toe tune-up.  Physically, she’ll feel on top of the world, like she had been to a spa and had the best nutritionist, best fitness expert and the best doctor all looking after her for a straight month.”

This power is astonishingly good.

She (and other powers like hers) would save so many lives, just by doing normal medical work.

Can she only heal injuries like these, or can she also do things like grow half a person’s body back, or even make someone younger? The posibilities with her are endless!

“Good,” Victoria said.

“Mentally?  Emotionally?  It’s up to her to deal with the aftermath of a beating.  I can’t affect the brain.”

“Well-” Victoria started to speak.

“Yeah, yeah.  Not can’t.  Won’t.  It’s complicated and I don’t trust myself not to screw something up when I’m tampering with someone’s head.  That’s it, that’s all.”

Well it seems she couldn’t cure dementia or parkinson’s disease or any of these blights on humankind. But she’s still amazing!

It’s very interesting to see that it’s not just bam, you’re healed, with her power. She has to actually perform the healing herself. So her power would be ...what? Body scan and manipulation? Organic manipulation? Using the inherent healing sistems of the body as a tool?

Victoria started to say something, then shut her mouth.  Even if they weren’t related by blood, they were sisters.  Only sisters could have these sorts of recurring arguments.   They had gone through a dozen different variations on this argument before.  As far as she was concerned, Amy was doing herself a disservice by not practicing using her powers on the brain.  It was only a matter of time before her sister found herself in a situation where she needed to do some emergency brain surgery and found herself incapable.  Amy, for her part, refused to even discuss it.

Victoria has a more reckless demeanor than her sister. It’s true that Amy being able to cure brain diseases would be incredible, but how would she practice? Would there need to be people used as basically experiments until she gets the hang of it? It seems it would require some not very good means.

Also, Amy does use her powers to do medical stuff it seems! That’s good. I wonder how much certain powers have benefitted humankind in this series.

She didn’t want to raise a sensitive issue when Amy was in the process of doing her a major favor.  To change the subject, Victoria asked, “Is it cool if I question him?”

“Might as well,” Amy sighed.

Victoria tapped the man a few times on the forehead to get his attention.  He could barely move his head, but his eyes lolled in her direction.

“Ready to answer my questions, or do me and my sister just walk away and leave you like this?”

“I… sue you, he gasped out, then managed an added, “Whore.”

“Try it.  I’d just love to see a skinhead with a few broken bones go up against a superheroine whose mom just happens to be one of the best lawyers in Brockton Bay.  You know her, right?”

“Brandish,” he said.

Hmm I feel like there is an ethical conversation to be had here. Both in ransoming the healing and in flaunting that they could get away with it because their mom is a lawyer.

Would the Protectorate be ok with doing something like this? Would the citizenship be ok with something like this?

Again, it could be argued that he’s a neonazi scumbag, but what about in more general cases? Or is getting information out of him instrumental in protecting the people and saving lives, and does that justify one’s actions?

Interesting questions to be had, all in all.

“That’s her name in costume.  Normally she’s Carol Dallon.  She’d kick your ass in court, believe me,” Victoria said.  She believed it.  What the thug didn’t understand was that even if he lost the case, the media circus that would be stirred up would do more damage than anything else.  But she didn’t need to inform him of that.  She asked him, “So do I get my sister to leave you as you are, or are you willing to trade some information for relief from months of incredible pain and a lifetime of arthritis and stiffness in your bones?”

So Carol is indeed their mother, and also the superheroine Brandish! ...I don’t have any idea what her powers are based on that name alone.

“And erectile dysfunction,” Amy said, just loud enough for the thug to hear her, “You fractured your ninth vertebra.  That’s going to affect all nerve function in extremities below your waist.  If I leave you like you are, your toes will always feel a little numb, and you’ll have a hell of a time getting it up, if you know what I mean.”

The skinhead’s eyes widened a fraction, “You’re fucking with me.”

“I have an honorary medical license,” Amy told him, her expression solemn, “I’m not allowed to fuck with you about stuff like that.   Hippocratic oath.”

“Isn’t that ‘do no harm’?” the thug asked.  Then he groaned, long, loud and with the slightest rattle in his breath, as she removed her hand from his body.

Okay I’m kinda enjoying the way they are messing with him, ethical questions aside. Amy going straight for the erectile dysfunction! And a version of the “If I was an undercover cop, I would be obligated to tell you” kind of gambit.

Would the removing the anesthetic hand to make him comply be considered torture? Hm.

“That’s just the first part of it, like how freedom of speech and the right to bear arms is just the first part of a very long constitution. It doesn’t look like he’s cooperating, Glory Girl.  Should we go?”

“Fuck!” the man shouted, then winced, tenderly touching his side with one hand, “I’ll tell you.  Please, just… do what you were doing.  Touch me and make the pain go away, put me back together.  Fix me?”

Amy touched him.  He relaxed, and then he started talking.

Looks like they got him to talk! Not so cocky in the end, against these two.

“Empire Eighty-Eight is extending into the Docks on Kaiser’s orders.   Lung’s in custody, and whatever happens, the ABB is weaker than it was. That means there’s territory for grabs, and the Empire sure ain’t making progress downtown.”

Seems like Taylor accidentaly created a power vacuum! Due to Lung no longer being there, the ABB is left much weaker and other gangs are rising up to the occasion.

Kaiser huh? That’s the leader of these neonazis? Named after german emperors, so it really fits.

“Why not?” Victoria asked him.

“This guy, Coil.  Don’t know what his powers are, but he’s got a private army.  Ex-military, all of ’em.  At least fifty, Kaiser said, and every one of ’em has top notch gear.  Their armor’s better than kevlar.  You shoot ’em, they’re back up in a few seconds.  ‘Least when you shoot a pig, you can be pretty sure you broke a few ribs.  But that’s not the fucked up thing.  These guys?  They’ve got these lasers hooked up to the machine guns they carry around.  If they don’t think bullets are doing it, or if they’re after people who are behind cover, they fire off these purple laser beams that can cut through steel.  Tear through any cover you’re standing behind and burn through you too.”

More competition! In the same way that the ABB seems to have an asian theme, and the Empire are neo-nazis, these guys seem to be some sort of paramilitary militia armed to the teeth with high-tech gear, including ...laser weapons?? So these guys are less about superpowers and more about collective strength, tactics and formations? They sound awesome.

Coil makes me think about tesla coils, so maybe some electricity power to go along with the high-tech motif and weird technology?

“Yeah.  I know about him.  His methods get expensive,” Victoria said, “Top of the line soldiers, top of the line gear.”

The thug nodded weakly, “But even with money to burn, he’s fighting us over Downtown territories.  Constant tug of war, neither of us making much headway.  Been going on for months.  So Kaiser thinks we should take the Docks now that the ABB are on the outs, gain some ground somewhere easier.  Don’t know any more than that, as far as his plans.”

Seems this Coil group and the Empire are about equal in power, with the ABB being now weaker but maybe stronger than both of them previously?

“Who else is up to something?  Faultline?”

“The bitch with the freaks in her crew?  She’s a mercenary, different goals.  But maybe.  If she wanted to branch out, now would be the time to do it.  With her rep, she’d even do alright.”

“Then who?  There’s a power vacuum in the docks.  Kaiser’s declared he wants to seize it, but I’m willing to bet he’s warned you about others making a play.”

Another new player! She’s a mercenary, with a bunch of ...freaks? Are these like mutants, where the powers change their appearance and they are discriminated against? Seems like an interesting group. Faultline.... maybe some earth or earthquake-related power?

The skinhead laughed, then winced, “Are you dense, girl?  Everyone’s going to make a play.  It’s not just the major gangs and teams that are looking for a slice of the pie, there.  It’s everyone.  The Docks are ripe for the taking.  The location’s worth as much money as you’d get downtown.  It’s the go to place if you want to buy black market.  Sex, drugs, violence.  And the locals are already used to paying protection money.  It’s just a matter of changing who they pay to.  The Docks are rich territory, and we’re talking the potential for a full scale fucking war over it.”

He looked up at the blond superheroine and laughed.  Her lips set into a firm line.

Dear god Taylor what have you done? Now we have a full-scale gang war that could spread to the whole district thanks to your actions that day. You certainly caused a big splash!

It kinda reminds me of Doflamingo’s speech in One Piece, where there is a power vacuum that is going to make everyone fight in the near future, only that is much much more high scale than this. Still, what a way to change things.

He continued, “You want to know my guess?  Empire Eighty Eight is going to take the biggest slice of the Docks, because we’re strong enough to. Coil’s going to stick his thumb in just to spite us, ABB is going to hold on to some.  But you’re also going to have a bunch of the little guys trying to take something for themselves.  Über and Leet, Circus, the Undersiders, Squealer, Trainwreck, Stain, others you’ve never heard of?  They’re going to stake out their ground, and one of two things is going to happen.  Either there’s war, in which case civilians get hurt and things get bad for you, or there’s alliances between the various teams and solo villains and shit gets even worse for you.”

Woaah a loot of even more new names! This is worldbuilding, the chapter!

Uber and Leet ...I think they vaguely mentioned them once..? But they apparently were small-fries

Circus is maybe a carnaval or clown-themed villain? Those are always ...fun. I expect a lot of circus gimmicks as their powerset.

The Undersiders are that group of totally innocent teens of which Taylor might or might not be a part of now, and might or might not be planning to eventually betray.

Squealer sounds ...weird. Maybe something animal-based?

Trainwreck maybe summons trains to crash against you. That seems too silly though. (Yukari-approved! )

Stain is obviously from Mha and I don’t know how he jumped to here. On a more serious note, I have no idea what he could be about.

All of these (including our undersiders) seem to be small timers, at least compared to the big three of the ABB, the Empire and the supersoldiers. And also Faultline, which even though she was a mercenary was considered high enough to be counted outside of the smaller ones.

We’re getting to know our underworld landscape here!

He broke into laughter yet again.

“Come on, Panacea,” Victoria said as she stood up, touched ground with her boots and brushed her skirt straight, “We’ve gotten enough.”

“You sure?  I’m not done yet,” Amy told her.

“You fixed the bruises and scrapes, broken bones?”  Everything that could get her in trouble, in other words.

“Yeah, but I didn’t fix everything,” Amy replied.

“Good enough,” Victoria decided.

“Hey!” the skinhead shouted, “The deal was you’d fix me if I talked! Did you fix my cock?”  He tried to struggle to get to his feet, but his legs buckled under him,  “Hey!  I can’t fuckin’ walk!  I’ll fucking sue you!”

Victoria’s expression changed in an instant, and her power flooded out, blindsiding the thug.  For an instant, his eyes were like those of a panicked horse, all whites, rolling around, unfocused.  She grabbed him by the shirt collar, lifted him up and growled into his ear, her voice just above a whisper, “Try it.  My sister just healed you… most of you, with a touch.  Did you ever wonder what else she could do?  Ever think, maybe, she could break you just as easily?  Or change the color of your skin, you racist fuck?  I’ll tell you this, I’m not half as scary as my little sister is.”

Seems the skinhead was still being a pest faking not being cured and Victoria had enough. Damn she can be scary, and that’s aside from the ability to literally make him feel fear. I think part of the scary factor to her is that she could very easily break you and she doesn’t really have that much impulse control. Imagine facing down someone like that and thanks to her power having that fear you feel towards her amplified until she is the worst thing in your world.

And that all pales in comparison to her sister. Oh god I hadn’t considered that application of her power! She has organic manipulation, not healing. Healing is just what she chooses to use her power for! She could unmake you with just her continued touch, or give you any sort of illness or deformity. She has one of the greatest and scariest powers so far.

She let him go.  He collapsed in a heap on the ground.

As the two sisters walked away, Victoria pulled her cell phone out of a pouch on her belt with her free hand.  Turning to Amy, she said, “Thank you.”

“Play safe, Victoria.  I can’t bring people back from the dead, and once you’ve gone that far…”

“I’ll be good.  I’ll be better,” Victoria promised as she dialed with one hand.  She put the phone to her ear, “Hello?  Emergency services?   Requesting special line.  New Wave, Glory Girl.  Incapacitated criminal for you to pick up, no powers.  No, no rush, I can hold.”

Seems this situation concluded with a minor big problem averted. Glory Girl really should be grateful for the free healer she has to get her out of her excessive use of force! They are cleaning nazis from the streets so they aren’t bad or anything, they are the good guys, just a bit too dangerous sometimes!

Looking over her shoulder, Victoria noted the thug, still floundering and half-crawling, “He’s not going to get up?”

“He’ll be numb from the waist down for another three hours.  His left arm will be iffy for about that long, too, so he’s not going to move unless he can drag himself somewhere with just one limb.  He’ll also have numb toes for a good month or so, too,” Amy smiled.

“You didn’t actually…”

“No.  Nothing was broken, and I didn’t screw up anything, beyond a temporary numbness.  But he doesn’t know that.  Fear and doubt will complete the effect, and the suggestion becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.”

“Amy!” Victoria laughed, hugging her sister with one arm, “Weren’t you just saying you weren’t going to mess with people’s heads?”

Heh, I really like Amy. And Victoria too, to a degree. She’s a lil bit spoiled, but I imagine getting such awesome powers at a young age warps your perception of things.

