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doctorstephenvincentstrange · 4 years ago

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What If S1E4 Meta: The True “Heart”

The same way Stephen couldn’t let go of Christine in the fourth installment of What If...?, I haven’t been able to shake this episode off and out of my head since watching it. I’m pretty sure it’s put me through the grieving process. Lately, it’s been haunting me like a ghost, and while mentally revisiting it for the fourteen millionth time, I realized something BRUTAL that I just had to share ASAP!

Hear me out, homies. What if...

The running theme and title of the episode was Stephen Strange losing his “heart.” But although the setup and storyline seems to suggest the euphemism refers to Christine Palmer, it doesn’t! The “heart” of Stephen Strange is not the girl of his dreams he lost in that car accident, but the greater man he had gained.

OK LISTEN. Let me have a shot to show you what I see (even in shite quality, pardon my crappy screenshots). Let’s start with the DS1 recap, 'cuz I’m still not over the first movie, either, and it’s relevant.

Like the watcher explained, after the devastating and tragic death of the love of his life, Stephen Strange began to look for answers. Not different from Stephen Strange of the sacred timeline, he was obsessed with reversing the great loss and trauma he’d endured. It was with the same perfectionism that made him a great surgeon, that Stephen sought the power to “find his own way back.”

... By any means necessary.

They both discover that “power” they were searching for when they stumble upon time magic. However, Stephen is lectured that time magic is something that could risk the stability of the universe, and should never be done lightly and certainly never for the sake of one person over all others. Although harm is not his nature and Stephen doesn’t want to hurt anyone, he struggles to give up on his quest to heal his hands, or alternatively, to resurrect Christine. He was told a solution wasn’t out there, but found it in the Book of Cagliostro.

Despite every person that told him it couldn’t be done, Stephen can’t accept that. He won’t admit there’s nothing that can be done, there has to be something he can do. He’s conceited with the delusion he can alter his past to better his present. And he won’t be swayed of it.

But when the Ancient One fell, Stephen Strange rose to take her place and fend against the invading Dormammu. He saw for the first time the world that was so much bigger than him, that he could do so much good for, more than good only for himself. He saw the millions of lives that had not yet been lost to tragedy he could prevent and save from it, even if not what hardships had already been done and could not be undone in his own life. Things he could save, not fix.

And it wasn’t his own life he saved with that time magic in the end, but earth itself. And Stephen Strange became something much bigger than himself. No matter what he’d lost in that car accident, he learned there was still much more he could gain, regardless of what he’d lost. He didn’t need to fix his hands. They were still good.

Better than his brilliant mind, was his beautiful heart.

His capacity for goodness, not greatness.

And yet, for all the good he’d achieved and learned, on the two year anniversary of Christine’s death, Stephen can’t help but get sucked into his past, and in a moment of weakness, allow his grief power over him once more. He can’t stop reliving the past. He loops it over and over again, trying to reverse fate, trying to find a way to spare Christine and find that “miracle” that must exist to spare her.

The Ancient One has sensed his presence and meddling with the Eye of Agamotto, and warns Stephen that the path he had set himself on would lead him only to more pain. When Stephen refuses to be reasoned with, the Ancient One brandishes him with a single blow before he escapes into the past. He thinks she missed. She didn’t.

SHOT THROUGH THE HEART, AND YOU’RE TO BLAME! DARLING YOU GIVE LOVE A BAD NAME!

But *ahem* seriously, notice how Stephen was struck mid center his chest, directly over his heart. It was in that moment that Stephen Strange lost his “heart,” as the Ancient One had knocked it out of him, just as she had knocked him out of his own oversized head when they first met. Theory: she cast a spell to separate Stephen’s heart from his mind, the two halves that make one complete man.

Because even if Stephen Strange’s mind was still set on Christine Palmer, his heart had been changed, and there was still hope for it. And Stephen Strange’s heart had enough with “living in the past for one day,” and chose instead to share drinks with Wong.

Meanwhile, Stephen’s “mind” searched the Library of Cagliostro for a way to reverse an absolute point and save Christine. Eventually, he found the answer he was looking for. He needed more power, that could be obtained by otherworldly creatures. Now, harm is not in Stephen’s nature. On his first attempt, he actually tries asking “nicely,” and ends up getting ass kicked.

O’Bengh, the librarian of the books of Cagliostro, patches up his body and tries to warn Stephen. He may have lost his heart, but if he he keeps going at this rate, he was well on his way to losing his mind.

But Stephen didn’t heed those words of warning. He distorted his body, darkened himself with every sacrifice he made for Christine’s sake. So caught up in the memory of Christine’s greatness, Stephen had forgotten he’d once had one of his own. Christine was all he saw.

So obsessed with her, he lost himself.

When Strange returns to O’Bengh’s side, the librarian has aged and is dying. He reveals the passage of centuries Stephen has spent devoted to this madness. As someone Stephen thinks of as a friend passes away, Stephen can’t think to cherish these last moments or listen carefully to his final words. All he can think is to use his magic to spare O’Bengh, which O’Bengh refuses, trying one last time to reach through to Stephen before giving up and leaving hope to the “heart” to be strong enough to withstand and stop him.

*Wink, wink, wink.* Do you see it now?

Now, onto the confrontation between heart and mind. Stephen’s mind can’t achieve anything if his heart isn’t in it, and I love the symbolism of that. He must get it on board first, unite on both fronts.

Stephen’s heart can recognize that this isn’t love, but the work of his broken mind lost in a delusion. And Stephen’s so far gone down the rabbit hole, he won’t even listen to his heart. Instead he ignores it, even burns the cloak of levitation... the very symbol of his finding something new that could uplift him after spending so long down on his knees in the past... and he burnt it to ash. When his heart won’t be persuaded, he resorts to trickery, attempting to con his heart with the same delusion that haunts his mind. It’s the same Christine that Stephen first was hung up imagining when he picked up the eye of the Agamotto and got himself into this mess, his trump card.

But again, the heart cannot be deceived. It knows Christine is dead, and it realizes the fantasy his mind is pursuing is not the same as the Christine they once knew and loved. More importantly, his heart remembers that there are other people who need him now, people that are not beyond saving. And the mind is done playing.

If his heart won’t come willing, then he’ll just have to beat it into submission until it can’t make a single sound of protest, and then swallow it whole. Stephen makes the ultimate sacrifice the Ancient One had tried so hard to prevent, and abandons that heart she saw so much potential in and inspired her to teach him.

This episode AMAZINGLY tackles the narcissism and arrogance that hides in specific shades of grief and depression. In believing our problems are greater than anyone else’s, that no one else could understand as Stephen insisted “they didn’t know her!” The selfishness that comes with refusing to see the world or those around you that still need you and choosing instead to chase the memory of the ones you’ve already lost, who are beyond saving. If we choose those delusions over our reality, in the end, we will lose everything, and the ones who will pay the price for your arrogance won’t be you, but the ones you loved. Even the memory of the one you loved, that you twisted to fit your mold. There’s a selfishness in seeing only the bad of what was rather than the good of what could come.

Unless you want to end up alone inside a cold and empty shell, maybe it’s time to listen to your heart, and move on.

#Doctor Strange #Doctor Stephen Strange #Stephen Strange #What If #Marvel #Marvel Meta

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misterewrites · 3 years ago

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Forging the Future (Piltover’s Finest. Arcane)

Ello everyone E here and realizing I really need to write more often. I didn't realize a month had passed! A lot of stuff came up and frankly it's been really flipping hot but here we are. Gonna write more in the future. Next is either gonna be an Owl House idea I had or Mirror's Edge. I wanted to finish the arcs in Mirror's Edge so that's why i haven't worked on any popular media lately but that's changing now. One and one or something like that. How ever I feel.

Look. It sucks right now. In a lot of ways for a lot of people. Don't give up. Keep fighting for yourself. For each other. And if you can't fight you can take care of people. Be their support give them your love. Listen to them and make sure they're okay. and if it's too much there's no shame in just existing and find little pockets of joy. Do what's best for you. Stay informed. Don't let people fool you into bullshit and we do what we can. Nothing more and nothing less.

Alright I actually have a warning this time round. I decided to do this for fun but I am now pulling from the lore. I am now adding little winks, nods and maybe even full characters from the League universe. I am not the most knowledgeable but I do know about 75% of it so I try. The warning is that I might possibly spoil season 2 stuff. No idea where they're going to go with it but I think they will try to slowly expand the universe. Like there's a lot of references to stuff and even characters in the first season of Arcane so I wouldn't doubt they'd keep that going. So I am doing the same. So if you want to go completely into season 2 blind whenever that comes out I understand.

Everyone be safe. Take care of yourself and your loved ones. Wear masks. I know they're fucking annoying and its hard and its so tempting to not but pandemic's not over. We need to keep this up for ourselves, for our loved ones and those who can't get the vaccine like so many of us have. Get the vaccination if you can. Like for real it's just basic science. Push for the vaccine worldwide cuz not a lot of people have it and we're all in this together. Have a great week and I'll see you soon! E is out!

Alrighty here is the usual spiel.

If you want to read this in a way more friendly user format and where I will once in a while clean up and fix grammar and typos you can find the story here!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/36807532/chapters/100061067

And this is a second chapter so here’s the first

https://archiveofourown.org/works/36807532/chapters/91825738

And if you want to read my various other works that range that include but are not limited to Soul Eater, Owl House, more Arcane alongside my own decent original work you can find them all right here.

https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrE42/pseuds/MrE42

thank you for this and take care! more beyond the keep out sign.

Summary: Caitlyn and Vi are seeking assistance from Jayce in their quest to find Jinx and help Piltover. Vi, however, is starting to realize that actions have consequences and soon they might just bite her in the ass. It'll be fine though. It's not like she stole from Jayce on her one woman rage filled revenge tour.

-----

“VI? Are you alright? Why have you stopped?”

Vi did in fact stopped halfway towards their destination upon realizing where exactly she was heading.

A shiver ran down her spine as she realized the consequences of her reckless desperation were beginning to form. She had been so caught up in trying to save her sister she didn’t realize the price when the bill came due.

And it looks like fate fucking plopped it down right in front of her.

Caitlyn doubled back, a hurried scraping of those impossibly impractical heels Piltover made their female enforcers wear thundered in Vi’s ears.

Normally Vi would’ve just lied about her feelings, an old habit in the Lanes was to never admit weakness or fear: Home was home but only a child or a fool would believe they were free of danger and she hadn’t been a child for a long time.

Apparently she was still playing the fool though.

But as Caitlyn made her way back, her hair swaying back and forth in a rather hypnotic way, Vi realized no one had told her about the backroom deal she’d made with Jayce: The raid on a Shimmer factory, the way they’d taken down Chemtanks practically by themselves, their disagreement about the price of war. Sweet Cupcake hadn’t heard about any of it yet and Vi really did not want to be the one to tell her about that backfire.

Oh lord she actually gave a shit about an enforcer’s opinion? Well ex-enforcer. Wait, what’s going on?

“I was hoping you could tell me.”

Vi snapped out of her stupor and felt her heart skip a beat when she realized Caitlyn was staring at her expectantly. Also that she said that last part outloud.

“Umm…..” Vi smartly replied “What? I got something on my face Cupcake?”

Caitlyn gave her the most deadpanned stare she could muster “No but you haven’t moved an inch. We need to see Jayce if we are to have any hope of getting back onto the force. Did you forget or did a pretty girl distract you again?”

“You have no idea”

“Wait was that?”

“Nothing.” Vi mumbled hurriedly “Hey, have you...talked to pretty boy lately?”

Caitlyn’s narrowed her gaze suspiciously “I’m afraid not. Ever since the attack he’s locked himself in his forge. Refuses to see anyone. Is there something I should know?”

“Nothing involves that us.” Vi offered helpfully.

Caitlyn did not like that answer but decided to drop the subject.

For now.

“Remember.” Caitlyn’s tone took a serious edge as the pair resumed their walk “I know he can be abrasive and stubborn but he is a council member. We need to play nice.”

Vi scoffed, rolling her eyes at that last comment “You mean me. I have to play nice.”

“We” Caitlyn repeated firmly “No doubt my antics at Stillwater prison have reached his desk.”

“You consider impersonation of an enforcer, forgery, fraud and unlawful removal of an inmate under false pretenses just antics?” Vi whistled appreciatively “I thought you topside girls were all prim and proper.”

Vi winced as Caitlyn nudged her side, a barely suppressed smile dancing her lips “I am prim but I was never proper. Besides it was for a good cause.”

“Right. Good cause.”

“Would you have rather I left you in Stillwater?”

“Hey you don’t have to make this personal.”

Vi’s heart skipped another beat when Caitlyn grinned brightly “That’s what I thought.”

Maybe this won’t be so bad.

-----

Vi was perfectly fine outside but as the soulless, bright blinding shades of Piltover gave way to darker, more industrial iron walls and pipes, a sense of dread began to overtake the pink haired girl. Guilt gnawed at her as she remembered how she baited Jayce, how she knew exactly what buttons to push to get her hands on the gauntlets. Last time she was here she was fueled by rage and hatred.

Now? Now she was humbled.

Hopefully Pretty Boy would forget to mention their last interaction. Or the fact she stole the gauntlets. Wait, he didn’t know she wrecked them right?

It’ll be fine.

Probably.

Last time Jayce’s door had been left opened so Vi strolled in without issue.

This time, however, it seems he wanted to be left alone: The entrance was less a single door and more of a massive slab of metal designed to withstand a frontal assault for days. Vi didn’t see a way in but Caitlyn evidently had been here enough times to know the ins and outs. She pressed something on the wall and an unseen intercom crackled to life.

“I told you I don’t want to be disturbed.” Jayce’s voice spoke, hollowed and dejected.

“Jayce, it’s me. Cait.”

Silence hung in the air.

Caitlyn pressed the button again, her voice softening “Jayce. I wasn’t there for you at your weakest all those years ago when you lost everything. Let me be here now. You are not alone.”

No response came from the inventor. Instead what answered were a series of clicks all moving rhythmically in time. The slab gave a metallic groan as inch by inch it slid out of the way, the air turning stuffy and stale from the raging forge.

“So…” Vi coughed awkwardly, pangs of jealousy and envy poking and prodding at her “You and Pretty Boy.”

Vi nearly let out a sigh of relief when Caitlyn made a face, her voice full of disgust at the mere idea “Oh god no! Never in a million years. He’s more of an older sibling. An annoying, vain sibling but family all the same.”

Vi struggled to keep her voice casual “Oh. Good to know.”

“Why do you ask? I doubt you’re curious about my personal life.”

“Are you saying I’m dumb?”

Caitlyn was confused “What? Why would I...of course you’re not dumb.”

“Thanks Cupcake I really needed to hear that.”

“Are you serious right now?” Caitlyn made a face Vi thought was adorable “Okay whatever. Let’s get a move on before he decides to lock us out.”

Grinning ear to ear Vi happily trailed after Caitlyn. What was she even worried about anyway?

----

Oh. Right.

“Excuse me?” Caitlyn asked, unsure if she heard Jayce correctly.

“Her. Out. I don’t want her in here ever again.”

For someone her sister tried to murder, Jayce looked more or less intact: All that remained of his injuries was a small bandage on his cheek.

Mentally, on the other hand, he was falling apart: His clothing was rumpled and stained like he hadn’t changed out of them in days. His normally immaculate hair was messy and unkempt with stubble already forming on his usually clean shaven face.

“I don’t follow.” Caitlyn was confused “I know she was rather forceful at the meeting but I can assure you she means well. And what do you mean again?”

Jayce stared directly at Vi, a mixture of bitterness and rage in his gaze. Vi glared back, her fits clenched tightly as she refused to let him shame her into submission.

Old Lanes habit to never back down from a fight, any fight regardless if it was your fault or not.

Or maybe it was just her.

Jayce made a disbelieving scoff “Means well? And did she happen to mention the last time she meant well? Because let me tell you it did not end well. For anyone.”

Caitlyn glanced back and forth between the inventor and Vi “Last time?”

Vi’s throat dried up. She focused on the wall in front of her, refusing to give any sign of weakness or guilt.

Jayce remained silent as well, opting to instead to return to whatever project he happened to be working before the pair dropped in for a visit.

“Wait a moment. What did you both do?”

Nothing ever quite unites two opposing forces like being accused of something by a third party they cared about. The cold distance between Vi and Jayce melted at the sound of Caitlyn’s accusatory yet disappointed tone.

“Wait a minute” Jayce began.

“What are you a cop? We didn’t do anything.” Vi started with.

Caitlyn studied them both carefully, her piercing blue eyes taking in every little and last detail. Vi could literally see the gears in her brain turning, faster and faster as thoughts began to form and connect.

“Oh my god.” realization hit Caitlyn “You didn’t!”

Vi gave a cheeky grin “Exactly we didn’t! Tell her pretty boy.”

“Of course not. Who do you think we are?” Jayce tried to wave her off.

Caitlyn tapped her foot impatiently, not fooled in the least “What was it? Shimmer dealers or the Chembarons directly?”

Vi and Jayce spared a look at one another which devolved into a silent argument about how much to reveal to the detective.

Finally Vi spoke, tilting her hand back and forth nonchalantly “Little of column A, little of column B.”

“A Shimmer factory.” Jayce explained quickly “We led a strike force in hope of seriously hampering their production. We succeeded….but not without cost.”

The cost thankfully remained unsaid. Jayce was still losing sleep over that one.

Caitlyn rubbed her eyes tiredly “I am never leaving you two alone together ever again. What were you thinking?”

“We weren’t” Vi admitted with a hushed, soft voice “I was angry at the council. Jayce was feeling helpless at the bullshit bureaucracy. We thought if we showed them we could take the fight straight to Silco they would be more willing to go after him. Right Pretty Boy?”

It was strange to see this no nonsense tough girl practically begging, pleading with wide eyes not to reveal that she was the sole mastermind behind the attack on the factory. A moment ago Jayce wanted nothing to do with her and now he couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. It wasn’t all her fault after all. He was itching to go after Zaun as much as she had been. Vi wasn’t the match, she was the excuse.

Jayce nodded in agreement “That’s right. It was both our idea to go after Silco’s factory. It was reckless and stupid and childish but there seems to be a lot of that going around lately.”

“It was extremely reckless. And rude. You didn’t invite me.” Caitlyn chided with a smirk.

A huge weight had been lifted from Vi at the sight of Caitlyn’s grin. For whatever reason the pink haired girl really needed to stay on Cupcake’s good side. It was very important. For alliance purposes.

Jayce chuckled gently “Right of course. I should’ve remembered to bring the ex-enforcer on our unsanctioned raid. My bad.”

“I mean she is a goody two shoes. I doubt she would’ve had fun.” Vi teased with a smirk.

Caitlyn opened her mouth to reply but Jayce answered first “She was never a goody two shoes. You should’ve seen how many girls she used to sneak into her…”

“JAYCE!” Caitlyn practically shrieked, her cheeks blazing “NOT ANOTHER WORD!”

“Other girls? And I thought I was the first Cupcake. I’m kinda offended.”

Caitlyn narrowed her eyes threateningly “Don’t. You are not to start.”

Vi zipped her lips, raising one hand and placing the other over her heart.

Jayce smiled for the first time since they arrived but it quickly vanished with a heavy sigh “I’m glad for the visit but why are you two here? I know you have a reason.”

“I am sorry for this but we need your help.” Caitlyn answered honestly.

“My help? I’m not exactly sure what I can do to help.”

“We need to get back onto the enforcers and…”

Vi stopped paying attention at this point. This was Cait’s plan so she could talk shop. Besides her and Jayce weren’t on the best of terms and while he covered for her mistake, she didn’t want to push her luck any further. Like they said in the Lanes: Fortune’s cruel with a wicked sense of humor.

She began to wander the forge, eyeing the various tools and blueprints with a half-hearted interest. She never understood this kind of stuff like Ekko and her sister did. Her strength laid with punching something and if that didn’t work, punch it harder. This was more to pass time than anything else.

At least it was until she noticed a strange looking half finished project on a table tucked away in the furthest corner.

It was clear this particular project hadn’t been worked on for a while given the fine layer of dust that blanketed the table. Loose wires and bolts were littered everywhere with most of the space taken up by a massive emptied out dome. Hidden behind a sheet on the floor Vi could see thick mechanical fingers peeking underneath. She picked up some kind of orb with two hollowed out holes where a pair of eyes would be. Its shape reminded of her a human skull but more friendly in a way. She noticed the faded plans pinned to the wall above project. She leaned closer, trying to read the washed-out font on the paper

“Blitzcrank. What kind of name is that for a murder machine?”

“It’s not a murder machine.”

She nearly jumped out of her skin as Jayce took the orb from her without warning and carefully placed it with the rest of the parts.

“Well you can’t really blame me.” Vi replied defensively “Piltover’s kinda got a history of murder and death you know?”

She had been expecting a witty retort out of him, maybe some sort of quick subject change but instead Vi had gotten a “You’re right” response.

