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theparanormalperiodical · 3 years

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Top 10 Controversial Horror Films That Are Famous For All The Wrong Reasons *gags* *cries*

At the beating heart of horror is offence.

From that undeniable sense of something not being quite right, to the CGI-blood-spurtin’-adrenaline-fuelled scenes that leave us shaking in our boots, horror pivots on the knife edge of controversy.

It’s used to drive plots. It’s used to drive hype. And at the end of the month, it drives studio executives to the bank.

Horror films can be traumatic enough. But there are some films that bear the cross of controversy more than others. There are some films that have been branded as so damaging to their potential viewers that merely circulating copies of the film is illegal.

And yet their infamy has forged cult viewership. What was once shielded from us has now become ‘must see’.

Today we are going to be counting down horror’s most controversial films and what made them quite so topical.

*I’m going to star the ones that you can actually watch without getting traumatised. Some are controversial not because of their content but because some religious or political groups disagreed with them*

#10 - The Blair Witch Project (1999)*

Let’s ease in with a classic - a classic you can watch without sleeping with the light on.

In this found-footage flick we see a team of film students as they explore a local urban legend. But what they find leads them to unknown and ungodly territory.

The problem with this film is that it was marketed as a true story. No, not based on a true story, a true story. Yep, they claimed what we were seeing was real, found footage of some teens going mad as they forage deeper into mysterious woods.

IMBd went so far as to report that the actors were dead. Then, the movie studio super-charged their efforts to confirm to the public that not only was this film 100% real, the three main actors were still missing. The parents of the actors then started receiving sympathy cards.

There’s even a mocked up website that perpetuates these claims.

#9 - Night Of The Living Dead (1968)*

Time for another not-too-disturbing film.

This is the original zombie apocalypse film saw a group of Americans attempt to survive an incoming attack of the undead while trapped in a rural farmhouse.

But the Motion Picture Association of America wasn’t too happy about it. The film rating system was yet to be in place, allowing children to also show up for an afternoon screening and be greeted by a 97 minute montage of extreme violence.

“The kids in the audience were stunned. There was almost complete silence. The movie had stopped being delightfully scary about halfway through, and had become unexpectedly terrifying. There was a little girl across the aisle from me, maybe nine years old, who was sitting very still in her seat and crying”

#8 - Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)

In this psychological film, we watch a random crime spree take place at the hands of a couple serial killers. Loosely based on real murderers Henry Lee Lucas and Ottis Toole, its controversial reputation was founded on the gore ‘n’ guts screened in the movie.

Whilst it didn’t receive much attention from the public, various classification boards across the world ensured new versions edited with certain scenes - often involving sexual assault and necrophilia - removed for viewers.

In 2003, the BBFC (the UK classification board) finally allowed the uncut version to be released and Australia followed suit in 2005.

#7 - I Spit On Your Grave (1978)

It’s the original rape-revenge flick. And it managed to piss everyone off.

Originally titled Day of the Woman, it tells the story of a fiction writer who exacts revenge on a group of four men who gang rape her.

Despite its pro-women claim-to-fame, the 30 minute rape scene begs to differ. Furious debate surrounds its feminist label as a film that forces the audience to endure rape from a female perspective and long-winded violence against men (something which is often reserved for women in horror). Regardless, the graphic violence earned it a steady ban in Ireland, Norway, Iceland, and West Germany.

#6 - Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)*

You don’t get many controversial Christmas films. They typically stick to a cookie-cutter plot ‘n’ purpose every holiday season. But there are no strong women who need to rediscover the meaning of Christmas here.

Instead, we see a child traumatised by seeing his parents murdered on Christmas Eve go on a seasonal rampage as an adult.

A week after its release in the early 80s, it was pulled from theatres due to backlash. Marketing was focused on a Santa Claus killer with adverts often airing during family-friendly TV programmes and meant numerous children developed a phobia of Father Christmas. Large crowds protested cinemas with one notable protest involving angry families singing carols at the Interboro Quad Theater in The Bronx.

It was only in 2009 - 25 years after its original release - that a DVD of the film was first made available for purchase in the UK.

#5 - Psycho (1960)*

This legendary film follows the disappearance of a young woman after her encounter with a strange man called Norman Bates, one of horror’s most iconic figures. The controversy that would engulf this fim lay not in the violent attack on an innocent woman or even the disturbing content of the film.

Oh, no. It was because of what the leading lady was wearing.

In the opening scene of the film, we see Janet Leigh wearing nothing but a bra.

*gasp*

This racy attire was emblazoned across promotional material, meeting Hitchcock’s high standards of creating controversy around the movie. There was a no late admission policy for movie theaters, and the posters told viewers “Do not reveal the surprises!” to maintain a mysterious aura around the plot twist.

