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ohwereusingourmadeupnames · 4 years

Note

for fwb prompts, “relationships aren’t my thing, but you are.” with starker?

Then I’ll Just Fade Into You

Pairing: Peter Parker/Tony Stark (Starker) Rating: Mature (M) Notes: I took this one in a weird direction - I immediately got the inspo for an A/O verse, so I hope you don’t mind! Thanks for the prompt, nonnie <3 Warnings: A/O verse, smut, mating bites, NSFW stuff Summary:

Tony is unbonded and happy until he smells the sweet spice of one Peter Parker - his single status doesn’t seem nearly as appealing as it once did.

Being an unbonded alpha at Tony’s age was usually unheard of – he was closing in on his late 40s. In society, that made him an ancient single man. Most people were already two or three pups into a long-term commitment by his stage in life – but he couldn’t force himself to do it. The suppressants kept his ruts at bay and the small tech company he ran was enough to occupy his mind most of the time.

In his early years, Tony was too busy finding his groove in the business world to worry about finding an omega – he’d been on suppressants for most of his life, he almost figured he wouldn’t be able to scent someone, anyway. The only time he ever thought about the niceties of having someone by his side was when the blockers weren’t enough to suppress the hormones that sometimes overtook him.

It wasn’t until he turned 45 that something started to change for Tony. His business shared an office building with a couple of other engineering companies. It’d been years since his gut clenched with unmitigated desire – but when he stepped onto the elevator a couple of days after his birthday, Tony got hit in the face by the greatest smell in the world. It caressed his skin and slipped into his pores without his permission – sunshine, ethanol, and something a little spicy, almost cinnamon like.

He stayed in the elevator until the source of the smell left the car – Tony took note of the 4th floor and rode the elevator the rest of the way up and then back down again. The remnants of the smell kept him in a euphoric state until the doors opened on his floor and he had to step out. Rhodey glanced at him with an odd look when he walked in – “You alright, Tones?” he asked, his voice dripping with concern.

“Yeah, yeah – I’m fine,” Tony answered mindlessly, his hand reaching up to scratch at his scent gland, the skin there all of the sudden alive and on fire. He attempted to throw a reassuring smile over his shoulder before he holed himself up in his office for the rest of the day. Tony let himself revel in the odd feelings washing over him and picture the man who belonged to the tantalizing scent. There was a whole list of things he needed to get done, but he ignored them all.

Tony felt pent up after a while, his restless energy taking him back to the elevator. Most of the building was already gone, the darkness of the opposite side of his floor reminding him that most businesses closed around 5PM not late into the evening like his. Getting onto the elevator, Tony took a second to scent the air, the lovely smell from earlier no longer lingering in confines of the elevator car. He slumped against the wall and pressed the button for the top floor – maybe the ride up would calm him down enough to sit behind the wheel of his car and get him home.

The ding of the elevator opening the very next floor had him opening his eyes – his nostrils flaring. Holy shit – Tony’s mind was screaming at him. The person he’d been thinking about all day was stepping into the small closed-off space with him. A sharp intake of breath had the man turning towards him, his brows pinched.

If the smell wasn’t enough, Tony found the younger man to be absolutely stunning. The navy-blue suit that fit his every curve covered what looked like long limbs. He wasn’t very tall, but he carried stalkiness through his shoulders and core. His cheeks were the slightest bit soft, the omega glow the only thing that really shouted his status. The underlying scent of suppressants didn’t stop the ethanol smell from seeping out into the air, the intensity of it absolutely sinful.

Heavy doors closing brought his focus back to the elevator car that was now taking them up. “It’s going up – “ Tony started to say, his eyes bulging a bit when the man took a couple steps closer to him.

“The intense smell of honey and coffee has been distracting me all day long and when I got up to leave, I noticed it coming really heavily from this elevator. It’s you. You smell like slow mornings – I’ve been daydreaming about coffee in bed all damn day.” There wasn’t much space between them when the man stopped – Tony couldn’t even put his hand straight out without touching him.

Tilting his head, Tony tried his best not to take too deep of breaths – it was getting harder to stop his natural instincts from taking over. The itchiness of his neck he’d been dealing with all day was suddenly all over his skin – the flush accompanying it reminding him of the few ruts he couldn’t fight off over the years.

“Funny, I got in here to see if I could chase the smell I haven’t been able to get away from all day – and here you are. Who are you? Why are you effecting me like this now?” Tony said everything all at once, his lungs struggling against the shallow breaths he forced himself to take. The last thing he wanted to do was pin this person against the wall without their consent – Tony was way more civilized than that.

A trembling hand shot out between them, the man looking at him with big, beautiful, brown eyes – his lips quirked in a small smile. “I’m Peter Parker. I just started at Osborne’s – today, actually.” Tony didn’t hesitate to take Peter’s hand, their palms pressing together.

Tony grinned at the tingle that went through him – his scent glands were throbbing on his neck, the base of his cock attempting to form a knot that had no business attending this little gathering. Dropping the warm hand, Tony licked his lips and locked gazes with Peter. “I’m Tony. Tony Stark – from Stark Industries a floor below you. You’re going to be a distraction, Peter Parker.”

----

And he was – the ultimate distraction. It took Tony three weeks to work up the courage to approach Peter with an invitation to go out for dinner. Like he figured, they hit it off almost instantly. The swirling haze of their scents mixing together in the perfect way didn’t take away from the fact that they were both mechanical engineers with a love of all things complex technology and Star Wars. Besides wanting to sink his teeth into the side of Peter’s neck, Tony actually wanted to listen to Peter and learn all there was to know about him.

It almost came as a surprise, Peter’s words as they walked out the door a couple hours later. “Let’s go back to my place,” he said, his pupils overtaking the light brown irises that distracted Tony the entirety of dinner. The spike in his smell had Tony nodding his head, his brain unable to think when he was being accosted with the greatest sensation he’d ever felt.

The change in Peter’s smell didn’t hit him until they were in his apartment with the door closed – the outside world efficiently locked behind the heavy wooden frame. Peter’s fingers were already working on the buttons of his shirt, the sweat at his forehead something Tony didn’t notice until right that second. Oh god – Peter was going into heat right before him.

“Pete – I should probably go. You’re – I-I shouldn’t be here,” Tony muttered, his brain already starting to shift into alpha mode, the little bit of control he wanted to keep over himself slipping away with every deep breath he took. He took a step back, only to be stopped by both of Peter’s hands digging into the front of his shirt.

“No, you should stay. I’ve felt this coming on for the last couple of weeks. It’s you, Tony. You have to stay,” Peter’s eyes were completely overtaken by the mindless black of hormones that would be the thing that ruled the man’s actions for the next few days. Tony knew he probably shouldn’t take advantage of the situation, but Peter was right – he’d been feeling right on the edge of his rut since his first whiff of Peter’s scent.

Peter’s lips were on him, the decision being made for him when warmth and freshly changed oil surrounded him, the taste of the other man even better than the deliciousness that invaded his senses. Tony wrapped his arms firmly around Peter’s hips and pulled him tightly against him – his body slowly slipping under the wave of sensation. “Omega.” Tony growled out the word, his control no more.

The next thing he knew, Tony was settling between Peter’s legs, his hands moving hungrily over hard nipples, down the center of Peter’s tight abs, and settling between his legs – the tip of one of his fingers toyed with the already slick rim. Peter was thrusting up against him, his greedy hands gripping whatever parts of Tony he could reach. “Alpha – I need you, your knot, please.”

Watching Pete’s heat spread over him was one of the most delightful things Tony got to experience – his inner alpha glowingly with pride. At this point, he was running strictly on arousal and hormones, his knot already starting to thicken, his cock harder than he could remember it ever being. He had to bite down on his tongue to keep from pulling Pete’s scent gland into his mouth and milking out as much pheromone as he could to really drive the need home.

Tony forced himself to focus on the beautiful omega stretched out below him, begging for his attention. He slid down Peter’s body until he was resting on the mattress on his belly, his face level with the honey pot of heady scent and leaking slick. Tony buried his face there, Peter’s juices smearing all over his face and clinging to his facial hair. He took in a couple of deep breaths before getting to work, his tongue and teeth busy with soft skin and flavorful arousal dripping from Peter’s entrance.

Two fingers easily joined in the mind-numbing dance of preparation. Peter was begging him from above, his panted come-ons making it harder for Tony to focus on the task he wanted to make sure he did thoroughly. He wasn’t the biggest guy, but even he knew taking a wide knot like Tony’s would not be comfortable without a little bit of extra TLC.

Pulling his face away, Tony pressed a third and then fourth finger into Peter’s entrance – the desperate hole clenching around the digits in an attempt to keep them there, exactly where they were needed. Once he felt a little more certain Peter was ready for the brainless coupling they were about to engage in, Tony rearranged himself, his knees coming under him so his cock lined up perfectly with Peter’s entrance.

“Is this okay?” Tony nervously asked against Peter’s neck. He grasped his cock and let it press against Peter’s entrance before leaning forward to press his lips to sweaty skin. Nerves settled on his lower back while he waited for Peter to answer. It seemed futile, asking an omega in the middle of his heat permission – but it made him feel a little better, if nothing else. The second he plunged into the warm wetness, he wouldn’t be able to speak, let alone ask questions.

Palms pressed against his cheeks, the leverage of Peter’s hands making him look up. There was nothing left but heat and arousal in Peter’s eyes, the flush in his cheeks making him look delectable. “Tony – it’s you, okay? Fuck me. I need your knot.” Peter finished his words with a warm kiss, his tongue slipping into Tony’s mouth right around the same time he let his hips shove forward and the tip of his cock breach the omega’s tight hole.

His eyes slammed shut – the base of his cock throbbing from the sensation of being enveloped by the tightest hug. Peter’s slick made the press forward easy – Tony’s hips settled against his ass in one long, slow stroke. After a few deep breaths, Tony pulled out until just the tip of his dick was resting against Peter’s rim. His thrust back in hit Peter’s prostate dead on, dragging the first of many orgasms out of his precious omega. The word his sat at the back of his brain, making his skin prickle slightly – a claiming word like that never crossed his mind before.

It didn’t take long for Tony to be completely overtaken by his instincts. His hands gripped Peter’s thighs tightly, the younger man more than flexible and able to wrap his legs high on Tony’s chest. Between the ruthless pace of his hips and Peter’s less than subtle presses down against him, Tony’s knot was catching on the omega’s rim in no time. “Yes, alpha. Knot me, knot me. Claim me, please.” Peter’s head was thrown back and turned as far to the side as he could get it, his scent gland on display.

Tony ducked his head and pressed his hips forward one last time, his knot finally slipping inside, Peter clamping down around him with the force of his third orgasm of the night. His hips pressed back and forth as much as they could to milk his orgasm, each movement causing thick ropes of cum to dribble from his over-swollen erection. His teeth dug into the skin of Peter’s shoulder instead of his neck, the blood from the break in his dermis making Tony shudder with another round of cum being pulled from his cock.

Peter came down enough to notice the lack of a bite on his neck, his eyelids drooping with fatigue and disappointment. “You didn’t mate me,” Peter mumbled reluctantly, the tone of his voice giving him away. Tony wrapped him up, his arms pulling the sweat and slick covered omega tight against his chest.

“I couldn’t. We didn’t talk about this before biology took over. I’m not going to let nature dictate what we do any more than it already does.” He nuzzled his nose over Peter’s, his lips eagerly caressing Peter’s in a soft kiss. “Relationships aren’t my thing, but you are. I wanted to give you and a relationship a chance before I claim you and fill you with my pups.”

The words seemed to be enough for Peter – his body satisfied with the knot filling him and the happy and satisfied pheromones Tony was projecting. Tony kept him wrapped in his arms until he was slipping out – Peter already irritable again after only 40 minutes of laying in the calm.

Smirking down at the lusty omega, Tony rearranged them until Peter was stretched over a pillow with his ass in the air and Tony’s tongue licking up the delicious combination of Peter’s slick and his own cum.

----

The next time Peter went into heat, they were prepared.

After they came out of the haze of four days of intense coupling, Tony made Peter a shitty omelet and gave him a rundown about his life and the lack of connection he always avoided. The demands of his career, the lack of interest – Tony laid it out before the omega that would eventually be his. Their pheromones were too compatible for either of them to ignore; especially Tony. His heart, mind, body, and nature weren’t going to allow him to miss the opportunity to settle with his true mate.

In the six months between their respective heat and rut, Peter and Tony got to know each other. Peter told him about being an omega in a very alpha oriented career field. He talked about his aunt May and the tragedy of losing his parents and the uncle he’d come to know as a father. They talked about pups and the idea of having them – Tony contributing his anxieties and worries to that particular conversation. In the end, Peter decided to step off his suppressants and let whatever was meant to happen, happen.

Tony took two weeks off of work when Peter called him to let him know his heat was coming on. He gave Rhodey free rein for the time he was gone and hurriedly left his office, his fingers jamming the elevator buttons. He rode up one floor, his face breaking into a grin when he saw Peter standing there, the omega springing into action when the doors opened. Peter kept his arms around Tony until they were settled in the fancy car. His hands wandered up Tony’s thigh, instead, the touch distracting – more than enough to kick start the rut he’d been most looking forward to.

They walked into Peter’s well stocked apartment with hands already getting rid of clothes. Tony spent a lot of time tenderly undressing Peter, walking them back towards the bedroom he was now more than familiar with. The abundance of pillows on the bed would’ve made him laugh if it wasn’t for the immediate sense of home and safety he got when he saw the nest Peter had been making for the past couple of days.

When Tony finally slipped into Peter a little while later, their hands were tangled tightly together by the side of his omega’s head. Tony peppered Peter’s lips with kisses as he slowly let his hips move on their own accord. “Fuck, Pete,” Tony found himself babbling every few thrusts, the edge of his knot starting to catch on Pete’s rim.

“Alpha, mate me. I want you to. I want you to, Tony.” Peter’s free hand turned Tony’s face until they were looking eye-to-eye. He nodded and let his thumb brush across the sharpness of Tony’s cheekbone. “I want you to.”

It wasn’t possible for Tony to deny him – he settled his mouth right over Peter’s scent gland, his teeth digging in when his knot slipped in. The first splash of cum against his omega’s insides corresponded with his teeth digging into that spot on Peter’s neck – tying them together. Letting his hips thrust through it, Tony hover over Peter, his head turned to expose his own. “My turn. Come on – make me yours.”

Peter didn’t hesitate, his teeth broke the skin – the softness of his tongue lapped at the mark, the edges already seeming to close.

Collapsing on top of him, Tony turned them until both he and Peter were on their sides, his hands running up and down his mate’s flank while they calmed down. He caught Peter smiling at him and pressed a kiss to his lips – a grin of his own pulling his cheeks wide. “You’re mine now,” Tony whispered, his chin resting on the top of Peter’s head.

“Jokes on you, alpha – I’ve always been yours.”

#starker #ironspider #bobbie writes #ask prompts #nonnie #anonymous

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land-of-classpects-and-analysis · 4 years

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Seer of Rage

What does it mean to be afraid, angry, jealous, or simply cranky? What does it mean to be in a negative state of existence? To spend every waking moment shifting through an ocean of rocks and fool’s gold because you were promised at one point in your life that there was gold in these hills? To be left feeling so betrayed and heartbroken that you have contemplated, and perhaps even committed, acts that may even cause you to fear yourself? What does any of it mean other than that you are alive and have been harmed by a world so cruel and selfish. The world is big, and there are so many faces that pass by you every day that you lose count before you can even learn how to count. It’s terrifying when you realize how small you are, but it’s also enraging when people believe they are any bigger than you or anyone else and that they know what is best for everyone. There is no need for a hierarchy in your eyes; if only because those who clamber to be at the top of everyone else are the ones who are truly afraid of the realization that their existence is nothing special. To be bound to the Aspect of Rage is to spit up towards those who look down on you, and to curse their names for creating a world of false promises and lies of gold, succession, and protection. However, this is only the case for those who are not blind to nor turn away from this Aspect bestowed upon them.

The Seer of Rage is one who is indeed blind to the lies presented to them in the world. They fail to see the systematic oppression and issues in the society around them. Whether it be a willing ignorance or simply due to the circumstances they’ve been born into, the Seer of Rage is one who does not believe there is anything wrong with how things currently are around them - even if everything is in utter chaos. If anything, they’d be more willing to shame and judge those who claim that the society in which they live is wrong and corrupt. They haven’t been negatively affected by the way things are going. They might see themself as a star citizen in the town in which they live, and everyone around them would be right to agree. Never have they been reprimanded, brought to kneel in front of justice, or dared to even step out of line. Why would they? Life is good, and they do everything right as spoken by those above and around them. The only victims in the world are those like them - trying to do the best they can in remaining happy, safe, and comfortable as those below them snarl and bite like rabid dogs.

There would be no anarchy, fear, war, or revolutions if everyone followed the ways of the Seer of Rage - ignorant to all of the wrongs built before they were even born. Chances are the Seer of Rage is not one who lives the wealthiest life, but they are also not someone who struggles much if at all. They have no conviction to try and make any effort in getting higher in the world, though, because they believe to try and move away from the role given to them would mean rebelling and questioning the word of those above them. The upper ranks of the ladder are not meant for them, because, if they were, then they would have done better than to be born where they are now. Life is still good where they are now, though, and so who are they to complain? Only those who are greedy, ungrateful, and wrong are the ones to complain. Those are the types of people the Seer of Rage has no patience for.

It would be a good guess to describe the Seer of Rage’s social circle as that of an echo-chamber. All of their frustrations and gripes with those below them would always be met with agreement and affirmation that, yes, they are correct to hate and judge those below them all the while admire and follow those above them. However, they most likely would also only surround themself with people of similar status to them. This could be due to multiple things, ranging from them not feeling worthy enough to be in the company of the higher-ups, along with their hatred of those beneath their boot, or the opposite of that coin - the higher-ups forbidding those lower than them to be more than workers and servants. No matter the case, the Seer of Rage is one whose social life is restrictive and dangerous. One could even argue that it’s rather toxic, as well, as those in their circle will most likely only continue to leave the Seer of Rage blind to the falsities around them.

While most Seers risk being pushed into becoming stubborn and stuck-in-their-ways, the Seer of Rage is one who, in a sense, has already been pushed and locked into this state of existence. The circumstances for this, though, is not because of those trying to force this knowledge unto the Seer of Rage, but rather by those trying to keep them away from it. The Rage Aspect is most definitely not the prettiest Aspect to be bound to, especially when keeping in mind how vicious and chaotic they can be. The Rage-bound are ones who will not sit or stand as lies are spread as truths and civilizations built of false and misleading promises rise. If they believe they can destroy the system, from the inside or otherwise, and replace it with something better, then they will try with all their might to do as such. As such, those in the Seer of Rage’s life would make sure of it that they would never succumb to the alluring calls of revolution, and instead would remain clueless to the atrocities happening all around them.

Rather than sitting down and opening themself up in order to invite this knowledge of Rage, it would most likely be that the Seer of Rage would have to figure it out through their own series of unfortunate events. These events would be unique to each Seer of Rage, but it ultimately would lead to them watching as the lies they thought to be true unravel around them. The world they believed to be so fair, equal, and true was nothing but a front, a mask, fancy gauze wrapped around the truly terrifying and wretched face of the world they actually live in. The Seer of Rage can indeed later on learn to invite knowledge of Rage, but they are a little more special in that they most likely will have to invite knowledge through Rage first. Much like everything else in their life, the Seer of Rage has no choice in how they go about their life. Perhaps they would see the shunning and banishment of a person they saw as a friend, now exposed to be a rebel - only for the Seer of Rage to later learn that this hearsay was planted on their poor friend. Perhaps the Seer of Rage partook in their own scandalous affair - a relationship, romantic or otherwise, with someone above them in terms of status, only for it to end as sour as a freshly picked summer lemon. Perhaps they witnessed, or experienced, an injustice so out-of-place and wrong that they could never get it out of their head, no matter how hard they try to bury it out of guilt of questioning what they know.

