#she's a little worse in the books but in the movie what exactly did she do apart from her fucking job

[shurisneakers]

unsolved (i)

Summary: Bucky doesn't even believe in the paranormal. So who the hell thought it was a good idea to stick him in a series about everything haunted for the internet's amusement? With his loose-canon of a teammate who has no concept of subtlety or any shits left to give, to make things even worse. (Buzzfeed unsolved AU)

Warnings: swearing, frustrated bucky at his little shit supreme, Very Loud reader, images and memes that all have alt texts.

A/N: yes this is literally harmless in a different font. do not ask me if anything doesn't make sense. i cannot explain. i resurface every 3 years to present you with ideas born from menty b's. ANYWAY shout out to my beloved ryan and shane. pls enjoy <3

Bucky doesn’t appeal to the youths.

Apparently. 

On God, he cannot fathom why.

He had definitely left the house in the last six months, maybe. Smiled in at least two pictures that existed on the internet. He even knew what Discord was. Sort of.  

By all accounts, he should be treated as the modern day icon that he was.  

“The youths?” he repeats, the word so foreign on his tongue it felt odd to even say it.

“Your numbers are the lowest of the whole team.” The latest tech-dude, with a tablet twelve models ahead of the one Bucky had in his room, tells him monotonously. “Wilson, Romanoff and Barton score the highest. Everyone else lies around the middle. You are dead-last.”

Bucky has the audacity to look offended. 

“Anything to say?” Their PR head, Maya, asks him, amused. 

He stares, formulating the wittiest one liner he could in three seconds.

“I don’ care,” he mumbles. 

Maya sighs. “Look, the team took the decision together. As far as I’m aware, you are still a member. You need some PR if you guys want to stay in the public’s good books.”

“No one’s gonna listen to me.” Bucky wasn’t exactly the poster child for American values. He couldn’t even vote until three years ago, and that came only after the full wrath of a Steve Rogers descended on the email inbox of the DMV. 

“That’s why it’s important to get them to like you,” Maya emphasizes. “Or the idea of you at least. A very sanitized, corporate friendly version.”

His eyebrow twitches unintentionally.  

“And also you signed the contract.”

Well. Shit. 

Truth be told– and he has openly and rather loudly stated this on numerous occasions even especially when no one asked– he doesn’t understand why they need a PR team. The world has calmed down significantly over the last few years. Bucky hadn’t really been out crime-fighting as much as he was people-watching. There hasn’t been an earth-shatteringly dystopian-level event in the longest time, and there seemed to be a group of spandex-clad teenagers who seemed to do a good job at taking care of them when they did threaten to occur. Go kids.

Even if they needed PR, he could arguably understand the appeal of Sam and Nat and why the people would want to see more of them. Bucky, on the other hand, looked like he crawled onto Earth most days of the week. 

“What do I have to do?” he asks ultimately, knowing there was no way to get out of this. “Interviews?”

The intern shares a look with Maya. Bucky shares a look with the ceiling. 

“The team agreed to do a series of videos, each focusing on a different niche,” she begins, “Crash courses on science, pointing out mistakes in spy movies. Once a week.”

Bucky nods along. He can pinpoint Bruce and Nat for those.

Maya stares at him.

Bucky stares back.

“So,” she says slowly, like he’s a moron, “you would–”

“No.” 

The intern sighs heavily like they discussed that this was going to happen. Bucky was getting predictable. This annoys him even further, for some reason.

“Only once a week, and it doesn’t have to be anything crazy–”

“I’m not doing videos,” he interjects. “I’ll tweet a few times. I’ll even go outside. But ’m not doin’ videos.”

A big step was to get the Avengers off Twitter after the regular shit-storm that occurs every time they’d quote-tweet another politician calling them shitheads. Getting them back on seems counterproductive. 

“Fine,” Maya relents, looking at the intern. “We'll work something out.”

Bucky leans back in his chair, and meditating on ways he can weasel his way out of those too.

So they stick him in a couple of interviews.

Bucky, as the recluse extraordinaire that he was, does unsurprisingly terrible at them.

Variety does a piece on him that was supposed to take up 2 pages. They send back half a page worth of usable material and Bucky gets a lecture on how monosyllables don't count as answers.

He grunts in return. Maya’s itch to smack his shoulder with the rolled up draft increases.

They set him up for pap walks. Just him getting fast food for the team, or sitting in the park.

They don’t take into account that Bucky was trained professionally for years on how to hide, sneak in and out of places without a soul knowing he was ever there. 

The paparazzi spend three hours waiting for him outside the pizza place, while he’s been home for two hours with two demolished pepperonis and an order of mozzarella sticks. 

They give him access to his Twitter. 

He tweets some dumb shit and gets shadow banned by that evening. 

Maya is sick and tired, and the interns have shifted three times since the whole ordeal started. Bucky honestly feels a little bad. Maybe he should try to be like Scott, who not only wrote a book, finger-gunned at photographers, did an interview a week, but also agreed to a podcast and a video series about literally anything they suggested. 

“Play nice,” Sam tells Bucky one evening. 

It’s an off-hand comment, not even really looking at him while he says it. 

Bucky doesn’t need to ask what he’s referring to, but he thinks that maybe he has gone too far.

He begrudgingly agrees. 

Therefore, it begins. 

They stick him in the background of a few videos. Just to interact, add his commentary on what was going on, suggestions. 

Then the jokes really start.

“I just don’t got anything to add,” Bucky tries, in a failure of an attempt to justify his lack of contribution. 

Maya only stares at him, but Bucky swears he can hear her curse quietly, even though her lips don’t move even a millimeter.  

He is not put in another video. 

And so he finds himself here. 

In a meeting room that he’s convinced is barricaded from the outside so he can’t slither out the door again. Another intern with pink-tinted glasses that took up half their face.

Maya’s in the midst of explaining to him that sure, his numbers had gone up by a decimal, but that was because people had started editing him into the backgrounds of other pictures for other users to find in a perplexing take on Where’s Waldo.

“Videos seem to be working,” she ties it together. “But we need more than you just standing silently behind Captain Rogers.”

“But it’s working,” Bucky objects. “I don’t see why it has to change.”

Maya sends him a glare. Bucky decides then it’s good to shut up. 

“Are you on the internet a significant amount?” the intern asks. The glasses on their face have changed colours to green. Bucky’s eyebrow furrows. 

“No.” 

For the next thirty minutes, he is subjected to a pop quiz about too many words ending with ‘core’, ‘coded’ and ‘eras’. He’s surprised that he knows what cottagecore is. He definitely doesn’t fucking know what a tomatogirl, nor does he want to. 

“What do you like doing?” the intern enunciates, pulling up a spreadsheet of niches that had built a dedicated community around themselves over the years. “Makeup? Cleaning? Parkour?”

Bucky wonders if they’d really create a montage of him just micro cleaning the kitchen every week. It doesn’t sound half bad. 

Beyond that, the only thing he can think of is woodworking, which Sam introduced him to. While he spends time creating little figures, he wouldn’t say it was– 

“You really are dead silent,” the intern breaks his train of thought, tone almost that of wonder. “Guess the whole ‘ghost story for seventy years’ is more true than I thought.”

Bucky throws him a weary look, and works on unclenching the fist that tightened involuntarily. 

“Was that necessary?” Maya’s voice comes coldly. “Take fifteen. Go find the other one we were supposed to meet.”

While sheepish and somewhat apologetic, the kid still looks relieved to be out of there. To be honest, Bucky isn’t really offended– he’s grown a thick skin over the years. But he also thought the guy was a little shit now. 

Maya turns back to him, but Bucky finds that the table contains wonders far more interesting than the conversation at hand.

“Back to what we were talking about.” She ruffles through something on her laptop. “Puppets? History?”

He wordlessly shakes his head. 

Been the former, seen too much of the latter.

Maya’s head tilts abruptly. “You like ghosts?”  

He wonders if the prior conversation had anything to do with this insightful question. 

Bucky shrugs. “Don’t exist.”

“Really,” Maya deadpans. “Aliens and multiversal baboons are fine, but no ghosts.”

“I’ve seen aliens and multiversal baboons. Never seen a ghost in my life,” Bucky argues right back.

“Other people have seen ghosts.”

“Good for other people.”

The door swings open right as Maya’s eyes narrow at him. Guess it wasn’t padlocked. 

“Whatever it is you think I did, Maya, I didn’t. I think,” you announce in a volume too much for a closed room, stopping when you see Bucky sitting cross-armed and looking delightfully disgruntled. “Oh hey, Barnes. Fancy seeing you here.”

Bucky had met you. The newest addition to the team that had made a grand entrance a couple of weeks ago. He thinks you stay on the floor below him, but he has nothing backing this hypothesis other than the disco funk music that had started appearing at odd hours of the night. 

“Please sit,” Maya cracks a smile at you that Bucky had yet to earn. “Sorry, I know our meeting is scheduled for later, but I figured we could kill two birds with one stone.”

You look between her and Bucky, who hasn’t moved an inch since you got here, much less even said hello.

“You must be really bad if Maya had to call me in,” you tell him outright. “I’m usually like, her last option.”

“Thanks,” Bucky replies dryly. 

“Look, here’s my final pitch.” Maya sighs, before turning to you. “You’re new, and we need something to introduce you slowly to the public.”

“Oh, am I finally getting hard launched?” You grin, and Bucky doesn’t know what that means. “Just imagine me kicking my feet, giggling or whatever.” 

“And he needs… an upgrade.” Maya’s thumb juts out towards Bucky who simply rolls his eyes.

“Right.” Your sight lands on him from across the table. “I’ve seen the memes.”

“What memes?” he grunts, because while the team had definitely seen them, it didn't occur to anyone they should show it to him. He loves them. Really. So much. Die for them. 

You only look too happy to pull out your phone and start typing.

“Do you know what skinwalkers are?” 

“No.”

“That’s what they say you look like, lurking in the back of all your friends’ videos,” you continue, swerving around your phone to show him.

Bucky doesn’t look impressed. He can’t say he blames them either, which makes him inexplicably maddens him.  

“At least they’re calling you their boyfriend,” you add, entirely unhelpfully. “That’s gotta count.”

“Right.” Maya clears her throat. “The both of you–” 

“Are getting paired together, I suppose,” you hum. 

Bucky’s eyebrows pull together. 

He barely knows you. Just a little bit on how you ended up here, that you enjoyed hanging out with the team, figuring out your place in the compound, and were seemingly doing a great job at it. 

You were… loud. And open. 

Bucky feels the compulsive need to compensate for that by doubling down on how silent he could get, as if the two of you couldn’t co-exist in the same space in equilibrium. 

Maya pointedly raises a finger at you. “Do you believe in ghosts?”

“For the right price, I will believe in whatever you tell me to.”

Her face lights up brighter than Bucky's ever seen.

“Great.” Maya slams her laptop closed. “See you later.”

Bucky’s left staring as she exits, not even throwing the both of you another look.

“That was quick,” your voice cuts through the silence. “What was that all about?”

 “Don’ ask me,” he grumbles, with a sinking feeling that he knew exactly what was about to follow. 

“Ghost hunting?” Bucky echoes a week later, as expected.

“Yes,” Maya tells him simply. “Two of you. A series based on paranormal activity.”

“I don’t even believe in them,” he reiterates. 

“That’s the point,” she emphasises. “Skeptic and believer. It makes for a good contrast.”

“Why us both?” He hopes it doesn’t come off as offensive. He just doesn’t see why he can’t do this with Sam. Even Clint, if a gun was really pressed to his head. 

“I’m new, no one gives a shit about me,” you say brightly and full of promise. “Yet.”

“Exactly. It’ll be low key. Not an overwhelming number of viewers, no expectations. It’s perfect for launching one Avenger and re-launching another.”

“Sounds rad.” You grin, leaning back as your feet rest on the chair in front of you.

Maya looks relieved for a moment that at least one of you was on board. “No promises on anything. We shoot one video, and if it does well, we stick with it.”

“What if I don’t want to?” Bucky argues. 

“Then you have until tomorrow morning to give us another feasible idea,” Maya dishes back.

Bucky retreats into his seat, arms crossed over his chest. 

Truth be told, he considered himself to be the most boring person in the team and though he had made his peace with that, he was sure thar bringing that up now would entail Maya shooting him in the foot.

“Fine,” he agrees and the sighs around the room are loud. 

He scoffs. So fucking dramatic and for what.

“Put her there, partner.” You stretch ungracefully over the large table, sticking out your hand.

Bucky eyes your hand. “Do you even believe in ghosts?” 

“I do now, yeah.” You nod seriously. “Love ‘em. Can’t get enough of them.”

“One video,” Maya reminds him as a balm. “And if it doesn’t work, you’re off the hook forever.”

Off the hook? Forever? For Bucky?

Yay. 

“One video,” he reiterates.

You roll your eyes before smiling when he leans forward to grab it. You yank it up and down clunkily. He blinks at you, letting go slowly. 

“Thank fuck,” Maya groans, head dropping onto the table. 

Your smile is wild. “Guess we’re doing this shit together.”

He doesn’t even have to look very deep in his soul. He already knows he’s going to suffer.

here’s my ko-fi if you’d like to support my writing!

to keep up with updates for this fic and others, please follow @shurisneakersupdates and turn on post notifications!

also i'd absolutely love to make this a community led fic like how harmless was! if you have memes or any paranormal ideas or just any prompts in general, please please send them my way <3

Next part

#bucky x reader #bucky barnes x reader #mcu fic #bucky fic #bucky barnes fic #bucky fluff #bucky barnes fluff #bucky angst #bucky barnes angst #unsolved fic #winter soldier x reader #Winter Soldier #bucky barnes #bucky

[candy-rat]

🌷○•･{Change Of Pace}

♡Luke Castellan x fem!Demeter reader

♥︎Summary: you and Luke are good friends but that’s it, right? || Luke Castellan Blurb!

☆Warning: none!

★A/N: I’ve only read the first book and a bit of the second + the two movies so I’ll be basing Luke off of the series(Charlie Bushnell)

♪ credits: i forgot where I found the divider but it isn’t mine so if someone knows who it belongs to please let me know!<3

+ Barely proof-read🤧

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

“I mean he’s cute and all I won’t deny that but I don’t like him like that.” You told your friend in Aphrodite cabin.

“Love, are you sure?” She asked “I mean you two just have this weird connection, not in a bad way of course it’s kinda cute if you ask me.” Your friend huffed.

