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give-grian-rights · 3 years

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CHAPTER TWO HOUR. CHAPTER TWO HOUR. I AM SO TIRED. IT IS 6AM. TELL ME IF HTERE’S TYPOS AND THAT NORMAL STUFF

Bets Against The Void, Chapter 2

Chapter 1

Chapter 3

Whitelist au from @petrichormeraki

Crossposted on AO3

Tubbo quietly chuckled, smiling fondly as their friend squawked indignantly. “Tubbo! I’m serious, explain some shit, fuckin’ nerd!” Tommy scoffed, prodding at their side with his elbow. Tubbo hushed him, their smirk still lingering.

“Hermitcraft is a super crazy popular server. If you’ve ever searched for examples of builds on your tablet, chances are, they’re from one of the Hermits. Or if you looked up something about redstone! Anything! You’ll find one of their instructions. They’re geniuses- just, complete geniuses. Grian’s one of them-”

“Grian’s one of them!?” Tommy exclaimed, his eyes shooting open. Tubbo’s grin widened, nodding vigorously. “Yes! He’s the newest Hermit, last I heard.. Most of the guys he’s teammates with every MCC, they’re usually other Hermits!” They’d continue explaining to the best of their ability.

“Should’ve fuckin’ started with the fact that Grian’s here! That fuckin’ dude! He killed Dream three times! Three times, Tubbo!” The blond continued with his excited shouting. Well, that certainly fixed the situation, Tubbo mused.

The brunett nodded along, chuckling. “Yeah! He, and most of the others, really- post all that much right now. The new World Client, with the axolotls and caves ‘n stuff? They’ve started posting and sharing discoveries about that. I know Grian did, at least. But considering they call themselves the ‘Hermits’ it makes sense to be a bit inactive, yeah?” Tubbo shrugged, tapping the chilly cool sandstone beneath them.

Tommy nodded dumbly, glancing around the room for a moment. Tubbo, meanwhile, had pulled their tablet up. The holographic comm system was displayed infront of them, everything on the screen they touched being read aloud to them.

Launching an accessibility app, the tablet began describing aloud the block palette, dimensions, and colors. As the tablet’s robotic voice played in his com system, reading aloud the details of his surrounding, Tubbo nodded along to an incoherent rant from Tommy.

Tubbo wasn’t too sure what Tommy was ranting about- likely MCC, and Grian. Grian got a kill on Tommy, last MCC, if they remember correctly.�� The brunnett wouldn’t be surprised if that was the target of the blond’s current tangent. Tommy hadn’t even been able to get a word out, when Grian began shouting vigorous apologises between matches.

The descriptions from the tablet were long, and boring. The robotic voice drawing on and on, as it attempted to describe the intricate room. Shutting down the program, Tubbo tuned back into Tommy.

“Fuckin’ am..So fucking tired. Of course we ended up here. It’d be to easy if we’d just be let back into Dream SMP, huh? Think Dream even knew we were out? I bet not. Even if he does, probably didn’t even care, fuckin’ dick. Bet that green asshole’s just sitting over his code and shit, simping over Gogy-” The blond ranted heatedly. The blind teen could hear the shifting and chustling of fabric, before the boy’s voice became muffled.

With his head pressed against his knees, legs drawn to his chest, Tommy sat there practically panting. His chest heaved, the rage draining from him. “Why is all- all of this, always so complicated, Tubbo?” Blue eyes turned to meet the scarred, burnt front of the other.

Tubbo picked at faded and torn tennis shoes, tentatively listening. The rymnatic pattern of the boy’s breathing, and the crashing overhead, offered some vague comfort. “All of what?” They’d tilt their head.

The younger of the two quietly sighed, his mouth pressed in a thin line. His hand clutched the bottom of his torn, tan cargo pants, fidgetting with the frayed ends. “Us. Shit with us, it always gets so fuckin’ complicated. Big Man, you’re president. You’re- you’re the fucking president, now, Tubbo.”

The bunnett’s brows furrowed together, as they inched closer to their friend. “Yeah. But it’s- it’s still us, y’know? If- if life was easy, then we’d be missing out on a lot of things. What if we had just never met-”

“We’d always meet eachother, Tubbo. There’s no fuckin’ getting rid of me, even in your fantasy world.” The blond nudged the teen’s shoulder, a wolfish grin evident in his tone.

That made the other crack a smile, shaking their head. “I hope so, Tommy.” They’d chuckle, shaking their head. The weight of the day came crashing down all again. Before the rushing thoughts could boggle down their mind, Tubbo slumped against Tommy’s side sigh an exhausted sigh.

“This is just, livin’ the fucking life, huh?” Tommy remarked, looking over his friend. The tall boy already shifted himself, his long legs sprawled out on the floor with his back leaned against sandstone walls.

His head leaned against that of his compaignian, half-lidded blue eyes giving one last surveillance of the room. “We’ll figure this shit out tomorrow..” Tommy mumbled, glancing down at the brunette.

Tubbo was already asleep, their expression finally one of peace. Tommy wasn’t given a moment more to appreciate the serenity of the quiet room, before he’d be pulled into slumber as well.

Both of the teens were stirred awake by the whirring noises of an active portal- the Netherportal beside them, with particles flying, gaveway to two players. Tommy kicked himself up to his feet, defensively. Tubbo stumbled along with him, pulling back away from the strangers.

Though two stepped out, only one immediately caught Tommy’s eyes.

“W- Holy shit! You’re Grian!” Tommy squawked indignantly.

Tubbo’s head immediately shot up, excitably breaking into a grin. Any exhaustion the two held was wiped away- neither was sure how long their unrestful sleep had been, but it was far more than other nights.

The target of the excitement, Grian, sheepishly stood there, nodding. “Uh, yeah! You guys are Tommy and Tubbo, yeah? I’ve seen you at most of the MCC’s I’ve been to. You both did really good last time, by the way! I’m really looking forward to the next one!”

This was easily the closest they probably ever were to the dirty blond. He also looked far more at ease, on this server. The iconic figure, ever-present in the community, had his wild mop of a fringe frazzled and framing his face.

Poking under the bangs, Tommy could now see faint, ragged lines from a scar, along with other various healed-over wounds. Another contrary to how either of them had seen Grian, at MCC, was the large circular glasses loosely sat on his face.

Seeing one of his heroes like this (The only one that hadn’t betrayed, killed him, turned against him, despised him-) in such a..Domestic state, was bizarre. Tommy was scrambling for words, starting and giving up on getting his tongue around what to say.

“This is so cool! Hi! I used to watch and- and listen, to a lot of your old build tutorials! A lot of people on our server would always say how we learned building from you!” Tubbo would blurt out, practically bouncing on their heel. Grian turned to the teen, slightly shocked but amused.

“Oh! I- well thank you! I’m glad I could be any help at all- my builds are nothing compared to some of what the other Hermits have going on..Speaking of others- this is Stress!” He’d take the opportunity to escape the small spotlight, glancing towards the brunette woman next to him sheepishly.

The woman- Stress, apparently, quietly chuckled. A fond smile grazed her face, as she looked over towards the two teenagers. “Ello there, Loves! Sorry to interrupt your fan meetup,” She teased, side-eyeing the dirty blond beside her. “We just wanted to come and check in, is all! X told us two to come visit, yeah?”

Tommy quietly hummed skeptically, surveying her. Short brown hair hung barely as low as her shoulder, a neat, white, blue, and pink flower-crown sat upon her head. The colors must’ve been very purposeful, considering they matched with her colorful outfit of the same color.

“Fine, sure..Well, we’re still fuckin’ breathing, and we’re here. So you don’t really need to be here any longer, yeah?” Tommy scoffed, slumping back against the wall. Tubbo was already standing, nudging at his side.

“Thank you, for checking in. I- I’m sure this is a bit of a strange situation. That- Yeah, that’s my bad.” They chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of their neck. This caught Stress’ attention, turning towards the tene.

“Oh, no! This isn’t a problem at all. Dear, this happens all the time. Grian just- just appeared, one day, in our previous server. We walk out the portal for the first time- and boom! There that weirdo is!” Stress chuckled, her grin unwavering as she gave a playful nudge to the dirty blond beside her.

Grian scoffed, a smirk edging at his lips as he rolled his eyes. “Okay, but I’m not the only example of that happening- you didn’t have to pick me out specifically!”

“Sure I do, Love! You’re the first new Hermit to join, after me and Zed! I get to bully you, lovingly!” She cheered. Stress’ energy was absolutely efficacious, Tubbo couldn’t help but smile and cackle at her and Grian’s banter.

“Uh huh,” Grian scoffed, dramatically crossing his arms. “Last I checked, that was Iskall’s job to bully newcomers- oh, Gord, when you all walked out of the portal and they just decked me ? I mean, it didn’t really hurt all that bad, but it’s a matter of the principle!”

Stress seemed like she was almost gonna break down with laughter, clutching her stomach. “I forgot they did that with you, too! Iskall certainly is one that needs work with their introduction, that absolute weirdo!” She chostled, shaking her head fondly.

She then turned towards the two teens, reassuringly smiling. “They won’t give you any hard time, they’re just like that sometimes, especially in the beginning of a new season..They’re usually just incomprehensible in the beginning, I learnt!” She giggled, covering her mouth.

Tubbo awkwardly laughed, nodding. “Yeah- they, they sound like something.” It was..A strange environment, to be sure.

Sure, they knew of the Hermits, their reputation impossible to avoid- but most outsiders didn’t know much about the actual Hermits. They went by that title for a reason.

Tommy was having similar thoughts, he felt as if he was completely imposing on, everything. But he couldn’t find it in himself to care- it frankly was..Warming, almost, to see this. He missed being able to have that, on Dream’s server.

The blond in particular seemed to have tuned out, because by the time he snapped out of those thoughts, Grian was speaking again.

“We’re glad to see you’re both alright, but, I don’t think we’ve been exactly great hosts. You both have gotta be hungry- I know the last thing you two seem to want is help, but..We’d be happy to help you however we can. We can go get you fresh, real food. Or- you both come with us, and we take you to our central area, the Cowmercial district.”

Tommy stared blankly at Grian for a moment, brows knitted together in bewilderment. “The… Cow..merical district?” He’d repeat, squinting.

Grian snickered, nodding. “Yeah! The name just stuck. It’s our shopping district. We have a bakery- it’s never, ever too early for cake. There’s Doc’s shop, but that’s all villager-bought, if it’s the rare occasion that it’s stocked at all- so the Bakery may be the only option, for today.” He glanced back at Stress, who nodded in agreement.

