#Also like genuinely they’ve called the cops on me and they’d do it again so I don’t trust them!!

[writerofshit]

(I mentioned briefly a story of how the Stream Team met. This is that story.)

Somewhere in Los Santos, in the late night hours of a Tuesday, a convenience store is robbed. So is one several blocks southeast. And one roughly in the middle of them both. After all, what's more convenient than 24 hour chili dogs on every other street corner?

Cash. Cash is more convenient. So are guns. Hollering, waving one to get the other. Most important, back alleys that twist and turn, snaking away from increasingly distant sirens. Three individuals find themselves running through these alleys, a couple grand each weighing their pockets down.

It's through serendipity and convenience that their paths cross.

The man from the farthest store arrives first. He's done this a few more times than he'd like to admit, so he'd had a plan. Of sorts. Cut through the park, take a few sidewalks like an upstanding citizen, under the bridge and find a fire escape to utilize from there. There aren't any that reach the ground, of course, because he's smart but not quite enough.

And so this is why Trevor is standing in an dark alley, contemplating whether or not the dumpster will give him enough height to reach the ladder, when the man from the middle store appears. He's around Trevor's height, but would probably win in a fight between them, if he were so inclined. He doesn't seem to be, though. He seems shaken, like he's not quite sure how he ended up in this alley. He's holding a gun almost gingerly, as if it might bite him.

Trevor pulls his own gun.

'dont you fuckin' try anything!'

This does not go over well with Matt. He takes a step back, and then seems to remember that he also has a gun so maybe this is even footing. He holds it aloft, finger nowhere near the trigger.

'same, asshole!'

At this moment the robber from the first store arrives, also, of course, with a gun. And a mask. And an entire purple and orange neon fucking suit, actually, topped with a white cowboy hat. It gives them a few extra inches of height they are distinctly lacking, comparatively. Somewhere in the back of his head, Trevor acknowledges that this newcomer could probably kick his and the other gunman's asses. It is not a pleasant thought.

'oh, what the fuck!?'

Jeremy sounds more annoyed and less scared than one would think, considering they've run into an alley only to find two men with guns. Two men who quickly turn those guns on them.

'who the fuck are you?'

The question surprises them all, including Matt, even though he's the one who asked. As it turns out, people have a tendency to say the first thing that comes to mind when in a stressful situation. Such as, having robbed a convenience store for the very first time and immediately finding himself face to face with other apparent robbers. It would get to anyone, probably.

'i don't want any trouble, but i've already robbed someone tonight and i don't give a shit about felony murder!'

Two lies and a truth, is what Trevor has chosen to play, for some reason. In reality, one does not rob a convenience store at gun point if one is intent on staying out of trouble. And he does, in fact, care very deeply about felony murder. Felony murder is the precise reason he'd shot a bag of Doritos and not a clerk. In his defense, the clerk had initially rolled her eyes at him, asked what exactly he thought he'd get out of this. He'd found this question rude.

The truth, of course, is that he did rob a convenience store. That did happen. No take backs.

'so did i!'

Matt and Jeremy speak so in unison it's almost scary. If they didn't know any better, they'd think the two of them had always known each other.

Trevor's gun wavers between them, unsure which is the bigger threat. The guy who clearly has zero experience with guns, or the weirdo who seems to have far too much? It's a toss up, really. So his aim pinballs back and forth, but his finger does not curl around the trigger. He's serious about that felony murder thing.

The air seems to shift, suddenly, and the sound of sirens is now growing closer. This evidently also annoys Jeremy, and they throw a glance over their shoulder to the direction they'd come from. Red and blue lights flicker past.

'shit. ok. we're all robbers, i guess, and we're all fucked if we keep standing here. who's got a plan?'

Jeremy's eyes are staring impatiently at Trevor. Eyes being the only part of their face Trevor can see. And their hands, a plastic bag in one and a gun in the other.

Trigger finger is an apt name.

He glances at Matt, still wild eyed and glancing back and forth. No, Matt probably does not have a plan. He sort of gives the impression that he's never had a plan ever, actually. That perhaps he'd simply woken up here and decided to wing it. So Trevor makes an offer.

'fire escape?'

There's another moment of tense silence. Well, minus the sirens. And oh, helicopters. Even better. Jeremy shrugs.

'good a plan as any.'

And then they're off, brushing past Trevor and hoisting themself up onto the dumpster. He knew it could work. Trevor blinks and Jeremy has caught the ladder, is quickly working their way up. Shit, how does five foot something manage to get that high on a good day, much less in this situation and with a bag and gun in hand?

Matt's gun clatters to the ground, and honestly, that's probably for the best. He's climbing onto the dumpster now, and he mutters something about not signing up for this shit. Trevor reminds him that he apparently robbed someone, so yeah, he kind of did.

Before Trevor climbs up, he shoves his gun into his jacket pocket. Smart? Probably not. Convenient? More so than climbing with a gun in his hand. He follows Matt up the ladder, wondering what happened to his plan. Yeah, the ladder had been involved. Two other people, however, were not.

Above them, glass shatters.

'warning, maybe!?'

'oops. careful, there's glass.'

Jeremy's voice is no longer directly above them. Instead, it comes from one story up and a little to the left. So they've broken into an apartment. Sure, add breaking and entering to the list of charges, that sounds great. But Matt and Trevor follow, because there's not really another option.

Inside the apartment, Jeremy's mask is gone. The suit is quickly disappearing as well, revealing a rather boring outfit of a white tank top and...sweatpants? The true mystery lies in where the cowboy hat has gone to, because that's a hard item to miss.

'do we really have time for this? don't you think someone might, oh, i don't know, wake up and call the cops?'

Trevor doesn't mean to hiss, it's just that he's sure there's more pressing matters to attend to than an outfit change. Continuing to flee, perhaps.

'nobody's gonna wake up.'

They don't even have the wherewithal to lower their voice. It registers to Trevor that Jeremy's bag and gun are missing as well. Had they dropped them on the way up? It was certainly possible. Trevor thinks he would have noticed a gun flying past his head, but there's a lot going on.

'can we maybe not kill anyone? he brought up a good point with that felony murder thing.'

It's the most words Matt has strung together since he'd shown up. It's damn near a whisper, but at least it's progress.

'i'm not- god, can you two shut up? i gotta make a phone call.'

Jeremy yanks the door open, hand carefully wrapped in the fabric of their shirt. For a moment, Trevor thinks they're leaving and steps forward to follow Jeremy. Instead, Jeremy turns and heads toward the kitchen, pulling open a drawer and digging inside it briefly. They come back with a cell phone.

Something dawns on Trevor.

'is this- do you live here? did you break your own window?'

Jeremy doesn't answer. They put the phone to their ear.

'you're gonna wanna hide whatever you've got. and try not to look like you just climbed in through a window.'

And then-

'hello? yes, hi, i'd like to report a break in, i think? i was hearing a bunch of sirens and then i don't know what happened but some guy just broke my window? he ran through and i just- my friends and i are really scared and we didn't know what to do- yes, we're ok, he's gone, but we- you'll send someone? ok, thank you. the address? oh, uh, it's the del perro heights building, apartment 7. should i shut the door? no, don't touch anything. ok- guys, don't touch anything, she said someone's on their way to check on us! thank you so much- no, i think we'll be fine. thank you.'

It's a marvelous performance. Jeremy genuinely sounds like some poor flustered victim of a crime. Trevor would applaud if he thought Jeremy would appreciate it. Almost immediately, their voice is back to normal.

'check things out my ass. they're gonna show up, ask which way he went and never call me again. feel real fuckin safe.'

Jeremy settles themself onto the couch, choosing the spot closest to the door. Matt, who has apparently gotten over his initial terror, wanders into the kitchen. Searching for something to distract himself, if Trevor had to guess. Trevor is still standing in the middle of the living room, dumbfounded. How did a simple robbery become hanging out with other robbers, waiting for cops to show up?

'i'm jeremy, by the way. they won't ask, but y'know. just in case.'

They're flipping channels on the tv, seeming to arbitrarily skip almost a dozen programs. Finally, they settle on one and stand. Trevor recognizes it as an old Disney movie, and desperately wants to ask why the fuck Jeremy has put this on.

'uh, hi. i'm trevor. why are we watching Mulan?'

'matt. oh hell yeah, i love this movie!'

He sounds remarkably cheerful, considering the circumstances. How Trevor had seemingly switched places with Anxious McGee is beyond him. He needs to get it together. He pulls his gun from his pocket and takes it to the kitchen, sticking it in the drawer Jeremy had taken the phone from. There are several other phones of varying price point. He steps back to the living room just in time.

'that's why.'

They don't elaborate. Apparently Trevor is meant to just figure this out on his own, which ordinarily he might be able to do. After the course of events of this particular evening? Not a chance.

But he can't ask, because now there's a cop in the doorway and he's staring at Trevor and that will never be a good thing. Trevor stares back. He has no clue what he's meant to say. Hello? Welcome? He went that way?

'oh thank god! we've been so terrified, we didn't know if he'd come back or what he'd do.'

Naturally, Jeremy has taken lead on this. They're a phenomenal actor, Trevor has to admit.

'did you see which direction he went?'

'toward the stairs, i think. we've all been rooted to the spot, you know, it's so scary-'

Matt freezes in the doorway of the kitchen. He's just out of the view from the front door.

'right, well. you boys did the right thing by calling. can you give me a description of the man?'

The corner of Jeremy's mouth quirks.

'gosh, it all just happened so fast. taller than me, probably, but shorter than you, wouldn't you say, trey?'

Trevor nods, because he's not quite sure what else to do.

'alright, thank you. someone will be in touch with you for an official statement. in the meantime, if you remember anything else don't hesitate to call.'

He's holding a card out to Trevor, of all people. He takes it carefully, like if he does it wrong somehow the guy will know and arrest them all. The card is simply the number for a tip line.

As suddenly as he'd arrived, the cop is gone and they're all breathing sighs of relief. Jeremy closes the door.

'you guys can stay for Mulan, if you want.'

So they do.

Trevor asks about why Mulan again, and Jeremy explains that they assume most people have seen it, could answer any questions about it if they came up. Perhaps, if LSPD officers were less incompetent, they would have. Although if that were the case, they wouldn't be LSPD officers at all.

Matt asks about the window, and Jeremy says yes, they did break their own window. Of course they'd had an actual plan when they'd entered the alley. They were always going to end up exactly here, give or take the extras. Asking for a plan was simply a test, determining the merit in bring them along. They'd passed.

Jeremy asks if they want to stay for Mulan II, which is apparently up next. They do.

Somewhere in Los Santos, in the early morning hours of a Wednesday, three convenience stores are recovering from three separate robberies. Right in the middle of them all, their respective robbers are sitting on a couch together, watching a straight to video children's film.

It is the beginning of something far greater than any of them can imagine.

#is this dumb? maybe. did i have way too much fun writing it? absolutely. #is this how any of this would go irl? god no. is it still fun? hell yeah. #fahc #fake ah crew #ks writes

[bisluthq]

Kaylor Reunited?

Possibly due to all of the mess, as well as the existing issues we’ve discussed, Joshlie take a break again and Kaylor appears to reunite. We know this because Josh’s presence suddenly halts on Karlie’s socials, they don’t get seen together, and a fan account later mentions a Joshlie “reunion” which suggests this was discussed at the time. Kaylor cement their reunion with a trip to Nashville, which seems loud and out of character given the back and forth. This is also when Tay decides to pick up a beard, because she probably thinks they’re on for good and plans to write love songs for her luvah.

1 February 2015 - Karlie posts a pic of Taylor’s cat from Nashville - they seem to have travelled there together. This is the first time they’ve travelled together without Josh since the Big Sur trip in March 2014 - so it does seem fairly important.

2 February 2015 - Kaylor and Lily A watch the Superbowl in Nashville. Karlie posts a pic of the three of them together. 

13 February 2015 - Kaylor Kover Vogue. Karlie also posts about it on her Instagram, as does Ivanka. We could use Ivanka’s pic as evidence for Joshlie but I tend to think she’s a bit clueless when it comes to the complex dynamics involved and - importantly - she was also featured so it may have been her mostly punting herself. 

How do fashion fans and insiders respond? They’re pleased to see a model on the cover. They debate the legitimacy of the friendship. And some point out the uncanny similarities to a shoot with Poppy Delevingne and Alexa Chung. You’ve probably never heard of that other photo shoot but it did, indeed, come out months before and feature two real life besties on a “road trip”. Miranda Priestley is outchea calling the Kaylor spread: 

Let’s take a moment to consider two things about the setting of the Kaylor spread.  Firstly, as previously discussed, this shoot was a recycled idea already seen in a previous spread with Poppy Delevingne and Alexa Chung.  It’s sort of sad but in a way very telling that Kaylor didn’t have an original and romantic idea for their spread.  But secondly, the Kaylor shoot is just a rehash of the 2014 Big Sur trip (one of the few times it seems that Kaylor is exclusive and together and Josh isn’t in the picture.)  It’s possible they chose to recycle this setting precisely because it’s one of the few times that Kaylor was in a (more) simple romantic relationship and not in the throes of Joshlie and/or their complicated PR friendship/romantic entanglement/real friendship.

On that same day, Enty alleges that someone asked Karlie about Taylor at a party and Karlie supposedly had a very angry reaction to being questioned about Taylor. If Enty is right, that would support the idea that they really do seem to be together at this point in time - as in Karlie is protective over her private relationship with Taylor at this point in time (but of course always take Enty with a grain of salt)... And Karlie might not want to get outed. Because yeah, while most of the response is covered (kovered?) above, some fashion people are also saying they seem gay. They’re supportive (the fashion industry usually is) but given Karlie is - as we’ll show - still not over Josh this is kind of the last thing she’d need. 

14 February 2015 - Karlie posts a picture from the Vogue Kover and wishes Taylor a ‘happy Galentines day’.

15 February 2015 - Karlie does a super weird throwback to that Insta post Kevin posted way back when. This is an objectively weird way to wish someone Happy Valentine’s Day, a whole day after Valentine’s Day,and seems like she’s trying to quell the gay rumors that emerged from the kover. And let me tell you these rumors got loud. After the cover dropped, it’s all gossip and fashion blogs discussed. Well, that and if they were fake friends or not (as I’ve said above). Spoiler, I personally think both sides were right because I think they were initially a PR-geared friendship that not only turned real and genuine but also became romantic. 

16 February 2015 - Taylor cameos on SNL’s 40th anniversary. Karlie does a shout out for it. Karlie also promotes Vogue on GMA. Meanwhile, Dianna watches a ‘smug’ Karlie walk in NYFW. 

17 February 2015 - Kaylor attend an Oscar De La Renta show and Tay makes a weird comment saying “my publicist would get mad at me” if she explained why she was there. This is the clearest sign that Kaylor was back on. Also, this, along with the Riptide/Love Story compilation I discussed earlier suggests Taylor was more invested and reckless in this relationship, contrary to fandom lore. Given Karlie had pretty intense feelings for Josh, this is no surprise. It’s also supported by this recent deuxmoi blind - where supposedly the rumors bothered Taylor much less than they bothered Karlie. Again, we can’t go off of blinds alone, but given all we have seen from the timeline, that comment fits into a broader pattern.

18 February 2015 - Karlie posts a pic with Derek and Taylor from the front row at the Oscar De La Renta show.  Karlie also posts a pic of Taylor on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon talking about the Vogue cover (this is joint promo, so is hardly a surprise). Karlie also does her own promotion, talking to CBS about Taylor and Koding with Klossy.

20 February 2015 - Karlie promotes Vogue again and again. They’re pushing this out hard and absolutely NOT putting distance between each other as traditionally claimed in fandom during the post Kissgate period. There was no distance. They were loud.

24 February 2015 - Taylor attends Karlie’s Fund Fair and Karlie cops a feel. The Fund Fair - which Karlie is a co-host of - is circus themed (irrelevant but an interesting Dianna parallel for those of you invested in Swiftgron). This is the event that hardcore Kaylors say is where they apparently responded to seeing one another as though they had not seen each other in months, however they’d seen each other, publicly, the previous week so that idea is entirely inaccurate (as is the idea that Kaylor went underground due to Kissgate). There’s also an image of Kaylor potentially arguing from that night so it’s not that they were necessarily in a great place. This is supposedly where Taylor meets Calvin for the first time. Note the public meeting parallel… This often happens when Taylor is about to get loud and noisy with someone. This tells me she’s feeling serious about Karlie, if she’s looking to onboard a beard.

25 February 2015 - Kaylor attend the Brit Awards and the afterparty together. Gossip magazines claim she was seen flirting with Calvin here. This is the last time Kaylor is seen together publicly until June. NOW is when they go underground, because now they have something to hide. This is almost three months after Kissgate. 

26 February 2015 - Karlie posts about the Brits. She also posts a pic with Derek, Tay and Kim Kardashian which she captions “Two KKs a Tay and Bae”. It’s notable that she distinguished Tay from Bae even in a silly joking caption.

CONCLUSION: Kaylor is on in a real and romantic way. Karlie is supposedly snapping at someone at a party who asked her about Taylor. Taylor is saying weird stuff about her publicist when discussing why she’s at the same events as Karlie and Taylor is looking for a beard. Kaylor going underground here suggests that things are getting real, and, as Taylor had done with her previous relationship with Dianna, Taylor is going to try to hide it to keep it real.

#Kaylor #tily #Swiftgron #gaylor swift

[letsperaltiago]

ok time to break my silence caused by the fact that i spent all day making this lol too many feels 

so.. palm springs thoughts !! and there are manyyyy so buckle up and feeel free to hit me up with either matching or contradicting thoughts or whateveer!! i would LOVE to nerd out about this movie with someone:’)

here comes thoughts and pictures!! 

we basically start off with a mr. samberg sex-scene okAYYYYY the mood is set. we love the view

nyles aka. mr. samberg is the most gorgeous man alive and it was a true pleasure to admire him for 90 minutes straight 

CURLS!!????! THEY ARE UNREAL. i shall dedicate an entire post to them

Cristin Milioti is perfect for her role. her acting? *chef’s kiss* I love that she’s not the stereotypical female rom-com lead.

Her chemistry with Andy? Gosh.. Can’t believe Nyles x Sarah is my new main movie-ship!! They play off of each other SO. WELL. Their characters are equally stone cold and bitter, but then again not really, and they both portray it so well!!