We set up a lot of things this chapter, and it seems our protagonist may have destabilized all of the city with her first night in costume! She’s certainly off to a good start!

[laurels-blog]

Advent Calendar Series: 5/25

Natasha Romanoff | Black Widow

“Hey (y/n)!” Steve said.

“Hey Steve.” I responded.

“What’s on your mind there?”

“Huh? Oh- uh nothing.”

“It’s something, talk to me.”

“So Natasha, I- I kinda like her.”

“Well obviously.” He laughed, “Ask her on a date, you won’t be disappointed.” 

“You think so?” I lit up.

“I’m never wrong, how do you think Parker got his girlfriend?” He winked at me, walking away.

I knew what I had to do. I stayed up all night planning just a potential date, I haven’t even asked her yet. I just know her favorite holiday is Christmas, so that’s what I’m basing our date off of. We all can’t go home, being superhero’s and normal people, is always hard. But we have each other and that’s what matters.

“Hey (hero name of your choice).” Natasha says, walking into the HQ.

“Hey, question!” I smiled, my face getting red.

“What’s up babe?” She smiled.

“Wouldyoupossiblywanttogoonadatetomorrow?” I blurted out.

“Whoa girl, I’d love to! What’s the date tomorrow? I gotta make sure Stark doesn’t have any other none sense training for us.” She laughed.

“Oh, I unde- WAIT, you said yes?! The date is December 7th tomorrow!” I smiled, red as hell.

“Oh yeah, it’s ‘family” Funday, so we can definitely get out of the bonding activity.” She said, getting up. She kissed my cheek before she left.

As soon as she left, I got up and did a happy dance.

“I take it she said yes?” Steve said.

“YES!!! AHHH” I said, running to hug him. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.” 

I quickly ran off to go to bed, big day tomorrow!

NEXT MORNING

I got up and quickly got dressed. I put on a casual yet dressy emerald bodycon dress and threw some little elf ears and put Natasha’s outfit by the door with a note that said “wear me today :)” and knocked and went to the kitchen.

“Hey, a little dressed up for family day, aren’t you?” Stark said.

“No, she’s not, we’re going out.” Natasha said, coming from her room. 

“You look amazing!” I smiled. She’s wearing a red bodycon dress with a santa hat.

“Oh, a bit festive today ladies.” Tony said.

“This was all planned by that pretty little thing over there.” Natasha said, looking me up and down.

“Speaking of which, we got to go now so we’re on time.” I said, grabbing my coat. Natasha slid on her coat and we headed out. 

“So where we going? By the way you look AMAZING.” Natasha smiled.

“Thank you gorgeous, but it’s a surprise, we’ll be there soon.” I said.

Soon enough, we pulled up to the theatre.

“A movie?!” Natasha said.  I opened her door for her and took her hand to lead her inside. When we walked in, her mouth dropped.

“(y/n), all this for me?” She said.

“Of course, only the best for you.” I smiled.

I rented out the whole theatre out and put fake snow leading to our theatre. There was candles and roses and just romance. 

As we walked in our theatre, her jaw dropped again.

“The Grinch?! No way!!” She said, hugging me.

“I use to watch this every Christmas Eve with my family.”

“ I know Nat, that’s why I chose it.” I smiled. We sat down and began watching the Grinch. About 20 minutes breakfast came.

“Grinch pancakes! Oh my goodness, you must listen to every word I speak!” Natasha said, with the biggest smile.

For the rest of the movie, Natasha held my hand and just tried to snuggle. After we finished The Grinch, we watch The Polar Express, and Home Alone, then it was lunch time. 

I took Nat to a classic little diner, one she talk about her parents going to all the time back home on Christmas Eve.

“Wait- is this what I think it is?” She exclaimed.

“Yes! I figured you don’t see your family, so I’d make it seem similar this year.” I smiled. We went on to talk and talk, she told me more about her family, as I told her about mine. 

We ate and left for the next surprise. 

“Another one?” She laughed, with the biggest smile I have ever seen.

I drove downtown for the drive thru Christmas lights.

“This was my favorite part as a kid!“ She said. She spent the whole time pointing out familiar ones and news ones, as well as her favorites, it was the cutest thing watching her excited.  After we drove through all the lights, we took an hour drive to a special restaurant for dinner.

“Where are we now?” Natasha said.

“You’ll see.” I giggled. 

“Close your eyes.” I said, opening her door and guiding her.

“Okay, open.” I smiled.

“I use to come here for family dinner’s every Christmas!” she exclaimed.

“Just keep going towards the back.” I smiled. Natasha walked through the restaurant and straight to the back section.

“Mom?! Dad?!“ She exclaimed. “How?!”

“Well your lovely friend here set this all up.” Her mom smiled.

“Babe?! No way! You’re the best!” She smiled. She hugged her parents once more.

“Mom, dad, I want you to meet my girlfriend (y/n).” She smiled. 

“Hi!” I smiled.

For all of dinner, we all just chatted and Natasha just smiled the whole time.

“Thank you for dinner (y/n), also thank you for getting us with Nat. It was well overdue.” Nat’s mom said, hugging me.

“Yes thank you, I’m glad Nat got a good one.” Her dad added. We all walked out together and then went our separate ways. Nat and I were just holding hands on the way to the car.

“Babe, thank you for everything today. You are such a great listener, you got every detail right and I really needed this today.” Natasha smiled at me.

“YOU INTRODUCED ME AS YOUR GIRLFRIEND!” I exclaimed.

“Of course I did! After today I’d be stupid not to, that is if you want to be my girlfriend?’ She asked .I cupped her face and leaned in for a kiss. I drove us home with my hand on her lap and a smile on my face.

When we walked into the building, everyone was still up. We walked in holding hands.

“Seems like the date went well.” Tony added.

“It was so good I made her my girlfriend.” Nat smiled.

“Damn, I’m 2 for 2. Call me Captain Matchmaker from now on.” Steve said.

Natasha took my hand and lead me to her bedroom. We both put our jammies on and cuddled up to watch some more Christmas movies.

[wheredidhiseyebrowsgo]

do you know of any fics where Stiles has a secret of some sort?

That’s why his hair is so big. It’s full of secrets. - Anastasia

So Take a Long Shot by relenafanel

(1/1 I 2,650 I Teen I Sterek)

Stiles is ten when his father teaches him how to shoot. He sucks with a handgun, more likely to shoot off his own foot than the target.

The same cannot be said for his skill with a long-range rifle (but he's no one's weapon).

Eventually, Stiles knows, the secret will come out, because there are just some people he will save at all costs.

(That day comes when they're hunting a redcap through the forest and can't reach Derek in time)

A Sheep In Wolf's Clothing by dumpacc

(1/1 I 11,282 I Mature I Sterek)

"What the fuck, Stiles, what the fuck?!"

"No, no, you don't understand, Scotty, this is the best idea ever!"

"Because you think registering as a fucking alpha to college when you're actually an omega is the best idea ever? It's not even a good idea!"

Being an omega, Stiles has few chances to be accepted in the college of his dreams. Registering as an alpha seems like a good idea... until his new roommate, hot-as-the-sun alpha Derek Hale, comes in the equation.

Strike Me A Match by clotpolesonly 

(1/1 I 11,584 I General I Sterek)

Derek stared at the reporter on the campus lounge’s television screen, gleefully reporting on Ignition’s latest fight. Behind her floated a photograph of him mid-battle, zoomed in on where his bodysuit had been slashed open across his left shoulder blade. It was a little blurry, a little pixelated, but more than clear enough to get a good look at the black mark on the bare skin there.

“Oh shit,” came Erica’s delighted voice as she dropped down onto the couch beside Derek. “Let the circus begin!”

Derek’s his heart dropped; circus was right. He resisted the impulse to reach for the spot on his own shoulder blade that itched and burned. It wouldn’t do him any good. He could make all the calls, send in all the verifiably undoctored photos of identical marks, make all the noise and fuss he wanted. With the buzz and the confusion, it wouldn’t matter. No one would believe him.

True match-ups never made it through a circus like this.

--

In which Derek discovers his soulmate is a superhero too far out of his reach to ever actually be with. But it doesn't feel right to flirt back at Stiles now either, no matter how much Derek wants to. Amazing or not, he's not Derek's soulmate.

Protector of Her Pack by BetaBlue

(10/? I 14,324 I Explicit I Sterek I girl!Stiles)

There are a few things Stiles knows is true in her life:1.) She’s much stronger then everyone gives her credit for2.) She would do anything for the Hale's…even die for them3.) And last but not lest Scott McCall is the worst friend in the world

The Aftermath of Gerard's attack on the Pack the Hale Pack along with The Sheriff help Stiles understand her family's bond to the Hale's and Beacon Hill's.

The Gentleman And The Fox by bleep0bleep, Inkforwords

(1/1 I 15,707 I Explicit I Sterek)

Derek doesn't expect much from his arranged marriage. When his inattentive husband, Lord Stiles Stilinski, tells him he's free to look for a lover, he doesn't know where to start, until a dashing bandit named the Red Fox catches his eye.~The Fox winks again. “Have a good night, Derek,” he purrs in a sultry tone, and then climbs back on the horse and disappears into the night.Derek walks up the path towards the manor in a daze, and it isn’t until he’s inside when he realizes he never told the Fox his name or where he lived. 

you’ve got me on pins and needles by jadore_hale

(1/1 I 17,611 I Teen I Sterek)

“At any rate, I’m not here to steal from you. One of the biggest potentially most important moments in my life is coming up and I find myself in need of a custom tux.”

“A tuxedo?” Derek halted, then tried not to laugh as he gave the kid a good look up and down. “Biggest potentially most important moment of your life?”

Derek picked up the broom and started sweeping, shaking his head. “If you need something for your little costume party, kid, rent something from party city.”

✄✄✄✄✄

Stiles Stilinski needs THE perfect suit and Derek Hale is just the tailor to make it for him. Only Derek doesn’t exactly know that Stiles is kind of a famous movie star…

Midnight Wolf vs Abominable Snowman! by orphan_account

(2/2 I 20,409 I Teen I Sterek)

Derek almost makes the mistake of saying, It’s not fanart, but he manages to catch himself, biting his tongue. This stranger, who’s already identified himself as at least a casual fan of Midnight Wolf, doesn’t need to know that he actually is the artist and author, not just another fan.

The Vasov Heir by neil4god

(12/12 I 20,665 I Not Rated I Sterek I Rape)

It was summer vacation. He was supposed to go to bed late and sleep even later, he should not be in a car at the ass crack of dawn (12:30) on his way to who know's where. That was not part of the plan, but then he hadn't planned on introducing the pack to his sort of fiance either or introducing them to his family, but his darkest secrets are being dragged into the light and Stiles may not survive it.

The PlayLiszt by dylanssourwolf

(1/1 I 21,570 I Explicit I Sterek)

Dr. Derek Hale is one of the most qualified musicologists in the country. He’s damn proud to be one of the most sought-after specialists in the world; he’s done his fair share of travelling to colleges all over the country to to give insights on the musical structures of some of the most famous pieces of classical literature.While he can't really play any of those pieces, he does have a particular choice of pianist when it comes to listening. Mieczysław. Derek likes to think he’s in love with the guy, even though he isn’t sure if Mieczysław is a first name or a last name or even a name at all, and he's never once gotten a glimpse of the pianist’s face. It’s about the music, the money-makers, and the guy’s hands are plastered on everything.The only other pianist who may be well on his way to being as talented as Mieczysław is a student by the name of Stiles Stilinski. He's just come back to school after a semester off and is now taking an independent study with Derek, who's trying desperately not to fall for his student. There's one peculiar thing; Stiles always has his hands mostly covered by fingerless gloves, yet still, Derek swears he's seen them somewhere.

Catch Me If You Can by illusemywords

(1/1 I 32,470 I Teen I Sterek)

Before Stiles Stilinski is 20 years old, he successfully cons millions of dollars' worth of checks posing as a Pan Am pilot, doctor, and lawyer. This is the story of him, and Derek Hale, the FBI agent chasing him.

Pen Name by rootbeer

(7/7 I 51,007 I Teen I Sterek)

Anxiety (/aNGˈzī-itē/):A feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome.~~"The set was busy; people bustled about with their various jobs. No one seemed to notice, or maybe they just didn’t care, as the gangly boy looked about nervously. He was all skin and bones, a track of moles across his light skin. He carried a bag across his shoulders, a coffee cup in his left hand and a curious look on his face. There was nothing remarkable looking about him at all, and perhaps, that was the most remarkable thing."

[romeo-the-cactus]

Sven, Svetlana, and Superfluous Flannel

So a few months ago I rewatched the 2000s fantastic four film and the scene of the invisible woman having to strip off before she can run away because her clothes aren't invisible, just her, put this idea in my head of a teleporter with the same problem. Of course it wouldn't take long for Tony to figure out a suit that could travel with you, but who doesn't love drunk superheroes not having the best control over their powers?

So anyway, here's useless lesbian Carol and equally useless lesbian (or otherwise sapphic) reader in a classic everyone's alive and living in Avengers' tower bit of nonsense.

Ao3 Link

It's late. Really late. In fact, it's approaching early.

Captain Marvel is half a loaf deep in a toast feast in the kitchen at avengers tower when with a sudden thud there's a you on the kitchen table.

A very naked you. A (judging from the simultaneous giggling and grunting) very drunk very naked you.

