#they didn’t even have off to the races arguably one of her best songs ever

[serethereal]

at the karaoke bar asking them if they have any lana unreleased songs. they’re going to shoot me

[creativeashproductions]

When Fate Intervenes // Luke Patterson

IN WHICH: Fate intervenes with a trio of musicians on the night that was supposed to be legendary. Fate puts the reader with a special ability that may or may not be able to save them. Fate puts a clairvoyant, an accidentally upsized pizza and thirteen year old oddly obsessed with a rock band.

Warnings: Swearing, food poison, death, and fluff

Words: 2.8k

A/N: Time to get rid of some fic ideas from my TOO LONG of a list. It’s Julie fault, she keeps encouraging each fic idea I tell her.

TO BE TAGGED SEND AN INBOX/ASK PLEASE!

Masterlist

The Orpheum, 1995

The line up comprised of countless girls wearing homemade band shirts for the new band performing. Your little sister, at thirteen years old, had pleaded for weeks if not three months to go watch it. It was odd since she was more in the pop scene than the rock music. Your parents would never let her go to the rock show at night, so it was you or no show. It took a promise of doing your chores for an entire month and her dessert for two months. That was why you stood beside Harper among the fangirls while you clicked through the camera you’d saved up for years.

“I’m so excited.” Harper buzzed dancing on your feet as the time on her watch dwindled down more and more.

Your eyes flitted from the screen to the ball of energy you called your little sister, “I can tell. Which one do you have a crush on?”

“Reggie. He’s the bassist and so fucking-sorry freaking cool.” Harper gushed, “A good portion of the fans are obsessed with the lead singer Luke. Bobby is the rhythm guitarist, and he’s a ladies man, but he’s sweet about it.”

“And you’d know that how?” You questioned letting go of the camera around your neck. Your e/c eyes meeting her matching pair of irises; well yours were a bit more vibrant.

“I just know.” Harper retorted before beaming as she roughly poked the pin she’d made herself, “This represents all of them. Red for Reggie’s plaid shirt he always has, orange for Bobby’s love of oranges, yellow for Luke’s energy and pink for Alex because he loves the colour!”

The pin had their band design with Sunset Curve on it with the words outlined with a sunset made up of red, orange, yellow and pink just as Harper had pointed out. By far, it was her best work, but that was expected from an art student at Los Feliz High School. An art school for artists and performers. You attended for photography and creative writing just as Harper attended for art.

“That might be your best work Harps.” You complimented your little sister who shivered in the cool night breeze. You didn’t even think about tugging off your warm jacket to place on her shoulders.

You’d rather be cold than your little sister no matter how much you fought with each other, the Y/L/N siblings had each other’s backs no matter what.

“Thanks.” Harper murmured, leaning closer, “So do I meet Reggie?”

Your eyes widened slightly at her subtle goading to a part of your life was cinematic. It was a piece of you that very few people knew about, only your parents and Harper. Like most of the women in your paternal lineage, you carried the ability to foresee events in the future. A clairvoyant.

“Harper!” You scolded the young teenager who blatantly was just over-excited to see the band she’d been talking about constantly.

Harper’s cheeks turned a cherry blossom pink under the crappy lighting from the marquee sign. Even in the light, you noticed the changes in her face as she matured into a young woman, her cheeks while still full didn’t have that baby cheek look now. You saw a stubborn zit that you could see under the makeup that didn’t entirely match her skin tone. It caused an ache in your heart to know that soon she’d have the experience of heartbreak.

“Sorry!”

“You told me these guys are my age. Need I remind you that you are thirteen? If anyone older than thirteen makes an advance I’ll put my softball skills to the test.” You sternly informed the shorter girl with the pout that screamed rebellion, “Just be a kid Harps.”

“Like you said Y/N, I’m thirteen. I’m not a kid anymore.” Harper dropped the attitude to adopt a more mature soft tone. You could see the tinge of sadness in her eyes at losing the part of life where it was easy.

“I know. I can wish you’ll stay that annoying little kindergartener that stole my clothing.” You chuckled, “You’ll always be the Stephanie to my DJ.”

The two Y/L/N siblings momentarily glanced around before hugging as quickly as possible, they still had reputations to uphold. Had you been actually paying attention, you and Harper would have noticed the commotion from the people behind you.

As you and Harper had the sweet moment, the very band performing had raced out the alley into the street. What brought you back to the surroundings was the pizza boy delivering the pizza box to you. 

“Wait, we ordered a small!” You exclaimed finding the boy holding an extra-large pizza. You only received a shrug in response with the right change given back. 

Two things happened with this food mistake, you didn’t have to pay more than what you actually ordered, and you still got the larger pizza. However, the Orpheum didn’t allow outside food, meaning you’d have to force-feed yourself all the pizza or trash more than half. 

“We could shar-” Harper was cut off as a blinding white light became your focal point. Harper knew what was happening by the specific groan coming from your lips.

A nauseating scent of cheap meat, gas and chemicals flooded your sense of smell in the dingy alleyway. It was nighttime with a few people in the general vicinity with a dilapidated table and mismatched chairs on the walls’ edge. A poorly made sign with Sam & Ella’s and going by the vendor selling the hot dogs the name fit. Sam & Ella sounded like salmonella.

From a distance, you couldn’t quite hear the conversation between three male teens, but you had a bad feeling. They all migrated to a ratty couch that had been better days, a rat wouldn’t even crawl on it you swore.

The first boy had slicked back hair with rosy cheeks you dubbed innocent and cute that juxtapositioned his rocker attire. He had polished black leather shoes, pleather if his choice of food was an indication, a leather jacket and a red plaid shirt around his waist. His attention focused on the two guys beside him. In the middle, the boy had the blue hood of his sweater pulled over his messy brown hair as if hiding. Nothing stood out about him, and it seemed like that was intentional. On the other side, the last one was the tallest with his blonde hair hidden by the backwards black hat. A distressed dark grey jean jacket open to proudly display his pink hoodie. Each one wearing black pants and adorning rings.

“This is awesome, you guys. We’re playing the Orpheum!” The middle boy joyfully spoke head in the clouds instead of the questionable surroundings. He arguably had the loveliest smile you had ever seen, and his friends had nice smiles at that as well.

Yet even if this hadn’t taken place, however, it still felt like you were intruding on something incredibly private, “Why am I being shown this?”

Your question went unsurprisingly unanswered.

“I can’t even count how many bands have played here! And then ended up being huge!” He happily sunk into the back of the couch, thinking of all the bands he had CDs to in his room, “We’re gonna be legends!”

“Oh.” You breathed as you caught a whiff from the boys that quickly gave you the understanding of why you saw this. You could only smell what you had dubbed as death, the scent unchanging from the first time you’d encountered it.

The death stench accompanied a clairvoyant vision if the object of your vision was sick or about to die. The first time you encountered, it was a vision of two cars colliding, the sound of shattering glass and crunching metal, the scent of burning flesh overpowering the milder stench. The next morning school was cancelled after a teacher died in a car accident on the way to work.

“Eat up, boys. ’Cause after tonight, everything changes.” The only vocal one continued with his two friends silently listening. The trio toasted their food together.

“No!” You exclaimed as each boy took a bite. You held your breath, hoping that the inevitable in the vision wouldn’t occur.

Unfortunately, it was right away the warning appeared. The blonde one the most affected, “That’s a new flavour.”

“Chill, man. Street dogs haven’t killed us yet.” The leather jacket guy proudly spoke, the least one concerned. 

Even the guy in the middle was concerned but ultimately continued eating.

“Stop it!” You shouted, but it was no use. As with every vision, you had the potential to stop it from coming true, but while in the vision, you couldn’t interact with the people or surrounding. No matter how much you wanted to slam the food out of their hands.

But one thing sends shivers down your spine. The one in the middle made direct eye contact with you. Something that had never happened before nor to any previous clairvoyants. He kept eye contact as he slowly grew sicker and sicker.

The three boys had no chance as the ambulance rushed to the alleyway to save them. The paramedics weren’t as quick as the vendors who’d already packed and fled to protect their own hides.

You watched as the paramedics did everything in their power to save the young teenagers with everything possible. Just like Luke sang in their last song, the boys felt the darker version of an electric hammer to the heart. The clocks freezing in place as they each took their last breathe in the oddest of deaths. You saw the blonde guy die painfully first before followed by the formerly hooded one, the terrified cries of the last one haunting your phantom ears.

How did three healthy teenagers die on the same night of the exact nature within minutes of each other without one surviving? Maybe it had something to do with the hot dogs chilling in the liquid that was a cesspool of bacteria compounded with tained condiments from battery acid.

You roughly came out of the vision shaking and pale-faced frantically scanning the surroundings. Harper had a grip on the extra large pizza box while the other tightly held yours to ground you in the present.

“Are you okay?” Harper softly questioned with the panic hidden inside her body. Harper knew that this vision had been one of the bad ones. The haunted look in your eyes hinting towards death in the near future.

“We need to go.” You frantically replied, grabbing the pizza that would hopefully have a hand in saving three hopeful teens.

Your gym teacher would be proud of the distance diminished and speed you kept towards the area that would further shatter you. Foreseeing death and sometimes unable to stop it always had a nasty impact on you. 

“Where are we going?” Harper yelled, “We’ll miss the doors opening!”

“We’ll miss them if we don’t hurry up!” You shouted back at the disgruntled little sister but at the moment that didn’t matter. 

What mattered was three hungry teenagers about to gorge themselves on death dogs if you didn’t make it in time. It appeared for the first time you’d actually manage to stop the deaths, unlike the previous three times. 

“-tonight. Everything changes.” The chill-inducing rasp helped navigate you to the disgusting couch. Your cold hand slammed the hotdog from the blonde’s hand, the shocked reaction halting the other two.

“Don’t...eat...it.” You heaved bending over at the waist to catch your breath. Wheezing sounded from your little sister as the running and seeing her favourite band up close settled.

“Excuse me! I paid for that hotdog!”

“You’d be buying yourself death literally. Your dreams of playing the Orpheum would be extinct.” You sighed, chugging the water from the pocket of Harper’s backpack for a few seconds before the owner took it back.

“Okay, look I don’t know how you found us but-”

“You don’t have to believe me ’cause I sure as hell wouldn’t have but don’t jeopardize your dreams. Look my little sister wanted to see your show so I brought her and we ordered a pizza. They fucked up the order by giving us an extra-large pizza. We’ll barely eat a quarter of it, and the venue is strict on the rules.” You rambled using tour hands to elaborate the story before Harper roughly elbowed your ribs, “Ow!”

“Oops.” Harper faked a sugar-sweet smile for your benefit as the interaction with the three musicians slowly dove into embarrassment.

“-sorry. You’d be doing us a favour by not wasting our money and food. What do you say?” You hesitantly asked the trio who didn’t speak vocally; their eyes meeting in a silent conversation.

Reggie sighed as he begrudgingly dropped his hotdog in the bin near the couch, “Pizza outranks street dogs even if the dogs are heaven and to die for.”

“Literally.” You grumbled forcefully pushing the obscenely large pizza box into the middle one’s stomach, “I’m Y/N, this is my little sister Harper.”

“Hi.” Harper shyly waved with cheeks turning a dust pink concealed by the dark of the alleyway. The boys’ lips all quirked at the sudden contrast from the confident sister slamming her elbow in you to the bashful teen.

“I’m Luke. This is Reggie and Alex.” The hooded one, Luke, introduced his bandmates as best he could with his hands occupied by the pizza box.

Without the threat of death by the hot dog, you actually took the time to look at Luke with appraising eyes. His eyes were like oceans of blues, greens and even a brown that both exhilarated you; the desire of studying them not surprising. His smile outshone the sun on the hottest day in August.

“Nice to meet you.” You informed the trio with a beaming smile that matched your starstruck little sister. The interaction gave you the opportunity for immense and untiring future teasing on the teen that daydreamed of the bassist. 

You had to admit the trio were incredibly attractive.

“Come back to the dressing room. We can eat there out of the cold.” Alex courteously invited the two formerly strangers. His blues sharing his pure intentions to repay you for saving their lives and offering pizza. 

“Of course.” Harper nodded her head with her eyes barely meeting the ones of the boys. The shell was broken when Reggie piped up.

“That’s a really cool pin! Where’d you find it?”

Gated Community, Los Angeles, 2002

An off-tune humming filled the modestly sized home in the suburbs of Los Angeles, California with the sound of water splashing. Doing the dishes was a mindless chore that typically didn’t bother you, but the pain in your lower back protested. You’d have used the dishwasher, but the thing was perpetually breaking down. Didn’t seen essential to replace when washing dishes by hand was just as productive.

Or it was when you didn’t have the extra weight in your midsection, a symbol of your love with your husband. In fact, you would have avoided doing dishes if you hadn’t just used the last clean plate and glass at breakfast plus Luke hadn’t been home in the previous week.

Sunset Curve had gone on a press tour for the upcoming album and tour planned for next year.

“Oof.” You moaned as the little rascal once more hit your bladder, “Are you breaking electric guitars in there?”

“Not a soccer player?”

“With you as their father? Not likely.” You snorted as the sudden appearance of Luke became clear. You hadn’t been expecting him, “I missed you. We missed you.”

As had it since you first told him Luke’s warm hand came to rest on the front of your swollen belly. In a short month, you’d be cradling the newest member of the Patterson family with Luke singing the lullaby he solely made for baby P.

“Still haven’t given in?” The lead guitarist teased you with a beaming smile splitting his face, “Go sit down. I’ll finish the dishes.”

You didn’t need to be asked twice. 

“I’m not abusing my clairvoyance to foresee our child’s gender, name and appearance.” You pointed one finger in his direction, “I refused Bobby’s pleading to see which models he would bed. The only time I did something like that was to reassure Alex that he would fall in love with a lovely guy.”

Luke’s heart burst with sheer adoration at how easily you had sunk into the friendship with the band after that one night. A night that had given birth to a friendship that slowly evolved into a romance and marriage. To this day, the group got together as much as possible.

“I love you.” Luke chuckled, “Even-”

“-if I came into your life like a completely crazy person?”

“We’re all a little crazy.”

Your house surely would be when a little tornado with Luke’s energy took over the home you’d made with Luke. The very home you would have more children and grow old together until soon you held your grandkids on your laps.

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[huayno]

from neon genesis evangelion, vol. 12

The Mysterious Stranger

The Anime, the Manga, and the Mark Twain Novella

"God will provide for this kitten." "What makes you think so?" Ursula's eyes snapped with anger. "Because I know it!" she said. "Not a sparrow falls to the ground without His seeing it." "But it falls, just the same. What good is seeing it fall?"

—from The Mysterious Stranger

There is a short novel by Mark Twain, written near the end of his life and published posthumously, entitled The Mysterious Stranger. The tale is set in a small village in 16th century Austria, where three boys one day meet a young man different from themselves: "he had new and good clothes on, and was handsome and had a winning face and a pleasant voice, and was easy and graceful and unembarrassed, not slouchy and awkward and diffident, like other boys."

The mysterious stranger starts to do small but amazing tricks for them—causing water to turn to ice; conjuring grapes and bread out of air; even making birds that can fly out of clay. At last one boy, the story's narrator, works up the courage to ask the stranger who he is:

"'An angel,' he said, quite simply, and set another bird free and clapped his hands and made it flyaway."

The angel then proceeds to really impress them by making an entire toy castle, complete with five hundred miniature soldiers and workmen that move around by themselves. Naturally the boys get involved with this ultimate playset, making their own knights and cannon and cavalry, and although they get rather nervous again when the angel reveals his name is Satan, he assures them he is not that Satan, but only named after the fallen one.

"We others are still ignorant of sin; we are not able to commit it; we are without blemish, and we shall abide in that estate always." Distracted by two of the miniature workmen, "Satan reached out his hand and crushed the life out of them with his fingers... and went on talking where he had left off: 'We cannot do wrong; neither have we any disposition to do it, for we do not know what it is." Horrified as the other boys are, "he made us drunk with the joy of being with him and of looking into the heaven of his eyes, and of feeling the ecstasy that thrilled along our veins from the touch of his hand.'"

Yes, Kaworu Nagisa made quite an impression on the fans of Neon Genesis Evange/ion, despite the fact that, in the original broadcast version of the TV show (before it got all director's-cutted, box-setted, special-editioned, and platinum-lined) he shows up for only slightly less than thirteen minutes of total screen time, the climax of which being an entire minute where nothing happens at all.

That's what being a beautiful angel will do for you, especially when you make the most of your thirteen minutes on Earth by having a Whirlwind romance with the main character that ends in a lover's quarrel with Prog Knives and finally a voluntary martyrdom at the hand of your boy here. Relationships don't come any more tragic than that of Kaworu Nagisa and Shinji Ikari, and when fans (including this one) first saw it on TV, the affair was so brief and shocking the story logic of it didn't click in until much later.

In the anime, Kaworu is acknowledged as the Final Messenger, and, of all the Angels Shinji has to fight, this is the most ruthless battle, won at the highest possible cost to himself. It took even longer for me to realize that the showdown in episode 24 had also taken us full circle from Shinji's first fight in episodes 1 and 2, which emphasized his personal helplessness against the looming Angel Sachiel. Against Kaworu, it is the Angel who becomes the small, helpless figure, while Shinji is represented only by the gargantuan, frightful helm and arm of his Eva Unit-O1. We never see Shinji's human face once throughout the whole final minute of decision.

So as Col. Trautman would have said instead of Major Katsuragi, "It's over, Shinji! IT'S OVER!" Kaworu v. Shinji (or Kaworu x Shinji, in the doujinshi) was the big final showdown between humanity and the Angels. And with the outcome leaving Shinji at his most wretched ever, wouldn't it be nice if everyone just died—your wish being Eva's command, as it turns out that fortunately humanity hardly ever needed the Angels to slaughter itself.

"I am perishing already—I am failing—I am passing away. In a little while you will be alone in shoreless space, to wander its limitless solitudes without friend or comrade forever...But I, your poor servant, have revealed you to yourself and set you free. Dream other dreams, and better!"

