#it was waaaay in the back of my room behind like four boxes

[speaking-from-the-abyss]

I FOUND MY ACE RING!!!

I lost my ace ring

[sanchosammy]

You’re My Person

Flip Zimmerman is a stubborn man heavily committed to his job and nothing else. That is until you’re hired to work in the file room. With past history between the two of you, a sudden shift in his priorities that he’s fighting against, and drama in a case that unknowingly involves you... Who knows what will happen next.

Note: I swear the other chapters will be so much better than this! And will include waaaay more Flip content! It was just a bit difficult to get the storyline started. I’m trying to do a whole plot for this series! Hopefully someone can enjoy this, much love from ya girl.

Word count:2123 - Chapter One

It was never in the plan to return back to your hometown Colorado Springs. You moved away without any warning at fifteen because of your fathers’ job problems. Though the recent death of your uncle Tommy had left you with his house in your hometown according to his will… Which surprised everyone in the family including yourself. He never had any children of his own but he always considered you one of his. That being said you had completely run out of options after the breakup with a boyfriend a year ago. With no more money to afford an apartment in your last location, this house seemed like the best option for you at this point.

Back here once again.

It was weird being in a place that had hardly changed since your childhood. Now being an adult and seeing the familiar sights that you once saw each day; it was somewhat comforting. This was home before and it could possibly be home again, right?

You allowed yourself to have the first few weeks in town to mourn the death of Uncle Tommy, and to settle in your new house. It felt a bit strange at first moving all of his stuff into one of the spare bedrooms. Tommy had never remarried after his first divorce, so you never worried much about upsetting anyone by changing some of the décor… It was basically a mancave with a few photos of his long-term girlfriend. Of course, you allowed her to take whatever she wanted from his place, you never felt too attached to the physical items but more the house itself.

After that though came the next step… a job. You watched the newspaper religiously looking for something that would help you not drown in debt considering you were hardly able to keep afloat for the past year. And then there it was!

“Colorado Springs Police Department: Looking for someone to work fulltime inside the file-room. Similar position to a secretary. Call for further details.”  

You never considered working for a police department before. It was never something that crossed your mind growing up; but this position sounded so much better than returning to waitressing. When you called for more information on the position the local police chief was the one who wanted to speak with you. He explained that you wouldn’t need any sort of certificate, intense training, or anything truly special for this job. The listing had two requirements: you needed to pass a background check and be able to read… Easy enough considering you’ve never got into any serious trouble in your life.

In the middle of the phone call it had become pretty clear that your uncle was truly your guardian angel. You casually dropped his name and the chief instantly recognized it. They happened to be close friends in recent years and with that knowledge alone, he practically slipped you into the position without a second thought because he “owed that son of a bitch a few favors.”

You laughed that night and said, “considered them paid, sir.”

The first morning at the station you arrived earlier than you meant to. It wasn’t the worst thing because the sweet secretary Brenda introduced herself. She was kind and soft spoken, around forty-two, and the only other woman in the building. According to some sort of immature girl code carried on from high school, this created an instant work friendship between the two of you.

You figured out rather fast that Brenda was real gossip that could talk someone’s ear off and she would if you allowed her to… Which felt somewhat ironic considering she worked for a police station. She mentioned that the rookies were beyond relieved by the news of someone being hired to work in the filing room. Apparently for police officers this was the most dreadful job that came with mockery from their peers.

You were thrilled to have this opportunity though. It was almost stupid how simple the job was. Find a file for the officer and return it when it was no longer being used. Well sometimes you’d need to fill out paperwork but if that was the hardest part of the job then you considered yourself lucky. A reliable paycheck and something interesting to say about yourself at social events. What more could someone ask for?

After talking with Brenda, a man by the name of Ron Stallworth walked you to the file-room. He never made it seem like it was bothersome to be put in charge of helping the new employee though and you felt appreciative for that. He handed over a stack of papers with information about building polices and how to fill out specific paperwork for the future occasions.

Ron was an interesting guy. There was some sort of charm about him; throughout your first conversation he made you feel as if you’ve known each other before. He had an ability to keep the conversation funny and lighthearted. As he showed you around you slid in how nervous you felt in such a new environment.

“I wouldn’t sweat it, (Y/L/N). Once you get the routine down it’ll feel natural.” You recalled his words a few hours later and he was honestly right, the whole routine was somehow calming by how straightforward it was.

The sound of the door being pushed open snapped you out of your thoughts that surrounded earlier this morning. The door was the only bothersome thing about this room, the sound was hard to miss every time someone attempted to move it. You came out from behind the several rows of shelves and nearly died on the spot.

You practically stopped in your steps when you saw him. It’s been so many years since you’ve seen Flip Zimmerman… and somehow you still recognized that face in the blink of an eye. He was one of your closest friends growing up. Throughout school and on most weekends from seven years old to fifteen, the two of you had practically talked every day. Hell, you once had been camping together at fourteen… That was your first kiss.

The memories and feelings nearly overwhelmed you. He looked so different now. The last time you saw Flip was the day before your father moved the family out of town without any warning overnight… You came home and everything was packed up. You never had the chance to say goodbye to anyone. It was practically as if you died in the town, a person who slowly was never mentioned again.

Flip was a man now though. A huge one actually, he was incredibly tall with broad shoulders. A gun holster tightly holding onto them. He now had long hair that covered his big ears but it complimented his rough handsome look. Not only were you shocked by seeing him after all these years but completely blindsided by how attractive he was.

He stepped up to the counter that was separating the two of you still focused on the paper in his hand. You didn’t know what to say, would he recognize you? Would he remember you at all?

