#also these parts with jessica jones are a mess too but i really wanted a tentoo with nine's v neck jumper | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

cadomoisspokenfor · 3 years

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Legion Rewatch Notes,

Chapter 4:

Frizzytop

I theorized in episode 2 that David could see through the 4th wall, or at least into a different universe. At the start of this episode Oliver outright breaks the 4th wall. Perhaps powerful reality benders just have that capability. If David knows, and Oliver knows, then Farouk definitely knows.

“A great philosopher once wrote, ‘In times of peace, the war like man attacks himself.’ This is the route of all our problems.”

“We are the route of all our problems. Our confusion, our anger, our fear of things we don’t understand.”

If we carry those 2 quotes throughout the rest of the show, then no doubt the tragedies that happen later on are caused by a collective misunderstanding of each other. And a collective lashing out at that misunderstanding of each other.

“Violence, in other words, is ignorance.”

The most central theme of the show is empathy vs fear. I s’pose whenever there’s a conflict in the show we’re supposed to be asking whether the characters should answer with empathy or fear. Certain characters lives have revolved heavily around fear. And that informs their decision making quite a bit. This will all come up again at multiple points throughout the show.

Syd... probably can’t break the 4th wall. So maybe it’s most logical to interpret this as her inner monologue. Very Jessica Jones esque.

The same voice lines from when Syd was searching for David in episode 1 are played. I guess there go to whenever Davids lost (whether in the world or in his mind) is to transmit Syds voice calling his name in hopes he’ll hear it and come back.

Kerry can pick locks.

The concept of “bad mutants” is well established amongst the veteran summerland crew. Ptonomy’s caution about David is probably because he feels he has a selfish vibe, and that’s a well known red flag of “bad mutants.”

It should also be noted he’s partly afraid of him because he has so much trouble understanding him. His powers, which when used affectively are essentially the ability to understand where someone’s coming from, keep getting overrided by Davids.

It’s now to the point where Ptonomy is doubting his own ability to tell what’s real and what’s not real. He was pretty confident he’d always know somehow in episode 2. Now, not so much.

Ptonomy very early on is open to the idea that David both has powers and psychological issues. “He’s unstable. You try hearing voices for 10-15 years, self medicate with hard drugs and then get dumped in a looney bin.”

Ptonomy also determines that because of his instability combined with the fact he has powers, David is a bomb waiting to go off.

I suppose if we’re trying to figure out their logic with the whole “the combination of being mentally ill and having powers makes him dangerous”, and considering that their right now going over an incident where David robbed his therapist for drug money and then bashed the doctors head in when he came back, the direct concern is that David makes bad decisions and/or selfish decisions (at least), and if he were to make a bad decision regarding his powers a lot of innocent people could get very badly hurt. Or killed. Along with the worry that the voices in his head don’t exactly give him the most angelic of advice at times, and because of his powers he’s very capable of fulfilling their wills, so to speak.

Based on Olivers speech at the beginning of the episode though, it might be safe to say the overall message is instead of acting on fear they should act on empathy and help David overcome his problems instead of vilifying him for his mental illness.

Syd suggest Davids hiding his real memories behind a fake ones and Ptonomy says she going through a lot of effort just to convince herself Davids a good guy. I never really got what he meant, but I guess what he meant is that Syd’s trying to find a justifiable reason for why David would attack Dr Poole like he did when the obvious answer is just “He’s got violent tendencies.” I always just thought she was genuinely hypothesizing, ya know, trying to solve the case. Maybe she was and Ptonomy’s just mean.

“I was looking for the man I loved. Or did I just love the idea of him? The face he showed me?” Doubt springs up early. Why can none of the characters reconcile that a person can have both good and evil in them at the same time? That’s... all people, in fact.

When Kissinger ask if Amy knew David had powers Amy says, “I think so.” Amy potentially acted on fear as well, in regards to her and Davids childhood that is.

Kerry mostly only thinks of herself in relation to Cary.

Cary misses Kerry when she’s gone. Even besides the roles they fill for each other, they generally enjoy each others company. They’re quite literally as close as 2 people can be. Each one living for the sake of the other.

Davids once again surrounded by a crowd of people all yelling in his face. After they disappear though he recovers pretty fast. I guess he’s used to it.

Clockworks Podcast pointed out that the music Davids wincing at is sax heavy Jazz, which is (abstractly) the sound The Devil With Yellow Eyes makes whenever he appears. If my theory about David seeing through the 4th wall is correct, then maybe he’s actually hearing that sound whenever TDWYE is around. Alternatively, Farouk blast that in his head everytime to mess with him.

“Sorry... I forgot about your um... I had a similar- proclivity? Malady? I forget the word- what’s the word? I’ve been here a long time.”

If the previous paragraphs are right, Oliver’s probably implying he was also affected by a mental parasite at some point. It might’ve even been what stranded him in the astral plane.

From Davids perspective he skipped over the entire second half of Chapter 3.

Oliver is essentially explaining the plot of the show to David and the audience before it’s even been unfurled.

“You have an unquiet mind, so you war with yourself, like a dog trying to chew off its own tail.”

David’s still in a very pessimistic guilt ridden place at this point in the story. That’s probably the internal war Oliver’s talking about.

... why can’t Oliver leave the astral plane again? If he did have his own mental parasite, it seems long gone by now. If he just can’t find his way back, then how does he do it in Chapter 7?

Syd calls non-mutants “normals.”

“We were the ghost in a haunted house.” ~Syd, Chapter 4

“You think ghost like living in a haunted house?” ~Syd, Chapter 12

Why does Syd keep hallucinating The Angriest Boy? Or is that just visual metaphor?

Ptonomy’s a very, “Get the job done and look classy while doing it” sorta guy.

“To fight and conquer in all our battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.” ~Sun Tzu, Ptonomy

Is the above quote perhaps relevant to the shows message during other conflicts throughout the series? Could it be subtly implying all the characters should always look for non-violent ways to defeat their enemies? I.e. not just a classy line from Ptonomy, but a statement of themes within the show.

The food David, Philly, and Dr Poole are having in Philly’s memories is cherry pie.

In Philly’s memory David says, “I don’t keep a lot of stuff.” And Philly comments that there’s no evidence David had a past. At least among the things David owns at that point. I know Farouk edited a lot of Davids memories, but why did David himself get rid of so much physical stuff? Syd said the reason he broke into Dr Pooles that day was to destroy their taped conversations. What’s compelling him to erase himself from existence? Is it as simple as “Farouk”? It seems like on a deeper level David doesn’t want anyone to know too much about him. Everyone’s only allowed to know what he tells them. His way of feeling in control I guess.

Philly did the classic “I can fix him” when she started dating David.

Philly implies David going off his medication and keeping bad company is what caused the downfall of their relationship. And subsequently his life, probably.

Despite everything, Philly still feels sympathetic towards David.

“Whoever altered Davids memory-“ Ptonomy very early on humors the idea that Davids being acted on by a 3rd party.

The longer Kerry is away from Cary, the more antsy she is for a fight. She’s not supposed to have to sit through all this “boring stuff.”

Ptonomy left after he got the info on Pooles location from Philly. He probably wanted to get the rest of the information from the source. Ironically, they probably woulda gotten closer to the real answer if he’d just looked a bit longer.

Sys proudly says “Yes” when “Dr Poole” ask if she’s in love with David.

It never really comes up again, but Kerry and Cary are physically linked. Maybe even psychologically. When one of them gets hurt, or even exerts their body a lot, the other can feel it, even if their own body doesn’t take on the actual damage. This is still true even if they’re miles apart.

Syds definitely portrayed as the hero at the end of this scene.

“All those years of practice-“ A part of David always knew he had powers. I wonder, did he practice a little in secret? Or is he saying he was at Summerland for years? That doesn’t really add up. But then... what does he mean by years?

Lenny encourages David to get angry so that his powers will strengthen enough for them to overpower the astral plane. Sort of... cheating his way out. David will later achieve more feats of strength through honing his emotions. Like many heroes, his level of power is intrinsically linked to his emotional state.

Very directly here, Davids violence is caused by ignorance. He doesn’t know Syd switched bodies with Walter and is trying to escape.

#legion fx

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evien-stark · 4 years

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✧I Need You✧ Chapter 147 [End: Jessica Jones: Season 1]

“-and the damage radius from these blocks out-” “-press will get a statement tomorrow-” “-we have to be careful about this-” “-I have orders, I have to go out soon, so we have to resolve-” “-what about the guy in the hospital-”

Various voices were droning in and out. Conversation was happening around you. It was hard to make heads or tails of it. Everyone that spoke was familiar in that warm sort of way but everything they were going over left you sort of cold. In an instinctive type of way- because you really didn’t know-

“Honey?” Tony’s voice drew your attention forward.

As your vision cleared you took stock of the situation you found yourself in. You were in one of the smaller Avengers conference rooms. The team was there. Natasha was at the front of the room. Tony had probably been pacing around but now had a hand on your shoulder. The sun was trying to squirm its way in through the closed blinds.

You had no idea how you’d gotten where you were. The last thing you’d remembered was passing out in the back of the quinjet. ...hadn’t you? Yet it seemed like, from the way everyone was staring, that maybe you hadn’t done that. And instead had gone from night in the jet to day in the conference room all while seemingly being aware. But you had no record of that time. Which was more than a little alarming.

“I’m sorry- what are- um…” Feeling a swell of nervousness tighten your chest. “Did I doze off?” Hoping maybe that was the case. That you’d been caught red handed.

But the weird exchange of glances around the room tipped you off to the fact that you shouldn’t have asked. Tony’s worry packed the rest of you almost full to bursting, but it was Steve who was looking at you. “You’ve been staring off into the distance this whole time. Did you not hear any of this?”

Natasha leaned in, putting her palms on the table, “I’ll summarize. You deployed three Damage Control units in less than forty-eight hours. Reports are coming back in. Multiple bodies need storage. We need to know who to put where, what statements to give to who, and you have all the missing pieces.”

Clint stood, crossing his arms. “There’s also a dead body we scooped up. Enhanced individual with a pretty purposeful hole through his chest. And the powered lady in the casual lockup keeps saying she’s responsible.”

A mess. You’d gone into a fugue state in the middle of a mess. This was all a little too much. But you sensed Tony was about to give you some sort of excuse to get you out of all this and let everyone else run cleanup. You couldn’t let that happen. So quickly you stood, gratefully finding your feet beneath you. “Jessica Jones didn’t do that. I did. Obviously.” What was Jessica thinking? It had to have been clear what kind of wound that was. “That’s Kilgrave, which I’m sure she’s said by now. -you should have gotten his picture on the network. He’s held about a thousand people hostage over the course of two months. He definitely has more victims than that. He has a long track record. All those bodies in bags belong to him. I know the reports will show I gave a DNE order- he was dangerous. We knew this already. He also boosted his powers, right before I stopped him.”

Natasha looked up at you. “Did you even try to bring him in?” There was a reason she was asking this, and it wasn’t because she was being critical of you.

“I put him down because I had no other choice.”

All eyes were on you as Steve asked, “You sure about that?”

You tried to be as firm as possible. “Yes.”

There was only a small silence that settled. Tony interrupted it. “So, as you can see, the Avengers did their job. This is our territory. You know. Doing that thing.” Turning his wrist over. “Stopping threats the military can’t- yadda yadda yadda…”

From his spot on the other side of the table, Bruce lifted his head, giving his shoulders a gentle nudge up. “Sounds about right to me.”

Thor, who had assumedly been taking all this in with his arms crossed gave one of those brisk smiles of his. “By all accounts, it would seem our dear Lady has become quite the hero of the people in our absence. I for one would have liked to see this man on the battlefield. Seems like he was quite savage.” He was being painfully honest. You wondered, how that would have went. Kilgrave VS Thor. And promptly were glad you hadn’t had to witness it. “However, I am glad the matter has been put to rest.”

You understood what they were trying to do. What they’d been trying to do. It wasn’t just clean up, it was defense. Making sure they were on the right side of the story- to do right by you. And you’d been impeding the process because it seemed like you weren’t paying attention. But, now that they had your side of the story… it seemed like everyone was easily on board.

On board with your obvious heated murder of an enhanced individual that had not only been personally menacing you, had tortured you previously, but had hurt Tony as well. And Steve. Your family. This was obviously grounds for questioning. You were too close to have been able to do a fair job. But it was over now. There was no redoing it. No going back to do it better. ...you wouldn’t have changed anything, anyway.

Your family was trying to protect you. No matter what percentages in this equation were right or wrong. They understood what had happened. And they’d already made peace with it. Now all they needed to do was sweep the rest of it up and call it a day.

Which is exactly what prompted Tony to continue talking. “So. We’ll release Jones. I’ll make some statement to the press. We’ll rubber stamp A’s all over our files and turn them in. Everyone on board?”

While there was a murmur of immediate approval, Natasha had a few more things on her docket. “We have two people in our private hospital wing. Both are ready for release- but DC’s been adamant that the right person makes that call.” A little- brief- tiny flutter of annoyance touched her before she shut it down hard. She didn’t have to say it. You understood why.

Damage Control had refused to budge until you made another call, because you’d been the one that had been calling the shots the entire short-lived investigation. ...and you were also their boss. There was a power imbalance of assets here. Almost like SHIELD access level numbers. Almost. You nodded. “Yeah- I’ll go release them. And uh… have a talk with DC.” Because the obvious contingencies weren’t there. What if you were incapacitated? They needed to be able to take orders from the rest of your team. ...although you wondered why Tony hadn’t gone down there and said something.

It was too much to hope that was all- and even all that was still a hell of a lot to get through. Natasha passed a file down across the table your way and as you laid your hands on it she spoke. “Seems like we also have a vet in lockup. You labeled him enhanced but by all accounts he seems… just angry. Pretty normal.”

Pulling the folder open you saw Will Simpson’s face looking back at you. A sigh escaped you, and you were extremely grateful when Bruce spoke up. “That’s the guy with the trifecta pocket pills, right?”

Steve suddenly seemed very alert. “The combat enhancers?” Clearly they’d had a conversation about it. Which made sense. Those enhancers, Bruce’s initial research with Ross… it was all due to him. Not his fault, but just the miracle that the government had created by making him a super soldier.

“He probably sweat it out by now.” You closed the file, sliding it Steve’s way next. “He wanted to kill Kilgrave. He attacked one of our agents. Can you go talk to him, Steve? And see if he’s fit for release?”

His brows lifted and Steve tilted his head. “Me?”

“I think more than anyone in this room, you’ll have his respect.” Trying to pick who would be the best to go talk to him. “If you say yes, I know where to drop him.” He was Trish’s friend. You’d ship him back that way. “We can charge him with deadly assault. Which I’m sure he’s been thinking on. But… Kilgrave twisted everyone up. I’d be willing to let it go if he stays away from the pills.”

Natasha moved from her spot at the front of the room and gave Steve a little pat on the shoulder. “I’ll shadow you, if you want.” That was good, too. Having her opinion on the matter would really seal it all up.

With everyone taking hold of their brief new assignments, chairs shifted on the floor as the entire room moved to get up and leave. You wanted, so much more than anything, to go to Tony. To tell him what the next few actions were right up until you needed him to take you on a jet and take you anywhere but here- but Bruce approached you just as you and Tony got in about two seconds of eye contact.

Bruce nudged his glasses up with one hand and then held a folder around and out with the other. When you gave him a questioning glance, “This is uh… everything you need. IGH. They’re an underground research lab. They’re responsible for the pills. And a lot more.”

Though you took hold of the folder, you didn’t open it. “Thanks for checking into that for me.” But right now you wanted nothing to do with it. It was clear they’d have to be shut down. Or assimilated. ...probably shut down. What they were doing went a little beyond the line of not-okay. Kind of reminded you a little bit of Killian…

He just nodded. “Sure. Look… I don’t blame you if you wanna put it down right now but. I thought you should know. Jessica Jones’ name is on some of those files.” You weren’t sure if it was a blessing that you were too devoid of anything else to feel any kind of shock over this. But Bruce continued, “Not in a particularly complicit way, either.”

Oh. ...oh. You held the folder a little tighter then. “Okay. Thanks for letting me know.” You’d have to hand those over to her, then. And absolutely no part of you wanted to look at it. Whatever was in there about her she could keep for herself and do whatever she wanted. The less involvement you had coming out of this the better. Because you really, truly, could not deal with it much longer.

Holding the file closer to your chest, you leaned in to give him a hug. He’d done all this work for you and you hadn’t once asked. He, along with the rest of the team (probably him doing that work was what triggered the team to agree to all coming home suddenly), had just fallen in line for you. It was nice to have them home. Almost overwhelmingly so. His words were a quiet murmur. “We’re alright now. You should get some rest.”

Probably to no one’s surprise, at the very least not your own, you were brushing back tears as you let go of him and plastering a very obvious smile across your face. “Yeah. I’ll think about it when we’re finished.”

His nod was sad to say the least, but he then turned to Tony. The two shook hands, Tony said something you barely caught, and then Bruce left. Leaving just the two of you. He reached out to lay the hand not in the sling on your shoulder with a little tip of his head. “Bruce might be on to something, you know. Sleep might do you a lot of good. Some food, too, I’m sure.”

“Yeah, I’m sure it would.” This dead and almost angry reply reeled you back in immediately. Tony barely reacted to it at all. If nothing else, you just felt understanding. And maybe that was harder to deal with. Taking a deep breath, holding, and then letting it out in a sigh, you reconfigured. “We’re almost done.”

He drew you in just a little closer, and as his arm went around you, you closed your eyes, leaning your head on his shoulder. “Almost. Tell me what parts need to go where.”

“Can you go get Jessica out? I’ll go to the hospital. Bring her with you and we’ll all meet there.” You had to release your two patients, if they were ready to go, and talk to whatever head of DC was patrolling the hallways. “After that…”

Moving just a little, his hand brushed up the side of your neck and to your jawline, angling your gaze up his way. “After that?”

It seemed the obvious was coming. Did you really have to say it? But as the two of you got stuck there looking at each other, you figured you should. “I can’t be here anymore. For a little while. Is that okay?” You needed to go. You couldn’t even think about being in the penthouse. This city… this city was just filling up to the brim with bad memories. Triumphant ones in the end, but bad nonetheless.

“Understandable.” Palming your cheek, he leaned in, pressing a kiss to your forehead. “I’ll have Happy fire up the jet. We can go from the hospital to the airport. Sound like a plan?”

Thank god for Tony Stark. “Sounds like a plan.” Your body was just a little unwilling to move to get there. You wanted to just go from the Tower to the jet. To disappear for a little while. To not think about this anymore. To not wade in the aftermath… or think about him… though… you chanced a softer look up at him. “Did you and Happy get to talk?”

He walled off immediately. “A little. Seems like you did a lot of legwork for us. So.” Giving a bare shrug.

That was more of a no than it was a yes. It at least meant they were on speaking terms. But they deserved to have some closure on this, too. Even if you were nowhere near finding any and probably wouldn’t be for a long time. However, you knew you couldn’t force them, either. ...not until it was absolutely necessary. So you just leaned up, lips careful at the corner of his mouth. “Okay.”

It would have to be, for now.

---

Asking you to stay present and aware while you talked with your DC officers was asking almost a little too much. Your brain felt like it was begging to just fade away. Your body was close behind. But if you didn’t put all this to rest now, if you didn’t stick to the plan, there would be no relaxing. There would be no getting on a jet and running away- as usual- because that’s what it was. But you were keen to make peace with the idea because you just couldn’t be here anymore.

Changing the nested chain of command was ridiculously easy, although you could tell the woman you were speaking with had an air of doubt and an even bigger swell of unsure about her as you spoke. You had to cast it all aside and just make sure she’d take orders from anyone on the team. They all needed access to these agents. Because you were more sure now than you’d ever been before, big things like this were going to keep happening. And everyone needed the ability to call Damage Control if something terrible happened.

...of course you also made sure that they knew every deployed use was to go on file. It wasn’t like you didn’t trust your team, but. You had to be in the know. Always.

You respectfully waved the agent away just as you saw Jeri coming down the hall. She looked relatively worse for wear, many bandages across random places on her face and some on her chest. As usual, she was dressed smartly, and you sensed she came here for business and business only. Once close enough to you she held a folder out. “I need your signature on a few pieces of paper for my client. Justin Boden. I’m sure you’re familiar.”

So. Jessica had gone to Jeri to build a case for Justin. You knew exactly what she wanted. But after everything… “Why my signature?”

