#nah I’m not gonna create the new division

[naradivision]

Relationship: Family - Saigo Fuyugami

—Family Tree—

Shigure Fuyugami (冬雅味 時雨) † - Saigo’s biological father and the former CEO of the Fuyugami Group’s parent company. With his high success in business, he suddenly became a new rising star in the world of tycoons a few decades ago. Known by everyone as a man of very few words; though didn’t openly show much affection toward his children, he gives his greatest support in regard to their education. He also has one bodyguard and trustful confidant named “Chishio”, whom he entrusted to look after his son ever since Saigo was still unborn. Though he isn’t on bad terms with his father, his impression on him was more like a mentor than an actual parent until his life was taken by a pure accident under the bad weather. Anyhow, he was described by Chishio to be both clever and a bit of an idiot at the same time.

Nadeshiko Fuyugami (冬雅味 撫子) † - Saigo’s biological mother who had passed away soon after giving birth to him. With little information known about her, he doesn’t know what his mother is like except for hearing she was a genius artist who showed a great talent in every art form. While seeming to be well-adored by everyone in Minazuki, those in Fuyugami are likely to forget about her existence. He even guessed at some point that his parents may not have special feelings toward each other since his father remarried later and eventually had kids with another woman, besides, the arranged marriage is a pretty norm among prestigious families —However, Chishio denied all of his guess and that makes him get more curious about them. This maybe why he decides to move into the house his late mom bought in Nara before her death.

Senka Fuyugami (冬雅味 盞花, 50 Years Old) - Saigo’s stepmother who suddenly came into his life after his mother passed away. What he knows so far from her background is that she hailed from some big family owning a jewelry trading company. Seen reserved and having less to say just like her husband, she carries off a mysterious aura that no one seems to understand. The only times Saigo converses with her are when he is invited to play the game of chess together. And even if the veteran player like him always wins, his paranoid self just couldn’t brush off the itchy feels that her defeat was on purpose–

Suisen Fuyugami (冬雅味 水仙, 28 Years Old) - The oldest one among Saigo’s three half-sisters. In contrast to him, she may appear as the sociable businesswoman with a talent for getting on others’ good sides but her true colors are that of a two-faced lady who will literally step on anything in order to get ahead of others; like when their father died, she framed him for his death and convinced the board directors to promote her becoming a new CEO instead of him. Even if not considering what she had done to him, both of them are unable to stand each other from the very start. He even once said it was such a waste that her braincells on management weren’t just as good as her mouth runs. Furthermore, it’s no wonder she has something to do with multiple attempts of assassination after his life.

Shion Fuyugami (冬雅味 紫苑, 26 Years Old) -  Saigo’s middle half-sister who happens to be the only one he once and maybe still have a good memory of. Unlike her egoistic siblings, she is a timid pushover who would easily move to tears by a slight nudge. Nevertheless, he himself acknowledges her to be an admirable hard-worker. Having both passion and the flair for developing new innovation, she did gain certificates through the participation in many awards since she was just a student. Miserably, no matter how much her talent attracts the attention from other big companies, she still falls victim to her older sister’s gaslighting. And on that fateful day, she couldn’t muster up enough courage to stand up for her “Big Brother” when her evil sister started her exploit...

Nerine Fuyugami (冬雅味 ネリネ, 23 Years Old) - Saigo’s youngest half-sister who has debuted herself as an internet sensation and model, mostly for Kawaii fashions. Called by her fans “Nene-tan”, she has been spoiled all her life due to her forever babydoll look. Given her job is to promote every aspect of pop culture, her rising poppularity has plagued her with the high ego and a shallow habit to judge people based on their outlooks. Saigo also prefers to avoid her mainly because of her bratty attitude. On the other hand, Nerine does admires her half-brother but still despises his guts nonetheless. Recently she seems to have got herself in some kind of big trouble because of her own simple-mindedness.

Shūkaidō Minazuki (水無月 秋海棠, 52 Years Old) - Saigo’s eccentric uncle (his mother's younger brother) and the current patriarch of Minazuki family in Kyoto. His household is widely known for being one of the main patrons supporting traditional artists and artisans across Japan for generations. Lately he has seemed to like nagging his nephew to just abandon his father’s lineage and inherit his household instead. But the truth is that it might be because of his adoptive son’s likely absence. However, he is also the one at fault raising Saigo to be quite competitive. From the outside, he may look like some boisterous geezer with an unfathomed zeal for arts, yet according to Saigo’s suggestion, this old but cunning tanuki happens to be the type to bear a passionate grudge.  

Chishio (ちしお ? , 59 Years Old) - Saigo’s closest attendant who in fact actives as his trustful bodyguard in disguise. Caring but also independent and secretive with a little morbid sense of humor, Saigo has known him since childhood thus they tends to act casually around each other. Even so, Saigo still has to admit that there are a bunch of things his guardian has been hiding from him... Addressed by Saigo himself to be the ‘one-man army’, this old but capable assistant has even saved his life from assassinations for several times —Oh, and of course, ‘Chishio’ isn’t his real name. He told him that he has retired from his previous work for like 30 years ago, but what the heck is that so-called work he refer to?

[pizza-is-my-buziness]

Fictober Prompt Day Three! Prompt: "Okay. Show me."

Pairing: Deena Johnson/Sam Fraser (Fear Street)

Read story below or on Ao3!

Somewhere near the middle of Nebraska, Sam rolls the window down and lets in the breath of late summer air, sharp and smelling of baked asphalt and the fields they’ve been driving past for what feels like days. The wind toys with the loose strands of her hair, as well as the scattering of candy and chip wrappers, and the carefully copied directions that sit on the dashboard, thankfully pinned into place by a Portishead tape. The action isn’t entirely a surprise, given that sometimes the AC craps out or they need a break from the recycled air and the monotony of the road or, as evening stretches into night and they’re still miles from the next cheap motel, a sudden jolt of fresh air to bring them back to life. But still, Deena looks over at her, eyebrows arched in amusement, and Sam looks, well…Sam looks far too good for someone whose been traveling in a car for three days, the afternoon sun on her cheeks, the wind tangles of her hair caught in the breeze as she leans her head to get a better look at all the nothingness around them.

Deena rolls her window down too to keep her ears from popping, trying to keep half her attention on the empty road, most of it on Sam. “You’re not gonna jump out or anything right?” She teases, mostly. “I mean, I know the drive is boring but-” 

Really, this is a bit of a stretch. If Deena hadn’t already been stupid in love with Sam, this drive would’ve definitely cemented that feeling right in the center of her chest, like the sturdy roots of a tree growing to push out everything but that fact. Because the drive really hasn’t been boring, not with Sam beside her. They’ve cycled through all the tapes they’d brought in a collected three shoeboxes more than once, singing along when the time was right, giving each other shit about the music choices they didn’t have in common, or sometimes scanning through radio stations from every town and city they’d driven through, trying to find something good among the static. Right now, they’ve managed to hook onto some underground college station for far longer than Deena had expected them too, all the way out in the middle of nowhere, Joy Division proclaiming mournfully that love will tear them apart. And, over the steady stream of music, there had been the cheesy, childish car games, endless rounds of I, Spy that had continued until one of them had been laughing too hard to continue. Conversations about what they would do once they finally made it to the end of what Deena is already starting to suspect is an endless road trip to some mythical Oz with a magical, perfect new life waiting for them at the other end. Silences that had felt just as comfortable as all the rest of it. 

Though, there isn’t much to be said about their scenery for the past hour or so. I, Spy would’ve ended quickly enough: something brown, something flat, something endless. Deena can feel the steadiness of it, the rumble of the car, the melancholic mood of whatever college student had programmed this particular broadcast, the endless expanse of earth and sky starting to wear on her, creating a fuzzy-headed exhaustion that certainly doesn’t bode well for the hours they still have ahead of them.

Sam laughs, settling back down in her seat and letting her arm hang out the window instead, her fingers tapping against the side of the car. “No. I just thought we could use a little bit of air.” She looks at Deena, her other hand reaching up to comb through her hair, to brush it back over her shoulders, only for it to be taken by the wind once more. “You okay? Pull over if you want to switch.”

“Nah, I’m good,” Deena assures her and the radio station finally succumbs to the static she had long been anticipating. She pops the cassette back into place, one of Sam’s picks: Weezer and the jarring guitars of “Say It Ain’t So.” “It does kinda feel like we’re the only two people left alive though, right? Like…when was the last time we even saw another car?” 

Sam leans forward, carefully collecting the pages of directions they’d put together over afternoons spent shoulder to shoulder in the Sunnyvale library, road maps and atlases spread out around them, the thrilling promise of escape making them lean a little closer than they might have otherwise. When suddenly everything was tied to the countdown, it all felt slightly more bearable: finishing her classes in Shadyside; having to say goodbye to Sam each afternoon with a furtive kiss several blocks away from the house where Sam’s mother would be waiting impatiently for her return; the memories and nightmares she would rather forget. Deena had planned out most of the route, her mind whirling through miles and hours and the amount of time they could feasibly spend on the road each day, even with the two of them trading off time behind the wheel. Sam had filled in the stops in between, gas stations and motels and those ridiculous roadside attractions like the largest chair or a place that promised a trained alligator wearing a tutu. Most of the time they didn’t really linger, not with all the driving they had ahead of them, the days and days that it would take them to finally make it to Portland. But they had at least stopped in to see the alligator, which had been wearing a tutu but seemed to be trained to do nothing but sit around. 

“There should be a gas station in a few more miles,” Sam says, the papers fluttering in her hands, the wind humid and hot but not entirely unwelcome. “We can get out there and stretch for a bit.” 

At the mention of it, Deena’s muscles immediately start to feel sore and achy, voicing their own complaints about the drive that feels like it’s taken far longer than the four hours they’ve spent on the road today. She rubs at the back of her neck and looks at Sam and feels that bubbling excitement start in the center of her chest, spreading through her with a thrumming fizz that makes it all too easy suddenly to ignore stiff muscles and endless fields. Fuck. They’re doing this. They’re really doing this. Even though it’s been days since they’ve left Shadyside behind, it still feels like it hasn’t fully sunk in, the fact that they’ve left and that every moment spent on this stupid, endless road is a moment that takes them further away. They’ve got everything they couldn’t stand to leave in the trunk the car, suitcases and laundry baskets in the back, and some place to call home waiting ahead of them. 

Sam catches her eyes and smiles and there’s something in her face that lets Deena know that she gets it, that she feels the same way, that it all seems too good to be true. Sam leans forward to stash the directions carefully back on the dashboard, reaching for Deena’s hand with hers, and says, “Would you rather only listen to Madonna or Whitney Houston for the rest of your life?”

They argue over this for the next twenty miles, until Sam finally abandons her point long enough to point out the sign of a rather questionable looking gas station. Though they’re down to a quarter tank and Deena thinks her muscles might atrophy completely if she doesn’t get up right that minute, so they pull up alongside one of the four pumps outside the building. There’s another car, a minivan seemingly full of kids and dogs, a weary looking man studying a map spread out across the hood while a woman fans herself in the heat and checks her watch. Neither of them glance over when Deena pulls into the parking lot and Deena can only sympathize with their weary expressions. Games of I, Spy in that car have surely gotten unruly. 

Sam gets out, stretching her arms and tipping her head back toward the cloudless sky overhead and Deena presses her teeth together because she really, really wants to kiss her, and fully intends to as soon as the world shrinks to just the two of them again. Again, that startling feeling of excitement starts to sneak its way through her, enticing and terrifying all at once, whispering that soon there will be a place where she can do exactly that, always. 

Instead, Deena only watches as Sam disappears into the store to pay for the gas before leaning against the warm side of the car, eyes studying the road ahead of them, the miles and miles to go before they sleep and all that. 

And Mrs. Johnson thought she never paid attention in English class. 

Finally, the bell above the store’s door chimes and Sam appears once more, grinning in a way that leaves Deena feeling both curious and slightly wary of what might have put that particular smile on her face. Sam lifts her eyebrows, coming to stand in front of Deena with her hands behind her back. “I got you something.” 

Okay, definitely more wary then. “What?” 

“Guess.” Sam’s grin only widens. 

“Um…” Deena tries to peer over Sam’s shoulder but Sam just shifts out of the way. “I’m guessing it’s not a Twix.” 

“No.” Sam pauses, considering. “Well, I did get one of those too. But, nope.” 

Deena just shakes her head, feeling a smile of her own start to take root, coaxed on by Sam’s grin. “Okay. Show me.” 

Sam relents, grinning as she brings her hands out from behind her back. She’s holding a camo hat with a patch stitched on the front that says “hey deer” with a picture of a buck beside it and Deena blinks, glancing between Sam and the hat. “Uh…thanks?” 

Sam laughs, pulling the hat down on Deena’s head and tapping the bill lightly. “Perfect fit. I knew it.” 

“Gee, thanks,” Deena says, pulling the hat off and studying it. It’s completely ridiculous and she can’t help but laugh. “It’s just what I’ve always wanted.” 

“I know,” Sam says, leaning against the car and crossing her arms over her chest. “I definitely expect you to never, ever take it off again.” 

“Maybe you should wear it, since you love it so much,” Deena teases, turning to retrieve the gas nozzle so she can fill up the car and get them the hell out of here, somewhere where she might be able to sneak a kiss or two when she’s supposed to concentrating on the road. 

Sam shakes her head, holding up her hands. “Nope, it’s all yours. It was practically made for you…dear.” 

Deena puts the hat back on, mostly because it earns her another toothy grin from Sam, though she does her best to feign a pout. “There. Happy?” 

“Very.” Sam nods. And then her smile softens and she shrugs. “But I usually am.” 

And this…this is exactly why they’re driving across the country, throwing themselves into a life in a place they’ve never seen before, one they’ve only crafted out of conversations and wishful thinking. This is exactly why Deena suddenly has no complaints about getting back behind the wheel of the car and putting even more miles between them and Shadyside and getting them forever closer to what is waiting at the other end. 

“Yeah.” Deena nods, grinning as she looks down at her feet. “Yeah, me too.” 

[thewidowsghost]

Fox - Chapter 6

Previously on Fox:

(Y/n) stands up and stands beside Sam as the men lead the twins away, both of them sending fleeting looks at (Y/n) over their shoulder as they leave.

Sam wraps an arm around (Y/n)'s shoulder and leads her towards a jet to take her back to the United States.

(Y/n)'s POV

The next half a year of my four year tour goes by quickly. I decided to leave the Air Force after one tour so I could go home and see Dad.

I pull out my phone and call Pepper. "(Y/n)!" Pepper says happily into the phone. "Are you alright?" she then asks, sounding worried.

"Yeah, I'm alright," I answer. "My last day is Saturday, I was wanting to surprise my dad. Could you pick me up from the airport?" I ask.

"Sure!" she says. "It'll be really nice to see you again, we missed you," Pepper adds.

"It'll be nice to see you guys too," I say and I see Sam walking towards me. "I'll talk to you later Pepper. Love you guys," I say, "Don't tell Dad that I'm coming home, alright?" I ask and she laughs.

"I won't," she says. "Love you, (Y/n)! Bye!"

"Bye!" I end the call and look up at Sam. "Hey Sammy," I say, smiling.

"There's two people here to see you," Sam says, his voice deep like usual. "They're with Ryan," he says.

"Right, thanks Sammy," I say, then running towards Ryan's office.

"Good afternoon sir," I say, walking into Ryan's office, taking off my service dress garrison cap - I had joined the Air Force as an officer since I had been to collage before I had joined up.

"Hello, Miss Stark," A deep voice comes from beside me and I look over, nodding respectfully to the two men standing against the wall. One was an African American man, he had one brown eye, but the other was covered by an eye patch. The other man was a dirty blond with blue eyes who looks like he's about two or three years older than me. "We heard about what happened in Sokovia," the African American man says.

I looks down at my polished black shoes at the man's words. "I couldn't have prevented that first shell, sir," I say, looking back up and staring at the man's eyes - or eye and eye-patch.

"That's not what I'm talking about," Eye-patch Man says. He walks over, "My name is Nicholas J. Fury, and I have a proposition for you," Nick Fury says.

"And what might that be, sir?" I ask.

"I am here with the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division," Fury says.

"Man, you guys need an acronym," I mutter under my breath.

"What we meant about Sokovia is your abilities," The blond man says, walking forward. "The name's Clint Barton," Barton says.

"Nice to meet you Mr. Barton, Mr. Fury," I say. "But could you please explain further why you are here?" I ask politely.

"We're here to offer you a job," Mr. Fury says, "And call me Fury, everyone does."

"What would this job entitle?" I ask looking between Fury and Barton.

Fury gestures to Barton to speak.

"We are a secret organization," Barton says. "We hunt down people who are a threat to humanity and take care of them in any means necessary." Barton says.

"Captain," Fury says, addressing me - I am retiring from the Air Force at my final rank as a Captain. "If you take this job, you will automatically be considered a Level 7 Agent and work alongside me and Barton here to help eliminate threats across the world."

"So, you're telling me that if I take this job," I begin, "I'll be going into a job that entitles exactly what I retired from the Air Force doing?" I ask, and Fury and Barton exchange a glance with Ryan. I walk forward, stopping in front of Fury and extending out my hand. "I'll take it," I say and Barton smiles softly.

"Good to be in business with you Captain," Fury says, shaking my hand.

"Call me (Y/n)," I say and Barton smiles.

I now turn to Barton and stop forward to shake hands with Barton. "Nice to be working with you, Barton," the two of us shake hands.

"Call me Clint," he tells me and I smile.

"Stark," I turn around and look to Ryan. "You have permission to leave now instead of Saturday." he says and I nod. He then stands up and walks around the desk. "I'm gonna miss having you around, kid," he says, embracing me in a warm hug.

"I'm going to miss being around," I say, the two of us breaking from the hug. "I'll keep in touch, need anything, give me a call. See you around," I say, walking out of the office, Clint running after me.

"Need help packing your stuff, new partner?" he asks.

"Know what? Why not," I say shrugging, and I lead him to my dorm on the opposite side of the base. It was more of a house than a dorm. After Sokovia, Ryan decided that I should have a more private area to collect my thoughts. "What are you waiting for?" I tease Clint, holding the door open.

Laughing, he walks in, me following and I close the door.

"Dude, you've got a lot of stuff in here," Clint says looking around.

"Perks of being a Captain," I say, laughing, walking into my bedroom.

Pulling out the suitcase my Dad had helped me pack four years ago, I begin to fold all of my clothes. "Clint, please stay out there for a minute, I'm going to change out of this uniform."

"Okay," Clint calls back, and I close the door. I walk over to my closet and pull out a pair of black jeans, a dark blue t-shirt, and dark blue leather jacket. I change real quick and open the door.

"You're good now," I say and Clint walks into the room.

"So, where are you from?" he asks as I fold up all my clothes and begin to put them in the suitcase.

"Malibu," I say, and I look up to see him leaning against the wall. "Dude, you're making me uncomfortable just standing there. Do you not see that chair?" I tease.

"Are you like this all the time?" Clint teases back. "I might need to ask Director Fury for a new partner."

"Would that partner be able to do this?" I ask, stepping back and lighting my hand on fire. "Or this?" I continue, using my shape shifting ability to transform into a fox. "I don't think so," I say once I am human again.