“You should say it more often. I kinda like seeing her so utterly disarmed.” Caitlyn grinned playfully.

“Oh shut up.” Vi’s cheeks reddened as she quickly asked “What’s with the bot anyway?”

Jayce chuckled to himself, his gaze distant like he was caught up in a fond memory “Viktor’s pet project. I know you don’t believe it but Hextech was created to help people, both ours and yours.”

Vi scoffed but more out of habit than anything malicious.

Jayce ignored her, lovingly patting the head of Blitzcrank “He was designed to clean up the chemical waste of Zaun. Viktor didn’t want anyone to suffer like he did. We gave up because we couldn’t find a stable power source.”

He grinned brightly for a moment “I was actually thinking to running Blitz by Viktor again. The Hextech Gemstone would’ve been the perfect answer to our problem.”

Something in the inventor broke: His face sagged into grief, tears forming in his eyes. He remained silent in his sorrow but it was clearly immense. It took him a few seconds to compose himself but neither Vi or Cait interrupted.

“Viktor, his partner.” Caitlyn’s voice dropped to a whisper “He isn’t doing well and is undergoing an emergency prosthesis surgery.”

“Vitkor was against it originally.” Jayce spoke, his voice horse “When he first came to Piltover. The University offered to replace his legs with prosthetics but Viktor’s never liked charity. Besides the odds of a successful surgery are so low it wasn’t worth the risk.”

He gave a grim laugh “Of course now the surgery is his best chance. What kind of sick joke is that?”

“I’m sorry. For you friend.” Vi offered with as much sincerity as she could muster.

Jayce said nothing but gave a short nod in response. He took a deep breath and wiped the tears out of his eyes.

“I’m afraid I can’t help you. As I told Cait I am….no longer a council member. I quit the day of the attack.”

Caitlyn quickly jumped in “I was brainstorming with him about possible ideas but without a backing council member and with my mother in recovery there isn’t much we can do now.”

“Sure we can. Pretty Boy can back us up.”

Jayce grimaced, a bit of irritation slipping into his words “Like I just said I quit the day of the attack.”

“Did you fill out the paperwork?” Vi asked smugly “Did you vote for it? Was it unanimous?”

Jayce and Caitlyn looked at one another as they realized what Vi was getting at.

Vi stood with a cocky swagger only she could muster “Because what I know about you Pilties is that you love doing things by the books. To a fucking fault. Paperwork, official announcements. All that annoying shit. So Pretty boy, did you all vote on it?”

“No.” Jayce ran his hand through his hair “We hadn’t had much time before the attack. And I never official resigned on paper.”

“So you are still a member!” Caitlyn bounced with excitement “Is there anyone else on the council available?”

“Mel.” Jayce muttered. Vi caught something in his voice but couldn’t place it.

“Medrada?”

Jayce nodded in confirmation “She was wearing something that warned her about the blast. Protected her too. We’re the only two still standing.”

“We need to move. With Silco gone every two bit thug and goon will be fighting each other for control of his empire. If we’re fast enough we can take down the Chembarons once and for all,” Vi could feel something grow inside. Purpose blazing with a white hot fury. She couldn’t go back to the Lanes but she would avenge them.

Vander, Clagger, Mylo. Powder and Ekko. She wouldn’t let them down this time.

“We’re not much better.” Caitlyn stepped forward carefully “Even with Marcus dead we still have no idea who was in Silco’s pocket and I doubt the new sheriff would let two new recruits have their pick of cases. Assuming we get on the force at all.”

“So it’s a race to see who gets their shit together first. This is starting to sound like a great plan Cupcake.”

“Well I’m open to suggestions!”

“I got one. A council led special division force called Wardens. Handpicked by Mel and myself. I can’t promise you two will have your pick of cases but it’s gonna be easier to deal with them than enforcers.” Jayce ran his hand through his hair thoughtfully “I take it you’re going to need new gauntlets huh Pinkie?”

Vi glared “Vi to you Pretty Boy and what makes you say that?”

Jayce said nothing. Instead he gestured what he had been working on when they first came in. Vi shifted guiltily at the sight of the nearly destroyed Atlas gauntlets she had stolen in her fit of rage.

“Those could be anyone’s.”

“They’re a one of a kind prototype.” Jayce couldn’t keep the jab out of his voice.

“I’m not speaking to you without my lawyer. Cupcake you’re my lawyer now. Tell him I’m not talking anymore.”

Caitlyn began to giggle when Jayce shifted his attention to her.

“Speaking of Cait. Where’s your rifle? I want to calibrate the scope and fiddled around with the firing mechanism.”

There was a tense awkwardness as Caitlyn began to dig her heel into the floor.

“Cait….where is your Hextech rifle?”

“I-I’m sorry I don’t follow.”

Jayce took a step closer “Your one of a kind rifle I built specifically for you. That one Cait.”

It was pretty cute how Cupcake twiddled her fingers nervously.

“I sold it...for Shimmer.”

It was impossible to tell whose yell was louder: Jayce’s or Vi’s.

“You’re doing Shimmer now Cait?”

“You weren’t kidding when you said you weren’t proper huh Cupcake?”

Caitlyn cutely stomped her foot “Shut it! I did not take Shimmer. I used it to save you Vi.”

Vi paused for a moment, trying to recall what she was talking about.

“Wait.” realization hit her like a ton of bricks “When I was stabbed?! That Shimmer? You traded your gun. For me?

Caitlyn’s were a slight shade of pink but Vi was too caught up in the fact that she gave up her only defense in an unfamiliar and dangerous environment for her.

“Caitlyn…” Vi whispered softly but before either girl could respond, Jayce let out a frustrated groan.

He tugged at his hair “You’re going to want another one huh Cait?”

“Please and thank you.” and for added measure Caitlyn gave as wide of a smile as she could.

Jayce rolled his eyes in annoyance as he fished out the blueprints for Caitlyn’s new rifle.

Vi and Caitlyn stood next to each other, unsure what to say.

Vi piped up after a moment “Thank you. For saving my life.”

“It was nothing.” Caitlyn wiped nonexistent dirt off her skirt.

“….So about Piltover’s Finest….”

“No.”

#Arcane #League of Legends #my work

8 notes · View notes

chalkrevelations · 4 years ago

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OK, y’all, I’m back, finally, with Word of Honor Episode 8, and I have … a LOT of notes on this one. I’m trying to figure out how to organize this. Buckle up, I guess, because this is kind of a long one.

First of all, the usual warning: SPOILERS. This is a re-watch, so there are spoilers not only for this episode, but for the entire show. Scroll away and come back later if you want to watch all 36.5 eps unspoiled.

So, this is an ep that’s really good to me, because the found-family dynamic is one of the things that sold me on the show, and a ton of the ensemble work that builds and enriches that dynamic is centered on scenes about food and eating together, on literally nourishing the body(ies) of the family, from A-Xiang’s repeated instances of cooking bread on a stick over a fire, to fish soup with Ye Baiyi, to Wen Kexing’s elaborate New Year’s meal, and all the various and sundry restaurant sit-downs in between. Feeding each other and eating together is how these characters form bonds. Alternately, inability to provide sustenance or rejection of food implies distance. The point at which Zhou Zishu is still denying Chengling’s request to become his disciple, he’s unable to cook a fish properly for the poor kid to eat. Cao Weining falls in love at first sight and immediately buys A-Xiang not one, but two dinners, because the first one gets cold and he’s going to spend the rest of his life providing the best (emotional) nourishment he can for her. Paying for Ye Bayi’s meal earns a favor from him. When A-Xiang is separated from Wen Kexing and Zhang Chengling and Zhou Zishu, she eats up the little corn family she sees as representative of them, as if she can keep them with her by taking the food that represents them into herself. Despite the fact that Zhou Zishu is losing his sense of taste (evidenced by his ability to suck down wine that any and everyone else spits out in disgust), he continues to fully participate in meals, sharing food and both accepting and providing choice bits to Chengling and WKX at Siji Manor, in a scene that is possibly the most heartfelt domestic bit of the show. Rejecting (dramatically so) the table that’s been set for him by Prince Jin is symbolic of Zhou Zishu’s rejection of their relationship. And as we ultimately learn from Ye Baiyi’s storyline, eating is what makes us human, with all of our messy, painful, gorgeous connections to the world, in contrast to the icy seclusion of immortality. Which makes me feel some kind of way about the facts that WKX started out by burning A-Xiang’s mouth on too-hot porridge before he learned how to take care of her and was saved by her in Ghost Valley and that A-Xiang and WKX, who are both trying to find their way back to the human world from the world of ghosts, become the primary physical nourishers in their relationships with Cao Weining, Zhang Chengling, and Zhou Zishu. It also makes me feel some kind of other (ambivalent) way that part and parcel of the immortality Ye Baiyi achieves for a time and passes on is predicated on being willing to only eat and drink ice and snow, and the symbolic ways that separates you from the rest of the world and from forming the various connections we see forged through food.

All of which is to say that I’m delighted by this ep, where one of the first scenes is an extremely awkward dinner scene at the restaurant with ZZS, WKX, A-Xiang and Cao Weining, which not only plays into a lot of that, but is also comedy gold, and possibly one of the best scenes of the ep (and I say that knowing we’re eventually going to be getting to Han Ying, My Beloved). It’s hilarious how irritated WKX is by the mere fact of Cao Weining’s existence (JunJun, your little pouty face, it’s amazing). And it is triply hilarious how much of a whole-ass troll ZZS manages to be when he realizes the opportunity this presents. I’m not sure we’ve seen ZZS this cheerful … well, yet, at this point in the show, as when he’s just realized how much WKX clearly disapproves of this character who’s after his baby girl and how much of a chance this provides to fuck with WKX. It’s such an asshole move, but at the same time, it’s so weirdly charming to see him willing to play like this. It gives us a great character grace note right in the middle of the comedy - it’s the sort of teasing we see from him with Jiuxiao over the hairpin in Ep 1, and at the same time, it’s also kind of subtle, I think, in the way it calls back to almost the entire ZZS-WKX relationship up to this point. ZZS has clearly been paying attention – almost everything he says to Cao Weining is him giving up with both hands stuff that WKX has had to pry out of him with a crowbar. And it’s blazingly obvious that it’s deliberate. When he compliments CWN, ZZS comments that “it’s our fate to meet each other,” directly echoing what WKX said to ZZS in Ep 2. He waves off the price of dinner, telling CWN that “money is just a possession” after making WKX beg for his wallet and deploy the Sadness Eyebrows before he was willing to hand it over in the last ep. He immediately volunteers his name (or, at least, the name he’s using, Zhou Xu), and asks CWN’s in return. He waxes eloquent about CWN’s sect and background. WKX’s entire face journey through all of this is a delight to watch. ZZS repeats that it’s their fate to meet, and WKX’s eyes almost roll out of his head. ZZS invites CWN to sit and have a drink together, and WKX’s mouth literally drops open. Finally, when WKX learns that A-Xiang is not going to make this interloper go away because he’s her ticket into Yueyang sect, he orders her to go find his wallet (presumably knowing that CWN will follow her when she leaves). As CWN leaves, ZZS reassures him that making friends is “mostly about resonance,” and the implication I presume, is that there is resonance between ZZS and CWN (and yeah, in more ways than one, as CWN will be the ZZS stand-in as these two relationships grow more and more parallel), in contrast to a supposed lack of resonance between ZZS and WKX. I … am not entirely sure that this is just to fuck with WKX, although it’s definitely part and parcel of that, or if it’s a little bit of ZZS trying to convince himself, particularly given a moment later in the ep, which I’ll get to later. In which case, sure, A-Xu. You keep telling yourself that. You didn’t get off at ALL on him staring at you like you’re the most gorgeous thing on earth. Uh-huh.

Outside, A-Xiang and CWN have a little foodie moment together, and if there ever was a fandom that needed a food-truck AU, it’s this one. I’m SO glad that after A-Xiang and Cao-dage got married, they settled down together and opened that little restaurant just down the mountain from Siji Manor. (Shut. Up.) Meanwhile, ZZS and WKX continue to drink inside, now that they’ve gotten rid of the kids. They discuss Mo Huaiyang (:spits:), with ZZS calling him a “cunning old fox” and wondering what a big rabbit like CWN is doing in his den (owowowoOW). WKX promises to get A-Xiang to check on ZZS’s disciple inside Yueyang Sect – he kind of emphasizes that your disciple bit, like he doesn’t really care at all what happens to Chengling, nuh-uh. OK, my dude, you keep telling yourself that, I guess. There’s yet another discussion about Philanthropist Wen’s real motives, which he claims are to empty out hell, which is metaphorically taken to mean saving the damned, although he probably literally means razing Ghost Valley and maybe the jianghu along with it, as he warns ZZS once again that “the fiercest ghosts tend to disguise themselves as human.” And because everything has a triple meaning in this show, this also, again, is also, again, a warning about himself – that he may look human, but he’s not, really.

Meanwhile, Chengling’s been delivered to Gao Chong at Yueyang Sect, where he’s undergoing the worst kind of family bonding. We learn where ShenShen gets his sparkling way with people, when Gao Chong’s first move is to frown at Chengling, feel his biceps and want to know if he’s sick, because he’s such a weakling. We also see where ShenShen gets the yelling and threats of violence. Both Gao Chong and ShenShen put the press on Chengling for the Glazed Armor, as he continues to insist he doesn’t remember anything about it, while Zhao Jing continues to be the “reasonable” one, tearfully telling Gao Chong to be nicer to the traumatized orphan for the sake of his father, oh, oops, I didn’t mean to remind Da-ge of the estrangement with Mirror Lake that’s mentally torturing him now and make him so emotional that this conversation gets cut short, no really, that was not my intention at all, my bad. Sure, buddy. Anyway, this gives us confirmation that Zhang Yusen hadn’t been interacting with his Five Lakes brothers for a while before Mirror Lake was targeted. But never mind that, you can trust us, Gao Chong tells Chengling, and follows up by asking him: Besides us, who can you trust? Which does not actually sound that trustworthy, my guy, and I begin to suspect that Five Lakes Alliance is running things because you’re the biggest bullies, as not a single one of you seems to know how to be the least bit politic. Except for Awful Yifu, who’s not so much adept at politics as at skullduggery. ANYWAY, when asked who he can trust, we can see Chengling thinking “MY NEW DADS” like it’s lit up in neon over his head. We also see him continue to press or clutch the place on his abdomen where we previously saw his injury, so that’s still bothering him, and I can’t imagine why it might do that any time he has to argue with one of these Five Lakes assholes about the Glazed Armor, amirite? I do also notice, though, that he calls both Gao Chong and Zhao Jing “bobo,” which I think is a more familial term for uncle? as opposed to “shishu” for ShenShen, which is martial, and I’m not sure exactly what distinction he’s driving home by doing so, but there you go. Chengling is sent away to rest, and on leaving the hall he immediately gets bullied by Xie Wuyang, one of Zhao Jing’s undercover Yueyang twinks, before being rescued by Gao Xiaolian, daughter of Gao Chong. She takes him to his new room, which faces right onto the training grounds, because no one’s told him yet how much he needs to build himself up, right? And we get to see a bunch of little Yueyang shits who acted like good boys and promised Xiaolian to her face that they would train with Chengling but who then immediately turn around and start mocking him as soon as she goes away, so WKX’s assessment of how the jianghu is full of assholes continues to look kind of correct. What is Cao Weining doing in this whole hive of scum and villainy?

We get a brief detour here to go with Xiaolian to meet Cao Weining and A-Xiang, and she agrees to let A-Xiang stay with her, before a disciple comes to get her to help set up for taking Chengling to worship at the Five Lakes Alliance memorial. Xiaolian helpfully lets us know that this is weird, because it’s going to be dark soon. A-Xiang sneaks away and informs WKX and ZZS that this is weird, because it’s going to be dark soon. ZZS and WKX also spot some of the Tian Chuang Action Lanterns and surmise that some “feudal lords” seen outside the city are up to no good, so they go and skulk in the bushes along the road to the Five Lakes Alliance monument.

This is getting super-long, so I’m going to get right to the next important part, which is the bit where Han Ying (My Beloved) and his Tian Chuang forces have laid a trap for Gao Chong and Chengling on the way back from the monument, and they try to kidnap Chengling. Han Ying continues to be cold, haughty, and capable at his job right up to the moment when ZZS jumps out of the bushes to foil the kidnapping with his signature Swiftly Moving Steps and a frankly ridiculous bit of gauzy fabric tied around the bottom half of his face as a disguise. Han Ying’s instant change of demeanor is something to behold – he can’t even notice that WKX has him by the throat around the hearts in his eyes as he recognizes ZZS. Which, let’s face it, he ought to, because ZZS spent a decade and a half running around with all of these guys with the bottom half of his face covered, so you’d think more of them would recognize him, but apparently the Cover Girl bangs throw them off. Anyway, WKX grabs Han Ying and they use him as a hostage to get Tian Chuang to release Gao Chong, Chengling and a bunch of Yueyang disciples. Once everyone else is gone, WKX and ZZS drag Han Ying into the bushes, where he hits his knees ten times faster than WKX has yet for ZZS, so maybe it’s WKX’s own fault that he’s left standing around, ignored and vinegary. Han Ying is back to the puppy-dog he was around ZZS in Ep 1, and interestingly, the way Zhang Zhehan is styled here makes ZZS look more severe than he has in a while – he’s got a lot of his hair up in the high pony that looks a bit like the topknot from the front, all the rest of his hair is back behind his shoulders, and his bangs are pushed back out of his face more than usual, making him look more like his Tian Chuang self as he talks to Han Ying. Who he calls Ying’er, and omg, fuck you subtitles, for not including this because HE CALLS HIM YING’ER AND I’M DYING. (Also, oh god, I just realized that the Ying of his name is the same character as “hero.” Which, just, the simple fact of it, of course, but also it was used in the “hero saving the beauty/beauty saving the hero” (overdubbed) lip-read from Ep 6, and now I’m dying on the floor, because that’s kind of a weird little link between Zhen Yan WKX and Han Ying already. It’s likely coincidence, but it’s potentially USEFUL, yes, all my fic writers out there?) Anyway, Han Ying is desperately worried - he knows something’s wrong, because ZZS isn’t bothering to disguise himself with that awful fake face anymore to keep himself safe from Prince Jin’s spies, and also, HOW IS YOUR INJURY, MY LORD? (DO YOU NEED SOMEONE TO TAKE TENDER CARE OF YOU?) WKX continues to look vaguely uncomfortable about this whole thing that’s going on right in front of his salad. Han Ying swears he’ll do anything for ZZS. WKX clears his throat loudly to draw attention and suggestively asks if he should leave for a while. (I am not shitposting here, this actually, literally happens.) ZSS literally huffs in annoyance and ignores him. He tells Han Ying that he saw signs of Tian Chuang at Yueyang and thought they were after him. We can see Han Ying thinking, “No, if I’d known you were here, you’d have found me on my knees by your bedside waiting patiently like a good boy.” We learn that Duang Pengju (that asshole) has had Han Ying looking for the Glazed Armor since the Mirror Lake massacre, probably to take credit for anything he finds. Han Ying reiterates that he’ll do anything for ZZS, and ZZS tells him to stay out of all this, saying that what Han Ying can do for him is stay alive (well, OW).

After this, we get a scene of ZZS and WKX still hanging around by the side of the road after dark. ZZS sincerely thanks WKX for his help, and says he owes WKX a favor. WKX asks him what’s really going on with ZZS and Chengling. ZZS says that he couldn’t stand around and do nothing while this kid was in danger, likely stirring some Zhen Yan feels in WKX that we don’t officially know about yet, at this point. ZZS asks WKX, again, about his Weird Thing about the Five Lakes Alliance and whether it was a coincidence that WKX was at Mirror Lake for the massacre. WKX goes vaguely Ghost Valley Master wild-eyed and says of course not! before laughing and saying, “I followed you, remember?” He gets friend-zoned and follows up by asking ZZS, “Why don’t you ask what I think of you?” ZZS – pretty unconvincingly, tbqh – says he doesn’t care and stomps off, leaving WKX to stare after him soulfully and call him zhiji. Much like that resonance thing earlier - you keep telling yourself that, A-Xu. The next time we see them, they’re at the marketplace, probably the next day, and you remember that thing I said about bonding via food? We’ve come back full circle to that, too. Zhen Yan WKX is 7 years old again, he wants some reassurance that he is ZZS’s super-special friend, and he works his way through the marketplace making ZZS buy him every sweet thing to eat that he can find. Every time ZZS has to pull out his wallet, he makes this pissy little face, but he keeps paying. ZZS is hopeless at cooking, but if you can’t make your own, store-bought will do, WKX is craving reassurance, and as uncomfortable as ZZS is with how close WKX has gotten at this point, he continues to provide it. I also want to point out another censorship dub here, thanks again to AvenueX on Youtube: As they’re figting over the way WKX is spending ZZS’s money in this scene, when WKX tries to grab ZZS’s hand, and ZZS is all ‘”Don’t touch me,” the voice dubbing has WKX say that repaying ZZS is no big deal, he’ll just let ZZS order him around, with ZZS’s response being to tell him to get lost, then. OTOH, lip-read gives us, from WKX, that it’s no big deal, he’ll sell the rest of his life to ZZS, with ZZS’s response as a threat to sell him to a brothel, then. :hands:

Quick wrap-up from there: They go watch some exotic dancers, only there turns out to be an unexpected pile of heads in the follow-up magician’s act, which turn out to be from the guys who were in the “bridal party” at the Ghost Valley “wedding” a few eps ago, and everyone swears vengeance against the Ghost Valley. WKX and ZZS go to visit Chengling, who is supposedly sick and can’t see them, but they get introduced to Gao Chong. Gao Chong and WKX are weird at each other, and ZZS is increasingly suspicious. He’s got his thinky face on, and we don’t get any literally pokey fingers, but I can’t help but think there are some mental pokey fingers going on, as he turns over all the info he knows in his head. Then some Yueyang disciple comes shrieking in about a dead body, omg, death, destruction, death, and Gao Chong is all, Seriously? In front of guests? before we’re out.