“You don’t ned a leg up.” *moans* “Hold my leg up!” i SCREAMED

“Don’t you kiss me.” “Don’t you tell me what to do.” hoW DARE THEY!

Ok ur basically on love already stop it

The fact that they were just gonna fuck on a blanket on top OF ROCKS?!

but then again in this movie’s already insane universe it’s prob pretty normal:)

The overall dark, existential humor?? This is what I live and breathe for on a daily basis. Basiaclly both main characters are a BIG MOOD

Nyles not giving a shit vs. Sarah severely freaking out in the beginning is an iconic dynamic

“I am the antichrist” and then the rock falling? For a hot sec I literally thought the movie was gonna take a turn with Nyles being some magical/scientific creature that’d created the timeloop or something idkkk ahhha

Nyles in the suit... ridiculous(ly hot)

The torture methods Roy uses on Nyles and the fact that he’s not mentally scarred?? How?? 

On that note I love that Nyles and Sarah keep their memories even if the day starts over. Would’ve been a completely different concept if they had to “meet each other for the first time” every day and it wouldn’t’ve allowed their relationship arc to evolve as it did 

Darla is the fucking shit 

Nyles in the baseball cap, amirite?

THE BARTENDER TALKING ABOUT HITTING A GUY WITH THE CAR SHE’S CURRENTLY GIVING NYLES A HANDJOB IN IS COMEDIC GOLD 

“You fucked Jerry Schlieffen?” “Well he fucked me.” Yes SIR. Andy Samberg’s characters are all bottoms and we’re here for it

Sarah’s tongue click and “nice try” when Nyles asks her about her sex life?? 

IDK WHY BUT SO GOD

Randy is hella annoying. That’s it. That’s the tweet.

THIS ENTIRE SCENE:

the fact that they both start waking up smiling because now at least they have each other 🥺😭🤯

uhm i love a good ship that’s like... best friends to lovers and the montage of them basically becoming besties killed me 

this outfit Y E S: 

sarah falling off the car and nyles laughing it off is relationship goals

the crashing plane I LOL’ED

okay so... big moment... the DANCING AND MATCHING OUTFITS? THEY ARE MY DREAM TEAM. Also how excited they are running away from the bar 🥺

IM POSITIVE THIS IS THE MOMENT NYLES KNOWS! LIKE HE DOESN’T ADMIT IT TO HIMSELF COMPLETELY BUT HE KNOWS 

the bomb in the cake and french pirate-skit? so fucking random but i lovee it because it’s so them

*DRUM ROLL* PERHAPS MY FAVORITE MOMENT IN THE ENTIRE MOVIE: 

STORYLINE WISE AND VISUALLY A++++

the deep talks by the fire were SO well written. they were actually deep and genuine, allowing the characters to grow and opening up to us as viewers but also remained fun and witty

sarah trying to get nyles to admit he cares for her and him joking it off??? the flirtinggg

really wish we’d gotten to know more about what nyles meant with “it drifts away: just like they all do.” because it really seemed to trigger something within him. Like WHO “They”???

the dinosaurs lmao no comment but at least they got a cute cuddly moment

from the very first millisecond inside the tent you can CLEARLY tell Sarah is just dying to do something about them!!!

 the disbelief on nyles’ face when sarah says “lets just get it over with” because she’d clearly stated he didn’t want to and even though he obviously did he’s respected it and not done anything further about it oh babey

we love some good making out:’))) 

NYLES HALTING TO TAKE IN THE MOMENT EXCUSE ME WHILE I GO SCREAM INTO THE VOID 

i will die for a post-sexy timez cuddle and how sarah is trying to staying awake to be besides him is just *explosion* 

this has to be *the moment* she realises 

and they’re both sooooo fucking happy when they wake up after damn love me like that pls

THE GROOM BOOO FUCK OFF CAN’T EVEN BE BOTHERED TO REMEMBER HIS NAME CHEATING SCUM 

THIS FACE:

Baby is trying so hard and is so cute and nervous about it. SARAH LISTEN TO HIM HE LOVES YOU.

HE FELT GOOD WAKING UP BECAUSE OF YOUUUU, GIRL. DO NOT CALL IT “FUN”, SARAH 

“Going to bed maybe just got a little better” 😭😭😭😭

The entire cop scene is just pure insanity, very Lonely Island and I’m here for it even though I just want Sarah to rEALLY LISTEN TO WHAT NYLES IS TRYING TO SAY 

“Pain is real” oh babey that means SO MANY THINGS 🥺💔

“I followed you into that cave because I liked you!” like jake would say: don’t love how we got here but we’re going where i want

“pretentious sad boy” me

not shocked that they’ve hooked up before because c h e m i s t r y but don’t like how it got out :)))

why is nyles’ one sleeve shirt rolled up? im triggered

drinking pure vodka? oh babey its gonna be okay 

WE LOVE A SMART BOI WHO RECOGNIZES HIS GIRL’S PERFUME 

Sarah’s parents singing:)) i would cry too, nyles

"I love her.” “I see... That’s interesting” lmao savage

I actually really love Roy’s character. It turns out to be very humble actually and he has some insightful and lowkey poetic that lines i love. Besides that he’s hilarious. 

SO the whole time i was wondering how they’d get out of the whole “same day forever”-thing, if they were to. and I LOVE LOVE LOVE that they had such a logical way out of it: science. Not anything cheesy like “a true love’s kiss” or “you learned your lesson”. Pure logic and Sarah’s hard work to get there. Huge fan of this. 

I will never get over how good Nyles looks waking up and Sarah is xtra pretty in that scene:’) 

Nyles just wants to stay in a loop forever because it means for sure that he gets to stay with Sarah forever and I’m lowkey into it but also like lowkey LISTEN TO HER AND GO WITH HER PLAN, NYLES

“I wanna stay with you” *sniffles*

“I love you. How about that?” PRETTY FUCKING GOOD 

I love Nyles’ character development. He started off so nonchalant and cold, closed off and by this point he’s the softest, smiliest in love fool I’ve ever seen and Andy does it so good. SAMBERG HEART EYES!!

“Nothing is real in here” YES SARAH UR LOVE IS

I’m taking Sarah’s asking Nyles to believe in her and leave with her as her first “I love you” because it’s very clear that she wants to leave with him rather than without. 

just- this entire scene i ugh <3 <3 <3 <3

BREAKING. UP. WITH. MISTY ! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

glass of wine filled to the brim? sarah’s my type of gal

the speech was really beautiful and sweet without being too cheesy and kudos to cristin for really delivering it like a pro! especially her “abe, don’t fuck this up” like yes girl kill him, chop him to pieces with your eyes!!! also camila is such really pretty bride

nyles looks like a cockatoo here :

nyles taking the shot and smashing the glass into the ground got me 🤭😵😏🥵

“I’m your son” I SCREAM

GIVE THE MAN A WHITE HORSE DAMNIT

Gotta admit Sarah looks like a bomb (lol nu pun intended) ass super hero in her bridesmaid dress and C4-gettup 

The sentence ending up being total grammatical gibberish but Nyles trying so. damn. hard is the sweetest thing ever and should and will go down in rom-com history. It’s super romantic but also well-balanced by humor and I just.. so good. This is the kind of characters and relationships I love and wanna write myself 

“you’re my favorite person that i’ve ever met” 🥺🥺🥺

“i’d rather die with you than live in this world without you” WHY AM I SO SINGLE SOMEONE LOVEE ME LIKE THIS 

okay so idk but “what if we get sick of each other?” “we’re already sick of each other. it’s the best.” is so so so soft, the way nyles says it like it doesn’t matter and is honestly another key moment for me: they’ve experienced basically everything imaginable during their time in the box/loop. they’ve liked, disliked, loved, hated each other and still: he loves her. the fact that nyles knows no matter what happens it won’t stop that because it’s them?? ouch my heart. 

this chaotic mess of a pairing?MESSY BOMB BRIDESMAID AND CURLY-HAIR HAWAII SHIRT-BOI!! MY OTp

Them dissing Nyles’ mom on their way into potential death? that’s love, baby 

the fUCKING KISSSSSSS MANNNNNNNNNN!!!! SO ICONIC AND THE EXPLOSION IN THE BACKGROUND AND JUST WE DESERVE THIS THEY DESERVE THIS EVERYONE DESERVES THISSSS!!! 

NEVER OVEER THIS EVER FOREVER NEVER

Ok so I was SURE that when it faded to black that it was done and I grew super ficking frustrated because it would leave us with this “the ending is up to whatever you chose”-kinda thing kinda a la Celeste and Jesse where it just feels unresolved and I WASN’T OKAY WITH THAT. So I’m so happy we got to know that it worked and the bebes will live happuilly ever after with Nyles’ shaggy dog:’) 

Their hands on each other’s knee >>>>>

all in all 100000/10 

#palm springs #palm springs spoilers #andy samberg #cristin milioti #camila mendes #sarah x nyles #emilie says things #sarah #nyles #the lonely island #nyrah

[maybebanks]

You Know I’m a Minor Chapter 08

Chapter 01

Previous Chapter 07

catch up summary: you had become one of the Pogues from when you first met JJ in a jail cell. Your blackmailing situation with Ward seems to be over. But now that JJ and the pogues know about your secret, how will another messy life be handled?

It wasn’t easy. Nothing ever was. Except surfing, and other basic things like breathing.

JJ was trying to support you, but there was some degree that felt betrayed. You could have told him.

This morning, JJ took you to the bathroom to talk. He didn’t say much.

“Can you...can you take off your shirt for me?” JJ asked.

You gave him a weird look, but you knew what he meant, he wanted to see the damage.

“No, JJ, it’s ugly,” you paused, ready to move past him and leave the bathroom.

His hand met your chest, pausing you, pushing you back.

You couldn’t look him in the eye, you didn’t want to see pity. You wanted to be normal.

“I’m ugly,” you convince.

JJ grabs your cheeks gently, he moves your face up to meet his eyes. His own eyes were watering.

“Don’t you ever say that. You are not what he did to you,”

You didn’t know what to say after that, and moments later you just let JJ take control, he fumbled with the hem of your t-shirt before asking for an ‘okay’ with his eyes.

He pulled it above your head and your arms folded over your chest to cover your bra.

JJ’s fingers traced the bruises along your torso, his silver rings were a unique feeling you’ve never felt, causing shivers down your spine.

He moved towards your back, large prints were all revealed to him. JJ didn’t want to scare you by getting angry, and to him, getting angry was a way to fill in a gaping hole of sadness.

“Jesus,” he whispers to himself.

He was sad. Sad for you, that anyone would hurt someone as sweet and carefree as you.

JJs had moved skillfully along your back, you could get lost in his touch, if you weren’t careful.

His hand accidentally moves over your bra clasp, quickly you turn around, putting your walls up yet again.

“It wasn’t like there’s anything you could have done,” you tell him.

JJ scoffs, “Why don’t you say what you really mean? Huh? That you’re mad I found out. That you’re mad I wanna help you,”

“You can’t help me!”

JJ runs his hands through his hair and turns the other way. He inhales a sharp breath. At this point, you were both out of the bathroom.

“I’ve been through it, Y/n. I know what it’s like,”

“I know. I know you do. But...” you get guilty saying it to him, but you thought it was the truth, “you’re still living it. How can I ask you for help, when you have your own problem?!”

“You wouldn’t have had to go home. You could’ve stayed here with us,” JJ adds.

“You are so delusional, JJ! My situation is nowhere near similar to yours! I made the right decision,” There it was, you were angry again, angry at his hopeful attempts.

“So you’re saying you don’t regret it? Y/n, he hurt you. His daughter,”

“I’m not defending him! I’m just saying he had a reason,”

“Are you seriously going to tell me that you think what he did was okay?!”

He was yelling. At you. Sure you’ve seen him yell before, but when you were being scolded, you saw powerful him, and worthless you.

You stumbled on some clutter on the floor and landed on your side. Ignoring the pain you scrambled up, JJ was standing over you.

“Do-don’t,” you whimpered. This was a scene that continued to replay. Your father stood over you, he would crouch down, then throw the punches. Maybe a kick with his boots.

JJ was frozen, his muscles were stuck and his brain was screaming. JJ didn’t want to be his father, he didn’t want to make you quiver before him.

Your hands were infront of your face. But you were slowly getting up. By now, there was no going back at the severity of the problem.

When JJ didn’t move, reality swept in.

“I wouldn’t hit you, Y/n,” JJ muttered, softly. He was struggling, maybe to fight back tears. He had the same look on his face when he pulled a gun to his fathers head.

The scene before him was tearing him apart.

THUD.

JJ shook his head in disbelief when the door rattled with nocking. (It was the next morning after the camp fire last chapter) John B was out with Sarah, and Pope and Kie where prepping for midsummers.

You propped yourself up with your arms, confused but also afraid.

“It’s okay. It’s probably just Rafe looking for Sarah,” JJ guessed. He stepped towards the door and opened it, it wasn’t Rafe.

“Sheriff,” JJ smiled, “what can I do for you,”

JJ was good at quick personality changes, he wasn’t fake, it was genuine, but he was covering up his emotions.

Sheriff Peterkin invited herself in. She was alone, probably here for-

“Is John B here? DCS called me,” she asked, she moved passed JJ despite his wishes to keep her out on the porch.

She was poking around, when she saw you, still on the floor.

“My...” she trailed off at the sight. You were still without a shirt, covering your bruises with your arms only made it worse.

She walked over to you and helped you up.

“Um hi ma’am,” you say.

“Darling, what’s going on?” She asks, her head turns to face JJ, he rubs his arm nervously.

Thinking fast, he finds a shirt on the counter, it was John B’s button up. He helps wrap it around you.

“JJ, son-“

“It’s not what you think, Peterkin. Y/n fell on her surf board, she’s alright though. She’s a tough one,”

“This wouldn’t have anything to do with your fighting just now, would it?” Peterkin asks, a suspicious tone in her voice.

JJ starts to defend you again, “Were you spying-“

“No, sheriff. This is from surfing, I promise. But I did get a few bruises from the fight on figure eight a few days back, kooks don’t care who they hurt,” you invent, sure it was party true, but most kooks you know wouldn’t hit a girl.

“Was it Rafe and his boys? They’ve been called in for multiple charges,” Sheriff Peterkin mutters.

“Have John B call me when he gets back,”

Peterkin exits as quickly as she came. JJ was stunned. You were barely holding it in, your felt yourself shake, in fear.

JJ noticed right away and sighed, pulling you into his chest for a hug.

“Please Y/n. I just need you to know, that I would never hurt you. I don’t want you to be scared of me,”

Your fists were filled with his shirt, you were holding tight, like you would fall.

“I believe you.”

—

JJ took you out, to distract from the chaos that was happening. It felt weird to be a exposed to him now. There was a part of you that hated it, the pity. But JJ was more protective than anything. Your hand hadn’t left his.

“Do you think they hate me?” You asked, sitting on a bench, alone with JJ, on some street on the Cut.

“Sarah, maybe. But the pogues, no way. They gotta understand,”

“But..I lied. I don’t regret it. But I do feel guilty now that they know. God, I wish this bullshit wasn’t happening,” you sigh.

“I second that,” JJ scoffed, he had a blunt between his fingers.

—-

You apologized to thme pogues, but they all understood. You shouldn’t have to be sorry. It was just your instincts.

There were little things that the pogues could do to help you, and that was all that mattered.

But, soon after Kiara invited you for a sleepover, your father found out and took you home.

Home sweet home.

That night, you got into a fight about your new friends. He made up some bullshit about him loving you.

“I’m the only one you need! God damn it! Aren’t I good fucking enough! Friends are dangerous,” he seethed, there was no convincing him that he was wrong.

“They love me. They treat me better,” you rebuke, you knew that standing up like this would just earn yourself a beating, but at this point you didn’t mind.

“You think they love you! They’d drop you once they see how bruised you are! All those boys only want you for sexual things. You don’t know the world like I do, don’t be a little bitch and listen to me, because I love you,”

“You? You haven’t loved me since Mom died!” The words just spilled out of your mouth. You squinted you’re eyes shut. Prepared for a blow.

Nothing.

Your father just stared at you. You always told yourself that they’re was some good left in him. But up until now, you thought that disappeared with the 10th beating.

He sighed, grabbing the nearest beer and talking a swig. He moved towards the couch and sat down.

You were about to retreat to your bedroom, when you heard him whisper one last thing.

“You’re just like your mother,”

—

You tugged against your grey zip up, it was just randomly lying on the floor, but you needed something to cover up. JJ was giving you a ride to the Wreck, and he had already honked twice.

“Shut up!” you screamed as you stumbled off the steps of your shitty screen door. Sure it was dangerous to let JJ know the location of your house, but you made him promise not to go inside or even within eyeshot.

The corners of JJs lips turned upwards into a smirk, you were trying to comb your hair with your fingers. You also adjusted your clothes and tried to look as best you could for work.

“Hit it, unless this is a Tesla that can drive its frickin self,” you demanded.

JJ laughed, “please Y/n, we spent all our money on that mansion we call home,”

You slapped his leg, and he took the signal to start the car and drive down the road.

After a while, you began to notice a cop SUV tailing the van, you froze.

“JJ,” you asked, by the tone of your voice, JJ could hear your nerves.

“We’re being followed,” your explained.

“What? Shit!” JJ muttered, as he turned his head to look back.

“Don’t fricking look!” You demanded, pushing his cheeks back on the road.

“Did you do something?” You asked, hoping for reassurance that there wasn’t some other reason.

“Who me? Golden boy? Nah,” JJ jokes, continuing to drive.

“JJ this is serious, take the next left,” you order.

“Relax Y/n, I know how to deal with this-“

“Drive faster!” you cut him off when you notice they are gaining.

JJ pushes the gas petal to what feels like 50mph. He begins pass the intersection when you shout at him.

“The left!!”

Instantly, JJ swerves the car, turning the wheel harshly. His arm moves over your chest, protecting you.

When he finally gains control, he pulls over into one of his friends driveways.

“Shit, I’m sorry Y/n,” he apologizes.

Your heart was pounding, you could practically feel the wheels about to turn over to it’s side. Could you have been in a car crash.

“I-..” you shouldn’t be mad at JJ, but you just wanted to run away.

You opened the door to the car and prepared to get out.

“Y/n! Wait! I’m sorry, are you hurt? What’s wrong? C’mon,”

“I’m fine!” you shout back, walking out on the sidewalk.

