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#yeah another BIG thing w this is that it's both a religion and a system of power
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examining a seemingly normal image only to slowly realize the clear signs of AI generated art.... i know what you are... you cannot hide your true nature from me... go back where you came from... out of my sight with haste, wretched and vile husk
#BEGONE!!! *wizard beam blast leaving a black smoking crater in the middle of the tumblr dashboard*#I think another downside to everyone doing everything on phone apps on shitty tiny screens nowadays is the inability to really see details#of an image and thus its easier to share BLATANTLY fake things like.. even 'good' ai art has pretty obvious tells at this point#but especially MOST of it is not even 'good' and will have details that are clearly off or lines that dont make sense/uneven (like the imag#of a house interior and in the corner there's a cabinet and it has handles as if it has doors that open but there#are no actual doors visible. or both handles are slightly different shapes. So much stuff that looks 'normal' at first glance#but then you can clearly tell it's just added details with no intention or thought behind it. a pattern that starts and then just abruptly#doesn't go anywhere. etc. etc. )#the same thing with how YEARS ago when I followed more fashion type blogs on tumblr and 'colored hair' was a cool ''''New Thing''' instead#of being the norm now basically. and people would share photos of like ombre hair designs and stuff that were CLEARLY photoshop like#you could LITERally see the coloring outside of the lines. blurs of color that extend past the hair line to the rest of the image#or etc. But people would just share them regardless and comment like 'omg i wish I could do this to my hair!' or 'hair goallzzzz!! i#wonder what salon they went to !!' which would make me want to scream and correct them everytime ( i did not lol)#hhhhhhggh... literally view the image on anything close to a full sized screen and You Will SEe#I don't know why it's such a pet peeve of mine. I think just as always I'm obsessed with the reality and truth of things. most of the thing#that annoy me most about people are situations in which people are misinterpreting/misunderstanding how something works or having a misconc#eption about somehting thats easily provable as false or etc. etc. Even if it's harmless for some random woman on facebook to believe that#this AI generated image of a cat shaped coffee machine is actually a real product she could buy somewhere ... I still urgently#wish I could be like 'IT IS ALL AN ILLUSION. YOU SEE???? ITS NOT REALL!!!!! AAAAA' hjhjnj#Like those AI shoes that went around for a while with 1000000s of comments like 'omg LOVE these where can i get them!?' and it's like YOU#CANT!!! YOU CANT GET THEM!!! THEY DONT EXIST!!! THE EYELETS DONT EVEN LINE UP THE SHOES DONT EVEN#MATCH THE PATTERNS ARE GIBBERISH!! HOW CAN YOU NOT SEE THEY ARE NOT REAL!??!!' *sobbing in the rain like in some drama movie*#Sorry I'm a pedantic hater who loves truth and accuracy of interpretation and collecting information lol#I think moreso the lacking of context? Like for example I find the enneagram interesting but I nearly ALWAYS preface any talking about it#with ''and I know this is not scientifically accurate it's just an interesting system humans invented to classify ourselve and our traits#and I find it sociologically fascinating the same way I find religion fascinating'. If someone presented personality typing information wit#out that sort of context or was purporting that enneagram types are like 100% solid scientific truth and people should be classified by the#unquestionaingly in daily life or something then.. yeah fuck that. If these images had like disclaimers BIG in the image description somewh#re like 'this is not a real thing it's just an AI generated image I made up' then fine. I still largely disagree with the ethics behind AI#art but at least it's informed. It's the fact that people just post images w/o context or beleive a falsehood about it.. then its aAAAAAA
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tvlandofficial · 1 year
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some of you guys (other 'nonnies) are real weird about religion! i hope you forgive them for their sacrilege, heresy(?) and other stuff, tenna. our world, like ralsei's and gaster's, is pretty different from yours. especially on the lightner front. our relationship with them is a little hard to explain, but i guess some people just really want everyone to think about lightners the way we do.
anyway, all that to say, i hope you feel it in your heart to pray that toriel forgives them for their actions. it's not borne of hate, i think, just a bit of culture shock. i think.
📺 EH, IT'S FINE.
📺 IT'S... WEIRD, I'LL ADMIT, HAVING YOU DARKNERS TALK ABOUT YOUR LIGHTNERS LIKE THEY DON'T HOLD THE POWER OVER US THEY DO. IT'S NOT JUST BELEIVING, LIKE I'VE SAID – IT'S A FEELING THAT ALL OF US CAN SEE IN THE WAY OF OUR WORLD, IN THE DETERMINATION OF OUR ACTIONS BY THE LIGHT.
📺 BUT THERE ARE SOME THINGS I'M JUST NOT MADE TO WONDER ABOUT. THINGS US DARKNERS CAN'T HANDLE, YEAH? THAT'S THE KIND OF STUFF THE KID DEALS IN.
📺 I GET THAT YOU DON'T SEEM TO HATE ME, EVEN IF YOU ALL DO ACT LIKE YOU WANNA GET UNDER MY SKIN TIME AND AGAIN. BUT I DON'T THINK YOU GET HOW LITTLE OF A SAY WE HAVE IN ALL OF THIS.
📺 (... TORIEL ABOVE, WHY'S SAYING THAT FEEL SO...)
📺 ...
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midigated · 3 years
Text
Another rant? You didn't ask for it? Ok. Shut up.
Once again, seeing the sailor moon discourse on my followed tags feed and I am, once again, rolling my eyes at the hatred for the anime. Like yeah, there are good critiques out there, but there's a fine line between being critical and just showing one's bias against a piece of media. It's like I'm reading a shitty screenrant or cbr article. And it's dumb.
I feel like reading this answer from Megumi Ogata is exciting and pretty cool. I'm pretty sure she's talking about Ikuhara. I wouldn't be surprised if he had to downplay a lot of shit for him and Yoji to get away with a lot more (a part of a director's job has to answer to executives/producers).
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Also, like, I don't know if anyone's ever taken a film class before, but, uh, a director's job is to establish motivation for their actors. To give them an IDEA/CONCEPT/MOTIVATION for why actors read certain characters in a specific way. Also, it ensures that the actors have excellent chemistry together (and they do, and it's iconic). When I read this, I saw that because THAT'S WHAT A DIRECTOR DOES. He doesn't know their backgrounds or political ideologies - one has to make due and explain, 'this is how I want these characters to BEHAVE' it's not an indicator of anything else beyond that. He had to explain in a way both actors could understand. If the way they know is via their relationships w/ their spouses, THEN SO BE IT. It's a pretty neutral thing, and reading other interpretations of this sounds like one does not have an understanding of what goes on with live media beyond 'actors read lines and lines go brrrrrrrrrrrrrr.'
Also, either way, Megumi acknowledges the characters as a couple, so that's cool also. A famous gay district in Japan lost their shit (in a good way) about how favorable her portrayal of a gay character was.
She's not wrong about the religion thing. Speaking as an American, Christianity colors our society in the worst way. (Please don't bother w/ the apologetics. It's dull, and the narrative of Christians being oppressed is wrong when systemically they are favored over other religions and marginalized groups in this country.)
She does not deny that she voiced a gay character.
I'm sure Ikuhara wouldn't deny that either.
Hell, that guy and Yoji brought us Utena, aka their collab Sailor Moon Harumichi AU dueling rococo surrealist fanfic to life. A big part of it was due to Ikuhara getting tired of the restrictions by Toei from what he wanted to do.
(I also hold the weird and wildly unprovable theory that the reason why SuperS sucked so much was due to Ikuhara treating it as a big fuck you. 'Like fine, we'll do it your way but don't be surprised if it sucks.' Because look what happened with Stars. I rest my case.)
The series grew up with their audience. Evident by each storyline gaining a darker tone. There are the familiar beats of MotW, The Big Bad, and World Saving Shenanigans. It's not so far off from what A LOT of shows did and still do. Look at Buffy. It was heralded as a fantastic well-written show, that grew up w/its audience, but still had the same beats - MotW, The Big Bads, and World Saving Shenanigans.
(Note: this is just an objective statement about an old US show. Like, don't come at me w/ 'well Joss Whedon BAD ACTUALLY' because I know, and I agree. He's a POS. It sucks that his assholerly had tainted my love for a show that also helped me w/ coming out when I was a teen (it's on the same level as the 90s anime of sailor moon, too, for helping me come out.). Also, the post-show comics sucked ding dong, and y'all know I'm right about that. After all these years, I'm still mad over Tara getting killed off.)
Then it came crashing to a halt when the higher-ups wanted the show to go back to being fun and fancy-free... And focused on Chibiusa, which no one liked.
(that is a huge reason I prefer the dreams arc in the manga way more, it's overall better in every way vs. SuperS. Also, it was Naoko's turn to flex her Junji Ito skills and well. Thanks for having a hand at creating nightmare fuel for my childhood! It's not like child me needed the sleep anyway!)
I'm also a little more sympathetic w/ the 90s anime and manga. Most of that comes from reading/watching about the production schedule AND the output of the manga. Like damn, that was a looooot of crunch for everyone. The anime had to run w/ somethings / allow Naoko to finish her chapters// make new shit in the meant time if they needed to / adapt to other changes, while the manga just had * to try* and stay timely. Both pieces are challenging in their ways. One person working solo (with maybe a few assistants) is difficult, as is working with an entire cast and crew. They both have different challenges to work through.
And with regards to my sympathy for the manga and anime... It's the same way I feel about Berserk. Like, I'm glad the 90s anime and the trilogy movies exist, but damn, imagine if they kept going w/ the 90s anime after the Golden Age when one considers Miura's output of chapters? ESPECIALLY DURING THE BOAT STRUGGLE. THE. BOAT. STRUGGLE.
I remember I paused reading berserk back in 2010. I came back about 3/4 years ago, and my reaction was, 'oh wow, they finally got off the boat, good for them.'
No. I will not talk about the later berserk anime bc... Well. Look. No matter how much ppl complained about Sailor Moon Crystal or Dragon Ball Super and their wonky animation and re-draws. The New Berserk anime still looks like garbage. It's still awkward. It's still painful. Can't polish that turd.
At least Super and Crystal look better in recent years.
Anyway, thanks for coming to my stupid and all over the place Ted talk. My ADHD medication ran out, so this is what you all get.
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rurifangirl · 3 years
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chile, could ya explain the magic system in yo oc world more? im kinda confused w how it works👁👄👁
Oh boy, here we go bitches.
So as an intro to this, I said bout last oc post in Qiran's part that their fam was full of mages n shit, but also some of em weren't, n since they do have magic istelf Imma do more parts (3 parts)
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First part- how does It all work (Humans/Mages)
First of all, not all of em have a connection with magic, for example Evelyn doesn't at all while Lyva does but only through a magical item so It doesn't really count.
Other then that, if you're born you can either be born with some kind of magic, or simply not. It all depends from your family's lineage, for example If you come from a family of mainly rougues it's hard to get some kind of magical power, while if your parents have both some kind of power or even if it's only one of em, it's more likely you'll end up with something really similar, or a mixture of the two. (In case both of your parents have magical powers of any sort.)
It also depends on where you're living, for example If you'd be born from a cold place it's unlikely ya'd have magma magic rather than snow magic.
Between humans/mages the system Is kinda the same, but that does change for Hybrids/Demi gods/anything that isn't born between the same species.
Between humans/mages it's more of how their ancestors managed to treat its powers, as some got even destroyed for not being worthy of its usage, so If anything at this point and time they're lucky about getting somethin.
Mages are far more cautious about It, having both a lot of hidden knowlege about spells or even origins of some types of magic, though that being the most "common" ones, (for example fire, water ect.), because it's not only them of course, there's far more variants and all are different from eachother.
They can also get stronger by the worshipping of certain gods, which I don't think I will really talk about, at least in this post. (And also because they're still a wip of mine)
But the gang until now really never relied on any of them, or at least Lyva/Rui n Naexi never really did, while the others absolutely did. This Is also why I will do another post as a sorta of a part 2.
Anyways back on topic, most people in all parts of my oc world aren't used to worshipping anymore, or at least a great part of It, mainly because of a loss of knowlege about anything about them.
It's kind of taboo even mentioning most gods names, as they fear something will go wrong if they would (*ahem*being suspicious n allarmin the cult*AHEM*). In fact it's hard to get on most religions because the only remains of It are extremely either hidden, or destroyed in the meanwhile.
I wanna say that another reason because the worshipping stopped Is also because of Rui's cult. Yes, remember that?
It's gonna be talked about on its own post, but let's just say that for them, it's a safe way to restrain anyone knowing far too much about how everything works.
They're the only ones owning most stuff about different coltures to avoid having them against their side,
If there's no worshippers, no knowlege, n more weak magic because people don't strengthen them, who's gonna go against em? (It'll turn out to be the shittiest idea they've ever had but that really did work for the longest time.)
Oh I think i forgot to mention this, but since magic goes lineage to lineage, It also weakenens as generations pass by, as THAT'S the reason they absolutely need those texts.
That's also the reason most humans struggle w keepin magic. Mages can manage, though it's a small portion, since sometimes not even what they've learned over generations works anymore.