#4 - The Human Centipede (2009) (all of ‘em)

I’ve watched a lot of horror films, in case you couldn’t tell.

I’m used to watching a scary movie, shaking off the anxiety, and moving on with my life. But there are some that stayed with me. I only watched the trailer for the first movie, and it legitimately traumatised me. It gave me quite a severe, sudden bout of a depression for a solid month when I was 13.

Throughout horror’s goriest franchise, we see an evil doctor and amateur mad scientist attempt to sow several people together into a centipede-like chain from mouth to anus.

*retches*

At the heart of promoting the franchise was controversy. Tom Six, the director, forced a narrative that claimed from the first film that this was "100% medically accurate". He even alleged a Dutch doctor helped inspire the film, confirming that with an IV drip, this was entirely possible.

Although it didn’t receive furore that amounted to serious censorship or long-term banning, it was infamous for having its viewers vomiting in the cinema aisles.

The second film, however, was subject to much more severe controversy and could not legally be supplied in the UK until 2011 due to its heavy focus on sexual abuse, more graphic violence than the original film, and it’s pretty vile depiction of a murderer that was intellectually disabled.

Audiences were used to the graphic nature of the franchise by the third and final release. As the least-controversial and least-enjoyable film according to critics, it barely made a dent in the horror community.

Good riddance, I guess?

#3 - Faces Of Death (1978)

I’m not sure I’d recommend this one per se - but I will give it credit for being an interesting project.

This documentary-style film is a montage of footage of people dying in different ways. As a result of its very graphic and very real content, it was banned and censored in many countries. Only in 2003 was it released on DVD in the UK after a scene was cut featuring dogs fighting and a monkey being beaten to death.

Germany, Australia, and New Zealand followed suit, reversing their bans and releasing edited versions.

However, 7 years after its release, the media revamped its interest in the film after a maths teacher showed it to his class at a Californian high school. Two of his students claimed they were so traumatised they received a costly settlement to reimburse their emotional distress. Things took a darker turn a year later, when a 14 year old bludgeoned a classmate to death with a baseball bat; he claimed he wanted to see what it would be like to actually kill someone after watching Faces of Death.

#2 - Cannibal Holocaust (1980)

This Italian film’s title alone hints towards two frightening things: flesh-eating humans and genocide. In this found-footage movie we see an anthropologist lead a rescue team into the Amazon rainforest to find a group of filmmakers that went missing.

The rampant graphic content including sexual assault and animal cruelty showcased in the film (7 animals were killed during filming in some pretty horrific ways) led to it being banned in 50 countries.

Some also alleged that a handful of deaths seen in the film were real, as were the missing film crew. In fact, the actors portraying the documentarians signed contracts that stopped them appearing in motion pictures for an entire year to maintain the illusion of reality.

And only 10 days after its premiere, the director was charged with obscenity and the film confiscated. All copies were to be turned over to the authorities. There are currently a range of versions that have been edited to varying degrees and are allowed for circulation.

#1 - A Serbian Film (2010)

No.

Nope.

Don’t do it. Don’t watch this film.

A Serbian Film follows a retired porn star who agrees to feature in an “art film” for some cash. Little does he know this film will include rape, incest, pedophilia, necrophilia…

Just don’t watch it.

It is still banned in South Korea, New Zealand, Australia. It is supposedly a parody of politically correct films made in Serbia that are funded by foreign groups and allegedly speaks openly about post-war society and the struggle for survival.

*shakes head*

Off to have a 3 hour shower, brb.

If you, uhhh, liked this post please like and reblog.

And if you want to hear more about horror and the supernatural every week hit follow!

#horror #Horror Movies #horror films #best horror movies #scary movies #banned films #video nasty #a serbian film #human centipede #the blair witch project #cannibal holocaust #faces of death #banned movies #censorship #night of the living dea #controversy #controversial films

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itsclydebitches · 4 years

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RWBY Recaps: Volume 8 “Divide”

Hello, everyone, and welcome back! It feels good to be doing some normal RWBY-ing in this strange world of ours. First, some supplementary materials.

Number One: In response to any (valid) questions along the lines of, “Hey Clyde, it’s now been a full year since Volume 7 was airing and you still haven’t answered my ask about it. Or the ones about Volume 6… what’s up with that?” I’ve created what I hope is an informative video detailing the problem:

vimeo

(I assure you, the Earth, Wind & Fire was a happy accident during the screen recording.)

Needless to say, there’s a lot and I’ve known for some time now that I will LITERALLY never get through all my asks. Which doesn’t mean I don’t want you to send future thoughts in! Just know that as we head into Volume 8 territory I’ll most likely prioritize those, as well as any Volume 7 asks that aren’t woefully out of date. But I do want everyone to know that I read all the asks I receive, appreciate them immensely, and think too much about hypothetical answers, even if I don’t have time to actually write them out 💜

Number Two: There’s a bingo board this year!