#zhou zishu #wen kexing #gu xiang #zhang chengling #cao weining #han ying #gao chong #shen shen #zhao jing #gao xiaolian #something something food as bonding #word of honor #word of honor episode reax

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strawberrylemonz · 4 years ago

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January 20, 2021 - DSMP

Here is my review of what happened on today’s stream! Keep in mind that I was only watching Tommy’s POV, but will be analyzing any other viewpoints that I come across (Mainly Tubbo’s)

I’m going to be honest with everyone, I was unsure as to whether not any of our boys would make it out alive. I went into the stream preparing the worst.

Tommy and Tubbo talking each other up, preparing to leave made me feel all kinds of thing. Like I stated earlier, I was prepared for the two to end their adventure today. I vibed with them when they walked down the prime path, and froze up when I saw the first person in line. I’m not ashamed to say that I nearly sobbed when I saw everyone line up to say their goodbyes to the boys (I’m sensitive, shut up).

The way Sam kept giving them stuff??? Loved that

The way Tommy and Quackity’s voices quivered when they spoke to each other? Punch to the heart?

Tommy telling Eret that she was always the true king??? YES!!! POP OFF!!!

The entire trip to where Dream was both made me happy and broke my heart. Here, we saw these boys, children forced to grow up quickly to be used by those they trusted, do their best to be kids for a moment. They were kids for, what they believed, could be the last time. They had their serious moments where Tommy kept reminding Tubbo that it was okay to not feel okay about the situation. Where Tommy didn’t want Tubbo to hide his inner thoughts from him just to try and make him feel better. The moment that they watched the sun together made me all sentimental and shit. Tommy preparing to die and have Tubbo leave and tell his story broke me.

“Why did you tell me to bring Tubbo?”

“Because, it’s always been you and Tubbo against me, remember? Ever since the beginning, Tommy and Tubbo against Dream” (paraphrasing)

I actually got hyped up when Tommy got the disc. It reminded me of Tommy’s clutch the time he dropped the disc down to Tubbo and knocked Dream off the tower using only planks. I had let my hope for them grow. And then I had my heart broken.

Dream using Tubbo against Tommy was something that I expected would happen, but I still wasn’t prepared for it to actually happen. I don’t think I’ll easily forget about how Tommy gave up the disc to Dream, even when Tubbo begged for Tommy to keep the disc and go. My heart nearly dropped to my stomach when I saw Dream break that first dirt block. It dropped when he told the boys to put their armor in the hole.

I have to admit, I was kinda confused that the homeless man had an evil lair and not a home, but pop off I guess??? The elevator was pretty cool, ngl

When I saw the two discs on the floor, I thought, “Bitch, you better be polishing this fucking floor every 30 minutes. Disrespect Nicki Minaj? What?” My second thought was, “why tf did you make two giant ass shrines for these discs??? Didn’t even center them, wtf dude.”

When Dream was monologuing and showing off the stolen goods and pets (and Skeppy) he stole from everyone, I knew he was on something. Him calling Tommy the key confirmed that Dream was overthinking everything and seeing things in places they didn’t belong. Did Tommy initially bring these bonds? Bring all the things Dream said he did? Yeah, I’ll admit it, he did. But it was the people in the server that kept that going, kept it alive. If not Tommy, someone else would have started that chain. The way Tommy look horrified and uttered with a horrific tone, “how do you not hurt?” when Dream mentioned how he cut off all his attachments was hnnnnnnnn

Tubbo actively trying to protect Tommy from going to prison while Tommy was actively trying to protect Tubbo from permanently dying was-

Man

Man, that broke my heart.

“You wanna be the hero of this server? Every hero has an origin story. Batman had his parents, Spider-Man had Uncle Ben. You have Tubbo.”

The look of complete horror/terror that came across Tommy’s face the instant those words were spoken. He genuinely looked scared. He kept trying to defend Tubbo, despite Dream repeating how defenseless Tommy was against him. Dream telling the boys to say their good byes hurt me in more ways that I can describe. Tommy was panicking, actively trying to come up with ways to get Tubbo out of there, no matter the cost or price that he had to pay. Tubbo telling him that it was okay, everything would be okay, he would be okay. The way Tommy was desperate to hold onto his best friend, his Tubbo, whilst saying, “You can’t be okay with this! Why are you okay with this?”

My heart nearly stopped for a second the moment Tubbo said “goodbye, Tommy”

My mind flashed back to Tubbo saying those exact words whilst exiling Tommy, his best friend, for the sake of everyone being safe. Now, here he was again, saying those exact words to the exact same person. The only difference? He wasn’t sacrificing his best friend for the sake of everyone and Dream. No, he was sacrificing himself for the sake of his best friend, his only true friend, Tommy.

“Get away from them”

“Punz?”

“I’m sorry Dream, but you should have paid me more.”

Literal chills. I cannot. It’s the “On your left” of the DSMP. The way everyone came through the portal to line up against this tyrant that manipulated them all. The way I imagined everyone coming through to see this decked out dude with a god complex about to murder a bloody and bruised child, said child’s best friend (also bloody and bruised) was watching, begging to have his friend spared. Imagining how they saw the tear streaks down the boys’ messed up faces as they accepted their fates. As they saw their fear turn to hope as Tommy got Tubbo behind them for safety. How Tommy entrusted them to keep Tubbo safe. How they all came, decked out, to defend these two children.

How Quackity came in nothing but his yeezys because he just fucking knew that Dream wouldn’t put up a fight. The way Dream was so confident that he had power over everyone because he rid himself of his bonds towards objects and friends, only for that to be his downfall. The way Sapnap, Dream’s old friend, his buddy, was the one to give Tommy the pickaxe. The way Puffy was there to protect the two boys she renounced his duckling title for (and the nation).

The way Tommy dug a hole, without any protection or weapons, and had Dream throw his stuff in. The way he didn’t blow any of Dreams shit up, like he had happen to himself, and, instead, used Dream’s things to protect Tubbo and everyone else. The way Tommy took away Dream’s first two lives, paralleling the times Dream took Tommy’s two lives. The way Tommy boxed him in, like Tubbo was at the festival, and the way Tubbo held a bow to Dream. The way Tommy screamed at Dream to tell everyone what he had done. How Dream was the one to blow up the community house. How Dream tormented the poor boy in exile. The way Tommy didn’t spare him because he liked him, or wanted to play mind games with him. No, Tommy spared him because he had a chance to get his brother back, his family.

“Let’s make Wilbur proud. SUCK IT GREEN BOY!!!!”

“SUCK IT GREEN BOY!!!!”

The way the boys sincerely thanked everyone for showing up, fully knowing that they didn’t have to do shit. The way that Tommy said to go to Tubbo’s vc, obviously warming Tubbo’s heart. The way they made it to bench, and finally had a chance to breathe. How they could sit their, listen to their discs, and be kids again. No wars, no going against Dream, nothing. They could just be Tommy and Tubbo, like it’s always been since the beginning.

Then Wilbur fishfucking Soot had to crash the moment like the older brother he was, lmaooooo.

“You didn’t die”

“Ghostbur?”

“I’m not Ghostbur.”

I sucked in a breath, not knowing how the interaction was going to go. Was Wilbur still in the mindset he was whilst blowing up the nation he and his younger brother created? Was he in a mindset before that? Was he sane?

I must admit, their bickering match, along with Tubbo’s dancing, made me realize how much I missed their dynamic. I realized how much I missed Wilbur being in the picture. (Tommy whispering to Tubbo how he liked Ghostbur was hilarious)

Wilbur complaining about being stuck with Schlatt in the afterlife was hilarious. Wilbur admitting that he was preparing, waiting, for Tommy, his younger brother, to join him in the afterlife had me gripping my plushies. Wilbur telling Tommy that he’s proud of him put a sledgehammer into my fragile dam.

“I’ll see you soon.”

“Yeah, I’ll see you soon.”

THEY. ARE. BROTHERS!!!!

It was just so refreshing to see these two get the happy ending they deserved in this arc. The pain and suffering these two children went through at the expense of others, how they were forced to grow up quickly because of their situations, all of that was finally pushed towards the path of recovery. And although they’ve been through hell and back, it’s still them. Although the future will be hard for them, throwing more trials and difficult choices, they know that they’ll make it out, because that how it’s always been. And if their strengthen bond after today can tell them anything, it’s that it’ll always be like that.

It’s always been Tommy and Tubbo.

What I want/what I predict

FOR GEORGE TO BE AWAKE FOR FIVE FUCKING SECONDS

Everyone complimenting Niki on her new fit better fucking happen, I will manifest it

Dream will use his favor from Techno to break out of prison

Connor playing a bigger role in the SMP

Foolish revealing that they don’t need Dream alive (hopefully)

Ghostbur to say a proper goodbye before Wilbur is revived

GLATT

GLATTBUR

SBI reunion with every alive for more than five fucking minutes

Wilbur ignoring his dad Phil and zooming over to little brother Tommy so that he can hug him and tell him that he’s safe now and that he’s so proud of him

THERAPY ARC!!!! FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYONE LOVELY, PLEASE

JUST GET EVERYONE INSIDE THE THERAPY GROUP SECTION AND TALK ABOUT THEIR TRAUMA AND FEELINGS SO THEY CAN ALL CLEAR UP THEIR MISUNDERSTANDINGS!!!!!

The egg will start to negatively affect people, causing those not affected to fear for their home and friends

SBI + TUBBO AND RANBOO VS EGGPIRE????? POG?????

Tubbo nuking L’manhole to get rid of the spreading red

Techno/Phil to come to an understanding with Tommy; vice versa

Those unaffected teaming up to safe those affected

Someone (preferably Ranboo) unintentionally activating the End Portal lmao

The rest of the SBI + Tubbo saving Tommy from being murdered by Jack and Niki

Jack and Niki learning that killing the child is not the fucking answer to their problems (If it didn’t work for William Afton, it won't work for y’all. Stop trying to be the man behind the slaughter)

Techno and Tommy rebuilding their trust and friendship with each other

Tommy giving Techno the Axe of Peace

Sam being influenced by the egg and becomes corrupted

Ranboo being free??? Pog???? Pog

Puffy and Niki having a one-to-one conversation about their personal opinions and goals

Puffy visiting Dream whilst he sits in his cell

Skeppy and Bad to be okay again :(

Everyone infected to be okay again :(

Tommy bonding with Eret

Big Q continuing to hold Clingy Duo close to him

Schlatt coming back but instead of trying to run for president and mess with everyone, he’s just everyone’s drunk uncle that somehow gives wise advice to every situation

Wilbur coming back but he’s that angry older cousin that only allows the favorite family members(Tommy)/friends to stay in his room

GIVE ME MEXICAN DREAM AND GIRL DREAM!!! ONLY HETERO RELATIONSHIP I SEE THAT IS BEYOND POGGERS

Lani and Drista to make a comeback at the same time

Tommy meeting more family members

The kids being able to be kids

Lani selling yeezy

Drista w/ bedrock

Drista laughing at Dream’s imprisonment

Everyone finding peace within each other’s chaos and living in harmony

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pallasperilous · 4 years ago

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So It Goes

So, forgive me this indulgence as somebody who does not ordinarily write meta; a friend asked me why I thought that the manner of Dean’s death in 15x20 is an incredibly lovely and mature writing choice. I think it is so, for reasons that also happen to explain why so many fans of the show fucking loathe it.

There is some Vonnegut at the end. Hang in for that.

PART ONE:

Chuck's story direction has always made sure that the boys, if they died, did so in a mega intense or glorious fashion (minus the *Mystery Spot* meddling by Gabriel, and those weren't meant to be permadeaths). Those deaths were awesome heroic television deaths that FED the story rather than ending it. Every time, the surviving brother would do some extremely stupid and destabilizing shit to bring the other back, often feeding an entire new cycle of death and retrieval.

If he *didn't* (cf: Sam in the Cage, Dean in Purgatory), it caused a massive rift between them, which then fed *further* wild-ass decisions. The dudes were in the dictionary under 'codependency'. People knew that killing or capturing one of them meant the other wasn't far behind.

Chuck's endgame for Sam and Dean was literally to *die fighting God.* How much more heroically wanky can you get?

But they beat him. They’re free. Jack takes over, and makes it clear that he isn’t going to be a God who meddles or directs; he’s not going to be their in-house writer. He’s just going to set things back where they belong, reform the systems that Chuck established out of ego or cruelty, and then integrate himself with the universe so that anything that happens to it…happens to him, too. He’s won’t be a character anymore. He’s a setting.

PART TWO:

So, minus Chuck, with Jack’s goodbye and Castiel’s sacrifice…the boys get to experience plain old…real life. Tuesday! Drinking beer, kicking the laundry machine, filling out shitty job applications, enjoying the little consolations of food and pets and free time. (I think that messy room and dog-bonding and staring into the internet bespeaks a Dean who is really doing his goddamn best to not implode with grief as he has in the past, but to try to thrive in the face of deep grieving).

When Sam expresses grief over losing Cas, Dean's response is basically: yeah, it sucks. But our job, that our loved ones sacrificed for us to have a shot at… is to stop trying to reverse all of our losses, and to learn to live with them, like normal people have to. That’s the price of the gift they’ve been given — accepting whatever real life deals them.

They can literally do anything they want; circumstances won’t herd them into Season 16. What’s the first thing Dean really does, after this little break?

He hears “missing kids, dead parents” and he dives right back in. He opens his Dad’s goddamn notebook for the info. He’s immediately choosing to go right back to where they started, for the sake of helping other people. He books them to fight some of the very first basic bitch monsters he and Sam dealt with. That is unforced 100% Dean’s choice.

(Sam has demonstrated an ability to not take on the responsibility of eliminating all monster-based misfortunes in the world and pursue a life beyond just hunting, so long as Dean has been off the map…but Dean’s one attempt to take a job and settle down with Lisa ended up being so obviously hollow that Castiel felt SO BAD he took time off from RUNNING HEAVEN to rescue Sam FOR DEAN.)

PART THREE:

Remember Chuck's little fit earlier where Dean wound up getting his teeth drilled etc? That bad luck was being magnified by Chuck being pissed at them, but the brothers truly did find themselves facing ordinary people shit they had never really had to deal with. It drove the point home -- Sam and Dean had been exempt, this whole time, from the petty little ways that failure and misfortune work in the normal world. That extended to their hunting, too — they found out that there were people they could fail to save, despite their best effort. People who, according to the rules they’d been operating under, should have been savable.

So we see this hunt — which is really rough and tumble. They’re still doing amazingly considering how outnumbered they are, but this was some of the most intentionally graceless fight choreography I remember seeing on the show. They seriously almost lose the fight, and Sam kills that last vamp pestering Dean with the kind of “whew!” last minute heroics we’ve come to expect from the show.

And Dean realizes: something has gone wrong. Something that no pulp TV action genre writer would ever, ever draft for a hero’s death. There was some scary rebar sticking out and Dean got shoved into it in the scuffle and it hath Fucked Him Up. It’s the kind of shit that happens on construction sites. It’s an accident. It’s a random misfortune. It has nothing to do with his heroism or skill or the cleverness or powerfulness of his opponents. It just happens.

Under show rules, here is what would happen next: Castiel would heal him. Jack would heal him. Sam would call an ambulance and Dean would be DOA and Sam would whip out his cellphone and call Rowena or a crossroads demon or Sister Jo or research a spell and we’d be off and rolling for Season 16.

But Dean says: Don’t do that.

Because that is what Chuck would write.

Dean realizes — this is exactly the world they have fought to exist in. A world that is randomly wonderful, randomly shitty. This happened because he chose to be here. Nobody made them pursue this hunt. Is he surprised that it happened so soon, that he ended up having so little time to give unscripted life a shot? Yes, to the point that he clearly thinks it’s honestly kinda funny. Cuz who’d write it like that? Nobody! He likes the part that he gets to die on a hunt, standing up, in his boots — that’s what he’s always seen for himself. Not in a bad way, not in a “killing machine” or a “daddy’s little soldier” way, but because it means he kept fighting for other people up to the last second. He’s upset that Sam is so upset — he’s more worried about calming Sam and reassuring him than he is about how cool his death is gonna look on IMDB, or how they can cheat circumstance to buy him more time.

Instead of buying more time, at the expense of living like real people instead of TV characters…he decides to make the most of this one moment. He tells Sam how much he loves him. He tells Sam that Sam will be okay; he’s going to go live a whole life on whatever terms he and the universe can work out together, and the fact that Dean isn’t there is gonna be a painful but acceptable part of those terms. Dean says: don’t go running off trying to change this. Just spend this last little bit of time with me, while the universe does its thing. That’s what they do.

TL;DR — this death is fucking awesome because Chuck would absolutely fucking hate it. He wanted Sam and Dean to go down in a ball of fire together, fighting their coolest foe ever, CHUCK!

Instead: Dean dies like a normal person, from an accident bred under circumstances that he chose for himself. Chuck loses half his prize, not to some other big bad, but to a damn piece of construction material on a mundane job. And Dean gets to die in a way that unshackles Sam’s fate from his own. Like Castiel did for him, he gets to say: I love you. This is enough for me. Go live your life.

He finally gets to drop his kid back off at Stanford.

Chuck would be so pissed.

And we, the viewers of Supernatural...well, hell, we’re ultimately fans of Chuck’s writing, aren’t we? So of course something so unprecedented, so un-heroic or badass, so mundane and intimate and random...of course it shocks. Because that’s not the show we’ve been watching!! But isn’t that the point? The author is dead. We can put aside his tastes, and we can look at Dean’s death, and say the words of Dean’s actual favorite author, Kurt Vonnegut -- So it goes.

#spn meta #spn finale spoilers #spn criticism #I liked what was in the finale and grieved what was not #death of the author hell yeah #dean winchester

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revisionaryhistory · 4 years ago

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Three Days ~ 88

~*~Sebastian~*~

After the video call with my friends, I went back to the couch with a fresh glass of wine. I am blessed. Family, friends, co-workers, and a woman who loves me. None of us are perfect. I have people to call when times are tough. Today they called me, knowing I’d be struggling, only this time it was in a good way. Not long later Jessica called and invited me to dinner.

Pizza, beer, friends, and a toddler made for a good night. Giulietta thought I was much more fun than mom or dad. I guess they don’t let her use them like a jungle gym. When mom spoiled our fun and said it was time to settle down, I stopped the tears by promising to read her a story. Her choice. Like someone else I know Giulietta was asleep before I was halfway through. At this rate I'll never know how anything ends.

I sent the picture Jessica had taken to Emma. She'd wake up to it and with any luck send me back something fun. Which she did as soon as she woke up. Which was afternoon for me. Dinner break before I checked my phone. Emma struck the perfect balance between sweet and sexy. Her hair was messy with just her eyes peeking over a pillow she was hugging. Those beautiful green eyes I loved to look into. I couldn't see her smile so I could imagine it anyway I liked. The sweet one she often got right before she told me she loved me. Or the other one she got when she wanted me. I loved them both.

Our texts were broken up over the course of the day. Short bursts or long hours between. We talked most days at least for a few minutes. We talked about our days, shared memories, and talked about us. Maybe had phone sex. What didn't happen was whining about being apart or bitching about the time and distance. I didn't hang up feeling angry or guilty. I did my job, hung out with friends, relaxed during my downtime, and did a little shopping. Emma relaxed, did some studying, and practiced guitar. I missed her. She missed me. But we went on with our lives apart, making the best of the situation. It sucked, except it didn't.

I think this is the way it's supposed to be.

Thursday we wrapped for Paris. That was worth a party. Over the next four days production would pack up and move to Rome. I'd spend a day and a half on planes going from Paris to Dallas to San Diego. Then back to Dallas and on to Rome. The time zones were going to fucking kill me.

I called Emma when I got back to my room. I was drunk and grumpy. Hearing her voice helped. Seeing her face was even better. The way she told me exactly what she wanted to do to me and said all sorts of dirty things until I came... I wasn't grumpy anymore.