With your head in her plate and jam in your hair.

"Uhhh...hi there" Carol said, trying desperately to avert her eyes.

You sat bolt upright on the table and swayed slightly, before twisting to face her and exclaiming "Captain Carol! You made it!"

"To the kitchen? Yeah, I made it" Carol, replied, unable to keep the smile from her face as she untied the flannel from her waist and started trying to maneuver your arms into it.

"What?!" You exclaimed, arms flailing as you looked frantically around, managing to catch Carol in the stomach. She held your arms still and managed to get the sleeves on as you kept talking, frowning as you took in your surroundings.

"Dammit! I was at the bar round the corner, you know, the one with the dartboard and the sticky tables? Bartender looks like Harrison Ford?"

Unperturbed by Carol's bemused smile as she started doing up the buttons, you carried on, "so I was playing darts in front of this really cute European girl who said she had a bet with her friend over who could kiss an avenger - 'cause they're only in the city for a week, see-"

At this point you were so enthralled by your own storytelling that you missed how Carol paused on one of the buttons, some of the laughter disappearing from her eyes as she found herself struggling to get this one button through the hole as she thought about you giggling, wrapped up in some tourist, while she was sat at home trying to catch up on earth movies all night.

"-anyway she wouldn't stop trying, and I kept telling her that I just wanted to finish my darts and my beer and get home, and then her friend, who turns out to be her boyfriend turns up from somewhere, and says girls don't count, which is shitty-" this you punctuate with another wide swing that Carol manages to dodge, suddenly catching up with your rambling and realising you hadn't actually kissed anyone "-and then I stand up again, 'cause I paid for my game and I don't really care about how open Sven and Svetlana or whatever they're called are or aren't, I don't wanna be kissing some random girl, and then he takes a damn swing at me and I guess I was a little less stable on my feet than I thought 'cause then the next dart hits Bjørn or whatever his name is in the shoulder and then maybe-Heidi starts shrieking to the whole bar about how her boyfriend is gonna fight an Avenger over her and I just wanna finish my game so I grab the dart and kick him in the shins and totally got a bullseye, and I was just about to start fightin' homophobic Hans and definitely win and then poof I'm back here and, oh," you say, finally looking down at Carol, who's bracing her arms either side of you, struggling to breathe with how hard she's laughing, and realise you've left your clothes behind "and now Agnetha's gonna take my favourite shirt back to wherever-the-fuck, Europe as a trophy and I'm right back to 100% of my coworkers having seen me naked. And I'm hungry." You pouted, missing the confusion that darted across her face as she turned to start making you a sandwich.

"Sounds like you had quite the night," she said, spreading peanut butter on bread "how come you didn't end up kissing Helga?" she asked, as casually as she could.

"Was'n...mmf...was'n oo" came a sleepy, drunken mumble from behind her.

The second slice of bread fell out of her hand as she spun around, fists twinkling and a confused blush rising to her cheeks as she was met with the sight of your head lolling forward and you slipping towards the edge of the table, catching you in the nick of time as you fell fast asleep.

Ever the gentleman, Captain Danvers picked you up and carried you to bed, tucking you in and lightly pressing a kiss to your forehead as quiet, adorable snores left your cute, unkissed-by-grabby-generic-europeans lips, and left your room, heading back to the kitchen with a soft smile on her face. Unaware that a hoard of drunk, frantic avengers each carrying a random item of your clothing were about to come crashing in.

[mattyofthelongfields]

from 15 to 35

Thanks for the numbers!

15. Who’s your go-to musical artist when you’re feeling upbeat?

P!nk for sure!

16. Where could someone find you in a museum?

Depends on the museum tbh but probably by a bench haha

17. What’s that one outfit in your closet you never get the chance to wear but want to?

Hmmm my Firefly shirt that is sadly too small or my suits maybe. I wanna go to a party just so that I have a reason to wear my casual suit or good suit!

18. Rainbows, stars, or sunset colored clouds?

sunset colored clouds

19. If you could own any non-traditional pet (dogs, cats, fish, rodents, etc), what would it be?

A red panda!

20. Do you have more art on your walls or more photographs?

oh I definitely have more photos! but I do have some traditional art. every rare occassion where I manage to finish a drawing that I don’t think completely sucks I frame it and hang it on my wall. unless the drawing was a gift of course.

21. You have to get one meme tattooed on your body, what meme is it and where does it go?

maybe the shocked pikachu, though don’t know where... maybe on my back? so that my surgeon would crack up during my next surgery if I get a new one 😂

22. Pick a superhero sidekick to hang out with

I mean Xena is totally a superhero so can I pick Gabrielle? 

23. Lakes, rivers, or oceans?

hmmm I like all of them but maybe rivers, especially if there’s a trail next to it that I can follow

24. Favorite mid-2000s song

ok but there are so many mid-2000s songs that I am not ashamed to say that I love! it would probably be either Linkin Park - Numb or Evanescence - Bring Me to Life. they were practically my childhood.

25. How do you dress when you’re home alone?

My favorite sweatpants and oversized hoodie/plaid shirt. I know, I’m a fashion icon

26. Where do you sit in the living room (we all have a preferred spot, and you know it)?

well since my living room is also my office and my bedroom, that’s a tough question! but probably in front of my computer or my “sheldon spot” in the corner of my couch

27. Knives or swords?

SWORDS!!! A bit too excited maybe?

28. A song you didn’t think you’d enjoy but ended up loving

Take Me Home, Country Road. the driver during a roadtrip LOVED that song and would listen to it several times during the trip. the damn chorus is so catchy that I didn’t actually mind, and every time it came up we would all sing/scream along

29. Pick an old-school Disney Channel Original Movie

I’m sorry but I’m a High School Musical trash! I’m going with HSM 2 though cus that angsty golf field Zac Efron solo is still a national treasure!

30. Are you a “Quote that relates to the photos” caption-er, an “explanation of where I took the photos” caption-er, or a no caption kinda person when you post pictures online?

Well, I had quotes to almost all the cosplay pictures I post on instagram sooo I guess I’m a quotes related to the photos type person ^^’

31. Name a classic Vine

The drugs owl! every fucking time I hear it I’m wheezing! 

owl: Drugs..

woman: No, we... we’re ok.

owl: drugs?

woman: This is awkward, no thank you...

owl: DRRRRUUGS?

woman: who invi--who invited?

32. What’s the freezer food that you stock up on when you go to the grocery store?

chicken filet, pork and beef. also rolls for breakfast

33. How do you top your ice cream?

o’boy chocolate powder! lots of it! if you think it’s not enough, it’s not enough!

34. Do you like Jello?

not really!

35. What’s something that you don’t have a picture of that you wish you did?

I have a lot of childhood pictures with my dad but I wish I had more childhood pictures with my mom tbh..

Thanks!

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Psycho Analysis: Ego

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

Years ago, comic book movies were absolutely, totally afraid to be even a little weird. Raimi carried the weirdness torch for a while thanks to the success of the Spider-Man trilogy, but for some reason he was the only person unafraid to be goofy; even Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, a movie about one of the more fun and campy classical hero teams, was completely and utterly afraid to show a big man in purple armor who eats planets and so instead opted to show us an intergalactic fart cloud. The precedent set by franchises like Blade, X-Men, and Nolan’s Batman films lingered for a long time.

Then along came James Gunn.

Gunn is a man unafraid to be weird, and Guardians of the Galaxy really changed the game in 2014. There’s a gun-toting raccoon, a talking tree, a bald blue cyborg woman, and an alcoholic duck, and the movie is a smash hit critically and financially; there is now no excuse not to put the wierdest stuff from the comics faithfully into film. And for the sequel, Gunn apparently saw fit to bring in one of Marvel’s most bonkers bad guys: Ego, the Living Planet.

Ego is the perfect example of how to adapt something utterly bizarre from the comics, changing some major elements while still staying true to the nature of the character himself. Ego here is Peter Quill’s father, something that isn’t true in the comics, as well as a Celestial, something also not true in the comics… but he is still a sentient planet, and he is still completely and utterly evil.

Actor: Kurt Russell, 80s superstar and the reason Solid Snake exists, plays Ego to perfection. Ego is a character with, well, an ego; he’s selfish, self-centered, and lacking in empathy, but he also needs to come off as charming and friendly or we the audience would see through him immediately. Russell is the exact perfect man for that job; this is a guy who managed to play a character who was mildly transphobic and still have them come off as likable. Russell is also able to switch from affable and charming to scary and furious with ease, which is a big help after the reveal when Ego drops all pretense. Russell just kills it, there’s no other way to put it.

Motivation/Goals: Ego has an almost sympathetic goal, one that, from a certain point of view, makes him come off as a bit sympathetic. The guy was drifting alone in the void for eons and had to piece himself together, so is it any wonder he was horrifically lonely when he was finally able to set out to find life? Of course, that loneliness and isolation led to him developing some really nasty personality traits, and so he decided the best course of action after finding out other intelligent life was “boring” was to plant seeds on every planet, sire a child with powers just like him, and then wipe out all life and turn all the planets in the universe into extensions of himself. It is a plan truly befitting a character with the name “Ego,” and while it is true his motivation is at least a little deserving of sympathy, his goals and how he goes about trying to ameliorate his pain is what makes Ego an irredeemable monster.

Personality: Ego is perhaps one of the most aptly named characters in all of fiction, and he’s also one of the few characters one could make the honest claim that his ego is literally the size of a planet. Ego puts forth this identity of a charming, fatherly figure, happy, affable, jokey… just really sweet and charming. But much like the avatar he uses, it’s all just a mask.

Look at how he talks about what he did to Peter’s mom; he says it with such a wistful, resigned melancholy flavored with this “I did what I had to do” smugness that is a twisted reflection of how one might recall their first date, and then follows it up with a horrifically callous response of “I know that sounds bad.” Ego is such a monstrous, unrepentant sociopath with so little regard for life that is beneath his lofty stature that I just don’t think he really comprehends things like empathy. He is the ultimate psychopathic manchild, an arrogant egotist who hides behind this friendly veneer until the moment things don’t go the way he wants, at which point he starts screaming, ranting, and raving. The fact he is completely and utterly taken aback that Peter would unload multiple shots into him after being told Ego gave his mother a brain tumor is really telling of just what kind of person he really is.

Final Fate: The bomb Groot planted on Ego’s brain goes off, and Ego’s avatar crumbles to dust as the planet begins to blow up, seeing as its brain just got obliterated. The beautiful karma of this moment makes it extra delicious; after putting that tumor on Meredith Quill’s brain, is it not fitting he die after having something planted on his brain?

Best Scene: Ego just really dominates every scene he’s in, but I think the big reveal, where he shows just what a sick and depraved villain with a lack of care for life as he reveals what he did to Meredith Quill, is one of the MCU’s finest scenes.

Best Quote: It took only one single line to cement Ego as the most horrible, evil, disgusting monster in the MCU: “It broke my heart to put that tumor in her head.”

Final Thoughts & Score: Ego is fantastic on so many levels, but one level I think should not be overlooked is on a meta level. As I mentioned, for the longest time silliness and weird concepts were out the door when it came to superhero films. One needs only look at the X-Men franchise to see how dour things were, with their dull black costumes and overwhelmingly miserable and unfun atmospheres. More lighthearted or sillier fare did not go over well, as Iron Man 2 and Green Lantern can attest, and magic was totally absent for a while in the MCU probably because of fears audiences wouldn’t take it seriously. But James Gunn changed all that, and I think Ego definitely played a huge role in cementing that audiences will embrace and love in the weirdest stuff out of comics. Thanks to Ego, I think a lot of other creators became unafraid to let that freak flag fly and put things in movies they might have been too worried to put in before, with the ultimate and best example being Mister Mind joining the DCEU in the end of Shazam! It gives me hope that Tawky Tawny might show up there in a sequel.

On a character level, Ego is without a doubt the most punchable scumbag in the entire MCU, with only Mysterio coming close. The fact he casually admits to killing Peter’s mother and expects him to be okay with it… Can you really blame Peter for immediately unloading his guns into his father? I mean, when faced with a man who is utterly unrepentant in killing a loved one that they also claimed they loved and says they had to do it to further their goals, would you not also have a knee-jerk reaction like that? Yes, I am getting at this being a canon moment that shows Peter’s reaction to Thanos in Infinity War was not a stupid moment, it was a moment that was built up by what he did to Ego. And I think that just adds to Ego even more, because he helped cement a character trait of Peter’s that would lead to one of the most horrific gut punches in cinematic history.

Ego is an easy 10/10, and is one of the MCU’s greatest villains. He’s a perfect “love to hate” character, and he’s also a perfect villain for a story about family. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 has family as a focal point of the story, with the arcs of every single character revolving around the idea that family doesn’t have to be blood ties, it can be with the people who love you and who you’ve bonded with the most. Yondu’s line of “He may’ve been your father, boy, but he wasn’t your daddy” is what really sells it, honestly; Ego is Peter’s biological father, yes, but Yondu raised him and even if he didn’t always do right by him, in the end he showed himself to be a better man and better dad than Ego ever could have hoped to be. I suppose that’s a bit off topic from Ego himself, but I feel like it’s important to note just how deeply thematic he is as a villain, tying into the core message of the story while also letting loose in utter sociopathic villainy.