“How can I help you, officer?” you attempted to keep your voice steady as you spoke.

“I need a file on a Henry Johnson, case number four-eight-one-five.” You sucked in a breath when you heard his deep voice. The words came out his mouth so smoothly when he spoke. It baffled you how the goofy Flip Zimmerman you knew at fifteen was now the most attractive man you had ever laid eyes on.

“Sure thing, I’ll get right on that.” Your thoughts were racing as you shuffled through the boxes to find the case number. It sounded childish and stupid but this man used to be everything you ever wanted. You cannot explain how much you hated your father for years after not being able to say goodbye to Flip. The childhood feelings were stirring through you with way more intensity than you’d ever want to admit.

What if he doesn’t even remember you? It’s been nearly fourteen years, he probably forgot that entire part of his childhood. Oh God, he could be married… with children! You felt nearly sick with so many thoughts rushing through your mind at once.

As you walked towards him, he finally looked up. His eyes stopped dead on you and didn’t move. He looked serious all of the sudden, his face tense with an emotion you weren’t sure of. He just stared wordlessly as you placed the file on the countertop waiting for some sort of reaction from him.

His eyes being locked in on yours, it was harder for you to look away. You couldn’t. He hadn’t had the chance to say anything to you before a new voice broke the tension between the two of you, and it nearly made you jump out of your skin. “Well, holy shit. I didn’t know they hired a beautiful woman to work in here. I’m Jimmy, what’s your name sweetheart?”

An older man who was standing next to Flip held his hand ready to shake yours. A part of you wondered how long Jimmy had been standing there. Had he really been there the entire time and you’ve been in too much shock to notice?

Your cheeks flushed feeling overwhelmed by so much happening at once, nonetheless you reached out to his hand. “(Y/N) (Y/L/N), you can just call me (Y/N) though. It’s a pleasure to meet you Jimmy.” You nervously bit your lip for a second unsure what to say to Flip, and so you slightly turned towards him.

“Flip Zimmerman?” You asked, the name coming out quiet as if you shouldn’t be saying it. His eyes never left you throughout the interaction with Jimmy, and they remained locked on you now.

“You… (Y/N).” He no longer sounded casual like before when he was reading off the words from the paper in his hand. It was strained and forced. He seemed nearly angry at the sight of you and that made you want to shrivel up and disappear.

His jaw remained tight as if he was nearly grinding his teeth. He just stayed silent looking like a provoked animal who was hurt and ready to bite at the slightest thing that came his way. You picked up on how Jimmy glanced at Flip with a confused look, that was before he picked up the conversation back up in an attempt to ease the uncomfortable feeling in the air.

“How’s the station treatin’ you?”

“I can’t really complain, It’s pretty quiet in here. Anything was better than waitressing if I’m being honest with you.”

Jimmy chuckled in response. Flip snatched the folder off the desk before walking towards the door without a word to you or Jimmy. The feeling of concern creeping in your stomach and the feeling of queasiness returned. He seemed so upset to see you, flat out disgusted and angry. You’d never had that kind of reaction out of anyone… it felt awful.

“Don’t worry about him, we’re just busy with a new case.” Jimmy commented, noticing the tension left behind in place of Flip. He seemed nice for attempting to act as if this was a normal reaction.

You dryly forced out a laugh out of politeness. “I, uh, we know each other. Childhood friends.” You didn’t know how to explain his reaction because you didn’t understand it yourself, what did he want from you?

You attempted to shift the subject “Case?”

“We’re detectives.”

You hummed in response and picked up some folders that needed to be placed back in order. “You’ll have to tell me about it sometime, sounds interesting.”

Jimmy followed your hint which you were so thankful for and knocked on the counter before heading towards the door, saying over his shoulder. “Glad to. We’ve got plenty of stories to tell.”

As you listened to the door close behind Jimmy, you sat down in the desk chair trying to settle your nerves. You don’t know what reaction you hoped for but that was surely not the one. You had never seen Flip so angry; I mean sure he had fights with people at school but this was pure anger… directed at you. You knew he may have been somewhat bitter about you leaving but you assumed being an adult he wouldn’t have held onto that anger to such an extreme.

You wondered if it would be worth trying to talk this out with him. It felt wrong inside knowing that someone you cared so much about in the past nearly hated the sight of you.

Well, work just became more interesting…

Series dedicated to the person who is most supportive in my fanfics... and in my life. I love you dearly, @warrentrash​

[marvellous-fangirl]

Elemental

You get accepted into Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters and develop your elemental powers

Oneshot

Word Count: 2,074

Pairings: Teacher!Xavier x Reader, Dad!Tony x Reader, BFF!Peter x Reader

Warnings: N/A

A/N: I got this idea from a headcanon that I read :)

