#i love that jeremy is the captain and friend that tries to help everyone else but as that friend sometimes you also need to take care of yo

[gideonnavsenormousbiceps]

getting more and more excited about the golden raven the closer 2.22 gets but also. jeremy and whatever the fuck is going on with his family hasn't really been addressed yet. excited but also scared. scarcited. feel like some stuff about his relationship with his family will be revealed and he will need to address it as much as Jean needs to confront his abuse and its ongoing effects, and will probably struggling with admitting that there's an issue as much as Jean does. anyways Jeremy as a captain takes care of everyone else, but I would love to see him take care of himself as well.

[fluffymcu]

Letting Loose

Part ONE

This series is TICKLE related. Outfits that are linked here are purely for picturing the clothes, you don’t have to look like the model.

Series Summary:  You’re the little sister of the one and only Captain America. You’re also the youngest girl on the team, so that automatically makes you the avengers’ little princess. And they spoil you as such. They have become your amazing family and you don’t know where you’d be without them. This series will show random adventures and fluffy events in the daily life of the reader and her family, along with an unexpected turn later on as you read.

A/N: I’m so excited to be writing this series! This is my first time writing one and I’m a bit nervous but I hope it all goes well. :) The first few chapters will be about random events, not really following a timeline until Chapter 9. Hope you enjoy! 

Word Count: 3,500

Next

-----

It was 1945, and you were only 5 years old. You and your brother Steve lived with your Aunt Kimmie until Steve left to join the army. When HYDRA got word of an enhancing super-serum, they planned to find out who they were experimenting on to try and steal the serum before it was injected. But it was too late. Captain Rogers was born, and their plan to steal the serum from Erskine had failed. Their only resort was to take out the serum out of Steve’s own blood. But they had to catch him first. After doing much research, they found you. Y/n Rogers. You were young, and important to the captain. 

When you least expected it, HYDRA stormed into your apartment, taking the life of your Aunt, your mother figure, and taking you into their clutches. They had taken you to a facility that was dark, and scary. They threw you in a room and kept you there for days, only feeding you when you were about to pass out. Steve had stormed many HYDRA bases in search of you but never found you. In the final battle against Red Skull, he had not know that HYDRA had taken you on the plane to terrorize the world. You were being kept in on the the small cells that were installed in the plane. By the time Steve knew your were on board, it was too late. He had to make a decision. 

“Stop!! Look around you!” Red Skull yelled, weak and defeated. Steve was on the pilot seat, calculating what to do. “This is the resolution to everything, Captain! If you stop this plane, everyone in here that is willing to do our good work will perish!” Steve payed no mind to him as he continued to type in new coordinates. Red Skull grunted as he stood up to give this a chance one more time, grabbing the tesseract in his hands. “DO YOU HEAR ME? EVERYONE HERE WILL DIE! EVEN THE GIRL!” 

This made Steve pause and look at the villain with fear filled eyes. His sister was there. In the middle of all of this. Once Red Skull had his hands on the tesseract, he was banished to Vormir and never seen again. Steve turned back around to face front, with tears in his eyes. This was the most difficult decision he’s ever had to face. He had no problem giving his life to save the world from destruction. But his little 5 year old defenseless sister was on board. He knew what he had to do, but it hurt him deeply. With tears glazing his eyes, he aimed the plane downward, closing his eyes and mumbling out an apology before crashing the plane, freezing the both of you for over 65 years.

You woke up in your brothers arms, and you didn’t recognize anything of the outside. It was so bright, and your brother looked scared and alert, holding you protectively in his arms until a tall man approached you both and explained some things to your brother. 

A lot had passed. Thankfully, you were very young when you were frozen, so it didn’t take you too much time to adjust to the modern world. You lived with Steve in an apartment for about a year and in 2012, after the battle of New York, you both moved into the Avengers tower.

That was 9 years ago.

Things were different now. Those memories were long forgotten and you moved on and focused on what you had now. The team had moves to the compound now, and your relationship with every one of them had grown so strong. They were your family and you were their Princess. And you had the best life you could have.

----

“Y/n, you’re gonna be late to school!” Tony sang, peeking his head through your bedroom door. You groaned and turned on your belly, deciding to ignore him. “Come on. I know you’re sleepy but you’ve got school.” He said, walking over to your bed and snatching the covers off of you. 

“hey!” You whined. Tony sighed and shook his head at you. 

“I can’t believe you don’t wanna go to school. You love school!” He teased. You rolled your eyes and sat up in your bed. 

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I wanna go to a place filled with obnoxious kids, degrading principals, and teachers who only care about a number on a paper?” You replied sarcastically. Tony helped you up off the bed and patted your back.

“That’s the spirit. Wanda made breakfast, come down in 10 minutes or you don’t eat.” He smirked. You playfully glared at him but complied nonetheless.

You walked over to your humongous closet and picked out an outfit. You threw on a thin white woven swear and some black jeans. You were a sucker for black jeans. You put on your white shoes and some diamond earrings before grabbing your bag and running downstairs.

Steve, Tony, Bucky, and Nat were up and eating breakfast in the kitchen. “Morning guys!” You greeted. Everyone turned towards you and smiled widely.

“Good morning!” They greeted back and you walked behind Bucky, where he was sitting on one of the stools and hopped up on the foot bars, reaching from behind and hugging him tightly. You had a special place for Bucky in your heart. Just for him. He was your brother’s best friend and you remembered when he would come over to your apartment and play with you, throwing you up in the air and playing with your dolls. And every time you would need a babysitter, he would always volunteer and you never wanted anyone else. You smiled as you nuzzled your face into his back. Bucky smiled, tracing patterns on your arms that were wrapped around him. “Alright, come eat, you leave for school in 10 minutes.” Steve said, being dramatic and pretending to rip you off Bucky’s back and leading you towards the table where a waffle on a plate was. You giggled and sat down to eat. The team continued on with their conversation until you finished eating and put the dishes in the sink. 

“Thanks for breakfast!” You said with a satisfied smile on your face and made your way back upstairs to Peter’s room. You strolled in shamelessly but stopped in your tracts when you saw him passed out in bed. “Oh,,, Happy’s gonna be so mad.” You chuckled, making Peter stir awake. 

“Huh? What happened?”

“You’re still in bed? Happy’s waiting out in the car. You got like, 2 minutes, dude.” You giggled as you saw Peter’s eyes widen in realization. 

“Crap!!” He yelled, scrambling off his bed, only in his boxers and ran around his room, putting on random clothes. You laughed at his frantic state and shook your head slowly. “Why didn’t you wake me up?” He whined at you. You raised your eyebrows and scoffed.

“Me?! Why am I the one to blame? Tony said he came in here to wake you up but you must’ve fallen back asleep.” You shrugged. 

“okay, uhh, just tell Happy I’ll be there in 2 minutes. 2 minutes, I promise.” He said, throwing on a shirt and looking for some khakis.

“Okay.” You shrugged, skipping down the stairs and outside after saying goodbye to the team. “Hey Happy. Peter said he’ll be here in 2 minutes.” You say as you enter the car. Happy nods with a sigh and about a minute later, Peter runs out of the front door and jumps in the car. 

“I’m here!” He pants. You shake your head at him with a teasing grin and he rolls his eyes, poking your side. Happy leaves to go drop you both off at school. Once you get there, you hop out the car in a rush, since you’re about to be late. “Thanks, Happy!” You both say and run inside. 

“See you after school.” Peter says while running next to you. You nod before both of you going your separate ways to your classes. You run into your classroom just as the bell rings, following your classmate inside. You sigh in relief and go to your seat, panting.

School went on like normal, you studied, had lunch, tolerated Jeremy, who was the kid who constantly teased you and pulled your hair, stole your notes until you ask him to give it back, and so on. Jeremy never really bullied you in the sense that he never said anything mean to you or made you feel bad, he just did things to annoy the crap out of you. You tried your best to avoid him but it seemed like he knew what you were trying to do and made it his personal mission to make himself known to you every chance he got.

The final bell rang to your relief, and you quickly packed your stuff, speed walking out of class to purposely escape from Jeremy. You smiled lightly as you were able to get out of there since he was still packing his stuff. 

You walked to your locker, hoping Peter would meet you before Jeremy did so you could go home. You looked hopefully through the moving crowd and groaned as you saw Jeremy walking over from far away. You sighed but then perked up when Peter suddenly appeared from the other hallway, coming closer. You pumped your fist and waved at him to go faster. Peter looked surprised at your rushed behavior but sped up nonetheless.

“Hey, What’s up? Why were you... eager to see me?” He smirked, wigging his eyebrows. You scoffed and rolled your eyes.

“Oh, don’t flatter yourself. I wanted you to go faster because Jeremy was right behind you and he would’ve started annoying me again.” You chuckled. Peter hummed and nodded.

“Ah, the douche.” He sighed. You giggled and nodded your head, the both of you going outside to look for Happy’s car. 

---

You walked through the entrance of the compound and greeted everyone in the living room. “Hey guys!” You and Peter greeted before jumping on the couch and settling between Pietro and Bucky. You all discussed what you wanted for dinner before Steve and Clint went to the gym and the rest of the team went to the kitchen to cook and others to their rooms.

You went to your room with Peter and started to put on your ballet outfit to stretch and practice. Peter sat at your desk to start on his homework. You were so glad your teachers spared your class and didn’t give you any homework. “What did Mr. Brandon give you today?” Yo asked, stretching, lifting your leg to rest it on the bar Tony installed on your wall and touching your head to your knee. Peter sighed, flipping through the pages.

“Basically the same thing as yesterday, gave us a 6 page packet and told us to write down why we think these theories are correct or incorrect.” You hummed and continued to stretch for a while before Peter started to collect his papers. “I’ll see you at dinner, Imma go to my room and start writing my essay that’s due in a couple of weeks.” He smiled. You nodded as he left and you decided to finish up and take a shower.

After you got dressed you laid down on your bed, sprawled out like a starfish and sighed. Right then, Steve came in your room with a smile and and sat next to you on your bed. “Hey, Princess. So, how was school?’’ Steve would come over to your room every few days just to have one on one time and talk about whatever.

You shrugged. “Ehh,” Steve chuckled and gently grabbed your arm, pulling you to sit up.

“Why do you say that?” You rolled your eyes at the mere thought of how annoyed you were at school. 

“Jeremy. He’s so. annoying.” You ground out. Steve chuckled and nodded. You had told him about Jeremy before. But it seemed like you were ranting about him more and more often. “He’s always grabbing my notes, or pulling my hair to get my attention, or whispering at me during class. I try to ignore him but he just keeps doing it until I answer! And when I do, I GET IN TROUBLE!” You whined, throwing your hands in the air. 

Steve smiled widely, chuckling at your frustration. “You know, have you ever thought that that’s why he bothers you so much? That he likes getting you angry? Because... maybe... he likes you?” He raised his eyebrow at you. You make a face of disgust, making him laugh. “I’m just saying, especially with teenage boys, their way of flirting with a girl is by picking on them. So maybe he has a crush on you!” He sang, bumping his arm against yours and poking your side. 

“Eww, no! Steve stohop!” You whined, slapping at his hand but he only chuckled and started to run his fingers over your belly.

“You know I have a point.” He said cheekily, smiling when he hears your airy giggles. You push at his hands harshly and twist around.

“Stohohop! Steve I swehear to gohohod if you don’t stop,” You glared at him through your giggles. Steve gasped before tackling you and throwing you on your back. 

“Did you just threaten me? huh?” He teased before scribbling his fingers around your torso with more pressure, causing you fall into a fit on hysterical giggles. “You had the audacity to threaten Captain America.” He shook his head, feigning disappointment before lifting his hand under your shirt to pinch at your bare belly. Just the absence of the thin fabric on your skin made the sensations so much worse as you shook your head side to side, letting out a steam of squeals and hiccups. 

“IHIHIM SOHOHORRY!” You squealed when he came in contact with your ribs, digging in between them at a slow pace before quickening his fingers and tasing them into your ribs. You let out a scream and you arched your back, giving him the opportunity to blow another raspberry on your belly. You cackled and pulled at his hair to pull him away. He sat back with a wide smile and wiped the messy hair off your face. You were panting heavily and moving your hands over your torso, trying to rub off the lingering tingles off your body. “You’re a jerk.” You huffed after you caught your breath, gently kicking him in the stomach. Steve chuckled and helped you up. 

“Come downstairs.” He suggested, walking down with you when you nodded. Everyone was downstairs in the kitchen and living room except Bucky and Peter. Bucky was taking a nap and Peter was still working on his essay. 

You sat on the couch next to Nat and rested your head on her shoulder. She leaned onto you, doing the same. A few moments passed, and Tony and Clint were getting into a petty argument about the spaghetti sauce. 

“It’s too thick. You need to water it down.” 

“Who waters down sauce? You don’t do that. Look, contrary to popular belief, I know what I’m doing. And I’m definitely sure I know how to make spaghetti. Lay off.”

“I’m just saying! It’s already too thick! And the more you boil it, the thicker it’s gonna get, you need to dilute it!”

“You can’t dilute sauce!!”

Nat rolled her eyes with a groan and stood up. “I’m gonna go break them up, I guess.” She mumbled before going to the kitchen. You heard from your place on the couch, all of their yelling and Nat telling them to break it up. You smiled to yourself, shaking your head. The argument died down after a moment and the conversation went back to pleasant. 

You were alone in the living room until Pietro zoomed in and sprawled himself on the other couch. You smiled when you saw him, taking note that he looked very tired. He didn’t look like a sleepy tired, more of a bored tired. You sat up a bit and rested your chin in your hands, looking at him for a bit. When he sensed your eyes on him, he looked at you a smiled. “What’s wrong?” He asked. 

“Are you bored?” You asked him, smiling when he sighed loudly and laid back down.

“Yuppp.” He said, popping the ‘p’. You stood up, bouncing a bit on the balls of your feet. 

“Do you... wanna have a pillow fight?” You smiled widely. Pietro perked up and returned the smile. 

“Yes.” You giggled at his quick response and grabbed a throw pillow from the couch. You knew Pietro was very energetic and got bored easily, which made him really fun to play around with because he was always open to do anything if it meant he didn’t have to sit around and do nothing.

He stood up and grabbed a pillow before you both got in a stance.  “COMMENCE!” You yelled, grabbing the attention on everyone else in the kitchen, making them smile fondly at the scene. Tony groaned. “Oh, great. They’re using the throw pillows. They are going to tear. those. up.” He sighed before putting the noodles in the pot. The team went back to their conversation while you and Pietro were battling with your pillows. 

You were giggling a lot, making you lose your balance many times and made your aims more miscalculated. You stepped back to compose yourself again before aiming at his head. But Pietro used his speed to dodge it, appearing behind you and whacking you to the floor. No mercy. You grunted as you hit the floor but couldn’t help but laugh. “Hey! No powers. It’s not fair.” Pietro sighed and agreed before helping you up. He let you whack his head and the fight continued for a few more minutes.

Pietro currently had the upper hand as you were once again in a fit of uncontrollable giggles. He was whacking you over and over, making you cower away a bit, and bring your leg up to shield yourself. Pietro was also laughing, not having any mercy. “Give up, Printsessa.” He chuckled, whacking you again.

 You laughed, trying to grab his pillow away from him but he pushed you onto the couch, stuffing his pillow in your face, pretending to suffocate you. The situation was hysterical to you and you fought against him to get the pillow off your face but your laughter was making you weaker by the second.

Pietro laughed and pulled the pillow off your face and started to tickle you around your sides. You shrieked and kicked out your legs to get get him off. “NOHOHOHO!” You squeaked, hugging your arms to yourself to block his hands. There wasn’t much you could do anymore because the pillow fight had taken a lot out of you already. Your laughter was desperate while he nuzzled his stubble in the crook of your neck. You squealed before falling into silent laughter, the feeling paralizing you and making you melt onto the couch. Pietro blew a final raspberry on your neck before sitting back and getting off of you. 

The team was chuckling at your exhausted state and got up to sit at the dinner table. Pietro helped you up to sit down at the table. You took a seat next to Tony and the empty seat where Bucky was gonna sit. Tony called out for Peter to come down and Pete took a seat across the table form you. When Pepper served the plates, Bucky came down and sat next to you. When everyone was here, you all began eating and talking about the day and the plans some people had tomorrow.