—from The Mysterious Stranger

Satan's words near the end of Mark Twain's story also uncannily prefigure the end of the world and the Instrumentality project, both of which follow his death in the TV show in such quick order you picture Anno as a hairnetted fry cook dinging the counter bell. By now you see Sadamoto's handling of Kaworu, and perhaps nothing illustrates the different experiences of the manga and the anime better than his handling of this critical character.

No longer the last Angel to be fought, Kaworu actually becomes an active Eva pilot and fights an Angel—the dude even has the nerve to observe the fight is fixed, based on his knowledge of SEELE's prophecies. Sadamoto of course introduces him at an earlier point in the narrative—at the equivalent of episode 19's end—and then sends him to NERV near the equivalent of episode 22's beginning—before certain important events, to put it mildly, can occur. When one notes this kind of thing, of course, it's important to restate that the Evangelion manga has always been a separate but equal "official" version of Eva, with no particular obligation to align itself with the anime, and indeed it was with Book Five, the first released after The End of Evangelion, that Sadamoto began to truly seem free to go in his own direction.

Nevertheless, as the "other" official version of the Eva story, it is reasonable for fans to view it as an "alternate history" relative to the anime, and the way Kaworu has been introduced makes us realize the manga may end very differently indeed. Despite the fact we know here that Kaworu is an Angel from the very beginning, he appears destined to at least hang around long enough to pick up a few paychecks. It's not clear when your health benefits kick in at NERV, although if Ritsuko is your primary caregiver it might be best to forego them.

Sadamoto's remarks upon visiting the U.S. in 2003 indicated that the Eva manga might (might) be planned as a twelve-volume series in all. There is still plenty of room for speculation, as the slow working pace to which the artist himself often refers has of late become almost relativistic—as of this writing, it has been eight months since Sadamoto has drawn a new installment of Eva in Japan, and hence a Volume Ten is nowhere in sight. It may be small comfort, but those of you reading this are pretty much in the same drifting boat as the Japanese fans.

"An angel's love is sublime, adorable, divine, beyond the imagination of man—infinitely beyond it! But it is limited to his own august order. If it fell upon one of your race for only an instant, it would consume its object to ashes. No, we cannot love men but we can be harmlessly indifferent to them; we can also like them, sometimes."

—from The Mysterious Stranger

And with Book Nine we see the most staggering difference thus far between the manga and the anime; Sadamoto's Shinji doesn't even like Kaworu, much less love him. Of course, you could say the less-ethereal Kaworu of the manga is harder to love. I can't believe Sadamoto had him tell Rei he thought she'd be "heftier." And yet he did.

I don't think any A.T. Fields actually got penetrated in the anime; while I do think Shinji felt sexually attracted to Kaworu, and that you the audience are supposed to feel that he felt it, what Kaworu himself thought was a very different matter. Like Rei, I believe Kaworu to be innocent—coyly, he appears not to be so, because while Rei needed to be reached out to, Kaworu has come to reach out; whereas Rei has spent her existence being observed; Kaworu has come to observe.

Indeed, in the manga, Shinji's irritation about Kaworu's invasion of his personal space seems almost a parody of his attitude in the anime. In the TV show, when Kaworu put his hand on Shinji's, he flinched but did not pull away; whereas in the manga it's easy to imagine Shinji slugging him. Instead he goes to run after Rei, hoping to get closer to her again.

I hardly think the change reflects any phobia on Sadamoto's part (after all, we even get to see Shinji's "Unit One" in the manga), but the fact the manga Shinji is less emotionally bleak and empty, and hence less vulnerable. Shinji's just as negative in the manga, of course, but it's an active variety, rather than the passive negative creep (in the best Nirvana song sense) we know from the anime. We don't have to imagine him slugging Gendo; from the look of surprise on Dad's face in Book Seven he would have smacked the beard off his face if Kaji hadn't stopped him.

Neither is Shinji in a positive emotional situation where we leave him here, either; indeed at this point in the manga there's arguably no one he can turn to—the more brutal fate that befell Toji has cut him off from his school friends, Rei has become hesitant, Kaji is dead, and his perennial self-esteem booster Asuka is going to need to rebuild her internal supply before she can even get back to calling him a loser and idiot.

So, like Misato trying to put her own hand on Shinji's, all I can do for now while we wait for Sadamoto-sensei is to recommend for your winter vacation reading list The Mysterious Stranger, which I can almost guarantee will give you new angles to think about Kaworu, and may even earn you class credit besides. A quick look at the novel's comments on Amazon list a teacher who says fundamentalist students walked out of his class when he taught it; another compares it to The Matrix; those who dislike it call it "sick," "bitter," and "twisted." Sounds like good old Evangelion to me!

—Carl Gustav Horn

[a drawing of Kaworu holding a kitten]

Although The Mysterious Stranger can also be found in a number of print editions, including The Portable Mark Twain from Penguin (haw haw), the story, being from the days when mp3s came on shellacked cylinders, is legally available online at http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/TwaMyst.html. The same site has a book called The Holy Bible, King James Version, which fans of Evangelion might also enjoy, although it's technically "Editor's Choice."

[notdonesimpin]

Electric Love ~i.m.~

izuku midoriya x reader

warnings: fluff, a nervous izuku

synopsis: you and midoriya have a nice chat in the morning. 

a/n: hope you enjoy :)

It was around seven in the morning and you found yourself, dancing around the kitchen as you made enough breakfast for everyone. The food would probably be ready in around forty five minutes because you had to make so much extra since the boys would have several plates of food. 

Everyone was starting to get up and get ready, knowing that you were downstairs making arguably the best breakfast they'll ever have in their life because of the mass text you’d sent the night before.

Midoriya lounged into the kitchen with a yawn. “Good morning, Y/N,” he hummed, opening the fridge to get a bottle of water.

“Good morning, Midoriya! Are you going to train before class?” you asked.

“I actually came to help,” he confessed, “Is there anything I can do?”

You smiled brightly at him, pointing at the griddle on the counter, “Can you start making pancakes? We need at least 80 of them because you boys eat a lot.”

He nods as he walks over, picking up the bowl and stirring the pancake mix before he starts placing several scoops of batter on the griddle.

“Y/N, can I ask you a question?” 

“Go for it.” You take the sausage out of the oven to flip it.

“Why do you make breakfast for all of us so often? You have to get up so early. Plus, there’s barely any food left for you.”

You shrug, taking a sip of your coffee, “We’ve been through so much with the villains. Sometimes, I can just tell when our morale is down, so I cook as a way for us to take a moment to relax and enjoy each other’s company. I think it helps us realize that we’ve been through a lot but we did it together, so we have at least one person that understands how we feel.  I usually eat some food here and there while I cook and because of my quirk, I can accurately estimate and make enough food for everyone and myself.”

He nods as the next song begins to play and you start dancing after placing the sausage back in the oven.

Candy, she's sweet like candy in my veins

Baby, I'm dying for another taste

Midoriya laughs, watching you from the other side of the counter as he puts on the next batch of pancakes.

“Looking good over there, Midoriya!” you grin, jumping to the beat.

“I’m just doing what I’ve seen you do before. It’s nothing special. I’m just lucky I haven’t burned any,” he blushes.

And every night my mind is running around her

Thunder's getting louder and louder

The grin on your face becomes even wider as you walk over and lean on the counter beside him. “I didn't realize you actually paid attention when we would chat while I cooked.”

“You’re always cooking for everyone, so I was going to try to gather some people to help return your kindness.”

“That’s so sweet of you, but I have to admit that there is a selfish reason involved in why I make breakfast.”

He tilts his head in confusion as he takes the pancakes off of the griddle, “What is that?”

“It gives me a chance to talk to you. Your mind is always elsewhere whenever I try to talk to you during class hours, and you’re always training at night.”

Baby, you're like lightning in a bottle

I can't let you go now that I got it

He pauses as his eyes widen, remembering several moments where you’ve tried to talk to him, but he was too deep in thought to notice.

“What I’m trying to say is that I like you, Izuku,” you confess.

And all I need is to be struck

By your electric love (Ohh)

His heart was racing as he looked at you. He never knew that you felt this way, but what if he was taking it the wrong way? What if you meant just as friends?

He snapped out of his thoughts once he felt your lips press against his. He was in so much shock that he couldn’t even kiss you back.

Baby, your electric love (Ahh)

Electric love

As soon as you broke apart, you rambled, “You don’t like me like that, do you? I’m so sorry to kiss you like that. I guess I should’ve used my quirk to calculate the outcome because this is just embarrassing.”

“No! I do like you, Avery,” he reassured you as he began to blush, “I was just surprised. That’s all! I’ve never done anything like that before.”

“Oh,” you let out a sigh of relief, “I thought I had ruined everything.”

“You never could.” He gives you a soft smile, pressing a kiss to your cheek before putting on the next batch of pancakes.

[only-here-for-jatp]

Don’t Take My Spot!

A new Juke friendship fluffy one-shot posted in my This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things Series. It features Hesitant!Luke, cuddle piles, and pillow fights.

It’s about 3 thousand words.

Read it on Ao3 Here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26881345

And also below.

It’d been a week since the show at the Orpheum where Julie saved the boys and gained the ability to touch them. She couldn’t really tell who was most excited about everything that had happened since then.

It could’ve been Carlos who immediately started bonding with the boys upon confirmation of their existence. Alex and him would watch tv shows together, sprawled out on the couch, and chatting even though Carlos still could not see or hear Alex. Reggie and Carlos would play video games and somehow the added competition of being able to mess with each other’s controllers without intervention added a level of difficulty to their racing games. Luke and Carlos engaged in some new pranks and Julie admittedly had been ready to kill both of them when she woke up to the sound of her least favorite song blaring through her alarm at 3 am on Saturday Morning.

Reggie was definitely in the running for the most excited since everybody agreed that with the new development it was time to tell Ray about the new additions to their family. Surprisingly enough, Ray took it in stride. He’d been a little suspicious once she started to get a good look at their faces, after all Rose hadn’t been the only Sunset Curve fan in the house. He figured his daughter would let him in when she was ready, and he’d been anxious to meet the boys himself. He took time to bond with all of them, but he had a huge soft spot for his eternal companion Reggie. To say Reggie was thrilled would be an understatement and it was becoming increasingly difficult to separate the two.

It could’ve been the band in general who was most thrilled about the new arrangement. They were tactile ghosts after all and preferred to have as much contact with each other as possible at all times. Now that they could add their additional band member to the list, there was rarely a moment when at least one ghost boy wasn’t touching her. They’d even started popping into school in the middle of the day just so they could be in contact and do whatever version of a nap ghosts were capable of. Luke had been the touchiest of all of them, but more than just being in contact with her for longer he would touch her differently than her other band mates. He’d play with her hands or hair or slide his hand across her back when he moved behind her at the piano or in the kitchen.

They still hadn’t addressed whatever was between them and besides their tight hug the night of the Orpheum they hadn’t been that close or… intimate. It wasn’t quite avoidance, more like hesitation on both sides. She knew that she was just as bad as he was, but somehow her brain still wondered if she’d imagined everything between them. Maybe he didn’t feel anything.

It didn’t really matter though, because she was just as excited as her boys to be able to reach out and touch them. She’d been so worried about them disappearing, it meant everything to her that she could reach out and physically reassure herself that they were here and okay. She loved the group hugs she could get before heading off to school or playing with Reggie’s hair as they sat and watched Luke and Alex’s antics, or being able to hold Alex’s hand when he was feeling anxious. She tried not to think about all the ways she could touch Luke, but when she had a bad day at school being able to lean on him, literally, went a long way to improving her day. Yeah, everyone was thrilled about the changes going on and the band had started Saturday Night Band Bonding. This week they were having a movie night, Julie was showing them some of the classics they’d missed since 1995. They’d put a projector in the studio and rearranged the furniture to make a mattress comfy pile in the center.

Alex had arguably claimed the center since he was the one who would be most invested in the movies and paying the most attention. Which brought protests from Reggie who settled on his left, but they were weak protests since he almost always fell asleep whenever they put on a movie. Julie ended up settled to Alex’s right, she’d seen all of these and was excited to watch her boys’ faces light up. Luke was running late for whatever reason, which was unfortunate for him since his friends had decided to take up most of the cuddly surfaces.

Luke poofed in and pouted at the sight. “Hey! Where’s my spot?”

The three just looked up at him and laughed. “Guess you shouldn’t have been late!”

Luke walked up to Reggie nudging him a little with his foot and giving him his best puppy eyes. Reggie stared into his face for a second before shaking his head and curling up deeper into his spot. “Not a chance dude.”

Luke started to walk over to Alex but was stopped short when Alex called out, “Has it ever worked before?” Luke sighed and turned his gaze to Julie. Alex chuckled at the obvious resignation. Both Reggie and Alex glanced over to Julie, interested to see how this was going to turn out.

“Molina, you won’t leave me without a spot, will you?” His voice was soft, and he was giving her a little grin. Trying to charm her, but also almost a little afraid of succeeding. “You won’t turn me away right Jules?”

Julie knew she was done for the second he turned his sights on her, but she thought she could make him work for it a little. However, at the soft sound of his nickname for her she gave in scooching down so he could sit at the top of the spot she claimed. It wasn’t a lot of space, but she gave him a small smirk and said “Take it or leave it.” She followed it up with a serious glare and added “Just don’t take my spot”.

His smile lit up the room as he sat cross-legged near her head. Alex and Reggie turned back to face the screen with small smiles since they knew, he would take whatever Julie would give him. Soon the movie started, and they all settled in for their marathon.

Julie felt a little jittery at first with the cute boy she had a crush on sitting so close to her, but as she became more engaged in the movie and how her band lit up at the sight of HSM she relaxed. At some point she needed to find a new spot in her soft things pile and ended up stretching her arms above her head. She’d momentarily forgotten Luke was there until her hands hit his knees and she blushed before pulling her hands back towards her head. That little touch had sent a surprisingly sharp shockwave through her and she was desperate to pretend she was nonchalant.

A few minutes passed before she even knew he realized what happened, but slowly his hands moved from his lap to toy with hair a little bit. Running his fingers through it. She could feel herself relaxing even as her heart tensed. It felt nice and it took everything in her to keep her gaze on the movie and not search out his eyes.

It was about halfway through the movie and his soft movements through her hair had lulled her into a sense of peace. Slowly his hands traveled from moving through her hair to toying with her fingertips and she felt her sharp intake of breath. She still stubbornly watched the screen as if, if she called attention to what he was doing she would spook him. Her heart was pounding, and she never knew she could feel so much in just her fingertips. He was tracing up and down her fingers to her palm and then moving her fingers around. She could feel the goosebumps  moving up and down her arms. Hesitantly, she started moving her fingertips back as if it was her body’s natural response.

She kept on, getting slightly more confident as her fingers started pressing against his and tracing back as his hands got closer. She still hadn’t looked at him, but she swore she could tell exactly which smile he was using. At one point it was almost like their fingers were playfighting and she was working hard at stifling her giggles when suddenly his finger hooked onto one of her own. This time though, he didn’t let go. It was like a mini version of handholding and she could’ve sworn her blush was visible from space.

Slowly she glanced upwards only to be caught in his eyes. He’d been staring at her and his eyes were warm, filled with awe and light and maybe a little surprise. She watched his small smile spread and his hands moved to capture more of her fingers, never losing eye contact as he did so. She returned the smile with just as much awe and surprise, but also maybe a little nervousness. He seemed to sense it, smiling even bigger before turning his attention back to the movie. She glanced back at the movie and felt him gently pulling her hands into his lap and moving so there was no question anymore about whether or not they were holding hands.

They spent the rest of the movie like that until the lights came on to find the controller and put on the second movie. They both had jerked apart with sheepish smiles attempting to keep whatever just happened for themselves without their band mates finding out. As Julie got up to switch out the movie, she watched Luke’s smile turn into something more devious and she made sure to remind him- “Don’t take my spot.”

He just grinned at her and waited until her back was turned before scooching down a little and repositioning, so his legs were open in a V rather than crossed. Julie turned around and gave him a hard look, not buying his innocent act for a second. At the sight of her look he let out a low chuckle and responded, “Just getting more comfortable, is this okay?” She nodded and moved to lay back down in her spot except this time between his legs.

The lights went out and the movie started. She wondered if he would reach for her hands again, but she hadn’t put them back towards her hair. Should she move them up so they were more within his reach and available? But what if he didn’t grab them again? She started to squirm as her thoughts jumbled and she ended up rolling over to her side and using his leg as a pillow. It was… surprisingly comfortable. And she scooched a little bit up toward him so she could find a comfier spot on his leg for her head. She glanced at him briefly, discovering it was his turn to blush and stubbornly stare at the movie.

A silent giggle escaped her as she moved her hand to wrap around his leg, near her face. She was settled in quite comfortable with the new arrangement when she felt one of his hands back in her hair. This time she managed to keep her breathing steady although she could’ve sworn time stopped for a brief moment when he did that. He gently pushed a curl behind her ear before he traced his fingers down her back. Softly his fingers started tracing circles and rubbing up and down her back and she could feel the small hum in her chest as her body relaxed into his touch.

Somehow, she felt more than heard his small chuckle at her response and soon his other hand had found the one on his leg and was squeezing it in an attempt to convey how comfortable he found their arrangement too. Julie could tell he was gazing at her and she looked up to give him a small smile and a squeeze of his hand back before returning her attention to the movie.

As the movie progressed Julie scooched deeper and deeper into Luke. It was instinctual more than intentional, and she hadn’t realized just how close she’d gotten until her head was literally in his lap and he could nearly lean over and whisper comments about the movie in her ear. Which he did.

Luke marveled at his luck as the girl he adored kept moving closer and closer to him and slowly his hands had moved until they were clasped together at her waist, wrapping her up entirely with him. The movie was long forgotten as he soaked himself in her touch and the warmth building in his chest as he watched her go through all the emotions that were stirring inside him. He never wanted to let go of this beautiful magical girl that he couldn’t help but watch and admire.

