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mariacallous · 4 months

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A potential bidding war to buy TikTok has begun, less than a month after President Joe Biden signed legislation that would force the app’s Chinese parent company ByteDance to divest, or face a ban in the United States within a year.

The latest suitor to emerge is the real estate billionaire Frank McCourt, who announced this week he’s assembling a group of investors to acquire TikTok and has brought on financial advisers from Guggenheim Securities and the law firm Kirkland & Ellis to help. The app could be worth $100 billion, according to some estimates, though McCourt said it’s too early to discuss potential valuations.

What exactly McCourt would do with TikTok remains unclear, but in an interview with Time Magazine, he said that “the user experience wouldn’t change much.” He was not deterred by the prospect of the Chinese government preventing him from buying TikTok’s core algorithm, which is responsible for determining what content users see on the app.

“Of course, TikTok isn't worth as much without the algorithm. I get that. That’s pretty plain,” McCourt said. “But we’re talking about a different design, which requires people to move on from the mindset and the paradigm we’re in now.”

McCourt, who was previously the owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, says he has already poured $500 million into an existing social media and technology initiative called Project Liberty, which aims to reduce the power that Silicon Valley giants like Meta and Google have over the internet. One of its main focuses has been building and deploying a blockchain-based protocol that Project Liberty claims will give people more control over their data online.

McCourt also previously invested in another social network called MeWe, a privacy-focused platform that became popular with far-right users after Facebook and Twitter deactivated many of their accounts in the wake of the US Capitol riot on January 6. In 2022, MeWe announced it was migrating its entire platform over to Project Liberty’s decentralized social networking protocol, and it’s possible McCourt could do the same thing with TikTok.

Anna Feagan, a spokesperson for Project Liberty, says McCourt and his team are currently focused on putting together their bid for TikTok, but are committed to finding the right technological solutions for the platform. She adds that so far, they have not been in contact with ByteDance.

New York University professor Jonathan Haidt, a leading voice of the movement arguing that smartphones and social media are causing grave harm to children, says he supports McCourt’s plan for TikTok. “What a creative approach to changing social media: Assemble a consortium to buy TikTok and make it better, on an architecture that respects users' rights,” he said in a post on X.

TikTok, however, has made it clear that it does not want to sell its US operations, and is fighting the legality of the new divest-or-ban law in court. TikTok did not respond to a request for comment about the acquisition plans announced by McCourt and other investors.

This has done little to deter a growing list of other business moguls who have also expressed interest in acquiring the app, which has been under government scrutiny in the US for four years over alleged national security concerns stemming from its Chinese ownership. One of them is former Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin, who said earlier this week he too was assembling a group of investors to make a bid for TikTok. He first hinted about the plan in March before the divestiture bill passed into law.

Mnuchin told Bloomberg he understands that the Chinese government is unlikely to allow ByteDance to sell TikTok’s algorithm, but he planned to “rebuild the technology.” That would be quite a lofty endeavor, especially given that TikTok competitors like YouTube and Meta have been trying to copy its product for years with only mixed success.

There’s at least one existing business connection between Mnuchin and TikTok: They are both backed by Japan’s SoftBank, which has stakes in ByteDance and in Liberty Strategic Capital, the private equity firm Mnuchin set up after he left office. A representative from Liberty Strategic Capital did not immediately return a request for comment about Mnuchin’s TikTok acquisition strategy.

Former Activision CEO Bobby Kotick has reportedly considered buying TikTok as well. He even floated the idea to Zhang Yiming, the former CEO of ByteDance who retains a roughly 20 percent stake in the company, the Wall Street Journal reported in March. Around the same time, Canadian businessman and Shark Tank judge Kevin O'Leary told Fox News that the app is “not going to get banned, ’cause I’m gonna buy it.”

O’Leary did not immediately return a request for comment about whether he was seriously interested in TikTok. Kotick could not be reached for comment.

All of TikTok’s potential suitors would be facing an uphill battle to close a deal. The first challenge will be raising enough money. Only a small number of the world’s largest companies likely have enough cash on hand to acquire the app outright, and so far, they haven’t publicly voiced an interest in the platform. That’s a big change from four years ago when then-president Donald Trump first tried to force ByteDance to sell TikTok. At the time, Microsoft, Oracle, and Walmart were among the most promising buyers for the app.

But the even bigger problem that investors face is the fact that TikTok doesn’t seem to think a sale would even be possible, let alone desirable. In a lawsuit it filed against the US government last week, TikTok argued the divestiture bill violated the First Amendment and claimed severing its American operations from ByteDance was “not commercially, technologically, or legally feasible.”

TikTok noted that the Chinese government has “made clear” that it would not permit the company to sell its recommendation algorithm to a foreign buyer, citing regulations that Beijing introduced after Trump first targeted TikTok in 2020. The measures put limits on the export of certain technologies such as “personal interactive data algorithms.”

Even if a sale were politically possible, TikTok argued the move would “disconnect Americans from the rest of the global community” on the platform, in possibly the same way that the Chinese version of the app is restricted only to people in China. TikTok added that it would take a team of new engineers years to sift through its source code and “gain sufficient familiarity” with it to run the app effectively.

A group of TikTok creators filed a separate lawsuit against the federal government earlier this week arguing that the divest bill violated their free speech rights. (TikTok is paying their legal fees.) Separating TikTok from ByteDance, they said, “is infeasible, as the company has stated and as the publicly available record confirms.”

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tyforthevnm · 1 year

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Interview with Livewire Online - My Chemical Romance

Posted November 12, 2003

KM, CC, JS Another thing to add to my "What Punk Isn't" List: being an asshole.

I got into punk rock because I wasn't accepted anywhere else and it was a place where everyone was accepted for who they were and what they wanted to be and to go there and make that a scene thats scary for kids to come to, being elitists about that, just defeats the whole purpose. So don't be an asshole.

LW: This is your 3rd night on the tour? Gerard: Uhh.....4th LW: Ah, ok, so how's it been so far? All: Awesome Ray: It's been cool cause Philly hasn't always been the best but... Frank: Yeah, we've always sucked it up in Philly. Gerard: Yeah, kids aren't too keen on us here but... LW: The first night on this tour was a full house at the 9:30 in DC. How does that compare to he smaller club tour with Piebald? Gerard: Piebald tour was really awesome cause...it wasn't necessarily a full house every night but the nights that it was and the nights that the kids were really good and responsive were almost magical, you know? Frank: It was cool cause there were smaller venues too, so it was more intimate. Ray: There were shows that had 70 people tops, like St. Louis. Mikey: Yeah, that one night there were like 30. Ray: Yeah and still every show was just fun. Less people, but definitely cool. LW: How have people reacted to you guys on this tour so far? Matt: Really good. Gerard: They wanna dance and have fun, you know? Mikey: Yeah, we dig the crowds that wanna have fun. LW: How do you respond to negative criticism? Frank: Bring it! Matt: We actually like it. Gerard: Yeah, especially hecklers, we like hecklers. It gives us more to do... Frank: But if you heckle a band, right? And the band is like, "Ok, why don't you come up and say that?", don't say it when they turn their back. Don't not say anything while they're facing you. That really sucks and you're a pussy. But if you're gonna heckle somebody, heckle them as hard as you would if they fucking talked to you. Ray: Yeah, if you say somethin and we're like, "Come up here and get killed", and you don't do that, like... LW: So Ray, your 80's Session guitar, how reliable is it on the road? Ray: I think in...Charlotte...it fell off the stage and busted in half basically. It probably can be fixed but I haven't gotten around to it. I've been playing Frank's, no, Mikey's SG and I actually like it better. It's a lot lighter but I do miss my Session guitar. LW: Do you guys like to experiment with vintage equipment in the studio that you wouldn't otherwise use on tour? Matt: We haven't had the chance. Gerard: Yeah, we can't afford it. Matt: On the record we did play with one vintage bass but that's about it. Frank: If you wanna, like, let us borrow one for recording feel free to do that. LW: You guys list a lot of 80's bands as influences, what are you into now? Gerard: The same bands. LW: I mean, like recent bands. Matt: Recover, Alkaline Trio Mikey: I like the new Doves a lot, the new Zwan record... Frank: Glassjaw LW: You kinda look like Billy Corgan. Gerard: Actually the very first time we played the Electric Factory, we got a review in Revolver that said I looked like the creepy son of Billy Corgan or something like that. It was a good review though. Mikey: Yeah, you look like how Jakob Dylan looks like his dad, you look like that with Billy Corgan. LW: Jakob Dylan is hotter than his dad so that's sort of a compliment. Mikey: Yeah, it is. Matt: He kept his hair. Frank: Have you seen Bob Dylan lately? They need to whell him out, he's dead. I think he's dead and no one's saying anything. LW: What do you think about your local scene? Gerard: Can't wait to go back to it. Frank: Ahh, Jersey. LW: Where in Jersey are you from? Frank: Newark. LW: Oh, ok. I'm from Cherry Hill. Frank: Oh really? Listen to Bombshelter Productions.They're really good. Gerard: Yeah, we're doing a hall show with Bombshelter... Ray: February 28. Gerard: Yeah, February 28. Frank: Big Wig... Mikey: We're gonna try to do those as many times as possible. LW: Yeah, its fun to see a local band come back and play a show. Gerard: It sucks cause because, it's like we, fuckin like almost wasted away too early in really big shows and we didn't play enough of the halls. Like, I can count on 2 hands probably, the number of halls we played. It sucks. And basements. Our best shows have been at colleges, halls, and basements. We've had a couple great shows on big stages, you know, but that barricade, thats fuckin shit. The fact that we're all 10 feet above... Frank: I dunno how you got through that monitor, dude. I thought I was gonna bust my ass. Ray: Well, I scoped it out before... Gerard: I tested it out before too, but, I was still like, "Fuck this!" Frank: DC was fine, like, it wasn't that far but I still didn't like the barricade. LW: The TLA down on South Street is better. Frank: I wanna play there! Ray: Do they still have barricades up like that? LW: They still have barricades but the stage is lower so you can see everything a lot better. LW: How did you guys get hooked up with Eyeball? Gerard: I had known Alex for years and he made a big policy not to sign friends' bands, and we were friends for years so I didn't think he would sign us but he saw us at like our 3rd show and he was like, "Dude, why don't you just come be part of the family? We can make it work". And we did. And it's pretty cool. LW: This lineup's been together since 2002? Gerard: Yeah, Frankie hopped on right before we recorded the record. Frank: I was in a band that was on Eyeball before. Matt: Yeah, so we used to play together. Gerard: They helped start us. LW: How important are sales stats to you? Do you get any pressure from your label? Frank: Pshhh... Gerard: That's one of the best parts about being on Eyeball: they don't give a shit. We always try to be successful and we want the music out there, that's the most important thing. Like, sound scanning doesn't mean shit to us, anything like stats doesn't mean anything to us. When we get to a venue or a city and we show up and we get on stage and we see all these kids sing along, that's how we know. Ray: Its not like a piece of paper that says 39 or 10 or whatever, it's the kids. Matt: They can all go get if off the internet anyway so why even care, you know? LW: I was going to ask that next. What about the availability of your music on the internet? Frank: Get it however you can! Gerard: I feel that like bands that are really small at the indie level, and labels that are at that level that are struggling, you should support them. Download it, if you like it, go buy it. Ray: Anything though, go to a show and buy some merch. Frank: We'd rather you come see us live. Mikey: I love the artwork, like album covers and the linear notes, like how can you get a stack of cds that say like... Gerard: Sharpieee Frank: I'm such a collector of music that I need the cover art, so I mean, like, go steal it... LW: What are your plans for the next release? Do you have any ideas production or material-wise? Frank: The first song we played... Gerard: The first track that we opened with is pretty much going to be the track that summarizes the whole record. It's a concept about revenge. We're taking March off just to write. We're not going into the studio anytime soon but we have all this music in us from the last 6 months and we wanna get it down so maybe we'll start playin some of this newer stuff out live. We wanna support this record. LW: Are you looking forward to Skate & Surf? All: Yeah! Frank: Oh yeah. Andrew WK! We met him last night. Ray: That was awesome. Frank: He wore tight green sweatpants and flannel and, uh, a big hat. I love that guy. LW: Do you have any other big festivals planned? What else are you doing this year? Gerard: Europe. Reading Festival. Mikey: The one that, like, Oasis always plays. LW: What goals have you accomplished this year? Gerard: Everything we wanted to and more. Frank: We've been so lucky it's not even funny. Gerard: It was me and Mikey's personal goal to play in Irving Plaza. We did that last night...and the night before. Every single goal. To have a record out, we did it, play in front of as many people as possible... Matt: Play Warped Tour Gerard: I think Warped Tour is the only thing left that we all sat around and said, "Hey, we wanna do this." Frank: So as soon as that happens, we're done! Matt: We can just stop. LW: So that's the only major thing left? All: No... Gerard: I dunno what we're striving for. I personally...we're striving to get it out to as many people as possible. Have that energy that we're putting out spit back at us. And to create really great moments when we play instead of us just, "Hey, we're a band you've never heard of, come check us out". I wanna get past that. That's my personal goal. LW: Have you faced any big challenges so far? Gerard: Getting used to touring. I mean that's the hardest thing any band has to do and once they get over that hump and get used to it they can really do whatever they want. I mean, a touring band is the kind of band that reaches people. MP3's don't reach people, getting out there reaches people. LW: As a band, how have you changed since the beginning? Gerard: A lot! Matt: We got Frankie! Frank: I got skinnier, we don't eat on tour. Gerard: [pointing at Ray] He's got an afro now! We got way more violent on stage. We're not trying to bring a violent message...it's not so much violence as a release of positive and negative energy. That causes accidents sometimes. LW: Where do you see yourselves heading in the future? Frank: Creating an MCR universe... Ray: A little MCR world. Gerard: I dunno, doin what we're doin now, touring. Frank: Reaching as many kids as possible and just... Matt: It's hard to tell cause we were just seein this in the near future, and it's hard to even think what's after this. Gerard: Yeah, I dunno what's after this. Frank: You don't know how lucky we've been. We've been together for a year. It's so silly, it's fuckin silly. We're really appreciative. I'm still collecting applications for Burger King... LW: If you had to write a State-of-the-Union-address-style speech about popular music, what would your main points be? Ray: Oh boy. Do it Frankie. Matt: Kill it! Mikey: I mean, there's nothin wrong with pop music. It's all the songs that everyone listens to when nobody's around, you know? Everybody loves that shit, so if you say you don't like it, you're fuckin lying. Everyone loves the new Justin Timberlake song and if you don't you're probably lying. Frank: I'm sick and fucking tired of people not writing their own goddam songs and getting on the radio and pretending like they're...like they know what's up. And, like, I'm tired of all that. I'm tired of bands that totally suck and kids buyin their t-shirts and being like, "Oh, this is what punk is" or "This is what hardcore is". And all these people don't know or care what it's all about or anything like that and I'm really psyched for real music and honest music to come out. Like Thursday. Bands like The Ghost, Sleep Station, Midtown, AFI. Bands that mean it, that have been there, that kids don't even know about and all these bands like Good Charlotte and Sum 41 and all these fuckin shit pop bands out there are influenced by these bands and rip them off. Matt: Or their writers rip them off. Frank: And no one fucking cares. I dunno, I'm really waiting for all this shit to be destroyed and that's one of my goals too. To get up there and if I get 10 kids to not buy Sum 41 cds and actually get into real music, like buy a Refused cd, please. If I can do that, then I'll feel like I've done something. And that's the way I feel about that! LW: Feel better? Frank: Little bit. Yeah. LW: Is there anything else we didn't touch on that you wanna share? Frank: Yes! Support indie scenes, support your local scene, support local bands! Put on a show. Do something. Write a letter to your fuckin asshole president who is bombing innocent people for no reason. Just make a difference. Cause one person can do something. If you just sit back and pretend, like, you know, like, "Oh it's not my problem" or "I can't do anything about it", you're just adding to the bullshit. And don't talk shit about things you don't know about, like, bands like Thursday and Midtown and bands that are comin out that worked their asses off to get stuff. People call them sellouts because they got success. There's a fine line between selling out and success. Don't you think it'd be better to hear Thursday on the radio than Creed? Seriously. This is our scene, all of ours, support it! Don't fuck up venues. Don't be an asshole. It's not punk rock to be an asshole. And another thing. If you go to shows just to kick somebody's ass, you're stupid, you're a jock and you're fuckin ruining everything. I got into punk rock because I wasn't accepted anywhere else and it was a place where everyone was accepted for who they were and what they wanted to be and to go there and make that a scene thats scary for kids to come to, being elitists about that, just defeats the whole purpose. So don't be an asshole. LW: What do you have to say about the bashing that Midtown gets for the whole, uh, thing? Frank: Fuck you! Do you have any clue what happened with that? No! You have no clue dude. Seriously. Not that it's a situation to even be made known, but you don't know what they went through cause it's no one's fuckin business. And trust me. They worked for everything they've gotten.

