#we r like a lost civilization or something lol

[silentium-symphony]

It Can Wait (Link x Reader)

(a/n) sorry it took awhile! college is starting to pick up and senioritis is hitting like a truck. while i drown in various marine labs (not the fun ones with seals and dolphins, the scary ones that feature Excel and R), please enjoy this completely self-indulgent fic LOL

cw: how can i call myself a fanfic writer if i don't do the One Bed™ trope ;), some swearing, ya'll are just a pair of awkward lovestruck goobers, honestly just pure fluff :)

wc: 5.3k

♤♢ ~~ ♡♧

You watched the edge of the sun rake the tip of some far-off mountain, dipping lower and lower past the horizon; your heart followed the celestial body in its descent to darkness. Concern loomed over your head like a thick thundercloud and your bleary eyes focused on your companion's sun-washed back.

"Hey... Link?"

The tips of his oranged ears twitched and he cast an indifferent glance past his shoulder.

"Do you see anything up ahead? A town or a stable, maybe?"

Link threw his gaze forward and 'hmph-ed,' jabbing his pointer finger to a bundle of dots precariously painted on the horizon. Your feet fluttered at the sight of civilization, momentarily forgetting the pins and needles that have been poking your legs and lower back for the past three hours.

"Oh thank Hylia--a town!"

Link had never seen you move so fast--he had to catch up with you! He lightly jogged to cover the distance.

"Slow down," he called out, voice barely louder than the winds, "you're not gonna make it at that pace."

"But Liiiink..." You whined. "A town! Civilization! Possibly with an inn! And beds!"

Not a moment later you felt your hand snatched in his as he practically dragged the two of you through the plains, exhaustion and aches be damned.

“L-Link! By the gods, slow down! You’re scuffing my boots!”

“Bed.”

“Link!!!”

You dove and ducked your head under whizzing branches, fumbled over a small brook, and ran what felt like an eternity before the rusted iron gates came into view. You were heaving at this point, each raggedy breath caught in the edges of your swollen lungs. Your stamina-for-days friend also seemed a bit spent, but he pushed onward and paid little mind to the blood rushing through his temples.

You practically collapsed at the gate, tumbling onto all fours and dry-heaving your next breath. Link, noticeably shaking, placed a trembling hand on the wall as he, too, fought to breathe. Hylia, he hadn’t run like that in years—even if he were the Hero of Hyrule™.

“Don’t,” you spat out in between heaves. “Ever do that again.”

“But we… made it… before they locked the gates.” Link was in much better shape than you (which wasn’t saying much) as he pointed to the town guards lowering the metal gates with a resounding clang.

A groan, a shuffle, followed by relief as you felt the wall’s cool stone ease the sweat and heat off your back. You threw your head up and took as deep of a breath as you could, dizzy from the bursts and sparks of colors behind your eyelids. You felt something hard slip into your laps and you winced your eyes open. A canteen?

“Drink some water.” Link’s lips were already moistened with the aqua panacea. You looked up at him gratefully and happily lapped up the rest of its contents, noting to fill his bottle later. The crisp spring water brought much-needed relief to the desert your throat had become; Link slipped the empty canteen into his pouch and looked around for the—

“What… Is that?”

You followed Link’s finger up and up and up to some… Structure? Spire? Shooting into the windows of an equally tall building. Your eyes bounced between the rickety invention and the bewildered blues of your companion, totally lost.

Only one way to find out.

After you got your bearings, you and Link slowly made your way over to the building, which happened to be… the inn? The structure grew clearer in your vision, but you still couldn’t make heads or tails of it. The main piece looked like a bunch of bamboo glued together by the ends, with some tubes sticking off to the side and into several rooms. The tail disappeared into the murky depths of a hot spring—HOT SPRING????

Link must have realized the godly pools the same time you did, his head whipping around to meet your excited gaze. You both slipped through the door and were immediately encased in a scent of steam and aromatics. It was as if the very essence of the hot spring was embedded in the inn's walls.

“Welcome, welcome! How can I— L-Link?!”

Link shot at the sound of his own name, looking over to the innkeeper who seemed… starstruck?

“I-It’s really you, sir! Wow, I… Wow!”

“I’m sorry but… Do we know you?” You chimed from the back.

“Oh! Um, I’m so terribly sorry. You may not remember me Link, but I remember you! This young man here has saved my life!”

“He did?”

“I have?”

“Yes! Do you not remember the weary traveler with the twisted ankle at the bottom of a ditch?" Link, in fact, did not remember. "That was me, sir! You took the time to tend my injuries and dropped me off right here in this very town!”

He bowed deeply, the little patch of hair on his head dipping with him.

“I’ve always wanted to thank you for your kindness, sir. Without you, I wouldn’t have realized my dreams of running a world-renowned inn!”

‘World-renowned?’

“It is by the grace of Hylia we meet again. For you only, I am offering you our premium room for the price of a regular one!”

Link’s ears twitched, no doubt in celebration of this seemingly once-in-a-lifetime deal. He turned to you, eager eyes bulging out of his head, and your laugh was all the okay he needed. He pulled out his wallet and paid for the night.

“What makes this room so special?” You interrupted before the innkeeper could grub the last rupee.

“I’m so glad you asked! Surely you have seen that tower outside our fine establishment, yes?”

You nodded slowly.

“With a lil’ bit of magic and Hylian ingenuity, we have devised a way to jet water from the hot springs straight to your room! Our premium rooms showcase the magic firsthand in the form of, what we call, a shower!”

“A… Shower?”

“Yes! You’ll see very soon, it is a wonderful addition to any room. We’ve really struck gold with this one…” He mumbled towards the end, not fully realizing he said it aloud. “Please, allow me to show you to your rooms!”

You two followed the short, stocky innkeeper up a few flights of stairs and down winding hallways. He stopped at the door to your room and plopped a golden key into Link’s hand.

“This is your room! Have fun with the shower, lovebirds!”

The innkeeper winked; a pair of mouths gaped open in heated protest, but he had already rounded the corner and returned to his innkeeper duties. A frazzled look sparked between two wide eyes and Link gulped, looking away to turn the key.

With a click, twist, and push, you were greeted by a grand bed spread across the middle of the room, dwarfing the moderately sized bookshelf packed with books and knickknacks. To your right was a gorgeous mahogany round table with matching chairs, a scene of woodland festivity carved about the curve of the surface. A wicket basket full of all kinds of goodies sat neatly atop the bed’s luscious sheets, vying for attention.

Like children in a candy store, you both fumbled right in and immediately made yourselves at home, kicking off your dirty and scuffed boots at the door ⁽ᵃ ˢᵐᵃˡˡ ᵍˡᵃʳᵉ⁾ and slugging your bag onto the round table. The silky sheets were practically calling your name, but the layer of sweat and grime accumulated on your skin made you hesitate to tarnish the clean bed.

The singular clean bed.

Your heart lurched to your throat and you immediately threw a hesitant look at Link, who was going through the gift basket and humming happily. He must not have noticed. He finally turned to you with a bright smile, spoils of the room in hand, and his features immediately fell at your concerned look.

“Is everything all right?”

“There’s only one bed.”

“What? No there isn’t, there’s…” He glanced around the room, his lazed looks turning into frenzied glimpses. Link’s cheeks darkened to a hue similar to the deep red bedsheet.

“Oh.”

"W-Well, it's not that big of a deal..." You two have clawed your way out of the deepest pits of suffering together, surely you could handle one measly lil' night in a spacious bed. In a bid to calm your racing thoughts, your head lolled to the side and frantically searched the rest of the room; an inconspicuous door caught your attention. Two weary bodies crept towards the door, giddy with anticipation.

A room adorned with all the regular happenings of a bathroom filled your vision, but off to the corner was a... long, rectangular, glass box? With a spout carved into the wall? As you neared the contraption, still unsure of what to think of it, a golden gear caught your eye, as well as various sprigs and bunches of mint and lavender. The gear turned with a squeak, and steamed water poured forth in a steady stream. A holler left you and Link as you watched the technological marvel steam up the room. You squeaked the faucet close and turned to the man behind you.

"So who's gonna go first?"

"You can," he stepped out, "I need to stop by the market before it closes."

“What? Are you sure?”

He nodded; you waved goodbye to the blonde as he slipped on his boots, tucked his wallet in his pocket, and left. While his footsteps disappeared down the hall, you slipped out of your grimy clothes, fetched fresh ones from your sack, and waltzed into the shower.

With a quick turn of your wrist, bullets of warm water pelleted all the sore aches knotting your back and shoulders. You let out an audible groan, slinking against the heavenly sensation. The steam coddled the mint and lavender, drawing out the former’s nippy spice before dulling it with the latter’s soothing fragrance. Nature’s finest aromas settled onto your skin and snuggled into your hair. All the cool streams and frigid lakes you’ve been forced to skinny dip in for the past several weeks melted into a distant memory as the heavy fog clouded your thoughts.

But not your sense of awareness.

You poked your head out of the shower, straining your ears for some type of sign that Link had returned. There was stillness on the other side of the door; a relieved sigh slipped out of you.

You felt your throat strain a tad, disuse rusting your vocal cords, as a melody you had since forgotten until this moment clawed its way out of you. A long inhale filled your lungs with scented steam and growing bravado as your quiet, cautious mumbles turned into full-on melodies. You checked every now and then, gear turning slightly to slow and quiet the flow, but the unclicking door assured you were still alone.

And hey, so long as you were quieter than the jetting water, it should be all good… right?

And so you sang your heart out, your rationale loosening your tongue and diaphragm to fill the bathroom with your beautiful voice. You sang a bunch of tunes, from hype music to mournful, soulful ballads. You were performer and audience all bundled in a steamy, mint-kissed, lavender-lapped, package.

If the vapor plumes tickling your ankles were any testament to how long you’d been there, you’d have to admit that your simple shower had turned into a luxurious escape from the cold confines of reality. The last note you sang rolled into a sigh as you turned the gear, the barrage of water turning into a mere trickle. Your reddened body longed to feel the water's hot caresses, but alas, you had to leave your watery sanctuary at some point. Pruny fingers grasped the soft cotton hanging off a hook and you scrunched your hair of excess water before patting yourself down.

You had never felt so clean in your life.

Your warmed pajamas did wonders for your already relaxed muscles and a yawn lapsed out of you. You drowsily clicked the door open, a cloud of steam rolling at your feet, and smiled dreamily at...

Link.

Who was looking rather... flustered.

And amused.

Your heart dropped to the soles of your feet as a cold sweat beaded your brow, a dark realization settling in. Feigning innocence as best you could, you tilted your head.

“… What?”

He stood up from his chair, tossing his locks from side-to-side, and sauntered over to you with his pajamas bundled in the crook of his elbow. As he passed you by, the ghost of a whisper tickled the shell of your ear.

“Nice voice.”

Dear Hylia if you’ve ever loved me strike me down right fucking now

You turned to him, mouth agape and heart reeling, only for his outline to disappear behind a wall of hot mist and wood. The silence on your side of the room was suffocating; Link’s happy little hums funneled the tension out of the situation through the thinnest straw that ever strawed.

Maybe you misheard him? It wasn't like he was much of the teasing type... How long had he been here anyway? Maybe he just walked in as you finished and and and and happened to hear the faucet turn and maybe just maybe it sounded a bit like a squeak that could maybe pass off as a person's voice?

The bracing breeze of the night nipped your sensitive skin and calmed your overstimulated brain. You didn’t remember your journey to the window, but you were thankful your feet had guided you to a refreshing anchor for your frenzied thoughts. You took a deep breath in… and out. Innnn… and out…

This wasn’t so bad. Okay granted, you completely embarrassed yourself in front of your crush whom you’ll be traveling with for the foreseeable future but it’s not all that bad. At least you got this gorgeous view! And wow, birds! Nature! That’s cool!

After several minutes of trying to keep your dooming thoughts at bay, the faucet squeaked a dying note and the last deluge of water dripped into soft drops. Link—still humming and noticeably more at ease—shuffled a fair bit before he made his entrance into the bedroom, hair damp and skin blushed a faint pink and wow he looks so good right now—

You damn near slapped yourself and flashed him a warm (albeit awkward) smile, noting his very shirtless form and the pajamas still scrunched in his arms. He motioned to the parts of the fabric that were darker than usual.

“It fell in a puddle, so I’m letting it air out a bit.” With a whip of his wrists, a worn shirt and matching shorts snapped in front of him and settled on top of a chair. “Hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all.”

Knowing that the towel tied around his slutty lil waist was the only thing separating you from a great night got you feeling weak. You hastily turned your gaze to the outside before your blatant staring could turn into gawking.

A silence eclipsed the room as your eyes wandered over the town’s nightlife. Specks of Hylians dotted the dimly lit square; further below, a decently-sized crowd congregated the hot springs, traces of idle chatter floating to your ears. The stars poked an indifferent glow past the cloudy streaks in the sky and although the lunar body had yet to grace you with its presence, its soft light was still felt and appreciated by all.

You felt the air beside you stir and a loud gasp escaped you, jolting at the sudden appearance of the still-shirtless man. He rested his frame against folded arms as he peered off into the night, aestheticizing like you were only moments before. His skin had paled into its familiar alabaster, and the whitish glow of the moon circled a halo about his figure. The familiar sprigs of aromatics tickled your nose, tinging his cypress and amber scent with a fragrance of cleanliness.

“Lovely night.”

“Y-Yes.” You coughed out, still unused to the proximity. Gods, if he already got you acting up like this, how much more during bedtime?

“Did you find everything we needed?” You continued, hoping to make some light conversation about nothing.

“Yes. We’re all stocked up.” A flit of blue met your (E/C)s. “We leave at dawn, so we should head to bed soon.”

"Ah... Are your clothes dry now?"

"Hopefully my shorts are."

Link went to collect his clothes and 'tsk-ed' at the still-damp shirt. His scarred hands ghosted the knot tied right above his pelvis. He eyed your back as he discarded the plush white towel for his shorts, the fabric thinning and pilling from overuse.

"Are you decent?" Your tone lilted mirthfully. You heard fabric creasing and shifting from the bed, and you turned in response to his quiet ‘mm.’ Your core warmed at the sight of a toned, combat-kissed back and you mentally flogged yourself for your ridiculous bashfulness. With your heart pounding a quickening pace in your ears, you sallied over to your edge of the bed and sunk down.

The air was honeyed with sexual tension and you pawed and balled the silky sheets. Link’s heavy gaze rested on the same spot on the wall, fully expecting two holes to drill themselves into existence under his scrutinizing watch.

Why were you so panicked? This wasn’t the first time you found yourselves in rather... intimate situations.

A sudden movement made you flinch and you craned your neck to see behind you. With a long sigh, Link ruffled his hair and blew out a candle, muffling a ‘goodnight’ under his breath. The same silence blanketed you again, suffocating coherency out of your racing thoughts.

You pulled your knees over the edge and adjusted yourself under the covers, relieved at the plush mattress coddling the sore gaps in your body. Your head fell to the side and was once again met with Link's back (that was scooted to the very edge of the bed). You didn’t know if you should feel offended or grateful.

You followed suit, turning your body to meet the window. The moonlight was brighter now, casting a gentle spotlight on the floating dust particulates and water specks that traipsed through the window.

Your ears strained to hear and hope for the familiar deep breaths Link drew in the throes of slumber. The deathly quiet was all the sign you needed to know that he was still very much awake (and listening for your soft snores as well).

The soft sheets and the heat radiating off your partner beckoned you further into bed and away from the cold night air that had begun to blow drizzles of rain. Get your rupees’ worth, you told yourself. A tiny voice unfamiliar to you peeped out a,

“Hey… Link?”

He twitched.

“Um… I’m scooting closer, just so you know.”

He doesn’t respond. Or move. Or breathe. While you debated whether he was fast asleep or crossing a boundary, you heard a quiet sigh and a,

“Me too.”

A pair of bodies shuffled closer. His heat spilled past his body and bled into your vicinity; you held back a pleased groan. You shared many a night shivering under the cold misery of wilderness and rain, pressing into each other to preserve what little heat was left between yourselves. Your eyes fluttered shut as the rain outside tapped the roof harder and harder.

♤♢ ~~ ♡♧

“Link…” You looked up at him, teeth chattering as he beheld you with a warm gaze. He tugged the corners of the cloak closer together while your shaking hands combed matted gold off his forehead.

“Are you warm?”

“As warm as I can be.” Eyes studied your makeshift shelter—a tree’s grove—helplessly. Your wet back was pressed into mossed and ivied bark while your companion’s was bulleted and blown by the storm’s raging tempest. You pulled his shaking body closer, closer, closer, until he was practically on top of you. Still, the winds whipped something nasty against his soaked back, his drenched shirt adding to the frigidity like some sort of reverse blanket.

“I-I don’t know how, but we can try switching…” You hissed through clammy lips. He shook his head, a stray droplet landing and sliding down your cheek.

“Nonsense. You are much colder than I am.”

“Link, you’re literally shaking.”

“And your lips have turned blue.” He pulled the hood further down your face, obscuring your vision, as he took your hands in his and futilely huffed warm air. His leather gloves rubbed and chafed your pruned, muddy digits and he blew again with greater gusto.

“You’ll be okay. We’ll be okay. This rain has got to let up at some point.” He murmured, his hot breath tickling your neck. You shivered from the sensation, which he mistook as the cold seeping into your bones. Muscled arms wrapped around your frame and he rubbed your sides, head burying into the crook of your neck.

“We’ll be okay… Just think of something warm, all right?

♤♢ ~~ ♡♧

The warmth of his skin seeped through your thin pajamas and you let out a yelp.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t realize I was rolling into you!”

“It’s okay,” a pause, “you can… Stay there if you’d like. I don’t mind.”

“Oh… Are you sure?”

He hums. “…warm…”

“Sorry? Did you say something?”

“You’re warm, so it… feels nice.”

“Oh...” Your heart thundered against your ribcage. “T-Thanks.”

Quietness cloaked the room once again; neither of you were going to sleep any time soon.

“So uh,” you started, “what are you gonna do when you get back?”

He was silent for awhile, and for a second you thought he had fallen asleep (wouldn’t be the first time he fell asleep mid conversation).

“Report our findings to the princess.”

“Ah… makes sense. How ‘bout after that?”

The male pondered your question and answered with a huff.

“Wait for my next mission.”

That’s… kinda sad..

“Well, is there anyone waiting for you? Y’know, like a…” You gulped, unsure if you wanted to know the answer. “Like a lover or something?”

You felt Link’s breath hitch and your heart sank. Of course he would have someone waiting for him, just look at him. Handsome, chivalrous, kind, strong—you wouldn’t be surprised if he had a thing going on with the princess herself.

“No.” He said at last. “I don’t have anyone in that regard.”

He said it so placidly; you couldn’t detect a hint of emotion behind that matter-of-fact statement. An inconspicuous sigh left your frame.

"Oooh, has anyone caught your eye?" You shimmied up to him before laughing at his flinch. Again, you were unsure if you were ready to hear the answer, but anything felt better than the silence you would otherwise be subjected to.

"Mm..." Was his only response.

"Aww, c'mon! Aren't we travel buddies? We've faced dozens of unimaginable horrors together. Your secret's safe with me."

"Do you have someone waiting for you?" He countered.

"Hey now, don't avoid the question!"

"I'll tell you if you tell me."

Well... It's not like you had anything to hide...

"No, I'm very much single." You laughed, a glimmer of despondence streaking your voice.

. . .

"Has anyone caught your eye?"

"Mm... Pass." You giggled, turning to face him fully now. He felt your shuffle and cast a glance over his shoulder. "Do you like anyone? Or at least find mildly attractive?"

