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thevoidfishsminstrel · 3 years

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“Okay so is everyone clear on the plan?” Alex looked around the DEO mission briefing table, hands flat on the surface in her most commanding and authoritative stance.

Nia and Brainy nodded, Nia with her arms crossed and Brainy with his hands steepled in front of him in a serious manner. Kelly rolled her eyes but nodded too.

“Good.” Alex gave a curt nod and pushed away from the table. “We will meet back here at 19:00 hours for the debriefing.”

“Um… babe?” Kelly put a hand on Alex’s forearm and leaned towards her and Alex softened, smiling dopily at her. “Our dinner reservation is for 6:30.”

“Yeah and Brainy and I have a date too.” Nia looped her arm through Brainy’s, grinning.

“Yes.” Brainy looked pleased with himself and subconsciously leaned further into Nia’s side. “We are going paintballing.”

Alex hummed. “Okay well everyone just keep the group chat updated and we’ll meet up tomorrow.”

They dispersed and the plan was set into motion.

Phase 1 - Alex

Alex strode through the halls of the DEO with purpose, rubber soles of her boots not making much sound. Part of her envied the intimidating click of Lena’s heels but J’onn had shut down her suggestion of adding studs to the bottom of her boots, claiming it would undermine the stealth aspect of the design.

She entered her little office and flopped down in the chair, propping her feet up on the desk. She dialed Kara’s number, chewing on a jolly rancher from the secret stash in the drawer that Kara thought held boring paperwork as it rang.

“Hey Alex. What’s up?”

“Hey Kara. I - … where are you? Shouldn’t you be at CatCo?” The faint sound of traffic and the wind crackled through the phone speaker and Alex frowned.

“I’m just on my lunch break.”

“Oh.” Alex glanced at her watch. There was still an hour before phase 2 so Kara would probably be back at CatCo by then. “Ok. So what are you doing tonight? Sorry again that I can’t spend tonight with you.”

“No it’s fine - you have fun with Kelly. Lena and I were just going to have a movie night together.”

“Really?” Her eyebrows rose. That was easier than expected.

“Yeah, well neither of us was going to spend Valentine’s Day with anyone else so…”

Hm. That was going to be Alex’s argument. At least Kara was unknowingly cooperating with the secret plan.

She and Lena were getting insufferable with their heart eyes and yearning and so Alex had decided to take matters into her own hands with the help of their friends. (Kelly had been somewhat reluctant but Alex promised they wouldn’t push Kara or Lena to do anything, they would just… gently direct them in the direction they all knew they were heading anyway.) And so Mission: Get The Idiots Together was born. … Along with the group chat where they complained about the two idiots in question.

“Well ok then. Have a good day.”

“You too. Bye, Alex. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

Alex hung up and leaned back in her chair, steepling her fingers together and feeling like a Bond villain. Ah yes, it was all coming together now.

Phase 2 - Nia

Nia: Guys it’s all falling apart already

Nia glanced around the CatCo bullpen again, leg nervously bouncing. Her phone buzzed in her hand and she looked back at it, totally-not-suspiciously under her desk. It was a reply from Alex.

Alex: What?? What’s going on?

Nia: Kara’s not here

Alex: She told me she was at lunch over an hour ago! She must be back by now

Nia: Well she’s not! What do I do???

Brainy: Do not worry - I have just just seen her exiting L-corp and she informed me she was heading back to CatCo.

Alex: Ok great. Nobody panic.

Kelly: You guys are taking this way too seriously

Nia: Ok I’ll just do it when she gets back

Alex: Oh btw Kara said they’ve already planned to have a movie night together tonight so that makes our job easier

Brainy: Wait - if they’re already meeting tonight then what is the purpose of my visit to L-corp?

Phase 3 - Brainy

Brainy frowned down at his phone but at that moment the elevator dinged and the doors slid open on Lena’s floor. He stepped out, putting his phone away and nervously smoothing his shirt. Improvisation. He could do that. This plan definitely wasn’t going to end in disaster.

He nodded politely to Jess and she smiled. “Hello. I am here to see Lena Luthor.”

Jess bit back an amused smile and picked up the phone on her desk. “Miss Luthor? Querl Dox is here to see you.” She put it down after a moment and gestured to the large double doors. “You can go right in.”

Brainy nodded again in thanks and moved towards the office. Perhaps they should have drafted Jess into the plan.

Lena stood up and rounded her desk with a slightly confused yet genuine smile as he entered. “Brainy. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

He cleared his throat, standing awkwardly in the middle of her office. “I just came to see you. As friends do. Which we are.”

Lena’s eyebrows climbed almost imperceptibly. “Right. Drink?”

Brainy shook his head and she moved over to the side of her office to pour herself a glass of water. “So… I hear you and Kara are having a movie night tonight.”

A little bit of water sloshed over the side of the glass as Lena was pouring it. She had a faint blush on her cheeks when she turned back around which was odd because the AC in her office seemed to be working fine.

“Yes. Well we assumed you would all be too busy to join us. Are you and Nia doing anything tonight?” She sipped her water and moved back to lean against her desk.

Brainy lit up at the mention of Nia. “Yes! We are going paintballing.”

He spent the next half an hour talking about his date with Nia and Nia in general until they both had to get back to work.

Phase 2 (attempt 2) - Nia

“Kara!” Nia slid up to walk along beside her as she stepped from the elevator into the bullpen.

Kara smiled and started walking towards her desk. “Hey, Nia. What’s up?”

“Nothing! I mean… lots of things. The sky, the ceiling, …clouds.”

Kara looked at her a bit weirdly and she laughed awkwardly.

“Anyway… just came to see how you are, mentor.” She lightly punched Kara in the arm.

Kara raised an eyebrow, looking down at where Nia had punched her before slowly sitting down at her desk. “I’m good. Thank you.”

“Great! Oh by the way,” Nia smoothly segued into her part of the mission with complete subtlety and absolutely no suspiciousness, “I accidentally double ordered flowers and chocolates for Brainy. I figured I’d give one lot to you and maybe you could do something with them.”

She rushed over to her desk and grabbed the bouquet of flowers and heart-shaped box of chocolates waiting there, depositing them in front of Kara.

“Oh wow. Thanks Nia.” Kara grinned up at her before picking up the box of chocolates and peeling off the sellotape.

Nia’s eyes widened and she tried not to scream in panic as Kara opened the box and just started eating the chocolates. Kara offered one to her with a smile and she managed to croak out a “no thanks” before she ran off back to her desk to inform the group chat of the latest development.

Phase 4 - Kelly

Kelly sighed as her phone blew up with notifications of her panicking group of friends. How this had ended up being her life was a mystery.

The elevator slowed and opened to the bustling CatCo bullpen just as she saw Kara disappear through the emergency exit at the back. She sighed again and got straight back into the elevator, unlocking her phone.

Kelly: I’m guessing Kara just got called away for a Supergirl emergency?

Alex: Sorry

Kelly: Phase 4 failed

Alex: Shit. Brainy, I need you to take over phase 4 when Kara gets back to the DEO. Kelly, you just get to L-corp.

Nia: Wait but if I’m now going to L-corp to give Lena chocolates instead won’t it be a little suspicious that we’ve all suddenly decided to to go visit her on the same day?

Alex: Shit you’re right. Ok, Nia, you take over phase 6 while you’re at L-corp and Kelly, you come by Kara’s later for phase 4.

Phase 4b - Brainy

Brainy stared at his phone, unsure whether he was still supposed to be attempting phase 4. Before he could ask, Kara strode up beside him and sat on the desk he was sitting at.

“Did you see how hard I hit that guy?” Kara grinned, swinging her legs.

Brainy gulped, quickly turning off his phone and sliding it back into his pocket. “Yes. Very impressive. Is Alex back yet?”

Kara shook her head. “She and the backup team are just on their way back with the bad guy.”

He nodded. Right. Motivate Kara to tell Lena about her feelings. He could do this.

“Did you know that the mortality rate of unmarried people is much higher than that of married people?”

Kara’s head snapped over to him with a mildly horrified expression. “What?”

Perhaps that was not the right starting point. “Well… maybe that means one could keep someone they care about from dying so much by… marrying them?”

Kara chuckled. “Unfortunately I’m not sure marriage is a cure for death.”

There was a sadness creeping in behind her eyes and Brainy began to panic even further. Making Kara upset was definitely not part of the plan. He blurted out the first thing that came to mind to try to cheer her up again.

“Do you want to see a video of baby pandas that Nia sent me?”

Alex gave them a bit of an odd look when she got back to see them laughing at videos of pandas rolling around but Brainy would say improvised phase 4 had been a success.

Phase 2.5/ 6 - Kelly Nia

Nia strode into Lena’s office with her most friendly and least suspicious smile.

“Nia. What a surprise. You and Brainy in one day.” Lena stood and gave Nia a brief but warm hug.

She was wearing a jade sheath dress that brought out the green in her eyes, with sleeves that came down to just above her elbows. Her usual deep red lipstick was missing, replaced with a natural colour (or it may have just been lip balm). Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and had been left slightly wavy rather than perfectly straightened. At least they didn’t have to worry about making sure Lena looked good for tonight.

“Hey Lena. I just came by because I ordered too many chocolates for Brainy and I thought maybe you could have one to give to someone or something.” She sat casually in front of Lena’s desk, pulling another box of chocolates she had bought on the way over out her back and setting them on the desk.

Lena sat back down with an amused smile. “How thoughtful of you. Thank you.”

“You know,” Nia relaxed back into the chair, looking off into the distance in a completely normal and not at all overly dramatic gesture. “I’m so glad Brainy and I talked about how we felt. We’re so happy together and I can’t imagine how much I would have regretted not saying anything. You know… because we’re so happy together now and we wouldn’t be if neither of us had said anything”

Lena nodded slowly. “I’m glad you’re both so happy together.”

“And you know, we should always speak our minds.” She adopted the persona of a motivational speaker, channeling her inner Kelly. “Because we can’t let ourselves be silenced, Lena. You are a powerful woman with a great mind, great hair, and a jawline that could cut glass.”

“... thank you?”

Nia placed her hand over Lena’s on the desk, nodding seriously. “You’re welcome.”

And with that she stood and strutted out of the room.

Nailed it.

Phase 7 - Alex

Alex turned up at Kara’s just after she got home. Kara opened the door, looking very confused at the sight of her sister.

“Alex? What are you doing here? Don’t you have to get ready for your date?”

Alex pushed into the apartment, patting Kara’s arm on the way past. “I just came to see my little sister beforehand. Make sure you’re doing okay.”

Kara closed the door with a raised eyebrow. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

Alex shrugged, dropping her bag onto the kitchen island with a clunk. “Well I just wanted to see you since I can’t spend the evening with you. I didn’t want you to feel alone.”

Kara glanced at her watch. “Oh. Ok. Well Lena’s going to be here soon so you don’t have to worry.”

Alex waved her off and moved into her bedroom, flicking through the clothes on the rack.

“... what are you doing?”

Alex ignored her, picking out a neat navy blue button down. “Hey, why don’t you wear this? I haven’t seen you in it before.”

Kara frowned. “I’ve definitely worn that around you before.”

“Well I don’t remember.” She shoved the shirt into Kara’s arms and directed her towards the bathroom. “Put it on for me.” She decided Kara’s beige slacks were good enough, not wanting to push too far. Her hair was already perfectly curled in a half up half down look as though she had only just done it so that was fine.

Kara appeared again a moment later in the new shirt looking confused. Alex interrupted her before she could say anything.

“Brrrr. It’s cold in here.”

Kara frowned. “Is it?”

“Yes. Us humans get cold, you know.” She moved into the kitchen, not taking any questions. “You should light some candles.”

“Candles? To warm my apartment?”

Alex ignored her, rifling through cupboards for matches. She found them with a bunch of Kara’s own candles. A rather large number of candles actually that all looked new and smelled nice. Looks like she hauled all those candles over in her handbag for nothing.

Kara helped her set up the candles nicely around her apartment, continuously glancing over at her as though worried Alex had sustained some kind of head injury.

Alex was saved from having to come up with a more plausible explanation by a knock on the door.

Phase 4 (attempt ?) - Kelly

“Kelly? What are you doing here?”

Kelly hugged Kara and made her way into the now softly glowing and smelling faintly of sandalwood apartment. “I came to see you. I know how hard it can be for some people on Valentine’s day if they don’t have a romantic partner. But it’s completely normal and we shouldn’t be made to feel any less for it - in fact there are plenty of people who never have a relationship and lead very happy and fulfilled lives.”

Alex elbowed her in the side, smiling innocently.

Kelly cleared her throat, pushing back at Alex a little. “Although we also shouldn’t be afraid to look for a relationship. It’s important to be honest with ourselves and others, and sometimes things that seem scary can actually be okay and very rewarding.”

Alex nodded along beside her and Kara looked between the two of them.

She nodded slowly. “Right.”

Another knock at the door drew Kara’s attention away and Alex sighed in relief, holding her hand up to Kelly for a sneaky high five which she returned with an eye roll.

Kara’s voice took on a breathy awed quality that only ever appeared around Lena as she opened the door. “Lena. Hi.”

Lena smiled shyly, ducking her head. “Hi.”

Kara stepped aside to let her in, taking her coat.

“Hey Lena.” Alex waved at her.

Lena’s eyebrows rose slightly. “Alex. Kelly. I thought you two had a date?”

Alex nodded excessively, taking Kelly’s hand. “Yes we do. And we should really be going so that we’re not late.”

They awkwardly sidled between Kara and Lena out of the apartment, looking one last time between them before smiling and walking off down the hall.

Alex grinned as she heard the door close behind them. “Do you think it worked?”

Phase …???

They were just leaving Kara’s building when Nia and Brainy came running up to them.

“Alex! Kelly!” Nia doubled over, hands on her knees and breathing hard as she reached them. She thrust her hand out towards them, bouquet of roses clutched in her fist. “Kara forgot the flowers at CatCo.”

Alex gasped and snatched them from her hand, turning to rush back inside. Everyone else ran after her, taking the stairs two at a time. They stomped down the hall to Kara’s door and Alex pushed it open, all four of them bursting in.

Kara and Lena were locked in an open mouthed kiss in the kitchen, Lena pressed up against the island as Kara gripped her hips, thumb slipping under her shirt. Lena’s hands were tangled in Kara’s hair, pulling her closer in a decidedly non-platonic way. A bouquet of plumerias sat on the island behind them and the dining table was laid romantically with a meal that looked to be from France.

The pair sprang apart at the loud bang of Kara’s door against the wall, Lena ducking her head and pulling her lips into her mouth as Kara moved slightly in front of her as though attempting to hide that they had just been thoroughly making out.

The four in the doorway gaped at the scene before them.

“Well. I guess the plan worked.”

#supercorp #I may or may not have completely forgotten valentines day was a thing until I opened tumblr this morning #so have a hastily written oneshot #a ‘lotl writing

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takonei · 3 years

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I rate the DR 10th anniversary outfits because

Sooo someone posted scans of the thing and I am here to rate those disasters. Here we fucking go.

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Makoto: 7/10 Simple and effective, but nothing special.

Taka: 7.5/10 A bit more classy than Makoto but still simple with not much originality.

Byakuya: 6/10 Out of all the characters who could have worn a jacket incorrectly, they choose McRich for the job. I hate it. But outfit is fine I guess.

Mondo: 10/10 So ridiculous and in character. Love it.

Leon: 5/10 What are you, scottish? The shoes ruin everything for me they’re so ugly smh. I know I can’t draw shoes either but what are those

Hifumi: 0/10 Look Hifumi, I know your character gets too much hate but I gotta say: Ew.

Hiro: 6.5/10 I like the outfit. But my guy, that color is piss. If you had just changed the color I would have added 2 points.

Sayaka: 7/10 Like Makoto, it’s nice but that’s it.

Kyoko: 9/10 Damn, she look classy as hell. I don’t like that much whatever is going on with the sleeves but the rest looks stunning.

Hina: 10/10 My girl looks SPLENDID in yellow. And the flowers are great too, I just love her. Plus that smile <3

Toko: 8/10 It’s nice, I like the bun(s?) and the dress looks good. The flower in her hair is a nice touch and the colors fit her.

Sakura: 9/10 My girl looks great in buns (+ flower). I like the kimono a lot but the colors used irks me just a tiny bit. Still love her, though.

Celeste: 8.5/10 I wish that veil was a bit more transparent so I could see her dress in it’s entirety. Either way, she looks stunning and that hairpiece is just in character.

Junko: 9/10 The dress looks fantastic, the mask is a nice touch but I feel like she would have been perfect with loose hair.

Chihiro: 7/10 Say what you want about the onceler, I like that outfit. Very cute but the socks(?) give me the same vibe as Miu’s bondage gear and mmmm don’t like that

Hajime: 7.5/10 See Makoto above but a little 0.5+ for that flower.

Nagito: 8.5/10 I’m a sucker for boys with tied hair, as you may already know. White looks nice on him, and the outfit is nice.

Twogami: 4/10 You just took Hifumi’s ugly outfit and put a fur coat on it. It doesn’t look that bad since it’s at least less flashy, but I just don’t vibe.

Gundham: 6/10 The outfit is okay I guess but are you telling me that this guy wouldn’t choose something 100 times more extra? He looks so plain. Give him the crazy outfit he deserves.

Kazuichi: 6/10 You fucking disaster. You just took your jumpsuit and made it fancy. This is so damn ridiculous, but I can still see some appeal in it but like, you’re a disaster man. Also nice glasses bro

Teruteru: 10/10 I love it. The vibe it has,,, I love this. The colors, the simpleness yet effectiveness, it’s just perfect.

Nekomaru: 6.5/10 It’s fine, I guess. It does fit him, but I don’t see that much stuff that could be considered out of the ordinary in a good way.

Fuyuhiko: 7.5/10 Palette color is good but like. The outfit is peak bisexual. I don’t even hc him as bisexual.

Akane: 10/10 THAT’S MY GIRL. She is more of a queen than Sonia will ever be, I’m sorry. She is rocking with that cape. And the outfit is great.

Chiaki: 7/10 It’s cute and effective, it fits her. I don’t like her hair that much for some reason, but overall she looks neat.

Sonia: 6/10 What do you mean this isn’t a miss universe contest? I can’t vibe, I’m sorry. It looks nice, but it feels more like a popular girl’s dress than who Sonia really is.

Hiyoko: 7.5/10 It looks better than her in-game outfit, at least. The colors suit her, I like it.

Mahiru: 7/10 I have mixed feelings. I love the dress, but the headband is a huge no from me. Little plus for the flower, though.

Mikan: 1/10 Who thought this was a good outfit? Genuinely curious.

Ibuki: 9/10 This is so damn extra, I love it. So many ribbons for nothing, it almost gives a Touhou vibe. But the outfit itself? Horrendous color palette, but it fits because it’s Ibuki.

Peko: 9/10 Opposite of Ibuki on the same spectrum. It’s calm, classy anyway, and fits Peko. I don’t have anything to say, it’s just really good. Nice flower btw

Rantaro: 7/10 Outfit is fancy af, but you would have a better grade if it wasn’t for that damn fedora.

Kokichi: 7/10 Who the fuck wears purple socks with white shoes? Also as I said before, he looks like the type of person who gets drunk before coming to the party. Outfit’s good, but once you get to the details it’s a disaster.

Keebo: 4/10 I do not vibe. I don’t know what I’m looking at. Is this another armor? Is this an outfit on the armor? I don’t know. Scarf looks a bit out of place. Also Keebo, wearing your jacket like Hiro doesn’t suit you I’m sorry.

Gonta: 4/10 I do. do not vibe. Too many squares? Too green? idk what bothers me the most. Also he gave me a heart attack the first time I saw him bc I thought he had cut his hair.

Shuichi: 6.5/10 After those two disasters I am glad to see someone at least decent. The color palette doesn’t suit him that much, but I can respect it.

Kiyo: 10/10 The guy is so classy it hurts. I don’t even know if that’s a skirt or pants but either way I love it. This outfit just suits him 100%.

Ryoma: 3/10 What the fuck is this. What. What is this. This hat reaches Touhou levels of ridiculousness. It’s horrible. The outfit is kinda better than whatever some of them have going on but holy shit the hat ruins everything for me.

Kaito: 9/10 The coat is fantastic. Black with tiny moons and stars + a space interior? That’s beyond perfect. Outfit is nice, although I would have liked a different color for the vest and the pants.

Kaede: 8/10 It’s simple and effective. I really like the flowers but still, I can’t get used to Kaede’s haircut. At this this one has cute flowers and ribbons.

Miu: 8.5/10 Now you would think that with what Mikan got, Miu would get something super revealing, but this is surprisingly not the case. It’s very original and it suits her a lot, especially the huge sleeves.

Tsumugi: 7/10 The dress is nice, but that’s pretty much it. I like how she tied her hair, it does look nice. Also those shoes are weird tbh

Tenko: 9/10 I was wrong. This is, in fact, a mini-short. She looks so classy and I love the new placement of the hairpin. She looks a lot like a talentswap Magician!Tenko and I love it. So classy. Very good.

Kirumi: 10/10 That’s peak fancy. I just. I love. her. She’s so fucking great like the elegance, the classiness, everything is perfect. I believe in Kirumi supremacy.

Maki: 3/10 I’m sorry I hate this dress. It had good potentiel but the color palette irks me. No. I can’t. Hair looks nice tho.