No matter what, the Seer of Rage is one who will most definitely begin their journey when they no longer can deny the truth of what they have seen or experienced. Although the Seer of Light must let the burning heat of knowledge into themself, the Seer of Rage must allow the searing, destructive surges of electrical fear, telling them to run away from it all and never look back. That, or they must allow the rage-fueled, hungry flames to blister their mind, for although it hurts to know that their world and life was a lie, it is better than to live safely and ignorant. It simply takes a strong will and mind to not unleash this anger of betrayal and lies in ways that would bring true justice to the suffering they and everyone they know have brought upon those who are the true victims, and it is a will the Seer of Rage will have to learn over time. Chances are that the Seer of Rage will indeed most likely try to get away from the obedient masses that plague the place they called home, but they most likely would be one to live a life of solitude and fear, at least for a little while. They are like someone who has been reborn, but now they have no parents or guardians to help lead them, and they surely are possibly still too prideful to go towards the groups of rebels and revolutionaries. For the first leg of their journey, the Seer of Rage would have to go through it alone, especially because they are now seen as an enemy and betrayer on both sides of this war.

During this time of solitude, they would learn to shift their gaze from inviting knowledge through Rage and rather inviting knowledge of it, though this could be difficult for the Seer of Rage if they are not emotionally ready. Even when exposed to Rage, it can take a long time to see the true beauty of it - the freedom it promises amongst all the chaos and confusion. The Seer of Rage is one who, unfortunately, must play the waiting game in terms of making progress in their journey. If they play their cards right, and don’t rush themself into foolish decisions and avoidable situations, then they can learn many valuable lessons and obtain knowledge not many others may want to know. Eventually, they would work up the courage to join their fellow fighters and rebels, whether it be from an invitation by one or more rebels themselves, or they decide for themself that it is finally time to stop hiding away like a child would hide under their blanket in the dark.

While the powers of the Seer of Rage are a little more obscure, they would most likely be similar to the Seer of Time in that they would play a more calculative and observational role than anyone else in their group. They’d be able to see danger and chaos long before it has a chance to enrapture them and their allies, and as such they’d be capable of preventing any unnecessary losses - though the gift of these visions may come at a great cost overtime. The Seer of Rage would most likely also be able to sense when tensions were extremely high between certain people, and as such could help to prevent any possible slip-ups and fights to happen. Some may say they are an expert mediator, but the truth is that the Seer of Rage is one who simply wishes for their beliefs and goals to win. They have no patience for dishonesty amongst their group, and as such they are not afraid to call out those who try their best to pass off such lies as truths. Although they may not seem like one prone to destructive tendencies, that cannot be further from the truth. The Seer of Rage is one who does not outright seek immediate destruction of the things they deem to be threats or wrong, but rather prefer to play the waiting game - watching from afar and always being a step or two behind their prey. The Seer of Rage knows when they can secure a victory, and so they are perfectly fine waiting for that perfect moment to arrive. In general, making a Seer your enemy is a mistake, but to make the Seer of Rage your enemy is to have already welcomed an end to your life. Whether that end happens today, tomorrow, or even years from now is not up to you, but rather up to the Seer of Rage, and they will revel in every moment that passes. The Seer of Rage loves to play the waiting game, after all.

#Seer #Seer of Rage #Homestuck #Hiveswap #Seer of Rage Analysis #Rage Aspect #Seer September #Rage

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vanessaxyvonne · 3 years

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The Heist of Carnival

When: A long ass time ago ; 8 years ago

Where: São Paulo, Brazil ; London ; Santa Monica

Warnings: Suicide Mention

Many years ago, in a small town near Rio de Janeiro lived the home of the Maldettes. The mother, Sofia, was a well-known seamstress that spun beautiful dresses. Thiago, was a baker, whose bread’s scent was able to be detected 8 blocks away and lured many hungry dwellers. Together, they had three sons, Gabriel, Octavio, and their youngest, Carlos. Now Carlos, was the father of James, grandfather to Raymundo, and the great-grandfather to Vanessa and Naveen and he, is the mastermind to go down in Brazilian history.

Carlos, was the youngest son, known for his wild ideas and great ambition. While the rest of his brothers helped either shoe shining, mending clothes, farming, or in the bakery with their father, Carlos often had his head in the clouds, much to his family’s chagrin. He dreamed of wanting bigger and better for his family, not just living to just make it by. Sure, they lived alright, but it could be better. They could all have their own separate rooms, and running water, and the like. So, aside from work, he looked for odd jobs in the city of Rio, and ultimately landed himself as a delivery boy for a major steel company.

He slaved day in and day out in the big city still, his family struggled to scrape on by with what was made and Carlos was beginning to get discouraged. That was, until he heard a specific conversation one morning when he was about to drop off the latest delivery. The men all laughed about the embezzlement that they were doing to the poor unsuspecting owner of the company, Mr. Silva. There sat a few co-workers, the mayor of his town, and a few other business men, just counting the money and laughing, as if it were nothing. He was outraged, it made so much sense now that he was overworked and underpaid and why his town was suffering financially. All of that money was going into their greedy pockets. He knew that if he went to Mr. Silva he’d risk his job, so instead, he devised a plan as he made his way home.

He sat his brothers down while their parents were closing up shop for the evening.

“I know why our town is suffering,” Carlos suggested quietly.

Gabriel rolled his eyes, “Carlos, our town suffers because of the flood we had a few months ago. Restoration takes time, we’ve been through this.”

Octavio nods in agreement to the eldest son.

“Just...hear me out for once rather than dismiss what I have to say.”

Octavio peers to make sure their parents are away and he nods.

“Make it quick.”

“The mayor is in on a huge embezzling scheme. I overheard him speaking with a few of Mr. Silva’s board members while running a delivery,” He began, “I know it sounds crazy and outlandish but—“

“It all makes sense,” Octavio chimed in. Octavio was always the more quiet and calculated brother, so it was rare to see him chime in. “I was asked to make a few deliveries from the farm to the company this week, but I was only allowed through the back. I didn’t understand why I was sent at first…perhaps because I was big on arriving on time compared to the others…but the deliveries were certainly not beef because of the weight and, also the smell. While the packages were marked to Silva, I handed them to a man named Carvalho and he’d always have a box cutter.”

Gabriel’s eyes widened at the revelation of his brothers and shook his head.

“Do you understand what danger you both have gotten yourselves into? You know what they’ll do to us, to our family, if they find out?” He whispered harshly.

“That’s why I have a plan. We get the money back and we put it back into our city and implicate the mayor.”

“You’ve lost your mind, brother,” Gabriel shook his head.

“He’s right, Carlos. Even if we could, it’s bad enough we’re in danger. The best we can do is go on as if we don’t know anything and I can always move and find a new job, considering I’ve been their delivery boy,” He sighed.

“I will not let them separate our family—“ Carlos began with frustration.

“And I will not let you endanger yourself. Please, Carlos,” Octavio pleaded.

“Give me a day. That is all I ask,” He pleaded. Gabriel sighed, and Octavio nodded quietly.

Let the games begin.

Within the day, Carlos managed to assemble a group of seven skilled individuals in pick-pocketing, illusionary work, finance, and law enforcement. Then, he re-presented the pitch to his brothers with all seven of the individuals, Bernardo, a pick pocketer. Paulina, the town “magician”, known for skills nearly rivaling Houdini. Joao & Pedro, twin detectives. Magdalena, a recently fired accountant from the company. Francisco, a professional gambler. Mario, a construction worker from the company, and finally his son, Junior, a banker.

“Here’s the pitch. We steal the money back to give to Mr. Silva and the rest of the city,” Carlos began with a hopeful look.

“Not only that, but this is totally to nearly a billion dollars. There will still be millions left over,” Magda projected, “Therefore we would all be able to get an equal cut of the money. We could rebuild our homes, move out of Brazil, do whatever we please,” She finished.

Octavio and Gabriel sat flabbergasted at this pitch. Gabriel was about to protest about this, knowing that this wasn’t going to end well and that all 8 of those people could potentially die, but Octavio’s life was on the line.

“No. Let them, brother,” He said. “Carlos…you must execute this with caution. There would be a lot more to lose than just myself,” He warned.

“I won’t let you down, any of you,” He looked around and nodded with a smile.

There was a fundraising event being held for the company where many of Rio’s finest would be attending and mingling amongst each other which was the perfect opportunity for the gang to strike. It was planned intricately as it would happen right in the middle of Carnival and as long as they cleaned up nicely, they would be able to blend in easily without being completely recognized.

In the days leading up to the heist they were able to find out multiple things between listening in on conversations, getting a few of the board members drunk, and of course, the art of seduction.

The locations of the vaults, the difficulty of opening them

Who got the funds and why

How they would be able to pool the funds back into their small town

And now it was show time.

“I pray we all make it out alive and I pray that our town gets the justice that it deserves,” Carlos announced as they all held up their shot glasses filled with rum.

It would be their Felix Felicis for the evening as they made their way into the annual event of pre-Lent festivities.

While many partied and got recklessly inebriated, the heist began. Bernardo was able to swipe the keys to each of the vaults as he partnered with Gabriel, who was surprisingly good at acting, by being obnoxious, dancing around a few of the men, purposely spilling his drink on them. That part was a cake walk.

This left Junior and Magda with the keys and they headed back to hit the vaults with Mario who used the excuse to work as there were a few “leaks” in each of the spots that he needed to fix. He purposely made silly mistakes to give him ammunition to go in and cover for the other two.

Paulina and Carlos set up the scene by having a dramatic magic show that Paula and Carlos had rehearsed together. (And sparks were certainly flying between the two of them) With this, they involved the mayor, having him disappear and trapped in a box for a few moments to buy those back at the offices more time before having him reappear.

Joao and Pedro searched the offices for the missing files of the embezzlement while Junior and Magda were able to get the money out of the vault and loaded into trucks to lead back to the village. The stakes were growing as the time was ticking down to when some of the board members would have to go back and grab whatever it was that they had stashed.

Francisco managed to swindle a few of the drunken board members of finding out the secret locations and amount of money of their accounts. That was…until one person caught on to that was going. The gig was up and they were just moments away to getting caught. As each part of the group were surrounded by henchmen and body guards,

Joao and Pedro come out with the longest list of an arrest warrant alongside the Brazilian authorities, arresting each and every board member, including the mayor. Mr. Silva, not only grateful, but was so elated to know that the money would be restored to his company and offered Carlos to start a new branch in London, signing him as the sole beneficiary as the man did not have any children.

The secret money, you may ask? Within the few months, the community began to restore itself and all of the assets were to its citizens providing better housing, rebuilding businesses, farms, and crops. As for the infamous 8? They all had their cut of 20 million dollars and all scattered throughout the world. Carlos, split the money with his family, each of them receiving 5 million dollars, before he left to London with none other than Paulina.

The thing about Carlos was…he was addicted to the high of the heists and pulled many more to build up his fortune, while also helping struggling communities and giving his own employees a lending hand…even including them in on heists.

—

“His final heist, was to steal Queen Elizabeth’s coronation crown, and while he was successful and everyone had their share, he was nearly caught. Fearing his family would lose everything, he committed suicide to make sure that his sons and daughter, would have their futures secure. After all, the money would be untouchable as the majority of it was in Reales. My mother was also in on many heists and knew how to hide the money, and so, here we are,” Mr. James Maldette chuckled at a wide-eyed, eighteen year old Vanessa.

“Are we still untouchable, Granddad?” She asked curiously.

“Please, even if they come after us for those assets, collectively, we’re still a wealthy family. Between your parents, your aunts, uncles, cousins, even you as a model. You wouldn’t miss much. Sure, we’d drop down in value, but you wouldn’t lose your home,” He shrugged, taking a sip of his tea.

“So…why are you telling me this?” She asked curiously.

“Because, you remind me very much of my father. A pioneer, headstrong, a leader. Someone in this family deserves to know the truth and with that knowledge, you could turn the tables if you so wished to, mi menina,” He grinned.

“It sounds a bit Ocean’s Eleven, don’t you think? I mean it’s so modernized, people will surely catch on!” She shook her head in disbelief.

“Well, it’s based off an old joyride I did when I was about 21 with a few old pals, actually,” He smirked.

“Granddad!” Her eyes widened.

“Now mind you, the man had it coming to him. The difference between myself and the movie is that I never got caught and it wouldn’t matter now as the man is dead, but those overworked employees of him definitely had a wonderful paycheck,” He smiled. “Therefore, Vanessa, do what you will with this information. I trust that one day, you’ll do some good with it, poppet.”

Nessa chuckled and shrugged, “Perhaps, one day. Although I do think it’s a bit reckless. What’s a rich gal like me going to do with all that money?”

“Do something good with it, perhaps? Incite revenge? Create war. I can’t tell you what path to forge, as I’ve told your father many, many, times, but I trust that you will do right by you and the Maldette line,” He stated rather simply. Nessa couldn’t stand how ambiguous her granddad was sometimes, but she loved him all the same.

“I hope so,” She sighed.

“I know so,” He reassured her, patting the top of her head with a proud smile.

#sp #FINALLY THE GOT DAMN ORIGIN STORY #suicide tw #this is also super long

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fmdxyoungjoo · 4 years

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Fmdosaudition -- Our Song Audition

Premise: youngjoo’s audition answers to the questions for the audition for our song, and the cover of Aloha (Aroha) by Cool that she did using just a piano for accompaniment, singing in her own singing style. original song: aloha by cool Word Count: 2377 words A/N: mentions of @fmdtaeyong and @fmdbyul cuz these two are great songwriters no matter what pple say

when she first hears about the fact that there’s going to be a show for music producers and lyricists, youngjoo almost jumps at the opportunity to showcase her talents, if not for the little bit of self doubt and tentative worry that she wasn’t as good as some of the others who were most probably or likely to sign up for the show itself. confidence has never been one of joo’s greatest facets when it came to reassuring herself with things--and so its with a strange sense of quiet resignation and yet soft determination that she’d hold onto the hope that she’d do well that she picks up the self cam and starts filming to audition in for the show.

the first thing the camera actually does see is a clumsy wavering around of the room, and a half of a face darting in and out of the camera’s periphery. “is it..like this?” ten years and counting, and youngjoo admits that she’s still not that all good at doing some things like a self cam. she doesn’t like showing herself off in the spotlight when she’s off work and on her own, partly because she really--just doesn’t have nothing much to show, and the other part is because--she really liked being all off and on her own. self cam was a sense of scrutiny, and she always felt conscious enough of it, despite her naturalness before it.

“hello!” her eyes crease, and a shy but abashed laughter bubbles from her lips. “sorry for the mishap there, but i’m pretty sure you can see my face now.” she huffs a little as she peers forward, crossing her legs as she pulls back slightly. she’s dressed comfortably in her mini little studio that she’s set up in her apartment--nothing too lavish or expensive, and just with the minimal but good systems that she needed to make her compositions, her hair pulled back slightly into a delicate ponytail as she reclined a little in her chair.

“so what inspires me to write songs.” she peered slightly at the list of question that had been given to her for the audition, careful thoughtfulness flickering into view upon her face as she seriously considered the question, looking into the self cam with thoughtful eyes as she paused for a moment before answering the question. “well, i was inspired to write songs to--in a way give myself a voice. i actually started learning how to write lyricisms for songs only about a year or so back, while i started writing compositions for multiple songs probably about the second year into silhouette or so?” she scrunched her nose slightly as she tried to think accurately of the date. “yeah, almost about there. i thought to myself that since i had a good music background, and the talent for piano composition, why not challenge myself and try out composition for songs? it actually worked, which was a great relief because i thought gold star wouldn’t--” she covered her mouth, trying to stop herself from laughing at the thought of complaining about her company.

“i thought gold star wouldn’t accept the songs because they weren’t that good. which in all honestly, they had every right to do so.” she paused for a moment, eyes creasing into delicate crescents as she smile happily. “but they did accept it, and for a couple of years, i’ve seen my songs pop up here and there in various soloists tracks, which made me really happy--and really greedy at the same time. if i’m good at composition, why couldn’t i try my hand at lyricism?” her eyes flickered as she cast her gaze down slightly. “so i started trying to write lyrics. it was hard--really difficult to find the right kind of words to songs, since i’m such a perfectionist, but eventually managed to, after all recently a lot of my songs have been written and composed by myself, as well as approved by gold star for further use.” happiness contoured her delicate features, brightening the room around her. “its a secret to what exactly its being used for, but you’ll be able to see the fruits of my labour in august! so what actually inspired me to write songs was the challenge of something different and something new, and surprisingly, in that process of finding something different and new, i found that i loved writing songs, and that i was good at it, which changed my original attitude of treating it as a challenge to one of attempting to make my own style of music and voice heard through my songs.”

what is your favourite song you’ve written?

she spends some time glancing at the question with mulling silence, wracking her mind slightly over which particular song that she had written that she had truly felt made an impact to her. it was difficult--because she loved all the songs that she had made with equal heart and equal soul.

“i think...” she trailed off slightly. “for compositions, it would be to my youth, in suji’s album &ND. it was a composition that i had written while trying to see from my wistful perspective as a young person how it was that i felt about youth?” her hands gestured slightly as she tried to find the right words to describe her thoughts. “i had left a note with the composition with the words “to my youth” in it, hoping that it would serve as a source of inspiration to whoever it came to.” she laughed sheepishly, hand slapping slightly upon the armrest next to her. “i just never thought that suji would have interpreted the song in its entirety so well, and that’s why its become one of my favourites for compositions. and if we were talking about lyricism, i think the portal song that i made last year--Grown Up, that was the most significant song to me.” she held off her words for a moment, letting the rage of emotions in her chest settle a little into something more manageable, the flicker of an uncontrollable excitement fluttering into the light of her eyes as she heave a soft but trembling sigh. “it was the first time that i wrote the lyrics of a song.” she admitted a little shyly, fingers twining over each other in nervousness as she glanced up for a moment at the self camera. “i honestly thought that i wouldn’t make it with that song--” she laughed a little self deprecatingly, before brightening. “but it held a lot of meaning for me, since i actually managed to succeed in writing something that i felt was worth a lot of my own experiences to me.”

are there any songwriters you look up to? if so, whom?

a faded but faraway look slowly overtook joo’s eyes as she fell back into her memory, jolting back into the present as she felt the self camera’s eyes upon her, a little embarrassed that she had been caught having her mind race elsewhere at the thought of the songwriter that she looked up to. “i actually do have a songwriter that i look up to.” she admitted. “its knight’s taeyong, actually.” she lets the corners of her lips jerk upwards into a small little smile. “we’ve worked together quite a bit when i first wanted to learn how to write the lyricism of a song, and i’ve always admired the way his music artistry and style that i found in his songs.” she chuckled, knowing that if this audition tape got leaked to a particular someone, they’d probably both end up being highly embarrassed. her cheeks flushed slightly at the thought. “he’s also a veteran at writing songs, and i find myself listening to a lot of his songs and byul’s songs as a whole when i’m stuck with something that i can’t get a hold of.” she grinned, a flash of pearly teeth, cheeky and yet adorable as she laughed openly about it. “so yes, if there are any songwriters that i look up to, they would be knight’s taeyong and byul. they really do make writing songs seem so effortless sometimes that i get frustrated, but every single song that’s come from them have been nothing but beautiful.”

What are your goals as a songwriter?

joo blinked for a moment, twisting the ring accessory that she had worn for the day in slight nervousness as she faintly mumbled, then sighed. “honestly, being able to hear my songs being used everywhere and anywhere is my ultimate goal as a songwriter. but not just that. i want the songs that i write to have meaning, to resonate with its listeners, that when they heard the songs they’re able to feel their tears, have their healing or feel better about whatever they’re not feeling better about. isn’t that what songs are meant for?” she asked softly. “music brings healing when used in the correct way, and that’s what i want as a goal for songwriter, and what i mean by giving myself a voice. i want to give a voice that tells people--” she hummed slightly as she thought of the right words that would encapsulate her idea fully. “a voice that tells people, hey its alright, i’ve heard you, and i’ve gone through what you did, so you aren’t alone.” she adds on haltingly. “its a big goal ultimately as a songwriter, but one that i want to see happen as a composer and a songwriter, because that gives me more inspiration and meaning to write as a whole.”