His eyes fluttered shut and he exhaled slowly, the gears in his head turning even slower.

"Yes."

Your sinking heart juxtaposed the overly-hyped "Ooooh!" that left your lips.

"IS IT THE PRINCESS?!"

"Definitely not."

You practically got whiplash at the suddenness of his response; that could mean one of two things: he either really liked the princess, or he wanted nothing to do with her past their 'protector-protectee' relationship.

"Damn, that was fast. Seems mighty suspicious to me..." You nudged the space between his ribcage, plucking a light chuckle out of him.

"I really don't," he laughed dryly, "she's lovely but... Not really my type."

"So what is your type, O Hero of Hyrule?"

He hummed lowly before snapping his body to face you.

"My turn." He chirped through a boyish grin. His hot breath trickled across your cheeks and you swore you could drown in the oceans of his eyes.

"Has anyone caught your eye?"

You didn't think the question could be taken so literally. You blinked multiple times and looked away.

"Uh... Y-Yeah, I'd say so."

An iota of emotion brewed in his eyes, imperceptible to everyone but himself.

"Okay, my turn." You chortled, looking back up at him. "Can you describe your ideal partner?"

Eyes closing and head tilting upwards, Link dissected and analyzed the simple question with care.

"Smart, kind..." A small smile tugged his lips. "Curious, compassionate, brave, selfless..."

He angled his face into the pillow, the softness muffling his lips.

"ᵍᵒᵒᵈᵃᵗˢᶦⁿᵍᶦⁿᵍ"

"Sorry, what?"

"Nothing. So wha--"

"Nonono, you said something! What did you say?"

"Um... Good at..." A pause. "Mingling."

"... Mingling?"

. . .

"Yup."

Maybe facing Ganon with only a cheese grater wasn't such a bad idea after all

You supposed... That made sense. You could only imagine how awkward he must feel at royal banquets and dinner parties. You laughed and lightly flicked his forehead.

"You're such a dork." If you squinted hard enough, you could trick yourself into believing he was blushing. His eyes brightened at the realization it was his turn.

"So who's your ideal partner?"

"Well..." You looked down, fumbling with the hem of your shirt.

"Well...?" His chest rumbled with baited anticipation.

"Loyal, caring, respectful, courageous..." You nudged the lower half of your face into your pillow, hoping to hide the blush creeping onto your cheeks. "Something like that."

He nodded slowly, the gears in his head slaving away--at what, you had no idea.

"You seem to have a pretty clear idea of what you're looking for."

"So do you!"

"Yes..." He sighed dreamily, lips warming into a rare and genuine smile. "I do."

;)

"Heheheh... Whatcha thinkin' about? Or should I say... Who?"

Panic swirled behind his eyes. "N-No one."

"I heard that stutter!" You exclaimed. "C'mon, we've practically spilled everything to each other--now all I need is a name!"

"You... may not approve."

Your heart crunched in your chest, mind spinning from all the possibilities.

"I mean... Whether I like them or not shouldn't matter. Your feelings for that person, whoever they may be, are valid."

The way your eyes crinkled so... lovingly at him made him want to curl into a ball and melt into a lovestruck puddle. How could you be this cute? This sweet? And single? Maybe... Just maybe...

"You really think so?"

"Of course! Well, if you had a crush on Ganon then we might have a problem." Your lips relaxed into a small smile. "But so long as they aren't him, I don't think there's anyone out there who I would hate."

Link balanced his chin between his pointer and thumb. Your lips curled thoughtfully, forming your next question in a bid to loosen his tongue.

"When you think of them, do you think of what could be? Where life could take the two of you?"

"Of course." He answered instantly, then reddened at how quick he responded. "I've thought about it for... awhile."

His bashfulness was met with one of your angelic chortles and you looked at him head-on.

"You deserve to be happy, Link. You deserve to live the life you want with the person you love."

His breath caught in his throat as he drank in the sincerity in your eyes. Eyes that beheld him with grace and acceptance for all his failures and shortcomings. Eyes that saw him past his title of Hero. Eyes that could lift an entire kingdom's burden off his shoulders with a simple crinkle and twinkle.

"It's you."

You laughed, not quite processing what he said until--

"Wait, huh?"

"It's..." He gulped, reminding himself which piece of the Triforce he carried. "You."

"M-... Me?"

"Yes. You are who I love. You are who I want to spend the rest of my life with. It's... you."

"Oh, Link..." His heart cracked at the quietness in your tone. For once, it hurt hearing his name leave your lips.

"If you don't feel the same way, I understand. I promise I won't let this interfere with our mi--"

"No, Link! I love you too!"

Life filled his eyes, piercing a ray of light through his darkened visage.

"You... You do...?"

"Yes!" You cried out, wrapping him closer to you. "Gods, I've loved you for so long...!"

"R-Really? Me too!”

:O

“Since when?!” You both exclaimed, new love jolting a shock of energy that mismatched the time of day.

“You go first.” Link spurred, giddiness rocking him to and fro.

“Ever since that night in the tree… Do you remember? It was pouring and you were shielding me from the storm.”

He pulled away from you slightly to stroke your hair, relishing how your soft, newly washed strands laced around his fingers.

“We had just embarked on our journey.”

“I knowww.” You drew out, giggling and nuzzling into his bare chest. “What about you? When did you fall for me?”

“It was… Before our trip.”

“What?! Really?!”

He nodded.

“I saw you feeding some strays while I was patrolling the castle one time and, well…” He rubbed his neck embarrassed. “I knew you had a heart of gold the moment I laid eyes on you.”

“That was so long ago…" You reminisced about the glowing gaze your animal friends reveled you in. "Boy, I had you whipped for that long, huh?”

“You could say that.” An airy breath stuttered out of him. “You looked so beautiful… I couldn’t get enough of that look in your eyes. Pure, selfless joy. It was… mesmerizing.”

His eyes caught yours, almost as if they were searching for the same joy he spoke of. The glimmer in his seafoam pools must have meant he found it and more.

“So how’d you feel when we were assigned to this mission together?” You laughed, clearly picturing a flustered Link pacing around his room as he just about melted through the floor.

“I felt many things—panic, for one.”

“Aww, lil' ol' me got your heart racing?”

“Yes.”

Now it was your heart’s turn to race, so touched by his candor.

"You were as beautiful as you were kind; as clever as you were tough. How could I have not fallen deeper in love?" He coughed out, a hand masking the blush that promenaded his cheeks. "You always took such good care of me after our battles... Patching me up before you even wiped the dirt off your face."

"Well, you'd do it for me, no?" You jibed, fingers raking through his hair. He chuckled fondly at the form of aftercare foreign to most couples.

"And to top it all off..." He leaned down, the surface of his lips tickling your earlobe. "You have the loveliest voice in the world."

A light slap stung his chest and he roared in laughter.

"Gods, you really heard that...?!" Your hands cupped your heated cheeks and you rocked backward, jaw clenching and legs squirming from mortification.

"It's okay! More than okay! You sounded gorgeous, (F/N)."

Your heart fluttered at the sound of your own name, unused to the way it purred so perfectly out of him. Your sheepish side glance happened upon his heartfelt visage, which did wonders to ease any discomforts you had.

"Your voice was beautiful. Like a-- Like a--"

A chorus of chirps announced the arrival of morning; you both shared a horror-struck look before shortly bursting into laughter. You talked the whole night away!

He kissed your eyelids and draped the blanket over your shoulders, wrapping his arm about your waist.

"We can stay another night if you'd like. Spend a day in town." His suggestion was met with fervent nodding. "Our duties to the throne... Our mission... All of it. It can wait."

[jackredfieldwasmyjacob]

i think this is a good example of the situation(tm) with spain and fascism and how it's very different to other european countries like italy or germany.

this news article says that the government pays more than 9000��� per year to mantain franco's tomb (and by the government it means, well, the taxpayers). for those who don't know, francisco franco was a fascist dictator (friend of hitler and mussolini) that ruled spain from 1939 til 1975. he died peacefully. in his bed. after 4 decades of ruling. this is one of the key points regarding all of this.

and you might be thinking... well, the right wing party must be the ruling party for this to happen! lol no. we are currently under a pretty left-leaning government (this will probably change next month btw, there's general elections on april 28th). this is the government who passed the so-called trans law. and, most importantly, this government exhumated franco's body from his monumental funerary monument to a normal cemetery.

this is the monument in question, btw, it's called valle de los caídos (valley of the fallen) and it was built by the people franco sent to concentration camps throughout the country.

and yes, you read that well. franco's body was here until 2019. the monument was visited (and still is visited) by tons of fascists, who would do the nazi salute, fly the francoist flag, and chant francoist chants. all while the police was just there (but that's no surprise, isn't it). now, those people just go to the new location of franco's tomb.

oh, btw, on april 24th 2023 (4 days ago as i'm writing this post) there was another exhumation in the valley of the fallen (i just found out that since 2022 its name officially changed to 'cuelgamuros valley'. sure), this time of josé antonio primo de rivera, son of the dictator of spain from 1923-1930, and founder of the falange española, a fascist organization that became the only political party during the franco regime (yes. this is the equivalent to the nazi party) that btw still exists as a political party. so that's also lovely. this shouldn't come as a surprise, as la legión española, the military faction most closely allied to franco before, during, and after the civil war, still exists and they parade sometimes. you've probably seen these guys, there's a weird thing where people thirst over them on twitter:

anyways, this all boils down to the continuist nature of fascism in this country. fascist symbols are not banned, and neither is the flag or the hymn. i heard so many times the cara al sol (the francoist anthem) in high school sung by the kids who thought being a fascist was cool. again, franco's body wasn't exhumated until 2019 and with tons of polemics, delays and protests (protests!!!!). primo de rivera's wasn't exhumated until this very year (also with protests). and, meanwhile, there's more than 1000 mass graves still unearthed in spain, most of them filled by republicans who either were killed during the war, or right after it. one of them is the poet federico garcía lorca, considered one of (if not the best) writer in spanish history, and killed for his sexuality in 1936 by francoist soldiers. and, with him, thousands of people have been lost to time. in 2022 (83 years after the war ended) the government opened a 'mass grave searcher' on the ministry website, in order to look if your lost relative had been discovered.

i've talked about this before, but as another example, my great-grand father was unjustly sent to prisioner in 1939 for being a republican. he even spent some years in death row before being released after 5 years. he was officially pardoned by the government in 2017. he died in 1989.

also, something that has been particularly evident during this government, is that fascists are very much alive and have a ton of power. and politicians are either one of them or scared of them. keep in mind that spain has had multiple military and fascist uprisings and coup de états in the 20th century, it's very recent history. that, summed with the terrible job done during the transition period of not divorcing themselves with the francoists or just banning everything to do with them (that 'terrible job' happened because well. there were a lot of fascists there), makes for fascism being painfully present in spain all throughout the 20th and 21st century, so it's always been here, and very obviously so, and that's why it's so fundamentally different from other european regions.

this is what happens when fascists win and fuck up everything. spain is a perfect example of it. i love maps, but everytime i see alternative history maps (and there's a ton of them) that are like 'europe but hitler won ww2' i get the irk because 1) the person making that post is probably a nazi, and 2) that's just what happened in spain. the 'nazis won au' is just 20th century spain. and the consequences of that still ooze to this date. so yeah. that's all i have to say i think.

[dirtyvulture]

😎 Happy Father’s Day !!!!!! I had bought all the ingredients for a cook out ( my dad loves to grill and cook) for his gift , plus whiskey ( Bird dog blueberry whiskey, and a huge 7up bottle to make mix drinks ) for mom and I . For Dad I bought the makings for Bloody Mary’s.

Let’s see if I can come up with thoughts on each of Vultures lovely universes .

In the DK universe, I think that this day is kinda of a somber occasion for R because MOST of the men she loved and looked up to as fatherly figures are LONG GONE . John Howlett when she was only 13 years old ( she SAW the aftermath of everything) , Quincy SR lived and died while R was on the run and couldn’t go back ( R WANTED with EVERYTHING in her to go to the Morris’s but she just couldn’t) . So I think she lights two candles , smokes a cigar ( John and Quincy Sr’s favorite brand…… or at least the CLOSEST modern day equivalent to that brand) and drinks whiskey ( again John and Quincy SR’s favorite) but leaving two shot glasses of whiskey out for the two men . Then later on there is William Hudson ( Esther’s husband…. And the father of Esther’s children. The grandfather - and so on and so forth- of the Hudson clan ) …… the husband and father of the woman who R was IN LOVE with. She actually liked Will as he was a good husband, father ( and grandfather) and just a good man . So she would celebrated Will until he died. R goes up to the professor and probably takes him out to dinner or something nice like that….. all while REFUSING to admit that she sees the professor as a fatherly figure. The kids go all out celebrating the professor ( mostly) , Beast and other male teachers/ staff just like they did for Mother’s Day . They don’t include Scoot .

In the SB , I have mentioned that SB didn’t have the greatest “ father” or the ideal home life. But I was talking with a friend and we both decided that while school (but mainly high school) was a ROUGH time for SB , they did sports and the were close to the coach. So they celebrated their coach instead, when they enlisted they unfortunately lost touch but SB still holds their coach near and dear to their heart. The kids Kit and Jane as well has Nat do a great job celebrating SB , and SB gets soo choked up by it all as they are so happy with the family that they built and thought they could NEVER have .

Father’s Day in the EV universe is…….. complicated as that R and her dad seems to have a …….. strained or complex relationship to say the least . But I would think that R still takes her dad out for dinner or something like that to celebrate him . They seem to have a decent enough relationship for that and they are civil enough for it.

Happy Father's Day! That all sounds like a great time. :)

LOL Poor Scott 😂 (but I'm sure he has some students who adore him). But yes, sadly DK!R has lost all of her childhood father figures, but she views the professor as one so off they go to dinner 🥰

SB would be so shocked to be honored on Father's Day, they simply wouldn't know what to do.

I don't even know how EV!R would celebrate Father's Day (unless it was with Nat 👀) We will get to learn more about R and her dad's relationship in future installments though, so stay tuned...

[vazaez]

This is how i imagine it'd be like if anyone from the wild kratts team found out abt the fandom

@local-wild-kratts-enjoyer @deadcolor @novazentryx @kratt-shiny @cryptid-kratt-kid @charliethecandyeater @krazykratts

[stephanythedramaqueen]

The thing that saddens me is that Nikolai is not a bad character either, what holds him back is (you guessed it) his family/the monarchy. And I don't know how why make him so attached to those in the first place when his family are awful as people and leaders: the King is a bigoted r*pist who didn't even care about Nikolai and canonically put 17-yos to fight in the front lines, we can't say absolutely anything about the Queen because she had no role in the plot or the worldbuilding — she could have been dead and nothing would change, and Vasily? Ha! No comments. 🙄

The sad part is I think that Nikolai is as pretentious as the rest of the aristocracy of Ravka.

We hear him sprouting his ideals about the betterment of Grisha like, as the fandom calls it, a Diet Darkling, but while people were starving in the streets and bread prices were sky high, Nikolai was still enjoying all his opulence with his gentry born friends. What was essentially a Grisha Civil war, Nikolai capitalized on that to revert it into a war for a throne he has as much right to claim as the Darkling. While Aleksander’s ambition was portrayed as greedy and power-hungry, despite his cause being for a revolution for his people, Nikolai’s ambition on the other hand is praised as something righteous and merited. And his cause was a more acquisitive one, if you look deeper into the text than his well intentioned speeches.

As for the king, he was the absolute worst. All of his line was. And while, historically, putting teens on the front lines (though often 16 years and older) is not completely unheard of, or regarded as the crime it is. We’ve had countless accounts of kids as young as 12 on the battlefield, though even in the most medieval/war-driven ages, that is quite young. So no, I don’t think putting kids at that age is a terrible a crime if you consider the text in context of the time and not through the lens of our modern society. It goes without saying that that remains horrible, to be conscripted at 17. The King’s crime is his continual exploitation of the Grisha or else the threat of persecution and discrimination they would face, as well as his lecherous acts behind closed doors. The fact that Nikolai doesn’t dole out the condign punishment he deserves for that, let alone for the crime of forsaking his vow to his people to live luxuriously while they starve, tells me exactly how showy Nikolai could be. Let them eat cake and all that, amirite ladies? Multiple kings and queens have lost their heads for this very behavior in our irl counterpart.

I think Nikolai is entertaining and a lovely character, I just don’t want him as King of Ravka. As his reign showed in his duology, he didn’t really do much of anything after the Darkling’s demise.

The queen and Vasily could have done much and more, and while they’re clearly written as people we should absolutely not like, the narrative still doesn’t call them out for being the true villains that they are. Vasily esp reeks of being much the same as his father, only perhaps less lascivious in his young age. Maybe.

This all boils down to; Dark Tsar Sasha forever, my beloved lol. I know my history, Aleksander would have been efficient and more capable than any Lantsov king before him 🤷🏾‍♀️

[teacup-baphomet]

G/t plot bunny 1

ugh generic title is generic but whatever.

so basically there are these two people - humans - and they are like ghost/cryptid hunters. 

in my head. There is one guy and one girl. The guy is very excitable and happy-go-lucky (an optimistic ray of sunshine type with his head in the clouds). 

The girl is more down-to-earth. A tad on the pessimistic side maybe. a little more rough around the edges. will throw hands at the drop of a dime to protect the people she cares about no matter how daunting the challenge is (like she will take on an entire gang herself is she needs to orr - well, you’ll see later in this plot bunny).

They are currently somewhere - idk where- and there is like big arse castle thing. Entirely made of stone. Ornate. and mostly like “f***off” big. like the theories/lore behind it is some ancient, archaic civilization made this castle for their god(s) as some symbolic gesture.

But the duo is here because it’s supposed haunted af.

And they want to either prove that or disprove that. 

all for the sake of likes on the internet. such a noble causes lol. nah. they get paid too so mostly there’s that.

anyways. as it turns out it is NOT haunted.

but rather someone - something? - BIG is sorta imprisoned in the structure. Not visible at first. Hidden away ... somewhere, perhaps an alternate dimension or something. Until freed. 

And the duo accidentally frees him. 

Anyways, the big guy is basically the result of a king from the long dead civilization getting super greedy and basically doing some weird ritual to get limitless power. It goes terribly wrong - for the king- and he ends up getting possessed, well more like completely hijacked and the king is kinda dead now - by some sorta being. a shapeshifting something that tends to be on the lorg side. 

The being didn’t really have a gender until he took over the king’s earthly form and then he decided “huh, guess i’m a dude” so he tends to shapeshift into a male form. typically big. typically kinda monstrous. haven’t thought of how monstrous. or if the shapeshifter being is demonic or not. or what does “demonic” even mean if so. 

kinda leaning towards a monstrous in a dragon-boy kinda way. wings. horns. rows of sharp teef. claws. scaly forearms and lower legs as well as various other patches of scales. glowing eyes. firebreath. 

with some hints of elderitch monstrosity. so maybe like a third eye on their forehead and perhaps a wee eye on each of the little clawed hand things on his wings. idk. plus the ability to make prehensile shadow tendril/tentacle things shoot out from his body. or something like that.

but i dunno. if i write this or not is hecking big IF anyways. like most of my ideas -writing and especially drawing. my muse is so dang fickle. i could come up with ocs and plots and dumb banter/dialogue and i can get to vague sketch stage with drawings but after that it’s like uhhhh... i lose steam i guess..

but yeah... how monster-y big dude is, is well up for debate i guess

but yeah. so he appears. and the shapeshifter monsterboy king dude is thinking it’s gonna go like ‘k. i’m free now. gonna just get rid of the people who freed me with a condescending thanks and then take over the world mwahahaha”

but it does not go like that. at all.

because oh no. the lil guy who freed him is adorable. and he’s so..so happy? but... why? and his first words to him are “wow. you’re amazing! so friggin cool! I wish i looked as bad*ss” or something like that

and the big guy is like all flustered because he’s used to people running and screaming at him and his monsterous appearance. that is partially why he likes to be monstrous looking to be frank.

he never considered how nice it is to be genuinely complimented. or you know to have friends. or even something more~

so he’s at a lost. which is something that’s never happened to him before. making him even MORE at a loss.

and he’s rather amused, impressed with the bravery the wee gal as well. as she looks ready to fight him herself if he even thinks of hurtin’ the lil ray of sunshine guy. it’s kinda.... endearing???

so oops. no world domination. ah, well...

instead he has a best friend and maybe something more with that lovely ray of sunshine man~

and maybe... just maybe... being good and kind... isn’t all that bad?

even if he is a monstrous eldritch giant maybe demon thing.

who says he has to stick to stereotypes. he’s BIG. he can do what he wants. right?

and i dunno after that..