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Second part- how does It all work (Hybrids/Demi gods n stuff)
Oh boy, so, I'm also gonna use Shou n Naexi a lot here, so bear w me. As I said earlier, it's different from em, since it's not about lineage at all.
Apart that the union between different species Is both a taboo n seen as something "ashaming",so even if they had a child It was more likely they'd Hide It or leave It behind. So it's already a really, god-awful situation for them.
The magic works kinda randomly, in the sense that since the hybrid's nature is seen as unstable to begin w, there's no real critere to handle how the child born Is gonna turn out to be.
Sometimes it's really hard to notice, having yeah some features but can be hidden really easly, but other times Is just, a real mess between the two species, n the magic Is also uncontrollable, especially during their first years of life.
For example, in Shou's case he used to really switch a lot between em, that being the reason he later on prefers not to switch, n havin to learn as soon as possible how to learn how his magic n form would work w It, having again a lot of preassure comin from people he knew.
This Is unfortunatly a really common situation between most hybrids. And there's also no choise.
If you as an hybrid can control magic w/o anything to rely on then you can live, while if you cannot do It, it's a matter of time before you'd get zoned out by everyone and everything.
This Is a big issue, other than having everything fucked by the cult but that's another story.
Aight now bout demi-gods, they're also really not seen well. Most of them prefer not to interact at all with anything that Is not godly related, and in fact, most of em even refused to adknowledge their mortal parent, since they all have resentment over the sudden disappereance of all belivers.
If anything Naexi Is a weird one at that, as they did have a suddent interest in humans and ungodly creatures, though still recognized about how cruel any of them could've been, especially she's a demi-god and has a bad reputation at that.
The magic system Is relatively simple, they just get a certain amount of power from their god parent and are actually pretty capable of controlling them in confront of Hybrids.
That mainly comes from a special connection w their god parent's power, so in theory they're sort of devoted to them.
I wanna expand this when I'll do the gods post n finnaly introduce some of em (And potentially Naexi's mother👀), so I'll not go beyond this atm.
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Third part- Magical items/weapons
Aight onto another important part, which Is basically how tf would that work. We have that comin from Qiran's sword n Lyva's earrings, so they'll also be later on disscussed bout.
Even though it's a tough and long procedure, you can transport some of your own magic onto somethin as ordinary as an hat or as sharp as a dagger.
This Is being mainly used in emergency situations, as that energy can eventually be re-used later on by its user.
The user can be changed as long as there's a deal between both parties, whether that being a gift, buying It, or anythin up to them really.
It can also be a great way to hide mage's power, since there are some parts where they arent exactly that respected, so they could blend in with normal humans.
In fact, Qiran does that continiously thanks to their sword, daggers and other lil weapons, and they keep a big part of It there, to seem rather a normal knight/adventurer rather than havin somethin supernatural goin on.
They have a great holdo it since their father did make them learn to fulfill their request to be freerly goin round.
With Lyva it's not really different, even if she kinda stole It n there wasn't really a deal at that moment, but before runnin away from everyone n everything she convinced her mother to give her something that she could use to defend herself, since they were never around and when they were, they would've kinda avoided her.
Oh, and to add this, you could also curse an item. It's a way to mainly punish since ,well, it's a curse,
and makes the user either completely obsessed with the object itself or makin them do somethin w/o any type of consent, whether physical or emotional.
In some cases It can also be a torture tool. Though, as some recent stuff happened, they're somewhat hard to find.
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If you still have somethin unclear lemme know cuz idk If I covered everythin or if somethin ain't clear enough😭
Tags undercut:
@a-chaotic-dumbass @spoopy-fish-writes @dopesaladlady @damnfoxx @audre-falrose @nadi-117
(If you want your tag removed/added either dm me/go in the ask thing or do the tag thingy in the pinned comment‼️)
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leverage-ot3 · 4 years
Text
notable moments from The Gimme a K Street Job
leverage 5.05
lemme just start by addressing the episode synopsis: “to take down a competitive cheerleading company which profits by putting teenage girls at risk, the team must tackle their most corrupt foe yet: congress”
y’all they went SO HARD for 2012 and I stan them SO HARD for that
- - - - -
Parker (into video camera on phone): Do you hate me? You hate me. Is that why you’re making me—
[Leverage Headquarters]
Parker (on display): —do this?
Nate: No, Par-Parker, these girls... they need a coach, and you’re the best gymnast I know.
Hardison: Besides, it puts you on the inside at Pep H.Q. In D.C. They’re running cheer camp for the next week up until championship.
Parker: But they’re teenage girls. What do I know about teenage girls?
Nate: You were a teenage girl?
Parker: Only sort of
parker I guarantee you’ll be in your element soon enough
but, in the meantime, parker complaining to nate like an offended child to a parent is everything
- - - - -
Sophie: Look, did you know about this? Girls being dropped from 20 feet. It’s unbelievable.
Parker: I know, right? 20 feet? Psh! Walk it off.
Sophie: Parker, you do know that normal people don’t just “walk off” a 20-foot fall, right?
Parker: So... all those times I pushed Hardison off a building and he was all “aah!”... he wasn’t just being funny?
(Hardison shakes his head)
Eliot: I thought it was funny, Parker.
Hardison: No way in hell was it funny.
Eliot: You’re always upside down, man.
Hardison: I fell off a building. I was upside...
Eliot: Like a Himalayan tree frog.
Hardison: You calling me a frog? You calling me a damn frog? Say it again. Say it to my face
I’d die for this chaotic ot3
eliot “I thought it was funny” spencer made sure to both reassure parker and fuck with hardison in the saME B R E A T H
- - - - -
Nate: Ah, there’s the crux of the problem right there. Technically, legally, cheerleading is not a sport. It’s an activity.
Sophie: What’s the difference?
Eliot: A sport has legally mandated safety standards.
Nate: Yes, and a for-profit company cannot run a sport, which is why pep wants to keep Competitive cheer from becoming a sport.
I don’t know why I was expecting someone to bash cheerleading the show had never ever let me down and I should have known better
- - - - -
Sophie: Ah, I love government. Shady deals, back-room meetings... It is grifter paradise.
Eliot: This is wrong. We work outside the law, not smack-dab in the middle of it.
Nate: Relax, Eliot. Elected officials are the easiest marks in the world. Between their ego, the greed, and the politics... More hooks than a bait shop
another fucked up government episode let’s go
- - - - -
Eliot: Right. Assuming it passes.
Hardison: Assuming what? It’s a bill to keep high-school girls out of wheelchairs. Who’s gonna vote against it?
[Congressional Meeting]
LeGrange: Ladies and gentlemen, this bill is a staggering... I say a staggering overreach of government power.
Eliot: You were saying
eliot is smug and loves proving hardison wrong on principle
- - - - -
LeGrange: Now, I was a quarterback in high school, so I think I know a thing or two about cheerleaders. And one thing I know is that they do not want big government getting all up in their business.
(Barron and Snyder enter the room)
LeGrange: Cheerleaders are strong, independent young women. They don’t need a bunch of white-haired old men from Washington telling them what to do. They don’t need a nanny state dictating their every move
this whole thing was so gross wtf
- - - - -
(Hardison uses his phone to create feedback on the sound system. A technician struggles to fix it while Hardison hands Eliot his phone)
Hardison: Just press this button.
LeGrange: I said, who knows what...
(Eliot presses button and the feedback gets worse)
they lowkey grinned at each other when they did it ,,,
they’re a chaotic duo that thrives on fucking with people and I stan them so hard for it
two words: assholery boyfriends
- - - - -
Nate: No, not... not marks. Elected officials. We do this right, we’ll have them eating out of our hand by dinner.
(hours later, Hardison enters looking exhausted. The others are seated around looking tired as well)
Eliot: “Eating out of our hand by dinner,” huh?
Hardison (sits down): Anybody else feel like we’ve been chewed up and spit out
and that’s government, people
- - - - -
Sophie: I like stealing things that are real. Cash... of course. Land... sure. Art... yes, please. Corn subsidies? Not so much.
let sophie steal expensive art from rich snobs pls it’s what she deserves
- - - - -
Girl: Um, coach?
Parker: Right! Okay, who’s up for some basic gymnastics drills?
(Parker presses a button and LASER light lines shine between orange cones. A girl in the back raises her hand)
Parker: Yes. You. What are you called?
Madison: Madison. Can I be excused? I don’t feel well.
Parker: But... We have... laser grid, Madison. Laser grid. Huh?
(on phone call)
Parker: They’re so jaded
I hope they still learned how to dodge lasers at the end
also ,,, THEIR PERFORMANCE WAS SO GOOD AT THE END PARKER TAUGHT THEM SO WELL
- - - - -
LeGrange: No, no. Listen carefully, son. Now, people don’t donate to me to buy my vote. People donate to me because they already know how I’m gonna vote. People donate to me because of my integrity. Now, if your people are interested in me, I’m happy to have your money. But if you think you can buy a vote off of J.J. LeGrange, well, you got another think coming.
[Empty Office]
Sophie: You mean...
Eliot: Yeah, I mean the guy’s got integrity. Elected official or not, you can’t con an honest man
congressman: *is honorable*
eliot:
sophie:
hardison:
nate:
*team collectively embodies the surprised pikachu meme*
- - - - -
Nate: Okay, so what’s your next play?
Eliot: Well, you’re supposed to be the mastermind. He doesn’t want power. He doesn’t want money. Maybe he really is an honest man.
Nate: Everyone has a hook, Eliot. Everyone has a weakness you can exploit.
Eliot: Do you?
Nate: No. You?
Eliot: No. Look, maybe this doesn’t fit into your world view, Nate, but there are some people out there that just want to serve. Trust me. I served with them.
Nate: Okay. Well, if all they want to do is serve, you can exploit that, too.
they totally have hooks and it’s the team but smh act like y’all are untouchable whatever
- - - - -
(Parker turns on a light in Ashley’s face)
Ashley: Madison talked to me in confidence.
Parker: A big word for a little girl.
Nate: Where’s Madison?
(Parker leans down into Ashley’s face, growling)
she literally G R O W L E D LMFAO
- - - - -
Parker: Madison? Madis... (sees Madison) Madison, hey, what are you doing down here? (helps Madison up) Everybody’s freaking out. Come on, we got to get you to the competition.
Madison (jerks away): I don’t want to compete.
Parker: What? Why not?
Madison: I don’t want to mess up again.
Parker: What are you talking about? When do you mess up? You’re great.
Madison: Seriously?
Parker: Oh. You were Marcy’s spotter.
Madison: I don’t know what went wrong. We’d done it a hundred times. Everything was going perfectly. (sits down) I just don’t want anyone else to get hurt.
(Nate clears his voice. Parker sits beside Madison)
Parker: Look... I’m not afraid of heights or falling or... Anything I probably should be. But do you know what I am afraid of? Letting down the people I care about. Look, you don’t have to compete if you don’t want to compete. But I think your friends are gonna feel a lot safer knowing that you’re there, instead of having no one there.
(Madison nods)
Parker: Right? Did, uh, that work? Because I kind of got to get all the way up to the roof, so... (leaves the area)
parker NEVER would have been able to be vulnerable and understanding like that in the earlier seasons and we are SO PROUD of her and her character growth
+
“But do you know what I am afraid of? Letting down the people I care about.”
SHE LOVES HER FAMILY SO MUCH AND NEVER WANTS ANYTHING TO HAPPEN TO THEM
also ,,, nate’s fond look at her when she’s saying this ??? im soft
- - - - -
Cheerleader: Ready! Ready!
Announcer: Let’s hear it for the MHS Badgers!
Announcer: Ready! Ready! Let’s go!
Nate: Ready?
[Congresswoman Berkus’ Office]
Hardison: Ready.
[Sophie’s Office]
Sophie: Ready.
[Hallway]
Eliot: Ready.
[Pep Athletics Headquarters]
Parker: Ready.
Nate: Let’s go.
they’re so extra I love them
- - - - -
Ashley: Where’s coach?
Madison: She’ll be here. She won’t let us down.
Man: Wolves, you’re up.
Female announcer: Let’s give it up for the Wolves.
Parker: I’m here! I’m here! I’m here! All right, let’s huddle up. I bet you guys could use a pep talk right about now, huh?
(cheerleaders agree)
Parker: For Marcy?
Madison: For Marcy.
Parker: Go, wolves.
All: Go-o-o-o, wolves!
(cheerleaders perform an outstanding routine. Barron approaches Nate as he watches)
parker THRIVED during this episode and you can’t change my mind
- - - - -
parker watching over the cheer team with pride is my religion
- - - - -
also BIG PROPS to the producers that showed male cheerleaders too
- - - - -
LeGrange: Hi. (to Parker) How are you? J.J. LeGrange.
Parker: I don’t vote.
parker is chaotic and we love her for it
- - - - -
Hardison: And what was that about?
Sophie: Huh? Oh, I was j... I was, um, just planning a little trip to the gulf. The military are breaking ground on Fort Devereaux.