What do you hope to achieve by being on this show?

“one of the greatest opportunities that this show can give me, i think--is the fact that so many various songwriters and composers and producers are all gathered upon this show with one creative goal of writing a song that receives the acknowledgement from everyone eventually. having this slightly competitive space amongst people that are good at their work doesn’t just make for a better environment for those that want to learn, but also a better environment for everyone to actually sharpen their own skills. that’s--my goal to be on this show. to share my experience, as green as i may be, and to sharpen my own skills, something that i truly think won’t happen without another person to help give constructive feedback or collaboration experiences.”

...

rather than cutting the camera immediately after her interview questions, joo takes the camera with her towards the organ piano that she had and used in her studio, humming lightly to herself as she adjusted the keys and the sound of it from the regular classical piano to a special effect on the piano, fingers pressing on the keyboards to test out the song with a few lazy chords of the song that she was going to sing, fingers flying across the board as she played the first few bars of the piece that came to her mind. the piano hummed with a rounded sound, almost tinkling at the end as she pressed the notes on the keyboard--and with a satisfied nod, she turned towards the camera, beaming widely as she tucked the stray strands of her hair back and prepared to perform, stretching her shoulders and muscles to relax the nervousness that was bubbling up in the pit of her stomach and her body.

“so the song i selected is actually a rather old song. not sure if many of you have heard of the song aloha by cool? or aroha.” she took her phone, scrolling through her music playlist for the song that she wanted. “i’ll play the song for a few minutes.” she laughed as the old song started playing on the phone, the strums of the guitar and the cheerful vocals flowing through the speaker of her phone for barely a minute, before she shuts the music off.

“and now, i’ll be playing my own interpretation of this song, with just the piano for accompaniment.” she winked, laughing cheekily as she adjusted her seating on the piano, and the mike that was placed on a stand before her. there’s a sombre pause, fingers delicately curved prettily upon the keys of the organ as she counted to herself and begun the song, filling everyone’s ears with the soft tinkle of a beginning chord to what would seem like a ballad.

in contrast to the cheerful and upbeat tune of the original song, the way that youngjoo sang the song was ballad like--but yet still surprisingly cheerful and mischievous, never losing the edge of the song that set it apart from everyone else. ballad had always been the style that youngjoo was highly comfortable with doing, so it was of no absolute surprise that that was the style she was going for--rather, the surprise came with how light and delicate the piano accompaniment sounded. rather than the heavy but emotional chords that would usually accompany a ballad song to bring about the rise and fall of emotions, the chord was playful and lighthearted, the special effect and rounded tinkling that lay at the ends of the keys as she played a crucial effect into uplifting both her voice and the song.

as youngjoo got more absorbed and at ease with the song, the more the lightheartedness and playfulness showed. it was amazing that something as simple as a change in the piano tone for a ballad being able to bring about a different playfulness and flavour as a general whole to the entire song, and affect in a way how youngjoo sang. it was just that little something that youngjoo was clearly good at, being attuned towards tones and sounds as a composer herself as she sent a cheeky little smile towards the camera, happily ending her little cover of aloha with complete cheerfulness and utter satisfaction.

“and that brings me to the end of my audition! thank you, and wherever this goes, i hope that i’ll be given the opportunity to learn more from our songs soon!” she signed off with a happy smile, relaxing as she saved the audition and turned off the camera, uploading the audition video and sending the audition in for the new show as quickly as she could.

#fmdosaudition #||CAREER**❆ shining like diamonds in the skies #||SELFPARA**❆ the gentle queen and her thoughts #((+2 points))#((wc: 2377 words))#lmao this was long man i didn't expect that

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emotionally-imbruised · 5 years

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In the world of Accidentally in Love, what would Harry and Y/N’s first time having sex be like?

Oh god. It’s been a TIME since I’ve written smut so bare with me, but here we go

Accidentally In Love: I Just Had Sex.

It’s the middle of a random weekday afternoon. Harry’s dead asleep beside you with his arm draped over your centre, and his head nestled into the crook of your neck as soft puffs of air leave his slightly open mouth with each breath he takes. It’s a sight you still can’t believe you get to see and experience now that the two of you are finally together but is also one you’ve become way too greedy over and hate even the thought of someone else being able to be with him this way.

Moments like this have become a common occurrence between the two of you. However, they’ve seemingly been happening less and less with just how busy Harry’s schedule is. Just after Christmas… when you really just started letting it sink in that you now have a romantic relationship with this man, he jetted off to Japan. For about a month. And that put a little bit of a halt on everything.

It sucked yeah, but you knew it was coming. It was something you’d known about before either of you knew of the feelings the other had because Harry told you just out of friendly conversation. Well that, and Gemma had mentioned it once or twice.

So, when the time came for Harry to leave LA again like he so often does, he stayed with you at your apartment for the first time since becoming a thing — but nothing happened.

The two of you curled up in your bed to watch a few episodes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine before eventually deciding to call it a night seeing as Harry’s flight was rather early the next morning. He insisted he’d just call a driver to take him to the airport, but you insisted that you driving him to LAX for 6am was really not an inconvenience; even though it was really hard moving from your position of being cuddled up against his bare chest once his alarm started going off.

His time in Japan surprisingly flew by though. The two of you FaceTimed nearly every day, where he’d tell you how his day was going, and you’d explain all the details of how you spent yours. It was tough connecting with the different time zones, but you both somehow made it work.

When his birthday came around, he tried his best to convince you to fly to him and spend it together. His offer was very tempting with just the thought of being able to see him in person again, and although he tried to bribe you with a paid-for flight there and back… you ultimately declined.

It felt awkward to you letting Harry pay for something so expensive and even though you considered just buying the plane ticket yourself to visit a place you’ve never been, you settled on just not taking the week off work and saved yourself from Gemma’s teasing of how whipped you already were just for wanting to go.

However, you regretted your decision after he told you about how much fun he had as well as after seeing the pictures and videos of him drunkenly singing karaoke with Bobby and Karamo from Queer Eye (aka. two of the only five other men you can trust in life other than Harry) at a bar. But, you got over it quickly and indulged yourself back into your work, and before you knew it, Harry was back.

He hasn’t been back for long by any means, and the worst part of it all is that his time in LA is short seeing as he is needed to fly off to London to finish up some things regarding his new album. He spent the entire morning at the studio finalizing some things before coming over to your apartment to spend some time with you, which ended up with the two of you napping together and watching some more Brooklyn Nine-Nine… Not the most exciting thing ever, you know. But it’s not necessarily something you’d want to change either.

You glance over to your right and mindlessly reach up to start massaging your fingertips through his curls, gasping slightly when he moans in contentment at the gesture. His eyes flutter open as soon as you instinctively move your hand away as a small pout starts forming on his lips. “Why’d yeh stop?”

“I didn’t think you were awake,” you respond as you lean yourself up on your elbows to look at him better, just as he lets out a dramatic huff. “Ok drama queen, what’s got you so salty now?”

“I-,” he starts and pauses before sitting up in a position similar to yours so that he is face to face with you. “I just want to stay like this to stay here with you. I know I don’t fly home until tomorrow evening, but damn it feels like I just got back.”

“You’re telling me.” He looks at you curiously as you say this and you move your hand to push some his hair out of his face before letting your eyes fall back to his. “I feel you just got back too, and it sucks not knowing how long you’re going to be away in London for.”

“Yeah, but at least you’ve agreed to actually come to see me this time around. Even though you still didn’t let me pay for the ticket.”

“Why would I let you pay for my flight when I can pay for it myself?” You challenge, and he scoffs. “Besides, I’m really starting to miss your mum and Gem. This trip is really just for me to see them, I hope you know.”

“Hey!”

“And you of course,” you tell him with a smirk before leaning forward to place a quick peck on his lips. “We’re still going to go to the George Michael museum, right?”

“Only if you can fit me into your oh so busy schedule while you’re there,” he replies and grins widely before leaning in to attach his lips to yours once again. The kiss is much deeper and slower this time, leaving you needing to catch your breath once he eventually decides to pull away; taking a moment to gently press his forehead against yours before speaking up again. “S’gonna suck leaving you again when we really haven’t had much time to do anything. Promise you won’t find someone more exciting than me to keep you company while I’m away.”

“Find someone who could out diva you? Impossible.”

“Good,” he says with a smirk before wrapping an arm around your waist and pulling you in for another kiss. You respond by leaning forward and gently nudging him to lay back down. He picks up on what you’re doing instantly, letting his hand slither it’s way down your side and gripping your left thigh so he can swing your leg over his middle, and that you’re left straddling his waist.

You smirk against his lips seeing as this isn’t the first time you’ve found yourself in a similar predicament to this one with him and can’t help the small chuckle that leaves your mouth when you accidentally rub your core against him, and soft breath escapes his mouth. “What is with you and this exact position hmm?”

“Seeing you on top just does something to me I guess,” he states before gripping onto your thighs again, and flipping you over so that your back is against the mattress while he looms over top of you. He leans down to start attacking your collarbone with multiple kisses, sucks, and nibbles before slowly leaving a trail up your neck until he finishes at your jaw, and finally crashing his lips against yours again.

You’re fully aware that the involuntary moan that leaves your mouth as he does this and is aware of how it springs something inside of him with the way you can feel his prick hardening against the inner part of your leg. He shifts slightly, and that’s when you can feel just how big he is — not being able to keep yourself from gasping at an entirely new feeling.

“H.” You breathe out hungrily and let your hands move down to the waistband of his track pants. However, what you think is a gesture that would urge him on actually cause him to halt what he’s doing and pull away from you slightly.

“Uhm… you didn’t want to, did you?” He awkwardly mumbles as he so clearly has a blush burning its way across his cheeks. Your heart swells at how flustered he’s getting because if there’s one thing you know about Harry, it’s that he’d never force you into something you didn’t want to do regardless of how badly he wanted it. But this? Fuck, you needed this.

“Hey,” you speak up as you place your hand under his chin and move it, so he doesn’t have the choice but to look at you again. “I want to more than anything… I don’t think I have any condoms though, it-it’s been a while.”

He can’t help the smirk that plays on his lips as you say this and tries his best not feel so smug at the thought of you not sleeping with anyone for at least a good bit of time before getting involved with him. It gives him a sense of pride and excitement in knowing that he’ll be the one to make you feel good from now on. “I have one in my wallet.”

“Oh, so you planned this?” You ask jokingly as he reaches over to grab his wallet off of your bedside table. “I should’ve known, you’re pretty much prepared for everything.”

“Shut up,” he groans and sends you a wink before opening up the wallet to search for the piece of rubber that resides there. A small shiny glint of a silver wrapping catches your eye, and you quickly reach over to rip it out of the wallet and dangle it in front of his face.

“Looking for this?” You question cheekily but gasp when Harry suddenly snatches it from your fingers and moves to rip open the packing with his teeth.

“Yup.”

You don’t have much time to react before he has the two of you engulfed in another heated makeout session, and can feel yourself getting riled up. He moves his hand down to the hem of your shirt and begins lifting it up over your head. The condom wrapper scratches against your skin as it pokes out from Harry’s grip and leaves a tingling trail all the way up to your side in its wake.

Harry removes his lips from yours for a quick moment to entirely remove your t-shirt, finding himself smirking as he sees your nipples perk once they come in contact with the cold air that fills your bedroom. He then moves down to the waistband of the pajama shorts you wear and wastes no time in pulling them down your legs to remove them altogether.

“No underwear.” He says more as a statement to himself before crawling back above you and kissing you again. You sense yourself becoming lost by the feeling of his bare chest pressed against yours as you continue making out that you don’t notice how he subtly removes the rings that always reside on his left hand before he’s pushing a finger inside of you without warning.

“Oh fuck,” you gasp against his lips as your back arches off the mattress a little bit as he decides to add another finger. His movements remain steady as his digits start moving in and out of you at a steady pace that sends tingles all throughout your body. You weren’t kidding when you told him it’d been a while since you last had sex, and with the way he has his thumb presses hard circles over your clit while his pointer and middle finger hit you in all the right places for a few minutes… you know you might not last much longer; feeling an inevitable bubble forming in the pit of your stomach. “H-Harry, I’m gonna-.”

“Not yet love,” he tells you softly while placing kisses along your jaw, and starts moving his fingers at a much slower, agonizing pace.

“You're cruel.” Your words come out more like a whine, and this causes him to smirk as he places more kisses upon your collarbone, before moving up his right hand to massage at your left breast. He left his rings on that hand, and the coolness of the metal adds to the feeling, oh him squeezing at the fleshy part of your chest.

His movements resume steadily for a moment before he moves onto the other boob with his mouth. His body rubs against you as he leans over to give your left breast some needed attention and has to shift slightly, that’s when you can really feel him. Your eyes struggle to stay open, but even with their fluttering you’re still able to make out this particular feeling to be the large bulge in Harry’s track pants that are pressed against your thigh — and that’s when an idea springs to your mind.

Harry remains occupied, so you decide to remove one hand that is tangled in his curls, down his chest and stomach, and right into the waistband of his pants where you can grip onto him. You’re a little surprised at just how big he is, but don’t let that phase you as your hand slides up and down his length a few times; making sure to spread the pre-cum that’s gathered at his tip.

“Mmm, getting impatient are we?” He mumbles against your skin as his lips trail back towards your mouth.

“Don’t act like you want to put this off any longer either, Styles,” you snap and earn a chuckle from him.

“You’re right, I really don’t.” He gives you an arrogant wink before retracting his hand away from your throbbing core and moving his now soaking wet fingers towards his mouth — never breaking eye contact as he sucks them dry. With another smirk as you let out an impatient sigh, he grabs the condom that has fallen onto the mattress beside you and begins taking it out.

“H?” You speak up while watching him and bite down onto your bottom lip just as he removes the rubber from its package. He stays silent as he looks over to you and lets his eyes roam you a little bit. “I- uh, I’ve been taking the pill…”

You swear there’s a childlike glint of excitement that flashes over his eyes as you tell him this, and a huge grin is soon stretching its way across his lips. He looks down at the condom and chuckles before tossing it back onto the bedside table. “Won’t be needing that then.”

He shifts his position up onto his knees with his legs positioned at the inner parts of your thighs, and you sit up to quickly help with ridding him of his pants. Once all clothing is gone, you can’t help the way your eyes widen as his hardened cock sticks out and you take in his entire length. He watches you smugly before leaning forward to catch your lips in another alluring kiss and starts sliding himself into your burning centre; creating a new sensation that earns gasps from both of you.

“Shit Y/N,” he groans as he slowly continues pushing himself further up into you. “Yer so tight love feels so good.”

All you’re able to do is moan in response at the burning, yet the extremely pleasurable feeling of him so deep inside of you. Once he’s situated, he begins with slow thrusts… but finds himself not being able to maintain that pace with how good you feel around him and the want- no, need to speed this up a bit grows.

The sound of Gina’s and Boyle’s voices sassing each other can quietly be heard from the tv that is still on from the other side of the room, but it’s soon drowned out by yours and Harry’s moans, as well as the sound of his skin coming in contact with yours over and over again. His thrusts are fast, and he continuously hits your g-spot with ease, and it’s making you feel so damn good. Harry can tell how you’re feeling by the way your hands are tangled in his curls again, and he knows that he’s getting you close to your edge, feeling himself not being too far behind.

Each thrust pushes you closer to the orgasm you’re both craving, and just as Harry seemingly thrusts even deeper inside of you while rubbing his thumb in circles over your sensitive clit… you finally get there. You moan his name and arch your back as that bubble you felt in your stomach earlier bursts, sending you right over the edge into orgasmic bliss. His movements begin slowing as you clench around him and trigger that same feeling for him to experience as well.

“Fuck Y/N,” he breathes out, and soon enough you can feel the warm spurts of his cum filling you up. His thrusts become much sloppier as he comes down from his high and sends you a smile once he comes back to his senses, leaning down to capture his lips against yours one last time.

You flinch slightly as he moves away and slowly pulls out before flopping onto the mattress right next to you. No words are exchanged as the two of you lay there trying to catch your breath, and it’ll probably stay that way until one of you know what to say to the other after something so intimate.

It doesn’t take much for you to notice the feeling of his release slowly trickling its way out of you, but try to ignore it as you close your eyes and work on steadying your heart rate. Another moment passes, and soon enough, Harry is shifting from his spot beside you, and you open your eyes again to see him leaning on his elbow while looking at you with a stupid boyish grin.

“What?” You ask and move your hand up to push back some of the matted curls stuck to his forehead.

“You know that song, I Just Had Sex by The Lonely Island and Akon?”

You instantly scowl and let your hand fall back down onto the pillow beside your head as your boyfriend is overcome by a severe laughing fit. “Where are you going with this?”

“Nowhere,” he says between laughs and has to take a breath before continue. “Was just thinking about that song and how maybe we should call Gemma to tell her what just happened.”

“Harry!” You gasp loudly, and he falls back onto the mattress cackling. You watch him cry laugh for a second before reaching for the pillow you’re resting on and sitting up so you can use it to gently smack his shoulder with. “That’s not even funny!”

“Maybe not,” he replies and wipes away some of the tears leaving his eyes, before reaching out to grab your wrist so he can prevent you from hitting him with the pillow again. “But your reaction absolutely was.”

“You’re literally the worst,” you state as you let go of the pillow and he sits up as well. “There is no way in hell that we’re telling my best friend- your sister about anything that just happened. We’re not telling anyone for that matter.”

“Yes dear,” he responds as his laughing fades into soft chuckles, and he reaches out to push a stray piece of hair back behind your ear. You try your best to keep a pout planted on your lips as he does this, but there’s no use when he leans over to place a soft peck on your mouth, and you instantly melt at his touch. “Think we could do that at least once more before I leave tomorrow though?”

A small laugh leaves your mouth, and you have to look away as he just sits there grinning at you. “Maybe if you don’t annoy me too much.”

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vgprintads · 4 years

Text

BEST OF 2019!

Well, here we are once again.

I don’t have much of a speech lined up this year, so this is going to be more of a rough dictation. Here was a year filled with the same sort of BS that we have grown accustomed to, not just in the real world but in gaming as well. As this is being typed up at the last minute I don’t think I can offer an adequate summary of all we gamers have gone though this past dozen of months, but I’ll try.

The fallout of 76 continues to provide a grey overcast above Todd Howard’s reputation as his great butchered live-service continues to be a convoluted joke with no punchline. Activision Blizzard was singled out among the many China-appeasing companies and given a public paddling, until they announced a couple of big sequels and was forgiven immediately. EA went to bat for loot boxes and tried to convince Parliament that “surprise mechanics” are okay by way of Gordon Gekko. The latter of these being the harbinger of all the political scrutiny that fell upon all of them.

Despite all the usual drab titles and greedy stupidity that churns out of the big studios these days, it wasn’t all nonsense coming out of here. ‘Resident Evil 2′ got more than a nice new coat of paint for its remake; ‘Smash Bros. Ultimate’ got a pass from me for being pretty fun and adding Banjo-Kazooie; ‘Kingdom Hearts 3′ finally hit the shelves after years of anticipation.

There was also some noteworthy titles from the middle-ground studios that showed that big budgets don’t need to be shoveled into the furnace of safe marketable tripe; that unfilled niches--and perhaps spiritual successors--still bring in tidy sums. Games like ‘The Outer Worlds’ and ‘Bloodstained’, which were helmed by respected names in the industry who did more than make rehashes of stuff they did in the 90′s; not burning through the trust and money of their supporters like other projects.

