#ya girl was section leader and a captain | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

dragons-socks · 4 years ago

Text

Baby Bumblebee chptr 3

“Hey, Captain Lennox, Bumblebee isn’t here if that’s what you’re looking for.” Sam said as Ironhide pulled up and the captain jumped out. Mikaela waved from her spot inspecting the old engine of Sam’s replacement car when Bee is out in the field.

“I know. That’s why I’m here.” Something about the way Lennox said it had both teens dropping what they were doing and turning fully to him.

“Is he alright? Did he die. I swear if you wrecked him, I’m going to beat-” Sam began frantically threatening Lennox when Ironhide’s passenger rear door popped open and tiny light-the-night yellow sketchers popped out followed by black overall-shorts over a yellow t-shirt, but was drowned out by an overly large bee-themed jacket. The kid slipped on the last few inches out of the truck, landing smack on his bottom. Instead of crying out like most children do, he let out a series of clicks and chitters.

“I said I’d get you in a second, kid.” Lennox sighed, walking over and picking the child up to his feet. Sam looked between the kid and Lennox. He turned to Mikaela to make sure she was also seeing the kid as well.

“Uh, I didn’t know Epps had a kid?” Sam asked. “What’s his, uh, name?”

“Bumblebee.” Lennox said, face flat. Sam wanted to laugh, but the kid just looked down at his shoes, scuffing his toes in the grass.

“No way.” Sam knelt down to take a closer look at the little boy. “Like, my car? Like the 18 foot alien robot?” The kid let out a sad whine.

“Why is he a child? Shouldn’t he be older, even if he was turned into a human.” Mikaela asked, standing closer to Lennox.

“We think that is the purpose of the weapon, not to just turn the autobots into humans, but also small and defenseless.” Lennox explained the battle and how Bee saved Optimus from their weapon. Sam ruffled Bee’s fluffy blonde hair.

“He looks more like you cheated on Sarah with some cute African mama while on tour, then Epps and his girlfriend’s kid.” Mikaela cooed at Bee.

“I think my babysitter has the same idea.” Lennox groaned. “We tried to say he was a dead friend’s kid, but I’m not sure she completely bought it.”

“Sarah would have you sleeping in the dog house if that were true.” Mikaela assured.

“Oh, I’m in the doghouse either way. Apparently it’s a little traumatising to experience being a human than just observing them.” Lennox laughed as Bee let out a series of grumbles and chirps.

“So I have to stick with the crapper?” Sam bemoaned. Bee turned to him, letting out chirps and chitters. His tiny hand rested on Sam’s cheek, a determined look taking over his whole face as he promised he didn’t become a human to shake his duties to and for Sam.

“It was a joke, buddy. Don’t worry.” Sam laughed.

Judy walked out and completely went heads over heels for the kid little kid in her front yard. She snatched him up instantly, pinching his chubby cheeks and gushing about the brightest blue eyes she’s ever seen.

“Ma! Mom! MOM!” Sam shouted as Bee struggled against the matriarchy of the Witwicky family. “You’re freaking him out. Will you put him down?”

“He’s so small, you were this small once. Oh, I remember when you used to just rip your overall’s off cause you didn’t like them at all. But look how cute he is!” Judy at least set Bee down, who ran and hid behind Lennox’s legs, glaring at the woman from behind them.

“Yeah, yeah, ma. Why are you out here anyway?”

“Dinner is almost done. We have enough for you two as well, Captain Lennox.” She turned to the other adult.

“I’ll have to decline. We’re supposed to be picking up the last of the supplies for Bee and then headed back to the wife’s dinner. She’d kill me if I came with a full stomach.” Lennox gave a tight smile. Judy went on about being a good husband and yelling at her own to take notes. Ron yelled back about having been her husband for long enough to know how to handle his marriage.

“We’ll be able to see Bee at the base, right?” Sam asked.

“No. Optimus isn’t a fan of having him with the other Autobots and my superiors feel the same with having a child running around base. So he’ll be at my house until we figure out how to get him back to normal.”

“And if you can’t?” Lennox didn’t answer, not verbally, but the look on his face said enough. Bee let out a grumble, folding his arms and shaking his head. He wouldn’t rest until he could kick ass and drive fast again. “Well, I could always look after him if you need someone. I owe him for looking after me all this time anyway.”

“Thanks, kid. We’ll be around.” Lennox said. Bee wrapped his arms around Sam, who picked him up and helped him back into Ironhide, finding a kid’s car seat. Sam suppressed the need to laugh. An autobot that’s been in wars, has killed, and can take a brutal beating, has to also resort to being put into a car seat for his own safety.

“See ya later, Bee.” Sam ruffled the soft curls one last time. Bee waved goodbye.

Lennox was a little surprised that it wasn’t like pulling teeth to get Bumblebee away from Sam. He was almost positive that the autobot-turned-boy would try to stay with his ward. Maybe it was the promise of seeing Sam again that eased the separation. But Lennox wasn’t complaining. He wasn’t lying when he said he still had to get Bee a few more supplies for his room and Sarah was expecting him home at some point.

Bumblebee’s eyes went wide as they walked into yet another store. Lennox had been dragging him in and out of them all day. He’s been shoved into clothes for hours, and made to choose sleeping supplies and shelves. He was placed in front of plastic toys, but he didn’t want to look at those. Lennox held out a newer version of the yellow toy car and put it in the cart. Bumblebee didn’t want to acknowledge it’s presence so he turned away. His hand brushed against something soft, which made him stop in his tracks. Peaking to the side, he found a large box filled with fake earth animals. It was staring into his spark with beady black eyes, long drooping ears rested around its face.

“You can have the bunny if you want, Bee.” Lennox said, lifting it out of the box and placing it in Bee’s hands. Bumblebee’s fingers gripped automatically to the soft fur. He let out a stream of happy clicks.

The bunny was now in his room at the house, safe, protected. This new store was different. It was just shelves and shelves of books. Lennox wasn’t really browsing as he had done the other stores. No, he was walking straight to the counter where a girl sat, typing away at her computer. She ignored the duo until Lennox cleared his throat. She let out a sigh, turning to him with bored eyes.

“The children’s section is down the hall and to the right. The education corner is up the stairs all the way in the back.” She went back to her computer.

“I’m William Lennox. I called earlier.” He said.

“Oh, yeha, my boss said something about that. We’ve pulled some books for you.” She spun around, digging around a different shelf behind her before she pulled out a stack of large books. “These are the ones we’ve found.”

“I’ll take them all.” Lennox said. Bee went on his tiptoes and pulled down a small thin book. The cover had a cartoon child smiling, their hands in an odd position. The title was colorful and in big letters, ‘American Sign Language for Children’.

______________

The first time Lennox got back to the autobot base wasn’t until a whole week after getting into a healthy routine with Bumblebee. The kid was picking up sign language faster than Lennox could relearn it, so communication was still rocky, but it was getting better. They also had a grid of pictures and words that Bee could point at to help let Sarah know what he needed.

“Lennox, good to see ya back.” Epps clapped him on the back. “How’s the kid?”

“10,000 years of prior knowledge really makes ‘em smart, you know.” Lennox tries to smile, but it doesn’t quite appear. He drops his facade, running a hand down his face. “He’s upset on good days, throws tantrums on bad ones. He gets stressed easily and frustration runs high every minute.”

“That doesn’t really sound like Bumblebee. He’s usually so upbeat even in tough situations.” Epps commented.

“Ironhide thinks Bee is reacting to his physical age due to the human chemicals and endorphins bumping through his body. I’m inclined to believe so as well. Also, it’s a situation none of us has ever gone through before. He’s in unknown territory without his family to help him. He’s been abandoned and outcast and everything is a constant reminder of what he’s lost. He sacrificed himself for his leader, for the one he looks up to for guidance and safety. And because of the outcome, he was pushed away by that very man.” Lennox tried to explain the feelings that have been tearing Bumblebee into pieces.

“Yeah, that does sound stressful.” Epps slouched. “How’s Annabell taking having an older brother?”

“She hates it.” Lennox groaned, sliding down to the floor.

“It can’t be that bad.” Epps laughed at his friend’s pain.

“She’s just fine sharing, as long as its in the way she wants, which Bee usually gets overwhelmed with her demands and ends up with Annabell throwing a tantrum and Bee hiding away in Ironhide.” Lennox took a deep breath.

“Do I even want to know how Sarah is taking this?” Epps helped Lennox to his feet.

“Oh, she’s loving how much room she has in the King bed without any company.” Lennox gave a dry bark of laughter.

“Seriously?”

“She loves Bee, didn’t even take a second to warm up to him. She is mad that I made this ‘life-changing’ decision without her.”

“Well, we’re wife and kid free here, man. So just come down to the hanger and see what the bots have been up to.” Epps led the way to the large warehouse where the autobots were walking around and talking with other military faciliants. Or they were trying too. Ironhide was shouting at Optimus and anyone else who tried to argue with him or try to calm him down.

“I’ve got tear stains in my leather upholster, because he thinks he’s been abandoned! And you know what, he ain’t wrong.” Ironhide folded his arms, glaring at the leader of the Autobots.

“We’ve been over this, Ironhide. He would not be safe here. I’m not going to change my decision.” Optimus huffed, getting frustrated at this endless cycle that was getting them nowhere.

“Oh, I know. But I want you to live with the guilt of that decision riding on your conscience till the All Spark has mercy.” Ironhide spins his cannons, but doesn’t engage in any violence with his commander. Lennox was surprised the weapon’s expert held back. Ironhide had been overheating with rage for the whole ride here.

“Don’t start a fight, Ironhide. Bumblebee knew the risk.” Wheeljack said. “Besides, being alone isn’t the worst. I’m by myself all the time.” Wheeljack didn’t get to continue his thoughts as Ironhide slammed his fist into the other’s face.

“Hey, hey, Ironhide! They’re not going to change their minds with senseless violence. We’re here to do a job. Just keep it civil, big guy.” Lennox said, running to break up the bots.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m going to the range.” Ironhide transformed into his truck and rolled away from the others.

“Thank you for understanding, Captain.” Optimus started, but Lennox shot a glare up to the large mech.

“Don’t think I’m on your side, Prime. I just hate cleaning up the messes that happen when you guys fight.” Lennox turned away from the bot to organize his men.

#baby bumblebee #transformers #human bumblebee #william lennox #bumblebee

17 notes · View notes

aion-rsa · 4 years ago

Text

The Public Enemy Solidified Gang Rule Under James Cagney for 90 Years

https://ift.tt/3vfQifQ

William Wellman’s The Public Enemy (1931) turns 90 this weekend. When the film first came out, a theater in Times Square showed it nonstop, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The movie marks the true beginning of gangster movies as a genre. Mervyn LeRoy’s Little Caesar may have hit theaters first, but The Public Enemy set the pattern, and James Cagney nailed the patter. Not just the street talk either; he also understood its machine gun delivery. His Tommy Powers is just a hoodlum, never a boss. He is a button man at best, even if he insisted his suits have six buttons.

The Public Enemy character wasn’t even as high up the ladder as Paul Sorvino’s caporegime Paul Cicero in Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas. But Cagney secured the turf Edward G. Robinson’s Rico Bandello took a bullet to claim in Little Caesar, and for the rest of his career Cagney never let it go.

Some would argue genre films began in 1931. Besides mob movies, the year introduced the newspaper picture with Lewis Milestone’s The Front Page and John Cromwell’s Scandal Sheet; Universal Pictures began an unholy run of horror classics via Tod Browning’s Dracula and James Whale’s Frankenstein, with the two turning Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff into household names; and Howard Hawks’ Scarface would land the knockout for the gangster genre, even if it didn’t get released until 1932.

Sadly, the classic “Gangster Film” run only lasted one production season, from 1930 to 1931, and less than 30 films were made during it. Archie Mayo’s The Doorway to Hell started the ball rolling in 1930, when it became a surprise box office hit. It stars Lew Ayres as the top mug, with Cagney as his sidekick. For fans of pre-Code Hollywood, it is highly recommended. It includes a kidnapping scene which results in the death of a kid on the street. Without a speck of blood or any onscreen evidence, it is cinematically shocking in its impact.

Both Little Caesar and The Public Enemy earned their street cred, defying the then-toothless 1930 Motion Picture Production Code, which preceded the Hays Code. After New York censors cut six scenes from The Public Enemy to clear it for release, the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA) set further guidelines for the proper cinematic depiction of crime.

Public Enemy director Wellman was an expert in multiple genres. He spit out biting satires like Nothing Sacred (1937) and Roxie Hart (1942), and captured gritty, dark realities in The Ox-Bow Incident (1943) and Story of G.I. Joe (1945). He won his only Oscar for A Star Is Born (1937). The Public Enemy is the first example of what would be his trademark: stylish cinematography and clever camera-work. The dark suspense he captures is completely different from the look of German expressionism. It captured the overcast shadows of urban reality and would influence the look of later noir films. His main character would inspire generations of actors.

“That’s just like you, Tom Powers. You’re the meanest boy in town.”