“Only if you’d want to,” Stress would interject. “Either of us could come bring you food here- but, we figured you might want to just..Get out. You’re allowed to leave here whenever you want- but, navigating our server by yourself, for the first time? Not the easiest.”

The two teens glanced towards eachother. Tubbo looked like they were practically buzzing in place, at the idea of exploring the Hermits’ world. Tommy watched them for a moment, before quietly scoffing.

“..Yeah, okay, sure- how the hell do we even get out of here though, for starters?” Tommy crossed his arms, inching closer towards Tubbo. He, for one, was really not a fan of having to fly out.

Stress cheered excitably, pulling open her inventory. The woman promptly dropped a stack each to the two teens. “I came prepared, just in-case!” She grinned. With a swipe of her arm, the digital screen dissipated.

“If you know how to use elytras, X already said he’s more than happy to lend out two from the back-up system. I have some to spare, as well. But- you two never seemed the most comfortable in the air, during flight-based games.” Grian would add awkwardly, adjusting his own wings behind him.

Tommy didn’t pay much attention to the words- instead, he promptly threw open his inventory, gawking at the full stack of pearls. “What! I don’t think i’ve ever had this many pearls! Holy shit!” He pulled out the stack of sixteen.

One pearl manifested in his hand, while a holographic icon hovered beside him. The pixel-image of an enderpearl, with a large 15x in the corner in white font was projected for only his vision. The blond couldn’t remember a time he had so many enderpearls.

“Thank you! Wow- yeah, pearls aren’t really common in our server! This- this is really nice!” They felt giddy, as they pulled their’s out as well, the action muscle-memory.

“Well, I’m glad you two can put them to good-use, then!” She chuckled. The idle question of how can a server lack pearls skimming through her head for a moment.

Within seconds of her saying that, Tommy had already blindly tossed one of his pearls- promptly falling down from the ceiling, and landing on the floor with a short shriek. Tubbo straightened up from the sidelines, tilting their head.

“Tommy! What did you do?” Tubbo called out accusatorily, as they quickly popped their surrounding descriptor back on.

“Nothing!” Tommy quickly yelled back, lunging to their feet with a stumble as they dusted themselves off.

At the sidelines, Stress and Grian cackled, watching in lighthearted amusement. Tommy could feel his face flushed red with brief embarrassment, quickly attempting to play it off.

“Truer answer; I was being awesome. That was what, Tubbo. Are we eating or what? I want to throw pearls and go places. And eat, that too.” He quickly turned towards the two Hermits expectantly, narrowing his eyes at them.

Grian grinned, nodding. “Yes, yes we are! I have boats. Go ahead and pop up with your pearls, and we’ll fly out to you.” He explained briefly, pulling the boats from his inventory. The thin, digitized object manifesting in his hand.

Tommy turned expectantly to Tubbo. “You got this, Toob?” He tilted his head, watching his friend. Tubbo had immediately nodded vigoriously, running over towards the center of the room, the ceiling above open to the water.

“Yeah! I’ve got this, Big Man! No sweat!” They gave a toothy grin, shifting the enderpearl in their hand. Arching their arm back, the teen cautiously stepped back.

Their communicator had continued reading off the details of the room into their thin earpiece, primarily the dimensions. All they had to do was hit the wall leading up to the surface to get out. They could do that, surely.

With a huff of effort, they chucked the pearl. They heard it break through the under-surface of the water, and then they were submerged. Breaching the surface, they gasped for a moment. The ocean rippled, clothes heavy and soaked. They were certainly glad they had been in their casual clothes, rather than their presidential outfit.

Within a moment, Tommy was up beside them, quietly gasping as well. The blond pushed his hair back, lightly nudging Tubbo away from the gaping hole in the water beneath them- and then Grian and Stress flew out.

The sound from the rockets were deafened from beneath the ocean, thankfully. Only a thin trail of smoke followed them, the sight certainly unfamiliar to the fireworks the two teens had been accustomed to.

Both Hermits had dived straight into the shallow water with a splash, before the dirty-blond dropped down two boats.

“I want to drive! Tommy, i’m driving us!” Tubbo cried out, at the sound of the wood hitting the water. Beside them, Tommy scoffed.

“Tubbo! I’m not gettin’ motion sickness! We just woke up, no way. Your idea of ‘driving’ is no one elses, my friend.” He rolled his eyes, crossing his arms as he pulled himself into the boat. Beside him, Tubbo whined.

“C’mon, man! Nothing like a bit of motion-sickness to get the day started!” They playfully remarked. Despite that, they had already accepted their defeat, pulling up into the boat.

Stress and Grian watched the teens carefully, with Stress laughing lightheartedly at the banter between them as she pulled herself into the boat, behind Grian.

Grian, on the otherhand, was mostly quiet. A thin wisp of a smile was present, conveying one of bemusement. Tommy didn’t get a good look, but, he couldn’t quite pinpoint the look from Grian. He didn’t like it.

“Alright,” The older Brit at hand started. “We’re real close. No one should be at Looky Looky At My Cookie- and it should be early enough that there aren’t any real occupants at the Cowmerical District.” He explained, turning the boat as he got a small start ahead of the teens.

“Sure, then! That sounds g- wait, what’s that name?”

“C’mon, then!” Grian wouldn't answer Tubbo’s valid question, before boating off. Tommy quickly following behind, shouting indignantly after them.

It certainly was odd. It felt..Comforting, here. Certainly not relaxing. The opposite of cf relaxing- Tubbo had nothing but the craving to do something. But it was..Welcoming. It was strange. They hadn’t felt so- so unbothered, since..Ever, really. They liked it.

Tubbo wondered if it could stay this way.

Tommy wondered what the hell they were about to get themselves into.

#bets against the void fic #whitelist au #mika-posts #mcyt fic #mcyt au #dream smp au #hermitcraft au #hermitcraft fic #dream smp fic

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zmayadw · 3 years

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Evening to all!

Time to continue the story :)

Wish you all a nice and relaxed evening :)

Oh, and before I dont forget:

WARNING - contains violence and some other "oh-not-so-good-stuff" - WARNING

CALL OF THE RAVEN

PART 25

Jakes POV

„So, what's the verdict?“ Jessy asked me, nervously bitting at her thumb. We wer sitting at the kitchen table, Dan checking his phone and casually sipping his beer. „Don't worry, Jessy“ I said to her „It's just a virus you got, I'll fix it in no time.“ „Oh, that's good to hear.“ She said sighing with relief. „And I won't lose any of my work stuff that's on it?“ „Nah, everything will be intact.“ I said. „And if you like, I could install you a better antivirus program, so this doesn't happen again.“ „Yes, please!“ she exclaimed „I definitely don't want for this to happen ever again.“ I chuckled „Sure, I'll do it. But, just to be sure this doesn't happen again, if I wer you, I wouldn't let Dan nowhere near the laptop again.“ Dan almost choked with his beer when I said it, and Jessy turned to him „I knew it! This was all your fault!“ „Sorry, babe“ Dan said making a puppy face „But you know my laptop is shitty and slow, so I might have borrowed yours from time to time.“ I shook my head turning my focus back to Jessy's laptop, as they continued to argue, and I took the opportunity to send Maya a message saying I'll be done soon. „I don't care why you needed it, you are forbidden to go near my laptop ever again!“ Jessy was so furious at Dan, and poor him couldn't do anything but sit there and endure it. „I'm sorry, babe. I won't touch your laptop ever again, I promise!“ Dan said to her sounding a bit daunted. I laughed inside. He looked tought on the outside, but Jessy was the one person he was genuinely scared of. „Good!“ she said, turning to me now, flashing me a smile like she didn't just yell furiously at Dan a second ago. „I'm sorry, how rude of me, I haven't even offered you something to drink. Would you like a beer?“ I checked the time on my phone „Hmm, guess I could have one beer before I go.“ „Oh, are you in a hurry?“ Jessy asked me confused, taking the beer from the fridge and handing it to me. „Maya said you have nothing to do. I hope I haven't disrupted your plans?“ „No, no, you didn't“ I said reassuringly and smiled „I'm taking Maya for a movie later, but still plenty of time before it starts.“ „Oh, how nice of you.“ Jessy said sighing, turning to Dan „Why can't you be more like that?“ „Hey, don't be like that, I take you out!“ Dan said hurt by her words. „Oh really?“ she said to him, raising her eyebrow„When was the last time you took me anywhere!?“ Dan thought for a moment before he grinned at her. „The other day, we went for that nice evening walk.“ He said victorious, and Jessy snorted „You mean, the walk home, from the middle of nowhere, because someone forgot to put gas in his car?“ „Details!“ he said „But It still counts as something, right?“ he said and grinned at her again. She rolled her eyes, turning to me, sighing desperately „See what I have to deal with.“