Oh, and Death Stranding. From an outsider’s perspective, your mileage may vary with this great experiment born from the question “what happens when we give an insane auteur unlimited funds, resources, and creative freedom to create a game that would only appease himself, some friends, and the voices in his head.”

Which leads me to the indie game scene. Once again, I apologize if I fail to give the sufficient amount of nods to vast number of bedroom programmers and coffee shop devs who vy for the smallest bit of acknowledgement. Games that really struck a chord with the masses, like ‘Baba is You’, ‘Untitled Goose Game’, and ‘Disco Elysium’. Not all-encompassing of course: personally I was blown away by the styles of ‘Sayonara Wild Hearts’ and ‘Ape Out’: my only regret is that I bought them for the Switch, so currently I cannot show them to my Discord pals. But we’ve had a blast playing ‘Super Animal Royale’ over the past couple of months!

So... those are my collection of thoughts. 2019 wasn’t a golden year or anything, but it had plenty of escapism for those exhausted by our toxic times.

Right, enough reminiscing. Time to bring this all home.

December is going to be different this year. Instead of waiting for the last week, I’m going to dedicate almost the entire month for the year’s best posts! From the stuff that broke over the 100 note mark to stuff I found the most interesting. Starting at January and making my way on down, with four posts a day for the rest o.... oh, right, we’re going into permanent fours from now on! Ah, but this time, I’ll have Saturdays dedicated to Holiday-themed posts! A handful of new finds mixed with some old favorites.

So with all this said, thank you all for your continued support and have a safe and happy holiday season!

See you in 2020!

-@paulruskeaton

#news #vgpa: best of 2019 #holidays #themes

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imaginedanganronpa · 5 years

Note

Can you please do headcanons with the DR1 cast as the Remnants of Despair? I was thinking of the V3 cast in the role of the TTH cast with Tsumugi as the Ultimate Despair and Maybe Rantaro as her Mukuro. While Kaede’s the Ultimate Hope with Ryoma, Shuichi, Kiibo, Miu and Himiko surviving with her.

I love Remnant of Despair AU’s, but I’m going to exclude Junko and Mukuro for obvious reasons. And as for the V3 Cast in the THH roles, I’m not going to write that right now since that isn’t the Request submitted but I guess I could in the future! I definitely think Tsumugi would be the Ultimate Despair, but I’m not as sure about Rantaro as her Mukuro lol. I think it’s an interesting concept nonetheless!

Warnings for: Su*cide Mentions, as well as Spoilers for the DR3 Anime and Mentions of Violence/D*pression.

Danganronpa 1: Trigger Happy Havoc Cast As The Remnants of Despair!

Makoto Naegi

It’s hard to believe that Makoto would succumb to Despair very easily considering his status as the Ultimate Hope. He would be one of the more difficult individuals to break, especially with his affiliation to the Future Foundation.

But how Despair-inducing would it be to turn the Ultimate Hope into a servant for Despair? If anything, Makoto would be in a hostage situation where everything else started to feel bleak and meaningless, working as a similar Servant to the Warriors of Hope.

Rather than being a voluntary Servant, though, he would be forced into doing so, which would slowly break his spirit.

Junko would break him down and use him for her own personal gain. He would become a bargaining chip against the Future Foundation, and if they did anything to try to stop Junko and the other Remnants then she could easily bring harm to Makoto.

His broken down state of mind would also be used against his class - they would be shown how he has deteriorated and fallen victim to Despair, which would in turn bring his friends onto Junko’s side as well.

He, similar to Chiaki, would be the main focus in the brainwashing video that brought them into Despair.

Kyoko Kirigiri

It would be quite difficult tosend Kyoko into Despair, and it takes much more than just brainwashing to causeher to switch sides. Junko would trick Kyoko into believing that Makoto wasmurdered and show her the falsified video of his supposed brutal ‘death,’ which woulddo the trick.

After being converted into a Remnant, Kyoko would head to Hope’s Peak Academyto murder her father, Jin Kirigiri, in an act of cold blood. If he was gone,then she would have no trouble destroying his beloved Academy in the process – shewould watch the other Remnants wreak havoc upon the city from atop thecrumbling, destroyed building that once was Hope’s Peak.

She would see herself as the judge, jury, and executor – Kyoko would be able tomurder innocent civilians and cover up their deaths so that they would never besolved!

She wants children to feel the same Despair that she felt when she took her own father’s life and slaughter families before their very eyes, whichwould eventually lead children into working for the Warriors of Hope.

That, and Kyoko would starve herself until her body was nothing but a skinny husk. Ifshe was brainwashed as much as the others, she may even take Junko’s hands toreplace them with her own, scarred ones.

Byakuya Togami

Byakuya would be one of the mostmerciless Remnants of Despair, feeling his power growing within him and loving the new dominance he has gained since joining the side of Despair; he would become increasingly hostile and greedy.

Since he is the heir to a big company, he would easily be able to send peopleinto a deep depression and Despair by laundering money and sending them intomass debt. It would be just like the Great Depression in the 1930’s America allover again, causing people to commit suicide over their un-repayable debt.

He’d laugh as those around him crumble and watch the world fall into Despair as images of people everywhere jumping from the tops of buildings would circulate.

He would also offer up his parents as sacrifices to Junko - to both feel the Despair of killing them but to also inherit the company; Byakuya would be much more selfish after becoming a Remnant and he would be able to take full control of his family’s company so that his plan to send the country into debt would go smoothly.

And Byakuya would deepen his own Despair by doing something he’d never do in his right mind, and fall in love with Touko Fukawa.

Celestia Ludenberg

The first thing that Celestia woulddo is starve herself and change her entire wardrobe to replicate Junko’s aesthetic, even changing her clip-ins to reflect Junko’s hairstyle and wearing Monokuma pins in her hair.

She would likely revert back to calling herself Taeko as well.

Celestia would set up gambling rings that were rigged and impossible to win, causingpeople to gamble their lives away until they dropped from exhaustion,stealing their money and sending them into mass debt as she did so, similar to Byakuya’s method but in a much more direct way.

She would use Despair as a bargaining chip, sending even the most confident people into Despair. She would beg them to, “Keep playing, come on! You have nothing else to lose, Upupupu!” until her opponents lost everything they had, sending them into depression.

Celestia would laugh like a madman as she watched anyone who tried facing her crumble.

She would also force people to play Russian-Roulette, lying about how many bullets were in the chamber. Of course, they would all actually be loaded so playing her games was a death-wish, but she didn’t tell them that.

Leon Kuwata

Leon would become the face of Despair for athletes everywhere as he works them to death, literally; he ‘motivated’ his teammates to train until they dropped from exhaustion.

Those athletes who survived were brainwashed alongside him, becoming minions of Despair, and would then use their astounding physical abilities in the fight against the Future Foundation as well to slaughter civilians everywhere.

Since he wants to become a musician, he would create mediocre Despair-inducing music that would cause physical harm to whoever listened to it; he would attendSayaka’s concerts to further himself into Despair.

Leon destroys the baseball stadium where he played at, and stands among the rubble after he’s finished to overlook the city and watch the other Remnants spread Despair across the country.

Leon also spreads physical destruction, modifying his bat into a steel weapon, equipped with sharp blades at the top. He would recklessly vandalize the city, letting out loud, unsettling laughter as he did so.

And anyone who tried to stop him would get ruthlessly beaten to death in the process.

Aoi Asahina

Aoi would offer up her brother,Yuta, as a sacrifice to Junko and the Warriors of Hope; he was already a ‘Demon’ that they were hunting so she would just make their jobs easier.

And to feel the most Despair possible, Aoi would drown him. It’s ironic since both of them, especially her, are renowned swimmers - how Despair-inducing it is to be killed by the thing you love the most!

Aoi’s personality would completely change - she would no longer be the positive, optimistic girl that she once was. She would deprive herself of sweets to fuel her own madness and Despair, becoming much less emotional, and more serious.

She would fight alongside Genocider Syo and Sakura Oogami, using her own physical strength to fight the war against the Future Foundation. She would also completely turn against Makoto and laugh as she watched him serve the Warriors of Hope like a dog.

Aoi would be the main ‘motivational’ speaker for the Remnants, encouraging them to continue spreading Despair and develops a sick, sinister adoration for Despair and idolization of Junko.

Kiyotaka Ishimaru

Kiyotaka would become asecond-in-command to Junko Enoshima, self-proclaiming himself as a Leader ofDespair.

He would march around the city with a hoard of Monokuma carrying him on apodium as he waves his hand with a sinister grin and shouts encouraging words about Despair tocitizens on the streets, encouraging them to follow his lead with words.

Kiyotaka would shout at citizens trying to fight back against Junko’s Despair-inducing tactics, using his morality to alter their own morals and values and successfully swaying them onto his side.

Kiyotaka’s voice is programmed into the Monokuma Drones’ systems so that they recognize him, and that way he is able to command them as they march through the streets. He would be the main ringleader in charge of the Monokuma infesting the city, pulling at their strings like puppets as they do everything he says.

Anyone who was not succumbing to Despair was seen as a filthy rule-breaker, and Kiyotaka would promptly order the Monokuma Drones to tear them limb from limb.

Remnant of Despair Kiyotaka is much more cruel and rude as well.

Touko Fukawa

Touko Fukawa would cease to exist andonly act upon her instincts as Genocider Syo. She would never assist Komaru in a fight against the Warriors of Hope and Junko Enoshima, and would instead lash out against anyone who tried stopping them.

She would work as a tool for Byakuya and Kiyotaka as they order her around, getting off to their insults and harsh commands. She uses her scissors as weapons and superior killing-capabilities to fight the FutureFoundation.

Touko, or Genocider, would be like the ‘attack-dog’ of the Remnants. However, she would also blatantly try to murder Byakuya out of love, to only increase her own level of Despair, resulting in a horde of Monokuma restraining her.

Genocider would make plenty of comments about how Touko was her former self, and how she killed Touko and she’d never return. She was a ruthless killer who slaughtered tons of Future Foundation members.

Mondo Oowada

Mondo would terrorize the city onhis motorcycle, infecting the rest of his Biker Gang with Despair; also having leather-jacket wearing Biker Monokuma Drones join them and ride alongside them.

He could easily persuade the rest of his Gang members onto the side of Despair and ruthlessly kill whoever opposed him. They would form a fleet of motorcycles that would ride through the city, bringing Despair wherever they went.

Together, they would vandalize and destroy the city, and kill anyone who triedstopping them. Mondo and his Gang would take delinquency to a whole new level, getting in physical fights and destroying property, leaving only destruction and rubble in their path.

He becomes even more physical and hostile than he was before. Mondo would also get Chihiro to reprogram his bike and attach weapons, like machine-guns or flamethrowers, onto them so he can gun down innocent bystanders out of the blue.

He would often speak poorly of his fallen brother Diaya, no longer feeling remorseful over his death and instead calling Diaya a pathetic coward.

Sayaka Maizono

Sayaka would first set an example for her supporters by starving herself until she was nothing but an empty husk, encouraging all of her fans to do the same and insisting that they mutilate their bodies to look more like Junko’s.

But she, similar to Ibuki and Hiyoko, would perform Despair-inducing concerts that were designed to brainwash her audience. A lot of her songs encouraged suicide, murder, or destruction; and at the end of her concerts, she would have successfully diminished any and all confidence or sanity that her fans had.

Sayaka performs something similar to a Siren Song, bringing Despair to whoever listened to it. She would also use the screens behind her on stage to play the brainwashing video that Chihiro creates as she performs.

After her shows, she would hold a Meet-and-Greet where she demanded that her fans murder their loved ones and/or take their own lives; her influence as an Idol could persuade them into doing anything.

And Sayaka would also lure people in with her beauty, similar to Mikan. She would target her male audience and mutilate or torture them just for fun once she finally got a hold of them.

Chihiro Fujisaki

Chihiro would be one of the firstpeople to succumb to Despair since his mindset is already weak and damaged, so he would likely be the easiest person in their Class to convert.

He would use his programming abilities to play the brainwashing video he created all overthe city, hacking into downtown’s technology and projecting the video onto the big screens looming over the streets of Japan. Chihiro could also send this signal through private businesses so that his video plays in the homes of innocent civilians everywhere, unexpectedly catching them off-guard.

It would be a video, similar to the first Motive, that shows your loved ones in peril but also depicts graphic images of violence that would instantaneously brainwash anyone who watched it into Despair and send them into violent and hostile outbursts.

Chihiro would also ditch the dress he previously wore and adjust his wardrobe to reflect that of Junko’s, wearing a similar style to hers.

He is also in charge of programming all of the Monokuma Drones, becoming the main person who creates and develops them.

Sakura Oogami

If anyone, other than Makoto, isable to resist Despair then it would be Sakura – her willpower is far superiorthan that of her classmates and it takes a lot more to send her into Despair.Once she is on Junko’s side, though, she proves to be a formidable ally.

Junko would use her status as a Traitor to diminish her self-esteem, and thenonce Sakura’s emotions were at the lowest of the low, she would be shown a video of herfamily’s beloved Dojo getting destroyed.

In an act of anger, Sakura would slaughter her boyfriend and offer him up as a sacrifice to Junko – once sherealized what she had done is when she would completely fall into Junko’s hands.

Sakura would become a warrior for the Remnants, fighting alongside Genocider Syo and Aoi Asahina against the Future Foundation, easily taking out anyone who stood in her way.

She would also proudly boast about her status as a Remnant and try to provoke the members of the Future Foundation onto their side.

And if they didn’t listen, then Sakura would simply kill them with ease. Between Genocider’s mastery of blades and her brute strength, it was nearly impossible to fight against these women.

Yasuhiro Hagakure

Surprisingly, the Despair Yasuhiro feels causeshis prediction rates to increase in accuracy – but that was also part ofJunko’s motive for bringing him onto her side, and he fell for it withouthesitation.

Now, to fill others with Despair, Yasuhiro will still read their fortunes butpromise only negative things befalling his customers. He reads their fortunesthat are filled with Despair, misfortune, and heartache to send them spiralinginto depression; this makes them easier targets to either kill or bring onto the side of Despair.

Yasuhiro would be much more intelligent and calm as a Remnant, and less likelyto make hasty choices or comments. His new personality would be much more unnerving and sinister.

He would replace one of his eyes with Junko’s after her inevitable death,insisting that it helped him to ‘see’ into the future.

Yasuhiro would also murder his mother in a fit of blind rage and use her body as a sacrifice, selling her remains for profit.

Hifumi Yamada

Hifumi would also be easy to brainwash, and he’d ditch his ‘heroic’ persona for a more villainous one.

His Manga and Fanfiction would show depictionsof Despair and the characters he has created falling into it, causing hisviewers to model after them and succumb to Despair as well.

He would likely kill off his most popular and loved characters by forcing them to commit suicide and he would write Junko as a character into his fiction, representing her as an idol that his viewers should look up to and strive to be like.

Hifumi already has a large audience that would immediately be switched onto theside of Despair – his younger audience would follow in the Warriors of Hope’sfootsteps, killing their parents and joining their army, while his older audience would start worshipping Junko Enoshima.

He could easily get his readers to do as he pleases – if he wanted to cause them to commit suicide, kill their loved ones, or destroy their home or city, he could do so with one publication.

- Mod Rantaro

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coloneloftruth · 4 years

Text

Money’s never been easy for me to come by. I’ve never worked a job that paid more than twenty bucks an hour, and I never won or inherited more than a couple thousand dollars at a time. To say I’ve lived paycheck to paycheck much my career is no understatement.

I began investing in cryptocurrency in 2017, and immediately, I started profiting. I invested whatever I could at the time, and for maybe a month or two, I was reaping rewards the likes I had never seen previous to that. I was up into the tens of thousands of dollars, and then... it stopped. It just all came crashing to a halt.

What I’d initially invested in was the crypto bull run of late-2017, early-2018. After Bitcoin had shot past $20K, and all the alternative coins along with it, many of which delivered even greater earning potential, interest more or less subsided. Around mid-January or February, everything cooled off. That was when I made my first truly godawful investment, which would be one I rode for the better part of six months before calling it, far too late into the process. I look back to this particular investment as something I have invested in currently is eating shit and costing me thousands of dollars, all of which I would have had if I weren’t, oh, one day too greedy? Yeah.

So I’m at the movies in early 2018, Lord knows what I was seeing, but I remember I was at the AMC Theatre to see it, as it wasn’t playing locally. I got a tip that I should buy a *certain* crypto now, as it would eventually go up in price, and then it would “fork” into another, more valuable crypto. This is where I should have seen the red flag and kept my money, but alas, I poured some $4,300 into this thing, for 49 of the tokens I thought would, one day, be worth $300, $500, maybe even $1,000 each. Wow, I’d thought! Nobody trying to scam me here. Only that’s everybody, because this is cryptocurrency, and the smaller the project, the less jurisdiction holding them back from truly screwing you over.

I rode this forked coin from February through August 2018, never once seeing it go up beyond a tick here and there, all while hapless investors kept telling me to hang on, to hold on, that someday, it would rise. And I sit here 20 months later, and this coin had never gotten above the $3 or so I sold it for back then. Today, it is worth $.11. That’s right, eleven cents. Something I paid, at the time, probably 80 or 90 dollars for, is worth less than a buck not even two years later.

You’d think I’d have learned my lesson. And, for a while, I did.

I went from coin to coin to coin to coin after that. Never really taking profits along the way, losing money pretty handily along the way. I learned a lot, and I kept investing, and I thought I finally had it down recently, but now, this past month, again, I’ve made a blunder that will cripple me financially, unless and until it doesn’t. Hopefully I’m just being overdramatic, but something tells me this time, I got too greedy. Too cocky. I waited a day too long and now it’s too late for me to get the Hell out of Dodge.

The thing is, I knew it was a scam coin going into it, this one I invested all my crypto savings into early last month. I knew it from the goddamn jump. I knew never to go “all in,” on a known shitcoin, of all things, but it didn’t matter, because that it was a scam did not matter. I was thinking I would ride the scam, make a few bucks off of it, then cash out, leaving everybody else holding the bag. And, up until yesterday morning, I certainly appeared to have that chance.

Today, I woke up in a panic. The volume for this coin has suddenly plummeted, and interest has bottomed. We’re already in the midst of a Bitcoin halvening, so I expected alts to bleed, and shitcoins to bleed even further. But the scam coin I put my bank into is bleeding out, it seems, with no real plan for escape or getting any of my money back.

I had a plan before. This is a low-sat coin, meaning I at least thought a single sat was as low as it would likely go. Then, they opened up the Litoshi market, which is even lower than one Bitcoin Satoshi, and now what I have is worth even less, somehow. And I’m so mad, because as of at least yesterday, I could have cashed out for what I consider to be the least I should have and would have accepted had things gone awry, and I’m maybe six or twelve more hours from selling everything for what would have been a real nice profit.

But yesterday, everyone else got this same memo and beat me to the punch, and now I’m left with sell orders for much less than I put into it, just so I can put it into something else and recoup my initial investment on this stupid thing. I fucked myself because I got greedy, and I was arrogant, believing I could out-sham the shammers. Now I know.

Could you imagine if there was anything of actual merit or worth to spend that money on? That’s the turn of this whole equation.

This whole time -- and, I mean since I got my last job, mid-March 2017 -- this whole time I’ve been holding myself off from my true potential. The job I had paid well and asked very little of me, and I didn’t live on my own at the time (still don’t, technically), so I had plenty of money to save, spend on trinkets and vacations, and come 2018 and beyond, invest in cryptocurrency. But the job I had was never fulfilling in and of itself, and it long served as both “something to do” and “means to try and invest and, someday, make enough so I don’t have to work here.”