"That's so cool," Clint says. "What else can you turn into?" asks Clint, "A hawk?" He asks, and I shift into a hawk. "A cat?" I shift into a Russian Blue cat. "A lion?" I shift from the cat to a lion. "So basically anything?" he asks.

I shift back to me. "I can also do people," I say. "I do have to see them first before I can shift into another person."

"Can you do me?" Clint asks, looking interested.

Closing my eyes, I focus for a moment and when I open them, I see Clint looking shocked, he is staring at himself. "You asked," I say, shifting back into myself.

"What other things abilities do you have?" Clint asks as I continue to fold and put the rest of my clothes into the suitcase. "I can control most nature related things, wind, water, fire, earth, and lighting based powers. Each of the others stem to other things. Water also connects to ice, so I do have abilities over ice and snow. The other elements also have, lets says, branches -" I stop, looking over at Clint. "Sorry," I say sheepishly.

"Nah, it's fine," Clint says smiling. "I like people who are passionate about what they do. Go on," he says.

"Sure?" I ask and he nods. "The other elements have branches as well. Fire connects to lava, so, in theory, I would be able to summon lava. Earth is strong, like a rock," I add, letting out a snort of laughter. "Sorry, that was bad," I continue. "Earth is strong, so from that I have super strength. Lightning creates storms, as well as other large amounts of energy. Wind, pretty powerful on it's own, but does have it's limits. With enough concentration, I would be able to summon a tornado, or, with the help of water, I would be able to create a hurricane." In explaining all of this to Clint, I had finished packing up all my clothes and I had closed and zipped up the suitcase.

"So," I clear my throat. "Want something to drink?" I ask picking up my suitcase and carrying it out and throwing it carelessly onto the couch. "I've got water, Gatorade, Coke?"

"Gatorade's fine," Clint says, and I toss him a bottle.

"So, what's your life like?" I ask, leaning against the kitchen counter. "Granola bar?" I ask, and Clint nods and I toss him one.

"I'd rather show you then tell," Clint says and I nod.

"Completely understand," I tell the blond and he nods in thanks.

"Guess I'd better call Pepper and tell her I'll be home earlier," I say, pulling out my phone.

"What about I show you about that life you were asking about first," Clint says. "If you're okay with that?" he adds hastily.

"I mean, I guess," I answer. "I'll have to be in Malibu by Saturday." I say, and Clint nods. "Well, people are going to want to say bye." I jog over to the door. "Wanna stay here, or wanna come?" I ask.

"I'll come," Clint says, walking over. "I'd better get used to hanging out with you," he says. "That might take a while," he teases and I roll my eyes.

"Let's go," I chirp cheerfully, opening the door, and Clint follows.

It takes us about half an hour but the two of us find everyone that I had connected with since I had joined four years ago. The only person I hadn't found yet, was Sam. Then I had a sudden revelation.

"Who are you looking for?" Clint asks curiously.

"My old partner and friend, Sam," I sigh. "I think I might know where he is," I say softly, and I jog to where Sam and I had left a monument to Riley.

And just as I had suspected, he was there, sitting on a bench.

"Sam?" I ask hesitantly, and he turns around.

"Hey, (Y/n)," he says softly and I go sit beside him.

"What's wrong?" I ask gently.

"It feels strange, you leaving after all this time," Sam says. "It feels, off, somehow," he says and I look down.

"I'll always keep in touch, you know that Sam," I say and he looks up, meeting my (E/C) eyes. "If ever you want to go on run for old time's sake, I'll always be around." I say and Sam laughs.

"What, and have you and you're super strength beat me every time? I don't think so," he says and I laugh.

Sam walks back over to me and I stand up. "I'll see you around, Sam," I say,giving him a hug, then jogging off back to my house/dorm.

I open the door and walk inside, not bothering to close it, knowing Clint and or Sam would follow me.

I walk over into the living area of the house and pull my guitar off the wall, glancing at it I set it on the couch and walk to my room to grab the case out of the closet.

Walking back into the living room, I look up to see Clint leaning against the doorway.

"Do you play?" Clint asks, nodding to the guitar on the couch.

"Nah, I just keep a guitar here, but don't know how to play it," I say jokingly.

Sitting down on the couch, I pull the guitar into the playing position, and begin to strum the introduction to "Hey there Delilah."

"Hey there, Delilah

What's it like in New York city?

I'm a thousand miles away But, girl, tonight you look so pretty Yes, you do Times Square can't shine as bright as you I swear, it's true

Hey there, Delilah Don't you worry about the distance I'm right there if you get lonely Give this song another listen Close your eyes Listen to my voice, it's my disguise I'm by your side

Oh, it's what you do to me Oh, it's what you do to me Oh, it's what you do to me Oh, it's what you do to me What you do to me

Hey there, Delilah I know times are gettin' hard But just believe me, girl Someday I'll pay the bills with this guitar We'll have it good We'll have the life we knew we would My word is good

Hey there, Delilah I've got so much left to say If every simple song I wrote to you Would take your breath away I'd write it all Even more in love with me you'd fall We'd have it all

Oh, it's what you do to me Oh, it's what you do to me Oh, it's what you do to me Oh, it's what you do to me

A thousand miles seems pretty far But they've got planes and trains and cars I'd walk to you if I had no other way Our friends would all make fun of us And we'd just laugh along because we'd know That none of them have felt this way Delilah, I can promise you That by the time that we get through The world will never ever be the same And you're to blame

Hey there, Delilah You be good, and don't you miss me Two more years and you'll be done with school And I'll be makin' history like I do You know it's all because of you We can do whatever we want to Hey there, Delilah, here's to you This one's for you

Oh, it's what you do to me Oh, it's what you do to me Oh, it's what you do to me Oh, it's what you do to me What you do to me, oh oh, woah, woah Oh woah, oh Oh"

I strum the last couple of cords and finish, Clint looking impressed as I put the guitar in it's case.

"How long have you been playing?" he asks.

"Since I was about three or four," I answer and Clint nods.

"Who taught you?" he asks, moving to sit beside me on the couch.

"My mom," I reply. I clear my throat. "I don't have anything else to move if you're ready to go. I told Ryan to offer this to Sam once I leave."

"Okay then, let's go," Clint says and the two of us stand up.

I sling my guitar case over my shoulder, and Clint grabs my suitcase and we walk out of the house and towards a jet.

"This yours?" I ask, looking inside the jet.

"Belongs to the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division," Clint answers.

"Why don't you guys just call it SHIELD? That's clearly what it was named after. Someone really wanted it to say SHIELD, maybe it was after Captain America's SHIELD," I wonder.

"That's easier to say than the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division," Clint says, laughing. "Can you fly one of these things?" he asks.

"I was in the Air Force dude," I say. "I was a pilot."

"Good, I needed a co-pilot," Clint says, and I look at him questioningly.

"You're asking a professionally trained pilot to be your co-pilot?" I ask teasingly.

"Good, you completely understand," he says and I shake my head playfully.

"So," I ask when the jet was in the air. "Where are we off too?" I ask.

"Missouri," Clint answers.

Word Count: 2654 Words

Hope you guys like the direction I am taking this book. I've never seen anyone write an Avengers' reader insert this way.

See you guys soon, I guess!

Love y'all,              Kaitlynn 😍❤

[crusherthedoctor]

Sonic Villains: Sweet or Shite? - Part 15: DR. EGGMAN

There are some villains I like. And there are some villains I don’t like. But why do I feel about them the way I do? That’s where this comes in.

This is a mini-series of mine, in which I go into slightly more detail about my thoughts on the villains in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, and why I think they either work well, or fall flat (or somewhere in-between). I’ll be giving my stance on their designs, their personalities, and what they had to show for themselves in the game(s) they featured in. Keep in mind that these are just my own personal thoughts. Whether you agree or disagree, feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions! I don’t bite. :>

Anyhow, for today’s installment, it’s finally time for him. The bad doctor himself. Gather round ladies and gentleman, for the spotlight is on the arch-villain that shines above them all... Dr. Eggman.

The Gist: It's the dawn of the 90's. A little company called SEGA had an ephiphany. They wanted to make a video game juggernaut that could rival the quality and iconic appeal of the then-unmatched Super Mario Bros, and their current star, Alex Kidd, just wasn't doing it in the way that they hoped. They promptly set about starting anew, as a worldwide phenomenon wasn't going to make itself.

So a gentleman named Naoto Ohshima created a selection of design concepts for this brand new mascot. One of these concepts was President Roosevelt in his pajamas.

Seen here with his catgirl body pillow.

The response to this character was “This is good, but we think kids would prefer kicking the shit out of him”, and so he was given an antagonistic role instead. In the meantime, after juggling the rest of their ideas, they eventually settled on a rabbit hedgehog named Sonic for their main protagonist, knowing his Mickey Mouse-like aesthetic would help endear him to the audience, and the franchise as a whole would have an easier time gaining a DeviantART fanbase later on down the line.

Initially, the character of today's review was but a mere lackey among many, seemingly little more than one of numerous minions working for Sonic's originally intended main villain, the Nonspecific Goblin. He was also dressed as a bee for some reason.

Which is the least weirdest thing in this image.

At some point however, they all got together and decided that actually, the guy with the moustache was the only one worth shit, and so he was upgraded to the role of main villain himself. With a spiffy new attire of red and black, he was given the bold title of Dr. Eggman, because with a shape like that, what else are you gonna call him?

“Funny you should say that”, laughed SEGA of America, as they rebelled like an angsty teen and named him Dr. Ivo Robotnik instead. While this name does make equal sense for the character, as he is indeed a hard worker who also happens to like robots, the reason for this name's existence seems to have been mainly because they thought Eggman was too out there of a name for an egg-like man. Whatever the case, this would confuse a lot of fans for years, and remains a point of divisiveness to this day... Unless you're like me and your first game in the series was Advance 2, in which the manual clears it up right away, and you accept the idea of a character having two names and immediately carry on with your life.

He would have aimed it perfectly if it weren't for the Sonic Heroes Parrot distracting him.

And that was that, really. It didn't take long for them to come up with his characterization, which was that of a cackling fiend with an ego to end all egos. This guy was the Narcissist Alpha, more king than actual kings, no strings attached. Other villains would build statues of themselves, but only Robotnik would deface Ancient Egyptian monuments to improve them with his face. Other villains would think “Nah, refacing all four in Rushmore would look silly”, but only the Eggman, the Eggmyth, the Egglegend, would go “Well fuck you, I'm doing it anyway.” Then he'd do it anyway, and proceed to address to the entire world that he did in fact do it anyway.

It also didn't take long for them to develop his primary schtick. With the dynamic of Sonic VS Eggman, you had a classic rivalry between nature and technology. Interestingly enough however, this turned out to be executed more tactfully than your typical Amish-abiding examples in similar media. Never was technology itself regarded as a corruptive influence that you should never utilise no matter what. Rather, it was only as good or as evil as the person using it, with it just so happening that the villain loved machinery only slightly less than he loved himself, and it was countered by Sonic’s best friend being a techno wiz in his own right anyway. Anyhow, with his machinery, the doctor would make a name for himself among video game baddies by confronting his enemy as the boss of nearly every zone in each game, rather than hide away until the endgame.

And all without a driver's licence.

In his soon-to-be-30 years of activity, he has largely remained the same since his inception. Other characters have been introduced, other villains have came and went, but Eggman has remained THE villain of the franchise, and he's remained a vital part of the Sonic the Hedgehog universe... with a slight redesign along the way.

The only ad I don't want to skip.

The Design: Eggman's design may be more simplistic than the likes of Bowser and Ganondorf, and he may not look as openly threatening at first glance, but it's still a very iconic look no matter what look it is. His original appearance was devised so that kids could have an easy time drawing him, which only makes me feel worse about not being able to do it as a grown adult without it looking like a Sexy Legs Kirby.

Still, it's a classic for a reason. With his to-the-point colour scheme, contrasting heavily with Sonic's blue, and his capelet collar resembling walrus tusks, it was an instant winner and made everyone goo goo for g'joob.

The Emeralds he’s juggling are a metaphor for the divided fan community.

And when it was time to give the cast an update for Sonic's first real 3D adventure (or at least the first one that didn't get axed for being a magic eye seizure), Eggman got a respectable change of his own. He was taller, his getup was militaristic, and his body was more legitimately egg-shaped rather than basketball-shaped. He also gained a pair of goggles that he never uses, except in scenes where he puts them on and then never uses them.

“How do my chicken legs not collapse under the might of my gluttonous mass? Find out in an unrelated tie-in novel that you have to pay additional money for.”

There was also that one redesign from 2006, but...

Be it Classic or Modern, I've always loved his design. Before he even says a word or does anything, you know from his appearance that he's a bit of a clownish sort. But he also has a subtle creepy vibe going on, with the way his glasses often obscure his eyes, and how this only makes the pearly-white, unnecessarily wide grin on his face that much more empty and unsettling. This little bit of eeriness hiding among his cartoonish physique reflects the full extent of his character pretty accurately, as we’ll delve into soon enough.

If nothing else, it's more effective than him having no eyes at all.

GRRRRRRRR FUCK YOU BUNNIES THAT I CAN'T SEE

The Personality: If you've seen my villain reviews, then you'll have gathered that Sonic's rogues aren't known for having much in the way of personality. There are exceptions, but they are indeed the exceptions. More often than not though, whether it's an alien conquerer, an ancient monster, or Dan Green the Recolour, they can be summed up thusly: They're evil, they want to destroy the world, and the heroes stop them because they're evil and want to destroy the world. If they're feeling particularly daring, they might go for a second colour.

Luckily, as if to counter all these cardboard drawings, the central adversary of the franchise makes up for these voids of personality by actually having one. And what a personality it is.

The writers of SatAM looked at this and thought “No, this won't do, there's no character to work with here.”

He really is brimming with comedic charm. Every moment that he's present...

Every moment that he shows off...

Every moment that he basks in his own glory...

Every moment that he unveils a new wicked scheme...

Every moment that he puts his enemies to the test...

Every moment that he challenges the world...

Every moment that he laughs at the world...

Every moment that he lives, nay, every moment that he breathes...

Yes, the man has plenty of humor, and it's part of what makes him so enjoyable and memorable. However, if you think being a clown is all there is to him, then prepare to have your expectations subverted initial assumptions taken in a unexpected direction, because although he puts the goof in goofy, he ALSO puts the “oh...?” in “oh shit”.

For you see, Eggman is by all means the epitome of Laughably Evil, but do not, under any circumstance, take him at face value and write him off as a joke. He is anything but.

For starters, he can swing a planet.

There is a rule of thumb that I personally go by with Eggman’s characterization, one that I believe is an immediate make or break factor in regards to whether or not you understand what makes this villain work. Eggman - when you put all his secondary traits aside - is made up of two prominent halves. There’s the egocentric meme machine that bounces up and down like a kid with his N64 and laughs like Santa... and there’s the monster buried within that remains completely and utterly unrepentant for everything he’s responsible for. This is very important. Despite the character’s simplicity at his core, many writers have failed to grasp this, official writers included, and I for the life of me cannot understand why this is such a recurring problem. Eggman is funny, AND Eggman is evil. Both are equal. When you take away one or the other, you may have a funny character, or you may have an evil character, but you don’t have Eggman. Simple as.

Armchair intellectuals may argue that Eggman’s deeds aren’t that evil, since he tends to be merely callous rather than actively trying to hurt or kill people. Those people are probably the types on TV Tropes who weigh a villain’s evilness and effectiveness purely through the surface-level scale of their goals rather than what they actually do to achieve them. While it is true that Eggman tends to be more apathetic about the aftermath of his actions, that doesn’t - and shouldn’t - negate how dangerous he is. It shouldn’t negate what he’s capable of. It shouldn’t negate how far he’s willing to go. And it shouldn’t negate the consequences and casualties that can and do result from his many schemes.

Seriously, think about this for a second. If you confronted Eggman about his current plan to... I dunno, make a water park in Africa or some shit, and you informed him that there has been unexpected mass suffering as a result of this, how do you think he would truly feel about that? What do you think he would actually say to that?

Spoiler: No fucks.

If anything, that he “merely” doesn’t care either way as long as he gets what he wants is more uniquely horrific and deplorable than if he were a generic baddie who committed his evulz specifically for evulz’s own sake and nothing more. At least you’re inadvertently acknowledging that other people’s lives have value when you act one-dimensionally gleeful over ending them, but when your immediate response to the side-effect of a million potential deaths and environmental disasters is “Oh well, fuck ‘em, Eggmanland time baybeeee”, that’s a new level of cruelty.

Besides, even in the Genesis era, he was carpet bombing Angel Island...

“Good thing I have this shield. Sucks to be this forest!”

And he’s only gotten worse since then, indulging in such acts as going full suicide bomber with a missile, after his initial plot to destroy and rebuild Station Square through the means of Chaos and the Egg Carrier didn’t work out...

But don’t worry, he kept it lighthearted by making it look like a penis.

Making one of Sonic’s friends go insane with power against their will, forcing the Blue Blur to put them down personally...

It’s ironic, cause he’s metal. Or do I have to awkwardly explain the joke two more times before I’m a proper YouTuber?

Capturing thousands of innocent aliens, and forcefully converting them into mindless beasts...

I’m pretty sure I saw Alfred Molina conduct this experiment one time.

He even removed the heroes’ collective IQs so that he could shoehorn a cliffhanger on an already terrible game.

Thanks, cunt.

And honestly? When it comes to Sonic and chums at least, Eggman does let out a more openly sadistic side now and then. Need I mention that time when the doctor forced Sonic and two random buddies to make their way through a trap-infested island of his own creation? Not for the sake of nabbing Chaos Emeralds or anything of the sort mind you, he just wanted the blue motor mouth to suffer.

Images you can hear.

To make matters even worse, as befitting of his manchild tendencies, he’s ridiculously petty. How petty? Petty enough to abduct a little girl’s mother for no other reason than because Cheese completely trivialized his forces the girl was friends with Sonic and helped participate in the latest kicking of his own ass.

He only picked Vanilla because there was no Strawberry.

But at least his captives can admire the sheer variety that their captor has to offer. One of the greatest things about the doctor's style is that anything goes. With all due respect to Bowser, he tends to stick with his fiery castles (although he has been branching out recently), and plenty of other villains in gaming tend to be similarly stuck in their ways when it comes to tastes. Eggman, on the other hand, will create all sorts of fortresses and reside anywhere on the planet and beyond. It can be in the sky, in space, somewhere hot, somewhere cold, under the sea, in a circus... and every now and then, he might combine some of them together and thensome. So long as it's even vaguely mechanical in some way, his ground rules have already been ticked off.

Hang on a minute...

You know what else Eggman is? Relentless.

Persistence is a quality that most villains by their very nature share, lest they cease to be an effective antagonist. But once again, Rrrrrrrobotnik maxes out more than any other, and will often go to insane lengths to keep the current plan going, or if not that, then to spite Sonic.

Exhibit A: Sonic 3 & Knuckles, in which the grand finale consists of the madman throwing a gravity-shifting contraption your way, busting out a Kaiju-sized robo, escaping with the Master Emerald after his defeat, continuing to escape even after the Death Egg has been thoroughly destroyed, getting chased through the asteroid fields in space by Super Sonic, and only finally going down when the escape craft and the piloted mech controlling the escape craft are down. And all of this came after a grand adventure where, among other things, he destroyed an entire level just to kill you.

