#I know they only met briefly but I’m already obsessed with their dynamic

[b33buzz]

I’m still working on Tallulah’s design but I love them both so I offer a sketch of their first meeting 🤲🏻

#mcyt #mcytblr #qsmp fanart #qsmp eggs #qsmp tallulah #qsmp sunny #qsmp eggs fanart #qsmp sunnysideup #holds them gently #I know they only met briefly but I’m already obsessed with their dynamic #I think canonically Tallulah is the smallest egg but in my heart Sunny is shorter than her LMAOO #Sunny gives such youngest sibling energy #anyways I’m in my qsmp brainrot era FRRRR #idk how I ended up back in the building again #but here we are

[todrokishoto]

late night conversations | shouto todoroki

summary: excitement leads to insomnia and insomnia leads to a conversation with mr. shouto todoroki

warning(s): mentions of fighting and poor half and half’s childhood. slight angst

a/n: ok but this is not where i was expecting this to go. it was supposed to be about something else lmao but enjoy ig 

your undeniable fatigue was overwhelming, but you were still unable to succumb to the sleep you so desperately needed. not yet, anyway. your body, albeit drained from the physical training performed today during class, was buzzing. 

demanding training was nothing new to class 1-a, and each and everyone of you were progressing with each round of drills the teachers would throw at you. add academic studies into the mix as well and you have the perfect recipe for exhaustion. 

your door slipped shut behind you, the excitement coursing through your veins making it impossible to remain in bed. the hardwood floor was cold underneath your bare feet, but you didn’t feel like going back to fetch your slippers. 

during class with mr. aizawa, you were finally able to nail the ultimate move you had been working on for the past couple of weeks. not only did it feel amazing to execute it flawlessly after so much practice, but it had scored you the victory in the fight against ururaka.

the auburn-haired girl had learned a lot during her internship and had put up more of a fight than you expected. you had seen her go up against some of your other classmates, but experiencing it in person was definitely something else. 

the ding of the elevator echoed, the doors moving apart, as you arrived on the first floor. thank goodness there were no rooms on this floor because you swore the sound would have been loud enough to wake someone up. 

fiddling with your phone, you moved mindlessly, trying to ignore the aches moving throughout your body. you weren’t entirely sure what you planned to do, to be quite honest, but anything seemed like a better idea than being stuck in your bedroom. 

most of your classmates were sleeping, you assumed, or at the very least tucked into bed. the unusual silence of the student dorms didn’t necessarily surprise you but it did make you feel slightly uneasy. it felt foreign. 

so when your name was called, you couldn’t contain the small yelp that escaped you. your phone collided with the floor, the sound once again echoing around the (almost) empty common room, and you winced. with a flick of the wrist, your quirk brought your phone back into your hand and you glanced up to inspect who else was awake at this hour. 

“shouto?” 

his bicolored hair fell into his eyes as he nodded. it was obvious the boy needed a haircut soon but you didn’t dare comment on it. instead, you swallowed the remainder of your shock and made your way over to the sofa he was seated on. 

“what are you doing up?” you questioned quietly, hoping you weren’t prying too much. 

“couldn’t sleep. my thoughts are a little overwhelming at the moment.”

you nodded, your lips pursing together as you tried to wrack your brain for an appropriate response. the two of you had shared a handful of conversations but he was always so formal, making it hard to decipher his true feelings about you. if anyone were to ask if you were friends, you had no idea what to say. 

he spoke first, “sorry for scaring you, by the way.”

“it’s all good,” you assured quickly, the corner of your lips twitching with hints of embarrassment. “i, uh, just didn’t expect anyone else to be awake. i can leave. if, uh, you know, you want me to.”

he shook his head, strands of red and white mixing together. he didn’t verbally protest but scooted over slightly, leaving more room on the couch for you to sit. you accepted his silent offer, not saying anything either, as you lowered yourself onto the sofa. 

the silence continued. you were itching to break it, each second passing making you feel more and more on edge. shouto didn’t make a move to talk like he had previously and you found yourself wondering if it was due to his preoccupied mind or an inability to find the right words. maybe he had just invited you to sit out of common courtesy, secretly hoping you’d decline. 

“great job—”

“so, how did—”

a smile tugged on your lips as his bicolored eyes widened slightly. you nodded, waiting for him to continue his sentence. he remained quiet for a brief moment and you wondered if he suddenly regretted what he was about to say.

“i just wanted to congratulate you on your win against uraraka. you did a great job,” he praised, his words being nothing but earnest. 

“thank you. i didn’t know you were, uh, watching,” you admitted. why were you suddenly feeling self-conscious about him watching you fight? most of your classmates had, so why was he different?

he nodded. “kirishima was able to knock me outside the ring, so i had some time to watch you both.”

“kirishima? really? i mean— he’s my friend and i love him, but he beat you? really?” 

his eyes closed momentarily as his left hand came up to his face. his fingers traced the scar framing his eye, seemingly subconsciously. you felt rude for watching him so intently but you couldn’t help but be mesmerized by the contrast of his bright blue orb compared to the red mark. 

only when his eyes met yours did you realize that you had been caught staring. you averted your gaze immediately. you desperately wanted the conversation to continue and you were inwardly scolding yourself when he spoke again.

“he made a comment and i got distracted, so he had an opening. he did put up a pretty good fight before that, though,” he recalled, his gaze flickering toward his hands now clasped in his lap. “i keep getting distracted when my past or family is mentioned, which is starting to mess with my focus and training.” 

you swallowed, your chest swelling with pride. out of all people, shouto todoroki had decided to confide in you. while you knew a lot about him, his family and his past, most of the information came from your other classmates or rumors. he, himself, had never really seemed interested in sharing those details with you and you refused to pry. 

“what did he say? i’ll beat his ass.”

a laugh. you hoped the surprise you felt wasn’t physically visible. his laughter was rarely shared and you could probably count on one hand how many times you had heard it. you decided right then and there that you would give anything to hear it again and again. 

“just something about my left side matching him. you know, with the red all? it was mindless, really. no need to give him a beating on my behalf. he apologized after,” he assured. “i just... i hate that no matter what i do, my father and the family name still has this affect on me.”

his brain was reeling. you could practically see the gears turning and his internal conflict was essentially radiating from his body. eager to offer advice, you had to bite your bottom lip to keep quiet. you wanted to give him some time with his thoughts. you had interrupted him earlier, after all. 

you knew about his complicated family dynamic. he inspired you, honestly. despite everything he had experienced so far in his young life, he was still able to be one of the top students. he was still able to get up in the morning and go about his day. other people weren’t that strong. 

“i’m going to speak freely for a moment, if you don’t mind,” he didn’t object, so you continued. “no matter how much you wish he wasn’t, endeavor will always be your father. there’s not a single person who wouldn’t agree that your childhood was horrible, but you can’t change what happened.”

he listened, almost clinging to every word, desperate for validation. so you kept going,

“what i’m trying to say is that you’ve come so far. when school started, you were so reserved, obsessing over how your family name defined you. now, i see you laughing with iida and deku during lunch. you use your left side with, what seems like, no hesitation. children can’t choose their parents. you just need to keep proving that you’re better. that you’re able to come out on top. but you have to do it for you.”

you weren’t sure if your words had efficiently conveyed what you truly wanted to say. there was so much more you wanted to tell him. you wanted to praise him, encourage him, let him know that while you two weren’t the closest - you would always be there for him. 

but as he remained quiet, you couldn’t help but worry that you had crossed a line. that was it. if your relationship could be considered friendship in the first place, you had definitely ruined it now. each second of silence ensuing was like a stab to your heart, which was already thumping from nervousness, mind you. 

“thank you,” it was no louder than a whisper but you heard it clear as day. “i needed— thank you.” 

the double-quirked boy wasn’t one to openly show his feelings. everyone knew this. whether he was angry, sad or happy, his face always appeared to successfully hide it. so you pretended not to notice the tears welling up in his eyes, offering him a smile instead. 

once again, there was a silence engulfing the two of you. this one, though, wasn’t thick and awkward. it was welcome and comfortable. the kind of silence that happens between best friends and neither one of them mind. 

you were the one to break it, albeit involuntarily. you know how bodies do things that you don’t necessarily want them do? yeah, well your body did just that. shouto’s bicolored eyes met with yours as a violent shiver coursed through you. was it really that cold? 

he seemed to study you briefly before holding out his arm and angling his body slightly toward you. you weren’t sure if he was just that oblivious or if he was being bold. this time, it was your mind going into overdrive. it seemed innocent enough but you still felt hesitant to accept his offer. 

before you were able to either accept or decline, his arm had wrapped around your shoulders. with a gentle tug, you practically fell into his embrace, immediately feeling the warmth from his skin. your tense muscles relaxed and you let his heat melt away your worries. 

“my left side’s not all bad, i guess,” he mused and you swore you could hear a smirk. your face was pressed into his chest, making it impossible for you to check. 

instead, you readjusted your arm, placing it on his abdomen. he tensed up ever-so-slightly when you did, his muscles flexing beneath his shirt, but neither of you commented on it. his chest continuously rose and fell with each breath, creating a rather comforting rhythm. 

“so, what did you think about my fight? did i impress mr. shouto todoroki?”

yet another laugh escaped him, his chest rumbling underneath you. you swore it was one of the most beautiful sounds you had ever heard and it was easily becoming one of your favorites. you would, without hesitation, fight anyone who dared take it away from him. 

he began telling you about what he had noticed during your fight and you listened. you knew he was giving honest advice, and honestly, you could probably use the pointers but you found yourself more captivated by his voice than anything else. had it always been this smooth? 

your conversations continued. they were random and sometimes one-sided, and you had no idea how they lasted but you didn’t want them to stop. he didn’t either, it seemed, occasionally bringing up new topics himself. they continued long into the night, you were sure. 

and, eventually, fatigue caught up to the both of you. the conversations more and more scarce. his breathing growing more and more shallow, barely moving underneath you. your eyelids getting heavier and heavier. 

neither one of you retreated to your respective bedrooms. neither one of you moved; your bodies just melting together like missing puzzle pieces finally finding each other. and neither one of you heard the snickers and camera shutters from your classmates in the morning. 

#mha #bnha #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #mha x reader #mha x you #shouto todoroki #shoto todoroki #todoroki x you #todoroki x reader #shoto todoroki x reader #todoroki shouto #shouto x reader #mha shouto #shouto x you #shouto x y/n #todoroki x y/n #shoto todoroki x you #todoroki fluff #shouto fluff #mha fluff

[starsofatlantis]

Rivals

@sophitz-week day 1: academic rivals

Notes: this was a lot of fun to write and I enjoyed being able to play around with Sophie and Fitz’s dynamic! it ended up a lot longer than I expected but I’m pretty proud of it! hope you enjoy!

Relationships: platonic sophitz, pre-romantic sophitz, platonic sophex, platonic marella x sophie, platonic marella x dex, platonic, keefe x fitz

Word Count: 1986

Warnings: none!

_________________

"I just don't understand the issue," Dex said for what felt like the fiftieth time that morning.

Sophie scoffed. "The issue Dex, is that I am being forced to work with my sworn enemy."

"Sworn enemy's a little much," Dex replied, holding onto his backpack as he gave Sophie an amused look.

"Sworn enemy is perfect!" Marella exclaimed from Sophie's left. "It'll make it even more romantic when they finally confess their undying love to each other!"

Sophie deadpanned. "I can't tell if you're teasing me or just really really blind. There is no way I will ever fall in love with Fitz Vacker."

Dex laughed as Marella looked unconvinced.

"Please Soph, you both have been obsessed with each other since you first came to school in the sixth grade and beat him in the middle school spelling bee. You're like a modern day Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe."

Sophie gasped and held a hand to her heart. "Don't you dare insult my favorite fictional man by relating him to Fitz Vacker of all people."

"Favorite fictional man?" Dex questioned, quirking an eyebrow. "Whatever happened to Fred Weasley?"

Sophie glared at him. "So what if I simp for multiple fictional men? Who are you to judge Mr. 'I would lay down my life for Natasha Romanoff'?”

Dex chuckled. "Touché."

Marella grinned. "Ignoring the part where I said you two were obsessed with each other, huh?"

Sophie sniffed. "I'm not ignoring it. I'm choosing not to reply to something so ridiculous."

"Mhm."

"You're also ignoring the fact you had a crush on him when you first met," Dex pointed out.

"Dexter, my man! Always backing me up!" Marella exclaimed, and the two high-fived.

Sophie rolled her eyes. "A lack in judgment on sixth grade Sophie's part, I promise it will never happen again."

Dex snorted. "Whatever you say."

Marella gasped excitedly.

"Sophie's supposed sworn enemy 11 o'clock," she whispered out of the corner of her mouth.

Sophie's head shot towards the boy in question as Dex just shook his head.

Fitz Vacker was tall and had broad shoulders from all the training he needed for football. His hair was dark and never seemed to fall out of place. He was kind and tutored the younger kids when he had free time. He volunteered with student council (his sister was the president) and as popular as he was, he didn't act like it.

Sophie hated his guts.

He gave her a small smile.

Subdued, she thought. She knew how bright his smile really was and she could only think he was holding himself back, which was odd. Fitz Vacker was anything but unconfident.

She stared back as he passed and out of the corner of her eye she saw his blond friend slap him on the back while chuckling.

"I love a good rivals to lovers romance," Marella gushed as they made their way into biology.

_________________

"You've got it bad, man," Keefe laughed.

"Shut up," Fitz grumbled, shrugging off Keefe's hand.

Keefe held his hands up. "Sorry, but it's way too obvious to not make fun of."

"Thanks Keefe, so grateful for your support," Fitz said, still thinking about the minor interaction he'd had with the girl he'd been crushing on for years.

"I am supportive bro," Keefe defended, "But there's only so much support I can give before the overwhelming need to make fun of you becomes too much."

"I can't stand you," Fitz said turning into his class.

"Aww how sweet," Keefe called as he walked down the hall to who knows where. "Too bad Sophie Foster thinks the same thing about you."

__________________

"Seriously, Marella, drop it. The only reason I'm going over to his house is to finish this stupid project," Sophie complained, pulling her keys out of the ignition.

She stared at the mansion the Vacker's called home, trying to work up to courage to walk to the front door.

"Ok, ok fine, just answer one thing," Marella said through Sophie's phone.

Sophie rubbed her temples as she got out of her car, already knowing this wasn't going to end well.

She grabbed the tray of mallowmelt out of the backseat, holding her cellphone between her shoulder and her head. "What is it?"

"Admit you think Fitz Vacker is the hottest man to walk the planet."

Sophie choked.

"Please, Sophie, be honest with me. I know you can't stand him for whatever reason, but you aren't blind and he's like, the blueprint of your type."

Sophie huffed as she walked up the grand walkway. She thought about his sparkling eyes and how they had always radiated comfort and safety to her, even when they were in middle school.

"I guess he's alright," she grumbled.

“AHA!” Marella cheered, and Sophie could practically hear her throwing a fist in the air. "I'll take it!"

Sophie rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I've gotta go, talk to you later."

"Ok! Have fun, love ya," Marella said and made a kissy sound before hanging up the phone.

Sophie shook her head exasperatedly, stuffing her phone in her back pocket as she reached the double front doors.

She raised her hand to knock but before she could, the door opened, revealing a slightly flustered Fitz Vacker.

"H-hey," he stuttered.

"Hi," Sophie said plainly before holding out the tray of sweets. "This is mallowmelt from Edaline."

"Oh thanks!" he said excitedly. "My dad will really appreciate this!"

He laughed slightly and Sophie cracked a smile. Fitz's father had been the one to find Sophie her adoptive family when her own family had passed away in a car accident. Her adoptive father and Alden worked together so he'd asked him and his wife to take Sophie in, and they adopted her a few months later.

The two stood awkwardly in the doorway before Fitz started suddenly.

"I- y-you can come in," he said, moving out of the way to let her in.

"Thanks," Sophie replied, clutching her school bag as she walked into the gorgeous house.

Fitz mumbled something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like 'stupid', but Sophie didn't comment on it.

"My room's upstairs and to the left, I'm just gonna go put this in the fridge," Fitz said, gesturing to the tray.

Sophie nodded. "No problem."

She walked up the marble staircase, marveling and somewhat grumbling at the grandeur of Fitz's house.

To say Fitz's room wasn't what she was expecting and was also exactly what she was expecting was an understatement.

He obviously liked the color blue, as his bedspread was navy blue and so was the rug. The walls were white and most of his things were made out of dark wood. Tall bookshelves lined the walls and Sophie found herself jealous of his collection. A glass case on the wall held all his sports trophies, but mostly held photos of his teammates or friends winning something, and Sophie almost laughed at the way they were proudly displayed. It was honestly kinda cute how adorably proud of his friends he was that he hung up photos of their accomplishments in his room. He was like a mother hen.

"Ok so we have to pick a book we're required to read by the school district and analyze whether we think it's an educational read and why we think the book is required. I know you haven't read all of the same books as me cause we're in different grades so I thought we could make a list of all the ones we have read and go from there," Fitz said as he walked into his room.

Sophie was a little taken aback by the sudden proposition but nodded anyway. "Sounds good."

She was a little mad he was right about the books though. Sophie was only a sophomore while Fitz was a senior, so he'd been through more english classes than she had.

She went to pull out a sheet of paper when something stopped her.

"I-is that your second place ribbon from the spelling bee?" she asked and he looked up from his own paper.

Fitz scratched the back of his neck, following Sophie's line of sight in the direction of a blue ribbon hanging from his glass case with the worded '2ND PLACE' written distinctly on the front.

"Uh—," he chuckled nervously, "Y-yeah it is."

Sophie turned to him, confusion etched across her face. "Why would you keep that?"

She for one, would never keep anything that reminded her she had lost to someone.

"I dunno." He shrugged. "Guess it just reminds me of something."

"Of what?"

Briefly, it occurred to her this was the longest conversation she'd had with him since he beat her in the relay race at the end of sixth grade.

"Um, I- uh, I'm not sure."

Sophie looked unconvinced and Fitz blushed.

Sophie gave him another strange look before turning back to her bag.

"Why do we not talk anymore?" Fitz blurted out, and immediately had to resist the urge to slap his hand over his mouth and launch himself out the nearest window.

"What?" Sophie asked slowly, turning to fully face him.

Good going, Fitz, he thought. Now she's going to hate you even more and will probably end up starting a petition to send you to Timbuktu so that she never has to see you again.

"Um," he said smartly.

She raised an eyebrow and he sighed.

"Why don't we talk anymore? We used to be friends when we were in middle school."

Her eyebrows furrowed. "I don't know. We're rivals, and last I checked you aren't supposed to fraternize with your competition."

"Huh?" Fitz said, his turn to be confused. "Since when were we rivals?"

Sophie me jaw dropped. "Seriously? We've always been rivals."

"Uh no we haven't?"

Sophie looked incredulous and Fitz had the feeling he said something wrong. "Yes we have! You were the one who started it in the first place!"

"What?" Fitz exclaimed. "When did I do that?"

"In middle school? When you were always competing with me?"

"I- I wasn't doing that cause I thought of you as a rival! I was doing that cause I thought of you as my friend!"

Sophie's confusion and slight anger calmed down for a second. "What?"

