#i feel like we completely forget about costume designers as soon as we enter *our* times

[nina-vonnegut]

Sharp angles, babeeeey

I love how simple yet on the nose successions costume designer, Michelle Matland, was about Shiv (s clothes). In season 1 she looks "correct" but sloppy, in a way. The formula is there, blouse + pants + jacket but less #girlboss and more college students first real job.

pic from this amazing edit

That's not a mil/bill-whatever-naire. She also looks like an eco/alternative office mum who drinks almond milk. For girlbossing it is beneath her.

In s2 there are only angles. The siluette is sharp, you can cut yourself on any surface; starting with hair. It's also failproof. Because no matter how "sloppy" your clothes are that sharp haircut gives an edge. Also love how obviously there was more care to tailor Shivs clothing to further tighten the picture.

In fact everything is so tight Shiv can afford to "break" the formula and wear a shirt instead of a blouse. Even in neutral baby colors they kept the lines.

pics from this amazing edit

There are some amazing articles on the succession looks.

Love how this article points out the Roys are "anti Kardashians" because they already arrived and have been at the top of the food chain, there is no need for flashiness and bling. Many people were complaining about the pastels and it is always funny to see "who knows".

This is a European backdrop for them, more old European money rather than new American money, and there's a difference.

In the U.S., when we portray money, it's often through the Cartier jewels, the dangling diamonds, the fur, the handbags that scream money. They don't do that, and it's by choice, because they were brought up with code. The Roys are anti-bling. They don't need to present themselves that way. They choose what is luxurious to them—the labels don't count. Of course, they're going to be buying expensive accessories and clothes, but they don't need to posture. It may be a $2,000 pullover sweater but it doesn't need to have a logo on it to represent where they're coming from. They know who they are. They're already established.

#succession hbo #michelle matland #shiv roy #i feel like we completely forget about costume designers as soon as we enter *our* times #no one appreciates them at all #klukva watches tv #succession

[exovapor]

The Adventure - TMNT Bitches:  Chapter 9

.

CHAPTER 9:  Enter the She Turtles

·         Kari watches the elevators with anticipation and feels a wave of giddiness at as the doors slide open and two of her TMNT peeps step out into the crowded hotel lobby.  Kassie’s shorter frame leading the way in her TMNT t-shirt, jeans, and ‘Raph’ shoes, cute leather lace-up sandals, that she bought specifically for this occasion.  Holly following, her blonde head bobbing through the crowd, in her own TMNT swag, jean shorts, and green Converse tennis shoes.

·         Kari is practically bouncing when they finally walk up to join her near the receptionist station, she looks like a cat who has eaten the canary, her grin is so wide.

·         “You look mighty happy”, Holly chirps out in her thick country-southern accent.  “Yes, you look as happy if someone showed you turtle cock”, comes Kassie’s southern accented comment, as she and Holly both stare at Kari’s wide grin.

·         “Oh, it wasn’t THAT good, but it was GOOD”, Kari replies back, “you guys will never believe what I just saw!”.  

·         “Well, don’t keep us in suspense, sweetie, tell us”, Holly crosses her arms, tilts her head, and stares expectantly at Kari.

·         “I just saw a guy dressed as the Shredder!”, Kari spills out in a rush, grabbing Kassie’s upper arms and emphasizing her excitement.  “And just think, if that guy is walking around like that, there MIGHT BE TURTLES HERE!”, Kari adds, following her own train of thought and HOPING like mad that some guys decided to cosplay together, some as the Shredder and some as the Ninja Turtles.

·         Kassie’s mouth drops open and an unintentional squeal escapes her.  Her mind buzzing with how amazing cool that would be!  Her first Dragon Con, with her and her TMNT friends doing their own group cosplay of the turtles, and now there is a possibility of men cosplaying as turtles too?!!!  That would be completely EPIC if it were true!

·         “You’re shittin’ us”, Holly voices out, fully hoping that Kari isn’t playing but it seems all too good to be true.

·         “I’m dead serious, here look, I took a picture of him”, Kari holds her phone out for them to see, with the back shot of the Shredder on the escalator.

·         “Oh my gawwwdddd”, Holly drawls out while Kassie rips the phone out of Kari’s phone to get a closer look.  “That costume is AMAZING!  Look at the detail!, “ Kassie breathes out, her eyes glued to the phone’s screen.

·         “I say, as soon as Val gets here, that we go find this guy again…even though he was sort of an asshole”, Kari expresses to her friends while her face turns sour at the memory of the guy’s rude attitude.

·         “Sounds like a plan to me, Val should be here in about an hour or two, she texted that she was about to leave her house and start driving this way”, Kassie says handing Kari her phone back, “in the mean-time, let’s find some food because as soon as Val gets here we’ve got to get dressed in our costumes and start partying…Mikey style”.

·         “MMMMmmmm, Mikey Style…Mikey’s style is up against a wall or holding you upside down and just eating you alive….mmmmm”, Kari’s eyes go all day-dreamy and unfocused.

·         “Not exactly what I meant, Kari”, Kassie giggles back at her tall friend, “But, I appreciate the visual”.

                                                    **********

·         A couple of hours later, the trio stood by the receptionist station watching the automated doors of the Mariott slide up and close for the steady stream of party-goers, cosplayers, and hotel guests.

·         Among the flow of people came a short, dark haired female with katanas strapped to her back.  “There she is!”, Kassie exclaimed excitedly and rushed forward to greet her friend and fan, “WIFEY!  Over here!”.

·         Valerie wheeled her suitcase into the hotel’s lobby and immediately hears a familiar voice, one that’s she has heard through voice recordings via the WhatsApp many times, one of her favorite writers of all time, and Tumblr wifey, Kassie!  She sees the joyful five foot three woman bouncing her way, excitedly clapping her hands and throwing her arms open wide for those hug-things that people like to do.  Valerie grins and bears it, Kassie is a touch person, Valerie gives her the hug she’s seeking.

·         Holly and Kari are close behind, joining in the hug pile and causing Valerie to shake them off exclaiming, “okay, okay, enough with the hug fest you hippies.  I just had years scared off my life and here you are trying to suffocate me to death”.

·         “Oh, no, what happened?”, Holly’s concern clear in her blue eyes.  “Yeah, who do we need to kill?”, Kari asked while grinding her knuckles into her palm.

·         “Grrrr…no one important.  Just some stupid guys LARPing in the middle of the road.  I swear, it’s like some people aren’t born with common-damn-sense”, Val growls out, the annoyance that she felt in the parking deck quickly coming back to haunt her.

·         “Forget about them!  You are here with us now and we are going to have a great time!”, Kassie says pulling Valerie into her side by the shoulder, “Come on, let’s get your stuff to the room and get our outfits on, I want to get this party started!  You’re bunking with me, Wifey.  I put the two wild children in a room together with a whole solid wall separating us….you know…so you don’t kill them at some point this weekend.”

·         “HEY!  Our room is going to be the fun party room, isn’t that right, Holly?”, Kari asks while pushing Holly in the shoulder with her fist.  “Damn skippy it is, we’ll be con legends for years to come”.

·         “Oh god”, Valerie groans, “I can see it now…we’ll be kick out of the Mariott on the first night here”.

·         “Stick in the mud”, Holly snips back teasingly.

·         “Now I truly know what poor Leo feels like all the time having to deal with Raph and Mikey”, Valerie shakes her head and allows Kassie to lead her to the elevators so that they can ascend to the room floors and go to get dressed.

·         An hour later, four scantily clad women dressed as ninja turtles exited two rooms on the fifth floor of the Mariott of Atlanta.  Out of the “Party Room”, walked two tall women, one sporting the orange of a Party Dude and one repping purple for a genius, complete with gadgets strapped around her body. Their tall figures adorable, and hot, in their green pleather corsets, green tulle skirts, complete with a green shell backpack decorated with their weaponry.  The other two women exiting, what Holly and Kari had dubbed the “Boring Room”, dressed as Leonardo and Raphael…if Leo and Raph wore corsets and tulle skirts.

·         “Oh my god, I nearly forgot!”, Kari’s eyes bugged out as she grabbed for her phone and starts swiping through it, “Val, you gotta see this.  We’ve gotta find this guy and take a picture with him, he’s dressed as the Shredder!”.

·         Kari hands Valerie the phone and Valerie stares at the image stunned.  She’s been going to DC for over twenty years.  She has seen A LOT of nice costumes, insanely good replicas that looked like they walked right off a movie set, but the suit she is looking at the in the photo is unbelievably good.  It looks so real.  That guy was either a REALLY good costume designer or just a REALLY HUGE nerd. Either way, getting a picture with him would be epic.

·         “Ok, then let’s find him”, the blue clad pseudo-leader says, “and the easiest way to do that is to split up”.

·         “Don’t forget that panel that we want to go to for Rob Paulsen, it starts in about two hours”, Kassie reminds the group, “I’ve got to hear that Donnie voice inperson”. Valerie nods her head in agreement, “If we don’t find this guy within the next hour or so, we’ll meet up around the fountain on the lower level and head over to the panel.  Kassie and I will search the lower level and you two…”, Valerie gives a weary eye to the two wild children,  “one…BEHAVE.  Two…take the main level and search for Shredder.  If either party finds him, phone the other, got it?”.

·         “Behave? What do you think is gonna happen? That you’ll find Holly and me hanging from the  railings in the atrium?”, Kari asks Valerie dubiously.

·         “Please don’t”, is all Valerie replies as she walks off, Kassie following her and giggling.

@turtle-babe83 @tmntspidergirl @kokokatsworld @the-second-circle-of-shell @nittleboo

#tmnt bayverse #tmnt smut #tmnt x reader #tmnt fanfiction #tmnt #donnie #tmnt donatello #tmnt raph #raph #leonardo #tmnt leo #tmnt mikey #michelangelo #exovapor

[diyunho]

The Joker x Reader - “Gotham Comic Con”

The Joker and his girlfriend decided to attend “Gotham Comic Con” this year dressed as The Batman and Cat Woman. It took Y/N some time to convince her boyfriend but here they are about to have fun and nothing could spoil the event. Right?...

“Oh my God, this is awesome!” you giggle entering the venue designated for the yearly special event “Gotham Comic-Con” dressed as Cat Woman.

The Joker is right behind you sporting The Batman outfit and he flexes his knees a few times, growling.

“What’s wrong?” you ask although you have a clue because J’s been complaining about since he got off the van parked on Lot B5.

“I hate these stretchy pants! I don’t know how that asshole does it!”

“You’re the one that insisted to come as Batsy,” you reveal point out the truth. “You could have been anyone else.”

“Like who?”

“Cinderella,” you elbow him and your boyfriend is not a huge fan of the concept.

“Why??!!”

“The drama, obviously,” you keep walking alongside him and he’s definitely ready to blow at your insinuation when you gasp. ”Baby, I think that’s Bane!” you gesture towards a massive individual flaunting a Sub-Zero costume.

“How can you tell?” The Joker squints his eyes and the bubbly Y/N has to say it:

“I would recognize his physique anywhere! Plus, he still has the scar between his eyes,” you pucker your lips and The King mumbles a bunch of PG 13 rated things regarding his business partner.

Why?

Last week they got into a brawling and almost killed each other.

The reason?

Y/N.

The Joker believes that Bane always flirts with you (which he does since he likes to refer to you as “a breath of fresh air”); stuff escalated until you had to break it up: J ended up with a busted lip, Bane with a cut between his eyes due to The Clown trying to stab him in the head and you ended up with an inflated ego.

“Hello Mister B.,” you tap the pile of muscles and he turns around to see who’s bothering him.

“Y/N!” he excitedly exclaims, immediately unhappy at the sight of his business partner. “Joker…” the low tone greets.

“Bane…” J sneers.

“What are you two doing here?” Bane inquires.

“Having fun; I finally convinced him we should do this and mingle for once. No better way to spend the day,” the bubbly comment pleases your conversation partner. “So we dressed up and here we are.”

“I must say you’re like a breath of fresh air,” Bane admires your skin tight costume and stilettos which prompts The Joker’s disapproval:

“If you want fresh air, go outside!”

“Make me!”