Orson Welles lauded James Cagney as “maybe the greatest actor who ever appeared in front of a camera.” Will Rogers said watching Cagney perform was “like a bunch of firecrackers going off all at once.” The New York City born performer explodes in this movie. Even in black and white, Cagney’s red hair flares through the air like sulfur on a match. It turns out to be a slow burn, which will reach its ultimate climax in 1949’s White Heat. The Public Enemy is loaded with top talent, but you can’t take your eyes off Cagney. Not even for a second. You might miss some tiny detail, like the flash of a grin, a wink, or a barely perceptible glare.

Cagney had a simple rule to acting: All you had to do was to look the other person straight in the eyes and say your lines. “But mean them.” In The Public Enemy, the characters communicate without lines. When Tom and Matt Doyle (Edward Woods) sneak a peek into Larry the Limp’s casket, we understand this is the first time the two young thugs lost someone their own age. The scene barely implies how fortunate they are not to be in that box, but their curiosity is as palpable as the loss of their last shred of innocence.

Cagney was originally cast as Matt, and scenes were shot with him in the role. The parts were switched mid-production, but they didn’t reshoot the flashback scenes, making it look like the pair swapped bodies between 1909 and 1915. It’s a shame because Frankie Darro, who plays the young Matt, made a career out of playing baby face Cagney, and later joined the East Side Kids franchise.

Former “Our Gang” actor Frank Coghlan Jr. took on the role of young Tom. He takes the lashes from his cop father’s belt, backtalking him the whole time. Tom Powers is reprehensible. He never says thank you and doesn’t shake hands. He delights in the violence and sadism. Powers doesn’t go into crime because of poverty; he just can’t be contained. Cagney’s mobster mangles, manhandles, maims and murders, and still needs more room in his inseam.

Dames, Molls, and Grapefruits

Besides defying the ban on romanticizing criminals, both The Public Enemy and Little Caesar broke sexual codes. There are explicit signs that Rico Bandello represses his sexuality in Caesar. Scenes between him and his friend Joe, and his gunman Otera, thinly veil homoerotic overtones. Public Enemy’s Powers, by contrast, subtly encourages the gay tailor who is openly hitting on him.

There are strong indications Putty Nose (Murray Kinnell) is grooming Tommy and Matt for more than just fenced goods. Look at the way Putty sticks his ass in Powers’ face while he is shooting pool. Putty Nose’s execution at the piano is creepily informed by the unspoken sins between the men. Tommy relishes the kill.

However, Tommy doesn’t relish being manhandled when he’s too drunk to notice. While the gang goes to the mattresses in the movie’s gang war, Tommy is raped by Jane (Mia Marvin), his boss Paddy’s girl. Powers protests the best he can, but the camera angles leave no doubt. Tommy wakes up hungover, horrified, and feeling impotent. Matt, however, has no trouble getting “busy” with his girlfriend Mamie, played by Joan Blondell, in one of the scenes trimmed by the censors. Blondell, Jean Harlow, and Mae Clarke, who plays Tommy’s girlfriend Kitty, represent a glitzy cross-section of white Roaring Twenties glamour. In the opening credits, when Harlow and Blondell smile at the camera, male audience members of the time blushed.

Harlow was Hollywood’s original “Blonde Bombshell,” starring in the movie that coined the term. Her earthy comic performances would make her a major star at MGM, but she was a dud to critics of The Public Enemy. Hers was the only part which was criticized, and the reviewers were brutal, declaring her voice untrained and her presence boring.

Harlow’s greatest asset had to be contained within the Pre-Code era. Straddled with a wordy part as a slumming society dame, she is directed to slow her lines to counter the quick patter of the rest of the cast. Yet Harlow uses that to her benefit in the film’s best moment of sexual innuendo. While telling Tommy about “the men I’ve known,” she pauses, and appears to be calculating them in her head before she says, “And I’ve known dozens of them.” When an evening alone with Tommy is cut short, Gwen’s exasperation over the coitus interruptus is palpable. Members of the Catholic Legion of Decency probably had to go to confession after viewing the film for slicing.

Most people know The Public Enemy for the famous grapefruit scene where Powers pushes a grapefruit into his girlfriend’s face. “I wish you was a wishing well,” he warns, “so that I could tie a bucket to you and sink ya.” Tommy treats women like property. They are status symbols, the same as clothes or cars. Kitty’s passive-aggressive hints at commitment get on Tom’s nerves. He can only express himself through violence. There are rumors Cagney, who would go on to rough up Virginia Mayo in White Heat and brutalize Doris Day in Love Me or Leave Me, didn’t warn Clarke he was going to use her face as a juicer. According to the autobiography Cagney by Cagney, Clarke’s ex-husband Lew Brice loved the scene so much he watched it a few times a day, timing his entrance into the theater to catch it and leave.

Both actors have said it was staged as a practical joke to see how the film crew would react. It wasn’t meant to make the final cut. Wellman told TCM he added it because he always wanted to do that to his wife. The writer reportedly wrote the scene as a kind of wish-fulfilling fantasy.

The screenplay was written by Harvey F. Thew. It was based on Beer and Blood by John Bright and Kubec Glasmon. The unpublished novel fleshed out press accounts of the bootlegging Northside gang leaders, Charles Dion “Deanie” O’Banion, Earl “Hymie” Weiss, and Louis “Two-Gun” Alterie. Cagney based his Tommy Powers character on O’Banion and Altiere. Edward Woods was doing his take on Weiss. The book reflected the headlines in the Chicago papers, which reported Weiss smashed an omelet into his girlfriend’s face.

Movies

Al Capone: 9 Actors Who Played the Original Scarface

By Tony Sokol

Movies

Key Largo, Lauren Bacall & The Definitive Post-War Film

By David Crow

The Trouble Squad

The Public Enemy borrowed from the day’s headlines in other ways too. Hymie Weiss was assassinated in October 1926. It was the first reported “machine-gun nest” murder. It is recreated in the killing of Matt Doyle. While shooting the sequence, Cagney ducked real machine gun fire to bring authenticity to the scene. Also taken from real life is the fact that after O’Banion was killed in ‘24, Alterie’s first reaction was to do public battle with the killers. This is similar to Tommy’s final shootout at Schemer Burns’ nightclub headquarters.

Leslie Fenton’s dashing mob captain Nails Nathan (“born Samuel”) flashes the greatest grin in mob movie history. He is based on Samuel “Nails” Morton, a member of O’Banion’s mob. Both “Nails” were driven to their coffins the way it is depicted in The Public Enemy. The real Morton died in a riding accident in 1923, and “Two-Gun” Alterie and some of the other gang members went back to the stables, rented the horse which kicked Nails in the head, and shot the animal. Mario Puzo may have been inspired by this scene when he wrote The Godfather. It is not only tie to the Francis Ford Coppola movie. Oranges have as much vitamin C as grapefruits. Another similarity between the two films is the threat of being kidnapped from the hospital by a rival gang.

The Powers brothers’ relationship vaguely echoes the one between war hero Michael and Sonny Corleone, who believes, as his father does, soldiers were “saps” to risk their lives for strangers. Donald Cook, who played Mike Powers, didn’t pull any punches on the set. In the scene where he knocks Tom into the table before going off to war, he really connects. Wellman told Cook to do it without warning so he could get that look of surprise. Cook broke one of Cagney’s teeth, but Cagney stayed in character and finished the scene.

“It is a wicked business.”

After the stock market crash, get-rich-quick schemes seemed the only way through the Great Depression. The gangster was an acceptable headline hero during Prohibition because the law was unpopular with the press. But after 1929, the gangster became the scapegoat villain. The Public Enemy was the ninth highest grossing film of 1931. But the genre lost its appeal after April of that year, as studios pumped out pale imitations and audiences got tired of the saturation, according to the book Violence and American Cinema, edited by J. David Slocum. Religious and civic groups accused Hollywood of romanticizing crime and glamorizing gangsters.

The Public Enemy opens with a dire warning: Don’t be a gangster. Hoodlums and terrorists of the underworld should not be glamorized. The only MPAA rule the film didn’t break was portraying an alliance between organized crime and politics. The studios passed the films off as cautionary tales which were meant to deflate the gangster’s appeal by ridiculing their false heroism.

Through this hand-wringing, however, Cagney turns false heroics on its head with the comic brilliance of a Mack Sennett short. Stuck without a gun, he robs a gun store armed with nothing but moxie. Powers never rises in the organization. He takes orders and whatever the boss says is a good cut, only asking for more money once from Putty Nose. Unlike Rico, who rose to be boss among bosses, Powers has no power to lose. This is just the first gig he landed since he was a regular “ding ding” driving a streetcar, and it connected with audiences like a sock on the button. They identified with the scrappy killer, and it surprised them.

Even Gwen notices Tommy is “very different, and it isn’t only a difference in manner and outward appearances. It’s a difference in basic character.” Strict Freudians might lay this on his mother (Beryl Mercer), the greatest enabler Cagney will see until White Heat. Ma Powers’ little boy is a budding psychopath knocking off half the North Side, but look at the head on his beer. For audiences at the time, Tom was the smiling, fresh-scrubbed face of evil. He is consistently unsympathetic but likable from the moment he hits the opening credits.

Like Malcom McDowell’s Alex in A Clockwork Orange, he is the fiend’s best friend. Even if it is Tommy’s fault his best pal Matt gets killed. While Cagney spent his career ducking his “you dirty, double-crossing, rat” line from Taxi, the actor wasn’t afraid to play one in Powers. He’s not a rat in the sense he’d snitch on anyone. He’s the last of the pack who sticks it out for his pals when his back is up against the wall.

A Hail of Bullets

Tommy Powers goes by this credo: live fast, die young, and leave a corpse so riddled with bullets, not even his mother can look at his body when he’s done. But then, no one can end a film like Cagney. He’s danced down the White House stairs in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), been rolled across the concrete steps of a city church in The Roaring Twenties (1939), and was blown to kingdom come in White Heat. He gets two death scenes in The Public Enemy, a rain-soaked climax, and a denouement as scary as The Mummy. Tommy only brings one gun to the gang fight, and by the time he hits the pavement, he’s got more holes in him than the city sewage system.

“I ain’t so tough,” Tommy says on his final roll into the gutter. Cagney’s first professional job was in a musical drag act on the Vaudeville circuit, and he called himself a “song and dance man” long after retirement. For The Public Enemy, conductor David Mendoza led the Vitaphone Orchestra through such period hits as “Toot Toot Tootsie (Goodbye),” “Smiles,” and “I Surrender Dear.” But the song “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles” is the one which lingers in the memory. Martin Scorsese has cited it as a reason his films are so filled with recognizable music.

Street violence comes with a natural soundtrack. Transistor radios accompany takedowns. Boom boxes blast during shakedowns. Car stereos boost the bass during drive-by shootings. In The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight, mobsters feed quarters into a jukebox to cover up sounds of a beating.

In The Godfather, Part II, a street band plays traditional Italian songs while Vito Corleone puts bullets in the neighborhood Black Hand, Don Fanucci. The last thing we hear in the abrupt close to the mob series The Sopranos is a Journey song. The first thing Tommy’s mother does when she hears her boy is coming home from the hospital is drop a needle on a record.

The ending leaves us with two questions: Who killed Tommy, and what’s his brother going to do about it? We figure whoever did the job on Powers was probably a low-level button man from Schemer’s rival outfit. Probably even lower down the ladder than Tommy, and on his way up, until another Tommy comes along. Crime only pays in the movies, Edward G. Robinson often joked.

Mike’s reaction to the bandaged corpse is ambiguous. He’s already shown outward signs of the trauma following the horrors of war. Is he clenching his fists in anguish or anger? Is he broken by the battlefield or marching off in vengeance, a soldier on one last duty? Cook’s exit can go either way.

After 90 years, The Public Enemy is still fresh. It’s aged better than Little Caesar or Scarface. Cagney wouldn’t play a gangster again until 1938, but the image is etched so deeply in the persona, audiences forget the vagaries of villainy Hollywood could spin, and the range of characters Cagney could play. He and the film continue to influence filmmakers, inform culture, and surprise audiences. Tommy Powers was just a mug, but those streets are still his.

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

The post The Public Enemy Solidified Gang Rule Under James Cagney for 90 Years appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3xnjfs7

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

1 note · View note

tornadoofcreation · 5 years ago

Text

Ninjago Hogwarts AU

Okay so, idek if this counts as a traditional AU because I’m basically just plopping the Ninjago characters into a modified version of the Harry Potter Canon, but here goes nothing

Wu, Garmadon And Misako

* Wu and Garmadon are direct descendants of Merlin, making them both very powerful Wizards.

* Garmadon was born with an Aptitude for dark magic, while Wu was very skilled with Transfiguration.

