#i remember i would get into arguments with my brother if team chaos or order should win (TEAM CHAOS BTW)

[teamemperor]

im thinking about splat2′s final splatfest oh my god i miss splat2. 

[mathclassd00dles-blog]

Hi can you tell me more of your Rise Alopex whst relationship she has with each of the turtles

Omg yes!

My original plan was to make a rise comic series that had Alopex as one of the main story branches. I have been busy with work and haven't had much time to work on it lately but things are starting to slow down so I might have time to go back to it soon.

Much like the other iterations of Alopex, she was created on purpose, but this time she was created by John Bishop as some kind of animal super soldier for the EPF(she's not the first one he’s created either) and she was raised in the EPF by her ’handler’(think like a K-9 handler in the military or police force, someone who raises, trains, and ’handles’ the animal is usually considered a handler) he is currently unnamed for the time being.

⬇️More under the cut⬇️

Her first time in New York was just before the invasion, John Bishop ordered that she(along with some other EPF mutants) were needed in the base in New York so she was flown in from the California base. She was there during the invasion and for a short while after before she was flown back home although she found it a little suspicious how Bishop seemingly knew about the invasion beforehand. Koya and Takeshi(tiger claw) are also mutants in the EPF.

Almost a year later she is requested to come back to NYC for a mission. She was raised on the belief that she was a soldier to protect the earth and all its residents from aliens. This is also when she meets turtles up close for the first time.

Her relationship with the turtles starts off a bit rocky because she is technically working for ’the other side’. To the Hamato clan she's a villain and to her, they are a thorn in her side every time she sees them while on a mission. She generally tries to avoid them as much as possible rather than engage.

The first turtle she meets is Donnie and oh my stars do they start out hating each other guts. It was a fight at first sight for those two. A pull of a tail and a bite to the arm, chaos ensued. The animosity does cool down a little between those two(eventually) and their quarrels fall into some kind of rhythmic rivalry. They throw punches and insults at each other. The first time Leo sees how they interact he calls them an old married couple and they both get offended by this statement (she doesn't meet the other turtles till months later).

She won't get to meet Mikey or Leo for a good long while, at least not while she is still working for the EPF under John Bishop. There’s a lot of character development that has to happen inbetween before she really meets the rest of the brithers a bit more personally.

The first time she meets Raph is when she falls into hidden city and accidentally bumps into him. It's only a quick interaction but she looks at him and thinks he's a dinosaur because he is just MASSIVE. but that is the only interaction that happens between those two for the time being. They don't introduce themselves or anything at this moment they won't even see each other again till she is out of the EPF.

The first time Leo meets Alopex, she is critically injured and ends up getting help from the team medic(Leo).

Mikey would probably meet her after she gets some medical attention and he would realize that she is the one who was annoying his purple-clad genius brother Donnie lately but she was always left unnamed during his rants. Mikey secretly ships it thinking that his brother stepped into an enemies-to-lovers trope. Which in all honesty is true. But those two don't get there for a long time.

But I think for the most part they would all get along. She and Donnie will also get along too... eventually… their bickering arguments are always a good show, remember to bring popcorn.

Alopex hates Bishop's guts, she always has since she was a kit. She was mutated at a very young age by Bishop because his research showed that the younger the subject is at the time of mutation the more control they have over it and the better they can train certain habits of their species in or out.

She has trauma regarding certain punishments while growing up, one of which is the muzzle. To Bishop, the muzzle punishment has shown to be the most effective towards her. (it's not a normal one either, she can't take it off herself)

She's about 17 years old present day, 16 during the invasion. She's technically a red fox but since she has melanism her fur is mostly black with a few white areas, on her chest and stomach, each paw, tail, mouth, and dots for eyebrows and bright yellow eyes.

She doesn't have powers since her mutagen is not from an oozesquito but from a research institute called TCRI, or at least that's what she's been told.

She loves pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins, and just about any kind of pumpkin-flavored treat, however, she's also a fan of fried chicken. Favorite color is green.

She also loves motorcycles and has a good understanding of how machines and engines work because of it. (this is something that Alopex and Donnie could possibly bond over)

She hates heights(specifically when flying, planes, jets, helicopters, all of it), the muzzle, John Bishop, and Takeshi(mutual hate, more story on him later if interested), and tomatoes.

(my art style changes multiple times throughout this post, some sketches are from months ago and some are more recent)

Please let me know if you have any more questions about this au!

[bxckybarness]

The End of the Universe

part of “in love, out of time: TVA drabbles”

summary: you and the team travel to haven hills, alabama, where some unexpected twists and turns await you

word count: 1700+

a/n: i'm also working on some stories based on today’s episode, so keep an eye out for them :)

Unbelievable.

It was all just unbelievable.

Pompeii had gone so perfectly, that you were now getting ready to visit some Class 10 Apocalypse in Alabama. It sounded thrilling, at least until you got there. Immediately upon arriving in Haven Hills, you were struck with how massive the hurricane really was. You had never felt such tension in the air before, had never seen lightning so intense, had never felt rain so painful upon hitting your skin. Even worse, the faces of those running towards the superstore – terrified, hopeless, like they’d already seen death. And perhaps they had seen death, as it seemed to be looming in the sky above you. The TVA really wasn’t messing around when they named this a Class 10. It was unnerving, but you did your best to brush it off. You were here for a reason, you couldn’t get sidetracked now.

And right on cue, you’re brought out of your state of disbelief by the commanding voice of B-15, urging your small team to move. Sirens blare as the TVA hunters, accompanied by you, Loki and Mobius, quickly make their way across the parking lot. A streak of lightning brightens the sky as you reach the front doors and you notice a slight flinch from Loki, who is no doubt reminded of his brother. He meets your eyes and you give him a soft smile in an effort to comfort him as you both step through the automatic doors.

Creepy is the best word to describe it. The store is oddly quiet. Occasionally soft cries can be heard from somewhere else in the building. You shudder, a product of both your soaked clothes and the sudden unwell feeling you get from the walls around you. You notice someone moving closer to you and can immediately tell it’s Loki. He must’ve sensed your discomfort. You turn to look at him and he gives you that infamous dashing smile before shifting on his feet, a wave of green crawling over him. You roll your eyes, but can’t hold back your smile, when you notice he’s dry.

“Oh, don’t look so annoyed,” he says with a smirk, before waving his hand in front of you.

You vaguely hear a protest from B-15 and Loki’s snarky response, but you can’t pay attention to anything other than the fact that your cold chills have completely disappeared. You smile and hold out your arms, completely baffled by the realization that you were dry, too. Perhaps you would ask him to show you what else he could do when all this chaos was over.

The joy that being warm brings you is cut short when thunder shakes the building once again, causing the electric to go out. It takes a few seconds before the emergency lights turn on and you sigh to yourself - that certainly didn’t help the creepy factor.

“Take both teams and sweep the storm shelter,” B-15 orders some of her fellow hunters.

Mobius nods and begins to walk away from the group, you and Loki following behind him, “The variants and I will check out the greenhouse. We’ll meet back at the-“

“No,” the hunter says, cutting off Mobius mid-sentence.

“No?” Mobius responds, spinning around wildly to meet her gaze.

“You go with D-90 and her,” she says nodding towards you. “He stays with me.”

“He’s under my supervision, too.”

“This is my field-op, Mobius. If he’s not a threat, then-“

“Of course, he’s a threat. She is too. Don’t you remember the Time Theater?”

“You are more than welcome to go back and take this up with Renslayer-“

“We are not going back now, the Variant is here. This is our chance.”

You and Loki share a quick, confused gaze before Loki quickly cuts into the argument, “Mobius. It’s fine. Really, it’s fine.”

You look at the people standing around you and sigh. If this was any indication of how this mission was to go – well, you weren’t incredibly enthused about it.

“You can trust me,” Loki says calmly to Mobius before shifting his attention to the other hunters in the room. “I know that’s something that needs to be earned, and I will.”

You let out a small laugh at Loki’s words, not unnoticed by the others in the group. You ignore the pointed, yet amused, gaze from Loki and instead focus on Mobius, who’s now wearing a smile that’s a little too big for Loki’s liking.

“It’s always the people you can’t trust telling you to trust them,” he says with a laugh before moving to join you across the circle. “Shall we?”

“We shall,” you say, all too amused at the situation at hand. You turn to give Loki a wink and a wave before disappearing from the conversation with Mobius, D-90 and the other hunters in tow.

When you reach the makeshift shelter in the storage room, you’re again met by haunted, hollowed faces. As you walk around the room searching for the missing reset charges, you wonder what this timeline’s version of you is doing now. Are you still living in New York City? Are you safe? Interrupting your thoughts, one of the hunters comes out of the nearby office, speaking loudly about “finding her.” You and Mobius exchange a quick glance and he asks you to stay in the shelter area, just in case. You nod and watch as Mobius and the hunters disappear into the next room, leaving you as the only TVA agent amongst the sheltering citizens of Haven Hills. You sigh and continue your walk.

As you move to pass the door leading back to the store aisles, you hear what sounds like a scuffle. Your fists tense instinctively and you pause. You glance over your shoulder, ensuring Mobius was still in the office, before peaking your head out into the opening. You see nothing in your immediate vision and against your best interest, you slowly follow the grunts and sounds of falling shelves.

When you find the fight, you realize it’s Loki and, a large, burly man? But where’s B-15? You watch for a moment, Loki’s back to you. You’re hidden here, the pair can’t see you and it’s the perfect opportunity to eavesdrop on the conversation. Or at least it was perfect, until the man sends Loki flying into the display in front of you.

“Shit,” you say, bending over to lay a hand on Loki’s shoulder as he sits up, “You okay?”

Upon hearing you behind him, Loki whips around, eyes wide.

“Darling, as happy as I am to see you, you need to leave,” he says, a hint of worry in his tone, “Now.”

“Why?” you ask incredulously. “Clearly, you need some backup here.”

You reach to your belt to grab your knife but when you look up to spot the aggressive man, he’s gone. You look back to Loki, who’s staring over your shoulder, poison in his gaze.

“Don’t you dare,” he says, with a growl. You look at him, confused; surely he wasn’t talking to you.

“And miss the fun?” a man’s voice says from so close behind you, you can feel it on the back of your neck.

Well, shit. You grip your weapon a little harder and prepare to turn, but that’s when you feel the hand on your wrist. Immediately, you see green behind your eyes and feel a squeezing in your head, like somebody is physically playing with your brain. You try to focus on fighting it, but it’s turning into pain. You’re about to give in when the sensation suddenly vanishes and you drop to the floor, exhausted.

It takes you a few minutes before you’re able to retrieve your senses. The first thing you notice is Loki next to you, a gentle hand on your forehead and worried look on his face. The next, the unknown man, lying unconscious a few feet away.

“Are you alright?” Loki asks you.

You don’t have time to answer, except for a nod.

What do you want from me?

What do you want from me?

You and Loki exchange glances and he helps you to your feet quickly. He moves to stand in front of you, protectively, as a hooded figure steps from between the aisles. The hood comes down, revealing a blonde woman. You can feel Loki tense in front of you, this was certainly not what he had expected himself to look like. Not what you had expected either.

What is this about?

“This isn’t about you…” she retorts.

Loki takes a step towards her, “Right..”

Everything happens quickly then – so quickly it feels like you’re moving in fast forward. The backup electric goes out, plunging you and the rest of the store into complete darkness. Reset charges light up throughout the entire store, glowing purple, and disappearing to places unknown. You breath hitches in your throat and you find yourself leaning back against the shelving behind you – this was not good. She had known you’d come – this was a part of her plan. Had you even figured out what her plan was?

You vaguely hear footsteps approaching you and the sound of Mobius calling out your names from somewhere in the distance. You watch in front of you as the store is suddenly filled with a red glow and the Variant types something on the TemPad in her hand. The atmosphere feels tense as she opens a portal and steps through it with a small, beckoning wave toward Loki.

You notice the change in Loki’s demeanor as he moves toward the time portal – he means to follow her. You sigh when he looks back at you, indecisiveness written all over his face.

“Loki,” you mumble, moving from your leaning position to stand next to him. You reach a hand up to his cheek, silently asking him what to do next. He looks down at you, searching your eyes for a sign of agreement. You nod subtly. You would follow this man to the end of the universe, and it seems that’s exactly what you’re about to do.

Mobius is growing closer, he’s pleading for Loki to stop, for you to turn back. You both glance back at him, who’s full on sprinting at this point, and then at each other. Loki takes a deep breath and grabs your hand. You give it a squeeze before you both take off for the time portal.

The last thing you hear is Mobius’ cries before the portal envelopes you both, transporting you to a location unknown.

[astarlightmonbebe]

the devil judge ep. 4: thoughts

i know i already wrote like five paragraphs of thoughts yesterday. well it turns out i had some more, though this post mostly focuses on what we learned in episode four, as well as other questions, and some analysis.

yohan and the fire.

the number one question we’re (the viewers) left with at the end of the episode is how much of the story yohan tells gaon is true. considering what we know, i would say most of it is, but likely there are some crucial parts are different. now, this isn’t only based on yohan’s cryptic, ‘i knew it, people like stories like this.’ 

here’s what we know about the fire, and about yohan:

1) in episode one, at the ending when yohan looks at gaon, he sees a fire, and remembers seeing his brother looking at him. he also remembers touching his brother’s face, with what looks like a teddy bear in his hand - which i’m pretty sure we see elijah holding in the episode four fire. since this is introduced first, in episode one, and is obviously a true flashback, i am assuming that this actually happened. however, in yohan’s events, we don’t actually see this scene. of course, it might just have been omitted between yohan crying and then him leaving the church, but it’s certainly interesting, especially because parts we see in flashback usually make an appearance when the full memory is revealed. also note that the scene of his brother looking at him happened after the fire was actually put out, in the blue lighting, when he should have already been dead - of course, it could have just been what yohan saw when he looked at gaon, or it could have actually happened. 

2) the firefighter. in episode two, i think, we see yohan looking at homeless people and checking their wrists. his motive is confirmed in episode four, when he finally finds the firefighter who stole isaac’s watch. however, the firefighter is terrified enough of yohan that he has a panic attack of sorts when he sees him and then flees, eventually accumulating in his suicide. now, this reaction seems out of proportion compared to what we saw in yohan’s flashback. yes, the firefighter is guilty of stealing from a dead person, but there’s really no reason for him to be that scared of yohan. he could have just given the watch back and run away, but he fled as if terrified for his life instead. this insinuates that the firefighter had a negative experience with yohan during the church fire. also i’m 99% sure that the watch yohan takes back is the same one he gave to gaon which is interesting for many reasons.

3) elijah herself seems to hate yohan. now, this could be because she hates him for leaving her parents there and rescuing her instead of trying to save them, but apparently she wants him dead, which is a little concerning, especially since they are uncle and niece and live together. her reaction is strange towards someone who supposedly saved her life, and it doesn’t just seem to be because she wishes she hadn’t survived, etc. 

4) yohan’s line at the end itself. this line clearly indicates that he told his story for the purpose of manipulating gaon. if the story itself is more sinister, it makes sense for him to share a version that would make gaon clearly empathize with him.

my conclusion based on all of this is that the events likely happened in the order, but that yohan’s position in all of this might have differed a bit, and not been as heroic as initially described. yohan genuinely hates the people in power, believes in the cruelty of the world, and has a reason to. however, he also benefits immensely from making the events more sympathetic towards him, which makes it hard for us, as viewers, to completely trust him. all i can say is that i hope he’s not lying entirely, because if he lied with the purpose of manipulating gaon and steering him away from the actual truth, by telling a story he knew would make gaon feel strongly about due to his own trauma and backstory, then that’s just a disaster in the making.   

gaon as isaac’s lookalike.

this episode clearly established the story of kang isaac, who gaon shares a remarkable similarity to. there’s a possibility that he is isaac’s son, but that feels like it wouldn’t fit. gaon looks like he’s in his mid to late twenties. yohan is probably somewhere in his thirties, but it’s hard to tell with men that look like that lol. there’s at least a ten year age gap between them in my opinion. elijah is probably in her mid teens, given it has been ten years since the fire and she was a young child then. still, the ages don’t exactly match up, and there’s no scenario for how that could have occured, so why does he look exactly like isaac? 

there’s also the fact that no one else has noted his resemblance to isaac. i can understand why the other rich people didn’t, but jung sunah spoke directly to gaon about isaac, but didn’t seem to note any similarity. now, it has been ten years since his death, and i think if people aren’t looking for similarity they won’t see it, especially since glasses change a person’s face, but the jarring similarity should have at least turned some heads.

yohan is seen to give gaon isaac’s watch. this is symbolic for many reasons. one of them, like yohan said, is because he’s syncing gaon to yohan’s time, another way of demonstrating how yohan is introducing gaon into his world, bringing an outsider in. but the fact that he gave gaon a watch that belonged to his dead brother who looks exactly like gaon says something else. almost as if gaon is transforming into isaac, or something weird like that. it was just weird, period, and yohan obviously made it a deliberate choice. 

gaon and yohan in general.

i already talked about them quite a bit, and a lot of other people have as well, but this episode really served. first there was the white vs. black, especially when introducing gaon to the corrupt world of the rich. the white coat initially protects gaon in a way, but he takes it off when meeting with the actual rich people, as if his kind morality is not allowed there, further demonstrated by yohan bodily throwing him out of his chair when he tried to speak up. although jinjoo also went with yohan to a social event, gaon is invited to the intimate gathering of the top tier organizations, given a seat at the table, with yohan basically wanting him to see things as they are at the moment, making him aware of what yohan himself knows.

there was also the scene in the car, when yohan jerks the wheel. i think this scene was super interesting because it clearly demonstrates how yohan is just. not really that sane. which isn’t exactly what i mean, but i don’t know how else to describe it, because yohan isn’t exactly mentally unstable, though he certainly seems to be. instead, the yohan of today is just a mirror of the yohan who the priest described as the devil. he thrives off chaos. yes, his actions as a child were inventive and clever, but it also demonstrates how yohan can and will exploit other people for no other reason than enjoyment. the live court gives him the opportunity to do this to the whole world. he has a flair for dramatics, he’s the gamemaster, carefully orchestrating everything and enjoying the results for his benefit. not only is he making himself popular, but he’s turning himself into a godlike idol, which is honestly blasphemous considering the fact that he’s a judge, but it makes a lot of sense when you consider the fact that he’s been called the devil, the judge robes look like a priest’s robes instead, he has the symbol of the cross on his back (scar), etc...it all adds up, and the religious imagery is frankly insane. one wonders if he’ll end up a martyr, or cast into fiery pits. 