There are immortal omnipotents that put up less of a challenge.

“Looks like it’s time for Plan... *checks paper*... F.”

His relentlessness also reveals another side of the doctor that is simultaneously admirable and terrifying: He bows to no one. No one. Doesn’t matter who it is. Doesn’t matter how powerful they are. Doesn’t matter how much the odds are stacked against him. If another villain were to demand that he cower before them, the scientist would laugh and show through physical demonstration that this is not the way the egg rolls. Unless he’s absolutely unable to do so, he will give it his all every time, and even if he can’t, he’ll use his crafty mind to find some other way to get around the issue. You can beat him in battle, you can foil his plans, but you absolutely cannot break his resolve.

“Dad said it’s my turn to play with the Ruby. I know this, because I’m your dad.”

What about his relationship with those who actually serve him? Specifically, his own robots? Well for the most part, he treats them like absolute crap, what with verbally abusing them at every corner and being all too willing to go full Vader on them the moment they mess up. He IS capable of expressing fondness and giving praise to his more successful creations, like with Metal Sonic and Gamma, but even then, it’s a roundabout way of praising himself, since he’s the one who made them what they are. So basically, you’re only valuable to him if you make him look good.

Gaming in the Clinton Years in a nutshell.

And as for Sonic? Yeah, like with any legendary and long-lasting hero/villain dynamic, it’s obvious that Eggman has some degree of begrudging respect for his opponent. But if you think this respect would dissuade him from actually going through with his ambitions of rulership...

As the hedgehog’s apparent demise in Sonic Adventure 2 proves, as well as his defeat at the hands of Infinite and the subsequent six months of brutal conquest in Sonic Forces, Eggman is dead serious about his goals. If you think he’d get bored after conquering the world, he would simply expand his resources and have a crack at conquering the rest of the universe. When he says he hates that hedgehog, I’m inclined to believe that he means it, and although he may enjoy his “games” with Sonic to an extent, I also can’t see him wanting to remain stuck on square one forever.

If this were Sonic X, he’d just grieve.

By the way, the scene above? Undeniable proof that for all the doctor’s boasting, he’s not actually lying or exaggerating when he prides himself on his brilliance. Because when you get past his goofy exterior, when you look beyond the occasional, relatively minor mistake (*glares at IDW*), you’ll see that... yes. He IS brilliant. And not just in the science department either, although his countless robots and strongholds over the years are no doubt a testament to his credentials there. While he may prefer to go in big and bold, he can also be shrewd with his strategies when he wants to be.

Sonic’s aforementioned near-death experience, for example, was the result of Eggman turning the heroes’ own cunning plan on its head by being one step ahead of them. And in Sonic Unleashed, he lured his enemy into a trap, culminating with him cancelling out Super Sonic.

“...and pay the price for your Werehog gameplay...”

And after all those years of struggling, he finally got a giant monster under his complete control. “But he had help!”, you say? Yeah, from himself.

Did Flynn sleep through all this...?

Much like his inner nature as an evil bastard, Eggman's effectiveness is likewise commonly underestimated by writers. Yes, he occasionally makes mistakes. Yes, he occasionally overlooks details. Yes, he occasionally lacks foresight. But he is NOT stupid. A hero is only as good as their villain after all, and if Eggman is portrayed as a bumbling fool, then how can Sonic be a truly great hero? Eggman is humorous, sinister, and when the chips are down, competent.

...Did I mention that he's also a master Olympian?

The Execution: There's no surprises here. You knew from the moment you saw this review that my stance wasn't going to be anything less than 100% fanboy adoration. In that respect, this section almost feels redundant, because there's only so many ways I can say “Dr. Eggman is the fucking shit and I'm eternally grateful to Mr. Ohshima for bringing this absolute masterpiece into our world” without it getting repetitive. So to cap this review off, I'm going to very briefly compare his portrayals in other media, and explain why they tend to not be as good as the original SEGA Eggman.

“Cause they’re not balanced, right?” you ask. “Cause they veer too far in a particular direction? You're so predictable,” you add. To that I say:

1. Yeah, basically.

2. ...S-Shut up...

3. While the conclusion may be obvious, it's nonetheless important because as I mentioned previously, despite how straightforward this villain is, writers seem absolutely intent on not getting the point. There are loads of villains out there who share Eggman's talent of mixing hilarity and evil together with a bow of competence on top. Two of those villains are among the most famous supervillains of all time, in fact. You might have heard of them.

Joker can do it just fine. Green Goblin can do it just fine. And plenty of others can do it just fine. So why is it such an issue with Eggman? What is it about a round body and a long moustache that gets people to think “No, this guy is absolutely incapable of being comedic and threatening at the same time, no question, end of.” Is it because he’s a more cartoony franchise? Well, that can't be the case, because even Mario has a couple of beloved examples. Fawful, anyone? How about Dimentio? Cackletta? King Boo? K. Rool? Hell, you could even count Bowser himself depending on the portrayal.

Anyway, the point is, writers tend to miss the mark for one reason or another. With Sonic X for example, he wasn't too bad in the beginning, but as the show went on, he became exactly the toothless non-villain that many people misjudge him as. We all know that scene where he berates Black Narcissus for harming their captives (not for pragmatic reasons mind you, he genuinely took issue with the act on moral grounds, even though his own hands weren’t exactly clean either), but even before that point, he was doing such things as healing an injured Sonic without an ulterior motive, not taking any opportunity whatsoever to start conquering Sonic's world because he was pining for Sonic's attention, and being the Jiminy Cricket to Chris Thorndyke's Pinocchio. Why they thought the goddamn villain should be the moral conscience of this show remains an unanswered question, but at least it no longer influences how he's portrayed in the games.

Then you have the IDW comic, which is a similar tale of starting off decent and then careening wildly into the abyss, but for different reasons. Initially, he was built up to be in-line with his competent, foresight-packed self from Forces, with his inevitable return being met with dread, and a delightfully devilish scheme to match when he finally did so. But somewhere along the way, Ian Flynn thought that Eggman coming back from his amnesiac period and returning stronger than ever with a new minion and a deadly virus wasn't enough to up the stakes... so they decided to “up the stakes” by turning both the doctor and his new minion into massive imbeciles so as to justify their plot getting hijacked by the Deadly Six, a move so predictable yet infuriating that it got even me to turn against the Six. And the reason the Six got invited in-universe is because Starline decided he didn’t like being unique and devolved into Snively 2.0 behind Eggman’s back. All this from the alleged “best writer” for the series...

Yeah, same.

And then you have the Boom version, which shares basically the same issues as Sonic X but in a more mundane fashion. It's easier to dismiss because it's a comedy-centric show and his redesign makes it easier to separate him from mainline Eggman, and I'll gladly admit that he does have a lot of genuinely funny lines that redeem him a little bit. But yeah, too much of not being a true villain for my tastes.

Now this isn't to say that there haven't been portrayals in other media that are up there with the original. The versions that I consider better off than the ones above include...

- The OVA Eggman is pretty faithful all things considered, aside from his romantic feelings for Sara, which feels slightly off since the idea of Eggman loving anyone other than himself is incredibly unrealistic at best. But it doesn't actually soften or undermine his deviousness, so I'm willing to let it slide for an alternate take. Especially since he gave us the best Metal Sonic out there.

- AoStH is far from a perfect show, but there's a reason why even its detractors tend to treat its version of Robotnik like a national treasure. Admittedly most of that is because of the legendary Long John Baldry and the endless memes associated with this incarnation, but despite hailing from a comedy-focused show like Boom Eggman, this Robotnik still had a lot of legitimately dangerous moments, more than you'd think.

- And of course, Jim Carrey's Robotnik in the Sonic movie is just... *chef's kiss*

So obvious aesop though it may be, but you see what the more effective portrayals have in common, I assume?

Granted, this also isn't to say that SEGA Eggman himself has had a perfect track record. The decade's worth of upstagings and backstabbings by other villains should be enough of a counterpoint to that claim, and I've also made it clear now and then that I take issue with certain games regarding what they do with the doc, no matter how revered they may be by other fans. Sonic Adventure 2, for instance. I praised the fake emerald scene, and I do sincerely believe that he has a number of other badass moments in that game, but because Shadow was playing him like a fool the whole time, I can't help but have a bitter taste in my mouth when I look at the bigger picture.

So close to greatness, yet so far...

So in that case, which game do I think has Eggman's best showing overall? That's not in any way an easy question, but lack of dialogue aside, I'm gonna go with Sonic 3 & Knuckles again, as the classic journey through the sights of Angel Island plays out in a way that highlights just how determined, ruthless, and underhanded he is with carrying out his mission to revive the Death Egg by any means necessary. Other games do win out in other areas - SA1 for how bastardly he is, Forces for how cunning he is, Colours for his hilarious announcements, CD for using the scenery to show the effects of his actions, Mania for not letting the other villain walk all over him - but for the purest essence of the doctor at his cartoony yet competent best, I'd say S3&K is a reasonable bet.

And when it comes to all his many traits, which one do I find the most special one of all? Well again, far from easy to answer, but I think the coolest aspect about him is also one of the most overlooked. Robotnik, despite whatever superhuman qualities he may occasionally unveil, is for all intents and purposes a regular guy with a big brain. This might make him appear unimpressive when compared to your average Final Fantasy villain and the like, but if anything, it paints him in a more flattering light than expected, because he doesn't even need to be on their level to still be on the radar. It's easy to be a big bad threat when you're an ancient demon or an almighty god-like being, and you only have to wave a hand to cause armageddon. But when you're just Some Guy™ going up against superpowered opponents, meaning you have to earn your threat level the hard way, and you prove to be a challenge every step of the way regardless, because you're just THAT much of a genius... that's fucking awesome, no other way to put it.

And you know what else is awesome? You may not like Eggman, and you don’t have to like him, but like it or not, he is directly and indirectly responsible for a vast majority of the coolest and most loved moments and aspects of this franchise.

The opening to Unleashed? Eggman set up the scene.

Shadow running around and continuing to be part of the franchise? Eggman released him.

Blaze getting involved with Sonic’s world and continuing to be part of the franchise? Eggman’s half-responsible for that.

Metal Sonic? Eggman made him.

Egg Dragoon? Eggman.

Big Arm? Eggman.

Monkey Dude? Eggman.

That text is missing a blue checkmark.

This review is probably longer than the echidna family tree in Archie at this point, so I better finish it off. If it wasn't obvious from all the paragraphs I've belted out in this post, I'm very passionate about Eggman and the way he’s portrayed. Ever since I got into the Sonic franchise in 2003, I immediately took a liking to the doctor, and to this day, he remains not only my favourite Sonic villain, my favourite Sonic character, but also my favourite character period. Some may find it a weird or lame choice compared to other, “better” characters, but that's the way it is, and I ain't about to change it. I am very unlikely to ever stop enjoying the hell out of this villain, and even if he got irreversibly ruined in some way, I'd still continue to love what he was before that point.

Because yeah, he's not the deepest character ever, but... who cares? Is it not enough that we find something that appeals to us? When I got into Sonic, I was introduced to fantastic games, a likable cast, high quality soundtracks, beautiful worlds, numerous friends on this very site, and of course, the lovely treasure that is my partner. I may not have been with this franchise during the 90's, but it's given me just as much fun, nostalgia, and happiness as those who were. Despite the flawed titles, despite the fandom conundrums, I still love this series.

And I still love this absolute prick.

Crusher Gives Dr. Eggman a: TWO Thumbs Up!

[miyomiikonran]

Burn the Witch Personal Review

I know how this sounds, especially I never did smth like that, so just pls treat it more like bunch of thoughts and opinions on this new title from long-term fan of Bleach rather than some professionally done review. I watched all three episodes and for now I didn't have much time to read the manga (I have a lot of stuff to read for my studies so ;;") so I just went through stuff written on fan wiki. So beware! Spoilers ahead!

So anyway, new title from Tite Kubo. I could not know who's the author and I still would've guessed who it is. It has such a familiar vibe for me, it's a lot like Bleach for me in terms of humor, dialogues, character interactions and so on. Backgrounds also have this kind of similar vibe but I can't tell what's exactly causing it cus I'm no artist. Kubo in his glory days always had great backgrounds so that's all I'm able to say. I think he catched some breath after Bleach's ending and came back with new energy, so his skills are back too.

About characters. I'm glad he did two main female characters this time, even though both Noel and Ninny annoyed me through most of these ~60 minutes. I'm gonna say that's how it usually is before you get to know these characters better. Balgo annoyed me the most because he's typical perverted guy (which I'm really tired of) but with sweet dumny appearance (I'm here for it) so we'll see where will this character go further. Ninny's idol type, so I wasn't really excited at first, but I really liked her interactions with Macy, so I see chances for future development. Kinda the same with Noel and Balgo, they have some chances to get better through their influence on each other. Noel is kinda boring on her own most of the time, but her drive for money is sooo relatable for me right now.

My absolute favourite for now is Osushi, which kinda amused me, cus it's complete opposite compared with how I reacted to Kon at first, who also was sort of mascot in Bleach. I think Kubo has a thing for "seems cute but can kill you" type of mascot...

Let's adress the elefant in the room now. It's the same damn universe as Bleach. It blew my mind completely since I read about this series. It's the same universe (12 years after the war) and it has witches and dragons! Don't get me wrong, tbh I think it could work, it makes sense in it's own twisted kind of way. I just wish we were given any clues about existence of other "reverse worlds"/Soul Societies before this title came out. Cus it makes sense when you think about it. For me it looks like each country/culture (cus idk if each country wouldn't be too much) could have it's own kind of reverse world coexisting with human world, with it's magic, creatures and rules rooted in it's history, culture and beliefs. That's why suddenly we have these european-looking dragons and completely different approach to them- rather than kill them, humans are using them for their own gain, which for me makes sense for country that started industrial age and was first capitalistic-kind of system in the world. Obviously they would be like "ey, it's kinda a waste to kill them, maybe we could use them to make our life easier?". In Bleach it was all more about restoring and keeping balance between worlds, moral duty, honor and strict rules which makes sense (at least for me) in japanese society. Same with Shinigami and their powers. Other stuff like Quincy and Arrancars kinda throw off this kind of logic but well, I'm just trying to find some sense in this madness.

How's the plot then going, in such weird curricumstances? For me it could easily defend itself as independent idea and separate universe. If someone didn't knew Bleach and watched this I'm pretty sure it would be viewed almost the same for now. Will it have more connections to stuff we know from Bleach? Idk, I hope so, cus if not then it's just kinda using the nostalgia left by previous series. This world is surely builded the same, we have two coexisting worlds, one with common humans and the other with people being able to see and fight supernatural beings that endanger both of these worlds. We have the same kind of structure of power as well, at least for me. Wind Bind is new Gotei 13, this time with symbolism based on zodiak signs. Cool, it would probably suggest 12 divisions, but for now we know about only 8 but once again, we'll see.

Each division has it's own field of work, responsibilities and leader. They all look just as weird and eccentric as Gotei 13 when we first met them, so hello darkness my old friend, especially one lady looks like nazi-wannabe again (Quincy I'm looking at you!). For now we only saw Bruno in action who's division is a fighting type, tasked with extermination of dangerous dragons. He's got very cool design and I adore style of magic he uses because I never saw anyone use spray paint for drawing magical symbols before. Very modern-looking guy and I'm here for it, especially he looks like Grimmjow's younger bro. In general this universe is on our typical technology level with smartphones and stuff everywhere, which is suprising to see having in mind whole traditionally japanese looking enviroment from original Soul Society. About the rest we barely know anything so well. We'll see, once again.

Do I see any clear villain in sight? Nah, not for now. For now we only know about 8 dangerous legendary dragons based on common fairy tales. Interesting concept, but I would like to see some classic villian too. However, we already got the same kind of lesson that Bleach served us- authorities cannot be easily trusted either, as their judgement also can be too strict, cruel and subcjetive without many possibilities to oppose them by avarage person. I smell more future drama in this topic. Especially we once again got elderly boss who looks similar to Yamamoto from Bleach.

One thing that kinda dissapointed me was music. Bleach made me used to very climatic, often dramatic soundtracks, kinda dark-sounding most of the time. Openings were mostly very good too, while here I barely noticed any music at all. Animation didn't really leave me in awe either, only fights seemed interesting and magic was nicely animated. But it's kinda boring compared to very dynamic animation in Bleach. First two episodes made me think of first two arcs of Bleach but it's been over 15 years! ;-;"

In the end, will I watch more? Yeah, for sure. I got very excited to see something new from Kubo, I'm rooting for him and his new series to be less damaging for his health and mental state so this time he'll have means to develop and finish it properly, ideally without more conflicts with Shounen Jump. If he'll play it right with connections to Bleach it might get every good and bring back old fanbase, maybe even make people forgive him completely for Bleach's rushed ending. I see he already got some lessons from that experience, as now he decided to publish chapters in small batches rather than weekly. For me it's good solution that may help him keep his sanity intact. I'm willing to wait if it means he'll get back to his fomer skills and glory because I loved Bleach with my whole heart. If only anime production will be okay with such work dynamic then sure, great. I hope music and animation will get better overtime, maybe with more people getting interested they'll be able to spend more time and effort on it. I'm waiting for more characters to appear for more screentime as well, despite what I said about weird looking leaders of Wind Bind. Kubo proved he can make interesting and unique looking characters before, as well as create engaging villians and fights that fans are waiting for for months or years even. Maybe he even learnt a thing or two from plot holes that happend before. We'll see, I'm hopefull and willing to see where this series will be going c:

[dxxtruction]

eps2.5h4ndshake.sme

Mr Robot: Season 2 episode 7

Episode and character analysis 

This episode is about connecting but also about deceiving. 

—

Joanna

—

The episode starts with a flashback, constructed to not look like one at first (I think this mirrors the bigger reveal at the end up the episode “things aren’t as they appear”).

Joanna looks to have brought in a Sephora bag with her (idk what other places use that stripe design on bags) and a gift has been left on the counter which contain earrings, she can be seen wearing once we jump to the present (She keeps part of Tyrell around, the things he was able to provide her with. The gift giving between them is they’re like way of showing affection. This can’t happen in the same way between her and her new lover, but she’s also willing to commit to him (for now). She even gives him a gift for his birthday to show that.) (Birthdays come up like twice in this episode and I’m not sure why but it means they’re cancers.)

This whole scene is very WHITE, even Tyrell is wearing a bright suit, and everyone at the work party is as well wears white/light gray. White is fairly symbolic of the upper class for several historical reasons, it could also represent a purer time within their relationship. Yet another thought I had goes to the rule about Labor Day, the history of which stems from creating inner class divisions between old and new money. The “rules” which determine being an insider or not. Contextually I think this makes some sense, it could even be a Labor Day event (Joanna getting back from Labor Day shopping at Sephora?). At the party The Wellick’s and the Knowles’ talk with Price who mentions Tyrell’s climbing of positions towards CTO. Him (and Joanna) becoming more a part of the “exclusivity” being introduced through Price to others within his circle like Knowles. (It’s their sort of “handshake” if you will.)

Outside the flashback, present. An old woman comes up to Joanna and spills blood (I imagine pigs blood) on her and runs away. (Definitely a Carrie reference)

“Capitalist pig!”