Oh no! Not again!

“Are you here alone?” you change the subject and distract them from getting into a fight. Not that you wouldn’t enjoy it, but… too many witnesses at the packed Comic Con, it could end up in a total disaster.

“With my niece and nephew. I lost them for a second and I’m searching the premises; they can’t be far,” Bane reports. “Which reminds me: I should get going and find them otherwise my sister will go ballistic. I’ll see you later, Y/N,” he acknowledges you and ignores your man.

“Bye Mister B.,” The Queen snickers at the evident teasing.

“Just her, huh?” The Joker grumbles. “What about me? Did you forget we have a meeting next week???”

“Too bad and super sad: I’m not talking to you!” Bane’s attitude emerges.

“I certainly could care less because I’m not talking to you either!” The King strikes back.

“Then what are we going to do?” Sub-Zero’s better judgement brings up a good argument.

“Y/N will translate!” J proudly states.

Oh no! Not again!

That means they will snarl and make weird noises and you’ll have to guess what it means; an absolutely excruciating task that even a breath of fresh air can’t accomplish without losing it.

Maybe you should let them kill each other. 

“Fine!” Bane decides and distances himself from the couple while the Joker shouts since he has to have the last word:

“Fine!”

“Mister Batman?” the 5 years old dressed as a hobbit shily tugs on J’s cape.

“Hm?” the fake vigilante looks down. The little boy suddenly sneezes and wipes his nose with the fabric as the mad man is less than lenient at someone ruining the outfit replica he paid a fortune to have.

“Goddamn…” and he can’t finish his sentence because a large group of screaming children surround him in a heartbeat.

“Batman! Batman!” they jump up and down hyped up to see their hero.

“Go away!” J attempts to reason with the sea of kids he has no patience for. Of course nobody can hear him over the deafening sounds that attract more offsprings and parents.

“That’s so cute!” one of the moms gushes and takes a picture. “It’s delightful seeing a guy dressed as The Batman performing such a public service for our town!”

“He loves people, especially babies, “ you lie without blinking and immortalize the moment yourself.

“Awww,” a few people sigh touched by your praises.

“He must be a nice dude,” a kid’s dad concludes and you sweetly smile from under your mask:

“You have no idea.”

Somebody from the crowd places an infant girl in The Joker’s arms and the mob goes ballistic!! Rosie cheeks keeps sucking from her binky, glaring at the interesting person.

Clapping, cheering and whistling intensify whilst J feels compelled by his increasing popularity to lift the 6 months old above his head for everyone to see how cool he is.

This is not bad, The King enjoys an endless string of applause and the sudden explosion occurring in the diaper followed by quite a foul smell puts an end to his exuberance.

“Jesus!” he crinkles his nose, appalled. “Whose kid is this?” he yells and the thrilled parent waves at him, taking back the stinky, adorable bundle of joy. “Uncle Batsy needs to run!!” J makes up a random plan although nobody can hear him: the noise is overwhelming after he hyped them all up.  “Let’s bail before they trap me again! Pretty soon I won’t be able to walk, Princess. Everything is crammed in there, a total mess! I hate stretchy pants!!” he addresses his woman and quickens the pace until an atrocious abomination stops him in his tracks.

A specimen mocking The Joker wearing a purple suit is getting quite the attention: over exaggerated red lips smudged over the lip line, tattoo on the forehead that spells “Cabbaged”, a bunch of cheap golden chains from the Dollar Store around his neck and a sloppy green wig complete the assemble in a cringy manner.

You are equally speechless and The Joker manages to utter:

“What… THE HELL… is that????!!!!”

“Ummm… a Clown?” your sassy remark doesn’t score high marks as expected; you feel his eyes burning holes through you.

“You’re hilarious! Would you like to share your standup comedy talents on the stage??!” his index finger points at the platform meant to host a guest appearance from Bruce Wayne in the next hour.

Courtesy of “Wayne Enterprise” sponsoring the event: free food and refreshments for everyone under 18 years old.

You don’t answer and pout, upset J’s pissed attitude is already ruining your mood.

“I’m going to kill that buffoon posing as me!” he inhales full of spite and reaches for the knife hidden in his left boot.

“You can’t…” you hesitantly halt his movement. “Dozens of people, that’s just asking for trouble!”

“I’m not going to let a prick disrespect me!”

“You won’t, we’ll figure something afterwards. We can wait for him outside in the parking lot and take care of it without drawing attention! Please?” you beg hoping he’ll listen to you. “Pleeeaaaase!!!!“ you insist, perfectly aware he’s about to commit murder regardless. “I have a bunch of VIP passes to take pictures with celebrities. You promised J!” you stomp your high heels, exasperated. “You promised we’ll have a fun date!!”

“Why do I have to take pics with celebrities?! I don’t like anybody!”

The look on Y/N’s face: sheer disappointment; most of her features are covered with the mask yet he can tell.

“But I like you so the most I’ll do is take a selfie with you!” The Joker makes amendments on his own terms.

The Queen sniffles, trying to bottle up her emotions and she can’t help it: she bursts up in tears at her boyfriend’s candor.

Oh no! Not again!

Why?

The King of Gotham says nice things maybe twice a year and each time you struggle not to cry but it’s impossible: how can one resist such charm?!

Your complete meltdown makes him roll his eyes while your shaky hand takes a picture of the royal duo.

“Ugghhh…” J’s grimace turns your attention towards him.

“What is it baby?” you wipe your tears with his cape.

He would probably criticize such affront still there’s a pressing issue taking precedent.

“Princess, these tights are making my legs numb. I can’t feel my crown jewelry anymore.”

“Huh?” you forget to weep, startled.

“Cursed stretchy pants! I think I won’t be able to have sex for a month!” The Joker stretches his feet, uncomfortable.

“What??!!!” you raise your voice, panicked. “A month???!!”

Hell no!

Y/N grabs The Joker’s right hand and starts dragging him after her, yelling:

“Out of the way! Out of the way, it’s an emergency!!” whilst everyone is wondering how can someone wearing those 7-inch stilettos can march so fast.

“Where are we going, Pumpkin?!” J is inquiring and you yank at his arm, alarmed.

“To the car!”

“Why?”

Y/N doesn’t have time for explanations: she basically flies across the parking lot to get to section B5, opens the van’s back door and shoves J inside. He lands on his abs as you relentlessly pull on his boots, accomplishing to take them off in record time. Then you heave at his tights, huffing a storm at the stiff garment:

“I’ll be damn if I’ll wait a month for a ride in Funky Town!”

A mother and her 11 years old son pass by and she covers his eyes, horrified at the indecency as she guides him throughout the maze of vehicles.

“There are children here!” the woman protests. “Get a room!”

Luckily, she wasn’t heard by The Clown and his girl because… victory! The stretchy pants are off, J only in his boxers now.

“How are you feeling?” you roll him and he exhales, assessing the damage succeeding Y/N swift actions.

“Not sure, same?... Sit on my lap,” J offers and you don’t need a second invitation.

“Well?” you hold in the anxiety reaching high levels under these dire circumstances.

“Dunno, kiss me and we’ll see.”

You kiss him and he purrs.

“Well?” you interrogate again.

“Kiss me again!” he orders and you put more passion into it since your future happiness depends on it. “Hmm…” J groans. “I believe things are improving.”

“Yeah?” Y/N is about to have another breakdown although J didn’t say sweet rubbish; it’s just that kind of occasion.

“U-hum!”

“Then… what do you say we go home and celebrate your recovery?” you whisper in his ear.

“What about Comic Con?”

“Screw it!” you hop off his knees. “I’ll drive, you focus on your convalescence, ok baby?”

“Ok,” The Joker agrees and begins to stride around the van as Bruce Wayne’s limousine happens to drive by, the billionaire preparing to attend the event he sponsored.

“Stop the car!” Bruce commands at the weird view in the distance: a man wearing a replica of his Batman suit-- helmet, mask, gloves, cape… but no pants or boots, the bottom part of his attire consisting solely of underwear. “Right when you think you saw it all…” he shakes his head in denial, oblivious about who the person is.

Mister Wayne should at least have some empathy for the man enduring those tights for as long as he could; it might not be a record, but who could ever beat the real Batman at wearing stretchy pants anyway?!

Also read: MASTERLIST   

https://diyunho.tumblr.com/post/153664676321/joker-x-reader-masterlist

You can also follow me on Ao3 and Wattpad under the same blog name: DiYunho.

#the joker x reader #the joker fanfiction #the joker imagine #the joker jared leto #the joker #joker #joker fanfiction #joker imagines #jokerleto #the joker suicide squad #joker suicide squad #mister j #mister joker #dc #dcu

[stray-tori]

TPN S02E05 - Initial Thoughts (anime-only)

the reaction video: Google Drive

.

. Blue friend!

That i didn’t immediately catch that they were two different groups was kind of embarrassing asuhjd- they do be surveilling. They clearly already tailed them, but idk why they didn't just show up at their hideout --- I guess that would have been too undramatic.

It was kind of obvious towards the end and I felt like they could have made it a little more dynamic. I don’t need still shots. Make them attack and the mask comes off after he also speaks or... idk, so many still frames; masks hiding any emotional reaction (though I do like the whole taking off mask reveal in theory); and then also the kind of.... EH reaction I’m just... idk, I expected more somehow but I can’t exactly pinpoint what I wanted differently.

(This whole thing kind of goes back to my initial theory way back after s1 how Norman might try to infiltrate the system as a demon and then have to pretend to not be their ally in front of them and have to pull through with something, or some tragic shit like that. Or one of them trying to kill him, but he can’t say anything and then they realize when the cover comes off --- yeah VERY BAD, I’m glad that’s not what’s happening.)

I’m assuming the tidbit about farms being raided “recently” means he’s not been out for that long (at least not longer than a few months) so that’d explain why it wasn’t brought up with Isabella.

I also don’t think anything happened when he was removed from GF - but between Norman’s surprised expression when entering the gate room and him being here now, I don’t think he was shipped out for food (unless the high quality ones don’t get flower’ed right away and instead only at their “eater” --- since that’d at least give the support duration for someone to rescue him or him to do something about his situation).

So I’m very curious to hear about that whole story and I have a small bit of hope that the recap episode will be framed as Norman talking about s1 from his perspective and then also transitioning over into what happened while they were apart either in next episode or the episode after that. Don’t think we need a recap either way, but OH WELL, I hope there’ll be SOME framing to it at least.

edit: I thought episode 6 would be a recap, but it’s 5.5 and likely due to production issues so forget my rant here, I’m fine with the recap. I’m not fine with staff being overworked but oh well that’s a whole different dilemma.

They got so much to do and so few episodes AHHH

I wonder if there’s any meaning-parallel to be drawn between the old demon having a walking stick and Norman also having a walking stick??? idk it just felt odd to me-- Norman why are you old.

Though gotta also appreciate that anime really went opposite manga approach here, he didn't age AT ALL duisjsd. still babey. (edit: I didn’t know about his “inbetween” design as much and seeing them side by side it’s actually pretty accurate so yayyy. he babey anyway though)

what did that one guy out of Norman's group do when he leaned down to presumably Don I'm confusion

Norman, surrounding his friends: "lets ominously walk up to them"

.

. The demons' form

I didn’t post it I think but I actually made a “you are what you eat” joke in my ep3 post but discarded it because Sonju and Mujika look completely fine despite never having had any humans and I thought that’d throw a wrench in my thought.... and it still does so... that’s really interesting.

It also seems as if him saying “The world won’t change” is kind of..... like a prophecy sort of thing? It could just mean the massive class divide of course, but maybe if all the demons were well fed with humans, they’d achieve greater things? Since when you’re dying you’re kind of not in the condition to do anything, and if eating their body parts makes the demons adapt; is the implication that eating their brains makes demons smarter? if so that's a pretty literal parallel to the lower classes of society being robbed the chance to do something great by sheer circumstance. they're just actually dumber bc they don't get provided the materials to be smart

Honestly I’m a bit confused and not sure what it means, i can think of:

once a demon has ever eaten a human, they have to continue doing so

eating singular body parts makes them generate on you and you need “higher quality” humans to counter-act it. Would explain why Mujika and Sonju aren’t affected, since they don’t eat humans at all. Would also be an allegory for a healthy/balanced diet I GUESS but I don’t think it seems very plausible? it just seems kind of random.