* Both began training in magic from a very young age

* As a child Garmadon came in contact with the venom of a basilisk (idk how or why, probably someone trying to harm him as he was from a legacy of a very powerful wizard). The venom mixed with the powerful dark in him caused a slow progression to evil

* Once they got to hogwarts, Wu was sorted into ravenclaw

* Garmadon was a hat stall. While garmadon himself was a gryffindor, the evil in him made him seem like a Slytherin. Because of this, he was put into Slytherin house

* In first year, the brothers met Misako, a genius muggleborn in Ravenclaw who’s speciality was ancient runes

* Garmadon and her fell in love; they started dating in their 6th year

* Garmadon was a chaser on the Slytherin quidditch team

* After they graduated they joined an alliance for the first wizarding war, similar to the order of the Phoenix

* Misako and Garmadon had a son, Lloyd, during the war

* Six months later, garmadon succumbed to the evil and left to become a death eater

* He was able to give the order’s secrets to Voldemort

* After the war ended, wu knew Voldemort would return and began a journey to find pupils who would be able to defeat him. Because Merlin was so powerful, with magic, he had control over different elements of the earth. He passed down this skill to his descendants, including Wu and Garmadon. Wu had Far more mastery of the skill that garmadon. He wanted to teach those skills to a new generation to give them a fighting chance

* He began to create spells to channel his special magic which he called “elemental magic”

* Garmadon was posed as a wanted wizarding criminal and muggle criminal, charged for the murder of millions. In reality, he was terrified of what he had done and ran away, fearing that his evil would hurt Misako and Lloyd

* Misako left Lloyd In a muggle boarding school for bad boys so she could do her own research and escape the world of magic

Kia and Nya

* Both of them come from a powerful pure blood lineage; they don’t know much about it though as their parents disappeared when Kai was 5 and Nya was 3

* They both showed lots of signs of magic through their childhood and sort of discovered the magic world by themselves

* At age 11 Kai’s Hogwarts letter came, delivered by Wu who guided him through the magical world and sent him to Hogwarts

* His was has a Dragon heartstrings core

* He was put in Gryffindor, through the hat did consider Slytherin for a second

* He took a while to warm up to the rest of his house; there were a lot of strong personalities clashing with his own strong personality

* He then met Cole, who was another Gryffindor who was a lot quieter and grounded than the others. They clicked right away and the first breakfast after the sorting, neither really wanted to sit with the other Gryffindors

* They found two other boys that were sitting outside the great hall, jay and zane and ended up becoming best friends

* He did warm up to his housemates soon enough

* He became chaser on the Gryffindor team

* He met another Gryffindor on the quidditch team, Skylor; another chaser, and they became close friends.

* They started dating in Kai’s 5th year

* Nya came to Hogwarts two years later after. The hat debated between Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and Slytherin, but it eventually decided on Slytherin

* Her want has a thestral core

* She was very popular with literally everyone in Hogwarts but she gelled really well with Kai’s small group of friends

* She’s extremely intelligent though her favorite subject was transfiguration and defense

* She became Slytherin team beater (I mean c’mon this girl held up all the ninja with one hand in ‘ninja vs lava’

* She began dating Jay in her 4th year

* During the summers, they were trained by Wu in his strange form of magic.

* Kai found he had an aptitude for controlling fire with magic and Nya water

* They both led the younger resistance against Voldemort along with the others in the second war

* After school, both siblings became aurors.

* Eventually Nya became Minister of Magic and Kai became head auror

Jay

* He was a muggleborn wizard

* Wu found him at age 11 and explained everything to him and his parents, telling jay he had something special most wizards don’t have

* His wand has a unicorn hair code

* The hat decided between Ravenclaw and hufflepuff for him, but decided on Ravenclaw as it fit not only his genius intelligence but his quirky personality

* The morning after the sorting, he got really distracted by trying to figure out how the moving staircases work on his way to breakfast and got lost

* Another Ravenclaw, Zane found him roaming around, looking lost and brought him breakfast. They just kinda sat outside and had their breakfast, waiting for the rest of the Ravenclaws to arrive so they could follow them back to the common room.

* There, two other boys, Cole and Kai, found him and they become the best of friends

* He tried out for seeker on the quidditch team, but got keeper because the captain through he’d make an amazing keeper.

* He developed a real aptitude for transfiguration and that’s how he and Nya really became close. He was working on a transfigurations experiment and Nya, intrigued, asked if she could help

* Other than that, he was very good with improving muggle objects with magic

* Jay and Nya began dating in Jay’s 6th year

* Jay was prone to getting teased quite often, but he most always shrugged it off and didn’t let it bother him

* Wu trained him in the summer and he found he could control lightning with magic very well

* He became a leader in the resistance in the second war. His style of fighting, lighting fast blasts of magic that the opponent couldn’t keep up with, was very useful.

* After the war, he opened a workshop where he improved muggle objects with magic and invented muggle/magic combined technology

* He and Nya settled down eventually and had two kids

Cole

* He’s a halfblood wizard; his mother was a witch and his father is a muggle dancer

* His mom passed away when Cole was very young so he had little to no exposure to the magical world.

* Wu came when he was eleven and explained everything to him and his father and told him he had something most wizards don’t and took Cole through the magical world

* Cole’s wand has a thestral core

* He was a hat stall between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. His qualities could go either way, but his values leaned slightly more towards Gryffindor. The hat sensed that that would fluctuate and maybe even change fully as Cole grew up

* He was slightly overwhelmed by the Gryffindors at first and their strong personalities as Cole was very grounded and the Gryffindors were more flamboyant. He met Kai, who’s personality clashed with the others as well, and they became friends

* They met Jay and Zane there and became friends

* He became a beater on the Gryffindor quidditch team

* When Nya joined the Slytherin team as beater, they both practiced together a lot

* He had an aptitude for herbology and defense

* He’s friends with all owls in the Owlery and sometimes just sits up there with them

* He was trained to control earth with magic by Wu

* He also became a leader in the residence

* After the war, he became a magizoologist and took care of the magical beasts at Hogwarts

Zane

* He’s a special situation. He was built by doctor Julian, an extremely talented muggle mechanic. His wizarding friend then gave the child magic (I know that’s impossible l, but ya know zane’s a weird situation and I didn’t really know how to work around him)

* Julian knew a little about the magical world and taught Zane what he knew about it

* They were both shocked when his Hogwarts letter came. As he did for the others, wu comes and talks to Julien and Zane

* His core is also Thestral Hair

* His father also sends him to Hogwarts with a mechanical falcon instead of an owl

* He is sorted into ravenclaw immediately

* at breakfast the next day, he sees a confused looking boy roaming around. Zane thinks he’s lonely (he’s not, jay’s just confused) and Zane’s not too good with people and doesn’t have any friends yet so he takes his breakfast and grabs something for the boy and brings it to him.

* He and Jay become best friends and meet Kai and Cole that same meal

* He’s really good at all of his subjects, and is top of his class, though if had to pick his favorite it would be ancient runes or defense against the dark arts

* His intelligence along with Jay and Nya help the group get into all kinds of trouble

* He met PIXAL, another Ravenclaw, a year below him. They became best friends and she is initiated with their group

* They started dating in 7th year

* Wu trains him to use Ice with magic

* He’s also a leader In the resistance

* After, he joins the ministry and helps Nya with her minister of magic stuff

* His job is in the magical law enforcement section

Lloyd

* He’s a pure blood, son of Misako and Garmadon, but knows nothing about the wizarding world because he was raised in the boarding school

* When he got to Hogwarts, he had heard about his father’s ‘feats’ and was determined to be a Slytherin to make him proud and make him come back to Lloyd

* He has a Phoenix feather wand core

* He begged the hat to put him in Slytherin, but the hat knew he wouldn’t fit in there. He was sorted into Hufflepuff, mulch to Lloyd’s disdain

* He stubbornly tried to hang out with the Slytherin the first week, but they just made fun of Lloyd. In the end, that just resulting in him being the joke of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw and the Laughingstock of Slytherin. The Hufflepuff felt betrayed by him as well

* Finally giving up, he decided to eat breakfast alone, outside the great hall. There, he found a group of kids from all different houses who are here since didn’t want to be at separate tables

* He slowly became friends with Kai, Jay, Cole, Zane, Nya, Skylor and PIXAL.

* Cole and Nya were the first to let him into their group, but soon he was fully initiated, despite being 4 years younger

* Since he had nowhere to go over the summer, save the boarding school, he stayed with Kai and Nya who brought him to their training with Wu.

* Wu trained him as well and found that Lloyd was able to do the same unique magic as Wu and Garmadon

* Wu trained him, claiming that his power finally gave them a fighting chance against Voldemort

* At some point, when Voldemort is fully resurrected, garmadon is forced to come back to serve him, making things a lot more complicated

* He has wavering loyalties, but never harms Lloyd, even in the fiercest of battles

* Lloyd can speak parsletounge

* In Hogwarts, Lloyd has an aptitude for defense against the dark arts, but his favorite class is herbology

* He befriended all the house elves and hangs out with them in the kitchens.

* He speaks parseltounge as well, something his father passed down to him

* He is the Hufflepuff seeker

* Wu teaches him how to control energy with magic, a combination of all the other types

* He is also a leader in the resistance

* He manages to turn his father good at the end of the war

* After the war, he becomes a defense against the dark arts professor

Also, Tumblr mobile screwed up my formatting, thanks tumblr : |

63 notes · View notes

pkmnsdarkqueen · 5 years ago

Text

Mun talks about her D&D characters for munday

I thought it’d be fun to let ya’ll hear about them. Also I know a ton of them start with L names, I’m sorry and I don’t know how this happened.

Lokni-Human Blood Hunter (TW: death, demons, sex, child neglect, pregnancy complications) Life goal: To kill Raktos the demon Campaign: Ravnica

The current favorite of my friends who I’ve played a few games with. Personally I think he has one of the most tragic backstories but I had to give him an intense one cause he has a very dramatic goal. The campaign is set in Ravnica which for those who don’t know is a setting where most things take place in a large city where power is divided by guilds. My child is in the Raktos guild which is the ones who throw parties put on shows, and run the brothels. Thing is they also kinda murder folks alot, live on the idea of viva la anarchy and they do this to keep their guild leader, a massive demon happy so he doesn’t end the world. Now that you’re caught up his story goes as follows. He was born to two parents, things were great, his mom got preggers, she was out with her husband and got dragged into a Raktos show cause they do that, she was injured and basically it became either save her or her unborn child and he insisted on the child. Dad blames the kid for loosing his wife, neglects teh child, Lokni also a child adopts his dad’s mindset being confused and hurt, family friend of mom takes in unwanted child (she is a centaur by the way), Lokni realizes eventually his dad really doesn’t care about him either as dad slips further into insanity about wanting to bring his wife back, Lokni decides to go apologize to bro who instantly forgives to live with centaur mom. Later they are told their dad is dead getting mixed up with the wrong people (however based on hints from the dm I fear he is not dead and also fear when the dm brings him back). His goal as a character is this: He wants to make sure no family ever ends up ripped apart like his so he wants to kill Raktos and put someone else on the throne, not him cause he recognizes he is not emotionally stable enough to run anything. Although originally I was planning on making him more obsessive about his goals and basically become his dad, obsession and hurt drives people to crazy things, but he kinda ended up finding a 16 year old ghost girl in the woods who’s been stuck to possess a knife and basically was like,”well this child clearly has a rough time in life I’m gonna adopt them!” and fatherhood is forcing this man to rethink things cause murdering Raktos=major trouble and he doesn’t want to rip up this new family he’s making so now considering teleporting him away? changing him to be a good person? Yeh it’s getting complicated. OH and he was kind of forced to drink some potion stuff, cause his boss is crazy (she has a ghost choir that she possibly killed everyone there, complete with a kazoo section cause ya boi Lokni on a whim said it needed more kazoos and she listened to him cause he knows music, he plays the spoons and does magic tricks btw as a job, so clearly he knows what he’s talking about) and ye so he is a fox lycanthropy now.

Lapis Lazuil/Laz-Triton, Cleric. Life goal: Literally be the best monster killer Campaign: Regular D&D 5e

Basically we had a D&D show we were filming at school up until things got too busy with the main show we were producing. This character came before Lokni and we were told,”hey so your characters are monster hunters at this guild but they’ve all kind of been kicked out of their former parties for one reason or another which ya’ll can decide and this is your last chance to stay in the guild.” Me: “cool imma make a triton that hates water, and their a tempest cleric.” Dm: “....why, why are you like this.” Me: “YOU SAID MAKE BAD DECISIONS!” So ye that’s how Laz was made. Her story is that she was adopted by rock genasi. She thinks her parents abandoned her. Truth is they just fell on hard times just before she was born and well couldn’t afford a child so did what they could now trying to find her. So she changed her birth name to be named after a rock like the rest of what she considers her real family. She also has the attitude of the stereotypical highschool cheerleader on disney movies and talks like one too but with a more raspy voice because she is dehydrated, again she hates water because of her hatred for her ‘real family’ and also she genuinely doesn’t like the way it feels,”It’s just liiiike the worst ya know, um like on my skin....yeah so don’t pass out in water or whatever cause like I probs won’t try to heal you....sorry not sorry.” That was literally her first line to the rest of the party. I now use her in one offs and like low key she is alot of fun.