I’m thinking. that this is when they find out he’s sorta attached to the castle for some reason. and thus stuck in his BIG monsterboy  mode (as well as stuck to a certain area). and thus beyond being stuck to the vicinity in the castle and near the castle atm he can’t temporarily shapeshift to human in order to more easily travel with them as they do their ghost/cryptid hunting anyways.

so the next phase of the maybe story is the human duo and their monster trying to figure out how to f r e e h i m. like even more so than they already did heh.

and once they do that - uh shenanigans happen i guess. cuz you can’t have a g/t story without big(s) and small(s) engaging in shenanigans. that’s like g/t law or something.

and that’s it. that’s the maybe story i will likely never write. 

anywho. if anybody wants to use this as a plot go ahead. i don’t care/mind. it’s not all that original anyways lol. it’s just a bunch of tropes thrown together to make soup (read: a plot) basically. i think. i dunno.

i mean let’s be real. i can’t even say:

people using the same plot in a g/t story? more likely than you think.

because we all effing know the same plots are used in g/t stories over and over again. ain’t no one able to pretend that isn’t common lol.

but that’s okay. because everyone has their own style of writing. and a lot of us are desperate for more g/t content anyway so we ain’t gonna complain regardless.

not sure if these last few sentences could be considered a call out or sh**post or something but i don’t really care. it is what it is.

[skinks]

hi!!! what are your favourite movies? like actually good ones but also any trashy comfort movies? is IT (2017) one of them?

Hello!! IT (2017) IS ABSOLUTELY ONE OF THEM oh man, thank you for this, I love talking about movies!!!! This is possibly the most difficult question you could have asked me. Apologies for how absolutely off the rails this got, I just... love movies so much lmao

I’ve said this before, but opening night of IT ch1 was the best cinema experience I’ve ever had, I’m so glad I got to see it with a fully packed audience who were all laughing and screaming together the whole way through. I’m a huge fan of... everything ch1 was doing, the 80s nostalgia, the summer-coming-of-age themes, the solid ghost train funhouse JOY of the Pennywise performance and scares, the washed-out cinematography, the tiny background details to make everything that much more eerie, the kids’ ACTING?!

Like, a lot of the time I find child actors can be really awkward and stilted to watch, but I remember leaving the cinema really impressed by JDG and Sophia Lillis in particular. I liked that they were all allowed to be little shitheads with potty mouths, it felt like a callback to 80s movies like The Lost Boys or Stand By Me. The whole thing worked to make me really care about what happened to the kids (even if I do still have issues with how they handled Mike. I understand even ch1 had limitations with juggling so many characters, but still). I saw it another 2 times in the cinema and have rewatched it at least, I dunno, 7-10 more times since then?

Add to all of that the retroactive CANON R+E baby pining subplot? I just love it, as if that wasn’t obvious by now given my Whole Blog. It’s a really special movie to me!

Anyway!! Ok, the main handful of movies I rewatch all the fucking time are:

Back to the Future, The Lost Boys, Pride and Prejudice (2005), Jaws, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Breakfast Club, Ocean’s 11, POTC 1, The Dark Knight, Inception, Die Hard, LOTR trilogy, Snatch, The Nice Guys, Logan Lucky, Mad Max Fury Road, Clueless, 10 Things I Hate About You, Billy Elliot, Dirty Dancing, Tomb Raider (2018)...

Those are the easily consumable ones that I’ve seen so many times I don’t really have to concentrate or think about them, but I really love them and unfortunately often KEEP rewatching them instead of new stuff. It would take too long to go into why I love all these movies so much because I could write the same amount as I already did for ITCH1, and everyone already knows why those movies are good, so, lol.

I think I’m gonna have to subdivide and categorise this whole post because there are too many separate criteria for... goOD MOVIES, AUUHH 😩

Okay so first off, HORROR MOVIES? I’m especially in love with Re-Animator (1985) and its sequel Bride of Re-Animator, they’re such good examples of camp and batshit 80s practical effects, and also EXTREMELY funny. I’m actually just gonna post my list of my fave horror movies that I do actually keep on my phone at all times lmao. These are in no particular order:

Wholeheartedly recommend every one of these. I’ve never been so scared in my life as I was watching Hereditary in the cinema, hoo boy. Mother! by Aronofsky is one of the strangest experiences I’ve ever had (and I actually saw it on the same day I saw IT ch1 for the first time!! That was a fun day)

Psycho (1960) and The Fly from 1986 should also be on there but I couldn’t fit them in the screenshot.

I’m a HUGE fan of a ton of martial arts movies too, like Kung Fu Hustle, Shaolin Soccer, Ip Man, The Raid movies, John Wick 3 is my fave of the trilogy, Drive from 1997 with Mark Dacascos is incredible, SPL 2, Ong-Bak, Operation Condor, Project A, Iron Monkey, and Zatoichi (2003) are some favourites.

My favourite Tarantino is Reservoir Dogs, fave Coen brothers are Raising Arizona, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs and O Brother Where Art Thou. Love some old-timey colour correction and weird offbeat dialogue. I also love Goodfellas!!! And Donnie Brasco! And The Firm, I’m so easy for any good crime/law/gangster/heist procedural like that, especially if they’re from the 80s or 90s in a super dated way.

Fave Disney movie is Tarzan, favourite Ghibli movies are Spirited Away and Lupin III. I remember watching Spirited Away during a thunderstorm one time and it being.... god! Transcendent! Favourite Pixar movie is The Incredibles (the first one. ALSO the documentary “The Pixar Story” is great and well worth a watch, it’s very comforting for some reason) and my favourite Dreamworks movies are HTTYD1 and Spirit: Stallion of the Cimmaron.

I tend to watch more anime movies than tv shows, so stuff like Akira, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Summer Wars, Journey to Agartha, and my ultimate fave anime is Sword of the Stranger (2008). The climactic fight in that movie is fucking stunning and should be counted in “bests fights” lists right alongside anything live action

Also if we’re talking animated movies another hearty favourite is Rango, and a Belgian stop-motion (which at one time I considered my favourite movie ever) called Panique Au Village (2009) which is one of the funniest movies ever made imo.

As for TRASHY movies, I’m not sure if that’s the right word for how I feel about these ones but.. dumb/silly/slightly guilty pleasure movies? Ones that I feel need some kind of justification lmfao

Troy - something u must know about me is that I’m a giant slut for the Assassin’s Creed franchise, so if a movie smashes historical and mythological nonsense together with fun costumes and sword fights, I’m gonna enjoy myself. Even if they should have made Achilles and Patroclus gay. Other movies in this vein are King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, and Immortals (2011)

Gods of Egypt - I know all the reasons this movie is whitewashed bullshit. But it was already bullshit with giant Anubis mecha and giant snakes and bad acting and ridiculous CGI and frankly I had a blast at the cinema (my friend who I forced to come with me did not have a blast. Sorry H***)

Avatar - yes, the one with the big blue people. This movie gets a lot of flack nowadays but I really do enjoy it just for the spectacle. The full CGI world technology was so new at the time and I love to wallow in the visuals and daydream about riding a cool dragon around in the jungle

George of the Jungle - I’ll defend this movie to the death ok this movie shaped me as a person, it is fucking hilarious and Brendan Fraser is the himbo to end all himbos. It’s perfect. The song Dela is perfect. I still want to write a reddie AU about it. It’s one of the best movies ever made and I’m not being ironic

Set It Up - I KNOW this is a dumb Netflix original romcom but consider this; it was funny and the leads had great chemistry. I got butterflies. I once watched it and then literally immediately set it back to the start so I could watch it again

The Brady Bunch Movie - when people talk about great satires or parodies you will see them bring up the same movies over and over again, Blazing Saddles, This Is Spinal Tap etc, but they never talk about The Brady Bunch Movie from 1995 for some reason, which they should. It is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen and every time i watch it somehow it gets funnier

Some more general favourites that I do still love but don’t rewatch as often, and don’t wanna go into more detail about are:

Moon (2009), Crna Mačka Beli Mačor, The Sixth Sense, Parasite, The Handmaiden, Tremors, Wet Hot American Summer, Tucker and Dale vs Evil, What We Do In The Shadows, Hunt For the Wilderpeople, The Secret of My Success (I love kitschy 80s movies, is that obvious by now), The Green Mile, When Harry Met Sally, Rear Window, The Odd Couple, Breaking Away, Pan’s Labyrinth, To Kill A Mockingbird, The Eagle, Gladiator, The Artist, The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec, Call Me By Your Name, Master and Commander, Pacific Rim, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Legend (1985), Emma. (2020), Flash Gordon, Trolljegeren, Hross í Oss, Beverly Hills Cop, Coming to America, WarGames, District 9, Ajeossi (2010), Tracks (2013), Sightseers, Mud (2012), Pitch Black, Four Lions, Shaun of the Dead, Starship Troopers, The Truman Show, Withnail & I....... Jesus Christ ok I need to stop

NOTABLE EXTREME FAVOURITES that I didn’t include in the regular rewatch list because they’re too heavy/not as well known/require more attention.:

Thin Red Line (1998), Badlands (1973) both dir. Terrence Malick

Malick’s brand of dreamy impressionistic filmmaking is something I find really appealing, both of these movies are gorgeous and unusual and poignant and, in the case of Thin Red Line at least, have a lot of things to say about a lot of rough subjects. I don’t totally understand all those things sometimes, but a theme with a lot of my favourite movies is that I’ll be more likely to love something long-term if it raises unanswered questions, or is surreal/esoteric etc. Plus the cinematography is incredible, and I wish there was a way to get Jim Caviezel’s narration from The Thin Red Line as an audiobook because it’s very poetic and soothing.

Let the Bullets Fly (2010) dir. Jiang Wen

This movie is WILD, it’s so much fun. It’s sprawling and intricate and epic and smart and really fucking funny, it! Has! Everything! A gang of very tolerant outlaws!! Jiang Wen’s beautiful broad chest!!! Chow Yun Fat absolutely DECIMATING the scenery, and the two of them outsmarting each other in order to gain control of a small Chinese town!!! Plus it’s long, but it packs so much nonsense and intrigue that it goes by really fast. Wow what a flick

A Field in England (2013) dir. Ben Wheatley

I know I included this in my horror list but aaaaahhh ahhhh Wheatley is one of my favourite directors (he also made Sightseers, and is directing the Tomb Raider sequel which makes me absolutely rabid.) This is a surreal black-and-white psychological horror black comedy set in the English Civil War about some deserters who may or may not meet the Devil in a field. People eat mushrooms. It’s bonkers. I love being blasted in the face with imagery that I don’t understand

Mandy (2018) dir. Panos Cosmatos

Speaking of being blasted in the face!!!!! This movie... I saw it in the cinema and I can’t even begin to explain the experience, but I’ll try. My favourite review site described it like this:

“...somewhere between a prog album cover come to life and a metal album cover come to life, and subscribes to both genre's artistic tendency towards maximalism: what it ends up being is basically naught else but two glorious hours of being pounded by bold colors...”

So, prog and metal are my two favourite genres of music. This movie opens with the quote “When I die, bury me deep, lay two speakers at my feet, put some headphones on my head and rock and roll me when I'm dead.” and then a King Crimson song, it is SURREAL to the nth degree, it’s violent and bizarre and Nic Cage forges a giant silver axe to destroy demonic bikers and there is a CHAINSAW DUEL. A galaxy swirls above a quarry. Multiple animated horror nightmare sequences. At one point a man says “you exude a cosmic darkness” and releases a live tiger. At another point Cage says, in a digitally deepened voice, “The psychotic drowns where the mystic swims. You’re drowning. I’m swimming.” and I haven’t stopped thinking about it for two years

Paper Moon (1973) dir. Peter Bogdanovich

Really fantastic movie set in the Great Depression (and also in black & white) about a conman and a little kid who may or may not be his daughter, running cons across the Midwest. It’s beautifully shot, so sharp and sweet and the progression of their dynamic is really well done because they’re played by an IRL father and daughter. Tatum O’Neal was NINE YEARS OLD and she’s so amazing in this movie she’s actually the youngest person to win a competitive category Oscar. I keep trying to get people to watch this fbdjfjdbf it’s wonderful

Alpha (2018) dir. Albert Hughes

THIS MOVIE IS A VICTIM OF BAD MARKETING ok, the trailers made it look like some twee crappy sentimental Boy And His Dog Adventure, plus it had voiceovers in American-accented english? That’s a total disservice to one of the coolest things about this film; the fact that they got a linguist to construct an entirely original Neolithic language that all the characters speak for the entire runtime. And yes, it is eventually a Boy And His Wolf adventure, but it’s COOL and fairly brutal, and it has some really incredible cinematography. The landscapes are so strange and barren and alien, you really get the sense that this is an ancient world we no longer have any connection to. And it’s also about like, the birth of dog & human companionship sooo it’s perfect.

Free Solo (2018) dir. Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin

The Free Climbing Documentary. I loved climbing as a kid, I love outdoor sports, and I love movies that elicit a physical reaction in me, whether that’s horny, scared, real laughter, overwhelming shivers, or in the case of Free Solo - HORRIBLE SWEATING TENSION. Like, I knew about Alex Honnold beforehand because of this adventure film festival I go to every year and I followed him on IG so obviously I knew he lived, but the actual climb itself was torture. My hands sweat every time I see it!! It’s incredible, such a cool look into generally what the human body can do, and more specifically, why Honnold’s psychology and life means he’s so well suited to free soloing. It’s such an exercise in getting to know an individual and get invested in them, before they attempt something very potentially fatal.

Brokeback Mountain (2005) dir. Ang Lee

I can’t even talk about this. When I was around 13 I snuck downstairs to watch this on TV at 11pm in secret, and my life was forever changed. I wouldn’t be who I am if I hadn’t seen Brokeback at the age I did. I seriously can’t talk about this or I’ll write an even longer essay than this already is

God’s Own Country (2017) dir. Francis Lee

The antidote to Brokeback Mountain, I’m so glad I managed to see this one in the cinema too. It makes me cry every time, as someone who’s spent years working on a cold British farm with sheep it was very realistic, which is expected since Lee grew up on a farm in Yorkshire. I love that this movie isn’t really about being closeted, but about being so emotionally repressed and self-loathing that the main character finds it so hard to accept love. Or that he deserves to be loved. The cinnamontographies.... lordt... but also the intimacy and sex scenes are fucking searing wow who hasn’t seen this movie by now. 10 stars. 20 stars!!!

Tomboy (2011) dir. Céline Sciamma

I saw this years ago but I’ve never forgotten it, it cut so deep. It’s from the director of Portrait of a Lady on Fire and it’s about a gnc kid struggling with gender and misogyny and homophobia in a really raw, scrappy way, it reminded me very much of my own... childhood... ahh the central performance is amazing for such a young age. I haven’t seen Portrait yet but I feel like if you went nuts for that, you should definitely check this out, it’s lovely.

Donnie Darko (2001) dir. Richard Kelly

EVERY TIME I WATCH THIS MOVIE I UNDERSTAND LESS AND LESS and that’s what I love so much about it. I love surreal movies, I love time-fuckery and stuff about altered perception etc etc and Donnie Darko scratches all my itches. I wish I could find a way to figure out an IT AU for it, because I know it would work! Somehow! Plus it’s got the subdued 80s nostalgia and I found it at an age when I was really starting to explore movies and music and the soundtrack FUCKS.

Offside (2006) dir. Jafar Panahi

I wish more people knew about this!!! It’s an Iranian film about a disparate group of women and girls who are football fans and want to watch Iran’s qualifying match for the World Cup, but women aren’t allowed into the stadium, so they all get thrown into the Stadium Jail together? They don’t know each other beforehand, but it’s about their changing relationships with each other and the guards and just, their defiance alongside hearing the match from the outside and WOW it’s so lively. Great dialogue and very funny, and such a different kind of story from anything you usually see from Hollywood.

The Fall (2006) dir. Tarsem Singh

This movie... I guess it’s the ideal. This is the platonic ideal of a film for me, it has fantasy, magical realism, glorious visuals, amazing score and costumes and production design and a really interesting, heartbreaking relationship at the core of it. I don’t know why so many of my favourite films feature incredibly raw performances by child actors but this is another one, Catinca Untaru barely knew any English and improvised so much because of that, and it’s fascinating to watch! Also the dynamic with Lee Pace is one of my favourites, where a kid forms a friendship with a guardian figure who isn’t their parent, but the guardian grows to really care for them by the end. It’s like Paper Moon in that sense. What is there to even say about this movie, it’s pure magic joy tempered and countered by genuine gutwrenching emotional conflict in the real world, it’s also ABOUT old moviemaking, in a way, and it’s stunning to look at!

Mad Max Fury Road (2015) dir. George Miller

I know I included this in my “most rewatched” section but it deserves its own thing. We all know why this movie is fucking incredible. I remember clutching my armrests in the cinema and feeling like my skeleton was being blasted back into the seat behind me and tbh that is the high I’m constantly chasing when I go to see any movie. What a fucking gift this film is

Théo et Hugo dans le Même Bateau (2016) dir. Olivier Ducastel, Jacques Martineau

I only found this movie last year and it became an instant favourite. Initially I was just curious because I’d never seen a movie with unsimulated sex before, but it’s so much more than the 18 minute gay sex club orgy it opens with. No, not more than, AS WELL AS. The orgy is important because this movie is so candid and frank about sex and HIV treatment in the modern day, it was eye-opening. Another thing that really got me is that I’d never seen a real-time film before. It’s literally an hour and a half in the lives of these two men, their intense connection and conversation and conflict in the middle of the night in Paris, with some really nice night photography and just!!! Wow!!! AMAZING CHEMISTRY between the actors. This is such a gem if you’re comfortable with explicit sexual content.

Ok. This is already over 3k but film is obviously one of my ridiculous passions and I can and do talk about it for hours. I’ve been reading magazines about it for years, listening to podcasts and reading review blogs and recently, watching video essays on YouTube because the whole process is so interesting to me and I want to learn more!!

Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about the concept of valuing form over narrative. The idea that story can often come second to the deeper physical experience and emotional reaction that’s created by using ALL the elements of filmmaking and not just The Story, y’know? Whether that’s editing, shot composition, colour, the sound mix, the actors, how it should all be used to heighten the emotional state the script wants you to feel. And so, I think for a few years now this approach has been influencing the types of films I really, really love.

I think I love surreality and mind-bending magical realism in films specifically because the filmmakers have to use all those different tools to convey things that can be way too metaphysical for just... a script? I’m always chasing that physical response; if a movie can make me stop thinking “I wonder what it was like to set up that shot” and instead overwhelm that suspension of disbelief, if I can be terrified or woozy or crying for whatever reason, that’s what I’m looking for. That’s why I watch so many fuckin movies, and why I’ll always remember nights like seeing IT (2017) for giving me another favourite.

