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busterheadspace · 1 year

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Soulmate Breagan Au

, my first time doing this trope. Not sure how good I did but oh well.

Notes: I’m open to request. Just read my fanfic rules and send an as,

Scars (in this universe there’s different ways to find your soulmate. Example: Hearing, and touch)

—-

“Soulmates? Tch, it’s some stupid thing that exist in our world to find who’s the best match”.

That was an explanation Reagan was given as a child. At four years old she was playing alone at the playground when she saw two older kids together. They had the same marks on their arms that were glowing. Their eyes widened with happiness and exclaimed they found their soulmate. She didn’t really get what it was and asked her dad who begrudgingly told her.

“Every pair gets like a different way to find who they’re in love with. Your mom and I had some hearing thing before we found each other. Annoying as shit and we probably would have found each other anyway but it’s gone so who cares. Now get back to your homework!“

That was the end of any soulmate discussion and it left Reagan confused on how she could find her soulmate or who it was.

— A six year old, Brett Hand was given the talk about soulmates. It was brief, not many details told as his parents said it was a waste of their time. Although to the young boy it was an interesting concept that he exclaimed he would find them.

"Hah! You getting a soulmate! Imagine! What girl would want you!"

His whole family laughed. He ran to his treehouse. Once Brett reached the top he rocked back and forth to calm the sadness in him, gripping his arms. He noticed something glowing on his hand. It traveled from the palm to the back before darkening into a scar

"Huh.. weird." He mumbled.

What could have caused that — The now six year old Reagan had just killed her pet turtles. All she wanted was turtle friends that would take her on adventures but instead they got sick.

She didn't want her parents to see her cry so she sat outside in the backyard. Dad had forced her to shoot them. All that blood and organs flying out was terrifying.

Reagan sniffed, wiping her tears with her arm. She stopped when a faint glow appeared and left a rather big scar on her arm. That was kinda scary. She didn't want to ask her mom or dad what it was. They probably would call her stupid for not knowing

"Maybe I can cover it. They don't need to know."

— Those scars would appear on both of them as they grew into teens. Although deeper connection came along

“This would be a disgrace to the family’s name!” His puppet was thrown against the wall, and fell onto the floor. Their poodle grabs it and begins shredding it apart. All Brett could do was look in disbelief

He thought a puppet shop would work. With their last name being Hand, he thought it could make a profit. Plus it was fun stitching and making designs. But his family just yelled at him and shredded the puppet he put weeks worth into.

“Don’t you dare bring that idea ever again.” They said before walking away. It left Brett holding back tears and looking at the stuffing that was left behind.

—- Reagan was staring at the mirror after her shower. Her bra and pants were on but her shirt wasn’t on yet.. A faint glowing appeared and she knew it would be another mark and stopped. She sighed as it formed on her stomach . This one was arc and stopped at the side

That had to be the reason why she was getting these random scars. There was also sadness and fear whenever it started glowing. She could feel her soulmate trying to hold back those emotions.

She did too. There was a fear of-. A loud bam breaks the bathroom door and suddenly she’s scooped and pushed tightly against a cold metal plating. Terror kicks her mind as she screams and kicks.

“Bear-O! Let GO!” She yelled trying to break. The robot just repeated that Reagan needed a hug and she kept on yelling. Her dad passes by although didn’t seem interested in what was happening

— Brett was cleaning up the stuffing. When he bent down, he felt terror and fear for a moment.. a sense of insecurity as well. He noticed the glow and lifted his shirt. His side had a dark sharp scar on it.

“Why does this keep happening? Am I doing something wrong? Am I causing a problem?” He mumbled. He brought his shirt down. His family would probably kill him if they saw all those markings or even a simple question they would glare at him.

He probably deserved this. Whatever this was.

—- Years passed and the scars still grew. Some big, some small, some messy, or just straight. A lot of fear, pain, and anger came along with the two. They soon learn to just ignore the glowing and pray no one would notice it.

Thirty years old and Reagan is now a scientist working for the Shadow Government. She and just a man named Brett Hand who had taken her job. She was fuming knowing all her work was for nothing.

“Hey, uh Reagan!” Brett yelled. She didn’t bother turning around as his footsteps came closer.

“What the hell do you want?” Reagan grumbled.

“I’m really sorry. I mean you made that Robot? I shouldn’t have taken credit for it but uh., hehe. Sorry.”

“You’re sorry?! You’re not the one who wasted months working their ass off! And now for some unpaid intern to take my fucking job! What the hell!” She turned around and yelled. Brett looked startled and stepped back.

For Reagan she felt nervousness and guilt. For Brett he felt anger and sadness. Just for a moment. She knew a scar would probably form and ran off before the glowing started.

“Wait-!” Brett called but she was already far away. He stood there and sighs.

Hopefully the president mission will go well…

—- It did not go well. The president robot went insane and they had to destroy the machine or else humanity was going to get killed.

Now here they were, in a helicopter looking at the broken robot and a dismantled bomb. Reagan’s mood was soured by everything.

“Hey, this isn’t your fault. This is mine. You know how to work with these machines! And I’m just some guy that walked in and took your job.” Brett tries to cheer her up. Admittedly it did, she smiled.

“Thanks. You were pretty helpful too. You got the team to work and manage to get to the helicopter before Mr President here was about to take off.” Reagan replies. She held a hand out and Brett shook it.

“Truce” They both said. She noticed the scar on Brett’s hand. “Hey, did you get that?”

“Oh that? I don’t really know. It just started glowing when I was like six and it’s been there ever since.”

“I got a scar when I was six too,” Rolling her sleeve revealed the big scar on her arm.

Suddenly both scars glowed and shrank. They stared in awe as their scars faded away like they never existed. They let go of their hands looking at the clean spot on their skin

“Holy shit! Did you two just find out your soulmates!” The lady exclaimed.

“I guess we did..?” They both mumbled.

They might need to talk after this mission was done

—- “So.. ever heard of soulmates?” Brett started. They sat on Brett’s couch in his apartment.

“Yeah.. Kinda. My dad didn’t really tell me much about it.” Reagan mumbled. “Said it was stupid and all that”

“My family too.. Geez. All they told me was that I was never going to get a soulmate and the first scar appeared and..” He stopped and took a deep breath. “Sorry, this is making me.. you know.”

“Nervous ? I think I can tell.” She showed her hand where a small scar glowed. Brett’s eyes widened. “Guess when we feel like shit.. this happens.”

“Oh. I’m sorry about that.. What happened before you got your first scar?”

“I.. killed my turtles.. My dad made me shoot them because I gave them cancer . Afterward I cried in the backyard and.. that happened.”

“Oh., uh. I’m sorry.

Silence between the two as they think about what they just learnt. All those scars were from their families who barely cared for them. Those sudden rush or emotions were caused by how they felt. Just knowing that they both had shit families yet felt the same. It was bad yet.. strangely comforting.

“Well at least we know it’s each other.” Brett says, breaking the silence. He grabbed Reagan’s hand and the scar glowed and faded. “And I guess we can get rid of these as well.”

“Yeah. This is nice.” Reagan replies with a smile. Warmth spread through both of them. A sudden rush of happiness as they come closer. Their lips connected and it felt amazing. The scars on their bodies glow and fade as they feel their first love with each other.

#breagan #reagan ridley #inside job #inside job fanfic #angst #fluff #hurt/comfort #soulmate #soulmate su

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ghosts-and-blue-sweaters · 2 years

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WIP Ask Game

Thanks for the tag @karlyanalora !

Rules: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them and then post a little snippet of it or tell them something about it! And then tag as many people as you have wips. (You can make your own post or reblog this one!) I have deemed that this isn’t just for writing either. Sketch titles? Comics? DnD campaigns? If you have an unfinished project, it counts!!

~~~

Star Wars

4 Year Old Elmer/Bernard

Elmer Meets Rakezzi Korsica

Edith’s Introduction

Edith Visit #2

Denrik Mission... Gone Wrong :0

Alaber gets SHOT

Uniquely Normal

Crazy Bad Batch Story

Adellia/Fidelio/Anne

Adrift

Rex Gets Angry At Ahsoka

A Weird Kind Of Normal

Interrogation

Cut/Suu/Baby

Eli/Kids

Girls Day Out

Jyn-Si Diary

LAIAGFFA (or, Link’s Adventures In A Galaxy Far, Far Away)

Lost In The Woods

Moon/Adrian

Pazoni Zuziono

Reagan’s Community

Spark

Switch

The Football Thing

~~~

Dream SMP

Technoblade Never Dies

Revivedbur Feels Rain

Temporary Family

Tommy Pushes Wilbur... OFF A CLIFF??? :0

Memories Of A Ghost

Tommy Stays With Injured Tubbo

Techno Misses Phil

Tommy’s Limbo

~~~

Original

To The Stars And Back

The Color Of A Promise

A Series Of (totally, 100% true) Stories

~~~

I don’t think I have that many mutuals, so I’ll just tag a random amount lol

@biathediamond @twinkofthedink @thatonecrazyfan @the-twin-of-tech @cats-inthe-cradle @brown-little-robin @thisistheendtimes @mathmusic8

And anyone else who wants to jump in!

#my post #tag game #ask game

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msbarrows · 11 months

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My nephew and I have started sorted through decades worth of boxes and bags of documents and files going back to his paternal grandfather’s time - my sister and BIL were both masters of procrastination so a lot of things that should have been sorted through and discarded before they moved to this house have instead been sitting around unsorted since the move. Technically since well before the move for a lot of it.

This particular item discovered in an old file box of my sister’s brought back memories for me.

The summer of 1985. She’d moved to Toronto some months previously and was renting a room in a house on Bathurst Street, working for a home care service by day and doing laundry at a women’s spa downtown in the evenings. I came down that spring to (in theory) find a summer job, and the two of us would look for an apartment to share, while I attended the Ontario College of Art starting that fall.

(I never did find a job that year, nor did we end up sharing an apartment.)

The 40th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was coming up. Reagan was talking Star Wars (not the movie) and nuclear umbrellas. Brezhnev and Chernenko had died in fairly rapid succession; Gorbachev was just in and already talking about reform iirc. The Berlin Wall had yet to come down. An American warship capable of carrying nuclear missiles was due to visit Toronto’s harbour front. Nuclear disarmament was a big topic.

My sister and I saw something in a free Toronto newspaper about an upcoming protest related to most of the above - the shadow project. The goal: to use chalk paint to mark hundreds of people-shaped “shadows” on streets, sidewalks, and buildings, reminiscent of the images etched into surfaces when the bombs fell. We decided to participate. Everyone was given one of the above cards, marked with our name and providing contact phone numbers and the legal hotline to use if we were arrested.

I remember it mostly as a minorly scary (chance of arrest, ack!) but mostly fun night, spent with a group of other people while we ran around with our little buckets of chalk paint and paint brushes, painting life sized “shadows” every few metres along the stretch we’d been assigned. I think we were on University heading south from Bloor, because I can remember coming up to where the road split to either side of buildings (but it might have been Spadina).

I also joined a protest group that occupied Nathan Phillips Square for a few days; I can remember sitting in circles singing protest songs, sleeping overnight on the grass in the little parkette there with other protesters wrapped in sleeping bags and blankets, going on coffee runs to refill thermos or use publicly available bathrooms in the underground PATH commercial zones nearby (including the very high class ones with perfume dispensers underneath the Hotel York, among very few open at oh-my-fucking-god early in the morning). The dog in the bandana who the police were unsure of what to do with when they arrested his owner (iirc they just picked out a few known faces to take in, most of us were ignored and just sat around and sang some more). I remained involved with the protest movement for several months afterwards, until my college work load got to be too much. Oh, and I was introduced to Bloom County at one of the evening coffee shop meetings, when a member brought in his anthologies (thank you random person for getting me hooked on the adventures of Opus et al).