Hardison: Fort Devereaux?
Sophie: Mm-hmm. I love government.
Parker: Missed you guys this week. Good game.
I WANNA SEE FORT DEVERAUX
also parker wrapping her arms around sophie and hardison, happy to have her people and admitting that she missed them? the pOWER
- - - - -
Nate: Good job on this one.
Eliot: I know what you’re trying to do, Nate. You could have told me how to hook LeGrange the whole time, but you wanted to see if I could figure it out on my own. I trust someday very, very soon, you’re gonna tell me what kind of game you’re playing.
Nate: Good job on this one.
(Nate walks away. Eliot smiles, but watches him walk away)
eliot’s bashful little smile at the end is everything
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mccarricks · 4 years
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( brittany o’grady / demi woman ) WESLEY McCARRICK is 23 years old and is a SENIOR at thales university. SHE is majoring in FILM and is known for being THE MAVERICK as THEY can be HUMOROUS and OPEN-MINDED as well as DITZY and IMPULSIVE. every time i see HER/THEM, THEY remind me of PURPLE SKY IN THE DESERT, SKATING AS FAST AS YOU CAN TO FEEL THE WIND ON YOU, A JOKE TOLD WITH A TOOTHY GRIN.
hero’s back w character no. 2 and yet......
full name: wesley ‘wes’ elaine mccarrick
birthdate: february 2, 1997
age: 23
gender: demi woman
pronouns: she/her/they/them
zodiac: aquarius
nationality: american
ethnicity: black (louisiana creole) and white (irish)
hometown: santa fe, nm
languages: english, intermediate spanish
family:
theodore mccarrick, father
elaine barlow, mother
ruby mccarrick, older brother
delphine mccarrick, older sister
sherri barlow, maternal grandmother
many cousins
orientation: bisexual biromantic, pref. towards women/nb people but will date men
religion: agnostic
height: 5 ft 4 in
distinguishing features: eyebrows, hair, lips
character inspo: ilana wexler (broad city), harley quinn (dc comics), phoebe buffay (friends), prob more
𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃
TRIGGERS: divorce, mentions of crime, drug and alcohol use
the youngest child of ted and elaine mccarrick, wes was a kid who is full of life. she’s the kind of kid who did things to make you smile, and it usually worked. she was warm and inviting, a little naive, but she had a strong support system.
her parents divorce when she’s six, she doesn’t quite understand it but her dad moves out, and her grandma and multiple cousins move in. it’s a lively household, between her mom, who works as a nurse, and her siblings, and her cousins, it was never really quiet and there was never a lot of room.
despite the split, her parents maintain that their children have a relationship with both of them, and truthfully, wes is a daddy’s girl. she and her dad were cut from the same cloth, happy go lucky, fun loving, a bit silly, he’s the one who introduces her to movies. it’s their thing, watching and critiquing them together, and it’s not whatever is in theatres either. they went for all times of filmmaking, new wave, surrealist, and more.
it really stuck with wes, who herself had begun making movies, mostly horror/fantasy/scifi stuff with her friends-- she writes and directs and occasionally, she’ll don a costume and star in them. they’re silly little things, but her family always sat down for her “premieres.”
her formative years are marked with plenty of things, sports, deaths of distant family members, a cousin or two who gets caught in the wrong crowd and ends up in jail, and throughout this, wes remains a rock for her family.
she’s in high school, and she gets into the eclectic crowd, the outcasts, the weirdos, the ones who smoked under the bridge, and partied out in an abandoned trailer near the desert. these freaks were her freaks. they accepted her with open arms, as she them.  
she chooses thales because she always wants to see the east coast, and frankly, as much as she loves her family, she wants to be free of them. and they have a fantastic film program. so!
she meets steven in their first film class together, and they’re fast friends, despite her usual weariness of YET another film bro, steven proves to be a good egg. so she thinks. she finds out through him talking that he might not be the most faithful to his girlfriend, and as much as she doesn’t like meddling, she thinks it’s only right to let clarissa, who she doesn’t really know well, know. however, before there’s a chance, everything happens-- now she’s stuck wondering if she should reveal the truth, or let sleeping dogs lie.
nana is different, nana and her dated her sophomore year, nana’s freshman year. it wasn’t serious. but they were fond of each other. they eventually break up, but they stay friendly, waving to each other in the halls, chatting at parties.
both the disappearance and the murder is weird for wes, who by all accounts, isn’t great at dealing with bad shit. she prefers to laugh about things. laugh about everything. because if she doesn’t laugh, she’ll cry.
𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘
wes is a mess, a free-spirit, a walking contradiction. she’s very independent minded, the kind of person who does things without thinking so much about the consequences, this leads her into trouble sometimes. like nicking something from a convenience store, or stealing a stop sign as a prank. she’s definitely the kind to goof off and not exactly dedicate her full attention to something. and while she’s in genuinely good spirits on most occasions, she has a staunch ‘no asshole’ policy. the type to defend the underdogs, and go after bullies. she’ll punch you with a smile on her face, and yet it ends up being more unnerving than you realize. she’s a bit of a ditz, as well, never the best at school, but can talk your ear off about the going ons of the world. she’s a lovable dumbass, for sure, and loyal to a tee once you get her as a friend.
𝐓𝐈𝐃𝐁𝐈𝐓𝐒
horror movie fan! her favorites are some of the oldies, like dracula and  the bride of frankenstein! and some new ones! big fan of jordan peele’s work, as well as ari aster’s! but mostly really advocates for women directors and directors of color!
also does roller derby! she picked this up her first year at thales and fell in love with it, i can’t think of a name for her yet, but she’s a blocker, won’t hesitate to elbow some dick at the bar
kinda a tomboy? she’s always been! she’s rough and tumble and not afraid to get down and dirty with someone, i.e. will join those football games on the quad or crawl through the mud for a scene to shoot
doesn’t know if she wants to be a director/writer or a cinematographer honestly.... she loves the technical aspects of film as much as the making the stories
definition of a bruh girl, says it a whole lot, but also just if you tell her you love her, she’ll just roll her eyes and be like you’re an idiot (which means she loves you too) she’ll be affectionate if she’s close to you
kinda a wh*re oops....... texts multiple girls at a time and doesn’t want to hurt any of their feelings she doesn’t know how she keeps ending up in these situations... also a bisexual disaster
a stoner as well..... always has a massive jar of weed
unclear whether she lives on campus or off campus but if she does live off campus she has a pet turtle named elsa lanchester after the bride of frankenstein actress
a drummer! she’s in a band (name tbd) she started drumming at a young age and found it was a good way to manage her aggression
doesn’t really do well with emotions, so she’ll either be like there, there, or try to make jokes.... she really said kids can you lighten up
walking meme... such a walking meme... doesn’t know so many things she’s like a cute puppy with no thoughts head empty but she’s so fun to be around
life of the party.... nana she came fr ur spot and she took it and she’s not sorry but she does miss u a lot
doesn’t rly feel like she’s allowed to be upset anyways bc some people have it...... way worse.... can u say Imposter syndrome
kind of an enabler...... will be that person to push u to try things but not in a peer pressurey way, more like if u are unsure abt sending a text she says do it
wears fun earrings and socks! think lollipops or gummy bears or found objects like she collects that shit it’s her lifeline
boxes! she’s been boxing since she was abt 12, courtesy of her older brother (who is now a doctor thx ruby) and it’s a good way to exercise and release stress
𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒
best friend -- two of a feather, cut from the same cloth, or complete opposites it doesnt matter to her (the abbi to her ilana)
roller derby friends -- she’s p close to the team, margs on her
makeup artist pal -- i think it would be neat fr someone to try and teach her makeup whether its normal or sfx bc she wants to look like a monster or smthn
she’s gullible, u take advantage of that -- u just tell her lies p much and she’s like yeah ok that sounds right
party friends
classmates
fwbs (f/m/nb) -- tbh she might have one or two of these but they literally are the def of pals who bone sometimes... like v good abt being like you good? u dont want more? cool me too
exes (f/m/nb) -- mostly dated women or nb people but def cld have had a guy
she smokes you out -- p much the only reason u hang out w her is bc she has good weed
someone she’s fought -- like fully decked in the face, prob said something that rubbed her the wrong way and it just devolved from there
people who dislike her -- she could definitely be seen as annoying bc shes loud and dorky and funny so ??
breaks someone out of their shell -- p self explanatory, pushes them to have fun, w everything happening shes rly like lifes too short to not take the opportunities around u
cousins! probably on her dad’s side! i figure she has some east coast fam 
anything? truly?
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retro-rezz-the-est · 5 years
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The Right Alpha pt. 2 (Drew/Reader/Roman A/B/O)
Summary: A/B/O action with Drew and Ro accompanied by real time plot lmao. No smut this time, but plenty of angst and fluff.
(A/N: I wanted to get this out for my birthday and for the 500 followers milestone last week but since I’m a lazy piece of shit who’s brain doesn’t work properly, I forgot lol. So here it is! Thanks once again for 500+ and let’s hope that I haven’t lost my marbles due to VKM’s crap by the next milestone. God bless @writinglionqueen and @writing-reigns for being my betas and my support system throughout this. Love y’all both! ^3^)
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Warnings: a lot of harassment/sexual harassment, brief flashbacks of the douchebag ex from the first part and Roman and Drew bc they should come with their own warning labels lmao
Word Count: 6728
Read part one here 
(Y/n): your name
                                                       ~~~~~
“You sure you don’t need anything tonight?” Roman asked.
“Trust me, Ro, I’ll be fine,” you said, holding your phone to your ear as you walked towards the backstage door. Even though Ro was still scheduled to be at tonight’s show, he still had yet to show up to the arena. Duffel in hand, you shouldered the door open and were met with the bustling sounds of the production team and the stagehands prepping for that night’s SmackDown Live taping. 
You heard him chuckle in your ear. “If you say so, baby girl. Love you.”
“Love you too, Big Dog.”
Your heart felt light as you ended the call, sighing to yourself and holding the phone to your chest. You’ve been floating on air since Roman and Drew confronted you in that hallway after RAW a few months ago and with the implementation of the new, albeit incredibly stupid, “wild card rule”, you were able to spend more time with your Alphas. For the first time since jumping ship to the blue brand thanks to the new rule, you felt…
...happy.
You were actually eager to come into work that day, mentally preparing for your tag match with Bayley against Alexa and Nikki Cross. Sporting one of the merch tees you stole from Ro and a pair of jean shorts, you tried to maneuver your way around everyone and make it to the women’s locker room in one piece. You tugged on it and bought the collar to your face, inhaling and smiling as the scent of your alpha washed over you.
You really have it bad, don’t you? you asked yourself, your thoughts taking over.
Yep, and I don’t mind one bit.
You didn’t notice the figure in front of you until you crashed into them nose-first, bashing your head against the back of theirs.
“Shit,” you said, pocketing your cell as you tried to speak with a mouth full of hair. “Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention!”
“It’s ok, girl. I shouldn’t have been standing around like an idiot,” the voice replied, their body turning to face you.
The now-revealed Smackdown Women’s Champ ran a hand through her long hair and smiled at you, taking her other hand off of her suitcase’s handle briefly to give you one of her iconic hugs. When you first transferred from the Monday show, the Beta was the first person to show you any sort of kindness. So, the two of you became fast friends, looking out for each other both in and out of the ring. “So, how’s my fave tag team partner doing?”
“I’m doing well, actually,” you replied as you started off on you way again, her trailing closely behind you. “SmackDown’s a lot more chill than Raw is, to be honest.”
She let out another short laugh. “You’re not wrong here, (Y/n), but the wild card rule keeps shaking everything up around here.”
“Ugh, tell me about it. If I keep having to see the same people getting pushed when there’s quality talent just sitting back here, I’m gonna pull my hair out.”
“I know, right? I’d love to face some of the other girls here, like Kairi or Ember,” she added, unzipping her dark grey hoodie.
You raised your brow at her suggestions and noted, “I would actually pay to see those matches happen.”
“Well, at least it hasn’t been all that bad lately. You still get to see your mates every day thanks to the rule,” she sighed in content and looked at you. “I’m literally so jealous of you. Two mates! How do you guys even function?”
You started to ramble on about your relationship with the two Superstars as the two of you continued to walk down to the locker rooms, but you soon noticed Bayley glancing at you funny.
“What?” you asked her, brushing yourself off. “Is there something on me? Is there something on my face?”
“Nah, there isn’t. I was just hoping that you were gonna get into the more… juicy details,” she cheekily wondered, a sly grin plastered on her face.
“B-Bayley! I’m not gonna gossip about my sex life here! There are three topics you don’t talk about at work: politics, religion, and sex!”
“Aww, come on, live a little!” the beta whined. “Just this one little thing? For me?”
She already knew the answer the moment she looked back at your face, pouting in defeat. She made a move for her pocket and paused, feeling around in it when her eyes went wide.
“What’s wrong, Bayley?”
Groaning, she answered, “My hair ties. I think I left them with that stagehand I bumped into when I got here about an hour ago. Can you wait for me here and watch my bag while I try to find them? I promise I won’t be gone for long.”