Thank you again for this question, I didn’t mean to go so overboard. Also there’s no way to do a readmore on tumblr mobile so apologies to anyone’s dashboard 😬

[ambivalent-anarchy]

Peter With A Southern Girlfriend - Headcanon

So we already know our little Peter is the sweetheart of all sweethearts, right?

But he's also a little shit at the same time somehow

But above all, he's a northerner.

And northerners LOVE to make fun of us southerners when they get the chance

(Alabama born and raised btw🤠)

Stereotypes

Stereotype #1 - Country folk are idiots and just overall clueless

First of all, FALSE. Second of all, FIGHT ME if you actually believe that.

Having to deal with Flash condescendingly asking you if you understand what he's saying or what the conversation's about literally every few seconds

"Yeah, hang on Penis Parker- [Y/N]! Did you get that? We're going to a party. A PAR-TY! P-A-R-T-Y! It's what you probably called a 'honkytonk' back in the south. Got it? A party!"

"...I've never once even used the word ''honkytonk', Flash."

^^crap like that🙄

Peter never hesitates to stand up for you when that happens.

That is, if MJ doesn't beat him to it.

"Shut up Flash, [Y/N] could probably talk circles around you!"

Boys automatically thinking that you're 'easy' the second they hear your accent

Every idiot basically just pissing Peter, MJ, and you all the off.

You having to calm Peter down so he won't fight someone and vice versa.

Stereotype #2 - Southerners are racist and nonprogressive

(Gosh man, stop generalizing people you guys)

Getting in an argument with Flash and him throwing unnecessary stuff in your face when he realizes he's losing

"Sorry [Y/N], but remember you guys lost the civil war."

(Bonus - if you're not white) "I literally would've been a slave too dude, so shut up."

Ned being slow to talk about some things with you at first because he doesn't know your views on them and couldn't help but assume some of them because you're southern

None of this with Peter though. Everything kinda flies over his head because controversy is the last thing on his mind at any time lol

Speech

It wasn't until you got to New York when you really realized how Southern you must be

It doesn't aggravate Peter when you say things in a way he doesn't understand, it actually just makes him laugh

"Wait, what did you just call that, [Y/N]?"

"What? The cement?"

"Oh my God haha yeah, is that how you guys say it down there?"

"Umm, how else are ya s'posed to say it?"

"It's the cement. Not the CEment. The emphasis is on the bottom half of the word, not the first."

"I don't know Peter, CEment sounds better to me... Hey MJ? Is it cement or CEment?"

"Umm obviously cement. What weirdo is out there saying CEment?"

"..."

"...oh."

Also, sometimes you'll be talking and Peter will have NO IDEA what you're saying

The last straw was when you were both shopping and you said:

"Hey babe, go get me the buggy."

"... the what?"

"The buggy."

"Uhhh... okay."

You ran off before he could ask you what this 'buggy' thing is

So flustered and confused Peter calls up Ned who then calls MJ who looks it up and oh wow it just means shopping cart

And Peter's all "WHY COULDN'T SHE HAVE JUST SAID THAT?!?!?!"

And MJ's like, "Peter.. you remember where your girlfriend is from don't you??"

He finally finds you in the store after a while

"What took you so long?"

"..I-i, uh, had to use the restroom.."

So the next day he literally buys a book entitled "Butter My Butt And Call Me A Biscuit! And Other Southern Sayings"

Dude actually studies it like he's studying for a test😂

Next time you say something like that, he'll be ready

He can never let you find the book though. He's not ready for that level of embarrassment😂😂😂

Peter sending you things like only in the south memes and being like, "do you understand this???"

Music

Now by no means do all southerners love country music. That's just a lie.

I mean, personally I love it, but that's just me lol

And it really does get hated on a lot but message me and I'll send you some total bops and bangers if ya want

Anywayssssss

Peter's totally one of those "I don't have a favorite genre, I just like GOOD music" and "I like ALL genres" people

LIES

Hardly anybody who says that really genuinely likes all types of music

"Hey Pete, wanna listen to my playlist?"

"Yeah sure."

"...[Y/N], what is this?"

"It's music, Pete."

".......oookay."

Peter Parker = not a big fan of country music

But he loves you, so he'll try to search and find some that he can tolerate

Or some that he even likes (gasp!)

Slow dancing in his room to "Tennessee Whiskey"

You teaching him how to square dance

He's surprisingly good at it!!

Accents

If there's one thing northerners love to make fun of southerners about, it's our accents

Even if you're accent's not strong, and it's more of a drawl, Peter will always catch it and he'll make sure you KNOW that he caught it

And he won't hesitate to answer you teasingly in his own crappy country accent

Don't ever get sleepy around him, cuz that's usually when accents or drawls are the strongest

He'll take videos and send them to every group chat he's in (including ones with the avengers)

Peter: Lol look at my girlfriend you guys her accent is so cute❤❤🤠

Rhodey: kid you do realize this group chat is for missions only right?

Peter: yeah but she's so cute tho

Stark: OK underoos, we get it. You love your girlfriend's accent. Now shut up and go masturbate about it why don't you?

Coming Home

Peter going to your hometown for the holidays is WILD

Cuz he wants to do anything and everything

It'll go one of three ways-

Peter realizes that's he's picked off more than he can chew and he REALLY can't handle southern life

Peter loves the whole thing despite him probably making a fool of himself the whole time

"Pete, you do realize that all southerners aren't the same, right?" (Because not everybody down here owns a farm, much less even seen a horse for that matter)

But let's talk about Peter Parker with southern life right now

Scared of EVERYTHING

Can't handle the bugs

Or the weather for that matter

Too scared to milk a cow

Can totally ride a horse but accidentally does something to make it mad and ends up having to swing away

After a while just really wants to stay inside the whole time😂

Is just overall a whole mess

Realizes that he really wasn't ready for all this, he just wanted the "cotton-eyed joe" aesthetic

But overall is just chill about everything and awed by the fact that you actually did all this cool stuff when you were little

In conclusion, southerners are awesome and you're missing out on quite the experience if you haven't met one😂😂

[argumate]

firebendinglemur said: The St. Louis police in the US just lost a big lawsuit for beating the shit out of one of their undercover cops during a civil disturbance

The day after the assault, Boone and Hays discussed it by text, with Hays writing that he’d told someone “the ass whooping can be explained. The camera thing can’t and we weren’t a part of that.”

Boone replies that he was “WAY more alright with what u and I did than what the others did! I don’t like that we put our hands on another cop, but the situation was a little (expletive) up, too, wasn’t JUST us.”

Hays then echoed that, adding that Hall “could’ve announced himself any time. And he wasn’t complying. The camera thing is just ignorant, nothing we all haven’t done and if it was a protester it wouldn’t be a problem at all.”

On Sept. 22, Boone writes that someone is trying to call Hall, apparently to arrange an apology.

Hays replies that he wanted to apologize “before someone gets in his ear and true (sic) to turn this into something more than it was.”

Boone replies, “EXACTLY! That’s my biggest fear now that it’s getting around. Somebody puts money or race in his ear and he listens for some reason and it’s over before we get to say a word.”

The indictment says the three thought Hall was a protester and assaulted him “while he was compliant and not posing a physical threat to anyone.” All four officers were working protest duty on the “Civil Disobedience Team,” and several had exchanged electronic messages before and after the arrest expressing “disdain” for protesters and “excitement about using unjustified force against them and going undetected while doing so.”

TEXTS:

The more the merrier!!! It’s gonna get IGNORANT tonight!! But it’s gonna be a lot of fun beating the hell out of these (expletive) once the sun goes down and nobody can tell us apart!!!!

I’m on (Sgt **’s) arrest team! Me and a BIG OL black dude r the guys that are hands on! No stick or shield….. just (expletive) people up when they don’t act right! …

That’s my dude today! Haha he’s basically a thug that’s on our side!!! It’s he and I that just grab (expletive) and toss em around

We really need these (expletive) to start acting up so we can have some fun

This (expletive) is crazy……. But it’s (expletive) AWESOME too! Except for cops getting hurt. People of the streets got (EXPLETIVE) UP! Lol

Just deployed to U city….. u will see the REAL POLICE come in and clear these (expletive) REAL QUICK. We ain’t (expletive) w them tonight.

Yeah. A lot of cops gettin hurt, but it’s still a blast beating people that deserve it. And I’m not one of the people hurt, so I’m still enjoying each night….

Did everyone see the protesters getting (EXPLETIVE) UP in the galleria???? That was awesome!

Remember we are in south city. They support us but also cameras. So make sure you have an old white dude as a witness.

[purkinje-effect]

The Anatomy of Melancholy, 59

Table of Contents. Second Instar, Chapter 26. Go to previous. Go to next. TW: Body horror, nightmare sequence, unreality, incongruous chronology. Self-absorbed.

Lol, we haven’t had a flashback episode yet in Second Instar, have we? Have fun, ‘cause ‘Choly’s not. In the future this becomes another installment in ‘Choly’s Rexford Press Originals. (:

_________________________________

As he muddled through prescription fulfillment, Carey looked over his shoulder yet again. He saw the customer he anticipated finally entered the drugstore, and hastily finished up his current order. The thirty-some man he’d called earlier that morning had dusty blond side-parted hair, and stood as short as Carey, but seemed more sawed off than grown that way. Owing to the nature of the medication, as the head chemist, only he could take the customer. He pulled the pencil box size prescription carton from the cage, and confirmed it did in fact indicate it was for ‘Sal Mendez.’ He watched Angel busying itself in the front end straightening aisles, and waited until Sal was next in line before hopping onto the other register to wave him over. Mentally unable to set down the box on the counter, he kept it in both hands.

“Apologies, again, Mister Mendez, how it took weeks to get this filled. Calmex is one of the most rationed chems in the country at the moment.”

“I know. I know. But it. I talked to my doc.” Sal frowned to himself, and repeatedly smoothed at his short sleeve silk button down shirt as he eyed the various hard candies at the front counter at length. He eventually looked up at his chemist with a crumpled resignation. “The Milque wasn’t cutting it. You... you sure you don’t need it more? You look peaked, Doc.”

Carey glanced down, at the lab coat tossed over his favorite ochre jumpsuit, the cobalt scarf tucked like a cravat into his collar, and his navy oxfords. He lingered on the unfamiliar braces on both wrists and both ankles, but readily dismissed their explanation as unimportant. What mattered was that he didn’t look the part of his vocation, and a head chemist had to command reassurance and reliability. It was one thing to be haggard, but another altogether if he looked it. Well, that just wouldn’t do! He thought to what Hawthorne could usually put his hands on pretty quick, and weighed his choices against what he thought Sal might find most useful. With a big, wide grin, he straightened and patted at the Milquetoast display on the counter.

“Milquetoast is completely and totally safe. Fantastic for insomnia, shakes and nerves, headaches, nausea, you name it. But... I wouldn’t recommend using it alongside this prescription. Or with alcohol, were you to have access to any.” He leaned in and turned off his customer service voice, to discuss the consultation more privately. “I’ll see what I can do about getting you some Day Tripper, if you can water me down. I’ll even take moonshine at this point, Sal. Between you and me, I thought I was done having this war effort kill me inside-out.”

Sal’s jaw dropped a moment before he, too, leaned in with a nervous smile.

“For you, Mister Carey, I will find you something very nice. Really, though. Should I be worried? To take this? My doctor said it’s tranquilizer. She explained it all to me, but that was weeks ago...”

“Alan!”

Gretchen Nordstern didn’t seem all that gangling from where she sat on the far counter in a Peter Pan collar tea dress with the confidence to match a pair of trousers, chewing a lit cigarillo and taking notes against her lap with the phone receiver wedged between her shoulder and cheek. Her low, dark bun wore a colorful crocheted snood.

“You’ve spent half an hour with that client.” She didn’t have to look up to impose, waving him off with her free hand. “Let Mary and Trudy handle front end already.”

Carey hemmed a spell, unsure how that could be true. But he didn’t want to question his boss. He stared off in her direction as he addressed Sal.

“I, I’m sorry, Mister Mendez. I’ve got others to see to. If you’ve any questions...”

When he turned to his customer, he trailed off. Sal had vanished.

Gretchen shoved into his hands a letterhead with a handful of scripts. He stuttered, glancing it over. Med-X. Clarimentin. Immunoluxe. His eyes glazed over the usual orders until he encountered the words Psycho (Cyclomorphine Chloride). His heart hiccuped, and his eyes briefly lost focus.

“Wh-- Gretchen, please. Please. Please tell me this is some kind of-- How did this-- How did-- It’s on the--” He cleared his throat and whet his lips, but it didn’t help. He shakily pointed to the line on her invoice. “How is this on the market, ma’am.”

“Don’t be such a worrywort. It’s government approved. It underwent rigorous testing before it hit the market. What could possibly be wrong with the stuff!”

He couldn’t argue without breaching military confidentiality. Walden Drugs had to make ends meet somehow, right? And if whoever was getting the Psycho had a prescription for it, at the very least they’d be taking it under a physician’s supervision. He knew the dwindling prescription numbers didn’t mean people weren’t getting sick or injured less often: it meant more people were dying. Between the malcontent of the Canadian annexation, the endless crisis against the Chinese causing the deepest economic depression the country had ever suffered, and the mounting volume of riots taking place on home soil, the United States teetered on a second Civil War. And yet, these factors didn’t explicate in his mind why people had begun to drop like flies as of late.

Usually hear from Jacob by now.

He frowned as he dialed the Lexington branch to call in the Psycho prescription order, and got to completing the invoice Gretchen had given him. He and Jacob had planned that morning to have lunch together at the malt shop. He decided to go check on him and Sal. He hung up his lab coat in the mudroom, and waved to his coworkers to let the two ladies know he’d be stepping out.

“Angel, I’m going on break.”

“Right along, then, Sir!”

The Mister Handy followed at his side.

He popped his head into the small bed and breakfast across the way, wedged between the Wright’s Inn at the corner opposite the drugstore, and the bookstore further down. When he didn’t see Sal, he approached the check-in and asked after him of the young attendant in a chignon and sheath dress. She indicated no one had seen him since the morning. He declined her offer to take a message for him, shook his head, thanked her, and left.

It sat uneasy with him, but he chalked it up to still feeling awful about the local call for cyclomorphine. Nothing that he wanted as far away from him as possible ever stayed very far away for long.

Once a Pick-R-Up passed, he jaywalked with Angel to the hardware store at the corner. Only a few customers loitered, some genuinely lost without advice from an employee, others genuinely considering unattended theft. He got to the foot of the employees-only stairwell, but stopped short of scaling it. His gut quivered.

“Angel, be a dear. Pop up and see if you can find Jacob.”

“Certainly!” It came back quickly. “Not a soul on the roof, Sir.”

He frowned and gestured that they leave. His leg felt tight and stiff, but he shrugged it off.

Hm. Was I limping earlier? No, I’ve had this limp a long time already.

On his way back down the street, Carey glanced in the windows of the malt shop. Jacob wasn’t there either, nor Sal. Jacob’s car was still parked outside the hardware store. The repairman was disinclined to go anywhere on foot all that much if he could avoid it, so Carey doubted his roommate had gone home for lunch without saying anything about it. He gave up on the idea of malt shop food, as he preferred to share it. Instead, he sat down across the street from the drugstore, on the Wright’s Inn’s spacious porch, with a Nuka Cherry from their vending machine and an order of three arancini from Piretti’s Bakery. Sometimes the texture of the rice balls reminded him of ezhiki, and he got a bit homesick.

I should just stick to Melancholia. There’s only one flavor of toska to it.

He noticed the construction sounds in front of the municipal plutonium well had ceased. He glanced up with his mouth full to see there were no workers in the street. He supposed it was their lunchtime, too. When he finished eating, he required Angel’s help to stand again.

Am I starting to feel my age, or am I just that full?

He returned to work. Once he had on his coat again and come back out to the front end, he saw some kids poorly picking the lock on the adult care case. He side-eyed Angel, who handed him the keys. Spinning the wrist coil on a finger, he strolled up with confidence that belied his limp.

“Hey there, gentlemen! Looking to buy some No-Gesta today, I see. A fine choice in preventative care!”

The boys sputtered in embarrassment at being caught trying to shoplift. Angel simply hovered behind them to cut off their back escape route out of the drugstore, while Carey withdrew an entire case of product. They followed the veteran in service uniform speechlessly to the counter. The older one scrambled through his pockets along the way, desperate to figure out if he even had enough to buy what they’d intended to steal.

“I’ll tell you what!” the chemist announced--in his stress of recognizing he’d put on the wrong white coat, a little too loudly--though they seemed largely alone all the same. “They’re usually fifteen dollars each, but if you buy six, I’ll give ‘em to you for seventy-five.”

“Gee, that’s awful generous of you,” the older one started, urging the younger one to play along, so as to curb the possibility Carey might call the police on them. “Bruce, you wanna go in on this with me fifty-fifty?”

“Only if that’s the only thing-- never mind. Lemme count how much I got.” He produced a fistful of wadded papers Carey could tell weren’t money. “I’ve got twenty-eight bucks. What about you, Jeb?”

“Thirteen. Awful.”

Carey smiled with a twisted, cool benevolence as he set two out of the case and nudged what was left toward the boys.

“How about just four, then. Hm?” He wagged an eyebrow and held out his upturned palm expectantly. They uncertainly exchanged all their cash for the prophylactic kits with entendred packaging which resembled an exclamation point but reminded of something else entirely. He tucked them into a paper bag and folded it off lackadaisically, then handed it to them. “Off you are, then!”

Mary walked up soon after he shooed off the boys. The older squared, thick woman, in a pencil dress and cardigan, held a hand to her mouth to hush herself, aghast.

“You sold No-Gesta to some high schoolers?”

“You’d rather they have stolen it?” He shrugged at her. “Age means nothing whether someone needs that sort of care. They’ll copulate, whether or not they can get things like No-Gesta--and wouldn’t you rather they did so safely?” He tucked the vaguely paper-like wad into the register, and his glasses dipped off his nose, caught from falling by his eyeglass chain. “Besides, a sale’s a sale, and customers get scarce.”

Why haven’t I been more worried where everybody’s gotten off to?

He looked out to find Jacob’s car had been left, abandoned and askew, run up onto the sidewalk. Like it was, morning of the bombs. The cognitive disconnect insisted he had no idea what he could have meant. He slipped his glasses back in place.

“Hey, Angel...” He cleared his throat. “Have you-- Have you seen Jacob?”

“What a silly question, Sir! Just look down!”

He did, and succumbed to fever, short breath, and sweats. His legs writhed, granular, tumescent, and grotesque, more like a filariasis than the countless bodies he knew comprised them. The tightness and swelling paralyzed him from the waist down, and kept him upright in substitute of bones or any meaningful ligature. He identified Duchesne among the clumped, corpuscular rivulets, and choked up.

He looked up. Gretchen, Mary, and Trudy were nowhere to be seen.

He didn’t have to look down again to understand he’d soaked them up as well. He dry heaved, to no effect. Desperate to reach help from someone, anyone, he tried to walk to the phone at the other end of the counter, only to fall after a single step. And he continued falling, into himself, having become an infinite labyrinth of flesh, a Klein bottle of grief.

Concord’s empty because I subsumed everyone. He cried, slipping through narrow, trembling corridors of sopping tissue. I’m the sole survivor of Vault 111 because I stole survival opportunity from them all. I stole this from my customers and coworkers. From my neighbors. From Jacob. Everyone gave their lives, so I could keep living.