They’re descendants from different demons and Sonju&Mujika simply don’t need to eat humans to maintain their form.

I also brought up that maybe it’s faith related / a placebo? But that seems even more forced.

I also don’t know if the implication is that they need ANY food, but then why are there hands on them?? So I do think it’s that it’s humans specifically that are either the problem or the solution. But since the bigger demons don’t seem to be affected AND the higher ups also not, I doubt it’s what causes the problems, unless it somehow is the whole balanced / “have to KEEP doing it” angle.

Also the demon scene in the ruins was so interesting, I really liked how it was so somber and kind of just... quiet. Emma, our queen, emphasizing once again.

I wonder if the demon realized it secretly or not... he seemed kinda overall nice and reasonable so I wouldn’t be super surprised if he noticed and just didn’t really care...

.

. The timeline

GF kids have been escaped for 1 year, they were a month at the bunker, so they’ve been out and about for another ~11 months.

Anna says nothing happened in the past 6 months; what else happened to them? just that they hid somewhere and had to flee again?

Is that also where they got their new clothes? i fail to see why they couldn’t just get them at the bunker, would make a bit more sense imo- but oh well.

farms keep being attacked recently and stealing children. it was def not our group, Norman's group potentially? They seem to be pretty badass, so that’s probably not unlikely.

Alternatively, it could be an overarching even bigger group that also rescued Norman, I think.

.

. Other things I liked

the scene of Emma being kind of lost was... pretty good, seeing our sunshine kind of doubt herself (understandably so after not making progress for an entire year) is pretty impactful. But i also feel like she’d try even harder to hide it in front of the others. but also why are you talking to a wall, are you mentally okay, probably not--- 

LOVED the nice subtle reveal to show how they mask their scent in the Lani and Thoma scene when they wanted to go with them

shot of the apple rolling and the screen turning over but head-down was cool!!

Emma and ray flinching when the demon's hand reaches out to Lani and Thoma

That convo between Lani and Thoma and how the older ones always give them the food and pretend to eat I'M EMOTIONAL

also their costumes are so colorful :sparkles: it’s such a big switch from their usual outfits-

.

. Other things I didn’t like

i'm not even a rayemma shipper and I still wanted Ray to do more than say a few lines and WALK AWAY?? ray what ya doin-

[Lani and Thoma] also literally why did you let them come. This season does really depend on someone fucking up and it’s kind of annoyingggggg :) Though in this case it isn’t that much their fault, they just stood around.

also why Norman only say “Emma” pls kill me. I was so happy that (very light manga spoiler) ...... Ray and Emma were both there for the reveal but fuck, the anime just straight up didn't care about Ray being there anyway :V

they better gife me a good trio hug to make up for this next (... uh... next-next TvT) episode

I do agree he’s back too soon but..... I kind of can’t hate them, with the whole 1 season to wrap it up chaos. Anime industry bad.

Well at least I’m excited and didn’t hate it. I’m somehow a little empty-headed but it was a good episode, and the surrounding anxiety probably just makes me a little iffy.... Hope the recap episode next week will have some merit and otherwise, see ya in two weeks.

#tpn s2 #tpn anime #tpn anime-only #tpn #tpn anime spoilers #tpn s2 ep5 #tpn spoilers #tori has opinions #tori talks

[nevergiveupneverrun]

Bodyguard - Chapter Forthy-Seven “Nightmare”

Hello everybody, how are you? Here is chapter Forty-Seven of my Story Bodyguard. I hope you will like this chapter. I want to say that I’m going back to College on Monday and after that, I don’t know when I will be able to post a chapter. But I’ll do my best to post one chapter per week.

I’m sorry in advance for the mistakes… English isn’t my first language and I do my best. Here is the link to the previous chapter: Click Here.

I hope you will enjoy this chapter :) 💛

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Electro music floods my ears.

My eyes are almost dazzled by the people around me: they all sport tailor-made costumes, haute couture pieces and more massive and showy jewelry than the others.

Welcome to Mark for an evening of subtlety… in honor of his own success… and the perfect person he is.

My inner sarcasm makes me smile as I watch the places and the scenes unfolding before my eyes. I was more than reluctant when Amelia announced that she wished to come to this evening, but it was above all for her safety that I expressed reservations, I didn’t know that the evening in itself was going to be a real ordeal. Presenting all that I hate in the world of show biz, what I had miraculously escaped by working for Amelia, but I had known too much during my missions in Europe. Mark’s evening was indeed one of those which aims to prove success by displaying luxury and opulence: the place first with a loft where he had apparently moved in, built by a fashionable architect and decorated with the latest design trends and the very tone of the evening with a DJ, an open bar offering the most varied spirits and most popular in the city and buffet from the country’s greatest chef.

Enough to proclaim: “I have money and I’m showing it…!”.

Not surprisingly, this atmosphere made me quite uncomfortable. I hated these artists who take pleasure in displaying their success and organizing parties to their own glory… experience had taught me that this type of attitude revealed a desire to be loved by all means… because these people were often much more unhappy and alone than you might suspect at first.

.

I was posted since my arrival in a corner of the main room which offered a panoramic view of the entire loft. The apartment was organized in duplex, but the floor seemed prohibited to the guests because I had not seen anyone enter it, probably the more private rooms of the owner. My gaze crosses the vast room in front of me, where a crowd comes to life dancing, chatting, drinking to lose their senses… my eyes quickly find Amelia, a few steps near me. Her bareback is facing me as she watches Mark’s guests just like me. Since our discussion, the atmosphere had been more than heavy between us. She only spoke to me sporadically, for simple indications or requests related to the evening. In particular, she had expressed to me a very specific and completely unexpected which… that I should be discreet and not spoil her evening… It was the first time she spoke to me like that as if she wanted to completely ignore my presence. I had acquiesced without a word, accepting the silent reproaches that she sent me back as well… reproaches that I fully deserved.

The drive to Mark’s loft only took a few minutes because he was also in Belltown, near the Space Needle: but these few minutes, in heavy silence, without a single glance or smile from Amelia seemed to be the longest of my life. And I would have done everything at that time to go back…

I draw her with my eyes unconsciously, taking advantage of being able to observe her without being discovered: she indeed decided to wear the famous dress that Mark had sent her… a dress much more daring and sexy than usual, and I had noticed that a few men had spotted her in the room… more than one but not Mark who had not yet appeared. The evening star seemed to be waiting… until we noticed a silhouette appear upstairs. A man stands out from the half-light, dressed in a designer suit all in black, with a simple red pocket as a color note. He walks towards the stairs and the music stops immediately as well as the hubbub of discussions.

.

- Good evening everyone, he exclaims with a big smile, reaching out. Wow… I didn’t think that you would be as many to come forward, it’s really heart-warming! This little evening is unpretentious, I wanted to organize it just to please you… and mark this success which was only a mirage a few months ago!

His hand reaches out before him and a black curtain stands out against the white wall facing him, revealing the famous disc…a perfect staging greeted by the applause of the whole room.

- Thank you, it’s a real joy for me to see that my music is finally appreciated at its fair value and I hope it’s the beginning of a long series. The public shouldn’t stop loving me, right? He announces with a laugh, not seeming to doubt for a second the adoration he is a target. Do me honor, you have one of the best DJs in town for the evening, alcohol to spare and a buffet to die for… and maybe a couple of extra things, if you’re good, he says in a wink. So have fun! I don’t want each of you to have as much fun as possible… no moderation with me long lives the excesses!

Applauses resumes on his last exclamation and Mark walks down the stairs, a satisfied look on his lips. Arrived at the end of the steps, two bimbos are quick to approach him and he immediately kisses them, keeping them close to him by the waist, one on each side, advancing towards the bar, where we immediately hand him a glass of champagne.

I sigh, placing my hands in my pockets. This man was even more full of himself than I thought and I feared that the evening would be long, too long… unless Amelia got tired quickly.

She always turns her back on me, a coupe barely started carelessly held in her hand: I notice that her right foot mechanically tramples the ground.

I smile despite myself at this gesture.

I recognize this movement of the foot. It was an unequivocal mark of impatience at Amelia. My torture might not last that long… and my smile grew a little more.

.

My eyes open wide when I notice Amelia take a turn on herself and face me for the first time ever since we entered Mark’s loft. 

Her gaze captures mine directly and I detect a glimmer of hesitation and disbelief.

I observe her without a word, captivated by perceiving her mouth half-open… and I only anticipate and desire one thing: ask me to leave this place as soon as possible…

I hang on her lips, waiting for the first word, the first sound to escape… but it’s another voice rising.

- Amelia… the best surprise of my evening… 

I immediately recognize this voice: a honeyed and hoarse voice in the register “great seducer”. 

Mark, in all his splendor. Rid of his two bimbos, but still showing that young first smile, too sure of himself. 

Amelia stares at me for a few seconds, before turning almost in slow motion.

- Good evening, Mark.

- Good evening, he whispers, slipping a kiss on the neck. One of my hands tightens mechanically in my pocket in front of this scene… let me watch you… he continues.

He takes her hand and turns her around, then looks her intently in the eyes again.

- You are to die for in this dress. You don’t know how much you can make me happy by wearing it… I’m in heaven… he adds, sliding his fingers over Amelia’s open arm. 

I feel my body stiffen immediately and a bubbling rise in the depths of me.

My brain freezes, my hypnotized sight on these fingers that caress Amelia’s skin.

An uncontrolled reaction takes hold of me when my left hand loosens Mark’s fingers and gently takes hold of the singer’s wrist to pull her towards me.

- We were about to leave… I said firmly.

Amelia looks at me in surprise, scanning after a few seconds my hand on her wrist.

- I think it’s up to Amelia to decide, right? Resumes Mark.

I stare at him, almost defying him but a sensation detaches my attention: Amelia removes my fingers from her wrist while glaring at me. As if touching her was a monumental error on my part, unforgivable.

- You said, Mark? She continues, completely ignoring my presence and turning to Mark.

He smiles slightly, and responds to Amelia’s invitation, with his famous satisfied air that I already hated.

- I said that we could go upstairs to be, let’s say… quieter…

I watch Amelia turning her back on me. I am waiting feverishly for the answer she will give him, before distinguishing that she nods weakly with my head while a huge smile takes place on Mark’s face.

I find it hard to integrate what has just happened: she openly contradicted me and ignored me in front of this second-class playboy.

She turns around for a few seconds towards me and hands me her glass of champagne.

I grab it and she takes the opportunity to whisper a few words: “Don’t forget what I asked you. Don’t spoil my evening.”

One last remark as a knockout to put me bluntly in my place.

She follows immediately after Mark, who leads her to the stairs.

I stare at them, helpless.

The slight bubbling that I felt a few moments earlier intensifies when I see them disappear in the room at the end of the upstairs alley.

.

I empty Amelia’s glass of champagne.

My nervousness grows and doesn’t fade under the alcohol vapors I just swallowed.

I thought that this evening and this ordeal was about to end… it had just taken an unexpected proportion.

For the first time: Amelia had given me no consideration, treating me like an assistant, an accessory for her evening.

For the first time: I couldn’t observe her, monitor her, protect her while she is out of my field of vision.

For the first time: she left me alone… to slip away with another man.

A nightmare…

.

Images invade my mind.

Long minutes follow.

Minutes of torment under the effect of this film which takes place in my head.

Images that only stir up my confusion, when I imagine in spite of myself what can happen behind this door where Mark led Amelia.

I breathe deeply to relieve the tension and reason myself: my reaction was completely irrational. I had no rights over Amelia. I’m just her bodyguard.

The man who protects her and not the man who shares her life.

I have no reason to react like… a deceived man, wounded in his pride. 

No reason.

If it’s a nightmare, it’s a bodyguard nightmare, no longer able to watch over her client.

- Do you mind?

A soft voice comes out of my thoughts and I discover before me, a young brunette woman, dressed in a long green dress, tight. A luminous dial captures my attention behind her and I realize that an hour has just passed since Amelia escaped me… an hour that I have not seen pass obnubilated by my internal reflections.