Mayas POV

„I apologise for my intrusion, miss Cole“ the man said to me „But you see, your nosy friends made me alter my plans a little.“ I stared confused at the man, as that feeling of dread started to rise up in me more. „I don't understan.“ I said, and the man smirked „Those phone calls, miss Cole“ he said „You weren't suppose to find out about the origin of them so soon.“ I froze at his words, panic washing all over me. I was scared, a little voice in the back of my head screaming at me to snap out of it and do something. I blinked a few times regaining my focus, as the man continued to stare at me. I tried to slam the doors shut, but the man stopped it with his foot. He pushed hard at the doors, and I staggered backwards into the room, barely managing to keep my balance. „Now, now, miss Cole“ the man said stepping inside „There is no need for this kind of behaviour.“ He slowly closed the doors turning back to me, his eyes glowing with frenzy as he looked at me. „I'm sure by now, you realized what the outcome of this will be for you.“ I stared back at him, terrified, hoping Jake would come back any second now. „Why are you doing this?“ I asked, trying to stall for time „ I dont understand, what have I done to you?“ The man shook his head and chuckled „I thought you figured it out by now, miss Cole.“ He said. „I guess I gave you more credit then you deserve.“ He took a step closer to me, and I reflexively took a step back. „You see, miss Cole“ he said, his hand going for the pocket of his jacket „You meddled into things you shouldn't have.“ I was still clueless of what he was referring to. And still, there was something familiar to me about him, but my brain was shut from fear that it just didn't get to me. The man sighed „By the look on your face, I assume I will have to explain it to you.“ Despite the fear, I was actually curious to hear his explanation, and hoped with it I'll get more time for Jake to come back. „You see, miss Cole“ he started, taking another step towards me, and again, I took a step back, bumping at the desk „If only you wern't so stubborn and stayed out of Duskwood, non of this would had to happen.“ As his words settled at me, it was like a flash back hit me. My eyes widened, as I slowely started to realize what was so familiar about the man to me. It was his eyes – the eyes I knew so well once. The eyes that, at the beginning, looked at me with so much care and sympathy, but ended up full of hate and contemp for me. Just like the man's were now. „You're..“ I started but I couldn't finish it. I leaned at the desk behind me for support still not beliving my cognition. The man raised his eyebrow at me „Ah, you finaly figured it out. Go on, miss Cole, finish your sentence.“ I just continued to stare at him, feeling more terrified by my realization. „Finish it!“ the man yelled it furiously at me, making me jump from fright. The frenzy in the mans eyes was the same as the one I stared back at not so long ago. I swallowed hard „You're Richy's father. Paul.“ The man smiled wickedly at me „Very good, miss Cole, now we're getting somewhere.“ As he said it, his hand came out of his pocket. I went numb, my breath stopping, as the light flashed from the blade of the knife in his hand. Damn it, Jake, where are you! „All right, miss Cole, now that we got the facts right, there is no further need to explain my presence here. Everything should be clear as day now.“ He took another step towards me, and I cursed inside for not having any more space to retreat backwards. I moved one hand behind me, trying to find something on the desk that I might use to my defense. The only two things on the desk wer my phone and laptop. My eyes constantly darted towards the doors, as I still hoped Jake would step inside any moment now. „Any way, miss Cole, I belive the time for talking is over, no need to further delay the inevitable.“ He said to me, his eyes flashing frantically. The panic took over me completely now, as he rised the knife coming towards me.

As he came close to me, the panic was finally replaced with the adrenalin kicking in. I quickly turned arround, grabbing my laptop from the desk, swinging it as hard as I could to the mans face. The impact sended him to the floor, the knife dropping from his hand. I grabbed my phone ready to run for the doors. I managed to make a few steps when he grabbed my leg. I started to fall down, hitting hard with my shoulder on the edge of the bed, making me scream in pain. The phone dropped from my hand as I hit the floor, rolling and stopping near the doors. I tried to get up, but he was still clenching at my foot. „Stop resisting, you can't escape it!“ he spat it at me, turning his head to look for the knife. When he turned back to me, I was ready with my free foot, hitting him hard at the head again. He wailed at another impact releasing his grip from me, wich was just enough for me to get up. I got woozy from the pain in my shoulder, but I pushed it aside. I grabbed the phone before opening and rushing through the doors, and I started running as fast as I could towards the woods. The pain in my shoulder intensified with every step I took, but I had to focus on getting as far away from the motel as possible. As I came near the woods, I opened the phone and for once I was greateful there wer only few contacts in my list. I quickly found Jakes name hitting the call icon, bringing the phone to my ear. Come on come on come on My mind was racing as I tried to focus where I was running and waited for him to answer. As his voice finaly sounded from the other side, I felt tears roll down my face. I don't know what he said to me, or even if he finished with it, I just bursted out „Jake, help!“

Jakes POV

„Here you go, Jessy, all done.“ I said turning the laptop to her. „Yay, thank you soooo much.“ She said cheerfully, immediately checking on her work stuff. Dan was still sitting quietly next to her, and I felt sorry for him. „Don't look so down, Dan.“ I said „If you want, I can check your laptop, too, see if I can do something about making it less shitty.“ His head shot up, and he grinned at me „Really, man? Thanks, that would be awesom!“ He said, starting to get up. I chuckled „No worries, but that will have to wait.“ I said, and his mood went down a bit again. „Oh, I see.“ He said, sitting back down. „Sorry, Dan, but I do have a date with a special girl.“ I said and smiled. As if on cue, my phone rang. „And I think she just got impatient with waiting on me.“ I took the phone answering the call. „Hey, angel, I'm just about to lea...“ but i didn't manage to finish. „Jake, help!“ Maya's voice came from the other side. I tensed „Maya, what's wrong?“ Dan and Jessy both shot me worried looks. „He's here...I ran..“ she said, and I barely managed to understand her. „Who's here? Maya, where are you?“ I asked her, a bad feeling starting to kick at me. „Woods...he's after me... Jake, hurry!“ she sounded so terrified, and it sounded like she was running. I shot up from the chair, Dan doing the same. „Maya, just hang in there, I'm coming.“ I said, already rushing to the doors. „I'll drive.“ I heard Dan behind me, and I just tossed him the car keys. „Maya, are you hurt?“ I asked, fearing her answer. „Yes, but I'll manage.“ She finaly said a full sentence, her breath panting. „It's Richy's dad, Jake. He's lost it, he blames me for everything.“ She said through tears and I cursed inside. Why the fuck did I leave her alone. „Please, Jake, just hurry, I'm scared.“ We wer already in the car driving towards the motel. I clenched my fist so hard, my knuckles turning white, rage swelling up in me. „I know, angel, but just hang in there a while longer, I'm almost there.“ I tried to make her calm down a bit but I knew my words won't really help her. „Keep moving if you can. And whatever happens, just don't loose the phone.“ „I'll try.“ She said „Just hur...“ And then silence. „Maya?“ I said, before moving my phone, seing that the call ended. „Fuck!“ I cursed out loud. I had no clue if she ended the call, or something happened. „Dan..“ „We're almost there, man.“ He said before I could finish. I was grateful Dan was with me, it gave me a chance to connect to Maya's phone. I was relieved when the connection went through, seeing the signal from her phone was on the move. But I had no knowledge of where the person that was chasing her was. I just hoped we'll get to her before he does.

Mayas POV

„You can't hide from me!“ I cursed inside, as the voice sounded somewhere from behind me, making me end the call with Jake. I started running again, slower then before with the pain in my shoulder getting worse. And it was almost completly dark now, so I had to focus hard not to fall. I took the phone, tucking it in the pocket of my hoodie, zipping it shut. It was my only hope for Jake to find me and I had no intention to accidentaly drop it while running. I had no clue what direction I was going, I just knew I had to keep on moving. I was getting more and more tired, when I suddenly ran out in the clear. It took me a moment to realize I ran all the way to the Blackwater lake. I dragged myself to the water, falling on my knees, splashing some cold water all over my face. I knew I shouldn't linger here for long, but I needed to catch my breath. It was getting hard for me to run. The adrenalin was fading me, and the pain became more sharp. Tears started to roll down my face again, from the pain or fear, it didn't matter. I just wished Jake would get here fast. As I sat by the water, I could feel my eyes getting heavier. I shook my head, splashing some more cold water on my face. All right, Maya, time to move on. I got up, and instantly felt dizzy. I steadied myself, taking a few deep breaths to shake off the dizziness. When I was sure I won't collaps I turned arround to move on. I made a step and froze in the spot. Paul was standing few steps from me, his head bloodied, the knife back in his hand. „No..“ I breathed it out barely audible, as a sinister smile returned to his face. „Why do you delay it, miss Cole?“ he said, coming slowly towards me. „I told you, you can't avoid the inevitable.“ Shit shit shit I knew my chances to run from him were small, but I had to try. I made my run to the left of him, but I was too slow. He grabbed me by my hair and tugged fiercely, making me scream. He pulled me to him, turning me to face him. At that moment, I thought I saw a flicker of light somewhere in the woods, but I was sure it was just my brain playing tricks on me. „Now, miss Cole“ he said to me, his eyes sparkling victorious „It is time I bid you farewell.“ His hand moved quickly, my eyes opening wide, as the blade of the knife pierced through me.

Jakes POV

Dan didn't stop at the motels parking, but continued driving, entering the woods with the car for as far as he could. I rushed out of the car before he even stopped, the flashlight on my phone already on. I heard him yelling after me, but I just ran. I had to get to her fast. I kept checking the phones screen as I ran. Damn it, why is the signal still? I started to run faster, Dan keep yelling from not far behind me. Almost there. Suddenly, a scream was heard from the direction we wer running to. I stopped abruptly, Dan almost knocking me as he caught up with me. „Was that...“ „Maya.“ I finished for him, and we both started to run again. We wer almost at the Blackwater lake, and I checked the phone again. The signal was still at the same spot, and I cursed inside again, fearing the worst. We burst out from the woods to the lake, and stopped at the scene in front of us. The man moved from Maya, and she looked directly at me, with wide eyes and tears all over her face, before falling to her knees and hitting the ground. „I told you, you can't save her, boy.“ The man turned to us, smug smile on his face. At that moment something snapped in me, and all went dark. Next thing I remember was Dan trying to pull me off the man. He was now on the ground, with me on top of him, his face all bloodied. „Man, stop it, you'll kill him!“ Dan was yelling at me, and I finaly snapped out of it. I blinked few times, before I got up, moving from the man. My hands wer covered in blood and shaking. „Go to her!“ Dan yelled at me, taking his phone and dialing some number. I looked confused at him first, until it got to my brain what he refered to. I quickly turned moving to the water, to wash some of the blood off, before turning to kneel next to Maya. I moved her slowly, and she coughed as I turned her towards me. She was shaking uncontrollably, but managed a small smile when she saw me. „I am sorry, angel, I wasn't fast enough.“ I said, moving the loose hair from her face. „Shhhhh..“ she said and coughed again. „You're....here now.“ I tensed at the sight of the knife sticking from her abdomen. Fuck fuck fuck She followed my gaze, and before I had a chance to react, she pulled the knife out, blood soaking her hoodie. „Dan!“ I yelled and he was next to us in a flash. „Give me your shirt.“ I said to him, taking my hoodie off. He took his shirt off , and I unzipped Maya's hoodie. She was half conscious by now, and panic started to rise in me. „Ambulance is on the way.“ Dan said to me, as he pressed his shirt to her wound. „I don't know if she can make it till they arrive.“ I said to him, pulling my hoodie under her, trying to tie it as firm as I could to stop the bleeding. „We don't have any other option, man.“ He said, but he was wrong. „Yes, we do.“ I said, and he looked questionable at me. I knew I might do more damage with my next action then good, but I sure as hell wasn't going to sit here waiting for them to arrive. I took her in my arms, getting up „At least we can meet them half way.“