in cast interviews, or the clips that i’ve seen, gaon’s character has been referred to as an angel of sorts, a ray of hope. this is obviously in stark contrast to yohan, who is darkness, who is gray morality. gaon believes in the idea of justice taught in school, which i think makes sense when you consider the fact that his childhood was likely extremely unfair: living in poverty, parents killing themselves because of debt. he believes in lawful justice almost as if he has to, to have a chance to change things. he doesn’t understand what yohan is trying to make him understand: that lawful justice will never apply to the rich, that fairness doesn’t matter to million and billionaires, because they can change the law however they please the suit their benefits. it’s funny because that is what yohan is proving with the public, that the rich can be brought to justice. i’m really interested to see how their views will change when they get to know each other better and/or team up. there’s a lot of potential there (yes i’ve said this like five times. it’s all i think about right now.).

jung sunah.

i actually don’t have much more to say on that character, but as she’s revealed to be the actual head of the social responsibility foundation, we’re left wondering if mr. seo is just a figurehead, or if she just gained power by controlling him. idk if this makes sense - is she in charge charge of everything, or just in charge of mr. seo? i think next episode will more clearly demonstrate this.

the public, the ethics of live court shows, etc.

this episode was by far the most concerning one when it came to the live court show. whereas their first case was something that was clearly evil and neatly tied up, youngmin’s case was a brutal display of the power of the public and what it means when someone has the power to manipulate the public. youngmin definitely deserved to be punished. i think it’s actually super funny how his argument was that they didn’t have the right to judge him, when he did exactly that to everyone who suffered from his abuse. however, public flagellation seemed absurd. despite most people saying he deserved it, there was also the vibe that most people didn’t believe it would actually be shown. however, when it was, you could see that most of the public was deeply unsettled by this. yohan’s cult was also demonstrated in this scene, from the people cheering. 

was youngmin’s punishment justice? maybe, in a way. i don’t think there really was a punishment that would be right for him. flogging would scare him, but it also ignites his anger. in prison he might live a better life than most, but he would also be kept away from people he could hurt, which is kind of the purpose of prisons.

the flogging felt very dystopian, but i think it also showed the danger of the live court show perfectly. not only did it incite people and their bloodthirst at being offered a sort of justice, but it also showed how people feel when confronted with a decision they chose. over 95% of people chose for that punishment to be carried out, but few appeared to actually enjoy seeing it carried out. it’s a lot easier to click a button and feel as if you don’t matter in the large scheme of things than it is to see what happened as a result of you and many other people choosing to do something. it showed the power of the public, or more exactly, how yohan was able to manipulate the public into torturing cha kyunghee and ripping her family apart slowly. 

at the end of the day, i doubt few (of the viewers, at least, though i don’t really know) were actually satisfied or happy by youngmin’s punishment. it might have been satisfying to see his court breakdown, but when it comes down to it, it’s just more human suffering. 

it also begs the question of if yohan will ever be put on trial. could that even happen? it seems an almost inevitable conclusion to his trajectory right now - when you fight corruption with corruption, the only thing left when the corruption is gone is your corrupted self - but i think right now he’s also building the public as a way to protect himself, which has proved right so far. it’s interesting to wonder if the public will ever turn on him, and what will happen if public opinion shifts.

[mickstart]

what do you think are some iconic/memorable schumi moments? i just got into f1 and would like to know more about him bc somehow i can’t really find anything like that about him.... just stats which are incredibly impressive but i can’t find anything about how he behaved or just anything about his personality..... thanks <3

:) Hi anon, thank you for unleashing the beast.

Ok I love you for asking me this thank you SO MUCH. Welcome to the circus I’m glad you’re here! Also yeah, Schumi is often talked about in terms of statistics and not as a human, Which is a shame bc like! Schumi is fascinating and the dynamics on the grid in late 90s F1 is so much fun! Also, this is mainly going to be late 90s -> early 2010s stuff bc I was born in 98 so uhhh I didn’t properly witness ANY 90s stuff and had to learn about it.

OK so I got super carried away but I’ve divided this into 3 sections: Drives/races that I think showcase some of his talents, human moments we need to talk about more, and Chaotic Little Bitch moments. The key thing to remember w/ Schumi is that he personally tends to be nice but as soon as you put him in a competition, Bastard Mode activates like a cat’s pupils going wide.

I am so sorry for the following short essay. Also some crashes are briefly mentioned but only ones with absolutely no injuries and there’s no details.

Chaotic Little Bitch Moments

Schumi debuted as a SUBSTITUTE driver for Jordan when one of their drivers was in police custody (yes. really.) The highest a Jordan had qualified all year was 10th and in his DEBUT at SPA, one of the toughest tracks, in the middle of the season, Schumi qualified that Jordan 7th! THEN his clutch failed before the first lap was even complete, but Benetton and Jordan WENT TO COURT to fight each other to sign him for their team before the next race in Monza. He couldn’t debut normally he HAD to cause a scene and set the tone.

The Red Strings of Fate: He qualified 7th, his iconic 7 starred helmet, his first victory next year was ALSO at Spa - his first complete race would be at Monza, Ferrari Holy Ground, and he finished 5th which 👀 1) he was immediately racing with The Greats. 2) Mr 5 Championships With Ferrari.

Winning a race by taking a stop and go penalty on the last lap, crossing the finish line in the pits, and making such a complicated argument about said penalty that in a hearing that was SUPPOSED to be Mclaren protesting the race result the stewards scrapped the entire penalty and the 3 who awarded it handed in their licenses??? Iconic.

Austria 2002 where Rubens was ordered to give the win to Michael. And then Michael fucking made him stand on the top step on the podium like “oh no no no RUBENS deserves this” and made a big SHOW out of it and its like “Michael stop you’re not making it heartwarming you’re making it WORSE Michael STOP” The Tension of germany 2010 podium VS the theatricality of THIS podium.

Team orders were banned because of this which also makes this indirectly responsible for Fernando Is Faster Than You having to be a coded message. You can’t escape him,

Blocking Alonso in Monaco qualifying and then, years later in 2010, overtaking Alonso technically illegally at Monaco (the race was ending under safety car, but the safety car doesn’t lead them over the line it pits and they’d crossed the safety car line and the regulations were NOT specific about the rules) and getting a 20 second penalty bc Damon Hill was a steward. Haunting FERNANDO specifically at Monaco like the ghost of christmas past? Getting a harsh penalty because ANOTHER driver he’d fucked over was a steward? Forcing the FIA to rewrite the rulebook to account for his nonsense when he was in his FOURTIES? I don’t know another chaos king.

Winning the 1995 championship by crashing into Damon Hill, getting AWAY with it for some reason, and then trying to do the same thing in 1997 to Villeneuve, failing to do so and simply rebounding off of him harmlessly, almost COMICALLY, and beaching his own car in a gravel trap at which point the FIA said “I have had ENOUGH of you Wacky Races Man!” and disqualified him from the entire championship

Forcing Mika off the track so bad at Spa 2000 that Mika realized the only way he was gonna be able to get past him was to re-invent the overtake and go for it whilst they were passing a backmarker. (The overtake itself is at 2:05 in the video but the build up to it is Important bc the key part it’s not just badass, it only happened bc Mika knew who he was dealing with.)

Spa 1998 was a Ridiculously Chaotic race it truly was the Mugello 2020 of its year, and after a crash at the start that took out almost the entire grid Schumi accidentally collided with Coulthard later in the race. (The teams used to have a spare car at every race then, so the race was able to continue after a restart.) This wasn’t a racing thing, Coulthard was getting lapped. So something in Schumi SNAPS, and he storms down the pitlane and tries to fight Coulthard while the mclaren and ferrari mechanics both hold him back and finally drag him away. He projected into the future, saw Coulthard was gonna talk non-stop shit about Seb, and acted accordingly.

Monaco 2012 Pole don’t talk to me about this I still can’t believe the audacity of this man to get the only pole of his comeback, at MONACO, at the ONE RACE where he had a 5 place grid penalty to take!!

In general, I know Cheating Bad but. I HAVE to admire the brainpower it must take to have the rulebook so memorized that whilst driving an F1 car Schumi could spot a loophole the size of the eye of a needle and then dance through it, forcing the FIA to add ANOTHER page to the rule book specially for him bc nobody else even REALISED that loophole existed.

Human Moments

A quick rant about Mika and Schumi’s entire friendship. After Spa 2000 Mika goes up to Michael, says something like “Don’t ever do that again” then they’re friends again. They had this mutual understanding that Racing was not Reality. This goes all the way back to their F3 days they were rivals AND friends for their entire career. They truly were the Sewis of the era if Sebastian was like 50% more evil. Their entire dynamic is “You’re the only motherfucker in this pit lane who can handle me”. Schumi would do some bullshit and every other driver would throw up their hands in frustration and Mika would just go “Okay” and drive better to put him in his place bc he was the only one who could keep up, and Schumi very visibly LOVED that he’s grinning after Mika owns his entire ass with that overtake at Spa. They were unstoppable force meets immovable object and I’m so sad their rivalry isn’t more talked about bc the way Mika is the only driver who can get him to behave like a normal human being is SO entertaining.

This is a sad one so I won’t link it but he started crying in the 2000 Monza press-conference with his brother and Mika when he equaled one of Senna’s records. The press kept trying to ask questions about it and Mika just has this death grip on his shoulder and tries to get them to stop or let them take a break and it’s so sad but also important to know about.

Once said he didn’t want Mick to race in F1 bc the pressure of his name would put Mick under so much stress and he wanted his son to be happy. (He fully supported Mick in his endeavors! But only after making absolutely sure it was what Mick wanted, and making sure he knew he could just race for fun if he wanted and it didn’t have to be F1)

This whole interview just after Mick was born with the Schumacher family. Special shout out to Gina on his head the entire video and also Corinna talking to the press while Michael is captivated by Mick. Me too Michael.

Once allegedly pleaded to take a stray kitten home from the track?

I reblogged this yesterday but. Sticking like glue to Sebastian at an F1 test and immediately being like “This is my new son he’s gonna go far”. There’s a lot of pictures out there also of Michael being a guest at the karting races Seb went to as a kid and baby Seb visibly losing his fucking mind at being given a trophy by his idol. Every day of my life I think about him trying to ruffle Seb’s hair through his helmet at Brazil 2012

WInning the championship in 2000. Him thanking the entire team individually and pausing mid-celebration to kiss his wife Corinna so tenderly it’s in the F1 opening. Also, the way it literally cuts from the rest of McLaren looking like they’re attending a funeral to Mika grinning at him and hugging him fucking SENDSSSSS me.

Schumi was a little shit in all the 2010-12 press conferences like, lowering Lewis’ chair, playing with a microphone wire, but ESPECIALLY corrupting baby Seb and getting him to mess with Nico Rosberg.

He’s just GOOFY! Like I refuse to let him be remembered as a terrifying force of nature he was so goofy kind of similarly to Seb. PLEASE watch this incredibly awkward interview he did with Coulthard on a golf buggy where they both had to pretend they hadn’t thought about murdering each other at least once. I think Sky F1 should force Brocedes to do this when covid’s over. “Do you mind if I drive?” “Yes.”

EDIT: I CANNOT BELIEVE I forgot the 1999 Canada press conference where Eddie Irvine and Mika Hakkinen get into a water fight and Schumi immediately grabs a towel and hides behind it and is like “I had NOTHING to do with it” 🥺 adorable, actually

A lot of people at Ferrari, including Rob Smedley (who was on the other side of the garage with Felipe Massa so not in his inner circle) have said that a lot of the success of the team came from Schumi’s LEADERSHIP more than anything, that he’d make the team get together to bond all the time. When Schumi moved to Ferrari in 1996 they were NOT dominant. He did the same thing Lewis did - went to a team that everybody said would be a huge mistake and helped build them up behind the scenes.

THIS bit of the Canada 2011 Rewind where his engineer gives him the strategy and he’s like “... OkaAaAaAay?” and then when it turns out to be the wrong strategy he cheerfully tells them it’s too late. Little shit.

Speaking of Mercedes I also wanna say that like. They were a MESS in 2012 and his car DNF’d because of a failing on their part MULTIPLE times. (In Canada qualifying his DRS was stuck open and they couldn’t close it.) He did not say a single bad word about them EVER even though the press used this to attack him non-stop as washed-up and bad without Ferrari to cheat for him. At Ferrari he was the exact same with the team, any bastard antics Schumi had for his rivals did not extend to the engineers and crew.

OK this one is soured bc Top Gear is trash BUT if you were like, a kid in England who followed motorsports? Schumi’s fake reveal as The Stig on Top Gear was like the coolest, sickest thing,

Please view this image of Schumi and Mika when they were young and stupid

Iconic Races

ok so I have limited myself to a few races that show off some of his key strengths!

Hungary 1998 / France 2004 - STRATEGY/SPEED - Schumi switched to a 3 stop strategy in 98 and a FOUR STOP strategy in 04 and won both races. In order for the strategy call to work he’d have to basically make every single lap a qualifying style ‘flying lap’ and you best fucking believe he DID THAT. God I fucking miss when Ferrari was the king of strategy.

Argentina 1998 -  has it all. Talent, battling Mika, pit lane mind games with mclaren, and bullying coulthard xxx

Spain 1996 / a majority of the wet races - RAIN - One of Schumi’s nicknames was Rain Master bc he was so fucking good in the wet. If it started raining and you were a Schumi stan you were cackling evilly before the red lights even went out. I single out 1996 bc it was his first win for Ferrari and it was unexpected but in most wet races, even Canada 2011 post comeback, you can see Schumi thriving.

Malaysia 1999 - Schumi missed pretty much the entire second half of the season with a broken leg, came back for the last 2 races with everybody murmuring about whether he would struggle, and immediately put the Ferrari on pole. Also worth noting is that he was the number 2 driver for these 2 races bc his teammate Irvine was fighting Mika for the championship and he went along with that without complaint, allowing Ferrari to win the constructor’s championship if not the driver’s.

Monza 2002, 03, 04, or 06 just because it has the energy of the tifosi kneeling at the feet of an idol to their red god.

Brazil 2006 - Fuck All Y’all - Schumi’s last race for Ferrari. He got a puncture and ended up almost lapped, and then drove his way back from that to 4th bc he couldn’t go out without reminding us he’s a bad bitch.

Monza 2012 - Defending - Don’t tell F1 Twitter that there’s actual footage of Lewis and Michael having a genuine lengthy battle on track but DO watch Michael defending like a motherfucker and Lewis breathing down his neck for half the race we need to talk about this more.

Valencia 2012 - This isn’t necessarily anything special but I cried in my living room over the only podium of his comeback so it goes on here. It doesn’t have the same impact if you haven’t been watching him struggle with the car for years, DNF-ing from car failure most of 2012, and having BBC F1 telling you he’s washed up every single weekend, but you can just enjoy one of the best drives of FERNANDO’S entire career as he DRAGS that Ferrari by its hair to a home grand prix win and then watch the crowds embrace him like jesus and also Schumi being happy on the podium. Also, the very start of this clip from the press conference: him forgetting what language he’s supposed to be speaking 

Basically, Schumi was a hyper-competitive ambitious bitch who turned into a goofball as soon as he switched the engine off. This is by NO MEANS everything if I was making an exhaustive best races guide I’d do more research and another post but I hope this is what you were looking for?? THANK YOU SO MUCH for letting me go MAXIMUM SPECIAL INTEREST and I apologize.

[tarlosbuddie]

CapSwap - Chapter 1

Read on AO3

Summary: Taylor Kelly is back at the 118 and she’s producing a new TV Show where Bobby Nash and Owen Strand will trade places for an entire month. Bobby will fly to Austin to take over the 126 when Owen will be the Captain at the 118. 

Or a dad swap between the two Daptain.

Word Count: 2640

Chapter: 1/?

When Bobby Nash received a call from the fire chief, he expected another suspension. It’s the only thing that comes to his mind now when the highest-ranking member of the department personally asked to talk to him. To be fair, the 118 had its fair share of suspension and Bobby is driving to the fire chief office, wondering which one of his team is going to be benched again. None of them deserve it, but life keeps throwing them curveballs so Bobby is just expecting the next one. They are all doing fine lately, at least at work. Sure, half of them still need some serious therapy to get through their trauma, but Bobby trusts them to deal with it. He is about to enter the office when he sees a small red-haired woman talking to the chief and laughing with him. Bobby can barely see her face, but he recognized her voice and he is annoyed already. She is finally leaving the office and the chief waves at Bobby to enter.

“You remember Taylor Kelly?” the chief asks. Bobby is surprised to see him smiling this way. He knows he should be relieved because it probably means that no one is getting fired, but a reporter is never good news for him.

“It’s kind of hard to forget her and her cameras,” Bobby says. He is trying his best to keep his tone respectful while addressing his superior.

“Her news report about the 118 did great for public relations”, he explains. “The department had to cut some parts they didn’t like, but otherwise it helped with public opinion.” 

“Do you want her to make another video? Because I know you liked her work but I can’t say I was happy having her around” Bobby says.

“You won’t have to worry about Taylor” the chief replies and Bobby is relieved for a moment. But then he opens his mouth again and the relief is short-lived. “You will be going to Austin,” he says and Bobby’s jaw drops. “Miss Kelly had a great idea to improve public opinion. You will swap places with another captain for a month. We already cleared everything with the other department. They are sending their captain on Monday” he adds, leaving no room for argument. 

“Chief, with all due respect” Bobby tries.

“Captain Nash, your station has not the best records at the moment.” he cuts.  “Between your suspension and Mr. Buckley’s lawsuit, you are not in our good grace. Take this as a chance to redeem yourself in the eyes of the public and in my eyes too,” he says firmly. “This is happening whether you like it or not.” 

“My family is here, you can’t uproot me without my permission.”

“It’s only for a month. So I suggest you start packing because you are leaving in a few days. Unless you are willing to add insubordination to your list.”

Bobby is about to walk out of the office when the chief adds “It’s going to be a good experience for you and your team. Don’t see this as a punishment, use it as an opportunity to learn a thing or two. I’m sure AFD will be happy to have you there.”

Taylor is still in the hallway when Bobby leaves the office, but he ignores her and goes back to the station. 

He explains the situation to the team as soon as he arrives. They are all around the table, waiting for a breakfast that wasn’t cooked since Bobby wasn’t there to feed them. Eddie is the first to react to the news.

“Wait, Taylor Kelly is coming back here?” he says much to everyone’s surprise.

“Well, I didn’t think that would be the part that bothers you” Bobby teases. “I’m glad you are not too sad about having another captain here.”

“Of course I’m sad, Cap,” Eddie adds. 

“I’m not excited about this either, but we don’t have much of a choice. The chief sent me the contracts, the cameras won’t be here all the time. They just want to produce an entertaining piece about how a different captain can change things in a station but I think it’s mostly an excuse for Taylor to step up her game”.