Jury’s out on whether I’ll remember to update it, but at the very least this serves as a decent glimpse into my — and others’ — expectations going into this volume.

Number Three: I’ve collected a list of things I’ve heard about Volume 8 from what seem to be reputable sources. I did this because RT is developing a tendency to talk up certain points and then fail to deliver, either because something was taken out of a volume/moved to another, or because RT apparently has radically different ideas about what including something means. So this might be handy to keep on file and ask ourselves two months from now, “Did RT actually deliver on what they promised?”

Emphasis on Ruby’s leadership and how Summer’s death has impacted her

Insight into Ren and Nora’s flaws

May Merigold will supposedly have a larger part

More information about The Long Memory (Ozpin’s cane)

Theme of the volume is that you can respect someone but that doesn’t necessarily mean you agree with them

Very short timeline (supposedly just two days)

Yang in particular is very suspicious and distrustful

I was also going to include a list of all the threads that need to be continued/wrapped up, but honestly that would have taken too large a chunk off my life. Let’s just throw out the highlights:

Are we really going to have Qrow gunning for Ironwood?

Clover is dead regardless. Press ‘F’ to pay respects

Oscar bb you got shot please acknowledge this

Ozpin bb you got done dirty please acknowledge this

Penny is a Maiden now. I feel like the fandom has been sleeping on this (myself included)

Queer baiting, queer baiting… you’re on thin ice at this point, RWBY. Just skate on over to the queer snack bar before you fall straight into the lake.

Ren spill your deep dark secret already and it had better be something more than just ‘Oh no Nora might someday die :( ’

Salem is here so how the actual fuck is the cast surviving this?

Will Ironwood likewise survive his descent into antagonism? Yes or please yes no?

I think that’s all the biggies. I strive to keep lists like this in mind while analyzing, but honestly RWBY has a hundred moving parts that are abandoned or changed or simply retconned at the drop of a hat. So an attempt will be made.

Number Four (last one I promise!): Normal disclaimers and reminders for Recaps apply:

Please don’t fill up the already full inbox with flames. It’s still 2020. No one has time for that nonsense.

There will absolutely be typos and wonky parts because I try to get these out the same day an episode premieres. I have now been working on this for ten hours, nearly straight, and have no more energy for edits. Apologies in advance and RIP to my Saturdays.

I reserve the right to use stupid GIFs and memes at my discretion.

I strive to keep my focus on recapping/analyzing but salt tends to worm its way in… If you’re a die-hard RWBY fan with little patience for criticism, let alone (at times) snarky criticism, please proceed with caution.

No wait I lied, this is the last thing:

Okay, got that out of my system LET’S DO THIS!

We start not with the episode itself but rather Rooster Teeth’s (RT’s) strange non-promotion of it. If you follow my blog you may have caught the post where I pointed out that there was nothing on RT’s website to suggest that one of their most popular shows—if not the most popular show—was premiering today. Nothing on the main page. Nothing on the RWBY page either, not unless you count the Volume 8 poster background (easily mistaken for the Volume 7 poster) and the trailer buried all the way down past Episodes, past Merch, in the Bonus Features section along with videos like Live From Remnant and the volume intros. RT… the promotion of your feature show is not a bonus. This should be front and center! Honest to god, five minutes before the episode dropped I was checking the website for a Volume 8 section, a countdown, anything that would tell me the episode was imminent without relying on fans on tumblr to keep me in the loop. We got nada, zilch. I’m not sure whether that speaks more to RT’s iffy management of the series or simply the website’s horrible design—RIP losing RWBY on Youtube—but I was surprised when I saw the episode a few minutes after 11:00am. At that point I honestly expected to hear about a dely.

So that’s the mood I entered the premiere in, but truly? We start off strong. Things take a pretty severe nosedive later on, we’ll get to that, but I was impressed with our beginning and that probably has a lot to do with the fact that we start with our villains.

We open on a Cinderella character, Cinder, and thus I’m immediately pleased that we’re getting something about her backstory after all this time. Seven years! She appeared in episode one, folks! To say we’re overdue is an understatement. There isn’t a whole lot to go on, just a younger Cinder sadly scrubbing the floor, poised under a spotlight. What we learn, or potentially learn, is based far more in cultural knowledge than this scene. We know Cinderella’s story, which includes the abusive family, the longing for more, the eventual escape, and thus we’re able to read all of that in this image, despite the image itself not telling us any of this overtly. That means we could be wrong in our interpretation, but if we’re not it’s an easy shorthand in an already packed story.