“Oh I’m sure, he’s just a real good friend you know.” You reassured.

“Sure.” She stated “speak of the devil!” The girl spoke up at the sight of Luke from behind your figure.

You turned around still tense from his sudden arrival.

Sure he made you nervous at times but that’s just cause you really look up to him as a friend, right?

“Oh, hey Luke!” You smiled shifting your position on the bench to face him.

“Hey.” He replied.

“Mind if I steal her for a bit?” He asked your friend.

“Sure, she’s all yours.” The girl said with a smirk.

You felt your face heat up.

You didn’t have a crush on Luke, did you?

You’re just overthinking it.

He looked back at you looking for approval.

You simply nodded with a smile and got up, what else were you going to do?

“So? Where are you taking me Mr. Castellan?” You asked.

“You’ll see, just be patient.” He reassured.

“Okay.” You sighed.

He continued to guide you to this ‘mystery location’, you hope you’ll be able to find your way back but who are you kidding you’d be happy get lost with Luke.

Maybe you had to accept that you may have a little tiny crush on the boy but there no harm in having a crush.

“We’re here.” The boy turned back to you interrupting your thoughts.

“Where exactly is here?” You comment.

“Here, just close your eyes.” He instructed.

“Why?” You questioned.

“Just close ‘em, trust me.” He reassured.

“Okay, okay.” You chuckled.

“Here.” He began to guide you to your location, his hand was placed softly on your waist.

His hand placement and close proximity was driving you crazy, and more so what this so seemed surprise was and when you were going to see it.

“You can open your eyes now.” Luke spoke.

You opened your eyes and you were met with a beautiful array of different kinds of flowers and plants.

“Luke, this is-“ you didn’t have words.

“I know you could easily grow something like this yourself, but when I found this I couldn’t help but think of you.” The boy blushed.

You didn’t know what to say, you were speechless, it felt you were being over dramatic but how else would one of Demeter’s daughters react when faced with a secret garden that’s been here for years maybe.

“It’s beautiful!” You said heading into the small garden.

“Yeah, it is…” All the boy could do was stare at you as he mindlessly agreed.

“Oh god Luke, you’re too sweet!.” You turned to the boy.

“Thanks, I’m glad you like it.” He sighed in relief.

“I more than like it Luke, I absolutely love it thank you so much.” You told the boy as you brought him in for a hug.

He froze for a moment.

It wasn’t often he got flustered.

Especially around his friends.

But you two were different.

“Anytime (Name).”

He wrapped his arms around you, savoring the hug.

It wasn’t often either you had moments like this.

It was nice.

He was nice.

Maybe you had a little more than a crush on Luke Castellan.

And maybe he was head over heels for you too.

But for Luke, you wouldn’t mind.

Neither of you would.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

A/N: I originally wrote this with Apollo reader in mind but I suddenly changed it to Demeter to fit with the story.     Also this is my first time writing for Luke so I hope it wasn’t the worse🤧.<3

#luke castellan #luke castellan x reader #x reader #pjo #pjo series #pjo tv show #percy jackon and the olympians #percy jackson #charlie Bushnell

[bethanydelleman]

There’s a new book out called The Darcy Myth that says in the summary that P&P is actually a “horror novel” about how scary love is for women… I know the Bennet sisters’ situation is precarious but to call it a “horror novel” ? :P

Okay... so... ug.... did this woman even read Pride & Prejudice? Because from the news coverage I would say no. Let me highlight some passages from the article:

Darcy should be considered the main antagonist of the famous love story

Not Wickham? Not the man who runs off with literal teenage girls?

Darcy pays Wickham to marry Lydia, saving her reputation, and later tells Elizabeth, “I thought only of you” when acting. For Feder, this phrase is proof of the hero’s self-interest. Darcy condemns Lydia to a life with an amoral man, all so the Bennets don’t become so disreputable that he won’t be able to marry the woman he loves.

Um, sorry, but no. Darcy tried to get Lydia away FIRST, she refused, he respected Lydia's autonomy as a human being. Becoming brother-in-law to Wickham was probably worse for Darcy personally than Lydia being "ruined"

I found Feder’s exploration of “Pride and Prejudice”as a Gothic novel — rather than a comedy of manners — far more compelling than her critique of Darcy.

Wut? No. Not even a little bit, what? That is a different genre.

“Darcy helped codify the dominant expectation that potential romantic partners — especially heterosexual men — are not only still eligible but in fact more appealing when they play a little hard to get, even if playing hard to get involves cruelty, insults, expressions of disinterest, ruining your beloved sister’s chances of happiness, and other red flags,” she writes. Women spend their time, energy and emotions on men who, quite simply, are not worth their effort.

Okay, except ELIZABETH NEVER TRIES ANYTHING WITH DARCY. She just sits there and he falls in love with her. If she did put effort into any relationship it was with Wickham, who again, is presented as a massive red flag in the end. This line of argument is wild.

Yet, seeing the sheer number of times women pursue cruel men in pop culture laid out one after another — in Disney movies, Taylor Swift songs and much more — is affecting. Feder concludes convincingly that this cultural conviction harms women in the same way the patriarchal boundaries of the regency did. She writes: “If we zoom out, we see that the Darcy myth also helps to prop up and fortify a very Gothic, patriarchal universe that is, and always has been, scary for anyone who is not a very particular type of man. After all, if we are trained from childhood to invest ourselves in men who treat us poorly, aren’t we more likely to end up in abusive situations and under threat of assault?”

Okay, so this is a valid point, but it also is based on a misreading of Pride & Prejudice or is heavily influenced by adaptations. Darcy isn't cruel, he's snobby and somewhat rude but definitely NOT cruel. Wickham is exactly the type of man you want to avoid: charming until he isn't.

ALSO WHAT DISNEY PRINCE IS AN ASSHOLE??? @princesssarisa? Can you be offended at that one in my stead?

So... this book sounds like rage-bait insanity and I won't be reading it until proved otherwise. Putting it on the avoid shelf along with Secret Radical.

Last note: There is a valid point to be made that jerks or dark broody men have been romanticized, but Austen DOES NOT DO THAT. That is not an Austen thing. Use an actual problematic Gothic or Byronic hero.

#question response #this is nuts #the darcy myth #just looks like rage bait to me #the arguments are nonsensical #Now I'm going to have to fight this book on Reddit too #oh joy

[luckybunny555]

Secret admirer

You make the final choice in relation to your secret admirer after the revelation of their motivations.

Amber Freeman x GN!/Fem!Reader(no pronouns but for sapphics)

Warnings: creepy behavior, stalking, cursing, usual Ghostface behavior, a little bit of trust issues, being "attacked" but not harmed, mentions of murder and violence(no big description tho), a little suggestive in the end(as a treat ;) )

a/n: Part 3. I didn't proof-read it. I had to divide it three parts bc I thought it was still too long, so this is the last and shortest one.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

You close your eyes, trying to make sense of everything and calm your mind, that was still taking in her whole monologue. You regain awareness of your body, finally noticing the hand on your hip. The sensation clouded your thoughts again. You open your eyes, feeling her breath mingling with yours. With a deep exhale, you finally speak, "Wait, so..." you start, sounding a bit breathless and confused, "you sent me all those letters? And you attacked Tara, and killed that guy? I don't get it, why did you do all of this?" If her goal was to make you a little scared, there was a whole collection of horror movies waiting for the two of you.

"Because it wasn't enough," she explained with passion, trying to get you to understand her, the side of her that was still new to you. "I needed you closer. I needed you to need me. And only me. Not Tara, not Mindy, or Wes, or Chad," with that, you understand the first attack. She noticed you were getting closer to Tara, but she couldn't go all the way, or you wouldn't forgive her. Or be scared of her, instead of looking for her to protect you. That's not what she wanted. She just had to show you Tara was vulnerable, and couldn't keep you safe like she could.

"And come one, didn't you enjoy it? My gifts, my letters, even the creepy ones?" She asks you with that wicked, charming smirk imprinted on her face again.

"I stopped answering you because I was scared," you emphasize your words. "Because I knew someone was watching me, and I was worried I'd get hurt, or kidnapped or worse," your tone escalates, and your gaze is locked on hers.

"Because you didn't know it was me! But now you do," that smirk won't leave her face, and curse you for your taste, because you love the way she looks right now. "Do you really hate that I was the one keeping an eye on you? That I knew you so fucking well, maybe even better than you know yourself, that I gave you exactly what you wanted and needed?" She asks, and you can tell it's a genuine question.

But you can't bring yourself to answer her, not without judging yourself for it. You know you shouldn't admit it. You know you shouldn't give her the satisfaction. But why would you lie? The anger had mostly passed, and you still loved her. And you didn't even hate it. It felt good, to love and to be loved by her. Most people would beg for an ounce of the effort she puts into you. Who else would kill someone to protect you? Who else would watch over you, and get you out of uncomfortable situations without hesitation, and stay up late to comfort you when you're scared, always being there for you? Who else would remember every single one of your favorite books and movies, listen to every word you say, and be this devoted to you? Who else would become a fucking serial killer just because they love you so much?

She laughs, clearly amused by your silent answer. "See? I'm right. You love it," She's so pleased with herself. You close your eyes in defeat, earning a giggle from the girl. "I know that..." she brings her free hand to your face, brushing your hair behind your ear with a careful, gentle touch. Everything about her was two opposites extremes, "because I know you," she smiles, tilting her head to the side. She carefully gets closer to you, her body softly pressing against yours. "C'mon, baby, just admit it."

You see no point in resisting her any longer. It might've been a sick way to get you, but she wasn't wrong: you loved it. From the mysterious letters to the depth of her devotion. And now that you knew it was her, you weren't so scared anymore. You never got hurt. On the contrary. Everything she had done only kept you safe. And it worked like a love spell, captivating you.

"You're insane," your eyes meet hers, and she once again pretends to be offended by your comment. "But I love you," you confess in surrender, making her smile grow wider. She is clearly pleased with the answer she earned from you. "Can you drop the knife now?" The tension in your body gradually dissipates.

She chuckles, dropping the weapon to the floor. She might be the one in control, but she depends on you. To you, she's harmless.

Hesitantly, you bring your hands up, placing them on the nape of her neck. Your eyes are still locked, and this time, your heart races for a good reason. Her expression is softer, satisfied, yet with a remaining trace of venom. Just how you like it. "You're not gonna hurt me, right?" You had enough proof, but you wanted her to admit it again. She loved the way you sounded sweet and vulnerable.

"Never, baby," her voice is tinged with tenderness, and she places a kiss at the top of your cheek, her hands finding your waist. "Not unless you want me to," she adds, teasing you. With the terror melting away, you finally let out a soft laugh. Amber's attention is focused on your smile, and you notice that.

Gently, you bring her face closer, taking your time to connect your lips. Impatiently, she leans closer, kissing you as her hands pull your body against hers. She smiles against your lips, satisfied for finally getting what she wanted for so long. And you reciprocate it.

The two of you get lost in the moment, her lips staining with passion and satisfaction the memories of the scary scene she just made you experience. Now that you know the source of your fears is Amber, you can enjoy the frightening and exhilarating sensations that come with that. This might be what it feels like to enjoy horror movies, but better. Because right now, you could feel her lips on yours. You feel her hands on your lower back and hip, yours entangled in her hair, and your bodies pressing against each other. You never expected your night to turn out like that, especially not when you were crying for your life just a few minutes ago. But wasn't it worth it?

All the desires and feelings you bottled up for so long were finally spilling out, clear in the way your intensity increased. Amber took that as a silent confirmation of your craving for her, the delight of the achievement consuming her. Knowing how much you wanted, and needed her, filled her with a sense of accomplishment. And she was determined to keep that feeling alive.

Momentarily breaking the kiss, her lips trail down to your jawline. Your left hand grips her arm, pulling her even closer as you giggle in satisfaction. You can feel her smile on your skin, your reaction to her kisses pleasing her, as she continues to leave kisses on your jawline, slowly reaching your neck.

Snapping you out of your trance, the sound of your phone ringing causes Amber to groan, displeased with the unfortunate interruption. She moves away from your neck, scanning your expression. "This time it's not me," she teases, feigning innocence.

You playfully scoff, reluctantly pulling away from her and leaning down to grab your phone, that was still on the floor. It was your mom. Amber attentively observes you as you pick up the call.

"Mom?" mindlessly heading to the kitchen, you wonder why she was calling you.

"Hi, sweety," the familiar voice speaks on the phone. "Did you get home safe? Is everything alright? I didn't want to leave you alone, but I had that meeting, I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

You look over your shoulder at Amber, who was picking up her mask and knife from the floor. "Uhm, yeah, everything's fine," Amber looks at you with curiosity and a hint of gratefulness. "Amber's here," you catch the girl's attention again, "I didn't wanna be alone so I asked her to come over. Can she stay for dinner?" Your request earns a smile from Amber as she walks towards you, placing her items on the kitchen counter.

"Oh, she's there? Of course, sweetheart, I'll get home soon," your mom sounds pleased with the idea. Obviously because she doesn't know the whole story. But she wouldn't get it. "Amber's a good girl, I like her," she adds.

Her words make you chuckle, and Amber, overhearing the conversation, tilts her head to the side in amusement. "I also think that," you smile, playfully teasing the girl in front of you, despite the truth in your statement.

Once the call ends, Amber can't hide the satisfaction on her face. "I'm a good girl?" she continues to tease you, making you giggle.

"Amber, don't start," you don't resist the urge, kissing her once more. "You better hide this whole costume or you'll lose your nice reputation with my mom," Amber nods, pretending to be concerned.

You look at the box she sent you earlier, then look at her with a pout and annoyed expression, "I can't believe you cut my favorite plushie's head off. That's cruel."

She gives you a mockingly apologetic look, "don't worry, babe, I'll fix it."

The both of you put away the props from Amber's staged attack, hiding the traces of Ghostface's appearance. You would never give away her identity, not now that you knew you had Ghostface infatuated with you. In return, you mentally vowed to protect Amber too, in your own way. With that, she maintained her cool and careless attitude around your friends, her sweet and caring image around your family, and her obsessive, devoted and endlessly loving demeanor with you, and you only.

#scream #scream 5 #scream v #scream x reader #scream 5 x reader #amber freeman #amber freeman x reader #amber freeman x you

[ladykailitha]

We Love Steve Part 2

Steve got up shortly after Eddie left. And would have sneaked away if it wasn’t for the message on the door.

