#Flex Your Writing Muscles June 2020

[lillywillow]

Anniversary Surprises

Summary: After a huge argument right before your anniversary, you and Remy break up. Fortunately, Remy comes to his senses and comes back to you

Word Count: 787

Prompts Used: Melancholy/ Distrust

Pairings: Remy LeBeau x Female Reader

Warnings: Fighting, Sadness, Mild angst

Written for @captain-rogers-beard ‘s Month of June 2020 Flex Your Writing Muscles Challenge

The night before your anniversary, Remy broke up with you, claiming you had been cheating on him. Sure to the untrained eye, it may have looked that way but the truth was that you were planning a special surprise for your upcoming anniversary. It hurt you so much that he could think that, after all, Remy was the only man you had ever been with. With your heart broken, you went the only other place you called home; the X Mansion.

 You were an incoherent mess by the time you arrived at the mansion. Ororo gave you a cup of tea and once you had calmed down enough, you told her everything. The people at the mansion had always been like a family to you, even after you had graduated the classes and were ready to go into the world on your own.

 “I... I thought he l-loved me. H-how could he think that I... I could cheat on him? A-after all we’ve been through...” Ororo rubbed your back as your poured your heart out.

 “I never even got the chance to tell him...” Logan had overheard your whole conversation and went to talk... well, more like beat some sense into your now ex-boyfriend.

...

 The following day, you had spent most of it in bed, hardly eating anything, feeling too nauseated and when you weren’t sleeping, you were imagining what could have been with Remy You didn’t even react when there was a knock on your door. When you didn’t answer, whoever it was just entered.

 “Cherie?”

 You peeked up from your blanket cocoon to see Remy standing there with a bouquet of your favourite flowers.

 “R-Remy? What are you doing here?” you asked, rubbing your eyes. You could now see that he had a busted lip and a few bruises.

 “Logan talked to me... told me to get my butt over here and beg for your forgiveness...”

 “What... what exactly did he tell you?”

 “That I was an idiot for even thinking that you would cheat on me... that you had something special planned for our anniversary...”

 “Is that all?” He nodded, a small sense of relief washing over you knowing that Logan hadn’t told him everything.

 “I am so, so sorry, ma Cherie... I really was a stupid, stupid man. I never should have listened to the guys I play poker with...” You let out a very unladylike snort.

 “You think? Between them they’ve got like eight divorces and so many one night stands it’s a miracle none of them have caught some kind of disease. Do you really think they’re the best people to go to for relationship advice?”

 “No. You’re right. You’re totally right and I will never doubt you again... So... do you forgive me? Please? I’m still so in love with you, and I was a complete fool to ever think you would ever cheat on me...” You managed a small nod and he walked over to you, sitting next to you on the bed.

 “I’ll do everything I can to make things up to you... I promise,” he vowed, kissing your head and holding you close. You were happy to be in his arms again.

 “Do you want me to give you your present now?” you asked him.

 “Do you still want to give it to me?” You nodded and went to get it. It was one of the few things you grabbed when you left. You handed him the small, wrapped box.

 Remy carefully undid the ribbons and paper, his eyes widening when he saw what was inside. You had ordered a silver, jewelled card case with a customised deck inside. Remy quickly flicked through them all, noting how much love and thought you had put into this gift. The thing that caught his attention was the court cards in the hearts suite. The king was of course Remy, you were the queen and the jack was a child who looked like a combination of the two of you. Remy looked at you.

 “I’m pregnant... I had everything planned out before... Remy, please... you’re the only man I have ever loved, ever been with or ever want to be with. Our baby needs their daddy...” Remy teared up and kissed you deeply. You wrapped your arms around him and kissed back, smiling softly into it.

 “I’m gonna be a daddy,” he breathed against your lips, smiling as well.

 You spent the rest of your anniversary in bed holding each other, happy to be back together again after your horrible fight. It still hurt a little after he had accused you but you would work on it, especially with your baby on the way.

[astrology-with-charu]

New Moon at 23º Pisces and 2022 Preview

============================================

New Moon in Pisces brings an opportunity to all of us to mutate, to change, shift, see a new perspective. The last two weeks of Virgo full moon brought up tasks to finish, problems to address, order to be maintained, health to take care of, responsibilities to cater to. We move from there to the opposite side to give the situation another perspective.

I find Pisces perspective always the end of the life scenario but not the morbid kind, more of if you were at the end of life would you be doing this, would you be holding onto this, would you be making enemies or showing compassion. Different perspective same problems. Adding color of love and enjoyment to life. Colouring daily chores, making an uninviting prospect into fun production.

Bookmark this post - http://emailabuddy.com/blog/?p=936

Try to give it an aim over next two weeks so you can seed this and see it grow over next 6 months. Writing, advertisement, marketing, service in healing, life coach, theatre, inspiration, art, music, drama, dance, video, telepathy, entertainment, love, care, devotion, deep sensuality, meditation, philanthropy, films, media, psychic signs, channeling, psychology, naturopathy, self development, volunteering, gardening, paranormal interests, hidden mysteries of life - so many ways to activate & honour this ethereal energy which would stimulate your imagination.

Imagination fuels invention right now, lateral thinking opens a door to something rational. Pisces sitting in between the Sagittarius south node and Gemini north node activates the need to balance the left brain and right brain. Things that seem like creative distractions or even self indulgence can help create specific oneness of focus and bring a much needed bend in the road much like a yoga session, meditation, a swim, emotive music or art does.

Venus Neptune Conjunct New moon

==============================

I will though warn on financial and romantic matters - we could be very much idealising some financing and romantic situations - no muss if you do it flexi Pisces style and stay open to possibilities of things changing. Pisces always see the world that should exist in our dreams cause they are here to create heaven on earth but we should remember this during financial and romantic declarations right now we could be walking thin line.

I always say with Neptune aspect Idealise life not people - idealise the life path, the synchronicity that got you to the right person the right time, the right money, value, creative idea at the right time. Idealise your life path not the person you meet on the path. He or she may not be perfect but your life path is - it’s giving you who you need in that moment.

Heaven or Hell

============

All dual signs have the superpower to create heaven or hell - they can divert their immense ability to change directions and situations to shift the current in either direction. Pisces archetype do that with emotions and intentions.

23º Pisces in Sabian symbols stands for “A Materialising Medium giving a seance” This new moon gives opportunity to each one of us to induce our vital energy to substantiate either our conscious ideals or our unconscious desires. If you feel you have a gift, a mission, a mandate in life - we all do - a gift that can be of value to community - you and me need to substantiate that belief with results. In the seance the medium gives her everything - her body, her energy, her soul to what she is creating. There is an underlying sacrifice of self always embedded in Pisces - Neptune life. People don’t acknowledge this fact too many times, but Pisces face many unexplained circumstance in life that don’t allow them to live on the surface. They learn this devotion to life’s meaning and have very clear knowing of life’s fragility. This is realism but not the kind Virgo archetype holds or shines on - this is realism of life - of understanding of life - the kind of understanding & clarity normal humans only get at the end of life of what really matters. Soul enlightenment. Now from that place - what would you create - what you give your life energy to, all of it. All consuming that will survive death of body.

Duality though gives us two roads - heaven or hell - constructive aspect leads to substantiation of a dream an ideal. Shadow aspect leads to deception - sometimes self delusion. What is the motive induced into your seance cause that would determine what we create.

You will seek something beyond your daily experience - we may not know where it is leading. Intuition and faith is a muscle and Pisces new moon helps us flex it strengthen it with a practice. Saddle of Pegasus the winged horse is what the star Markab is called at 23º Pisces. A steady point within us - which helps us go to bigger things - a steady force within you from which will come focused action, knowledge, learning and a new world view of service. We would look at old problems with new glasses, new prespective. We find our saddle in Pisces practices - yoga, meditation, swimming, art, fashion, creation, music, emote - all things that balance our left brain and right brain. That shake off the rigidity, opening our muscles, our body, our chakras - releasing trapped energy - inviting fresh energy of upcoming fire season - new vitality in each part of our body.

