#ok last gear 5 post i promise

[pricklepines]

[iloveitwhen]

What Team?

OK! SO I thought I knew where this was going then it started becoming a Lila redemption arc but that was about to be like probably 5 long chapters then i changed it and started writing in Lila’s view but for some reason I couldn’t write it in anyone else’s so this is in Lila’s POV and Imma do a part 2 with other pov’s and extend the story a bit

this is for @miracleofadisaster ​ cause they asked for it and based off of this post by @unmaskedagain ​ 

there’s a cuss word in here somewhere if ya’ll care. also i hope i did it justice!❤️❤️💜

Part 2

Things were… not going as planned. Which was basically impossible since everything goes Lila’s way but this class, oh boy this class was stubborn. Instead of choosing between Marinette or Lila the class collectively agreed to ignore and not believe Lila when she spoke of Marinette nor Marinette when she spoke of Lila. It was a little awkward at first but as time went on it got easier and easier for the class to ignore the two girls when they spoke of the other. And Lila was NOT happy about it. She had promised that brat that she would take every single one of her friends away until she was alone and ostracized. And she was not one to go back on promises. Marinette had dropped the situation but Lila was determined, she would not lose so she was forced to come up with alternate ways to take the other girl’s friends away. Lila originally planned to take Alya away first but the girl was too bullheaded and refused to believe that her “bestie” would ever hurt another soul, she had told Lila “I know you don’t trust Marinette but you tripped and I know Marinette well enough to know she wouldn’t do that! And besides, we all know Chloe framed Marinette and put your necklace in her locker. Simple!” 

Lila groaned in annoyance. Just what would she have to resort to to get these fools on her side? Sure Lila was a little heartless, ok very heartless, but she didn’t want to physically beat up Marinette, well it didn’t really have anything to do with having a heart or not, Lila was just too lazy to exert physical energy like that. She was staring out of the window of her mother’s car when a familiar flash of black hair and pale skin passed her peripherals and she whipped her head to find Marinette blushing profusely while talking to some boy in the park by school. She watched them become smaller as she got further away for a moment before a smile crept onto Lila’s face and she relaxed back into her seat. The Destruction of Marinette was finally coming. 

---

Lila sauntered in the classroom the next day, it was before class started so of course Marinette was not there but Alya was speaking animatedly with Rose and Juleka in the back of the classroom. 

“Hey guys! Guess what I saw yesterday?” she spoke in an excited tone that always got those oafs enraptured in her stories. 

“Oooo, girl tell me,” Alya held a glint in her eye and while Rose practically vibrated through her chair, Juleka just sat there not being one to show emotion. 

“So you know how Marinette has a crush on Adrien?” Immediately Alya and the other two girls looked between each other growing uncomfortable. Ok, fair enough, not the best course of action. “No no no! I’m sorry, not like that! I just saw her yesterday at the park with some tall, dark haired boy and it looked like she was like, into him, you know? She was blushing pretty hard. He was pretty cute and I just thought that they looked so cute together! I just think she might be over Adrien now!” Maybe if these girls believed that Marinette wasn’t into Adrien they'd help her get with him, Alya has told plenty of stories of them joining forces to get Marinette to ask out Adrien, all she had to do was convince the lot to switch out Marinette for her. Simple enough. Except now Alya was laughing, why was she laughing?

“I’m sorry it’s just-” Alya burst out into laughter again before straightening up and grabbing Lila’s shoulders and looking into her eyes, “trust me, Marinette does not have another crush, besides whoever that guy was there's no way he’s better than Adrien.” Ok. Rude. 

“But he actually seemed pretty nice….” 

Juleka spoke up which startled Lila so much she flinched back, “What did he look like?” 

“Well he was pretty tall and he had black hair with blue tips, he was handsome too.” Lila prayed Marinette had good taste in men because if she just called some random, ugly dude “handsome” she’d be mortified. Lila’s thoughts were washed away when Rose gasped and Juleka gave Lila a rare smile. 

“Aww,” Rose squeaked, turning to her friend, “Juleka that is so cu-”

“Wait, she was blushing because of LUKA? Seriously? That knockoff Jagged Stone? Please, Marinette actually has class. Anyone who thinks otherwise is an air headed buffoon. I mean c'mon.” Lila’s jaw dropped, she couldn’t help it! That was just so, so rude! Even Lila didn’t insult people straight up like that, not only did she insult that boy, who honestly Lila didn’t really care about, but she insulted her! Lila was many things and being insulted and basically called stupid was not something she liked to be. 

Juleka slammed her hands on the table making everyone in the classroom jump and look over at the four and stood up glaring at Alya. 

“ExcUSE ME?” Lila’s brows shot up at the quiet girl’s outburst, so many things were happening today. 

“Sorry, girl, I didn’t mean it like tha-”

“My brother is amAZing. He and Marinette would be perfect together. He’s respectful, kind, and actually cares for Marinette!” Juleka was fuming which shocked everyone speechless, but headstrong Alya got over it quickly and retorted, 

“No way, Adrien is way better for her, he’s also respectful and kind AND his father is Gabrial Agrest.” 

“Please, the brat doesn’t even like Marinette,” Rose gasped at ‘brat’ but Juleka ignored her and attempted to mimic Adrien’s voice saying, “she’s just a friend!” Alya gasped in offense. 

“You take that back!”

“Why? There’s literally no reason to because it’s true.” The two were completely oblivious to the stares they were getting from everyone who had trickled into the classroom. The only ones not present were the ones being talked about and Ms. Bustier. No one dared to interrupt or make a sound, not even Lila since they were all so shocked that Juleka was actually arguing with someone, and so passionately. None of them had ever even heard her speak so loudly before. 

Alya was about to retort when Alix hissed, “they’re coming!” and in walked Marinette with a slight blush talking with Adrien who was rubbing the back of his neck with a shy smile. Alya shot Juleka a smug smile before turning and jogging to her spot. 

Nobody paid any mind to Lila who stayed rooted in her spot with blood slowly draining from her face. 

What just happened?

Not only did they defend Marinette but they argued about who was better for her. And Alya just so blatantly insulted her. Like she was nothing. Alya will suffer for that. 

Lila turned and slowly walked to her seat and plopped onto it, ignoring Nathaniel's side glance. After a moment she smiled to herself, all she had to do was convince everyone else that this "Luka" was better for Marinette so she could have Adrien all to herself. 

Lila really didn't know what she was getting into. 

---

For the rest of the day Lila joined forces with Juleka and Rose to spread the news of the newly coined "Lukanette" pairing. Alya was not having an easy time hiding how offended she was that people so easily turned their backs on Adrien, the girl really needed to learn to let go. Lila was going to tear “Adrienette” away from her if it was the last thing she did. 

Meanwhile, Juleka and Rose worked overtime, with a few smartly placed words and here and there the two were determined to turn the rest of the class on their side. They, plus Lila, had become the forefront runners for the Lukanette campaign, and as shameful as she felt campaigning for Maribrat she convinced herself that it was for the better. One step back two steps forward, once the class was "Lukanette" believers she'd have Adrien to herself and it would be one more step to take the throne and continue The Destruction of Marinette. She’d feel the disgust churning in her stomach but she'd still do it. It was for the greater good. 

Nathaniel refused to partake, Ivan was firmly Team Luka while Mylene chose Team Adrien since she didn’t know Luka that well and Adrien was always nice to her, Alix laughed at everyone and didn’t pick a side but was slightly stingy when Kim and Max pledged Team Adrien, and of course Nino decked himself out in Team Adrien gear, seriously the boy came into school with something new everyday. However, Adrien became Team Luka to support the nice dark haired boy even though he had no idea why his classmates were creating “Teams” between himself and Luka, but he “just wanted it to be fair!” The surprise came from Sabrina when she herself pledged Team Luka while Chloe was Team Adrien. It was a week after the Teams began and at first it was all fun and games but that moment when Sabrina switched sides it became war and there was an immediate shift in the air. During school Team Luka did not speak with Team Adrien at all and vice versa, after school the teams were forgotten, except of course when Alix, who was always one to sow discord, would mention it during a class hangout and chaos would ensue. Then shirts were made, inspired by one of Nino’s bracelets that he determined marked him officially as “Team Adrien,” and the civil war within the classroom became official. Marinette of course was completely oblivious and refused to ask why everyone was wearing shirts and refused to get dragged in, not realizing she was the center of this little war. 

At first it was only Juleka and Rose who wore the teal tie dyed Team Luka shirts but when Alya and Chloe walked in wearing their own Team Adrien gear Lila’s fury raged. That day after class Lila snatched a Team Luka shirt that Juleka and Rose made with Marinette to wear the next day. When she walked in the next morning she felt Alya and Chloe’s eyes burn into her soul but she refused to back down, she felt shame rise in her but held her head up high but not missing Marinette’s dropped jaw at the sight of her. 

Two steps forward one step back, she kept telling herself. No one insults her and gets away with it. Alya will go down with Marinette and Lila’s dignity.

It became an even bigger deal when Alix tweeted the situation of her class and Chloe retweeted it with evidence that Adrien was better which in turn dragged Jagged Stone in and people were warring over who was better looking, nicer, more talented, etc. It definitely could have ruined some careers in the process but Juleka happily relayed to Lila that Luka was just happy that 3 million people were “Team Luka” with 2.8 million “Team Adrien” and many of them were begging to hear his music. 

Unfortunately this news reached the Waynes. How the ever loving shit did Marinette even KNOW the Waynes was completely beyond Lila. The girl was a freaking nobody, if Lila didn’t break her quickly she might surpass Lila and that just wouldn’t do. The reason Lila knew the Waynes had found out was because Alix, that hotheaded brat who refused to pick a side, showed up in a black shirt with bold green letters that spelled out ‘TEAM DAMIAN’ and on the back it said ‘FIND YOUR OWN GIRL’. Lila asked who Damian was and the whole class heard her when she said, “Damian Wayne, obviously.” Lila screamed into her pillow until she couldn’t breath when she got home that day. There HAD to be a solution to all of this, she wanted to desperately stop faking that she cared who Marinette ended up with, just as long as it wasn’t Adrien. Or Damian freaking Wayne.

Team Luka:

Lila, Juleka, Rose, Ivan, Sabrina, Adrien

Team Adrien:

Alya, Chloe, Nino, Kim, Max, Mylene

Team Damian:

Alix 

More shall arrive for Team Damian 

Part 2 Teaser heehee

“Hey Marinette?" The girl called looked up from her sketchbook to see Juleka nervously tapping on her desk with her nails and Rose standing behind her with a look that could only be described as sparkly. Marinette raised an eyebrow but smiled kindly at them. 

"Yes?" 

"So umm *ahem* can you help me and Rose make shirts that say "Team Luka" on them?" 

"Team lu- uhmm sure?" 

Juleka have her a rare smile and a soft "thanks" before returning to her seat with Rosa who squeaked "you're the best Marinette!" Marinette gave the girl a weak smile and a small nod of appreciation and just stared in confusion at the spot where the two girls stood previously. 

What?

Part 2

[thecarrieonokay]

WTF: A Macgyver Tale

(AKA My Thoughts On The Macgyver Cancellation)

Guys. Like many of you, I am not ok. I was not prepared for this. 

Honestly, I feel like a proper idiot. I was absolutely, totally and utterly convinced that they couldn’t cancel it. Not wouldn’t. COULDN’T. 

Don’t get me wrong… I am fully aware of what US TV networks are capable of. Story structure, the fanbase, even the cast and crew mean very little to them unless it’s about optics or ratings. At the end of the day, it’s about money. But Macgyver would be reaching it’s 100th episode milestone on 6x06… which means that Macgyver is only SIX episodes away from syndication. So obviously my thinking was: WHY would they cancel it when it was about to make them a shitload of money?! 

Add to that the updated merch in the CBS store, the fact that ratings watchdogs had it pegged for guaranteed renewal (you guys know all this, of course), the promising progression of the casting and storylines… and I was CONVINCED it would all be fine. 

Well. That showed me.

But the thing that hurts the most is all the incredible people that are suddenly out of a job. Renewal is never guaranteed. That’s a harsh fact of the business. But the writers, the creatives, the cast, the crew… they deserved so much better than a last minute cancellation. Of course, we don’t know the full story yet (if ever) but it seems very much like absolutely everyone was blindsided. No matter how you spin it, that’s pretty fucking disgusting behaviour from CBS. It’s heartbreaking. Especially given the unique pressures and circumstances for this particular show.

And just look at what they managed to pull off. The sacking of an abusive showrunner, hiring a whole host of new writiers, squeezing and piecing together stories from half-finished seasons and episodes into something coherent DURING A FUCKING PANDEMIC. In the end, Monica Macer only got to head up 8 episodes. Eight. They deserve better. 

You only have to read my thoughts for the previous couple of episodes to know how I was gearing up to love the next era for Macgyver. I truly believe that under Monica Macer the show could have found some epic new ground. A female showrunner? Trans characters? A genuinely diverse cast? Women of colour taking charge? ALL the ingredients were there for something special. And following on from a cut-down season 4 and 5, this just feels like a kick in the teeth. Nevermind that it has consistently good ratings, that it’s no1 in it’s timeslot (again, you all know this. Sorry guys, I’m just ranting…). And who the hell needs yet another fucking CSI?! 

Then there’s the lawsuit. I had no idea. A friend told me about it and I had little look into it. It seems to me that this has been an ongoing legal battle since 2018. The fact that it’s been gaining traction in the media only recently is… interesting. From everything I’ve read, CBS seem to think that the plaintiffs have no case. But it also appears that fighting it has been costing them money for a while. 

I see the trending tweets and the petition (signed <3 of course!!) and the sad insta posts and the paperclips being sent to CBS… and it makes me happy to see so many people fighting TOGETHER to try and save this. And I fully support it.

I’m new here. I’ve been writing Macgyver fanfic for like, five minutes. And yet it has become very important to me. For whatever reason, these characters inspire me and it has emboldened me to know that they inspire so many of you too. I have these stories in me and I promise you that I will finish them. I think we can all agree that we need these stories, these creative outlets, now more than ever. So I promise to keep writing, creating and supporting others, as I’m sure you all will too. 

I’ve learned my lesson. I will be managing my expectations very carefully for the future. Complications between CBS, Paramount, Zolotoff and Arlita make this a very long, very twisted financial and legal road...

But just know that whatever happens, these characters and the people who love them will remain. We ain’t going nowhere, dudes. <3

Thank you for letting me get all that off my chest! Phew!! x

[ginger-snaps014]

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Because I am trying to actually post my art again. Also I need to stop watching dc shows since this is getting out of hand.

Enjoy my random OC I created after rewatching young Justice and Titans. In whatever multiverse she lives in, Greyson is still robin but older (think junior/senior in high school pre-fallout with Batman). And most members of the team are young justice versions. She is a scholarship student at Gotham Academy and is roommates with the daughter of a former ambassador’s to bealya who does not like talking about her mum (spoiler not Queen Bee).

Personality: sarcastic with trust issues galore; she tend to lean into anger and humor as a defense. Despite her parentage (presumably because she never knew her parents), she has a strong moral code despite being able to quickly befriend villains. She likes to call out the hero’s when they are being self righteous picks (especially if she is saving their butts or saving an innocent). Prickly, but overall good.

Episode one: Diamonds are not a Girls Best Friend.

Opening- one year ago

You meet Gwen in school being harassed for her scholarship status and bored as hell. Use this scene to establish personality. Next meet her bubbly roommate who starts talking about being jealous of the Wayne Scholarship dinner that will be held at the Manor, clothing etc. makes Gwen borrow a nice dress because otherwise Gwen would go in casual black jeans (which is all wrong for a cocktail event per the roommate).