“It looks like she already did Cap”, Buck says. “She was always ambitious and that’s one of the things I learned to respect about her. She went from traffic reports to news reports to producing her own show.”

Buck complimenting the woman that went Buck 1.0 on him and leaving him in a parking lot was not something Bobby thought he’d ever seen but he was even more surprised by the murdering look on Eddie’s face.

“What do we know about the new cap?” Hen asks. 

“I’m going to Austin, so I think that’s where the new guy is coming from.” Bobby answers. He sits on the table next to them and handles all of them the contracts to sign. He didn’t really read them in the chief office before being practically forced to sign his copy. But now that he has his in his hand and a hot-barely-drinkable coffee in the other he reads a paragraph that makes him want to spit his coffee. “What the hell?” he screams to himself but everyone raises their head from their reading to look at their captain.

“Everything’s okay Cap? Buck asks, a little worried. The youngest member didn’t even bother to grab his own contract and was reading from Eddie’s as he was close enough to see it. Both his hands were filled with food anyway.

“The Captain of the 118 would live at the Strand’s house for the duration of the contract” Bobby reads, voice higher than he would have hoped.

“Does this mean you will have to live with his wife or something?” Chimney asks, his curiosity is picked and he is dying to know more about what already appears to be a month of chaos and fun.

“His boy,” Bobby says. “It says that the Captain from the 126 added a clause in the contract saying that he didn’t want his son to be alone and that he wanted me to keep an eye on him. I’m going to babysit a teenager?” Bobby assumes. “Thank God the firehouse is the only place I’m exchanging with him because I wouldn’t want to come home to Athena to tell her that some stranger would live under her roof.”

The rest of the shift goes back without any major surprise. Every time they come back to the house in between calls, Chimney is on his laptop, googling things and laughing, Eddie is even closer to Buck, questioning him about Taylor Kelly even as they step into the showers after a call that left them covered in ashes and sweat and Hen is talking to Bobby while keeping an eyes on the boys, already guessing how insufferable the three of them will be on Monday.

When Bobby comes home after a long, mostly boring, shift, he feels anxiety building in his stomach at the idea of having to break the news to his wife and her kids. He waits for the diner to be over to start talking.

“So, the Chief called me into his office this morning,” he says first.

“Everything’s okay? Nothing to do with Buck I hope? I swear, this boy has been giving me more gray hair in 3 years than my kids in a lifetime.” 

“Buck’s fine. His ex girlfriend, though.” Bobby starts.

“Abby? She was a sweet woman,until she broke our boy’s heart.”

“Taylor Kelly.”

“The news reporter?”

“It’s Taylor Kelly, the TV productor now. She pitched an idea to the Chief and he signed for it with a big smile.”

“What idea? She’s not gonna film you again, is she?” Athena says in the same annoyed tone than Bobby.

“I like her” May says before her brother hits her arm for her to stop talking. “What? She’s good. She did some very interesting news pieces and she gave a lecture to my school to encourage young students to go to college.”

“So what did that angel of a woman did for my husband to look so pissed?”

“She’s producing a show called the Swap.”

“I’ve seen an episode” the young woman cuts again. “She had doctors trade hospitals to show how leadership can affect a place. It was great! One of them was super uptight and-” she stopped talking when her eyes met Bobby’s. “Oh shit.”

“Langage!” Athena says. “Is there something I’m missing?”

“She’s doing a firefighter version. And I guess I’m the very uptight one.”

Of all the reactions he imagined all day, the only one he didn’t imagine was the sound of his wife bursting into laughter.

“Sorry” she says, covering her mouth to stop the loud noize coming out of it. “Sorry, it’s not funny.”

“It’s really not” Bobby says.

“I’m just trying to picture you in that show, with a new team. And oh god, that poor captain is not ready to handle the 118.”

“Hey, they’re a great team.”

“They’re your kids, Bobby. You love them and I do too. They are great at their jobs.”

“They’re the best,” Bobby corrects.

“But they are also a bunch of living disasters. How long has it been since one of them ended up in the hospital? I hope the new cap doesn’t like his hair too much, because he’s gonna end up with a head full of gray hair within the first week.”

“I was hoping a little more empathy for your poor husband who’s gonna live in Texas for a month with the son’s captain as a roommate.”

“You’ll do great, honey. I’m not worried about you.”

Meanwhile, a thousand miles away.

“Are you serious, dad? Please tell me you’re kidding me.” TK whines. He places his mug on the sink and walks toward Owen who is waiting for him by the door to go to work.

“It will be a nice change, TK. Plus, the department told me I didn’t really have a choice since they needed the money to pay for the House renovation I ordered. Apparently I went a little over the budget.”

“You spend half the budget on that fancy coffee maker Judd can’t even get to work without your help.”

“Stop complaining and move your ass to the car or we’ll be late. I hope you’ll complain less when the new cap is here cause he’ll be the one driving your whining ass to work.”

“He what?”

So maybe Owen forgot to mention that part. It was the only thing that had him hesitate before saying yes, he promised he wouldn’t leave his son alone after what happened in New York. He tried to negotiate for his son to come with him but the productors insisted only the captain could come, so he only managed to have the other captain to live with his son at all time. He also knew TK wasn’t alone anymore, he saw the way Carlos looked at him the day he came picking him up at the station. He knows he will be fine but he’s not taking any chances when it comes to his boy safety. 

When they both arrive at the station, Mateo has a hot cup of coffee ready for Owen and TK goes to the kitchen to make himself his own cup. Judd is fighting with the machine and holds his hands up in defeat.

“I give up. This thing hates me, I swear.” 

“Someone is in a mood” Marjan laughs from her spot in the kitchen where she’s cooking something for breakfast.

“You’re about to be in a mood when you hear the cap’s latest idea.” TK comments. He’s about to drink the coffee he just poured himself when he sees Judd’s puppy eyes. “Did Buttercup teach you that trick? I’m not rubbing your belly if that’s what you want.” The dog comes to his favorite firefighter and TK gives his coffee to Judd. “Fine, you can have mine, but only because my hands will be busy doing this.” He says while starting petting the dog.

“So, what’s that idea of yours, cap?” Paul asks.

“First, it’s not my idea, it’s the department.” Owen says. “Second, don’t listen to my grumpy son, it will be fun.”

“What would be fun?” Judd asks, definitely not convinced but his captain enthusiastic tone.

“Go ahead, tell them cap, we’ll see if they are all as thrilled as I am” TK says.

“I’m going to Los Angeles for a month.” 

“For a vacation or something?” Marjan asks.

“For a damn TV show,” TK cuts.

“A what?” they all ask pretty much at the same time.

“It’s a captain exchange. I will go to  a new station for a month and their captain will come here.”

“Maybe we’ll get a captain that knows how to read a book” Michelle comments, thinking about the first time they met. He didn’t realise that she had arrived. She has a wide smile on her face and Owen counts this as a sign that she’s enjoying the idea, maybe a little too much. “So, who’s that new captain I’m gonna share the station with?” 

“Robert Nash, from Los Angeles’ station 118” Owen replies and Judd and Paul share a look. They are definitely taking note of that guy name to google for info later. “The cameras would be here a few hours a day so you need to sign those contracts.”

“And if we refuse?” Judd asks.

“From what I heard, it’s not like we have much of a choice. But I’m sure you’ll love the new guy.”

“I’m sure we will. But what if we want to keep him at the end of the month?” Michelle teases. 

“Then I guess I’ll stay in LA, with a team that respects and loves me.”

“We love you,” Mateo says.

“Speak for yourself, probie. I might call Robert Dad within the first shift.” TK jokes.

“Remember everything you’ll do can be caught on camera. I’ll know everything. And I know at least one person will miss me.” Owen says. He walks toward Mateo who’s smiling proudly and puts his hand on his shoulder, before bending to stroke Buttercup “You’re my favorite teammate, buddy.” He says to the dog. The team laughs at the disappointed looks on the youngest member’s face before hearing the alarm.

“Do we know anything about the other firehouse?” Paul asks when they climbed into the truck.

“We? We don’t. But I do. They gave me a file with the resume of each member of the 118.”

“Come on, Cap. You’re not gonna share that with us?” His son says. 

“Nop. That’s what you get from not liking my ideas, son.”

Paul and Judd exchange another look and TK knows that they are plotting something. It’s not like Owen is the best at hiding secrets and they all know that file will be on the second drawer of his desk. They won’t even need a distraction to get it since their captain will spend half an hour in the mirror when they’ll get back to the station after this call.

Marjan is driving toward the emergency they are responding to when all the phones except Owen’s start buzzing.

Paul sent a bunch of pictures in their group chat. Owen knows this chat exists and assumes he’s the subject of half the jokes and memes they are sending but he loves that his team gets along so well so he really doesn’t care about it. This time, it’s not him they are laughing at. Paul just sent them pictures and infos about Robert Nash. TK tries not to smile when he reads the texts.

Paul 🚒:It’s on 😈

Cowboy Judd 🤠: Let’s the fun begins

[fvrxdrm]

City of the Living Dead

Chapter 1

“Y/N, wake up!”

Carlos yelled at you to wake you up and shook your still sleeping form violently. Your eyes abruptly shot open after hearing his full-throated voice, your E/C orbs immediately landing on the face of the man hovering above you. 

You scanned his face, still not fully aware of your surroundings due to your sleepiness but as time went on and your brain had sobered up a bit, you noticed that he didn’t look calm and balmy like how he usually was, he looked...agitated which mirrored the way he shouted at you.

“Carlos?” You muttered, your mouth barely opening as the rest of your body  was still putting itself together.

“Come on. We gotta get out of here”, Carlos said as he unlatched all of the metal straps holding you down onto your bed using the computer that was situated on a wooden desk a few feet away from you.

“What? Why? What’s going on?” You asked, confused as to why the soldier was jittery all of a sudden.

You forced yourself to sit up with both of your hands aiding you as you struggled to do the simple action. It had been a long time since you’ve done it anyway. Those stupid scientists would not let you.

“Would you believe me if I told you that a zombie apocalypse is happening?”

Now that woke you up.

“What?”

Zombie apocalypse? How’d that happen? Don’t those things happen in like movies or something?

“The city’s in total chaos. Don’t know how it happened but it is... Listen, we’re the only two left in here. The rest of our team members are looking for other survivors and something we could use to get out of here”, Carlos replied as he draped your arm around his shoulders and wrapped one of his own around your waist to help you stand up since your legs felt like jelly at that moment.

“What about my sister?” You questioned, remembering that your sister was taken with you.

“I haven’t seen your sister yet so I guess her bodyguard helped her out”

“Do you know who her bodyguard is?”

“No. Those information are also confidential for some unknown reason. Can you walk?” 

“I think so”, you slowly slid your arm off of Carlos’ shoulders as you carefully took a few steps to your right side, Carlos’ arm still not leaving your waist until he was sure that you got the hang of it.

“Alright, I’m ready”, you spoke after a few seconds of finding your balance.

“Not quite. You still need to change your clothes. Wouldn’t want to go out in the wild like that, would we?” Carlos uttered as he gestured his hand towards your skimpy hospital gown that had a deep v going dangerously down below your breasts, showing off your cleavage.

Why the fuck is my gown this revealing?

“Right. Where will I get some clothes?”

“I think we got some in the locker room”

“Okay, let’s go then”

“Come on, I’ll lead the way”, Carlos motioned for you to follow him as he opened the white door, looking back towards where you were to make sure that you were trailing right behind him.

*****

“We’re here”

Carlos swiped the key card that he had been holding onto since he entered your room into the key slot located on the right side of the locker room’s door and waited until the light beside the slot turned green before pushing the metal door open.

“Ladies first”, Carlos spoke with a smile as he raised his arm towards the room that was full of lockers (duh) and some benches, his free hand still placed on the door to keep it from slamming pancakes into your faces.

“It better not be to check out my ass”, you snickered as you strolled inside the room, immediately checking every locker in hopes of getting some new clothes to change into ‘cause the hospital gown you were wearing was a fashion no-no.

“Nah. I’m too manly to do that”, Carlos said back as he followed you inside, closing the door right behind him after doing so.

“What a gent”

“I tend to be”

Carlos helped in finding you new clothes, searching lockers after lockers until he finally found a plain black tank top, a (F/C) (sports/balconette/demi/whatever you like) bra, a pair of ripped black denim shorts, a denim jacket, and a pair of black combat boots.

Perfect.

“Hey, Y/N, I got something that might fit you”, Carlos mouthed aloud as he held the neatly folded clothes with both hands right in front of you.

“Thanks”

You quickly grabbed the clothes that were placed on top of his palms before entering the small area that was covered by a white curtain.

“So, what’s the plan, hero?” You asked the mop-headed soldier in order to break the slightly awkward silence that filled the room as you changed into the new clothes that Carlos found as quickly as possible. 

“Like I said, my teammates are looking for something we could use to get the hell out of here but they sure are taking their sweet time”, Carlos replied as he shook his head, his back turned to where you were as if he could see your naked body through the curtain even though he could literally only see your silhouette. What an actual gentleman.

“What’s it like up there?”

“A shit-hole. This place is full of zombies and shit. There’s also this giant-ass dude just roaming around. You wouldn’t wanna see it”

“But I have to if I want to get out of here”

“Yeah... Listen, once we get out of this facility, you stay right behind me. Wouldn’t want you to get lost”, you chuckled at his remark, your head shaking a bit as you did so.

He’s like an over-protective big brother or something.

“How would I get lost in this place? I mean, I grew up here in Illinois. I basically know every twists and turns in this place”, you said as you put the pair of shorts on, making sure that the bottom of your tank top was tucked inside your trousers. 

Unseen by you, though, Carlos’ face fell as he heard those words come out of your mouth.

Shit, she doesn’t know?

“Y/N...”

“Yeah?”

“You’re not in Illinois”

Your heart dropped.

Your hands stopped tugging on your jacket and your eyes widened by themselves as you stood still, frozen in place.

“What?” You finally spoke after a minute of silence as you practically yanked the curtain open and stepped out of the tiny space, your eyebrows furrowing together in confusion as you stomped towards the man.

“Y/N, you’re in Raccoon City. Did nobody tell you that”, Carlos said as he turned around to face you, his face mirroring the look you were giving him.

“No”, you shook your head from one side to another as you said that one word to emphasize what you were saying since you were not sure if he had heard you at all for the reason that your voice sounded barely above a whisper as you spoke.

You stayed silent, taking in the newfound information you got from the male right in front of you.

Your brain scrambled a million thoughts together as bewilderment flooded inside your head. But even so, one question kept nagging you every time you woke up on top of the leather-topped bed you were placed and strapped on.

“How long was I in here?” You asked.

You were nervous as hell for some unknown reason but you were itching to know the answer.

What if I was in here for like a month? Are my friends worried?

Slowly, your heart began to pound in your chest, the sound becoming louder and louder until you could hear its hammering ringing inside your ears. You were starting to think that Carlos could hear the anxiety you were feeling even though you didn’t let it out verbally.

Please don’t be too long, please don’t be too long...

“One year”, Carlos finally responded after a few seconds of heavy silence.

Your heart dropped into your stomach again and you sure as hell heard it shatter into a million pieces after hearing those words come right out of his mouth.

“One year?”

“Yeah... Hey, don’t cry. Your pretty face might get ruined”, Carlos said as he wiped the stray tear that you didn’t even notice away with his calloused thumb and attempted to comfort you but it was no use. Your heart broke at those two words.

One year? That’s how long I was gone? That’s even worst than a month! How the hell was I missing for that long!?

“Hey, don’t worry. I’ll make sure to bring you back to Illinois. If it makes you feel a bit more at ease, I snatched this bracelet and this necklace from Dr. Birkin’s office. Thought these might be really important to you”, Carlos spoke again as he took out a customized bracelet with your friend’s name on it and a silver necklace that had a(n) (birthstone) stone attached into a metal framing from one of his pockets.

You gently took the bracelet from his hand before reading the four letters that were written on each tiny cube bead. 

Leon

God, how is he feeling right now? 

You wondered. 

Out of all the friends you’ve had, Leon was the most over-protective of them all. You didn’t know why he was like that but you were kind of glad that someone genuinely cared about you even though most of the time it was the cause of your arguments.

You see, you and Leon have been best friends since birth and so were both of your mothers. For some reason, your mother and his decided that it would be a good idea to get pregnant at the same time and then BOOM! You and Leon were born.

I’m so sorry, Leon.

“Hey, I don’t know who this Leon kid is but don’t worry, I’ll bring you back to him, too”, Carlos uttered out loud as if he could read your own random thoughts. He circled around you to place your necklace around your neck, making sure that he wouldn’t snip even a tiny part of your skin as he clasped the hooks together. You smiled.

“Thanks, Carlos. I owe you one”

“No problem, kiddo. That’s what friends are for, right?”

Yeah, and you were glad that you had one in that hell-hole of a facility you were in.

---***---

Ayo! Chapter 1, wuz good?! I'm sorry this was kind of rushed. I was busy with dance and all that stuff🤣

Anyways, how was it? Did you like it? Did you not?

[fandom-necromancer]

917. I didn’t want you to see me like this.

Shoutout to the awesome anon requesting this! Unfortunately I realised I misunderstood something only after finishing this short, so this is Sixty saying it to Allen not the other way around as you prompted. You second one will have it in the right order :)

Fandom: Detroit become human | Ship: Allen60 (Warning: violence, gunfights)

Sixty hated that he had to walk through the bullpen to exit the building. They were a separate unit, their office was in a separate building, why did they have to see these idiots every day? He maybe could have stomached the humans and androids working there he hadn’t yet met and would never have to talk to. But he absolutely despised the four people he did know: The other RK800 unit who called himself his brother and had been the reason for his mission to fail and Cyberlife’s downfall. His alcoholic human partner who had dared to shoot him. The RK900, who he had hoped would be the worthy opponent he deserved, being the superior model. The complete moron of a person the RK900 had instead fallen for. No, Sixty hated them with every bit of his being, hated them for their failures and their indifference towards them. He had been thankful he had been sent to the SWAT unit of the DPD, working directly under and with their Captain, an incredibly remarkable human. Maybe the only one Sixty ever respected. All he cared for was a job well and effectively done with minimal casualties. Something Sixty could easily grasp and adopt as it was similar to his base programming, something he still held onto even in deviancy.

Having at least one human share his believes and work ethic made everything else endurable. Still he was relieved to be outside and to enter the transporter after the Captain while all other humans followed. He was a well-respected asset of their team, having saved countless lives of hostages and other SWAT-members with his efficient fighting style and quick calculations. He never did it for the humans though. Everything that counted to him was his reputation, his flawless statistics. Every other RK unit had failed their mission. Be it to fall for the virus and start an android revolution, be it to deviate and help said RK with it or be it to join deviants and fall in love instead of destroying all deviants and remaining machine. Sixty made sure to impress. He had deviated, but he didn’t embrace the emotions with it. They were part of him of course, but that was it. A part of many.