2019-2020-2021 : The bridge

=======================

I see 2020 as the bridge between 2019 and 2021 - most of the new moon full moon we are in process of right now - we went through those degrees of activations in 2019. Like this new moon is happening close to the degree of full moon in Sept 2019. So if anything was completed, ended, declared, announced in Sept 2019, you will get a new perspective on it now and you will make a different choice. 2020 changed the structure of our existence, the rules we follow of our life that help us decide the forward course. So when presented with similar choices, you would choose differently now.

2022 Next Cycle

===================

Neptune would go retrograde at this degree of new moon on 25th June 2021 so some of the idealistic quality of this new beginning will come for discoveries after that - there will be things we would be missing right now. Neptune retrogrades opens those blind spots to us so we have that coming and we should be ready for that. Some of the demystifying idealism is coming up in June - we would be a bit rosy in March but thats part of the charm of Pisces - live a little dream and creativity is killed if its bombarded with reality checks. But in financial matters know that we may not have the full picture.

Jupiter the planet of expansion is moving into Pisces fully after 28th Dec and it will meet Neptune at yes at this spot on 12th April 2022 which would be a outer planet meet colouring global events of 2022. This is a once in 166 years of divine cycle when optimism hits up our dreams and inflated expectations are very much at root of this cycle. We are seeding that cycle right now with this new moon so a bit of inflated expectations are in. But so are prospects for creative genius, compassion, inspiration, positive thinking, divinity. In 1856 when this cycle was last seen in Pisces - Sigmund Freud was born; Frank Baum the author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was born ...Robert Peary who claimed discovery of North Pole was born... I can go on... Nikolas Tesla was born - creative genius underlines this cycle which is about to begin in 2022.

But there would also be delusional leaders, bad intention false hopes and inflation which would come with this. Seeds of that also is being planted now in inflated expectations and idealism. This cycle has deep implications for change in religion and spirituality. Also on weather patterns especially linked to floods, hurricanes - the Last Island Hurricane in US which destroyed Last Island was part of last cycle as was a massive church explosion. This was also first year when the Third Party in US called “Know nothing American Party” fought elections. Seeds of American civil war were grown in this cycle as well back in 1856.

End of March - Mars Conjunct North Node

==================================

Mars will be in Gemini for 6 months next year when it would be making a hard aspect to both Jupiter and Neptune. Infact Mars would in conjunction with North Node end of March on 26th March. Words would be said. Last time Mars in Gemini Conjunct North Node was in Jan 2002 - Axis of Evil speech. So time after 21st March when Mars comes close to Rahu or north node and it goes out of bound, it would give us immense energy to get over our fears, its fearless strength which helps us go beyond our bounds but it also makes us go beyond our bounds in words - we can get a bit impulsive reckless and hurtful - be careful of that around 26th March and we would see that pan out in public sphere. World’s most famous whistle blower - Edward Snowden was born with this aspect so you know what I am talking about - we will hear about it in news. But I do expect another Axis of Evil speech from US on Russia with this aspect possibly. Words have power and force and they can be used for intellect at work or imbalance in world.

As I said all dual signs have super power of ability to create heaven or hell - for Gemini that super power is in words. Channel this immense superpower wisely during this time.

[saddiedotdk]

Tony Goldwyn admits that after seven seasons playing Scandal‘s Byronically romantic President Fitzgerald Grant, a one-episode guest stint on HBO’s horror series Lovecraft Country, as the menacing, aristocratic white supremacist/occultist Samuel Braithwhite, offered an opportunity to tap some less frequently summoned acting skills.

“It was very operatic, that character, so you don’t often get to do that on television, or in front of a camera,” Goldwyn recalls, noting a key scene in which he had to shout a mystic incantation in an invented dialect at the top of his lungs. “I had to learn, phonetically, this runic language, this whole long chunk of this spell that I was casting. And that was fun and interesting, and a muscle I had not flexed for some time.”

Goldwyn, who since Scandal wrapped has appeared in multiple Broadway productions and next headlines National Geographic’s miniseries The Hot Zone: Anthrax, joined THR to reflect on flexing those new muscles after Fitz, Lovecraft‘s unexpected immediacy, and his earliest TV acting guest stints on a string of now-classic series.

What kind of permission did the unusual genre-bending nature of the show give you as an actor?

Playing a to-the-manner-born white supremacist, who’s this sort of Gothic figure … you had to lean into the camp of it, the genre. But the way that guy’s mind works is representing something profoundly real and disturbing in our culture and human nature.

When you meet my character, he’s un-anesthetized, getting a piece of his liver cut out on a table in his lab, screaming bloody murder. And then Jonathan Majors enters the room, and [Braithwhite] says, “Oh, he’s darker than I [expected]” … That kind of a statement is shocking, and yet also camp, if you know what I’m saying. It’s larger than life, but tragically all too close to life, as we have seen this year, really. And that’s what’s so weird: Not that racism wasn’t a familiar concept in American culture, but we shot that in 2019, and the events of 2020 sort of exposed how close to the surface all that still is.

To see it come out at such a charged moment, immediately following the Black Lives Matter protests, when it achieved even greater degrees of relevance and immediacy, must have been a unique experience.

Slightly surreal, honestly. It was very disturbing. It’s very discomforting … When I read it, it felt dangerous and relevant and provocative, but also fun. When I saw it, it was still entertaining, but there was a much darker sensibility to the fun aspect of it, if you know what I mean. And honestly, for me personally, now that I’m reflecting on it … embodying a white supremacist was a very different experience in 2020 than it was in 2019. There was something where I could feel that I was at an arm’s length from it. Whereas now, there’s been a seismic shift, and it would be, frankly, much harder to do — which makes me feel a bit silly, because of course that’s my reality, and I think the reality for African Americans is not that different. People are like, “Yeah, wake up!” Which is what Misha [Green] was writing about, but the world has a very different lens on it now.

ELI JOSHUA ADE/HBO

After several seasons on a hit TV show in a regular role, what have you enjoyed about these briefer excursions? Fitz was such a complex character — he could be dark, he could be someone you rooted for — that the role doesn’t saddle you, the actor, with a lot of typecasting baggage.

I really loved playing Fitz, for the reasons you said … He was so complicated and had so many light and dark shades that made him just endlessly fun to play. And I’d never had the experience of living in a character for that long.

But that said, since Scandal ended, I’ve played five, six, seven different roles, all so different, from Samuel Braithwhite to the shows I did on Broadway … And the project I’m doing now for Nat Geo, The Hot Zone ­— the character I’m playing could not be more different from Fitz. It’s wonderful [after] going to work every day and playing the same character and literally wearing the same suit every day for seven years to just go to completely different places.

When you were starting out, you took the jobs that came your way, as actors do, and a lot of those were guest spots on future TV classics. What do you remember about those years? And what it was like to step onto a series as a young, up-and-coming actor?

First of all, I was just grateful to have a job! I mean, I still am, but when you’re starting out, just any work you can get is good work. And also, it was a way to learn about acting in front of a camera, because I started working in the theater, and the camera was very foreign to me.

I did a bunch of those guest star things in shows in the ’80s, from sitcoms to dramas and cop shows and whatever: Matlock and Designing Women and the pilot of Murphy Brown, and I did — oh God — a show called Hunter, do you remember that? And then a couple of things that had more meat. St. Elsewhere was actually where I got my SAG card … I did L.A. Law, too. I had a pretty good part in that.

I imagine this is true for people today still: It’s a rather difficult thing, because you’re coming onto a show, where everybody knows the show and everybody does this thing every day, and you’re kind of parachuting in to give your performance and play this character. And you don’t know anybody in it. It can be very challenging. And eventually, after you’re more experienced, you learn to relax, but that I found very difficult.

Interview edited for length and clarity.

This story first appeared in a June stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.

[alcego-writes]

Indigo is for harmony - day six of @violetvineyardnetwork‘s 2020 Pride Event!

June finds Winnie during the climactic sequence of The Road That Follows and goes to great lengths to pull her out of her trance-like state, even as the world crumbles around them.

Length: ~1,500 words

Warnings: Body horror, violence, blood, and references to cosmic horror.

Tag List: @maxgraybooks @howdy-writes @ladywithalamp @violetcancerian @daltoneering (Please let me know if you’d like to be added or removed!)