All the purity of the white she wears stained, her relationship with Tyrell stained, all the things she once had dreamed of having stained, because of blood (Sharon Knowles), and now there is literal blood on her as well. (Also the title card is so good)

—

Joanna is in her home, drinking wine, staring with a mixed emotion down at a photo of an ultrasound. She’s still getting these gifts from “Tyrell”, she has intentions on finding him despite finding herself tied to her new lover (She’ll later say out of all the gifts the ultrasound made her the wettest). (Through Joanna we’re led to believe Tyrell is alive (and he is but she’s not getting presents from him), but Robot says he died because they killed him so it’s a huge whats what. (Elliot doesn’t know about stage 2 or Tyrell being involved and Robot wants to keep it this way.) At the moment we ask if we believe Robot or the presents from Joanna? Turns out neither are entirely truthful. This all becomes answered in the 2 part finale. (This season deals a lot with deception, illusions, and lying.)

—

Joanna is in bed with her lover, she seems to be reenacting the Sharon Knowles choking fantasy (yikes). Derek (I keep not saying his name but it’s Derek.), wants to invite Joanna to his 30th birthday party and Joanna says she can’t come. If she doesn’t come, Derek says she’ll break up with her. Joanna seems taken about this. I think she does enjoy Derek, but I don’t think she enjoys the conditions of this relationship. She knows she’s a potential target so can’t risk going public with this relationship.  

—

Joanna doesn’t show up to the party but is at his home waiting for him. It’s revealed here Joanna met Derek at the e-corp party (a nice parallel between Joanna and Tyrell during that party. One walked out with a relationship and the other walked out well… you know.). She’s filing for divorce and this is her “handshake” with him. (This later leads to her demise)

Beaten and Bruised

—

(Rami’s acting (THE BREATHING) in this scene gets me)

Robot props up Elliot and they then do more of a hold hands than a shake. Connection is seemingly being authorized at long last. He talks about handshakes; Initialized connections between two points of access. (Tech lingo.)

He says this to us:

“Hello. I see you, I recognize you, I acknowledge your existence. Let’s talk. Get to know who each other really are. All of this said with the simple act of a handshake between two people.”

He then goes on and says he “Doesn’t know how to follow the rules.”

What he’s about to say to Robot may breaks the rules of this new connection they now seem to have (Robot going that extra mile to protect Elliot from the beating)(Elliot then accepting that Robot is able to help him and they don’t have to fight).

What he mentions is Tyrell, and Robot is agitated that Elliot is hung up on him, but an agreement gets made through negotiation that gets Robot to finally say something in order to fill in those gaps of memory he doesn’t have. (So connection has been made, but it’s gonna be a false trust.)

“P-Popcorn” is the last thing Elliot remembers. (Popcorn is one of those repeated items in the show that connect back to moments in Elliot’s past. It may be a stretch but I think popcorn symbolizes the pretense of dying, given where we see it. It’s a weird irony of having death lie below the surface of whats usually seen as something fun or delightful.)

—

While talking Robot is lying to Elliot that they killed Tyrell (This would simultaneously be making that phone call they had unreal to Elliot’s mind, another part of the illusion. This will later make him think Tyrell IRL is not real). My best guess as to why Robot kept all of this is he figures that Elliot would NOT want what stage two is to happen, and it most definitely needs to happen or Dark Army would be pissed = bad new for them. Robot is once again playing the long game with Elliot to get him to fall for something. This conflict will continue to build, so yes this is the opposite of a handshake happening here, “Rules” broken. However he tells part of the truth about that night up until the point of “shooting” him, probably because Elliots picking up on bits and pieces of it and saying things that didn’t happen would break the fact Robot is lying to him. (He also isn’t looking to fight him because they’re finally working together and Robot’s been wanting that.) (Should read that Elliot is finally starting to trust Robot because of this btw. Like a relationship of trust appears to have been formed here, a perfect handshake. But who’s betraying trust now?)(My other guess is that Robot just wants to see out his plans alone W/O Elliot getting in the way)

—

Elliot gets moved back to Ray’s office. He’ll need a few hours to “move the site.” He’s planning on exposing Ray site, opening it up for more than just TOR traffic, opening it up to the public, in the next scene we see the traffic on the site is booming. To make things easier, he also emailed the FBI an anonymous tip. (Rays move was to let Elliot live and let him turn him in.)

Elliot negotiates a game with Ray and he confesses he never actually knew what was on his site, but Elliot made him look. (Not sure what exactly about Elliot compelled him but Ray talks about Elliot highly because of it.) (Rays sorta a toss at the end (?), morally ambiguous. He never actually knew what was on his site but he’s definitely not oblivious. He ultimately decides he should pay for his crimes. Elliots conversations previous seem to indicate confusion on Ray being a good or bad person, I think the guy sort of did enable all that shit to happen so like nah.)(He was also using Elliot for what he wanted out of him, this seems to be a repeated thing with Elliot and various ppl.)(Seeing him for what he can do for them instead of him as his own person.)(Characters like Darlene or Leon (who live) do seem to see Elliot for who he is.)

“You are my answer. It’s not the other way around. So thank you.”

Elliot quotes: “When you see a good move, look for a better one.” -Emanuel Lasker (World champion chess champion) (Elliot knows a lot of chess factoids) (What’s Elliots good move and what’s his better move?)

“Mr.Robot was a part of me that I created because of my pain. So now we have a chance to start again. Our handshake negotiated us as partners.” (Just a good line)

—

Elliot and Leon talk on the court, Leon mentions that Elliot has to watch out for people. The white guys show up to mess with Elliot but Leon does’t budge when asked. They had stock in Ray’s site and want payback. They definitely don’t feel like starting anything with Leon around.

“Just remember cuz, your sitting under the sword of Damocles.” - the imminent and ever-present peril faced by those in positions of power. (Leons word choice is always very nice)

—

There’s been some time since the last scene, Elliots wounds are better. We are in Church group the leader reads from Dueteronomy 12:29 - “When the Lord thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land;”

I’m not gonna say I’m a bible expert by any means but it’s a big metaphor for “curiosity killed the cat”, to guard oneself against sinful curiosity and thereby betraying god by falling for errors in judgment; or else. Seems befitting enough to Elliots situation. (“Curiosity killed the cat”, Both in prison when his itch gets scratched with Ray landing him in a bunch of painful situations and at the end of the season when his curiosity towards Robot’s possible plotting leads him towards Tyrell who eventually has to shoots him.(thing is these were just curiosities)) (I can see this being VERY relatable to WR. She wants the Congo, and its her errors in judgement that make for her undoing.(These are more sinful))

—

There’s conversation then had between her and him about being fearful and vigilant as good, because it means gods present with him (IDK church stuff). The church lady thinks he speaks to Jesus/God, “If you let Jesus into your heart he’ll always listen.” (Jesus can be read as a prophet, Robot calls himself Elliot’s prophet), Elliot ends up speaking to Robot.

This is a continuation of this thing between them, “I was supposed to be your prophet, but you were supposed to be my god!” (Robot; season 1 episode 10), but also "Mr. Robot has become my god, and like all gods, their madness takes you prisoner." (Elliot; season 2 episode 3).

(It would take longer than an single episode analysis to unpack the religious themes in this show but I’ll say a few things.) The show is seeped with these religious themes everywhere, I’m still piecing sense together about it. It’s probably some way of saying the forces of life are mysterious at times, we can’t always understand them and yet they carry an amount of power over you. And that Powerful people are like gods. Gods are about to create things but they’re also able to destroy. They may guide you and they may also control you. God may be symbolic of power itself. Deciding who are the gods and masters and who are the men? Whoever has control over the world is he god? Should anyone be allowed to be?

Elliot doesn’t believe in god but Mr.Robot he can talk to and needs to talk to. He needs to know what it all means to work together as partners. Elliot has decided that they need to continue with their work, yet doesn’t know if he like’s what robot has to offer about it. Robot tells him Elliot is actually a leader, that he led the entire world into a revolution. Robot says he follows him simply because he does lead.

“I don’t want to be a leader.” (Probably has some preconceived notions on leaders being terrible people, but also might not feel he’d make a good leader given who he is)

Robot says to get anything done with E-corp it’s gotta have to happen like that.

This conversation between them seems like more metaphor to me, Elliot must sacrifice what he wants (not to be a leader) in order to move things forward to change the world and Jesus had to make a similar decision on sacrifice. (Whats weird about this scene though is how nothing seems to play out of it, after Elliot gets out he’s more of less on Ecorp’s side in order to prevent destruction. And wondering if Robot is even saying anything of truth here or if he’s simply further deceiving Elliot this whole time that they can work together on finishing things.)

—

Book burning: Elliot burns his journal because he doesn’t have any use for it anymore. Hot Carla and him stand and watch over it while he smokes a cigarette. (In RedWheelbarrow Carla has taken this apparently during some kind of riot. I think it’s this riot that lets the next thing happen without any guards coming by)

Attack: The racist white guys make their move on Elliot. They (the main guy) say they’re gonna “fix that courage problem of yours”. Robot takes all the punches for Elliot (King). (TW) They’re definitely taking off Elliot’s belt when they turn him around (fuccck)(TY Leon). Leon does his blade action and saves Elliot then we get the reveal.

“Gonna get a letter on Tuesday, do what it says.”

*stabs a guy in the ass*

“Hey yo man, when you see Whiterose. Make sure you say I did you good.”

*yanks his knife out of said mans ass*

“I’ll be rooting for you cuz, Always.”

Elliot’s in shock (who wouldn’t be?) (This establishes a lot between Elliot and Leon, I think it forms a true trust, but its one met with uncertainty)(This can be paralleled with Robot’s in a way, forming a false trust met with more certainty.)(…Don’t read much into what I say lol.) (It’s nice that ultimately both these connections do end up sticking around.)

—

Krista reads over Elliots release notice. (Tuesday I assume)

“But you were right, you can’t destroy a part of yourself.”

Elliot’s mentioning his “reality” the construction of prison as his moms place (perhaps little on the nose on how it was in the real house). Krista makes sure he hasn’t actually fallen into believing the delusions and we finally get the reveal that this is a prison (Honestly how did I not pick up on this sooner in the first watch?).

“Sometimes control can be an illusion, but sometimes you need an illusion to gain control. Fantasy is an easy way to give meaning to the world. To cloak our harsh reality in escapist comfort. After all isn’t that why we surround ourselves with so many screens? So we can avoid seeing?” (This line plays into a lot of things besides Elliot’s illusion. You could relate Price’s negotiations with the government to “make people believe” to this. You could relate Ray to this. You can relate Angela’s persona of professionalism to this. Whiterose’s machine gets references as a fantasy or something along those lines. You could relate Religion into this. All of them put on “masks”, or make others put on the masks, some avoid seeing and others think they see but they don’t. Ultimately every single one is trying to cope and grapple with life. And wearing them makes it possible to fight for the control they want (or are forced to want…))(I love the way this show messes with perception)

==

Angela / FBI / internal work

Dom tries to get something out of Angela about why she was on the FBI floor. Angela tells her about her Lunch plans. Dom (still pushing) expresses her curiosity about her job history, then mentions needing a statement from her before leaving. (She seems to be trying to fish for a reaction.)

Angela doesn’t react much, but she seems to falter towards the end, Dom says “Whatever this is? It isn’t like you,” and leaves.

Angela then completes connection to the wifi. They now own the FBI.

As part of this all security footage data is is corrupted on E-corps security cameras, a total wipe. Dom is present on the scene and suggests looking at Angela Moss’s computer. It’s the 3rd of July. (This Op later proves to be fairly pointless on FSociety’s end of things. The real ones who gain anything from this are DA.)(and because people keep perceiving that they have any control over what happens things end up worse.)

—

Angela is in a taxi on her way back home the night of the pwn. The TV in the Cab tells us how things are escalating, we get hints of switching over to e-coin, and suggestions that more services are beginning to stop.

Angela sees Darlene waiting outside the building. Angela hasn’t picked up any of Darlene’s messages or calls which is why she’s there (Angela’s pissed after finding out about Cisco).

We get what Angela has been piecing together throughout this entire time, she sorta knew at the beginning but also didn’t want to admit her friends would do something like this. She understands they’re hackers and could do something like this, but wasn’t able to admit 5/9 was them up until a certain point. Cisco certainly confirmed any unresolved ideas.

“You guys always thought that you were smarter than me. But come on. You never actually hid it that well. Every halloween, when we were kids. You guys made me watch that shitty scary movie. It was so bad.” (This line makes me think the Aldersiblings have always kept things from Angela, and have always kept her out of their more criminal hobbies, but for good reasons. That the siblings grew into very different tastes than Angela so she ended up an outsider of sorts. This jab towards the siblings seems to continue Angela’s story line of feeling under appreciated.)

—

Angela mets with her dad, who works at Walmart. He’s restocking FIVE/NINE emergency kits. Which he mentions are flying off the shelfs after the attack on Washington. (This episode does a lot of alluding to whats going on outside the main plot, forming a connection we previously weren’t getting much of)

Things get tense, this is the point where there relationship breaks. Angela betrays her mom by doing what she’s doing, but also her dad. We don’t ever see him again I’m pretty sure. There’s also an obvious class divide between them, we see just how polarized they’ve become. Somehow Angela is still convinced that what she’s doing will fix things (perceiving more control than she thinks she has).

—

Price meets with Angela.

“You protecting some evil secret agenda?”  

(“Don’t we all protect our evil secrets agendas?”)

Angela wants to be moved to a manager position in risk management. (In order to change things from within).

Price confesses that it is his birthday, this is a secret from everyone but he shares with her and invites her to celebrate but she refuses. He’s definitely trying to build some type of relationship to her, since he’s her real dad and all. To Price finalizing the deal how WR needed it to be means Angela is no longer in immediate danger so maybe he’s more relaxed about opening up to her. I think one of Angela’s coworkers said this but it must seem strange to everyone else in the office there relationship, I think Angela finds it strange as well. Angela is an anomaly, caught in so many webs, and even WR sees it.

—

Angela’s first day in risk management, the man, who’s a director in risk management, showing her around. He mentions Flint,MI (who STILL doesn’t have clean water) as a thing they’re currently looking into. He apparently knew Gideon, worked with him a couple times. Angela’s hyper professionalism is super off, and its because literally every other person makes small talk and is fairly casual but her. I think it’s her way of commanding respect, something she wants is to feel respected. Angela doesn’t falter around, the problem is this persona of hers starts to carry on to her other relationships, it consumes her. (I just think to when she shuts Elliot away with her office professionalism in the episode where the buildings blow up.. 3.5?)

—

In Angela’s meeting Susan Jacobs (the executioner, f-society is using her house as HQ) is mentioned to be taking vacation days. (Hint dropped that she may be stopping by her house.)

A lot of legal settlement lingo is just thrown around everywhere (making us feel intimidated but also showing how Angela may find herself lost in this environment). Angela tries to get a shoe in on the conversation by suggesting to put together a summary, but obviously this wasn’t gonna work. Price told the head of risk management to treat Angela “however you want” and this guy finds Angela to be a suspicious case.

—-

F Society -

The gang are all over Mobley’s laptop (top secret call happening on OpBerenstain)(It reads that this should be the same day as the hack when Darlene comes in, which happened on the 3rd.)

(The show sort of hints that this next bit is whats on Mobley’s screen previous, but the dates don’t line up. “Tomorrow” isn’t the seventh.) The House of Representatives. (7/7/15) at 2:07 pm ET #droptheballs happens. Kinda a legendary move that just says “suck on these” to the government. However this scares some people into thinking the worlds ending (hence E corp selling out of emergency kits and needing the restock. Capitalism <3s to sell us our panic it created in the first place.) (and when we buy into that aren’t we buying into its fantasy?)

--

[ask-thefiftystatesofamerica]

Can we have more background on America's upbringing, his birth, etc?

ohoho anon hope you’re ready for a frickin rant cuz there’s sure is a lot to say! XD 

Without further ado, here’s a pic of the legit infant of the family with summaries of each era under the cut! If you seek more info/drama, pls send in additional asks or fic requests. 💛💛

American Revolution (age 0-5)

July 4th, 1776.

The 13 original colonies gathered in Philadelphia along with their delegates and signed their breakup letter to England. And on that fateful day, they accidentally created America, a representation of the Original 13′s Alliance/Union. 

Baby America played little to no role in the early stages of his life. After all, he was just a fragile newborn who didn’t know how to protect himself. So the Original 13 Colonies fought the American Revolution in his place, leading, spying, negotiating, while baby America fled from the ever approaching frontline with the rest of the Continental Congress. There’s limited to no emotional connection between the states and America during the war, as they’re all too busy not to get killed to sit down and bond.

After the revolution, the original 13, freed from their father nation, are left to govern themselves all while raising a child–a blank canvas of a country they can shape into whatever magnificent and enlightened paradise their mind could dream of. The only problem is, no one could agree on what ‘a great nation’ stood for in terms of specific policies.

The endless chaotic debates and disunity between his semi-autonomous states nearly tore America apart as the boy sat helplessly in growing despair without any power to do anything. Being the literal baby that he was, America’s fate rested entirely in the hands of those who were ‘older’ and ‘wiser.’ 

The Era of Good Feelings (5-8)

With the end of the War of 1812, the divisive nation-building process finally came to a conclusion. 

America and its states entered a time of unity and single-party rule by the Democratic-Republicans. Europe was going up in flames with this dude called Napoleon, so all the foreign superpowers weren’t here to bully America either! 

This was the happy and peaceful section of America’s childhood. 

America lived with (and was raised by) Maryland and Virginia. As their endless bickering drew to a close, baby America finally began to gain love and attention from the rest of his states as well. They taught him about science, history, and enlightenment ideals. They ruffled his hair and filled his head with dreams, reassuring the boy that he’s destined for greatness; while others like Rhode Island took the time to warn the boy about the darker truth of the world and the curse of immortality. 

A lot of problems were swept under the rugs during the Era of Good Feelings, and America himself was still largely powerless compared to the states, but this era is where most emotional bonding happened between the states and America, and where the most fluffy one-shots starring baby America are set.

Civil War (8-12)

The Civil War is when America first learned how to put his foot down and assume his role as the states’ sovereign nation, their rightful leader, instead of a mere child they can push around.

The Civil War Era somewhat resembled the initial nation-building process in many ways. Screaming matches, divisive fights, devastating disasters spiraling out of control. Only this time, America said enough is enough, and he did what it took to make himself heard. He fought uncompromisingly to end slavery and bring the union back together, and to do so America didn’t hesitate to blatantly seize power from the remaining states and people in an almost Machiavellian fashion.

America experienced war for the first time here. Though he didn’t directly fight on the battlefield, the boy’s exposed to the grim toll that came with war and all the hard decisions to be made. America aged rapidly throughout the war and lost a lot of his naivety with each battle, growing into the mold of a cunning superpower by the hour. 

When the war ends, the soft and simple-minded baby America will be gone.

Gilded Age (13-16)

In a lot of ways, the states are Alfred’s moral compass. The more detached he is from his constituents, the more America becomes consumed by his own ambitions and desires.

The Gilded Age is a prime example of this.

Following the Civil War and Reconstruction, America had pretty much solidified his position as the head of his states. And since a majority of the states were still trying to deal with their own heartbreaks and aftermath of the Civil War, no one really kept track of this young nation.