JJ didn’t think he deserved all the blame, but for some reason, you were in general, being mad.

“Did something happen last night?”

“I’m just...in a weird place right now,” you looked at him, his concern for you made your stomach drop.

JJ takes a slow step towards you, “is this about your dad? Or-“

“It’s about..um you,” you admit, looking down.

“I said I was sorry-“

“No. Not about the car. I think...” you paused, it felt weird admitting you loved a guy, your heart was throbbing, telling you to keep it a secret, “I really care about you, and I..um..I feel-“

You cut yourself off when the sirens of a cop car invade your sight.

A man hops out of the SUV and approaches the two of you. Involuntary you step closer to JJ, he gently pushes you behind him.

“What can I do for you officer?” JJ asks politely.

“Mind if I inspect the vehicle,” he asks, it was like a retohrical question.

“What uh...what are you hoping to might find?” you ask, worried.

JJ shushes you, making you feel guilty.

“Well ma’am, I don’t know if you know, but your friend Routledge has been extensively breakin the law, just checking if he might be here. This is the vehicle he drives...”

“What law?” you ask curiously.

The officer sighs, “John B’s current residence is about to be pulled, he is underage with no parentals,”

You glance at JJ with fear, they can’t take away his house.

JJ gives you a comforting look and reaches for your hand, your fingers intertwining with his.

“Well, he’s not here. But when you see him, tell him to come down to the station. He already escaped from DCS once...” the officer grumbled.

Eventually, when his car was gone. You jumped towards JJ in a hug.

“They can’t do that! John B is fine on his own! I’d rather been on my own for fucks sake!” your shouts are muffled in JJ’s shirt.

JJ traces fingers on your back and plays with some braids in your hair.

“Hey hey hey, it’ll be fine. We’ll figure it out,” JJ says, not sure he even could convince himself.

—

Chapter 09

Taglist: @p0gue420 @kristinaxilliano @belledutchess @maebanks @omgpankow @kaylinfayezink @dolanfivsosxox @thesurfingsnail @obsessedweirdo @dudebroskiprn @milked-down-coffee @jjsthumbring @retr0babey @traumaflavouredjuulpod @write-from-the-heart @justcallmesams @popcrone818 sorry if I missed u on the tags!

Do you think JJ loves Y/n as more than a friend? Comment🤍

#jj maybank #obx imagine #obx fanfiction #outer banks #obx netflix #jj imagine jjxreader obx #obx jj #obx jj maybank x you #outerbanks #jj outer banks #rudy pankow #luke maybank #obxedit #outerbanks fanfic #jj maybank x female reader #jj maybank x y/n #jjmaybank love #pogue life #outerbanks imagine

[millennial-ring]

Can we get more info on 5-7?

             5. Dear God

So this one is ANCIENT (2012!!!) and idk why it’s still in my WIPs folder because I do clean it out/reorganize it every few years or so (which is why that unfinished powershipping christmas fic wasn’t on the list, cause I moved it to a different folder). Sadly the title makes it seem more interesting than it actually is - it’s just a few paragraphs and nothing really happens at all. 

Russet eyes were glazed over as they watched the rain pelt the ground, each drop making tiny indents in the dirt, puffs of the still-dry earth floating up with each splash before settling down again, the process repeating over...and over... Rain drummed against the body of a beaten up jeep, the only prominent sound within miles, save to the sound of the rain falling in the grass, and the dirt, and the leather jacket Bakura wore. 

The man blinked as water ran down his face, following the curve of his brow and rolling over the crease of his eyelid, flowing into his eye. The water pooled between his lids, blurring his vision for a few moments until he blinked again, and the water was squeezed out to mingle with the rest on his face, like a single, solitary tear. He inhaled slowly, then let the breath out in a quick huff, turning away from the long stretch of dirt road in front of him. Behind him, another long chunk of drivable desert. He growled under his breath and began to pace, wet sand squishing under his boots, gravel shifting with each step. 

How could be trapped here, in the middle of fucking nowhere, with a flat fucking tire and no spare? 

It was inspired by this Avenged Sevenfold song and I vaguely remember that it was going to be thiefshipping, about the various trials Bakura goes through to get back to Malik after a fight or something but... 🤷

              6. Domestic Disturbance

This one is also super short, more fleshed out in my mind than on paper, and I started writing it after we had to call the cops on our neighbors because they were having a very loud and long argument (like, over an hour of yelling). Inspiration comes from the dumbest places with me, haha, but this is another one of those “why is this still in my wips” documents because I don’t have any intention of finishing it. After writing what I did I kinda had a “maybe these kinds of situations shouldn’t be your inspiration for fanfics, weirdo” moment and I scrapped it. But anyway! 

The story goes that Bakura was playing some Wii game, lost grip on the controller, and accidentally chucked it and broke a vase because he wasn’t wearing the wrist strap. Malik hears the crash and comes around the corner, lecturing him about “how many times have i told you i s2g bakura why are you like this” even as Bakura’s already beginning to clean up the mess. Bakura gruffly tells him to chill out because nothing important was broken anyway, just “that ugly ass vase” and he holds up a piece for Malik to see. The tension thickens immediately and Malik speaks with measured anger instead of the usual screaming, so Bakura knows He Fucked Up. “That was a gift from my sister.” Bakura panics a bit on the inside, but outside he scoffs and he’s all like “even better, tell her she has awful tastes” because ykno. He’s like that. Doesn’t wanna admit he fucked up, doesn’t wanna take responsibility or acknowledge he hurt Malik’s feelings. At this point I’d stopped writing it, but still have the basic outline. The regular bickering becomes a super intense all out screaming match about basically anything and everything, all the tiny little things they’d been burying for as long as they’d lived together finally coming out, start demanding why they ever thought this would work and they’re just about to get to that great crescendo where they're about to break up (”Well then maybe you shouldn’t have brought me back!” “At this point I’m inclined to agree!” Bakura’s shocked. “Well...then is this going where I think it’s going?” “I think it is.” “Then say it.” “...” “Say you want to break up!” “I...Bakura, I...” when someone knocks on the door. Heyo, it’s two cops, saying someone called in a domestic disturbance. Malik snaps that they’re fine, still pissed from the fight, but obviously like no Malik that’s not gonna help. So one officer brings Bakura out into the hall to question him and the other stays with Malik. Cop asks if they’re together, how long, what the fight was about, etc etc, and then if the fight had been physical at all. Bakura recoils in shock and practically screams “No!” “You never hit Malik?” “I would never!” “And Malik wouldn’t hit you?” There’s a few things there, bc I wasn’t sure how I wanted Bakura to respond; make an “only if he asked wink wonk” joke that the cop rolls his eyes at, or stammer that “i mean he’s smacked my head once or twice but it never hurt and i was being super annoying at the time and it was more like playful slapping” but either way the cop asks for a more direct answer or for Bakura to elaborate and Bakura gets pissed, says Malik would cut off his own hand before he hit Bakura because obviously. Cop seems taken aback but nods, and then lectures Bakura a bit about volume, tells him maybe one of them should pack a bag and stay with friends or family for a few days. Their partner comes out soon after and the two cops leave. Bakura goes back inside, where Malik is standing with his arms crossed, looking shaken with red rimmed eyes. They look at each other, feeling awkward, but then they make tea, sit down, and have a calmer “are we really like that?” conversation. they admit a lot of their fights are pointless and stupid and they’re just fighting to fight because it’s Their Thing and aha, aren’t we so cute and quirky, arguing is our foreplay - which it is, but they admit they’ve taken it too far, gotten too used to snapping at each other when something happens, and some of their issues (like Bakura disrespecting Malik’s siblings, and Malik’s control freak attitude) really need to be sat down and talked out, not screamed out. They apologize, foreheads pressed together, and Malik thumbs a tear from Bakura’s cheek. Bakura strokes his fingers through Malik’s hair. Malik makes a “well you know the best part about fighting, right?” and Bakura laughs, and then it ends.

               7. But he came back

So if y’all didn’t know I recently commissioned a(n amazing) fic from @/sitabethel (not properly tagging cause i don’t wanna bother them). In it, Bakura promises Malik he’ll come back after his final showdown with Atem, but ten years pass and Malik gets engaged to Seto. It’s corporate theifshipping and obviously I recommend reading it - but it’s based on an RP I did with a friend of mine years ago. In the RP, Bakura was pissed Malik hadn’t waited for him and does the whole “why did I even bother coming back I literally only came back to be with you?????” and Malik being like “Sorry? But you took a long fucking time and I had to do something to stop the loneliness.” We never finished it, but when we dropped it Bakura was starting to heal and move on and we had plans to end it powershipping and tendershipping - and Bakura catching the bouquet at the wedding and Ryou immediately being like >:) but anyway. The concept stuck with me and I really liked the idea of Bakura coming back to that situation and more so rolling with it - maybe a touch bitter at first, but hey, he’s nothing if not adaptable, and he absolutely invites himself into the relationship in the clunkiest way possible. 

“But he came back” was the start of my own attempt to write something with that kind of plot. When I write a fic, I start with a vague collection of ideas or scenes I want to write, and then when I have enough to work with, I begin organizing them into an outline. This doc is just a very small collection of ideas and dialogue, mixing some things taken from the RP and my own ideas. It’s mostly things like how Malik and Kaiba get to the marriage point, starting with an impromptu kinda tipsy make out session hidden away in the kitchen during a party Yugi’s throwing, and how they navigate each other’s trauma and fumble their way into a genuine romance despite everything. I’ve never managed to sit down and work it out into an outline of any kind, and the way I wanted to explore Malik and Bakura’s relationship before the show down, Malik and Kaiba’s relationship building afterwards, and then the relationship building with all three of them meant 30 chapters, at least (the original rp is over 2,500 pages and again, we had only just started with Bakura wanting to ask Ryou out and going to Malik for advice adjklj, when we dropped it) and well. yall know i’m bad at writing multi fic chapters 

#wip tag

[emily-strange]

Sparks Fly

Thank you for all the feedback on chapter 2! I hope you like this one.

Still a lot of talking but the action is coming in the next chapter haha I promise!

Chapter 3

Pairing: Billy Butcher x OFC

Warnings: Swearing, Mention of Violence, *very* mild mention of child abuse (very very small), Mention of Drugs and Weapons.

…………………………………………………..

Emmy lies on the ratty old sofa and dozes.

After Butcher left, she went exploring and found a shower with some clean (she hoped) towels. The water was freezing but it meant she was able to get the dirt and grime off of her. She grabbed a tank top from her bag but after looking at her hoodie decided that she didn’t fancy putting the gross thing back on.

In one of the dingy bedrooms she found a short-sleeved shirt with a ridiculous pink pattern on it. She gave it a sniff and after determining it was cleaner than her hoodie, she put it on. It swamped her smaller frame but it kept the chill off. After finding an in-date energy bar, she collapsed back onto the sofa and eventually dozed off.

This is where she is when (who knows how many hours later) the door of the safe house bashes open.

“It’s done MM!” Butcher shouts as he comes stomping into the livingroom. MM follows carrying a woman over his shoulder as he grumbles. Emmy bolts upright and is ignored by both men when they storm into one of the bedrooms.

As she sits, calming her breath from the intense wake up, a third man comes hurrying into the room. He secures the door and mutters to himself in French. When he spots Emmy sitting wide-eyed on the sofa, he straightens himself out and rushes to sit next to her, extending his hand.

“Bonjour.” he says delicately and takes her hand, giving it the briefest of kisses, “You are, the…”

Emmy smiles and takes back her hand. Something about this man puts her at ease, his demeanour is calm despite his rapid breathing and dishevelled appearance.

“Um, Emmy.” She answers and he smiles widely.

“Un beau nom!” he says and Emmy shakes her head laughing a little, “Ah, uh, beautiful. Beautiful name. I’m…”

“….FRENCHIE!” Butcher shouts, interrupting the quiet, “Get tha fuck in there ‘nd help MM restrain ya girlfriend.” He watches Emmy smile genuinely at Frenchie and after the night they’ve had it pisses him off. A lot. Frenchie’s caused too much trouble!

Frenchie smiles warmly at Emmy and glares at Butcher before going to the bedroom where MM is. As the door closes, Emmy catches sight of the woman they’d carried in.

“What happened?” she asks quietly.

Butcher takes off his coat and tosses in onto the sofa next to Emmy. He runs a hand down his face and ignores the question. Before she can ask again, MM and Frenchie come out of the bedroom. MM making a beeline for the fridge.

The tension is thick as Frenchie moves to another corner of the room, his hands in his pockets. He looks down at the ground while MM downs a bottle of beer. Butcher heaves a big sigh and puts his hands on his hips, looking like a teacher about to scold his students.

“We have a fuckin’ long day t’morow alrigh’? Last thing I need is you at each ovas throats. We lost tha female ‘nd now we have tha female. So end of.”

Emmy points to herself and queries, “Who, me?”

“No not fuckin’ you.” Butcher growls and Emmy sarcastically throws her hands up in fake surrender. He then turns to MM.

“Go home. Get some rest.” he then turns to Frenchie, “You, make she’s definitely secure before hittin’ the hay.” Both men nod before moving to leave. Suddenly Butcher shouts, getting everyone’s attention again, “OH! And no more fuckin’ strays alrigh’! I didn’t think I’d actually haveta say it but…..fuck. Come on.”

MM scoffs and leaves with a shake of his head.

Even though Frenchie looks like he wants to have his say, he doesn’t. He does however look between Emmy and Butcher before shrinking into the bedroom housing the female.

Butcher checks his phone and collapses into a ratty chair that matches the sofa. He tiredly hangs his head back and closes his eyes.

For a moment Emmy just sits and waits….but that grows old very quickly.

“Okay, look, I don’t know what’s happening here oooor who that girl is but…..enough. I’m not a fucking stray and I definitely won’t be ‘restrained’ so…either let me leave or kill me.” She says sternly. Anger and annoyance bubbling up inside her.

Butcher doesn’t move. And for about 30 seconds Emmy wonders whether he’s actually asleep. Then he opens his eyes and looks at her.

“Wanna beer?” he says airily. Catching Emmy off guard.

“Um, no I’m good.” She says, “What game’re you playing?”

Butcher pushes himself up from the chair and grabs a beer from the fridge, taking a long swig.

“Oh luv, this ain’t a game. That girl in there is doped up to her fuckin’ eyeballs in summit called ‘Compound V’. Know anythin’ about that?” he asks, watching her face carefully.

“What? No. Why would I?” Emmy replies getting up from the sofa.

Butcher takes a second to look her over. She’s cleaner than when he left, she obviously found the shower. And she’s changed. He smirks a bit to himself when he sees how big his shirt is on her.

“You said ya family pushed drugs. They’re also on Vought’s payroll.” He states, keeping his mind on track.

“Yeah they do. Did.” Emmy says, quickly catching herself, “But like, Coke you know. Sometimes Meth if the money was right. Never heard of…whatever V.”

Butcher eyes Emmy and takes another swig of his beer. She can see that her answer has satisfied that part of his questioning. She groans, “Look. I’m losing it here okay? You gotta tell me what you want man.”

“That’s my shirt.” Butcher says quickly gesturing to Emmy.

“Oh..” she stutters, looking down at the shirt, “Did you…is that okay?”

Without answering, Butcher pulls out the piece of paper he took from Emmy earlier, putting it down on the table in the kitchen area.

“I sent a copy to a cop mate of mine. She’s gonna look inta it.” He grabs three more beers from the fridge and hands one to Emmy before collapsing into the chair again. Emmy stands for a moment with the beer, unsure what to do next. Butcher sees her hesitation and can’t help but chuckle.

“Look luv. I’m bloody knackered. No ones dyin’ t’night....well….unless that thing in there gets loose.” He says gesturing to the room with Frenchie and the Female.

“Fine.” Emmy says with a sigh and drinks some beer. She starts to sit down but stops herself, “You know what?! Not fine. No. Why are you keeping me here?! I don’t know anything. But I DO know what you’re doing. Keeping me off guard, on my toes, hoping I’ll slip…..well there’s nothing to slip!”

Butcher smirks, he’s always liked a feisty woman.

“I get that you hate people with….powers or whatever but like I said, I didn’t know I had any until recently.”

“Right, so what ya sayin’ is, you’ve not hurt no one wiv it yet?” Butcher asks knowing the answer.

Emmy stutters for a second, then drains more than half of her beer before sitting to perch on the edge of the sofa cushion. She squares her shoulders and looks at Butcher.

Butcher smiles and even though he’d never admit it, he’s impressed with how together she seems. Frazzled, sure, but she’s a far cry from the girl in the alley.

Emmy basically growls and shoots daggers at Butcher saying, “My names Emmy by the way. Not ‘luv’ and definitely not ‘sparky’.”

“I know.” Butcher answers quickly with zero emotion on his bearded face. Emmy can’t help the roll of her eyes and that only makes him want to annoy her more. He knows he can be such a child sometimes.

“Look. The family…..they were bad people. Are bad people…..” Emmy starts and mumbles the next part, “…I didn’t get them all” She drinks the rest of her beer and Butcher gestures with his bottle asking if she wants another. Which she does.

With another beer in her hand, Emmy turns and sits cross-legged on the sofa. She looks at Butcher and agrees mentally with his earlier statement. He looks exhausted. She knows she should be scared but from a young age Emmy’s always had this feeling that she’s been through worse. She’s survived worse. “Look, what do you wanna know?”

Butcher narrows his eyes at her and hums audibly, “Tell me about this family….mafia shit.”

“Um, okay so like I said. I grew up with them and you don’t just get to walk away when you’re 18….by then you know too much. About the weapons, the drugs, all that stuff. Every couple of years they’d take in another kid and sometimes they stuck and sometimes...they…didn’t.” Emmy pauses to have some of her new drink and grows uncomfortable under Butcher’s penetrating gaze. He takes note of her tense grip on the bottle and the darting of her eyes. She won’t focus on anything for too long. It seems that she may not be afraid of him and The Boys, but she’s scared of something.

“What happened when they didn’t stick?” Butcher asks when he senses her getting agitated. Better to have her focus and get it over with.

Emmy swallows, “Well. Sometimes a van would pick them up randomly one day. Or…they just disappeared. I’m pretty sure they’re dead. I have zero proof of that but it was always a bit of a threat you know? If you acted up. If you didn’t want to work.”