Luc-Pantoran (I forgot the class and the dm still has our character sheets cause thank you virus) Life goal: Clear their name! Campaign: Starwars

So first of all funny thing about this one is that usually I have a gender and voice made pretty early into creating a character. With this person....I did not, like literally I got everything else figured out except these two details so I decided,”You know what! You don’t get either of them!” Their story went like this, they have 12 siblings ok, super rural regular family in the inner planets. All of their siblings are wildly successful and they were average. They knew they couldn’t really succeed like everyone else but hey did find themselves enjoying being a nuisance so basically when asked what they wanted to do with their life they would look up at the adult asking and just go,”Crime.” SO that’s exactly what they did. Once they became an adult they ran off, used sleeping with folks to get what and where they wanted, eventually joined a pirate crew, and life was great. They were so good, and kind of had a thing going with the captain that they became first mate. Pretty recently they realized they didn’t relate to either gender and became non binary, they also are still trying to figure out their voice so it would change rather often. Thing is they got framed for stealing from the captain, and hey they’ve done alot of bad but they HAVE NOT broken trust like that, after all they actually cared about the captain, and for once was considering being just with them instead of sleeping around. Nonetheless they are on the run now trying to clear their name. Their theme as a character is,”hey you know that little voice in your head that tells you not to do something, ye they don’t have that. Just a voice that says, do what ya wanna do pal!”

Clarity-Robot, vault dweller (Tw: death mention, human experimentation, dog experimentation) Life goal: Just see the world Campaign: Fall out

I love this character so much she is a baby however her theme is,”depending on perspectives people can come across as wildly different things.” So If you’ve played fall out no she’s not a Mr. Handy or one of the robots that looks incredibly human like. We decided an amalgamation of the two fit her story better and it was available in the unofficial fall out table top we were playing. She looks humanish, a human like form but with clear casing showing her inner workings and a human mask to try to look more friendly. She’s got on a little yellow dress on too, very vintage, and with the sweetest most innocent sounding voice. She even travels with a Dalmatian who, as a robot could think of only the most appropriate name to describe her grizzled hound, Spot. As for fighting one arm can transform into a flame thrower and the other into a chain saw. Also as a robot she can not go against programming. She also makes comments such as,”I am overjoyed you will not become a plant!” “Oh no don’t pick flowers! I would hate to hurt the plant...” “Are you sure the grass will not mind if I step on it?” If you have played fallout you might know where this is going. Basically there are 2 vaults that are important, both of them are found over grown with plants one containing half human half plant monstrous creatures. Her story is that she was in the vault that laster holds the monstrous creatures. Her programming was to continue the experiment, the experiment to combine humans with plants in an attempt to improve upon humans. She could not tell the humans what she was doing, and she could not stop the experiment until it was complete. There were dogs there under her command to be used as experiments too or keep the plants in line. So the chain saw and flamethrower were to stop unruly plant monsters from attacking her and keep them in line until finally the order came that the experiment was over and she was no longer needed. So she left, secretly horrified by her actions attempting to avoid ever processing what she witnessed fully through her system. She wants to see the world for herself now with her dog friend. Again when people meet her she seems like a sweet angel going so far as to worry about even the feelings of plants, but for anyone who was in that vault they would see her as a very different person.

#d&d #ooc #munday

1 note · View note

dramaqueeenamby · 7 years ago

Text

In Da’ Club

A/N: This is loosely inspired by the TV show Sister Sister. The episode where Tia and Tamera....welll, I’m sure you’ll pick up on it! ;)

In which you, T’Challa, Erik, Erik’s girlfriend, Shuri, and someone else all set out for a night at the club.

Words: 2432

Visuals of the ladies as follows:

In Da’ Club

“Absolutely not!”

“Y/N!”

“No, Erik!” Y/N said more forcefully. “That is a terrible idea.”

“That’s what you say about everything that I suggest!” He threw his hands up to show his frustration.

“Well then perhaps you should stop making suggestions altogether.” She shook her head and noticed a group of boys surrounding a smaller boy. “If you wanna do something, you can go help him.”

Erik dragged his eyes over to the scene and rolled them before sauntering over.

“Ya know, I for one am not always Team Erik, but he might be onto something, girl,” Deja commented innocently from her position on Y/N’s side.

“Deja…”

“Come on, Y/N.” Deja practically whined. “You were the captain of your school’s dance team in high school and led your team to nationals while in college.”

She paused. “I fail to see the relevance.”

Deja sucked her teeth. “You mean to tell me that you and your girls never went out to celebrate?” Silence. “Mmmhmmm.”

“That was different, Deja. I was younger and a co-ed. We were all trying to have a good time.”

“You make it sound like you’re an old woman. You’re 26 girl. What 26-year-old doesn’t wanna hit up the club?”

“I’m not opposed to going to the club.” She sighed. “I’m opposed to taking T’Challa with me.”

“So, we’ll leave him behind at the hotel.” Deja shrugged.

Y/N cut her eyes. “You know damn well he is not about to let me go anywhere without him at least 10 feet away, especially with you and Erik.”

Deja pouted. “What are you trying to say? That we don’t know how to act in public.”

“You don’t, Deja!”

“That is not true!”

“I have one word for you.” Y/N deadpanned. “Paris.”

“Th-those charges were dropped!”

“I rest my case.” She shook her head.

“Okay.” Deja took on a solemn expression. “I suppose we’ll just have to go by ourselves….unattended….without supervision.”

Y/N’s eyes started to widen. The last time Erik and his girlfriend had gone out, her poor fiancé had to intervene to even get them out of the damn country.

She didn’t want that kind of stress on this trip.

“Okay, fine!” She finally relented as Deja squealed loudly and grabbed her to pull her into a side hug. “But I mean it, the second you two start acting out, we are out of there!”

Deja blew out a breath. “You are no fu-what the hell is that boy doing?”

Y/N turned to look at Erik, her eyes maximizing almost immediately. “Erik! Release his ankles now!”

As Y/N ran over to stop the prince from potentially harming a minor, Deja stood there and started to think about what she would wear.

“This is gonna be fun.”

* * * * *

“Don’t leave this room, don’t leave the hotel, don’t leave the state, don’t be having nobody up in this bitch while we gone, especially no goddamn lil’ burning ass niggas-“

“What can I do?” Shuri asked with a voice full of irritation.

“Breathe,” Erik replied with 100% honesty. “But don’t be doing too much of that shit either. American air is full of pollutants and shit.”

T’Challa shook his head as he looked over at his sister. “You are free to order room service, a movie, anything to keep you occupied until we return.”

“I just can’t leave the hotel.” The teenager sassed.

“It is for your protection, sister.”

“Ya’ damn straight.”

Y/N sent the young girl a sympathetic expression. “We’ll be back-“

“I am ready to depart.” M’Baku walked into the room, his traditional attire swapped out for modern clothes.

The four adults froze, none aware that the leader of the Jabari tribe planned on tagging along.

“M’Baku, I did not realize you were coming with us.” Deja laughed nervously.

“Aw hell no, this nigga finna be barking the whole damn night,” Erik muttered as his girlfriend elbowed him in his side.

“Why would I not?” He smiled broadly. “Is the purpose of this trip not to introduce me to American culture?”

“It is,” Y/N replied. “It’s just that the club is…well…it’s a bit much to take in if you’re unfamiliar with the customs.”

“Ha. Even more reason for me to attend,” he affirmed as T’Challa sent his fiancé a way to go look.

“Alright, listen Clifford the Big Jabari Dog, ain’t gon be none of that Que whooping and hollering shit.”

Shuri snickered from her spot on the sofa. “Perhaps being stuck here won’t be so bad after all.”

* * * * *

“But why do the young woman dress so provocatively?”

“Because they all hoes!”

“The gardening tool?”

“Somebody get this nigga away from me.” Erik referred to M’Baku who had been pestering the group with questions the whole night.

“M’Baku, wouldn’t you like to go dance?”

“Sure, when will it commence?”

Y/N clenched her eyes. “It has, M’Baku. That is what they are doing.”

This time, T’Challa’s interest was piqued as he looked over to the crowd. “How? They are simply gyrating with one another.”

“That’s the point!” Y/N snapped before leaning back against the plush seat. “I need a drink.” Y/N moaned as she threw her head backward.

“Of course, my love. Would you like some water, apple cider, or maybe a carbonated beverage?”

Had the music not been so loud, the group would have heard her whimpering.

Erik looked over at Deja who was taking a picture for Snapchat before he snatched the phone out her hands.

“What the fuck?” She hit him on his arm. “Give me back my phone, Erik!”

“You best not be talking to no niggas.” He warned while going through her friend list.

“And if I am?” She sucked her teeth, grabbing her iPhone out his hands.

“Ask one of them to get your ass back to Wakanda.” He shot easily. “We’ll see how far that gets you.”

“Man, whatever Erik.” She blew off his threat and stood up. “Come on, Y/N. Let’s go dance.”

The queen to be froze momentarily. “I don’t know….”

“You should dance, little one.” M’Baku encouraged. “Go join the rest of the hoes in their merriment!”

“Deja, wait up.”

* * * * *

Y/N did not realize how much she had missed her electric nights out at the club from her college years. No, it wasn’t the club itself that gave her a buzz but rather the idea of letting loose and having fun that gave her a high.

She’d only been on the floor for two minutes when the DJ decided to transition into throwbacks, the sound of “Bring it Back” taking her to a time where she used to dominate the dance floor.

She and Deja danced with each other, twerking and all, not caring about the stares and occasional phones she saw that were recording the interaction.

She knew she’d probably be on the blogs the following morning but honestly did not care. She truly was having a good time.

“Sex on the beach, please.”

“Make that two,” Deja added on as they took a break and sat by the bar. “Girl, I knew you still had it in you.”

Y/N cheeks tinted red. “I suppose I did not realize just how…closeted I've become compared to my college days.”

“See what happens when you party with Deja.” She teased. “Ya’ bitch wanna party with Deja.”

“Cartier Bardi in a 'Rari,” Y/N finished the line while running her hands over her sequined dress. “Diamonds all over my body.”

The two laughed and thanked the bartender as he brought them their drinks. They continued to joke around until the glasses were finished, prompting the young women to revisit their significant others in the VIP section.

“Come dance with me,” Y/N pouted while plopping down on top of her fiancé.

T’Challa chuckled, smelling the alcohol on her breath. “Did you enjoy your drink?”

“If I say no, will you dance with me?” She proposed, wrapping her arms around his neck and speaking against his temple.

“This is your element, not mine.”

She started to glare when another thought crossed her mine.

“These hoes ain’t loyal,” M’Baku spoke with uncertainty at first before finishing the statement with confidence.

“You got it!” Erik clapped and nodded his head with glee. “Maybe there’s hope for your M’Baku the giant looking ass yet.”

“You ain’t right.” Deja shook her head and grabbed Erik’s hand. “Let’s go.”

He raised his brow. “Now you wanna dance with a nigga?” A beat. “Naw ma’. Better go call Whitney.”

“She’s dead.”

“Not my problem.”

Deja groaned and pulled on him. “Come on, Erik.”

“What’s in it for me?”

She smirked and leaned down to whisper in his ear. “If you dance with me now, I’ll dance on you tonight when we get back to the room.”

The prince grew smug, slowly standing up as he allowed her to lead the way. “This why I keep your fine ass around.”

Similar to Deja, Y/N also promised her lover a night of intimate trysts, effectively getting him on the floor.

She smiled as T’Challa correctly gained a firm grasp on her hips, pulling her ass against his crotch. She looked over her shoulders to give him a bit of advice. “Just stay with me.”

As if on cue, “Walk It Like I Talk It” by Migos started playing. Erik, of course, knew exactly what do do, guiding Deja as she moved against him, the two sneaking in sloppy, drunk kisses.

T’Challa took a moment longer to catch on, but even his fiancé was shocked when he started reciprocating her actions, adequately matching her sensual movements.

Several songs played that had the whole club hype. Even M’Baku had attracted a dance partner, the monolithic warrior in pure bliss as a gorgeous woman with flawless chocolate skin and a plump ass twerked on him.

However, the crowd went completely ballistics at the sound of one iconic line:

Cash Money Records taking over for the '99 & the 2000

Everybody started piling in on the dance floor, even the ones who were readying to head out turned around when Back That Azz Up filled the room.

Deja and Y/N held nothing back as they danced with Erik and T’Challa, the future queen of Wakanda moaning when her man started to whisper all of the things he planned to do to her when they got back to the hotel.

“Maybe we should go out more often.” She whispered as he started sucking on her neck, her head bobbing to the side. She was about to shut her eyes when something, or rather, someone caught her attention. “Shuri?!”

“Shuri?”

Fuck

T’Challa immediately stopped his assault on her neck, his head snapping around to look for signs of his little sister.

Y/N returned her eyes to where the scientist was and sure enough, there was Shuri, laughing, dancing with….her boyfriend?

What the hell was he doing there?

“You saw Shuri?” T’Challa demanded of her as Y/N struggled with a response.

“I-uh-“

“Shuri?” Erik chimed in as Y/N realized shit was about to get real. “I know lil’ bit don’t have her fast ass up in here.” He growled. “Where she at? Imma kill that girl!”

“Perhaps it was someone who just looks like her?” Deja suggested.

Y/N said nothing because she knew that was not the case, especially since she also saw D’Kar.

“Where did you see her?” T’Challa pressed, his voice alluding that he was not about to accept anything other than the truth.

“She-it was-“

“Y/N!”

“Fuck that,” Erik grunted before making his way through the crowd, not that anyone was trying to stay in his path.

“What the hell is he doing?”

Deja, T’Challa, and Y/N watched in horror as he hopped up on stage and grabbed the mic from the DJ.