Mayas POV

I felt Jakes hands lifting me off the ground before he started to run. I was in and out of conscious for a while, before I managed to stay awake. Every step he took sent so much pain through me, and I clenched my hand to his shirt. „Stop“ I said, my breath short, but he didnt hear me, he just continued forward. I was fighting so hard to keep my focus, not to let my eyes close again. My sight was getting blurred, as I stared at his worried face. „Jake....Jake, please...“ I barely managed, clenching at his shirt harder. He just kept running as fast as possible, without sparing me a glance. „Just stay with me, angel!“ His breath came out panting. I thought I heard Dan's voice saying something, but all my senses wer getting more dull. The pain was too much for me by now. I gathered what was left of the strenght in me, tugging at his shirt so hard and yelled „Jake, stop!“ He finaly looked at me, stopping abruptly, the look on his face terrified, as a streak of blood poured from my mouth. „No...“ he breathed it out, slowly lowering me down, resting my head on his lap. „No! Don't do this to me!“ He yelled, his voice cracking, his hand shakily caressing my face, moving the strands of hair from my eyes . Tears started to roll down his face. I wanted to get my hand up, to wipe them away . To tell him everything will be alright. But I just layed motionless, my eyes so heavy, blurriness mixing with darkness. „I lov...“ I started, but the rest of the words got stuck at my throath. „Maya!“ Jake yelled at me, but I couldnt fight it any more. I felt nothing. The pain was gone, shaking has stopped, I couldnt feel his warm touch anymore. Nothing. I closed my eyes, as one last smile came to my lips, breathing out the words I hoped I'll be able to say to him over and over again „Love you.“

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

Jake walked slowly, the lack of sleep showing on his face. Days went in haze for him, his heart aching more with each one passing. He knew the path well, he walked here so manny times before, he could do it with eyes closed. He turned after a short while, the path narrowing, before stopping. A tear rolled down his cheek, as he stared at the tomb stone in front of him. He knelt down, moving the dirt and leaves from the graves marble with his hand, before placing a single red rose on it. „Sorry I havent been arround much.“ He siad, leaning on his heels, wiping his face with the back of his hand . „Things have been crazy lately.“ He sighed „So much had happened, I dont even know where to begin.“ He just poured his soul out, his words carried away by a soft wind blows. He felt relieved after, aching at the heart softening a bit. He kissed his fingers, laying them gently on the surface of the grave before getting up „I promise I'll come more often.“ He stared silently at the tomb for a moment more. „I miss you.“ he said, as another tear rolled down his cheek. „Love you.“ Wiping the tear, he turned, slowly walking away.

#duskwood #duskwood fanfic #duskwood mc #duskwood jake #duskwood jessy #duskwood dan #duskwood jake x mc

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neuronary · 4 years

Text

tua rewatch episode 2

[breakfast scene. i don’t know why i thought it was dinner] i know that the whole No Talking At Dinner thing is supposed to be oppressive or whatever but honestly that's my dream. i'm ben here. just gimme a book and i'm good. i don’t want to talk to people. [five runs off] five said fuck the system. damn this soundtrack slaps.

[five yelling for ben and vanya] do we find out why five doesn't have a name?

[back in vanya’s apartment.] oh the twinkie joke i remember that. [”do you have anything stronger?”] VANYA DON'T GIVE CHILDREN ALCOHOL. again, very impressed with five's acting. he really sells the kid v. adult thing. esp. with the jumps in the breakfast scene v. in the present day. it visibly shows more effort and it’s a small detail but it’s effective. [vanya says time travel can fuck with your head] vanya stop gaslighting your little brother smh. but also kudos for healthy sleep schedules.

hazel and cha cha! i missed them. they're funny. commie icon hazel. join your union, boys. [”there should be a package for us”] who does the deliveries? i like to think the commission has an intern doing deliveries. [”it hurts my wrist”] commie 👏icon 👏hazel

PATCH. i love her. [i’m correct] agnes deserves better. five could you have the decency to stack your bodies at least. make clean up easier. smh men. [eudora tazes diego.] ANTI-DIEGO ICON EUDORA PATCH. [diego talking about gut feelings] i feel like diego should have had an inkling that it had to do with one of his siblings.

where did hazel get an ice cream

[allison and luther are in the same shot] ew ew ew ew ew ew ew e w . oh okay they're just talking. aw. this is cute sibling vibes. how old is claire, exactly? like five? nine? [dAd’S dEaTh wAS a cONsPiRaCY] luther take a goddamn break. just be normal for three fucking seconds. shoutout allison with the psychoanalysis. [luther sucks on a toddler’s compote patch] is that a fucking compote patch. [i’m like 90% sure it was. the men in this show don’t get rights]

[klaus wakes up from being high] i love ben sm. wait. is that the same book he was reading at breakfast? has he been reading the same book for seventeen years? adhd icon. [yesterday flashback] ugh the foreshadowing is So Obvious. but good soundtrack choice again. [back to the present] i would appreciate it if klaus would please put some clothes on. this is unnecessary.

pogo should get a sainthood for dealing with klaus.

[vanya wakes up] poor vanya. she probably straight up thinks he's thirteen and just ran off on his own.

five can you be less Like That for Ten Fucking Seconds. please. [again, i don’t remember what he did but i’m probably right] [oh wait yes i do it’s the meritech scene.]

[”as a very smart woman said”] beaman gets kudos for drinking his respecting women juice. also patch looks cute af. i literally love her so much. we stan boundaries and professionalism. [cOmE oUt On tHE StReETs wITh me EuDOrA] diego please can you be less of a dick for Five Fucking Seconds.

[”you just want to convince yourself that your childhood meant something”] STAN A PSYCHOANALYTICAL Q U E E N. fucking drag him detective patch.

why are literally all the women in this show so awesome and perfect? no my lesbianism does not make me biased shut up.

[Luther goes to Diego’s gym] oh great fight time again. or not. he's not there. [he starts snooping] Luther respect people's privacy challenge.

also how does he not just topple over all the time. his center of balance is so unstable. by rights he should've fallen down the stairs. he looks like reverse big chungus.

[vanya goes looking for five at the academy] again, i definitely think if vanya hadn't reacted so poorly so immediately the entire thing would have gone over very differently. i'm gna write this au. [”i’m sorry. i was dismissive.”] okay stan vanya for apologising and trying to mend things with five. also shoutout to vanya for going to therapy. what an icon.

five can you just trust your sister please? you will be fine you little shit.

[”i’m moist.”] okay klaus can have some rights. [”what? this is my nicest outfit.”] oh that was just like. entirely irish ok. [klaus starts on the cover story] five has no time for theater kids and honestly? vibes. [they banter] okay i get why the whole fandom goes nuts over klaus and five bonding. they have a good dynamic.

[t u n a s a n d w i c h] hazel's literally just hungry. he's valid.

cha cha deserves a promotion. [i don’t remember what she was saying but i’m still right]

[”are you thinking what i’m thinking?” “italian for dinner?”] hazel is the only man in this show that gets rights.

e l a b o r a t e.

[allison’s phone call scene] god allison deserves so much fucking better. i want her to see her daughter so badly. [her lil speech about how much she loves claire] god i am Up In My Feels. this scene is heartbreaking in the subtle, soft way that i Live For. icon. [”you don’t get to blame your problems on anyone but yourself”] allison is the ceo of holding herself accountable. everyone else take notes.

[meritech pt. 2] oh good fun. klaus i feel like you should have more hang ups about punching a child in the face that hard. is he high? i feel like he's high. five looks so smug that little shit. god i would just kill him on the spot if i met him i don't have the patience.

[”you’re useless. you’re all useless.”] five you literally picked the Most Useless of your siblings. talk to allison she has her shit together.

i could watch vanya play violin for hours tbh. [leonard arrives] ew gross. let her keep playing. god but vanya is a lesbian because leonard looks like Every Single Comp Het Crush Ever.

[diego gets back to his boiler room] if diego's gonna wear a literal bondage harness everywhere he might as well take advantage of the extra space for knives. [he nearly stabs luther] oh okay Now it's fight time.

[he eats a literal raw egg just straight into his mouth] did. is that where. he just literally cra- eugh. i gagged. i literally gagged. that's disgusting. what the fuck.

[luther leaves] oh i missed that whole conversation seeing as i was too busy being Disgusted at diego. No men get rights anymore. [it would have been better if he’d eaten the shell too.]

[leonard goes off about his dad] leonard came up with a really good and compelling cover story actually. we're not gonna stan because he has The Worst Vibes. but anyway.

[i hAvE a CaRPeNtRy sHOp] that's moving Way Too Fucking Fast, vanya. that's too fast.

[allison smoking in the windowsill] dhsjns putting out the cigarette.

[”this is always where you came when you were upset”] pogo's trying to parent? i mean, sure. [”actually, miss vanya called to make sure you were alright”] also vanya and allison deserve to be besties and good sisters. [”how did you manage in this big house alone for all those years?”] wow good point actually pogo must have been incredibly lonely. poor guy.

[surveillance tapes] that's creepy as hell. but like to each their own. [”vanya. why did we always leave her out of everything.”] Let 👏 Them 👏 Be 👏 Friends.

kudos to the writing here because they actually do a good job at showing where the off-screen development is coming from. [i’d like to take this back the scene did not go where i thought it would]

[allison watches the Obviously Planted Tape] i cannot emphasise how little of a shit i give about the hargreeves' murder mystery.

five's getting his waifu. i remember watching this first time round and literally just being like

five x delores is healthier than allison x luther btw.

s o u n d t r a c k c h o i c e s

the freezeframes are...... a choice. [this wasn’t even meant as negative i just don’t know how i feel about them]

cha cha always having a plan. we stan a show where literally every woman is badass? [the wrist brace] hazel rights. did. did five just kill cha cha. [fails to jump] why can't five teleport? did i miss something??

okay but the way he cradles the mannequin? like that's love bitch. lowkey.

Patch is now Carrying This Show [i don’t know what this scene was i think i just saw her on screen and my lesbian brain took over]

[allison tells luther about the tape] allison and luther b like we Are the mystery incorporated.

[”there’s nothing you can do. there’s nothing anyone can do.”] five gave up... very easily. i mean i'm all for retiring to the countryside with your wife and just making good with the time you've got but. this seems a little dramatic.

[soundtrack] oh shit paloma faith. i've met her.

[five finds the bodies] o h s h i t i forgot about this. gdi. oh god poor baby. baby no.