Next major scene is in the limo with the other scholarship kids (only 1-3 per grade). Easter egg with atriums. Alfred and Greyson greet the kids at the door, and Greyson leads the group in a tour of the manor. During the tour near the entryway, they pass a large jewel that perfectly matches Gwen’s eyes and seems to slightly glow. Close up of Gwens schooled face looking like she saw a ghost. She asking dick about the gem as if disinterested and asking why it was in the Manor. Dick explaining someone had stole it last year from local gallery, and that Batman had just recently recovered it and handed it over to the gallery’s owner. Who in turn asked Bruce, an old friend, to secure it while the gallery’s security is being upgraded. Next scene is a vaguely uncomfortable dinner scene where Bruce has to leave within 5 minutes of being introduced to the group. He tells Dick to stay. While leaving Gwen realizes she left her phone at the table and leaves the limo to retrieve. She stares again at the jewel and tells herself “it is a coincidence.” She grabs her phone. The limo has already left. Dick finds her at the door and seems annoyed (and like he is in a rush). They call a cab and wait awkwardly in the entryway. Suddenly the windows burst. Smoke bombs and knockout gas are thrown in side. Blurry men in full tactical gear bust in as Gwen collapses. When she wakes up she tried up in a chair next to dick (also tied up and seemingly unconscious though a few panels will show his eyes partially open). Gwen struggles only to hear a familiar laugh. “Isn’t life funny, last we were all together,” motions to himself and and the stone (still in its glass case though the other masked men are trying to break in), “I killed you”. She looks up with disgust. “Missed you too sweetie”. The man lifts up his mask to reveal a teenage boy. And Gwen spits at him. Fun dialog show that they at least dated and she had something to do with the original theft. They finally get the stone and start to leave. “Oh right. lose ends” he aims a gun at her and it clicks. The barrel was empty. Laughing to himself the leader then tells one of the other men to get her up. Smiling. She is coming with us. One of the masked men speak. He sounds older and more mature. “That is an unnecessary risk. Leave her or kill her.” The leader throws a tantrum yelling that he hired the men. “Just shut up and do what you are fucking told”. Gwen has her hands tried behind her back and is forced up the stairs to the roof. She looks over her shoulder at Dick who looks asleep and cooperates.

Next Panel in the background his chair is empty. Gwen is on the roof watching a helicopter come closer. Suddenly one of the men is pulled backwards into the dark. Traditional Batman style fight with henchmen. Only the leader remains. He pulls Gwen to him and holds a knife to her throat. “Come any closer, you fucker, and I kill her!” Gwen smiles. “I’d like to see to see you try.” Suddenly she stomps on leader’s foot, and spins away unscathed. Notably, in the struggle the knife slashed Gwen but there was no blood, only blue sparks. She stands before the leader, her dress cut across the middle (clearly showing her skin … with no cuts). Leader pulls out a gun and Robin’s voice emerges from the shadows telling his to drop the gun… and likely making a joke. The leader starts firing at the shadows. We heard robin curse as if hit. Gwen jumps in and says his fight is with her. She walks slowly towards him and he fires repeatedly. The bullets bounce off with a flash of blue light. Her eyes are glowing. “You!!” He screams “It chose you!!” Gwen clocks him across the face and the leader collapses to the ground. She turns over her shoulder to ask the boy in the shadows if he is ok. He comes out. Intrigued. His leg is bleeding but he promises it was only a graze. She looks down at her dress. “Well this sucks.” Jokes about dry cleaners and coverups. Gwen mentions the Wayne ward passed out inside. And sees her cab coming towards the house. Thanks robin and jumps off the roof. We see her land and walk towards the cab.

Next scene is her getting a package early in the morning with a new dress the perfectly matches her roommates and her phone. And a joking note from robin. She see dick in a nearby classroom and asks how he is doing. He says fine but is clearly in pain. She can see some blood seeping through his pant’s leg where robin had been grazed. She says nothing. And the las scene just says “now. “ Showing robin and Gwen soaring on a roof.

Sad Origin or Juliet should have just Stayed Home: (Notably all covered in one issue as background info to avoid romanticizing pain and trauma) first thing to notice in the first panel. Gwen has brown eyes instead of the normal eerie blue). She thinks she is an orphan being raised by a loving aunt, only to have her home blown up by faulty gas lines (spoilers was not the gas lines). She ends up in the Narrows living in a group home with a hot boy (he is the leader that tried to steal the gem in the earlier episode). She is alone, without a safety net and traumatized. He starts dating her. And is a manipulative and emotionally abusive asshole. He tells her the mob has his missing birth father and will kill him if he does not get a certain stone (that just happens to be on display as of that morning in her dead AU ants gallery). The gem had been brought over by an anonymous buyer who what deemed in breach of the purchase agreement and lot rights to the gem. The aunt’s co-owner/ girlfriend had reviewed the jewel and set it up as displayed in the old 15th century painting, weird writing and all. While stealing the gem, Gwen cuts her hand as her boyfriend fucks around and reads the weird script. This accidentally starts an old ritual. After a clean get away, the boyfriend kisses her and pushes off a roof to her death. She accidentally grabs the gem while grabbing for something to safe her life. She wakes up two days later on the street where her body had landed after the fall, with blood stains in her clothing from nonexistent injuries. She feels strange and disconnected from her past as if looking at her entire history through water. She assumes it is shocks and sneaks back into the group home. She uses her aunts oversized jacket hide the blood. Her roommate try’s to get Gwen to fess up where she has been thinking it was a romantic runway. Gwen turns to go to the restroom and roommate says she likes the new contact lenses. Gwen looks up and realizes that her brown eyes have turned an unnatural blue. last panel "what the hell"

Bullet point of storyline notes:

The Halloween special issue. “Never Trust a Cat.” Gwen has her noticing Dicks Gymnastics and being forced by her roommate to go to a Halloween party. She dresses up as a cat. Roommate is kidnapped by guys in tactical gear and has something injected into her. Gwen runs after and with Dick’s help saves the roommate. Only to realize she has been injected with some neurotoxin that slowly makes her susceptible to suggestion that the JL has recently learned about. Obviously created by the light. He says the antidote is in the bat cave and he will take care of the roommate. “If you think I’m leaving her side, Dick Greyson, you are dumber than you look.” Dick tries to deflect. Gwen says fine. He awkwardly holds the roommate while racing through the street on his bike. He looks over his shoulder at Gwen who has not moved. A blue flash is in the sky. He goes through the waterfall. And administers the cure. Suddenly from behind “so this is what the bat cave looks like…. I’ll be honest. I did no expect the giant penny.”Gwen is floating in cloud of blue light that dissipates as she lands.

Batman started avoiding Gwen after only a few sessions

In the same episodes she learns her mother is alive and abandoned her for a life of crime, she learns that her aunt faked her death and left. Apparently, the aunt killed some guy that had been hitting her. He was part of the mob. “It’s not safe for you” crap.

Finds out mum is alive after seeing a picture of cat woman on the bat computer. Turns out Batman had only even given her the maybe scholarship after learning he could be her dad. He grew distant when he learned who was the dad. Oh the abandon meant issues and trust issues I mentioned above.

Turns out robin knew about her parents and had been lying to her for over year. He is also the only person to know her secret so she feel especially betrayed. Needless to say the budding relationship is crushed after their first kiss. She is pissed.

Mum is cat woman. Who had an unwanted pregnancy and gave birth under a fake name. She faked her death in a car accident. And never appeared to look back.

Gwens auburn hair is from her dads side of the family. That’s right cat woman and lex hate fucked after a successful mission. Lex doesn’t know about Gwen.

When Gwen learns who her father is and that Batman and robin have known since testing her DNA (without her consent) a few weeks after meeting her. She is pissed. So she gets drunk underage. Kidnapped by none other than her ex. He had hired Icicle Jr. to guard her. She just wants to avoid the bats at all costs and know she is off the grid. So she spends the next few hours joking with Jr and bonding.robin breaks in. As other henchmen are being beat up, Gwen asks jr if he wants to make a deal. Give me a place off the grid to crash and I will get you out of here. Screams. Jr shrugs and says the money wasn’t that good anyway. Gwen blasts the ceiling creating a hole and grabs jr to fly out. They crash at one of his hideouts and get take out. At some point a group of his friends (probably Easter eggs) come to try to get Jr to come partying. A little bit later. Gwen is at a club in central city with a bunch of villains and having the time of her life. She is flirting with one of the guys that came to Jr’s. And jr is dancing with his own man (is apparently gay in this universe go with it). Gwen is joking and being extremely vague about her “co-workers”. Suddenly green arrow and Artemis crash the party. Artemis says to put down the shot glass. Gwen stays she is just drinking and to chill (she is dealing with some shit and may not be perfectly sober). Artemis fires an arrow that breaks the glass. Small fight and Jr drags Gwen out. They arrive at the apartment laughing. A panel showing days of the week and then hanging out (video games, baseball, etc. just friend shit). Later the same friends at before some over with Jrs new man. They are all hanging out when the others start talking shop. Namely Batman has been captured and will be killed on live tv. They are laughing at how the hero’s won’t find him despite him being just a few bloating away. Gwen excuses herself. And leaves a note to jr thanking and apologizing to jr. she saves Batman. Fight scene. And tells him to never contact her again. It’s snowing when she leaves.

One of the Episodes right after robins betrayal. “Let’s Get Ready to Rumble”. Bus of kids with Gwen on it gets highjacked. Before highjacked, see a football player ruin gwens chem book. The kidnappers make their demands and decide to wait it out at there boss’s place…. Which also happens to host an illegal fighting league. The men joke that they will make someone fight. If you win the whole ransom amount we will let you go. Gwen volunteers. The men laugh. A football player volunteers and gather his friends money to place the bet. He gets knocked out in record time. The b Gwen worked on her school projects volunteers her money up so long as it gwen in the ring. The rules are simple. Step out of the ring, you lose. Get knocked out, you lose. Die, you lose. Gwen first fight is against a larger guy who comes swinging. She dodges and trips him. He lands out of the ring. She wins without throwing a punch. She sees lex in the box. She wins several rounds of increased difficulty. This includes a two on one and blockbuster. Gwen next fight is against bizaro.When he is flying she asks if that counts after stepping out of the ring. No, you have to touch the ground. Gwen does not want people to see her powers. Instead she tumble and flip jumps off the ring tops to reach the lowing rafters. She proceeds to fight and dodge bizaro before jumping on mercy greaves shoulders and asking Lexi if he could spare what he had hidden in his ring. Curious and intrigued he gives her the sliver of kryptonite, which she slide under Bizaro’s skin when she tackles his form. He collapsed in the ring. Comedic scene of her dragging her out of the ring slowly since he is so heavy but technically still awake. She removes the kryptonite as soon as his hand touches the ground outside the ring. It’s the final fight. Makes a joke how she has definitely repaid the ransoms after this this. At this point the kidnappers are impressed and joking with her. She jokes about chem book. They promise to give her 300 bucks for a new one if she beats the next guy. A cage comes down on the ring. A guy smaller than most she has fought is tried up with a hood covering his face. Kids wonder what monster could be worse than Bizaro. The announcer starts going on about this interloper trying to shut the fights down. It’s robin duh. Gwen turns to the kidnappers. “I’m supposed to fight robin. Fun” robin is half to see Gwen and tells her they just need to fake the fight for bit since KG and his other new teammate are there. Gwen says not a problem and punch the lying sidekick across the face and into the bars. She makes a cryptic joke how this will be over In a flash. Just give her five minutes. Cue fight. Robin is good at dodging. But gwen is coming for him. Crowd comments that she seems way more into this fight. Robin ends up tied up and hanging from the top of the cage like a Christmas turkey with one shoulder dislocated (but nothing permanent). He struggles and Gwen asks if he was looking for these. And pulls out his batarangs. Chaos occurs as the young hero’s make their move. An arrow is fired but Gwen blocks it with a batarang saying she still has 20 seconds on the clock. She waits as she counts down then jumps out of the ring as KF comes up. “What they hell” Gwen smirks. “We both know he deserved worse. After I didn’t cause any permanent damage.” She starts walking away. “By the way, don’t worry about taking me home with other hostages. I will find my own ride.” See her ride off on a bike. Artemis walks over to KF “isn’t that Robin’s bike”. “Yep”. Next scene Gwen in bat cave returning the bike when Alfred walks in. “I did not expect to see you here again for a while.” “I needed to return something after all. I’m not a thief.” Alfred looks at the bike and notices some stu wires. He raises an eyebrow. “You found the trackers” Gwen smiles “so will robin. I left them in some interesting places”. Alfred asks if she needs a ride home. She says she fine and has a few errands to run. A chem book to buy” “ miss Kyle, I believe most book stores will be closed at this hour.”

[cosmic-affinities]

First line game- WIPs

I saw this thing where you post the first line of all of your WIPs and I decided to expose myself and the sheer amount of WIPs I have, its mainly Bakudeku but I do have a few Drarry ones as well. If any of my shitty descriptions excite you drop a comment and it will get bumped up on my list of what to finish first (I won’t be posting any of the bkdk ones until the first one on this list is finished being uploaded, I have a promise to a friend that I must uphold) 

Along with that if you see the ones that have ‘(working title)’ next to them and you have a better idea for the title leave it in the comments! I give them all working titles so I dont have to click through a bunch of stuff named ‘Untitled Document’ on my docs.

Last thing, I’m posting this as a sort of accountability along with the ‘game’ so I will try to update this as each of these gets finished, if you are interested in being a beta for any of these feel free to send me a chat or post it in the comments (some of them are already beta-ed so I may or may not need another)

1) Fantasy Meets Reality- Bakudeku on AO3 “Midoriya! Bro, open up!”Izuku woke with a start, there was a voice outside his door and he was too tired to recognise it.“Izuku, what’s going on? Why aren’t you opening the door?” A second voice called out.To prevent any further yelling and knocking Izuku stumbled out of bed to his door and opened it, he did not expect to see Kit and Kirishima waiting on the other side.

This is the start of chapter three (Chapter one and two are already posted!) A quick run down, this fic has the bakugou from the fantasy AU (the end screen of the stain arc) come into the real world, i named him Kit to differentiate him from Kacchan. Basically Kit comes into the regular world and Kacchan has to see him and Deku interact!

2) Know Him Well (working title)- Bakudeku

“Dunce face, don’t you understand the concept of personal fucking space? Take a damn step back, you're basically slobbering on the damn nerd.” Katsuki pulled lightly at Kaminari’s collar, silently pulling him away from Izuku.

This is going to be a oneshot get together fic that shows how well Katsuki and Izuku know each other. Basically senarios present themselves to our main idiots where the rest of class A slowly realises that these two know each other surprisingly well, including mutual pining and some medling from their respective squads.

3) A Week (working title)- Bakudeku  A week.

Katsuki told Izuku how he felt and then ignored his existence for a week.

He kissed Izuku and decided to act as if it never happened.

This is a one shot based on a twitter thread I read that did not end the way i wanted it to so I asked permission to rewrite with a happy ending and they allowed me to. It is an angsty get together fic with lots of underlying and internalised homophobia and fear of what getting together could mean for our two aspiring pro heroes. Erasermic is a reassuring presence and a slight plot device.

4) Truth (working title)- Bakudeku  “Hey be careful there! You don’t want to fall over!” Izuku chuckled at the child he was holding onto, at least some good came out of his detour through the park.

“Oh my goodness sir! Are you ok?” A worried woman rushed over, seemingly more worried about the green haired stranger rather than the small child.

This is a one shot in which Izuku gets hit with a truth quirk and has to stop himself from being too forthcoming with everything he says. Get together fic that will hopefully give you second hand embarassment.

5) Izuku Withdrawl- Bakudeku 

“In addition to your normal schedule this week, you will also be paired up with someone from this class to work with a support course student to update some of your gear. This is as much an assignment for you as it is for the support course, when you become a prohero you will need to be able to communicate what types of upgrades you want for your costumes, if you can’t you will be stuck in broken or subpar gear which will only hinder you in fights. You will find your partner from your class and the support student you will be working with posted in the common area of your dorm and outside this classroom, now class is dismissed.”

This is a oneshot in which the pair get (purposely) hit with a quirk that makes it incredibly painful for them to touch, Bakugou plays it off as if it would not be a problem until they find out how often they truly casually touch. The quirk will wear off in (reportedly) 3-4 days and by the end everyone is noticing the increasingly irritable Bakugou snapping at everyone who dares to bring it up and the increasingly hurt Midoriya (makes more sense withing the confines of the fic) and get together that is truly painful for everyone involved.

6) The Frenchman and the Parselmouth- Drarry

 “Draco, darling, come help me with the laundry!” A voice echoed throughout the big house.

This is a multichapter eighth year drarry fic in which the two are roommates who create a tentative friendship until one morning Harry hears Draco speaking french (as you probably guessed from the title lol) and has a gay panic. The ensuing gay panic leads Harry to enlist the help of his favorite professor Remus Lupin (who also happens to be with his god father because fuck canon Wolfstar is alive and happy together) to try and figure out his own feelings and how to make them obvious to Draco. I really love this story and it will definitely be finished eventually but it needs so so much work because it started as a convoluted headcanon and then one major scene in the begining was changed (actually is in the process of being changed) and so it needs quite a bit of TLC before it is anywhere near ready to post. Let me know if this (shitty) description excites you and maybe it will get bumped up on my list of what gets finished first.