"Yeah! I never had someone who could match me at everything I did and then some, so I thought it was fun to push myself to beat you. You made everything a challenge cause you were— are! —so good at everything!"

"Trust me, if I knew you'd stop talking to me for four years just cause I beat you in a lame race, I would have lost every single competition we ever competed in against each other."

They stared at each other as a blush formed on both of their faces. Sophie being confused on everything Fitz Vacker and feeling bashful over all he'd just said, and Fitz frustrated at himself for letting Sophie get that ridiculous idea that he didn't want to be friends with her in her head and feeling bashful over all he'd just said.

Sophie took in a quiet breath. "I- I just thought you wanted to beat me because you didn't like me."

"No!" Fitz exclaimed frantically, waving his hands, as if trying to ward her words away from the air around him. "Not at all!"

Sophie laughed slightly, and Fitz reveled in the sound of it.

"I want us to be," he stumbled, "…f-friends. I've always wanted that."

Sophie looked into his eyes, saw the pure sincerity there, and felt herself melt a little bit.

"I think I'd like that too," she said quietly. "Friends."

Fitz smiled brightly and it felt like the morning sun after a long night.

She paused.

"I'm still gonna try to beat you in everything we do though."

Fitz laughed loudly and it echoed around the room.

Sophie never thought she'd be glad he didn't subdue his smile.

#awkward fitz should be canon #kotlc sophie #sophitz #kotlc fandom #sophitz week #sophie foster #stan fitz vacker or perish #fitz vacker #fanfic

[hello-yue-here]

About your atla ship songs, I have a couple of questions (sorry if my phrasing comes out wrong, english isn't my first language and I worry it might across as accidentally defensive): how did you end up with the choices for zukka, jetko and yuekka (note: I haven't seen the great comet, so feel free to obsess over it, I'm intrigued now and the hype is appreciated!)? Sidenote: I think the mailee choice is HILARIOUS and the tokka one just make me sad, I didn't expect to be attacked like this😭

kdjfha;s i love you im gonna obsess SO HARD over great comet now. you may regret this

this is gonna be so long so the rest is under the cut whoops

yuekka: no one else from great comet

where do i even begin. WHERE DO I EVEN BEGIN

okay so background information on this show: it's based off of a 76 oages excerpt from war and peace and its centered around a woman named natasha (and this guy pierre but he's irrelevant to this song so we wont worry about him) and natasha's bethrothed is off fighting in the war right now. she hasn't seen him in a while but she is in love with him.

every single lyrics of this song SCREAMS yuekka to me. the innocence and purity of their love. the love at first sight. and even the melancholy ending just- i go apeshit for this song. i love this song so much. and denee benton's voice??? kljsdhflwksugf please listen to this song if you haven't already. listen to the whole show. your life will be changed forever.

onto the lyrics (i stg this is ab to be the whole song whoops)

"the moon"

THOSE ARE THE FIRST WORDS ON THE SONG. natasha and andre (her bethrothed) met underneath the moonlight. Sokka and Yue first spoke to eachother at night and always met each other for their most intimate moments under the moonlight. also yue is LITERALLY the moon so like: right of the bat with those two words it's yuekka.

"and i saw your eyes / and i saw your smile / and the world opened wide"

sokka fell in love with yue the moment he saw her in the canal. she literally enchanted this motherfucker. everything about her made his heart go crazy. and 'the world opened wide' to me is from yue's perspective. Yue had never left the north pole and sokka had seen a good chuck of the world at the point. He took her on appa, he told her about his adventures. he saw the world yue wished to see and you know damn well that Sokka would have done anything to give it to her.

"oh the moon /oh the snow in the moonlight / and your childlike eyes and your distant smile / ill never be this happy again / you and i and no one else"

natasha sings fondly about the moon and the snow, seeing as it was where she fell in love with andre. yue and sokka LITERALLY fell in love in the same place: in the snowy nothern water tribe under the light of the moon. childlike eyes: THEYRE CHILDREN!!! distant smile: this is where it gets a little sad. theyre both children with way too many duties during a world that has known nothing but war for the past century. they want to be happy but yeah, theyre smiles are distant and far away because happiness seems out of reach for them most of the time. i'll never be this happy again: the moments yue and sokka shared together were probably the happiest either of them ever were. they were able to ignore the war and the world in the moments they shared together. and with no one else. no one else would be able to give each other this sense of peace and happiness and love.

"joy and life inside our souls / and no body knows just you and me / it's our secret"

Yue and Sokka had to sneak out in secret at night to go and see each other. Yue and Sokka couldn't be together for real because Yue was already engaged, but they were literally in love so she decided to see him anyways in secret. kasdjfhklasjd im losing my mind over them at this point.

"this winer sky / how can anyone sleep / there was never such a night before / i feel like putting my arms around my knees / and squeezing tight as possible / and flying away"

these are my FAVORITE lines in the entire song. yue and sokka had never felt this strongly about anyone before and that's why they are so drawn to each other. they had never experienced love before and they wanted to hold onto it for as long as they could even though they knew they couldnt. Sokka takes yue up on appa and she is wistful and wishes she could live like he does every day: ie flying away. oh my god these two deserved so much better. so much fucking better.

now for the saddes part. the saddest fucking part.

"maybe he'll come today / maybe he came already / and he's sitting in the drawing room / and i simply forgot"

natasha misses andre so intensely at this point. when i first listened to this show and heard this song i was like "wait a min... is andre like... dead?" and im sure i wasnt the only person who assumed that this was why natasha felt so sad by the end of such a beautiful song. (spoiler alert andre is fine)

but this line really exemplifies how sad natasha is, and hints at the fact that andre may never come back. it implies that their relationship is doomed (at least in my opinion) and that's all yuekka. Sokka misses yue intensely when shes gone. Yue accepted her fate almost immediately but sokka was in denial. he thought there had to be another way. but in the end it wasn't meant to be. and sokka will go on, loving yue, wishing for her back, even though it's not possible.

fuck im gonna cry.

zukka: all i've ever known- hadestown

"i was alone so long / i didn't even know that i was lonely / out in the cold so long / i didnt even know that i was cold"

sokka is from the swt so theres where the cold comes in. also in the gaang (initially) it was just him katara and aang. and katara and aang were much closer to each other than sokka was with aang and the two of them were benders so sokka was kind of an outsider with the two of them. He also represses a lot of his emotions and feels the need to do everything himself so i do see a lot of loneliness in sokka. and the fact that so many people in his life have left him (his mom, yue, his dad, suki briefly, etc...) he is known to keep people at an arms length. i see a lot of loneliness in sokka.

zuko's loneliness is a lot more obvious: he has literally been cast out and abandoned by everyone except iroh. and even then he still feels the need to be alone (remember zuko alone? thought so) these boys look after themselves and push others away and revel in their loneliness in order to keep themselves from getting hurt. at least in my opinion on canon and also some fanon because id be a liar if i said fanon didnt influence how i view ALL my ships (not just zukka)

"all ive ever known is how to hold my own / but now I wanna hold you too"

COME ONE MANNNN, they just wanna hold each other. theyre both very big protectors as well and kljhflkasdhg they wanna protect eachother like kljdhfl im gonna lose it rn.

"You take me in your arms / And suddenly there's sunlight all around me / Everything bright and warm / And shining like it never did before / And for a moment I forget / Just how dark and cold it gets"

SUNLIGHT SYMBOLISM. zuko is literally powered by the sun. i don't think i even NEED to elaborate on this one anymore lol. They find comfort in each other away from all of their trauma. when they're together nothing else matters and i personally love that for them. they both deserve love.

"I knew you before we met / And I don't even know you yet / All I know is your someone I have always known"

these two are extremely similar in canon. many parallels. older brothers overshadowed by their prodigy little sisters. longing to make their fathers proud (granted one dad is good and one is fuckin evil), both are pretty bad with emotions. both are seen protecting others before themselves (sokka protecting suki during the serpant's pass, sokka protecting toph on like multiple occassions, zuko protecting katara in the final agni kai), the list goes on. they know who the other is because they see themselves in the other person. they already know each other because they are each other (in a way, not entirely, but the similarities are strong in my opinion)

"I'm gonna hold you forever / The wind will never change on us / Long as we stay with each other / Then it will always be like this"

i just think this line is so cute and sweet (ignoring all the symbolism and foreshadowing that comes with the last line in the musical itself. im gonna pretend this is nothing but happy) and i think these boys deserve happiness so yeah. this song is zukka to me lol.

jetko: thrill of first love- falsettoes

if you've never listened to this song go an do it now. you will know INSTANTLY that it is jetko because of the dynamics alone. marvin and whizzer are pure jetko and i take no crticisms.

marvin and whizzer are both extremely stubborn, and they don't always get along, and they fight a lot, and they get mad at each other a lot, and they are both passionate as hell, and they will bring this passion into everything. they love each other that is without a doubt, but they arent perfect and they are once again stubborn and determined as fuck.

sound familiar? it's literally jetko.

the lyrics aren't what remind me of jetko, but the dynamic itself. the lyrics are too on the nose for a gay couple in 1970's america so that rlly cant apply to jetko all that much. but the way these two characters bounce off of each other and get annoyed with each other and argue with eachother reminds me of jetko. because let's be honest: these two are the most stubborn characters in the whole show. they will fight for what they believe and it will take literally everything to change their minds.

i love jetko but i think they would have petty arguments all the time and get aggravated by one another so easily. and this is even seen in canon: they work so fucking well together but they did not even HESITATE to fight one another after neither of them would give in and let the fight about whether jet was right or wrong about zuko being a firebender. like i cannot say it enough they are stubborn as fuck.

but underneath all that stubborn pettiness and bickering: marvin and whizzer still love each other. and jet and zuko would still love each other. because even though they are stubborn when it comes to arguments, they are even more stubborn and determined when it comes to each other. these two passionate motherfuckers are in love.

(now when i chose this song i decided to ignore the fact that this song literally spells out the fact that marvin and whizzer's relatinoship is doomed because they literally say passion dies. thats the difference between jetko and whizzer and marvin because i dont think passion dies. i chose this song strictly for the bickering lmao)

and i know you didnt ask about tokka but,,,,

i rlly wanna talk about the tokka one

so im going to

tokka: on my own- les mis

look. i KNOW this song is about unrequited love and i love tokka as a couple but,,, the unrequited love in this song just SCREAMS unrequited tokka to me so thats what i went with.

eponine is a girl who has neglectful parents who lives life by her own rules: toph. eponine is shown to be tough and confident and spunky to others but behind all of that she has emotions, she feels love, she hides her vulnerability so much: toph. she is in love with a guy she cant be with because he loves someone else: TOPH

eponine is toph to a t and toph is eponine to a t. this is not up for debate lmao

"without him i feel his arms around me"

toph is always seen grabbing onto someone (and its almost ALWAYS sokka) when she's somewhere where she can't use her feet to see. FEEL and ARMS cmon. look at it.

"and i know / i know that he is blind"

COME ON. IMAGINE TOPH SINGING THIS LINE. this line is already powerful enough in les mis but having toph, a blind character, sing it just makes the symbolism even deeper. toph sees the potential relationship they could have together. toph sees that sokka is oblivious to this. toph is not blind to the truth or the potention, but sokka is blind to her feelings. im about to lose my mind over this line.

"I love him / But every day I'm learning / All my life / I've only been pretending / Without me / His world will go on turning / A world that's full of happiness / That I have never known"

i need to sit down for a moment. toph grew up in a household where her parents did not understand her. she has learned to hide her true emotions and vulnerabilities from everyone. and its the fact that toph knows that she and sokka will never be together and the fact that she still loves him in spite of that is what makes this even more heartbreaking.

"but only on my own"

TOPH AND EPONINE SWEETIES I LOVE YOU

thank you for indulging my theatre kid nonsense. you are very sweet and kind and lovely and awesome and i hope you have a lovely day bestie :) <3

ask me why i think these songs go with these ships

#asks #liv is a theatre nerd #liv is an atla nerd #yuekka #zukka #jetko #tokka #ask me about my ship songs

[magicalmarauder]

Growing Pains

Pairing: Peter Mendes x Reader (Mendes Triplet AU) 

Words: 4.3k +

Summary: You’ve grown up with the Mendes Triplets. They are your very best friends, there for every up and down of each other’s lives. What happens when you and Peter start dating? How will that affect the dynamic between the four of you? 

Warnings; Slight language! 

A/N: I’ve been obsessed with the Mendes Triplets AU recently and thought I’d give my own a try! Let me know what you think and if you’d like to see any more of this AU from me! 

You had grown up with the Mendes boys for most of your life. In fact, you couldn’t recall a time when they had not been there. For every birthday party, graduation, heartbreak, family drama, and so on they had been right by your side and you by theirs. Your friendship had withstood the test of time, your bond proving to be unbreakable. And you wouldn’t have it any other way.

However, as time had gone on and you had all grown up and gotten older, feelings had changed and relationships had shifted slightly. Specifically, between yourself and the youngest triplet, Peter. The two of you had always had a special bond with you being closer with him than the other two. Your childhood together had been riddled with adventures of you both sneaking out late at night to have stakeouts in your tree house, confiding your deepest fears and secrets to one another, and comforting each other through every difficult moment and every heartbreak.

He had been there when your very first relationship had blown up in your face, leaving your heart shattered. Although Peter, Raul, and Shawn had never been a fan of the boy, they had all been there with open arms and endless cuddles to help ease the ache of your very first broken heart. Nevertheless, Peter had been the one to go to every length to see you smile, to lend his shoulder for you to cry on, and to make sure that you knew how loved and special you were. Likewise, you had been there when Shawn’s career had taken off, leading the middle brother away to far-off countries for months at a time. Despite the fact that you were closer to the brothers than anyone and had a first-hand view into their relationship, you were still amazed at the depths of their bond. They had been inseparable their entire lives, never spending more than a day or two apart and then to suddenly be so far away from each other had caused a deep ache in each of their hearts, especially Peter’s. Peter had always been the more soft, sensitive one out of the three and as such, the separation had hit him harder. Honestly, without you he didn’t know how he would have made it through those first few months. Although Raul was still there and able to understand what it was he was going through, it was you who had been his anchor during that time.

It had just always been that way. They were your boys and you were their girl. But Peter had always held a special place in your heart, slightly different from that of the other two Mendes brothers. And it was something Shawn and Raul had noticed straight away both in yourself and in their youngest brother. While they held nothing but sisterly affection for you, they could see the longing and love in their brother’s eyes for you that wasn’t quite like that held for a sibling. They had never confronted Peter about it, and with his shy nature, it was something he had never felt the need to bring up, even to the two people he trusted most in this world. It had simply remained an unspoken, understood thing for years and years. Until one fateful day when you and Peter had been hanging out in your treehouse for old times sakes and feelings were blurted out, tears were shed, and lips met in a passionate, long over-due embrace.

That had been about a month ago and both you and Peter had never been happier. You had both unknowingly been holding onto these secret crushes for years, torturing yourselves over a love that you believed to be unrequited. The two of you often laughed over how stupid and oblivious you both had been and scolded each other playfully for not confessing sooner, but secretly you were content. No matter what happened, no matter the pain and heartbreak you had experienced in the past, it was all worth it if it had led to this moment, to the two of you being together as you were meant to be.

However, with that being said, the two of you had still been so nervous to come clean and open up about your relationship to his brothers. The four of you had been inseparable since you had been in diapers. You were worried how this would affect your friendship with Shawn and Raul, completely at a loss as to how they would react to this information. Nevertheless, you and Peter both knew that this was something you couldn’t keep secret. And so, the next day, you and Peter had decided to come forward at your weekly movie night.

Before pressing play once again on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, you and Peter had nervously announced that you had something to stay. Shawn and Raul had looked at each other in confusion before returning their gazes to the two of you.

Peter, anxiety spread clearly across his features, grabbed your hand to calm him down before taking a deep breath. “Y/N and I are dating,” he blurted out, squeezing his eyes shut briefly before nervously returning his gaze to the two boys before him.

Shawn and Raul had merely gaped at the two of you for a few moments, taken aback with not only the news, but how bluntly it was delivered, before both let out whoops of joy, pumping their firsts in the air.

“Fucking finally!” Raul had shouted, before delivering a quick punch to Shawn’s arm. “You owe me $20, asshole!”

“Wh-what??” You spluttered out in confusion. “You placed bets on us??”

“Well, yeah,” Shawn shrugged, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “And if the two of you would have come to your senses a little sooner, I wouldn’t have lost,” he grumbled, reaching into his back pocket to pull out his wallet, and hand over Raul’s winnings.

“Oh, shut up,” Raul rolled his eyes. “You’re an international rock star. $20 isn’t going to break you. If anything, we should’ve made the bet for more.”

You and Peter merely gaped at the two boys in front of you, not expecting this reaction at all.

“C’mon, you two,” Raul scoffed, noticing your silence. “You two were so obvious! You’ve been pining after each other for I don’t know how many years now! It was only a matter of time.”

You and Peter continued to stare in silence before turning to each other, small smiles beginning to form on your faces. Yeah, looking back, you guess it was pretty obvious.

. . . . . . . . . .

Shortly after coming clean, Shawn had been whisked away for another leg of his worldwide tour and Raul’s business in the mechanic shop had picked up, leaving him with very little free time to spend with you and Peter. It was nice to have uninterrupted time with your boyfriend, especially at the beginning while you were still navigating the transition from friends to couple. However, you couldn’t help but miss your other two boys. That had been your biggest fear all those years spent pining after Peter. First, you had been concerned that his feelings for you were not reciprocated. And secondly, you were afraid, that if by whatever miracle Peter DID return your feelings, how that would affect your relationship with the other two Mendes boys.

Nonetheless, Raul finally had a free weekend from work and Shawn had just returned for a small break in his tour, leaving the four of you with your first opportunity in over a month to all hang out and catch up with one another. Truly, it would be your first time navigating this new relationship dynamic and balancing these new roles.

“Ready to go?” Peter murmured, coming up behind you and placing his hands on your shoulders softly, pulling you from your thoughts.

You smiled at his reflection in the mirror, admiring your handsome boyfriend, still slightly unbelieving that he was finally yours.

“Yeah,” you sighed, letting out a giggle when he made a funny face at you through the reflection of the mirror.

“You look beautiful,” he sighed, placing a gentle kiss on the top of your head before moving to turn you around and wrap you in his warm embrace.

You sighed in contentment, wrapping your own arms around his torso and burying your face in his strong chest, inhaling the comforting scent that was Peter.

“I love you, Peter,” you breathed, lifting your head to look him in the eye, conveying the indisputable truth of your statement with your eyes.

“I love you too, pretty girl,” he smiled before dipping his head to press a gentle kiss to your lips.

Pulling away, he offered you one more sweet smile before reaching down to grab your hand and pull you along. “C’mon, we can’t be late. Shawn and Raul were already teasing me about how they would know now that we were sucking each other’s faces off if we’re late.”

You laughed. “Well, they’re technically not wrong.”

Peter rolled his eyes but couldn’t hide the grin that broke out across his face.

“Let’s just go.”

. . . . . . . . . .

As soon as the two of you set foot in the basement of the Mendes family household, you were immediately tackled to the ground by two burly figures.

“Y/N!” They both shouted simultaneously, crushing you to themselves.

“Ok, ok, ok!” You called out. “I missed you too, but I’m about to die from lack of oxygen if you don’t let go of me!” You laughed.