           They stand beneath a bruised blue sky, in the eye of the hurricane, and June is trying to breathe against the wind. She's lucky to be as she is, to be neutral, to carry the quiet with her. She's lucky.

           She is.

           Static curls around June's skin, sparks off of her clothes, and she's sure that she should be burning—that she should feel something other than that cold pit of despair in the depths of her gut. But she's empty of anything else because she's looking at Winnie, and Winnie's looking at her, and the woman she loves is not there.

           Winnie's eyes are bright, the whole of them colored and unnatural, glowing a blue that's nearly white, so unlike the deep brown that June has lost so many hours in. The cosmos burns within her, an ever-shifting haze of color sparkling beneath her dark skin.

           She's been consumed, and June breaks at the sight of her—of her Winnie moving like a puppet on broken strings. June backs away, boots digging their teeth into the soft clay beneath her, pulling on her, making her feel as if she's sinking into the earth with every step.

           A piece of debris whips through the wind—that unnatural, violent wind—but June doesn't notice. Doesn't feel it graze her face, hardly even notices the blood on her face as it spills down her neck and onto her sweater. The sweater that Winnie bought for her.

           "Winnie," June says, but it comes out as a sob. "Winnie, look at me."

           Winnie—or what's left of her, anyway—does nothing of the sort. Those eyes haven't seen anything but the mind-bending ways of the universe in days, weeks, maybe longer. June doesn't know when it started, when her vision left. She hates herself, then, for not noticing it sooner. For not realizing that Winnie's migraines were nothing of the sort.

           "Come on, Win." June takes another step back, feels her foot slip even as the clay gives out beneath her. She tumbles backward, catches her fall with her elbow. Her eyes water with the sting of it, her head knocks on the ground beneath her, and her mouth fills with the taste of salt and iron—with the acrid taste of blood.

           She needs to get up. There's no time to indulge herself in pain, to do anything that isn't stopping the thing that's pressing into the fold of their universe, wreaking havoc on their world.

           She needs to get up, but she's not fast enough.

           Winnie enters the ditch in the withering, bone-churning way of the power within her—and June can't keep doing this. Can't think of Winnie like this, won't survive the night if she has to grapple with the thought of Winnie like this. It's Winnie's puppet, she thinks, because thinking of this aimless thing before her as Winnie is too much, far too much to handle.

           She doesn't handle it fast enough, though, because Winnie is already upon her.

           June cries out as Winnie's puppet touches her skin, sends electricity up her spine. Back contorting, spasming, tearing, June gasps, coughs like she's forgotten how to breathe.

           She crawls on the ground, pathetic and powerless. She's pulling herself through the mud and clay with her elbows, her only thought to writhe away from the puppet. Her lungs feel empty, like they'll never be full again.

           "Winnie," she gasps. "Please, this isn't you."

           Hesitation. It's brief, but June feels the puppet's pause just as clearly as she feels the muscles in her back ripping themselves to shreds.

           "Winnie," June says again, fear shaking her voice. But it's a stubborn sort of fear, the sort that turns her bones to steel, that quiets the voice of reason in the back of her head that's screaming for her to get away as fast as she can. "It's me—it's June."

           She flinches as Winnie reaches for her again, loses her balance and falls to her back with a crunch, finds herself staring at the shifting, impossibly bruised sky above. Realizes that Winnie missed, and cranes her aching neck to see, to hope—

           —and Winnie is bracing herself on her hands and knees, the light beneath her skin churning like a storm, and it's enough.

           "I know you, Winnie," June says, rolling onto her belly, pulling herself toward Winnie. "This isn't you—it's got hold of you. It's in you, Win."

           Winnie turns to the sound of her voice, and June swears the glow of her impossibly blue eyes flickers with recognition.

           "Don't you see?" She chokes on a clump of spit—or maybe it's blood, bile—coughs it out. Her head feels full, dizzy. "You're hypnotized."

           Her arms shake as she pulls herself forward, the unmistakable grit of clay catching beneath her nails and in the cracks of her hands. She's so close, less than an arm's length away...

           Winnie looks at her, watches, mouth parted slightly as she pants.

           June grimaces against the pain lodged beneath her ribs, against the tightness of her chest, and closes the distance. The static buzzes against her skin, raises the hair on her arms, her neck, her back, her head. She holds out a trembling, dirtied hand, and the static swells, swirls away from Winnie's skin.

           Sucks some of the cosmos out of her.

           Winnie gasps. The swirling mass beneath her skin changes hue, turns to red, to blue, to the white of a wick of flame. The acrid smell of burning hair fills June's nose as the hair on Winnie's arms spark a frightening blue, as Winnie's hands flex like a child grasping for the mother, as she looks at June with those unearthly eyes.

           June grits her teeth, forces her fingers to Winnie's wrist. Contact hits her like a punch to the gut, as if she's touched a telephone wire instead of a person, rattles her teeth and makes her bones brittle.

           June holds on.

           Because she can see Winnie.

           Not the puppet, but the woman within. She's still there, her presence muted, her soul damp and hidden from sight. June would know her anywhere, in the touch of her lips, the sound of her breath, the turn to her eyes.

           And she sees Winnie now, in the way her eyes pull tight as a tear—an opalescent, beautiful, glistening tear—streaks down her cheek and onto the sodden earth beneath them.

           "I'm here," June whispers. "I'm here, Win, I've got you."

           It takes a herculean effort to pull Winnie's body to hers, to wrap her arms around Winnie, to hold Winnie's head to her chest, but June does it. Even as her eyes burn with the energy dripping from Winnie's skin and crackling against June's, the energy turning to static when it touches June's skin.

           Even when June thinks she'll die before Winnie is safe, she holds on.

           She holds on until Winnie's tears soak her skin, until her pants turn to sobs, until her hands are grasping at June's shirt, her nails digging into June's back as if Winnie fears June will fall apart if she doesn't hold on tight enough.

           And June thinks that she might, in that moment. Her need to be the strong one is fractured as her lungs burn beneath the weight of her breath.

           She buries her face in Winnie's hair, and she's not sure if she's holding Winnie or if Winnie is holding her. In this moment, she doesn't think she cares.

           "Winnie?"

           A rough sniffle. Then: "June. I didn't mean- I didn't want to..." Winnie trails off, holds June tighter as she tries to find the words for this. Settles for, "I don't know what happened."

           "It's okay," June says.

           Winnie whimpers as she takes in the depth of the destruction, as she takes note of the hurricane raging around them. Fear shivers through her like power, drawn into June by means neither of them understand, and June closes her eyes.

           "I'm here now," she murmurs. Those three words come together to mean you're safe and don't go and I missed you.

           Winnie's shoulders shake as a sob tears through her. "I'm so sorry."

           "Don't be."

           "If it weren't for me—"

           "I'd have been dead before we even had a chance," June says, summoning just enough strength to sit up and look Winnie in the eye. "I wouldn't be here without you."

           "But," Winnie stares at the storm wall, "this is my fault."

           "No."

           "It is—"

           "You weren't you, Winnie. Everything that it made you do, none of it's your fault."

           "If I'd just snapped out of it sooner..."

           June turns Winnie's chin so that they're eye to eye. "You can't change it now," she says, hoping she sounds confident instead of tired. "It's done. It happened."

           "Yeah," Winnie says, tearing her eyes away from June and climbing to her feet. "You're right."

           June kneels there like man before his god, watches as Winnie walks to the storm wall and gingerly touches it with her fingers. Watches the wall respond to her touch, wrap itself around her arm like armor. Winnie glances back at June, and her eyes are glowing again.

           "But I can fix it."

           Then she steps into the storm, and she's gone.