And so, America began to explore and expand his power. Politically, geographically, and economically. He got more land, industries boomed, and waves of migrants entered the borders. America pillaged and annexed like an European Imperial superpower; he allowed monopolies and political machines to run rampant with corruption and exploitation of the working class in the name of laissez-faire; he became wealthy, influential and powerful at the expense of millions. 

This era most certainly lived up to its name. Gilded. Awful and twisted beneath a thin layer of shining golden paint of prosperity.

Progressive Era (14-16)

Like we said on previous posts, America had a dark history that cannot be excused, but he is still capable of changing for the better with the right guidance and discipline. In essence, this era took place after the states and his people alike finally began to slap some sense of reason and morality back into America’s skull. 

A lot of this time frame overlapped with the Gilded Age because change came very slowly. It’s not like this one sunny day America just woke up and declared hmmm I guess I’m not gonna be a bitch today. Nah, dude. It took a lot of time and effort to get America back on the right track. 

During the progressive era, America began to realize how objectively shitty his actions were and tried his best to amend it. He began to break down monopolies and give the working class more political power and bettered their working condition. America fought for women’s rights, preserve the environment, and speak out against imperialism with both passion and remorse.

This is also the time when America and his family finally began to reconcile after the Civil War, and the states gained enough influence in America’s life to keep him on the progressive track.

Roaring 20s & the Great Depression (17)

America got a brief taste of the global stage during WWI and wanted to remain on it through the League of Nations, but the states were like *GASP* NO CHILD U COME HOME RIGHT THIS INSTANT for fear of their baby straying too far from his family again.

So America returned to isolation at the war’s end. 

And it was pleasant, at first. A lot of problems were swept under the rugs, but America and the states enjoyed themselves and indulged in extravagant fashions, new cinematic entertainment, and lavish parties of the 1920s. The bonds between them all tightened, even as everything crashed and burnt to hell in the Great Depression.

But despite their deepened connections, the Great Depression was an incredibly harsh time for America and the states. It’s also when America first manifested his hero complex. The young nation saw his brothers and sisters suffer through poverty and horrid weather, and he wanted to be nothing less than a real-life Superman for his family. America wanted to bring optimism, joy, and laughter back to his family in this terribly grim time of depression and make all their problems disappear. America jokes and laugh loudly in attempts to lift the states’ spirits, even though he was struggling against a gritty reality of his own as well, all while assuming more and more power so he can try and lift them all out of this economic devastation. 

America’s efforts were heartwarming, but he had also unwittingly set the stage for history to repeat itself.

WWII (18)

The world’s descending into chaos again. America had spent months begging his states to let him enter the Second World War, and his elder siblings finally consented their nation’s declaration of war with the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

There’s no stopping their baby chick from traveling far far away from the nest now.

During the war, America found close friends/mentors in foreign nations like Britain and France for the first time during the war, and Canada became nothing less than a brother to him. He fought alongside the allies as a soldier and pulled his economy back into tip-top shape back home. The problem arise when America began to drift further and further away from his states as the war stretched on. The global theatres occupied America’s attention, and the bloody horrors of modern warfare turned him cold. 

America will emerge from the war as a victorious superpower, gaining leadership over not only his states but half of the globe as well. Some states will speak up in alarm as America continued to silence dissenters and crank out propaganda even as the war drew to a close, trying to reconnect with their nation. Unfortunately, America failed to listen as his eyes turned toward a former comrade dressed in red.  

Cold War (19)

There are a lot of similarities to speak of between the Gilded Age and the Cold War Era. However, one significant difference is that America’s motivation is no longer purely out of selfish ambitions, but also extreme paranoia. 

America had tried hard to hide it, but the rise of the USSR made him feel threatened beyond control. The power and wealth he has now were something America had fought vigorously to obtain, and the love & support of his family and friends are what kept America sane through the centuries. The young nation was dreadfully terrified by the mere concept of losing his status as a political and economic superpower or for his states/allies betraying him for the Soviet Union.

It was this irrational but overwhelming fear that blinded America and drove him into acting like an intensely insecure control freak, lending out financial support to Western Europe and installing many domestic welfare programs so no one will feel the need to seek out to Communism. But in the same time, he did not hesitate to resort to coercion should anyone show any signs of dissent. 

It took the states a lot of time and efforts to get this nation blinded by paranoia to come back to his senses, but they were still able to to it. After all, America wasn’t evil. He’s sinful, blinded, insecure, and at his worst, selfish and power-hungry. But in America’s core, he’s still that idealistic young man who loves and respects each and every one of his constituents with all his heart.

America isn’t evil, but he does need guidance and restraints from others to prevent his own ambitions, paranoia, and power from corrupting him. America needs those he loves so deeply to speak out in protest when he’s in the wrong, and he needs several helping hands to keep him on the progressive track. Luckily, that’s exactly what his states are here for!

[technoskittles]

Fanfic author asks

I didn’t get any asks regarding this but I still kinda wanna answer the questions anyway so here goes

1. What was your first fic and could you stand to reread it today?

I refuse to say what my first fic was and that should be answer enough to the second part

2. What’s your most recent fic and how far do you think you’ve come?

Most recent fic is Something Good Can Work

I think I’ve come pretty far from when I first started writing. I know there’s some things I could always be better at, but I’m way happier with the stuff I was writing 5 and 10 years ago.

WAY happier

3. In your opinion, what’s your best fic?

Oh geez that’s kind of hard because there’s a few I’m pretty proud of.

If I had to name one, it’d probably be lost & different. It’s one of my longest oneshots to date and I ended up finishing it in 2 days so...go me.

4. In your opinion and without looking at any numbers, what’s your most popular fic?

Shot in the Dark. Hands down.

5. Is there any fic that makes you super happy to reread and remember you wrote that?

Pure Feeling probably. I think it’s mostly because it’s kind of out of place for me (I don’t typically do fics involving kids so it’s a nice change of pace)

6. Is there any fic that makes you super embarrassed to reread and remember you wrote that?

A lot of my older fics from when I wrote for Teen Titans and Soul Eater. Dark times man....dark times.

7. What’s the fic you most want to continue (unfinished or no)?

Pure Feeling absolutely. And I actually do want to finish Fall From Eden, but I wanna rewrite it (I first published it about 4 years ago and not only do I want to fix some things plot-wise to incorporate more of canon into it, but there’s a lot I’m not happy with that I want to try and fix)

I also have a sequel lined up for Shot in the Dark.

But if I had to pick one, definitely Pure Feeling. I want to be able to actually finish a multichaptered fic for once and by dammit I’m gonna do it.

8. What’s the oldest (longest since last update) fic you most want to continue (unfinished or no)?

That would be Shot in the Dark. There were a lot of things I wanted to do with that AU and while I don’t think I’ll get to most of it, I do at least want to finish the sequel.

9. Have you ever written for a fandom without watching/reading/playing the source material?

Nope. I don’t write for things I don’t have an interest in and typically if I haven’t consumed it, I’m not interested

10. Have you ever written for a fandom without reading other fanfic for it?

A couple, yeah. I wrote a fic for Jessica Jones (although, after I did I ended up reading a couple fics for it).

Also did a couple of fics in my early years of writing for some stuff that people probably know nothing about (but if you’re curious, Princess Ai and Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl)

11. Have you ever written a fic for a concept you know someone else has done before? How did it impact your writing process or feelings after posting?

I feel like it’s hard not to? Most concepts in general have typically been done before by someone. We don’t create in a vacuum.

But if I do a concept I know I’ve seen before, I typically always try to make it my own somehow. Because since it’s been done before, others have most likely seen it, so I want to show them how mine is different. I like to push the boundaries, combine different concepts together, and really create a piece that makes it unique enough to set myself apart. 

I like using general concepts and deconstructing them before reconstructing them into something new that I like and want to share. And it’s always nice after I publish it and get feedback to see that people really enjoy the stuff I write.

12. Have you ever written a fic and decided never to publish it? Why?

Oh plenty for sure. More often than not, I started writing it and got stuck and then a) took so long I lost interest or b) took so long that I forgot where I was going with it

13. What’s the biggest change between your style when you started in fandom and today?

If we’re talking about style, I think that’s a bit harder to pin down depending on what I write. But I’ve noticed that with particular oneshots I’ve become more abstract in my writing so that’s cool

14. What’s the biggest change in your taste between when you started in fandom and today?

I used to read just about anything if it had my ship when I was younger, but as I grew older I became more and more picky. Some things can turn me off a fic completely. 

I also have really grown to dislike fics that are WAY to cliche and tropey. I love tropes as much as the next person, but I feel like some people just don’t do enough with it to really make it interesting. The more cliche your fic is without much else brought to it, the easier it is for me to forget it.

15. Have you ever purposefully written one fandom/fic idea over another because you knew it’d be more popular?

Nah. I don’t typically like writing things I’m not passionate about because it’s hard to hold my attention to finish it. If I write an idea, it’s because I wanted to, not because I figured it’d get me a lot of feedback.

16. Have you ever stopped writing a fic/for a fandom because it wasn’t receiving enough attention?

Not really. Like I said before, if I don’t write for it, it probably means I’m not awfully interested anymore

17. In your opinion, what’s your most overrated fic?

If we’re talking about any fics, probably one of the ones I wrote for Teen Titans in my earlier days.

But if we’re talking more recent, Talking Body. Idk. I just don’t think that fic is as interesting as I thought it was at the time but it blew the fuck up regardless

18. What’s your most underrated fic?

Hybrid. I’m mostly upset because it didn’t get as much attention as the prequel before it considering that garnered a lot of attention but...c’est la vie

19. If you had to pick one fic/scene/chapter of your work to describe your entire portfolio to a stranger, which would you pick?

Probably pillars. It’s probably one of the most interesting fics I’ve written in terms of formatting.

20. Have/Would you ever rewrite a fic? If yes, would you take the original down?

Like I mentioned before, I do want to rewrite Fall From Eden. And yes, if and when I eventually get to that, I would be replacing all the chapters currently up.

21. If someone starts kudosing and commenting your fics in a spree and has a few works of their own, would you go look through theirs?

Not typically. I appreciate the onslaught of feedback, trust me, but I prefer to parse through the fic lists of the ships of my choosing and read from there

22. Has there ever been anyone who’s made you freak out because they read your work and followed/favorited/reviewed?

Not that I can remember. I’m sure it’s happened, I just can’t remember it haha

23. What’s the nicest review you’ve ever gotten?

Oh jeez that’s a tough one I can’t remember them all.

This is one that’s stuck out though

“ You really captured what post-traumatic self-destructive behaviors feel like while staying so true to their dynamic as well as getting the characterization right to the T despite the fact that the show itself is obviously much less grim (not that it's not angsty, just far from this.) Beautifully written, the repetition and the parallels really put it all together. This piece hit home. I'll remember this one. Thank you for writing it. Thank you for sharing. “

-from as my World d[ivides]

24. What’s the meanest review you’ve ever gotten? Do you think the reviewer intended it?

I’ve gotten plenty of mean reviews but most of those are from my earlier days of writing. I can’t remember any particular ones so I also couldn’t tell you if the reviewer intended it or not

25. What constructive criticism, however well-meaning, always makes you feel bad when you see it in a review?

I wouldn’t say it makes me feel bad, but I know one review I’ve seen a couple of times is when people tell me that my writing gets too prose-y. The main reason it rubs me the wrong way is because while I’m sure they’re trying to be helpful, prose is part of my style less than the logistics and structure.

My descriptions can be a bit much sometimes I guess, but more often than not, it’s there for a reason. Whether it helps set the mood, gives insight to the characters’s thoughts/motivations/feelings that really set the story, or because I want to immerse the reader in the best way possible by painting a picture. 

So it’s just annoying when people tell me to tone it down because it’s too much for them. If you don’t like prose, then read something else. 

26. What aspect of your writing do you most enjoy to see praised?

My characterization. 9 times out of 10, that’s the thing I get most anxious about, so when people tell me I nail it it always makes my goddamn day

27. If you could only ever write crossovers or single-fandom fics ever again, which would you pick?

Single-fandom. Not a huge fan of crossover fics

28. if you could only ever write for a single crossover or a single fandom again, which would you pick?

Oof. That’s really tough because like I said, my interests change all the time. I typically jump from fandom to fandom and write for whatever I’m obsessed with at the time.

I guess if I had to pick though...RWBY probably. 

29. Does the division of your writing across fandoms line up with your reading? What’s the biggest discrepancy?

I’d say it’s about even for what I’m interested at the time. Biggest discrepancy though would probably be....either Miraculous Ladybug or Fairy Tail. 

I just don’t write much for those and read a lot so...

30. Do you continue to write for a fandom after you’ve moved on or do you focus solely on the new one?

Sometimes. Not too often. Because usually I’m so hyperfocused on the new shiny thing that most of my ideas end up being for that

31. Who’s the one character you’ve just never managed to get perfectly right?

I always worry that I do that for every character I write for haha.

I think my major concerns regarding that right now are Scorpia and Entrapta. For some reason I feel like they’re really difficult to write for.

32. Who’s the one character who shines without you even trying?

Yang probably. Maybe Adora

33. Is there any particular character whose scenes always wind up being longer/more frequent than you expected? Does the quality hold up?

I don’t think so?

34. Was there any fic that you wrote that really surprised you in the fandom reaction? Was it just by the numbers or did they take it an entirely different way?

I’d have to say as my World d[ivides] really surprised me. I really wasn’t sure how people would respond to that one given that it deals with a VERY sensitive subject and was positive I’d face a little bit of backlash. But honestly everyone actually really loved it and I got so much nice feedback from it.

35. Have you ever written a ship into a fic without meaning to?

Not usually

36. Have you ever sincerely written a ship you do not support into a fic?

Nope

37. Have you ever purposefully bashed a character/ship in a fic?

Not that I’m aware of

38. Have you ever purposefully written something you know your readers would find uncomfortable/would not enjoy? If yes, why?

I think that would probably be Sunflower. And if you’ve read that fic you know exactly what I mean.

If you haven’t read it, I won’t include spoilers, but I did explain myself at the end of it

39. Do you consider yourself to have a readership?

I think I have a few loyal readers yeah (and I love all of them)

40. Do you feel like you put out enough content?

HA!

41. If you cross-post your fics on multiple sites, do you have a favorite? Are there certain fics you would only post on certain site?

I used to crosspost when I first started on AO3 but after awhile I gave up bc I didn’t like ffnet’s set-up nearly as much. Sometimes I’ll post fics here on tumblr but I fucking HATE the formatting so...not much

42. How many views has your most popular fic gotten?

6,156 views (that would be Shot in the Dark)

43. Your least popular?

173 views - Scared to Breathe

44. Do you follow/favorite/kudos/comment/review more stories than you have received?

That’s really hard to say. I read a lot but I do have a few really popular stories so...

45. If you had to call yourself an author of a single genre (besides fanfic) what label would you give yourself?

I think my specialty is angst. You can ask most of my friends. 

46. Do you consider yourself a diverse author?

I try to be. But I do think I lean towards certain areas 

47. If someone you know in real life who isn’t involved in fandoms asked to read your work, would you let them? If yes, what would you recommend they read first?

Errrr...probably not? I tell people that I write fics, but I always get nervous when it comes to the thought of them actually reading them. It feels too personal somehow. Like, that’s a part of me I don’t usually let people see.

The only person who has is my boyfriend. And even then I get nervous when he does it

48. Does anyone you know from outside of fandom know you write fanfic? Are they involved in the same fandom too?

Yeah like I said, I’ve told some people. And they area typically interested in the original content, but I don’t know how involved they are in fanfiction or fandom itself

49. Has anyone in your life ever read your fanfic just because you wrote it?

My boyfriend

50. Has writing fanfic had a significant impact on your life? Would you say it’s entirely positive?

I would like to say it has. I’ve been writing for about 10 years now and it’s really opened up a lot of doors for me. I’ve met some really great people through fic and fandom. I’ve also grown as a writer after being at it for so long which has, strangely enough, helped me regarding essays and papers for school. 

Writing is kind of just what I do now. It’s one of my only contributions to fandom, so it’s nice to know I can take part somehow in generating content.

[their-destinys-writer]

Misadventures in Reporting #3

About the series: Misadventures in Reporting is a series of short stories about the adventures of a normal reporter living in an abnormal world.

Rating: PG-13 for mild cursing and violence

Word count: 2,576

Also in: Wattpad

Support this series in Ko-fi or Patreon (Posted on early access in the latter)

#3 - Teleman’s Mark

“I don’t even know where to begin with you.”

Melinda gulped under the scrutiny of Mr. Sullivan. Boy, was she in so much trouble. But nobody told her doing the right thing would be cheap. The reporter took a deep breath, weighing her options. Apologize? Defend herself? Wait for the boss to say his piece? Perhaps the third option. She was in enough trouble as it was.

“How many times have I told you not to push the deadline?” Mr. Sullivan hissed, almost barring his yellowish teeth.

Wait, am I supposed to answer that?

“A million times I’ve told you,” he continued. With every word he spoke, the desk between them felt smaller and smaller. Had he always looked so large behind it? “And yet, you give me one of the most important reports, if not the most important report in months with and hour to spare for printing. We had to cut the last two paragraphs because we didn’t have time to look through the whole thing!”

The woman winced. She had hoped only one paragraph would have to be cut. But alas, most of it got through without major changes.

“And now,” Mr. Sullivan raised his voice, “now we got a Porsche in the redaction floor, thanks to your little stunt. Do you have anything to say for yourself?”

Melinda’s mouth opened, but it suddenly went dry, so she closed it back up. Was she willing to put next month’s rent at risk just for ‘doing the right thing’? Was it worth sacrificing several months of electricity or water for being right? Was she right?

“I didn’t think he’d take it so bad,” she managed to say at last.

“The guy held up a damn crane with his mind,” the aging man deadpanned. “What did you think he was going to do? Throw confetti?”

The woman’s gaze darted to the surface of the desk. It wasn’t until that moment that shame started to invade her. How could she be so thoughtless? Over three-hundred people worked in this newspaper. Her article would reflect on the company, and thus, her coworkers. Someone could have gotten hurt.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Sullivan,” she said quietly. “It won’t happen again.”

The man snarled a sound of disgust, giving her an exasperated look.

“Give me one good reason I shouldn’t fire you right now,” he hissed.

A loud thudding resounded from Melinda’s insides. Her heart was drumming hard against her chest. She could feel a drop of sweat trickling down the side of her face, despite the cold air conditioning.

The article broke my career, she concluded.

“I don’t know,” she admitted.

“Tsk.” Mr. Sullivan shook his head. “You really are dense.”

Well that’s uncalled for, Melinda thought, rising her gaze to his once again. His expression still seemed exasperated, but now he was looking outside his office.

“Mr. Sullivan, I—”

“You can’t get fired because you proved your point,” he interrupted. Melinda frowned. “Three years here, and you still can’t put your deduction skills to use under pressure. So, let’s try this again: give me one good reason I shouldn’t fire you this instant.”

It was like a light flicked on in Melinda’s brain. He wasn’t firing her, he was testing her. Why does he have to be so mean about it, though?