After dinner, you and Peter helped wash the dishes and put them away. You and him were messing around, cracking jokes at each other and Peter was pretending to drop a glass over and over. “Peter stohohop. You’re gohohonna actually drop it!” You giggled, shaking your head as he continued, not even a second later, the glass fell and was just an inch off the floor before he caught it, biting his lip in shock. You gasped, expecting to hear a big shatter but sighed in relief. “See you goof? I told you were gonna drop it!” You whacked his shoulder with the drying towel. 

“Ah, but I didn’t.” He raised his brow at you. You rolled your eyes and pointed over to the sink. 

“Just finish with the dishes before you break something.” You scolded, smiling when he complied with a sigh. Not long after, you were done with the kitchen and you bid everyone goodnight with a hug or a kiss on the cheek. You made your way upstairs to your room, changing into some pajama shorts and a tank top. 

You crawled into bed and pulled the covers up to your chin and scrolled through Instagram for a few minutes before turning off your lamp and going to sleep.

[fallingin-like]

november 27

thick skin, an elastic heart by @badacts ​ [requested by @foxsoulcourt​ and @sig66​]

see which other fics i’m reviewing this month! / my review request post!

an incredible jerejean fic that focuses on jean’s transition to the trojan’s and how jeremy struggles with falling in love with him. this fic is funny and emotional and includes a lot of really interesting introspection.

this is an amazing amazing fic, i wish i had read it sooner (but i don’t read many jerejean fics). i was immediately invested and could not stop reading. you provide a lot of valuable insight, and it was really interesting seeing these characters that i’m not too familiar with interact and grow closer and further and closer. i love the song elastic heart and it fits the story you’re telling.

parts that stood out to me:

”it’s unspoken trojan policy that everyone keeps their doors open during the day” this is so interesting! no wonder the trojans work so well together. although i suppose the ravens have a similar rule, but for a different purpose

”while the trojans can be a little too much to deal with en masse, it’s better than the alternative” oh no are the ravens the alternative? jean, your standards are too low, that team was really messed up

”jean, rustiness or no, is very good at what he does” i bet he is, and i bet that, under these better conditions he will be able to grow and be even better than before

”your stamina needs work” interesting, i wonder how long he used to play with the ravens? i would have thought that the brutal practices were enough that jean has pretty good stamina (although game situations are often more intense than practices… well maybe not for ravens)

”he’d been bedridden for weeks after everything, and had spent most of his summer in palmetto running to get his fitness back” oh this is rough, at least jean has had time for a full recovery, likely a luxury he never had in the nest

”that version is a pretty sharp contrast with jeremy right now, though” woah for a second i forgot about the conversation that they were having, it was so easy to get sucked into jean’s thoughts along with him

”jeremy goes from flushed to dead white in a few seconds” LOL

”but had been heavy on the literal slavery” AHHHHHH JEAN

”jean is a survivor, but he was a rebel first” i wonder if jean considers surviving itself an act of rebellion?

jeremy blushing so hard and being so flustered is the biggest mood every

”less because of the obvious parallel, and more because of the fact that by now jeremy’s used to jean inviting himself straight in” oh i love the way you did this. it introduces the familiarity between jean and jeremy and that they’ve had this sort of interaction enough times that there’s an expected behaviour of jean

”they’re - friends, now. they’re definitely, definitely friends, after months of jean adjusting to the trojans and jeremy as his captain, hard-won and satisfying. though jean’s watching him right now from an angle like he’s doubting all of it” woah this is a great paragraph. has jean ever had friends before? surely teammates yes, but people he’s considered friends? not sure. also love the subtle pov change.

”jean, jeremy has found, has very little interest in the opinions of other people” INTERESTING

”jean’s stare is penetrating. jeremy has to wonder why he’s so intense. it becomes obvious when he says, ‘you’re being weird’” i like this. but have no reason (that i can put into words) why

”jean goes on like jeremy hasn’t spoke. jeremy feels it like a shot to the gut, and tries to keep that off of his face” oh i think i missed something. such an intense reaction

”just as jean claims to know jeremy, jeremy knows him back” !!!!

”’you’re imagining things,’ jeremy says, which is perhaps not the nicest thing to say to jean moreau, a survivor of years of gaslighting” oh

”who is still and stoic and takes every step forwards like it might be the one to send him hurtling back to a place he desperately doesn’t want to go” woah. imagine being this well read by someone, gives me shivers. also i love this description

THEY KISS AHHH

”it’s kind of hard to think when he’s getting so little oxygen to his brain” LOL

”the reason becomes suddenly and brutally clear when it swears in french and gropes for the phone, shoving it into jeremy’s chest” LOL

”jeremy feels cripplingly awkward by comparison, knowing that jean will leave and this will all be done” nooo jeremyyy ;-; (also, cripplingly awkward is what someone would say if asked to describe me in two words lol)

”but jean is so beautiful he swears his heart might stop at the sight” ahhhhhhh

i forgot that jean also has scars!! i wonder what jeremy thinks of them…..

”the trojans have their record of avoiding red cards because they’re smart, not necessarily because they’re nice” this is true. they are also one of the best teams, and you don’t get to that point just by being nice.

JEREMY KNOX JUST GOT A RED CARD OHMYGOODNESS

”he acknowledges them with a raised racquet, but jean knows without seeing his face that there’s no smile there. that’s less surprising than people might imagine it to be” i’d love to know what’s going through jeremy’s mind in that moment

on chapter 5: i love the way that you write this, how immersed i become in jean’s thoughts and how the game only seems to be going on in the background. the way that outside events happen (siren going off) and break apart paragraphs, but jean’s thoughts continue. it puts me in a certain mindset and establishes tone in a really interesting way

”his life really should have removed any idea of fairness from him, any concept of justice and valor. he can’t explain why it hasn’t” this is so interesting to me. in a way, i can understand this.

wait ohmygoodness, what number is jean on the trojans?

JEREMY MAKING MISTAKES AHH

love the lines you have on jeremy avoiding jean

SEEING WHY THE RED CARD WAS GIVEN AHHHH

”the feeling of losing a friend is unfamiliar” and “he shouldn’t really call the feeling unfamiliar, anyway. pain, for jean moreau, is anything but” broke my heart, how dare you write that

dang, i have never really thought about laila, but the way you write her, wow i love her a lot. knows exactly what to do “her voice is soothing, which is an indicator of how jeremy must look right now”, as a person with a negative EQ, i want to understand people like she seems to

JEREMY JUST BLURTING OUT THAT HE SLEPT WITH JEAN AND ALSO THAT HE’S BI I LOVE IT

THE CONTRAST BETWEEN JEREMY AND LAILA’S SOFT CONVERSATION THAT ENDS WITH HIM ASKING HER NOT TO TELL ALVAREZ AND ALVAREZ BARGING INTO JEAN’S ROOM YELLING IS AMAZING

”’please, keep yelling,’ jean replies without looking up from his book, voice dry as sawdust” ooo i like the way that you write jean

”he stands. his height and size forces alvarez back a step more by necessity than any actual threat, but she looks like she doesn’t like making the concession.” i’m really impressed by this because i could picture this so well in my head (doesn’t happen often) and not just the scene and the actions described, but the tone of their body language too, the way that jean stood up and alvarez moved

”it’s what he wants. just like her leaving is, just like her closing the door more gently this time than a wall-rattling slam is. it makes no sense that it makes him feel worse. or maybe it does. it’s been a while now since he really felt alone” uhm excuse me i thought you broke my heart before but now you really just took the pieces and smashed them up even morE. THESE PARAGRAPHS HURT TO READ

”jeremy has always had a little problem with acting first and thinking later - jean once unfavourably compared him to the foxes’ resident rebel, neil josten, which jeremy thinks is pretty rich but perhaps not entirely untrue” LOL and also i love the wording you chose here

JEREMY CAN PICK LOCKS WHAT ARE THE LONG LIST OF REASONS

oh, the nightmare scene is so perfect, exactly the kind of thing i like (not kidding, i live for angst). this part? “the lock reengages before he can get back inside his room. it’s like a gunshot in the quiet” oh it’s so good. both sides are so understandable. jeremy’s reaction, his desire to help and recklessness. jean’s mistrust, disgust, he’s so used to having his privacy disregarded and this time he thought it would be different but it’s not and that makes it even worse, especially after a nightmare

”that means jeremy has to obsess over the only things he can control - how he acts, and how he feels” this is a lot easier said than done (says me, a person who has spent a lot of time trying to repress their feelings)

”obviously riko is never going to play again” THIS IS THE UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE CENTURY. RIKO IS NEVER GOING TO DO ANYTHING AGAIN (except maybe rot lol)

”maybe one day he’ll realise he’s playing for himself. maybe neil josten, another one of their kind, will teach him how” oh this is good

”jean is a survivor, but that’s muscle memory too, learned the hard way just like he learned most everything else. underneath it all, his natural tendency is not caution” wow, i don’t even have the words to describe these sentences. i’m learning so much about jean. i feel like often times he’s seen as in between kevin and neil (coward vs instigating coward), but i’m starting to appreciate more and more who he actually is. jean was playing the long game, and it looks like it’s starting to pay off

“it turns out that survival and rebellion have one intersection - they don’t produce nice people” this!!!!

THE SHOWDOWN BETWEEN JEREMY AND JEAN. definitely reminds me of the beginning of the series, with neil blowing out his arms against andrew, although this time it ends in success on jeremy’s part.

”then you’re nothing like riko moriyama… and don’t assume you understand what i’m afraid of, or what hurts me” THIS WHOLE SCENE IS AMAZING. jean has been through so much, i don’t think jeremy can even begin to imagine the suffering, the pain

”doing the wrong thing by you. hurting you. you hurting me. losing you” i think that jeremy should understand that being afraid of these things already makes him way better than riko and everyone who has hurt jean before

”’i’m in love with you!’ jeremy says, because he can’t listen to this, and because he’s always been terrible at restraining himself when he gets emotional” WHAT. EXCUSE ME WHAT

”jean pauses, almost a double-take” YEAH ME TOO JEAN

hello i cannot belieVe you ended the chapter like that!!!! how dare yoU

”do i seem like the type of girl who holds a grudge? honesty, my attention span is like twelve seconds long” ME TOO

alvarez!! i need someone like you in my life!!! “so tell me about your problems, white boy.” LOL

”it’s not jeremy he’s doubting” ooooooh

”don’t agree with me. prove me wrong” THIS IS GOOD

”jean forgets that, as part of the ‘perfect court’, he’s famous too” that is true. he’s mostly stayed out of the media’s eye, but he was just involved in everything as the rest of the ‘perfect court’

”i say that because you’ve been playing terribly and i was surprised” JEAN!!!! I’M LAUGHING SO HARD

”of jeremy saying, ‘you never cover your scars,’ and jean replying, honest, ‘i’m not ashamed of what people did to me.’” oh this is amazing

”’how do you know… that you’re in love’ ‘experience’” i have no words

jeremy waking up, it’s so soft ;-;

oh no jeremy is back to being terrible on court BUT HE’S SO HAPPY IT’S ADORABLE

”i do know what broken ribs feel like” ohmygoodness, jean, you’re killing me

”are you sleeping with a lamprey now?” I HAD TO GOOGLE WHAT A LAMPREY WAS BUT WHEN I SAW A PICTURE I LAUGHED SO HARD

the nightmare, jeremy comforting him, these boys are so good for each other :”)

LOL I LOVE THAT JEREMY KEEPS BRINGING UP HIS RED CARD

ah, i have read probably one jerejean fic before this (yeah yeah terrible i know) but i really should not have expected anything less than amazing writing from you. you did an amazing job balancing out the push and pull between jeremy and jean, the alternating support from the girls, and how long conversations and dialogue contrasted the action of exy. i am so impressed by your exploration of this relationship, and the detailed introspection you included. you were able to integrate the thoughts of jeremy and jean so well into the flow of the story and i learned a lot and thought a lot. there is still so much that i wasn’t able to cover in my review.

i loved the characterization, jeremy’s uncertainty and his blushing, jean’s somewhat stoic and confident on the outside appearance. the way that both their pasts shaped who they are and influences their actions and how they make decisions, and how their personality types affect those as well. it was so interesting for me to see such an in depth study of jeremy, his sweetness, but also thoughtful in a more serious way, how jean is so much more than what happened to him in the nest. that he is a rebel and isn’t afraid to stand up for himself after so long of not being allowed to do that. i laughed and i hurt and i was comforted. thank you so so much for writing this!

[slytherin-puffskein]

The King’s Secret Side

Modified version of an rp I wrote with @thecursedvaultchild

Summary: Smith, Slytherin’s old Chaser, is back and ready to get his spot back now occupied by Summer Charn.

- - -

Today was Quidditch practise day, and even though the next official match was months away, that in no way prevented Lau from being his bossy captain self. When it came to Quidditch, the kind, generous boy would entirely vanish to introduce instead a completely different person: one who strived to win, and nothing else.

Sure, his teammates' health was his main priority, but he would never miss the opportunity to correct someone about their posture or their playing method... not that any complained about that. Laurent was good, and no one doubted why Snape had chosen him as the captain. It was as if he was made for being a leader, and the team absolutely loved him. Comradeship was at it's best ever since Smith had been forced to leave the team due to his sprained ankle. His replacement, Summer Charn, would cast a ray of sunshine over the shadow Smith has been happily spreading out, and with that darkness now gone, everything was heaven-like... a heaven which included her snogging their Keeper, but oh well. 

"C'mon, Avery! You almost missed that Quaffle! Miller, stop swinging your bat so hard, you're going to dislocate your own damn shoulder!" Lau called out to his players, attempting to keep some order in the pitch.

The silver-haired Chaser whipped by the Keeper's goal, chuckling as she snatched up the Quaffle from Avery's hands and did a barrel roll around the demanding captain. Flying is fun! Though she'd be hard pressed to admit it, Summer had been thoroughly enjoying the past few months, playing Quidditch with the team. Her flying skills had improved as well as her dexterity. And she was just happier overall. Avery was definitely a plus. "Calm down, Lau. We've been practicing for hours. You're killing us." Movement on the ground caught her eye and her face darkened. "We've got company coming."

"The harder we practise, the better we get! Come on, no slacking, especially for you, Williams!" The other beater let out a dramatical gasp, and suddenly Lau noticed that Summer's smile had vanished... and he quickly understood why as he registered his friend’s last sentence. We've got company coming. 

That only meant one thing... and as Lau dared to look down, he saw what he has been fearing: Jeremy Smith, fully healed and ready to claim back his spot as a lousy Chaser. Swiftly, Lau landed right next to the younger man, dismounting his broom and forcing a smile to appear on his lips. Do not let him know you crashed into him on purpose. "Hello, Smith. I see that you don't need crutches anymore."

The fourth year puffed up his chest and tried to be as tall as possible so he and the sixth year were at eye level. Not that it really worked but it was important that he tried. It's time to reclaim what's mine and I won't take no for an answer. "Yeah, no thanks to you, Captain. I was lucky Pomfrey was able to heal me after months of work." He cracked a grin. "But I'm good now. Ready to take my spot back on the team and lead us to victory. Thanks for keeping my spot warm for me like a summer day, Charn." He looked over King's shoulder to wink at the hovering girl. Hot and I'm totally gonna get her. After I get her out of my spot, of course. Not like she doesn't prefer watching anyway.

Just as Lau feared: Smith was back, and ready to take back his spot. Upon hearing the boy’s words, he had to hold back from grimacing and did his best to focus, even though right now his dearest wish was to get away from him. He opened his mouth to gently turn him down, but then the wink came. Not a teasing wink like the ones Avery would make, but a gross, disgusting one, that basically showed one thing: he was considering Summer as some sort of trophy to claim for himself, and nothing else.

Straight men, some of them are truly terrible. Laurent raised an eyebrow, staring as the young boy attempted to make himself look intimidating. However, he was more similar to an angry baby kneazle... although less cute. Way less. "You sure you can come back, Smith? After all, maybe you're rusty from months of not training... you know the saying, ‘Slytherins only take the best of the best’, and Summer largely improved her technique. Sometimes, Avery isn't even able to catch the Quaffle..." 

And never has Smith been able to score during training sessions, not even once. Summer's face was flushed pink with embarrassment and discomfort. This twerp thought he could just waltz right in and take what she had worked so hard on, dismiss her out of hand while flirting with her. Smith took her face as a blush and sure sign she liked him. He stood up straighter. "Avery could never catch the Quaffle when I played. Besides that's my spot. I made it onto the team, Charn didn't. She's just a backup and would rather watch, isn't that right?" He didn't wait for a response. "Besides, she's only on the team at all because she's your friend, King, and is snogging your stupid Keeper. She gets around and that's how she took my place. I'm the one with talent, now give me my spot back!"