[suitofvibraniumarmor]

Marvel Masterlist

One-Shots

Just Another Day (Clint Barton x Reader)

Small Town Girl (Chris Pratt x Reader)

The Moment (Chris Evans x Reader)

Lovely (Bucky Barnes x Reader)

Smoothie Moves (Clint Barton x Reader)

Somewhere Only We Know (Sebastian Stan x Reader)

Let It Rain (Steve Rogers x Reader)

Series

Yours Truly (Chris Pratt x OFC, Chris Evans x OFC; collab with @captain-s-rogers)

The American Initiative (Clint Barton x OFC, Steve Rogers x OFC)

Boston Boys (Crossover; Chris Evans x OFC, John Krasinski x OFC)

If You Just Realize (Sebastian Stan x Reader)

The Nearness of You (Bucky Barnes x Reader)

Headstrong (Bucky Barnes x OFC)

Drabbles 

“Please don’t make me socialize.” (Chris Evans x Reader) 

“I’ve been buying the wrong underwear.” (Chris Evans x Reader)

Hide & Seek (Chris Evans x Reader)

Our Night (Chris Evans x Reader)

“I think I’m getting too old for this.” (Clint Barton x Reader)

Vacation (Loki x Reader)

Dance Lessons (Chris Pratt x Reader)

Thunderstorm Confessions (Chris Pratt x Reader)

Language! (Chris Evans x Reader)

300 Follower Celebration Drabbles

Headcanons

First Date/Kiss (Steve Rogers)

PCOS Diagnosis (Tom Holland, Chris Evans, RDJ, Sebastian Stan)

Sadie’s Pregnancy (Yours Truly)

Challenges/Bingos/Other Events

Marvel Fluff Bingo ‘20

Marvel Fluff Bingo ‘21

Bucky Barnes Bingo ‘20

Bucky Barnes Bingo ‘21

Flex Your Writing Muscles Challenge (June 2020)

RomCom Writing Challenge (Hosted)

A Better Love Story Than Twilight (Hosted)

Buckvember (Participated & Hosted)

Ficmas 2020

[bereft-of-frogs]

Six(ish) Sentence Sunday (24/52)

(14 June 2020)

“Now, the question remains, will you come quietly?” the man asks. “Come now, Loki, don’t make this harder than it has to be.”

Loki scoffs. He glances at the guard, at the way they flex their muscles. “As much as I would like to give your men a challenge, I suppose there’s no use to fighting, neither by words nor by force.”

“You will, of course,” the imperial officer says. “be given a trial before your sentence is passed.”

Loki grins. “But you’ve already made up your mind, haven’t you?” The officer says nothing. He nods to the deputies.

[hello I am a garbage person and took a ‘short break’ from writing the big Endgame AU because a few scenes were getting sticky to write ‘plotless whump’ and I have ended up with about 5.5k of admittedly plotless whump in two days BUT ALSO an extremely vague medieval-ish fantasy AU because APPARENTLY that’s just what’s happening]

[trillian-anders]

flex your writing muscles

pairing: various

warnings: general warnings apply

description: my various drabbles for @captain-rogers-beard​ june 2020 writing challenge. pairings will vary and this post will update daily until challenge is complete. 

for @captain-rogers-beard​ flex your writing muscle’s challenge.

a new beginning 

just before

shutter and click

malibu

you ready?

from the bifrost

[recentanimenews]

FEATURE: Creature Comforts! Exploring Demon Slayer's Surprising Menagerie

    Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba has come a long way since its early days in Shonen Jump. It is currently the 11th best-selling manga of all time, its anime adaptation a smash hit, and its follow-up film Mugen Train one of the biggest blockbusters in the history of Japanese cinema. How did this happen? Some might point to the lovable character of Tanjirou and his loyal friends. Others might gesture at ufotable’s polished adaptation, with its careful line art and well-animated fight scenes. There is some truth to both of these things. But here, in the pages of Crunchyroll News, I will make a different argument: you cannot understand Demon Slayer without talking about its cute animals.

      Chachamaru, the Cat

  I can sense your attention drifting, reader. “Cute animals?” you say. “What about how by hearing out the personal struggles of each demon, Tanjirou demonstrates that empathy is the most powerful weapon of all?” I hear you and understand. But did you see this invisible cat? What a surprise!

  Chachamaru is a cat, the personal helper of the vampiric medical doctor Tamayo. Chachamaru’s distinguishing ability is a charm it wears that allows it to appear and disappear. At the end of the knock-down fight with Kyogai, the battle in which for me Demon Slayer truly finds its feet, Chachamaru appears out of nowhere to collect a sample of blood. Having received this sample, it uses its charm to once more disappear to safety.

  What is notable about Chachamaru? First of all, it is very cute. Being able to become invisible arguably makes it even cuter. The only thing more charming (and dangerous) than a house cat is a house cat that can appear and disappear at will. Imagine being Tanjirou, risking your life against a dangerous demon. Being Tanjirou, you cannot merely slay the demon and be done with it. Instead, you must understand them, and perhaps help them find some peace at the end of their days. Even a good-natured boy like Tanjirou might find themselves challenged by this situation. But then, just when he might be tired, a small tabby cat appears out of nowhere to collect the blood. How unexpected! Tanjirou suddenly feels refreshed, and just like that we feel refreshed too. 

  I should mention that Chachamaru is one way in which the manga, to me, exceeds the anime. The anime’s rendition of Chachamaru is perfectly cute, but nobody draws weird, blobby-but-expressive cat heads like manga artist Koyoharu Goutoge.

    Ukogi, the Sparrow

  A defining trait of the Demon Slayer Corps are their crows, which carry messages back and forth and sometimes spout exposition about the setting. Tanjirou’s crow is about what you’d expect from a crow, a haughty bird that pecks him on the head during next episode previews. Tanjirou’s ally Zenitsu, however, does not have a crow. Zenitsu has a sparrow.

  Compared to a crow, Zenitsu’s sparrow, Ukogi, is comparatively useless. For one thing, it cannot speak. For another, it is very small. But don’t count your chickens before they hatch. Ukogi may be small and mute, but by virtue of being a sparrow, it is still much cooler and smarter than Zenitsu. It is also an efficient visual gag, a signifier of what separates pathetic dropouts like Zenitsu from the cooler, stronger demon slayers.

  Yet even a tiny sparrow like Ukogi is able to bring joy into people’s hearts. Early in the Tsuzumi Mansion arc, Tanjirou and Zenitsu meet two children who are overcome with fear. It is only by making Ukogi appear from his hands like magic that Tanjirou is able to calm the kids so they will point him in the direction of the demon that threatens their family. Ukogi may be nothing but a simple sparrow, but just like a cat, a sparrow is able to surprise. Tanjirou is one of the most beloved heroes in modern manga because he never assumes the worst of someone because they are small, stupid, or weak. It is for this reason that while his teammates and allies may be weirder or dorkier than their compatriots from other, flashier Shonen Jump stories, they would all die for him and his sister Nezuko.

  [.JPG CLASSIFIED]

  Ninju, the Mice

  The arc that directly follows Mugen Train is very good, one I’d love to see animated. But if I’m being honest, I am hoping for more Demon Slayer anime for one reason only, and that is the Muscle Mice.

  What are the Muscle Mice? Once I was as naive as you. My friend who brought me kicking and screaming into the world of Demon Slayer once showed me a picture of the Muscle Mice as an example of what the manga, at its very best, can achieve. The Muscle Mice are, just like you’d think, mice with huge muscles. They do the bidding of a character who has yet to be introduced in the anime and are memorable every time they appear. They might be flexing their muscles. They might be carrying a character’s swords. How is it that through careful training, their master was able to produce two muscular mice? Your guess is as good as mine.

  The Muscle Mice reveal another facet of Demon Slayer's appeal: it is just a little gross. Of course, Tanjirou is very nice. Of course, the characters will perform feats of superhuman skill to protect the innocent. But the series is always a little off-kilter. The arch-villain dresses like Michael Jackson and vaporizes his own troops when they fail to please him. The hero’s allies include an angry and very flexible man wearing a pig mask, and Zenitsu. The manga is packed with funny reaction faces that look more like potatoes with googly eyes attached than traditional anime-style superdeformed chibis. You might think that by calling the faces in the Demon Slayer “potatoes with googly eyes,” I am insulting them. Reader, I adore them. The anime works to capture some of this appeal, but it can’t help but streamline Goutoge’s art in the process of polishing Demon Slayer's rough diamond. The grottiness of the manga’s relatively unpolished designs is where the magic happens, and where the Muscle Mice dwell.