#frank iero #ray toro #matt pelissier #gerard way #mikey way #bullets era #november 12 2003 #november 2003 #2003 #interview #transcript #rica.archive #punk rant #sum 41 mention #good charlotte mention #mcr world #frank endorses stealing

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alieninvasionincoming · 3 months

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HELLOOOOOO

I am Vixslz!! You may know me from my regretevator account (@vixslzsworld), but this is just a side one for the factor of that I want to babble about random stuff

INTERESTS / HYPERFIXS:

- Regretevator (Duh)

- Writing / Reading

- BETA SQUAD…. Oh my gosh I love these guys so much they are so funny

- MUSICCCC…. Music is my life and life is my music❤️

- I like to play Roblox😎

- I’ve been a Flamingo/Albert fan for like a very big part of my life and still ammm

- Marvel… especially Wolverine and Deadpool will yap about them for like.. SO long.

MY FAVE MUSIC ARTISTS!!

- Laufey holds a VERY special place in my heart,,, ever since I heard Street by Street I knew I loved her music

- Tyler, The Creator fan to the GRAVEEE. Oh my gosh his music is so good

- Kali Uchis because we love her

- Billie Eilish. Been a HUGE fan since WWAFAWDWG?, and GOSHHH. Love her music to the world and back.

- JOOST KLEIN. I flipping LOVE Joost.

- Anddd Childish Gambino and Frank Ocean!!! Yes I have quite a few, but those are just scratching the surface tbh… I also really like Hev Abi!! (geng geng enjoyer right hereee!!!)

Giggles here’s some songs I like a bunch:

BASIC INFOOOO😼

As I said already before lol, I am Vixslz!!! Vix works too though because I remember one of my friends asked me recently ‘how am I even supposed to pronounce Vixslz??’ So Vix works too!! I am a minor, and I flipping LOVE to draw. If you wanna be moots, I will affectionately grab you and yap to you because THE MORE THE MERRIER!!!!

DNI LIST:

Okay, so my DNI list is actually pretty basic lol just don’t be a weird person. But things like people who are like genuinely weirdos (proshippers and things along that line that are just vile) do not interact with my account lmfao. Also if you “watch graphic things for fun!☝️🤓” please block me immediately. I do not want to interact with people like that, and will not. I will not communicate with people that want to talk about things like that, as I am quite sensitive to stuff like that myself.

Also please keep in mind that I can be like VERYY mildly stupid at times so if I repeat stuff to you do not mind that❤️ basically just be aware that I have boundaries (like everyone else!!!!) and just be a kind person. I will smother you with kindness if you are sweet to me.🎀 Make it a two way street. Because kindness is free!!!!

Another notible topic: other socials (for moots)

I do not and will not use disc, just because that place isn’t very fun😿 If you want to add my Roblox account to play games, feel free to msg me dude!!! Asides from that, I will msg you on tumblr or something I don’t know really

How active will I be on this account?

It solely depends on how much I do plan on using it. A bit, I presume. But exam season is high right now, and gosh the assignments are starting to pile up.😭 I’ll try to talk to y’all as much as I can though!!!

OKAY THATS ENOUGH… BYE BYE BYEEEE!!!!!!

#spotify #vixslz #Spotify

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the-rewatch-rewind · 1 year

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Another Cary Grant movie!

Script below the break

Hello and welcome back to the Rewatch Rewind, the podcast where I count down the 40 movies I rewatched the most in 20 years. My name is Jane, and today I will be talking about number 29 on my list: Universal Pictures and Granox Company’s 1964 comedy Father Goose; directed by Ralph Nelson; written by Peter Stone and Frank Tarloff, from a story by S.H. Barnett; and starring Cary Grant, Leslie Caron, and Trevor Howard.

It’s 1942 in the South Pacific, and most people are focused on a little thing called World War II, but beachcomber Walter Eckland (Cary Grant) just wants to mind his own business. While he’s stealing fuel for his boat from the Royal Australian Navy, his old friend Commander Frank Houghton recognizes him, and coerces him into becoming a coast watcher – which involves living on a deserted island and reporting Japanese plane and ship movements. Frank “accidentally” instructs his ship to crash into Walter’s boat so he’s forced to stay, and hides whiskey throughout the island to motivate Walter to report in. When another coast watcher is in trouble, Frank sends Walter to rescue him in his still functional but tiny dinghy, with the promise that the other man will replace him. When Walter gets to the other island, the coast watcher has been killed in an air raid, and a Frenchwoman named Catherine Freneau (Leslie Caron) has been stranded there with seven young schoolgirls. Walter has no choice but to take them back to his island, and then to learn to live with them, since there’s no safe way to evacuate them. Proper, particular Miss Freneau initially clashes with uncouth, sloppy Eckland, but they eventually start to care for and learn from each other.

I have no memory of my first impressions of this movie. I know my family borrowed it from the library a few times, and then bought it on VHS when our local Hollywood Video was getting rid of all of its VHS tapes, and then eventually got it on DVD. I watched it once in 2003, three times in 2006, twice in 2007, three times in 2009, then once each in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2019, twice in 2020, and once in 2021 and 2022. So I seem to have phases when I watch this movie a lot and then stretches when I take a break, but I’m not exactly sure why, unless it just has to do with the availability of copies. It’s a very fun movie that I pretty much always feel like watching, although these days I tend to only get around to it during my annual Cary Grant birthday week marathon.

It always feels particularly appropriate to watch this for his birthday because he said that Father Goose was one of his favorite movies to make, and that Walter Eckland was the character he played whose personality was closest to his own. While the scruffy and vulgar Eckland is very different from the dignified, suave gentleman that tends to be associated with the name Cary Grant, he plays this part so perfectly and comfortably that it’s easy to believe he was really like this, and almost impossible to picture anyone else in the role. I’m not sure how Leslie Caron feels about the film or her role, but she also does an absolutely perfect job. She is so delightfully funny. We meet her character at an incredibly stressful moment, and she makes us laugh without ruining the gravity of the situation. Walter finds her and asks who she is, and she replies, “I asked you first!” and then he asks where the man he’s supposed to be picking up is, and she replies, “I buried him.” And then there’s a pause, and then she adds, defensively, “He was dead!” and I don’t know why the way she says that is so funny to me, but I can’t help but laugh every time.

And from there the film continues to provide excellent comedic moments between Grant and Caron. One of my favorites is when Catherine is trying to stall Walter so the children can steal some of his clothes and supplies – they were going to get more supplies provided via a parachute drop, but Commander Houghton determined that even that was too dangerous, and Walter has already made it clear that he has no intention of sharing. Because Catherine and the children are living in the hut with the radio and Walter is living on his boat, Catherine got the message about the cancelled drop before he did, and the way she passes it on to him as slowly as possible is so funny. First, she lets him call in on the radio only to be told that the message has been given to her. Then she hands him the paper she wrote it on upside down, and once he turns it around he finds out that it’s in French, so he asks her to read it, which she does, and when he protests, “You’re reading it in French!” she responds, “Well it’s written in French!” So he asks her to translate it, and that’s when we get the amazing moment I quoted at the end of last episode when she asks him how to say “parachute” in English, and he pauses and thinks for a moment before exclaiming, “Parachute!” and she just goes, “Oh really? Huh” and moves on, and the way they do that is just so perfectly silly and I love it so much.

Another very funny scene that is maybe my favorite part of the movie is after Catherine has been attacked by what she thinks is a water snake, but is actually just a thorny branch. After being told that all water snakes in the area are extremely venomous and there’s nothing they can do, Walter convinces her to reveal where she hid his whiskey – she objected to his excessive drinking in front of the children – so he can make her as comfortable as possible before the end. So she gets very drunk, and he’s being nicer to her than he ever has before because he thinks she’s dying. The audience knows the whole time that she’s not in any danger, so we’re free to enjoy the humor of the situation, and I have to say, of all the playing-drunk-for-comedy performances I’ve seen, Leslie Caron’s is quite possibly the funniest. I especially love – and frequently quote – the part when she’s telling Walter about dating an official at the Italian consulate in Fiume, and she asks Walter, “Do you know where Fiume is?” and he says, “Yugoslavia, isn’t it?” and she says, “No, it’s in Yugoslavia” and I realize that has no right to be very funny but it still cracks me up. And then there are several more very silly moments until she convinces Walter to talk about himself and open up about his past, and then it actually becomes relatively serious for a little bit, as he reveals that he had been a professor until he realized that school was all about teaching conformity rather than encouraging curiosity and critical thinking. Then Catherine passes out and he assumes she’s dead, so he puts a blanket over her face and tells Frank, but while he’s on the radio we can see her feet moving. Meanwhile, the children have found the stick and realized what happened, so they show it to Walter, and he takes the blanket off her face, she says, “Is it morning already?” and then we get another of my favorite moments, when Walter tells Frank, “She’s alive! The snake’s dead!” and then holds the branch up to the radio microphone as if that will in any way explain what happened. And then he just walks away while Frank is yelling his name over the radio in confusion, in the perfect ending to a perfect scene. Although I did just learn that my favorite joke is slightly ruined by the fact that Fiume was actually part of Italy from 1922 to 1945, so technically it wasn’t in Yugoslavia when the movie takes place, and it certainly wouldn’t have had an Italian consulate. And it’s at this point that I would like to apologize to The Sound of Music for calling it a very 1960s version of World War II because that movie isn’t anywhere near as anachronistic as Father Goose. The most egregious offense is Leslie Caron’s hair and makeup, but there are also factual inaccuracies like the Yugoslavia thing, plus some of the military equipment was apparently from the Korean War. But none of that really matters because it’s just trying to be a fun comedy, and as you’ve probably gathered by now, in my opinion it very much succeeds at that. And there are still some aspects of the story that remind us how devastating and disruptive war is: case in point, there are seven children who have been separated from their parents.

