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sazc94 · 3 years

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Pietro and Bunny

HELLO

Here is my second entry for the wonderful @msmarvelwrites 2k Challenge.

This a spin-off from my Bucky fic: The three times Bucky broke your heart. Part 1 linked Here.

It follows the same timeline and explores the relationship of Pietro and Reader (Bunny) More.

Words 6034

Themes. Angst, Suggestions of smut. But mostly lots and lots of fluff. 18+ Because of the smut suggestions.

This has two parts and I will upload part 2 tomorrow.

𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐲?"

Pietro thought you were pretty cool. He thought you and Bucky made a great couple. He enjoyed hanging out with you when you would all hang out as a group. Pietro wasn’t one for girlfriends. Sure he’d had a few semi-serious flings and would occasionally bring a date to the parties after a game and loved how you would instantly make anyone feel welcome. He couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment he started to think of you as more than a friend. It was sometime during his senior year.

At first, he pushed the idea out of his head. You were Bucky’s girl Y/N! You were the cute shy girl Bucky had brought out of her shell, who was still deep down that adorable musical theatre-loving dork. However, when Bucky started getting defensive around him and Sam about who he was texting, Pietro stopped feeling so bad about liking you of course Pietro would never do anything to jeopardize your relationship with Bucky and his friendships with either of you, but he couldn’t help but feel a tang of jealousy towards Bucky.

2010

“Look at Bucky, can’t go 5 minutes without texting his little cheerleader,” Sam said walking up behind Pietro. Bucky was too engrossed in his phone to pay any attention to the pair of them. Pietro smirked.

“Sam, watch this” Pietro said, before breezing over to Bucky and pulling his phone out of his hands. Bucky instantly shot up trying to grab the phone from Pietro, however, he was too quick throwing the phone to Sam.

“Dear Doll, I love you so much and all thought I only saw you this morning, I am already missing you” Pietro sang in a teasing manner.

“Come on guy’s give it back” Bucky grunted. Sam and Pietro kept throwing the phone between them. Suddenly Sam stopped laughing.

“Hey Buck, who’s Nat and why is she asking if you’re going to be around this summer?” Sam asked his eyebrow shooting up. Bucky’s façade faltered for a second. His usual bright blue eyes deepening with an unfamiliar expression. Pietro’s interest was also piqued, he may have wanted you for himself but that didn’t mean he wanted to see you get hurt.

“Oh, she’s just a friend of Jane’s. I met her at that party after our game in Green Bay last year she’s a cheerleader like Jane and Y/N. Natasha and her boyfriend Clint will be in town the summer and she wants to introduce us apparently her boyfriend was impressed with how we played” Bucky said, shrugging it off like it was no big deal. After that incident, Bucky was on his phone around the football team less and started talking about how much he loved you and couldn’t wait to spend some quality time with you in the summer.

November 2011

By the time graduation rolled around Pietro had put any thoughts about the pair of you out of his mind, chalking it up to wanting a relationship as opposed to you. At least that’s what he kept telling himself. You came along to his graduation ceremony. Well, it was for everyone. Pietro, Sam, Wanda, Jane, and Carol. Bucky came along too. Late. But you were there with Peter Parker who was a freshman, he had talent, but he seemed to prefer being behind a camera as opposed to on the field.

The whole gang hung around the field and bleachers after the ceremony. Goofing off and enjoying the last time the group would all be together like this for a while. Peter took photos of you all. Pietro’s favourite was one where he and Sam had picked you up whilst you were in the middle of talking to Carol and Wanda. The laughter that came out of your mouth as you squealed and shouted for the two footballers to put you down made his heart flutter.

Okay so maybe he wasn’t as over you as he told himself he was. Now he could understand what that Taylor Swift was banging on about in that song of hers.

Have you ever thought just maybe?

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Bucky’s girl,” he said grinning at you. For some stupid reason, probably because Pietro didn’t know what to do with his hands, he ruffled your hair like you were 5 again. He couldn’t help but notice you wince at the old pet name. He mentally kicked himself. Why had he called you that?!

Graduation was the last time he saw you for over a year. Unlike Bucky, Pietro had actually been away at a football camp when Bucky had cheated on you. He didn’t know what had happened. Only knew you two had broken up. Wanda was fiercely protective of her friendship with you and didn’t want to betray you by admitting to those that didn’t know that Bucky had cheated on you. He wasn’t going to lie; he was saddened when you didn’t stay in touch with him after he graduated. But after he started his first year at the University of Michigan, he didn’t have much time to worry about it. He was a Line Backer having secured a football scholarship after college scouts came to see Sam and a few others play, Pietro had caught the eye of the scout from the University of Michigan, all though he was a great player, Pietro didn’t want to play professionally like many of the guys on the team. He was studying Business and Economics.

Since about the age of 15, he and Wanda had always planned on going into business together. Between parties, flirting with the pretty cheerleaders and sorority girls and his studies you became a distant memory to Pietro. That was until one November game in his second year.

The Wolverines were playing the Wisconsin Badgers. Boy did they suck. Not that Pietro minded it allowed him the opportunity to watch the cheerleaders, he knew a few of the girls on the team from various parties, he hadn’t paid much attention to the new girls on the squad. Then out of the corner of his eye, he spotted someone who looked familiar to him. Could it be Y/N? Wanda had mentioned something about you getting a scholarship at Uni for your cheerleading, but he’d been in the middle of a game of Mario Kart with Sam at the time.

He tried to rack his brain’s but then the ball came towards him. He smiled to himself. Showtime Pietro. The game was an easy win. Whilst his teammates cheered Pietro made his way to the side-lines, desperate to know if the girl he’d seen earlier was you. His heart skipped a beat when he heard your familiar laugh. He couldn’t believe it. Pietro came jogging up towards you determined to chat.

“It’s just Y/N” or you can call me cutie you said winking at Pietro, he chuckled.

“How about I just call you tomorrow?” he retorted, you felt yourself blush. Pietro may come across as confident but inside he was shaking with nerves. Was he really doing this? What if you said no? You shrugged before pulling out a sharpie from your bag, you wrote down your number on his arm. He cocked his head puzzled.

“I changed it last year after Bucky wouldn’t stop blowing it up with apology texts,” you said simply wrongly presuming Pietro knew what had gone down. Before Pietro could respond you ran off to join the rest of your squad and headed for the changing room. He couldn’t help but smile to himself as your laughter rang in his ears whilst you walked off the pitch.

“Pietro! What’s good? How’d your game go tonight?” Sam asked. He sounded buzzed and Pietro could hear the faint sounds of a party in the background. Excellent he thought to himself. Sam was buzzed enough to have loose lips but not drunk enough to be of no use and if he was lucky Sam might not even remember half the conversation.

Pietro got back to his apartment, he had zero clues about what had gone on with you and Bucky. It was obvious due to your remark about him blowing up your phone with apology texts that he’d done something. He weighed up his options. Wanda or Sam? Wanda was his twin, and he knew deep down if he pulled the twin card she would tell him, but then if nothing came of this, he would be opening a can of worms with his sister over nothing.

Then there was Sam, he was still pretty close with Bucky and liked to chat a lot. But ultimately, he was like a brother to Pietro, and he trusted Sam to keep his mouth shut. Taking a deep breath and raking his hand through his Silver-blonde hair he picked up his phone and dialled Sam.

“So Sam you’ll never guess who I ran into cheering on the side-lines of the game!?” Pietro tried to sound breezy and cool like it was no big deal, despite the fact he was about to ask his friends ex out on a date.

“ I ran into Y/N. You know Bucky’s girl?” Pietro carried on forcing his voice to sound light. Sam choked on his drink down the other end of the line.

“I wouldn’t let her hear you call her that. That boy broke her damn heart, the fool” Sam said, there was an edge to his voice that Pietro almost missed.

“Wait, what do you mean?” Pietro asked genuinely curious.

“Well remember that little party your sister threw that last week of summer whilst you were away at football camp with some of your new teammates?” Sam asked. He didn’t wait for Pietro to respond before he continued.

“Well, Jane brought her friend Nat along” Sam continued. Pietro took a sharp intake of breath. No, Bucky wouldn’t have been stupid enough to kiss her at a party with your mutual friends, would he?

“Well turns out that Clint guy Bucky talked about wasn’t her boyfriend he was just a really good friend. But by the time we found that out Jane realised both Bucky and this Nat chick hadn’t been seen for at least a good 15, 20 minutes. So, she went to go find Nat. Only to walk in on them fucking. Oh yeah, it was on your bed bro”, Sam finished his story like it was no big deal. Other than the telling disdain in his voice.

Pietro stood stunned. No wonder you had winced at the use of your old nickname. Pietro’s heart broke for you at that moment. He vowed at that moment that no matter what happened between you both, he would do everything in his power to ensure you never had to feel heartbreak like that again.

Pietro will never forget that first date with you. He had come up with some lame excuse of showing you the best-hidden beauty spots of the campus. Not that there were any, he just wanted an excuse to spend some time with you. He wore jeans and a jumper with his beat-up converse.

All though it didn’t look like he had put much effort into his outfit he had spent a good hour agonising over it. In the end, he settled for a faded blue jumper hoping it would make his eyes and hair pop. He met you by the school library and the sun was shining, it was still a chilly November mid-morning.

You had turned up with your hair tied up in a messy bun a few stray pieces framing your cheeks, you had opted for a sweater dress. He remembered because it was loose and comfy but sinched inwards in all the right places. It was a silvery colour almost the same shade his hair was. Pietro swore you took his breath away.

Winter Break 2011

“And that right there is where the fraternity pledges had to stand and sing, I’m a little teapot every time someone put 10$ in the bucket. I didn’t truly understand the strange British Nursery Song or whatever it was, but I did like watching the pledges get embarrassed every time they had to sing when the cute cheerleaders walked past. So, I put 40 Bucks in the bucket when I knew the 3rd Years would be heading to practise” Pietro said pointing to the school statue.

You had nearly fallen over laughing at his story. Pietro noticed how you scrunched your nose up when you laughed. Like a rabbit. No like a Bunny. When Pietro walked you back to your dorm, he wasn’t sure if he was going to kiss you, but when you let him hold your hand, he decided at that moment he would regret it more if he didn’t take the plunge.

The moment he knew he was yours and you were his was at a party, he’d taken you on lots of hot chocolate dates, he knew you didn’t like coffee because it tasted bitter to you and that coca was nice, but you preferred the sweet comfort of a creamy hot chocolate.

It was at a party being held by the Ice Hockey team to celebrate their latest string of wins. You didn’t come to parties often preferring the comfort of a book and a cosy night in, but you always tried to attend parties after the football matches. You walked in wearing a red top and black skinny jeans.

The top wasn’t super low cut, but it hinted at your cleavage, you’d left your hair down for a change in loose curls. You’d recently gotten your hair dyed a deep chocolate brown and it brought out your eyes. Pietro nearly lost his damn mind when his Ice-blue eyes met your chocolate brown eyes after he’d drank all of you in. He excused himself from the conversation he was having with Scott Summers and co making his way over to you.

“Bunny, you look good enough to eat,” Pietro said dipping his head down to meet your lips, your lips were always so warm and welcoming a stark comparison to his cool lips.

“Bunny?” You replied scrunching your nose up. This was the first time Pietro had called you a pet name, you felt your heart somersault.

Pietro was messaging his sister on the drive home. He could tell you had something on your mind, but he knew better than to push you.

“So,” you began.

“What’s up Bunny?” Pietro asked snapping his eyes up from his phone.

“Well, I just thought now might be a good time to talk, we’re clearly going to run into a lot of our old friends, and there’s no way Wanda won’t know something is going on here, and I, I saw your lock screen,” you said. Well yeah Pietro thought, was he meant to be keeping you guys a secret? He didn’t want to, and he had just assumed you were a couple. You did couple type things, watching movies together curled up, holding hands when you guys were out together.

“So you were wondering what we are?” Pietro’s couldn’t hide the amusement in his voice. God, you were adorable. He watched your demeanour change and felt a pang of guilt, the determination in your eyes as you tried to not show that you felt embarrassed.

“Hey Bunny, look at me” Pietro grabbed your hand, wanting you to know how much he truly meant the next few words.

“We are a couple. I’m sorry you felt the need to ask, but I adore you, so we are a thing,” he said stroking circles on the back of your hand. You smiled and nodded to yourself. Pietro held on to your hand stroking circles the rest of the traffic. He couldn’t wait to tell Wanda she was wrong about him never getting serious with anyone.

“Hey Wanda, have you got a second?” Pietro and Wanda were heading out to meet up with you and the rest of the old school gang who had made it home for the Winter Break in the local coffee shop.

“Sure brother, what’s up?” she asked shrugging on her red jacket and lacing up her boots.

“So, you know that girl I told you I was seeing?” Pietro asked, you two hadn’t said if you were going to tell people or just let them figure it out, but he at least wanted to give his twin a heads up. Wanda straightened her brown hair falling behind her ears. She impatiently cocked an eyebrow waiting for her twin to continue. They were going to be late at this rate.

“Well, you know her. In Fact, you’re good friends” Pietro continued sucking in his breath.

“If you mean to tell me you’re dating Y/N, I already know brother”, Pietro froze. “I’m happy for you, but if you break her heart like that James did, I will not hesitate to kill you and hide the body” she continued.

“How did you know?” Pietro couldn’t help but ask, you guys hadn’t been a secret, but you hadn’t exactly announced it to the world either.

“I’m good at reading people Pietro” Wanda shrugged before heading out the door.

“You sly dog,” Sam said chuckling. Just then Peter turned up. Sam’s comment hadn’t escaped you, so you simply shot Pietro a quizzical look, one of your eyebrows arched. Pietro gently shook his head. He’d tell you about the phone call later.

It was great hanging out with the old gang, shame about Carol, and Jane being unable to make it back. Bucky was dating that Natasha chick and hadn’t come home from the holidays. Evidently, this wasn’t a surprise to Sam or Wanda. Pietro however was a bit taken back. That was until he heard how his sister had almost killed Bucky when she had run into him last summer. Carol had had to restrain her. Pietro couldn’t lie he was kind of bummed to miss it.

Pietro and Wanda didn’t celebrate Christmas, but they did celebrate being around people they loved and as the four of you sat around waiting for Peter Parker to make an appearance, he couldn’t help but feel his heart swell. You hadn’t even reacted to the mentions of Bucky. The way your brown eyes lit up when you teased Sam about his poor season or crinkled your nose when Wanda complimented your new hair, made Pietro come completely undone. Not being able to restrain himself anymore he leant in and kissed you, a slow soft kiss. The taste of your gingerbread cookie and peppermint hot chocolate lingering on your lips. When Pietro pulled away, he shot Sam a wink, and you promptly turned crimson. Sam just sat there gawking. Pietro watched as Sam tried to piece together his hazy memory from that phone call.

2012

Pietro absolutely adored the photo you had gotten him for Christmas, displaying it on his bedside table proudly. He had brought you a stuffed bunny for Christmas, cheesy but it made you beam at him.

“A Bunny for my Bunny” Pietro said shooting you his signature grin. Your heart constricted; it was an adorable soft fluffy powder blue bunny.

After winter break things got crazy busy. The year also seemed to rush by, between keeping on top, your rehearsals for the play. Pietro’s football practises, football matches, nationals for your cheerleading competition. It felt like you had barely any time to breathe. Pietro always looked forward to football games, not because he loved playing which he did, no it was because when you were cheering your face lit up, you always had his number painted on your cheek. Your brown hair always pulled up in a high ponytail, accentuating your big beautiful brown eyes that always looked for Pietro’s ice-blue eyes on the field. Mostly he loved the looks of jealousy he would get from the other team when players would be checking you out. Pietro would always come over for a kiss for good luck when he wasn’t on the field. You always giggled about how Mr cool; the confident cocky big-time football player was such a dork around you. Pietro was fast, sometimes your eyes couldn’t quite make out his movements, all you would see was a flash of his silver-blonde hair that peeked out under his helmet. You had started calling him Quicksilver, originally as a joke but it had stuck.

“So, move in with me for the summer,” he had said, his heart pounding in his chest. It wasn’t a big deal really but the thought of waking up to you every day for the summer made him practically giddy. Pietro continued to stroke circles on your bare legs. He was watching Grease, but he wasn’t absorbing what was being said.

Pietro loved every single second he got to spend with you, but mostly he loved the summer. College football season had finished, school was winding down and it meant he got to sit in those quiet moments with you. Pietro had no plans to go home for the Summer.

Pietro adored you more than he was willing to admit, hell he loved you which is why he was always never going to push you for anything more than you were comfortable with. He was content just kissing you, steamy make-out sessions. He just liked being close to you breathing in your scent, in the winter you always smelt like Vanilla and crushed Rose Petals. In the summer you changed your body spray, and he hadn’t quite been able to pinpoint the smell, but you smelt like Peaches, sunscreen, and sunshine. Okay, maybe not sunshine but he felt the warmth of your presence every time you were together. Pietro knew you were stressing about summer accommodation so he couldn’t help but offer up his place.

“Okay, I’ll move in for the summer,” you said. You picked up the remote and pressed pause on the DVD Pietro had been so focused on trying to play it cool he hadn’t even heard you the first time you spoke. When you started undressing, Pietro didn’t know where to look. Sure, you’d spent nights together, but Pietro always left you to get changed in his room whilst he went to brush his teeth. His eyes couldn’t help but wander over your body as you walked into your bedroom. Pietro inwardly groaned and felt himself harden. Trying to take his mind off what he had just witnessed he pulled out his phone. That’s when you appeared in the door frame, wearing nothing but his football jersey, when it lifted to show the skin of your bare stomach Pietro nearly lost his damn mind.

“Well, are you coming or not handsome?” Pietro grinned throwing his phone on the sofa and closing the gap between you in seconds, picking you up and throwing you over his shoulder. Pietro was certain that if he didn’t get his way with you right that second, he would combust.

Winter Break 2012

“You love her, don’t you?” Wanda asked Pietro. You were finishing up tech rehearsals, so Wanda and Pietro were enjoying some sibling bonding by cooking Paprikash. Wanda’s eyes narrowed at Pietro who was avoiding eye contact with his sister. He could feel his sisters warm blue eyes boring into him. Eventually, Pietro stopped washing up and turned to face his sister. Wiping his hands on a tea towel he finally lifted his eyes to meet Wanda’s.

“Yes, of course, I do but that’s not a secret, so what are you actually asking Wanda?” Pietro raked a hand through his silver-blonde hair.

“It's obvious you two love each other Pietro, dearly. But you’re in love with her, you would hang the stars for that girl, and when are you going to admit it? You visibly had a thing for her back in high school and you have healed the damage done by James Barnes. So why don’t you let your guard down and tell her how you truly feel?” Wanda asked. Pietro stood there dumbfounded. Had it genuinely been that obvious to people he had liked you back in high school when you were Bucky’s girl? As if reading Pietro’s mind Wanda answered his question.