#q #tua #tua rewatch #the umbrella academy

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junipersgarden · 4 years

Text

metanoia 4. | Hijack

PAIRING: Peter Parker x Superhero!Reader

SUMMARY: After the intense and insane day of Venice flooding again from that gigantic water monster, Y/N and Peter want things to go back to normal but Nick Fury has other plans...

WORD COUNT: 3528 words

WARNINGS: A singular swear word from Nick Fury

a/n: hello everyone!! here is the next part of my series ‘metanoia’ and i hope you enjoy!!

[NOT MY GIF]

...

Inside Room 11 of Hotel de Matteis

...

from: F/N ✌️

HYDRO WHAT NOW?!

from: you

Hydro-Man. apparently he's a sailor who suddenly

got water powers from an experiment or smth.

from: F/N ✌️

science. always the cause.

just y/n/n, are you okay?

we saw it all on the news and that 'thing' and what it did...

from you:

i'm okay and safe. everyone is and thankfully,

not one got hurt.

are you alright?

from: F/N ✌️

it was just, a massive scare.

after the whole 'blip' and everything and now this?

we literally can't have a break! and there's no one to protect us!

from: you

yeah ik. everything's just been chaotic.

im certain things will change tho and will get better.

plus, we have each other and pretty sure Spidey and Saviour as well.

from: F/N ✌️

guess we do... thanks y/n/n

anyways, i suggest you call your mum back or text her.

she was in hysterics and was screaming at Harrington thru the phone.

was pretty funny ngl, well without the situation.

from: you

will do.

i gtg now sorry; Harrington wants us up and early.

ill get to mum in a bit and will tell you more i promise.

gn nub!

from: F/N ✌️

you better... > : )

gn geek! : P

Slumping against the door, you sink to the ground and drop your phone lazily into your lap. The moonlight shines into your face from your open window, the night's cool breeze drifts and ruffle the worn down curtains.

I just want a break.

Your mind wonders and races with flashbacks of today's events; the screaming and collapsing buildings, water rapidly running and wrecking the streets of Venice and Venetian's homes and everyone; it's only the first day of the Europe Trip and it's already a mess... typical luck.

A vibration from your lap surprises you as you jolt upward lightly. The screen illuminates with its bright light directly into your eyes with the message notification: 1 New Message.

from: UNKNOWN

We need your assistance Saviour.

Meet at these coordinates and go alone.

You have 10 minutes to arrive and no later.

Tell no one.

Examining the order of numbers, you pin point the exact location and clicked off your phone; the location was underneath a bridge for whatever reason and is only a 5 minute flight with the suit.

"Hey ARIS?"

"Good evening Ms. L/N, how may I assist you this evening?" Your AI responds, blinking a tiny blue light from your bracelet.

"Nothing at the moment yet. How's your status?"

"My circuits have successfully mended and the suit and myself are in full operation. I apologise for the inconvenience earlier."

"Wasn't your fault ARIS. Anyways, apparently I have a few missed calls?"

"Indeed you do. I apologise for not alerting you; I was in Power Nap Protocol as requested. You have approximately 20 missed calls from Mum, 10 missed calls from Dad, 25 missed calls from Y/F/N and 5 from Pepper Potts."

"A-any voicemails?" Your voice quivers with a hint of fear.

"Every missed call contains a voicemail except the 5 calls from Pepper Potts. Shall I send anything to the following?"

"No thank you ARIS. I'll call Mum and Dad myself." You finish and switch ARIS off.

Grabbing your phone, you unlock it and stare again at the anonymous message and groan.

from: you

i'll be there in 20.

They can wait. First, I need to call Mum and Dad and then-

"That canal water today was filthy and full of dangerous bacteria." Mr. Dell's voice abruptly interrupted your thoughts.

Then a shower and THEN I go to the bridge or whatever it is.

Standing up onto your feet, you lean against the door and go into contacts and as your finger hovers over 'Mum ❤️', a slight sense of pain hits you as you stare intensely at the name 'Pepper Potts'.

Shrugging the feeling off, you press onto the contact name and place the ringing phone to your ear, bracing for her yells and screams of relief and anger.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

The sound of water rippling against the boat's motor is the only thing Peter can seem to hear; after wishing Y/N a goodnight, Ned had started bombarding Peter with questions about the 'Water Monster' and what he as Spider-Man was going to do.

Sure Peter still had an anxious and itching feeling about the monster but all he wanted to do was rehearse his speech of his declaration of love to Y/N and score the entire day with her in Paris.

But of course that was all ruined when Ned was shot by Nick Fury with a tranquilizer and told him about more bad guys possibly lurking around. What a great way to start a 'Spider-Man free vacation'.

With his suit on, Peter stood next to Fury and gripped onto its side; in front of him and Fury was an array of monitors which appeared to be measuring amounts of frequencies within the area.

"Stark left these for you." Fury perks up and nudges a box at Peter's direction.

Carefully and with caution, Peter takes the small, rectangular box into his hands and observes it; the outside had speckles of its beige brown paint chipped away from age. Peter gently lifted the lid and in front of him was none other than Tony Stark's famed glasses with his Stark Industries card placed beneath.

Peter stared at the glasses and felt a tinge of ache of grief but in it, a feeling of content rushed over it; Peter had Tony's glasses. Peter Parker was given the possession to multibillionare, genius, literal saviour of the Universe, the Iron Man and Tony Stark's iconic and ever expensive and high end tech glasses.

Brushing over the box lightly, Peter smiled sadly at them, remembering to all the times he had seen Tony wearing them; from on the news, front pages of magazines, wearing them when he was around and now, they no longer had that owner anymore; they didn't have Tony and neither did Peter. And neither did the world or Y/N.

"Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown." Fury quotes and turns to Peter and even though Peter's mask was shielding his face, the raised creases of his frowned face of confusion were evidently clear as he snapped from his trance. "Stark said you wouldn't get that because it's not a Star Wars reference." A dry laugh escapes Fury's lips as he turns back away from Peter and concentrates on the boat.

"Kid if you peep one more Star Wars reference today I'm going to take your suit."

"But it's May 4th Mr Stark!"

"I do not care; right now you're in my house and there will be no Star Wars references."

Peter huffed out in irritation as he continued to focus on readjusting his webshooters on his suit.

Tony let out a chuckle at Peter's demeanor and how this kid basically came dressed as Han Solo just for this one day of the year; the commitment was real and even though Tony would never tell anyone, he loved seeing Peter passionate about the things he loves.

Working in the lab was one of Peter's favourite past times; spending quality time with Tony, tinkering with his suit and just talking was something Peter loved about the Tower; it was his second home to him.

A knock from the door caused Tony and Peter to look up.

"Ms. L/N requests to enter." FRIDAY notifies.

"Grant access." Tony permits.

The doors of the lab open to Y/N holding steaming bowls of something that smelt amazing which wafted in.

"Brought you geeks some sustenance before I head home." Y/N waltzed in and placed the two bowls next to the both of them. Y/N saw something was different about Peter; not his hair or general appearance just his clothing but the closer Y/N looked at the details in his outfit, a name popped into her head.

"Peter are you Hans Solo?"

Tony bursted into laughter as Peter hid his face to hide his red cheeks. "F-For May 4th?"

"Guess that makes me Leia?" Y/N poked her space buns in her hair. "I wanted to wear space buns to get my hair out my face and didn't even check the date, coincidences man." Y/N giggled at the convenience.

"But Tony in all honesty, don't you think Fury looks a bit like that guy from Star Wars... what's his name-"

"Mace Windu?"

"YEAH HIM PETER!"

"...I don't remember what he looks like... FRIDAY, can you get a photo of Mace Windu?"

Observing the photo displayed in front of him, Tony wiped the hologram away and looked as if he was in deep thought.

"...Well yeah he does-"

"Incoming call: Nick Fury." FRIDAY chimed and that was when the 3 of them lost it.

God I miss him and Y/N...

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

"Lose the mask, everyone here has seen you without it. You don't wanna be fanning around and breathing through a spandex mask for no good reason."

Trailing behind Nick Fury, stops for a brief second and takes his mask off and as he alters his senses to his surroundings, Peter is met with sight of SHIELD agents, alongside with their small set up with crates all around the joint with weapons and technology lying around as it were nothing.

By hearing Fury's footsteps echoing through the underground base, the SHIELD agents turn to face him and Peter with stoic and intimidating faces.

"Over there we have Maria Hill." Fury points to a woman with light brown hair tied into a ponytail who was busy on a computer, looked up for a split second at Peter to acknowledge his existence before getting back to work.

"That, is Dmitri." Fury gestures to a man wearing a leather jacket, seated on top of a crate as he quietly loaded his rifle.

"And this, is Mr. Beck."

As Nick Fury stepped to the side, Peter abruptly slowed to a complete stop as he gazed at the familiar figure and outfit in front of him.

"Mysterio?"

"What?" The man questioned at what Peter said.

"Doesn't matter- it's just what my friends are calling you." Peter stuttered.

"Well," As 'Mysterio' began to approach Peter, 'Mysterio' extended his hand to Peter, indicating to shake his hand.

Peter got the message as he started walking and the two met and shook the other's hand.

"You can call me Quentin." Quentin revealed his name as the two greeted one another.

"You handled yourself well out there today," Quentin implied to the earlier events of the day, "I saw what you did with the tower. We could use someone like you on my world." Quentin shrugged away from Peter.

"T-thanks... wait I'm sorry- your world?"

"He's from Earth, just not from ours." A voice answers from behind him.

Following the voice, Peter jumps by being startled and whips his head around quickly; walking from the entrance and to everyone else is none other than-

"You're late Saviour." Fury visibly annoyed and unimpressed exhales out.

"As my good friend Albert said, time is relative my friend." Saviour sasses back and skips straight past Fury's daggering eyes.

"S-Saviour?! W-what are you doing h-here? Oh god, now you know what I look like-"

"I've known for a while Parker and besides, you're not the only superhero SHIELD wants their hands on; Fury contacted me a while back after... Tony. And don't worry, New York is under control without me there." Saviour teases and strolls next to Beck, leans against the desk with arms crossed.

"There a multiple realities Peter; this is Earth Dimension- 616 and I'm from Earth Dimension- 833." Quentin further evaluates.

"I'm sorry, you're saying there's a multiverse?" Peter jogs up to Beck and Saviour, full of awe and amazement from his discovery. "Because I just thought that was theoretical and that changes everything and how we understand the initial singularity, we're talking about an eternal inflation system and how does that even work with all the quantum because it's insane-" Peter's rambling falters as he sees Nick, Maria and Dmitri looking at him funny.