And for what!

Go to Next »»»

[hackedmotionsensors]

Here we go Endgame lets talk about it! 

BELOW THE CUT

So I’ll say this!!! Over all!!! I liked it a lot. For a lot of reasons.

I also HAAAATTTEEEEEEEDDDDDDDDD a lot of some of the choices. That’s okay. We can have mixed feelings about movies especially the end of a saga. I think they did a good job of getting nods where they needed nods, bringing in storylines from previous movies and conversations that needed to happen.

And they fucking whiffed it on at least THREE REALLY IMPORTANT THINGS!!!

So lets start with what I liked.

1) STEVE TONY EVENT. DO YOU HEAR ME IT WAS A STEVE TONY EVENT  aaaah oh my god. From the second Tony lands back on the planet and Steve RUNS to him before even Pepper and he’s holding him and just the look of agony as Pepper takes him away and the fight where Tony says ALL THE SHIT WE HAD BEEN SAYING!!!! WHERE WERE YOU! YOU LIAR!!! and he RIPS HIS HEART OFF OF HIS CHEST AND GIVES IT TO STEVE BECAUSE YOU FUCKING BROKE HIS HEART YOU FUCKING FUCKED UP STEVE!!!!! FUCKK!!!! And then reconciling because “Resentment is corrosive” UGHHH!!! And Steve just barely containing himself when Tony shows up ughh!! UGHHH!!!!!!! AND THE ASS JOKE!!! THERE’S NO HETEROSEXUAL EXPLANATION ABOUT THAT!!!! TONY SAW STEVES ASS AND WAS LIKE TAN FRANCED IT LIKE BITCH YOU NEED AN FRENCH TUCK OF MY DING DONG IN YOUR BUTT!!! and Steve over the intercom being like “omg tony not in front of the kids” AND A STEVETONY SOLO MISSION!!!!!! 

A STEVE TONY...

SOLO

MISSION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TONY CALLING STEVE MY MAN  WOW. WOW. FUCKING EXCELLENT ON ALL ACCOUNTS THANKS SO MUCH!! I was given some bread thank you I will eat this stevetony bread nom nom nom nom nom.

2) Tony’s arc in this story was really beautiful. He finally got what he wanted, some perspective and closure with Howard. And I know initially you want to go “Hey Howard was really abusive” and yeah he was. But its complicated. Because Tony even says in Homecoming he was trying to break the cycle of abuse and he DID with Peter and Morgan. You can see just HOW MUCH he cares for his daughter and he was willing to say fuck you to the UNIVERSE in favor of not losing her. Its always a different perspective when you see your parents as people and not as YOUR PARENTS. 

Also Tony lying on the table with Natasha UuU. A lot of the interactions with Tony and the other characters were so good. Tony and Rocket. Tony and Nebula. Tony and Carol (tho brief). Tony arguing with Pierce like his little gay senses were like “This guys a nazi I bet”

3) I genuinely liked the Time Heist. I DID  NOT LIKE THE RULES OF TIME TRAVEL IN THIS MOVIE BUT I’LL GET TO THAT. But I looooved the Time Heist. From the New York stuff with Steve fighting Steve and knowing his dumbass loses his shit when he hears things like “Bucky’s still alive” and being done with his own stupid shit “I can do this all day” “YEAH I KNOW” (which btw at this point was basically the last thing he said to Tony in Civil War so maybe that doesn’t have its plucky little fire anymore and now is a sore spot). I loved Loki running away with the Space Stone (even tho as of now I’m still not sure what the FUCK THAT MEANS!? more on that in a sec) Loki making fun of Cap. Loki rolling his eyes at Odin. Tony dressed in a shield outfit screaming Medic!!! The gang all on the elevator and Hulk screaming about it and LOKI WAVING HIS HAND AT THE HULK AS THE DOORS SHUT!! TONY SITTING ON THE BRIEFCASE! SCOTT GOING “how the FUCK did you not know they were Hydra LOOK AT THEM They’re a COP!” Then jumping forward to the 70s and Steve’s legs that went all the way up to his asshole and Tony dressed as a doctor

I drew a doodle of it here you go lol I’ll post it properly later

oh did this not happen? Idk what movie you were watching.

4) The big battle at the end was SO FUCKING COMIC BOOK I WAS LOSING IT. Also I keep calling it the Battle of Five Armies or Return of the King lol T’challa BATHED IN A HALO OF LIGHT LIKE YES WE STAN A KING. MY WIFE

MY.

WIFE!!!!!!!!

VALKYRIE!!! ON HER BEAUTIFUL WHITE HORSE!!!! (also not being given an actual name and called Valkyrie is the funniest goddamn thing. Like that’s like going into a Footlocker and talking to the manager but calling them Manager)

CAROL!!!!!! WITH HER BUTCH ASS HAIRCUT PUNCHING THANOS IN THE MOUTH AND WRECKING HIS SHIT

WANDA FINALLY FUCKING FLYING. LIKE. F L Y I N G. THAT is what the Scarlet Witch is SUPPOSED TO DO!! SHE’S SUPPOSED TO BE SO POWERFUL IT TOOK EVERYONE TO TAKE HER DOWN CMON!!!!!! And she almost got him too. Honestly if it were down to Carol and Wanda they probably could have ended Thanos alone. 

Korg coming back for more comic relief AND PUTTING HIM IN TAIKA’S PINEAPPLE ONESIE!!!! ARE YOU KIDDING.

5) This is controversial. And I know it won’t age well. And that’s okay and feel free to disagree with me entirely. 

But I liked Fat Thor lmfao. I know it was played as a joke for the wrong reasons but I laughed. I was like fuck yes his belly looks like mine and that’s not why it was funny and it SHOULDN’T BE but I laughed lol. But on the other hand I think it had partially to do with Hemsworth constantly being like “no no we don’t need a shirtless scene” or just sort of a gag at how Marvel always has a shirtless scene and its just kind of funny to have it not be someone cut. EVEN THOUGH its a fat suit and I can’t take off my fat suit but Hemmy can and that’s kinda shitty. 

but I laughed. I can’t help it. He was a whole ass mess and I thought it was funny. And I know there are Thor fans out there who wanted more for him but like I said before this was a SteveTony event. This movie and this win worked because it was Steve and Tony finally coming together again.

It felt honestly the most comic book Avengers of the entire series. 

And true to comic book events

it whiffed the landing.

Before I get into dislikes I’ll say that I liked this movie more than I disliked it. I cried H A R D at the end of the movie. Because its not a movie that’s an on its own kind of movie. You had to have gone through the journey to get here. The pay off is completely lost if you only watch this movie. Or you only watch one or two of the MCU. Or if you’re like a few people I’ve talked to where they only like Steve and Tony. Or they only like Thor and Loki. Or they only like the Guardians and hate the avengers. If you have hate in your heart for any of these characters the payoff of this movie is pretty much lost.

The theme of this movie is clearly about moving on when things come to an end. When things stop or end or we lose people we love you have to move on. Steve says that at the beginning of the movie to our apparent gay representative straight director Joe Russo.

But like Tony said before.

Steve’s a fucking liar lmfao

But lets not start there. Lets start with the fucking timeline.

I hate.

I H A  T E EEEEEEEEE TIME TRAVEL!!!!!! AS A PLOT!!!!!!! WITHOUT ANY RULES!!!!!!!!!

I enjoyed what we SAW of the Time travel but the rules itself DIDN’T MAKE ANY FUCKING SENSE.

So when they’re suiting up Hawkeye for the test run Bruce explicitly says that all these movies that say “if you go into the past and fuck up the past you fuck up the timeline and the present/future is fucked because you’ve changed things”

ARE WRONG. HE SAYS THEY ARE WRONG. He says “If you go into the past. The past becomes your present. But the present then becomes your future. So you can’t go back and un fuck your parents to make you. Or kill baby Thanos. because that happened and you can’t change that but you can change youre present”

WHICH DOESN’T

MAKE ANY

FUCKING

SENSE. BECAUSE THEN YOU AREN”T TIME TRAVELING!!!!!!!!! 

If you go into the past yes YOU are in your present but the world is still being written around you STILL so you go into the past and change something (loki making off with the space stone) that’s CHANGED. You’ve created a new reality.

THEY EXPLICITLY SAY THIS IN DOCTOR STRANGE AND Y’ALL I KNOW DOCTOR STRANGE WAS BORING AS HELL BUT IF YOU’RE GOING TO USE TIME TRAVEL AS YOUR STORY DEVICE THEN YOU CAN’T SAY THAT SHIT IN DOCTOR STRANGE DOESN’T WORK WHEN YOU’VE ESTABLISHED IT AS THE RULES OF TIME TRAVEL.

THE ANCIENT ONE EVEN SAYS “you create a new reality. And it fucks shit up”

LIKE!?!?!??!

WHAT THE HELL!!!

So now Loki has the time Stone in reality B, in reality A Steve goes back and puts the stones back where they belong (and I guess.....gives the soul stone to Red Skull????????? wouldn’t you try to get Natasha back????like that itself is a whole movie of Steve going back and putting things away but ??????) 

And then we get to the end of the movie where Steve says Fuck you to Peggy’s reality A family and now on this timeline where they’ve time traveled he lived an entire life WITH Peggy but like.......you were Captain America and you just said “No don’t worry about JFK being assassinated. Or the Civil Rights movement. Or stopping Bucky in any capacity. Or maybe saving MLK. Or Peggy continuing to join SHIELD. Or stopping ACTUAL NAZIS from infiltrating SHIELD.

Because if you go with this idea that Steve went back and “lived a life” What did he DO then. What did he FUCKING. DO?

You’re not Steve from 1940s going back to 1940s. You’re Steve form 2019 going back to 1940s. No wifi. No medicine. No cell phones? Gays are still being persecuted. You can’t drink from the same fountain as black people (or rather they can’t drink from your white fountain). 

You are.

CAPTAIN.

AMERICA.

and you just said nah fuck it its fine? This shit can all happen but I don’t super care because I get to dance with Peggy. Peggy who on her own had this whole life. Who did all this stuff IN YOUR NAME IN YOUR HONOR. Who married someone else. Who had a FAMILY. Who had a NIECE that you made out with. And just..... wha....

Like if he had gone back and danced with her but came back with Natasha in exchange for the soul stone but during his travels had aged. Or met someone else.

Like movie wise and story wise I get wrapping up Steve’s story. And maybe the person Peggy is talking about in the video of her in TWS is actually Steve from 2019. Maybe that’s it. But it still doesn’t make sense because they FUCKED UP THE RULES OF TIME TRAVEL SO WHO THE FUCK KNOWS.

So. lol I wasn’t a huge fan of Steve at the end of the movie. I know they needed to do something to end the movie with a finality. With Steve being DONE. But instead of finality or closure I just have so many goddamn questions. And I don’t hold it against Evans or even really the directors per say. But I’ll blame Markus and McFeely because they were writing since TWS. They HAD the Cap STORYLINE to write about and that was how they ended it.

its like when you pack for a very important trip and you plan out all your outfits but then wake up late and end up throwing whatever you can find into your suitcase and run out the door.

It felt final and not final.

But I’ll tell you this. From my perspective and obviously I’m going to skew it this way because its me and FEEL FREE to disagree with me.

He left because Tony and Natasha were dead. The two people that he felt the closest to (sorry Sam, Bucky and Sharon [who we didn’t even see as dusted wow]) were gone. Natasha and Steve had become a brother and sister. He would always come back for her clearly. Trying to cheer her up as she’s crying. Natasha understanding Steve’s feeling of being lost. Tony inspiring and fighting with Steve. Like that’s part of what I liked about this is taht you could really feel how Steve and Tony needed each other for this to work but also they needed to not hate each other. 

Also I kinda knew the second Scott said “That’s a one way trip!!” before the 70s bit that Steve was going to stay in the past lol What an asshole.

Also I don���t think it was very UN-Captain America because I think people don’t always realize that a lot of the inspo for the MCU came ALSO from Ultimates. And if Ults Cap was able to go back to the past he would have in a heartbeat. Who was a more depressed Cap? Ults or MCU? I just don’t know.

Now.

Natasha.

This was another one I kind of saw coming from a mile away as soon as it was just the two of them on Vormir. I was kind of hoping they’d Hawkeye a way out of the deal by like throwing his daughters picture or something like that. Or that it would be Hawkeye. But they both had an upcoming movie/series so I didn’t know which way it went.

And then there was that big jump. And I was like oh my god they did it right

AND THEN THEY FUCKING DIDN’T.

Wow. Wowwwwwwwwww

Markus and McFeely 

REALLY DID THAT

THE RUSSO BROTHERS REALLY DID THAT

THEY DID THE SAME FUCKING SCENE TWICE.

The first time you get because Thanos is a dick and abusive and he would absolutely throw his favorite daughter into the soul pit (which I guess Isn’t picky because she didn’t love him back she hated him but I guess its a one way street with the ol’ soul stone)

And they don’t say during that one (far as I remember) that its a permanent exchange. 

But they sure emphasized this time. And they sure killed the original avenger who was the only girl on the team. Who never got a chance to live.

Who Whedon made herself call heself a monster because she can’t have a family and then she gets a found family and then SHE DIES. THEY KILL HER. AFTER HAVING A FAMILY.

WHAT THE FUCK. Like...my problems with Scarjo aside (which are similar with my problems with Paltrow) You DID. BLACK. WIDOW. FUCKING. DIRTY. I don’t care that there’s a movie coming out that was her story. You were supposed to give her a fucking story. And now her story is only how she relates to her TEAM OF MEN.

And now to my last point that I didn’t like. And I don’t hate this one as much as Steve’s ending or Natasha’s ending.

I don’t like that Tony died. I know this is wrapped up in a lot of emotions I have about Tony Stark the character. Robert Downey Jr the person. Tony Stark the character in all his forms is very important to me and I love that he has many forms. 616, Ults, AvAc, Avengers Assemble, the MCU. But his story is important to me. And its heartbreaking. I’m tearing up a bit now writing this out. 

I’m just the type of person that hates that a character, in a fantasy setting where you have wizards, valkyries, robots, talking raccoons and trees, Dave Bautista, a giant green rage monster wearing chinos, that you have to take this one part and make it realistic. That we have to keep realism kill this character off because it doesn’t make sense if someone doesn’t die. Because the stakes aren’t high if you don’t make them personal as well.

Which is true like you don’t have high stakes (the planet or universe getting dusted) if you don’t are about some of the people in that universe personally.

I just would have rather he had retired. Moved onto his little farm with Pepper and Morgan.

I think they did right by Tony. Storywise, ending...all the stuff the dropped the fucking ball on with Natasha and Steve they gave to Tony. And on one hand I get it and I appreciate that because (sorry to nat and steve fans truly) I care more about Tony. Tony started this whole thing. In a miracle of accidents they got the right actor, the right story, the right character, the right director, the right timing technology wise, the right social mood and made solid gold. And none of this would have happened if it weren’t for that amazing accident that happened.

And I think it has more to do with not wanting to let go or move on even though i can always go back to Iron Man 1 at any point and start the journey over again and have a laugh but there’s always going to be that ending where its final. Its done. Its over. And in the simplest of terms. I don’t like it. You have to know when to bow out and I respect and appreciate that. I don’t wanna see Iron Man 8 with geriatric old RDJ trying to fumble into a mocap suit.

I understand. I appreciate. But I don’t have to like it as a person. And that’s okay.

Its all about moving on isn’t it? That’s the theme of the movie. Moving on.

Even if you’re steve and your moving on wipes out the existance of a whole other family lmfaaoidnsfasfada sorry sorry. 

Okay. yeah that’s all I think I can think of. I’m sure there’s a ton more other people have mentioned aside from what I wrote. Like its a LONG movie and I think its hard to say hey “they fucked this up” or “they got this right” for EVERY SINGLE THING. There were so many characters. Nebula’s story could have been better. Thor’s story could have been more involved. Hawkeye could have been more important throughout the series. Janet could have come back for the final fight and healed Tony. Like there’s a ton of “this COULD have happened” But it didn’t. And that’s okay. It may not be right but its okay. I think they wrapped it up as best you could while still making a good movie. I think you probably can go back after a long while and look at the Endgame and go yeah that wasn’t so bad for an ending. Endings are hard to do with any sort of skill. Its why the joke that the third movie always sucks. 

There’s still a ton of stuff to look forward to.

Falcon/Winter Soldier, Loki, Hawkeye, Wanda and Vision (i GUESS??? lol), Black Widow’s movie. 

Maybe Steve solved more than he let on who knows. WHO KNOWS. Maybe Mjolnir left him haflway through the journey when she knew he was going to ditch his 2019 family (who again....mostly dead now)

I love Tony 3000. Which I found out is more than a ton which makes Morgan Stark a lot smarter than I am lmfao

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

@dykeofwellington

#he’s no better than any other politician

#and is indeed actively worse than quite a few

#politics

#us politics I am curious as to why you think he’s actively worse than someone like Steyer, or Tulsi Gabbard, or simply in general. Why do you feel he’s actively worse than the rest? I would also love to know who you think is the best choice out of the lot? and you’re reasoning behind that?

--

Hey for some reason I can’t reblog the post where you asked the above about Bernie. I’m going to give a very brief rundown of thoughts. 

First, let’s clear up some rather broad, assumptions made: 

am curious as to why you think he’s actively worse than someone like Steyer, or Tulsi Gabbard, or simply in general. / Why do you feel he’s actively worse than the rest?

I never said any politician’s name. Just a general indication that he’s worse than a few. I think it’s interesting you assumed I meant those two and not that he’s worse than, let’s say, Julian Castro. 

I clearly said “no better than any other politician” which puts him on equal footing with Warren etc. so this assumption: Why do you feel he’s actively worse than the rest? is unwarranted. 

What I was saying was basically - no better than e.g. Warren and worse than quite a few e.g. Castro, Clinton (I know, come fight me leftists who drank the almost 30 years of GOP koolaid on her) etc. 

--

A quick rundown of issues I have with Bernie include, but are not limited to: 

Inability to deal with sexual harassment in his campaign in a meaningful way (he apologized and such, but there’s not to my eyes been a significant change)

General sexism in his campaign as well as sexism displayed by followers. He’s just got a sexism issue overall.

Lack of meaningful, recent civil rights record 

Unwilling to coalition build with colleagues in government (a profoundly necessary skill if you want to get anything done as president). Basically, he’s not a team player. We need team players. Team players is how DC works. (e.g. “Ms. Clinton, pointing out that Mr. Obama had to fight tooth-and-nail even for relatively centrist solutions such as the Affordable Care Act, draws the lesson that the next president must have a strong sense of practicality and realism; big rallies cannot wish away the complex politics of Congress. Mr. Sanders, by contrast, claims that Mr. Obama had insufficient revolutionary zeal.” Sanders’ view is not helpful nor realistic.) 

Lack of passing meaningful policy/legislation in his 25 years as senator which indicates an overall inability to solve issues within the existing system as well as a manifestation of the above mentioned inability to coalition build. While many senators propose many bills and pass few (that’s kind of par for the course) Sanders’ are particularly lack lustre. Of the seven enacted of which he was primary sponsor, three were designations (S. 885, H.J.Res. 231, S. 893) and one was a national park boundary movement (H.R. 1353). 

Bernie Sanders was the primary sponsor of seven bills that were enacted:

S. 885 (113th): A bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 35 Park Street in Danville, Vermont, as the “Thaddeus Stevens Post Office”.

S. 2782 (113th): A bill to amend title 36, United States Code, to improve the Federal charter for the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, and for other purposes

S. 893 (113th): Veterans’ Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2013H.R. 5245 (109th): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1 Marble Street in Fair Haven, Vermont, as the “Matthew Lyon Post Office Building”.