“Gone to Hellfire Club, be back later. I know you. Don’t you dare leave until I get back. I’m serious. I will hunt you down.

-Eds” With a little doodle of a devil sticking his tongue out.

He let out a little laugh. He had to admit that maybe Eddie did love him. He had been so shocked by the confession...Steve was so sure that it had slipped out accidentally. But Eddie had meant it.

And he loved Eddie, loved being with him, he made the buzzing in his head distant. Almost quiet.

He was wondering if he should go back to the sofa or go lay on Eddie’s bed when the door opened to reveal Eddie coming back.

Steve blinked. “Eddie?”

Eddie flashed him a smile. “You weren’t thinking about going anywhere, were you, big boy?”

Steve blushed and shook his head, holding up the note. “I know better than to disobey my boyfriend.”

Eddie’s face lit up and a small smile found its way to his features. “Good.”

“I was just trying to decide, sofa or bed,” Steve said softly.

“Bed,” Eddie decided immediately. “We both need rest after the night we had.”

As they lay there comfortably, Steve in Eddie’s arms, he murmured. “I’m sorry I ruined your guys’s game.”

“It’s okay,” Eddie said. “I’ll make it up to them next Saturday. I just couldn’t concentrate knowing you were here by yourself.”

Steve kissed his cheek. “Thanks.”

Eddie kissed his lips and Steve melted.

Eddie caressed Steve’s hair until the boy had fallen asleep.

*

Max waited until everyone was settled before she spoke.

“Right, here’s the detz,” she said. “Steve thinks that he stops giving us rides to basketball or to the movies, or anything like that, we’ll stop calling him.” There were a lot murmurs, but she held up her hand. “Just wait, it gets worse.”

“Worse?” Dustin croaked.

“He also thinks that if he stops letting us have parties at his place, we’ll stop calling,” Max continued. “And then there’s the real kicker. The one that upset Eddie so much that he couldn’t concentrate.”

“Must be bad,” Lucas said. And everyone nodded.

Max pursed her lips. She wasn’t exactly sure how to say it. “Steve thinks he’s too stupid for us to want to hang out with him and that we wouldn’t if he hadn’t saved our lives.”

The room was dead silent for the longest moment in Max’s entire life, before the room exploded in protests.

She let them go on for a bit before she calmed them down.

“But none of that’s true,” Dustin said, tearing up.

Will shook his head. “When was the last time we had a party that wasn’t at Steve’s?”

Everyone looked at each other, begging for someone to say something that was at least recent. But no one could come up with anything.

“Or when was the last time we invited Steve out to movie or to go to the mall and didn’t make him drive?” Max asked.

“But he has the biggest car, next to Eddie’s van,” Mike complained.

“So?” Lucas asked. “You’re parents have a pretty big car, Nancy could drive us. But we never ask, because we assume Steve will just agree to it.”

Mike looked down, disgruntled.

“Everyone calls him stupid or dumb, but is he really?” Erica asked.

Again they all fell silent.

“He’s really good at tactics,” Dustin murmured.

“He figured out the song at the mall,” Erica mentioned.

“And then there’s how many times he’s hit his head,” Will said softly. “That’s bound to have caused problems.”

“All the times he’s protected us,” Dustin agreed.

“So are we all in agreement not to call Steve stupid, just because he isn’t book smart?” Max asked.

Everyone nodded.

“But what about the rest of it?” Lucas asked. “We have to do something nice for Steve, show him that we do care. Because Eddie’s right. He does so much for us, but what do we do for Steve?”

“When’s his birthday?” Erica asked.

Everyone looked around.

“No one knows when his birthday is?” Max asked incredulous. “Not even you, Dustin?”

Dustin shook his head. “I’ve never really thought about it.”

“Nancy might know,” Mike muttered. “I’ll go ask.” He got up and went upstairs.

“This is a bad start,” Will said. “If we don’t even know when his birthday is. He knows all of ours.”

Mike came down the stairs a few moments later. “No go, guys. Nance doesn’t know either.”

They all stared at him in shock.

“Would Robin know?” Lucas asked. He was starting to get desperate now.

Max shook her head. “I doubt it.”

“Shit.”

It didn’t matter who said it, only that everyone agreed.

“Eddie?” Dustin asked, raising his head. “Cause even if he doesn’t know, it wouldn’t be weird for him to ask.”

Max nodded. “I know Steve works tonight, so I’ll head over to Eddie’s and let him know the plan. And if it’s already past, then we’ll just throw a surprise party for him anyway. We don’t need a reason. But his birthday would be a good excuse.”

“I’ll ask my mom if we can have it here,” Mike said from the bottom of the stairs.

Everyone nodded.

“Maybe we can get Gareth and Jeff in on it,” Erica suggested. “Have it be after a D&D session. Invite Robin and Nancy, maybe Jonathan and Argyle too. So that when Steve comes to get Dustin and Will we can surprise him.”

“El, too,” Mike added. Erica nodded.  

“And they can park at our house,” Lucas added. “We’re just around the corner, everyone can walk over so Steve isn’t spooked by all the cars.”

“Looks like we have a plan,” Dustin said.

“Now all we need is a date,” Max said.

*

Eddie and Steve were lying in bed that night, cuddled up together.

“I’m still sorry about ruining your game yesterday,” Steve said. He had come over after work and had flopped face first onto Eddie’s bed, completely exhausted.

“Don’t be,” Eddie said. “You have been holding that inside you for so long, it was only a matter of time before it exploded. I’m just glad it was at me and not one of the kids or Robin wouldn’t have been able to handle it.”

Steve just buried his head further into Eddie’s shoulder.

“Red stopped by, they’re all really worried about you,” Eddie continued.

“I never intended to be a burden,” Steve murmured.

Eddie twisted his body so he could look Steve in the eye. “You aren’t. What you are is too stubborn to ask for help and let me tell you as a former member of that club, it’s shitty place to be.”

Steve sighed. “I’ll try to ask for help more often. I’m just so used to not having anyone around to lean on.”

Eddie knew that the Harringtons were never home, he just never realized how badly it had warped Steve.

“Well you have me now, darling,” Eddie said softly, kissing the top of Steve’s head. He paused. “You know what I just realized, I don’t know when your birthday is.”

Steve groaned. “No one does.”

That brought Eddie up short. “Wait, no one? As in none of your friends in the history of ever, no former girlfriends, none of the kids know? Not even Dustin?”

Steve just shook his head.

“Why?”

“It’s on a holiday.”

Eddie frowned as he tried to figure it out. “Let’s see. It’s not one of the holidays that are different every year, because then it wouldn’t matter most of the time. It’s not Christmas, you love Christmas.” He tapped his finger on his lips.

“Oh I know!” he said excitedly.

“Don’t say it,” Steve murmured.

“It’s Halloween!”

Steve got up and drew his knees to his chest. Eddie forced himself to sit up too.

“That’s why you hate Halloween. It’s not because it’s spooky or whatever it’s because it’s not an ‘appropriate Harrington birthday’, is it?”

“Yeah.” Steve buried his head in his arms.

“Well it’s a good thing you have a boyfriend that loves Halloween and can make it extra special for you,” Eddie said with a grin.

“You don’t have to,” Steve murmured to his knees.

“We’ll just have to see about that...” Eddie said. And tackled Steve back to the bed tickling him until Steve begged for mercy.

Part 1 Part 3

#stranger things #steddie #steve's birthday #My writing #ladykailtiha writes

[bangchanbabygurl]

00: prologue {Pomegranates and Tulips}

Genre: Angst/Romance/BDSM/Smut/slightly introverted reader/ college reader/Surgeon Wonwoo/ book lover reader/cat lovers/DOM Wonwoo

Warnings: Explicit language/mention of domestic violence/mention of violence/alcohol abuse/mention of death/stalker/mentions of blood/drug abuse/smut scenes/dark mature themes/triggering scenes/traumatic experiences/mention of self-harm/mentions of eating disorders/mentions of SA

Word count: 794words

╚» Now playing —» Put me in a movie by Lana Del Rey

Trigger warning ⚠️ ❕

Nibbling my fingernails, I felt more anxious and nervous as the clock kept ticking. My knee wouldn't stop shaking due to my nerves and anxiety, I could feel my mother throwing me glares here and there as she spoke with Dr. Cooper.

It’s funny that I'm sitting in a therapy office with my mother when I'm near to reaching my twenties; it's funny that I still live with my parents. When most people my age have moved out and are living their life while I'm stuck trying to be perfect and good enough for my mother’s approval and have my father stay in the picture.

"What do you want me to do exactly?" Mother asked, crossing her arms. I shifted my gaze to something else, hoping my mind could be at ease. But my mind is never at ease knowing that my mother hates my guts, knowing my father is a gambling man who lives off liquor. My mind is always on edge knowing my life hasn't turned out how I hoped it would, "Mrs. Perez, Y/N has been diagnosed with depression, anxiety, PTSD, and not to mention all the signs point to Bulimia Nervosa. She needs to be in rehabilitation for her Bulimia, which needs to be taken care of before it gets worse." Dr. Cooper said. Bulimia, a new diagnosis and a solution for it.

Two reasons, of course, caused all my diagnoses. Most would say it's never your parent's fault, but in this case, it is their fault. If it weren't for their negligence and obsession with perfection, I mightn't be the way I am now. Dr. Cooper looks at my mother, “Mrs. Perez, have you ever noticed any strange behavior from Y/N? Any anger issues?” She asked. I look at Dr. Cooper. Did she catch on?

I feel my heart pounding against my ribcage; my mother furrowed her brows in confusion. “Why do you ask?” My mother questions and Dr. Cooper fixes her glasses. “Your daughter’s physical shows she’s been consuming alcohol, and it shows that this has been going on for three months.” Dr. Cooper said, showing my mother a file. I bite my lip and feel my mother’s hand collide with my cheek; Dr. Cooper rises to her feet. “Mrs. Perez, please refrain from using physical violence against Y/N,” Dr. Cooper warns. Tears were pooling in my eyes as my mother began to ask questions: where did you get the alcohol? Who have you been hanging out with? Was it your friends?

I was tired, exhausted as I sat there, letting my mind swirl in the pool of endless doubts and darkness. Dr. Cooper's and my mother’s voices were muffled; I had found myself blocking out any noise and letting the dark thoughts consume me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My cries were pointless as my mother lets her anger out, “You better tell Dr. Cooper that it was a lie!” Mother’s voice filled with such rage. I get on my knees and beg her to believe me, “You’re willing to ruin the family! Why couldn't you just kept your mouth shut!” the belt made a harsh impact on my skin as I cried and beg once more. “It's your fault! You should’ve known better!” Her words were pouring salt into the wounds; I shake my head. “Speak! Why aren't you talking!?! Huh!?! You'd rather tell a stranger about our problems!!” Her hand collided with my cheek twice. “I was only eight!! How is it my fault!” I cried, but I guess voicing my truth only made things worse.

A gasp escapes my lips as mother wraps her hand around my neck, “Y/N! You disgraceful little bitch! You’ll tear this family apart if you continue with this shit! You’ll become the family’s bad seed!! Is that what you want!!?” her rage fanned my face. Tears spilling uncontrollably, “Because if that's the case, you will no longer be considered family! You will be living on the streets from the moment you continue your little act.” Mother said through gritted teeth. I bite my lip, “Mommy! Y/N!” Dylan called out from the top of the stairs. Mother’s grip was gone; I wipe away my tears as I got up from the floor.

I walk into the kitchen and turn the faucet on, “Dylan, sweetie, what are you doing up so early?” Mother’s voice was sweet and tender as she cooed Dylan. I wash the dishes, acting as if I wasn't just beaten and choked. College preparation starts within a month, so I need to be quick about this. Even if it kills me and pains me that I have to leave Dylan behind, I can't keep up with this. If I do, I'll end up being driven to the cliff.

#seventeen vernon #svt jihoon #svt mingyu #svt jeonghan #svt dk #svt imagines #svt scoups #svt wonwoo #seventeen wonwoo #svt wonwoo imagines #jeon wonwoo imagines #wonwoo #seventeen smut #seventeen jun #seventeen seungkwan #seventeen imagines #seventeen joshua #seventeen fanfic #seventeen #the8 #svt dino #seventeen hoshi #seventeen woozi

[anonymousewrites]

Portal to My Heart (Book 3) Chapter Five

Loki x Reader

Chapter Five: Under the Skin

Summary: The interrogation begins.

            “Okay, let’s keep it simple,” decided Mobius as he, (Y/N), Loki, and B-15 walked towards the holding cell Brad Wolfe/X-5 was being held in. “Where’s Dox? Where’s Sylvie? And what did he do to the Tempad? That’s all we need to find out, okay? But of course, Brad knows us, and he knows our tactics. But that’s what makes for an interesting chess match. Okay, most of all, Brad’s an asshole.”

            (Y/N) nodded affirmatively.

            “So don’t let him get under your skin, alright? Okay?” Mobius gave a certain someone a pointed look. “Loki?”

            “What?” said Loki, acting oblivious as everyone looked at him.

            “You know what,” said (Y/N) while Mobius went to the door.

            “Come on,” he said, pushing the door open.

            They stepped into the barren room, and Brad turned around in his chair to face them.

            “Oh, welcome back. Why don’t you go ahead and take this time collar off and start treating me like someone who outranks you?” sneered Brad, going immediately to the asshole act.

            “We don’t work here,” said (Y/N), folding her arms. She and Loki just joined in to defeat He Who Remains, and before that, they were forced to work to not get pruned.

            “Oh, that’s a good point,” said Brad.

            “You should stop talking,” said Mobius. “Hey, what were you doing down there on the Sacred Timeline?”

            “Making movies,” said Brad.

            “Don’t waste our time, X-5,” said B-15.

            “It’s Brad. Bradley,” said Brad sharply.

            “Right, Brad,” said Loki. “Let’s cut to the chase, shall we?” His voice turned to the subtler drawl, the slight condescension and cunning clear (to those who knew him, like (Y/N)—who thought it was hot).

            “What did you do to this Tempad?” said (Y/N), holding it up.

            Brad looked at Mobius in fake-exhaustion.

            “Answer the question,” said Mobius.

            “It blocks your trackers,” said Brad.

            “Yeah, no, try again,” said (Y/N). “What is it?”

            Brad scoffed. “Under whose authority are you holding me here? Looking around, I do not see anyone ranking high to make that call.”

            “I don’t need approval to detain a hunter that abandoned their post,” said B-15.