    Perhaps it’s jealousy. Years ago, I rooted for Demon Slayer's underdog success. Now I can’t help but feel, with the massive popularity of the anime, that the invisible cat is out of the box. That what was once a closely kept secret doesn’t just belong to my friend and I anymore. But I know what Tanjirou would do: he would share. So here’s my gift to you, as a fan of Kimetsu no Yaiba to a fan of Demon Slayer. Demon Slayer is not just the astounding pyrotechnics of Episode 19. It is not just LiSA’s banging opening theme. It is a humble sparrow. It is a disappearing cat. Demon Slayer is a surprise.

  A postscript. In June 2020, famed manga artist Daisuke Igarashi published an illustration honoring his love of Demon Slayer in the magazine Brutus. Featured prominently were my beloved boar fighter Inosuke, a crow and a sparrow, a fluffy cat, and two shockingly muscular mice. If you looked very closely in the lower-left corner, as well, you could, unfortunately, see Zenitsu.

  What do you think about Demon Slayer? Do you wish that Chachamaru the cat had more screen time? Who could win in a fight, Zenitsu’s sparrow or Zenitsu? Let us know in the comments!

      Adam W is a Features Writer at Crunchyroll. When he is not extolling the greatness of Inosuke, he sporadically contributes with a loose coalition of friends to a blog called Isn’t it Electrifying? You can find him on Twitter yelling about Wonder Egg Priority at: @wendeego

Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: Adam Wescott

[effortlessbeautysblog]

REVOLUTION 2020💞

Don't worry I am not going to narrate a Love Story written by Chetan Bhagat,I am just going to put my thoughts here.

2020 twenty twenty we celebrated this New Year hoping for a good and prosperous year. Is it going the same...???? We thought this New Year will change,new resolutions were been taken by all of us!!! Is'nt it ??? Are we up to the resolution..I think we are upto this time. Isn't it that we have developed and came to know about our new skills???Just take a flashback at once.

Am I right we did it this time😍😍😍

If we see it thoroughly go through this year brought out the real we. Did we knew that COVID-19 like virus would come up . Answer is NO..!!! Did we even imagined being locked in a house for around 77 days. Over and above did we knew the capability of Indian Doctors; we didn't exactly knew that they would have done such a great work . Our country has the highest recovery rate . 😍

Our Police worked so effectively and efficiently. 👮👮‍♀️🚓🚔

This India China war the worst one where 20 Indian troops in mid-June were killed. Some analysts believe China is flexing its muscles, not just on the Himalayan border but also in the South China Sea and over Taiwan, as a sort of new Cold War litmus test to gauge which nations are willing to openly criticize Beijing’s more assertive posture and which remain reticent.Yet if China really wants to “teach India a lesson”, using military rather than crude rudimentary weapons, Beijing should know by now that any armed conflict in 2020 won’t likely proceed or end like the one it handily won in 1962.

Ya, I know most of us have lost several things like jobs, money ,health and mental disturbance we went through all this. But the best thing is that we came out With Flying Colors🌈.

I personally lost my internship where I would have been earning a handful amount and would have been self-independent . Got a Work From Home intership which isn't that much of my interest but still I feel positive Do you know why???

Because I was positive not in the early stage but later. I found the "New Me" in me . I build my skills I enrolled myself in many online courses Digital Marketing course,social media course ,Six Sigma , Affiliate Marketing like I aimed exploring everything I can just by sitting at home. I widen my horizons of thinking and knowledge . Started writing , started making Vlogs and even learned makeup😅😅 .Haha ,it was really difficult to learn makeup for me because I didn't even knew how to put a lipstick perfectly😂.

I don't say this year is good but this year is teaching us several things.

Where the people used to force girls to hide there face now from this year everyone has to hide there face😂. Really weird no!!!???😅

You know what or just think keeping yourself Lockdown at home helped you to stay away from Liars,Cheaters and Disloyal from your life.👽

This year is the year of Revolution.....💕

'Everything is hard, before it is easy'💕

For more updates follow me on

Instagram

https://instagram.com/sassyclassy23?igshid=1ac3s9cxlmc0d

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/prachi.choudhary.756

YouTube Channel

[itssquidwarsjournal]

CALI, Colombia—There was a time, not so long ago, when Mexico City remained a safe haven from the deadly cartel violence plaguing the rest of the country. A place where El Narco dared not tread.That time is no more.Shortly after sunrise on Friday, June 26, Mexico City Police Chief Omar García Harfuch was ambushed near his home in an upscale residential community. The unprecedented attack was carried out by a paramilitary force of more than two dozen men armed with automatic weapons, grenade launchers, and .50 caliber sniper rifles.Twenty-eight sicarios (hitmen) divided into four separate estacas (kill squads) had set up roadblocks on the Paseo de la Reforma, the most famous boulevard in the capital, which leads to neighborhoods full of sprawling mansions and embassy compounds. The police chief survived the barrage fired at his armored SUV, but he took three bullets and two of his bodyguards and a bystander were killed.García Harfuch, who is expected to recover, tweeted from his hospital bed that: “Our nation must continue to confront those cowards of organized crime.”The assassination attempt has been blamed on the Jalisco New Generation Cartel—CJNG in Spanish—one of Mexico’s fastest-growing and most powerful crime groups.Mike Vigil, formerly the DEA’s chief of international operations, called the attack “brazen” in an interview with The Daily Beast.“We’ve had other attacks in Mexico City but nothing like this,” Vigil said. He described CJNG as a “hyper-violent” and “supersized cartel” capable of shooting down army helicopters and attacking military convoys.The cartel’s operation against García Harfuch “was committed with absolute impunity and no regard for the rule of law,” Vigil said.Mexican Narcos, More Brazen by the Day, Land Coke Plane on a Highway and Shoot a GeneralThe attack comes at a time when violence stemming from organized crime is spiking across Mexico. Scores of bodies have been found in mass graves or dumped on roadsides, and federal officials and law enforcement officers are increasingly under attack. Last year was Mexico’s most violent year on record, with some 35,000 documented homicides—the true number is likely much higher as many murders go unreported—and 2020 is already on pace to eclipse those numbers. Nationwide at least 226 police officers were murdered between January and May of this year, or one-and-a-half dead cops each day.“People in Mexico City thought they lived in this nice, safe bubble,” Manny Gallardo, a Mexican journalist who specializes in covering the cartels, told The Daily Beast. “But now the war has come home to them.” INSIDE THE ATTACKWiretaps obtained a few weeks ago by Mexico’s National Intelligence Center [CIN] had hinted that CJNG was planning to target a government official, according to Mexican press reports. The leak didn’t reveal who the mark would be, but CIN analysts had speculated García Harfuch could be one of the intended victims,  according to Vigil. CJNG’s leader, a former police officer named Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, aka El Mencho, had been looking to strike back after authorities froze cartel assets and arrested certain high-ranking gang members—including Mencho’s son, Rubén Oseguera, aka Menchito, who was extradited to the U.S. in February.Journalist Gallardo said Mencho may have chosen Police Chief García Harfuch because he’d played a role in the government’s recent crackdown. García Harfuch arrested some of Mencho’s top lieutenants, including the commander of CJNG’s Mexico City cell and the leader of the powerful Union de Tepito gang, which was the cartel’s principal ally in the capital. The chief rolled up gangsters at least as far away as the city of Guadalajara, where he arrested a ruthless CJNG assassin who murdered two Israeli citizens last July, according to Gallardo.Robert Bunker, a security specialist at the University of Southern California, called the attack against the police chief a declaration of war against the Mexican state that “has further undermined federal authority.”“Another firebreak has been crossed in the criminal insurgency raging across Mexico,” Bunker told The Daily Beast.Authorities have made more than two dozen arrests, including the alleged mastermind behind the plot, CJNG’s José Armando Briseño, or Vaca (Cow), El Universal reported. But Gallardo said those captured were in essence fall-guys or patsies—deliberately chosen for what he calls a “suicide mission” because they were expendable. “CJNG has highly trained commandos but they didn't want to risk them,” he said, and added that the failure to use elite shock troops is likely what led to a botched mission and the chief’s escape.“The pandemic has erased many jobs, and a lot of people are desperate. That makes for easier recruitment by the cartels. So they hired some untrained newbies for the [hit on Harfuch] . This is how organized crime takes advantage of poverty and ignorance in Mexico.” BEHIND THE VIOLENCEIn the run-up to the ambush in the capital, the last couple of months have been particularly bloody. Some of the more high-profile incidents include: * On Sunday of this week at least 20 people, including Mexican Marines, were killed during a clash between rival gangs in the Michoacán region. * In mid-June a federal judge and his wife were gunned down by CJNG sicarios in the state of Colima—the first time in more than 15 years that a national-level judge has been murdered in Mexico. * A few days later a caravan of police vehicles was ambushed in western Guerrero state, leading to the deaths of eight officers with three wounded. * Also in June, some 30 bodies were found dumped on roadsides across two northern states, apparently casualties of a power struggle within the powerful Sinaloa Cartel, formerly run by Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. * In early June, seven cops were abducted and later found dead in the CJNG-controlled territory of Colima.Experts say part of the rise in criminal activity is due to the coronavirus pandemic. Mexico has been one of the hardest-hit countries in Latin America, with 220,657 confirmed cases and more than 27,000 deaths at the time of this writing. The health crisis has diverted the attention and focus of security forces, while the cartels capitalize on the chaos to take over new turf, settle old scores, and even provide food and medical supplies to strapped communities in order to build their brand. But the outbreak has also impacted both supply and distribution chains for narcotics, forcing drug lords and their minions to expand operations to diversify their revenue streams. Slowed commerce between China and Mexico means the narcos have reduced access to vital precursor chemicals needed to produce drugs like crystal meth and fentanyl. Meanwhile the closed U.S. border has limited their ability to move what product they do have stockpiled. That scarcity is leading to ever more violent struggles between rival crime syndicates.“With the pandemic negatively impacting illicit narcotics trafficking routes, cartel profits are down, which is resulting in criminal organizations fighting over dwindling profits,” said USC’s Bunker. “Also with Mexican state and federal forces increasingly strained [by the pandemic] more opportunities exist for the stronger cartels and criminal gangs to move against plazas [drug shipping and production corridors] and regions held by weaker opposing groups,” he said.      Crime groups are also flexing their muscle in new directions since the pandemic, turning to other black-market options to fill their coffers, such as extortion, kidnapping, fuel theft, even taking over the regional avocado trade.“The cartels have to have huge revenue streams to pay sicarios and money launderers, and to bribe public officials. Otherwise those people might go to work for a rival group,” said Vigil. “Nobody works for free.” NEW TECH AND TERROR TACTICSAnother factor behind the rising tide of violence is that the cartels have adopted new tech and weapons systems for use against each other and government forces.Crime groups are increasingly using anti-personnel car bombs, attack drones, and improvised armored fighting vehicles [AFVs], according to Bunker. The AFVs can range from bullet-proofed tactical trucks with machine guns mounted in the cargo bay, all the way up to the so-called “narco-tanks”—semis or dump trucks with welded sheet metal armor and multiple gun ports. “The use of assault rifles, grenade launchers, body armor, .50 caliber sniper rifles, and rocket propelled grenades [RPGs] is pretty standard now in many of the cartel tactical units, along with caltrops and burning vehicle blockades for area denial, channeling, and kill-zone creation purposes,” Bunker said. (Caltrops are those spikes laid down across roads to blow car tires.)Journalist Gallardo agreed that cartel capabilities are on the rise:     “I've interviewed sicarios trained by Colombian paramilitaries to fly drones and drop C4 on targets. They’re well trained in small-arms and infantry tactics, as well as how to dismember and torture people. That's how [the cartels] work today.”Growing power and increasingly sophisticated methods of warfare often intimidate poorly funded local police, making cartel rule absolute in regions with little state presence.“In isolated areas they can act without fear of government reprisal,” Vigil said, and in fact often serve as the de facto authorities, settling quarrels, and dispensing food and medicine.As part of a comprehensive solution, Vigil said, “security forces need to provide a government presence throughout the country, especially where they have these voids that are filled by organized crime groups.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2YSOqfQ