While these seven children are not nearly as iconic as the Von Trapps, I still think this movie does a decent job of making most of them at least somewhat distinct people. Angelique and Dominique are stuck as “the French ones” and they’re pretty interchangeable, but at least they get some funny moments. The oldest, Elizabeth, has a huge crush on Walter; Ann likes to complain and wants to go home; Christine has an imaginary friend named Gretchen and decides to give herself the code name Rumpelstiltskin – everybody involved in the war has a nursery rhyme code name, and Walter’s is Mother Goose, which is where the title of the film comes from. Then there’s Harry, who loves cricket and corrects Miss Freneau when she uses the name “Harriet.” I don’t like assigning labels to people, and I don’t know if Harry was trans or just experimenting with gender expression, but I do know that when Walter and Catherine are getting married and the chaplain asks over the radio who the best man is, Walter looks around for a moment and then says Harry’s name, and the kid’s eyes light up, and it’s kind of beautiful. Perhaps this was intended to be seen as merely humoring a childish whim – like playing along with Christine’s imaginary friend – rather than validating trans identities, but compared to the current manufactured panic trying to force trans kids to conform to cisnormativity, it’s strangely refreshing to see adults in a movie made nearly 60 years ago at least kind of listening when a child says they want to be seen as a different gender than they were designated at birth.

The seventh child, Jenny, is probably the most important to the story. At first, she doesn’t speak at all, and repeatedly bites Walter’s hand. But at one point when she’s gathering coconuts on the beach, some Japanese soldiers decide to land on the island looking for turtles, and Walter manages to hide her before the soldiers notice her – despite her biting his hand again. Later, to thank him, she brings him one of the hidden bottles of whiskey, and he manages to get her to start speaking again, and then she and the other kids start helping him fix his boat. While they’re doing that, he decides to paint her name on the dinghy, but he accidentally does it backwards. Their whole dynamic just strikes the perfect balance of sweet and silly. And while I’m pretty sure that it was a complete coincidence that a couple years after making this movie, Cary Grant named his daughter Jennifer, that kind of makes his fatherly relationship with this Jenny even better.

Grant retired from acting when his daughter was born, so this was his second to last film, and the final time he played a romantic lead. I mentioned in the Monkey Business episode that in the later part of his career he frequently played opposite women who were much younger than him, which is very much the case in Father Goose – there’s a twenty-seven-year age gap between Cary Grant and Leslie Caron. In this particular movie, I don’t actually mind it that much; it works for their characters, and Caron was in her 30s, which feels significantly less creepy than when middle-aged men play opposite women in their early 20s. Still, it’s rather obnoxious that at the time most actresses who were around Grant’s age were faced with the choice of retiring or being stuck in stereotypical grandmother roles, while he was still getting fun and interesting parts opposite women young enough to be his daughters. Although Katharine Hepburn was definitely still slaying in her 60s. But anyway, I’m not objecting to the Grant/Caron pairing in this movie because I think both of them were absolutely perfect for their roles and I wouldn’t replace either of them, but their age difference does still reflect Hollywood’s troubling trend of being particularly agist toward women. And there’s still that part of my aroace brain that wonders why almost every movie with a male and female lead needs them to be romantically involved.

Yes, Walter and Catherine have a great enemies-to-lovers arc, but why can’t we get more enemies-to-friends stories? Not everything has to be about romance! Although their wedding scene is a key turning point in more than just their relationship. It starts off very sweet but then gets interrupted when an enemy plane starts shooting at the hut. Thankfully, everyone is fine, and they’re able to finish the wedding and also maintain a relatively lighthearted tone, but at that point it’s clear that they have to get off the island. The wedding wasn’t strictly necessary to move the story to this phase, but it greatly adds to the scene so I can’t be too annoyed about it. Also I guess it would have been kind of scandalous at the time for them to have lived together on an island for a while and then not gotten married, although the movie goes out of its way to make it very clear that they do not sleep together on the island. Before their wedding, they’re living in different places, and then after their wedding they need to escape because the enemy has found out where they are. A submarine is going to rescue them the following morning, so they all spend the night on the beach – very close to the water, for some reason. Early in the morning, while the children are still asleep, Catherine and Walter have an entire weird conversation that seems to have the sole purpose of letting the audience know that they haven’t consummated their relationship yet, and it’s just like, yes, we get it, why are you telling us this? It’s almost a relief when a Japanese patrol boat shows up and interrupts them. But overall I’m not against their relationship. I like the way they help each other grow into better versions of themselves, and I hope they have a happy life together after the events of the movie. I just crave more platonic male-female friendship representation in film.

While I would prefer it without the romance, overall Walter’s character arc teaches a good, albeit difficult, lesson. Often I find myself tempted to adopt the attitude he has at the beginning, when he says, “Several years ago, I made peace with the world. Now if the world isn’t bright enough to make peace with itself, it’s just going to have to settle things without me!” But Walter soon learns that running away from the world and its problems doesn’t solve anything and isn’t even making him happy, and that he and everyone else has a responsibility to help the world make peace with itself, however they can. His participation may not have made a huge difference in the grand scheme of the war, but he still did something, mostly using skills and talents he already had. There is such an overwhelming number of horrible things happening all the time that getting a boat and just sailing around by oneself sounds kind of wonderful, but it’s important to remember that we each have abilities that can help make things at least a little bit better, if we decide to use them – or, as in Walter’s case, are tricked into using them. Of course, the main purpose of this comedy is to entertain, and it certainly doesn’t feel like it was meant to be any sort of call to action, but the message is still unexpectedly inspiring, and that is yet another of the many things I love about Father Goose.

Thank you for listening to me discuss another of my most frequently rewatched movies. Please subscribe or follow, and leave a nice review on Apple Podcasts if you’re enjoying this journey. This wraps up the three-way tie of movies I watched 17 times from 2003 through 2022, so next week I will talk about the shortest in the three-way tie of movies I watched 18 times. As always, I will leave you with a quote from that next movie: “You’ve been taken to the cleaners, and you don’t even know your pants are off!”

#father goose #cary grant #leslie caron #the rewatch rewind

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sarking · 2 years

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I was tagged by @catelyngrant and I'm gonna tag @winged-mammal, @momentia, @naryrising, and anyone else who wants to do it.

last song: Lovecraft in Brooklyn by The Mountain Goats, which I had to listen to three times because I was immediately obsessed with how it fits Itchy Trigger Finger (L&O: SVU, EO, zombies) by snarkypants.

last show/series: Hmm. Probably The Babysitters Club. I didn't really want to watch the one where Mimi dies, so it took a while to get to. I also watched all of Oz except for the final episode because, hey, again with the character death.

currently watching: I'm trying to finish Derry Girls so I can cancel my Netflix subscription, but I'm also debating if I want to finish season two of Lupin, which is very good, but which requires use of my brain because it's in French. And there's SVU and Organized Crime, of course. And Major Crimes reruns on Saturday night/Sunday morning, but we're coming up on the episodes we don't watch.

favorite color: Yellow.

sweet, spicy, or savory: Sweet and spicy together.

currently reading: I bought Bone in the Throat by Anthony Bourdain a few months ago and read a couple chapters a few weeks ago. I was very impressed by the dialogue! I will now proceed to say this is what I'm reading for the next 3-5 years, at which point I will buy another book and do the same. I do slightly better with nonfiction.

what i'm working on: looool. I've got a contrarian bug up my ass, so last night I was like, "Yeah, yeah, EO breeding kink, but hear me out: it's Liv with a strap-on," so I've been trying to figure out exactly how that starts and whose point of view it is. But other than that:

a wonder for gods and mortal men, which was supposed to be a sexy little romp where Elliot and Olivia and Frank Donnelly played strip poker and she talked her way into the Brotherhood. Except it turns out it's an angsty thing about how Frank knows more about the past ten years of Olivia's life than Elliot does. ("We'd take care of a guy like that."//"I took care of him."//"I'm just saying, it's -- that? That's what brothers are for.")

Painted-White Unknown, wherein Elliot gets divorced, falls in love with the kitchen in an apartment he can't afford, and puppy-dog-eyes Olivia into being roommates, and I get stuck on important questions like, "Who is the first to have a wank?" and, "How the fuck am I supposed to figure out what order these things I want to write about happen in?" (Elizabeth bounces on the balls of her feet while he unlocks the apartment door, talking a mile a minute about a friend whose father lives in Midtown, in an apartment with a balcony inside a building with a concierge, and Elliot doesn't know what he was thinking, wishes Liv had told him to grow up and man up and go the hell back to Queens, where maybe he'd failed at being a husband, but he could at least salvage his dignity as a father.)

Polynices is Home from the Hunt, which cranks the daddy issues and season eight codependency up to eleven when the kinship analysis of Olivia's DNA reveals her father is... Joseph Stabler. (For a few short hours, she was his, bound to him from birth, their connection a documented, scientific truth. But he won't stop her from destroying the proof; he'll add the truth to the list of secrets he keeps for her.)

Rocks and Water, the one where Elliot and Olivia are just about dating when Olivia realizes she's pregnant from a one-night stand, and Elliot doesn't see the problem with this, but I have problems with him. Because, look, I need him to not take no for an answer. It is canon that he does not take no for an answer -- how many god damn times is he going to ask Liv out? -- but I cannot reconcile that with him being a god damn SVU detective in a way that allows me to get into his head enough to write one particular sentence that I've been stuck on for like six months. (It takes everything in him to step back. To pull his hand away from her stomach, not knowing if she'll ever let him touch her like that again.)

Chicago Is So 25 Years Ago, the SVU band AU that would probably just be better as a notfic, but I can't get it out of my head. (Her mother is addicted to the hot rush of cocaine. Olivia understands it when she's here, like this, arms overhead and audience screaming for another shimmy of her hips.)

currently obsessed with: I'm going through a bit of a houseplant thing, which is unfortunate for the poor plants that are going to die. Am I overwatering? Underwatering? Is there too much light? Not enough? When will Hammie stop digging them up? (Too much light was my last problem, which is hard to believe.)

#memes

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the-firebird69 · 1 year

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It looks painted in the picture but we like the color it's like a creamy yellow beige A light beige and we might do that and we'll make it out of metal and a little bigger I'm talking about the real car it's the perfect model because it's a sporty kind of rolls but it's a real model rolls Royce music they're usually they're big like a full size sedan in this case we're going to make it like these smaller Kia there's three sizes this would be the smaller of the three and we're going to replicate it in this exact format and it will be this exact car we're also going to sell the kit and he had a great idea that we start the kit car company and we have a list of parts and we'd start stocking parts and people would ask us for it and eventually we'd have a whole bunch of them and then we'd start selling kits that's kind of how it's done and the kids would be of metal and he is a great idea for kids for a whole bunch of cars I'm thinking make this this size and so you can actually drive them and we're going to start with electric and it should work pretty good and we're going to use the automatics is an intense idea and you can get up to 80 mph with them we will have a limiter and he said too you could start with one battery with an option for two and it would be a spot for the second battery and then switch over it already be built in so you just buy another battery and we sell lithium with the same receivers and everybody wants one so we're going to make this kid when we first introduce you to be wood and will gain the parts and then we'll make it metal and we can use the same parts just add a metal body and we'll have real glass it's safety glass and real steering wheels real seats radio lights everything will be functioning like a real car and it is the kit car and even a radio for a spot for when he says it's where kids go wild and we got that an option for a radio and then we're also going to make the real thing but that's going to be a completely different type of vehicle this is just for recreation even though you can put it on the road and we might include suspension and he says we should but a simple one doesn't do too much and it's right too most of it's a wishbone it's very simple and it's a bolt on we're going to go ahead and start these and we're going to use regular chassis for the Rolls-Royce mini and that's what it's called we might call we're going to call it the Rolls-Royce M Special and it's going to be a Rolls-Royce replica so it's not going to be massive massively expensive and there are many cars that will use for the chassis one of them is the Chevy bolt it's the same car you use for the C1 stingray well no that's too small we're going to use the Camaro for the C1 and people will start to buy it and people thought we were saying the wrong thing and we were we will use the Chevy bolt for the Alfa Romeo spider and it's really small and people like it women love it but this will be the Chevy bolts and we will change up a lot of it and reinforce it and for Rolls-Royce we are going to make it true luxury but miniaturized. Even the cigarettes would be for smaller cigarettes just regular sized. I'm going to get with Frank Castle hardcastle I'm going to start a Rolls-Royce cigarette brand and it's to go with this car they're going to be high class and very pure tobacco with very few in periodies and a nice filter so be smooth and if Mike two demand something we'll have to talk to him and he wants to speak to us about it so we're going to get together on it and we know how to make it so the s*** doesn't affect it that's our secret though and he doesn't like it but he knows what we're talking about we're going ahead with this ideas right now

Zig Zag

One of the things you guys like to do is take this ideas and rub them in his face no one's been able to do that yet with the mini he just using like store-bought minis that are a different brand has no effect except oh do you want one and you don't have one that's too bad and out of him

Hera

Olympus

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crazycookiecrumbles · 2 years

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Meatball Hero

Masterlist

A/N: Second to last chapter! This will conclude the main story and the final chapter will be an epilogue, I think

Pairings/Characters: Frank Castle x Reader, Peter Parker, Tony Stark, Steven Grant, Marc Spector, Steve Rogers

Warnings: violence, gore, wrist cutting, beatings, tony’s annoying mouth, peter and steven being big ass dorks

Summary: Can Frank fight his own nature and instinct to kill when it comes to you, or is the whole world doomed?

Previous Chapter: McNuggets

WC: ~6k

You and Tony struggled, but you made it. You both felt like shit, but you were in a rush, and you needed to make sure you got there before Marc did, because you knew he didn’t have any issue with not sparing Frank for the greater good.