“Of course,” you responded as she handed her small suitcase over to you. She shouted a “thank you” in your direction as she ran off and turned a corner.
You dropped your duffel on top of her suitcase and pulled your phone back out and leaned up against the wall behind you, scrolling through your old texts as you drowned out the hustle and bustle around you. You opened your group chat with Drew and Ro, giggling at how they both complained about working with Shane and his behavior.
Reading through the messages, you didn’t notice the shadow that had just loomed over your body. A hand slapped the wall next to your head, but you didn’t want to look up. You didn’t want to look up because you already knew who it was.
Speak of the fucking devil.
“Hello, (Y/n).”
You could already hear the sickly sweet adoration dripping from his voice, but you still didn’t look at him when you responded. “What the hell do you want, Shane?”
“Woah there, Omega. Is that any way to speak to your boss? I feel offended,” he said, his voice still filled with endless loads of fakeness. You could smell the cockiness rolling off him in waves, so much so that you had to hold your breath whenever he was around. The hand on the wall was slowly moving closer to your head and you could hear it, and you hoped to whoever’s above that someone would do something about it.
But no one ever did.
You could feel your hands starting to tremble as he leaned closer to your face. “I was just gonna ask where your two big, bad Alphas were, sweetheart. There’s no harm in that.”
The weight of his leer felt like a brick pressing against your forehead and you kept getting whiffs of want her and mine that you sure as hell didn’t need today. The Alpha above you moved a piece of hair away from your face and chuckled at your hesitance, already familiar with it.
“Y-You should already know where Drew is, you prick. And Ro’s here as well. He’s just not… here… right now.”
Your wolf was going absolutely batshit at the sight of him, and the thought of him touching you made it even more ravenous.
Hit him! Tear into his smug face! Kick him in the balls! Tell him off! Do something already!
You could feel your teeth start to grow sharper as he chuckled again, his free hand descending to your waist while the other made its way to the back of your head. You could feel his gaze lingering in your cleavage, and you felt more exposed than before.
Why can’t he just leave me alone, for fuck’s sake?
“Oh, he’s not here right now? What a shame. Truly,” he said teasingly. Shane’s hands gripped you tighter as he pulled you closer to him, forcing you to look up at him and drop your phone to the floor with a clatter. His eyes were malicious, but they held in them a caring look so fake and plastic that it made you sick.
Your entire body shuddered as you looked into his empty eyes. “Yeah, he’s not here now. So, w-what do you want from me, S-Shane?”
It was still shocking how no one passing by saw him do this to you. It still shocked you how no one interfered with him tormenting you like this.
“You know what I want, (Y/n). Just say yes and I’ll go.”
Resisting the urge to scoff, you uttered, “The fucking answer’s still no and you know why.”
“Aww, come on, live a little!” he whined, mocking Bayley’s earlier comment and making you cringe. “I could show you a really fun time.”
He managed to pull you even closer to his chest and he leaned down to your ear. “Just picture it: a night out celebrating with me and Drew after beating your pathetic, waste of space mate to a pulp once again. And as the night grows even later, we could get more… intimate, if you will.”
Don’t say anything, you told your wolf despite the immediate pushback from it. Shane’s breath was near potent and you actually felt the need to eject a wave of vomit onto his Jordans. Keep quiet and don’t make this any worse for me.
“Plus, seeing as those two idiots haven’t even claimed you yet, I can show that Scottish dud how it’s really done.”
Gripping your hair, he yanked your head back and bashed your head on the wall, ogling at your unmarked neck while you hissed in pain. With your arms stuck against his body, his head fell and he drew his nose over the skin. “You’d love being mine, Omega. I’d treat you right, unlike those absolute brutes you have for mates.”
Don’t do anything because if you do, then you’ll bite his nose off and we’ll be out of a job.
“What do you say, (Y/n)? You wanna take this for a test drive?”
His wedding band started to dig into your side through your shirt and you yelped, telling him, “You shouldn’t be doing this, Shane. You’re married, right? And you have pups?”
He roared with laughter at your comment, and all you wanted to do in that moment was curl into a ball and hide with your mates at your side. He responded with a large grin, saying, “And what about it, sweetheart? She doesn’t have to know now, does she?”
Moving up to your jaw from your neck, his lips brushed against your cheek as he added, “And besides, you like knowing that, don’t you?”
Before he could move closer to your own mouth, his own phone rang and you thanked every deity in existence that he released you and moved away to take the call.
“We’ll finish this conversation later, (Y/n). I’ll see you around.”
Holding the phone to his ear, he brushed off his chest with his free hand and casually walked away, you looking bewildered as he did so. You felt nauseous and dirty, feeling your now sharpened nails digging into the palms of your hands as you curled them into fists.
You hated this.
You’ve hated it since he started this little “game” of his a month ago, and you sure as hell hate it now. You hated how easily he could corner you and make you feel as vulnerable and weak as a small child. And you couldn’t even do anything about it because he was your fucking boss!
Your wolf howled in anger, letting out kill and must tell mates with every other breath. Everything around you continued as normal, but you knew that it was far from it. Your eyes burned with the feeling of unfallen tears and you could feel your breath grow faint when a familiar voice reared in the background. 
“Hey, (Y/n)! I’m back! Sorry I took so long, the stagehand wasn’t in the spot where I had found them originally and I had to go searching for them again but that took ages-”
Bayley stopped her mini rant and took a good look at you, your entire attitude seeming to deflate since she had left originally.
“Hey, are you okay?” the Beta asked you. “You look...sick. Like you’ve just seen a ghost or something.”
Blinking the tears away, you forced a laugh out and moved your hands behind your back. “It’s fine. I’m just… just a little nervous about tonight. It’s my first time going against Alexa and I want my first match with her to go well.”
“Well, I’m sure you’ll be fi- oh my god, (Y/n)!)”
You quickly looked around, eyes wide with shock. “What? What happened? What is it?”
“Your hands!”
“My wha- oh.”
Drops of blood were currently dripping from your fists and onto the floor, making small puddles at your sides. You didn’t feel the bite of your nails digging into your skin, but you chuckled nervously and tried to hide them again. She grabbed your wrists in one hand and reached for her bag with the other.
“We have to get these cleaned and wrapped before out match tonight. Come on!” she told you, hoisting your bag onto her shoulder and dragging you by your wrist to the medical personnel with her free hand.
~~~~~
“Haha, take that, Bliss! You’re never getting your hands on this!” Bayley exclaimed at the blonde as the woman clutched her sides at the champ’s feet, you raising her arm above her head in victory. Moments later, Nikki slid into the ring as soon as you two slipped out of it.
Bayley gave you a hug as she started to make her way up the ramp with her title held high, Bliss and Cross limping back up a few minutes later. You, however, walked in the direction of the announce table where an empty chair and headset were waiting for you. You gave a brief greeting to Graves, Saxton and Philips before situating yourself next to the first man.
The last match of the night was a one-on-one bout between Ro and Shane and as always, Shane cockily walked out to the ring with Drew in tow to the sounds of boos from the crowd and his “best in the world” introduction. Drew grabbed two mics for him and Shane before they both climbed into the ring, looking like they absolutely owned the place. It would’ve made you smile if it weren’t for him being the lackey at the likes of Shane. 
Shane raised his to his mouth and was about to talk, but he was interrupted by the blaring sound of Roman’s theme. He came out with a smirk on his face and you could almost hear the thud of his boots as he stalked to the ring.
He threw you a wink when he made it to the ropes closest to you and you smiled, hearing the ref signal for the bell and seeing Shane immediately rush at him from behind. He threw his forearm into the back of Roman’s head and crippled him, making you gasp. Drew applauded at ringside and the two of you locked eyes.
You shuddered under his intense gaze and you quickly looked away just in time to see Shane stomping out Roman, your mate groaning as his heel connected with his chest. You glanced away from the match briefly to discuss other matters with your fellow commentators (minus Graves, of course) before turning back and seeing Shane glaring directly at you, the look in his eyes making feel nauseous as you wrap your arms around your torso.
He winked at you like Roman had, taking his time raking those eyes along your figure and Roman was quick to notice. The Samoan bared his teeth and growled as he began to let out his wolf and rose from the ring floor, charging at Shane and spearing his head into the ringpost he was closest to. As the grey-haired Alpha started to regain his senses again, he threw his chest back and howled with the rest of the Universe and speared Shane again. The match was over before you could even blink, and Roman quickly pinned the other Alpha to pick up the win.
Huh, Shane’s off his game tonight. Good, you thought as you heard the three-count and you stood to clap for your mate. Taking off your headset and thanking the three men at commentary, you made your way into the ring and took Roman’s arm to raise it.
You two quickly moved out of it and began walking up the ramp side by side, his arm thrown around your shoulders and your own wrapped around his waist. Glancing behind you, you saw the dirty look Shane threw you and you smiled internally at that, claiming it as a small victory over him.
He pulled you aside near some supply crates as you made it backstage, bringing you into his chest while you inhaled his familiar scent. It had momentarily calmed your nerves down, being there with him, but they were briskly replaced by a new feeling of dread when he moved your hands from around him and looked down at your bandaged hands.
“How’d this happen, Omega?” Roman asked, worry making his brows furrow. “Did you hurt yourself?”
He started to rub at where the skin of your palms would be as you answered him. “Yeah, I did. I was nervous my match and I didn’t notice my nails digging into my hands. Bayley bandaged me up well, so I should be fine.”
You and your own wolf felt bad for lying to him about them, but you didn’t need him going after Shane with a death wish in tow and getting fired because of it.
This is better, you assumed, seeing his eyes grow soft. It’s better for all of us.
“I’m just glad that you were able to pin Shane tonight,” You raised your hands to cup his face and he nuzzled himself into them, making you chuckle. “Lord knows he needs to be put in his place.”
Roman laughed as you said the last bit under your breath, squeezing your waist before lifting his hands to move yours from his face. “Speaking of Shane,” he questioned, looking down at you with concern in his warm brown eyes, “what was that wink all about during the match? Is there something you’re not telling me, baby girl?”
“What? No,” you scoffed, answering him quickly. “Shane’s just being his usual dickish self in order to get under your skin and make you mad. Nothing more.”
The quickness of your response made the Alpha quirk his brow for a second when he smelled hurt and shame wafting off of you but he brushed it off, agreeing with you. You rose onto your toes and planted a kiss to his cheek, saying, “Now, you wait for Drew here while I go and get our things ready, ok?”
You let go of him and began walking away, hearing him reply with a “yes ma’am” and pivoting on your heel to see him throw up a faux salute in your direction. His eyes lingered on you even as your figure grew smaller until you finally turned a corner.
Your heart wanted to fall out of your chest and flop around on the floor when he asked you about your hands, and even more so when he asked about Shane’s shitty excuse of a wink. But, you persisted, even though your wolf continued to berate you about the situation.
Lying will not make this better. Makes it worse for you and mates. You’ll see.
~~~~~
Since your tag match with Bayley against Bliss and Cross went over so well on SmackDown, you were told that you had to give a dual promo with the blonde Omega the next week on the red brand. 
You arrived to the arena dressed in a casual black tank with some skinny jeans, your sweater tied around your waist. Since the skin on your hands was starting to heal and you didn’t want to encounter Shane again, you decided to take the longer route to the locker room instead, using as many of the hallways as you could. He was always lingering somewhere on both shows and was always eager to find you, and you weren’t taking any chances.
A few minutes had passed since you’d seen anyone and you let out a breath you didn’t even know you were holding in. Turning down another empty hall, you felt a presence trailing behind you as you walked, but you paid it no mind. Then, a rough hand grasped your shoulder and spun you around.
“Thought you could run away from me, little Omega?”
How in the absolute hell?!
Your eyes went wide when he spun you around and pinned your arms to your sides. Shane moved in closer and you had the incredible urge to just raise your head and scratch his face up with your teeth.
“H-How did you find me?”
His laughter bounced off the concrete walls, making your bones vibrate. “I told you last week that we’d finish our conversation later. And to me, ‘later’ means ‘right fucking now’.”
He laughed again at your lack of words, your mouth slightly agape and hyperventilating. You were smart in that you didn’t ball your hands up as to not puncture the skin of your palms again, but you were damn near close to.
You could feel his hands sliding up your bare arms and situate themselves at the base of your neck, his thumbs drawing figures along your collarbone. All you could see was his smug grin, complete with eyes that were filled with absolutely zero remorse for what he was doing.
“Why do you do this to m-me, Shane? What did I do to you?”
This caught his attention. “You haven’t done anything yet, but you will.”
Huh?
“Like I said numerous times before, you’ll need a real Alpha like myself to show you the ropes. You’ll need me to claim you and show you how to be a good-”
He talked to you as if you were an incompetent child, and his hold on you grew tighter with every word. You began to struggle and try to get yourself out and away from him, but to no avail.
This hurts.
“- obedient -”
Pain.
“- little Omega for me, (Y/n).”