The boys apologized, laughing, as they pulled you up and placed you firmly back on your feet. You couldn’t help the tears that began to well up in your eyes as you beheld the two in front of you. Your goofy, curly-haired, wonderful best friends.

“Aww, Y/N, enough of that emotional crap,” Raul grumbled good-naturedly.

“I can’t help it!” You defended. “I missed you guys!”

“Well, we missed you too,” Shawn promised, before he and Raul both pulled you into another tight hug.

“C’mon, Y/N,” Shawn stated, grabbing your hand and pulling you over to the couch. “Sit with us.”

Shawn plopped you down on the sofa, quickly taking a seat to your left while Raul immediately sat down on your other side, leaving no more space for Peter on the couch.

“Hey!” He protested, once he realized what had happened and that he would have to sit alone in the armchair. “That’s my girlfriend you’re stealing, you know?”

“Yeah, we know,” Raul rolled his eyes. “That’s exactly why we get to steal her tonight. You get her every day. We haven’t seen her in a month. We’re long overdue for some special Y/N cuddles.”

You flushed, happy that things were just as they were before with your two best friends. Although they seemed tough and strong to everyone else, you knew the truth: that they were really giant teddy bears with hearts of gold who craved touch and affection. And lucky for you, you were one of their favorite people to supply that affection.

Looking up at your boyfriend though, who was still standing in the middle of the room, you noticed that he looked less than impressed with this situation.

“It’s ok, Pete,” you murmured, doe eyes looking back up at him in an attempt to calm him. “After the movie, you and I can cuddle all you want. Shawn and Raul are right, they haven’t seen me in so long. They’re far overdue for some attention.”

Peter huffed, but stepped aside before reluctantly falling into the armchair, a small pout prominent on his lips. You smiled secretly. You knew he was trying to look put-out and upset, but really, he just looked too damn adorable.

“Alright, let’s get this show on the road!” Shawn called out, pressing play on the movie before settling down as the familiar theme music began to fill the room.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

About an hour into the film, Peter remained stoic in the same position he had first found himself in at the beginning of the movie, much to his disappointment. Looking over at the crowded sofa, a scowl overtook his expression as he saw Shawn cuddled up into your side with his head on your lap, your fingers running absently through his curls and Raul asleep on your shoulder, your head resting comfortably on top of his own.

That should be me, he thought bitterly. That’s my girlfriend, not theirs.

Sensing his heavy gaze, you turned your head to meet his eyes, offering a smile at your boyfriend. However, that smile quickly transformed to a frown when you were met by an icy look from Peter before his gaze returned steadily to the television set.

Before you could dwell on the odd reaction any longer, Raul turned his head slightly to the side as he stirred, pressing a gentle kiss to the crown of your head. Smiling at the boy by your side, you nestled yourself further into their warmth, choosing to simply enjoy being reunited with your best friends.

. . . . . . . . . . 

Once the movie was over, you tried to stretch out your limbs, but found that impossible as you were still entangled with the two giant Mendes boys. Groaning as you nudged them away from your body, you stretched out your stiff muscles before relaxing back against the sofa, the two boys immediately following your every movement and curling back into your warmth.

Peter glared daggers at the sight before him, becoming increasingly more upset that after a long week of work, he was unable to do the one thing that he had been looking forward to: cuddling up next to you and watching a movie as he reunited with his brothers. However, this night had not exactly gone as planned. Never had he imagined that he would have to sit all alone on a completely separate chair while his two brothers attached themselves to his girlfriend like needy koala bears. He was your koala bear. Him. You were supposed to be giving him your attention.

Also, Peter couldn’t handle the thoughts of insecurity and jealousy that would flit into his mind as he repeatedly glanced over at the three of you. Although he trusted his brothers, and you as well, with his life and knew none of you would ever do anything to hurt him, he couldn’t help but wonder if one day you would wake up and realize you had chosen the wrong triplet. Peter closed his eyes in frustration. Really though, why would you pick him? You could have chosen the famous rockstar or the mysterious bad boy that had girls chasing after him wherever he went. Instead, you had somehow ended up with Peter. The quiet, shy, awkward, nerdy Peter. Sometimes, Peter thought that it was just too good to be true. Most of the time, however, he was able to combat these thoughts away, reassured of your love for him by your soft touch and gentle words of love and devotion. However, it was hard to remember that right now as he had now spent the last three hours watching as you were wrapped in the arms of his brothers.

Taking a deep breath, Peter decided that he was being irrational. In an attempt to turn the night around, Peter leaned forward slightly in his chair, causing you to turn your attention over to him. “Hey, Y/N,” he murmured. “Why don’t we head out? We can grab something to eat on our way home?”

Before you could respond, Shawn piped up from beside you, throwing his arm around your shoulders and pulling you into him. “No, Pete! You guys just got here. I haven’t gotten my Y/N fix yet. Why don’t we all go out for ice cream or something?”

Raul quickly agreed and you shrugged as well, thinking that was a fair compromise. After all, you were here to hang out all together and catch up after so long. You didn’t really want to leave straight away either.

Peter, on the other hand, didn’t look as pleased with this suggestion.

“But, Y/N,” he protested. “You said we could go home and cuddle after the movie night!”

“I know, Pete,” you sighed. “But we came here to spend time with your brothers. Shawn’s going to be back on the road soon and we’re all going to be so busy with work,” you reasoned. “We can cuddle together anytime.”

Peter simply huffed in response, pulling his phone out of his pocket and dutifully ignoring the lot of you as he seemingly scrolled through his Instagram.

Shawn and Raul shared a look, using their secret triplet telepathy to communicate, something that you usually found cool, but now found obnoxious as you were left out of the loop.

Trying to ease the tension that was now heavy in the room, you sat up and directed your voice at Peter. “Why don’t we all go out for ice cream like Shawn suggested?” You began. “I’ll share with you Pete,” you sang softly, hoping that your offer would pull him out of his mood.

However, your words achieved the opposite reaction of what you had been hoping for. Peter gave a slight grunt in acknowledgement to indicate that he had heard your words, but otherwise gave no response.

Having enough of their brother’s attitude towards his girlfriend and their best friend, Shawn and Raul both stood up simultaneously, towering over their brother intimidatingly before Raul reached down and snatched the phone out of Peter’s hand.

“Hey!” Peter protested. “Give that back!”

“Not until you learn some respect, dumbass,” Raul reproached.

Peter opened his mouth in indignation, ready to contradict his brother’s words; however, Shawn landed a quick punch to his arm and continued on scolding the youngest triplet. “Raul’s right, Pete. Learn some respect. That’s not the way you treat your girl. I don’t know what your problem is, but you better get the hell over it and fast.”

You looked down, not really knowing what to say or do in response. This was definitely not a situation that you were prepared to deal with tonight.

Luckily, you didn’t have to say anything. Peter had hung his head in shame, quickly realizing what a dick he had been. Peter naturally had a very kind, sweet nature. It was usually Raul with the attitude. But Peter couldn’t help it. You made him absolutely crazy. The logic flew out of his brain around you. It was one of the things he loved and hated about being with you.

“You’re right, guys,” Peter breathed out, shame coursing through his veins. “I’m sorry.”

“We’re not the ones you need to be apologizing to,” Shawn corrected.

At that, you looked up, noticing three pairs of eyes now on you.

“We’ll give you two some privacy,” Raul offered, him and Shawn moving toward the doorway, the soft click of the door closing echoing in the silence left by their absence.

“Y/N,” Peter sighed regretfully, standing from his previous position on the armchair to make his way over towards you.

Silently, you looked up at him, eyes meeting his apologetic gaze. “I’m so sorry, Y/N, they were right. I was being a dick. You didn’t deserve that.”

“Then why did you act that way, Pete? I don’t understand. Everything was fine and then all of a sudden . . . “ you trailed off.

“I know, I know,” Peter sighed, running a hand through his curly locks. “It’s so stupid though.”

Reaching out, you took hold of his hand, squeezing softly. “If it caused you to get that upset, it’s not stupid, Peter. Just tell me. That way we can avoid a repeat in the future.”

Peter let out a breath. “I was jealous, ok?”

“What?” You questioned, taken aback, definitely not expecting that.

Peter groaned, lifting his face up to the ceiling in frustration. “See? I told you it was stupid.”

“No, baby, no,” you reassured, bringing a hand up to caress his cheek, gently bringing his face back down so you could look him in the eye. “It’s not stupid. I just don’t understand,” you explained. “You know your brothers and I are just best friends. There’s never been anything more between us. Was there something I did or said that made you think something was happening? Or . . . ?” You trailed off, still not quite seeing what had caused Peter’s jealousy.

“No, no, of course not!” Peter exclaimed. “I know there’s nothing going on between you and either of them. I know that! I trust you and I trust them. It’s just . . .” Peter struggled to get the words out. “It’s just . . . how do you know you made the right choice?”

“I’m sorry?” You questioned, flabbergasted. “Made the right choice in what?”

“In me!” He shouted, desperation flooding his voice. “You could have had either one of them. I know people talk. It doesn’t make sense to them. You’re so beautiful and kind and smart. You’re perfect! Why would you want to be with me?” His breath came heavily, panting at finally letting all these pent-up emotions flood out of him. “I’m the awkward, weird one out of the three of us. You’ve always been just as close with Shawn and Raul. Why didn’t you choose one of them?”

You stared at him in astonishment for a few moments, trying to collect your thoughts at the admission of your boyfriend, your heart breaking. You had never guessed that he felt that way.

Sighing, you scooted forward until you were practically sitting in his lap. Gently, you grabbed his face in both of your hands, forcing him to look directly at you, needing him to see the truth and importance of what you were about to tell him.

“Because they’re not you,” you stated simply.

Peter’s brows merely furrowed in response, clearly not understanding. You almost rolled your eyes. How could this sweet, beautiful boy be so completely clueless of how much you loved him?

“Because they’re not you,” you reiterated. “I love you, Peter. It has always been you,” you stated softly, leaning forward to place a gentle kiss to his nose.

“It’s true,” you continued to explain. “You’re not your brothers. You’re not musically inclined like Shawn. You don’t have that whole bad boy rep going on like Raul, but Peter, that is what makes you special. You’re you. And there’s no one else like you, baby,” you promised.  “I love you because of who you are. You’re my sweet, wonderful boyfriend. You’re the one who takes the time to listen to my day because you genuinely care about each and every detail. You’re the one who geeks out over books and can quote Star Wars by heart. You cry with me while watching those cheesy rom-coms I force you to watch and you kill spiders for me even though you’re terrified of them yourself!”

Peter let out a small chuckle at that, a lone tear escaping from the corner of his eye. Gently, you wiped it away with the pad of your thumb, stroking the soft skin of his cheek.

“You make me feel so safe and loved and special, each and every day Peter. I’ve loved you since we were kids. I’ve never had eyes for anyone else. I’m sorry if I made you doubt that tonight. It’s definitely a transition with your brothers now that we’re dating and I guess I just didn’t want your brothers to feel left out now that we’re together,” you admitted. “I’m sorry,” you apologized.

“No, no, no,” Peter shushed you, strong hands coming up to rest over your own that were still cupping his cheeks. “I’m sorry,” he stressed. “I let my insecurity get out of control and caused me to act out. You’re right, it is a transition now that the relationship roles have changed and that’s just something that we’re all going to need to adjust to. It’s going to take a bit of time, but we’ll get there. I need to get over my insecurities and my brothers need to understand also that you and I need some alone time,” he explained softly.

You nodded. “Exactly. It’s all about compromise and taking the time to learn and navigate these new dynamics.”

“I’m sorry for being an ass,” Peter apologized, smiling slightly at you.

“It’s ok,” you assured. “If the roles had been reversed, I might have been just as jealous.”

Peter smirked. “Oh, yeah? Maybe next movie night, I’ll have to cuddle up with Shawn and Raul and leave you all alone on the armchair.”

You scoffed, hitting his arm. “Oh, hell no. You three aren’t leaving me on that chair by myself. I’ll lay on top of you all if I have to!”

Peter laughed. “See? It’s no fun sitting off all alone,” Peter pouted.

You giggled. “Maybe we should all just invest in a larger sofa?” You offered.

Peter hummed in approval, leaning forward to press a lingering kiss to your temple. “Maybe we can convince Shawn to buy it,” he chuckled.

“Yo!” Two curious heads popped around the corner. “Have you two lovebirds made up yet? I wasn’t kidding about that ice cream,” Raul stated.

You laughed, standing up and pulling your boyfriend up along with you.

“Yes, you goofs, let’s go!”

The two boys cheered and Peter rolled his eyes playfully, slinging his arm around your shoulder.

“That is, if Pete’s little jealousy streak is over,” Shawn teased, wiggling his eyebrows at his brother.

“Oh, Y/N, what am I to do? My two insanely attractive brothers are just so irresistible! How could you ever resist them?”Raul imitated Peter dramatically, throwing a hand across his face.

“That’s it, you better run!” Peter called out, removing his arm from around you before sprinting off after the two laughing Mendes brothers.

Shaking your head, you followed after them. Life was certainly never dull around the Mendes triplets, but you certainly wouldn’t have it any other way.

#shawn mendes x reader #mendes triplet au #mendes triplet imagine #shawn peter raul #shawn mendes imagine #shawn mendes angst #shawn mendes fluff #peter mendes x reader #raul mendes x reader #peter mendes angst #peter mendes fluff #mendes triplets #reader insert #shawn mendes one shot #shawn mendes au #magicalmarauder

[sweetness47]

The Shaman’s Choice Ch. 4

Pairing Alpha!Sam x Omega!Reader

Characters of the series include: Alpha!Dean x Omega!Jo, reader’s parents, Reader’s grandmother, Reader’s brothers (Darren OC & Michael OC), Mary, Jack, Apocalypse Archangel!Michael

Chapter 4:

@spnkinkbingo square filled (case fic)

@spnabobingo square filled (Jealous Alpha)

@samwinchesterbingo square filled (free space)

Word Count: 3053

Summary: So this is an SPN fic, but contains a lot of wild AU ideas. Bear with me while the story unfolds, and enjoy it.

Warnings for all chapters just in case: MATURE 18+ READERS ONLY! smut, sex, unprotected sex, abo dynamics, knotting, mating bites, claiming, oral, shower sex, sibling arguments, swearing, violence, mentions of brother in love with sister (unhealthy obsession, jealousy)

The entire bunker was echoing as Sam let out a loud “Whoop!!” and kissed his Omega. Well wishes came from all, but none more thrilled than the expectant parents. YN put in a call to her own parents, not giving details, but asking if she and Sam could come by for a visit. (Mom & Dad) were happy to hear from their daughter, and even more thrilled to have them visit.

The four-hour drive was filled with plans for a nursery as well as lots of ideas for baby names. YN made sure to tell Sam about the estate, more specifically the fact that it was quite extensive. She didn’t want him to feel uncomfortable with the fact that her family was rich. Sam assured her that he was fine and not to worry.

She worried anyways, because Michael would also be there. They hadn’t spoken or seen each other since that first night she met Sam. Her mind drifted back to memories of when she and Michael were younger, and compared them to Sam’s first impression of her brother. Jealousy.

Sam looked over at YN. “You ok?” he asked.

She nodded. “Yeah, just thinking about Michael. Haven’t seen or heard from him since that first night. Darren has checked in more than Mike. Hell, I’ve heard from my Nana more than from Mike.”

She looked over at Sam and sighed. He sensed her sadness, but he didn’t know what to say. He did, however, want to kick her brother’s ass for hurting YN like that. But he wouldn’t, not without a damn good reason anyways.

She was so pre-occupied that she almost missed the private road. “Turn here Sam.”

He slowed and turned, stopping when he hit a dead end five minutes later. “YN?”

“Apparuistis.” She exclaimed.

Where stood a dense forest now appeared a large security gate. Sam gave a low whistle of wonder as he surveyed the extensive grounds, driving up to the parking area YN had pointed to, and putting the Impala in park. Dean was a tad apprehensive about loaning Baby, but he trusted his brother and YN implicitly. The classic car was in impeccable condition, and would impress everyone.

Both were greeted warmly by YN’s parents, Nana, and Darren. Michael was no where to be found. She asked the question that weighed on her, though in her heart, she already knew the answer. “Mama, where’s Mike?”

The room went quiet. It was Darren who spoke up. “YN, no one’s seen him for days. He disappeared shortly after you and Sam got together.”

Tears fell from YN’s eyes, and Sam wrapped his arms and escorted her to the living room. The others followed, bringing mint tea and some fresh baked cookies. YN felt a bit better after partaking in the refreshments. Her mother sat down beside her, and attempted a distraction.

“So, why the sudden visit, YN?”

YN glanced over at Sam, who smiled and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “Well…Sam and I are having twins!”

Sam nearly choked on his cookie, his eyes wide as saucers. Shouts of joy filled the parlour as the family celebrated, hugging both Sam and YN. Sam wore a huge grin for the rest of the day, through dinner, dessert, and the entire night. Twins! He wasn’t just gonna be a father, he was going to be a father twice! He made sweet gentle love to his Omega that night, mindful of her newfound condition.

The next morning, both were awakened by YN’s mother, who insisted they come downstairs immediately, nicely dressed. The two showered, and found nice, semi-formal clothing waiting on the bed for them. The clothes were fine silk, and Sam was surprised at how accurate the fit was. YN giggled at her Alpha’s expression, explaining some of her mother’s gifts to him. She had a knack for size and clothing creation, it was similar to how a photographic memory worked. YN stared at her dress, intricate beadwork adorning the neckline and the bodice. These were wedding clothes, or her tribe’s version of them.

The ceremony itself was short and simple, and YN wasn’t really surprised that this was planned. Sam wasn’t complaining, and neither was she. In reality, she liked this better…no big crowds, and no dress shopping. YN’s father escorted her down after her mother had escorted Sam down. Nana was standing in the parlour, waiting as (father’s name) brought her to Sam, putting her hand in his. Nana took a white silk ribbon and bound their joined hands while chanting, “Benedicite, amare, uxor, cor.”

Then, once the ribbon was secure, Nana looked at the couple and smiled. Raising her hands to the sky she whispered, “Ut benedicat haec duo sunt matrimonia iungeremus.”

The family stood. “Benedicat eis!”

YN smiled at Sam, who looked ridiculously happy, but mildly confused. “This is the kissing part.” She whispered, and Sam dove in, his mouth claiming hers as every one gathered to wish them well. The happy couple received numerous hugs and congratulations, and were thrilled beyond belief when they saw Dean and Jo, who had been invited over by Darren.

The feast lasted the better part of the day and evening. Sam and YN did manage to sneak off for a few minutes here and there, returning with slightly disheveled attire and both were blushing furiously. Everyone just acted as if that was perfectly normal, which it was for newlyweds. Darren had brought his Omega, Nikki as well, one of YN’s best friends, for the celebration. Sam, YN, Dean, Jo, Darren and Nikki talked and laughed for a better part of the night, becoming great friends by the end.

It was 5:00am when YN felt something strong, it was power, but from where she couldn’t guess. Quietly she slipped from the bed and peeked out the window to the grass below. Movement caught her eye. It almost looked like Michael, but the darkness made identifying him difficult. Stupid dickhead! If he’d gotten involved with drugs or some such shit, she’d kill him.