His bandmates had been shooting him knowing glances and smiles ever since they caught him playing with her hair during the first movie. They would be teasing him so much later, but he figured holding this precious angel in his arms was well worth whatever was coming. As she scooched closer though, he started getting hints of jealousy in the boys’ eyes. They were so tactile, and it wasn’t fair that Luke was getting special Julie cuddles, he guessed. Since the start of the second movie the two had moved into their typical cuddle pile wrapping legs and arms around each other.

It was nearing the end of the movie when Julie started to drift off into sleep. She was warm and comfortable while wrapped in Luke’s arms and the weight of the world didn’t seem so heavy. A quick glance at her other bandmates revealed their cuddle pile and while she was perfectly content to be caged in by Luke, she still wanted all her boys. Slowly she reached out her arm so she could lightly tug on Alex’s shirt. He was just out of reach and that was all she could manage. Alex’s eyes quickly glanced down to the small hand gripping his shirt as if he might vanish and chuckled before shifting Reggie and his cuddle pile a little closer. Reggie reached out and grabbed Julie’s hand and placed it on Alex’s stomach while Alex reached out so he could be in contact with Julie.

Luke shot a grumpy pout at the two before hugging Julie tighter and whispering in her ear, teasing her lightly “Am I not enough for you Julie?” hearing the playfulness in his tone she shot him a sleepy look and said “jealous?” His eyes lit a little at that as he remembered Nick, but jealous of his brothers? Of his band? “Nah” he whispered back at her.

The movie ended soon after their little conversation and despite the fact that she was more asleep than awake Julie insisted on putting the third movie on. After a puppy dog look of her own the boys agreed and Luke stood up to put the movie on. He slowly shifted out from under Julie, melting a little at her grumbling protests. When he returned though he discovered Julie curled up into Alex’s side, his arm wrapped around her and her arm wrapped across Alex and Reggie.

He smiled at the sight of his three favorite people in the world all wrapped up in a contented ball of limbs and warmth. Sinking down into the spot Julie vacated, he scooched closer to curl up behind her, burying his head in her curls. At this point, he wasn’t even sure Julie was awake, but much to his surprise he discovered she was. At the feel of him behind her, she rolled over still wrapped in Alex’s arm but leaning into Luke and entangling her limbs in his.

Everything in him was happy. In fact, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so peaceful and content and a quick glance at his boys let him know they felt the same. Luke could feel Julie’s breath on his neck as she tucked her head under his, using one of his arms as a pillow. He let that hand reach out to Alex, wanting to be connected with his boys too. Alex’s arm stay curled around Julie’s front and Luke’s other arm went to wrap around her back. He traced circles there until Reggie’s fingers found his and they linked up still pressed against Julie’s back. The band was all connected like one big spider web.

They finished the remainder of the movie like that, frequently unable to tell where one of them ended and the other began. It was perfect they all thought until the end credits rolled and Julie’s eyes wrenched themselves open. She was glaring at Luke, but not with any real heat behind it. “Wait a second.” She exclaimed. “You stole my spot!”

Luke sputtered at the accusation, “But you- and cuddles- and really?” He was so busy attempting to explain how it really wasn’t his fault that he missed the pillow coming at it him until it hit him in the face. “Oh it’s on Molina.” A pillow fight ensued between Julie and Luke with him winning until Alex and Reggie came to her defense. It was quickly a free for all once again however, and probably would’ve continued on for much longer except Luke accidentally sent a pillow flying. It knocked all the DVD case off the table and narrowly missed the projector. Julie sighed. “This is why we can’t have nice things.” She managed to get out before collapsing into a fit of giggles. Luke looked sheepish at his error, tossing his weapon aside and lying beside Julie before dissolving into giggles himself. The other two soon joined and upon resuming their cuddle pile, Julie once again drifted back into sleep. They boys snuggled in closer, vowing to protect her and adore her as they settled in for the rest of the night.

[dizzydancingdreamer]

My Just Dance Playlist and who I would battle against / team up with in order to remain the champ

Hey lovelies so I— like usual— am procrastinating so I have decided— at the behest of literally no one— to extensively go through my workout Just Dance Playlist and explain in depth who I would 1 v 1 against, why I would pick them, and why I would— most likely— win.

PSA: This will be very biased and will literally be me bragging about how I would win at Just Dance every time with very little factual proof (because, really, how am I getting this proof?) and then literally me being self absorbed for the entirety of this essay length post— a girl’s gotta’ self care you know?

This is also lowkey practice for a fic I’ll be putting out at the start of Dinner at Dizzy’s so stay tuned it’ll be a fun one

Sorry in advance for the 2.4k essay of me being self obsessed

Also the links are just vids of the choreo in case you’re invested

Into The Unknown | Idina Menzel

This is a warm up song— like if I don’t do this one to stretch I’ll literally die— but definitely Wanda because we’re both soft (don’t fight me on this— I just know she’s a soft girl and would LOVE Just Dance). I don’t think I would aim to win on this one— I like her too much and, again, this is a warm up. She would definitely sing along with me too. If Sam was in a good mood he would also join in on this one— he has two nephews and is fun as fuck so I do not doubt he knows all the words and would be all in. Honestly this song is a warm up so anyone could join and I wouldn’t aim to win— unless it was Tony— because the man’s ego is perhaps the only one bigger than mine— or Steve— because I don’t know why I just think it would be cute to watch the man fumble because he 100% can’t dance beyond the slow dances.

Let It Go | Idina Menzel

Okay so another warm up (yes, I need two warm ups) so again the same principles apply. Again Wanda would be all over this one and I would go as far as to say Pietro— fuck off he is an Avenger and in my head he’s still very much alive— would join in too because he’s like a puppy. I would make Bucky do it too— cue the pout because he would try to say no and nope, no sir, you’re playing— because, uh hello, super soldier dancing to Disney songs. I think I would pull Nat in too because she needs a little push and once she’s in she’d be fully in— and, duh, I want a sexy woman assassin to dance with me.

Bad Romance | Lady Gaga

This isn’t my favorite song but— lucky for me— it’s a group song with three dancers so it won’t make me look bad right away. I would pull my sexy girl gang and get Nat and Wanda in on the action. I feel like Nat would be in the front— because, again, hello sexy— and not to mention that I feel like her skills would make her able to easily adapt to the moves— and then Wanda and I would just be chilling in the back, giggling and being cute. This is Nat’s moment— can you tell I only get competitive against the men? Fuck trying to beat Nat, I’m using this time to absorb the sexiness— I will be needing it for later on in this playlist.

Hot N Cold | Katy Perry

OKAY THIS IS ARGUABLY MY FAVOURITE SONG ON MY PLAYLIST! This is 100% my best song. Like “perfects” across the board every single time. I have it memorized and if this song ever comes on in public I’ll be fucked because I’ll have to dance to it and look dumb. Anyway— given that this is my best song— Sam. I can afford to throw him in here because— despite the fact that I know this man has literally all the moves— I have this song ingrained in the essence of my soul. It would probably be a semi-close race but I have the added bonus of knowing the tricks of the choreography. He may be skilled but I am obsessive and have poured hours into this song. I would probably laugh when he loses because of the adrenaline (again, it was close, my heart would be pounding). This is dirty and strategic but this is about me winning and nothing else. Better luck next time babes— rematch anytime.

Girlfriend | Avril Lavigne

MY THIRD FAVOURITE SONG— JUST LIKE BEFORE THIS IS IN MY SOUL! I have actually spent a lot of time thinking about this. I could use this song to knock out a more skilled dancer— Tony, Sam (again), Pietro (you know I’m right)— but I have made the executive decision to pull Steve in on this one. Clearly it has nothing to do with skillful planning on this one— I would 110% win this game— but rather it has everything to do with the fact that I want to look this man in the eye and mouth “Hell yeah, I'm the motherfucking princess” and watch him get flustered and maybe tell me not to swear. Clint would laugh and that’s more than enough motivation for me. I also want to giggle and stare at the super soldier the entire time because I can hit the moves with my eyes closed and he would be flicking his eyes between the screen and me wondering how on EARTH I got so good at this. SO CUTE!

California Gurls | Katy Perry

THIS IS THE ONE THAT IS TIED WITH HOT N’ COLD FOR FIRST! I’m good good at this one. I grew up on Snoop Dogg and I fully believe that is why I am so good at this song. Anyway Pietro— without a doubt in my mind Pietro would kill this song (or in the very least try to kill it) and I’m not worried about losing because of the sheer amount of gameplay I have on this song alone. He would have the most fun with me and it would be the literal time of my life. Like I might actually lose this one just to see him get all happy and puppy-like about winning— LOL just kidding no I wouldn’t, sorry peanut better luck next time. You killed the hip wiggles though!

Forget You | CeeLo Green

Okay this one might not make any sense but Bucky. This is a hard-ish song but I think some of the moves really scream like old-timey and I think— if he could get rid of his pride for five seconds and let some of the fun-loving, silly Bucky out— that he would really enjoy this song. It’s fast paced but repetitive, the lyrics are fun, and I would be laughing enough for the both of us that he wouldn’t think about how dumb he looks because I’d be looking doubley stupid. Don’t let that fool you— I am a whiz at this song too. There’s a lot of jumping and spinning and jump spinning that entice that perfectionist side of me in a way that has driven me to perfect this song. This isn’t a heavily strategic move— it doesn’t need to be, he, again, hasn’t danced in years— but it is fun while allowing me to still win. NEXT!

Waterloo | ABBA

Okay two teams here, this is where it gets fun. This could go in a lot of directions. If Tony isn’t there then I would pull Nat— the gameplay is easy and she would pick it up within seconds. I would then pair up Steve and Thor because they’re both huge and clunky and would spend the entire time bumping into each other. Dirty but I’m doing it without regret. NOW— If Tony was there then we’re teaming up. I don’t trust him to not be on a team with me because he’s too competitive. I won’t risk it, not today, not ever— we’re eternal dance partners because I refuse to be bested by a man. Even a sexy, silver fox millionaire. The other team would be Sam and Bucky. They would fight the entire time. I can hear it now— “That was the wrong move, dumbass.” “You stepped on my foot, asshole.” — it’s a virtually flawless game plan. There’s a 1% chance they would team up to win against me but even then Bucky hasn’t danced since the 30’s. Foolproof.

Just Dance | Lady Gaga

I am AWFUL at this one but luckily it’s a group dance again. If I had to choose any song to take a break for— because I’ve literally just whooped Avenger butt at this point and deserve five minutes to sit down— it would be this one. This is 100% a strategic move. Love you miss Gaga but the choreography is WACK and I will not be losing. Anyway I will be nominating Tony, Pietro, and Sam— a dance battle of epic proportions and I honestly cannot tell you who I think would win. I can, however, speculate. Sam right off the bat would be a hard player to beat. I said it before and I will reiterate now— Sam Wilson has all the moves. But, that being said, Tony would not want to lose. Like at all. So I am pushed to believe that this fight would be a tough battle. Pietro I don’t think would try too hard to win but, then again, I just pitted him against Tony and, well, we all know how that goes. He has an ego too so honestly it could go in any direction. Pietro might be soft with me but against Sam and Tony— this fight might get dirty. Camera’s out people!

Gimme! Gimme! | ABBA

Thor. Like— there’s just no other person that I want to disco with. None. I want the blonde god up there next to me or nobody. Well, besides Steve because LOL yeah he’s not winning that sorry pumpkin we’ve already covered that. Thor I could simultaneously beat and laugh my ass off with. It’s a lot of tricky moves— ABBA didn’t come to play— and way too much variety for him to be able to catch on right away but he would also not care about looking like an idiot and might end up just picking me up and spinning me around because why not right? I would win and be happy.

Starships | Nicki Minaj

This is pure strategy— Tony. This is the only one I could beat him at because of the sheer amount of moves and plot twists in the choreography. There’s a lot of jumping, spinning, kicking movements and if you haven’t had two months to memorize it then you’ll be fucked. Even then it’s a long shot because— AGAIN THE EGO DRIVES THIS MAN TO HEIGHTS I HAVE YET TO SEE ANYWHERE ELSE— but it’s my best bet. If I could blindside him enough with the hip wiggling then it would be a sure win but he might see through the strategy. He’s smart— too smart. I would fight dirty— I don’t lose. Now, if Tony— again— was not present then I would pull my baby Wanda for this one because she would have so much fun and it would be 1000% worth it. Literally my ray of sunshine— let’s do fun girl things like dance to Nikci like the entire team isn’t watching. Clint and Sam would be singing along— that’s canon. Nat would be filming and cheering. The super soldiers, iron boy (assuming he’s sitting this one out), the fast one, and the gods would be slack jawed. It doesn’t get better

Maneater | Nelly Furtado

I can’t even explain how long I’ve had the plan for this one. Too long. Remember the sexiness I was talking about? Yeah— here’s where I’m gonna’ need it. This is ALSO one of my favourite songs on this playlist because of how sexy I feel dancing to it. The moves are *chefs kiss* so fucking amazing I could cry. I feel like a maneater when I dance to this and that is a blessed feeling. Anyway— I will be pulling two people for this song and those people are Clint and Nat. I think Clint— contrary to popular belief— is secure enough to have fun dancing to this and, also, not to mention the most important part— whoever wins gets to take me on a date. The big guns. Literally it’s a foolproof plan. First, I can’t lose because this choreography is hard as fuck for beginners and I have been practicing and perfecting it for months. Second, the fight between Nat and Clint would be so fucking entertaining. They’re skilled, agile, sleek assassins who would literally dance to Nelly Furado like their lives depended on it. I think what’s even funnier is that Nat is for sure the better dancer but I just know Clint is a) only a fraction less better than her and b) would be trying SO HARD to win. Like I wouldn’t put it past him to not play dirty. I am cute, after all. His 6’3” ass would be sweating trying to get my 5’2” ass on that date.

Good Feeling | Flo Rida

Clint, baby, knowing full well you could have possibly just lost the last round to Nat, I will give you one more chance— mainly because this whole song is a vibe and the choreography is so much fun and there’s a handful of moves that I both want to do in sync with you but also want to laugh watching as you flounder them. Clearly as a stealthy archer assassin I am testing my luck with this one but he just doesn’t know the in depth ins and outs of this choreo. He doesn’t know about the like seventeen hundred bridges that this song has and the robot moves in the middle. So I’ll wrack up those extra points where needed. Honestly if you only click one link make it this one— I can’t describe how fun this would be with him. Competitive but fun. I have faith in myself that I would come out on top. He’s agile but I’d risk it all for the title of champion. Still, he would fight hard— that’s why I love him though.

How Far I’ll Go | Auli’i Cravalho

This is my cool down song but there’s someone here who has managed to hide his way into not playing and that is unacceptable— Loki, babe, you’re doing my relaxing song with me because the gods only know how much you need a break. I’ll look dumb because— believe it or not— the slow song trips me up the most. But it’s fun and it’s the reason I don’t have a heart attack when my chubby ass is done all the fast songs— so it’s necessary. It’s also slow enough that he won’t look dumb and thus won’t literally kill me because he won’t be embarassed. I would willingly lose to Loki because I don’t want to lose my life. It isn’t a loss— it’s survival. That and I think he’d smile if he got a good score and that alone is worth losing to this one (1) man. I also want to add that I think Clint would secretly love this one because you can’t tell me that a man with an aim as good as him doesn’t meditate. He does and he would perhaps beat Loki at this one. Rest in peace to the love of my life when the trickster god literally tears his head from his body but sometimes you’ve got to take the L baby.

[starlightaxolotl]

Stormfront Chapter One

words: 2.9K

warnings: none really, one swear word, implied alcohol being consumed by underage people but not shown.

I finally bring the long awaited first chapter of Stormfront, my Ninjago Next Gen AU fic. 

One: Not Without Risk

Zane walked out of the hide out and down the street, drawing the hood of the plain blue hoodie over his head. He knew he was being followed. If he made it to the prop apartment, he'd be clear. With his connections offline still, he had no signal to upload the information he had gathered on this impromptu meeting, having been lucky to even have been in the building when the meeting was called. For convenience, they allowed him to sit in before he left. They hadn't wanted to hold him up, but insisted he listened.

It had given him confirmation of his biggest theory: Harumi was building a network, one that spanned the entire continent of Ninjago, and one of her contacts had found something she was looking for. Something that would be in the city in the next two weeks.

Zane's hands itched at the thought. If she had already gathered contacts in every corner of the continent, who was to say this wasn't some sort of play—a ruse to throw him off. They could easily know he was infiltrating but choosing not to apprehend him…

But why?

Zane's mind and heart were racing at equal speeds. It was a lot to take in.

They knew where everyone lived. It was pinned out on a map of the city and surrounding suburbs, and they couldn't do anything about it. If they moved, they'd just be found again, and there was no evidence to suggest they wouldn't also reveal they knew what Zane was doing, breaking in and slipping among their ranks sporadically under another new fake name each time.

He crossed the street, glancing over his shoulder. In the alleyway behind him, a figure sat on a motorbike, ready to go at a moment's notice. Their visor was too dark for him to make out any details before he turned his head back to focus on the sidewalk in front of him. Distantly, he heard the engine rev before fading, driving away.

He had been followed. He was likely still being followed if he had to guess. He didn't want to be right this time.

It was taking a chance, but he needed to do it. He internally switched on every communication signal. As soon as he connected to the network, he uploaded the information to the coded file, encrypting it as he did. He called in to Pixal.

It didn't even ring once before she answered. "Are you safe? This call is early. You are not at the safe apartment yet." Zane could hear the worry in her voice, the strain of trying to stay calm. After over twenty years together, it wasn't shocking that he knew her this well.

"I am on my way home now, honey. I think we need to have a family gathering soon. Work is getting busy." His words, even out loud and inconspicuous to any passing ears, were coded.

I am on my way to the safe house. I think I am being followed. We need to gather the others. I have information. It is urgent.

--------------------

Gigi Walker liked to think that as first alternate for the debate team that meant she was incredibly skilled at last minute arguments and persuasion. She had, after all, talked her way into first alternate from third alternate.

Which, of course, is why she found herself standing between her father and the front door of their apartment, arms crossed. "Come on, I just want to go on patrol once with Uncle Kai-I really don't think I'm asking for all that much! Enver's been on patrol!"