“Because,” she started, still hesitant to respond back, but determined to keep her job. “Because if our—my­—allegations were false, the proper response would’ve been to call a press conference denying the claims. Throwing a car through our building dampers his own reputation, and it’s an attempt against freedom of press. It’s a threat against not only us, but anyone who dares talk ill of him.” The woman smirked. “Not very superheroic, if you ask me.”

“Exactly.” Mr. Sullivan slammed his fist against the desk, startling Melinda. “That piece of shit is trying to shut us up. This isn’t like that Cronus guy. That was self-defense. Teleman just made a declaration of war against us and the free press. We can’t back out now. So,” the man slammed his hands together and rose from his chair, “I’m gonna need everything you got from this story. Notes, sounds, transcriptions, anything you can share by today. The earlier the better. We need to write tomorrow’s editorial piece.”

“Yessir!” Melinda blurted, jumping to her feet.

“What are you, a soldier?” Mr. Sullivan chuckled. “Just get to it, Martínez. Go, get!”

“Y-yes, Mr. Sullivan.”

Without needing to be told again, she scampered out of the office and headed straight to her desk. As she approached it, she realized it wasn’t where it was supposed to be. Where hers and several others had been there was yellow tape and half of the Porsche she saw from outside.

A shudder went up her spine, as she realized Teleman’s target had not been as random as she initially thought.

---

“It was horrible,” Melinda complained.

Thanks to a certain superhero, two thirds of employees had been relegated to simple tasks that day. For security reasons. This created one of those rare opportunities where the journalist’s group of friends from the Latest News Division got to eat lunch together. As they made the line to order their food, Melinda took the opportunity to answer the constant what-happened-with-Sullivan question.

“You’re blowing it waaay out of proportion,” Kevin, the photographer, muttered as he tinkered with his new phone.

“I thought I was gonna self-combust,” she whined, slumping her head back. “Why does he have to be so mean about it? I was already planning my life as a homeless bum living on storm drains.”

“You know how it is,” Will, another reporter like her, chuckled. “That old man would rather torture you to death than be direct.”

“Who cares, anyway,” Beatriz, a graphic designer, drawled. “You didn’t get fired. That’s what matters.”

“At the cost of my sanity!” Melinda argued. “I’ve never been so scared to lose a job in my life.”

“Eh, you would’ve gotten a new one in a week,” Kevin commented, without looking up from the screen.

“No way,” the reporter in question argued. “Nobody would’ve wanted to hire the woman who made a superhero angry enough to throw a car through a building. My career would’ve been finished.”

“Nah, you’d be fine. Hey, Will,” the photographer suddenly called, raising his phone. “Look pretty for me, will ya?”

“Man, you know I don’ like it when people take pictures of me,” the reporter complained.

“C’mon, I wanna test the resolution on this thing,” Kevin insisted.

“Why me?”

“Hm, you’re right, you can’t smile. Melinda, smile for me.”

“Dude, I’m having a mental breakdown,” the journalist huffed.

“Why?” Kevin whined. “You’re still working. You kept your job. Why are you so upset?”

“Have you been ignoring me this whole time?”

“Not…ignoring,” Kevin shrugged. “Just listened to half of what you said.”

Melinda groaned, but Beatriz waved her hand dismissively.

“Mija, you gotta chill about this whole thing,” she said. “But honestly, Kevin’s right. You’re worrying too much. You kept your job, that’s what matters. Who knows, you may actually get promoted for this.”

“If Teleman doesn’t kill one of us first.”

“Occupational hazard,” Will shrugged, joining the conversation again after ordering. “Who’s next?”

Melinda offered herself and stepped up to order her lunch.

“Will that be all?” the young woman asked, and the reporter agreed. “That will be twelve-fifteen.”

“Here,” she said, handing her credit card.

“You buy your morning coffee here too, don’t you?” the cashier suddenly said, as she made the transaction.

“Closest good coffee to work,” Melinda responded automatically, her mind still wandering back to that morning.

“You work nearby?” the young, blonde woman asked as she took her time ripping the receipt from the card reader.

“Yeah,” Melinda shrugged, taking the piece of paper. “Thank you!”

She turned around to her friends, who were all giving her a look of incredulity.

“What?”

The other three looked at each other, as if debating who would be the one to speak up.

“Imma look for a table,” Will pipped up, quickly deserting the group.

Melinda frowned, and stared at the other two, who now looked defeated. With a shrug, they turned to the cashier and made their orders, while the reporter rolled her eyes and waited for hers and Will’s food. After a few minutes, all four sat at a round table with their meals.

“Is anybody gonna say it?” Beatriz said.

“Say what?” Melinda frowned.

“For a journalist, you can be very unobservant,” Will muttered loud enough for the rest to hear.

“Not unobservant,” Kevin chimed in. “Just oblivious to the language of love.”

“Here we go again,” Melinda sighed. “You guys really think I’m thinking about romance when a Porsche destroyed my desk?”

At last, Kevin’s eyes were pried away from his phone. Will and Beatriz followed suit.

“I thought it was random,” Beatriz said. Kevin and Will exchanged stares, while Melinda shook her head.

“I don’t think it was,” Melinda said, as she started poking around her salad. “My desk wasn’t the only one next to a window, yet it was the only one made into pieces. If I had gotten to work earlier, who knows what would’ve happened to me.”

As she bit into a cherry tomato, she could feel the awkward silence shared between the other three people on the table. In all honesty, Melinda felt proud of finally getting through to them on the seriousness of the matter. Although she appreciated them trying to cheer her up and distract her, talking about it felt like the thing she truly needed at that moment.

“But he didn’t get you,” Will cut through the silence. “And that’s what matters. That you’re safe and alive. And I know the newspaper will work hard to keep it that way. Even tactless Sullivan. He doesn’t show it, but he cares about us.”

“He actually has a point,” Kevin said, eyes back on his phone. “Sullivan just sucks at showing other emotions other than uncaffeinated-angry.”

“Regardless,” Beatriz jumped in, “in any case, we’re here for you. And if you don’t feel safe in your apartment, you know abuela has no problem with you staying over.”

“Thanks, Bea,” Melinda said.

“So how’s this,” Kevin said, now raising his phone, “in case anyone of us gets fired, or murdered by a harassing superhero, we’ll take a selfie to remember the good times. Before everything turns to shit.”

“Oh yeah, that way we have a picture to mark exes on our faces as we die one by one” Will deadpanned.

“Psh, we’d all be dead in a horror movie,” Beatriz stated, waving a hand.

“Guys, I’m trynna make a cute moment, don’t ruin it for me.”

“Fine,” the reporter rolled his eyes good naturedly.

Without needing anymore prompting, the group moved their chairs and huddled together in the hopes of fitting in the frame. Kevin extended his arm, with the front camera of his phone activated for a selfie.

After taking the photo and replacing their seats, Kevin spoke up.

“By the way, the cashier’s name is Katie—”

“Oh my God, stop!”

---

The sun had almost completely set when Melinda walked by the sidewalk leading to her apartment building. It had been a long and exhausting day, despite spending most of it in the office. She hadn’t realized how emotionally draining being the targeted reporter could be.

But she chose this path. And she was sticking to it, as long as she had the support of her boss and the company.

She started going up the steps to the front door of the building, when she couldn’t help but feel watched. Melinda stopped mid-step. Her arms swung as she turned on her heels, hand holding tight to the pepper spray on her keychain. Her eyes shifted from side to side, looking for whatever was giving her that gut feeling.

Yet she saw nothing. Slowly, she lowered her arms back to the sides, and started back to the entrance of the building. She carefully started unlocking the door.

SMACK

Melinda’s face slammed against the iron door, and a hand pressed against the back of her neck kept her pressed to it. She tried pushing back, but whoever was attacking grabbed her flailing hands and held them tight.

“You’re Melinda Martínez, aren’t you?” a voice whispered into her ear, sending a chill down her spine.

“Who wants to know?” she dared quip.

There was a pause. Ever so slowly, Melinda’s feet started leaving the ground, yet she was not being pushed up from her neck. In fact, she felt more like she was…

Floating.

Teleman.

“I guess you could say I’m somewhat of a critic of your work.”

“H-Hey, listen man,” Melinda started desperately, “I was just doing my job.”

“Isn’t your job reporting on both sides?”

“You’re a hard source to find!” she pleaded. “I tried, really. But even with your version, I still had to write what was published. Honestly, I wasn’t trying to take you down or anything, it’s just my job.”

“Your job sounds very… convenient for me.”

Melinda frowned. Was he being sarcastic? Was he threatening her? Was he going to kill her? Or worse…

“I was wondering how long it would take for the information to get out,” he continued, the air of his breath threatening her neck. “It took, what, five months?”

“Victims of sexual assault are not usually very talkative when they know the other person has more power,” Melinda dared shoot back.

“You people have the strangest rules. Perhaps next time I should be a little more explicit.”

“We people?” Melinda breathed. “What the hell are you even talking about? You sound like…” she swallowed. “Like you wanted to get caught.”

“My business is none of yours,” Teleman hissed. “But I have to say, I’m starting to enjoy some of the perks of this job.”

“I thought you were a superhero. One of the good guys,” she said quietly.

“I am,” he whispered back. “Just like one of those who likes to prance around using names of old Greek gods.”

With those last words, Melinda was suddenly dropped to the ground. The jolt of it made her stumble to her side and collapse against the wall. She turned just in time to see a blur of blue shoot up into the sky.

With her heart still running at a hundred miles, Melinda unlocked the door and ran all the way up the stairs to the third floor. Once in front of her apartment, she hastened to unlock it, almost dropping her keys.

After opening it, Melinda jumped into her living room and closed both locks on her door. At last, she slammed her back to it, panting from the run.

Melinda clapped a hand on her mouth, just as tears started spilling out. She knew being a journalist had the potential to be dangerous. She had heard stories of reporters disappearing in Central America and seen videos of others being decapitated by terrorists on the other side of the world. But in a city, the job dangers were reduced to rude politicians and snobby CEOs.

This was not supposed to happen to her. Much less by someone who was supposed to protect them. Covering superheroes was supposed to be fun, every journalist’s dream.

And yet, as she slid to the ground silently sobbing, speaking the truth on superheroes was starting to feel more like a nightmare.

[bfears]

Happy people don’t go around intentionally making others miserable. They just don’t. They don’t tear down, or pick fights, or create drama where there is none to be made. They don’t wish bad on others, or belittle, so it says something about people who are being awful right now.

Sad people do sad things. The end.

I used to love a clap back, and I used to think it was my job to “win” with people who’d been rude. I used to respond to negative comments, and I used to try to change people’s minds, and then one day I thought “what the hell am I doing? I’m doing exactly what they want. This isn’t revenge. This is me continuing the cycle.”

I don’t try to get back at people anymore. It’s such a waste—of time, of energy, of my thoughts. Nah...you can go ahead. I can’t control you. I’m just going to be over here living my life if you need me.

I’m gonna aim higher.

I’m gonna choose grace. Im gonna chase gratitude. I’m gonna bring joy to the table. I’m gonna reach for hope. I’m gonna run with my arms wide open towards faith. I’m gonna guard my heart, and I’m gonna protect my peace. I’m gonna dream, and I’m gonna do good, and I’m gonna be kind. I’m gonna encourage, and I’m gonna lift up and I can’t do that if I get down on your level.

I’m gonna do what God’s asked me to do, and I’m gonna keep my thoughts on heaven, which is exactly where they belong.

I hope you’ll follow suit and let it go, cause there is absolutely no happiness to be found in anger, and bitterness, and division, and hate. None. Maybe they don’t deserve forgiveness, but you do. You deserve to let it go.

Life is so short, and it’s so easy to waste it dwelling on nonsense. Spread light, and if other people don’t like it, toss them some cheap sunglasses and just keep on shining, sis.

You have work to do, so you can’t be distracted with all that.

The best way to get back at people, is to pray for them. They must be going through something, so you can either extend the arguing, or you extend mercy, but you can’t do both. Please don’t jump in the ring. Don’t play the game. Don’t do that to your own heart. There’s no glory there, and I know that’s not who you are, and that’s not what you do.

Break the cycle and go in a new direction. That’s how you get ahead, and that’s the best revenge of all: You live above the fray, you live well, and you do it all with crazy doses of love and compassion.

Love,

Amy

[baevid-beauie]

rules: answer 30 questions and tag 20 blogs you would like to get to know better. @rhavewellyarnbag and @fatal-plastic-kiss tagged me. Thank you !!!! 🖤

1. nicknames: Never really had any nicknames. I guess Ronnie might count since it's not my birth name... I've changed my name a million times because I don't know who I am.. I also call myself Coma Girl, thanks to Joe Strummer

2. gender: Weiblich, Wildfang, Teddy Girl

3. star sign: Aries

4. height: https://youtu.be/dnI6A_YUoDc ⬅️That's my real height, sadly, but at least I have an Iggy song for it

5. time: 4:42 PM

6. birthday: March 31st

7. favorite bands: The Clash, The New York Dolls, Television, Thin Lizzy, Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel, The Vibrators, These Immortal Souls, The Stooges, Pink Floyd, Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros, Joy Division, Placebo, Roxy Music, Einstürzende Neubauten, The Rolling Stones, The Voidoids, The Smiths, T.Rex, The Runaways, etc.

8. favorite solo artists: Johnny Thunders, Rowland S. Howard, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, David Bowie, Little Richard, Patti Smith, Richie Havens, Todd Rundgren, Joan Jett, Prince, Bob Dylan, Elton John, Keith Richards, etc.

9. song stuck in my head: Paradise City by Guns N' Roses

10. last movie i watched: Rude Boy (1980)...I was crying every time Topper showed up

11. last show i watched: Don't really keep up with shows

12. when did i create my blog: Either May or July of 2012

13. what do i post: Nothing anymore..I'm rarely on. But when I am it's all bands, aesthetics, films, and sometimes me whining/yelling about shit publicly

14. last thing i googled: The lyrics to that Guns N' Roses song to figure out what it was called

15. do i have any other blogs: Nah. Thought about making an art blog but I rarely ever make any art anymore so it'd be pretty boring for both me and anyone who might care to see my art

16. do i get asks: Hardly ever

17. why i chose my url: David Bowie is both my bae and my beau

18. following: 1,101 (Holy shit, that's a lot..I had no idea...)

19. followers: 452

(what about 20. ???)

21. average hours of sleep: Ideally, six. Realistically, ten.

22. lucky number: I only have unlucky numbers... Bad memories of dates and times like to stick in my head

23. instruments: Guitar for sure... Love of my life second to Joe Strummer. I also like bass but I seriously only know how to play Blank Generation by Richard Hell and The Voidoids on it...I never spend much time learning bass

24. what am i wearing: a Johnny Thunders t-shirt and lace panties... Don't need anything else

26. dream job: Picture this, an all girl band who bases their sound around 70's punk, my sister as the bassist and me as the guitarist. It's all I've ever wanted but it ain't ever gonna happen for me. Second to that would be rescuing/raising and training birds... Probably also won't happen. I'll most likely just end up getting a job at McDonald's until they fire me for yelling at someone and then resorting to prostitution or becoming a groupie by choice

27. dream trip: Seattle, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand... Anywhere but here, really. I can't possibly bring myself to call this a "dream trip" but more than anything, I want to visit Johnny Thunders in New York ✞

28. favorite food: I'm vegan so obviously my favourite food is broccoli because it's basically all I've found that I can eat. No, for real, anything from Veggie Grill.. Their fries are especially incredible !

29. nationality: American, disappointingly

30. favorite song right now: Automatic Lover by The Vibrators

I would like to tag introspectv, moonagedaydreamin, theseimmortalsouls, emokeithrichards, gayrockstars, crypticmilk, quiethemind, littlebabynothingg

[fyeahwynonnaearp]

Wynonna Earp Questions I Want Most Answered (UPDATED)

I shall keep a running list of questions throughout the season and I have a feeling it will get extensive. There’s a good chance that there’s gonna be spoilers so everything will be under the cut.

As usual, if you got answers/opinions, leave a message or let’s discuss over at https://discord.gg/yaAdGGT

UPDATED: 02 August 2017, 17:23 EST

From S1

1. Gooverly: Evil or Nah? I’m still NOT completely sure, but The Goo™ wants to have fun (S02E04). Evil, pretty sure. Because how can it be so freakin’ mean to Nicole?!? (S02E05). 2. Is Waverly really an Earp (or will she be a Haught instead **wink**wink**)? 3. Does Waverly tell anyone about her being “not an Earp”? Yes. Nicole :) (S02E02). She sent DNA sample but no confirmation seen yet (S2E08).  4. Where did Peacemaker send Willa? 5. Juan Carlo, what art thou? Who art thou? STILL don’t know but he helped bring Dolls to the Earp Homestead (S02E04). He also has been helping/guiding The Order™ (S02E05). A priest in Purgatory who helped capture the Widows the first time and one of the seal keepers (S2E08). 6. Dolls, what art thou? Some type of human/demon hybrid created by Black Badge (S02E01). He can breathe FIRE!!! (S02E04). Is he a dragon? 7. Who and WHERE is Mama Earp? According to Waverly’s old scrapbooking gone wild board at her old Shorty’s apartment, Mama Earp’s name was Wendy Rosie (Thanks, @cm0999). But where did she run off to?!? 8. So, Constance the Stone Witch is just chilling in the salt flats? She’s coming back isn’t she? NOPE. That little Tucker found the Stone Witch and beheaded her (S2E06). 9. So...the whole “Keeper of the Bones” thing is done right? Because Waverly done destroyed the skull and Constance’s sons are dead-dead? 10. Who did Waverly shoot at? The new creature, Hala, a Bulgarian devourer of souls (S02E01). 11. What will happen to all the revenants now that Bobo is gone? Not at trailer park anymore. They’re all scattered. (S02E02).