“You may have fooled everyone else Pietro, but not me” Wanda returned to her cooking and that was the last of the conversation.

“Are you sure your mum doesn’t mind me staying with you guys for winter break?” you asked twiddling your hair nervously. Pietro chuckled lifting your small suitcase into his car.

“Come on then quicksilver, let’s get going before the traffic builds up,” you said shooting him a grin your worries disappearing.

“Yes Bunny, she wouldn’t hear of you staying here alone. Besides, Wanda would rip my arms off if I even thought about coming home without you” he said pressing a kiss to your temple. Pietro had refused to let you drive saying it was his turn as you had driven last year. You still looked unsure tugging at the selves of your red jumper dress as you walked round to the front of his car. Your brown hair fell in loose waves, still slightly damp from your last-minute shower.

Pietro sensed something else was bothering you but didn’t push it. Instead, he hopped up on the bonnet of his car and pulled you between his legs. Pressing his forehead to yours, he uttered a silent promise that his mum would love you and that that the rest of the old gang would be happy for you both like they had all sworn they were. You looked up at him through your big doe eyes and pecked a gentle kiss on his nose.

“So, who did you say was coming tonight again?” you asked. You were standing in Wanda’s room whilst you both got ready for the small hang out Pietro and Wanda were hosting. Pietro had gone out to pick up Sam and Peter Parker and this girl he was bringing, Gwen. Pietro of course had been right about his mum loving you, you’d spent the last four days feeling welcome, included and at home. Wanda and Pietro’s mum had enveloped you into a big hug the moment she met you.

“Sam, Jane, Peter and his girlfriend Gwen. Carol’s coming, I think she said she was bringing her girlfriend. Now put this on” Wanda said handing you a low cut, slim-fitting black sweater dress. You rolled your eyes at Wanda; you were quite happy wearing one of Pietro’s oversized sweaters and your jeans, but you knew better than to argue with her. Just then you heard the door shut.

“It will be great to have so many of the old group back together,” Sam said shrugging off his jacket as he followed Pietro down to the converted basement.

“How are things between you and Y/N?” Sam asked.

“Sam, they’re pretty amazing,” Pietro said, a slight blush forming in his cheeks.

“Okay, that’s good to hear. Did you know Bucky’s in town for the holidays? I text him saying he should come along tonight; I hope that’s okay?” Sam asked. Pietro shrugged, he hadn’t spoken to Bucky since Bucky’s graduation and even then, that had been by phone. It wasn’t that Pietro actively avoided speaking with Bucky, it’s just that Pietro didn’t have anything to say to Bucky.

The pair of you had spoken in great detail about everything that went down between Bucky and yourself last year after winter break, and Pietro could see you still carried the scars from what he had done to when he cheated on yourself. Just then Wanda and you made your way downstairs into the basement. Pietro felt himself harden when he got a good look at what you were wearing. It was going to be a long night whilst Pietro thought the urge to take you upstairs and fuck you senseless. As if reading her brothers thoughts Wanda smirked to herself, a job well done, maybe now her brother would grow some balls and finally tell you exactly how he felt.

“Bunny, you look. Just wow” Pietro said. Sam rolled his eyes, you giggled before walking over to give Pietro a gentle kiss on the lips. You wrapped your arms around him hugging him close before you felt his hardened member. You cocked an eyebrow at him, but Pietro shook his head brushing your hair behind your ears before giving you another gentle kiss.

After about two hours, everyone had relaxed, caught up and were just chilling. Sam hadn’t heard from Bucky, so Pietro hadn’t thought anything more about it, no sense bringing it up to you if he didn’t show.

Sam had also gotten up nudging Pietro, swearing he would beat him next time. Pietro chuckled, that’s when Sam nudged him.

“You sly bastard Parker” Sam practically shouted. The three of them were playing Mario Kart whilst Taylor Swift played in the background, all though he’d never admit to anyone, including no, especially you. Taylor Swift had grown on him over the past year. Mostly because he loved the way you lit up when you sang along to her in the car.

Pietro was so engrossed in his game with the boys he barely registered you getting up off the sofa next to him. Whilst Sam had been busy yelling at Peter for using Banana peels, Pietro had overtaken Sam in the race. Once the game finished Pietro noticed you weren’t next to him. Feeling empty without you snuggled next to him he got up and stretched. He figured you were probably talking to the girls or something.

“Uh, Pietro, you might want to go save your girl from an awkward encounter with her ex” Sam looked pained. He was realising the error of his ways by inviting Bucky along. Pietro just shot him a puzzled look before following Sam’s line of sight. Pietro sucked a breath in.

“Sam, I swear to god if she ends up in tears tonight because of you, I will not hesitate to punch you in the face,” Pietro said before walking off to the fridge where you and Bucky stood.

“Yeah, schools fine thanks Bucky,” you said politely. Pietro’s heart was beating loudly in his chest, he had no concerns about how secure your relationship was, he just wanted to save you from any unnecessary heartbreak when it came to James “Bucky” Barnes.

December 2012 – August 2014

“Hey Bunny,” he said kissing the corner of your head before wrapping his arms around you.

“Hey Buck, long time no see!” Pietro said. Bucky stood frozen for a few seconds processing what he had just witnessed.

“Hey, Pietro Yeah. It's been a hot minute, so you two are a couple? You guys look cute congrats. Oh man, wow is that Peter over there? I barely recognise him I’m going to go say hey. Catch you guys later!” Bucky said practically running over to Peter. You turned around and kissed Pietro.

“Come on Quicksilver, let’s see if I can beat you at Mario Kart,” you said pulling him over to the sofa. Pietro instantly felt himself relax, glad to see that you hadn’t been impacted by Bucky’s sudden appearance. He grinned at you as he let you drag him behind you,

“What?” you said chuckling at his goofy grin.

“I’m just so fucking in love with you Y/N,” he said. Your heart skipped a few beats. Sure, you had both said I love you, but the way Pietro’s ice-blue eye’s shone at you, the way he had phrased it as being in love with you, made your heart squeeze, butterflies erupt in your stomach and all those other cliché metaphors.

“Pietro, I am going to rock you fucking world tonight, because I feel the exact same way”, you whispered in his ear. Pietro’s eyes bulged out of his head. He lent down and gave you a hungry kiss, sending electricity coursing through your body. When you finally broke free from the kiss Pietro, caught sight of Bucky glowering in the corner of the room ignoring whatever it was Peter was wittering on about.

Winter break came and went. Your second year at Uni whizzed past. Pietro even joined you and your family for your annual summer vacation in Miami, your grandparents were getting on a bit, so you decided to skip the summer production of Hairspray. Pietro joined you for two summers of family vacations in Miami. Your Grandma took a liking to him.

“Pietro, so good to see you again,” she said hugging him. “If I was 55 years younger”, she said shooting Pietro a wink. Pietro chuckled and stuck his tongue out at you.

“See I told you that she loved me the most out of all of you,” he said. You rolled your eyes. Pietro was right your grandma did have a soft spot for him. Who could blame her? Pietro was a true gentleman and his muscles stretched out any shirt he wore. His floppy silver-blonde hair and his goody grin. You were truly a lucky girl. He was going to break your grandma’s heart as much as yours when you two ended things this summer.

Saying goodbye to you was going to be one of the hardest things he ever had to do. The pair of you had spent the last week of summer in Florida with Wanda and her boyfriend James also known as Vision. Tomorrow you would both be getting on separate planes and going your separate ways. You were dancing around in the sea not a care in the world.

Pietro loved the way you were in the summer, the stresses of school melted away. You burned easily so your skin always had a very faint sun-kissed glow to it, but the way you were with your family. That was when you truly glowed. The way you blushed when your parents would talk about how proud they were of you. You were an only child, so your cousins were the closest thing to siblings you had.

And boy did your two male cousins pick on you. Teasing you about being smart, your relationship with Pietro. The way you would roll your eyes at them. Pietro’s heart squeezed with adoration when he watched you huddled in the kitchen with your grandma. Oblivious to the fact he was watching your brow would furrow in concentration as your grandma bossed you about in the kitchen whilst the pair of you cooked up some delicious treats.

“You know brother if you asked her to do long distance and wait for you, she would”, Wanda said sitting down next to Pietro. Wanda’s red hair almost looked like fire in the setting sun. Pietro sighed and shook his head.

“I know, but it’s not right or fair on her. She has plans of her own and we will be busy setting up your fashion label in NYC” he said, raking a hand through his hair.

“Besides, She's Cheer Captain, and I'm on the bleachers. She deserves to enjoy her last year, her heart is in Michigan, where her mum and dad are.” Pietro sighed. Just then you came bounding over. Your black bikini just about covering all it needed too. You plopped down on the blanket beside Pietro, your brown hair trying to escape its messy bun. You rested your head in Pietro’s lap. You giggled as he gently bopped your nose. Swallowing down the ache in your chest.

The pair of you stood wrapped in each other’s embrace at the airport, the rest of the world shut out. Pietro breathing in your familiar scent one last time. He didn’t need to hear you to know you were crying. It was taking everything in him not to cry too.

“Be good Bunny, don’t cause too much mischief with Loki and stay in touch. I love you my little Bunny” he said wiping the tears from your eyes. You couldn’t say anything, so you just held him tight and cried. When you finally broke the embrace and Pietro boarded. He wiped away the few tears that had escaped his eyes.

#pietro maximoff #pietro x reader #pietro x you #pietro fluff #bucky x natasha #wanda x vision #msmarvelwrites2k #marvel fanfiction #marvel au #avengers au

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dfwafasfsd · 3 years

Text

this latest colourway of the Air Jordan 1 Rare Air shines with a splash of bronze

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blazehedgehog · 3 years

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Sorry to ask this, but what are your thoughts on Dunky's "I'm Done Making Good Videos" with regards to content you aspire to author vs what the average joe actually searches for

I don’t know if I’m the best person to be asking this, really.

Let’s get fully inside baseball here. Let’s pull the curtain all the way back. Actually, let’s burn down the curtain. I’m going to overshare like hell right now. Get ready for the most stream-of-consciousness rambling ever, because a lot of this has been boiling in my head and dying to get out.

For the entirety of my Youtube channel, I’ve pretty much only ever done what I want to do. Very rarely do I chase trends, or do what’s hot, or even do what people want me to do. I do whatever I feel like doing.

I have paid the price for that. My Youtube channel is 15 years old as of this year, and only now am I slowly inching towards 25,000 subscribers. I am incredibly inconsistent. What’s my channel post? Well, a couple times a year, maybe I put together an edited essay/review for a game. But I also sometimes post random, unedited, uncommentated gameplay footage. Maybe it’s a fan game, maybe it’s a gameplay demo, maybe it’s Fortnite. Sometimes, I also post remastered video game music. Every Halloween, I dump a bunch of one-off horror Let’s Plays on to my channel. And then, there’s the podcast.

I know exactly what my problems are. I don’t specialize enough, and I don’t put content out fast enough. Because most Youtube channels are, like, “shows”, right. The Did You Know Gaming show. The Markiplier show. The Angry Video Game Nerd show. And you can point at those and say exactly what they are in two sentences or less.

Did You Know Gaming specializes in informative videos uncovering obscure facts you might not know about popular video games.

Markiplier is a Youtuber that does Let’s Play videos for video games, primarily horror games, but he also focuses on general comedy skits and things of that nature.

The Angry Video Game Nerd is about one guy’s over the top reactions to bad video games.

What does BlazeHedgehog do? Well, he does a lot of Sonic fan content, but sometimes he does horror let’s plays, and sometimes he does multiplayer compilation videos sort of like Criken, but he also does music, and sometimes he makes video games and puts out videos of that, and in general he’s really low energy and sometimes there will be three or four weeks between uploads. Also he sounds like Booger from Revenge of the Nerds Snot from Family Guy (apparently).

If you come to my channel for something specific, you have to put up with everything else I upload. I could start separate channels for that content, but the barrier to entry on Youtube is so massive now that I would effectively sending those channels to their death. Videos that get 200-500 views on my main channel would get 10 views or less if they were on their own self-contained alt-channel.

So I languish. I struggle. I suffer. Youtube shows me red down arrows to tell me just how much worse I’m doing now than my last flash-in-the-pan success.

I’ve tried to chase success. It just makes me sad. I have a sense of humor, but I don’t think I can make “funny videos” like some people can. My Sonic 06 glitch video did gangbusters ten years ago, but I don’t often like kicking games when they’re down. It was a struggle to make that Sonic Boom glitch montage and that’s the reason I never followed through with Part 2 like I said I would.

My only wish is that people appreciate honesty. My Youtube channel might be a scattered mess, but that’s who I am. And more than anything, I think that’s what Dunkey’s video was about. His whole joke was about switching from thoughtful or funny videos to becoming a content farm for whatever is currently popular.

I’ve brought it up a few times here and there over the last few months, but I’ve had several brushes with the Fortnite side of Youtube recently. And there are so many dudes over there who are what I would generously call “grifters.” I follow Hypex on Twitter and routinely check Firemonkey and ShiinaBR because they datamine future Fortnite updates and often have the scoop days, weeks or sometimes months in advance.

Near the end of season 3, all three of them mentioned they had datamined “the next season” but wouldn’t say what it was because they didn’t want to spoil what was coming (the marvel season). They mentioned there were “others out there” that were spoiling things, but wouldn’t say who. I wanted to spoil myself, so I turned to Youtube.

And Youtube was a nightmare. Over and over and over, I would encounter tons of people downright thriving on the same grift. It’s an open secret that Youtube prioritizes longer videos, so if your video is under ten minutes (or I think now 8 minutes), the algorithm isn’t going to be as nice to you and won’t promote your video as well, and you aren’t going to get as much advertising money because fewer people are going to sit through a video advertisement that’s a quarter of your video’s entire length. Longer videos are more profitable for Youtube, and by extension, for the user uploading them.

So it was video after video of these guys making big bold claims about how they had all the answers on what the next season of Fortnite was, and you’re thinking, “oh wow, it’s a 17 minute video, they’re going to spoil everything!”

You load the video up and it’s some guy in his streamer man cave, he’s got his webcam on, and he loads in to a match of Fortnite with his squad. Keep in mind, this video was pitched as a news report of sorts, a big spoiling of future content... and it’s just a guy playing Fortnite with a crew. In the few seconds between matches as he queues for the next one, he stops to deliver a single shred of information, most of which start with “Hypex said...”

The one thing you came to this video for and it’s scattered like breadcrumbs across a 17 minute video of a guy just playing normal matches Fortnite to fill time. It’s not information they acquired for themselves, they all just regurgitate what Hypex said, or what other channels reported Hypex saying. 17 minutes of padding for scraps of second-hand leaks. And I found dozens of these channels, all repeating the same format, all repeating the same specks of leaked information, and all of them had 150,000 to 200,000 views on each of their videos in less than 24 hours. That’s hundreds of dollars per video on a format to scam the system.

But that’s a content farm. Those dudes are vultures. I have a hard time believing their hearts are really in it. I know it’s not a term that’s really in vogue anymore, but I see that as “selling out.” They know what they are doing and it’s to make money, not to make a community better. I mean, one of those videos was a guy who was reading Marvel comic hero profiles off of Wikipedia because it sounded like he literally did not know who guys like Iron Man, Thor and Wolverine even were. How are you in touch enough with pop culture that you’re cranking out factory-fresh Fortnite content for Youtube but you don’t know who Thor is? Answer: because you don’t really care and you’re in it for the money. Gotta hit that 15 minute threshold and put in six mid-roll ad breaks.

I could be that guy. That’s kind of what I was hoping “This Kinda Sucks” would turn in to, which would be sort of a rant video series like The Jimquisition or something. But I did not have the interest or energy to keep that up. So you get a playlist with two videos on it.

I’m sure Dunkey was just funnin’ around. Dude has 6 million subscribers. But for me, like... what he said in the video is mostly true. Following your heart and making thoughtful content you are personally interested in won’t pay the bills. I mean, as I predicted, that Jurassic Park video launched to the sound of crickets chirping. My most hardcore fans and a few curious onlookers checked it out but that was it. I’ve been working on that video since August, and it’s something my viewer base did not care about. But I cared about it, and that’s important for the long-run, I think.

The other problem, sort of a disconnect, is that I’m lucky to be in the position I’m in. I think guys like Dunkey probably make all of their money from places like Youtube and Twitch and Patreon and that’s their career. That work pays all of their bills.

My work does not pay my bills. Or it does, but it’s not enough to pay all of my bills. I am lucky enough right now that I am in a living situation where I can make fractions of money in intermittent spurts. That won’t always be the case. But for now, I get to be honest, and I get to follow my heart in whatever random, chaotic direction it feels like going that particular day. Dunkey faces a different sort of pressure than I do.

All of this is to say I have no idea what I’m doing, I guess. I make the content I want to see.

That being said, I increasingly think about something I heard Woolie say early on when he went solo for his WoolieVS channel, and that was the idea of “One for you, one for me, one for us.”

Because I’ve had more than one friend burn out doing, like, Twitch streams and stuff. You hear about Youtubers who get sick of being shackled to new releases or whatever’s popular. At some point these people wake up and realize they’ve had this struggle, maybe made some money in the process, but they’re miserable because they don’t get to do what they want to do. They’re always being pushed forward by the fans that are behind them.

The “One for you, one for me, one for us” mantra does at least keep you a little more sane. Balance in all things, right? So that Jurassic Park video, it can flop. It’d be nice if it didn’t flop, given what time of the year it is, but it’s a video for me. I have other video ideas in the chamber that I know will be for my audience, or “for us.”

I just have to stay true to myself, and to my messy brain.

#questions #dunkey #youtube #inside baseball #behind the curtain #long posts #spilling my guts #Anonymous

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heresathreebee · 4 years

Text

Garrote part 10

[Starz Power Diego Jimenez x Jazmine Mann (Black!OC)]

Word count: 3.1k words

Warning(s): Mature | Gun phobia, stalking. Diego and Healy get POVs in this one while Jazmine gets some R&R with the help from her mother. This is a plot only chapter, sorry. Previous Masterlist Next

Author’s Note: No beta reader and I’m far too exhausted to edit properly. After this story, I’m gonna adjust exactly how I format my fics. My million other fic ideas plus my debate over participating in NANOWRIMO this year have been keeping me from working on this too much, I figured it was time to put this up since the last chapter was posted in September...

The rest of the day went by with a subtle ease. The temperature was just perfect for a coat and Diego seemed to have nowhere to be. Bordering on the miraculous, it was the man himself who asked her if she wanted to go out and have fun. Feeling caught off guard, Jazmine elected to throw caution to the wind and suggest something other than a fancy nightclub to hang out in. And when Diego heard the name, his jaw dropped.

Two-Bit’s Retro Arcade.