Jay raised an eyebrow at his daughter, grabbing his phone from the charger. "Enver is two years older than you, and not my kid. Kai's house, Kai's rules. My house-which you live in last I checked, by the way-my rules. This isn't up for debate Gigabyte, Your mom and I both said you're not going on patrol until you're older when you and Grant turned ten and started training-which you already started earlier than we wanted, if you remember!" He crossed his arms as well.

Jay walked towards the dresser next to the door, opening a drawer to grab his keys. "And Kai is starting patrol later tonight than normal, and you have school in the morning. Which, if I remember right, you've been almost late every day this week because you've been oversleeping!" He reached out to touch his daughter's shoulder. He had a sad smile on his face. "Stop trying to grow up so fast, trust me on this one. You're gonna miss this once you become a full time ninja-when you're nineteen at the earliest." He pulled his hand away from his stunned daughter, moving past her towards the door.

Gigi's mouth dropped open and she twirled on the spot, grabbing her dad's arm. "Nineteen? Last week your only condition was I had to be an adult!"

A small snicker came from behind. "Don't make him push it to thirty." Down the hallway, holding a laundry basket, was an auburn teen, smiling wryly at his twin sister. "And next to uncle Kai, no one holds a grudge like dad."

"You left your uncle Lloyd out of this, he holds a grudge worse than any of us and you know it. Remember when you accidentally broke his nose, kid?"

Grant groaned, head dipping back dramatically. "He still won't let me live it down or feel good about the fact it was the first time I landed a hit on him in a spar!"

Gigi giggled, and Jay looked back at her. "I've gotta get going-I hope I'm not making a mistake by leaving you and your brother here to do your homework-it's not too late for me to take you to Lloyd's so Aya can watch you two."

With a huff, Grant lifted the laundry basket. "I've got chores to keep me busy, plus Gigi and I still have to study for precalculus tonight. Big test tomorrow, and if I don't keep her on track it's not getting done before you and mom are home."

Jay smiled and nodded, pointing a finger at Gigi. "Doors locked, no friends over, got it?"

"Got it." She sighed, watching as her dad left before turning to look at her brother, skipping down the hall past him. "You've got me covered for the evening then?"

Grant shook his head, and sighed. "This is a terrible idea, Gigi."

"If this was a terrible idea, then they'd have hidden the files harder than that."

--------------------

Lloyd looked at Zane, who looked just as pristine as usual, though his clothes suggested otherwise. He seemed scuffed up and anxious. "So, we're all here. Rip the bandage off, what did you learn this time?"

Zane looked around the secure room and the familiar faces around him. His team, his family, everyone actively working on this mission. Except for Enver, though he was going to be working on it soon, Zane supposed. "I do not have much, but something is arriving in the next two weeks-something big. Something they've been looking for."

The air in the room was still, stiff. Zane continued on. "She didn't say what it was over the phone, but Lex, the woman who has been training me for guard detail-she vouched for me personally, saying that they'd be stupid to waste my firearm skills on meaningless turf battles-said that this item is integral to their plan, and that things will fall into place once it's in Harumi's hands."

Lloyd made a face at the mention of their greatest enemy.

Harumi had spent the better part of the last two decades underground, but in the last few years signs had come back that she wasn't done trying to destroy Ninjago by starting with them. Her last big move had been...traumatic to their team at best. Lloyd looked away, hand moving to his side. Even through his clothes, he knew the size and shape of the scar that was there.

It had been luck that he lived at all.

"I also have gained confirmation of Harumi's code name being the Spider, not the princess. This means that there is an individual being called the princess that is not Harumi. Logically, I would assume this to be some sort of child of hers, or someone she is appointing as heir of the cause for unknown reasons, just in case."

--------------------

Gigi pulled her hood down as she walked into the party, grinning under the black lights which picked up the swirls of white makeup she had drawn on her face for the event.

The room was hot, packed wall to wall with people who swarmed around the makeshift stage in the abandoned warehouse. Maybe it wasn't as abandoned as she previously believed though, knowing now that these parties across the warehouse district were tied as recruitment events for the Oni's Curse as they called themselves now, rebranding from the Sons of Garmadon they originally were. It showed a few shifts. The movement no longer hinged on Garmadon as their leader, which...arguably might be worse for Ninjago in some ways. Gigi had only ever heard stories, but it sounded like Harumi could be even worse on her own. It even-

Someone slammed into Gigi's back and she shouted, barely heard over the music in the warehouse. A hand grabbed her wrist, steadying her before she could faceplant into the small gap in the flooring.

"Careful!" A girl yelled, muffled by the music and the mask she wore. Gigi could tell she was smiling behind it though. "Get's a little hectic here, ya know?" She started dancing, still holding onto Gigi's wrist. Gigi started to dance with her. "First time?"

The song started to wind down and Gigi nodded, reaching into her pocket to put her ear protection in. "Yeah, didn't know these were so popular!" She looked around, taking it all in. "Especially on a school night!"

The girl laughed. "That's half the fun-who cares if we have school tomorrow, tonight we live!" She tipped her head back and laughed harder. After a moment she looked back at Gigi. "What's your name, twinkle toes?" She asked with a nod at Gigi's shining shoes. She hadn't expected the black lights to make the glitter so radiant-it was just glitter!

Gigi smiled, holding out her hand. "Gigi!"

The girl took hers, giving a loose shake. "Everyone calls me Ruka around here." The girl-Ruka-looked around, pushing her dark bangs out of her face. "Let's get something to drink before some idiot spikes everything." She looked at Gigi, her dark eyes bright in the party lights. "You down to hang, first timer?"

"Uh..." Gigi faltered. She needed to be alert for the mission-if she found some kind of proof maybe she could get some intel about the initiation process that they didn't already know about. Sticking with someone who knew the place was a good idea. "Sure. I could go for a pop can right now."

Ruka laughed again, grabbing Gigi's hand to pull her through the crowd. "Pop can, you really are a newbie aren't you?"

Gigi shrugged, sticking close to her newfound guide. "Parents aren't usually out at night together, it's kinda new to be able to slip out of the house unnoticed." Gigi could feel the beat of the music in her bones as they passed a set of speakers, rocking her body at its very core. Grant would hate it here.

She so owed him for the cover up.

--------------------

Before she knew it, Ruka was pushing an unopened can of soda into her hand and pulling her once again around the makeshift dance floor. Gigi thought she heard her say something about a quieter place to hang around at in the party, but she wasn't sure. Even with ear protection in, her ears were ringing, and she was sure she'd feel unsteady from the sounds for hours after leaving the party.

"You were right," Gigi said as she leaned against the railing, popping the can of soda open. "It is quieter back here." She took a sip of the soda as she watched the people dancing below. Ruka leaned against the railing next to her, and Gigi smiled at her. "How did you get involved in coming to these parties?"

"Long story, but basically...my cousins." Ruka pulled off her mask, putting her hand through the elastics to keep it on herself. "They like the party scene, I...can tolerate it with the right people." She winked and as the strobe lighting passed over her face, Gigi could have sworn her eyes were red. Like fire red, but the next second they were back in the dark. "What about you, first timer?"

Gigi chewed on her lip, looking down at the party below. "I heard there's a little more than just a party going on, probably just a rumor."

"What, like drugs?" Ruka sounded irritated. "This isn't the place for that, Gigi. They're pretty strict about drugs."

That caught her attention. Gigi turned again. "What? No, that's not what I mean."

A loud voice cut through across the music. "Hey, hey, Rukaaaa!" Gigi looked left at where it came from. A girl with a high, neon streaked ponytail was sauntering over. Her combat boots made the metal catwalk clang loudly with each stomping step. The teen seemed cut from stone, all angles and neon paint, like a walking piece of graffiti. She eyed Gigi as Gigi did the same. "Who is this poppet?" Her face was intricately painted, streaks of white crossing over her lips in an upwards curve, and bright pink smeared around her eyes.

"Raz, this is Data. Data, Raz. My cousin I was telling you about." Ruka's voice was tight. It confused Gigi why she was calling her Data when she clearly remembered her name was Gigi just moments ago. "We were just talking about why we came out here tonight, told her you were big on the party scene."

Raz threw an arm around Gigi, pulling her close. "Data huh? Alias? Or do your parents really hate you that much?"

Gigi gave an awkward laugh. "Nickname." The two looked nothing alike. Then again, maybe they were cousins the same way she and Lark were cousins, cousins because their parents were so close they were practically family, but with no resemblance. "Pretty awesome party!" Gigi took a sip of her soda. Something about Raz made her uneasy.

Raz grinned wide, eyeing the soda. "Surprised no punch, Data. You and Ruka seem like punch girls-well, I know Ruka is."

"Her parents would notice if she accidentally got spiked punch. Said her brother is covering for her." Gigi looked at Ruka, who was undoing her buns-how had she not noticed they were purple before now? Ruka combed through her hair, pulling it into a ponytail. "And it's her first time here, I'm showing her the ropes. How things run, stuff like that."

Raz nodded, her grin still present. "Well then, I'll leave you to it." She squeezed Gigi's shoulder, and through her jacket Gigi could feel her sharp nails. "Don't let her give you too much hell, Data."

Gigi gave another awkward laugh, nodding before taking a sip of her soda. Raz slunk off, sauntering across the crosswalk towards a group of equally painted individuals. Gigi wrapped both hands around the can, and listened to the music for a minute before speaking. "Your cousin is...a lot."

"Tell me about it."

--------------------

Grant was practically pacing the floor when he heard a knock at his window. His parents were on the way home and as he pulled open the curtain, sure enough his sister was on the fire escape outside. He unlocked his window, pulling her in. "Go get changed, if they see you-why do you smell like smoke? Were you smoking? Oh man you were smoking-if mom gets a whiff of you we're both going to be grounded so badly-"

"Relax! It's from the train stop. Some ass wouldn't stop smoking and I couldn't get away from them. I'm gonna go shower, cover for me with mom and dad until I'm done?" Gigi shut the window behind herself, and sat down on the ledge to take her boots off. "I made a friend tonight, she's just so...she's amazing, Grant, she really really is."

"Okay, that's great. Does she know anything about the OC?"

Gigi faltered. "I don't think so. I think her cousin does though, so I'm gonna have to go back a few times to get some more intel-and you're right, you would absolutely hate it there. It's so loud and you can feel the music constantly and-"

Grant pulled his now shoeless sister off his floor, shepherding her towards the door. "You. Shower. Now. We can talk about it later!"

[scotianostra]

25th January marks the annual celebration of Burns Night - a time to celebrate Scotland's favourite son, and world renowned poet and song writer Robert Burns who was born on this day 1759.

I have covered Oor Rabbie on may occasions so on this day I hope to bring you a few facts about Scotland's National  Bard and his legacy.

Known as somewhat of a ladies man, Burns is known to have fathered 12 or 13 children, depending on the source,  to 4 different women. His last born child, Maxwell, was born on the same day as his funeral 25 July 1796, meaning his wife Jean Armour missed his send off.

As a lad growing up in Ayrshire, Burns was always fond of supernatural stories, most of which were told to him by an old widow who helped out on his father's farm. These stories no doubt had an influence on his writings in the future and perhaps were  the inspiration for his classic masterpiece, Tam O'Shanter and the lesser known Adress to the Deil and Halloween. Even in these poems he flattered the fairer sex with his words, this from the latter poem.....

The lasses feat, an' cleanly neat, Mair braw than when they're fine; Their faces blythe, fu' sweetly kythe, Hearts leal, an' warm, an' kin':

Of course Burns also gives another of his favourite subjects a mention in this verse, "the deil himsel," Look it up it's another guid yin!

Burns didn't always want to stay in Scotland - he hoped to move to the Caribbean island of Jamaica. Although following the success of his poetry collection 'Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect' (or the Kilmarnock Edition as it is known), he opted to move closer to home, settling in Edinburgh for a time.

For all his fame, Burns never forgot his humble roots. His love for farming stayed with him throughout his life and his writing often dealt with issues affecting the poorer classes, notably highlighting the need for greater social equality. Indeed he is known as the Ploughman Poet, a nod to his farming life.

And on his legacy, Burns has gathered some very famous fans since his passing, US president Abraham Lincoln could recite Burns’ works by heart. Bob Dylan says that ‘A Red, Red Rose’ by Burns is his source of greatest creative inspiration and Michael Jackson song Thriller is said to have been inspired by Tam O'Shanter.

In Japan at pedestrian crossing you don't get beeps like here in Scotland, they play a rendition of the Burns song ‘Coming Through The Rye’.

There are more statues in honour of Rabbie than any other male figure in history, only surpassed in total by Queen Victoria. (I am not including religious statues).

In 2005 Robert Burns was the first person ever to feature on a bottle of Coca Cola, about a million were made they currently trade for around £10 and I have one, unopened in my kitchen cupboard.

Arguably Burns most famous song, Auld Lang Syne, has appeared in over 170 Hollywood films including The Apartment, It’s A Wonderful Life and When Harry Met Sally. , but he only rewrote the verse, he sent the poem to the Scots Musical Museum in 1788  indicating that it was an ancient song but that he'd been the first to record it on paper. The phrase 'auld lang syne' roughly translates as 'for old times' sake', and the song is all about preserving old friendships and looking back over the events of the year.

In the US city of Atlanta, there is a life-size imitation of Burns’ first home in Alloway, South Ayrshire, although it doesn't have the famous thatched roof. In Scotland, there are some 20 official Burns memorials dotted around the country, from Aberdeen to the final resting place of Burns in Dumfries, which commemorate his journey from Ayrshire to “Auld Lang Syne”.

‘My Heart’s in the Highlands’ was translated and adopted as the marching song of the Chinese resistance fighter in the Second World War.

In 2009 STV viewers voted Robert Burns ‘The Great Scot’, beating the likes of William Wallace, Robert the Bruce among others. 

There are Burns Clubs scattered across the globe, but the very first one, known as The Mother's Club, was founded in Greenock in 1801. They held the very first Burns Supper on what they thought was his birthday, January 29th 1802, only to discover that his birthday was actually January 25th! 

Since then Burns suppers have been held worldwide.

I know some of you out there will toil to understand some of Burns's poetry, don't fear you will find the Best of Robert Burns, translated into into the de'il's tongue! Click here...

You will also find The Complete Works of Robert Burns, with glossary translation of harder Burns words into German, French, Spanish, and American. Click here...

The song above was one of my mums favourites the words "Never met-or never parted, We had ne'er been broken-hearted are inscribed on her grave......"

I'll leave with a wee bit of his poem, always recited at Burns Suppers, To a Haggis! 

Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face, Great chieftain o the puddin'-race! Aboon them a' ye tak your place, Painch, tripe, or thairm: Weel are ye worthy o' a grace As lang's my arm.

[turtle-steverogers]

Code: WTF (1/3)

hey, so here’s a little three part fun fic involving fbi agents and russian spies! (with just a little angst) enjoy!

warnings: a small depiction of death, but it’s not super bad

ship: platonic ralbert, platonic spalbert, soon to be sprace

word count: 1927

editing: ofc not

-

Making decisions, Albert has come to realize, is not his forte.  Granted, he’s generally good at helping others make decisions- he’s got that sort of innate way of looking at the whole picture, which is good when you’re trying to help someone sort through different situations.  But he can never seem to apply this strong suit to himself.  

Like when he was thinking of career paths and he’d spend hours at night staring at his ceiling and wondering whether or not he wanted to commit himself to a world of chance and danger and join the FBI.  Because, wow, had that been a dream of his ever since he watched his first James Bond movie at nine years old.  There was something thrilling about watching that action- seeing how he could use his sharp problem solving skills for something bigger than himself.  He wasn’t sure if he was ready to pledge himself to something that seemed almost like a life sentence, but he also was never one to run from a challenge.  So...after a couple years of college and a bachelor’s degree in engineering, he started studying for his Phase I assessment.  

It was grueling.  The entrance exam was no easy task and it only got harder from there with the ‘Meet and Greet’ and Phase II written assessment.  Not surprisingly, though, he had made it through and soon he was off to Quantico, where he was tested against his own willpower for upwards of 21 weeks.  It was tough, but he made it through with flying colors.  

Shortly after his 28th birthday, on a sunny and almost too hot July morning, he’d been trying not to let a giddy smile spread across his face embarrassingly as Director Larkin swore in his class- awarding them with their badges and credentials.  The smile did break through however when Larkin had looked directly at him while speaking of “Those most fit and impressively accomplished” and winked.  But he was proud of himself.  Sue him.

After the ceremony, Race- his roommate during Quantico whom he’d grown particularly close to- had handed over some suspicious looking store brand lemonade in a shitty, plastic cup and bumped their shoulders together, smiling as he raised his glass.  Albert mirrored his grin and clinked their glasses together.

“To the dream.” Race had said, taking a sip.

Albert drank too, and echoed, “To the dream.” 

Now, three years later, he’s finding that his bad decision making skills are still very present as he stares at the shelves of brightly colored cereal boxes, trying to decide what he wants this week’s breakfast to be.

As a Senior Special Agent, it’s very serious reconnaissance work.

Just as he’s reaching for a box of Dark Chocolate Crunch Cheerios, Race materializes next to him, looking a little tight around the eyes as he places a couple cans of Progresso soup into their basket.  

His movements are calculatedly casual, but Albert knows him well enough to know his stress tells.  The way his shoulders are just slightly raised, ready to launch into motion at the first sign of trouble.  The tense of his jaw and the slight scrunch of his nose- as if he’s smelling something off.  Bad.

“Hey, Al,” Race says, straightening.  Even his voice is that sort of forced casual it gets when he’s inwardly freaking out about something, “Do you remember our trip to Morocco?”

A shiver runs down Albert’s spine and he gives himself credit for only hesitating for a moment before recovering.  Morocco is their personal code for ‘hey, someone is definitely following us, so we either need to dip or do something about it.’

“The first or second trip?” Albert asks, his words just as rehearsed.  

And that’s their follow up code.  The first trip means it’s an unknown party; the second trip means it’s someone affiliated with whatever operation they’re currently assigned to.