Lau couldn't help but take a step, towering over the feeble player and folding his arms against his chest, displaying his muscles which were much more developed than Smith's. Attempting to intimidate him, maybe ? If you knew Lau enough, you could easily tell that it was the case. He titled his head, sightly, and raised an eyebrow. 

"I didn't let Summer in for the sake of it, Smith. I tested her, and then saw she had potential. She decided to work on it and to become the player she is today. I only was her helper, I told her she could step off whenever she wanted... and she didn't" Soon enough, he was leaning towards the fourth-year, smiling. "And as much as I recall," he whispered into his ear. "you cried during the first training session because of how hard it was. Summer never shed a tear no matter how many pushups I told her to make."

The smaller boy couldn't help the step he took back. But his face contorted into a cruel snarl. That was it. "I don't know what Snape sees in you. You're talentless and a fag. I don't what kind of Muggle thought it'd be funny call themselves 'Kings' but you sure aren't good enough to be with us who were born into magic. Avery is a slacker who's barely not thickheaded enough to fall off his twig he calls a broom. Charn is a whore who wheedles her way into whatever she wants. She's got you tied around her pinky finger." Jeremy pushed up onto his tiptoes to get face to face with him. "And at least I don't cry over my dead Muggle mother."

Following Smith’s hateful words, the Quidditch pitch fell into silence, and even Avery who usually always comes up with scathing comments in situations like these had no idea of what to say. All gazes were fixed on the Captain and the old Chaser, breaths held back as everyone was waiting for Laurent's answer.

The Captain was being oddly silent, his face expressionless, and for a short moment Avery thought he might just walk away and try to gather himself in the lockers. However, he was gravely mistaken as a glimmer had now passed through Laurent's eyes. Not a sparkle, not a glint. A glimmer. Small, wavering... but preluding to something much bigger. While Laurent was supposed to scream, to cry, to run away, he smiled. A small smile, which revealed dimples. "I'm not sure I heard you quite well, Smith" He took a step forward. "Would you mind..." Leaning down to face him, reminding him of just how short, how weak he is. "Saying it again?"

Summer wanted to say something. But nothing came out. Her hand went for Ave's and she squeezed it for dear life. He... Smith had just said all of that. It was unbelievable. Even Snape would have snapped at that talk. The tension was palpable. Summer could only watch, eyes wide. The smile on Lau's face was... terrifying. For once, she had no idea what he was going to do.

Jeremy shoved him back. "You heard me." He pointed at Avery. "Dumb." He pointed at Charn. "Whore." And he pressed his finger into King's chest. "Talentless fag who still has nightmares about mummy dying."

As soon as Smith's finger pressed against his chest, Laurent immediately grabbed his wrist. Squeezing it. Crushing it. No matter how small and gentle Lau seemed, he remained the Captain of the Quidditch team, and he earned that spot for reasons, including relentless training. Forcefully, he pushed Smith's arm down, tightening his grip around his wrist as he stared down at him. 

"I'm wounded, Smith. I thought you liked your team and acted like a total ass to hide it, but it turns out that it isn't the case. I'm heartbroken, truly" He brought his other hand to his chest, sticking out his bottom lip and pretending to look truly devastated... but soon enough, he reverted back to his hard, cold stare. "I'm going to give you one, I repeat one, chance to take your things and get the fuck away. If you do, no one will know that you acted like a pissy crybaby because you couldn't get your spot back. I can be kind and not spread informations, sometimes"

The kid gasped in pain, weakly struggling against the powerful grip of the Seeker. Summer let go of Avery and sped towards the ground. She jumped off, running over and grabbed Lau's shoulder, panic rising in her eyes. "Lau. Lau, listen to me. This ball of Doxy droppings isn't worth it. Lau, you could be expelled. He's learned his lesson. Just let him go and forget him and we can just go back to Quidditch practice." Her voice was somewhat desperate and uncertain but pleading. "Shove off, you whore! Always interfering where you don't belong. You can't try and put me in detention, you slutty prefect!" Blue-green eyes widen and she stumbles back a little, letting go of Lau.

Whore. Slutty prefect. Smith could insult Laurent as often as he damn liked, King would always let it slide. But hearing him insult his friends? Insult Summer? That was clearly the final straw. Now, there wasn't a glimmer in his eyes anymore. Nor a sparkle or a glint. 

There was an entire storm. Soon enough, his upper lip pulled itself back into a snarl, and... he closed his eyes. No, no, calm down. Remember what Mom said. 'You often lose your tempter, Laulau. Take deep breaths and calm down'. Take deep breaths and calm down. Take your broom and shove it down his throat. Make him suffer and cry. His eyes snapped open, and he smiled again. Giggled, even. "Can't say I didn't give you a chance" And with that, he punched him on the face, feeling his nose crush under his knuckles. Crack

"GAH!" The spindly little kid landed flat on his back. Tears flooded down his cheeks as he sobbed in pain. There was blood everywhere. It gushed out of his broken nose and covered the ground. His wrinkled white shirt was stained with it. If Summer hadn't actually witnessed Lau punching Smith's face, she would have sworn that a curse like Sectumsempra had just been cast. But it hadn't. It was just the power of Lau's bare fist making contact with Smith's face.

He just did that. For me. Cold eyes coupled with a heartless giggle and smile... Ruthless. Utterly ruthless. A chill ran down her spine. For the first time, Summer truly understood what the Sorting Hat had seen and why it had placed him in Slytherin. She pitied those who crossed him.

Almost. 

"YOU FAG! I'M GOING TO GO TO THE HEADMASTER HIMSELF! I'M GOING TO GET MY SPOT BACK FROM STUPID CHARN!" The threat was pathetic considering it came from a child covered in his own tears and blood.

Laurent, however, barely reacted to Smith's words. Instead, he only stepped closer, crouching down and looking at what he just did. Not a hint of remorse was present in his eyes. His smile had vanished, however, only for his face to display a truly bored expression... as if he didn't have anything to do anymore, and that he was utterly disappointed by that. Gently, he threaded his fingers through Smith's hair, caressing them as if he were a friend. 

"And how will that look, hm ? 'Headmaster, I tried claiming back my Quidditch spot by calling my Captain a fag and calling the new Chaser a whore. Surprisingly enough, they both got angry at me'. Do you really think Dumbledore will be by your side ? I doubt it, Smith. And I told you, you just refused to listen: we, Slytherins, take the best of the best... and the best do not drag other people down to push themselves up. So remember that before you turn up to Dumbledore's office, because you might get dearly disappointed..."

He pulled his wand out of his boot, and tapped Smith's nose. "Episkey, happy now ? Now get up and get the fuck out before I get angry"

Smith spat out blood on the ground and just ran for the castle. He glanced behind him and tripped over his own robes. But just kept running. The whole team was staring in shock. Laurent Dorian King, one of the nicest and sweetest people to walk the planet, just did that. Some of them shifted their feet uneasily. Avery coughed a little. Charn's gaze quickly lost their shock and were narrowed carefully. Her eyes didn't leave him. Watching like a cat reassessing whether to attack or live another day. "Thanks, King." Her voice was quiet but heavy, carrying underlying meaning to it.

Laurent wasn't answering, however. Clenching his fists, then unclenching them, and clenching them again, he was trying to register what he just did. It happened naturally, without a second thought, and--

'All Slytherins are evil !' someone had once claimed during Transfiguration class. Lau had swore himself that he would never be like those assholes. He swore that he would be kind and generous... and now, this bullshit just happened. These few minutes during which he was the opposite of who he generally was. He felt sick. He felt disgusting... and as he turned to look at Summer, she could see the true terror in his eyes, spreading and spreading through his whole body and freezing him. 

"Ah-I... f-finish up the training. I have... stuff" And before anyone could say something, Lau had vanished, tears welling up in his eyes.

Avery snapped out and whirled around, bossing the other players. "C'mon! You heard the captain! Couple more rounds and then we'll hit the showers. Move it, move it! Get back on your broom, Miller!" He nodded at Summer, gesturing for her to go after Lau. She didn't need to be told twice. Snagging up his fallen broom, she hurried after the blur in the distance he was. 

She finally caught up to him in the locker room, standing there with his fists clenched, back to her. His shoulders were shaking. Carefully, she set his broom against a wall and made her way over to him, slipping an arm around his shoulders and gently rubbing them. And she said nothing. She would stay there as long as he needed.

He had wanted to spend some time alone, but... as he recognized the sound of Summer's footsteps, he couldn't bring himself to tell her to go away. He would have scolded Avery. He would have scolded anyone else in the goddamn team... but not Sum. Never Sum. He wouldn't handle chasing her away, no matter how bad the situation was.

Without a word, he let her get closer to him. Physically, obviously, but also psychologically. It was known that Laurent hated being seen while crying, and he had always managed to never be caught when shedding tears... and yet, there he was, opening crying right next to Summer with not even an ounce of shame. Dried blood decorated his knuckles, as well as his Quidditch gloves. A terrible sight, truly, at least to Lau. Because no matter how mean Smith was, he remained a child. A fourth year child. 

"I'm disgusting" he whispered.

Legilimens. She had gotten pretty good at casting the spell non-verbally. His mind was... stormy. Hard to read. Just glimpses and her own guesses. But it all pointed to one thing: he hates himself. "No. You're not. Smith is a prat who can't keep his mouth shut or his ego down. He had it coming." Her words were soft, warm. Like a light breeze floating off a lake through a summer's day. Gently, she pried the bloodied gloves off his fingers, setting them aside. Remembering the handkerchief she had tucked into her pocket, she pulled out and started cleaning off the blood. Casting Scourgify would've been faster but... he needed her. Not her magic. She could do that. Just be there. Be his friend. "You gave him a chance and he spat on it. He deserved it."

Deserved it? Did he truly deserve getting punched and threatened? How was that making Lau better than him, really? Could he really consider himself as a good and just Captain after pulling this sort of stunt? No, no way. I'm gonna resign, let Avery become the new Captain, and he'll find a new Seeker. End of the story. He truly considers that option for a short moment, feeling the coldness of his tears against his cheeks. I'm gonna quit. No one deserves a Captain like me. 

He squeezed his eyes shut, attempting to control his breathing as well as his emotions... without much success, quite frankly. This is pointless. Staring as Summer kept cleaning his hands, he sighed softly. "Why do you even bother...?" he whispered. "I saw how you were looking at me. You were afraid" He was too.

She shrugs. Her calmness was almost... scary, in a way. She was relaxed and chill about what had just happened. Shouldn't she be more tense? But she just kept wiping the blood off. "Just never seen your ruthless side before. Good to know it's there. Wouldn't want to be the poor soul crossing into it. But it hardly changes who you are." Her hand gently lifted his chin up so his eyes met hers. "You... You've seen what I've done. What I'm capable of. Dark magic and the like. But you still let me stick around. Why?" Summer's tone made it clear she already knew the answer; she just wanted to hear him say it. For whatever reason, that seemed important for this conversation to go forward.

You still let me stick around. Why? Of course she knew the answer, that was obvious for Lau... but the it naturally slipped from his lips anyway. He couldn't just say nothing. "Because I love you" 

Yes, he loved her. A different kind of love, of course, Summer was well aware of it. A love that pushed him to want to do anything in his power for her. To see her smile, to see her laugh, to see her being only happy and carefree, with nothing plaguing her. No Vaults in sight, no prats calling her a whore, just her being free and joyous. Seeing Summer like this, that was his biggest wish.

A smile parted her lips. "Exactly. That's why I 'bother' with you. You can't get rid of me very easily, King. I'm like a leech." She winked and snickered, leaning back on her hands. Instead of making a big deal about what just occurred, the girl seemed unconcerned. Like he had just fumbled catching the Snitch. Not like he had just punched a fourth year in the face.

"If you want to get all philosophical, we are all capable of good and bad. Now my definition of what's good and bad is looser than what others probably use. But the general principle still applies. We choose what we do. Your purpose outweighs the action. You were trying to end his bullying and protect us all. If you hadn't done something, who knows what he could've done next? I'm sure he knows lots of nasty curses that he'd be awful at casting and that wouldn’t have been good in the slightest. Lot more damage. And you stopped it. Controlled the situation. I'd call that a job well done." All of this came out like it was nothing, as if she was telling him about the cool bird she saw the other day. Not discussing deep morals and consequences of people's actions.

And at this very moment, Lau wondered who Summer Charn really was. Was she really that unfazed by Lau punching a younger kid in the face? Was she really that unaffected? It very seemed like so, and... it made Laurent somewhat confused. He had been raised under the rule that punches were bad, and now there was Charn, telling him that it was fine depending on the purpose. However, he found truth in her words: our purposes do direct our actions. He acknowledged that Summer's grey thinking was much more efficient than the usual black and white one. Slowly, his hand placed itself on hers, squeezing softly. "Thank you, Sum..."

"Don't mention it, Lau." She squeezed back, fingers interlocking with his. People all the time saw that and thought they were dating. But no. There was more to it. They were friends. Who loved each other deeply. They got each other. This boy with his strawberry hair and many freckles and sparkling eyes. The delighted sound he'd make holding a flower or cute creature. His nose wrinkling in disgust of Transfiguration. She'd kill for him. Wasn't sure if she'd ever said it before, but she would. Without hesitation. "Hey. You'd know I'd kill for you, right? Can't live in a world where those who hurt my favorite strawberry child go unpunished." Her eyes glimmered with amusement and there was a faint smirk pressing her lips. It was hard to tell if she was being serious or not. Very hard.

A smile was now etched to Laurent’s face, and he even gathered the strength to giggle. "Shall I call you my knight in shining armour, then? I'll have you and Barnaby to defend me. How perfect" But even though he was joking now, his eyes said everything as they delved deep into Summer's: I, too, would kill for you. He is aware of her uncle and his meddling with the Death Eaters. If she ever has problems with them, Lau will be happy to dispose of them... by whatever means necessary.

There he is. She had learned something new about him. He could be absolutely ruthless. But it was good to know the Puffskein was still there. She made a little face, sticking her tongue out. "Knight? Despite what Sir Cadogan thinks, I'm a witch through and through. Weird hair, dark robes, black cat companion, spend my days brewing potions and meddling with Dark magic. Witchy witch." Getting to her feet, she hauled him up to. "C'mon. You need a shower. Badly. And then how about we head back the common room and..." She sighed. "I go cat and let you pet me?"

Immediately, Lau's eyes regained their usual sparkle, and he nodded excitedly while removing his shirt. "Yes! Yes, a thousand times! You know how I love placing ribbons in your lovely fur" And with that, he can't help himself but pull her into a huge, much needed hug. His skin was still gross and sweaty from all the training, but it remained one of the best hugs Lau had ever given. As he pulled away, he smiled, patting her shoulder. "Go join Avery, now. A man needs to shower in peace~"

"Ick! Now you got your sweat all over me!" But she doesn't break the hug, enjoying it. Until he pulls away. Then she starts trying to get it off. Unsuccessfully. "Just don't weigh me down so much that I can't walk. See ya." Shaking her head, she left the lockers and went to look for Avery.

[your-dietician]

2021 All-Area girls' soccer Player of the Year: M-S star thrives after finding sports-life balance | Sports

New Post has been published on https://tattlepress.com/soccer/2021-all-area-girls-soccer-player-of-the-year-m-s-star-thrives-after-finding-sports-life-balance-sports/

2021 All-Area girls' soccer Player of the Year: M-S star thrives after finding sports-life balance | Sports

Nyah Biegler hams it up at the Mahomet-Seymour High School soccer field at Middletown Prairie Elementary School in Mahomet this week. The recent M-S graduate, who earned The News-Gazette’s Player of the Year honors this season, isn’t done playing soccer, either. She’ll continue in college at Eastern Illinois starting this fall.

Robin Scholz/The News-Gazette

MAHOMET — Nyah Biegler debated about playing soccer for Mahomet-Seymour High School.

Debated about continuing to play the sport at all.

Both scenarios are difficult to imagine nowadays for the recent M-S graduate.

The former is difficult to imagine because Biegler is the 2021 News-Gazette girls’ soccer Player of the Year.

She did “so much 50 to 80 yards from the goal to allow us to succeed,” according to M-S coach Jeremy Davis, and still managed to produce 19 goals and 19 assists from the center-midfielder position while also taking on increased defensive responsibilities to help the Bulldogs’ relatively young back-end group.

Those efforts aided M-S to a 15-3 record and a fifth Class 2A regional championship in as many seasons during a condensed schedule.

Biegler was born into a soccer family.

She was destined to play the sport for an extended period of time.