- Sorry?

- Excuse me for bothering you but I have been watching you since you got here… and you are undoubtedly the most attractive man of this evening… I’ve been staring at you for an hour… my apartment is only a few streets from here…

I look at her but it’s like I don’t see her or hear her.

It’s another face that I would have liked to admire.

A burst of lucidity strikes me and my body reacts like on autopilot.

.

I go ahead, passing the young woman who had just approached me, who looks at me taken aback and shocked when I don’t react at all to her advances.

I go up the stairs and climb them one by one, almost surprised that nobody comes to stops me… while I enter this section which seems private and forbidden to guests.

Arrived at the door which occupied my questions for an hour, I knock without hesitation and I wait only a few seconds, before hearing a voice resound behind the door.

- Joe… you were quick!

I perceive steps getting closer, then the door opens with these words “perfect timing, buddy!”.

Mark’s face appears to me and his face immediately changes expression as he recognizes me.

I quickly take his eyes off his face because it’s his outfit that calls me out.

His suit jacket and tie have disappeared.

His shirt came out of his pants and half unbuttoned.

As for her pants belt, she is undone;

The detail that makes me react too quickly.

- Where’s Amelia? I ask pushing him into the room and closing the door behind me.

He looks t me without understanding and I notice that his eyes are glassy and have trouble staying fixed.

- Where is Amelia? I repeat in a firmer tone.

- She doesn’t need you… we’re having fun…

He clumsily tries to block my way but I shift him with the back of my hand and enter the room a little more.

I step forward and quickly notice a sofa and a red cloud stretching against the black fabric.

I approach immediately: Amelia is lying on her side, one hand in the void, her head turned against the sofa cushion.

Her vision immediately alerts me: her dress is up to her pelvis revealing a red shorty and the draped scoop neck has been pulled and shifted so that one of her breasts is exposed. The completely bareback of the dress obviously led her not to wear a bra, which Mark clearly benefited from or prematurity since he had chosen this dress himself.

I feel my anger growing by thinking of the way he had to touch her to put her in this state. 

I kneel near her, noticing with concern that she has half-closed eyes as if she was in a daze.

Helpless, unconscious, as if delivered to the hands of this…

I arrange her dress to cover her as best as I can while whispering her name, but she doesn’t react.

- What did you do to her?

I turn for a moment towards Mark who watches us, vacillating and who doesn’t answer me.

I redirect my attention to Amelia and my gaze then captures the elements present on the coffee table: glasses, bottles of champagne, vodka and whiskey… and cachet of different colors, powdered sachets as well that two lighters.

- Amelia, can you hear me? I ask a little more alarmed, leaning over her.

She mumbles something I don’t understand.

I take off my jacket and put it on to cover her a little more, then get up to stand in front of Mark.

- What did you give her?

- Almost nothing…

- Tell me… I asked again grabbing him by the two sides of his shirt.

- Just a little ecstasy…

- Are you sure? Nothing else? No heroin?

- No, that’s for me… don’t worry, she will just get high for a few hours… 

I release him violently and he staggers a few steps, then clings to a piece of furniture behind him.

- Relax man, she just wanted to have a little fun, I didn’t do anything wrong. Can I give you want some if you want? Use it, I expect others…

- I don’t want your shit…

- As you want…

I take a look at Amelia then speak to Mark again, my nervousness finally expressing itself.

- Did you touch her? I ask, advancing a little more, to invade his personal space.

Puffs of alcohol fill my nostrils. His glassy, bloodshot eyes now disgust me violently.

- If you touched her… I said gently, pointing at him.

- Hey, okay, I haven’t done anything yet, he stammers finally. It’s a shame that she passed out, it’s less fun for me to sleep with her, but since the time I want to do her…

I jostle him violently after his words, making him fall to the ground while leaning towards him.

- I don’t want to see you anymore, you hear me? Don’t you dare approach her again, otherwise I’ll rearrange your face and you won’t be able to make a disc cover for a long time, understood?

He laughs while staring at me and his reaction makes me come out of me, I grab his throat, cutting his breath for almost a minute, before releasing him, his head falling to the ground.

- Little dickhead… I finish by turning away from him while he lies down while coughing to catch his breath

I join Amelia and reveal her face, hidden by her locks of hair but she is still in a daze between sleep and trance.

- What did you do babe? I half questioned to myself, in a whisper.

.

I take my phone after a few seconds, stuck in my pants pocket, to put an end to this nightmare as quickly as possible. 

- Jackson, I need you, wait for us in five minutes at the entrance of the building…

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Thank you for reading. Have a great week 💛

#fanfic #greysanatomy #Mark Sloan #amelia shepherd #owen x amelia #amelia x owen #omelia #omelia fanfiction #omeliafics #Fic #bodyguard #Owen Hunt

[austinonymous]

At the Hawk’s Behest

Title: At the Hawk’s Behest

Series: To the East | 1.At the Hawk’s Behest | 2.Make-up

Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug / My Hero Academia

Ship: Marc x Nathaniel

Characters: Marc, Nathaniel, Hawk Moth

Prompt: Superheroes, from @nathmarcnovember

Word Count: 2,059

Tags: Villain!Nathaniel , Villain!Marc

Rating: T (for a few swear words towards the end)

Summary: Evillustrator has been working for Hawk-Moth and his criminal empire for years, and now he has a new assignment- and a new partner.

AN: It’s time for a My Hero Academia and Miraculous Ladybug fusion! While the prompt was just generalized superhero-theme, my current love for My Hero Academia reared it’s head and wrote out this; then you get my need for a special twist taking their villain forms and running with it! I hope you all enjoy!

“So, who’s the new villain you’re bringing into our little group Hawk-Moth?” Evillustrator asked, leaning against the wall of the manor of his employer. The manor was gilded with expensive gold, silver and marble, wood flooring and paneling giving it a dignified feeling. It was quite the opposite of most evil lairs Evillustrator had heard of, worth more than most criminals had to live off of; given Hawk-Moth had complete control over most organized crime in Paris, and rumored ties to the government, perhaps it was to be expected for someone of his stature.

Hawk-Moth chuckled as he descended the staircase, his Akuma butterflies fluttering around him. Evillustrator hated those little things. They were in their own way quite beautiful, but you stayed away from them. They were manifestations of Hawk-Moth’s Quirk and how he exerted his controlling powers over people. He’d been on the receiving end once before; he vowed that would never happen again, “Oh, you’ll meet our new blood soon enough. If you are free, I would like for you two to spend some time getting to know each other- an old ally in Japan has requested some assistance and if you two get along I am considering sending you as my representatives.”

That made Evillustrator raise an eyebrow. Usually, Hawk-Moth simply had them working to extend control over more of the French underworld. As one of Hawk-Moth’s more valuable enforcers ever since he had graduated, Evillustrator was too important to risk getting captured by the local authorities. Hawk-Moth, though he desired to capture Ladybug and Chat-Noir and Akumatize them, had learned over the years to not directly engage them unless he was sure he would win and not lose important pawns. “You’re willing to send us to Japan? That’s more than a bit of a trip.”

“He’s a very powerful ally that I will send only my best to- plus,” Hawk-Moth smirked at this, “it will grant you some level of protection. Knowing I value you will grant you a certain level of safety should you butt heads with them. He and his disciple are far less forgiving than I.” Hawk-Moth said, the irony obvious enough that Evillustrator had to snort at it. Hawk-Moth was ‘forgiving’- if you could call punishing people by permanently Akumatizing their loved ones or temporarily Akumatizing the person being punished ‘forgiving’.

There was a reason even Ladybug and Chat-Noir were cautious to directly confront Hawk-Moth in his lair.

“Fair enough. I know that not every criminal organization is as easy going as ours is.” Evillustrator said shrugging. “Anything I should know ahead of time? You know, besides the obvious ones like All-Might.” He said, walking with Hawk-Moth as they left the loft of his employer’s manor. The older gentleman considered his question.

“He didn’t leave me much as to what your objective would be, but he hinted towards possibly something to do with U.A.- I would suggest doing some research on the students there,” Hawk-Moth said, leading him down the long hall to the parlor. “I’m sure All For One will underestimate the student body should he attack it, but from our own experience with those two foolish superheroes, we shouldn’t leave anything to chance. Also,” Hawk-Moth suddenly stopped, looking over at Evillustrator, “Always refer to him with respect and as ‘Sensei’. Personally, I think his ego is far too big, but I do not want you to anger him over petty things.”

Evillustrator nodded seriously, keeping that in mind. It would be a change that Evillustrator would need to get used to. Even if Hawk-Moth was fairly uptight himself, he let his subordinates be independent. They knew they couldn’t refuse him, so whatever small resistance they showed him seemed to just amuse him. They could push his limits, of course, he was still a crime boss, but the Moth (as the crime network was referred to) tended to play nice with the boss for the most part.

Hawk-Moth gestured towards the door of the parlor, “He is in there Evillustrator- I have other matters that need my attention, so I leave things to you for now. Take the day to get to know him; I expect a report of your impressions and how well you would do together on a mission tomorrow morning.” He ordered, making the younger villain nod in agreement. Evillustrator opened the door as Hawk-Moth walked away, the man’s shoes clicking on the wooden floors.

He wasn’t sure what he had expected of whatever villain Hawk-Moth had scrounged up out of the gutter someplace. Perhaps some kid who had a powerful quirk but barely a costume to his name, or some idiot who’d ruined his life by stealing from a store and now was a wanted man. Hell, there was one-time Evillustrator had been put temporarily in charge of some idiot who had stolen from Hawk-Moth; the man’s family had all been Akumatized except for their child, and it was either work for the supervillain or lose their child too.

The man standing in the flickering light of the parlor, illuminated by the crackling fireplace, was none of that. He stood proudly, despite being fairly short, back straight and feet set in a confident stance. His villain costume was a striking dichotomy of black and white, neatly dividing him into sections that drew your eye along the costume’s harsh lines and edges. Evillustrator’s fingers itched for a pen or pencil; even the outfit’s silhouette was enough to make the designer in him impressed.

Hearing the door open, the man turned, with a snide look that still held a look of interest and curiosity. Evillustrator entered and he seemed to freeze, something that made Evillustrator smirk as he approached, “So you’re the new guy Hawk-Moth wanted me to partner up with. The name’s Evillustrator,” he said, introducing himself.

“I know who you are, Evillustrator. I’ve heard your name tossed around in the Moth. I certainly didn’t expect-“The man cut himself off and inclined his head to Evillustrator, extending a hand to shake, “My name is Reverser.” The slight stutter in the Reverser’s words that was so contrary to the proud and confident man that stood there a moment before. The shifting of weight that he had too, betrayed his sudden nervousness. It wasn’t at being in Hawk-Moth’s manor, nor meeting Evillustrator in person; he had been fine before Evillustrator had appeared. The veteran villain’s eyes narrowed a bit as he shook Reverser’s hand.

“What did you not expect? Please enlighten me- as your partner I am quite curious,” he said, his grip firm and almost crushing as he looked into the other villain’s eyes, trying to decipher what lay behind the slight widening of his admittedly pretty eyes.

Reverser coughed and looked away, “Well, you are quite striking and its hard to forget your voice, even when you distort it so heavily Nathaniel.” He said, a slight sneer coming into his tones at mentioning Evillustrator’s real name.

Nathaniel jerked a bit in surprise at that comment- not even Hawk-Moth used his real name when reprimanding him. No one used it anymore; hearing it sounded like a rusty and old car trying to start again for the first time in decades, “How do you know my name? How do you know me?” He said, a bit angry now, “Dammit, this is why Hawk-Moth didn’t tell me anything before sending me to talk to you isn’t it-?!”

Reverser chuckled at his response, giving him a coy smile, “It does seem like something he would do. He likes irony far more than is healthy.” Reverser’s smile turned to a sneer, however, “And I’m not surprised you don’t recognize me- you seemed plenty confident to ignore my existence after you destroyed my prom proposal.”