7) Loathing.... Right?-Drarry(with a hefty side of pansmione and blairon) on AO3

Draco woke slowly, later than normal, he and Pansy had stayed up a while longer, he wanted to avoid seeing Potter for as long as possible. As his eyes adjusted to the light in the room, Draco looked around, his eyes landed on Potter’s sleeping form, for a moment he allowed himself to indulge and raked his eyes over the fit body asleep across the room. He knew he shouldn’t be allowing this to happen, but Draco couldn’t help himself, this is the only time he let himself feel so strongly. The only time he let hope sink in, when Potter was unconscious and serene, unaware of the brooding next to him.

This is the begining of chapter four as the first three chapters are already up on AO3. This fic is (another) eighth year Drarry fic in which they are roommates, roughly based on the song ‘What is This Feeling’ from Wicked (mostly in the first three chapters tbh, if you listen to the song you’ll get why it doesn’t last for the entire fic) This fic has the golden trio paired up with the slytherin trio as dormmates and they all come to terms with their surprisingly more than friendly feelings towards their respective roommates, defintely focused mainly on Drarry but you still get quite a bit of the other two ships as well, I’m working hard on chapter four but I’m having a bit of a block at the moment 

[langdons-rep]

Playthings - Part Six (Michael Langdon x Dark!Witch reader x Duncan Shepherd)

Pt. 1 | Pt. 2 | Pt. 3 | Pt. 4 | Pt. 5

Plot: you and Michael arrive at Outpost 3 and have the pleasure of getting to know the infamous Duncan Shepherd. 

Warnings: michael x reader intercourse, oral sex (reader receiving), face sitting, dirty talk, spanking, michael touches himself lol

a little note: ok first of all, i deeply apologize for the long wait i put you through 🤧 i don’t really like this chapter as it can come off as a bit boring but i feel like it’s needed, in order to understand better the dynamic between the three. and last but not least, THANK YOU for following up this story and putting up with me despite my slow updates. i promise i’ll do better! also, i’ve waited to post this on my birhtday because i’m that extra. but anyways, hope you enjoy this chapter and please tell me what you think of it, i love hearing your thoughts and opinions! 💛

“What happened last night must remain between the three of us. Also, I hope you know that just because we had a sexual intercourse it doesn’t mean that you have a secured place at the Sanctuary. You’re still on the same level as everyone else here.” You say while sitting in front of Duncan with Michael listening carefully beside you. The brunette pinches the bridge of his nose, a smug grin taking over his features. “Sexual intercourse? Baby girl, I fucked your brains out.” He chuckles as Michael tightens the grip on your thigh. You roll your eyes, “That was a one time thing. It didn’t mean anything.” Duncan’s mocking smile grows wider, “What a shame. I thought we could have some more fun together.” You raise your eyebrows, considering his words, “You thought wrong.” “Really, Y/N?” He asks with his ever present grin, and you hate to admit how much you enjoy hearing your name rolling off his tongue. “Really, Duncan.” You confirm as you place your hand over Michael’s. Duncan’s eyes follow the movement, watching how his smile dies down at the act while yours grows out of satisfaction. “Are you two together?” He asks brazenly. Even though you and Michael expected such questions, you can't help but exchange an awkard look. “We’re just friends.” You say in unison, trying to sound as impassive as you can. Duncan cackles, “Just friends? Is that what you call it?” He darts his tongue out to wet his lips before continuing. “Does that makes us just friends too?” His eyes are gleaming with mischief and you have to fight against the biggest urge to slap him. “You can leave now", you say quickly, earning an averse look from Michael. Duncan leans his back on the chair and crosses one leg over the other, purposely making himself even more comfortable. “Already?” He teases with a grin while his hands rest on his muscular thighs. “Why don’t you let me ask you a few more questions before I leave?” You furrow your brows, “We won’t allow you to do that.” “No.” Michael interrupts sharply, making you look at him with a confused expression, “Let him. I want to hear them.” You turn to Duncan, whom of course is smiling triumphantly, and then back to Michael. “Are you…are you sure?” You inquire, still not knowing what he’s aiming to. It’s in moments like this that you wish you had his mind-reading ability. Michael shrugs nonchalantly, “Why not?” “Guess I’m winning here, princess.” Duncan speaks, making you focus your stare on him. Before you can say anything back, he talks again. “What are you exactly?” You bite your lip at his question, turning to face Michael who’s still looking at Duncan. “She’s a witch, but you already knew it.” The blond gets that for you, making your breath hitch; Duncan doesn’t flinch one bit at the revelation as his expression turns into a serious one. He turns to Michael, “Do you have powers too?” His lips curve upward at the question, “I do.” You can basically see Duncan’s gears working together as he knits his eyebrows, “Are you a warlock?” Michael snickers, “Not quite.” You suck your teeth as you look over him. He’s not going to tell him he’s the Antichrist, right? “I’m the Antichrist.” Oh shit. Duncan’s mouth parts slightly, his brows are furrowed as he looks between you two. “That’s a joke, right?” His question is followed by an uneasy laugh, but Michael is dead serious. Your chest heavies up and down as you wait for your best friend to answer; Michael senses your sudden anxiety and squeezes your hand, tangling your fingers together. Duncan gazes at him, looking for any sign of lie, and then Michael’s voice brings him out of his daze.

“Are you scared?” The brunette blinks a few times before abruptly standing up from the chair. He starts pacing back and forth, Michael watches him with a satisfied grin while you remain silent, a strange perturbation worms its way into your stomach as you can’t imagine what Michael’s revelation will lead to. “How is that possible?” Duncan talks to himself with his arms stretched wide. “You are telling me that Rosemary’s baby sucked my fucking dick?” He keeps rambling and the shock in his eyes is evident. Michael is the only composed person in the room, "Apparently." Duncan stops his pacing to look at him, “Why did you tell me?” You cross you arms, “Yeah Michael, why?” What the fuck is he trying to prove? He smiles at you, then stands up. “He wanted answers and I provided them.” He just says as he slowly circles around the desk, his fingers gently running over the wooden surface; Michael faces Duncan with his hands clasped around his back. One thing you learned about the youngest Shepherd is that he doesn’t back away, no matter how unsettling the situation is. That’s why he doesn’t falter one bit under the Antichrist’s intense stare. “You’re not going to tell anything Duncan, are you?” “Excuse me? You’re the fucking Antichrist, now I know for sure you didn’t come here to save—” It happens quick and fast: the whole room turns dark and a bone-crashing cold engulfs your body, and a moment later you see Duncan falling on the floor: Michael had just showed him his demon face and you knew for a fact that wasn’t exactly the prettiest picture. You frown as you immediately rise from your chair, going up to the two men. “Michael, what the fuck are you doing?” Coming to Duncan Shepherd’s defense is the last thing you want to do, but it felt necessary at this point. “I wanted to give him a warning, my dear.” You look over Duncan who’s still on the floor; his mouth agape and eyes blown with shock. “Are you okay?” You can tell Duncan’s taken aback by your unexpected concern as he watches you with a confused stare, “I am.” You point your index at him as you mentally cast a spell on the brunette, the magic in your veins passes through your finger until it's flowing out. Duncan is enveloped by a warm energy that helps him get up from the floor, his slight pains from the fall suddenly vanished. You nervously bite your lip as you realize you just made a gesture of care for Duncan Shepherd. “Thank you.” He says, his voice filled with surprise. You don't reply, and then Michael breaks the silence once again. “I like you, Duncan Shepherd.” He states, inching closer to Duncan to let his hand run through his messy mop of curls. He fixes it, pushing it off his face as it was before he scared him off. “So selfish, so rough, so fearless", his knuckles brush on Duncan’s cheek, “I think you’d be perfect to our cause.” Duncan’s eyes widen, “What cause are we talking about here?”? “Michael, care to explain what the fuck are you saying?” You angrily ask, shrinking from the way he’s leaving you out of this. “Y/N, he’s perfect for the new world we are building. He’s everything we are searching for.” Michael’s eyes are sparkling with euphoria, meanwhile yours are blurred by an intense confusion. “I wasn’t aware that we were searching for arrogant assholes who have more money than self respect.” This wasn’t your plan. Duncan Shepherd was not supposed to be a part of your plan. You and Michael came here to do your duty: proclaiming yourselves as the saviors the inhabitants were waiting for, killing them one by one and then leave. Yes, you had sex with him, some fucking amazing sex indeed, but that cannot be a justification to keep him. Though you have to admit, the thought of killing Duncan Shepherd both excited and saddened you. You wanted nothing more than to slit his throat and be the one that makes him exhale his last breath, but on the other hand, you can still feel him between your legs and secretly long for that connection at least one more time. Duncan chides in, “You fucking bitch.“ “You both stop.” Michael says in a firm, deep tone, making you both look at him. “You’ll be coming with us to the Sanctuary. Do not talk about our decision with anyone or we won’t hesitate to kill you on the spot. Act like you don’t know us. This is all we’re asking for.” The Antichrist announces, leading your mouth to fall open. “We? Why are you talking like I’m ok with this?” You raise your voice as Duncan contemplates his words. Michael ignores you as he awaits for the brunette’s approval. “Let’s say that I agree to this. That I’m willing to come with you. What’s your plan? You talked about a cause. What is it about? And what do I gain from it?” Of course someone like Duncan Shepherd won’t do a thing unless it benefits him. Michael grins charmingly, “All you need to know is that we need people, the right people, to rebuild the new world. What you’re gaining from it is power, and there’s nothing you love more than that, right? Even more than money. You are a leader, Duncan Shepherd. And most importantly, you are no Saint. You don’t even believe in God, but you believed me the second I told you who I was. You believe in evil, in the art of manipulation. You are just like us.” Michael blurts out, still holding Duncan’s stunned gaze. You shake your head in disfavour, catching the brunette’s attention who seems to be the only one acknowledging your presence. He towers over you, a satisfied grin growing over his features. “Have something to say, princess?” You flash him a raging stare the moment he brings one hand to your face, pushing a strand of hair behind your ear. You take his palm off of you and then look over Michael, “I don’t agree with this.” Michael scoots closer until he’s standing beside you, “Deep down you do”, he states, making Duncan chuckle. “Deep down, uh?” The brunette grabs your chin to make you look at him as his other arm wraps around the small of your back to press you against his body. You watch him with a heavy breathing as he leans into you and takes your bottom lip between his teeth, pulling hard and then letting go. Michael hums lowly at the sight, leading Duncan to focus back on him. “I’m in.” - It’s been a week since Michael asked Duncan to take part in your plan. And it’s been a week since he agreed to it. During the whole time, you watched the two grow closer and closer while you stayed behind, still skeptical about Duncan’s role in this. Michael told him everything: The Cooperative, the witches, even his beloved Ms. Mead, and you clearly remember how the Antichrist fought back his tears on the last topic; as mad as you were, you know how delicate that one is for him, and you couldn’t just stand there listening. So, on that day, you put your rage in a corner and took place beside him, running a hand through his blond locks before leaning down to press a gentle kiss on his cheek. Duncan was watching you intently and...was it jealousy what he felt? No, of course not. Not that he cared, he tried to convince himself, but why couldn’t you be like that with him too? He exhaled loudly before turning his gaze back on Michael, trying to archive those no-sense feelings. The Antichrist told him about the poisoned apples plan as well, and on that day you purposely made a joke about how you thought that Duncan should take a bite from one of them just to see if they’re deadly enough; you clearly remember how the brunette responded to your taunt by slamming you against the wall, promising that he’ll punish you for real for running your mouth like that. You recall using your magic to push him off of you, blurting a sincere “fuck off” before leaving him alone with Michael. That was your last interaction with Duncan as you made it your first priority to be as far away from him as possible, since Michael is doing the exact opposite. The Antichrist's fondness over the brunette is what really throws you off, he's completely fascinated and entranced by him; you can’t deny the pang of jealousy washing over you whenever you’d realize how comfortable he had grown in such little time with Duncan. Not even a week ago he was cringing at you, screaming and almost choking you to death for proposing a threesome with Duncan Shepherd, and now he's head over fucking heels for the rich republican. Your resentment only increased whenever you walked in on Michael sucking Duncan off, and even though they asked you to join on more than one occasion, you always refused; your pride was stronger than your lust. Michael tried to get intimate with you every night for the whole week. Just the two of you alone, like it was before he came along, late at night when Duncan would sleep in his room and Michael would sneak into yours. You turned him down each time, telling him “to go to Duncan instead” and he would stay silent at your answer. He knew you needed time to process this, just like he knew how mad you were knowing that he took decisions without consulting you first; but Michael would have never proposed it if he didn’t perceive that you would eventually be okay with it. He’s the Antichrist, after all, and he can read right through people; he knows you like the back of his hand and he’s well aware of the fact that you just need to get adjusted to the new situation. Just like he's sure that underneath those nasty glares you give to Duncan every once in a while, you are secretly thrilled by the idea of having him engaged in your cause. Michael, however, couldn’t hush up anymore. “Y/N.” He calls you once he lays on your bed, your back facing him. No answer, but he knew you weren’t sleeping. “We need to talk.” He plops on one elbow as he stretches his other hand forward, his fingers gently stroking your arm up and down. He feels your skin shivering and that’s when he realizes how much he missed you; he leaves a tender kiss on your bare shoulder as he inhales the sweet honey scent of your hair. “You know I won’t ever replace you, right?” He whispers in your ear, wrapping his arm around your stomach. You sigh, and he leaves another kiss on your cheek. “You are my person, nothing will ever change that.” He mutters, making your lips quirk up slightly. You turn on your back, finally facing him, “I know. And you know that’s the same for me.” You brush off a few locks falling off his face and he smiles at you, leaning down to leave a peck on your lips. “He likes you more than he will ever admit.” Michael confesses, and you know he’s referring to Duncan. You roll your eyes, being fed up of the usual "Duncan this, Duncan that" talk. Michael's lips trail on your neck, biting and licking their way down, "You two are so much alike", he comments, and you shudder at the way his raspy-voiced words vibrate on your skin. You laugh through soft whimpers, “Please, we are really not.” Michael slides the straps of your nightgown down as he leaves languid kisses on your newly exposed shoulders, “You are.” You don't answer, his mouth is making you feel so good that you can't bother to think about the brunette, even if he's the topic of the conversation once again. Michael suddenly stops and levels his face up with yours, “Duncan and I had sex.” “Oh, really? I thought he was doing a check at your tonsils the moment I walked in on him having his cock down your throat.” You say with a sarcastic smile, earning a roll of his beautiful blue eyes. His thumb strokes your cheek, “It was good, but something was missing.” You furrow your brows as he continues, “You were missing. I could feel it in Duncan’s thoughts how much he wanted you to be there. And I felt the same way. It’s not the same without you”, he admits. “How cute.” You quip with a sigh. “I mean it.” He insists, an earnest look plastered over his face. You buff out, looking everywhere but him, acting like a petulant child who just doesn't want to listen. “You are the one who wanted him first.” Michael reminds you, but there’s no taunting in his tone. His gentleness, though, doesn’t stop you from giving him a dirty look. 