He did not ask why (though he did scoff, but more so in amusement than derision). Julio was elated to hear the address (apparently he’d been before), and Miguel looked crestfallen to have to stay at the penthouse. The journey from ritzy apartment to 25 cent arcade felt like being washed in time, stepping backwards into her past with a piece that didn't belong in that memory.

The place was decently busy, there seemed to be no parties bigger than five. A collection of young kids took up the classics section, rotating between Dig Dug, Pac Man, and Tapper Light. The young man who played pinball every day was there. She didn't know his name but she knew his three letter handle because he had the highest score on every pinball machine in the arcade. The rest were small and easygoing groups, buying beers and gathering around prize winning claw games or Dance Dance Revolution.

"Do they have air hockey?," Diego asked over her shoulder. He was dressed down per her request, in a simple hoodie and jeans. She kept glancing at him, feeling drawn to the simplicity of liking a simple man.

"Over here." She had no intention of hiding how familiar she was with this place. Diego gave Julio a nod and the man dissolved into the background but was never out of sight. Suddenly, Jazmine became very aware that there were now at least two guns in this public space. Air hockey was... occupied. "Looks like a college tournament. Come on, we're not going to be able to play for like a week."

She grabbed his arm to guide him away, but the man didn't budge. He stared those college boys down, looking for a fight. If he started something…

"Diego. Diego! Please… it's just a game, I know a better one we won't have to share."

At last he acquiesced and followed behind, never more than a foot away. She didn't realize she was holding her breath and wondered if those guys noticed his staring… they probably thought it was normal though.

Jazmine brought Diego to the darkest corner of the arcade where nobody was or needed to pass by. If she stopped dead in her tracks, Diego would have tripped over her immediately for how close he was, but now that he had her exclusive attention, she didn't mind. She gestured to her favorite game and smiled.

"Welcome to Marvel Vs Capcom: Clash of Superheroes," she announced. "Nobody plays this version because there's a huge glitch that sometimes makes one character untouchable."

"OK." Diego wore a sly grin. No doubt he intended to find the cheat character and win all matches, but Jazmine knew all of this game's little secrets.

Unsurprisingly, Diego's first pick was Wolverine. Jazmine refrained from rolling her eyes and let him work through the board of player characters, picking her own at random and sometimes picking the one she knew would fair better against his character to make it an even game. She watched his brow grow tighter and tighter as he couldn't find the broken character. He even switched up strategies– picking the characters that looked the least strong and working up from there (the opposite of his earlier choices). At last, he picked Chun-Li, having not noticed Jazmine picked it three times already, and he glanced at her face once more to see if she reacted, but the woman gave nothing away. Not until he looked towards the screen did she crack a smile.

The way the smugness drained off of Diego's face made her smile broaden. He looked at the controls as if they were to blame, then to Jazmine and back to the screen where Chun Li had walked off of the edge of the screen. Annoyed, he leaned over the controls menacingly and waited for an explanation from the Cheshire cat grin on his partner's face.

It took her awhile to answer him– she was trying really hard to fight the bubbling laughter in her belly. "Yeah, that um… that's what I was talking about. If you play the same character four times, the game breaks. You can't be hit but you also can't hit and you need to hold down the joystick to keep from walking off the edge of the screen… if you let them get away, well… you have to unplug the whole system."

Diego looked pissed. He stared her down for so long she gulped but eventually, he freed her from his penetrative gaze. His hand slipped under her jacket and found a home at the base of her spine, and suddenly she was being whisked away towards the bathrooms.

"Where are we–"

Diego wasted not a breath and pushed her into the women's bathroom (unsurprisingly closet sized), before crowding her space to step inside and lock the door behind. Her heart began to pound against her chest as he turned and fixed her with a commanding glare. He moved as sly as a big cat, forcing her to find purchase against the tiny wood counter with the sink and leaning over her with his lips pressed to her nose.

He said something softly in Spanish that she didn't understand, but it sounded sultry and it sent a pleasant shiver down her back. She thought he was going to kiss her, but then there was something hard and heavy he pressed into her hand.

A gun.

Her eyes bulged– glancing quickly between him and the shiny dark metal of the killing contraption– and shook her head minutely.

"Take it," he said. She just kept shaking her head, hiding her hands beneath her arms and feeling dizzy, on the verge of passing out. He growled. "I wasn't asking."

If he wasn't pressed against her, she would be rocking for comfort. Jazmine did not like guns. Her eyes misted over as she whispered, "why?"

"They've been following us since we left." He slid the wretched mechanism up along her arm and let it rest just below her collarbone. "Haagen's men probably. They're getting bolder– probably by their master's orders." He tilted his head as if he was speaking of something completely mundane as he said, "did you really think those air hockey guys were college students? It's a Thursday."

Jazmine didn't mean to whimper, but she managed to keep her tears at bay long enough to touch a finger to the gun, not quite taking it, but letting him know she would. She let him show her the safety and slipped it into the back of her pants, careful not to hurt her and demonstrating an awareness of her southpaw. He was almost hugging her when he finally stepped back (as far as the little toilet would allow). When his heel clinked against the porcelain, he turned to make sure he hadn't stepped in a mess, and Jazmine bolted.

"Hello?"

There was no one else's voice she wanted to hear more than that of Lashawn Mann. Jazmine felt guilt well up alongside the anxiety that had been threatening to consume her for weeks.

"Mama?" Her voice sounded so small in her own ears. "Can I come over and see you?"

"Of course, baby. You can come see me right now: I'm at your place."

Jazmine caught a cab from Essex street home, and though Diego possessed an acute lack of awareness for personal space or feelings, he did leave her alone for a while. No SUVs with fake licenses trailed her home, no voicemails and no texts came through. She put it in airplane mode to make sure things stayed that way. She had a thought to drop Healy's hearing aid down a drain but put it in her pocket instead.

Lashawn was waiting with Hercules. The tiny bit of annoyance Jazmine usually felt about getting slobbered on washed away the instant she saw her furry grey friend. The woman plopped her butt onto the ground and let the dog run amok in excitement to see her again.

"Mom…" Hercules settled down in her lap and weighed her to the earth like an anchor for a ship at sea. "If something happens to me, will you take care of her?"

"What do you mean 'if something happens to you'? Child, I ain't heard from you in two months and you come back with that?" Lashawn sat down on the floor despite her bad knees and leaned on her daughter's shoulder. "Baby, what's going on with you?"

Estupido. She shouldn't have run away like that.

Diego was overthinking in the backseat while Julio sat in perfect silence. The driver would have preferred the radio on, but his boss demanded the proper atmosphere to brood in. Taking what little he knew of the woman, Jazmine was probably going to retreat to her apartment since he lived in the only other place she was safe. Whatever– she would return in her own time. Unless her own time hindered their operation.

We can't lose this opportunity. We are so close to Porsche and revenge. Hurry up, cariño. Make our next move.

Diego was stuck deep inside his head even as he stood with his sister hours later in yet another huge warehouse with examples to be made of. Alicia wiped the blade of her knife onto her bodyguard's sleeve, then turned the blade over to her brother.

"Finish the last one, will you?"

Diego hummed, distracted by the conversation at the edge of the half circle. He did not like what he heard. He dug the blade straight into the crying man's heart, then cut his throat just for good measure. The blood on his hands was drying before he was able to speak again. He and Alicia were sat in her limo across from each other. She tactfully ignored his piercing gaze, while he worried the stickiness between his fingers mindlessly.

"What's this I hear about you staying in New York?"

Alicia glanced coolly up from inspecting her nails. "What do you mean? Someone needs to run the business."

"That's what that idiot and your little fuck toy Dre are for. They deal with shit here while we get Porsche back, and then we go home. Together."

"No," she shrugged. "Dre can't be trusted, Diego. I'm staying, you're going back to Mexico. We can split parent: the girl comes to live with me for a while and then with you. Every month or so…?"

Diego's hands ball into fists and his teeth hurt from the pressure of keeping his jaw closed. Fucking puta, he thought as the car slowed to a stop. Exiting the car, the man pulled himself up to his full height and reveled in the brief moment of fear that registered on her face.

"I'm not your errand boy, hermana. I don't do things because you think it's convenient. And I won't be sent away like an annoying pest so you can trounce about in luxury while I'm stuck doing peasant work. Am I the only one worried about that little fucking girl?"

Through the marble stonework of her mask, he saw the cracks in her armor. "We can talk about this later, Diego."

"Do you even want her back?," he sneered.

"Stop it!"

Alicia pushed him out of her way and disappeared quickly, her entourage scurrying to follow her. Diego looked to his men to find them with their eyes cast down as if they were witness to something they should never see. He stormed away with his head full of rage and more questions than answers.

Meanwhile in a stuffy police office space, Healy was getting chewed out. His superiors figured him out, and now he was sat in interrogation with a furious pair of agents awaiting an explanation and disciplinary action.

"You took it too far, Healy," his boss said. "I mean, you have really outdone yourself this time."

"Yes sir."

"Fucking A, right!" Agent Brasa slammed her hand on the table. No doubt she was chewing a huge wad of nicotine gum and gunning for his immediate firing. "This was our case, Healy, ours. Mine and Holbrooke, not yours!"

Holbrooke remained ever brooding, silently leaning against the wall and watching the scene unfold. Though they made remained neutrally poised, he could tell by the pinch in their brow they were just as angry as Brasa. Healy had given up trying to talk to Brasa, and instead appealed to Holbrooke this time.

"You two have every right to be angry with me–"

"Oh do I??" Brasa cut in, "I didn't realize I needed your permission to be pissed off!"

"-- but I did it because I had an 'in.' I saw an opportunity that only I could have seized, and–"

"Are you really going to let him get away with this, Stahlworth?" Brasa looked accusingly at their boss, who merely scratched at his neck and closed his eyes as if keeping them open pained him greatly.

"Brasa. Holbrooke. Out. I'll handle this the way I see fit– and don't argue with me, Marie, or I'll put you on suspension."

The two stormed out into the hall, and finally Healy was able to breathe. As soon as he had been confronted by Stahlworth, he had come clean– setting up a covert op without agency permission and using a civilian to distract the perp while he slipped a mole into the organization and collected information. Brasa and Holbrooke had done amazing work– they discovered Haagen was the head, profiled the victims, and knew many of the locations of the exchanges– but they couldn't get any further to seizure warrants or when the exchanges were taking place.

Healy looked pleadingly at Stahlworth. "They didn't have the resources to cover all those locations with proper 24 hour surveillance, Jack. Haagen is always one step ahead of them– of us– anyways because someone in this very organization is on his payroll. I don't need the glory, I don't want the case to myself– I just want this fucker behind bars. If you have to suspend me, I understand, if you have to fire me, I get it– but please don't throw out my evidence. People's lives are on the line, and Brasa and Holbrooke need this info–"

"Who's your informant?" Healy snapped his mouth shut as the dreaded words left Stahlworth to hang menacingly in the air. "Healy? Who. Is your. Informant? Who are you working with? Give me a clearer picture of what you've been up to, and maybe I'll ask the DA to go easy on your ass."

Healy gritted his teeth and dug his heels in. "I can't tell you any of that. A mole for a mole, I can't afford to trust that the eyes and ears in this very room are sound. Now if you want to pass this case back over to the agents it belongs to, I just have a few conditions concerning the safety of–"

"Is this about Meghan?," Stahlworth asked.

Healy's voice died in his throat. A lump formed and he had to swallow it down before it consumed him completely. Standing from his chair, Healy buttoned his coat and came face to face with his boss.

"This is about the kids I can still save. Sir."

After LaShawn helped Jazmine pack her belongings, the daughter decided to take Hercules to the park for some fresh air. Her mother had made it clear she wanted Jazmine to move back in with her since she'd lost her job, but what she didn't know was that before Healy and Haagen, Jazmine was two months behind on rent, and she should have lost the lease to her apartment weeks ago. As it stood now, the landlord hadn’t bothered her once– so someone was paying her bills. Exactly who would remain a mystery as Diego, Healy, and Haagen possessed the means and the interest in keeping her in New York City, so she tried not to think too hard about it.

Jazmine picked a spot in the grass and let Herc off the leash. She threw a beat up tennis ball with a little cheap plastic arm and watched her happy grey pupper zip around picnickers and other dog walkers, always stopping to be petted by every little girl and boy who squealed happily to see her. The woman was jumpy and constantly on edge, but for some reason she barely flinched when Diego sat down next to her.

"I'll be honest, I'm glad you're here," she said without looking his way.

He took the plastic arm and threw the next ball watching Hercules trot over hill and dale for this throw. "Did Healy tell you about Porsche?"

Jazmine turned to see the dark bags under Diego's eyes. "He said something about a missing baby… is that what you mean?"

The man leaned into her shoulder. "Yes."

"I'm sorry, Diego."

"I want my baby back, Jazmine. I want to watch her grow up happy and healthy and loved." He turns to look at her with an expression of maturity she didn't think he was capable of. "That's why I need you. We need you. You're probably scared, but you can't be more scared than that little girl is right now."

It felt like a punch to the gut. Part of her was annoyed by his dismissal of her fear, but for the most part she understood. It wasn't hard to figure out what happened to older girls and boys in Haagen's ring, but what the fuck was he doing with babies? The thought twisted her stomach until her head ached from nausea.

Diego continued, scratching at his eye to cover the build up of tears that threatened to spill out. "Healy said he found evidence of sales for kids under 13 that looked more like adoption papers than anything. Requirements for private education and a separate bedroom, things like that. He said he has a stack with no names but six of them are around her age with the name of the adoptive parents on it. It's a start."

"It's a very good start." Jazmine placed her hand on Diego's back and let him curl into her side with a sigh. "It means she's still alive, that's fantastic... do you think Haagen noticed the papers were missing? He probably has so many…"

Diego shrugged noncommittally and dragged her down to lay in the grass with Hercules. As he did, she felt the gun in her pants dig into her back, tightening that fist clenched around her heart. She was safe for now, in this moment. But would she ever be again?

@mental-bycatch @nicke0115 @1zashreena1 @girlpornparadise @kid-from-new-zealand

#Diego Jimenez #Starz Power #Diego Jimenez imagine #Diego Jimenez x OC #three bees writing #Garrote #🐝🐝🐝✒

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inkribbon796 · 4 years

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Egotober Day 11: Who is the Strongest in the Land?

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31

Prompt: Strong

Summary: There’s a bit of a debate in the Coalition. Who is the strongest? Silver’s superpower? Bob’s shields. Or Robbie’s magically infused muscles?

A/N: So, guess who saw the new Sanders Asides and already wants to make content? Me! Unfortunately for the plot I will have to wait until I can include the new pairing in so heads up on that.

Warnings: none

For years there had been a question between the heroes.

Who was the strongest hero? Unlike with Jackie’s speed, Roman’s imagination-based powers, or the fact that Logan was unbeatable in trivia pursuit games; the “strong” category had no clear first place winner.

If you asked anyone in the city there was only one name they gave: Silver. Mostly because he was able to lift cars and similarly heavy objects throw them an eyebrow-raising distance away.

Ask certain heroes like Joan and Logan or even King who were a bit more literal about the powers around them, and they gave a different answer: Bob.

Logan’s reasoning was simple: the veteran hero had impenetrable barriers. Blunt force objects, explosives, magical attacks, Dark’s aura, even Silver using his strength to rocket him across the fight like a huge pinball wasn’t enough to even crack the barrier. The only thing stopping the barrier was Bob’s stamina in maintaining said barrier.

Of course Marvin was one of the only people with a third opinion: Robbie. Before his zombification, for lack of a better term, Robbie had never really had a superpower. He had only some good sense — something interestingly hard to come by in the group — and he was a touch hardier than the average teenager. But after Marvin had been using more and more spells to reverse the after effects of his slight decomposition, the result was Herculean strength and more human mannerisms.

Today one debate turned into another and once again Bob and Mark were going to settle the age old debate, and before anyone knew it most of the heroes were standing in the garage and Logan was helping to rig several sensors to take measurements of how hard Silver was punching and how hard Bob or his barriers were getting hit.

Henrik was of course naturally fretting around Robbie, fully objecting to Marvin using the young man to settle the debate.

“Nein! You vill do no such zing!” Henrik argued.

“Relax,” Iplier tapped him with the back of his hand, “J.J you’d tell us if anything happened right?”

J.J nodded and signed a quick “yes” but was conspicuously not making his way to the betting pool to place a bet of his own. It kept Iplier from making his own since neither the time traveler nor the seer were making bets, they were sitting on either side of him, watching.

“Do you guys know who to bet on?” Dr. Iplier asked them.

“Of course the Host knows who will win,” the seer grinned between his narrations.

J.J gave a sign that the Host did his best to translate, “No bet on first attempt,” J.J warned him.

“I’ll ask you next time then,” Iplier joked, smiling. “We’ll make bank on it.”

Then the Host pulled a jar out that had two five dollar bills in it, a tapped note in Iplier’s handwriting read on the front: “TIE”. Each of the notes had a rolled up piece of paper that had the name of the person who had placed the bet and how much they placed. There was a huge grin on his face, “The Host suggests Iplier go and place his bet on the table.”

J.J shrugged and slipped a five into Iplier’s hand, his name tag wrapped around it. Thankfully the bulk of the group was too busy arguing to notice what was obviously the Host’s bet going up. But Virgil who was close by saw that Iplier was trying to sneak the jar up. Iplier then snuck back and Virgil carefully slipped his bet from Bob’s jar, which he had only chosen because Logan had placed a bet there, to the Tie jar. Then he went back to sitting a safe distance away. “A safe distance” that would eventually turn into sitting next to Iplier.

“Fuck ‘em up Robbie!” Ethan cheered from where he was standing.

Robbie gave a huge, warm smile.

“Aren’t you supposed to be on my team?” Mark chuckled, giving his former apprentice a fake-offended gasp.

Ethan just laughed, his contagious giggling undercutting any actual vitriol that could have been in the words, “No, hahahah! Fuck you.”

Bob laughed, “Ooooh! He got you good!”

Mark rolled his eyes and lightly pushed him, “Come on, let’s go.”

Roman cleared his throat, he was in a huge puffy tutu that was white and red with glitter dusting it. He was in a tight red and white leotard with golden accents to it that were reminiscent of his usual outfit, along with a pair of white footed pants. “Well let’s begin, my bet won’t win itself.”

“Your wager was placed by bribery with cookies, compounding your already unsound logic,” Logan reminded him.

“Oh hush, nerdy Wolverine,” Roman ordered, and held an arm up. “Okay, Round 1: Silver Shepherd v. Gatling, to the victor go . . . the victory.”

“Smooth, Princey,” Virgil snickered.

Roman stuck out his tongue at Virgil and the anxious Side just snickered and rolled his eyes. “Well we have other rounds.”

The creative Side cleared his throat before announcing, “Ready. Set. Go!”

Roman brought his hand down as he said that last word. Mark shot off at full speed, too fast for most of the heroes to follow with their own eyes.

Bob brought up a barrier in time and the air around the other heroes popped most of their ears. Virgil whimpered in pain a bit and scooted over to get closer to Iplier.