“Fuck you looking at me like that for?” He hissed as the disc jockey dropped his judgmental gaze in less than a second. “It’s not like you all that good anyway. Got the nerve to play some goddman Boom Boom Pow after the legendary Juvenile. Man, get your anorexic, Mr. Brown looking ass up off this stage before I Uncle Phil you off.”

The man wasted no time in running off the stage as he Erik beat on the mic.

��Now I’m only gonna say this shit once cause you know who you are,” he started. “And you know damn well you ain’t got no business being up in here with grown folks.” The crowd was clearly mumbling amongst themselves, no one brave enough to try to interrupt the livid man up on the stage. “And I should out your sneaky ass, but I won’t cause a nigga nice like that.” A beat. “But I swear to Bast, you got till the count of three to get the hell up out of here before I turn this bitch inside out.” He held up one finger. “One-“

He didn’t even get a chance to count any further because a surprisingly large group of people started heading for the exit.

“Sthandwa sam-“

Y/N sighed loudly. “I’m on it.” She shut her eyes opening them back up to reveal that they were completely white. Thick, dense, and barely visible fog filled the club as partiers struggled to see, unable to make their speedy retreat.

Of course, there was one person who could still see. In fact, Shuri happened to be one of the first people that he located.

He politely marched over to her as she looked over at him with nothing but nerves.

“Sister.”

Shuri gulped. “Brother, fancy seeing you here.”

“Is that the nigga?” Erik shouted from atop the stage noticing the young man standing beside Shuri was surprisingly managing a brave face.

Y/N groaned and thought of something. “Wait a minute….where’s M’Baku?”

The leader of the Jabari tribe was nowhere in sight, absent from the spot they had last seen him.

“That nigga like eight feet tall, he can take care of himself.” Erik scoffed while hopping off the stage. “You, however, done fucked up.” He spoke while marching toward

“Erik no-“ Shuri tried to stop him from charging at D'Kar by standing in front of him. “It’s not his fault. It was my idea to come here.”

“Well, you are leaving. Now.” T’Challa demanded, the ire radiating off his solid build. “And as far as you,” he turned to D’Kar. “This matter will be resolved.”

“Damn straight it will,” Erik spoke once again. “Soon as I kick your motherfucking ass.”

“Erik, no!”

Perhaps the club wasn’t such a good idea after all.

#black panther imagine #black panther fanfiction #T'Challa x reader #Shuri #M'Baku #Erik Killmonger #Erik Killmonger x reader #oneshot #drabble #Black Panther

277 notes · View notes

darecruit · 3 years ago

Text

Sneak Peek #3: Open Arms Chapter 16

Second part can be found here.

It's been too long, I know. This chapter is kicking my ass. But here's a long section for you. Finally got some drama and Rachel's dealt her cards. Not sure how Shelby's going to react--any ideas you have are greatly appreciated! Enjoy!

It all started as an initiation rite for the Cheerios. The new recruits were expected to prove themselves worthy of the title and uniform. Cheerios were gods amongst men—superior, powerful, and above all else, ruthless to any not from their realm. So it came as no real surprise that the newbies were tasked with pranking (read: terrorizing) the general student body that very first week of school. There were no guidelines or limitations on what could or should be done, and only one rule—Don’t. Get. Caught.

The better the prank, the more public, the better the reputation for the newcomer. Truly epic escapades may even garner the attention—and favor—of the Cheerios coach, the one and only Sue Sylvester. Sue was vicious. She stalked the halls of the school, leaving a wake of terror and destruction everywhere she went. Her victims were students and faculty alike.

Quinn hated Sue…but she loved cheer. It was quite the conundrum. And what ultimately led her to the slushie machine in the cafeteria. She wanted something that would be quick and relatively harmless, but would offer a high return. As far as she knew, no one else had ever tossed a slushie in another student’s face, and certainly not in front of a packed cafeteria.

She hadn’t set out to slushie Rachel, the girl had just been in the wrong place at the right time. Quinn could still recall the absolute shock, confusion, anger, and finally, abject sorrow that played across Rachel’s face as the icy cherry drink hit her dead on. The girl ran from the cafeteria, laughter and taunts following her down the hall and out of sight. The cherry slushie marked her that day, its stain a permanent smear on her reputation. No amount of Clorox in the world could bleach out the red target Quinn had placed on her back.

Quinn gained her own target that day, drawing the eyes of everyone who was anyone, most notably Sue Sylvester. “I like your zeal, Fabray. You have guts and panache. You remind me of a young Sue Sylvester. You will go far with me, Q, just do exactly as I say and never piss me off. Got it?” Sue had said when she called Quinn to her office immediately following the slushie incident. Quinn had nodded, not knowing what else to say to her coach; she hadn’t appreciated being compared to that witch but knew any favoritism from Sue would serve her well. “Then welcome to the team, Captain,” Sue had said before dismissing her. Quinn had left that office feeling numb. Never had a freshman been made Head Cheerio, yet here Quinn was in that top spot.

The team’s reaction to the news was mixed. Fellow freshmen Santana Lopez and Brittany Pierce, as well as most of the sophomores and even a handful of juniors, were ecstatic at the announcement. For the underclassmen it meant upward mobility—one of their own was cheer captain and that could only improve their own statuses and popularity. For the outlier juniors, it was a buoy, a lifeline—maybe their last and onlychance at a better, more visible spot on the team that could gain them the attention of the scouting coaches and hopefully, a ticket out of Lima, Ohio. The rest of the team—the seniors, majority of the juniors, and a few power-hungry sophomores—were furious. They had all been jostling for prominence and power themselves and Quinn swooped in and stole it from them. Quinn hadn’t even wanted it, but there was nothing she, nor any of the others, could do about it. Sue’s word was law and they all had to accept it, however begrudgingly.

The only one who didn’t accept it was Harper Daniels, a complete bombshell of a sixteen-year-old. She was the worst of the power-starved sophomores, a pretentious, sadistic creature who reveled in her cruelty. She idolized Sue Sylvester and had been Sue’s favorite (until Quinn), and even that hadn’t saved her from incurring the wrath of the woman. Her fall from grace had been brutal, meant as an example for anyone else foolish enough to question the divine genius of their leader. Harper, of course, laid the blame solely on Quinn’s shoulders and dogged the younger girl the entire year, just waiting for her to fail.

Quinn, understanding how precarious her position was and how lethal even a small mistake could be, threw herself headfirst into the role of resident Head Bitch, playing her part exceptionally well. She wasn’t exactly proud of herself for the things she did and said, but she only had to keep the ruse going for the first few weeks until her reputation truly preceded her. After that she had been able to sit back and let the others do most of the dirty work for her, involving herself only every so often to keep her image fresh.

Though, come to think of it, every time Quinn involved herself had also involved…Rachel. Quinn grimaced and looked away from the piercing gaze all but boring into her from across the room. She needed to up her game—not only did she need patience and perseverance, but an apology probably wouldn’t go amiss either. Yeah, she had her work cut out for her if she wanted to make amends—and make friends—with Rachel.

“Yo, Quinn. Hello?” Lexi waved her hand in front of the other blonde’s face, startling her. Hazel eyes met her blue and she raised her brows in question. “Where’d ya go?” she teased.

“Sorry,” Quinn offered with a sheepish expression. “What were you saying?”

“I was saying, it’s awesome you and your sister were invited to the sacred Sunday dinners—means you’re elite. Only other outsider that’s ever been allowed is Sasha Montgomery and that’s because she and Shelby were roommates in college and Sasha’s home life wasn’t that great, you know? So Nana and Pop took her under their wing. She’s honorary now…guess you guys are too. So, dinner the other night went well?”

Quinn’s brow furrowed as she took in her friend’s words—that was a lot of information to take in. First, did that mean Quinn and Frannie were special in Shelby’s eyes…or did she feel pity for the orphaned sisters? Did Quinn even care? If it got her more time around Shelby, did it really matter why? Second, Lexi knew Sasha Montgomery? Had she met her before? Must have, the way she spoke so familiarly. Quinn didn’t know much about Sasha—she wasn’t as popular as Shelby, but famous enough in her own right, she supposed. Still, it would be pretty cool to meet her, if the chance ever arose—one more reason to befriend Rachel.

Shaking her head, Quinn refocused on her friend. “Uh, I don’t know that ‘well’ would describe it,” she said, and went on to explain the evening briefly.

“I think it probably takes Rach a while to warm up. She was a bit shy in front of all of us at first, and we’re family. I’m sure it’s harder for her with you…especially you going to her school. You really didn’t know her before any of this? You must have seen her around school, right?”

Quinn’s eyes flicked to Lexi’s in alarm. Had Rachel told the girl something? She couldn’t have—Lexi would have said something if she had, right? They were friends…but Lexi was Rachel’s cousin. She’d automatically be loyal to Rachel…wouldn’t she? Was she testing Quinn?

Not seeing any sign of distrust or judging on Lexi’s part, Quinn relaxed a bit. Still, she’d have to be cautious. Choosing her words carefully, she said, “No, not really. We aren’t exactly in the same circle, you know?” Not an outright lie, but certainly not the truth either.

“Yeah,” the other blonde agreed. Then she smiled at Quinn. “She’s really cool once you get to know her. She’s just hesitant around new kids…between us, she doesn’t have any friends. School sounds like a hard place for her—she gets picked on a lot. So, it’d be good for her to have someone like you on her side.”

“I’m…not sure she would agree with you,” Quinn revealed, her stomach churning with the unfamiliar sensation of guilt—at least when it came to Rachel.

“Just be patient with her. And I’m here as buffer—I’ll help!” came Lexi’s confident response. Then, spinning towards the kitchen, she called, “Hey Rach!”

Jack chose that exact moment to enter the house through the sliding door in the sunroom, the smell of charcoal wafting in after him. He ruffled Lexi’s hair as he passed, laughing at his daughter’s answering, “Jerk!”

“Brat!” he called over his shoulder, moving into the kitchen. He met his wife’s knowing smirk and winked at her. She rolled her eyes back, but Jack didn’t miss the quirk at the corners of her mouth. “Grill’s ready.”

Shelby gave Rachel’s shoulders a brief squeeze before releasing her hold. “The girls want you,” she said and wasn’t surprised when Rachel turned to stare up at her, eyes pleading. Shelby sighed internally, her frustration at her child’s increasingly anti-social behavior reaching its peak. Was this another case of jealousy on Rachel’s part? If so, the girl needed to learn to get over it. If not…well, Shelby couldn’t even begin to think what it could be. Hoping whatever it was would work itself out, she pushed Rachel forward. “Go on,” she prodded, her hand moving to add its own encouragement to a denim-clad bottom.

Rachel had barely left her mother’s hands than Lexi’s were reaching for her, linking arms with her left on the way to the basement entrance. There Lexi was stopped by Jack asking for help carrying the meat out to the grill. Lexi grinned and pushed Rachel ahead of her. “You and Quinn go, I’ll be there in a sec!” she said as she changed directions. Rachel groaned and came face to face with Quinn. Her eyes then met her mother’s and, cornered, she made the only choice she could: downfall.

Descending the stairs, Rachel wondered if she should have sent Quinn down them first—less chance of her being pushed down them, certainly. She quickened her pace, not liking having her enemy behind her back, and nearly tripped down the last few steps. She turned in time to see the blonde reaching for her out of her peripheral and sidestepped her with a fierce glare.

Quinn sighed and held her hands up in surrender. Here she was just trying to keep the smaller teen from falling on her face, and she gets a death stare for her trouble. Silently scolding herself, her inner voice reminded her to be patient. Getting annoyed with Rachel right off the bat wasn’t going to help anything. Instead, she took a calming breath and tried again; this was her chance to make it right with Rachel, while the two had a moment alone together.

“So, uh…Look, Rach—”

“Don’t call me that!” Rachel hissed.

“What?”

“Rach. Don’t call me that,” Rachel repeated.

“Oh, uh, okay—sorry. I heard everyone call you that and figured—”

“Well don’t. That’s a name reserved for friends and family, and since you are neither,” Rachel trailed off, eyeing the blonde with contempt.

“Jeez, okay. I get it. I was just trying to be nice,” Quinn groused. And she really was trying. Rachel was the one with the attitude, glaring at her with that ‘look at that bitch eating crackers’ expression on her face.

“I didn’t think that was in your repertoire, Quinn,” Rachel sneered.

“Doesn’t seem to be in yours right now either,” Quinn bit back, then let out a groan. Rachel opened her mouth to retort but Quinn spoke up before she could get a word in. “Wait. Look, this isn’t…I-I’m trying to apologize to you here, Rachel. I’m sorry, okay? For everything. I’m sorry. Can’t we…can’t we start over? Bury the hatchet?”

Rachel stared at her incredulously. Bury the hatchet, Rachel seethed. In her back, maybe! “Fuck you!”

Quinn recoiled as if she’d been slapped. Anger flared and her brain flitted through a plethora of nasty responses. Who the hell did Rachel think she was, talking to her that way? Then reality hit her, and with it, ice-cold guilt. “Okay…Okay, I deserve that,” she admitted out loud. “I really am sorry for how I’ve treated you, Rachel.”