“It was my first birthday, and I was taking my first steps and my dad had a little soccer ball that he bought me,” Biegler said. “Our family’s just all soccer.”

But Biegler became so immersed in soccer that it eventually wore her down.

Entering high school, she was traveling three hours to St. Louis on a regular basis to work with an Elite Clubs National League team after previously making frequent trips to Indianapolis for the same reason.

“I had a time when I was going to St. Louis that I just wanted to quit,” Biegler said. “I didn’t want to play college soccer. I didn’t want to do anything. I was just burnt out.”

That’s where M-S soccer came in and kept Biegler playing the sport that runs in her blood.

It turned out to be a great arrangement for both parties.

“Coming here and renewing everything — new coaches, new everything — it was just awesome,” Biegler said. “The love for the sport grew again.”

★ ★ ★

Many of Biegler’s early soccer memories involve those with her dad Neil Biegler, who is an assistant coach under Davis with the Bulldogs.

Neil Biegler played high school soccer at Limestone High School in Bartonville. He donned the No. 3 jersey at that time, as his daughter eventually would.

“We always would watch soccer games. Our favorite team was Manchester United, and we’d have matching jerseys all the time,” Nyah Biegler said. “On our drives to St. Louis and Indiana for soccer, we’d listen to a soccer podcast.”

Biegler’s competitive soccer career started in the Illinois Futbol Club, with she and M-S senior-to-be Cayla Koerner playing on a boys’ team. Biegler then transitioned to playing for Mahomet’s recreational league and being coached by her dad.

Maddi Claybrooke, a senior defender this spring for the Bulldogs, played alongside Biegler at this time.

“We had a really close friend group we grew up playing soccer with. … We all just became really tight friends,” Claybrooke said. “I remember a lot of the time we would do the homecoming parades together. Our team would always come together in the fall and create a soccer float … and throw candy to everyone else.”

★ ★ ★

Those localized friendships soon became more difficult for Biegler to maintain.

Her next soccer stop was in Bloomington, where she again was coached by her father. Biegler then tried out for and found a spot on the ECNL’s Indiana Fire program when she was in seventh grade.

“(My parents) knew it offered opportunities to play in college, and other places around here didn’t,” Biegler said. “It was a great team. … I loved the girls over there. But just driving that far and not having social connections in the community around here (was difficult).”

During two years with the Fire, Biegler remembers that she’d “have to leave early from school three or four times a week.”

Weekends brought about big matches as far away as Washington, D.C., or North Carolina.

“I thought it was normal,” Biegler said. “It was very intense. It’s like going over to Europe and playing with them. … It was a lot of time in and out of the sport to manage our bodies, and we were 12, 13 years old.”

Biegler said a strict diet was imposed upon Fire athletes, though she added Neil and mother Heather were more lenient than some other parents.

In fact, Biegler had to be convinced to eat a food most kids regularly crave.

“I hated chocolate,” Biegler said. “They made us have chocolate milk, and now I love chocolate milk. I drink it after all my games.”

Biegler, however, was reaching a crossroads during her soccer career as she progressed toward high school.

The Fire’s season ran simultaneously with that of Mahomet-Seymour’s. Biegler ultimately decided she wanted to suit up for the Bulldogs, and she also joined the St. Louis-based ECNL squad that played on a different schedule.

This lasted just one year before Biegler knew she needed a change.

“ECNL soccer was great soccer-wise for me. … I got a lot of exposure,” Biegler said. “But the social aspect of it for me, I wasn’t able to be part of this community. And high school soccer brought me my closest friends — definitely the ones I’ll carry on to college.”

Biegler’s parents were supportive and understanding of their daughter’s position.

She’d continue on with the Bulldogs while also returning to Bloomington for club play.

“I definitely made the right decision playing high school soccer,” Biegler said. “(ECNL) has its benefits, too. I probably would’ve been a better soccer player. But this is just about me in a different aspect of my life because soccer’s not everything.”

★ ★ ★

Now that Biegler was re-engaging with the M-S soccer scene, she wanted to ensure she gained as much from it as possible.

So she began working out with the Bulldogs’ boys team, also coached by Davis.

Biegler can list off plenty of girls she became close with through Mahomet-area soccer: Claybrooke, Koerner, 2018 graduate Erin Lenschow and former N-G Players of the Year Meredith Johnson-Monfort and Maddy Wade.

But Biegler also feels “I was probably closer with most of the guys” because of their more rigorous training methods.

“They’re more competitive, and that’s what I need,” Biegler said. “They really are chill and the best friends to hang out with, too. We’d just go out every day playing, and they’re super fast, super strong. They’re just built differently — they’re guys — but it’s definitely made me a better player.”

Nate Lundstrom, another member of the Bulldogs’ Class of 2021, is among the boys Biegler bonded with on the pitch.

Lundstrom was friends with Biegler well before high school, too.

“Her dad was a member at Grace Church, so sometimes he’d unlock the gym and we’d be able to play pickup soccer in there,” Lundstrom said. “She was definitely good enough to play with all of us, and it was really fun.”

Biegler and Lundstrom often paired with fellow 2021 M-S graduates Eli Warren and Logan Woodward in local 4-on-4 tournaments. These events would feature first-to-five goals matches with the winner remaining on the field until suffering a loss.

In one particular tournament, the Biegler-Lundstrom team “became the villains that day because we were the youngest people there but we kept winning.”

“Eli had just absolutely destroyed the seniors team one time, and then that game, I think Nyah hit two shots from half (pitch), too, and two shots in a row that sent the team off,” Lundstrom said. “I think someone even said something along the lines of, ‘Don’t worry if she shoots. Guard Eli.’ And then she made them both. That was fun.”

Biegler also feels she was able to discover her voice more by playing with boys, both in Mahomet and during club team practices in Bloomington.

“It just developed my skills so much faster,” Biegler said. “They definitely bring a bunch of different aspects into my life, socially and soccer-wise.”

★ ★ ★

Biegler’s soccer development in high school included two important alterations.

First, she switched from primarily playing the outside back defender position to the center-mid role she currently occupies.

Biegler was growing into her 6-foot frame and hitting the weight room with increasing frequency, allowing her to become an effective option at center-mid.

“I’m just a vocal person in general, and being able to be in the center of the field and start leading (was great),” Biegler said. “My soccer IQ is higher in the center of the field.”

The vocal element is the second area in which Biegler experienced change during high school soccer.

Biegler said she wasn’t very talkative as a varsity-playing freshman but was welcomed with open arms by the likes of current Illini Johnson-Monfort and Wade.

Even when she began speaking more, though, Biegler still needed to refine her on-field chatter.

“I was very bossy,” Biegler said. “That’s how I played ECNL, and that was just me as a player.”

Biegler was a captain for the Bulldogs’ 2020 team that never got to compete because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and she retained captaincy this spring.

With numerous younger players, including freshman sister Nadia Biegler, now looking for her leadership, Nyah Biegler took a different approach.

“We had a lot of sophomores that hadn’t played a varsity game, and being able to help them figure out what to do, what decisions are best to be made (was important),” Biegler said. “Being able to cheer them on and being able to just be positive to them whenever they need something, I think that’s how (my leadership) developed.”

This chance to grow as a person and player might not have happened if Biegler decided she was done with soccer just a few years prior.

“She’s had a really big impact on our team. Vocally, you can always count on her,” Claybrooke said. “She’s able to encourage people and warn them of the opponents. … Nyah was a big factor in putting the team in position to score. Taking her out of the middle would’ve hurt us.”

★ ★ ★

Biegler’s next soccer stop will have her transitioning back to being a younger athlete in a sea of older athletes.

She’ll soon attend Eastern Illinois and play soccer for coach Jake Plant’s Panthers.

“Because of COVID, all of their seniors are coming back, so it’s going to be a team of 30,” Biegler said. “I’m going to have to fight like crazy to get a spot in there. Honestly, I’ll do whatever the team needs.”

Biegler, who plans to major in biology with the hope of later attending medical school, now struggles to envision a life without soccer.

As Biegler said, there’s more to her than the sport. But the role it’s played in her life is unmistakable.

“Balancing everything is part of life, and it’s going to be hard (in college), but it’s going to be worth it,” Biegler said. “I had to play soccer more, and I’m so excited that I stayed with it.”

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[reject-princess97]

Tom Holland Imagine

(In this Tom and Reader are 25 years old.)

I turned around in the spot, looking around the room that had been decorated for my daughters fifth birthday themed birthday party. The theme of the party was The Avengers. Why, because her dad is Spider man.

OK so he's not THE Spider man, her dad is the actor who plays Peter Parker/ Spider man, Tom Holland. Tom and I have been together for ten years now and we are as happy as ever.

At the age of 11 Tom and I met on the show of Billy Elliot, I was an extra in the dance class while he played Billy Elliot. We became fast friends and you both got on really well. You started dating at the age of 15 and have been together ever since. at the age of 20 we found out I was pregnant and we were over the moon. Our family were so supportive and helped us out when ever we needed it. Tom and I went crazy with all the shopping we did, we bought anything and everything we saw babies and toddlers needed and nine months later I gave birth to our baby girl Parker Elizabeth Holland, named after the role that made Tom the big actor he is now and after my best friend Elizabeth Olson who I met after Tom got the part as Peter Parker in Captain America : Civil War and that our life changed forever.

And now here I am, Five years later, preparing Parker's birthday party with help from Elizabeth Olson, Scarlett Johansson and my Mum and Tom's Mum were readying the food for the party to start.

"Y/N, are you OK?" I heard someone ask I turned to see Jeremy Renner smiled at me as he entered the room, holding a box with Parker's birthday cake inside. I nodded and shrugged,

"I guess it just feels weird without Tom here." I replied as I took the cake from his arms and placed it on the table that all the food is on and opened the box to look at the cake that had a picture of Parker and Tom smiling at the camera and a big gold glittery 5 candle stood in the middle.

"I know but you know he wanted to be here, it was his agent who got in the interview on the same day." Scarlett called over. I nodded and smiled.

"I know that and Tom said he was pissed at him for doing that." I laughed, making the others laugh as we finished of the decorations.

I had met the MARVEL actors while Tom was shooting for Captain America: Civil War, I had gone with him to the set a lot and when Tom was filming I would sit and talk to anyone that wasn't  in the scene. The after a while I met other actors at premieres like Chris Hemsworth and Mark Ruffalo and when Tom started filming other Avengers movies we all became closer until they all became family, so of course they were all invited to the party and most were helping set up, while Rob and Mark had taken Parker out until we were ready.

Coming to Parker's Birthday party was  Chris Evans, Sebastian Stan,Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Renner, Mark Ruffalo, RDJ, Scarlett Johannson and Paul Bettney and Elizabeth Olsen. It had been Lizzy's idea to have arranged that they all would change into costume and become their characters so Parker and her friends can have pictures with them. There was also the actors kids and the kids from Parker's school class My parents and family and Toms parents and family as well a Zandaya and Harry, Tom's friends so the party was pretty big.

"And we're done!" I heard Chris E shout as he pinned up the last of the banners. Just in time to, it was almost 5 with meant the guest would be arriving soon. I smiled and grabbed my bag and wan into the bathroom and pulled out my change of clothes.

I put on a pair of black skinny jeans, a red top that came down to about mid thigh, a blue leather jacket and a pair of black converse high tops, I let my hair fall into it's natural mess of curls and and added a Spider man bow that Parker had picked out for me.

I exited the bathroom and smiled as I noticed guests had started to arrive. Before I even had time to move from the bathroom door I heard a high pitch screech and I saw my baby girl running, full speed to wards me, wearing almost exactly the same outfit as me. I dropped my bag just as she leaped into my arms and hugged me tight.

"Mama, Uncle Rob buyed me a Iron man toy." She yelled excitedly. Waving a miniature Iron man figure in my face.

"Wow honey, I hope you said thank you?" I told her as I smiled at her.

"Yes I did" she nodded.

"Good, now lets go party." I smiled as I heard music begin to play, she nodded and jumped back onto the floor only to grab my hand and drag me onto the dance floor and was danced for about an hour until most of the guests had arrived and I got a text from Liz telling me they were ready.

"OK Parker," I called over to her and she came skipping over to me, pulling Zandaya along behind her. I laughed and shook my head, "Parker, I have a surprise for you. Come on out guys." I called and out came the avengers, they came running out from behind a curtain and on to the dance floor in front of everyone. All her favorite hero's were there: Iron man, Captain America, Thor, Hawk eye, Bruce Banner (because the Hulk was to dangerous to be here), Vision, Black widow and The Scarlett witch, even Loki was there. Each of our actor friends dressed at their characters for Parker. Except for Spider man, he, as I understood, was to be played by Tom's best friend Harrison. I watched as Parker saw the guys and her face light up. She got so excited, she runs straight to Captain America AKA uncle Chris.

"WOW, Captain America and Iron man!" She yelled as She reached them. "What are you doing here?" She asked them as She jumped down and went down the line hugging each of the heroes until she came to a stop at Spider man.

"Who are you?" She asked, standing in front of the man she had come to know as her dad's character. I suddenly felt a little guilty at the sight of Parker, pointing and glaring at poor harry in the Spider man costume.

"I'm Spider man" he spoke, his voice sounded different to what Harrison usually sounded like but I guess he was just trying to sound more like Tom so just left it.

"No you're not" Parker stated.

"I am, I'm your friendly neighborhood Spider man." Harry tried again.

"No you're not, my daddy is Spiderman and my Daddy is working." Parker shouted at him making me laugh a little.

"I promise I am Spider man, see" and he lifted his mask to reveal my boyfriends smiling face. It took her a minute to process but after a few seconds she dove into Tom's arms and hugged him.

"Daddy, you're home." She yelled, I just stood there in shock, Tom hadn't told me he was coming home, I really though Harrison was in the suit. I felt a pair of hand land on my shoulder and I turned to see Harry smiled wickedly at me. I jabbed him and the tummy lightly and turned back to Watch to and Parker hold onto each other for dear life.

"You didn't think I was gonna miss my spiderling's birthday did you?" He asked. picking her feet of the ground and standing up, smiling and waving at everyone around them.

"Tom? What the Hell is going on?" I asked still shocked.

"Hello love, how are you?"Tom asked me putting our daughter on the ground, she kissed his cheek before running of to Mark rufflo who smiled at her as he picked her up.

"How are you here, Tom? You said you were working."

"I may have told you a little fib. I knew if I had told you I was coming home you would have told Parker."

"No I wouldn't, not if you had told me it was a surprise." I argued.

"Ok so you're telling me, when Parker was crying down the phone because she missed me, you wouldn't have made her feel better by telling her she would see me soon?"

"OK, yeah, you made the right call," I nodded, seeing his point.I hated seeing my baby girl cry, it killed me inside. I laughed a little and smiled at Tom who smiled back and held open his arms.

"So are you just gonna stand there or are you going to kiss me." Tom laughed. I smiled back and ran into his waiting arms and kissed him. Everyone around us all busting into applause.

"Guy, my mum is kissing Spiderman." Parker yelled to the other avengers who laughed along with everyone else.

"Ok, why don't we get some family pictures" My mum called we all nodded "we'll start with Parker, Y/N and Tom, then with the avengers added then with grandparents." She instructed.

First Tom and I stood together with Parker in our arms. *Click*

Then came Tom, Parker and I with our parents, Chris H insisted he took the picture. *Click*

Then Parker and the avengers next. The order went Chris Evans, Sebastian Stan Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Renner and Mark Rufflo, then in front of them was RDJ, Scarlett and Paul Bettney then at the very front was Tom, Parker, and Elizabeth. *Click*

"Wait, my mummy needs to take a picture with the avengers too." Parker yelled as she ran to me and pulled me forward.

"She's right, Y/N needs to get in on the avenger love" Jeremy laughed, I smiled and went and sat next to Tom as Parker ran over to my mum who was holding the camera and my dad held my phone taking photos. Tom's mum had his phone and was getting ready to take a photo when Tom called out.

"Wait, before we take the picture I need to asked Y/N something." Tom announce.

"I expect you will be needing this." Elizabeth asked handing Tom a small black box.

"I will, thanks Lizzy." Tom smiled before he dropped down on one knee, smiling up at me. "Y/N We have been together for ten years now and for ten years I have loved you each and everyday and I will love you until the day I die. SO I ask you now if you would do me the honour of being my wife. Y/N will you marry me?" He asked opening the little black box revealing a diamond ring.

"Yes." I laughed, Tom stood, slipped a somewhat large, beautiful ring onto my finger and kissed me as everybody cheered.