‘Okay, you all have been in the briefing, so I won’t bore you by sitting through it again. But are there any questions? Everything set? We can’t allow any mistakes, there are lives on the line.’ As always, Sixty sighed inwardly, but didn’t complain. Short attention spans and memory loss were the most annoying human failures in his opinion, but Captain Allen always kept it in mind, despite being organic himself. Another quality Sixty admired him for – on a completely professional level of course. He was met by heads shaking and mumbled negations. ‘Fine. Sixty, you still okay with going solo? Someone could accompany you.’ The android scowled at the humans sitting on the benches to either side of the transporter rattling through the streets. ‘I am fine. A human accompanying me would only hinder me and raise the risk of casualties.’ ‘Okay, then. Just take care then. You will enter through the back entrance, while we serve as a distraction just outside the café.’ Sixty nodded. He didn’t need a repetition of his role, but the Captain always tended to treat him like he would treat a human. He knew it was a matter of making him feel equal to the others and more accepted. But when he knew he was better than that it just sounded ridiculous and unnecessary to him.

They arrived at the location and the men left the transporter to get to their positions in front of the little cosy café. A weird place to hold hostages in, but who was Sixty to judge. At the edge of the transporter, Captain Allen held him back. ‘Hey, Sixty. I meant it when I said take care. You might be right saying we want no human casualties, but I want all of my men back at the precinct unharmed. That includes you.’ ‘Don’t worry, Captain’, Sixty smirked, pointing at his forehead. ‘It needs more than a bullet to kill me.’ He knew that mentioning his first death just made the man uncomfortable, but it was an easy argument to bring whenever there was misguided concern. He wouldn’t fail his mission like the other’s had. And if he did, he was just a machine. He could be repaired and if the damage was bad enough to make repair impossible, then he deserved it for his mistakes.

The Captain walked outside, standing before the rest of the SWAT-members in position to start his monologue to whoever held the people inside hostage. It was just a distraction unless the criminals agreed to let their hostages go and comply. As soon as he began to talk, Sixty left the transporter and hurried around the building to the back entrance, always out of sight by any camera or the big front windows. Arriving at the back entrance it was easy to hack the lock – a low security digital pad. Absolutely no challenge for an android like him. The lock clicked open a few seconds after his interface and he was to wait for Allen’s command. Bored he kicked a stone through the back alley and watched a few pigeons scatter at the disturbance. There was no way they would let the hostages go. When had that ever worked? He sighed, this time out loud. He hated waiting when he could be productive instead.

‘Sixty? You copy?’ ‘I’m in position’, the android answered, rolling a little stick in between his fingers. ‘You are allowed to intervene. Use non-lethal force wherever possible. We are your backup, should you need it.’ ‘I won’t’, Sixty sighed, but couldn’t hide his anticipation. This would be another flawless mission without doubt. Another red LED turn in the RK900 at his statistics update and the RK800 would congratulate him, what equalled a defeat in Sixty’s mind. But most importantly, Captain Allen would praise him again in front of everyone. ‘Moving in’, he announced, as he shouldered through the door, not missing the whispered ‘good luck’ under the Captain’s breath. As if he needed that.

Sixty hurried through the small kitchen of the café completely silent. There was no sound of his entrance, until he was standing inside the main room, gun raised and action calculated in a split second. The first bullet hit the first of four criminals in the leg, shooting clean through the lower leg. He fell down, Sixty taking his place immediately to punch the next and grab his arms in the confusion. Holding both of them behind his back he had acquired a human shield and disarmed him at the same time. He moved forwards, kicking the next one in the groin. He doubled over and let the gun slip out of his hand. Sixty quickly kicked it away and moved towards the last one, who had finally reacted and grabbed a hostage, very much like Sixty had done. The android took a second to calculate his plan more thoroughly, then raised his gun to shoot. The criminal’s hand was so shaky he doubted he would have pulled the trigger. Sixty hit him in the shoulder, the idiot letting go of the hostage to touch the wound. Immediately Sixty was near, grabbing the damaged shoulder and pressing, so that the man screamed and let go of his weapon.

Sixty was close to signalling his Captain a [mission successful], as he sensed a gunshot behind him. The first one, the one he had shot in the leg had still held on to his weapon and proved the android wrong, who had thought the pain to be too much to think clearly. But there the asshole was, shooting him. He would have laughed at the audacity, had the bullet not hit one of the major thirium tubes in his chest and hadn’t his HUD immediately started informing him of a thirium shortage in his legs. They gave in, but Sixty managed to shoot the first criminal in the hand, rendering him unable to harm him further. During the fall he had pulled his human shield down with him and kept him in his grip next to him.

‘Captain. I need backup. Unit compromised. Hostages safe. Criminals incapacitated for now.’ Admitting this defeat weighted greater than the pain he felt. Immediately there was chaos, the rest of the SWAT storming the place and cuffing the criminals on the ground. Sixty let go of the one he had held as Captain Allen appeared in his vision. ‘I didn’t want you to see me like this’, Sixty grumbled static and looked away from the man’s far too emotional eyes. ‘Shut up, what is going on? What can I do to help? What happened?’ ‘Got shot in the back. A thirium tube is broken. I failed my mission. Sorry.’ ‘The fuck you did. You didn’t fail. You got shot on a mission. You still made it, didn’t you, you dumb machine? Look: The criminals are alive and arrested, the hostages are all alive and unharmed. Sounds pretty successful to me.’ ‘I should have been better.’ 'Hey, hey, Sixty! Shut up. You did fine. You did well. I should have given you someone as backup.' 'That’s exactly what I mean! I failed to prove my value. Now I'm just another Connor who needs a partner.' 'Goddamn, there is nothing wrong with accepting help.' The Captain grunted lifting him up and snaking an arm around Sixty's upper back. 'Come on, we'll patch you up in the car.' 'I'll be a failure just like Connor.' 'You won't, Six. You won't. We are a team, right? No one needs to know about this, if you are so damn stubborn to count this as a failed mission.' 'Really? You won't tell them?' 'Why should I? You did fine, Sixty. Even more than that. Also, I’m Captain of SWAT, what I tell and what I leave out for them to read in some forgotten folder down in the archives is my responsibility, isn’t it?’ ‘And I won’t get a partner to babysit?’ ‘How about I offer you to partner up? How does partner of a Captain sound? As I remember the other RKs only have a Detective and a Lieutenant.’ Sixty perked up. That would indeed be something he could boast about to them… Also, he could be near the one human he really respected. This may not be so bad after all… ‘That would sound great, if I think about it. My expertise might be of help to you.’ ‘Of course, I would feel honoured to have the best RK for a partner.’

[alj4890]

Cheer Challenge Prompt

(Thomas Hunt x oc*Amanda) for day 21 of @jlpplays1-41daysofcheerchallenge​ of anticipation

(Thomas x Amanda) and all the other pairs going even further in the storyline of And Then I Met You

A/N Not quite a Christmas theme but still anticipation worthy. After Thomas and Amanda were able to give Kathleen her Christmas Wish of a new baby coming soon, I wanted to further explore what happens when they decide to find out what they are having. 

@lxaah11 @alleksa16 @penguininapinktuxedo @blackcoffee85 @stopforamoment  @hopefulmoonobject  @krsnlove   @annekebbphotography   @cora-nova @hopelessromantic1352. @sunflowergirl05 @desiree-0816 @greywitchyshots @lilyofchoices @emceesynonymroll @dr-nancy-house @aworldoffandoms @ab1901​ @pixieferry  @lolablackwrites  @flyawayboo @i-bloody-love-drake-walker. @trappedinfandoms 

Masterlist

Plot Twist

Informal Living Room of The Royal Palace, Cordonia...

"Settle down everyone!" Liam called out. He waited patiently for his friends to cease talking. "Who would like to present their arguments first?"

Amanda nodded to Thomas. "After you."

"This is ridiculous." He muttered. "We do not need to base this decision on a vote!"

She glared at him while placing her hand on her very noticable baby bump. "I am tired of arguing this with you. We have reached an impasse. I am more than willing to bow down to the decision made here. If the majority votes for you, then I will not be angry nor hold it against you."

Thomas ran his hands over his face. He should have remembered how much more stubborn pregnancy hormones made his wife. "Fine." He stood up and went to the center of the room.

"This ought to be good." Olivia whispered.

Thomas cleared his throat.

"Come on, professor!" Addison yelled impatiently. She covered her mouth when he leveled the same disapproving look he used to give her when she was a film student.

Thomas looked around the room. His commanding presence made all still.

"I think we should wait. To not only discover we are pregnant once more on top of finding out that it's twins is an even greater gift. We decided to let Kathleen be a surprise--"

"I gave in." Amanda mumbled.

"Shhh." Liam ordered. "You can speak when it's your turn. Please continue, Thomas."

"As I was saying, Kathleen's birth was by far full of unending anticipation since we were unsure who we would meet. It was a moment I will never forget when the doctor held her up and said it's a girl. I don't want to miss out on that with our next two." Thomas paused for dramatic effect. "I know it is asking a lot, but I hope you will see it is the right way for us to go."

Liam nodded to Amanda. She struggled out of the oversized chair, thanked Ryan for his assistance, and took the spot Thomas had left. She cradled her belly and looked down. Color bloomed on her cheeks at having to speak before everyone.

"As sweet as it was to wait with Kathleen, I believe we should find out. We now have twice as much to plan for. Names, clothes, and I would like to have a nursery ready before bringing them home." Amanda looked up at Thomas. "The chance of us becoming pregnant after this is unlikely. If we do this then we will have had both types of pregnancy experiences: the excitement of the unknown and the thrill of planning everything."

Thomas released a deep breath. "Very well. We will find out."

"Wait! We don't get to vote?" Maxwell exclaimed.

Amanda swiped at the tears that fell down her cheeks. "Really? You won't be upset?"

Thomas got up and pulled her close for a sweet kiss. "How could I be upset with finding out who are children are?" He smiled softly when she hugged him tight. "I will admit now that I nearly caved with Kathleen."

She laughed and kissed him again. "So did I. Multiple times."

"I was ready to have a say on baby Hunt two and baby Hunt three." Addison cried out in frustration.

"Were we used for nothing but marriage counselling?" Drake teased. "And Thomas had my vote for the record."

"Mine too." Riley added.

"You must be joking. Amanda has mine." Olivia stated. "Preparedness guarantees victory. You're going to need it with twins and Kathleen."

"Oooh." Nadia grimaced. "I was all for Thomas until you reminded me of that. My vote is Amanda's."

"Clearly." Holly muttered. "She's the one thinking with her head instead of sentimentality."

Ryan turned around in surprise. "How can you expect a man to not be somewhat sentimental over the birth of his own children?"

Matt nodded. "Though we always find out because we have never been able to wait on anything." He winked at Addison. "We at least try each time and see if we can keep it a surprise."

"Three more for Lord Hunt!" Addison called out. "Liam, are you keeping score?"

"I am," he replied with a smile, "and added mine also to Thomas."

"You're winning." Amanda whispered.

"I know my audience." He whispered back, smiling when she started laughing.

Maxwell looked around the room and sighed. "Sorry Amanda, but Thomas's heartfelt speech won me over."

"Wow." Amanda looked up at Thomas. "Good thing I have you on my side."

"Yes it is." He grabbed her hand before she could poke his side.

"When do you find out?" Riley asked.

“I think what Riley meant to ask was, when do we find out.” Maxwell corrected.

"I have an appointment scheduled in three days." Amanda announced. 

_______________

Upstairs in the playroom of the Royal Palace...

Kathleen sat at one of the tables, coloring a picture she had been working on for her mother.

“Kat! Come on! I need you on my team!" Xavier Beaumont yelled from the top of the pillow fort he had constructed. 

"I'm coming." She finished sprinkling some glitter and studied her creation. Her lips firmed in a frown as she tried to see if she left any of her vision for it out.

"Nuh uh! Kathleen should be on our team!" Prince Emerick yelled back."

I want her to play tea party with us!" Ashley Rodriguez, her little sister Ally, and Mia Beaumont glared at the ones in the pillow forts, trying to steal their friend away on some stupid war.

"Lightsaber battle!" Juliet yelled. "I need another sith, Kat!" Prince Ellis and Marcus Rodriguez stood ready to fight as Jedi.

Kathleen looked up when everyone started arguing. She couldn't tell what had started it nor what they were fighting over, having tuned them out as she worked. She slipped out of her chair then escaped the room.

"And where do you think you're going?"

She turned around and ran over to Thomas. "I was going to look for you and Mommy."

He swung her up in his arms. "You haven't learned where everything is here. I don't want you getting lost."

She wrapped her arms around his neck. "Where's Mommy?"

"Taking a nap. Mommies with babies in their tummies need a lot of rest." He explained.

“Oh." She mumbled.

 "I have a surprise for you." Thomas told her, smiling at the excitement on her face. "We are going to not only see the babies in Mommy's tummy but also if they are a boy or a girl."

"Really?" She asked. "Then I can say I have a baby brother!"

"And possibly a sister. You might have two little brothers or two little sisters. We won't know until we see them." He set her down and kissed the top of her head. “Why don’t you play some more and I will come get you when it is time for dinner.”

The playroom door swung open.

“Kat! I nearly died from the attack Emerick and Jackson threw at me. Michael is holding down the fort.  I came to find you and take you to safety. Come on! Hurry!” Xavier grabbed her hand and pulled her giggling back into the playroom.

Thomas watched it all unfold with a slight frown.

Matt soon joined him in the hallway. “Everyone still alive in there?”

“So it seems. Your son, Michael, might have a future in the military. He is brave enough to hold down a pillow fort while his fellow soldiers go off on special missions.”

Matt opened the door some more to peep inside. He saw his two daughters sitting calmly among the chaos with Mia Beaumont, gossiping and sipping apple juice from tiny tea cups. His younger son Marcus was teamed up with his best friend, Prince Ellis, as they fought against a formidable Juliet Nevarkis-Walker. 

Prince Emerick and Jackson Nevarkis-Walker had somehow talked Phoebe Summers into being on their side for the great pillow fort war. Kathleen waved to her from the other fort and laughed when Phoebe rolled her eyes at the ridiculousness of it all.

Matt chuckled as he shut the door. “Ryan went to check on the smaller ones in the nursery. He won’t believe it when I tell him that his little no nonsense girl is helping a future duke and a crown prince fight a pillow battle.”

“And somehow mine got involved on the opposing side.” Thomas shook his head. “Xavier Beaumont is part pied piper when it comes to Kathleen. She always gives in to his plans.”

Matt coughed on his laughter. “From the childhood stories I’ve heard from both Amanda and Maxwell, it looks like history is repeating itself.”

Thomas frowned even more. If history was to repeat itself, then his little girl would one day be heartbroken over Xavier only loving her as a friend. 

“Come on.” Matt motioned with his head. “Drake has suggested a Hollywood vs Cordonian billiards game.” He had a smug grin on his face. “They have no idea that you play so well.”

___________________

The Night Before the Ultrasound...

“I’ve already begun a list of possible names.” Amanda explained.

“I always loved that part.” Riley sighed softly. “Thinking of the perfect name to match the new little one.”

“Making certain it is a name that they can carry into adulthood without embarrassment.” Drake added.

“Thankfully, we are pros at that.” Matt grinned at Addison.

“I’ve begun a list too.” Thomas remarked. 

The children listened somewhat from their table as the adults laughed and talked.

“What’s the list for?” Ellis whispered to Kathleen.

“Mommy is having babies and she is trying to find names for them.” She whispered back.

“Oh.” He went back to his dinner.

“What are you gonna do?” Juliet asked.

“About what?” Kathleen looked at her friend in confusion.

“If it’s girls?” Her face scrunched up in disgust. “You should be the only girl.”

“Hey!” Ashley shook her fork at Juliet. “Having a baby sister is the best! It’s those brothers that can be the worst.”

Michael and Marcus stared at her for such a statement.

“Amen!” Little Mia exclaimed.

“Hey!” Xavier appeared hurt. 

“Well, regardless,” Emerick said, trying to speak like his father though unsure what it meant. “Having babies changes everything.”

“Yes, they do.” Phoebe added. “They cry and don’t do anything fun yet. And mommy and daddy think Harper is so great. She can’t even talk!”

Ashley shook her head while wrapping her arm around her little sister Ally. “They are great!”

“You got her when you were too little to know better.” Phoebe countered. “It’s different for me and Kathleen. We’re more growed up and know stuff. Having a new baby is fun at first but they take too long to be able to play.”

Kathleen felt her initial excitement about her new siblings slowly die with Phoebe’s words. 

“Yeah,” Jackson muttered. “Then parents keep telling you to wait while they take care of the baby first.” He grunted when Juliet kicked him under the table. “I remember some of it when you came!”

She glared at him once more before turning back to her friend. “You got to make sure you don’t lose your spot.”

Kathleen’s brow furrowed. “My spot?”

“With your parents.” Juliet explained while Phoebe nodded in agreement. 

“How will I know if I lost it?” She asked, worry worming its way into her little heart.

“You’ll know.” Phoebe predicted ominously.

_______________

“Are you excited?” Amanda whispered to Kathleen as the ultrasound technician applied the KY jelly to her protruding belly. “You are about to see your siblings?”

Thomas chuckled when Kathleen nodded nervously. “I know I am.” He lifted Kathleen in his arms so she could see better. He slipped his hand in Amanda’s once their babies appeared on the screen.

Kathleen watched silently as measurements and such were taken.

“Ready to find out what these two are?” the tech asked.

“Yes!” Amanda and Thomas exclaimed at the same time then laughed at doing so.

“Twin number one is being modest, lets check on Twin number two. Oh. Do you see that?” The tech pointed at the screen.

“Is that his--” Thomas smiled when Twin two was announced as a boy.

“A boy!” Amanda covered her mouth as tears built up. She squeezed Thomas’s hand. “I get to have a miniature you running about.”

He bent down and pressed a sweet kiss to her lips.

Kathleen wiggled out of his arms and waited on finding out what twin one was. A baby brother wouldn’t make her lose her spot. Only a--

“There we go! Twin number one has decided to let us in on her secret. It’s a girl!” The tech began to pick through images to print off.

“A girl!” Thomas kissed Amanda again. “I see that I am still destined to be outnumbered by beautiful women.”

She laughed and looked for Kathleen. “Sweetheart! You will have a baby brother and a baby sister!”

“Oh!” Kathleen stared at the screen that had just destroyed her life. 

Once Amanda’s belly was cleaned and they left after an appointment, the couple looked down at their little girl. 

“My only hope is that they will be as sweet and perfect as you.” Amanda said to her.