Himiko: 8/10 It’s just so damn cute. Idk if the space theme is a reference to her beta design but either way, I love it.

Angie: 8/10 A different kind of fancy. I like the large pants, it does fit her vibe. Also that veil is cool af.

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hiddles-evans-hallucinations · 4 years

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Show Me

Request: “can i request? reader is typically not that affectionate but would cuddle&sometimes sit on someones lap when shes drunk. Lately Chris is alway the ones she goes to when drunk bc hes always nice to her&goes along with it but one day she overhears him kinda complaining about it so shes stops going to him and instead goes to tom holland since the two are close from working together and are about the same age. After a while Chris starts noticing that she doesn’t go to him anymore and gets jealous” - By Anon

Pairing: Chris Evans x Famous Reader

Genre: Fluff, Young-adults,

Warnings: 18+, sensitive background, explicit language, age gap

Note: Oh another famous reader and all that, I love eeht! Thank you for the request! My request are still open btw! And please also let me know if you want your request to be short or long. Hope you enjoy this!

Tag list: @patzammit - tag list are open! Lemme know through my inbox! <3

*gifs are not mine*

You were known by the public because your dad is an actor, even though you don’t go out with paparazzi, a lot of friends are way more famous than you. Famous like your dad or even more. Like Tom Holland, Chris Evans, Justin Bieber, Sebastian Stan, and also because you dated some famous people in the past, Chris Pine, Orlando Bloom, Nicholas Hoult and Niall Horan. You are a very social person but those who knows you well know enough that you are not affectionate enough, it just happens when you’re drunk; a complete clingy and lovey dovey person. And you agreed that it’s one of the reason why your past relationships never worked out.

You agreed to go to Ellen’s birthday party and when it comes to Ellen’s parties, you know you’re gonna get fucked up. You never know how she keeps it up, and she knows for sure that you’re not a lightweight drinker, a heavy one if you have to say but it all come crashing down when she’s the one that’s hosting the party.

“Aw shit.” you said over the phone when she called, you are just around the corner near her house. “I’m about to go home.” you added as you hear Ellen’s laugh with the music blasting in the background.

“Hey, come on! It’s my birthday!”

“Fine!” You said, Portia take over the phone and say, “I can’t believe you’re about to say no to your godmother.” oh and Ellen is your godmother.

“Fine, fine! I’m pulling over!”

You hung up and look down at what you’re wearing. You frown, you were just done with work; you’re a fashion designer who owns your own clothing brand. You know that when it’s Ellen’s birthday, the paparazzi would follow you to your office that day in downtown LA.

When you were about to walk out of your car, Tom calls.

You answer by not saying anything, he hates it when you do it. “Where are you?” he asks as you spray perfume all over you. “Ellen’s.” “Oh, I’m almost there too!”

You raise your brow at him. “She invites you?”

“I think it was a mistake, she was talking to RDJ and I happen to be there in the middle of them talking-”

“Oh my god, bye.”

“See you, my darling!”

You roll your eyes and hung up at him. You know where to park at Ellen’s, it’s basically your second home and you don’t need a valet to take your car for you.

You walk in greeted by Portia. “Beyonce is here.” she whispers.

“No way?”

“Yes way!” she squealed, knowing that you love Beyonce so much, your mouth hangs open.

Ellen pecks your head, “Happy birthday, godmother.” you joked as she rolled her eyes at you.

You walk into the bar and get yourself gin and tonic as a hand landed on your back, you turn around and find Sebastian Stan. “What’s up, lady!” he screamed. You smiled and find a lot of the Avengers actors is here, you spotted Chris looking at you across the room. You partied with these guys more than anyone, since you’re only a year older than Tom, you spend a lot of your time socializing and not touching people. Seb used to say, “LOL at you cause hugging is good for you.” but you can’t help it, your parents divorced because your mom was so abusive, and since then you never liked it when people touches you.

Seb says, "Your dance partner is right there." he pointed his head to Chris' direction. You flushed, your head went back to the text Anthony Mackie sent you where you were dancing all night with Chris and got a little bit too comfortable. Every time you party and there’s Chris, you don’t know why you’re always open to be affectionate and it only happens when you’re drunk.

“(Y/N)!” Tom screamed from across the room, you were sure that everyone who heard him gave him a look. You give him a one-arm hug, he laughed knowing that this is as far as you can get and it’s still progress. You worked with Tom before and have become closer after and it’s also because you’re the same age as him, just a year older.

After you said hi to everyone, Chris smiled at you, you blushed.

How embarrassing is this, (Y/N)? You said to yourself as Anthony came in with tequila shots. You shot him a look and he smirks, “Come on, we wanna see you dance like few weeks ago. I heard you still do ballet? No wonder why you can move like that, they say.. girls who ballet will shake that ass and bring a shock therapy to men like us.” Your eyes shot open that it almost fell out of it place.

“Jesus Christ, Anthony, what the fuck?” You said taking the shot from his hand and shoot it down your throat. “Hey, come on, you can dance, embrace it.” he was about to put his arms around you but know your boundaries.

“Oops, okay, hug you later.” he hands you another shot.

After eight-glasses of gin and tonic, one screwdriver, too many tequila shots, you finally take off your outer and started to make your way to Anthony who’s pulling the invisible robe to his way. You threw your head back, as you walk to the dance floor, everyone cheers you as you laugh.

Chris looks at you, licking his lower lip, young blood, he thought, every time (Y/N) gets to this point, she dances like no other, and when she grinds on him, he wants to do things to her. And he knows that she dances with everyone platonically but sometimes he wish more.

“Girls have fun” by Tyga started to play in the background, you were dancing with a glass in hand, Seb lights up his cigarette as Anthony dance enjoying himself and the music.

You saw Chris sitting down, you walk to him and grab both of his hands but he’s way stronger than you so you fall onto his lap. This is what the picture looked like at the party few weeks ago. You find yourself wrapping your hands around his neck as he chuckles. When you sat on his lap it could be all night, you’d have conversations and he even stayed at your place, doing nothing but cuddling.

You both are friends and you guys hang out a lot, partying together a lot, so you see it as a platonic gesture when you’re affectionate and clingy towards him when you’re drunk. Tom was one of the victim of your drunk clinginess, he still does sometimes but when he’s not in LA and every party you attend there’s Chris and he’s the closest friend you have out of everyone in the room, mostly.

“I got more money than her ex!” people sang the line of “Nothin’ Like Me” by Chris Brown as you drag Chris to the dance floor, your hands wrapped around his. He laughed and just when he place both his hands on your waist the music changed to “Beware” by Big Sean.

This is yours, Mackie’s and Chris’ favorite song to sing out at parties.

Okay, skeet, smoke Sleep, call Miss, text Woke, spoke Lie, feel, Lisa ew Time, kill, months, still.

“I got somebody baby calling me daddy!” Anthony and Chris shouted.

They look at you to finish the other line as you scrunch your hair up and sang, “I drink too much please call me a cabby.” they both laughed at you, the room smells like nothing but alcohol. The music never seem to stop.

All of you went to sit to talk, you sit in between Tom and Chris, you rest your head on Chris’ shoulder. But when you were about to get water, you feel dizzy and landed on Chris’ lap. “Oh this is comfortable, as always.” you slurred.

Chris looks at (Y/N) as she sits on his lap, he enjoys it usually, but now it’s getting annoying, she just keeps sitting on his lap, and it only happens when she’s drunk, she feels like she’s doing this to take advantage of him and not caring about what he might feels of this.

“Okay, I got to go home.”

Chris sighs in relief as (Y/N) make her way out after hugging everyone and kissing his cheek.

I don’t know how long she’s gonna keep it up, Chris thought.

. . . .

A month have passed since Ellen’s birthday party, you were fucked the next morning and you keep on telling everyone at your HQ to stop screaming when they’re not. You drink coffee like a lunatic at meetings and you never want to take your shades off that day.

Tonight, you’re in New York, and you are invited by Seb, he said it’s kind of a Marvel casts party but everyone’s bring everybody, it’s kind of intimate party but not really, the party where everyone know each other, so, why not invite you when you’re also in town.

You can see paparazzi outside as you walk in covering your face. You were wearing the same outfit from opening another store in Manhattan and you didn’t want to change because it’s too much work.

“Looking good, Miss (Y/L/N)!” The paparazzi called out but you ignore him.

You walk out of the elevator of the penthouse and Scarlett Johansson pulls you in for a hug immediately, not caring about you think and also because she’s already tipsy. “Why are you late?! Everyone is almost drunk!” you laughed, trying to ignore the fact that she’s still hugging you now.

You notice that it’s not as crowded as you thought it’d be.

You excuse yourself to go the bathroom to fix your makeup. You open the door and leans closer on the mirror to check on your makeup. You reapply your lipstick and add some more blush just slightly.

You were putting your things back to your clutch when you hear Chris’ and Anthony’s voice.

“Is (Y/N) gonna be here?” Chris asks.

“Yeah, Scarlett told me she’s already here.”

Chris groans, you stop yourself from being seen by them. “What’s up with you?”

“It’s just, when she’s drunk, she’s like clingy and sitting on my lap and stuff, it gets... annoying.” your heart sinks.

You’re trying to not be so hard on yourself and say, “Told ya, it’s gonna be like this when you’re affectionate.” to yourself.

“Dude? What? Anyone will take her, but remember, you know her. Platonic Evans... Platonic.” You hear their footsteps fades as you walk out.

You were avoiding Chris the whole night, you stayed with Tom and talk with RDJ, Scarlett and Mark. The party isn’t as loud as Ellen’s, everyone can still talk to each other without yelling.

You’ve been drinking and you can feel it hits fast and right. “I’m sorry if I’m gonna be handsy and clingy to you.” You said to Tom. Tom looks at you weird, “What? You are the person that everyone waits to get drunk so they can have your arms all around you.” he pulls you into his lap as you continue to talk.

Chris watches you from across the room, he knows when your eyes are different from all the alcohol, you’ll be where you are right now. But, he feels something was off. You didn’t say hi to him, you waited for Mackie to come to you to say hi, you talk with Seb then to everybody but him. Usually, this time you’d take his hands to dance or you’d just sit on his lap, but not tonight. You hold onto Tom, talking to him, laughing with him.

Chris would see it as normal, but tonight because you’re avoiding and he noticed it, it feels different. He wanted to be Tom or at least get you away from Tom.

You feel sick, and Tom can feel it. He turns you around so you are facing as he ask, “You okay?” you shook your head no.

“Have you eaten today?”

“No.”

“Why? That’s why you’re off too fast.” he said, rubbing your back. Chris sees how your skirt lifts up a little bit too high revealing your thighs when Tom shifts you around to face him.

I don’t like what I see, Chris thought to himself.

You rest your head against Tom’s cheeks, Anthony walks in and mouth “Is she okay?” Tom chuckles, shaking his head no as he continues to rub your back. Anthony grabs you a glass of water and hands it to Tom.

But, before he can give it to you, you feel like everything’s gonna come out.

You sit up straight and say, “I need to go.” covering your mouth, Chris was fast and you didn’t even know where you came from as he throw you over his shoulder and take you to the closest restroom.

You can feel your head spinning those drinks you just counted keeps on adding up and not to mention, you’re in this state fast because you haven’t eat and you drink with your usual amount of serving.

Chris holds up your hair as everything came out through your throat that feel nothing but bitterness and sourness. Oh, great, you thought.

He helped you up once you’re done, but you avoid his eyes still. You wash your mouth, opening the drawer and find a new toothbrush and brush your teeth and tongue.

You feel disgusting from all the vomit.

Chris looks at you, wondering what happened all these weeks you two went to party together all touchy but tonight, you’re so distant.

Once you’re done brushing your teeth, Chris said, “come.” you just look at him through the mirror before turning to him.

He holds out his hand but you rejeted his offer by gesturing him lead-the-way with your hands.

Chris took you to the kitchen that’s far from all of the crowds. “Here, drink this.” he hands you a cup of americano.

“Thanks.” you said, grabbing your phone out of your clutch, only finding that it’s already 2 AM.

You text back your friends, and texted Tom back.

T: I’m going. Please, let me know when you’re home.

(Y/N): Sobering up, thank you. See you soon.

You keep on finding apps to open to avoid Chris’ eyes that seems to never leave you out his sight. You don’t feel anything but embarrassed, and you want this to stop; being all touchy and affectionate only when you’re intoxicated.

“Look at me,”

You ignore him, opening Instagram and uploads a picture of you and Tom drinking together as RDJ posed with his arms crossed over his chest on your Insta Story.

“(Y/N).”

“What?” You said looking up to him, placing your phone on the counter. Chris holds up his hands in defeat hearing your tone. You look down, ashamed. You’re full on sober now, but you hate the fact that you are because now you have to talk to him.

Chris said, “I don’t like seeing you with Tom like that.” you give him a are-you-serious look.

“Why? Are you jealous?” You scoff.

“Yeah, I think I am jealous.”

“You think? I thought it’s annoying when I sit on your lap and be all handsy.”

His eyes widens. “Wha.. what?”

“I heard you, Evans, and I’m fucking sorry I did all of that and made you uncomfortable, I couldn’t fucking help it, but you don’t really have to say that.” you said, you never even confront anyone, you avoid conflicts, but you feel like you need to say it to him since you both are friends.

Chris make his way to you as you lean against the counter. “I’m sorry you have to hear that, I know, I know, I’m a dick for saying those things. But..” he place a hand on your waist as you hold your breath trying to not panic.

“Why are you only doing it when there’s alcohol involved? You know I’d want you to do it and be okay with it when you’re not intoxicated.”

You roll your eyes at him, “Chris, you know me long enough to know I can’t have people touching me.” He briefly looks at your lips then back to you.

“And whatever it is with Tom is none of your business.” you added, but you don’t shifts away from his hand on you.

“I’m sorry, but I still don’t like it.”

“Well, you don’t like it either when I’m on you, so.” you shrug, looking away. Chris turns you around and press your body against his so close that you gasps. “I don’t like you on me when you’re intoxicated, but this..” he breathes against your neck.

“I’m here for it.”

You find yourself smiling. “So, you’re jealous?” he nodded as he rest his chin on the side of your head, he’s too tall to have his chin on your shoulder.

You take a deep breath to place your hand on top of him. “I am, very much. I might have to show you how jealous I am.”

You gasp and turn to him. “Oh no, you’re not.”

Chris chuckled, amused before cupping your face. “People desire your touch and I long for it with you in a state like this.” he leans forward, his face is an inch away from you.

“So, please, my request, specifically, don’t do it with other guys.”

“Well, you don’t like it with you-”

He cuts you off by pressing his lips together against yours.

While the one hand’s caressing your face, the other hand trails on the side of your thigh, trailing up to the inside of your skirt.

“You’re mine, now.” he murmurs against your lips.

“Show me then.”

42 notes · View notes

chemicalmagecraft · 4 years

Text

The Gamer Hero, Deku Chapter 28

A/N: Sorry about the wait. I made a new fanfic (btw if you like ATLA but think it needed more deadly airbending ninjas check out A Black Wind Howls) aaand then college started back up...

xoxoxo

I opened my eyes and deactivated my Quirks and skills, stepping on the perfectly generic object with one foot and jumping off a moment before it fully dissolved. "That was way smoother than it had any right to be," I muttered as I checked the time. About an hour had passed since I entered my mindscape. Huh. It felt like it was longer than that. Maybe time passes faster in the mindscape? I checked the text boxes that had popped up while I was meditating. It looked like the menus I'd tried to open when in my mindscape had opened in reality, for one... I closed them and looked at the ones that were left over.

Your WIS has increased by one! (x4)

Your DEX has increased by one!

Your CON has increased by one!

Shock Sphere (Active) LV1 EXP 1.49% MP 100

That was surprisingly good for an hour of meditation. Especially because neither of my stat boosts were set to WIS. I guess stumbling around in one's own mindscape is a great method of self-discovery. For one thing I decided I should probably stop raising All Might on such a high pedestal. Maybe I'd ask him if I could call him Yagi-sensei?

I shrugged. "I wish I could talk to the past bearers in the real world, though. They were really nice. Plus having seven seasoned heroes that I can ask for advice at any time would be really handy. Too bad I can't just invite them to my party." I thought about that for a minute. "Actually, can I do that?" I recited the party invitations and crossed my fingers. One by one they appeared in my party window and I opened up the voice chat.

"So is this how your party ability works?" Kaizen asked.

"Honestly I didn't think that would work," I said, "but I'm really glad it did."

"We're glad it worked too, kid!" Daigoro added.

I laughed. "Thanks! There are probably going to be times when I can't talk and have to use the text chat, and other times where I'll have to disband the party temporarily, but you guys don't mind keeping me company, do you?"

I heard Shimura chuckle. "I don't mind at all. And I'm sure the others don't either."

"I'd be glad to keep you company," Honenuki said.

"Better than playing another of Ichigo's stupid games," Hikiishi added.

"Hey!" Ichigo said indignantly.

"They are fun, but it does get old sometimes..." Sokolov muttered.

"Not you too!"

I laughed. This was going to be great.

xoxoxo

Bakugou Katsuki: youre real fuckin blase bout the voices in your head deku

Shigaraki Ichigo: To be fair we are actual people and we can only be voices in his head using his Quirk.

I'd decided that, because Kacchan already knew about One For All, I would tell him about the past bearers. I did it on the morning of the day that we were going back to Yuuei. He was surprised, but almost immediately shrugged and said, "You know what, this might as well fucking happen." Currently we were on the train to Yuuei.

Hikiishi Jiroku: if you think about it, we're like ghosts haunting your friend.

Bakugou Katsuki: oh like thats so much better

I saw a young girl with bright eyes staring at us out of the corner of my eye. "Mommy, it's the magic people!" she shouted to a woman next to her that I assumed was her mother.

"Don't bother them, Chi-chan," the woman said.

"Are you talking about us?" I asked the girl.

She gasped. There were stars in her eyes. Literally. "Yeah! I watched you guys on the sports festival! Your fight was awesome!"

Kacchan smirked at the girl. "You know it, kid."

She bounced on her feet. "Yeah! You guys were all like bam, pow, woosh!" The rest of the people on the train were starting to look at us. The girl pouted. "I wanna be a cool hero like you guys, but my Quirk is dumb..."

"I'm sure your Quirk is great!" I objected.

"All I can do is make my eyes glow."

"Well I mean for one thing you can probably use it to see in the dark." Kacchan said.

"That's the only way I can use it, though!"

"I wouldn't be too sure," I said. "Can you control how bright it is?"

She nodded. "It's hard, but if I try really hard I can make it as bright as a flashlight for a bit."

I put my hand on my chin. "I'd bet that even All Might would be thrown off if someone he was fighting randomly shined a flashlight in his eyes. And if you practice really hard you should be able to make them even brighter." I poked Kacchan. "Believe it or not, when his Quirk first came in all he could do was make little pops."

"Just make sure not to hurt yourself practicing," Kacchan reminded her. "Quirk strain is not fun. I mean, mine was probably a lot fu- a lot worse than yours would be because it's caused by explosions and not glowing, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be careful."

The girl nodded excitedly.

"And be careful in general," I said. "Hero work is dangerous. I suggest you learn martial arts or something like that if you really want to be a hero."

"Like you're one to fuc-" Kacchan caught himself before swearing. "Like you're one to talk, Deku."

"Fair enough. You should also try to learn some magic. It's a lot more versatile than Quirks, plus you can probably enhance your Quirk with magic." I winked. "Just be mindful of property damage."

She beamed at us. "Yeah! I will!"

Her mother smiled. "Thank you. She loves heroes."

I chuckled and rubbed the back of my head. "It's actually pretty flattering."

"Yeah, I got my first fan!" Kacchan said. He reached over to give the girl a high five. She looked really grateful, so I gave her a high five too.

"Thank you both sooo much!"

xoxoxo

"Damn, this is some heavy rain," Kacchan muttered from under his umbrella while we were walking to Yuuei.

"What bad luck, huh?" I said. I also had an umbrella, but at the same time the water was subtly avoiding me so I didn't even get slightly wet. Having so many elementals can be very convenient.

"What are you two doing, you're going to be late!" Iida shouted at us from behind. He was wearing a poncho and jogging.

"What the fuck are you doing, Glasses!?" Kacchan shouted. "This is not the fucking weather for a nice morning jog!"

"There is no wrong weather for a nice morning jog!" Iida shouted as he passed us.

We managed to catch up to him in the entrance hall. "I heard about your brother, Iida," Kacchan told him while he was putting his boots in his locker. "If you need to talk to someone about it... well you probably shouldn't talk to me, but I speak from experience when I say that Inui-sensei is very willing to help."

"Inui-sensei?" I inquired.

Kacchan grunted, blushing slightly. "Hound Dog," he muttered.

"I appreciate your words, but I don't need to talk about it," Iida said as he closed his locker door.

"Iida, it's okay to not be okay," I said. "It doesn't make you any less strong. Even All Might has his bad days."

"Thank you, Midoriya," Iida said as he started to walk away. "But I'm okay. I promise."

I frowned at his title.

I'm Not Okay (I Promise)

LV 36

Iida Tenya

"I'm gonna have to press X to doubt that one," I said after he was gone.

"Deku I know you have that whole gamer hero thing going on but that joke was so fucking terrible I think I'm legally obligated to give you a wedgie," Kacchan told me.