Creatively, however, I was never fulfilled, and I never had the time do come even close to it. I never had reason to connect with other human beings, to collaborate, to befriend them and learn from them, as they would stand to learn from me. No, the job I had led me down paths of isolation, none of which were too enriching, in either a creative, interpersonal, or even financial, sort of way. Crypto was a way to keep my mind occupied, to keep myself from getting bored, and to always have something to do that stimulated the senses. And maybe, just maybe, I’d make a couple bucks off it. And, damn, how much money I would be making if I just weren’t a literal day late. Because now I’m a metaphorical dollar short.

This pandemic has given me pause. Having been laid off, or “furloughed,” as the industry likes to say, I have qualified for unemployment. I await two checks worth over $3,400 from my state and federal governments, as well as other money that has yet to drop, from refunds and other revenue streams I’ve kept open during this time. I have some debts to pay, but in general, I should be doing OK soon. Hopefully. I don’t know, to be honest with you, but yeah, hopefully someday soon.

If I’ve learned thing from this whole experience, though, it’s that I’ve been, well, withholding myself and my capabilities from the world at large. I’ve let my depressing career depress my otherwise fun, enjoyable social life, and the world which surrounds doesn’t ever seem to be offering much help. But I’ve been creatively unfulfilled, I haven’t been heard at work, and my former workplace has turned toxic, with a boss who is out to get me, for a company that, eventually, is out to get everybody. It just so happens my number’s the one that’s been called.

So what is it that I even want right now? What do I need? At a time when I’ve lost both my job and much my savings due to a known scam I was 24 hours too late on exiting, and when life has seemingly lost all its purpose -- no sports, no concerts, no movies, no social outings, and no work for a lot of people -- what is it that would ultimately give me peace?

I’ve learned a great many skills in the three years I worked at my last job, and I got out of it, essentially, what I wanted having gone into it: Resume padding, references, money, and preparation for my next role a couple years down the line. That “couple years down the line” is now. Maybe it’s time to make my next move.

I don’t know where my future stands. Or what it holds. I don’t know if any of the eight or nine-thousand dollars I invested in this stupid fucking shitcoin is ever going to return to my hands, or virtual wallet, but what I do know is I won’t ever let something like this happen to me again, and I will take absolute comfort in the fact there I have more money coming on the way. In the future, post-pandemic, I am going to shop myself around harder than ever, as the most important thing I learned from this entire experience is just how good and capable I am, how worthy I am, and how utterly deserving I am, of good things.

The way I see it, I was making $40K before taxes at the job I was in. I’m a smart guy when motivated, but that place never motivated me. I could, feasibly, and should, by all means, be making at least $50K. I was never given a raise or anything in all my time at my last place. If I find a job that makes me happy, challenges me, puts me around people, keeps me honest, and pays me a respectful wage, if not one that is greater than I was previously making, then I would inevitably have more to invest in crypto down the road, or save, and I would also be more fulfilled long-term, as well.

Realistically speaking, it isn’t my lack of money holding me back -- I could bottom out in crypto, and still be all right -- it is my lack of upward mobility, from a career, and more importantly, personal happiness perspective, that is holding me back. I feel like I have more to give, and am capable of so much more, but I need to find people who agree with me on that. Who see my genius and desire it as much as I desire offering it. Only, we’re in the throes of an indefinite pandemic, so that crypto was a big chunk of all I had to care about. So, until I cash out however much I can from this utter sham of a coin... I’m stuck. With this feeling.

And who knows when it’ll end.

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queen-scribbles · 5 years

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Bad Feeling

Post-KotET Spy Nerds, feat. Jaaide having... well, a very very very bad day.

The relief that followed their ultimate victory remained an almost palpable sensation in the atmosphere of Odessen long after Vaylin’s death, Valkorion’s destruction, and the claiming of the Eternal Fleet. It lingered past Indo’s days-long celebration, past the initial stages of recovery, and long into the weeks that followed. There was still plenty to keep them busy, still a plethora of soldiers and aides scurrying around the Alliance base, focused on various tasks. But there was no longer the overhanging urgency and dread of their time fighting the Eternal Empire. Problems were much smaller scale, more easily solved by small, self-contained chains of command, and far fewer people were clamoring for their Commander to handle everything.

This, in turn, meant it took longer to notice when she chose to disappear. Usually that wasn’t a big deal; Jaaide was an exceptionally private and introverted person when given the choice. Sometimes being alone was necessary to recharge from all the hours spent with a smile on her face leading the Alliance. Today, though, Theron had a bad feeling about her absence. This time she was hiding because something was wrong, he just knew it.

A certainty that only increased when he didn’t find her in any of her usual quiet spots on-base. She wasn’t on her balcony, wasn’t on the rock at the far edge of her private landing area, or on the ship itself, wasn’t even down visiting Keke.

“Your mom’s hiding real good this time,” Theron muttered to the orobird, lightly kicking the wall in frustration.

Keke clacked her beak, ruffled her feathers, and head-butted the wall behind her treat dispenser.

“Still a greedy thing, I see,” he snorted, but hit the lever to dispense a treat and tossed it to her. She snatched it out of the air and swallowed it whole with a muffled cackle-coo of approval. “I’m not petting you,” Theron said dryly when she looked at him and half-raised her headcrest. “Not after last time. I want to keep all my fingers.”

Keke let out a sound jarringly similar to laughter and flapped her wings a few beats.

He shook his head. “I said no. And I don’t have time anyway; I need to find Jaaide. She’s been gone long enough I’m starting to worry.”

Finally accepting she couldn’t hold his attention, Keke flared her wings up--almost the (nefarious) bird equivalent of a shrug--and turned her back on him.

Drama queen, Theron rolled his eyes and turned away to keep looking.

Which was when he noticed one of the speeder bikes missing from the vehicle bay. A check of the computer log confirmed Jaaide was the one using it. It only took a minute to download the ID code and log out a speeder bike of his own, and then Theron was off toward the stationary and slowly blinking tracker, torn between worry he’d be intruding and the steadily growing knot of concern in his gut.

It took almost fifteen minutes to reach the speeder, parked in a clearing, and there was no sign of Jaaide nearby. But once Theron shut off his own speeder and the whine of its engine died away, he could hear quiet sniffling off to his left.

The knot in his gut twisted a little tighter.

He debated once again whether it was better to let her be before his deep-seated worry for the woman he loved won out. He wasn’t too obviously loud about his approach, but he wasn’t stealthy, either. She wasn’t far off, and Theron caught a brief glimpse of shaking shoulders before Jaaide stiffened at the sound of approaching footsteps.

“I knew I should’ve used Vette’s access codes for the speeder,” she said, a definite quaver in her voice, and she raised one hand to swipe at her face. “I didn’t think you’d find me so fast.”

“Never underestimate a worried boyfriend,” Theron said wryly. He paused a few steps back and crossed his arms to keep them from swinging awkwardly. “Noticed you pulled a better disappearing act than usual, wanted to make sure you were okay.” As if on cue, Jaaide sniffled and he winced. “Which you’re clearly not. I can go if you want me to...?”

“No.” Jaaide turned to look at him with red-rimmed eyes(had he ever seen her actually cry before?). “I did want to be alone, at first, but company... your company would be nice now.”

“Okay.” He approached and sat next to her, frowning at the goosebumps that covered her arms. “Aren’t you cold?”

She bit her lip. “I didn’t even notice...”

Theron huffed a sigh and shrugged off his jacket to wrap around her. “What’s wrong? Obviously something big if you didn’t even notice the temperature.”

Jaaide was quiet for a long moment, fingers rubbing the edges of the datapad in her lap.”...we got the final casualty confirmations from... from when Vaylin died.”

That ominous feeling at the edge of his senses pressed in stronger. “Bad, huh?”

She shook her head as she admitted, “I... I didn’t even look at the totals yet, But I’m sure it is.” She clenched her hands together, nails digging into her palms, her gaze stuck on the datapad screen. “Theron, I-I...”

The sentence died in a choked off sob as she buried her face in her hands and Theron couldn’t take it anymore. “C’mere.” He wrapped one arm around her shoulders, looped the other under her knees, and pulled her into his lap. She didn’t protest when he took the datapad, just curled in close, shoulders shaking as she cried. He tucked her head under his chin as he looked at the datapad.

It was a planet by planet list of the dead, missing, and wounded from the Eternal Fleet’s rampage while the Throne was unoccupied. Jaaide had pulled up Dromund Kaas, and Theron’s heart sank as he wondered how many friends and former co-workers she’d lost. Then his gaze landed on a pair of names in the top middle column of confirmed deceased and his heart stopped.

Arien, Griph Arien, Petra

Oh, no. His arm instinctually tightened around her shoulders and he swallowed hard before, tentatively, “Jaaide, that’s not...”

“My parents,” she mumbled into his shirt, which was beginning to feel more than a little damp.

“Oh, sweetheart.” Theron dropped the datapad, not caring how much damage it sustained, and wrapped both arms around her to hold her close. “I’m so sorry.”

He meant it. His relationship with his own parents was, well, not great, but Jaaide had spoken highly of hers the few times they’d come up. They hadn’t exactly been warm-and-fuzzy close, from what he gathered, but supportive and encouraging nonetheless.

“Why?” Jaaide sniffled. “S’not your fault. Or mine. Or ev-even Arcann or Vaylin. It’s the damn Eternal Fleet’s base protocol. There’s no one to blame, just a bunch of droids falling back on the baseline programming of extermination!”

Theron winced at the hurt in her voice. Not having a tangible place to lay blame had to make this even worse--like losing a loved one in a natural disaster or to an illness. There was no one to fight, no one to blame or forgive(whichever was more cathartic), it just was. And the way it was sucked.

“I know.” He carded his fingers through her hair, trying to ignore the goosebumps rising on his arms. It was chilly out here today, particularly under tree cover, but Jaaide was more important than his personal comfort. “I’m still sorry they’re.. gone, though. From what you’ve told me, they were pretty good parents.” Kriff, he didn’t know what to say, why was he so franging bad at this?!

As if sensing his struggle, Jaaide uncurled one hand from the folds of his shirt and rested it on his forearm. “They were. That’s really all that needs to be said.”

There was something in her voice, the way her thumb hesitated in rubbing against his skin, that made him skeptical, and that doubt escaped before he could rein it in. “Really?”

Jaaide’s shoulders hitched, breath catching sharp around another sob, and Theron wanted to smack himself. Nice, Shan. Can’t keep your mouth shut even when the woman you love more than life itself is grieving. That’s real nice going.

But Jaaide shifted, taking several deep breaths, only slightly shaky. “I-I..” She pressed the back of the hand not resting on his arm to her mouth. “Theron, I can’t.... I-I can’t help feeling guilty...”

He frowned. That didn’t fit with what she’d just said; that this wasn’t her fault. “’Bout what?”

“I never... I-I hadn’t...” She sniffled, wiped her eyes with the heel of her hand. “The last time I talked to them was before the Wild Space Expedition.”

“Oh.” He hugged her tighter and this time kept his mouth shut.

“I know I should have, especially after we established the Alliance and had a growing presence,” she continued, babbling now, “let them know I was alive and alright, but I was scared-” Jaaide abruptly cut herself off, hand splayed across his forearm, and leaned back to look up at him. “Now you’re cold.”

He tried to brush off her concern. “Don’t worry about me, you’ve been out here longer.”

“Yes, but I now have a concerned--and wonderfully warm--boyfriend wrapped around me,” she countered, a faint note of bemusement under the ragged edge of grief. “You have no such benefit. You should have your jacket back.” She wriggled slightly in his embrace, squirming her way out of the garment in question so she could hand it over.

Accepting that she wouldn’t be dissuaded, Theron took the jacket and shrugged it back on. “You realize, by your logic, I’m not allowed to stop hugging you now,” he deadpanned as he wrapped his arms around her again. “Or you’ll get cold.”

“All according to plan,” Jaaide said, letting out a sound that was half giggle, half sob.

“You also realize I’m not that easily distracted, right?” Theron rubbed her arm as she settled back in. “What made you scared to talk to your parents after we founded the Alliance?”

She sighed, snuggled close under his chin again. “Because... because they’re both dyed in the wool Imperial loyalists. Me breaking from the Empire to helm the Alliance is bad enough, but if they learned I’d defected to the Republic years before that? That I was working as a double agent to bring down the government and society they’d sworn their lives to defend?” She paused, caught a quavering breath. “Theron, it would have broken their hearts and infuriated them in one fell swoop. They very likely would have disowned me and I...I didn’t want to cost them another daughter, I didn’t want to lose my family, so I just... kept putting off any attempt to make contact.”

“Jaaide, how would they possibly have learned you were working as a double agent?” he asked gently. “You and Kothe were the only ones who knew the identity of his “new agent”, and he’s always been so damn protective of his operatives, the SIS didn’t know who worked for him half the franging time.”

“I don’t know,” she retorted, voice shaking. “It wasn’t a rational concern, I was just afraid of losing my family!” A hiccuping sob interrupted the words. “Which I did anyway, so now it seems extra foolish I didn’t contact them when I had the chance. Even if I let slip about being a double agent-”

“Which doesn’t seem likely,” Theron muttered, resting his chin against the top of her head, “you’re good at keeping secrets.”

“Comes with the job,” she mumbled, scrubbing her eyes again. “But even if I let slip and things ended on a sour note, I would’ve talked to them.”

“I’m well-acquainted with the twenty-twenty nature of hindsight, believe me,” he said wryly. “But you can’t dwell on it too long, Jaaide, you can’t. That sort of thing’ll chew you up and spit you back out.” He hugged her closer. “And some of us would very much hate to watch that happen.”

He felt more than heard her wry snort. “Part of why I tried to hide in the woods while I broke down.”

“It’s not the breakdown we wouldn’t want to see,” Theron clarified. Hell, he’d already helped her through a couple of those after nightmares about Torian’s death that got a little too real. “There’s a lot riding on you, the occasional breakdown is okay, especially to grieve something like this. Hell, it’s your parents, Jaaide. I don’t think there’s a single person in the Alliance who wouldn’t understand. What we wouldn’t want to see is you tearing yourself apart over something you can’t change.” He ran his fingers through her hair. “I’m sure they were proud of you.”

Jaaide pulled in a shaky breath. “I hope so.”

“Who wouldn’t be proud of you, sweetheart?”

Her hand, resting against his arm, gave a light squeeze. “You don’t think you’re maybe a tad biased?”

Theron chuckled. “Maybe a tad. Point is, I’m sure they were proud of you and loved you, even without more recent contact.”

Jaaide was quiet for a long moment, but he could feel the uneven breaths of her fighting tears before, softly, “...Thank you, Theron.”

He kissed the top of her head. “You’re welcome. I know I’m the last person to talk about family relationships, but even I can tell you that much about yours.”

She let out a small hum of gratitude and they lapsed into silence for several long minutes. For once in his life, Theron didn’t feel the least bit awkward with that. No snarky quips, no witty banter, no doing anything beyond just being here for someone he cared about.

Eventually, Jaaide let out a final sniffle and sat back so she could meet his gaze. “Thank you,” she said, quietly, but with such fervency it warmed him. “I think the worst is over now.”

Theron doubted that--grief tended to run in circles, from his experience--but no point in being a downer. “Glad I could help.”

She slid one hand around the back of his neck to tug him in for a kiss, which tasted faintly of salt. “It was very much appreciated,” she murmured, resting her temple against his cheek. “But we should probably head back. They’ll start to worry, especially with both of us gone.”

“I dunno, both of us missing might be a pretty strong hint why in and of itself,” he said playfully. She rolled her eyes and gave a watery smile as she whacked his shoulder. “Just ‘cause they’re wrong this time doesn’t mean it’s not a good guess,” he deadpanned. “But you’re right, we should head back. No rest for the wicked and all.. Also, you catching your death of cold after everything you’ve survived would be kinda ridiculous.”

Jaaide giggled, still shaky around the edges, but settling into the calm that rode between waves of grief. “Only kind of?”

“Alright, you’re right, it would be extremely and completely ridiculous. So let’s avoid that, shall we?”

She nodded and kissed his cheek one more time before they stood to make their way back to the speeders. Theron settled one arm around her shoulders as they walked, and Jaaide leaned in to the silent offer of continued support. Whatever the days ahead held, no matter how hard or dark, he’d have her back, and they both knew it.

How clearly she took comfort in that knowledge, he mused, was a very good feeling indeed.

#queens fic #jaaide arien #theron shan #otp: straight up truth #spy nerds #i'm such a mean mama #this has been a nebulous plan in my head for a couple of years now #i had the bare bones of it #but the details took their sweet time to flesh out #like whether to make it post KotFE or KotET #i like post KotET for when it puts things in their relationship #they've been a couple long enough they're comfortable being vulnerable with each other and i love it

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thekrawra · 5 years

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the marvel vs sony deal

so tradegy struck when it was announced it looks like spiderman will be leaving the mcu as sony and marvel have not succeeded in remaking a deal.

big disclaimer here: i’m in school studying film production and generally studying to be a producer myself and have some rudimentary knowledge or business, corporations, film financing and stock markets and IP and all the stuff that’s going into this. i’m no genius and this is just where my minds at as a loyal mcu and spiderman fan and how i see this issue shaping out after readying like every article i can find. another note is that there is tons of conflicting information about what deals were proposed and who said no to who. so it’s hard to get a read on it and put someone at fault without that. but yeah, this is just my thoughts on the situation based on what i think makes the most sense but like honestly who knows when company executives are involved.