Silver repeatedly flew around to get spread. The barriers never broke and Silver kept up the onslaught for another couple minutes before the wear and strain started to show on Bob’s face.

Usually in an actual fight the other heroes would have picked up the slack so Bob could hunker into his barriers and get a breather to grab his second wind. But this wasn’t a normal fight, it was a duel and the fight started to wear down on him.

The instant Silver saw it, he started taunting his friend. “What’s the matter, getting tired there?”

“How about you shut up, asshole!” Bob shouted and as Silver was racing forward again, he extended out the barrier and Silver wasn’t as braced as he should have been and slammed into it face-first, breaking his nose.

The barrier extended out, taxing more of Bob’s strength than he expected. The shield flickered and Silver noticed it immediately and struck, slamming into the barrier again and Bob’s concentration slipped, the barrier flickered again just long enough for Silver to speed through and knock Bob to the ground, pinning him in place.

Mark had a huge, smug smile on his face, “Hah! I win.”

Bob groaned, “Fuck!”

“Inconclusive,” Logan huffed. “The barriers were never broken.”

“But he was defeated all the same,” Host announced. “The Host doubts that Silver’s current opponent could get back on his feet to fight Silver so soon.”

“You didn’t even make a bet,” Mark shouted at him, catching his breath a little.

But at the Host’s huge smile, Silver looked back at Jackie who was now by the table, “Hey, what was his bet, cause that smile says he made one.”

“I dunno,” Jackie shrugged, “I stepped away to grab a coffee.”

“The Host was secretive about his bet because only five people would have voted against him,” the Host said.

“Of course we wouldn’t have,” Ethan agreed loudly. “You know what’s gonna happen.”

“But where would the Host get his entertainment from?” The Host smiled, trying to sound hurt but it didn’t work at all.

“You asshole,” Bob smiled. “Kay, Silv, you win.”

“Hey! That’s my job!” Roman reminded indignantly.

“Wooooo! Yeah, I’m the best, fucking suck it!” Mark shouted at Bob, talking right over Roman which made the Side even angrier, floating off the ground for a bit.

Bob shoved him a bit, sending him farther than if Mark had been standing like a normal person. “Ugh, you are the worst sometimes.”

Then Bob stepped aside and Robbie came to stand opposite Silver. And here was where Mark made his first mistake. He looked at Robbie, at the former apprentice he had helped train, and tried to figure out how to beat Robbie without hurting him.

Roman announced how, and Silver moved first. He flew towards Robbie but instead of knocking him over, the young man grabbed him by the arm and used Silver’s momentum to toss him to the side and make him slammed into the wall behind the zombie.

Henrik and Marvin dove out of the way, and Mark stared at Robbie with surprise.

“Yeah, get ‘im,” Marvin cheered after a moment’s shock.

“Alright, fine then,” Mark huffed out, deciding that he could afford to be a little rougher with him. Much to Henrik’s mounting horror, Mark began to try with more effort to pin Robbie down, but Mark’s earlier round with Bob and the fact that he’d been wasting time going easy on him for the first half of the fight.

So when Mark came flying towards him, trying to get around the back to pin Robbie down but the ensuing struggle looked more like a wrestling match and ended with Robbie kinda hugging Mark’s arms to his side and the superhero just floating in the air looking like a piece of board.

“Heya,” Bob smiled at Mark, “having fun there, buddy?”

“Shut up,” Silver tried to wiggle free but Robbie just hugged him harder, a smile on his face.

After about a solid minute, he let out a frustrated growl and just floated there in an angry huff. “How? Marvin what have you done to this guy?”

“That sounds like he gave up,” Marvin grinned, looking at Logan who looked thoroughly upset and put out. “Victory right?”

“No!” Silver called, struggling a bit more. “I’m not giving up.”

Then he admitted, “Yeah . . . fine.”

“Robbie win?” Robbie smiled at Marvin.

“Sure did kid,” Marvin cheered.

“Yay!” Robbie let go of Mark and he just floated there for a bit, pouting a little.

He did float out of range so Bob, hopped up on an energy drink and getting a little bit of a rest, could take his place. He smiled as he put out a little bit of a barrier. Bob was bracing for a hard hit like he usually was with Silver but when Roman called “Go” and Robbie slammed his shoulder against the barrier, Bob barely felt it.

Bob was used to faster heroes, and having a tanky type of fighting style, by necessity with his powers, he was unused to defending against that.

But Robbie wasn’t a fast fighter, strong? Absolutely. However he wasn’t even half as fast as Mark and Bob just rested his elbow against the barrier and leaned against it. It had been a hot minute since he’d fought someone he had enough time to rest with.

Mark and Wade were the first ones to realize what was going on.

“Well shit,” Wade said. “He’s not getting through that.”

“He could!” Marvin promised defiantly.

Wade gave Marvin a look, “You know he’s not.”

“Come on, he hits hard enough to do more than that,” Mark defended, if only to salvage his own wounded pride.

“Oh yeah, I feel something,” Bob agreed. “It’s just not fast enough.”

“He was going faster against Silver,” Marvin cut in. “I call a do over.”

“No! No! If I got tired after Gatling,” Mark called out, “that counts.”

“But that means it’s a tie,” Bob spoke up. “We can’t have a tie.”

“But oh yes, the heroes can,” the Host smiled.

“Yah weren’t e’en bettin’!” Marvin shouted at them.

“But yet the Host always wins,” the Host smiled, J.J smiled as well.

“So do we win?” Virgil asked hesitantly.

“Hey,” Logan turned to Virgil, “you placed a bet at the same time has me for Bob.”

“I changed it,” Virgil whispered, already pulling his hoodie up a bit higher.

“You changed your vote because you were aware of a more likely outcome,” Logan realized. “I applaud your insight.”

Virgil smiled a bit and the winnings were distributed amongst the four winners, J.J leaving this timeline as it was. Logan, Bob, Marvin, and Mark continued to debate between each other who would have won in an “actual fight” after the Host used his voice to bring in a bunch of donuts to distract the heroes from the fact that he had basically got away with the bulk of the winnings . . . again.

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weekendwarriorblog · 3 years

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The Weekend Warrior 4/23/21: MORTAL KOMBAT, DEMON SLAYER, TOGETHER TOGETHER, STREET GANG, SISTERS WITH TRANSISTORS

Ugh. Trying to maintain this column as a weekly entity during the final few weeks of the longest Oscar season ever has been really hard, and I’m not sure that will change once the Oscars are over either, because I look at the number of movies being released both theatrically and streaming over the next few weeks, and it makes my head hurt. Sorry for the kvetching, it just is what it is.

There are two big theatrical releases this weekend, Warner Bros’ MORTAL KOMBAT and DEMON SLAYER THE MOVIE: MUGEN TRAIN from FUNImation Entertainment, both which have already been released internationally. I also probably won’t be able to watch or review either before this column gets posted.

Mortal Kombat seems like the easiest sell being that it’s based on the popular Midway Games video game franchise introduced in the early ‘90s that led to a series of films, books, comics and you name it. It was a very popular fighting game that had over a dozen iterations including one in which MK characters fought against DC superheroes.

The very first Mortal Kombat movies opened in 1995, right amidst MK-mania, and it was directed by one Paul W.S. Anderson, his very first movie in a long line of video game-related movies, including a number of Resident Evil and the recent Monster Hunter. There are a lot of people who love those games, and yes, even people who love that and other movies, but to others, who may have been too old to get into the games when they came out, the whole thing about different fighters fighting each other just looks kind of studio. Even though I’m interested to see what producer James Wan brings to this reboot, I just don’t have much interest otherwise.

Unfortunately, and this is pretty daunting, Warner Bros. wasn’t sending out screeners to critics until Wednesday with a review embargo for Thursday night at 7pm, which is never a good sign, and yet, it continues Warner Bros. continuing the trend of being one of the only studios that screeners EVERY movie to film critics rather than just making them pay to see it on Thursday night or Friday. I hope to watch it and maybe add something Thursday night, time-permitting. Not sure you heard but the Oscars are Sunday.

As far as box office, Mortal Kombat opens on Friday but also premieres on HBO Max, and I’m not sure there will be as much urge to see MK on the largest screen possible, as there was with Godzilla vs. Kong. Because of that, I think the cap for this one over the three-day weekend is about $10 million but not much more and probably more frontloaded to Friday than we’ve seen in some time.

Mini-Review: As you can imagine from my statement above, I don’t hold the Mortal Kombat games or other iterations in any particular high esteem, so I’m basically jumping into this movie, directed by Simon McQuoid, just as a movie and not necessarily as a video game movie.

It starts off promising enough like a samurai movie with a flashback where we watch Hiroyuki Sanada’s hero sees his wife and son be killed by Joe Taslim’s character that will later become Sub-Zero. The general principle seems to be that there’s a world where people from other worlds fight each other to gain complete control. The hero is Lewis Tan’s MMA fighter Cole Young, presumably a popular character from the game? He is also soon attacked by Sub-Zero presumably because he’s marked with a dragon tattoo that deems him a champion of these fights, but he needs to find someone named Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee) to help him get to the “Mortal Kombat.” At the same time, he meets the movie’s most entertaining character, Kane,

played by Australian actor Josh Lawson, mainly because he swears constantly and cracks wise -- he’s a bit like Wolverine, actually, and he’s actually the best part of the movie.

Otherwise, everyone and everything is always so deadly serious that everyone else we meet just doesn’t have much impact, because frankly, none of these names or characters mean jack shit to me. Sure, some of them sound vaguely familiar but I was more interested in the great Asian actors who turn up including Tadanobu Asano’s Lord Raiden, who is gonna claim Earth if its champions lose at Mortal Kombat. And Sub-Zero basically just shows up and tries to kill everyone.

As with far too many action movies, the action itself is great, the writing and acting not so much.

As it goes along, things become more epic and fantasy-driven but that also makes the dialogue seem even worse. Similarly, the fight choreography is pretty great, but the movie still leans way too heavily on visual FX to keep it more interesting for anyone not too interested in MMA… like myself. When all else fails, they can show off Sub-Zero’s cool ice powers every chance possible as well as the other’s powers, but some of them (like Lord Raiden) just made me think of this as a rip-off of the great Big Trouble in Little China.

The thing is I’m not a fan of the video game nor of MMA, so Mortal Kombat really doesn’t have much to offer me. The whole thing just seems very silly, just like almost everything from the ‘90s. (How’s THAT for a bad take?)

That said, I thought the final battle was great, and I enjoyed some of the gorier aspects of the fights, too, and it all leads to my favorite part, which is the three-way fight between Cole, Sub-Zero, and… actually I’m not sure if it’s a spoiler or not, but it’s a pretty cool fight that almost makes up for some of the dumber characters introduced earlier on. (LIke that guy with four arms. I know he’s a character in the games, but I didn’t even care enough to look up his name.)

It’s perfectly fine that they decided to go Rated R with the movie since most of the nostalgia for this movie and franchise will be towards older guys, but at times, the CG blood is so hinky it feels like the decision to go R-rated was made well after it was filmed.

Even though I went in with the lowest of expectations, I still found most of Mortal Kombat kinda trite and boring, maybe something I’d appreciate more as a teenager but not so much as a grown adult. But what do you expect for a movie based on a video game that’s just a bunch of “cool fights”?

Rating: 5.5/10

And yet, Demon Slayer could be the surprise breakout of the weekend, considering the theatrical success FUNimation has had with theatrical releases of the My Hero Academia movies into theaters in 2018 and 2020, and the hugely successful Dragon Ball Super: Brolly, which grossed $31 million domestically after a surprise $20.2 million in its first five days in roughly 1,200 movies. In fact, it made $7 million its opening Wednesday in January 2019, and FUNimation is hoping that Demon Slayer will have a similar success by opening it for a single day (Thursday) in IMAX theaters before Mortal Kombat takes over on Friday.

Demon Slayer has already grossed $383.7 million internationally compared to Mortal Kombat’s $10.7 million, and you cannot ignore the huge popularity that anime has seen over the past few decades. In fact, a bunch of screenings for Demon Slayer in NYC have already sold out, although you have to bear in mind that these are 25% capacity theaters. Even so, I still think this can make $4 to 5 million on Thursday and another $7 to 8 million over the weekend, depending on the number of theaters. Yes, it will be quite frontloaded, and I’m not sure what the cap is on theaters and how that will affect how it does over the weekend, but expect a big Thursday and a more moderate weekend but one that might give both Mortal Kombat and Godzilla vs. Kong a run for the top of the box office.

Also hitting theaters before streaming on Netflix (on April 30) is THE MITCHELLS VS. THE MACHINES, the new animated movie produced by Chris Miller and Philip Lord, following their Oscar win for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. It’s a little weird to open a new animated movies, presumably in select theaters, when such a hugely anticipated animated movie like Demon Slayer is opening, but Netflix won’t

The movie itself is directed by Michael Rianda and Jeff Rowe, and it involves a family named the Mitchells, whose eldest daughter Katie (voiced by Abbi Jacobson) is leaving home for college, so her father (voiced by Danny McBride) decides that he’s going to drive her there and use it as the chance for a cross-country family trip. Meanwhile, it’s set up how the world becomes overrun with robots when a tech giant creates a new personal assistant.

I wasn’t sure whether I’d like this even though I’m generally a fan of all of Lord/Miller’s animated movies including both Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs movies. It took me a little time to get into the family and the general premise. In some ways it reminded me of Edgar Wright’s The World’s End where it’s trying to merge these two disparate genres, but when they actually merge, it just doesn’t work as well as it may have seemed on paper. That worry is soon expunged, because Rianda finds ways to integrate the two ideas over time.

On the trip, the Mitchells run into their perfect family neighbors, the Poseys -- voiced by Krissy Teigen, John Legend and Charlyne Yi -- and you’d think they might be a bigger part of the movie then they actually are. I’m not sure I would have liked doing the family-vs.-family thing so soon after last year’s Croods movie, but I did love the dynamics of the Mitchells being a very relatable imperfect family with Danny McBride being particularly great voicing the family patriarch. It even has a really touching Pixar’s Up moment of Katie’s father watching old home movies of them together when she was younger.

In general, the filmmakers have assembled a pretty amazing voice cast that includes Conan O’Brien, Olivia Colman, Fred Armisen and Beck Bennett. Actually the weirdest voice choice is Katie’s younger brother Aaron, voiced by Rianda himself, and it sounds like a strange older man trying to be a kid, so it doesn’t work as well as others.

What I genuinely liked about Mitchells vs. the Machines is that it doesn’t go out of its way to talk down to overly sensitive kiddies or skimp on the action while also including elements that parents will enjoy as well, and to me, that’s the ideal of a family film.

While some might feel that The Mitchells vs. the Machines is fairly standard animated fare, it ends up being a fun cross between National Lampoon’s Vacation (cleaned up for the kiddies) with Will Smith’s I, Robot, actually, and yet, it somehow does work. It’s a shame that it’s really not getting a theatrical release except to be awards-eligible.

Next, we have two really great movies I saw at Sundance this year and really enjoyed immensely…

So as I mentioned, I first saw Nikole Beckwith’s TOGETHER TOGETHER (Bleecker Street), starring Ed Helms and Patti Harrison, at Sundance, and it was one of my favorite movies there with Helms playing a middle-aged single guy named Matt, who hires the much-younger Anna (Harrison) to be his surrogate, because he wants a baby. It’s a tough relationship thrown together due to each of their respective necessities.

Part of what drives the movie is how different Matt and Anna are, him being quite inappropriate with his suggestions and requests but not really having a working knowledge of female anatomy, pregnancy, delivery etc, but being really eager to raise a child and having the money that Anna clearly does not.

While I was familiar with Helms from The Office, The Hangover, etc. I really didn’t know Patti Harrison at all. Apparently, she’s a stand-up comic who hasn’t done a ton of acting, comedic or otherwise. That’s pretty amazing when you watch this movie and see her dry sardonic wit playing well against Helms’ generally lovable doofus. What I also didn’t realize and frankly, I don’t really see this as something even worth mentioning, is that she’s a trans woman playing a clearly CIS part, and she kills it. I certainly wouldn’t have known nor did it really affect my enjoyment of the movie, yet it still seems like such a brave statement on the part of the director and Harrison herself. The thing is that Harrison isn't just a terrific actress in her own right, but she brings out aspects of Helms that I never thought I would ever possibly see. (If it isn't obvious, I'm not the biggest fan of Helms.)

The movie has a great sense of humor, as it gets the most out of this awkward duo and then throws so many great supporting actors into the cast around them that it’s almost impossible not to enjoy the laughs. There’s the testy Sonogram tech, played by Sufe Bradshaw from Veep, who tries to maintain her composure and bite her tongue, but you can tell she’s having none of it. Others who show up, including Tig Notero, Norah Dunn and Fred Melamed. Just when you least expect it, Anna Conkle from Pen15, shows up as one of those delivery gurus that make the two of them feel even more awkward.

What’s nice is that this never turns into the typical meet cute rom-com that some might be expecting, as Beckwith’s film is more about friendship and companionship and being there for another, and the lack of that romantic spark even as chemistry develops between them is what makes this film so enjoyably unique. Beckwith’s sense of humor combined with her dynamic duo stars makes Together Together the best comedy about pregnancy probably since Knocked Up.

Another great Sundance movie and actually one of my two favorite recent documentaries AND one of the best movies I’ve seen this year is… you know what? I haven’t done this for a while so this is this week’s “CHOSEN ONE”!! (Fanfare)

(Photo courtesy: Robert Fuhring/Courtesy Sesame Workshop)

Marilyn (Mad Hot Ballroom) Agrilo’s STREET GANG: HOW WE GOT TO SESAME STREET (Screen Media/HBO Documentaries) is a fantastic doc about the long-running and popular PBS kids show that’s every bit as good as Morgan Neville’s Mr. Rogers doc, Won’t You Be My Neighbor? Which was robbed of an Oscar nomination a few years back.

Let me make something clear on the day I’m writing this, April 21, 2021, that this is my favorite movie of the year, the only one I’ve already given a 10/10, and the end of the year might come around, and I have a feeling it will still be my #1.

You see, I was raised a Sesame Street kid. It’s not like I didn’t read or play outside or not get the attention of my parents or family, but there was so much of my happy, young life that I could attribute to my time watching Sesame Street, and when you watch Marily Agrilo’s amazing doc, it all comes rushing back. There is stuff in this movie that I haven’t seen in maybe 50 years but that I clearly remember laughing at, and there’s stuff that got into the mind of a young Ed that influenced my love of humor and music and just outright insanity. Sure, I loved The Muppet Show, too, but it was a different experience, so to watch a movie about the show with all sorts of stuff I had never seen or knew, that’s what makes Street Gang such a brilliant documentary, and easily one of the best we’ll see this year. Of that I have no doubt.