Butcher nods and the grip on his own beer intensifies. He grew up in a house run on fear. Imagining all those kids dealing with the same thing, without anyone to stand up for them. It makes him see red. Before he can dwell on it too much, Emmy continues.

“I wasn’t great with the books. Maths isn’t really my thing...” She laughs humourlessly, “…but when they showed me how to make the drugs and put together the guns, I just put my head down and did it. I planned to run a few times but always chickened out.”

“You were’a kid.” Butcher says resolutely.

“Yeah” Emmy nods, “But I’m not anymore…was still afraid.”

For a few seconds the two of them just watch each other in silence.

Butcher recognises the same self-hatred he sees whenever he looks in the mirror and Emmy, for once, feels no judgement directed towards her.

“I was weak. I didn’t help anyone but myself…About 10 years ago kids stopped getting dropped off. That was a fucking awful time. They were pissed. That’s about the same time Vought stopped the payments. From what I could tell from the paperwork anyways. I didn’t have that much time to peruse.”

Emmy hadn’t noticed but while she was talking, Butcher had swapped out her now empty beer for another one.

“I think that’s why they started shipping…people” Emmy grimace’s, “more money I guess? Anyway. When I found out I broke into the head office and just…..”

“Snooped?” Butcher finishes and gives Emmy a smirk that makes her stomach flutter. Maybe it’s the beer…

“Yeah, snooped. I found the Vought accounts. I was transferring the PDFs onto a drive but was…interrupted…”

Butcher gestures with his bottle to Emmy’s face, “That how you got the bruises? The ones I didn’t give ya.”

“Yeah. Boss and two of his sons. He has a few. While his sons were…giving the bruises, the boss just sat back and lit up a cigarette. I hate him…so fucking much.” Emmy stares off past Butcher and he smiles to himself. The type of rage she has is something he hoped Hughie would show signs of by now. He knows she said she can’t start fires but if asked, he’d of put money on her eyes shining red with flames.

“He always did that you know. Lit one up while someone else did the dirty work. No matter what it fucking was…those fucking white sticks poking out of his fat, ugly face. Then all of a sudden, that fat face was on fire. And before I knew it, everything was on fire.” Emmy laughs, “But I was just stood there…in the fire and not burning. It didn’t hurt at all. Before everything went completely to shit, I managed to print off one of the account files and ran….and then some asshole kicked me in the face!”

Emmy finishes her story by raising her bottle to Butcher in a ‘cheers’.

She laughs again before drinking but Butcher doesn’t join in. He looks at the fresh bruises blooming over her cheeks and jaw and internally flinches. Emmy notices his grim expression but before she can say anything, it disappears.

“Look, we’re bad guys. But we’re not that.” Butcher says leaning forward, putting his elbows on his knees, “Whatta you willin’ to do to get answers?”

Emmy drains her beer and rubs at her tired eyes. Damn she feels tipsy.

“Umm, I dunno. Burn people alive apparently.” She answers, louder than anticipated and giggles. Butcher shakes his head and finishes his own bottle. Putting it on the ground by his feet.

“The girl in there was kept in a cage and pumped with some kinda supe speed…my job is to find out why…” Butcher begins but is cut off by Emmy’s hand throwing itself into the air.

“I’ll help!!!!” she says enthusiastically.

“Alrigh’ then.” Butcher nods and gets up, “Get some rest. N stay outta that room. Fucker killed many people t’day. Probably best you don’t run inta her until Frenchie can calm her the fuck down again.”

Butcher scoffs when Emmy salutes him. For a supe, she sure can’t handle her drink.

He watches her lie down and snuggle into the uncomfortable sofa like it’s a 5* mattress. He grabs his coat and throws it over her before making his way to the other bedroom. He stops when Emmy quietly calls his name. He turns and can just about see that her eyes are closed and that she’s pulled his coat up around her.

“…..I’m not sorry. About them. I’m not sorry.” She whispers.

Butcher turns the lights off and makes his way to bed without answering.

But he does smile.

#the boys #the boys tv #the boys amazon #karl urban #billy butcher x reader #billy butcher x oc #billy butcher x ofc #billy butcher #the frenchman #frenchie #mm #mothers milk #the female #kimiko #sparks fly #billy the butcher

[angrylizardjacket]

what is and isn’t allowed {Roger Taylor}

Anon asked: So a fic where the reader is the bartender in that one pub/whatever it was the band first sang together in. Reader has been enjoying Smile’s performances for a while now, mostly because of the handsome drummer. Reader thinks they’ve gone unnoticed but one night, Roger shows up at the bar with his band mates. Drinks are served and Reader doesn’t notice Rogers roaming eyes. He’s actually been eyeing her for a few weeks now. Go crazy!

A/N: 2253 words. I hope this fills the prompt nicely!!

This job, like every job, came with it’s own set of perks and detractors. Perks included; being paid to hear live music, you and your coworkers got along, and once your shift ended, the boss let you have a few drinks on the house. Detractors? Well not a night went by when you weren’t hit on in the hopes of free drinks, sometimes you had to call the cops because of a fight or a shady customer, and you never seemed to have weekends off. Even after you left work on Saturday you probably couldn’t get on the piss since it was frowned upon to turn up the next day to serve the barflies hungover.

But you knew what you were getting into, and the perks far out weighed the detractors.

“Who’ve we got playing tonight?” You asked, bag slung over your shoulder as you walked into the bar on a Friday afternoon.

“Couldn’t you have read the sign on the way in?” Cameron, your favourite person to be rostered on with for a uni-bar night, sighed deeply. Giving him a sharp smile, you make your way behind the bar and drop your bag in the back room.

“Yeah, but I’m inside now and that feels like an effort,” you tell him, taking the tea towel he offers you.

“Smile.” He informs you, and your whole face lights up reflectively.

“Oh, awesome!” You enthuse, and quickly start drying glasses with him. Cameron’s smile is slight, but your enthusiasm melts through his annoyed front. 

Of all the university-based bands to come through your little establishment, Don’t Forget To Smile was probably the least mediocre, and definitely your favourite. When they were first starting out they were a little shaky, of course, every band has to start somewhere, but over the months that followed, Brian, Roger, and Tim had found their musical footing, and were churning out some pretty solid songs. You always looked forward to hearing them play, wondering if they’d increased their repertoire, and of course you also looked forward to seeing the men themselves.

“Evening Rog,” you smiled fondly at the blonde drummer as he leaned against the bar as Brian and a couple of new members you don’t recognise are doing sound checks, “this isn’t your usual lineup.” You commented, already collecting glasses to pour drinks for the band.

“Tim’s up and buggered off to join Humpy Bong.” Roger sighed, watching the rest of his band with mild interest.

“Humpy Bong? What kind of name is that?” You can’t help but snort, and that’s enough to draw his attention to you where you’re pulling pints with efficiency.

“I know, right? And he says we’re not going anywhere? Yeah, alright, good luck with that, mate,” he rolled his eyes, sarcasm thick in his voice. He’s pretty when he’s irritated, slumped against the bartop, chin perched on his hand while the other taps a steady rhythm against the counter. 

His eyes follow the movements of your hands as you pour the band’s drinks, but it doesn’t seem like he’s really looking at you. It’s not an uncommon occurrence, he never seemed to really pay too much attention to you for all that the two of you got along; you poured drinks, and listened to his gripes, and watched him pick up girls, and that was essentially the extent of your interactions. It didn’t bother you, you only saw him once a month, maybe twice, and it seemed absolutely nonsensical to be put out by it.

The point is, you tried really hard not to dwell on it. Just keep your head down and do your job, don’t make it weird for the band. They brought in a good crowd and you were not going to be the reason they didn’t come back.

The new singer, Freddie, was a little choppy to begin with, but he had an unrivalled stage presence; he was too charismatic to let the band fester in obscurity like they had been. And the new bassist? John? He was nothing if not good at his job; more subdued than the rest, he still found his niche bopping away by his amp. Brian was always stellar, always radiating a sophisticated confidence whenever he played, always smiled brightly when he wasn’t focused and intense on his playing; Brian was consistent, and you appreciated that about him. 

You would probably appreciate Roger more if he was less consistent. Not to say that was a reflection on his playing, he’s a fantastic drummer, but he also was well aware of it, and was able to pick up like a pro. So yeah, you tried hard not to dwell on it, but it was difficult when it seemed like you were getting him ‘a pint and whatever the lady wants’ every time he played here, always with a different girl. But you just smiled, agreed, and tried not to let your little crush show.

You’re the bartender. A means to an end, to help him get laid. Sometimes that’s just the way the world works.

“How’s your night?” It comes as a surprise to see him at the bar when another band is playing. Freddie, Brian, and John are all milling about, you can see them at a table by the wall, but Roger’s giving you a smile that’s all teeth in the face of your shocked response.

“You know you’ll need to pay for your own drinks,” is the first thing that comes out of your mouth. Roger holds a hand to his chest, but his smile is still so warm.

“Is that how you greet all your customers?” He asks, but pulls a few notes from his back pocket and orders a round of drinks.

“Sorry, I just- I wasn’t expecting to see you- you guys,” you laughed a little, unthawing and getting their drinks, “guess I forget you exist even when you’re not performing.” That’s enough to get him to laugh, and you feel the tension in your shoulders ease.

“I didn’t realise you worked so often; do you you exist outside of this bar?”

“Not on weekends,” you counter with a smirk. You pause before handing him his drinks, glancing at the money he’d laid out of the counter, and you push it back towards him, “first one’s on me,” you tell him, “sorry for being a dick.”

He’s politely surprised, wearing a genuine smile as you hand over the drinks, and he thanks you kindly after stuffing the money back in his pocket. 

“Okay, new rule,” Cameron tells you the moment Roger’s out of earshot, “actually, two rules: Smile doesn’t get free drinks unless they’re playing, and you’re not allowed to serve Roger until you stop looking at him like a lovesick puppy.” He flicks you with his tea towel, and you flick him back, calling him an impolite term that earns you a startled look from the patron you’ve moved to serve, but you also don’t disagree. 

“I should tell him,” you sigh as you shake the woman’s margarita, pouting a little at the thought as you did so.

“You should tell him. You get all twitchy whenever he’s trying to pick up at your end; at least if he knows he might do it down my end instead.” Cameron’s mostly focused on making a gin and tonic, but he grins at your groan of despair. “Your crush is bad for business,” he continues, “no-one wants a twitchy bartender.”

“You’re heartless, you know that?” You inform Cameron, who just turns to you after his customer has paid, and blows a kiss.

Roger comes up a few more times for drinks, sometimes with one or all of the others, sometimes just by himself, but Cameron sticks to his rules and is always the one to serve him. To your surprise, Roger is there the longest, and remains solitary for most of the night. Sure, he talks to girls, but he seems to brush them off, and every so often you catch him watching you.

“Hey, is everything alright? Are you avoiding me?” He manages to catch you when you’re clearing away glasses and stop by his table. The band is packing up, the crowd is slowly dispersing; Cameron’s got a handle on the few patrons still at the bar.

“What?” You laugh a little nervously, he smiles but seems unconvinced.

“It’s just every time I come to the bar, even if you’re the only one free, you some are magically replaced by,” he hesitates for a moment, “the other one.”

“Cameron,” you supply easily, and Roger nods. “Oh, well he saw me give you free drinks earlier and, uh, didn’t want it happening again.” You shrugged, and it’s not a lie, persay, it’s just not the whole truth.

“Sorry, I mean I can-” and he’s fishing around in his pockets for his wallet but you waved him off. After a moment of silence, Roger swirls the last of his beer around in his glass and downs it in a single gulp, placing the cup into your waiting hand.

“You never did tell me how your night was,” he sits at the bar as you wash up the glasses. Cameron gives you a sharp look, but Roger catches it and says he’s not ordering anything, to placate the other bartender. It works enough that Cameron doesn’t come over immediately.

“My night’s good; always love a good bit of live music, you know?” You smile over your shoulder at him and Roger laughs.

“Yeah, when we can, me and the boys like to check out the competition.”

“I’m not sure you guys could consider tonight’s lot competition.”

“Is that a compliment?” He asks, tipping his head to the side and fixing you with an amused smile.

“Of course,” you respond without hesitation, “it’s always a treat to have Smile play.” You tell him earnestly, and again there’s that genuine smile of his. It caught you off guard, and you couldn’t help but return a fond smile of your own. You hear someone clearing their throat a few feet away, and when you turn, Cameron’s giving you a very pointed look. “Oh shove off,” you rolls your eyes, mood souring.

“Well we like playing here,” Roger’s words cut through the awkward moment like a hot knife through butter, and you’re so grateful, “good little pub, good staff, what’s not to like?” He sounds sincere when he says it, and your heart grows warm, proud of your establishment, “and actually, I never really noticed it before, but I like your uniforms, you both look very slick.” Roger adds, and Cameron gives you a look like his soul has left his body out of frustration.

“Y/N, go take a break, go outside, I’m begging you.” Cameron told you, and you pressed your lips together in a thin line, frowning.

“Dude, I’m washing up-”

“Now now, I don’t want you to get overworked and twitchy.” He hissed at you, and your whole expression wrinkled reflexively. Roger just looked on in confusion. You leave anyways, and surprisingly, Roger follows you.

Outside is warm, it’s Summer and the sky is clear; stars twinkle overhead as you sit in the carpark outside on a stool by the back of the bar.

“Everything alright?” He asks, kicking at the gravel idly.

“Cameron’s under the impression that-” but you cut yourself off, sighing deeply. Roger pulled a packet of cigarettes from his back pocket, lighting one up.

“Can I ask you something?” He looked a little contemplative, and walked to join you, offering his cigarette, though you declined; he leaned against the wall where you were standing, looking up at the sky, “you can tell me to fuck off at any time, believe me, many people do, but Brian told me it’s a bit of a shit thing to hit on a bartender while she’s working.” He mused, and your heart was suddenly thundering in your chest. “And I mean, when we’re both working? It does feel weird, I’m not gonna lie, so I don’t, you know, do it.”

“Well I’m not working now, I’m on my break,” you smiled a little, and he turns to look at you, eyebrows raised, “what did you wanna ask me?”

“I wanted to ask you to come home with me.”

A pause follows in which you can’t help but beam, though you still have one more thought plaguing your mind.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Seems hypocritical to say no,” he chuckled, and you couldn’t help but laugh at that, before it died down.

“Why tonight?”

“Finally had a night off, wanted to see if you were just as nice when you weren’t paying us.” Roger grinned, and you rolled your eyes, turning to look at him. “And you look really good tonight.” He admitted.

After a moment, he meets your gaze; you’re basically shoulder to shoulder and he’s so damn close. It doesn’t come as a surprise when he reaches over to take your face in his hands, kissing you gently. Without hesitation you kiss him back, leaning into it, deepening the kiss quickly, taking what you’ve been craving for so long. 

And maybe he just wants a one night stand, maybe it’s more than that, but you’d be remiss to not take this chance. He’s already got a hand moving down to your thigh, and you break away, a little breathless.

“I finish at one; do you wanna ask me that question?”

“Would you like to come home with me tonight?”

“Absolutely.”

#roger taylor #roger taylor imagine #roger taylor x reader #queen #borhap #bohemian rhapsody #bohemian rhapsody imagine #borhap imagine #don't forget to smile #the angry lizard writes

[glasyasbutch]

Based on this post. 

im gonna do what rebekah did and discuss the potential of oc /oc ships. However i have 10 of them on this blog and i will not be doing this 45 times so im limiting myself to active ocs only, which puts me at 16, which is still a lot but this blog is for me and im a slut for my own characters. (I tried to do it in the tags but tumblr cut me off cause its lesbophobic.) lets get crackin.

gildy/anyone: no. thats grandma. now this isn't to say that i won't ship gildy with anyone; i have before and will again; but it's got to be someone her own age which no other oc is close to (rip to that one npc who made magic ceramics in her first campaign that i was tryna date before the campaign fell apart)  Verdict: No Cradle Robbing

craving/tov: oh GOD it would go so bad . they both hate themselves so much and manifest it as a brusque aggressiveness they'd fucking attack each other within hours. even a one night stand might be pushing the limits of their patience. Verdict: Do Not Recommend

craving/ezra: i would LOVE to watch these two sit down and talk about philosophy; because they have genuinely the exact opposite takes on life. they both got dunked on and had someone important taken from them at a young age and craving said FUCK IT im gonna be mean since the world hates me and ezra said FUCK IT im gonna be nice and hope the world loves me back eventually. and it would be so fucking interesting to see them try and convince the other why they're right. however. should not date. Verdict: Bad Romantic Material

craving/nissy: this would go literally the exact same way as nissy and zier. like the ExACT same way. they'd find each other attractive at first; make it a few weeks or something; the sexiness would wear off and they'd find each other insufferable but Not want to break up because they're stubborn and also getting something out of dating the other one. (craving likes that nissy's rich and also his cool shadow guy; nissy likes that craving's all about 'fuck the system' and also maybe a teensy little bit is into the idea of getting a glasya pact too). if they were to meet nakoria in this universe they also would both fuck her and then not tell the other about it. Verdict: Hilarious But Unsustainable.

craving/ebbie: i literally can't even conceptualize this. i c. i can't. i think ebbie would be genuinely terrified of craving. Verdict: No.

craving/roona: Ohhhhhhhh YES baby. mischief squad in the fucking HOUSE. they would get along absolutely fantastically i think. No impulse control, so many crimes! neither of them would really be ones to try and make it work long term but they'd have a fucking AMAZING couple months together and part on good terms. Plus craving has a thing for short girls Verdict: Good Short Term Ship.