Really, it’s counterintuitive to even ask, because they haven’t been on any major assignments in nearly a month now.  Director Larkin had given them both time off from the big stuff after their last operation had gone decidedly south when they lost a couple of the DEA guys they’d been teamed up with in a surprise shoot-out against the drug corporation they were tasked with bringing down.  

It was jarring to say the least, and neither him nor Race complained too much when Larkin had suggested laying low for a while.  It was the first time they’d ever lost their own men on a mission and in such a gruesome way.  Some arterial blood had sprayed Albert in the face, getting on his tongue and clogging up his nose.  He doesn’t remember much after that.  Race says he dissociated big time.  Albert doesn’t really care.  He just knows that he still can’t eat tomato sauce on his pasta, because the red of it still looks too much like--

Yeah, no.  Alfredo sauce is a new favorite in the Dasilva-Higgins apartment.

“First trip.” Race says, watching as Albert carefully puts the Cheerios box in the basket.

The sudden feeling of being watched pricks at Albert’s neck and he resists the urge to look behind him.  

“When’d you first notice?” Albert asks, dropping his voice lower and motioning for Race to follow him as he moves down the aisle, still trying to look nonchalant as he grabs a random box of Fruity Pebbles.  The gun that’s tucked into the waistband of his jeans becomes a noticeable weight against his lower back.  It’s a comforting weight, if not a little disconcerting.  But that’s basically in their job description.

“On the way here,” Race says, following Albert’s lead and plucking a box of shitty granola bars off a shelf behind them.  As long as they look busy, they look normal, “Noticed him walking behind us around the time we passed Suffolk.  Was wary, but didn’t think too much of it until I saw him lurking by the bananas while I was getting some apples.”

“Didya get a look at him?  Any discernible features?”

Race shrugs, eyes darting over Albert’s shoulder, then to the side, “Not really.  Short, I’d stick him around 5’4”?  Dark hair and eyes.  He’s wearing jeans and a leather jacket, kept his hood up.”

Albert hums, “And you last saw him by produce?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay,” Albert says, “Come on.”

They forgo the rest of their shopping list and hurry to check out, trying to maintain a sort of ostensibly relaxed appearance.  Just as they’re leaving the market, turning the opposite way from which they came, Albert’s neck prickles harder.  His stomach swoops a little and he hesitates, waiting for the right moment to turn around and grab the collar of the offending party, pulling him into a nearby alley and pushing him against the bricks.

He hears Race curse, but doesn’t look at his field partner as the guy against the wall’s hood falls away.  For a moment, Albert’s stunned, instinct falling short as his gaze sweeps over the guys face.  

And as shocking as it is, it’s comforting in a way.  Because even after eleven years, Albert would know those brown eyes and sharp features anywhere.  

His grip on the guy’s collar slackens and he feels his shoulders slump a little, “Spot?”

Spot grins, “Heya, Al.”

XXX

“Wait, so you know our stalker?”

It’s probably the millionth time Race has asked that since they’d dragged Spot back to their apartment on 14th street, taking a few cautionary side roads just in case.  Now, they’re gathered in the kitchen, each of them settled in with a beer even though it’s arguably too early to drink.  

Whatever, Albert thinks, It’s five o’clock somewhere, right?

Besides, what else are you supposed to do when the guy you’d been best friends with until he allegedly fell off the face of the earth, shows up in your life again by stalking you while you’re grocery shopping.

Yeah, Albert deserves a drink.  And he’s technically not on the job right now-- ok, he and Race are always ‘on the job’, but he’ll digress.

“Yup,” Spot answers for Albert, taking a swig of his beer, “best buds since Lindsay Hartman splashed punch on him during ninth grade homecoming, then pushed him into the refreshments table where I was getting a sandwich.”

Race shoots Albert a bewildered look and Albert shrugs, “I was kind of a dick back then and I was going through a gay panic, so I brought her to the dance and then accidentally blurted out that I thought her brother was hotter than her during the slow song and...well, ninth grade wasn’t the best year for me.”

“Clearly,” Race sounds amused, but he’s obviously still too shook up by Spot’s existence to jab Albert too hard.  

Albert can’t blame him, either.  It’s inherently bizarre to have your current and past best friends standing in the same room after thinking you’d never see one of them again.  

“Albert never mentioned you,” Race says, looking at Spot.  He’s got his ‘agent face’ on- studiously taking in all of Spot’s mannerisms, while not wavering his gaze from his eyes.

“Wouldn’t expect him to,” Spot says, unbothered, “We lost touch after high school.”

“More like you disappeared unexpectedly and never answered my phone calls or texts and I thought you died, but I couldn’t find anything on you since you were off the fucking grid.” And yeah, maybe Albert’s a little bitter, because he and Spot had been closer than close, but during their second year of college, Spot transferred to some school somewhere in Europe and never spoke to him again. 

Spot looks a little guilty now, but he still manages to be the dick Albert always knew him to be and says, “Tomato, tomahto.”

Albert rolls his eyes, “What even happened to you, man?”

“That’s actually what I’m here about,” Spot says.  A shadow passes over his face and he suddenly looks sharper- rougher, “I- uh, there’s, uh, some...trouble regarding...things...”

Race and Albert exchange a look and Albert can see the words, well, that’s vague, bouncing around in Race’s head.

“What kind of trouble?” Race asks.

“So,” Spot starts, then stops, shaking his head, “This is a bit of a crazy story, but anyway.  I moved right?  Overseas?  And I ended up, um, getting into a bit of a...situation.”

Wary now, Albert places down his beer and crosses his arms, “What kind of situation?”

“I kind of got recruited by the FSB?”

The shocked silence is almost palpable.

Race recovers first, “The Russian intelligence agency?”

A pause, “Yeah, that’s the one.”

Albert can’t handle this.  This is too much.  Too weird. 

He scrubs a hand over his face, “You do know what I, what we-” he gestures between himself and Race, “-do, right?”

He knows Spot knows.  He needs to ask, anyway.

“Yeah.”

“So, you’re telling a couple of FBI guys that you’re part of the FSB?” It sounds weird to Albert’s own ears.  He laughs a little, because really, he has to.

“Well...yes.”

“This is fucking weird,” Race states, pointing out the obvious, “Anyway, is there more to your so-called ‘trouble’? Or are you just now realizing the moral wrongness of being an American in the Russian spy network and want some sort of atonement?”

Spot seems to have an internal battle with himself before he mutters something that sounds like ‘fuck it’, “Albert, you’re my next mission.  I’m supposed to kill you.”

“Oh,” Albert says, frowning down at his crossed arms.  Then, Spot’s words process, “Wait, what!?”

-

hehehe we love an russian fbi drama

thanks for reading, chiefs

hmu to be added to my tag

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[rapuvdayear]

2000: “Ghetto Qu’ran (Forgive Me)” 50 Cent (Trackmaster Ent./Columbia)

It’s been over a year since I teased the idea of doing a post about my favorite 50 Cent tracks, so I guess now is as good a time as ever to get around to it! 

With the exception of maybe Kanye, I can’t think of another rapper with more raw talent whose career has been more disappointing. Obviously both Ye and Fiddy have been monstrously successful, but IMO they either burned brightly before descending into white supremacy apologia (Kanye) or never achieved their best possible trajectory (50). It’s not an accident to put them together in this way, either; just 12 years ago next month they faced off in what turned out to be a very underwhelming battle over whose album would sell better (this was back when album sales, not streaming numbers, still meant something). In many ways, it was a crossroads for each artist: Kanye dropped what I believe was his magnum opus, then followed it up with his fourth-best album, third-best album, and second-best album, before dropping off a cliff, while 50′s release basically removed him from the conversation about who was relevant in rap (“My Gun Go Off” and “I Get Money” are honorable mentions for the list below, but otherwise Curtis is entirely forgettable). 

These days, 50 has gone the Ice Cube route and is probably more recognizable as an actor than as a rapper. So, it’s hard to remember that once upon a time he was the savior of gangsta rap and (co-)author of one of the 25 greatest albums of all time. He beat the odds to survive a shooting, link up with the two heaviest hitters (at the time) in the rap game, and even be included on some GOAT lists. He also essentially established the “flood the streets with mixtapes before your album drops” strategy of self-promotion that Gucci, Weezy, and even Drake would follow in the days before Soundcloud was the go-to resource for building a rep. He singlehandedly destroyed a rival’s career, launched a clothing line, video game, and music label, and made a halfway-decent biopic. And then... he just sort of petered out. 

But! 50 is also responsible for some of my all-time favorite raps, which is why it’s so frustrating to me that he never lived up to the buzz surrounding him back in 2003. These are my five favorites, listed chronologically, with some commentary:

1) “Ghetto Qu’ran (Forgive Me)” (2000) Before the G-Unit days and before Eminem and Dre helped launch him to superstardom, Curtis Jackson was an up and coming rapper from Queens who had attracted the attention of another rap legend, Run-DMC’s Jam Master Jay. A mutual friend introduced 19 year-old 50 to Jay back in 1996, and the veteran producer/DJ gave him a crash course in how to write songs and signed him to his fledgling label. The business relationship didn’t work out, but it helped lead 50 to Columbia Records’ Trackmasters imprint where he recorded Power of the Dollar in 1999. However, this debut album would never see the light of day after 50 was shot nine times while sitting in a friend’s car and subsequently dropped by Columbia. In the wake of the shooting--and then later, after 50 blew the fuck up in 2003--it became a sort of “lost cult classic” among rap fans. “How To Rob” got the most attention at the time, a funny-yet-vicious song demonstrating 50′s hunger through fantasies about sticking up famous rappers and R&B stars (the song was also clearly an homage to Biggie’s unreleased “Dreams,” and provoked an oblique diss from Ghostface). But “Ghetto Qu’ran” has had a more lasting impact, primarily because of how it was rumored to be the source of 50′s shooting, Jam Master Jay’s murder, and the Ja Rule/Murder Inc. beef. While all of that intrigue is important to rap lore, it distracts from the fact that it’s a near perfect rap song from a technical perspective: a catchy hook, a fantastic beat and sample, an effortless flow, and a well-crafted story that is equal parts celebration of the Queens underworld and subtle shots at street legends. Seriously, this is akin to what traveling bards used to do in medieval Europe, what poets in Ancient Greece wrote, what west African griots did/do, and what narcocorrido artists do now. If you want to learn about the Supreme Team, Pappy Mason, the Corley Family, and the Rich Porter/Alpo crew in Harlem, then this is a good place to start; as 50 puts it, “consider this the first chapter of the ghetto’s Qu’ran.” The secondary title to this track--“Forgive Me”--has a double meaning now. It was initially a plea to forgive 50 for the pain he caused in his criminal life but in retrospect an appeal to the figures whose names he drops. Also, it’s interesting to listen to this first and then compare 50′s voice with the next four tracks: this was recorded before the shooting, which left a bullet fragment lodged in his tongue that affected his speech and gave him his now-distinctive flow.    

2) “Heat” (2003) There are several standouts on Get Rich or Die Tryin’ (“Many Men,” “Back Down,” “What Up Gangsta,” “Patiently Waiting,” and “Poor Lil’ Rich” spring to mind, and I will always love “21 Questions” for the “I love you like a fat kid loves cake” line alone) but this one has always been my fave. It’s a perfect distillation of the image that 50 was trying to project when he burst onto the scene: a hood-hardened gangster who wouldn’t hesitate to do his enemies harm. And given his recent history, you could believe him, too! There’s really nothing about this song that should be praised in any way, but I’ve been thinking about the gravity of the following line a lot in the past month or so: “The summertime is a killing season/ It’s hot out this bitch, that’s a good enough reason.” Also, 50′s boast “the DA can play this motherfucking tape in court” *has* to be one of the inspirations behind this great Key & Peele sketch, right? 

3) “A Baltimore Love Thing” (2005) The Massacre was incredibly disappointing on the whole. I can remember clearly sitting around with my friends in a dorm room at the Shoreland listening to it all the way through the day that it dropped, wanting to love it but slowly realizing that it wasn’t going to live up to our expectations. “Ski Mask Way” could be an honorable mention on this list, and “Piggy Bank” is kind of funny, but otherwise it’s a steaming pile of shit. “Baltimore Love Thing,” though, is a masterpiece. It’s incredibly dark, rapped from the perspective of heroin itself (sort of like what Nas’s “I Gave You Power” does for guns) in order to detail the destruction that addiction--and, by extension, drug trafficking--leaves in its wake. Even more fucked up, 50-as-heroin voices an abusive partner addressing a woman, threatening her should she ever try to leave him. For my money, “You broke my heart, you dirty bitch, I won’t forget what you did/ If you give birth, I’ll already be in love with your kids” is one of the coldest lines in the annals of rap, full stop. In the second verse, he switches to the flip side of an abuser’s mindset: “I never steer you wrong, if you hyper I make you calm/ I’ll be your incentive, your reason for you to move forward.” All in all, it’s a great concept song that shows off 50′s range as a rapper... and is a testament to what he could have been.

4) “Hustler’s Ambition” (2005) Goddamn, I fucking love everything about this song! The beat is fantastic (great sample, btw), prefiguring the sound on a future great mixtape from the G-Unit crew. 50′s flow here is flawless, arguably the best, smoothest he’s ever been. This was basically the “theme” for 2005′s Get Rich or Die Tryin’ film, and tells the story of his come up in the drug game (or, at least, 50′s version of his carefully constructed hagiography). The lyrics are the true gems here, so I’ll just let a few of the standouts speak for themselves:

“Check my logic: fiends don’t like seeds in they weed, shit/ Send me them seeds, I’ll grow ‘em what they need”

“I sell anything, I’m a hustler, I know how to grind/ Step on grapes, put it in water, and tell you it’s wine”

“I made plans to make it, a prisoner of the state/ Now I can invite your ass out to my estate”

“Pour Cristal in the blender, make a protein shake”

and finally

“The feds watch me, icy, they can’t stop me/ Racists pointing at me, ‘Look at *****race’: Hello!”   

5) “Ghetto Like A Motherfucker” (2011) I remember first encountering this track on a Tumblr compilation (I think?) called Don’t Fuck This Up, Curtis! and allowing myself to get excited that the old 50 was back! As the compilation’s name implies, around that time 50 had been releasing a string of online-only singles that were better than anything he’d put out in five or so years, and so there was some hope that he’d soon be making a triumphant return to the rap game. Sadly, this was not to be. But I still bang this track every month or so. The idea here was that 50 had written something, set it to a very sparse, stripped-down beat, and posted it online as an invitation for DIY rap producers to play with it and layer their own compositions on top of it. In that sense, it represented a melange of rap’s earliest roots--dudes spitting over vinyl cuts in basements and parks, just fucking around and having fun--and the possibilities afforded by the digital age and rap’s embrace of online platforms for mixing and remixing material (on a side note, I like to think of this as part of 21st century rap’s “punk rock” aesthetic, and would argue that this genre has done it better than any other). As with “Hustler’s Ambition,” “Baltimore Love Thing,” and “Ghetto Qu’ran,” this track gives 50 a chance to really showcase his talents as a writer and a rapper. The lyrics are as grimy as the beat, painting a picture of urban poverty and pre-fame 50, and 50 switches up his flow at multiple points throughout. Here are some of my favorite lines:

“Slim chance I’ma go back to killing roaches/ Be quiet, you can hear the rats in the wall/ Make you wanna pump crack ‘til you stack racks”

“Dice game, shake ‘em up, praying’ for a 6/ The wolves out there hungry, they lookin’ for a lick”

“****** pissed on the staircase, in the elevator/ Now I’m pissed cuz I’m starting to smell like piss, player”

and

“All a ***** need is a block and a connect/ And a box of 9 MMs to load in the TEC.”

50′s last two studio albums--Before I Self Destruct and Animal Ambition--honestly weren’t half-bad; I would venture so far as to say that they were both better than The Massacre and Curtis. But for 50 it was too little, too late, really. Too many rappers had come along since then doing what he did, only better and fresher. This is a Migos world now; we’re just living in it. And so, I’m left to ponder what could have been. 

[roll-for-dexterity]

D&D Story: Pastel’s Throne- Rise of Pastel

27 years ago... Grandivel, Mimore Spire, entrance to Dunmei Village.

The long trip under the mid-day sun was painful for the Drow. She had not long come to the surface for the first time, and her red eyes screamed at her when she looked to the outside world. Only her harp kept her company among the other souls traveling in the caravan as well. Alright, she’d been lying if she actually like these people, or if they liked her. But so long as they kept their hands off her belongings, and gaze never including her, she couldn’t care less. Her house sent her to this surface village to appease their god. Was a shame she had to suffer it, but as the youngest of the family it wasn’t arguable. When the caravan stopped at it’s destination she hopped out before anyone else did, bag of what few belongings she had and headed into town. To find the tavern was to find the man who agreed to give her sanctuary. ‘Hopefully the man still has a little consideration...’

- Dunmei Village, Silver Song Tavern.

Entering the building greeted her with the villages signature sight, villagers and warriors of various species and subraces mixed and mingling like a fresh salad. Lolth she was hungry... But she had to find the village leader, and set her lack of being a threat first.

‘There he is, finally! And he’s a surface Elf... shit...’ Walking up to him, she could feel weapons being readied. “Excuse me, but, could you be Gelrei?” “Indeed I am, From being the only Drow to ever come here so calmly, you must be Meiuna.” The Wood Elf smiled gently. “Straight from the Underdark.” The Drow shrugged, taking a seat at his gesture. “So, given the trip must have been tiring, I’ll get to the point for you. We do have a vacant house on the edge of the village, and rules have been established about treading there unwelcome. So grudging fighters coming to your door should be a smaller worry than before.”

The girl sighed in relief. She had a right to be glad that this surface Elf was so kind. She knew anyone would easily turned her away and thus doom her house, but this one was different. ‘Yeah, he was alright.’

“I’m grateful, thank you.” “Oh, it’s alright. I’m only doing as my great-grand father pledged before, to make a place where all is accepted, no matter of who or what you are. Now, I’m sure you’ll be needing a career to fulfill your time here, so what would you say your proficient in?” Gelrei smiled, asking another important question. “I am trained in the skill’s of a bard, preferably with a harp.” “A harp? None of our bards play one. To many guitars, accordions, and flutes you know?” Gelrei joked, showing her respect over the graceful instrument.