Struggling became useless as your breathing became quicker and quicker with each passing second and you shut your eyes tight, feeling them shift along with your teeth. His words were reminiscent of those from your ex-lover, and you couldn’t help but see blood red all over at the sound of them. 
All you could think of was how dirty your ex made you feel, putting you down constantly with his hurtful, disgusting actions and words, and he made you feel the exact same way that he had and you wanted him to. You had to physically hold yourself back from pouncing on him and dragging his face into the ground.
Get him now!
“Shane? Shane, where th’ fuck are ya? We’re on in thirty bloody minutes!”
Oh, thank the gods above.
Shane groaned and released you abruptly, causing you to stagger back. “Fucking hell, Drew.”
The large Scottish Alpha’s feet reverberated off the walls around you and he turned the corner closest to you two, looking around. He spotted you both and stomped over, clearly pissed off with Shane.
“What th’ hell, man?! Ya say you were gonna meet me here, an’ then you just rush out like a bat outta hell!”
Dressed in a simple white tee and jeans with a leather jacket on top, he curled his hands and growled, letting off more feral scents combined with his usual one. Through his frustration, he saw the glow of your shifting eyes and how much you were trembling, accompanied by the growing of your nails at your sides.
Eyes flickering between the two of you, he looked at the other Alpha and grimaced. “And what were ya doin’ all alone here with my mate, Shane? I thought I told ya she’s taken.”
The other man chuckled nervously as you cupped your neck, feeling the imprints from his fingers already beginning to bloom into small bruises.
“We weren’t doing anything, McIntyre. I just caught up with her and was just politely asking her a question about her new feud with Alexa. Isn’t that tight, (Y/n)?”
You nearly barfed at his piss poor attempt at being nice, but you decided to play along. “Yeah,” you murmured, willing your eyes to fade to their normal hue and your nails and teeth to shrink down. “We’re all good here.”
You feigned another laugh and quickly put your sweater on, zipping it up fully to keep your skin hidden. Drew looked as if he didn’t buy any of it but soon turned around, grabbing Shane by the collar and dragging him away.
“Woah, hey now, watch the shirt! This thing is worth more than your monthly salary!”
“Cut th’ shit,” the Scot grumbled, stomping away with him in tow. “We’re already running behind schedule and I don’t need t’ hear your daddy runnin’ his mouth at me again.”
And with that, the duo disappeared behind another wall, their voices fading into nothing while you stumbled back into the wall behind you, clutching your chest and feeling your heart race.
“Great,” you muttered, briskly walking in the opposite direction of them. “Hope the Glam Squad has enough concealer to cover these up.”
Your promo was one of the first segments of the night and you were finished with it relatively quickly, getting a fairly good reaction from the crowd when the other woman had come out to do her bit. You were glad everything went smoothly once you finished and when you finally got backstage, you started to make the journey back to get the remainder of your things and head back to the hotel.
You made it to the women’s locker room and shut the door, grabbing your sweater and bending down to stuff it into the bag you had Natalya bring for you. You got out your phone to text your mates and ask them when they were going to be finished when the door behind you creaked open, twin footfalls thudding on the floor. Their scent slowly filled the room surrounded you before you saw them and you relaxed your shoulders.
“Hey, are you guys finished for the night? I was gonna text you to see when you-”
You pivoted on your heel to face the two large Alphas with a grin on your face, Roman dressed in a long sleeved black tee and shorts and Drew in the outfit you saw him in earlier. They stared back at you intensely, Roman crossing his arms and Drew moving to go lock the door.
You shuddered under their intense glares, asking, “Is everything okay?”
Roman was the first one to speak, uncrossing his arms and walking over to you. He moved your bag and took your hand, sitting you down on the bench behind you as the Scot watched from the door.
“Me and Drew were talking earlier, and we feel like you’re hiding something from us, ‘mega.”
Oh, help me now.
“Me? Hiding something from you two?” you pondered, scoffing and chuckling anxiously. “Everything’s totally fine. Trust me.”
“And there it is again,” he shot back, “you’re doing that thing again. You’ve been acting skittish and dodging our questions for almost a month now. Why won’t you tell us what’s wrong?”
He was confused, and you could clearly see the hurt in his eyes when you looked into them. But you couldn’t bring yourself to tell them yet.
Do it.
“I mean, was it something that we said? Something we did?”
“N-No, of course not, Ro! You know you’d never do anything to hurt me! You both wouldn’t!”
You sighed and took your hands out of his, placing them on your head as your eyes fell to your lap. It took everything in you not to burst out into a fiery mix or rage and tears. “Look, I already told you guys before. It’s noth-”
A loud bang brought you back from your stupor and you yelped, jumping out of your skin and directing your attention to the door. Drew stood there with the side of his fist against the door, and there was a crack emulating from the impact.
“Enough of this, (Y/n). We’re your Alphas, your mates. You’re supposed t’ tell us when something’s up. Why’re ya hidin’ from us?” he whispered, his voice cracking near the end.
Drew didn’t really express his more sentimental emotions outright but when he did, it absolutely crushed you. You could see your mates hurting - feel them hurting - and they were slowly chipping away at your walls. The silence after he spoke was deafening and you knew that if a pin fell then, you would hear it.
Every second felt like a minute and every minute felt like an eternity until you opened your mouth again.
“I don’t want you both to think that I’m a bad Omega for not saying something sooner.”
Your soft voice prompted Drew to move away from the door and kneel down to your height, placing both of his hands on your thigh. “Leannan (sweetheart), nothing ya say right now will make us ever think that. You’re our mate, and ya should be able to tell us anything plaguin’ ya.”
“We love you, (Y/n), and we do care,” Roman added, moving his hand to cup your cheek. “You don’t have to tell us everything if it’s too much, but at least give us something.”
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
The fuse was lit.
Boom.
With that permission, you didn’t notice how quickly your body shifted into attack mode and you hastily stood, knocking your bag over.
“It’s fucking Shane’s fucking fault!” you barked, baring your teeth and nails to no one. “He keeps on stalking me and harassing me and bothering me and saying how much fucking better he’d be as my mate!”
You moved from the bench and began to pace the room, huffing and blocking out all outside noises as you continued to rant. “That little rich shitbag thinks he can do all of this over and over again with no consequence, and he thinks that he can just grab me and toss me around like I’m some useless thing! It makes me feel sick and dirty and… argh!”
The two Alphas jumped when you kicked a nearby locker, putting a dent in the shape of your foot in it. “I want to claw his eyes and scratch his smug stupid face! I hate it when he says that he’s gonna ‘show me the ropes’ and fucking claim me as his own when he’s got a whole wife and pups!”
You paused to catch your breath but you couldn’t stop the tears that were burning your eyes from falling. Your back hit the wall and you slid to the floor, cradling your face in your hands.
“I just… what did I do to deserve any of this?”
Your mates rushed to your sides as you cried, Drew holding you to his chest as you let the tears flow. You could feel Drew's heart beat faster and faster and you could feel Roman's heavy breathing on your neck.
The Samoan stood up and looked at your wrecked form, growling. You could see his eyes dilated and flash gold for a second before he turned away from you and unlocked the door, almost ripping it from its hinges as he stormed out with murder on his mind.
“Shane! Where the fuck are you, you bastard?! I’m gonna tear you apart!”
Oh fuck, you though, untangling yourself from Drew and getting up as quickly as you could to follow him. You two scrambled outside to find the wild Alpha and spotted him barreling through anyone who dared to get in his way as he continued to shout.
“Everyone get the hell out of my way! Where’s Shane?! I’m gonna fucking kill him!”
You ran after him, shoving past poor stagehands and other Superstars to get to your angered mate. Reaching him, you took his wrist and spun him around, seeing his eyes blown out to a full gold. His chest heaved with every harsh breath, and you could see veins popping out of his neck from how hard he was clenching his teeth.
“You see? This is why I didn’t tell you in the first place! I didn’t want you to go on a murder-happy fucking rampage and lose your damn job!”
“She’s got a point,” Drew added, firmly grasping Ro’s other wrist. “You need to think!”
He was having none of it. “He hurt my mate, our mate, and that waste of space needs to pay! I’ll find him and rip out his eyes myself.”
It scared you how aggressive he was when he meant it, but you stood your ground. “You’re not the only one who wants to kill that bag of human scum, Roman, but we do have to be smart about this.”
“We can deal with him next week,” you sighed. “Just… just calm down, please.”
No! Now! Get him now!
Drew nodded, agreeing with you and helping you to pull the other man back in the opposite go get the rest of your things even though he continued to try and escape. You smiled to yourself, though, at the thought of the things you were going to do to Vince’s son in the near future.
                                                          ~~~~~
For the next week, your two mates didn’t leave your side for a second, with Roman escorting you out to the ring for your match on SmackDown the next night and Drew acting as your personal bodyguard when the cameras weren’t rolling. They wouldn’t let anyone get near you, growling and baring their teeth at anyone who wasn’t a personal friend who dared to get in your personal space.
Monday came far too soon and the three of you arrived to the arena, game faces on as you waltzed in like your own little pack. They each had an arm around your waist with a hand in each of your back pockets, leering at everyone while you grinned.
Roman and Drew were already planned to have another in-ring bout prior to Extreme Rules, but they wanted to have you out for the main event as support. You already knew that Shane was going to be there, going ringside to cheer the Scotsman on and berate his opponent.
You all had your roles, you all had your positions. Now, it was just time to put it all into play.
As their match was the one to close out the night, you had to deal with hearing Shane’s long introduction when him and Drew went through the curtain. You watched them travel to the ring and you saw the Scottish Alpha’s hand twitch, eager to get his large hands on the man next to him.
Shane continued to rant before you and Roman cut him off, trekking down to the ring to meet him. He swiftly ducked under the ropes as Ro approached him but he smiled at you when he saw you, instantly making you sick to your stomach.
Gripping his elbow, you whispered, “You know what to do, right?”
“Of course I do, baby girl,” he replied, brushing you off. “I got this.”
He smirked at you, climbing up the steps and under the ropes. The bell rang and the match began with the two men locking into each other in the middle of the squared circle, Drew quickly getting Roman into a headlock and bringing him down to one knee.
He managed to shove the larger man off of him and into the ropes to throw his forearm into his clavicle and drop him down with a thud. Roman roared as a “Let’s go, Roman!” chant erupted from the crowds. You applauded him and Shane sneered, creeping closer to the ropes like a rat to freshly tossed food.
The match went on for several minutes, each filled with blows delivered and taken by both Superstars. Drew took a harsh Driveby from Ro on the edge of the ring and you were almost certain that he had been knocked out, had it been for the groan he made when he reached up to rub at his head.
It quickly turned to the Samoan being on the receiving end of most of the blows when Drew landed a nasty Glasgow Kiss to his skull, dropping him like a fly. He dragged the fallen wrestler to the middle of the ring, standing above him menacingly.
“Pin him! What are you doing, man? Just pin him already and get it over with!”
Shane’s loud voice could be heard above all else and you prayed that Roman would get up and walk it off like it was nothing. Instead, Drew chuckled and ducked out of the ring, walking around it to come face to face with the McMahon. As the older Alpha continued to go on and on, your mate threw the fastest right hook you’ve ever seen, making Shane plummet to the floor like a stone in water.
You looked around at the shocked faces of the commentators as well as various members of the WWE Universe, but you didn’t expect the roaring cheer that one move got.
He kneeled down to his level and proceeded to pumble the man further, driving fist after fist and hit after hit into him. You were full-on belly laughing at that point, noting how comical it was to see the once high and mighty Shane McMahon who had cornered you numerous times be put in a similar, vulnerable position.
It was beautiful.
Hearing the newfound commotion, Roman arose from his spot on the ring floor akin to the Undertaker and the crowd went wild once more. He got up and ran to the ropes behind him, bouncing back from them and diving over the set in front of him, Drew moving so he wouldn’t get hit.
Shane’s head struck the ramp below and began bleeding as his face and body grew battered and bruised. The two men towered above him and rained down blows and kicks galore, and you wished you had a phone with you to record the magic happening. They then hooked an arm under one of his and hoisted him up from the ground, looking at you gleefully. 
It was your time to shine, your chance to get your licks in.
“Go on, leannan!” Drew shouted, a wide, wicked smile plastered on his face. “Show this ugly bastard what’s for!”
Roman laughed alongside him. “Show ‘im your spitfire, Omega! Make him pay for what he did to you!”
Make him pay.
You roared, baring your sharpened teeth and charged at the silver-haired man, landing a solid dropkick to the middle of his chest. He fell with an “oof” and laid there like a limp ragdoll, but you weren’t going to let that deter you from having your own fun.
“If you ever-”
Punch.
“-ever-”
Another punch.
“-ever-”
One more for good measure.
“-think about touching me or talking useless crap about my mates again, I will fucking. End. You!”
With every word let out, you let out led to another hit to his body, your feet flying everywhere they could reach. After a solid five minutes of you three tossing him around and beating him to a pulp, you landed a fine tuned pointed-toe kick to his crotch. He crumbled to the ground, clutching his body as you and your mates looked on victoriously.