“That was one time, Michael.” “You still want him", his tone is decisive, "You just won’t allow yourself to admit that.” “Yeah, and so what? Are we just going to let him come with us to the Sanctuary, let him rule the new world with us, and then we buy a house and live happily ever after all three of us together?” He grins widely, “Why not?” You furiously blink your eyes at him as your mouth falls agape. Are your ears hearing correctly? “Do you think this is fucking High School Musical, Michael?” He snorts, “You’re always too dramatic.” “I’m just being realistic.” He leans down on your face, “He craves you just as much as I do”, he says before locking your lips with his own. His right hand gropes your breast through the thin dress and you arch your back as he climbs on top of you. “And I know you crave him just as much as you crave me.” You feel his smile on your mouth, his hand slides down your body, his digits lightly grazing on your clothed core. “We need him.” He says before sucking a mark on your collarbone as his fingers slip past your underwear. You roll your eyes, “More like, you need his cock.” “Don’t you too, baby girl?” His rhetorical question takes you off guard as his breath fans over your face. You feel him rubbing circles on your clit, “I fucking missed this”, he groans as his head dips down; his hands spread your legs apart and you shiver when you feel him licking a long stripe on your still covered cunt. You buck your hips up, “Fuck, Michael.” “Always so sensitive.” He points out, flashing you a bright smile. He kisses your clit through your underwear and you feel your panties wettening from Michael’s teasing licks and your own arousal. His thumb slowly rubs you up and down as he starts to cover your inner thighs with lazy kisses, his teeth occasionally sinking down on your skin in an almost animalistic way. You bite your mouth as you watch him finally pulling your underwear down, leading him to lick his lips at the sight. “Such a pretty pussy.” Michael lewdly remarks as his hot breath hits your heat; his fingers spread apart your folds, his tongue instantly tasting you with a long, slow lick, until his lips close around your clit and eagerly suck on it. You just can’t control your moans when he’s eating you out like this. Michael is very skilled with his mouth, as he is with anything he does, and your thoughts instantly go to Duncan; you think about his face scrunched up in pleasure whenever you walked in on Michael giving him a blowjob, how blissful he probably felt, just like you right now. The Antichrist grins at your thoughts before plunging his tongue deep inside you, his eyes intensely locked on your face. You squirm on the bed as he starts to tongue-fuck you, driving him to hold your hips down on the mattress. “Tastes so fucking sweet.” He whispers before dipping two long fingers inside your heat, “Duncan would fucking love it.” Of course he’d bring him in. "Can you shut up about him? Just for once?" Your voice is weak and thick with desire as Michael looks up at you with a simper, his mouth glistening with your arousal. He presses kisses up your stomach, on your still covered breasts, before his face comes in your view. His hand wraps around your throat as his lips nibble your ear, "Why don't you shut me up with that sweet cunt of yours?" You bite your mouth and before you can reply, his lust-filled voice steps in again. "Sit on my face." A cocky grin is plastered over his face as you moan at his command, pushing on his chest and rolling on his waist instead. You hold the the edges of your night attire in one hand while Michael's impatient ones grip your hips in a vice-like hold, his rings digging into your skin as he encourages you to straddle him further. He slides his arms around your hips as you lower your soaked core on his awaiting tongue, the Antichrist instantly closes his eyes as he deeply savours you with slow, long licks. Your hands tangle in his hair, pull it at the roots, and he moans at the act; the sound earning a firm, careful grind of your hips on his face. You throw your head back as his palm comes down on your ass. "That's it", he says through muffled grunts, "Grind on my fucking tongue." You start rocking your hips back and forth while Michael's slaps multiply by the second, the stinging sensation only adding more to the pleasure. He's grunting and panting against your cunt, one hand leaves your hip to trail down his stomach and palm his hard cock through his trousers. You turn your head back to follow his motion, "Are you touching yourself for me, babe?" Michael moans at your words, his tongue juts in and out of your entrance as obscene slurping sounds fill the room, his name leaving your mouth in loud and needy whimpers. Michael's greedy lips suck on your clit while your hands flatten on the wall ahead, your orgasm building up by the second; you look down at him, taking in the sight of the Antichrist lapping up your juices with his eyes closed, feasting on your cunt like it’s the last thing he’ll ever do. With one last cry out, you let go of your release as an overwhelming bliss takes over your body, your cunt pressing and fervidly grinding on Michael's hungry mouth. "That's it, cum all over my mouth", he whimpers, "give me a proper taste of yourself." He licks up everything you have to give, not letting you get off of him until he's sure he collected every drop of your sweet release. By the time you lay beside him, your legs feel numb and shaky, and you are fighting hard to regain your breath. It's always like this when Michael eats you out. He cups your face, his lips are on you again as you taste yourself on his tongue. You moan out, "I missed you." Michael looks at you with longing eyes and his lips curve upward at your confession. "I missed you too, pet."

Taglist: @ritualmichael @queencocoakimmie @sammythankyou @langdonsdemon @langdonscody @lovelykhaleesiii @duncvn @satansapostle @heyworld07 @tickled--pinkmoodpoisoning-deac @gerkatherine @pink----matter @xtheinevitableprophecyx @avesatanormalpeoplescareme @lustforfern @stupidocupido @1-800-bitchcraft @chocolateandhorror 

[1-1snailxd-art]

Libraries are for Meetings

Master List ----- Chapter 5 

Chapter 6 - The art of living in a library

Warnings: there is some threats/blackmail made towards Virgil

Summary:  Despite the unusual evening, Virgil's morning is very routine as he continues his life as normal. Logan and Patton, on the other hand, are finding out what it is like to be separated from your closest friend when you need them the most. (Lots of Royality and platonic Logicality energy)

Note: reading on mobile can remove the paragraphing. Use desktop site or visit my Ao3 page if it bothers you as much as it bothers me.

EDIT: Art by @the-pastel-peach has been added to this chapter. Pass your appreciation to them. Please don’t repost the art anywhere (with or without credit). If you want to share the art, reblog this post.

______________________________

Virgil’s alarm sounded at 4am, the screen barely lighting the reading area as he opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling.

“Do correct me if I am wrong, but I think you are in a dark place too, Virgil.”

Sitting up, he ran his fingers through his oily hair as Logan’s voice replayed in his mind.

“Should you need a guide to find your path again, I would be happy to provide the service.”

 Groaning, Virgil finally silenced his alarm and set about his morning routine. Boil water. Pack up makeshift bed into duffel. Make coffee and instant noodles (beggars can’t be choosers). Use kitchen sink to wash hair and face, before moving on to the small bathroom for a half-arsed attempt at bathing (a washcloth and baby wipes proved effective between Virgil’s stints at a motel).

 He had just finished tidying the kitchen when his next alarm sounded for 5am. Grabbing his duffel and backpack, Virgil disarmed the alarm before setting it to rearm as he left. His duffel was heavier today as he walked in the morning breeze to the laundromat. Routines like these helped Virgil immensely; they made him feel normal, despite his circumstances. Not to mention, the laundromat was a warm sheltered place he could work in until the hour became more reasonable.

 *************

 The apartment was too quiet when Logan’s alarm went off. To say he woke up would be an insult, as he barely managed to get a wink of sleep all night. The apartment felt cold and empty as he shuffled out to the kitchen in his dressing gown and placed a cup under the coffee maker. Normally, at this time, music would be flooding the apartment and Patton would be heard singing from the bathroom while Logan prepared breakfast prior to going out jogging. Without Patton, Logan couldn’t bring himself to turn on the stereo, cook his usual breakfast or even jog. Had he not been so sleep deprived, Logan might have realised how mentally unhealthy his choices were; but sitting at the table with a cup of black coffee and buttered toast, he was just a shell of his normal self.

 Despite the change in routine, Logan still managed to get himself ready for the day and was about to leave for work when his phone chimed in his pocket. Seeing Patton’s name and face on the lit screen left Logan feeling confused overall. Yes, he missed having his friend around, but seeing his face reignited his frustration. It was the perfect form of emotional torture, and Logan took his time walking to his car as he considered how to respond to Patton’s message.

  *************

 On the other side of town, Patton was waking up in Roman’s arms. It was different. His last boyfriend had been too rigid for Patton’s liking, and waking up with Roman was different to the more platonic bed sharing he had had with Logan and Jason.

In that moment, Roman had one arm carefully laid across Patton’s middle and the other  was tucked neatly under his pillow. Patton could feel his breath against the back of his head, soft and rhythmic. Though he was comfortable and happy, Patton could still feel the ache in his heart for Logan and he questioned how his friend was doing.

 Carefully reaching out to the side table, Patton slid his phone and glasses down next to him and adjusted the phones brightness settings before angling it toward his face.

No new messages

Nibbling at his bottom lip, Patton looked at the time and considered whether to message Logan or leave him alone. As time ticked on, he finally built up the courage to send a message.

 Pats: morning Logan.

Pats: im sorry again for yesterday.

Pats: I hope you slept ok.

LogieBear: *seen*

 Patton held his breath as he watched the ellipsis appear and disappear with no new messages coming through. Roman stirred behind him, yawning and releasing his partner as he combed his fingers through his hair.

“Morning P.B.”

Propping himself up, Roman could see the screen that held Patton’s attention. Anger started to bubble in his gut as the seconds dragged on. He was just about to grab the phone when messages finally started coming through, and Patton’s body relaxed against him again.

 LogieBear: morning Patton. Thank you for your message and apology. As I said yesterday, I forgive you.

LogieBear: but I would still like some space today if possible.

 Roman lent forward, pulling Patton closer towards his chest; fearing he was about to see Patton break again.

 LogieBear: Do not forget to eat today. Take care of yourself. I love you.

 To Roman’s relief, Patton giggled and quickly typed a response.

 Pats: I 💜 you too

LogieBear: Have a good day Patton (and Roman)

 “Oh, pass me the phone.”

Roman reached around to take the phone from Patton’s hands, using the other hand to pull the hood of the onesie over Patton’s head.

“Ha-ha-Hey,” Patton giggled, “what are you do-oo-ing?”

“Just letting Logan know what he is missing out on.”

Roman quickly snapped a picture of the pair; Patton peeking out from his hood and Roman pulling his usual selfie face with his tussled hair. Yanking the hood down over Patton’s eyes again, Roman sent the photo and a message for Logan.

 Pats: *image sent* 

(art by @the-pastel-peach - Please don’t repost)

Pats: luv ya specs

 As Patton finally escaped Roman’s arms and hood, he grabbed at his phone and groaned.

“You are such a tease, Roman.”

The phone chimed as Logan’s reply came through and Patton hid his phone.

“What did he say? Come on P.B, share with the class.” Roman rolled onto his back, pulling Patton down so his head was laying on his chest.

 LogieBear: I will be sure to provide you with this when I see you next, Roman. Clearly you require it.

LogieBear: *image sent*

 Patton held his phone with his finger on the lock button as Roman took in the image of Logan with the book ‘Talking for Dummies’ in front of half of his face. 

“Oh no-“ Patton quickly locked his phone as Roman reached out for it; now laughing hysterically. “Why does he even have that in his car?”

“We-we fff-ff-found it,” Patton was struggling to speak through his laughter. “For y-oooo.”

“Oh, is that how it is, is it?”

Roman grabbed Patton, tickling his sides and causing his laughter to increase in volume.

 Katie started bashing on the door as the two continued their childish game.

“Would you two keep it down or cut it out! The third party is uncomfortable.”

“Get your mind out of the gutter, it’s PG in here!” Roman called back.

“Oh, well if that is the case,” The door swung open and Katie threw two white paper bags at the pair. “Breakfast is served.”

“Thank you, Katie!” Patton beamed as he sat up and peered at the pastry inside the bag.

“Gotta make sure my boys eat.” The smile dropped from Katie’s face suddenly, as she fixed Roman with a stern look and pointed finger. “You need to get your butt into gear today. You have class in an hour and work at 12. Don’t. Be. Late. I’m not covering for you again, got it?”

Roman nodded, pastry already in his mouth, “-ot it.”

“And you are cooking dinner tonight, Roman; no takeout.” 

“I’ll make sure he gets everything done. You can count on me, Kaaaatieeee.”

Katie smiled at Patton’s attempt to rhyme. “Thanks, Patty Bear. Hopefully your influence will rub off on Roman eventually.”

“Not if my influence rubs off on him first,” Roman joked, rubbing his shoulder against Patton.

“Ew. Mind. Gutter. I’m out.” Katie turned to leave, “catch you later, boys.”

“Bye Katie!”

“Later bitch- I mean witch.” Patton gave Roman a disapproving look and elbowed his side. “I mean I love yooou…happy?”

“Very,” He kissed Roman’s cheek before climbing out of the bed and heading for the bathroom.

 Roman lent over to his other side table and grabbed his phone to find a new message from Logan.

 Specs: thank you for helping Patton through this. I know the timing isn’t great.

Princey: don’t stress over it, Logan. Take all the time you need. We’re ok.

Specs: thank you Roman. I will see you soon enough.

Princey: C ya

Specs: 🤦

 Roman shook his head; regretting the day he showed Logan the face palm emoji. To that day, it was the only emoji they could get the man to use on a regular basis. He knew how much the other hated text speech and took great joy in ensuring their messaged conversations had some form of grammar or spelling error. He didn’t have a chance to continue to mock the other, as Patton came back in and held his arms out.

“Time to get up, my prince. I promised the queen you wouldn’t be late today.”

“Ah, yes,” Roman accepted Patton’s hands and climbed out of bed, “and we wouldn’t want to upset the queen of hearts or it would be off with our heads.”

Patton giggled and graced Roman with a gentle kiss on his lips; pulling away when Roman started to embrace him. “Get ready for class now, Roman.”

“Awwwww,” He whined, pouting and dropping his arms dramatically.

“If you are going to get greedy, I might have to sleep in the spare bed next time.” Roman crossed his arms and continued to pout. “Off you go, kiddo.”

Roman played up his childish behaviour as he grabbed his clothes and headed into the bathroom to shower. Patton glanced around the room, still in the onesie. Once he heard the shower turn on, he set to work tidying the room and found some of Roman’s clothes that he could borrow for the morning.

  *************

  The sun was warm against Virgil’s freshly washed hoodie, as he laid on the grass in the park; duffel acting as a perfect pillow for him to lay on. It wasn’t often that the weather was right for moments of bliss like this, and Virgil wasn’t one to miss an opportunity to get reacquainted with vitamin D. Unfortunately, his moment of reprieve was short lived as his phone chimed with alerts.

 Email - funds successfully transferred from acc629 to …

Email - Account Alert: available balance below $50…

New message - Ben: Hey Asshole, your 20 short o…

 ‘There goes my day.’ Virgil thought, sitting up and pulling his notebook out of his backpack.

Logging in to the banking app on his phone, Virgil started assessing his limited money flow. His pay from the library was the only constant influx of funds he had, and he had it carefully split to save towards paying his phone bill and  paying Ben and his aunt. Any money he made from repairs, was also split between those three goals and he got whatever was left.

Carefully analysing his notes, he knew money was tighter that fortnight, but he was certain that the correct amount had been sent to Ben.

 Ben: Hey Asshole, your 20 short on your payment. Pay up

Virgil: I just checked my accounts and everything looks fine on my end.

Ben: you forgot about interest bitch

Virgil: that wasn’t part of our original agreement

Ben: I changed my mind

Virgil: you can’t do that. That’s not fair.

Ben: I don’t give a shit about fair. You should have thought about that before you punched me.

Virgil: I can’t afford an extra $20. I’m barely surviving as it is.

Ben: not my problem, unless you need me to come and have a chat at that little library of yours.

 Virgil’s blood chilled at the thought. He wasn’t sure of Ben’s full intentions. Was he implying that he would tell Katie who he was? Would he come and damage the library? Would he hurt Katie?

It wasn’t worth the risk and he watched his tiny $30 drop to $15 as he transferred some money to Ben.

 Virgil: that’s all I can do right now. Give me a day or so and I’ll send you the other 5.

Ben: you better.

 $15 wasn’t an ideal, amount at all. The $30 was going to be hard enough, but he could have at least had one day in the comfort and safety of a $10 motel without worry. $15 would barely get him extra food, or even extra supplies to fix anything. Not to mention none of his former ‘friends’ had responded to his requests to stay over for at least a night. That left his options for the weekend as either, use the library or spend it on the streets.

With those thoughts in his mind,  Virgil packed up and left the park. He had a new daily plan in mind; drop duffel off at library, revisit local businesses to check on work availability, return to the library to test his gaming system rebuild. While he walked, Virgil searched all the University social pages to see if anyone was seeking computer support. All social anxieties had to be pushed aside; he didn’t have the luxury of dwelling on things like that now.

  *************

 Logan sat at the pet store counter, scribbling notes as he completed his reading assignment for the day. He had finished restocking the shelves 15 minutes prior and wasn’t in the mood for organising anymore of the store. The sound of the doors sliding open had him quickly shutting his books and putting on his best customer service face. He didn’t need it though as Roman appeared at the counter.

“Looking good, Roman ,” he grinned as the other approached in a stained subway uniform.

“Hilarious,” he held out a bag, “want a sandwich? Or 3?”

“What’s wrong with them,” his question was all in jest; Logan knew Roman wasn’t the sort to pull harmful pranks. He gladly pulled out a sandwich though, as Roman hoisted himself up to sit on the counter.

“So, get this, I added the wrong slices of tomato to one, the other had too much lettuce, and - and- the final one,” Roman was holding his arms out like it was the most dramatic thing that had ever happened to him. “She asked for olives, then suddenly remembered she didn’t like our olives, and I couldn’t just pick them off because they had already ‘tainted’ her sandwich.”

Logan smirked as Roman sighed and started to eat. “Sounds like it was a busy day for a poor, misunderstood, sandwich artist.”

“Take pity on me, Logan. The world is unforgiving and will never understand me.”

Logan rolled his eyes as Roman bent over backwards and draped his arm across his forehead.

“I don’t even understand you.”