She just grinned, bitterly at that. “Well. Since this seems to be a thing with you people, you can help him dodge murder charges. Considering what he’s been through.”

“So now I’m a credible witness.” Unable to help yourself.

“How about that.” Sounding completely unimpressed. She reached inside her jacket pocket to retrieve a pen and gave it a click. “I have other places to be, so if you’d hurry up.”

You made sure to hold still and give off a full air of being highly unimpressed. “You can drop them at Stark Industries. My assistant will pass them through legal before I put my name on anything.” There was no telling what was on those papers, and you were too drained to read over them just now. ...you wouldn’t doubt that was something she was counting on. If you understood anything about Jeri Hogarth after all this.

She held them out for just a little while longer before retreating. “Fine. Have it your way.” Then she seemed like she was going to turn and leave.

But before she did, you leaned closer to her and dropped your voice. “Jessica said you had something to do with Kilgrave escaping.” Jeri had to be responsible for that in some form. So much had happened because of her. If it was true.

The two of you stared at each other. For a long cold moment. Then another one of those angry smiles lit up her features. “Seems like we all have things we’d rather be kept quiet.”

“Don’t threaten me. It’ll be the last mistake you ever make.” Maybe it was a poor thing to do, to lash out like that. React that way. But you would not let this woman walk all over you. Or try and hold you hostage.

She let out a little breath of a laugh. “I have no doubt.”

A woman exiting what should have been Luke’s room ended your conversation with Jeri. And as soon as she saw your attention go elsewhere she turned to leave. You didn’t stop her.

The woman exiting his room was dressed in blue scrubs- lightly spattered with blood. Dark lightly wavy hair- loose, not tied up. You stepped over to her very quickly, “Excuse me-” Eyeing her- more specifically, the badge clipped to her pocket. Metro General Hospital. Not from here. But the name… Claire Temple. Your nerves quieted down. “Oh. You’re with Jessica.”

She crossed her arms. “She said that much, huh?” Her voice was calm and careful. Although she was just a little standoffish. Which you were sure you couldn’t blame her for.

“More than. Said something about a friend we have in common.” Not that you really wanted to care about that right now.

Giving a curt little nod and a roll of her eyes, you felt her annoyance. “Well. You got more out of her than I think any of us did. If that’s the case.” Clearly she didn’t want to talk about it either. You could have said that Jessica offered all of that information up on her own, but. Maybe it wasn’t the best move. “That man in there.” Her gaze lifted back up and she seemed suddenly very serious. “You gonna put him on all your little superhero files? Or whatever it is you people do?”

You felt the sink of your shoulders with a sigh you couldn’t help. “No. I’m not- we don’t tag people, if that’s what you’re asking. I’m not interested in that. I don’t even want to know anything about him. The only thing I care about is that he’s okay.” The two of you shared a long look. She was sizing you up. Trying to tell if you were being honest. “...is he going to be okay?”

Claire continued to stare at you for probably more time than was necessary. But you stood and took it. And finally were rewarded when she eased up with her own little sigh and a nod. “Yeah. He’s fine. Now. You have better tools than Jess’ apartment, anyway. Or at Metro.” She lifted her wrist. “Speaking of which- shit.” Looking at the time on her watch.

Probably late for her actual job. By the simmer of anxiety that welled inside of her, probably very late. “Maybe it’s a little too forward but. If you want a job here-”

“I don’t.” Quick and clipped as she held a hand up to you. “I don’t wanna be involved in any more of this.” She lowered her voice with a dip of her head. “No offense.”

“None taken. But then why are you here?” What was the connecting thread here?

She frowned. “He needed help. My hospital couldn’t do anything for him. And I…” She suddenly got very uncomfortable.

“You could.”

“Yeah. I could. But he’s fine now. So I’m gonna go to my actual job. And deal with people who have…” That discomfort was getting very heavy now. “Easier to deal with problems. Let’s put it.”

To this you could only nod. Then, finally, you stuck out your hand. “Well. It was nice meeting you, Claire.”

She didn’t take too long in giving you a returned shake. “You, too.”

You stepped out of the way for her, but because it seemed like you really couldn’t help yourself… before she was too far away, you just had to ask. “Where are you from?”

The shake of her head did a poor job of hiding the little smirk on her lips. She knew why you were asking. “Hell’s Kitchen.” Called from halfway down the hall, not stopping after saying it.

“Place is kinda getting overcrowded, if you ask me.” Luke’s voice startled you enough to get you to jump. The warm roll of his laughter kept a wave from crashing over you and you turned back around to see him standing in front of his door with his hand up. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you.”

You gave your chest a little pat. This was too much excitement after everything you’d been through. “It’s okay.” His clothes were a mess, but he looked… fine. “How are you feeling? They brought you in here considerably less…” Giving your hands a small turn over. “-okay looking than this.”

He gave a little nod, a small press of his lips. “I’m fine. Thanks to you, so I hear.”

Quickly you shook your head. “No. Thanks to Jessica. And Claire. And the people here. I literally had nothing to do with any of that.”

“You let her bring me here. You gave them a safe place to help me when things weren’t looking so good. That counts for something.” He was such a sweet man, this Luke.

“If you say so.” It was too much to ask that you accept this gratitude. You really hadn’t done anything. “And- before you ask- I didn’t ask anyone for details- I don’t wanna know. That’s your business and- Claire seems to think I’m gonna put a tracker on you or something so let me just tell you I’m not and I don’t want you to think-”

“Hey, easy now. Alright?” The hand he laid on your shoulder was heavy, but it was gentle nonetheless. “I believe you. I wasn’t worried.”

“You have no reason to.” Everyone seemed to question your intent constantly- and usually for completely understandable reasons. You wouldn’t have been upset had Luke taken the same route.

His grin was light. “We met once already, if you don’t remember. And I’d like to think I’m a pretty good judge of character.”

For one reason or another you found the courage to smile back. “Really. Because last we met I think I remember you telling me to not come back to your bar.”

At this he made a face, hand leaving your shoulder to go up in a wave of defiance. “That is not what happened.” Seemingly offended, but only playfully so. His grin did not return, but his expression wasn’t one of annoyance. “Besides… my bar got blown up. Casualty of war. I’d at least like to know if I have to worry about anything else like that.”

“I’m so sorry.” Really. Truly. You were. That was no doubt, in some way, Kilgrave’s doing. Maybe it was what put him here in the first place. “If you need funds or-”

“No. Please don’t. I’m gonna take it as a sign and… like I said. Hell’s Kitchen is getting crowded. I think I’m headed back to Harlem for a while. But I appreciate the offer.” Letting that small gratefulness hang before asking seriously again as he looked at you, “Is that guy still out there?”

The shake of your head was immediate. “No. He’s dead.”

He breathed a noise out. It wasn’t one of relief, exactly. More a sort of muddled… acceptance. “You alright?”

You really didn’t know this man. But knowing- sensing his honest intent there in asking you something like that- his genuineness, you couldn’t help the bitter smile. “I am not. And I think I need to go away for a while, too.”

“No shame in that. I’d actually be more worried if you said you were.” Because if that were the truth, it meant killing may have become commonplace for you. And it hadn’t. It just… hadn’t. It took away pieces of you at a time. To make decisions like that and to carry them out. There was a familiar warm ping on your inner radar, and you turned to see Tony coming up the hallway with Jessica. Luke put his hand out. “You’re a good woman. Don’t let anyone tell you different.”

Looking back at him you tried a smile and put your hand in his for a small shake. “Certainly not you.”

His grin reappeared and he couldn’t seem to help a quiet chuckle. “Certainly not.”

Tony was out of his sling (eventually you were going to have to have a talk with him about keeping medical devices on long enough for them to help him), hands in his pockets as he strolled closer. Although when he came to a stop, he reached up to take his sunglasses off, tucked them into his top pocket and half turned to Jessica. “I was serious about the offer by the way. You’re a terrible team player but that doesn’t necessarily disqualify you from being Avenger material.”

Jessica seemed in good spirits. Which was a strange thing for her. The noise that left her was one part annoyed and one part amused. “Never in a million fucking years.”

Tony just shrugged. “Your loss.” He then turned to stick his hand out to Luke. “Mr. Cage. Nice seeing you again.”

Luke considered the offer and then gave him a return shake. “Mr. Stark. If we’re all lucky, this’ll be the last time.”

You were too biased. The sudden half smirk on Tony’s lips had you smiling immediately. “You know, that doesn’t sound much like a compliment.”

“I don’t think it was one.” Thankfully, Luke was grinning back.

Jessica double tapped him on the arm. “Alright. Who’s-got-the-bigger-dick time is over. Can you go wait in the room?”

“I’m fine. Thanks for asking.” Although he said this in a slightly clipped way, you could tell he wasn’t serious. Not with the way he was looking at her.

She just eyed him with a smile. “You look fine. It’s why I didn’t.” She didn’t mean this, either. And after enough staring he shook his head and went back into his hospital room, closing the door behind him.

Tony crossed his arms. “I’m not going in there with him.”

At this Jessica gave him quite the stare. “You’ve made it annoyingly obvious by now that you don’t do anything anyone says.”

“That makes two of us.”

“Just stand there and shut up for five minutes. If you can.” When he rolled his eyes and mostly turned away she put her attention back on you. “So. Seems like we’re finished, here.”

You nodded. “Claire left for her job. Luke’s up, obviously. Hope’s asleep right now but. Aside from a really nasty scar she’ll be okay. Simpson’s probably getting discharged soon. And-”

“And Kilgrave’s dead. Which is the important part.”

It was hard to tell why she cut you off to say such a thing. But there was a swell of catharsis. Kilgrave was dead. It was over. It was finally over. “Yeah.” There was a weird catch in the back of your throat. It felt like you were just a couple degrees away from losing it very suddenly. Tony moved, almost imperceptibly. But you noticed. He was watching you. “Kilgrave is dead.” Beyond you somewhere you heard the crash of waves against the pier. And saw the light disappear from his eyes.

You and Jessica shared a long look. Eventually she was the one to break the silence. “So that’s it, then. We’re finished.”

“Seems that way.”

Yet the two of you stood there just a little longer. Watching one another. Maybe the two of you should have had a talk. A long talk to decompress over this shared trauma. But… instead she just nodded. “Alright then. ...thanks. For everything.” And after that she turned away and went into Luke’s room.

Leaving you there. Wondering what more you should have said so that you didn’t have to feel like this anymore. But you weren’t there in silence, or alone, for more than a few seconds before Tony moved over and put his arm around you. Pulled you to him. You rubbed your head against his shoulder and drew your hands up his back, holding on to him. Breathing him in. Letting him keep you stable.

“Ready to go anywhere that’s not here?”

Music was playing somewhere in your memory. Honey- I’ve gotta be honest. I hate it here. I can’t say that I blame you.

New York City had become a breeding ground for psychological damage that seemed beyond repair. For the both of you. A long time ago he’d tried to run away from here, too. And now… now you wanted to do the same. And he was letting you.

You turned your head up, smiling weakly at him. “Yes. Please.”

This was a runaway vacation but… the two of you needed to have a very real talk soon. You just didn’t think you could be in the city anymore. Not after all this.

Lifting a hand, he smoothed his fingertips across your forehead and then through your hair. Leaning in, he pressed a kiss to your temple. “I love you.”

Hearing this, and feeling it from him, it was an eternal balm for your soul. “I love you, too.”

As long as you had that… you’d be alright.

#Tony Stark #Tony Stark x Reader #INY Chapter One Hundred Forty Seven #Jessica Jones Spoilers

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jessicajonesrp · 4 years

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I’m always watching

Rikarah was starting to resent her decision to resurrect Kevin Kilgrave.

Certainly, the man had every bit as much power as she had believed. She had witnessed him use it almost ceaselessly now, on just about every person he came across, whether or not she thought it necessary or useful. It seemed to her that the man who had such abundant ability, who could do so very much with it, used it nearly as much for having people do things for him that he could and should do for himself, such as cook meals or give him things rather than having to pay for them. It was a disappointing irony to see that the man who had such strength in his supernatural abilities had so little motivation for independence. She was beginning to wonder if the man even knew how to do for himself, or if it had ever occurred to him that he could.

Watching Kilgrave use his powers was fascinating. It never ceased to interest her how quickly and unthinkingly people responded to his commands, even if they caused physical or emotional discomfort or deprivation. She wanted very much to grow to understand just how his power worked, so perhaps she could learn how to channel it, even into limited use, for herself one day. But she, unlike Kilgrave, would use her powers for much more focused purposes than simply fulfilling trivial whims. It was exhilarating to think of what impact she could have one entire cities, countries, even the world. She could rise to a place of enormous power, bring about a world that served justice as she saw fit- if she could endure Kilgrave long enough to further understand his abilities.

But her patience was dwindling fast. For one thing, any ideas she had entertained about Kilgrave having interest, or even gratitude, for the woman whom he owed his very life were now thoroughly disabused. The man barely paid attention to Rikarah, other than to impatiently “ask” her to do things that she refused to respond to. Each time he seemed newly astonished when she didn’t grant his request, although she had already explained more than once that she was immune to his powers. It was irritating and tiresome to have him show such little regard. Even Phillip, a boy unaware she had any abilities at all, had shown Rikarah more appreciation than that.

And this damn obsession with Jessica Jones. Jones Cage, technically, but it was difficult for Rikarah to think of the woman as a Cage when her brother had always exclusively referred to her as a Jones, whatever the marriage certificate might say otherwise. If she had thought Phillip’s frequent, narrow focus of his sister and her life choices could be wearying, it was absolutely nothing in comparison to Kilgrave.

The man literally seemed unable to think of anything beyond the woman he swore to be his- his, although she was married to another man and had apparently never shown him any interest of her own volition at any point in time. Rikarah had thought his fascination would fade once he got used to being around another gifted woman- her, namely- but that hypothesis had proven very false.

And just what was so enthralling about Jessica anyway? Rikarah could see nothing about her that was exceptionally stunning in appearance, and she certainly could be unpleasant in her behavior at times. Her abilities were hardly more impressive than her own. So what was it about Jessica that the man could not let go of?

Rikarah had watched with somewhat disgusted astonishment as Kilgrave went to great lengths to track down information on her. He had broken into Jessica’s old apartment building despite Rikarah telling him she not only no longer lived there, but also that her apartment was burned and uninhabitable last she had checked. That hadn’t mattered to him. He had mind controlled the building super and five of her old neighbors on her hall into giving him access to the building and all the information they had about her since his death.

For the first few people, who had barely known Jessica and didn’t much care what she did with herself, this hadn’t been very successful. But Malcolm Ducasse, who still lived on her old floor and was still in somewhat close contact with her, had ended up giving Kilgrave all the information Rikarah herself didn’t have.

She knew where Jessica worked, of course- a person could hardly turn on the TV or radio without hearing those irritating commercials by the Trish Walker woman. They both knew where Trish worked as well, but that had not been enough for Kilgrave. He wanted to know, as he put it, “everything working against him and for him in Jessica’s life” before going to her. Apparently, obsessed stalkers wanted to stalk from a distance before stalking up close and personal- information Rikarah filed away as potentially useful future knowledge.

Kilgrave had refused to believe her when Rikarah, hoping to dissuade him from his madness, had informed him that Jessica was married. He had barked out a laugh that didn’t quite sound amused, shaking his head at her.

“Very amusing, but I know very well you’re yanking my chain. Jessica isn’t the marrying type, there is no one on this earth the woman would soften those thorns up enough to marry in such a short time. Why would she marry, to help someone get a green card?”

The moment Kilgrave knocked on Malcolm’s door and the man peeked out at him through the keyhole, Rikarah had heard the young man swear in obvious shock and panic, appearing to be rushing to bolt the door and scramble backward from the loud, fumbling noises on its other side. But Kilgrave had spoken up quickly, halting him in his tracks.

“Let us in, Malcolm. Offer us the best of whatever you have in that miserable bunghole of yours, and tell me everything you know about what Jessica has been up to since my untimely death.”

And the young man had done exactly as he had been asked. Rikarah could see the self-loathing and the struggle in his eyes as he did, but he had not been able to resist in the end. In less than ten minutes Kilgrave had learned for the second time of Jessica’s marriage, the names of all the staff associated with Heroes for Hires and their positions that Malcolm was aware of, the death of Dorothy Walker, and all other information about the woman that he could think up. Rikarah had watched Kilgrave rather than Malcolm as the younger man recited his knowledge, faintly amused as the man’s sallow face grew taut, his cheek twitching with barely reigned in rage as Jessica’s marriage was confirmed as reality and Malcolm characterized it as “really good, I think he’s good for her. Like, she’s stopped drinking like she did and she seems happy, I think she really does care about him a lot.”

Kilgrave made no attempt whatsoever to control himself any further at Malcolm’s final revelation that Jessica had recently told him she was pregnant with a daughter. He had leapt to his feet, almost sputtering in his outrage, and threw the beer bottle Malcolm had given him against the wall. Rikarah was further amused to note that it didn’t break at the contact, but just sent beer and foam spraying all down the wall and over the floor. She also got the impression, though Malcolm’s expression didn’t change, that he was pissed about the mess and the gesture.

“Pregnant?! How the bloody hell did she get pregnant, what jackass knocked up Jessica Jones- my Jessica?!”

Malcolm blinked, obviously finding the question as ridiculous as Rikarah did herself.

“Well, I didn’t ask for the specifics, but I’m assuming she had sex with her husband, and he’s the father. No one told me any differently, so unless the kid comes out as pale as Jessica herself, I’m going to guess it was Luke.”

Kilgrave didn’t take much longer with Malcolm to hear any more- maybe he didn’t want to hear anything that would upset him any further. Sputtering barely coherent threats and obscenities, he managed to instruct Malcolm not to tell Jessica or anyone else that he had spoken with or seen Kilgrave before storming out of the apartment, not seeming to remember that Rikarah had accompanied him and had legs much too short to keep up with him without nearly running. She deliberated between calling out to him to wait, to think, to let her voice the reason so obviously absent him, before choosing instead to turn and go home.

She doubted he would be coming after her, or even recalling that he was currently staying with her, any time soon. Perhaps by the time he did recollect that she was gracious enough to be hosting him, he would find that she was no longer willing to do so. Not that it would matter. The man could literally order anyone to house him, and they couldn’t refuse.

Why had she thought this was such a great idea again? It was seriously slipping her memory.

What Rikarah didn’t know was that after parting ways with her, Kilgrave immediately began to set in motion his plan for winning back his Jessica- or at least, manipulating her into willingly coming near enough to him, and remaining there long enough in his presence, to give himself a chance to try. Even now, he told himself frantically, nearly desperately, it wasn’t too late. He and Jessica had been so good together, so perfect, even if she was too stubborn to acknowledge it. She would see this time- he would make her see. And until she did, he would brutally and unflinchingly use every person he could to force her into submission.

Husband or not, pregnant or not, he would make her his. The husband could be easily disposed of, and the baby, well, how bad could a second copy of Jessica be, one he could raise as his own, carefully guiding to his own ideals? It would work out. It would have to.

So Kilgrave infiltrated the staff at Trish Walker’s talk show studio, implanting the suggestion for young intern Chloe Ash to commit suicide as soon as any information from Trish or others on the show was given out to the public about Kilgrave’s resurrection. He made certain to give specific instructions for her to make sure to announce why she was doing what she was doing before dying, and was pleased to hear from the three other staff members he had under his control that she had done as instructed when they reported back to him.

Next step was infiltrating Agent Perry, one of Danny Rand’s team members, and his staff. The agents were to forcefully break into Heroes for Hire, which Kilgrave already knew to be heavily secured, all while informing everyone within hearing range that they were blaming Jessica for their behavior and shooting at anyone who moved- without aiming to kill, but without making this obvious. Kilgrave had been very explicit in his instructions that they could shoot at Jessica, but that anyone who shot her in a vital area or the stomach would thereafter have to immediately shoot himself in the head. No one, thankfully, had made this error.

What was unknown to the others, however, was the true reason for Perry and his men’s break in. Although Jessica and her friends believed them to be there to attack them and force Jessica out of the building, the so called invasion had actually already occurred before any of them had been aware of their presence in the building. While the Luke and Danny had been distracted, tending to Trish and Jessica after they had witnessed Chloe’s suicide, Perry’s team had already infiltrated the building, tapped into the security cameras inside and outside of the building, and redirected the feed to be sent with only a thirty second delay to the receiving devices Kilgrave had ordered them to bring to him on his end, in his new (and stolen by command) swank apartment a few blocks away. Thanks to them, without the others inside being aware of this, he now had full access to seeing what Jessica and the others in the building were doing and saying and any plans they might be coming up with, as long as they were within range of one of the building’s many security feeds.