From the very origins of the show with Joan Cooney developing a show that will be entertaining and educational to the kids being plopped down in front of the TV in the ‘60s and ‘70s, so they can learn something, it’s just 1:46 of straight-up wonderment.

Besides getting to see a lot of the beloved actors/characters from the show and many of the surviving players like Carol Spinney aka Big Bird/Oscar, you can see how this show tried to create something that wasn’t just constantly advertising to young minds.

More than anything, the show is a love letter to the bromance between Jim Henson and Frank Oz, and you get to see so many of their bits and outtakes that make their Muppets like Burt and Ernie and Grover and, of course, Kermit, so beloved by kids that even cynical adults like myself would revert childhood just thinking about them. Then on top of that there’s the wonderful music and songs of Christopher Cerf and Joe Raposo and others, songs that would permeate the mainstream populace and be remembered for decades.

The movie is just a tribute to the joy of childhood and learning to love and sing and dance and just have fun and not worry about the world. I’m not sure if kids these days have anything like that.

It also gets quite sad, and I’m not embarrassed to say that in the sequence that covers the death of Mr. Hooper, I was outright bawling, and a few minutes later, when Jim Henson dies in 1990, I completely lost it. That’s how much this show meant to me and to so many people over the decades, and Brava to Ms. Agrilo for creating just the perfect document to everything that Sesame Street brought to so many people’s lives. This is easily the best documentary this year, and woe be to any Academy that doesn’t remember it at year’s end.

The other fantastic doc out this week, though I actually got to see it last year, is Lisa Rovner’s SISTERS WITH TRANSISTORS (Metrograph Pictures), which will play at the Metrograph, both on demand and part of its Digital Live Screenings (available to join for just $5 a month!). This is an endlessly fascinating doc that looks at the women of electronic music and the early days of synthesizers and synthesis and some of the female pioneers. It’s narrated by Laurie Anderson, which couldn’t be the more perfect combination.

The movie covers the likes of Suzanne Cianni; Forbidden Planet composers Louis and Bebe Barron, who created the first all-electronic score for that movie; the amazing Wendy Carlos, who electronically scored one of my favorite movies of all time, Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange; Delia Derbyshire, who was also the subject of Caroline Catz’s short, Delia Derbyshire: The Myths and Legendary Tapes, which tragically, I missed when it premiered at the SXSW Film Festival in March. Derbyshire was also famous for creating the iconic theme to “Doctor Who” while working at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in the '60s. Others who appear in the movie, either via archival footage or more recent interviews are Pauline Oliveros and Laurie Spiegel, who I was less familiar with.

The point is that as someone who was a fantastic for electronic music and synthesizers from a very early age and for someone who feels he’s very familiar with all angles of music, I learned a lot from watching Rovner’s film, and I enjoyed it just as much a second time, because the footage assembled proves what amazing work these women were doing and rarely if ever getting the credit for what they brought to electronic music, something that still resonates with the kids today who love things like EDM.

An endlessly fascinating film with so much great music and footage, Sisters with Transistors can be watched exclusively through the Metrograph’s Live Screening series, so don’t miss it!

Hitting Shudder this week is Chris Baugh’s BOYS FROM COUNTY HELL (Shudder), which I didn’t get a chance to watch before writing this week’s column, but Shudder in general has been knocking it out of the park with the amazing horror movies it’s been releasing on a weekly basis. This one involves a quarelling father and son on a road who must survive the night when they awaken an ancient Irish vampire.

Also hitting theaters and streamers and digital this week:

THE MARIJUANA CONSPIRACY (Samuel Goldwyn Films)

MY WONDERFUL WANDA (Zeitgeist Films)

WET SEASON (Strand Releasing)

CRESTONE (Utopia)

VANQUISH (Lionsgate)

BLOODTHIRSTY (Brainstorm)

SASQUATCH (Hulu)

SHADOW AND BONE (Netflix)

And that wraps up this week. Next week? No idea… I know there’s stuff coming out but I probably won’t think about it until after THE OSCARS!!!! On Sunday.

#movies #mortalkombat #demonslayer #weekendwarrior #reviews #sisters with transistors #togethertogether #mitchellsvsmachines #streaming

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hellyeahheroes · 4 years

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“If you are poor how do you have an iPhone”

This is something that was gnawing at me for several weeks by now. Very recently comicbook twitter has gone on an anti-piracy outrage when one of the indie creators found out their comic book, that same one that had to change from selling in floppies to only selling in trades due to low sales, had hundreds of thousands of views on a pirate website. Due to the respect I have for that creator, I want to preface that what I am about to discuss is not a defense of piracy per se. it is not an argument that even applies in a large scale to indie scene that by far avoids some of the issues I will be talking about.

While I would never openly condone piracy, I have found myself playing devil’s advocate on that day out of sheer anger at one very specific argument that I have seen being thrown around by people condemning piracy. The exchange usually went like this - someone would go and try to say that comics are too expensive and that person would then be mocked for posting from their iPhone or another company equivalent. Every time I saw such behavior I have called it out. In some cases, people would apologize upon me explaining why this line of argument is out of the line. But in one a person had gotten furious I dared to question them, quickly devolving to childish insults and outright toxic behavior (the fact this person is an editor at Geeks World Wide made me completely give up on that website). But that is beside the point.

I want to just make it very clear that this “argument” is rooted in classism and, quite frankly, doesn’t even work. Let us explain the latter first

1. Why You Cannot Just Buy A Single Book

First I want to give the benefit of the doubt to the people using this argument. So we will do something dreadful and talk about math. For the purpose of this argument, I’m even going to go as far as not address the fact that even if you buy an iPhone through installment payments, at one point you are supposed to just have finished paying for the hardware. Meanwhile comic books expect you to keep buying if not one title, then hopefully another effectively forever. This fact in itself breaks the whole line of argument; A person could have wrapped up paying for the iPhone long before they ended in a financial situation where they cannot afford even comics. I will be ignoring this to address what I believe to be a steel man version of the argument - the strongest possible interpretation I can imagine. But even if we assume we live in a capitalist nightmare of endless payments, the rhetorics do not hold water.

Currently, on Apple official store, the newest iPhone11 costs you 30 dollars a month, while iPhone11 Pro is for 25$. In theory, the comparison that is presented should therefore work. After all, if you can afford 25$ dollars you can easily spare $5 for a comic book, right? For that price, you could buy as much as 4 comic books each month. Except that this assumption comes from a perspective that in order to read a single comic book all you need to do is buy that one comic book. Which is not the case. Or rather, it might be a case if we’re talking about independent publishers or markets like European or manga. But is certainly not one for Marvel and DC. While the problem is better than it once was we still regularly end in a situation where, in order to understand what is going on in a single Big 2 book, you need to read several others. This is a common case with big events. Let’s take a look at recently finished Absolute Carnage

This event had the gall to ask you to buy seven books and then upped it to nine. Nine comic books roughly 5 dollars per issue is 45$. To buy all of it would be to spend the equivalent of your iPhone11 Pro fee for five months.

Someone might now say that you obviously do not need to read the entire event. But the truth is, you do not really know that when it comes to making preorders. The event comics are deliberately constructed in such a way to trick people into thinking they have to buy all of it to understand what is going on. It was true when they were humongous, reaching even a hundred issues like the first Civil War, and it is true now. And while veteran fans have learned that usually you only need to follow main series and tie-ins written by its writer, even that can be a strain on someone’s budget. It might be that this person could only afford this one, single comic book. So when they suddenly find what might be their only source of entertainment incomprehensible without paying more money, they may face a dilemma. Deny yourself your one source of joy for any duration of time from a month to half of a year. Or quickly pirate that one book you never wanted to and was never interested in buying in the first place until you had the title you were paying for effectively held hostage.

I want to underline this is not just events. The most outrageous case of this issue right now is the X-Men line since Jonathan Hickman’s takeover. Which has become so self-referential you need to read all the titles in order to understand any single one. Without doing it the books become incomprehensible. This is me speaking from experience here. I was only interested in a single title from the initial launch. But the moment I saw characters talking about events from another book in a way that assumes I’m up to speed, I dropped it.

In order to get into this so-called great new jumping-in point as it launched fans needed to first spend around $20 a month to buy two miniseries for 3 months. And as Dawn of X rolled in, the number of books rose and keeps rising. X-Men, X-Force, bi-weekly New Mutants, Excalibur and Fallen Angels already request you to invest an equivalent of the monthly price of an iPhone11. And they soon shall be joined by Wolverine, Hellions, Cable, X-Men/Fantastic Four and possibly monthly Giant-Size X-Men. Those keeping attention to the math part might have noticed we are a single series (and we are lead to believe there is more than one coming) from X-Men becoming an investment equal to paying for two separate iPhone11s each month. It is proof that the Big 2 has adopted a “more eggs, fewer baskets” mentality. This customer-unfriendly approach to storytelling seems by design prone to weeding out and turning away all but big spenders who can afford to regularly buy multiple books. it is not different from the exploitative systems we find in video games, designed to prioritize so-called “whales”, as the industry came to call people who can blow ungodly amounts of money on a game, over regular customers.

2. The Rhetoric Itself Is Flawed

However, even if the hypothetical scenario presented by people using the “why do you have an iPhone” argument was true, we need to recognize how toxic this argument is. First of all, this whole line of reasoning is out of touch and assumes that a working iPhone is a luxury, while more and more times in modern society it becomes a necessity. I live in Poland and have not encountered this issue yet, I keep hearing of people who simply cannot get a job without having an iPhone. It’s because more and more fields require you to have working company apps or use them to find new workers in the first place. The miniature computer in your hand has become such a utility tool it now is actively getting harder to operate in modern society without affording it. This line of argument only betrays that you are out of touch almost as much as a similar argument being used to claim people who have flatscreen TVs are not “really poor”. Currently, flatscreens are only TVs being produced and sold anymore, cheap for purchase and cheaper to maintain than a full-sized TV long time out of use and with spare parts likely no longer produced.

Moreover, you don’t really know how exactly that specific person’s financial situation is. It may be that yes, they can afford an iPhone out of necessity but it does require them to be on a tight budget. Maybe the phone itself is actually passed on from a family member - speaking here as someone whose every phone ever was such a gift. It may even be that the person had to work extremely hard and save up a lot to afford this phone and simply is not able to expand on their profits anymore. Or, as mentioned above, that they once could and finished paying for the last installment but have fallen on hard times ever since. The list goes on. The crux of it is that you do not know other people’s stories and have no right to hold them to some arbitrary standards without that knowledge.

Which brings me to my final point - the whole argument relies on perpetuating a myth of “properly poor” people. The made-up image of nobly suffering poor who deny themselves any and all form of luxury in life (and remember, we established that the whole argument relies on seeing modern phones as a luxury, not a necessity they have become) to save money to get themselves out of poverty. Not to mention a similar myth of “kindhearted poor” who gladly give up what little they have to help others - the kind media love to perpetuate to distract from how bad the state of society is to lead to this situation in the first place. This not only does mispresent how the whole capitalist system is rigged to make it easier to save money the higher up the financial ladder you climb, but it also does not understand human nature. Human beings aren’t machines and it is impossible to really go through every single day without some sort of relief. Sometimes it may be a video game or a dinner at a fancy restaurant. Sometimes it may be a smartphone. Or a luxury item you never plan to use but just want to have to remind you what your goal is.

Yet our society made a game out of shaming and being judgmental to every poor person who spends even the tiniest amount of money on escapism, on any sort of relief from how stressful poverty is. And, speaking as someone who had panic attacks caused by sudden financial expenses wrecking my monthly budget, it is stressful. We expect people to act as all forms of entertainment and escapism aren’t also contributing to one of our human needs, the need to simply be able to wind down for even a moment, and thus not worth spending money on. Then we judge them if they resort to illegal means to fulfill that need.

I would go as far as making the argument this is a self-perpetuating problem. This very line of thinking, that poor must be at all times miserable and them spending even the slightest amount of money on anything nice is worth scorn? it is what actively encourages them to resort to piracy even if they could afford to buy comics. They are being constantly told by society they shouldn’t buy themselves anything not essential. And then the society acts surprised when they then fulfill their needs through illegal means to save money. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

I am not making this post to defend piracy. But I think we need to seriously consider what kind of rhetorics is being used to condemn it and what it actually says about people who use it and those who silently nod in agreement.

- Admin

#Marvel #DC #Piracy

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sebastianshaw · 4 years

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“You’re sure?” Shinobi asked yet again, “The potential power you could wield...I realize the goals of the Hellfire Club have changed somewhat, but Krakoa is still--” Harry Leland waved a chubby, thick-fingered hand from across the table, “It’s not about power, my boy. I shan’t lie and say I no longer desire it--I am no such ascetic saint---but it is a desire I have realized I must abstain from. I realize that is a foreign concept for men such as us, but I’m quite doing my best, for my own good. I do appreciate the offer, though, it’s very kind of you.” “Well,” said Shinobi, cautiously, not sure about admitting what he said next, “You were always very kind to me.” It wasn’t that he thought that Harry---his “Uncle Leland” as he had called him growing up--was going to taunt him for this. It was just that revealing any kind of vulnerability, even something most people wouldn’t count as such, bothered him. Any sign of weakness always made him tense, a physical anticipation his father was about to beat him for it. Not like Uncle Leland. Uncle Leland had always smiled at him when he saw him, called him “dear boy”, always had some kind of old-fashioned candy for him and, if he was expecting him, some kind of small but expensive gift. Nothing a young boy would actually like, Harry didn’t have children and he didn’t know a thing about them, but it was the only affection Shinobi had ever received from an adult man. The fact Harry was in proximity to his father, that he was someone his father liked and presumably approved of, made it even better. If someone his father approved of approved of Shinobi in turn, it was ALMOST like getting a bit of his father’s approval, in his childish logic back then.

It couldn’t be said that Harry ever was close with Shinobi or took on any kind of fatherly role, they didn’t see each other often enough for that, he’d never even hugged him (which, Shinobi understood as an adult, a grown single man hugging a friend’s young son would be considered weird, but as a kid who didn’t understand the implications, he’d wished he would once or twice) and Shinobi had been hurt later on when he’d realized that Harry called EVERYONE “dear boy”, he had called WOLVERINE that for crying out loud, and here Shinobi had thought it was his special nickname---but still. Still. It was the most he’d ever gotten from any adult that was not his mother, and he’d treasured it deeply, even concocting a fantasy that Harry Leland was his biological father. A fantasy he still thought possible---his poor mother had been Sebastian’s toy, he wouldn’t put it past the old bastard to pass her around to his buddies like some party favor at the Hellfire Club. Though as long as Shinobi was going to dream up things that could never be, he’d like to imagine something tenderer, something that fit his image of Uncle Leland and didn’t involve his mother being further degraded to support her son. Like Uncle Leland marrying his mother and them all moving far away somewhere and being happy. Childish tripe. But then, he’d been a child. He wasn’t anymore. And he had duly left such candy floss fantasies behind. But he still wanted, in the sole tiny pocket of generosity that existed in his selfish soul, wanted to give something back to Harry Leland. The best thing he could think of was promising him the seat of Black Bishop once he had moved up from it. “I don’t understand,” he said, trying to process what Harry had said, “Is it because it’s not my father making the offer, you don’t think it’s guaranteed without his approval? Because once I take power as the Red---” “Dear boy,” said Harry patiently, “You indeed do not understand. But that is, in itself, understandable. You have the confidence of youth, despite your trials beyond your age, and you have your father leading you every step of the way on top of that. What I told you just now must seem incomprehensible, but it’s the truth. Seeking power may work for some. In the end, all it got me was an early---and oft-disturbed---grave. Krakoa is a place of new beginnings. All I want to do is regain enough of my former finances---the paperwork for that is a mess, they really MUST learn to make allowances for mutants, as we have demonstrated we are BOUND to come back from the dead--to live comfortably as I am accustomed to, and then stay away from these political games for the rest of my natural life, and whatever unnatural ones I might yet again wind up in.” Shinobi just...looked at him. He got the words alright, but, as Harry himself said, he couldn’t understand. “You don’t have to be scared of dying again,” he finally said, “You know that. It’s not permanent anymore.” “It was never permanent in the first place, dear boy, I was dragged back to life TWICE before this, once with you if you recall, though certainly neither time was as...pleasant, as this.” “So what’s the problem then?” Shinobi’s voice came out shriller, more emotional than he had intended. Indeed, more than he expected. He hadn’t realized how much he had WANTED Harry to say yes. He had thought he was just being nice, and perhaps making a smart decision---Leland had always been one of the very few members of the Hellfire Club with a sense of LOYALTY, something neither Shinobi nor his father could boast. Having him with them would be an advantage, one they didn’t have to worry about turning on them. He’d...he’d thought he’d just been thinking practically. But now his own reactions showed him it had been more than that. Yet again, he hated himself for displaying this, this weakness, this need, this vulnerability. But he’d wanted this. He’d had this idea of himself and his father and Harry Leland ruling all together, his father approving him and his “uncle” being there and it just...it just being everything he’d wanted. And now Harry Leland was turning him down, taking it away. Shinobi felt...betrayed. Of all the people he’d thought would ever hurt him, Harry Leland and his mother had been the only two not on the list. That made this sting far harder than it would from almost anyone else. In Shinobi’s mind, it wasn’t the offer that Uncle Leland was pushing away---it was Shinobi himself. Rejected by his father so much, so often, so brutally, so completely, had made Shinobi oversensitive as an adult to any kind of rejection, taking it deeply personally, like a wound, a wound that made him wild with tearful rage like some hurt animal---as Storm and Archangel could attest, as they had also turned down his offers of Hellfire Club royalty and suffered the violent reactions that resulted. Something that would have been a mere tantrum in a normal man---sad and strange, but not threatening---was potentially fatal with someone who had Shinobi’s powers, and his lack of care for other people. Again, something Storm and Archangel could confirm, though neither had been impressed either. What was it Storm had said? A little boy who needs to bully or buy people into liking him? And he couldn’t do either with Uncle Leland. He didn’t think he’d have to. Across the table, Harry watched Shinobi, a sympathetic expression on his bearded face. He was no psychic or psychologist, and he really didn’t even know Shinobi all that well, but he could tell this had meant a lot to the boy. For whatever reason, probably paternally-related ones, Sebastian’s son had latched on to him at an early age like a little limpid-eyed limpet, and Harry, as soft a touch as a man could be in the world of Hellfire, had allowed it. Indulged it, even. He was an indulgent man. He’d felt sorry for the scrawny little boy scurrying about the legs of old men in business suits in a place that was surely both boring to a child, and somewhere that one should never be brought. And though he’d never witnessed physical abuse, he had always felt, from what interactions he’d seen, that Sebastian was too hard on the boy, too sharp with his directions and reprimands. But then, it hadn’t been Harry’s business, and he knew nothing about the raising of children anyway. Still, he’d been fond of the little urchin, for all that he saw him sparingly. He had no idea the pedestal than Shinobi had put him on. He just knew that the young man’s face now greatly resembled that of a stray dog that had been kicked. It would not be fair to call Harry Leland a kind man. He knew this. He had murdered before for personal gain, and he had been prepared to let worse things happen in the pursuit of power, and he regretted neither, at least not for moral reasons, only in that it had not worked out to his benefit at the end. But he also was also not unkind. When he had killed those in his way, or had them killed, when he had briefly had the upper hand against the X-Men, all those times he had never taken pleasure in it nor drawn it out, never even taunted his opponent or victim. He was cordial at all times, affable even. He did what he had to to advance himself, but he would not cause any additional distress in the process. And he had, again, always been fond of the boy. He’d never seemed cut out for Hellfire to Harry, of course, but then, neither did Harry himself. Perhaps that was why Harry liked him. And he didn’t want to see him cry, which it looked like he was about to do. Actually, Shinobi was trying to figure out WHAT he could do besides cry, because the only other option was a violent, uncontrolled outburst, and he was trying to behave with more...decorum...these days...especially since his father seemed to have lost a lot of his...but he didn’t know what to do when hurt except lash out the way he had never been able to as a helpless child. He didn’t know how to recruit people---just drive them away. Like Warren, and Betsy, and Ororo, and now worst of all, Unc--- “Shinobi? Lad?” Uncle Leland’s tone was...gentle. Shinobi suddenly felt a hot stab of anger at the idea the old man might be pitying him. It was the one thing he couldn’t bear, it was even worse than rejection, and he was snapped out of his confusion by this, ready to rip the old man’s heart out because what did it matter, it wouldn’t be for keeps, it would-- “Walk with me, will you?” Harry Leland had stood up, and was offering a hand to Shinobi. To his own surprise, Shinobi took it.