Oh, Nathaniel knew exactly who this was- he would never be able to forget the shy boy from high school. “Marc?! That’s- that’s you underneath all that make-up?” He said, honestly shocked. He never expected that sweet, kind boy to turn into a villain of all things.

Marc looked away, hearing the shock in Nathaniel’s voice, “It’s me… or at least, what’s left of me. I think it’s pretty obvious that life hasn’t been peachy for me since high school. Or during it for that matter; not that you helped things.” He said frustrated.

Nathaniel threw his hands in the air, “Well what did you expect to happen? When you accept a dare to humiliate me like that, next time think about how I might react to it if you actually valued my friendship,” He growled. Nathan actually had been interested in the cute, shy black-haired boy back in high school, but that had all changed when the boy had proved himself to be just the same bully Nathaniel had to deal with in the rest of school.

“Wait,” Marc said suddenly, voice sounding slightly hoarser, “You thought that I asked you out to prom- on a dare?!” He sounded like he was being strangled.

That made Nathaniel pause his internal rant about the other boy, “Well yeah? Of course? Chloe and her posse of bitches made my life a living hell during high school. Even Marinette, as nice as she was, just made things worse for me.” Nathaniel said, trying to keep a lid on his emotions. He didn’t like to remember the times he had come home bloody and bruised. “You were the shyest guy in the whole school- why would you do an extravagant proposal except on a dare?”

Marc was speechless before rubbing his face and letting out a long groan, “My god you’re an idiot.” He snapped, angry now as well, “I genuinely liked you, you idiot! You think you were the only one bullied in that school?! How do you think it was being a guy who enjoyed wearing make-up, having no self-confidence and being an absolute nerd was? Do you think Chloe left me alone either? You think I don’t know what it’s like to go home and cry yourself to sleep because they destroyed your new hoodie or your notebook full of stories? I liked you a lot and thought you would be different Nathaniel!”

Nathaniel stopped at that, gaping at the now-grown-up boy in front of him, “You… you really….?” He couldn’t believe this, “Seriously? Why the hell didn’t you say anything afterward then?! I was into you for years Marc! I would’ve said yes if I hadn’t been dealing with crippling depression and anxiety at the time- I might’ve had enough coherent thought to not jump to the worst conclusion if you’d sat down and talked to me about it again!”

They both stood in silence for a moment, not able to meet each other’s eyes. Now that it was said and out there… they both sounded like idiots. It was so ridiculous that in all honesty, it made Nathaniel chuckle. Marc looked up at him with wide eyes that made Nathan smirk.

“We’re a couple of fuck-ups aren’t we? Fitting I’d meet you again, this time in a villain’s lair.” That made Marc let out a shaky chuckle as he shook his head.

“Yeah, I guess so but… it seems fitting enough, doesn’t it? We made each other feel more hopeless when we were good guys; now here we are, villains that are going to be working together and helping each other,” Marc said as Nathaniel grinned at him.

“It’s like a school project from back in the day, huh? Well, I guess we’ll just have to meet up outside of class, won’t we?” Said Nathaniel, with a confidence that he wouldn’t have had back in those days. Marc, in turn, nodded with a sly grin, something he wouldn’t have done either.

They both really had changed, even if it was the same them underneath.

“Let’s do this again; hello, my name is Evillustrator, an enforcer for Hawk-Moth. My quirk is Living Art and I’m your new partner. I look forward t working with you,” Evillustrator said, smirking as he extended his hand again.

A black and white hand took his own confidently and shook it, “My name is Reverser, and my quirk is Reversion. I look forward to working with you.”

Evillustrator and Reverser smiled at each other, hands clasped tight and fingers intertwined for the first, but not the last, time in their lives.

#nathmarcnovember #nathaniel kurtzberg #marc anciel #hawk moth #evillustrator #reverser #my story #my fic

[greybat]

Fire & Leeches - Ch. 2 Esotericana

Chapter 1 Ao3 Link

Chapter summary: (Modern Band AU + Magic) After aiding the lead singer in avoiding an overeager fan, Xixa meets with the rest of the band backstage. Things are said, alcohol-assisted flirting is done, mistakes are made. 

The back area was a lot larger than Xixa thought. Grey hallways, much different from the warm and colorful designs of the main areas, twisted and turned in a small labyrinth. However, her companion navigated it with a sense of familiarity, and soon they were at a slightly ajar dressing room door.

He kicked it further open and announced, cheerfully, “I’m back!”

Xixa poked her head into room, drinking in the details. In a palette of blues and greens, it wasn’t quite the luxurious room the witch was imagining. A large, brightly lit vanity nearly took up an entire wall, reflecting the innards of the room. Posters plastered the walls, some torn and some autographed. Racks of clothes and costumes lined the wall across from the door; ribbons, sequins, neon colors, and more. The scent of cigarette smoke clung to the walls, though none of the current members seemed to be partaking.

The rest his band mates lounged on various bits of threadbare furniture in the room. The drummer claimed an armchair to herself, legs dangling over one arm while she rested her back against the other. Sitting on the couch, quiet and strangely easy to overlook, the hulking guitarist sat, reading a book.

“Ugh, you brought a groupie back here?” And that left Braid, who sat straight on the lumpy couch, long legs crossed before him. His nose wrinkled as his eyes flickered over Xixa. A sudden wave of embarrassment flashed over her. This was silly. They were probably tired from their show and didn’t want to deal with her. Plus, she wasn’t anticipating all of them being present when she tried her subtle interrogation on Asra’s ex.

“Shut up, Rius, at least he got the drinks without any more ‘malfunctions.’” The other woman hopped up from her chair, snatching a beer before they could even be set down. Xixa followed her companion further into the room, still holding her own share of the drinks. Following his motions, she set the extra bottles onto the coffee table.

“She helped me avoid Fieura. This is…” The redhead trailed off, eye widening and his ears pinking with embarrassment. He glanced toward Xixa, apology quirking his brows. “I didn’t catch your name.”

‘Rius’ reached over to snatch one of the fancier bottles from the clustered drinks and sniffed, “Shameless.”

“Xixa,” she answered, ignoring Braid’s aside. Apparently, he had opinions about Julian bringing fans to the back. Or maybe it the comment was aimed toward her. She didn’t care, either way.

“Well, you know Julian, I’m sure.” The redheaded woman grinned as she leaned toward Xixa, her blue eyes sparkling with a teasing glint. Xixa wasn’t sure she completely understood the teasing nature, but smiled anyway. Satisfied with the reaction, the other woman went on, indicating herself and the others in the room with a sweep of her hand, “I’m Portia. Big ‘n tall over there is Muriel and this lush here is Valerius.”

Xixa nodded as the introductions were made, waving a little uselessly. Well, now what? God, she was so awkward. And her head felt fuzzy.

Julian swaggered to the empty spot on the couch, drink in hand. His long legs splayed out before him, pants tight along his thighs and… other areas. After a gulp of his drink, he motioned to the room at large with a friendly grin, “Sit wherever you’d like, Xixa.”

Wherever? Her brain tittered at the thought, eyeing his lap. The cushioned stool, squatting beneath the brightly lit vanity table, was probably the safer bet. But, something buzzed, goading, in her synapses. Before she could talk down the mischief lighting along her thoughts, Xixa found herself crossing the room and lowering herself to one of his legs.

The man nearly choked on his drink. A dark red blush crawling over his face as he moved a hand over his mouth, covering his sputters.

“Oh, she’s got your number, Jules.” Portia snickered from behind her bottle. Valerius made a disgusted gagging sound, but didn’t say a word. Muriel still hadn’t looked up from his book.

“You did say anywhere,” Xixa smiled, with overt mock-innocence. “But I’m sure this is uncomfortable for you.”

Just as she shifted to move, Julian’s free arm snaked out behind her waist, hand landing on her hip with a squeeze. A hot jolt of inexplicable delight shot to her core. His eye stared into her face, the gaze somehow intense but soft, “No, it’s fine.”

A thrill shot down Xixa’s body. What had she gotten herself into?

Before either of them could forget the audience present, Portia broke the moment. “So, how’d you like the show, Xixa?”

“I enjoyed it,” Xixa looked over to Portia, relieved to tear her gaze away from Julian. Portia had flopped back down into the armchair. As Xixa shifted, Julian adjusted his hold slightly to steady her. The witch wracked her brain for things to say. What did you tell a band without sounding like a huge kiss-ass? “This was the first time I’ve seen you guys perform, but it seems you have a pretty decent fan base.”

Halfway through his second beer already, Valerius made a sucking sound against his teeth and groused, “It’d be larger if someone kept it in their pants.”

“After the delay today,” Xixa caught Julian’s eye, the corner of her lips quirked into a grin, “It sounds like he has a lot of problems with pants.”

The lead singer flushed, averting his gaze as he took a gulp of his beer. Across the room, Portia snickered. The witch was beginning to relax. This socializing thing was so hard! Or maybe that was just the synapses, still buzzing with alcohol.

“Ugh, please don’t tell him to take them off,” Valerius heaved a sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He chugged the rest of his drink, making his way to a third bottle.

“Maybe we should save that for a show one day,” Portia chimed in with a slight cackle. “Bet that’d up our fan numbers.”

Ignoring his bandmates’ jabs, Julian squeezed Xixa’s hip, asking with an incline of his head, “What else did you think?”

“Well, I’m not really musically minded, to be honest. So, take what I say with a grain of salt,” somewhere in the back of her mind, she was freaking out. This was too much attention on her, especially on her opinion of something she had no clue about. Alcohol-infused synapses spurred on her words and opinions, though. “The imagery in the lyrics appealed to me, like: Noose around my neck, starstrand in hand, / I take a swan dive and find a more forgiving land. But there were a lot of lines that reminded me of high school poetry.”

Her answer was greeted with silence. Glancing around awkwardly, she worried she’d said something that upset them. Portia grinned around her beer, amusement dancing in her eyes. Muriel raised their book, obscuring their face from view. Julian shifted awkwardly. Despite feeling she had made a misstep, her mouth continued talking. “Big Heart, Big Tiddies got a catchy beat, too.”

A peal of laughter cascaded from Portia, kicking her legs out and banging an amused tattoo on the floor. “You just came for our creative throats then try to assuage us by saying our jokiest song is catchy. I can’t with you!”

“So, what do you do, then?” Valerius asked, an icy edge to his voice. Xixa recognized that tone. That was the ‘does your job give you the right to have such high opinions’ tone. She’d heard it more than a few times while working at her store.

“I work in an occult store.” It never occurred to Xixa that this could be greeted with awkwardness or, even, hostility. Magic was abundant and Vesuvia, being a rather large city, had its fair share of magicians, witches, warlocks, and the like. However, Julian’s body tensed under her. The others in the room shifted uneasily. There was a sudden dusting of instability in the amused atmosphere. For the first time, since Xixa entered, Muriel slowly lowered their book and turned to look at her.

Julian cleared his throat, as if trying to dislodge something there, before asking, “Which store?”

Alarms keened in the back of her head. There was a subtle tenseness to the man, now. As if he were an animal ready to fight or flee. For a split second, Xixa debated on lying or making up a name. But habit got the better of her. “Esotericana.”

Julian all but shoved her off his lap and stood, quietly leaving the room. Xixa stumbled, but didn’t fall. She threw him a confused look. He didn’t even look back. A deathly quiet descended on the room. An almost electric distaste filled the air. Even in Xixa’s state, she could feel the auras in the room take on a negative vibe.

“Alright,” Portia stood, all smiles and grins gone. She grabbed Xixa by her elbow, hauling the woman to the door with surprising strength. “I think you’ve stayed long enough.”

xxx

The sounds of The Garden blared into Xixa’s ears as Portia shoved her out of the door. A jarring difference from the quiet, enjoyable back area. Ambient body heat, loud laughter, music over the speakers. It was all too much input, now.

Portia grabbed Xixa by the collar of her shirt, lips curled into a snarl. “If that bastard sent you to do anything to my brother–”

“Who?” It took Xixa a moment to realize ‘brother’ meant Julian and ‘bastard’ meant Asra.

“Oooh, I swear–” Portia held up a first under Xixa’s nose.