As quietly as she could, she slipped on joggers and a tee, carrying her runners so she wouldn’t make noise. She almost made it to the bedroom door.

“Where are you going, Omega?” came the groggy, yet commanding voice of her Alpha.

“Outside for a minute. I thought I heard something. I’m going to check it out.” YN whispered.

Before she could even blink he was there beside her. “Half truths are almost the same as lying YN. Talk to me.”

‘How can I? It could take you away from me! From our children!’

Her thoughts cried out to him, but she remained silent. Forasmuch as she wanted to tell him the truth, there was too much risk. Or was there. If this was to do with Mike, and her gut feeling, then she needed to keep Sam as far away as possible.

Still, despite the prophecy, he could end up involved or worse, killed. Tears fell from her (eye color) orbs, and she allowed Sam to hold her as sobs broke out. Sam soothed her with gentle words, stroking her hair, until she was able to talk.

“Oh Sam, I am so afraid of losing you, that’s why I haven’t said anything. Please stay here. I couldn’t bare it if you died because of me. Please Sam!”

Her Alpha sighed. He could sense her fear and the truth behind her words. But he had vowed to protect her, to keep her safe, and that wasn’t going to happen if she went by herself.

“Omega, look at me, please.” YN brought her eyes up to meet his. “I made a promise to your father and mother, that I would protect you, and I intend to uphold my promise, and my vow to you. I’m coming with you, and there’s no talking me out of it.”

He held her close, nuzzling her neck as he always did. It brought her some comfort, his scent had become her own personal calming agent. Besides, at least this way she could watch him, and ensure his safety. Plus, there were the pups to think about now, she really couldn’t blame him for wanting to come. She just didn’t want to lose him either, so right then she decided to dig her own path, and stray from the warnings.

“Ok, Sam, but I need to tell you something first. Please don’t hate me.” YN’s voice was barely a whisper.

“I could never hate you.” Came his reply.

He pulled her onto his lap as she began to speak, telling him the whole story: the prophecy, the powers, the mark…all of it. Once finished, she closed her eyes and waited for the yelling and hurt feelings that she was so sure would follow. Instead, Sam stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head.

“We’ll be ok YN, promise.” He whispered. “I’ve got your back always.”

She wanted to believe him. Her mind blocked out the negative as she and her Alpha made their way outside. She had to believe his promise, or she wouldn’t be able to do this, whatever this was. Michael had disappeared from view, but his scent was strong, too strong. Mike was in a rut, a bad one. Sam noticed it too, a low growl escaping his chest as he followed his Omega closely, senses on high alert. Brother or not, if he made any move toward YN that Sam perceived as threatening, Sam would tear Michael to shreds.

The scent continued deep into the woods. Sam held YN’s hand, never wanting to let go. He had a bad feeling, one that only intensified after hearing YN’s story, and hearing about the prophecy. And now with Michael in a rut? That just added to the excitement.

YN motioned for them to stop, so they waited and listened. Voices, two distinct ones, Michael and one she didn’t recognize, were coming from the clearing. Then light flashed, bright enough to blind the eavesdroppers briefly.

The light faded as Michael’s voice rang out, or at least it sounded like Mike. But YN knew her brother well enough. Whoever was talking, it most certainly was not her twin.

“YN? Come closer. Bring your mate. I know your there. Don’t make me come find you.”

Sam squeezed her hand with some reassurance, and the two stepped into the open. The man before them smelled like her brother, and yet it didn’t smell or sound like him. The saw his eyes, and Sam knew what had happened.

“Michael.” He said quietly.

YN looked at her Alpha with even more confusion. “Sam, what…?”

Sam stopped her. “No YN, not your brother. The Archangel Michael.”

Michael stepped forward, and Sam bared his fangs, growling deep in his chest. “Stay back. You touch her and I’ll rip you apart.”

The Archangel-turned-Alpha flicked his wrist, expecting to send Sam flying against the nearest tree. But he didn’t.

Instead, at the same moment, YN’s voice rang out.

“Clipeum!”

Sam stood as the force went around his form, shocking him but his anger never waivered. YN wasn’t even close to being done, however.

“Ignis!”

Michael was caught off guard at the sudden attack, and his meat suit went flying against the nearest tree. His clothes were slightly charred, but still intact. He wasted no time, and gained the upper hand while YN was focused on the offense. He lifted Sam into the air, slowly constricting his airways.

YN cried out. “No! Leave him alone!”

Michael pondered this, his mouth turning slowly into a smile that made YN shiver. “Why should I? He and his brother have been thorns in my side for a while now. Plus…, he added, “This one took you as his mate, before your brother could claim you as his own.”

YN visibly paled, but she stood her ground. “Michael please. You know he’s my soulmate! Leave him be. Please! I’ll do anything. Just don’t hurt him.” Tears fell as she begged the Archangel for mercy.

“Be careful what you promise, YN. Here’s the deal. I’ll leave your Alpha alive, hell I’ll spare all the Winchesters if…” his smile turned dark, and YN felt nauseous, “You renounce Sam and take me as your Alpha.”

“NO!” Sam screamed, his eyes read with anger. “YN, don’t! Live free! I’m not worth that.” He stared at his nemesis/brother in law. “You can’t trust him.”

YN’s heart was torn. Her love for Sam, and her desire to keep him safe, versus an eternity of misery in a loveless union, with her own flesh and blood as her Alpha. She felt sick inside. What kind of choice was this? The outcome sucked either way. If she said no, Sam would die. If she said yes, Sam would live but she would no longer be his. Sam was right though. There was no guarantee Michael would keep his word. Then she had another thought.

“If I say yes, Sam, Dean, and all their family and friends live. You don’t touch them, you don’t hurt them in any way. And when my pups are born, Sam gets sole custody of them, his to raise. That’s my condition. If you go back on the deal, our union is void and Sam becomes mine again.”

“YN! Don’t worry about me! Let me go. Don’t give in to that monster!” Sam cried.

Tears fell hard. “I love you too much Sam. I can’t watch him kill you. Promise me you’ll take good care of our pups. Please!”

Sam nodded, and YN turned to Michael. “Do we have a deal, Michael?” She held her hand out to her brother-turned-angel.

Michael stepped forth to grab the hand, eager to seal the deal. “We do indeed.”

YN’s hand closed around her brother’s hand and smiled. “NOW SAM!”

Michael frowned and went to move, but realized quickly that he was frozen in place. Then fear filled him as Sam spoke an all too familiar verse:

Omnipotentis dei potestatem invoco

Omnipotentis dei potestatem invoco

Aborbe terra

Hunc angelum omne obsequendum

Domine expuet

Domine expuet

Ut deum ad empyreum remittat

 YN, still holding his hand, clarified. “See, you are smart, the whole plan was actually pretty good. But, both you and my dumbass brother overlooked a few things.”

Sam stood up, no longer in Michael’s power, and came to stand beside his Omega.

YN continued. “My brother and I are twins…identical twins. Near impossible, I know, but our DNA will prove it. We share a special connection no one else does. Telepathy. I knew the moment he came to you. I knew all of it, all the betrayal. I wanted so hard to believe that my own brother wasn’t capable of that. I tried to find a way to bring him back to us.”

Sam spoke then. “YN told me everything. The reason you can’t move? Her palm has an angel trap on it, bound with her power. She is indeed very powerful, I’d venture more powerful than you. And…”, he leaned in close, teeth bared, “she’s mine.”

YN let his hand go then, and Michael, the archangel, began to leave her brother’s body. But in a parting shot, the angel went to send Sam flying against the nearest tree in an attempt to kill him, but YN felt the thought and pushed Sam out of the way, the blast sending her flying, crashing against a large pine. Bones shattered, and YN cried out, her body crumpling to the ground. Sam screamed her name, his rage directed at Michael, incinerating him and his host. He ran to his Omega, his beautiful YN, checking for a pulse.

He found none.

Sam’s grief was great. His voice howled through the woods as he mourned his loss. As he lay his head on her chest, tears covering her shirt, he stroked her hair and kissed her, then he covered his face as sadness consumed him.

There was movement, but none that he noticed at first. Sam’s tears began to glow, and disappear into YN’s skin. Then his eyes snapped open as the shattered bones of her spine began to pull themselves back together. Her lungs drew breath, and YN coughed as her eyes opened, the oxygen flooding her system.

Sam’s jaw dropped to the ground, staring at the miracle that had just happened. He wasted no time in gathering her into his arms, kissing her fiercely. She moaned, partly from pain and confusion, and partly because she was enjoying the attentions her alpha was showing her. She knew partly the reason for the emotional overflow…she’d died…and honestly she wasn’t sure how she was sitting up and breathing. That’s when she felt it, or rather them…her twins! They had used healing power on her, which was near unheard of. Most infants, no matter their lineage, didn’t have that kind of knowledge.

Sam’s power though, she knew where that came from. She’d given him the ability to share her powers when she had left her mark on his shoulder, in other words, the mating bite she’d bestowed upon him. The prophecy. She shook her head as everything fell into place.

Then there was her twin…the one puzzle piece she had wanted to be wrong about. His behavior made sense now, but it was still alot for her to process. Sam helped YN to stand up, supporting her until he was sure she wouldn’t fall, and together they started back to the house. She had no idea what she was going to tell her parents or Darren, but at least now she felt safe, felt at peace. There were no more threats or immediate danger to her or Sam.

#spnkinkbingo #spnabobingo #samwinchesterbingo

[traincat]

I know you've already sort of discussed this but could you please explain the marvel 2 in 1 ending... what I'm getting is that the gist of it is that Reed and Sue are just like 'lol whoops I guess we sorta forgot about u'... which is really kinda anticlimactic and abrupt. Did I read it wrong or something? All that build up and angst just for it to go down the drain... is there something more to it that I'm missing that you know of?

I can explain it, but the answer’s not going to satisfy you, because it doesn’t satisfy me. Long story short: there were implications there was something more to the story than Marvel Two-In-One’s final two issues said, but Fantastic Four hasn’t followed up on that like, at all, and shows no signs that they’re going to anytime soon.

In the interests of putting all of the pieces together, I’m going to lay out everything that happened between the cancellation of the Fantastic Four title and now, because there are a lot of fuzzy periods. The Fantastic Four disappeared from the Marvel universe and from the shelves back in 2015, following Jonathan Hickman’s Secret Wars event. In Secret Wars, the multiverse has been destroyed and cobbled back together into Battleworld, a realm where Doctor Doom rules as god king, with Sue as his wife, Ben transformed into a huge wall, and Johnny as Battleworld’s artificial sun. It’s a real fractured fairy tale. At the end of Secret Wars, Reed defeats Doom and reunites his family. Using Franklin’s mutant ability to create entire universes and the Molecule Man’s powers, Reed, Sue, and the children of the Future Foundation set out to recreate the multiverse. Ben and Johnny are sent back to their own Earth with comment that “their stories aren’t done yet.” Doom is also sent back with his scarred face restored. 

The cancellation of the Fantastic Four at this point heralds the first time Marvel had been without a Fantastic Four book on the shelves since 1961. We know – partially because it was painfully obvious, and partially because Jonathan Hickman spilled the beans – that the Fantastic Four comics were cancelled because of a film rights dispute; aka, Marvel Studios and Disney didn’t have the film rights, and Ike Perlmutter threw a fit about it. Instead of doing their best to put out a good book that would draw in comics audiences, Marvel instead cancelled Fantastic Four, citing low readership. Marvel has denied this, but the truth is pretty obvious, especially with how the Fantastic Four’s return to comics just so happened to coincide exactly with when it became extremely clear that the Disney-Fox merger was going through. So right from the start we had this very inorganic reason as to why the Fantastic Four were hung up. Reed, Sue, and the kids were retired out of universe under the excuse that they were rebuilding the multiverse – which, to be fair, does work as a pretty good excuse. Johnny and Ben, on the hand, were kept in-universe and distributed to other properties, probably because of Ben – who, let’s be honest, is the most popular of the Fantastic Four and the moneymaker here – and because it made more sense to keep Johnny and Ben than just Ben. 

Immediately post-Secret Wars, there was an eight month (iirc) timeskip in the main Marvel universe, meaning that books that picked up after the events of Secret Wars picked up significantly after it; we see very little of the Secret Wars fallout. Here’s what we do know concerning the Fantastic Four: Reed, Sue, and the kids were largely believed to be dead, although Johnny in particular initially refused to believe that. Sometime during this timeskip, Johnny and Ben had some kind of fight. We don’t know what it was about. Honestly, at this point, we’re unlikely to ever know what it was about. Whatever it was, it was bad enough that Ben and Johnny severed all communication and Ben left the planet to join the Guardians of the Galaxy. What followed was the longest separation between Ben and Johnny that we’ve ever seen in canon. Johnny and Ben are famous for squabbling, but their fights rarely last longer than a few days at most; they’re extremely close, to the point that when Ben was presumed dead, Johnny’s coping mechanism mirrored Ben’s long time love and current wife Alicia’s. This post-Secret Wars separation between them lasted longer than when Ben thought Johnny had gotten together with said longtime love Alicia (it was a Skrull in disguise, but nobody would know that for like 80 issues). This separation between them is completely unprecedented, and like I said, we have no idea what caused it.

This scene from Infamous Iron Man #9 is the closest I’ve gotten to determining a root of the fight – note Johnny says “my family”, all handily bolded for emphasis. Not “our family”, “my family.” Ben is the only member of the Fantastic Four not related by either marriage or blood to any of the others, which has been a very occasional sore spot in the past. But even this scene doesn’t quite make sense – it’s hard to imagine Ben and Johnny having a months long separation over this alone, and to make matters more confusing, before Infamous Iron Man #9, Johnny had tried to get in contact with Ben only to be rebuffed. In Infamous Iron Man #9, Ben gets in contact with Johnny only for Johnny to practically run away from him. Already the new dynamic here feels like it needed more attention in the narrative than it actually got.

I think part of the problem with this whole return of the Fantastic Four storyline – the actual return especially, but even the lead-up – is that it was never established what was keeping Reed and Sue from coming back. On top of that, if they had the power to send Johnny and Ben back, why weren’t they able to send them back with some sort of memory or guarantee that Reed, Sue, and the kids were okay? It would have been very easy to say “well, a supervillain did it!” You know, the easiest comic book plot excuse of all time. But they didn’t do that. And that creates a problem when it’s a well-established fact that Johnny in particular tends to fall into a deep depression and displays signs of self-harm when the team isn’t together. (Fantastic Four #191-193, Robinson’s Fantastic Four run, Ben’s death in Waid’s run.) Which is exactly what happened this time, too, both during the timeskip and in the lead-up to Marvel Two-In-One (2017). 

Marvel Two-In-One (2017) was essentially the test run for the return of the Fantastic Four. The original Two-In-One was to Ben Grimm what Marvel Team Up was to Peter Parker: essentially a team up book that revolved around one character. So it made sense to relaunch it starring Ben and Johnny. In Two-In-One, Ben discovers Johnny at the end of his rope, pulling life-threatening stunts in his grief and depression, and, willed a multidimensional travel device by Reed, decides to – to the best of his knowledge at the time – lie to Johnny and say that Reed and Sue might still be alive. Learning that they’re both losing their powers and will continue to do so unless they’re reunited with Reed and Sue, as their powers depend on the four of them being in the same universe (an interesting concept, though not one we’ve seen before), Ben and Johnny set off, with a worryingly helpful Doctor Doom on their heels, on a multiversal roadtrip to find their family – one Ben thinks will fail from the start because, as far as he knows, Reed and Sue are dead. It’s a really good concept, and a great concept that starts to fall apart as soon as the notion that Reed and Sue aren’t dead starts to float to the surface. In Two-In-One #9, stranded powerless with Ben in the desert in another universe and facing death, Sue appears to Johnny.

(Marvel Two-In-One #10) This brief contact is apparently enough to reignite Ben and Johnny’s powers to full strength. Sue says that her and Reed’s powers were gone, which does seem to track with the plot – except Johnny and Ben lost their powers over a prolonged period of time, not all at once. If Reed had realized he and Sue were losing their powers, he should have come to that conclusion far before this point in time. You can say the times don’t add up because different universes (which the “you haven’t met the Zaklons yet” line would seem to imply), but with no explanation about how Sue was able to contact Johnny – however briefly – at this point, it does make it seem like Reed and Sue could’ve made contact with Ben and Johnny at any point… and simply chose, for whatever reason, not to. Which is, ultimately, the story Two-In-One goes with. 

(Marvel Two-In-One #11) In the very next issue, Reed’s reasoning for why they didn’t take Ben and Johnny with them is that… they would’ve been bored by the science aspect of it all. Which is, I’m going to go ahead say, very out of character and not in the spirit of the Fantastic Four. They’re explorers, and they explore together. This seems like a weirdly brusque excuse to write off the absence so they can get back to the status quo as quickly as possible, using Reed’s science-obsessed image to make him the fall guy. Additionally, in this issue (which I have to say, I overall like – I wrote a whole Doom/Reed fic based off of it), Reed also offers another reason why the world had to believe he and Sue were dead:

In Marvel Two-In-One #11, Reed and Ben visit an alternate universe Doom who exists in a universe where his own Reed is dead. This Doom is a pretty okay dude at the moment – in fact, he and Reed had become, through Reed’s private multiversal travel, close friends. Using this (pretty flawed) logic of “Reed dead = Doom good??”, Reed deduced that if his own Doom thought Reed was dead, he… too would be good? Look, I don’t hate this. I’m a big Doom/Reed fan and the whole thing is pretty shippy and it also depends on Reed having an enormous attachment to Doom and an enormous desire for his own Doom to be like this other Doom, who is his friend. But as far as “why did Reed and Sue stay away as long as they did” explanations go, “Reed was kind of bonkers in love with Doom” is not the direction I expected things to go. Besides, it doesn’t really work, and it doesn’t really work for one big reason: Fantastic Four (2018) #1, the actual return of the Fantastic Four, was published before this, and Fantastic Four (2018) #1 implies a hugely different story.

Fantastic Four (2018) #1 sees Johnny and Ben returned to their home universe after the events of Marvel Two-In-One #10. The reader has no idea how they got there or what they’ve been doing since they got back, or even how long it’s been since they’ve been back. Despite the Sue sighting, at the very end of the issue, Johnny becomes convinced all over again that Reed and Sue are dead, up until… 

(Fantastic Four v6 #1) The staging here is important – Reed and Sue’s battle-ripped uniforms, and the cryptic lines between them, like Sue’s “what you plan to do… seems impossible.” This is compounded by dialogue between Franklin and Val in the next Fantastic Four issue:

“You think you can boost that signal enough… to reach Earth?” “Home? I’m good, but there’s no way I’m that good.” This would definitely seem to imply that, for some reason, Reed, Sue, and the kids can’t contact their home universe, or Ben and Johnny at all. I’m admittedly biased in favor of this version: the more time went by without Reed and Sue contacting Johnny and Ben and leaving them on their own, the more obvious it became that this was the best solution, to create some comic book reason why Reed and Sue simply couldn’t return home. But Fantastic Four (2018) #3 and #4 never really explore this more, and the subject gets dropped altogether, which makes for a very unsatisfying read. The Fantastic Four simply return home together and, some frankly too quickly brushed off anger and resentment from Johnny in Marvel Two-in-One’s closing issue aside, this gets swept under the rug in favor of the Fantastic Four just being back now! Hurrah! Pay no attention to the film rights hungry Mouse behind the curtain! 