"Omg that was so beautiful," Jeremy fake cried earning a smack to the back of the head from "Bruce Banner" and "Loki" at the same time.

"Oh my spiderson is all grown up" RDJ yelled making us all laugh.

"Ok, picture time Mrs Holland." My mum called. I nodded and smiled at the camera but Tom had other Ideas. He turned me to face him and kissed me as he held my hand to show the ring he had slipped onto my finger, while all the other Avengers cheered.

"Best birthday ever!" Parker yelled as she ran at Tom who picked her up. "Daddy, put the mask back on for another picture." She laughed. Tom did as told and pulled the mask on for another picture. This time the photo involved everyone.

After about a billion more photos we all started our own different convocation and soon everybody had started making there way home due to it being almost 8pm and there were a lot of young kids here.

I was talking with Scarlett, Elizabeth and Chris E when my phone started to buzz non stop. I looked to see I had been tagged in two Instagram posts, both from Tom. The first was the photo of Parker and the Avengers with the caption: '@tomholland2013: Surprised my daughter on her birthday with the rest the Avengers. Thank you @Y/N for giving me the greatest gift a guy like me could ask for and thank you for bringing her up at be as smart and amazing as you are. Happy 5th Birthday Parker Elizabeth Holland, my Spiderling princess Super Iron girl (She came up with the awesome nickname, not me) I loves you so much baby girl.'

The second picture was the one of Tom and I kissing, showing off my new bling while The Avengers seem to be fangirling behind us, with the caption: '@tomholland2013: The most amazing thing happened to me today, @Y/N, who is the Lois Lane to my Clark Kent, the Pepper Potts to my Tony Stark, the Harley Quinn to my Joker, the Khaleesi to my Khal Drogo, the Deadpool to my Spider man, the love of my life, has agreed to marry me, that's right, @Y/N will soon be mine forever *evil laugh*. No but for real though, this girl has already given me the most amazing gift in the world, Our daughter and now the mother of my child is to finally become my wife and I am so happy...I love you @Y/N and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you. Xxxxxxx'

As I read the posts I felt a pair of arms wrap around my waist and Toms head rested on my shoulder. He was now dressed in normal clothes and had been running around and dancing with Parker and our family so he was a little hot and sweaty.

"Hi," He smiled at me.

"Hey, where's Parker?" I asked him. He pointed over towards a pile of coats on a chair, but upon closer inspection I noticed the pile of coats was in fact my daughter asleep under Tom's jacket on the chairs.

"Honey, why don't you and Tom take Parker home, we can clear this away tomorrow while Parker is with your parents." Lizzy smiled, pointing towards the party decorations. I smiled and nodded and turned to Tom who shrugged back.

"It's probably best I mean our daughter is currently asleep on a chair, that can't be comfortable." I laughed. Tom and I said a quick goodbye to our friends before taking Parker back home to put her to bed.

"We both took a shower and got changed for before climbing in and turning on the tv.

"So, we have choice to tonight. Brooklyn nine nine, Game of thrones or Smallville?" I told Tome as I flicked though the channals.

"Oh, let's watch a bit of Brooklyn Nine Nine, Not seen if for a while and I feel like we need to keep our good mood." Tom smiled taking the remote from my hand and pressing play on the show.

"Believe me, as long as I'm with you, I will never not be in a good mood." I kissed him and snuggled in to his chest at the programs started.

"I love you Mrs Holland." Tom whispered in my ear.

"I love you too Spider man, now shush, Jake peralta is on the TV." I smiled making Tom laugh.

Masterlist

[bienmoreau]

so here’s a quick belated (and completely un-beta-ed) birthday thing for my sunshine // with a bunch of our hc thrown in @wesawbears & @faintlyglow 

There are a number of traditions that have been developed over the years for Trojan birthdays and Jeremy Knox’s is no different, he is in fact instrumental in their existence.

Due to its timing he is very rarely able to make it home to his family for the actual day but the team make sure to fill in and make their sunshine leader feel the love. 

The first year Alvarez baked him the cake it did not go well, they were both still very much baby freshmen but in hindsight it really was what cemented their life long friendship. 

Jeremy had not been looking forward to getting up on what he expected to be just another day with the slight tarnish of homesickness ever more acutely felt due to the fact that it would be the first birthday where he didn’t wake up to his mothers breakfast and a table full of happy siblings. The numerous voicemail messages and texts awaiting him from them all unfortunately only making him feel worse as he prepped his morning coffee.

What he hadn’t expected was to be greeted by the one and only Sara Alvarez crashing through his door. She was already in full swing with a raucous rendition of Cumpleaños Feliz! as she swung the huge cake in her hands onto his little dorm table. It was, to put it nicely, a work of modern art, he wasn’t sure what shape it had originally been but it hardly mattered, as soon as the initial shock dissipated the overwhelming realisation of what she had done washed over him. There was nothing in the world that could have stopped his tears as he dove at her wrapping his arms around her waist and squeezing the breath out of her as she reached the end of the song.

Without them even talking about it more than Jeremy telling her in passing how big a deal birthdays were in his family she had taken it upon herself to shower him in love the whole day even getting a large amount of their fellow freshmen on the team involved in the celebrations after practice. Her cake fed them both for the following two days, and while it wasn’t a scratch on his mothers cooking Jeremy would swear on oath that it was the best thing he had eaten since starting at USC.

Of course he repaid Alvarez twice over when her birthday came around.

Their second year was much the same, just with a little more preparation on both sides and Alvarez successfully dragging all the new freshmen in to the party they put together for it. Jeremy didn’t mind in the slightest that it was only maybe 45% about throwing him a big party and more about Sara’s ginormous puppy crush on the teams new goalie. And he really couldn’t mind when the two of them called him over with huge proud smiles and brought out possibly the most elaborately decorated sun shaped cake he could ever imagine.

The skype call he had with his family that evening was loud and busy and perfectly wonderfully normal and he went to bed grinning wide and looking forward to the year ahead of them all.

Being Captain changed a lot of things for Jeremy, but not the important things, not his friendships or the way he felt increasingly like USC was his home away from home and the team his second family. The new intake of freshmen were instantly brought into the fold by their upperclassmen and they were introduced to the Trojan birthday mentality, to Jeremy’s surprise and no small amount of delight the seniors took it all the more seriously now that he had proved himself to them all.

He even overheard a couple of them explaining to the newbies after practice on the 8th “We gotta show the cap a good time so he won’t work us too hard!”  

October 10th of Jeremy’s third year saw the biggest of the team birthday parties since he had started. They all ended up on the beach, music loud, food plentiful, alcohol for those that wanted it and a sun-shaped cake twice the size as the year before.

It wasn’t that Jeremy didn’t miss his family, didn’t miss the way his birthdays had always been growing up, but this; this gathering of his friends, this team-wide celebration was really, if he was being honest, just as good in so many ways.

The celebration traditions only expanded from there. With Laila the duo had become a very strong and influential trio, able to make nearly anything happen. Birthdays on practice days had one set of traditions, birthdays on weekends or rest days another,  and those that took place during their holidays had either early or belated celebrations with the team when they best fit the scheduled. Thankfully Alvarez and Laila took charge of this particular part of team organisation so that Jeremy could throw himself into proving that he really did deserve the faith his team had in him and that he could measure up as an even better captain for them for another year.

His birthday couldn’t come soon enough that year. everyone wanted a reason to blow off any residual party energy from the summer before Jeremy and Coach Rheman started their practice in earnest.

Over the last two years the Trojans Exy team parties had been gaining fame among the rest of the student body. Not that this was a problem in the slightest, the beach stretch they tended for was plenty large and while the team may be technically the ‘hosts’ nobody looked to them to manage the event. People came and went and the team members were able to exist at the heart of it for as long as they liked, or remove themselves back to the designated exy dorms.

It suited Jeremy just fine, it was just the kind of energy he had come to love, to thrive in.

Laila’s perfected cake recipe and Alvarez’s increasingly ridiculous birthday gifts were the cornerstones that held the whole day together perfectly for him.

Jean- Jean was a wildcard going into Jeremy final year, he was still all sharp edges, raw and violent and so very very angry in October, everything still too new and strange and hard to comprehend let alone accept for him. but that wasn’t going to stop the team, wasn’t going to stop Alvarez from ‘taking care of her boy’ as she had termed it on that first birthday together years before.  

It just meant that a few concessions had to be made.

Jeremy was already more stressed out and tired than he normally was so early in the year, still feeling around the edges of what having Jean with them meant trying not to cut himself on all the potential problems.

When Al found him slumped over his desk after classes, head in his hands and seldom-used glasses pushed up into his hair she knew the normal party just wasn’t going to cut it this year. The team would understand, and nothing was stopping them from going out to the beach they just might be minus 1 birthday boy. Jeremy just needed his partners in crime tonight.

Jeremy made no sign of recognition at Alvarez’s entrance into his room but after a pause he asked quietly “When do we need to leave fr the beach? What are we going to do about Jean? - shit where even is he? Sara, what am i going to do?” 

He didn’t need to clarify that he was talking in a the longer run, asking about what he should do as captain, as potential, hopeful friend to Jean, if the other man continued to fight them they way he was. It wasn’t what he needed to be worrying over on the evening of his 23rd birthday. But here he was, ever the studious caring captain. Perhaps to a fault Sara worried sometimes. 

“We have sugar in our room, and a very big cake that I’m not letting anyone else have some of till you’ve made yourself sick of cake from it.”

His head came up slow, “..sugar? sugar sounds good.”

Jeremy followed her down the two doors to her and Laila’s room without another word, he knew he must be a sorry sight but it was nothing she hadn’t seen before. He wasn’t sure what to make of the fact that when he stepped past her into the little sitting room area he was confronted by the scene of Jean Moreau sitting cross-legged on the floor with a sketch book out on their coffee table and Laila quietly talking to him about something or other. Neither of them looked up until he reached the back of the sofa but when they did Laila beamed at him leaping to her feet on the sofa cushions and leaning over it to wrap him in a hug so she could wish him a happy birthday. Jean watched the exchange indifferently before meeting Jeremy’s eyes over Laila’s shoulder and inclining his head in the smallest nod. Jeremy was quite frankly stunned.

“Is it time for cake!?” Laila asked excitedly, “we worked really hard on the decorations thing year! Jean even helped!”

Talking about being stunned, Jeremy wasn’t sure he could have possibly hard that right, but Laila was smiling at Jean encouragingly and Al was grinning from where she stood by the kitchenette.

 “We thought since the beach party probably isn’t really Jeans scene just yet and you’re practically dead on your feet today we could just skip the big team affair and gorge ourselves on my beautiful girlfriends cake and chill out, sound okay Jere?”

It was like his first year all over again, like Sara had read his mind without even seeing him all day and was doing everything he didn’t know he needed to make it through the day. realising his voice would probably crack if he tried to speak just then Jeremy nodded numbly, managing to smile at Al before moving around the sofa and slumping heavily onto it. 

Laila dropped back down next to him giving him another tight squeeze then turning back to Jean. Jeremy tried to follow their conversation, something about art theory or history or someone who did something revolutionary, he really wasn’t following it well at all. What he was doing was watching Jean nod along and answer softly or gesture slightly as he made a comment and every so often the slightest of smiles would grace his face and he would look down at his work or glance up and meet Laila’s eyes. It was the most amazing thing Jeremy thought he had seen all year. 

When Al broke the quite by emerging around the breakfast island singing a much calmer rendition of  Cumpleaños Feliz then normal and placed a tray down in the space on the coffee table Jeremy was bowled over yet again by the cake upon it. it was the same clip art sun shape as it had been for the last three years but instead of Laila’s usual delicate swirls and paisley icing patterns the center of the cake was adorned with a cluster of neatly iced sunflowers each one looking almost 3D with their detail and layering. Jeremy breath caught as he took it in, his eyes lifting to Laila’s face, the awe clear in his expression but she simply ginned and nodded to Jean in explanation. 

Jeremy’s eyes widened and switched to focusing on Jean, his mouth falling open a little unable to form a response to this information. The other man met his gaze steadily for a moment before fixing on the cake between them. 

“I just noticed how much you like them. That bunch on your desk- from your family,” 

“Jean” Jeremy breathed “its amazing, thank you.”

It wasn’t like everything suddenly stopped being hard work, Jean was still a challenge on court and a minefield of sharp edges off, but as unexpected gifts go seeing the first real signs of progress from Jean was a hell of a good one, and far better than Jeremy could have asked for.

[rosiep66]

"POLDARK" Series Two (2016) Episodes One to Four

"POLDARK" SERIES TWO (2016) EPISODES ONE TO FOUR Following my viewing of the 1975 series, "POLDARK" and its adaptation of Winston Graham's 1950 novel, "Jeremy Poldark: A Novel of Cornwall, 1790-1791", I decided to view Debbie Horsfield's recent adaptation of the same novel, spread out in four episodes during its second series. Needless to say, my experience with this adaptation of "Jeremy Poldark" proved to be a different kettle of fish. Series Two's first episode began a day or two after the final scene of Series One - namely Ross Poldark's arrest by the local militia for instigating a riot between his tenants/employees and the citizens of another town, who were salvaging the goods from a shipwrecked ship. The ship happened to belong to a noveau riche family named Warleggan and one of its members, one George Warleggan, went out of his way to ensure that the law would charge Ross with the crime. To make matters worse, Ross and his wife, Demelza Carne Poldark, had to endure the death of their only daughter from Putrid's Throat. At the beginning of the second series' Episode One, Ross faced one of his old nemesis, the Reverend Dr. Halse , in court in order for the latter to determine whether Ross would stand trial for his crime. Considering the two men's previous clashes, it was not surprising that Halse ordered Ross to stand trial during the next assize in Bodmin. Not only that - audiences were treated with an energetic scene between star Aidan Turner and former Poldark leading man, Robin Ellis. After Ross returned to his estate, Nampara, he set about getting his business in order. Meanwhile, Demelza tried to encourage him to seek help or patronage in order to ensure his acquittal. Being an incredibly stubborn and self-righteous ass, Ross refused. Demelza was forced to go behind his back to seek help from the judge assigned to his case and a wealthy neighbor named Ray Penvenen. Needless to say, Demelza failed to gather support from both men. Her cousin-in-law and Ross' former love, Elizabeth Chynoweth Poldark attempted to acquire George Warleggan's help by arranging a meeting between the men at her husband's estate, Trenwith. She also failed, due to Ross' unwillingness to speak to the latter. George's major henchman, Tankhard, managed to recruit Ross' former farmhand, Jud Paynter, to testify against Ross. Although Jud had intially agreed to testify, he changed his mind at the last minute, while on the stand. Due to a rousing pro-labor speech, Ross was acquitted by the end of Episode Two. During those first two episodes that focused on Ross' trial, other events occurred. His close friend, Dr. Dwight Enys met Ray Penvenen's flighty niece, Caroline Penvenen during the azzis and election in Bodmin and sparks flew between the pair . . . despite the latter's arrogant demand that he treat her pug. Francis, while in despair over estrangement from Ross, Verity and Elizabeth, attempted suicide in Bodmin and failed, due to a falty pistol. Elizabeth also appeared in Bodmin for the trial. Although she had appeared to support Ross, she and Francis ended up reconciling. Unfortunately, I was not pleased by this development. I wish Elizabeth had never forgiven Francis, since he had never bothered to offer any apology for five to six years of emotional abuse and the loss of his fortune and their son Geoffrey Charles' future. Unless I am mistaken, Elizabeth never really forgave Francis, despite his "new lease on life", following his suicide attempt. Good. I never thought he deserved it. I have read a few articles and reviews of the episodes that covered the adaptation of "Jeremy Poldark". While everyone else seemed impressed by the hullaballoo over Ross' trial, I felt more impressed by the third and fourth episodes. One, I was never that impressed by the trial storyline in the first place. Due to Ross' social standing as a member of the landed gentry, I suspected he would be acquitted, when I first read the novel. Unless he had committed murder (against someone from his own class) or treason against the Crown, I never really believed he would be convicted. If Ross had been a member of the working-class or middle-class, chances are his closing speech would have guaranteed conviction of the charges made against him. By the way, was that a closing speech? Or was that merely a speech inserted into Ross' own testimonial? I hope it was the latter, because he seemed to possess a barrister who barely said a word. And if I must be brutally honest, there was an aspect of the first two episodes - especially Episode Two - that I found disappointing. I had been more impressed by the 1975 adaptation of Ross' trial, due to its strong ability to recapture the atmosphere of an assize during the eighteenth century. I never sense that same level of atmosphere from this latest adaptation. Showrunner Debbie Horsfield seemed more intent upon creating tension over the possibility conviction. In a way, this seemed appropriate considering that the story should matter. But would it have hurt for Horsfield to add a little color or flavor in her portrayal of the Bodmin assize? For me it would have made up for my disinterest in Ross' trial. While many complained about the "dullness" of Episodes Three and Four, I found it interesting. Once Ross and Demelza dealt with his arrest and trial, they were forced to deal with the aftermath of their daughter Julia's death. While Demelza openly faced her grief, Ross finally got the chance to focus his attention on dealing with his possible financial ruin. But in doing so, he ended up emotionally distancing himself from his wife. It was easy to see that the honeymoon was over for Ross and Demelza. Like many couples in real life, they found it difficult to deal with a child's death, which they were forced to face after Ross' acquittal. And like many couples, their relationship suffered, due to their grief. Although Demelza had discovered she was pregnant, Ross made it clear that he was not ready to deal with another child before she could reveal her news. I have to commend both Aidan Turner and Eleanor Tomlinson in conveying the growing estrangement between Ross and Demelza with great skill and subtlety. And I suspect that they benefited from Debbie Horsfield's writing, who managed to capture this roadblock in the couple's relationship without turning it into an over-the-top ham fest. Both Episodes Three and Four also focused on Ross' financial problems. Many critics seemed uninterested in this turn of events. Apparently, they were more interested in watching Ross and Demelza behave like "the perfect couple". I was not bored. It was interesting to watch an upper-class landonwer deal with looming poverty without the benefit of securing the hand of an heiress. You know . . . like aspiring politician Unwin Trevaunance. And what many had failed to point out was that the Nampara Poldarks' financial situation was a result of Demelza's matchmaking efforts for Verity, Francis' resentment and anger, and George's malice. The die was cast in Series One's eighth episode and the consequences reared its ugly head in Series Two. Ross and Demelza were bound to face these consequences sooner or later. Worse, Ross found himself dealing with a vindictive George Warleggan, who was finally able to purchase enough shares to assume control over Wheal Leisure, Ross' mine. I never understood why Demelza had kept her fishing trips (to provide food for Nampara's larder) a secret from Ross. Personally, I thought she could have informed him that someone needed to fish to prevent them from starving, due to their money problems. If Ross had dismissed the idea, then I could have understood her need for secrecy. But knowing Ross, he probably would not have supported the fishing trips or bothered to find someone to provide fish for Nampara's inhabitants. He could be rather stubborn and proud. And I must admit that I did not care for how Debbie Horsfield changed the circumstances behind Demelza's last fishing trip. Instead of allowing her to reach shore on her own, while going into labor; Horsfield had an angry Ross come to her rescue and carry her ashore:

It looked like a scenario from a second-rate romance novel. And I found it a touch sexist. Ugh. Other matters threatened to endanger Ross and Demelza's marriage even further. One, Demelza seemed to have become the center of attraction for men like fellow landowner Sir Hugh Bodrugan, who has set his eyes on Demelza ever since the Warleggan ball back in Series One; and the Scottish-born militia officer, Captain McNeil, who happened to be one of Ross' former military comrades from the Revolutionary War. Mr. Poldark seemed unaware of Sir Hugh's attention, but did not seem particularly thrilled by Captain McNeill sniffing around his wife. Yet . . . he did nothing. Two, Ross gave permission to allow a smuggling ring led by a Mr. Trencomb to use the cove on his beach to store their stolen goods. Fearful that Ross might face arrest again and this time, prison, Demelza expressed her disapproval. However, she seemed relieved that Ross and Francis had finally made their peace following their estrangement over Verity Poldark's (Francis' sister) marriage to a former alcoholic sea captain in Episode Three, thanks to Elizabeth's machinations. In fact, she was more than happy to attend Francis' harvest ball at Trenwith. What she did not like was the conversation she had overheard between Ross and Elizabeth, later that evening. A part of me was fascinated by Ross' bold attempt to seduce Elizabeth. Especially since it featured some excellent acting from both Aidan Turner and Heida Reed. Another part of me felt disgusted by his actions. Ross had not merely flirted with his cousin-in-law. He made a strong effort to seduce her . . . after her husband had retired to his bedroom, upstairs. Fortunately, Elizabeth put a stop to his action before it could get any worse. Interesting consequences resulted from Ross' attempt at seduction. It finally led Demelza to reveal her pregnancy to Ross . . . who did not seem particularly thrilled. And although Demelza seemed willing to dismiss her husband's behavior, her cool attitude toward Elizabeth during their encounter in the woods seemed to hint that she seemed willing to place most of the blame on her cousin-in-law. In other words, Demelza seemed willing to use Elizabeth as a scapegoat for Ross' indiscretion. Or . . . perhaps Ross' attempt to seduce Elizabeth had simply increased Demelza's insecurity. After reading several articles on this story arc, I was . . . not particularly surprised that most fans and critics had ignored this little scene between the two cousins-in-law, especially since Demelza is such a popular character and Elizabeth is not. Many years have passed since I last read "Jeremy Poldark". But I do not recall such a scene in the novel. What made Horsfield add it? Was this the producer's attempt to portray Demelza in a more ambiguous light than she did in previous episodes? Or was this an attempt to set up Elizabeth as partially responsible for an upcoming event in a later episode? I have no idea. I am confused. Many fans seemed thrilled by the budding romance between Dr. Dwight Enys and heiress Caroline Penvenen. Personally, I found it rather interesting . . . and romantic in a way. Both Luke Norris and Gabriella Wilde seemed to have a strong screen chemistry. My problem with this relationship is that I am not a fan of Caroline. I never have been. I have the oddest feeling that although she may be in love with Dwight, she also regards him as something new or different that she wants to acquire . . . or collect. Her constant requests for his medical services and her assistance in acquiring oranges to help him deal with an outbreak of scurvy strikes me as seductive foreplay on her part and nothing else. However, the reunion between the Nampara and Trenwith Poldarks resulted in two positive consequences. Following the loss of Wheal Leisure, Ross recalled Mark Daniels' (one of the saga's two wife killers) claim of discovering copper inside his family's other mine, Wheal Grace and managed to convince Francis in investing in the mine. And the latter invested the six hundred pounds that he had received from George Warleggan for exposing the Carnmore Copper Company investors (the majority of whom were indebted to the Warleggan Bank), back in Series One. Speaking of Francis' six hundred pounds, I am confused about something. When George Warleggan learned about Francis' investment in Wheal Grace, he vindictively revealed to Ross how Francis had acquired the money in the first place. Naturally, Ross lost his temper and the pair engaged in a brawl. But I could have sworn that Ross had figured out Francis' betrayal of the company ever since he learned about Demelza's meddling in Verity's love life around the same time that Carnmore Copper Company had folded. The sequence from Episode Eight seemed to hint this. Unless I had misread it. Judging from Ross' reaction to George's revelation in Episode Four of this season, apparently I did. However, I need to re-watch that Series One sequence again. George's revelation of Francis' betrayal did give Ross the opportunity to manipulate the latter into finally accepting Verity's marriage to Andrew Blamey in a very clever scene that featured first-rate performances from both Kyle Soller and Aidan Turner. As for that brawl between Ross and George . . . the scene sizzled from Aidan Turner and Jack Farthing's performances. And many fans and critics cheered over Ross emerging victorious over his nemesis. However, I noticed that George made that victory difficult for Ross to achieve. I guess George's boxing lessons proved to be beneficial after all. Some have expressed confusion over why George went through so much trouble to bring down Ross. Perhaps these fans had forgotten Ross' rude and insulting response to George's genuine offer of condolences over young Julia's death near the end of Series One. Not only had Ross dismissed George's sympathetic overture, he also insulted the latter's cousin Matthew Stinson, who had drowned when the Warleggans' ship foundered. Apparently George never did. It was nice to see Ruby Bentall as Verity Poldark Blamey again . . . even though her presence in the production was diminished in compare to Series One. Verity served as a reminder of Francis' unwillingness to accept her marriage to the former alcoholic (and wife killer) Captain Andrew Blamey . . . which I can understand. Episode Three (or was it Four) featured a minor story arc that featured Verity's problems with her stepdaughter, Esther Blamey. I must admit that it was not that difficult to understand Esther's hostility. Her father had killed her mother in a fit of alcoholic rage (during an argument). Although he had served a few years in prison, he was released, managed to rebuild his profession as a sea captain and marry a woman from an upper-class family. If dear Esther was seething with inner rage over this series of events, I honestly could not blame her. However, her brother James, a midshipman in the Royal Navy, seemed more than willing to accept Verity. Oh well. I have one last topic to discuss . . . Jud Paynter. As many know, Jud was bribed by George Warleggan's minion, Tankard, to testify against Ross about the riot on the beach. Instead, Jud refrained from doing so once he had reached the stand. In retaliation, George hired a couple of thugs to give him a beating. Only they went too far and nearly beat Jud to death. I say nearly, because for some stupid reason, everyone from his wife Prudie to both Ross and Demelza believed that Jud had died. No one had bothered to check his body to see whether he was alive or not. I have liked this little story arc. Mind you, it revealed that Jud had taken money from George to testify against Ross. But the whole "poor Jud is dead" routine struck me as completely ridiculous and hard to believe. I alway enjoy Phil Davis' portrayal of Jud and even Beatie Edney gave a rather funny performance in this story arc as the "grieving" Prudie Paynter. But I still dislike this story arc. Yet, I am grateful that Horsfield did not allow it to stretch out over a long period of time, as the producers of the 1975-77 series did. Thank goodness for some miracles. I might as well be frank. I am not really a fan of Winston Graham's 1950 novel, "Jeremy Poldark: A Novel of Cornwall, 1790-1791". For me, it seemed like a transitional novel. It concluded the story arc that began with Ross' arrest for inciting a riot and it set up the Poldark/Warleggan family drama that eventually exploded in Graham's next novel. I realized that Debbie Horsfield and the cast did all they could to make this adaptation of "Jeremy Poldark" work. There were some scenes that I found interesting - especially in Episodes Three and Four. But I must be honest . . . I did not find it particularly captivating. How could I when the source material had failed to captivate me, as well?

[martens-movie-reviews]

Released: May 4, 2012 Running Time: 2 hours 23 minutes

“When Thor’s evil brother, Loki, gains access to the unlimited power of the energy cube called the Tesseract, Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D., initiates a superhero recruitment effort to defeat the unprecedented threat to Earth. Joining Fury’s “dream team” are Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, Thor, the Black Widow and Hawkeye.”

Marvel Cinematic Universe – Source – Marvel

You can find all of the reviews for the Marvel Cinematic Universe at the link here. At that link, you can also find the dates that the other reviews for the Marvel Cinematic Universe will be posted. My plan is to release one every single day, and because I’ve already reviewed Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 here, and Spider – Man: Homecoming here, they will not be included in the two weeks leading up to Thor Ragnarok.

As such, I will now move onto the actual review of the film, and I hope you enjoy!

Marvel’s The Avengers – Source: Paramount Pictures & Marvel Studios

Cast and Crew

This film was written and directed by Joss Whedon, while Zak Penn helped with writing the story with Whedon. Joss Whedon’s directorial work includes mostly television shows that includes ‘Buffy: The Vampire Slayer’, ‘FireFly’ and ‘Dollhouse’, and has since worked on He has since worked on ‘Much Ado About Nothing’, the sequel to this film, ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’, as well as took over directing for Zack Snyder after he left the project for personal reasons for DC’s ‘Justice League’ that will be released on November 17, 2017.

I’ve already mentioned Penn’s previous work when I included him the Incredible Hulk Review, along with his recent work that he has done. Joss Whedon’s previous work as a writer includes films such as ‘Toy Story’ in 1995, ‘Titan A.E’ in 2000 and ‘Atlantis: The Lost Empire’ in 2001. He also gained a huge fan following from writing television shows mentioned in the paragraph above. He has since worked on films mentioned above as well as some edits to the script ‘Justice League’.

From Left to Right: Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow, Chris Hemsworth as Thor Odinson, Chris Evans as Steve Rogers / Captain America, Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton / Hawkeye, Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner / Hulk – Source: Marvel Studios & Paramount Pictures

The cast featured Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, Clark Gregg, Cobie Smulders, Stellan Skarsgård, Samuel L. Jackson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Paul Bettany, Alexis Denisof and Stan Lee.

Review

The music that was orchestrated by Alan Silvestri, who had previously worked on another MCU film ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’, was brilliantly put together and the theme for the Avengers is something that is a really epic song. The score for this movie really meshed together all of the different themes and scores from the previous films, rock for Stark, erratic and somewhat spooky for Banner, heroic and grandiose for Thor and heroic and inspiring for Rogers and made a really fantastic soundtrack for the film. He is currently composing the score for the next Avengers film ‘Avengers Infinity War’ which is set to be released on May 4, 2018, exactly 6 years to the day that this film came out.

The director of photography Seamus McGarvey, the man in charge of the cinematography of Marvel’s the Avengers was extremely well put together. Having to cram that much star power on one screen, and doing it properly was really great to see. The one shot spin shot of the entire team on the street in New York was another great sequence, that has become a staple in the MCU.

The Tesseract – Source: Marvel Studios & Paramount Pictures

The Chitauri in the MCU are very different than the Chitauri in the Comics, as displayed in the pictures below, in the comic books, they are shape shifting aliens that are able to take the physical appearance of their enemies after they have consumed them, while in the MCU, they are controlled by the hive mind, and were lent to Loki by the Other, in order to get the Tesseract to give to Thanos.

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The character of Loki is fantastic to use as the villain that brings all of the Avengers together. He has the personal connection with Thor, which would bring him back to Midgard, and kills Phil Coulson who was a fan favourite, a somewhat friend to Tony Stark and an admirer of Steve Rogers. As I’ve mentioned in the Thor Review, Tom Hiddleston brings such lovable, that it’s hard to hate almost any character that he plays, and he portrays Loki with such relish and charm that he’s probably having the time of his life playing dress up and pretend to be the God of Mischief.

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Iron Man in this film starts out as the defacto leader of the group, as he thinks of himself as the leader at all times, and questions what made his father so obsessed with Steve Rogers. He tries to annoy the Hulk because he’s extremely curious and wants to ‘see it in action’, and it has all become a big game to him at this point. It’s not until that he loses someone, Coulson, that he realizes that it’s real. By the climax of the film, he has learned that while he might have the biggest guns, he lets Steve takeover as leader, and looks to him to lead them in battle as he has done countless times before in WWII. It comes down to a point where he is willing to sacrifice himself to save the world, especially when he’s faced with the fact that aliens exists, and they want to kill them all.

Captain America in this film is still coming to terms with being around 70 years later, with almost all of his friends dead, and then finds out that there’s another bad guy that he has to deal with, and he gets back in his groove. He has a target and a mission, and takes charge. He is slowly becoming aware that his worldview of black and white is no longer applicable to the modern world, and that is something that is explored further in the sequel to his first film, ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’.

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Thor is on Midgard to get his brother and bring him home. Even though they might have had their differences, he believes that Loki is good, and everything can back to normal. When he realizes that that’s not the case, he gets involved in the rag tag group of ‘tiny’ superheros to foil his brothers plan.

Director of S.H.I.E.L.D Nick Fury had an idea, as mentioned during the post credit scene of Iron Man, as well as throughout the sequel Iron Man 2, that he can put together a team, that could defend the earth from their enemies. He puts together his group after he made the mistake of fooling around with the Tesseract, and accidently opens the door for Loki to come to earth. He is a great strategist, as he uses the untimely death of Coulson to bring the team together to face a common enemy, and in the end, his plan worked.

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When Marvel Studios decided to recast Bruce Banner, making it the third iteration of the character in a decade, it was met with some apprehension. It was quickly forgotten when Mark Ruffalo encapsulated the character so brilliantly. His portrayal of the mild mannered scientist / raging green monster was one of the highlights of the film. He showed a lot of chemistry with Robert Downey Jr., having previously worked with him in ‘Zodiac’, which was essential because they needed to have that give and take between the characters. He also performed some of the motion capture for the Hulk, and did a good job with it. While I wish we could have seen Norton come back for this film, and for people to remember that his film is part of the MCU, I’ve grown to really love Ruffalo’s interpretation of the character, and I can’t wait to see him and Thor get better acquainted in the upcoming movie.