What I’m really impressed with is the sound bridge between the scrubbing and her nails on the back of Neo’s chair. Fantastic way to confirm that this is Cinder as well as showcasing just how far she’s come. The sound of her labor has been replaced with the sound of her power and given that Cinder’s power is stolen, tied to a grimm arm, the property of a genocidal maniac… that’s messed up. It’s a Cinderella story gone wrong.

So yeah, Cinder tells Neo to head straight into the creepy, grimm infested blood cloud to see Salem and Neo is like, ‘Uh… no thank you?’ lol.

RT does a good job this episode with her expressions, ensuring we know exactly what she’s thinking despite an unwillingness/inability to speak.

Poor Neo might be in too deep, but I quite like the overall atmosphere of this opening. Say what we will about Salem’s awful characterization, at least she has style. This woman knows how to make an entrance and, piggybacking off of the Apathy, RT knows how to infuse horror elements into their fantasy. The red and purple coloring of the clouds, spiked whale teeth peeking through, bright orange in the background looking like explosions… that’s all 👌 Including the intro card.

The only thing I want to gripe about is this:

I’m sorry, why does the whale grimm have landing pads? Or something like it?? The whale otherwise works because it’s poised between the natural and the fantasy synthetic. It looks like a real grimm whale on the outside, but is sporting a throne room, a control panel, and other unnatural elements on the inside. It’s a visual indicator of Salem’s ability to control and change grimm. Now though, the additions are wrong, infringing on the line between organic and tech, the line between what helps the grimm individually (giving monkeys wings) and what just helps Salem. Every other aspect of the whale straddles that line wonderfully, adding to the creep factor, like a grimm version of the Uncanny Valley: it’s not quite a whale anymore… but landing pads? That looks ridiculous. Why does Salem even have that? How many ships are her people feasibly using? Why are there five?

Take it away, please.

Cinder waltzes in like this is a normal home visit, but Neo has an appropriate ‘What the actual fuck?’ face going on.

They approach Salem on her throne where Cinder immediately kneels, greeting her with, “My queen.” I mentioned during my trailer breakdown that I think Cinder is lying her ass off here, and I still think that based on a line we’ll get in a minute, but now at least we have a sense of how she can pull this off. A woman who started out as a (presumed) servant is going to know how to mimic subservience, even if her heart isn’t in it. Salem is very good at playing the girl who will still kneel and scrub the floor for you. She will scrub the floor, she’ll do everything you want, she’ll just be plotting her own rise to power while she does it.

There’s quite a bit of interesting cinematography in this episode, not all of it good, and I think one of the mistakes is here when we get a closeup on Salem’s mouth as she greets Cinder. A closeup like that should be reserved for more significant dialogue—“Rosebud”—and yet we get this shot again when Cinder tells Emerald to be quiet. It’s awkward and coupled with the numerous eye closeups we got in the trailer, I think RT is playing a little fast and loose with the camera. Each shot should add something to the scene, not distract from it. If you don’t have a reason for including a technique like that then leave it be.

Back to the actual dialogue though. We knew that Salem knew Cinder was alive and now it seems that she just expected her to come back? I’m slightly lost. It feels like we’re missing something here. Cinder goes off to secure the lamp, fails, nearly dies, wanders on her own for months, and then randomly shows back up on Salem’s whale doorstep, yet Salem isn’t angry at all? Did she have faith that Cinder would return when she has something to offer? Did she just not care about Cinder, considering her return an unnecessary but otherwise welcome surprise? That would make the least sense given that she holds the key to accessing Beacon’s relic… but that circles right back around to why Salem is seemingly indifferent to Cinder’s comings and goings. Surely she can’t actually believe that Cinder is loyal?

“So I trust you wouldn’t return to me empty handed,” she says. Yeah, trust means nothing in this show, Salem, didn’t you watch Volumes 6 and 7? Again, I simply don’t know. I suppose I’ll just chalk it up to confidence, that if Cinder did bail Salem knew she could track her down again. Deciphering her motivations and beliefs is a lost cause when the show continually gives us so little.

The important thing now is that Cinder does indeed have an offering and you can see that Salem is somewhat surprised at being handed the relic.

Cinder, of course, takes credit for the victory and we’re given another wonderful shot of Neo. ‘YOU took it?’

Oh, Neo. Best get out while you still can.

Tyrian appears having obviously made his way to Salem’s ship sometime between her arrival and now. The exchange is pretty standard for this group. He insults Cinder for failing and needing this victory to make amends, talks about how any win against Ironwood says more about his lack of intelligence than her skill, and Cinder… doesn’t have a whole lot of comebacks, actually. I’d say Tyrian won that verbal spar, enhanced by a better use of the camera when we get his tail looming menacingly towards Cinder and Neo.