“No, no, no.” Xixa held up her hands. Her head swam with wobbly thoughts, but she had enough wits about her to figure out the situation. Rubbing the palms of her hands against her eyes, she muttered an apology, “I don’t drink a lot, my head’s swimming. I’m… I’m guessing this has to do with Asra?”

“You’re guessing right!” Portia pushed Xixa away, causing the woman to stumble back. The redhead pointed at the witch, as if accusing her of some tremendous crime. “Coming in here, all flirty and shit! Get out of here before I shove my boot up your ass!”

“Wait, I just… I don’t know what I did wrong. I was enjoying myself.” Xixa’s lips twisted into a frown as her mind retraced the conversation. It had been the answer of her workplace that did this! They knew Asra worked there, so they thought she was up to something. This needed damage control. Quickly. “I mean, I wanted to ask about Asra after your performance – it’s so hard to get him to talk about anything –  but you guys had packed it up. When Julian got accosted by my table, I was sincerely just being nice.”

The drummer leered at Xixa, arms crossed and lips twisted nearly into a snarl. The witch thought, maybe, Portia was just going to give her the silent treatment. Her feet were about to shuffle her off, like a scolded dog, when the redhead asked an abrupt question, “What do you think of of my brother?”

“Oh, uh…” Heat licked over Xixa’s face. Her hands curled around the strap of her purse, worrying the faux leather with her nails. A more reserved part of her brain shuddered at the question. What did she think of him? She had just met him. Her intuitive side took over, though, given more free reign with a little alcohol in Xixa. The witch closed her eyes, trying to grab onto her thoughts before they disappeared, “He doesn’t seem like a bad guy. Sweet, good-natured. Kind of dorky, but I think it’s endearing.”

Xixa hadn’t realized she’d been smiling until she opened her eyes. Portia’s expression made her abundantly self-conscious. The smile drifted away, but the warmth of replaying the last hour or so in the dressing room remained. Her fingertips couldn’t help but fiddle with her purse strap.

“Alright, I believe you,” Portia grudgingly said after a beat. She adjusted her footing. “But you’re attached to the magician and I don’t want to go down that path with Jules again. So, just go.”

The witch turned to leave, but paused. Guilt swelled in her chest, even though she didn’t feel she had done anything wrong.

“Okay. Can you let him know I’m sorry?” Xixa bit at the inside of her cheek as Portia raised her eyebrows, a slight fire still burning in her blue eyes. “For upsetting him? I didn’t mean to.”

Before disappearing into the back, Portia gave a terse nod. Standing at The Garden, alone and surrounded by people, Xixa felt a cold chill climb up her spine. Tears pricked at her eyes. She had been having fun. That was rare, considering her only friend was Asra and he often left her alone. Still clutching her purse like a lifeline, Xixa made a beeline for the exit.

#the arcana game #thearcanagame #julian devorak #portia devorak #muriel #valerius #julian devorak x mc #julian x mc #my writing

[ramajmedia]

10 MCU Tattoos That Make You Feel Like A Superhero | ScreenRant

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has amassed a pretty massive fanbase during their decade-long existence. One of the best things about the superfans is their creative ability to show their love for the material they support. Cosplay is the most popular form of fan appreciation, but some go all out with something more permanent than a costume.

RELATED: Every Confirmed Upcoming MCU Project, Ranked By Fans' Excitement

Tattoos have been around for centuries. Nevertheless, they still continue to be used as a form of symbolic body art. For some hardcore Marvel fans, tattoos are a way of showing their love for the MCU in incredibly creative ways. So without further ado, here are 10 MCU tattoos that make you feel like a superhero.

10 The Winter Soldier

The death of Steve Rogers' best friend in Captain America: The First Avenger was an unexpected, heartbreaking scene. Fortunately, fans were thrilled to see him return as the truly terrifying Winter Soldier. Since that time, Bucky returned to his normal self, was brainwashed back into an assassin, finally got rid of the Winter Soldier, started living in Wakanda as the White Wolf, died, and then came back to life.

However, throughout all that confusing mess, he never let go of his deadly cybernetic arm (not even at Rocket's request). Therefore what better way to honor the poor soldier than to tattoo his own arm on to your own? This is exactly what Tumblr's @zayacv did, with an impressive attention to detail that makes it seem as if a large chunk of metal really did replace her upper arm.

9 Marvel-ous

What simpler way to show your appreciation for a brand than sticking its logo on your back. This man definitely thought that was the best option, and, honestly, the end product does look incredible. Instead of simply recreating the minimalistic red and white logo, he went for a more creative route, similar to what we get at the start of every Marvel movie. A familiar hero's face, in gorgeous detail, fills the inside of each letter.

RELATED: Marvel May Not Release An X-Men Movie Until Phase 6

Now, it is true that this isn't exactly an MCU tattoo per se, seeing as it features two X-Men (Deadpool and Wolverine, to be exact). However, the colorful logo sprawled across this human back, created by Italian artist Daniele Maiorano, is too awesome to ignore. Also, we probably only have to wait until Phase 5 for the Fox characters to join our beloved Avengers anyway.

8 A worthy tattoo

At a certain point during Endgame, Thor tells the team that lightning is what courses through his veins. Apparently, there is someone else who suffers from a similar condition and this gentleman right here has the tattoo to prove it. The drawing itself is far from incredible. A simple depiction of Thor's mighty hammer. It's the technique behind it that grants it a place in this list.

Using a special ultraviolet ink, Long House Tattoo in Denver created what is referred to as a black-light tattoo. These are basically tattoos that are invisible to the eye unless exposed to a black-light. In this case, the black-light transforms a boring-looking hammer on a regular arm, into a lightning-fueled limb, powered by Mjolnir itself.

7 Hail Hydra

While most Hydra agents tend to infiltrate silently as spies and undercover agents, this woman seems willing to show the world exactly where her allegiances lie. This impressive depiction of the infamous symbol that led Steve Rogers to frozen waters, Bucky Barnes to becoming the Winter Soldier, and the corruption of SHIELD stands out from what could have been a bland drawing.

Instead of a simple circular design with a flat image of a squid inside, the artist, Sean Kotnik, created a truly vivid tattoo. The colors and the purposefully blotted image gives it a very three-dimensional look. It's almost as if the symbol was stamped on to the arm with red blood and black ink.

6 Excelsior!

This tattoo by Anson Eastin is unlike the previous ones. That is, it's neither 3D, glow-in-the-dark, or sprawled over someones' back. Actually, it is a very typical leg tattoo. That's not to say that it isn't impressive, seeing as the entire limb is covered in hammers, shields, arc reactors, lightning, and... Avengers in general.

RELATED: Stan Lee Gets A New York Street Named After Him

However, the one crucial detail that separates itself from the others is a simple handwritten addition to the image. A signature by no other than Stan "The Man" Lee. For a Marvel fan, especially one who enjoys showing his appreciation through his own skin, there is no greater honor than forever carrying an authentic signature by the creator himself. Even more so now that he is gone...

5 I am Iron Man

He had to come up at some point. How could one forget the MCU's central character, the one that gave birth to it all? Up until Iron Man 3, Tony Stark wasn't just bound by his suits, but he was also chained to a piece of technology that prevented the shrapnel (from the bombing in Iron Man) from entering his heart.

As is repeatedly mentioned in Far From Home, Tony Stark's death begun the search for a new Iron Man. This man looks ready to take on the job. This incredible piece of art by Chad Mcdonald looks so real, it's scary. The pulsing blue light in the center of his chest, plus the added infected veins that surround it gives it a truly vivid look. All he needs is a suit to make use of its power.

4 Comedy bugs

This tattoo (or should I say tattoos) created at Sweety Creepy Tattooatelier are, like the movie itself, funny and small in size. Unlike the serious ultra-realism of the previous entries, this one is based solely on comedy. The image itself is obviously nothing special. All it is is literally two dots, two arrows, and the title of a movie written on two arms. The concept behind it is what makes it so cool.

Not only is it a hilarious poke at the hero's sizes, but each arm actually belongs to different people. These are two friends/lovers (could be either one really) who used their combined upper limbs to create one sole MCU tattoo. Scott and Hope would love to see this.

3 Earth's Mightiest Heroes

"Hello, can I help you?". "Yes. Do you think... Would it be possible to transform my entire back into the Avengers: Age of Ultron poster?" Turns out, it is. Instead of going for a simple arm tattoo of his favorite Marvel hero, this man took off his shirt to replace his caucasian back with a mix of blues, reds, greens, and golds.

RELATED: Avengers: Endgame Contains Some 'Important,' Undiscovered Easter Eggs, Russos Say

Iron Man front and center, Captain America above him holding his iconic shield, Thor and Hulk below them, and Black Widow and Hawkeye in the background. In addition to this, the otherwise empty spaces are covered in clouds and lightning, and the subject's shoulder showcases a group of alien Leviathan arriving from a portal in the sky. No doubt this is a superfan.

2 Snap

Looks like we're back to ultra-realism again with this unusual, yet awesome tattoo. The Infinity Gauntlet was teased ever since they first mentioned Infinity Stones in the MCU. It wasn't until a post-credits scene in Age of Ultron that we finally got a quick glimpse of Thanos' glove, but we still had to wait until Infinity War to see it filled with all six colored gems.

In honor of the Mad Titan, Revelation Tattoo created its very own Infinity Gauntlet, with colored Stones and everything. The supposedly metal screws really do resemble metal screws that are popping out of the skin. The Infinity Stones (especially the Mind Stone right in the middle) bulges off the hand. It's not a complete Gauntlet, but it looks real enough to wipe out half the universe.

1 Avengers... assemble

This is the simplest, most boring tattoo on the list. Actually, there is no reason why it should even be included. Even a drawing of Groot on someone's foot is more interesting than this. However, unlike all the other entries, this one is defined, not by the drawing itself, but by its history. Around the time Infinity War was released, the original six Avengers cast each decided to get themselves inked.

All of them (except Mark Ruffalo) got the same symbol tattoed on their body by artist Joshua Lorde. The number "6" is clearly shown, as are the various symbols that represent each Avenger (although, those are a bit harder to identify). Robert Downey Jr is done, Chris Evans is unlikely to return, and the rest will soon follow. Yet, this symbol will remain with them for the rest of their lives, forever making them... The Avengers.

NEXT: Idris Elba Wants to Play Heimdall Again in the MCU

source https://screenrant.com/mcu-tattoos-marvel-superhero-art/

#screenrant

[renaroo]

Double Time (1/24)

Disclaimer: Red vs Blue and related characters are the property of Rooster Teeth. Warnings: Language, Canon-typical violence Pairings: Tuckington, Chex Rating: T Synopsis: [Hero Time Sequel] After the events of Hero Time, the city and Blood Gulch are prepared for the true return of superheroes in a big way. But while Washington is attempting to adjust to a new relationship and a new living arrangement, the call of new heroes and a new mayor mean major changes for his professional life as well as his personal one. How will the balance of values fare when his new partners come to test everything he’s made of.

A/N: We are finally, finally back to this AU that has been the start of just so much in my fandom experience here with RvB. I adore this AU and while I needed the short break it’s fantastic to be back in the swing of things and getting back to the part of the story that captured so many people’s hearts to begin with: the relationship between our hero and our civilian. Hopefully everyone’s as ready for some high octane hero romance as I am!

I want to once again thank my collaborator and the just all around awesome artist @ashleystlawrence who helped inspire this AU as well as has provided just amazing artwork and costume designs throughout the installments. And also to @goodluckdetective for being a huge inspiration for this AU as well. This series is a labor of love dedicated to the inspiration of the two of them.

Startlingly Routine

Cities were never really quiet, and in that way, a hero who worked in a city was never really done. 

Washington wondered, somewhat idly, if that was the reason behind never exactly hearing about superheroes in the more sprawling wilds of rural country land, but he also supposed that a simple counterpoint was that heroes didn’t look nearly as cool prowling on tree limbs as they did on rooftops.

Clearly. 

He looked to the police scanner that Church had built him at the behest of Tucker and tuned into the several frequencies. Really, it was any wonder he was able to patrol without the little device on his wrist formerly -- it made finding trouble and being able to assist that much easier. 