#fic #writing

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the--sad--hatter · 5 years

Text

Name Calling (45)

FANDOM - MARVEL MCU, DEADPOOL & X-MEN

PAIRING - BUCKY X READER (female reader, no physical descriptions)

WARNINGS - ALL OF THEM, SMUT, VIOLENCE ANGST

DESCRIPTION -

Vernichtung - Destruction, Annhialation.

It was what you were named and what you were supposed to be but the only thing you wanted to destroy was Bucky Barnes.

The ongoing and bloody war of words between you and Bucky turns in your favor when a disgruntled one night stand of his lets slip a secret when you run into her in the elevator… Now you have all the ammunition you need to destroy your enemy but you don’t plan on killing him quickly. Oh no, Bucky Barnes was going to suffer and you were going to enjoy every second. You just didn’t count on enjoying it quite so much.

But when your past catches up to you in the form of the mad scientist who made you, Bucky might be one of the only things that can save you from yourself. You can’t run from what you are but with his help, you can fight back.

Current Word Count - 124,205

MASTERLIST or Read on Ao3

Moodboard by @talesofakindredspirit

Chapter Forty-Five - Soldier Of Death

Daddypool: You exploded Wolverine without inviting me to watch?!? HOW COULD YOU???

Daddypool: Did you at least save me a piece?

You: Who told you???

Daddypool: So you did save me a piece?

You: No you fucking overripe watermelon, who told you I exploded him?

Daddypool: Rude. Jubilee text me.

You: If you want some of Logan’s DNA apparently I have 50%....

Daddypool: What did you do?????? Collect the goo in Tupperware containers? No judgement.

You: Jesus Fucking Christ Wade

You: He’s my biological father.

Daddypool: .....................................

Daddypool: ASDFGHJKL!!!!!

You: You alright sweetie?

Daddypool: I’m fine. I’m ok. So Logan’s your dad? On a completely unrelated note, wanna come to Vegas with me?

You: No need, I just spoke to Logan and he said he would LOVE it if you called him Daddy from now on :D

Daddypool: I am choosing to believe you.

“Who you texting sweetheart?” Bucky whispered in your ear, flinging his arm across your waist.

You tilted the phone to show him just as a text came through and Bucky’s snort of laughter made you look down at the screen.

Darcy: YOU’RE FUCKING BARNES?!?!?!?!?

“You certainly are.” He snickered.

“I can’t believe I forgot to tell Darcy!” You said guiltily.

“Hmm, you’ve been busy though.” He reasoned, nipping the skin at your throat.

Darcy: FYI, the internet have dubbed you ‘Soldier of Death’ as your couple name and I 100% approve. I expect details, lots of them before I forgive you.

You: Uhhhhhh. Couple name? Internet?

Darcy: Winter Soldier/Deathwave aka Soldier of Death. Someone posted a picture of you two kissing on the balcony on your birthday on Instagram with the caption ‘The truth will set you free’.

“MOTHERFUCKER! I’m going to kill Natasha!”

“Well it was only a matter of time before people found out doll, you can’t keep your hands of me.” Bucky said reasonably.

You twisted round to arch a brow at him, glancing down at his hands pointedly.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

You tapped your foot against the floor in agitation as you watched him flip a knife in the air and catch it easily, chopping a tomato with the blade skilfully. Your eyes narrowed at him, the bastard. You had quickly devolved into an argument about who couldn’t keep their hands of who and now were apparently in a competition.

Well if he wanted to play dirty...

You yawned loudly, stretching your arms above you and arching your back. You smirked a little when you heard the chopping sounds falter for a second before Bucky cleared his throat and started up again. Well that was easy and you’d only been testing the waters.

Let the games begin.

As soon as you bit into the omelette you moaned sinfully at the taste, ignoring Bucky and his suspicious glare. He responded by scooting his chair closer and lifting your legs up to drape them across his lap, running his fingers across your bare skin.

When he went for a shower he ‘forgot’ a towel and shouted for you to bring one to him. When you walked in the bathroom and saw him in all his naked glory, water spilling down his body you nearly tripped over. You threw the towel onto the vanity and fled.

When he came out of the bathroom he was treated to a view of you doing yoga on the front deck, currently doing a handstand as you parted your legs and did the splits without wavering. You heard the bedroom door slam shut and giggled.

You finished up your yoga just as he came waltzing outside, shirtless with an axe slung over his shoulder.

“Um, whatcha doing?” You enquired.

“That chair we broke isn’t going to last long so I’m going to chop some wood.” He explained, smirking at your wandering gaze.

“Oh ok. Cool. Ok. I’m gonna go for a run.” You stammered.

No way were you sticking around to watch him act out the first ten minutes of a wild mountain man porno.

“Oh? Have some pent up energy you need to burn off?” He asked.

“Fuck off Barnes.” You snapped.

His bark of laughter made you jump, you’d been so focused on the way his back muscles were rippling as he lifted a log up. You huffed in annoyance and turned your back on him.

You eyed up the woods and released a breath. You’d been busy with Bucky but you’d been itching to run through the trees since you’d seen them. You were so excited you didn’t pay attention to him watching you.

You sunk to the ground in a starting position as you narrowed your eyes and a feral grin spread across your face. Without any warning you leapt forward, propelling yourself into the trees.

You flew over a low hanging branch and landed lithely on the ground, digging your heels into the dirt and sprinting forwards. You ducked, leant and moved out of the way of branches as you raced through the trees fluidly.

You had missed this, nature. You never got to spend enough time in the woods unless you were in danger so you never realised just how at home you felt here. Your instincts and sensed kicked in automatically as your mind cleared and it was like you were one with the forest, never missing a beat as you ran.

You didn’t think, you didn’t have to. Your feet landed where they needed to and it was like the forest was working in sync with you, parting like water to let you run. Anything that could have tripped you up or tangled around your ankles was sidestepped without conscious thought or effort.

You ran for miles, leaping over streams, hurtling over logs, climbing up trees and flinging yourself down them and not once did you slow down or lose your pace.

It was wondrously, rapturously freeing and you felt so alive. The further you ran the clearer your mind became and you it wasn’t a surprise to you that you could hear and smell everything for miles. You could hear the birds around you singing to each other, their wings flapping as they flew amongst the trees. There was a shuffling sound a few miles east and you sniffed the air, the heady scent of fur telling you it was a deer grazing.

Miles behind you you heard the thunk of wood as the only other human for miles chopped wood and you circled back, pushing yourself towards him.

He heard your footsteps before he saw you and when he realised you weren’t slowing down he dropped the axe and turned around, catching you in mid air as you leapt into his arms. You wrapped your legs around his waist and laughed joyfully.

You pressed yourself against his bare torso and ran your fingers through his hair, tugging at the strands roughly to pull his face down to yours.

Running through the woods couldn’t compare to how alive you felt when you were kissing James Buchanan Barnes. His lips parted against yours as you ran your tongue across his bottom lip and his chest rumbled. You kissed him breathless before you pulled away and jumped down, leaving his panting and looking a bit dazed.

“I guess you’re right, I just can’t keep my hands off you.” You joked, jogging away towards the door.

You heard him growl lowly at you and you broke into a run, laughing as you raced up the stairs, his heavy footsteps chasing you.

As soon as you opened the bedroom door you were sent flying, landing on all fours on the bed. Before you could turn around his hands were tugging the material of your workout leggings down your hips.

“Think you can get away with teasing me doll?” He snarled as he ripped them down your legs and flipped you over.

You grinned smugly at him as he finally got the leggings off you after pulling your shoes off. You grabbed your ankles and yanked you down the bed, your bared pussy exposed to him.

He arched a questioning brow at you and you nodded.

He dove forwards and licked one solid stripe along your slit, pulling away before he came into contact with your clit. His hands grabbed your sports bra and ripped it. You were running out of clothes what with his tendency to rip them off of you.

You ran your hands across his biceps, equally as affectionate with the metal one as you were with the flesh one until he grabbed your wrists and pushed them above your head.

“I don’t think so doll. You lost, couldn’t keep your hands off me so you don’t get to touch me until I say so.” He told you with a wicked grin.

You bit your lip and obediently kept your hands above your head when he released you. He stood above you, watching you with a calculated gaze.

With your legs splayed and your arms above your head, you were completely bare and at his mercy.

"Mica mea leoaică, așa de înfricoșătoare pentru mine.” He murmured heatedly as he ran his fingers down the inside of your thigh.

You gulped at the unfamiliar language, you were wagering it was Romanian. It was one of the few languages he knew that you didn’t and hearing him speak it, knowing he knew you couldn’t understand him made you even wetter. He chuckled darkly at your reaction and gripped your ankle as he slowly kissed his way up your leg.

When he reached the apex of your thighs you braced yourself for him to ignore your soaking wet pussy but he didn’t. He gently kissed you where you wanted him, flicking his tongue across your swollen clit for good measure before kissing his way down your other leg.

“Keep your hands above your head sweetheart.” He warned as he stood up again and flipped you back onto your stomach.

You did as you were told as you heard the sound of his jeans hitting the floor before he crawled onto the bed behind you and pressed a light kiss at the small of your back, in the dip of your spine and worked his way upwards.

His weight settled above you and you felt his cock push against your ass as he kissed your shoulder, biting down on it a little harder than gently before kissing the sting away.

“You might wanna grip onto those sheets sweetheart.” He warned as he sat up on his knees behind you.

His hands lifted your hips into the air as you twisted your hands into the bedsheets. With your arms stretched out above you, your torso pressed into the mattress and your ass in the air you were presented to him in such a lewd and filthy way that it had you moaning out loud even before he buried his face in your cunt.

As Bucky, sucked, licked and kissed you your moans became louder and the sheets tore under your grip. Over the sounds of your moans you could hear him fisting himself and you bit your lip so hard you tasted blood.

Just the though of him eating you out while he wanked himself off would have been enough to make you come, never mind the sheer fucking bliss he was causing by actually doing it and it didn’t take long at all for your orgasm to build up inside you. Before you fell over the edge he pulled back and you whimpered at the loss.

You felt the cold sensation of metal at your hole and he suddenly had two fingers knuckle deep in your pussy and you gasped at the very welcome intrusion. You were so wet they made an obscene squelching sound as he rapidly thrust them in and out of you, his thumb dropping to massage your clit.

“Fuck, fuck fuck, James!” You moaned loudly as you came on his hand, his fingers inside you rubbing at your G-Spot as you clenched around them.

White noise filled your ears as he finger fucked you into oblivion and you were too lost in the sheer mind blowing pleasure to register his groans as he came, his cum painting stripes across the back of your thighs.

You settled back onto planet earth about the same time he gently rolled you onto your back and leaned next to you on his side, licking his metal fingers clean.

“Fuck.” You whimpered.

“I intend to, thought you may need a minute first.” He said smugly.

Super Soldier serum was a godsend because you could feel him hardening against your hip.

“Can I touch you yet?” You asked breathily.

“Maybe if if you ask me real sweetly.” He told you, a brooklyn accent breaking through.

You growled and tried to touch him anyway but the second you moved your hands an inch away from the bed he grabbed them, both of your wrists easily ensconced in his much larger hand.

“I said ask me sweetly.” He chastised as he rolled on top of you, nudging your legs apart with his knee.

“Please James, I need to feel you.” You begged.

“Oh do you doll? Do you need to feel me?”He taunted evilly as he lined his now fully hard cock up with your entrance.

You pushed against his hand, struggling to free yourself but it was in vain. The head of his cock slowly pushed past your folds and you abandoned the struggle.

“You don’t need your hands to feel me doll, you can feel me now can’t you?” He whispered in your ear as he pushed inside you, tortuously slow.

You turned your head to the side, seeking him out and he met your lips with his own. He wasn’t even a full inch inside you before he pulled out and you made a noise of discontent.

“You didn’t answer me.” He reprimanded.

“I can feel you, I don’t need my hands.” You said in a rush.

“Split your legs like you did when you were being such a little fucking tease outside.” He instructed and you obeyed, parting your legs as wide as you could for him.

“Good girl.” He praised and languidly pushed his cock inside you.

With your legs splayed for him like this he went deeper inside you as he slowly thrust all the way in until he was pressed against you. He stayed like that for a moment, keeping you pinned down as he passionately kissed you. His lips moved across your jaw and down to your throat as he pulled out just as slowly.

“Promise you’ll keep your hands right there and I’ll fuck you the way you want to be fucked.” He negotiated, whispering the words into your skin.

“I promise.”

He released your hands and moved to grip your thighs, holding you wide open before he pulled his hips back and slammed them into you again. The force of it would have propelled you up the bed if he hadn’t have been holding you steady and you screamed in ecstasy.

He held you still and you kept your hands where you were supposed to as he fucked you hard, almost pummelling you into the mattress. You were slick and wet and he slid into you easily, going so deep you could feel his cock drag against your still sensitive G-spot.

You were reduced to a quivering mess in seconds and the sounds of his skin slapping against yours joined the symphony of your moans as the soldier repeatedly thrust his cock into you.

You were tight and wet, your walls fluttering around him and it felt so good that the two of you came together as the wooden bed frame creaked dangerously underneath you before it splintered. You were too caught up in each others bodies to notice the bed crashing to the floor.

It wasn’t until you came down from your respective highs that you realised you’d broken yet another piece of furniture.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

This is hands down the absolute filthiest thing I have written yet so if you need me, I'll be bathing in Holy Water.....

@nerdandproud-86 @harrison-shot-first @thejourneyneverendsx @thelostallycat @inquisitor-selvala @the-corruptor @iovher @kendrawr-kitkat @phoenix-whiskey-tears @the–real-wombat @buckitybarnes @fairislesheets @angieptt @meganjonezzzz @dugan365 @fluffeh-kitty @memanda17 @krystallynx @theonelittleone @piscesbarnes @free-as-fishes @tarastudiesalot @captainamericasbeard @dropthepizza346@jaynnanadrews@likes-to-smell-books@drdorkus @life-wanderer@metalarmlover @animegirlgeeky@jsmith509

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b-kitsune · 5 years

Text

Many ways to say I love you: Day Twenty Five.

Kidge-a-palooza 2019 Prompt: Longing. Pairing: Kidge (VLD) Universe: Post canon. Status: Part 6/7

For the past five years, Keith was always clear that the war had left serious consequences in himself, many of which cannot be seen physically. After all, it was inevitable when fighting a 10,000-year-old empire, but not all of them usually hold negative characteristics.

One of them is his impeccable ability to react to critical situations with enviable speed and serenity, always giving the best option when his judgment is warranted.

But at that time, while being accompanied by Ezor and Zethrid through the aisles of the garrison with palpable anxiety, he may end up fainting right there.

Both women were worried about him, being their leader both in the intergalactic aid program, and in the control of Marmora leaf missions, so seeing him with the nerves to the surface is not something that can be considered good.

The message that the green paladin sent hours ago had certainly worried him, but Keith declined to mention anything about its content.

When they reached the restroom, they met Lance chatting animatedly with a couple of cadets who were part of a project that he was probably leading in his spare time. Keith ran quickly to him as if life were going out of it.

''Hi! I thought you would arrive in a few more weeks...''

''Lance, Where is Pidge?'' Lance looked at him in dismay, and with some fun on his face.

''Apparently, you read her message recently, right?''

''I don't have time for your games, tell me where it is!'' He asked anxiously, drawing the attention of Ezor and Zethrid.

''Hey calm down buddy, today is her day off, she must surely be at her parents' house.''

''Thank you.'' Without paying attention to Lance's questions, he went immediately to the exit, without first asking his companions not to follow him for any reason and disregarding congratulations on Lance's high before leaving the room.

''Did something happen with Miss Holt, Mr. McClain?'' One of the cadets asked.

''Nothing important, Pidge probably played a joke on our friend.''

''What type of joke?'' Ezor inquired, curious about the whole thing. ''Did say she was dying?''

''Nah, she will surely have told him that was a father.''

The screams of both girls were stuck in her throat as Lance approached the screen of his cell phone, and a sweet awww came out in their place on the part of everyone to see the images taken a couple of days ago.

...

When he arrived at the residence of the Holt family, he realized that his hands were sweating profusely, he didn't know very well what would do when he saw her after several months of absence on earth. Colleen received him happy to see him earlier than planned at the door, and without knowing what to say, he followed her silently inside the residence.

There, in the middle of many familiar faces, he could see Pidge sitting on the floor next to Kosmo and Bae Bae, surprised by his appearance.

''I'm glad you came back early! Did you read my message?''

''Hello...'' It was the only thing he could articulate while taking her hands tightly. He was shaking but dared not hug her in front of her parents at that moment. ''So it is true?''

''Of course, I couldn't believe it either.'' She brings him closer to their pets. ''Look, don't you think they are the cutest thing you've ever seen in the universe?''

Keith didn't give credit, he didn't know if it was because of the little puppies that surrounded his partner on her stomach, or the vile scam of the message Pidge had sent him. Kosmo had had a litter of four small wolverines, whose colors varied from white to dark blue that characterized it. The face of desolation was palpable, making Matt and Shiro laugh loudly, who had already guessed what Pidge had told him to force him to return earlier than expected.

''I am going to kill you.'' He said at last. Pidge, however, was falsely surprised by his threat, moving away from him to take one of the puppies in her hands.

''As you wish, but first we have to put names to our little babies.''