Black Widow is the character that gets sent to bring in the Hulk, and even she thinks that that’s a bad move for her. Throughout the film, you see her learn that there is something in the world that scares her, and that’s the Hulk. She was terrified when he tested her in the cabins, she was even more so after Loki influenced him into changing during the attack on the Helicarrier. She is most at home on the battlefield, and takes on the Chitauri as if she’s been doing it forever. She once again proves that she’s a badass, and when the time comes for her to act under pressure, she can get the job done.

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Hawkeye was ultimately wasted in this film. Jeremy Renner is not given the right tools to bring justice to the character, and everyone knows that, Marvel knows that, the director knows that, as does the actor himself. He demonstrates his athletic and amazing skill with the Bow throughout the film, but it’s his intelligence that is on display for about 10 seconds at the beginning of the film that shows the potential for that character to do more. He is the one that manages to see that the Tesseract is a doorway, and that it opens on two sides, something that nobody else apparently thought of.

Maria Hill is awesome. Cobie Smulders does a good job with what little was given to her, and is the narrator at the beginning and end of the film. She’s a fierce agent that shows why Nick Fury would hold her in high regards.

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This will be my paragraph when I get to absolutely fanboy on this movie, because this was everything that I could have wanted from a comic book movie and more growing up. To see these characters team up together on the big screen, bringing the comics to life, all brilliantly acted, with the characters pretty much spot on, was something that blurred the lines between 10 year old me, and the 20 year old me that first saw this movie. Even today, when I watch this film I get little goosebumps and laugh just as much as I did then. It was something that could have gone wrong in so many way, if they screwed it up, but they didn’t and because of that, the MCU is one of the most trusted brands in movies in terms of quality and fun when going to the movie theatres. People go to the theatres either to be entertained, and to be able to share the experience with a room full of people that are all hopefully enjoying it with them, and the MCU films succeed at doing just that.

From Left to Right: Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, Hawkeye, Thor, Black Widow – Source: Marvel Studios & Paramount Pictures

The storyline for Phase One of the MCU, and The Avengers in particular takes inspiration from the 2002 comic book run of The Ultimates, as displayed above in the pictures displaying the Chitauri being the villains for that first run. It features; the first time that Nick Fury was African American as mentioned during my Iron Man Review, even casting Samuel L. Jackson to play himself in a movie – Captain America being found frozen in the ice, still alive – Banner meeting with Fury instead of Natasha with armed backup nearby, before he became the Hulk – Iron Man being known for doing flybys to impress people – Thor vs Hulk – Banner’s Cage – the Helicarrier – The Chitauri being the villains – The entire team of the Avengers is included except for Wasp, Quicksilver & Scarlet Witch in this film.

They obviously changed a lot of stuff from the comics, but they did so in a way that made it better than the comic books, and brought back characters that we had fallen in love with, in this case Loki. As you can see below, are screenshots from the Ultimates storyline that I’ve mentioned in the paragraph above.

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When the Son of Coul was stabbed through the chest by Loki, it was the saddest point of the MCU thus far. I understood why they did that for the story elements that brings along, as I’ve mentioned in one of the paragraphs above, but I don’t understand why they never brought him back into the movies. I know the television show and the movies are not 100% connected, but you would think a fan favourite like Coulson would have been brought back into the movies in some way, just to see the look of horror and shock on Robert Downey Jr.’s face.

The Hulk vs Thor fight was fun and you can see that Thor is holding back some, and becomes especially evident when he tells him he doesn’t want to hurt him. One of the highlights of the fight was when Mjolnir was thrown at the Hulk, and he couldn’t lift it up and Thor grabs it with ease and hits him, as shown below. I have to mention the ‘revenge’ that the Hulk gets on Thor, when he just surprises him with a left punch to the face as shown in the gif below. It’s just a nice piece of comedy thrown into the battle that worked amazingly well with the tone of the film.

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This film featured many funny moments that were unexpected in its execution, but none of them stand out as much as when Hulk absolutely destroys Loki after he had yelled at the Hulk that he is a God. The ‘Puny God’ line was the line that I can still remember everyone in the packed theatre absolutely laughing their asses off during that exchange, and the beating that followed.

Hulk demolishes Loki – Puny God – Source: Marvel Studios & Paramount Pictures

One of the problems that a lot of people can agree on, is that they didn’t utilise the character of Hawkeye properly. They made him a brainwashed monkey that helped Loki, while not interacting with the team enough. I feel like they’ve made up for it a bit during the Age of Ultron film, actually giving Jeremy Renner something to do as an actor other than to look spaced out.

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Marvel’s The Avengers was the first MCU film to include multiple post credit sequences, pictured below, which included the Avengers all taking a break after the Battle of New York, to eat at the shawarma place that Tony had seen during the battle, and the Other telling Thanos that Planet Earth is protected, and that the inhabitants are better prepared than they would have thought, indicating that to go up against them, would be to court Death, leading to a shot of Thanos smiling at the idea.

Thanos is one of those characters that has been hinted at, and briefly glimpsed over the last 5 years, and it’s something that has made fans both extremely excited, as well as anxious. Thanos is arguably the greatest villain that the MCU could use for one of their movies, and they can’t afford to screw that character or the story up. we have seen so far two Infinity Stones that would one day go into the Infinity Gauntlet, in the Tesseract and the Mind Stone that is inside of the staff that Loki was using, which later ends up as the gem on Vision’s forehead. We will see what they do with Thanos in 2018, and I for one, can hardly wait.

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Overall, I feel that if it wasn’t for the charisma and absolute brilliance that Tom Hiddleston brings to the character of Loki, this movie would have been far worse. The army of minions all dying once the big ship was destroyed was lame, and copied Independence Day as well as other films. The usage of mind control to make Hawkeye and Selvig work for Loki, but then have Selvig create a loophole to be able to defeat the bad guys was kinda sad.

The movie gets as high of a score as it does because it was the first time that we saw a team up of this magnitude, and it was absolutely brilliant. As a fanboy, this surpassed my expectations and made me so happy that I literally walked out of the theatre, and bought a ticket for the following showing, making it the first time that I ever did that. I saw this movie 7 times in theatres in 2012, and I don’t regret it whatsoever. At the end of the day, I remember having given it a perfect 10/10 score when I first saw it, and every single time after that, however, it’s not a perfect film, as I’ve already went over some of the problems with the film that I had, and thus, I could not give it a 10. In the end, I would give this film a score of 9/10.

What did you think of the film? Are you excited for Thor Ragnarok? Let me know in the comments below!

Thanks for reading,

Alex Martens

  Marvel’s The Avengers Movie Review Released: May 4, 2012 Running Time: 2 hours 23 minutes "When Thor's evil brother, Loki, gains access to the unlimited power of the energy cube called the Tesseract, Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D., initiates a superhero recruitment effort to defeat the unprecedented threat to Earth.

[ao-anonymousobsesser]

THINGS THAT HAPPENED/WHAT WAS CANON IN PART ONE

Barry was taunted a great deal at school. He had many bullies, though there were other people that teased him, as well, without being a quote bully. Barry and Iris met when they were six years old, and they were fast friends. When Barry was eight years old, he had a crush on Iris. This crush lasted for several years. Barry was born on 14 January 1989. Len was born on 2 June 1988. Iris was born on 24 June 1989. Lisa was born on 8 August 1995. Bette, Hartley, Mick, Sam, Digger, and Roy are one year older than Barry. Ronnie, Mark, Shawna, Tony, and Cisco are the same age as Barry. Clyde, Jake, and Axel are one year younger than Barry. Rosa and Roscoe Dillon are twins--they're like Len, in the same grade as Barry but older than him. Len should be a grade higher than Barry, but his dad sucks so they're in the same grade even though he's almost six moths older than him. Len and Lisa moved in with Barry, Iris, and Joe when Len, Iris, and Barry were in sixth grade and Lewis got arrested. Len and Iris were sort of friends, so Joe knew how Len would turn out if he didn't do anything, so he took the kids in. Len and Barry become fast friends, and Barry slowly loses his crush on Iris in favor of one on Len. (Later, sexualities are established. Barry is bi and polyamorous, but mainly sticks to monogamy. Len is pan and honestly flirts with everyone all the time but no one ever realizes it. Iris is straight but experiments. Lisa is--well--lets go with pan and polyamorous, because she's kind of a wild-child flirting machine, but she falls in love super easy and gets heartbroken really easily, since she didn't get abused into hiding her emotions like Len did and she doesn't have a good wall around her heart yet.) But just because Barry has a crush on Len doesn't mean he likes him all the time, so they fight A LOT. About everything. Barry doesn't let the arguments last more than a day because he believes in not going to bed angry. But sometimes things are just super bad. Barry can draw. (I didn't actually write this in, but it's implied that Barry keeps a drawing journal.) Len steals a drawing he makes one day, of the night his mom died. It hasn't come up again since then--Barry's probably forgotten all about it--but it will in this story, probably. Tony, Clyde, Sam, and Jake were Barry's biggest tormentors. Digger was pretty bad, too. Tony, Jake, and Digger got sent to juvie in seventh grade and never really came back. Jeremy Tell shows up briefly every now and then, but he's really background so he doesn't connect with anyone. Same with Frankie Kane. Hartley went to a private high school instead of the one Barry and co went to. Bette went to boot camp after 10th grade before going into the military at eighteen. Ronnie, Barry, Cisco, and Len were chosen to skip two grades because of their geniusness and overall well-rounded-ness as students (good grades, volunteer work, tutoring, clubs, etc.). Only Cisco and Ronnie chose to do it, though, because Barry just wanted to be normal and Len was going to police academy anyway so there was really no point. Len taught Barry how to fight the summer before 10th grade. Barry got hurt, decided fighting wasn't for him. He's out of practice. He does a few sports, though, in high school, because Len insists that just because you're smart doesn't mean you can't do sports and because he forced Barry to take balance lessons in middle school because "no one is that clumsy unless they just never learned not to be". S Barry had better balance and does a few sports without really getting into it like he does with other school things. Barry, Mark, and Shawna dated in Sophomore year for a couple of months. Len didn't like it--he and Barry got into some nasty disagreements from it. It was worse than any other fight they've ever had, and it took months for them to get back to being besties again. Barry cross-dressed at Junior Prom because Iris found out that he'd been cutting (every now and then for the last few years since his mom died, just to make everything feel a little more in control for a little while, not enough to cause real damage or for anyone to really notice) and blackmailed him into helping her with an experiment. Barika Jones was the name they used, and people were just as annoyed with her as they were with Barry. Len thought she was hot, though, so...But everyone swore not to speak of it again and Iris promised not to tell anybody about the cutting. Barry and Len co-wrote and spoke their graduation speech as co-valedictorians. It was cute. After graduation, Barry spent the first month of vacation in the library working on his summer assignment. Then Len dragged him out to a ton of parties. Iris takes college course locally in between shifts at Jitters. Len goes to police academy in Gotham so he can become a detective in Central. Barry goes to college in Coast City and does field training there, too, before coming back to Central and becoming a CSI. Iris finds out that Barry was shamed in college because he was a baby compared to everyone else. Also when he was doing field training no one believed in him. So he was really low and cut again. Except it wasn't always him doing the damage? Like some people just beat him up. Also he tried smoking the first year at college, but it was super horrible so he stopped. And then he came back to Central and now he won't ever cut again (probably) because he feels better and safer when he has Len and Lisa and Iris and Joe watching his back. Len became a detective but he's not Joe's partner. People don't really like him at CCPD, because he's Lewis' son and can't be trusted but then they start supporting him a little when Joe smacks some sense into one of them. Captain Singh has a soft spot for The West Clan, but he doesn't show it. Also he bosses Barry around personally because he knows the kid isn't getting enough guidance from the Director of CSI in CCPD. Because of this, Barry sees him as his direct boss and sometimes slips up and calls him Director Singh instead of Captain Singh, especially when Singh is yelling at him. Eddie got transferred from Keystone to help in Central because of the big influx of population because of the Particle Accelerator, and he just ends up staying afterwards because Central is his new home. He's still Detective Pretty Boy. Len and Joe don't really like him, but Iris and Barry think he's pretty. When he and Barry talk for the first time (before the lightning), he accidentally geeks about Barry's blog, but it's cool. Then the lightning strikes, and they can't really talk. Also Lisa is a dancer/figure skater and everyone is super proud of her and they love her a lot. Barry is in love with Len but still gets attracted to other people. Len has a little bitty crush on Barry but won't say anything because he doesn't want to fuck everything up. Lisa and Iris and Joe are So Done with both of them but won't tell either one that the other likes them because they respect their privacy and don't want to let on that they know about the crushes. So the three of them know that Barry likes Len and that Len likes Barry, but Len and Barry don't know that they are liked by the other and they also aren't aware that literally everyone knows about their crush. And Len is still pretty convinced that his crush is really anything worth talking about, anyway, because it's really teeny-tiny in his opinion and he still kind of thinks Barry is in love with Iris or maybe even Mark and Shawna. Barry goes to Starling and maybe has a little crush on both Oliver and Felicity? But he just hits on Felicity and it's like they're kindred spirits. Also Oliver looks like Ronnie???? Like whaaaaa? Barry hasn't actually spoken to a lot of his high school buddies since everyone went to college, but they're all on social media, so it's not like everyone ditched. Len, Vukovich, Joe, and Chyre all go to confront Clyde Mardon because he robbed a bank. Chyre gets shot, Len sees that Clyde has a hostage in the plane, the plane takes off. The Particle Accelerator explodes, sending a shock-wave that crashes the plane and sends Len flying back into an ice-covered building. The other three men are protected and Len passes out. In Barry's Lab (yep, that's a proper name), Barry calls Felicity and they talk for a while and he kind of asks her out just a little. Then Barry gets struck by lightning and passes out and that's how it ends! Dun-dun-dun!!!!!!!!

[alittledangerx]

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Sleeping Beauty

( ♔ ) • • • I. Main!AU

“The chill of the wind created little goose bumps along her tan skin as she shivered slightly, lying over the cool grass under her bare back. The lids of her eyelids fluttered as she felt the cool mist of the evening eyes hit her eyelashes. The blue dress she wearing did absolutely not one damn thing to fight against the cold as it clung to her skin. Raising one hand to her head she groaned in pain as the sharp needles pinched at her brain and took a deep breath, a low whimper passing her red lips. What happened? There was blood, and screams…an explosion of glass. Kai was… wait Kai? Where…Jo! Her eyes snapping open as she sat upright on the ground, her heart hammering hard in her chest.” ( READ )

( ♔ ) • • • II. Show!Elena

“Dear Diary: Today will be different. It has to be. I will smile, and it will be believable. My smile will say, “I’m fine, thank you. Yes, I feel much better.” I will no longer be the sad little girl that lost her parents. I will start fresh, be someone new. It’s the only way I’ll make it through.“ ( READ )

( ♔ ) • • • III. Book!Elena

“My brother,” he went on, “is a fool. He thinks that because you look like Katherine you’re weak and easily led like her. But he’s wrong. I could feel your anger from the other side of town. I can feel it now, a white light like the desert sun. You have strength, Elena, even as you are. But you could be so much stronger…” ( READ )

Current Storylines

( ♔ ) • • • I. Safe & Sound

Delightful Dia ( READ ) - “In order to protect Elena and Claudia from the forces out to get them, Damon Salvatore with the help of a witch in New Orleans sends the girls into a place where they will be safe…at least that is what he thinks. He had no idea he sent them literally into a battlefield and that the Hunger Games were about to begin. Follow Elena and Dia as they navigate through the world of Panem, with a slight twist.” 

( ♔ ) • • • II. The Black Pearl

Riptide ( READ ) - Elena's sleeping beauty spell sends her into a new dimension. A realm where fairy tales are real and not just in the minds of small little children.Slipping into a new body and new name, Elena Carina Jones is determined to reunite with her siblings and make her broken family whole. Even if they don't remember... and she is stuck with a certain drunkard Captain Jack that throttling would give result in the greatest joy of her life. Yet, as one adventure begins another continues. Bonnie found a loophole to the spell. As her two worlds collide slowly but surely, will the supernatural world reclaim the Gilbert Girl or will the daughter of a sea goddess and child of pirates, continue to sail out into the night.

( ��� ) • • • III. Ring of Fire

Sempiternal ( READ ) - Elena and a small group of friends, including Anna to her dismay are going up to the Salvatore Cabin for a weekend of relation. However, due to traffic the others are going to be arriving late which leaves Anna and Elena in the cabin alone. Once it gets dark and no one else has arrived, they begin to believe that something isn't right. The intense foreboding feeling of something amiss and a chill running up their spines has the girls running to the phone to call for help. That's when they realize that the phone lines are down and that they've been locked inside. The façade of a relaxing cabin get away was dissolved and replaced with a cage for the two to be tortured in. Trapped in this Ring of Fire.