If I wanted to, I could make the explanations presented in Fantastic Four (2018) and Marvel Two-in-One (2017) mesh – Reed has massive guilt issues stemming back to the accident that granted the Fantastic Four his powers. He has a bad habit of taking responsibility that isn’t necessarily his, and of not being 100% truthful in situations because he feels it’s for the best for everyone. (The massive amount of time he takes to reveal his powers are failing during Fraction’s Fantastic Four run, or in the two instances during Waid’s run where Reed uses cruel words to distract both Ben and Sue from his plans to sacrifice himself for them.) Reed might have chosen to take the blame on himself – come up with a story he knows will anger Ben, say that he thought he and Johnny would have been bored, because he felt it was somehow easier than admitting that he and Sue found themselves in some kind of situation where they simply couldn’t get back, and couldn’t contact Ben or Johnny. It’s a way of taking 100% of the blame on himself, which would be a very Reed thing to do. But that would be me doing the book’s work for it; this is absolutely not established within the actual canon as of the time of my writing this.

Honestly, I don’t think we’re likely to see this explored more any time imminently – the Fantastic Four were banished from the stands because of film rights. They came back because for three years dedicated fans asked where the Fantastic Four were, yes, but also because of those same film rights. Now that they’re back, there seems to be this huge rush to pretend it never happened: the Four are back together, and that’s that. It’s very unsatisfying, but it’s clear Marvel cared more about pushing the Fantastic Four back together as quickly as possible than writing a coherent, satisfying story that put together all the pieces of their in-universe disappearance.

#foil-in-a-thunderstorm #*replies #traincat talks comics #long post/

[isaflynns]

Character Development Questions | Writing Task

What is the biggest change in your character’s life since you’ve started playing them? Maybe they met someone, maybe they went through a life-or-death experience.

This question is virtually impossible to answer. More than any character I’ve ever played, Isabella has changed. When I first started writing her, I had no idea she’d grow into what she is now. Besides the short hiatus I recently took, and a few weeks here and there, I’ve written Isabella consistently for almost 2 years now, and it’s inevitable she’s changed in that time.

It’shard to pinpoint one big change, because she’s really changed gradually, but I’ll use this as an excuse to talk about the last Big Thing in Isabella’s life. And that is (disgustingly, still, months later) the Farmhouse. Who’s surprised? Nobody, honestly.

Not only was the Farmhouse was a big deal because it was dramatic and angsty and horrific, but it was such a dramatic departure from the typical dynamic of Edward and Isabella up til that point. Isabella had stalked Edward for ages before it, and been obsessed with him for so long that it’s ridiculous, but the Farmhouse was just an explosion of all that madness. It was a switch in a dynamic which had been, until that point, abusive from Edward’s side. He was her killer, her abuser, her gaslighter, and she was the victim. But the Farmhouse flipped that. It messed with the gender roles there, given that Isabella’s a woman. We often joked, at the time, that it was ridiculous. Isabella looks like a dorky librarian. She kidnapped and held a man hostage? Yes, dear reader. She did.

This was Isabella at her most insane, most delusional, most irrational. I’ve never driven a character to that place. Sure, I’m known for writing bad guys (or, at least, I’d like to think I am) but I’ve never actually had a sane character who’s gone insane before. The Farmhouse period was Isabella so completely removed from reality, and so sick, and so not herself. It was a chance for me to really go creepy, to have her stabbed in the stomach and not even change her dress, to have her listen to old-timey love songs on repeat, to have her slip so far from the neat, well put together, intelligent, woman she was. She was Isabella without any of her warmth, just the cold, clone, side. And I had so much fun with that.

I could talk about the Farmhouse forever, and I’ll bet everyone’s sick of hearing about it, so I’ll stop now. That, without a doubt, is the biggest transformative moment/period in Isabella’s life recently, possibly ever.

Which person has changed your character the most? A lover, a friend, a mentor, an enemy? (This can be a person within the RP, or someone from their past!)

Again, this is a hard question. Arguably, Hugo Strange changed Isabella the most, seeing as he’s responsible for her creation, for her change from Kristen Kringle to Isabella, but that feels like a cop-out, because Isabella is her own person, separate from Kristen (though it’s taken her a very long time to realise that).

I could talk about Edward, because Isabella and Edward practically come as a package deal, but I’ve already spoken about him. I’ll do it briefly, because it’s a crime not to. He, without a doubt, has had the most influence on Isabella. He helped her on her initial criminal journey, willingly or not, and he played a huge part in her first snap of sanity (when she murdered a security guard and drowned him in his own blood. Cheery.) I’m not saying that’s Edward’s fault, but he definitely had a hand in it. He could see she was slipping, no longer the person he fell in love with, but he did nothing to help her. Then, of course, we have the Farmhouse fiasco I mentioned previously. 

Another character who changed Isabella a lot, or at least whom you can measure her sanity by, was Oswald. You can measure how “with it” Isabella is by her relationship with Oswald. At her worst, Oswald was her mortal enemy, her object in the way of Edward, her romantic rival, intent on stealing “her” Edward away. At her best, Oswald has been her friend, and her criminal partner. He’s been her confidante, and her ally. Isabella’s sane times had coincided with her friendship with Oswald, and at her darkest, most insane times, she’s hated him. So, to stop myself from rambling any more , he’s definitely had a profound effect on her.

Has your character changed in positive ways? Have they found strengths they never knew they had? Or have they changed in negative ways – learning harsh truths about themselves they would rather have not known?

I’d say that Isabella’s actually changed in positive ways. If you use the Farmhouse as a benchmark for her last Big Drama (as I often do), then she’s only gone up from there. She had a temporary slip, where the Riddler tricked her into getting shot in the face by Oswald, but, besides that, she’s improved dramatically. She’s been in and out of Arkham, which actually helped her overcome her obsession. She’s held down her job she enjoys, rebuilt a lot of ruined friendships (namely with Harley and Oswald), and become a picture of health.

While she has learnt a lot of negative truths about herself -- her selfishness, her terrifying potential lack of empathy, her madness, her obsession -- she’s actually overcome all of those things. She’s accepted them about herself, accepted what she is capable of, and chosen not to let that win. Whether her actions in the Farmhouse were a result of clone programming (as I choose to believe) or just insanity, she’s not let that darkness back out again, and she has done everything she can to be more like her old self. And she’s actually glad she knows those things about herself, so she knows what she’s like at her worst, and she knows what behaviours and triggers to avoid.

Without a doubt, she’s changed more positively than she has negatively. She’s embraced her more Kristen-like, thoughtful, and maternal side, and actively tried to be a better person. Even after the many physical, mental, and emotional traumas she’s been through (least of which is the immense personal body horror she’s witnessed being inflicted upon herself), and that’s nothing if not positive character development.

How would you the writer, like to see your character change in the future?

Right now, I’m just glad to have Isabella back as a muse. I missed her terribly, and I’m really excited to see where she’ll go from here on out. Now she’s a “good” person, I intend to keep her this way. I can’t imagine she’ll ever slip back as dark as she did in the past, though the possibility is always there. I definitely want to explore her friendships, as she’s always been a pretty solitary character, by the nature of her personality. It would be great if she had more people in her life who knew she’s a clone, and if she got involved more with the “superhero” side of things.

She’s still got a tendency to be a judgemental bitch, and that won’t ever go away, so it would be interesting to balance her rather cold, uppity, side, with her maternal and kind side. For as “good” as she is now, she’s still got a judgemental streak, and arrogant side that I wish I could blame on the Riddler but really can’t. It’s always fun to play that less “nice” side of her. That includes, actually, her clone side. I love exploring her inhuman nature. I’m always up for some truly nasty body horror threads. At this point, there’s virtually nothing Isabella hasn’t been through, physically, but I’m sure I could always do more there.

#theaftermathtask #ooc

[chocolatemillkk]

Mine (JP)

Request: Right so, basically an imagine where you’ve been best friends with casp An josh for years lkke since school An you’re visiting them in London and after seeing joshs video with his gf come clean to casp on a night out telling him how in love you are with josh an casp is like no you have it all wrong it’s a fake girlfriend then josh finds out and it’s all cute and a happy ending

I sit at the airport excited to see my two best friends after three years being apart. The troublesome threesome, as all our school teachers nicknamed us. We were inseperable as kids but we'd all moved away from our roots and moved across the globe. But that didn't stop us as; there were weekly catch-ups on facetime and a group text that never stopped with notifications.

"Flight 002 to London has been delayed..." another announcement comes on and I hear a few people around me groan. I sigh and text the group to let the boys know. Josh sends back a sad face and a heart that puts a smile back on my face.

It seems like we were always this close because we'd known each other since before we were ten. There was one blip when we were 16, a semester where the three of us stopped talking altogether. That was the year I developed a massive crush on Josh, he got his first girlfriend, and I'd decided to be petty. I complained how he was ruining the group dynamic by hanging out with her more, how he was obsessed with her, and that caused us to argue, Caspar to go back and forth between us-because he couldn't choose a side, and ultimately Josh and I disowning Caspar too because he couldn't just choose just one of us. It was a long and dark few months. But we'd decided after that we wouldn't let our love lives get in between our friendship-luckily for me my love life was tangled with our friendship. Maybe that was was why, as I waited for a new announcement, I decided to check out the boys' channel for new videos and saw Josh's upload.

"His girlfriend?" I say out loud after I watch it and a few people glance my way. "What the fuck?" I whisper quietly.

We told each other everything-why didn't I know about this? I watch the video intensely, looking out for how they look at each other and touch each other and by the end of it I want to be sick.

•••

I'm landed and omw I can't wait, I text the group. I had landed an hour ago and finally collected my luggage. Unfortunately, both Caspar and Josh were too busy to pick me up so I was to take an uber to their flat. My uber driver makes small talk before we settle in silence.

I'll be home in a half hour, Caspar texts. I'm so excited

I send a heart and a few minutes later so does Josh and Caspar. I stare at Josh's name a little too long, my emotions still a little unsettled. I thought along with seeing my best friends this trip would give me some closure with the Josh part of my life. But knowing he had a girlfriend made this all the more complicated. I would just have to ignore my feelings.

I arrive at the flat and let the boys know and when the elevators open I spot Josh and Caspar with their flat door open. Caspar wears an eager expression and he looks the same as he always did, my heart smiles at the sight of him. Josh looks handsome, he'd definitely grown into his height and he looks at me with a mixture of excitement and something else...he has a girl, I remind myself but my heart still sings at the sight of him.

"She's here!" Caspar shouts and wraps me in a hug. I almost tear up in his arms, ones I haven't felt in years, and Josh joins from the other side as we become a ball of limbs and love.

"Just so you know," Josh says over us. "Caspar wanted to scare you as you got off the elevator but I stopped him."

"Josh!" Caspar lets go and pushes him. "You're such a liar!"

Josh laughs, "It's true!"

"I believe it," I roll my eyes and grab ahold of my luggage but Caspar takes it from my hand. "He would do it for the views."

"I forgot that you two gang up on me when we get together," Caspar pouts and wheels the suitcase inside. Josh and I high-five as we laugh at Caspar's retreating figure.

"I missed you," Josh gives me a side hug. I wrap my hands around his waist as we walk side by side into the flat.

"So Conor's not in London you'll take his room," Josh explains as Caspar steps out from it. "Make yourself at home."

"Home is wherever you two are," I say, feeling sentimental.

"Aww," the boys mock me and ruffle my hair. I push their hands away and lock myself in the bedroom, wanting to feel settled in.

•••

I'm groggy post-nap and hear Caspar talking in his room. I follow the sound of a the television into the living room where Josh and a couple of his friends sit.

"Hey," I call out.

Jack, a friend I'd met briefly before, looks up and smiles. Mikey gets up with Josh and Josh drags me to where they all sit and places me beside him.

"...she's finally visiting us she made space in her busy schedule..." Josh is talking to Jack and Mikey, bragging about what I did, but I still feel jet-lagged and am barely keeping up with the conversation.

"How long do you stay? Y/N?" I'm snapped out when I hear the question.

"For the month," I answer. "Then I'm heading home to South Africa."

"Before we know it our entire group will be replaced by South Africans," Jack jokes and we laugh.

"That's not a bad thing," I glance at Josh and we share a smile. He puts his arm around me as the boys continue watching whatever they were watching and I pull out my phone to update my social media. I watch the last quarter of football with the boys before Jack and Mikey head out and Josh and I remain on the couch.

"Tell your mom I said hi and not to worry because I'm keeping an eye on you," Josh notices I was texting my mom.

"I still don't know why she loves you the most," I shake my head and Josh peers over my shoulder to read my mom's response.

"She knows I have a heart of gold," he says seriously.

"Does she now?" I roll my eyes as we banter back and forth. It feels dangerously close to flirting as Josh leans further into me; he looks at me with an intensity that makes my stomach flutter with butterflies.

But he had a girlfriend.

"I should freshen up if we're going out," I say suddenly. I could tell Josh is confused by the change in my tone because his eyebrows knit together before he leans back to where he sat before. I get up and smooth out my top. "I'll see what Caspar's up to."

"Uh sure," Josh tugs at his ear, a light pink colouring his cheeks. "Yeah."

I knock on Caspar's door but he doesn't respond. "You better be decent," I shout as I open it to find Caspar asleep on top of his sheets. I groan, getting him up would be a task but a couple hours later Caspar, Josh, and I are all ready for a night out-my first night out in London.

"Casp are you still just as bad with the ladies?" I ask. "Remember you tried learning magic when we were fifteen."

"I got pretty good!" Caspar says.

"He did," Josh admits.

"I use a different kind of magic now," Caspar points a finger gun at me and Josh and I groan as we all laugh.

"How about you?" Josh asks, suddenly forcing a casual tone. "Are you dating somebody?"

"Since last weekend when I went on that huge rant about why guys suck?" To be fair, I was drunk when I texted them the three-paragraph message.

"Heh I guess," Josh says and Caspar snorts.

"Josh has no game," Caspar says. Which was odd to me since he had a girlfriend.

"But doesn't-" I start but Caspar cuts me off, pointing to the place he was taking us. We had arrived.

•••

"Caspar!" I shout into the crowd. It was a few hours later and I was buzzing with the drinks I had. Josh had stuck with me while Caspar left for a bit to talk to a girl he knew. But I found the more I drank the more I hated the fact that I was finally with Josh physically but he had a girlfriend and that meant I had to stay hands off. The tension grew-at least for me-and I was ready to go. If this was how the trip here would feel, I had to sort this out once and for all.

"I'll get him," Josh puts a hand on my back and I quickly step forward so it falls away. It was too tempting.

Caspar returns but Josh doesn't.

"Josh just went to the toilet," Caspar shouts. "You wanted to go home?"

"Yeah," I say, distracted as I spot Josh's head moving away from us.

"What's going on?" Caspar tries to look where I'd been looking.

"Promise you won't say a word," I say. I needed to know.

"What? For what?" Caspar pushes closer, he could never be patient for a secret. "Promise."

"How did Josh suddenly get into a relationship without telling me?" I spill.

"What?" Caspar looks confused. "Josh?"

"Yeah!" I shout. "I saw his video before I flew out!"

"His video?" Caspar shouts and proceeds to laugh-it would be more accurate to say he was howling. I stare at him, getting more and more upset he'd found that so funny.

"Wait, you don't know? Oh my god wait," Caspar sobers up. "You like him."

It's not asked as a question. He already knows and it's just a statement because a single glance at my face only confirms it. His howling becomes obnoxious as he laughs for a second round and tears threaten to spill from my own eyes.

"I don't understand why you're laughing," I shove Caspar. "You're such an ass! I'm making my own way home!"

Before Caspar can say anything I rush out the door and begin racing down the street. I just wanted to get away, Caspar had embarassed me more than he had in our past. It was a good thing Josh wasn't there to see how humiliating it was that I was in love with him for years while he'd moved on with his life and gotten a beautiful girlfriend. I was pathetic.

I eventually get in an uber and use the address from our group chat. I already can tell Caspar is gearing to type up an apology as it shows he's typing for a while but I turn off my wifi and wait for the car to take me home. Except I didn't have a key.

I sit outside the flat and begin to cry ever so quietly. I was tired and embarassed and I was heartbroken. Why did I ever think it could work out between Josh and I? Why would I come to London in the first place? I should have flown to South Africa directly.

"Y/N?" The one voice I didn't want to hear comes from in front of me.

I look up, sniffling to Josh towering over me. He plays with his keys and slides it into the door.

"Are you going to come in?" He opens the door but I make no move to get up. I don't even respond. He puts the keys in his pocket and sits beside me.

"Caspar said that you left-"

"Caspar's an asshole." I say shakily.

"I know," Josh stops short. He clears his throat and sits in front of me. "Caspar-he said that...gosh this is so embarassing for me to tell you of all people..."

By now I'm curious with how much Josh was stuttering. I watch his mouth move as he tries to explain to me how his video was a prank and the girl wasn't actually his girlfriend. She was just a friend. I stare at him long after he's done to process and un-tangle my emotions and the story.

"You're a loser," I say after an extended silence. "The biggest loser I've ever met-and trust me I know a lot."

Josh's face splits into a grin as he puts his hands on my knees. "I'm so sorry I didn't say anything I thought you would know it was a joke. I didn't mean to hurt you-I swear. You know you would be the first person to know if I started dating a girl."

"I better be," I say but my heart whispers a sad song as I realise Josh was still saying this because he would only ever see me as a friend.

"I could use your advice though," Josh leans back on his hands.

"On?" I say cautiously.

"I think I'm in love with a girl but how do I ask her out?"

My heart drops into my stomach. "Does she-do you know if she likes you back?"

"Recently confirmed," Josh grins as he takes my hands in his. Then suddenly I feel like the loser. He was talking about me!

"Be bold," a smile plays at my lips. "Forget about asking her out."

"You think?" Josh pinches my chin between his fingers and I forget to answer him. I needed him. I pull his shoulders closer and he backs me into the wall again as his lips kiss mine expertly. We had definitely moved away from childhood friends.

"I didn't know you could kiss like that," I tease when we break apart.

"There's a lot I know how to do you don't know," Josh smiles, bumping his nose lightly into mine.

"Show me," I try to kiss him but he's suddenly standing up. He yanks my hand and bends to pick me up over his shoulder and carry me into the house.

"I've been waiting to show you for a while," Josh says and I giggle as my vision turns upside down and right side up again. I lay on his bed and instead of resuming the kissing, Josh lays down beside me.

"So I just wanted to let you know first since I said I would," Josh says so seriously that I prop myself on my elbows to hear what he has to say. "I've just started seeing someone."

"Oh my gosh," I laugh. He was a loser, I think, but my loser. Josh lays giggling as I stradle him and lean down. "You almost had me there."

"Good," Josh flips us around though and he holds my hands above me. "It's funny when I can rile you up."

"Is that why you used to do it when we were younger?" I suddenly remember, the memory coming forward.

Josh blushes and I exaggerate my aww.

"Since eighth grade," Josh admits. I whistle and Josh blushes more.

"Wait. Did Caspar know?" I ask.

"Eventually he figured it out," he admits. "But he told me I couldn't say anything because you'd never go for me and it would just ruin our group dynamic."