"S-sorry, it's just really cool-"

"Don't ever apologise for being the smartest person in the room." Quentin encourages and sends a soft smile to Peter.

"Anyway Beck, wanna fill in Spidey and myself about whatever the hell that was today?" Saviour perks up.

A diagram of a black hole suddenly emerged as everyone gathered around.

"They were born in stable orbits within black holes, these creatures formed from the primary elements: air, water, fire, earth."

As Quentin talked, the hologram changed alongside with what he was explaining, showing images of the creatures and their general appearance.

"The Science division had a- technical name, we just called them, Elementals."

"Versions of them exist throughout our mythologies." Maria Hill speaks up as the Elemental hologram changes into their mythology forms.

"Turns out the myths are real-"

"Like Thor," Peter interrupts Quentin as he pays close attention to the presentation, "Thor was a myth and now I study him in my physics class."

"These myths, are threats." Fury clarifies as he walks away from the scene as once more it changes into an image of Earth.

"They first materialized on my Earth many years ago. We mobilized and fought them but with each battle they grew and got stronger. I was apart of the last battalion that tried to stop them. All we did was prevent the inevitable."

"And now they're here and attacking the same coordinates; our satellites confirm it." Maria adds.

"You both can thank Beck for destroying the other 3; there's only 1 left: Fire."

"The strongest one of all... the one that destroyed my Earth. It's the one that took my family." Quentin mutters as the apparition of Earth is now scorned and tarnished in red. The red light reflects Quentin's face full of guilt and remorse, twiddling around his wedding ring on his finger.

"I'm sorry..." Peter murmurs.

"So where's this fire Elemental? Do we even know where it likely is?" Saviour bluntly asks.

"It'll be in Prague in approximately 48 hours." Maria responds.

"We have one mission: kill it and the both of you are coming with us." Fury demands.

Peter's face falls as he faces Maria in disbelief and asks a second time if she said Prague.

Saviour's posture lifts as the struggle and anxiety surfaces Peter as the colour from his face vanishes.

"Listen Fury this all seems like big time, like huge superhero kinda stuff and... and I mean, I'm just a friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man sir."

"Bitch please, you've been to space!"

"I know but that was by accident, sir come on, I've seen Saviour in action many times and I'll admit is probably better than me for this but there's gotta be someone else you can use." Peter protests and moves closer to Fury, "What about Thor?"

"Off world."

"Okay um, Doctor Strange."

"Unavailable." Maria pipes in.

"Captain Marvel!"

"Don't invoke her name." Fury shakes his head slightly.

"I really wanna help I do but if my Aunt finds out I left my class trip, she's gonna kill me and if I'm seen like this in Europe after the Washington Monument, my whole class will figure out who I am and then the whole world will figure out who I am... and then I'm done."

"Fury if it helps," Saviour steps up and walks next to Peter, "I'm pretty sure I can manage without Parker swinging by my side."

"Okay." Fury blankly answers, scaring Peter and Saviour a tiny bit from the lack of expression, "I understand."

Taken back by his approval, Peter and Saviour share a look with one another before going back to Fury.

"I'm sorry, what?" Peter with doubt inquires.

"Why don't you get back before your teacher's miss you and it becomes suspicious. Dmitri, why don't you take him back to the hotel."

"Thank you Mr. Fury and thank you Saviour." Peter sends a soft smile to Saviour and places a hand on the suits left hand shoulder. "I believe in you and good luck." Peter whispers only to Saviour before wishing everyone else out loud good luck.

"See ya kid." Quentin farewells Peter and watches him and Dmitri exit out.

"You really let him go Fury? No strings attached?" Saviour scoffs in astonishment by Peter's success to get himself out of SHIELD business.

Fury stands up and moves to Saviour with a stern look on his face.

"Of course not."

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Bzzzz...

Groaning from your exhaustion, you roll over and press on your phone's screen multiple times in attempt to hit the snooze button.

Last night had been a rollercoaster: Peter and Mysterio are working with SHIELD with you, Fury made you stay back extra late to run through diagnostics which gave you around 4 hours sleep tops and the jetlag wasn't helping your situation at all.

Sitting up in bed, you try to stretch out your tiredness and peer to see MJ reading a book in one hand and a mug within the other, sitting on her bed with her black converses draped to the side.

Greeting MJ a 'good morning', you lift yourself up from the safety and warmth of the bed covers and slipped into the bathroom and changed for the day: rocking a pair of navy blue jeans and grey t-shirt for a casual but yet stylish look and throwing a little something over the top.

MJ mentioned there was breakfast downstairs (breakfast being cereal), you quickly did your hair and retreated down to grab a bite and sat next to Yasmin and Zoha and afterwards, heading upstairs to brush teeth and pack.

You and MJ both gave each other a hand carrying luggage down and delivering it outside.

"Oh I forgot my backpack I'll be back." You call behind as you jog back up to your room.

Rushing quickly into the room, you sweep up your backpack and stuff your phone charger inside and as you whirl around, you collide into something and hear a bang.

"I- Peter?"

"H-Hey Y/N! Sorry I was hanging up a call with Aunt May and I-"

"Pete it's fine you dork." You can't help but giggle at how flustered he is.

Peter's cheeks glow faintly pink as he shyly smiles.

"I got yelled at by my Mum and Dad for not answering the phone and I'm 98% sure I'm grounded when I get back home."

"Oh that's not good..."

"Guess not but eh, stuff happens. How are you though Peter? Feels like I haven't talked to you in a while."

"Y-Yeah... I'm good. You?"

"Yeah guess I'm alright. I'm really excited for Paris today though."

"Favourite destination?"

"Hell yeah! It's gonna be great but we gotta haul our stuff or Harrington will lose his mind." You joke.

"Oh yeah! That's why I was heading down." Peter swings his suitcase in front of him with a sly beam.

Too cute.

You and Peter talked for a far while before actually going back down the stairs and outside to everyone else.

"I'm going to get you a Vitamin C pill, you cannot get sick okay babe?" You hear Betty's distant voice as you and Peter round the door.

As you're about to walk out the door, Peter tugs your sleeve before you hit the outside and perplexed as you are, you pivot to look at him, giving him your attention.

"Before we go, I was just wondering if you wanted to um, sit next to me on whatever we're transporting on?" Peter fumbles and averts his eyes to the ground.

"Of course! I'll save you a seat Pete." You playfully punch his arm.

Peter rubs the back of his neck and lets out a laugh of relief.

You both walk out and see Betty frantically trying to receive a Vitamin C pill.

"I better go help her before she explodes." You suggest and inform Peter.

"Y-Yeah. See you later?"

"See you later!" You wave and leave Peter and Ned alone.

Peter watches Y/N tap Betty on the shoulder as Betty freaks out over the situation and remembers of why Ned is feeling 'sick'.

"Hey man, are you sure you're good?"

"Dude! I'm fine! Okay don't worry! Seriously, getting tranqed in the neck by Nick Fury, probably the coolest thing to happen to me anyway."

"It is pretty cool." Peter admits as the both perform their handshake. "I'm just glad we don't have to go to Prague-"

"Good news: we're going to Prague!" Mr. Harrington announces with a wide grin plastered on his face.

Everyone buzzes around 'whats' and 'huhs' as everyone glances around.

"Tour company called and upgraded us. Should've heard I gave them hell now come on!" Harrington begins to march as everyone scrambles for their belongings.

"Check out our upgraded ride!" Harrington chirps as the class sees a black bus with a man holding a sign saying 'Midtown High'.

Peter immediately recognizes the guy to be Dmitri from last night and gulps down his irateness.

"I think Nick Fury just hijacked our summer vacation."

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sisoyyoalgunproblema · 4 years

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SKAM ESPAÑA SEASON 1 EPISODE 2

So I’m doing a recap of every episode of seasons 1 and 2 of Skam España, if you want to check out episode 1 click here. By the way, I can’t wait for Saturday, we’ll get new content, I’m so happy!!!

SKAM ESPAÑA SEASON 2 EPISODE 2 “HAY LÍO” “IT’S ON”

Episode número dos! Here we go!

CLIP 1 ➡ “TRUST”

So the episode starts with Eva on her bed eating and trying to study, she’s actually on her phone, as we all would be. We see as she tries to gather her thoughts and text something to Jorge that makes sense, that will make him tell her the truth and that won’t sound needy or desperate, or extremely jealous and paranoid, she is not paranoid, not yet.

He basically just rings on her door and appears with, you guessed it, a pizza, I swear Eva doesn’t eat anything healthy, ever, in the whole season. He’s sweet, they have such great chemistry and you can see Eva relaxing against him almost immediately. She’s so willing to believe anything he tells her, he’s cute, nice, funny and really, really, really seems to care about her, and love her…

Jorge is kind of captivating, the way he hugs her, walks hugging her to him, kisses her, makes her diner, yes, it’s only a pizza, but it’s food and it’s nice… He makes all of these little voices, you can tell he feels safe with Eva, that she’s as important to him as he is to her. I think Eva can feel it too, she feels loved, but there’s that voice in the back of her head, I mean, she saw them, and he didn’t say anything about it…

It’s so important that the clip ends with a shot of her hand aching to reach for his phone and read through his massages to prove herself wrong, to KNOW that he’s not cheating on her. She doesn’t wanna be clingy, and jealous, wants to hive him freedom, but she saw what she saw. Everything is a mess.

CLIP 2 ➡ “WISCONIN, YOU’RE BEHIND”

The girl squad is becoming the girl squad, and Viri is being way to enthusiastic about the end of the year school trip, I guess she sees it as ger ticket to popularity, she keeps redirecting the conversation towards the merch they could sell to pay for it, but the girls are way more worried about food, how can the American people live without their favourite chips? Well, they have reese’s pieces.

There’s a little nod to Viri’s eating disorder here, she refuses to eat because the chips are full of calories and she really doesn’t want to talk about food (I know it’s not been confirmed, but it wouldn’t surprise me if we tackled the topic next season).

Also Jorge appears and Eva leaves them, because Jorge is still too important and they all comment on how cute he is and, honestly? Same. He’s adorable.