“No you aren’t!” Rachel snarled. “I don’t think you’re sorry at all and the only reason you’re pretending to be is so you can get closer to my mom! And if that doesn’t work, you think buddying up to my cousin will. Well fu—uck you, Quinn Fabray! You can take your sorry and shove it up your ass!”

Lexi came down the stairs just in time to hear her cousin yell “fuck you” to Quinn and—what was that about shoving her sorry something up her ass? What the hell did she miss?!

“What the hell, Rachel?!” she exclaimed, shocked and confused by her cousin’s outburst. “Where are you going?” she asked, blocking the other teen’s way. “What’s wrong?”

“Move, Lexi,” Rachel said, trying to sidestep her cousin, only to be blocked again.

“No, what just happened? Why did you tell Quinn to—”

“It’s none of your business, Lexi! Move!” Rachel yelled.

“No! I want to know what made you tell Quinn to eff off just now!” Lexi stood her ground.

“It doesn’t concern you. Now let me go!”

“The hell it doesn’t concern me! Quinn is my friend and—”

“You know nothing—”

“I know that Quinn’s a nice person and she’s been trying her damnedest to get to know you and be friends with you and you’re acting like a bitch to her every time she’s over!” Lexi all but shouted in her cousin’s face. She saw the hurt and betrayed look that crossed Rachel’s face but she didn’t care. She had overheard her aunt telling her mom (while she was en route carrying hamburger patties out for her dad��not eavesdropping) all about Rachel’s behavior toward Quinn at Tuesday’s dinner and the other times this week the girl had been near. She heard Shelby mention her confusion and frustration regarding it and suspicion that it was probably Rachel’s ongoing jealousy behind it. As her aunt gave a quick rundown of family-related instances, Rachel’s moodiness during their own recent hangouts suddenly clicked and made a lot more sense. Now though, Lexi didn’t care why Rachel was jealous, she was just pissed.

“No wonder you don’t have any friends, Rachel, if this is how you treat anyone who tries!” Lexi finished in a rage.

It was Rachel’s turn to stagger; Lexi’s words hit her like a ton of bricks. Hurt quickly turned to red-hot anger. Without pausing to think, Rachel swung her left arm out, hand whizzing through the air to land with a satisfying CRACK! square across her cousin’s face. “Fuck you, Lexi!” she yelled, taking advantage of the other teen’s stunned paralysis and darting around her and up the stairs.

The door opened before she reached it, the heads of several of her family members appearing before her, all with shocked, confused, even angry faces. “WHAT is going on down there?!” Shelby demanded, eyes blazing.

“We heard yelling,” Diane’s voice spoke at the same time Sarah said, “Is Lexi crying?”

Rachel’s heart was pounding with the rush of adrenaline coursing through her body. Her body was a blur as she burst through the throng of adults, ignoring the squawks and shrieks of them calling her name, telling her to stop and come back this instant. She blew past their words and ran, ran as fast as her feet could carry her, through the living room and out the front door. She leapt from the porch stairs, staggering as she landed, still in motion, carrying her forward. Down the sidewalk to the driveway, then the street beyond.

#open arms #new #Shelby #Rachel #Quinn #chapter16

0 notes

ayearofpike · 7 years ago

Text

Last Act

Pocket Books, 1988 226 pages, 13 chapters + epilogue ISBN 0-671-73683-3 LOC: CPB Box no. 1726 vol. 28 OCLC: 799710298 Released March 10, 1988 (per B&N)

The play gave Melanie Martin a chance to meet some people in her new small town, a handle by which to pull herself into the stream of social life. Of course, she’d have to play opposite the campus beauty, the ice queen, the one who’d baited her into a car accident the previous spring, the one that nobody talked to and everybody was scared of. But over a month of rehearsals, Melanie found herself drawn to this quiet, withdrawn girl who seemed to be rude in order to keep to herself. It’s a shame that Melanie went and shot her on opening night.

Whenever anybody asked me what I saw in Christopher Pike as a college student, this is the book I’d lend out. Sure, we have ghosts and zombies and witches and vulture girls and sexy lizard teens, but I was always drawn to Pike’s other stream of fiction: the malicious victim in full control of her faculties who sets up an elaborate revenge plot and throws us into this whole murder mystery deal. Remember, at the same time I was reading these books, I was plunging headlong into new Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, and the mystery aspect of the stories was the thing I savored over everything else. The Ick Factor didn’t do anything for me – bring on the fucked-up side of real humanity!

I used to think I wanted to write a murder mystery of my own, and Last Act was a big part of the reason why. I’d read a few traditional murder mysteries by this point (your Sherlock Holmeses, your Hercule Poirots, your Adam Dalglieshes) and none of them ever grabbed me. In fact, the only thing that stood out to me about these other books was that I didn’t care about the crime or the victim because neither did any of the characters. The whole story felt like a neat device to show off this radical idea the author came up with to bump someone off without actually committing murder himself, but he was in such a hurry to talk about it that he didn’t bother imbuing his detective or any of the other characters with, like, empathy. And the characters were all wealthy, overeducated, downgazing adults with diamonds and mink stoles and train valises full of Chateauneuf-du-Pape and shit. Not only were they all up their own asses, but those asses were so far above me that I could not relate even a little bit.

That was not a problem with Melanie Martin. She was lonely, she didn’t have the money her classmates did, she had nothing in common with the kids in her new school, she didn’t think she was worth anyone’s time. And then she found her niche and fit into a group and started to make friends. And then she quickly earned an important role, but it was undermined by a terrible mistake. It was an almost scary parallel with my own experience (albeit I joined band and not drama, and my terrible mistake was bombing my chair test sophomore year and losing section leader and not, you know, shooting a dude). This book, maybe more than all the rest (with one exception that we’ll get to), made me feel like I could do it too: write my own story, create my own fiction and share it with the world, and get people to understand how I saw things and why that was important.

(This is still kind of what I do as a teacher, only now I’m trying to get my students to understand that THEIR writing and THEIR point of view is important, even if it’s “only” texting. The undermining of YA lit in the pre-Potter era really had the adverse effect of telling kids that their voices weren’t important. We’re still digging out of this hole, even though now literally everybody has a platform for a public voice if they want it. Like, check me out, writing about ’90s juvenile horror on the Internet like it matters, but IT DOES because it’s MY VOICE in PUBLIC.)

We do have to grapple with another one of Pike’s BS small towns first – Careville, Iowa, “population 21,867, but only if you counted the neighboring farmers and their prize-winning hogs” (1). Remember how I calculated Timber, Wyoming, as topping out at 10k? Iowa is a bigger state, yes, but this “small town” is double the size of that. In 2016 this population would put Careville in the top 25, and the towns around that population aren’t exactly sleepy farming villages. Des Moines, the capital and largest city, only has ten times Careville (not counting suburbs). I’m not doing the same level of research here because I’m actually counting on some more factual, on-the-ground disparagement of this so-called “small Iowa town” in the comments.

But anyway, this helps the narrative because it gives us a bigger student population that is pissed off at the ice beauty. Melanie doesn’t actually find out why until after she pulls the trigger. It turns out that her boyfriend (Ice Beauty’s, I mean) was the big man on campus the year before, until she drove his car off a cliff and into a reservoir and paralyzed him from the chest down. So all of a sudden there’s motive from more people, since after all Melanie is the only one who crashed her own car. In fact, most of the people with the strongest motive were in the play or around it: the boyfriend’s sister, his best friend, his old friend who found the play in the first place and wanted to direct it, his crush who Melanie beat out for her role, Ice Beauty’s crush who supplied the gun, the guy who sold her the blanks for the gun.

OK. Can we just talk about this for a second? They’re using a REAL GUN for a school play. And not only is it a real gun on the stage, they’re loading it with REAL BLANKS. I’m sorry, but didn’t PA systems exist in the 1980s? Would it have been completely impossible to stage this show with an empty gun, or even preferably, a TOY gun? And use foley to create the sound of the shots? No, it wouldn’t flare or smoke, but does your average high-school theater attendee really expect THAT level of realism from the gunshot? In the wake of what just happened in Broward County (among other places), this whole concept is totally insane, and yet when I read it in the ’90s it didn’t strike me as that far beyond the pale. Talk about different time and different place.

The thing is, for this story to work it HAS to be a real gun. Because Ice Beauty has to get shot during the play, and Melanie has to believe that she somehow mistakenly put a real bullet in and is responsible for Ice Beauty’s death. So let’s think: who declared that the production should use a real loaded gun? Who blocked the set and the actors for their entrances following the shooting scene, and left open one doorway without anybody in it? Who cast Melanie in the shooter’s role in the first place, knowing all about the car accident and the ill will it caused? Isn’t that the person we need to trace back as the most likely villain? The police figure this out way faster than Melanie does, but not before she gets shot too. We can’t really blame her, though, seeing as she’s a high school student and not a detective.

Lucky for Melanie, the paralyzed BMOC shows up and saves the day. No, I’m serious. Dude in a wheelchair rolls down and tells the killer what an asshole she is and how messed up her brain has become, and she literally gives up. Seriously? A man has to save the day, and he does it despite the killer’s complete lack of grasp on reality? I didn’t remember how this book ended, and was surprised to find that it totally pissed me off. After so many years of recommending it, I can’t believe I was telling my female friends to read a story where a mentally ill woman is “fixed” by a stern talking-to from the dude she loves.

I really did love this book all through my teen years, but when I reread it as an adult, it sort of fell apart. (Not literally. This isn’t even my original copy; it must have gone missing in one of my loans, and I had to buy a new one when I was finishing the collection.) Besides the Great Wheelchaired Hope, the whole thing with the gun just doesn’t work at all, and I’m at a loss to understand the placement of an old LA cop, away from his wife and kids, as the local police captain even with Pike’s in-depth reasoning of (here I am quoting directly from the book) “politics.” There’s also one dude who’s a little bit too aware that the whole thing is a story, decades before self-referential fourth-wall-breaking became a thing, and I’m not sure it’s done well here. Still, the setup and the turmoil still work great. I don’t regret buying it again.

4 notes · View notes

faithambr · 7 years ago

Text

Tbh..... (continued)

So I posted yesterday something about Kristoff being a band geek and some of you had these ideas about him being in the high school marching band. And so here it goes….. @punkpoemprose @epbaker @letitgeaux and @whitefeather79

Kristoff loved listening to jazz and swing music no thanks to his adoptive parents, Bulda and Cliff. He knew that he wanted to be in music, yet he didn’t know where. So he started by joining his middle school jazz band. There he learned how to play the piano and drums. Over time, his band instructor had taught him many different instruments.

When he got to high school, he was told that if he was planning to take the jazz band class, he would have to take marching band. “That shouldn’t be bad.” He thought while going over his freshmen orientation stuff. He was right, marching band was lots of hard work, but he understood the music and he practiced like crazy. Again, he learned how to play different instruments, including the drums. Over time he became very good with the drums and was soon named the section leader. “Being a section leader is a big responsibility, Kristoff .” His band instructor commented one night after a football game. “I know Mr. Arrendelle.” Kristoff agreed. Mr. Arrendelle just smiled and continued on his way to meet up with the other band members. By the time he became a senior in high school, both him and his two best friends, Sven and Elsa, were named section leaders for the marching band. Kristoff was proud that he and his friends were section leaders. He knew that their instructor could count on them with keeping the band on cue for their parts and that their positions would look good on their college applications. He thought that he could continue on being a section leader, without any worries, until he met a beautiful, yet clumsy red-head. He didn't expect this beautiful red-head girl to make him feel all lovey-dovey and smile brightly whenever he was around her. He didn't know that his scrawny knees could go weak every time her older sister, Elsa, would even say her name in front of the group. Hell, there were many times where she would come by and even just say hi to him. He knew that he wanted her, but there were two problems: 1. She was a freshmen and 2. She has a boyfriend and he's the captain of the varsity football team. However, the only good thing that he was pleased about, was that she was really good friends with him. During the football season, Kristoff would be helping out with the marching band, while his crush was cheering for her boyfriend, in her cheerleading uniform. He loved watching her move her pom poms with such grace, along with her smile brightly showing through. He could tell that she was having a great time watching the game, especially when her boyfriend was playing.

"Don't you wish that she was cheering for you?" Elsa had asked him one night. "No." He tried to cover up his blush.

"You have a crush on her, my sister." She grinned.

"Is it obvious? " Kristoff blushed.

"Dude," Sven chuckled, as he sat down next to them, "you get all lovey-dovey when you even see her."

"Ugh." Kristoff groaned, making his other friends laugh.

"Kristoff," Elsa giggled as she placed her hand on his, "you better make a move on her before it's too late."

"What do you mean?" Kristoff looked confused.

"Word is that asshat," Sven coughed after he took a drink out of his water bottle, "is cheating on her with a dancer at a different school."

"Son of a bitch. " Elsa muttered while Kristoff was brooding in his own anger. He couldn't even believe that his crush was being cheated on by her boyfriend, the captain of the football team. "Please don't let it be true." He prayed.

Two weeks before homecoming, he sees her outside the gym with tears streaming down her face. "Oh no!" He whispered as he made his way to where she was. "This can't be good."

"Hey." She sniffled, with her head hung low.