“We know that you are going to be the best big sister. They will need you to always look out for them.” Thomas added.

Kathleen smiled at them as she thought of what she should do now. There really was only one option. She should run away before she lost their love. They would have a new daughter to take her place. A son would also take special time she had with them away. Why did I ask Santa for this?

_____________

While the parents of the children celebrated the future Hunt’s, Kathleen confided to Xavier her plan.

“But,” He began. “Kat, they will still make time with you. Phoebe’s parents still do her.”

“Yeah, but mine are having twins. More time away from me.” She mumbled.

He rubbed the back of his neck and looked around. “Where will you go?”

She shrugged her little shoulders. “I don’t know.” 

Michael came over when he noticed Kathleen’s sadness. ‘What’s wrong?”

“Uh...” Xavier began.

“I’m going to run away.” Kathleen admitted.

Michael stared at her in shock. “But...you can’t! I want you to stay!” His little cheeks turned red at admitting to such love. Ashley would tease him nonstop if she knew he liked Kathleen like his dad liked his mom.

Kathleen dropped her head as tears fell silently. “I don’t want to leave you or mommy or daddy. I have to go. It was my wish that messed it all up.”

Before either could try and convince her not to, she hugged them each. “Bye.” Then she ran out of the playroom.

Michael ran out after her and looked down the hallway. He didn’t know which way she went.

“We have to tell!” He whispered to Xavier.

“Who though?” Xavier asked.

Emerick who had been spying on them in case they spoke of the next fort battle, joined them. “We’ll tell my dad.”

_______________

Liam snuck out of the room when he noticed the three boys trying to get his attention. He followed them to his study and sat down as each explained what and why this had happened.

“You did right in telling this. Kathleen could get lost or hurt. I’m very proud of the three of you making certain this does not happen.” Liam called Bastien in and formulated a search around the palace. “I don’t want to distress Amanda and Thomas with this until we are certain that Kathleen is truly missing. I will go outside and see if she is anywhere nearby. She might have decided to go to one of the places the children like to play.”

“She loves the wishing well.” Michael spoke up shyly. “She says that it really is real and hopes that one day it will give her a wish come true.”

Liam smiled softly. “Then that is where I will go first.”

______________

The Wising Well in the Palace Maze...

Kathleen climbed the slippery rocks and propped her elbows on the wishing well’s rim. “Uncle Liam told me stories about you.” She looked down at the stars twinkling in the water. “I know you have helped princes and princesses. I’m not one and I won’t wish for it. I just want to change my Christmas wish.”

She shivered as the temperature began to drop. She hoped the treehouse in the maze would be warmer when she moved in. “I still want my baby brother and sister, but can I wish that my parents love me just as much as they do now when the babies are here?”

She closed her eyes and whispered her wish a few more times. “How will I know if it was answered?”

“I know it has.” Liam spoke from behind her. His smile was tender when she turned around and ran into his arms. 

“How do you know Uncle Liam?” She asked with tears falling.

He gently wiped them as he propped her on his lap. “I’m the king. Every king is granted the ability to know if wishes to this wishing well will come true. Your parents are going to not only love you just as much as they do now, but I believe that their love is going to grow more over time as they watch you and the twins grow up.”

She sniffed and looked up into his kind blue eyes. “You do?”

He nodded. “You must love the twins very much already to not want them to disappear.”

“I do.” She admitted. “I’ve been wanting a brother or sister for a long time.”

“Then you have nothing to worry about.” He promised.

Kathleen hugged him. “Do you think Mommy and Daddy will be mad that I was running away?”

Liam gently patted her back. “I haven't told them. And I won’t unless you decide to try this again. We all have moments where we sometimes want to run away from things that scare us or changes that are to come. What matters most is what we do about it. You wished for your family to be together and still love you. That was an unselfish wish. It is one that makes me very proud of you. I will reward such by letting this be our secret.”

She wiped her tears and thanked him. He smiled while standing up and wrapping his jacket around her. “Will you allow me to escort you back to the palace, Lady Kathleen?”

“Yes, please.” She murmured. She took hold of his hand and walked out of the maze.

_________________

“Liam? Have you seen--Kathleen!” Amanda hurried over to her. “Sweetheart, you can’t leave the playroom until you know your way around the palace. What would I do if I lost you?”

Kathleen’s face scrunched as tears started falling again. She threw her arms around Amanda while burying her face in her side. 

“What’s wrong?” Amanda sat down in a nearby chair and looked up in question to Liam. “What happened?”

“I believe she is in need of reassurance.” Liam motioned to Amanda’s belly. 

Understanding came swiftly. Thomas came around the corner and paused in concern. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

Liam whispered about Kathleen’s fears, leaving out her plan on running away. He noticed the three boys watching in concern from behind a suit of armor. He motioned for them to follow as he left the family to some privacy.

“Kathleen,” Amanda said softly. “Do you know why your father and I wanted to have another baby?”

She shook her head.

Thomas knelt down beside them both.

“Because of all the joy you have brought us.” Amanda replied. “We knew that if we got someone as wonderful as you then having another would be a blessing. We didn’t want you to feel alone in this world. Now you will have two that will look up to you and be a source of comfort whenever you need them. I know you will do the same for them with your loving heart.”

Kathleen sniffed and wiped her tears. “But you will have another girl. Will I still be your sweetheart?” She looked at Thomas. “Your darling or will she become those?”

“You will always be that.” Thomas promised. “Your new sister and brother will be just as loved as you are, but they can never take our love for you away. Our love for them will never be stolen either.”

Amanda kissed Kathleen’s forehead. “Just like we are trying to choose names for these two, we will end up choosing special names for them. You will be our only sweetheart and darling. They will be called something just as unique to them as yours are.”

Kathleen hugged them both, feeling reassured by their holding her close. She could feel the babies moving in Amanda’s tummy and smiled. “What are we going to call them?”

Thomas and Amanda shared a look. “We are still debating that. Do you have any suggestions?”

Kathleen tilted her head to the side as she looked down at her mother’s pregnant belly. “Hmm. I like Elizabeth.”

“Elizabeth Hunt.” Amanda smiled. “That is a very pretty name.”

Thomas nodded. “I think that would suit the one I saw this morning.”

Kathleen’s brow furrowed. “Ian for my brother.”

“Ian Hunt.” Thomas muttered. “I think that’s the name.”

“Elizabeth and Ian Hunt.” Amanda smiled with delight. “It’s perfect.”

[agentsokka]

The thing that bothers me most about tlk animation (also a criticism I had of the jungle book) is that the animals don't even look realistic. Then on top of that it, there's no emotion. So for me, the "real lions don't make that face" argument isn't even valid. It already looks like a fake lion, give it some life!

Honestly, exactly. Like that post has gotten nearly 15k notes worth of folks either agreeing or criticizing and I’m just. Tired. Of arguments like that.

The thing about Lion King is that it’s a very human story told with animals – which makes sense, lots of stories have done popular retellings of classic stories with animals. But with such a human story and human emotions at work, you need to relate them on your characters, like how Disney’s B-Team fabulously accomplished in 1994. You can’t tell a human story without humanizing the animal characters just a bit.

Take Bambi as a counterexample of what would be a GOOD film to remake in this style. When you get down to it, it’s basically a story about animals in nature. You don’t need too many expressions, you don’t need any dialogue whatsoever. It’d be ballsy and hard to execute, but Bambi would be such a better adaptation in this realistic style because it basically is a story about animals being animals. People already anthropomorphize animals in situations – you could get an audience balling because we the audience understands a Human just killed Bambi’s mom and you see this confused little fawn just, looking around, alone, lost. Simple, basic emotions are all you need to convey what the animal’s thinking without dialogue in this kind of setting. The human imagination can do the rest to fill in what would basically be a nature documentary.

Lion King, on the other hand, is telling an epic story of a jealous brother usurping the king and wreaking chaos throughout the kingdom – which IS a kingdom where all animals defer to their ruler, the lions – and the son needing to accept responsibility and come back to fight his uncle. You don’t get stories like that in nature. The Great Prince is a Thing in Bambi, but it’s more of a title than anything substantial, and you could get everything across without needing to explicitly state that beyond maybe some limited, basic narration. Lion King features too complex and established a narrative to really Work well this way.

It doesn’t help that the movie itself appears to be relying on the audience’s memory of the original film to convey emotion. The trailer is literally scene-for-scene reenactments of pivotal moments in the OG film – and of course, that’s not always a bad thing, it’s to pique your interest. But when it’s directly comparing itself to the original film on purpose, the audience can’t help but remember the stark contrast. I’m going to be making a gifset soon that just shows the clips side-by-side and let it speak for itself.

I think the most frustrating thing I find about this situation is people is saying I’m degrading the animators’ work and like, no, my beef has always been with the Disney execs who think realism is the hottest way to make $$$. You don’t get to be an animator of that caliber without knowing about character animation. The CGI is gorgeous, but that’s it – it’s realistic animals sans character animations to convey human emotion. I don’t believe they did that without direction – I believe Disney forced them to comply as employees. They believe realism is IN, they believe nostalgia is PROFITABLE, and that THAT’S the way to make the most bucks. 

The current Disney CEO is Bob Iger, for god’s sake, and you know who is mentor was? Michael Eisner, who famously penned: 

“The pursuit of making money is the only reason to make movies. We have no obligation to make history. We have no obligation to make art. We have no obligation to make a statement. Our obligation is to make money, and to make money, it may be important to make history. To make money, it may be important to make art, or some significant statement. To make money, it may be important to win the Academy Award, for it might mean another ten million dollars at the box office. Our only objective may be to make money, but in order to make money, we must always make entertaining movies. And if we make entertaining movies, at times we will make history, art, a statement, or all three.”

A good analytical video towards these remakes. Iger understands how to profitably repackage popular animated films, giving just enough change (often addressing criticisms lobbed at OG films) and keeping just enough the same – even if they’re soulless adaptations that can’t hold a candle to the original spirit. 

The most valid complaints I’ve seen of this trailer are FROM actual artists and animators who understand what it means to animate characters and convey these emotions. They’re the ones most frustrated because they have the industry knowledge to recognize the problem. This isn’t people who don’t understand what they’re talking about, they recognize that animators are being directed to limit character animation in favor of realism.

Listen, man. I only complain because I love Lion King. If this were Aladdin I would not give a rat’s ass – I haven’t been shitting on Will Smith genie because I cannot bring myself to care about it, even if it’s objectively ridiculous. I wanted to like this remake, because it’s literally the ONLY Disney remake I’ve shown limited interest in whatsoever. I don’t mind changes to the film – by all means, go ahead, there’s so much you can play around with. But something as integral as character animation is a little bad to miss out on.

[multiverseanimecrossover]

Black Clover: Fire Blood is DONE!

Welcome to the Misadventure Mission of Manliest Man Magna Swing! Join Magna, Luck, Sol and Kirsch as they get into a whole lot of trouble when a wild red haired princess runs away from home. Find out what happens next. 

While out on a Magic Knight mission as always; Magna and Luck walked in on a tea party, they were shocked to see bloodied corpses seated at the table while a trio of people consisted of an elder man, a young fellow and a young lady sitting at the end. “What the hell?!” Magna yelped. “Sir, you are troubling our guests and interfering with our fine dining.” The elder man scolded. “You call this ‘fine dining’? This is a massacre!” Magna protested. The young man smirked at him, “Why don’t you die and join the tea party?” He suggested. “All right!” Luck cheered. They were ready for battle but heard someone coming. “Eleazar! Lakeith! Tala! What the hell is going on here?” A voice called out. “Ah, Princess! We have interlopers, would you like to kill them for you?” The elder man name Eleazar asked. The girl had long red hair, her eyes green like emeralds and skin so fair with a bit of color to her. But her face lit up when she noticed Magna and Luck. “Oh my God~! You two are from the Black Bulls Squad, aren’t you?” The red haired girl squealed. This shocked the trio. “The Black Bulls?” Eleazar inquired. “You gotta be kidding me!” The young man name Lakeith cried. “What…?” The young lady name Tala asked. “You heard about us?” Magna asked. “Indeed, we heard you came in second place at the Stars Festival. Congratulations.” Eleazar said. Magna and Luck were ecstatic to hear that. “Awww, thanks~! You’re far to kind!” Magna said with a grin. “Princess Kurenai, you know you’re not supposed to be outside the castle walls!” A woman called, marching over. “Relax Adara, we have guests. These two happen to be part of the Black Bulls Squad.” Kurenai introduced. The woman, Adara, perked up with curiosity. “Oh?” She asked. “Name’s Magna Swing, and this brat here is Luck Voltia.” Magna replied. “Adara, I am the right hand lady of Her Majesty.” Adara stated. She leans over and whispers, “Sorry about the Princess, she tends to have a rebellious streak to her.” Magna just grinned, “It’s all good, don’t worry.” He mumbled back. But inside the castle, Noblewoman name Carmen was not so kind to anyone except her son name Robin, she and Kurenai had a strained relationship with each other as they did not get along so often. After having a full blown argument; Kurenai packed her stuff as she was going to run away from home—despite pleas from her servants, her adviser, Magna and Luck. “Forget it! She doesn’t care about me, she’s better off with a son like my brother than a daughter like me.” Kurenai stated. As the sun was about to rise; Magna, Luck, Eleazar, Lakeith, Tala and Adara went over the castle walls to the other side. Just as Kurenai was about to leap over the castle walls, she took one last look at the castle. “Goodbye forever.” Kurenai whispered. With that, Kurenai turned and left it all behind her!

While on the run; Kurenai reveals to have Blood Magic with a Grimoire with all Spells to her Blood Creation Magic. Adara has Briar Magic, almost like Charlotte Roselei of the Blue Roses, Eleazar has Light Magic, Lakeith has Slash Magic and Tala has Water Magic. During the battle against Rogues that are confronted with; Magna bumped into something as he saw who it was. A girl and some flamboyant guy! “Oh no! It’s you two!” Magna groaned. The girl made a face, “You again? Aw great.” She complained. “I never wanted to see you again either!” The pompous boy uttered. Kurenai look at the snobby boy, the girl and Magna. “You guys know each other?” She inquired. “Like I’d tell!” The snobby boy retorted. “Don’t ask, don’t even ask!” The girl hissed. “Forget it, Kurenai! I’m not talking and you can’t make me!” Magna snapped. Kurenai giggled, “Eleazar…” She called in a sing song voice. Eleazar stood over Magna and the other two, he placed his hand over a tree and then it disintegrated! Magna, the girl and the snobby boy are in shock. Eleazar looked smug while Lakeith snickered and Tala sneered too. “Now, let’s try that again…How do the three of you know each other?” Kurenai asked. The girl is Sol Marron and the guy is Kirsch Vermilion. It was then things were getting hectic Magna, Sol and Kirsch were not thrilled to be forced to work together however they have to be on the same team in order to survive against the rogues. As personalities clashed over different types of strategies and the rogues attacking; the ever so flamboyant Kirsch offers to be bait when the rogues get closer, then Magna and Sol will pop out and they can attack. The plan worked charmed! “See? I told you, now…Praise me~!” Kirsch belted out. “No.” Magna and Sol said in unison. Magna, Sol and Kirsch were relieved however they remembered they hate each other as they turned away with a huff of annoyance. Even though they hated each other; Magna, Sol and Kirsch slowly developed a mutual respect for each other. But the situation is a pattern: One minute they can’t stand one another, and the next minute they can’t live without the other.

Down the road as everyone jumped to the other side while Magna couldn’t do it; Kurenai becomes catty and makes comments about Magna that affect him, Adara called her out but Kurenai doesn’t care however Magna ran away—he seemed upset. “Yeah, that’s right! Run away, coward!” Kurenai hollered. She turns away with a scoff, “Who does that ass clown think he is? Good God, he’s so annoying with his tough guy attitude! I just can’t stand him!” Kurenai mumbled. “Princess?” Eleazar asked. “I mean, he has that whole delinquent image but no one wants someone who doesn’t seem cool once you get to know him. It’s pathetic really, does he have any idea who I am?! No, he thinks he’s hot shit!” Kurenai continued, snubbing Eleazar. “Princess.” Lakeith said. “It’s so infuriating to be around him, all he does is yell and act like a tough guy when he’s nothing more than a mere prick!” Kurenai rambled, she also ignored Lakeith. “PRINCESS!!!” Adara exclaimed, she finally got the red head princess’s attention. “What is it?!” Kurenai cried. Adara pointed a finger over, “Look.” She uttered. There was Magna running at the speed of light, his shoes on fire from his Magic he was using! He was attempting to jump over to get to the others. “Magna?” gasped Luck. “What is he doing?” Eleazar asked. “Holy crap, is he--?” Lakeith inquired. “No, he’s not!” Tala cried. “Wait, you don’t think…” Kirsch started to say. “You wouldn’t dare!” Sol protested. “NO, DON’T YOU’RE NOT GOING TO MAKE IT!!!!” Kurenai hollered. “WATCH ME!!!” shouted Magna. With one leap, he was in the air and tumbled down in front of the others. There was silence, Magna rose up panting but managed to grin with excitement. Luck cheered: “Way to go!” Eleazar smiled, “Impressive.” He admitted. “Not bad, hot head.” Lakeith remarked. “Nice one.” Tala said. “My, you really are strong.” Adara answered. “I hate to say this but nice job out there.” Sol declared. “Yes, that execution was beautifully flawless~!” Kirsch chirped up. But Kurenai had smoke coming out of her ears, she took Magna by his shirt and dragged him off. She then pins him against the wall, a look of anger in her eyes. “You….You are crazy!” She spat. “Give me a sec, will ya? I’m outta breath…” Magna managed to say through breaths. Kurenai lets him go and sized him up. “OK then, but remember—my world, my rules. Got it?” She challenged. Magna nodded and they were on their way. But then there was more trouble: Oberon is the captain as his squad members consisted of Donato, Kane and Takashi. They have orders from Lady Carmen to fetch the Princess. Nevertheless, Kurenai refused to go with them! A fight broke out as Magna and the others got away in the midst of chaos.

Want to read more? Check it out here: https://www.quotev.com/story/12471946/Black-Clover-Fire-Blood

Thank you so much~! 

To @askmagnaswing and @flauntingdante; hope you like it! 

[harrv]

I saw this on my other fandom so I hope you don't mind. Make a list of your top 20 favorite fics. Then, tag 20 people (or as many as you like) ❤️

ooooh okay! i never made a long ass ficrec before so here we go *cracks knuckles* 

[not in particular order!] [all are harry/louis]

~ also, i tag anyone who wants to do a fic rec! just say i tag u :)

1. Unbelievers by isthatyoularry / 136k

It’s Louis’ senior year, and he’s dead set on doing it right. However, along with his pair of cleats, a healthy dose of sarcasm and his ridiculous best friend, he’s also got a complicated family, a terrifyingly uncertain future, and a mortal enemy making his life just that much worse. Mortal enemies “with benefits” was not exactly the plan.