After being told a few more wise words, and bits of info, Meiuna headed off to the house Gelrei had left for her. ‘Heh, not a bad guy. Most tolerable of Elves I’ve met.’ The house wasn’t much, but was quite what she expected. A old, fairly worn home that had been empty for a time, waiting for a new owner. Opening her door with a creak and getting a look about the room she determined the work ahead of her. ‘They haven’t dusted, guess keeping out mice, and trouble some folk was their main concern. Could have oiled the door at least...’ Closing the door and setting her bag on the dining table she picked up a note next to a pair of keys.

‘Hey Meiuna, I know we may have spoke already but here’s the key and it’s spare. The place is all yours. Do us all a favor, and make it a proper home. Best wishes, -Gelrei’

“Thanks, I’ll try.” The Drow said to the empty air as if the Elf really was there. Putting the keys on the master bedroom dresser, and the rest of her things away Meiuna prepped for bed. The minute her body hit the mattress she felt uneasy. Of course it sets in. Of course it rushes back like a frightened child to their mother. She rolled onto her side, staring at the wall as she wished she could just fall asleep. Drow in her situation shouldn’t be homesick.

- The days that followed were awkward in the least, but Meiuna found a place in the village. The gears began to fit and smoothly turn as she worked at the tavern as a musician, and the villagers began to see she wasn’t a threat. Maybe she would succeed in her task yet. One day however...

The air one day was polluted with the calls of the guardsmen, breaking her musical work. Tavern patrons looked about to the entrance and windows, but none bothered getting up. Meiuna continues to play, a small slowing of their song, but never stopping. A hour at least passed, it was a hour right? She couldn’t recall, but after some time a newcomer entered the tavern. Her brows arched in confusion as she noted the winged human’s presence. Aasimar wouldn’t stoop this low, not without reason or not having a stuck up persona.  The man was a decent size, clothed in attire that was typical style of his kind, and his short hair was a stunning gold. His green eyes bore a seriousness that signaled his raised guard, as would any stranger in a unknown place. He seemed like a survivalist of sorts. What caught Meiuna the most aside from him simply being here was that he had two pale gold scarves around his neck and waist, and his right wing was black as night. Rather dainty and peculiar for particular reasons of their own, but she kept in mind a rule she long learned as a child: She knew nothing about this man. And despite getting friendly with the villagers and warriors already here, she didn’t plan on chatting this one up. The Drow wasn’t the only one who kept eyes on the newcomer as he spoke with the barkeeper. To her surprise a Tiefling and Dragonborn warrior approached her. I hope we don’t have a problem here...

“Bard, have you seen the troupe outside?” The Tiefling asked her. “No, why’d you ask?” These two seemed as a bold, noble, yet friendly duo. From their question she determined they came from whatever ruckus happened outside, and being the newest to move in she may have known these folk. Sad mistake yes, but if grasping for understanding you’ll ask everyone you can.

“We just came from assisting a whole group of them. He has quite a few friends. They are seeking temporary refuge for a few days.” The Dragonborn pipes up, stroking his scaled beard. “A unusual bunch, but they mean no harm thus far.”

Troupes of mixed matched races were this places specialty, so this isn’t a uncommon thing. “Just take a peak out the nearest window, you’ll see what we mean.” The Tiefling suggested.

The Drow did as suggested, and they didn’t lie. There she counted eight, no- nine. The ninth person was being carried by a blue Dragonborn, wrapped in a white silken cloth like a cocoon. Perhaps they were injured? Dead probably, but they would have said something then. The more she looked at the odd newcomers she felt strange inside herself. “It doesn’t concern me, not gonna be getting to know them anytime soon, so that’s that.” Meiuna summed up, turning to the guardsmen. “Indeed it isn’t. But it’s a spectacle to get new visitors like this.” “Can’t disagree with that.” The Drow agreed, going back to her chair and strummed up her harp once more, playing until her work was done and she could go home while ignoring the Aasimar from the group the whole time. But a odd feeling hung on her shoulders, and she couldn’t shake it. She refused to tell anyone she felt like that. Last thing she needed was to strike up a negative reputation so soon.

Nightfall came as always, Meiuna eating her small bit of a meal and going to her chamber for the night. The feeling still hung there, staring her in the face. Lolth she hated this feeling, that same feeling from when- NO! ...I, I don’t want to remember that... Sleep eventually came agonizingly slow with the thoughts of possibility still swirling.

- Meiuna woke to the sound of a commotion in town. She hated having to sit and putter with the thought any longer. Getting out of bed and getting dressed she headed out to see the troubles ahead. Stepping into the main area of the village granted the sound of shouting and panic. The bard almost took another step before she was pulled behind a overturned wagon. The one who held onto her was a red Dragonborn maiden, the store clerk she believed, hiding with a Eladrin mother and her two children. “Are you alright?” “Confused as hell. What’s going on Vavre?” Meiuna sighed, looking the woman in the eye. “The newcomers from yesterday, they started acting weird and breaking things. The guards were saying that they’ve even hurt some people. They were shouting about a someone named, Pastel, and things have been going downhill since.” The Dragonborn explained best she could. Peering over the wagon she saw what they meant in the area before the tavern. The Aasimar was standing next to a pinkish red Tiefling as she demonstrated their message, destroying a few buildings and nearly fatally injuring other villagers. “What being would want to inflict on us to such hellish acts?” The Eladrin woman pondered, clutching her children tightly. “No-” Meiuna began, looking over the overturned wagon. “Hell decided to come here, and it’s here to stay.”

[fluorescentrage]

Nappily Ever After: The Importance of this Film

First and foremost the writers come out the gate swinging when Violet, played by Sanaa Lathan, explains an upbringing that includes respectability politics. As the movie begins with a flashback to the character’s childhood, Violet describes the different levels of pressure felt by white and black children.

“Like most black mothers, mine was consumed by the presentation of her child.

I was a reflection of her as a mother.

It was an ever source of anxiety to prove that I was just as well groomed as any white child.

They would play, hair uncombed, no shoes, traces of everything they’d eaten smeared on their faces, completely happy and oblivious to any possible defects to their appearance.

I on the other hand, had to be fixed”

But for an 11 year old, perfection was no fun”

Not only are we reflections of our parents abilities to properly rear children but because we are also black, we are reflections of our race and as such must be tamed. Even as children, we aren’t allowed to be as free as our white counterparts.

As we flash forward to violet as an adult we get our first example of how women jump through hoops to maintain their appearance. This is depicted in Violet’s straight long hair. Violet is getting her hair straightened by her mother in the wee hours of the morning, she ducks and dodges her boyfriends attempts to run his finger through her freshly styled hair, and subsequently dodges the steam from the dishwasher. Violet continues to maintain the constant mental preoccupation with her hair as she constantly checks the weather.

“Are you sure that’s not a rain cloud?”

All of these actions are testaments to the extra effort black women (ESPECIALLY black natural women with freshly straightened hair) must maintain to keep their hairstyle intact.

An accident, or more so evil genius plan by a child at the beauty shop, leads Violet on a journey of self discovery when conditioner that's been switched to relaxer causes her hair to fall out. It’s here that the audience is introduced to two characters who are very important to Violet’s development throughout the rest of the film. Zoe, played by Daria Johns, and her father, Will, played by Lyriq Bent.

Next, Violet expecting a proposal from Clint, her boyfriend of two years, is let down when she instead receives a dog for her birthday rather than a ring. At the dinner we see the cliche, “beauty is pain” depicted by the heels Violet is wearing that are cutting into her skin. The heels are a subtle symbol that is very important to the overall theme of the film.

It's still all downhill for Violet as she breaks up with Clint after the dinner. Again the theme of perfection is used as Violet realizes that although she’s seen as perfect by her boyfriend, her inability to let her hair ultimately ends up being detrimental to her relationship.

The idea of perfection really begins to haunt Violet as she, working in advertising, attempts to acquire an ad campaign for lipstick. When the woman in the ad is referred to as “perfect’ by her boss, Violet is opposed to this term, calling it unfair and believing that her boss “isn’t really seeing her.” Undoubtedly seeing herself as tied to the woman in the ad, its important to note that after this scene Violet no longer wants to do beauty ads.

Is it that the film creators are trying to portray that beauty ads reduce women to just their bodies or physical features? Are they taking aim at the false sense of physical perfection, unrealistic beauty standards, and unfair pressure placed on women by beauty ads?

After yet another hair change, a night out partying with friends, an unsuccessful hookup attempt, and a run in with Clint comes arguably the greatest scene in the movie.

THE CUT SCENE!!

This scene is of course extremely important to the story line but even more so to Sanaa Lathan and testimony to her acting abilities. Sanaa is cutting her REAL HAIR! First, let's talk about a one-shot take. No do overs! Second, Sanaa is experiencing this while having to experience this as Violet. WOW! MIND BLOWN!

This scene is just simply magnificent! 

As a woman who’s also done the big chop, I felt as if Sanaa conveyed exactly how it could feel for anyone. Scary, fun, liberating, life-changing, dangerous..

Even down to the song choice this scene was PERFECT!

Another theme that Violet is able to produce for the audience is the importance of confidence. With each hair change we see a change in Violet’s level of confidence, from her own hair, to her weave, and most notably her big chop, Violet loses more and more confidence with each subsequent hair change. The film makers use Violet’s workplace in all three occasions to convey this to the audience.

It has been argued that the movie basically claimed that cutting off all your hair resolves all of your life problems. A deeper look at the film however negates this claim when we realize that Violet’s life doesn’t begin to piece back together until her encounter at the Cancer Survivor meeting.

Wearing a scarf to cover her new cut, Violet is mistaken by a cancer survivor as a fellow survivor and upon meeting her, invites an unsuspecting Violet to her group meeting. When Violet uncovers her head at the meeting she is told that unless she “owns it” she’ll always be ignored.

The movie then, is more so saying that confidence, no matter how one chooses to carry themselves or express themselves through hair and other physical appearance features is the basis for finding oneself and solving life’s problems rather than the claim that a change in hairstyle alone is the quick fix.

As stated previously, the Will and Zoe characters are both important to Violet’s development and the overall theme of the film. As Violet begins to develop a relationship with Zoe, a child troubled by the absence of her mother, she also begins a romantic relationship with Zoe’s father, Will.

The hair discussion that takes place between Violet and Will is extremely noteworthy.

“What we make up 12% of the population right? But we by 70% of all wigs and weaves. What does that say” - Will

“...we hate our hair?” - Violet

Do you agree or disagree? Do these statistics tell the whole story?

Will’s character also expresses the importance of nurturing our children as they deal with combating a society who’s beauty norms are antithesis to our very being.

“I tell her everyday she’s beautiful you know? but I’m battling TV, commercials, magazines telling her that long straight hair is what makes you beautiful.”

Will is adamant about teaching his daughter to love herself and to be comfortable with who she is. 

Less related to Violet’s characterization, Will is also important because his character takes aim at stereotypical gender norms and conceptions of masculinity. Will is a hairstylist who owns his own salon, has a house full of plants, doesn’t use physical punishment with his child, and makes hair products. The character also targets the negative stereotype of black men’s absence from the family and the lives of their children in particular as Will is a full time single father.

Will is important to Violet’s development as we see her go through several transitions once he comes into her life. First there is the battle between living up to our parent’s expectations versus being true to ourselves as Violet defends her date with Will to her mother, Pauletta.Violet even changes her food order on the date from a salad to a matching burger and fries, She’s beginning to “let her hair down.”There’s even significance to the scalp massage Will gives Violet on the date when compared to the ducking and dodging we previously saw between Violet and Clint. 

With all these changes Violet even ventures to quit her job. After pitching an ad for a beer commercial in an attempt to add something new to a heavily sexist commercial history, Violet’s boss chooses an ad that remains dedicated to the same norms. Violet comes to the conclusion that with the new changes of her perspective she can no longer hold down her same spot in the workplace.

After the return of Clint and a marriage proposal, which Violet accepts, Clint becomes one of the final pieces in Violet’s evolution. Just before a pre-wedding party where Violet is to meet Clint’s parents he asks her to change, to “do something with her hair” because he needs the evening to be perfect. Here Violet begins to have to choose between who she’s always been, “Mrs. Perfect” and who she’s becoming. Its important to notice that as Violet attempts to fit back into her old mold her mother is back doing her hair, the painful heels are back as well. She realizes for the last time that she can’t live up to these expectations and that she shouldn’t have to.

She’s stuck. No longer able to bear another moment in the uncomfortable heels, but more so the uncomfortable mold of other people’s expectations, Violet decides to go for a swim. She no longer wants to be the girl the guy wants, she wants to be the girl she wants. The girl who gets to jump in the pool, be oblivious to how others perceive her, and be free. The girl she didn’t get the opportunity to be at eleven. This is largely the significance of the Zoe character. Zoe is the exact opposite of Violet at that age. A young girl who dares to be herself and who’s been raised to be a free, fun-loving courageous child. Zoe is a big inspiration to Violet.

The film makes one last important attempt to convey its message when Violet attempts to sell Will’s hair products to a major company for mass production. She talks bout the importance of inclusion by having products for all hair types both natural and relaxed. The best part about this scene is that Violet doesn’t attempt to identify a right or wrong. That its free will that allows us to choose how we want to look as we attempt to navigate our world.

Lastly, the movie ends with Violet walking away by herself smiling. At first I instinctively wondered whether her and Will ended up back together just to come to the realization that this is an even better ending, For once, it’s not about the girl ending up with the guy. This was a big reminder of the movies purpose, finding oneself and coming to love who it is we find.

[pessimisticpleasure]

I was rooting for you All Stars 3! We were all rooting for you!

All Stars 3 done fucked up drag (again).

I said last year that the formula of contestants eliminating each other simply doesn’t work on Drag Race. Unless you go full on Survivor with reality TV wherein it is established from the beginning that likeable people cannot win on personality alone and manipulation and strategic alliances are what are rewarded in the game you cannot suddenly switch. Drag Race for the most part is a show which rewards hard work, charm, and track record and the reason the fans detest the queens eliminating other queens formula is because after a number of seasons where that was consistent suddenly it isn’t anymore. I’m all for a change but a shows basic premise and rules should show consistency and after the shambles that was the eliminations last year it’s baffling that they would try to stick to it instead of holding their hands up and saying ‘fine, that didn’t work, we hear you’. Once again, a year later, this stupid idea has ruined yet another season.

I’m actually not mad that Trixie won because while I’m not a big fan of hers I definitely saw a fight in her (*cough*which Alaska didn’t have*cough*) and clearly since her season her confidence has skyrocketed. What pisses me off is that Shangela deserved to come second AT LEAST - despite her already prevalent career she works hard, she is incredibly likeable, and she had an excellent record - which by the way is what everyone harped on that they were judging by all season. I really don’t blame Kennedy before anyone comes for me, I view her almost like Roxxxy last season in that it’s not her fault she was there and of course she was going to fight for her place.

The thing that irritates me most is that Rupaul was visibly shocked by their decision indicating that is not what would have happened if he was judging but it’s his fucking show! Surely, theoretically, Rupaul could intervene and say ‘sorry, you’ve negated your decision making powers by making a dumb decision’. In the end, it is Rupaul and the producers of the show who this ‘twist’ is reflecting badly on and Rupaul should be careful because a reality show about drag is a very niche market and if you turn the fans who have been loyal for years off with what they view as consistently poor decisions, it is Rupaul’s career which could take a hit, not the contestants.

I’d like to really stress that I do not blame the queens for voting who they did - it’s a difficult decision to put on people who are understandably bitter that it isn’t them or just wanted to be a contestant not to decide the fates of others and they don’t deserve hate for doing what they were told to do. It’s a bad formula which should have been tanked after it was badly recieved in the last All Stars not taken to an even more polarising extreme.

The decision I’m arguably more annoyed about than the finale was Aja. When she was announced as a contestant, I raised my eyebrows because she had, to my mind, not been away enough time to blossom into what she needed to be. I had her pegged as either a first or second week elimination. Holy fuck, was I wrong, because Aja blew me away, mostly with what felt like a great attitude and really funny confessional pieces (even if she was dressed like a toddler sorry not sorry). When she was first eliminated I kind of understood (although personally I hated Bebe’s outfit and thought she should have been in the bottom but whatever) but it was her not being brought back after slaying the girl band challenge which really annoyed me because she did better than that weeks top two and she would have been a great addition to the final weeks. Surely allowing the girls to bring someone back is even more ridiculous than allowing them to eliminate each other because they’ll either do what DeLa did and bring someone back simply because they feel guilty or they’d bring back someone who they saw as weak competition so they can beat them quickly.

Honestly, even without the elimination drama, this season felt really lacklustre. From when they announced the queens I wasn’t excited by the lineup and without naming names there were a couple I really disliked in the bunch (but they were eliminated second and third so who cares). Also importantly, we just had an All Stars. Time needs to be longer between them so you can ensure the best people get on it and this really felt like the people they would have called if the ones from last year hadn’t been able to make it and that showed in the quality (the politics of why they needed to do another one because of the network has been explained to me but I still think it’s stupid). I think a good way to judge a season can be by the Snatch Game and I can’t remember who anyone played (apart from Trixie, eesh). I also can’t remember any runways, or lip sync songs, or being blown away by anyone in a challenge. Drag Race tends to have the good moments stick out but this season looking back I can only see the bad which really speaks to the overall mediocre quality.

I was also really confused by Bebe’s presence on the show. In theory, having the winner of the ‘lost season’ should have been great and made the other queens kind of step up to meet her level but Bebe to my mind kind of coasted through on being glamorous and not as bad in challenges as other people and somehow achieved a really good track record despite seeming kind of like a filler. I think the fact that she hadn’t watched Drag Race since leaving was a huge disadvantage to her because she was clearly unfamiliar with what the show had grown into and what the fans might want to see from her and I really don’t think she’s succeeded with endearing herself to a whole new generation of fans. I love that people thought she was a mole the whole way through (as if they have the foresight to spearhead a conspiracy like that) and then were just like ‘oh no she was just a bit shit’.