''Pidge...''

''Keith breathes.'' Shiro patted him on his back, seeing as a vein protruded over his hundred. ''If it had been true what I think Katie sent you, she wouldn't have told you by courier.''

''Already at this point, I think I have lost all faith in her, we will break.''

''Dramatic.''

''Learn not to scare people, damn it!'' Before pouncing on Pidge, she was approached by the puppy she had in her arms excited. He took it doubtfully after a few seconds, not even Kosmo had been as small as he did when he found him in the quantum abysm next to his mother, which touched him for a moment, slightly fading his frustration. ''It's... Too fragile.''

A loud sigh came out of his lungs as soon as he relaxed, calming the mood of the room, to sit next to Pidge and look more closely at the other puppies.

They searched for their mother's chest awkwardly, and barely had enough strength to open their eyes as they climbed on top of each other, complaining in the attempt. Keith laughed when one of them turned to try to get away from his brothers, completely relieving his annoyance with Pidge's lie.

He pulled her to his lap to lean on her shoulder when she told him how difficult it had been to help his space wolf to give birth, since that same night, a heavy storm fell that alerted Kosmo for many hours. Matt and Shiro had decided it was time to leave them alone, to give them some privacy.

''I'm very sorry that you took it so hard, I thought it wouldn't be so bad. '' Keith kissed the contour of her shoulder, in response to having been forgiven many minutes ago, Pidge sighed in relief. ''Aren't they beautiful?''

''They are, but ... What will we do with them as soon as they grow up? It is already difficult to take care of Kosmo and BaeBae when we are working.''

'' Well...'' Pidge turned to stare at him. ''Mom commented that it would be best to give them up for adoption.''

''Why?'' Keith couldn't help the trouble in his tone of voice. ''They are Kosmo's children, I will not get rid of them.''

''Okay, listen.'' She settled on the back of the chair to see his head-on. ''I knew you wouldn't like the sound of this, but you have to understand that having four cosmic wolf cubs is not a game, Keith. They need care, food and a lot of attention when they are young, we hardly pay attention to ours. How do you think they would feel seeing us only three hours a day?''

''Yeah, but...'' Keith felt doubtful about the issue. Pidge gave him a soft kiss on his cheek to appease the atmosphere that had tensed in a few minutes. ''I don't like how that sounds… I couldn't leave them.''

''You won't, in fact, when Mom mentioned the idea, it had occurred to me who could have the privilege of having a beautiful Kogane-Holt puppy.''

''Okay, I hear you.'' He replied laughing at the last. Hearing their last names from Pidge's mouth sounded temptingly pleasant.

''First, one of them is ours, right Kosmo?'' The wolf growled affirmatively; Keith's eyes shone with happiness knowing that they would stay with a puppy. ''Shiro said he planned to talk to Curtis to adopt one of them.''

''Seriously?'' Keith couldn't agree more with that decision. Pidge nodded animatedly.

''Before you arrived, he told me that he would tell him this week on his day off, so, if that were the case, Shiro would be the new home of one of the puppies.'' Both were satisfied with that decision, knowing that Shiro's home would be as ideal as being with them. ''One can go to the McClain family.''

''But Lance doesn't like Kosmo. And... Dogs in general.'' He commented skeptically. ''Why would he want one?''

''Because Lance didn't ask me, but Veronica. She said her family needs to have a guardian for the animals when they are not at home, and her nephews would do well to grow up with a pet.'' Keith nodded pleased once he thought carefully. It was a good idea, also considering that Lance's family was numerous and friendly, his puppy wouldn't feel alone at any time. So far, the options were adequate and close, so he felt no problem giving them to them. ''The other…''

''Who else? ¿Hunk? Koran?'' She slowly denied.

''Hunk said he didn't have time to have a recipe eater when he constantly travels through space. And Coran is not very interested in having a partner having the mice, and could eat his comb for the mustache.'' She sighed softly to say the last proposal, hoping that Keith wouldn't take it so badly. ''It's Iverson.''

...

Two months passed quickly since the last time Keith had embarked on land.

Many times, while in space, he didn't feel truly close to his planet. His family was close to him, complying with the control of the government of the galras, while his companions accompanied him on interstellar travel. Logically, he missed his friends more than he would admit out loud, but if by any chance of fate, Atlas returned to sail with all his neighbors inside, Keith would leave nothing behind to bind him on earth.

That thought was slowly eating him up. Somehow, he wanted to have what his friends missed when they walked away during diplomatic missions. Family memories, endearing sensations that would take him to a past day, and especially, a place where he could return when he was not busy. Those kinds of ideas had come as soon as Pidge had thrown that ridiculous joke that even her parents recriminated once they had heard.

For several days, Keith had the feeling that his first emotion upon knowing that lie was a disappointment, but he couldn't understand why.

''You have a strange face.'' Acxa let her look at the data on her screen to avert his gaze to Keith, worried when he didn't answer her in any way while still looking at nothing. ''Does something happen?''

''I... I've only been thinking a lot.''

''About the puppies?''

''What?'' He looked up confused.

''They have already turned three months. Veronica told me to take it this week because your wolf no longer breastfeeds them.''

''Oh yeah, you're right.'' He sighed wistfully to remember that fact, he had been close to the puppies to spend their last days with them, a soft smile was drawn on his face, making Acxa growl.

''You don't trust in me.''

''I do.''

He stopped her quickly, if something he had learned working with her, is that Acxa easily resented the minimum questioning of trust. He didn't recriminate her for that and had learned to cope with it. Working with Lotor had left sequels in her as in Keith with the war.

''I'm confused.''

''About Kosmo?''

''It's not about Kosmo!'' Keith sighed heavily before continuing, at least she seemed more relaxed. ''I... I received a message from Pidge before embarking on the Garrison.''

''I heard from Ezor, she told you that you were a father.'' Keith nodded silently.

''I thought it was she who was pregnant, and I think I lost my mind a bit in the process because I haven't stopped thinking about it.'' Keith was silent for a few seconds, saying it out loud felt lighter than many weeks ago, Acxa meanwhile, waited. ''I guess maybe I got more excited about it.''

''Well, who among us wouldn't want a family? It's something we never had when we grew up.''

A family.

Keith's mind stopped working at those words... As if he hadn't seen something too obvious that was written in his nose.

But before continuing to talk, Pidge and Iverson approached them.

''The ship will be ready to leave in another week for the A-78 galaxy, so we are loading the latest power supplies.''

''Thanks, Pidge.'' Keith mentioned while Acxa accepted the latest reports from his hand.

''I'll go show it to Kolivan so that everything is in order and we leave without contingencies.''

And with a soft smile towards Keith in an attempt to comfort, Acxa withdrew into the room. Seizing the opportunity, before Iverson said goodbye to Pidge and continued his work, Keith stopped him.

''Sir, I would like to speak with you.''

''What is it about?'' Inquired severely.

''Are you still interested in adopting one of Kosmo's puppies?'' Iverson was slightly confused for a few seconds, and with a drastically lower voice, he asked.

''I ... I didn't know if it would be considered.''

''When we first arrived on earth, you treated my wolf kindlier than many people. I really believe that our puppy would be in good hands if you wanted to.'' If there was some emotion in Iverson's eyes when Keith finished, it was immediately changed to a neutral face, although his smile remained.

''Well ... Yes, I'd love to.'' Pidge's smile widened at his response. ''Now, if you'll excuse me, I have issues to attend to.'' Pidge gave him a soft hug as they watched the officer entered through the hallways of the Garrison, clearly happier than normal.

''That was very sweet Keith, I thought you wouldn't want to give it to him.''

''What I said was true, Iverson loved Kosmo as soon as he saw her. After thinking about it for a few days, I didn't think it was a bad idea.''

Keith circled her waist while Pidge rested her arms on his shoulders, giving them a feeling of intimate comfort. There was nothing but machines and airplanes parked outside, with a few people who had more interesting things to do than observe them. So it was one of the few moments that could be affectionate outside the home without feeling uncomfortable.

''You're a mature man, Keith Kogane.'' Pidge smiled sweetly. So, Keith thought that moment would be ideal to let his worries out.

''You know, I've been thinking a lot about something.''

''Yeah, me too.'' Keith was surprised by the seriousness of her face, lightly squeezing his hands on her waist, had Pidge also had his same concerns all this time? ''How did BaeBae manage to breed Kosmo? Isn't she, like, three times bigger than my dog?''

''Oh my god, Pidge.'' He growled loudly, dropping onto her shoulder.

''What!? It is a genuine question.''

''I want a family.'' There he was, his low impulses acting again. He felt her back tighten on his fingers at that statement. So, without being able to continue fucking anymore, he continued. ''Not puppies, or rare machines that you do in your spare time, I want a family with children... And maybe more puppies, because they were very cute.'' When he looked up, he could see the alert in her eyes. Pidge was scared, or confused, he didn't know very well which of the two won her heart at that moment. ''I... I'll understand that you don't want to say anything for now, or send me to hell. But I want you to know that I have thought about it a lot, there is no one with whom I want to have a family, then with you, Ka-''

''Yes.'' It had been a whisper, almost inaudible if it wasn't for the proximity. Keith felt his heart pound so fast it would explode inside.

''Y-yes?''

''Yes... I would like to have a family with you.'' Pidge laughed while he saw Keith's face lighting up with joy, but before he wanted to kiss her, she pulled it away with a wave of her hand. ''But you have to talk seriously, not here. At home, both alone.'' He took hir fingers to give them a strong kiss on her yolks.

''Of course.''

Both smiled, with a project waiting to be evaluated in privacy.

#peith #kidge #kidgefanfic #monthofkidge #kidgeapalooza #kidgeapalooza 2019 #keith kogane #keith (voltron)#pidge gunderson #pidge holt #katie holt #voltron #voltronship

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dexondefense · 5 years

Note

if you’ve read his dark materials, what would you peg the falc’s daemons as?? or the daemons of any characters you’re really Feeling

ANON. How did you get into my drafts because I’ve been working on a Daemon AU forEVER and just…never got around to finishing it. BUT the idea of professional sports taking place in the same universe as Daemons is just so funny. It’s been years since I’ve read those books, but I feel like the rule was generally a person could move roughly 10-20 feet away from their Daemon before the pain started to set in so like how does that work on ice? Are there special benches just filled with 20 some random animals all crowded together on either side of the teams? Do they have to train specifically so they can move further away than 20 feet without losing focus on the game? Do the animals wear hats and scarves and stuff with the team’s logo on it? I’m gonna say the answer is yes to all of the above because I love it. Anyway here’s the Falconers and their Daemons.

Thirdy - Thirdy’s Daemon took the form of a Tibetan Terrier fairly early on in life. Thirdy always knew he wanted to do hockey, and she shifted through a few different dog forms before she found one that was small enough for easy travel and could handle the cold well. It wasn’t until years later that they realized that not everyone has as strong of control over what they become, and they both got extremely lucky. She is small enough to jump into a hockey bag from time to time, and doesn’t mind sitting in a freezing stadium day in and day out. She is peppy and energetic and Thirdy always thought cheerleaders in hockey were a bit ridiculous, but she does a pretty good job from the bench.

Marty - Marty has a rather rare Deamon in that she is a lemur. She’s smart and quick and tends to know the answer to any question before him, and likes to whisper the answer in his ear. She’s often found hanging out on top of the locker stalls, swinging back and forth or poking at things she’s not supposed to when no one is looking. Much like Marty she is very shy, but incredibly intelligent and she loves a good joke. Both of them make a point to memorize as many as possible to try to make the other one laugh harder when they’re alone or with their family.

Tater - Despite being Russian, Tater’s Daemon is an Canadian Timber Wolf. She is MASSIVE and sheds on everything and if she wasn’t so damn majestic she would be a hazard. She’s surprisingly delicate and well behaved for how over the top Tater is at all times, and despite being almost the size of a small human, she has a way of staying out of the way that no one quite understands. She is mostly silent, occasionally giving Tater a growl or a huff that tends to mean something different every time, but when they are alone she is a big dumb puppy who just wants to play.

Snowy - Snowy is one of the few guys who sometimes takes his Daemon on the ice with him, though not everyone always notices. She is a three and a half foot long albino python that is usually found draped around his neck. She likes the warmth and he likes the extra protection it affords him, no one wants to touch him on or off the ice when there’s a chance they might touch his Daemon. She unsettles a lot of people, and that is how they both prefer it. On the occasions that she does stay on the bench she tends to wind herself around Tater’s wolf’s neck for warmth. Tater made her a special scarf that is really just a tube for her to wear sometimes. She loves it.

Guy - Guy’s Daemon is a bloodhound, and on more than one occasion the other guys have thought she was dead as she curled up completely motionless in front of his stall. She barely seems to ever move, only dragging herself to the bench when it’s time for practice or a game, but neither she nor Guy care about what others think about her. She’s the greatest partner anyone could ever ask for, she can calm him down through all of his dark moods and she has an amazing sense of humor, it’s not his fault if no one else ever hears it.

Poots- Poots is never sure whether he should tell people his Daemon is a dove or a pigeon but in the end it doesn’t really matter. He took some teasing for her in Junior’s, but ultimately she’s a great Daemon to have. She’s quiet and quick and can easily land on his shoulder any time he’s on the bench to give him strength and encouragement. Not many of the other guys can do that with their partner and he’s thankful for her.

Jack - Jack has a Wolverine. She’s actually very amicable and only growls when Jack needs some space, but by way of her fangs and teeth, everyone assumes both she and Jack are vicious creatures. She settled at a time in Jack’s life when he needed a little extra protection and wanted to seem tougher than he felt and she became what he needed. Over the years she has learned to handle his anxiety attacks without panicking herself, and can help him calm down if everyone just gives them some space. Until of course, a certain little baker and his rabbit Daemon came along, but that’s a different story.

I’ll save the rest of Samwell for another post because I have a lot of thoughts.

#check please #check please au #HDM AU

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dimensionslip · 6 years

Photo

Tales of the Abyss -Those Who Inherit the Power of Lorelei- Event Report (June 15, 2018)

Just came home from the event a few hours back, and summarized stuff to the best of my abilities!

But, just a fair warning. The TL;DR of the stage play is "Abyss on drugs", as so succinctly put by a friend. And looking at the JP side's tweets, most people seem to be sharing the sentiment and aren't too sure of what they just watched (in a good way, as people seem to have enjoyed it all the same). So tread under the cut with caution...!

The stage play opens with Anise rushing onstage and greeting the audience, waving her penlight (the red one being sold in the venue), followed by Luke and Tear (with penlights too). She seems really excited, and goes along with the thought that everyone's celebrating her birthday. But Luke and Tear would not have any of it, including Mohs, who suddenly appears from the back with several light sticks on hand--think Mohs with red penlights ala Wolverine claws, if that gets the image across. Even Jade pops in as a skit face onscreen, voiced by Koyasu (I think he says something about Ion... about what he might do if he found out? Or something along those lines, my memory's kinda fuzzy in that regard). Even then Luke, Tear, and Anise (but mostly Anise and Luke) spend a lot of time trying to get the crowd hyped up with various iterations of <noun> warukuneeee and getting the crowd to do Raijinken. At least until Asch comes busting in and tells them to cut it out. Which they do, and Asch starts with a serious introduction to the stage play, which gets cut off by Anise doing a really good imitation of him telling them to cut it out earlier, and Anise gets chased off stage by Asch.

And, the stage play starts, with of course, Karma. They did something nice and montage-y with it, where some pre-game events were demonstrated by the cast, like Dist remodeling Tokunaga for Anise.

The first scene, as I recall, was a rehash of Asch discovering he'd been replaced, and seeing how Natalia treats Luke without knowing he's his replica. The next scene was one in Nam Cobanda Isle, where it's shown how Asch recruited the Dark Wings. I think Noir's companion here was York...? Not too sure.

I think it was around this time that the play cut to Engeve, where Tear and Luke were preparing meals, with Tear preparing a rather giant riceball. There was something about miso here (helping out with it, as I recall), and Tear asked one of the people in the audience to choose if they'd assist or not. The audience member ended up choosing "It can't be helped" and yeah, Luke helped out with miso stuff. Tear also asked another audience member to choose between her and Natalia, but the audience member chose Anise for some reason lol. Eventually, a second audience member chose Tear and the stage actor looked so happy hahaha.

There was also a meeting among the Six God-Generals, but all I can remember from it (and throughout the stage play) is Dist on wheels. Instead of his floating chair, he was on some sort of rollers the entire time past the opening. It was amusing. The scene skipped to Zao Ruins and we got Luke vs Asch, and the party against Largo, Legretta, Sync, and Arietta, if I recall correctly. It was also around this time we got Anise and Arietta in some sort of cat fight, where they were pinching each other's cheeks and Largo looked like some sort of unintentional referee. A little later was also a point of audience participation, where Luke explicitly asks Largo to stop mid-attack (and he agrees, oh my), and then asks the audience to shout Raijinken with him. Which, of course, causes Largo to faint.

Akzeriuth isn't really touched upon so much, and there's a focus on the Asch and Luke replica confrontation scene, as well as the party deciding what they should do post-Akzeriuth. It goes more or less the way the game does, and there's a skip to Ortion Cavern. Guy splits from the team at this point, and Asch, Natalia, Anise, Ion press on. With Anise... insisting on using a save point. Which everyone goes with, and we even get a save screen for it. It turns out to be a good thing, since the party gets wiped out by a surprise attack (complete with Asch's sword... missing a blade for some reason). Complete with a game over screen. But after some fuss on Anise's end, the "save" is reloaded, and they... run away from the battle.

Discovering Van's replication plans more or less go down the same way they do in-game (Asch saving Natalia, having a bit of a talk with her), but with maybe a little more Anise feeling like a third wheel. Asch gets some headaches at this point, if I remember properly, and later on, in another scene, Dist instead of Spinoza ends up explaining the Big Bang and relevant stuff (if not something along those lines).

Still, the craziest of the day's antics is yet to come, and I've got to say the scene at Chesedonia takes the cake. I can't recall the exact circumstances as to why the party found themselves in a bar of some sort (I think it may be a callback to how they got blocked by the Dark Wings asking for a toll?), but in either case, we have the party watching Van, Legretta, and Arietta putting on a dance number along with Noir, wearing something that certainly isn't Oracle Knight standard issue. It was some sparkly shirt for Van, is what I remember best, as with his sunglasses for the occasion.

It's around the time when Chihiro Suzuki shows up as the owner/manager of the establishment and causes a lot of confusion due to the fact that he sounds like Luke (also he calls Van, Legretta, and Arietta and they deny being them). He also knows no fear and starts poking fun at Van-sensei, inc But yeah, he gets into this argument with the Luke stage actor and begins shouting out Luke's attacks and ends with Lost fon Drive (which seem to affect the stage actor). Later on, Asch also shows up, and Chi-chan ends up putting on his Asch voice and causes more confusion (including towards Natalia, who stills at his voice). Koyasu as Jade eventually pops in and asks Luke what he's doing, more conversation follows, then Jade calls him a bad boy or something along those lines, which is followed by, of course, an "ore wa warukunee"... (which Jade says in a more yasashii voice). A little later, Jade decides it's a good time for an Indignation, which the audience gets to shout out along with him.