I laugh, "Of course he fucking said that."

"I'm glad I waited though," Josh lowers himself. "It was worth this."

"Me too," I say. Josh closes the gap between us as we passionately make-up for time and I feel a bubbly type of happy that this boy in my arms was finally someone I could call mine.

#josh pieters imagines #josh pieters imagine #josh pieters #caspar lee #youtube imagines #fic #buttercream gang #buttercream imagines #sorry this took so long #i finally wrote a whole fic yall #its been ages

[aion-rsa]

Scanners: The Sci-Fi Horror Movie That Changed David Cronenberg’s Career

https://ift.tt/31Vxgjv

This article contains spoilers for the ending of Scanners.

Scanners was the fifth commercially released feature film (and seventh overall) directed by David Cronenberg, the independent Canadian auteur who initially made a name for himself as a director of visceral, provocative horror films such as Shivers, Rabid, and The Brood. Released 40 years ago on January 14, 1981, Scanners was a turning point for Cronenberg in many ways: it edged away from the sexually tinged “body horror” of his first few films and into the realms of sci-fi, action, and conspiracy thriller, while adding advanced visual effects and an overall polish to the director’s clinical esthetic.

Although none of his films up to that point had achieved any sort of mainstream success outside Canada, Scanners was a breakthrough for Cronenberg: his most expensive film to date (with a budget of $4 million), it was his first to also earn decent money in the lucrative North American market. Scanners briefly topped the Variety box office chart the week it opened, making it Cronenberg’s first Number One movie in the U.S. and the first Canadian film to hit the top spot.

Despite its modest success — which opened the door for future Cronenberg classics like Videodrome, The Dead Zone and his masterpiece, The Fly — Scanners was a difficult film for the director to make. 

“It was physically exhausting,” Cronenberg told Fangoria magazine in a 1981 feature. “Very hard, very long hours…It was also very demanding because we had so little pre-production time, it was my biggest budget, my longest shoot — it turned out to be about nine weeks — but I only had about two weeks for all the pre-production, which is ridiculous. And I had only written one first-draft script, which took me three weeks to write. That meant a lot of things weren’t together.”

The origin of Scanners goes back to Cronenberg’s earliest days as a filmmaker and his 1969 directorial debut, Stereo. That film was set in a bizarre institute where sexual experimentation was used to develop the telepathic powers of a group of subjects. The idea of humans evolving into telepaths ending up as the seed of two more scripts that Cronenberg wrote, titled The Sensitives and Telepathy 2000, both of which eventually morphed into Scanners.

Cronenberg admitted to Fangoria that Scanners was “quite different” from his previous films and their obsessions with psychosexuality and bodily mutation. 

“Those dynamics are not what make it work, in fact they’re almost not there at all,” he said. “What does lay behind the film is a fantasy, I think a very powerful one, that I suppose starts as a child’s fantasy. You go to sleep weak, and wake up finding that, in fact, you are strong. Someone says to you, ‘Not only are you not weak, you are stronger than you ever imagined’ — that’s one of the premises of the film, though it doesn’t come out exactly that way.”

Scanners takes place in the near future and opens in a shopping mall food court, where a woman is struck by an unexplained seizure after she is caught staring at a homeless man. That man is named Cameron Vale (Stephen Lack) and he is soon captured by agents of a private military company called ConSec. At ConSec headquarters, a scientist named Dr. Paul Ruth (Patrick McGoohan of The Prisoner fame) explains to Vale that he is one of 247 people known as “scanners,” humans with advanced telepathic and psychokinetic abilities.

Lack, who was an artist in Montreal’s bohemian scene when he met Cronenberg (and mostly gave up acting after Scanners to focus on a career as a painter), said in an interview on the 2014 Criterion Collection Blu-ray release of the film that he was intrigued by Cronenberg’s vision: “He handed me the script, and I sort of thought I understood it.” 

He elaborated in an interview that same year with Film Comment: “The film itself was groundbreaking, but I never realized it at the time. I had faith in David. I sensed his intelligence and I know from myself that the good stuff takes a while to understand.”

Since he is a telepath, Vale is driven insane by the cacophony of others’ thoughts constantly inside his head; Ruth gives him a drug called Ephemerol that blocks those voices and allows Vale to refine his scanner abilities. Ruth sends Vale underground to find Darryl Revok (Michael Ironside), the leader of a rogue group of scanners who is killing anyone — including other scanners — who stands in the way of his mysterious plans. 

Eventually aided by another scanner named Kim Obrist (Jennifer O’Neill), Vale tracks down Revok only to find that Revok has actually been looking for him all along. Vale learns that Revok plans to create a new race of scanners to rule over humans, while also discovering the truth about Ruth, the true nature of Ephemerol — and the connection between himself and his enemy Revok.

“When I did Scanners, I was only hired to do the black and white flashback sequence,” Michael Ironside (whose other major genre credits include Total Recall and Starship Troopers) told Den of Geek recently. “And (Cronenberg) said, ‘I’m thinking of rearranging the script a little and bringing you in more.’ So when I was on Scanners I literally got scenes sometimes the night before, sometimes two days before, because he was rewriting the script as we went. A very bold thing for a storyteller to do… only somebody like David, who is so deft at what he does, so good at what he does, could do that because you can really get yourself in a hole.”

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The reason Cronenberg was literally writing Scanners as he went along — an unsettling change of pace for a director who usually prepared his material meticulously — was due to the nature in which the film was funded. A company called Filmplan International supplied the budget through Canadian tax incentives — but the catch was that the money had to be spent and the movie shot before the end of the year. While that ended up providing Cronenberg with an additional nine months of post-production, it meant that he had two weeks to get the film going — and did not have a finished script ready.

“But it had to be done, so I found myself writing on the set, writing at lunch instead of eating, writing evenings, writing weekends,” he told Fangoria. “Then we had to juggle the schedule to make scenes that weren’t ready, in terms of special effects and sets, happen later in the shooting, which you don’t have to do if you’re prepared. So in production terms it was very difficult.”

Both Cronenberg and Lack recalled that the first day of shooting was marked by a horrible tragedy: as the production crew prepared to shoot alongside a highway, a man driving by in a truck was distracted by the filming and plowed into the back of a Toyota in front of him. “I turned around in time to see his truck climb on top of this little Toyota,” Cronenberg told interviewer Chris Rodley in the book Cronenberg on Cronenberg. “Our grips had to jump the fence and drag these two women out of the car and lay them on the verge. Dead. It was hideous. Everybody was just shocked and depressed.”

Special makeup effects artist Chris Walas — who later worked with Cronenberg on The Fly — recalled on the Criterion Blu-ray that the production of Scanners was chaotic when he joined. 

“I flew from Los Angeles to Montreal, where the production was already in gear and they were moving ahead quite rapidly,” he explained. “It was sort of a descent into madness for me, because Scanners was a very hectic production. There was a lot of spontaneity and changes David was having to accommodate for a lot of production pressures that were forced upon him. I was really taken aback when I saw how crazy the picture was going, but he wasn’t just a director who could handle the pressure, he was a director who still had his vision through all this insanity.”

One of the tests that Cronenberg faced was handling his “name” stars, Jennifer O’Neill and Patrick McGoohan. According to Cronenberg on Cronenberg, O’Neill was taken aback by the violence in the film after being sent a script by the producers from which the bloodshed had been omitted. Meanwhile, the famously complicated McGoohan presented the director with an entirely different challenge.

“He’s a brilliant actor,” Cronenberg told Chris Rodley. “The voice, the charisma, the presence, the face. Phenomenal…But he was so angry. His self-hatred came out as anger against everybody and everything. He said to me, ‘If I didn’t drink, I’d be afraid I’ll kill someone.’” 

But Cronenberg also admitted that he didn’t think McGoohan had confidence in the project or his director: “He didn’t know me. He didn’t know whether I could bring it off or not. We parted from the film not on very good terms ultimately.”

The other great hurdle facing Cronenberg, his cast and crew on Scanners were the ambitious makeup effects. While much of the film is devoted to action, chases, and gunplay, Scanners is remembered for two classic sequences: a scene early in the film in which Revok causes the head of another scanner to explode during a demonstration of scanning, and a climactic telepathic battle between Vale and Revok that features swelling, bursting veins on both men’s arms and faces, eyes erupting from heads, and one of the two powerful scanners going up in flames.

Scanners – exploding head

The exploding head — the iconic image most associated with the film — was a plaster and gelatin duplicate of the head of actor Louis Del Grande that was filled with corn syrup (for blood), scraps of latex, wax, “a lot of stringy stuff,” and apparently even some leftover burgers. But according to a featurette on the Criterion Blu-ray, the initial plan to detonate the head with explosives wasn’t working. So special effects supervisor Gary Zeller, after telling everyone to get clear, lay down behind the head, pointed a shotgun filled with kosher salt at it and blew the thing up from the rear.

“It’s an incredible shot,” said the director in Cronenberg on Cronenberg. “Incredibly gruesome, but also quite beautiful.” The producers were so worried that the scene would land the film an X rating that they wanted to shoot a less gory version. “I said, ‘Sure, go ahead,’” remembered Cronenberg. “They shot three more heads blowing up in various ways, but I wasn’t there to watch them. I just went back to my Winnebago and took a nap. I wasn’t interested. I had the one I wanted.”

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As Scanners comes to a close, Vale is captured by Revok and learns a bitter truth: the two of them are brothers, and Dr. Ruth — killed earlier in the film — is their father. Ruth gave their mother a prototype version of Ephemerol, meant as a tranquilizer for pregnant women, and discovered the unintended side effect that it turned humans into scanners — with his sons becoming the most powerful of them all.

After Vale refuses to help Revok with his plan to create a new race of scanners and subjugate humanity, the two engage in a vicious telepathic battle that literally tears them apart. As originally shot, the scene didn’t work, so Cronenberg reshot it — this time with the aid and expertise of legendary makeup artist Dick Smith, who had been serving as an off-set consultant for the film but came to Montreal to lend his genius to the final battle.

“Some of the effects that we wanted just didn’t work well enough, we really hadn’t worked them out in enough detail to make it work,” Cronenberg told Fangoria. Realizing that he “had no ending,” Cronenberg convinced the producers to use money set aside for a Dolby sound mix to reshoot the ending instead, this time with Smith there. “We were fortunate to have him come on the set at that time. Earlier I’d been quite disappointed that he couldn’t actually come up and work with us, so I was really thrilled, and it couldn’t have worked out better.”

Although Revok initially has the upper hand in the battle, Vale eventually prevails — but at the cost of his own body. He manages, however, to fuse his mind with Revok’s, creating a hybrid of the two that suggests Vale has defeated his brother. For Cronenberg, this could be considered an optimistic ending after the bleak outcomes of his previous pictures, although it still addresses the overriding themes of so much of his early career — the malleability of human flesh and thought, and how both can be manipulated by external or internal forces to take humanity in new and often bizarre directions.

Aside from The Fly’s lone sequel, Scanners was the only Cronenberg film to spawn a franchise of its own, a string of films that includes Scanners II: The New Order (1991), Scanners III: The Takeover (1992), Scanner Cop (1994) and Scanner Cop II: The Showdown (1995). The director had no involvement with any of those pictures, just as he has not been involved with a proposed remake that was in development in 2007 and a more recent (and now dormant) idea for a TV series based on the film.

Scanners remains an important touchstone in Cronenberg’s career. It was a moment in which he took both the peculiar philosophical concerns and body horror of his early work and pointed them in a slightly more commercial direction, while leaving his vision essentially uncompromised. It also remains a skillful, gripping fusion of horror, sci-fi and political/medical espionage thriller that resonates to this day.

“Scanners was a breakthrough film for me, because it was number one on the Variety chart when it came out,” Cronenberg says in Cronenberg on Cronenberg. “That was a big deal for a low-budget Canadian horror film, which is basically the way it was perceived…a lot of people in Hollywood started to notice me then.”

As for the evolution of his own filmmaking in Scanners, Cronenberg’s views are clear: 

“A complete filmmaker should be able to appeal to all facets of human existence, the sensual as well as the cerebral,” he muses in the book. “If you do get this mixture together properly…you have something that appeals to the intellect and to the viscera. If you mix them together you get a whole movie.” 

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

Like his fused scanner siblings, David Cronenberg’s Scanners might well have been his first whole movie.

The post Scanners: The Sci-Fi Horror Movie That Changed David Cronenberg’s Career appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3i8k6WA

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

[sanjiafsincedayone]

Sanji and Purin - My view

So chapter 876 happened and I just wanted to update my thoughts on Sanji and Purin after what was shown in the chapter. I’ll also talk a little about what my thoughts are regarding where Oda might take the story with these characters. Or at least what my personal hope for it is.

Now, I don't want to come off as rude to anyone who likes Sanji and Purin together, but if you're sensitive just avoid my post.

First, looking briefly at chapter 876, I want to just mention the strawhats’ reactions to meeting Purin again.

I must say even though we did get a reaction from Luffy and the line “Then piss off!” was hilarious I think he forgave Purin rather easily… Or not forgave, but his reaction wasn’t that big. I assume Chiffon made it better? And it seems like there is this “We have only one option” vibe about making the cake… Which I suppose is ok, but isn’t really explained well. But anyways, back to Purin. I found it interesting that not even Sanji seemed all that interested in Purin except for his normal cute girl reaction he had at first. Which I understand, I mean it’s still Sanji. If he had even worse reactions when he knew she wanted to kill him this is very understandable in comparison even if she is clearly crazy. But I definitely don't see it as a sign for future romance or true love. Just a few chapters ago we saw Sanji going heart eyes over Nami and saying he wanted to be her slave. So how does this moments indicate anything deeper than Sanji's other love-cook moments? The only real differance is that Purin is seemingly attracted to him too, but we’ll get back to that.

Personally I find Purin’s character interesting as she goes between extreme yandere and tsundere… But I do wonder how Oda is going to handle this… I feel like he might go the “Sanji’s kindness changes Purin” by the end, meaning Purin’s evil side might disappear completely. Which would be a very simple solution in my opinion. If she really has some psychological problems, like a split personality it’s a little odd to just “make it go away” by something like that. But it’s a shonen, so I guess it’s to be expected if that happens.

Either way, despite finding her quite funny and interesting I’m not sure I like how Oda has treated Purin in general, making the readers confused more than anything… Which I assume is mostly for shock-value. But not knowing who the real Purin is makes it harder to understand and thus also perceive her as a character. For me as a reader this has meant I haven’t been able to form a proper relation with or feeling towards Purin, except for confusion. So I don’t like her for being a bad character and I don’t like her for being a nice character. I don’t hate her either, I don’t really feel much about her at all. She was rather funny the last time we saw her, so that’s an improvement, and there is some time left of the arc, so I guess Oda still has time to present her in a less confusing manner now that we know why she seems to switch personality. But either way since not even the strawhats know if they can trust her I still can’t trust her fully either.

And that is a big problem. If Oda really want Purin to be a love interest he has to make it clear that she’s someone trustworthy. Oda can’t just give Sanji a pretty girl and expect people to be happy with it. It takes a lot more than that to develop a genuine relationship, not even a romantic one but just one of friendship or less needs to be shown clearly. Which is difficult when we don’t even know if we can truly trust Purin. You get my point? Oda needs to make things much clearer regarding Purin before anything else.

Anyways, I guess we won’t get to spend that much time with Sanji, Purin and Chiffon… Baking a cake shouldn’t be all that interesting to watch, so we’ll probably just get a few updates here and there until they are on their way back and things can go wrong again.

Now, when it comes to Sanji x Purin, I can see a few options on how the story might evolve, but I can’t see them actually becoming a canon couple by the end of this arc. I know many seems to ship them now, and I kind of get it but at the same time I don't. I’ll state my reasons why Sanji and Purin doesn't work for me if we speak about canon romance.

First there is no reason for Sanji to get a love interest now. I personally think Sanji strives to find true love and that he’s not the playboy type so many fans seem to think. So by the end of the series, yes I'd love for Sanji to have changed enough to have a real romance. But adding a love interest now would mean that Sanji’s personality would be altered from now on out.

It would change the dynamics of the crew and I don’t think Oda would get rid of Sanji’s perverted side (even though I personally would love to see it toned down a lot), but if Sanji stays the same even after getting together with someone he will get a bad (even worse) image. Which is why I think Sanji needs to gradually change for him to end up with a love interest.

That being said, rejecting Purin despite a mutual attraction would be a perfect way to show that Sanji is not shallow and that to him love isn’t just about attraction. Especially since he’s already said himself that he doesn’t want to marry a girl he just met and barely know. Imagine him going back on that statement?

This panel sums up the ship’s shallowness for me, because the only thing that has happened after this is that Purin has hurt and tried to kill Sanji and his close ones while also proving to be crazy.

Also imagine what a message it sends out. “If a girl is pretty it doesn’t matter what she does, she’ll still get prince charming.” I’m all for Purin getting some sort of redemption, but not through romance.  I’m actually pretty sure her redepmtion will happen in some way, but it doesn’t change how much evil she has done and it doesn’t change the fact that she and Sanji barely know each other.

Basically there is not enough development. No time for two people to actually fall in love properly. Perhaps a crush, but nothing more. It’s too shallow. Purin falling for Sanji because of one compliment is horrible but understandable because of her past. But it’s still shallow, and doesn’t sound like a healthy way to start a relationship at all. And Sanji falling for someone as crazy as Purin just because she’s beautiful is also extremely shallow. I see no purpose of ruining both their characters like this by actually trying to show their development as a real love story. However, if Oda instead uses the opportunity of this small crush to show development in both characters, I will be more than happy. It will also be consistent with what Sanji has already claimed.

If Sanji rejects her that will be further development for his character, and Purin could also end up on a similar path as Lola, being free to search for her own true love instead of getting together with the first person that comes along and compliments her, making her basically obsessed instantly. If Sanji helps her on this road surely there will be enough to keep on shipping them happily, but having them turn canon just doesn't make sense at this point.

Also, frankly Purin is crazy and Sanji deserves better. Oda should have made Purin likeable from the start, or at least made sure to do a Violet and show she wasn’t actually evil and enjoyed taunting Sanji. Despite Purin turning good and possibly even getting rid of her “evil side” because of Sanji it doesn’t erase the fact that she tried to kill Sanji and his loved ones, just a few hours (minutes?) ago. I haven’t even forgiven Ceasar yet, how would you expect me to forgive Purin so easily? Just because half of her seem to like Sanji now?

She went too far to deserve being together with Sanji. The switch is too sudden, and even if she proves to be trustworthy by the end of the arc she’s still a crazy person who acts obsessive and just last chapter threatened to kill Sanji’s nakama. That is not a good relationship.

If so Violet was a better choice and Oda decided not to further develop that at all. In hindsight the only reasons I can see for Violet’s interactions with Sanji are

1. To remind the audience again about Sanji’s problem with fighting women in preparation for the current arc and the reveal of Sanji’s past.

2. To show that Sanji is in fact a good catch and can have women fall for him. Which is also a good set up in preparation for WCI. And also possibly show that Sanji is interested in love, not just lust.

3. Once again highlight Sanji’s ability to turn enemy into friend with his kindness.

4. To prove that Sanji’s nakama are of course more important to him than a woman he just met. Which Oda showed again when Sanji first rejected Purin.