tov/ezra: other people would ship them because they have such similar vibes. but i dont think either of them necessarily would want to date for exactly that reason. now you might say but didnt tov fall in love with savra because they have similar backstories? yes BUT they're at very different points in their recovery. ezra and tov are too close. come back to it once both their campaigns are over and they might make a very sweet couple. Verdict: Slow Burn 250k Words

tov/nissy: i feel like tov would take one look at nissy and kind of just. leave. nissy would be into tov tho. he likes the rugged bad boy vibes. he'd think he was mysterious and handsome. and we know he seems to have a thing for sorcerers. Verdict: One Sided Crush

tov/ebbie: they'd get along Really well but it'd be more of a mentor/mentee dynamic. they both like to build things and want to find simple softness in the world but don't trust that they can have it. ebbie has a much more excited and babbly demeanor bc he's a Loud Anxious and tov is much more laid back and calmer because he’s a Quiet Anxious. tov would see him as a kid that’s probably gonna turn out ok, but i dont know if he’d really be able to tell that ebbie’s got some fucked up in there. ebbie would be way better at seeing through tov’s walls, and would follow him around almost like a lost dog bc tov like. Actually Gets Him and he wants to learn as much as he can and you know what if there’s a baby crush there, there’s a baby crush there. Verdict: I Hate To Say It But This One’s A Notice Me Senpai

tov/roona: roona would call tov a narc within 30 seconds of meeting him and any Possible feelings on his end would die instantly. Roona would be far more into teasing him than into him. It’d be a cute dynamic where they act like they can’t stand each other and insist that they’re not even friends but like when it comes down to it, they have a fairly good time together and will defend each other against anyone else trying to fuck with them. Bonus Points for them both being super gullible.  Verdict: Only I Get To Be Mean To Them

ezra/nissy: on paper, they’re both like trying to be heroic good guys and struggling a little bit, so they should get along. But like in practice. Oh my god. they couldn’t fucking STAND each other but they’d have to because they’re trying to do the same things more or less and like, Ezra is trying SO HARD to find selflessness in Nissy and Nissy is trying SO HARD to make Ezra care literally At All about himself, and anyone who interacts with them trying to adventure is kinda just like uh ...... you know i’ll just wait while you two work this out. Verdict: Buddy Cop Dynamic

ezra/ebbie: i really don’t have strong feelings about this one like, i think they’d get along fine. they’re both just kinda dudes trying to do good and they’d vibe with each other but they’re not quite as similar as ebbie and tov to have any kind of strong dynamic. it’s like when two bus drivers wave at each other while passing in the street and its like YAHOO for one second and then they’ve passed each other. Verdict: If You’re Into Bland Ships To Self Project On

ezra/roona: very good friendship dynamic here. ezra knows that there’s good in roona and is content to wait with her while it worms its way out, and roona is glad to have someone to check her and occasionally get talked into doing some stupid shit. ezra gets a new baby sister, roona gets a second vinny. Verdict: It’s Familiar But Not Too Familiar

nissy/ebbie: ajskdfjsdjfisdjfsakfdjfdsakljfisaodf sadfkdsajfasdjfasfsdfjsiof hsadfjsdfsahfsdfjsdoifhsdf Verdict: Hhsdfkjasdhiuf 

ebbie/roona: so. ebbie has had to deal with an unstable 11 year old before, and keep her out of trouble, and roona has had a vinny to pull her out of bad situations before, so they like. Half understand the dynamic between them. Ebbie’s too much of a pushover though, or Roona’s too little of one, and so instead of like being a voice of reason that actually stops the bad ideas ebbie’s more just getting dragged into situation after situation that he is NOT comfortable and having to smooth everything over when all’s said and done. and like, they still enjoy each other’s company when they’re not in deep shit. they both lean pretty heavily towards same gender rather than not, so like they probably wouldn’t be into each other, but there’s a slight chance.   Verdict: Disney Channel Original Movie Protagonist + Scared Best Friend Dynamic

nissy/roona: you’d think it’d go badly, and by all accounts it should, but it doesn’t. nissy loves how spontaneous and wild roona is and loves the freer side of him that it brings out, and roona likes nissy’s careful intelligence that can be equally well applied to proper societal actions and also stupid pranks. low wis gang gets each other’s impulsiveness and doesn’t judge when things go wrong, but they’re always by each other’s sides to help get the other out of a pickle. they both stick out like sore thumbs in a crowd and don’t mind bouncing around from place to place because home isn’t really somewhere they want to head back to, but it’s alright, because they have consistency in each other. god fucking damn it i’m actually into this.  Verdict: Bastards In Love

#craving #tov #gildy #ezra #nissy #ebbie #roona #long post

[frostygar]

The Flash S5 Ep 1 Thoughts

- The intro being like Barry’s in the beginning, but with Nora’s voice-over? AMAZING. I’m just going to call her Nora Allen because… yeah… and XS is her name? Clearly she wasn’t named by Cisco because that’s… 😬😬😬

- However they casted Nora so, so well. She’s gorgeous and she does look like a mix of Barry and Iris. I just thank God that Barry and Iris are not actually blood related or else she’d look… not like that. Barry’s face when she tells him she was named after his mom, I’m SOFT 🥺🥺🥺

- Cisco coming to the rescue with humor to save the tension, just like she pointed out. Love to see it! But why would Caitlin not realize that if that’s Barry and Iris’ daughter, why WOULDN’T she know their names? C’mon, Caitlin is smart… although I guess it’s automatic for people to ask that so I’ll give it a pass.

- “And your name is XS…” “Clearly not my doing” wow I love being right lmao but it’s a nickname??? Because she always did things in excess? Isn’t that kind of rude because Iris called her that because she was always doing more, going over the top. Whatever, I may end up liking it I’m not sure so I’ll just continue watching.

- Ralph being Ralph and Wally low-key feeling insulted that he didn’t know about the legends, iconic as always. But what was better was Joe’s “oh fuck” face when he realized that Cecile still had her powers lmao that’s hilarious!

- Ooh the title card mixing Nora’s purple with Barry’s yellow/red? Now THAT is iconic!!! However… Iris DOES realize that the only reason their lightning is a certain color is because of their outfits, right??? Barry’s suit is red and yellow and her’s was purple. Lightning trails kind of mean nothing other than the fact that they’re a speedster…

- I know this being a bit bitchy but the fact that Iris called the idea of Nora Marty McFly-ing herself could ruin her own existence was Terminator 2 and not Back To The Future highlights the fact that Barry is a nerd and Iris isn’t and therefore, in that way, do not fit together (and yes my Snowbarry shipping ass does recognize that Caitlin probably would because she’s also a nerd but I’ll keep that out for my first thought-post)

- “I’ll be back… in a flash.” God Nora is the CUTEST thing! And her little giggle was so cjdsfhaskjfhskfa She’s so excited to meet her parents even though it’s dangerous I just love her okay

- Iris is a bit cute with meeting their daughter too. I love that she was like “I knew she was our daughter!” since Barry was skeptic, as he should because this is a superhero show and therefore do not trust anyone who comes into your life claiming to be something but Barry is also right that they need to get her back as quick as possible. I wish they’d been allowed some time to mull over what happened though because it’s been hours since everything went down last season.

- Can’t believe Wally is back (even though it’s probably just for a little bit) I’ve missed him so much and it’s just so surreal 🥺🥺🥺

- Even though I feel bad for Cisco about his breakup, instead of focusing on Iris being all cute and proud about her daughter, I was more focused on Caitlin waving her hand above Cisco’s face to check on him lol I love their friendship so much they’re really tight and I swear to GOD they better not ruin it

- FINALLY Barry is given his mundane job back! Technically it was supposed to be last episode but obviously shit hit the fan so… Still, I know that eventually Iris goes back to being a reporter but that separation, having different jobs is exactly what they need because being together all the damn time is very annoying and focuses so much on them. I’m still bitter that they made Iris the “leader” of team flash despite knowing nothing (but suddenly does because fan service) about the level of science they use every day, Iris really only knows how to be bossy and commanding

- Barry being all awkward and stuttering over calling Iris her mom I love it, so cute. Also, HE HAS HIS OWN SPACE AGAIN WE LOVE THAT FOR HIM.

- Nora being just as smart as Barry? We love to see it! Her also loving his favorite dessert? We love that too!  Barry bonding with his future daughter? WE LOVE THAT EVEN IF IT’S DANGEROUS. 

- I miss Barry having little quips when he’s out and about as the flash, like him connecting with the cops is so sweet.

- Nora if you’re going to show up where he’s going to battle another meta, don’t give away the fact that you’re there when you’re not supposed to be!

- FLASH MUSEUM. Isn’t there always a museum for superheroes in these kinds of things lol are they REALLY that surprised when they’ve made drinks and if I’m remembering correctly, a day for The Flash??

- “I’ve studied everything” hinting at the fact that she learned from the museum and not her parents, meaning something happens to one of them, probably Barry.

- Hungover Cisco is really… interesting. Sad we don’t get humorous Cisco because he’s mulling over a migraine but hey everyone has off days

- RALPH COMING IN TO SAVE THE HUMOR WITH THE “MANYVERSE” AWWW THIS POOR DUDE!!!!

- Why can’t we have this cute Iris who’s like her own person all the time? I mean the last few episodes of s4 were actually quite tolerable and I’m not sure how or why but please let this tolerable Iris stay PLEASE

- First of all, I love Schway, second of all, Iris being the mom who tries to be hip… we love to see it. 

- Knowing that Nora never was around Barry because of something I’m not sure of (gotta love seeing spoilers lol) and Iris apparently treating her… not that great… and her hugging Barry before she leaves (which will probably fail) and not Iris hinting at that in the future just—ugh wonderful show

- Called it not working! I mean, how else is she supposed to stay in the show lol they wouldn’t introduce Nora for an ep and then let her go home, especially in 15 minutes

- This meaningful talk between Barry and Iris is really sweet. Like, normally Iris makes it all about herself but she’s actually helping Barry and recognizing that this is how he feels and she’s genuinely helping. It’s so weird, it’s like I stopped watching and now we’re in a parallel universe where Iris is actually good and it’s tripping me up

- Iris using schway with Barry that was very cute

 - Barry realizing that he’s not a part of the picture in the future 🥺🥺 Poor Barry…

- Nora calling herself selfish a bad speedster sounds more like words that she heard growing up……. :(

- God I am LEGIT crying at her explaining this to Barry, apologizing to him, him realizing that he DID miss all of his daughter’s firsts. It takes a lot of emotion for me to cry, like, a LOT. This is such a raw, emotional moment and it’s so, so. good. This scene is just 😭😭😭 they are such great actors JESUS pull me by the throat why don’t you

-  BARRY USING HARRY’S WORDS THAT HELPED HIM PHASE TO NORA DJFILSAHFKSFHSKAJFHFKHFUHFKDS Nora gets to learn from her dad like she’s always wanted and Barry is a proud dad and I’m just… I’M FULL OF EMOTIONS RIGHT NOW OKAY

- NORA INCIDENTALLY OUTING JOE’S RESTING PLACE LMAO

- First of all, Nora gushing over her uncle Wally… the cutest… second of all, Joe and Wally interactions I’m so soft 🥺🥺

- “Will you take care of him, XS?” “You got it, Kid Flash.” WELL THERE GO MY TEARS AGAIN THANKS

- Ralph and Cisco banter we love to see it.

- RALPH WAS HELPING CAITLIN WITH HER KILLER FROST PROBLEM AWWWW I heard people ship them and I can see why because they have a really sweet relationship of helping one another at their lowest and I just… my crying is now a sobbing

- The second they said her dad had been dead for awhile I immediately figured that he wasn’t but anyways… CAITLIN’S DAD IS ALIVE YAY! She can get answers 🥺😭

- Why would Barry need Iris’s permission to go to Happy Harbor to get ice cream??? He’s an adult lol

- Ugh the ending, finishing with her outro just like Barry’s in the first ep. Fantastic. Chef’s kiss. Amazing.

- So is there some meta-human-hunter now??? Welp… rip Gridlock...

#The Flash #Barry Allen #Caitlin Snow #Cisco Ramon #anti-iris west #anti-westallen #Nora Allen #Wally West

[murphystartedthefire]

What do you think is more likely this season: Murphy or Emori's death?

Honestly, having made it through THE GREAT IMDB PANIC OF 7/16/2019 I’m gonna put on my pollyanna hat and say I don’t think either of them are going to die.

If it was one of the two, I still think Emori is the more likely candidate because of how this show operates – Murphy is not only a lead (they’ve killed leads before obviously) but a fan favorite and the writers genuinely seem to love the character and actor a lot. There is no doubt in my mind that as long as *Richard* wants to be on the show he’ll stay on the show. And he’s been vocally more positive about The 100 and his storyline this year than ever, even calling it his favorite season.

There have been some rumors going around about him taking a part on “Van Helsing”, but to me that didn’t sound anything like the Henry Ian Cusick situation – it’s a limited (villain) role on a cable series that films in Vancouver, and I’m pretty sure it was actually shot over the hiatus and wouldn’t conflict with his 100 schedule at all.

There are also a lot of people who just think this season would make *sense* as an ending for Murphy’s story from a writing perspective. He flirted (wow so briefly honestly) with being an antagonist again and literally wanted to make himself immortal, so it would be fitting in a way for him to die or accept his death in a heroic/redemptive way.

I’m not sure I agree with that, but more importantly LEMME STOP YOU FROM THINKING THIS SHOW ALWAYS MAKES THE BEST NARRATIVE CHOICES. ;) We’re a long, long way from when Clarke stabbed Finn. With no offense to Octavia fans who are happy she remains on the show – you only have to look at her arc last season to see how they copped out of a ‘big’ death that would’ve been a totally appropriate and almost necessary ending for her character, IMO. Even Kane’s death this season felt like something the show dragged out and avoided as long as they could, rather than just biting the bullet in season 5 when they seemed to be actually foreshadowing it.

So I have very little worry that they’re going to kill John Murphy and substantially more worry that they’d kill Emori – still never made a series regular, still ignored or treated as an accessory to Murphy a lot of the time, and in the *worst case scenario* I still have fears they would fridge her as an easy way to punish him and/or push him over the edge, especially with all the romantic stuff they’ve had this year. It makes ‘sense’ for the same reasons people think his own death is being telegraphed by the immortality storyline, even if it would be a lot worse and deeply unfair to her. This show has mistreated enough characters (secondary characters especially) that I'll never fully trust them not to do that to her.

That said, maybe it’s just the fact my IMDB Panic did not come to pass so I’m feeling optimistic again… I think Emori is gonna survive this year. I think they both are. I generally have not gotten the vibe from *either* of the actors that this was their last season, and they and so many others have been talking up Memori (and each other) so much that it’s either (a) a cruel irony because they know it’s about to end tragically or (b) honest hype and affection for them, and I like to think it’s B. Until that one glaring shit-or-get-off-the-pot ship happens, they are the longest-running, most stable romantic relationship left in the show and I have a gut feeling that’s going to continue through the last handful of episodes. And then we’ll have a whole other S7 to worry about their fate in.

#memori #the 100 #john murphy #emori #cockroaches gonna cockroach #(knock on wood) #meta

[practically-a-bat]

Written scene #9

About those texts Olivia sent to Lucy.

Fun fact, this storyline was originally supposed to be included in the previous scene, but I decided to separate the two ideas, so the previous scene could be simpler, and I got the time to explore this idea a bit more and give it much more attention.

Warnings: Very brief mention of blood, implications of violence

Lucien looked at their phone nervously. Since they had shared their location, Olivia had gone completely silent. Maybe it was okay. Maybe she and Jake were just on their way.

Lucien couldn’t help but imagine the worst when wondering what brought Olivia to hurriedly text them, asking for a place to stay.

Elijah stepped out of the bedroom, shirtless in his pajama pants, holding his glasses in one hand and rubbing his eye with the other. He yawned.

”You know I love you very much and all, but I would also really love it if there was a good reason for me to be woken up at…” he looked at the clock, ”3AM?”

Lucien sighed: ”I’m sorry. Olivia texted me, and now she and Jake are coming over.”

Elijah paused and shook his head.

”Olivia and Jake are coming… here? Now?”

Lucien groaned and covered their eyes with their hands: ”Ugh, shit, I’m so sorry, I should’ve asked… I’m so sorry, they just… The texts seemed really urgent, and I feel like they’ve gotten themselves in some big trouble again. I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking, I’m just worried about them-”

”No, it’s okay…” Elijah took a moment to process what was going on. 3AM.

”I’ll, uh… I’ll just go put a shirt on.”

Elijah went back to the bedroom, and Lucien went back to looking at their phone nervously.

Still nothing.

Elijah and Lucien were cuddling on the couch when there was a knock on the door. Elijah got up and Lucien followed behind him as he went to open the door.

Behind the door was Olivia, out of breath and holding the hand of Jake who was stood behind her, looking absent and overwhelmed.

”Hey,” Olivia said, giving Elijah a polite smile. Polite, not genuine. They didn’t know each other very well.

”Are you guys okay?” Lucien asked, rushing past Elijah to pull the two into the apartment.

”Physically, yes.”

Elijah stood aside as Lucien lead Jake and Olivia into the living room and onto the couch. He noticed small splatters of blood on their clothes, but decided not to comment on it.

Lucien sat down on the coffee table, facing Jake and Olivia who were catching their breaths.

”What happened?”

Olivia shook her head: ”It’s a long story.”

”And you’re gonna tell me the story.”

Olivia frowned and looked over to Jake. He didn’t seem to be paying much attention to the conversation. She sighed.

”Okay, the short version: we were out hunting, things got... out of hand, and someone called the cops.”

”Someone called the cops?” Lucien nearly screamed, making Jake flinch at the sudden exclamation.

Lucien turned to look at Jake in surprise. He took deep breaths as Olivia held his hand for comfort.

”I’m so sorry, I-I didn’t mean to be so loud…” Lucien said quietly.

”It’s okay, I’m just… still a little shaken up.”

Olivia stroked Jake’s cheek as he took one more deep breath and nodded.

”I’m okay…” he whispered to himself.

Elijah approached the group carefully.

”Do you, uh… would you guys like something? I could… get you guys some hot drinks or something. Coffee? Tea? If you’d like.”

Lucien looked at the two guests. They didn’t respond.

”I think some calming tea would be nice,” Lucien said, receiving nods from Jake and Olivia.

Lucien got up to go and help Elijah in the kitchen. Olivia followed after them.

”Is it okay if I use the bathroom?” she asked.

”Yeah, it’s right over there,” Elijah answered, still speaking careful and quiet.

Olivia started heading to the bathroom, but Lucien stopped her.

”Wait…”

Lucien looked over to Jake who was left alone on the couch. He still looked awfully lost.

”Is Jake alright? He’s… not really himself.”

Olivia sighed and nodded: ”Yeah, the whole situation kind of freaked him out…”

”But didn’t he, like, punch a cop in the face that one time?” Lucien asked, smiling a bit, ”I don’t think Jake would be one to be scared of the…”

Lucien’s smile fell. They looked to Olivia with a worried frown.

”Did they do something to you?”

”No, no, no, no, no, we’re fine. We got out of there before the cops even showed up.”