I think there is a great irony in Ego’s ultimate plan; for all his claims of being lonely and desiring others like him, what exactly does he think would happen if the entire universe was nothing but himself? Would he truly have been satisfied? Perhaps; he was a narcissistic to the highest degree for sure. But I like that there is some ambiguity to things about Ego, I like how there are some things to think about, I like how a villain who has a plan that is not clearly thought out by them yet that they believe is the proper course of action is something of a setup for what Thanos would be.

And really, out of every other villain in the MCU, Ego is most like Thanos. The obvious part is the plan, though only Endgame Thanos really wanted to reshape the universe in his image; still, as I mentioned, their plans are both something they believe is the true and righteous course of action, though Thanos is far more sympathetic in this regard. They also both felt the need to sacrifice loved ones in pursuit of their goals, and they both have incredibly poor relationships with some of their kids. I think the main difference is that Thanos, for all his faults, does have some empathy, he does have some sympathetic traits even if they don’t redeem how much of an awful person he was. Ego has none of that. Ego squanders any sympathy he could have gained by being utterly unrepentant and casual about his misdeeds, which include slaughtering his other children and killing Peter’s mother despite claiming to have loved her dearly. At least Thanos openly wept at what he did to Gamora, at least he felt sadness,  guilt, and regret. Ego just doesn’t care. He did it because whatever he really felt for Meredith, there was only one person he could ever truly love: Himself.

In short, Yondu was right: that guy was a jackass.

[elizadoolittlethings]

MG - The Man Behind The Genius

(via Get Ready to Love Mark Gatiss)

“Can we just sit here and watch this Spider-Man cartoon?” Mark Gatiss smiles slyly but it’s not clear if he’s completely kidding. We’re sitting on a couch in The Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, New York where a small retro-TV is playing an appropriately retro episode of Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends. “I love cartoons,” Gatiss tells me. “Did you ever see the old Star Trek cartoon? It’s brilliant. It’s basically like season four.”

The guy sitting next to me might look like Mycroft Holmes, but he barely sounds like him at all. This guy is softer, more childlike, more down to talk about whatever, so long as those things are James Bond, Sherlock Holmes, Doctor Who, superheroes, Star Trek… In short, if you meet Mark Gatiss, you want to be best friends with him instantly.

For the uninitiated: Mark Gatiss is the co-creator (with Steven Moffat) of Sherlock. He’s also an actor IN Sherlock as Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock’s  snippy, brilliant older brother. He’s written for Doctor Who numerous times, including last season’s “Robots of Sherwood,” as well as the classic Dickens 2005 episode “The Unquiet Dead.” He’s got a recurring role on Game of Thrones as Tycho Nestoris of the Iron Bank, but has roots in the famous British comedy The League of Gentlemen. In short: he’s done some things that are beyond impressive.

Our chat is talking place two hours ahead of The Museum of the Moving Image’s special screening of the Doctor Who episode “Sleep No More,” which is the one Mark wrote for this season. And yes, I can call him Mark, because he told me to. Glancing over at my open-notebook, full of my chicken-scratch  questions, he spies the word “Gatiss,” at the top of the page complete with a frantic double underline. “Don’t say ‘Moffat’ or ‘Gatiss,’” he coos. “Say ‘Mark.’”

To say Mark Gatiss is disarming would be an understatement similar to saying Sherlock Holmes is smart. It’s not that Mark is disarming, it’s like you and he have been exchanging dog-eared paperbacks for years and this conversation about the animated Star Trek from the 70s is old hat. After we talk about how great the writing is on that cartoon Trek, I ask him if he’d ever want to write for Star Trek.

“The new series?!!“I love Star Trek, so yeah, I wouldn’t say no. Simon Pegg’s writing the new one [Star Trek Beyond]. So yeah. You never know!”

Is there anything else—any other established universe—Mark Gatiss would like to write for other than Star Trek?

“Nooo…No. I want to do something new. But it’s so hard to get it off the ground. I’ve said this many times, and it’s absolutely true. That there is a reason why people revisit brands that are so familiar; it’s because they’re so familiar! And it’s getting harder and harder to try and convince people to take a punt at something new. So, that is absolutely vital. Otherwise, there’s no blood in it—and I say this knowing that I’m associated with two of the biggest reboots in history—and people will always revisit Sherlock Holmes. And I think that now that Doctor Who has really returned after its absence, Doctor Who is imperishable. It will probably stop again one day and then come back again, because that’s what it does. Like anything. But, I would love to do something that people look back on fondly, because it was a brand new thing. But it’s terribly difficult—A. to think of it! B. To get it off the ground. What is the new thing! Sherlock Holmes himself said there is nothing new under the sun!”

What if Steven Moffat left Doctor Who? Would Mark still write for Doctor Who?

“Of course I’d still write for Doctor Who! If they’d have me! It’s a continuing honor and thrill! I would say that unlike Russell [Davies] saying ‘that’s me, done,’ I think that if Steven were to leave, he’d still come back after a few years and do another one. Because he loves it. I mean, Russell loves it too! But, I think Russell saw it as his take on it and that was it. Which is a very grown-up way of moving on. But I can’t resist the urge.”

When you’re hanging with Mark Gatiss, who wants to be a grown up anyway?

Would Mark want to be the showrunner of Doctor Who if Steven Moffat left?

“The truth is I know how incredibly demanding it is. And one of things that makes it very difficult to see is the sort of casual attacks Steven has had to put up with over the past few years. It’s incredibly hard work and they care so much. It’s a 24 hour job. And when people say ‘why can’t you make more episodes!?’ I mean, the episode we’re watching tonight: I was sent the final effect shot the day before I left for New York. That episode is just complete and it’s on this Saturday. There are so many things to consider. But to answer your question, I know how hugely demanding [showrunning] is, but also how hugely rewarding it would be. It’s a huge, life-changing decision. I’m an actor and a writer. I couldn’t act if I did it. Because I wouldn’t have time. The only thing I could act in would possibly be Doctor Who. WAIT A MINUTE! I’ll DO IT!”

At this, Mark begins giggling like a madman, throwing his head back and repeating “I’ll do it! This will effect my whole life? HA HA HA HA! I’LL DO IT!!”

The comedian, the sketch-comedy writer version of Mark Gatiss has emerged! Fittingly, we switch our conversation to the importance of humor in his writing. How and why is he just so damn funny? Is Doctor Who and Sherlock nothing without humor?

“Humor is fundamental. I couldn’t agree with you more. There’s a fundamental misunderstanding of why we love these shows. Essentially from slightly humorless people who thinks it needs to be po-faced all the time. The man who created the Daleks—Terry Nation—was Tony Hancok’s writer. He was a very, very funny man who could also write great science fiction. That’s what Russell is. That’s what Steven is. What I am. Lots of people. Humor is bound-up in the DNA of [Doctor Who]. ‘Robots of Sherwood,’ for instance, is a straightforward romp. But, you should no more criticize a show for being too funny—what’s wrong with too funny, anyway? You hear that a lot. Someone says ‘it’s too funny.’ WHAT? Too funny? Would your prefer it was moderately funny? I’d go for much too funny any day. That doesn’t mean you’re messing with the format, that you’re spoiling it. And if you look back at the history of the show, that’s what it’s always been at its best. It doesn’t get much grimmer than “Genesis of the Daleks.” But of course there’s humor. Of course there is. It might be pitch black, but it’s there. And sometimes the level is pitched one way and sometimes the other. But to me, it’s absolutely quintessential to Doctor Who, it’s a fun show.”

Though I would have loved to talk to Mark for hours only about Sherlock Holmes and his favorite stories and which movies are his personally, secret preferences, I decide that since we’re already best friends, we’ve had that conversation in some alternate world. Instead, I’m interested in continuity. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle flippantly didn’t care about continuity. Does Mark Gatiss care about continuity?

“Because we live in such an overly-examined age, in which everything is easily consumed and spat-out, everything has taken on a ludicrous level of importance. If Conan Doyle hadn’t had his famously lax attitude toward continuity, we wouldn’t be able to have the fun we have. From speculating on the strange fact that Professor Moriarty and his brother have the same Christian name, that Watson’s war-wound moves about, that Mary calls John “James”! I’m sure people did write to [Doyle] and complain, because there were always fans! But the thing is, it’s fine. My attitude is this: get it right if you can because if you’re perversely getting it wrong, it looks careless. But. Absolutely frankly: if someone came up with an idea for Doctor Who that flatly contradicted something that happened in 1967, fuck it. Of course fuck it! Someone once said to me ‘six months ago is ancient history,’ in terms of television. That’s true, because you’re talking about the general audience and not the fan audience. AND if you flatly contradicted something that happened in 1967, the fans would find a way of explaining it. I remember—in talking about Star Trek—someone telling me that reason William Shatner has so much eye shadow on in “Journey to Babel”—more than ever—is because Star Fleet officers are allowed to wear a certain amount of make-up during formal ceremonies! WHAT?!! I mean you don’t have to explain it! The Master was a snake at one point!”

Looking smooth, and talking smooth are something Mark Gatiss knows how to do, and that’s partially because he’s a big Bond fan. Could secret government mastermind Mycroft exist in the Bond universe?

“He does exist in the Bond universe! We made an explicit reference. In ‘His Last Vow,’ I say ‘As my esteemed colleague is fond of pointing out, what the country needs sometimes is a blunt instrument. Which is M! From the books! And of course I’d love to write a Bond film. It’s the one that’s eluded me. Me and Steven we both wanted to do Bond. I did From Russian With Love on radio!”

As our time comes creeping up on us, and the Spider-Man cartoon winds down, I ask Mark if there’s a world for a gay Bond? What about a straight Sherlock? The last one gets a guttural laugh from him, and we launch into the territory of diversity among established characters and fandoms.

“The point is to me, none of these things should be done because anyone feels pressure to tick a box. A show like Doctor Who has brilliantly celebrated gay people, incidentally, which to me is proper progress. But I think personally, there should absolutely be a female Doctor, a black Doctor, an Asian Doctor, but it’s because someone comes along who is absolutely indisputably the person for the job. With James Bond, it’s a literary antecedent. If you were for reasons of box-ticking made James Bond gay, that’s not James Bond. By all means have a gay spy! I’ve written about one myself! [Mark’s Lucifer Box novels] If you want to do a gay British Spy, adapt my books! That’s my advice. Do a franchise based on my books!”

Will Mark Gatiss fulfill his dreams of creating the next “new” thing that we will all love and obsess over? What is the future for our beloved Doctor Who/Sherlock writer? In addition to a film, more Doctor Who and the three new Sherlocks, that is. What is Mark’s secret project he hasn’t talked about yet?

At this he narrows his eyes, pats my leg and says with a Mycroft twinkle and almost a sneer:

“Can’t talk about it.”

Mark’s Doctor Who episode “Sleep No More” airs this Saturday.

[sevenincubistolemyheart]

Safe Haven

Au: Librarian! Jimin x Reader

Tag list: @xsunnyhoseokx @amiraclerenee

Rating: PG-13

Potential Triggers: Brief mentions of unease in the dark, and brief cursing!

Pairing: Librarian! Jimin x Reader

Genre: Fluff! So much fluff!

Length: 2.9k+

Summary: When the new librarian startles you while making tea on a cold winter day, you quickly find yourself warming up to him. As the storm grows worse outside, he quickly devises a plan to keep you warm and content, even when the power and heat go off.

Unlike other people who looked to coffee to give them their daily energy boost, tea had always been your go-to. Tea and books had become the perfect combination for whenever you needed comfort. There was nothing better than a light, sweet cup of tea and a fantasy novel as it rained outside your favorite little library.

There was something to be said for the expansive, seemingly never-ending library a few blocks up, but you’d always felt more at home here, in the more quiet, out of the way library. There was always noise in the other library which stopped you from becoming fully immersed in your novels as you wished to. So when you stumbled across this one, you quickly fell in love.

Sure, there wasn’t as many books, but there was plenty of stories even with the smaller selection. The atmosphere was always peaceful and calm, and the staff was consistently welcoming. It became your home away from home, and you quickly became family as you visited every day without fail. There was a room with an old school fireplace, of course, situated a good distance away from any bookshelves in its own little room along with several comfy chairs which became your safe space.

You stopped by for at least an hour every day after school, despite it increasing how long it’d take you to walk home from here. For Christmas last year you’d brought in one of those Keurig pod machines with a decent mix of hot chocolate, tea, and coffee pods, plus a few mugs and Suran had nearly cried from the happiness of not having to go out of her way to head Starbucks every morning just to get her coffee fix. All of the staff was super appreciative and pitched in every month to get more drink pods when they began to run low.

Currently, you were refilling your tea mug and reading while you waited for the machine to finish brewing. It’d been a long, boring day of classes and getting cat-called on your way here hadn’t done anything to improve your mood but you already found yourself calming down now that you were here.

“Oh wow, I didn’t know we had a Keurig here!”

The excited voice right next to you made you jump, an unladylike sound escaping your lips in surprise as you dropped your book, pouting as you realized you had definitely lost the page you were on. You bent down to get it, but another hand grabbed the book before you could.

“Ah, City of Bones huh? The Mortal Instruments is a classic for the Supernatural Romance genre.”