5. Convenience for the plot.

I feel like Purin could be the next step in this development, and possibly change the view of Sanji because of what many One Piece fans consider the biggest flaws in Sanji’s character.

The chances of Purin becoming a new nakama are slim, but that is most likely the only way Oda could get enough time to develop a proper relationship between Sanji and Purin. Why I don’t think that she will become a nakama are because of a few reasons, but quickly I’ll just say I don’t think it’s likely because: Her job on the crew would be redundant. Either she would be there to bake or possibly to read poneglyphs and Sanji and Robin already perfectly fill those roles. She also doesn’t seem to be much of a fighter, and her ability with manipulating memories could in the long run be a hassle for Oda to keep track of. I don’t know, but I just don’t see her set of skills fitting with becoming a nakama.

She being on board as she is now with a double personality would of course be funny, but probably get really old in the long run since it’s not just a temporary gag. It would of course also mean that Sanji could possibly change and I am sure not many readers are interested in seeing romance being displayed on the regular. Most people who even wants romance in One Piece agrees it’s not the focus and that it would be better to wait with possible romance until the end of the series. Development towards that is of course needed, but in Purin’s case where it’s basically already confirmed she has a crush on Sanji I feel like it would be too much of a distraction. Even though Sanji actually does seem to be rather calm about her reactions.

There are also much more likable and possible choices for new nakama, like Carrot. I don’t know, I could be wrong, but personally I just don’t see Purin becoming a nakama neither a permanent love interest for Sanji.

I've also seen many talk about Purin being somthing similar what Kaya is for Usopp. But again, this is completely different. Kaya and Usopp have history together and got to know each other over a long period of time. They also fell in love/like each other for the right reasons, and there is nothing shallow about that possible ship. Sanji and Purin doesn't know each other, and what they know they don't seem to like. With the only exception being Purin's looks and Sanji's compliment. Everything else is ambiguous at best and even if there are more genuine feelings there, there is no way it's love already. Hence, I can't see Oda making it canon, at least not the way things look right now.

So, in short I does seem like Purin will be redeemed to some degree, but no matter how the story goes from now it doesn’t seem like making Sanji and Purin a canon couple is a very good idea. Also, my hope is for Oda to use this oppertunity to once and for all prove that Sanji isn’t as shallow as so many seem to think.

Thank you for reading, I know there’s a lot in here you’ve probably heard before, but I wanted to put out my own thoughts anyway. I really wanted to post this sooner, but my computer hasn’t really been on my side recently. ^^’’ And again, I’m not against shipping Sanji and Purin, I just think it’s a really bad choice for a canon romance. Let me know what you think!

#sanji #purin #pudding #sanji x pudding #whole cake island #one piece #romance #spoiler #manga analysis #charlotte purin

[the-desolated-quill]

Why Kilgrave Is The Best Villain In The Entire MCU (And Why He Should NOT Return For Jessica Jones Season 2) - Quill’s Scribbles

I don’t always complain about Marvel you know. Occasionally I say nice things too.

As we come to the end of what is for all intents and purposes Phase 1 of the Marvel Netflix Defenders... stuff, the response has been largely positive. Okay Daredevil Season 2 was a bit messy and the less said about Iron Fist the better, but overall I’d say that the Defenders... collection (what the fuck are we supposed to call these?) was quite successful. As well as being darker and more adult than the big budget Marvel movies, one of the primary reasons these TV shows stood out was the villains. Usually considered the bane of the MCU due to lack of development and formulaic writing, here the baddies were a revelation. They were given depth and complexity, as well as interesting dynamics and relationships with their respective protagonists that often went beyond the usual good vs evil tropes we’d normally expect from superhero media. I’m sure we all have our favourites. There’s Kingpin of course. Cottonmouth. Madame Gao. But for me the leader of the pack has to be Kilgrave.

Kilgrave has got to be the best antagonist ever to come out of the collective MCU, not just because of David Tennant’s performance and the stellar writing behind him, but also because of what he represents.

Let’s start with the whole mind control thing. In the comics, Kilgrave (or the Purple Man as he’s known) mostly used his mind control powers to create an army of slaves and minions for nefarious purposes. A tad obvious and not very inspired. The Alias comics, which Jessica Jones is based on, tried to expand on this, but still painted the Purple Man and his abilities with very broad strokes, turning Jessica Jones into a bodyguard and implied sex slave because... he’s the villain I guess. The Jessica Jones TV show, on the other hand, goes deeper into it, exploring what drives Kilgrave and how having the power of mind control would affect his character and morality.

The clever thing about it is even though Kilgrave does some truly horrible things in the show, his mind control powers still feel very enticing. I’m sure we’d all secretly want Kilgrave’s powers, maybe to talk our way out of a parking ticket or to get rid of someone really annoying. But as awesome as mind control is, it can also be very dangerous. Not only is there the question of removing someone’s free will, but there’s also other psychological implications. The episode AKA WWJD explores those implications as Jessica tries to convince Kilgrave to use his powers for good. There’s no denying that mind control is a powerful force that could do a lot of good in the right hands, but it becomes abundantly clear that Kilgrave is incapable of doing it, as indeed everyone would be incapable of doing it due to just how enticing and intoxicating the power of mind control would be. 

Kilgrave makes a big song and dance about wanting to turn over a new leaf, but the truth is he has no compelling reason to. I honestly believe him when he says that it’s difficult for him to know for sure if someone is genuinely giving consent, but the fact is his life is just easier when he uses mind control. Why bother persuading someone to do what he wants when he can just command them to do it? Kilgrave is a repulsive human being, but the fact is his life is just better because of his powers. He doesn’t have to wait for other people to give consent or play by our rules. He can just do whatever he wants whenever he wants. That’s why his powers are so enticing. Mind control allows Kilgrave to bypass all those inconveniences like morality and the rights of other people, but the cost is that by doing so he became an amoral sociopath. I’m sure we’d all say that if we had mind control we’d be better than Kilgrave, but that’s easier said than done. Once you’re able to cross that moral line with no consequence, there’d be nothing to stop you from going all the way. That’s part of what makes Kilgrave so scary. We recognise what a vile, disgusting and selfish individual he is, but we also secretly recognise that, in his shoes, we’d be no better than him.

The other reason of course why Kigrave is such an effective villain is because he is in many ways a distillation of the many things women have had to endure in this patriarchal society. Kilgrave is the very embodiment of male entitlement. He believes that people, particularly women and especially Jessica, owe him something. Control is a major theme of the show. Jessica’s fight to reclaim control over her own life after the abuse she endured from Kilgrave, as well as  Kilgrave’s ability to control others. He claims to be in love with Jessica, but the truth is he’s obsessed, and the reason he’s obsessed is because Jessica is the only one that managed to escape from him. After years of being able to control other people and get anything he wants with little to no effort, he no longer views people as people. Rather as tools for him to exploit. And he doesn’t respect or even comprehend people’s boundaries. The sad truth is there are loads of women out there who have met men like that. While Kilgrave takes it to its logical extreme, the premise isn’t so farfetched. There are men out there who do objectify women, merely viewing them as slot machines that you keep putting money in until you win the jackpot, as it were, and completely disrespecting their views and boundaries. I think that’s why this show has struck a chord with female audiences in particular because they can recognise the struggles Jessica is going through. Kilgrave is uncomfortable to watch because the idea of him hits very close to home. Even in the most progressive and feminist of men, there is a little bit of Kilgrave in all of them.

Kilgrave is such a dark, fascinating and downright disturbing character both in the context of the show and because of the real world parallels you can draw from him. So you’d think I’d be all in favour of him potentially returning for Jessica Jones Season 2. If only that were so.

For those who don’t know, photos were released from the set of Jessica Jones showing David Tennant on set with Krysten Ritter, suggesting Kilgrave will be returning from the dead. Some claim he may just appear in flashback or dream sequences, but there are photos of him interacting with Malcolm as well, which suggests he may well be alive. Nothing is certain of course. Maybe he’ll only be in a couple of episodes. Maybe he’ll be the main villain of Season 2. i don’t know. Either way, i honestly think it’s a mistake bringing him back. To explain why, I need to briefly discuss another favourite of mine. Loki.

I’ve made it no secret how much I enjoyed the first Thor movie, and Loki was definitely the highlight for me. A complex, intricately written character who reminded me a lot of Edmund from Shakespeare’s King Lear. A man who was clearly better suited to rule the kingdom than Thor, but is unable to ascend the throne due to the fact that he’s an illegitimate son. In the first Thor movie, Loki was a villain not by choice, but by circumstance. Loki would make a great king, but the only way he could possibly get to be king is through treachery and subterfuge, and by doing so he grows more and more corrupt until by the end he wouldn’t be fit to run a supermarket, let alone a kingdom. He’s a classic archetype, written with care and attention to detail and performed expertly by Tom Hiddleston. However problems started to emerge when Marvel kept bringing him back for repeat appearances. With each appearance, it seemed as though Loki was bering painted with broader and broader strokes, removing all the complexity and intricacy that made him so interesting to begin with until he became just the bog standard muhahaha villain we’ve come to expect from the MCU.

I’m worried the same thing could happen to Kilgrave. There’s a reason why most superhero movies kill off the villains after their initial appearance. To avoid the law of diminishing returns. Even before Heath Ledger’s tragic passing, Christopher Nolan had no intention of bringing the Joker back as the main villain for The Dark Knight Rises because he had already explored everything he wanted with that character. The problem with characters like Loki and Kilgrave is that they are effectively one trick ponies. Once you’ve explored Loki’s resentment and jealousy of Thor, his frustration at Odin and Asgardian society and his desire for power slowly turning into an insatiable lust for it, what else is there left to do? His story is basically done now. Why bring him back? All they do is just run the risk of repeating themselves and the nuance is no longer there as a result of the filmmakers desperately looking for something to do with Loki. Kilgrave has that same risk. The mind control stuff was scary and interesting and thought provoking, but we’ve pretty much seen everything we need to see and there’s nothing left really to explore. So why bring him back?

There’s also another problem with bringing Kilgrave back and that applies to Jessica herself. With sequels, filmmakers often struggle to find the right balance between retaining what people loved about the original and finding new, creative ways of moving the story forward. By bringing Kilgrave back, I fear that Jessica’s story is going to be stuck in amber. The first season focused on Jessica’s abuse. Logically the second season should focus on Jessica’s recovery. See her try to get back on her feet and perhaps fully address her alcohol addiction. Jessica should be moving forwards now, but by bringing Kilgrave back, there’s the risk that the story could end up going backwards instead. While an effective villain in the first season, he could actually serve as a detriment to the second because the show has exhausted all creative avenues with him at this point, plus there’s just no reason to bring him back after the first season wrapped his reign of terror up quite nicely, just like the first Thor movie did with Loki.

Kilgrave is the best villain in the MCU ,and that’s precisely why I don’t want to see him again. His story had a proper beginning, middle and end. Jessica’s has only just begun. Let’s look toward her future rather than continue to dwell in the past.

#kilgrave #purple man #jessica jones #marvel cinematic universe #netflix #quill's scribbles

[worthlesspride]

Heey!! I don´t know if it´s too much to ask but... I really, really wanted to see more Tensemi scenes (just their normal life/routine as a couple :P), you know I´m so weak for them!! :3 I´m also obsessed with Kyoutani and Zeno hahaha It would be lovely to see them meeting Yahaba at some point.... please? I know he is not even in the story but I can´t escape from Kyouhaba hell so easily...( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Thank you soo muchh!!! :3

Heyyy! ^^ Of course it’s not too much to ask! This is the first time I’ve written anything Kyouhaba, so thanks for making me do it! And you know I’m always up for more Tensemi. Thanks so much for the ask!!

Everytwo months, all canine officers were required to complete a solid weekend ofspecialized training. It was much more intensive than the training for regularofficers, because much more was expected of them. Canine partners were a greatasset, but if they weren’t used properly, they could also be a huge liability.In fact, Kyoutani’s predecessor on the canine squad had been fired because hisdog had attacked an innocent civilian.

           Kyoutani understood the need for theextra training, but he still hated it.

           It was held in Fukushima, and he hadto drive nearly three hours each way in horrible traffic with no one exceptZeno for company.  

           He didn’t mind Zeno’s company. Infact, he much preferred his dog to any human he’d ever met. Still, it wasn’t asif he could have a conversation with him to pass the time, and Zeno didn’t likewhen Kyoutani turned on the radio.

           It was a three-hour ride with onlythe sound of Zeno’s excited panting to break the silence.

           Needless to say, by the time hearrived at the training facility, he was a little on edge.

           Zeno, on the other hand, wasecstatic. Kyoutani barely got the lead attached to Zeno’s harness before thedog bounded out of the car, pulling toward the building before Kyoutani yankedhim back.

           “Calm down,” he mumbled, as heleaned into the cruiser for his bag and slung it over his shoulder. “It’s notlike you’re going to learn anything new. You already know all this shit.”

           Zeno’s tongue lolled as he looked upat him, black eyes bright.

           Kyoutani huffed and felt his badmood ease just a little bit. It was hard to hate everything when there was abundle of tail wags and excited energy bouncing around at his feet.

           He kicked the car door shut, circledaround the rear bumper, and started toward the training facility.

           There was a stretch of perfectlymaintained lawn out front, sweeping to either side of a paved walkway. On theleft, a sleek black Doberman bounded across the grass, stubby tail twitching asit leaped to snatch a frisbee out of the air. It trotted back to a man whostood in a patch of shade beneath a large red pine. He knelt to take thefrisbee, gave the dog a gentle pat, and turned his head as he caught sight ofKyoutani from the corner of his eye.

           Kyoutani stopped walking. He didn’tdo it on purpose; he just briefly forgot where he was supposed to be going.

           The man rose out of his crouch,frisbee in hand. The Doberman sat at attention in front of him, waitingpatiently.

           “Hey,” said the man, a little loudlyto carry across the slight distance. “You look thirsty.”

           Kyoutani’s brow folded in confusion.“What?”

           The man grabbed a water bottle thathad been resting against the trunk of the tree. He jogged over, the Dobermanfollowing a close step behind.

           Zeno pulled at his harness sosuddenly that Kyoutani nearly lost his balance. He tugged him back, snapped athim to stop, and received only a twitch of an ear in response.

           If Kyoutani had used officialcommands, Zeno would have listened without hesitation. He’d never had anobedience problem. But Kyoutani only used those commands when they were workingor training. The rest of the time he felt Zeno shouldn’t have to be bossedaround.

           “I was talking to your dog,” the mansaid. He tossed the frisbee on the ground, upside-down, and uncapped the waterbottle to pour some into the makeshift bowl. He nudged it toward Zeno, wholapped at the gift happily. “What’s his name?”      

           “None of your business,” saidKyoutani.

           The man’s eyebrows rose. He didn’tlook offended, only skeptical. “Actually, it is my business. I’m a trainer.”

           “No, you’re not,” said Kyoutani.

           The man stared at him. Then heslowly looked down at the name plate pinned to his chest, which declared:“Yahaba Shigeru, Canine Trainer”.

           Kyoutani read the name a few times,then slowly looked back up to find the man watching him. “Oh.”

           Yahaba smiled a little, just aslight quirk of his lips. “Yeah. I only started working here about a month ago.We haven’t met. I would remember you.”

           Kyoutani didn’t know if that was supposedto be an insult.

           “What’s your name?” asked Yahaba,when it became clear that Kyoutani wasn’t going to say anything more.

           Kyoutani cleared his throat.“Kyoutani Kentarou.”

           “Kyoutani,” repeated Yahaba. “Niceto meet you. What’s your partner’s name?”

           “Zeno.” This time he offered itwithout argument.

           Yahaba dropped into a crouch andoffered a hand. “Nice to meet you, Zeno.”

           Zeno tilted his head, then placedhis paw in Yahaba’s hand. Yahaba scratched him behind the ears and he pantedhappily.

           The Doberman crept closer, earsforward, focused on Zeno.

           “Stay back, Roxy,” said Yahaba, noteven looking at her.

           The dog scooted back and sat down.

           “Which PD do you work for?” saidYahaba.

           “Tokyo.”

           Yahaba blinked, surprised. “Really?You wouldn’t happen to be the guy who has the fastest record on the bomb threatsimulation, would you?”

           Kyoutani grunted an affirmative.“Zeno’s smart.”

           Zeno wagged his tail, as if heunderstood the compliment.

           Yahaba considered the pair of themwith a single raised brow. “I’m sure he is. I guess I’ll find out, since you’llbe in my training classes all weekend.”

Kyoutanididn’t know what to say to that. The last time he’d been here, his trainer hadbeen a sixty-year-old man with a bad attitude.

Thiswas going to be a little different, to say the least.

“Itwas nice to meet you, Kyoutani-san,” said Yahaba. He collected the frisbee offof the ground and sent it into a perfect arc, stray water droplets sprinklingfrom the disc like light rain. Roxy the Doberman went running after it at fullspeed, swiping it out of the air with perfect agility. Zeno pulled restlesslyat his harness and Kyoutani held him in place.

           “You too,” mumbled Kyoutani, lookingaway as he said it.

           He caught the curve of Yahaba’ssmile just before the man turned away and returned to the shade of the pine.

           That smile made Kyoutani’s stomachclench, and it wasn’t exactly an unpleasant feeling. He glanced at Zeno, whowas staring up at him.

           “Don’t look at me like that,” saidKyoutani. “He’s probably a shitty trainer.”

           Zeno snorted and looked toward Yahabaand Roxy again.

           Kyoutani hoped Yahaba was a shittytrainer. He needed a reason not to like him, because he hadn’t been given oneyet. He actually seemed nice, in a dumb, kind of pretty way.

           Kyoutani mentally cursed himself andturned to stomp toward the building, Zeno keeping perfect pace. The dog lookedfar too smug for his own good.

           Just before he opened the door,Kyoutani tossed one quick look over his shoulder. Yahaba was already looking athim, and he waved in Kyoutani’s direction.

           Kyoutani turned away, ducked inside,and pretended his face wasn’t burning.

“WhenI said we could go wherever you wanted,” said Semi, “I meant literally anywherebut here.”

           The protest came too late. Semi andTendou were already sitting at a table, surrounded by draping ivy and filteredlight and other couples who gave them strange looks when they thought no onewould see.

           “Come on, Semi-Semi,” said Tendou.He leaned his elbows on the table and rested his chin in his palm. “Last timewe came here on a date we had a good time.”

           “Last time Oikawa was still in thehospital and he made us check up on the restaurant,” said Semi flatly. “Ididn’t come by choice then, either.”

           The complaining was more for hisimage than anything. Semi didn’t mind visiting Sapphire Grove. The food wasgood, the waiters were polite, and their bartender made a fantastic mint julep.

           The downside, though, was thecompany.

           “Welcome!” said Oikawa, sweepingover to their table with a grin. “It’s a pleasure to have you here at SapphireGrove. What can I get you gentlemen to drink this evening?”

           Tendou grinned at the display, butSemi’s stare was flat. “If you’re the one serving our food then we’re leaving.”

           “Now, now, Semi-chan,” said Oikawa.“Get rid of that bad attitude.” He leaned against the back of Tendou’s chair.“Put on a smile for your date.”

           Semi’s scowl intensified. “Don’t youhave any actual work to do?”

           “I am working,” said Oikawa. “I’mmaking sure my customers are comfortable.”