When the two of you arrived at the museum, you parked the car and sat there for a moment just looking around. Everything seemed so peaceful. There were kids and their families walking around without a care in the world, tourists taking pictures of all the sights, and then there was Tony, sitting in the back, pouting like a child.

“I should’ve put up another suit in space closer to this hemisphere,” Tony mumbled. “Can’t believe I let you talk me out of it.”

“I’m the one that told you to do exactly that, and you called me a square and not to worry so much,” you turned to glare at your father who blinked twice before shrugging.

“Okay. No need to brag about your great ideas,” Tony scoffed as he leaned forward from the backseat and rested his chin on your shoulder. “You should call one of them, see how close they are. We need to make a timeline, and knowing Peter, he’s probably been on Instagram this entire time, so, tracking won’t matter.”

“…God damn it,” you muttered and took out your phone. With a quick press of a few buttons, you held the phone up and put it on speaker.

“Hey, Y/N!” Peter’s excited voice came through. “Are you okay?”

“We’re fine,” you said, listening to the background noise that was indescribable to you. “What am I hearing?”

“Oh, that ‘whooshing’ thing? Frank kind of drives like a maniac,” Peter explained. “I’ve never been in a car going this fast before. I almost threw up! Also, I’ve never stolen a car before. Hey, listen, I know it’s super wrong and a bad thing to do….but I kind of feel awesome.”

“Jesus Christ, the kid’s gonna add auto theft to his resume. Well, at least it’s before he’s 18,” Tony sighed.

“Right,” you cleared your throat. “So you’re with Frank, you two are okay?”

“Yeah, we’re okay. We should be there soon, in, like, an hour, maybe. Will the museum be open?”

“Yes, but that doesn’t really matter. We can always — “

“Another crime! Sick. It’ll be my last crime. I kind of hope we break into the museum so I can add that to my list and then never do this again so — “

“Sweetie, can you put Frank on the phone, please?”

“Oh, yeah, sure.”

Tony watched as you thanked Peter and took the call off speaker. When you brought the phone to your ear, Tony scoffed that you were depriving him of novella-worthy drama. You rolled your eyes and told him to shut up as you turned away from him and waited to hear Frank’s voice.

Meanwhile, Frank took the phone from Peter and exhaled quickly before holding it up to his ear and keeping it there with his shoulder. He cleared his throat, sweat beads suddenly form across his brow as he waited to hear your voice, “Hey, Princess.”

You beamed, heat flooding your cheeks as you curled in on yourself and relished the sound of his voice, “Hey there, stranger. Long time no chat.”

“Yeah,” Frank grunted. “Look, I’m sorry —“

“I’m sorry,” you repeated, “If it weren’t for me —“

“If it weren’t for you, I’d be an emptier, unhappy man,” Frank said quietly, hating how Peter was sitting there pretending like he wasn’t hanging on his every word, but obviously was doing so given how he was closing the windows in the car to better be able to hear him. “Shit happens, Y/N. This? This is a pretty big pile of shit we’ve stepped in, but we’ll get out of it.”

You snorted at his descriptive choice of words and fiddled with the hem of your shirt, “Still, it’s my fault. And I know Peter must’ve told you by now what we had to do.”

“He did. And I Want you to do whatever it takes, you understand?”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m going to get you out of this Frank, I promise.”

Franks sighed, “Princess, if you can’t —“

“I will.”

“You can’t let him take over. He’ll destroy everything, he’ll — “

“He’ll get what’s coming to him. But he won’t come out, okay? I’m going to make this right, and I’m going to be the one to protect you, got it?”

Frank snorted to himself, “Buys me pizza, protects me from gods, you’re a special kind of woman.”

“Damn right I am,” you replied. “Get here soon. Okay? Let’s end this. We’ll go on a date, my treat.”

“Nah, my treat, how about that?” Frank grinned. “I’ll see you soon. Here’s the kid. I lo—” he stopped himself when he realized what he was going to say. He couldn’t do that to you, no. It was far too much of a cliche. This wouldn’t be the first time he said that, it couldn’t be. Hell, he could barely believe he was actually even going to say that.

Him?

The last woman he said that to was gunned down at a carousel, and now he almost said it to you before facing a certain death.This was….this was awful. He shouldn’t do this, he couldn’t do it. That was unfair to say, because what if he didn’t make it? Hell, what if you didn’t even think about him in that way and he was just putting the pressure on you? It was stupid. It was so, so stupid. He couldn’t do that to you.

He didn’t.

Without saying another word, he handed Peter the phone.

Peter could feel the tension radiating off of Frank, and said nothing. Instead, he said he was back on the phone to grab your attention.

Meanwhile, you were wondering if you should’ve said something more to Frank, but you didn’t want to jinx what was to come. Then, when he stopped himself, you wondered if maybe you were moving too fast, and the speed was what made him stop. Maybe he felt pressured. Maybe you had feelings for him that weren’t exactly reciprocated yet. Maybe you were just further along in your feelings of this relationship than him. Maybe it was better no one said anything at all. This wasn’t the time nor the place, you all had a mission.

“Peter, I’m going to need you to suit up and be ready,” you began. “I want you hiding like a creepy little spider with the vase until I say so. Okay?”

“Okay,” Peter nodded. “Do I tell —“

“No,” you shook your head. “We still need an element of surprise and you’re going to stay the cute little intern who is just along from the ride.”

Peter turned bright pink, “I’m not cute…I’m handsome.”

“That is the cutest thing you’ve ever said.”

“You’re embarrassing me,” he whined, which made you laugh at his anguish. “So…I’ll just text you?”

“Yeah. We’re going to go in first and try to find the entrance to get underground to that old temple, we’ll scout the place out. I’ll see you soon, Peter. Be safe!” You hung up and looked to your dad who was shaking his head.

“Should’ve said you loved him. You know, every drama movie or show would’ve had you say it.”

“Shut up.”

You and Tony prepared the best you could. You cleaned yourselves up, even though you were sure one or both of you had concussions. There was no suit of armor for backup, given that it was still in flight to that location and wasn’t going to be there just yet. Tony, without telling you, made a call for some extra help, but it likely wasn’t going to be there in time either. You still had your whip, he had his blaster, and you had a knife left behind in the hotel room by Frank, and the two of you were just going to have to deal with what you had the best you could.

After a little while, the two of you entered the museum. Tony immediately went straight to the gift shop to see if there was anything he could buy for Pepper. He was humming to himself and going through a selection on the countertop when you walked over and elbowed him in the gut. He hissed that he was being perfectly normal and casual while you were being an ‘annoying try-hard.’ A smack to the back of his head reminded him that you were being a ‘try-hard’ for a very specific reason.

As the two of you strolled through the museum and looked around, you noticed a heavy metal door that when you walked by it, you could feel a strong gust of wind blowing underneath the crack in the door. You nodded to Tony who studied the door quickly and seemed to nod in agreement with you that that could be a potential opening.

“You know what would be funny?” Tony leaned against the wall casually while you began to text Peter, “If everyone in here was actually a cult member and not just an employee. How hilarious would that be?”

“Given how fucked up we both are from that crash? Not very, dad,” you muttered.

Tony hummed, “That’s a pity, because I think you could use a laugh right now.”

“I just don’t see how that’s funny at a time like this,” you put your phone away and looked up to see what Tony had mentioned was actually coming true. The employees of the museum, which now, suddenly, seemed very empty, were walking towards the two of you and cornering you.

“I hate you,” you sighed. “I really, really hate you.”

“Eh, relax. We can take them,” Tony replied.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Frank didn’t park by the museum. He ditched the car a quarter of a mile away. Peter and him walked side by side, Frank’s head on a swivel as he watched every single person to make sure they weren’t trying to attack him or Peter. Meanwhile, Peter was completely calm and casual as he walked alongside him and simply relied on his spidey senses.

As they approached, Frank took Peter behind a tree behind the museum and dropped his duffel bag on the ground. Frank took off the jacket he had been wearing, dropped it on the bag, and rolled the sleeves of his shirt up to his elbows as he pulled out his bulletproof vest and studied it for a moment.

“I can’t believe she let you take that,” Peter remarked.

“Well,” Frank cleared his throat. “She doesn’t have to know. Here, you wear it.”

“What? I can’t! You need it. I — “

“Kid,” Frank looked around before settling a hand on his shoulder. “That museum right there? Trap.”

“How do you know?”

“It said it was closed, but it’s business hours, and I bet if you call Y/N she won’t answer. Plus, they’ve got guys on the windows and security is keeping people off the steps.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah,” Frank nodded. “You stay out here and keep that vase and your ass safe, got it? When it’s safe, when it’s cleared out, we’ll tell you to come in. Okay?”

Wow, this was even easier than he thought. Peter nodded enthusiastically and looked behind Frank before looking back at him, “You’re not going to kill anyone, right?”

Frank groaned, “No. Even though it’d be easier.”

“So, like, do you even know how to sneak then?”

“You’re a real smart ass kid, you know that? You sound just like Y/N.”

Peter shrugged, “I think she copies me because I’m pretty cool.”

Frank blinked, “Yup. Sure.”

“Wow.”

He shook his head and nodded, “Okay. You be safe. If anything happens to you, I’m fucked. You can throw a punch, right?”

“I knocked out that guy in the bathroom!”

“Just let me see. Do you know what to do if someone’s got a knife to you?”

“I’m fine—“

Frank wanted to prove that Peter wasn’t fine and that he should listen to him and take a moment to practice. Peter surprised Frank when the man pretended like he was going to stab him in the gut. Peter slapped Frank’s hand down, deflected his other hand, and shoved Frank back with just a little bit of his strength, surprising the man who looked at him in shock.

“I uh, learned a few things,” Peter argued. “School, they had an instructor come in once during gym class. Some kid had gotten mugged. Right outside the school! It was crazy. I don’t remember what it was. Could’ve been money. That makes sense. Honestly, it could’ve been his shoes, shoes are important — “

“Okay, okay, I got it,” Frank said, interrupting Peter’s horrible attempt at a lie. “Just stay here, stay low, and keep quiet, okay?”

Peter nodded, “Okay. And, Frank, be careful, please. Y/N would be really disappointed if something happens to you, and me too! I don’t know about Mr. Stark. He’s hard to read. I bet he’d care.”

Frank snickered, “Thanks, kid. Keep an eye on your phone.”

When Frank went to enter into the museum, Peter quickly made sure no one was around and changed into his suit. He too had a plan: sneak into the museum undetected, and hide until the time was right, except that he didn’t need to rely on his phone to know when. He himself had the perfect plan in mind.

Frank was very careful not to kill anyone was he entered the museum. He realized he had to pull his punches and hold back on his own strength just to knock people out, because this thing inside of him was making him stronger, turning him into the perfect killing machine.

He found the heavy door you had spotted earlier, but it was wide open. It was a dead giveaway that this was a trap. They were waiting for him. They knew he was coming, and because you were nowhere in sight, Frank knew that you were in danger.

He followed the spiral staircase down, finding himself in a cavernous area lit by torches along the walls every couple of feet. He was quiet as he navigated the underground. He realized he was approaching what had to have been the fallen temple remains when he saw broken marble pillars and heaps of stone the closer he got. He was amazed when he entered a clearing and saw a temple in much better condition that he had imagined. The roof was mostly gone and on an angle, one pillar had a massive crack down the middle while the others were missing chunks of them or gone completely, but the building itself was in tact. Frank steeled himself and marched towards it, intent on finding you and maiming whoever had you.

The inside was lit with torches. The floor was dark, dirty, littered with animal carcasses and bones he couldn’t identify. The place stunk of death, and the walkway down to the altar was lined with people hiding under red cloaks, chanting quietly, standing there and waiting for him.

At the end of the aisle at the altar were two people on their knees. Tony was on one side, badly beaten, hands tied behind his back and two people holding him down by his shoulders. Beside him was you, just as hurt with your hands tied behind your back as well. You looked ashamed, upset with yourself for not having seen a trap like this a mile away like you figured Frank must have.

“Let ‘em go,” Frank grunted. “Let ‘em go and you can have me.”

Your head shot up, “No! Are you insane? No, Frank!”

“Ignore her,” Frank said as he walked closer to them. He stopped when a knife was held to your throat, and now Tony was shouting and struggling. “Just ignore her. I’m the vessel, you hear me? I’m the vessel! Let her go and you got me.”

“I would like to do that,” the man holding a knife to your throat said as he lowered his cloak. “But I, as Idean, loyal follower of Ares, understand, you, Mr. Castle, do not play well with others. I cannot simply take your word as promise to us as a vessel.”

Frank looked desperate, and you couldn’t remember seeing that look in his eyes before, not even when you were hurt at that warehouse that led to this entire situation. His eyes were big, his hands were up like he was pleading, and he was struggling with taking steps forward or rushing backwards to prove he wouldn’t attack them and make them hurt you.

“Please, I am begging. I am begging you, not to hurt her,” Frank began.

Idean looked to Frank and sighed, “I just can’t trust you.”

You felt the knife press into your skin and the sting made you wince. You quickly realized what was happening as the blade started to drag from one side of your neck. You were frozen in pain as you realized you were going to bleed out in front of Frank, who was going to lose his mind and kill everyone in the building before moving on to the world.

The blade stopped suddenly, and Idean collapsed to the ground. You looked down to see a small, tiny throwing knife embedded in his eye as he hit the ground. The knife in his hand fell to the floor, and you could feel blood slowly dripping from the side of your neck. You looked ahead quickly and saw Frank was standing perfectly still. Soon he was huffing and puffing, and when he looked at you, his eyes were glowing bright red.