This was far better than before, when Kilgrave had to settle for static photos of Jessica. Now, he had live video footage. And soon, he hoped to have Jessica herself.

#Jessica Jones #jessica jones roleplay #luke cage roleplay #Luke Cage #kilgrave #kilgrave roleplay

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milan-chica · 3 years

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They served as Atty Gen the same time it took the same big they took on the same big fights to get California bow here in Delaware big fights helped change the entire country I know how much bow respected and her work that matter a Free Spirit Brave Soul Medical Assistant Leopard Heart T Shirt From AllezyGo lot to me to be honest with you as I made this decision so now we need to get to work playing this nation out of these crises we find ourselves. America cabinsand resolve to go offand find buckyand bring them back to normal meanwhile buck is off killing hydra scientistsand trying to become more human as you imagine with the shield team yeah finding out everyone’s hydra is a pretty big mess john garrettand grant were exposedand start shooting people in the faceand a big battle between hydra shield ensues in the cast that follows the us government declare shield a terrorist organization that’s fun for colson the gang john garrett breaks initials facilitiesand steals a bunch weapons from colson’s past ventures pheasant simmons end up in a medical pod which grant ward then chucks to the bottom of the ocean fits almost sacrifices himself to save simmons because they’re in love but in a fury shows up just in time to save them during colsonand team upand eventually defeat garrett to make schools in the new head of shieldand jesse were up to date his team now includes this dude called macand the studio tripletand this dude called patton oswalt after the spirit wasn’t hiding with the excellent disguise of a beanie however colson is now starting to experience side effects from being resurrected using cree fluids the main side effect is he start sketching a map of that ancient cree city for humans to find is that sin is brain now meanwhile the soon to be human is been running around the show for a while now called reyna goes to daisy’s dad calvin who is still looking for after all these yearsand tells him she’s found his daughter he really was sincere so he sets out to do that this has been the because he almost drownedand now he’s got brain damage simmons is nelson’s work undercover in hydra with the help of fellow shield agent bobby morse shield team lost recruit sassy british man lance hunterand some other people but they’re not as important agents also start fighting this inhuman called carl creel the absorbing that back over to calgary now he discovers it is usb stick with information on it that he would like to have however it’s currently in possession of guest to reva connors luke cage’s wife so he is jessica to find usb formand then orders her to kill reva jessica does it but it’s so dramatic that she manages to break free from kill race controland walks away he is then promptly hit by a bus just giving he’s dead but he survives in later forces a guy given both of his kidneys so he can live after all this jessica jones decides to become a private investigator while luke cage is pretty devastatedand also now running his bar okay now were going to go to space for quite a bit that is a still looking for those infinity stones after loki stuck to getting the tesseract so he lists run the accuser’s old cree crazy fanatic friend to help them in case you forgot the cree are still war with the no vampire the good police of spaceand it was a peace treaty involved that decree signed but ronan went rogueand started terrorizing secondary people send r is the capital of the vampire enemies a lot of weird names once i’m sorry anyway ronan with the help of dennis’s adopted daughters nebulaand gomorrah is now looking for the orb that contains the power infinity stone on places like praxis nine process nine at data know but so far no luck also grew rocket or start collecting bounties for example on this guy called balto so this point most everyone is looking for this infinity stone orb dennis wants it to come to the universe once it’s usand give it to the collectorand this random urgent wants it because it can probably be sold for a lot of money this merchant hires yonder in the rafters to get a form peter quill now going the name star lord is all grown upand despite what they taught him once to move away from the ravages so he locates the orband takes it for himself just before running into ronan’s henchmen started quill escapesand gomorrah center treated on the planet of zande are guerrillas attacked by gomorrah for the orband by writing group for huge bounty on his head in the end all capturedand sent to prison called the kiln where they meet tracks the destroyer tracks his family was killed by running under the command of panos so once revenge on both those guys which intends on getting through gomorrah in the end these unlikely five team up to get out of the kilnand plan to get the order to the collector so they can all get paid now you got the rogers were medic will the notochord who would uphold the lawand ronan once the orb on the tail is to know where a celestial head where the collector is peter so I love it gomorrah jackson arcata getting drunkand fighting but eventually through all these distractions they doand of giving the orb to the collector however one of the collector’s assistance to the stoneand a big explosion happens because it’s an infinity stone was as good markwell to take the stone back in a fit of junk vengeance just goes run into the planet a fight in a fight which she loses badlyand tries to kill more in spaceand gets the orb that peter saves her at the last minute right as a captured by the raptors ronan as the stoneand decides to betray santos giving it for himselfand paying to distressand areand then santos the crew now going by the name of the guardians of the galaxy eventually regroupand team up with the ravages to guard the galaxy they team up with another court as well a big clinic to bounces during which grid sacrifices himself to save his new friends eventually after some paddlingand dance off peterand russ the guardians grab the stoneand kill run with it saving the day in the process peter is able to hold the power of the stone for sunday does because he’s part celestial areas of the stones than of the court keep safe I wonder that’s agoand they often become kind of guns for hire also rocket pics of the twig from grits corpseand plants that create a new gruden baby form who grows with the team meanwhile the collector gets mocked by herod the duck ego the living planet celestial is my someone who held infinity stoneand realizes it must be some of his day yonder never delivered is a plan to get peter to’s planet they can join forces so we can consume everything everywhere nebula has escapedand is now hated by pretty much everyone in the universe but she really wants to kill her dad that us she tries to steal some superpowerful batteries from these aliens called the sovereign but is caughtand taken prisoner however there’s a giant monster called the obelisk that slowly drain those batteries power to the sovereign the guardians to defeated they greeted so if they get nebula as payment after they succeed however rogge still similar batteries because he’s kind of a dick that’s not a joke that’s pretty much what he did it still battery the summer discover this since in the fleet to kelly guardians but ego shows upand destroys that fleet reveals himself as peter’s dadand him peter gomorrah jackson egos helper mantis who can read people’s emotionsand make people feel emotions go back to ego’s home planet his body meanwhile rocket baby groupand nebula stage repair the ship meanwhile the ravagesand the undo off on some hooker planet celebrating the victory against ronan when yonder runs into sylvester stallone after all these years stone is a bit of foreshadowing that how yonder won’t have a nice rabbit your funeraland yonder is not too happy about it but soon after the sovereign approachand then ask them in the ravages to catch the guardians for them that’s the planet where the guardians crash landedand after b skirmish take rocketand baby group prisoner one of the ravages taser face please yonder was getting too softand stages of mutiny nebula helps the ravages take out jan doand then goes off to kill her sister onceand for all is really she just was to kill her whole family at this pointand his mentor killed the mutiny but eventually yonder rocket bondand escape with the very very slow help of baby groupand yonder’s number two crack when you gets a new arrow controlling mohawkand the murder all the ravages mastered’s in the coolest way possible meanwhile on egos planet egos teaching peter how to use his celestial powersand peter is loving it something seems off thoughand that is his beginning friends with tracksand wants to tell them about egos deep secret as in all the child murdering young to know as well that child murdering so him craband daily gruden rocket getting the shipand jump across the universe to save peterand the gang from ego nebula get steel spina first invites gomorrah but eventually they stop fightingand talk out their differences peter is getting really into ego so celestial thing welcome nebula discovered cave of the children under the surface peters advertised may goand almost as long would egos plan until ego reveals that he killed peter’s mom at which point peter steps out of itand the battle begins the process of all the cd the plantand transforming has already begunand the stuff starts expanding all over the universe including honor the guardians by egoand the sovereign as they just arrived peterand ego to get out in the weirdest way possibleand ultimately yet the guardians when an ego is no more in the process peter loses his celestial powers is not totally op when infinity work comes however to say peter yonder redeems himselfand sacrifices his own life freezing to death in outer space youngest funeral followsand all the raptures including stallone come back to honor him since they realized he wasn’t such a bad guy after all nebula gomorrah become somewhat loving sisters nebula leaves to find a way to kill santos which I guess takes another four years to get around to doing kremlin takes over yonder zeroand still reunites an old ravaged team then yonder’s honor the sovereign still pretty upset with the guardians create adam warlock to be the ultimate weapon against them though that’s also to take a few years to fully manifest also this old man has been an informant for these beings that watch the universe called the watchersand that’s all you need to know about them nowand go back to earth there’s this guy called jonathan sanborn who gets in an accident at the factory work sadand is paralyzed he seeks medical helpand physical therapy but those do nothing for so he hears about ties for the masters of the mystic art still hang outand has over there here he meets the one entries in the way of the mystic artsand eventually leaves as he can use the magic to walk again this year team is having more adventures mainly revolving around trying to figure out those weird drawings colson is doing this includes may find an agent with a mask that makes you look like me it’s probably burned onto a face that guy verna reinhardt also comes backand get his hands on the diviner again over hell’s kitchen not murdoch confesses at his church about his vigilanteand because he’s very catholic but decides to give it up anyway to make a city a safer place in the same area reporter called karen page discovers some shady activity involving money laundering going on with this companyand tries to tell one of its employees but wakes up the next morning next to his dead body holding a blade knife she’s accused of murder against nelsonand murdoch to defend her she’s doing some investigatingand so some people want to killed matt in his vigilante outfit safes are become known as the daredevil that karen such working as a secretary for nelson murdoch ever since that you turn invasion a bunch of house prices have dropped new york or something real estate related like that so they’re more russian gangstersand mobstersand all that taking advantage of the situation wasn’t fisk that the range kid from before returns him to make the city a better place but a better place for him isn’t better for a lot of people also he falls in love the woman called vanessaand start being people’s headsand with car doors those two things are mostly unrelated so that as daredevil fights back against him 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hubbyseby · 5 years

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2- Pleasing You.

Mob! Sebastian Stan x Reader

Second part of "Nothing Without You" series.

Run-through: haven't understand what happened the night before, you were lost at school and couldn't focus. And you were discussing with your friends when you had something which leaves you suspicious.

Warnings: language.

Everything was so blur. You couldn't focus yourself in anything that was going on. All you could focus on was your friends: Samantha and Jessica. You didn't sleep last night, worrying too much for them. Did the man said the truth? Was everything really okay with your friends? You got up, and it was 5: 00 already, and almost time to go to school. But you didn't feel the strengh. You went to your backpack to verify what you had for the day, any homeworks or presentations to see if it was worth it to go to school. Taking your agenda, you run your long fingers through the pages and once you stopped to the day...

"Oh my God" you said, you had a test today. And you couldn't miss it, because it was important to improve your grade for the last few months before your graduation. You closed the agenda and went to downstairs to grab the phone of the house to call Samantha. It was ringing but you reached the voicemail. You were more troubled now. You did the same action for Jessica, nothing. Just the voicemail.

"I have to know if they are okay. I can't wait much longer." You said while you were entering the shower to take a quick one. Once done, you quickly dressed yourself and, not even taking time to eat breakfast, you got out the house already turning on the the car to leave. Your blood was boiling into your veins, couldn't think properly. You tried to stay calm, but you couldn't, obsviously. You felt something forming down your throat, but held it while you park you car before Samy's house. There were two cars, which means that her parents were still home. Reaching their door, you couldn't wait any longer and knocked in a hurry. A few minutes after, the door opens up to her mother, Sandra, who was smiling to you. You couldn't help but you were stressed and put a fake smile on your face.

"Good morning, sweetheart! How are you? Come in!" She said while making space for you to come in, what you did while looking around. No one's was there until her husband reached downstairs.

"Y/N! What a surprise to see you!" He said while kissing you on the cheek before going to the kitchen. It was weird, seems like her parents didn't know anything about last night. Knowing her, she couldn't because they are always talking to her to not go out late. Sometimes she was obedient, most of the time, not.

"Good morning!" You said while holding hardly to your backpack.

"I guess you're here for my daughter" Sandra said with a neutral gaze.

"Y-Yes" you said, nervous.

"Oh she should be upstairs. Try to check because I haven't seen her since yersterday afternoon." She let you know.

And your heart skipped a beat. And if she wasn't upstairs? And if something went wrong? And if the man lied to her? Telling her that everything was going to be okay and the only news you got at the end was the news of your friends... dead? You felt the tears making their way up to your eyes but kept them to not make her parents suspicious. How dumb I was to believe this man! You thought. I am a coward. I am selfish. I just saved myself and forgot my friends behind me. Will they forgive me? You thought while you were freezing in front of Samantha's parents.

"Y/N!" Said Sandra, seeing that you were far from here in your thoughts.

"Yes... y-yes I'm sorry... I'm going upstairs to reach her! Thank you, ma'am" you said in a hurry while making your ways to the stairs and in a blink of eyes you were in front of your friend's door. You was afraid that she wasn't there. You wanted to the bottom of your heart to see her asleep on the bed. You prefered this and to be late at school than not seeing her there. You slowly opened the door when you heard:

"Mommy?"

A voice that you were craving to hear. A voice you thought you would never have to hear again. A voice you thought you would never hear telling you:"you brat!" Or "I'll always have your back, Y/N". She was there. As soon as you saw her, you let your backpack slide down your side and run to her. In a rush hug, you were now crying and she was holding you tight while telling you that she was okay.

"You are here" you said, sobbing.

You heard her giggles and you didn't care that she was laughing at you because you were crying for her. While holding her, you feel a touch that you also thought you would never feel again. A touch that you knew too damn well while turning you around to tell you that you were absolutely beautiful. Opening your glossy eyes, you lay them on Jessica who was joining the hug.

"Oh my God" you said, relieved. Feeling alive again.

"I'm so sorry... I left you, I am a coward. I should never do this to you. I'm so sorry, forgive me, Samy... Jess please! Forgive me I'm so sorry I'm-"

"Shh... That's okay, Y/N. That's okay. We are here. And we have nothing to forgive you. You saved us." Samy cuts you off while taking a break from the hug while Jessica was smiling to you.

Confused, you were trying to put your ideas on track to think properly. Drying your tears, Jessica said:

"Thank you, Y/N, you're not a coward. You're a hero"

"Wait... what?" You could only asked, more confused than before.

"There were two men who found us in the crowd. After loosing contact with you, we were looking for you as well. But these two men reached us and leaded us out of the mess. We were afraid and we wouldn't leave without you, we asked for you. We weren't sure to tell them your name because they would not know, we just described how you were dressed and they remembered you. And they told us that you asked to save us. You ordered to save us, and you were just obeyed, and they saved us. And because of you, we are still alive." Samantha explained.

Speechless, you couldn't say a word of what you just heard a few seconds ago. The only question you were asking yourself in your mind was: "WHAT?".

Jessica couldn't contain a smile seeing your face. And they both started laughing at you. While they were laughing, you remembered the man who told you that they would be safe, and that he would get them out of the mess. He wasn't lying to you. He said the truth and he saved them. And instead giving himself the credits for saving them, he told them that you ordered to save them. You thought you had lost them and this, forever. However, you were happy they were here. Here in front of you. Talking to you. Smiling to you. Laughing at you. You didn't mind, all that matters was they were right in front of you.

"Oh..." you just said.

Before saying anything else, the door knocked out loud and Sandra made her way through the door before even having a answer from her daughter. She was going to talk but seeing Jessica behind us shut her up.

"Well! Good morning, Jessica! I didn't know I had a guest home, Samy" her mother sad, giving her a funny gaze that wasn't unnoticed and you all of your were laughing hard. It seems like you were laughing more of joy that you had the chance to be reunited once again and won against death than laughing at the mother.

"You have only 30min, girls. Go down, try to eat something and go to school" Sandra said.

"We'll not have the time mommy. We'll go now" Samy said while you were taking back your backpack from the floor.

"Okay! Me, I'm out because my husband just left a few minutes ago, and we are starting at the same hour! Baby, are you going to call the Uber as usual or Y/N is giving you a ride?" Sandra's asked

"Oh I'll bring them! Sure!" You said, excited.

"Alright! Kisses girl, hope to see you later! Bye and have a good day sweethearts!"

"Love you mommy!" Samy just said as she left the room and a minute or two, her car was disappearing in the corner of the street.

"Let's go!" You just said while you guys were running on the stairs to get down. Samy locked the entrance door and you went to school.

The test was easy, but it was quite hard to you because you couldn't focus properly. You were thinking of him. How he grabbed you the night before. You stroked your right hand, remembering his sweet hair under it. You closed your eyes while remembering his cologne and his body pressed against yours. His charming voice when he called you:"doll". When he protected you like it was depending on his own life. The way you felt his breath on your forehead.

"I'm not going to hurt you doll".

He didn't want to hurt you. He was saving you, and after saving your friends, making them believe it was your order. Like a boss. You smiled at this thought.

Doll.

You couldn't stop yourself thinking. It was the first time someone called you like that, and you felt suddenly attractive. You felt a electric thing running down your spine. You thought of his hand holding the door. The only sight that you had of him, right there in your head, your mind, and you couldn't think of something else than this hand stroking your body and holding you around your throat while-

"HOLY WATER! I need to purify my mind!" You thought while holding the pencil tight between your fingers.

"Ms Y/L/N, are you okay?" Professor Jones asked, seeing you frustrated on your chair while the other students were looking at you at the call of the professor.

You couldn't help but you blushed furiously. You looked like a tomato and they were laughing at you. Even Jessica was smiling. You stared Samantha and she was moving her hand on her desk, trying to tell you to calm down. And to relax. You catch the message, and you were relaxing.

"Yes, Professor. I am okay, thank you". You simply replied and you soon focused yourself on your paper. All you wanted was to leave the class.

"If you don't remember a thing, you should have studied though" he said and everyone was laughing, except you. You were ashamed and it wasn't your problem, not knowing your lessons, but it was him.

The man who couldn't stop calling her "doll". You chased him in your mind and focused yourself at the test that you finished almost the same time with the others. Everyone were done when the ringing bell make itself heard. It was the release, and you were relieved. The Professor leaved the class and your friends makes their way to you, on your chair.

"Are you feeling better?" Jessica asked.

You were the sweetest and the least experienced between you three.

"Yes, Jess"

Samy was going to talk when the girl who hated you make her way to you and your friends with her "team". You rolled your eyes up and pray God for her to leave you alone.

"Well... Well. You, bitch" she said to you while her silly friends were laughing at you while Jessica gave her a bad look.

"Would you leave her alone, Christina?" She said, angry after her.

"No, because she's a bitch. She does think she's acttractive! Do you think that, foolish girl? No, you dumb! You're not attractive than I am!" She said, keeping her eyes on yours, wanting to die in the moment.

You felt so bad. You wanted to disappear. Because she was talking louder, every student in the classroom was now looking at you. Some were laughing, some weren't happy to see this because they thought that she was so wrong to treat you like this. Connor, a guy in the class, who always thought you were beautiful, took your defense:

"Give it a rest, Christina and leave!" He said.

Samantha had enough hearing her, and she stood up.

"First of all you bitch, you're going to shut the hell up! Second, she is way better than you are, because you, you are a bitch that every men in this school know, but she is the quietest girl in this entire place. You are always doing things to make yourself remarked but she doesn't need to do a shit for everyone to see that she is beautiful! Even naturally, she's beating your damn flat ass bitch but you need to wear the entire Sephora's make up line to look not even at someone but looking like a weird thing! So you're going. To. Shut. The. Damn. Hell. Up. BITCH!" Samantha exploded.

Everyone was speechless after her words. You were speechless. You couldn't fight it anymore and your tears fell down your cheeks, looking at her. She saved you this time, because you were never answering when she was attacking you. Anytime she was bothering you, you just leave. Christina didn't find anything solid enough to say, and Connor crossed his arms on his chest with a smirk.

"Any motion now, Chris?" He said, still, with his smirk.

"SHE IS NOT BEAUTIFUL!" She yelled, ashamed.

While Jessica was about to interfere, someone opened the classroom's door to let someone else in with a big case in his hands. Suddenly, the classroom was full with a scent. A familiar scent.

Everyone was looking at the door and the two men who where crossing the classroom now.

"I'm sorry but who is Y/N"? One of them asked.

Your heart missed a beat. Everyone was looking at you, suspicious. What the hell was going on? You asked yourself.

"I-it's me" you said, shy.

Once they heard and saw you, they were approching you carefully while everyone was looking at what was happening. There was another man bringing some hearts balloons and a big white Teddy Bear with a "Beautiful" writing on it. You were blushing like a baby when they stood in front of you, Samy and Jess speechless. Also Christina. At least, she had her mouth shut.

"This delivery is yours ma'am" said the first one who has spoke one or two minutes earlier.