I had a headache when my alarm rang. I needed more sleep. Hopefully, I'd catch up on the flight. I was still debating going back to sleep and blowing off the weekend when my phone rang. Emma. It was the middle of the night for her. "Why are you awake?"

She laughed, "Making sure your drunk ass doesn't turn off his alarm and blow off the weekend."

I rolled to my side, mirroring her. "I wouldn't do that. I was thinking about it, but I wouldn’t do it."

"Such a professional. How are you feeling?"

"I've been better. Advil, breakfast, and a long nap on the plane and I'll be fine. How are you?"

"Good. Big plans laying by the pool with Mallory today."

"Sounds fun. I will be on a plane."

"Yes, but you will walk out of the airport into sunny California. Then spend two days being adored and laughing with your friends."

"That will be fun." I was honestly looking forward to that part.

Emma yawned. I smiled at her beautiful face, "You need to go back to sleep. I need to get showered."

She didn't argue with me. She was tired.

"Thank you for making sure I was up. I love you."

"I love you." There was my sweet smile.

I cannot begin to explain how very disorientating it is to board a plane at nine am, travel for fifteen hours, to arrive at three pm, which is only six hours after you left. I get to relive eight of the hours I spent on the plane. Only thing is, my body thinks it’s midnight. I slept some on the flight and I knew better than to go back to sleep. The closer to "normal" bedtime for this time zone I could get, the better I would feel tomorrow. Anthony and I had press then an autograph session, before the big Marvel event. Sunday was photo ops and an autograph session. Both long days where I was expected to be pleasant despite how inappropriate or rude fans got. Needless to say, a decent night’s sleep would be best for everyone.

I got to my room by four and quickly realized I couldn't stay there. I needed fresh air. I needed to breathe. I changed into shorts and took off to have a look around. There were several hotels in the area that hosted celebrity guests. We weren't all in one place. I'd requested a beach. It was a little farther from the convention center and I was confident I could wander unseen. Most people stayed right around the center since a lot of packages kept prices lower and being so close to the action was appealing. I wanted the ocean.

Down the beach I could see big boulders and took off that direction. I needed some flip-flops. The sand made me think of Emma. The water. The people surfing. The impending sunset. Breathing. I'd like to say the plan I was cooking up was a product of sleep deprivation. It wasn't. It had been bouncing around in my head since this morning as we lay in bed together thousands of miles apart. I'd dismissed it as selfish. On the plane, when sleep was impossible, and I was panicking, it didn't seem so selfish. I shoved the idea away because I knew it really was. The same reasons I didn't ask Emma to stay in Paris or go to Rome were valid here. Asking her to fly literally to the other side of the country to spend two days with me, asking her to amuse herself while I worked a chunk of that time, was peak me as a selfish asshole. The longer I sat on the rock watching the ocean the less of a bad idea it seemed. Maybe not less of a bad idea, but an idea I could give her a choice in, with the difference being if she said no, I wouldn't be angry or make her pay for not doing what I wanted. Growth in action. Hopefully.

I should check flights before I even think about calling. Or actually call, because I'm already thinking about calling. Might not be possible.

It was. I flipped my phone in my hands several times before hitting the buttons to call her. Apparently, I hadn't grown completely out of being an ass.

"I'm about to be an asshole."

Emma raised her eyebrows, "Uh oh."

"Yeah." I was going to do it anyway. "Fifteen-hour flight with little sleep because the turbulence over the ocean was a nightmare. I'm grumpy, exhausted, and lonely as fuck. I'm on the beach without you. I miss you. I can get you on a flight in the morning and if you come straight to the venue you'll be here before I have to do anything. It’ll be two days. I have to leave for Rome Monday. I know it's a shitty thing to ask, but will you come see me? So I can see you."

"I'd love to."

I was prepared to step up my game and her easy acquiescence caught me off guard. "You will?"

She nodded with a smile, "I miss you too."

I took a deep breath and let it out, "I was prepared to beg."

Her smile was almost a laugh, "While you begging sounds fun, it's not necessary. Do I need to pack anything dressy?"

"Fuck, I hope not. I have a pair of jeans, shorts, and sweatpants." It's amazing how much better I felt. I ran my hands through my hair. "You're flying out of JFK. Sorry."

"You booked the flight already?"

"Not many seats left. I wasn't risking it. You leave at seven, here at ten. My first thing is noon." I could see her grabbing her carry-on from the closet.

"I'm going to spend the night at your place. Do you want me to bring you anything?"

I scrunched up my face, "Underwear."

"You don't have underwear?"

"The one's I'm in and a spare."

"You may not like what I pick out."

"Emma, baby, I will wear yours as long as you deliver them."

"I think that's a little drastic."

"It's really not."

Emma laughed and touched her screen. I could almost feel her. I could definitely imagine feeling her. She almost gasped and broke into a smile, "I have an idea. I need to call Jill real quick. Give me five maybe ten minutes."

I nodded, "Okay. I'm going to lay here on my rock."

My rock was not soft, but I was very comfortable. I was very happy. The sky was blue and the sound of the waves was calming. I only had to wait until tomorrow to see Emma. It was going to be a good day.

A little more than five minutes later Emma was calling me back. "You've made my little sister very happy."

"Excellent!” I smiled, "How'd I do that?"

"We need to change my flight. Monday I'm going to Seattle pick up Olivia and take her back to New York with me. Then we'll meet up with the family in Chicago."

"That's perfect. You're not just coming out here for me."

She picked up on it. "Yeah, because seeing you isn't enough of a reason. You know I miss you, right?"

"I know, but I'm..."

Emma cut me off, "Stop there. I jump on planes to spend weekends on tour with dad. This is fun for me. Dad's doing sound checks, interviews, and charity shit while I amuse myself. You're not an asshole. I love this."

"You love this?" I did not love jumping on planes at short notice.

She was nodding as I spoke, "I love this."

"And you'd tell me to fuck off if you didn't?"

"Maybe, but this is your lucky day."

"No, my luck day was exactly eight weeks ago."

We talked for another ten minutes or so until she was loaded and heading into the city. We've talked while she's driving many times, but I wanted her to pay attention. The sun was going down where she was and it would be dark before she got to my place. I headed back toward the hotel and ordered room service. By the time Emma texted she was at mine and I was deep in a documentary, struggling to stay awake.

Emma ~ Safe and sound in your bed.

Naturally, she sent a picture. Sheet barely covering her breasts and one arm stretched out above her head.

I sent back a picture of me in the same pose, but making sure to show the empty side of the bed. I drew a red ✗ there.

Sebastian ~ Where you will be in my bed tomorrow.

Emma ~ Equally safe and sound Sebastian ~ More. Emma ~ I'm going to sleep. I will see you in the morning. Sebastian- Can not fucking wait

I was probably asleep before she was. By the time I woke up twelve hours later Emma was halfway here. I felt well-rested and excited for my day. Not just the Emma piece. Mackie and I always had fun together. I'd been sent the day’s itinerary. Noon was press, two thirty was an autograph session, and five was the big deal Marvel panel. We should be done by 6:30. Disney was having a party tonight. I had to make an appearance. It started at eight. That wasn't going to happen. Nine was more likely. I remembered it wouldn't matter because mice can't tell time.

At the venue I was led to a behind the scenes area. There was a large room, guarded by security, set with food and drink. Several smaller rooms encircled the larger area and some were labeled with company names. One of the largest was for Disney, with cloth wall dividers making several smaller rooms, where a stylist would be waiting to make sure Mackie and I looked presentable. Outside of the room was a loading area that was separated from the autograph booths by black curtains. I'd already ducked between them and gave fans nosing around my booth quite a surprise. Those were my favorite interactions. The ones without expectations. Security came over to make sure I hadn't been ambushed. I hadn't, but that was a perfect way to get away and I needed to talk to security anyway. I had them take me to the security office. Some lucky fans got a shot at a sighting of a Sebastian in the wild. I explained what was happening to the head of security and put Emma’s name on a list. They gave me a lanyard with her all-access pass and told me what door to direct her to. Security would meet her and bring her to me.

"About that." Call me paranoid, but I didn't trust they'd remember to have someone waiting for her. They'd call someone when she showed up and gave her name to the person with the list. "I need a Pearl Jam fan."

"Excuse me?"

"Someone on your staff is a Pearl Jam fan. Get them.”

He got on his radio, "Anyone out there a Pearl Jam fan?"

A voice came back, "Big Ed. He works all the shows up the coast."

I looked at my watch then back at the supervisor, "I need to borrow him for an hour."

His face read doubtful, but I was Disney. "Big Ed. I need you in the security office. Anyone see him? Send him."

A different voice, "On my way, boss."

Several minutes later Big Ed came through the door. I knew it was him because he was six-five and an easy two-fifty. He was his name. I held out my hand, "Hey, Big Ed. I'm Sebastian. Nice to meet you."

“You too."

"Walk me back to the guest area." We headed out and I waited until we were away from the office. "Do you know Ed's daughter?"

He smiled, "He has three. Which one?"

"The only one old enough for me to ask about."

"Emma. I've seen her at a couple of shows. I work security up the coast. Great way to see a bunch of shows."

I nodded, "I guess anything you miss at one you can catch at the next."

"Exactly." He pointed to his ear, "And you can always hear."

"Back to Emma. She's on her way here. I'd appreciate it if you would meet her and bring her to me."

"Is Ed coming?"

"No, he's," I stopped myself, "you ask her where he is."

He laughed, "I might take the long way back here."

"I haven't seen her in weeks. Not too long." Two is weeks. Barely.

Emma texted they'd landed. Big Ed changed where he wanted her to go and he headed in that direction. I sat down to wait for her to text she was here. I heard a familiar voice.

"Sebastian Stan? Is that really you?"

"Captain America?" I stood up and turned to the voice.

"Don't call me that. The pressure." Mackie hugged me, slapping my back much harder than necessary. "How jet-lagged are you?"

"Is that code for how much work are you going to have to do because I'm grouchy?"

"Maybe." We laughed.

"I had a good night’s sleep and I'm in a great mood."

"You seem twitchy. Why are you twitchy?"

"I'm not twitchy."

"Yes, you are. You're twitchy."

"If I'm twitchy it's because you're making me twitchy."

He pointed at me, "Ah ha! You admitted it. You're twitchy."

I rolled my eyes and scowled, "Emma's on her way. I might be a little twitchy."

"Here?" He pointed to the ground. With his eyebrows raised.

I smiled, "My girlfriend."

"Yeah, I got that. Plus, Evans told me."

"She’s not a secret." That felt good.

He asked and I answered. Talking about Emma is my second favorite thing having to do with Emma. First is being with Emma. In absolutely any way. My phone went off with Emma telling me she was here. I put my hand on Mackie’s arm. "Stay here. Right here."

#Sebastian Stan #Sebastian Stan Fanfiction #fanfiction #sebastian stan X ofc #marvel actor fanfiction

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uwuwriting · 5 years ago

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Homesick recordings

This is the first part of my 1.5K celebration. I present to you the sequel to “Moments in the life of Y/N L/N”, the angstiest piece of trash I’ve ever written. Thank you 1.5 K guys it means a lot, thank you for being here and reading my crap writing and thank you for supporting my blog. Love ya 💖💖💖

masterlist II rules

When Y/N learns that her little girl is gonna leave for high school she suggests she tries recording herself when she’s feeling homesick. Sky believes that she won’t need it but as time passes she realizes that she might need her mom more than expected.

Monday, April 4th 20XX

“Okay so how do I do this exactly? *camera falls from its spot* Ah crap crap Jesus! Is it still working? Yep yep it is there’s my ugly face hehe. God why is my hair like that? Anyways um…. Hi, I guess? Do you say hi to a recording? This is weird to say the least. Today was the first day of school as you might have guessed and it was ….awkward. I got lost in that huge building twice and I ignored some kids by accident because they called me by my last name! I’m used to people referring to you when they say our last name ugh this is gonna take some time getting used to. The teacher is ....unique. He came into our classroom in a yellow sleeping bag and proceeded to worm around the room like a caterpillar. I don’t think he is the really giddy giddy fun teacher; he wrecked us during training. Gave us a freaking heart attack with a so called prank he pulled. *exasperated sigh* Who says that you’ll be expelled if you score last?? I don’t get it!! His name is Aizawa-sensei and I already believe he doesn’t like me. He stared at me for a solid five minutes with a frown on his face during training. If I’m being honest he was watching me the whole day which is kinda weird. I don’t know how to take that. Is he interested in my quirk or is he asking himself why they put me in his class? I can hear his voice saying ‘why do they keep sending me imbeciles?’. Well mister you can’t get rid of me now I got in and I’m staying! HA! *bang on the wall* YO SKY KID KEEP IT DOWN MAN! SORRY TOYOMI-SAN…..That was one of my roommates….She is a social worker I think. Oh I almost forgot, the apartment I found is nice. It deserves its price I mean. But you already know that since I called you once I got back from school…. See why this is stupid??? I’ll keep telling you things you already know because I have Alzheimer and I don’t remember what you know. *sigh* Oh well I guess you’ll have to endure this torture, you are my mother after all and I’m your precious only daughter so what can you do really? I finished my costume design. It turned out pretty cool, I like it. The jacket you suggested makes it ten times better. I look like a pilot. Well technically I am a pilot. I pilot clouds and now that you’re not here to scold me when I’m flying around I’ll take full advantage of it. You can’t stop me mother! Anyways, it’s getting late and I have school tomorrow so I’ll end this here. I don’t know when I’ll record next…. Most likely when I’m feeling home sick again. Haha it's the first day away from home and I’m already missing you and those two idiots. *soft snort* Goodnight mom, love you.” *recording ends*.

Wednesday, April 27th 20XX

“Hello again, it’s me, your neighborhood cripple. *wince* You could say I’m a sight for sore eyes because I’m sore all over. You’ve seen the attack on the news. Of course you have, everyone’s shaming UA high for lack of security. Why you haven’t called me yet is a mystery, I guess you’re at work? And before you start throwing a tantrum about me not calling first and blah blah, I wanted to record this first, let you see the actual injuries before I minimize them when I call you. *stares off* Something weird happened during the attack. Apart from the fact that well we were attacked and our homeroom teacher was almost beaten into a pulp, the villains were ….. interesting. When they first appeared I was teleported by this minecraft portal looking ass to another part of the USJ and to be honest I kicked some serious ass. That *wince* that was not the weird thing. While I was fighting I saw Aizawa-sensei facing some type of giant ostrich? Although that that thing wasn’t an ostrich…. I don’t know what it was but mom it was terrifying. *visible shiver* It just grabbed him and mopped the floor with him and I just couldn’t sit there and do nothing. So I went to help or at least that was my goal. That person who teleported me at the beginning tried to do it again and I may have snapped a little bit. I got so angry when he moved me to the other side of the arena that for a moment I totally forgot about what was happening. While I was fighting him his quirk kinda connected with mine. It was strange. Every time I shot a cloud at him the mist that surrounded him kinda engulfed it. It wasn’t only happening to me. I could manipulate his mist. Not every time just like he couldn’t sabotage my clouds every time, but it still happened. I don’t know why it happened or how it happened and I have no idea what I’m gonna do about it. Maybe it was part of his quirk but it didn’t happen to anyone else…..*wince* God I have a headache. *chuckle* You do realize you are never going to see these videos right? Seeing me like this would send you into a comma and then you would come back to haunt me and my classmates. Anyways, I’ll call you and then I’m going to sleep. Love ya mom.” *recording ends*

Tuesday, June 3rd 20XX

“*walking back and forth in her room* You know how I said that Bakugou is a really fun person to tease? Well that was before he exposed me to the whole class.*laugh* In reality I’m not really mad, it was a nice comeback and if I’m being honest it was hilarious but it was still a shocker. We were going back and forth with that tik tok challenge where you expose your friend’s flaws. So I was standing there pointing out his superiority complex when he dropped the bomb…… ‘It’s the daddy issues for me’......THIS KID. THE AUDACITY. I thought my daddy issues were kept on the down low!!! I’ve done nothing to trigger this comment!! Sure I may or may not have told Mina that you raised me alone and about that counselor incident but that doesn’t mean I have daddy issues. *grumble* You need to have a dad to have daddy issues. Ughh God I hate him sometimes so very much. Thankfully the summer camp is tomorrow. I’ll get to wipe the floor with him in volleyball. I’m gonna draw those anger issues out…. I need some air. *three hours later* I’m back… yay. It’s weird to think about it you know. What you must have gone through when he passed. I know you don’t really like talking about him or anything before I came along but I would love to know what he was like. I’m not gonna ask you in real life of course, I would never do that to you. I know it hurts. I just wanted to say it out loud…*barely audible sniffle* … Well this got sentimental real quick. I think I should go to bed. I love you mom, goodnight.” *recording ends*

Friday, March 14th 20XX

“Of all the things that could’ve happened, this one was the last one on my list. Actually it wasn’t even on the freaking list, dammit! *sniffle* You know things like this don’t happen to everyone. I must be a really lucky person. Tell me one other person who gets to meet their dead parent in a high surveillance prison?? And above that I got an explanation why he was like this. Amazing right? God this is so stupid! I hate it. I hate this situation, I hate that I can’t tell you about it, I hate keeping you in the dark because at the end of the day I’m not the one who was in love with him. He may be my dad but I don’t have a connection with him! I never met him! He wasn’t there when I started walking or talking, he wasn’t the one who dropped me off on the first day of school, he didn’t teach me how to ride a bike, he-he * sob* I shouldn’t-shouldn’t be upset over this. Aizawa-sensei and Present Mic should be the ones sobbing on their floor. Not me. He doesn’t - I don’t- ugh - I don’t mean anything to him in the end. He died 15 years ago. That’s it. He was in love with you, he knew you, I was nowhere to be found. If he could reach out to us more than just a few words he wouldn’t know who the hell I was. *sobs* I have a picture of you two you know….It’s the one I had found when I was five. When you told me that that was my dad I felt like I could form a connection with the person in that photo. So I kept it, you never went through your old photo albums anyway and you never looked for the missing photo. And I kept it with me. I tore a small pocket in my backpack and put the photo there. I thought that having both of you with me at all times would bring me luck. I liked the fact that I looked like him. Now I realize how painful that must have been for you, seeing him in me everyday….and Aizawa-sensei, god, having me in his class must have been torture. He didn’t know that I was his friend’s daughter of course but I looked enough like him to bring back memories. God this sucks…. *deep breathes* I-I have practice so I gotta go. Love you.” *recording ends*

Thursday, March 20th 20XX

“Hi, it’s me again. I know that I’m recording almost a week after the previous one but… mom I have been assigned a mission and it’s major. It’ll be an attack at a hospital where we believe that experiments are being conducted. We got that information from um what do I call him? *shakes head* from a prisoner in Tartarus, the high surveillance prison I was at last week? Yeah that one. The mission will be really dangerous, that’s what we’ve been told and I can understand that. I mean we are attacking a major operation of AFO, of course it’ll be dangerous. Since we are students we are to stay away from the hospital and monitor the surrounding area but…. I asked Present Mic to go with them in the hospital. I can help keep things in place and I can move people in and out quicker than any of them, plus this is personal. I think Present Mic understands that. He said he’ll talk to Aizawa-sensei about it but regardless….. I’ll find who did that to him, I promise you that. I want to know if...if this was all some grand plan because what they did to him they did to dozens other people and as much as I hate them for taking my father away, I also hate them for what they’ve done to all those other families…… I’m recording this because I don’t know if I come back in one piece or if I come back at all. This is very dangerous and we don’t really know what to expect. What we are getting ourselves into. I wanted to say thank you. Thank you for giving me everything that I needed in life. Thank you for being the best mom anyone could ever have. You raised me by pushing your own sadness and grief to the side and doing the best job you could. So thank you for being my mom and I’m sorry for the pain I caused you. I love you mom, so very much. Bye, bye mommy.” *recording ends.*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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jubans · 5 years ago

Text

title: chance encounter pairing: settsu banri/fem!reader rating: g (general) premise: on a perfectly normal morning, at the perfectly flourished breakfast table, taichi asks banri a perfectly off-putting question.

"ban-chan, how the heck is your hair so silky?!"

Banri usually starts up his day skirting everyone else in the lounge to be the first one in the showers. Unlike most of the men that reside in the Mankai dorms, he actually takes the time to scrub down every niche in his body until it's squeaky clean. But, oh, don't even get him started with the intricacies that came with taking care of his hair. That conversation is something none of the members of the troupe (except, maybe, Azuma) are ready for, and he likes to keep it that way.

But on a perfectly normal morning, at the perfectly flourished breakfast table, Taichi asks Banri a perfectly off-putting question.

"Ban-chan, how the heck is your hair so silky?!"

The neo gangster, as Yuki typically calls him, just finished shrugging on his school blazer when he casts Taichi a bizarre look. He has a notepad and a textbook in front of him, balancing a pen in his fingers as he stares back at Banri expectantly. The little brat is in the middle of cramming his homework, and he has the audacity to distract himself like that?