[lillywillow]

Baby Bonding

Summary: After a tough mission, Nat goes to her best friend Clint’s house. A tiny someone helps her feel better.

 Word Count: 600

 Prompt Used: The absence of despair

 Pairings: Clint Barton x Female Reader

 Warnings: Fluff

  Written for @captain-rogers-beard Month of June 2020 Flex Your Writing Muscles challenge (although I’m not sure if they’re still here)

The mission had been tough on Natasha. A figure from her past had re-emerged and she once again had to confront them. Dark memories from the deepest recesses of her mind began to plague her mind.

Deciding she needed a distraction, Nat went to Clint’s house. He had retired and now had a wife and baby daughter but they always welcomed her with open arms. Clint always had a way of making her feel better but this time, his silly jokes and sassy attitude weren’t breaking through the ghosts that were haunting her.

 Nat was sitting on the couch as Clint and his wife made lunch. The voices of her past were telling her things, making feel like a monster. She was really starting to believe every word they said and it made her feel totally hopeless. A tiny whine pulled her out of her thoughts.

 Nat looked up to see Clint’s baby Natalie sitting in her little playpen making grabby hands to her. Managing a smile, Nat walked over to pick her up and carry her back over to the couch.

 “Hello, little one.”

 Natalie cooed back to her. Natasha sat the baby on her lap, one hand supporting her back as Nattie held the other one. Soft, pudgy hands, examined long elegant ones. Natasha’s hands were stained with the sins of her past while Natalie’s had never seen a drop of red in their life, save for when they were covered in jam.

 Natalie moved her finger down Nat’s face in curiosity and it made the woman wonder what could be going on in that baby mind of hers. When Nattie moved the finger over her lips, Nat pretended to playfully bite it, taking great care not to actually damage the tiny digit. Her little face lit up and she giggled happily. The sound melted Nat’s heart.

 Nattie then moved her hands to the sides of Nat’s face. Eyes that had seen too much horror and wickedness in the world met ones that were so pure and full of love and adoration. Natasha would do anything to protect her honorary niece. She laid her forehead against the child’s and closed her eyes. Nattie let out another soft and happy coo.

 “Clint what the hell are you doing?”

 “Shh! You’ll break the spell!”

 Nat looked up at the sound of the voices. Clint let out a yelp and hid behind the wall he was watching from. Nattie giggled again and cuddled Nat. Y/N rolled her eyes at her husband and headed over to the pair.

 “Nat, would you like to give Nattie her bottle and put her down for a nap?”

 “Yeah... I really would,” she smiled.

 Y/N led Nat to the nursery and set her up in the rocking chair, teaching her how to give the baby her bottle and burp her after. As Nat gently rocked back and forth, Nattie sleepily stared up at her until she had finished at which point, Nat burped her and laid her down in her crib.

 When Clint went to check on his daughter and his best friend a little later, he found them both sound asleep. Nat had set the rocking chair next to the crib, her hand inside it while Nattie held onto her fingers. Clint smiled and left them be, happy that his friend could finally find a sense of peace.

[batenchantingcollectorsong]