Frank smirked as he stood taller. Finding his shirt confining, he ripped his shirt starting at the collar. It tore down his chest and he ripped off the rest of it, leaving him to stand there in his utility pants and boots and pound on his chest twice, “My loyal followers,” he began, in a voice you couldn’t recognize, “It’s time. Kneel before your conqueror, for I have returned.”

“You’re okay, you’re okay, good,” Tony breathed as he studied you. “He just missed the artery.”

“Yeah, and Frank didn’t miss,” you snapped. “Dad —“

“I know,” Tony nodded. “Underoos!”

Nothing happened. Instead, Frank whipped around and stared at Tony curiously. Tony laughed nervously and looked around for a certain someone ,but couldn’t find him.

“Where the fuck is he?”

“Sorry, sorry!” You heard Peter’s voice shout as he suddenly ran into the temple, the vase on his back. “I bumped into someone, but before that my fly got caught on my — never mind, you guys don’t need to know that part.”

You sighed to your father, “You brought him here, ya know.”

Frank whipped around to see Spider-Man, which meant absolutely nothing to him at the moment, but when he saw the vase his veins bulged in his body and he pointed at him, “Get my vase!”

“Shit,” you and Tony swore under your breaths.

Peter looked around quickly before jumping in the air and shooting his webs. He needed to be smart. He had to protect the vase, and himself, but he also needed to help you and Tony. Luckily for him, the person he bumped into also had a similar agenda.

Suddenly from behind you, you could hear the cultists that were watching you and Tony groaning. You tried to look behind you but winced and looked ahead instead. The rope behind your back suddenly fell and you were helped to your feet. When you turned around, you saw a man in all white once again. You thought back quickly to remember who was who, and you sighed in relief when you realized who the suit belonged to, “Steven!”

He nodded, two thumbs pointed at him, “Steven with a V! That’s me! Here to help, love. Franklin’s a little bonkers now, isn’t he?”

“Yeah, yeah, real wacky, Mary Poppins,” Tony snapped. “Spider-Man’s got the vase. We have to make sure he doesn’t break it, and we’ve gotta keep Frank from killing, well, all of us since he’s Ares.”

Steven nodded, “Okay. You two are, well, mangled. You stay here, I’ll deal with Franklin!”

Steven rushed down the steps and leapt into the air to kick Frank in the spine. The man didn’t budge. He turned around slowly, tilted his head to the side, and grabbed Steven by the throat before lifting him in the air and slamming him down through the marble floor.

“Ouch,” Steven squeaked.

Tony quickly ripped part of his shirt and wrapped the cloth around your neck to stop the bleeding. You both went to your pile of belongings and grabbed what you had needed while they were all fighting, making sure to hide a knife up your sleeve. Peter was handling the cultists fairly easily, if not slowly to make sure the vase was okay. Tony used the little power left in his blaster to lend a hand, fighting through the pain he was in.

You turned your whip on its lowest setting and slowly stood up, holding onto a wall for support. Frank was wiping the floor with Steven who was trying very, very hard not to hurt him. Steven, having been thrown into another column, held his hand up and pointed a finger to the sky, “One sec, chap. Marc, you’re up, mate.”

Steven’s suit changed, which meant that Marc was now out to play. He went directly for Frank, leaping into the air and bringing a knee to Frank’s face. He ripped off his crescent darts and started slashing at Frank without care. The two were fighting and it was ugly. Frank took a hit that broke his nose, a stab to the gut several times with the darts, and he was still standing like nothing happened. Marc was going to kill Frank and force Ares out that way, and he was going to make sure he did it.

You couldn’t let him.

With your whip on its lowest setting, you grabbed Marc’s wrist as he swung at Frank and yanked him back. Frank used this to his advantage and delivered a devastating blow to Marc’s face that had his head snapping to the side. Another blow from Frank went to his knee, and you used this to yank Marc towards you again. When he was on his side and getting up, you stumbled over to him and held the knife threateningly to him.

“Don’t kill him. I can save him!”

Marc stared up at you, “You think you can stop me?”

“I’ll do what I must,” you replied.

Marc growled, “Then hurry the fuck up.”

You turned away from him and caught a glimpse of the scene. Frank threw Tony into a column, the man landing on the ground and barely able to move. Frank was going right for Peter, so you used your whip to grab Frank’s arm. Frank stopped walking and looked to his bicep. He laughed and yanked hard, which sent you flying towards him. Frank tossed your whip to the side and grabbed you around the throat to lift you clean off your feet.

“You could’ve been useful for breeding, pity,” Frank laughed in your face.

Your eyes widened, “Oh, no…do I have a breeding kink now?”

Ignoring you, Frank slammed you down into the ground. You yelped in pain and grabbed his forearm with one hand, one leg coming up to wrap around his arm as you tried to limit his movements, but it ended up doing nothing, “Frank, Frank, come on. It’s me! The annoying princess, right? Frank?”

There was a flash of those deep brown eyes, and you cried out realizing you had gotten through to him, “Frank!”

“Do it,” He growled, his body shaking violently as parts of him started to glow red and fight against Ares’ hold. “Do it!!! Now!”

“I love you,” you unsheathed the knife hidden up your sleeve and slashed Frank’s wrist. “Vase, now!”

“On it!” Peter swung in quickly and landed after a flip right beside you. He easily grabbed Frank’s shoulder and slammed him down into the ground, missing how Frank stared at him in utter shock as he lay there bleeding. Peter took out the vase and quickly held it to Frank’s wrist to catch the blood. “It’s not enough—hey!” Peter dodged Frank’s other hand coming at him and quickly webbed it down. He saw Frank’s eyes were red again and he scoffed, “Behave, mister.”

“We need more blood,” you breathed as you looked at Frank’s arm before his entire body. He was losing a lot of blood already thanks to his fight with Marc, but he was still going. He was bleeding from every direction, his face was a mess, his body bruised and beaten. You didn’t want to do this, because now you really feared you couldn’t hold up your end of the promise of saving him.

“Cut down his wrist,” Peter said quietly. “The blood will flow more. I—I can web it after, seal it to stop the bleeding. We can do it. It’s okay,” Peter tried to be so supportive as he watched you squeeze Frank’s arm. “I—I’ll do it —“

“No,” you picked up the knife again. “Hold him down. I’ll do it.”

Peter webbed the rest of Frank’s body down, leaving his arm free for you. Frank was fighting against you, so Peter easily pinned his arm down while you sliced down Frank’s wrist and forearm. Around you, Marc and Tony were finishing up with the cultists, all the while you were bleeding Frank dry.

The color drained from Frank’s face, and slowly from the rest of his body. As you watched the blood fill the vase, you noticed how the vase began to glow red from the base of it all the way to the top. When Frank’s bleeding slowed, the vase glowed completely red, the blood absorbing into it, which made the red designs on the clay grow a vibrant color like they had been freshly painted.

Peter quickly webbed Frank’s arm and the rest of his wounds while freeing him. You pushed the vase to the side and scooted over to drag his torso onto your lap while Marc and Tony approached.

“Hey, hey, can you hear me? It’s over, Frank. It’s over. Just hang on, okay? You just have to hang on for me,” you pled with Frank as he lay there completely limp. “Come on you stubborn motherfucker, you can’t die yet. Okay? You’re not dying, Frank! Come on give me something!”

“I’ll get rid of this,” Marc said quietly as he picked up the vase. “Somewhere where no one can get it and this won’t happen again.”

“Probably for the better,” Tony muttered. “Kid—“

“Yeah, Mr. Stark?” Peter looked over to him.

“You’re carrying the big guy.”

“That’s fine. I totally can.”

Marc looked at Spider-Man strangely, head tilting to the side. Suddenly, the suit changed and, once again, Steven was fronting as he rushed over to the young man and grabbed his shoulders, “Oh, my god! Are you the young lad? Peter? Are you the young lad from the museum, the one they keep talking about? That’s you, lad, you’re the little bug boy? Oh, my god, the things you can do! You stopped that man’s fist like it was an infant trying to strike you, that was impressive! Wow, look at you! You’re an impressive one, yeah? Way more than what meets the eye!”

“Oh my fucking god, this guy again,” Tony groaned and stared at the ceiling while pinching the bridge of his nose. “Guys, we need to go.”

“Yeah, right, sorry. I’m just—wow! Good for you, kiddo! Bloody amazing! I hope I don’t have to face you in a fight, but I’m mighty scrappy myself.”

“I saw! You’re really cool, and those dagger things? The crescent stuff?”

“My darts, yeah!”

“So sick!”

“Innit, though!?” Steven beamed. “I like you! You appreciate how cool it is. Marc’s just all, ‘it’s a weapon Steven, not a toy’ and I’m like, yeah, it’s a weapon all right, but it’s a really, really cool one now innit?”

“It sounds like he doesn’t appreciate the finer things in life.”

“He definitely never stops to smell the roses enough. If you ask me, he could use a lot more of that,” Steven replied.

“Guys!” You shouted. “This is very cute. You may exchange phone numbers, but we need to go because if Frank dies, I’m coming after all of you!”

“Oh, I believe that,” Peter said quietly before picking up Frank absolutely effortlessly. “Let’s go. She scares me.”

“I’d never hurt you,” you sighed. “I’d embarrass you in front of your friends.”

“See? Scary,” Peter repeated to Steven quietly.

Steven nodded in agreement. The man slipped between you and Tony, put his arms around the both of you, and helped you to walk out of the underground. It wasn’t hard for anyone to see you were in pain. Forgetting the physical pain you had been in, you were very clearly distraught over Frank’s condition. Yes, the man had taken quite a few beatings, yes, he’d basically kissed death, but you’d never seen him look this bad before. This was terrifying. Were you really going to be the one that killed Frank Castle?

As you exited the museum, you felt a strong gust of wind. You all looked to the side to see a quinjet make a quick, rough landing and open up to reveal Steve jogging down towards you all.

“Oh, about time! You’re just extremely late and missed the party,” Tony said as Steve ran over to check on you all.

“What the hell happened?” Steve asked as he noticed Frank. “Is he —“

“Almost,” you said quickly.

Steve nodded to you, “Okay. Let’s get him in the jet and get him hooked up. We’ll make sure he’s stable until we get back to the tower. We’ll stop somewhere if we have to — I’m sorry, I don’t believe we’ve met,” Steve looked to Steven who shrieked.

“Captain America! Big fan! Love your work, love the shield! Hi, my name is Steven with a V! Truly a pleasure.”

“I hate him,” Tony whispered to Steve.

Steve sighed, “You hate everyone, Tony. Steven, it’s nice to meet you. Can we give you a lift?”

“Oh, no, no, that’s my ride over there,” Steven pointed to the white limousine waiting for him. “We’re going to go dispose of this vase, make sure it never happens again and all. Everyone take care! Pleasure working with you all! You know, except when Y/N threw us out the car, I get it, though, goodbye!”

You all watched as Steven ran to the car. Steve looked to all of you and tilted his head to the side, “Did he say ‘us’?”

“It’s a long story, which I can happily tell you as soon as we all get some drugs in us, except the kid, who has not a single scratch on him,” Tony said as you all piled into the jet. “Come on, buck up, Y/N. He’s not dead yet.”

“I actually am losing his pulse,” Peter said quietly as he brought Frank in. “So, whatever we can do for him, let’s do it now.”

“Oh, god, Frank,” you cried.

~~*~*~*~*~~~*~*~*~~~*~*~*~~~

It was a quiet walk by yourself. Everyone left you alone to do what you needed to do in order to feel better. They knew this was a fragile time, and you were just trying to do the best, do everything you could. With a deep breath, you rounded the hallway and entered the familiar medical wing. You nodded to the staff before entering the private room and shutting it behind you, flipping the switch to lower the curtains to give you even more privacy.

Sitting upright in the hospital bed was was Frank, pouting like a petulant child who had gotten his toy taken away from him. Most of his body was in bandages, and 3/4 of his face was still purple and bruised. You sighed as you walked closer to him and sat on the edge of his bed.

“You know, for a fancy tower, I thought, you know, you guys would have something better than this shitty purple jello,” Frank pouted as he put the cup down on the tray and stared at you. “It’s borderline torture, I would know.”

You hummed, “Well, maybe your tastebuds are broken considering you died about four times before we could land near a hospital for you.”

He blinked, “Okay. Fine. I deserved that one.”

“Uh huh,” you smiled softly. “But maybe something would make it taste better.”

“What’s that?”

You removed your hand from your back and slammed a brown bag down on the tray table. Frank stared at you curiously before a familiar smell filled his nostrils. His heart raced, you could hear it on the machine, and you grinned as he grabbed the bag in disbelief and opened it, “Oh, no you fucking didn’t.”

“Oh, yes, yes I did,” you beamed watching him pull out the sandwich from the bag and sniff it while it was still in its wrapping. “Meatball hero from Parm, extra sauce like you like it.”

Frank groaned as he set it down, “God, I fucking love you princess,” he exclaimed as he ripped open the wrapping. When he realized what he had said, his smile faltered slightly and his hand froze in the air before it came down on his tray table for him to drum on. “I uh,”

“You love me, huh, Frank?” You raised an eyebrow as you studied him. “Because I bring you meatball heroes?”

“No,” He muttered and looked down at the table.

“Well, now isn’t this cute? Shy, bashful Frank Castle. My, my, my, have I died and gone to heaven?”

He groaned, “You’re not funny. You’re such a pain in the ass.”