“My point exactly,” sitting up, Roman readjusted himself on the counter so he could eat more easily. “So, what is happening?”

“I’m eating a sandwich with a drama queen, while I wait for my shift to end.”

“Wow, I couldn’t see that with my own eyes. Seriously, spill.”

 Logan sighed and put his sandwich down, wiping his hands on a napkin.

“Virgil is working on saving more of my files, I’m looking at getting a second-hand laptop, and Julie is making a cake for the anniversary.”

“Nice dark ending there,” Roman softened as he looked at Logan, “I was ignoring that invitation, too.”

“I understand why she wants to do it, but I…” Logan screwed up his face as he tried to find the right words, “I’m not sure I’m ready to turn the anniversary into some weird … party of sorts.”

“Yeah, but I don’t think it’s going to be all cake and karaoke. I’m pretty sure Julie just wants everyone to come together again.”

“I guess…I can see your reasoning. You are much smarter than you look, Roman.”

“I’m not sure if that was meant to be an insult, but I’m going to take that as a compliment.”

 The store doors slid open and Roman quickly jumped off the counter as customers entered. Logan wrapped up his sandwich, and Roman quickly did the same.

“I should get this one to Patton, he’s been avoiding food again.”

Logan paused and looked sadly at the ground as he stepped around the counter, “I hadn’t noticed. I guess I’m probably not helping either.”

“Don’t worry about it, Logan.” Roman roughly pulled Logan into a hug; Logan keeping his hands down by his sides. “Just, don’t forget to take care of yourself. All jokes aside, I care about you too.”

Squeezing his eyes shut to suppress tears, Logan returned the hug. “Same to you, Roman. Same to you.”

 Separating, Roman headed out the door with his bag of sandwiches while Logan headed over to check on the customers in the store. The pair were only just beginning to explore the boundaries of their friendship; especially since he and Patton had started officially dating. Not that Logan cared to admit it, but Roman was maturing from the brat of a boy he had first met six years ago.

  *************

  Katie strode over to Virgil's self-proclaimed office, using the master keycard to gain entry, and found Virgil groaning with his forehead on the desk.

"Tough day," Katie enquired, causing Virgil to jolt upright in his chair.

"Jeez, Reels, way to scare a guy out of his skin."

"Well 'a guy' deserves it for ghosting my messages all day," Katie perched herself on the edge of the desk and looked down at Virgil with her arms folded across her chest. "Where's my recap on the evenings events?"

"Why don't you ask, Logan." Virgil grumbled, tapping a few keys on his keyboard to activate a new program, "he's your friend."

"Ouch. I thought we were friends too." Virgil shrugged and Katie shoved his shoulder, "don't be like that, Sparks. Come on. Talk to me. What's going on? What did that nerdy idiot do?"

 Sighing, Virgil lent back and ran his fingers thoughtfully through his hair.

"The, as you put it, 'nerdy idiot' did nothing wrong."

"So, what's with the sour puss look today then?"

Shaking his head, it took all of Virgil's self-control to not start crying on the spot. "I may have overreacted to something Logan said aaaand I'm kind of regretting it now. There. Happy?"

"Hardly."

"Gah!” Virgil threw his hands in the air, causing Katie to roll her eyes at the overly dramatic expression. “What else do you want? If you want a play by play, you're not getting it from me. Go talk to Logan."

"Why don't you?"

"Wha - I - you-" Katie smirked, raising a knowing brow as Virgil stumbled over his words. Virgil frowned as he took in Katie’s expression. "I hate you right now."

"Oh, I know." She mused, sliding off the desk. "Don't hide from everything, Virgil. You're right, I'm not going to get a play by play of last night, and nor do I want it."

"So, what is it that you want then?" Virgil was genuinely interested in Katie's response and couldn't hide the intrigue from his voice.

"Honestly, I want to see both of you stepping outside of your work zones. You spend so much time locked in here Virgil, and you wouldn't believe how hard it is to get Logan out of his study hole. It was nice to see my two workaholics’ go out into the wild."

"I can't see that becoming a regular thing, Reels." Lowering his head, Virgil tried to forget how nice it was to be out with Logan: despite his anxieties throughout the evening.

"Says who?" Virgil looked up to respond, but Katie cut him off. "It was your first time meeting each other, and honestly, it wasn't under the best circumstances. Don't let those first impressions be your only impressions. Take a chance, Virgil." Katie walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder, causing him to look up through his lengthy bangs. "I took a chance on you and I am yet to regret that decision."

"Fine."

A small smile pulled at Virgil’s cheeks as he realised just how highly Katie thought of him. The moment was short lived though, as he remembered he was abusing her trust.  

 "That's a good lad. So, what are you gonna do?" Suddenly sitting back on the desk, Katie propped  her chin up by resting her elbow on her knee.

"Well...um..." Virgil glanced around as he thought, eyes landing on a USB that ignited his memory. "I still haven’t returned the files I managed to salvage."

"Perfect," Katie exclaimed so loudly that Virgil jumped at the sound. "Now, you have some options for Thursday's. Logan doesn't have class on Thursday, so he works at the pet store from 8 until 1, then he would go to the labs and study, and then he usually heads to the university track field around 4."

"Jeez, stalker much." Virgil was slightly concerned with the fact that Katie had Logan's whole routine memorised.

Katie simply shrugged, "I keep tabs on where my boys are. When I don't..." Katie's expression saddened so fast, Virgil's heart skipped a beat. "...bad things happen." 

_______________________________

End Note

Soooo, I have to go back to work next week 😭 I got so much story planning done over the past 3 weeks. I'm going to miss having so much creative freedom. If things get slow, it's because work started badly (sorry in advance). If anything does happen, I'll be sure to put it on Tumblr.

Next time: Logan's nightmares. Does Virgil make a friend? More platonic logicality. Nice feelings, but dark thoughts.

EDIT: I do hope you enjoyed the art. It was a lot of fun to work with  the-pastel-peach to bring that scene to life.

UPDATE: again, please don’t repost the art by Peach. Reblog this post. Respect the artist and give her some love 💜🐌

_____________________________

Chapter 7   — Master List

What else have I done:

The Perfect Ring (oneshot - analogical proposal)

You Promised (oneshot - prinxiety angst/injury/near death)

Sides of a Hero (Completed Fic - sides are fusions of impulses and aspects of Thomas. Virgil has a depressing past that he is forced to face thanks to Deceit and Rage. Was canon compliant at the time of completion)

The Shield to your Sword (WIP - A fantasy/magic au - Prinxiety (Royal Roman and orphan Virgil - they’ll admit to their love eventually), Virgil angst, non binary, healer Logan, *spoiler* Patton) 

Check out my other blog for random fandom reblogs and stuff @snail-giggles

[pinkcurse]

Chapter 264, 265, 266 , and 226.5 Thoughts...a mini novel

Ok, I’m sorry, I’m sorry I haven’t posted my thoughts in a long time. Graduate school is a killer! Anyway, let's do this in order.

Chapter 264

1. Do any of us really believe that Kimiko is gone for good? Like seriously. I feel like with her it is a waiting game to when she comes back. The question is, will she be reformed or will she try to do something to hurt Kyoko again? My money is on vengeance. 

2. Kurisaki’s geeking out over Hiou’s grandpa is so adorable. I wonder if he will get a chance to meet him. Like if he comes on set to see how Kyoko is doing. The way he reacts to the fact that he didn’t hire Kanae makes me wonder if he suffers from the same illness that Kyoko suffers—wild delusions. 

3. I think the most important and intriguing thing from this chapter is WHAT IS THIS ROLE THAT KANAE FEELS UNABLE TO DO? Like seriously, what kind of role would she lack confidence in performing? She seems very confident. If I had to venture a guess, it would have to be something about being happy with a family situation like the one she has, to act contrary to her nature. Also, it’s in America. So, Kanae starts the excuse of our beloved characters to the U.S or maybe introduce Juli into the mix.

Chapter 265

1. So the bullying of Koga begins. I’m wondering where this goes. Does he become yet another Kyoko admirer or does he play some sort of role in FINALLY getting Ren and Kyoko together?  

2.”He’s just a toddler, toddling along.” I love this. It is soo true. Unfortunately for Kyoko...she is too. She thinks she understands love but she intentionally misunderstands that Ren is possessive of her. I would love SO MUCH for Kyoko to realize Ren’s feelings for her and call him out on it. Like she has already started to wake up to it with her conversation Kuon and why she shouldn’t have made the kiss promise with Kuon, but I question how many years we have to wait for it.

3. Ok, so Kyoko preserving the flower. I think all of her mementos from Ren are going to be sooo important at some point. Like Ren see’s getting to go into her room and seeing the bed for Princess Rosa, and the preserved the dandelion ring, and whatever place of honor Kyoko gives to her infinity points reward, and the corn stone sitting on a bed of sand from Guam. I hope that he sees this soon. Cause this will be the only thing, I think, that can make him realize Kyoko’s feelings.

4. BLEH SHO RUINS EVERYTHING. Not really, I think he is more of an instigator for Ren and Kyoko finally getting together. With Ren and Sho scheduled to show up at the same time... well, nothing good can come of this. Annnd... for all we know nothing good does come of it...

Chapter 266

1. Once again BLEH SHO RUINS EVERYTHING! I think we could all safely say that we saw Ren finding out Sho was there coming from about 200 miles away. I think as long as this incident wakes Ren up and gets his butt in gear then it isn’t too bad. 

2. Ok, Kyoko and Sho seemed really cute together right there, but I think if we saw Kyoko’s side of the conversation it probably wasn’t as cute and playful as it appeared to Ren and Yashiro. Remember Kyoko is a great actress so she might have been doing what she felt was needed to get Sho out of there ASAP. 

3. I kind of hate that he seems mad. But is he mad at her or himself? I don’t think he can be mad at her. I hope he realizes that and hopefully, they are able to have a decent conversation on the way to the studio. 

4. POOR YASHIRO! He tried soooo hard and he has to put up with grumpy Ren all day. Maybe he is the one who encourages Ren that Kyoko's interactions with Sho indicate that her heart is healed and that NOW IS YOUR MOMENT! GO FOR IT! HONESTLY, though.. I want Bo to be the one to encourage him cause... I just do. If not Bo, then I want to see Ren reach out to his parents and get advice from them. I can’t help but think we might see Julie soon, with all the little Kuon pictures we’ve been getting. I think Julie is going to be important to Kyoko’s growth. Kuu taught Kyoko how to live in her acting and truly love her roles, while I think Julie will teach Kyoko confidence in herself, and show her it’s possible to have a loving healthy relationship without sacrificing herself. 

5. Lastly, THAT LAST PAGE! Can that get any more ominous? With the Chapter title not even till then—Unexpected Results: One Day Earlier. So we are getting closer but the only thing I don’t expect is a confession, but it is the thing I am hoping for the most. I am just hoping they don’t have like an angsty time where they are separated and all depressed and angry at each other. The comment about the end of peaceful times, I think is a red herring (hoping?). I think if Ren does confess, Kyoko would definitely not be peaceful, mostly because she doesn't see herself as worthy of him. She isn’t even a possibility in her own mind. This is why we need Julie to save the day...or someone...anyone... help them...please.

Chapter 266.5

ZOMG WE GOT LIKE ALMOST A WHOLE FRICKEN CHAPTER SIDE STORY AND ITS GREAT!!!! 

Ok so storyline, timing wise this chapter is in two different places. The first page says the event happens a bit before chapter 266. However, it is only chapter 265 where Tashio is trying to remember what he locked away in the vault and chapter 266 is the next day. So, he had to have given her the letter that evening. If that's the case I can see why Kyoko didn’t open it immediately, she might have been worried about angry Ren, but she also was probably too busy worrying about Sho’s arrival the next day. 

So timing wise when Kyoko does open the letter, and based on Kanae’s comments, I think she doesn’t open it until after the Unexpected Results day... But Ren seemed OK... not like I would expect him to look if Ren and Kyoko had a falling out. 

Kanae does conclude that Ren must have dropped some sort of declaration bomb on Kyoko that caused Kyoko’s reaction to Ren. Soooo this gives me some hope for the unexpected result being Ren mans up and starts pursuing her seriously. 

All this being said this makes Kanae’s behavior during the Lotus and the Mire auditions strange. When Kyoko tells Kanae about “Amaya’s” feeling that Ren is in love with Kimiko, Kanae just kind of rolls with that idea, agreeing with Kyoko. We don’t even get a funny look from her to Kyoko. She has suspected Ren’s feelings from the beginning so why would she even entertain the idea that Ren is in love with someone other than Kyoko? The only thing I can figure is she saw through Kyoko’s lie and realized it was Kyoko’s feelings she was talking about. However, Kanae doesn’t indicate during this side story that she suspects Kyoko of having feelings toward Ren. I just find it interesting and inconsistent.

I am looking forward to eventually seeing Kanae call Ren out. Maybe it will be Kanae who gets our two idiots together....

This side story did bring out another inconsistency in the story as well...When Kyoko and Ren meet in the president’s office on white day Ren straight up tells Yashiro that he didn’t get her anything yet, but those tickets were sent the day before white day. Why lie about that? I don’t think Yashiro would have really teased him as much, maybe just said that it was a good idea that Kyoko would like the tickets. 

Ok here is a question for you my friends. Were you as equally disappointed with this white day gift as I was? Like, I kind of thought that when we did get one it might be theme park tickets (cause Skip Beat! hasn’t done that Shojo manga trope yet) buttttt I want her to go with Ren...or better yet...with Korn. 

What are your thoughts?

[commenter2]

Avengers: Endgame alternate plot

MAJOR SPOILERS for Avengers: Endgame.

So I finally saw Avengers: Endgame a while ago and it was awesome, a great movie to wrap up 10 years worth of movies. But it could have been a bit better in my opinion.

Besides some minor things like a not so great Professor Hulk and the 5 years later timeskip the whole time heist thing didn’t feel like the right way to end phase 3 of the MCU in my opinion, one reason was cause it was the MCU’s first attempt at time travel in the series and though it slightly works it still seemed dumb to use something never used or focused on in the series as the main focus during the epic finale against Thanos.

Another was the rules of time travel, not only were there shortly reviewed but also a bit confusing, I mean its hard to think that some actions done by the heroes in the past won’t change the present in some way, yet it does and though admittedly they do try and prevent things changing too much you can’t excuse some big examples especially near the end of the film like past Thanos and his army dying in the present (and I think past Gamora gets stuck in the future). Hopefully they will try and explain/fix this in phase 4 but only time will tell, in fact it looks like the upcoming Spider-Man movie might be the first to start explaining this.

Because of this, and for fun, I made an alternate plot for the movie that I think would have been just as good as Endgame.

The movie opens with Thanos enjoying his simple farmer life but before he can eat his breakfast he falls over in pain as the infinity gauntlet glows and when he comes to he looks at it and is shocked and angry, though we don’t see what happened.

After the opening credits, the movie cuts to Ant Man still calling for help in the quantum zone, where as predicted in Ant Man and Wasp he gets pulled into a time vortex that has the same color and symbols as the time stone where he and the audience see scenes from Infinity Wars till he finally stops and then gets sucked into a more detailed sling ring (with odd symbols and runes). He ends up in Wakanda where Thor and Thanos are fighting, and after watching Thanos do the snap and open a portal, Ant Man snaps out of it and takes action, punching Thanos before he can enter the portal unlike in Infinity War.

After a brief introduction, Thor and Ant-Man work together to fight Thanos who is desperate to get off Earth, and during the fight Ant-Man takes off 3 stones from the infinity gauntlet, maybe the, space, time, and reality stones. Thanos still escapes to places unknown thanks to one of his men’s ship where we then get a small aftermath of the heroes regrouping, Captain Marvel, Iron Man, and Nebula returning to Earth and the others including Ant Man realizing people are fading out of existence.

The movie then cuts to a few weeks or months later (as the 5 years later thing was a bit annoying to me, maybe if it was 1 year I would have been ok with it) where after helping the world after the snap maybe using the infinity stones on some occasions, and after a smaller version of the recap featuring things like Iron Man exploring/explaining how Ant Man got to Wakanda through a means of time travel, Captain Marvel protect Earth from invaders, Thor becoming a bit depress on his failures, and Clint going a bit crazy after the loss of his family but doesn’t become a crazed killer, the Avengers reunite to talk about what to do next.

During the meeting not only do they agree that Ant-Man getting the 3 stones was part of Dr. Strange’s plan but that they need to use them to chase down Thanos in order to acquire the gauntlet and his stones to reverse the damage to the universe. This results in the gang including Hawkeye going on a space adventure to do so. Maybe Captain Marvel decides not to go in order to keep the peace on other planets, cause its hard to write her into the movie more.