"Please don't."

xoxoxo

"I have a few announcements before today's business," Aizawa-sensei said, acting like normal and not at all mentioning the fact that he was wearing, with the exception of the same scarf and possibly the goggles hidden under it, an entirely new hero costume. He kept the original color scheme, but his outfit looked like it was inspired by a more close combat-oriented fantasy wizard that wouldn't look out of place in a JRPG at all, complete with a wizard hat and a collapsible bo staff holstered on his belt that Observe told me was made with an experimental design that let it more effectively channel magic. He was also clean-shaven for once, though he still had the dark bags under his eyes. It made that scar he got from the USJ incident stand out a little more.

"First," he pointed to Shinsou, who was standing awkwardly next to him, "we have a new student. Make him feel welcome or whatever. Now sit down, Shinsou. There's an empty seat behind Midoriya."

"Congratulations, Shinsou!" I told him with a smile when he sat down. "I knew you'd get in!"

"Thanks," he said, then looked at Aizawa-sensei. "Was he always wearing that weird martial artist wizard outfit?"

"No, that's new. Scarf's the same, though."

"I thought so."

"If you're all done talking," Aizawa-sensei said menacingly. "We're having a very important hero informatics lesson today." He grinned evilly. "Pay attention, because this could affect your entire hero career." A terrified murmur broke out in the classroom.

"This is not what I was hoping for my first day..." Shinsou muttered.

Kacchan, who was sitting in front of me, looked back at him. "Eh, don't worry. Aizawa-sensei's just a fucking drama queen like that. Watch, he's gonna say that this is just us picking our hero names." He pointed at Aizawa-sensei.

"You'll be picking code names today," he confirmed, as if on cue. The class cheered, causing him to glare at us with his Quirk activated. His hat floated slightly before he turned it back off. "This isn't just for fun. You'll be going on a work study soon, so naturally you'll be needing a hero name to go by. Are there any questions?"

Kaminari raised his hand. "Why are you wearing a wizard outfit?"

"Are there any questions about the work study?" Aizawa-sensei glared at him.

"Is there any reason behind the work study?" Shinsou asked.

"It's meant to give you guys hands-on experience with hero work. Also, more than a few of you have already gotten a lot of draft picks from hero organizations already. Usually those offers are given to second and third years, who are more experienced, but there have been several unique circumstances for your class." He pressed a button on his remote, bringing up a list on the smartboard. "These are the offers that were extended to 1-A."

"Oh wow," I thought. My name was on the top of the board and I had almost five thousand offers!

"Congrats, Midoriya!" Shimura shouted through the party chat.

"Yeah, that's something to be proud of, I'm assuming..." Ichigo added.

"Good job, kid," Hikiishi said.

I sniffed and wiped the tears off my face... and desk... I thanked them over the text chat and looked at the rest of the board. Kacchan was below me at a little over four thousand offers. Aoyama, Todoroki, and Uraraka were next below us at around two thousand each. Iida, Tokoyami, and Kaminari had offers in the hundreds. Sero, Yaoyorozu, and even Shinsou had a few too.

"Don't worry, those of you who didn't get any offers," Aizawa said. "There are hero organizations that work with Yuuei to give students who don't have any offers work studies. And as I said, usually only second and third years get offers. So I'm sure you'll get at least a few by next semester."

"And that's what the hero names are for!" Hagakure blurted out.

Aizawa nodded. "That's right. Technically you can change your hero name at any time, but once you start getting popular chances are the public is going to call you the same name even if you change your name, unless it's accompanied by serious rebranding or something like that."

"Oh, is that what the wizard outfit is for?" Ashido asked.

Aizawa glared at her for a prolonged period of time. "No. Comment. Because having a good hero name before you even debut is so important..."

Midnight-sensei strutted through the door and stood next to Aizawa. "Yuuei strongly encourages the teachers of the hero course to organize a workshop session for their students before their work studies so they don't call themselves something dumb like, oh, I don't know... Eraserhead?"

"Fuck you, Nemuri," Aizawa muttered, causing Midnight to wink and stick her tongue out at him. He sighed and pulled a folding chair and some small dry erase boards out from behind his podium. "Midnight here is going to make sure the names we pick are all right. The annoying thing with hero names is that whatever you pick tends to end up reflecting on your hero career, so choose carefully."

"Wait, are you picking out a hero name, too?" Kaminari asked.

Aizawa grunted and started handing out the dry erase boards. "Against my better judgement I decided, for multiple reasons actually, to adopt a more public hero persona," he explained.

"WHAAAT!?" almost the entire class shouted at once.

"Yeah, yeah. 'Course, I need a new name for it, and the timing lined up so I unfortunately had the 'brilliant' idea of participating in this exercise with you guys, for solidarity or whatever." When he was done with the dry erase boards he put his folding chair next to Uraraka and sat down. "So for the next however long, just think of me like a fellow student. Plus Ultra or whatever."

I uncapped my dry erase marker and stared at the board. What kind of hero did I want to be? What kind of name did I want to have? I had a flash of inspiration, but... I sent Kacchan a message with my Quirk. I wanted his opinion on it.

He turned back to me. "Really?" he asked. I nodded. "Well I can see where you're coming from with that," he shrugged. "If ya really want to, go for it."

I wrote down my idea and waited for everyone else to be done. Kacchan looked like he was having a bit of trouble, but shooed me off when I asked if he needed help.

"And now you'll be presenting your hero names, starting with who's done!" Midnight said after more than a few of my classmates had put down their markers. Nobody said anything, but the air tensed when she said that. "Of course you have to present them!" she said with a grin. "If you can't stand proud and present your name to your own peers, how are you going to stick to it in the face of the public?"

Okay that made me a little nervous, but I shook it off. I was about to volunteer myself for the first presentation, but Aoyama and Aizawa both stood up before I could.

"I shall go first!" Aoyama glittered as Aizawa muttered, "Let's get this over with."

Aizawa sighed. "After you, kid."

"Thank you, my wonderful teacher!" He strutted up to the podium and stylishly revealed the name he wrote on his board. "'Shining Hero: I Can Not Stop Twinkling!' That means that you can't stop my sparkles!" As he said that, literal sparkles bloomed into existence around him. Honestly that was about what I was expecting from him.

"I like it, buuut maybe take out the 'I' and shorten 'Can Not' to 'Can't?'" Midnight suggested.

"Yes! That's perfect, mademoiselle!" Aoyama beamed.

"That's a good name?" Shinsou snarked under his breath.

"I don't know," I said, "I think it's kind of a nice name."

"Because you're a fucking sap," Kacchan added.

I shrugged. "Maybe a little."

Aizawa sighed. "Well, I guess that means I'm next." He walked up to the podium unenthusiastically and lifted up his board. "Magician Hero: Grimalkin," he read, blushing slightly. He'd put a cute little cat paw print on the end where a period would be.

"Ah, like the witch's familiar from Macbeth!" Yaoyorozu said.

Aizawa nodded. "Yes, exactly."

"I love it!" Midnight shouted. "Cute, but still bold!"

"Thanks," Aizawa muttered as he walked away from the podium.

"Now, do we have any more volunteers?" Midnight asked.

Kacchan got up. "I might as well get this over with too." He presented his name. "The Explosion Hero: Grenadier."

"Excellent! It's simple, striking, and goes with your hero outfit's theme!" Midnight commented.

"Thanks, teach." Kacchan said. "I figured it'd be way better than my first idea."

"What would that be?"

"King Explosion Murder."

Midnight winced. "Yeah, Grenadier's a lot better. Next!"

Shinsou nodded and got up to the podium. "I'm afraid it might be a little dark, but... Control Hero: Mindjack."

Midnight nodded with a grin. "I can see your concerns, but it's perfectly fine. Better than King Explosion Murder, at least."

"You're welcome for the example, I guess," Kacchan grumbled.

"Now, who wants to go next?" Midnight asked.

I stood up. "I'd like to," I said. I walked up to the podium, took a deep breath, and showed the class my dry erase board. "The name I decided on is the Gamer Hero: Deku."

xoxoxo

A/N: The naming session went about the same as it did in canon from that point onward, just without Midoriya, Bakugou, and the grape.

Originally I was going to make this chapter longer but then I realized that ending the chapter on the first time the name of the fic is cool.

Elemental list: Midoriya: Halitus, Dune, Rayne, Blaise, Juniper, Mifuyu, Raimon, Iggy, Sonia, and Claude Bakugou: Pyra and Leaf Tokoyami: Corvo Uraraka: Nebula and Ion Hagakure: Lucy Tsu: Bubbles Aizawa: Charlie and Cassiopeia All Might: Seth O'Scope

#fanfiction #bnha fanfiction #bnha #The Gamer Hero Deku #GHD CH28

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belphegor1982 · 4 years

Note

How about the first chapter Tommy appears?

[Pick any passage from any fanfic I’ve written, and stick that selection in my ask/fan mail/submission box. I will then give you the equivalent of a DVD commentary on that snippet!]

Thanks a lot!! (Also I answered this kind of ask about a passage from chapter 2, if you want to take a look - it’s all spoiler-free!)

Here’s Thomas Sean Ferguson’s grand introduction, then :D Oh god, it’s kind of awkward, because like with Blake there’s a certain amount of early installment weirdness. Also I go on and oooooooon (sorry about that). But let’s go!

_________

Quite lost in his thoughts this time, [Jonathan] barely registered that he was walking past the Museum (where Evy is, right now, negotiating the Cairo Museum “lending” the Diamond of Ahm Shere to the British government - which kickstarts the plot) before somebody knocked into him, hard enough for both of them to crumple, breathless, on the ground. It took Jonathan thirty seconds to get his lungs in working order again and, instinctively, check his pockets for anything missing.

A lot of this commentary risks being “this used to be [thing] before I tweaked it in the rewrites”, and a lot of it is because I’ve gained some insight in the past twelve years. Jonathan’s first thought being checking his pockets (which - and I made it explicit in the second or third paragraph of the story :D - comes from his being a skilled pickpocket himself and knowing how it works), however, was there from the very beginning.

“So sorry I bumped into you, mate, didn’t mean to,” came the voice of the attacker. Jonathan’s eyes widened at the sound of this voice and he squinted up at its owner.

And cue Tom Ferguson :D He wasn’t my first OC, far from it (that dubious honour would probably belong to the buttload of OCs I created for my Marauder era story which died when Order of the Phoenix came out), but he was the first I got to really explore and develop, and he ended up one of my favourites ever. Em, I answered an ask of yours way back in 2015, “introduce us to two of your OCs” :o) The first was him, the second was Marguerite LeBeau.

“Tommy? Is that you? Tommy Ferguson?”

The diamond is the reason the O’Connell-Carnahan gang goes to Egypt, but without Tommy, there’d be no plot. Hamilton would probably still find a way to “retrieve” the diamond from the museum, only without Evy and her family getting personally involved and then having to go back to the UK saying she failed her mission. and then cue the end of the world about a week and a half from there, but shhh - spoilers!

The fellow shook his head, still looking a bit dazed; then his own eyes, round and brown, (so he’s the opposite of Jon in almost every way, physically speaking. Like I said in the aforementioned OC ask, I designed him as a foil for Jon, fundamentally different in some ways but very similar in others. Physically speaking he’s basically Sean Astin (with some James Corden thrown in) with brown eyes, blond hair, and a Liverpool accent.) went even rounder as he stared at Jonathan. “Jon! What the hell are you doing ‘ere?”

For the longest time Tommy used to call Jonathan by his last name here (and Jon’s earlier line used to be “Ferguson? Is that you? Tommy Ferguson?”). I changed it quite recently. I think I wanted to convey the idea that school friends at the time often called each other by their last names; but since he calls Jonathan “Jon” 100% of the time - and is the only one to do so, which I have Feelings about - I went back to correct it.

“Glad to see you too, old chap,” laughed Jonathan, standing up and dusting himself off before offering a hand at the man on the ground, who accepted it gladly.

Heh. Look, one of the staples of Mummy fanfiction was and still is the old school friend of Evy’s who follows either the siblings (TM time) or the whole family (TMR/post-TMR time) to Egypt and falls in love with Ardeth Bay. I’m not throwing stones here; I’ve read a couple I really liked. There’s the odd Jonathan/OFC romance, too. What I set out to do as a baby writer (I was 21 at the time!) and unsuspecting ace was to write something completely devoid of romance (except the odd Evy/Rick snuggle and, of course, all-encompassing love for each other). And then, as I reread the story for rewrites a decade and a half later, I became more and more convinced that Jonathan and Tommy used to be more than friends, and then when Elizabeth came along the three of them got together as a thruple and very happy for a while. (For some reason I couldn’t work this explicitly into FTaH, though - it felt too much like hinting at this huge story I was never going to write and might have made FTaH much too crowded. So it’s up to the reader to decide, really. Personally, I like both options.) So here’s 37 year old me shipping Jon with a female OC and a male OC, and quite enthusiastically, at that. *chuckles* Wonder what my 21 y-o self would think of it…

He hadn’t seen Thomas Ferguson since some time after the end of the war, what felt like ages ago. They’d made quite a pair at Oxford, the two of them – the scrawny, foppish Southerner with the quiet grin and the sticky fingers, and the broad-shouldered, round-faced Scouser with the laughing eyes and the deceptively innocent face. They’d rowed for the Dark Blues for a bit, got properly pickled on Boat Race Nights, and helped each other out of many a tight spot. Oh, for the halcyon days of youth.

One of the reasons I picked up FTaH again is because the second half of 2019 was very, very British for me. I saw (and read) Good Omens for the first time in early June and my feelings exploded; July was very much about discovering the delights of P.G. Wodehouse’s Jeeves and Wooster (TV show and books). Halfway through that month I remembered my everlasting fondness for the characters of The Mummy and realised the protagonists and Bertie were the same generation, more or less, and I started imagining a crossover. By the time August rolled in I was fully into TM/TMR again, reading fic and my fingers itching to at least correct some iffy parts of FTaH. This last sentence, about Jon’s and Tom’s Oxford days, would never have come out that way if I hadn’t read Wodehouse.

As soon as Tommy was on his feet he was wringing Jonathan’s hand with all the energy he’d been famous for as a boy. “Sorry, Jon, mate, I was a bit stunned –” After all these years, he still retained some of that accent, too! “– En’t everyday you bump into a pal from Oxford in the middle of Cairo! How’d you get here, for starters?”

…Tommy’s accent. *sighs* I’m not a fan of writing accents phonetically in the first place. When I write Newkirk (Hogan’s Heroes) and his Cockney accent, there isn’t much except the odd “me” for “my” or things like “d’you”. I did have to make it obvious Tommy had an accent, though, if only because later Jonathan is surprised when he tones it down to speak with the curator. (This is something his 18 year old self found incredibly difficult, btw.) @thisstableground oversaw the first chapter and gave me very valuable tips, including “en’t” (// “ain’t), which was super helpful in giving Tommy’s accent its own specificity and meant that I didn’t need him to drop “h”s and “g”s all over the place. (which he does do, but hopefully not in a way that takes you away from the story.)

As for why he’s from Liverpool as opposed to, say, Manchester or the East End of London, the answer is very simple. I’d discovered the Beatles a year or two prior and they remain one of my favourite bands in the whole world ♥

“Well, I followed my sister,” Jonathan replied, grinning. In fifteen years or so, he had not realised how much he had actually missed this accent. “She’s giving a hand to the curator of the Museum of Antiquities – she’s something of an authority now, as a matter of fact.”

“Oh aye? That’s fantastic. I en’t forgotten how you’d talk about her, y’know. On and on and on. I’m curious to see what she looks like.”

Somethingthat didn’t change after rewrites is the idea that Jon was verysecretive about his Oxford years. Tom and Evy never met before this,and Evy hadn’t even heard about Tom before.

Jonathan stole a glance at the entrance steps of the Museum, and turned to Tommy with a smirk. “Really? Well, if you really want to, I suppose I could…”

His sister had just appeared on the stairs, accompanied by the curator, an elderly man with greying hair and whiskers. The curator, Dr Fahad Hakim, has a somewhat larger role later on, but this is just a cameo to let you know he exists :o) There’s another mention earlier, too. Tommy followed Jonathan’s gaze and looked at them, goggling at Evy in particular.

“Jon – are my eyes mistaken, or is this gorgeous woman Doctor Evelyn O’Connell? I’ve read about her, she’s famous in my line of work… According to what I’ve read, she was one of the first people to make it out of the City of the Dead alive –”

He doesn’t say what his “line of work” is, but we (and Jonathan) can infer it has something to do with archaeology or Egyptology. And, incidentally, I’m setting up the first alarm bells here because, as Evy points out in the following chapter, at the time her name was “Carnahan”, so how come Tommy didn’t seem to make the connection between Jon’s bookish sister and this English librarian with the same name? The answer is: because he’s nervous (because he’s in Cairo on secret Chamber of Horus business) and as delighted as he is to see Jon again after so many years his brain went “YOU KNOW NOTHING” then backpedalled and went “…OKAY, YOU KNOW SOME THINGS.”

Jonathan’s grin widened as he nodded. “Yes, that’d be her.”

Tommy rambled on as they walked closer to the stairs, “That’s bloody amazing! I thought she’d look, you know, like in the pictures in the paper, the bookish type with glasses – your typical Southern spinster,” he added with a wink. They waited for the curator to bid her goodbye, and Jonathan, greatly enjoying the situation, crept up on his sister to kiss her on the cheek.

“Hey there, old mum – how’s your day been?”

Evy started, then her expression shifted from slightly irked to a smile at her brother’s laugh. She rolled her eyes. “Honestly, Jonathan, the things that amuse you…”

SIBS!!! I love writing siblings, and those two in particular. One of the things that I find amusing/endearing is how comfortable they are with each other, physically (and emotionally) speaking. It’s all gentle touch here, light slap there, running hand in hand, lots of things you wouldn’t expect from two Very English siblings from the first half of the 20th century.

“You’re just miffed that I startled you. C’mon, I’d like you to meet someone – an admirer,” he added with a grin to Tommy, who stood there, his eyes wide. “Thomas Ferguson, an old school friend of mine. Tommy – Evelyn Carnahan O’Connell, my famous baby sister.”

There’s a couple of instances where someone introduces Tom as “Thomas”, or Tom introducing himself as such. Most of the time, though, he’s “Tommy” - until chapter 9, where we spend some time in his head for the first time and see he thinks of himself as “Tom”, and when we go back to Jon’s PoV in chapter 11 Jonathan made the mental switch to “Tom”, as well, to separate the boy from his youth from the man he’s become. I actually spell it out in chapter 17: “A lot had happened since that late afternoon in Giza when his friend had pointed a gun at him and stopped being ‘Tommy’. ‘Tommy’ was a warm memory of loud laughter, daring escapes, bright eyes over pints clinking in the comfortable darkness of a well-loved pub. Tom, on the other hand, was a fairly decent man chucked into a complex situation, who had a wife he loved dearly but lied to about his job, who had not wanted to bring harm to an old friend but had done so anyway.”

Evy held out her hand, which Tommy grabbed and shook heartily. “So you’re the old scoundrel’s sister? No wonder he talked about you – though you don’t quite fit the description now…”

“What exactly did you tell your ‘school friends’ about me?” asked Evy, warning in her voice, though the twinkle in her eye did not quite disappear. Nevertheless, Jonathan preferred to ignore her question, earning a hard nudge in the ribs.

He bragged, actually. A lot. Since he thought Tommy and Lizzie would never meet Evy, Jonathan considered himself free to speak quite enthusiastically of his baby sister’s achievements and how bright she was. Of course, he also complained a good deal, because even at 12 Evy had a penchant for being bossy that came out even in letters.

“So, what did you say your ‘line of work’ was?” he asked Tommy.

“Well – don’t laugh. I work at the British Consulate in Cairo, specialising in antique stuff. Oh, I’m sorry, Dr O’Connell,” he stammered with a glance at Evy who had an eyebrow raised, “I mean I’m one of the chief agents in the British Antique Research Department.”

No he’s not! He’s actually a secret agent, kinda :D And not remotely close to a “chief agent”, at that. Tom Ferguson is deeply in love with his wife and nothing will ever change that state of affairs, but he might have a little intellectual crush on Evy, which leads him to… wanting to impress her a little bit.

“I’ve heard of you!” exclaimed Evy. “At least of that Research Department. They’re gradually cutting off public funds – encouraging individual financing – but that won’t do any good for scientific research! Such a stupid decision is only going to –”

“So you lot are the ones she kept fuming about for half a year!” Jonathan snorted. The infamous Ferguson rotten luck struck again.

I still regret I didn’t find more opportunities to showcase how ridiculously unlucky Tommy could get sometimes. Ah well.

Tommy looked dejected. Evy must have seen this, because she bit her lip and said, in softer tones, “Look, I’m sorry I snapped at you. But as my brother said, I’ve been… rather upset over this. There’s been some pressure on the British Museum lately by private patrons who threatened to pull out their funding on some… sensitive collections. Without the Crown to back us up, we might have to cave in to their ridiculous demands.”

Before the rewrites, Evy’s speech used to be a lot more “private funding is bad” without much nuance or justification. I changed it to something that hopefully makes sense and justifies her previous outburst.