He goes on to say that Watts was a “necessary sacrifice” so, uh… I’m just going to toss out the ask I answered yesterday. Based on our intro I’d say Watts is still significant to the volume—hacking Penny is my guess—but by the end? He could be in trouble.

(As a side note: I plan to analyze the intro next week. It’s just easier when it comes first.)

Tyrian also calls Neo “little one” which I just found absolutely hilarious. In an on brand creepy manner, that is. Not that Neo couldn’t kick his ass, but there’s something wonderfully chilling about having the serial killer use an endearment towards a potential victim, one that comments on her size while he’s looming.

In contrast, Cinder refers to Neo as a “valuable asset” and we get our third mood of the episode.

Who’s going to start a Neo reaction image collection?

It’s true enough on the surface—who wouldn’t want an ally who can turn into anyone else?—but we’re still bumping up against question of why Salem needs this. She’s immortal! She has an endless army! Magic! This scene works well with a villain who needs a skillset like Neo’s to succeed, but Salem doesn’t. RT is doing a great job writing a story thus far, just not the story we’ve previously been given. This isn’t the story they set up.

This will come back up when we reach the RWBYJNOR group. Just wait.

Before that though, the gang’s all here as Emerald, Mercury, and Hazel show up, all in new outfits.

I think I like everything except for the weird Xs on Emerald’s jacket—it’s way too distracting and frankly makes an otherwise good look ugly—and the fact that she’s showing her midriff in Atlas. Hazel doesn’t have any sleeves! Oh my god, why doesn’t anyone dress for the weather in this show?

Frankly, I found their reunion to be kind of lackluster. I mean, there was nothing wrong with it. Emerald does sound briefly excited, she does run, and it’s in character for Cinder to cut her off… it just didn’t resonate with me emotionally. I thought after two volumes of thinking she’s dead, then working through the knowledge that she’s alive, that I would feel Emerald’s shock and relief more, but I didn’t. And I’m not entirely sure why. I don’t want to level any accusations at the voice acting because frankly I know next to nothing about that skill (and from what I’ve seen it’s usually praised in the fandom), but I will say that throughout the premiere I was noticing it more than I ever have before. The lack of emotion here and some awkward deliveries later, like when Yang goes, “Ruby, there is no way Ironwood will cooperate with us” and I immediately thought, “Wow, that came out stilted.” These observations stick with me because, as said, voice acting usually isn’t on my radar. It’s not something I’ve studied or had practice analyzing. If you’d never told me that Ren or Qrow’s VA changed then after a year hiatus I literally wouldn’t notice… but there’s something about this episode that didn’t sit right. Anyone else get that sense, or was it just me?

Regardless, the arrival of our other three villains really doesn’t amount to much, though I’m happy for all the Emerald and Mercury fans who get to see them in new outfits. The focus is still on Cinder as she delivers a line indicative of her true motivations: “That power will be mine.” Yeah, she’s not loyal to Salem, she’s just power hungry. Of course, Salem immediately takes note of this and raises her hand, in another nice use of the foreground, reminding her that she hasn’t given that order.

Cinder is shocked, angry even, but quickly covers it up with her “Without you I am nothing” line. If I caught it right I think she also calls Salem “Ma’am”? Hilarious. Again, skilled at playing the servant.

Also, before I forget, it’s worth noting that almost everything from our trailer appeared in this episode. Yeah, there are a few details like Nora attacking some tech and the group on their bikes, but on the whole we’ve already seen the majority of our promo material and will likely get most of the rest next week. It makes me both interested and nervous for what another twelve episodes are going to hold.

Salem opens her whale, or opens a portal type view in it, something that gives us a long-distance look at Atlas. I don’t know what exactly is going on here, but it’s pretty so I’ll take it.

She also delivers the frankly badass line, “Just because you’re more valuable to me than a pawn does not make you a player.”

She waves them all away with perfect ‘You mean nothing to me’ attitude and we sadly leave our villains.

Sad not because I don’t love my farm boy, but because things are about to get a whole lot messier.

Oscar has made his way to a camp of civilian survivors… all of whom are just hanging out in the supposedly deadly cold. Yeah, there’s a single fire, but at least four of them aren’t anywhere near it. Three of them also aren’t wearing gloves. What was that survival rate again?

A nice if gruff dude gives Oscar soup—water?—while showing off his… badger claws? I don’t know what kind of faunus he’s supposed to be, but he feels like the sort of two second, minor character who could easily become a meme lol.