After possibly a small confrontation with space pirates or something resulting in the heroes working together with old and new friends in space, they find Thanos who just had that episode I mentioned at the beginning of this post and a big fight occurs where we see sever heroes use there infinity stone to counter Thanos’s own infinity stones.

Something like this would have been awesome to see in Endgame as not only did nothing like this ever happen in any of the other movies but it be a cool reference to an comic event I discovered with a similar plot that came out a few years ago.

However during the fight someone, maybe Thor as a way to make amends for his failures, tries to use several stones at once without the proper gear to harness there powers to stop Thanos but fails, resulting in not only Thanos escaping again with his 3 stones but also sends several Avengers through space, time, and reality where we get several interesting plot lines/moments similar to that of the movie.

· Iron Man has some time with his father before his death by Bucky.

· Capt. America gets closure with Peggy and gives her that promised dance.

· Thor goes back to the place and time in Ragnarok where he lost his hammer and past Dr. Strange uses the time stone to not only fix it (bringing it back to the present with him) but Thor also get some advice on how to deal with his failure of stopping Thanos from his father (who maybe returns in ghost form like in Ragnarok). Maybe Strange also gets a heads up of what to do when Thanos arrives resulting in his Ant-Man plan. This also would be a cool callback to that scene for HISHE: Thor Ragnarok.

· Bruce ends up on a deadly planet where before it seems like he is about to die from the wildlife, he makes peace with the Hulk resulting in them becoming one being, where its hulks body at full strength (cause the one in endgame seemed weaker to me) with Banner’s brain though maybe regular hulk takes over from time or reverts back to Banner human body from to time as again the one in the movie didn’t show any of the Hulk we grew to know for 10 years.

· Hawkeye and Black Widow maybe end up in alternated reality also filled with deadly wildlife and similar to Endgame, Widow sacrifices herself so Hawkeye can see his family, but maybe does so while in a big battle against that reality’s life forms.

Either way they all come back to where the other Avengers are and after some time mourning Widow’s death, continue there search.

They eventually find Thanos again, who has built a makeshift fortress (maybe on Titan ?) using his gauntlet and remaining forces that weren’t on earth, maybe he used the soul stone to bring back his dead generals or putting there souls in similar bodies (thereby giving them more screen time but also showing more of the Soul stones power which wasn’t used much in Infinity War and Endgame) and we get the same battle from Endgame with some changes like at some point Hulk get the gauntlet from Thanos in a fight and after combining the last 3 stones, uses the complete gauntlet to finally bring back everyone that was lost in the snap, including Gamora (who maybe has amnesia ?) and like the movie, the lost heroes charge into battle to aid the other heroes fight against Thanos and his forces.

Then like in Endgame the heroes need to get rid of the gauntlet and in order to do that, they come up with the plan on Ant Man going through the quantum realm to hid the stones in the future however the gauntlet is nowhere near the van, and agreeing with Nando v Movies (a youtuber I recommend seeing if you like Marvel or DC movies) Nebula this time runs it to him while getting support from the other female heroes from the MCU. Of course Thanos getting the gauntlet back but like the film, a mortally wounded Iron Man sneakily gets the stones and uses them to snap Thanos and his forces away, maybe fix some things caused by the stones during there adventure like returning moons back to there proper orbit or turning people back to there normal ages. Everyone cheers but this is short as Iron Man dies from his wounds and using the gauntlet.

We then get a similar ending where everyone appears at Tony’s funeral maybe we see a pregnant Pepper there to, and get iconic scenes like Thor not only give Valkyrie Stormbreaker, making her king/queen in the process but also joins the Guardians in order to help them find not only new hiding places for some of the infinity stones but also find Gamora who fled the battle after the fight and Steve gives Sam his shield saying he’s going into retirement, though hinting that he will return to duty if needed.

Would you have liked Avengers Endgame more if the plot was like this ? What other changers would you have made to the movie’s plot ?

[hoeassproductions]

Break A Leg: Chapter 6

Masterlist

A/N: Disclaimer, this is a work of fiction. I do not own, possess, or have any links to Chris Evans, nor do I profit off of this work. Any claims otherwise are grossly misleading. This work is not to be posted anywhere else without my explicit permission.

If you would like to be added to the tag list, reply here or send me an ask. I’d be happy to add you! Happy reading!

Word Count: ~1,600

Self Preservation

Monday comes and goes. Chris and I only see each other in passing.  Which is probably for the better. Since Saturday when Hannah called me out for liking Chris, I feel like an already complicated situation got even worse.

Seems like our M O. Are you even surprised?

A few days pass and more of the same. Chris is busy with meetings with the other directors and I'm busy with the welcome distraction of making concept art for new costumes. It works in both of our favors.

Avoiding him won't make my feelings go away but a girl can damn sure try.

Eric and I are getting along phenomenally as usual. I ask to see his portfolio of work and he shows me props and costumes he’s helped with dating from before he started at this company 5 years ago. I can tell he’s very talented and i can stand to learn a thing or two from him. He will be a great asset to me for sure, and an even better work friend. We look over the designs I have so far and we agree that he can make a few adjustments before we send them to the head seamstress for approval.

Just after lunch on Thursday, I am able to find a few minutes of quiet by myself as I sit on the edge of the loading dock. The first time I’ve really taken a moment to myself since this week started. Listening to my music with one ear bud in and enjoying the sunshine caressing my skin, I get lost in the sway of the rhythm. I begin to do a little jig in my seat. 

Enjoying this moment of freedom doesn't last more than a few seconds when I begin to hear a loud, deep laugh from behind me. I turn around and catch a glimpse of Chris engaged in a full body hysterics as he tries to get words out.

“You just… you're really… “ he says between laughs, tears now brimming his eyes.

I begin to chuckle at the scene before me. “You alright over there?” I ask. After a few moments of continued laughter, I stand up and address the man who is beside himself in front of me. “Get it together, Evans.”

Chris stands up straight as he wipes the tears from his eyes. “Okay, I'm good. Sorry but man that dancing was something else. I was not expecting that. It was exactly what i needed.”

“Ha ha ha, I'll have you know that I'm an excellent dancer,” I say as I narrow my eyes at him.

Chris walks closer with his voice low, never breaking eye contact. He says “I'd like to see that.” With a mischievous glimmer in his eyes, he inches even closer now standing only a few inches in front of me. As I look into his eyes, I realize that the underlying huskiness in his voice indicates he’s thinking of something a little deeper than a few dance moves.

Words fail me and I can't think of anything else than standing here with him in this small moment of uncertainty .

As we continue looking into each other's eyes, a loud bang breaks us from our trance. Coming back to reality I realize the noise is from a truck being unloaded on the dock opposite from us. In an attempt to stifle my inner weirdness from finally coming face-to-face with him after realizing my feelings, I look at my watch and begin to turn to leave when he grabs me by the arm before I can make a clean getaway.

“Y/N, wait.” I slowly turn and raise my eyes to meet his. “It’s been such a busy week, I haven’t gotten a chance to really see you. Is everything OK? You seem… different. I can't put my finger on it.”

“I'm fine. Just adjusting to everything. It's all so new and I'm still settling in.”

He stays quiet, then whispers “Why don't I believe you?”

I stop dead in my tracks.

Damn it to shit.

I’m now slightly irritated, not ready for him to know anything, and i’m not prepared to accept it myself. Giving him any indication will only add more confusion. He can’t know. Not yet. I need this conversation to end. Now.

In an effort to brush off his comment, I overcompensate. “I don't know Chris. We've only just met. Maybe you don't know me as well as you like to think you do.” With his jaw now on the floor and myself in a pissy mood of my own making, I walk off.

For the rest of the week, we mostly avoid each other. Only acknowledging when necessary, which isn't too hard.

I have a quiet weekend at home without much going on. Zero distractions lead my mind to drift to Chris and how I treated him last we interacted. I felt instant regret the moment the words came out and I could see the hurt in his eyes before I turned away.

I know I fucked up. I got scared and took it out on him.

Laying in bed Sunday, I begin to think up an apology for hurting him when he’s really innocent in all of this. It's not his fault I've developed feelings and are managing them like a little bitch.

He doesn't need to know that though.

As I turn out the lights and settle into bed, my phone lights up on the nightstand. It's a text from Chris.

C: I know we haven't said much to each other as of late but I took my mom to that restaurant we went to. She loved the food so much she said it gave her family recipes a run for their money. Thank you.

I read and re-read this before I hit the dial button. He answers after the first ring.

“Hey-”

Before Chris can get much else out, I start my apology.

“I'm so sorry for how I treated you. I was a bitch and you didn't deserve that. I was frazzled and what you said caught me off guard. I just… it's hard for me to let people in and you’re you. It's not like you're some random nobody...you're a freaking movie star that actually cares about me and is my friend. In a general sense, and many others, you kind of scare me.”

“Y/N, why didn't you tell me? If I would have known, I could have helped. I'm not entirely thrilled about my celebrity status myself. I know it makes all of this, even just being...friends, more complicated. You know how many roles I've turned down or people I've avoided to try to have some semblance of a normal life? Trust me, it's a blessing and a curse but if there's one thing I've learned it’s that sometimes you have to lean into the fear. Trust someone is there to catch you.”

“That's what I'm afraid of,” I say just above a whisper.

“I didn't catch that. What did you say?”

“I said that makes sense. I'm sorry I'm not so easy to be friends with. Totally understand if you say ‘This bitch is crazy’ and want to call this friendship off.”

“Y/N, I promise you, you're worth it.”

After wiping a tear from my eye and composing myself, I ask Chris about his experience at the restaurant with his mom. We discuss how his meetings have been going and we talk for about an hour before saying our goodbyes. Laying my phone back on the nightstand I feel a weight has been lifted off my chest. I actually feel excited to see him tomorrow.

Don't kid yourself, you're a goner for sure.

Walking into work the next day, I feel lighter. Once I get into the shop, I find a covered plate on my desk with a note.

“Just a little something to start your day off right. I'm happy we cleared the air. Find me later.” - C.

I uncover the plate to find a big slice of banana cream pie topped with whipped cream.

How did he know? 

I eat half of the slice before I go to find Chris. After a 20 minute search I find him backstage talking to the stage manager. As they end their conversation, Chris’ eyes land on me. He stuffs his hands in his pockets as he walks towards me.

“Hey.”

“Hi” I reply with a smile on my face.

“I'm guessing you found your surprise” he says with a cheeky grin.

“Yes I did. I already ate half of it. How did you…?”

“Y/N, did you just get here?” Adam asks coming out of nowhere.

“Yes, why?”

“Where are your bags? We need to get them on the bus.”

“Adam, what are you talking about?”

“The two week all company/all staff annual retreat. It happens every year at the beginning of the season. We leave within the hour. No one told you?” He says.

“Clearly not. What do I do? I have nothing here.”

“You can ride with me” Chris pipes up. “I arranged to drive down later tonight because I have a few business things to attend to before I leave. If you go now, I can pick you up at your place around one.”

“Are you sure? It’s very last minute.”

“Yes, I’m sure. Now get your butt in gear!”

“Thank you, you're the best!” I say as I hug him.

“Great!” Adam says as he claps his hands together. “I'll let them know we are ready to go then. See you guys down there.”

Adam turns and walks from whence he came leaving Chris and I alone, and I realize that I willingly committed to that before thinking about the implications.

Fuck. Me. Why can't I catch a break?!

Previous Chapter

A/N: These two just can’t get it together! It’s always something! I know it’s been a bit since i posted. The holidays and whatnot, but i was feeling a little uninspired with all of the distractions. Anyways, let me know what you think! Thanks!

Tags: @star-spangled-man-with-a-plan @beccaheartschrisevans @avenger-nerd-mom @mycapt-ohcapt-writes @mad-for-marvel @vanillabeanlattes @captain-ariel-barnes @emilyevanston @thewife101cevans @loricameback @plussizeappreciationfics @a-tale-of-two-comics @melodramaticfanatic @writingcreatingstorytelling @kirstie-lotr @mywritingsblog @disney-fire-fox @harrinoodles @lookwhatyoumademequeue @janeyboo @aglarelen

[shinsukenaka80]

Request: Demon Shinsuke

Request: Demon Shinsuke

@shinnakafan384

“I hope you don't mind writing smut about Demon Shin? I thought since there isn't any about that particular Shin, I could get a request in for it.”

Warning: SMUT One Shot

Note: I wanted to put more into this story but I didn’t want to get too explicit or write too much where I couldn’t post so this is the final result, hope you guys like it!

I’ve been walking around the small arena for while, not really paying attention to my surroundings. I was just checking my social medias, I called my mom and sister, even went to munch on something from the catering room, just trying to find something to do.

I basically got kicked out of my boyfriend’s locker room,” Why do I need to leave? What are you up to?,” I questioned, confused.

“Because.”

“Because what? I don’t wanna leave!,” I said whining.

“Babe, please go. I have to get ready,” he said with a sigh.

“Really? I’ve seen you naked before, Shinsuke,” I said, putting my hands on my hips.

“Baby, go! Come back in a hour,” Shinsuke said, lightly pushing me to the door.

“Why do you need an hour to get ready?”

“Just go! I love you, bye,” he said kissing me then shutting the door in my face.

What the hell, I thought. He’s clearly up to something, he’s always up to something. He’s a weirdo, a creative one at that but he’s my creative weirdo and I love him.

I take a look at my watch for the 100th time, 5 mins until 1 hour later. I decided to head back. When I get there, I knocked first,” Can I come in now?,” I said through the door.

I got no response so I knocked again,” Shinsukeeeee hellooooooo”

Still no response so I let myself in. I opened the door slowly, everything was in the same place as they were before except his gear was gone and he’s nowhere to be seen.

“Shinsuke!,” I called louder. “Dude, I know you’re in here because you left your phone and you don’t go anywhere without it.,” I said seeing his phone lying next to the clothes he had on earlier before I left.

“Shin, come on!,” I said checking the bathroom. I looked behind the door, behind shower curtain and nothing. I walked back in the locker room and I heard him snicker.

“Wha-! Shinsuke, I can hear you, you know!,” I said chuckling myself.

It’s a decent sized locker room but there’s not many places to hide, especially for a 6 foot, 200 pound man. I heard him again. In the corner of my eye, I see the door to the room move. I mentally palm my face, how did I miss that spot?

Since he wants to play, I’ll just play along,” Ok fine, don’t show yourself. I’ll just leave then,” I said walking slowly towards the door.

Out of nowhere, the door slams shut and I’m greeted by a red and black painted devil-like Shinsuke scaring the shit out of me, and yes, I screamed. I ran away while he chased me around the room until I couldn’t breathe.

“Ok, ok, I surrender! White flag, I’m not in shape like you,” I said trying to breathe, making Shinsuke burst out laughing.

Then I got really good look of the painting,” Wow, is this what you were doing while I was gone?,” I said touching his chest, admiring the paint job on his body.

“Yeah, you like?,” Shinsuke asked examining the paint job himself.

“Very, kinda creepy and scary but sexy and badass. Similar to another demon I just so happen to know.,” I said smirking, referring to Demon Prince Devitt

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he smiled deviously.

“Well, either way, I hope you’re as dangerous as you look,” I said still smirking.

My comment caught his attention,” Is that right?,” he asked seductively, grabbing my hips.

“Oh yes, in fact, Demon Shinsuke is turning me on,” I said directly, pulling him closer to me.

Shinsuke moaned, grabbing my hair so I can look up at him,” Be careful, my love. Don’t start something you can’t finish.,” he warned quietly in my ear. I felt his hand grip my butt tightly while nibbling on my ear.

“Who said I wanted to finish?,” I moaned, making him pause.

He pulled from me to look at me. I put hand the painted left side of his face, tracing down his body slowly. It feels hot against my hand, it’s getting really hot in here. My skin started to get goosebumps as tension builded up, I’m getting impatient. He’s just standing there staring at me with intense eyes, waiting for me.

I grabbed his face and smashed my lips against his. He groaned in my mouth and pushed me onto the nearby couch, climbing in between legs.

Our make out didn’t slow down, it intensified even more actually. He kept pulling at shirt until I sat up and pulled it off. His kisses went from my lips to my neck to my collarbone to my chest. He lifted my bra so he could reach my breast. He began to lick and suck hard on my nipples. I moaned loudly as he devours my chest.

He decided to go lower and I looked down at him. I can see my chest being bright red, I don’t know if that’s from his mouth or the paint on his face but I don’t care.