“Hmm, yeah, I may be, but I’m a pain in the ass that loves you,” you said, watching as he lifted his head ever so slightly to glance at you through the corner of his eye.

“You um, you what?” He asked, reaching up to scratch his head.

“I love you too, Frank Castle,” you smiled and grabbed his hand. “I love you. I wish I didn’t wait so long to say it, but I do. And if it scares you, too bad, you’re still stuck with me.”

“Ah, like a parasite,” Frank teased, sitting up a little taller, al little more confidently as he held your hand. “I love you, Y/N. You drive me crazy.”

You smirked, “I have that affect on people. Now, you gonna give me a bite of that hero, or what?”

“Oh, no, this is for me. Where’s yours?” Frank asked as he unwrapped the sandwich. “‘Cause this is all mine, because I’m hurt, ya know? Got possessed and all. I need this.”

“You won’t share with me?” You laughed, “Rude!”

“Nah, I’m kidding. Come on, put one of my balls in your mouth,” Frank said as he held up the sandwich to you.

You shook your head, “You’re an idiot, Frank Castle.”

“Yup, just another idiot in love. Go figure,” Frank winked at you around a mouthful of food. He leaned forward, ignoring the pain searing though his body as he reached up to cup the back of your head. He pressed his lips against yours, causing you to giggle from tasting the sauce on your lips as he kissed you. “I love you, Y/N. Thanks for saving my ass.”

“Just returning the favor, babe,” you smiled softly and kissed him on the lips. When he pulled away, you snatched his wrist, brought the sandwich to your mouth, and took a massive bite out of it, making him laugh and yell at you that you were abusing an injured man.

After a few minutes of silence, Frank spoke, “I can’t fucking believe Peter fucking Parker is Spider-Man.”

#frank castle #frank castle x reader #frank castle x stark!reader #series: terrible taste in pizza #tony stark #stark!reader #marc spector #steven grant #steve rogers #moon knight #ares #reader #jon bernthal #fic #marvel fic #fanfic #marvel fanfic #series

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accio-victuuri · 3 years

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Xiao Zhan’s reading list 📚

A few works that were seen with him or that he mentioned. In between reading scripts, shooting dramas/ads, performing and all that— GG still finds the time to pick a book up. ✌🏼 If one of your 2022 goals is to read more, maybe there is 1 or 2 things here that you can add on your list!

1. "The Moment When You Don't Have to Talk" - Fan Xiaochun

A reflection of observation and recording of life during her study in the United States and her thinking on the basis of a lot of reading. Different from "Pure" published in 2009, in the new book "A Moment Without Talking", Fan Xiaochun's thinking is more peaceful, more dignified and more open. It is complex in content, including friendship, thoughts, life and death, growth and many other topics, involving literature, philosophy, art, society and other fields; it also has a clear theme, that is: to explore how a person gradually completes himself.

( GG’s post about this book )

I was thinking about getting a book before, but I didn't expect to receive a gift later, the fate is really wonderful; "I've always hoped that one day I'd be honest about my vulnerability and accept giving up and accepting loss is not so much a force of destruction as it is another. "Growing Up" "A Moment Without Talking" - Fan Xiaochun; Thank you for this book being in my moment!

2. "The Three-Body Problem" Liu Cixin

After reading "Three-Body Problem", this feeling was even stronger. He marveled at the author's thoughts (..) the grandeur of cosmic civilization, while checking the information to understand the physics, astronomical knowledge. Xiao Zhan also imagines the appearance of the characters in "The Three-Body Problem", "the appearance of an engineering student. (...), may wear glasses. Must have a super-developed brain and strong hands-on ability, but Probably a life idiot, like Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory."

3. "Tokyo Tower" Lilly Frank

Introduction: Mom, to me, is the most important person in the world. She dedicated her life for me. When I was four years old, she took me away from my father, and mother and son have been dependent on each other ever since. A mom who works in a snack bar for a living, is always busy but never loses a smile on her face; no matter how bad my homework is, a mom who never commented on my report card; I never think about myself when I buy things, but only about me my mother; I am the only mother who can cook several dishes when I eat alone;

4. "I Am a Cat" Natsume Soseki

is a satirical novel written in 1905–1906 by Natsume Sōseki about Japanese society during the Meiji period, particularly the uneasy mix of Western culture and Japanese traditions.

5. "Chinese Children's Encyclopedia"

6. "Winter Journey" Wan Fang

The plot explores themes of regret for past mistakes and redemption. One of its popular lines: "There is no road to sincerity, sincerity itself is the road."

7. "You and Me" Wan Fang

Cao Yu is the master of Chinese modern drama. His daughter, Wan Fang published this memoir, telling her parents' story for the first time

8. "Higuchi Yuko Works" Collection" Higuchi Yuko (Painting Album)

9. "A Maverick Pig" Wang Xiaobo

Wang Xiaobo's collection of essays, contains 44 essays, mainly on knowledge, thought, science, feminism, homosexuality, and several book reviews. Wang Xiaobo's language is humorous and profound, with simple examples and rigorous logic.

10. "The Silent Majority" Wang Xiaobo

This is a collection of essays by Wang Xiaobo, covering a wide range of content the book touches upon topics like social ethics, science and vice, feminism and sex issues, etc. This book brings out Wang Xiaobo's consciousness, wisdom and educated manners, shining with the light of reason. The profound, intelligent, sincere and interesting article promotes important concepts like independent thinking and free will;concepts that people seem to have forgotten about for some reason. This book not only wakes up some silent intellectuals of our time but also pushes many ordinary people to re-examine their own thoughts.

11. "I'm Waiting for You in the Future" Liu Tong

A middle-aged man time travels to the past to become a teacher to his 17-year-old self.

12. "A Matter of Love " Zhang Haochen

A collection of short stories.

13. "The Moon and Sixpence" Somerset Maugham

Tells the story of an English stockbroker, who abandons his family to pursue his desire to become an artist. Partly based on the life of the painter Paul Gauguin.

14. "Beauty and beast" by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont

Beauty and the Beast; tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme... This is the best known version of the original story that inspired Walt Disney’s classic and has been retold countless times and adapted for screen, stage, prose, and television.

15. "The Road Less Traveled" M. Scott Pike

Written in a voice that is timeless in its message of understanding, The Road Less Traveled continues to help us explore the very nature of loving relationships and leads us toward a new serenity and fullness of life. It helps us learn how to distinguish dependency from love; how to become a more sensitive parent; and ultimately how to become one’s own true self. Recognizing that, as in the famous opening line of his book, “Life is difficult” and that the journey to spiritual growth is a long one, Dr. Peck never bullies his readers, but rather guides them gently through the hard and often painful process of change toward a higher level of self-understanding.

16. "问米" Ge Liang

Selected seven suspenseful short and medium masterpieces created by Ge Liang in recent years. In the folk narration of compassion, it is the beauty of life, as well as the strong and impermanent fate of fate. Under the eloquence, you can always see a little mediocre and familiar appearance. They have blurred faces and look like everyone, but they are wrapped in huge secrets and fall into the abyss in the next second. Self-confessed smart, with the belief of breaking the boat and sinking the boat, stepped into the confusion. More people are waiting and watching, and finally follow suit.

17. "Captain Grant's Children" Jules Verne

The book tells the story of the quest for Captain Grant of the Britannia. After finding a bottle the captain had cast into the ocean after the Britannia is shipwrecked, Jack and Lady Glenarvan of Scotland contact Mary and Robert, the young daughter and son of Captain Grant, through an announcement in a newspaper. The government refuses to launch a rescue expedition, but Lord and Lady Glenarvan, moved by the children's condition, decide to do it by themselves.

18. "The Little Prince" Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

A pilot stranded in the desert awakes one morning to see, standing before him, the most extraordinary little fellow. "Please," asks the stranger, "draw me a sheep." And the pilot realizes that when life's events are too difficult to understand, there is no choice but to succumb to their mysteries. He pulls out pencil and paper... And thus begins this wise and enchanting fable that, in teaching the secret of what is really important in life, has changed forever the world for its readers.

19. "Design, Form and Chaos” Paul rand

In this book Paul Rand said to be one of the world's leading graphic designers, speaks about the contemporary practice of graphic design, explaining the processes and passion that foster good design and indicting fadism and trendiness.

20. "The Call of the Wild" Jack London

a short adventure novel by Jack London, published in 1903 and set in Yukon, Canada, during the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush, when strong sled dogs were in high demand. The central character of the novel is a dog named Buck.

21. "Hachiko" Louis Platts

I don’t this needs a summary! Just watch this video. And his now famous line that fans like to quote:

“I think waiting is a romantic word”

youtube

22. "Rain" Vicente Huidobro

This is actually a Poem he read.

youtube

23. "Firefly" Rabindranath Tagore

Another poem he read.

youtube

Sidenote: Heavy breathing cause I love this person’s works 😭😭😭 my gooooddd. I wish he would do UNENDING LOVE which is my personal favorite.

24. "A Dream Like a Dream" Lai Shengchuan

the source material of the play he’s currently on as Patient No. 5

25. "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" Robert ·M. Posig

A narration of a summer motorcycle trip undertaken by a father and his son, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance becomes a personal and philosophical odyssey into fundamental questions on how to live. The narrator's relationship with his son leads to a powerful self-reckoning; the craft of motorcycle maintenance leads to an austerely beautiful process for reconciling science, religion, and humanism. Resonant with the confusions of existence, this classic is a touching and transcendent book of life.

26. Soliloquy of a Lighthouse Keeper by Luis Cernuda

Another poem he read. 🤍

youtube

27. "Design Awakening", Ikko Tanaka,

Ikko Tanaka is the founder of MUJI, this book talks about the function of design work in society, analyzing how there is more to design than what is initially perceived.

28. "Only One Life" Zhou Guoping

One of Zhou Guoping's most recognized collections, a collection of more than 130 American essays on Zhou Guoping's life insights, which are warm, sincere and moving. Whether it is the sadness of his father's death, the complex feelings for his hometown, or the realization of his true temperament, Zhou Guoping's unknown emotional side is revealed more. In life, there is nothing more than traveling alone. Man is the only animal that can question the meaning of his own existence

29. "Robinson Crusoe" Daniel Defoe

Daniel Defoe relates the tale of an English sailor marooned on a desert island for nearly three decades. An ordinary man struggling to survive in extraordinary circumstances, Robinson Crusoe wrestles with fate and the nature of God.

30. "Old Master Q” Wang Ze

is a popular Hong Kong manhua created by Alfonso Wong. The cartoon first appeared in the newspapers and magazines in Hong Kong on February 3, 1962, and later serialised in 1964.[2] The comic is still in publication today, and is the oldest Asian comic series in publication.

31. "My Wildlife Friend" Tippi Benjamin Ocondie De Grey

It mainly tells the touching stories and personal experiences that Tippi wrote after she returned to Paris at the age of 10 when she lived with various wild animals in Africa. At the same time, it was compiled into more than 130 pictures taken by her parents, famous wildlife photographers. The extremely rare pictures are not only amiable and admirable, but also can arouse people's awareness of protecting natural wild animals.

32. "And then they were none" Agatha Christie

Ten people, each with something to hide and something to fear, are invited to an isolated mansion on Indian Island by a host who, surprisingly, fails to appear. On the island they are cut off from everything but each other and the inescapable shadows of their own past lives. One by one, the guests share the darkest secrets of their wicked pasts. And one by one, they die…Which among them is the killer and will any of them survive?

33. “The Storied Life of A.J Fikry” by Gabrielle Zevin

After a series of bad luck, AJ Fikry's life changed when a a mysterious package appears at the bookstore he is working in.

( sidenote : omg i love this book! )

34. A Garden of One’s Own - Zhou Zuoren

Essayist and a translator Zhou Zuoren was a champion of literary reform and was one of the most controversial intellectuals in modern China.

Happy Reading!!!! 🤍

****Updated 1/15/2022

#xiao zhan #i’ve been wanting to make this for so LOOOONNNNGGGG #Youtube #this is my motivation to pick up the three body problem

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perhaps-in-anotherdream · 2 years

Note

Hi I love your translations! I’m new to mqlc can I ask the exact time victor and Mc started dating? Thanks also what are your favourite moments of them together?? ❤️❤️✨💭

Hello! Welcome to the angst-pit of MLQC! I hope you have a great time here! (*´∀｀*)ﾉ❤️

My apologies beforehand because I’m really very terribly short on time -_- so I can’t write an elaborate answer at this very moment :<

As for your first question, I hope you don’t mind. I’m directing you to a similar ask I’ve already answered before: ♡

Ahh as for your next question,

It’s an INCREDIBLY hard question for me to answer in a few words haha. If you’d asked me to list my favorite dates, that’d have been a teensy bit easier tho still a LOOONG list ಥ‿ಥ

Here’s a list regardless (tho there a couple more dates I’d most definitely add to this now, especially the proposal date): ♡♡

I LOVE a great relationship growth with the “certainty”, and so I love EVERY MOMENT of Victor x MC, the growth of their relationship and how far they’ve come since the beginning is absolutely beautiful! 🥺

What’s my most favorite about Victor x MC are their “love languages” – QUALITY TIME! PHYSICAL TOUCH!

The first is the “quality time” – when you read their interactions, you can tell just HOW MUCH they love and treasure each other’s company. It’s a consistent element from the very beginning of their relationship. Now, they are the kind of couple who’d fly from one city to another in between their jam-packed schedule just so they can be with each other for a couple of hours and yes they both do this!

AND PHYSICAL TOUCH!! I LOVE how unabashedly clingy they are and how they are proud of their clinginess LOL.