Oscar thanks him (my polite son!) and hands the bowl back after a single sip. Which is impressive because I would have assumed the guy was giving me the whole bowl and just taken it. Hell, I’ve done that even when I didn’t assume it’s all for me. A Starbucks barista once approached me with a tray and a plate of samples, I knew I was supposed to take just one, yet for some reason my hand went to take the whole goddamn plate. He had to tell me off, then I was trying to explain that I didn’t actually want or think I should have eight shots of cappuccino all to myself, I don’t even like coffee, he clearly didn’t believe me… it was awkward. So good job, Oscar. You’re less awkward than me (though that’s not saying much).

Now a question, Oscar. Darling. Brilliant boy who has been through too much: why the fuck aren’t you talking to Ozpin? This will be A Thing later when he presents a lack of time to talk as justification for keeping more secrets (we’ll get to that too…) yet here is time! You’re just sitting there for who knows how long, with plenty of privacy to hide a supposedly one-sided conversation so the Mantle citizens don’t get weirded out or suspicious. Talk to Ozpin. Our headmaster gets two lines in this episode, utterly inconsequential lines like his airship scene, lines that feel like they exist to say, “See? He’s still included in the story!” even though he absolutely is not. Two volumes of mostly silence, a perfect setup to start the reconciliation process, but we’re going to put it off again?

Instead Ruby randomly and conveniently appears. I want to know how she found him. Oscar isn’t wearing a tracker. He clearly didn’t call them because he’s surprised when Ruby shows up. He fell alllllllll the way back down to Mantle and then wandered to a random part of the slums. You’re telling me they flew over the entire city—after beginning this search thinking he was in Atlas—and somehow managed to spot him from up in the air? C’mon. I would have rather had a beginning where Oscar makes his way back to the group himself, giving him and Ozpin time to hash things out.

“Need a lift?” Ruby says, eliminating that potential. Sigh.

Oscar immediately starts beating himself up when he gets onboard, saying that he “was stupid to think the General would listen.” Nah, you were stupid to buy into Ruby’s nonsensical confidence and for telling Ironwood he’s as bad as Salem. Sorry, Oscar, but everyone is written badly these days. I will, however, say that I am THRILLED at the group’s reaction to his return. Ruby says that she’s “just glad you’re alright.” Nora has a wonderfully tender moment where she hugs him gently rather than her usual glomp.

That? That added a year to my life. Everyone else seems relieved that he’s okay too, so kudos there. After four years of Oscar being an outsider in the group, this is one of the few moments that feel like he’s 100% accepted. Really glad to see it.

Now let’s see if it sticks after they learn Ozpin is back...

They fly to the Happy Huntresses’ base and I again feel like I’ve missed something crucial. When did they team up? I mean, RWBYJNOR was working directly under Ironwood up until the last hour and Robyn ran off to fight Tyrian/Clover in the last couple episodes. When did she have time to explain her (briefly) changed allegiance and why would the Happy Huntresses trust the group without that? Did Robyn share that Blake and Yang went behind Ironwood’s back for her? Do the Huntresses instinctively trust them because they’re now wanted by the military? How did they even run into each other?

Again, I think we would have been better served to have an episode before all this. Let Oscar make his way back and let the group struggle with the magnitude of their situation on the airship, before they find new allies. Transferring directly to, “They have help and a secret base and a plan in the works!” makes me feel like I missed the real premiere last week. You know, the one where Salem unexpectedly arrived and we left the group like this.

This is where we’ve ended up though. The group is cozy in this hideout, getting info from Joanna, and my only other thought is, “Why is she giving all this exposition?”

Shouldn’t it be May? I mean, we were told that she was going to play more of a role this volume, a promise that’s pretty important imo given her status as a (so far off screen) trans character, so why not put her in the role of mediator between the Happy Huntresses and RWBYJNR? Giving her that setup as a leader among her people as well as lots of lines would be meaningful. A trans character just existing and being a part of this fight! May could obviously still fill that role—I’m well aware that we’re only one episode in—but it just seems like a missed opportunity to me. Out of all the undeveloped Happy Huntresses, our premiere focuses on the one who has the least importance to the fandom.

As said, Joanna talks a fair bit but what it basically boils down to is trying to get everyone to the crater below Atlas. It’s apparently not safe, but it’s warm, which is what matters right now.

So… let me get this straight. You want to gather everyone into a not safe crater, by leading them through an army of grimm, so that they can wait there in case someone moves the Staff, thus dropping an entire city on top of their heads? That’s the plan? Which admittedly isn’t Joanna’s fault. This is another instance of RWBYJNOR having information that a leader does not and they should really consider speaking up about it. But of course they don’t.

Also, how long does everyone have in regards to the cold? Shouldn’t there be dead civilians by now? The time it would take to find the Happy Huntresses, team up with them, get settled in the base, and find Oscar says that things should be pretty grim right now (pardon the pun), yet every non-aura user in this city seems content to just hang out in the snow. Either the cold is deadly enough to justify moving everyone to the crater, or it’s mild enough to let everyone survive this long, not both.