CALI, Colombia—There was a time, not so long ago, when Mexico City remained a safe haven from the deadly cartel violence plaguing the rest of the country. A place where El Narco dared not tread.That time is no more.Shortly after sunrise on Friday, June 26, Mexico City Police Chief Omar García Harfuch was ambushed near his home in an upscale residential community. The unprecedented attack was carried out by a paramilitary force of more than two dozen men armed with automatic weapons, grenade launchers, and .50 caliber sniper rifles.Twenty-eight sicarios (hitmen) divided into four separate estacas (kill squads) had set up roadblocks on the Paseo de la Reforma, the most famous boulevard in the capital, which leads to neighborhoods full of sprawling mansions and embassy compounds. The police chief survived the barrage fired at his armored SUV, but he took three bullets and two of his bodyguards and a bystander were killed.García Harfuch, who is expected to recover, tweeted from his hospital bed that: “Our nation must continue to confront those cowards of organized crime.”The assassination attempt has been blamed on the Jalisco New Generation Cartel—CJNG in Spanish—one of Mexico’s fastest-growing and most powerful crime groups.Mike Vigil, formerly the DEA’s chief of international operations, called the attack “brazen” in an interview with The Daily Beast.“We’ve had other attacks in Mexico City but nothing like this,” Vigil said. He described CJNG as a “hyper-violent” and “supersized cartel” capable of shooting down army helicopters and attacking military convoys.The cartel’s operation against García Harfuch “was committed with absolute impunity and no regard for the rule of law,” Vigil said.Mexican Narcos, More Brazen by the Day, Land Coke Plane on a Highway and Shoot a GeneralThe attack comes at a time when violence stemming from organized crime is spiking across Mexico. Scores of bodies have been found in mass graves or dumped on roadsides, and federal officials and law enforcement officers are increasingly under attack. Last year was Mexico’s most violent year on record, with some 35,000 documented homicides—the true number is likely much higher as many murders go unreported—and 2020 is already on pace to eclipse those numbers. Nationwide at least 226 police officers were murdered between January and May of this year, or one-and-a-half dead cops each day.“People in Mexico City thought they lived in this nice, safe bubble,” Manny Gallardo, a Mexican journalist who specializes in covering the cartels, told The Daily Beast. “But now the war has come home to them.” INSIDE THE ATTACKWiretaps obtained a few weeks ago by Mexico’s National Intelligence Center [CIN] had hinted that CJNG was planning to target a government official, according to Mexican press reports. The leak didn’t reveal who the mark would be, but CIN analysts had speculated García Harfuch could be one of the intended victims,  according to Vigil. CJNG’s leader, a former police officer named Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, aka El Mencho, had been looking to strike back after authorities froze cartel assets and arrested certain high-ranking gang members—including Mencho’s son, Rubén Oseguera, aka Menchito, who was extradited to the U.S. in February.Journalist Gallardo said Mencho may have chosen Police Chief García Harfuch because he’d played a role in the government’s recent crackdown. García Harfuch arrested some of Mencho’s top lieutenants, including the commander of CJNG’s Mexico City cell and the leader of the powerful Union de Tepito gang, which was the cartel’s principal ally in the capital. The chief rolled up gangsters at least as far away as the city of Guadalajara, where he arrested a ruthless CJNG assassin who murdered two Israeli citizens last July, according to Gallardo.Robert Bunker, a security specialist at the University of Southern California, called the attack against the police chief a declaration of war against the Mexican state that “has further undermined federal authority.”“Another firebreak has been crossed in the criminal insurgency raging across Mexico,” Bunker told The Daily Beast.Authorities have made more than two dozen arrests, including the alleged mastermind behind the plot, CJNG’s José Armando Briseño, or Vaca (Cow), El Universal reported. But Gallardo said those captured were in essence fall-guys or patsies—deliberately chosen for what he calls a “suicide mission” because they were expendable. “CJNG has highly trained commandos but they didn't want to risk them,” he said, and added that the failure to use elite shock troops is likely what led to a botched mission and the chief’s escape.“The pandemic has erased many jobs, and a lot of people are desperate. That makes for easier recruitment by the cartels. So they hired some untrained newbies for the [hit on Harfuch] . This is how organized crime takes advantage of poverty and ignorance in Mexico.” BEHIND THE VIOLENCEIn the run-up to the ambush in the capital, the last couple of months have been particularly bloody. Some of the more high-profile incidents include: * On Sunday of this week at least 20 people, including Mexican Marines, were killed during a clash between rival gangs in the Michoacán region. * In mid-June a federal judge and his wife were gunned down by CJNG sicarios in the state of Colima—the first time in more than 15 years that a national-level judge has been murdered in Mexico. * A few days later a caravan of police vehicles was ambushed in western Guerrero state, leading to the deaths of eight officers with three wounded. * Also in June, some 30 bodies were found dumped on roadsides across two northern states, apparently casualties of a power struggle within the powerful Sinaloa Cartel, formerly run by Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. * In early June, seven cops were abducted and later found dead in the CJNG-controlled territory of Colima.Experts say part of the rise in criminal activity is due to the coronavirus pandemic. Mexico has been one of the hardest-hit countries in Latin America, with 220,657 confirmed cases and more than 27,000 deaths at the time of this writing. The health crisis has diverted the attention and focus of security forces, while the cartels capitalize on the chaos to take over new turf, settle old scores, and even provide food and medical supplies to strapped communities in order to build their brand. But the outbreak has also impacted both supply and distribution chains for narcotics, forcing drug lords and their minions to expand operations to diversify their revenue streams. Slowed commerce between China and Mexico means the narcos have reduced access to vital precursor chemicals needed to produce drugs like crystal meth and fentanyl. Meanwhile the closed U.S. border has limited their ability to move what product they do have stockpiled. That scarcity is leading to ever more violent struggles between rival crime syndicates.“With the pandemic negatively impacting illicit narcotics trafficking routes, cartel profits are down, which is resulting in criminal organizations fighting over dwindling profits,” said USC’s Bunker. “Also with Mexican state and federal forces increasingly strained [by the pandemic] more opportunities exist for the stronger cartels and criminal gangs to move against plazas [drug shipping and production corridors] and regions held by weaker opposing groups,” he said.      Crime groups are also flexing their muscle in new directions since the pandemic, turning to other black-market options to fill their coffers, such as extortion, kidnapping, fuel theft, even taking over the regional avocado trade.“The cartels have to have huge revenue streams to pay sicarios and money launderers, and to bribe public officials. Otherwise those people might go to work for a rival group,” said Vigil. “Nobody works for free.” NEW TECH AND TERROR TACTICSAnother factor behind the rising tide of violence is that the cartels have adopted new tech and weapons systems for use against each other and government forces.Crime groups are increasingly using anti-personnel car bombs, attack drones, and improvised armored fighting vehicles [AFVs], according to Bunker. The AFVs can range from bullet-proofed tactical trucks with machine guns mounted in the cargo bay, all the way up to the so-called “narco-tanks”—semis or dump trucks with welded sheet metal armor and multiple gun ports. “The use of assault rifles, grenade launchers, body armor, .50 caliber sniper rifles, and rocket propelled grenades [RPGs] is pretty standard now in many of the cartel tactical units, along with caltrops and burning vehicle blockades for area denial, channeling, and kill-zone creation purposes,” Bunker said. (Caltrops are those spikes laid down across roads to blow car tires.)Journalist Gallardo agreed that cartel capabilities are on the rise:     “I've interviewed sicarios trained by Colombian paramilitaries to fly drones and drop C4 on targets. They’re well trained in small-arms and infantry tactics, as well as how to dismember and torture people. That's how [the cartels] work today.”Growing power and increasingly sophisticated methods of warfare often intimidate poorly funded local police, making cartel rule absolute in regions with little state presence.“In isolated areas they can act without fear of government reprisal,” Vigil said, and in fact often serve as the de facto authorities, settling quarrels, and dispensing food and medicine.As part of a comprehensive solution, Vigil said, “security forces need to provide a government presence throughout the country, especially where they have these voids that are filled by organized crime groups.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2YSOqfQ

[witcherfic]

Jessica_Bones_Winchester June 02, 2020 at 06:53PM

by Jessica_Bones_Winchester

OFC wakes after a night of heavy drinking and finds she's not alone.

Words: 500, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 2 of captain-rogers-beard's Flex Your Writing Muscles Challenge

Fandoms: The Witcher

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Gen

Characters: Geralt, Geralt of Rivia, Original Female Character, OFC

Additional Tags: someone has a hangover, protective Geralt

[lillywillow]

Rest and Relaxation

Summary: You decide Bucky needs a break from everything and take him for a much needed one

Word Count: 551

Prompt Used: Tranquil

Pairings: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Warnings: Bathing, massaging, fluff

Written for @captain-rogers-beard Month of June 2020 Flex Your Writing Muscles challenge (although I’m not sure if they’re still here)

...

Your boyfriend Bucky had been a real grouch lately. He had been snapping at everyone and his nightmares were starting to get worse. Knowing he needed a break from hero work, you decided to take him on vacation for a week (after clearing it with Fury first of course). Bucky was hesitant at first but realising there was no point in arguing with you, he agreed.

 You drove up to one of the safe houses that was located in the middle of the forest. It had electricity and running water but the only way to be contacted was via the satellite phone. You had given the others strict instructions they were not to call for any reason other than an emergency.

 The first thing you did after you unpacked was take a hike. You knew of a place near the cabin that would be perfect to take him. As Bucky walked with you and his mind began to switch off, already he was starting to unwind.