"Conditioner," is all he says in return, grabbing one of the toast slices Omi left for them.

Juza scoffs from where he's stuffing his face with pancakes on the other end. "That ain't very helpful."

"I wasn't fucking talking to you, Hyodo," Banri grates at him dismissively.

"Banri-kun," he hears Sakuya calling out from the lounge, where he and Masumi are already slinging their schoolbags across their shoulders. "You ready to go?"

He spares Taichi a minute nod of the head, telling him to stop doing his homework the day it's due before picking up his own bag. Then, he gives Juza the finger, earning a momentary scolding from Sakyo, who just happens to pass by when he does it. Then, after a few words in farewell bid to those who don't work nor study—Citron delaying their departure a little because he'd wanted to show how to make a blade (braid)—the Hanasaki High boys were on their way.

"So noisy," Masumi mutters as he pulls the door behind him. "But if it was the Director, I wouldn't mind."

Sakuya laughs, leading the way for the three of them. "There's never a dull moment in the dorms, huh?"

As they traverse the short distance to school, Banri hangs back a little when Sakuya asks Masumi about the younger boy's literature class. Their conversation fades into background noise in his ears as he let his eyes wander around the neighborhood. But when they pass by a familiar intersection, Banri instinctively flickers his gaze at the tall, white house in the corner lot—a girl in a dark green uniform closing the gate behind her.

You're preoccupied with something on your phone, oblivious to the three boys that are walking past your house—him included. But given that Ouka High is the opposite way from where they're headed, he doesn't even get the chance to slip in a quick hello.

Well, it's not like you'd remember someone like him, right?

"Ugh, this sucks!"

A week after Banri moved into the Mankai dorms, he found himself facing a rather pressing dilemma: the shampoo provided for the troupe members made his hair disgustingly greasy.

And that was how he wound up at the nearby grocery store, grumbling about how cheap that yakuza, Sakyo, was being with their commodities. If you want something else, buy it yourself, he told him. Giving the old man the last word might have let his pride take a hard blow, but it was a small price to pay for comfort. He'd rather kiss ass to the cheapskate than live another day with greasy hair.

But when he reached the toiletries section, he realized another thing.

The brand he used at home was something his sister imported from another country.

"Having trouble picking something out?"

Banri cast a withering glare at the girl who dared to point out his predicament, but his irritation morphed into curiosity when he noticed that you donned the familiar green of the Ouka High uniform. The next thing he noticed was the way your shiny, luscious hair cascaded down your shoulders, as smooth as a waterfall. He retracted his hostility for a minute, wondering if you could be his saving grace. Banri was good at a lot of things, but he didn't want to make any gambles with his current conundrum.

"Yeah," he answered hesitantly. "Uh, do you know which brand doesn't make your hair oily? Shampoo brand, I mean."

You blinked up at him for a second, confused, before your eyes lit up with realization. "Ah, O'Real is a really nice brand. Makes my hair really bouncy." To demonstrate, you swished your head around, making your long tresses sway with the movement in a dazzling fashion. "But you can't just settle with the shampoo. It's better to buy the value pack with conditioner over...here."

Plucking one of the aforementioned value packs, you handed it to Banri without much preamble. He glanced at the price tag stuck to the bottom, and he had to force himself not to wince with how much it'll cost him.

He was momentarily spared from his monetary concerns when he noticed you struggling to carry the basket you held in both hands. It was filled with an assortment of products ranging from laundry detergent to cold cuts. While he usually didn't offer girls his help lest they asked for it, Banri decided to make an exception.

"You need a hand with that?" He flicked his gaze downwards.

You flushed at his offer, shaking your head (his eyes staring a bit too long at the way your hair moved once again). "Oh, no, no! I couldn't possibly bother you with—"

"Come on," he said, clicking his tongue as he plucked the basket from your grasp. "I ain't taking no for an answer. Consider this as...payback. For helpin' me out."

Relenting, you folded your arms across your chest, smiling up at him cheekily. "Would you at least tell me your name, then?"

"Settsu Banri," he replied coolly. "You still headed to the other aisles?"

"Nope. I remembered last minute that I still have an unopened bottle of conditioner at home," you sigh, giggling at him. "You're not very delicate with girls, are you?"

He stiffened for a moment. Well, you weren't wrong. His sister was one of the toughest women he'd ever seen, and even though he didn't expect every woman to turn out the same way, Banri never once treated girls like fragile glass. His raucous behavior around them prompted most of his female classmates to steer clear of him—not that he'd minded, but this was the first time someone had spoken the words to his face.

"What about you?" he wondered gruffly in hopes of switching up the conversation. "What's your name?"

"(Surname) (Name)," you told him with a cheeky grin. "Shall we go, Settsu-kun? I mean, you'd want to wash your greasy hair as soon as possible, right?"

His mouth hung agape with disbelief as you happily pranced out of the toiletries section—leaving him with the realization that there were people aside from Juza that could pick a fight with him.

And, surprisingly, he'd let this one slide.

"You know (Name)?"

Okay, he didn't expect Juza to react like that when Banri decided to ask him about you when his roommate arrived at home.

"Yeah, I ran into her at the grocery store a few months back," he says, ticked off. "What's it to ya?"

"Stay away from her," Juza tells him off sharply as he swings his school bag up to his bed. "I mean it, Settsu. Fuck around with me, I don't care. But I swear to god, if you touch my cousin—"

Banri does a double-take on that one. "Cousin? How much fuckin' family do you have, Hyodo?"

"A lot," he replies like he doesn't want to talk about it, but Juza's glare doesn't ease up and for a minute, Banri feels a genuine spite emitting from his roommate. The neo gangster sighs, twirling his phone in his fingers. He sort of knew that asking Juza about you would be a stretch even if you both went to the same school, but how the hell was he supposed to know that you were his goddamn cousin?

After you checked out your groceries that day, you managed to scam him into carrying them for you to your house as well. You were quite the charmer, he had to admit. You'd smooth-talked him into doing your bidding so easily that it was hard to imagine you being related to the mumbling nervous wreck of an actor that was Juza.

It was a chance encounter, he thinks. He could have gone to a different grocery store at a different time at a different date, yet he was there specifically when you found him glaring at the shampoo and conditioner on the shelves. Banri doesn't believe in shit like fate or destiny, but it was a little freaky when he'd seen you again this morning after Taichi asked about his hair—months since he'd last seen you.

"If it means anything, she's always been going to our shows, though," Juza mumbles a few minutes later, catching Banri by surprise. "She's been curious about the guy that's been pickin' fights with me all this time, and I told her it was the one who played Luciano in Picaresque."

"O-Oi!" he yells out. "Don't sully my name before she can even properly meet me!"

"Why do you care?" Juza challenges, brows raised with curiosity. "I thought you didn't give two shits about girls."

For the first time, he can't offer up a single retort. In a battle of wits, he thought he'd win against Juza in every instance, but now...

"Fuck off!" Banri shouted at him, storming out of their room as he hid the blush creeping up his neck from his roommate's view.

#a3!#act! addict! actors!#a3 #a3 x reader #a3 fanfiction #a3 headcanons #banri x reader #banri #banri settsu #settsu banri #juza hyodo #fluff

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lovelyirony · 5 years ago

Text

No Shelf-Awareness

I’m just trying to work out these cards I’ve been dealt -Rumour, Chloe Howl

Bucky doesn’t necessarily like meetings. He views them as a waste of time, and they could just as easily give him a paper with all the information. Clint says it’s so if they have questions they ask them there instead of making a mistake on the field.

“They allow mistakes?” Bucky asks, as blandly as can be.

“You make me so sad on so many levels,” Clint says, clapping his shoulder. “Yes, you’re allowed to make mistakes. Why the hell do you think Steve is allowed on-field?”

Bucky laughs at that one.

The meeting in question is about Iron Man. The red and gold suit with a man inside of it, apparently. SHIELD wants his identity but more importantly, the technology.

“If you haven’t found anything else like it, what makes you think that he wants to share it?” Bucky asks. “Just let it happen.”

“We can’t just ‘let’ this happen, Barnes,” Fury says, voice steady and eye trained on him.

“Why not?” Bucky asks. “He’s taking care of criminals on a corporate level. We can’t touch that without bringing more attention to agents.”

“Which is why we’re integrating,” Fury says.

“Not fast enough,” Bucky says. “He doesn’t need to gain trust. With integrating, there’s possibility of a double agent. They get paid off and it’s more than what you promise for a salary.”

“I assure you our agents aren’t that low.”

“Oh and you kept them all from Hydra?” Bucky snaps. “Because as I recall, Rumlow was pretty damn happy to be one of Pierce’s lapdogs, so—”

“Enough,” Fury snaps. “Enough from you, Barnes.”

“We could be dealing more directly with the people we have that actually need to be stopped instead of a damned robot who happens to like taking down illegal corporations that were on our to-do list anyway,” Bucky snipes back. “I’m leaving.”

“Don’t bother expecting yourself on the next mission,” Fury calls after him.

He gets a nice and shiny metal finger in response.

Bucky then decides to treat himself to a trip to the bookstore. He’s already read the last book twice, and he needs a new one.

It’s a Friday, and kids are getting out of school. He pays them little mind as he walks with purpose, taking note of possible threats, a new donut shop

The bookstore smells nice, like coffee and sugar. Bucky wanders through it, keeping an eye out for the owner.

He finds him huddled at a table with a group of teenagers, explaining some sort of math problem, laughing at one’s joke. He has glasses perched on the end of his nose, giving him quite an amusing and cute appearance. Bucky smiles to himself a little as he disappears into the stacks, looking through the new arrivals. He finds two particularly interesting ones.

“That one is really good,” comes a voice from behind him. Bucky turns, seeing Tony. He looks nice today. He’s wearing bright yellow shoes. “I like it.”

Bucky takes another look at the cover.

“What else can you recommend? I’m kind of a fast reader.”

(He is not a fast reader. Well, not really. But if you stay up all night only reading because you have too many nightmares, then it counts. Technically.)

Tony puts about four or five books into his arms before he realizes that he hasn’t checked prices or anything.

“Trust me, this is fine,” Bucky says, grinning. “Thanks, Tony.”

“No problem…huh. I just realized I don’t actually know your name.”

Tony does, in fact, know James Buchanan Barnes’ name. Quite well, in fact. He’s the one who Hydra trained to kill people and attempt to kill Howard and Maria Stark, who are still living. They moved to Italy, by the way. No, Tony doesn’t care. Just makes it easier to break into the New York home on occasion, fix up the old workshop.

(He can’t use his own apartment as a base for Iron Man. That would be utterly ridiculous.)

But for this purpose, he does actually need to learn Bucky’s name.

“I’m Bucky,” he says.

“Parents hated you, did they?” Tony teases.

“Only slightly less than my idiot friend who gave it to me,” Bucky says, grinning.

“Idiot friends are like that,” Tony says, smiling. “Well, do you want to sit down and read for a bit? Chairs are open, if you’d like.”

“Sure. Mind if I order a coffee?”

“Of course,” Tony says. “What do you want?”

Bucky did not know that there was more coffee. Well…correction. He knew that there was more to coffee than black. There had to be, obviously. He just wasn’t expecting the menu to be so extensive. He looked at it for a few moments while Tony waited expectantly.

“Um, wow. I don’t drink a lot of coffee, but um, what would you recommend?”

“I personally love the lavender latte we’ve been trying out,” Tony says. “I’ll make you one and if you don’t like it, I’ll replace it free of charge.”

Bucky not drinking a lot of coffee is a lie. Steve joked that he needed a tank of coffee a day to even function. Bucky just usually took it with a bit of sugar and pronounced it good.

Now this was amazing. Bucky loved the drink, loved how different the flavor was. He could drink about twelve more of these if he really wanted to.

“Tony, this is amazing,” Bucky says, expressing pure delight over it. “How do you make coffee this good?”

“You act as if you’ve never had a latte,” Tony says, laughing. (It’s not acting.) “But here, let me explain…”

Bucky could hear Tony Jarvis explain things for ages. He’s really good at it, like he’s used to explaining how things go all the time. Bucky finds it relaxing.

It is at this point that a kid in a t-shirt comes up.

“Hey, Mr. Jarvis—”

“Call me Tony, Pete,” Tony responds. “What’s next on the homework agenda?”

“We have to write a persuasive essay and since you told us you took marketing, we figured you could help.”

“Not sure how much help I’ll be, but sure,” Tony says. “Bucky, I’ll talk to you later. Enjoy the books. If you finish any while you’re here, just put them back on the re-shelving cart by the door, okay?”

“Yes, Sir!” Bucky says, throwing a mock salute. Tony snorts, saluting lazily back.

Bucky gets sucked into the first book. He relates to how out-of-place the main character feels. He doesn’t notice the sky getting dark until he sips his coffee and it’s cold that he looks up.

Tony has been staring at him for the better part of an hour. Not that he knows that. He just knows that Tony has perhaps been gazing for a minute or two.

“Oh god, please tell me I’m not staying past close,” Bucky says.

“You’re not, don’t worry,” Tony says, laughing. “You would’ve known if you were. No, there’s thirty minutes more left, if you want to keep reading. No rush, sweetheart.”

Bucky goes back to his book with a nod, hoping that Tony doesn’t catch his cheeks going bright red. He remembers being called sweetheart before, but this is drastically different from 1934 for all the right and wrong reasons. (Right because finally he can tell a guy he’s cute without getting mauled or having to whisper it near-six-feet-under. Wrong because Tony is running a business and Bucky met him a day ago.)

Tony shifts nervously around the shop. He had planned on closing early, getting into the suit with Rhodey and doing some recon.

Judging from the texts from Rhodey, so was he:

Bitch where tf are you. Stoopid.

Well excuse me honeypie, but I got held up. A customer is still here!

Kick them out tf????? r u on crack?

No you stupid-ass—listen. I just can’t make it

Ohhhh this is your bucky-boy. This is hilarious. Yeah leave the store open until he leaves. Idk why he isn’t on the roster with the rest of the Avengers this week. Should be. Damned good guy. lmk if he’s a booty call

I won’t talk to you for a week.

Thank god!

Tony huffs, clicking his phone off and returning to wiping down the counters and rearranging the records. Bucky walks up, putting the books at the register.

“I didn’t realize people still played records,” Bucky says, looking at the room adjacent.

“I’ll make sure that you get to play some next time you’re here,” Tony says. “But let me ring you up, okay?”

Bucky hands out the amount owed and sticks three dollars in the tip jar. Tony thanks him and smiles, and Bucky thinks he’ll have to start separating his bills more so that he can see that smile more often.

And then, of course, he gets a call from his phone.

“You’re needed,” Natasha says. “Come over. Now.”

“What happened to me being banned?”

“You’re a sharpshooter and a good weapons analyst. Fury would be stupid to reject that. Get here. Now.”

She hangs up. Always keeps it short and sweet, that Romanov. Bucky sighs, figuring out if he has enough time to go to his apartment and stash the books, or if he’ll have to leave them at headquarters.

He has to leave them at headquarters. He gets a look from Steve and Clint.

“Find a new hobby?” Steve asks.

“Of a sort,” Bucky says. “Got interrupted. What’s the plan?”

“Both War Machine and Iron Man are attacking Hammer Industries. Again.” Clint says, rolling his eyes. “You know, just when you thought they would switch it up. This is the third time in a row. Third time’s the charm and all that…”

Bucky doesn’t trust this for a wide variety of reasons. 1.) Iron Man is smarter than all of them, as is War Machine. 2.) Three times? In a row? Something has to be going down.

“What has Hammer Industries been doing?”

“Other than building weapons and government contracts? Nothing out of the ordinary,” Natasha says.

“Government contract is a big deal ever since Stark Industries lost out,” Bruce adds. “CEO—Pepper Potts—decreed no more weapons. Not a very popular move on her part.” Yeah, Bucky could see that. His best is from Stark Industries, but he understands. Iron Man had released evidence about SI’s involvement in shady under-the-table deals, all at the direction of Obadiah Stane.

“So, why go after a government contract?” Bucky muses. “They know something we don’t.”

“That doesn’t matter right now, we’re getting both of them under custody,” Hill says from the cockpit.

It does matter, his conscious whispers, or else you’d still be staring at Tony from the bookstore. His focus returns to the books at his side. He didn’t notice it before, but the bookstore has its own stamp that it gives the inside covers. It’s cute. He must have stared too long, because Steve nudges his arm.

“I’m glad you found a place you like,” he says. “Where is it?”

For some unknown reason, Bucky doesn’t want to tell anybody.

“Just a bookshop,” he says, closing the cover. “Checked it out before coming here. Around the neighborhood.”

That’s all he says before the mission is engaged and he’s strapped with enough gear to kill a pack of bears. He would much rather be reading, but that’s not what he gets.

“Took you long enough,” Rhodey says over the mic. “You and Bucky have fun between the stacks?”

“Nothing of the sort,” Tony responds. “I cannot believe you would accuse me of impropriety, honey. Honestly.”

“I have literally seen you strip on a Tuesday morning because you had too many mimosas and Pepper wanted to see if you actually would.”

“Details darling, let’s focus on the now. What has our dear friend Justin been up to?”

“For one, his online security and the regular security absolutely suck. I already am printing out the evidence where I’m at. I think all we need is to destroy some stuff and then—”

Rhodey gets knocked aside by red, white, and blue.

Tony groans. Figures that they would catch onto the pattern. Tony knew he should’ve waited, but he didn’t want to get Hammer spooked and up and running again. They needed him out of the way, maybe introduce a better CEO or hell, a better company—

“Iron Man, stand down,” comes the loudspeaker of the jet.

“Fat chance,” he mutters, zooming away from one of Hawkeye’s projectile arrows. Seriously, they could have so much better range if he built them. Unfortunately for him, SHIELD apparently wants him on a silver platter, so that won’t be a nice future with the company.

War Machine is already leading the heavy hitters away. The hardest one to deal with is usually Thor, who doesn’t always have the most accurate shot but definitely doesn’t entirely miss. Especially with the hammer having some sort of recall, it’s difficult to avoid. Tony’s just happy that Winter Soldier is off the roster and away from—

Son of a bitch, no he’s not. He can see the arm from here, and curses.

“Platypus, we have a gleaming problem.”

“I thought he was off the roster!”

“Apparently Fury signed his permission slip for this field trip,” he replies. “What do we need to destroy? I have an idea.”

“A shipment of guns. I don’t recommend going anywhere near it, but of course you will not heed my advice.”

“Be a dear and lead the Widow in closer? I think I can do something.”

Winter Soldier is having a fun time. Usually the missions are a one-hit-wonder, so to speak. Iron Man and War Machine move and actually anticipate the shots, which is all sorts of fun. He just hopes that Steve can’t see his grin, or he’ll be in hot water for it. (Fun sucker.)

“Barnes do you have the shot!” Nat yells.

“I’ve had the damn shot, what the fuck do you want me to do against iron?” he yells back.

“It’s titanium-alloy, but I understand,” Iron Man says smoothly, touching down as lightly as a ballerina. “SHIELD not do the intelligence testing anymore? I understand. If they knew Hawkeye was on the team without it…”

Bucky wants to laugh. He really, really does. But he doesn’t. “Why are you at Hammer? What’s your game?”

“I’m surprised you ask,” Tony says, blinking. His helmet tilts to one side. Usually, no one at SHIELD asks any sort of question. This is…new. “Hammer’s selling under the table. War Machine and I are handling it.”

“You didn’t tell SHIELD about this, did you?”

“There’s a reason SHIELD wants me in handcuffs but the suit left to their own devices,” he says. “They’re not as trustworthy as you think, hot-shot.”

And then Iron Man dodges a blast, and the debris lands on the containers.

The company’s own fault. Clever. Bucky has to hand it to whoever is behind the mask, he’s smart.

Iron Man does a mock salute.

“Until next time, losers!” War Machine calls out.

“Do you think they know that War Machine has a tracking device?” Natasha asks. Clint shakes his head.

“Not sure. Probably not since we’ve been focusing on Iron Man. We’ll have to wait and see.”

Bucky turns, thinking. Iron Man had said that they’re not as trustworthy as they seem. What did he mean by that? How so?

Rhodey isn’t a fucking clown. Of course he knows they put a tracker somewhere on his suit. It’s recording audio, which Jarvis knows. Rhodey puts a finger to his lips as they touch down. Tony gets the hint immediately, taps out a message for Jarvis to scan and debug.

“Pest Control Initiative working now…” comes the smooth, lilting accent of Jarvis.

Once they’re out of harm’s way, Rhodey cracks a grin.

“Think they’ll like that?”

“Should fry the system for them for a little bit,” Tony says. “Which leads into me getting in. Thanks for putting up with that whole mess.”

“You owe me a century-old bottle of whiskey for Black Widow.”

“Get in line behind Pepper,” Tony says. “She’ll be at the cabinet on your left.” Rhodey snorts as they touch down at Stark Industries. Pepper is there with a raised eyebrow.