You could barely hear yourself think over the commotion going on around you, but you didn’t care. You got your payback. You all did and if he tries some shit like that again, you’ll be bound to pay him back again by a ten-fold.
You raced up the ramp to meet your lovers at the head, raising their arms to signal your win against Shane’s bullshit. You felt a weight being lifted off of your chest and you felt relieved for the first time in over a month.
Karma really is a beautiful thing, isn’t it?
                                                         ~~~~~
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advernia · 4 years
Text
around june of last year, i decided to revive my writing blog as one of the many potential stress-relief methods i could think of.... i didn’t think i’d be able to keep it active for long since work + family duties keep me preoccupied most of the time, but eyyy!!! so far i haven’t lost the motivation to keep going back to this blog, and i even managed to keep it afloat for half a year!!! amazing!!! (•̀o•́)ง
and now here we are halfway through 2020!!! it’s waaaay overdue but here’s a big T H A N K  Y O U  V E R Y  M U C H ! ! ! to everyone and anyone who dropped by this blog last year + all them likes, comments, reblogs...... please know that i’m still i n c r e d i b l y grateful for the support & interest in the content i’ve posted up!!!! tbh my activity’s still hella sporadic so it’s really amazing for me that i even gained new followers.... i’m very honored to have all of you stick around my blog despite my irregularity!!!!!!!! (༎ຶ ෴ ༎ຶ)
it’s also overdue, but i slowly managed and finally cleaned up the blog like i’ve been meaning to do + changed the blog name to match my ao3 handle for consistency!!! i make no promises to be super active... but i’m sure that i still want to continue writing & keep this blog alive!!!! 
again, thank you all for your time + reading my works!!!!!!  ∩( ´∀` )∩ work commentary on the rest of my works last year follows under the cut!
oct 1 // hero’s journey
a drabble on blanc + oliver about the alices... now that i think of it, calling the first alice first alice is kinda funny considering that alice is really her name... or is it? 
i do hope blanc’s route talks about her a bit, haha! i mean, i wish cybird remembers that they’ve been dropping the occasional background tidbits about her... like for example, her pocketwatch (that she gave to blanc eventually) having a magic crystal engraved into it.... her potentially leaving a fucking globe in the black army’s possession (like... wow... u fell with that thing????????)....
plus, i just find it interesting that she was remembered by cradle as a heck of a troublemaker lol! it also makes you wonder who among the main cast met her, blanc aside... though it’s not stated when exactly she fell into cradle, so maybe only blanc had the opportunity of meeting her...
so does blanc speak of her fondly bc she’s a woman, or is there something else??? has he been frequently visiting the land of reason pre-game??? has he found the first alice’s antique shop / met her again??? does he still try to figure out the reason why there’s a magic crystal engraved into the first alice’s pocketwatch????? hmmmmm......
on another note, it would be hilarious if cybird pulls a peter pan 2......... since we can’t pull off a mother-daughter relationship like wendy & jane’s, what if alice the second is somehow actually related to the first alice?? and while she’s completely different from her predecessor, blanc finds himself falling for alice the second........ just like he fell for the first alice? drama!
that’s just a random thought but kidding aside, i do hope blanc’s route is hella interesting bc i think he’s our mr. exposition for knowing more about cradle itself lol
oct 1 // fair (?) ladies & phony (?) enchanters
a result of going manic a few days after seeing harr’s trailer + route release.... ahaHAHA I’M STILL WILLING TO PLAY UR ROUTE IN JP HARR (if i actually had time to sit down and translate gET REKT)
i liked writing these drabbles and i think they’re cute but tbh they did nothing to ease my curiosity about harr’s route.... if anything else, it became even w o r s e  haha........................
if i think of blanc to have a cradle-centric route, i do hope harr’s route is magic tower-centric! naturally it will be since he’s got history there, but i hope a lot of my questions about the magic tower will be answered.....
will harr’s perspective of the magic tower be in the eyes of a test subject or a disciple???? he was scouted by the magic tower, but it wasn’t stated what he was doing exactly..... going by hints + loki’s & zero’s routes, it’s more of him being a disciple, so there’s bound to be guilt.......
hopefully alice’s characterization in his route is good + we get a fun group dynamic with loki!!! their potential.... the most(?) notorious criminal of cradle, a sought after test subject, and that one girl who nullifies all magic; a renegade trio lurking around the forbidden forest.... what an odd bunch!
oct 4 // god is a five minute hymn
a religious themed fic with lancelot & alice - tbh i don’t even know why religion was the first thing that came into mind when liz and i were talking about cultural differences, lol.
on that note though! i personally like thinking that if ever cradle had a semblance of a religion, it would be polytheistic & nature-centric, and not strictly practiced - the stratocracy of both territories i’d like to think makes it harder for religion to have a voice, much less have one that is practiced by the general population. the only thing general about it is that the religion centers or has magic crystals as an important factor... or something. yeah.
that aside, i think i specifically chose lancelot in this piece for the sole reason that his canonically stated lack of common sense, in my opinion, gives him the curiosity of a child sometimes - there’s no sense of malice or doubt, just the pure innocence of wanting to know something....... religion does that to kids, especially when introduced to it at first.
rereading the fic makes me think of the instances where when faced with dire or unsettling situations, people turn to faith as a life line.... well, i’m not sure if i had that subconsciously in mind when writing alice, but that does give a spin to it....
oct 6 // flow like the river nile
a spontaneous red army-centric fic! it certainly turned out better than i expected... i liked the formatting i used for this one!
if cybird can give us more about the pre-game suitors it would be great, tbh! and while the stuff about them in school is interesting, i’d like to see more about when they assumed their positions + combat scenes! the neutrals are special cases, but knowing more about their living conditions + daily lives is also a treat...
i was thinking of adding one last snippet about lancelot in the eyes of the reds, but i scrapped it out and switched it to alice & lancelot’s conversation about duty - it could’ve worked better if i stuck to using the what is your duty? question, but i scrapped it eventually too. ah well. it does look good enough as it is. 
oct 7 // seeking out phantoms
a mandatory(???) odd one out aka content that’s not ikerev, haha! i missed fe:a all of a sudden...
i never got around to writing properly for this fandom tho, what a shame - i’ve got some bits of pieces in my drafts that looked interesting and easy enough to pick up, and this was one of them.
robin investigating more of their plegian heritage could’ve been a good subplot tbh... i still wish there was something like a paralogue or dlc about it, bc honestly the valm arc goes a bit slow until you get to the future past revelations. ah well.
and gaius bc first husband for the win.... not like i actually had the guts to marry anyone else in my other save files lololol
nov 7 // push me off a bridge (to catch me as i fall)
my longest project of 2019, holy shit! i didn’t know i still had it in me to write something past 10k... i need more of that motivation + energy....
there’s nothing much to say about this since i blabbed about everything in the post-reading notes, but as much as i fought myself to get this done, i really enjoyed writing a long fic again! hopefully i can get myself to write another one this year...
nov 18 // beloved, beloved, let me be clear
18 sentences on zero & alice + macross frontier references! man, when i really got to the point about the earrings i was thinking of sheryl a lot....
kept it in sentences cause i didn’t have enough time to put up a decent ficlet! but i really wanted to get my screaming out of my system....... i used to do sentences + three word sentences challenges before, and doing one again was pretty fun!
but really.... zero’s route kept me happy for days???? their buildup + dynamic was something i was totally w e a k for, no joke..... thank gods the collection event was going on, bc i really made good use of my stocked chapter tickets lolol!
i was especially excited come the ball scene, and that cg..... a h a h a.... i need more of those pretty cgs where i can see alice’s face + costume change....... 
nov 20 // coloring inside the lines
jonah + alice + makeup!!!! tbh this was really fun, i enjoyed writing this one - if i remember, this was a fic that i managed to continuously work on the day i thought it up!
jonah may not be my best boy but tbh i find writing him very easy - i guess it’s because i’m very fond of characters like him!!! those uptight nobles who are as prideful as hell but can definitely live up to their name + are more capable than their bragging suggests... idk if there’s a general trope name for these doods, but i especially like analyzing their motivations + convictions!!!
i liked how i ended it, but i apparently i made an actual ending that’s now a snippet in my drafts - jonah & alice head to the ball, and somewhere along some bystanders’ flow of conversation someone drops a comment about jonah’s lips looking... quite more luscious than usual, lolol. so t h i r s t y. upon hearing this, alice can’t seem to stop smiling for some reason..... 
nov 27 // blue fields, verdant skies
a practice drabble set centric on a ray/alice development that i liked so much i made it into a series - plus, it’s black army content and honestly i need to write more of them! my red army bias is showing whoooooops
it’s a feudal + arranged marriage au, with the latter... being quite spontaneous. it’s those types of marriages where neither have even met - not even once - only to face each other come the wedding... so it’s a given that audiences from both parties are rather curious how this will turn out.
since i had the theme of fate in mind, ray was the automatic pick for the male lead. the rest of the black army is a given and for kicks, i added dean and dalim! i actually want to write about them + mousse, but since i’m still unsure on their characterizations i’ve been holding them off.... but i gave in anyway.....
alice is again named for word count convenience purposes since it’s in actual 100 words aka drabble form! i have planned scenes + an ending already in mind, but going there is pretty hard bc.... i still have to write the scenes in between + resist temptation to expand further on other scenes, haha....
initially i was planning to keep it updated here as well, but any more updates of this are on ao3 instead! the formatting looks better there instead of my blog tbh, and it also gives it a sort of muted tone to the story that works with me!
this is also the 31st fic in this blog, marking an end of the challenge liz bestowed to me lolol - since i brought this blog back to life around june, i was dared that by the end of the year, i should’ve posted more than 15 fics to add up to the initial 15 i had already posted before, thus the numbers on my fics back then.... now that i actually succeeded, i can stop counting lololol!!!! tho hopefully i can still be pretty active this year....
dec 22 // duck, duck, bullet
oliver & fenrir on guns... this probably wins as the most spontaneous idea i had on my head - tbh, i wasn’t even sure where i was going with it at first! but i’m sure i was suddenly thinking about that one detective conan movie.... then it became kid!oliver with a gun.....
i wonder if he tests the bullets at night, when he’s in adult form.... then again, kid!oliver with a gun still works.... say that because he’s a genius inventor, he made some models to serve as his shooting targets.... but another thought that amuses me more is.... blanc does the bullet testing for him!?
lololol i already thought about blanc being oliver’s live target, but i also find blanc with a gun very interesting.......... i mean, blanc certainly doesn’t look like he can fight, but who knows??? i mean, mousse is the former ace of hearts, but i still can’t imagine him fighting..... appearances can be deceiving....
the two aside, i wonder how fenrir even met oliver and got him working on his bullets........ was it through blanc or other connections???? how long have they been seller and buyer???? does anyone else commission anything from oliver?????? hmmmm.....
dec 23 // terms of surrender
i’ve been told by liz + luci + other friends that i needed to practice writing more.... cheesy fluff. i’m not sure if this sirius/alice piece counts, lol. in fact, i think it’s my definition of fluff i see here - and it translates to not exactly fluffy at all!
tho if you want me to be honest about it - when i write suitor/alice stuff, how alice was characterized in the suitor’s route is still my basis for how i’ll write her, and sirius’ alice................ haha......... i think she’s the alice that’s honestly easy to write but i choose to avoid.......... 
i don’t dislike the sirius/alice dynamic per se, tho. i do find it cute, especially if cybird stops emphasizing the issue of maturity in the relationship on alice’s side. i understand - i really do - that it’s a potential issue in the relationship, but...... that’s not the only problem you can possibly have as time passes, right?????
on another note, it’s funny that only sirius gets to be harped about the maturity due to age difference issue - setting aside blanc, who heavens know how old he is, lancelot’s 29 and since alice is presumed to be around ray + fenrir’s age, you could say that she’s 24 or even 23 to be safe.... so that makes a 5 / 6 years difference but it’s never brought up, lol. but i guess it’s because unlike lancelot, the black army’s been making sirius’ age a running gag....
anyway, this piece is pretty decent! i was thinking of something along the lines of mornings between a “married couple”.... there were two scenarios i had in mind, and i opted to write this one out first.... maybe i’ll have the second one posted up here another day.
dec 28 // a chain of black thrones
pre-game!sirius & ray and bc i was thinking a lot about the previous chosen, the former jack of spades!!! i wonder if the armies have a set age for retirement lolol... it would be awesome if there was still a chosen who’s already past his 50s or something, haha!
since sirius was constantly badgered to take on the role of king, i was also wondering about how long the black army was ‘king-less’... i mean, if the tension between both armies was really as great as they say, having no king puts the black army at a precarious position... i also thought that ‘nah, maybe there was a king or something but maybe the black army didn’t like him or something so they insisted that sirius take it instead’ but sirius’ 1st anniv. epilogue says otherwise - there really was a period that the black army had no king, wow. how the heck did they deal with that???? surely the red army saw this as a display of vulnerability....
can the black army’s chosen choose to leave their posts when they feel like it??? when they’re defeated by a challenger, what happens to them - a demotion, or do they serve under the ‘new’ chosen??? does the black army’s chosen change constantly because of their meritocracy + challenger system??? like, how do they deal with that, and do they announce their changes in chosen each council meeting??? each new question just snowballed my curiosity, whoops...
there were so many angles i thought of but i decided to settle for addressing the king-less state of the black army... through the eyes of a veteran who’s probably served many kings throughout his time of service as part of the black army’s chosen.
i gave this jack of spades character a name, actually - garret folner. maybe someday i’ll write him again, bc i actually enjoyed thinking about the present + past chosen interactions - maybe i’d think about that for the red army, but this time i find the black army’s side more interesting for this situation.
dec 29 // steadfast tin soldier
a zero/alice piece for zeroweek - i was about to post pt. 1 as a standalone, but then i just thought about how.... zero bought alice a gown.... but never got to dance with her at the day of the ball..... so i rushed to add pt. 2 haha!
with the addition of pt. 2 it looks cut short tho - i did think of putting a scene in between, but no good ideas came into mind bc i was too fascinated with the dancing scene... i swear at some point i will find myself writing a fic or a part of a fic that’s a dance scene for the rest of the ikerev suitors + alice....
this is the kind of fluff i live for, actually... i’m totally fine with the steamy content cybird throws during events + bonus stories, but if i were to be honest i say.... where’s my non-sexual intimacy????? the simple, wholesome stuff?????????????????
man, i feel hilarious for typing that out..... but well, i guess it’s a matter of different strokes for different folks, lol!