“I’ll – I’ll tell my superiors about it,” said Tommy, still looking unsure. “See what I can do. I’m sure it won’t be much, but… Well. I’ll have tried.”

“That’s nice,” Evy said cheerfully, taking Jonathan’s arm and starting to walk. See what I mean about physicality? She doesn’t even ask him with a look, just takes his arm and that’s that. And he lets her, because he’d do the same thing. “Look, the two of you – I’ve had something of a rough day, so I’ll go home, if you don’t mind. You can –”

“Brilliant idea!” said Jonathan, flashing a grin at his sister. “I thought of going to the Sultan’s Casbah, but you might find it a tad – let’s say – dingy, my good friend.”

The Sultan’s Casbah, in the novelisation of the film and my personal headcanon, was the bar Jonathan patronised the night before the first time we see Evy and where he stole a valuable-looking puzzle box from an unsuspecting drunk American.

“Worse than the Turf?” Seeing Evy’s puzzled look, Tommy explained, “Sorry, private joke. I mean the Turf Tavern, that’s where I saw him for the first time. Me family didn’t ‘ave much money, so I used to work there to pay for my studies. Very nice pub, didn’t deserve the reputation.”

The Best Beloved and I took a trip to Oxford in the spring of 2003 (by bus - 20 hours to get there, same to come back home) and while we were so broke we had to settle for a soup and some rice in a lovely Thai restaurant we did go for a drink at the Turf. I remember a dimly-lit room with dark wood, and I think either they changed a lot of it or my memory isn’t that good because it doesn’t really look like that on the Google Maps pics. Still, I liked it, and when I needed an Oxford pub for the story it’s the one I worked in. Incidentally, there was a lot of illegal gambling going on in there in the 19th century, hence Tommy’s mention of the pub’s bad reputation.

“I’m sure you did indeed see a lot of my brother there,” Evy slipped in slyly. Jonathan threw a mock glare at her.

“To think you are almost my only family. What a shame.” Then, as Tommy looked uncertain, he added, “Carry on, Tom.”

“All right. So I was one of the only students who needed a job, and there were some others who thought that it was – how’d they put it? – a ‘disgrace’ to our university.”

“Preposterous,” said Evy sternly. “As if money could take you further than talent.”

Jonathan bit back on the cynical comment that crossed his mind. Sometimes Evy’s naïveté baffled him.

“Right,” said Tommy uncertainly, glancing at Jonathan. “So, one day, a little bunch of lads come in, and Jon here was sometimes hanging with ‘em at the time –”

Because Jonathan likes to gamble with people with deep pockets :P

Evy glared at Jonathan in advance, and he threw his hands in the air. “Don’t look at me like that! I haven’t done anything!” Evy’s gaze softened, and Jonathan finished, “…Yet.”

That earned him a playful slap on the arm, and a laugh from Tommy, who went on, “Anyway, one of the blokes orders somethin’ or other, and starts to poke fun at me. Well, I was used to it, so I let them be. Then they continued, and I finally noticed that skinny lad in the corner who was makin’ fun of them for making fun of me. Didn’t quite understand what the hell was going on – oh, sorry, Dr O’Connell – what was happening.”

While John Hannah is not “skinny” by any stretch, he is rather svelte, and one of my unimpeachable headcanons for Jonathan is that he was skinny as a rake in his youth - until he went through basic training (then WW1) and his shoulders filled out a little. It’s more or less what happened to the Best Beloved, so I feel quite secure in this headcanon’s plausibility. Plus, picturing 18 year old Jonathan as a mix of awkward gangliness and skinny limbs and aristocratic poise is just funny. (and I find the comparison with Tommy - who at that point was soft and a little chubby but already had broad shoulders - rather endearing.)

Evy smiled. “You’ll have to watch your mouth in front of my son, but otherwise it’s fine. And please, call me Evelyn.”

Tommy beamed. “Right, uh, Evelyn. So, uh –”

“What he didn’t know at that point,” interrupted Jonathan, “was that I had my eye on that fellow – what’s his name – Farbow. He owed me quite a bit of money, but wouldn’t repay me. So I was looking for a way to get him back for it.”

“And get the rest of his wallet in the process, of course.”

“Evy, he owed me seventeen pounds. (Which used to be £70 until I did some research and saw that £17 was A Bloody Fortune a the time.) And he was not what I’d call a ‘decent bloke’ – nasty, disdainful piece of work he was, and his little friends with him. Always a dirty word about the Scouser who worked at the Turf Tavern, just because he didn’t belong to his snobby little world. I did the community a favour, really.”

What he doesn’t say is that Edwin Farbow also had a lot to say about “half-Egyptian mongrels” who thought they belonged in those ancient walls. Too bad I couldn’t find a way to work it in this particular fic. If I ever manage to finish at least Tommy’s part of One-Step, Two-Step, Waltz, the first chapter of Pirouette features the whole scene.

“Don’t push it, Jonathan,” warned Evy.

Tommy carried on. “Well, I was glad there was at least one person who didn’t think like Edwin Farbow – nice change. Then Farbow said something – I don’t remember what it was about, I just remember it made me really angry, really. An’ it’s not a pretty sight when I’m really angry at someone.”

It’s always the quiet, genial ones, isn’t it.

Jonathan remembered, but thought it wise to keep his mouth shut.

Both because what Farbow said was pretty damn offensive to Tommy’s character, background, and lineage, and also because Farbow’s rant included “It’s bad enough they let inpeople like Carnahan, who only exists because a glorifiedgrave-robber shagged some darkey and didn’t even have the decencyto pretend otherwise –” and he really doesn’t want to bring this up in front of Evy, who’s had to deal with her own share of this kind of racist bullshit and doesn’t need a reminder.

“An’ – an’ I just lost it, y’know? I dropped his tea over his ‘ead –”

“I say, that one was pretty funny,” Jonathan said, smiling widely at the memory. The strangled yelp that had followed had definitely been one of the best parts.

“So they all leaped for me, obviously – began to punch me, the five or six of them – hey, I still managed to get back at them!” Tommy added quickly, as if defending his honour. Evy hid a smile, and it occurred to Jonathan that that last sentence had something very Rick-like about it. “But I en’t a fool. I know a losing fight when I’m in one.”

“Don’t tell me. Jonathan bravely threw himself into the fight to take on as many attackers as possible.” There was mischievous laughter in Evy’s voice, and her eyes were twinkling. If anyone other than her had quipped that way about him, Jonathan would probably have taken offence, or at least pretended to. But they knew each other enough not to cross the line.

Tommy raised an eyebrow. “Well, that wasn’t quite Jon’s style – I don’ know, might’ve changed since then. But yeah, he did. One moment I was squashed under five or six, the next I found out we were two on the floor.”

This was perhaps the biggest suspension of disbelief I’m asking the reader to make - which, in a story where governments have secret agencies to keep an eye on magical ancient artefacts and a diamond has magic powers, is saying something. Jonathan throwing himself into a fight because someone he loves (ie. four people in the whole world that we know of) is in danger? Yep, that checks out, that’s what he does both in TM and TMR. But an (almost) complete stranger? I needed one hell of a justification. Which ended up… 60% Farbow’s money and 40% Farbow being a giant arsehole who had no business making decent bartenders look like that.

Evy began to laugh. “Why, Jonathan? My Jonathan, in a fight, for someone he barely knew?”

At that Jonathan cleared his throat, a mite embarrassed. “I told you, I was looking for Farbow’s wallet. That was the perfect diversion – you should’ve seen that twit looking in every corner for his lost wallet afterwards. It was three months before he gave up.” And it’s lucky you didn’t see me then. I was a bloody mess. “Why’re you looking at me like that?”

“Nothing.” Evy smiled. “You never told me that.”

To be fair, there’s a LOT of things he never told you, old girl ;o)

“Should I have?”

“I don’t know, it’s – it was nice of you to do that, even for the wrong reasons. I’m proud of you.”

Jonathan felt an unexpected lump rise in his throat. Not a very big one, but enough to keep him from talking for a few seconds. It was always like this whenever she said something really nice to him. It caught him off guard each and every time.

Look, it took me years to realise it, but I’m a sucker for validation. Sometimes it bleeds out on characters I write.

After a little while, Evy stopped in front of a door and announced, “Well, we’re home.”

“Nice house,” commented Tommy, taking in the sand-coloured neat front and the curtains at the windows.

“Our ‘old haunt’ since the family moved to Egypt,” Jonathan said, opening the door and stepping aside to let his sister in. “Evy wasn’t even walking then.”

In the first film, Evy, Rick, Jonathan and the remainder of the American party go straight to Fort Brydon, and the next thing we see is Evy emptying her suitcase while Rick tries to fill it. Since both Carnahan siblings actually live in Cairo, I thought they would live in an actual house, and from there I extrapolated that the family had one house in England (the manor we see in TMR) and a smaller pied-à-terre in Cairo.

“I do believe I was,” Evy protested.

Jonathan snorted. “Oh, you weren’t. You crawled.”

si b l i n gssss ♥♥ And like, you can always count on a big sib to remind you that you could be ridiculous as a kid. I should know, I’m the big sister :D

Evy seemed to resist the urge to slap her brother and walked into the living room, her nose in the air. She was greeted by two simultaneous voices:

“Mum!”

“Hey, hon.”

Rick’s first words in this story, and it’s greeting his wife ^^ I didn’t do it on purpose, but it’s. Y’know. There.

Jonathan waited a few seconds, then walked into the room in turn, and grinned at the sight of his nephew looking genuinely eager to see him. He was not fooled, however – as soon as Evy wasn’t looking, Alex mouthed the words “Got one?” and frowned as his uncle shook his head. No, he still had no present for Mum’s birthday.

Evy’s birthday mainly originated as a device to get characters (especially Jonathan) moving. It’s the reason he’s roaming the streets of Cairo just before he bumps into Tommy, and why he and Alex go to the bazaar in chapter 5. It also pops up further on in the story, but I’m not saying anything because spoilers.

“Uncle Jon? Who’s that?”

“Who, him?” Jonathan pointed at Tommy behind him, looking uncomfortable at the family reunion, and Alex rolled his eyes. “Tom Ferguson, he was in class with me at Oxford. I ran into him by chance today.”

Tommy stepped past Jonathan and held out his hand to Alex, nearest to him. “Hi – glad to meet you. Jon’s nephew, eh?”

“Yeah,” said Alex, eyeing him with all the suspicion of a ten-year-old who’d seen what he had seen. Behind him, Rick’s eyes spoke loads about his own distrust. But mistrust towards Jonathan and everything related was par for the course on his part, and, admittedly, reasonable.

Alex has Seen Things. This may sound tongue-in-cheek, but it’s true. After what happened in TMR, he’s 100% entitled to being suspicious of strangers. As for Rick, I took my cue from one of his first lines to Jon in TMR being “What did you do this time?” implying that the weird shit happening right now, with the men in red and the sexy lady waving snakes around isn’t exactly unheard of. Hence the “and, admittedly, reasonable”, which I added in the rewrites.

“Thomas Ferguson, British Antique Research Department,” said Tommy, holding out a hand towards Rick, who shook it slowly, still reluctant.

“Rick O’Connell.”

“So you’re Dr O’Connell’s husband? Pleasure to meet you, sir. I’m impressed, you’ve no idea.”

Rick raised an eyebrow. “Impressed?”

“It seems I’m rather famous in the Research Department,” said Evy, laughing.

“Make that infamous,” quipped Jonathan.

“The Department owes your wife a great deal. She was the one who uncovered a huge amount of our information about some obscure periods of Egyptian history, as well as the major part of serious knowledge we’ve got on Hamunaptra,” Tommy pointed out, and Evy blushed. “She’s a legend – one of the original three who managed to go to Hamunaptra and live to tell the tale! But… I assume you’re another one?”

Oh, Tommy. MATE. You’re saying you know three people made it out of Hamunaptra alive, one of whom a woman with the exact same first and last name as your best friend’s sister who had a passion for ancient history, but you had no idea he was one of them as well?

Incidentally, the early installment weirdness I mentioned earlier mostly consists in Tommy being a lot more energetic and innocent-looking than he later proves to be (which is a little more grounded and pragmatic than Jon). In fact, he and Jonathan’s first couple of scenes together give the impression that he’s the red and Jon’s the blue in the “Bue oni, red oni” trope, when later chapters show Jon as a little bit more of a disaster while Tom struggles to make better choices and be more sensible. Which in the end would make them shades of purple, really.

“Yeah,” said Rick, looking a bit nonplussed. Jonathan definitely didn’t regret bringing Tommy in. Seeing Rick O’Connell confused was a very rare occurrence, too rare to be missed.

“I never knew – who was the third one?”

Jonathan was now struggling to keep a straight face. Rick blinked, and pointed at his brother-in-law. “That was him.”

“You!?” God, the look on his face was priceless. “You were at Hamunaptra?”

“Yes,” risked Jonathan, laughter rising in his voice. “And believe me, it wasn’t exactly a picnic. Oh, by the way, there were four of us, not three.”

Meaning Ardeth, of course. My take is that Tommy - and by extension the Chamber of Horus - know about as much about the Medjai as Evy knew about the Book of Amun-Ra prior to the events of TM: a non-negligible amount of information, but all of it second-hand and some of it a bit dicey.

From the corner of his eye, he could see Rick roll his eyes and grinned, undaunted. This was proving to be a fun evening.

Make the most of it, people, because it’s all going to go downhill fast…

Thank you ♥♥♥

#thatsoneginger #ask reply #fic commentary #Fairy Tales and Hokum

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orangeseoks · 4 years

Text

low-life // k.sj

[ disclaimer! ]

this is of pure fiction and is NOT to be taken seriously! this was literally written for fun,, i might make it a series btw let me know what you think! :))

- i also write using ‘ i ‘ rather than ‘ you ‘ ,, fanfic writing habit xD -

buckle up and enjoy the ride,, love you all!

[ unedited ]

Chatter, constant chatter, that’s all that’s heard and probably all that my poor ears ever will hear.

With a frown, I kick my legs back and forth in an effort to occupy myself as I listen to the conversation between my dad and one of the staff members at the loaners. Or in other words, the only place we get money from.

Sure there’s the bank but they pay piss all and is we come to a loaner, at least we can enough to pay for rent etc.

Scoffing, I look up and watch as a tall man with broad shoulders walks past me, tossing me sly side glance. Gulping, I sit up and adjust my simple black shirt giving him a small smile to be polite.

The man merely chuckles and tips his head toward me before he’s greeted by a staff member. My senses gradually calm as the man has his back facing me- sure, he’s handsome and all, but am I going to be like fifteen year old me and check him out as often as possible?

I bloody hope not.

“Oh fuck me,” I mutter oh-so quietly to myself as my eyes somehow find my way over to his broad figure. I hate myself for doing but I can’t stop.

Something- Something about him just attracts me, and its killing me.

“-Lets go.” My dad says as he shoves the new green card into his pocket and waits for me to gather myself. I give him a blunt ‘yeah’ and grab my bag whilst the two of us exit the large building.

Me being me, I turn my head almost every step of the way just to look at him; that man. And hopefully- hopefully have him staring back at me just the same.

Like one of those romance movies where the two mains find their soulmates.

Stupid, I think as I face forward to push the heavy glass door open. Once stepping outside I take one last glance before crossing the street, and to my utter shock there he is; the man. His lips parted and his eyes right on me, the staff member in front of him growing annoyed at this.

Smiling shyly, I tip my head and run across the road in a hurry as my father is already much ahead of me.

_________________________________________

Upon our arrival home I can’t help but think of that man and who is, if he’s some sort of idol. Or maybe a restaurant owner, or maybe even some sort of business man!

“Ahhh!” I cry out, throwing my bag across my room, not caring about what’s knocked over by it and toss myself onto my bed face first. “Stop thinking about him you frickn loser.” I tell myself angrily, pissed at the fact that I haven’t gotten over some gorgeous stranger I saw when getting a loan.

Pouting, I face my ugly ceiling and contemplate on my life, if its all really worth it.

Sighing loudly, I face palm myself, my body automatically sitting up so I can change out of my current fit.

I stare at myself in the mirror and I tie my hair into a tiny-ass ponytail, but because its been cut so short its harder than usual. Twirling just a little I watch as my loosely fitted shirt puffs with the air flowing through my room.

Rolling my eyes, I stomp out of my room to pig out on the fruit we have stored at the bottom of the fridge, tucked nicely into a drawer beneath the lower shelf is.

Grabbing a plum along with a nice red apple, I march back into my room and check my notifications that continue to fill the screen of my laptop, sighing I clear the ones that aren’t that important.

“Oh-” I start as an unexpected notification comes up from Twitter, chuckling I open the app and respond to the message sent by my close friend.

@/taco_desu

- i’ve been banned from my phone again,, so i had to come back to twitter

and that concerns me how exactly? -

@/taco_desu

- oh cut the attitude you piece of shit

- i sent you a message to ask if you wanted to go out tonight

hmm, sure,,,,,,, where exactly are we going btw -

@/taco_desu

- dunno yet :))

Clicking my tongue I push my laptop away from me as I find myself looking for another set of clothes to change into.

_________________________________________

With a sigh, I ruffle my hair as I follow behind the awfully large group of people my friend has decided to bring along with us, I knew there’d be quite a few, but I didn’t expect a whole class worth.

“Oi, Jess,” I speak out of the blue tapping the preoccupied girl on the shoulder. She growls at his and turns to face me with an annoyed look on her caked face, “what is it?” She questions bluntly.

“Oh, I dunno..” I start pausing for a moment so I can glare at her, “maybe its just the fact that there’s a mix of strangers and our actual friends here.”

“So what?” She snaps back with an eye roll following after, “so what?” I repeat, trying my hardest not to lose my temper with her.

“I don’t know these people, man, at least tell me before hand.”

Jess sighs and places her arm onto my shoulder and continues to walk forward along with the rest of us, “you need to socialise. Being all cooped up in your room isn’t healthy.”

“Besides, you might enjoy tonight,” Jess finishes with a mere raise of the eyebrow. My jaw dropping I stare at her in shock, “no. You wouldn’t dare-”

“-Don’t under mind me missy, I did pass mathematics after all.”

Scoffing, I playfully shove her away from me with a low chuckle erupting from the depths of my chest. Jess laughs at this and decides to run off towards the front of the group, shaking my head I grin and shove my hands into the pockets of my hoodie.

Maybe things won’t go badly, a bit of banter won’t hurt.

Kicking a stone, I watch as it hops along the concrete and onto the road getting hit immediately by a passing car. Scrunching up my nose I let out a frustrated huff and find something else to pass some time, our large group not seeming to stop anytime soon on our walk.

_________________________________________

My eyes wide and my mouth gaping, I stare in complete shock at what is before me, “your kidding!” I yell, turning to face everyone. “We’re not going there!?”

“Don’t worry about it!” One girl shouts from the back of the crowd, tossing me a reassuring smile. “Yeah, its not like your going to sing anyways.” Jess adds with a cheeky smirk.

Poking my tongue out at her I follow behind and embrace the incredible design of the room we’ve rented for karaoke.

Nodding my head, I settle with whats to come and just enjoy the many snacks and beverages on the coffee table. “They even have cup ramen!” Jess chimes in amazement.

Holding back a smile, I take a can Pepsi and sip at the refreshing drink. “Hey,” I start taking another quick gulp of my drink, “isn’t this your uncles workplace?”

Clearing her throat, Jess scratches her neck and stuffs her cheeks with sweets. “That explains all the extras.” I finish, leaning back and kicking my feet up on the coffee table.

Jess rolls her eyes at me, harshly switching on the large t.v, along with the speaker and mics.

And the singing begins.

Screaming on the top of our lungs, we sing loud enough to cause an earthquake, our bodies jumping to the beat of the music and coming up with our own dance moves.

Myself and Jess both share a mic, our voices combining with one-another as we practically own the rap. Occasionally stopping for a random laugh or just to catch our breaths.

Breaking into a fit of laugher, I drop to my knees and hold my gut as I can feel it tightening with each small breath I draw in between laughs.

“You guys suck!” A girl screeches as she teasingly hits someone, a giggle escaping her lips, I smile at this and crawl over to a clear spot on the floor and lay down in an attempt to calm myself down since I have the sudden urge to go full crackhead.

I let out a low breath, closing my eyes as the hot room temperature finally hits me and the slight sweat that coats my face now annoying me. Patting my covered hand along my face, I get rid of any sweat that I can feel and push my bangs out of my face so my forehead can breathe.

“Aish! Where’s the air con!” I yell from the the floor, completely frustrated but not enough to make me stop laughing. Chuckling, I sigh and fan myself. My body gradually growing limp and tired, my eyes eventually close and I fall into a blissful current of angelic sleep.

_________________________________________

Groaning, I rub at the corners of my eyes and sit up, tired and in a lot of pain I look around the room to find no-one. Not a single soul, only the mess left behind and a mic torn from its wire, along with snack wrappers stuffed into vent spaces.

“Of course,” I sigh, scratching my cheek. “They ditched me and left all the mess.”

Slowly, I stand up, “oh-” a voice speaks from behind me. Surprised, I jump almost a mile high, clutching my chest as I turn to face them.

“You scared.. me-” My sentence trails off as I find myself face-to-face with the man from earlier today. Swallowing hard, I grow somewhat awkward around him and clear my throat.

“I saw you earlier, you were waiting for someone, right?”