And it had only been a few months since the entirety of the Blood Gulch Crew had entered into his never-completely-simple life. 

“Still nothing?” he asked the air around him, aggravation clear in his sigh. “Though, I suppose that’s better than something. By someone’s book.”

As a professional superhero, Wash knew that not every patrol was met with intrigue, but he was far from ready to call it a night either. 

Not until he checked in on his... work in progress. 

With an aggravated sigh, the catlike superhero began to change his patrol path and race instead toward the mechanic’s shop where his second longest rehabilitation attempt was stationed.

The Red Dead Blood Gulch Gang had long been operating out of Lopez’s garage -- their mechanic the ever befuddled and seemingly unhappy member given the unfortunate codename Brown. It was the kind of information which Wash would have given an arm and a leg to know when he was hunting down their crime patterns as the newly returned superhero Washington. 

Instead he gave them practically every other part of their body when he bounced off their hood and windshield.

For being a former criminal organization, even if did fancy itself to be more akin to Robin Hood than straight up debauchery, the Reds were not a particularly intimidating bunch to drop in on.

Stealthily as he might have been, Washington couldn’t help but think that former criminals sitting around  a mechanic’s garage and drinking beer while the reminisced should have been at least a little aware of his presence. Then again, he was obviously giving the Reds far, far too much credit on nearly every account.

“What’s got Lopez all pinched up and pissed off?” Grif asked, throwing a used can toward the garbage and missing, earning an annoyed look from Simmons.

“I think that’s just his face, guys!” Donut stage whispered to them, using his arm that was still in a brace. Wash tried to take some solace in the fact that it was no longer a cast (there was little to be had).

“He’s turning blue on us, just wait!” Sarge howled. “He’s all in a pissy mood and whatnot because we scheduled this meeting for the Gang on one of his precious date nights with our newest getaway driver.”

“How many times do I have to tell you, old man, I’m still your driver!” Grif snapped.

“Probably until you actually start driving again,” Simmons said with a roll of his eye.

“Even so, Sheila hasn’t agreed to be the getaway driver,” Grif argued.

“Oh, she will be! Her time will come, and she will see what her true calling has been all along,” Sarge chuckled.

Lopez sat in the back corner, arms crossed angrily over his chest as he released a long, aggravated sigh but otherwise didn’t even contribute to the conversation.

“Believe me, Sarge, getaway driver is not a calling anyone feels happy to answer to,” Grif huffed.

Having heard more than enough, Washington stepped more fully into the garage and partially into the light, tilting his head. “Strictly speaking, if you’re not doing things illegally anymore, you wouldn’t be a getaway driver at all. Just a driver.”

Nearly all at once, the Reds jumped up in surprise, causing more spilled beer cans than Sarge would have ever allowed in his poker basement. A fact that it pained Wash to know after the time he was drug down there by Tucker for a way to ‘relax with the guys.’

“Wow! Wash! Don’t jump out of the shadows like that!” Donut cried out. “Makes people think you’re about to shake them down for information they don’t have or something!”

Incapable of escaping the flinch that caused him to make, Wash merely sighed. “I’ll make note of that for the future, Donut,” he offered before looking more specifically to Sarge. “But I did promise to make more casual drop ins to see how you guys were doing with keeping the neighborhoods safe instead of taking on the system. In… utterly counter productive ways.”

“Yeah, well, at least painting stoplights and getting back at dumb bakeries was fun,” Grif huffed. “People barely thank you when you work on improving the community. Stupid community. What the fuck has it ever done for us? Nothing. That’s why we became a badass gang to begin with.”

“So eloquent, Grif, no wonder you’ve not been moved up to leader of a mission yet,” Simmons scoffed.

“I know it’s a… difficult adjustment to make,” Wash offered. “But for what it’s worth—“

“Not a hell of a lot, son,” Sarge harrumphed.

“But for what it’s worth,” Wash pressed on, “I think together we’re actually doing something to improve Blood Gulch. I’ve been on the police scanner all night and I’ve not heard anything. That’s the second time this week we’ve had a quiet night.”

“Second time this week you and Tex have had a quiet night,” Simmons corrected.

“Yeah, you’ve still not had us helping out with the actual crime fighting stuff,” Donut whined. “When’s that going to get started? I’d love to start on that stuff! I mean, planting a new community garden and cleaning up the park are great—“

“No they’re not,” Grif retorted.

“But we thought recovering from former villainy would involve more hero-type stuff,” Donut explained with a wide smile.

Wash put his hands on his hips and forced a smile. “I’m afraid I can’t really force crime to happen. And if I could, I wouldn’t. It’s good for our city to have a downtick in dangerous activity. But as soon as we start having emergencies again, when heroes are needed, I’ll know when to call you… So long as your community service hours are being kept up on.” He squinted at them. “They are being kept up, aren’t they?”

The Reds all glanced to each other then back to Washington.

“Oh, yeaaaaah, sure, Wash! We’re right on those!” Donut called out in what was bound to be his least believable voice.

“No,” Lopez voiced.

“See! Even Lopez agrees about how well we’ve been doing!” Sarge chuckled.

Washington scowled. “No is still no even in Spanish. I understood him perfectly.”

“We’re fine, stop moaning and groaning about the number of hours we have left to our community service,” Grif huffed. “You’re literally the only person who cares.”

“Technically the law cares,” Wash reminded them.

“And we’re only a few hours behind our projected capita, Sir,” Simmons bit out nervously. “We’re good on them, promise!”

Wash sighed. “I know going straight is hard—“

“I’ve never even tried it!” Donut rang in almost instantly.

“Yeah, like you’d know the first thing about going straight,” Grif laughed at Wash’s face.

“You know what?” Washington sighed. “I’m just going to go home. Don’t forget to clock in your community service hours this week. I’m serious. It’s important that you do that.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever, Mister Fancy Pants in a new costume. All blue and disgusting — you should be ashamed of yourself,” Sarge grumbled.

“I’m far from it,” Wash said, heading out of the garage. “Seriously, keep up doing the good work and I wouldn’t have to pay you surprise visits.”

There was some garbled resentment, but Wash was far from caring about it.

With the Reds taken care of for the night, he was on his literal last stop of the night, and couldn’t be happier to finally get there.

Home was still a seemingly normal flat overtop a seemingly normal (because it was) laundromat. But behind such normal doors was security, protection, and — newly added — people waiting for him on the other side of it all.

Coming in through his bedroom window, Wash was at least a little disappointed that his room was empty. He never liked it when he kept people waiting, but living with said people had really made that gut reaction turn up to eleven.

Quickly dispensing with his patrol uniform, Wash changed into some boxers and a tee for comfort before going to the door and hoping that he was only keeping one person waiting instead of two.

In the main room, Tucker was preoccupied with a laptop and wearing pajama pants but not much else. Which, considering his usual bedroom attire, was a bonus, Wash supposed.

There was no Junior which meant the little quasi-alien was in bed and not waiting for the superhero role model to return home safely and give adventurous tales he could draw out and further cover the fridge with.

Standing in the doorway for a moment, Wash leaned against the frame and just looked at the sight set out before him. At his life — so different and new from what he had known just months before. And all because he had, by complete happenstance, ran into Tucker. Tucker and Junior and every remotely wild and obtuse friend and family that came along with them. From Reds to former evil geniuses to old not-so-dead fellow Freelancers, and landlords that Wash was more than happy to never deal with again.

It was all because of Tucker, and Wash’s heart swelled in his chest at the very thought of him.

That was, until Tucker happened to glance up from his laptop, get spooked and scream, and react by throwing a television remote Wash’s way.

Surprised, Wash moved out of the way and let the remote to the new television crash against the wall behind him and shatter. “Tucker! What the hell—“

“Wash!? What the hell is wrong with you? Why do you have to sneak up so quietly everywhere you go!?” Tucker cried out, bewildered. “If you were a cat I’d put a bell on you.”

Wash looked through the darkness at his partner and raised a brow. “Hilarious.”

“It’s not hilarious, it’s a valid threat,” Tucker said, sitting up on his knees and leaning over the back of the couch. “Any trouble tonight?”

Wash walked toward the couch. “Unfortunately no.”

“Unfortunately?” Tucker mocked. “I’ll never understand superheroes, I swear.”

“Unfortunately in that there won’t be a whole lot to tell Junior when he forces us both awake for breakfast in a few hours,” Wash said, leaning against the back of the couch, just inches from Tucker. “And for someone who will never understand superheroes, you’ve done a fairly decent job of getting together quite the crew of superhero tropes to surround yourself with over the years.”

Tucker shrugged passively, a smirk on his lips. “Eh, I’ve got my own power of magnetic personality. I just draw them all in.”

Tilting his head, Wash couldn’t help the fond smile across his face. “You certainly do,” he said. “I just hope it makes you happy.”

“What does?” Tucker asked blissfully, shutting his laptop.

“Being surrounded by bigger than life issues, living here with me, being friends with almost-nearly-convicts, pretending I didn’t see that it was porn on your screen before you shut your laptop,” Wash listed off almost wistfully.

“Make me happy?” Tucker laughed. “Wash, it’s like the definition of what makes me happy right now. I’m staying up late not because I had to pick up extra late night hours at the diner to cover the appliances. I’m staying up late watching porn in a living room I share with my superhero boyfriend who has a bankroll due to the kinda sketchy government coverup stuff that people on Blood Gulch couldn’t even dream up.” He then raised a brow of his own. “You ever going to tell me the full story of that someday?”

“I’m sure I will,” Wash said. “Just not tonight. Not when I can spend that time sleeping next to you in bed instead.”

Tucker waggled his eyebrow, as to be expected. “That all?”

“Well, I did have a slow night,” Wash lamented before leaning in and meeting Tucker for the kiss the man had been very obviously moving in for the entire conversation.

His life was becoming startlingly routine, but Washington had learned to very much love that.

And he truly did. It was the thing in the world he loved third most of all — right after Tucker and Junior.

At the back of his mind, though, Wash knew to be anxious, even if he wouldn’t dare show it to his partner. Because for a hero, slipping into routines, having things one loved most of all in the world, always seemed to have a price to be paid.

Sooner or later.

#writing #rvb fic #RvB: Hero Time #RvB: Double Time #Tuckington #Agent Washington #Lavernius Tucker #Dexter Grif #Dick Simmons #Franklin Delano Donut #AI: Lopez the Heavy #Colonel Sarge

[theriteofdance-blog]

Ka • Cirque du Soleil

Performance Details:

March 18, 2017 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

The experience for the performance of Ka really starts from the moment you begin lining up to enter the theatre. The men and women who work there by keeping the lines in order and checking tickets take on personas and characters that vary drastically. My personal encounters involved a rather buff and stoic-looking man who barked hilariously specific orders to those who were trying to figure out where the lines of entry were, and a greying man with a walking stick who was friendly but entirely kooky in his conversational topics (Which ranged from pointing out baldness in males who were waiting in the same line as myself to the history of helicopters and their resemblance to dragonflies). Each comment got a chorus of good-natured chuckles from those of us waiting in the line, and while at first it can be confusing, it became clear that these were not just workers. They were very good at acting and initiating conversation in their character’s mindset. 

Like I said, it becomes a performance experience almost as soon as you walk into the theatre lobby. 

Inside the actual theatre, the stage is staggering in its design and construction. It really makes your mouth gape in awe, and wonder what sort of show is about to unfold. Several people behind me, when I turned around, had stopped entirely in the middle of the walkway inside the theatre to openly marvel at the stage extensions that ran above our heads. As the show would progress, the magnitude of the staging would continually prove to be awe-inspiring. I think that this is one of the most prominent factors of the show itself, acrobatic amazing-ness aside. With rotating stage floors that spin and rearrange itself to provide a tilted or completely vertical position, it makes the actions of the performers atop it even more impressive. The skill necessary to flip, run, fall, twirl, jump, and fling off of a moving, tilted, or completely vertical stage is not something that many dancers (like myself) can even imagine doing. 