You blushed a bit, used to being judged for your reading preferences as you turned to look at the boy currently holding your book captive. He was cute, with purple hair he somehow made look casual and thin round glasses. His outfit was semi-professional since he was wearing a suit and tie, but he's definitely added his own flair with the dark green plaid jacket he was wearing and black jeans.   He raised an eyebrow at you and you flushed as you realize you’d been staring at him like an idiot while he waited for you to respond to his statement.

“Y-Yeah I totally agree. I love the series, this is actually my second read through since Cassandra Clare just released the next trilogy. I just want to make sure I’ve got all the characters and lore set straight in my head before I start the next series.” You rambled a bit out of embarrassment and turned to tend to your tea as the Keurig beeped.

“That’s right, I totally forgot A Queen of Air and Darkness dropped recently! I’ll need to pick that up. Anyway, the name’s Park Jimin. I’m guessing you're the girl that likes her tea more sugar than tea that my new coworkers have been telling me about?” He joked as he watched you stir a good amount into your cup before picking it up and turning to face him again, leaning on the table and taking your book from his hands as he offered it with your free hand.

A fond smirk tugged onto your lips as you laughed slightly. “Hey don’t knock it till you try it Jimin. Your coworkers only drink their coffee black to match their bitterness over my bomb ass tea.” You introduced yourself as well as he gave the most adorable giggle at your playful retort. “Well, we’re in the same boat then cutie. I’m a fan of sweet tea too.”

You looked over at Namjoon as he walked over to get his daily 8 cups of coffee a day. “You both are crazy, black coffee is the best. Your tounges are just defective. Anyway, rookie stop flirting with our favorite bookworm and get over here and help me restock these books. You can talk to her some other time, she’s here every day.” He said after he finished brewing his coffee, smirking at the blush that lit up the younger man’s face.

You rolled your eyes, lightly shoving Namjoon’s arm. “Good job Joon, you broke the poor boy.  Go easy on him, it’s his first day.” Namjoon chuckled, slinging his arm around the shorter boys shoulder as he steered him towards the book cart they would be dealing with. Jimin came to his senses a few seconds later calling back to you over his shoulder. “I’ll talk to you later if you’re still here!”

You shook your head with a wistful smile and took a sip of your tea as you headed back into your secluded room, the fireplace crackling peacefully as you made yourself comfortable and prepared to read the afternoon away. You set a quick alarm on your phone to remind you it was time to go home and were lost in the fantasy world of your book mere minutes later.

Sometime later you jumped as someone startled you by placing a hand on your shoulder out of nowhere, but sighed in relief as you realized it was just Jimin, a silly grin on his face. “You’re a jumpy one aren’t you?” He teased a bit, taking his hand off your shoulder. You bookmarked your page and turned to him fully. “Only when I’m reading. I tend to get lost in the world. Anyway, how’d book sorting with Namjoon go?” His nose crinkled as he pouted. “It was fine, he’s just a little bossy. It’s going to take some getting used to.” He admitted. You stifled a laugh at that, knowing very well how intimidating Namjoon could be if he had to after being here for so long.

“Don’t worry. He may seem like kind of a stuck up jerk, but he’s actually really sweet. He’s only so particular about books because he loves them so much. This library is his life, ya know? He built it from the ground up, so it’s very important to him.” You explained as Jimin’s eyes widened in surprise. “Really? I had no idea.” He mumbled. You looked down at your alarm as it suddenly blared and quickly turned it off, smiling apologetically at Jimin as you gathered your book and schoolbag, taking the now empty teacup to wash it before you left.

“Sorry, that’s my cue to go home now.”

You headed to the door with the boy in tow and he snorted, looking at you like you were nuts. “No way. You’re gonna freeze to death out there! Did you even bring a hat and gloves?” He asked in a scolding tone, making you roll your eyes. “No, it wasn’t that bad out earlier, why would I have?” You asked as you headed to the tea station, washing your cup before drying it and placing it neatly back on the rack. “Maybe so you were prepared for the huge snowstorm that’s currently going on out there?” He sasses back, motioning to one of the large windows.

A quick glance confirmed your fear. Much as you hated to admit it, he was right. The wind was howling and no doubt ice cold and the snow would be flying right in your face from the speed. You couldn’t walk home in that storm.  “But the library’s going to close soon!” You mumbled worriedly, causing Jimin to perk up. He got an idea and headed over to the front desk where Suran was currently working and leaned forward to whisper conspiratorially. “Hey, can I stay here after closing with her? She walks home and I can’t in good conscience let her go out there without a hat, gloves or even a proper coat.”

Suran looked at you for a moment before she sighed and nodded, reluctantly. “...Fine. But only because I know her so well and trust her. Thank God Namjoon had to leave early today. Here’s the key.” She took out the key from her desk drawer and handed it to Jimin. “Make sure to lock up when you leave, and you’re on cleaning duty this weekend to make this up to me.” Jimin smiled victoriously and nodded. “Deal! Thank you so much Suran, I owe you!” She nodded with an amused smile and stretched, getting ready to head out herself as she put on her coat.

Jimin walked back over to you and you looked up from texting your family you’d be home late because of the storm. The smile on his face made you wary and you questioned him. “...What’s with the ear to ear grin Park? You’re kinda creeping me out here.” He smirked and let a key dangle from his fingertips. “I’ve got the keys, so we can stay here until the snow dies down and I can walk you home!” He said smugly, looking awfully proud of himself. The gesture was incredibly sweet and you found yourself smiling back at him.

“Thank you so much, that’s perfect! I can’t believe you pulled that off!” You chirped happily, and Jimin felt his heart warm at the innocent glee in your eyes.

Jimin all but purred at your praise and puffed up. “Never underestimate Park Jimin! I can charm anyone if it means keeping you safe and warm!” He said, pulling a superhero pose and making your happy giggle fill the air again. He was just thankful that he could convince you to wait it out, scared you were going to go out and risk getting sick.

As it turned out, the storm had no intent on slowing down and in fact only got worse as time passed much to your irritation. “Why is Jack Frost being such a dick? For the supposed Guardian of Fun he sure is sucking at his job…” You pouted but your grumbling only made Jimin’s eyes light up. “You know Rise of the Guardians? That’s my favorite movie!” He exclaimed making you smirk at him. “Somehow I don’t doubt that.”

Your light banter was cut short as the power suddenly went out, making you gasp as you were plunged into darkness, save for the small light from the fireplace. Besides that light glow, however, it was totally pitch black thanks to the winter months making the sky darken at a much earlier hour. Thanks to both of your phones dying an hour or so ago, and Namjoon’s hyper-fear of the books catching fire making sure no candles ever made their way into the library, any other sources of light were nonexistent.

“Welp. That’s what you get for provoking him.”

“Ow!” Jimin huffed as you thwacked him playfully for his comment, though there was a fond, if nervous, smile on your face nonetheless. He gently took hold of your arm after faintly making out your form and moved closer to the fire with you, feeling you begin to shiver as the heat was turned off along with the power. “Stay here.” He whispered to you quietly, moving to release you and leave you in front of the fireplace momentarily. “Where are you going?” He could detect the slight undercurrent of uneasiness and worry in your voice, and knelt down again, observing the way the flames made shadows dance across your face. He reached out and gently cup your face in his palm, keeping it there when you didn’t pull away, and instead leaned into his touch.

He looked into your eyes and whispered again, as if speaking any louder would awaken some great beast hidden within the shadows. “I’m just going to go get some blankets for us babygirl. Be good, and stay warm in front of the fire. I promise I’ll be right back. Okay?” He held out his pinky after pulling away from your face and you intertwined yours with his after a moment’s hesitance. He brought his thumb to his lips making your cheeks color at the intimate feeling of it all as you followed his lead and did the same. He gave you a cheeky grin. “There. Now it’s sealed with a kiss. I have to come back or you get to break my pinky.” You shook your head in disbelief of his antics but it had helped alleviate much of your unease, and you were thankful for that.

“Okay. But hurry back doofus. It’s not as warm without you next to me.” The confession slipped out from between your lips without thinking and you flushed in embarrassment but Jimin’s smile only widened before he got up and exited the room to go further into the darkness of the library.

It had only been a few minutes, but you were starting to get fidgety. Just as you were debating getting up to go and look for him, a blanket suddenly covered your head, making you squeal in surprise, much to Jimin’s amusement. “Did ya miss me princess?” He teased as he made himself comfortable once again beside you, cuddling underneath the blanket and gently pulling you into his side. You blushed, and probably would’ve pushed him away in any other circumstances, but he was just so warm and comfortable. You nuzzled closer into him and sighed in content and he aww’ed at you making you give him the finger.

He snickered, and you felt his body shake with his laughter. It wasn’t long before you were nodding off, the heat exuding from both the fireplace and Jimin getting to you as your eyes began to close. Jimin had been rambling on about something his friend Jungkook had done, but when he looked down and saw you sleeping peacefully against his shoulder, his eyes softened and he sighed in utter contentment. He slowly moved to lay down, gently positioning you so you were laying more comfortably against his chest, and placing the pillow he snagged from one of the chairs underneath his head.

He observed your sleeping form for a moment, clearly contemplating something, before he gingerly kissed your cheek. He couldn’t help it, you just looked so cute like this! Cheeks burning, he made himself comfortable and made sure you were fully covered by the blanket before closing his eyes and quickly falling asleep himself.

Namjoon walked into the library the next morning bright and early after getting a call from the power company that he should go and check that everything was working alright. He’d always been a night owl, but thankfully the second cup of black coffee in his hand was giving him enough energy to be somewhat alert. So, when he went to open the library door and found it unlocked a flash of panic went through him as he rushed inside, careful to be quiet in case an intruder was still around.

He crept around the all too familiar library and found himself confused as not a single book seemed out of place. As he made his way towards the secluded room, he quickly relaxed at the sight before him, stifling the groan he wanted to let out as he saw you sleeping peacefully on Jimin’s chest, while said boy held you close to him protectively.

He couldn’t resist taking out his phone and snagging a few pictures. Perfect blackmail material for Jimin. Revenge would be sweet. Almost as sweet as the way you made your tea. The idea that suddenly hit him made him grin wickedly. He checked everything was working, locked the doors and then left, leaving you two to sleep a little longer.

It was 2 weeks later when Jimin and you were officially dating that Namjoon struck. You were chatting casually with your new boyfriend about where to go for your planned date that night as you made your cup of tea as you usually did. As you went to grab the sugar, you found it filled not with sugar, but with coffee. You sighed, figuring someone had made a mistake, and opened the plastic container usually filled with the sweet spice, ready to fix it as you had in the past only to look down to and flush bright red in embarrassment at the post-it note on top of the coffee. Curious at your sudden lack of response and blush, Jimin looked your shoulder to read it as well.

‘In case your wondering, this is how bitter I was when I found you sleeping here overnight with the doors unlocked. Enjoy your tea without sugar for a little as punishment~ :)’

Namjoon snickered behind his own mug of coffee at your reaction, though he quickly swallowed as Jimin whirled, and quickly spotted him. Uh oh.

“You’re the one who posted the photo in the library group chat! I’m gonna kill you!”

Namjoon quickly ducked out of there, all while hiding a smug grin behind his mug.

Worth it.

[serpentlynn]

HOLY SHIT IS THAT [ BLAKE JENNER ]?! Oh, wait it’s just [ RYDER LYNN ]. Damn, [ HE/HIM ] looks good for [ 24 ], good thing that they’re [ BISEXUAL ], I might have a chance. I hear that they call them the [ GOOFBALL ] of the [ SOUTHSIDE ]. I guess that’s because they’re [ ROMANTIC ] and [ GENUINE ]. But I don’t think a lot of people know that they’re also [ GULLIBLE ] and [ OVERDRAMATIC ]. Can’t wait to see what kind of trouble [ LOGAN/25/CST/TRANSPHOBIA ] will bring.

01.  BASICS

Full Name: Ryder Alexander Lynn

Nickname: Ry

Sex/Gender: Cis Male

Birthday: March 16, 1995

Age: 24

Astrological Sign: Pisces 

Occupation: Works at the Twilight Drive In

Spoken Languages: English

Sexual Orientation: Bisexual

Birthplace: Southside of Riverdale

Relationship status: Single

02. PHYSICAL TRAITS

Hair Color/Style: Dark Brown

Eye Color: Dark Brown

Face Claim: Blake Jenner

Height: 6′1

Weight: 168 lbs

Tattoos: Serpent tattoo on his upper arm

Piercings: None

Unique Attributes: Birthmark on his shoulder

Defining Gestures/Movements: He’s constantly moving in one way or another

Posture: Okay, certainly not winning any awards but it’s good

03. PERSONALITY TRAITS

Pet Peeves: People talking during movies, liars/unreliable people, negative people

Hobbies/Interests: Drums 

Special Skills/Abilities:

Likes: Comics, superheroes, pineapples on pizza, Scooby Doo

Dislikes: Wearing socks, hockey

Insecurities: Though it’s better than it used to be, he still gets insecure about his dyslexia sometimes

Quirks/Eccentricities: Over the top

Strengths: Optimistic, kind hearted

Weaknesses: Dyslexic, disorganized 

Speaking Style: Casual

Temperament: Over excited

04. FAMILY & HOME

Immediate Family: Frank Lynn (Father), Peggy Lynn (Mother)

How do they feel about their family? He loves them very much

How does their family feel about them? They will do what they can to make sure their son has a good life

Pets: None

Where do they live? A trailer in Sunnyside

Description of their home: It’s not huge but it’s good enough for his family

Description of their bedroom: Disorganized

05. THIS OR THAT

Introvert or Extrovert?