“I, um.. Yeah.” I respond shyly, pulling the cuffs of my oversized sweatshirt over my hands in a way to distract myself. The man snickers at this, following a nod.

“It- It was my dad actually,” adding onto my sentence I mentally face palm myself for stuttering, how embarrassing.

The man smiles and brushes past me, “you were out for awhile.”

“I what?”

“You’ve been knocked out over there for almost four hours, I’m surprised you haven’t noticed the time.”

Time. Oh my god-

The time!

My eyes suddenly grow wide as I eagerly search through my pockets to find my phone, holding it up I check the time and to my complete shock I see that its pretty much 11PM.

And I arrived at around four.

“I need to go home, holy shit.” Mumbling under my breath, I hurriedly pick up some of the rubbish that’s laying around and toss it into a nearby bin. My legs instantly picking up their pace and racing toward the door.

“Where a-bouts do you live, I could drop you off?”

Halting my steps, I turn to face the man- giving him a soft smile. “Thank you, but I can get home on my own.”

Humming, the man stops what he’s doing and walks over to me. Gulping, I take a hesitant step back and stare up at this tree of a man.

A handsome tree of a man.

“Jess gave me your address so I can drop you off, its not like I’m some weird creep anyways-”

Crossing my arms over my chest, I raise a brow and nod, “sure thing.” I reply dryly earning a tsk from the man in front of me. “Jin, I’m Jin, you know that cousin she’s always talking about?”

I nod, “yeah well that’s me. Do you still think I’m a creep now, huh?”

“I dunno..” My response is far from polite, I give the man a cheeky grin and raise both my eyebrows in a way to annoy him. He laughs at this and takes out his car keys.

“Hurry up before I change my mind.”

“I-” My mouth hangs open as Jin brushes past me with the most gorgeous smile I’ve ever seen, his round cheeks standing proud and his lips plump as ever.

I think I’m in love.

I quickly hit myself in the head, breaking into a jog to catch up with Jin, “snail!” Is all he says as the two of us enter the parking lot, the lights of a clean black car shining in the distance.

With a huff, I walk beside him with my hands buried in my pockets.

Jin laughs, opening the passenger door for me, I scoff and seat myself in the comfortable car that smelt of sweet vanilla, a hint of cologne also wandering the inside of the car.

“You seemed nicer in the stories I was told,” is all I say whilst pulling my seat belt over me. Jin hums at this and drives out of the large parking lot, his side profile catching me off guard.

“You shouldn’t stare a people, its rude.”

_________________________________________

The two of us walk over to me doorstep, being sure not to trip over anything in the process. With a sigh I place my onto the doorknob, turning to face Jin.

“Thanks.. I guess.”

Jin smiles and looks down shyly before looking back up at me, his eyes bright and sparkly despite the ever growing darkness of night.

“Anytime,” and with that he tips his head just as he did in the loaners and walks off and away from me. His figure never leaving my sight.

“Drive safely!” I call out to him, raising my hand into the air, watching as he waves out to me. “I will! Goodnight!”

A soft smile graces my lips as he pulls out of my driveway, the back lights of his car just visible from the road.

And then.. He’s gone.

#bts fic #bts jin #oneshot #jin one shot #jin fanfic #fluf #bts ff #jin fluff #bts scenarios #bts love story #ff #fanfic #bts romance #romance #orangeseoks

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purfectmlpblog · 5 years

Text

...alright fuq it lemme explain my thoughts about the finale spoilers lol

Don’t worry, I WILL be posting this under a read-more so PLEASE turn away and ignore this now (especially with some “spoiler” tags on if you use ‘em) if you don’t want to be spoiled for the finale until it officially airs. I just can’t contain my thoughts no more after ponderin’ them and who knows when it’ll officially air in English (’cause slow schedules can be a pain to deal with lol) sooooo... yeah you’ve been warned xp

...Ooooh boi, well admittedly I kinda skimmed through what the whole plot was about behind the last three episodes (I was moreso focused on all the stuff happening for “The Last Problem” so lol), but I’ll try to keep it brief for the most part:

-So... that whole thing about Grogar being the last “big bad” was just a total lie... since apparently it was just Discord masking himself as the guy just to give Twilight one last battle to face? ...Ehhh, I get that he apparently had “good intentions” but this just seems to be pushing it too far even for Discord’s standards tbh... like these are his friends now (including Fluttershy, his best friend) so why would he allow this much risk to be thrown at them for the sake of just teaching them a valuable lesson about overcoming obstacles? ._. Then again, this IS Discord we’re talking about so him pulling some shady stuff like this is to be expected, I guess? Idk...

-As another twist to the trio of bad guys... NONE of them get redeemed at the end (not even Cozy Glow... who again, is nothing more than a whiny child compared to Chrysalis and Tirek :P), as they all pretty much get blasted with the same stone spell that Discord was under for what I can presume to be forever. I mean... had Sombra been placed in Cozy Glow’s position then I guess I’d be a bit more satisfied with this kind of ending for them instead of feeling questionable about it (’cause again, Cozy’s young age ^^;)... but at the same time, for what it is it’s at least a refreshing change of pace from just having them all instantly forgiven and befriended by all the main heroes. Now that would’ve been cringey... >_<

-We got a reaaally big group of cameos from many past ponies/other creatures from the show to aid in the final battle, including Sunset and a few of the MLP movie characters like Tempest, Capper and Skystar! o.o A shame that Captain Celaeno couldn’t have been added along with them but still, pretty cool to see that particular trio regardless along with my girl Sunset ❤️ about time the main show acknowledged her importance to Twilight -.-

-Moving onto the big finale itself, “The Last Problem”, we cut ahead to I presume to be a couple decades or so since the last episode... where Twilight and her friends are all grown up and leading their own lives as Twilight’s pupil (Luster Dawn, was it?) comes to prepare herself for her own first friendship lesson. Surprisingly, unlike past finales it’s not so much a really heavy or action-packed episode but more of a “relaxing breather” kinda filler... yet still pushes the feels the more we get to see the aged-up cast and realize how this truly is the end for our heroes :(

-We’re also given a nice flashback to Twilight’s coronation as Equestria’s new leader, though it didn’t go according to plan it still provided some heartwarming feels to teach that friendships will always remain solid even if some end up moving far away. Awww ;w;.

-As for the “Grown up” designs themselves... I’m kinda torn, tbh lol

On one hand, I do like Rainbow’s, Fluttershy’s, and AJ’s older looks just fine. AJ’s especially gives me the feels looking at it ‘cause of the shawl... really hits in that poor Granny Smith is no longer around by this time :( at least she’ll always keep her memory strong in her heart ❤️

As for Twilight, Rarity, Spike and Pinkie... ehhhh ^^;. Rarity’s sparkly shawl is rather pretty though that big grey steak in her hair kinda clashes too much with the regular purple imo, Pinkie’s beehive look could’ve been fine if they just took out all that random junk in her hair, and while part of me kinda likes the “ethereal princess-y” vibes of Twilight (despite the rather dark implications that she’s gonna outlive her friends now ;-;)... the fact that she still sounds like her old dorky self when speaking kinda kills the effect for me... plus idk if only a couple decades in the future would be enough to make her this tall as an alicorn, I mean even Luna (who’s older than her) is alot shorter so it’s just a little off-putting to me to see her so “Celestia”-sized ^^;. And as for Spike... yeah, I don’t even know what’s going on there, so... let’s just move on, please lol.

So then we get to look over how everyone else in Ponyville’s doing, with so many new species living there now, some old kiddos grew up like the CMC and the Cake twins, Starlight and her friends (plus the Student 6) continuing to run the friendship school together, and apparently some canon couples started to thrive during this time too including Lyra and Bon Bon, Big Mac and Sugar Belle, and... Pinkie and Cheese? o.o

...Um, wow lol Wasn’t really expecting that considering that most of Cheese and Pinkie’s previous screentime together (which was only in like, two episodes?) wasn’t really that romantic from what I can recall, but guess the writers decided to just throw it in anyway ‘cause it’s a popular ship? lol I mean, not like it’s a bad one or anything but it still feels a bit randomly-placed in a narrative sense imo ^^;

Speaking of their daughter (Lil Cheese, I think?), while I do think she’s cute, part of me is kinda disappointed that they didn’t really get more creative with her design like they’ve done for Flurry Heart and the Cake twins :c. Color-wise she looks okay but... why just make her a recolor of her mom’s filly design? .-. Even putting her hair in some pigtails or something would’ve worked better imo.

-Some more design nitpicks I had were certain weirdly placed hairstyles like Pumpkin Cake’s and Diamond Tiara’s, as well as why Gummy the alligator just looks like he resized into a giant than legitimately grew into an adult lol. Also this might also be nitpicky but why exactly is everyone (minus Twilight) so old-looking with grayed hair and/or eye bags (ex. Rarity and Sugar Belle), when a couple of them have school-aged children at this point? .-. Hell, even most of the Mane 6′s parents didn’t look this old (including Twilight’s, and they’ve got a granddaughter lol), so I’m kinda confused by this type of design choice tbh.

-I don’t really remember if they explicitly stated what happened to the old princesses during this time since they didn’t show up again, nor what the final fates of Shining Armor and Cadence were (save for a brief shot of Flurry Heart having her own stain-glass window in the throne room). Idk, just would’ve been nice to have gotten more explicit about that ‘cause I don’t wanna think of these poor royals being gone now with just Twilight being the leader now ;-;

-I guess there was also a couple “implied” ships thrown in too like Fluttershy and Discord (though that one might be more “loose” to interpret, depending on how much you like the ship) and apparently AJ and Rainbow Dash seem to be having something “deeper” going on considering they specifically walked in together when all the other Mane 6 walked in individually into the throne room. Hmmm...?

-And lastly after a bit more filler and than a montage song of the Mane 6 harmonizing together one last time, we get to close off the entire episode, season, and series with one final shot of the heroes standing on a sunset-y hillside together, saying goodbye to Twilight’s student who goes off on her own friendship adventures... and then the screen fades to a book closing as a call back to the very first episode of the series over 9 years ago... where the exact same book opened up to start off our beloved show to begin with T-T

....aaaand yeah my feels exploded over again, sorry T-T. Despite the lil nitpicks I had here and there (and how I wish certain plot holes could’ve been handled better in hindsight), this was still a really sweet and thoughtful way to end MLP: FiM with one last batch of fluff like this... the end of a good 9-year run of the show which’ll surely leave a special place in every fan’s hearts, including mine ❤️

Though again, like I mentioned before I still won’t be considering any of this actually “canon” in the main universe I’m setting up, which is all basically an AU at this point since I haven’t really been keeping up with the show as frequently to care much for sticking with the main canon :p. For my fellow content creators, please don’t be afraid to keep working on your own next gens and such btw, even if some of it might be contradicted in this particular finale I’d say anyone is free to make their own interpretations however they want, canon or no canon~ ;p

Hope y’all understand that well and I hope you guys have a great rest of your day! 😃

#mlp spoilers #purfy chat #long post #mlp season 9 spoilers #mlp finale spoilers #spoilers

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zani-is-a-stan · 5 years

Text

suzani watches the Sherlock unaired pilot

Opening

- This version of John looks way more old and way more dad

- That close shot on the gun tell the viewer that John is suicidal

- The dark silhouette of the cupid statue kind of stands out. Given how the cinematography and shot framing is a lot sloppier in this version, I don’t think this is intentional. But if it was intentional, this would be a signal to the viewer that this is a love story.

- Mmm, pass on both Anderson’s beard and this way of introducing the concept of a Sherlock

- This title & credits sequence is so dated

- Anderson with no inflection is boring

- Dinner with wine is not a great place for John to be saying he’s broke

We meet Sherlock & Molly

- We start to see the beginnings of the geometric and precise framing that are the signature of the show in that one shot of Molly behind the glass

- Its nice to see that Molly’s character required almost no adjustment between the two versions. Given that she was the first character original to the show instead of the books, it’s nice to see that she stuck the landing so perfectly

- It’s starting to be really obvious how loose the editing is. There’s a lot of dead air at the beginning and end of every shot before each cut. Much better in the final version.

The lab

- This version of Sherlock seems a lot more accurate to the book Sherlock from Study in Scarlet than the series ultimately ended up being. He’s softer, more interested in interacting with other people than the antisocial, high functioning ASD (where’s the fic that explores that?) twanging brain haver he is in the first episode of season 1

- I want to read a take on Sherlock that discusses him as having ASD and interprets the violin playing and the mystery solving as his stimming techniques

- The camera shots in this scene are really starting to stand out as very different from the show. It’s not just the editing which is kind of thoughtless – these shots are poorly composed and poorly planned. I don’t think it would stand out so much if the final version of the show didn’t make so many deliberate and stylized decisions regarding with the shots and editing.

The apartment

- The extrapolation of john’s family based on the phone became much cleaner in the aired version

- Comic sans! I mean, mrs Hudson is better than that.

- Mrs Hudson definitely checked out john’s butt …

- “can I just ask … what is your street?” this was very good, if repetitive

- Sherlock needs an assistant? This sherlock has a need for human connection that the other one doesn’t – and he has a lava lamp.

- Ugh the apartment at 221B baker st looks so much more vintage in this setup. Not a fan.

- This sherlock definitely cares more about what other people think than the final version.

- Mrs Hudson is a much softer, premade character in this version. I like the final version better. She seems stronger that way.

The cab ride

- So boring. Such greenscreen. Wow.

- not just the greenscreen. the difference in the shooting and finishing of this sequence in the pilot and the aired episode is so incredibly improved that you can hardly believe there were part of the same thing.

- TOO MUCH SYNTH

- Sherlock has a far too human response to john’s compliments and more doubt in how accurate his deductions are

The crime scene

- Im glad they changed sally’s outfit, and smoothed out sherlock’s taunting of her and Anderson’s affair. Ugh I wish they’d kept sally around. This show needed more normie/casual sherlock opponents. Lack of closeups in this scene do it no favors

- They cut the Rache/Rachel clue. And btw, I do love how this was inverted from the book presentation in the show.

- “no, there are two women and three men lying dead, keep talking and there will be more” – this sherlock prioritizes people over mystery solving, and that’s a little more humanizing as well.

- When he’s deconstructing the scene around the woman in pink, there’s a switch in sherlock’s voice when he’s off camera. I’m wondering if maybe that’s a stat actor reading the script for some reason, or if they recorded the dialogue and the camera angles at the same time and forgot to switch when they were editing that shot? Makes sense given how messy the editing is throughout the pilot.

- “do you know you do that out loud?” “sorry, I’ll shut up” “No, don’t worry, it’s fine” (pleased smile) --- this exchange is so accurate to book Sherlock and Holmes

- This is not the same sally as the first episode. I had to check because I have a little bit of face blindness and there weren’t any closeups, but it’s definitely not her. Interesting how the actress who ultimately played her changed the inflection but brought very little new to the blocking.

a bit inbetween and the pink case

- No Mycroft, hmm. Don’t care for it. It added a lot with a really nice red herring feel.

- John returns to his place for absolutely no reason narratively.

- I don’t care for the red herring moment where john looks at the pink case and wonders if sally was right and talks out loud about it.

- The end exchange of this scene is awesome and should have stayed. “Donovan said you get off on this.” “And I said danger and here you are.” “DAMNIT!” It’s very funny, and it’s a fun spar between the two rather than the ultimate resigned tolerance that series John seems to settle into by season 2.

do you have a girlfriend? a boyfriend?

- Sherlock not eating is a brilliant touch, I think that should have been there.

- This version of the girlfriend boyfriend conversation is far more successful than the aired version, although I prefer the setting in the aired version. It’s flirtier, and the “Everything else is transport” line carries implications I prefer to the one we saw on on the official version.

- Sherlock knowing the cab thing ahead of time really lowers the stakes.

- Angelo and the headless nun thing is fucking beautiful. (although angelo is a bit of an upstager) But, the change in the plot to the John running and leaving the cane behind in the final version is much more relevant to the story.

- Ok, so the cabbie drugging Sherlock did show us that John is smart in his own right (we never got enough of that), but it showed us Sherlock fucking up in a way that is inconsistent with the show version of that character. For us to buy that Sherlock is other level super genius instead of just very smart, he can’t make this kind of mistake. If he can’t make a mistake, then John can’t prove his own intelligence. I do think it was a good idea to put the police back in his apartment now, as it gives us more interesting and fun things about those characters, and the ultimate build to the cab ride and the incorporation of modern technology really contributed to the modernizing of the adaption.

which pill

- WHOA that cabbie did just very much threaten to molest or rape Sherlock. Although if there were no women or gay men on the script team, I can totally see the writers not realizing that this line had that connotation.

- And this version requires a lot more explaining of plotholes with dialogue in a way that is avoided in the final verion. This is unquestionably good, because there’s nothing more graceless in filmed stories than having plot explained with words, especially by a villain.

- Taking the pills out of the bottle looks silly.

- Final version cabbie is better. More self-satified and mean.

- “Either way, you’re wasted as a cabbie” is a way better line in the final.

- Taking him out of the apartment and away from the police phone call was A+ the right choice.

- Everyone know the best cops scream “Who is firing, who is firing?” when someone fires a shot.

i’ve got a blanket

- Sherlock saying “Yeah, maybe he beat me, but he’s dead” is a far shot from the man who shook a dying man and demanded to know if he was right or not. Again, this Sherlock is far more human and far less computer.

- That bit with mrs Hudson at the end was unnecessarily mean, I’m glad they cut it

- “I’m his Doctor.” – this lines should have stayed forever.

Overall thoughts

Ok, so overall changes between the pilot and the aired first episode. Plot was a lot more polished. They scrubbed every trace of human need from Sherlock, which I think was a good choice, at least for the beginning of the show. His literal only love is his own abilities as the show airs, which leaves him with a very interesting and exploitable weakness – his arrogance, where as pilot Sherlock doesn’t seem to care all that much when he makes a mistake. We did lose a couple of scenes that had a lot of good chemistry in them, but I think the plot was much improved overall for the changes. The change of Sherlock from being casually mean to people like Anderson to swatting away an irritating fly is very successful. The focus of Sherlock’s relationship with Lestrade seems of a higher priority than Watsons a little bit, so I’m glad that changed. The lead up to John shooting the cabbie was much better in the final

Honestly the pilot doesn’t look like a pilot as much as it looks like a proof of concept piece. The budget was obviously smaller: that’s why they reused the same restaurant set, it’s why the final confrontation took place in the apartment rather than a second location, that’s why the effects are missing or budgety, that’s why the editing was low-end. This as a pilot was sold on the impact of the actors and the bones of the script, not on any of the look that would ultimately make the show what it was. The color work between the first and second version of this alone was amazing. I also think that the hair change in Sherlock was an excellent choice. It offsets BC’s face/head structure in a way that plays into the strangeness of the character in a much better way. Similarly, the coat and scarf that he wears in the series do exist in the pilot, but aren’t really a signature of Sherlock’s on-screen shape design in the same way.

I think the only thing I would’ve kept is the inflection, delivery & read on the girlfriend boyfriend scene, and the return of the “I said danger and here you are” exchange.

There’s a lot of talk about Sherlock’s sexuality and what was cannon in the books. TV Sherlock they seem to be confused about (Belgravia as an episode left me really confused about what statement the writers were trying to make there, which implies that they’re either not completely sure either, or they’re too straight to understand what they’re doing). In the books, Holmes chooses not to have romantic relationship because it stops his brain from working clearly – it’s a deliberate choice based on the Victorian concept of sex (and women, because they are clearly only sex objects) diminishing the capacity for clear thought and mental performance. This is not the same as him being asexual or aromantic as we not aro/ace people understand the concept in 2019.

Based on the scene as it airs, the girlfriend/boyfriend scene would leave me with the opinion that Sherlock is not just asexual but also aromantic. Possibly one of these by choice rather than nature. Based as how the scene plays out in the unaired pilot, I would think that Sherlock is celibate and also attracted to John, more likely gay than bisexual. (There was quite a bit of smoldering going on in the Sherlock to John direction.)

#sherlock #sherlock pilot #suzani watches #suzani watches the unaired sherlock pilot

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flynn-science · 5 years

Text

Ryan Reacts to Kingdom Hearts 3

Okay, so this is a mix of live reactions and post-world reactions. Lot of live reactions in the beginning and end, more sporadic in between. You can probably guess what I’m reacting to most of the time from the sequence of events.