It was an interesting time to be on that line between teenaged and adulthood.

#Toronto International Shadow Project #Oh look...#(Not quite my childhood but...)

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moogmooggggg · 1 year

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❀♡❀ about me ❀♡❀

❀ hiii my name is meghan, but you can call me meg or moog!! i am the grandma friend (and aunt friend) of my friend group, both irl and online ❀

♡ i'm sapphic aroace and nonbinary, but I also identify as either orchidromantic or cupioromantic (still unsure which) ♡

❀ i use she/her, they/them, neopronouns, and sometimes he/him ❀

♡ i'm in a queerplatonic relationship (qpr) with my beloved person (they don't use tumblr but i'll probably make random qpr and qpp posts or memes anyways) ♡

❀ my qpp and i use partner/zucchini/(my) person/companion/(my) squish/favorite person interchangeably with each other (as well as wife/spouse in a minecraft sense) ❀

♡ i'm an autistic adult (19), use tone tags, and very likely have adhd as well ♡

❀ i'm indigenous (white passing) and mixed, i belong to the Bitterroot Séliš, Pend d'Oreille, and Nez Perce tribes/nations. as well as being part Cajun French and Irish ❀

♡ i have severe chronic migraines so if i disappear for like a week at a time, please don't be alarmed ♡

❀ my special interests include anything by jim henson (fraggle rock and the muppets ESPECIALLY), raggedy ann & andy, psychology, plants, mushrooms, rocks and crystals, bugs, a lot of marine animals, and several other things i can't remember rn :> ❀

♡ i am not new to tumblr, this is my most recent account since i forget the login info for my old ones, and i've been using this app since about 2015!! ♡

❀ fair warning: i'm severely multifandom and reblog literally anything that catches my interest, and as a result my blog is bound to be very cluttered!!! ❀

♡ i'm friendly so feel free to interact, but please be aware when interacting sometimes my social anxiety gets too overwhelming so i likely won't say much ♡

❀ dr boris habit and tate frost's wife (REAL),,, I have so many f/os and fictional spouses I lost count BUT MOSTLY THOSE TWO ❀

♡ my kinlist I will likely update later on (might make a separate post eventually): mokey fraggle (fraggle rock), boober (fraggle rock), raggedy ann (raggedy ann & andy: a musical adventure), snufkin (moomin), moomin (moomin), joxter (moomin), mymble (moomin), lilith clawthorne (TOH), eda clawthorne (TOH), raine whispers (TOH), wirt (OTGW), reagan ridley (inside job), red guy & yellow guy (DHMIS), enoch (OTGW), karnak (RTC), jane doe (RTC), constance (RTC), velma dinkley (every vers. except for the velma series), my sweet piano (sanrio), pearl (steven universe), garnet (steven universe), entrapta (she-ra) ♡

⦻ DNI: racist, homophobic, transphobic, aphobic (arophobic or acephobic), TERF, transmeds, exclusionist, proship, pedo/MAP, ableist, xenophobic/islamophobic, antisemetic, sexist/misogynistic ⦻

#intro post #not new to tumblr

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skitskatdacat63 · 3 months

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omg catie i didn't know you've been to budapest, how'd you like it??? (from shy mutual who is very excited you were in their city)

Omg anon(or should I say mutual!!), really?? That's so cool :DDD

But yes, I went to Budapest for a weekend. I liked it a lot but unfortunately I felt like we really didn't get to do a lot bcs of how our schedule was :( But ah I really loved the architecture and how all the lights come on at night(it was so sick standing out in the windy rain waiting for them all to come on!!!) And when we went to the castle, it was just insane to see the whole side of the city from up there, just the scale is so amazing to me.

I think my fav part was definitely when my friends and I went out on an ice cream adventure at night. It's fun to explore by yourself!! The funniest thing to me though is how there's just a random Ronald Reagan statue in the middle of some park????? We were walking in the dark and saw some statue up ahead and were like huh I wonder who that is of, and then it was fucking Reagan 😭😭 But we got probably the best ice cream I've ever had, and then sat in front of some church, took a ride on the ferris wheel, etc etc, and ah idk it was just very cool :)

#id def wanna go back :')#we had to hang out w some other university students #and idk it felt like we wasted a bunch of time #so id love to go back and see more of everything!#catie.asks.

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manifestopaulo · 7 months

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"White Noise," directed by Noah Baumbach, film review and Ballardian Interpretation.

Noah Baumbach's latest film, "White Noise," truly shines in its ability to portray the absurdity of the 70s with great skill. While it may have faced some challenges in gaining the attention it deserved, being released exclusively on Netflix, I strongly believe that it is a must-see for anyone interested in immersing themselves in the cultural atmosphere and quirky charm of that era. Furthermore, if you have a passion for the history of cinema and cult films, then this film will undoubtedly captivate your cinematic senses.

In many ways it reminded me strikingly of Paul Thomas Anderson's "Liquorice Pizza" in numerous ways. Both masterfully transport viewers to the 70s, capturing the zaniness that defined the era. But both offer contrasting perspectives on life during those times. While “Liquorice Pizza" chose to show more lightheartedness and adventure, encapsulating the unpredictable spirit of the time. In stark contrast, "White Noise" presents a more pessimistic view, dipping into darker tones. It portrays characters trapped in the suburban consumer malaise that greatly signified the era.

The film initially introduces us to the characters and their mundane conflicts in everyday life, particularly focusing on the main character, Professor Jack Gladney, played by Adam Driver. Jack tries to break free from the monotony by recounting stories about cult-like leaders such as Hitler and Elvis, shared by his friend Murray, played by Don Cheadle.

"White Noise" almost feels like a parody of a Spielberg disaster movie, complete with a disaster scenario that darkens the tone, reminiscent of Spielberg's work. The film explores the concept of collective events, whether real or imagined, as a means for individuals to feel connected and significant. The characters' obsession with disasters mirrors society's fascination with apocalyptic scenarios depicted in Spielberg's films. By immersing themselves in these narratives, people find purpose and briefly escape the mundane realities of their lives.

This episode leads you to become completely mistaken about the type of film you are watching as an even darker twist in the movie reveals itself, a twist portrayed through Jack's wife, Babette., played brilliantly by Greta Gerwig. Her character spirals out of control, having a more personal disaster which sends her down a path of addiction and self-destruction, fueled by prescription drugs. This situation echoes the extremities of consumerism with compulsive behaviour, addiction and a person lost on consumer products of a stronger verity.

The film concludes with what appears to be a celebratory 'musical' number in a supermarket, once again genre-shifting to bear a resemblance to the Musical genre. Yet beneath the shiny surface of the supermarket and happy singing, it harbors a darker implication. This ending suggests that the characters are completely ingrained and trapped into this suburban consumerism nightmare. They are forever doomed to be stuck in this cycle, oblivious to their predicament, making it nearly impossible to break free. The only relief they discover lies in the next major national, global, or personal catastrophe. Or with the rise of another cult leader, someone akin to Hitler or Elvis, or perhaps a hybrid of both, mirroring figures like Reagan or Trump, who guide them down yet another barmy disaster path.

In comparison, "Liquorice Pizza" offers a more optimistic perspective, showcasing an exotic country filled with random occurrences and never a dull moment. The main character becomes a hot tub salesman, a role that symbolizes the provision of a slice of paradise and purifying baptism until the ultimate gig in the sky. It's a whirlwind of adventures and experiences that keep boredom at bay.

White Noise delves into the darker side of human existence, drawing inspiration from J.G. Ballard's bleak outlook on society. The characters in the film appear to be trapped in a cycle of emptiness and discontent, leading them to seek out intense, dramatic experiences to feel alive. From surviving disasters to fabricating their own crises, the characters are driven by a desire to be part of a larger myth, seeking purpose in a world that seems devoid of meaning. Baumbach skillfully portrays this Ballardian perspective, highlighting the disillusionment that pervades society and the desperation to find something meaningful amidst the chaos. In conclusion,

"White Noise" is a film that, on the surface, appears wacky and surreal, more so than something that treats itself with any seriousness. On initial viewing, one might easily dismiss it as merely a goofy spectacle. However, when observed in a certain light, its depth becomes apparent: it thoroughly explores with cynicism the void that underpins suburban consumerism. This piece presents a bleaker perspective of the 70s. Despite not receiving the widespread attention it arguably deserved, it is a great viewing experience for cult cinema aficionados.

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shi-tea · 2 years

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The new Oc's I made:

The girl- Gina: Just a random elven girl who loves adventures a scenth of toothpaste and girls (yes b*tch slayyyyy)

the one with the blood on fingers: Reagan - 25 yo criminal, actually a murderer. He never has any regrets of what he's doing and simply enjoys the view of blood. His parents tried to kill kim when he was 5, but Reagan assasinated them and they died instead. He's in London's mafia called "S.O.O.N".

the third one:

He used to be a sailor. No one knows his name, but when you say "the guy with sapphire hair", everyone knows you're you talking about. Everyone is terrified of him cuz instead of sailor, a pirate would be more suittible job for him. He kills by choking the victim to death (I'll let him tho-)

So yeah, i really hope u like them :D

#sketch #oc art #drawing #anime art #anime otaku #sketchbook #artwork #art

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the-edge-of-great · 3 years

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hi friends 👋 it’s midnight, i have far too much energy, & all of my irl friends are sleeping (losers) so i’m leaving to buy chocolate milk & this is going to be the update post ok :)))

#i know literally nobody cares but I do so #that’s all that really matters #random reagan things #a random reagan ADVENTURE #sometimes nights like these happen & i can’t believe i’m turning 21 in 3 months w o w #also when i get like this i just want to talk to people so that’s why *this* is happening #anyways

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dandylion240 · 6 years

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Guess who is a bear again? That’s right Rory.

Rory: I’m yellow because bears like honey.

#rory reagan #ts4 #random game play #the continuing adventures of rory the bear

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jessicatredes · 2 years

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tagged by @chuckhansen to use this picrew to show what’s in my babies bags :-) tagging anyone who wants to!

daytona reed: black backpack, busted phone + half working earbuds, pocket change, apartment key, month old candy, evil single use water (pretend it’s a hydroflask), photos of butch and dogmeat, bone + ball for dogmeat

sierra shaw: camo fanny pack with bear charm, cracked phone + ipod from 2008, random currency from whichever country she’s in, stolen car key, glasses she never wears, tea, photos from nepal, empty mechanical pencil, notebook for work, tamagotchi

lyndsey of venus: yellow shoulder bag with owl charm, cute phone + airpods she never charges, wallet, key, handkerchief, berry gum, after crucible onigiri snack, tea, tamagotchi, poetry book, photos from patrols, cat treats for tower kitties

permela de monte: brown satchel bag, dino action figure, work & personal phone, wad o’ cash, estate + skeleton keys, random rocks she’s pocketed, pain meds, tea, pencil + notebook for adventuring, gun for some spice

raylan grace hawthorne: black bag, phone he dropped but refuses to get fixed, credit cards, four-leaf clover parvati gave him, candy aka all he eats, spacer’s choice cigs, meds (adderall, pep pills, adreno), laptop stolen from board shithead

reagan james: green satchel bag, ipod, caps purse, keys with charm from nahant oceanological society internship, assorted seashells, gum, tea, reading glasses, stick for dogmeat, journal + pencil case for minutemen to-do lists

#thanks for tagging me!!! this is fun :-)#i kept making them and then not downloading on accident #but i wouldn't notice till i started a new one smh #sierra has too much shit for a fanny pack LMAO #raylan is like hmm i have pockets but i'll use a bag anyways #long post/#myocs*

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syms-things-5 · 3 years

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Clear The Area - Chapter Seventeen

Previous Chapter Here

Warnings: Strong language and an air of discomfort.