H.J.Res. 129 (104th): Granting the consent of Congress to the Vermont-New Hampshire Interstate Public Water Supply Compact.

H.R. 1353 (102nd): Entitled the “Taconic Mountains Protection Act of 1991”.

H.J.Res. 132 (102nd): To designate March 4, 1991, as “Vermont Bicentennial Day”.

Medicare for All: it’s an incredibly complicated thing to implement and I’m personally not convinced Sanders’ plan is the right approach, nor that it would pass congress when introduced. 

Weak stance on gun control and relationship with the NRA

Tendency to shout over and shut people down, especially those asking questions he doesn’t want to answer 

His lack of attempting to control his supporters - their misogyny and racism - are indicative of the kind of person running the campaign. These things rot from top down. 

How powerfully his ego influences his actions, especially in 2016 when it took Obama hauling him into the white house before he finally stepped down and stopped running 

That whole Russia murkiness

His continued view that the primaries are rigged when they aren’t, he just lost, is actively harmful 

He has, or has benefited from, super PACs (he has some direct PAC contributions, but it’s not a large amount. Most of his benefits from PACs come in other forms than direct contributions). 

So, this is not something I particularly care about overall, because running for president is expensive (which is a Problem), and it’s a current reality to campaign financing. But he made such a big deal out of it I take vindictive pleasure in him having them/benefitting from them because I can now corner Luke Savage at a mutual friend’s annual Christmas party and tell him to shove it up his arse. 

Support of Gabbard who is a bit of a Russian plant (not to mention a terrible candidate overall) 

He is old, he is white, he is straight, he is cis, he is male - we have the most diverse range of potential nominees and if we think he’s the Answer or Saviour there’s a lot of unpacking of internalized stuff that needs to happen. 

A personal thing, but I really, really dislike his shoutiness. He reminds me of every socialist bro who has shouted down women and other marginalized people at parties I’ve been to (I know quite a few Jacobin/Socialist hacks e.g. aforementioned Luke Savage who uses the Sanders Certified approach If You Shout Enough They Can’t Get A Word In Therefore You Win to conversations and debates) and it leaves my skin crawling. 

No policy to address the needs and interests of First Nations/Native Americans including living standards, water access, education, treaty rights, any sort of reconciliation and addressing the issue of colonialism and genocide etc. (I think Castro is the only one with anything addressing Native American needs)

Breach of Clinton’s campaign voter data. Super. Shady. 

Ultimately, I’m not an idealist because idealism doesn’t make for good policy. While I dislike the term leftist because it invokes, to my mind, the blind, unthinking frothing wrath of Bernie Bros(tm), I do have leftist goals. 

However, I am practical about the approach, which will almost always be incremental. It’s like building a house: you lay foundations before you start on the walls, roof and insulation. Bernie wants an instant house to appear out of no where. That’s not how life nor government, works.

This isn’t to say we shouldn’t push to improve things and make for a better world, a more just society. But the reality is: we have a system we must work within and so we need people who can do that effectively. That said, we can and should try to improve the system on the way, as well. But burning it down and starting from scratch is a pipe dream. Best lay it to the side and fight for things that can actually improve lives today. In the here and now. 

in the end, I don’t like Bernie Sanders because he is an old, shouty white man driven by ego who is crude, mean, and isn’t a real democrat. I think we can do better. 

My current list of choices for the Democratic nominee (which is open to change. It will depend on how debates play out and further policy details put forward by candidates): 

Julian Castro (I like his platform the most; he has experience in DC from the Obama administration; knows how to be a team player; he’s young, intelligent and well spoken; has that “presidential” look that many voters like to see, which you know. Makes sense. Mostly I like his platform and everything I’ve heard and read about him has been positive. He also runs a (mostly) positive campaign! Unlike Some Old White Shouty Men. I can go on.)

Kamala Harris (She has a good platform with sound policy plans; she has grit and stamina needed to run against Trump; She runs a positive campaign - even using her funding to support other democrats currently primarying republicans/are just up for general re-election; she’s a senator so has experience and allies in DC with whom she can coalition build; she’s a team player; she will give us a good shot in Florida and N. Carolina; she has strong support from Black Americans who are the base of the democratic party; as DA she fought against prop 22 and prop 8 [yes, she’s not perfect as DA or AG but point to someone with a perfect track record. I’ll wait. I’m not here for perfection or purity politics, I’m here for someone who can win and will implement descent policy while in power], she pioneered one of the first open data initiative to expose racism in the legal system, lol she’s not a millionaire unlike Some Old White Shouty Man - which is neither here nor there for me personally, because again I’m realistic, just a refreshing thing. I can go on.) 

Elizabeth Warren (I’m rather luke-warm on her but she’s better than the other options.)

My ideal ticket, currently, is: Harris/Castro. 

Again - this is open to change. And, at the end of the day, I will vote for the democratic nominee in 2020 no matter what because we can’t have another four years of Trump. 

[iamwhelmed]

Homesick: Chapter 8

THE FINAL CHAPTER!!!! Aside from the epilogue anyway lol I haven’t decided if I’m gonna make a sequel yet. I might, considering Red X is kind of a loose end here, but hey! Let a girl know if you guys want more! Maybe I’ll throw in some more Batfam, and we’d def get to meet BBRae’s baby :D

Summary:

Read it on AO3

Read it on Fanfiction.net

The doors to the common room slid open, and the rest of the titans turned as Starfire and Terra entered with arms full of bags. Robin smiled, Cyborg waved (“Hey, welcome back!”), Batgirl turned her entire body toward them as she leaned over the back of the couch. Raven glanced over her shoulder, one hand placed tentatively at her stomach. Her eyes, deep and tired but relieved (and at long last, happy), met Starfire’s and twinkled. Starfire smiled back.

“DUUUUDDDEE!!!” Beast Boy, who’d had Raven close enough to be practically sitting in his lap, grinned from pointy ear to pointy ear and leaped over the back and ran at Starfire. She went to greet him, but found he was grabbing her wrist and tugging her toward the couch before she could utter so much as a syllable. Starfire yelped and dropped her things, so Terra laughed and let the bags in her hands plop to the floor equally unceremoniously. Unpacking could wait. “Were you really working as a waitress? And you were good?”

When they reached the front of the couch, Beast Boy took a running head start and leaped at the seat next to Raven, who glowered at him as he hit the cushions and bounced. He grinned at her, wrapping an arm over her shoulders, not sorry, not at all. Starfire remained standing as Terra hopped over the other side of the couch to plop into the seat next to Cyborg, who gave her a welcoming fist bump. “Yes, that is true! Raven and I both took up the employment to earn our stay at the motel!” Raven visibly twitched.

“Wait wait wait,” Robin raised an eyebrow and looked at Raven, who’s expression had only soured as Beast Boy’s face lit up with peerless glee. Robin’s lopsided smirk was just as taunting, filled with curiosity and dancing with amusement. “You got a job? Doing what?”

Raven rolled her eyes. “Bookstore clerk.” Batgirl snorted.

“I have a hard time seeing you in a nametag.”

“I didn’t wear one.”

Everyone started talking. Starfire had tried to follow along, but the words melded into new topics and switched as different voices piped up and interrupted and tore civility apart. In a few seconds it was difficult to pull one conversation from another. Raven was trying to calm Beast Boy down as he pointed an accusing finger at Cyborg for-- something, Starfire wasn’t quite sure. Terra was laughing so hard she was holding her sides, falling over the side of the couch as Cyborg backed into her, away from Beast Boy. His unapologetic grin was towering over his smaller frame despite the vexation radiating off Beast Boy. Raven sat between both parties, lips in a thin, exasperated line. She was huffing and mediating but her veins were popping all the same; Starfire thought, on a shallow level, she may have wished to instead be in their quiet motel room, away from the chaos they’d once been so accustomed to.

Robin joined in egging Beast Boy on, much to the amusement of Batgirl. He leaned back into her when Beast Boy whipped around on him, and she matched Robin’s chuckle with every chiming sound. She wrapped her arms around Robin’s shoulders and she leaned over him to get a word in at Beast Boy’s jest, chest brushing against Robin’s back (Robin leaned into the embrace, seemed positively content). Beast Boy turned round and wagged a very angry, easier to scrutinize than heed, finger at her and Robin. They both laughed.

Starfire did not.

Raven’s eyes met her own after a moment, and Starfire realized that she’d probably read her, because her face, so obviously miffed from conversation, melted with sympathy. Starfire smiled and shook her head. Do not worry, she tried to tell Raven. I am just in need of time. She cleared her throat. “Friends,” the incessant arguing stopped, momentarily. She gave them her best everything is okay smile, her most convincing I am happy to be home and nothing is wrong eyes. “I am afraid I must retire to my room, as I have quite a bit of unpacking to do and I require the shower after my fight with Red X.”

“Wait, you fought Red X?” Cyborg scratched his head, exchanging a look with Robin, who’d silently cocked an eyebrow. “I thought y’all said he helped you?”

“He did,” Raven’s voice was its usual monotone, and she could tell the boys were settled by its familiar drone. It’d been awhile since they’d heard it, awhile since she’d been there to offer her calmer two-cents. “But not before straddling Starfire to the moistest part of the dock.” She shrugged, like what she said hadn’t phased her, but the downturn of her lips and the twitch in her eye said she was still peeved about the night before. Was it because she hadn’t been able to help? Was it because Red X had gotten the drop on them at all? Starfire wasn’t sure, but she nervously waved Raven’s boiling mood off.

Robin, however, was a larger handful.

“He WHAT?” Batgirl had climbed off of Robin’s back and pressed herself to the couch, concerned that touching him would give her third degree burns. Steam was boiling from his ears as his skin flared red. He was grinding his teeth, fingers clenching and unclenching, itching to punch a bad-guy that wasn’t actually there. He seemed to compose himself for a moment, steam simmering to a light cloud, though his skin remained a furious shade. “When you say straddled, you mean--?”

Raven raised an eyebrow, some part of her, the part that’d bonded like a schoolgirl with Starfire in their three months away, rejoiced, amused at the reaction. For a guy who’d knocked boots with another woman, he was awfully put-off. May as well test those boiling waters. “I mean that by the time I came back, I couldn’t tell if he was trying to fight her or--”

“WHOA!” Beast Boy put his hands up in defense, chuckling despite the anxious white of his eyes and the stress of his smile. “Let’s keep this PG-13, don’t want another baby on our hands, do we?” He placed the hand, the one that wasn’t already around Raven’s shoulders, where their child was, looking almost reverently at the small bump hiding under her loose-fitting maternity shirt.

Raven snorted.

Starfire tried, she really did, to fight the heat that was rising from her stomach to her eyeballs, but her face felt hot enough to scorch the very sun her power came from. She covered it with both her hands. “I am sorry! I must be going immediately!” She zoomed out of the common room, flying so fast that they’d all hardly realized she’d left. Robin’s head whipped around, following her, any trace of the boiling rage that had begun to seethe, resting to a dull gas.

Raven frowned. She’d gotten ahead of herself, let the other factors of her situation (their situation) go unresolved. Her problems had been reconciled-- most of them, anyway, not including the gender, the name, the baby shower, and the funds to raise her baby-- but Starfire’s weren’t. She’d still been cheated on, which would have been heartbreaking enough in a normal relationship, but living in close quarters with him, having to follow his every command in the heat of battle… that was going to be tough.

"Do you think he did?"

"...I do not think so, and I am starting to fear that I am correct."

Even without her abilities as an empath, she could feel that absolute loss, the ripping of a soul in two, because somebody she’d trusted-- with her heart, with her time, with her affection-- he’d betrayed her. And she was going to come home because she had no other excuse to stay away, not without her, not without their symbiotic turmoil. She’d been so relieved, so unequivocally happy that Beast Boy had sworn himself to her, that he wanted to raise their child together, that he wanted to be her partner and a parent and remain her lover-- she’d simply forgotten why she’d had company in her state of pandemonium in the first place. What a bad companion she was. Raven sighed and pressed her small hand to Beast Boy’s, squeezing his fingers reassuringly before pulling it from her swelling stomach. He blinked, not rejecting the behavior, but confused by it. “Rae?”

“I’m gonna go talk to her.”

“No.”

Robin, who had already pulled himself over the back of the couch, who had already set a clear path to the common room door, waved one commanding hand in her direction. It was the sign he used on a mission, the sign that said stand down, that’s an order. It demanded compliance, which Robin rarely stooped to when they weren’t on a battlefield. Though, Raven mused, maybe he felt like he was. His gait was stiff, military, and that aura could tower over nearly any enemy, despite his physical height. Terra shifted uncomfortably at the change in demeanor, and Batgirl winced almost knowingly. Cyborg and Beast Boy were unperturbed, though curious, and exchanged glances the way silenced students traded notes.

Had she not been an empath, she might have been just as lost. But Raven could read him, and though he’d need efforts that would be nothing short of heroic, he was intending to see Starfire as her boyfriend, not her leader. He exited the room with a mumble under his breath. “She and I have a lot of talking to do…”

Starfire ran her hands through her hair, untangling it as she went through each tuft. She hadn’t done it in awhile, taken his fingers to it instead of a brush. It was calming, feeling each silky strand pass between the creases of her palm like feathers. She could close her eyes, focus on the small knots and tangles, feel the release of each one with just a little bit of force from her hand. People didn’t bend that way, she wished she could make herself bend that way. It would be easier to force her feelings aside, push them so deep down that the weight of everything else she buried it under would make it snap, make it go away. She wished the right decision was easier to make, but then there would be no point. She was a hero, and heros did the right thing. She vaguely remembered asking (“Must we always be heroes?”), and she saw now that he’d been right, that the right thing, the hero thing, was engraved in her, and she could never really part with it.

“So, are you ready to talk?”

She’d only somewhat registered the door to her bedroom sliding open, but the voice shook her from her stupor much quicker. She didn’t turn to him. Instead, she continued to watch the rising sun as it set on the early hours of Jump City. Her foggy mind told her she should go to sleep, that she usually rose with the sun, that she didn’t usually fall as it went up. The rest of her body, though, it was too wired, alive with emotion, some good and some less kind, to fall asleep. She breathed in, then she breathed out. “Robin…”

The door shut, but she had a feeling he hadn’t left. A few moments later, she heard his footsteps approaching, so she said something. “I apologise for leaving without saying anything.”

It worked. He paused. “You really had me worried.”

“The letter Raven left told you we would return, did it not?”

“That doesn’t stop me from worrying.” He took a few more steps forward, until he was standing at the other side of her bed. She closed her eyes, hoped she wouldn’t feel his weight shift beside her where she sat, because she could not take it, could not take seeing him. Not when this was happening, not when she was fighting herself.

“Robin, do you know why I left with Raven?”

He was quiet, he was contemplating. She usually loved to watch him process, watch the wheels turn as the best detective she’d ever known worked, but not today. Maybe not for a long time. “Not certain. I was hoping you could tell me, but I had a couple theories.”

“Which were?”

“You’re the only other girl on the team, and you guys are pretty close. Pregnancy is a scary thing to go alone.”

There was a silence, reflecting, warm “....Partly.”

Robin shrugged that off and continued. “There was a Tamaranian threat of some kind? Something only Raven could help you with?” She shook her head. Robin laughed, not confidently-- nervously. “Yeah, you’re right, that was a bad one. Um,” he was skimming passed his mind’s folder of theories, she could practically see the manila folder in his hands as he scanned her profile. “You’re… pregnant… too?”

Starfire sucked her teeth, but otherwise refused to dignify him with a response. They hadn’t even participated in such an act together, how would she have been with child? No, he clearly didn’t mean that. He was joking, trying to lighten the mood. Her nose scrunched, but she took another deep breath and released it. She wasn’t here to start a fight, she was here to do what was right for Robin, and for her.

“Starfire--?”

“I understand that you have a special relationship with Batgirl, do you not?”

He seemed to choke, but he answered. “Uh, y-yeah, she’s--uh, she’s family.”

“I was not aware that family on Earth slept with so little garments.”

There came a fracture to the air. She’d taken the first chunk of ice with a pick, and it could only collapse from here. She’d be better for it afterwards, they both would. Even if it felt like that pick was taking pieces of her heart with it. “Uh, Starfire?”

“I am not mad at you, Robin… not anymore.” She began to fiddle with her fingers, letting them twist, letting them grace each other. They were still bruised, still a little red, but she could feel them again. They’d heal. “I am sorry, I should have said this sooner, but I did not have the confidence before.” She could feel her voice getting stronger. Less girl, more Tamaranian Princess. She could hide behind that wall for now. It would crumble when the deed was done, and she could mourn her loss in silence, in her solitary room. She had to hold on until then, press on, push just a little further past it--

“Starfire?” He got closer to her, was coming around the end of the bed, she could hear him. He didn’t sound nervous, no, she’d heard Robin nervous when they’d crashed on that planet, heard him desperate when they’d fallen through together, but this was something different, and she could not place it.

“I love you,” she breathed it, let it break passed the doors and fall into the open, like a wave of fresh air filled her lungs, like a weight she’d had on her chest had been lifted. It was the first time she’d said that, that either of them had said it to each other. She’d thought the implication had been enough, but it had not been, and now Robin stood frozen at her side. She kept her eyes on the sunrise, kept her fingers intermingling because if she stopped moving all at once she was sure she would die. She loved him. She loved him loved him loved him truly. And that would have to be enough. “And Robin, that is why I am letting you go.”

That seemed to thaw him, though his feet remained firmly where they were, no closer, no farther. “W-what? Starfire, what are you talking about? I don’t want you to let me go.” He reached a hand for her, but she turned away, so he retracted it. That tone was back, the tone from before, but it was far more present, persistent. It broke her heart to hear, and she couldn’t place why. “Starfire, please, tell me what’s going on. What is all of this about?”

“It is about what is right, Robin. You once told me that marrying my betrothed was not right for me. And Robin? I fear I am not right for you…”

“What? Where is this coming from? Why are you acting like you’re--youre--?”

“Doing the breaking up with you?” She looked at him then, met his eyes for the first time. He flinched. His eyes widened behind his mask, his fingers twitched uselessly at his sides, and he stuttered.

“Are you?”

She looked at her lap again. “Truthfully, I felt betrayed to find another woman in your bed, before you and I could even culminate the benefits of a romantic relationship. But she is not the evil witch of the wickedness that I thought she was. Batgirl is kind and beautiful and you are so comfortable around her and--!” She stopped herself. She could hear Raven’s voice in the back of her mind. You’re ranting. She breathed in, and breathed out. “I see the way you look at her. It is the way those who have mated look at each other on my home planet. It communicates a lifetime of perseverance and of companionship, but most of all, it communicates inimitable affection.” She shook her head, shut her eyes, tried to keep the stinging sensation at bay. Just a few moments longer. Her hands clenched painfully together in her lap. “Robin, I will not stand in your way if she is the one you truly desire.”

The bed bounced, and she could tell he’d taken a seat beside her. “Who I desire, huh?” She closed her eyes, imagining the pressure of his lips on hers, remembering the way he’d smiled at her and offered her a hand to dance at Kitten’s prom, remembering his arms around her as they braced for Raven’s destiny to swallow her whole, remembering seeing him alive and well and standing atop that hill with that grin she held so dear to her heart. She remembered all of it, let the good memories wash over her one last time before they became bittersweet to look upon. But it was okay, he would be happier after this. No more training sessions that turn into playful kisses on the workout mat. No more glances at each other that the others missed. No more fingers intertwining, no more of his gentle caresses and his adorably awkward date proposals or even his more confident, friendlier offers to grab some pizza and see a movie. She wouldn’t get to lace herself to his arm and hold him close anymore, and he wouldn’t smile knowingly at her when she squeezed. Her fingers knotted uncomfortably in her jeans, pinching her skin beneath. This was for the best, this was for Robin. She nearly missed what he said when he finally spoke.