Mmm dat orchestral Don’t Think Twice Needed a minute on the menu. Finally seeing it say KH3 was A Lot. HOLY FUCK WHAT A COOL INTRO The speed is the same as 0.2, with that sprint that kicks in. Will take some getting used to. The stained glass looks gorgeous though Nice touch of KH1 Sora’s jump animation changing to KH2 Sora’s Making choices again like the original. Vitality is probably health, Wisdom is probably magic, and Balance is, well, balanced. I’ll go balanced. (I’m on Proud, btw) Guardian, Warrior, Mystic. Same as the weapons in KH1. In that case, I’ll make the same choice I do there: Guardian. SORA HAS AN IDLE ANIMATION OH MY GOD BLOCK AND DODGE FROM THE START! Also this sky place is new for a Dive to the Heart (AND THOSE HOOOORNS, LISTEN TO THEM) The water looks great A four-hit combo instead of the usual three? Huh Scan from the start too Nice detail of Sora’s head angling towards the locked on target All this music sounds SO GOOD I’MMA NEED THIS SOUNDTRACK ONCE I’M DONE Ahhh that little soft version of Sora’s theme WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS KINGDOM HEARTS II.9 SHIT These Instagram-style posts on loading screens are adorable Oh damn, we get a LOT of abilities from the start. And this is on Proud! Dodge Roll, Air Slide, Aerial Dodge (formerly a Master Form ability), plus all the Flowmotion stuff Wow, THREE shortcut menus! 12 total! Wow, and a LOT more control over how allies use items. That can be very useful! Sweet, synthesis materials are back! Water is an interesting new spell. And being able to reorder the Magic menu is nice (though I only use shortcuts). Kinda glad the item art has stayed the same. Also hey, Wellspring is from BBS. And first AP Boost of course goes into Sora, as will they all. WOW USING THOSE IS WAY FASTER NOW Yooo that Underworld music with the Titans’ appearance Take a shot every time someone says “Sora, Donald, Goofy” Sora, Donald, Goofy counter: 1 HERCULES HAS JOINED THE PARTY “Team Effort: Always start battles with a team attack command.” Damn, what are those that this ability is FIFTY AP?! (Are team attacks that move we saw Sora and Goofy do in a trailer? The throw?) I like that tutorials are playable at any time Also I was worried Save Points might not return with that auto save message at the start ALSO THIS IS NIGHT OF FATE PLAYING IN THE COMBAT TUTORIAL Ooh, Panacea art is nice. (Panacea has only appeared as a command in games like BBS and re:coded, so it hasn’t had art before) *reads Ability Ring* Damn, if 10 AP is a SMALL boost, I can’t imagine how expensive abilities are gonna get (well, Herc does have that one 50 AP ability) Ultima Weapon returns, looks like Synthesis recipes are based more on collector’s goals than finding them. Looks like there’s 60 synthesis materials, sounds about right. Ooh, synthesis item rarities, types: soothing and pulsing are from BBS, writhing, betwixt, sinister are new. Looks like everything goes in Shards, Stones, and Gems. Ooh that’s a lot of Heartless. Hey when is Jiminy gonna show up? Gonna need to complete that Journal again. Oooh battle music has bits of the old Coliseum battle music. Sora, Donald, Goofy counter: 2 Environmental fire damage followed by Sora’s butt on fire limiting my actions. Neat. Okay, these have been live reactions so far, but I’m gonna stop doing that because it’s slowing my progress. “What the heck is Rage Form?” “OH. OH THAT’S A THING.” I keep seeing hidden Mickeys, I bet those are gonna be a thing with the camera once I get it. Also damn are they giving me a lot of ingredients for the cooking minigame I can’t play yet. So the biggest thing I’ve noticed about the new combat is that because they give you so many really powerful abilities (grand magic at higher levels, formchanges, attractions, team attacks) that are all basically free (are you hitting things with your keyblade or magic? Can you hit this specific enemy once? Can you wait for your teammate to give you a prompt?), the number of enemies in each fight seems to have SIGNIFICANTLY increased from previous entries. KH2’s level design this is NOT. Lots more nooks and crannies to search. Me approaching the gates of Olympus: “Is this Anor Londo?” Yay nostalgic Coliseum music! And oooh little environmental puzzles are back! Like from KH1! I forged Goofy a new shield! Aaaand playable Riku. I have no idea why they were so dodgy about the second playable character. This is only the third time Riku’s been playable. Anyway, gotta fight the Demon Tower again. Damn, Riku is WAY stronger than Sora right now. Wish I could have read his abilities (and moved shortcuts). Nice emulation of the death screen. Also hot damn, is that Repliku talking??? I guess Riku’s “other me” really could be Repliku. Awwwww yeah, Lea’s getting new clothes too! YEAH JIMINY! “Dream Heartbinder” So Heartbinders must be this game’s summon gems, and this one lets me use Dream Eaters. SORA’S THEME IS THE RINGTONE!!! Ienzo’s here, with a bit of OrgXIII music from CoM. HOLY SHIT THE GUMMI SHIP IS THE BEST IT’S EVER BEEN UPGRADEABLE KEYBLADES?! I guess that makes sense, considering they all have different formchanges. They want all of them to stay viable throughout the game. OH MY GOD, DEMON TIDE HAS SO MUCH HEALTH I guess the bosses have to with all these powerful attacks I have Does Hayner have a new voice? Olette sounds different too. Checked the wiki, all three have different actors. Pence sounds closest to his original though. So judging by the Dusks and Snipers, no more enemy-specific reaction commands. The Ducklings sell Gummi blocks now?? Huh. Whoa wait, the road out of Twilight Town’s Tram Common leads back to the world map? Can I NOT go to the clock tower in this game?? Man, Twilight Town felt really small. Hope the remaining worlds don’t, though they’ve certainly seemed significantly larger than the two I’ve been to so far. Also, totally called the Lucky Emblems, though I’m gonna keep calling them hidden Mickeys. I think Tou Story is my favorite world. Granted, I’ve only been to three, but still. The Gigas are super fun, Woody and Buzz look amazing, and I can’t stop whistling/humming along! AHHH CREEPY DOLL Lol, the Verum Nox poster even has a Square Enix logo. First death, the Gigas battle in the video game. GOD DAMN! WOODY dropping an amazing “The Reason You Suck” speech to Xehanort! “Unless you’re in the ~real~ Organization too? Good for you!” Damn, Sora! Also love hearing that music from Chain of Memories every so often Glad flowmotion’s jump isn’t as level-breaking as it was in DDD. Same goes for the attacks. Wow, so Rapunzel permanently leaves the party. Was wondering they’d just give her a different moveset like with Mulan/“Ping”. This is the first time a character permanently leaves your party. And of course, Marluxia. Who I didn’t think could or would return. And Vexen who rejoined willingly, which is, man. Not something I’d have done. Both Norted of course. And was Saïx missing his scar? Maybe he’s just Isa now. I could tell it was Unversed, and Flood specifically, in that first Monstropolis cutscene just from the sound of them spawning. That’s how I know I’ve put a lot of hours into this series. Monstropolis feels the most linear so far. Arendelle’s ice labyrinth is awesome, the level design gives me some light Dark Souls vibes. I like how there’s zero explanation for Sora, Donald, and Goofy being able to breathe underwater in The Caribbean. And by that I mean I would have liked even just one line to explain it. The ship combat isn’t as good as AC3’s and AC4’s, but it’s still pretty good for a one-world mechanic! The ship is a LOT more responsive than the AC ones. And damn, is this world open. Okay, San Fransokyo is gonna be a pain to search for chests and Mickeys. PRESS TRIANGLE TO SORA IS THE BEST REACTION COMMAND I HAVE EVER SEEN Jiminy telling people about summaries on the gummiphone is Square Enix saying “IF YOU DIDN’T PLAY THE GAMES, READ THE FUCKING SUMMARIES” Giant battle at the start of Keyblade Graveyard was cool, but hurt the frames, especially on the fake shadows. And just as I was getting hyped at the possibility of having Riku and Aqua as party members. Oh hey, just realized Riku’s keyblade has a Mickey keychain now too. “And so, as legend foretold, darkness prevailed and light expired...” “Your hearts will be torn from your bodies” “To move through time, you must leave your body behind.” THE FINAL WORLD?! Wait, Sora’s been here MULTIPLE times?? Okay, so the star talking about the person who’d miss them, whose heart has been taken by another’s? Strelitzia? Talking about Lauriam? Love and hate? Going back for fight after fight? Hm. Cloud or Sephiroth maybe? (Longshot, but it doesn’t sound like a khux character, or anyone else) Identical pair? There’s no twins in this series. Like walking alongside a mirror... maybe it’s not an literal identical nature? Same clothes, same food, maybe Xion?? “Nothing left to teach you”? Damn, that’s not much to go on. Maybe Eraqus’ and Xehanort’s master?? “Just friends... stepped back” Skuld maybe? “I’m gone... they’ve added another member” Could that be Xion? Wait, no, how could Xion be here, she’s still within Sora’s heart. Are these actual named characters we’ve met before? Or not? The one who was defeated and supposed to fade... Repliku?? But he’s with Riku now... Someone searching for their Papa??? Most of the characters in this series don’t have parents at all, so my only guess here is Pinocchio?? No way a Disney character ends up here though. I don’t think all of these are characters we know. Someone holding onto a sliver of memory, and a servant?? Yeah, these could all just have been ordinary people. Naminé?! What happened to Kairi??? Okay, so the darkness split them. KAIRI IS KEEPING SORA FROM FADING AWAY OH MY HEART “GO TO HER” SHE SAYS "That's not the official thank-you!" Lol Damn, this area is fuckin huge, why is it so huge?? A PORTAL?! A DDD PORTAL HERE?! Well this place is rad. I better see that weird Darkside at some point here OOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH OH IT ROTATES THAT'S FUCKIN SICK God damn, this game's got some of the best level design of the series! Is... is this OUR Chirithy? “He doesn’t remember the past”? Although I guess it could be Marluxia/Luxord/Demyx’s too. Or Ven’s. My bet is that it’s Ven’s. DID SORA JUST TIME JUMP BACK A FEW MINUTES??? Aaaand did nothing different. So now we’re world-hopping like we did back in End of the World. OH WHAT IS THIS DIVING INTO STATIONS TO PICK A WORLD?!?! YOOOOOOOO Just Kairi and Lea are left. Haven’t hit San Fransokyo or Twilight Town yet. Guess they must be in those two. Last one is San Fransokyo. Lea must be here. Kairi’s probably gonna be the last. “Traversing hearts to reach worlds” That must be what I’ve been doing here. Not jumping between worlds, jumping between HEARTS. Was Sora just considering telling her he loves her? He should have. Wait, am I back in time? This already happened... OH SHIT! THE LINGERING WILL IS HERE! EPHEMER! OHHHHHHH HO HO WOW! OHHHHHH FUCK! YOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Congrats to all the lucky people who got their names in the game! PRESS TRIANGLE TO UNION X GIANT SHADOW MASTER XEHANORT IS TERRIFYING I like how Axel is holding his keyblade by the guard instead of the handle OH SHIT MASTER YEN SID! YOOOOOO! Okay KH3, I want to fight thirteen bosses now, you hear me? DAMN that Ancient Light finisher on Starlight’s Second Form is STRONG YOOOOOOO THREE BOSSES AT ONCE??? (I really hope this is as tough as they were before, but seeing as Xemnas was harder in 1 than in 2, doubt it) Went to help Mickey first, so I’m taking on Marluxia, Luxord, and Larxene Oh come ooooon, I barely got to fight them! Luxord’s out, 12 to go OH SHIT THE OTHER TWO Larxene’s done, 11 to go. With XI conveniently up next. Marluxia’s defeated once again. 10 left. Hey whatever happened with that comment of their ancient keyblade legacy...? Xigbar... might be gone? So maybe 9 left. Dark Repliku is defeated, and light Repliku gave himself up so the Replica could be used for Namine. That’s sweet. 8 left. YO actual time of day change! I like the door switches. Nice having little environmental things like this. Hm, Kairi and Lea one way, Aqua and Ven the other. Well that’s no contest, gotta go back up my girl Kairi! Mysterious new hooded figure??? Oh. Oh no. I think it’s Xion. D: Yeah. It’s her. *Xion stops Xemnas “YEYEYEYEYEYEYEYEYEYYE YEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHH” *Roxas shows up “OOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHH FUCK” THE WHOLE GANG’S HERE YOOOOOOOOOOO Shout outs to Ienzo, Ansem, Vexen, and Demyx for helping Roxas return! WHY THE FUCK IS KAIRI GETTING KIDNAPPED A-FUCKING-GAIN, NOMURA WHY WAS SHE EVEN TRAINING, FUCK Okay, so Kairi and Lea/Axel are out, BUT ROXAS AND XION ARE IN OH HOLY SHIT, SORA SQUAD FORM UP!!!! I HAD TO STOP AND LISTEN TO THE MUSIC FOR A MINUTE It’s all three of their themes! (Plus a bit of Another Side) THIS IS THE HYPEST SHIT Aww, Saix’s death mirrors Xion’s. AND THE SEA-SALT TRIO REUNITE! Saix is out, 7 left. Xion turned, 6 left. Vanitas fades again, 5 left. I know some people had hoped for a heel-face turn, but I knew it wasn’t likely. WHAT TERRA’S HEART WAS IN ANSEM’S GUARDIAN THIS WHOLE TIME. THAT THEORY WAS RIGHT! Terra-nort’s back to just Terra. 4 left. Just wanna say, I love that it’s Sora who gets to turn the tides of all these fights. Who’s dull and ordinary NOW, huh?? AND he’s still going! Oh boy, time for a triple Xehanort fight! UMMM NINE KEYS (but why are they No Name and not the X-blade?) OOOOOOOHHHHHHH THIS BLEND OF ANSEM, XEMNAS, AND YOUNG XEHANORT'S THEMES Guardando Nel Buio, Darkness of the Unknown, and Impeto l’Oscurito 1V3 ME, I'LL TAKE YOU ALL ON Young Xehanort returns to his time. 3 left. I like how we all agree to pause the fight whenever someone falls. Xemnas fades. 2 left. Ansem as well. Just 1 darkness left. WHAT THE FUCK, KAIRI NOOOOOOOOOOOO AH SHIT HE’S GOT THE X-BLADE AH SHIT HE’S GOT KINGDOM HEARTS Oh hey, everyone’s caught up. Donald: “You can’t do anything without us, Sora.” Me: “Donald, shut the FUCK UP.” Xion: “Kairi will be alright.” Me: “OH THANK GOD” Scala ad Caelum. Stairway to Heaven. It looks like a proto-Land of Departure. But the music is Case of the Foretellers from X Back Cover. Could this place and Land of Departure once have been Daybreak Town? Damn, Dark Kingdom Hearts is over the ENTIRE Keyblade Graveyard now Spooky twelve figures are spooky Why do they have the Organization’s weapons?! I love this return of Destati though They all had a shared HP bar? Scala ad Caelum’s world icon is kinda shaped like a heart Oh wow, full Inception Weird hearing Rage Awakened without the Lingering Will here “There is one sky, one destiny!” “DEEEESTAAAATI!” Ohhhhh shit Shout out to the heart in the floor design though And the figure in the middle has 7 points Classic Xehanort pose from the KH2 secret ending Aaaaand now he’s got ANOTHER Kingdom Hearts! GREAT WHOA HE FORCED ME INTO RAGE FORM DESTATI IN FULL FORCE WHAT A RAD FINISHING BLOW! The canon death screen, the heartbeat, Donald and Goofy calling from my controller! ONE BIG BLAST! So Xehanort sees himself as some sort of white knight? A templar to guide the masses with an iron fist? Yeah, no dice dude. Sora’s right, not your choice to make, and destiny is beyond your control. So Eraqus really WAS with Terra all this time. MARK HAMILL IS BACK!!! Xehanort just hands it over, huh? Wow, closure between Eraqus and his apprentices after all these years Eraqus and Xehanort mimic Sora and Riku from KH2, and pass on. Go get her, Sora. HIKARI ORCHESTRAL Ven met his Chirithy! Lea’s finally wearing his new outfit. Aw, Xion looks good too! And Isa’s here! Naminé is back too! And I bet the Namine/Riku shippers are happy! AWWW They’re all hanging out at Destiny Islands! Look at them all being friends!!! THERE THEY ARE! WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT

Epilogue: XIGBAR HAS BEEN LUXU THIS WHOLE TIME?! WHAT WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?! You know while watching Back Cover I was like “Man, the Master of Masters really talks like Xigbar for some reason.” BOY DOES THAT MAKE SENSE NOW So what was it about Ava’s role with the Dandelions that led to her absence here? AND WHAT’S IN THE GODDAMN BOX Is it a Book of Prophecies? Something else entirely? In any case, I doubt Maleficent and Pete would be able to get it away from them all. Secret Ending, “Yozora”: Ooh, “Another Side, Another Story” vibes right off the bat. SORA! And... Riku? Well this is just Japan. Wait, the guy from Verum Rex? And a black coat, who’s probably Xigbar/Luxu or the Master of Masters? After watching, a friend informed me that Riku is in Verum Rex. And Sora’s dead. Cause he’s in TWEWY’s version of Shibuya, since that one building said “104.” But which one is the black coat in? It could be the Master of Masters dead, in Sora’s world. Or Xigbar/Luxu, still watching things.

I have no idea what comes next. But I am excited.

#kingdom hearts 3 #kh3 #kh3 spoilers #kh spoilers

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pagesoflauren · 6 years

Text

Premiere Nights with Jack (Jack Lowden x reader)

Masterlist

You had spent countless minutes pinning and repinning strands of your hair in place to fall just the way you wanted. You had taken extra care when lining your lips so that there would be no mistakes when swiping the lipstick across to create the perfect dramatic pout that complemented the smoky look on your eyes. It had taken you a few extra minutes to apply a strip of fake eyelashes that added the perfect amount of drama and once you were done you had felt accomplished…until you sent a selfie to your friend and she pointed out the unevenness of your eyeliner. You were ready to fix it until Jack called to you from downstairs.

“Y/N! C’mon, lass, we’re gonna be late! The car’s gonna be here any minute!”

“Okay!” you yelled back, taking off your bathrobe that you had wrapped around yourself to make sure nothing ruined your embellished chiffon gown that a designer was far too kind to give you for the evening. You gave yourself another look in the mirror, interrupted when Jack called your name again. You quickly grabbed your clutch and your phone, coming down the stairs in a bit of a frenzy as you searched for your shoes.

“Love,” Jack singsonged, bringing your attention to him. He stood by the couch with your heels in his hand. You hurried over to him, grabbing the shoes and falling onto the couch. You practically dug through your gown to pull it over your knees, enough for you to see your feet and slid the heels on. You couldn’t seem to fasten the buckle, hands shaking before two large, warm hands grabbed yours.

“Let me,” he says. You retract your hands without saying a word, folding them in your lap as Jack works to buckle the strap around your ankle. “Alright, other one,” he says when he’s finished. You cross your legs to bring the other foot with the unbuckled heel in front of him. “I quite like these, actually.” “They’re nice. And I won’t be falling over because they have a chunky heel,” you say, your mind far away. “Good to know you won’t be teetering and I won’t have to bring you home with sprained ankles or anything,” he says, fastening the buckle and dropping a kiss to your knee. He looks up at you and smiles, standing up with his arms outstretched to help you stand up. “Stop fretting, lass,” he chuckles down at you, “everything will be fine. It’s just walking and a couple pictures.” “I can think of a million things that can go wrong,” you say, dusting off your dress to make sure nothing’s on it. “Then don’t think.”

You scoff. He says it as if it’s so easy. This isn’t your first red carpet, but it’s the first red carpet for a film where Jack plays a leading role and therefore will have a lot of attention on him and, in turn, you, the woman on his arm. “You’re thinking.” “Because it’s hard not to!” you burst. “Hey,” Jack says, grabbing your hands. “There is nothing that could possibly happen that can’t be fixed.” “I could fall and become your trash girlfriend that all your fans make fun of.” “If you fall, then I’m falling too. Even if I have trip myself. Trust me,” he says, kissing your forehead, “no one’s making a fool out of my lass.” You squeeze his hands and sigh. “You’re putting too much pressure on yourself, my love. It’s gonna be a fun night, I promise.” “Okay.” You smile and feel your nerves dissolve. “Come, give a turn,” he says, bringing his right arm up to help you balance you as you twirl, your dress glittering in the light of the lamp standing in your living room. He grabs your waist to steady you, laughing with you as you plant your feet on the floor to stand. “Beautiful, absolutely gorgeous.” “Thank you,” you say, suddenly feeling shy. The moment is ruined when you hear a car horn sound from the curb outside the house. “Better get going,” he says, bumping his nose against yours.

The white noise of the radio is drowned out by the sound of you crinkling your empty water bottle that you had downed during the drive to the premiere venue. “You’re thinking again.” “Hmm?” you say, your head snapping to look at your boyfriend. He holds his hand out and you place the water bottle in it. He discards it in a small receptacle on the side of the seat before grabbing your hand and squeezing. You feel the car stop and he smiles at you. “You ready?” “No.” “Yes, you are. Come on,” he says.

An usher opens the door for him and he unbuckles his seatbelt, stepping out and quickly waving to some fans. You work on carefully unbuckling yourself, making sure the seatbelt doesn’t catch on any of the stones sewn onto your dress. Another usher opens the door for you and Jack is there to take your hand and help you out of the car. You step out, eyes widening at the scale of the event. You imagined big, crowded, chaotic…you got that multiplied by ten.

You slowed your breathing down as you took it all in—or tired to—and Jack hooked your hand around the crook of his elbow to start walking. You stand back while Jack poses in front of a group of photographers. He looks straight ahead, one hand in his pocket and the other hanging casually at his side, resembling the picture of him you currently have as your home screen background on your phone. He turns and motions for you and you quickly look behind you to make sure he’s not gesturing for someone else.

“No, you!” he guffaws, almost doubling over in laughter. You feel your cheeks flare up and you’re sure if you weren’t wearing makeup, you’d be bright red. You lift your dress to prevent yourself from tripping over the hem and walk over to Jack, who’s holding an arm out to wrap around your waist. You smile your “photo” smile, the one that doesn’t quite reach your eyes and is rather modest. It’s plastered throughout all your social media, and as beautiful as you look, Jack huffs a bit when he sees it out of the corner of his eye. “Smile,” he mutters quietly. “I am,” you reply, keeping your smiling guise up.