Optimist or Pessimist?

Leader or Follower?

Confident or Self-Conscious?

Cautious or Careless?

Religious or Secular?

Passionate or Apathetic?

Book Smarts or Street Smarts?

Compliments or Insults?

Pajamas or Lingerie?

06. FAVORITES

Favorite Color: Orange

Favorite Clothing Style/Outfit: Ryder has a very casual style, jeans, t-shirts, hoodies, whatever’s comfortable

Favorite Bands/Songs/Type of Music: He likes classic rock the most but he’s pretty open to anything

Favorite Movies: Due to his parents owning the Twilight Drive In, he loves movies. Superhero/Action movies, animated movies, thriller movies, he loves getting sucked into the story

Favorite Books: He doesn’t really do a lot of reading but he likes comics

Favorite Foods/Drinks: Soda, 100%. He likes Dr. Pepper the most but he’s pretty much addicted to soda

Favorite Sports/Sports Teams: Football, but he likes basketball enough

Favorite Time of Day: Afternoon

Favorite Weather/Season: Fall

Favorite Animal: Lion

07. MISCELLANEOUS

Fears/Superstitions: He believes in all kinds of paranormal stuff, ghosts, aliens, Bigfoot, if someone says it doesn’t exist, chances are Ryder thinks it does

Political Views: Liberal

Addictions: None

Best School Subject: He wasn’t really good at most of them, so he’d probably say gym

Worst School Subject: English was by far his worst one

School Clubs/Sports: He was in the Glee club

How does he get money? Working at the Twilight Drive In

How is he with technology? Pretty decent

08. PAST & FUTURE

Fondest Memory: When he got his first A on a test

Deepest, Darkest Secret: When he was eleven he was molested by his babysitter and has a harder time opening up and trusting girls as a result.

Dream Vacation: He really wants to go to Los Angeles

Best thing that has ever happened to this character: Finding out that he has dyslexia, while he isn’t huge on it, it at least helped explain why he was always having trouble in school

Worst thing that has ever happened to this character: Besides his babysitter, probably when he couldn’t make it into college. Even though he knew chances were low, he still wanted to go

What do they want to be when they grow up? He really doesn’t know. He likes a lot of different things but has a hard time sticking to one to pursue

Perfect Date: Going on a walk around town and eating dinner, he really doesn’t need too much.

09. HEADCANONS

Ryder always had trouble in school, he’d study for hours on end and still end up with B’s as his absolute highest, it was only after confiding in a friend in third grade that he had trouble reading and that friend told a teacher did he see a specialist and find out he has dyslexia. Which was a fact he didn’t disclose to many for a while until he got more comfortable with it. Though it still is a challenge for him sometimes and he doesn’t like to talk about it often.

Another challenge for Ryder is trusting people. Girls specifically. When he was eleven years old, his parents were out of town and he had a babysitter who walked in on him in the shower. After she went home and his parents came back, he never told anyone about it, but he does think it did something to him and caused his trust issues.

He got his Serpent tattoo and was officially a Serpent when he was 16, and he’s enjoyed it for the most part. They aren’t as crazy as the Ghoulies or anything and he’s very loyal to them. If anyone was to learn something about him, it’s likely to be one of his fellow snakes before anyone else.

Ryder went to high school on the Northside, it had better programs for dyslexic kids than on the Southside and his parents wanted him to get through school the best he can, and it went really well. He joined Glee, made some friends, almost thought he was going to get into college, but the last part didn’t happen. His grades were better since he was getting help with his dyslexia, but not good enough to get into any colleges.

[screamingatanemptyroom]

A Second Chance for a Super Villain’s Minion

Hey everyone! Sorry the posting has been a little sparse, last few days have been really crazy! This is part 3 of the story of Abigail, the super villain’s minion who gets a second chance to live her life differently. Hope you enjoy!

Part 1 here. /   Part 2 here. 

“I can’t believe you’re getting ready to graduate, Abigail! Time really flies, huh?” One of the teachers, an older woman with a pleasant smile, patted Abigail on the shoulder. Abigail shied away from the light contact, not really comfortable with casual gestures of affection. Not wanting to offend her teacher, she smiled at the older woman, chuckling.

“It seemed like forever from my end.”

They both shook their heads, smiling, and just as Abigail was about to find an excuse to leave the teacher grabbed her arm with an intense expression.

“Abigail… Are you really certain you don’t want to go to college? It’s late, I know, but I have connections… I can try to get you in as a last minute admission.” She sighed, “You’re too intelligent to just quit now.”

Abigail’s smile turned sad. In both lifetimes she had skipped out on college. The first time it was so she could support Jack and their supervillain team. This time though… this time was for revenge.

Besides, having lived through her childhood and adolescent twice, she was able to spend the majority of her free time studying advanced circuitry and robotics, and felt confident that her inventions and theories could be published on any national journal without issue. That is… if she wanted fame and recognition. Realizing that the teacher still wanted an answer, Abigail tried to piece together a reasonable answer that would prevent the teacher from working.

“I may go to college one day, but for now, I have a passion and the ability to pursue it. I can’t give that up just yet.”

Startled, the teacher could only nod. “Well… if you change your mind…”

“You’ll be the first to know.” Abigail hoped her smile didn’t seem too forced.

“Good! I’ll see you at the party! Don’t forget to say goodbye to all your friends!” With a cheerful wave the teacher left. Abigail felt the pleasant expression slide off her face, feeling relieved that she no longer needed to pretend.

“Aww, how touching that the teacher cares for you so much!” A sarcastic voice broke her from her reverie.

“Jack.” The word was a sigh, as she felt her slipping mental defenses shoot straight back up. “What do you want?”

The boy smiled, leaning against the doorway. “Just enjoying the show. I particularly like how you pretended she mattered to you. ‘You’ll be the first to know.’” His face twisted into a sneer. “As if that woman could help you even if she wanted to.”

“What makes you think I was pretending?” Abigail sat at one of the desks in the classroom, no longer putting up any pretense of politeness or friendliness.

“Oh, pardon me. She’s very important to you then?” He sat down next to her, leaning into her space. Abigail frowned, shifting her body away to increase the distance between them.  “Then you won’t have any problem telling me the name of that teacher?”

“…” She hated the fact that she couldn’t answer.

“I thought so.” He grinned. “You and I are alike, you see. We both have goals  we must achieve and everyone else falls into the categories of ‘useful’ and ‘useless’ in terms of helping us achieve those goals.”

Useless. Abigail felt her smile grow colder. In her last lifetime Jack had thought her useful at first. Having her work day and night to produce the inventions he needed. As long as she was assisting him to achieve his goal she had been in the “useful” category. But then came the day when he found where she drew her line.

“It’s not such a big deal, Abby.” Jack stared deeply into her eyes, giving the pitiful look he always used with her to get his way. It usually worked, and even today she felt a pull on her heartstrings, but she refused to give in on this.

“No Jack. When I agreed to work for you, the number one rule I had was that I would not produce deadly weapons for you.” She frowned, looking at the crude blueprint in front of her. “I won’t design this for you. It would kill thousands, maybe even more than that.”

“I would only threaten to use it to scare my enemies.” He reached out and grabbed her hand, a gesture that usually made her heart beat quickly, but missed its mark today. “Please?”

Abigail pulled her hand away. “You never make a threat that you wouldn’t follow through with. I won’t make you that weapon, Jack. Don’t ask me again.”

For a moment, an angry sneer crossed Jack’s face, distorting his features, but before her mind could fully register it, it was gone, replaced by a pleasant smile.

“I understand. I would never force you to do something you’re uncomfortable with.”

Abigail let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”

“Instead, would you be able to help me out with a new plan?” Jack’s eyes were ice cold, but in her relief, Abigail didn’t notice.

“Sure, what it is?”

“I need you to distract a superhero.”

That had been the moment she had crossed from useful to useless in his mind. And despite all the years she had worked for him, supporting him, he had not hesitated to throw her away. And he wanted to say she was like him?

 She smiled at him, enjoying the slight flash of nervousness across his features. “Oh, I’m not nearly as simple minded as you are.” She chuckled at his offended expression. “People are so much more complex than simple tools, you can’t put them in the “useless” category for one reason, because there are multiple ways two lives can intersect.”

“But…”

“I do agree with you about one thing, however…” She reached forward, grabbing his chin and pulling Jack’s face down close to hers, speaking in a whisper. “If someone were to stop me from achieving my goal, I will not hesitate to destroy them.”

He wrenched himself from her grasp, and she leaned back in her chair, laughing.

“I hate you.”

She raised an eyebrow at his blunt words. In this life he was definitely a lot less smooth in his interactions with her. “Likewise.”

“So what next? You promised you’d have a plan.”

“Ye of little faith. It’s simple.” She grinned, standing up and walking towards the door. “I’m a mechanical genius. With my talent, I will have no problem at all being hired at the superhero’s headquarters.”

“You’re going to work for them?!” He stood up, his face showing his rage. “Only on the surface.” She rolled her eyes. “Think about it. With me on the inside, our plans to debut as supervillains will be as smooth as silk. I can keep an ear out for information, misdirect, and so much more.”

Jack stared at her for a few moments, and despite herself, she felt her heart beat a little faster from fear. It was hard to forget  the years he had ruled her life with an iron fist.

“I don’t trust you.”

Abigail shrugged. “Too bad.”

With that, she turned and walked away.

“So, Abigail, why do you want to work for Infinity Tech?” The pleasant looking man in glasses sat at a desk in front of her.

Abigail smiled back, responding with the appropriate platitudes of loving to work hard and having the chance to innovate. None of the words mattered. She knew in the end, the schematics she sent in with her resume would be more than enough for them to hire her. They wouldn’t be able to resist.

After all, Infinity Tech was a front, a façade for the government sponsored support structure for the Super Hero.

“Well, I have to say, I’m impressed.  I would be excited to work with you.”

Abigail hid a triumphant grin.

“But…” The man hesitated. “Before we take you on, you will need to talk to the President of the company.”

“Really?” She hadn’t meant to say that, but the word slipped out involuntarily. The man in front of her was the head of R&D for the superhero support team. Who on earth would be above him in terms of deciding whether or not she joined?

“Just a formality.”

Abigail thought it over, and then shrugged. “Sure, I am happy to meet him whenever.”

“I’m so glad to hear that.” An amused voice from the doorway spoke out, startling her.

It can’t be.

Stunned, she slowly turned around. A classically handsome young man around her age leaned against the doorframe, a friendly smile on his face. His gaze was a little intense, as if he could see right through her, but for the most part he looked like an average person, someone you’d pass by on the street and never thing twice about it.

But Abigail knew better.

“I heard enough, this ends now.”

A hand tightened around her throat, cutting off her oxygen. She gasped for breath, clawing at her assailant, but it was no use. She couldn’t compete against his super strength. His disdainful gaze pierced her, the massive rage lurking behind his smiling façade terrifying her. Something was wrong. He wasn’t supposed to be like this.

“You okay?” The same voice broke her from the memory of her death. Shaking her head, Abigail reached out a single hand.

“Sorry. I was just surprised. I’m Abigail.”

“ I know.” He grinned. “I’m Ben.”

The man in glasses stood up respectfully. “This is the president of our company…”

“Don’t worry about all that.” Ben looked her over and chuckled. “I saw the blueprints you submitted with your application. Can you really make those Shielding Rays?”

Abigail lifted her chin pridefully, shrugging. “That and more.”

“Then I would be happy to have you on our team.” He reached out a hand.

Abigail hesitated, looking at the strong, scarred hand before her. Begrudgingly she gave him her hand, forcing down a shudder at the sensation of his skin against hers.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” He looked concerned.

She forced a smile. “Amazing. I’ll take the job.”

She pulled her hand and there was only a slight resistance before he released it. Instructing the other man to help her get the paperwork signed, he waved one more time before leaving.

“Looking forward to working with you, Abigail.” With that, he was gone.

Abigail shuddered, cradling her hand, wishing she could wash it, or maybe boil it. Anything to erase the memory of how his hand felt.

She couldn’t help it. It bothered her.

After all, that hand was the last thing she felt before she died.

Ben was the hero who killed her.

Looked like it wasn’t going to be so hard to find him after all. She smiled at the man in glasses, startling him.

“When do I start?”

The next stage of her plan was in motion.

[winteriron-trash]

Ok, so that fanfic questions ask meme? You wanna do ALL OF THEM?!

YES, LET’S DO IT, HERE WE GO, PREPARE YOURSELF I’m copy and pasting answers I’ve already done just so I don’t have to retype them and there’s a break because god this got long. I might link this on my About Me post, cause holy shit I spent time on this

1. What was the first fandom you got involved in?

Actual fandom? Probably DC. That’s when I started reading fanfiction and really poked my head around online communities dedicated to media and all.

2. What is your latest fandom?

I don’t know, probably Marvel? Maybe Riverdale, but I was a fan of the comics before so

3. What is the best fandom you’ve ever been involved in?

If I’m assuming this question is about the actual fandom and not the source material and the people in the fandom and its community as a whole? Probably the Percy Jackson fandom. Not really into it anymore so I don’t know the state of it now, but it was a pretty wholesome and positive community. Any community that calls it’s creator “Uncle Rick” has gotta be pretty dope.