CLIP 3 ➡ “ LIKED EVERYTHING”

I know we all like Viri now, but god she was unbearable the whole first season, I think that her problem is that she only wants to be friends with those who will make her popular, so Amira, as a Muslim person of colour, doesn’t fit the mold. She’s so disrespectful and I don’t think Amira is half as mean or direct to Viri as Sana was to Vilde. If I were her I don’t know what I’d have done because Viri keeps forgetting her on purpose, and I think we can all agree that Viri’s ideas aren’t the greatest ones in the world.

Anyway. I think that this clip should’ve been called peer-pressure. I really like that the girls are hanging out together, they don’t click yet, which is understandable, but they are trying. And Cristian comes in for the kill. He basically introduces himself to Eva in a very obvious way and doesn’t say anything to the rest of the girls who are all giving them the biggest WTF eyes in the world. Anyway, Cristian leaves and Viri talks like she had known who Alejandro was all her life, when she saw him for the first time the week before, and like Nora was from another planet because she didn’t know who he was.

And then Cris likes every single photo Cristian has ever posted on Insta, which is not weird at all. And this is something that I have a problem with, because Eva clearly is uncomfortable by the whole situation and actually says so, but nobody apologises, and poor girl, this is awkward. And Eva is forced into a situation she didn’t wanna be in because of, you’ve guessed it, peer pressure.

CLIP 4 ➡ ”CAN’T BE BOTHERED”

I L O V E this clip, there’s one really big reason, Jorge doesn’t give a fuck that Eva is talking to a guy who clearly wants to sleep with her, there’s no possessiveness he trusts her to do what’s right and doesn’t think twice about it. He actually congratulates her on using a guy to get into a party and, although he doesn’t want to hung out with those people, he says he’ll go to make her happy.

I also really like how Lucas interacts with Eva and Jorge, in the OG, Isak always felt to me like he was Jonas’ friend way more than he was Eva’s, but here they are three really close friends who actually like hanging out and each others’ company.

CLIPS 5 & 6 ➡ ”THE PARTY”

THE SLOWMO WALK AND CRISTIAN BITTING HIS LIP.

I could end it here but I really like how happy the girls look, they wanna have fun and they have the whole night ahead of them.

Eva is constantly texting Jorge and reminding him to come, I feel like she can’t be happy, not truly, until she’s with him, it’s the whole toxic relationship they’ve got going on.

They have here the little throwback of Eva wiping off her lipstick, even though nobody calls her a whore. Thank god.

Cristian is confusing to me, I hate the “I’m not the jealous kind of guy” comments. Like, the girl is clearly not interested, leave her alone. Cristian ends up understanding it, though, and is kind of nice afterwards, but that comment irked me. The thing here is, in season 2 Alejandro basically tells Nora that Cristian is really into Eva, like 100% in, and I think he really likes her, even here, and not in a “I wanna get in your pants” kind of way. But… I don’t know, man, that comment.

Do you know what really bothers me about this clip? And every party clip in Skam España? NO ONE HERE STARTS A PARTY THAT EARLY. NO ONE. NOT ONE FUCKING PERSON. For those of you not fortunate enough to have lived in this country, dinner in Spain starts at 21, you start getting ready at 22.30 and get to wherever you’re going at midnight, and that’s when you’re going early. I usually get out of the house at midnight or even at 1am and parties don’t end before 3. They just don’t. So, it really bothers me that Eva tells Jorge the party starts at 20.30, like. NO. that’s just… no. 00.30 it’s okay, I’ll even give you 23.00 because it’s a house party and not a club, but 20.30? WHEN DID YOU GUYS EAT?!?!

CLIP 7 ➡ “IT’S ON”

Eva is so clingy, like, I feel for her and Jorge told her he’d come and everything, but girl, enjoy your night, she should be able to forget about Jorge for a second, she’s at a party with her friends, she should be having fun and not checking her phone every 2 seconds.

Cris and Amira imitating Viri and Alejandro is ICONIC, I love them.

And then comes the fight. The fact that all of the girls jumped in to defend Eva? Magic. But Eva feels so guilty, it’s not even fair, Inés overreacted but she’s so uncomfortable and feels so guilty and small compared to her that she’s willing to let Inés step all over her, she’d literally let her hit her if that made her feel better. And I never noticed it before, but Cristian is behind them and doesn’t say a word, the little bitch… I knew you couldn’t be trusted!

I love how they added this detail of Eva finding her bag covered in wiskey, like you think your day can’t be going any worse and in comes destiny or karma or god or whatever to prove you wrong, it’s so fucking relatable, as is applauding a friend for getting the man she likes.

Do you ever get those kinds of weeks where you think you are not gonna have a lot of work and you’ll be able to do everything you want to but then Monday arrives and you’re like fuck, there’s so much more to do than I previously anticipated. And then you have to cancel your plans. Well, that’s the kind of week this one is turning out to be for me, I hope you are doing better than I am.

#skam españa #skam spain #skam season 1

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almostafantasia · 7 years

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three ghostbusters and wonder woman

Clexa Halloween Week Day 4 - Party & Costumes

Summary: Clarke’s plan for a group costume with her friends is ruined when Lexa decides to go behind her back and dress up as Wonder Woman instead.

Read on AO3.

When Raven manages to “borrow” four identical pale gray boiler suits from the engineering department, it became a no brainer that they should dress up as the Ghostbusters. All it takes is a few minor adjustments, some embellishments to the suits themselves and some homemade proton packs to strap onto their backs, and the costumes are ready for the four of them to kick ass at Lexa’s annual Halloween party.

“We look fucking good,” Raven says with a grin, striking a pose as she admires their handwork in the full length mirror of Clarke’s bedroom. “Everybody is going to wish that they were us.”

“It’s a shame Lexa isn’t here though,” says Octavia, zipping up her own boiler suit and smoothing it down, before reaching for her backpack and slipping her arms through the straps. “Can you imagine how iconic it would be for all four of us to walk into that house at once?”

“I know,” Clarke nods in agreement. “But it makes no sense for her to come here to change, only to go back to her own house.”

Clarke admires their costume efforts and Raven picks up the half empty bottle of vodka on top of the dresser and pours out three more shots into the glasses they’ve been drinking from as they get themselves ready. It’s hardly the sexiest Halloween costume Clarke has ever worn, but she can’t deny that the impact of three of them together – or four, as it will be when they meet up with Lexa at the party – is a striking effect.

Besides, Clarke doesn’t need to look sexy tonight, not when her girlfriend of just over six months will be there wearing the same thing.

Raven passes out the shots and they hold the glasses up between them, clinking them softly before knocking back the clear liquid.

“Happy Halloween!”

The party is in full swing by the time the three girls arrive. The thumping music can be heard from out on the street, as can the chatter of the people inside shouting to be heard over it, and Clarke is grateful that her girlfriend lives in a student area because otherwise there is no doubt that the police would already have been called to disperse the party-goers.

Inside the house, it’s even louder. The hallway is crammed full of costumed people holding drinks, all at various stages of inebriation, and Clarke squints through the darkness for the familiar boiler suit that her girlfriend will be wearing. With Raven and Octavia right behind her, their hands all linked so that they don’t lose each other in the crowd, Clarke ducks underneath a low hanging decorative cobweb and pushes past a guy in a toga making out with one of the Mario Brothers against the wall, and leads the way into the bigger, but no less lively living room.

Raven tugs on Clarke’s hand and pulls her close enough to be able to shout into Clarke’s ear.

“Clarke, don’t be mad,” says Raven, her voice only just audible over the music, “but Lexa just walked into the room.”

Clarke scans the room for Lexa, searching the crowd that has gathered around the beer pong table in the middle of the room, and replies, “Why would I be ma-?”

Clarke trails off when her eyes land on her girlfriend and she notices what Lexa is wearing. Or rather, what Lexa is not wearing.

Which is to say, that Lexa isn’t wearing the costume that Raven and Clarke have put so much effort into creating and replicating every painstaking detail of the original.

Their fourth Ghostbuster is … well, not a Ghostbuster.

That isn’t to say that Clarke doesn’t appreciate Lexa’s alternative costume. Lexa must be the fourth or fifth Wonder Woman that Clarke has seen at this party alone, but she pulls it off so much better than any of the other girls. In armour, wielding a sword and a shield, Lexa looks like she was born to be a warrior and, Clarke muses, perhaps in another life that’s exactly what she was.

The armoured bodice hugs Lexa’s curves perfectly, covering her chest and midriff but leaving her toned arms and the tattoo that wraps around her right bicep deliciously on view. There’s a shield strapped to her back, not a homemade cardboard shield like the one that Clarke saw one of the other girls dressed as Wonder Woman holding, but an actual plastic one that Lexa must have bought online, and the sword in her right hand looks almost too genuine to be just a fake replica. Lower down, Lexa’s legs shoot out from beneath that impossibly tiny skirt, shapely and smooth and more than a little bit distracting, and it takes all of the willpower that Clarke can muster to lift her gaze to Lexa’s face as she marches across the room to confront her girlfriend.

“Lexa, what the hell?”

When Clarke confronts her, Lexa actually has the audacity to look confused, like she doesn’t know what has soured Clarke’s mood.

“I’m sorry?”

“There are four Ghostbusters, Lexa,” Clarke huffs, shaking her head in disappointment. “Three Ghostbusters and Wonder Woman isn’t a thing!”

“I’d watch that movie,” Lexa shrugs, lifting the red plastic cup in the hand not holding a sword and taking a sip from it.

Clarke rolls her eyes, but then sighs in concession as she agrees, “Okay, yeah. That does sound pretty cool.” Realising that it’s not the point she’s trying to make, Clarke puts one hand on her hips and scowls at Lexa once more. “But that’s not my point! We agreed to do this as a group.”

Lexa flinches slightly as Clarke has admonishes her, and at least has the decency to look a little bit remorseful this time. She leans her sword against the wall beside them and reaches out with the now empty hand to rest it on Clarke’s arm.

“Baby, I’m sorry,” apologises Lexa, her tone pleading, “but Wonder Woman is the big feminist icon of 2017. How could I not dress up as her?”

Clarke takes the opportunity to glance down Lexa’s costume again, and loses both the moisture from her mouth and the ability to form coherent thoughts as she notices just how much skin is on show.

“I don’t know what I’m more pissed about,” Clarke croaks, forcing herself to drag her wide eyes back up to Lexa’s face before she flings herself at her girlfriend in the middle of a party, “that you didn’t join in with our costume theme or the fact that you look like a fucking goddess in that costume while I look like a frumpy plumber in this boiler suit.”