He surprises you by planting a kiss on your cheek and the photographers go crazy, shutters clicking twice as fast and the flashes from the bulbs nearly blinding you. You let out a surprised laugh and turn to him, smiling widely with bright eyes. “There we are,” he smiles back down at you. Your laughter dissolves into giggles, something resembling a giddy teenager after her first kiss at a dance. “Come on,” he says, cocking his head toward the rest of the carpet, where interviewers wait. You chat with a couple of his co-stars and their significant others, making small talk and exchanging compliments on each other’s attire as Jack answers questions, animatedly pointing and gesturing and nodding his head as he speaks. When he’s done, he greets his friends cheerfully before pulling you to the venue. You opted for a small bag of popcorn, to help calm the nerves that were still ignited throughout your body.

“How’s my lass?” Jack asks, bringing you a small paper cup with soda, remembering the night you met in the pub. It’s almost comedic; everyone’s all dressed to the nines, sipping on whiskey and wine, and you’re standing with popcorn and soda as Jack takes a swig from his own glass of white wine. You laugh at yourself a little, but thank him for the drink. “Still a little nervous, but it’s not as bad,” you say. You frown as Jack reaches his hand and fishes out a handful of popcorn to stuff into his gob. “Sharing is caring, love,” he chides, tapping your nose as he eats, “first thing you learn in primary school.”

You keep up the act though, snatching the drink from the table and scowling at him as you sip. He laughs at you and squeezes your side, giving you a quick tickling jolt and you smack his arm in retaliation. He’s giving you the cheekiest smile and suddenly you’re aware of people looking at you and your cheeks once again flare up at unwanted attention. “We should take our seats,” you say, finishing your snack and tossing them into a nearby trash can. “Hey,” he says, “not shy, are you, love?” You can tell that he’s feeling apologetic for what he’s done and worried that maybe he overstepped an unidentified boundary. “No,” you say quickly. “It’s just…people were staring.” “So what?” “I don’t know, I just…” “You were thinking again.” “I don’t want to embarrass you.” It’s his turn to scowl, “What? No.” He leans down and kisses your forehead, “You can never embarrass me. Ever.” You look down, feeling sheepish. “Look at me,” he says quietly. When you do, something about the way he’s looking at you makes everyone else disappear and, as cliche as it sounds, you only see and hear Jack. “I couldn’t be more proud to have you on my arm here. I feel so damn lucky that you even want to be here with me. You’re my girl and I always want you here with me; I wouldn’t be here if you weren’t supporting me all the time. Okay?” You nod. “Can I have a kiss?” “My lipstick—“ “Eh, it’s fine, it’ll probably look good on me anyway,” he shrugs, not hesitating to lean down and press his lips to yours. When he pulls away and smiles down at you, you laugh and use your thumb to wipe away the smeared berry color that transferred from your lips to his. “Doesn’t even look like it budged,” he observes, eyes focusing on your lips. “Well, it better, I paid good money for this.” “What color is that anyway?”

You laugh. You hadn’t planned on telling him.

“What? What is it?” he asks, his head cocking curiously. His curiosity fades into confusion as you begin walking to the auditorium, turning back to throw him a smirk over your shoulder. “It’s Tom Ford in the shade ‘Jack’.”

btw “Jack” is an actual shade of lipstick and I bought it because of the name it’s such a pretty color :D

#Jack Lowden #Jack Lowden x reader

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hencethebravery · 7 years

Note

If you're interested I'd love some fic commentary for Alive.

Oh, yes, very much so. btw, sorry to take so long answering this. I was far and away this weekend. If you’d like to read “Alive,” without my obnoxious commentary you can do so here. xo

I’m (still) doing author commentary!

One day, I plan to love so loudly, my body abandons every demon harvesting me. — Arati Warrier, “Alive”

A/N: I didn’t mean for this to happen, but this fic turned into an exploration of trauma and anxiety. The Killian in this soon-to-be universe ended up being a war veteran with OCD and illogical, rampaging thoughts and I ended up choosing the poem after the fact.

It’s a tricky thing. Once you’ve known the taste of someone’s lips and found it to be a far more momentous occasion than you had initially anticipated. Beforehand, one might think you’ll only know it the one time, and the odds of it happening again are unlikely, so… you do it, aye? Curious. How do you not do it again? That’s the question, isn’t it? Especially if it was a little bit unexpected, let’s say—it had failed to show up on the calendar for the month of June, and now the rest of your life is totally fucked to hell.

It’s not possible that anyone else’s lips could throw such a wrench into his schedule. Not even much of one, to be fair. Working freelance as he did, odd hours and odd jobs, one unexpected, life-altering kiss does not a fucked up schedule make. If anything, there was an added flair to his rather mundane existence that hadn’t been there earlier. Spike the coffee, eat an egg, walk the dog, kiss your mate, do the shopping—and what was that last thing?

You: “What was the what thing?”

Your Brother: “Kiss your who?”

Doesn’t matter. Point is, when you’re talking to your brother about sharing an all too brief kiss with the bloke you once rode the bus with, you try and keep it casual. After all, Liam Jones has no reason to know that you’ve circled June the 5th in an expensive black ink that’s bled through the page—all the way through to August, in fact, when there’s supposed to be a boat trip scheduled for the whole lot of you, and you have to ask yourself, “How do you not do it again?”

A/N: I’m really excited, because I’m in the middle of writing a tiny prequel to this fic (quite by accident), and having the opportunity to provide commentary on this is super helpful. Anyway, a lot of the anxiety and OCD-esque thoughts seen here often show up in my own brain, which is why they show up here. Sometimes if my schedule gets disrupted, even a little bit, it’ll ruin the rest of the week or the month or the year or whatever, so I ended up relying on the whole “schedule” thing a few times. Making it vaguely humorous is the only way to deal, hence, Killian treating his own coping strategies as objectively silly is a common enough mechanism.

The answer to that question is that you bloody well don’t. You keep that tongue of yours firmly ensconced inside your own mouth unless you’re shouting down bar maids or showing up your know-it-all brother at trivia night. You manage to live your life for a whole two months without screwing anything up. Well done, you.

You manage to abide by the calendar you’ve kept since naval training—the calendar that, for all intents and purposes, saved your life once upon a time. Being the roughed up, dramatic younger brother had its perks, but in the end, rampant alcoholism, a suspicious rash, and a series of exceptionally burned bridges had taught him the benefits of following a careful schedule. It hasn’t managed to buff out all the sharp corners; rum tastes too sweet and his memory is a little too good, but no price is too high when you’re trying to avoid the odd skin allergy. Which is what it was.

Regardless, August arrives and it’s hotter than the East Coast has any right to be. He’s quite confident in his assertions that even Afghanistan wasn’t this hot, and considering the fact that Afghanistan was actually hell, he’s not sure what to make of the temper tantrum that the state of Maine seems to be currently throwing.

“Just last week you were complaining about how cold it was,” comes David’s muffled voice from below deck, “enjoy it.”

David Nolan is of an optimism so profound it’s certain not to be believed. The man has thought exceedingly well of almost everyone and everything in their lives since they were children, which, to Killian’s mind, can only end badly. He’s not written it down, but it has been inscribed within the gelatinous valleys of his brain somewhere, this unspoken responsibility—don’t let it ruin him. Having people like David Nolan in the world is a very important thing, and the only way to keep them around is to have people like Killian picking up the pessimistic slack.

A/N: Killian as a black sheep has become a common trope in a lot of my OUAT fic where he makes an appearance. I love his brash selfishness in contrast with the “Charming” family’s own tendency to be selfless. I love that he probably sees it as his responsibility to use his darker impulses to help those people who have managed to retain their own lighter impulses. God. I love him so much.

“It’s my boat, mate,” Killian shouts down the hatch, “I’ll complain where I like.”

On the side of his monthly calendars there’s a designated “Notes” section, set aside for various odds and ends. He’s been known to put some poetry there on occasion, either verses he’s written or found, a phone number or two, an exceptional cocktail, what have you. For the month of August there’s a sailboat at the top (nothing too fancy), followed by wave, after wave, after wave, and then, down at the bottom, there’s a capsized sailboat. Hence, pessimism.

The heat is physically uncomfortable, to be sure, but it’s also demanding. For example, it demands that two men working on a boat out in the hot sun remove some of their clothing in order to avoid fainting or otherwise feeling ill in such unreasonable weather. This, however, requires him to confront the somewhat uncomfortable question of how he avoids doing the thing he had done only the once—with no intention of repeating said thing. His calendar said so.

A/N: @phiralovesloki loves “His calendar said so,” and I love her because she loves it so much. It’s like an endless cycle of love.

David Nolan in a t-shirt is not unlike David Nolan wearing nothing at all. If anything, it might be worse. Without the shirt, it’s almost as if he’s existing in a moment of unreality, wherein there’s nothing especially remarkable about that chest over there other than the fact that it is one. He’s got one of those too—if anything, his is better, covered in a masculine dusting of hair as it is. David’s white t-shirt looks like it’s been run through the wash a couple hundred times. There are barely-there tears at the sleeves and around the collar. Today it is stained with sweat beneath his arms and lower back.

A/N: Josh and Colin are two of the most aesthetically pleasing humans I have been #blessed to witness. I know this seems kind of like a female Gaze moment, but whatever, we deserve it. Women get “Gazed” at everyday of our lives, so it’s only fair that I write a poetical fanfiction wherein I get to think about two handsome men on a boat in tight, ratty t-shirts. Leave me alone.

The heat is overwhelming, like the desert, only there’s a wetness in the air that makes it harder to breathe. For a moment, he misses the feeling of having a gun in his hand so he grabs a beer from the cooler and holds it against his neck, his pulse tapping against the glass like machine gun fire. Interrupt.

A/N: To use the word “interrupt” in the middle of obsessive thoughts is something my therapist taught me. The more you know.

“You see those clouds?”

David’s voice is soft at his side, his own mouth wrapped around the lip of a bottle and he has to say that no, he hadn’t even noticed. The poorly drawn “ship” sailing on the pages of his calendar starts to sink in the wake of poor weather and his heart aches—keeps beating quickly in his chest and he knows a panic attack when he feels one. Inconvenient things, they seem to be.

“Killian,” David says, apparently for the second time, and he puts a hand on his shoulder. Definitely not in the calendar.

Killian doesn’t much feel like answering. Killian wants to write about the sky in his notebook. Not any sky, mind you. This sky, because it’s somewhat of a nightmare to behold. Even with the boat tied to the dock and the sight of safe, dry land in the distance, the sky at this moment is a wild thing. Moments ago, the air smelled like salt and bubbling yeast. The sun was a large, imposing spotlight on the deck of his ship, making the wood warm, their skin sweat.

In June the air smells like earth. Certain parts of the farm are freshly turned at this time of year, and no matter where you go, it emanates over the property. Through the fields, over the lake, between the trees. Over hill, over dale, point made. June is new. They are, the both of them, new. When Killian kisses David, it’s because he can no longer bear it.

“The wanting.” Answering the question, what was it he could no longer bear? Because he was starving in his little house by the sea full of dry, winter air that had given him nosebleeds. It was probably all that dirt in the air—all those trees in bloom. All that pollen in his hair, the perpetually dirty state of his hands.

The answer is a little bit dramatic, but David seems to take it in stride, either because he’s known Killian for most of his life, or maybe because he understands, either way, he smiles. When David smiles it’s a thing you don’t need to see, and sure, you should, of course you should, but Killian is exceedingly grateful that in this moment, he doesn’t need to open his eyes.

A/N: When Josh Dallas smiles it is literally like looking into the sun. That’s what this is about.

It’s his gut that’s empty, not his gaze. He is, quite frankly, sick of opening his eyes. All he needs to do is feel it, and he knows that his friend “wants” too—just as frantically, as hungrily, as poetically. He plays the follow-up question in his head on a tortuous loop the next few days. He even writes it down so he can stare at the shape of the letters and hate himself even more than he already does.

“How is it you smell like that?”

Because it is something… indescribable. He can wax poetic on the state of the air in June all he likes, he has words on words on words to describe it, but all of a sudden, the smell of this man is the scent of which he cannot seem to describe. And he answers, “Like what?” and Killian can only answer with his mouth against his, because it’s not about the words suddenly—it’s about the breath. It’s about David’s forehead against his, their lips barely touching, and he answers with a kiss because he’s a fucking idiot.

August doesn’t smell new. It smells tired. Or maybe he’s just tired. Either way, the bright, overbearing sun is lost behind a sky of heavy, dark clouds and the man at his shoulder smells like beer and sweat. Like the moth-eaten blankets he had kept below deck all winter. The trees are gone but he can still feel the bark against the skin of his back.

“We’ve got to tie the lot of this down,” he answers suddenly. He had wanted to avoid the inevitability of turning around to face him, the tree at his back—with that concerned look on his face. Killian smiles, but it’s not like David’s in June. You’d have to see it, or you wouldn’t even know it was there. “She’ll be fine tied to the dock, but I don’t want to lose any of this gear.”

He’d savor the refreshing feeling of the breeze if there were any time for it, but they seem to have run out of it, and thankfully for him, David seems to have adopted a similar sense of urgency. Moving around deck as he is, his hands wrapped deftly around thick rope, one knot after another. The thunder continues on in the distance, unperturbed, and there’s a flash of lightening that leaves an echo across a purple sky.

There’s another crack followed by a second flash, and the sky opens. Despite the maddening anxiety he has contended with all day, there is something undeniably satisfying about knowing he was right about the “shirt on being worse” thing. David pauses in his run about the deck to enjoy the torrent of rain that’s been unleashed on the two of them, a loud yell of relief passing his lips, and Killian wonders what they taste like in August. At sea, in a storm—like salt? Like rain? Like the beer they’d been drinking earlier. Like dirt, like himself, lingering on his tongue for months.

When David dashes across the deck, clothes clinging to his form, every muscle carved beneath wet fabric as if he were a statue, Killian is busy trying to forget about the sinking ship in his calendar. He’s trying to remember what it was his therapist had said about “being in the moment,” and suddenly David’s lips don’t taste like June. They taste like August, in the rain. Wet and messy and just as hungry as before.

“Aren’t you sick of it,” David not quite shouts against his lips, the rain and wind lashing against the deck, “that ‘wanting?’” He’s smiling again, that wide, sunshine-smile that he has worn everyday of his life and Killian can see it out of the corner of his eye. In between the heavy, wet drops hanging from his lashes and the hair falling against his forehead—of course he can see it.

“Yes!” Killian shouts over yet another thunder clap, both of their faces turned towards a manic sky. “Bloody exhausted!”

A/N: For all my talk about Killian Jones being a black sheep he’s also a dramatic garbage human and someone needs to make fun of him sometimes. Re: David, calling out Killian’s Extra™ ass, mumbling about “wanting,” when it’s just a kiss and he needs to fucking relax.

The sound of the storm is softer below deck, as if it were a record playing in another room. The ship tugs on her moors but she’s steady, tied against the dock as she is. The only other sound is that of the air heaving in and out of their lungs, heavy with anticipation and adrenaline.

“You smell good too,” David admits between each, tired breath, “I’m sorry I made you wait.”

“Sometimes the waiting is the best part,” Killian answers gently, and there’s something in his tone, a note of understanding that he’s impressed to find he actually believes. “I’m good at waiting.”

As David moves closer he peels the wet t-shirt off his back and chuckles, shaking his head. “No, you’re really not.” The shirt falls with a decisive, wet splat against the ground, but Killian is too distracted by the return of David’s forehead, his hand against his neck. His fingernails are short and blunt against his skin, the scratch of an almost, but he feels his skin prickle all the same. Standing still in wet clothes, the warmth of the sun a fleeting memory, he knows he should feel cold but there’s this heat inside of him—flickering and alive.

A/N: Canon tells us that Killian Jones can wait, but does he do it well? idk about that. Dude turned Emma Swan into a ship for a year.

“If that’s the case,” he whispers, his own hands hovering at his sides, “what are you waiting for?”

The kiss is gentler this time, the shelter of the cabin urging slowness, carefulness. Here, they are beyond the reach of the whipping wind and stinging rain. The gaze of a seaside town, the towering pines. Their breath is softer, less like they’re running out of time, and there’s a drag between each pass of his lips. He feels as if he’s being savored and it’s not a thing that you deny yourself a second time.

“You should—” David’s voice is rough, like he hasn’t spoken in years and Killian’s pride does a little victory dance at the thought of its return, “You should change.”

Logically, Killian knows that David means “change clothes,” he knows this unequivocally. But he also has a tendency to err on the side of unnecessarily meaningful and he takes it to mean something else. Not in a negative way, he does not, by any means, feel that David wants him to be somebody else. This he also knows, unequivocally. What he also knows, what he has come to learn, is that his heart in its current state? It’s not sustainable. “You should change,” his heart speaks in David’s voice, “you need not want quite so much, when you can so easily have it.”

A/N: That was basically a long-winded way of saying that you should stop getting in your own way, which is usually my main problem.

He shivers at the sensation of cool air hitting his bare flesh, but there’s hardly a moment to feel uncomfortable. There’s David’s hand against the soft skin of his stomach, his fingers trailing through the fine hair beneath his belly button, and the warmth, it feels as if he’s slipping into a soaking tub. The rain continues it’s harsh pitter-pattering against the side of the boat as they move towards the small bed, clumsy step after clumsy step.

It smells like dust as they land, like the attic in the farmhouse, but the pile of blankets manages to catch them just fine. The cotton, washed one too many times, coming up to swallow their legs and shoulders, keeping them in a soft, dry place. He secures his own lips against David’s jaw, that sharp corner just beneath his ear and the moan that follows is more of a feeling than a sound—more of a sob than a gasp.

When he returns to his lips to catch yet another, quiet moan, it tastes even better than it had in June, then it had above deck moments earlier. Again, indescribable, and he feels a bit frustrated by the fact that words might fail him sometimes. After all, they do sit so well on his tongue, they feel manageable in a way that his thoughts don’t, that his heart doesn’t, and without them he worries that he’ll lose any sense of control he might have.

At some point the rain must stop, but it’s hard to notice, what with the hands and the lips and the feeling of his stomach as it moves against his own, in and out with every breath, sometimes quick and sometimes so slowly he’s worried that he’s holding it. At some point, in between the feeling of David’s lips against his rib cage and his hands at the button of his jeans, the sun very briefly returns before evening falls.

It’s his favorite time of day, those few moments before twilight. The rich, buttery light of the setting sun falls through the porthole over the bed, warming their entwined bodies atop the mussed blankets. The darkness behind Killian’s closed eyes turns a muted red color, and he can feel the warmth of the sun as it slowly sets against his skin, the fleeting light of day a gentle goodbye.

The water is calm against the boat, rocking them carefully back and forth, and his mind has never been quieter. The steady torture of a mind that refuses to settle, that must be shaken up and poured out over each and every month, everyday—that must be considered and thought over and applied and re-applied. Where no one means what they say, where he rarely means what he even says, but here, in this moment between sleeping and waking, it is blessedly silent.

He hears David mutter something against the back of his neck, and he knows, even without being able to see. He smiles.

A/N: I really hope that this fic was familiar to people who live with anxiety everyday, because it was certainly familiar to me as I was writing it. I know it’s also Captain Charming and CC is magical to be sure, but I still hope all the anxiety-related stuff was interesting for people.

#@hencethewriter #attn blogging #yayimallamaagain

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birdlord · 7 years

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All the Podcasts I Subscribe to

I’ve been listening to podcasts fairly regularly for about ten years now, and my list of subscriptions has slowly increased over the years to its current epic proportions. The more recent parts (towards the bottom) of this list are in order of subscription (from about The Gist onward) but the older parts aren’t in any particular order.

I’ve been meaning for some time to add podcasts to my yearly Media Diet posts, but I’ve got to start somewhere if I’m going to mention what I’ve added and what I’ve taken away in a given year, so here we are! I’ve given them star ratings roughly reflecting my current opinion (which is obviously subject to change, as I’m forever editing the list).

BTW I listen at 1.5 speed, which is the only way I have any hope of getting through all of these!

** BBC: Great Lives - a half-hour profile of a (sometimes dead) luminary, suggested by another (living) luminary. The host is helped along by an expert in the field, so a three-way conversation ensues.

*** Slate: Lexicon Valley - Great podcast about language. Tends to be more topical than The World in Words, the other language podcast I listen to regularly. And it’s now hosted by a linguist, so has taken on more of the air of an expert explaining things rather than journalists uncovering stuff.

*** All Back No Front - a music critic presents a wide-ranging hour or so of new music. It’s a great way to encounter new stuff if you’re too lazy to dig it up yourself (that’s me).

*** BBC: More or Less - A short podcast about the dismal science by Tim Harford, The Undercover Economist. The team investigates uses of statistics in the news, and (usually) debunks them heartily. I’m very happy that the short version and long version now don’t overlap! Well done folks.

** Monocle: The Urbanist - A show about cities that actually goes some distance to include cities in the global south. The posh pose of the hosts can sometimes be grating, though correspondents do come from more varied backgrounds. They have recently started a short podcast released earlier in the week that covers a single item in a world city, which is quite diverting.