"For me?" You asked, shaking almost.

"Yes".

"Oh" was the only word which could crossed your lips.

Who the hell sent that to me? I have no boyfriend, I'm alone, not attractive, who would do this for me? You asked yourself while taking the big box and standing up. Samantha give a look to Jessica who was receptive. They both crossed their arms on their chest while looking at Christina and her girls, speechless, ashamed. You opened the big box and you saw a lot of roses! A lot! A lot! You put your hands over your mouth, couldn't believe it yet. All the students were like:

"Ouuuuhhhh"

They were speechless, as you were. Seeing your reaction, as you were crying, one the three men smiled and gave you the Teddy Bear that you were holding tight. There was a medium card which was in a little bag of satin, on the top of the flowers and you took it to open it with a shaking hand.

"Dear Y/N,

How are you, beautiful? I couldn't stop thinking about you, and how beautiful you are. Your eyes are so beautiful that I could lost myself just at looking at you. Looking at your soul. I hope we will see each other soon. I can't help but your face was scanned by my mind, and you couldn't leave it.

I hope you like your presents. I would like to tease you, just as I'm doing right now.

Have a nice day, beautiful.

S. S"

You read. You were speechless. Samantha who was right behind you and read at the same time with you. With a little smirk, she takes the card in your hands and looks at Christina right in her eyes.

"Let me read for you damn bitch" she said, amused.

She read the whole letter while she was taking her time saying each "beautiful" word with a smirk. Finishing, amused, she put the letter in front of her face:

"Who's laughing now, BITCH?" She asked, angry.

All the boys were laughing out loud at Christina and her squad. Connor, leaving and passing just close to Christina, put a hand on her shoulder by taping it and he says:

"Courage with your bitches, sweetheart" and they passed by them, still laughing out loud.

They didn't took much time and moved away too, and almost all the students were leaving the classroom, it was just a few, you and your friends. The three men has already taking a break from the tension of the class during the time you were reading the letter. Samantha turned around to look at you while Jessica was still speechless in front of your presents that even you couldn't understand.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT, Y/N?" Samantha asked, letting her suprising face taking the lead. She has all the time this amused face to prove to Christina that you had men, just like her, saying that you were beautiful. But now you were alone, she asked seriously.

"Who is this, Y/N?"

"I don't even know!" You answered.

"Liar". You heard your inner voice said.

You knew exactly who it was. It was him.

#mob!bucky #mob!au #sebstan #sebastianstan #sebbystan #sexyseabass #sebastian x reader #sebastian stan #dark!bucky x reader

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iamdeltas · 4 years

Note

1, 9, 29, 4?

1. Top 3 Doctors?Hmm... I think my top 3 Doctors would be 10, 13, and 12. Which, yeah, I know, how basic of me to have 10 as my favorite. But it is what it is. I mean, my second favorite Disney revival movie is Frozen so. I’m basic as hell.9. NOTP?Hmm. I mean, I don’t do shipping in general but I don’t know what ships I’d actively call a NOTP? There are definitely ships I don’t like, but IDK if they’re NOTP level. I guess a NOTP might be Donna x Ten in a romantic way? I really really like them as a platonic relationship. The Doctor x Amy or Rory is right out, obviously. (I mean, I could ignore the fact that they’re canonically his parents-in-law but why would I? It’s hilarious!) In general I don’t really love companion x Doctor romantic relationships? I just feel like the power balance doesn’t work, the Doctor is literally thousands of years old, it’s weird. Though there are fics I’ve read that do have Doctor x companion romantic pairings, so again, no idea if they are quite NOTP level.

29. Thoughts on the current Doctor?Oh gosh. Where do I begin? I adore her so much! In s11, I did still like her, and it was fun reading into the little hints we got past her cheery persona, but I was never certain if I was reading too much into it. And then s12 came along and validated basically everything I read into, and deepened my love for her.

I once saw a description of Trish Walker from Jessica Jones as something along the lines of, a very nice looking house but if you go inside, you’ll see a whole bunch of feral and rabid cats fighting each other. Or maybe I’m misremembering what the description was. But that general vibe is how I’d describe 13 in s11, and then in s12, the cats start tearing down the house and you get to see all the ferality that was locked inside. So that’s been fun to watch.

I think one thing I really like is the fact that she puts up a nice cheerful persona in what seems to be an attempt to live up to the promise they made to themself as 12, to always be kind and try to be nice. It is very much a front and not how she Truly Is, but what I find fascinating is that this isn’t malicious on her behalf. This isn’t a Bitch In Sheep’s Clothing situation, she’s not secretly evil. She’s just secretly more complicated than the image she tried to project of herself to the fam in s11. I get the feeling she wants to be that happy, dorky, gregarious space tour guide that she attempted to be in s11 and nothing more, but she isn’t that. Not that the dorky childishness is completely fake or anything, it’s just not the full story. She wanted to ignore all her unresolved past traumas so that she can pretend she’s just the fam’s friendly neighborhood alien, she doesn’t want to be the angry and traumatized eldritch and ancient being that she actually is. Also, the Doctor is always, at their core, an asshole, but she wanted to try to not be that, for once, and so hid all her asshole-ishness away from the fam, which is a decision that probably screwed the fam over for how to deal with her this season. Because while part of the danger of being the Doctor’s companions is the adventures, part of it is also the mercurial nature of alien taking you on these adventures. The alien is wonderful and kind, but they’re also very fae-like and so are dangerous and, well, a dick. Every companion has had to know how to stand up for themselves whenever the Doctor is being an asshole to them, and they know that’s what they’re getting into when they start travelling with the Doctor. I mean, think about it. 9 was initially quite icy to Rose, 10 was a dick to Martha, 10 also literally burned the Racnoss in front of Donna, 11 ditched Amy for 15 years (on accident, but still) and yelled at her and threatened to take her back home immediately because of a decision she made on her first trip with him that she doesn’t even remember, and 11 was a creep to Clara. But the fam was exposed to what’s basically a fake persona by 13. She hid away all of her jerkishness and tried to go out of her way to be as nice as possible. So when s12 comes around, and 13 is hit with a big Trauma Conga Line, and is not able to hold onto her performative personality, the fam are unexpectedly hit with the spiky asshole-ish sides of her personality and they’re not prepared for dealing with it at all! Which is part of why I kind of forgive them for being more passive than most companions when it comes to dealing with the Doctor being a jerk.

Anyway. Kinda veered off-topic there slightly. But yeah, I love that, even though her performative niceness is, well, performative, and she was sort of trying to trick the fam into thinking she’s nicer and sweeter than she actually is, I really dig that it’s not from a malicious place, it’s just from a very misguided attempt at trying to fulfill the promise she made to herself. It’s not something I’ve seen before in a character, because, like I said, most characters who aren’t actually as nice/sweet as they appear are generally Actually Evil, or Secretly A Bitch. Which isn’t the case with 13 at all. She’s an angry traumatized mess, but she’s not straightforwardly Evil.

Which brings me to my next point, I love how much of an angry traumatized mess she is! And I love how much s12 is showing that side of her! She’s trying her best, but her best involves possibly the worst coping mechanisms I’ve ever seen, she is such a disaster! And this is such a relief to see because I was so worried last season that the writers would cop out because she’s a Girl Doctor so clearly she has to be Emotionally Healthy Now. And I saw so many people surmising similarly, because of that and also because of the fact that 12 had so much Character Development, that she’d be the Doctor Who Is Completely Healed. Which I hated the notion of. I recall seeing a fic that had her be the one to bring her older selves together to force them to talk about their issues, which is absolutely hilarious to think about now, considering literally everything about her this season. (Though tbh, it still wouldn’t be out of character for her to do that, purely because she’s a little... lacking in self-awareness.) I also recall seeing a fic last season having 13 meet Clara and one of the things she mentioned was that as a man it was harder for her to talk about her emotions or whatever but she’s finding it much better to talk about them now, which, a) blegh, gender essentialist, much? and b) *starts laughing outrageously because I’m thinking about how goddamn emotionally constipated she actually is*.

I dig how much fun she has when dealing with a villain that is on her level. One of the fun things about how she takes joy in everything is the fact that this translates to maniacal glee when confronting villains. She has a thrill of the hunt that I don’t think other NuWho Doctors have had, and the smiles she gives to bad guys are deliciously creepy. She’s also just so feral. She made some pretty unhinged smiles when confronting the Master, which was so fun to watch. And of course, her crazed smiles when absorbing the Cyberium were *chef’s kiss.* They felt similar to the expressions 11 had in Nightmare in Silver, and that was because he was being possessed! 13 was simply acting that unhinged and arrogant solely because of her own pure ego!

I also super cannot wait to see what goes down in the finale because I get the feeling that she is absolutely going to lose it. There’s no way she’s gonna start developing better coping mechanisms within one episode, and it’s gotta get worse before it gets better, so I look forward to seeing her at her absolute worst.

Phew, wow did I go on for a while there! Sorry for the ramble! I just love 13 a lot.

4. Favorite Dalek story?It’s gotta be “Dalek.” That’s the gold standard for me. I love how well it established what a threat a single Dalek can be, which I think later Dalek episodes failed to do as good a job with partially because they used huge armies of Daleks. With a single Dalek, you end up leaving what an army of Daleks can do to the imagination. And also, this was just a great Nine episode. It showed such a vicious and unhinged side of the Doctor, which is always fun to see. Nine is normally icy on the outside, but he’s usually pretty chill most of the time, so seeing such an angry hateful side to him was absolutely fascinating, character-wise.

#s answers asks #doctor who #cauldronofmorning

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carolinesiede · 4 years

Text

My 2019 Writing Roundup

Not to get too New Age-y, but 2019 felt like a very ~transformative~ year for me. I turned 30, got a literary agent, and became a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association. After feeling like I’d hit a plateau in my late 20s, it was nice to experience a sense of forward momentum again, even if the lack of financial stability in this career is a constant background stress. Still, on the whole my sixth year as a full-time freelancer felt like a time where I kinda, sorta figured out what I’m doing. Instead of struggling in murky waters, I’m at least actively swimming in them.

I continued to write for The A.V. Club, The Spool, and Consequence of Sound, plus took on new outlets in The Verge and Polygon. I also had an article about romantic comedies published in Southwest Airline’s in-flight magazine and was asked to talk about Hallmark Channel Christmas rom-coms on Canadian radio. Speaking of rom-coms, 2019 was the second year (and first full-year) for When Romance Met Comedy, and I feel like the column really came into its own this year. It’s by far the biggest undertaking of my career (I’ve covered 47 films in total so far!), and I’m really excited to continue shaping its voice in 2020.

Beyond finding a regular fitness routine and seeing Cats onstage for the first time, the biggest personal project I undertook in 2019 was immersing myself in the world of film and film criticism—something I started in mid-2018 and really amped up this year. My goal was to watch 300 new-to-me movies this year, and I wound up watching 355! (Including 129 new releases.) Regular access to CFCA screenings and screeners allowed me to be a bigger part of the film critic conversation than I’ve been in the past, which was exciting. I also tackled a bunch of blindspots from the past decade and put together a list of my 50 favorite films of the 2010s, which you can see right here:

Over on the TV side of things, I bid farewell to the Netflix Defenders universe with binge-review coverage of the final seasons of The Punisher and Jessica Jones. Those Marvel binge-reviews were a big part of my early career, so seeing that universe come to a close was bittersweet. It’s always nerve-wracking when a semi-regular assignment ends, but I’m hopeful that new projects will pop up to take its place.

Putting together this year-end retrospective also made me realize I was on a lot of podcasts in 2019, including jumping in as a regular guest on the Cinematic Universe podcast in the latter half of the year. Podcasting is something I really enjoy (I find talking so much easier than writing!), and I’d love to do more of it in the future.

With that, I’ll leave you with wishes for a Happy New Year and a roundup of all the major writing I did in 2019. If you enjoyed my work this year, it would mean a lot if you would support me on either Kofi or PayPal. Or just share some of your favorite pieces with your friends!

My 15 favorite TV shows of 2019

My 15 favorite films of 2019

Op-eds and Features

“Rom-Com Revival” for Southwest The Magazine

Avengers: Endgame doesn’t earn its big “girl power” moment

An MCU breakup could be a terrific step forward for Spider-Man

“What is a weekend?”: A catch-up guide to Downton Abbey’s cast and characters

Nope, seeing Cats the musical will not help you understand Cats the movie

Let’s talk about the ending of Greta Gerwig’s Little Women

TV Coverage

Doctor Who’s 2019 New Year’s Special

The Punisher S2

Jessica Jones S3

The Crown S3

This Is Us S3 and S4

Supergirl S4 and S5

Rent: Live

Jane The Virgin fill-in

The Tony Awards

The Little Mermaid Live!

When Romance Met Comedy

27 Dresses doesn’t deserve your hate and neither does Katherine Heigl

Bride & Prejudice weaves an impressive cultural critique into a Bollywood-inspired Jane Austen update

How does the original What Women Want hold up two decades later?

In 1990, Pretty Woman changed romantic comedies forever

For one brief, wonderful moment, Eddie Murphy reinvented himself as a romantic-comedy star

20 years later, 10 Things I Hate About You remains a model for how to do the teen rom-com right

Lloyd Dobler is Cameron Crowe’s original manic pixie dream date

We're just not that into He’s Just Not That Into You

Romance is the weakest aspect of one of the most celebrated rom-coms of the ’90s

To All The Boys and Netflix reminded the world why it’s smitten with rom-coms

Imagine Me & You gives a lesbian love story the classic rom-com treatment

Queer resilience thrives in this rom-com about love in the time of the AIDS crisis

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is bubbly and smart, just like Marilyn Monroe

The Best Man capped off one decade of black rom-coms and inspired another

Nicolas Cage romanced Cher in one of the weirdest rom-coms ever made

After a decade of discourse, (500) Days Of Summer is basically the Fight Club of rom-coms

It’s No Strings Attached versus Friends With Benefits in a rom-com showdown

Adam Sandler’s sweetness makes The Wedding Singer a rom-com worth growing old with

The Philadelphia Story delivered one of the most star-studded love triangles ever

13 Going On 30 made Jennifer Garner a rom-com star—and gave tween girls a sleepover staple

Celebrate Halloween with Warm Bodies, the film that tried to make zom-rom-coms a thing

In the 2010s, rom-coms went indie and saved themselves in the process

Sandra Bullock became a rom-com star with a cozy love story about crushing loneliness

With just two storylines, The Holiday paid tribute to the entire rom-com genre

The A.V. Club

The maudlin Five Feet Apart anoints a new pair of winning young stars

After thinks it’s beautiful, that’s what makes it tiresome

Teen Spirit has plenty of it

Ramy is a Muslim millennial comedy with impressively big questions on its mind

Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson’s new comedy The Hustle pulls an inelegant con

The Sun Is Also A Star turns a compelling premise into a lackluster teen romance

The Art Of Racing In The Rain is a doggone mess

You don’t need to love Springsteen to like the thoughtful crowd-pleaser Blinded By The Light

The well-meaning Brittany Runs A Marathon can’t quite go the distance

Renée Zellweger zings in a Judy Garland biopic that clangs

The Downton Abbey movie is as pleasant as a cozy cup of tea

Tall Girl’s familiar teen love story fails to reach new heights

The new Lady And The Tramp feels like a ’90s update of a ’50s classic

The Verge/Polygon

Tigers Are Not Afraid puts a Pan’s Labyrinth spin on a poignant Mexican drug war story

The gloriously surreal space epic Ad Astra is half a great movie

An AI affair fuels a midlife crisis in the eerie science fiction drama Auggie

The painfully generic new animated Addams Family deserves no snaps

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is boldly bonkers

Netflix’s apocalyptic teen comedy Daybreak is an exhausting sugar rush

The Current War is basically Amadeus for electricity

Is Playmobil: The Movie just a reskinned Lego Movie?

The Spool

The LEGO Movie 2: Everything is About Half as Awesome

Isn’t It Romantic: An Instant Postmodern Rom-Com Classic

The Aftermath: Sumptuous but Surface-Level Melodrama

Late Night: A Sparkling Comedy With a Lot On Its Mind

Plus One: An Indie Millennial When Harry Met Sally

The Farewell is A Poignantly Funny Goodbye

Where’d You Go, Bernadette: A whimsical mid-life crisis

After the Wedding: A grown-up drama that doesn’t trust its own story

Falling Inn Love: Love, New Zealand Style

Paradise Hills: Harajuku Gossip Girls

Consequence of Sound

Brexit Takes An Engaging But Ultimately Shallow Look At the 2016 Vote

What Men Want Flips the Script and Finds Mixed Results

Dumbo Delights Without Ever Fully Taking Flight

Someone Great Continues Netflix’s Romantic Comedy Revival

Aladdin Has the Animated Classic’s Songs, But Less of Its Personality

MindMeet Interviews

Nadine Hack and Global Citizens Circle: Creating Connectedness

Podcast Appearances

Filmography: When Harry Met Sally

Filmography: Tim Burton’s mature films (Ed Wood, Sweeney Todd, Big Fish, Big Eyes)

Debating Doctor Who MCU Edition: Avengers: Endgame

Cinematic Universe: Alita: Battle Angel

Hall of Faces: Friends

Cinematic Universe: Joker

Hall of Faces: The West Wing

CBC Radio: Hallmark Christmas movies

Cinematic Universe: The Wolverine

Cinematic Universe: Awards Special—The Cuppies 2019 (Part One)

And here are similar year-end wrap-ups I did in 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, and 2013.

#Best Of #Year End

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xserpentlife · 5 years

Text

Starved

Requested: Anon original request was something along the lines of Reader has anorexia and the group of friends find out. Second after asked question- Preferably anorexia but whatever you'd like lovely! Your writing is amazing and I'd probably be happy no matter what way you took it!

A/N: Platonic x Jughead, Toni, Fangs, and Sweetpea. If you are in any way triggered by any discussion of Anorexia or anxiety please do not read this. Also, thank you to @wayward-river for all the help with this story she is incredible go read her stories.

Warnings: Anorexia, Anxiety

Word Count: 3132

Summary: You always put up the facade that you were alright, but what happens when your friends know your not and they figure out the real reason behind it.

Your mom left when you were young and your dad passed, you have been alone since you were 13. The Serpent's were a family and you always wanted to be fully in. Your Serpent dance was coming soon and you were getting more nervous by the minute.

Y/N POV

You stood standing in the mirror looking back at a girl, the marks you drew on it showing the way you should be looking by now... the goal for your dance. Your dance was in a few days. The last month you had been shedding weight, more than should have been possible. Luckily you were one to always wear baggy clothes so no one really noticed. You had to look perfect and the way you looked now your mind told you wasn’t. A knock on your door knocked you out of your thoughts. You quickly covered the mirror and thew on a t-shirt. You opened the door looking out to see Toni.

“Hey girl”

“Hey Toni what’s up”

“Everyone is on there way to the Wyrm wanted to know if you wanted to come”

“Uhm no actually I’m good thanks though”

“Aight can I borrow a water”

“Yeah of course” you watched her walk in about to open the fridge before you realized “Wait Toni” but she had opened it.

“Y/N you got no food and you rarely come out with us what do you eat?”

“Uhm I pick up Pop’s a lot” You hoped the lie you told was believable enough.

“You sure you don’t want to come”

“Uhm yeah, I’ll come why not” you rode with Toni to the Wyrm in your truck. Your vision blurred as your ears rang while driving but you kept focusing on the line in the road and you were luckily fine. You walked in behind Toni taking your seat at the bar like usual.

“Want a beer”

“No, I’m good thanks though” Jughead came up behind you.

“The infamous Y/N isn’t drinking tonight”

“Not feeling it gotta get up for school tomorrow”

“Never stopped you before, you ok?”

“Yeah I’m good” at that point Sweet Pea and Fangs came up as well.

“Y/N!” Fangs hugged you

“Hey Sweets hey Fangs how are you guys”

“Good you?”

“Excited for your dance, when is it again? Friday right?

“Yeah, will you guys be here”

“Sweet Pea miss a dance, your funny”

“Shut it Fogarty Y/N is like a sister to me I’ll be here though, gotta support you” Sweet Pea responded

“Thanks” Your vision blurred again as you heard what sounded like chiming bells once again, this one stronger as your body slightly swayed before being able to come back into focus. Luckily Fangs had stayed next to you as your body swayed into his almost falling off the stool. “Y/N you good?”

“Yeah, just tired, sorry”

“Want me to drive you home?

“Yeah, please”

“Leaving already Y/N?”