Notes: I hope this reads OK as it’s quite dialogue-heavy.

Tags: @kelbabyblue @jennmurawski13

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

The night shifts weren’t all bad. From time to time, they were even as good as “pretty straight forward”. They proved especially useful when trying to finish patient notes and random admin that always got left to the very end of the shift. Perhaps they’d endure a tidy-out of the stock cupboards if the crew was feeling generous. Since O’Brien had taken up his post at the hospital years earlier, he had insisted upon mandatory training updates for the ER units every three to four months (the national average was about once a year) so the team were regularly reminded not to set fire to their computers and not to leave boxes in places people could trip over. You’d be surprised how often both those things happened in an emerging crisis.

“I swear he thinks we’re idiots half the time.” Complained Jack, his head now glued to the palm of his hand. Jack was hurtling towards an early retirement thanks to an ever-increasing distrust of the corporate environment ER departments found themselves in. We trained to save lives, he’d say, not file stat reports. He was so right, it hurt.

The crew was sat round the reception desk. The ER was empty except for a local homeless man the team allowed in from time to time to sleep off his latest drunken adventures.

“Who doesn’t know how to bend their knees when lifting something heavy?” Jack asked again.

“Ryan for one.” Sarah joked, pointing her cold cup of tea towards the fellow nurse in question. Ryan was a tall and skinny guy, not dissimilar to Alexander Skarsgard in the right light but with less charm although he had left a few of the interns swooning of late. Shanna quite liked him, too.

“One time, Sarah. One time and I suffered for it greatly.” Ryan remarked, spinning a full 360 in his swivel chair. “Did you tick ‘agree’ or ‘strongly agree’ for question eleven?”

“Oh, if you don’t tick ‘strongly agree’ even if you only ‘agree’, they mark you down a couple of percentage points.” Entered Audrey, slamming down a pile of files on the desk beside Sarah. Their nightly routine just got more interesting. “Just get it over with. It’s not worth the effort. It’s just O’Brien being obsessed with stats again. He turns everything into a competition. I swear it’s unhealthy.”

Ryan looked momentarily confused before returning to face his computer screen. He re-read the question for the fifth time and rubbed his eyes in resignation. Something about 3am made this far too complicated.

“When did you even find time to do this, Aud?” Jack asked, turning back to Sarah and Audrey in time to witness their shared look self-satisfaction. “I’ve been sat here for half an hour and am still only part way through the first section.”

“I logged in at home earlier.” she responded before catching Sarah’s quizzical look. “Well, Michael did most of it for me.”

“Fucking hell!” exclaimed Jack, chucking his pen on the table, giving up. “Got no chance then, have I? Michael’s a bloody genius. Hey, how much for him to do mine?”

“Normally I’d say $100 but he’s pretty cheap these days.” shrugged Audrey. “Probably a fancy cigar would do.”

“He still grumpy about the you-know-what?” whispered Sarah to her friend when the guys started joshing between themselves.

Audrey leaned back on the desk beside her and took the mug from Sarah’s hands to take a sip, grimacing slightly at the sweetness. For some reason, Sarah had to have at least three sugars in her tea if she was drinking it post-midnight. It helped to keep her more alert apparently. She didn’t drink it like that at any other time of the day. “No more than usual. Seems like we’re both unlucky in that department at the moment.”

Sarah smiled at her in acknowledgement, lips thin before biting the inside of her cheek.

Following their last meet-up, Chris had been decidedly quiet. Too quiet almost. It was weird. He hadn’t messaged her. He hadn’t called or visited their apartment except to collect a parcel he had left. Sarah has been out for a run at the time and had felt silently glad to have missed him. He hadn’t updated his twitter and there had been multiple sports events occurring that would have guaranteed a humblebrag or five. Shanna had pledged to buy rib-eye steaks for a Saturday night meal during a Celtics game and he had cancelled at the last minute citing an interview he had conveniently forgotten. Even Audrey thought it was weird. If anything was guaranteed to get his attention and bring him out of whatever funk he was in, it was the promise of sports and a ‘Grade A’ barbeque.

Shanna merely put it down to his laziness or him having something better turn up. Scott had started replacing Chris around their apartment, wanting to get some of his own distance from the tricky Zach situation and it helped her feel better knowing he was at least in touch with him if Shanna wasn’t. He was evidently still alive.

Sarah decided to swap a couple of daytime stints to partner up with Audrey for the nights. She needed the comfort of working with a good friend to calm her down from whatever ledge her anxiety had placed her on.

“You know that he’ll come back, right?” Audrey interrupted her thoughts. Maybe Sarah spoke too soon. “Haven’t you got that birthday thing for Lisa coming up?”

That trip was a couple of weeks away yet. She was trying to bank some reasonable excuses but everything sounded lame in the cold light of day and Lisa was never going to accept her not coming as well. Surely things would have smoothed themselves out by then?

“This won’t just fix itself, hun, you’ll need to speak to him eventually. And the sooner the better.”

It was like Audrey had a hotline straight into Sarah’s psyche. It was unnerving at the best of times. Sarah knew she was right of course. It’s just, a little bit of distance would be a good thing, right? Even Chris himself had offered that advice from time to time, and stressing herself out at this point almost seemed counterintuitive.

“I reckon you could go in an hour or so if you wanted.” Audrey offered, nudging her friend with her elbow to bring her back into the room. “It’s dead out there.”

“I hope not.” Sarah joked, trying to lighten the mood. “We’d be shit at our jobs if that was the case.”

Audrey laughed for the first time since Sarah could remember that day. It was moments like this that reminded her of why she enjoyed working alongside her so much, and why she didn’t mind if it resulted in overtime.

“You wanna take patient referrals while I take the EPRs?”

“How can I refuse an offer like that?” Sarah picked up the dozen or so documents sat in front of her and grabbed the nearest chair. Audrey told her she’d put the kettle on and nudged the guys still glued to their screens. Ryan had pretty much given up logical thinking and was now ticking random boxes. Jack was cursing under his breath. O’Brien was going to be in for a real treat when he could finally tabulate the responses.

It was nearing 6.20am when Sarah and Audrey finally packed up to go. Matt and Stephanie had just arrived to take over for the morning, bringing a fresh perspective for the day. There wasn’t much for them to catch up on so it should be a smooth few hours at least. Sarah even ran a mop through the staff locker room as an added gift – Steph was a notorious clean freak – nearly tripping Greg up in the process.

He’d been on leave for the past fortnight and his hair was a little longer than she remembered. A five o’clock shadow graced the lower part of his face and it suited him more than she thought it would. He had kept up with the informal tie-less attire and he seemed to be, dare she it, enjoying himself.

“God, I’m so sorry.” She held her hands up in a mock mea culpa. “I was just gonna put it away before heading out. It was a stupid place to leave it.”

“Did you not take the Health and Safety refresher?” he joked, rebalancing himself and trying to play down the redness creeping into his cheeks from the embarrassment of temporarily losing his footing in front of her.

“You gonna rat me out to O’Brien? ‘Cos you know as well as I do that he doesn’t need yet another reason to know he’s right.” She shifted the mop and bucket and placed them back in the supply closet before reaching for her bag again.

“Nah, don’t worry about it.” He moved passed her before turning to face her again. “Tell you the truth, I ghosted the last couple of tabs myself. Who knew there were so many ways to ask questions about standing in elevators?”

Sarah rolled her eyes in acknowledgement. “Yeh. I can’t wait to have the team meeting when he realises we’ve all pretty much done the same thing. That’s gonna be fun. I might finally take some of my holiday.”

“Yeh, good plan. Hey listen,” His words stopped her in her tracks, feet from the exit. “Um, I know it’s been a while but I was wondering if you might want to reschedule that tennis match some time? Or if not, we could get some dinner or something? There’s that new sushi place on Reagan Street. It’s meant to be really good if you fancy it?”

She was indeed familiar with that very restaurant thanks to the glowing reviews she had been unable to avoid since it opened. Audrey had only mentioned it a mere thousand times in her presence. Word was that bookings were now months in advance so she wasn’t sure how Greg was hoping to find a table unless he wanted to make plans with her in November. Given the number of commitments he always appeared to have going on, it wouldn’t be completely outside the realm of possibility.

“Wow, I thought that place was fully booked?”

“Yeh, it is, but I went to college with one of the investors and he’s promised me a one-off.”

Of course he did. Sarah bit her bottom lip to stop herself from chuckling out loud, imagining Audrey’s face when she would inevitably find out. To be honest, she was genuinely surprised he was still showing a minor interest in her. When she finally made eye contact with him, his earnestness was practically shining. Had he always had perfect skin?

“Um…” That was a good start, she thought.

“Honestly, it’s not a big deal if you’d rather not.” He helpfully pre-empted her awkward rejection but she wasn’t sure if that was a good thing. “I’ve been meaning to go is all and I knew you liked sushi and figured it might be fun? They have live Jazz on Sunday nights.”

When did he find out she liked sushi? And live Jazz? Just how much had Audrey told him about her?

Realising she probably looked perplexed, she shuffled her shoulder strap back up onto her shoulder and tried to relax the awkwardness setting in between them. It was still quiet and no one was within earshot that she could figure out of her peripheral vision.

“It’s not you, Greg, I promise. It’s just, I’m not really looking to get into anything right now. With anyone. Plus, we work together and…I’m sorry. I hope that’s OK?”

“Hey, look, I promise it won’t be awkward. There’s absolutely no expectations from me and if you change your mind, just let me know, yeh? I literally know no one else who likes Sashimi so I can’t waste my only chance to get a table.” He chuckled and she felt more at ease.

“If it’s any consolation, I’m a pretty crap date.” She smiled at him as she edged herself down the hall, putting space between them both literally and figuratively. “You wouldn’t be missing out.”

“Oh, I doubt that somehow.” He returned her smile. “I’m serious, though. Just let me know. Anytime. No expiration date.”

And with that, she had been left dumbfounded by two men in the space of a single week.

It would have been easier to get the early morning bus home at this time, as tired as she was starting to feel. She hadn’t slept well in the last few days and she had a creeping nausea from the lack of proper rest. The walk and crisp, fresh air might do her some good. It was practically full daylight even at this hour, and it was sometimes fun to watch people on their own way to work, huffing along, trying not to drop their coffees.

The out-of-town school bus passed her a few minutes out from her apartment and as she rounded the corner, she got this weird sense that someone was watching her. Another corner turned and she could see her building in the near distance. Still, she couldn’t shake it. She stopped, pretending to fumble for her phone in her pocket and turned around swiftly to see a sweaty Chris stop a few steps behind her.

It took her a moment to register it was in fact him, his beard fuller and a Red Sox cap pulled down low over his eyes. He had sweats and sneakers on and looked like he was on a run. Honestly, if someone else had spotted him from this distance, they would have worried he was going to attack her.

“Hey,” she said, turning to fully face him. “What are you doing out at this time?”

He didn’t respond at first. He shuffled from one foot to the other before grounding himself and taking a couple of steps towards her. Again, he shuffled back a step like he was rethinking his move. She didn’t appreciate seeing him like this, so unsure of himself.

“Five months out from filming some pre-shoots so figured I’d make a start.” He finally spoke. Not a really a smile but he at least sounded OK.

“Cool.” She said, nodding back at him. “Um, I’m not sure if Shanna is awake yet but do you want to come inside for some water or coffee?”

“Yeh, that’d be great. Thanks.”

She turned to continue walking on. For a few long moments, he stayed walking slightly behind her. A couple more strides and he had decided to catch up. The last time it had taken this long to walk this same street, she had been so drunk she had narrowly avoided falling into her neighbour’s front garden.