After hugs are given everyone obviously wants to know what happened to Oscar. His response?

“It’s a… long story. I get the feeling there’s been a few of those tonight.”

That’s a check for the bingo card! We’re halfway through the first episode and we’ve already got another secret. Yes, this is a secret. Oscar actively chooses not to tell anyone that Ozpin is back—something Ozpin himself comments on—and then skillfully draws attention away from himself with “I get the feeling there’s been a few of those tonight.” Indeed, all eyes go to Penny. Oscar’s plight is forgotten, which is what he wanted. His justification?

Ozpin: “You’re not going to tell them?”

Oscar: “You and I aren’t done talking yet.”

Along with this look.

Oscar no. There’s so much wrong with this I don’t even know where to begin. Let’s create a list.

As said, you had plenty of time to talk to Ozpin and chose not to. Miss me with this excuse.

You are now doing to your friends exactly what you and your friends did to Ironwood, which in turn is what Ozpin did to you! I can’t believe we’ve got Oscar critically side-eyeing him when they are still—still—repeating the behavior they drove Ozpin away for.

What is there to even talk about now? Oscar didn’t punch himself/Ozpin (lol) but he did steal Jinn’s name from Ozpin in the first place. You got what you wanted, drove him away, and have been lying and keeping secrets ever since. The only thing they should be talking about involves apologizing. Any further criticism—which is what Oscar’s expression and curt reply suggests—is beyond hypocritical.

Seriously, what needs to be discussed? There’s no reason not to tell the group unless Oscar wants to talk about whether they should tell them. There’s no good ending here...

Don’t you think it would be nice to know that Ozpin is back and you’ve got super magic powers while making plans to save the entire world?

This is all especially stupid given Oscar’s “Salem wants to divide us” reminder to Ruby in a moment. Oscar, you are doing the most to divide the group right now. By not forgiving Ozpin. By refusing to work with him. By keeping him secret from everyone else.

This is bad, friends, I worry for what the rest of the volume will bring…

The story is done with Ozpin for now so I guess I will be too. The group continues filling Oscar in and we get some shots of the base, including a rather prominent poster of what I assume are two Happy Huntresses. Did they die in battle perhaps?

It’s a little strange.

Oscar: “Where’s Qrow?”

Me: “Likely still making bad decisions.”

No one knows so they just drop it. Which I kind of get, only so much you can do to find him if he’s not out on the streets like Oscar, but it still reads as kind of iffy that two nieces look down at the ground for a hot second and then move on with their plans, content to leave Qrow to whatever fate befell him. In a minute we’ll see Yang firmly take Ren’s side regarding helping the people they can in Mantle, which frankly comes out of nowhere for her. I think an easy motivation would have been Qrow. Ruby wants to save the world, Yang wants to find and save their uncle, and that just happens to align with Ren’s desire to save the civilians who need immediate grimm and cold help. Don’t get me wrong, I like that there’s finally some division between the sisters, I just wish it hadn’t come about so abruptly. Ren had setup for standing up to Ruby. Yang did not.

But I’m getting a little ahead of myself. Joanna lists the grimm horde and no heat as the major threats to everyone. The group agrees.

Me: What about Salem?

Joanna says that this is all doubly dangerous because there’s “no more military protection.”

Me: Oh, so now you want the military?

This is all so disjointed. Even more-so when Joanna mentions that Ironwood has stopped all evacuations to Atlas, likely due to the “hard light shields” that are the only thing standing between Salem and the city. Thing is, the show never makes this connection, I just did it myself based on this scene and the one that comes later. The show presents Joanna’s line as a pure condemnation. Ironwood won’t let more evacuees in because… he’s just evil, I guess. Yet there is a justification here, namely that continuing the evacuations even while he’s stuck without Penny leaves him wide open to a Salem attack, the death of everyone currently safe, but that argument is never presented to the viewer. I don’t need people to agree with Ironwood’s perspective, I just wish that perspective was offered as an option. The show is very good about acting like RWBYJNOR’s opinion is the only justified opinion, or simply the only opinion at all.

After everything is laid out Weiss goes, “We’re never going to sleep again, I just know it.”

I could make a crack about the lack of continuity and how the group should be collapsing right now… but that was a funny line. It can stay.