( ♔ ) • • • IIII. Shadow's Firefly

Blue Eyed Saviour ( Read ) - Summary Here

( ♔ ) • • • V. Flowers in the Attic

Lost Saviour ( Read ) - Summary Here

( ♔ ) • • • VI. The Purge

Kleine Hexe( Read ) - “THIS IS YOUR EMERGENCY BROADCAST SYSTEM ANNOUNCING THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE ANNUAL PURGE SANCTIONED BY THE U.S. GOVERNMENT. — The rules are simple: weapons of class 4 and lower have been authorized for use during the purge and commencing at the siren, any and all crime, including murder will be legal for 12 continuous hours. Two girls find themselves unwilling on the night of the purge. How will they survive after 12 hours of complete and total hell…”

Elena is the daughter of Doctor Greyson Gilbert and older sister to Jeremy Gilbert. Her twin sister Katherine died in the purge the year before after being caught out after hours. At least that is what the family was led to believe.

REASON FOR PURGE: Elena and Jeremy were home alone when their house was attacked. Their father was stuck at the hospital because of a surgery complication, the house was boarded up with a state of the art security system. Only just after the purge began, the security was disabled by none other than Katherine, wanting to get rid of her perfect twin sister and slip into her place. Jeremy and Elena fought their way out and went on the run meeting up with Davina on the streets. Davina is the cousin of Matt, and she travels to Mystic Falls to see her cousin and ends up there during the time of crisis. Matt dies right in front of her, killed by Katherine. So during this time, Davina is on the prowl for Katherine to get revenge for Matt's death. Now, the three of them are on the streets fighting for survival against the purgers and their own blood.

Beatrice "Tris" Levinson

( ♔ ) • • • I. New World

Tris x Levi ( READ ) - Everyone believes that “Levi” as the rest of the world knows him has always been this strong man with a head on his shoulders. That is what he shows them. They don’t see the Eugene I see. The one who beat the crap out of the man who was also known as our sperm donor; to the point he would have killed him if the police didn’t step in because of Agatha, our step-b-itch. He lost control that day, all because he saw his little sister, beaten and bloody on the ground when he came home as a surprise from the military. He lost six months of his life… because of me. Why shouldn’t I risk mine in-order to get him out. Especially, when everyone around us is dying. He is the only family I have left. He promised Jude and I that he would always protect us. Jude is god knows where but me? Always works both ways, big brother. I am coming…

( ♔ ) • • • II. Synthetic World

Tris x Sinclair ( READ ) - words here

( ♔ ) • • • III. Third Time's a Charm

Tris x Jace ( READ ) - My life hasn’t been easy. After going through the unfortunate hell of living in a home that was supposed to be filled with happiness and light, but was all in all a purgatory… a girl deserved some fun right? A reprieve from the torment, and just be a normal 21 year old girl. Only to be quite honest… my luck sucks. One particularly bad weekend, a few friends of mine decided that I needed a break. It was my 21st birthday after all, so why not celebrate it with a bang. The bang being Las Vegas, and sneaking my ass out the house when Frederick was passed out from his alcoholic state and my step-bitch was away at a spa. What was supposed to be a weekend of fun (It was for all it lasted) led to waking up Sunday morning with a ring on my finger and a tall and dangerous man laying in my bed beside me with a marriage certificate nearby. What happens in Vegas my ass! Jace, reminded me of another man in my life that I hated with a passion now. He had the know it all ability, and cocky personality that Jude has… you can imagine how much I didn’t like that. We parted ways with a promise of his lawyer contacting me about the annulment. Only dear old dad answered the phone… leading to me being sent to the Emergency room, Eugene in Jail for almost killing our father after he came back from leave and saw our father pounding me with his fist. Oh and then six months after that the virus hit the world… so the divorce kinda wasn’t on my mind. Well until now… How was I supposed to know that the one-day I decided to volunteer and gather supplies… my past would quite literally run into me?

Concluded Storylines 

( ♔ ) • • • I. Bleeding Love - [4 responses left]

Delightful Dia ( READ ) - Dia is in the French Quarter believing that the others don’t want her in their life anymore after she ran away following the murder of Kol in Mystic Falls. They are in the midst of Hayley and Jackson’s marriage celebration. Elena, lost and confused after the death of yet another loved one, this time the one she was going to spend the rest of eternity with, decides to have her memories wiped by a certain nobleman after almost going through with Alaric erasing Damon. Neither girl knows that it was actually Niklaus, who was responsible for Dia’s disconnect from the Scooby Gang.

( ♔ ) • • • II. Guardian Blood

Poison and Wine ( READ ) - “Katherine and Elena have bonded after the events of the revelation of their true parentage. Elena now pregnant with Matt Honeycutt’s child, finds herself hiding out at Katherine’s home. With the Guardians seeking to continue the bloodline, will any of them remain safe? How does Katherine deal with the fact Elena’s water breakage happens all over her Prada shoes? ***Special Circumstance***

Closed Storylines

WHAT ARE CLOSED STORYLINES? Closed storylines are storylines that I have had over the years where the other writer and I have either stopped talking, the story concluded or the roleplay just died. After so long of being in this verse I realized that not many people are appreciative of the time they had regardless of the circumstances that some friendships have ended or when a person just leaves roleplay completely. You just discard the writing, delete or block the person and all the time & hard work you both put into the story vanishes into thin air. I want to change that.

Some of you may wonder why am I writing responses to people that aren't currently apart of my life. Or save my old writings that never went anywhere... but honestly? Why shouldn't I. To close one chapter in your life, you have to acknowledge and give respect to the past. That's what the history books say. Just because it ended, doesn't mean it was not real.

Therefore, whoever you are. Whatever our story was... In the end of one chapter of my life I learned to appreciate the memories I have had over the years in roleplay. To all my peers in this verse I want to thank you for writing these incredible storylines with me. However, long or short that period was. I hope that whoever is taking the time to read these stories, enjoy it as much as we had writing them.

( ♔ ) • • • I. London Schemes [typing my final response]

Will ( READ ) - AU/AH/Crossover - Who knew that stepping off the plane in London, England would be equivalent to stepping into a rabbit hole? 20 year old, Elena Gilbert was new to the towering walls and beauty of the campus known as Dodgson University. From what she knew, her parents died, and her younger brother was sent to an art school in Georgia, while Lena was in a mental institution because she believed she should have died with her parents. After recovering from the trauma, she was sent to live with her mother’s cousin in England and to study her doctorate program in the acclaimed university, under a new name, Lena Somers. Her fresh start. 

What she didn’t know was that in reality, her memories were wiped clean by Elijah Mikaelson after the love of her life, Damon Salvatore, was left on the other side with her best friend Bonnie Bennett. Although, she originally went to Alaric in the hopes that he would take her memories away, she realized that she couldn’t ask that of her love’s best friend and turned to the one person who could help her start over. Without vampires, the supernatural, the pain and grief, to go back before Stefan walked into her life… before she remembered that Damon met her first. Elijah, agreeing that it was in her best interest, sent her to England, to Judith Sommers, her mother’s cousin with false memories of treatments, and getting into this stable place in her life where she could become the person her parents always wished for. For a month she lived a happy and at ease in her life, but than Damon and Bonnie came back… with the cure and the gang once again reunited with Elena. 

However, before they gave her the cure to transform her to a human once more, they saw how happy she was. Happier than she had ever been in Mystic Falls, and while Damon knew that he couldn’t live an eternity without her, at Jeremy’s insistence they agreed that Elijah would re-wipe Elena’s memories after she took the cure and give her 4 years of freedom from all the supernatural world. Once she started her life after college, her memories would be given to her once more and she would decide if she would blend her two lives together or pick one or the other… Damon promised to always watch out for her, and that he would take care of her loved ones till it was time. 

With the gang gone and Lena starting her first day of college,  no one expected that there would be hidden supernatural crime underground that ruled London, similar to the quarter. Or that a young blonde man, with blue eyes would cast his eyes upon that Somers girl and mistake her for the vampire vixen that was known as Rowan Lockheart…Being the hunter he is, what better way to destroy the enemy who’s family was responsible for the death of his brother. The woman he loved. What better way to erect vengeance, on the young blossom of the crime family? Only poor little Will Oakheart couldn’t be more wrong. 

( ♔ ) • • • II. Crazy in Blood 

Tapout ( READ ) - When Damon killed Aaron, instead of Enzo finding him, it's Elena. After a fight over Damon wanting to kill off Aaron's bloodline and knowing that Aaron would be next, Elena begged him not to, pleading for his life. Damon tells Elena that while he would do anything for her...this isn't one of them. As he was walking out the door, using the last piece she could to get him to stay, Elena tell's him that if he walks out that door she would be done with him. He kept walking, and Elena followed determined to save Aaron's life... unfortunately she was too late. While the two were in the middle of a fight Enzo shows up and he infects her. Damon begins to freaks out because he has been living with this virus, and he doesn't want Elena to suffer like he has. Leaving Mystic Falls, the two set out for New Orleans to find a cure... Only with a vampire nest near by what will the rippers do? And who will be caught in the crossfire... 

( ♔ ) • • • III. Hex Girls - [typing my final response]

Firewater ( READ ) - New to Mystic Falls, Aaron a necromancer begins to have blackouts that lead her to that little graveyard that no one goes to. At least from how it appears. The town itself is in a wreck and chaos is all over, why Aaron's parents brought her here to the hunky dunk town with a clocktower straight out of a creepy movie is beyond her imagination. Which brings her back to the graveyard, past the old mausoleum and deep in the middle, there is a girl writing in her diary. Aaron doesn't know anything about that tainted Gilbert Girl, only while there is chaos brewing all around the girl looks strangely at peace. Sad yet peaceful. Aaron goes up to Elena, not realizing she is an apparition... and begins talking to her. Elena not realizing that Aaron is real... thinks her mind is finally playing tricks on her. Because of bonnie's curse she can't go anywhere. They begin to bond of their tragic lives and past loves, slowly falling into a friendship that would truly be tested when Aaron has to kill the one person she truly loved and trusted in order to test her powers. But also to save her best friend from a trapped life.

( ♔ ) • • • IIII. Forsaken Truths

Black Kitten ( READ ) - When two doppelgängers discover that they are actually sisters who share the same mother and every single thing that they thought they knew about their life was false... what turmoil would that bring? How would Katherine and Elena reconcile the fact that despite being sworn enemies they were connected further through an unbreakable bond? 

Storyline was never kicked off. All we got through was the planning stage... but all that crap alone was brilliant! I will be putting a close to this sl with the writing of the scene created in the gifs. It seems right.

( ♔ ) • • • V. Fireball

Charlotte, NC ( READ ) - It started again. The nightmares that left her sleepless as the auburn haired-girl remembered her past; that put Zanesville, front and center of her mind. Throw into the melting pot the fact that her Mate, Angel, would never be hers… yet her heart clearly hasn’t accepted that. Charlotte did the one thing that would get her to calm down… Drink.

This was a piece of writing I did when I was apart of the rpg Cursed! Check them out, they are still around.

( ♔ ) • • • VI. Contained- [typing my final response]

Firewater ( READ ) - Words go here.

[mavwrekmarketing]

Image caption Seagull (left) and Monkman have been the stars of the Jeremy Paxman-fronted current series

University Challenge is, quite simply, the most fiendishly difficult quiz show on TV.

Most of us can just about get a few questions right on Eggheads or The Chase – but few of us would have a chance against Jeremy Paxman.

With many of its viewers totally flummoxed by the questions – perhaps it’s not surprising that the BBC Two quiz show tends to go viral for other reasons.

Namely, the quirks of its contestants.

Eric Monkman and Bobby Seagull have been the breakout stars of the current series (more on them in a minute), but they’re far from the first to find fame on the show.

The invention of social media has given the programme a new lease of life and helped many contestants develop their own cult following.

Image caption Gail Trimble (second right) became a viewer favourite in 2008

“University Challenge works extremely well for this YouTube generation,” says Tom Eames, senior TV reporter at Digital Spy.

“One funny moment or question can be so easily shared on Twitter now – it’s the same when something rude happens on Countdown or someone makes a fool of themselves on Pointless.”

Eames thinks another reason the show has found a new audience is how much more fashionable it has become to be super-smart.

“In the last few years, everyone loves calling themselves a geek or a nerd, even though in the real world they might not be,” he said.

“Shows like The Big Bang Theory have recently flourished. So you when someone genuinely seems to have some geeky superpowers like Monkman, we like to big them up.”

Ahead of this season’s final on Monday evening, let’s take a look back at a few of University Challenge’s viral sensations:

Eric Monkman and Bobby Seagull

Image caption Monkman and Seagul finally came head-to-head at the semi-final

The current series saw two contestants – both captains of rival teams from Cambridge University – find social media fame.

Monkman in paraticular inspired a legion of online fans who identified themselves with the hashtag #monkmania.

His facial expressions and tendency to deliver answers with an upward inflection won him a place in the hearts of many viewers.

He and Seagull each went viral in their own right before they finally faced each other on screen in the semi-final, where Monkman narrowly edged victory.

Image copyright @Bobby_Seagull

Image caption Monkman and Seagull have become friends since appearing on the show

“I would say Monkman is in the all time top five [contestants],” The Independent’s James Rampton told the BBC.

“There’s a tendency in our culture to be very homogeneous, everyone must be cool, be good looking. But Monkman, I hope he wouldn’t mind me saying, is a bit of a geek.”

Monkman and Seagull, it later transpired, were friends off-air and caught the train down to London together when they appeared on The One Show last month.

At this point we’d usually demand they be given their own TV show – but we’re pretty sure we’d never understand anything they were saying.

Gail Trimble

Image caption Gail Trimble went viral in 2009 after her appearance on the show

One of the most memorable University Challenge contestants of recent years was Gail Trimble, of Corpus Christi, Oxford.

She answered around two thirds of the questions on her own, winning more points than all three of her teammates combined.

Her performances quickly caught the attention of viewers, with many suggesting she was the smartest-ever contestant.

She was particularly popular with a certain genre of men’s magazines, who at one point asked whether she would ever consider a career change.

“My brother received a Facebook message from Nuts, saying ‘Can we have your sister’s email address, we want her to do a tasteful shoot’,” Trimble told BBC Breakfast.

“So he sent them a reply saying ‘Seriously mate, would you send your sister’s contact details to Nuts?'”

Ralph Morley

The name might not ring a bell – but Ralph Morley was the bravest contestant of them all: the man who spoke back to Jeremy Paxman.

Here’s how the glorious exchange went:

Paxman: “During the 20th Century, who held the position of prime minster of the United Kingdom for the…”

Morley: [Buzzing in] “Margaret Thatcher.”

Paxman: [Looking shocked] “How did you know I was going to ask for the longest period of time?

Morley: “Well what else was it going to be?”

Audience: “Ooooooh!”

Paxman: “Okay well let’s see if you get these bonuses right. They’re on French land borders, you smart arses.”

We salute you, Ralph.

Oscar Powell

In 2015, Oscar Powell of Peterhouse, Cambridge took the concept of facial expressions to a whole new level.

The Geological Sciences student, who looks a little bit like Michael Gove, had one of the most animated human faces in the history of human faces.

If he was struggling to answer a question, his jaw would drop, his face would scrunch up or his tongue would poke out as he tried to arrive at the answer.

After huge reaction on social media, Powell tweeted: “Yes, I know I’m odd.” But his fanbase continued to revel in his performances declare their love for him.

Eames says: “It used to be rare for normal people to come famous off the back of a TV show, but the line between celebrity and non celebrity is so blurred now.

“Ten years ago, someone could appear on the programme but be forgotten again the next day, but that’s not the case anymore.

“As a result, people who appear on shows like this fall under the celebrity bracket, so there’s a potential for them to become fair game to viewers.”

Famous faces

Image caption Stephen Fry, Miriam Margolyes and David Starkey all appeared on University Challenge

Long before they were famous, some of Britain’s most distinguished brains made their first TV appearances on University Challenge.

Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes, historian David Starkey, and general national treasure Stephen Fry are among the quiz show’s alumni.

Actress Miriam Margolyes even claims her appearance on the programme in 1963 marked the first time anybody had ever said the f-word on TV.

In 2011, she told Graham Norton: “I got a question wrong, and I [swore], and they bleeped me out so you saw my face [saying the word], but nothing actually came out.”

Had Twitter been around in the 1960s, we’re pretty sure that would’ve gone viral.

Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.

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