“Yeah T I’m sorry just tired is all, I’ll see you guys at school tomorrow okay” You walked out with Fangs to your truck.

“Fangs I forgot I drove Toni and I here because she walked to my trailer earlier, I’ll drive it’s not a big deal”

“Yeah it is you almost fell asleep at the bar, I’d rather drive you I’ll walk home not a big deal really it's like five minutes”

“Are you sure”

“Positive I wanna know you got home safe, can’t have my best friend fall asleep at the wheel”

Fangs drove you home, your stomach growled but you covered it with a cough luckily Fangs hadn’t noticed. Growls rarely ever happened anymore, more often than not the hunger wasn’t even there, maybe a few sharp hunger pain but no noise to cover up thankfully. You knew you should eat but if you ate you'd gain, and you couldn’t let that happen not this week not now. Since you weighed Monday and saw you weren't near your goal you haven't eaten much. You ate maybe an apple or piece of fruit and even then you would only eat half. You watched your trailer come into view and Fangs turn the truck off. He walked inside behind you asked if you’d be alright. After you told him yes he turned towards his trailer and went home. You walked to your bedroom and stripped off your jacket and shoes falling asleep in the clothes you had on. You woke up the next morning, walking into your kitchen grabbing a water bottle. You didn’t even want to drink that knowing full well liquids always made you bloat, but you still had a day till the dance so it would be fine.

You drove up to the school pulling into your spot and getting out of your truck. You saw your group of friends sitting on the steps.

“Hey guys?”

“Get some sleep?” Fangs chimed in.

“Yeah, why?”

“Well you were super tired last night so just wondering if you were good now”

“Oh yeah I'm good” you hadn’t realized that you forgot to put the flannel over your t-shirt today like usual. Toni stared at you about to speak before the bell of the school rang. You didn’t believe in god but at that moment you thanked him. You walked into the class you had luckily Toni wasn’t with you because she had to go to Art and you wouldn’t see her until lunch. You sat at your desk in every class barely paying attention and only doing what you had to. You had one class left before lunch but you hoped it would go forever because you didn’t want to go near that room knowing full well everyone would ask why you weren't eating. During your whole lecture looking in the reflection of your phone thinking how you just wish you could see the bones in your cheeks a little more. You looked around seeing the girl who sat beside you and how beautiful she was. Her eyes bright, her chiseled jawline, the stomach that couldn’t be seen, and even her legs that looked as if she ran miles a day. You got knocked out of the thoughts racing in your mind when Jughead tapped your shoulder.

“Y/N you good”

“Yeah why, wait why are you in here?”

“Because class ended 10 minutes ago we were waiting for you but you never showed up so I came looking”

“Oh”

“You okay?”

“Yeah just had some work to catch up on”

“Y/N”

“What?”

“You were staring into space”

“Zoned out”

“Your book isn’t even open”

“What the fuck is this Jones 20 questions, now let’s go to lunch” You got up rushing out of the room him following behind. You walked into the cafeteria sitting down next to Sweet Pea the smells flooded your nose. You were hungry but just a few more days and you would eat it would be fine. Toni looked to you.

“Not eating Y/N?”

“Uh no, not hungry”

“What did you eat last night”

“Uh nothing”

“Oh well then you must be hungry”

“Not really, I gotta read part of this book I’ll talk to you guys later” You stood up too fast the blood rushing to your head making you sit back down. Sweet Pea grabbed you as you almost fell over. “You okay? Y/N you should really eat.”

“Why does everyone keep asking me that!” You stormed out heading to your last class of the day. Get through this you thought, tonight is the night and after you’ll be fine. Your teacher made you work in pairs, and you, of course, you had to get paired with the one person you wish you didn’t. Jessica, she was beautiful skinny, a strong jawline, and everything you weren’t. You ran out of class going home you couldn’t handle it.

You drove to your trailer walking inside and were instantly hit with the smell of Pops. You walked to your kitchen table seeing a note: You got the dance tonight, and you ran out of lunch figured you wouldn’t have time to grab anything enjoy - Love, T. You looked at the bag and then into the mirror, you were so close you couldn’t eat and ruin yourself, not now not after all the hard work you did. You threw the Pops into the fridge and walked into the back taking a shower and getting ready.

At the Wyrm

You walked in seeing your group of friends sitting by the bar.

“Hey guys”

“Hey”

“How's work tonight T”

“Decent haha did you get my note”

“Yeah thanks”

“You ready?”

“I think so, I just don’t wanna mess up I've been a part of this for so long I just want to me official”

“Don't worry Y/N you got this”

“Thanks Fangs”

“Y/N You got 20 mins till you go okay head to the back room and I’ll announce you”

“Okay, Thanks Jug” You walked to the back room and started doing some push-ups, figuring it could tone your muscles a little more before the show started. You had to stop after a few because your head started to feel fuzzy. . Just push through it you thought. Get through it and you would be fine it’s just stress. In the distance, you heard talking but you couldn’t focus on it right away until you heard it repeat; your name again, and again.

“Welcome to the stage for serpent initiation Y/N…Y/N?” You tried standing up but fell down slightly losing your balance but you had to push through. You got up standing again and walked onto the stage. Your song started. You began slowly stripping the outer layer of the clothes you wore and began the dance. You grabbed the pole swinging around it and swaying your hips to the beat. About a minute in everything went wrong. Your ears heard a constant ringing, the serpents in front of you blurring in and out, the room spinning. You tried shaking it off but it came back again and again, but it was no use as you were swinging around the pole your world went dark. The last thing you heard was the scream of your friends calling your name before you fell down to the floor.

Groups POV

Sweets watched as Y/N’s body dropped to the floor. He stood shocked, not knowing what to do until he heard Jugheads voice.

“Sweets, Fangs get her into the office now” Sweets walked over picking you up in his arms, not even needing the help of Fangs. “Sweets, you need help up the stairs?”

“No I got it Fangs” Sweets walked your body to the office and placed you on the couch. Toni came up. “Toni she’s…”

“Bones…”

“Toni I have picked Y/N up before she… she’s not Y/N. What happened?” Jughead walked in then. “Guys, what is going on?” Everyone was about to start explaining when Fangs started talking. “Guys, it was right in front of us”

“What was?”

“She's sick”

“What the dizziness?”

“No, well yes but just her… I think she’s starving herself Toni and Jug kept trying to wake her up while Fangs was talking. “Guys when is the last time she ate with any of you I mean she told me she went out with Cheryl the other day to Pops but”

“Fang she didn’t go to pops with Cheryl I was with Cheryl at her house all week”

“Okay well what about the other week when she picked up pops to go”

“Betty was working she usually tells me when she sees you guys there, and she hasn’t said anything to me”

“I should have fucking saw it, I should have fucking known” sweet pea chimed in

“Sweet Pea this isn't your fault”

“Well it isn’t hers she's sick and we, I should have noticed”

“This is on all of us, and we’re going to help her”

“Guys I think she’s waking up” The whole group stood next to you at that point as you sat up holding your head”

Y/N POV

The darkness started to dissipate as you felt a pounding in your head, the light began to pour in.

“What…”

“OMG Y/N you're awake” you felt everyone around you, Fangs holding your hand, Toni kneeling next to your head, Jughead sitting at your feet, and Sweet Pea sitting on the couch end.

“What… Happened?”

“You fainted”

“Oh god! My dance I didn’t finish… I’m not gonna be a Serpent” Sweet Pea yelled while standing up and throwing the knife he was playing with across the room.

“Fuck the stupid dance Y/N do you see yourself, please… please fucking tell us what is going on”

“What are you…”

“Don’t play stupid” Toni stood up walking to the corner of the room bringing the mirror over.

“Look at yourself Y/N”

“I…” Fangs squeezed your hand kissing it. “Y/N I, I know this is hard but look at yourself, you can’t say that you're not sick, and if you really don’t see what is wrong while looking in this mirror then…”

You forced yourself to look in the mirror. “I know it’s wrong but I kept telling myself one more day.”

“Y/N…” Fangs started

“Okay Fine! I get it okay! I shouldn’t have done it” Jug sat up from his position “What have you been doing, how long?”

“I don’t know how long a month maybe two. At first, I just wanted to shed some weight and I … I kept seeing girls looking so much better than me. Then, I scheduled my dance. I don’t look like any of the girls that dance. I wanted to look perfect I told myself I’ll drop some and then I’ll stop, but then I did...I dropped a little weight, but then I kept going and going and I haven't stopped. I wanted to look great. I wanted to keep going”

“Y/N you don’t look great but not because your too big, your underweight. Babe while you were doing your dance I swear I could see your bones, what have you eaten this week?”

“I, I don’t know an apple, banana, and some nuts maybe I try not to eat anything.”

“The entire week?”

“I…” Fangs stood up helping you stand up with him “Y/N look me in my eyes… do you want help? Do you want to get better?”

“I just don’t want to feel like this anymore”

“Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

“I've always dealt with things on my own I’m so used to it”

“You don’t need to be used to it you have all of us, you have had all of us we are here for you, we are going to get you through this okay?”

“O, okay”

“I know this is going to be hard, but we are going to start small. Jug can you go behind the bar to the fridge and grab the fruit I have in there” Jughead left the room. “You're going to eat the fruit, as slow as you have to but you are going to finish it or at least try your hardest to no lying. If the thoughts are coming you talk to one of us and we will talk it out. You are going to eat with us for every meal. I don’t want it to feel like we are harping over you, but I can not lose you… You are my best friend and I know how hard this is my cousin went through the same thing. I, we are all going to help you get through this”

Jughead came back up with the fruit and handed it to you.You started eating it slowly your stomach growling. You felt the hunger rise inside of you. You stopped, and they looked at you.

“Y/N you have to eat I”

“I know Toni... it’s hard”

“just eat some more it will get easier I promise” They all started having a normal conversation like you would always have. You were happy they were not focusing on you eating but instead making eating comfortable again.

“Jug…”

“Yeah Y/N?”

“Do, do I have to do the dance again? Did I fail?”

“Here,” he handed the jacket to you that you had waited your whole life for. “You're a serpent you always have been you have always been a part of this family, but now you can stop complaining about not being official”

“Let’s get you home”

“Fangs can you drive me”

“of course” you got downstairs and into the truck waiting for Fangs to come. The thoughts came back about all the calories you just ate, but they soon went away”

“You’re thinking about it aren’t you”

“About what?”

“You know what, and I know what. Your thinking about all the calories that fruit had aren't you” you looked down at your hands. “Look I know how hard this is going to be to get through this, but you have all of us and you have me, you are not losing me and I sure as hell am not going to lose you” the drive seemed short but as you were waiting to pull into your lot fangs passed it driving to his and pulling in.

“why are we?”

“Because I told you I am not letting you do this alone, home is here with me or with Toni or sweet pea or Jughead, home is not your trailer alone”

“thank you”

“hey I don’t need you to thank me your like my sister I would do anything for you, and you can stay here as long as you want”

The next few months were a rollercoaster, you stayed with Fangs knowing that you wouldn’t be able to conquer this alone. You wanted to get better, but you had your hard days. You had your days where you would show up to the Wyrm on an empty stomach, but after the first few times everyone had come up with a code word for a bad day. Those bad days whether at someone's trailer or the bar they would grab something small to eat and a water and would sit and talk with you while you ate something. There were also days when you didn’t say anything breaking down the next day feeling like you had lied and betrayed them. Finally after you were comfortable enough Fangs had you talk to his cousin who went through something similar and relating to someone really helped.

Eventually you had started eating bigger meals with the group, and eating became something fun like it used to be. Throwing fries at each other from across tables or stealing drinks of shakes just like before. This was what you needed. This was how you got your life back together. You now wore your serpent jacket knowing that these people had your back, you were no longer alone. You had your true family. You had your life back.

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madamebaggio · 5 years

Photo

Notes: Okay, I am late. Sorry! It was supposed to be here on Friday, but then there was a karaoke thingy and a cousin from Australia, and well... Anyway. I hope you guys enjoy it.

This is my first fanfic with this ship, so I’m still trying to get a grasp of them. Without further ado...

Let’s give’em somethin’ to talk about

Matt hadn’t noticed the looks his “teammates” were giving him -logically -but he’d heard the snickers and the urgent whispers that Danny just couldn’t hold in.

“They think we have something.” He realized after a few times it had happened.

Jessica, sitting beside him on the couch, snorted. “Took you long enough to figure it out, Sherlock. Didn’t you notice how Danny keeps looking at us?” She teased.

She was such an asshole sometimes… Matt couldn’t contain a smile. “I think I missed that. How he’s looking at us?”

“Like we’re a basket full of kittens.” She spoke with disgust.

Matt snorted. “Maybe he’s the only one.” He indicated.

“Trust me, Murdock, he isn’t.” She informed him.

“How do you know?” Matt pressed, just to annoy her. Jessica was very observant; if she thought they all had the same impression, she was likely right.

However, Matt liked to poke at the beast every once in a while.

“Luke actually came up to me and said it was nice that we were ‘hanging out’.” By her tone it wouldn’t take a genius to understand that Luke didn’t have the friendly type of ‘hang out’ in his mind.

The thing was… They had been hanging out a lot lately. It started small: Matt referred a client to Jessica one day, then she referred one to him… They started sending people each other’s way, cases they knew the other would take. Then they started having drinks together…

Matt enjoyed spending time with Jessica; she was direct and never treated him with kid gloves. And she had an unpredictable mouth that never failed to amuse him.

But they weren’t together in any way.

“What did you tell him?” Matt asked, more out of curiosity than actual concern.

He might not see but he could practically feel the glare Jessica sent his way. “That we aren’t together. But he just gave me this annoying knowing smirk.” She growled low. “Almost punched him for it.”

Matt chuckled. “So we’re secretly together now?” He teased.

She snorted yet again. “They probably think we're holding back in front of them, but once we're alone all bets are off. You know, clothes tearing, me picking you up…”

“Wait.” He cut the very vivid picture she was painting. “Why are you the one picking me up?” He wanted to know.

He was almost sure she was somewhat smiling now. “Because I'm stronger and I definitely wear the pants on this relationship, Murdock.”

That startled a laughter out of Matt. “In your dreams, Jones.”

“They’re flirting!”

Danny’s voice, coming from the other room, in what Matt imagined was Danny’s version of a whisper, snapped him out of the conversation.

“You’re making that weird face you make when you’re listening to something.” Jessica spoke up.

“I make a face?” He asked.

“Yeah, tilt your head and whatever. What’s up?” She demanded impatient.

“Danny thinks we’re flirting.” He told her.

Jessica huffed. “For fuck’s sake.”

But Matt could understand why it’d look like flirting from the outside. They were sitting quite close, but it was because it was a small couch. And they were facing each other, but it was only because they were talking…

“Don’t worry, Jones. They’ll forget about it eventually. If we try to deny it, it’ll only get worse.” He shrugged.

“That’s your professional advice, counselor? ‘Cause it sucks.” She told him dryly.

Matt just chuckled again.

XxX

Foggy was doing very well on Hogarth, Chao and Benowitz. He wasn’t going to lie: he liked the status and the high-profile cases, and there were some pretty sweet benefits too. However, Foggy had wanted to save the world once.

Logically not like Matt and his new buddies -Foggy didn’t think he’d look good in spandex -but he believed in helping people, and he still believed in the Law, despite a lot of bullshit he’d seen in the last years.

Matt was still out there, doing double shifts trying to save Hell’s Kitchen. Foggy wouldn’t ever be able to say he supported this, but he came to accept it as a part of Matt that wasn’t going away. He was just happy to have his friend back.

They were working together some pro-bono cases. The firm kept Foggy busy as hell, and Matt had his two ‘jobs’ as well, but they still exchanged cases and ran them together.

And it was on a beautiful sunny Sunday, that Foggy made his way to Matt’s to give him some documents on a new case. Foggy knew now that Matt could hear, smell him or something weird of the type even before he was on his floor, so he just used his key and entered Matt’s apartment.

“Matt.” Foggy called as he entered the loft.

“What the hell are you doing here, Nelson?”

Foggy froze, door halfway closed. Was that… “Jessica Jones?” He called uncertain.

He could hear her eyes rolling from the hallway. “Don’t move. I’m not wearing pants.” Her voice had a very serious warning tone to it.

He cleared his throat. “Sure…” Awkward pause. “Is Matt…”

“He’s in the shower.” Jessica informed him.

Oh… Oh! Oh Lord! Karen thought Matt and Jessica were a thing now, but he hadn’t believed her, but… Oh man.

Jessica finally appeared on the hallway, now wearing pants. “What do you want, Nelson?” She demanded.

“I just came to talk to Matt!” He put his hands up in surrender. Jessica scared him quite a bit.

She snorted and went back to the kitchen, he guessed.

Foggy was considering running, when he heard Matt’s voice. “Foggy?”

“Yes.” It came out a bit strangled, but come on!

“One minute.” His friend called back.

He finally got moving and walked to the living room. Jessica was sitting and having toast like she didn’t have a care in the world.

Matt finally came out of his room, wearing sweatpants and a shirt. “Hey, Foggy.” He smiled at his friend. “You brought those documents?”

Foggy cleared his throat. “Yes, they’re here.” He offered them to Matt.

But his friend didn’t pick them up; he inclined his head to the right. “Is something wrong?”

“Absolutely not.” He pushed the paper on Matt’s hand. “But I’m late to meet Marci, so…”

He cut all Matt’s protests and just scampered out of there.

He needed to call Karen.

XxX

“Shit.” Matt groaned.

“Murdock, what is that?” Jessica asked dramatically. “Is that how an altar-boy should be speaking?”

“Shut up, Jones.” He threw at her. “He thinks…”

“That we slept together?” She supplied. She took a bite of her toast, then continued with her mouth full. “You have to admit the evidence is quite damning.”

Matt almost groaned out aloud. It was. He’d heard from the bathroom Jessica telling Foggy she wasn’t wearing any pants.

She’d actually stopped by the night before to discuss a client he’d recommended to her. She also had a client she was referring to him -again -and before he noticed they were drinking and talking and asking for takeout.

Eventually he told her it was too late for her to go home, despite the fact he knew she was more than capable of taking care of herself.

She decided to stay, but plain refused to sleep on his bed. She’d crashed on the couch, and that was it. She’d just woken up before him and got toast. Matt decided to shower because he was smelling like bourbon.

Absolutely nothing happened, but now Foggy…

“You know that this isn’t going to help us convince the others we aren’t together.” He indicated.

“Hey, you’re the one who told me to wait it out.” She reminded him. “I’m just following your professional advice.”

Matt gave her his most unimpressed frown.

XxX

When Foggy called Karen to tell her what he’d seen, she almost squealed.

She’d become close friends with Trish Walker after all that mess in Midland Circle, and they talked a lot about Matt and Jess. Eventually, the conversation turned to how much time the two spent together. Recently they started speculating if they were really together, and how nice it would be if they were.

And now they might be!

Foggy was absolutely sure something had happened between them, but Karen -as a good reporter -demanded more evidence. Logically, she couldn’t go up to Matt and just ask him. She knew him well enough to know he’d clam up pretty fast if she made such an invasive question.

But she would find a way to figure it out.

It turned out, she found her answer without looking for it.

She called Matt Wednesday night to invite him for dinner the next night.

“Hey, Karen.”

She couldn’t contain her smile. “Hey, Matt. How are you?”

“Not bad. How about yourself?”

“I’m fine. I was wondering if you’re free tomorrow night to have dinner with Foggy and me?”

“Yes, it’s been a while since the three of us met.”

She chuckled. “It’s because you’re always with your new, cooler friends now.”

“Nah. You guys are still my favorites.”

“Matt, baby, come back to bed.”

OMG! Wasn’t that Jessica’s voice?

“What the hell, Jessica?” She heard Matt throwing back.

IT WAS HER!

“What? The bed is cold.”

She heard Matt sighing. “Karen, can I call you later?”

“Yes, of course!” She was quick to agree.

She had to call Trish!

XxX

Matt could feel satisfaction rolling out of Jessica in waves. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Well, Nelson probably told her what he thinks he saw. That’s just something to keep her intrigued.” She shrugged, completely unapologetic.

Matt wasn’t amused at all. “Come back to bed?” He repeated dryly.

She snickered. “It felt like the thing to say.”

Considering they were in her office, he wanted to disagree, but then… “Right thing to say, hm?” He hummed. “Been thinking about me in your bed a lot, Jones?”

That gave her pause, and -for a minute -Matt was worried he’d overstepped. Jessica had triggers he didn’t know yet, and maybe…

“You’re the one who can read my heartbeat, pheromones and aura, Murdock.” She finally threw at him. “You tell me.”