“Evening gentlemen,” she says. “Drinks are on the counter. Fruit juice, no alcohol. It’s a Thursday.”

“Thursday is Friday is Saturday,” Rhodey snarks, taking the glass anyway. “How was work today, Pep?”

“Horrible,” she groans, leaning back on her barstool. “Asshats keep trying to tell me what to do when it’s my company, technically speaking. Tony, how is your bookshop?”

“We’re getting more and more people in,” Tony says. “Record sales are nice, coffee is good too. I need to come up with a new idea for an iced coffee flavor. I’m coming up with nothing.”

“Hazelnut usually works well if you need something in a pinch,” she returns. “Did you manage to get into their system?”

“Success,” Jarvis cuts in smoothly. “I am well-integrated into their system; they have no idea I am there. Of course.”

Jarvis is a bit proud of that particular thing. Then again, he gets a big head when he’s successful.

“Good for you,” Rhodey says. “What can you tell us?”

“Employees have a shocking amount of free time and have made a donut tower.”

“The business, J,” Tony says.

“I am sorry, I was following your ever-amazing guidance for protocol,” Jarvis remarks. “SHIELD has an unprecedented number of holes in security. Files have gone missing. There are a few members that go on trips and check in at the ill-advised times.”

“What does that mean?” Pepper asks.

“When Peggy was running the show everyone had to check in at her time,” Tony says. “She also talked personally about it with everyone or assigned people to supervise if she couldn’t. It was more reliant on people and what you saw. With Fury, times became more technological. Not a bad thing, but not a fantastic thing either. With technology you could claim there was an issue checking in, or the computer lagged. It happens, and you can say that every once in a while unless if you’re me.”

“Because you built most of the systems,” Rhodey says. “So we know you’re at least decently smart.” Tony pokes his tongue out.

“Point is, a lot of the older members of SHIELD either say they didn’t get it, or get tech support to fix it later. Using their inability as an ability, most likely. Clever. I’m just wondering how far it goes.”

“We’ll find out in time,” Rhodey says. “Maybe when you take Bucky out for drinks, you can seduce him into giving you information.”

Pepper stills.

“Tony, you did what?!”

“Um…” Tony glares at Rhodey. “He kind of lives by my bookstore and doesn’t know I’m there? If that makes it better? I should go, I have inventory—”

“Stay,” Pepper says. “We are working on this and I am making sure that you don’t give away your secret because you fall in love.”

“I won’t fall in love!”

“Tall, dark, mysterious, and reads books? Please, I’m surprised I don’t see drool coming out of your mouth,” Pepper says. “Rhodey, did you know about this?”

“Yes. I didn’t tell you because it was funny.”

Pepper huffs. Tony sinks into a comfy lounge chair. It’s gonna be a long night.

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wetalkinboutbooks · 4 years ago

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Reaper of Souls by Rena Barron

Summary: After so many years yearning for the gift of magic, Arrah has the one thing she’s always wanted—at a terrible price. Now the last surviving witchdoctor, she’s been left to pick up the shattered pieces of a family that betrayed her, a kingdom in shambles, and long-buried secrets about who she is.

Desperate not to repeat her mother’s mistakes, Arrah must return to the tribal lands to search for help from the remnants of her parents’ people. But the Demon King’s shadow looms closer than she thinks. And as Arrah struggles to unravel her connection to him, defeating him begins to seem more and more impossible—if it’s something she can bring herself to do at all.

Set in a richly imagined world inspired by spine-tingling tales of voodoo and folk magic, Kingdom of Souls was lauded as “masterful” by the School Library Journal in a starred review. This explosively epic sequel will have readers racing to the can’t-miss conclusion. (Taken from Goodreads)

Our Ratings:

→ Geena: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌗

→ Kae: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Overall: A messy sequel to an amazing series, we get to see the after effects of the fall out of Arrah vs. Efiya from KOS… and when we tell you it is MESS!!!

~Spoiler-Full Review Below~

The Good:

→ Arrah and Dimma

Geena: One of my favourite things about Reaper was the sprinkle of Dimma’s POVs throughout the story. We got an insight into Dimma’s life before she was Arrah, and how her relationship with the other Orisha and Daho developed. It also really helped build up the suspense near the end and set up plot twists that clocked us near the end. Dimma aside, let’s talk about Arrah. Rena Barron said brooding boys are out, brooding girls are IN! And you know what, we love to read it. The story starts off with Arrah trying to save Sukkar after she snapped all his bones while trying to save him, and she does save him :) Or so she thinks but that’s besides the point. Over the length of the book we follow Arrah’s inner turmoil of suddenly having the power of 10 tribal chieftains and being insecure about whether or not she even deserves it.

I loved Arrah, even when she was holding herself up to a terribly high bar and beating herself up about everything she did. Arrah helped bring her Auntie back from the dead and was like “Damn I suck :/” and thought shattering a girl’s glass (who was flirting with Rudjek) put her on the same level as her mom and Efiya. I was sitting there like NO GIRL YOU’RE PERFECT, YOU, YOUR MISSING TOOTH AND YOUR PETTY NATURE!!

Kae: YAAAAAAAAAS! Geena summed Arrah and Dimma up perfectly.

But I would like to add how much I love Arrah and how selfless she is. She’s always thinking about her friends and their safety, the safety of the tribal people, and of course the kingdom. She’s a worry woman, but for all the right reasons. And she also cares about herself; so much even that like Geena said, she beats herself up for the smallest of things. She’s so worried about being evil like her mother and her sister, that she calculates every single move that she makes, debating if it’s really worth it to use strong magic or not.

As for Dimma, I loved her POV’S. She is a complex character who has been demonized since book 1. We were taught to believe, through the POV of some of the Gods, that Dimma was a horrible Goddess who wrought nothing but chaos. They erased her name from history, LITERALLY. And Dimma became known as the Unnamed Orisha. While reading her POV, we learn that Dimma was quite selfless, much like Arrah (since they are technically the same person). Dimma was full of love and loved even harder. She went out of her way to give Daho immortality as well as his people, because she loved them so much. She defied the rules of the universe for her love, and it only came to bite her in the ass in the end. Like her siblings told her, “A God’s love is a dangerous thing.” And it was, but not exactly for the reasons one might think.

Geena: Kae’s summary of Dimma and Arrah is AMAZING, you know my ability to connect dots when reading is kinda shit so reading Kae’s summary gave me realization… Arrah tries so hard to separate herself from Dimma, because she refuses to believe that a part of her is in love with Daho because she herself is in love with Rudjek… but it’s like girl… you have travelled to the ends of the earth to fight and bring back the people you love (the tribespeople) just like Dimma searched the ends of the universe for immortality to give to Daho. It’d be much easier to reconcile your feelings if you just accepted that “Okay, I may have been Dimma but now I am Arrah”

Also another thing I love about Arrah is how she had…. For a time… three dudes in love with her… or at least what she thought was three dudes. Real hot girl shit.

→ Rudjek and Daho

Geena: You know the character archetype that’s like a snarky boy who knows he’s hot shit and acts accordingly, but when it comes to the person he’s in love with he’s just a bowl of mush. That’s Rudjek, and only Rudjek can pull it off. In KOS, he was slated to be the next vizier because of his father, in Reaper he’s known as a prince because his dad snaked his way into becoming the monarch. So, now he’s the snarky prince…. And the only snarky prince with rights! His POVs were actually so fun to read, like following the politics of the Kingdom and him dealing with his new craven powers…. Which also had him being able to smell pheromones when people were doing the dirty around him 😭

I really liked that Rena gave him a POV, because now we get to see how he develops given the fact that him and Arrah are dangerous to one another, because he saps her magic with a single touch and could kill her. The whole time Arrah is stressing like “Damn, what if he doesn’t like me anymore because we can’t touch” meanwhile Rudjek is like “I’ll fight the Gods if I have to, to keep her by my side” and it’s like 🥺Also, who let a teenager be in control of a whole army… I thought the vizier was a sly and smart man but I digress… Another thing I liked about Rudjek in this book was that he didn’t shy away from uncomfortable conversations with Arrah, regarding the fact that he confused Efiya for Arrah when they did the unspeakable in the clearing in KOS. Like, that was very mature of them and I’m glad they could deal with that misunderstanding… But… hands down… my favourite scene… During the climax of the book Rudjek gets a demon soul shoved down his body, and immediately assumes it’s the demon king…. And his only command to his friends is to not let him near Arrah😭😭😭 I was like PEAK ROMANCE, SOFTEST SHIT, SACRIFICIAL LOVER!!!!!

Kae: SO GEENA SUMMED UP RUDJEK SO DAMN WELL. LIKE DUDE OMG? Correct. He is perfect. I really don’t have much to add but I just genuinely loved him as a character. He is caring for both Arrah and his friends. He is also one of the few male characters I’ve read that actively tries to go against their father. Most dudes in books are like “Fine puhpa, I shall do your evil bidding.” But Rudjek is like “Sike bitch, I’ll let you think that but I’m doing what I WAAAANT!”

But okay, let’s talk about Daho. So first off, I love him??? Am I a villain sympathizer now? Tbh, I don’t really see him as a villain. Man’s didn’t commit a genocide or try to scheme Arrah out of her pants. AND HE VERY MUCH HAD THE CHANCE TO and he was like “nah.” And I appreciate that. Because there are a few certain villainous men who I shan’t name, that be on that scant shit. And Daho is just like… genuinely trying to avenge his wife’s death (Dimma) and try to get Arrah to remember that she is Dimma.

YES, I know he got Arti to bring him back. BUUUUUT, he didn’t tell her to kill a bunch of kids and shit to do it. Arti did all that evil shit on her own and Daho was like “look, i don’t condone that shit. But it’s over and I’m sorry it happened but I can’t change it.” And I’m like… okay, mood. I get it. Daho is sweet and caring. He looked out for Arrah in *redacted’s* body because we didn’t know *redacted* was dead the whole time. And even then, Daho was still like “My bad… But he wasn’t using his body??? So I took it???” Why let it go to waste, amiright?

Geena: STOOOOP FOR REAL HE WAS LIKE “It was empty, I didn’t think you’d mind”

Kae: LMAOOO OKAY BUT DEADASS. And like, idk man. He just seriously isn’t a bad person. He was trapped because after the God’s killed Dimma, he was like “BET IMMA JUST KILL THEM” and they lowkey were shook so they trapped his ass in a box for a millenia or whatever. He wasn’t even out to kill all humanity or anything. The God’s were just being some haters and now he’s suddenly the bad guy. Anyway, we stan Daho in this house.

Geena: Daho is how you write a sympathetic villain. He owns up to his own mistakes even while his demons run free terrorizing people. Kae said it best that he just wants justice for his wife and unfortunately history is written by the victors so the Orisha painted him out to be a bad guy… My dude was just chugging that respecting my wife juice and they killed her… and he also thinks they killed his son… Guess me and Kae are just villain sympathizers now

The Bad:

→ The Ending

Kae: Okay, let’s get it. And I also just want to clarify that when we say “the bad”, we don’t mean we hate it. This is just something that was like “oh fuck, this is BAAAAD! THINGS ARE ABOUT TO GO DOOOWN.”

But like, good Lord. The ending? That shit was crazy. First of all, we find out that *redacted* aka, SUKKAR. OUR SWEET, PLAYFUL, SARCASTIC SUKKAR. IS DEAD. HE HAS BEEN DEAD THIS WHOLE TIME!? Excuse me while I *SCREEEEEEEEEEEAM*. Like, what an unforeseen twist. This mf kicked the bucket back in KOS when Arrah tried to save him. Turns out… She maybe… Totally… possibly… Absolutely killed my guy on accident. He dead-dead. And this is how we find out that Daho took over his body, once Sukkar’s spirit ascended. It was a really sad reveal and my heart kind of hurt reading it. I straight up wasn’t expecting that to happen. THEEEEEN. GOTDAMN EFIYA. IS BROUGHT BACK.

Geena: No joke, the ending of Reaper was just one sucker punch followed by another… At first you think Tyrek (the prince from KOS who joins Arrah and her crew on a journey to save the tribespeople) is the demon king, then you think it’s Rudjek because he’s getting possessed, and then you learn it’s Sukkar… The final punch to the gut was Daho bringing back Efiya because his close general asked for her… because she’s his daughter. We were like, DAHO ARE YOU SERIOUS YOU SAW THE DAMAGE SHE DID TO THE HUMANS!!! Like Efiya may have grown quickly in a few months but her brain isn’t fully developed, like that girl is UNHINGED!!! I thought we were done with the Efiya chapter but here we are, and I’m scared to see what role she’ll play in the final instalment of the series. I guess this is the case of bringing back an old villain that can work out really well… I trusted Rena with the messy Arrah/Daho/Rudjek love triangle, so I trust her with this too

The Ugly:

→ Tyrek

Geena: Remember how I said Rudjek is the only valid snarky prince… Yea, Tyrek can CHOKE!! In KOS he sides with Efiya and she wreaks havoc in the Kingdom, and in Reaper he’s brought to his knees. Rudjek’s dad wants to execute him for his crimes, but Arrah sympathizes with him because she knows how Efiya’s mind control worked. As you read, you get a sense of “Okay, maybe he isn’t bad, he’s helping Arrah and them” but then you get to the climax and you’re like okay nvm this boy was insane… Imagine travelling to a whole other dimension and making deals with demons, because you’re in a fucked up sort of romance with a half-demon girl. He managed to lie to Arrah that he was being controlled by Efiyah, when he was really with Efiya the whole way…. Even when she told him to murder his whole family… this man was vile!! He’s also one of our first fake outs, when he pretends to be the demon king I was kinda disappointed… I was like no this ruins the messy love triangle I’ve been waiting for! But it was just a fake out, Tyrek was just trying to scare Arrah into freeing Efiya, whose soul was in the demon dagger that Arrah used to kill her in KOS. Overall, 1/10 for this man… the 1 point is for when he figured out “Sukkar” had a crush on Arrah before Arrah even knew.

Conclusion

Kae: So, I don't have much to add to Tyrek’s snake ass. He really was ugly in the end. I’m glad he’s dead.

But to conclude, this was such an amazing, refreshing read. Reaper of Souls was a wonderful sequel to Kingdom of Souls. Rena writes so beautifully and she didn’t hesitate to have us readers shaking in our boots. Getting more background information on Dimma, the Gods, and their old ass war, was really fun and insightful! IT added to the story in a way I hadn’t even thought about until I was consuming it all!

Arrah and Rudjek are perfect angels and I can’t wait to see where book three leads them. I also want to give a shout out to Essnai and Majka for being such good friends to Arrah and Rudjek. Same to Kira and the Cravens. This is a really close knit group of friends who will go to the ends of the Earth (and literally new dimensions) for each other. THAT’S LOVE, BITCH. And we LOVE to see it.

Geena: For real! Rena Barron set up such an amazing cast of characters, and she really emphasizes the power of friendship in her series and it’s one of my favourite things to read. With Reaper, from the very start, she sets up the story in such a way you’re literally screaming by the end… I think it requires a special kind of skill to be able to set up a story so well that while you do make predictions about what’s going to happen, it still shocks you when you realize you’re right. Cannot wait to see the absolute mess that will be the final book, with Rudjek/Arrah vs. Daho… and the drama it will bring now that the Orishas realize that Arrah is Dimma’s reincarnation.

#Reaper of Souls #Rena Barron #YA #Kingdom of Souls #booklr #book review #wetalkinboutbooks #bookish #book blogging #book blogger #books #reading #Arrah #Rudjek #our post

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lordseochangbin · 5 years ago

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Beverly Hills- Han Jisung (Part One)

a/n: i didnt realize how much i loved writing fics until a couple weeks ago so we back at it again with our biaswrecker sksksksk

this fic is going to be drama-filled? not sure how to describe it but i’m getting a lot of inspiration from high school dramas so we’ll see LOL

Sweaty palms and sunburns cannot emphasize how bummed Jisung was about this weather. Living under a cave for three years and completely skipping high school did him good but now he's back in the city, knocking on the front door to his cousin's home with a glued smile on his face.

"Jisung!" Jeongin exclaimed, running down the stairs of their mansion home to swing open the door.

"Jeongin!!" Jisung could only laugh at the sights of his younger bro, pulling him into his arms.

"I missed you dude" he whispered into the younger boy's ear before his luggage could be pulled away from his arms.

"Let me help you out with that," Seungmin said, taking a whiff of Jisung's figure before scrunching his nose in disgust. "You need a shower before our mom comes home, she would not like to see you like this"

Jisung looks down at his dirty vans and rusty jeans, "What's wrong with this?" he asked the two boys before the two look at each other.

"We'll get you a new wardrobe, just please go take a shower"

"Alright, alright" Jisung complies, following the boys upstairs he stares at the lines of academic awards and medals."So how did you two punks graduate high school early?"

Seungmin and Jeongin eye each other before turning around to show him their diploma. "Just with our wits" Seungmin winked

"Well your wits got me to come back to school, your mom literally dragged me here" Jisung groaned, flopping onto the bed that used to be his.

"She really wants you to graduate Jisung, can't you do just that? Especially after your parents.." Jeongin's voice turned into a whisper as Jisung eyed him across the room.

"Let's not bring them up Jeongin, I swear if Auntie brings them up I'm going to ignore her"

"Sorry I just-"

"It's fine Jeongin" Jisung interrupted before stuffing his face into the familiar pillow.

Let's get things straight.

Here at Beverly there's a few different families. We have the Bang Family, consisting of son and daughter Chan and Claire. Their family owns almost all the clubs in LA. Next we have the Lee's, Felix and Minho are nothing alike however, Felix being the school's outcast and Minho being a popular dancer. Yang and Kim's are united- the bond between the two families inseparable.

Oh, did I not mention Beverly Hills' most popular rich boy? That would be Hwang Hyunjin. The Hwang's along with the Seo's claim all the hotel businesses of Southern Cali, and their families are often known for being involved in rough politics.

Last, but definitely not least, we have the Stay family. You're the only daughter, sister having passed away at a young age. Because of this, you carry the legacy of your own last name. Oof, the pressures of an asian family. But nothing stops you from a good party, especially the big "Back to school" pool party that Chan and Claire are throwing tonight.

"Is this cute?" Claire asks, taking a pretty white swimsuit from the hangers to your attention.

You take a glimpse at it before looking away, "Too white, you'll look like that statue of David when the museum is closed"

Claire rolls her eyes, throwing the suit in the cart. "I don't have a dick y/n, and Michelangelo definitely is not cute enough to mold my curves"

"As if you have any" You retort with a chuckle before being slapped in the back by Claire's Louie Vuitton. "Shut up!!"

You could only laugh as she walks away, shaking her ass in the air as you go for the simple yellow swimsuit. Checking the price tag, you see three digits and decide to put it back before taking it in your hands again.

"Mom and dad will kill me... it's okay" You tell yourself before heading off to the cashier's.

Jisung mutters a quick "Leave me alone" before throwing the comforter over himself again. Finally, the comforter is stripped away from his bed as Jeongin screams in shock.

"Jisung!! You sleep naked?! Disgusting!!" Jeongin exclaims, throwing the blanket back on him.

Seungmin pats Jeongin's shoulder in embarrassment before waking Jisung up. "Get up, The Bang's are having a party tonight and we've been invited. It'll be the perfect chance to get new friends"

Jisung rolls his eyes at Seungmin's proposal, "Friends aren't shit Seungmin, they're just your friend during high school and when it's over they forget your name."

"Oh come on Jisung!! You can't be lonely forever!" Jeongin pouts, ticking Jisung's sleepy figure before Seungmin could add, "Well Jeongin and I are going, so I guess you're going to be alone with my mom"

Jisung is quick to jump out of bed and puts on the nearest pair of shorts before wrapping his arms around the two boys shoulders, "Okay so where exactly is this party?!"

The booming music makes the whole neighborhood shake and sounds of chit-chat and the small of alcohol fill the air. Girls fill the pool with floaties of all kinds and drinks at every table.

"W-wait. You guys meant a real party?! I thought you geeks only went to chess comps and bingo clubs" Jisung said, "T-there's real people here. Ew."

Seungmin drags Jisung inside the crowded living room, "You clearly aren't ready for Beverly Hills High School Jisung, and that's why you need to be here”

"I'll get us some drinks, go find some open space for us Jisung" Jeongin says, running off with Seungmin.

Jisung winces at the people surrounding him, turning to the hallway before being greeted by a stumbling girl in a white swimsuit.

"Oh, oh hi! You must be new here, I'm C-claire" Claire grabs Jisung's shoulders, a burp leaving her lips before she collapses onto him.

"Woah- woah okay, okay Claire take it easy" Jisung says, grabbing her waist as he looks for the nearest bedroom. Walking further down the hall, Jisung hears a few voices and hopes to drop the drunken figure into the hands of some other people.