            “I believe in exercising my own authority,” said (Y/N) brightly.

            “Oh, that’s good. That’s good,” said Brad, still holding that condescending tone. “But wasn’t B-15 the one blabbering on and on about how we all had lives on the timeline?” He sneered at B-15. “Well, I went down and got my life. What exactly are you mad at me about?”

            “Risking everyone else for your own selfishness,” said (Y/N), crossing her arms.

            “There are lives at stake,” said Loki.

            Brad turned to face Loki. “There are lives at stake?” Loki nodded darkly, and Brad scoffed. “Oh, you got some nerve. ‘There are lives at stake.’ Everyone here knows what you’re doing, you know?”

            Mobius and (Y/N) exchanged looks. Brad was trying to get under Loki’s skin. Loki remained cam and just raised his eyebrows, prompting Brad to continue.

            “You’re just trying to make up for all the terrible, awful shit you’ve done in your life, you pathetic little man,” said Brad.

            “Okay, that’s enough,” said Mobius, stepping in as he saw Loki take a breath.

            “No, no, Mobius,” said Loki, a lilting tone in his voice that left (Y/N) on edge. “No, it’s…It’s riveting.” Loki’s eyes narrowed imperceptibly as he goaded Brad to continue. “Keep going. I want to hear more.”

            “Good,” said Brad, eager to continue. “See, everything you and Sylvie and (Y/N) have ever done to try to help has only ever made it worse.”

            “Is that so?” remarked Loki. (Y/N) wanted to interject, but there was a certain quality in Loki’s voice that said to stay out.

            “See, I’ve read your file,” continued Brad. “It’s you. You’re the problem. Every time we’ve ever found a you, Loki. Problem is, you think you’re special, but you’re not. So, it doesn’t matter what outfit you put on, play dress or what little lies you tell your friends or even the lies you tell yourself. At the end of the day, you just make everything worse. For Mobius, for B-15, for (Y/N)—” Loki’s eyes narrowed “—for your mother.”

            Loki sucked in a breath and stared down at Brad with cold anger.

            “’Cause that’s what you do,” sneered Brad, knowing he’d hit a nerve. “You lose. You’re a loser. And you drag everyone else into your loss.”

            Loki’s mind flashed to 2012 and all the pain he’d caused (Y/N), and immediately after he remembered that he had nearly lost her because of the battle with Sylvie at the End of Time. It was always his fault she got hurt, and now he was reminded that even on the timeline he was supposed to live he would have gotten (Y/N) and his mother killed. It was always Loki’s fault. Always.

            So how can I be selfish enough to want to say I love her if all I will do is bring her pain?

            Loki’s heart clenched painfully, and he took a deep breath.

            “Stop trying to be a hero, man,” said Brad. “You’re a villain. And you’re good at it. Do that.” He smirked condescendingly.

            Loki chuckled dangerously and smiled coldly. “Thank you, Brad…very much. I really am touched. You know, you’re right!”

            (Y/N) glanced at him curiously but let him continue and stepped back.

            “I have done some terrible, awful things,” said Loki. “Yes, maybe that is who I am, and she knows.” He nodded to (Y/N). “It’s the real me.” He clapped. “A loser. Always have been. Always will be. And perhaps I’ve been…holding something back.” The dangerous tone of his voice had returned.

            “Loki,” warned Mobius, but he knew Loki would only listen to (Y/N), and she seemed way too eager to let Brad get whatever was coming to him.

            “Perhaps I’ve just been biding my time,” said Loki, strolling closer to Brad, who shifted nervously. “Perhaps I’ve just been waiting for a moment like this—” he stood over Brad, who finally realized he was in danger “—so I can do terrible, awful things to you.” Loki’s voice was hushed and tinged with darkness.

            (Y/N) wasn’t sure if she should be worried for Brad and incredibly attracted to Loki at the moment. She settled for both, but the latter was definitely more prevalent in her mind.

            “So, let’s try this one more time,” said Loki. He leaned over Brad, and the actor leaned back nervously. “Where is Sylvie?”

            For a moment, Brad looked ready to answer, and then his smugness returned. “You know, you’re way too obsessed with her.” He looked at Mobius. “He needs therapy. I can recommend someo—”

            Bang!

            (Y/N) stepped up and kicked over his chair.

            “Okay, whoa!” said Mobius, jumping up. He hadn’t anticipated (Y/N) being the one to lose her cool, but he should have remember that she had a quick temper, too, it was just usually her mouth that she ran.

            “For someone who likes free will so much, you sure do obey every stupid whim of your emotions,” jeered Brad.

            (Y/N) knelt over him. “Say another thing about me.”

            Everyone froze and watched her. Even Mobius, who had been moving to sit Brad back up, stopped. None of them had ever heard (Y/N)’s voice so dark. There was a dangerous glint in her eyes that meant she was serious about whatever she said in this conversation.

            (Y/N) smiled, but it was more predatory, more daring than anything pleasant. “Go on. Say another thing about me.”

            “You think you’re tough?” said Brad, foolishly continuing. “Yeah, sure. The only thing you ever do is follow a Loki around. That’s your whole role. Trophy girl.”

            (Y/N) burst out laughing, and everyone stared. “Wow, is that what you think? Damn, I really do seem pathetic when you put it like that.” She stopped abruptly, and her grin widened. “But you’re dead wrong. You see, I put Loki in his place when he’s out of control. I don’t follow everyone.”

            Loki watched with a flurry of emotions as (Y/N) smirked. This was incredibly attractive, and Loki’s mind was finding it hard to focus on her conversation and was rather interested in imagining in what situations she would speak that way.

            “And if I can control a god…” (Y/N) cocked her head. “What can I do to you?”

            “You don’t control me,” sneered Brad.

            “No?” (Y/N) reached out and tugged on his time collar. Brad jerked uncomfortably at the sensation of the tightening collar. “Keep talking, dog.”

            “Ok, alright, that’s enough,” said Mobius, intervening before Brad ran his mouth again. He needed (Y/N) and Loki to be in control of themselves and not defend each other’s honor by threatening Brad.

            Mobius pulled (Y/N) up and nudged them back slightly to Loki’s side.

            “Control your little pets, Mobius,” sneered Brad.

            Mobius coughed. “That got a little tense. Hey, you wanna hear a good one? Knock, knock.”

            “Who’s there?” said Brad, sighing tiredly.

            “Brad,” said Mobius.

            “Brad who?” he replied.

            “That’s showbiz,” said Mobius, smiling brightly. “And I don’t want that to happen to you. So, play along with us, answer our questions, and we’ll get you back there, so they don’t forget about you. How’s that sound?”

            “You would do that?” said Brad.

            “I will,” said Mobius.

            “You promise?” said Brad.

            “I promise,” said Mobius.

            Brad smirked and glanced at the others. “You see this? Mobius, you could be an actor.”

            “I’m not an actor, I’m an analyst, but thank you,” said Mobius.

            “You’re not an analyst. I’m not a hunter.” Brad gazed out at all of them. “None of this is real. I mean, who even are you on the timelines, do you know?”

            “Doesn’t matter,” said Mobius.

            “I think it does matter because none of this is real,” said Brad.

            “Well, okay,” said Mobius, sighing.

            “The TVA is not your real home,” said Brad forcefully. “Mobius isn’t even your real name.”

            “Well, it’s what I answer to,” said Mobius, shrugging the comment off.

            “Do you have any idea what kind of life you might have left behind?” questioned Brad. “Who might be waiting for you out there? I mean, do you care? I mean, you know they took us. You know they took our lives, and you’re still here. I mean, it’s kinda weird, man. I mean, you need to wake up.”

            “I’m awake,” said Mobius, shoulders straightening in the slightest display of tension.

            “Yeah, no. You’re asleep,” said Brad. “You need to wake up, Mobius.”

            “I’m awake,” repeated Mobius.

            “And until you do, you’re nothing,” continued Brad.

            “No,” said Mobius.

            “B-15 is nothing,” said Brad, pointing. He swiveled to Loki and (Y/N). “I don’t know where to start with that—” He stood and walked a pace towards Mobius. “But you’re nothing here.” Mobius’s eye twitched. “And until you wake up, you’re just a nowhere man. You’re a—”

            Mobius punched him.

            Brad stumbled back, still spewing his garbage, and it was only Loki and (Y/N)’s interference on his part and B-15 pulling Brad back that kept Mobius from continuing. Brad laughed wildly at Mobius’s anger while (Y/N) and Loki escorted him out.

            “What was that?” asked Loki as he and (Y/N) followed Mobius through the halls.

            “Nothing,” said Mobius.

            “Are you okay?” said (Y/N).

            “I’m fine,” said Mobius.

            “What happened back there?” said Loki.

            “Nothing,” reiterated Mobius.

            “It didn’t seem like nothing,” said (Y/N).

            “It was tactical,” said Mobius.

            “Seems like he got under your skin,” said Loki.

            “Like ours,” said (Y/N).

            “Nope,” denied Mobius. “He didn’t get under my skin.”

            (Y/N) and Loki frowned and exchanged glances.

            “Mobius, are you sure you’re alright?” asked (Y/N). “We’ve never seen you like this before.”

            “Seen me like what?” huffed Mobius.

            “Okay, we’re not judging,” assured Loki.

            “Feels like you are,” said Mobius. “Look, I told you I can play the heavy keys and I can—Where are we?” He stopped in a blue and green room.

            (Y/N) shrugged. “We were following you.”

            “No, I was following you,” said Mobius.

            “Mobius. You were clearly ahead of us,” said Loki. He looked around and saw Mobius’s dejected face. “How about a slice of pie?”

            “Key lime,” said Mobius finally.

            “Okay, great,” said (Y/N). It’s the only flavor the TVA has, apparently.

            The three grabbed plates of pie and forks and sat down at a table. They sat in silence and ate in peace for a few minutes, letting their thoughts digest after everything that happened in the cell.

            “It’s really good,” said Mobius, finally in a better mood.

            “It is,” said Loki.

            Mobius was quiet again before sighing. “Listen. That wasn’t tactical. I lost it.”

            “It’s okay,” said (Y/N), smiling. “We all did.”

            “It happens,” agreed Loki. “You know, sometimes a rage builds up and you just got to…let it out.” He took a bite of pie. “Do you remember that time I was so angry with my father and brother that I went down to Midgard and I held the whole of New York City hostage with an alien army? Tried to use the Mind Stone on Tony Stark? It didn’t work, so I threw him out a building.”

            “Tried to fry me,” said (Y/N) sarcastically.

            Loki winced. “I do feel bad about that.” His heart clenched at the reminder of all he had done to hurt her. If he could take it all back, he would. Well, actually, he wouldn’t. If he hadn’t done that, Loki would have never met her.

            (Y/N) patted his shoulder and grinned at his guilt. “Don’t worry. I almost fried you, so we’re even.” She shrugged. “We’ve all lost it to varying degrees. Some people just punch people, like you and me, Mobius, and some people take cities hostage.”

            “Our emotions get the better of us,” said Loki.

            “You can say that again,” said Mobius, smiling slightly.

            “Let me ask you something,” said Loki. “Brad, you know, he obviously touched a nerve, right?” Loki and (Y/N) exchanged a look, and (Y/N) continued.

            “You’ve never wanted to visit your place on the timelines?” asked (Y/N) carefully.

            Mobius paused before speaking. “Look, that’s the last thing I should be thinking about.”

            “Are you—Aren’t you curious?” asked Loki. “Haven’t you considered the life you were meant to live before the TVA?”

            “Even just to know?” added (Y/N). “You know, who you were before you were kidnapped and taken to the TVA?”

            “Not really,” said Mobius.

            “Why?” asked Loki.

            “Because it’s not my life,” replied Mobius.

            “And you don’t have any curiosity to know what your life could’ve been?” said (Y/N).

            “It isn’t what mine is. This is.” Mobius gestured around himself to the TVA. “I’d like to thank the guy who kidnapped me and brought me here.”

            “I really don’t think you would, he’s kind of a prick,” said (Y/N). She cocked her head. “But if you never look, you’ll never know.”

            “The TVA is the only life I’ve ever known. I like it,” said Mobius.

            “Look, we understand that. We get it,” said Loki. “And you may think twice because it could be something bad.”

            (Y/N) nodded. “We would understand. We both die.”

            “Or something good,” said Mobius. “Something bad, I can handle. What if it’s something good?”

            And you’re missing out. (Y/N)’s gaze softened.

            “Do you think I wanna have that rattling around in here?” said Mobius, tapping his head.

            “Of course not,” said Loki.

            Silence fell again.

            “You know, Brad isn’t gonna talk,” said Loki, letting the subject change.

            “Brad is gonna talk. We just have to find a way in,” said Mobius.

            “Alright. So what aren’t we asking this time?” said Loki, poking his pie.

            “Look, Brad is a good hunter, okay?” said Mobius. “He’s very good at his job. So, does it really make sense that he could spend all that time down there and not find Sylvie?”

            “Look, Sylvie spent her whole life hiding. He didn’t find her,” said Loki.

            “Yes, but maybe he got a little help from the Tempad,” said Mobius.

            “I still don’t think this thing has anything to do with tracking. It’s not configured that way,” said (Y/N).

            “Okay, but he’s clearly hiding something. And it probably has to do with Sylvie,” said Mobius.

            (Y/N) nodded. “That does make sense.”

            “Think about it. He found her, but maybe didn’t turn her in because he wants to continue to live his best life on that timeline,” said Mobius.

            “He wants more time to be Brad Wolfe,” said Loki in realization.

            “He would want that,” said (Y/N).

            “Now we just have to find a way to get him to admit it,” said Mobius.

            “He’s the only one who knows where Sylvie is,” said Loki. “Just gotta make him talk.”

            “I have an idea,” said (Y/N). The men looked at her, and she smirked. “I think we need to put the fear of god into Brad.”

Taglist:

@alexpangender

@technikerin23

@kikster606

@neenieweenie

@h-l-vlovesvintage

@chronicallybubbly

#portal to my heart #x reader #loki fanfic #loki marvel #marvel loki #loki odinson #loki #loki series #loki season 2 #loki laufeyson #loki x reader #loki s2 #loki odison x reader #loki of asgard #loki fic #loki show #loki spoilers #loki season two #marvel x reader #marvel cinematic universe #marvel #mcu x reader #loki mcu #mcu #mcu loki

[tired-of-being-nice]

not allowed to die (+ i love you)

febuwhump day 29!!!!!! we made it guys!!!! this is a combo of the actual prompt (not allowed to die) and an alt prompt (i love you), and oh boy, i've been planning it out for a LONG time >:D let's go!

content: some questionably healthy relationships, sickfic, fever specifically, mentions of death

Ray brings them towels, which Milo is disgustingly grateful for—it's a good thing Ray has so many favors to pay back, they have to keep reminding themself, or they'd owe her after all this.