Ok… He wasn’t expecting that answer, but he actually liked it. He liked that Jess could sass him back and wasn’t afraid of doing so.

He made a show of sniffing the air -just to weird her out -then tilt his head to the side, like she’d said he did when he was ‘sensing’ something. “I sense you want me bad.”

Jessica snorted and threw a beer can at him. He grabbed it easily, chuckling.

“You’re ridiculous, Murdock.” She declared.

Yes, but now he had to pay her back in kind.

XxX

Matt wanted to tease Jessica as hard as she’d teased him. However, he had a thing to take into consideration: her personal bubble.

If he was pulling something like that with Foggy or Karen, he’d just lean in and drop a kiss to their forehead or cheek without batting an eyelash. But he couldn’t do that to Jessica; she’d had enough of someone not respecting her body and her will, Matt wouldn’t be another one.

So he kind of wished he could drop a kiss to her temple -get close enough to smell her shampoo -but he wouldn’t. He also wouldn’t analyze why he wanted to do it.

Matt waited for the perfect moment to pay Jessica back for the ‘come back to bed’ comment. Foggy and Karen had gotten impossible after it. He let her believe he’d let it go and waited the right time.

A meeting between the “team”.

(Danny wanted them to have a name, like the Avengers did, but Jessica had said she’d never look at them again if they named themselves.)

He purposely arrived a bit later than everybody else, just to be sure they would all be there to see it. He said ‘hello’ to Claire and Coleen who were closer to the entrance, and tried to locate Jessica. It wasn’t hard, she had a specific spot at the dojo, where they always met. It was the same couch he always sat beside her, and it was exactly where she was then.

And she didn’t have a drink yet.

Perfect.

Matt walked to the kitchenette, where Luke and Danny were debating over pizza or Chinese -again. He talked to them for a few minutes, before grabbing two beers from the fridge and making his way to Jess.

He was acutely aware that the others were avidly watching him to see what he was going to do. Even though he always sat with Jessica, he’d never brought her a drink before. Mostly because she normally drank from her own flask, and only went for beer once it was dry.

“Hey, Jess.” He greeted casually, sitting beside her.

He could feel her looking at him. “Murdock.” Funny how one word could come out with so much mistrust in it.

He grinned at her. “Beer?” He offered innocently, waving the bottle gently.

“Sure.” She drawled.

When she grabbed the bottle, he didn’t let go, he held onto it a bit longer. He wasn’t about to start a tug of war with Jessica -he was pretty sure how it’d end for him -but he just pulled a bit towards himself and felt her tightening her hold.

And to finish it… He leaned into her space, just a bit. “Jess…” His breath fanned her ear, making the lose strands of her hair tremble.

He heard her heart speeding up, and something inside him responded to it, but he pressed forward, after licking his lips. “We’re even.” He informed her, pulling back with a smirk.

He could try to gauge how the others were reacting to the little show, but -to be quite honest -he only cared about one reaction.

“Oh Murdock, you’re on.”

And she never disappointed.

XxX

Jessica didn’t like a lot of people. The number of people she loved was very limited -Trish and Malcom -and there were some she tolerated -Danny was definitely on that list – and some she liked.

She liked Luke. In the beginning it was difficult to look at him and think of all that went wrong there. And she wasn’t going to lie: it’d been hard watching him with Claire. However, Luke was a nice person and Claire was extraordinary; it was hard not liking them. She even liked Coleen, and the girl deserved a medal for willingly putting up with Danny.

And then, there was Matt.

Yeah, she liked him. Not like that, because she was a long way from sixth grade. However… Despite the fact he was a major asshole with a martyr complex that would eventually get him killed -if she didn’t punch him before -he was cool.

In a platonic way.

He was intelligent without being condescending, and good without being sanctimonious. He was also a little shit when he wanted to, like in the last meeting.

She was so paying him back for that one.

Jessica was making her way back to her place after meeting with a client -another cheating spouse -when she saw the man himself across the street. Hell’s Kitchen wasn’t that big and it wasn’t that unlikely to run into someone, but the fact that he’d appeared in her way just as she was thinking of him, gave Jessica pause.

She considered ignoring him and just going back to her place, but… When she realized she was already making her way to Matt.

“Murdock.” She called as she came closer.

“Jones.” He replied in the same tone, his mouth already pulling in that stupid grin of his. He had a paper bag on one hand, his cane on the other.

“You’re thinking you’re really cute, aren’t you?” She threw at him.

“You know, Jones… What I think is that you’ve been thinking about me a lot. In your bed, that I’m cute…”

She snorted. “What I think is that you’re an asshole.”

“So you can make Karen think we’re doing something, but I can’t?”

“You can do whatever you want, if you can take the consequences.” She informed him.

“Careful with all the flirting, Jones. I’m an impressionable catholic man.”

Jessica pressed her lips together to avoid smiling. She wasn’t a hundred percent sure he could detect that, and she wasn’t about to give him ammunition.

“You’re a pain in my…”

“Matthew!”

Jessica turned to the voice to see an elderly lady coming in their direction. She looked like she was 200 years old, but Jessica decided that might be an exaggeration. She was the exact image of those grandmas they showed in movies, with her cardigan and skirt. Her face was totally wrinkled, her lipstick was bright pink and she walked somewhat hunched, but she didn’t have a cane.

“Mrs. Creagan.” Matt smiled in her general direction. “How are you today?”

“Fine.” She patted him on the shoulder and Matt obediently lowered himself to get kissed on the cheek. “And you? Found a girl yet?”

Matt chuckled. “Are you offering, Mrs. Creagan?” He teased.

“Oh you.” She hit his shoulder, then finally seemed to notice Jessica standing there. “Hello. I don’t know you.”

Jessica cleared her throat. “Jessica Jones.” She offered.

Mrs. Creagan seemed to measure her up for a minute, before giving her a firm nod. “She’ll do. Marry her fast, Matthew, before she realizes she can do better.”

Jessica was looking in shock at the woman, but Matt spluttered a laughter. “And here I thought you liked me, Mrs. Creagan.” He spoke amidst chuckles.

“I would like you more if you settled down.” She told him imperiously.

The woman gave him another firm warning to marry soon, told Jessica to make him behave, before finally leaving.

“Sorry about that.” Matt spoke, a big smile on his face. “She’s a client. I helped her when her landlord tried to kick her out of her apartment.”

“A real charmer.” Jessica chose to say. Then she looked at Matt’s face and grinned. “You have lipstick on your cheek.”

He groaned. “It happens every time.” He admitted.

He was about to pass his bag to the other hand to clean it, when Jessica stopped him. “Wait, or you’ll make it worse.”

Matt paused and waited. Jessica didn’t think much about that, she just lifted her hand to clean it. She passed her thumb over his cheekbone, feeling skin and bone under her digit. In the first sweep she managed to get most of it, but not all.

She cleared her throat. “Wait a second.” She told him, wiping her thumb on her jeans, before going back to his face.

For some reason she’d taken a step forward and so had Matt. She didn’t have to stretch her arm that far this time when she raised her hand. As she ran her thumb over his cheekbone once again, she could swear his breathing shortened. And she felt like she should do something, though she kind of wanted to run far from there, because this…

“Matt?”

“Jess?”

Oh fuck.

There were Trish and Karen, coming from God knows where, both women looking perplexed as they stared at Matt and Jess standing there.

That was when Jessica realized her hand was still in Matt’s face.

Shit.

This story was never going to end.

XxX

Jessica hadn’t planned on any of this, seriously.

Yes, after the whole Karen and Trish thing, she had wanted to annoy Matt a bit -especially because he hadn’t opened his mouth the whole time, letting her explain what they were doing -but not to this extreme.

Besides, she hadn’t planned on Matt getting shot. He was an idiot.

They had gone out as a team -seriously, Danny, they were not going to call themselves Defenders, for fuck’s sake -to take down a group of arms dealers.

And everything was going fine, until Matt -that fucking asshole -decided to get shot.

Fine! Maybe he hadn’t decided to get shot, but he sure as hell hadn’t been careful enough, and Jessica knew he could take better care of himself.

It was just a graze -fortunately -but Claire insisted on checking it. Luke was somewhere talking to Misty on the phone, and Coleen had all but dragged Danny to eat something. That left Jessica with nothing to do as Claire patched Matt up.

Technically she could just go home -the events of the night already ended -but… It was a good opportunity.

Claire didn’t know her all that well, just like Karen didn’t. She’d never have been able to pull that “come back to bed, baby” bullshit with Trish, because Trish knew she wouldn’t go around calling anyone “baby”, much less Matt Murdock. She guessed that Luke wouldn’t buy it either, but Claire…

She might not believe the whole “baby” thing, but she’d probably bite something else.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but you’re actually taking better care of yourself, Matt.” Claire was saying as she finished wrapping the wound. “I mean, you got shot, but it’s still better than before. At least you’re accepting help.”

“Luke told me he’d carry me here if I didn’t come on my own.” Matt told her dryly.

Claire chuckled. “It still counts. All done.” She declared.

It was her moment to shine, Jessica decided.

She took a deep breath, before moving and saw Matt tilting his head to the side. The asshole was probably feeling in the air she was up to something.

She walked up behind him and put her hands on his shoulders and squeezed gently. Claire’s eyebrows shot up almost to her hairline.

“Does that mean he’s free to go home?” Jessica asked Claire, her voice beyond casual.

Claire was looking very unimpressed. “You’re taking him home?” She asked.

“Yeah, sure.” Jessica shrugged, then ran her fingers across Matt’s nape.

His whole body shuddered. Both Claire and Jessica looked at him, but he just cleared his throat and didn’t comment.

“You know what?” Claire decided, standing up and removing her gloves. “I don’t want to know. He’s free. Bye.”

She basically bolted.

“Seriously, Jessica?” Matt sighed.

“What?” For some weird reason, his shudder had disconcerted her, and her reaction was downright bizarre: she messed his hair, like he was ten.

Matt slapped her hand away without any heat. “She didn’t buy it for a second.” He informed Jessica.

“I don’t care if she did.” Jessica told him. “I got to embarrass you. And…” She drawled. “I found your weak spot.”

Matt snorted. “No, you didn’t.”

She casually ran her fingers across his nape again.

“Jessica!”

“Weak spot, Lucifer.”

XxX

Matt was a mature adult.

He should not be doing this.

He was better than this.

He was a lawyer! He wasn’t a frat boy.

This was all Jessica’s fault.

He wasn’t going to lie: she’d caught him with the physical contact. And not only the one she initiated in front of Claire, the other one too.

He hadn’t expected her to touch his face the way she’d done that day on the street, in plain daylight, without anyone around them to impress. And he was aware that Trish and Karen had seen it, but he knew she hadn’t done it for their benefit; she’d been as surprised as him by their appearance. (In an unrelated note, he couldn’t believe he’d been so distracted by Jessica he hadn’t noticed their approach! It was Karen! He normally could pick her up from much farther).

But with the Claire thing… Yeah, Jessica had indeed found his weak spot.

And damn it! It had pushed his buttons. She pushed his buttons. All the time.

This was getting strange, mostly because he wasn’t sure what to think. He liked Jessica, he just didn’t know exactly how. Before all this started, he thought it was just friendly. The same way he liked Luke or Danny. Now he wasn’t so sure.

Was he attracted to her? He could be honest and say he was. She was a vibrant woman; so much life and power, but also such kindness behind all of that. She was a good person, even if she would punch him for saying so. Yes, she was a mess, and she had a list of problems as long as his -perhaps longer.

All of that just made her an even more remarkable person, and Matt had no problem admitting that. Exactly because of it, he was attracted to her. It wasn’t just because of her voice -he thought it sounded sexy -or her smell -her shampoo was coconut, but she always smelled like whisky and leather and it kind of worked for him too -or because she was so damn smart-mouthed. It was a mix of everything she was, and everything she faced, and how she came out still a good person.

Matt might be a goner. He wasn’t so sure how he felt about it or how to proceed at this point. He was pretty sure he couldn’t just go to her and ask for a date. It sounded way too easy and he had an impression that “easy” didn’t work for Jessica.

Besides… He still owed her for that last stunt, and he really wanted to repay it.

Fortunately, the opportunity came to him in the shape of Malcom.

He went to her office with somewhat pure intentions (that’s to say he didn’t go there with the intention of teasing her, but open to the possibility).

He heard Malcom’s voice from the hallway, discussing the theft of a Pomeranian with Jess.

Matt had met Malcom before, since he’d visited Jess’ office previously. He thought the young man was a good friend to Jess, even if she liked to pretend she couldn’t care less about him. However, Matt knew she was highly protective of Malcom, because he’d heard her threatening a client who’d treated the boy badly.

So Malcom was about to be treated to a show.

Poor guy.

Matt gave a perfunctory knock on her door, before entering her space. “Jess?”

“Hey, Murdock.”

Matt waved in her direction, then turned to Malcom and offered his hand. “Hello, Malcom.”

The other man shook his hand. “Hi, counselor.”

Matt gave him a smile, before showing Jessica the bag he had in hand. “I brought you some food, ‘cause I’m pretty sure you haven’t eaten yet.”

“Right…” She drawled, clearly starting to get suspicious of his solicitude.

Smart woman.

He went around the table, walking right up to her, and stopping quite close. He could sense that Jessica was tense, but it wasn’t in panic; she was expecting his move.

He put the bag on her table, then leaned in a bit -not too much so she’d feel caged, but enough to be in her space.

“Murdock…” There was a warning in her voice, but still no panic.

Good. He wasn’t doing this to scare her, and now she clearly knew he was up to something.

He gave her his most charming smile. “What? No kiss?”

The silence that followed was deafening, but it was a thing of beauty.

“What?” She spluttered.

“Malcom won’t mind.” He continued.

“I…” Malcom started, then stopped and Matt decided Jessica was glaring at the boy.

“I swear to God, Murdock…”

“Jessica.” He tsked her. “Don’t take the Lord’s name in vain.”

That was about the last thing he managed to say with a straight face.

“You asshole!” Jessica punched his shoulder.

“Ouch.” He knew she hadn’t used a third of her strength, but it was still quite a punch.

“And I’m out.” Malcom smartly decided.

“Hey, where are you going?” Jessica called, clearly not happy to be left alone with Matt in the moment.

“I’m suffocating with all this sexual tension.” Malcom told her, throwing his hands up. “I’ll leave you two to it.”

The door closed behind him, leaving Matt and Jess in a very awkward situation.

“There’s no…”

“Shut up, Murdock.” She snapped without real heat. “You’re on my blacklist now.”

He gave her a beatific smile, just because. “There’s nowhere I rather be.”

She punched his shoulder again.

XxX

This had gone far enough; Jessica was going to put an end to it.

To the crazy beating of her heart. To the giddy feeling in the pit of her stomach. The desire she had to smile back every time that fucker grinned that stupid grin of his.

This was getting out of control and she was feeling vulnerable.

Jessica hated feeling like this.

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him; she did, and it actually made it worse. Matt was one of the last decent men on the whole planet. He’d never purposely do something to upset her, he’d be nice when he said “no, thank you”.

And she was positive it was what he’d say. He might have fun teasing her -he was such a smartass -but that’s what it was. Friendly teasing.

She did not feel bitter about it.

He deserved much better than a screw up like her, who always ruined her relationships. Only God knew why Trish and Malcom had stuck around.

She worried she’d get too involved and mess things up. Or that he’d somehow notice it and very politely tell her he wasn’t interested.

She did not want to have this conversation with him.

Her feet carried her to his place automatically; it was ridiculous how used she was to this path. It looked like in no time at all she was by his front door.

The asshole opened it before she could even knock. “Hey, Jess.” He smiled at her.

How could she want to kiss and punch someone at the same time?

“We need to talk, Murdock.” She declared, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

He frowned. “Is something wrong? Come on in.”

As he gave her space to enter his apartment, Jessica hesitated. She kind of wanted to say things and leave so she could get properly drunk.

Matt’s frown deepened in face of her hesitance. “Jess?”

Why did he have to make that face? She might be a bitch, but she wasn’t that much of one.

She huffed, but entered. The door closing behind her made her nervous, but not panicked in a way she’d have to start muttering street names.

It hadn’t felt this complicated with Luke -and fuck, that had been complicated.

“Jess, I’m getting worried here. What’s wrong?”

She took a deep breath. “Game over, Murdock. No more of that bullshit.”

Matt seemed caught out of guard for a second. “Well… Of course. If you can’t take the heat…” He teased lightly.

Jessica snorted. “From you, Satan?”

“Just saying, Jones…” He shrugged. “Maybe my charms are proving too hard to resist.”

Jessica put as much nonchalance as she could in her voice. “Yeah, right.”

Matt leaned his head to the right.

Oh fuck.

She cleared her throat. “Anyway, I stopped by to say that, and…”

“Jess.” He called serious. “Wait.”

Her heart went into overdrive at the same time heat spread across her body. This was his serious voice, the one he used when he meant business.

Matt walked up to her, stopping a few steps away. “I’ll tell you something, and you can tell me if it’s crossing a line. Ok?”

She just nodded.

“I want to kiss you.” He told her. “For real. Not because I want to tease you -even though I like that too.”

Jessica was frozen in shock.

“I want to kiss that smart mouth of yours.” Matt pressed gently. “I thought a lot about it.”

“You want to kiss me?” She repeated, still somewhat befuddled.

“And take you out. On a date.” He added. “I’d like to take you out for dinner, but I’d be okay with drinks too.”

“Date? You and me?” She asked, just to check.

Matt chuckled. “Yes, us.”

Jessica narrowed her eyes. “Are you pulling one on me?”

“No. Can I take your hand?” He waited until she offered it. “Here.” He put her hand over his heart. “What do you feel?”

Steady strong beats. He wasn’t nervous, he was sure about his. He wasn’t lying.

“So…” Jessica drawled. “Bottom line is: you want me. Bad.”

Matt snorted. “In very simple terms… yes. But the question is… Do you want me too?”

He raised his hand carefully, catching the zipper of her jacket between his fingers.

It was a ridiculous question. He probably could tell by her body’s pheromones or something like that. Her heart was beating a crazy tattoo inside her chest: he had to be able to hear that.

But he was still asking, because he wanted the choice to be hers. He wanted her to be sure.

And Jessica was still pretty sure this was going to go wrong -probably because of her- but fuck it all! She wanted to this and she wanted him so much it was scary, but what if…

What if this could work?

She sighed dramatically, like she couldn’t care less. “I guess you’ll do.”

He opened that devilish grin of his. “Oh, I will.” It was a promise.

Matt put his hands on Jessica’s waist and pulled her closer. “I’m going to kiss you now.”

Jessica put her arms around his neck. “I’m waiting, counselor.”

She could feel his smile pressed against her lips. His were chapped, but it still thrilled her.

Their first kiss was undeniably soft, just a press of lips. She got dizzy on his smell, on the feel of his stubble against her delicate skin.

He pulled her flush against him, and Jessica licked his lower lip.

What had she said before about all bets being off?

Matt’s hands grabbed her ass and pulled her up. “Shit!” Jessica cursed, startled by the move. The idiot just chuckled as he carried her the few steps to his table and settled her on top of it.

“I thought I’d be the one picking you up, Murdock.” She teased.

“Next time.” He promised before kissing her again, and this time…

This time he sank his hands on her hair and kissed her like he couldn’t get enough of her. He pressed their lips together, teased her mouth open with his tongue, and then he just…

He took her breath away and Jessica tried to hold on for dear life, pulling him tighter against her body, cradling him between her legs.

Matt pressed a longer kiss to her lips and pulled back minimally. “The jacket and the gloves need to go.” He informed her.

Jessica snorted. “The same goes for the tie, smart-ass.”

“Race you.” He told her with that stupid grin.

Jessica just snorted again as she took off her own jacket. By the time she’d let it drop to the floor, Matt had already flung his tie far away and had to wait for her to get rid of the gloves.

His hands went back to her waist, playing with the hem of her tank top. “Can I?”

And the fact that he was asking, even though it was quite obvious she wanted it, made her like him a little bit more than she already did.

“I think I said ‘clothes tearing’.” It was the only warning she gave him before grabbing his shirt and pulling it open, making buttons fly in every direction.

That startled a laugh out of him. “You’re on, Jones.”

She was pretty sure she heard something ripping for real when he pulled her tank top off, but she didn’t care, because a bit after he popped the buttons of her jeans open, slid his hand inside it and then…

She lost any connection with the real world.

XxX

“You ask them.”