Or: The one where Louis and Harry definitely aren’t friends, and football is everything.

2. Young & Beautiful by Velvetoscar / 227k

Louis, to his horror, attends an elitist university in which the name Zayn Malik means something, Niall Horan doesn’t stop talking, there are pianos everywhere, and Harry Styles, only son of a drug-addled, clinically insane ex-rocker, has a perfect smile and empty eyes.

3. Gods & Monsters by Velvetoscar / 201k

The instructions were simple: seduce and destroy Harry Styles. Not once did they discuss the option of Louis actually falling in love. So, naturally, that’s exactly what he did.

4. all we can do is keep breathing by @avocadolouie / 149k+ (as of june 7)

“Harry, I-I’m so sorry…” Louis stutters out, trying to keep his voice level and even, to portray a depiction of strength, but with the way Harry is looking at him, staring at him like he has a personal passage way straight to Louis’ soul, it’s so hard, nearly impossible.

That simple opening phrase, that short introductory acknowledgement that is often rushed out so easily, painlessly, at a safe distance. Giving a doctor the ability to portray empathy without true emotion, without feeling the full brunt and sheer force of the underlying pain itself.

But Louis feels it, he feels the crushing agony laced behind the phrase, he feels the weight of the painful words slipping from his lips, the cause and effect that the three-word expression holds. The distantly empty “I’m so sorry” that doctors throw out in self-preservation, isn’t at all empty for him. Louis recognizes it, he understands it, he feels it.

a fated story of two broken and battered boys who barely survived the unimaginable and how the love of one little brave girl defies all the odds and somehow puts them back together.

[more under the cut]

5. Empty Gold by rainbow_kings / 148k

AU where Louis Tomlinson attends the vigorous, demanding performing arts school: Guildhall in hopes to complete his theatre degree. He is a scholarship student, always having to work twice as hard to prove his worth which has caused him to feel resentment and anger towards his subordinate position.

Harry Styles is the wealthy, naturally gifted actor who effortlessly snatches all the main roles within the class. The complete contrast to everything Louis is.Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles have had bad blood and despised each other for the two years they attended Guildhall together, making each task a competition between each other.

In the final year, when Guildhall produces and performs an original play, Louis is heartbroken to learn the lead role has been been received to Harry and he’s the second role. He’s mostly terrified, however, when he realises he has to date Harry in the play as their characters. They come together through awkward stage kisses that transforms to hate sex, heated arguments, rehearsal times after lectures and baking carrot cake together.

6. Crave by @dimpled-halo​ / 89k

All eyes are on Louis Tomlinson to bring new talent to save Hanover Records from the mess the previous executive left behind. His newest artist, Harry Styles, is charismatic and everything Louis needs to revive the label. It’s up to Louis and his team to make Harry the star he was born to be. When Harry and Louis come face to face, it isn’t the first time they’ve met, and their worlds are about to be turned upside down.

7. Needing You More and More, Let’s Give Love A Try by supernope / 33k

When Harry gets pregnant after a one night stand, Louis helps him get everything together, from buying pregnancy clothes to taking him on a babymoon. Somewhere along the way, they realize that their feelings for each other are more than platonic. 

8. The Night Sky is Changing Overhead by @domestic-harry / 124k

“Um, sorry, but I believe that’s actually mine,”

Harry said a bit awkwardly, pointing at the cup. The man huffed, slightly narrowing his blue eyes, “Nope, large Americano, dash of cream.” He held the coffee up closer to Harry and honestly, Harry knew exactly what was in the cup because it was his coffee.

“Right,” Harry slowly drawled out as if he was talking to a toddler, “Which would make that mine.”“

Look, I really don’t have time for this, I’m running late. And this,” he said before he took a sip from the cup, “Is mine.”

Harry’s jaw dropped and he held his hands out, failing them slightly, “Wha-you can’t just drink it!”

“Well I did, so, do you still want it or can I be on my way?” The man challenged.Harry shook his head disbelievingly, “Take it, but for the record, it says Harry on it.”

The man turned the cup around and a sharp laugh came out of his mouth, “Well, shit.” He looked at Harry, a smile stretched across his face as crinkles formed next to his eyes. “Thanks, Harry.”

9. the wonderlands by stylinsoncity / 150k

Harry’s daughter, Andy, is signed to Louis’ girl band. Her path to success is marked by competition, chaos, and for Harry, a love affair.

10. If I Was Stronger by haloeverlasting / 50k

Harry lets out a breath she hadn’t even realized she’d been holding. She feels tingly, and hot, and absolutely terrified, but the next time she looks in the mirror, she sees someone she knows intimately. She sees that girl with bright green eyes, and unruly hair, and parted lips, and she loses her breath a moment, because while she knows that girl inside and out, she hasn’t been honest with herself until… well, now.

“I might be gay.”

A Girl Direction AU where Louis holds universes inside her, and Harry just wants to hold her.

11. Now In A Minute by @avocadolouie / 150k

13 feels like yesterday for many people, but for Louis it actually was.More than anything in the world, Louis Tomlinson dreams of growing up. Simply skipping over all of the awkward, embarrassing years of teenage existence and getting on with life. Real life.

So when thirteen-year-old Louis wakes up in the body of his thirty-year-old self, he expected everything in his adult life to be picture perfect. And maybe it is. He has it all…or so it seems.

Except his favorite person and lifelong best mate, Harry Styles, is totally missing from the equation and Louis doesn’t understand why. He has a lot of catching up to do and as adult life turns out to be more than what he bargained for, Louis can’t help wondering why a life that seemed so perfect, feels so empty.

Or the 13 going on 30 au that should have been done years ago.

12. Fake It Till You Make It by @avocadolouie / 136k

In a twisted turn of events, Louis finds himself posing as the brother of his fiancé, Harry, for an annual company retreat.

Did he sign up for this? No.

Is he doing it anyway? Yes.

Can they actually pull this off? Probably not.

13. precious little thing by mercutionotromeo / 21k

Niall grins deviously and hits “make call”, putting his phone on speaker. They lean in close to peer down at the screen, heads knocking lightly together. Dull rings reverberate quietly around the room and mix with the monotonous buzz of the lights. It rings for a while - maybe six or seven times - then the other line picks up.

There’s a slow, steady inhale, and a low voice purrs, “Hi, sexy.”

Jesus - this guy has barely said two words, and both of them have made Harry’s cock twitch in his jeans. That’s not even getting to what those words are, and why he’s saying them, and how Harry’s stomach is dropping into his shoes at the mere thought of him saying… other words. Words like “cock”, and “please”, and “come”.

Also known as: a university AU featuring phone sex operator Louis, copious amounts of sweet, soft kink discovery, and Louis being Harry’s Daddy.

14. Say You’ll Remember by whisperdlullaby / 93k

au. louis and harry are best mates that are only half aware that they’re also soulmates. alternatively, louis goes to university and harry travels the world, and they always manage to find their way back to each other.

takes place over nine years, in which they love and hurt, make mistakes and learn, and above all, grow.

15. Grenadine Sunshine by @horsegirlharry / 18k

Harry’s only sixteen, it shows right now, and Louis wants…he wants so many things. He wants to taste the faint, sugary ghost of lip gloss, he wants to cup Harry’s face between his palms and swipe the shimmery wet shadows from beneath his eyes. He wants to show him everything he knows, even though he doesn’t know anything about this, about kissing boys or flirting with them or doing their makeup or even showing them it’s okay to want to wear makeup in the first place. Still, Louis just wants, wants and wants and wants. It’s what Harry does to him.

16. California Sold by isthatyoularry / 123k

Notoriously closeted boyband member Harry Styles is famous on a global scale, meanwhile Louis, as his best friend, is back home in Manchester, living the typical life of a 24 year old. When Harry needs Louis with him in LA, a publicity stunt gone wrong changes their friendship forever.

A fake-relationship AU between two lifelong best friends.

17. Do Not Go Gentle by afirethatcannotdie / 70k

“This is all a game to you, isn’t it? Well, it’s not for me. This is a real life or death situation,” Louis says, spitting the words at him. “And I just don’t think you’re cut out for it.”

For a moment, they stare at each other in complete silence. Harry can feel his blood thrumming between his ears, can see Louis glaring at him, feels red-hot anger. And then all he feels, oppressively and desperately, is lust.

Suddenly Louis is surging up to him to press his lips against Harry’s. Harry walks the two of them backwards, pressing Louis back against the door. Louis oomphs in surprise and brings his hands under Harry’s scrub top, scratching at his lower back.

“Lock — oh — lock the… fucking door,” Louis mutters.

When Harry Styles starts his first day as a surgical intern, he expects a lot of things: to treat patients, to observe a surgery, to feel a bit overwhelmed. What he definitely doesn’t expect, however, is that the handsome guy he kicked out of his bed this morning is also an intern.A Grey’s Anatomy AU where tensions are high, Harry and Louis are hooking up in secret, and no one has time for love. Or do they?

18. Finding Lou by stylinsoncity / 60k

Louis is the nomadic stranger who wanders into Harry’s bookstore. Harry is the skeptic who falls for him.

19. Coax the Cold by MediaWhore  / 86k

England, 1897.

English Professor Louis Tomlinson’s passion for the occult has been a source of mockery and derision for most of his life. When he hears whispers of a travelling freak show newly established in London claiming the existence of a monstrous sea hybrid, half-man, half-fish, Louis sees it as his ticket to credibility amongst his peers. The summer he spends undercover working on the show, however, gives him much more than that. 

20. Here In The Afterglow by @fondleeds

“If you hadn’t noticed, I don’t have many friends,” Louis whispers, the blossom of insecurity in his stomach unfurling and clawing its way into his throat.

Harry is silent for a long time, and then he speaks; a soft, slow uncurl that makes Louis’ stomach shake. “I’ll be your friend.”

-1970’s AU. In a tiny town in Idaho, Louis’ life is changed forever by the arrival of a curious stranger. 

[lokikingofasgardslover713]

The Ulfhednar Ch.7

Loki Laufeyson x OFC

 Words: +2,200

Warnings: None yet? Cussing if that counts

 Masterlist   Ch.1   Ch2.   Ch.3   Ch.4   Ch.5   Ch.6   Ch.8

A month later, on a cool Autumn evening, found Selene and Loki both sitting out on the balcony that overlooked the city. It seemed Loki wasn’t to keen on leaving her alone and continued to follow her around the compound. Looking over to the oddly silent creature that for once wasn’t berating him for stalking her as he looked over to realize that she sat on the edge of her seat, body tense. It was obvious she had caught something the moment the cool breeze shifted towards them and was glaring toward the tree line, trying to pick up on a scent, and looking out to the tree line himself.

Wolves, a clan, wait a large clan, her large clan, and unable to hold back the curse words that spilled from her lips the moment her uncle stepped out of the tree line, stopping at the beginning of the manicured lawn.

“Fuck me,” Selene whispered, making Loki look away and back to her, but not before noting the tall, black haired man that had steeped out of the trees, and who shared characteristics similar to Selene.

“Who…,” Loki began, watching her closely now, her eyes widening and saw the nervous wolf pacing in them.

“My uncle,” she breathed, not able to say much more, watching the team that consisted of Steve, Tony, and Thor step out to engage her uncle as more wolves in mortal form appeared.

Selene shot one last worried glance at Loki before springing to her bare feet and vaulting over the edge of the balcony railing the moment the Hulk himself appeared along with more of her clan. The leap making her stomach lurch and her breath catch in her throat. Ignoring it, she knew now wasn’t the time to allow anything to stop her, even the god who seemed intent on staying next to her couldn’t stop her.

“Arius! STOP,” Selene yelled out, both groups freezing as she ran forward to position herself between her clan and the Avengers, and of course Loki not far behind, damn he was getting on her nerves today.

“Thank the gods,” Arius breathed, striding forward to pull her into his chest in a tight hug, holding tight and scenting Loki all over her.

Pushing her back so he could get a better look at her, noting she was well cared for, didn’t wear a collar or seem to be held against her will. Though he did eye the group and more specifically the raven-haired god.

“I'm OK, but you should go. We don’t need a fight,” Selene tried to reassure him, looking back at who he glared at.

“And put that out of your mind, were not,” she hinted to Loki.

“I'm not leaving without you,” Arius stated, the tone of his voice igniting something between the two groups.

Both sides beginning to sling curses at each other, leaving Selene to helplessly flounder between the two trying to make it all stop. The entire ordeal dizzying, but the moment Thor jerked her back away from her uncle who spat curses to the group, both sides went for each other.

“I SAID STOP,” Selene let loose of the loud vicious roar that seemed to echo off the building and tree line, the reverberation making everyone freeze.

“As your CHIEF this stops NOW,” she growled, staring Arius down like a true alpha of their kind, and the centuries old wolf obediently dropped his gaze to the ground at her feet.

“Your foolishness will get MY clan slaughtered,” she finished with a warning growl.

It seemed everyone froze, well all but Tony’ mouth as he touched down next to Steve.

“Did she just call herself their chief,” Tony quipped, stepping back slightly at the gaze she shot him.

“You never,” Arius dared to speak as her attention snapped back to him, her eyes flashing to let him know she was still furious.

“In this moment I am,” she snarled, stalking towards Arius and everyone watching the older, heavier built man that towered over her, stumble back slightly once more averting his gaze.

“I have a debt to pay. You of all people should know what that means,” Selene now spoke calmer the moment she stopped toe to toe with her uncle who easily dwarfed even her thick feminine frame.

Arius looked over her shoulder as if something had caught his attention, and almost immediately sensed a presence next to her, even brushing up against her forearm. Chartreuse eyes shifting to cut over to Loki, who looked to be preparing to speak with her uncle.

“For what it's worth,” he began, knowing all to well that Arius knew who he was and being Asgardian royalty, he was to be respected.

“I’ll keep her safe, make sure that her debt is paid and that she makes it back to her clan unscathed,” he stated simply, but he was implying something else.

“What,” she paused, obvious he caught her off guard by the offer, not sure what really was happening between the god and her uncle, the puzzled look she gave Loki telling him she didn’t know much of her royal lineage.

“I hold you to it,” Arius spoke, ignoring the puzzled look he got from his niece and sealing the deal with a forearm shake with the royal god.

It was over, all the chaos that had been boiling around moments before was over and the clan was beginning to leave back the way they came. Arius saying his goodbyes to Selene who turned and looked up at Loki in bewilderment, willing him to explain it all to her. Without a glance down the god of mischief turned to follow the others back inside to leave Selene gawking at him not sure what to say or do.

“Wait,” she shouted, running behind Loki and grabbing his wrist to make him stop.

“What was that,” she blurted the moment he turned to look down at her.

“An arrangement,” he answered vaguely, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

“What kind of arrangement?”

“For protection,” he continued, even more vague and watching her scrunch her face up at his answer.

“I still don’t understand. Why do I need protecting,” she puzzled.

“You're ulfhednar,” he smirked, obvious he was enjoying how irritating he was being.

“Yeah, and? That means?”

“I'm sorry pet but you have used up you 3 questions for the week, you’ll just have to wait till next week to find out I suppose,” Loki smirked down at her mischievously as he turned her own words against her and turning to continue back into the compound.

“No,” Selene breathed out with a long growl, pissed he had turned the tables on her as she glared holes in his back.

“Are you coming back in or do you wish for me to leave you out in the rain,” Loki spoke over his shoulder, thunder sounding over the city as if it had been waiting for him to bring attention to it.

Normally she despised certain amounts of bratty behavior, but she had been good for several months, so what would one tantrum hurt? Especially since it seemed that Loki was allowed to get by with them on a weekly basis, like the one he threw last week because she still wasn’t allowed on missions. Crossing her arms over her chest, plopping down onto the soft grass to cross her legs and glare at Loki’ back. Smirking as he eventually turned to see her puffed up and sitting on the lawn, dark clouds behind the tree line.

“Selene,” he began, turning to look at her, pausing but not taking a step towards her so he wouldn’t play into her stubbornness.

“No,” she huffed like a 3-year-old, thunder sounding closer, and the team stopping to see how it all played out.

“Don’t be childish,” Loki scolded.

“You're one to talk,” she snipped, still puffed up.

“I will leave you out here, you’ll get drenched,” he bargained with a knowing smirk.

“So!? You know I can’t get sick, leave me out here!”

By now the entire team was curious how their little stand off would end, everyone knew both could be stubborn, which meant this could take hours. Thor even smirking to himself, Loki had finally met his match, but something told him his brother would be the one to give in.

“Come on,” Loki ordered, his tone dripping with authority that seemed to fall on deaf ears.

“No.”

“Selene,” he warned.

“No, Loki,” she bit out.

“Ok, I am not arguing with you out here, but if you insist on acting like a spoiled child, then I will treat you like one,” he bit back harshly, stalking towards her, but still she seemed to not believe his actions.

“Wait wait wait,” she rambled, trying to get to her feet in time but it was too late.

Loki had her struggling form hoisted over his shoulder, and her head facing forward so that he could continue to scold her.

“Let me down,” she bargained, fisting his shirt so that she could hold herself up his grip around her torso tightening the moment he felt her tense to jump free.

“No. I'm not about to go back on my word,” he snapped slightly and not giving her a second glance.

“Thor,” Selene yelped as they brushed by the blonde-haired god, reaching out to him but he stepped back with a smile.

“I'm afraid you're on your own, seeing as you brought this on yourself,” Thor laughed as they all fell in behind the two.

“I don’t like you,” an exasperated huff escaped her lips as they boarded the elevator alone and realizing it was useless to fight now.

“I know,” he smirked, finally looking over at her, green orbs sparkling.

“You love me,” he asserted quietly in her ear finally allowing her to slip off of his shoulder.

“What made you say that,” she asked cautiously, the doors shutting, and not sure she wanted to know the answer.

“Ah, ah, ah,” he tutted, “3 question limit, remember?”

He held her gaze, noticing her lips part to speak but he beat her to it.

“And no bargaining for answers.”

Clinching her jaw while she still held his gaze, the muscles clenching and relaxing in the form of a tic that had become too familiar in their arguments as of late.

“I think I have a right to know why you appointed yourself my personal watchdog,” her defeated voice sounded, averting her gaze so that she looked at the elevator doors, willing the damn thing to hurry up and it finally dawned on her that he was controlling it.

When he realized he was pushing his luck, he allowed the doors open and watched her brush by him so that she could get down the corridor to their shared quarters. Deciding it was best to let her go, Loki took his time getting off the lift, but followed her quietly and puzzling over how she didn’t know any more than she did of her true heritage that was connected with Asgardian royalty. Or that she didn’t even sense how he felt for her, how much he actually cared for her, ulfhednar where notorious for noting things of that nature, but then again maybe she did and was choosing to ignore it.