“She was hurt.” His voice was neutral, betrayed nothing about what he was feeling, though she had many guesses, only a few of which she hoped for. The rest were closer to reality (relief, guilt, happiness), so she buried that hope under caution. Starfire nodded for him to go on. “She’d gotten into some trouble. Knew I was in town. Came to me for help in the dead of night. It’s how my family operates.” She chanced a glance at him, but his eyes were on the sunrise, hands splayed behind him as he shifted to sit at a slant, looking more relaxed than she’d seen him since Slade was defeated (for good). His face betrayed no emotion, and she cursed that mask, not for the first time. “I told her to let me grab Cyborg, but she didn’t wanna wake him. Told me I was more than capable of patching her up, and she was right. I don’t think she intended to stick around for as long as she did.” He paused, then raised an eyebrow at her, tilting his head just enough for her to see his incredulous face. She frowned. “I think she’s stayed here to keep an eye on me, since you went missing and all.”

“Robin--”

His eyes met hers, set, serious, the way he was as a leader, but there was affection there, the kind she remembered seeing so many different times (when they were stranded, Tokyo, when he’d propped open her chrysalis). “I’m not gonna lie to you, Batgirl--” He stopped, seemingly contemplating what he would say next before deciding the risk was worth it. “Barbara and I, we had something in the past, but that’s all it is. The past.” He moved closer, eyes narrowing, one hand gripping her forearm, gently, where it sat between them. She wanted to gasp, but no sound came out when their eyes met again. That was not Leader Robin, that was Boyfriend Robin, Love of her Life Robin, and he had set that steely determination, that unwavering tenacity on her, on getting what he was saying through to her.

Her heart flipped in her chest, unwarranted. Without her permission. He only grew closer. “Nothing happened between her and I. I patched her up and gave her a shirt to sleep in. We’re family, I didn’t think anything of it.” He sighed and shook his head. “Had I known you would, though… Starfire,” he brought one hand up to her cheek, caressed it in his hand. She leaned into it, hoped its comfort would alleviate the tears she could feel starting at the corners of her eyes. Robin exhaled, and she could hear fear, fear she now suspected was of losing her. “I’m so sorry. I never would have let you leave if I’d known this was why.” She smiled at him, and he brushed his thumb against the corner of her eye where a single tear had begun collecting. He smiled back, and she wondered how, in the half a sun’s rotation she’d been back with him, she hadn’t noticed the fondness and worship with which he looked at her. She almost felt like a fool. Three months of wasted time, feeling torn apart by an affair that had never transpired. She leaned even further into his touch, and she heard him stifle a laugh.

“So, you did not have the intercourse with Batgirl?”

“What?”

The warm hand was gone, and she blinked as Robin threw himself against the foot of her bed, eyes wide, face quickly gaining the same complexion as the red of his suit. His hands moved wildly, unsure what to do or what gestures to make. “That’s what you--? Starfire! You really thought I--? That she and I--?” Starfire pouted, and steam blew from his ears for a very different reason this time. He ran a hand over his face. “God, no Star, nothing like that happened.”

“You did not kiss her?”

“No.”

“And you did not partake in the romantic form of bodily contact that is cuddling?”

“Okay, that I can’t say didn’t happen, but it wasn’t romantic--!”

“And you do not wish to leave me for Batgirl or Barbara, whatever her name may be?”

Robin clasped both her hands between his, dopey smile inching across his face. “Not on your life, Starfire.” That did it. The tears started falling, and Starfire reached her hands up to wipe them away, but Robin got to them faster, pressing his thumbs and palms to each drop before it had the chance to fall. She sobbed, and he brought her head into his chest, running a hand through her hair.

“I tried to do the right thing!”

“I know…”

“I tried to let you go, but I cannot!”

“Starfire, you’ll never have to…” He cupped her jaw in his hand and tugged, lightly, enough to draw her teary eyes from his shoulder so she could see him, see his face. His brows furrowed above his heavy-lidded stare, she could see in the narrow of his mask. Her eyes mirrored his despite the puffiness and the streaks coloring her skin, already aflame. He drew her closer, still. “Nobody is going to take me away from you, history or no.”

“Do you promise?”

His voice lowered the way that sent tingles running down her spine and lit her stomach on fire, the way she’d felt many times when he’d kiss the skin before her ear, when his hands would trail somewhere new. That baritone he so rarely used set her nerves fraying without so much as a touch, and he was using it to say: “I swear to you.” He kissed her, in a way so different from how he usually would. The sweet nervous nature he’d usually graze her lips with was gone in favor of something he hadn’t turned loose on her before now-- passion. Desperation. Adoration. She pressed back cautiously at first before he leaned forward. She obliged.

When they came away for a moment, they came right back together again, hotter than before, needing. His hand, she didn’t even know when he’d set it there, it squeezed at her hip and tugged her thighs closer to his, and she wrapped her arms round his neck, parting her lips to grant him entry, and he took it with the thirst of a parched man. His lips melded slowly with hers, but hard. He bit her lip, and she gasped. Robin’s other hand fell from her jaw to run up and down her side, nimble fingers exploring the curve of her waist before he slipped them under her shirt. He only touched the skin that would have been exposed had she been in her uniform, but it was enough to make her shiver. He leaned forward, and she followed until her back was pressed against the mattress and he was bent over her with one hand in her hair. Three months, three months she had been away, and as he grabbed one of her legs and tucked it behind his hip, brushing against her so deliberately that it made her gasp and toss her head back, she knew Robin intended to show her just how much he’d missed her and that lost time. “Besides…” She batted her eyelashes at him, and he gave her that boyish, cocky grin that only he had, that only he could give. There was something dangerous there, behind his mask, a fire she’d never seen before, and it burned the churning wheel in her stomach like little else. “If I’d been with anybody, you woulda heard her…” Her face turned several shades of red.

[365daysofsasuhina]

[ 365 Days of SasuHina || Day Seventy-Four: Goodness ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata ] [ SasuHina ] [ Verse: A Light Amongst Shadows ] [ AO3 Link ]

There’s hardly a soul that would argue the goodness in Hinata’s heart. Soft and sweet, never with a harsh word against anyone, she’s a wonderful friend, teammate, sister and daughter. It’d be quite the feat to find someone with something ill to say about her...unless they just happened to be biased that way.

...on the other hand…

Not many people make a case for any goodness in one Uchiha Sasuke. His teammates would rally to his side, but...well, there’s still that flicker of doubt when they’re pressed. The only ones who seem unshakeable in their faith in him would be the few scraps of family he has left. But...well, there might be a little bias in play, there.

Hinata, however, seems to agree.

On more than one occasion, he’s leapt to her defense, even if he didn’t really have to. She, for reasons she at least partially understands, has found herself as one of the few on the youngest Uchiha’s good side. And while he might be a bit harsh at time, he’s just...lost his patience when it comes to things like civility in the face of rudeness or disrespect.

Not so much in his own case, though. Just in others’.

Like hers.

More than once he’s grabbed offenders by their shirts, Sharingan shining as he commands an apology. And while some onlookers wouldn’t call that good...Hinata knows otherwise.

Letting one such troublemaker loose to scamper down the road with his tail between his legs, Sasuke watches coolly until Hinata steps up beside him.

“You really didn’t have to do that,” she assures for what feels like the hundredth time.

And for the hundredth time, he simply replies, “No, didn’t have to. Wanted to, though.”

That earns an exasperated sigh, jogging a few steps to catch up as he starts walking. “Sasuke-kun -”

“Do you have to call me that?”

“...um -?”

“Sakura calls me that, and it grates on my nerves.”

“...oh...I’m sorry, I - I didn’t know. Um…” A pause, and then, “...Sasuke.”

“Better.”

“...where are we going?”

“Well, I was going home. Then you started following me.” A dark eye glances to her. “...does that mean you’re coming?”

That earns a surprised blink. Why...did she start following him? “...I don’t...know?”

“Do whatever you want. Doesn’t bother me.”

Still glancing to him and walking in stride, there’s a moment to consider before just...keeping on. At the very least, she can stop in and see the one of them she knows best. Itachi’s wife helped in her recovery post-chūnin exams, after all. There wasn’t much avoiding them becoming friends after that.

“You ever think about standing up to jerks who talk to you like that?”

Startled from her thoughts, Hinata glances to him. “Um...w-what?”

“That guy who sneered at you. Why didn’t you do anything?”

A pause. “...well, p-partly because I knew you would.”

Sasuke glances to her, brow furrowed questioningly.

Laughing lightly into her coat cuff, she counters, “W-what? I was right, wasn’t I?”

“...hn.”

After a few more giggles, she goes on. “I don’t know, I guess I just...don’t much mind what anyone says about me now.” Hands clasp behind her back as they walk. “...when I was little, I was either bullied, o-or ignored. You...can guess which I preferred between the two. For a while, I took everything rather...personally. Because people had used them as weapons against me: their words. But...then I grew up. I faced my cousin, and his anger. I faced Pein, without any fear. I fought in the war, and survived. And now…”

All the while, he watches her from the corner of his eye.

“...now, it all seems so...trivial. So, someone doesn’t like me, for...whatever reason. So what? I didn’t survive all I faced to let my time be taken by someone who means nothing to me, saying things I know now aren’t true. I almost died when Neji-nīsan attacked my heart. And again when Pein impaled me. And the war was so perilous...I was lucky. And...looked out for,” Hinata adds softly. “...and now, I’m here. I survived all of that, and now...I want to use the time I have to become all I k-know I can be. I don’t know exactly w-what that is, yet...but I know I’ll get there. Or at least, I’ll try. And if I use all my time focusing on...on that, then what time is left over to bother with people who try to bring me down?”

By her words’ end, Ssauke’s expression has slackened slightly with surprise, brow lifted just a hair.

“...what?”

“...nothing. Guess I just...wasn’t expecting that.”

Hinata gives him a wry smile. “...I’ve changed a lot since the last time you k-knew me Sasuke-k...Sasuke. Well...I guess in some ways, I’m still the same. But...I’m not afraid anymore. And I walk my own path. Not my father’s, or my sister’s…” Ever so slightly, she wilts. “...not Naruto-kun’s. I realized that the only person I need to make proud...is me.”

“...that’s pretty damn smart.”

Head bowing, she can’t help a smile and a hint of a laugh. “Well...it took me a l-long time to learn that. But...better late than n-never, right?”

“True enough.” Considering her a moment longer, Sasuke then offers, “You’re a far better person than I could ever hope to be.”

“W-what? Sasuke, don’t s-”

“It’s just how it is. I don’t have that patience, or that...grace. I might not care what someone says or does to me. But to someone who doesn’t deserve it?” He scoffs. “...the jerk better start running.”

Head tilting as she considers him, Hinata offers, “But...that is good.”

“...what?”

“You fight for others. Maybe fighting isn’t always the answer,” she admits with a smile at his look. “...but...when you do, you do it for what you feel are the r-right reasons. You want to protect people. And that is good.”

For the second time, surprise shifts his features. Apparently, he hasn’t thought about it that way.

By now, they’re passing into the now-unwalled Uchiha compound, no new barrier established since it’s leveling and then re-leveling during and after Pein’s onslaught. In the distance, for now, only one house stands in the large grassy field that was once filled with homes, streets, and shops. One new manor for the three Uchiha men, one wife, and two little ones...so far.

“...are you sure it’s okay I just...drop by unannounced?”

“I know you’re coming. It’s not totally unannounced.”

Hinata just gives him a small pout, which he clearly ignores.

“Tadaima.”

A greeting is called back from another room, apologizing as she wrangles the twins for their lunch. Stripping off his shoes, Sasuke nods his head in gesture for Hinata to do the same. “It’s not like you’ve never been here before.”

“I-I know, but -!”

“But nothing - get in here.”

Feeling a bit chastised, she does as asked, hovering like a child not knowing what else to do in a new place.

“Itachi’s never home before dark, and Shisui’s out with Kakashi on bodyguard duty. She only goes in for major surgeries anymore - otherwise she’s stay-at-home.”

“Busy family,” Hinata notes with a smile.

“...yeah…” Hands in his pockets, Sasuke seems to get lost in thought for a moment...but Hinata can guess what enough what he’s thinking. This - all of this - is more than he ever bargained for.

...it makes her so happy for him. After so long of being alone...he has his home, and at least part of his family back.

With them, she knows...that goodness in him will only keep growing.

     A smidge early for once! Woohoo!      Not...too much to say about this one. Sasuke isn't exactly a model citizen, I will admit. But at his core, his intentions are good. They just often have rather...perilous routes to them, a la Sasuke's impatience and willingness to get his hands dirty to get what he thinks he needs.      Hinata, at least, can see that.      Aaanyway...that's really all I've got for tonight lol - thanks for reading!

[whateverisbeautiful]

Richonne in Retrospect

#35: The Authority (5x13)

Rick and Michonne are compatible in a whole lot of ways and both of them have a certain authority about them. And in their new job positions we get to see how they’re both literal authority figures in the community as well as how they have a certain healthy authority in each other’s lives as well. 

The first Richonne moment of 5x13 is when R&M discuss why they might have been given these authoritative roles. 

The scene starts with Michonne alone in her room and she’s trying to make the most of this cop outfit and I support her wanting to improve this look. 

And then, y’all, can we talk about Rick’s reaction to Michonne in this scene?  

Like y’all what is this adorableness right here? 😋 It’s everything and I’m glad that the actors did stuff like this for their characters, in order to keep building on the evolution of Rick and Michonne’s chemistry, despite a trifling storyline that was attempting to infringe on it.

It’s these little moments that helped keep Richonne on the horizon cuz I feel like it’s hard to interpret this whole raised eyebrow reaction as anything other than the fact that Rick was taking note of the Queen lol. And it’s not even like she was in some fancy outfit or anything, but more so Rick seems to be taken by her regardless, cuz Homeboy is always taken by her. 

His reaction feels similar to hers over the clean shaven face. And it’s cute that, similar to Rick’s nervousness with revealing his clean shaven face, Michonne seems a little nervous for this reveal too.  

(Also I briefly mentioned this before, but I love that by this point they’ve picked their own houses and clearly the magnets stuck together.) 

Rick says, “I don’t know if this is some kind of play. Handing authority to strangers.” And I appreciate that he’s willing to be transparent with her about still having some doubts, despite the fact that he “signed the papers” in taking this job. 

And then Michonne humorously brings up how it’s really just “the authority to break up fist fights” 

Rick makes the good point that if it was just that Deanna would have given one of those uniforms to Daryl.

To me, that means that Rick knows there’s probably something deeper that made Deanna pick him and Michonne specifically. Like there’s some unique quality in both of them that either Deanna appreciates or wants to control. 

Michonne smiles and says, “I don’t know if it’s for us or for them” and then she wisely suggests, “Or maybe Deanna’s trying to get rid of ‘us and them’”

And can I just note that Homeboy has all eyes on her during this conversation. I love that he is focused whenever she talks. 😋

Like the way Rick is standing and looking at her, makes his feelings for her pretty apparent cuz you can just visibly see how much he likes her and cares about her. ☺️

It’s also interesting that during this time Rick is keeping a secret from her about those guns. But just in his demeanor in this scene it’s clear he believes he’s keeping this secret to protect her rather than to leave her out. Cuz I know he care about the fact that Michonne really wants this place to work for her and so that’s a big reason he keeps the plan with Carol and Daryl under wraps.

I still don’t support keeping this little gun scheme from Michonne tho. But at least it led to my favorite season 5 scene with the “I’m still with you” moment. 👏🏽

But back to this scene, Homegirl stay strategizing, cuz then she’s brings up that maybe this is all a play to show them around in those jackets. She laments how that would be smart and she says Deanna seems smart. Deanna sensed Richonne so yep, she is smart. 💯😋

Michonne knows that play would be a clever tactic cuz she knows her and Rick are the baddest of the bunch, so if they’re in those jackets adhering to Deanna’s rules, it shows that Deanna was able to control two of the strongest people. 

Rick says, “Smart for then or smart for now?” and Michonne wisely reminds him of the thing he most needs reminded of, when she says “This is now.”

I feel like he really needed that wake-up call because he seems to be very much stuck in the past, be it the trauma of the Terminus encounter or losing Lori without closure. 

And, when he’s not living in the past, he’s on edge for what might be around the corner and what happens next so that’s all apart of what’s making him lose it. 

He needs someone to help him see that this is now and it’s okay to be in the present moment, and of course Michonne is the one to help him see that.

Like the way Rick reacts when she says that, you can tell he needed to hear that cuz when Michonne says it, you see it sort of snap Rick out of it for a second and I love how he allows her words to have so much authority in his life and really resonate with him.

Deanna has a meeting with Rick, Michonne and Maggie. And R&M just look like a little power couple in their matching windbreakers lol. 😋 Also I love that Rick now has a wife that could be on the force with him. 👏🏽

And Deanna explains that they “protect and serve” and I was like ain’t that the truth. She really can read people, cuz that’s what R&M do all the time; protect and serve. 👌🏽💯  

She tells them what the job entails and then she says, “People will listen to you.” And I love that Michonne says, “Because we’re wearing wind breakers?” lol. Talk about it, sis. 😂 

It’s funny that as Deanna is talking about her big goals of how one day civilization will be functioning and up and running again, Rick is clearly distracted. I was like “Deanna, just tell Michonne to say it and he’ll pay attention.” 😋

And then when Deanna notices him looking out the window she asks if her vision sounds like “pie in the sky” and Maggie says no and then Michonne says no and then Rick’s like “I guess I have to go with the pattern” so he says “no” too lol. 😂

And then, true to his cop DNA, he’s ready to get on to the more pressing issues when he says, “Can we talk security?” cuz before you can have a whole government and industry and commerce, he knows they first need to make sure this place is even as secure as it seems. 

It’s cool that Michonne gets to see a glimpse of Rick in his element of his past life as he talks security and Deanna was definitely right that this is still who he is cuz he falls back into this police role pretty naturally.

When they’re walking through ASZ, Sasha approaches and basically asks to be the ‪24/7‬ lookout to which I was like “y’all that’s a cry for help”. And when they learn that there’s currently no lookouts in the tower, both Rick and Michonne are not having that. 

I love that, in both of them expressing why they need a lookout, we get to see firsthand why Deanna made the right choice giving the two of them this job.

...And then there’s this welcome party. 😒

I mentioned that there would be some gif journeys. And gif journeys tend to come out when I feel the most tried lol. And the events of this party all the way tried it, especially once my eyes were open to all the Richonne build up prior to this. 

And while I’m over it now, I gotta take you on a little journey of how much I was not feeling this thing lol. 

So first of all; The whole time Rick is with this woman at this party I was legit watching like…

The. whole. time. lol And the little Petty Betty in me was like “It’s interesting that this episode is called “Forget” cuz Rick seems to have forgotten a couple things, the main one being that he has his literal soul mate living under the same roof as him and yet he’s getting caught up with this other chick.” 🙄

This woman says, “We all lost things. But then we got something back. It isn’t enough. But it’s something.” And I feel like that was pretty much Rick’s thinking with her, like “this isn’t enough to reconcile everything I’m feeling but maybe it’s something.” But it’s really nothing.

To me the most telling thing in the whole Jessie storyline is Rick’s words to Daryl in 5x12 when he says, “Lori and Me, we used to drive through neighborhoods like this. Thinking one day…” and then Daryl says “Well here we are.”