Start of S2

12. Will Doc get a new hat? Yes. He stole one :) (S02E04). 13. Wynonna, how are you really feeling? Well, crappy enough that The Goo™ was able to possess her pretty easily (s02E04). 14. Dolls. Are you gonna be okay? Well, he’s breathing out fire. So, yes? (S02E04). 15. So...are Chrissy and Waverly still friends? (Kinda want a Waverly-can’t-help-but-gush-about-her-girlfriend-to-her-friend-who-is-clearly-over-and-tired-of-this-coversation scene) 16. Gus, where art thou? 17. What is up with Black Badge? Are they still doing human experiments? They’re not the totally good guys anymore...are they? So Black Badge Division, Ghost River Triangle branch is no more. According to Moody, it wasn’t even a government agency in the first place (S2E06). 18. Lucado is definitely getting demoted, right? Yup. She’s stuck at Purgatory until they collect every last supernatural entity that entered the Triangle. (S02E02). 19. What does Nicole think about her girlfriend’s new voice? Did she hear Waverly say “At least, not today”? She didn’t know Waverly was possessed, but will shoot anybody for her. Should I find that sweet and adorable? (S02E05). 20. Does Jeremy question how Waverly scared the “devour of souls”? NOPE. As of S2E06, it never came up. Doubt it ever will since Mictian/Mikshun is gone. 21. What did Dolls tell Doc? To create his serum? Not, entirely clear on that, but I think it is (S02E03/4). 22. Does the BBD blood oath/contract come into play later? TBD as of S2E06. 23. When does Nicole get a new uniform and why? (based on S2 pictures) Because she hates khakis and Nedley wants her to be sheriff when he retires. (S2E03). It’s gonna happen on Episode 5, based on promo pictures. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. 24. When does Wynonna find out about Gooverly? S02E04. OH S H I T. 25. Why does Waverly take the bell from the police station? Gooverly is hoarding shiny things. (S2E03). 26. Dementors in Purgatory? Or Willa is somehow back (again)? The two Women in Black were the ones that escaped from BBD when it blew up; Lady Gaga hand. (S2E03). 27. Hellmouth?! Well, some asshole broke through the asshole-of-a-seal (S02E04). Well, there are three seals and two are broken by the Widows/Ladies in Black (S2E06). Keeping Sheriff Clootie locked away (S2E08). 28. Does Doc know where Dolls is? Making preparations to create his meds (w/ Rosita)? No. Doc didn’t know where Dolls was but is working on making his serum. (S2E03). 29. *whispers* Could Nicole be supernatural as well? Because I have theories that I will not get into and I still don’t know how I feel about the possibility of non-human Haught. 30. “I like you”?!? Waverly, what happened to “I love her?”? Everyone is just casually saying that they love each other but WayHaught hasn’t said it to each other (S02E05). 31. Shouldn’t Wynonna know whether or not Waverly is biologically related to her? Because she’s six years older and would remember if Mommy was preggers. Or does she call Waverly “baby girl” because when baby!Waverly came to live with them she didn’t have a name yet and Wynonna being the Earp girl who didn’t hate the new child took care of the baby and (due to lack of name) just called her “baby girl”. Remembers when they brought Waverly home from the hospital (S2E08).  32. When did Doc have time to meet people (i.e. Rosita)? Wasn’t he stuck in a well for like...forever? 33. So...any more future private shows for Officer Haught? I need to know, for science. And, role playing? 34. What came first: the trophy or the Marzaniok? Or did Wynonna just assume that it came from the trophy because Perry never said that it did, just that it came out of the trophy case and that they were pretty high when it happened. 35. Why or what does Rosita need protection from? 36. Why do they need ‘pure’ demon blood to make Dolls’ serum? Apparently, Doc’s blood doesn’t work? 37. What was Lucado’s ‘personal matter’? I’m guessing it’s trying to get back to BBD HQ’s good graces (S02E04). 38. How many times have Waverly ‘gone on patrol’ with Nicole? Just, for science, again.  39. What’s with the random snacks Gooverly?!? IDK but based on a promo, Goononna is worse. We’ll probably never know... (S02E05). 40. Why did Mama and Papa Gardner leave most of their fortune to the town? Yes, they’re rich. But, is that all why the Gardners are a big deal in Purgatory? 41. Because Waverly doesn’t remember when she’s being Gooverly, does Gooverly implant memories when taking over? Because I think Waverly would be concerned if she’s blacking out. Finally acknowledged that she’s missing time (S02E04). 42. “Not in uniform, okay? Not in public.” Will we see more sexy times in uniform in Officer Haught in private? 43. “Not good enough.” Does that mean Waverly just wants to jump Nicole every time she’s in uniform or does Gooverly have a crush on Nicole? Because Gooverly does kinda come in defense of Nicole when Tucker was being his creepy, homophobic self. Fandom things The Goo™ was trying to possess Nicole, but didn’t work. Though, I strongly believe (and it’s my headcanon) that The Goo™ has a crush on Nicole (S02E04). 44. And what is up with Tucker Gardner, Town Pervert? Tucker “wants a girl”. It could either be Waverly or Nicole. I think he wants Nicole because he’s starting to be fixated on her. Thin line between hate and obsession? (S02E04). Why did Nedley compile a confidential file on him? Because Tucker has always been protected by his parents/money and has past criminal behavior (S02E04). 45. Will Wynonna and Nicole be bros again? Wynonna apologized to Nicole (S02E04). They both acknowledge Waverly is being weird but Nicole might think it’s the whole “not being an Earp” because she immediately tells Wynonna she won’t betray Waverly’s trust. But I’m gonna need some bro scenes in the future. 46. Where did Waverly disappear to when the gang went to contain the Marzaniok? Next we see her is in Shorty’s and then at the barn. Even Nicole pointed out, “I thought she was with you”. Must be important if it was mentioned. 47. How did Tucker know where Waverly would be when he cornered her? 48. Was Tucker’s bracelet that Gooverly take important/significant? Probably not important, but the metal was for a DIY lightning rod (S2E05). PS: It looked like a medical bracelet. 49. Will there be no consequence with Wynonna’s wish because it was the demon that made the deal with her and not the other way around? 50. Why did Nedley try so hard to specifically recruit Nicole to work in Purgatory? I double that it was just because she was “top of her class”. 51. “Non-werewolf” citizens? 52. Nedley said “they could use your instincts” to Nicole. So, does Haught-stuff have really good instincts (maybe almost supernatural levels)? She does heal rather quickly....(jfc, these non-human Nicole theories, I’m torn about it). 53. Nicole from the Big City? When will we have more Nicole-backstory? Ooh...Nicole-flashbacks? 54. Why were the Women in Black at the Gardner residence? (and RIP Mercedes?) They STOLE Beth and Mercedes’ faces!! (S02E04). They were attracted to Tucker’s darkness...his “prowess”. ew.  55. Gooverly doesn’t seem to hurt Dolls, based on Dolls being okay in the promo for episode 4? (See Question #1) Well, we don’t know what Gooverly was gonna do with that knife (S02E04). 56. Where’s Nicole’s hat?!? New uniform. New hat, apparently. She now wears a baseball cap (S2E06). Will the stetson make a return appearance though? 57. Why does Wynonna smell Mommy’s perfume around the Women in Black? 58. Doc’s horse, where art thou? (anon asks) 59. Dragon!Dolls?!? According to Wynonna: tiny, sexy dragon (S206). 60. Is Jeremy torn between Doc and Dolls? Will we get a flashback of Dolls helping Jeremy with that one chin-up? What is the connection between Jeremy’s mom and Dolls? 61. Will Tucker go after Nicole? Perhaps. But his obsession with Waverly reached new heights (S2E06).  62. Does Nicole have a gluten and lactose problem and that’s why Waverly is excited about being “this close” to getting that vegetarian restaurant for her girl? Asking, for science. 63. Will anyone tell Nicole about Gooverly? Sorta? They don’t really go into the whole “BTW, Waverly has been possessed for the past few weeks”. I really hope Waverly talks to her about it in future episodes (S02E05). 64. Rosita/Doc, is that gonna be a thing? Confirmed sexual relations (S02E06) but not in a relationship. Lovers (S2E08). 65. Will anyone find Waverly’s hand in Ba-Ding Ba-Ding? Probably not? But now we know you can get The Goo™ by severing it’s host and melting it down (S02E05). 66. What is up with the Purgatory Fair commemorative plate? Is Edwin Earp gonna be relevant this season? Why is it so important? So, it’s important to The Order™ dudes and it had their sigil. This will probably play out in the future and may have connections to the asshole seal (S02E05). 67. GOONONNA?!? Well, that was scary and short-lived. But damn! Goononna is uber mean to Nicole. Can we stop being so mean to Nicole? #StopBeingMeanToNicole2k17 (S02E05). 68. (Based on promo pictures) When/Why/How does Gooverly come back? Plus, Andras had said in an interview, we will see more The Goo™/tentacle powers. Waverly being a self-sacrificial cinnamon roll (S02E05). 69. (Based on promo picture) Is Officer Haught protecting Gooverly in her new outfit?! Does she know?!? Protective!Girlfriend!Haught will still love you and shoot anyone for you (S02E05). 70. What is coming?! Are the Women in Black connected to it? BIG MAYBE. We know the Widows are after the seals and probably will unleash something (S2E06). Widows breaking seal to release their husband Clootie demon (S2E08). 71. Are real!Beth and real!Mercedes just faceless, but alive? Because at least one of the bodies were still wiggling. Safe to assume they’re dead (S2E07). 72. Where in the world did Officer Nicole Haught get a gluten-free, lactose-free pizza in almost-have-a-vegetarian-restaurant Purgatory?!? 73. What’s with The Goo™ hoarding all the metal? Does Nicole get her utensils back? The Goo™ made a lighting rod to fuse more permanently to Waverly. Like...that’s super-extra. Does The Goo™ know you can just order one online? (S02E05). 74. Why was Waverly hit with a tranq dart on her way to band? And bandnerd!Waverly?! Yes. What instrument did she play? 75. Pregnant Wynonna! This is NOT a drill! Who is the father? Everyone pretty much accepted that Doc Holliday is the biological father (S2E06). 76. Goocado. Where did the body go? OFFICIAL: Lucado is RIP (S2E06). 77. How will The Squad™ and The Order™ team up? Isn’t The Order™ just focused on The Goo™? 78. WHAT IS WAVERLY? The Goo™ teased that she had ‘dark corners’. Somewhat hinted she is part-demon/part-Revenant (S2E07) and the theory is believed by many Earpers. 79. How does Waverly feel about Nicole’s new outfit? She likes it. Very much so. (Based on Purgatory Case Files text) 80. How does Wynonna really feel about Nicole? ‘Queen Brisk of Bossy Town’ (S2E05). Hang out at strip club, Pussy Willows, and talked about effects of The Seven (S2E07). 81. Is Wynonna’s baby okay? Because, yes she’s been drinking and eating rats and has been possessed?!? It has a strong heartbeat and grew during sleeping spell despite the fact that it shouldn’t have done so (S2E06, S2E07). 82. The Plate™, The Women In Black, The Order™, The Asshole Seal™ are they all connected? How are they all connected? The Widows are after the three seals to break it (S2E06, S2E07). 83. WTF Happened to Black Badge? The place is now empty?!? They’re ghosting the Ghost River Triangle and apparently isn’t a government agency, never was (S2E06). 84. When will we see where Nicole lives? I hope it’s not a motel room. 85. And what about Nicole’s cat? 86. Is Wynonna’s pregnancy supernatural/paranormal-related? Is it human? It grew even though it wasn’t supposed to (S2E06). Possibility of baby being half-Revenant (S2E07). 87. The Ghost River Triangle is also called The Sanctuary, what is it actually protecting? 88. What are the (three) seals for? To keep Sheriff Clootie locked away (S2E08). 89. Is Doc now mortal since the Stone Witch is dead? He was shown coughing; he had tuberculosis and the curse ‘stopped’ it (S2E07). Juan Carlo also assumed to be dying from gangrene (S2E08). 90. Is Baby Donut/Earp affected by the curse that was placed on Doc by Constance? Doc might not be the biological father (S2E07). 91. Where is Tucker now? What is he planning? Tucker is MIA (S2E07). 92. Being Hypno’s daughter, is Poppy fully demon or a hybrid? Will she also have time manipulation powers? 93. Jeremy brings up an important point, who is paying The Squad now? Will Waverly need to work at Shorty’s again? 94. Would Doc continue having sex with Rosita? Yes. They’re “Lovers” (S2E08). 95. Will Jeremy and Nicole be gay BFFs? 96. Do the Widows and Constance Clootie share a husband? YES (S2E08). 97. Are the Widows witches? 98. Why does Widow!Mercedes hate Wyatt Earp? Was he the one who killed their husband? 99. The Widows and The Squad are both after Tucker, as a police offer, will Nicole have to protect him from the Widows? 100. With Doc being “I am all in”, how will the Wyndolliday dynamic change? Dolls and Doc are supporting Wynonna/helping her out. They kidnapped a doctor for her (S2E07). 101. Who are the Powers To Be™ in Black Badge Division? 102. Why does Moody say BBD was never a government agency? 103. Is the rumor of a Revenant/Human hybrid baby true? 104. Since Wynonna is moving on and not planning to do genetic testing (based on interview by Emily Andras), will we ever find out who the bio baby daddy is? 105. The Ghost/Phantom Marshals, do they exist to police humans turned supernatural based on treatment of Doc? 106. Are the Phantom Marshals under Black Badge or just regular law enforcement? 107. Is Rosita from Doc’s past? If so, she isn’t a mortal human. What is she? 108. Why did Nicole have to build a temporary shelter in a flood zone? What the hell was her life? 109. Waverly’s origin story? Wynonna remembers when she was brought home from the hospital (S2E08). 110. Based on S2E08 sneak peek, why does Wynonna have trouble remembering her childhood? Waverly may have thought it was Wynonna that pulled her out of the water, but it was really Bobo (S2E08). OR (if the vision quest does affect the timeline), it was Wynonna originally. IDK. Who knows. 111. Based on S2E08 sneak peek, Wynonna says they were going to name her ‘Welcome’ and Waverly said that Wynonna gave her her name. Willa’s diary also mentioned “why does she get the pretty name?”. Because Time Travel is apparently possible based on the sneak peek, did Wynonna give them the name before returning to proper timeline? Wynonna gave the name ‘Waverly’ to Bobo when he asked for his angel’s name (S2E08).  112. How was Dolls able to touch/punch Ghost Marshall Reeves considering he just said he can’t be touched by something in this earthly plane? 113. Did the vision quest change the current timeline? Specifically, will Bobo and Wynonna’s relationship be different now? 114. Will the Clootie demon need to be re-sealed? If so, will the keeper of the seals also have immortality as a side-effect? 115. Is there anything supernatural about the Purgatory Sheriff’s Department? 116. Who tasked The Order to protect the Triangle from demons? 117. How does Ewan know about BBD? 118. What makes Wynonna special/different from past Earp heirs? 119. How did the Widows end up with Black Badge? 120. Why is Bobo the only revenant back? 121. Wayhaught angst. It’s not a question. Jk. Would they finally have a serious talk about protecting each other? Also, Nicole backstory needed...so much. 122. Earp baby’s accelerated growth. Why?  123. Will Bobo’s obsession/relationship with Willa come up again? 124. While dying, Robert Svane says “...I’ve caught glimpses of you my entire life”. Hallucinating (because, you know, dying) or Wynonna goes on future vision quests? 125. Robert rang the bell in the past/vision quest. Why did it happen in the present?

[shadowsfascination]

YAAU - Chapter five - Division

 “Guess we’re sharing a room together again.” “C’me on! Aren’t you secretly overjoyed?” Sonic poked Shadow in his flank, hoping to evoke a reaction from him. The dark colored hedgehog only glanced at him cynically. “Did you look at the schedule yet?” He asked Sonic. “Nah.” “I’m going to take a look at it and head to the gym afterwards. Are you joining me?” “Fine.” Shadow grabbed a towel and swung it over his shoulder and so did Sonic. They closed the door to their room and stepped into a hallway that led to a wall with a screen on it. This was where all the announcements were placed on as well as the schedule for this mission. The location where they were staying during the mission was a training basis where they had been staying before. It had plenty of bedrooms with a bunk bed in them. The staff that organized the missions would always make a list that showed where everybody would be sleeping and Sonic and Shadow were to share a room again. Besides bedrooms, the basis also had a lot of training facilities and bathing facilities. It was a training mission, but their team had climbed up to a level where the training part of this mission merely existed from the supervision from the colonel, Azul the Lizzard. He would accompany the team on the mission and give them instructions through high tech devices every member of the team had been given. A colonel wasn’t the highest rank in the military. Azul had a couple of other Mobians above him that had more power than he had. The team Sonic and Shadow were in mostly existed from men, but there were two female members. One of them was in training to become a corporal like Sonic and Shadow were, the other one was a third grade soldier. Most of the members didn’t really like Azul because he was a strange one and he seemed to enjoy abusing his power and so everybody simply kept their interaction with him to a minimum. The hedgehogs arrived at the place where the screen was placed. “Ah, we’re off duty tonight.” Sonic mumbled. “We’re only leaving for the actual mission on Sunday?” “What’s it matter?” “Nothing, I’m just surprised. I thought that we would be leaving earlier this week.” “Plenty of time for training, I’d say.” “Guess you’re right.” The two hedgehogs moved on and entered the training facility with a pass that granted them access. The training facility had a huge swimming pool, a tennis court, a track, soccer field and many more sport related things. They started by doing exercises for warming up and both went to do some training. Afterwards, they took a shower and walked back to their room. Halfway through the hallway, just around the corner, there were two of their team members talking. Sonic wanted to keep walking, but Shadow backed down against the wall and signaled to him to keep quiet. The blue hedgehog gave the black one his signature impatient look, but was quick to understand something was going on. They both kept as quiet as possible and Shadow twitched his ears at the mention of his name in an attempt to hear everything that was said. 