You ran screaming into the middle of the compound, paper clutched in your hands. “GUYS GUYS GUYS GUYS GUYS I GOT IN!” You yelled. Everyone looked over to you. Your best friend ran charging towards you, having thrown himself from his chair to scoop you into his arms. “I’M SO HAPPY FOR YOU.” Peter yelled into your ear as you screamed with delight. Your dad, Tony, was the next one to respond. He prized you out of Peter’s arms to embrace you in his own, also yelling how proud he was, just not as loud as you or Peter. “I can’t believe my child got into Xavier’s School for the Gifted!” He rambled. “Y/N has been accepted! I am so happy for you! We must celebrate!” Thor announced, just as Bucky came charging into you, who had been placed back onto your feet by your dad. He winded you slightly as he collided with you. “What the hell am I supposed to do without you to save me from Steve’s compulsory training sessions?” He laughed joyfully and you flailed her legs, cackling. “Hey!” Steve complained, standing behind Bucky. Bucky plopped you onto the floor and Steve squeezed you tightly. “Y/N I’m so proud of you.” He said into your ear. He pulled away, smiling fondly. Natasha was next on the congratulations. “Wanda and I are going to help you pack.” She grinned. “And you have to tell us EVERYTHING.” Wanda added, shoving Nat out of the way to squeeze you herself. Natasha rolled her eyes and you chuckled, pulling away to hug your fighting partner. Everyone came charging into you and you were right in the middle of a gigantic hug. “Y/N don’t forget to message us!” “You have to tell us about everything!” “And everyone!” “Y/N don’t forget us!” “And you had better come home EVERY opportunity you get!” You tried to hold in the tears as the lift doors shut. Tony nudged you gently, eyes twinkling with amusement. You lightly punched your dad on the arm. “What?! It’s not like you’re moving to another country.” Tony chuckled and you still couldn’t help but feel emotional. 

Your jaw dropped as you pulled through the gates. The manor was absolutely huge, not to mention beautiful. You stepped out of the car, mouth open. “Hm. - a little shabby. Waaaay too old...” Tony muttered and you chuckled at your father’s rich taste. You hugged him tightly. “Hey watch the suit.” He joked and you kissed his cheek with a smile, then pulled away, noting his smirk. “I’ll miss you dad.” You said quietly. “You’re not leaving forever.” Tony said firmly, grinning. “Now go find that bald professor of yours.” He chuckled and you could see a small tear in his eye. You grinned, then grabbed your bags and made your way up the front steps.

The entire school seemed deserted. A small sense of panic settled in your chest as you wondered whether she had come to the wrong place. “Ah Y/N.” A calm voice sounded beside you. You turned, no one was there. “I’m terribly sorry but I’m teaching a class in my office.” You continued to look around, searching for the source of voice. “I’m in your head, but if you make your way down the corridor to your right, you will find my physical form.” You hesitated before slowly walking down the corridor, the wheels on your suitcase making an uncomfortably loud noise. 

You knocked on the door that Xavier had confirmed to be his office, leaving your bags to the side of it. You poked your head inside and everyone turned in their seats. “Ah Y/N.” Xavier repeated. “It’s good to see you again.” He nodded and you smiled. “That’s all for today.” Xavier said to his students, and they scooped up their belongings and scurried out of the room, those who met your eye smiling. “Kitty?” Xavier called and a timid looking girl hurried back into the doorway. “Could you show Y/N to their room? It’s between yours and Rogue’s.” He smiled gently. “Y/N you can leave your bags there and then I’ll meet you back here.” You nodded and turned to Kitty who smiled.  “Follow me.” She said gently and you obliged. “Do you want me to take that?” She chuckled, gesturing to some of the boxes stacked on top of you. “Thanks.” You grinned and Kitty took the top two boxes. “So what’s your power?” You asked. “Phasing.” Kitty smiled and your eyes grew wide. “That’s so cool! I’ve always wanted that power.” You grinned and Kitty blushed shyly. “So this is your room.” Kitty smiled. “I’m next door and Rogue is too. You’ll meet her later.” She waved goodbye, passing the boxes back to you and you stepped into your new room, throwing your bags and boxes onto your new bed. You couldn’t wait to decorate it and send photos to the compound group chat. You smiled to yourself before stretching your back and making your way back down to the Professor’s office. 

“So Y/N.” Professor Xavier smiled. The sun was shining down on the pair of them and they had just finished their tour outside. “It is customary for new pupils to have some private lessons with me before they join the other class, to develop their powers.” You were nodding. “However to do this I will need a demonstration.” His eyebrows were raised and his mouth had curved into a smile. Your stomach flipped. You had been secretly looking forward to this. You loved showing off your powers. You jumped down the steps, giving yourself some room and you shut your eyes, having turned to face the professor. You reached inside of your mind, deep into your chest and found what you were looking for. You stretched out your fingertips at either side and felt for resources with them, feeling surges of power nearby. You summoned them and you suppressed a smile as the power grew nearer to you. You opened your eyes and your head snapped backwards as you directed the power above you, shooting it into the sky. You could hear muffled exclamations from somewhere nearby, but it seemed distant too. You could see the blurred colours mingling together. Each of your four essential life forces mixing, yet repelling one another. The fizzling heat, the soothing waves, the refreshing breeze, the musky earth. Your power continued to build, to the point where it was overflowing from of your body. You felt your form change every second, from one to the other and back to yourself again. Then in one final surge, your powers burst out of you and rained down onto the grass, scorching it, nourishing it. Your ringing senses relaxed into comprehension and you could see and hear clearly. You noticed gaggles of students peering over each other and you were flooded with pride. “They’re an elemental!” Some of them hissed. “That’s so cool!” Others chimed in. You smiled to yourself. Xavier was also smiling. “Very impressive Y/N. I can’t wait to help you develop your powers.” You smiled at your professor. “Now how about you go and talk to your fans.” He smirked and you grinned, before running over to greet the swarm of people.

They were outside again and you were buzzing with excitement before your first lesson. You heard the wheels crunching on the gravel and you span around, greeting your professor with a grin. “Y/N! Good to see that you’re on time.” He winked. “Now. I understand that you enjoy displaying your powers.” You were grinning. “But I don’t need you to do that again.” Your grin faded and Xavier chuckled. “We are going to work on each individual section of your power and enhance them, so if the need arises you can use them separately. I also noticed that you can change your form into that of one of the elements. Very impressive.” You smiled again slightly. “Now let’s begin.”