Lastly I feel the need to address DeLa. Her self-elimination was probably the moment of the season I was the most shocked by - and disappointed. She didn’t actually leave a huge impression on me in season 6 mostly because that was such a high quality group that individual merits were sometimes lost (I regularly forget that she won the first challenge that season) but I do remember Maggie Smith (best All Stars performance ever, fight me) and also that Darienne should have gone home before her. However I really liked her this season although I will say occasionally she was in the top to my mind without deserving to be there - the week she self-eliminated I thought she was good but not great and her place really should have been Trixie’s. Would she have won if she stayed? With the judging panel and the fact that track record seemed to matter a lot less than it usually does, who knows, maybe the next season of Buzzfeed Unsolved can investigate for us. Does it negate the winner because she could have - no because it seems on the stupid side of saintly. Does it kind of taint the season that the frontrunner bowed out without finishing? Definitely yes.

All Stars badly needs a break now and attention should be focused back onto the original show to ensure that is of high quality and produces some new stars who could theoretically be on an All Stars in the future. I’ve really enjoyed the past two seasons of the show because a) compared to season seven anything is good and b) because both shocked me with their fourth place queens. Chi Chi and Trinity were amazing and the areas which both of them excelled in shocked me and that sort of outsider snatching the competition is something that All Stars will never be able to deliver because we know the queens so I’m hoping to see that again in season 10 starting next week. I also find it a lot more exciting to get the know fresh queens and see what they can give because they are the ones trying to build a solid fanbase and a really great, worldwide career for themselves whereas All Stars for the most part have that already and it’s about just getting more.

I swear if I’m here next year talking about this again it may actually kill me...

[aion-rsa]

A Tale of Two Pietros: Explaining the MCU X-Men Problem With a Mutant Speedster

https://ift.tt/3jFtUYS

This article contains WandaVision spoilers.

Since his creation by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee in the mid-60s, Quicksilver has been a fairly important part of the Marvel Universe. The mutant speedster started as a member of Magneto’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, then became one of the earliest members of the Avengers. Over the decades, he’s married into the Inhumans, joined various X-teams, been a mentor to the Avengers Academy, and had his parentage retconned several times over.

He’s never been the most popular character in the Marvel Universe, but due to some legal complications, he became the focal point between two rival movie studios. It’s those complications that make his appearance in the fifth episode of WandaVision such a huge deal.

But let’s get to where this all started. As hard as it may be to believe now, b ack in the ‘90s, Marvel Comics was on the verge of bankruptcy. One way to get some money together was to sell the movie rights of its various characters to whatever studio was willing to pay. After all, shared cinematic universes weren’t really a thing back then.

Not every movie got made, of course. There were instances of studios sitting on rights and not doing anything for so long that they had to give them up. For instance, New Line Cinema had the rights to make a Venom movie, albeit one where they couldn’t reference Spider-Man directly in any way. Such an idea was worth a laugh in the ‘90s, but Sony actually pulled it off 20 years later, so go figure.

Studios would only have so much time to make a movie before the rights would revert to Marvel. By the time Marvel decided to get into the movie making business themselves and kick off the MCU concept, the field had settled. Sony had the Spider-Man franchise and had just finished Sam Raimi’s initial trilogy, preparing for a fourth movie that didn’t work out and would ultimately be replaced by a reboot. Universal had a complicated hold on the Hulk that lent itself to a unique partnership with Marvel. Fox was able to make the X-Men a successful franchise, but had less success with two attempts at the Fantastic Four franchise.

Essentially, the entire Marvel Universe had to be categorized into different properties. A lot of these were pretty easy. Doc Ock? He was clearly part of Spider-Man’s corner and could only be used in Spider-Man movies. Dr. Doom gets around as a villain in the comics and fights just about everyone, but at the end of the day, he’s grouped in with the Fantastic Four and could only be handled by Fox. But it wasn’t as simple for other characters.

One major complication was what to do with Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch. Which corner of Marvel did they truly belong to? They were technically under the X-Men umbrella as the mutant children of Magneto. Quicksilver himself was a major member of X-Factor. 

On the other hand, the two were also huge staples of the Avengers. They were Avengers longer than the likes of Hulk and Black Widow. Scarlet Witch was even the centerpiece in one of the most important Avengers storylines of the early 21st century.

20th Century Fox and Marvel Studios finally came up with an agreement. Both sides had the rights to the Maximoff twins, but the Avengers movies couldn’t describe the two as mutants or mention Magneto and the X-Men movies couldn’t bring up the Avengers or, uh… Yeah, this was pretty much on Marvel’s side to be creative.

Around the same time, each studio cast their Quicksilvers. Marvel had Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Fox had Evan Peters. Marvel cast Elizabeth Olsen as Scarlet Witch while Fox declined to actually use the character, likely due to how hard to write her powers could be at times. The most they did was include an unnamed little sister for Quicksilver, but director Bryan Singer insisted she wasn’t Wanda.

LAP 1 – CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER

Fittingly, with each studio having their own speedster, there was a race to be the first to get their Quicksilver on the big screen. It was really Fox’s race to lose, considering X-Men: Days of Future Past was the seventh X-Men movie and the most the character has ever gotten beforehand was an Easter egg namedrop on a computer monitor in X-Men 2. At least Days of Future Past was going to be released nearly a full year before Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Marvel still won the race, though. Weeks before the release of Days of Future Past, Captain America: The Winter Soldier hit theaters with a post-credits scene that revealed Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Quicksilver and Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff to the world. And while they were indeed showing off their powers in those brief moments, it wasn’t because they were mutants, but rather had been altered by Baron Strucker and HYDRA using Loki’s scepter from Avengers.

LAP 2 – X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST

Fox got their chance later that year with X-Men: Days of Future Past. Overall, Evan Peters’ Quicksilver didn’t get too much screen time, but he was definitely considered a highlight by fans. 

Referred to as Peter Maximoff in this continuity, the speedster is a little more laid back than other characters in the X-Men series. Not only does his power give him a feeling of casual superiority over others, but the unbelievability of it all makes him feel almost untouchable. His high-speed crimes would come off as more of a myth that nobody with authority would logically believe. He’s recruited by Xavier, Wolverine, and Beast to break Magneto out of the Pentagon, which he does for the sake of the challenge.

It’s there that he shows his stuff in a slow-motion segment set to Jim Croce’s “Time in a Bottle,” displaying seemingly endless charisma as he protects his allies from armed prison guards and spends his perpetual head start straight-up fucking with their would-be killers. It’s a fun moment in a film about dystopian genocide and Peters makes Quicksilver really likeable.

He doesn’t really get to do too much otherwise, though he does make a remark to Magneto hinting that the Master of Magnetism is his father, but that’s as far as it ever went.

LAP 3 – AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON

2015 gave us Avengers: Age of Ultron, which opened with the Avengers crushing the remnants of HYDRA while Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch got away. Still, Quicksilver was able to scrap with the Avengers and start up a rivalry with Hawkeye while Scarlet Witch could screw with Iron Man’s mind and increase his paranoia to dangerous levels.

In the comics, Quicksilver has been best defined in an issue of X-Factor where he described his demeanor by comparing himself to someone stuck in line at the ATM, having to wait behind an idiot who doesn’t know what they’re doing and keeps taking forever. That’s his every waking moment and Taylor-Johnson certainly tapped into that with his performance.

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In terms of action, Taylor-Johnson’s Quicksilver wasn’t quite as fun as Peters’, but he had his moments. The closest thing he really had to the slow-mo rescue scenes was a short sequence that had him punch Captain America and foolishly attempt to pull Mjolnir out of the air. There was a feeling of playfulness underneath the character’s resentment at times, but he wasn’t quite the goofball of Peters’ version.

He also didn’t come off as ridiculously fast as the X-Men Quicksilver, even though that was probably for the better. Sometimes a speedster can be impossible to write for and believe in. Taylor-Johnson’s version was still impressively quick and a danger to any enemy, but he didn’t come off as unbeatable.

Unfortunately for this version of Quicksilver, his relationship with Scarlet Witch was arguably his undoing. The Quicksilver of the X-Men films wasn’t held down by his siblings and got to stand on his own, but MCU Quicksilver was treated as an extension of Wanda and her story. That made him expendable by the time the movie was ready to wrap up.

The Maximoff twins went from being Ultron’s lackies battling against the Avengers to betraying Ultron and joining the good guys. In the end, Quicksilver sacrificed himself to save Hawkeye, and despite his gift for speed, it was a believable death, and felt far weightier than the way such character exits had been approached in the past. 

As far as the MCU was concerned, Pietro Maximoff’s story was over. Wanda, however, had a new life waiting for her as an Avenger.

LAP 4 – X-MEN: APOCALYPSE

In the X-Men universe, Quicksilver showed up again in 2016’s X-Men: Apocalypse. It took place about a decade after Days of Future Past, reminding us that Peters’ Quicksilver is like thirty years older than Taylor-Johnson’s Quicksilver. Ah, these X-Men movies and their screwy timeline.

Quicksilver’s arc in this film ultimately showed the innate problems of the later X-Men movies. When Magneto joined the mad mutant Apocalypse as one of his Four Horsemen, Peter Maximoff finally realized that Magneto was his father and tried to find him. This led to another fantastic slow-motion scene where he single handedly evacuated the X-Men’s school during an explosion to the song “Sweet Dreams” by the Eurythmics.

But Quicksilver’s larger arc in the movie remained unsatisfying, and he and Magneto never came to terms with the question of their relationship. Peter may have survived the final battle with Apocalypse, but he also was ignored in what should have been his big moment. Magneto and Quicksilver’s relationship was a card only Fox could have played and they fumbled it. It remains a missed opportunity for both characters.

Funny enough, around this time, Marvel Comics was going the opposite direction and placed a narrative wedge between the characters when Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver discovered that Magneto wasn’t actually their father after all. Though at the same time, it came across that Scarlet Witch may have altered reality to make that true. Regardless, it looked like Marvel was trying to go out of their way to sever Magneto from the twins’ existence.

FINAL LAP – DARK PHOENIX

Outside of a hilarious cameo in Deadpool 2, the Fox version of Quicksilver next appeared in 2019’s Dark Phoenix, the final film in the main X-Men franchise. Quicksilver only has about two and a half minutes of screentime. Halfway into the movie, he makes a slow-motion run at Jean Grey, loses his footing, tumbles, and is forgotten about for the rest of the picture. And his connection to Magneto? Never even mentioned.

Back in the MCU, Pietro remained just a memory, one more trauma stacked upon trauma in the life of Wanda Maximoff. There was already the death of her parents and the horrible experimentation. Soon after, there was the trauma of the innocent blood on her hands, her incarceration, and her role in the death of Vision. It wasn’t until the third episode of WandaVision where Wanda even talked about her long-lost brother.

Wanda could puppet Vision’s android corpse and surround herself with people forced to be friendly to her, but the horrible loss of her brother was something she couldn’t undo. Or it was something she refused to undo. While we still don’t get the reasoning behind what’s going on, the Evan Peters version of Quicksilver popped into Westview, NJ to see his long-lost sister, all while acting like Uncle Jesse from Full House.

We have four episodes to go, but we’re left wondering what this truly means. Will Peters’ Quicksilver outright be a replacement for the disgruntled counterpart who died at Ultron’s hand? Will the joke run its course and he’ll be sent away where he came from? Will this be the big moment that instigates the existence of mutants in the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe, giving credence to the overused internet joke of Wanda demanding, “No, MORE mutants!”?

Whatever it is, it’s a special moment. The Evan Peters Quicksilver not only finally has a super-powered relative who seems to give a damn about him, but as the first link to the X-Men in the MCU (big or small, we’ll see), he finally gets the spotlight he deserves.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Now let’s see how long until Deadpool finally shows his scarred face.

The post A Tale of Two Pietros: Explaining the MCU X-Men Problem With a Mutant Speedster appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[whiteladyofrohann]

When did you start shipping Jonsa?

Hey anon, only quite recently if I’m being honest. Originally, Iwas against the ship. Obviously they aren’t actually brother and sister butthey were raised as siblings and so I didn’t like it. Then I watched season 6and fell in love with the ship. There are obviously so many obstacles, but Kitand Sophie had absolutely amazing chemistry that the obstacles didn’t bother meanymore and now all I want is Jon to marry Sansa and them to have childrennamed Eddard, Robb, Catelyn and Rickon. After watching season 6, I then re-readall the books, and although Jon and Sansa don’t actually interact, there are alot of things in the books that I immediately went ‘Omg Jonsa’.

S6 was perfect for the two of them. Whether you are a Jonsashipper or not, you have to say that the reunion was perfect. We’ve beenwaiting for a Stark reunion for years now, and so I thought, perhaps there’s adeeper meaning why it’s these two who reunite first. It was a beautiful scenethat made me cry, but it was the following scene that made me get on board theJonsa train. (Rest is under the cut because it’s a long one).

We hadn’t seen Jon or Sansa truly smile for a long time, andthey both were laughing and smiling at each other. It was wonderful to seethese two lost souls connect and light up and agree to fight for their home,for their family. And the scene at the end of episode 4 where Jon and Sansadecide to fight to take Winterfell back is another scene I love. But they’restill kind of awkward around each other. But that is something I love as well.Everyone knows there are many parallels between Jonsa and Ned/Cat. Addawkwardness in the beginning to those parallels. I imagine that the beginningof Ned and Cat’s marriage was very awkward, between Brandon and the woman Nedwouldn’t name, but we know that Ned is just genuinely awkward around women, atrait he passed along to Jon, because Jon’s biological father certainly had noproblem. These are obviously two very different scenarios, but I love that thefirst few Jonsa scenes are kind of awkward and the couple they mirror in somany ways developed from that into arguably the most loving relationship on theshow, and I felt that Jon and Sansa could follow that development.

Cut to episode 5, and we getthe scene where she hands him the cloak. I love this scene. It’s probably oneof the greatest gifts that Jon has ever received, and it comes from Sansa. Jon’senquiry about Sansa’s dress is another lovely choice, since my brother doesn’t carewhat dress I wear. My brother only comments when I have an awful choice inclothing, but Jon here comments that he likes Sansa’s dress, and then returnsto the awkwardness by saying he likes the wolf bit, almost retracting what hesaid before because he’s embarrassed. He then looks shocked when she gives himthe gift, and genuinely didn’t expect it. When she walks off, the small smilehe makes is another of my favourite moments.

There weren’t many Jonsastandout moments in episode 7, but in episode 9, there were plenty. They lookedlike a true power couple when they were side by side racing off against Ramsay.Take this line from the original script ‘Theylook beautiful and majestic, sitting there with Winterfell in the background’. Abeautiful, majestic couple back at their home. This is followed by theirargument scene in the tent, which is mostly fuelled on fear. Jon fears Rickonwill die, Sansa fears Jon will die, and then the argument ends with Sansatelling Jon she will kill herself if he loses. He looks heartbroken at that,and their argument stops dead. After the battle, Jon letting Sansa have thekill is a big moment as well, not necessarily a shipper moment, but it showsagain how compatible the two are.

The next scene we see themboth together is the scene on the balcony and it was another beautiful scene. There’san undeniable tension between the two and this scene demonstrates that. They openup to each other, confide in each other, offer each other the Lord’s Chambers,which they should share, but then we get the forehead kiss. A real tendermoment. And after it, Jon stares into Sansa’s eyes, even looks down at herlips. I don’t know any brother who looks at his sister that way. That was not aplatonic look, Kit Harington needs to learn how to look at his sister becausethat certainly had romantic vibes. Then Sansa makes Jon give the biggest smilein all 6 seasons we’ve seen him in.

Continuing on the smilefront, I’m pretty sure Jon smiles more in S6 around Sansa than he has done inthe rest of the seasons combined. Both of them seem freer and more relaxedaround each other than we’ve ever seen them. There’s also the lingering gazesthat both of them give each other. As I mentioned, platonically we don’t lookat our siblings the way Jon and Sansa looked at each other.

Season 7 comes along andthere is no doubt a power struggle between the two, but they argue almost likea married couple. They have each other’s best interests at heart. In episode 2when Jon is leaving and Sansa speaks out, she isn’t doing this because she istrying to undermind him, she is doing it because she loves him and doesn’t wanthim to meet the same fate as every other Stark in the south. She wants him tobe smarter than Ned and Robb, she doesn’t want him to die. In return, he doesn’twant her to be harmed, he threatens LF, a man he knows does not have her bestinterest at heart. He turns around to wave goodbye to her, rather than justwalking off, and it is emotional, and he’s worried that he’s leaving her, andshe’s worried that he’s going south.

Obviously that was the lastinteraction we’ve seen of them, but that didn’t stop them mentioning eachother. Sansa:

‘I wish Jon were here’ (Episode 3)

‘I hope he comes back soon’ (Episode 4)

‘Jon is our King’ (Episode 5)

Jon longs for home while he’son Dragonstone, he doesn’t like the south. And I love the reactions he makeswhen people talk about Sansa.

I’m sure we will see manyJonsa interactions in the show in S8, though she won’t be happy with him forbending the knee so that could cause problems. The Northmen don’t like theTargaryens, and won’t be happy with Jon. Jon’s claim on the North is very weakas it is, especially with three Starks in Winterfell and Sansa doing very well.If Jon has made an alliance with a Daenerys and then it’s revealed he’s aTargaryen, the Northmen may not want him as a King. What is the best way forhim to retain his status, to marry Sansa. Sansa who has no Targaryen ties, whowas born in Winterfell, who is a Stark. If Jon marries Sansa, it’ll mean hischildren are Ned Stark’s grandchildren, something that will mean a lot to him. Butpolitically in the North, this marriage would make sense.

In the books, there aren’t asmany clear cut Jonsa moments, but there are passages that mirror well and I lovethem:

“Frogfaced Lord Slynt…remembering how he had thrown down her father for Ser Ilyn tobehead, wishing she could hurt him, wishingthat some hero would throw him down and cut off his head.” (Sansa VI, GOT)

“Edd fetch me a block.” (Jon II, ADWD).