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adzandiel-blog · 5 years
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Fine, We Were Responsible for the Straight Pride Parade
*Originally titled "the time we thought straight people couldn’t get any dumber, made a bet, and then watched as they hit rock bottom and kept digging"
This is mainly directed at you Straight Pride Parade bastards. I read an article today, showed it to Aden, and we decided that yeah, we should probably fess up in a minor way.
You know that feeling sometimes when you trip or fall in your dream, and wake up with a jolt, feeling like you just fell a long way?‌ Yeah, I need to take credit for that idea. Not that I go around each night in the metaphysical dream realm and throw people off cliffs just for the kicks1, but that whole jolting you awake at 3 AM thing? That was totally my business pitch.
Anyway, that doesn’t relate in any way to this post.‌ Just keep in mind that we (both angels and demons alike) have the ability to just dip into others’ dreams and extend a little Heavenly or infernal influence.
This is a relatively recent event compared to all the other stories we’ve got, but we figured it’s a fun story to tell.
A few months ago, Aden and I‌ saw a gay couple being kicked out of a coffee shop, with the manager proclaiming loudly that ‘this is a Christian establishment’2 3 and that said couple should never return. And I’m the demon and all, yes, but then, I had to almost physically restrain Aden from rushing at the homophobic dick and giving him a shiner.
We left right alongside the couple in protest, bought them a meal at another diner4, and I‌ personally made sure that when the manager went home that night, he’d find that his walls were much thinner than he remembered, and that the couples living next to him, below him, and above him suddenly had much more energy for their libidos.
So when we went home that night, we were suitably tipsy, which is a context that often leads to entertainingly tangent-y discussions. It started with Aden drunkenly flipping through the Bible, finding Leviticus 18:22, and cursing when he finds the translation wrong.5
See, the thing is, the English translation of the Hebrew Bible is just slightly off. America paid for it, back in the day, and we’re not entirely sure what the Hell happened6 with the translation, but it came out different and gave millions of people the wrong impression.
In the Hebrew, Greek, German, Swedish, Norwegian, and undoubtedly countless many other translations of the Bible, the quote “Man shall not lie with man as he does with a woman, for it is an abomination” is instead (correctly) translated into “Man shall not lie with young boys as he does with a woman, for it is an abomination”.7
See the difference?
It’s all a great big bloody misunderstanding, is what it is. The Bible condemns pederasty.
So we began thinking. If millions—billions, really—of desperate Christians will believe and live by a wrong translation, how much stupider can they get?
We made a bet.
Aden’s money was on straight people already hitting rock bottom. Mine was on the belief that straight people—and people, in general—have, in fact, already hit rock bottom, but that it wouldn’t stop them from descending further.8 In fact, I‌ said, I can hear the pick-axe sales skyrocketing already.
And we had to prove that one of us was right, didn’t we?
So our million-dollar idea was this: If we could get someone to celebrate heterosexuality with pride, in the sense of June being Pride Month9 and rainbows being flags of proud defiance against oppression and all, then I‌ would win the bet. If our targets refused to do something so blatantly disrespectful, then Aden would win.
You can probably guess who won.10
That night and the rest of the nights in the week, Aden and I would occasionally infiltrate and pop up in random dreams of heterosexual Christians (and/or other religions/lack thereof) and we tried our best to influence them into thinking that they, as straight people, deserve to be celebrated and proud of their sexuality.11
We didn’t expect it to, you know, work.12
And the thing is, you know, this isn’t even a new thing!‌ I went ahead and researched straight pride parades, and apparently, it’s been around since the late 1900’s, which is ridiculous. Humanity’s been around for… as long as we have, which is give-or-take five millennium, and they still sit around with the ability to pull this kind of utter bullshit.
How incredibly stupid is that?
I don’t remember their names (the guys behind the parade in Boston), but just in case they’re reading this:‌ Hi. Right big idiotic bastards, the lot of you. So idiotic, really, it’s almost hilarious. And besides that, you have an incredibly stupid website with an equally ridiculous domain name.
And one last thing:‌ Advocating to put an ‘S’ in ‘LGBTQ’?‌
God, Satan, and every being in between, I don’t even know where to start with that one.
It’sGreatToBeStraight…InOurCoreBeliefsOfRespectingTheLGBTQ+Community. God bless, Satan strengthen, Amen, and all that.
Until next time, folks. Don't make us write our next post with righteous anger again.
Or… kick people off cliffs just for the throws? ↩︎
Which, by the way, is an utterly stupid thing to say in response to kicking gay couples out of your establishment. Fuck you if you do that. God never said shit about disliking gay couples, She only talked about disliking pedophiles. And Her son just disliked figs. We would know. Aden met him once. In a stroke of demonic genius, I introduced him to apples. He liked them. ↩︎
The waiter who was serving the couple looked downright mortified and embarrassed about his superior’s behavior. Aden managed to convince him—afterwards, in a subtle manner—to resign, and he made sure of the fact that the ex-waiter (he couldn’t have been more than 18 in age) found a nice job with decent pay. ↩︎
The diner in mention had friendly people running the place and excellent food. The couple was grateful, and insisted on buying us drinks. Right now, the four of us are engaged in a loop of buying each other food and drinks. It’s fun, really. ↩︎
Aden wants me to mention that he never curses. That’s wrong, because I‌ can quote him, word for word, on that night—“Zan, Zan, would yo—look at this. Look at this bullshit—’Man shall not lie with man, for it is an abomination’—they really thought that was—God, ‘m not drunk enough for this shit”—and many other nights as well. Don’t give me that look, angel. ↩︎
Although Hell definitely might’ve happened. My kind aren’t inherently homophobic or anything, but it wouldn’t have been unthinkable for a demon to think it funny for a large amount of people to hate homosexuals. I’m not that guy. Abaddon definitely would’ve approved the idea, though. Whichever bastard it was probably got a commendation for it. ↩︎
This is because, back in those days, they encouraged a system in which boys (with ages ranging from 8-12) were able to be ‘coupled’ by older men. There’s even Ancient Greek documents that show us how their parents used this bullshit to help their sons’ social status. Needless to say, there was a lot of demonic curses going around in Ancient Greek. I used up my quota then and had to call Abaddon for an extension. ↩︎
The commonly known phrase ‘The descent into Hell is easy’ drowns out a long-forgotten alternate; "facilius descensus fatuitas", which more or less translates to ‘Easier is the descent into foolishness’. ↩︎
My idea. Aden helped. ↩︎
Three things to do as I‌ wished on Aden’s part. Still got two to go. Details not privy. ↩︎
It took Aden a lot of convincing on my part for him to actually do something that wasn’t purely good and angelic in nature, but it worked. Mainly because we were bored, and we don’t have much to lose if our automatically-generated reports to our respective Head Offices don’t shine a good light on us. Besides, we made them forget their dreams, but retain the influence. ↩︎
I‌ mean, I‌ did, but… I‌ didn’t. You know? ↩︎
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sawthefaeriequeen · 5 years
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Top Ten Books Read In 2018
1) The Last Summer of the Death Warriors by Francisco X. Stork
I picked this up at a book fair, read the summary, and figured I'd surprise myself with this author I'd never heard of before. It's about the friendship between DQ, a guy with terminal cancer dealing with his complicated feelings for his estranged-but-conciliatory family, and Pancho, a guy who's biding his time until he can get revenge on the person who's killed one of his family members. I like that both boys are raw and real and people—Pancho obviously has messed up emotions, but DQ can be plenty bitter and angry too: he's not an Inspirational Cancer Patient stereotype.
2) The Sherwood Ring by Elizabeth Marie Pope
Girl moves into her uncle's old ancestral house sometime during the 18th century and gets immersed into the past lives and loves of the ghosts that thrived there during the days of the Revolutionary War, their paths often crossing each other's. I swear I have never seen more delightful ghost characters in my entire life.
3) The Unbound by V.E. Schwab
So by the time I'd picked this up, I was having mixed feelings about V.E. Schwab – on one hand, she'd always written worlds that engage me almost instantly with their creativity. On the other hand, I'd just recently been horribly disappointed by the ending to what's been her most popular series so far: I thought her final Shades of Magic book did a most spectacular job on dropping the balls on everything good about it. Up to reading it, I'd thought the author's hype was deserved. But after, well…
So when I picked this up, it was with much trepidation. I'd loved the previous book, The Archived: the big old house setting, the grim closed-off girl/sweet sunny boy dynamic the lonesome warrior setup, all were like catnip to my id. I didn't want it ruined by a bad sequel. Fortunately, this book took everything I loved about the book and turned it up to eleven. It upped the stakes, it intensified the relationships, and it also added a mental illness angle that I personally found very meaningful.
The author is still kiiinda on notice so I'm not sure I want a third book. If there is one, dear God, please be good. *crosses fingers*
4) Turtles All The Way Down by John Green
I remember thinking, as I was reading this: this is really, really working for me but will it work for someone neurotypical? 2018 was hell and I was just so desperate for the people in my life to get it, and so I kept hopping on trains of thought like this.
Anyway, this book was spot on in what goes on in the wirings of my anxious brain. Green's usual turns of phrase took an incredibly frenetic turn at times, which, I know, is exactly what it's like to have a mental illness. This is not a book about "this is what to do" it's about how it IS or how it can GET.
I'm still really grateful for that quote about the spiral – how it tightens, but also how it eternally widens. When I first saw the cover, I thought it was kind of blah; now I look at that spiral and see something different. I see the hope of creating a new 'normal'.
5) The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
This was so readable it surprised me. I thought I'd go slow on it because: war story where it's a foregone conclusion that it ends tragically for the leads? Yeah, I'm not in a rush to reach the end of that. But I blazed right through this book. There's something really addictive about Madeline Miller's storytelling and how she brings her characters together and follows their blossomings and downfalls through the years. And then, the course of the Iliad and the inevitable sadness for Achilles, Patroclus, and Briseis was more like the slow turning of the tide rather than getting hit with a tidal wave. Anyway, not only was it readable but I'm finding myself eager to re-read it.
6 ) The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley
Part of my Read Everything Robin McKinley Writes mission that began last year. I'd liked the sheer escapism and the desert setting in The Blue Sword, but that whole white savior thing kinda put me off from enjoying Harry and the book more fully than I would've liked.
It was not so for this book, thankfully! Who knew that reading about the nitty-gritty of slaying big scaly beasts could be so satisfying? That's classic Robin McKinley, as I'm learning – you love what the protag loves. And then I really dug how the dead dragon's ghost haunting Aerin acts as a metaphor for mental illness.
(As I continue to wrestle with my diagnosis, I continually appreciate all the depression/anxiety metaphors I encounter in media. Maybe one day I'll make a post about it) AND ALSO: a love triangle that's actually well done and that serves our heroine's identity and character rather than taking away from it? Yes. Yes, thank you.
7) A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb
Yeah so, this book killed me. It's about two twenty-something ghosts with unfinished business who find themselves in the bodies of two teenagers whose souls appear to have completely vacated theirs. They find themselves falling for each other and trying to find out what happened to their 'hosts' and what went on in their past lives. They also find themselves battling to survive the hostile home lives that their 'hosts' left behind. It's all very beautiful and kind of twisted and also a love letter to words and probably my most unexpected book of the year. And I have NO idea to rec it to people. "Read this, it's kind of fucked up but gorgeous but also can get triggery so step warily?" Uh.