But it's nice to no longer feel quite so much like a miserable wet cat, and they and Ray conduct in whispers a negotiation of the exact terms of this. Much of their relationship, really, has been built off of owed favors and transactions—it is precisely this that made Milo go to Ray first. They know that she will keep her end of a bargain and not try to find a way to screw them over with it, and in this way Ray is the closest thing Milo has to a friend.

The upshot of the negotiation is that Ray goes to get blankets and an Advil, and they bundle up Coren in the blankets and wake it up enough to convince it to take the Advil, and then they sit there for a long time. Ray actually gets out a book and starts reading. Coren dozes. Milo tries very, very hard not to doze off as well.

"I'm gonna go make myself something," Ray announces abruptly. "Should I make you something, too? Some soup?"

Milo would really, really like that, but they only have so many favors left, and they don't want it to swing the other way so they owe Ray. They shake their head.

Ray nods in understanding and goes over towards the kitchen. Milo sits. Glances over at Coren, cozy in its blanket nest. Looks down at their hands. Looks back to Coren.

Ah, fuck it. They peel back a few layers of blanket and tuck themself in next to Coren. It's still pretty out of it, but it doesn't seem to mind. It makes a pleased chirping noise and flops over on Milo.

Milo knows it's not exactly a good thing to do—it's actually probably really fucked up, they observe distantly, to use the shell of your former friend for heating. But fuck, they dragged it all the way here, and it was the kind of cold out that sinks into your bones and makes you think you'll never get warm again, and Coren always ran warm and with the fever they're even more so (and that's fucked up too, come on Milo they're literally sick and you're just– what are you doing) but it's too late, so there, Milo's done many bad things over the years and comparatively speaking this isn't much worse.

Coren is so warm. The warmth is slowly creeping back into Milo's skin, and their breathing is slow and even, and if Milo closes their eyes they can almost pretend they're back before any of this happened, that they're safe and warm on Coren's old couch and they're going to watch a movie.

(Not quite. Not exactly the same. Coren smells like blood and antiseptic, not like comfort and coffee, and it's so thin—god, don't they ever feed it over there? Milo hugs it closer, all the same. Close enough.)

"Coren," Milo whispers. "You in there? At all? Anything left?"

Coren doesn't respond.

"Coren," Milo says, now with a sense of urgency pressing at their throat, "please, even if you don't know me anymore, just– fuck, don't die on me, okay? You are not allowed to die on me. I'm forbidding it, it's forbidden. You will not die. Understand?"

Coren stirs a little, which startles Milo– they mean to actually wake it. "Mmm. Miley?"

Milo feels a jolt of shock run through their body. Coren hasn't called them that in years, are they dreaming or did it really just—

"Mileyyy," Coren repeats, sleepy grin spreading across its face. It bats a hand roughly in their direction. "What'dja say?"

Milo has to take a second to steady themself before they can respond. "Just– that– um. That you're not allowed to die."

"Oh," Coren says, blinking one eye slowly open and then closed again. "Mmokay. I'll do my best." It yawns, head lolling to the side. "I love youuu."

Milo feels like their insides have turned to ice. There's a faint humming in their ears, and they half-feel themself gently brush a strand of hair away from Coren's face.

"No you don't, Coren," Milo says gently. "That's just the fever talking. Go back to sleep, okay?"

Coren frowns. "But–"

"Shhh," Milo says, running their hands through its hair, and Coren sighs and relaxes into their touch, falling quickly back asleep.

Milo wishes they could do the same.

taglist: @whumpsoda!

#febuwhump #febuwhumpday29 #sickfic #not allowed to die #fever whump #oc: coren #oc: milo #oc: ray #milo my love you have oh so many problems #also YAY I DID IT!!!!!! #not every day but almost all the ones i wanted to do!!!! #i set a goal and met it!!! WAHOO

[plushpinkfox]

thoughts on the movie, pt. 2

spoilers ahead (for real this time)

going to make a bullet point list of all the things i noted about the movie

i got up to watch this at 3am est and i have a full day of school today so idk. wish me luck i guess

i think it's a cop-out to make honora mean, actually, because it kind of defeats the point of the whole honora/vanessa and sophie/agatha thing. i know it's easier to exemplify sophie's Evil in the books because we can hear her inner monologue, but she wasn't even that Evil in the movie before they dropped her in the school

like she was kinda bitchy sometimes, sure, but all the "Evil" and "violent" things she did were in defense of agatha so i don't know if that really counts

THEY MADE VANESSA MIXED SO THEY COULD DO THE SISTERS THING. CALLING IT NOW

some lines of dialogue made me cringe too hard. i like the bit with eric or whatever his name was in the beginning but the "god i hate this town" had me foreseeing the reviews

some of the cgi looked fine and then some of it just. looked bad. i think it was really funny how they tried so hard to do primarily practical effects, and you could see it in things like the Trial by Tale, but i feel like it was kind of counteracted by the blood magic storyline? it doesn't matter if your whole Trial is practical effects if half your movie is full of ugly cgi pools of blood and nondescript magical energy blasts

speaking of nondescript magical energy blasts and bad cgi, rafal was so fucking stupid. like what

that fight at the beginning with the kit young duplicates? guys. guys come on. when he said "blood magic" i was like No.

idk i guess it just didn't really coalesce for me

i thought i would be able to contend with kerry washington's dovey performance in this movie but i really generally couldn't, especially after they basically decimated the "agatha's been beautiful all along" storyline

she was a little too manic for my taste. i liked her at some points and at other points she was kind of pissing me off

that anemone backstory made me laugh. you go girl

OK A CHANGE I LIKED: i thought gregor charming was corny. i thought opening a grocery store was corny. i thought his whole deal was a bit stupid. BUT HAVING TEDROS KILL HIM?? MY JAW DROPPED THAT WAS SO MUCH WORSE THAN THE BOOK

like having ted kill a random child is bad, obviously, but having him kill a recently mogrified established character was like WHAT

the modern music really fucked it up for me. i think this movie would have been just fine with the score and the special song they recorded for the credits. i think it made it way cornier than it needed to be and i really couldn't forgive it by the end

like you HAD to have a verse of brutal in there? this is not do revenge i thought i was hallucinating

sophie makeover scene demolished (which is sad but whatever) but what really got to me more was the fact that there was no nuance to any of the supporting cast at all? like how are you going to tell me that hester spits sparks in her face one day and then within the week is bowing down to her.

i feel nitpicky but it really is just the basics of a character. tell me why anadil and dot were literally indistinguishable in their character. portrayed exactly the same. sort of hester too.

the soman cameo actually did make me jump. like i already made a joke about this but i did a double take

i think tagatha was cute and i liked how they actually talked more before this but i think this could have been executed similarly while still keeping the whole "agatha is a witch" thing. case in point: they become friends early on, agatha tries to protect gregor-stymph, tedros kills gregor-stymph and gets confused why she's protecting a stymph and comes to the conclusion that "she must be a witch", sophie takes advantage of it to get with tedros, etc. tension. (i might be insane for this so if i am let me know)

i don't think it would have taken much to establish it as the snow ball and the no ball and i think sophie's point would have been more effective if they did

cate blanchett has a nice voice but i didn't vibe with the inconsistent storian narration; it sort of just felt like she was interjecting to explain things to us that the audience at the test screening had a dubious understanding of. like in the tower it was fine but throughout the rest of the movie it was sort of irritating that the movie assumed we couldn't infer what was going on and very rarely did what was going on ACTUALLY require background narration, even if you hadn't read the books

sophie had a very inconsistent characterization in the movie. agatha was consistent but sophie basically switched from good to evil overnight. i understand the point was she felt betrayed and was swayed to evil, but i think the movie made her stupider than she was known to be in the books and underestimated her intelligence, which makes me sad

i felt like the movie utilized a lot of tools to try and explain what was going on to the audience (rafal's monologues, storian narration, dovey and lesso) instead of just trusting that we could understand it on our own so it came off as very exposition heavy but not in like. an understandable way

very frustrated with the consistent erasure of queer characters. hester and anadil confirmed for like a split second in a scene where they dance together at the no ball, but they aren't established enough for the general audience to know that they're queer and it definitely could just come off as best friends

dovesso for a single goddamn second at the end where they look like they're about to kiss and then just go for the most awkward hug in the entire world which just??? really got to me. the whole lady lesso thing was fine, i guess, but i was really hoping that dovey and lesso's enlarged presence in the movie would lead to some depth to their book-based friendship. i know that's my fault for expecting that, but like. i didn't expect "blood magic" either so whatever

part of the problem with the queer character erasure too though is that they were never really that defined in the books (thanks soman) so a lot of it is just really suspicious and doesn't end up REALLY panning out, so they had an excuse to ignore it in the movie

noticed how they made the agaphie kiss at the end very chaste, so that and vanessa being mixed definitely is foreshadowing some sisterhood there

also the line where agatha says "she's like my sister" had me laughing my ass off. they know

i definitely liked sofia wylie the most in this film, but i think sophia anne caruso did the best with what she was given. i think both of them did their best with a rather shallow script.

ANOTHER THING I LIKED: i had my criticism of the no ball scene and i think the ending was rather convoluted and uhhhhh not great in general but i did honestly like the whole "good attacks" thing. i wasn't sure if they were actually going to follow through on the whole good becoming evil and evil becoming good thing but i think they did that well, and sophie's transformation into grand high witch ultimate at the end after her haphazard side-switching was actually okay imo

now did it lead into a stupid-ass castle-crumbling rafal fight? yes. but at least agatha got to fucking STAB HIM WITH EXCALIBUR??? i was hyped. also i thought it was good that rafal explained how he corrupted good and made them vain, that was nice

would have been funny if they did the original book ending but i understand why that wasn't really feasible

overall: mid. that is my review. mid.

i had a good time watching it! i really did! and i read some reviews, and they're about what i expected (which is sort of disappointing but i'll live), but i had a good time and i think that's what really matters here

i'm glad that it wasn't boring and that i'm able to write so much about it and i'll be able to talk about it for a while and follow through on the production of THE SEQUEL THEY MIGHT MAKE LMFAOOOO

THE WORLD WITHOUT PRINCES SETUP????? I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT

hit my limit

#anyway i thought it was fun and i liked it so there #i know i had a lot of nitpicks and you can fight me abt any of them if you want #i have more notes but i ran out of characters or something and it wouldn't let me post it #will make a part 3 soon #sge #school for good and evil #sge movie #school for good and evil movie #love u guysss

[purplerakath]

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off - Small Changes

So, naturally, a lot of focus has been on the big overall narrative changes. Pretty obvious that the focus would all be on the big 'oh what' moments from Ep 1, and then 6-8. But there are a ton of smaller focus shifts that matter.

Not planning to focus on the Spoilers but they might show up.

Wallace Wells

You might think this is where I say 'he's meaner' or 'he's more of an asshole' and you'd be wrong. He's simply less kind. Or, more accurately, his kindness just isn't in focus or shown off. See, in the books you get a lot of him being an asshole. Making out with Stacie's boyfriends and two timing... everyone not named Mobile. But you also get him being viscerally angry at Envy over what she did to Scott. He calls Scott out, but does like having Scott around. We get a little of that Wallace in ep 7, but mostly? We get cruelty without the counterbalance. It does change how he reads.

Knives Chau (17 years old)

So the film and books her 'Scott is not her life' moments are off screen. Takes off did them on screen, so we get a lot more of who Knives is without Scott in her mind. That her love of music is deeper than just 'she cares about Scott' or 'she actually listens to Stephen's lyrics' (that's from the beach episode when Julie is being awful). Where the Wallace change made him somewhat worse, this change made Knives worlds better.

Ramona Flowers

This isn't about the plot focus, that's a big change. I care about just a thing in Ep 1 (and a little of Ep 3). In the movies Ramona is aloof, better than, and distant to the idea of dating Scott. In the books she's more directly antagonistic of Scott, his hobbies, and who he is. Ramona in this version more directly shows her interest over him being a charming idiot and seems completely in for his nerdy gaming and comics things. Even if she doesn't know anything about Sonic the Hedgehog. This change is very subtle, but cements the rest of the show.

Scott Pilgrim

Scotty, of course, is a little different too. He's still dating Knives, but there's less interest in his reasoning. Wallace still calls Knives Scott's 'fake high school girlfriend' and Scott doesn't claim to be dating her, just 'sort of' dating her. It also doesn't give him any slack for not breaking up with her when he should. But makes clear his intentions are more or less being a dumbass, not taking advantage. The other change, of course, omitting most of Scott's past. If you know the books, you know this stuff to explain why he's bad at things™. But without that information his being a dumbass manchild is just left there for us to weigh without context. This omission isn't bad, exactly, it simply is. He still works as a main love interest, he's still charming enough to believe Ramona would love him. But it does remove some of this depth, the cost to add depth to... everyone else.

The others don't have small changes, not to the degree of those four. Young Neil is more of an idiot than the books. Kim's less complicated without exploring her history. Those things. But they aren't as worth discussing.

I also wouldn't call the changes to the exes small. They're pretty large changes. But if you think I should talk about some of them I can.

#scott pilgrim takes off #scott pilgrim #ramona flowers #knives chau #wallace wells #as much as I want to say SPTO wallace is perfect #he is kind of a terrible friend in every way #without a lot of headcanon to salve it #I like the 'he did Envy dirty to avenge Scott' but it isn't in the anime #Gideon (or Gordon) falls squarely into 'cool motive still murder' #I do hope for a Season 2 even if that currently seems unlikely #as there is a lot more to explore

[darkpoisonouslove]

1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 16, 22, 23 for the choose the violence asks 🔪

1. the character everyone gets wrong

Faragonda. People either think that she's secretly a villain or that she's a meek, old grandma. The villain part is really annoying because people act like Faragonda sending the Winx on life-threatening missions is a writing choice made in regards to showing her character when it's a writing choice made for the sake of plot. The writers don't care how Faragonda comes off if they can get their little plot with getting the Winx to save the day work. It's true about everything. How come she spies on the Winx but never does it when they actually need help and she could save them but at the cost of interfering with the plot? Her seemingly keeping the Agador box (4x01) is just the writers being lazy with coming up with a new design for something that will be on screen for 10 seconds. Honestly, name one of her "shady" actions that cannot be explained as a plot convenience. The other side of the spectrum is honestly just... Are you blind? She clearly has a lot more backbone than people realize, yet when that's noticed, it somehow makes her a villain. I am tired.

3. screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr

Somebody implying that Daphne is at fault for getting killed by the Ancestral Witches because she chose to sacrifice herself for Bloom and she could have just let her baby sister get murdered if she'd wanted to save herself. What even???????? *flips table*

4. what was the last straw that made you finally block that annoying person?

I block over too many wrong opinions or just a few opinions that are Very Wrong TM. So it's usually that. I don't try to remember what exactly made me mad.

7. what character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because how how the fandom acts about them?

Roxy, kind of. I don't hate her but every time I see someone whining about her not being part of the later seasons and bemoaning the fact that she was supposed to be the seventh Winx but then dissapeared, I start to hate her... until I distance myself from that part of fandom. I think Roxy has much potential in her quality of being a foil to Bloom, someone with a very similar backstory but completely different feelings on magic and being a fairy. However, the writers are so hellbent on making her Bloom 2.0 that they completely ignore the differences between the two that they themselves wrote in and the fandom just makes all of that worse when they try to shove Roxy everywhere and force her into the same mold that the Winx fit into. Roxy should have gotten to decide for herself and instead of going to Alfea should have stayed at home with her long-lost mother. Morgana was literally the queen of the Earth fairies. I bet she could have taught Roxy everything she'd learn at Alfea and more, considering that Earth seems to have a different branch of magic altogether that probably differs from the curriculum at Alfea. Plus, that way she could have spent some time with the mother that is a stranger to her and she could have found her own path instead of being forced into something she clearly didn't want just to be like the Winx and, more importantly, Bloom.

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

The idea that SotLK is a better movie than Magical Adventure. The way that Bloom makes headway in her search for her parents is so fucking random. We never learn how the Winx found Hagen, the English dub cut the part where Daphne explains why she now thinks that the Roc might have survived when, for 20 years, she believed it to have been destroyed, and the Book of Fate is the literal fucking worst plot device ever. It straight up tells them that Marion and Oritel are in Obsidian. Don't even get me started on the whole mess that happens once they get there or the search for the key to Obsidian. And the theme - if it can even be called that - is a joke.

Magical Adventure suffers from the fact that the scenes have to be in a certain sequence to make sense and keep the suspense but that sequence makes the story feel like two movies mashed into one. However, the two segments are not bad at all. Sure, there are things that don't work (ugh, that montage with the suitors - what were they thinking?!?!?!). But the movie tries to focus on Bloom's relationship with her birth parents, which the first movie completely skipped over. Bloom and Sky are actually somewhat likable. We see the Winx without magic which hasn't happened since when? Season 1? The Ancestral Witches are actually scary when they possess the Trix and the fights are interesting and creative. Plus, there is a coherent theme about how parents' actions affect their children (there was another nuance here that I can't remember now because it's been a while since I watched it).

Anyway, Magical Adventure supremacy.

9. worst part of canon

I already talked about all the bullshit in SotLK and besides I really hate what they did with Zenith. The source of most technological advancements and, of course, they made the whole society be logic-based and emotionless. I. Cannot. Stand. It! They should have made Zenith's technology come from a place of empathy, of wanting to improve life so much for everyone that they become too focused on their work and don't notice how they isolate themselves from everyone else, including each other. It would have been so much more interesting and they could have kept Tecna as a logic-driven person, who's not good with feelings because that's just who she is. She'd fit even better with Winx if she comes from a planet so dedicated to helping everyone else that they neglect themselves and their emotions.

10. worst part of fanon

Blorboifying Valtor. I'm sorry but if you think you want a real-life Valtor, you need to go outside and touch grass. Not to mention that Valtor stans in general seem to have a very distorted view of him. This man has the temper and anger management of a fucking toddler. The only reason why he manages to remain collected and calm a lot of the time is because pretty much no one can stand up to him and pose a threat to his plans and his ego. At the same time somehow people completely miss the fact that he's vain and self-centered and clinging so desperately to his charisma and skills because he knows that deep down he is nothing more than a monster that was created to be a tool for the Ancestral Witches and he hates that. He's practically in constant denial mode about how truly sad his existence is.

12. the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

Krystal! She's already at a disadvantage because she's introduced in season 5 AND is instantly shoved in the bullshit drama between Helia and Flora. I have seen people hate on her and call her a shady bitch when all she's done is be overexcited about seeing Helia and managing to defeat the Winx at volleyball and then realizing that maybe the situation came off wrong to Flora and trying to talk to her and tell her that Helia only loves her and he and Krystal are just friends. She's just an excitable teen and she's not at fault for Helia acting weird as fuck and introducing Flora to her as his "friend" as if they haven't been dating for 3 years. Smh. #JusticeForKrystal2kforever

14. that one thing you see in fics all the time

Giving alien features to the girls. Like, I get it but it's always surface level because in the end it's so much easier to work with humanoid characters that you don't have to invent a whole new biology for. It seems completely pointless and usually doesn't come into play a lot. It feels like it's added more for diversity points rather than because it's fun or interesting.

16. you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

Making Flora a drug dealer. The "Flora does recreational drugs" take honestly feels like people are desperately trying to make her interesting because they don't like her as she's portrayed on the show. And the idea of "Flora is okay with parts of nature that are dangerous and volatile" somehow always seems to lead to "give Flora a gun" when the two have nothing to do with each other. Flora wanting to protect all nature as it is is one of her defining traits. It feels like people are trying to erase her gentleness because they think that a mild-mannered character is worthless. Honestly, the show doesn't help. They make her empathy come down to "don't hurt it" even when the "it" in question is trying to kill her friends. They could have improved on that by letting Flora specialize in restraining spells that don't hurt the creature they're used on so that she can protect her friends and stick to her beliefs.

22. your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

The Company of Light. Even the writers ignore it because a) they did not think it through when they added that backstory and created several plot holes, b) they never did anything with it (for the last time - where's the fucking spin-off?!?!?!?!) and c) they constantly make all of the Company members appear incompetent and weaker than they are for the sake of the plot and letting the Winx in the spotlight. Give these people screen time! They are interesting and important! *cries*

23. ship you've unwillingly come around to

I guess Blicy. I just didn't understand why Icy would want to date Bloom but I read a really good fic and I can see it now.

#winx club #ask #her-majesty-wears-jeans #opinions #this is me on my way to kick a hornets' nest #winx faragonda #winx valtor #winx flora #secret of the lost kingdom #magical adventure #winx krystal #winx roxy

[90363462]

This Moment to Arise: The Revisionary Genius of Beyoncé’s ‘Blackbird’

By Rob SheffieldMarch 29, 2024

'Cowboy Carter' highlight brings the White Album classic full circle

Beyoncé has so many audacious culture-clash triumphs all over Cowboy Carter. But one of the most stunning moments is also one of the simplest: her version of the Beatles classic “Blackbird.” Paul McCartney wrote the song in the summer of 1968, inspired by the American civil rights movement. All that history is right there in Beyoncé’s version. She keeps the folkie Paul guitar, complete with the squeaks, but adds her heavenly gospel-soul harmonies. What she does with the word “arise” is incredible in itself.

It’s a stroke of Beyoncé’s revisionary genius that brings the story of “Blackbird” full circle. She claims the song as if Paul McCartney wrote it for her. Because, in so many ways, he did.

Paul tells the story of writing it in his 2021 book The Lyrics. “At the time in 1968 when I was writing ‘Blackbird,’” he recalls, “I was very conscious of the terrible racial tensions in the U.S. The year before, 1967, had been a particularly bad year, but 1968 was even worse. The song was written only a few weeks after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. That imagery of the broken wings and the sunken eyes and the general longing for freedom is very much of its moment.”

Paul wrote this song as a dialogue with Black America; Bey’s “Blackbird” is part of that call-and-response, proof that the song always meant exactly what McCartney hoped it would mean. It’s one of the most profound and powerful Beatles covers ever, right up there with Aretha Franklin’s “The Long and Winding Road.” 

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“I had in mind a Black woman, rather than a bird,” Paul says of the song in the 1997 book Many Years From Now, by Barry Miles. “Those were the days of the civil rights movement, which all of us cared passionately about, so this was really a song from me to a Black woman, experiencing these problems in the States: ‘Let me encourage you to keep trying, to keep your faith, there is hope.’”

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Paul was especially moved by the Little Rock Nine — a group of teenagers, the same age as so many Beatlemaniac fans, who caused a nationwide racist outrage in 1957 when they tried to enroll in an all-white high school in Little Rock, Arkansas. Gov. Orval Faubus called out the National Guard to block the kids from setting foot in the school. Writing “Blackbird” in the summer of 1968, with high-profile anti-Black violence in both the U.S. and the U.K., he turned that into the song. “As is often the case with my things, a veiling took place so rather than say ‘Black woman living in Little Rock’ and be very specific, she became a bird, became symbolic, so you could apply it to your particular problem.”

“Blackbird” is a song with a long history in Black music, from reggae (the Paragons’ gorgeous version from 1973) to jazz legends including Ramsey Lewis, Sarah Vaughn, and Cassandra Wilson. No song has a deeper dialogue between the Beatles and the Black America that gave them their voices. Anderson .Paak put his spin on “Blackbird” in 2013, years before he ended up contributing to Paul’s album McCartney 3 Imagined, with his funk remix of “When Winter Comes.” The Beatles’ sidekick Billy Preston, who plays with them all over the Get Back movie, gospelized it in 1972, as the flip side of his Number One hit “Will It Go Round in Circles.” His version is on the superb Ace Records anthology Come Together: Black America Sings the Beatles.

Beyoncé brings all that history to her version. There’s also a Paul-like playful humor in the way she makes a horse the star of her album cover. (Could Chardonneigh be the new Martha?) In other words, she is Macca Fierce.

But most of all, Bey’s version ties in mostdirectly to Sylvester’s disco version of “Blackbird” from 1979, the most outrageous and radical version ever. She evokes this song’s history in queer Black disco culture— connecting it to her whole Renaissance project. Sylvester was the first gay Black pop star who was out of the closet, as far as the public knew. Tragically, he also become one of the first stars to pass in the Eighties AIDs epidemic. But in 1979 he was back in San Francisco as a hometown hero, after breaking big nationwide. “Blackbird” is his falsetto-disco celebration from Living Proof, one of the Seventies’ greatest live albums. He was on top of the world: There was an official “Sylvester Day” in San Francisco, where he received the key to the city from the mayor, who happened to be Diane Feinstein. That night he headlined the War Memorial Opera House, and did the most beautiful “Blackbird” ever heard — until now.

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Sylvester claims “Blackbird” for himself and his community. He trades call-and-response vocals (“Y’all ready, girls?”) with his backup singers, eternal disco legends Martha Wash and Izora Rhodes, the Two Tons o’ Fun. (They later blew up as the Weather Girls, belting their classic “It’s Raining Men.”) When they sing “You were only waiting for this moment to arise,” you can feel the whole crowd rise to join them. They’re not hiding out in the shadows anymore. They’re spreading their wings. It’s their night to fly. This is their song, and their moment.

Hearing Beyoncé sing this song now evokes her Uncle Johnny, a member of the queer Black dance culture that Sylvester epitomized, and the guiding spirit of her love letter to that culture, Renaissance. (He died tragically in the same epidemic as Sylvester, 10 years later.) You can hear her “arise” connect with Sylvester’s “arise.” And you can hear her Uncle Johnny in both of them.

Beyoncé has always loved reclaiming rock & roll as Black female performance. It’s one of her artistic passions — check her mind-blowing versions of the Doors’ “Five to One,” Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know,” and even Kings of Leon’s “Sex on Fire.” She turned the Yeah Yeah Yeahs into “Hold Up.” Long before Stevie Nicks had her grand 2010s comeback, Destiny’s Child got her back on MTV with “Bootylicious.” Most spectacularly, the Lemonade classic “Don’t Hurt Yourself” is Beyoncé channeling Memphis Minnie’s “When the Levee Breaks” through Led Zeppelin, with Jack White wailing on guitar. But “Blackbird” is different, because McCartney wrote the song explicitly about Southern Black women and their struggle through American racism in the 1960s.

The Bey/Paul connections go deep. Bey and Paul were spotted hanging out at Coachella a decade ago; they also worked out together at an L.A. gym. He was visibly having a great time at her 2011 New York residency. He saw the Renaissance World Tour in London last summer — a clip of his dancing went viral — and posed for a memorable photo with Jay-Z, lifting their champagne glasses to toast the Queen. On tour, Bey wore a custom Stella McCartney silver dress and leggings. As Stella said, “It is a life moment to dress someone as iconic and inspiring as Beyoncé — a visionary pioneer, disruptor, and artist who has worked tirelessly to make the world a better place.”

Paul haters might have questioned his sincerity about “Blackbird,” but that just means they weren’t listening. Because this song didn’t happen in a vacuum — it’s part of his lifelong engagement with Black music and Black culture. “Blackbird” was hardly his the only explicitly anti-racist statement on the White Album. “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La Da” is a ska ode to West Indian immigrant family life in England (“Desmond is a very Caribbean name,” he says in the Anthology book) at a time when the right-wing politician Enoch Powell was whipping up racist and anti-immigrant hysteria with his notorious “Rivers of Blood” speech in April 1968. That summer, with high-profile anti-Black violence in both the U.S. and the U.K., “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La Da” was a consciously provocative statement.

He lashed out at Powell even more directly months later in “Commonwealth Song,” which turned into “Get Back.” But in “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,” he made these Caribbean immigrants his embodiment of family values — and turned it into an unimpeachably wholesome kiddie singalong. The title phrase came from a Nigerian musician friend in London, the conga player Jimmy Scott. (He later died in suspicious circumstances after being imprisoned by U.K. customs officials.) 

When Paul performed in Little Rock in 2016, he met for the first time with Thelma Mothershed Wair and Elizabeth Eckford, two of the Black women who incited so much racist controversy by trying to enter an all-white high school. Meeting these two heroes had a profound impact on him. “Incredible to meet two prisoners of the civil rights movement and inspiration for ‘Blackbird,’” Paul said at the time. “Way back in the Sixties, there was a lot of trouble going on over civil rights, particularly in Little Rock,” he told the crowd that night, introducing the song. “We would notice this on the news back in England. So it’s a really important place for us, because to me, this is where civil rights started.”