A slow smile spreads across Lexa’s face as she wraps her arms around Clarke’s body and pulls her in close.

“Yeah, but you’re my frumpy plumber.”

“Lexa,” Clarke warns her girlfriend with a whine.

“Want to take a look at my pipes?” Lexa grins, her hands dipping lower until they are in a dangerously inappropriate place on Clarke’s ass, even over the fabric of the ugly boiler suit.

“Why am I dating you?” pouts Clarke.

“I honestly have no idea,” shrugs Lexa. “Now, are you going to continue pouting over my costume choice or are you going to let me dance with you?”

Clarke’s anger at Lexa’s costume choice has all but disappeared, because as much as she wants to stay mad, it’s Lexa and she really doesn’t have it in her.

“You’re so lucky that I love you.”

The smile that spreads across Lexa’s face is one of the most genuinely beautiful things that Clarke has ever seen.

“I know.”

#clexahalloweenweek #clexa fanfiction #clexa fanfic #clarke griffin #commander lexa #clexa fic rec #clexa fic

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casualarsonist · 6 years

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Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens review

‘A 7/10 is a work that is, for the most part, successful in its intentions. It’s a worthy and entertaining experience that perhaps slips a little here and there in how it keeps you engaged. It might have issues that frustrate, or it might be an acquired taste, but it certainly deserves to be elevated about its peers for reasons of quality, uniqueness, or ambition.’

- Me, 2017

A few months ago I wrote an article detailing my rating criteria. I wanted not just to inform the reader as to how I come to make my decisions, but set out some clear guidelines for myself, something that I could come back to if ever I felt uncertain about exactly where my feelings fell and, perhaps, to mark a line in the sand that would help me come to terms with some of the more negative feelings I have towards popular pieces of media. Above you can see the little blurb I wrote for what I believe a 7/10, or a ‘good’ film or novel or video game stands for, and I want you to pay particular attention to the last four words – ‘quality, uniqueness, or ambition’ – because for now they’re going to be important.

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens is a film by J.J. Abrams Disney’s board of directors. It is the seventh film in the series, and most reviewers regarded it as a welcome return to form following George Lucas’ shockingly inept reappearance with the prequel trilogy in the late nineties/early noughties. For the majority of today’s youth, their memories of Star Wars are defined by these pulpy, clumsy, brightly-coloured prequel movie. They films were a big thing at the time, make no mistake, partly because of the anticipation held by established fans, and partly because children couldn’t escape the merchandising that littered every fast-food restaurant on the planet. But, like the overpriced plastic cups bearing Darth Maul’s scowling visage, so too were the films disposable tat, aimed at drilling gaudy two-dimensional images into the modern consciousness. Lucas, for his part, has always remained steadfast in his belief that his vision of Star Wars was the ‘one true’ Star Wars, but some cursory and utterly unscientific polling on my part indicates that children that were first introduced to the series via the prequel trilogy largely lack the reverence for the series that those who were weaned on the classic three. And why would they? What about the prequel trilogy would leave any self-respecting individual hungry for more, especially after the sinister mystery and the darkness of Darth Vader has been replaced with this:

And this:

I can only speak for myself at this point, but as someone for whom the stories of Luke, Leia, and Han were an irreplaceable part of my youth, the thing that made me return to Episode Two and Three was a naive and desperate hope that things would change - the same naive and desperate hope that led me to believe that Disney might be the saviour of the franchise, or that Star Wars Battlefront II would be anything other than a greed-raped stain upon the world, which is to say that at midnight on the night of The Force Awakens’ UK release I too was hopeful for something, anything other than the ugly, bloated, and utterly asinine prequel trilogy.

But ‘a return to form’ from older fans desperate to purge the memory of Mister Binks et al. is not necessarily a definitive seal of quality. Nor is the endorsement of a generation of people that never knew the original trilogy in a context separate from Hayden Christensen’s sand tantrums. And as the minutes and days and weeks stretched on following my first and only viewing of Episode VII, I found myself more and more disgruntled by it, by the memory of it, and by the many faults that existed despite the low bar it had to leap to be better than its immediate predecessors.

Now don’t get me wrong - The Force Awakens is not a technical failure, nor could it reasonably be called a ‘bad film’ were it to exist in a vacuum; from most angles it is objectively better than all three of the prequels, but I can’t say that it demonstrates either uniqueness or ambition. It’s possibly the most brazenly derivative film I have ever seen, and to simply call it ‘safe’ would be to seriously understate the depth of the film’s cannibalisation of its own mythos. This lazy and insulting lack of originality is made worse by frustratingly insubstantial glimpses at a wider narrative which are followed by, at best, nothing, and at worst…well:

‘You haven’t bought the season pass that unlocks the rest of this film’s plot.’

The above moment was not the first point in The Force Awakens that I audibly groaned, but it was the point that I remember the best because it typifies the one of the biggest problems with the film: nearly everything in the narrative of this film that might otherwise be interesting is left unelaborated - the story has been gutted and the meat saved for a time when the Star Wars Plot Advisory Committee can inform future auteurs directors writers meat puppets as to what they can and can’t include in order to maximise appeal amongst the key age demographics of zero-to-dead. And I would apologise for the slight spoiler in the above gif, but if you think that the scene contains some pivotal plot point or revelation then you’re wrong. The film repeatedly hints at a grander and more engaging arc that it doesn’t just fail to elaborate on, but actively hides from the viewer behind the most galling cardinal sin in storytelling - the ‘I can’t explain now’ hook. Worse still is the fact that the film doesn’t explain why it can’t explain, we’re simply expected to swallow it hook, line, and sinker. I imagine that at this point, Abrams Disney pictured the audience on the edge of their seat wrapped in suspense, not scoffing and searching the theatre for other visibly incredulous patrons as I was. In any case, I couldn’t spoil the plot of the film for you if I tried, because everyone who has watched the original trilogy has seen it already.

A plucky, Force-adept youngster lives on a desolate sand planet. After coming under threat from an army of technically superior stormtroopers, the youngster flees on the Millenium Falcon, falling in with a scrappy bunch of resistance fighters. Leia Organa and Han Solo assist. They are pursued by an evil Sith Lord in a black mask and are tasked with demolishing a super-weapon capable of destroying planets. The main characters infiltrate on foot, and the oldest of them dies. A group of pilots attack the super-weapon from space, and their weapons cause a chain-reaction that destroys it.

Sound familiar? Of course it does, because it’s the plot of A New Fucking Hope. You know this by now because it’s two years later and you’ve read all the reviews, but I can’t overemphasise just how much of The Force Awaken’s story is copy-pasted directly from the first film. But at least Mr J.J. Abrams Disney makes a pretty fucking compelling case as to how the Starkiller Base is NOT AT ALL like the Death Star (apart from the fact that it has exactly the same function, and contains the word ‘star’ in its name, and a word relating directly to death).

I mean, for one thing, it’s bigger. That completely changes everything right there.

Sorry J.J. Disney, my bad.

You’ll also notice that the design of the Starkiller Base is what I like the refer to as ‘shithouse’, and ‘not at all memorable’, which might be the single biggest difference between the two weapons. Maybe I was wrong after all.

Sigh, but it’s not all bad, I guess. In fact, the one single thing that I think they managed to do right was arguably the hardest thing to do - nail the new characters. While it’s clear that this is Daisy Ridley’s first major film, she has enough charisma and courage to allow Rey to be the naive vessel the audience needs. She stands particularly strong in scenes across from Adam Driver’s villain, Kylo Ren, and their emotional tug-of-war is compelling. John Boyega is a natural performer, and his exemplary comic timing is keenly displayed both in his dialogue and through his performance. These three people form the pillars of energy and focus upon which the entirety of the film’s integrity rests. Harrison Ford’s comeback is welcome, but much of his input feels keenly meta and thus at odds with the character of Han as we knew it, exposing J.J’s Disney’s weakness at adapting such well-established and iconic personalities. I might say the same for Carrie Fisher, except she has fuck-all to do but stand around, talk in no detail about anything, and have her disgusting old age blurred out by a tasteful CGI filter that sits over her face the entire time. Oh, and Oscar Isaac plays a pilot gifted with the ability to destroy planet-sized doomsday cannons in 30 seconds of screen-time. Which is…y’know, a great way to end a film (and further invalidate a threat that was outmatched forty years ago by a plastic orb on a string).

But again, my vitriol has outpaced me, so I need to come back and reiterate that, as an individual viewing experience, The Force Awakens is not a ‘bad’ film. It’s capably shot, has some witty dialogue, and a good cast with an excellent grasp on their characterisation and fantastic rapport. It isn’t perfect no matter what lens you view it through, and some of its greatest flaws come as a result of Disney’s clear desire to make the most mass-appeal product possible, but if you’re looking for some safe, immediate entertainment that won’t demand much from you, then The Force Awakens is a reasonable choice.

But I’m not sure if I’ll ever feel compelled to watch it again, because at its core I don’t think this film is art. I don’t think it exists for any reason other than because a company saw a demand they could offer a supply to, and make some sweet dollas in doing so. It checks the boxes on its list of ‘things to please the average moviegoer’ so transparently that it almost feels as if it were written by an algorithm, and as much as the people in it are trying to make something meaningful of it all, The Force Awakens remains a product, an item, market-researched so thoroughly your psyche can still detect the aura of the focus-grouped decisions at every turn. It’s in the absurd jokes, and the conspicuous acceleration through the thin plot, and the way it waves references in your face like someone trying to get a smile from a baby by jingling their keys - it feels like the film is toying with me, pointing at all the positive reviews and asking me goadingly why I don’t come over and play with it like everyone else. Perhaps if I weren’t so cynical I could get past that, but I can’t forgive the insidious process through which Disney churns these movies out. As shitty as the prequel trilogy films are, you simply can’t say that they’re not imaginative, original, or creative - the unmistakable imprint of George Lucas’ mind was branded upon them, for better or worse. Whose creative mark lies upon The Force Awakens? It’s been sterilised by Disney’s corporate cloth, and watching it feels like watching a stranger rifling through someone else’s old stuff and playing ‘Star Wars’ with toys that aren’t theirs to touch. It’s not a ‘good’ film. It’s not a 7/10. It’s just okay.

6/10

Just Okay

#star wars #the force awakens #george lucas #j.j. abrams #disney #film #review #cinema #a new hope #2015 #john boyega #daisy ridley #carrie fisher #harrison ford

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