That is at the foundation of the entire thing. It was all about Rick being around some things that reminded him of his wife and now that he’s here he’s trying to get a “second chance” to save Lori in a sense, by trying to save this new lady. So when it comes to Jessie, as you all already know...

Like in 5x12 when Rick, suffering from PTSD, runs to look for Carl and Judith he runs into that sculpture and when talking to Jessie afterwards he straight up tells her, “I was in the middle of losing my mind.” And when he said that I was like...

Like that’s just more proof that he’s not in the best headspace during this whole arc and he even knows it himself.

And then at this party that little kid of hers, Sam, runs to tell her there’s no more cookies and Rick playfully says he knows the cookie maker and she’s a good friend and all that, and I was just like…

Cuz Michonne is out there on the porch by herself and he’s over here trying to be cute lol. Not here for it. 

Sam gives Rick a stamp and his mom says, “See now you’re officially one of us” and I was like…

So I’m already annoyed that Rick is out here blurring the lines with this married woman. And then I see that Michonne’s at this party looking sad and alone in a sad dress so then I’m even more salty lol. 

Like I wanted to be on that porch just staring down Rick from the window like...

But fr, I get so sad to see Michonne standing outside by herself at the party. It’s weird to me too that they never show Rick and Michonne interacting at this party but I think they had to keep them separate for this Jessie arc to really work. 

Otherwise Rick and this chick would make even less sense cuz when you see the way R&M are together it would be real hard to still try and suggest Rick has feelings for someone else. 

While it was strange to never really see Rick and Michonne acknowledge her and that situation, I’m kind of glad Michonne wasn’t put too in the mix of that storyline so that she didn’t have to deal with that mess. 

Like I notice that aside from Carol, really no one was shown to be that aware of Rick’s pursuit of this lady but I feel it also just further emphasizes how not serious his feelings were for her.

I’m glad that at least Abraham comes out to talk to Michonne. When he notices the little plastic sword she’s holding and he jokes “You packing different steel now?” 

And Abe is actually making some deep statements when he says, “You live by it, die by it.” And then he says how you pray you don’t forget how to use it but also don’t ever have to use it and it’s on your back even when it’s off. I was like alright Abe feels like preaching to somebody. 😂👏🏽 

And then Michonne looks over at him and asks how much he’s had to drink and they share a laugh which is sweet.

Abe tells her he’s come to realize things have actually worked well for him and then he asks her, “How about you? What have you done?” and then she says “I put on this dress.” which I believe is her suggesting the dress is sort of her way of attempting to get reacclimated to normal life. 

And Abe responds by saying, “Try again.” I still don’t know exactly what he meant by it. Maybe one of y’all can break it down for me. Like I know it wasn’t in a Tim Gunn way of critiquing the fashion choice lol. Even tho low key when he says that for some reason I always hear it like he’s saying...

But, if I had to guess, I think he just means she’s taken bigger steps forward than she realizes and so she’s gotta know she’s done more than just put on a dress. 

Inside the house, Rick tells Jessie how Judith and Carl are why he’s still here which made me really sad cuz now part of why he’s still here is about to be taken away when the show returns. 😭

And y’all, I would talk about what happens next in this interaction but you already know and I had to just skip it cuz I can’t lol. Like, again, for most of their moments this was my actual reaction…

All there is to say about it is that it’s just more proof that Rick was not in a good head space at this time. 

In a later scene, when Rick’s walking in ASZ he sees Jessie with her husband and they both put up their hands to show their little “A” stamp to which I was like...

Cuz the lines just stayed blurred and sketchy with them. 

But it really gets confirmed that Rick is not in the best headspace when he puts his hand on his gun as he watches Jessie and Pete walk away. Like this is before Rick knows about the abuse I think, so for Homeboy to even quickly contemplate taking out her husband in broad daylight just shows that he’s feeling real off. 

Plus he goes to a wall and listens to the walker on the other side, which is actually a cool shot and symbol, but again, he’s not all there rn. 

During this whole arc of Rick’s, I just wanted Iyanla to come along and give Rick a warm hug and be like...

In 5x14, Rick’s all adamant to help with that owl situation and people have to tell him it’s just an owl but for him it’s a way to be useful and save something which is his m.o.. 

When he’s talking with her about the owl and trying to be funny asking if she has any enemies or people who hate owls, I was just like...

As frustrating as Rick’s behavior is, there’s also this feeling of sadness for him cuz at the root you can see that all this is coming from a place of trying to fix something that he can’t go back and fix.  

And again, it’s implied that all this has to do with Lori when later Rick and Pete talk and Pete brings up how Rick lost his wife and how they’ve lost things and some things they’re just fighting really hard to hold on to. Which is exactly what Rick is doing.

(Side note: It makes me mad too cuz you can sees Michonne’s katanna in the back of this exchange with Rick and Pete and I was like Rick, bruh look over there at that sword and remember who you’re supposed to be with.)

And when Pete leaves, there’s a shot emphasizing Rick’s wedding ring to yet again confirm that this whole thing is about Lori.   

And then in 5x15, we see Michonne sad in her room when she finds one of Noah’s old shirts after he’s passed. 

It’s implied a couple times that clearly losing Noah was tough on her so I can’t even imagine how she’s supposed to go on when she loses Carl. 😥 Which is insane to even write out cuz I still can’t believe it’s actually come to this. 😭

Rosita tells Michonne that Sasha hasn’t been seen so they go look for her. As they walk, Rosita brings up how Michonne seems screwed up cuz they found something in ASZ and Michonne tells her “Noah’s dead. And I think. I just feel like I was asleep in there.” And she brings up how she doesn’t want to forget, what this world is.

It’s telling that she felt asleep in there. I think this ASZ move was a tough adjustment for Rick and Michonne, and a lot of that is because they had things trying to keep them apart, like Rick’s secret with Carol and Daryl and the trifling storyline with the married woman. And see when you’re magnets, that distance is bound to not sit right with them. 

And then when we get this scene where they find Sasha on a walker rampage, Michonne starts recalling who she was when she was slaying walkers outside these walls and joins Sasha in shooting the walkers. And when Sasha lets her know she’s got it, Michonne lets her know this isn’t for her.

Michonne helps get a walker off of Sasha to Sasha’s frustration. She gets up and points at Michonne and says, “You. You can’t do anything. It worked out for you. Don’t you see that? You can’t help me.” 

Y’all, this moment and the line “it worked out for you” has always been super interesting to me.  

What I think Sasha’s words mean is, not just that they got to go to ASZ like Michonne wanted, but that Sasha’s seen Michonne with Rick and the kids and she knows Michonne has a full on family now, whereas Sasha’s family was stripped away pretty quickly after each other with Bob and Tyreese.

Think about all the public Richonne bubble moments Rick and Michonne would have, with all TF around. Knowing that, it would make sense for Sasha to feel it worked out for Michonne cuz she sees the family unit she’s now apart of with Rick and his kids. 

(Side note: Sonequa’s acting when she talks about Noah tho. A1! Sis is holding it down in this scene. 👏🏽 )

And it’s also interesting to see Michonne’s reponse to Sasha saying this. Like she seems like this really causes her to think about what Sasha means.

When Rick returns to the house after confronting Jessie about the abuse, he tells Jessie he doesn’t want her to die and he can protect her and her kids and keep them safe. I sound like a broken record but just to hit the point all the way home; this undoubtedly proves that Rick was trying to get a second chance at what he feels he couldn’t do with Lori.

He tells her all you have to do is “say yes” which low key made me like the title of 7x12 a little less. Just 1% less. 😂

And then as you know the episode ends with Rick and Pete fighting and flying out of a window and then Rick going in on the Alexandirans until Michonne comes to his rescue like a real one.

This whole storyline was not exactly Rick’s shining moment, and it was definitely a mixture of PTSD and also what he says in 5x16 that sums it up best...

But what’s great is that even in this time that wasn’t Rick’s finest hour, Michonne was there for him and saw him through it. 

And that about covers the remainder of season 5. (sorry this post was so long!) And there’s so much good stuff in 5x16 that I already reveled in. Particularly what could be considered the GOAT Richonne pre-canon scene...

But before I make this post any longer by reveling in this scene all over, I’ll just quickly reiterate that this scene is every last thing, y’all. 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

I appreciate that season 5 ends with Rick and Michonne united and, even tho it would still be a few more episodes, I’m glad that season six is the season where they fully see what’s always been in front of them. 👌🏽😊

[cutegirlmayra]

Knuxouge for H on the prompt meme thingy? Or boom!sonamy. I love them both lol XD

I’m gonna go AU on this one. Cause I need to practice sexual tension and building up to romance in ‘kissin’ n’ huggin’ n’ stuff’ which I’ve been told I’ve lacked for a little while so here’s an attempt to be ‘steamy’.

Prompt:

“I know you took it, batgirl! Give it back!”

Knuckles had her cornered to the back of a rock-wall, a waterfall to their backs, and chaos fleeing the area into the ancient ruins of Angel Island; hiding as they knew Knuckles’s anger could be fierce.

He had a fist already raised, it was a miracle his jaw wasn’t aching at the tight lock he had on it.

She ‘tsk’d at his expression before flipping some of her small, white hair out with her hand; coming off calm and relaxed, when really, she was playing with him.

“Come on, Knucklehead… is that anyway to ask a lady nicely?” she had one of the Emeralds tucked safely away behind her back, holding it with her hand before striking a confidently strong pose.

She put the back of her wrist to her hips and leaned forward, scolding him. “And even if I do have your precious emerald, you have 6 more to keep you company! And that’s not including your sweet, little Master Emerald either!”

“Rougggee!!!” Knuckles shouted out, as some Chaos cried out and flew away, while others ducked at his rage.

“You’re going to give that Emerald back to me or I’ll-!”

“You’ll what?” She challenged, before realizing her predicament.

‘Well, I’ve got him fired up…’ she thought to herself, raising an eyebrow and trying to look around behind him. ‘But now i’ve got him too fixated on me… If I decide to keep his eyes locked on mine,… maybe I could slip the emerald by with a switch of my hand…’ she smirked, and lifted the hand with the emerald up to her cheek.

“HEY!”

“Oh… oppsie.” she pretended to act caught, looking to the emerald as he stomped a foot down.

“See! I caught you red-handed, you little thief! Give it back and maybe I’ll let you go in good spirits…” he suddenly looked way more confident now that he knew his suspicions of her were right, and smirked back to her before leaning up and snickering to himself slightly.

“Haha…! Can’t get anything under this nose!” He looked down and closed his eyes, proud as ever.

“… Is that so..?~”

He lifted his muzzle up. “Absolutely! I knew you stole from me, after all! Now, there’s no point resisting, so just hand over the emerald and-”

She suddenly swished her hip to the side, flexing out her wings.

She placed a hand dainty to her side and slipped it down towards her lower torso, leaning as if taunting him with her looks. “I bet I could prove you wrong, tough guy…”

“…U-uh.” he blinked his eyes open, leaning away and sweat dropping down the side of his face. “D-don’t try anything, batgirl! I’m watching you…” he got nervous suddenly, shouting out to cover it up but clearly was dumbfounded when she moved closer without a hint of fear in her eyes.

Her drooped… batting eyes…

Her wings fluttered as she made her way over to him and let her other hand move stylishly with the rhythm of her body, before standing directly to the side of him.

“You want that emerald so badly? Why don’t you just take it from me… after all, you’re a big… intimidating guardian… why not just use that sheer, brute force and swipe it out of my hands?” she leaned towards him, letting her shoulder brush his own as he flinched back, flustered now.

She looked over to the Chaos, ‘Darn. I’ve made it this far out of the clear. But if I want to get away, I’m going to have to get by those patrolling Chaos…’

She remembered how they alerted Knuckles, unknowingly, to her presence when they asked to be cuddled with coos and cries for her attention.

She had to make sure to stay away from them, but they were littered all over the area she was trying to escape too…

“R-Rouge! Y-y-you know I wouldn’t hurt a g-g-g-girl…” he stuttered, but tried to regain his ‘tough’ exterior.

“Ehem, we can handle this civilized… if a bat thief can even BE civilized…”

“Augh!” she snapped her attention back to him, and thrust her arms down, not even caring about plotting her next move now.

“Why you stubborn, arrogant,…grrr… Simpleton!” she hollered at him.

“Oh yeah? Well, this ‘simpleton’ just found you with MY emerald!” he pointed with a goofy grin on his face at the Emerald in her hand, “So whose the simpleton now? haha.”

“You still are…” she suddenly got an idea and smirked. “Come here, you big lug.” she slung her arms around his neck and made him twitch in surprise, before planting a kiss on him.

He freaked out but didn’t move, just struggled a little as she moved to manipulate his body towards the Chao.

‘This plan doesn’t seem half bad~’

She thought to herself, enjoying the little ruse before she felt hands on her stomach and pushing her away.

The kiss broke off and Knuckles reached back for her hand, lifting it up as she then struggled to get away.

“H-hey! What do you think you’re doing!?” she was sincerely surprised by him suddenly regaining his senses.

‘U-usually when I kiss him.. it takes him a second to respond. He’s never been this fast at recovering!’

“I’m not falling for that again! I’ll show you, I’m not like you! You’re not getting my emeralds! The emeralds my family swore to protect! Grr..!” he continued to fight to get the emerald.

“Err.. Of course… you would think… grr.. that this was just about the emerald!” she was given a task to retrieve one for Shadow at G.U.N, but her real purpose in being here was to annoy her stubborn Echidna~

But she wasn’t expecting a fight like this from him… a fight… without an actual beat down.

Sure, she would smack him around a bit when he would try and stop her from snatching her precious jewels~ But…

“You’ll find there are more treasures I’m after then just silly, little gems!” she strained against his raw force on her arm and tried to throw him off.

Kicking up a leg, she thought she could hit his side or even his head to knock him back a little, but he responded by pushing forward and the two went tumbling down.

Pinning her down, he got both hands and strained to slammed them against the ground.

Once down, he breathed hard and let some sweat drip down before smiling down to her. “You’ve gotten better.” he complimented, before Rouge blushed and looked at her situation with new eyes.

“W…What are you doing?” She blinked her eyes, “…Do you even… know what you’re doing?” she suddenly had a skeptical look on her face, knowing he was probably oblivious to what this looked like.

“Of course I know what this is!”

Her heart raced a moment.

“This is me..” he leaned closer.

“Getting my emerald back!” he then reached his hand up to try and grab the emerald.

“Ugh, do I have to everything myself!?” she suddenly hooked her foot to his own, locking a good grip by straining her toes up and then pulled him down.

He slid over her, making him blink in puzzlement as he couldn’t fathom what just happened before she started pulling him into kissing her.

His grip on her hands loosened, and she could feel the difference in him pinning her down to him moving away,…

‘Finally! Now to just-…!!!!” she was shocked that she felt him suddenly dive in more, tilt his head to let her more fully into the kiss she was giving him and even felt him try and give something back…

It astonished her, so much so that she lost her grip on the emerald entirely…

His hand suddenly, slowly, held and pulled her wrist down towards the two, away from the emerald she had stolen…

Her eyes slowly closed from having been shot out, wide open in wonder, before giving into the sweet embrace.

But then…

His eyes opened with a sinister look to them, as he pulled away and swiped the emerald she had momentarily forgotten about.

“Got’cha.” he smirked.

“W-what?” she didn’t know what he was talking about at first, giving completely into the moment and not thinking about anything else.

“I know you’re tricks too well, Rouge! And now, you’ve gotten a ‘taste’ of your own medicine! Ha!” he laughed at her… he legit just lunged down and laughed at her…

Her face fumed with red rage at his deceit.

Though he wasn’t lying… she had kissed him in the past to get what she wanted and get away scott-free…

Was he… trying to use that against her? Getting used to it? Instead of figuring it out, he had played along and used her tactics.. and heart… against herself.

She was enraged, watching him laugh as he was about to get up from her.

“Hahaha! Too easy! Hey, you’re gonna have to be more clever next time-” he was placing the emerald in his hair for safe keeping when…

She threw her legs up, twisting them to throw him sideways and get on top of him.

“W-whoah, hey!” he put his hands up but she looped her around his neck and began to vengefully take her pride back.

“EMMM-EMM!!” he struggled to speak under her lips, failing his arms around.

But as he struggled… she slipped her hands into his hair and retrieved the emerald.

‘Oh… I’m not done yet… You’re not getting away this time, Knux!’

She slid her hands down his back and pulled him closer to her body, having him completely confused now but totally within her power.

‘Give in, you stupid-’

She suddenly felt him push back and resisted him, locking her hands- one slung diagonal over his chest and the other to the opposite angle- around the other and using the emerald to hold herself in place.

This way, when he did scoot away, she was still fully on him and completely drapped around him.

“Wha-wha..what was that?!” He seemed more embarrassed at her strange new manuever than just a quick kiss.

She chuckled at his naive nature and turned herself around, still pressing her back up against him and letting her hands slid from his head to his cheek.

“You said to take it up a notch… so I did. Happy?”

He continued to blush hard, not even making coherent sentences as she slipped her hand down, out from under his watch, and brought it up to her chest.

‘Finally… I got what I want. I think that’s enough excitement for one day.’ she was acting triumphant, about to sneak away with the emerald before-

He locked his arms around her.

“H-hey! I thought you were still gawking over me!” she kicked her long legs out as he held her in place.

“My emerald!”

‘Dratt! he must have seen me sneak it by.’ She shifted her eyes back to him, before feeling him suddenly state-

“Fine! No mr. nice guy!” he bit her wing.

The oddly arousing pain that came from that made her pause a moment.

She lowered her eyelids, a knowing grin on her face.

“That hurt…” she calmly spoke out.

She suddenly leaned back into him again.

“Iwt gwonna hwurt hwardwer if ywou strwuggle.” he spoke with his teeth still on her wing, but his bite loosened as he ‘thought’ she was surrendering.

She lifted her free hand back to his muzzle, and looked back at him, seductively.

“Maybe there’s hope for you yet, Echidna…”

“Huh? Cwome awgain?” He raised an eyebrow, not sure what she was referring too.

She chuckled and flexed her wing out, making him spit it out before turning to him again, rising on her knees to loom a bit over him.

His hands were still positioned by her sides, and he didn’t even realize what this all looked liked.

“R.. Rouge?”

She lowered her head to his forehead, the emerald on one of his cheeks and her hand- the other.

“…Yes?” she almost breathed out, alluring to say the least, but clearly teasing and having a new mission in mind…

He gulped, sweat dropping.

“I wasn’t expecting you to get angry… like this.”

He must have been expecting her to lash out at him.

She smiled even wider.

“Ohh… but I was hoping you’d fight me a little more like-” she took one of his long sections of hair and let it slip through her fingers. “This… more often~”

He sweated even more now.

“W-what… what are you talking about? I just want my emerald bac-”

She suddenly held her arm in, turning her hand backwards towards her back…

She loosened the grip on the emerald and let it tumble down her back…

“Opps…” she cooed, before leaning in next to his face again.

“Promise to play rough?” she teased again.

Now he blushed, seeming to get it..?

“W-wait, this isn’t-!!! I-I wasn’t-!!! Are you implying you-?! G-get off me, Rouge! I wouldn’t DARE with the like of you!!!”

He got it.

She gave off a silly, lovestruck girl’s laugh and tumbled over him, having him fall back and struggle as she continued to ‘fight’… but not for her freedom this time…

But into his arms~

The Chaos all covered their eyes or watched in amazment at this new development.

At least his shouts didn’t sound so scary anymore..

(…. I’m not entirely sure of this decision… but I hope you at least like it >3