Entering into their living quarters a few moments after her to watch her curl up on the armchair that faced the glass wall that she had taken out her first day there. The headphones sitting around her neck, but he knew she could hear the music that played perfectly.

Defeated, Selene laid her head on the arm of the big puffy chair as music played and watching the storm roll in, bringing its soothing sound with it. The previous events running through her mind, attempting to bring up a distant memory that had to be there as to why Loki would make the bargain he had with her uncle.

She was nothing special to be fretted over, was she? In no way was she daft, she knew that Loki harbored something for her, but because of him being, well, Loki, she found it hard to fully trust him. Even though she was able to see through his lies to the others it still weighted on her that he was the god of mischief, the god of lies. Fuck! She would be lying if she claimed she didn’t fill anything for him.

Gently Loki sat on the arm opposite the one she was laid over on, looking her over the moment her eyes cut over to look at him.

“Selene,” he began quietly.

“Shut up,” came a breathy sigh, shifting around in the chair to the arm he was propped on to lay her head onto his thigh and setting back into the chair.

“I really don’t want to know,” she admitted filling him push her loose braid over her shoulder.

“Not right now anyway,” she finished.

“Fair enough,” Loki lamented, gently laying his cool palm between her shoulder blades and filling them relax.

Seeming the two sat like that way for awhile before Thor entered. Loki looking back towards him as if to tell him to keep quiet.

“I’m going to bed,” Selene announced quietly, standing and heading strait for the bedroom without another word. 

If i tagged you and you want to be removed let me know, I have added some who showed an interest in my posts!

Also, if you are interested let me know and I will tag you!

Tags: @starscreamloki @beets1bears1battlestargalactica @star-spangled-man-with-a-plan @readitandweepfics @loki-the-fox @linnyrero7-blog @gramaeryebard @mamapeterson  @aikibriarrose @captain-rogers-beard        @mamapeterson ​ @aikibriarrose @legolasothranduilion ​                    

[letterfromtrenwith]

Prescription Passion - Ch.1

My cheesily titled but I hope not cheesily written Carolight hospital AU :D

Dr Dwight Enys, coming home from several years abroad, takes a job in the A&£ dept of St Neot's hospital in Truro, not intending to be completely knocked for six by meeting a certain lovely dermatologist - Dr Caroline Penvenen.

Posting the first ch. for Carolight Week. 

~

Maternity Ward

“How in the Hell – “ Dwight glared at the blue plastic sign above the double swing doors, as if staring at it hard enough might change it into something that made sense. While he’d admittedly only been working here a week, he couldn’t fathom how anybody found their way around this hospital. It was like a bloody labyrinth. Although that was all relative considering that the last hospital he’d worked in had essentially been three wooden huts stuck together. The St. Neot’s Infirmary was something else altogether.

Technically, his shift was over for today, but since the A&E dept. was currently running a little understaffed he was still on call until late that evening, before having 48 hours off. He had been planning on going home, since his flat wasn’t too far way to make getting back in an emergency unworkable, and he still had some serious unpacking to do. However, what he’d intended to be a quick trip to the HR department to swap his temporary staff card for a permanent one – hideous passport photo and all – had turned into a trip down the rabbit hole.

Blessedly, he knew someone in the maternity unit who would be able to give him directions. Verity Poldark was a senior midwife at St Neot’s, and had been the one to suggest Dwight apply for a job there. He’d met her when he was at medical school with her cousin, Ross, and she’d been a trainee at the university’s teaching hospital.

Verity was standing at the nurse’s station when he went in, looking harassed, her hair coming loose from its pins. It didn’t really look like the time to bother her – maybe he could ask someone else – but she managed a smile when she saw him.

“Hi, Dwight. What brings you here?”

“Being horribly lost, I’m afraid. I was going to ask if you could show me the way but I’ve obviously caught you at a busy time.” The whiteboard behind the desk showed that four o’clock in the afternoon on a Tuesday was apparently a popular time to be in labour.

“No, it’s – “ Before Verity could finish her sentence, the doors swung open again behind Dwight, and Verity looked behind him, breaking into a much wider smile of what seemed like relief.

“George! Thank God!” Dwight turned to find that George was a fair-haired man of about the same age as him.

“Somebody call for an anaesthetist?”

“GET ME THE FUCKING DRUGS!”

“I’ll take that as a yes.” George passed by Dwight without a second glance, heading into the room where the shout had emanated from. Verity made to follow him, but stopped.

“Are you doing anything at the minute, Dwight?”

“Er, no, not really.”

“Want to come and help deliver a very angry lady’s twins?” Dwight thought for a minute; about the pile of boxes he had to unpack and the papers from his aunt’s solicitor he still had to read.

“You know, I would.” 

~

Dwight suppressed a yawn as he signed off on yet another patient form – a 14 year old boy who’d suffered an asthma attack during a PE lesson; he would fine, but Dwight had strongly advised him that it probably wasn’t the best idea to leave his inhaler on his bedside table when he was going to be playing rugby.

This morning had been a complete whirlwind. Five minutes after he’d clocked on, four victims of a car accident had been rushed in, all of whom needed stabilising before surgery; and then an 89-year-old woman with Alzheimer’s who was incredibly distressed after a fall at her care home; two workmen who’d sustained mild burns after a piece of equipment had caught fire. On and on and on they’d come. Friday was often a busy day in A & E – no Saturday night, but it could get chaotic. Just before the 14 year old boy, Dwight had seen a time of death pronounced on an overdose case, so he wasn’t feeling his best.

His 48 hours off hadn’t given him much rest, in the end, although he had collapsed face down on his bed first thing on Wednesday morning after Mrs Teague’s 12 hour-labour, which had ended in the arrival of boy and girl twins, seemingly hale and hearty.

Unlike most of the British hospitals Dwight had worked in, St Neot’s actually had a pretty decent canteen, and he thought a ham salad baguette and packet of posh crisps would hit the spot.

“Dwight! Over here!” Verity waved at him from the corner, and he weaved his way between tables occupied by a mix of uniform clad nurses, doctors in scrubs and patients with dressing gowns over their hospital nighties – the odd one with a drip. He hoped none of them were skipping out on ‘nil by mouth’ orders.

“Hi, Verity. Hello.” Verity was sitting with George, the anaesthetist from Tuesday night, and another woman who’d also been at the delivery. In the chaos, Dwight had never got her name, but he’d gathered she was the on-call obstetrician. She was very pretty, with short, dark brown hair and soft features; her smile was wide and friendly, her eyes warm. Dwight could imagine her being a soothing presence for nervous mothers-to-be. Today, she’d swapped her scrubs for a smart sleeveless blouse, her glasses tucked into the neck.

“Didn’t get a chance to introduce you all properly the other night.” Verity smiled. “Dr Dwight Enys, this is Dr George Warleggan and Dr Elizabeth Warleggan.”

“I assume that’s not a coincidence?” Dwight sat, putting down his tray to exchange handshakes with the other two, who smiled at each other in a way which made their connection rather obvious.

“No. They’re our resident lovebirds.” Verity grinned and Elizabeth shook her head.

“Thank you for your help the other night, by the way.”

“How is Mrs Teague? And the babies?”

“Mmm,” Elizabeth took a pull on the straw of her drink. “All well. They were discharged yesterday – we kept the twins for observation since they both had low blood pressure, but they were right as rain after 24 hours or so.”

“Mrs Teague seemed very…overwhelmed by the experience.”

“Ha! I’ll say.” Verity shook her head. “It takes women lots of ways but, Ruth…”

“All that screaming…” Elizabeth sighed. “And for such a straightforward delivery, especially for twins. I blame TV, you know. People see all those histrionics and they think that’s how it should be.”

“Says the woman who gave me a black eye when she was giving birth!” George cried and Elizabeth gave a dramatic sigh, looking up in an exaggerated appeal to the heavens.

“That was an accident!” She looked at Dwight. “I reached out for his hand during a particularly hard contraction and he happened to be bending forward at the same time…”

“That’s her story!” Dwight laughed. This was obviously a well-worn argument, and he couldn’t help but smile at the obvious affection between the two of them.  He hadn’t got a proper look at George the other night – after administering the epidural he’d only needed to monitor Mrs Teague for a short while before the delivery team could take over, and then he’d been called away for a surgical procedure. Blue-eyed and fine-featured, he certainly made a handsome match with Elizabeth.

“So, how many children do you have?” Dwight asked.

“Two.” Elizabeth picked up her phone, scrolling through before handing it to him. The picture showed an adorable little boy of about three, with dark springy curls, peering curiously at a tiny light-haired baby. “Valentine, he’s nearly four now, and Ursula, she’s just turned one.”

“ – “ They obviously sensed his surprise at the unusual names, and Dwight was briefly afraid he’d offended them, but George smiled.  

“Valentine was born on Valentine’s day, and Ursula was Elizabeth’s great-aunt, she died just before the baby was born. Also, there’s surprisingly little that goes with ‘Warleggan’.”

They chatted more as they ate, Dwight telling them a little about his time with Medicines sans Frontieres – although nothing about why he’d joined the organisation in the first place; even Verity didn’t know the full details there, and he certainly wasn’t ready to talk about it with strangers, even ones as nice as these. He did explain that he’d come home to Cornwall to take care of his Aunt’s estate, and that Verity had persuaded him to join the staff at St Neot’s.

“She’s the best recruiter this place has got!” Elizabeth laughed. “She got her brother here, too. And Demelza!”

Dwight had known Francis for a while, too, although not as well as the other Poldarks – he’d gone to a different uni, and practiced in Scotland for a few years. He was now a consultant ophthalmologist at St.Neot’s – the only one, actually.

“Demelza?” He’d met an awful lot of people since arriving at the hospital a couple of weeks ago, but he couldn’t remember her. He was sure he’d remember someone with such an unusual name.

“One of the hospital pharmacists.” Verity explained. “I met her at a yoga class, and she told me she wanted a change from her old job…”

“I think Dr. Martin said we were short a few A & E nurses if you fancy taking that on?” Verity elbowed him and he laughed. Suddenly, there was a beeping noise, and all four of them rummaged in their pockets.

“It’s me. Emergency surgery. Nice to meet you, Dwight.” With a quick kiss for Elizabeth, George was gone, his wife smiling after him.

“Aww…” Verity cooed.

“Shut up.” Elizabeth said primly, fighting a grin.  

“No, I love it. You give this sad singleton hope for true love.” Verity sighed with exaggerated dreaminess, and Elizabeth snorted. After a moment, Dwight became aware of someone standing behind him, just as Elizabeth smiled widely.

“Caroline! Here, meet the new A & E registrar I told you about. Dwight, this is Dr Caroline Penvenen.” Dwight turned to greet the new arrival, and found himself completely lost for words.

[orbemnews]

Wrongfully convicted man was released after 27 years, but then the world went on lockdown After spending 27 years behind bars for a murder he says he did not commit, Cooper was released in January 2020, just before the coronavirus began wreaking havoc across America. The pandemic has not been easy for the world, but he remains unfazed. “I’ve been incarcerated a long time. This is nothing,” the soft-spoken Cooper said in a video interview from his home in Raleigh, North Carolina, which he shares with his wife, Sandy, and their 10-year-old daughter, Layla. He spends his days cooking, which he did in prison — “Besides God, that was one of the therapeutic things that kept me strong” — and other stay-at-home-dad tasks like helping Layla with her schoolwork. But his freedom isn’t always easy. Cooper, 53, struggles with technology (Sandy set up our Zoom meeting) and he suffers from claustrophobia, which he said he developed on Rikers Island. He cannot get into elevators, but Layla always takes the stairs with him. Crossing the street is hard because cars and speed upset him. He thinks often about the men he knows still behind bars, and he wakes up in the middle of the night from dreams of being back himself. Those memories and sensations, he said, happen during the day, too. Sandy, whom he married in May 2019, said he internalizes a lot and can struggle communicating with her. Sandy and Cooper have known one another since they were kids growing up in Brooklyn’s Cypress Hills Houses, and dated when they were young. They wrote one another letters off-and-on after he went to prison in the 1990s, and during our interview they brought out a few mementos from the old days. “No matter time or distance, you’ll always have a place in my heart,” Sandy wrote in one card from 1997. Cooper held up an illustrated handkerchief drawn by an inmate that cost him a pack of Newports. Sandy and God, Cooper said, gave him the strength he needed to survive prison. ‘I can’t do nothing about it but stay strong’ On November 25, 1992, Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) token booth clerk Andres Barretto was shot and killed during a robbery in a Brooklyn subway station. Cooper said he didn’t do it, but three eyewitnesses said they saw Cooper at the scene, including Rico Sanchez, a parolee, and two MTA token clerks, Elaine Terry and Russell Bratton. Cooper, then 26 years old, was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison on November 23, 1993. He spent the next 27 years holding firm to his belief in his innocence and in God. Immanuel, as referred to in the Bible, means “God is with us”, and one does not come to know God in the crucible of prison without believing, bone-deep. He said he kept telling himself, “This is God’s plan. I can’t do nothing about it but stay strong.” His strength was tested by his mother’s death, two unsuccessful parole board appearances, appeals that were denied and unanswered letters to lawyers pleading for help. Finally, attorney Thomas Hoffman agreed to look at his case. Hoffman admits it took a year or two for him to do so after receiving one of Cooper’s letters. Hoffman had been investigating Cooper’s conviction when he mentioned it to a paralegal, Jabbar Collins, who had also been wrongfully imprisoned. Collins knew Cooper from Green Haven Correctional Facility, where Collins had served time for a 34-years-to-life sentence for a 1994 murder. Collins won his freedom after 16 years, thanks in part to his own legal work. During his time in prison and since being released in 2010, Collins has used his legal skills to help other wrongfully convicted men, including Anthony Nwobi, Tasker Spruill and Petros Bedi. He decided to help Cooper and joined Hoffman’s efforts, filing FOIL (freedom of information law) requests in the state of New York and helping prepare the 440 motion, which seeks to vacate a previous judgment, that led to Cooper’s release. “[Jabbar] was part of God’s plan. When he came along, it was breathtaking,” Cooper said. “This was God giving me my second chance.” Investigating the investigation Hoffman and Collins’ investigation unearthed new evidence about the original eyewitnesses that was not disclosed at trial. In a sworn affidavit, Rico Sanchez said detectives took him into custody shortly after the subway murder and threatened to charge him with “with a more serious violent crime” if he did not identify Cooper as the main suspect. In December 1992, while he was on parole, Sanchez had been involved in a separate incident with another man, and police told him they would charge him in that incident if he did not comply, he said in a January 2018 affidavit. Sanchez said in the affidavit that he was afraid and followed the detectives’ instructions. After implicating Cooper, Sanchez said he never faced a judge in connection to the 1992 incident, according to his affidavit. Cooper’s lawyers also learned that Bratton, one of the MTA clerk witnesses, was himself a suspect in the Barretto murder, which was not previously disclosed by the prosecution. “The suppressed evidence,” Cooper’s 440 motion states, “also establishes the prosecution deceived the defense and jury with evidence and arguments it knew, or at the very least should have known, were false or misleading.” On January 9, 2020, the court vacated Cooper’s murder conviction and ordered him released from custody. He moved to Raleigh, North Carolina When Cooper was released, it was as unexpected as it was overwhelming. After breathing fresh, free air for the first time in 27 years, Cooper and Sandy visited their old neighborhood and spent time with his grandkids. The good times were short-lived. The lights and roar of an ambulance unnerved Cooper, he said. Collins explained that in prison, “The only time you see motion, it’s violence.” A day later, Cooper and Sandy left Brooklyn for Raleigh. The resurrection business Hoffman said cases like Cooper’s are their own kind of homicide. “These are not wrongful convictions. These are murders. There is no other word for that,” Hoffman said. “Murders of not only the person, but the whole family.” This is why Hoffman refers to his exoneration work as “the resurrection business.” “We bring people back to life,” he said. Hoffman has worked on the cases of other Black men wrongfully convicted. He has helped resurrect Jaythan Kendrick, Kareem Bellamy and Robert Majors, and assisted — along with Collins — the legal teams of George Bell, Gary Johnson and Rohan Bolt, who were released in March. Hoffman’s mother, brother and sister survived the Holocaust in Budapest, Hungary, where he was born at the tail-end of World War Two. “Tom has a heart for these types of cases of cases,” Collins said. “He knows what it’s like to be persecuted.” A man’s fate lingers In March 2020, the Kings County District Attorney’s office in Brooklyn said it would retry Cooper. “They gonna have enough time to set me up again,” Cooper remembered thinking at the time. Collins, the paralegal, was as shocked as he was appalled. “Me and Tom were infuriated that they were causing Emmanuel this additional suffering,” Collins said. “That did catch us off-guard, but we knew that dismissal was a forgone conclusion.” After the retrial went to discovery, the new prosecutor provided Cooper’s legal team with two police reports from 1992 they hadn’t seen before. The reports said two eyewitnesses, David Lucas and Thomas Volino, had both identified the shooter as someone they recognized from the neighborhood — but it wasn’t Cooper. Lucas identified the man as “Chris,” and although Volino did not know his name, he told police he could identify him. Having moved to Raleigh, Sandy would drive her husband 16 hours round-trip from North Carolina to Brooklyn for his court appearances. “When you love someone, you will go to the end of the world for them,” she said. Sandy, like Cooper and Collins, kept the faith as she waited. “I just held on. When he got hit the second time, I said to myself, ‘Sandy, what are you doing?’ And I would answer, ‘I love him.’ ” Cooper’s fate lingered for seven months as the pandemic ravaged the country. On November 9, 2020, the district attorney’s office dropped its case against Cooper after reinvestigating it. In his dismissal motion, Assistant District Attorney Howard Jackson noted that Bratton could no longer be sure as to how he recognized Cooper, who Bratton said was a regular passenger at the subway station. Sanchez had by then recanted his original testimony. “We no longer have the required evidence to prove Mr. Cooper’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt,” Jackson said in court. Cooper, free at last, joins 80 other wrongful convictions — Collins among them — that the district attorney’s office in Brooklyn has thrown out since 1989, according to data from the National Registry of Exonerations. In January 2021, he filed a state lawsuit in the New York Court of Claims under the Unjust Conviction Act that seeks $66 million in damages. His legal team is currently drafting a federal lawsuit to be filed in federal court. Despite the continued chaos of the Covid-19 pandemic and despite decades of injustice and pain, Cooper remains faithful in his new life. “There’s a saying a lot of us say: ‘Our worst days on the street is better than the good days in jail.’ That’s the truth,” he said. “I raise my hands every day that my life will get greater.” Source link Orbem News #convicted #lockdown #Man #released #us #World #wrongfully #Wrongfullyconvictedmanspent27yearsonlytobereleasedwhentheworldwasonlockdown-CNN #Years

[lokgifsandmusings]

Definitive Ranking of Book 4 Episodes, #4/13

4. 4x05 Enemy at the Gates

Spirit weapon experiment. Kuvira marches an entire army to Zaofu’s gates and yet somehow manages to convince Korra that Suyin’s the one who needs to be reasoned with. Asami looks for a good Pai Sho partner. “Hard truths, Bolin.” Zhu Li becomes an inside man.