You walked into her first lesson without Xavier and slid into an empty chair at the back. You’d gotten lost and were clearly the last person there. You nodded apologetically at the white haired woman teaching the class, who smiled, not pausing her train of thought. However the attention had shifted to you at this point. “Would you like to interrogate Y/N before we continue?” The woman asked, smirking and having stopped her explanation. The class laughed and you smiled. “How old were you when you discovered your powers?” “Were you born with them?” “What can you do?” “Have you killed anyone before?” You gave the speaker of the last question a look and he shrugged. “What I’m curious.” He grinned and you smiled. “Can you change your form?” Piped up Kitty from across the room looking like she was on the edge of her seat. You didn’t reply but your body morphed into igneous rocks, flames burning where your hair was and you grinned, then blew smoke into the room. Gasps followed. Next your body rolled into clear water, somehow contained, droplets dripping from your hair and fingertips and you blew bubbles from water in her hand. Laughs filled the atmosphere. Suddenly your figure was gone and a cold breeze washed through the classroom. Your eyes opened, appearing like glass and soon your figure was visible, unsteady and faint. There were many oohs and aahs. You shifted one final time, your hair now delicate grass, your body made of earth and roots and flowers grew across your forehead like a crown. You smiled and raised your hand, where a tiny flower was growing by the second. The room was silent now. You stood, the flower growing into a blindingly white rose, which you quickly snapped from your palm with a little wince and handed it to the woman who was watching with approval in her eyes. You returned to your seat with a gentle smile and your form rolled back into human flesh. Your eyes widened as you noticed a corner of your paper crumbling into ashes and you hurriedly patted the flames out, causing the room to echo with laughter yet again along with several people clapping. It was your turn to laugh. “I must say that was spectacular. I can see you have been doing a lot of hard work with Professor Xavier.” The woman winked. “I’m Storm, and it’s a tradition for any new members of the class to demonstrate their powers.” Storm chuckled and you smiled as Storm continued with the lesson, your eye catching that of the boy in the corner who had asked you the morbid question earlier. You nodded with a knowing look, drawing a line across your throat with your finger and your eyes grew wide. You winked and snorted to yourself, turning back to focus on Storm and not noticing that he didn’t do the same. 

You ran out towards the car, having thrown your belongings onto the floor. You crashed into your dad who huffed as he was winded and you didn’t let go. “Dad I have so much to tell you!” You squeaked. “Yeah hold that thought.” Tony grinned and you hesitated. You pulled away, confused. Then you heard it and your face cracked into a grin. 

As the jet landed, you ran towards the cargo doors and pounded your fist against it before the wheels had even touched down. You ducked out of the way as it opened and the engines powered down and you were swamped by your family. “Y/NNNNN!” Peter yelled, squeezing you slightly too tightly. Thor prized Peter off you and squeezed you even tighter himself. “Y/N I’m so glad to see you!” Hugs followed from Steve, Bucky, Nat, Wanda, Bruce and literally everyone else, who had somehow managed to fit on the small jet.

The car horn honked behind you and you all jumped, seeing Tony pulling slowly into the jet, smirk on your face. He leant out the window.  “What? Did you think I would drive home alone while everyone caught up with mY offspring?” You laughed at the term and pushed the group out of the car’s way. As the cargo door was slowly shutting, a couple of your friends called your name and you waved goodbye to them. Soon the jet was taking off.  “Ooh guys I learnt a new trick!” You yelled and soon your form was shifting again, your family yelling in surprise and awe.

[moonmoonbiin]

You’ve Got the Best of Me part 1

AN: I realize this is waaaay overdue since last week I posted that I would have this out in a few days lmao. Sorry I got distracted by Hwarang (I am on episode nine and I love this drama to pieces already I need me some flower knights) 