“Why me?”

“Because you’re the one who’s curious.”

“But what if she punches me?”

Luke had to hold in his laughter, and Coleen didn’t look impressed

“You’re the Immortal Iron Fist.” Claire indicated reasonably. “You can do this.”

Danny sighed. “Fine. I’ll ask.”

The others -Luke, Coleen and Claire -watched from their place, as Danny approached Matt and Jessica. They were sitting on the same couch as always, but there was something different.

They were sitting closer. Jessica was drinking just beer. Matt was laughing and she was smiling.

“Hey, guys.”

Both turned to Danny. “Pulled the shorter straw, Randy?” Jessica drawled.

Oh yeah… Matt could probably hear them…

“So… Are you guys together or not?” Danny pressed forward, since they already knew what he wanted to know.

Matt wasn’t sure if he should answer that, or how he should say it.

But Jessica saved him. “We are. And it’s none of your business how, when and why.” She informed Danny.

Apparently, that was enough for Danny, because he was already celebrating and congratulating them.

Matt chuckled, then held Jessica’s hand, while Danny spoke a mile a minute, obviously ignoring Jessica’s previous comment.

She squeezed his hand back and Matt once again marveled at her, at them.

He would miss finding ways to tease Jess.

Unless… How much PDA would it take to make their friends sweat a bit?

Hum…

Notes: So... Feelings?

#madame baggio #fanfiction #darejones #jessica jones #matt murdock #matt murdock x jessica jones #mattjess #marvel's defenders #gifs not mine #something to talk about

216 notes · View notes

pennylanefics · 5 years

Text

“Why do you hate me?” - Ben Hardy | part 17

a/n: one more part left!! feedback is appreciated ❤️

Today is the day.

You were standing in front of the full-length mirror in the hotel room, where you and your bridal party were getting ready in. You were just in your lingerie, your hair and makeup already complete. The pure white garter hugged your thigh perfectly, the sparkling tiara sat atop your styled hair. You looked like a princess. Well, a princess in her under garments. Your dress rested perfectly beside the mirror, waiting for you to step into it and start the best day of your life.

Your bridesmaids, which consisted of your sister, Leila, Katherine, Lucy, Priya, Jessica, and your best friend since you were little, were all frantic, running around the room and the hotel, trying to make sure everything was perfect and ready. You, however, continued to stare into the mirror, wondering why you got so lucky with such an amazing boyfriend, and a group of close friends you love dearly. Everything felt too perfect. The last time things felt this way, you and Ben almost broke up.

“(Y/N)?” You were broken out of your daze by Leila, wondering what the hell you were doing.

“Are you okay?” You sighed and shrugged.

“What if everything goes wrong? What if Ben gets scared, or worse, what happens if our marriage doesn’t last?” Your voice dropped to a whisper, too scared to speak it into existence.

“You have nothing to worry about. Ben loves you so much, and there’s no doubt he isn’t having second thoughts.”

“But what if he is?!” You yelled out. You didn’t mean to sound so rude, you were just stressing out. A lot.

“I’ll go and talk to Ben, okay?” You nodded and thanked her, reaching for your robe that Ben’s mom got you specially made. It said “Mrs. Jones” on the back. You sat on the bed and fiddled with your fingers. You stared up at your dress this time, smiling softly at the fact that in an hour, you were going to be walking down the aisle in it.

Your thoughts were yet again interrupted, this time by a knock on your door. You stood and quickly ran to answer it. You saw Gwilym standing there, in his tux, ready for the ceremony to start.

“Hey Gwil, what’s up?” Your heart started to race as you thought of the different scenarios he was coming to talk to you about. Did Ben want to call off the wedding? Is something wrong?

“I just came to see how you’re doing,” he said. You shut the door and shook your head.

“I’m kinda freaking out. I’m scared Ben is gonna back out, or something is going to happen, or in the future, our marriage won’t last. I don’t know why I feel this way. I love Ben so much,” you poured your heart out to him.

“I actually came here because of Ben. He’s the same way you are right now, freaking out over how you feel about this, wanting to talk to you and see if you’re still on the same page.” You immediately felt relief knowing that nothing serious was wrong.

“Does he still want to marry me?” You asked in a hushed voice.

“He does. I promise you. The minute he woke up, he hasn’t been able to stop mentioning that he’s marrying you today.” You giggled softly at his annoyance of his friend.

“I can’t wait to marry him. He makes me so happy.”

“You make him happy, too. I haven’t seen him this happy in a while. I can guarantee you he’ll be there at the end of the aisle. Actually, he might already be there now,” Gwil poked fun at Ben’s impatience. You laughed loudly and pulled Gwilym into a huge hug.

“Thank you. I wonder how Leila is, she went to see Ben for me.”

“Yeah, I saw her getting off the elevator. She told me you were a mess, I told her Ben was a mess. You two are literally made for each other,” he chuckled, rubbing your back softly.

“Just get past this last hour, okay? And I promise everything with be okay.” You nodded at his words as he left. You went back to staring at your dress, a wide smile gracing your lips as you were no longer scared, but now restless and impatient to walk down the aisle.

Leila returned a couple minutes after Gwilym left, and she pretty much told you everything he told you; Ben was so excited to marry you.

So, in the last hour you had as an engaged woman, you were surrounded by your friends and family, the photographer you hired for the entire wedding continued to snap pictures of you chatting, and eventually starting to get ready.

You finally slipped into your dress, with the help of the others of course. Once it was perfectly fit, tears sprung to your eyes. Even though it was a little simple, you still looked amazing. And who needed a huge dress when you’re getting married in a castle?

The dress consisted of a lace top and sleeves, and the skirt was a simple tulle skirt. You immediately fell in love with it the moment you laid eyes on it, you knew it was the one.

“(Y/N), you look absolutely gorgeous!” Your mom said, covering her mouth as she stepped into the room. You turned to her, tears still falling, and wrapped your arms around her.

“Your father and the rest of the groomsmen left for the venue. They should be there in about fifteen minutes. So we can leave then.” You nodded at her words and turned back to your bridal party. They all brought you in for a hug, quietly congratulating you and crying with you. This has been a long time coming, and you couldn’t wait until Ben was finally, and hopefully for forever, yours.

“Alright! Time to get married!” Leila yelled loudly as she raised your hand up, celebrating the end of those fifteen minutes. You laughed and slipped your shoes on, delicately picked up your veil, and headed out of the hotel.

The nerves finally set in, this was it. This last stretch of time, and you would finally be walking down the aisle. The entire car ride consisted of the girls trying to get your mind off of your anxious thoughts. So, the driver put on some Queen, the only thing that made sense to play as you two literally met while on set for the Queen biopic.

The limo pulled up in front of the huge, fairy tale-like castle, and you started to shake slightly. Taking a deep breath, Leila helped you step out of the car and helped insert your veil into your hair. Once it was set, you started the small trek to the entrance, where the groomsmen and your father were waiting.

You reached the group and grabbed for your father’s arm. He smiled happily at you, and you could see the tears in his eyes. He rubbed your hand with his as you stood farther away while the groomsmen and bridesmaids took their places. Your aunt opened the door to the entrance and waved for Gwilym and Leila, the best man and maid of honor, to start walking. One by one, each pair disappeared inside.

Your younger cousin, the flower girl, and Ben’s young cousin, the ring bearer, were finally next. She got her basket ready and entered the threshold.

Here goes nothing.

“You ready?” You heard your dad ask from beside you. You grinned widely and nodded as your aunt opened the door for you. She smiled at you and stood to the side. You looked up to see everyone standing, staring at you in complete awe. Your heart was racing as you searched for the one pair of eyes that only mattered to you.

And once you found them, your heart sped up even more. His green eyes were wide with love and shock, glossed over with tears as he held his hand over his mouth.

He couldn’t believe you were to be his.

Tears fell down his cheeks as you stepped closer and closer to the altar. You saw his knees buckle slightly, Gwilym managing to grab his arms to steady him. You let out a light laugh as you saw that moment play out.

Once you were right in front of him, you stopped. Your dad leaned in to press a kiss to your cheek, and handed your hand to Ben. He gladly took it, despite his insecurity of his hand being extremely warm and sweaty.

“Hi,” he whispered, tears still cascading down his cheeks. You reached up and gently wipe some away with your thumb. You felt your own tears pool in your eyes as you tried your best to conceal them. You turned towards the officiant and the ceremony started. You were too caught up in your thoughts about Ben, you could barely pay attention to the man.

“Now, it’s time for the vows the happy couple has prepared.” Ben nodded to you, signaling for you to go first. There was a microphone stand right in the middle of you two, so you didn’t have to worry about speaking loudly.

“Ben, from the day I met you, I knew there was something special about you. Sure, you may have not liked me the first two months of filming, but that didn’t stop me from trying to talk to you, be around you, and even try to get to know you. It took us three months to get past that hurdle, one of which was my fault. But nothing in the past matters because I’m standing here today, with you, getting ready to start another new chapter in our lives. Three years ago, I don’t think I saw myself ever getting married, let alone finding someone who means the world to me. I also didn’t expect you, my on-screen husband, who hated me because I got along with our co-star quickly, to be that guy. But, I wouldn’t trade anything, I wouldn’t want to be standing here with anyone else. Because I love you so much, Ben Hardy. And I’m so thankful that these past three years of extreme ups and downs in our relationship has finally come to a happy ending.” Your voice started to quiver as you finished your vows, tears cascading down your cheeks. You couldn’t conceal them anymore.

“Ben,” the officiant nodded his head towards your soon-to-be husband. Ben took a deep breath, lifting his hand to quickly wipe some tears away before he started.

“I’ve always believed in love at first sight. Although it may seem stupid and unreasonable, I really do believe that when you see someone, you can tell if you are going to love them or be with them in the future. (Y/N), I fell in love with you the second I saw you. Seeing you with Gwilym made me realize that I probably wouldn’t have a chance with you, no matter how much I wanted it, so I pushed you away. And still, to this day, I deeply regret my actions. I regret not talking to you for two months, instead opting out for rude and insensitive comments. I really don’t understand why you gave me a second chance, let alone a third one a little over a year ago. I’m not the best person, I make mistakes, a lot of them, but you still stayed with me. You still waited for me, you managed to forgive me every time I messed up, and I cannot thank you enough. You are the love of my life, and like you said, I really can’t see myself with anyone else. You are perfect for me. You complete me, and I love you so much, darling. I know the three years we’ve known each other haven’t exactly been ideal, so going forward with our lives, I promise to make you so happy to make up for all of the shit and heartbreak I put you through.” He finished and threw the paper behind his shoulder for Gwil to catch, and grabbed your hands, bringing you closer. The officiant smiled and began with the ‘I do’s.’

“I do,” you whispered, staring into Ben’s eyes with every syllable you repeated from the man.

“I do,” Ben repeats. His eyes bore into yours as well. You could see them glistening with tears as the ceremony was coming to a close.

“I now pronounce you, husband and wife. You may kiss your bride, Mr. Hardy.” With those words, the man stepped back a few inches and Ben stepped close to you, wrapping his arms around your waist. His lips were immediately pressed against yours, one hand coming up to cup your cheek and keep you close. You pulled back from the semi-heated kiss and smiled lightly.

“Now I can finally call you husband and it actually be true. I love you, Ben Jones.”

“My wife. I love you so much, (Y/N) Jones.”

“Why do you love me?” His smirk softened into a loving grin.

“So many reasons, and I can’t wait to show you tonight,” he whispered in your ear and winked after pulling away. A blush crept up your neck and to your cheeks as he chuckled and kissed your heated skin.

You turned towards all of yours and Ben’s friends and family, smiling widely as he held your embraced hands in the air. Everyone cheered and clapped louder, cries making their way through the crowd as you two walked down the aisle as a married couple.

“Ready for the reception?” Ben asked once you two were outside in the nice weather that London is currently having.

“Do you think we could skip it and go back to the hotel?” You asked suggestively and jokingly. Ben playfully rolled his eyes and pulled you into a hug. The photographer snapped picture after picture of the sweet moment.

“I don’t think our families would be too happy. Plus we have to have our first dance, have a lovely dinner and cake. I think you can wait to do it, love.”

“Don’t know if I’m gonna be able to keep my hands off you all night, though, Jonesy.”

“Well, I have no problem with that, Mrs. Jones.”

tags: @kazzys-queenblog

#ben hardy #ben hardy imagines #ben hardy imagine #ben hardy x reader #bohemian rhapsody #bohemian rhapsody imagines #borhap #gwilym lee #joe mazzello #rami malek #roger taylor #john deacon #freddie mercury #brian may #imagines #imagine #fanfiction #fanfic

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hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger · 5 years

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Spider-Man: Life Story #4 Thoughts Part 3: Pathetic Parker

Aaaaaaand finally....let us discuss you know Peter Parker.

Or the stand in for him in this mess of a mini-series.

Positives should be gotten out of the way first. I like the new Spider-Suit’s look. I’ve liked all the suits’ looks so far.

Okay cool we’re done now with positives.

Soooooooooooooooooooooooooo...Peter is dating Jessica Drew huh.

Hahahahahahaha....fuck off.

Jessica Drew technically speaking existed in the 1960s but only because Bendis picked a random girl from a Ditko issue and decided he would make her his new original character (who was a rewritten Jessica Drew stand in...) Jessica Jones...which happened in the 2000s.

Remember how I said the Stark thing was remixing stuff from the 2000s and how this probably references the Ultimate Clone Saga?

Well between that stuff, the inclusion of Parker Industries, a obvious reference to Slott’s ‘No One Dies’ buzz word, and now Jessica Jones Zdarsky has entirely collapsed the ONE consistent thing about his writing in this series.

You can read my past posts on this series for more detail, but in a nutshell, this series is utterly convoluted in it’s premise and confused in what it wants to be.

However the ONE utterly consistent thing about it was the fact that it remixes elements from Spidey stories that happened in the decade each issue was covering.

Until now.

Now in fairness Parker Industries was a 2010s thing that debuted in the 1980s. I let that one slide a bit because I guess the idea was if Peter age 30 had money and time he could have a company by age 37 which would be in the 80s. Okay I guess.

But with all that other stuff...this issue isn’t remixing 90s stuff it’s remixing 90s and post-90s stuff so what the fuck is the conceit of the story again?

It’s anything Zdarsky wants whilst mostly remixing stuff from every decade per issue oh and Spider-Man ages in real time I guess and mentions various wars.

I (and others) have talked about how this series is fanficion. A time honoured tradition of fanfiction is the wacky indulgent ships that occur.

In professional works though these are best avoided, see MockingSpider.

That’s what Jessica Jones and Spider-Man being a couple is. Yeah she had a crush on him in high school.

Now tell me anything else that’d serve as a basis for their relationship instead of her being with Luke?

How the fuck did this even happen? At least with Peter and MJ you have canon as a roadmap. In this series...nothing. Peter and Jessica just hooked up somehow in the last 11 years!

What’s so insultingly asinine about this ship is that it emphasis another person who is conspicuous via her absence.

So...where the fuck is Felicia!

I know that the important life events of Spider-Man can be debated up to a point.

That point doesn’t cover though whether Black Cat is relevant of a mention or not across his ‘life story’.

No shit of course she is!

But she wasn’t mentioned in the 1970s when she debuted. She wasn’t mentioned in the 1980s when she became a regular. She wasn’t mentioned in the 1990s.

Surely in a world where Spider-Man’s marriage to MJ falls apart and he’s dating a private eye that should be fucking Black Cat not a character who wasn’t even invented until 10 years later! I mean c’mon Black Cat BECAME a private eye in the 1990s!

And wouldn’t that have been way more dramatic too?

In the 1980s instead of Peter being allegedly addicted to a costume or neglecting his family to clean up radiation or asking his wife to kill him if he turned into a brain munching alien the root of their break up involved his affection for Felicia?

I mean c’mon the symbiote was framed as a response to a mid-life crisis, a sexy platinum blonde who actually wants to hook up with Spidey not Peter isn’t prime real estate for a story about a superhero’s mid life crisis? Even the Incredibles did that!

And wouldn’t that have been more worthy of drama in this issue than literally 2 panels of Jessica Jones establishing they’re shagging but also he’s neglectful and she dumped him. I mean at that point you might as well have just had her be a private eye he hired and dropped the romance completely it served no purpose at all.

One aspect of the story that I will praise Zdarsky for even if I think he got it right by accident is that without his family Peter couldn’t keep on going as Spider-Man.

MJ, May, etc, they keep him together, he needs people, he’d fall apart without them.

Running out of gas as he did in this story could be seen as a reflection of that depending on future issues. Or it could just be he’s old and tired and don’t you know all superheroes would feel that way at age 48.

Too bad that seems rather at odds with issue #3 where he was a neglectful jerk.

Another problem inherited from issue #3 was the issue of Peter’s diminished prowess in his old age.

Remember how he wanted the symbiote to stay ‘relevant’ because he was slowing down.

Okay so it’s been 11 years later, he’s held onto Parker Industries and...he’s just accepted he’s gotten slower and weaker.

Remember how issue #3 implied he had a nano-weld suit.

Okay so he’s had 11 years to improve on that tech and...he hasn’t.

In fact his current outfit looks less high tech even.

Now brace yourselves because I’m about to do something nuts and call upon Dan Slott continuity as reference material.

In Slott’s run Peter with HORIZON labs and Parker Industries tech was able to whip up a variety of costumes for himself. These included nanotech.

In fact his MAIN suit in ASM volume 4 was nanotech armour that came complete with all sorts of gadgets.

Are you telling me that a Peter Parker with even greater years of scientific knowledge and experience, with even more time and resources, across 11+ years NEVER made technology like that?

He NEVER invented tech that could offset his diminished powers?

Seriously?

IRON MAN had strength enhancing armour in the 1960s and that technology got illegally distributed to countless people, hence we got Armor Wars. Even that aside there is countless inferior technology that could increase strength, speed, agility, etc, let alone protect from knock out gas.

But Peter in LF is such a jackass he...never employed this. He never considered this. He just let himself grow weaker and more vulnerable?

Either he’s stupid or he’s a sellout on Ben and May’s morals of responsibility because he had a death wish hence he never upgraded.

I mean Jesus Christ the Hobgoblin found a way to make the Goblin serum SAFE. Peter couldn’t investigate that avenue as a way to spike his power levels? Friggin Norman Osborn was in his 40s when he got the formula and it made him almost on par with Spider-Man.

It gets even stupider when you consider Peter hands over his mantle to Ben Reilly.

Ben is physically the same goddam age as Peter. In fact considering he clearly doesn’t crime fight as much as Peter does or else ‘Red Mask’ would be more famous, Peter if anything would be in better shape. So Peter is giving the mantle of Spidey to a less experienced, weaker 48 year old man who’s ALSO got diminished strength and speed.

But it gets worse.

He doesn’t just hand the mantle of Spidey to Ben. He hands Parker Industries over to him. You’d think this is a case of him passing it on to his relative Ben Reilly right?

Nope.

He wants Ben to...literally become him.

Peter wants Ben to literally pose as him forevermore and run his company.

This is the most gamebreakingly stupid thing in the entire issue.

Ben having Peter’s notes doesn’t mean he’ll be able to pose as Peter.

He doesn’t know the in jokes Peter has with people. He has 0 experience of running a big company.

He has less scientific knowledge and experience.

He will be way worse in business negotiations because he hasn’t got the measure of people.

And he’ll be seriously stressed out because unlike Peter who just knows this stuff Ben will have to study for a lifelong performance as Peter Parker every moment of every day.

Not to mention is no one going to notice the sudden disappearance of Ben Reilly?

Didn’t he have friends or colleagues of his own like Lori from the start of the issue?

Peter starts the comic determined to not allow Parker Industries to fall into the hands of the war profiteer Tony Stark but by unloading his entire company onto Ben Reilly he’s placed it in a hugely vulnerable position that makes it MORE likely that it will be absorbed into Stark International.

Oh and of course there the teeny tiny problem of PETER AND BEN NOT LOOKING ALIKE!

Now realistically Peter and Ben Reilly, having lived such different lives, would look similar yet different, like identical twins. Identical twins might look the same at age 1 but they really wouldn’t at age 30 if one of them was a desk jockey and the other was a soldier.

But you know artistic licence and suspension of disbelief can bypass that.

What cannot be bypassed is when Mark Bagley is drawing both characters on the same page in the same panel and you can tell that they clearly look different to one another. Their faces, hair colour and hair styles are not the same.

Did Peter’s notes include the correct shade to dye his hair too?