"Look Hyunjin! I've told you so many times, we just don't work out together" You exclaim, trying to push Hyunjin off you as he continues to suck on your neck. You fail to get his weight off him as he cages you against the bed, his plump lips making all sorts of blues and purples on your skin as you try to kick him off.

"Come on y/n..." Hyunjin whispers into the crook of your neck, "We can make this work you know?" Your calls for help are muted by the loud music playing outside but you know with enough resent you can get him to stop.

"Hyunjin, stop! It's over" You continue, trying to wiggle your way out of his grasp. Well aware of how much he chugged before, you tried to work with his intoxicated self but it didn't seem to be working.

Jisung presses his ear against the door, realizing the situation as he kicks open the door. "Hey!"

Hyunjin quickly turns around, getting off the bed. "Um, hello?" Hyunjin replies sarcastically.

Jisung is left without words the second he lays eyes on you, you're beautiful. Light beaming on your figure from a nearby window, the sunlight is casted upon you. He can’t even blink, the sight is too worthy to lose even for a second. Left breathless in the middle of the bed, you thank the lords above that some cute guy came to save the day before noticing your best friend in his hands.

"Holy shit!" You run up to Jisung and grab your best friend.

"Is she okay?" Hyunjin says, picking her up and laying her on the bed. You sniff her hair before nodding your head.

"She's drunk. I'm so sorry about that.." You turn around to see the boy in a simple white tee, shorts and a Ralph Lauren bucket hat before asking, "what's your name?"

Jisung's eyes are fixated on the floor before realizing you were talking to him. "Oh- me? Jisung" he smiles.You smile at the way his cheeks puff up when his teeth show, face resembling a cute squirrel as you shake his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Jisung" you say with a smile.

"So someone told me my sister was being dragged to the guest room?" Chan said, Minho and Changbin by his side as he glanced at his sibling.

"She drank a little too much," Hyunjin responded before Chan could send Hyunjin a nervous look. "Bro, the plan didn't work?" Chan mouthed to Hyunjin as he glanced at you, noticing your hand still tied to Jisung's.

"Dude, why are you still shaking her hand?" Changbin asked, turning everyone's attention to you and Jisung. You stare at Jisung for a moment, noticing the bit of nervousness in his eyes. Jisung's grasp on your hand tightens anxiously before you could smile at the guys, "That's because Jisung here, is my new... boyfriend!"

Minho nearly spat out his drink, "Your what?!"

"My new boyfriend" you repeated, "Now don't mind me, but I'm going to leave now.. with my new BOYFRIEND" you spat at Hyunjin's face before leaving.

"Bro, what the fuck just happened?" Chan asked Hyunjin, handing him his drink

"I-I think y/n is really calling it quits" Hyunjin stutters, lying against the wall as the guys join him.

"Don't worry Hyunjin, y/n is always like this.. I’m sure this “Jisung” kid will leave if we teach him a lesson" Minho said, patting his shoulder.

You're running to the backyard with Jisung before he could stop you, panting out of breath. Sitting down at a nearby bench, you gesture at Jisung to sit next to you before letting go of his hand.

"I'm really sorry about dragging you into that, I just needed to get out of there" You apologize

"That's alright... but just like, did you call me your..?"

"Boyfriend." Jisung's eyes pop off at the validation.

"Seriously?" Jisung points a finger at himself in shock, "Me??"

"Yes you idiot" You reply with a chuckle, pushing his hand away.

"I know you're new, maybe we can be friends" Smiling at Jisung's shocked expression you notice a figure resting on the edge of the garden.

"Felix!!" You call out, noticed the freckled boy turn around at your voice.

"Y/N!!" He replies, running over to you guys.

"Jisung, this is Felix. I think he'd be the perfect friend for you here." Jisung looks at Felix before looking back at you again, "Are you not staying?"

You stand up before spotting Chan and Minho asking people for your whereabouts.

"Not for now, I need to fix a mess I started, it was nice meeting you though!" You exclaim, running inside to the two guys.

"Don't mind her, y/n is always involved in some sort of drama" Felix says

"Seriously? Why would nice girls like her get involved in that kind of stuff?" Jisung asks, scratching his neck in curiousness. "Whew, Jisung" Felix says, knowing he has a lot to learn.

"Welcome to Beverly Hills High School."

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chickensarentcheap · 5 years ago

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Sanctuary - Chapter 40

WARNINGS: Profanity

Tagging: @alievans007, @c-a-v-a-l-r-y, @thorsbathroomchicken, @innerpaperexpertcloud, @valkyrie-of-the-light

Billy Flynn is all smiles when she enters the pub's back room; a broad, pleased grin that stretches from ear to ear and shows off his dazzling white teeth. In normal circumstances...and in the old days...she would have found him attractive and irresistible; on the shorter end of the scale, but stocky and powerful. Broad shoulders and thick neck, an elaborate tattoo travelling from the left side of his collarbone and reaching his wrist. Auburn hair and sensational green eyes. Had she run into him ten years ago, she would probably would have taken the chance; allowing things to cross that dangerously thin line, even if just for one night. He's dressed casually, yet still well put together. A pair of well fitting jeans and a white t-shirt that seems to be stretching its limits as it struggles to cover his chest, the fabric tight around his biceps. He'd dressed with purpose; not wanting to look too eager to impress, but certain that he'd still be pleasing to the eye. And he moves to greet her, intending to place a hand on her hip and a kiss to her cheek, but then stopping in his tracks when he realizes they're not alone. And that confident, pleased grin immediately turns into a scowl.

“I'd think twice about that, mate,” Tyler warns, when he sees the hand that's reaching for his wife.

“Who's this?” Billy address Esme, attempting to laugh off the awkwardness of the situation. “Body guard? Big bastard, ain't he?”

“Actually,” she says. “He's my husband.”

His frown deepens, as does the disappointment and the hostility in his eyes. “Thought you said you were separated.”

“I'm not who you think I am. My name isn't Meghan Young. And I'm not a reporter from Chicago. I'm actually from Colorado. And my real name is Esme. Esme Rake. And this is my husband. Tyler.”

That frown turns into a knowing smirk. He recognizes the name. “You're the Australian.”

“Yeah,” Tyler says. “I guess I am.”

“You're the one that's here to help Michael McMann. You have a hell of a lot of balls showing up here.”

“Balls of steel,” Tyler confirms, flashing a smirk of his own.

“You're a gutsy, fucker. I'll give you that. Thought maybe you'd get the message by now.”

“What message is that?”

“We don't appreciate the likes of you coming here and sniffing around. Trying to cause problems. We have nothing to do with McMann's wife and kids. Guy is just trying to stir up shit and he's using you to do it. Word travels fast in certain circles. I heard the Buckmans sent some folks to fuck you up,” he gestures towards the various injuries; the black eye and the visible stitches at the top of Tyler's brow. “What does the other guy look like?”

“The same as the other three. Dead.”

“You realize that fucker's been playing you right? I thought the likes of you would be smarter than that. I've heard the stories, Australian. I've heard all about the damage you can cause. Impressive. A guy like you would actually come in handy around these parts. There's lot of people our organization would like to fuck up. And if you're as good as the stories say you are, you'd fit in nicely around here. And we can pay. A lot more than whoever you're working for now is paying you.”

“Not interested. I'm not a terrorist.”

“Bet you all the hundreds upon hundred of blokes you've fucked up over the years would say differently. I bet they were plenty terrorized by you. You could have a good life here. The pay would be excellent. Your wife and your kids would have a great life. We'd make sure of it.”

“Like I said,” Tyler remains steadfast. “I'm not interested. And I'm not here to stick my nose in your business. I'm here because I have something you want. And I'm willing to give it to you. For a price.”

“We don't do that kind of business with your type. You walked into the wrong bar, Australian. You best be walking out of it unless you want me to have some of the boys show you out.”

“I'd like to see your boys try, mate. I've dealt with bigger and better than the likes of you. I don't intimate. I don't get scared. I get even. And if you knew what was good for you, you'd shut the fuck up and listen to what I have to offer.”

“I highly doubt you have anything I'd be interested in. Unless you're offering up your pretty little wife here. I'd be more than willing to take her off your hands. For free.”

A brief smirk causes the corner of Tyler's mouth to twitch, and he takes a step towards the younger, smaller man.

“We're not here to cause problems,” Esme attempts to diffuse the situation, physically placing herself between the two men. “We're here to talk.”

“Ditch the husband and we can talk all you want, love. I was expecting you show up alone.”

“That was never going to happen,” Tyler says. “You got played, mate. She walked in here and talked her game and sucked you right in. I bet you didn't see that coming, did you. I bet you looked at her and thought she was just some tiny, weak, vulnerable thing you could take advantage of. She fucked you. And not the good, fun type of fucked either. She was never going to walk in here alone. Over my dead body.”

“That could be arranged,” Billy retorts. “There's a lot of people who wouldn't mind taking their shot. I bet it would pay damn good money to kill the likes of you. The man. The myth. The legend.”

Tyler gives a derisive snort, then takes another step, once more prompting Esme to take action, planting herself between them once more.

“Okay, both of you need to calm the hell down,” she says. “Check the fucking egos, boys. Now is not the time. We just want to talk, Billy. That's it.”

“About what?”

“We have something....or someone... that you want,” Tyler informs him.

“We can get you Michael McMann,” Esme says. “But there's some things we want in exchange.”

“What kind of things? We're not in the business of working with outsiders, or granting favours to them.”

“Maybe we could sit down and discuss this,” she suggests. “Because I don't know about the two of you, but there's just a little too much tension in this room and I think everyone needs to take a seat and chill the fuck out. We need to shit can the hostility and be rational, reasonable adults. Being like this...” she gestures between the two men. “...is not going to solve anything. Billy, this is not a fight you want to get into. Because if you throw that first punch, you won't get another one in. He will end you. No questions asked. And there won't be a goddamn thing you or your boys can do about it.”

“Is this really the hill you want to die on?” Tyler asks. “Because if it is, you just say the word, mate, and I'll make it happen.”

The other man finally relents; nodding slowly as he considers the full impact of the consequences he'd face if he did lash out. And he clears his throat noisily and turns away from them, gesturing towards the table that's already been set for dinner, dishes of cold foots and several different choices of beverages on display. “Can't let this all go to waste now, can we? Some good food and drink always starts a conversation off on the right foot. Join me. Let's talk. Tell me what it is you have and what you think I want.”

****

No one speaks for several minutes; Billy digging eagerly into the food as his guests sit back, watching and waiting. The tension still hangs in the air, but not with near the same amount of heaviness and discomfort. Esme has spent the majority of her time using a fork to push food around on her plate; an elaborate salad consisting of various types of lettuce, root vegetables, cranberries and almonds a sweet vinaigrette. She'd felt hungry; needing to get something into her nervous and relatively empty belly. But the second it was on her plate and the sight and the smell hit, any and all appetite and desire went straight out the window. And when Tyler feels her leg begin to shake nervously against his, he presses a tender, soothing kiss to her temple, then briefly lays a comforting hand on her thigh before getting up to pour her a glass of ice water from the pitcher in the middle of table.

“Are you sure you don't want anything?” Billy address him. “There's lot to go around. Saoirse is a fantastic cook. One of the best in Belfast. If not the entire country.”

“I'm fine,” Tyler says.

“Something to drink? I've got it all. Anything you could possibly want. You want beer, I got beer. I've got best single malt scotch in all of Ireland. And some pretty good rye and rum. Pick your poison.”

“I'm fine,” Tyler insists. “I'm not here to break bread with you, mate. This isn't a social visit. So how about we cut the shit and get down to business? I don't want you wasting my time. And I'm sure you don't want me wasting yours.”

“You've been wasting it since you walked in here,” Billy says. “You have a hell of nerve, Australian. Thinking you can just walk in here and make demands. Threaten people.”

“I haven't even gotten started. You want demands? I've got demands. You want threats? Well I have loads of those too. Only difference between you and me is that I follow through on my threats. And call me Australian one more time, and I'll knock your teeth so far down your throat, someone is going to have to go up your ass to remove them.”

Esme noisily clears her throat; sipping at her water as she shifts nervously beside him.

“Strictly business,” Billy smirks. “I've heard that about you. That you don't fuck around. That you like to get in, get your hands dirty, and get the hell out. And you've fucked a lot of shit up...a lot of people up, if the stories are to be believed. I've heard you have quite the temper. That you're pretty damn savage. Brutal. Merciless.”

“Only if I have to be. And if you keep fucking me around like this, you're going to see just how bad it can get. So about we just get right down to it. No more games. Because I'm not in the mood to be fucked around with.”

“Fair enough,” Billy says. “I like that about you. You don't take anyone's shit. You call people out on their crap. I respect that. Like I've already said, you'd be a good addition to the family. We need someone like you to go in and fuck shit up. Someone that can intimidate but won't be intimidated. You sure you're not ready to move on to bigger and better things? Because we'd make it worth your while.”

“I already said I'm not interested. I don't care how good you make things sound or how much you can offer me. You people are the last ones I'd ever get mixed up with. Now do you want McMann or not?”

“We'd already have him if we wanted him.”

“Bullshit. He's gone deep underground, mate. He knows how to hide. And he knows how to stay hidden. The IRA taught him that. He's out there. And he's got all the IRA's secrets. All the skeletons in the closet. He's just biding his time. He's going to sit back and wait and then when you least expect it, he's going to blow shit up. You don't have him because you can't find him. No matter how hard you poke around.”

“And you think you can? Find him?”

“I don't need to find him. I already know where he is. All I have to do is call him and arrange to meet with him. That'll get him out of hiding right quick.”

“You think he'll come running just because you say so?” Billy smirks. “What makes you think you're so goddamn special?”

“I don't think he'll come running. I know he will. I just killed four of his men. I just uncovered all his dirty little secrets I know him and his wife are the ones that planned all of this; staging her abduction, taking the kids, trying to pin it all on you and get me here to cause all kinds of shit. He knows I know all of it. He knows I can blow the whole fucking thing wide open and make things a hell of a lot worse for him.”

“So why don't you?” the other man inquires. “Why don't you make things a hell of a lot worse for him?”

“I'm already in the process of doing that, mate. You're not the only one I'm working with.”

“Let's get this straight...Australian..Rake...we are not working together. We...the IRA...we don't work with outsiders.”

“But you'll want to this time,” Esme speaks up. “You'd be stupid not to.”

Billy smirks. “Love, your really nice to look at, but this is a man's conversation so...”

“Don't fucking talk to her like that,” Tyler's voice is low but menacing. Eyes dark. Jaw tight. “Don't ever talk to my wife like that. You don't disrespect her. You don't talk down to her. You don't order her around. Because you try it again, and I will hand you your ass, understand me?”

The other man blinks at the vehemence in his voice, then nods.

“McMann wants me dead,” Tyler says. “And not just 'cause I figured out his dirty secret and I fucked up four of his guys. That just made it worse. He's wanted me dead for a while now. Someone hired him. To come after me. He was supposed to get the job done in Guatemala three weeks ago but one of my guys found out what he was up to and put a stop to it.”

“Who'd you piss off?” Billy inquires. “Who hired him?”

“Five years ago, I killed someone that was going to hurt my wife. This guy's brother found out about and figured he needed payback.”

“You did the right thing though. You were protecting your girl. Any man would do that. Any real man, anyway.”

“Well the brother doesn't think so. He managed to land a job with the people I work for and dig up all kinds of shit on me. Personal stuff. My wife's name, where we live, my kids' names and where they go to school.”

Billy scowls. “That's one fucking line that should never be crossed. Bringing a woman and kids into things. I've got a kid of my own. A boy. I'd kill any bastard that so as much looks at him the wrong way. How many do you have? Kids?”

“Four.,” Tyler says. “A little girl, twin boys, and a tenth month old boy. And there's one on the way. So you can understand even more why I need to protect my family. Why I need to protect my wife.”

“I do. And congratulations. A baby's always good news that deserves to be celebrated. So he's after your family? Your kids. McMann?”

“He's concentrating on killing me, but he's sent people after my kids. He sent the Buckmans. Or people associated with them. They've been sending pictures to the house; of my kids, my wife. Letting me know that they'd been watching them and they know where to find them. And they showed up. At my house. So needless to say, I'm a little fucking pissed.”

“Rightfully so,” Billy says. “I'd be ready to kill the bastard too. But the Buckmans? How...?”

“They're working together,” Esme speaks up. “They've been working together from the very beginning. McMann made it seem like the Buckmans were solely responsible. To throw everyone off his scent. But they're both in on it. And they've been using those kids. In the worst possible way. And for that alone they need to be punished. Can you imagine a parent being that sick and twisted? Could you imagine someone doing that to your boy?”

“I'd kill him,” Billy declares. “With no hesitation. So this was all some big game?” he asks Tyler. “Just to get to you?”

“When he couldn't kill me in Guatemala, he came to Colorado. And he brought this big bullshit story about needing me to find his wife and his kids. And he's good. Really good. Because I fell for it. He sucked me right in and now look where I am. Stuck in this fucking mess. He thought he'd get me here and I'd cause all kinds of shit with you people and it would be the IRA that would end up killing me and...”

“We thought about,” Billy admits. “When we found out you were here working with that prick. Then when we heard what you did to his boys the other day, we called it off. Made us think maybe you weren't on his side after all. Now I now you're not. If everything you're telling me is true.”

“I wouldn't bullshit about this, mate. Not when my wife and my kids are involved. If he'd just come after me, that would have been one thing. But he's sent people to my house. He knows that's what makes me vulnerable; my family. And he knew I'd come here to save a couple kids. That I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't find them and get them the hell out of there. He knows my one, true weakness and he's exploiting the shit out of it.”

“And you'd be willing to just cough him up? Let us have him?”

“It depends.”

“On what?”

“What you'd be willing to offer me in exchange. I'll give him to you, but I've got some demands. Some things that I want. And I won't hand him over unless you agree to them.”

Billy leans back in his chair, hands clasped behind his neck. “Well let's hear them, Rake. Let's see if it's worth my time getting involved.”

“I will give you McMann and the Buckmans if you send people to watch over my kids. If you can get a couple or a few guys to keep an eye on things. They're in Nebraska. Safe. With someone I trust. But we both know that's not going to stop these people. That they're going to track them down and find them, no matter how well they hide. I know how badly the Buckmans have pissed off the IRA. I know you guys want them just as much as you want McMann. So kill two birds with one stone; protect my kids, and hit the Buckmans where it hurts.”

“And you can get him? McMann? You're sure?”

“No doubt in my mind. He wants me dead. He's tried twice now. Fucked it up both times. What's the saying? Third time's the charm? If I call him and say we need to meet to discuss things, if I tell him I'm about to blow shit up and cause him a world of hurt, he'll show up.”

“And if he brings people with him? You know he won't show up alone. He doesn't have the balls to go toe to toe with you. He knows he'd lose. So he brings a bunch of guys with him and then what? You have to fight your way out of that? You're good, but you're not that good.”

“I wouldn't be going into this alone. I have people that will watch my back and get involved if they need to. But if I can get him there alone, I can handle him myself. I won't kill him. Even though I want to. I'll let you guys do that.”

“And all you want is for us to keep an eye on your kids?”

Tyler nods. “That's all I want. That's all that matters. You keep an eye on my kids while I go and find McMann's.”

Billy sighs, then leans forward to pick up his stein; taking a long sip of his lager. “You realize I can't make this decision on my own, right? I can't just tell you here and now that we're in on this. There's people above me. With more power. They're the ones that have to make the decision on whether we want to be part of this or not.”

“I understand that, mate. But you can be the person that goes to them and convinces them that this needs to be done. Because I know you want to do it. You're a father, just like me. And I know you'd do anything in your power to protect your boy.”

“That I would,” he agrees.

“I've got to get those kids. McMann and his wife are letting this happen. They're behind it. What's going on with those kids is very real and it's fucking twisted and sick and I need to get them the fuck out of there before it gets even worse. But I can't do that if I need to go home and protect my own.”

“If it was up to me, if I had the final say, I would do it,” Billy admits. “In a heartbeat. But I'm just one guy. And you need more than just one guy. I'm going to need some time. A couple days. Four at the most. To get everyone together that I need to get. Are you kids safe? For the time being?”

“There with someone I trust,” Tyler says. “And I don't trust many people.”

“I'll contact who I need to contact. But if anything gets worse...if even more shit goes down...and your kids suddenly aren't safe any more, you get a hold of me right away and I'll round up a couple buddies and we'll go there ourselves. Deal?”

“Deal,” he agrees.

“In the meantime, you keep yourself alive. Maybe even have a little fun at our friend McMann's expense.”

Tyler grins. “I plan to.”

*****

“It wasn't a stereotype,” Esme comments, her voice sleepy. “It really does rain here a lot.”

It's shortly before midnight as they lay in a mess of tangled sheets and sweaty, naked limbs. The windows open; a stiff breeze fluttered the curtains, the rain strong and steady as it beats against both the cement and the metal of the balcony. Both are sated and spent; three rounds of intense love making and many orgasms (on her part), his back covered in deep, near bloody fingernail gouges, bite marks on his shoulders and collarbone. All the frustration and aggression and eventual relief being released in the way they know best.