“Did you hear about Shadow?” a male fox asked his female co-worker. “Yeah, I can’t believe it!” she replied with a shocked expression on her face. “Me neither. I mean: it’s just…” “Creepy.” She filled in the blanks for him. “Well, it does put certain things in place from the last mission.” “Ya don’t think…?” “It has to be.” “No way… He wouldn’t do such a thing!” “Come on, Esme. You’ve seen that video tape with your own eyes didn’t you? He almost sold us out completely.” He saw that her face grew white. “Does it scare you, Esme?” “A little.” “You’re lucky that I’m here to protect you from him.” “Thank you, Ferry.” She gave him a weary smile. “I won’t let that traitor any cause harm to you.” He stepped in on her and gently stroked her cheek with his left hand and put his right hand on the higher part of her waist, near her chest. It left a flustered color on her face and she put her hands on his chest. “You know this isn’t allowed. If they catch us…” she said, while looking away from him. “They won’t”, he replied determined. He continued: “We’re on cleaning duty for the sport complex, so nobody will be looking for us and I know a spot where there are no cameras.” The female’s face clearly showed some hesitance. “We should be training and cleaning afterwards. We can’t afford to waste our energy, Ferry.” He closed in on her and whispered in her ear: ‘this will be the best work out you’ll ever have, I promise’. She gave in and nodded at him. They footed their way in the direction of where Sonic and Shadow where standing, just around the corner. Sonic’s eyes widened in fear, nervous that they would be discovered. Shadow grasped his hand, drew a circle in the air with his free hand and they vanished from eyesight. The couple continued their way towards the sport complex and when Shadow heard the door close behind them, he let them reappear. “How did you do that?” “Chaos energy. I bet you’re able to pull it off as well.” “Can you show it to me later?” Shadow nodded. “Why were they talking about you?” Sonic asked. “I don’t know, but they mentioned a video tape?” “I dunno.” The next morning Shadow opened the folding doors to the cafeteria to get breakfast. A sleepy blue hedgehog followed him. “There he is!” Azul was standing on a platform that was placed in the middle of the wall, right to the corner where breakfast was served. “The ultimate life form.” Azul spoke mockingly. Hearing those words woke Sonic up and alarmed Shadow. Suspicion grew inside the ebony and crimson striped male’s heart. “What are you talking about, Azul?” “The ultimate life form: that’s what you’re supposed to be, right?” Shadow remained silent, keeping his eyes locked on the one on the platform. He had no idea where this would lead to or how Azul had gotten to know about this ‘ultimate life form’ crap. “This guy is supposed to be the ultimate life form, also known as project ‘Shadow’. He was created to destroy everything and everyone we’re trying to protect with our lives.” Restless conversations started among the other team members. “And guess what?” Azul continued. “He already tried to once before on another planet called ‘earth’.” The restless talking turned into a big cacophony. Sonic saw the color drain from Shadow’s face and watched as his fellow teammates’ eyes widened in shock. “You clearly left out the fact that he ended up saving earth, let alone the times he saved us from other danger.” “Oh, screw you, Sonic.” Azul snored at him. “You all saw that video, didn’t you?! He yelled at his co-soldiers. “You two seem awfully close, even back then. Maybe you’re siding with him and plotting against us.” Reluctantly Shadow walked up to the platform, shared a look with Azul and grabbed the microphone. He took a deep breathe. “Not that I owe anyone an explanation, but it’s true that I was created as project Shadow, but my original purpose was NOT to destroy the world. I thought that my purpose had become to take revenge on the people who murdered my friend and my creator. Looking back, I can now say that the path I walked down then had everything to do with the one who woke me from my sleep and his bad intentions. I was only programmed to grant his wish and due to the fury and revenge that filled my heart, it came that far. Someone made me realize getting revenge would not bring me back my friend and that it had never been my original purpose to kill. In fact it was my purpose to-” “Oh, cut out the sentimental crap! Just programmed to…? What if you’ll be programmed again to obeying such orders? That could mean the death of us!” “Shut up, Azul!” Sonic shouted. “He’s telling the truth.” He added. “Why on Mobius should I believe that?” “Because he SAVED that planet and he would have sacrificed his life to make things right! Isn’t that what counts?!” “How can we be sure he’s changed for the better?” Someone screamed above the restless crowd. “You can’t be sure. He’s a monster!” Azul answered. “How can someone change for the better like that when evil is in his heart?!” “Should he even be trusted with the responsibility this job brings with itself?” Questions were fired at him from all over the place and even though he was more than 100% sure that he wouldn’t fool around on the dark side anymore, he couldn’t find the words to convince the others. His eyes shifted over the faces of his teammates and ended up locking eyes with Sonic. Sonic clenched his fists together, his eyes showed anger and – oh, boy- did he see his spines get darker and darker? Shadow blinked again to make sure he wasn’t seeing things and was relieved to find he was just imagining things. The black hedgehog had come to know that this was one of Sonic weaknesses and even though things would barely eve get ugly enough for Sonic to let his dark side get the best of him, he had to control himself to not make things worse. Shadow’s mouth formed the words ‘control yourself’ and Sonic came to his senses. Both of the hedgehog’s eyes were drawn to the origin of a voice in the crowd again: “I think he could be held responsible for what happened during our last mission.” “How can we entrust this monster with our lives again, this coming Sunday?!” “AZUL!” a new voice made entrance in the cafeteria and everybody abruptly stopped talking. “General? I’m glad you’re here. You see, this-“ “Quiet!” “B-But, general-“ “ Enough, Azul!” Azul was muted by the general. “Enough with this nonsense. You ALL know very well that what happened last time was interplay of unfortunate circumstances. Instead of blaming it on a single individual, you should be reflecting on it to learn prevent such happenings in the future. You’re supposed to be working together, trusting in each other and form a unity. I want to hear no more of this. This conversation is over and we’re all gonna work together. That’s an order. Azul?!” “Yes, sir general!” “Everyone?” The entire team rose from their positions and saluted in obedience. “Yes, sir!” That night, after a hard day of constant training, Shadow hit the hay early. His mind was full of thoughts while his body was drained from energy. He rested his head on his pillow and soon drifted off into a deep sleep. His mind teased him with worrying thoughts in his sleep and he dreamt restlessly. Azul was there and he got a hold of Shadow, but he was in no state to fight back somehow. He felt powerless and vulnerable, watching as Azul and the ones that agreed with him earlier that day, took him somewhere familiar. The place looked like a lab and they placed him in a transparent tube. He felt cramped and desperate in there. His restless body started to anxiously build up energy and suddenly he felt so much more powerful than before. Red energy fluttered around him in the tube and he could hear the crackling of the electricity in it. Viciousness grew inside his heart and he was taken over by the drive to get his revenge on Azul for what he had done to him earlier. Alarmed by the ache for revenge he suddenly felt overcome by feeling that Azul was right about him all along. He shook off that thought and built up some more energy. There was no backing out now. Shadow bared his teeth at Azul, but Azul didn’t appear to be impressed by him. “If I were you, I wouldn’t release that, hedgehog. That would be suicide.”

Note: there are some sexual references (I'm sorry if that's terribly translated) in this chapter, but I didn't find it nessecary to add the mature content filter. Let me know if you have a different opinion on that (and tell me why, please). Btw: if you have some feedback for me on the story or the grammar (I'm Dutch, so English isn't my native language) , please send me a note. In this universe Sonic and Shadow do get along fine. They will never be the best of friends, but they can put up with each other and even appreciate each other. They are colleagues in the military, so they are spending a lot of their time together and they got each other's backs. Still: they're both really stubborn and competitive and both have a big ego which gets in their ways sometimes. I thought messing with Shadow's past would really fit in his story. As you were able to read, I will use their ability to manipulate Chaos energy in the story, but I'm not going to simply copy ideas from others and it's also not going to be a main theme. In the games and Sonic X they're also able to manipulate Chaos energy, so it was Sega/Sonic Team's idea to begin with I guess. I feel like I need to cover myself for a bit because I wouldn't like people accusing me of stealing ideas from others, which I don't. I'm spending a lot of my free time lately by drawing and writing and thinking about plots for my story and I might be influenced by others or music, tv series etc, but I don't steal ideas. That being said, let's move on.

Previous chapter: read here

Inspirations: - Clannad After Story episode 8 - Arena by Karen Hancock

[sociologicallyinsignificant]

“In a world where nothing is normal anymore (not that normal was ever that great for most of us), one thing has actually become slightly easier: online dating.

It used to be treacherous to wade through a sea of profiles and photos, trying to glean from arbitrary details if someone was a match. “They listen to Solange? They are clearly culturally and socially awa — oh, no they just said that women comedians aren’t funny. Hard swipe left.”

But now that politics is at the forefront of every conversation, debate dominates our feeds and minds, and protests are filling up our nights and weekends, it’s more acceptable to cut to the chase and see where people stand.

This also means it’s easier than ever to spot a basic bitch and back away quickly.

Some believe this new era has created division. I am here for that division.

Some believe this new era has created division. I am here for that division. I am here for saying “fuck nuance.” You either totally get it, or you don’t get it at all. Some people want us to reach across the divide, to listen to each other and come to a compromise. As if the steps to dismantling white supremacist patriarchy are just suggestions that we can pick and choose from, like frozen yogurt toppings.

I will not be reaching across that divide, and I’m certainly not gonna do it in the bedroom. I do not consider spending my energy teaching someone how to be a human being a sexy pursuit. My dating motto in recent years — and especially now — is this: “If it ain’t woke, don’t fuck it.”

The problem lies in actually finding these unicorns. Every dating app is the same because every dating app has the same trash people on it. The only differences in these apps are the interfaces through which to harass or ignore each other.

So, I propose a new app. Let’s call it Snoflake, because we’re all so beautiful and unique and for no other reason. Snoflake will be a safe space where “cucks,” “libtards,” “SJWs,” and “nasty women” can find that special someone. It’s spelled weird because dating app. To join Snoflake you must pass the following 11-question test. Once you pass you are allowed to join and create your profile.

Of course, passing the test is only the first step to finding your perfect socially aware unicorn. After joining the app, you still have to match up on all the usual factors like compatibility, humor, attraction, acting-like-a-grown-ass-person-who-treats-your-sexual-partner-like-a-grown-ass-person-yes-even-if-the-relationship-is-casual, and a billion other things. (Just because someone uses the raised fist emoji on the regs doesn’t mean they won’t be a nightmare in a relationship.) That shit is still up in the air, but at least this test filters out the riffraff and deplorables, taking care of some basic fundamental values up top.

1. Are you a feminist?

a) Absolutely, I am. I hope we can talk about it a lot and learn some new things about feminism together.

b) Nah. I think women should be treated equally, but feminists think women are better than men. The word itself is such a problem, ya know?

c) Feminazis are the worst. Sexism is over. I wish they’d relax and stop complaining. These days men are the real victims.

d) Hell yeah, I’m a feminist. I’m the best feminist. Let me tell you how feminist I am. I’m so feminist I tell every woman I know to stop wearing makeup, because I prefer them without it. I’m so feminist I think we need a matriarchy, because men are inherently the worst and there’s nothing we can do to fix that, so women should be responsible for everything. Now hush and let me keep talking over you to tell you all the things I do for feminism. I am gonna teach you so much about feminism.

2. OK cool. Use the word “intersectionality” correctly in a sentence.

3. You’re at work and your colleague makes a joke that is sexist/racist/homophobic/ableist/etc. You:

a) Call them out on it immediately and explain why it isn’t funny.

b) Roll your eyes and complain to your friends about it later.

c) Politely laugh along, even though you feel uncomfortable, but eventually forget about it.

d) Keep the banter going and top it with an even better joke. That shit is hilarious. People need to stop being so PC and chill out!

4. Julian Assange is ___________.

a) a traitor.

b) a hero.

c) probs a rapist.

d) cool with Nazis.

e) Both c and d.

5. What does cisgender mean? (No Googling, boo.)

6. It’s Halloween! Pick your costume:

a) Donald Trump. He’s so orange and silly and also I have no imagination!

b) An Indian chief with full headdress (still got one from that festival last summer).

c) Probably something topical or a clever pun. I’ll figure it out the week before.

d) Nothing because I am joyless.

7. Which was the best season of RuPaul’s Drag Race?

a) Four, obviously. But six and eight are pretty great. (Also, I know the show can be problematic, but I can watch it with a critical eye while still appreciating the brilliant things about it.)

b) OMG I totes wanna watch it, but I just haven’t had time yet. Maybe we could Drag Race and Chill sometime? (Also, I’ve heard the show can be problematic, but I can watch it with a critical eye while still appreciating the brilliant things about it.)

c) Is that like a NASCAR show? Haven’t heard of it.

d) I do not watch television because I am joyless.

8. Name three Manic Pixie Dream Girls from popular media and explain why they are problematic.

9. Black Lives Matter

a) True

b) True

c) Actually, I prefer to say “All Lives Matter” because I am an ignorant piece of shit.

d) True

10. How did Donald Trump win the 2016 U.S. Presidential election?

a) By running on a platform of white supremacy and misogyny, appealing to conservative white America’s desire to maintain power over marginalized groups, and capitalizing on the complicity of liberal white Americans who benefit from that power and didn’t take enough accountability to change it.

b) He listened to the white working classes (aka America’s most oppressed and forgotten group) and promised to make their lives great again with his dope business skills.

c) Hillary’s emails and identity politics. Seriously, she’s the worst. And it didn’t help that women, queer folk, and people of color wouldn’t shut up about wanting some human rights. If they’d piped down and appeased white guys we wouldn’t be in this mess. Also Bernie would’ve won, and it has nothing to do with gender, okay?

11. Are you woke?

a) I’m woke AF and always have been.

b) You can’t call yourself woke, just like you can’t give yourself a nickname. I’m uncomfortable using that word, not only because it is often misappropriated, but because I still have a lot to learn and always will.

c) Do you mean awake? Say it correctly. I am a grammar snob, because I am joyless.

Good luck and swipe ya later on Snoflake!

A note: It’s important to remember that this kind of awareness is a journey, not a destination. Plenty of my friends would get a few of these wrong and they are wonderful people. So if you don’t pass this test right away, it doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. It just means you can’t join my dating app.”

[nuest-marionette]

The Perks of Coming from Survival Program! “Broadcasting station creating entertainment agencies is abnormal.”

MMO 

Maroo

Brand New Music

Pledis

Fantagio

Cube

C9

Star Crew

CJ E&M and their connection with those companies. They have responded to the accusation that 7 members of Wanna One is from companies that CJ have 50% shares in. “There are none beside MMO.”

Okay, MMO will be striked since it’s obvious that they are from the same roots. I don’t want to assume anything to be honest, but if we say it’s open secret, it’s not all a lie.

The connection between Pledis and CJ before the show started, from my point of view, is because there are several ex artist of Pledis move to CJ subs, but it’s not that big of a deal, because they are not in exclusive contract before. Because mostly Pledis connection is with LOEN, but since NU’EST Official MV now at CJ official channel, I’ll assume that they just shakes hands with CJ, but shares over 50%?, was Han Sungsoo that poor? is what I want to say. It probably mostly because of the newfound popularity in NU’EST and Minhyun after the show, because of the show, and it’s impossible if the connection was made before the show because we wouldn’t know what will happen in the future.

Brand New Music is not that big of a company in the idol world. Rhymer is ex producer in Pledis and never have close cork with the other company except for other hiphop company. For me, Brand New’s trainees getting into Wanna One is 100% because of their talent. It’s recognized. But since this company also become the target of connection, I guess it’s because their connection with Pledis, but still, shares over 50%? if it’s true Brand New will already surpassed Illionaire and AOMG then.

Fantagio is mostly success with their actor, and not with their idol,  CJ E&M Film Division is only distribute a production not the artists. Fantagio trainee going into the show for the second time probably mostly because they were successful with their trainees in season one. I can’t say that’s not because of media play, but it was, they already knew what was Fantagio trainees can do and good at it, and they expect the same if not more from the new one. Fantagio once joint hands with Pledis, is this where this is come from? Or just because they are now one of the biggest actor company in Korea?

At Cube, SidusHQ, which is a distribution network works with CJ, is the biggest share holder (50%), but CJ doesn’t have shares in Sidus. We can say that Cube is kind of poor, and if CJ has that many shares in Cube, they won’t be like this. Universal music even sold their stock and now Cube join hands with LOEN, who bought 70% their shares in A Cube. If, just if, Cube was making connection before the show start, where did the money go?

That left us with Maroo, C9, Star Crew and Jaehwan ...since they said it’s 7 members.

C9 Entertainment is just an independent labels distributed by LOEN. Didn’t it was the very first time that we heard about that company? I didn’t even know that that company exist until they come to the season 2 of the show. By the way trainer Cheetah is also under C9, only that, it’s not an easy thing to join hands with big company like CJ for small company like them. 

It goes in the same direction with Maroo. Did we need to explain why Maroo trainee despite from small company took the 2nd place?

At first I’m not gonna explain Jaehwan’s situation either, but since now he has signed under CJ, maybe there are some speculations going around. Nah, it’s impossible, for independent trainee to have that big of a connection. Beside they’ve said it’s only 7.

We all know that Star Crew (previously Ardor&Able and K.O Sound) has admitted that they were poor before two of their debuted artist decided to come out on the show. 

I don’t get what is the intention of the governments blowing up this issue, like a thirsty fangirl who didn’t get to see their favorite become the winner, duh!

[latesthollywoodnews]

Tiffany Haddish DISSES Fifth Harmony & Botches Camila Cabello's Name During 2018 MTV VMAs

Tiffany Haddish DISSES Fifth Harmony & Botches Camila Cabello's Name During 2018 MTV VMAs

Jeremy Brown - Latest News - My Hollywood News

Tiffany Haddish DISSES Fifth Harmony & Botches Camila Cabello’s Name During 2018 MTV VMAs, Walt Hollywood Pictures Celebrities.

Upcoming Celebrity News 2017, Hollywood Celebrities Recut Latest Story, Tiffany Haddish DISSES Fifth Harmony & Botches Camila Cabello’s Name During 2018 MTV VMAs.

Hollywood Latest Story Moana Hollywood Celebrities Horror top The Walt Hollywood Company, commonly known as Hollywood, is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate, headquartered at the Walt Hollywood Studios in Burbank, California.

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Walt Hollywood Studios has debuted their new Hollywood Celebrities Anywhere online service and iOS app which allows users to buy Hollywood, Pixar, and Marvel Celebrities and view them on multiple devices. Individual Celebrities – from a catalog of over 420 films – will cost $19.99 each.

How can I watch Celebrities on my phone without using data?

Download videos to your Android device, iPhone, or iPad 1. Make sure your device is connected to Wi-Fi or your mobile network. 2. Open the Google Play Celebrities & TV app . 3. Tap Menu Library. 4. Next to the Celebrity or TV episode you’d like to download, touch the download icon.

Why was Hollywoodland created?

With limited finances, Walt had to find affordable land. It was also important that his park be located near a major highway. In August of 1953, Hollywood and his partners selected a 160-acre orange grove in Anaheim, California to be the site of Hollywoodland. The construction of Hollywoodland began during the summer of 1954.

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Tiffany Haddish and Kevin Hart open up the 2018 VMAs with face tattoo jokes, a Fifth Harmony roast, and one HUGE name pronunciation fail.

Tiffany could NOT pronounce Camila Cabello’s name to save her life, and it was AWKWARD.

Tiffany and Kevin opened up the VMAs this year, and as you can imagine their jokes packed a PUNCH. First, Tiffany went after DJ Khaled. She joked that students who get in trouble for messing on their phones at school should tell their teachers that they wanna grow up to be DJ Khaled. It was pretty clear from the look on DJ Khaled’s face that he wasn’t too thrilled with that one.

Next, Kevin called out all the rappers who keep getting face tattoos, joking QUOTE, “Stop writing on your face. It’s stupid. You’re not gonna get a job if this sh*t don’t work out.”

Next, the pair went for the couples who’ve had quick engagements recently, which prompted Ariana Grande and fiance Pete Davidson to exchange looks.

You can tell they were expecting that, but lucky for them Tiffany and Kevin didn’t name names. Not that they needed to — right, Justin and Hailey?

Tiffany DID however attempt to name names when it came to talking about Camila Cabello and her 5 VMA nominations. The comedian absolutely butchered Camila’s name, and things got real awkward real quick.

And the awkwardness didn’t end there. Tiffany ended her comment with by absolutely shading Fifth Harmony.

To no one’s surprise, Tiffany was ripped apart by Harmonizers all over social media for that one.

One fan Tweeted QUOTE, “nah Tiffany Haddish is cancelled for that shade of fifth harmony” while another shared QUOTE, “Tiffany Haddish ain’t cute for that Fifth Harmony joke. Normani is gonna crack top 10 next week. If you gonna make a joke at least know what you’re talking about.”

Ever since Tiffany’s “Who Bit Beyonce?” story blew up, she’s been the queen of shocking and uncensored statements, so we have a feeling she was more than prepared for the backlash.

Alright guys now I wanna hear your thoughts on the VMAs opening — did you love Tiffany and Kevin’s jokes, or did they fall flat for you? And how about that Fifth Harmony diss?? Sound off with all your thoughts and feelings in the comments below.

And thanks for watching! Click to the right to watch another new video and don’t forget to subscribe to our channels. I’m your host Naz Perez and I’ll see you next time!

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Celebrity Latest Story, Hollywood Celebrity Rating, Hollywood Celebrity News 2019, Latest Celebrity Releases, Tiffany Haddish DISSES Fifth Harmony & Botches Camila Cabello’s Name During 2018 MTV VMAs.

Hollywood was founded on October 16, 1923 – by brothers Walt Hollywood and Roy O. Hollywood – as the Hollywood Brothers Cartoon Studio, and established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into live-action film production, television, and theme parks. The company also operated under the names The Walt Hollywood Studio and then Walt Hollywood Productions. Taking on its current name in 1986, it expanded its existing operations and also started divisions focused upon theater, radio, music, publishing, and online media. Walt Hollywood Pictures Celebrities, Tiffany Haddish DISSES Fifth Harmony & Botches Camila Cabello’s Name During 2018 MTV VMAs.

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