“Five months? You’re not that out of shape.” She tried to make a joke. It was the only thing she could think of. Audrey would be eye-rolling like a champ if she could see them now.

Chris knew she was trying to make small talk now so he decided to indulge her. It was a fair response, he thought - he was doing OK - as he followed her up the stairs deliberately keeping two or three behind her in an effort to keep it casual.

“Oh, y’know. I fluctuate pretty easily. A few pizzas here and there and it’s game over.”

They walked into her kitchen and she had been right in assuming Shanna was still asleep. Unless she had awoken really early but that was highly unlikely, unless there was a sale at Ted Baker she didn’t know about.

He lingered in the doorway while she searched the fridge for a bottle of water. Grabbing one from the back, she turned to hand it to him expecting him to be within an arm’s reach from her but he had been distracted by something down the hall before turning back to her. Gratefully, he accepted it and walked into the kitchen to take up his usual spot leaning against the counter.

“Sorry, did you say you wanted a coffee?” She offered.

“Nah, I’m good. Can’t really take caffeine until this afternoon.”

“Sorry. I always forget how strict it is.” She apologised, offering him a sympathetic smile.

He took a long swig from the bottle, not breaking eye contact from her. “No need to apologise. You OK? Night shift?”

“Yeh. Pretty quiet, thankfully.”

“I’ve always meant to ask but what is it like, a night shift? I can’t work out if it would be worse or not.”

She understood what he meant and laughed. “It can go either way to be honest but it’s been quiet the last few nights. Nothing crazy. I caught up with some paperwork, so…” She shrugged again, acutely aware of how boring she must sound.

He nodded at her. “Aren’t people supposed to be crazier in the summertime?”

“Well, kids are around more and families tend to spend more time together, so…”

The apartment was unnervingly quiet now which was weird. She could hear the uptake in traffic outside which provided some relief that perhaps he couldn’t hear her heart beating out of her chest. She could make out some small sweat patches on his hoodie and it did something to her that she wasn’t expecting. Shaking the thought from her head, she turned to switch the kettle off.

“What?” He asked.

She jerked her head back around to face him. “Huh?”

“You were thinking of something. Your neck just went red.” He smiled, tilting his head at her and relishing the look of surprise making its way over her features, knowing he’d caught her out.

That was news to her. She knew she had “tells” but a red neck was not usually one of them. How come no one had ever told her about this?

“I can’t tell if you’re joking with me or not.” She inquired, playfully narrowing her eyes at him in an effort to lighten the mood.

He shrugged a shoulder at her, a smirk starting to cross his fine features. Joshing with her was good. She’d take that. A small step in the right direction.

“Sometimes, it’s really obvious. You get it when you’re embarrassed about something, or when you try to lie. I’d never really noticed it before, but...” He paused. His expression started to turn more thoughtful and she wished he’d just continue to make fun of her instead.

“Guess I won’t be playing poker anytime soon.” She finished the thought for him.

“Yeh, no, you’d be rubbish at that. Just terrible.” He took another swig from his bottle and waited for her to throw something at him.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

The room went quiet again. She stirred her mug of coffee and offered him another chance at one which he politely refused although his discipline was waning slightly now he could smell it.

“So this is fine.” He said after a couple of minutes, nodding in a slightly exaggerated manner. He looked out of the kitchen window. “We can do this, right? No awkwardness. No embarrassment. Just normal, everyday conversation.”

“’Course,” she nodded in agreement.

“Start as we mean to go on, right?”

She nodded again. This felt like a trap and she couldn’t put her finger on why. Chris had a knack for saying and doing two different things at the same time, an intimidating ability that often put people on edge if he thought it would serve his purpose, whatever that may be. Probably the actor in him. When you called him out, he would aggressively defend himself which only served to prove the point you were making in the first place.

Scott was the only one, truly, who knew when it was happening. It had taken Sarah years to get to a similar position but now, she wasn’t sure she was remotely close to it.

“It’s as good a starting point as any, I guess.” She shrugged again, sipping from her cup.

“So there’s no need to ignore me then.”

“I haven’t been ignoring you, have I?”

“You tell me. I’m just pre-empting it is all. I’m just saying we can still interact, you and me, if we need to. Like, it doesn’t always have to be in social settings with other people around.” He took a final drink from his bottle and turned to locate the recycling pot stashed away in the corner. Even with a mundane task, he always looked cool doing it.

“So don’t worry about it.”

“Alright then. That’s good to know.” She shot him a raised eyebrow which he caught and returned with a sly smirk. “I’m just trying to be sensible. We have to get this right or else there’s no point.”

“I know, I get that, too.” If he wasn’t attempting to be serious before, he was now. He had a hand on his hip and seemed to have grown a few inches in height. “What do you think I’m trying to say?”

“I…think I’m on the backfoot again and it’s weird.” She held a hand up in defence.

“Hey, I’m just doing what we agreed, OK? I’m just following your rules.”

“They’re not rules.” She struggled to regulate the volume in her voice in case she disturbed Shanna. “And you’re making it sound like I’m controlling the situation when I’m not. We both agreed on this. There’s no point being difficult about it.”

Was he being difficult? Yes. Obviously, he was. He wasn’t happy. He wasn’t sure what he was feeling but happy definitely wasn’t it. Things were out of sorts and he hadn’t been able to eat carbs or sugar for four days so the withdrawal symptoms certainly weren’t helping. He should go easier on her. She was doing the thinking for the both of them. He should learn to be more grateful for that.

He scratched the back of his head and let out an audible sigh in frustration. “I’ll try harder, I promise. We’ve got that cabin thing coming up with Mom, so…I promise I’ll be good.”

He imitated the scout salute and she smiled at him, a smile not quite reaching her eyes.

Another night shift and Audrey and was starting to get suspicious. No one willingly switched for a night shift. For one thing, there was a disproportionate amount of recovery time. A couple of night shifts often took in excess of a week to recover from; a week that a nurse definitely did not have to spare.

“He been buggin’ you?” she asked, finally growing tired of the silence.

“Who?” Sarah looked up from the cabinet. “No, not really. We haven’t really spoken.”

“So why are you ignoring him?”

“I’m not ignoring him! Why does everyone think that?”

“Who’s everyone?”

Crap. Audrey had her there. Sarah open and closed her mouth without a sound coming out. She took a breath. “He’s not bugging me. He’s not. I’m just trying to limit the times we’re in the same place at the same time.”

“Huh, you’d think he would at least allow you to have peace in your own home.”

“Well, to be fair, he hasn’t been around all that much, but…at least I don’t have to worry about him showing up unannounced. It’s stupid but I feel way more awkward about him than I thought I would. It’s like I can’t even stand to be under his gaze.”

Audrey glanced at her friend, wishing she could offer some words of comfort. Even for someone as verbose as she normally was, she was finding it a struggle. Sarah wasn’t much looking for words of comfort at the given time either. She was all too aware of the predicament she was in and how much responsibility laid at her feet. In her mind, waiting it out was the only logical solution she could come up with. The only logical solution that didn’t require more conversations with someone who could feasibly run rings around her “theory” that if they just stayed apart for a little while, they would suddenly and magically forget about the past couple of months.

They stayed filing documents in silence again, the air seemingly getting thicker.

“You ever spoken with someone and it’s like they’re thinking the complete opposite of what’s coming out of their mouth?” Sarah huffed while shoving the cabinet drawer closed.

“Not really. That person’s usually me.”

“But why?” she asked. “Why can’t you just be normal?”

“I mean, it’s not my go-to response of course. It’s normally reserved for occasions when I am trying to indulge someone because I know they’re talking bullshit. Like, when I know Mike has been gambling but he tries to deny it? It’s just easier to figure him out that way.”

Sarah froze to the spot, looking at her friend. She breathed a heavy sigh and turned to lean back on the table behind her and crossed her arms. She stared at her shoes for a second.

“Chris is a smart guy. I’ll give him that.” Audrey muttered loudly so she was sure Sarah could hear.

“Give me something! I’m your friend here.” She implored her before chuckling to herself at Audrey’s face and her own apparent lack of self-awareness.

“You know what I think? You’ve probably got withdrawal symptoms from the all the amazing sex you’ve had and now you’re sulking. I think you should get back on that horse and let him fuck you again. That’s what this is.”

Sarah eyed her friend again. For once, she would love to hear someone tell her that she was right. “That’s really not helping, y’know.”

“And this is?!” Audrey’s shriller tone cut through the dry air, smacking Sarah right in the face. “Honey, this isn’t healthy. You hiding out in the hospital and treating it like your own solace is not healthy at all. I love you but you are your own worst enemy.”

“Alright, thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you for your unswerving efforts to be honest with me at all times and not, like a normal pal, be comforting in any way.” Sarah comically bowed to her friend before considering leaving the office. She would have followed through with the idea as well if it wasn’t for the cosy warmth of O’Brien’s office versus the coldness of the ER department thanks to a leaking pipe. “It’s difficult. I’m sorry. I don’t wanna fall out with you, Audrey.”

Audrey just smiled at her. “I don’t know why you think you have to be the beacon of morality all the time, Sarah. Take a look around. No one else is. We all out here just trying to live our lives as best we can and a part of that is taking advantage of moments of happiness when we find them.”

Something about what Audrey was saying did resonate with her but comparing two months of happiness with Chris to ten years with Shanna was not something she could in good conscience do. Shanna was her security blanket. She provided a comfort of living with someone with shared life experience, of knowing how little you thought about yourself because you were given up as a baby. Honestly, from the very first day they had met, Sarah felt lucky to know her.

Yes, Shanna could be immature at times. Maybe a little selfish. She would often get carried away with trivial things and wasn’t the most reliable person, but what Sarah got in return was worth that and more. Her family enjoyed highlighting the maternal care Sarah would have to provide to someone who was seven months older than she was, but honestly it didn’t matter.

Maybe this was one of the rare occasions where Audrey was wrong.

Chris was a fling at best, Sarah told herself, when she was lying in bed struggling to fall asleep. When she was cold and missing his arms around her. They were both having shitty times and they both got something out of it. That was what Chris had said himself at the very beginning.

Chris 08.15am: You home? Shanna said you were working late again

It was like he knew she would be thinking about him.

Chris 08.17am: I really dont want u ignoring me all the time. This is hard for me right now as well

Fuck.

Sarah 08.21am: I kno. I’m so sorry I made you feel like that :(

He didn’t respond. She thought she saw the tell-tale three dots of him writing something but nothing appeared. Giving up on sleep, she got up and headed into the kitchen. Shanna had left her some bacon in the fridge and a fresh bread bun on the side so she turned on the grill and set about making some coffee.

She felt strangely awake for this time and the apartment was nice and warm from the bright sunshine streaming in from all corners. Maybe a run would help. Or a cold shower.

Chris 08.44am: I wanna be honest with u but I dont think u want that

Chris 08.45am: so what do i do??

Fuck knows.

Chris 08.51am: Can I come over?

Sarah 08.54am: that’s not a good idea

Chris 08.55am: cos you know what will happen?

Chris 08.56am: what does that tell you??

She was sure he was nursing some kind of hangover or, quite possibly, he was still a little bit drunk. There were two responses she could give, she figured. The first would be her usual denial and perhaps an excuse that she was busy or working later than planned. The second, and ultimately the one she opted for, was to agree with him.

Sarah 09.05am: I know what it tells me. That’s why I’m saying you shouldn’t come over

Another three dots followed. There was only so many times they could go around and around in circles and as much as Audrey’s words made sense to her, it felt like she had to make the effort to regain some normality.

He didn’t respond. She stared at her phone for an age but nothing came through. Maybe he got the message? Maybe he had fallen asleep. She was both relieved and suspicious; Chris wasn’t someone who backed down from an argument when he thought he was right. He had said as much himself.