“Makes my fucking head hurt,” Tyler mumbles as he lays on his left side; his face in her hair, a leg draped over hers, and a hand resting just below her breasts. “All the rain.”

“Well look on the bright side. Pain means something still exists up there between your ears.”

He chuckles, then nips at the nape of her neck. “Fuck you, Esme.”

“You just did. Three times. What more do you want?”

“I dunno. What's our record? For one night?”

“Five. Five and a half actually. I'd say six but you came before I did the last time and we both know that only counts as half.”

He frowns. “That's some bullshit.”

“I'm sorry, I don't make the rules. It is what it is, Tyler. It does not count as a full number if you get to come first.”

“It counts if I go back and get you off. That makes up for the half point. You can't tell me it doesn't. Why wouldn't it count? It counts.”

“No. It doesn't. Once you lose that half point, you can't get it back. It doesn't matter how hard you try or if you're successful at it. It doesn't count. You won't convince me otherwise. So don't argue about this. This is a war you will not win.”

“Who makes these rules? I want to see the instructions for this game. Because we're not playing it the same.”

“Everyone knows that's the rule. Everyone. Just because you're asleep at the wheel...”

“It makes no fucking sense that it doesn't count if I go back and finish things off. Explain to me how it doesn't count. Because it counts.”

“There's a time frame you have to finish things in.”

“Says who?”

“The people who make the rules. For fuck sakes Tyler, get your shit together.”

“But who makes the rules? Who are these people?”

“Women whose husbands have the goddamn bloody nerve to come first, that's who.”

He groans in exasperation. “That's only happened twice in five and a half years and you know it.”

“It doesn't matter. It still happened so you still have to follow the rules.”

“Listen, I went back and got the job done. So it fucking counts and that's the end of it. That makes it six.”

“Ughhh...” she moans dramatically. “...you aren't playing by the rules, Tyler James.”

“Fuck your rules,” he chuckles, and she likes the way the noise rumbles deep within his chest, reverberating against her back. “I don't want to play this game anymore.”

“Well I'm sorry if it upsets your delicate sensibilities but that is the rules. It does not count as a full point unless you go back and finish things off in a certain time frame.”

“What's the time frame?””

“Forty five seconds to a minute. You took one minute and ten seconds. So sorry. It does not count.”

“Now you're just changing the rules to suit what you want. You're not playing fair. At all.”

“Do you want to phone a friend? Like on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Because your friends are going to say the same thing because they also have to play by the rules.”

“I'll take 'who is being an unreasonable bitch for two hundred, Alex'.”

“That's Jeopardy. Oh my God. How did I ever marry you? Like what was I thinking? You can't follow the rules, you can't keep your pop culture references correct and in order, you leave dirty socks and underwear in front of the hamper instead of putting them in it, you leave the toilet seat up in the middle of the night...”

“You married me for other reasons.”

“Yeah? Like what? Give me three.”

“I'm tall and I can reach the stuff on the high shelves and you don't need to get a step stool.”

“Okay, I'll agree to that one.”

“I don't mind killing the spiders and all the bugs you say are gross.”

“Hmmm...yeah...you can have that.”

“I have a big dick and I know how to use it.”

She sighs dreamily. “Yes. Yes you do. On both counts. Fine. You win. I'll give you that extra half point. It's six now.”

He grins and presses a kiss to her cheek. “Thank you.”

“Don't ever say I never do anything nice for you. Because if it gets out that I gave you that half point, I will lose my bitchy wife card and I don't want to give it up.”

“You get to keep your bitchy wife card,” he assures her. “I'll keep my annoying, pain the ass husband card.”

“You may be an annoying pain in the ass, but you're my annoying pain in the ass,” she declares, and looks over her shoulder at him, smiling as he pecks her lips. “No one elses annoying, pain in the ass. Mine.”

“I'm all yours, babe. All yours.”

“Good,” she says with a content sigh, and then places her hand over his, entwining their fingers together. And she feels the soft tickle of his lashes against the back of her neck as he closes his eyes. “Tyler?”

“Yeah?”

“Please tell me that you're not going alone to meet McMann tomorrow.”

“I already told you, Mark and his guys will be there.”

“Like there, there as in right there, or...”

“Less than a hundred yards away. I'll be wearing a wire; they'll be able to hear everything that's going on. One of them will be acting as a sniper, just in case.”

“I'd feel better if I went with you.”

“What are you going to do that they can't do? They aren't rookies. They know what they're doing. And I'd feel better if you weren't with me.”

“Well that's...rude.”

“I don't mean it like that. If something happens, I don't want you being there. I don't want anything happening to you. Or little bean...” he moves their joined hands down to her stomach. “...I don't want to lose either of you.”

“And I don't want to lose you. We just found out about the baby. I kind of want him or her to actually meet you.”

“Her,” he says. “It's a her.”

“Yeah? How do you know that?”

“I had a dream the other night. That we had another baby. That it was a girl.”

“Are you just saying that because you know I'm sick of all the testosterone in the house, or...”

“Nope. It's true. I had a dream that we were in Australia. And we took the kids to the ocean for the first time. And there was another baby. A girl.”

“What did she look like?”

“You. She had your hair and your eyes. And she was tiny. Way smaller than all the rest have been.”

“Hmm...” she runs her thumb along the top of his hand. “...how did that make you feel?”

“How did what make me feel?”

“Having a girl. Having another daughter.”

“I dunno,” he shrugs. “I was fine with it. Why wouldn't I be? It's a baby. That we made together. I don't care if it's a boy or girl.”

“After Millie, you wanted a son,” she points out.

“Well...yeah....every guy wants a son. At least one. I ended up with three. So I'm fine with a girl. You know it doesn't matter to me. As long and you and the baby are okay, that's all I care about. And that is exactly why I don't want you coming with me tomorrow. Just in case things do go to shit. That way neither of you can get hurt.”

“I don't exactly want you getting hurt either.”

“Baby...” he lifts his head from his pillow, then presses his lips against her temple before resting his cheek against hers. “..I'm going to be fine.”

“I thought you were going to be fine three days ago, but...”

“That's different. We didn't know what McMann was up to yet. Now we know and now I have people watching my back. Nothing bad is going to happen to me. I promise.”

“You know how many times in the past five and a half years you've told me nothing bad is going to happen to you and something bad has happened to you?” she challenges.

“So maybe I should use reverse psychologically from now on? Say that something bad is going to happen and then the opposite happens?”

“That's not how this works. That's not how any of this works. But look at you go! Using big words like reverse psychology.”

“You know what, you can be a real bitch sometimes,” he teases, and presses a kiss to the corner of her mouth.

“But you love me.”

“Yes,” he says. “Yes I do.”

She smiles and turns towards him, his hand settling on the small of her back, lips against her forehead. “I love you, Tyler. So much it hurt sometimes.”

“I don't want it to hurt.”

“It's a good hurt, though. It's not the kind of hurt that comes with a broken heart or anything like that. It's a hurt that reminds me that I'm still alive. That you're still alive. That we've been through so much together. Yet we're still here. Still working on things. Every day. We don't give up on it. Or each other.”

“I already told you. I'm in this for the long haul. You can't get rid of me that easy.”

“I don't want to get rid of you,” she says. “Ever.”

“Good,” he grins, and drops a kiss on her head before pulling her even tighter against her. “'Cause I think I'll keep you around.”

“Are you still planning on trading me in for two thirty olds when you turn sixty?”

“No. I've changed it to three twenty year olds,” he teases. “Hey, if you can have your rules, I can have mine.”

“I don't like your rules. Fuck you and your rules.”

“Fuck me, huh? Is that an offer?”

“I don't know. How lucky are you feeling?”

He grins. “I'm feeling like I could beat the number six.”

#tyler rake #tyler rake fan fic #tyler rake fan fiction #chris hemsworth character #sanctuary #extraction

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quakerjoe · 5 years ago

Note

You do realize that one of two people will be the President of the United States on January 20, 2021–yes? Either the incumbent or the Democratic nominee will hold the office, and that’s a legacy as old as Jefferson and Hamilton. If you can not stop trashing both aspirants to the office may I suggest that you pursue the acquisition of a passport as well as some means of leaving the country? Your laments are so doleful as to finally become comedy.

You know what’s really funny? Everything about YOU. I’ll tell you why, since you bothered to ask. I at least owe you that much since you didn’t ask anon.

I get this sort of banter every now and again so I thought I’d display it and answer the question at hand.

First off, this “#Murica, love it or leave it!” horseshit has two facets to it in response.

ONE: “Go fuck yourself. If you’re so willing to lie down and take it in the ass for one of the parties constantly screwing you, you’re pretty useless. Why don’t YOU leave since you’ve clearly given up the fight? “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness” comes at a price, sometimes a high one, and you have to FIGHT for it. If you’re willing to just bend over and take an elbow deep fist in your ass from the Democrats so it can jerk off the GOP while its dick is constantly forced down your throat, then perhaps YOU are the one who needs to pack up and fuck off to Saudi Arabia or North Korea. Maybe Russia or China are more your speed.

TWO: Are YOU going to pay my way if I decide to give up on America and abandon my home and the nation that I love? I may not love your precious politicians, but I’m still proud to be an American. I served, am a vet, but THIS is not the nation I signed up to defend. This era of US history is the Big Sellout, and you, dumbass, are a part of that.

You people had chances and opportunities to make this a better place than when you found it, but over the five decades I’ve been alive all I’ve seen is people fighting to get in line to buy the government snake oil like it’s a Cabbage Patch Kid or the new iPhone. It’s pathetic how much the US lacks vision or has any real pride or dignity worth talking about. We’re not #1 at fuck-all anything worth bragging about unless it’s how bad the education system has gotten or that we’re the TOP nation in the world for incarcerated citizens per capita and it’s mostly geared towards men who happen to have a dark complexion.

The rich and powerful exist here because WE ALLOW it. People like you, you defunct Fox “News” fan, are either a cheering fan for the status quo of yesteryear with Biden who wants to turn back the calendar to a time that BROUGHT US TRUMP in the first place OR you’re a trump fan who has NO IDEA… well, no ideas or thoughts about anything. Trump’s shown us who we really as a nation apparently- deluded, self-centered, selfish assholes, and the WORLD can see it. Not all of us, granted, but as a generalization, we truly suck. Such a waste of enormous potential, especially given all the resources we’ve had over the years.

As a result, we’re being overwhelmed by a virus that’s killing us by the thousands and perhaps millions some day. But, since we no longer believe in or do science anymore, nothing much is coming to save us. If/When the time comes that its run its course and should we find a vaccine, there are still anti-vaxxers who’d rather die than take a cure. Then there are the religious zealots who think Jesus will protect them. You know; the ones who are dropping like flies these days? Those assholes; the hypocrites who think they’re part of ‘the faithful’ who, if you believe in that sort of thing, do Satan’s bidding more than Jesus’.

If you’re not boiling mad at the GOP for literally doing everything they can to go out of their way to keep the US a hateful, racist, peddler of death nation bent on keeping its citizens poor and undereducated, you’re not a part of the solution. If your fucked-up solution is to have those not happy with the butt-hurt they peddle move to another country, it shows you’ve got no pride or respect for your country or yourself. You’re weak, ignorant, selfish and stupid all rolled into a big burrito of go fuck yourself.

If you’re not making a fist so tight that your nails are digging into your palms when you hear that the Democrats are literally forcing us to choose one racist sexual predator that can’t hold a thought or form sentences as the “champion” to replace the incumbent one, you’re DEFINITELY not a part of the solution. Also, you’re an idiot, an asshole, and totally a Biden Bro.

What will it take for YOU to open your window and shout out “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!” eh? You people rolling over for Biden are pathetic weaklings who sold out women and #MeToo and sold your souls to #MeTooExceptBiden, allowing the bar to be set to the same, low, cesspool standard that the GOP glorifies in. You sold out party, country, woman, minorities, and everything that was once even remotely good about the party that allegedly represented the working class so that the party leaders can keep their cash flow from Big Pharma, the Insurance lobby, Big Oil and the Military Industrial Complex. You’ve turned the Democratic party into yesterdays feckless, weak and worthless GOP while the current GOP drags the country even FURTHER to the fucking right. You’re aiding and abetting the foulest elements of the nation’s existence.

Your attitude has cost us our place on the world stage and most of our allies while we crawl under the covers with bedfellows we once considered enemies because they treat their people like shit. Now WE are one of those shithole countries you people used to rant about… AND YOU’RE PROUD OF IT and unwilling to stand up and fix it. Instead, you prefer those who are willing to do your job FOR you to just move elsewhere. Loser. Listen, if you’re too much of a wuss to stand up to the establishment that’s using your tax dollars to bail out the rich while pissing table scraps down upon you, that’s on you. You’re too stupid to know better. I get it. But until YOU get off YOUR ASS and hold your government accountable, you’ve got no room to criticize those who ARE doing it.

We’re in the middle of a pandemic and the ONE GUY who has been fighting for his decades-long career for UNIVERSAL health care was someone YOU opted out. American apparently hasn’t suffered enough to grow a pair of whatever motivates it to stand up to the wealth inequality. The US idolizes the rich and instead of fighting for a chance to live at least a DECENT life without having to worry about going tits-up and pear-shape because of hospital bills or job losses, they’d rather just piss away their fortunes and futures so that people with more money than they can spend in a lifetime of ten could possibly spend, all while THEY pay little to ZERO taxes, leaving YOU stuck with the bill. That’s on YOU if you’re willing to bend over and just take it in the ass and take it dry; no kiss, no lube, not so much as a feel-around. That’s YOU.

You, sir, are the problem. Clearly, with people like you, the US is simply BEGGING for 4 more years of trumplefuckery. Perhaps you even deserve it. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, but who am I? I’m just one of the few willing to call anyone out on their bullshit, from the GOP overall to Pelosi’s feckless approach, to Schumer’s “kid who gets beaten on the schoolyard daily” approach to trying to appear useful. I’ll shit on Liz Warren for not backing a Progressive approach and getting behind Sanders EARLY; screwing her friend and ally AGAIN like in 2016. I’ll call out all the other “candidates” who say one thing while their track records show that they’re pretty full of shit. I’ll DEMAND that we have a party that’s transparent and willing to fight to drag us BACK to the Left instead of the “oh, let’s settle for plutocracy and oligarchy because it’s better than fascism” route. Fuck that, fuck them, and of course fuck you too. Thought I forgot about you? Oh, this is all about you, you spineless goon.

So let me know if you and your ilk are willing to throw your precious few dollars into a GO FUND ME to finance my move to another country. This includes my family, all our belongings, and of course a home once we get there. Naturally, you’ll be finding us ALL gainful employment there and the costs for the passports, visas, and whatnot and you’ll of course be lining us ALL up with jobs. I’ve got a big family, so it’s going to be pretty goddamn expensive. Shit, just ME moving is going to cost more than you’d be willing to cough up.

In the mean time, I’m going to remain here, giving the finger to the GOP, the Establishment/Corporate owned Democrats, and people like you. Seriously, you’re an idiot.

@ imall4frogs He’s talking about people like YOU.

#imall4frogs

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justjessame · 5 years ago

Text

A Little Ass and A Lotta Sass Chapter 5: Promises, Promises...Wait, Dear God...Damn

I watched Negan heave a long breath into his lungs as I pressed my completely naked body back against the same wall I’d been leaning against when he came into the room. I waited, wondering if he was ready to keep either of his promises. I bit my lip and that was all it took to move him.

His mouth crashed down on mine. My moan was swallowed by his mouth and searching tongue. His gloved fingers, gripped my waist, and then I was airborne. He lifted me and the next thing I knew, I was sitting on the counter we used to fold the clothes on. Those leather clad fingers slid up my body, finding my taunt nipples and tweaking them. Another moan, and I felt him smirk against my lips. Fuck. Such a fucking dick, and then I felt it. His actual fucking dick.

So, truth time. Remember when I insinuated that the bat was compensation for what he was actually packing? Um, that’s not entirely accurate. I mean the man isn’t like beast sized, but he’s ample. Very ample.

I slid my own fingers down his chest to where his hardness was lying between my thighs. Dear lord, I thought, feeling the breath leave him as my fingers descended. Ah, there it is, that rush of power I felt before. I finally found it, him. My hand encircled the soft skin that was also so very rigid. His lips left mine as he let out a sound I never heard a human make before. Holy shit, I literally held him in the palm of my hand.

I gave his length a gentle tug and his head buried in my neck. I felt him shudder. What was that about paying the price? Weird, seemed like he might have to pay me. “Negan?” I whispered, my voice sounding like music even to me. “Negan, are you ok, baby?” I felt the goosebumps on his arm as my hand moved to hold it while I continued to stroke him.

I felt his teeth bite my shoulder and I removed my hand. “No more fucking marks,” I growled, feeling him chuckle against my skin. A flick of his tongue and then he moved his head so we were face to face again.

“Jesus, Callie,” his voice was rawer than I’d heard yet. “What the fuck are you doing to me?”

I let my palm collect a sample of the precum oozing out of his head and went back to stroking him slowly, but with enough pressure to make him hiss. “Handjob?” I offered, raising my shoulder.

He chuckled, low and dark. “Clearly.” He started to thrust into my hand. “I mean this,” he lowered his mouth to mine again and there it was, the fucking flames of hell flicking over me. “Don’t you feel it too?” His mouth was still on mine, the question a whisper. “Fuck,” he groaned, fucking my hand.

I kissed him, wanting to make him come undone, but also really really wanting him to keep his first promise. “Is this all you want, Negan?” I asked, quickening my hand and feeling his breath grow more ragged. “Just my hand?”

He growled, and then he was gone from my hand. “NO.” He pulled my hips forward, and moved one gloved hand down my body, making my skin flush with heat. “What I fucking want, if I recall,” his grin grew and there were those fucking dimples again. “Is for you to be a screaming mess with only my fucking name coming out those sassy fucking lips of yours.” His thumb met my wetness and he whistled. “Look at that, fuck, baby doll, is that for me?” He bit his lip and pulled his thumb away. “Usually we’d have hours of preamble. Fucking hours of my face tight against that sweet little pussy of yours,” he licked the taste of me from his glove. “And fuck is that sweet. Unfortunately, today is not that day.” He lined himself up with my opening and slammed into me.

Fuck, I arched my back and rolled forward to keep him inside of me as he began a fast and frenzied pace. Jesus, he was going to fucking kill me. I could still think of things other than his name, and I wasn’t screaming yet, so he wasn’t fucking keeping his promise. My legs wrapped around his hips and I leaned forward to take one of his nipples into my mouth. I heard and felt him shudder. Good. Now get to fucking work. His gloved hand came down between us, flicking against my clit and there it was, I could still come up with rational thoughts, but fuck that was pretty fucking- OH SHIT. “FUCK!” I screamed, arching harder against him as he used two fingers to pinch it. I felt the orgasm screech through me and moved harder against him, chasing for another. Still, as the aftershocks kept rushing through me, fuck was clearly not Negan. No dice on that promise, yet.

I looked up at him, his eyes were so fucking dark I nearly lost my breath. I bit my lip, forcing him to take my mouth again. His thumb was stroking me as he continued his pace. Then his lips left mine and found the crook where my neck met my shoulder and I felt it, an actual fucking bite followed by a suck. “NEGAN!” I screamed, not from what he promised, but more from the fact that I’d fucking warned him. I felt him chuckle against my skin and nearly smacked him, but then he moved his hips just a little differently and I couldn’t fucking think about why I wanted to do anything other than this. With him. FUCK. “Oh, fuck!” I moaned and he heard it, the fact that he found IT. And that was what he’d been looking for clearly, because then he focused on it, that spot. And he hit it over and over and over. And finally, he fulfilled part of his promise. His name spilled from my lips, not in irritation, but in prayer. In need. In want. And fuck, he was right, because that was all I could think of. Him. His name. Inside of me and everywhere.

When it stopped. Our foreheads were pressed together and our eyes locked. Both of us were breathing hard and he was still inside of me. Growing softer by the second, but I thought that neither of us were ready to let go. Not yet. Not now.

As our breathing slowed, then our pulses, I realized he was still holding me. Still inside of me, if only barely. Dear fucking God, they were right. All of them. Shit.

Was it weird that it wasn’t weird afterward? That he helped me clean up, which was more than thoughtful since I was filled to the brim with HIM. That he and I dressed, comfortably, as though this was an average Tuesday. Nothing to see here, people, we do this shit all the fucking time. That he kept his eyes on me while I folded the laundry. That we talked about everything and nothing at the same time.

When I had the basket full of our clean clothes, he took it from me and led the way out of the room. Shit. I just realized that I fucked Negan, or was FUCKED by Negan, loudly in our fucking laundry room. I worked really hard to feel shame for it. Strange that none came. Yep, just another Tuesday, people. Well, isn’t this a fucking conundrum? What the hell was I supposed to do now?

#negan x ofc #Smut #the walking dead

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