One Date: October 7th By the time Jeongguk made it to the condo, it was nearing seven. Most of the guys but for Taehyung was already there and preparing for the night. It was Friday and by some miracle of chances they were all free for the night and tomorrow, so they decided that it would be perfect for a movie night. Jeongguk was thankful for it. The weekdays were filled with work for the four hyungs and school for the younger three. This gave them all a chance to hang out and relax. “Hey did you just get in?” Jeongguk’s brother, Jin asked, peaking out of the kitchen. “Yeah,” Jeongguk nodded. “Is everything getting set up?” “Yep,” Jin told him. “The food is on its way, Tae went to go get the drinks and Hobi picked out the movies.” Jeongguk pursed his lips slightly. If Hoseok picked out the movies then that would mean that it would be a romantic comedy of some sort. After the seven of them had lived together for a year, it was easy to see that most of them had different tastes in movies. Jin and Hoseok preferred comedies, Namjoon and Yoongi liked mysteries, Jimin, like him, liked the thrillers and Taehyung always seemed to like the movies that no one had even heard of before. They all had different personalities and sometimes Jeongguk couldn’t believe that he got lucky enough to live in a decent condo in the middle of Seoul. He supposed he had his brother to thank for that... Jin was an upcoming actor, he had already stared on several dramas and had guest appearances on different shows almost every week. Namjoon and Yoongi were an upcoming popular rapping duo, they were almost at their big break and Jeongguk was excited to see what would happen for them. Hoseok, without a doubt was one of the best dancers Jeongguk had ever seen, so it wasn’t that surprising when he found out that half of the dances he had seen some of his favorite groups do, were choreographed by Hoseok himself. Jimin, like Yoongi and Namjoon was a rising singer and Taehyung, although seeming dazed a majority of the time was being scouted by modeling agencies all over the world. Jeongguk frowned slightly. All of his hyungs were amazingly talented but what about him? “Oh Guk,” Jimin grinned as he walked up to the younger. “What?” He raised a brow. “Y/N will be coming over,” Jimin looked so smug, like that fact had won him some prize. It really wasn’t that surprising that you would be coming over. You were Yoongi’s little cousin, after all. You had grown up with him and Hoseok so the two men were more like older brothers for you more than anything else. Taehyung also knew you from junior high, apparently you two had been friends before you went to different high schools and he moved to Seoul. There was also the fact that you had some classes with Jimin, Taehyung and Jeongguk, too. It was a small world, after all. “Good,” Jeongguk smirked. “Tonight is a perfect night to start my charm.” Jimin rolled his eyes, but he seemed amused. “I’m waiting to see you fall right on your face.” Suddenly, there were two loud thugs against the door. Jimin looked over at Jeongguk with a sly grin and the younger just shook his head confidently. “Watch and learn,” Jeongguk said, leading the way to the door. Both men were a little more than surprised when the door opened to reveal Taehyung, not you. He had his hands full of several boxes of pizza and plastic bags straps resting on his elbows. His leg was kicked back, ready to bang the door again and he had his famous box-smile plastered on his face as he tried not to laugh. “Move!” He nudged in between his two friends as he giggled. Before Jimin or Jeongguk could ask where you were, they heard you scream. “TAE TAE!” They stuck their heads out the door just in time to see you run around the corner towards the door and they barely stuck their heads in time before you rushed inside. “I can’t believe you, you jerk!” You huffed at Taehyung, who was still trying not to laugh. “What’s going on?” Yoongi asked, stepping inside he living room. He was used to the maknae’s causing trouble but when he heard your voice he thought it best to investigate. “Tae stole the pizzas from me,” you pouted as you followed the pizza-stealer inside of the kitchen. “I took the pizzas from you so I could carry them for you,” Taehyung smiled, “I was being a gentlemen. Plus, it was fun trying to watch you take them back.” You pouted as Yoongi nodded his head in approval to Taehyung. “Oppa,” you whined to Yoongi, “you’re suppose to be on my side.” “I am always on your side,” Yoongi tells you seriously. He then smiled and reached out to pinch your cheeks, “especially when it’s about taking care of you.” You groaned and swatted his hand away as you turned to go back near the front door to take your shoes off. Jimin and Jeongguk who had followed the commotion shared a look before the younger smiled and followed after you. Jimin grinned, he couldn’t wait to see his friend fail. “Y/N,” Jeongguk spoke as you slipped your shoes off. “Hey you two,” you greeted cheerfully. “I made sure to get your favorite pizza.” “Thanks,” Jeongguk nodded slightly. “Uhm, did you do something different to your hair?” He asked and Jimin bit his lip to stifle a laugh. You knitted your eyebrows together in confusion. “No...” you slowly reached up to pat your hair. You had straightened it earlier but you imagined that after chasing that pizza theft Taehyung, it looked a little messy. “Oh, well you do look cute today,” Jeongguk says with a bright smile. Behind him, Jimin’s eyes widen and he clamped a hand over his mouth to stop his laugh. Did Jeongguk just call you cute? You blink in slight confusion because you know that couldn’t possibly be true... Smiling, you reached up and put the back of your hand on his forehead, and he knitted his eyebrows in confusion. “Are you sick?” You asked curiously with a grin. He simply blinked at you and ruffled his hair before you left to go back into the kitchen, figuring that he was just being silly or something... There was no way he was actually trying to complement you. “Wow...” Jimin said over a laugh. “That was lame.” Jeongguk sent his friend a glare. “She didn’t think I was serious!” “Of course she didn’t,” Jimin rolled his eyes. “You two aren’t close, you barely even talk to her... Maybe if you started hanging around her more, she’d be more willing to accept your lame flirting,” as soon as he said it, Jimin’s eyes widened and he groaned. Jeongguk smirked, as he crossed his arms. “Thanks for the idea, you just want me to win, don’t you?” Jimin gave him a flat look before giving him a small push. “C’mon, we better go in there before Jin Hyung eats all the pizza...” Jeongguk snickered as he followed Jimin into the kitchen and once he entered, his eyes fell in you. You were sitting between Yoongi and Hoseok, your mouth full of pizza as you laughed at one of Jin’s lame jokes about pizza. It was something along the lines of, ‘I’m gonna give you a pizza of my mind!’ He smiled softly as he took his seat beside Taehyung. Tonight he would just observe, but Monday when it was time for university classes, it would be go time. Next Part- It’s time for you and dear Jeongguk to learn more about each other! 

[mclean-shine]

Big ol’ vent under that read more, proceed at own risk

God, I’m so fucking low right. I’ve just graduated from uni, waiting for my results; straddling a line between a 2:2 and a 2:1 which I really really want and would be crushed if I got a 2:2 but I really just didn’t put in awful lot of effort due to just general procrastination and super bad depression in the 2nd year of my course but oh well!

So I’ve moved back in with my dad and step-mum, due to lack of literally any funds, whom are perfectly nice people who insist they really don’t mind me staying for a few months but God I really feel like I am - I can see it in their eyes, I’m just really not liking it here after just a week. We’re in a small town and live up a pretty long and steep slope which I need to walk up and down if I need anything at all from town which is a almighty pain in the arse. And it’s literal hours away from any of my friends from back home - like an hour apiece on two buses and I’d have to crash at theirs for the night cos one of them stops at like 6 pm. Again, pain in the arse. Not that any of my friends back here would actually want to see me, I’ve always been the outsider-type friend no matter how much effort I put into any relationship but whatever.