           “We’d be more comfortable with acouple of mint juleps,” said Tendou, tilting his head back to look at Oikawaupside-down. “We get drinks on the house, right? Friends and family discount?”

           Oikawa narrowed his eyes. “Did youonly come here to take advantage of my hospitality?”

           “We would never,” said Tendou. “Howcould you even suggest such a thing?”

           Oikawa didn’t look convinced, but hegave in anyway. “I’ll have Suga bring your drinks.”

           Tendou called out a “Thank you!” atOikawa’s retreating back. Several of the other customers turned to look, but hewas unbothered.

           “You don’t like mint juleps,” saidSemi.

           “Nah, but you do,” said Tendou.“They’re both for you. Maybe I can get you drunk and take advantage of you.”

           Semi snorted. “That only works onpeople who don’t want to have sex with you.”

           “Are you saying you want to have sexwith me?”

           “Apparently, if last night was anyindication.”

           Tendou laughed, drawing anotherflutter of glances. Semi smiled too, though it was subdued.

           “You know,” said Tendou after amoment, “I like Oikawa, but I really can’t picture it.”

           “Picture what?”

           “The two of you,” said Tendou,waving a hand. “Together. And not even because we’re together now, it’s justthe dynamics. It doesn’t make sense.”

           Semi sighed and sat back in hischair. “I was a lot different then. That was the only reason it worked. Itwouldn’t, now. We’ve changed too much.”

           Tendou’s stare was unwavering. Whenthey’d first met, the intensity of his stares had unsettled Semi, but now hewas used to it.

           “I hope you’re finished changing,”said Tendou. “I like you the way you are.”

           Heat spilled into Semi’s face and helooked away with a scowl. “Shut up.”

           Tendou grinned and said nothingelse.

           As expected, the food was good, thedrinks were better, and Oikawa didn’t even charge them. Semi waited untilTendou wasn’t paying attention and left a handful of yen on the table anyway,because he didn’t want to feel like he was accepting anyone’s charity.

           He knew it wasn’t like that withOikawa, but he didn’t want the illusion of it, anyway.

           It was a fifteen-minute walk home.Semi still considered the apartment to be Tendou’s, though he’d been livingthere after the incident. He assumed his old apartment had been rented out tosomeone new, though he didn’t care enough to check. He didn’t know what hadhappened to all of his stuff, either. He hadn’t bothered going back to retrieveit, because he didn’t care enough about it to have to face that apartmentagain. He was content with what he had.

           When they were a block away from theapartment, Tendou reached out and threaded their fingers together. Semi tuckedhis free hand in his pocket and said nothing.

           “What’re you thinking about?” saidTendou.

           “Nothing.”

           “Your forehead is all wrinkled.You’re thinking about something.”

           Semi sighed. “I was thinking I hatemy life a lot less than I used to.”

           “You’re so optimistic, Semi-Semi.You are a beacon of hope in this world.”

           Semi bumped him with a shoulder. “Shutup. You asked.”

           They didn’t speak again until they’dascended to Tendou’s apartment and kicked off their shoes. Semi started throughthe living room, intending to head to the shower, but Tendou caught his wristand tugged him back.

           “If you don’t hate your life,” saidTendou, “does that mean maybe you’re kind of happy?”

           Semi frowned at him and looked away.“I don’t know. I guess so.”

           “You know if you’re not happy herewith me, you don’t have to stay.”

           Semi looked up, a ripple of surprisemaking his fingers tingle. “What?”

           “If you’re not happy-”

           “Stop it,” said Semi, cutting himoff. “Don’t say shit like that. I’m as happy right now as I’m ever going to be.If I was anywhere else, with anyone else, I’d be fucking miserable.”

           The subtle tension in Tendou’s facebled into a smile. “So romantic, Semi-Semi.”

           Semi rolled his eyes. He pulled hisarm out of Tendou’s grasp and took his hand instead. “I’m not good at this kindof thing, but you know I love you, right?”

           Tendou’s smile was radiant. “I know.”He stepped closer and tucked a piece of hair behind Semi’s ear, fingerstrailing along his jaw, palm lightly cradling the side of his face. “Eventhough you hide it well with that bad attitude.”

           Before Semi could make a snarkycomeback, Tendou leaned in and kissed the words off of his lips. It was briefand sweet and Semi felt himself thawing, as he always did when he was withTendou.

           “I love you too, Semi-Semi,” saidTendou, murmuring the words against Semi’s lips.

           Semi smiled into their next kiss, perfectlycontent.

           He didn’t know if he’d ever be trulyhappy as normal people seemed to be, but as long as he had this, he had nocomplaints.

#ask #writing #wycf #kyouhaba #tensemi

[parabellum-rpg-archive]

Congratulations, Hannah! You’ve been accepted to play Piper Moreau. Please make your page and send it in within 24 hours.

Admin note: Hannah...are you sure...that you’re name isn’t actually Piper Moreau??? You get her in and out and I absolutely am in AWE at how well you were able to understand her character/understand her weird/fucked up justifications. I cannot WAIT to see you portray her!! - Admin J

CHARACTER DESIRED Piper Moreau

DESCRIBE THE CHARACTER IN YOUR OWN WORDS

I usually like to go on and on in these sections, but I have to be brief since I have officially 31 minutes (yikes!!!) to get this whole thing submitted.

At first, I was very torn between Piper and Penelope. I love playing bad bitches, and they both are, but they are both very different, which is something I get to a bit in my para sample. Penny is all ice, and Piper is all fire. I always play ice queens, though, so I wanted to venture a bit outside my comfort zone. What drew me to Piper were her deep-seeded problems. As soon as I read her bio, I could see the daddy issues, the identity crisis, the jealousy, the “I break everyone’s heart to forget my own is so broken it can never be repaired.” She is complex and complicated, and I L O V E characters like that.

I really love her relationship with Penny and I’m excited to (hopefully) explore her relationship with the whole Sinclair family. For her, the legacy is just something else for Penny to hold over her head, something else Piper wanted that Penny got. I think Piper feels like that is the story of her life, and she cannot move on because she is fixated on Penelope’s life. I think deep down (like, deep, deeeep down) she does want to be happy. But as long as she stays here, watching and obsessing over every move Penny makes, she can never be happy.

I also really like the dynamic with Jackson. (He has a ring for her and she doesn’t care lmao omg also kill me.) In some way (some sick way), I think she really wanted to recreate what Penny has with Morgan. The only way Piper can “defeat” her sister is by one-upping her. Unfortunately, a life with Jack was never going to yield that result. And she never really let her guard down for him, never let him penetrate her heart (is that even humanly possible? Does she even have a heart? Lol maybe not). I actually think Piper got some pleasure out of breaking his heart, mostly just because she could. She has only been second fiddle to Penny, so for someone to love her that desperately, it gives her some semblance of power, and she is literally desperate for that because she feels so entirely powerless. It’s why she “thrives” on the drama of the Jack situation, she likes to keep stringing him along just to keep breaking his heart because it gives her some kind of control. This little brat baby is sick in the head (and the heart) okay. Sorry Jack.

Finally, she reallyyyyy struggles to make friends. She is a very unpleasant person. She can pretend to be whatever she needs to be, but deep down, she does not have anyone she considers herself close to. Maybe eventually (please God) someone can break through her defenses, but she’s been building them up since childhood (if Penny was your sister and cut you down at every opportunity, you probably would too amirite). She keeps herself surrounded by people a lot, but nobody ever penetrates her.

WRITING SAMPLE

Any other woman would have looked unkempt. A mess of tangled red curls lay haphazardly on bare porcelain shoulders. Her eyeliner was too dark, smudged underneath and her lipstick was a dark crimson. But this was a look was one Piper had spent years perfecting, and it was what she built her reputation on. They called her a femme fatale – or, at least, that was her preferred public nickname. The tabloids, of course, called her any number of things on any given day: sometimes tragic trainwreck, other times social pariah, but most often they made some reference to her maneating ways. It was no secret that Piper’s favorite meal was the heart of a man, served up just how she liked her revenge – cold.

It was only 8 o’clock, but Piper was already nursing her seventh martini. Or was it eight? Truthfully, she had lost count. She may have been slumped against the bar, but the way that black dress clung to her curves hardly came off as desperate. (Or, at least, that’s what she told herself.) It was not uncommon to find her here, though tonight was a bit earlier than usual; she usually graced this bar with her presence on weekends, when the ultra-rich playboys came out to play, but it was only Thursday. Tonight, it seemed the crowd only drew obnoxious college kids trying to look sophisticated and sad housewives with their husbands’ credit cards. If anyone asked, she would have blamed it on the hellish week she’d has. After photo sessions in Milan, Paris, and Athens all within four days, any girl could use a night of drinking. But the truth? The truth was her sister had been in her penthouse the moment she walked in (of course the bitch had a key) and has unceremoniously announced the engagement of her daughter to some other mob royalty. Penny was chipper, but distant, and much like their mother, was clearly impatiently expecting some kind of specific response from her baby sister. Apparently, Piper hadn’t made enough effort in hiding her look of disgust at the news (not that she had tried particularly hard). Penelope flinched, but quickly recovered; God forbid the frigid bitch ever show any real emotion. The only one she was ever loose with was her rage, but Piper could match her fury…and then some. It was the only trait the two shared. Her sister’s eyes narrowed, and Piper braced herself for the hell to come.

Though they shared a kinship of rage, the two women expressed it differently. Piper was all fire: red hot, short tempered, and quick to curse anyone to hell the moment they lit her fuse. Penelope, though, was all ice: she was calculated, devious, and never showed her hand. The elder Moreau had always told her sister she was all bark and no bite, whereas Penelope may bite her tongue, but she ruined lives. It was one more thing on the very long list of reasons Piper resented her sister; the woman always delivered on her threats.

“Not even the illusion of excitement or happiness for your niece?” Her tone was flat, but Piper knew the worst was yet to come. No one knew how to dig the knife in quite like Penny. “I am disappointed, but I can’t say I’m surprised. It’s hard to be happy for someone when they have the one thing you’ve always wanted. And will never have.”

The words fell so effortlessly, and yet the pain scorched her insides like nothing she had ever experienced. Piper’s muscles tightened and her jaw clenched. There was nothing that ached like the pain of being unloved – and worse, living with that reality while forced to watch your sister, of all fucking people, get it from everyone. But the cherry on top of it all was the fact that Penelope never missed an opportunity to rub it in. Salt in the wound.

“Isn’t Paisley a bit young to be tying the knot? Don’t tell me. He knocked her up.” She was scrambling, frantically looking for any weapon in her arsenal to wound Penny, to keep herself from showing how deep her sister’s words truly stung. It did nothing, of course – Penny never dropped the cold smirk.

“Young love. Seems nothing can stop it. Not that I’d expect you would know anything about that.” Another jab. God, Piper could use a fucking drink. “We are having an engagement party this weekend. I spoke to your assistant and she said you had nothing booked. We expect to see you there.” She was grabbing her purse now, not seeming to notice how Piper’s face paled. She was sure she’d be emptying the contents of her stomach as soon as the bitch walked out the door. Penny was just about to open the door when she paused, briefly turning to face her sister again. “And Jack will be there. Don’t cause a scene. I know you thrive on the drama of it all, but this will be a dignified affair.” Penelope gave her a once over, scrunching her face. “You should buy a new dress for the occasion. More sophisticated, less…street corner. God knows you can afford it.” That final snippy comment was the only one that gave Piper any pleasure from their entire exchange. Despite the fact that Penny had more money than God, it still got under her skin that Piper was the one with the entirety of their family’s fortune. Penelope may have gotten all their love and attention as a child, but Piper was the one who ended up with the fruits of their labor.

“I’ll do my best. I’m sure my stylist can find something you’d approve of – I’ll just tell her frigid bitch is the look I’m going for.” Piper should have known better, but she never could help herself. Aimlessly looking to say something, anything, that could get under her sister’s skin. Instead, she was only met with that smirk turning into a smile.

Her hand was on the doorknob now, and Piper could almost taste the fresh air that would certainly fill the room once Penelope left. But Penny would be damned if she would let her little sister get the last word in. “You truly are pathetic, you know that? So desperate to have what I have, you practically glow with envy when I walk into the room. I always thought it was pitiful, how you seduced my husband’s brother as though you could reach any kind of semblance of what I have. You can’t. You never will. You are weak, and the only thing authentic about you is your identity crisis. You are desperate to be me, and that is why you hate me. But I want you to know this,” she paused, and Piper was sure she hadn’t taken a proper breath since the first word fell from Penny’s lips. “I go to sleep every single night on silk bedsheets next to a man who loves me more than sharks love blood, and I don’t even think of you.” The last part was almost spat, and Piper felt as though she was bleeding out – a fatal wound.

And that was how she ended up here. Once she gathered herself – a few hits of coke had helped – she made her way here. Her driver had been directed to “the closest damn bar open the latest.” A cocktail of alcohol and drugs were now coursing through her system, and she could only hope that it was enough to help her forget; help her forget that everything her sister said as she walked out the door was absolutely right.

Finally, a group of businessmen had entered the bar, apparently on a high after a good day in the market. She wouldn’t admit it – not to anyone, and least of all herself – but she was desperate to feel loved, and she needed a man’s hands on her, reminding her how beautiful and perfect she was. She needed anything to wipe her sister’s words from playing over and over again in her head.

It only took a few seductive looks, a finger swirling the rim of her drink, and her tongue tracing the bottom of her lip for one of the younger men in the group to notice her and approach.

The man had dark hair and the hint of a five o’clock shadow. He had money, or at least, made a serious effort to appear as though he did. She barely even noticed what he said as he sat down, but she didn’t have time for foreplay.

With one hand she grabbed his lapel, and with the other she grabbed his thigh, enough to make his breathing hitch. On his left hand, she briefly noticed a tan where a ring should be, but Piper didn’t give a single fuck about his status.

“What do you say we get out of here? Now.” She smiled with her teeth, satisfied that though all else may fail in her life, her siren call was not one of them. Another one bites the dust.

#accepted

[howtotrainyouragents]

Agent H’s Book Reactions

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman

Nina Hill is living your average bookish nerd life until the day she learns about the father she never met and the whole new family she never knew existed.

-This was cute and I enjoyed reading it for its lightheartedness and bookish-ness. But like...I didn’t like the main character. Or the Love Interest. Or the plot.

-My summary line says that Nina Hill is an average book nerd because she hits every point on the checklist for stereotypical book nerd. She has endless bookshelves, works in a bookstore, loves fuzzy socks and tea and cats and trivia, is anxious and shy and quiet and says embarrassing things and doesn’t know how to talk to people, and is overall adorkable. There’s nothing wrong with women who check all these too (I’m one of them), but when writing a character whose so stereotypical, you should go a step further and delve into the mind, world, and history of the character and why she is the way she is and give her a dynamic arc. Otherwise, it’s pretty clear that you created a character solely for book nerds to self-insert into and thus sell books. 

-To be clear, there’s nothing wrong with a character whose there for the book nerds to identify with over their bookish-ness. There’s plenty of characters like that out there. But I feel like Nina Hill toes the line between being for me and pandering to me more closely than I’m comfortable with.

-The book started out in the first few pages with giving us a girl who was snarky and spoke her mind and maybe that was followed through, but not consistently enough for me to notice and like her

-This is just my preference, but if you tell me there’s a whole new secret family, I expect drama. GIMME THE DRAMA. And I respect people in my book club who were like nahh, I loved how un-drama-filled this was, and I too needed something light. But I AM A SUCKER FOR RICH PEOPLE’S DRAMA. One whiny niece? NO. Give me petty grandmothers and self-obsessed nieces and nephews and stupid fights about money and jewelry being ripped off and someone dies dramatically and there’s two guys living in the plants by the doorbell and no one’s really sure who they’re related to. I mean, come on! 

-I think the funniest thing to me is that so many Goodreads review refer to the family plot as a subplot; the fact that the main plot of the book is taken as a subplot speaks volumes to this book. 

-I’m not really sure the whole inheriting the car sitch really works from a thematic POV...

-You know, you could have done so much more with the trivia competition subplot or the bookstore closing subplot and made it compelling and integral to her development and the themes of the book.

-I appreciated how she found similarities between her and Peter and Archie and Millie and Lydia. It was cute to find pieces of herself in her family. Though, people pointed out how it kinda reinforces the “biologic family over found family” narrative, and I see what they mean (Just for example, we never see Louise and only talk to her once when this is the person who raised her and was the only steady constant in her life?)

-I especially loved Lydia and her unapologetic miserliness. 

-I really liked Liz and Leah, Lauren, and Carter (so many L’s!). They were so great and I wanted way more of them. There was a bit of a stereotype with the zany boss and slutty coworker, and let’s not forget Nina musing how she’s always wanted a gay guy friend. 

-Listen. In my experience at least, no gay person is going to introduce themselves as “Peter Reynolds, your fabulous gay nephew.” Like, even on Queer Eye, they don’t introduce themselves as “fabulous gay___”. (Why? Because while being gay is very important to their identity, they’re human beings who have an intrinsic value and a lot of skills to offer and are not limited to just their sexuality) I appreciate the author didn’t make Peter a stereotypical gay guy but a super sweet, nerdy, anthropologist, but to describe him as “fabulous” on three different occasions was uninspired. 

-Ugggghhhhh, where to begin with Tom. 1) He had no reason to be attracted to Nina other than she was pretty. They’d had no significant conversation or interactions until after their second date and by that point they were already saying I love you :) 2) All of his interior monologue about Nina was about how he wanted to have sex with her. He’s horny not in love. 3) Of course, duh, he has to be something masculine like a carpenter (though it is cute that he makes bookshelves). 4) He is such a dick when she’s having a panic attack. He gets angry at Archie when they’re both trying to take care of her. He doesn’t leave her alone when she asks. He insinuates her needing space as her not wanting to be with him ever again. Just generally acts really entitled especially as they’ve only had two dates. 5) we could have gotten more information  about who he is, what happened with his last relationship, what does he care about if not books. But like all we learn is that he’s a carpenter

-It’s just my pet peeve, but I hate when authors randomly switch POV for no reason (usually mid-chapter, briefly, and usually during a romantic interaction.) I hate it, it’s so annoying, and frankly here it was so pointless. We don’t need Tom’s POV. It adds nothing here other than telling us he’s horny for her.

-They have a cute banter when they finally talk, I’ll give them that. But like he doesn’t care about books, doesn’t care about trivia, things that are so important for her. What are they gonna talk about for the rest of their lives? Of course, you can have perfectly happy relationships without common interests! But to do so you have to show me their common ground, show me they’re invested in each other’s interests, what do they talk about, how do they help each other grow and not hold each other back. Just, look at Jake and Amy from B99 and that’s how you should do it. 

-I’m not one for Grand Romantic Gestures, but it worked for some people so I’ll give them that

-I hate the ending because it sounds like such a 180 of Nina’s character when she has not at all earned it. I will attribute it to her being high.

-”Being with you is as good as being alone”. Okay, that’s a good sentiment. 

-I’ve written two bad reviews in a row, and as much as I love ripping into material, I’m not actually all about the salt. So here’s hoping the next book is more positive

#agent h #agent book reaction #nina hill #bookish life of nina hill #romance #romantic novels #if someone got my two-guys-in-plants reference I'll be really happy