4. Do you regret getting involved in any fandoms?

Oh lord save my soul for admitting I like this, but definitely Five Nights at Freddy’s. The indie gaming, creepypasta, underground subculture as a whole is something I regret getting into. Don’t get me wrong, I usually love the source material, but the fandom is just so bad. You probably know what I’m talking about, the fangirls who insist they’re insane and are in love with Slenderman or something.

But specifically on FNaF, lord, I don’t even know what the fandom is anymore. It’s a meme, a fetish, and a hellspace all at once. And I’m not gonna fucking lie, I’ve been in this hellhole long before any of that. Like, I can’t even try to escape it, I’m in it for the long haul. I was just someone who joined for the lore and now we’re here with fucking casual bongos and trash gang and fuck I didn’t ask for this. I can’t escape. I know so fucking much about the franchise it hurts my fucking soul. I remember when the FNaF 2 trailer came out and we were all micro-analyzing London Bridge Is Falling Down. I remember when Springtrap didn’t have a name and we called that fucking Spring Bonnie or Golden Bonnie. I survived that era and I have PTSD from it, trust me. I remember when we were naive enough to think FNaF 3 was the last game. I know what channels were born and what channels died because of that series. I know it all.

I’m sorry, I got off topic. BUT I DON’T GET TO FUCKING RANT ABOUT IT ENOUGH, FUCKING FUCKSHIT

Oh, and a lot of bandoms I was in too. I went through an alt phase where I’d only listen to shit like BVB, BMTH, MCR, PTV, SWS, and so on. Once again, that sort of fandom was the same as the indie/creepypasta in being ‘different’ and ‘insane’ and all that and I was no different. I was a weird fucking kid when I was like 13. I regret all of it.

5. Which fandoms have your written fanfiction for?

Marvel, DC, and a couple Riverdale. 

6. List your OTP from each fandom you’ve been involved in.

Not in many fandoms but

Marvel - WinterIronDC - SuperbatStar Trek Voyager - Captain Janeway/Seven of NinePercy Jackson - Solangelo

7. List your NoTPs from each fandom you’ve been in.

Marvel - Stucky, Stuckony, Romanogers, Clintasha, any incest ones, (save me for admitting this) SpideypoolDC - Any batboys shipped together, Bruce/Talia

And I don’t really have NOTPs for my other fandoms? Marvel and DC are really the only two things I’m invested in the fandom of. I guess you could count Wincest as well for Supernatural.

8. How did you get involved in your latest fandom?

What even is my latest fandom? Um, we’ll just say Marvel because I’m really not into joining fandoms much anymore. Honestly, I was a big DC fan who felt the need to hate Marvel because no shit. Eventually, I just got sick of the absolute shit movies DC had and I decided I had nothing to lose by just watching Iron Man. When I watched it I realized “wow, superhero movies can actually be good???” and I just binged the entire MCU in one month and was ready to see the next movie in theatres and I think I’ve seen every single MCU movie in theatres since Civil War? Definitely since Homecoming. I gave up on DC movies. The new Aquaman looks like shit, I’m so fucking pissed they redid Mera’s look when she looked perfectly fucking fine before and now she’s oversexualized and it’s gross. I’m excited for the new DC Batwoman TV show because I HAVE BEEN WAITING TO SEE A LIVE ACTION BATWOMAN SINCE THE DAWN OF FUCKING TIME

9. What are the best things about your current fandom?

Probably the Tony Stark Defense Squad. As a collective whole, I think the Defense Squad is one of the sweetest, nicest corners of the fandom. We’re incredibly kind to each other, write great meta and fic, and it’s just a great community. Of course, there are assholes, but you know.

I might get flamed for saying this, but also the HYDRA Trash Party corner of the fandom is actually really nice? Like, they understand consent and abuse aftermath and all the real shit better than the rest of the fandom, not gonna lie. Like, for as dark as the fic is you’d expect the people to be fucking nasties, but I have never met a rude HTP enthusiast. Or even one who’s unaware of how consent and whump work. They’re all very aware and kind. It’s bizarre, considering the source material. They get an awful rep though.

10.  Is there a fandom you read fic from but don’t write in?

Literally any fandom I’m in besides Marvel and DC. I think I wrote like 2 Riverdale fics. Getting into reading fanfic and getting into writing fanfic are two entirely different ballparks. I don’t really read that much fanfic anyway, especially not anymore. I read Marvel and DC, but even then. I think it’s hard because sometimes you can’t switch off the whole ‘reading like a writer’ thing. That’s why I enjoy classic literature. I’m a slut for some good ass prose and symbolism.

11. Who is your current OTP?

WinterIron, of ducking course.

12. Who is your current OT3?

I’m not really a fan of OT3s, to be honest, I find I’m personally pretty weak with writing poly relationships and I don’t really enjoy reading them because one character is usually focused on a lot more than the other two. But if I had to pick, I would say T’Challa/M’Baku/Bucky only because I am solely responsible for the creation of that abomination and you have no idea how much people begged me for a series after the first one, it astounded me.

13. Any NoTPs?

As before listed, Stucky, Stuckony, Spideypool, Clintasha, Romanogers

14. Go on, who are your BroTPs?

IronWidow is my top BroTP, but I also like WinterWidow as a BroTP. Stucky is good as a BroTP too, as well as Tony & Rhodey.

15. Is there an obscure ship which you love?

Literally any ship I have. Yall I’ve been here since WinterIron was obscure. But to name a specific one I’m just gonna go with Pietro/Tony. I don’t know, I just had an idea I was writing for them and I was thinking about how much missed out potential there was between them. And with Pietro as a whole, but you know. Marvel has to kill off the only good Maximoff they had.

Oh, Natasha/Pepper too, but they aren’t as obscure, I guess.

16. Are their any popular ships in your fandom which you dislike?

Stucky, clearly.

17. Who was your first OTP and are they still your favourite?

Stony, and no. They fell apart for me, at least MCU-wise.

18. What ship have you written the most about?

By now, WinterIron, I believe. I recently passed my count of fics for Superbat.

19. Is there a ship which you wished you could get behind, but you just don’t feel them?

Pepperony, probably. I think it’s actually a cute and sweet ship and I like their in-canon moments, but I just can’t get behind reading fanfic of them? It never works out for me, I don’t really get it. It sucks because I do enjoy seeing their cute moments.

20. Any ships which you surprised yourself by liking?

I’ll do a different answer I thought of besides the first time I answered this. But Thruce was a big shocker for me. I didn’t even think about it during Ragnorak but then I saw an incorrect quote for it and I was like? Oh? This? This is a good, pure ship right here. The funny thing is, I actually wrote a fic with them as a side ship long before they hit it big so like, I was shocked when they came out of nowhere. But hey, I’m fucking here for it. I’ll probably never write it, but I’m here for it. 

21. What was the first fanfic you ever wrote?

Goodnight, My Angel. It was a Superbat fic and really sad, but I still love it.

22. Is there anything you regret writing?

Probably... You Deserve Love And You’ll Get It. No, I won’t link it because I hate it that much. I’m not even gonna talk about it.  It’s my most popular fic too why

23. Name a fic you’ve written that you’re especially fond of & explain why you like it.

Super dorky, but The (Un)Wanted Kiss. It’s my first finished chapter fic, and the first chaptered fic I did on Tumblr and it just brings me a lot of nostalgia. It reminds me of where I was as a writer when I started it and it was an entire fic spawned from people wanting more of a simple 500-word prompt and that just blows my mind. It reminds me of the power of fans and how much love and support I got from it. It really kicked me off as a “serious fanfic writer” I think.

24. What fic do you desperately need to rewrite or edit?

All You Are Is All I Need. That is a hot fucking mess. Probably The Red Halo too.

25. What’s your most popular fanfic?

*sigh* You Deserve Love And You’ll Get It

26. How do you come up with your fanfic titles?

I bullshit my way through them. My most recent fics have actually followed a trend of being named after songs.

27. What do you hate more: Coming up with titles or writing summaries?

Summaries. I always make them so fucking corny, I hate it.

28. If someone were to draw a piece of fanart for your story, which story would it be and what would the picture be of?

One Foot In Front Of The Other, probably. Just because I want more fem!WinterIron fanart. I can’t say what scene because spoilers but.... yeah, anything from that would be great, really.

29. Do you have a beta reader? Why/Why not?

Sort of. I make some of my friends like Pizza read over my shit before I post it, but that’s not often, only when I think I need it. I don’t just because I write a lot and I’d feel bad for constantly annoying someone with making them read everything I write. I hate inconveniencing people.

30. What inspires you to write?

The better question is what doesn’t. I never stop thinking like a writer. My brain forgot how to turn off that feature.

31. What’s the nicest thing someone has ever said about your writing?

Ummmm, I can’t think of an exact thing? I get so many beyond sweet comments and messages, it’s hard to pin down one comment. I think if I had to pick, I once got a message from someone on Tumblr who was old enough to be my mother complimenting me and telling me I didn’t write like a teenager and I think that was really sweet.

32. Do you listen to music when you write or does music inspire you? If so, which band or genre of music does it for you?

Yes, yes, yes, yes. And honestly, any genre. I listen to everything. Everything. But specifically, Emilie Autumn has inspired a lot ideas/fics I’ve written.

33. Do you write oneshots, multi-chapter fics or huuuuuge epics?

All of the above.

34. What’s the word count on your longest fic?

Around 23k, I think?

35. Do you write drabbles? If so, what do you normally write them about?

Yes, and whatever I get prompted for, really.

36. What’s your favourite genre to write?

For fanfiction, I guess romance? I mean, that’s really all my fanfiction is. Otherwise, I’ll write quite literally any genre I feel like. I go wherever an idea takes me. I’m character based, not genre or plot based.

37. First person or third person - what do you write in and why?

Third. I fucking despise 1st person. I just do. That’s an entire rant we ain’t here for today.

38. Do you use established canon characters or do you create OCs?

Usually canon characters. I only use an OC when I absolutely have to, to make the plot do the plot stuff.

39. What is you greatest strength as a writer?

Nothing. My writing sucks. All of it is shit.

40. What do you struggle the most with in your writing?

Everything. I screech the most about pacing and sentence structures though.

41. List and link to 5 fanfics you are currently reading:

Most of these are actually on my to-read list but whatever.

Winter's End by ali_aliska Winter is Coming (aka Fifty First Avengers Dates) by 27dragons, tisfan My Love is Vengeance by seikaitsukimizu The caged Hawk by asamandra Fertile Ground by 27dragons, tisfan

42. List and link to 5 fanfiction authors who are amazing:

27dragons tisfanChiaki_Hamano arianapeterson19 thepartyresponsible

43. Is there anyone in your fandom who really inspires you?

Not really? I’m not knocking any of the other ‘big names’ in the Marvel fandom, but I don’t really draw inspiration from other fanfic writers. Not for plot, and definitely not for writing style. I get inspiration from fanart I see sometimes, but it’s never one main artist who I stalk to be inspired, just whatever I happen across online.

44. What ship do you feel needs more attention?

WinterIron, duh. I will not rest until WinterIron is the biggest ship in the Marvel fandom.

45. What is your all time favourite fanfic?

I’ve mentioned this fic before and honestly, it hasn’t been topped yet, but  In the Company of Monsters by Chiaki_Hamano. It’s not even a Marvel fic, and it’s not even a ship I like, but god, I fucking adore it. I’d love to write something like it, but with WinterIron if I had the time, I think the entire world and setting would fit WinterIron beautifully.

46. If someone was to read one of your fanfics, which fic would you recommend to them and why?

Well, that all depends on what they’re looking for in my fanfiction. If they’re looking for WinterIron, I’d probably tell them to start with The (Un)Wanted Kiss just because that’s one of my most loved fics and I think I did really well with it. But if they just want a general fic, A Great Connection is one I’m really proud of and I still get gushing feedback about.

47. Archive Of Our Own, Fanfiction.net or Tumblr - where do you prefer to post and why?

For just writing fanfic, Ao3. Tumblr can be a pain in the ass, and I don’t even use ff.net.

48. Do you leave reviews when you read fanfiction? Why/Why not?

Yes. But only if 1, I really, really loved it or 2, I don’t think the fic has enough attention. It also helps if the writer responds to comments. I don’t see the significance of saying “I loved this!” if the fic has dozens of other comments saying the same thing. As a writer, I know what comments writers prefer. Longer ones, deep comments pointing out what things they liked, and so on. However if I write a comment that long, I like to get a response because you know, I love seeing the writer talking about the elements of the story I liked. 

49. Do you care if people comment/reblog your writing? Why/why not?

Not really, to be perfectly honest. Yes, I love and cherish every kudos and note I get, and the sweet comments make me want to die of joy. But I write for me. Even when I take prompts, in the end, I write because it makes me happy. Yes, I love the validation. But even without it, I would still write. I do not write fanfiction for you, I share fanfiction with you. There’s a difference. Writing makes me happy. If I only cared about the validation, I wouldn’t have a folder reserved of fics I’ll never post but I wrote just because I wanted to. I write to write. The moment I start writing for validation, I might as well stop writing, because it’s not worth it.