Olivia licked her fangs.

”It wasn’t them that freaked him out. It was more… us. And what we did. What got people to call the cops…”

Lucien fell silent. Before they could ask, Olivia had already walked away and locked the bathroom door.

Perhaps it was better that way. Lucien didn’t want to know what they had done.

Elijah looked over to Lucien with a questioning gaze. They glanced back at him but then walked away, back to the couch.

Lucien sat down beside Jake, taking a comforting hold of his hand, and Jake leaned his head on Lucien’s shoulder, accepting the comfort offered to him. They gradually pulled each other closer for a hug.

Elijah went back to preparing tea for all four of them.

”Seen as you don’t know him very well, I feel it’s my duty as his girlfriend to tell you that he isn’t usually like this.”

Elijah jumped as Olivia spoke, having snuck up behind him quietly.

”He’s usually much louder and confident, maybe even a bit too confident for his own good.”

”… Okay?”

”Though the cuddling’s normal, so I hope you don’t get jealous.”

”I-I’m not…”

Olivia looked Elijah up and down.

”Good.”

Elijah pursed his lips together and looked around. He almost always knew what to say, but Olivia’s presence somehow intimidated him.

”So… you’ve known Lucy for a long time?” Elijah asked, scratching the back of his neck.

”Since before they were bitten, yeah.”

Elijah nodded. He tapped the kitchen counter nervously.

”But I understand you and Jake were… uh…”

”Born this way,” Olivia said with a smirk.

Elijah chuckled carefully. He kept his eyes on the floor.

Olivia sighed and shook her head: ”I’m sorry for being so cold.”

Elijah furrowed his brows.

”With everything going downhill tonight and Jake being affected like that, I had to stay calm. To get us out of there, and to safety. I didn’t have time for feelings, and I guess I took that a bit too far.”

”You didn’t-”

”Elijah.”

He froze.

”I get that I’m scaring you. A chick with glowing eyes, sharp fangs, and blood on her clothes comes into your apartment in the middle of the night… I get it. I’m a scary vampire.”

Elijah shook his head: ”Olivia, I don’t think that at all-”

She stopped him: ”I don’t think you’re a bad guy.”

Elijah cocked an eyebrow.

”You’re scared of me because that’s what you’ve been taught to do. I don’t blame you for it. Lucy’s probably the first vampire you’ve ever met, right?”

Elijah nodded hesitantly.

”I know you’re scared of me, but I know you’re not a bad guy. I mean, you let us into your apartment when we were running from the police-”

”To be fair, I didn’t know you were running from the police until you’d already come in…”

”But here you are, not kicking us out.”

Elijah scoffed: ”Of course I’m not kicking you out, that would be terrible!”

”And that’s why you’re a good guy,” Olivia poked Elijah’s arm and smiled.

Olivia glanced at Lucien who was sitting quietly on the couch, petting Jake’s hair.

”Mostly, I know you’re a good guy, because you make Lucy really, really happy.”

Elijah raised his eyebrows and let a faint smile slip onto his lips.

”They’ve been going through hard times, especially since Jake and I dropped out of school. I honestly don’t know what would’ve happened if you hadn’t showed up… best case scenario, they’d still be absolutely miserable.”

Olivia sighed and shook her head.

”But I can see that they’re so much happier now. They’re so confident now, and they’re always talking about how much they love you and how amazing you make them feel…”

Elijah looked over to Lucien. The feeling was mutual.

”I guess I should say… thank you.”

Elijah shook his head: ”You shouldn’t.”

”Alright. I won’t.”

Olivia gave Elijah a smile. A genuine smile.

#out of character #writing

[maren-reads-books]

The Raven King by Nora Sakavic

With the Foxes having been hit with a major loss at the very beginning of the season, they have to learn how to cope with one less teammate while preparing for a perilous season. As they familiarize themselves with a less than ideal lineup they prepare themselves as best they can for their first ever game against the Edgar Allen Ravens. With pasts starting to come back to haunt the team they work their way though and try to push past it. As they work hard to succeed they grow closer than ever before and reveal things that never would have come to light if Neil wasn't on the team to stir things up and break boundaries. As they struggle and conquer together on the court and in their lives, the start to become a united front only for the events of the Christmas banquet finally force them apart. Will the team be able to survive or will they crumble under the pressure of their pasts?

--SPOILERS--

This review is a bit long so bear with me. I feel like this book is where the story finally starts to pick up and get interesting, more so later in the book but this book is definitely it. First off, i can't imagine the way the team is feeling after Seth’s death, they all have so many emotional problems (I’m looking at you Neil) that it must've been hard even if they weren't grieving. And I get it, Seth was an asshole and nobody really liked him but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't care about his death, I especially felt bad for Allison, she didn't deserve that. But I think in the long run (not to sound mean) Seth’s death helped bring the team closer together. And then in the midst of all this chaos, Andrew gets a call, the fateful call that will pretty much set up the entire book. It was great to learn more about the twins and their rivalry, but realizing that they’ve really only known each other for a couple of years was crazy, I can't imagine living most of your life not knowing someone was out there wearing your face. And yet they were both destined for crappy childhoods, like how much was fate messing with them huh? And then the decision to let Andrew be off his meds and play for an entire game comes along, that surprised me, but of course my crazy short blond son is willing to play along. And it works, but I'm sure Andrew felt horrible, but they won and that's what really matters, kind of. I know its not super important to the story but this part is important to me, they take Neil shopping. Finally! It seems crazy to me that he’s so resistant to people buying him anything, even something as simple as clothes, which is something that really needed to happen cause jorts? Really Neil? And the Andrew buys them matching phones?! So cute, also foreshadowing. Then the fated fall banquet arrives, where Neil starts to dig his grave deeper and deeper. First we find out that Dan used to be a stripper, but I’m so proud that she’s not ashamed fo what she did and isn’t going to let any stupid Raven get under her skin. And then we meet Jean, who of course goes on to list some of Neil’s other identities and therefore scare the shit out of him. I hated that Neil and subsequently Kevin found out that they knew who he was with all those people around, I can't imagine how that made him feel. And then after a little bit of antagonization from Riko, Neil snaps and gives his iconic, “You know, I get it” speech, like damn. One side of me is like ‘do you want to make things a little bit worse for yourself hunny?’ and the other side of me is like ‘yas go off on this abusive chauvinist asshole’ and then they tell Neil that really all along he wasn't running from his dad, he was running from Riko’s family and it's just like *boom* mic dropped. Again I can't imagine how truly afraid Neil was for his life at that very moment. His conversation about it with Kevin hit me hard, Neil’s been on the run for years, having someone know who he truly is must be the worst feeling ever, but he chooses to stay anyway, my boy has immense courage and probably a death wish but I'm so glad that that's what he chose. One thing I love the most about this book is the fact that Neil starts to form friendships, actual genuine bonds with real good people. It's crazy that he's never had real friends before but I’m glad that he's friends with these people, they're great in a messed up family dynamic kind of way. Learning the rest of the twins story from Nicky made me appalled, what kind of mother, let alone person could give up her kids change her mind but not have enough love or decenty in her heart to take both? Their story hurt my heart like you could not believe. And then Nicky implying that Andrew killed their mother(which he did but whatever) like damn, another mic drop. And then the topic completely changes form murder to ‘hey Nicky why are you gay?’ and Nicky’s answer is just hilariously on point for his character, the way he talks about Erik is just so adorable, I wish we got to see more of Erik in this series. But Nicky’s backstory is so sad! His parents are awful and I can't imagine what he went through before he truly started to love himself. Then their first game against the Ravens arrives. I was so nervous, I was literally sitting on the edge of my seat during this game. And even though they lost I was very proud of them, but I really just wanted to slit Riko’s throat. I hate him with all of my five foot one self. And then its Halloween and Neil (my magical boy) convinces the entire team to go out for drinks together, what an absolute miracle. But it's not all rainbows and sunshine, quite yet. Remember that call that Andrew got at the beginning of the book, well turns out the cop has come for a visit, how wonderful. But it's a very vague scene which again, is vital later in the book. But then we learn about Matt’s backstory. Like wow, lots of tragic backstories in this book amiraight? After Halloween Neil and Renee finally have in my opinion, a much needed heart to heart, or as close to it as two severely damaged people can get. And we get another backstory, wow, I think we're checking pretty much everyone off the list. Also I want to meet Kevin's girlfriend! I want to meet her now! Then another phone call that will set up the rest of this book. Nicky’s parents call to invite them over for Thanksgiving. What a mess, but Andrew, Kevin, Aaron, Nicky, and Neil all pile into the car and take a ride down to see the parents. But not before stopping by the Exy store to get Neil a new racket, which is also another crazy important detail. This book flows so nicely, even if the events that occur aren't nice, everything connects so seamlessly, it's perfect. And then we meet the parents, right off the bat I knew I would hate them and that they were only going to cause problems. Religion is okay, like Nicky says, it is an interpretation of faith, but people like Nicky's parents aren't willing to view it like that and that makes them dangerous, turns out I was right. Luring Andrew to Drake was cruel and horrifying. I hope they get sent away. The way Aaron defended his brother though, that kind of passion for someone you barely know is something that runs in the twins blood and that's the connection that will be vital to repairing their brotherhood. The way Neil tried to comfort Andrew, all that boy wants is to protect him. The description of Andrew being too high to even really process what had just happened to him, and the description of his laugh, it was enough to make me feel nauseous, it was such a descriptive and visceral scene. I don't agree with Aaron being arrested but whatever. But the fact that, after Andrew found out he was being sent away, he had enough trust in Neil to give Kevins care to him, like wow. That's such a big step in the right direction for their relationship. And I'm so gosh dang happy that Andrew is being taken off his meds, if they'd left him on them after what he went through I would have a serious problem. But Neil honey, your racket was used as a murder weapon and you want it back?! Like seriously? My boy needs some help, but he gets a new one so it's fine. Neil’s mission to fix Aaron and Andrew’s relationship? Such pure intentions for a boy with such a broken heart but it really shows how much he cares for these people, he has such a caring heart and has never deserved anything that he's gotten. The scene on page 269, yes I put the page number in there because it's important, when Neil asks the team if they are actually friends. Ugh, my heart did a little song and dance, I’m so happy that my broken boy has friends, and I’m glad that Aaron gets to keep Katelyn around, I like her, she's good for him. But the Christmas banquet arrives and doesn't bring any yuletide cheer with it. First things first, Riko admitted to being the cause of Seth's death, like wow didn't think that was going to happen but he's a cocky asshole so I really should have expected it. Second, he admits to setting up the thing with Drake and then tells Neil that he can have Andrew tortured/raped at his rehabilitation center if Neil doesn't cooperate. And so Neil sets off to Evermore for Christmas break, pretty much sealing his fate meanwhile the only one that knows is Kevin and Kevin can’t say a thing to stop him. I was literally screaming at my book by this point begging him not to go, but he's a stubborn little asshole. Okay, the fact that Riko put him in Kevin's place, was super symbolic of Riko’s insane personality. Then we find out that Kevin’s dad is Wymack? Like, uh, definitely didn't see that one coming, like never in a million years would I have expected that. I can't believe that they beat Neil to a pulp and then expected him to play? They're literally torturing this boy just to get him to play a sport, then Riko pulls out his knife and gets to work, and like Neil says Riko is “one seriously fucked up individual.” And then he’s home, honestly I think it works well that his time at Evermore wasn’t in the book, it makes it feel more real, I don't know how to describe it but it makes it feel like Neil tried to block everything out and then everything comes rushing back once he’s home. The fact that Wymack dropped everything to come and get him really goes to how how much he cares for these kids, they’re his family. Then coach offered to patch him up which was really nice of him but when Neil saw his tattoo and was literally ready to carve it of his face with a kitchen knife, you really get a peek into how much damage they truly did to him and how much he really cares for this team, that he's willing to put himself in danger just in order to stay with them. He's willing to fight his instincts to stay with his family, and that's what bravery looks like in my opinion. As I’ve said before and will say again, I love this series so much and would highly recommend it everyone.

-maren

#maren reads #tfhc #the foxhole court #the raven king #the kings men #books #book review #bookworm #bookreview #bookish #YA #YA novels #YA Books #ya fiction #sports book #sports fiction #andrew minyard #neil josten #kevin day #aaron minyard #nicky hemmick #allison reynolds #renee walker #david wymack #matt boyd #dan wilds #andreil #exy #aftg #all for the game

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 177: Construction Site Clash

Previously on BnHA: Deku confronted Gentle outside of a tea shop. Gentle sprang into action and revealed his quirk: elasticity. Basically he’s Monkey D. Luffy but instead of making himself stretchy and bouncy, he can do it to anything he touches, including the ground and even the damn air. Deku charged at him and promptly got flung waaaay back, but Gentle and La Brava realized how strong he is (and La Brava recognized him from his batshit insane fight against Todoroki in the sports festival where he broke all off his fingers just to prove a fucking point) and tried to run, not wanting to go toe to toe with him. Probably a good call, because after getting bounced into the air, Deku -- thinking about Eri and Jirou and everyone else who’s been looking forward to the cultural festival -- unleashed his new long-range Delaware Smash: Air Force attack. Then he grabbed Gentle by the collar and flung him into a fucking building. Damn, Deku.

Today on BnHA: Deku has a weird conversation with Gentle while the latter dangles from a construction beam. Gentle tries to reason with Deku and explain how his plan is somehow going to be a win-win situation for everyone. Deku calls bullshit and then lies and says the authorities are on their way, so Gentle cheerfully leaps back into action and starts using his quirk to springboard all over the place Gran Torino style so that Deku can’t get in a clean shot. He then tries to drop a giant steel beam onto a hapless old man, forcing Deku to jump in and save him. While he’s occupied, Gentle and La Brava take the opportunity to flee. We get an update on the time -- it’s now 8:45 a.m., t-minus 15 minutes to the start of the festival -- and then we cut back to Deku, who gets real mad and lifts the beam with only one fucking hand while aiming another air gun attack at Gentle with the other. La Brava is all “oh shit this kid doesn’t give up” and says that she’ll have to use her quirk.

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’ve read up through chapter 202 now, so any ETAs will reflect that.)

you guys. it’s February 3rd 2019 and I’ve just watched the worst, most mind-numbingly boring Superbowl in history. wtf was that. BnHA please help me wash the bad taste out of my mouth please and thank you

lmao oh my god

do you guys remember that scene from Avengers where Bruce Banner wakes up in an abandoned building and Harry Dean Stanton thoughtfully gives him some pants. for some reason this reminded me of that. “well then, son, you’ve got a condition”

now La Brava’s running over from a nearby roof and she’s all “DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT POPS”

she says they’re just shooting a film, and she’s asking him to let the neighbors know as well

well this is the most transparent lie of all time

(ETA: or is it just transparent enough to work!)

and even she’s thinking that it’s probably not going to buy them much time and that their plans have basically been foiled and they have to retreat

and now we’re cutting to inside of the building

on the one hand, it’s a cool setting and conveniently empty so that no one will get hurt! but on the other hand, this looks like the perfect place for someone to land the wrong way on a rebar and get accidentally impaled. please no one get impaled. we had enough impalings in the last arc

Deku’s thinking grateful thoughts about Mei and flashing back to when she gave him the details about his new gloves

yeah I’m just going to post this, not even gonna try and sum it up

(ETA: might wanna think about using a different font in the future if you want to avoid any confusion when typing out the word “flick”, Jaimini)

she sure knows a lot about his OFA capabilities, huh? thankfully she’s the type who gets so caught up in whatever she’s currently focused on that she would never in a million years note the many, many similarities between Deku’s quirk and All Might’s

also, interestingly, Deku is thinking a “thank you” to Mina as well!

because he apparently incorporated her “special dance training” into his attack?? omg what. “dance-off, bro. you and me”

Gentle is such a wacky fellow he might actually do it too

oh my lord

see what I mean

also hush, Deku. it’s called “flair” okay?

now Gentle is grinning like a loon and saying that he’ll execute his plan no matter what. “this is my resolve”

your resolve is stupid, Gentle. there, I said it. I love you but you lost this one pal. stop trying to attack a bunch of teenagers who are just trying to have a fun and wholesome time at school

Deku’s yelling at him. “you’re no gentleman!”

wow, harsh Deku

now he’s asking what Gentle is planning

meanwhile La Brava is hopping the fence and entering the construction site, and this overly trusting man from earlier has been completely fooled

lol she should just make something up. “uh...” [okay, just be cool, La Brava. just pick something reasonable] “...Animal Planet.” [nailed it]

now she’s sprinting over to where Deku and Gentle are and getting ready to film again

lol

so Deku is telling him that the school is on high security alert and the alarms will sound even before he can get in and he’ll definitely be caught, and on top of that the festival will be called off

this motherfucker is genuinely trying to negotiate with him lmao

Deku’s all “THAT’S EVEN WORSE” and Gentle is all “lol yeah I guess” omg

and now he (Gentle) is all “well, so that’s my plan, now if you don’t mind I’d like to get back at it”

oh snap

well at least he’s a better liar than La Brava

uh oh, Gentle is activating his quirk again it looks like

he’s springboarding off the floor and shouting “BEGONE, STUDENT OF U.A.”

outstanding use of the word “begone”, Gentle my good man

anyway, so he’s bouncing around and Deku is watching and trying to predict his movements

and Gentle is getting ready to springboard again

that probably isn’t good for the building

-- oh for fuck’s...

so all that time training with Gran Torino was for nothing?

wtf, now what??

did he just get hit? what’s going on

Gentle is saying “if you can use an air bullet, allow me to counter with an air barrier”

wait, what? so is the idea to reflect Deku’s attack back on him?

oh wait. or did Deku just walk into an elastic patch of air and get bounced back? is that what it is?