What I love the most is how effortless they are with each other, their sense of belonging, how frank they are with each other, how everything is so natural for them, like pieces of puzzles that are always supposed to belong together. I love how things are ALWAYS BOTH-SIDED with them.

Anyone familiar with Victor contents knows how true he is to his CN name “李泽言” – the 言 character of his name means “words/statement.” There isn’t a SINGLE Victor date/content where he is NOT making a vow/ commitment to you haha, be it a small or a big one, AND we all know that he makes it come true!!! I love how he’s so attentive to every tiny fragment of MC’s emotions and how he tends to her needs or wishes even without her noticing. 🥺 The reason why you’d often see MC calling Victor “her haven.”

But, what I LOVE THE MOST is, it goes both ways. These meticulous care and vows and commitments are not just from Victor alone. You see MC doing the same, and they both balance each other out in terms of being the initiator to take the next step. WALKING SIDE BY SIDE, HAND IN HAND. 🥺

I’ve always loved how proactive MC is with Victor, and I love how much he not only appreciates it but also encourages and gives her the backing to be bold, to be her own person. I love how neither of them shy away from expressing their feelings, be it happiness or frustration or how much they love each other.

I LOVE how MC doesn’t hesitate to reveal every side of herself to him, and same goes for him as well. I love how MC refers to Victor as the “answer to her life.” 🥺❤️

And I love how they don’t just talk about their future together, THEY’VE TAKEN THE STEPS TO MAKE IT REAL. Taking on the business world as partners and entangling their lives as one!! 🌊 You’ll know what I mean after you’re updated with all of Victor’s dates so far chronologically (including CN ones).

I recommend reading all of his dates to have a better understanding of what I’m trying to convey haha, but if I really had to quote: the dates where all their vows throughout the last 4 years reached the apex: the beginning of the next big step, confirmation of living together, and the proposal – all three dates scream “The entire crucial theme of Victor x MC.”

I really wish I could quote from some dates and chapters, but I don’t have the time right now. Maybe one of these days when I have the time to breathe, I’ll try to compile all of my favorite moments! 🥺❤️

—

#ask

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shieldedreams · 3 years

Text

as the world caves in (f.a.)

summary ⇾ when frank feels like the world is cold, cruel and unforgiving, you’re the warmth he basks in details ⇾ 1,281 words / frank adler x reader / 🌸comforting fluff for our fave boatman notes ⇾ the lil end bit is very much inspired by this post! i saw it and immediately jumped to add that into this lil thing :-)

the night has been tranquil for the most part. certain nights when frank’s cooped up with work (which is a good thing to have business), you’re left to tending to mary. after she’s done with homework, and watching a few math videos too many, you’re tucking her into bed with a kiss to the forehead. her smaller hand reaches out to you, pleading with big blue eyes to hum a soft lullaby. within a couple of minutes, she’s lulling her head back and her grip loosens, allowing you to slip away.

as you close the door behind you, another opens. you tilt your chin up and feel your insides softening at the sight of frank coming in. your lips part to ask him how his day went but seeing how he wordlessly kicks off his shoes, drops his belongings to the side table, you bite down on your tongue.

it’s not until he treads through the walkway and he’s walking directly towards you. frozen, feet glued to the floorboards, you feel like you’ve turned into a statue at the frantic pace frank’s headed.

you don’t have the chance to say anything when his arms reach out for you, almost in a haste. muscular arms slithering around your waist and his face slots in your neck. the scruff of his beard sends the jolts through your spine, his lips quivering against your skin as you try your best to cocoon him. a hand of yours stroke the back of his head tenderly, the other around his shoulders, drawing him as close as he wants to be.

your lips presses a small kiss to his temple as he exhales shakily, tightening his arms around you. the silence hangs heavy on your shoulders. a cloud of tension surrounding in until it’s a thick fog you can’t shake off without trying to clarify... things.

“you okay?” your voice is gentle, fleeting into his ears. the sound of solace that rumbles his ribcage casing his heart. he only shakes his head into your neck. his feet, somehow messing up in coordination as his kneecaps clank against yours before slotting between your own. a frown etches deeper onto your features–though he can’t see it–he clenches his eyes shut in hope to mute the world out except for you.

“okay...” you murmur, attempting to try again with: “you... wanna talk about it?”

another shake of his head. this time, slower, as if he was debating if he should. you understand frank’s a man who doesn’t talk about his problems much. if he could, he’d rather let everything dissolve on his own or solve the equations when he has to. more so when it involves the people he loves; mary, you.

carefully, you try to nudge him back with your hands sliding onto his shoulders. initially, as you grip onto them, he flinches. as if he’s afraid you’re trying to break away from him but when you gradually ease the distance between your bodies just enough for you to reach up to cup his face, he gapes as he gazes into your eyes.

“we don’t have to talk about it then. have a shower and we can lay in bed together?”

at this, frank doesn’t know how to respond with words. how you’re able to decipher his silence as a cry for tender love and care. he has points upon a laundry list of things that was shoved under the rug instead of dealing with them and to have you understand this without pressuring him to let them surface if he doesn’t want to, it meant a lot. he’s been through people who constantly tried to bring them up, that they could change him for the better, reconstruct his perspective in an instant to be an ideal partner. it was the whole ordeal for him to not get into a relationship in the first place.

but you... you who allowed him to go at his own pace. to bring up what he wanted when he was ready and to help mute out whatever he wasn’t... it meant the world. you meant the world.

now as he stands in the hallway, face cradled in your hands as he stares at you silently, he feels like you know what he’s thinking without verbalizing it. only luring him down to connect your lips. easing a kiss that communicates to him patience and willingness to wait, along with reassurance without the alphabets. frank kisses you back–fervently–a hand coming up to lap over yours as he grips onto your hand just as tight.

then he slows, drawing himself back to nod at your suggestion. you let him go, watching him disappear into the bathroom of your shared bedroom. he looks over his shoulder and offers you a small smile before the door closes.

fifteen minutes is all frank needs before he comes out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist. he enters the bedroom, eyes softening at the sight of you in the sheets with his sleeping clothes laid out at the foot of the bed. frank manages as much as a small crooked smile, taking calculated steps to reach where you are.

you slip from the bed, still seated by the edge as frank undoes his towel knot to grab onto a pair of boxers, slipping them on. he watches as you retrieve his discarded towel, hanging it by the rack and you return back in time to ease a loose t-shirt onto his bare body. just as his head pokes through the neckline, sleeves, his smile is brushed off due to the tiredness from within but man, did he feel a lot of things the second you reappear in his line of sight.

he focuses on it one by one.

the strands of baby hair falling between your eyes as your hands smoothen on his shoulders, squeezing him gently. the sparks in your irises as you comb your fingers through his slightly damp locks. then to your thumb brushing his jaw, your skin delicately going over his beard.

altogether, it brews gently. taking over with warmth; seeping into his veins, calming him down in every possible way. so much that the coldness he felt earlier, felt like nothing. you were like his personal sun, moon, everything.

he reaches out to hold onto you as you guide him to bed. your attempt to gotta switch off the lights first, frank is dissolved when frank pins you down onto the bed and falls between your legs. his head finds purchase on your chest, buried against your flesh as his arms snake beneath your figure resting on the mattress.

almost naturally, your bodies melt together when one of your arms drape over frank’s back and the other reaches up to caress his head. like a mantra that coaxes his tensed muscles. your voice, a sweet tune that renders his eyes to flutter shut as he squeezes you tight. he’s as close to you as possible, glued to the hip and it’s only a few passing minutes that you hear quiet sounds of frank sleeping against you.

it makes you smile, leaning down to your best ability to press a kiss to the crown of his head as he falls deeper into unconsciousness on you.

frank knows that when he wakes up, you’ll still be here. in a different position than he fell asleep in, knowing he’d have rolled over and still have you with him. it didn’t matter. as long as he wakes up and you’re here with him, he didn’t mind having the world caving in around him.

as long as he had you.

as long as you were here with him.

#frank adler #frank adler fanfic #frank adler fics #frank adler x reader #frank adler x you #frank adler x y/n

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undiscovered-horizon · 2 years

Note

Hello! For 500 followers special 🤩 Would like to request promt 5 for Billy Russo. Thinking about him and a warweary witch from the Harry Potter universe. Of course, no pressure what so ever if it's not something to tickle your own interest 😃

Hey, love! I decided to change it up a bit and I'm presenting war-weary Billy Russo missing home. Hope you enjoy it❤️

The prompt comes from "Behind the clouds" by yaeow.

Also I have made the prompt list into a spotify playlist!

>>500 special playlist<<

[Check out the 500 followers special!]

_________

Billy is a punctual man. If something is supposed to be done at 10:00 AM, it gets done at 10:00 AM sharp, not a minute earlier or past. And although you love that about him, only adding to his general trustworthiness, it makes you sick while he's on deployment because there is no telling when he will be able to make a phonecall and even if he promises to call you at a certain time, it wouldn't be surprising that an emergency arises and he is needed elsewhere.

So there you sit, sleepy and nervous, staring at your phone laying on the bedside table. The alarm clock next to it reads 7:00 AM. Billy calls you once a week, like clockwork, but this week he's running late. The sound of morning traffic outside is unbearable.

When the screen of the phone lights up, your hands are answering the call before your mind registered something was going on.

"Hello, princess." It sounds like he's smiling. "How you doin'?" His own voice is groggy, he probably didn't get much sleep if any at all.

"I've been laying all night, waiting for your call," you confess.

"Careful, I might think you're in love with me." He chuckles on the other side, suddenly remembering the time the two of you were casually dating and too nervous to admit your love for each other. Back then the two of you would stay up until the early hours of the day talking. You can hear a mumbled second voice in the distance as if someone was saying something to Billy. "Frank says hi."

"How you holding up, love?"

Billy waits a moment to answer, you can hear his deep breath through the phone. It's hard to imagine how difficult things are for him. In a way, you're grateful that you can't relate to him.

"Still breathing," he gives you a bitter laugh. A silence falls again before he adds in a quieter yet more certain tone: "I'm not doing another tour. I've done my part."

The sudden news took words out of your mouth. Billy has always seemed like hierarchy and clear rules were the ideal environment for him but, as it is with gut-wrenching paths in life, there is only so much a man can take. And it requires both strength and self-respect to admit you've reached your limit.

You cast your eyes to the alarm clock on the bedside table - 7:10 AM. You're running out of time.

"I miss you," you admit quietly, unable to fight back the tears that flooded your eyes.

"I know," he answers in an equally quiet, somber tone. "I miss you too, so damn much. It's just a year, alright?" he says as if it made anything better. "Just a year and I'm not leaving you anymore."

"You come home safe, okay?" your voice shakes. "I love you."

"Love you too, princess. Get some rest."

A low, repetitive beeping marks the end of the call as well as the beginning of another hopelessly silent week.

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theyellowvagabond · 4 years

Text

TW POLICE BRUTALITY; MURDER

https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2020/12/21/Paniqui-Tarlac-police-shooting-Jonel-Nuezca-Sonya-Frank-Gregorio.html

I know most, if not all of my follwers are not in the Philippines, but it happened again. Frank Gregorio and Sonya Gregorio has been murdered by another policeman, Jonel Nuezca, who was meant to protect them. This is yet another incident in a long list that our government is doing absolutely nothing about. In fact, Duterte has promised that “he won’t let any police go to jail.” They refuse to wear body cams because, according to Chief Superintendent Joseph Abnol: “our body cams is god himself.”

The video made me sick to my stomach, but for all of those who want to know what happened, the victims, Jonel, and his daughter was involved in an altercation. Things escalated when Jonel’s daughter and Sonya got into a heated argument. His daughter proudly proclaimed: “My father is a policeman.” Sonya replied that she doesn’t care. At that point, Jonel pulls his gun out and says “want me to end you right now?” He then shoots both Sonya and Frank Gregorio point black in front of his daughter.

This has become part of the police culture in the Philippines. There are two other cases against Jonel Nuezca involving homicide, one in May of 2019 and another December 2019. Both were dismissed due to “lack of evidence.” He has killed before and they let him go. The police let loose a murderer because he was one of them. Police brutality should not be part of the Philippines culture, but Duterte’s administration and his willingness to kill has emboldened police like Jonel Nuezca to use their authority as they see fit. Worse is that there’s still people who refuse to hold the police accountable.

They’re now calling it an isolated case.

I know most of the people who sees this will not be Filipino, but please talk about this. Please spread this as far as possible. Don’t let them sweep this under the rug again, because they will. Don’t let them forget that Sonya and Frank has been murdered. That a cop murdered a mother trying to protect his child in order to spoil his daughter. Don’t let them call activists “terrorists” while police are out shooting any unarmed civilian they see.

#StopTheKillingsPh

#JusticeforSonyaGregorio

#JusticeforFrankGregorio

Edit: I wanted to add that the original video is spreading like wildfire right now. It is incredibly graphic and I recommend you to not watch if it you know you'll be affected negatively by it.

#police brutality #all cops are bastards #philippines #stopthekilling #ipis lahat ng police #triggering content #content warning

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mieohmy · 3 years

Text

𝖪𝗂𝗌𝗌, 𝖪𝗂𝗌𝗌, 𝖬𝖺𝗒𝖻𝖾 𝖥𝖺𝗅𝗅 𝗂𝗇 𝖫𝗈𝗏𝖾? | 𝖫𝖾𝖾 𝖩𝖾𝗇𝗈

PAIRING: lee jeno x reader

GENRE: fluff, humor, slight angst, friends-to-lovers, beginning relationship! au, slice of life! au, boyfriend! jeno

WC: 2.8k

NOTES: none

SUMMARY: in which jeno tries (and sadly fails) to kiss you five times, but he’ll never give up -no matter how oblivious you may seem to his advances.