Guess who Sansa’s hero whobeheads Janos is? It’s Jon. Next, look at one of Sansa’s heroes from herstories:

“Shecalled for the heroes from her songs, for Florian and Ser Ryam Redwyne and Prince Aemon the Dragonknight, but no oneheard” (Sansa IV, ACOK)

“‘I’m Prince Aemon the Dragonknight’ Jonwould call out, andRobb would shout back, ‘Well I’m Florian the Fool’. Or Robb would say, ‘I’m theYoung Dragon,’ and Jon would reply, ‘I’mSer Ryam Redwyne.” (Jon XII, ASOS)

This is a lovely parallel,and added to the fact that Jon executes Janos, it paints Jon as a hero toSansa, one of the heroes from her songs. Add the fact that I’m sure Jon’s namein the books is Aemon, it is an amazing bit of writing from George

There are other things in thebooks as well, but a favourite line of mine is “I am a bastard too now, just like him. Oh, it would be so sweet to seehim once again”. This is likely to happen in the books and I believe theywill reunite before the other Starks, still probably in TWOW. I just love somesubtle things in the books that scream Jonsa.

This kind of got long, but I justadore the ship and I have high hopes for the books at least, and I so wantJonsa to be endgame, no matter what has happened in the show, until episode 6of season 8, I have hope.

[every-night-that-follows]

41 Weeks and a Year

Characters: Namjoon x reader Genre: Fluff, tiny bit of angst Word count: 3473 Rating: M for language and mentions of sex

4 weeks

Namjoon finds it hard to believe. There’s two little pink lines on a stupid $9.99 stick that you had peed on ten minutes ago that has now officially changed his life forever. You’re watching him hesitantly, biting you lip as his usually acute mind tries desperately to process what this all means.

“Baby?” Namjoon blurts out in a squeak. “Small mini-me?”

You find it hard not to roll your eyes at his reaction. “Yes, Joonie. That’s what happens when two adults have unprotected sex in the broom cupboard at your Album launch party.”

It all clicks into place for him quite suddenly and Namjoon feels an overwhelming sense of accomplishment. He drops to his knees in front of you and lays his cheek again your abdomen, “My god, I’m gonna be a dad!” His beaming smile strikes you right between the eyes. “I can’t wait to tell the boys!”

You push him away with a frown. “Not yet, Joonie. It’s too early. Let’s make sure first, hmm?”

Namjoon pauses mid-text and pouts.

6 weeks

You want to kick yourself. Your words are fucking prophetic. You knew you should’ve kept your fat, unlucky mouth shut but here you were, alone in the emergency department, praying desperately as you felt another sharp cramp radiate through your pelvis.

The triage nurse is walking towards your seat with a sympathetic smile. “Is there anyone I can call for you, miss __?”

Namjoon’s on tour in Japan and you don’t want to upset him. Knowing his temperament, he would agonise over coming home versus staying to lead the boys. You shake your head at the nurse. “No, my mother’s on her way here.”

She nods and leads you into a curtained off cubical. The doctor sees you an hour later and you can barely comprehend what he’s saying as your mother clutches at your hand. He does some blood tests and wheels in an ultrasound machine.

There, in that grainy black and white screen, you see it for the first time. It’s the size of the tip of your pinky finger according to the doctor but there is a definite heartbeat that races like a horses gallop when the Doppler is turned on. The rhythmic beating fills you ears and your heart and you take a recording for Namjoon.

12 weeks

Namjoon can’t hold back the tears.

He knows he’s embarrassing himself in front of the Obstetrician but he can’t help but immediately fall in love with the small, odd creature rolling around on the ultrasound screen in front of him. It’s got four limbs, a massive head and a beautiful heartbeat which Namjoon records on his phone.

He’s holding your hand a little too tight and soaking the sleeve of your blouse but you can’t complain, it was strangely beautiful to watch this usually strong man wear his emotions so glaringly on his sleeve.

“Do you want to know the sex of the baby?” The Obstetrician asks.

“Yes.” Namjoon replies immediately but looks guiltily at you. “If that’s ok with you, honey?”

You nod, not minding in the least if Namjoon has a burning curiosity to know.

“It’s a girl.”

You’re ecstatic and there’s an overwhelming sense of amazement but Namjoon clearly feels it more intensely. He’s sobbing now and doing so in an incredibly ugly fashion. Even the Obstetrician looks concerned.

“We’re going to have a baby girl.”

Namjoon makes the recording of her heartbeat his ringtone.

“Guess we should tell the boys,” you mutter to him as he wipes the ultrasound gel off your belly.

15 weeks

Jungkook is talking to your belly again. He tells your baby girl the most incredibly inane facts about dolphins and ginseng and Justin Bieber. This is arguably the longest conversation you’ve ever heard Jungkook have with anyone.

The boys are all just as equally obsessed with your pregnancy though Yoongi will never admit to it. Jin buys endless amounts of pink clothing and Tae can’t stop shopping for toys though you’re not entirely sure they’re all for the baby. Namjoon talks about his “baby girl” like she’s a miracle of humanity and that no baby has ever been born before.

You draw the line when he starts to speculate about how she’s likely to change the human race as we know it.

Jimin’s actions are the most touching. He’s admiring in the quietest kind of way and hovers in the most inconspicuous moments. He holds your elbow when you walk down stairs and picks the boys’ meals knowing exactly what you can and cannot eat at this time. His pockets are strangely always full ginger lozenges to soothe your morning sickness and a bottle of water is never far from hand. “I can’t wait to be a dad, too.” You overhear him say to Namjoon one day.

Namjoon is currently in the corner of his studio where the boys are all gathered. “Honey, listen to this.”

He’s written a new song and the backing beat is the recording of your daughter���s heartbeat.

“I’m gonna put this on our next album.”

20 weeks

“She’s so big!”

Namjoon’s voice is annoyingly crackly over the video call. The wi-fi in his Thailand hotel room can be a bit temperamental.

You roll you eyes and try to get a look at the ultrasound screen yourself. It’s hard balancing a phone at the right angle for Namjoon since he couldn’t be here but you can understand his need to be a part of this.

“I thought you said it was a girl!” He says suddenly outraged. This shocks you into dropping the phone, craning you neck to see what Namjoon had meant.

The Obstetrician laughs patiently. “That’s the umbilical cord, Mr. Kim. Your girl is still a girl.”

Namjoon’s laugh radiates from somewhere on the floor. “Right. I knew that.”

You hum with happiness. This is the magical halfway mark and though you can’t say for sure yet, you think you feel the small fluttering movements you can see on the screen. Your morning sickness has finally passed and though your ankles swell like balloons after a long day, you feel on top of the world and the pregnancy glow has really kicked it.

“I can’t wait to come home and see her, honey.” Namjoon is emotional again. You can hear it in his voice though he’s trying hard to suppress it. “I miss her already.”

You smile though he can’t see you. “You’re not going to cry at every ultrasound are you, Joonie?”

26 weeks

“That looks good, give me a sip.” Namjoon leans over, sniffing the bottle.

You smack his hand away. “You know you’re not allowed any of this. It’s my glucose tolerance test.”

He whines and pouts adorably. “The doctor won’t know if I have a single sip.”

“But I’ll know.” The pathology nurse laughs as she finishes up with the initial blood test, pressing a bandaid to the crook of your elbow. “There’s a soda machine in the corridor if you want something sweet.”

Namjoon smiles charmingly at her, dimples and all and the pathology nurse looks a little flustered when he walks away with a kiss on your head.

“You’re a lucky girl.” She says to you as she shakes the vial of your blood.

He’s back a moment later, coke can in hand. He shares his audiobook with you and coos when you complain that the sugary drink makes you nauseous. He cradles you like a child when the third blood test makes you extra sore and piggy backs you to the car when you feel a little dizzy at the end of it all.

“I wish I could take some of this for you.” He mutters in the car when he thinks you’ve dozed off on the way home.

31 weeks

You should’ve known better than to read some of the comments online but sometimes curiosity really did kill the cat. Namjoon’s on a cleaning spree of the BTS fancafé and twitter page but even he can’t catch all the malicious things that slip through.

You honestly didn’t think you had gained that much weight but there are several unflattering pictures of you which make cows look like dainty ballerinas by comparison. There’s derision and mocking among his fans and though those comments make you angry, it’s nothing that you hadn’t endured before.

It’s the comments suggesting Namjoon deserved better that really got to you. There’s retweets from a supermodel whom had declared herself an ardent fan and the side by side comparisons were beyond unflattering. There are pictures from the award ceremony he attended last week where he had kindly posed for some selfies with her and they honestly looked like a stunning power couple.

That’s how he found you, curled up in a ball in your bed, trying to hide the tear-swollen eyes in your pillow. He knows instantly what has happened and curls up in bed next to you, drawing you into the cradle of his arms muttering profanities beneath his breath.

“She looks really good with you.” You venture after fifteen minutes of sniffling. “I can’t say I’d blame you if you were attracted to her. I mean, I would be attracted to her too if I were a guy. Why come home to this beached whale when you can have…”

Namjoon hides a smile in your hair, “but you’re my beached whale, carrying my little whale baby…”

You snort and punch him in the ribs, the only space you can find in the tight confines of his arms. “You’re meant to call me a gazelle; you’re meant to tell me that I’m still gorgeous and thin…”

“You’re not a gazelle and you’re certainly not thin but honey, these curves…” his hands stroke over your prominent baby bump and stops to cup you bum, “these curves are something I would kill for.”

The next day you wake to find all the BTS social media accounts suspended. Namjoon refers to this as a time-out for his fans until they can behave like adults.

34 weeks

It’s too early.

Namjoon doesn’t need a medical degree to know this.

He looks at your frightened features in the car next to him and tries his best not to panic but it’s hard when he thinks his baby girl is about to be born too early. He’s a smart man, he’s read not just the basic baby books but also the medical stats about premature birth. He can’t imagine seeing his tiny child being helped to breath by large sterile ventilators and being hooked up to things which feed her when she can’t breastfeed.

He wants to be your calming presence but it’s hard to when his imagination runs riot. All he can do is hold your hand and pray that Yoongi’s aggressive driving skills come to the fore today. You’re crying with the pain of the contractions next to him and when a small whimper escapes your tightly clamped lips, Namjoon feels like he’s been stabbed in the gut. He can’t imagine what you’re feeling right now and can only helplessly drag you into his arms just as Yoongi pulls up to the hospital.

Namjoon’s out of the car in a flash and while Yoongi scrambles around looking for a wheelchair, Namjoon scoops you out of the car and into his arms. He knows the way to the maternity ward like the back of his hand, having secretly drilled himself ever since he heard about how Jimin’s younger brother had been born in the hospital foyer.

His panic must’ve clearly shown on his face as he carries you through the brightly painted double doors of the maternity ward because the two midwives at the desk direct him straight into the nearest birthing room. His hair is stroked and his tears wiped away by a senior looking midwife as a young and entirely too cheerful doctor begins the examination.

He’s speaking but Namjoon can barely hear him through your whimpers of pain. His legs twitch manically up and down and he can’t seem to stop it. He’s alternately numb and panicked until he can hear his baby girl’s heartbeat again and watch the numbers light up the screen of the monitor.

“You’re not dilated, Ms. ___,”says the young doctor with a reassuring smile while he pulled off his gloves, “but we’ll keep you in for a few days of monitoring, if that’s alright with you.”

Namjoon nods frantically.

“Would you like some pain relief?” Namjoon’s head is bobbing desperately.

The morphine makes you sleepy but comfortable and Namjoon is finally relieved enough to leave your room. Yoongi is waiting at the door.

“You look like a bus hit you, dragged you down the road for a few blocks and dumped you in a country ditch.”

Yoongi always did have a way with words but Namjoon acknowledges that he’s cried a lot this pregnancy. More than you have really, if he made the effort to count the occasions.

The rest of the boys arrive twenty minutes later. Hobi has brought enough take-out to feed a small army and the doctors and midwives duck in occasionally to steal a spring roll. You’re too exhausted to eat but you’re keen for Namjoon to re-fuel since he insists on staying with you for the night. They leave an hour later when Jungkook is finished lecturing your baby on how badly behaved she has been tonight.

Namjoon stays throughout your 3 day stay. He cries again when you have another ultrasound just to be safe and beams with absurd amounts of pride when the doctor declares her a very good size for 34 weeks. You want to smack him for that because you’re going to have to push that little monster out through you vagina in a few weeks.

37 weeks

You’re in the emergency department again and you’re sure you recognize the triage nurse. She beams and waves at you even as Namjoon whimpers in pain beside you.

He’s cradling his left arm and his right foot is propped up on Jin’s bouncing leg.

“Will you sit still!” He hisses at Seokjin who only grins and waves at the fans who recognise him from across the waiting room.

“I don’t know how you managed to do this to yourself when you were only putting together the crib. Seriously Joon, you should probably have a doctor check you over while you’re here. This level of clumsiness has got to be some sort of disorder. Maybe there’s medication to fix it.”

You can tell Namjoon doesn’t appreciate the comment but vetoes retorting in favour of whimpering. You reach across him to smack Seokjin but the man has brilliant reflexes after years of dodging Jungkook’s punches.

Namjoon cries when you accidentally bump his arm.

It’s fifty minutes later when he’s had all his x-rays. He’s only got a sprained right ankle but his left shoulder is clearly dislocated. They give him some great drugs to relax him before popping his shoulder back in and Namjoon is talkative and philosophical for the rest of the evening.

You get texts from Jimin throughout this episode. He and Yoongi have finished putting together the crib and you’re secretly glad Namjoon won’t have to do it himself later.

Jin videos the whole of Namjoon’s exposition on the loneliness of palm-trees on deserted islands and puts it on twitter.

It trends worldwide for three days.

41 weeks

Namjoon’s got a new habit these past few weeks.

Since you haven’t gone into labour yet, he’s convinced that he can talk his baby girl out. It’s clearly not working.

Every part of you hurts except for your uterus but you refrain from rolling your eyes as you rest your phone on your abdomen. Namjoon’s on the other end of the line, in his studio working on their comeback album. He wants to do as much as he can before the baby comes and he becomes completely preoccupied.

“Now sweetheart, I know it’s warm and comfortable inside but you really need to come out and meet daddy. We’ve got your room all set up for you for weeks now…”

Taehyung and Jungkook had finished painting it 3 weeks ago after Namjoon had concussed himself on a paint can.

Your wayward child clearly loves her father’s voice because she chooses that moment to give you a whopping kick in the ribs, sending the phone sliding to the floor. You’re reaching to retrieve it when you accidentally wet yourself a little. At least that’s what you think happens until you realise the fluid isn’t stopping and it has now completely soaked through your underwear, your pants, the couch and was now dripping onto the carpet.

“Joon.”

“Yes, honey?” Namjoon happily continues to hum on the other end of the line.

“I think my waters broke.”

There’s a beat of silence. Then another. “I see. Well. I…”

Jimin’s voice comes next. “I’ve got him, ___. Call your midwife, I’m coming to get you.”

The trip to hospital is a blur. By the time Namjoon and the boys reach you, you’re contracting, it’s hard to walk and you fucking hate the world, especially Namjoon. You tell him so several times during the car trip to hospital and you repeatedly tell Jungkook, who’s rubbing your back, what a good little foetus he turned out to be and that his mother would be proud.

It’s quite a scene when you turn up to hospital, seven famous idols in tow but you lose six of them immediately at the door to the maternity ward. Namjoon is beside himself, pacing the floor as you strip to your birthday suit (all clothing is currently your enemy) and suck on the nitrous like it’s a lifeline.

Your world narrows down to one word when the doctor examines you and tells you you’re barely dilated.

“Epidural!”

Namjoon nods frantically and takes to hovering behind the lovely anaesthetist who calmly hands Namjoon the nitrous and suggests he takes a few puffs. He’s completely giggly and spaced out when you get the needle stuck in your back but that’s ok because sweet relief comes shortly after.

The nitrous is confiscated when the midwife returns.

It’s another arduous eight hours. The midwives and the doctors change shift before it’s time to push.

It takes another hour and a half before your baby daughter’s cries ring through the room. Namjoon cries immediately with her. He keeps his hands on her the whole time you’re getting stitched up. When she sneezes, Joon is absurdly upset that he didn’t capture it on camera. When she does it again, he’s ready and a short fifteen second video immediately goes out to family and friends. You’re inundated with calls and messages congratulating you. Namjoon is too beside himself to answer.

He thinks she absurdly adorable and tells everyone who will listen. Yoongi says she looks like an alien shot out of a space cannon. Taehyung is head over heels in love with her instantly and Jungkook holds her like she’s a unstable explosive device. She cries hysterically when Hobi and Jimin pass her between them and moments later lands in Seokjin’s slightly perturbed arms.

She looks at his face and stops crying instantly. She keeps her eyes on his face until she dozes off in his arms. Seokjin absolutely loves it. It becomes his new favourite story to tell. He tells the janitor who comes to empty the bins when they visit again the next day.

1 year later

Namjoon is an obsessively proud father. The BTS twitter account is now inundated with pictures of your smiling daughter who has her father’s dimples. Their selfies together are the stuff of retweetable legend.

Namjoon is already begging for another baby. He wants ten. You said yes…you’ll have two more and he can then find himself another wife.

When she has her first fever and is up all night, grizzly and unsettled, Namjoon holds her and rocks her until she dozes off in fitful starts. She’s up barely an hour later and Namjoon is exhausted and delirious when you suggest calling in reinforcements. Jin arrives at 04:50am, takes her in his arms and coaxes her to sleep across one very wide shoulder. Namjoon snores for the next five hours.

When she takes her first steps, Namjoon commemorates it by writing her a song. She cries endlessly when she first hears it until Jin adds his vocals to the mix. She loves it instantly. Namjoon wants to find this frustrating but can’t deny his daughter anything her little heart desires. Seokjin is it, apparently.

Namjoon is coaxing some lunch into her when you excuse yourself to the bathroom. You pee on that familiar blue stick which started it all nearly two years ago and watch as that double pink line reappears.