—

there’s been a lot of talk over who should be blamed for it and really: neither side can be defended right now.

on the one hand there’s marvel/disney: who came in asking for a huge increase on their portions of the profits from these movies. we don’t know the full details of the deal they proposed but most of what i read seems to suggest marvel wanted to up their current percent of profits (it’s 5 or 10%? i’ve seen conflicting reports) to 50%. i’ve also ready though that with this in mind, marvel’s deal included marvel sharing production costs with song rather than sony paying the full bill, and also opening doorways to tie sony’s spinoff works — their spiderverse — into the mcu. is 50% a lot? yes. but in marvel’s défense they do bring a lot to the table. so we’ll get back to that.

on sony’s end: yes disney asked for a lot. but reports also say sony didn’t offer a counter offer, and that a 70/30 deal in sony’s favour had been offered was also turned down. at this point, we don’t have any confirmation on what’s true and what isn’t — but we do know that sony wanted to keep the deal the same, and really wasn’t convinced that they needed marvel to continue making billion dollar spiderman movies (which we will also get to). and ultimately, i do think disney should be getting at least a bit more of the profits: as long as they are willing to take on production costs as well that is.

so who’s wrong? who’s to blame? and who stands to lose the most if they can’t work out a deal?

first thing to clarify: disney/marvel is 100% being greedy. they don’t need a larger financial stake in these films and the deal would’ve work fine. they just believe sony stands to lose way more if disney backs out of a deal. disney never would’ve pushed for more money otherwise. they see the position sony is in and are trying to take advantage.

disney is no saint in this deal. and it’s no surprise that like all big corporations, disney is basically trying to intidmidate sony into giving them more money.

so is disney right? does sony stand to lose if they don’t make a deal.

i mean, kind of.

disney will be fine, there’s no doubt about that. yes they will most likely be throwing more work at kevin feige to retcon every spiderman story thread he had planned out, but the mcu is big enough it probably won’t take a huge hit, especially now that they’ve acquired xmen and f4.

so sony will definitely lose out on more, but is it enough to make a deal with disney worth it?

maybe.

the issue sony’s facing is they are facing a massive risk. they either sacrifice profit to keep spiderman in the mcu, something that has been going very well for them or they go at it alone, which their track record suggests isn’t a great plan.

yes, they’ve gotten a taste of how feige works and have had modern success with their spideyverse films. and there’s no doubt into the spiderverse was a success critically - but didn’t do as well financially, more of an underrated beauty than a huge hit. sure it once the oscar, but it made less money in the box office than ralph breaks the internet or incredibles 2 its biggest competitors. and venom was a success, but not on the same scale marvel movies tend to be - black panther and infinity war both made more money that year, and all three of marvel’s releases this year have made more.

and there’s no doubt spiderman made as much as it did because of endgame. ffh is a good movie but it’s box office dollar benefited from when it was released. i’m almost certain that had it not been the release right after endgame it wouldn’t have made a billion. marvel placed it right after their biggest movie ever, and ffh got to ride out the endgame hype. people wanted to know what happened next, so they went to see ffh.

taking that into account: sony can’t reach the success of the mcu without it. the numbers and track record don’t match. but can sony settle for a bit less money if they get to keep more of the profit. perhaps.

but here’s where we get into the thing that will be sony’s downfall: longevity.

it’s something the mcu offers to sony that i just don’t think sony can achieve on their own. the mcu has ten years under their belt and is clearly showing no signs of slowing down. by pairing with the mcu, that’s another 10 years of spiderman movies and spinoff that get that mcu treatment: the hype, the connections and from that, more money. even if they don’t connect their spinoffs to the mcu, people will still watch sony more closely. be more interested. because of ties to the mcu. not only are spiderman fans going to see spiderman movies, but mcu fans are too. and while often one in the same there’s a huge boost in profits by being tied to the mcu.

sony could maybe make a couple blockbusters and make some money over the next couple years but i just don’t see a way for them to successfully compete against the mcu, and the mcu is a much better friend for them than it is an enemy.

so now sony’s choice is make less movies with more profit, or make more movies with less profit of the overall profit. and originally they seemed to feel the former was true. they’ll work with disney if the deal stays the same but they felt like they could walk away and be fine.

so disney makes a play: leave negotiations. tell sony to have it their way and let the fans do the work for them. let sony sit on it and get a taste of what the backlash of pulling spidey from the biggest film franchise pretty much ever would do.

and it’s started. people are angry at sony, not disney. people want spidey in the mcu. sony’s stocks drop. all the response has been negative. no one likes this news and it’s only going to hurt sony.

i’m sure disney is trying to wear sony down. make it so sony is desperate to salvage the situation and then disney can get some more money.

so sony can stand down and accept a deal disney has proposed, or at least make a strong counteroffer. or they can ride it out and take a major risk at likely ruining their most profitable franchise.

neither company has played all their cards and right now, i feel like calling of negotiations is really just a strategy to make the other sweat for a while.

and also there’s a huge factor of publicity. this falling out has been the talk all over the place, it’s huge news. it seems like a bad time and negative publicity but people are panicking and reading and watching and trying to stay updated. people are tuned in.

and in result they are tuned into the mcu. and they are tuned into sony, for better or for worse.

people who are mad at sony know all the sony movies being released in the next while and have shared it. mcu fans are desperately looking for announcements of what comes next after this fallout.

now think of what happens if they announce a deal for spiderman again. it’s the hype from 2015 all over. and people care, people are invested, people are happy again. presumably stocks go back up (it’s hard for a read because i’m basing this all of my rudimentary knowledge of these subjects, but they could even jump higher—you really don’t know with stocks though) and both companies are talked about and got a bunch a free advertising basically.

so i think talks definitely aren’t over: because both companies are overall better if a deal is worked out. my best guess is what this is right now, is them just seeing what sides fans take and how much they can make the other guy sweat. this is a case of who cracks first.

all mcu fans can do is hope someone does.

#spiderman #marvel #sony #disney #ffh #spiderman far from home #marvel sony deal #this is why corporations suck

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aion-rsa · 5 years

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Marvel's What If: The Stories We'd Like to See

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The new animated series will show us alternate takes on the Marvel Cinematic Universe's timeline. Here are scenarios for every Marvel movie.

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This Marvel article contains spoilers.

When Disney+ hits, one of the many shows tying into the Marvel Cinematic Universe is What If, set to be on-demand in summer 2021. The show will be animated, albeit using many of the actors from the various MCU movies. Based on the What If comic series, which was created in the '70s, the anthology series has a pretty basic concept: take an important part of Marvel history, zig when the original story zagged, and then write a story out of that.

For instance, the comic had an issue where Spider-Man saw the thief who would eventually kill Uncle Ben run by and figured that stopping him would be good PR. He unknowingly saved Uncle Ben’s life in this scenario, but he didn’t learn any major lesson about power and responsibility. Instead, he became a more self-centered ass whose ego was so out of hand as a media personality that he caused a disgraced J. Jonah Jameson to found the Sinister Six as a revenge ploy.

In the case of the new animated series, the stories will be based on the movies’ continuity. So far, we know that one of them will be about Agent Carter receiving the super-soldier serum treatment instead of Steve Rogers.

That got me thinking about what other stories we can get from the movies. I’ve decided to take every Marvel movie and brainstorm a What If scenario that would work for each. Play along at home! It’s fun!

IRON MAN

What If Tony Stark Died?

The story of the movie ends where it should have begun. Tony Stark and his military entourage are under attack and a bomb goes off near Stark. The shrapnel cuts too close to his heart and there’s nothing that can be done. Obadiah Stane takes over the company. Maybe Pepper, Happy, and/or Rhodey investigate and take him down. Maybe not.

What’s important is that Iron Man can no longer be the focal point of the MCU. Presumably, things are going to get really, really bad. Especially with that time the High Council tried to nuke New York City. Then again, greedy as he is, Stane would be on Earth’s side during that conflict and could probably at least lend some kind of hand.

In a world without Stark, I can’t help but think of what all those villains created BECAUSE of Stark would be like. Imagine Loki conquering Earth and being undone by the likes of Stane, Vanko, Killian, Vulture, and Mysterio. Not Hammer, though. He’d still be a total weasel and would try to betray them at the first attempt.

INCREDIBLE HULK

What If Abomination Joined the Avengers?

A plot thread the MCU movies played with briefly before writing it off in a Blu-ray short was the idea of The Incredible Hulk's Emil Blonsky being roped into joining the Avengers. Obviously, he ended up getting nixed because he kind of went on a big rampage through Harlem, but maybe if things went down differently, he would be found less accountable...at least in the beginning.

Before Bruce Banner gets his treatment from Sterns, he might find out about all the horrible experiments he was working on and that would set off the Hulk. A surviving Sterns would still gladly transform Blonsky, only this time Blonsky would be seen as a hero for putting his body on the line so he can bring down the Hulk. With the military behind him, he’s able to win and keeps his dark side in check enough that he’s able to work with the government and be their personal weapon of mass destruction.

The way I see it, this could go very wrong during the events of Avengers. The team is going to be at each other’s throats as is, but in the original version, they were still good people. When there’s a psychopath in the midst, this can only end badly.

Poor Cap, finding out that this guy is his legacy.

IRON MAN 2

What If Iron Man Wanted to Avenge His Father?

When in doubt, go with the Soviet-controlled alternate reality. Worked for Superman and Valiant Comics. It would certainly work for Iron Man 2.

In this scenario, Anton Vanko is able to keep his intentions to himself long enough to screw over Howard Stark, bring the arc reactor schematics to the Motherland, and reap the rewards. Ivan lives a life of luxury while Howard Stark becomes a disgraced figure in the American public’s eye, ultimately destroying himself through alcoholism.

This leads to a story where Tony Stark figures out his father's tech in order to wage a war against the Vankos for destroying his family. Add in Justin Hammer as his weasely sidekick and you got a stew going.

THOR

What If Loki Allowed Thor to Be King?

Loki was the first real “villain who was in the right, but went about it the wrong way” of the MCU. At least in the first act. One of the better parts of Thor was that, in the beginning, Thor was a big jerk and Loki was well aware of this. His initial plot was the save Asgard from having to deal with Thor in charge. Said plot gave Thor the character development needed to prove himself worthy while Loki ended up damning himself.

Loki probably could have done himself a better service if he just let it happen. When Thor runs Asgard into the ground, Loki will be there to take over and fix things. Or maybe Thor will just admit that he isn’t fit to lead and hand over the throne. Either way, the big laugh will come from someone telling Loki that if he knew Thor was going to be such a shitty king, why didn’t he do anything about it?

CAPTAIN AMERICA

What If Captain America Survived World War II?

Seems to be one of the easiest ideas. Hell, this was one of the very first issues of the What If comic and even gave us the first iteration of Bucky Barnes as Captain America. So we have Captain America defeat Red Skull in such a way that he doesn’t have to crash the plane and get frozen for a bunch of years at the end of the movie. Instead, Captain America fights through the rest of the war and we don’t have all that awkward finger-pointing that Steve gets for his Endgame epilogue.

read more: The 100 Best Marvel What If Moments

I’d like to see Cap be in the thick of Hydra’s inner-takeover of SHIELD, especially with Bucky still alive and looming in the shadows. Not only am I down for more team-ups between Steve Rogers and Howard Stark, but the idea of Cap being something of an uncle figure to Tony is too great to ignore.

THE AVENGERS

What If Loki Betrayed Thanos?

Recently, Marvel made it an official retcon that, during the events of the first Avengers movie Loki wasn’t 100% himself. Wielding the Mind Stone, he was really being manipulated by Thanos, which is their way of handwaving all the horrible stuff he did so we can more easily get behind him as a protagonist.

This reminds me of Marvel’s Earth X miniseries, which took place in a universe where all the god-type characters were really overly-evolved mutants from another planet who were endlessly powerful but were molded by the beliefs of others. In other words, all the Asgardians are scaling back their power and acting like Asgardians because when they came to Earth, that’s what humans believed them to be. Loki, being all about trickery and mischief, was the one who could see through it all and realized what he truly was.

I want that kind of energy in the Avengers storyline. I want Loki to figure out that he isn’t in full control of his actions. When Thor implores him to join him against the higher power, let Loki piece it together. The image of Loki working with the Avengers against Thanos is a cool one, but the real conflict is figuring out what to do from there. Whether or not he’s on their side, nobody’s going to trust Loki when the plan is presumably, “Let’s use these two Infinity Stones against a guy who has none.”

IRON MAN 3

What If Aldrich Killian Killed Himself?

Iron Man 3 begins with an origin for Aldrich Killian as the third most interesting character to call himself “The Mandarin.” He got to meet Tony Stark briefly at a New Years’ Eve party, Stark lied by offering to meet him on the roof later that night, and it was at midnight that Killian realized that Stark had essentially blown him off. He considered walking off the roof to his death, but was instead inspired to get his shit together and start up a big arms-dealing conspiracy.

Let’s take him out of the picture. There’s no Extremis plot, no drunk actors, no Vice President getting arrested, etc. This also means that Tony doesn’t get grounded. Part of the conclusion of Iron Man 3 is that Tony is able to grow up and move on in a sense.

People often criticize the MCU for ways it's walked back Tony's growth over the years, though. Tony’s attempt to move forward blows up in his face with Ultron, and thanks to his addictive personality, he can’t help but go back to his Iron Man ways and briefly kill his relationship with Pepper. Even in Endgame, he struggles with what kind of man he should be.

Perhaps the lack of Iron Man 3 would hinder his journey in the long run. He doesn’t blow up his armor or get his arc reactor removed. He keeps being as reckless and dedicated as he’s ever been. It costs him his relationships, but does the ends justify the means? How far can a driven Stark go, exactly?

THOR: THE DARK WORLD

What If Jane Foster Discovered Her Worthiness Earlier?

Granted, we don’t know the context of Jane Foster becoming the new Thor in Thor: Love and Thunder, but it’s going to happen in the upcoming movie, it’s happened in the comics, and it even happened in one of the first What If comic issues. Thor: The Dark World is one of the least exciting MCU entries and Natalie Portman peaced out due to how they handled her character, so let’s jump ahead to the Jane-Thor development.

read more: Thor: Love and Thunder - Jane Foster as Thor Explained

Jane’s already in Asgard for the underdeveloped Meet the Parents concept, so the setting is right. Maybe have her wield Mjolnir to save Frigga and see where it goes from there. I don’t know. It’s not like the villains are going to carry this story.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER

What If Nick Fury Died?

The threat from Winter Soldier is such a Gordian knot, and thanks in part to Nick Fury’s help, Hydra was defeated in a rather clean way. Take Fury out of the picture. There is no secret resurrection. He’s straight-up dead. Now there’s no finale based on releasing all the SHIELD files to the public and cutting off Hydra’s head.

Captain America and his buddies still defeat Hydra, but it’s messy. Hell, we might even get the Agents of SHIELD crew involved in this one because why not. Alexander Pierce may be killed or at least thwarted, but the story after the fact will be that Captain America is an enemy of the state, creating a variation of his Secret Avengers from Infinity War.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

What If Ronan Destroyed Xandar?

What If was made for this one. Guardians of the Galaxy plays up Ronan’s disdain for Thanos and the possibility of them throwing down. Early on, Nebula warns Ronan that it’s a fight that he cannot win, but is totally on his side when he’s able to wield the Power Stone. It’s promised that once Xandar is wiped out, Ronan is going to go to war with Thanos.

read more: Marvel's What If? Animated Series Coming to Disney+

A full-on villain vs. villain war would be a damn fun episode. Obviously, like an arms race, each side is going to have to try to build themselves up with more Infinity Stones, presumably making it three-on-three by the time the two throw down. Don’t know how the Soul Stone would figure into this, but depending on how close Ronan and Nebula become...PROBABLY not good for Nebula!

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON

What If Ultron Wasn’t Corrupted?

More specifically, the question is, “Could it have worked?” The creation of Ultron was Stark’s desperate attempt to protect Earth from a threat that he knew, deep in his heart, was going to come from the skies any day now. Ultron ended up blowing up in his face and caused the Avengers to splinter prior to Thanos’ run for the Stones. Had the plan worked out, Thanos would still need to invade Earth in order to get his hands on the Mind Stone and Time Stone.

As an aside: Thor doesn't know where the Time Stone is, so I figure he'll trust the Mind Stone to remain on Earth under Stark's care because he's already established that he doesn't want to keep two in Asgard.

While the previous entry is more about two villains clashing, this one is about a war between faceless soldiers. Endless dog creatures fighting endless Ultrons or empty Iron Man armors or whatever. Win or lose, this one has the potential to cause more worldwide damage than Thanos’ casual stroll through Wakanda.

ANT-MAN

What If Hank Pym Trusted Hope?

Hank Pym doesn’t choose Scott Lang to be his successor in Ant-Man. Maybe Scott’s still in prison. Or maybe Hope is his first choice after all. Either way, he builds Hope her own Wasp costume for the sake of stopping Darren Cross. She’s hindered by her inferior cat burglar skills but ends up being a bit colder and violent when it comes to ending Cross’ plans.

The real conflict comes in Civil War. Wasp is very much on Captain America’s side, but Tony Stark tries to get through to Hank Pym on the subject. Hank begins to waver, realizing that as much as he’s hated his technology being in the government’s hands, it still might be safer than what Cross had intended. This, in turn, causes Hope to resent her father all over again as the war between heroes commences.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR

What If Quicksilver Was Alive?

This is technically more of an Age of Ultron entry, but with a focus on Civil War. Quicksilver is able to save Hawkeye’s life without sacrificing his own. It’s hard figuring out a good switch for Civil War, but including Quicksilver in the mix might be the biggest offset. The shadow of Sokovia would still be looming, but at least he'd be there to help prevent his sister from becoming a black mark on superheroes.

Not only would he help turn the tide in the airport battle, but if Pietro were to be there for the final battle, he’d possibly be able to talk Iron Man down. I mean, Tony Stark is arguably equally or more responsible for the deaths of Pietro and Wanda’s parents than Bucky was for Tony’s parents, but Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch are able to move past that. Quicksilver can fix the Avengers before Zemo is able to splinter them.

DOCTOR STRANGE

What If Doctor Strange Used Time Travel to Save Himself?

Stephen Strange takes a look at Dormammu and decides, “Nope!” He’s going to use the Time Stone to prevent the universe from being taken over, but he goes about it in a more reckless way. He rewinds time to the point that he’s able to stop Kaecilius using magic save-states, which he figures takes Dormammu off the board. Deciding that the other magic folks can carry on without him, he then attempts to prevent himself from texting while driving.

Strange continues on with his earlier life, the mega-demon is no longer a threat, and life goes on. Or does it?

Strange was warned that overusing the Time Stone would cause massive repercussions, so things would undoubtedly go very wrong for the Sorcerer Supreme. Bonus points if this relates to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2

What If Ego Raised Peter Quill on Earth?

Ego was never going to be anything other than a monster. Charming or not, he killed a whole lot of his own children as part of his plot to kill just about everyone else in the name of finding his purpose. His redeeming quality was that he had some true love for Meredith Quill, but he didn't love her enough to keep himself from being an outright bastard. He was afraid that his love for her would keep him from achieving his goal, so he killed her in a rather cowardly way for someone so powerful.

I want to see a world where Ego saw things through and stayed with Meredith for good. What kind of person would he have become? I imagine he would have grown old, died of natural causes, and his body would have regenerated on his planet self, presumably with second thoughts on what to do with his powers. It's not too different from the Fantastic Four storyline where they turned Galactus human for a time and showed him the beauty of normal life.

But really, I'd like to see what kind of man Peter would become. I can't imagine he'd be drawn to the stars if his mother had lived longer and he wasn't kidnapped, but cosmic adventure is in his blood. Who's to say?

SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING

What If Spider-Man Joined the Vulture?

Getting so mad at Tony Stark that you turn into a supervillain is so easy that it seems to happen every other day in the MCU. Sometimes the bad guys even have a point! Hell, Captain America disagreed with him on whether or not to allow Iron Man to blow up Steve's best friend and that caused Cap to become an enemy of the state. It makes you realize that Rhodey's ability to put up with Tony's bullshit is the most amazing superpower of them all.

So in this What If? scenario, when Iron Man strips Spider-Man of his upgrades and gives him a time out in Spider-Man: Homecoming, Peter really loses it. When he's being driven to the homecoming dance, he tells his date's father about how much of a jackass egomaniac Tony is. In this moment of bitching, Toomes sees Peter as less of a threat and more of an opportunity in the form of a kindred spirit. The two end up working together and Vulture succeeds in stealing all that swank hero stuff from Stark's plane.

At first, it's just Peter turning a blind eye to criminal activity out of spite. Just like the OTHER time that happened, it doesn't work out too well for him. Iron Man is able to figure out that Spider-Man had some kind of involvement in the act and uses the Sokovia Accords as reasoning to bring the hammer down on him. Spider-Man escapes, but Vulture dies in the process. There goes another father figure.

Spider-Man decides to prove himself against Iron Man by taking all the stolen tech that Vulture had accumulated and finding worthy people to wield it in the name of starting up an underground, street-level vigilante group.

THOR: RAGNAROK

What If Nebula Killed Thanos?

In Guardians Vol. 2, Nebula is last seen leaving to go slaughter Thanos. We don’t see her until Infinity War, where it’s shown that she failed. Her failure is what helps Thanos realize that Gamora knows where the Soul Stone is and he goes on his rush to get all the Infinity Stones. Let’s just say that Nebula succeeds and kills her adopted father.

Now look to the mid-credits scene from Thor: Ragnarok. Before Thanos' ship arrived, Thor and Loki had an interesting discussion about whether or not Loki can peacefully coexist with Earth’s inhabitants due to the events of Avengers. This possibility would never be explored due to Infinity War suddenly happening.

read more: 20 Uplifting Marvel What If Stories

But without Thanos? We could actually see Thor as a king who isn’t bogged down by PTSD. We can see a Hulk that isn’t at odds with himself. More importantly, we can see how Loki deals with New Asgard. Especially since he happens to have a Tesseract in his possession.

BLACK PANTHER

What If Killmonger Remained King?

Invading Wakanda and succeeding is nigh impossible. You need to have the Infinity Stones or the Phoenix Force to make it happen or else you're going to end up like the Skrulls that one time -- a pile of bodies sent back to space with the message, "THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU INVADE WAKANDA," written in blood. This is one of those stories.

Killmonger is an angry hypocrite with no foresight. His plan to arm the underdogs of the world will do nothing but create chaos and untold casualties. It won't take long for Wakanda to become a major target. Rather than throw every superhero at the nation, Iron Man goes alone because he thinks his tech know-how could counter that of Wakanda's. While this is going on, Captain America chooses to go on a one-man mission to take down Killmonger after hearing that Bucky has been killed.