⇒ part of the five days a week special.

#1.

Jeno doesn’t believe in love at first sight. Sure, you can develop an attraction or those flutters and all, but there’s none of that immediate, deep connection bull that some people talk about.

So, it’s perfectly fine for him to say that after being in a month-long relationship, he really likes you.

And no, it wasn’t one of those immediate pulls when he first laid eyes on you. Well, perhaps he did harbor a secret attraction that lasted for a while before he finally gathered the courage to ask you out after a year of being friends, but even so, jeno liked you then and he likes you even more now.

He likes being in a relationship with you- occasionally doing some of those couple things together, getting used to being with one another in a different, more intimate way -simply enjoying each other’s presence.

It’s only been a month of dating after all.

“A month?”

“...yeah?”

“And you’ve known them for how long?”

Jeno scratches his head, recalling back as far as he can. It surprises him how little he’s actually known you compared to how long he feels like he’s known you. “Maybe a year or so?”

Haechan raises an eyebrow in surprise. “Have you kissed yet?”

“What? Um...... no?”

He suddenly sits up, eyes boring into jeno. “You haven’t kissed yet? And you’ve known them for that long?”

Jeno frowns, annoyed at himself for actually feeling self-conscious at first. “I mean, I just said we started dating around a month ago.”

“Dude, it’s just kissing. If I were them, I’d be worried if you still hadn’t kissed me- like maybe wondering if there was some deeper reason you didn’t do it yet.”

“Don’t you want to, though?” Haechan adds after a second thought.

Or maybe it wasn’t dumb to feel that way.

Jeno fidgets in his seat. “Maybe? Y-yeah, I guess. I never really thought about it yet, we’re kinda just going at our own pace..”

He knows haechan means no harm, but after that day, he can’t help but get nervous whenever he sees you, overthinking every single thing you do- wondering if it’s a sign that you want him to kiss you.

Do you really want to?

Are you waiting for him to kiss you?

It’s consuming and distracting- it’s not hard for you to catch on that something's obviously bothering jeno.

“Is there something wrong?”

Jeno automatically shakes his head, quickly taking your hand in his as you walk down the street together.

“Nah, I’m fine.”

You glance at your joined hands before looking back at jeno. “You sure?”

He internally starts to panic, hands beginning to get sweaty. Is this a sign? Should he take the chance?

Jeno licks his lips nervously, stopping you in the middle of the sidewalk.

He quickly makes up his mind- he’s gonna do it now.

To be frank, jeno didn’t have any clue what he was doing, especially not when you were staring up at him expectantly after he stopped the both of you randomly.

Letting his instincts take over, he hopes that you catch onto his body language- one of his arms hovering behind you to bring you closer, eyes slowly closing and face moving closer in an attempt to find their way to yours.

But while trying so hard, he failed to notice that you really hadn’t caught onto his signals.

And to add onto that, as jeno leans closer and closer, unaware of what was really going on, someone calls your name from some places away and seeing how you’re already not paying attention to jeno’s advances, you turn away from him at the sound, searching for the source of your name being shouted.

Which left jeno to lean farther and farther, wondering as to why he hasn’t come into contact with anything yet, only to open his eyes too late and find the ground much closer than it should’ve been. And, as expected, he abruptly loses his balance and stumbles to the ground as you quickly turn back around and gasp in horror at the sight.

“Oh my god, jeno. Are you okay?!?”

He groans, still on the ground. Yes, he was perfectly okay, but after falling on his face after failing to kiss you in public, maybe he was a little hurt. (and a little embarrassed.)

#2.

Your face is so close to his, this must mean something, right?

It wasn’t jeno’s fault that he tried to give his cats a bath and they freaked out (as per usual), but this time, they, unfortunately, got the face.

You immediately brought a hand to cup over your mouth after witnessing the bright pink scratches on jeno’s pretty face when he showed up at your door, present with a sheepish eyesmile.

You practically dragged him in, forcing him to sit on the toilet seat as you obtained a first-aid kit.

His breath hitches as you hover over him, leaning closer to his face, eyebrows furrowed as you concentrate intently on cleaning the scratches. Silence fills the bathroom as jeno tries his best to stifle hisses and sounds of pain- his cats were certainly cute but deadly.

As he watches you work, eventually, his eyes flick down to your lips, and it’s the only thing he can focus on in sight as your face is so close to his, unmoving.

Alarms go off in his head- this is another golden opportunity.

He braces himself, this time making sure he isn’t going to slip off the toilet seat or anything beforehand, internally preparing himself as he begins to close the distance once more.

“I’m done!” You say in such a satisfied and bright tone, it surprises jeno as he almost flinches and his eyes fly open, staring at you and trying his best to keep his mouth from dropping open.

You stare back with a confused albeit cute grin, eyes wide and questioning at his sudden strange act.

You must’ve not noticed, he thinks mournfully, watching as you pack up the first aid kit, unbothered.

Jeno unconsciously sighs, following you out of the bathroom with a slight pout. Attempt number two, fail...

#3.

After seeing how the last two attempts went, jeno contemplates just straight up asking if he could kiss you.

If you weren’t able to catch on the last two times, maybe just simply informing you beforehand would be easier, right?

Famous last words.

But it proves to be harder than he thinks.

Much harder.

Throughout the whole time at your place together, eating dinner and watching movies, jeno just can’t do it. Every time there’s an open chance for him to ask you, he constantly chickens out.

He watches you eat your food-not in a creepy way- smiling when he notices some food at the corner of your mouth.

This is it. After helping you, hopefully, you get the memo, and then jeno can ask you -and it’s all smooth sailing from there.

He finishes chewing before speaking up, taking his chance. “Y/n, you have something on your lips.”

You blink, trying to hide your embarrassment by quickly searching for your napkin.

This is it.

Jeno takes his own napkin, reaching over the table to help you. You freeze as he helps wipe your mouth, touch soft and gentle.

Jeno pauses after finishing, looking into your eyes hesitantly. “C-can I ki-“

The sound of your phone ringing cuts through the air, and jeno can only stand there, dumbfounded, as you excuse yourself with an apologetic smile.

He doesn’t even move an inch from his position, still hovered over the table towards your seat where you were sitting just a few minutes earlier until someone just had to call you and interrupt the moment.

After finishing, you make your way back towards him, patting the top of his head, to which he unfreezes at.

“Sorry jen, what were you about to say?”

He swallows, avoiding eye contact. It was too late, the moment was over.

“Nothing, it wasn't important.”

If anything, he feels more embarrassed and more anxious afterward at how he failed to ask you such a simple question.

After dinner, jeno joins you on the couch as you scroll through the list of movies and shows to watch tonight.

“Hmm... what do you think?”

Jeno doesn’t reply, lost in his thoughts and still working up the confidence to ask you four mere words-

can i kiss you?

“Jeno?” You repeat his name several times until his head shoots towards you, eyes wide. “Yes? Did you say something?”

“Yeah, uh, is there a specific movie or show you wanted to watch?”

Jeno quickly shakes his head, offering you to choose for tonight.

He bites his lip when you eventually find and start one, scooting closer to him and enjoying his warmth. But you don’t say anything, and jeno’s left alone to lose himself in his thoughts.

And throughout the whole movie, his mind is far away, still trying to find the perfect moment to ask. But it doesn’t seem like there’ll ever be a perfect moment- not when you’re so focused on the movie and oblivious to your surroundings.

When it seems like there’s finally a break part in the movie, jeno clears his throat.

“H-hey, y/n...”

“Yeah?” You murmur distractedly.

“I- uh, well,” he stutters.

You finally turn, attention fully on jeno now.

And he panics. “Uh-yeah, I need to use the restroom...”

He wants to punch himself as soon as those words leave his mouth.

You cock an eyebrow, amused. “Okay? You can just go, you know, there’s no need to tell me.”

He shyly nods, face ablaze while hoping you can’t tell in the darkness of the room as he makes his escape.

Why is this proving to be so much harder than he thought?

He gives himself a quick pep talk in the bathroom before coming out and returning to your side, letting out a sigh in the process.

Meanwhile, as much as you were indeed invested in the movie, you didn’t fail to take note of jeno’s behavior.

His body language and actions made it obvious that he wasn’t paying attention to the movie, leaving you to unconsciously pout.

Jeno falters at the sight of your puckered lips- is this another one of your tricks or?

He’s obviously paying no mind to the movie- he had absolutely no clue what was even going on- but he goes for it, mouth opening to ask one last time, but you beat him before he can say anything.

“Are you okay, Jen?”

He coughs awkwardly. “Huh? What do you mean? I’m perfectly fine?”

You glance from the animated screen and back to jeno. “I mean... it doesn’t look like you’re paying attention to the movie. Are you not enjoying it?”

Jeno abruptly protests, deciding to give up on the kiss for tonight and just focus on enjoying the time he has with you today. But he still can’t help but feel a sense of defeat and failure, like he wasn’t able to meet your or his own expectations.

You frown, obliviously shaking your head with a sigh. Your jeno, too much of a sweetheart to just tell you the truth that he doesn’t like the movie.....

#4.

It’s been a while since jeno’s tried to do anything, although the thought has never left his mind.

It’s always in the back of his head, getting more and more prevalent as time goes on with you.

If you never mentioned anything about it, that must mean you don’t mind not having kissed yet, right?

Right?

He shakes his head, trying to clear it of any thoughts and focus on cooking with you- which you randomly suggested one day for him to come over and help.

You easily welcome him into your apartment, and jeno’s eyes automatically land on the couch in the living room- where his attempts to kiss you miserably failed just a few weeks ago.

He swerves away, urging a startled you to the kitchen to start cooking.

“What are we making?”

You hum, tapping your fingers on the kitchen counter. “I dunno, anything works.”

Jeno bites back a laugh, staring at you with an endeared gaze. “So you invited me over here not knowing what we were gonna eat?”

You shrug sheepishly, taking out matching aprons for you both to put on. “Well, you know I wanted to get better at cooking, plus I just missed you too so...”

He lets himself laugh at that, quickly helping you tie the back of your apron. He hesitates while finishing the knot, should he do it now?

No, jeno thinks, be patient. It’ll happen when it happens.

You decide on pasta- a simple recipe that you could easily learn and somehow had all the ingredients to in a non-cooking household.

“Teach me your ways, master chef,” you joke.

He boops your nose with his finger, playfully guiding you to the sink. “Alright, my first task for my first apprentice.”

He places an onion on the table in front of you. “Wash and cut an onion.”

You nod determinedly, exhaling through your nose. “Okay, I got this.”

He smiles adoringly, letting you start as he works on boiling the noodles.

But he didn’t expect for you to call out, “I’m done!” a mere three minutes later, a satisfied look on your face. Jeno raises his eyebrows, making his way over to you. “You’re fast.”

You stand by your work with a proud grin.

Jeno blinks.

And you wait, slowly becoming more and more confused as jeno doesn’t say anything.

“Y/n,” he slowly starts.

“Yeah?”

“Did you not peel the onion?”

Your mouth drops to a surprised ‘o’.

Jeno tries his hardest to hold it in, looking down at your disheveled mess of onion slices and biting his lip.

But he can’t.

He bursts out laughing, instinctively bringing you closer to him as he wipes away his tears- from laughing or the onions he isn’t sure.

You stutter in his hold, trying to come up with a reasonable response, but eventually giving up and joining him in his flurry of laughter.

He glances at you in the heat of the moment and the sight of you laughing so carefree, eyes sparkling, makes his breath hitch.

And all of a sudden, he gets the urge to kiss you.

And not fail this time.

He gulps, pulling you even closer to him by the edges of your apron.

And your laughter slowly dies down as you realize the change in the atmosphere, jeno staring at you with a much more intense gaze than before.

He leans in, slowly but with much more confidence now that your attention was actually on him.

Your eyes widen before involuntarily closing, heart pounding.

This is it, he thinks, slowly but surely closing the space between you two.

And jeno feels the ghost of your lips on his-

before the doorbell rings.

You jump back, startled and breathless, while jeno freezes, utterly astounded and speechless.

He curses the delivery man, ringing on your doorbell with the wrong package for the wrong address.

Needless to say, jeno went home defeated without a kiss that night.

#5.

Jeno has given up.

So many failed attempts- it’s like the universe simply doesn’t want him to kiss you.

The whole night when you’re all out together with your friends, he never leaves your side.

And his gaze never leaves your lips, either.

He tries to be discreet, hoping that you don’t notice, and jeno believes he has succeeded when by the end of the night, where everyone’s saying their goodbyes and leaving, you haven’t mentioned a single thing.

When just about everyone’s gone, you pull Jeno back, causing him to let out a startled noise, watching you with a confused face.

And then you plant both of your hands on either side of his cheek.

Jeno’s insides start to churn, mind whirling. What’s going on?

And his answer is in the form of a soft kiss on his lips.

You pull back a few seconds later, a determined look on his face.

“I know you’ve been trying to kiss me.”

His mouth drops open.

“And if you wanted to do it so bad, you should’ve just said so.”

His brain malfunctions, trying to find the right words while also processing what just happened.

“well... can we do it again then?”

✢

No, jeno still doesn’t believe in love at first sight.

But whenever he lays his eyes on you- from the first time he met you as friends, until a year later in a happy relationship- jeno can say that without a doubt, he loves you.

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