"Hey." He spoke with such concern in his eyes. " are you alright?" His crush simply answered his words by wailing in his arms.

"He cheated on me. Hans cheated on me."

"Hey," Kristoff cooed, while rubbing her back for her comfort, "it's going to be okay."

"He was my true love." She mumbled in his shirt. "Just like in Taylor Swift's 'Love Story '."

"Oh."

"Now I have no one to love me." She added with her heart crushed against his. "You do." He thought. "I love you, Anna."

By then he knew that her heart was broken and she needed some time to heal. Over the next few years, both Anna and Kristoff had remained in contact with each other. Anna loved it when he came to support her at local school events, such as all of the football games. "Anything for my best friend." He would often say to her, making her feel special every time. She knew that he was going to college to become a musician, but she was hoping that he would be home more often. (He was not only going to school, but he was busy working at a local music shop.) So when ever he had the day off, he would often spend his time with her. During those times, she became very fond of him and has developed some feelings towards him. By her senior year, she had gathered up the courage to ask him about his feelings towards her.

"Anna, what are you talking about?" He asked after she pulled him under the bleachers during an away game.

"I'm asking if you have feelings about me?" She asked with such determination. "Ah ya." He looked at her nervously.

"Really?" Her eyes went wide as saucers.

"Yes I guess so..." he smiled sheepishly making Anna giggle even more. "Awesome!" She cheered.

"Why did you ask that question?" He wasn't sure of where this was going. "Cause I just wanted to make sure," Anna batted her eyelashes, "before I do this." She pulled him by his alumni shirt and kisses him hard on the lips.

"Whoa!" He breathes. "What was that?"

"My confirmation to you." Anna smiles from ear to ear.

"Oh," he mouthed, "can we do that again?"

Anna nodded and he pulled her in for a kiss that would last a lifetime.

They continued on being in love with each other, even after she had graduated high school and him graduating college with a bachelor's in education with an emphasis on music. Hell, they were at each other's graduation ceremonies, followed by the parties at each their respected homes.

Once Anna had gotten into college, both her and Kristoff had decided to move into an apartment together, close to the community college. They knew that their relationship was going to beat the odds; all they had to do was to learn and respect each other. "That's our little secret." Anna said one night after she finished her school work.

"Damn right." Kristoff kisses her cheek sweetly. Eventually, the began to talk about their future as a couple. Kristoff wanted to have her focus on her career, while she was going on about having a career, getting married, and even becoming parents. "I bet that we'll be the best parents ever!" Anna cheered while eating her cup of noodles.

"I know," he smirked, "but don't you think that we should start somewhere else first?"

"What do you mean?" Anna looked confused at him.

"I mean," Kristoff slowly pulled out a small box, "we should...."

"Yes!" Anna squealed with such excitement as she jumped into his arms. "I will marry you!"

And just like that he knew that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. After that night she had said yes, both Anna and Kristoff went straight into wedding planning mode. It literally took them both two years to plan it, no thanks to Anna finishing up with her college courses and Kristoff getting his feet wet in the educational world. They both wanted to make sure that they were ready in their careers and in their marriage, respectively. When their wedding came around, there were very excited to see all of their family members there. He loved her dress, veil, and the simple bun up do that her sister did. She loved the way his suit looked good in all of the right places, especially since they had to have be custom made. She blushed at the thought of them being intimate on their wedding night and many nights to follow. He smiled at thought of them spending nights together in their home, with their future children running around. They both knew that their lives were about to change for the good, once they said those two beautiful words to each other.

A few years and two kids later, Kristoff had gotten a letter from their old high school. He was surprised that their old high school had sent them a letter, but then again he knew that they were in need of a new band instructor. Their previous instructor, Mr. Arrendelle, had retired last year and had asked Kristoff to take his place.

"I think that you would be a great fit for them, love." Anna smiled once he told her a few nights ago.

"Are you sure?" He gave her a concerned look.

"Yes." Anna rolled her eyes while she was rocking their little boy to sleep. "Besides I think that it would be cool to see you work there now."

"Alright."

However, once he had opened the envelope, it turned out to be an invitation to his high school reunion.

"Has it already been ten years?" He thought as he read the invite at the dining room table. He couldn't even believe that it was already ten years since the last time he was at the high school. He smiled at the thought of him meeting his wife, as his crush back then, and how their relationship had turned into a promising future.

"Kristoff", a voice had interrupted his thoughts, "What are you looking at?"

"Oh, this." He grinned as he handed his wife the invitation.

"Your high school reunion?" Anna took a glance at it while holding on to their oldest daughter in her arms.

"Yep."

"Well," Anna looked back at him, "are we gonna do this or not?"

"Yes." Kristoff got up from the couch and gave his wife and daughter each a kiss on the cheek. "Besides, I think that we need a night out, without the kids. Huh, don't we Becca?"

Their daughter just smiled and moved her arms towards him. "Daddy."

"I guess so." Anna agrees to allow their daughter to be carried into his arms. "I'll see if I can get Nana and Papa to take care of them for the night."

"Oh knowing Papa," Kristoff huffed, as he adjusts his little angel in his arms, "He probably would be there."

"Right," Anna agreed, "plus Mom wasn't much of a fan for fancy functions like this."

"Nana!" their child smiled with such glee in her eyes.

“Yes, Nana.” Kristoff began to tickle the little one with his whiskers.

“Daddy, stop!” she giggled while trying to push away from her father.

“Alright.” Kristoff chuckled a bit. “Little missy, it’s time for bed.”

“Ahhh.”

“Now c’mon.” Anna sighed as she followed Kristoff to their little one's bedroom. “It’s bedtime and I can tell you is that you’re getting tired, sweetie.”

“Okay, Mommy.” their baby yawned as she snuggled into her father’s arms.

About two weeks later, both Anna and Kristoff were busy getting ready to go to his high school reunion. “Are you ready, honey?” Kristoff had asked as he adjusted his suit and tie.

“Uhuh.” Anna smiled as she strolled on out of their bathroom, wearing nothing but a green sparkled dress and her hair up in a bun.

“Whoa!” Kristoff mouthed as he looked at his wife with such admiration.

“What?” Anna looked at him confused.

“You look beautiful.” Kristoff commented.

“Oh, you’re just saying that.” Anna simply brushed him off.

“And I mean it.” Kristoff pulled her in for a kiss. “You are beautiful and I love that dress on you. It makes you look even more beautiful, my love.”

Anna simply blushed deeply at his words.

“Mommy and Daddy,” they could hear their names being called out of their room, “Nana is here!”

“Well, we better get going then huh?” Anna gently pecked her husband's lips, much to his protests for more.

“Alright,” he groaned at her words while being pulled on out of their bedroom.

After giving Nana their usual instructions on taking care of their two children, both Anna and Kristoff were soon on off to their old high school.

“I honestly can’t even believe that we are going back to our old high school.” Anna beamed with such excitement.

“I know.” Kristoff agreed as he drove on into the school’s parking lot.

“I remember all of the football games that we did together.” Anna sighed. “You being the typical band geek, Elsa being such a book nerd, Sven being the typical jerk of a friend, and me cheering on the football team.”

“Oh really?” Kristoff smirked, making Anna feel flushed to her toes.

“Yes.”

“Well,” Kristoff stopped the truck and faced his beautiful love, “we should probably go in there and have fun.”

Anna sealed the deal with a lingering kiss on the lips. “Well then what are we waiting for?”

Kristoff returned the favor by moving on out of the truck and went straight to his wife’s passenger side.

It took them about fifteen to twenty minutes for them to enter into the school gym with their arms linked together.

“Oh wow.” Anna eyed the entire crowd as they both got into the gym. “This place is so small.”

“Yes Anna.” her husband squeezed her hand gently. “This place is so different, especially since we are...”

“ANNA!!!” a shriek of excitement came from the crowd right in front of the young couple. “Anna, how are you? What are you doing here?”

“I’m fine.” Anna pulled on a fake smile for the woman right in front of them. “How are you doing, Amanda?”

“Oh I’m doing wonderful!” the young woman slurred a bit. “Now who is this hunk over here?”

“Oh, this is my husband, Kristoff.” Anna introduced her love to the drunk woman.

“KRISTOFF???” the young woman giggled while holding her drink. “You married Kristoff???” “Yes.” Anna rolled her eyes.

“Oh well, you should meet my husband.” the woman smiled. “He’s a keeper and he used to go here.”

“Oh really?” Anna quirked an eyebrow.

“Yep.” the young woman turned around and began to call out to the crowd. “Oh, Hans! There’s someone that I would like for you to meet!”

Both Anna and Kristoff were stunned to see the captain of the varsity football team right in front of them.

“Hans!” the woman groaned. “Honey, this is Anna and Kristoff. Don’t you remember them?”

“Yes.” Hans sighed while adjusting his toupee. “Anna and Kristoff is so good to see you again.”

“Ah yes,” Kristoff stated, while Anna was looking over his ex-boyfriend, “it was very nice to see you. How have you been?”

“Pleasent.” Hans grumbled while his wife was trying to whisper some naughtiness in his ear. “Just. Pleasent.”

“Good.” Anna bit her lip as she rocked on her heels. “Say we should probably go to our seats, right now honey.”

“Alright.” Kristoff agreed as he followed his wife to a table nearby.

“Wow,” Anna whispered in his ear, as they both sat down, “he has certainly changed.”

“More like rocking a toupee and a possible beer gut.” her husband chuckled, making Anna laugh even more.

For the next few hours, both Anna and Kristoff were busy keeping up with old friends and teachers that were still working there. They were surprised to hear many stories about their friends going back to school, settling down with their families, and how they were being successful in their lives. Anna loved hearing that her friends were doing very well with their families, especially since some of them had photos to show off their children. She liked the fact that some of her old teachers were still there, making a difference in the world. Kristoff loved to hear how some of his band members were doing after high school. He knew that some of them were busy either in their careers or their small families. Eventually, they had decided to head to the dance floor, for slow couples dance.

“Hey, do you remember the time where I have asked you if I could play with your flute?” Anna whispered huskily as her husband rocked her in his arms.

“Ah ya,” Kristoff breathed, reliving the memories in his head, “it was your senior year and you wanted that to happen in behind the bleachers after the football game.”

“Well,” Anna gave him the bedroom eyes, “did you like it?”

“Yes,” Kristoff growled as he pulled her in for a kiss, “oh God yes I loved it.”

“Well,” Anna slowly removed herself from her husband, “would you like for me to do that again, my love?”

“Here?” Kristoff stuttered. “Right now?”

“No silly,” Anna rolled her eyes, “not here. I was thinking maybe right in the same area.”

God the things that she does to him, especially since they’re married and at their old high school. So with that being said, he followed her like a puppy dog to the old high school football field. He couldn’t even believe that he had married his high school crush and they soon were reliving their old high school memories. Now all he can hope and prepare for is that his wife and family were satisfied with what the future would hold.

#high school au #frozen fandom #kristanna modern au

12 notes · View notes

papersandkeyboards · 5 years ago

Text

5/20-22: Time Getting Short? Time to Get Ice Cream

(STILL) 34TH WEEK, MAY 20-22, 2016.

Once upon a day, I was bored, because I had bought a ticket for a movie I’d been dying to watch (but as of now I forgot what it was) (it might have been Captain America) but I had an hour or more to kill. So I went down to the mall’s Barnes and Noble.

Barnes and Noble is one of the best bookstore I’ve ever encountered, and the reason why it’s so special to my eyes was because I couldn’t find one in even the biggest mall in my beloved home country. Since the best bookstore franchise in the country, although great, is not so reliable in providing me with non-translated books, I counted three most reliable bookstores for such things: Periplus, which are mainly spread in big airports throughout the country, thus the most easily accessible for me; Kinokuniya, which is basically Japanese but is great for two things—legit English books and legit cute Japanese stuff (including full-on non-translated Japanese comic books, but I’m not a manga fan to be freaked out by that fact); and Books & Beyond, which provides a whole shelf of classic English literature but too bad my interest isn’t really in Jane Eyre or Moby Dick and their friends.

Bottomline is, if Indonesia had a Barnes and Noble, I would totally freak.

Anyway, as for the lack of money (I’d also been thinking about space in the suitcase—what’s the use of all the great books I’d bought if I couldn’t fit them all in or if they could cost me a lot of bucks for luggage overweight?), I, as usual, strolled around the shelves, sifting sheepishly through the New Arrivals and Best Seller section. (one fact about me: I like to read but I’m aware that I don’t read as much as most people do—I just like to hang out in bookstores more than actually buying books)

I found a book and read the back cover. For some reason, I was interested, so I took the uncovered-by-plastic-wrap book to the nearest chair and started reading.

Next thing I know, I was hooked. Real bad.

The next visits to Barnes and Noble after that were to solely read the very book. It took me like three visits to finish the not-so-thick book, as I thought about getting caught reading the whole book without buying it if I stayed too long. I didn’t realize how badly I was going to be hooked to the book. The suspense (of the book, not from avoiding the store workers) was so real and I stayed in book hangover for days after. I loved it.

But if I loved the book so much, why didn’t I just buy it in the first place?