50. How did you get into reading and/or writing fanfiction?

Ummmm I think I was just curious? I was new to internet culture, I saw fanart of Superbat and I discovered Ao3 and was like “wow, this stuff exists??? Words for free????? About my favourite characters being happy and dating each other??????????” and it was a downward spiral. I was like, 11 when I read my first fanfiction. I was obsessed with Superbat fanart, and I thought, what would it hurt to try actually reading it? Like, that was so taboo to me. And now we’re here. Tadaaaaaah

51. Rant or Gush about one thing you love or hate in the world of fanfiction! Go!

Oh, a chance to ramble. Yay. I’m gonna rant because I’m a rant-y person.

I think something that annoys me about fanfiction is not necessarily a probably within fanfiction, but rather the outward view of it. Fanfic has an awful rep within the real world. The one-time fanfiction really took centre stage was when Fifty Shades came out, which only hurt the platform by furthering the stereotype that it’s all porn made for horny freaks who just want to get off.

I should not be ashamed to say I write fanfiction. I should not feel childish saying it to myself. No one should. At least half of my ‘fans’ are nearly a decade or more older than me. It’s clearly not something that’s immature or silly. Of course, it can be, but any hobby can be dumbed down to a kiddy version.

But fanfiction at its core is ignored for what it really is. When adults talk about fanfiction they belittle it and only see a tiny subsection of it, ignoring what it’s supposed to be about. It’s about creating transformative works for media you’re passionate about.

Fanfiction gets a worse rep than other transformative works such as fanart or whatever. Writing as a whole does. Fanfic is painted as this utter trash.

I’ve read fanfiction that made me cry, laugh, feel shit. I’ve read fanfiction that tackled heavy topics. Even on a sexual standpoint, I’ve read fanfiction that was willing to write erotica that published authors wouldn’t fucking touch. Both in a kink sense, but also in terms of how the relationship functions. I’ve read shitty fanfictions, sure. But I’ve read fanfictions that were better than 90% of the published books I’ve read. Even fanfics I didn’t like.

To put fanfiction into perspective, the average YA novel (the age group fanfiction is generally but not always aimed at) is 70k words. I’ve read fanfiction that blows that word count out of the water. And it takes fucking skill to write something that long. It’s not just writing a bunch of porn or cute scenes, that takes serious world building and character arcs.

Fanfiction kills so many tropes that are common in YA and literature in general. I read a YA after reading nothing but fanfiction for a long time and I was fucking appalled? It was a popular YA too. I won’t name what one because you could literally imagine anyone and it’d probably fit. The characters were flat, the romance was outright manipulative and toxic, the plot was dull, even the writing itself was bland. This was the type of book years ago I would’ve loved. But compared to most (of course, not all. Shit exists, but I think in fanfiction, we’re able to better filter out the shit) fanfictions, it was fucking trash.

When I started reading fanfiction, I assumed it’d lower my standards. The first time I picked up an actual novel I was relieved, excited to not have to deal with the problems that are in unpublished writings. But I quickly realized it was the complete opposite. Fanfiction threw my expectations through the roof. I expect fiction to include representation, fresh plots, interesting characters, thrilling romances, and decent fucking sex scenes if they’re there. But it just wasn’t there. It all fell flat. As someone seriously into the writing and reading community I hear so often that it’s hard for plots to be original and you shouldn’t judge on originality, but then I read fanfiction written by fucking teenagers that’s fucking mind-blowing with plot twists and original ideas, and I have to wonder is it really that hard? It’s clearly doable, you just have to take away the fanfiction part.

I have YA novels sitting on my sheld I know I’ll never read and enjoy because fanfiction just made my expectations too high. Which is good in a sense because I pray some of these amazing writers, when they get older will go on to write mind-blowing original novels and I hope that this generation of writers will put out great literature in ten to fifteen years, but for now I’m just… underwhelmed. I think it’s why I read a lot of classic literature too. Shit was better back then.

And yet despite all that, fanfiction is still made to look like shit in the modern media. It sucks so badly for fanfiction writers not to look like serious writers. I could publish one book, have it get the amount of attention my biggest fanfic got and be considered a serious author. My biggest fanfiction currently has 40k notes on Tumblr. Imagine if that were a published short story. It’d be a fucking hit. And there are others that make my numbers look small. And yet it’s brushed aside as unimpactful.

I think a lot of that stems from the fact that fanfic writers do generally start out younger. I’m 16. Others either are or were my age. But age does not equate to skill in writing. Sure, that is a factor, but it is not the entire story. I know a 14 yr old who writes some of the best prose I have ever seen. And even if younger fic writers aren’t on level yet, fanfiction is what’s helping them grow as a writer. But because we’re teenagers, we’re turned away just because of that. Even more specifically because we’re teenage girls (for the most part, I’m not saying other genders and/or age groups aren’t writing/reading fanfic) and we all know how society feels about them. It’s just a fucking shame that fanfiction can’t be respected for the legitimate form of writing it is because of the stigma. I’ve seen fanfic writers say they aren’t real writers because of the stigma, it’s awful. We feel the need to tear ourselves down for an admirable hobby. I can’t say my favourite book is a fanfiction I read, when I has every right to be a valid answer.

We’ll cut this ramble off here because wow I really went on didn’t I.

[shipping-across-the-multiverse]

A/N: So I lost the ask for this but it was from @hardcoresshippingmyself And they asked; "All of the self ship questions with Cayde 6 and Bruce W.!!" so here we go!! ^^

1. Did you fall hard and fast for your f/o(s)? Or was it more gradual?

Cayde 6:

I was a new hunter so it was inevitable we were going to meet and it was Cayde 6 so it was practically inevitable that he was going to say or do something hilarious and outrageous and I’m a sucker when it comes to humour and ridiculous antics so I’m not ashamed to say that I fall hard and fast like a semi trailer colliding with another semi trailer at full speed, it was the most beautifully chaotic feeling I had ever felt in my life.

Bruce:

I meet Bruce Wayne before he was batman when he was trying to find himself. I didn’t know he was Bruce Wayne when I meet him, he was just the weird unconscious, hurt possibly homeless man in the snow that I had to drag home and look after for a solid three days and when he did finally wake up he was weirdly detached and lost like he didn’t see the point in life anymore, he just seemed to be in need of a friend, so I made it my mission to be that friend. So in the four months he was recovering we got to know each other and it wasn’t until the end of the fourth month when Bruce, who had been staring at me a lot lately not that I had noticed, I had been so focused on being his friend that love hadn’t even cross my mind so believe me when I say it was a shock when he just kissed me out of what appeared to be nowhere, it's suffice to say that after Bruce laid out his feelings I realised I had loved him since the moment he opened his eyes that first day.

2. What’s the scariest moment you have had together?

Cayde 6:

It was definitely when the cabal attack and the traveller’s light was taken from us and when we were seperated. God I think my heart had been permanently in my stomach wondering if he was alive, I cried wile laughing hysterically when I finally find him caught in the vex telaporter. Cayde meanwhile had gotten especially clingy, he always had to know where I was, not that I wasn’t the same. I was especially terrified when I was the only one able to get my light back. The thought that one well placed shot was all it would take and he’d be gone and I’d be alone for ever considering Guardians were practically Immortal. Before we at lest had the failsafe that our light would bring us back. Now we didn’t even have that. It was by far the most gut renching time of my life.

Bruce:

I had thought it was when Bruce became batman and came home injured the first time, god was I wrong, it was when he brought home little Richard Grayson who I had fallen immediately love with when he peeked out through his bangs at me with his big blue eyes. I was suddenly a mother to a boy who had just watched his parents murder, who wanted Justice and would get his justice as Robin with our help and the protection of batman or on his own. We had just gotten him and now we were terrified of losing him.

3. Do you want to get married? Have kids? What about your f/o(s)?

Cayde 6:

honestly I had been told that people already thought and considered us unofficially married we were just slow on the uptake in their eyes or oblivious. Honestly I’m pretty sure there was a betting pool somewhere out there on when we would get a clue. Jokes on them Cayde proposed to me three months after we meet with a badass cloak and new gun. the only reason we weren’t married was because when your practically Immortal there’s no need to really rush. Unfortunately there was no possible way for us to have children the normal way what with Cayde being an exo but we have talked about adoption and we do both love kids it’s just in our line of work we’re not sure it’s safe.

Bruce:

Bruce and I have been happily married for years now and we have four boys, Richard, Jason, Timothy and Damion. All adopted but as far as I was concerned they were mine. Though it took Damien the longest to call me mum. We have our problems as all family do even more so because we where a family of Superheroes but we got through them and I had never felt more blessed.

4. What’s one of the more casual dates you and your f/o(s) have had?

Cayde 6:

Honestly our dates all kinda end up pretty crazy but there was this one date where he took me up to the highest point in the tower where we just looked out over the city had some drinks, talked and joked about awoken, vex and fallen it was all pretty hysterical.

Bruce: Bruce likes to take me out to the gardens and have a private picnic, where we reminisce about everything and bitch about the idiocy of Villains and their insistence to monologue about everything. At the end we’ll have a good laugh about the antics the boys have gotten up to over past month.

5. What’s your favourite physical attribute of your f/o(s)? What’s their favourite when it comes you?

Cayde 6:

Definitely his eyes no, no wait his hands no, no his voice… wait do voices count as a physical attribute? Aah what the fuck I love everything about him. Cayde loves my hair, he just loves how long it is. You wouldn’t know it but I wanted to cut my hair when I had first awoken as a Guardian, not exactly the smart thing to have long hair when you practically had to fight for your life everyday, now this was before Cayde and I got together, Cayde and I had just become friends and we were talking and I told him I was thinking of cutting my hair He. Lost. His. Shit and told me I wasn’t allowed to cut my hair and then said that henceforth he was going to braid my hair and there was nothing I could do about it. I was later told by Cayde that it had all been ploy to spend time with me, getting to play with my hair had been a bonus.

Bruce:

His eyes they are definitely the most expressive and beautiful part of him, god I love him so much. Bruce love my hands don’t ask me why I don’t know, all I know is that he loves playing with them strange, strange crazy man.

6. What’s your favourite thing about your f/o(s) personality-wise? Theirs when it comes to you?

Cayde 6: Caydes humour, what can I say I like them funny. He loves my sarcasm. he says because it makes it more fun to banter with me.

Bruce: Bruce's gentle side, he can be so sweet. He loves my quick wit and sassy side, he says I keep him on his toes.

7. Do you share music tastes or not?

Cayde 6: Caydes more of a classical Rock fan wile I’m more soft jazz fan.

Bruce: Bruce like classical music and opera. I like my soft jazz.

8. Who’s the night owl and who is the early bird?

Cayde 6: Cayde is definitely the early bird, sometimes I don’t think he sleeps with how awake he is in the morning. I am definitely the night owl, it’s not my fault I never feel sleepy at night.

Bruce: Bruce and I are both horrible little night owls or bat in Bruces case, it gets to the point that I think Alfred literally has consider drugging us.

9. Are you morning cuddler or kissers?

Cayde 6: Cayde is a cuddler and a disgustingly bright morning person. Why he insists on waking me up at six is beyond me but he gives me cuddles so I can forgive him.

Bruce: Bruce is more of a kiss and cuddler. He’ll wake me up with kiss and when I say I don’t wanna he’ll cuddle me.

10. Which of you can hold your liquor? Which of you can’t?

Cayde 6: Cayde can hold his liquor like a boss, me not so much.

Bruce: Bruce is a high functioning drunk which means no matter how drunk he gets he doesn’t seem drunk at all the lucky bastard. While me on the other hand I get the giggles with a side dish of word vomit and then If I’m lucky I pass out.

11. Who is the better cook?

Cayde 6: Cayde Couldn’t cook to save his life, so it would have to be me

Bruce: Bruce for a rich boy is surprisingly the better cook.

12. Who is better with musical instruments?

Cayde 6: Cayde hands down is the better musician.

Bruce: brucse is definitely the better musician in the family.

13. Do you have pet names for each other? If so, what are they?

Cayde 6: Cayde calls me lover, I call him honey buns.

Bruce: Bruce calls me sweetheart, I call him my darling.

14. Who is more protective?

Cayde: cayde is a clingy sort of protective person but it’s always more adorable than overbearing if that makes any sense.

Bruce: Bruce is scarily intense when it comes to being protective he’s the sort of person who will lock you in a room while handcuffing you to the bed if it means keeping you safe, it’s very rare he ever gets to that stage but when it does happen I try to slip out the window before he finds the handcuffs.

15. Who would level a whole city if the other got hurt (realistically or metaphorically)?

Cayde 6: if I got hurt Cayde would definitely level a city to get me help and kill anyone that got in the way and might I just add that when Cayde gets angry he gets real quiet and there’s this dark grace that emerges from him It’s like all the light has been taken from him. And when everything is said and done he just likes to hold me its his way of making sure I’m still here.

Bruce: Bruce has always had this rage buried deep within him but when I get hurt it's like that rage goes ice cold and when it happenes it’s like he detaches from everything but the problem at hand. He’ll get me to safety first and for most and then he’ll hunt down who hurt me like a man possessed, brutal and precise. when he gets home, he’ll just sit beside me holding my hand while standing watch over me while I recover not leaving my side till I do.