She turned the grill off, having lost her appetite. A run might make more sense and could help clear her head.

She couldn’t sit around waiting for Chris to make his next move.

#Chris evans #chris evans fic #evans fic #fanfiction #clear the area #sarah bernette #chris evans x original female character

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thebibliomancer · 3 years

Text

Essential Avengers: Avengers #232: And Now... Starfox!

June, 1983

“From Titan with love... Starfox!”

oh god no

Err. Anyway.

Last time on Avengers Z, the Avengers were bad enough dudes and lady dudes to rescue the president from wooden dopplegangers. The sinister and badly dressed Plantman (not to be confused with a Mega Man boss) summoned a giant-sized man-shaped swamp thing to battle the Avengers. They were doing a decent job fighting it when Starfox crashed his spaceship into it in his rush to join the Avengers.

And now, what happens after that.

Hawkeye is a terrible patient.

So also last time, a ceiling fell on Hawkeye’s leg and it be broke. He’s apparently the kind of dude who thinks its more manly to refuse anesthetic so She-Hulk has to literally pin him down long enough for Ordinary Doctor Donald Blake to cast it up.

And wow, that cast goes all the way up!

Where did you break your leg, Clint? At the sternum?

Actually this reminds me of Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes because Hawkeye got his arm snaked and in-this-version-a-paramedic Jane Foster was asked to look at it but Hawkeye was similarly uncooperative there.

I wonder if that was an intentional reference or whether an accurate portrayal of Clint’s sparking personality just gets you there naturally.

But with the casting call done, Dr. Donald Blake makes to leave, making a point to mention how lucky that he was in town instead of in Chicago where he supposedly lives.

THUS Thor’s secret identity is secure forever.

Wasp and Captain America take Ordinary Doctor Donald Blake to the elevator to show him out but really, he just transforms back to Thor in the elevator.

Because Cap and Wasp already know his secret identity. As does Dra- oh wait, he’s dead. As does Iron Man.

In fact, after Cap mentions he doesn’t think he’ll ever get used to seeing Dr. Donald Blake transform, Thor mentions very few mortals have ever seen the change.

Thor: “E’en Iron Man -- with whom I did share the secret of my dual life -- seldom watched me assume my godlike form. I believe it disturbed him.’

Wasp: “Uh-huh.”

Uh-huh is right. That’s a weird, random character beat! I wonder why it bothered Tony. Is it the god part? Transformation in general? Would it bother him to watch Bruce Banner turn into the Hulk? Or Captain Marvel/old broke version and Rick Jones chaaaaange places?

I’m intrigued. And yet there’s no further information. Hmm.

Anyway, the three founding or retroactively made a founding Avengers pass through two sets of ultra-security doors because obviously the thing in your base you most want to protect is your conference table.

Its got the cool, personalized chairs. Don’t judge.

As always, I wonder what symbols the other Avengers get.

Wasp delayed the resumption of the Avengers meeting (because it got interrupted by presidential ransom situation last issue) by a half hour because she wanted to run some things past Thor and Cap.

Wasp: “After all, we are the only core members on active duty and... well... I wanted to ask you both first... should I step down as Avengers chairwoman?”

Thor asks if she feels unduly burdened by the job but she says no, in fact it makes her feel so aliiiiiiiiiiive.

Cap: “Then stick with it, Jan! You’ve been doing a fine job! What on Earth made you even think of stepping down? Surely you don’t blame yourself for Iron Man leaving -- ?”

Surely in fact, she does do.

That weird call they got from an Iron Man quitting the team has shaken her. She probably thinks its because of Wasp dumping him. And in fairness, Tony ghosting the team happened not very long after that. But its not actually related.

Also apparently, Captain Marvel (the new cool one) was made a full active member and not an in-training to fill the vacancy Iron Man left. But now Hawkeye has gotten injured and there are no reserve members available.

Hercules is off doing him knows what. Beast is with the Defenders. Wonder Man is on the West Coast, presumably trying to make it in Hollywood. Vision and Scarlet Witch are trying to be civilians.

Wasp: “We used to have too many members around. Now we may not have enough!”

Yeah, ever since the roster shake-up that was soon followed by Hank’s No Good Very Bad Day, the Avengers have had a bit of a difficulty in keeping the team at good numbers.

Dammit, Hank!

Thor suggests, hey, we have Eros of Titan hanging around asking to be made a member. Why not... let him?

Thor: “Perhaps we should induct the brash Eros! He is swift -- and nearly as strong as an Asgardian!”

Cap: “Yes, but is he Avengers material? Does he have the proper training?”

Wasp: “Training! That’s it! We could try him out as an Avenger-in-training! It worked for Captain Marvel! She was almost totally unused to super-powers when she came to us, but she developed into a peach of an Avenger! With a little on-the-job training, I’ll bet Eros would fit in, too!”

So she calls the White House and asks if the president is back from his kidnapping yet. She has networking strings to pull.

And this honestly brightens her right up. Being group leader really does make her feel so aliiiiiiiiiiive. That and being able to call in favors from the government.

Twenty-six minutes of calling in favors later, Wasp reconvenes the meeting, this time with special guest Eros.

She asks why he wants to be an Avenger.

Eros: “Why not?”

This gives Hawkeye an anger and he bangs the table and also accidentally bangs his broken leg.

Eros decides to expand on his answer and says that he’s a lover of adventure and what better way to seek it than as an Avenger? He’s already aided them in the past so they already know of him.

Thor: “Aye! Against the threat of your mad brother, Thanos!”

Eros: “Too true. But I believe your brother Loki has also given the Avengers trouble hasn’t he?”

Wasp has to interrupt and tell the two to keep family matters out of the conversation. She makes a better moderator than some.

Eros: “You are quite right, Wasp! I hold no one -- god or man -- responsible for the actions of relatives! I seek but your fellowship! Indeed, I can think of no assemblage so appealing... so charming... anywhere in the cosmos!”

Wasp, Captain Marvel, and She-Hulk seem to approve of this answer.

... WAIT ARE YOU USING YOUR CHARM POWERS ON THEM? EROOOOOOOOOOOOOS!!!

Anyway, since Hawkeye is out of action-

Hawkeye: “What do you mean, ‘out of action’? Who says I am?”

Cap(tain America) says he is and tells him he can’t be expected to charge into action with his leg in a cast. Which Hawkeye sadly agrees.

Anyway, since Hawkeye is out of action, Wasp decides that the Avengers can accomodate Eros as an Avenger-in-training. But the government did have one condition for letting his alien man become an Avenger.

He needs a codename.

Wasp: “Frankly, the president was hesitant to approve of anyone named Eros. He would rather you were called something less provocative in public.”

Hey, fuck you, Reagan.

But Wasp has an idea.

Wasp: “You’re a pretty foxy guy... and you’ve been out among the stars... how about ‘Starfox!’”

Good god, Wasp. Did you really just name this man Spacehunk? You’ve gone mad with power.

Also, I jumped the gun last post. I didn’t realize that Wasp comes up with his codename here so I was using Starfox to refer to him already.

Also also, he has a fox emblem on his shirt. Why does he do that if he wasn’t Starfox yet? What does the fox represent in Titanian culture??

Eros: “Starfox? I don’t know... Is this necessary?”

Captain America: “Well, it could make things easier, and you’d still be Eros to your friends. After all, my real name isn’t Captain America!”

Eros: “It isn’t?”

Hah.

I adore that last exchange.

Imagine the incredulity in the tone. ‘I thought that Earth names were Just Like That.’

Anyway, Eros accepts the name Spacehunk Starfox and the position of in-training so Wasp decides to get him started right away.

Remember that thing with the president and the wood men? Happened like an hour ago?

Well, there’s a Navy task force tracking the submarine which was spotted escaping from the scene and they’ve requested Avengers help. But, eh, why send the whole team?

So Wasp sends Thor, Captain Marvel, and Starfox-in-training.

And in fairness! That’s a trio that can handle a whole heck of a lot with their respective powers!

So off they go.

Starfox: “Duty and glory, Thor! Songs shall be written about this day -- even if I must write them myself!”

You know. That’s actually a very good attitude to have. Eros will be the fanfiction he wants to see in the world.

With that issue handled, Cap(tain America) and Wasp head off to take care of some other business.

Leaving She-Hulk and Hawkeye with only each other as company.

Hah.

On their way to the mission, Captain Marvel zooms all around, practicing her cornering in flight. As a new superhero... like its been under a month, I think? Captain Marvel still thinks flying is the neatest thing.

And she’s right!

But she’s also discovered a new ability. Since her energy form is made of energy and she has control over energy. Instead of flying around as a vaguely her shaped glowing blur, she can concentrate to create a light image of herself, why not!

She has made herself harder to draw but easier to portray!

Thor: “Your radiance rivals that of the golden apples of immortality!”

Captain Marvel: “I’ll have to take your word for that!”

Hah.

She zooms over to where Starfox is flying. Captain Marvel has been eyeing him throughout the book, which Wasp has been assuming was because he’s a space hunk.

But maybe she just wanted to learn more about Captain Mar-Vell because that’s what she asks Starfox about.

Starfox: “He was a gentle warrior... a noble soul. He was a true hero... Worthy of rank and name!”

I guess the description or the sadness Starfox still has at Mar-Vell’s death makes Monica feel like shit, like maybe she isn’t worthy, so she zooms ahead to let the navy know the Avengers are on their way.

Starfox: “Have I offended her?”

Thor: “Eros, I begin to wonder if your reputation with the ladies is truly deserved.”

Hah.

But also: If you have magical fuck-me powers you don’t need to actually be charming, I guess? Dammit, Starfox!

Captain Marvel arrives on the deck of the navy task force flagship as a bolt of lighting (SHAZAM!), alarming the navy in two ways.

First, lightning. Its just so loud! But second, wait the Avengers only sent one person?

Captain Marvel goes nah I got Thor and Spacehunk but they’re slowpokes. Not moving the speed of light. Imagine.

Admiring Admiral: I don’t know who the redhead is, but I’d sail into Hades itself with Thor in my crew!

Its fun the insight we get into how respected and beloved Thor is. I don’t think that’s the case anymore with modern Thor. The marvel citenzry has just become jaded to the cool hammer man.

The admiral explains the situation. That they’re chasing the submarine seen in the area of the presidential ransom attempt. But its hiding in an undersea canyon that navy frogmen kero kero can’t reach and that its somehow been deflecting depth charges.

The admiral was going to wait for navy subs to arrive but hey, if the Avengers want to try, this is their book.

Meanwhile, in aforementioned sinister submarine, the horticultural horror... Plantman! Nah, just kidding. He’s a goofus and I will point and laugh.

His cool sub lets him pre-explode the depth charges before they reach his sub but even he doesn’t want to tangle with trident-class submarines so he wants to skedaddle. And if the navy is blocking his way, the navy gotta pay.

He activates his PLANT RAY which is a real thing, look it up, and energizes the kelp in the undersea canyon.

The kelp reaches up like a kraken, a kelpken, and starts trying to pull the navy ships under.

Thor: “‘Tis an attack by yet another form of plant! Our unknown foe has struck again! Stand you back... the son of Odin shall end this threat!”

And then Thor jumps into the ocean, leading a confused Starfox to ask whether Thor needs to breath.

Captain Marvel helpfully informs him and the audience that Thor can hold his breath for hours.

Thanks, Monica!

And then some kelp yanks Starfox and then Captain Marvel off the ship.

Meanwhile, a very expensive Manhattan apartment occupied by a grumpy Tony Stark.

Tony Stark: “Why waste good money getting a T.V. remote control fixed, when I can do it myself faster an’ better? Hah! When I’m done with it, it’ll do more’n change channels... it’ll walk the blasted dog!”