Returning to the performance, the show is described as being “the story of the coming of age of a young man and a young woman and their encounters with love, conflict and the duality of Ka”. The storyline is revealed throughout the performance, and it is done fairly well. The story is told in parts, where a scene will cut and the staging will switch around to move to a different character much like a book written in sequence through various points of view. 

A short summary of the story’s plot: A brother and sister seem to celebrate (the occasion seems unclear, were it not for the booming narrative voice that opens the show, declaring the occasion as being the twins’ coming of age celebration) in the midst of a great gathering of individuals. The position of everyone else in relation to the twins suggests to the audience that the twins are royalty. They are happy and carefree, until a band of hostile enemies appear and decimate the mood of festiveness. In the fight that ensues, the parents of the royal twins are killed. Despite trying to escape via boat together with their court, the twins themselves are separated; the male twin falls off the boat and is saved by the court jester, and the female twin with the caretaker and two male court valets wash up on the shoreline of a beach after the boat sinks. The twins each face their own set of challenges and build up experiences (including falling in love) that test their determination which culminates in an eventual reunion between brother and sister and a final battle against the enemies that threaten them and their loved ones. 

There is no spoken component to the storyline, though the performers do speak in what is assumed to be a made-up language when dialogue comes about. The real communication comes from the body gestures and facial expressions. We don’t know what the female twin is saying, but we can see her curious expression and careful steps forward toward the unfamiliar terrain she’s been exposed to. 

The costuming for this production was complex, and at times I felt that the design of some of the costumes could have been done differently so that the movements of the performers could be more clearly identified, specifically in the case of the performers who were supposed to be royalty or royal court members. Sometimes, for instance, the leg-tucked-into-chest flips that performers executed were almost hard to follow and appreciate because the costume would be too long and the only visible thing moving through the air were folds of fabric. 

I appreciated the stark difference in costuming between the royalty and royal court from the enemies because it made it simple to understand who was part of which side. A point I have to make because there have been shows in the past where strong distinctions were not made and the audience was constantly in a state of confusion trying to identify who was who when they could have been focusing on the movement and story. In all, however, the costumes were imagery-inspiring and certainly drew in the eye. My personal favorite was the Firefly Boy in his glitzy and sparkly nude body suit - who I like to refer to as the “glitzy Tarzan”.  

The show had an astounding musical score. In intense moments of complex choreographed fighting or thrashing aboard moving stage sets, the music was positively engulfing and prompted an almost physical reaction in my own heart to feel each deep drum strike or buzz with the enchanting male choral chanting. I admit, the more dramatic music was my favorite and I loved it so much that I absolutely had to buy a CD of the soundtrack as soon as I left the Ka theatre. 

Interestingly enough, the whole production seemed to me to gain much of its influence visually from the Eastern world. The Dragon that roared at the interest was sculpted and painted in much the same way one would see them portrayed in Chinese artwork, the face paint and mask design on many of the performers seemed to draw off of the art style of the Japanese, the royal costuming was reminiscent of robes worn by Eastern royalty, and the use of the little instrument by the main villain at the very start of the show to assumedly signal the beginning of the show had such a strong resemblance to Buddhist practice. Because of all this, I wondered if the title of the show ‘Ka’ was to highlight the theme of family in the show since the Cantonese word for family is Ka (家庭). 

The performers of this amazing show were brilliant, and can certainly be considered masters of their art. The aerial acrobats were a personal favorite, especially the scene in which the Sister Twin and Firefly Boy soared high above the stage together, landing gently on solid stage flooring to be playful and flirt innocently only to wow the crowd by flying up and over the audience. It was a scene that left the audience captivated, heads following the progress of the two contorting bodies through the air and gasping collectively when the Sister Twin latched on with her feet to the Firefly Boy dangling without holding on with arms or hands above the crowd. 

Another stand out scene, amongst the many that existed, was the ship scene in which the ship convincingly rocked to and fro violently in the midst of a stage actively lit to appear like a thunderstorm. It was about mid-scene that I realized that the ship was not moving mechanically, at least not completely, because it was being rocked by the weight of performers at each end of the ship like a giant see-saw. The job that these performers had almost slid past my radar since their ability to act and move the boat at the same time made me believe they were just as frenzied as all the other performers were. It truly was a spectacle, and one I will never forget. 

The production of Ka at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas is without a doubt a must-see event! It will thrill you, make you laugh, keep your level of alertness always at the max, and it will not leave you disappointed or underwhelmed. If you are a dancer like myself, the show will make you wish you could train harder so that one day you can join the world of Cirque Du Soleil and dazzle the audience the same way you were dazzled the night you stepped into the Ka Theatre. 

-Patricia Hernandez 

#Ka #cirque du soleil #performance critique #performance review #las vegas #mgmgrand #mgm grand #lasvegas

[ramajmedia]

10 MCU Tattoos That Make You Feel Like A Superhero | ScreenRant

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has amassed a pretty massive fanbase during their decade-long existence. One of the best things about the superfans is their creative ability to show their love for the material they support. Cosplay is the most popular form of fan appreciation, but some go all out with something more permanent than a costume.

RELATED: Every Confirmed Upcoming MCU Project, Ranked By Fans' Excitement

Tattoos have been around for centuries. Nevertheless, they still continue to be used as a form of symbolic body art. For some hardcore Marvel fans, tattoos are a way of showing their love for the MCU in incredibly creative ways. So without further ado, here are 10 MCU tattoos that make you feel like a superhero.

10 The Winter Soldier

The death of Steve Rogers' best friend in Captain America: The First Avenger was an unexpected, heartbreaking scene. Fortunately, fans were thrilled to see him return as the truly terrifying Winter Soldier. Since that time, Bucky returned to his normal self, was brainwashed back into an assassin, finally got rid of the Winter Soldier, started living in Wakanda as the White Wolf, died, and then came back to life.

However, throughout all that confusing mess, he never let go of his deadly cybernetic arm (not even at Rocket's request). Therefore what better way to honor the poor soldier than to tattoo his own arm on to your own? This is exactly what Tumblr's @zayacv did, with an impressive attention to detail that makes it seem as if a large chunk of metal really did replace her upper arm.

9 Marvel-ous

What simpler way to show your appreciation for a brand than sticking its logo on your back. This man definitely thought that was the best option, and, honestly, the end product does look incredible. Instead of simply recreating the minimalistic red and white logo, he went for a more creative route, similar to what we get at the start of every Marvel movie. A familiar hero's face, in gorgeous detail, fills the inside of each letter.

RELATED: Marvel May Not Release An X-Men Movie Until Phase 6

Now, it is true that this isn't exactly an MCU tattoo per se, seeing as it features two X-Men (Deadpool and Wolverine, to be exact). However, the colorful logo sprawled across this human back, created by Italian artist Daniele Maiorano, is too awesome to ignore. Also, we probably only have to wait until Phase 5 for the Fox characters to join our beloved Avengers anyway.

8 A worthy tattoo

At a certain point during Endgame, Thor tells the team that lightning is what courses through his veins. Apparently, there is someone else who suffers from a similar condition and this gentleman right here has the tattoo to prove it. The drawing itself is far from incredible. A simple depiction of Thor's mighty hammer. It's the technique behind it that grants it a place in this list.

Using a special ultraviolet ink, Long House Tattoo in Denver created what is referred to as a black-light tattoo. These are basically tattoos that are invisible to the eye unless exposed to a black-light. In this case, the black-light transforms a boring-looking hammer on a regular arm, into a lightning-fueled limb, powered by Mjolnir itself.

7 Hail Hydra

While most Hydra agents tend to infiltrate silently as spies and undercover agents, this woman seems willing to show the world exactly where her allegiances lie. This impressive depiction of the infamous symbol that led Steve Rogers to frozen waters, Bucky Barnes to becoming the Winter Soldier, and the corruption of SHIELD stands out from what could have been a bland drawing.

Instead of a simple circular design with a flat image of a squid inside, the artist, Sean Kotnik, created a truly vivid tattoo. The colors and the purposefully blotted image gives it a very three-dimensional look. It's almost as if the symbol was stamped on to the arm with red blood and black ink.

6 Excelsior!

This tattoo by Anson Eastin is unlike the previous ones. That is, it's neither 3D, glow-in-the-dark, or sprawled over someones' back. Actually, it is a very typical leg tattoo. That's not to say that it isn't impressive, seeing as the entire limb is covered in hammers, shields, arc reactors, lightning, and... Avengers in general.

RELATED: Stan Lee Gets A New York Street Named After Him

However, the one crucial detail that separates itself from the others is a simple handwritten addition to the image. A signature by no other than Stan "The Man" Lee. For a Marvel fan, especially one who enjoys showing his appreciation through his own skin, there is no greater honor than forever carrying an authentic signature by the creator himself. Even more so now that he is gone...

5 I am Iron Man

He had to come up at some point. How could one forget the MCU's central character, the one that gave birth to it all? Up until Iron Man 3, Tony Stark wasn't just bound by his suits, but he was also chained to a piece of technology that prevented the shrapnel (from the bombing in Iron Man) from entering his heart.

As is repeatedly mentioned in Far From Home, Tony Stark's death begun the search for a new Iron Man. This man looks ready to take on the job. This incredible piece of art by Chad Mcdonald looks so real, it's scary. The pulsing blue light in the center of his chest, plus the added infected veins that surround it gives it a truly vivid look. All he needs is a suit to make use of its power.

4 Comedy bugs

This tattoo (or should I say tattoos) created at Sweety Creepy Tattooatelier are, like the movie itself, funny and small in size. Unlike the serious ultra-realism of the previous entries, this one is based solely on comedy. The image itself is obviously nothing special. All it is is literally two dots, two arrows, and the title of a movie written on two arms. The concept behind it is what makes it so cool.

Not only is it a hilarious poke at the hero's sizes, but each arm actually belongs to different people. These are two friends/lovers (could be either one really) who used their combined upper limbs to create one sole MCU tattoo. Scott and Hope would love to see this.

3 Earth's Mightiest Heroes

"Hello, can I help you?". "Yes. Do you think... Would it be possible to transform my entire back into the Avengers: Age of Ultron poster?" Turns out, it is. Instead of going for a simple arm tattoo of his favorite Marvel hero, this man took off his shirt to replace his caucasian back with a mix of blues, reds, greens, and golds.

RELATED: Avengers: Endgame Contains Some 'Important,' Undiscovered Easter Eggs, Russos Say

Iron Man front and center, Captain America above him holding his iconic shield, Thor and Hulk below them, and Black Widow and Hawkeye in the background. In addition to this, the otherwise empty spaces are covered in clouds and lightning, and the subject's shoulder showcases a group of alien Leviathan arriving from a portal in the sky. No doubt this is a superfan.

2 Snap

Looks like we're back to ultra-realism again with this unusual, yet awesome tattoo. The Infinity Gauntlet was teased ever since they first mentioned Infinity Stones in the MCU. It wasn't until a post-credits scene in Age of Ultron that we finally got a quick glimpse of Thanos' glove, but we still had to wait until Infinity War to see it filled with all six colored gems.

In honor of the Mad Titan, Revelation Tattoo created its very own Infinity Gauntlet, with colored Stones and everything. The supposedly metal screws really do resemble metal screws that are popping out of the skin. The Infinity Stones (especially the Mind Stone right in the middle) bulges off the hand. It's not a complete Gauntlet, but it looks real enough to wipe out half the universe.

1 Avengers... assemble

This is the simplest, most boring tattoo on the list. Actually, there is no reason why it should even be included. Even a drawing of Groot on someone's foot is more interesting than this. However, unlike all the other entries, this one is defined, not by the drawing itself, but by its history. Around the time Infinity War was released, the original six Avengers cast each decided to get themselves inked.

All of them (except Mark Ruffalo) got the same symbol tattoed on their body by artist Joshua Lorde. The number "6" is clearly shown, as are the various symbols that represent each Avenger (although, those are a bit harder to identify). Robert Downey Jr is done, Chris Evans is unlikely to return, and the rest will soon follow. Yet, this symbol will remain with them for the rest of their lives, forever making them... The Avengers.

NEXT: Idris Elba Wants to Play Heimdall Again in the MCU

source https://screenrant.com/mcu-tattoos-marvel-superhero-art/

#screenrant