The good news is that Cap and Iron Man are able to work together and even work through their differences. The bad news is that neither survives. After such a failure, Nick Fury sends in as many heavy hitters as possible (deciding to hold off on calling in Captain Marvel), but the results are the same. Killmonger's regime stands tall, even though Wakanda is relatively worse for wear. He does find himself fascinated with the remains of Vision, especially the glowing gem on his head, and keeps his head as a trophy.

The dust has cleared and Killmonger finds himself the king of a global warzone. His victory is shortlived as Thanos and his Black Order arrive for the Stones. Before ending Killmonger's life, Thanos does give him credit for wiping out half of Earth's population before Thanos even had the chance.

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR

What If Star-Lord Kept His Anger in Check?

One thing that annoys me is when people cite Peter Quill as the reason why Thanos was able to complete the Infinity Gauntlet. Yes, they were so close to pulling off the Gauntlet, and yes, Star-Lord losing control and punching Thanos in the face screwed that up. I get that.

Here’s the thing: Doctor Strange knew that it would happen and didn’t do anything to prevent it because apparently removing the Gauntlet would have still led to a loss. There was only one possible way things were going to work out and that was everything up to the end of Endgame. Star-Lord’s tantrum made little difference and, it’s possible to say, everyone might have been better off because of it.

What I want to know is why that would have been so bad? How would defeating Thanos in that moment have led to defeat? What kind of possible future did Doctor Strange see?

ANT-MAN AND THE WASP

What If Ant-Man Joined the Secret Avengers?

Rather than submit himself to house arrest, Scott Lang sacrifices seeing his daughter in order to hang out with Captain America, Black Widow, and Falcon for a few years. This leads to a major juggling act because he’s still going to get that weird vision from Janet, but things will be a million times easier to deal with because he doesn’t have to beat the clock with the Jimmy Woo business and he has his Avengers pals watching his back. Ghost is defeated, Janet is rescued, Hank is grumpy, and Hope has lost her respect for Scott for essentially abandoning Cassie.

Anyway, the most important thing here is that the Avengers no longer think Scott is under house arrest and are able to bring him to Wakanda and people can finally be excited to see that Thanos butt thing happen. Do it, Marvel. Do it, you cowards.

CAPTAIN MARVEL

What If Captain Marvel Killed Ronan?

Being a prequel that deals with the Kree, Captain Marvel features a couple of brief scenes that show Ronan the Accuser as one of the antagonists. As we know, decades later, he and Korath will become rogue soldiers out to exact revenge on the Xandarians. That means that in Captain Marvel, Ronan is protected by plot armor. What If features no such thing, so there’s nothing stopping Carol Danvers from simply blowing up Ronan’s ship instead of intimidating him to escape and fight another day.

As time goes on and Thanos needs villains to do his dirty work, he doesn’t have Ronan on hand. What he does have is the Mind Stone and what Captain Marvel has is a history of being susceptible to mind manipulation. Thanos ends up forcing Captain Marvel into being his enforcer and decides that he doesn’t even need Loki to begin with. Instead, Danvers razes Earth and tears through the Avengers. She also annihilates the Guardians of the Galaxy before they can even get started as a team while securing the Power Stone.

In the aftermath, a surviving Peter Quill is found in an intergalactic bar, drinking through his depression. A man appears before him, claiming to be his father, with the suggestion that maybe learning his true power for the sake of getting revenge on Captain Marvel (among...other things) is Peter’s purpose.

AVENGERS: ENDGAME

What Became of Thanos 2014’s Timeline?

As I already mentioned, Endgame is the only possible version of the movie’s events where the good guys win. Any and all tangents end with Thanos’ victory. So let’s move away from that.

Endgame’s time heist created two major alternate timelines. One is the alternate version of Avengers, where Loki escapes with the Tesseract and Hydra thinks Cap is on their side. We’ll be getting a whole Disney+ series on that reality.

The other is what’s left behind from the second Thanos. There’s a universe where Gamora, Thanos, and all of Thanos’ underlings and soldiers (minus Ronan) simply ceased to be. They all went to another timeline and never came back. Does that mean that Ego conquers reality? Does the Collector go forward with his plan to acquire all six Infinity Stones?

And what of Earth? This could go in different directions, considering a deleted concept from Endgame was that Thanos 2014 decided to tear apart his timeline’s Avengers before making the time jump. There’s a lot of potential in that episode.

SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME

What If Mysterio Was Iron Man’s Protégé?

So Quentin Beck created this world-changing hologram technology, watched his boss use it for the sake of personal therapy, make fun of it, and then call Beck out of line? Hey, Beck really shouldn’t have used the lives of a bunch of innocents to prop up his plan, but he had every right to be pissed at Tony Stark.

If television and movies have taught me anything, it’s that if you angrily insult your boss to his face, you have a 50/50 chance of either getting fired or getting a promotion. We saw the firing timeline, so let’s see what happens when Stark decides to actually listen to Beck. I imagine Beck would solidify his belief in the Sokovia Accords and take Spider-Man’s spot in Civil War. Just think about how anti-climactic that airport battle would be when Iron Man’s side ends up being a bunch of holograms and Bucky gets yoinked away in the confusion.

Beck could conceivably figure out Zemo’s plot through his tactics, but the question is how he would follow up on that. Does he step in Zemo’s way or does he agree and allow the Avengers to implode?

Gavin Jasper writes for Den of Geek and would love to see DC do an animated or live-action version of Elseworlds: Speeding Bullets. Read more of his articles here and follow him on Twitter @Gavin4L

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Gavin Jasper

Aug 22, 2019

What If

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irinaartemis-blog · 5 years

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The Ultimate Coffee Banana Bread Recipe

Level: Easy

Time: 75 minutes (1 hour 15 minutes)

Life: 1 week (stored)

A modern twist on an all time baking favourite, our coffee and banana bread is a must try recipe for all avid home-bakers, snack lovers and coffee enthusiasts out there!

Banana bread is a classic bake that’s a great way to afford food waste and put those over-ripe bananas to good, or rather great use. Also it requires no additional wrapping/packaging and can be stored in a reusable tin. We are all about sustainability after all, and we are huge fans of being frugal and environmentally conscious! This coffee and banana bread can be eaten as a hearty breakfast, toasted with butter and fresh slices of banana, as a quick and yummy treat, or can even be served at a home-made afternoon tea

Using our Artemis Concentrate, for guaranteed quality and maximum taste, this beloved family recipe has been infused with a beautifully complimentary coffee flavour that is sure to go down well with friends, family and greedy coworkers. It’s an all-around crowd and palate pleaser.Even if you are not the biggest fan of coffee, this recipe is well-balanced in taste and texture, with the ideal combination of moist and fluffy. But, we are a coffee company after all, so we will try to enhance anything we can with coffee.

This delicious recipe also happens to be vegan friendly! Not only that but other ingredients can be easily swapped to make this suitable for those who need to avoid nuts, gluten and/pr oil, so fortunately nobody has to miss out!

Ingredients:

The mixture:

3 ripe Bananas (must be brown and spotted)

1 tsp Apple cider vinegar

1 tsp Baking powder

1 tsp Bicarbonate of soda

1 and ½ tbsp Finely ground coffee

1 cup of Brown sugar

½ tsp of Sea salt

⅓ cup of Artemis coffee concentrate

½ cup of Milk of your choosing

(We used Soya. Water can be substituted for milk)

½ cup of melted Coconut oil

(Or alternatively Rapeseed oil for allergies/milder taste. You can also use any nut butter and Flax/Chia seed paste to for an oil free and healthier option)

1 cup Rolled oats

1 and ½ cups of All purpose flour

(Swap out plain flour for an alternative gluten-free flour if you are coeliac)

(see below to check out what alternative flours we suggest using for this bake and why).

(Optional)

1 tsp Vanilla extract (strongly recommended)

1 tsp maple syrup (or other liquidised sweetener of your choosing)

½ tsp of Cinnamon

(Recommended Toppings)

Almond flakes

1 Sliced banana

Prep time: 15 minutes (½ hour)

Cooking time: 60 minutes (1 hour)

Method:

Begin by preheating your oven to 180°C (use the fan setting is possible) and line an 8’’ loaf tin with non stick parchment/baking paper or grease thoroughly with dairy-free butter.

Slice up the bananas and add to a small bowl. Using a masher or fork, mash the bananas up into it forms a runny texture. (Try to remove as many lumps as you possibly can - adding the (optional) maple syrup to this will help). Then set aside.

Make sure all dry ingredients are sifted thoroughly before beginning this next step.

In another, larger bowl, add in your sifted, dry ingredients one at a time, beginning with the flour. Stir in each new ingredient into the mixture until they are fully combined. (for a smoother bread, you can lightly blend the oats in a food processor until they form a flour-like consistency. We didn’t do this however, as it gives the bread more spring to it).

Retrieve your small bowl with the banana mixture and add all the remaining, wet ingredients, combining thoroughly with a whisk. Whisk until you have reached an even, liquid consistency.

Slowly and carefully add this wet mixture to the dry mixture, stirring well with a wooden spoon, until all clumps have disappeared from the batter completely. The batter will be smooth, but thick. (Runny batter will result in the bread not rising properly or being to cake like)

Pour this batter into the lined or greased loaf tin, smoothing the top off with a spatula. You may add any additional toppings such as sliced banana and flaked almonds. Place them generously on the surface of the batter. Or keep it minimalistic and let the loaf speak for itself).

Place in the oven for around 60-70 minutes (timing will vary slightly with diffeent ovens). The bread will be golden brown and lovely deep cracks will have formed on top. To ensure it is cooked all the way through, pierce the loaf with a toothpick check to see if it comes out clean. If so, it’s ready!

Remove from the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes in the tin. Then you may remove the bread from the tin using the sides of the parchment paper sticking out the sides to lift it upwards.

Allow the bread to cool completely before slicing. Store in a container at room temperature for up to one week.

For more delicious recipes and mouth-watering pastry pics, follow our instagram and remember to keep checking our blog for more food and coffee themed posts! Why not check out our previous post on our top Indie Coffee Shops in Leeds, all of which serve delectable sweet and savoury treats that are sure to satisfy your cravings.

Additional Information:

Using Alternative flours:

Recommendations for Gluten-free flours: I recommend either using Coconut Flour, or half Buckwheat flour and half Oat flour for Gluten-free banana bread baking.

Why these flours? Coconut flour is a very popular choice amongst bakers, especially for Banana Bread recipes. I’ve found a lot of recipes that favour this flour. The main reason I don't use it myself is that I cannot get it from the shop down the road. Lazy Baking at its finest. Alternatively, substitute All purpose flour for half Buckwheat flour and half Oat flour. Oat flour tends to make bakes extremely moist and I love that in a Banana Bread. I then recommend using half Buckwheat flour as this usually results in a dryer product, so I find that combining these two fibre-rich flours produces the perfect balance, also without creating an odd taste.

Assuring your flour is Gluten-free: As with many different ingredients, cross contamination is always a possibility, especially when using ingredients from popular/big brands. To ensure that the flour you are using is completely gluten-free and safe for those with Gluten allergies, the packaging will state a certification mark.

Choosing the right flour for you: At the end of the day, it is completely all about preference and accessibility. Different flours have different health benefits and baking properties. The bread’s texture and appearance will of course vary with each different flour, however this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, if you prefer a very moist banana bread, choose oat flour. Do you prefer it more dry and crumbly? Buckwheat flour will suit you. Sweet and flavourful? Coconut flour. Or do you want your banana bread to be more like, well bread, then Brown Rice flour is ideal. The important thing is to do some research, find out what is appealing and available to you, experiment and just have fun with it! For more advice and information visit: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/gluten-free-flours#section7

Flax/Chia seed paste:

What is flax/chia seed paste? This is a Hydrocolloid mixture created of either Ground Flax or Chia seeds mixed with water to form a gelatinous paste. This mixture is widely used as an egg replacement in many vegan/plant-based/egg-free recipes. Hydrocolloids usually work to either build structure, emulsify and soften mouthfeel; many things that eggs already do in traditional baking applications. For more information on using Flax/chia seed paste as an egg replacer visit:http://www.veganbaking.net/recipes/egg-replacers/flax-seed-egg-replacer

How to make Flax/chia seed paste: The basic ratio is one tablespoon of Flax/Chia seeds and three tablespoons of water to replace one egg. Combine ground Flax or ground Chia seeds with the water to form a wet paste. Stir and set aside for 5-10 minutes before using, this enables it to form a gel. Try to purchase whole flax/chia seeds and grind them yourself, as pre-ground seeds tend to lose a lot of moisture. You can grind them using a coffee or herb grinder.

Why is Flax/chia seed paste not in the original recipe? I have always used oil as a raising agent and egg replacement in baking since going Vegan and updating my family’s Banana Bread recipe. Using Bicarbonate of soda as well as baking powder also gives the bakes that extra lift that egg would normally offer. I wanted this recipe to be as accessible as possible, from personal experience and discussing this with many other bakers and home-cooks, it was clear that flax/chia meal was not a kitchen cupboard essential for most people, unlike oil. I have tried this recipe with peanut butter and chia paste and it came out pretty much the same, except with a slightly nuttier taste. But for convenience reasons I prefer to use oil.

-Written by Sophie Gregan

This article was originally posted on www.artemis.coffee/blog/ For more coffee- related content why not check out the link or visit our official Instagram page @artemisbrew

#coffee #coldbrew #cold brew #banana bread #banana #vegan #recipe #healthy #food #foodie #coffeeaddict #latte #uk #england #yorkshire #activelifestyle #gym

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amoralto · 5 years

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GEORGE: Through the years, it seems, all this stuff has seeped into society and they tend to look upon it as public domain. It’s the same with that Beatlemania stuff—we had to try and stop people from doing these things in order to establish, “Look, we’re here, we’re humans, we exist, and there’s laws of names and likeness.” They’re doing it all over the place: I see adverts in England now, it’s for a bank—Westminster Bank—and they’ve got a big photograph of James Dean. Even David Putnam, the English film producer—he heads up Columbia Films now, in the States—even he said to his secretary, “Hey, find out who the James Dean lookalike is.” It’s, like, take a picture of James Dean because he’s dead and he can’t answer, but there’s James Dean’s family, his estate—they should own the rights to how he looks. Same with Marilyn Monroe, or whoever, it doesn’t matter that they’re dead. But they’re doing it to us and we’re not even dead yet. It’s like The Beatles were the most ripped-off people of all time, and, as for the record company, they should be ashamed of themselves—it’s one thing to treat some artist who’s here today and gone tomorrow with your crummy little royalty rate and treat ’em like trash, but a band like us who survived twenty-some odd years, sold a billion records for them at the lowest royalty rate you’ve ever heard of, and then still steal from you?! I’d be ashamed, I couldn’t do it. And to have to argue and fight with them and say, give us a break, man, you’re lucky to have anything. But if this thing with Capitol comes to court they’ll be lucky to end up owning the masters. There’s a good chance we’ll get back all our masters and everything. And The Beatles have never been greedy; we’ve never received huge royalties like some people now. You know, you get over a dollar fifty, at least, for an album. We get one old penny. One old English penny per album.   HORDOSH: Right now?  GEORGE: Right now. And even with that, there’s hundreds of thousands of albums mysteriously missing that they gave to pension funds run by the Mafia. It’s very dirty. So that’s what it’s all about, that suit against Capitol. It’s like, give us a break, we’re humans too. We created all this stuff and they were very fortunate to be a part of it inasmuch as distributing our records and making a profit on it.   HORDOSH: It’s hard to imagine a band giving more to music than The Beatles did.  GEORGE: I know. It’s disgusting, it’s immoral—and if that’s how they treat people they’re supposed to be in business with, that must be how they treat everybody. It’s immoral, that’s all there is to it, and ultimately they’ll all get it. I don’t mean from us, now, but somewhere down the line, in this life or the next life.   HORDOSH: Do you believe in reincarnation?  GEORGE: Absolutely. And half of those people are going to reincarnate getting one cent out of every CD they sell and sell more records than everybody and not receive any of the money. Be treated like lice.   If you put this in the interview, you can say I’m smiling about it, I’m not letting it depress me. But all this stuff that you read in the papers about Nike and Capitol, that’s what’s been going on for years. They’ve all taken advantage of it because after The Beatles split up everybody was sort of not talking to each other, so they all came in, grabbing and plundering as much as they could. But now this is going to be pursued to the end, and even if we all die in the process, our children and our children’s children will be after Bhaskar Menon (Chairman and CEO of EMI Music Worldwide) and Capitol until he realizes he’s just being a dong. HORDOSH:   Do you think you’ll win?  GEORGE: There’s no way we can lose. Because if you just put all the cards on the table and see what we’ve got and what they’ve got, I think a blind man on a galloping horse would say that Capitol isn’t being fair. It’s just the balance: the law of nature demands that all things be equal, and this isn’t equal.

George Harrison, interview w/ John Hordosh for Creem: Fab! Gear! The George Harrison Interview. (December, 1987)

#interviewed: george #ceci n'est pas une pomme

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pacack · 5 years

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Smash Bros. and Politics

So, I was seeing an argument on twitter that claimed that games have become steeped in politics to the detriment of consumers.

I thought to myself, “Alright, I know a game that spans game history from 1980 to now that we can look at to determine whether games have really gotten more political with time.”

Spoiler: Only 9.375% of the franchises represented by characters in Smash Bros. avoid political themes. Games are intensely political and always have been.

Actual spoiler warning: This includes spoilers for the general plot and themes of basically every game franchise included in Smash Bros.

Trigger warning: The following essay contains references to violence, death, war, emotional abuse, racism, racial and cultural stereotyping, sexism, minority oppression, poverty, gangs, animal cruelty, religious hypocrisy, pollution, and climate change.

Mario: Traditionally avoids complex plotlines entirely (though some games break that tradition,) but even the most barebones plots have “ruler who thirsts for power is a bad person, while ruler who does not is a good person.”

Donkey Kong: The themes are all blatantly environmental. The main characters are heavily intertwined with nature, while the big bad steals natural resources, uses technology that pollutes and disturbs the local area, and evolves over time from a corrupt monarch to a gun-touting pirate to a mad scientist. The evolution of the villain’s technology in the first trilogy is sending the message that oppression evolves over time to become more sophisticated.

Zelda: Varies from game to game but ranges from “bad guy literally is transformed into a pig because he desires power” to “crisis brings grief and makes us contemplate our morality, but that should make us value the connections we have more.”

Metroid: Game revolves around a skilled and wholly independent soldier/mercenary/bounty hunter that happens to be a woman. Laced with themes of “a person who is profoundly and intentionally alone does not need to be dependent on others to define herself” and “scientific progress that is intended for the betterment of mankind can and will be used to wage war by those who seek to do harm.”

Yoshi: “Communities should help and protect even complete strangers from those who would do them harm.”

Kirby: Themes range from “greed of a ruler leaves kingdom in poverty” to “people who band together in friendship can overthrow those who possess power.”

Star Fox: Tyrannical mad scientist plans to form an oppressive empire by using technology. Do I need to explain that?

Pokémon: Treat animals as partners and friends and marvel at the wonders of the natural world. Bad guys include:

an organization that abuses animals

an organization who aims to destroy the environment

an organization that doesn’t appreciate the current world and plans to reshape it into one where emotional attachment doesn’t exist

an organization that criticizes the current state of affairs in legitimate ways to hide their real intentions of stripping the common man from their power to resist their planned dictatorship

an organization that values beauty and power above all else (criticizing the French elite specifically)

A gang that recruits desperate people who feel they don’t have a family

A supposedly humanitarian organization that is headed by a possessive and emotionally abusive mother who is obsessed with owning things, people, and animals rather than loving them.