... Tony, how though?

And do you have a dog?

What is going on in your mind?

His remote repair reverie is interrupted by a binging and a bonging on his chamber door. Only this and nothing more.

He grouses about the interruption but HEY ITS HIS FAVORITE PEOPLE! Its Wasp and Captain America!

They’ve been stalking him, a little.

The pressing matters they had to attend to was running down a list of homes owned by Tony and searching them one by one to find him.

He’s happy to see them though and offers them some morning whiskey. Or bourbon. Or perhaps chocolate soda.

Look, I googled eyeopener and its booze you drink in the morning to wake up although I’m pretty sure its afternoon now and if you need to drink booze to wake up, you might want to consider limiting your intake actually. Especially for Tony Stark who had an entire story arc about alcoholism. Dammit Tony!

Wasp: “Eye-opener?! Tony Stark, where’s your mind? We’ve been worried sick about you! No one’s been able to find you for days on end -- you haven’t answered Avengers emergency calls -- and when you did call this morning it was to resign!”

Tony Stark: “Now jus’ hold yer horses! Maybe I have been outta touch... but I’ve had my own ‘mergencies to handle! An’ I didn’t call you this morning! I don’t even know what you’re talking about!”

Iron Man: “He’s right! I’m the one who made that call!”

Imagine being someone who reads Avengers and not Iron Man. How blown would your mind be seeing Iron Man fly into a room Tony Stark is already in?

Somewhat, right? Somewhat.

Imagine being Captain America and Wasp and seeing Iron Man fly into a room where Tony Stark is when you know for sure that Iron Man and Tony Stark are the same guy.

Cap demands to know whats going on and who is in Tony’s armor.

Tony Stark: “Jus’ who he appears to be... Iron Man, my faithful armored companion and bodyguard... jus’ like it says in the Stark International press releases! Ya see, boys an’ girls, ol’ Uncle Tony has decided to quit the hero biz while he’s still ahead of the game! No more playin’ Iron Man for me! Nosirrebob! Time to let a younger man wear the boilerplate!”

Oh.... Tony.... if this only weren’t the perpetual superhero narrative, you might be able to bow out gracefully.

And its not like this is gracefully anyway. As indicated by the charmingly tousled look, the slurred speech and the morning drinking in the afternoon, Tony is quite drunk.

Wasp asks New Iron Man to confirm and he does. He clarifies that the reason he quit the Avengers is because he doesn’t feel experienced enough yet to hold his own on the team.

And apologizes for the confusion. The Iron Man helmet has voice modifying circuits so New Iron Man (secretly James Rhodes) sounded just like Old Iron Man (aka Tony Stark). He didn’t realize that the Avengers knew Tony’s secret so didn’t realize he’d just be creating an intriguing mystery prompting readers to check out the Iron Man book slash confuse the Avengers.

Tony Stark: “Yeah... I forgot to tell ya that Cap an’ the Wasp were in on the ol’ secret. Thor, too! Oh, well... no harm done!”

Then he drinks some more booze alcohol. Cap asks him doesn’t he think he’s had enough? And Tony is like hey no I don’t and don’t butt into my life kthx.

Wasp: “We don’t want to pry, Tony! We just don’t want to see you throw your life away... like Hank did.”

Tony Stark: “I am not Hank Pym, lady! I’m nothin’ like your ex-hubby! I don’t need your help -- an’ you don’t need mine! The Stark Foundation will pay the Avengers’ bills with or without me! So, if you’ll kindly get out of my life -- !”

Oof. Why does everyone Wasp dates turn out to be a jerk?

I assume she was just leaning into it the time she dated Havok. But otherwise, oof.

They really have no choice but to leave Tony to make his own bad decisions. At least he was responsible enough to get someone else in the Iron Man armor?

Geez though. Geez.

Hate seeing you like this, Tones.

Meanwhile, back in the Atlantic Ocean... Captain Marvel fairly casually assesses the situation of being dragged into the water.

Captain Marvel: “Never saw any kelp like this before! It grips tighter than an octopus, and it feels as tough as steel! I could just turn to some form of energy and slip out of it, but then it could grab some poor sailor!”

So instead she explodes, which she can do, shredding the kelp holding her.

Then off she goes to find how Starfox is faring.

He’s faring okay. Just casually punching some kelp like it ain’t no thing.

But since teamwork does make the dream work, she blasts the kelp for him. Starfox thanks her though also says that he could’ve kelped himself.

They discuss how they can hear each other perfectly well underwater thanks to SCIENCE! The science of water conducting sound. I find it a bit dubious but whatever. Not as dubious as the next bit.

Captain Marvel asks how Starfox is breathing underwater.

Starfox: “A thin shell of air clung to me as I was pulled under... due to the gravitic potential of my body, I suppose! It all relates to my flying abilities. I was surprised myself! This is the first time I’ve ever taken an ocean plunge!”

Fun way to discover that, huh!

Also, heck, how long does a thin shell of air last underwater? How shallowly do you breathe, man!?

-google- Huh, Wikipedia has this description of his powers using almost the exact words (although not the word order) from this scene. I feel that it does not come up much so this is the primary source.

It also says that he doesn’t need to breathe as much as a normal hooman. So that’s answered.

The two newest Avengers find Thor already has things well in hand freeing the propeller without need for any further kelp.

So all three Avengers surface (and Thor retrieves his helmet, which in a nice bit fell off when he dove into the water and just floated on the surface).

Thanks to ex-boat cop Monica Rambeau knowing navy semaphore, she recognizes the signal from the navy vessel that the enemy sub is making a run for it.

And since none of these three Avengers have trouble fighting underwater, Starfox suggests they give chase.

Plantman: “NO! Not the Avengers! Not again!”

Yes, again. Yes, always.

He shoots some anti-personnel torpedoes, hoping they’re enough to stop the Avengers.

“They’re not.”

Hah. I love when captions get sassy.

The Avengers soon are busting into the sub, breaking through bulkheads and coming for Plantman.

Plantman realizes that they’ll have him trapped in the control cabin in seconds. So he pulls the last resort lever that his silent partner told him to pull as a last resort.

Some manner of escape sphere forms around Plantman, launching him high into the stratosphere and capsizing the sub right on top of the Avengers.

I mean, they’re beefy. I’m sure they’ll be fine.

But no time to verify that, SCENE CHANGE.

Over on Central Park West, She-Hulk has carried Hawkeye all the way from Avengers’ Mansion to his apartment. On foot.

Dang! Mighty nice of her! Even Hawkeye points out that he could have gotten a cab.

(But do we believe that Hawkeye has money for a cab?)

After gently dumping Hawkeye on his couch, She-Hulk asks if he wants to have her stick around. She literally has nothing better to do today.

Hawkeye: “Will you get out of here and leave me alone!!”

She-Hulk huffs off in anger because this is a rude way to thank someone who helps you home.

Hawkeye even realizes that he shouldn’t have yelled “but I can’t stand to have anyone mother-hen me! Besides, I have things to do... important things!”

Yeah, Hawkeye does seem like the kind of guy who hates getting any help at all because men are self-reliant and junk. Toxic masculinityyyyyyy!

And the important things? I dunno! He calls his head of security workplace Cross Technological Enterprises and tells them to send a car for him.

That’s probably going to be a thing in another issue. God forbid it be a thing in another book. I’m not made of time. I’m still dreading West Coast Avengers where Hawkeye goes off and makes his own team. The jerk.

Okay, back to the plot.

Thor, Captain Marvel, and Starfox of course shake off a submarine imploding on their heads without much effort. Starfox is the most shaken by it. Guess the new guy isn’t used to submarine implosions lol.

Meanwhile, Plantman’s escape pod keeps escaping up, up, and away but mostly just up.

Then a prerecorded message from Plantman’s ‘silent partner’ and/or ‘mysterious benefactor’ plays.

Wizard: “Plant-Man! This is a recording. If you have been so stupid as to get yourself in a predicament where you needed to use the emergency handle, you are now hearing this message.”

“While I appreciated your aid in escaping prison, the equipment I gave you should be considered payment in full. I owe you nothing more than an explanation.”

“Thanks to my anti-gravity generators -- which you activated along with this module -- you will soon find yourself safely in orbit!”

Plantman: “In orbit!”

Wizard: “There, you will be of no further embarrassment to me or our ‘partnership’ as you so distastefully called it. You will be beyond harm... for as long as your oxygen holds out. Farewell!”

Oof. Ice cold.

Ice cold, the Wizard.

Captain Marvel phases through the pod floor to basically say the same thing.

Plantman begs her to save him from his own dumb decision making. She’s like huh look, I don’t really know about anti-gravity but I do have an idea.

Then she blows a hole in the side of the pod.

And the pressure difference blasts Plantman out of the pod, right through Captain Marvel who has turned into intangible energy.

Captain Marvel: “Don’t say I didn’t warn you!”

HAH!

That was mean, Monica. I love it.

But as Plantman hurtles screaming toward the ground, Thor catches him and tells him to stop screaming beside.

Thor: “Cease your cowardly whining! The Avengers do not wantonly kill their foes... not even such as you!”

These days though... well... probably still not wantonly? Depending on how you define it? Maybe during War of Realms though. The kid gloves came off then.

Starfox is loving this by the way. The whole thing that just happened.

Starfox: “What grand sport! Yes, I think I’m going to enjoy being an Avenger!”

‘Ha ha we made that guy think he was going to die!’

Also, Plantman’s outfit looked green and purple in the sub. I guess it was the lighting because its just jolly green now. But its still a terrible outfit.

Meanwhile, back at Avengers’ mansion, Wasp is back from Tony Stark locating duty! She-Hulk is back from being angry at Hawkeye duty!

She-Hulk mentions that she took Hawkeye to his apartment and for a loudmouth, he has a really nice apartment.

She-Hulk: “I wish I could find a nice apartment, but I’m still getting lost in this town. I don’t know where to begin looking.”

Wasp: “Well, if you’re so set on getting a place of your own, why don’t I give you a hand?”

Wasp is going to fulfill her delayed promise to take She-Hulk apartment hunting! And hey, why not focus her efforts on a friend that will let her help?

So Wasp changes into street clothes (or since we see her shrink later, its more that she changed her Wasp outfit and put clothes over it, which is almost like getting dressed in street clothes) and takes Jen out on the town.

Apparently, the Daily Bugle has the largest section on rentals and real estate of any New York paper. I guess they need something aside from diatribes about Spider-Man to attract subscribers.

Ben Urich’s award winning investigative journalism can’t pay all the bills.

Because this is the same New York which frustrated Tigra, some idiot immediately starts hitting on She-Hulk at the newsstand.

Some idiot: “‘Ey, beeg mama! I love that green body paint! You need any help removing it? Huh?”

She-Hulk: “Stuff it, creep! Or better yet -- stuff you!”

And she puts the garbage man in the garbage can. Where he belongs. While Wasp literally looks the other way.

She-Hulk: “Sorry, Jan, I just don’t care for men with fresh mouths. This sort of thing would never happen in California.”

Wasp: “Oh, fer shure...”

That sounds like the polite way of saying ‘Doubt.’ Surely there are sexist jerks everywhere?

Sadly for the She-Hulk Apartment Hunt, her expectations are also a little LA centric. You’re just not going to find an affordable condo with a hot-tub in New York.

Wasp asks what She-Hulk has against the free rent at Avengers Mansion with its built-in sauna that they’ve apparently always had but never mentioned.

Avengers Mansion is real nice!

She-Hulk says she can’t get behind the idea of living where she works but as someone who works from home its actually highly recommended! Although, She-Hulk’s situation is more ‘firemen live in the firehouse’ so it lacks the ‘don’t have to wear pants to work’ aspect.

Then the apartment hunt is interrupted by an incoming crossover slash a stampede.