OH MY GOD these remaining episodes are all so good, guys.

What’s funny is that almost all the driving tension in “Enemy at the Gates” are the plotlines that fell on their face. Heck, even the logistics of the battle that this setup earned criticism from me. The Beifong Family Drama starring Kuvira was certainly the central focus, and I’ve already talked about how that was a plotline that fizzled. Kuvira and Suyin faced off against one another in “Operation Beifong,” she had that moment of blowing up Baatar in “Kuvira’s Gambit,” and then she was just scripted as an antagonist for Korra, with her abandonment from her biological parents being her driving motivation, rather than the obvious personal beef with Su.

So then why do I love an episode that was all about these two women facing off against each other? Because the tension is damn-near perfect.

I want to back up and say that similar to “The Coronation”, this is one of those episodes that has an unbelievable amount of stuff crammed into it. Let’s review:

Kuvira/Baatar strategize and invite Bolin into her inner circle

Varrick introduces the Manhattan Project properly, full experiment, explosion, Kuvira comes in and threatens him

Meeting with Kuvira and the Beifongs

Kuvira threatens Bolin

Meeting with Korra and the Beifongs

Korra and Suyin talk and we get flashbacks

Meeting with Korra and Kuvira

Bolin and Varrick team up, grab mecha suits to escape, have a full fight, Zhu Li “betrays” Varrick

Meeting with Korra and Baatar Sr.

Everything with Hiroshi/Asami

This is a TWENTY MINUTE episode. Fine, 23ish. But still, you get my point.

Perhaps this is why it’s so favorable to me, since we really don’t have the time to deeply ruminate on any of it. But it’s also heavily based around family drama, even if it ends up being secondary to the plot in favor of Korra’s spiritual journey (which is the most important thing, of course, but it does seem odd that these personal stakes for Suyin and Kuvira were put in such sharp focus only to totally fizzle. This is old ground for me though).

So, let’s talk about Korra’s spiritual journey and how this fits in. We see it more in “Battle of Zaofu,” but this sets up how Korra is trying to push against her old tendencies, with her literally saying “Fighting is something the old me would do. That always made things worse.”

We are seeing an unconfident Korra here, and given the trauma she went through, of course she’s damn shaken. “That always made things worse.” Did it Korra, did it? Because I’m fairly certain fighting your uncle saved the entire world. And it’s not as if she was going over-and-beyond with the Red Lotus. She had spent the season fairly restrained, even willingly turning herself in, and only fought back when they’d approach her.

Yeah Korra, the “old you” sucked so badly.

But that’s the point. She’s out of balance (the season really bashes you over the head with this; frankly the series does). Her extreme reticence is maybe uh...better(?) than like, crashing the Water Tribe judge’s car and sticking his head in Naga’s mouth, but from what we see here, it comes at a cost as well. Kuvira is easily able to manipulate Korra, both with her reluctance to snap into action and with her guilt for having “disappeared”:

Korra: I can't let you take Zaofu.

Kuvira: Look, I was tasked with bringing stability to the Earth Kingdom. Zaofu is the last holdout. Why should I treat it differently than any other state?

Korra: What you're doing isn't right!

Kuvira: I understand you're just trying to do Su a favor, but you can't come to me as I am on the verge of reuniting my nation and tell me to stop. The world was descending into chaos while you were gone. In order to fix it, I had to make some tough decisions.

Kuvira is clearly overstepping (she brought her dang army), and there seems to be some sort of right to self-determination for the stats, or else they wouldn’t have to voluntarily sign-on. Korra’s also definitely not “doing Su a favor”; she’s trying to prevent the very literal army from attacking. She could easily be like, “well wait, if they don’t want to join you, you can’t force them.” Or also point out the whole “hey remember that time you flipped off the world leaders and declared yourself Emperor? Because I’m pretty sure what you were ‘tasked with’ doesn’t really apply anymore since they want you to step down.”

But it’s so perfectly reasonable why Korra doesn’t do this. I could see why this episode seems frustrating, as if she’s just easily influenced by whoever she talks to last, but she does push against Suyin’s more extreme tactics even after hearing the tragic backstory, and her motivation seems more to be avoiding a confrontation (probably because she doesn’t trust herself in that situation) than anything else. She doesn’t find that balance until her mindful meditation session with Zaheer, and we know the results from there, with her decidedly springing into action when the situation calls for it.

So, even though we all hate to see Korra “off her game,” it’s contextualized in this larger healing arc, and one with truly fantastic take-aways. This episode brilliantly bridged her solitude and hiding with what was to come, showing both her guilt for disappearing, her determination to be “back”, and her fear to actually embrace that role.

However, for all Korra’s arc was the focus of the season, there’s not even a question that in this episode it takes a backseat to Kuvira/Suyin. Heck, even Korra’s conversations with everyone was more about the game of ping-pong between those two women than Korra herself.

What’s amazing to me is how...transparent Kuvira lets herself be. If anyone’s read A Song of Ice and Fire, she more or less flies off the handle when met with the slightest resistance as quickly as Cersei Lannister (GoT not applicable here). That’s saying something. For instance, take Cersei trying to persuade Ned not to turn her and her children in for the twincest:

“Must?” She put her hand on his good leg, just above the knee. “A true man does what he will, not what he must.” Her fingers brushed lightly against his thigh, the gentlest of promises. “The realm needs a strong Hand. Joff will not come of age for years. No one wants war again, least of all me.” Her hand touched his face, his hair. “If friends can turn to enemies, enemies can become friends. Your wife is a thousand leagues away, and my brother has fled. Be kind to me, Ned. I swear to you, you shall never regret it.”

“Did you make the same offer to Jon Arryn?”

She slapped him. “I shall wear that as a badge of honor,” Ned said dryly.

“Honor, “ she spat. “How dare you play the noble lord with me! What do you take me for? You’ve a bastard of your own, I’ve seen him. Who was the mother, I wonder? Some Dornish peasant you raped while her holdfast burned? A whore? Or was it the grieving sister, the Lady Ashara? She threw herself into the sea, I’m told. Why was that? For the brother you slew, or the child you stole?

The seduction element is much less important than how QUICKLY she goes from zero to nuclear. Now compare it to Kuvira:

Bolin: So, uh ... what does happen to all those towns and villages after we leave? I just realized I'd never really ... gone back and ... checked on them.

Kuvira: Those people are my loyal subjects, and they contribute to the Empire however I see fit. Now that you're in the inner circle, you're going to have to accept some hard truths.

Bolin: Maybe ... I'm not really an "inner circle" kind of guy. Or--or maybe, we don't take over Zaofu! Maybe we can just--let them be on their own, and then, "Yay! The Empire's united! Congratulations to us!"

Kuvira: I didn't know your personal feelings for Opal were stronger than your loyalty to me. Zaofu will join us. The only thing I'm second-guessing is my decision to bring you along. Maybe you need to spend some time in a reeducation camp.

Like good god, woman! And the thing is, this type of “reasonable/nice approach>hesitation by other person>SNAP” happens three times in this episode. Three. There’s the scene with Varrick when he doesn’t want to work on the Manhattan Project anymore, there’s the scene above, and there’s the fact that she has one brief conversation with Suyin and gives them a 24-hour ultimatum before invading with her entire army. What cracks me up about that one in particular is that this is less than 10 on-screen minutes after she was telling Baatar how they “have to do this right” because “the eyes of the world are on them.”

She unravels so quickly. And frankly, so does Suyin. Kuvira was designed as a foil to Korra, sure, but it was more about her superficial qualities and place in life. She helped Korra (ultimately) be able to wrap her arms around her own inner struggles, and externalize them through empathy in the Spirit World. But if we want to talk about the characters with remarkable similarities, it’s Kuvira and Suyin. They are the foiliest foils that ever foiled, and the very personal and deeply-felt nature of their conflict that makes it fly off the screen.

Those similarities are more or less the star of the episode. We see both Kuvira and Su being utterly unreasonable, while accusing the other party of being to blame. Su hurls charges at Kuvira of “brainwashing” Baatar (no he’s a grown-ass man who also happens to be the worst), while advocating that Korra fucking murder her (that was the implication, right?). Kuvira, meanwhile, is just hellbent on getting Zaofu to be “hers” so that she can stick it to Su once at for all, and fulfill the “When I choose to return, it'll be on my own terms” piece of her past argument with her. Even better is that they both put up this facade of being super reasonable and just and open-minded, while they’re really filling their own self-serving aims. Kuvira’s just “spreading the resources” guys! This totally justifies her takeover and refusal to step-down. Suyin, meanwhile, couldn’t bear to impose her ideas on her nation, while she basically ran Zaofu as a police state, and anyone who wants to leave is met with horrible animosity. That whole “my kids are free to follow their own paths, as long as it’s the paths I want!” thing is really the core of her existence.

The “rift” between them was because Kuvira was feeling stifled and realized that Suyin’s goals were too narrow and insular? But then we see how quickly it became Kuvira wanting people to be bowing to her, because maybe she and Su are cut from the same cloth.

You see now why the whole “this was all about my birth parents ditching me!” thing is super out of place in the context of the storyline we were given for Kuvira? Almost everything she did seemed to be in response to Su.

Kuvira: We're doing what you don't have the guts to do: We're going to Ba Sing Se to help bring order back to the Earth Kingdom.

Suyin: No! You will stay here!

Kuvira: And who's going to stop me? Your security force was more than happy to join my cause. They're some of the best fighters in the world, and they are tired of being treated like exotic birds in your cage.

Um. Can I address a slight elephant in the room?

It feels like Kuvira and Suyin are former lovers. I don’t know if it’s me going nuts with shipping goggles or what, but it just. It feels like it. Maybe it’s the fact that they take everything so damn personally, and instantly jump to blaming the other? I know this wasn’t the intent. I’m just saying this was the result, at least for me, and I’m not complaining. But there’s really nothing remotely maternal in the way Suyin talks to her (or even about her, despite what she claims), and Kuvira doesn’t exactly act like a daughter. Baatar? He totally is Percy Weasleying everywhere, and you can just see him dripping with his “I’m a big boy now” attitude.

Baatar: Son, you belong here.

Baatar Jr.: Why? So that I could go on living in your shadow?

I guess in terms of the words said, it’s not that different than Kuvira’s “exotic birds” remark, but there’s just something in the delivery and the way it’s tossed out there that feels different. I think. It’s different. Yeah.

Really, the only negative that can be said about this subplot is once again, the muddied politics surrounding Kuvira. She has no mandate anymore, since she basically told the world leaders to fuck off in 4x03. She is a conqueror to an unwilling state, and really there was no need to even “do this right,” since we learn in “Reunion” that the leaders do fuck nothing about it. Just an Emperor being and Emperor, and one who is surprisingly thin-skinned and impatient. I have to appreciate that Zhu Li played her like a fiddle, though.

And yeah, Zhu Li. Varrick. The WMD.

Let’s tackle their relationship first. I’ve held off on writing fully about Zhurrick, because I still don’t know, dudes. I promise it will be a piece in the pipeline, something like “to ship or not to ship?” Here, we’re seeing the uncomfortable dynamic, though it’s at least recognized as problematic within the episode. Zhu Li calls out Varrick on being weak, but other than that it’s him taking her for granted, their one “tender” moment being ended when he demands she clean up his shit. Then in the mecha suit fight she does all the heavy lifting yet again, showing mild annoyance with him, while he blames her. Frankly, that her “betrayal” was fake is actually a wonder. But it sets Zhu Li on the path to assert more of her agency, while also placing her on the side of the good guys in a very decisive way. I’m glad that they set this up to be addressed, though I certainly question the success of the follow-through.

Am I alone in thinking that they’ve been fucking this whole time too? God, why does this keep happening to me.

The Manhattan Project itself was brilliant. There’s just something so pleasing to my stupid engineering heart in that beginning where Varrick is documenting his procedure and measuring things in Zhu Lis. The tone was funny, while the seriousness of the subject matter was never glossed over. I did think Varrick’s conveniently acquired conscious was a bit out of the blue, but a near-death experience can sometimes push people in that direction. His full “redemption” takes place over the season, and it mostly involves Bolin screaming at him, so it’s good that this wasn’t a dropped thread either.

Oh and Bolin, poor Bolin. Opal is telling him to his face what she has seen, and he’s just stuck in that “we’re helping people” mindset, to the point where it’s a little weird.

Opal: They might have been happy when you first arrived, but I've seen what happens after you leave. Citizens are forced to work as slave labor, dissenters are sent off to who-knows-where!

Bolin: You're wrong, Opal! Now, I don't know what you think you've seen, but I am giving you the one-hundred-percent Bolin guarantee that we're making the Earth Empire a better place to live!

Like, he asks Kuvira about this later, so why would he just argue with Opal to her face instead of asking there? I know sometimes he needs to sit with ideas for a bit, but it did feel just a little like a contrivance to get Bolin to defect with Varrick, rather than showing hesitation there. I do have to be so appreciative that Suyin was completely unconvinced by anything Bolin was saying though, to the point where she just yelled at Kuvira for putting him in that position. No one really takes him that seriously, and the way he’s so dismissive of Opal is incredibly off-putting. No wonder he was in the polar bear dog house.

The last thing Zaofu did was firmly establish the prison camp system that Kuvira had set-up and demonstrate just how completely over-the-line her actions were. “Hard truths, Bolin.” Charming.

But this wouldn’t be a proper Kylie-meta if I didn’t talk about our favorite engineer who decided to firmly tell her father to fuck-off, only to feel bad and want to try and get over her anger towards him because her life is filled with nothing but loss and deep down she loves him and hates that she loves him and...

I can keep going. You’ve seen me keep going. And now Griffin and I are teaming up to bring you the complete saga of Asami’s life, with her relationship to Hiroshi serving as the focal point.

The thing is, there’s a lot about their on-screen relationship that’s weird as hell. I talked in my “Colossus” write-up about how Asami kind of has this background narrative, and obviously it’s one that I think is engaging to fill in. But if we just sit back and think about these scenes...the guy tried to fucking kill her. That’s not hyperbole; her father tried to murder her.

It’s not that it wasn’t effective. It takes minimal thinking to get why Asami would want to end the relationship on her terms, and why what Hiroshi said in response was overwhelming. We then get a shot of her processing everything, which I can’t believe they gave us, to be honest. However, I do HATE that it’s framed like, “oh look a happy father/daughter. There were some good times.” The trouble with Asami is that she is utterly ill-suited for a visual medium, because she’s a character that’s in her head so much. It’s why even in the hands of good adapters, Sansa Stark was going to be a difficult character to get right on-screen, but why she’s so damn amazing on-page.

And like, yes, I’m probably a little out-of-balance given how I write Asami. Here’s a brief part of her internal monologue after receiving his first letter:

Why now? Could he have heard about the plan for the wilds? It had been over a month since the initial press conference that immediately followed the Business Council meeting where the plan was unveiled, and almost three full weeks since the follow-up conference, where Tenzin attended to confirm the role of the airbenders. A picture of her and the airbending master had been on the front page of the paper the following day. Just wait until I finish the wingsuits, Dad. Even still, Asami knew it wouldn’t have taken her father that long to send the letter if it was only in reaction to the press.

The longer she stared at the envelope, the more upset she became. What right does he have to contact me after everything? Yet as much as she was angry with her father, she was even angrier with herself for caring. Asami opened the smallest drawer of her desk and removed the few sheets of paper from within. In their place, she threw Hiroshi’s letter and slammed the drawer shut. I should buy a lock for it. She pushed herself out of her chair and walked over to the door leading down to her workshop.

After descending the flight of stairs, Asami instinctively walked over to the table where she had left the steering gear she was in the middle of examining. She sat down and picked up her pencil, determined to finish her sketches. Unbidden, her mind wandered back to the letter. There is nothing he can say to me. The hurt was too deep for an apology to heal her wounds. Not that Asami was sure it even was an apology. For all she knew, it was a letter chastising her for the error of her ways.

(Yikes I need to re-write this stupid fic)

My point is, no character would just get over almost being murdered by a parent because pai sho times were really fun. It works as a scene to give us a window into where her headspace might be, but the take-away is a little odd. Asami could have looked up and seen anything else there (like a Satomobile), or nothing, and still come to that conclusion. The wistful smile...idk. I’m aware this is a nitpick, yes.

“Awww, maybe he’ll try to fucking murder her in 12 years”

However, I think they mostly stuck the landing in the final scene. Asking to play pai sho like the olden times was a good starting point, and I could see that reasonably being the only thing someone in Asami’s position would think they could emotionally handle. But what’s more is this line:

Asami: But when I saw you, it wasn't anger I felt. It was sadness. You tainted our past and destroyed our future together.

It’s just so...laid out there beautifully, and delivered where you can feel her pain. I never have a word against Seychelle Gabriel.

I will complain that Hiroshi’s own prejudices were never addressed. He was sad he harmed the “Sato” reputation, and wanted Asami specifically to be in his life, but we don’t know if he actually came around on the “I hate benders” thing. We can assume, sure. We can also blame Daniel Dae Kim’s schedule, or the money to get him in a booth, or something. It’s just never not gonna frustrate me that so many things in Book 4 were put in the foreground over more central characters (where the fuck is Tenzin ever?) and plots.

God, I was such a Jin fangirl. Well once he stopped being terrible.

Ya know, maybe that’s the best way to think of this episode, too. It was truly Varrick, Kuvira, and Suyin who were the stars of it. It’s not that what we saw was bad in any way (quite the contrary), but it was a bit of a cannibalization of our screen-time for tensions that ultimately fizzled or mattered less in the scope of things. Two more episodes worth of time and this might have been the perfect season. Yet how the hell am I supposed to complain about “Enemy at the Gates” where the stakes were both personal and engaging, and the action kept it moving? It won’t get a top spot, but it’s quite worthy of this high of a ranking.

#13: 4x08 “Remembrances”

#12: 4x11 “Kuvira’s Gambit”

#11: 4x09 “Beyond the Wilds”

#10: 4x07 “Reunion”

#9: 4x06 The “Battle of Zaofu”

#8. 4x12 “Day of Colossus”

#7 4x01 “After All These Years”

#6 4x03 “The Coronation”

#5 4x04 “The Calling”

Book 2 ranking/essays found here