La Brave is telling Gentle that they need to retreat, and yeah they really should

but instead, Gentle is removing a bolt from one of the beams

did he do that with his bare (well, gloved, but you know what I mean) hands?? just like that? either this construction is shoddy as hell, or else this is the single most unrealistic thing I’ve ever seen in this manga about kids with superpowers and bird heads and astronomical high school entrance exam budgets

anyway, now he’s bouncing on the beam and it’s vibrating

he says he can’t consciously deactivate his quirk

interesting. also potentially pretty dangerous and certainly inconvenient

but objects turn back to normal given a little time

and that’s what’s happening with this beam oh snap

well but I mean, as soon as you manhandled that screw loose -- did he use his quirk for that? is that why it was so easy? -- it was pretty clear what you intended to do

and by the way, dropping a steel beam onto a 16-year-old is pretty damn metal for someone who’s supposedly a gentleman villain

oh shit wait

damn, dropping it onto an unsuspecting old man who’s not even a fighter is even more metal

but thankfully Deku is Deku

nice, Deku

now he’s getting all outraged and “DID YOU JUST TRY TO DROP IT ON THAT INNOCENT OLD MAN”

oh, Gentle

c’mon, Gentle. c’mon. you tried to kill a dude. just admit it. that was not nice

(ETA: is La Brava still filming all this?? did the cops eventually get this footage? Gentle’s gonna be put away for attempted fucking murder. sorry dude)

now the old dude is finally running away, and meanwhile Gentle seemingly intends to just leave Deku here...?

ffff now he’s making the crane bendy??

and he’s telling Deku he’s sure someone will find him. lol what the hell is he going to do

Deku’s thinking to himself that they’re going to infiltrate the festival at this rate, and he has to act

omg yay we’re cutting back to 1-A!

lmaooooo Kaminari really didn’t end up sleeping a wink, huh. he was so hyped up

BAKUGOU, PUT ON YOUR T-SHIRT!! WE MADE IT JUST FOR THE OCCASION!!

I wish I could read what they say underneath the A? Toko’s shirt seems to start with “BN” (if they say bnha I s2g), but Momo’s shirt looks different. maybe an error though

(ETA: so as we eventually learn, they say “A Band”, and the delightful story behind this exceptionally creative name is the topic of today’s omake!)

the dancing team is also getting dressed, and they’ve got their own special costumes which are cute but I’m not gonna post the panel because Mineta is ruining it. how come no one ever drops a steel beam on him

Shouto is wearing one of the class A t-shirts, so I guess the staging team is rocking those too

anyway he’s asking where Deku went, and Aoyama says he went to buy rope

and now Shouto’s “is my boyfriend in danger” senses are tingling

this is a reasonable concern because as we all know, if you leave Deku alone for more than five minutes he will inevitably run into a villain. in hindsight they never should have let him leave

meanwhile Aoyama is already thinking about backup plans, oh damn

fully serious, if you combined Aoyama’s ingenuity with Mina’s they’d make a pretty unstoppable team. these kids are creative as fuck

ohhh, Gentle was just using the crane to launch himself and La Brava into the air towards U.A.

damn, dude doesn’t even care that Deku supposedly put out the alert. he says that if they make it in even with U.A. on the lookout for them, his name will become even more recognized

what are you trying to accomplish though, dude, in all seriousness? do you know what’s going to happen if U.A. suffers another break-in after all of the security measures they supposedly put in place, and after they insisted on holding the cultural festival despite police objections? they’ll be fucking shut down is what. this will be the third villain incident in less than six months. people are not going to be happy about that. best case, they’ll be allowed to stay open but with a ton of restrictions in place. basically you’ll make it harder than ever for them to do their job, when right now the world needs them more than ever. they’re raising the next generation of heroes here, and this is a post-All Might world. so maybe just cut them some slack, jesus christ

and now we’re cutting back to Deku, straining under the beam

come on Deku, you got this. powerlift this bitch

LOL OHHHHH SHIT

WHY DIDN’T YOU JUST PUT IT DOWN YOU NIMROD LMAO. “LOOK AT ME, I’M DEKU, ALL MIGHT’S SUCCESSOR! I CAN LIFT STEEL BEAMS WITH ONE HAND AND FIRE AIR CANNONS AT VILLAINS WITH THE OTHER”

oh damn. and it seems we’re finally going to get to see La Brava’s quirk! about fucking time. bring it

BONUS: what should we name the band?

“Electric Spark Kids”, Kaminari? really?? you really do just blurt out whatever the fuck pops into your head huh. (actually tbh this is my favorite name out of all of them)

Tokoyami has a fucking obsession with banquets. I really want to know how he ended up latching onto this out of all the “___ of darkness” things he could have possibly chosen. fwiw I did find out there is a song called Banquet in the Darkness which I haven’t actually listened to because the album art alone is frankly terrifying to me and I somewhat regret having looked this up

there is also a band called Ore, though I assume it’s intended to be the English definition of the word rather than Bakugou’s intended meaning. but it just goes to show you that it’s impossible to be original anymore no matter what you do

and then Momo is just... it’s a band... representing class A... band... A... band... A Band? and Jirou is just like OMG THAT’S THE GREATEST IDEA EVER despite the fact that it clearly is the most half-assed idea anyone has ever come up with. she just loves Momo that much. and is also desperate to stop the boys from coming up with any more suggestions lmao

by the way I just want to say that all of the kids are absolutely adorable in this sketch and it’s easily one of my favorite omakes for that reason alone. so stinking cute omg

#bnha #boku no hero academia #midoriya izuku #gentle (bnha) #la brava #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #makeste reads bnha #I honestly don't know why todoroki is the only one going 'but guys where's midoriya' #it's like they haven't learned a damn thing #something important is about to happen and deku's missing? #what are you all waiting for #sound the alarm #spoiler alert: it's villains #some villains are up to no good yet again and deku is involved because of course he is #maybe one of these days they'll figure this out #in the meantime you keep honing those instincts shouto

[believerindaydreams]

el trío

good lord it’s done

I mean, there’s some cleaning up to do, and A03 rewrites and things, and who knows what else, but the story as it stands is now done, and I can actually breathe again and get my life back

this is it

trigger warnings for- racism like fuck. 

I’m assuming, if you’re reading, that you’ve seen “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” and know what happens at the end. Blondie riding off, to let his partner lynch himself on his own noose. 

We get a rewrite of that scene here. It’s traumatic. 

(there is also sex. The sex is, more or less, consensual, but being juxtaposed the way it is I’ll warn for that as well.)

Today’s Holy Wednesday: the day before the Last Supper and the betrayal and the arrests and all the rest. Penultimate. Tasting rain on the wind. 

Today is also Wednesday, and there’s a brand-new John Wayne film about to open in the morning, and Tuco has a perfect idea how to cheer up his partner when he wakes up, if only Wallace would give him his damn pack back. 

“Now the way I see it, Father Paul entrusted this into my keeping until Lent’s over,” Wallace says, slinging it over his back. “Or anyway, not yours. It’s only twelve miles walk back to the monastery, I’ll be doing you a favour by carrying it all the way. All you have to do is walk.”

“But I can’t leave Blondie alone...”

“You heard what the doctor said, he’s basically fine and he’ll be discharged tomorrow. I’ll bring the car around to pick him up tomorrow evening. If you think you’d rather stay out in the world until then, that’s your decision.”

“But you have all of my-” Tuco says, gesturing. “Everything, okay? I need it back.” 

“Then you won’t need to face the temptation of resisting any cigarettes, if you can’t buy any,” Wallace says phlegmatically. “A little Lenten restraint for a change will do you good, I think.”

He doesn’t know about Lent; but he’s certainly made this man’s Christmas. And there’s not very much fuss he can make about it, without drawing unnecessary attention to the three of them; he’s not willing to make his brother’s life any harder than it needs to be. “You could at least give me money for breakfast.”

“I could,“ Wallace agrees, and bangs his way out the door without further ado. 

Okay. Problems: he’s covered in mud, he’s hungry, he needs somewhere to sleep tonight, and he needs to figure out how to scrape up the money for two theatre tickets before matinee tomorrow. Saint Blondie probably won’t be too excited about sneaking in, like they usually would. 

Tuco sighs, rubs his temples. This is going to be a fun one. 

***********

...too bad you weren’t here, Angel Eyes. Would have saved me a lot of trouble. 

“I don’t know whether we should have done that,” Blondie says, almost meekly, as they leave the movie theatre. He’s being unusually terse, even by his standards; and that’s not like him after a movie. 

“You know, I liked that one,” Tuco says. “I didn’t fall asleep once.”

They haven’t missed a single John Wayne film, but it’s a running joke between them that he can always be counted upon to sleep through them- even “The Green Berets”, he hadn’t thought much of that. “Brannigan,” though, that’d been funny. Wayne as a cop in London, lots of jokes, the worst assassin in cinema- he finds himself looking forward to seeing it with Angel Eyes.

“It was a disgrace. Man whoring himself out like that....doesn’t he have any more self-respect than that?”

Yeah, yeah. If Blondie’s not going to chat about the movie, he has a story that’s more than worth telling. “At least we got in. You know what a time I had, getting us to see it? First I had to go and steal a pack, smuggle it out-”

“You did what?” Blondie asks, stopping cold. 

“A little hustle,” Tuco says, casually. “Don’t worry. I paid them, when I got my pack back- you remember, Wallace made off with mine. Had to think pretty fast on my feet. But what I did, I went and found a department store where they sold bags just like mine, and I smuggled it out of there. Under your coat.”

“My coat?” 

“Yeah, your coat, I borrowed it. It wouldn’t have fit under mine.” He gently wraps Blondie on the shoulder, to get him moving again. “And then I went down to the police station, told them that I’d met this good old priest, walking all the way back to his monastery in the dark, and he’d taken my old battered bag instead of his new one by mistake. You never saw such a helpful police officer in your life. Drove down the road until we found him, even gave him a lift back to the monastery. But I came back to town to look after you.”

“...it’s Lent. It’s Holy Week,” Blondie says. “You stole a bag, lied to a police officer, swindled a priest-”

“Hey, he started it. If he’d given me my pack back in the first place, I wouldn’t have needed to do any of this- besides, he gets a brand new pack out of it, I don’t see why he should complain. It was funny, though, seeing his face when we pulled up with the sirens and the lights-” Tuco laughs. “Guess he thought I’d called him out for stealing. It’ll be good for him, to know what it’s like being on the run- pretty clever, Blondie, eh?”

Blondie stops and swings at him; and the only thing that stops him going sprawling is the way the blow’s misjudged; it goes right over his head. So it’s Blondie who goes flat instead, now his weight’s unbalanced. Aided by a swift kick in the pants. 

“Sorry,” Tuco says, a little awkwardly. “I didn’t meant to do that, you know how it is.”

“That was the worst movie I have ever seen in my life,” Blondie says; and it’s not really an apology but Tuco knows how to take it. He puts out his hand and helps Blondie up. 

“You know what you need, eh? A little dose of el trio.”

“Trinity,” Blondie repeats, irritably. “Which one’s this, your joke about food or sleep or worry?” 

“That’s a good one,” Tuco says fondly: his formulation for when not to play poker, if you’re having trouble with more than one you should call it a night. “But that’s not the trinity I meant-”

“You mean, us three?”

“Yes- no, not right this minute I wasn’t. El trio, remember? First the movie, then...” 

He lets it trail off delicately. Next the sex, then a meal afterwards. Whenever he’s with a woman they always seem to want it in the wrong order, but that’s how he and Blondie have thrashed it out. 

“Not in the mood- let’s just go back to the monastery. We can walk it.”

“No exertion,” Tuco reminds him. “The doctor said that you were okay, not that you should go walking a marathon.”

Blondie doesn’t say anything; but his hands are clenched tight, and he’s sweating. He smells like desperation. 

“See, you’re tense,” Tuco coaxes. “We should do something about that.”

“All you want is a fuck.”

“Sure. Got a problem with that?”

“Find us an alley, then,” Blondie says. “I know you scoped out the town in advance. And give me a goddamn cigarette.” 

Tuco’s about to say he doesn’t have any, but he checks the bag just on the off-chance, pries out a lost stray from where it was jammed in the lining. He lights it, sucks in a few grateful breaths, then passes it to Blondie. 

His partner takes it, with a kind of nonchalance that it’s a relief to see; Blondie slipping back into the pose, cool under pressure. Looks good. Looks damned good, and he wants it bad. 

Tuco reaches out, to take the cigarette back; Blondie gently raps his knuckles away, keeps on smoking. 

Tease.

***********

Normally, they don’t do this in public. Too risky. 

The thing about Blondie is, for whatever reason he just can’t get one off without a noose involved- which, whatever, he’s heard of weirder kinks- only it’s not real safe for either of them to be caught out, one of them apparently trying to murder the other. Especially when one of them is him. 

So there’s always a frisson to this, the way they’re breaking every taboo in the book, and if it was up to him they’d never do this anywhere they could possibly be seen- but Blondie has a taste for it. And Tuco can’t help but get an extra kick out of it, going just that little bit too far, the relief afterwards burning through him with genuine giddy amazement, because the danger’s just as real. 

“That was good,” he says, glancing up. Nobody inside seems to have noticed the sounds, or the rope they’ve looped over the fire escape. Probably nobody will. 

“Damn good,” Blondie says; and there’s still light in his eyes, like he’s still hungry. “How about the other way now, eh? Just for once in a way?”

Blondie always asks this; and he always says no, because he’s not stupid enough to put his head in a noose. 

Because it’s fucking screwed up, is what it is, this being 1975 and a white boy hot to get his coloured squeeze into a noose. Because it’s not quite so good for Blondie to be in it himself, but it does the job and that ought to be good enough. Because it’s not his kink, not in the slightest. 

Because he doesn’t trust, maybe, what happens after this part. 

“This itches,” Tuco complains. It does. The hemp’s harsh against his skin, rough the way Blondie likes it. “What you get out of this, I don’t understand.”

“Hush,” Blondie says; but the word’s tranquil, relaxed. There’s so much grace about his motions, as he starts pulling the rope. “It’s like a taste of what’s to come, Tuco. Your future, mine, everybody’s, this is what it’ll be. When that rope tightens around you, you can feel the devil coming...”

The noose goes tight and high, so he has to stand on his toes to breathe, and suddenly- 

and suddenly it doesn’t feel like anything, nothing erotic or special about it, just another damned Wednesday, because if he wants to know what it’s like thinking he might die any second, all he needs to do is walk down a bad street talking Spanish- 

“It’s good, isn’t it?” Blondie whispers. “Like nothing else.” 

Tuco whimpers, wonders how long it’ll take his partner to finish again- he should talk, say something to speed this up, but for once every last hustle’s deserted him. Blondie’s tied his hands to his belt, with the usual cowboy bandanas; those wouldn’t break in a month of Sundays. 

This man’s your partner, he reminds himself. Blondie. You trust Blondie. 

Maybe he did, maybe he should- all he knows now is that every instinct he has, the instinct that’s carried him through his whole life, is screaming at him to get out of this now. Before the stranger in front of him kills him like a pig and runs away whistling. 

“Blondie- Blondie, let me out of this.” He can see the damp pouring down Blondie’s cock; the man’s come already, in a dripping mess. “Please let me out.”

“I don’t get the chance, to enjoy this too often,” Blondie says. “You stay in there just a little longer, why don’t you? Maybe I’ll just pull a little more...”

His boots are still on the ground, just. If he goes an inch higher he starts choking. He’s starting to breathe too fast, with too much oxygen- hyperventilation, that’s the word. 

You can trust your partner, whatever happens. 

Maybe he’s never had a partner, then; and Blondie always knew that, brooded over it, resented it...

“Say,” Tuco says; his voice steady, quiet, the way he sounds when he’s not pulling anything. “Even a condemned man ought to have a last request...bring the Duluth over here, I want something.” 

“Another cigarette?” Blondie’s tutting. “You greedy little pig.”

He catches a strap with the point of his toe, drags it carelessly across the ground. Kneels down to pick it up with one hand, while Tuco stares at the rope in the other. It’s not a complicated arrangement. The moment Blondie lets go, he’s free. 

“Go on, root around in there,” Blondie says pleasantly. “Oink oink.”

Tuco’s not really sure how he manages a laugh, there (he knows, because it covers for what happens next)- 

he whips out the revolver and shoots, and nothing happens. The pack drops to the ground between them. 

“You fucker,” Blondie says, with slow admiration, genuine respect; and that’s when Tuco knows he’s going to die. 

(the rope breaks)

(a gun fires)

(he falls on Blondie)

(that doesn’t seem like the right order?)

“You goddamn, cheese-eating, flop-haired excuse for a no-account Midwestern layabout,” Angel Eyes says, driving his boot hard into Blondie’s thigh, where the wound is; his victim shrieks, childishly, rolls away best he can. 

“Every word,” Tuco says, a bit dazed. “I didn’t think you’d remember every word when I told you all that.”

“Unlike some people, I listen to my partners,” Angel Eyes says. He’s straddling Blondie now, gun pointing squarely down at heart. “Count yourself lucky that I shot the rope instead of you. I might still do it.”

Blondie’s crying, bubbling over with wet tears; and it’s something that should offend or please him, Tuco thinks, but he’s feeling too empty to be either. He crawls over to the wall, to sit up straight and wait to stop shaking. 

(His body’s enjoying very much, not being dead. It’s like orgasm overkill.)

“You know what a kink is,” Blondie says wetly. “That’s all it was. Dangerplay, you do this stuff yourself.”

“Tuco doesn’t look like he thought so. Did you?”

“I’m your partner,” Blondie says. “He knew, Angel, he knew.”

“...I couldn’t tell,” Tuco says after a while. “I didn’t, I tried to shoot him. What happened to my gun?”

“I emptied it the other night,” Angel Eyes says. “On the presumption that somebody was going to get killed if I didn’t take precautions. Looks like I was right about that.”

He feels dizzy, but maybe not so dizzy he can’t stand. He pulls his weight up, grabs his pack. “Fairy tales, huh? Here’s one for you, Angel, maybe it’s about Bluebeard or somebody...a man and a wife, and she can do anything she wants, except walk into one room. So of course she has to do it. And I have to leave.”

Angel Eyes frowns at him. “What are you talking about?”

“That he’s throwing both of us over, the bastard,” Blondie says, wiping muck off his face; and that’s when it starts to hurt, knowing all this has happened and Blondie’s still the one who knows how to read his tells. “You went into his Duluth? Fuck, if he thought he could take you you’d be on the ground now, and I’d be joining in.“

“I saved you,“ Angel Eyes says. “Tuco, I saved all three of us. You can see that.”

“I know...I know, but it doesn’t matter,” The Duluth settles into its usual place, with comforting weight; if he has that, he has everything he needs. “You two look after each other, okay?”

“Don’t you dare,” Angel Eyes says, to Blondie’s “We need you.”