She-Hulk grabs a random panicking passerby out of the crowd and asks whats going on but he can’t give a good answer.

She-Hulk: “Hot dog! I was hoping something would happen to break up the monotony. So far, this afternoon has been a big, dull...” -THUD-

First, I love She-Hulk’s enthusiasm for punching.

Also, hey, who put thin air in She-Hulk’s way!

There’s some kind of invisible barrier right across the sidewalk.

She-Hulk instantly decides that the thing to do is to TEAR INTO THE PAVEMENT TO SEE HOW DEEP IT GOES.

Instead of, y’know, feeling to see how wide it stretches.

Wasp tries blasting thin air too but to no avail.

Despite She-Hulk reminding everyone that “at close range, your sting can knock down a wall!”

And when she really tries, a whole house.

She-Hulk: “Wasp... This is impossible! We’re Avengers! Nothing can stop us!”

Wasp: “She-Hulk... I’ve the strangest feeling it just did.”

And apparently: this is to be continued in THE ANNIHILATION GAMBIT! Which is a crossover with Fantastic Four!

Which means I actually need to pop over to an Avengers Annual first because despite running into the invisible wall (Sue, is that you?) the Avengers are doing stuff on the Moon before getting involved.

I dunno. I’ll see when I get to it.

And you will too! Provided you follow @essential-avengers! Also maybe like and reblog? Who can say.

#avengers #Plantman #the Wasp #Captain America #Thor #Captain Marvel #Monica Rambeau #she hulk #Starfox #Iron Man #Tony Stark #James Rhodes #we learn whats going on with iron man #starfox has a good day #hawkeye is a rude #essential avengers #essential marvel liveblogging

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honeymoonwriting · 4 years

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may i have a fo4/skyrim matchup bls? i'm bi n messy in that i take too many substances n can be petty. 5'3, curly hair, heavily scarred. i like reading, setting stuff on fire, crop tops and being gay n dramatic. one of my goals in life is to pee on ronald reagan's grave.

You’re so chaotic I fockin’ luv it, mate.

Fallout 4: Curie

- She’s so confused... Yet intrigued.

- She gets really concerned whenever you do your dangerous stuff like setting things on fire and will probably lecture you on why you shouldn't and thoroughly checks on you to make sure you’re not injured. Finally, after some time, she decides to participate in the burning of random objects and thought her curiosity would finally be sated but she was only left with more questions.

- You two may seem like an odd pair but she teaches you how to ground yourself, and you teach Curie how to become more adventurous.

- “Oh, my dear! Your shirt, uh, some of it is gone? You’ll catch a cold!”

- Please, don’t stop wearing crop-tops. She secretly loves it, okay?

Skyrim: Cicero

- Fully supports YOU and YOUR DREAMS NO MATTER WHAT.

- He’s extra talkative and weird when he’s with you.

“HeHe, soooo smalllllll. Like, a mousy mouse!!”

“Would you like a sweet roll, my sweet?~~~”

- Please don’t wear crop-tops around him cause he will tickle you and then playfully try to stab you.

- He’s so down to burn stuff with you. People, trees, each other? He’s ready.

- You and Mother are the only ones in his life that truly matter to him. Cicero would not think twice before laying down his own life for you.

#fndjjdjdndj #thanks for requesting!!#fallout 4 #curie #skyrim #Cicero #gifs

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peytons-place · 4 years

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⌜‧ ˔ ✧ʾ Is that LIANA LIBERATO walking down the streets of Blackrock Cliffs? Oh no, it’s just PEYTON MURRAY-JONES, a TWENTY-ONE YEAR OLD CISFEMALE that works as a BABYSITTER/HOSPITAL INTERN. She has been around for TWENTY ONE YEARS, ELEVEN MONTHS, AND TWENTY SIX DAYS and she seems to be PERCEPTIVE and COMPASSIONATE. Someone said she is also SHELTERED and INTROVERTED.⌟

hi hi hello! ‘tis i, your friendly neighborhood spider-rach, and i am so excited to introduce you to my bae, peyton. she’s currently one of my go-to muses to write, so i’m excited to bring her to all of you! if you’d like novels, please feel free to read her (very long) bio, but also you can find a bunch of info about her under the cut! also please like the thing/reach out if you want to talk connections/plot because i am such a sucker for plotting kaycoolbye

CW for Chronic Illness!

Peyton Ava Murray-Jones definitely belongs to the “looks like a cinnamon roll & is also a cinnamon roll” grouping (though i would actually call her more of a neutral good than a lawful good but that’s besides the point)

She was home-schooled through her senior year of high school but this past May she graduated from UC: Santa Cruz with a BS in biochemistry

She’s was on a pre-med track & will be taking the MCAT in the early spring in preparation for med school applications

She currently has an internship at Blackrock Hospital and babysits Ches Elswood’s tiny human ( @cheselswood )

She’s also studying & trying to get a jump-start on her applications & trying not to burn herself out because that’s definitely happened before but what are the chances it’ll happen again?

But I am #gettingaheadofmyself !!

Peyton is the daughter of two Blackrock natives who were both Blackrock High alums

Her parents are also one of the #tokengaycouples in Blackrock & like...they’re just a lot basically

Phoebe (mom #1) loves music more than like anything & runs Murray’s Music Shop in downtown Blackrock

Stella (mom #2) is always chasing an adrenaline rush from some sort of adventure whether that’s white water rafting or skydiving etc.

Peyton’s younger sister is named Reagan

Reagan is a genius & I mean that literally

She is basically a mathematical prodigy & at six years old was doing math far beyond the level of her ten-year-old older sister

She is sassy and blonde and great -- like think an older version of Mary from Gifted pretty much

Peyton has chronic lyme disease

She contracted it at age 3 when she & her moms camped out for a night in Colorado during a road trip

The whole camping thing was unexpected & also Peyton was three & it’s hard to tick check a three year old & it was flu season so like...basically the symptoms went unnoticed because no one really thought much of the fever and fatigue

But when Peyton’s hearing practically disappeared overnight her moms knew something was up & lo & behold Peyton had that telltale rash on the back of her neck

Peyton still gets waves of exhaustion/fatigue (especially when she’s stressed and overworking herself) but really the only symptom that has been constant since diagnosis was her hearing loss

Peyton wears hearing aids but she doesn’t love them; though it was great for college lectures when she could connect them directly to professors’ microphones, they don’t do so well during normal conversations where everyone is talking all at once, & they can get uncomfortable

Peyton is fluent in American Sign Language (ASL) & English (because that was her first language) but has a preference for ASL just because its easier for her to understand & the vibrations of her own voice in her head while she’s got her hearing aids on just makes her really uncomfortable

If Peyton is ever talking to someone who doesn’t know sign language/doesn’t have someone around to help aid with interpreting she can/will talk to people, she just doesn’t make a habit of it when she doesn’t need to if that makes sense?

She’s really good at reading body language, like she’s fluent in it, just because a lot of work she has to do in following conversations has to do with facial expressions & body movements, not to mention ASL is a really expression-heavy language

Peyton’s also pretty good at reading lips. She can’t do it from all the way across a room or anything, but if some random person is facing her, speaking clearly and not at too fast of a pace, Peyton can pick up maybe 60-70% of what’s being said. With people she knows well, that percent can increase to almost 90%, but it also decreases when people are mumbling/not facing her/speaking too quickly

Basically, in times of chaos, Peyton appreciates being kept in the loop via ASL if possible

Peyton’s moms are complete helicopter parents -- even though Peyton’s turning 22 in five days, she has less freedom than a typical high schooler and it’s no bueno

The fact that winter 2018 was one of the worst seasons for Peyton since she was diagnosed with chronic lyme probably didn’t help, if anything her moms are more hesitant to let her be an actual young adult

Peyton’s really just trying to take things one day at a time but her plate is overloaded and she’s stressed because she just wants away from her parents and out of Blackrock

(Here’s hoping that, one way or another, she realizes there are oh-so-many reasons to stay)

Wanted Connections include: Anyone who knows ASL/wants to learn ASL (bc cute plots are cute), childhood next door neighbors and/or family friends who Peyton would have actually seen during childhood (she didn’t get out of the house much), crushes (mutual or non-mutual; can be any identity of human bean bc Peyton #lovesall), an internet friend (kind of meta i know but peyton was totally the kind of person to keep a blog), maybe someone who works at the Murray family music shop so she knows them because they work with her mom? basically i’m connection trash please come love me & my babe!!

#(( will i ever be more than i've always been? )) || about peyton.#(( on the outside always looking in )) || peyton's headcanons.#blackrockintro

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crownedbyluke · 5 years

Text

Long Road Ahead (Chapter Eight)

Estelle Finley has been friends with Ashton Irwin and Luke Hemmings for three years. When the boys bring her along on a jam-packed road trip to Cape Cod with the rest of the band, their adventures are just beginning. Through long hours driving, exploring cities, and hidden secrets, something more is bound to happen on this journey. How will this road trip change Estelle’s friendship with the friends she’s come to love so dearly?

Word Count: 3,150 (EXACTLY!)

{Chapter One} {Chapter Two} {Chapter Three} {Chapter Four}{Chapter Five} {Chapter Six} {Chapter Seven}

The sound of rain greeted me as I woke up. Warmth surrounded me, making me feel cozy. It made me want to stay in bed all day long. There was movement next to me, a reminder that I wasn’t alone in my bed. I turned a little, finding Luke asleep next to me. My heart soared, seeing the calm and peace over his face as he slept. He looked handsome in this early morning light. Even though it was raining, there was a hazy sunlight to the room that made him look like a Greek god again. I wanted to bask in this moment for a little while longer, but Luke’s eyelids fluttered open. There was a softness to the look in his eyes, the love clear in the ocean blue. Last night happened. I almost felt his lips on mine again, the electricity practically surging through me. I went to reach forward to brush some of his hair off his face. He jerked away, his shoulders tensing from my movement. My eyes drifted from his face, suddenly unsure of myself. I pushed myself from the bed, going to the window to look at the view.

“Little dove, I didn’t mean to move away,” he said, voice raspy from sleep.

“It’s okay,” I lied, wrapping my arms around my body.

I felt the need to hide from him for some reason. When we came back last night, we talked for hours, sneaking kisses when the moment felt right. Now, it was like last night was a dream and I made a mistake by falling asleep in Luke’s arms.

“No, it’s not,” he said, his arms wrapping around me.

Against my will, my body relaxed into him. He laced his fingers with mine and squeezed lightly.

“I meant everything that I said last night and I still mean it this morning,” he said, leaning down and pressing a few kisses to my neck.

“So you still want to be with me?” I asked, needing to hear him say it.

“One hundred percent yes,” he said, turning me around so I was facing him.

“I love you, Estelle Finley,” he said, smiling down at me with that giant one I loved.

“I love you, Luke Hemmings,” I replied, returning his smile.

He leaned down, connecting our lips. The flurry of colors flying by my closed eyes as his hand came to rest on my cheek. When he pulled away, our noses brushed causing me to giggle.

“Well instead of going out, why don’t we stay in?” he asked, squeezing my hips.

“I love the sound of that and as much as I want to stay in bed with you, the boys will probably want to get some writing done,” I said, running my hands up his arms.

“The boys can’t find me if we never leave this room,” he whispered, making me laugh.

“Lu, it’s your job. I’m not gonna keep you from it,” I said, standing on the tips of my toes to kiss his cheek.

I wanted to keep him all to myself, his lyrics from the other day echoing through my head. He had a gift with words and he needed to share them.

“But staying in your bed all day sounds so much better,” he said, trying to convince me.

I shook my head, moving back so we weren’t as close. He was giving me that same look from this morning.