But “Blackbird” is also in the tradition of his songs about everyday women and their unseen struggles— “Eleanor Rigby” and “Lady Madonna” with the Beatles, “Another Day” and “Jennie Wren” and “Little Willow” solo. (His empathy for his female characters was always radically different from other male songwriters of his generation, to say the least.) 

Bettye LaVette did one of the most emotionally cathartic versions in 2020, a gritty old-school R&B performance at 74, singing the lyrics in the first person. She felt a deep connection as soon as she heard it, saying, ‘‘I wonder if people know he’s talking about a Black woman?’” She made it the centerpiece of her 2020 album, Blackbirds,where all the other songs were popularized by Black women singers — Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, Ruth Brown. “It is about the road that I came across on,” she told the crowd at Farm Aid 2021. “This song was written by Mr. Paul McCartney. But it is about me, and them.”

The whole Cowboy Carter is Beyoncé using music as a map of American pop culture, from Willie and Dolly and Linda Martell to the Nancy Sinatra bass line, right up to the great moment when she starts singing the Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations.” Since she knows absolutely everything, she might even be consciously evoking the short-lived 1970s sitcomCarter Country, about a Black sheriff coming to a redneck small town in Georgia, from the creators of “What’s Happening!!” and “Sanford & Son.” Never put anything past her. She takes the details seriously.

But as Bey knows full well, the Beatles’ biggest inspiration was always American R&B. As kids in Liverpool, they heard the blues and soul records brought over by U.S. sailors. As John said, “We’d been hearing funky Black music all our lives, while people across Britain and Europe had never heard of it.” But Liverpool had its own racist history. “I was very conscious Liverpool was a slave port,” Paul says in The Lyrics. “And also that it had the first Carribean community in England. So we met a lot of Black guys, particularly in the music world.” 

From their earliest days, they played songs by Ray Charles, Smokey Robinson, the Shirelles, Little Willie John, the Marvelettes — always aspiring to live up to that spirit. On their early U.S. tours, they refused to allow segregation at their shows in the South. (McCartney, 1964: “There’s no segregation at concerts at England, and in fact if there was, we wouldn’t play ‘em, you know?”) “Rock & roll is Black,” John told Jet magazine in 1972. “I’ll never stop acknowledging it: Black music is my life.” For both Paul and Ringo, that connection remains at the heart of their music. When Ringo turned 80 a few years ago, he hosted his Big Birthday Special livestream to raise funds for Black Lives Matter. He sat at his drums and told the worldwide audience, “Let’s say it again: Black lives matter! Stand up and make your voice heard!”

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That’s why it meant so much to McCartney — more than any of them — to hear how his African American peers responded. Aretha’s versions of his songs always meant the most to him, because she heard that same Black history in these songs. When he wrote “Let It Be,” he sent her a demo in hopes she’d record it, even though he knew she would sing rings around him. (Her “Let It Be” came out in January 1970 — months before the Beatles version.) She did “The Fool on the Hill,” another song inspired by the civil rights struggle — for years, when Paul did it live, he added a sample of Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Most of all, Aretha claimed “The Long and Winding Road,” leaving all other versions (including McCartney’s) in the dust.

For Paul, as with the other Beatles, the connection to Black American music was deep, but it was especially important for him that it to be a two-way dialogue. Beyoncé’s “Blackbird” is one that really completes the song — a profound moment in her history, the Beatles’ history, and this timeless song’s history. In so many ways, “Blackbird” has always been waiting for this moment to arise. And Beyoncé makes the song rise higher than ever before.

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#Spotify #Me thinking about #how this album #was created because #the CMAs treated #Beyonce like crap…. #lemons into #the finest of lemonade. #😭🫶🏾✨ #COWBOYCARTER #Cowboy carter #queen bey #act ii #act ii cowboy carter #beyonce #beyhive #renaissance world tour #16 carriages #cowboy carter #Beyonce #country music #cuntry #texas holdem #Youtube #Black music #black musicians #country #blackbird #the beatles #beatles

[thanks-obillma]

okay fuck it fic posting time bc I can

“You’re reading the Wikipedia page for the Bronx?”

Vito slammed the lid of his laptop shut. He twisted around to glare at her.

“What about it?” He demanded. Zoey held her hands up in a placating gesture.

“Nothing, nothing. Just curious.”

Vito’s face creased into the familiar “offense is the best defense” face that usually rested across Mal’s features. Zoey blinked in surprise. Her eyes darted across his face, trying to discern if they had switched or Vito simply resembled his headmate more than she had thought. She was almost about to ask, but then Vito let out a sharp exhale and turned away. His familiar accent filled her with relief. “Not all of us get to go home, Red.”

He moved the laptop to the side table and tossed the blanket over the back of the couch. Zoey frowned at the way his bare shoulders tensed protectively as he trudged into the kitchen. She trailed him uncertainly, wanting to soothe the crack she’d poked, but wary of making it worse.

Vito was busy pouring himself a glass of orange juice. She stepped to lean on the counter next to him.

“Sorry,” she said, “I shouldn’t have snooped.”

The corners of his mouth tightened but he said nothing.

“I just, I guess… I mean, I know that…” she paused to gather her thoughts. “I was just surprised is all. I forget you’re not actually from the Bronx.”

Vito was blinking a lot. It was a tic they all shared when they were thinking hard.

“I know,” he said finally. She waited for him to say more but he turned away to stand in the entrance of the kitchen. His fingers drummed against the glass in his hand. He sighed, shifted his weight. He sighed again.

“It’s complicated,” he said after a long minute. Zoey hopped onto the counter, fairly confident that he was invested in this conversation now and wouldn’t wander off.

“What did you mean when you said you don’t get to go home?” She asked.

Vito leaned against the counter, his gaze fixed on the floor. ��Exactly what I meant,” he said.

“Okay, this may be dumb but can’t you like… just book a flight and go there?”

Vito swallowed hard. “Nah, it’s not the same. I ain’t… I ain’t ever actually been there, y’know? The place I come from… it’s not there. It never really was.”

Zoey frowned. She knew for a fact the place he physically came from was Ontario, but she thought that wasn’t quite what he was getting at.

“Do… how does that work?” She asked.

Vito chewed his cheek and took a sip from his glass. “I know you know it’s a bit more complicated than what I’m gonna say, but to simplify it… I was twelve when I showed up in here.” He finally leveled his gaze at her. “Mike was five.”

“So… you had… like a before?”

Vito nodded. “Yeah. I mean, in real life, I’m just another bit of… well, I guess that isn’t really the whole truth either.” He waved his hand dismissively. “Forget that. We ain’t talking psych here.”

Zoey hopped up to sit on the counter. “So what came before? For you.”

Vito shrugged. “Home. The Bronx.”

“Do you… remember it?” Zoey asked slowly.

Vito nodded, sucking his cheek in again. “Yeah. A lot. Had a whole home, a family…” He took a deep shuddering breath. “Miss them sometimes. How do you miss something that never existed? How do you even explain that feeling? God, I don’t even miss what it is now. I’d be 50 fucking years old if we were counting the real time.”

Zoey shifted, unsure what to say, but he continued, a little wound up now.

“And even then, if I could go back in time, it doesn’t exist. I couldn’t go to the streets I know and I couldn’t talk to the people I know and I wouldn’t fit in at all because I’m just a distorted what if from every book and movie and scrap of know-how that this freaking brain has collected over the years. I ain’t from the Bronx and it almost feels offensive to claim I am. I’m just a stereotype and a buncha tape. I’m a child playing pretend to get away.”

Zoey stared at him with wide eyes. She’d never heard Vito talk negatively about himself (to be fair, she had thought he was too egotistical to even consider it). She took a deep breath, started to try to say something and immediately stopped. What could she possibly say?

Vito was watching her, head down and dark eyes glistening just a little wetly in the late afternoon sun. She had to say something. She had to.

He chuckled, a cruel undertone to it. “Don’t worry ‘bout it, Red. ‘S just the facts of life.” He straightened up and went to walk away.

“Vito, wait.” To his credit, he froze immediately, head tilted just enough to hear her better.

She slid off the counter, careful to come around on his right side and stood in front of him. He wouldn’t meet her eyes. He was blinking a lot again, this time in a desperate attempt not to cry in front of her. It wasn’t really working.

“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice cracking into a whisper halfway through. He took a shuddering breath and pressed his lips tightly together.

She stepped a little closer, aching to hug him but knowing this was as close as she would get. “If… if you ever want to talk about them, I’d love to listen.”

His hand clenched into a trembling fist and all of a sudden he was hugging her so close she could hardly breathe.

“I’d… yeah, let’s do that sometime.” A sob finally escaped him and he pushed his face into the top of her shoulder as he started crying properly. Slowly, carefully, not wanting to startle him, Zoey brought her hands up and hugged him back. His sobs redoubled and he held her tighter. His fingers dug and twisted into the fabric of her sweatshirt and she wondered if he’d ever let himself cry like this, if anyone had ever been there to hold him up while he did.

They were going to need a lot of tissues when that talk came around.

#it has been over 2 years since i posted anything i wrote #tbh since I've wrote anything except drabbles #and this turned out fucking good imo #so hell yes im posting it #my writing #total drama #td vito #td zoey #this is cross-posted to ao3 but like i said it gets to be here too

[vamp-stamp-fics]

Th Black phone Headcanons

Fandom: the black phone

Tags: hcs, fluff, some angst on Vances hcs

Word count: 1192

A/n: I've been hyperfixated on this movie for at least a month and I'm finally posting about it. these are some of the Headcanons I have for the black phone currently. I'll probably make a part 2

Sexuality hcs don't shit on me for this. If you don't like the thought of gay people in the 70s personally evaluate and ask why the hell you're mad

• Finney - bisexual

Gwen - an aggressive straight Ally. She'll pop anyone in the mouth that disrespects Finney she already does but she'll do it twice as hard if it's cus his sexuality

Robin - homie kisser

Vance - another homie kisser (they're just like me fr)

Bruce - bisexual

Griffin - either unlabeled or straight. On one hand he seems the type to not care what your gender is he just likes you but on the other I don't see him liking boys so idk I'm still contemplating

Billy - straight Ally (I'm sorry but I don't see him liking dudes romanticly. Ik I'm crushing every Biffin shipper rn 💀)

• Finn's favorite color is blue

• Robin's favorite color is green

• Gwen's favorite color is pastel pink. She always tells Finney that Yes there's a difference between pastel pink and regular pink

• Vances favorite color is also blue but he likes more darker blues while finney likes lighter blues

• Billy's favorite color is red

• Griffins favorite color is orange

• Gwen did ballet when she was around 7 but stopped doing it when her mom died

• Gwens favorite book series is Nancy Drew & her favorite movie is wizard of oz

• Billy & Griffin are absolute little shits together. Billy's the shit talker Griffin's the instigator

• Vance violently brushes his teeth. Like the bristles on the brush are flared 💀

• Bruce is an avid Michael Jackson enjoyer so is Robin

• Robin is a absolute horror nut. (In a modern au he'd love analog horror the walten files I feel he'd especially like. Also in a modern au he'd force Finney to play fnaf with him) besides Texas chainsaw massacre he definitely likes Halloween & Friday the 13th (if he was still alive that is 💀)

Rip Robin you would've loved Rob zombie ✊😔

• Vance is constantly getting into arguments with his teacher in one way or another. The only teacher that isn't on his ass is his English teacher which is his favorite. She's basically like a 2nd mother to him of course he'd never tell her that. He acts all tough in that class but the minute everyone leaves he somewhat dials it back when she tells Vance he did well today and he actually got a passing grade on one of his tests totally not projecting here

• Vance: "ur mom"

Finney: "my mom's dead"

Vance: "damn my fault 💀"

• Billys dogs name is Goldie

• when star wars was realesed Finney absolutely loved the movies and dragged Robin to see them with him

• speaking of Star wars one Halloween Finney & Gwen dressed as Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia

• Vances childhood dog was a bloodhound

• Speaking of Vance he had a pretty rough childhood. I heard that he's a Canon mamas boy so I'm using that as well. He grew up with an abusive and alcoholic father who'd constantly abused him and his mom. He'd always tried to intervene and protect his mom causing him to get hurt. Afterwards his mother would just comfort him as best she could and tell that he shouldn't involve himself when his parents argued. His mom got so fed up with it that she left Vance and his dad when he was 8. She didn't want to leave him but she was so emotionally and mentally drained she just left on impulse. Vance doesn't exactly hate his mom for it cus he knows it probably would've been worse for her if she stayed, but a part of him does resent her for it and wonders sometimes why she couldn't just take him with her.

• the choker he wears was actually his mom's. it's the only thing he had that she left so it has pretty sentimental value.

• Vance has a 6 year old sister named Tara. When he went missing she was basically the only one looking for him. She'd go on her scooter after school everyday around the neighborhood and stay up late watching the news to see if she could get any information. Tara was up when the news stated he was found dead and cried knowing she'd never see her brother again.

Anyways sorry for the sad Vance hcs back to our regular scheduled programming

• Tara's just as foul mouthed and intimidating as her brother. The minute she talks it throws people off bc a little girl calling someone "fuckhead" is definitely something they weren't expecting. kicks anyone in the balls if they mess with Vance or his pinball machine. Gwen absolutely loves her and hangs out with her alot. She's basically like another older sibling for her. Whenever Vance is playing pinball she's either outside playing ball next to the Grab n Go or sitting next to him let's pretend there's a chair next to the pinball machine lol drawing in a coloring book.