8) Deerskin by Robin McKinley
See warnings above. Oh God. But really, I totally respect Robin McKinley for going full-out faithful to how utterly fucked up fairy tales can be while still creating a survival story. I'm not just talking about Lissar surviving spoilers incestual rape and miscarriage (indeed, I'm not qualified to talk about it) but how hers is a story of healing: by surviving the elements, by nursing living things back into life, by building herself up into a legend without even knowing it.
9) Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor
Just an incredibly satisfying ending to a duology that at the same time echoes that quote from Michael Ende's The Neverending Story: "but that is another story and shall be told another time." I love when something ends with that sense of: "there are even more stories and adventures for our beloved characters out there than you can possibly fathom, and you are now free to make up them yourself."
10) Autoboyography by Christina Lauren
I was intrigued by the premise: a half-Jewish guy and a Mormon guy fall for each other over the course of a writing class. And upon starting it, I could tell straight (heh, straight) away that it was going to be a favorite. It's an unabashedly kilig romance about falling for the wonderfulness in each other,and both mains are fucking adorable, and made me want to give them both a ton of hugs. Oh, and this book further reinforced my belief that the key to first-person writing is having a good voice.
Another thing is, I basically never see YA books that deal with growing up in a religion and actually-loving it and having it be an inextricable part of your identity… and then having to deal with the darker, prejudiced sides that you really wish would be excised from it altogether especially if they are opposed to who you are. To deal with it sensitively and touchingly, not only in a YA book but in an m/m romance? Well done.
honorable mention!
-The Secret History by Donna Tartt
I was reading this on the bus on the way home to the province for Christmas and I could not stop laughing and I had no idea to explain to my very curious sister that it was because half the protagonists were high as a kite at the funeral of the friend that they all killed and one of them had just very noisily killed a bee in the church vestibule and it made the loudest sound on the planet and they're all gonna have to ~aesthetically grieve and pallbear now even though THEY killed their friend and w o w it's like Nuwanda from Dead Poets Society was cloned five times.
Sometimes "pretentious people murder someone and somehow it is hilarious" is just exactly my cup of tea.
and a couple of series binges!
Almost 10 years ago (god, what the hell), I had a "YA Paranormal Romances I Might Actually Like" list, and the two trilogies below were on it. There's something gratifying about finally crossing off books on your TBR that have been there for ages:
-The Shade Trilogy by Jeri Smith-Ready (Shade, Shift, Shine) This series came out on the tail of the Great YA Paranormal Romance boom and I really wish I'd picked it up then (I also really wish some of the covers it got weren't so damn off-putting. It's like Animorphs all over again) because it's such cut above so many of the books that were being churned out in those days.
The premise is: what if there was a global paranormal event that left the portion of the population born after a certain year with the ability to see ghosts? I really like that the author thought this out thoroughly – it's not just a oooh spooky ghosties gimmick. Everything is affected: the educational system, the police force, politics, technology, travel, you name it.
The heroine was smart and truth-seeking and had nuancedrelationships with lots of female characters (bff, mentor, aunt who raised her, mom who died… ), the Betty love interest was a total sweetheart who also didn't seem too good to be true and who was capable of making major teenage fuck-ups, and the Veronica love interest was a rock-and-roll ghost who had the post-life character arc that I sadly wish Maggie Stiefvater had given Noah Czerny. I kind of loved them all a lot and one of the reasons I wish I'd read these books as they came out was so I could've been un-jaded just a little bit about Those Pesky Love Triangles.
(Someday I…really ought to make an analysis about why I dislike love triangles in general and what exactly was up with the ones that DID work for me.)
-Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy by Maggie Stiefvater
I read the whole series toward the year's end. It was precisely the cold-weather binge I was craving. I may have my quarrels with some of her writing decision, but really few people can do atmospheric, poetic writing the way Maggie Stiefvater does. The romances were a bit too YA for me in this one, but I ended up really sympathizing with every single POV character anyway. And I mean, cold and poetry and family and books and wolves-as-family*.
(*One day, I'll have the emotional armor to watch Wolf's Rain again. )
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somanysoundtracks · 5 years
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The US Air Force IS NOT the co-star or “real star” or w/e of “Captain Marvel”
It’s not like... the villain, either. Minor antagonist at times, maybe. Well... Ish. And it’s more generally the US government and institutional sexism and gender stereotypes. It’s not really clear what part of the government Carol worked for. You can definitely imply it, but we don’t get US Air Force stickers plastered over everything or filled into dialogue. It’s name-dropped... I think once? The entire film? (negatively, I might add) Carol only ever deals with two people who were potentially superior officers, and one of those, given the plot, shies even farther away from the “The Air Force is my home/amazing” thing.
I’m just really confused by all these posts about how it’s an Air Force recruitment ad? Because it isn’t? I can understand the complaints given the trailers, because the Air Force is definitely far more present in the trailers and ads. Carol’s story does involve her love of flying, like in the comics, and she does fly planes. But that is not the central focus of the story (in the sense that she’s not wistfully hoping to jump into some new plane every five seconds), nor is there some underlying message of “If you join the Air Force, you TOO can fly/become a superhero”. Or some nationalistic “do this for your country” or even “do this for your planet” message. In fact, it’s implied that if you do that, very likely bad things will happen to you and the people you care about? In the comics, Carol spends a lot of time around planes, fixing planes, racing, talking with pilots, etc. That’s... I mean that’s part of the movie, but there’s a lot more focus on figuring out her past, dealing with people (rather than planes) and plots (that do not directly involve planes). Like air and space travel is always important to the plot. But honestly if you’d said Carol worked for NASA, the movie probably wouldn’t be that different.
There’s also no message about how being in the Air Force made Carol like.... a stronger or better person or like “you join because you want to help people” or something. Carol loves flying, but the movie kind of changes that into... Carol wants to see the stars/the skyline? Honestly if you forget that the Air Force is a thing, the movie almost makes it sound like Carol wanted to be an astronaut. Or she’s an adrenaline junkie who enjoys it most when she’s flying or racing someone.
This is a story about Carol, first and foremost, and the People around her, and her journey to become a superhero (well, more of a superhero). And also about institutions, after a fashion, and assumptions we make about the institutions we’re a part of.
Like I went in fully expecting one of the many, many recruitment ads I see on TV for the US military, in the form of a movie, with some superhero trimmings. That is not what I got. I actually had to remind myself during the movie that the Air Force is a thing. That’s how not an Air Force recruitment ad this movie is.
Now you COULD argue that it’s very subtle marketing, which is actually BETTER than stamping ads and adding in dialogue and whatnot and centering the plot on it and all that. But even arguing that the marketing is really just SUBTLE requires a LOT of editorializing, and that “subtle” marketing is rather... muddled, at best, and actually quite negative about the Air Force, or at least the US Government. Sticking it under a spoilers cut to wrestle with it.
So one theme of the film (although not really a central one; this is a theme of Past Carol that Present Carol never really overtly follows up on; Present Carol is more demonstrably an adrenaline junkie) is that Carol loves flying, and an underlying message, if you squint, is that the Air Force was somehow her only option to do that.
Now there’s nothing in the film that says that the Air Force was Carol’s only option for flying. Maria states that the Air Force wasn’t letting women pilot combat jets, so she and Carol piloted Dr. Larson’s experimental planes in test flights as their only option. As a note, this is the only time I remember the Air Force being name dropped. Fury might say it once earlier in the film, but he also might have just said “the military” or “the government”. So if you look at this whole, singular scene, which is the only solid evidence for “the Air Force was Carol’s only option to fly”, 1) the Air Force is stated, in dialogue, negatively, because it wasn’t letting female pilots fly - both characters in the scene are female pilots who weren’t flying, thus, they are the ‘antagonist’ of the current scene, 2) Maria and Carol actually took an alternative - Larson’s planes - because the Air Force wouldn’t let them fly in combat. So actually the Air Force wasn’t Carol’s only option to fly. They wouldn’t even let her do it. It’s unclear where exactly Project Pegasus fits in the US military structure; whether it’s part of the Air Force or just a secret project organization in the military. 3) Dr. Larson is an alien, so actually it wasn’t even the US Government who was giving Carol the option to fly. It was an alien. 4) Perhaps most importantly, while speaking, Maria states that the US military (potentially name dropping the Air Force again I can’t remember, or at least implicitly calling it the ‘they’ in this conversation bit), covered up Carol’s death like it never happened, again painting the US military/government/Air Force as the bad guy.
Brief tangent, but later in the film, Monica watches Carol fly off into the sky. The camera does a close up on Monica’s wistful face, looking up into the sky, watching the trailing flames of Carol fade into the distance. It’s a very wistful moment you can easily imagine in other movies, TV shows, video games, even ads, etc., promoting going into space or, potentially, joining the Air Force so you can fly. So yes, I can see how people can look at the film and say, the marketing is there for people to join the Air Force, it’s just subtle.
But see how much editorializing I just did? On top of that, the only scene where we get any indication that the Air Force was Carol’s only option to fly, the Air Force is negatively remarked on at least twice, in what is one of the most emotionally charged scenes in the film. And we’re actually implicitly told that the Air Force isn’t Carol’s only option for flight, because the Air Force wasn’t letting her, and more importantly, the US Government wasn’t even the one giving her the chance. Sure, the US Government was funding Project Pegasus and by extension, Dr. Lawson’s research and her planes, but it’s implied that if not for Dr. Lawson - another woman involved with the US Government/military, amidst a dearth of women in authority/military positions (note, the only two women in government positions that we’re shown who aren’t Maria, Dr. Larson, or Carol, are one and possibly two unnamed SHIELD agents, one of whom has no dialogue) - Carol and Maria wouldn’t have had that chance. You can imply that, as is typical in a lot of similar stories, they’d have just flown some other test planes, like Carol did in the comics. But you have to imply it. And editorialize it. So basically, if not for an alien, Carol and Maria might never have been able to actually fly planes. Not the Air Force. Not the US Government.
There is a photo of a US spy plane in one scene. Carol is looking at a photo of another plane, and the spy plane photo is next to it. While the other photos on the wall are blurred a bit, the US spy plane photo is rather emphasized and shares about 1/3 of the screen with Carol and the photo of importance. It’s an odd choice. It’s also one of the only overt Air Force marketing things in the film. And other than it simply being there, there’s nothing else about the photo that says JOIN UP WITH THE AIR FORCE TODAY! It’s actually almost a reminder of HEY, REMEMBER HOW MUCH SHIT OUR SPY PLANES HAVE GOTTEN INTO OVER THE YEARS? YEAH, SO DO WE? So you can editorialize about it being stuck on the wall and emphasized how it is, but that editorializing can be negative just as much as it can be positive.
Another big theme of the film is how putting too much blind faith into institutions can be very dangerous. Whether that’s religion or the government or the military or the police force. The Kree AI is seemingly a god and a Big Brother government system that creeps you out from the very first scene you meet it. You literally have to be wired up to talk with it while it invades your mind to speak with you. Later we learn that Ronan the Accuser (younger Ronan, before the first “Guardians” movie) is working for the Kree government, which sends up other warning signs. Hey, remember this dude? He’s a major antagonist in another movie. But he works for the Good Guy Government right now! You know. Bombing... planets...
When Fury and Coulson show up at the Blockbuster to investigate, for maybe... a 10-minute stretch of a scene, it’s unclear whether they’re SHIELD or FBI (or posing as FBI), because it kind of looks like a bunch of cops with a pair of FBI agents, and I think Fury even flashes an FBI badge to Carol when he introduces himself. They then partake in a chase scene against Carol. So, in the movie, as is the case in many vigilante stories, the police and potentially the FBI are the baddies. And even though HYDRA isn’t brought up, the way the Skrulls mess with SHIELD casts the SHIELD agents we see (save for Coulson and Fury) as the bad guys. When Carol and Fury go to Project Pegasus, they are stonewalled and detained for no apparent reason, but possibly because there’s something to hide. This is the last new government agency we encounter in the film. So basically, story-wise, every government agency, for whatever reason, is opposed to the protagonist of the story. That’s not exactly a glowing endorsement joining a government agency, like the Air Force. Even though Carol spends the film with Fury, a government agent (of SHIELD), she’s with him specifically because he’s going against orders and not taking her in or attacking her. They’re both renegades, and that bonds them together.
At the end of the film, when Fury has seemingly been promoted, we don’t embrace government institutions again. There’s no evidence that what Fury did got him a promotion, or specifically why (I assumed his boss was grateful that Fury got rid of the shapeshifter who was impersonating him). After all, what exactly did he do? Potentially help stop aliens bombing the planet, I guess? By defying dozens of directives? Fury is taking over an organization to change things up, specifically by setting up the beginnings of the Avengers Initiative. There’s actually no evidence he was even promoted. It’s implied that he and Coulson are partners when they’re first introduced, but Coulson is clearly his subordinate at the end of the film. So the ending of the film could either be Fury moving up in the world or just going back to business as usual.
In short, in the film, government institutions are creepy at best, unhelpful and even antagonizing and downright evil at worst, and there’s no point where the heroes of the story do anything but say “we’re going to tear down what’s in place and build it up better”, which is no glowing endorsement of such institutions. It’s not an Air Force marketing ad.
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