“Maybe,” Tuco says, managing a shrug; he’s alive, and his blood’s humming, and he’d like to tell them he’s sorry, but he’s not feeling it. “Truth is, I need not to be around you two bastards for a little while, and that’s all there is to it. Que sera...I know you saw that movie,” he adds, for Blondie’s benefit; and his partner scowls at him. 

“Do you even know,” Angel Eyes says, with a measure of concern in his voice, “how you’ll manage? Where you’re going to go?”

“Sure I do,” Tuco says. “I’ll send you a postcard from Sonora.”

Blondie’s still on the ground, when he turns for one last look; but he thinks they’ll make it up. Maybe all three of them will, one of these days. 

But right now...

right now, he’s going south. 

#70s au #the good the bad and the ugly

[scrawnydutchman]

Paradise P.D: Animated Series Review

I’ve reviewed a lot of animated - and live action - shows and movies on my blog. Nearly everything I’ve felt the need to comment on has been seen in a positive light. I don’t shy away from harsh criticism nor do I actively avoid notably poor content; it just so happens that the things I’m most interested in discussing are things I have mainly positive comments on. Paradise PD has come along to break the mold. The genuine disgust I have for this series is a first for me. I hate this show. This is quite possibly the worst show I’ve ever given a complete watch. The characters are either heinously cruel or insultingly generic. The premise is cookie cutter and derivative as hell. The humor is forced, predictable and just depressing more often than funny. The animation . . . . oh God, the animation. I’ve had non flavored rice cakes with more taste than this show. It’s like anti-creativity. Even as I’m typing this Ii’m getting riled up just thinking about it again. Alright, let me calm down. Let’s break this show down piece by piece, starting with the writing.

Writing

*ugh, the animation in these gifs is terrible. I’ll get to it when I get to it.*

Synopsis: Kevin Crawford is an aspiring young police officer who is determined to prove himself to his dad, Chief Randall Crawford of the Paradise PD. Chief Crawford has a hard time trusting his son because of a firearms accident that occurred when Kevin was very young (the less details you know about that the better) but his ex wife mayor Karen Crawford forces Randall to bring Kevin into the department anyway. Kevin thus joins a motley crew of  . . .ahem . . . “”””hilarious””””” cops including Gina; the badass uber violent super cop who’s both the sex appeal of the show and has a fetish for morbidly obese men (yes, seriously), Gerald Fitzgerald; the Cleveland Brown of this show who’s basically just a well mannered  token black guy, Dusty Marlow; the morbidly obese innocent cop whom Gina constantly harasses sexually (and yet when male characters harass her on the show she threatens to beaten them for pervy comments, so . . . hypocrite), Stanley Hopson; an elderly officer whose whole schtick is being senile and doing gross shit . .  and finally Brian Griffin-I mean Bullet; the canine unit who’s also a drug addict . . . and being a drug addict is basically his whole shtick. They get into a bunch of wacky shenanigans, a lot of gross stuff ensues, yadda yadda yadda

So admittedly, this isn’t a bad premise for a show of this style. If Brooklyn 99 has proven anything it’s that a police department is a great and refreshing setting for a sitcom with tons of potential for jokes as well as diverse characters having great chemistry with each other. Plus it’s an archetype I don’t see very much of (I’d like to point out that I consider this different from the “buddy cop” archetype which is literally everywhere, because rather than focus on two cops it involves an entire precinct). This show is kind of like if Seth Macfarlane made a Family Guy spinoff centered around Joe Swanson (except that sounds a million times more amazing). But while Paradise PD sounds like a good concept for a show on paper, it’s execution is poorer than poor. Ironically for being such an off-the-beaten-path premise for a sitcom the show doesn’t take very much advantage of it. It’s not like the case in every episode is particularly interesting and it’s certainly not like Archer or Brooklyn 99 where the humor comes from the mundane nature of the job that nobody really talks about (filing a lot of paper work and performing basic job duties). Instead it’s premises about banging police cars that have AIs that behave like abusive girlfriends . . .which is a premise we’ve seen before. Or it’s about a father not understanding his child’s hobbies . . .which is a premise we’ve seen before. Or it’s about a fighter being overly confident in the ring only for his cohorts to discover he’s rigged to lose in the next fight . . . which is a premise we’ve seen before. Here lies the biggest problem of this show: it’s so rinse and repeat it’s insulting. For every episode this series has at the moment I guarantee the Simpson’s  has done it and has done it better. Or Bob’s Burgers has done it. Or Archer has done it. Or Brooklyn 99 has done it. Hell, Family Guy and American Dad are the most comparable shows to this besides Brickleberry for obvious reasons and as much as I have distaste for those shows even they do these recycled premises more justice than Paradise PD does. Basically the only thing giving this show a real identity is it’s intense gross out visuals which, given this shows shockingly limited animation style, gets stale very quickly. But what is Paradise PD missing that all those shows have in common (besides maybe Family Guy/American Dad)? The answer of course is likable characters.

Characters

*it’s worth mentioning that the intro is the only bit of decent animation this show has. In fact it’s deceivingly good. Be patient . . . I’m getting there.*

If the synopsis I gave at the beginning is any indication it’s that every character suffers from one of two problems; they’re either intensely unlikable or are bland overly used archetypes . . . sometimes both. Gerald Fitzgerald, Dusty Harlow, Stanley Hopson and Bullet are all archetypes you can find in every animated sitcom ever made. It’s the token black guy, the morbidly obese dumbass, the senile old man and the drug addict/self centered misogynist. They all have one joke and one joke only dedicated to each of them. They are walking talking punchlines. So is every character in this show, though everyone else to a lesser extent. Gina is my favorite because her backstory episode is the only one where I felt even a little bit intrigued about how one of these assholes came to be. Our leading man Kevin is a bland standin. He’s just an overly naive, wide eyed kid with a dream. He’s an empty husk for literally any kind of viewer to step in (except for women when it comes to the love interest stuff). The chief is an angry, pompous asshole. In fact every character is just a horrible human being. Even characters that are either overly innocent or are meant to be good natured like Kevin or Dusty are constantly selfish or arrogant in some way. I get that that’s just the way the show is written comedically and in truth all comedy is rooted in the flawed. It’s why a lot of sitcom scenarios are written around characters acting selfishly or stupidly. But there’s being flawed and then there’s . . . being relentlessly cruel. It makes it hard to root for any of these characters in the end, especially since the show also occasionally tries to have a moral center and because . . .well . . . y’know . . . everyone is bland as shit.

Cast Performance

So this is by far the best aspect of the show and the number one thing it has going for it. Why? Because the show has a cast that’s .  . . depressingly a bunch of all stars. Tom Kenny, Spongebob himself, voices the chief and he does a great angry authoritative father. Grey Griffin, the actress behind such favorites as Daphne from Scooby Doo, Frankie from Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, Vicki from Fairly Odd Parents and Azula from Avatar: The Last Airbender, is the mayor and also turns in a great performance for what she has to portray. Not to mention the occasional guest like John Dimaggio and Tara Strong. If you’re any fan of voice acting chances are you’ll find a favorite of yours in this cast if not a handful of them. I say this is depressing because all of these people could do so much better. I get it, a paycheck is a paycheck, but . . . . imagine the immensely creative and stunning projects they could have been a part of instead. If a contract with Netflix is what you want, hit up Alex Hirsch! He’s signed on with them now and I bet he’s got something worthwhile! There’s not a whole lot to say about the rest of the performances, mainly because again, it’s hard to care about any of these characters.

Visuals (Animation, Design, Composition, Visual Storytelling, ETC.)

sigh . . . .okay . . . let’s talk about the animation. Before I go into it I just want to be real and sentimental for a second. I’m an animator. I just recently broke into the industry by working with Copernicus Studios . . . and it’s been nothing but a sincere pleasure. I’ve learned more about animation and Toon Boom in 4 months than I ever learned in 4 years of freelancing. It put into perspective just how much thought and effort goes into even the most minimal of shows. It’s a popular trend to shit on professionally animated content for looking such a way or moving in such a way but if those people only knew the countless hours and passion that goes into even just a couple of seconds of footage they’d never talk shit about these shows ever again. Not only that, but I’m an admin for an animation study group on Facebook with thousands of members from all over the world. Animators from every country and every skill level share their work for constructive feedback. Through this I’ve met many people who work in the industry . . .including someone who worked on Paradise PD. And I know them to be among the most skilled and masterful animators on the page. For all of these reasons, I will NEVER call animators lazy or unskilled if they produced a show like this. It’s typically the result of a certain type of direction or method of moving the production pipeline along. I have no doubt on my mind that every animator who worked on this show is wonderfully skilled and will do well in their careers going forward.

But this show does not demonstrate that. Far from it. This show goes out of it’s way to be lazy. It cuts so many corners they’ve made a perfect circle of hell. Just take a look at most of the gifs I’ve posted in this review. Notice the popping of proportions and lines in moving pieces. Notice certain features like noses or eyes that move around for no damn reason at all. Look at features like eyebrows where there’s no easing or seamless transition or any basic understanding of the 12 principles of animation aside from perhaps arcs. Just watch a couple of seconds of this show and count how little frames are in every motion. If you told me this show was made in Go! Animate I would believe you. This makes Family Guy look like Studio Ghibli. Maybe this show could have been more pleasant to look at if it had vouched for motion keyframes instead of what appears to be the occasional stop motion keyframe (users of Toon Boom or Flash will know what I mean) but even then there’s nothing to look at really. Add to that the eyesore of a colour scheme, the uninspired character designs that if I put them in silhouette you would not be able to tell what show it’s from, the absolutely barebones backgrounds that look like early 2000s Newgrounds cartoon sets and the unimaginitive shot composition that consists almost entirely of wide shots and medium wide shots and you have what can hardly even be defined as animation by mainstream televisions standards. The last show I reviewed was Matt Groening’s Disenchantment and while I had my issues with that shows animation, at least they were only errors a trained eye could see in a show that was otherwise appealing. Paradise PD is just a tragedy. The only positive comment I can make about the animation is that the FX department did a great job animating the blood and the boogers and any type of nasty body liquid . . . .and I am depressed that that is my one positive comment.

Audio (Soundtrack, Sound Mixing, Sound FX, ETC.)

*In case you thought I was joking about one of the episode summaries I gave earlier*

Like most of the stuff I review, the audio isn’t particularly notable in this show. There’s no memorable soundtracks to speak of. The sound mixing is fine. That’s really all there is to say. I’ll be honest; I’ll talk about remarkable soundtracks in this section or clever/bad sound mixing when I can, but I mainly just include this section so I can score what i’m reviewing in a way that adds to a 10.

Conclusion

Paradise PD is the worst show I have ever given a review for and quite possible the worst show I’ve ever made an effort to sit down and watch. Almost nothing is redeemable about it. It’s the lowest common denominator for animation and it unsuccessfully trades any hint of originality for unfunny shock humor. It fails not because of missteps, but because of a refusal to make the necessary steps in the first place.

Writing - 0.5/2- Below Average

Characters - 0.5/2- Below Average

Cast Performance - 1.5/2 - Above Average

Visuals - 0.5/2 - Below Average

Audio - 1/2 - Average

4 out of 10 - My most hated show thus far.

#netlfix #netflix original #Paradise PD #Paradise P.D #Cartoons #Animation #2D Animation #Review #Film Review #TV review #brickleberry #Scrawnydutchman

[nygmobblepot-slut]

4x15 Nygmobblepot Thoughts

Mkay I’m just writing this bc I have to get my emotions out somehow, tonight’s ep was V MUCH! Plus I have no one to yell about it with :( So these are my thoughts from start to finish as I rewatch the episode… (Spoiler Alert)

-Opener Scene w/Ed and Martin

Holy fuuuuck dude, I’m still so shook about it. I feel like even at that point Ed actually going to safe him is such a show of trust and loyalty. Like he did not have to do that after Oswald ‘uncaged’ him….. and yet!!! HE DID!! (Plus I’m just so hype on the fact that Ed and Martin are even interacting, like!!! They went out for ice cream?? What did they talk about, how do they interact with each other, do they like each other?? These are two very important people to Oswald obviously so I NEED them to vibe well!!)

-The Escape Clip

I just absolutely love that Ed was running around like wild and popping off random shots. I loved it!!!!! Plus he was perfectly timed, I’m more than impressed. 

-Walking to Lee’s 

First of all, I absolutely love that they’re talking again?? Like I can’t express that enough because I literally thought that they’d hate each other forever, as I have no trust in the writers. But anyways! Just seeing them banter and talk and develop plans again was like a breath of fresh freakin air my dude. Also, Ed is being so sly and charismatic again and I can feel the confidence radiating out of him. I love it. 

-Talking to Lee

I’m so pleased with how manipilative Ed was with Lee! The way he faked being the old him was a trip. (Now don’t get me wrong I’ve loved Lee so much from the get go and am hella glad they all teamed up but that play was good on Ed’s part).Then he just pulls up his tie and calls Oswald in and bam he’s back. I love it. 

Also, Oswald giving him his hat back made me so happy for some reason like I just can’t get enough of them being in the same room without pointing guns at each other, let alone holding each others belongings and working together. 

AND THE PLAN!!! I screamed when I heard Ed say it and lmao Oswald’s reaction was wow. It was brilliant of course, but I was also lowkey terrified that he was just gonna freeze Oswald and hand him over for some twisted revenge. LUCKILY NOT I FEEL BLESSED.

Lastly the Grundy talk was amazing, Oswald’s confusion made me smile. BUT THAT LOOK THAT LEE AND ED SHARED TERRIFIED THE ACTUAL FUCK OUT OF ME. I’m honestly terrified that Ed is going to decide that he actually likes Lee still because she can be bad too. I MEAN WHAT HAVE THE WRITERS GIVEN US THIS FAR. I’m hopeful that won’t happen but still there’s a part of me that just can’t help but think…

-Grundy Tunnels

Not a big surprise, but I was yellin the whole time. I love Ed so much and I feel like his character development is finally back!! I’m ecstatic to see him mess around with ‘dumb Grundy’ in his cocky way. The look on his face though when he realized Butch’s mind was back, I’m dead. And his signature “oh dear” ahhh. I was worried when he got his shit knocked out but I know the man can handle himself. Jeez, I love Ed. 

-Oswald & Lee in her place

It hurt hearing the suspicion in Oswald’s voice, though it was warranted. But I could tell that he was genuinely worried for Ed, not just ‘the deal gone wrong’ or a betrayal. He sounds so vulnerable and impatient. But Lee though, she’s such a bad ass now my god I love it. 

-Jim, Harvey, & Oswald show down

I love seeing Oswald so brave when it comes to them, obviously he doesn’t have time for their shit at the moment but he’s also not fuckin scared of em either. And shit when he realize Mr. Penn was eyes for Sofia he looked so pissed dude. I was about as shook as he was. 

Okay and what the fuck is up with Jim being the renegade cop and Harvey being the good guy? I mean talk about a role reversal holy man. The freaking parallels this episode (more like this entire season) murdered me. But really, Harvey, be cool brother. 

Also, bless Lee.

-The Shootout with Victor and company

Can I just say I love all of these characters so much? The way they interact is so unique and awesome and I dig the fick out of it. Victor is always so much fun, though I’m still salty he betrayed Oswald. 

Also, bless Lee again. She literally stole their car. Iconic. 

-Other Victor’s Freezer Scene

First of all, DAMN Victor. Next, I’ll always adore Oswald and Lee interacting. It’s the best, yes kids bicker like children. I love Oswald trying to sweet talk his way out of the Victor problem. He’s such a man of words (at least when he needs them). Lastly, damn Victor, way to freeze the bird without even checking, I’m cackling. That pose was damn near the same as Ed’s though let’s be real. I was highkey scared he’d come out all different too though. 

-Bloody Loyal Ed & Frozen Oswald

Let me start by saying, I was terrified that they were going to mess up his beautiful teeth oh my. But aside from that I’m so proud of Ed for enduring that much pain to keep Oswald safe!!! I didn’t see it coming but I’ll accept it wholeheartedly. ALSO THE PARALLELS OH MY MY. I’m going to keep bringing it up because they blew me away. Neither of them would give the other up, no matter how much pain was inflicted! Tell me they’re not at least besties and I’ll call you a liar. No but really, it’s a huge step forward considering that Ed literally wanted to kill him like at least 3 episodes ago. 

Ed’s reaction to Oswald’s use of his plan was great. I knew he’d get a kick out of it. I didn’t want him to be mad that he was getting tortured for nothing though, cause that was also plausible. Luckily again, that wasn’t the case. 

My heart though when Sofia told her men to shoot Ed at the docks, literally stopped. I knew he wouldn’t die but I was still worried. 

-Ice Breaking Scene

Where do I even start? I was relieved it actually worked, and that he actually was intact mentally. It was rough seeing him realize that yet another of his staff was on Sofia’s side back in the day. I believe that was really impactful when it came to Oswald trusting Ed again. In all honesty, Ed was the only one who hadn’t truly betrayed Oswald (at least not without proper cause, as debatable as that may be). I think it was a really good way to highlight the fact that Ed’s the only one. 

Then he sees Ed’s hat and flips his entire lid on that torture man. When he finds out Ed was loyal after everything the look on his face was amazing. Of course he changes his plans for revenge around to go save him. LOYALTY I’M

-The Dock Scene (Pt. 24235454)

Ed’s so sassy, even when he’s about to get straight up murdered man. Oswald’s aim is on fuckin point, bless up. The emotions, I can’t. 

I FEEL SO BLESS BY THIS SCENE MAN THE MUSIC, THE LOOKS, THE LITTLE ACTIONS. I honestly can’t put into words how this makes me feel. 

They trust each other, they put the guns away, they’re perfect. I’ll say it again, tell me they’re not besties and I’ll call you a liar. 

Things evened out so beautifully here. I genuinely hope they let everything go for the betterment of their relationship and I hope they never ever see that pier again. 

-Final thoughts

WHAT AN EPISODE DUDE! I just don’t want the writers to ruin what they’ve just blessed us with. I’d be pleased with them just being friends again man. Of course I believe there’s more to it but even if there isn’t I couldn’t handle them being enemies again. It kills me too much. 

Don’t fuck this up, don’t fuck this up. I swear if there’s a third Kringle I will actual set myself on fire. Don’t fuck this up.

#nygmobblepot #Gotham #gotham 4x15 #penguin #riddler #edward nygma #oswald cobblepot #cory michael smith #robin lord taylor #i'm hella shook after this episode #can i get an amen #spoilers