Just as he started unbuttoning my pants, someone started banging on the door,”NAKAMURA, you got 10 minutes!”

I mentally cursed and rolled my eyes as Shinsuke cursed out loud. They banged on the door again,” I’m coming, I’m coming!,” Shinsuke yelled at the door. We heard the man walk away. Honestly, I felt disappointed and frustrated.

“Shinsuke, I can’t keep doing this!,” I yelled in my hands making my voice muffled.

“What are you talking about?,” he said chuckling.

I dropped my hands from my face,”I want sex, I need sex! I’m fucking sex deprived and I’m going crazy!”

“Sex deprived? We had sex last night and this morning, also a quickie around 2 this afternoon,” Shinsuke said shaking his head laughing.

I glared at him. Ok, I was dramatic but Shinsuke, Demon Shinsuke though!!!! UGH!

“Ok, get dressed so we can go,” he said patting my thigh before getting up. I sat up and grabbed his hand,” Promise me later, after your match, Demon Shinsuke is mine.”

He grabbed my face and looked me in the eye with the most vicious look,” I’m gonna take you through hell back,” he said before kissing me hard sucking on my bottom lip.

And I think I just melted, oh god!

[colinpluscamera]

I have actually fallen in love with your photography. Love the way you capture light!! Any tips for someone starting out with photography?

Aww, thanks! Absolutely, I’d love to help however I can.

Whether you’re brand-new to photography or just trying to get better, these are my 10 biggest photo tips!

If it seems daunting, don’t worry, it’s not a list everyone needs to run out and complete tomorrow – just a roadmap of things to think about as you learn.

1. The best camera is the one you have with you. 

Case in point: my Fuji street kit is so light I even bring it on business shoots, but I’d never bring my heavy Canon kit on a street shoot.

Whether that means a little portable camera or even just your phone, focus on learning the device you’re most-willing to bring places.

All the expensive equipment in the world is worthless if you don’t have it with you at the right moment… plus, the quality of the camera matters infinitely less than the eyes behind it.

2. There’s (almost) no such thing as taking too many frames.

During a recent fast-paced play, I took 4,032 photos. Seriously.

On average, whether shooting for myself or work, I take about 5-10 images for every *one* I choose in editing.

Countless variables benefit from numerous frames. Moments come and go, expressions change, settings can be improved or better compositions found, a dog walks by and the photo gets 100% better. Yes, shoot with intentionality, but never be afraid of overshooting as you learn.

3. Mess around constantly…

…because this was just a random long exposure from exiting an elevator, plus a little editing.

Experimenting with weird stuff is how you find techniques and options you didn’t notice before. Look at a scene you find interesting, and figure out how many ways you can inject another element into it. 

The options are limitless. Use an unusual POV or object in the foreground, keep it perfectly symmetrical or extra askew, drag the shutter or let everything silhouette… it trains you to picture how 3D space works in a 2D photo.

4. Look up tutorials/explanations of camera settings, and take a little time to learn what’s affected by a setting so you can control it.

Mastering the fundamentals is vital, and it’s never been easier to learn. Plus, they’re simpler than they seem, I promise!

Getting settings to the point of muscle memory is what lets you catch the quick moments you get one shot at, and troubleshoot situations when something isn’t working.

4. Get lower, higher, or closer… 

…but especially closer.

Practically any shot gets more interesting from one of those perspectives, even those not containing crazy birds.

And if a photo is best completely straight-on, commit to it – make it as precise and flat as possible. Attention to those details makes a composition feel balanced and intentional.

5. Editing is half (or more) of the craft, and is basically magic.

Just some basic image prep turns this… 

…into this. 

There are tons of free photo editing options these days, and a ridiculous number of learning resources available. If you find yourself getting serious one day, though, you can get Lightroom & Photoshop CC for just $10 a month.

It’s easy to overedit a shot, too, but it’s better to go a little far and learn a lot from it than to never try.

Editing can range from just enhancing an image to outright transforming it, so it also benefits greatly from experimentation. Go nuts!

6. Seek out the interesting light wherever you are. 

This applies to everything from practical portraits to street photography – contrasts are always engaging.

Whether you need gentle light to put subjects into or weird light to mess with, more light equals more possibilities. And speaking of light…

7. External flashes can be crazy affordable these days ($36 or less!), and make practical, dim situations like events infinitely better. 

Speaking as someone who uses high-end lighting equipment daily, you don’t need expensive gear and crazy technical skills to get some nice light in tough spots.

Buy a cheap flash and dome diffuser, slap ‘em on the camera, bounce the light into the ceiling when possible, and adjust the power up/down as you go. Google suggested camera settings to use with flash.

See? Doesn’t have to be scary and overly-technical! Don’t get me wrong, you can do way more with a $2000 5-light portrait setup, but while learning, one cheap flash into the ceiling will get you far.

9. Nature is nice, but also not very challenging. 

There’s nothing wrong with it, but you don’t learn a ton from taking photos of already-beautiful things in ambient light. 

Branching out from nature (pun unintended) is a good path to keep growing (pun doubly-unintended). Whatever it is you like to shoot, find circumstances and subjects that push you to make a difficult situation look great.

10. Nothing makes you improve more than consistently closing the loop. Shoot, review, edit, post, repeat.

Yup… that’s the actual number of photos I took last year.

Practicing or researching one aspect of photography is good, but you learn infinitely more by going through the whole process again and again. 

Getting to the point of “I’ve edited this as well as I can, time to post” means you’ve gotten all you can out of it and are moving on… which isn’t always easy, I know.

Perfectionism is good, but can be paralyzing. If it stops you from creating new things because you’re still obsessing on the old ones, ironically, it’s slowing improvement down… the only way to become better is to push through and try to make the next image a tiny bit better than the last.

11. Cute animals.

They make every photo better. No exceptions.

Ok, sure, I said it was gonna only be 10, but that tip matters as much as all the previous ones combined.

–Colin (instagram)

[fmlfpl]

Lineup Lamentations - GW3

Our Transfers, Captains, and Starting 11s for the week!

—

WALSH

TRANSFERS:

OUT: Aubameyang

IN: De Bruyne

Pretty straightforward swap here removing Aubz after the Wet game was always the plan before GW1 and feel fortunate to be in position to execute the plan. Kevin on pens was the deciding factor over Raz as I had it down to them two as my City guy to get.

Not sure what Raz will be up to with Jesus out now...up top or same spot, but either way Kevin still should be doing the same shit. Hopefully that bonk on the head was nothing much and he's ready to go this weekend.

Probably not a spot I will play with too much unless he gets injured but it feels nice to just get Kevin in nice and early here. Debated many different hit options and in the end nothing looked too attractive. .5 in the bank for a rainy day...we'll see where that belongs next week.

GK:

Ryan (MUN)

Maybe he'll get some saves in this game, unlike the previous. Never feel good for a clean against ManU so I'd take a 3 pointer or something.

Brighton dominating Newc was very promising though - pretty happy that I stuck with Ryan GW1. Could see owning him for a long while and possibly even through my first WC whenever that time comes.

DEF:

Dier (NEW)

Welp.

A clean would be most, most welcome here after no cleans through their first two. They look genuinely all sorts defensively so far and seem to just be all hands on deck throughout their games. Wondering if the disruption of the Thursday games is really fucking them, and I will be watching this one closely. Letting in two to Soton was kinda lucky - it could easily have been three or four - so it would be nice to see a suffocating performance against a team that just managed 0 shots on target last weekend.

Realistically, as long as Dier is starting, I probably won't bin him.

Shaw (bha)

Dunno how I seem to end up with thiccboi in my GW1 team every year but it feels like I do.

He's a really tough player to watch when you own him...very frustrating and just a bit shit. The rumors with Telles intensifying doesn't fill me with hope for the future. Again, like Dier, as long as he's starting I probably won't spend a transfer here and just need to back my preseason thoughts that Mou and ManU would be good for cleans.

Brighton looking a pretty tidy outfit so far this game should be good. Not really expecting a clean, unfortunately, so maybe get lucky with an assist or something.

Trent (ARS)

Trent looked back to being Trent against Chelsea. No Hendo is a bit annoying again so we'll see who is starting on his side.

Arsecast been pretty conservative setting up but we know how teams like to overload Trent to neutralize his attacking impetus which may well happen here.

Either way a win to nil is always on the cards for Livp and Trent is a great player. Good boy Trent.

MID:

De Bruyne (LEI)

Great player gets to play a shithouse team. Love it. One of the few (only?) things I got right last year was picking Kevin early and holding him. Will try to replicate that now. To the first of many happy returns Kev.  

Salah (ARS)

Still a livewire despite his blank last weekend I'm pretty happy to have Mo.

Definitely my safety blanket in FPL and hauls are always around the corner. Looking good and primed to bang. With the sudden increase in penos makes him even that more attractive. Not an easy fixture by any means but it doesn't really matter. Let's go Mo.

Trossard (MUN)

Spent a lot of mental energy on this wee lad this week. Done nothing but impress through two and return in both with the post last weekend away from a huge haul and yet I still am looking for reasons to sell him. I came full circle and despite the rough immediate fixtures I'm going to stand by him. He looks dangerous and even though there are f0dens and podencios around him, he's the one I have and he's the one I shall hold.

ManU were utterly diabolical last weekend and if Matic is out they could still be got at.

Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa (AVL)

Zambo did the business for me last weekend with the assist and with no better options he gets to go again against Villa. Dunno if Lemina comes in or something with Reed maybe he gets to push up a little more but ultimately he seemed to have a more or less free roaming roving role in the center of the park last weekend...and he bossed it. Absolute class player, Zambo is, and I really enjoyed watching him. He's definitely not showing much to be an actual starter in FPL...but needs must.

Certainly need to upgrade my 11th man soon, but with this good fixture maybe he gets something again.

Fernandes (bha)

Come on Bruno. Nothing would calm me down and my feelings about my team this weekend more than with Bruno points. I am expecting space so hopefully he doesn't get hockey assists but gets actual assists in this one. Feels weird that they played 90 and didn't get a peno as well.....time to revert to the mean with one this game probably too right? Yes.

FWD:

Werner (wba)

Werner been looking good and rested during the midweek so should be raring to go as he still searches for his first Chelsea goal. Hopefully Jorginho is out so he has pens in his locker this weekend as well.. but really just feel good with him in this fixture.

West Brom are bad and I am backing Chelsea to find some goals this weekend. Werner has been looking good, even if his team has not, and I'm just hoping that they click into some sort of gear against the weakest opposition they'll be facing in the league to date.

DCL (cry)

Tough fixture against the team they are tied for first place with in the table.

We will probably do’em but DCL, with the way he's looking, always a shout for getting in and around it. Not expecting a ton here, but am keen to see what Woy does with the lineup at home now that Eze and Bats have been around for a couple weeks. Maybe we play some attacking stuff and are there to be had? Who knows. Either way, DCL - great pick great guy.

BENCH:

Mitchell (EVE)

Brewster (ARS)

Ferguson (lol)

CAP:

Werner (wba)

I'm trying this new thing this year where I back myself for captain picks. I was on him last weekend when I looked at the fixtures and the games so just going to stick with that.

West Brom are bad, and a lot worse than Leicester (even tho Leicester suck), so I feel better about trying to expose heem than go with Kevin. 4 or 5 is possible against WBA and Werner could fill his boots. Playing the fixture here, we'll see how it goes.

—

ALON ON WILDCARD

TRANSFERS:

OUT: wildcard

IN: wildcard

I don’t even know what to write here. I’ve done two pods and a three hour stream today largely dominated by my Wildcard team. I’ve said all that needs to be said! Ended up here and feel pretty ok! Let’s go.

GK:

Martinez (ful)

Like him and rate him and hoping the Villains can be a tight ship and get some cleans. Duno.

TBH didn’t put much thought into this spot just gonna go Emi and not use a transfer until maybe second Wildcard popping 30 gameweeksish from now. GLHF Emi!!!

DEF:

van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold (ARS)

Great guys, great friends, and the epitome of set ‘n’ forget geniuses. Also planning on no transfers here until second wildcard. Keep dominating boys. Up the reds.

Dunne (SOU)

Temporary start over Lamptey’s much worse fixture in my opinion. Hail-mary of a Duon clean here and I think Lamptey ends on 0-2 points. Lamps is also sorta knocked so who knows what goes on there.

Maybe Burnley will sell Tark and Dunne’ll be a guy but mostly just fodder for rest of season...

Lamptey in general is my start every week guy and he is the “pressure point” of my squad for sure but also I’ve LOVED the fuck out of him since he came on the scene with Chelsea. He’s just great. Backing the boy.

MID:

De Bruyne and Sterling and Foden (LEI)

Going in big dick swinging with the City triple up for what should be back to back thrashings in Leicester and Leeds where I know I’ll want as much of their attack as possible and, crucially, the arm-band.

Foden minutes should get a large increase with no Kun and no Jesus and Kev and Raz are world class, not much else needs to be said. Going aggressively for the best attack in great fixtures and then we’ll reevaluate going to other premiums etc for future captaincy and what not.

Rodriguez (cry)

Did fuck around with Rich instead of Hamez but I’m just sticking with the extra 0.5 and my guy... I think it’s possible Rich distances himself from Hamez and has the best season of his career but also just Hamez is such a FML FPL player... oozes class, so confident and smooth and sick, just love him, and love owning him. Sticking by the guy. He’s coming for the assist crown lookout Kevin :P.

FWD:

Werner (wba)

Rolling with Timo and the incredible fixtures. He has a three match window to decide what to do with him and I love him for wba, CRY, SOU, so just letting it wash over me. Still rate him very highly and the goals and hauls are just around the corner. We’ll see if they come now or they come later. Willing to risk it for him before moving to maybe Tony or others.

Calvert-Lewin (cry)

So much love for DCL <3<3<3... Don’t think I need to add much he didn’t leave one single tinker for one second. And hasn’t left a tinker since the game opened pre-GW1. Good sign.

Wood (SOU)

Ole faithful. Not sexy. Not new not shiny not smooth or slick or an attacking team or anything. Just consistent and good... If you’re after MoTD highlight reel Vine merchant legendary screamer thunderbastard kinda guy then Wood isn’t the guy for you... But if you’re looking for a cheap guy to just blindly hold for 30ish GWs then hey Chris Wood is your guy. Good numbers, good consistency, great guy. His cheeks are just soooo red. Let’s go.

BENCH:

Anguissa (AVL) - Nailed and good.

Lamptey (MUN) - Gonna start almost every week for me. Great kid, looks incredible, is incredible.

Mitchell (EVE) - Hey. Whatev.

CAP:

Sterling (LEI)

I guess that I’m the only one concerned with Kev getting an elbow to the head? Fine with that.

Maybe Kev gets swaddled up in bubble wrap and subbed off early once this one is done and dusted? I don’t know man it’s enough of a reason to not captain Kev for me... If both guys were 100% fit I’d probably go Kevin here but Raz is also incredible and is actually 100% fit so I’m going Raz.

I expect complete domination and destruction and yeah that’s that. Didn’t really consider anyone else.

Go on City do the thing.

Wildcard team... ya got this.

[mp3lyricsstuff]

Has Vikas Paid the Promised Prize Money to Arshi, Jyoti? Here’s the Truth

Image courtesy: Instagram/Arshi Khan

Vikas, the man behind hit shows like ‘Gumrah’ and ‘Yeh Hai Aashiqui’, entered the show as a celebrity contestant and formed an alliance with actor Hiten Tejwani and commoners Arshi Khan and Jyoti Kumari.

News18.com

Last Updated: June 5, 2018, 11:53 AM IST

Soon after Bigg Boss 11 got over, finalist Vikas Gupta had said that he would divide his prize money, Rs 6 lakh, between fellow contestants– Arshi Khan and Jyoti Kumar.

“I will give them Rs 3 lakh each. Jyoti stood by me like a rock when the whole house was against me. Arshi, too, was protective of me. She cared more about me as a friend than the show,” Vikas had said at the time.

However, a tweet on one of Bigg Boss’ fan pages claimed that “Vikas did not gift his prize money to Arshi or Jyoti as he had promised and it was a fake publicity stunt by him to gain more sympathy and attention.”

When Arshi was asked about it, she tweeted: “Ok. This is what I said to @TheKhbri after they dm’ed me repeatedly. And yes, I don’t need it. Never did. Peace ”.

The reality TV star also posted the screengrab of the conversation she had with the said fan page to clear the air.