We also get Largo in a suit, who claims not to be Largo (?). And is some red lion (?).

After the advertisements (for Emotional Act) and chitchat between Luke/Asch and Jade, everything (thankfully or not) turns more serious for the most part. We get things like Natalia being outed as the "fake" princess, and the audience being the Kimlascan townspeople shouting her name (similar to the way she was protected by her people in the game). There's also a small scene with Arietta dancing around Feres. Then we get the infamous Aschtalia promise scene in Sheridan.

The stage play also has an interesting take on Sync's death. The party fights him, and there's a portion where they try to stop him from doing suicidal stuff when it's revealed he's an Ion replica, but they can't really stop him from falling to his death, just like in the game.

Then we get a Van vs Asch scene, which actually goes in Asch's favor for the most part--until he gets a headache which is so bad that he drops to the ground, and Van ends up turning the tide. Which means that it's time for another dance number and fight. The party fights Van, and they successfully defeat him. But Van gets revived, complete with a dance number, and we also get Sync back, in his new outfit from the last part of the game.

The stage play ends with Asch getting the Sword of Lorelei, and after the curtain call, a small talk show was held.

Some thoughts

So basically, the stage play skipped around a lot, and there was a lot of crack. There's not really any significantly new scenes, I feel (of relevance I feel would be recruiting the Dark Wings, as with how they handled Sync's death), and it was mostly just fun crack. Which I do not really mind, I really enjoyed the stage play despite being all "what the heck did I just watch" when I try to recall what just happened. I think involving the audience through subevents kind of led to the craziness and wackiness of the stage play overall, but I don't think it's exactly a bad thing per-se. We were somewhat forewarned, after all, by what was on the website with regard to what was in-store, and I suppose this further drives home the point/promise of the Emotional Act stage play to be closer to the main story, rather than being an original one the way the Yokohama Arena show was.

With regard to cast members that stood out, besides the star of the show (Asch), I would say Van, Sync/Ion, Anise, and Dist were pretty interesting to watch. Master Van because of the dance numbers again, Sync/Ion because of the way the stage actor had to switch between the two, Anise because that hyperactiveness/genki levels are just really off the charts (and quite entertaining), and Dist because the stage actor really, really nailed him (not to mention, staying on those rollers or whatever it was called was pretty amazing in itself, even if it does has something like a balancer). I'd actually like to take this opportunity to applaud Dist's stage actor (Orito of Starboys), for a job well done. I've seen his tweets the past few months about getting into Dist's role and he's really dedicated to his craft, I've got to say. It was revealed in the talk show that he got over a hundred hours on his Abyss save (and would play it during breaks while practicing, I think? one of the stage actors mentioned seeing him play, if I recall correctly), and he also nails Kazuki Yao's voice for him. He makes some IC Dist tweets at times too and it's really great of him, ahaha.

As for Jade, Koyasu actually didn't appear too much (or as much as I wanted to, but that's just my bias speaking), but what little moments we got were nice. In the plot itself, his presence is mostly handwaved. But more relevant to the stage play, I suppose, would be how Asch-centric it is. And I think if you take out the crack, it is quite Asch-centric, even if my report doesn't make it sound like the case, given how I remember the crack bits better.

Anyway, that's all I remember for now! If anyone has questions about what happened, I will try to answer stuff to the best of my abilities, though fair warning I might not remember everything that occurred. That, and I welcome any corrections in case I misremembered or misinterpreted anything. I wrote all of this while everything is fresh in my mind, meaning that all of this was typed past midnight, and may contain typos and the like, especially with my brain not really operating at an optimal condition.

...Or maybe I just want the excuse, given how I just looked over what I typed and still can’t believe I did just that. But hey, ask anyone who watched the stage play and they’d probably say the same thing as me:

“It was crazy, but awesome.”

#tales of the stage #tales of the abyss #tales of #tales of festival #tales of festival 2018 #ramblings #just my two cents

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gayphoenixforce · 6 years

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Uhh i wrote a short fic about Gabby and Laura Kinney and being disabled and what powers mean etc. Basically, Gabby loses her healing factor but her inability to feel pain is a real condition people struggle with. The snikt sisters are awesome and there’s loads of cameos

“Gabby, are you bleeding?”

It was early morning in the Kinney apartment. Gabby’s eyes peeked open, groggy from sleep.

“What d’you mean m’bleedin…” she mumbled, slowly beginning to wake up. Laura’s face was now clear in Gabby’s vision, and so too was the concern. Gabby’s big sister didn’t get scared - she was the freaking Wolverine - so the concern traveled quickly to Gabby. Now very awake, she began to scan herself for the blood source. Not feeling pain meant sometimes not knowing about an injury right away, but handy healing powers made it more of a nuisance than a reason to be afraid.

It was her left hand. The skin around the fingernail on her ring finger had been picked off, probably in her sleep. It was bleeding just enough to have smeared onto both of her hands, but thankfully not the pillow. It wasn’t something that should have made Laura concerned.

Then it dawned on her. Gabby realized that the amount of blood was not consistent with how much should have come out before her healing factor clotted, and eventually erased, the wound. In fact, the finger was still trickling a bit of blood. Something was wrong - Gabby’s healing factor had vanished in the night.

Dr. Hank McCoy spun around on his stool to face the Kinney sisters in his lab. Reading from a printout he said, “It appears that Miss Gabby has had her X-gene turned off. It’s still present in the DNA, but the gene itself is dormant now. She’s just a normal pre-teen girl.”

Gabby protested, “But I didn’t feel it! I can’t not be a mutant any more, I still don’t feel pain! Tell him Laura, I’m still an X-Man.”

Dr. McCoy sighed, taking off his glasses. “Gabby, Laura, you must understand. Gabby’s mutation was identical to yours and Logan’s Laura. She had an advanced healing factor and some heightened senses. The inability to feel pain is a condition entirely human.

“It is a syndrome called CIPA, which stands for ‘Congenital Insensitivity to Pain with Anhidrosis’. It is very rare, but it results in the carrier being incapable of feeling pain. While that may be a superpower to a clone of Wolverines, it is actually very dangerous for humans. You see, Gabby’s healing factor was what was allowing her to lead a normal life. Superhero training gave her the strict regimen that fulfilled the non-violent aspects of the condition.”

Laura interrupted, “What does that mean? Gabby just needs to be extra careful about fights now, like a regular person, right?”

“Unfortunately,” Hank continued, “it’s not so simple. People with CIPA don’t just not feel the pain of a stubbed toe or a broken wrist. They also don’t feel hunger pangs or the urge to use the bathroom. This can cause severe malnutrition and dehydration as well as embarrassing accidents. Not to mention their difficulties with temperature regulation. They can’t tell if they are too hot or too cold, so they can be more susceptible to heat stroke or hypothermia.”

Gabby had completely shut down as Hank spoke. Laura did her best to provide some comfort with a hand on her shoulder, but it seemed brooding was also a family trait. Dr. McCoy gave the sisters some materials about the condition, as well a watch with built in timers for food and bathroom breaks. And because it was X-Men tech, it could also alert Gabby if her temperature was too high or low. Laura could tell Gabby was devastated by the diagnosis. Hank had no clue why her X-gene had turned off, or if there was a way to turn it back on. While they adjusted to the news, Laura was able to convince Gabby to take a break from being Wolverine and Honey Badger. Jean understood (because of course a telepath with motherly tendencies does) and told them to take all the time they needed.

It had been a week since Gabby had lost her powers. They were adjusting to the new schedule Gabby had to keep, from the watch’s chiming reminders to regular injury checks to make sure Gabby hadn’t hurt herself without noticing. Laura was doing her best to keep things normal for her little sister, but there was nothing normal about this. Worse, Laura could tell Gabby could see the worry on her face. She’d gone from coolest big sister ever to worrying mother hen in a week! Something had to be done. Laura may have been keeping her sister safe from physical danger, but Gabby’s hurt was on the inside, and she had never seen the girl so down. Claiming it was an emergency mission, Laura left the apartment to hatch a plan to cheer Gabby up.

All of the X-Men were sad to hear the news about Gabby. She was a ray of sunshine with claws. So when Laura came to the mansion with a mission to brighten her spirits, everyone was all in. Kurt suggested that Jean could do a telepathic version of a Danger Room session with Gabby, so she could still have a thrill without risk of getting hurt. Laura thought that might just make her even worse when the session ended.

Remy thought that a planned heist would lift anyone’s spirits, and he would have convinced Laura if the responsible adults (aka everyone but Remy and Jubilee) hadn’t stepped in to remind them that robbery was still definitely a crime. Forge suggested she take up a hobby like Lego or robotics (and even offered to teach her some basics). Storm offered to take Gabby flying. At one point, Rogue thought she might be able to temporarily give Gabby her powers by taking Laura’s and giving them to Gabby, but that felt cruel. Eventually, Laura had to leave to get back to Gabby, and she was still 0 for 10 on ideas to cheer up her little sister.

Stopping in a bakery in Hell’s Kitchen, Laura heard some crashes in an alleyway across the street. Dropping off her fresh pastries and her civilian clothes, Laura dashed to the source of the noise. A mugger had a young woman pinned to a wall. With a snikt, Wolverine let her presence known. But before the mugger could even look at her, an arrow smacked him in the head, knocking him to the ground. The woman ran away, grateful for once for New York’s endless supply of masked heroes.

Hopping down from his fire escape perch, the mystery hero revealed himself. “Woah! Wolverine? You handle muggers now? I mean I know Hell’s Kitchen already has Daredevil for the big name villains, but I figured the little guys were still fair game…” Hawkeye, aka Clint Barton, rambled as he retrieved his arrow from the mugger’s unconscious noggin.

Laura took off her mask, “I’m not a regular here. I was buying pastries for my little sister. Heard the noise from the scuffle. Sorry to uh, cramp your style, or whatever.”

Clint laughed, “Haha, wow! Wolverine shops at Daredevil’s Food Cake? And also doesn’t know how to use slang despite being a young person.”

“I was raised in a murder lab,” she replied with a roll of her eyes, “And the pastries are for my sister. They’re her favorite and I’ve got to cheer her up somehow.”

Clint recognized the concern in Laura’s voice and stopped his chuckling. Emotions weren’t exactly his strong suit, but he was always ok at least at being a friend. So he asked, “Why’s she need cheering up? Isn’t she a tween hero? Badger or something, right? Small-verine? What can bring a kid like that down?”

“Losing her powers, for one,” Laura said. She explained the situation to Hawkeye. He was a surprisingly good listener, at least, he looked like he was being a good listener. When she finished explaining, Clint scratched his head.

“Well, life-altering disabilities can definitely have that effect. Being deaf makes it hard sometimes. I’ll know I missed something important someone said. Movies are nearly impossible to watch, and closed captions are usually pretty awful. It can feel like the world is leaving you out. Like life’s a lunch table, and you can’t sit there,” he said, not really looking at Laura, but getting lost in his own memory somewhat. “She just needs time to adjust. And maybe some people who know what she’s going through? Even rare diseases have Facebook groups now, so it would probably be pretty easy to find some people for her to talk with.”

“What about you?” Laura asked, “Could you come talk to her? I know it isn’t the same thing, but I think you could help her more than me or any of the other X-Men right now.”

Clint was shocked. Him? Being helpful in a non-arrow related situation? But then he remembered what it was like, meeting other disabled people for the first time. Seeing them as a thriving community, a table he could sit at. How could he refuse?

Clint’s visit was a smashing success, and not just because he managed to knock over a lamp when retelling a story about disability rights activists. Gabby had some of her usual confidence back, and she was excited to meet other people living like her. Hawkeye had even promised to get her and Laura in touch with other disabled heroes, like Daredevil, Cypher, and Bucky Barnes.

Gabby wasn’t going to be exactly the same as she was before her powers went away, but no one really stays the same forever. Together, with her sister’s help, Gabby was able to find a new place for herself, not as Honey Badger, but as Gabby Kinney. She got involved with a children’s disability rights group, and was a hero, just not the kind she’d been before.

#laura kinney #gabby kinney #wolverine #i actually headcanon laura as being autistic but for this fic i needed her to be a bit outside what gabby was going through #clint's speech is basically how i feel about being autistic and his experiences with deafness are based on stuff my brother complains about #my writing #anyway stan laura wolverine

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tkmedia · 3 years

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How Stars’ Montoya is helping hockey embrace underrepresented communities

From the very beginning, Álvaro Montoya could feel there was something particular about his presence in the hockey world, something special.It started early on, in Michigan, as his Wolverines won two CCHA titles. It continued with Team USA, when he helped the Americans claim the first world juniors gold in the country’s history. He felt it especially once he graduated to the NHL, during a near-decade that took him through Montreal, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Long Island, Phoenix and Florida. It wasn’t the titles or the wins or anything else that transpired on the ice, though. It was something more. It was the signs he’d see dotted among the crowd, the shirts with his name scrawled across, that endless love from Hispanic fans that followed him from city to city. It was that feeling he had in June 2004, when the New York Rangers called his name with the sixth pick at the NHL Draft, and in doing so, made him the first-ever Cuban-American NHLer, and the League’s first native Spanish speaker. The impact of that historic step, and the attention and responsibility it brought, might’ve been overwhelming to other teenagers with big-league dreams. But Montoya never saw it like that. “I get asked, ‘Did you feel the pressure, or did it weigh on you?’ And the honest truth is it was such an honour,” he says, looking back on it now. That appreciation has only grown with retirement, the time away granting Montoya the chance to see his career from afar. “I go back to when my grandparents and my mother fled Cuba in 1963 from that communist government, you know, left behind everything they knew for future generations, for their grandkids — I really got to see my grandfather’s dream, my grandparents’ dream, come full circle.” He’ll now look to ensure others get that same chance. Three years after suiting up for his last NHL game, Montoya is back in the league after being named the Dallas Stars’ director of community outreach, a role that’ll see him help the organization reach out to underrepresented communities in North Texas. It was a long time coming for the 36-year-old, after a couple years spent speaking to different teams gauging who was most willing to help him roll up his sleeves and do the real work, and a career that showed him long ago that this would one day be his calling. The Dallas Stars are excited to welcome Al Montoya as the Director of Community Outreach! : https://t.co/3Zj1Tts49h pic.twitter.com/rzcjbInrPq — Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) September 9, 2021 Really, the path that led him to this opportunity started in his earliest days at the rink, his own younger years granting him a firsthand understanding of how different life looks for players and fans who come from communities rarely represented in the sport. “I grew up in kind of two worlds,” he says of those days back in Chicago. “We grew up in a Spanish-dominated household, which was so beautiful. there were times in our life that we didn't know if that was right, at least personally — I would leave the house at eight years old and be like, ‘Oh, maybe I shouldn't speak Spanish anymore, because nobody else around me speaks Spanish.’ “Sport really allowed me to develop and navigate these worlds. … It’s sport that really allowed me to express myself when I was confused, whether it was what path should I follow or who should I listen to — I truly believe that sports transcend all that. It's that universal language.” It was in Florida that Montoya truly had his eyes opened, his run with the Panthers bringing him the closest he’d ever been to bridging the gap between those two worlds. “I mean, the Freedom Tower that's down there … that's where my grandparents got off the boat, and where their first apartment was, and where my cousins brought my mom and my uncles sandwiches, you know? They still tell the stories to this day,” he says. “Whether it was doing interviews with the Latin community on a weekly radio show, whether it was speaking to Telemundo or Univision, whether it was helping out in the Spanish broadcasting that we were a part of, it was amazing. “And it wasn't something that felt forced — it's something that helped me, selfishly, connect with those that I grew up around. You know, whether it was going to my favourite restaurant, Versailles, at Calle Ocho in Miami, in Little Havana — these were traditions that happened before hockey and that I was able to bring together with hockey.” While that run in Florida allowed him to bring his hockey career to his community, it made room for the reverse, too — an early preview of the work he’s since devoted himself to. “It was bringing my madrina — which is a godmother in Spanish — it was bringing her to her first game in South Florida. What does she do? She shows up with pastelitos, which are Cuban pastries from the local bakery that I had been having since I was a kid,” Montoya remembers. “She shows up with 20 people that I hadn't seen since, you know, 1990 at a Christmas that we celebrated down in Miami. “It was their first game, and their cousins were able to come. And it was just that chance to really connect and bring the game.”

Montoya representing the Stars at El Súper Clásico. (Courtney Kramer/Dallas Stars) Growing the sport and its surrounding culture is going to require more of that, Montoya says. More connections, more bridged gaps, more branching out and taking hockey into communities it’s rarely ever engaged with or embraced. “I think in hockey, we’ve always relied on the fact that this is such a fantastic game, and ‘Come see us soon and you'll see why,’ right? And I think nowadays, no matter what you're doing, no matter what industry you're in, there's just too many things out there for people to be entertained by,” he says. “I think the best way to do it, to grow hockey, is to go where hockey isn't. Not rely on the fact that we have the best game on earth, because we know we do, but the best way to go about it and make people feel more included is to go to events or be in touch with communities that aren't part of the game.” Montoya’s vision of what’s needed is clear, because he’s been there himself. He’s confronted those early moments of awkwardness that come with mixing the culture at home with the culture at the rink. For him, the way through came from the luck of simply being the best athlete of the kids around him, he says. But that’s not always how the situation shakes out. “As a minority in sport, why do we have to be so tough to make it through?” Montoya says. “Why aren't there more minorities in hockey?… I think all of us in these underrepresented communities had to go through some tough periods in our life early on in hockey or whatever sport you're playing, to bypass it. And there's a lot of kids that'll say, ‘If you're going to treat me like that, I don't even want to be a part of this sport.’ “So, what I want to do, and what we're trying to do, is pave the way so now kids have someone to look up to and they can see that maybe their path doesn't have to be as difficult.” Letting those kids see the name ‘Montoya’ as part of an NHL front office is a step in itself, he says. The next ones will come slowly and steadily, by putting in the time to bring about legitimate change in the North Texas hockey community. Maybe not tomorrow, or the week or month after that, but some time down the line. “You know, we're going to be at the front of these things now. We're going to be seeing what's important — we've built a relationship with the Mexican consulate here to understand where we should be,” Montoya says of his plans with the Stars. “I think building these relationships with business owners in the community, and aligning ourselves with them, will help show what we're doing is honest work. And not only that, we want to be consistent. I think having me here, I'll make sure that we're consistent and it's not just a flash in the pan, and I think that's the best way to make a difference. “You're really trying to build up for the long term and make it something that feels genuine. I feel like we're starting pretty close to the ground level and the only way is to go up. So, the best way to do that is being consistent, and going to the people.” Read the full article

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