So in my field (Marine Biology), 99% of the time nowhere will accepted you with just a degree as they require at least a year of experience which of course I can’t get unless I volunteer somewhere which would take up basically all of my time leaving me no time to actually earn money for food and rent etc or actually cost  exorbitant amounts of money to do (which is fucked up but that’s another issue) so I’m needing to stay here for a few months and get some cash money together but that means working basic bitch customer service jobs which I’ve been working at for years now but have just frittered away the money from and I just can’t bring myself to work at these places again. Nothing I can work at around here will add anything to my future prospects and that just really pisses me off. Doesn’t help that I don’t have a car anymore (had to sell that years ago) so I’m restricted to walking or very limited buses. Urrgh. I have loads of experience so finding a job isn’t a problem (I’ve got a trail shift in the morning and I’ve had like five other offers) but I just don’t know how long I can smile and pretend like I’m enjoying myself at these jobs when I’d rather be literally anywhere else at this point. It just feels like an enormous waste of time when I’d rather be working at what I actually put four years of my life into working at but noooo, life just isn’t fair is it?

I’m really missing at least having the semblance of independence, from living in my own house (rented but anyway), sharing with a few friends and having the freedom to just walk to other friends houses (and the sea, God I miss the sea), cooking my own meals (and loving cooking) and having my own room which I’ve decorated to having literally everything I own in boxes in the garage, staying in a tiny room which I’ve got to give up in two months when my step brother comes back from Hong Kong (I’ll be staying in the downstairs office from then which is literally one room with the kitchen and dining room so I will not have any privacy which will drive me absolutely mad), and just generally being in the middle of nowhere, completely isolated from contact with anyone but my family whom I love but just have absolutely nothing in common with so I can’t be myself.

And I have so many plans for the future. I want to move to New Zealand and get out of the UK (which I can’t stand being in anymore), I want to travel again,  I want to go back to university and do a Masters, I want to get my PADI Divemaster and teach scuba diving, I want to try and break into the voice acting community! But all this requires money which I just don’t have which I’ll have to spend months and months at crap jobs likely paying me minimum wage to get anyway near the amount I need for these. And I’m closer to 25 than I’d like (well, I’m 23 but its still too close) which closer to 30 than I’d like and so on and so forth till I’m closer to death than I’d like which is just a mind numbingly horrifying concept in itself.

All of this stuff is just weighing on me so damn heavily right now and I’m just feeling fucking sad. Like, I bought some nice salad and mushrooms for myself yesterday and put in the fridge (which is completely full of my parents stuff so I’ve got like no space for my stuff) and I came down to make some food and found that they’ve eaten my salad and half the mushrooms and I just fucking cried in the middle of the kitchen for like five minutes over the fucking futility of it all. Like I didn’t tell them it was mine so they probably just thought it was theirs so I’m not mad at them but I just felt so goddamn small and helpless that something that I bought and was mine was just taken from me like that when I have absolutely nothing of worth to my name right now.

This really is the lowest I’ve been in years and that’s not a low bar to beat. And I know I’ll be okay in the end. I work really fucking hard when I need to or am inspired and I’m a smart and well adjusted guy on the whole and I’ve got a few small upcoming volunteering jobs and, frankly, I have waaaay too much pride and drive to ever completely give up on my dreams so I know I’ll be fine. But wow, this part of my life is just really gonna suck for a few months.

Oh and I’m really missing this sweet little stray cat who had been hanging around my old uni house for a while and finally came in through my window the other month and basically adopted me as his owner. He used to sleep at the bottom of my bed and came in through my window at 5am on the dot everyday, snoozed at the bottom for a few hours and then snuggled up next to my head when I woke up. He was such a sweet cat and we really bonded - he basically just spent all his time in the house chilling with me by the end of it. It was hard to leave him behind, hope he’s doing alright. I hope to one day get a cat who was half the cat he was, stride on you brilliant thing!

[spidermaneverynowandthen-blog]

I’ve decided to spend all of 2017 challenging myself to read a Spider-Man comic every day for the entire year because:

a)      I love that character but have never really gone back and read his classic, defining adventures

2)  I seek fulfilment in this life that otherwise provides me with none.

Today I’m reading Amazing Spider-Man #8. This issue promises from the cover to be a special tribute to that fantastic new 60’s concept of ‘The teenager’ and contains two stories ‘The Terrible Threat of the Living Brain!’ and ‘Spider-Man Tackles the Human Torch!’. Read on to find out my oh-so valuable opinions on these two stories…

The Terrible Threat of the Living Brain

What’s fantastic about Spider-Man is that he’s not just a character with a superhero life and a personal life. He has his superhero life; his work life at the Daily Bugle; His Aunt May worries; his school life and although it’s only been touched on so far, he has his place in the larger Marvel Universe and what he means in the context of a world with so many other heroes.

There are so many strands to his life that I sometimes get worried that I’m not talking enough about a given part of it. This issue places a focus on one area that I will admit I’ve been slightly glossing over for the last few days, his High School life.

The story opens with Peter’s class introduced to a super advanced new robot that amongst other things, has the best brain in the whole world. It’s called the Living Brain. The class is told to ask it any question it wants and of course, they ask what Spider-Man’s true identity is, which freaks the hell out of Peter. Luckily it’s written in mathematic equations and Peter is asked to decode it overnight. Peter and Flash argue and decide to have a BOXING MATCH!!! The match then gets interrupted by The Living Brain malfunctioning and trying to ‘catch’ all of the other students, cue Spider-Man spending the story trying to beat it.