 After an hour of walking, you arrived in a clearing where a gentle stream flowed into a calm pond.

 “Do you want to dip your feet into it?” you asked. Bucky smiled and nodded, sitting down to take off his shoes. You sat down next to him and once you had removed your own shoes, you dipped your feet into the water too. Bucky held your hand, listening to the gentle sounds of the babbling brook, the birds fluttering and singing and the warm zephyr flutter through the trees. He deeply breathed in the fresh woodland air. It was totally serene. Neither you nor Bucky said a single word; after all, they weren’t needed. Not now. The pair of you sat there enjoying nature in all its glory until you made the decision to head back before it got dark.

...

 Once you had finished dinner, you and Bucky had a bath. He was a little hesitant at first but you talked him into it. You used lavender bath oil in the water and put on some calming music. Bucky closed his eyes, allowing the warmth of the water, the scent of lavender to envelop him and the soothing melody to let his mind wander. He felt totally at peace.

 When the bath began to get cold, Bucky allowed you to wash and brush his hair before getting out. The next thing you proposed to do was massage him. Seeing as how your last few ideas worked out for the best, he knew this would also make him feel much better.

 You once again put on some calming music and used lavender massage oil to knead Bucky’s tense muscles both front and back. This was exactly he needed. Just some time to let his mind, body and soul rest and recharge with the person he loved more than anyone else in the world. As he fell asleep holding you, he already knew this was going to be the best vacation ever.

 The next morning, Bucky woke up, having found that for the first time in weeks he had no nightmares disturbing his sleep. He knew that when the two of you got back to the city, he was going to get you an engagement ring. You were the one for him.

[lillywillow]

You Have A What on Your Where?

Summary: You share a secret with Dean you have never told anyone

Word Count: 618

Prompt Used: Tattoos/ Searing

Pairings: Dean Winchester x Reader

Warnings: Teasing, mentions of pain, scars, drinking

Written for @captain-rogers-beard Month of June 2020 Flex Your Writing Muscles challenge (although I’m not sure if they’re still here)

At the end of a difficult hunt, you were now laying in a hotel bed with your boyfriend Dean. The pair of you were taking a few quiet moments of reflection on the case as you cuddled close to each other, your finger idly tracing the anti-possession tattoo on his chest. Dean gently took your hand and kissed it, making you smile softly.

 “You know, Y/N, I’ve been thinking...”

 “Oh? Is that what that sound was?” you playfully teased, causing him to roll his eyes.

 “Seriously. I’ve been thinking that we should probably get you one o these,” he said, referring to the tattoo on his chest.

 “Oh, that... I, uh... I kind of already have one... but it’s not so much of a tattoo as it is more of a... brand.” Dean stared at you in shock.

 “A... brand?”

 “Yeah.”

 “And where exactly is this brand?” he pried.

 “The one place you haven’t seen yet. My butt...” Dean’s eyes widened and his jaw fell open. He tried to find words but they all failed him. In a way, he reminded you of a freshly caught fish. Sighing, you stood up and pulled down your pants enough to show him the angry puckered scar on your left buttock cheek.

 “How... why...?” Dean couldn’t decide which question wanted to form first.

 “It was a stupid mistake when I was younger... I was drinking with my brother and some friends. Someone got the bright idea that one of us should be branded. The boys were all too chicken to do it, so I stepped up. They superheated my grandfather’s metal amulet and applied it to my skin... the rest is history.”

 Dean reached out and gently touched the scar. A part of you wanted to bat his hand away, yet you didn’t. You had never shared this secret with a boyfriend before but you knew that sooner or later he would find out about it. Dean was the first relationship that you had truly been serious about.

 “Didn’t that hurt?” he asked, tearing his eyes away from the scar to look at you.

 “Hell yeah, it did. The alcohol helped a little but the real pain happened when it wore off. I couldn’t sit for days after...” You sighed a little and pulled your pants back up before sitting next to him again.

 “Does... does it really work?” he asked.

 “I haven’t been possessed yet, so you tell me. Although, it could come down to sheer dumb luck...”

 Dean’s brow creased in thought. Smiling, you took his face in your hands and kissed his forehead.

 “If you’re really worried about it, we’ll look into it tomorrow, okay?”

 “Tell Sam, you mean?”

 “Yeah... Sure, Sam will have to see it to maybe do research on the subject... though, of course I can’t think of anyone else who would be that stupid...”

 “Does he really have to see it? That’s my ass,” he pouted.

 “Um, I’m pretty sure the ass belongs to me,” you laughed. Dean also laughed.

 “You’re the first guy I ever told that story to,” you admitted. Dean smiled softly and held you close.

 “Really?”

 “Yeah... I’ve dated a few hunters here and there but none of them got to hear the story, let alone see the scar.”

 “I feel special,” he grinned. This time, you rolled your eyes and playfully smacked his shoulder.

 “But really, we should look into if this is a valid form of protection or not.”

 “I know... but for now, I’ve got other things on my mind,” you purred, kissing him softly. You were happy to have shared this mistake of your youth because it brought you closer together.

[lillywillow]

Summer Storms

Summary: Wade calms you during a summer storm

Word Count: 617

Prompts Used: Clammy/ A Dark Morning

Pairings: Wade Wilson x Female Reader

Warnings: Mild fear, Fluff, Bathing, Mild mentions of cannon violence

Written for @captain-rogers-beard ‘s Month of June 2020 Flex Your Writting Muscles Challenge

It was the thunder that woke you from your disturbed slumber. You never did sleep well in the hot weather but storms brought back bad memories of a disastrous failed mission in your past. You jumped and whimpered as another clap of thunder boomed, rattling the glass in the windows. Wade was also woken up and immediately pulled you into his arms.

 “It’s okay, baby girl. I’m here, I’ve got you,” he cooed. You clung to your boyfriend as he rocked you and hummed softly, ignoring the way your sweaty skin slightly stuck to his. The storm had knocked out the power which meant the air conditioning was down, the heat in the room beginning to climb. Wade knew about your past and knew that storms were difficult times for you.

 “Come on, baby. Let’s take a nice, cooling bath to beat the heat.” You could only manage a nod, flinching as lighting illuminated the room in a dazzling light. Wade picked you up and carried you into the bathroom. You trembled in his arms, despite the heat. Wade helped you to peel off your now sweat stained pyjamas and settled you into the bath when it was ready. He lit a few candles around the bathroom and got in the bath with you, wrapping his arms around you and holding you close to his chest.

 “Hey, Y/N, did I ever tell you about the time I took down an entire crime syndicate with just a box of thumb tacks?”

 “No, Wade,” you said with a soft smile. Of course he had told you the story but it changed every time. Sometimes it was the Russian mafia with a single thumb tack, sometimes it was the Yakuza with a box of pens, sometimes there were ten men and sometimes it was over one hundred. No matter how the tale went, it was always interesting to listen to him. You stayed there for a while listening to him talk and to the sound of his heartbeat until your fingers started to prune. Wade picked you up and once he dried you off, carried you back to bed. Shortly after leaving the bathroom, the temperature began to rise again, despite the storm raging outside. You whimpered and jumped at every clap of thunder and every gust of wind that hit the window. Wade began telling you more stories from his past missions, and even tried singing to you as he began to massage your tense muscles. As you listened to his voice and you body began to relax, you managed to doze off.

 By the time you woke a few hours later, the storm had passed and the air conditioning was back on. You sat up, holding the thin sheet around you.

 “Hey, sleepyhead. I got us some chimichangas!” Wade proudly announced, holding up a greasy takeout bag while standing there in his underwear.

 “Please tell me you didn’t go out like that,” you said, unable to hold back your smile.

 “Of course not! I put my shorts when the delivery guy got to the door so I wouldn’t scare him.” You were unable to control the laughter that bubbled out of your mouth which was music to Wade’s ears.

 “Feeling better, baby?” he cooed, sitting next to you on the bed. You pecked his lips.

 “Much, thanks to you. I don’t know how I would have gotten through that storm without you...” Wade pulled you into his arms.

 “I promise I will always be there for you. Now, let’s eat.” You smiled at your loving boyfriend. He knew exactly what to say and do to help you through your darkest times.