But the biggest aspect of this which is betrayal pornoigraphy for Peter’s character is between handing over the reigns of Spidey and P.I. to Ben...how...the...Hell...is...that...at.all...responsible?

He claims that he can’t give up his responsibility but he can ‘shift it to where it matters’.

What a crock of shit. That’s some lame ass lawyer talk for giving up and letting someone else do your job for you.

In the 90s Clone Saga Peter’s retirement was justified. He had impending parenthood as a responsibility and he and his wife had nearly broken in recent months. In Spider-Girl he got his leg blown off and had a 2 year old child to care for.

In this? His ex-wife and children are doing just fine without him as far as we know but the city still needs Spidey and P.I. still needs Peter Parker.

So no, retirement under these circumstances is irresponsible and utterly unjustified.

Not to mention wouldn’t BOTH Peter and Ben being heroes be more responsible? Or at least have Ben take over hero work and Peter runs P.I., possibly training Ben up.

There is also this bullshit that because Peter is so loud and public Ben could never live up to his potential.

I’m sorry but what is it with the Spider-Man fandom’s obsession with the idea that success = owning your own business.

As if that is the one and only way Peter or Ben could fulfil their scientific potential. Why not work for Reed?

Why not work with a Think Tank?

Why not start up a company in a different country and establish that Ben is indeed Peter’s relative. He already had his last name in issue #2!

Hell the argument that if they both started up companies and 2 Spider Heroes showed up it’d raise questions doesn’t consider the ideas that:

a) Ben could WORK for Parker Industries, thereby allowing Peter to be in the lab as he wants or Ben handle the lab work

b) They could SHARE the Spider-Man identity, which if anything would help maintain their secrecy

Finally this issue (and the last one) on the recap page and at the end of the story pushes some toxic, dated, bullshit narratives regarding MJ:

a) That it was grief alone that hooked up Peter and MJ

b) MJ is Peter’s Plan B

c) Peter cannot be married/have kids and be Spidey

d) MJ wouldn’t stay with him if he’s Spider-Man, hence he only regains his family by retiring from Spidey

I’ve seen an assessment of this story that argues that issue #3 as the halfway point was the low point from which the character will gradually fight back.

In a sense issue #4 goes along with this idea. Peter is at his lowest in issue #3 and his happier by the end of issue #4.

But the narrative structure of this series, wherein each issue is a snap shot of his life in each decade leads me to think that we’re unlikely to have 2 more issues of ending on gradually happier and happier notes.

Rather I think this issue is giving a pretence of happiness before it comes crashing down next issue and then in issue #6 we will get our happy ending or a bittersweet exit.

Regardless writing these long ass posts has actually soured me even more on the issue.

It’s another shit show I’m afraid.

P.S. The solicit read:

“THE REAL-TIME LIFE STORY OF SPIDER-MAN CONTINUES! Spider-Man’s life enters the 1990s! The COLD WAR is no longer cold as PETER PARKER returns to a world gone MAD! But will he let that madness infect HIM and his family?”

Where the fuck was any of that in this story?

Peter didn’t have a family, Peter didn’t return from anything, and the only madness to be found was in Ben and Otto.

#Spider-Man: Life Story #Chip Zdarsky #Mark Bagley #Spider-Man #Peter Parker #mjwatsonedit #Mary Jane Watson #Mary Jane Watson Parker #mj watson #Ben Reilly #Clone Saga #Jessica Jones #Black Cat #Felicia Hardy

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umbureraakademi · 5 years

Photo

Introductory Note About the AU & Other Chapters & Face Claims

-a/n start-

[Potential spoilers for anyone who hasn’t seen or finished TUA Netflix series but seriously how could you stop yourself from watching such a captivating show.]

Word Count: 1874

Some good old best friend/family time <3

-a/n end-

Chapter 18

Monica was a mess as she sat on the steps to the police precinct, checking her phone every five minutes to see if Jessica had received her three miscalls. She was heartbroken, but of course she had to go back to drain the coffee out of the cup Diego used and wash it, restore Chuck’s desk in the best order she could (though she wasn’t confident with how she put the files back together), pick up her bag, turn the lights off and lock up the office. It appears Klaus had already left by the time she went back inside.

Her encounter with Diego and Klaus was enough emotional wreckage for the night, she didn’t need a scolding the following morning - if she even decided to show her face again knowing Diego would be there.

She sighed in frustration as she tried to dial Jessica again for the fourth time, finally feeling a wave of relief when she answered this time.

“Jessie? Where are you? I fucked up…”

The Movie Theater

What was supposed to be a simple movie date turned into a steaming makeout session in the dark recesses of the movie theater. Ben and Jessica were completely ignoring the fact that they had paid for tickets to watch the movie, not do something they could do (and even go a lot further) at the privacy of their room.

As their tongues tangled together and their hands roamed around each other’s bodies Jessica’s phone vibrated for the fourth time in her pocket. It was Ben who had to break from the kiss, annoyed by the constant ringing.

“That one is pretty persistent.” Ben whispered.

“Ugh, I swear if this is Alice asking how to use the thermostat again I’m going to kill her.” Jessica whispered, just as annoyed as she pulled her phone out of her pocket. A look of surprise and concern crossed her face, which Ben noticed due to the light on the phone illuminating her face.

“Something wrong, love?” he asked.

“It’s Maica.” Jessica answered, looking at Ben before she answered, keeping her voice low as they were still in the movie theater. “Maica? I’m at the movies with Ben… what? What do you mean you fucked up?”

Ben was unable to make the conversation clear as her voice was too low and the movie sound effects got louder, so he thought he would actually watch the movie for the meantime. It wasn’t until Jessica ended her call and grabbed Ben’s hand that he looked at his girlfriend again.

“We need to go. Now.” Jessica demanded.

“What? But the movie’s still on.” Ben pointed out.

“Benjamin Jones.”

Yikes. He thought, when Jessica said his name like that she didn’t have to say it twice. “Okay, let’s go.”

Back at the Precinct

The rejection was eating her alive and she didn’t know how much longer she could last before she would breakdown. Whenever she felt this bad she always thought back to the times where she felt that blissful, familiar numbness after popping some pills into her mouth.

Sometimes the numbness is the only thing that protects you from the pain.

Monica let out a soft sob remembering her own words back when the pain of losing her mother only consumed her more and more as time went by until she could no longer bear feeling anything. That was when she started searching for dealers, buying pills, taking them when Jessica wasn’t around so all she could do when she was around was deal with her already high best friend.

When she met with her drug dealer one time he regretted to inform her that he was convinced to sell the drugs meant for her to another guy who seemed desperate. Enraged and feeling scammed, Monica was, in turn, able to convince her dealer to tell her about the guy and where she could find him. Soon she found herself slamming against the door of a dingy apartment.

That's when she met Klaus.

It was her mother's death anniversary.

"Maica."

Monica was stirred from her daze as she looked up to see Jessica standing in front of her, not too far Ben was also getting out of the car he parked right in front of the precinct. Jessica bent down so their eyes were leveled, her heart aching staring into her best friend’s tearstained, bloodshot eyes.

“Jessie…” Monica said softly in response, fresh tears welling up and starting to sting her already sore eyes.

“Let’s get you home.”

Monica and Jessica’s Apartment

Ben was standing at the corner of Monica’s room as Jessica stood in front of a despondent Monica after the latter told her of what transpired this evening. When Alice saw them coming in all it took was for Jessica to shoot her a ‘this is no time for your weird shit’ look for her to keep quiet and behave on the couch while they got into Monica’s room for an urgent family meeting.

“This is exactly what I was afraid of.” Jessica said, trying to give some tough love while being the gentle, young mother figure she is.

“I know, I never thought Klaus would just pop up like that.” Monica responded, falling backwards on her bed in a defeated manner.

“You really never told Diego? About everything?”

“No…”

“Why?”

“I… I really liked him…”

“And?”

“I didn’t want him to see me differently… just because of that…”

“And look where it’s gotten you.”

Monica didn’t say anything after that as she turned to her side, grabbed one of her pillows and curled up against it, burying her face into its softness.

“C’mon, love. You’re too hard on her.” Ben said as he approached the two women and sat on the bed next to Monica’s curled up figure.

“Ben…” Jessica said warily and Ben held up his finger as if to say ‘I’ve got this’.

“Maica, darling…” he said softly, placing a hand on one of her shoulders. “C’mon, now. Get up and talk to us. We’re only saying these things because we care about you.” he said, caressing her shoulder as if to encourage her to sit up and talk to them again. This seemed to work as Monica loosened her grip on the pillow and slowly sat up, turning her attention to Ben as Jessica sat on the other side.

“This is so messed up. I don’t… I don’t know what to do. He won’t listen to me. I don’t want to lose him. I…” Monica explained but stopped herself suddenly, a familiar lump forming in her throat that prevented her to say what she really felt as it only made her feel worse.

“Love him?” Ben finished for her, the silence that followed and the looks she gave him and Jessica were confirmation enough. Jessica sighed and placed a hand on her best friend’s lap as a sign of comfort as she looked at Ben then to Monica.

“Seriously your taste in men is questionable.” she said, and enjoyed a small victory in seeing a smile crack in Monica’s face.

“Admit it you liked Diego even just a little bit.” Monica responded.

“Wouldn’t say I liked him. Just maybe preferred him over Klaus.”

“The abs?”

“Yes, the abs.”

“Whoa, all right then. That’s about enough.” Ben interrupted, feigning an offended tone as the two women giggled.

“Well, too bad he’s not speaking to me ever again.” Monica said with a sigh.

“Now come on, if he’s into you as well he’ll come around. If not then…” Ben paused as the two women looked at him, expecting him to finish. “Didn’t they say they had another brother?” at his inappropriate joke Monica punched him in the arm, but was laughing a bit which they guessed was all right.

“Fuck you.” she said in mock spite. Suddenly there was a knock at the door which grabbed all their attention. It was Ben who got up to open it, where they saw Alice holding up a tray with three glasses of what appeared to be a milky substance with ice and small black orbs at the bottom, each glass accompanied with a big straw.

“I made milk tea. It makes you fat. But it helps with sadness.” she said.

“Where did you get the ingredients to make those?” Jessica questioned.

“It’s a secret only Asians know. Please partake in it.” as she said this she carefully made her way into Monica’s room and stood in front of the trio, waiting for them to take a glass. The three exchanged tentative glances for a moment before they each took a glass. Alice then quickly went back to the kitchen to set the tray down before going back into Monica’s room with her own glass of milk tea.

She proceeded to sit on the floor right across from Monica, staring up at her with a piercing expression as if she was waiting for her to take a sip while she hovered her own lips on her straw. Creeped out but appreciative of Alice’s efforts, she took a sip from the milk tea and was pleasantly surprised by the sweet mixture and the chewy black orbs.

“Not bad.” she complemented, prompting Jessica and Ben to exchange glances before taking a sip from their own glasses and nodding their heads in agreement. Alice’s face lit up as she took a sip too.

“We have a pact then.” she said.

“What?” the three said in unison.

“Nothing. I shall continue consuming my milk tea and retire to my nest.” and with that Alice had gotten up and exited Monica’s room as quickly as she had gotten inside.

“I’m starting to think your cousin is half-alien not half-Japanese.” Monica commented.

“I always thought the same thing ever since I saw her mixing and matching the body parts of her dolls when we were little.” Jessica said.

“Body parts?”

“Yes. Body parts.”

“This is probably bad for me but I don’t want to be rude.” Ben muttered to himself, assessing whether or not he should continue taking the drink in his hand. “Anyway, going back to you, darling.” he said as he turned to Monica. “Seriously this time, if he feels the same way about you, he’ll come around. He just needs some space to think.” he said, resulting in Monica to sigh heavily as she stirred the straw in her glass of milk tea.

“I wouldn’t know what to do tomorrow when I see him…” she said softly.

“Take a sick day tomorrow, Maica. You might need some time to yourself as well to think about what you want to say to him.”

“Ben’s right. Maybe one sick day can help cool both your heads off. It’s just going to be painful for the both of you to see each other at the height of all this.” Jessica agreed.

Monica smiled appreciatively at her two friends, thankful that although her heart was in pieces she had these two - and even the strange Alice - to try and keep the pieces in place. Ben reached out with his free hand to pull Monica into a hug, letting go so Jessica could do the same.

“You guys make the best parental best friends. Thank you so much.”

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macdvnald · 5 years

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[ CHRISTIAN SERRATOS ] • [ SHE/HER ] | is that [ MARY MACDONALD ] , the [ NINETEEN ] year/s old [ GRYFFINDOR ] alumnus , walking down diagon alley ? I heard that the last time they had their fortune read, they drew the [ HIEROPHANT REVERSED ] , which seems [ UNLUCKY ] . hopefully they won’t come to any harm, considering their recent choice to ally themselves with [ THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX ] . they’ll probably be fine - I know they’re [ PERSISTENT ] , though apparently they can also be [ RUTHLESS ] . what’s the worst that could happen ? |

LINKS: stats, pinboard, playlist PARALLELS: johanna mason ( the hunger games ), jessica jones ( jessica jones ), raven reyes ( the 100 ), ellie ( the last of us ), rosa diaz ( brooklyn 99 ), nancy wheeler ( stranger things ), kat edison ( the bold type ), sarah manning ( orphan black ) HELLO and welcome to the mess that is this intro!! on the bottom are some plot ideas & besides that its a big old mess! but we love disorganisation! hit this up with a like if u want me to hit u up for plots and i sure as hell will <333

history

mary had a little lamb? WRONG. mary had a little calf. because she was born on a dairy farm in the highlands of scotland ( laugh at my joke pls i worked hard on it ). she was born third to two muggles – a scottish father and a mexican mother, who loved each other deeply – and would eventually become their middle child. she could have become overlooked, but mary never felt discounted at home: while her parents were very often busy with the cows, their love ran deep.

her youth consisted of this: running through fields of grass, attending a muggle elementary where people sang songs at her ( old macdonald had a farm and mary had a little lamb ), playing with the animals, building tree houses with her brothers and sister and playing football every spare moment she got. it was good and simple and wholesome.

of course, strange things happened, as they tend to with muggleborns: she’d explode her brother’s toy when she got angry, or let things fly around the room when she was laughing. when she found out she was a witch at age eleven, things fell in its place. and the macdonalds, while traditional catholics, accepted mary, which is the most important thing of it all. her parents were shocked, yes, but they squeezed her shoulder and promised to discover this all together.

which?? very much influenced mary greatly? because it went against a lot of things they – and she, too – believed in? this has allowed her to have a faith in people, and while she may be cynical and bitter at times, that faith is still there.

hogwarts was as chaotic as home, and mary settled in quite nicely. sorted into gryffindor ( she guessed it was for her rambunctious nature, but who knew ), she found herself a second home and loved it. as it turned out, she was rather good with a wand as well – she didn’t do so good at essays, though – and genuinely liked learning ( except for history of magic. fuck that. ).

being a muggleborn had its downsides, of course, but mary never really allowed herself to feel discouraged. hurt? yes, definitely, but never discouraged. she wasn’t going to let it get to her, she told herself, but it did, especially when the harsh words turned into something more. it was during her confrontation with mulciber that mary felt true, harsh fear for the first time. she felt shut down, paralysed, depressed —– but then, after a while, she got up and took some important steps. she reported mulciber, which led to nothing, which caused her to feel angry, which in turn caused her to feel determination. if the system wasn’t going to be on her side, she’d just have to fucking change it, right? mary started throwing herself in her schoolwork, determined to join the dmle – hopefully as an auror, but any position would do. she suppressed her fear and the trauma that was there, and kept her chin up.

the entire mulciber situation is up for change, should we get a mulciber, or if it doesn’t correspondent with the plot/rp canon!

graduation rolled around and mary got the five required NEWTs to even apply. it was a nervewracking process, but once she got into auror training, she cried. like. for a year. she was so proud of herself and she felt so determined and !! man. it was such a good, defining moment. around the same time, mary joined the order; she knew the ministry was corrupt, and that it’d not allow her to do everything she wanted to, when the order DID. mary had too much anger, too much determination to fight this bullshit to just stick with the ministry, and so the order seemed like the right place.

right now, she’s fighting. she’s gritting her teeth and keeping her goals in the back in her mind and is focusing. and she does not always feel brave or confident or self assured, but that does not matter: mary macdonald always gets the fuck back up, and that’s what she will keep doing until she’s completely knocked down.

personality & tidbits

mary is a human espresso. she’s so. damn. bitter?? despite the fact that she keeps on going and that she’s fighting her ass off, she’s tired and angry that things don’t seem to be moving in the right direction, she’s feeling bitter about the fact that this kind of discrimination is happening right in front of her eyes and that she does not have enough power to stop it. she feels powerless, which makes her feel bitter, which makes her cynical.

still! mary is not necessarily a debbie downer to be around. she keeps her bitterness ( and hopelessness, even ) carefully hidden in boxes in her mind. on the outside, she’s filled with quips and smiles and quick comments! just a sociable bean, but just a bitter one.

is a dog person and will fight anyone who prefers cats. has a cairn terrier called bowie. she loves him more than anyone.

obsessed with tea, tbh. her ma always said that ‘there’s nothing a cuppa can’t fix’ and mary definitely agrees with this statement.

though is also a ‘whiskey in a teacup’ kinda gal

can be spotted wearing either a rly nice ass blazer or a jean jacket, no inbetween. either office-fancy or farmer-chique

fucking loves muggle culture and loves fellow muggleborns and !!!!!! she loves it!!!

very much in a take-no-prisoners mindset at this point re: death eaters. it kind of scares her, tbh, but mary is very much capable of murdering a death eater, even if she could stun them — she’s just done. she’s very. done. with them. and this whole shbang? will only feed into this.

mary is ruthless, that’s what it boils down to. she’s a lot more than that, of course, but i chose that trait for her app because she is --- in small things ( football matches & boardgames ) but also in bigger ones, and of course the war is the main way it shows. mary is so angry. she’s so angry and scared and tired of feeling that way and tired of being scared to lose people and herself and of death and she’s so angry that people really are this way and that they really do these things --- she wants it to stop. she wants the world to be right. and sometimes she thinks the ends do justify the means.

this is why she’s chaotic neutral and not chaotic good.

like ive had her turned to dark arts before just bc she’s so desperate to. fucking win.

and she’s also like --- mary doesnt care if she ruins herself? if she becomes a bad person who’s unable to live with the shit she’s done? as long as the world is better for it, as long as kids can go to hogwarts and feel safe and the world is a safe place for everyone. what does her soul matter in the grand scheme of things? she’d burn in hell forever if it meant the rest of the world changed for the better.

emotionally driven mess of a being

is catholic but struggles a lot with religion and feeling faithful, but she does still identify is a catholic, it’s just? complicated. it’s rly complicated and she hates it.

is a bit flighty when it comes to romance, def has a lot of one night stands/fwb situations though??? she’s just like??? i dont have time for romance its a WAR

has been trying to stop smoking for five years, but alas

mary also works part time at quality quidditch supplies because the girl loves quidditch ---- though not as much as she loves football.

a proud scot. probably lives in scotland, but i’m ... going to keep her living situaiton open and segue into Wanted Plots!

plot ideas

roomies ----- so mary is not Earning A Whole Lot Right Now but does not want to live at home any more because 1. its in the middle of nowhere and 2. most importantly, she’s afraid of endangering her family. she needs roomies! i’d love for her to live in glasgow/edinburgh/london/idk a city!!!

hook ups/fwb’s/etc ----- mary is what the old ppl call promiscuous and she sleeps around. so ! let’s talk! former hook ups! booty calls! friends with benefits! etc etc etc!

party pals ---- mary likes going to pubs and clubs in the muggle part of town bc it is a LIT way to escape the reality of the wizarding world and also, muggle clubs have better music. come party w her!!!!

in the dragon’s den together ---- fellow ministry employees who side eye the ministry and whom mary can sip tea and judge their colleagues with

mudbloods club ---- mary loves her fellow muggleborns and i would love some muggleborn friends that she can be buds with. ranting about dumb pureblood names and traditions and the fact that wizards dont have movies

general friendship ideas ---- im just going to a bunch of ideas here: hogwarts friends, ride or dies, order pals, friendly exes, fellow tea drinkers that she can go on coffee/tea dates with, friends who are growing apart bc of the war (my fave), etc.

etc ---- some other ideas i want to spitball: purists who h8 on mary’s life, fellow diagon alley employees, fellow order members, Annoyances, there is solidarity in being scottish, ministry connections, etc etc etc HIT ME UP

#ootp.intro

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