The story was a lot better than I expected it to be given the pretty cringe-y tagline on the front cover. Both this and the next story put a strong focus on ‘teenagers’ but it felt a lot more natural than I expected.

Something I particularly liked was that Flash Thompson here came across as way more of a bully than he has done so far. Up until now I thought he seemed like a kind of douche-friend, but here he’s a straight up jerk to Peter and I think we really get a sense of how much this guy has made Peter’s life hell.

This also escalates pretty hilariously as Mr. Petty says he’s had enough of them arguing and they need to go sort it out in the gym…

It turns out that what he means is the two need to have a full twelve rounds boxing match with their PE Teacher (or Gym Teacher) as a referee.

Now look, I’m not sure if this was something that actually happened in the 60’s. My guess would be that it didn’t and it’s more likely that Stan Lee just imagined that teachers encouraged students to fight out their differences in an actual boxing ring – even if one student appears to be waaaay outmatched by the other. Despite the how and why of getting there though, it’s a really fun way of dealing with some things that have been building in the book so far. The match also gives us a panel that is so amazing that it’s all you need to understand just how revolutionary these comics were at the time.

As Peter punches out Flash, the dialogue is telling us one thing. But the art is telling us something completely different. That contrast between words and pictures is like the first thing people go to when they talk about why Watchmen is such a strong example of what comics are capable of doing. I’ll admit that I’ve heard a couple of times recently that Watchmen is heavily influenced by Ditko’s work on Amazing Spider-Man but it feels really good to see just what people are talking about when they say that.

The fight ends when the Living Brain shows up and accidentally causes Peter to hit Flash way harder than he intended. As this happens we get moment where we realise just how much the world is completely against poor Peter, he’s just proven he can beat Flash Thompson and everyone still makes fun of him as a coward because he just happened to knock Flash out as he’d turned his head due to The Living Brain’s shouts. Poor Peter.

The fight with The Living Brain is another example of the villain of the week offering something different to what we’ve seen before. Rather than having negative intentions, The Living Brain is just a robot whose programming was accidentally messed up by two thieves. Now he wants to attack everyone at the school, but not because he’s evil, just because he’s accidentally been programmed to do so.

This combined with the fact that he develops the way he attacks by learning from what Spider-Man does whilst trying to fight him makes him a pretty effective example of how scary intelligent machines can be and unlike something such as the excitement of Space travel, this is something that was clearly on the minds of people in the 60’s, but is pretty easy to relate to today. Literally if this story came out today the only difference would be that The Living Brain might have Wi-Fi.

Spider-Man Tackles the Human Torch

The second story basically saw Spider-Man show up at a party the Human Torch was attending and start a fight with him. The story is basically a cool fight comic, but what makes it interesting is that Peter is totally the bad guy in this one. He just shows up uninvited and acts like a dick. Even suggesting he’d like to steal the Torch’s girlfriend.

It’s a good fight though. It does a lot to showcase what both the Torch and Spider-Man can do with their respective powers and there are some really creative uses. The Human Torch uses Flamin’ buzz-saws! I didn’t know he could do that. It’s pretty cool. 

It’s not the most sympathetic portrayal of Peter/Spider-Man, but I do like that so far all the Fantastic Four (aside from Johnny) seem to want to do is have a chat with this poor teenager and help him out, but because of how the rest of the world treats him, he assumes they want to be horrible to him.

What I like a little less is the way Sue Storm is portrayed in the issue. I’m pretty sure I’ve heard it said before that Stan Lee isn’t great at writing women and that shows here. Sue Storm pretty much does nothing but swoon over Spider-Man for literally no reason. 

It’s pretty uncomfortable and as well as being a bad piece of characterisation for Sue herself also makes me look back on the characterisation of other female characters we’ve met so far and question them. Betty Brandt’s affection for Peter for example, I took as sweet, but it’s got me maybe reconsidering the intention behind that. 

A Few Overall Thoughts…

Generally I’ve been enjoying the extra room stories have been given over the last couple of issues, but here it was a nice change of pace. I think it helped that both of these stories were pretty distinctively different.

I also wanted to end by pointing out, as I have done a couple of times now, some instances of how these comics developed that successful ‘Marvel style’ that I’ve heard so much about in the past.

The first one is providing a little check list at the beginning of the story that basically first asks if a reader would be interested in the story. Then it kind of goes ‘well you’ve already bought the comic, so read it anyways’ in a way that I think really asks what the hell you’re doing if you’re not reading Spider-Man.

There was a pretty hilarious panel where Spider-Man asks who writes the Fantastic Four’s dialogue. Of course, it’s the person writing Spider-Man’s dialogue, Stan Lee. It’s a funny bit of self-awareness that keeps up Stan Lee’s trick of making the reader feel like he as a narrator is on your side, rather than the side of the people in charge of making these stories. Which is interesting because ‘those people’ are Stan Lee.

That’s all for today folks. Join me next time as we see Spider-Man take on his most evil and terrifying villain yet. Electro!!!

[iamlordmoldyshorts]

We’re going waaaay back.  Back to a time when I was uncertain what my future would have in store.  It was a dark time of introspection (and outrospection).  I’m taking you back to March 2016.

When I first considered applying to graduate school in London, I did an ample amount of research (as you do) into my options. Beyond the universities and degree programmes, I read individual class descriptions to see if the offerings of the individual uni’s fit my idea of what I wanted my Master’s degree to contain.

One thing that drew me towards Birkbeck was an offering called Film Festivals which included a mandatory trip to Berlin, Germany to attend the Berlinale International Film Festival.  When I was eventually accepted at Birkbeck and was faced with the prospect of choosing my classes, I realized that this was a trip that would actually happen and I was at a bit of a loss.