Earthbound/Mother: Discusses complex themes about love of family, pain of loss of and rejection from that family, the trauma one suffers because of that pain, and the importance of people learning form that pain rather than using it as justification for hurting others.

F-Zero: People meet one-another and trade, develop new social ties, have intellectual exchanges, and share technology, but some begin to abuse the framework of the system that brought everyone together to make themselves lavishly wealthy. These elites then develop dangerous sports for their own entertainment that the common man is enticed to compete in to improve their societal standing.

Ice Climber: Two characters that are coded as Inuit-Yupik enjoy themselves by cooperating and competing with one another in nature. While simple, the theme of connection between people over a shared activity can’t be recognized as completely apolitical when they’re in a minority group.

Fire Emblem: A just ruler is forced into conflict with a neighboring despotic country and must balance their duty to defend their people with their understanding that it is the innocent common folk of the other country that will suffer in place of the unjust rulers who began the conflicts. The game centers around meeting new people, many of them from the other side, who themselves are multi-layered and kind, but who live difficult lives. The unjust rulers are defeated, but a greater threat then brings all the people together, despite their differences, for the common good.

Game and Watch: Man juggles, cooks, and plays games with his friends :)

Kid Icarus: An angel who has a disability that prevents him from flying must save the world when circumstances leave him as the only person capable of resisting. He succeeds and is recognized by being promoted captain of the guard for his ability, courage, and tenacity. From that point on, the support of others allows him to live his life without his mobility defining what he can and cannot do.

WarioWare: The main character (who was conceptualized because artists’ freedom to create was limited by corporate greed and its insistence on maintaining the status quo) is a greedy man who plans on creating a poor, easily made product to sell to people as a get-rich-quick scheme with complete disregard for artistic integrity.

Metal Gear: The entire series began as a political commentary on the manipulation of soldiers by politicians in the Cold War. The series delves deeply into the morality of war and the negative impact that it has on a person, as well as discussing peace, revenge, racial violence, genetic engineering, censorship, societal loss of a person’s knowledge when they die, misrepresentation of history, and generational knowledge and bias. The main character, Solid Snake, is a critical analysis of the action hero trope, and the deconstruction of his character archetype reveals his increasingly broken spirit as he comes to see his life as unavoidably entwined with conflicts and war.

Sonic: Evil scientist destroys and pollutes the environment and abuses animals in his scheme to gain power, leading to the animals themselves revolting and overthrowing him for his actions.

Pikmin: A middle-class working man who cares only about supporting his family is made to work in dangerous conditions and suffers hardships because of his company’s desire to maximize profits.

Animal Crossing: A kind community of people welcomes a stranger and helps them to build a new life with them, teaching them how to survive and thrive on their own.

Mega Man: Society has advanced to the point that robots are used in day to day jobs, and an ambitious scientist hacks into them and uses the technology to throw society into disarray, with hopes of establishing a dictatorship.

Wii Fit: Fitness trainer teaches you how to exercise and become healthier :)

Punch-Out: A poor kid from the Bronx has dreams of becoming a star athlete, and his trainer, a kind, retired black boxer, trains and inspires him to achieve his dreams of having a better life. The international opponents in the game embody both harmless and harmful societal stereotypes of their cultures. The more ridiculous the stereotypes surrounding the group, the more ridiculous the opponent becomes. Ultimately the protagonist, a multiracial kid from one of the most diverse cities in the world, achieves his dreams and is respected globally for his skill and perseverance, reflecting the ideal of cultural harmony.

Mii: Customizable avatar characters play games :)

Pac-Man: Happy man eats food as cute monsters chase him around a maze :)…in a dramatic departure from the norms of the time in the industry, making the uncommon move of advertising to women by using cute, whimsical designs and appealing to and encouraging everyone’s common experience of eating. Avoided common themes of the time like violent space shooters, racing games, and sports titles, which were meant to appeal to young men.

Xenoblade: The plot revolves around predicting where the path you’re on leads you in the future and emphasizes heavily that there is nothing in life that decides your fate for you. Aims to explain that, while hardships in life can lead you to do the wrong thing, you always have the power to change that which seems destined in your life. It condemns those who use the hardships they’ve experienced to excuse wrongdoing and explains that a person has the power to learn and grow from those hardships instead.

Duck Hunt: You’re a duck hunter shooting down ducks with your trusty companion dog :)

Street Fighter: The continuity is a mess, but basically it boils down to an evil man being defeated by the honorable and pure philosophy of the protagonist. It involves different spiritualities that are a part of different martial arts and I’m not going to pretend to be qualified to talk about the cultural implications of them, but it generally discusses the morality of violence.

Final Fantasy VII: A soldier who lost his best friend in a battle long ago joins an ecoterrorist rebellion against a corporation that is draining the life force from the planet at the expense of energy. If I have to spell out the environmental themes there any more clearly you’re a moron.

Bayonetta: Sexual witch with guns sold her soul to demons and literally makes a living killing angels that are obsessed with the impending resurrection of God, the creation of a new world, and the destruction of the current one. Heavily inspired by and critical of Christianity, with the angels being named after virtues that they lack. The five main bosses in the game are the four Cardinal Virtues of Catholicism – Courage, Temperance, Justice, and Prudence – and the final boss is God herself, a self-centered and spoiled character that demands adoration from all. Contrasts the hypocritical, power-hungry, and overzealous forces of religion with the Bayonetta’s honest and unapologetic appreciation for worldly pleasures, her confidence in her autonomy, and her quest to understand her individuality.

Splatoon: Squid kids play paintball :)…except it’s actually a post-apocalyptic world where humanity died off due to climate change and cephalopods became the dominant intelligent life on Earth.

Castlevania: Heavy religious themes debating the worth of humanity as a man treks through a haunted castle to fight Dracula, a vampiric demon who keeps reincarnating and who occasionally quotes the Bible verbatim. Most games in the series center around the theme that, even though human life is fleeting, it is precious.

Persona: High school student goes into alternate world where his darkest subconscious thoughts manifest into a “persona” tied to him. Debates philosophical topics very, very heavily and questions the meaning of identity.

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loopy777 · 5 years

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Since you are asking Lok type questions decided to ask one. Ozai was a villain that had potential (Shishio's Mantra comes to mind) but overtime his depth came across as a flat piece of Cardboard with a tape recorder attached. Thanks The Search. Flash forward to LoK we have Unalaq that retreaded similar territory. This is where my question comes in. What would you have done with him, what motivations would you give, and what sort of relationship would you have given him to Korra and the cast?

I’ve been delaying answering this Ask because when I normally do these kinds of ‘rewrites,’ I try to hone in on what it seems like the story was trying to do, and see if I can reconfigure or streamline the ideas in play to create something clearer and more impactful. That’s a lot easier than what the original storytellers had to do- start from scratch and build something from the ground up. I’m essentially doing another draft of their work, with the benefit of having experienced their vision and knowing what worked for me and what didn’t.

But wow, it is hard to do that when nothing worked for me and I’m just left confused about what the original intention was, or if there was an intention at all.

OH HAI BOOK SPIRITS.

You bring up Ozai as a fairly flat character, and I agree, but I never expected more of him. (Whether the comics could or should have added something to the character is an open question, and not one I’ll get into here.) He is a symbol of the bad parts of the Fire Nation, cast in the form of the ‘evil warlord’ archetype that’s so prevalent in the Wuxia genre that AtLA draws from.

Similarly, the villains of LoK all represent something, but they add some complexity of character to things (although of course some were more successful than others). Amon is intolerance and weaponized blame, but coming from a terrible childhood that created a self-loathing he couldn’t grow past. Zaheer is anarchy and ideological extremism, but he has that intriguing affability that alone of all villains lets him sit down with the protagonist and make some good points in conversation. Kuvira is dictatorship and nationalism, coming from the lack of identity she developed as a result of being orphaned.

And then we have Unalaq and Book Spirits.

And I just don’t know what’s going on in that season.

There are several different subplots in play - the Water Tribe Civil War, Varrick’s takeover of Asami’s business, the rise of the dark spirits, Korra and Mako’s romance, whatever is going on with Tenzin’s family, and the little movie about Avatar Wan - but none of them work together. They don’t share themes. They don’t advance each other’s events. They mess with each other’s pacing. They separate the cast before a sustainable dynamic has been developed. It’s just a mess.

Varrick gets the closest to working, because at least I understand some of his motivations. He’s doing bad things to try to help his Tribe in the war with the Northern Tribe, which is sympathetic, while serving as a flawed mentor to Bolin. But then he’s also sabotaging efforts to get weapons to the Southern Tribe so that he can bankrupt and buy out Asami’s company, which directly contributed to his Tribe losing the war. It’s a mess, and the story never reconciles these two contradictory aspects of his character.

Varrick could have been fixed by either eliminating one of these subplots (either make him a patriot driven to doing bad things, or make him a greedy jerk who’s exploiting his Tribe’s troubles to steal Asami’s company), or making the contradiction the point of his character. His flaw could be his greed, and he fails to balance it with his patriotism, to the point where he defeats himself. I don’t think this is what the cartoon was trying to do, because there’s no payoff to this flaw in the story. Varrick never shows such greed in his later appearances, and there’s no point in Book Spirits anyone seems to even be aware that he sabotaged himself.

But then there’s Unalaq. And I- I just don’t know what’s going on with this guy.

He’s introduced as something like a religious fundamentalist. He’s down on celebrating a spiritual festival with a carnival. He offers teachings to Korra that contain secrets even Tenzin and the White Lotus don’t know. He’s friends spirits to the point where they’re acting as his informants. And his ultimate goal is to release Vaatu and bring about TEN THOUSAND YEARS OF DARKNESS. There’s a possible cautionary tale there about religious extremism and fundamentalism, that it turns people into misanthropes and forms a path to violence and oppression.

But, unfortunately, there’s more to Unalaq. His backstory includes manipulating his brother and enemies of their Tribe to destroy a sacred forest so that he could be made crown prince. He takes over the Southern Tribe for seemingly no reason, oppressing it just to further antagonize his brother, directly trying to kill his brother, and manipulating Korra into doing his dirty work- all eventually leading Korra to cut ties with him and become his enemy.

But Korra is the key to his whole plan to bring about TEN THOUSAND YEARS OF DARKNESS!

So, we have another self-sabotaging villain. Maybe that’s the point? But what is this story saying? That religious extremists are really just flawed hypocrites, despite their posturing? But the story continues on from there, and Unalaq actually succeeds in getting Korra to redeem the plot coupons that free Vaatu. So his flaws didn’t ultimately matter to the story. Korra isn’t even able to successfully rally any opposition to Unalaq, thanks to Varrick and her conflict with Mako. So, again, what’s the message? That religious extremists are really flawed jerks, but the people who oppose them are also flawed jerks, so it’s all a wash? But then Korra gets new magic powers that ultimately let her defeat Unalaq, so what does that add to the message?

I guess it’s saying that we’re all doomed to TEN THOUSAND YEARS OF DARKNESS by our flaws, but it’s okay because a Higher Power will just come along and fix things for us?

Yeah, I don’t think that’s the intended message of Book Spirits. :P

But we all know Book Spirits stunk. We all know it was rushed in development. The original plan was to just do the story of a Water Tribe Civil War, and then when additional writers were brought on to help meet production deadlines, the whole Spirit World subplot was added. The result is a mess that’s infamous in the fandom. LoK would recover in the next season, and we now laugh at Unalaq.

Well, I’m going over all that to explain why I’m not sure how to 'fix’ Unalaq. I can’t identify a goal for him, or for any of the characters.

So on a whim, I’m going to try to base him on my favorite (neglected) subplot in LoK as a whole, the lack of spirituality in the modern world.

It was established in the very first episode of Book Air that Republic City is flawed. The city that Aang built is riddled with organized crime. The people are all mean. Equalists are a growing movement, and they might possibly have a point about the power imbalance between Benders and Nonbenders. The leadership is all either corrupt or ineffective, and also mostly jerks. Tenzin says, “I have done my best to guide Republic City towards the dream my father had for it, but you are right. It has fallen out of balance since he passed.” Korra soon after promises the people, “Look, all I know is Avatar Aang meant for this city to be the center of peace and balance in the world, and I believe we can make his dream a reality.”

So I think Unalaq has the most potential as someone focused on the same goal as her, restoring balance and spirituality to a world that has gotten lost in its own modernization. I’d cut out his conflict with his brother Tonraq; in my version, Unalaq never manipulated his brother into getting exiled. Tonraq did that on his own. Unalaq’s oppression of the Southern Tribe doesn’t extend beyond imposing his own religious fundamentalism on them. Maybe he even tries to butter Tonraq up to get his brother on his side, and to keep Korra as a willing ally.

And, most importantly, I wouldn’t give Unalaq any hidden agenda. He’s not plotting to unleash TEN THOUSAND YEARS OF DARKNESS. He doesn’t even know about Vaatu when the story starts. He puts his plan of taking over the Southern Tribe into action simply because he learns of Korra’s mission, and is overjoyed that he finally has a powerful ally who sees the corruption in the modern world. Perhaps he previously considered Tenzin as a possible ally, but Tenzin was turned off by Unalaq’s extremism. (Which is the first warning sign for the audience. Tenzin thinks this guy is too down on modern society?!) We can keep the part where Korra cuts ties with Tenzin because of the revelations about her past, going along with Unalaq despite her misgivings.

So Korra learns super spiritualism from Unalaq for a while. He shows her how to destroy dark spirits. (Neither of them know what’s up with the dark spirits, just that it’s suddenly a problem.) They work together to decry modern corruption. They make the Southern Tribe go to church once a week under penalty of law. Perhaps they go up to Republic City to try asking the citizenry if they’ve considered letting the light of balance into their lives, check out these pamphlets, etc.

They discover that the Dark Spirits are a result of the modern world’s corruption. Just like Hei Bai was turned into a monster by his anger at his forest being burned down, and the Painted Lady was nearly destroyed by her lake being polluted, the Dark Spirits are nothing more than injured, crazed, dying spirits. The Southern Water Tribe is drilling for oil and disrupting the environment. Oceans are being polluted. Forests are being cut down. The big new cities are producing enough waste to poison the land around them. People don’t commune or talk to the spirits anymore; there’s a shortage of sages around the world. The spirits are being driven violently insane even as they’re being wiped out.

So Korra and Unalaq become environmental terrorists.

Perhaps we can fit in a conflict between Mako and Korra at this point. He’s not really into her new course, and they break up. Perhaps he drifts back towards Asami before the official breakup, leading to both girls kicking him to the curb. We definitely won’t do anything with Korra getting amnesia and maybe forgetting that they broke up. That was pointless and just created more problems for the subplot. As a bonus, this can be an excuse for Asami to maybe bond directly with Korra.

Mako angrily confronts Korra about her tactics, but he just winds up antagonizing her and accomplishing nothing. Asami, on the other hand, demonstrates a more deft touch, and reaches out to Korra in a way that works. Asami gets Korra to see the damage being done, and the ineffectiveness of the tactics. Asami is sympathetic to Korra’s cause and wants to help, but can’t if Korra just wants to wipe everything out.

And that’s the key. Korra and Unalaq are failing, partially because of their extreme tactics, but also because it’s just impossible to turn the clock back. They make no dent in Republic City’s lack of balance. Unalaq is horrified. Korra, too, but Unalaq is really crazed by this. He wonders if humanity is even worth saving. Korra backs away from that, partially because of Asami’s influence; of course humanity is worth saving, she’s seen the good in people, etc.

And during this conflict between them, they learn of Avatar Wan’s history, and the whole story of Raava and Vaatu.

And this is where Unalaq falls. In his extremism, he sees that Vaatu has the power to destroy everything and start it all fresh. So he sets out to free Vaatu, become a Dark Avatar, bring about TEN THOUSAND YEARS OF DARKNESS, yadda yadda. Unalaq falls from grace because of his uncompromising vision. Extremism has poisoned him.

Korra is nearly defeated by him, but as in the cartoon, it is Jinora who somehow provides a key to winning. In this case, though, Jinora is a not a Magic Fairy Princess who’s always been able to see spirits. She represents the best of the new generation and the modern era. Jinora is spiritual, even more so than Tenzin, but she’s also someone who loves Probending and getting into a little trouble in Republic City and terrible modern cooking. Jinora, perhaps along with Ikki and Meelo, are symbolic of the balance that can be achieved. So Korra defeats Unalaq, and does something with Spiritual Energies that create a new generation of spirits living in the modern cities. Korra also sets out to find compromises so that the lands are no longer being polluted so much, to help preserve the old spirits. And, to everyone’s surprise, Airbending is discovered to have spontaneously returned to the world, perhaps the start of new respect for balance and the elements, and a new calling that the people will answer…

Which will be explored in Book Change.

So, that’s my idea. It requires ditching the whole Water Tribe Civil War, and all the shenanigans with Varrick and Bolin. I’m honestly not sure if Varrick can be worked into this storyline. I love the character because he’s hugely entertaining, but none of what he did in Book Spirits is worth preserving. Perhaps he could be tied in to the corruption of the old spirits, that he’s using them as batteries like with Kuvira in Book Balance. His can be a symbolic defeat, that his loss and exile is a tangible sign of respecting the environment. As a symbolic victory, we can also show Asami rolling out some environmentally-friendly reforms with Korra’s help, further building up their friendship, and establishing a partnership.

(Varrick is later hired by Suyin, and later Kuvira, in a kind of Operation Paperclip deal. They’re fine with his awful sciences. But Varrick is slowly influenced into abandoning his ways, and by the end of Book Balance, goes to work for Asami.)

As I’ve previously posted, I’m not crazy about Tenzin’s family troubles, so I’d like to just cut that. Bumi and Kya can still show up, but I think Tenzin’s subplot should be questioning if, as Korra and Unalaq fight their crusade, he’s really living up to Aang’s ideals. He spends time with his family, until Korra arrives with news of Unalaq’s plan to unleash and bond with Vaatu. He tries to help, Jinora proves to be more help, the journey to the Spirit World to chase Unalaq happens, but they can’t stop him, and during the fight Jinora is seemingly destroyed, but really sent to the Fog of Lost Souls to be rescued by her father. And we still get our Zhao cameo. Booyah!

I have no idea what to do with Bolin in all this. But then, neither did the cartoon, so that’s fine. His subplot in Book Spirits was the most confused, and that’s really saying something. Maybe he goes into exile with Varrick, and they both pop up in Zaofu as established members of the leadership there? Perhaps Bolin and Opal are already a thing, and Opal being an Airbender leads him to reconcile with Korra and the others. I don’t know, Bolin’s character never did anything for me.

Eska and Desna can be Unalaq’s minions. They have misgivings when Korra breaks ties with him, but continue to try to help their father and maybe moderate his darker tendencies. They fail, and wind up having to help the good guys. There’s no romance with Bolin and Eska.

So, that’s my take. There’s a lot of rewriting here, in pursuit of finding some message. I just focused on character arcs, and I’m not sure what the final battle would look like. (Hopefully not an episode of Ultraman.) I’d still like Korra’s connection with her past lives to be destroyed, as I think that really works as a character moment and low point for her. I’m not sure how to accomplish it, because I prefer the power of the Avatar State to be the actual accumulated power and minds of the past lives, rather than Raava. I also eliminated everything to do with the Spirit Portals, because they never made sense to me, what with AtLA showing spirits going back and forth between the worlds without any trouble. Vaatu can just be unleashed in a more mundane way. Maybe Wan Shi Tong knows and tells Unalaq, getting that cameo back in. And I really have no idea what Bumi and Kya are doing here, besides hanging out with Tenzin. But we know I have difficulty with their subplot.

I’m not if this would actually be better, but it’s more streamlined, at least. And Unalaq becomes, I hope, someone who is understandable. We don’t sympathize with his methods, but can at least see where he started with a reasonable hope but went very, very wrong. And, as a bonus, we’ve avoided another case of childhood trauma causing someone to become evil!

Score!

#suzakumakoto

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