Rubbishing all such claims, Vikas tweeted: “Idiots of the first order. Jyoti has already received 50 percent of the prize money in the month of March. As for Arshi when offered 50 percent, she said she does not need it. She earns a lot of money. So that part of the prize money has been spent on people who need it.”

Idiots of the first order . Jyoti has already received 50 percent of the prize money in the month of March . As for Arshi when offered 50 percent , she said she does not need it . She earns a lot of money. So that part of the prize money has been spent on people who need it 😊 https://t.co/xP07eemuxV

— Vikas Gupta Rosewoodian (@lostboy54) June 1, 2018

In another tweet, he added: “And kindly stop trying to be in news or make news at my expense”.

And kindly stop trying to be in news or make news at my expense .

— Vikas Gupta Rosewoodian (@lostboy54) June 1, 2018

Meanwhile, Vikas is currently gearing up for his new web series Punchh Beat, which will also mark Splitsvilla heartthrob Priyank Sharma’s acting debut.

The post Has Vikas Paid the Promised Prize Money to Arshi, Jyoti? Here’s the Truth appeared first on News.

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[bibliophileiz]

Things about Supernatural’s last episode

Isn’t it weird how every other b*cklemming episode, we’re like, “It’s not as bad as their last one.” Ringing endorsements all around.

In all honesty, it’s really not a bad episode. I did have to watch it twice to know wtf was going on with the Shidim because I found Asmodeus so hammy and uninteresting that I stopped listening during his dialogue though.

Spoilers under the cut:

Let’s start with Asmodeus: What a letdown after seven seasons of Crowley, who was interesting, sympathetic, clever (when not written by you-know-who), well-developed and played by an exceptional actor. I already said this once, but it would be just like these particular writers to screw up Crowley so much that Mark Sheppard quits and then replace him with Tropey McTroperson.

I rolled my eyes just at Asmodeus’ introduction – nice to know he has access to a smoke machine to make his entrance more dramatic. Remember when Cas made the roof rattle and the lights pop as he strode into the barn the first time we saw him? What about Rafael, who took down power in the eastern seaboard? What about Crowley, who kissed a dude then told the heroes he didn’t care for Lucifer and gave them the Colt. What about Billie, who sang a spiritual about death as she reaped souls?

Then Asmodeus turns out to be scarred, have an outrageous good ole boy Southern accent (that is fake as fuck – my job is to talk to Southerners, and none of them sound like that), wear a stupid white suit, and immediately choke to death a bunch of demons because the “hobbies” Ramiel referenced must have included watching Darth Vader’s scenes in Star Wars over and over. His dialogue is nothing I didn’t hear from Jafar the first time I saw Aladdin, and his evil plan is to become the manipulative adviser to the ruler of Hell. We just won villain stereotype bingo, and we’re only in the first scene of the episode.

It was also a letdown after Azazel, Ramiel, and Dagon … who by the way never shapeshifted. Weren’t they always in vessels? It wouldn’t be the first time this show has retrofitted its own mythology (*coughing all over the angels in Season 9*)

Do I just shrug it off and say these writers are terrible at writing villains and always have been? Not sure I can blame them entirely … if Asmodeus is going to become as big a deal this season as I think, there has to be more than just b*cklemming contributing to the character. It’s a bummer because if this was just a one-episode villain like Ramiel had been, I’d have found it hysterical. Yes, Jack, smite Big Daddy demon on your third day of existence, it’ll be hilarious! But I’m not sure I can take an entire season of this guy, especially if the only other big-time villain we get is Michael.

Speaking of Michael: Ok, if I’m going to get a showdown between the two most powerful archangels ever, I want it to be more than just … a fistfight. It needs to be at least as impressive as Castiel’s introduction in Season 4. I know the show’s special effects budget is limited, but how threatening are your villains really when Dean gets into more impressive brawls like every single episode? Let me see their wings! Let me see them try to smite each other! Let me hear them break glass and make stars go out!!

Jack is a muffin and I love him a lot: Jack was just as good in this episode as he was in the last one. I don’t know where they found Alexander Calvert but I think he was put on earth to play this role. In his first episode, he walks this fine balance between manacing and charmingly innocent. In this episode, the charming innocence is still there, but it’s slowly being clouded by this fear of his power and what it could do if he misuses it – even by accident, as we saw when he tried to free the Shidim. He’s kind of like Cas in that he wants to do the right thing and be heroic like Sam and Dean but isn’t really equipped with the decision-making skills he needs to know when he’s about to make things worse.

The scene between him and Sam in the alley is exceptional. Jared Padalecki nailed it. I loved Sam telling Jack he loved him – that’s not exactly what he said, obviously, but by equating himself with Jack’s parents with the “Your mom thought you were worth it and so did Cas and so do I” line, he basically says that. That’s why I’m much more on board with Sam becoming a parent figure for Jack than Dean. (Also because Dean always gets to be a father figure and Sam never does, but I digress.) It just goes to show b*cklemming can pull off good emotional scenes when they actually put in effort. I’m thinking specifically the two scenes in “All in the Family” when Dean is asking Chuck why he left and the scene right after when Lucifer tells Amara she may defeat God but she will never be him.  

The great Song of Solomon debate: So there’s a thing when you grow up in Sunday School where teachers tell you to open the Bible to the book of Psalms. It’s a big deal when you’re five, because it’s usually the first book in the Bible you can find on purpose – it’s right smack in the middle. But it’s close to Proverbs and Song of Solomon, so while you’re trying to find Pslams, you might first hit one of those other two. (You might also hit Ecclisiastes, but it’s like … two pages long, so probably not.)

All this is to just say I don’t think we should be reading too much into the fact Jack opened to Song of Solomon. Yes, it’s the sexy bit, but it’s also the bit little kids find when they just open the Bible to the middle, which is honestly how I took that scene. If you’re not flipping to a particular spot you’re just opening the Bible to look around like Jack was doing, you have a decent chance of landing on that book.

Also, when the camera pans back, it looks like he’s gone to the beginning to read Genesis.

I don’t know how to take the ending scene: There’s a scene in the first episode of Firefly that’s a lot like this one. If you’re not familiar with that show, it chronicles the adventures of a crew of space smugglers who are hiding fugitives on board their ship. In the scene, the captain, Mal Reynolds, tells one of the fugitives he can stay on board the ship and be their doctor. The fugitive, whose name is Simon, is skeptical because up until this point, Mal thought the fugitives were a danger to the rest of the crew (sound familiar?) and was either going to turn them over to the authorities or maroon them on a hostile planet. Simon asks Mal, “How do I know you won’t just kill me in my sleep?”

Mal says one of my favorite things ever said in a scene on TV: “You don’t know me, son, so I’m only going to say this once. If I ever kill you, you’ll know it, you’ll be facing me, and you’ll be armed.”

What Dean said to Jack kind of reminds me of that, even though the contexts of the two scenes are different. If you need killing, I’m going to make sure these are the circumstances in which it happens. It’s almost noble. There’s this understanding and respect both for killing and the person you’re killing. It’s kind of like Ned Stark says: “A leader who hides behind executioners soon forgets what death is.”

That said … Dean’s anger is misdirected in such a profound way I’m not sure we can put him in the same class as Mal Reynolds or Ned Stark, at least in this scene. He spends the entire episode going out of his way to find things wrong with Jack so that his promise comes across much more as a threat than a comfort to a kid who is terrified of his own abilities.

It also doesn’t help that it’s his response to a suicide attempt – if that’s how we’re supposed to take what Jack did. On the one hand, Jack’s already pulled an angel blade out of his chest, so he knows he’s reasonably immune to most if not all weapons, so he probably knows normal blades aren’t going to kill him. On the other hand, stabbing himself multiple times like that speaks to a desperation and hopelessness that I don’t think you’re going to find in curious experimentation.

I really do like Donatello: I find it amusing that at the end of Season 12, Andrew Dabb opens up this portal to another world, setting the stage to where beloved characters long dead might return, and everyone was like, “Eileen! Charlie! Bobby! Kevin!” and other assorted characters b*cklemming has killed. (I guess they didn’t kill Bobby, but you know what I mean.) And in their first episode, they’re like, “lol, we’re not bringing back Charlie or Eileen, we killed those mutherfuckers, but here, have Donatello.”

That said, Donatello might be like … my second favorite thing b*cklemming’s ever done. I think he’s kind of goofy and Keith Szarabajka does a great job playing him. I did get frustrated with the number of times he referenced being an atheist in his first episode (I’m watching it now and he says it at least four times.) He didn’t do that in this episode, which I was strangely disappointed by, if for no other reason than it made my “Take a shot every time Donatello references being an atheist” post kind of dumb.

Also, Keith Szarabajka did a better job playing Asmodeus than Jeffrey Vincent Parise, as did the actress playing the bartender, though that could just be because neither of them put on the atrocious accent.

Other things: Thing 1: The “make hell great again” joke was only marginally funny the first time and not funny at all the second time. I swear I saw the actor pause and mentally gear himself up to say it. Poor guy.

Thing 2: Donatello: “That’s not Donatello!” Asmodeus-disguised-as-Donatello: (pointing at Donatello) “No, that’s not Donatello!” Me: “That’s not good TV!” B*cklemming: (pointing at Robert Berens’ episodes) “No, that’s not good TV!”

Thing 3: Dean was so fucking hot it was distracting.

Thing 4: Dean got two good fight scenes in a row, between the fight with Miriam last week and the fight with the demon this week. Also, did anyone notice, he had his legs wrapped about the demon’s head and then the demon threw him on the bed? I’m just saying.

Thing 5: All that aside, Dean was a giant super bitch this episode, even to Sam.

Thing 6: “What would Mr. Rogers do?” Guys, I love Donatello even if he is the Jar Jar Binks of this series.

Thing 7: “What are you doing here?” “That’s the question we all must ask, isn’t it?” “What are you doing in Wyoming?”

Thing 8: Jack is so proud of himself for walking through the door. It’s like last week when he was pleased he understood prepositions well enough to explain to Clark that he was on a chair on the floor on the planet Earth.

[wildwandererblog]

#34 & #35 Challenger Point 14,081 & Kit Carson Peak 14,165

Today I wanted elevation gain.  This is most likely the last change I’ll get to hike a 14er this year (I promised my mom no more hiking alone between Nov-May) so I wanted to go out with a bang. Weather was pretty stable across Colorado today, but there was a prescribed burn scheduled in the Shav/Tab area that was affecting air quality in the Colligate Peak area, so that excluded a bunch of 14ers.  I couldn’t find any recent trip reports (etc. ) on Challenger Point and Kit Carson, but I’d attempted them a few weeks ago and hadn’t heard of any snow in the area since, so I decided to attempt them again, knowing if I failed (again) at least I’d get in some elevation gain.

I remembered thinking last time I hiked Willow Creek trail I’d wished I’d started at 3 or 4am, instead of 6am. It really is an early trail.  So I woke up at midnight and made it to the trailhead at 4am.  I’m not going to post info about the Willow Creek trail because I’ve done it before (TH and Trail info here:  http://wildwandererblog.tumblr.com/post/166343409816/willow-lake).  

No one had signed the trail register for days, but the last entry (10-24-2017) stated Kit Carson was socked in.  I mentally prepared myself not to summit Kit Carson, but I’d take a look at it just in case (a lot could happen in 5 days!)

I was on the trail at 4:15am, and made it to the lake at 6:00am:  It was still dark!  Oh no! I’d hiked 4.25 miles in less than 2 hours!  Lat time it took me longer, and I couldn’t help but think maybe it was due to route finding?  Either that or I wanted to get a jump start on that elevation gain.   In any event, I circled the lake in the dark.  About halfway up the ridge I heard a loud TWANG! It startled me, as it echoed throughout the canyon.   The sound was unique, but I’d heard it before when my cousins and I used to throw rocks on a frozen pond.  The lake must be frozen!  I bet a pretty big rock/icicle fell and hit the ice!

I continued on in the darkness, hiking slow to allow the sun to rise.  Just after I passed the willows I was able to turn off my flashlight.  I’d timed this perfectly!  Oh, and the weather was great!  MUCH BETTER than the last time I was in the area.  No wind to speak of this time, but unfortunately, it looked like it had snowed recently.  

Take a look at the mountain before me:

In any event, there was no wind, and I could see a lot of snow-free area, so I decided to make a go for it.  I couldn’t help but think to myself, as I was halfway up Challenger Point, what a great decision it had been to hike this mountain today!  The trail was pretty much free of snow, it was warm, and there wasn’t any wind.  Very cool!

Unfortunately, I spoke too soon.  When I’d made it about three quarters of the way up the mountain I ran into trouble.  The snow up here was covering every single avenue I had to make it to the summit!  I could totally see where I had to go, but the path was covered in 5-6 feet of snow and there were no footprints/tracks from pervious hikers to follow.  I kept trying to find a snow-free route to make it to the ridge, but it just wasn’t happening.  I had microspikes, but they were no good:  I’d hike out about 8 steps or so on snow that gave me traction, then all of the sudden, ice skates.  Of course I backtracked when this happened.

There were a few boulders I felt I could safely climb up and over, but I did not feel comfortable climbing back down those boulders.  I need an exit strategy when I climb, and I wasn’t getting one with these rocks (so I didn’t even attempt it).  

I was seriously getting frustrated, traversing in circles trying to find a safe way around these boulders/snow.  Have I mentioned I hate gullies?  However, I didn’t have evening plans tonight and it was a really nice day.  I had plenty of time to figure this problem out. I obviously didn’t have the gear I needed for this climb (Crampons and an Ice Pick/Axe), but I really wanted to summit (safely).  The snow wasn’t really that bad, I just couldn’t get traction anywhere.  I looked around and thought for a bit.  Most of the soft snow was by the boulders.  How could I use this to my advantage?

I decided to hug the boulders, and make stairs with the soft snow at their base and around their sides. I’d be able to hold onto the grips in the rock on my way up and down, giving me stability.  This took quite a bit of effort, but I needed to make sure I’d be able to climb back down after climbing up.  Several times I stopped to make sure these stairs “worked” in steep areas. Success!  It was slow going, but eventually I made it to the ridge! Woohoo!  

I was so glad there wasn’t much wind today!  The ridge wasn’t very wide, but only half covered with snow, so it was easily navigable.

I made it to Challenger Point at 9:15am.  Here’s proof of summit:

And a 360 degree video.

Challenger Point was named in memory of the Challenger Space shuttle, and there’s a plaque there to commemorate it.

OK, now I looked over at Kit Carson Peak.  It did indeed look like The Avenue was full of snow, but if I’ve learned anything from Mountaineering, everything looks different up close.  I decided to hike over and take a look.  The worse that could happen would be I’d have to come back for Kit Carson another day, but re-summit Challenger Point today (which would give me more elevation gain!  Woot!).

I couldn’t take the traditional route down Challenger to Kit Carson because of that darn snow.  It was really hard packed and slippery there. Luckily however, the ridge was pretty dry, so I just followed that down.  

When I reached the small saddle between Challenger and Kit Carson I could see the Avenue was indeed full of snow, but navigable.  And, an added plus:  The snow as soft!  I’d be able to get traction!  I was on my way.  

All I have to say about Kit Carson Peak, even with the snow, was that it was SO MUCH EASIER than Challenger Point!  It was very straightforward, had lots of cairns, and was easy to follow.  

I made it up Kit Carson at 10:15am.  Here’s picture proof I summited

And a 360 degree view

I was fully aware at this point I was only halfway done with my hike.  I now had to hike back over Challenger point and back down the mountain.  

Oh, this sign says:  Danger:  Lose Rocks. Many people have died

Hiking back down proved a challenge, but I’m proud to say my stairs worked!  A few times I needed to glissade a very short distance (less than 10 feet) to make it to a safe area, but otherwise it was a success!  Very slow going, as I didn’t want to slip and fall, but a success nonetheless.  The entire hike down to the basin seemed to take forever!  Have I mentioned I hate gullies?

I made it back down and crossed the lake, this time in the daylight. I could see where a piece of ice had broken off in the lake, and heard another large rock drop!  The lake was indeed iced over, but not completely frozen.

On the way back down to the TH I thought about how Challenger Point is a Difficult Class 2, but Kit Carson Peak is an Easy Class 3.  But that was totally reversed when snow was added into the mix!  Challenger Point was much, much harder for me today than Kit Carson Peak. In fact, it was the hardest 14er I’ve done so far, even though it technically shouldn’t be.  It’s amazing what ice and snow will do to a climb!  But I got in that elevation gain, so I’m happy!

Side note:  I didn’t see anyone else on the mountain at all today?  I was the only vehicle at the trailhead when I got there and when I left...