As a Jew, visiting Germany was something I’d never previously considered.  My grandmother was in recovery after surgery and I went to visit shortly before my departure.  As I sat there and talked about my upcoming move, Rick Steves’ Europe was on in the background.  I looked up and began paying attention when he mentioned Berlin.

My grandmother and I had a discussion about the implications of Jews traveling to Germany, in which she confided that she’d never been nor had any real interest in going; she likely never would go.  I think I made the decision then and there that this was a journey I was determined to make.

Long story short: I signed up for the class, moved to London, and bought my February plane ticket to Berlin in November.

I ended up rooming with three other girls in my Film Festivals class in an interesting airbnb off Leipzigerstrasse that was the official apartment for the World Chess-Boxing League.

I’m not even kidding, I slept under a Bobby Fisher quote.  It was awesome.

The first full day in Berlin, the four of us went to get our accreditation badges for Berlinale.

Afterwards, we decided to participate in a little bit of touristing (as you do…)

Murdered Jews of the Holocaust Memorial

What’s the rule about taking a selfie at the Murdered Jews memorial? Mid-level smile -cause it’s not exactly a happy place… But it was gorgeous…

Found the American Embassy.

Brandenburg Gate

Wandered over to Checkpoint Charlie

A chunk of the Berlin Wall.

The architect at the Jewish Museum, Daniel Libeskind, created empty spaces in several parts of the building. These so-called voids extend through the entire museum and represent the absence of Jews from Germany society.

The Memory Void contains a work by the Israeli artist Menashe Kadishman, who calls his installation “Fallen Leaves”. He has dedicated the over 10,000 faces covering the floor to all innocent victims of war and violence.

After a solid day of walking the entire city, we settled in and made dinner.

Look at those bright, shining faces.  Little did we know that was the last full night of sleep for a good, long while.

Festival: Daaaaay 1

That would be a panoramic photo of the line for student accreditation tickets.  I became intimately familiar with this line throughout the festival, as we had to wait in it every. single. day.

Most people began lining up at 5:30 for the ticket office which opened at 8:30am.  On the first day, I made the mistake of showing up at 8:30.  Three hours later, we left the line, tickets in hand, for showings on the following day.

I’ll spare you the gory details, but what essentially followed was 10 days of averaging 4 hours of sleep, 4 films a day, and an awful lot of walking.

Raoul Peck, acclaimed director of “I Am Not Your Negro” and pictured here at the World Premiere of his newest film, “The Young Karl Marx.”

Follow my journey through selfies as I get progressively more tired.

Foley Artists/Musicians/Sound Designers Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe and Nicolas Becker, known for creating the unique score/sound behind Arrival.

Ticketing issues.

Front row for the Gurinder Chadha talk. Gurinder is the director of films such as Bend it Like Beckham, Angus Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging, and most recently Viceroy’s House (which premiered here in Berlin.)

I am not amused…

Eventually, I gave myself a day off, as there weren’t any films I wanted to see that day.  I wound up meandering the city a bit (and going to the Berlin Public Transportation Office to contest a fine I’d received on the subway.  It was resolved.  That’s all you need to know. >_>)

Teeheehee! I’m five…

Panorama of the Sony Center where one can find one of the 20something cinemas that are part of the festival.

“Roof” of the Sony Center.

Oh look what we found! So close…and yet so far…

House of One. This area is the building ground for a place of worship going up that’ll serve Jews, Muslims, and Christians all at the same time. LOVE this concept.

Berliner Dom: Cathedral built in the 1800’s containing an organ with 7,000 pipes.

The insets are scattered throughout Berlin. They protrude and are literally designed to be tripped over. Each one has the name of a Jew that was taken from their home (in this location), on what date, their birth date, to which concentration camp they were taken, and what happened to them.

Alexanderplatz. Very famous plaza that was used in many scenes in The Bourne Supremacy.

Weltzeituhr: a huge clock in the middle of Alexanderplatz split into 24 sections and showing the time around the world.

Berlin Wall memorial.

One thing I disliked about the Berlin Wall memorial is that people, to this day, are still graffiti-ing it. Lessens the impact somewhat, I think.

On the final few days of the festival, as everyone was quite exhausted, the pictures died down a bit.

“Everyone! Act normal!”

Bye bye Berlin Bear!

My festival, clocking in at 27 films in 9 days. :) Not pictured (since I didn’t need a ticket for them): Chariots of Fire, Como Nossos Pais, Casting, Bickels [Socialism], I Am Not Your Negro, Eisenkopf, and 4 meetings with curators of different sections of the festival…and two days of tourism. Can’t forget those!

All in all, Berlin was an interesting experience.  Not only did I get to tour the city hardcore for two days, but I spent 12 days living there and experiencing Berlinale.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get the opportunity to get out of the city, and there are still four other cities in Germany that I’d like to see, but I had a good time.

Berlin is a city that feels seeped in the past.  It doesn’t matter where you go in the city, you are always just around the corner from a monument or memorial of some kind.  While culturally fascinating, that emotional weight can also be quite taxing from a tourism standpoint.

Next up:

Charlotte and Zita arrive!!!

2.5 days in London

3 days in Paris

1 day at Versailles

4 days in Dubrovnik

Mom and Scott arrive!!!

1.5 days in London

3 days in Edinburgh

3 days in Amsterdam

And then a distinct lack of travel because I’ll be working 32 unpaid hours a week at my new work placement with the BFI.

Catch you on the flip side!

Breaking Down Barriers We're going waaaay back.  Back to a time when I was uncertain what my future would have in store.