• Vance refers to his dad as old man

• Vance love life is interesting to say the least. He doesn't feel like he needs a relationship but wouldn't mind having one. Tho he's not gonna be romantic at all about it 💀 i mean he's not gonna be a dick to his s/o and he'd try to be romantic but he's not gonna call them pet names and be all flowery. a date with Vance is just watching him play pinball tbh

• Vance either is in a band or wants to start one. If he hasn't started one yet he'd never admit to his friends that he wants to make one

• Vances favorite holiday is Halloween so is Robins cus he loves horror sm every year he and his friends wear costumes to scare kids trick or treating

• Modern au: Finney & Gwen don't have cable tv so if they wanna watch shows from CN, nickelodeon etc they go to Robins house (Totally not projecting again) Finney's favorite show is the amazing world of gumball Robins is regular show. Gwen's favorite show is Craig of the creek and her favorite character is Kelsey. When it comes to non cable tv Finney & Gwens favorite show is Mr Rogers neighborhood

• Modern Au: Finney watches game/film theory. Robin watches it with him sometimes but only if it's horror movie/video games

• Vance can't ride a bike for shit. His mom tried teaching him before she left but he couldn't get his balance

• Robin is a roller skating/skating pro. He can do different tricks and flips and Finney always wonders how he does it without busting his ass. One time Robin tried teaching him to skate and ended up falling. Robin found it funny until he saw the giant gash on his hand

• Gwen uses pinkie promises. She's aggressive with them too. she'll be holding her Pinky to Finn "YOU PROMISE? 😠" and he'll say "yeah yeah I promise 😒"

• Modern Au: Gwen has a rainbow loom and makes a shit load of bracelets. Has whole box full of them. She gave a few to Finney and Robin

#the black phone #the black phone movie #the black phone 2022 #the black phone x reader #the black phone headcanons #black phone x reader #black phone #vance the black phone #finney blake #gwen blake #bruce yamada #robin arellano #griffin stagg #billy showalter #paperboy #finney the black phone #gwen the black phone #bruce the black phone #robin the black phone #griffin the black phone #billy the black phone #paperboy the black phone #bruce yamada x reader #vance hopper #robin x finney #finbin #fanfic #fanfiction #new fanfic #Vamp-stamp-fics

[iam93percentstardust]

Electric Touch

I finally wrote something for @lightsonparkave! Written for this prompt, you can find this fic on ao3 here (and a brief preview below)

~

Breakups are hard enough on their own, but they’re even worse when your best friend won’t let you cope in your preferred way.

“Bucky, I don’t want a vacation,” Steve says, trying to sound patient and not like he’s growling.

Bucky nods like he understands, which he clearly doesn’t or they wouldn’t still be having this conversation two months after he first brought it up. “I know you keep saying that, and I hear ya, I really do. But I think you’re not hearing me, pal. I’m not saying you want a vacation, I’m saying you need one.”

Steve loses the battle with his growl. “Bucky—”

“Steve. Listen to me. When’s the last time you went out on a Friday night? Forget going to the bar or anywhere you might meet someone—when’s the last time you went to the movies? Or out to Coney Island? For that matter, when’s the last time you left this office? I know you’ve got a bed in that private office back there, and Natasha tells me you’re still here when she leaves every night and here when she gets here in the morning. Steve, she’s one of the first people in the office, so what are you doing getting here so early? Are you sleeping in there? That’s it exactly, isn’t it? You’re sleeping inside your office, and that’s just another whole level of sad.”

“I’m not sleeping in my office,” Steve snarls, but he is and Bucky absolutely knows it going by his judgmental scowl.

“Really? So if I went downstairs and pulled the security logs…”

“Fine! So I’m sleeping here. Who cares?”

“I care, Steve. It’s been six months since Peggy left, and you’re a fucking wreck!”

“Star Designs has had its most successful quarter since—”

“I don’t give a fuck about the company. I care about you. You might have the board fooled with your expensive suits and fancy hair, but I see right past that to the kid from Brooklyn, and I’m telling you, you’re floundering. What’s going on?”

“What do you think?” Steve snaps, dropping heavily into the ergonomic chair behind his desk. He doesn’t drop his head into his hands but that’s only because that seems a little too melodramatic. He’s the CEO and founder of the biggest advertisement and marketing company in the country. He is not a high schooler experiencing their first breakup on prom night.

“She hasn’t been by to pick her stuff up yet,” he says quieter. And I can’t bear to go back home and see her sheet music and clothes and programs from her concerts, he doesn’t add.

Bucky blinks at him. “So?”

“What do you mean so?”

“So text her, tell her she’s got another week to pick up her shit, and then hire a moving company, but stop letting her push you out of your own goddamn apartment.”

“I can’t do that! Most of those are from her shows. They mean something to her.”

“Well, they can’t mean that much if she’s left them there for the last six months,” Bucky points out reasonably. But the idea of just throwing them out makes him want to shudder. His dad used to throw his mom’s things out every time she did something he didn’t like. Eventually she stopped doing them, but by that point, she wasn’t really Steve’s mom anymore, just an empty husk.

Maybe Bucky remembers that because his face softens just a touch. “Look, take the week off. Take the vacation that Natasha booked for you. I’ll handle getting Peggy’s things out of the apartment, and when you come back, promise me you’ll stop sleeping in your office. You’re thirty-two years old Steve. Stop acting like you’re ninety.”

Steve sighs. He still doesn’t want to, but maybe Bucky is right. Maybe he’s been pushing everyone—and himself especially—too hard so that he doesn’t have to think about Peggy. It’s been hard enough trying to get used to sleeping alone again, but maybe he should stop trying in his cold office and get used to the warm sunlight on his face waking him up in the morning in his east-facing apartment instead of his alarm in his windowless private office.

“Fine,” he agrees.

“Yes!” Bucky exclaims, pumping his fist in the air. He’s not even a little bit subtle about it, and Steve can’t help the chuckle that escapes him.

“But only for a week,” Steve adds.

#alle writes #stevetony #lightsonparkave

[junebugwriter]

Loki Season 2 Doesn't Understand Loki

The fundamental flaw in a season that means nothing

Spoilers below.

I think we need to talk about Loki.  

People who know me know that I don’t like superhero and comic book movies. I love them. And that’s why I’m so critical of them. I can blame my brother on getting me into comics in high school, but the fact that long after that I keep coming back to the well speaks to what I love about them. Comics are the blending of prose and visual artistry, of character and medium. Every comic is a conversation between artists. Television and film, likewise, are another variation on that same theme.  

However, like any other kind of media, its greatest strengths can also fall victim to their greatest enemy: the companies that own them. 

Marvel Studios and the Marvel Cinematic Universe began as a simple concept: translate the idea of comic book universes onto the big screen. Let the comic company own the movies that bring their stories to the masses. When Disney bought Marvel, lock stock and barrel, it also brought truckloads of cash and prestige with it. This proved to be a Faustian bargain in the end, because what happens when the infinite money machine begins to grow too large to handle? Things begin to break down. 

Loki Season 2 is this metaphor brought to life. 

Everything Will Be The Same Ever Again 

The first season ended promisingly enough. Loki and his alternate timeline gender swapped variant Sophie finally find He Who Remains, the man behind the curtains that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been building up to. He’s the one who pulls the strings, paves the road, and decides the Sacred Timeline ™—in other words, this is the man who decides Marvel Canon.  

Season 1 ended exactly as I hoped it would: Sophie, tired of being controlled, did the thing that gods of mischief and chaos are supposed to do. She killed the man behind the curtain. In so doing, she unspooled the Sacred Timeline ™ in the name of free will, allowing for infinite universes to be borne from the infinite choices made every moment by every being in existence. She gave birth to the multiverse. She broke the system.  

Obviously, this could not last.   

Loki season 1 promised that the universe would be forever altered by the actions of Loki and Sophie, and for a while, this seemed to be the case. Most of the recent phase of Marvel output has revolved, for better or worse, with the introduction of the concept of multiple realities. This has been used somewhat as more or less a vehicle for Brand Integration ™ and less as a vehicle for, you know, good storytelling. Yes, we’ve been promised Fantastic Four and X-men movies, but those aren’t even really in the works currently. They’ve been stuck in development hell for years since acquisition. All we’ve gotten is a couple of winks and nods, a musical sting, and N’amor, which all things being fair, was great, but N’amor has always been his own thing and a mutant in name only, story-wise. Otherwise, it’s been fine, but far from the promised chaos that Loki season 1 alluded to. 

Additionally, there’s the problem of character. Loki in mythology is less a villain but more of an antagonist, a trickster character that causes problems and meddles in the affairs of others for little reason else besides “he wanted to.” He’s mercurial by nature, and that works very, very well for mythology. It works for the purposes of “this is how the world is, this is why things are the way they are, and this is how the world will end.” Loki’s presence is not malevolent, but rather genuinely chaotic. He will do what he wants, and usually only to satisfy himself. He often seems unable to really control himself, let alone anyone else. He does things because he loves just making things happen, and if he winds up with what he wants, it’s all the better.  

In the comics and the films, he’s much more cast as a villain. In the films, he desires the throne of Asgard, to be the rightful ruler of people. Failing to win Asgard, he seeks out Earth as an agent of Thanos. Failing that, he meanders long enough in the background to have fun when dealing with Thor, and that’s about it. He finally dies an ignoble death by Thanos, and that was to be the end of him. Loki the TV series is not the same Loki we saw die. This Loki is an alternate timeline variant, and after having his ego broken by the Time Variance Authority, he seeks out another variant, Sophie, who has been causing problems for the TVA. 

If all that gives you a bit of a headache, don’t worry. That’s just the comic fan experience. Comics, and superhero stories, are of a kindred spirit with Soap Operas: not only are they highly melodramatic, often made up on the fly, and filled with colorful characters, but they’re also designed to go on FOREVER. That’s the beauty of them. The characters, and the universe, frequently default to a certain status quo. Sure, every few years, something comes along that promises to Change the Universe Forever, but that often amounts to one weird tweak and then it's back to the races as usual. The bad guy comes along to challenge the hero, hero must thwart whatever plan the villain has, and all is well. That’s the rhythm of the comic book story, and that works quite well for executives... to a point. So, what happens when people start to get tired of the same old story? They change the status quo on paper, and hope nobody notices that the structure of it all is still intact.  

That was the promise of Loki Season 1. See? We have a multiverse now! Please, be distracted by this CHAOS long enough to not realize that we are still in control of everything, and everything is fine.  

That last sentence? That’s the plot of season 2. See, Sophie killed He Who Remains, and the multiverse exists. The TVA is designed by HWR to maintain the Sacred Timeline ™. With the Sacred Timeline ™ now in chaos, everything in the universe is going haywire. That means timelines are unraveling. The plot now follows Loki, his hetero life mate Mobius, and a cast of fun, colorful characters, racing against time to keep time from unspooling, and the multiverse from completely falling apart. 

Mr. Loki’s Wild Ride 

“Loki” is a show meant to turn Loki from the god of mischief and chaos to... a hero, somehow. One who wants to fight to maintain an autocratic, bureaucratic organization that wasn’t very good at its job in the first place because the alternative is... chaos. According to the plot, this chaos takes the form of nothingness. Lack of existence. See, without an imposed order, nothing can exist! Therefore, reality NEEDS someone or some entity to maintain order in some way so that everything can keep on existing.  

But why is this the case? Why does reality need a temporal loom or a man behind the curtain? The show doesn’t do a very good job of explaining why everything ceases to exist the moment that the Temporal Loom, the machine that maintains the Sacred Timeline ™ other than “that’s just how it all works,” and really, it doesn’t even tell us that. It just shows time unraveling, sans explanation. How did time exist before the Temporal Loom, you ask? Loki, for all its technobabble and endlessly recurrent exposition, is not actually interested in explaining that bit. You see, it was chaos and war and death before, or it’s nothingness. Which is it? Why is it? It’s a nihilistic and frustrating bit of worldbuilding that leads to nothing.  

This nihilism is a kind of narrative reinforcement technique. By the end of it, Loki has figured out how to control time itself, after much trial and error, as well as another conversation with He Who Remains. Yet in that conversation, he learns a fundamental truth about the MCU: He who makes the difficult decisions gets to sit on the throne. He Who Remains is supposedly one such person. In his stead, at the end, Loki does the same. He wrests control of the timelines, bundles them up into a cape, and seats himself on the throne of He Who Remains. As such, he recreates Yggdrasil, the world tree of Norse mythology, the tree upon which all the realms rest. You see? Everything goes back to normal, now that someone is in control. 

But wait a minute. Why would Loki ever make this choice? Loki early in the show figures out he doesn’t want a throne. He doesn’t want control. All he ever wanted was to be loved and known and understood. That is the true desire at the heart of his character. It’s beautiful, and poignant, and speaks to my own heart. In Sophie, he found someone who does know and understand him. Is it narcissistic to love a gender variant of yourself? Probably! But it makes sense for him. Because he is a mercurial person. He doesn’t really understand even himself, and because of that, it results in mischief and chaos. That’s who he is. He is a chaos god.  

By the end of the show though, he’s learned and grown... what? To love order? To love bureaucracy? To love control? That’s what it’s saying when he takes the throne! I understand that this is Loki learning what it means to be a hero, but is that really what it means? To let go of your defining characteristic? To lose what makes you... you? To undergo true ego death so that the world itself can keep on spinning upon your skeleton? For all its over-explanation, Loki the show isn’t interested in answering much of anything. It’s poetic that he gives up his life so that reality can continue, but this seems rather pointless, in the end. Instead of embracing himself, he denies his identity to sit on a throne he doesn’t want. That’s no god of chaos and mischief. That is the god of stability, order, and the status quo.  

That’s not Loki.  

Pay no attention to the executive behind the curtain 

I understand the mercenary reasons for these choices. I understand that the universe must keep spinning, and the infinite money machine must keep on making money. But to do so, they need to kill the defining characteristics of their beloved characters, and that just makes it all so thin, flimsy and frustrating. There are some amazing moments in this show! Everything with Sophie, Mobius, and Ouroboros is excellent. The characters make this nonsense story shine, long enough to make you hopefully realize that it doesn’t even make internal sense. 

As someone who analyses stories for a living, it’s impossible to see this apart from the concept of capitalist realism, whose central maxim is this: It’s easier to believe in the end of the world rather than the end of capitalism. Substitute “capitalism” with “the underlying bureaucracy upon which the world rests and runs itself” and that becomes just the text of Loki. It’s easier to imagine the end of reality than the end of the TVA, and the end of the autocrat who sits on top of the pyramid. The Universe is run by a corrupt pyramid scheme, but it’s that or nothingness! So, you NEED someone to run things like this, otherwise it’s all void.  

That’s what this story is saying—but why does it need to say this? Why do we need someone sitting on a throne? For a character like Loki whose entire character is anarchy incarnate, this simply just rings hollow.  

And so, I am frustrated. I want to like “Loki.” It has some great moments and is a lot of fun. But at the end of the day, it does the character of Loki wrong but having to reinforce the status quo, and when your central character who is defined by causing mischief, maintaining the status quo is a terrible way to end your series.  

#blog #tv #television #loki #marvel #marvel cinematic universe