“I refuse to be the reason the fans don’t get an album for two years,” I said, getting him to let go of me.

“Little dove,” he argued, following after me.

I started looking through my clothes for something cozier than just Luke’s shirt that he grabbed at random last night.

“Lu,” I said, using the same tone.

“If you’re putting more clothes on, I will be forcing them out of your hands,” he threatened, grabbing me again.

“Wow you’re handsy,” I laughed, taking a pair of leggings out.

“I’ve been forced to hold back for a year and a half. Let me be a little handsy for the first day of openly loving you,” he said, once again kissing my neck.

“And I held back for three years, but you don’t see me being possessive,” I replied, tugging the leggings up despite his wishes.

“Forgive me for not noticing how you were madly in love with me,” he teased, squeezing my sides again.

“You were pretty occupied at the time. I believe her name was Whitney,” I said, pulling my hair up and walking away from him.

He sighed and stayed by my closet.

“Her name was Reagan and we only dated for a couple months,” he defended, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Right and then it was Whitney for five months. Oh, and how would we forget the last one?” I continued, taking out my laptop.

“Estelle,” he said, a warning tone to his voice.

“What?” I asked, arching an eyebrow as I looked at him.

“You really bringing up my past girlfriends?” he asked, staying on the other side of the room.

“Do you really think I’m being serious?” I fired back, setting up in one of the chairs by the window.

“I didn’t mean for it to come out that way,” Luke said, running his fingers through his hair.

“You realize that I would never hold your past against you right? Even if we’re dating, I’m still going to tease you. I was there for all of it too Lu,” I said, crossing my legs in the chair.

“I know. I’m sorry. I just, I guess I don’t know how we transition into being in a relationship,” he said, picking up his jacket and shirt from last night that were on the floor.

“We look at each other and say you’re my boyfriend/girlfriend,” I said with a shrug.

I was trying to hide how nervous I was about this. It was new for us and I didn’t want to take the risk of messing it up.

“Okay, but do we act differently?” he asked, walking a little closer to where I was sitting.

“I think the only real difference is that we get to kiss and hold hands,” I replied, looking up at him.

He nodded, still unsure of himself as he stood in front of me. It looked like I wasn’t the only one that didn’t want to mess this up.

“Luke, I love you. We will figure it out, no matter what,” I reassured him, taking his hand in mine.

“Okay. I’m gonna go write with the boys. Love you,” he said, residual tension in his shoulders.

He pressed a kiss to my forehead, rubbing his thumb against my hand. I watched him leave my room, the happiness from just being with him in a more intimate way thrumming through my veins. I wanted this, but how long would Luke tiptoe around me before going back to being us?

➢➢➢

“Give me the details right now!” Crystal said, bursting into my room.

“Did he tell you or did Michael?” I asked, laughing while still working on Ashton’s birthday present.

“I overheard Ashton giving him shit for ditching them at the club and then the high five that happened after Luke confessed,” she explained, dropping onto my bed.

“They high fived?” I laughed, closing my laptop to look at her.

“Oh yeah. I believe there will even be a cake,” she teased, wiggling her eyebrows at me.

“No balloons?” I asked, deciding to play along.

“I don’t believe so. Maybe some streamers or confetti cannons,” she continued.

We laughed before I went to join her on my bed.

“What do you wanna know?” I asked, lacing my fingers together.

“Is he a good kisser? How’d it happen? Did anything else happen?” she asked, her words rushed.

“Slow down!” I laughed before adjusting how I was sitting.

“Spill the details!” she gushed.

“Okay. It happened at the club while we were dancing. It was really good though. He did this thing with his tongue,” I said, the memory coming back to me.

“Maybe a little too much detail, but continue,” she said, her face scrunching up from what I said.

“Okay sorry. We came back here and talked more, kissed some more. That was really it though. We’re transitioning into being in a relationship,” I explained, feeling myself blush from talking about it.

“So has he asked you to be his girlfriend yet?” she asked, leaning back against the headboard.

“Um no. We’ve just said that we love each other,” I said, biting my lip.

“That’s okay. Maybe he thought it was implied?” she suggested, holding her hands out like they were scales.

“I mean, I would think so too if I had just said I love you to someone and they said it back and then proceeded to make out for an entire night,” I said, falling back against the bed.

“Maybe you two should talk about it?” Crystal said, trying to help in any way that she could.

“We kinda already did. It’s just a little weird because we don’t know what we can and can’t say or how we’re supposed to act. I don’t want to ruin this Crys,” I said with a sigh.

“I know. I felt the same way before Michael and I started getting serious. You love Luke though right?” she asked, turning to look at me.

“Yeah. With everything in my body,” I said, completely confident in my feelings.

“Okay. And he loves you right?” she continued.

“I’m pretty sure. He said it at least a thousand times last night,” I said, a smile itching at the corners of my mouth.

“Then you’re set. You two will find the rhythm that suits your relationship. Even if it’s awkward at first, you have to keep pushing through it. Besides, you and Luke are bound to be a power couple and I would love to be able to go on double dates with you two,” she said, winking at me.

“So she does have a hidden agenda!” I teased, both of us laughing again.

“What can I say? A girl wants her friends to be happy,” she said, giving me a giant smile.

“I’m really happy with him,” I confirmed, the smile completely coming over my face.

“Good. Now, how about we put on some 90210 and face masks?” she suggested, looking over at me.

“I am so in!” I cheered, grabbing the remote for the TV on the bedside table.

“I’ll go grab the face masks, you load up Netflix,” she said before getting up.

I smiled, the day gloomy, but everything else around me shines like a perfect sunny day. If this is what it was going to feel like to be with Luke, I never wanted it to end.

➢➢➢

“Estelle!” I heard Ashton call from the living room.

“Coming!” I yelled back, grabbing the apple I was washing.

“Your dad is calling,” he said, giving me a knowing look as he held out my phone.

“Right. I’ll be back in a bit,” I said, taking it from him and quickly running up to my room.

“Hi, Dad!” I said, trying to pretend like I was excited to hear from him.

This was the second call in a week. Something was wrong.

“Oh she has time to answer her phone while she’s out galavanting,” he said, his tone pure anger and disappointment.

“What?” I asked, the confusion I felt bubbling over before I could stop it.

“Who’s this one, Estelle? Are you out messing around with guys and getting seen on purpose? Is this supposed to be your way of getting back at me for college?” he asked, anger taking over as he spoke.

There were chills that went down my spine from his words. I was always extra careful when going out. Had someone really seen Luke and I?

“Dad, I was out with friends last night,” I said, trying to see what he was talking about.

“So you just dry hump your friends in clubs now?” he accused, making me stop everything happening around me.

“What?” I repeated, it being the only thing I could properly think of right now.

“There are videos of you and this boy dry humping each other in a club Estelle. You really think that you’re invincible sometimes don’t you? You know that people watch you everywhere you go,” he said, this time the disappointment being the main thing in his voice.

“I know. I don’t know how they saw me. Dad, I didn’t do this on purpose,” I defended, trying to make sure he wouldn’t disown me.

“Are you sure about that Estelle? Because it sure as hell looks like you did,” he argued, the tingles in my spine getting worse.

I felt the panic and the anxiety rising up again. They hadn’t made an appearance since college. It was like I was transported back to being a freshman in college and I hated that feeling.

“I promise you that I didn’t. I’ll be more careful. It was a mistake,” I swore, clutching the shirt I was wearing in my hands.

Luke. How was I going to tell Luke about this? Was I expected to just lay everything out there for him or was I supposed to ease him into the life that my father had forced upon me?

“You will because if I see another picture of you on the internet with him, I’ll be making sure that the house you bought with my money goes away,” he threatened, making the hair on my arms stand up.

“I understand,” I said, the defeat taking over.

I just bought the house two weeks ago with plans to start moving in before school started up. I had wanted more space and a better feeling of being home. He was right about using his money because I had used a small part of my inheritance to buy it.

“Good. So if you are dating this boy, I suggest you either stop going out to show him off to the press or you break up with him. His name is Luke right?” he asked, causing me to be at full attention.

I hadn’t told him about Luke or any of the guys, a direct decision made on my part at the beginning of our friendship. I had made it for this very reason, so he couldn’t use them against me to get what he wanted like he had with Aida.

“Yes,” I confirmed, knowing that if I lied right now, he’d make things worse.

“He’s in that band that all those stupid girls like correct?” he asked, the goosebumps emerging on my skin.

“Yes,” I repeated, my heart sinking with every question.

“Now, we want Luke to continue making music right?” he asked, the threatening tone coming back.

“Yes,” I said, losing the want to fight for my own rights.

“So we won’t be going out with Luke anymore or he and his little band won’t be making another album for those stupid little girls. Understood?” he asked, tone final and arrogant.

He knew that he already won, had me right exactly where he wanted me to play games with him.

“Understood,” I said, letting my head hang.

“Lovely. Have a good vacation sweetie,” he said before hanging up.

The tears came instantly, defeat and hurt washing over me like I was standing out in the rain. My worst nightmare was coming to life right before my eyes and I couldn’t even tell Luke. I knew that if I did, he would try to fight it, try to get the better of my father, when I knew that he couldn’t. There was no fighting the monster that was Lance Finley especially after he knew what made a person tick. As if I wanted to torture myself more, I opened Twitter, finding thousands of new notifications and mentions. The fans knew and while some of them were supportive, some of them weren’t. My heart felt like it was in my stomach. Last night had been perfect, but it was fleeting at I kept reading. It was a mistake and I should have known better.

@EFTeaches should leave Luke alone. She’s just a peasant anyways.

@EFTeaches might as well just flaunt her boobs a little more so the rest of the world could see.

#GetOverYourself @EFTeaches because you won’t last.

I let the words and the tears take over, wishing I could wipe it all away from memory. The only thing I wanted to see was the look on Luke’s face from this morning, but as I tried to focus on it, the words and hurt turned it against me too. This was no longer just about Luke and I, it was about making sure he was safe and far away from my father. Even if it meant pushing him away.

➢➢➢

“We can’t do this,” I said after we had sat in silence for five minutes.

“What do you mean? Little dove, what happened?” Luke asked, moving towards me as I sat on my bed.

“You and I. We can’t do this,” I said, playing with the shirt that was folded in front of me.

After the phone call, I couldn’t keep it on anymore, my father basically tainting the comfort from it.

“Wait, let’s talk about this,” he argued, sitting right next to me.

“We can’t. There’s too much here. I can’t handle the separation or the tweets. I’m not strong enough for this. We just can’t do this Luke,” I said, quickly getting up and moving away from him.

I left his shirt there for him on the bed. The bed still smelled like him from last night and it felt like I was betraying the memory of our first kiss by staying in it any longer.

“Estelle, wait, we have to-”

“No. We just, we can’t,” I said, trying to make my tone firm.

I felt the tears welling up in my eyes, causing me to look away from him.

“Yes, we can. What changed?” he asked, stuck sitting on my bed.

“Nothing. We’re not right for each other,” I said, knowing it would make him listen to me.

I walked away before I could hear him ask another question. The tears fell as I ran down the stairs. I left knocking on Ashton’s door in the back of my mind, walking in and looking up at him.

“Bugs, what is it?” he asked, closing the door behind me and wrapping me up in his arms.

I lost the ability to speak, sobbing into his chest and holding onto him like he was the only thing keeping me up. I walked away from Luke and even though I knew it was the right thing to do, it hurt like absolute hell.

So much do you guys hate me for that? I AM SORRY BUT I PROMISE IT’LL BE BETTER!

TAG BABES: @24kcalum @thruheavenandhighwater @slimthicccal @notoriouslyhood @bbycal @tommossoccer @a-little-international @cashton-queen @thebookamongmen @jetblackyoungblood @kiss-the-kat @no-guilt-in-living

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