** Radiotopia: The Memory Palace - An extraordinarily gauzy and story-telling-inflected history podcast. This is NOT Just The Facts, Ma’am. Your mileage may vary w/r/t the host’s pause-heavy style of speaking, sometimes I find it grating and other times it suits my mood just fine.

***** Max Fun: Stop Podcasting Yourself - I held off on subscribing to this for a long time, since their old ad way back in the Sound of Young America days was SO off-putting. But now? This is the podcast I save to listen to when I have to do something distasteful (treadmill? cleaning the bathroom?) since it’s so consistently good it’ll make any bad task more tolerable. And Jesse Thorn is now otherwise completely absent from my podcast rolls, so we see who won THIS one!

*** Radiotopia: Love + Radio - With many reportorial podcasts, you can grasp a thread, see a connection between their topics from week to week. Not so with L+R, it’s always new, always interesting, always weird.

*** How Sound - this is some deep shit - a podcast about MAKING PODCASTS :O. On occasion, producers from podcasts I actually listen to show up, which is always interesting to get a peek behind the curtain.

***** Radiotopia: 99% Invisible - This is not like, a list of well-kept secrets, so if you’re a person who has any interest in how design functions in the world you’re probably already listening to this. This will change the way you look at any number of everyday objects, and, if you’re the envious type, cause you to think “why didn’t I think of that?!” at least once per episode.

** CBC: Under The Influence - An adman dishes Secrets of the Advertising Industry! The first incarnation of the show had a historical bent, but now stories come from the 21st and 20th centuries alike. I came up with CBC Radio, so I have some affection for its sometimes-repetitive production elements, but seriously: that music bed is HECK OF TIRED and needs to be replaced!

** The Smartest Man in the World - Comedian Greg Proops takes to stages around the world and combines tales of teenage drug adventures in the 70s, celebrity encounters, and (especially recently!) die-hard liberal (def not radical) Democratic politics. This can get weary after a while, but I like to get his take on the issues of the day.

*** CBC: Ideas - This long-running nightly show podcasts not every episode, but just the highlights. For those who’ve never listened, this is a serious-minded (with some exceptions) documentary series which includes some one-offs, some several-episode series, and some regular features (Ideas from the Trenches talks to PhD students, Wachtel on the Arts, Munk Debates). Wachtel tends to be a couple of steps too “public radio” for me, but the rest is generally listenable with occasional moments of brilliance.

*** NPR: Pop Culture Happy Hour - a weekly chat amongst a slightly rotating cast of NPR folks located in DC. Mostly concentrates on middlebrow TV and movies, with occasional forays into music and books/comics. Sometimes showcases shorter conversations during the week that respond to particular events (awards shows, sport things, interviews with pop culture figures) but the main shows usually cover two topics plus a “What’s Making Us Happy” recommendation section. Gives the impression of being more “loose” than the usual NPR fare but keep in mind that’s a low bar to clear.

** BBC: Food Programme - hosts travel around Britain interviewing food producers and cooks of various kinds, generally investigating one topic per show. Tends to be showcase a non-controversial, posi take on food, focusing on things like new food scenes developing in smaller towns, the revival of old techniques, and immigrant contributions to food diversity. Can sometimes tend towards the dull.

***** Too Beautiful To Live - TBTL used to be a radio show, so it’s the rare podcast that actually gets it together to put out an episode every single weekday. Success depends on perfect alchemy between the hosts, and their ability to riff amusingly on the topics of the day and their own lives. Don’t be put off by the inside jokes; let them marinate for a couple of weeks and you’ll find yourself drawn in.

**** Answer Me This! - It is a great and powerful tragedy that this hilarious Q&A podcast has, in its eleventh year, gone down to a monthly schedule. Understandable given the hosts new gigs, but still, these are people I like to spend time with! I miss ‘em!

**** Radiotopia: The Bugle - Oddly enough, The Bugle is hosted by the brother of one of the Answer Me This! trio, and was also formerly cohosted by John Oliver, who is clearly now too busy holding American feet to the fire on HBO to muddle about in the podcasting pool. The conceit of the show is that it’s an “audio newspaper” and so most of the content is a comedic take on the news of the day. The non-Zaltzman co-hosts join from a variety of parts of the world, which is helping move the focus away from strictly the US and Britain.

**** WBEZ: This American Life - The old faithful of podcasts, helped not a little by unnaturally passionate-yet-calm host Ira Glass.

*** BBC: Thinking Allowed - A wry sociologist brings in guests to discuss their papers and/or books on various topics of sociological interest. Feels like a brief & interesting class each week, sans homework! The host’s wry personality mainly comes through in his interstitial responses to emails and letters.

*** NPR: Fresh Air - Your classic NPR interview show, plus short review segments telling you about the latest in jazz records, oscar-bait films or Complicated Novels. The interviews I find the most enlightening are the political ones, I distinctly remember listening and re-listening to the episodes about the initial rise of the Tea Party. Over the past few years, the number of ads during the show has been ratcheting up, slowly but surely; I sincerely hope by this point that Terry Gross has a solid-gold toaster.

*** BBC: In Our Time - a stimulating academic panel show with host Melvyn Bragg discuss the “history of ideas” which in practice usually means an overview of a particular person’s intellectual output, a scientific discovery, or a historical event. Not overly combative in tone, though genteel disagreements do happen. I’m always a bit surprised, given that this is a BBC product that also goes out on the radio, at how uneven the production is - lots of sticky-voiced talkers too close to the mic, and a veritable epidemic of shuffling papers.

**** WNYC: Radiolab - Radiolab has drifted from science somewhat in recent years, but is still producing solid stories full of new insights.

*** Tiny Spark - A relatively rare totally independent podcast, intended to hold charities and non-profits to account. Really helpful to anyone who is wondering how best to spend money in a way that might help people in a meaningful way.

**** WNYC: On the Media - All week long, I know that if I’m reading something about American politics and I’m not quite getting the nuances, I can count on On The Media to help me out. Don’t think you have to be in the media industry to find this enlightening - it’s really for all news CONSUMERS.

**** Greg Proops Film Club - Every once in a long while, Greg Proops shows an old movie in a theatre with an audience, and this podcast consists of his comedic introductions (which are sometimes heavily connected to the films, and other times largely weird anecdotes about his life). Used to include a bit after the film wherein they discuss its particulars and take audience Qs, but that seems to have fallen by the wayside.

***** Previously.tv: Extra Hot Great - The greatest asset of this long-running TV podcast is its tight group of hosts, who have been working together since the dark-ass past of internet-based pop-culture criticism. This long experience gives them an unmatched rapport, even though the hosts now live in vastly divergent time zones across the US. I miss Joe Reid’s contributions, but that doesn’t stop this from being one of my favourite listens each week.

**** Slate: The Gist - I found Mike Pesca’s former NPR show, The Bryant Park Project (which Luke from TBTL was also involved with) shortly before it ended forever in around 2007. So I was delighted to find him with a daily show that covers politics, science and culture in a snappy 20 or so minutes.

**** Feral Audio: The X Files Files - Sadly defunct at the moment, but hey, this podcast seems to have had something to do with the fact that the X Files returned for a few eps (and certainly for the host Kumail Nanjiani’s appearance in a new episode!) so that’s quite a legacy.

**** Men in Blazers - Yes, I came to be interested in football originally because my partner is a die-hard watcher of the English Premier League. But it was these guys who gave me my own entry into this particular world of sports fandom. They made a great, funny series of videos about each national team for the men’s World Cup in 2014, and then I was totally hooked. I’m a big fan of the fact that Rog and Davo are supporters of women’s football as well, which I’m sure has a great deal to do with them being located in the US, the powerhouse of ladies-kicking-soccer-balls-with-great-aplomb.

*** BBC: Short Cuts - Josie Long hosts a charming show that seems inspired by the explosion of US-based storytelling podcasts. Sadly the show’s season is short, and a few months’ silence usually passes between each one.

**** WBEZ: Serial - The podcast that broke podcasts as a genre to the wider world! So far two seasons, each covering one story, have come to pass. It was unusual, when this podcast began, to cover a single story, ahem, serially, but the experiment worked; not only did Serial become wildly popular, other podcasts covering single stories (true, or no) have since abounded.

*** PRI: The World in Words - an offshoot of the PRI show The World, concentrating specifically on languages. It has a broader scope than the english-linguistics-focused Lexicon Valley, but tries hard to not fall back on the public radio trope of sadly looking on, shaking one’s head slowly while lamenting endangered languages.

*** No Such Thing as a Fish - a podcast offshoot of the Brit game show QI. The conceit is that the four hosts, all researchers for the show, each present the most interesting fact they came across at work over the course of the week. And each fact is discussed and riffed-upon by their colleagues.

*** David Cayley podcast - Cayley was a long-time radio producer for CBC’s Ideas, and this irregular-delivered podcast presents his various series as originally-presented on the radio. Each series is delivered all at once, allowing for serious bingeing. He does provide some context from the perspective of the present day, but only in text form on the podcast description, not in audio on the podcasts themselves. I greatly enjoy the nostalgia value of former Ideas host Lister Sinclair’s mellifluous tones. My favourite series of his is Origins of the Modern Public, available in the show’s archive.

**** Radiotopia: The Allusionist - Helen Zaltzman of Answer Me This has her own short podcast about english words and their origins. It’s on Radiotopia and has a great deal in common (plus has had some crossover eps) with that network’s 99% Invisible. Where Roman Mars investigates buildings and other objects, Zaltzman investigates words.

**** Gimlet: Reply All - I loved this little show about internet culture back when it was called TLDR and I love it still. This podcast has really broken the mould lately, with an episode covering 48 hours of the hosts answering a phone line of listeners’ questions, and one in which they secretly micro dosed with LSD to see how it affected their creativity.

**** NPR: Invisibilia - I used to listen to quite a bit more ‘hard science’ podcasts, and for one reason or another, most of those have fallen off my feed. This is one that has stepped into the breach, combining science reporting with more of the storytelling focus that we’re used to in other podcasts.

** Home of the Brave - You may recognize Scott Carrier’s distinctive voice and style of presentation from his appearances on This American Life, and now he’s off on his own, reporting on things that interest him. He goes into each topic with a remarkably open mind, and seems quite adept at getting people to speak with him who might otherwise be suspicious of a public radio-type interviewer.

*** Earwolf: I Was There Too - One of a galaxy of podcasts that depends on moderately famous LA people knowing other moderately famous LA people, and interviewing each other on their podcasts. The conceit here is more interesting than most, though: Gourley interviews (usually minor but not always) actors from very well-known films, to get their perspective on the both the production and the movies’ reputations. Quality varies a lot depending on interviewee.

*** WNYC: The Sporkful - a light and breezy food podcast, usually consisting of quick and concise interviews. They do occasionally handle larger topics (eating disorders, cultural appropriation) in several-episode arcs, but usually each show stands alone.

*** Max Fun: Baby Geniuses - Lisa Hanawalt and Emily Heller gab together for the first 20 minutes or so, about their lives & careers, and Martha Stewart’s pony Ban Chunch, then invite on a guest with whom they get into a wikipedia article suggested by a listener. Then we get into what, on a normal celebrity guest podcast, would be an interview about their latest project. But not here! Here they get to talk about some esoteric interest of theirs, unrelated to what they do for a living. Weird hobbies and so on! I find the last segment, an improv interview with a fake expert in something, to be totally unlistenable, thus the middling rating.

** ARRVLS - Documentary storytelling, but with a focus on stories about change and transformation. This is a broad theme, of course! And really encompasses most types of stories - why tell a story if it hasn’t changed you? I do admit that this blends in with the other doc storytelling podcasts I listen to, it doesn’t stand out a ton.

**** WNYC: Death, Sex & Money - Anna Sayle talks to guests about topics that are usually left out of polite society. Style is a former producer on TAL, so this is all part of the TAL-galaxy of podcasts, so it has a similar slick-yet-heartfelt quality about it. Style went on (terrifyingly short! poor Americans) maternity leave a few months ago and had former guests host the show in her absence - cute idea!

*** Call Your Girlfriend - two pals who live in different states get together over the internet and talk about whatever has interested them in the past week. Like many things, this ‘cast has taken a hard turn towards activism lately, which is great and I love it! They take a light hand with editing, but do use music breaks and sometimes ads to smooth over changes in topic.

*** Buzzfeed: Another Round - Of all of the “two people gabbing” podcasts that I listen to, this is the only one that features two black women. Given that radio (and podcasts too, maybe even more since you choose to listen at specific times?) is such an intimate medium, it’s important to hear voices that have a different background and perspective than your own. These ladies are a big deal! They met the president (not the terrible one).

*** The Weekly Planet - My friend Ryan recommended this podcast about comic book movies (mostly) by some dudes in Australia. Comic book movies are not my Main Jam, but these guys are really entertaining and I enjoy listening to ‘em gab while I’m washing dishes or walking somewhere. I HATE the theme song?!

** KCRW: Here be Monsters - documentary that sometimes edges over into the disturbing.

** America’s Test Kitchen Radio - this is the most practical food podcast I listen to, since it includes equipment testing, and recipe suggestions. The main attraction is the call-ins, wherein the hosts answer listener’s food questions - really useful! Hasn’t updated in a few months though, so not sure what’s up with that?

*** NPR: Planet Money - I listened to a few episodes of this back when it started, when the financial crisis first went down (for real: the Giant Pile of Money episode of TAL was listened and re-listened, by me) but for some reason I didn’t ever subscribe. I finally got around to it recently, and have no regrets (except for all the time I missed i guess??).

*** WNYC: The New Yorker Radio Hour - a weekly hour based on what’s appearing in the magazine on any given week. The only thing I find really unlistenable are the dramatized versions of comedy sketches, which never work for me.

*** After These Messages - I’m not a person who is exposed to much in the way of advertising, given my lack of television, but I do still like this podcast about TV ads. The hosts rant about commercials they hate, and even occasionally tip the hat to those they enjoy.

** Fashion Hags - three friends from fashion school get together and chat about the fashion world in general and their own forays into clothes-making as a career or avocation.

**** The Next Picture Show - rather than reviewing a new release on its own, the four movie critics look at a new movie each week by comparing it to a similar (or related) classic film.

*** NPR: Hidden Brain - Though the focus here is brain science rather than money/economics, the formula here feels pretty similar to Planet Money: draw listeners in with an interesting proposition, back that up with a couple of interviews and/or host talk, tidy conclusion.

*** Worst Idea of All Time - two comedians in New Zealand have a terrible idea: they commit to watch Grown Ups 2 every week for a year, and podcast about it! Since then, they’ve gone through two more terrible years, and have gained a loyal worldwide following (but lost…SO MANY HOURS OF THEIR PRECIOUS YOUNG LIVES).

** Making the Sausage - from the Previously.TV folks, this is an occasional, behind the scenes of TV podcast. As opposed to the other LA entertainment-scene podcasts, this one is strictly talking to people like PAs, writers, and directors instead of the front-of-camera folks. Has some persistent audio issues, but it’s an interesting perspective.

**** Radiotopia: The West Wing Weekly - Apparently everyone loves to podcast about long-finished television shows?! This one is terribly charming, hosted by podcast guy Hrishikesh Airway and former West Wing cast member Josh Malina. Since they have such a solid connection to the show, they’re able to get bigwigs like other cast members, directors and musicians to come on & chat about specific episodes.

*** You Must Remember This - episodic but connected seasons of stories about 20th Century Hollywood. The stories themselves are universally fascinating, but the delivery can be patchy - the host sometimes acts out quotes from her subjects, which is almost always some combination of embarrassing and irritating; and the production itself can be heavy-handed.

**** Our Debut Album - the Stop Podcasting Yourself boys are making an album, at the rate of one song a month. We get to listen to the song-writing process, as well as hear about how the producer actually puts the song together, element by element. A good idea and a fun one!

*** Guardian: Token - A black woman and a trans man talk about issues of race and gender. My favourite episodes so far involve Leah and Freddy being confronted with elements of the other’s world, and giving one another permission to ask potentially-awkward questions.

*** Mark and Sarah Talk About Songs - A sort-of offshoot of Extra Hot Great, involving one of the regular hosts and one of their frequent guests, talking about songs (usually one per ep but not always). If you want a great episode to start with, go for the one wherein they rank all of the songs in Madonna’s Immaculate Collection.

**** WNYC: More Perfect - A Radiolab offshoot, about the machinations of the US Supreme Court. It’s been forever since they released and episode, so hopefully it’s not dead & gone for good since I find it so fascinating.

*** Filmspotting - A long-standing film podcast that I’ve only come to recently, so it feels like jumping into a fast-moving stream. It’s mostly concerned with the higher-brow of filmmaking, with occasional exceptions. Keeping track of things like this makes me feel like at least I will be less likely to miss those movies that film critics are watching, or at least I’ll have some idea of which ones I can definitely afford to skip.

***** Election Profit Makers - Dearly departed! This was a pre-election betting podcast by David Rees and his childhood friend, produced by podcast impresario Starlee Kine, and oh GOSH it was good! It was exactly what everyone needed in the nervy pre-election days, and their single post-election episode was cathartic and emotional and very very real. Going back and listening again would be like time-travel, you should try it.

*** Radiotopia: Criminal - preternaturally soft-voiced Phoebe Judge tells complicated short tales of criminals of many kinds.

** WNYC: Sooo Many White Guys - This is a weird one for me. I really enjoy the interview part, which is the bulk of the show, but I can’t stand the host joshing around with her producer - putting a weird “sound-booth” effect on the producer’s voice is a strange and affected choice, but aside from the sound reasons I’m just not into the conversations they’re having; perhaps I’m just not interested in seeing behind this particular curtain? Interviews are still worth it, though!

*** Gimlet: Heavyweight - I have had a checkered past with Jonathan Goldstein - I enjoy his contributions to other people’s audio properties, but I’ve never been able to get into his CBC show. I was uncertain about this show (in which he tags along with someone to solve a problem from their past) but I’m finding it just Goldstein-y enough?

*** Revisionist History - Malcolm Gladwell takes his typical style of making complicated ideas seem simple. As with his books, there’s some great stuff and some eye-rolly stuff.

*** Radiotopia: Theory of Everything - Benjamen Walker’s been internetting around for a long-ass time, and this is the latest incarnation of his work. His most recent series has been on surveillance and the panopticon, which is obviously super in my wheelhouse. He will go at things in a different way than you expect, which is hugely admirable (and entertaining!).

*** Gimlet: Undone - Gimlet has done a great job of coming up with interesting concepts for their podcasts, such that the finished work can feel familiar to podcast listeners (soothing voices, great production values, good music, solid interviews) but they have a hook to catch new listeners. This one’s about old news stories that has had long repercussions, don’t you want to listen? Well you should. It’s been cancelled though, so this will move to my UNSUBSCRIBED list shortly.

*** NYT: Still Processing - I missed the sound of Wesley Morris’ voice since the demise of Grantland, and thankfully Tim https://twitter.com/doingitwrong tipped me off that he has a new podcast! I particularly enjoyed the episode in which Morris and co-host Jenna Wortham go to the new Smithsonian Museum of African-American History & Culture (or more succinctly, the Blacksonian).

*** Hello Internet - My friend Jenn https://twitter.com/jennipoos is a fan of CGP Grey’s Youtube videos, and a while back she posted one, and I fell into such a CGP Grey hole that I wasn’t satisfied watching every single video, I had to ferret out his podcast, which he does with another Youtuber, Brady Haran. Both are expats living in Britain, and (particularly Grey!) don’t pay much attention to the news, so it’s rare that they discuss any of the tire-fire things that are happening in the world today. A nerdy break from the news.

*** Guardian: Football Weekly - When I was looking for the Guardian Brexit podcast, I discovered that their #1 podcast is this one, which updates twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays. It’s a bit more serious and analytical than Men in Blazers, and also covers european leagues, so it’s not too much overlap. This is the podcast that will make a lengthy Shakespeare reference about Leicester City’s sacking of Claudio Ranieri, so that will probably tell you if you will find it to your taste.

** Guardian: Brexit Means… - This is an occasional podcast about Brexit and related issues. Sometimes you need serious information!

** Book Shambles - Another Josie Long joint, this time featuring a co-host (Robin Ince) and regular guests. The chat is nominally centered around books, but in fact is quite wide-ranging and usually takes as its beginning point whatever the expertise of the guest happens to be.

*** Gimlet: Twice Removed - Every once in a while, marketing really hits on something that works. With all of these new (& older) podcast networks, most have one or two high-profile podcasts and some smaller ones. In this case, Gimlet ran almost an entire Twice Removed episode on Reply All, and I was intrigued enough to subscribe. It wooooorked!

** BBC: The Compass - I found this one due to its series (now archived) about creating a hypothetical ideal country made up of things other places are doing well (gun control in Japan, maths education in Shanghai). Not 100% sure I’ll keep it!

** The Royal Canadian Movie Podcast - found this one thanks to its review of New Waterford Girl, and yeah I’m inclined to at least consider the Canadian film industry, if not consume that much of it. This one is also potentially on the bubble, since I find one of the hosts a little on the JAZZ HANDS side of things.

NPR: Code Switch - covering NPR’s racism beat, this is a newish podcast that I’ve just managed to remember to subscribe to, since one of the regular contributors used to do a podcast I liked called PostBourgie. No star rating yet as I haven’t been listening long enough!

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