You see, the reason why was because I, at first, only wanted to see if the book was any good to spend my hour before watching that movie in the first visit. I didn’t want to waste my money on a book I would find disappointing at the end. Turned out I was wrong. Book was awesome. But now that I’ve read the whole thing, I didn’t feel like buying it anymore.

Sorry for the author, but I gotta say, kudos on that novel, I’m not a keen book reviewer but overall I praise it, and let me just say that I’ve been trying to find your other works and found jack and was a bit disappointed by that.

Oh, the book was entitled “The Truth”, by Jeffry W. Johnston, by the way.

Moving on to the next big agenda besides Multi and reading off books in a bookstore without buying them (God bless unwrapped new books), is the End-of-Stay AFS Orientation. It was from Friday to Sunday, and it was in a place called Port Townsend, and to reach it from Seattle one must take a ferry from Downtown Seattle to Bainbridge Island, and then take a car for some hours before reaching the campsite.

It’s a different kind of fun to hang out with other exchange students. We had sessions that everyone silently agreed were boring (sorry for any AFS volunteers who see this, but c’mon, even my local chapter back home did way better job in orientations). We played games of capture-the-flag, but instead of flag we had baseball mittens. That went crazy, by the way. We were awful at setting up territories and rules and someone had their ankle twisted or something. We played catch and soccer and badminton for a while before it started raining.

Oh, wait, a piece of memory just came in. My session group was fun, maybe because we held one session in the boys’ bunk, in which everyone can sit on the bed and get comfy, and because we had fun volunteers as our group leader (spoiler alert—and sorry for those who might take offense—I meant young, fun volunteers, which we all could relate better and they were more laid-back on telling stuff that older volunteers would not).

After rain was another session by the fire (this one was particularly not boring, though, haha). Each of us had to say what did we learn during the exchange—like what did we especially like about it that we decided to bring it home, what changed of us throughout, usual stuff but interesting. Some people brought up the idea of healthy lifestyle (apparently we all lived in a healthy part of the state, I guess). The Europeans all brought up the point that Americans are friendly (i.e. in grocery stores) and they wanted to bring that ‘warm’ attitude back to their countries. (except Italy, I guess? ...because Italians are already so friendly in general) Some people also mentioned how are they changed throughout the year—healthier, stronger (mentally), more outgoing, all the good stuff.

(among other points, I brought up the idea of waste separation and recycling that I came to love, but who knows that one small idea in mind could steer my one of biggest decisions of my lifetime)

Then the volunteers held a small quiz, through which I earned an extravagant American flag-themed LED glasses (which I traded with a friend for a notebook and a pair of 3D glasses). Our group of exchange students seem to have an obsession on hot chocolate, and particularly whipped cream, so what we’ve been doing if nothing else was hogging on the whipped cream and hot chocolate. We also wrote things in our language on a blackboard in the session room. We walked around the site in the morning, passing through people’s vacation homes and by this old military site with unused cannons, and we ended up at a beach beyond the bushes and took pictures.

capek, Mak.

After that session by the fire, at night, we played with our given glowsticks and had s’mores. Classic.

On the last night (that’s Saturday night), some of us girls decided to walk farther, way down the site, through the long and winding down road to another beach. I remembered something about it being illegal (as in we were not really allowed to go down there or at a certain distance from the cabin or whatever), but I guess that was exactly what made it much more fun.

We left Sunday morning.

Tania and Nouha carried their home country’s flag around so people can sign it. Raya passed around Indonesian-themed keychains. I also carried my flag around, asked people to sign it, and gave them wayang—shadow puppets—bookmark afterwards. (the funny thing is that Raya gave me an Indonesian keychain and I also gave her the wayang bookmark, because who would’ve guessed I, or she, would have someone from the same country in their chapter, hahaha) It’s not like that day was the last day we saw each other—there’s still departure day—but YES students—Tania, Nouha, Soha, Mubasshira, Raya—would leave earlier than us (around the first week of June), so it WAS the last time we would see the YES kids on an AFS orientation.

It took another 2-3 hours in total to get back from Port Townsend to Seattle, but right afterwards Cece, Hinaho, and Nouha planned to go to an ice cream festival which was apparently held in Capitol Hill, which was like, only 8 blocks from my house. And who on earth would miss free or discounted ice cream? Hell yeah I tagged along.

We got there to only find that the line to the ice cream trucks were as long as my list of never-ending responsibilities, so we gave up free ice cream and got paid ice cream from other ice cream shop instead. ... gpp lah ya yang penting makan es krim gitu.

All in all, this week seemed like a long week, writing-wise, but it was because there was so much happening (BOTH on weekdays and the weekend). ‘Twas the week I did something I had never done before, stepping yet farther out of the comfort zone, and receiving the utmost fun at the end.

...maaf euy kalau cheesy abis. But it essentially reminded me of why I went on an exchange, because the chance of performing a collectively-performed traditional dance alone or being in a night color run do NOT come where I come from. Or interacting with exchange students in general. Karena di kota asal di Indo simply nggak bakal datang kesempatan nari saman di depan umum sendirian dan ikut color run. Dan berinteraksi dengan anak-anak exchange in general.

Lagian bukannya emang itu salah satu tujuan internal ikut pertukaran pelajar? Bukan ke arah seneng-senengnya sih, tapi lebih ke expanding comfort zone nya itu. Sekalian belajar budaya negara lain, lebih dari budaya negara tujuan.

Salam dari satu-satunya orang yang ikut color run dan hacep sampai tengah malem yang pakai jilbab,

Nabila Safitri.

#langkahanakbangsa #afs friends

0 notes

lavendernight67 · 7 years ago

Text

Legends Never Die - Chapter One

A/N: This is only my second time writing Destiny fanfiction, so please don't kill me if I get something wrong.

Please do let me know, though, and I'll try to go back and fix it.

This fic is based on a fan-theory I had, which part of it proved to be true (the part about ghosts being drained of their light), but I'll leave it at that. i don't want to spoil the fic. Lt's just say, the information on dead ghosts came straight out of the Destiny grimoire, which inspired this.

I WILL be going just a little canon-divergent later on, but that's not till the very end of the fic.

Also, this may start out a little slow, but the first chapter is a basic introduction to the characters. I was in a hurry, I apologise. chapter 2 will be quite a bit longer, and chapter 3 is where the real story begins.

Also, I love to hear reviews, so please, if you like, review.

thanks!

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

They say that legends never die.

The speaker here in the tower tells us that Gaurdians can never die.

But that, my friends, is a lie.

I know.

There is a story behind how I came to know that Gaurdians CAN die.

This is that story.

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

A male voice drifted across the green landscape of the Cosmodrone, nearly drowned out by the sound of sparrow engines.

"Come on, Kalara, hurry it up! you're gonna make us late to the party!"

Three sparrows raced across the bright grassy landscape. For what seemed like the umpteenth time that hour, Kalara Baxtin sighed. The warlock-class gaurdian hit the boost on her sparrow to catch up, hoping she didn't wwreck into an unseen boulder making a turn again. Or, heaven forbid, run off the edge of some sudden chasm, which would send her teammates into fits of laughter and calls of "Rookie!, Rookie!" They raced up a steep slope and Kalara slowed down.

"Why ya slowin down? come on Kalara. Yer making us look bad here! Wer're not roookies, you know!" the Hunter called over his shoulder. "Yeah, YOU aren't." Kalara mumbled. She maneuvered carefully around a giant boulder (aha, there WAS one on this route after all) and down the other side of the rise.

Ahead of them, the towering walls of the old Cosmodrome rose high into the blue terran sky. It's once-great walls now smeared with rust and grime. The Cosmodrome had once been a proud place of interstellar travel and trade. Now, it's tarmats were littered with the corpes of ruined and long-since discarded ships.

Across the short flat space she went, they were allready up the railed rise, a chasm on the other side of the dusty area from the metal barrier, she boosted up the rise.

And right into the corner of the building.

Kalara was glad her teammates were already further on, otherwise she might have had to listen to more of their inscessant jabs and cajoling.

they probably meant for it to be friendly teasing, but after a while it really started to hurt.

The purple-clad Gaurdian hopped off her sparrow and sprinted up to where the other two were allready fighting fallen, just in time to see Gavin, Titan class and their team leader, punch the Fallen Captain in the face.

The ugly creature roared in rage, and Gavin punched it again. It staggered back and fell.

a Dreg appeared out of nowhere and Kalara whirled, channeling light energy instinctively and landing and open-handed strike on the center of it's chest. The creature glowed then dissapeared.

Two more followed it.

They had barely gotten close when they fell, almost simultaneously. "Hey Kalara, like my little spot?" a voice called from above. She looked up and Jaren, their Hunter class and team tekkie had somehow gotten onto a high section of.. What WAS that, even? she couldn't tell what the rusted peice of metal jutting out was. She shook her head. He jumped down, doing a double jump midair right over her head and landed next to Gavin.

"Come on, lets go get em!" the two sprinted into the next room.

Kalara reached them just as the summoned their sparrows. she rolled her eyes. "Great. I just love driving inside, not." she muttered, then called aloud "Hey, wait for me, please!"

As they navigated the twisting halls of the old cosmodrome, Kalara took to her comm. "So, are we going to use any strategy for how we attack the enemy this time?"

Gavin canted a grin at Jaren, who commed back "Pshhhhh. When have we ever needed strategy?"

Gavin's slightly deeper voice added "Yeah, why use strategy when you can punch things. that usually gets the point across." he laughed. Kalara rolled her eyes inside her helmet.

"You just like punching things, don't you Gavin?"

"well, I'd be lying if I said no." the Titan chuckled back.

Jaren commented "And I can allways stab something. Ahhhhh. I do like to stab things. And, well, shoot things."

Kalara had tuned him out by now, but the hunter continued. "And I can pick 'em off, too. one by one. 'pew 'pew 'pew! and they go 'Ack, gurglegurglegurgleDEAD."

Now Gavin cut in again "Okay that's enough, Jaren. You're gonna make her lose her lunch. So, Kalara, what's your specialty? energy grenades? open-palmed attack?"

"Talking them to death" Jaren muttered.

"I CAN still hear you, you know."

"Sorry." Jaren didn't sound like it, though.

As the two entered the open space between buildings, they hopped off their sparrows and Jaren immediately double-jumped up onto some wires overhead and over to a rooftop for some sniping. Gavin waded into the midst of all of the crowd, sending Vandals and Dreg alike flying with his 'fist of fury'.

A couple hours passed. Ten patrol beacons found, and the group was still finding Fallen. "Hey Jaren, Titan high-five!"

WHAM

Gavin punched his teammate in the helmet. Jaren laughed.

"High five!"

WHAM!

Though it had a lot less effect than Gavin's punch.

"Boys." Kalara rolled her eyes as she went past

"Hey Kalara..."

the Warlock class whirled and did an open-palmed strike. Jaren went flying. "You're welcome." Kalara bowed sarcastically then walked away.

Another hour passed, hunting down fallen and patrol markers, then as the sky turned darker, the trio headed back out.

"Well, that was fun." Jaren casually strolled alongside his teammates. "Same time again tomorrow?"

"Of couse." Gavin nodded. "Maybe I'll get to use my rocket launcher more this time." he hefted said weapon onto one shoulder.

They transmatted back to their ships and Kalara's comm came on. It was Gavin. "So, what do you want to do back at tower, guys. Jump off the edge? maybe head down to the crucible stands?"

"mmm," kalara thought for a second. "I'm kind of tired. Besides I just borrowed a new data tablet from one of the cryptarchs. Has to do with the vex. I think they are extremely interesting because they are mechanical but can apparently travel through..."

In his own ship Jaren was making "blah blah blah" motions. "Good job, Gavin, had to get her going, didn't you?"

"I CAN hear you." a little irritation had crept into the Gaurdian's voice.

"Sorry." he switched over to a private channel. "So Gavin, what do you think our next mission will be?"

"I dunno. Hope it's something good. But we won't find out floating out here in space."

"How right you are."

And with that, the two headed away, Kalara, once again, following.

They transmatted in at the same time. Two (forgive the pun) towering figues, who struck a heroic pose, just for chuckles, and a good head and shoulders shorter in the middle, Kalara.

The first of the trio to remove his helmet and have his ghost transmat it was Gavin. Dark brown hair, cut close with a sort of "mohawk" where it was a little longer on top. Brown eyes that any girl in the tower might find attractive. well, if not for that long scar running vertically across one eye. And standing at around six feet ( and seven inches), he doubted anyone would want to start something with him. He wasn't the biggest Titan, but he was goood at it.

Then there was Jaren. sandy brown hair, also somewhat tall, 6 ft 1 to be exact. A bit leaner than his Titan teammate, but still a formidable figure. He flexed his muscles at a pair of passing titans, green eyes sparkling. "Ladies. Heloooo." They both looked over, but kept walking. One giggled, the other shook her head at his rediculousness and mumbled something to her friend.

And then there was Kalara. Purple-blue hair, blue eyes, and 97 pounds soaking wet. Well, even dry she was 97 pounds. But Warlocks didn't need muscle or stature, did they?

They all headed in their respective directions. "See you tomorrow, guys." Jaren waved back as they parted. "we're meeting here, right?"

"Yep" Gavin called back.

"Yeah." Kalara nodded.

0 notes