What is far more of a problem is the fact that no one is talking about Salem. Okay, that’s a lie. They do talk about her, but in a roundabout way like her presence isn’t impacting every decision they make. That’s the real issue. They’re acting as if Salem isn’t here right now, like she’s off far away, maybe approaching slowly, and they’re arguing over how best to prep the world for her eventual attack. There’s no emotion here—let alone action—to reflect that the series’ Big Bad has arrived and is poised to murder them all. Literally what is this? Ruby is yelling about warning the world and, ignoring the continued question of why that’s a good thing when the world can do nothing to stop Salem and knowledge of her continually drives people to horrible acts, she has yet to acknowledge that… she’s the world? Ruby is the world in this conflict. She, Mantle, and Atlas. Salem is here for you all. Right now. You are, this instant, in the situation you want to warn others about, so why don’t you try to do something about it? Or at least acknowledge it. Ruby wants to warn the neighborhood about a potential fire while her house is actively ablaze, and the fire could have totally killed her by now but decided not to for… reasons.

“Ruby’s right,” Nora says. They have to tell the world so “they can prepare.” How? How are they supposed to prepare for this? The story cannot continue ignoring Salem’s immortality.

“Ruby’s right,” is all Blake says and I’m starting to thinks that’s why her character exists now, to agree with Ruby. It’s great that she’s getting a little distance from Yang, but man.

As Ruby asks whether Pietro can get Amity up and running despite it not being finished (called it) we start an incredibly odd sequence of flashforwards to their individual missions. I’ve seen a lot of praise for this already and though I agree that, in theory, it’s a good way to save time, I found the actual execution to be jarring. Upon thinking back through our timeline, it became clear they were flashforwards, but while watching I thought they might be flashbacks (especially since that’s more common).

Some of the shots, like Nora’s, just look awkward when you’ve got the exact expression and pose transplanted from one scene to another, like she’s a cardboard cutout behind a green screen. To say nothing of how the flashforwards ruin any suspense (I use that word loosely) in the conversation itself. If the question is, “Will they decide to go to the military compound?” then that question is answered when we see Ruby scoping out the compound, not when the group actually decides on the course of action.

It just made an already muddled scene worse for me, so I hope this trend doesn’t continue.

And of course, Amity can be used despite all the info last volume claiming that it wasn’t finished. Pietro suddenly acts like it is finished and the only thing standing in their way is Ironwood providing access. If that were the case, he would have used Amity weeks or days ago like he wanted to! When was it finished? Not after Watts commented on how incomplete it was. When did they get back the resources they needed from Robyn? It’s as ridiculous and retcon-y as I thought it would be.

Yang points out that Ironwood will never listen to them and Ruby counters that “he doesn’t have to.” They’ll just take the access from him. Because why wouldn’t they in a series where they’ve already stolen two airships? Stealing from the super evil military that Joanna wishes were helping them right now is just the group’s go-to plan nowadays.

Pietro isn’t sold on this plan though. He lists at least three obstacles they’d need to get through “and then… oh boy, I might need to think about this some more.” “And just to clarify,” Oscar says, “This is the easy option?” Um...no it’s not? We also know there’s an access point in Ironwood’s office so… why not go there instead? They really think the Academy is less guarded than the military base? There’s a potential justification here along the lines of, “After Neo and Cinder broke into his office Ironwood will have the place on high alert,” but unless I missed it the group doesn’t assume anything like that. They just listen to Pietro point out all the ways they can’t get into the military base and jump straight to that being the best option. It feels like a transparent way to create conflict for the group. We’ll just have them taking the most dangerous route despite an easy route being offered alongside it. Why bother mentioning his office at all? Just have the access in the military base. Boom, done.

It’s that conflict and the fact that Ruby tends to hear “You can’t” and digs in her heels. You can’t go to Atlas. I’ll just steal a ship then. You can’t defeat Salem. Watch me. You can’t break into this base. Guess what I’m doing! She’s dangerous in her fairy tale, meta-driven insistence that everything will turn out her way because she wants it to.

Speaking of, we finally—FINALLY—get someone challenging Ruby. Sort of. Not actually but it’s the closest we’ve ever gotten:

Yang: “Ruby, when we came here we said we’d follow your lead… but things haven’t exactly worked out.”

Now, there are two things to take away from this moment. The first is how utterly shocked Ruby and the others are. I mean, take a look at these expressions.

Ruby straight up can’t believe what she’s hearing. Weiss put her hand to her mouth like this is the most dramatic thing to ever happen to her. Oscar looks down in a ‘Yeah, I agree but please don’t look at me and make me admit that’ way. And Nora looks indifferent in the screenshot but animated she goes sort of stern, likely pissed that Yang would dare say that given her own agreement with Ruby. This not only reiterates that Yang’s challenge came out of nowhere—seriously, how did we move from following Ruby no matter what to this? Last volume she asked a single question along the lines of, ‘You sure?’ and when Ruby said ‘Yes’ Yang was entirely on board—but also demonstrates that no one has EVER said no to her before. Ruby is amazed that someone would challenge her. The act of challenging Ruby is, in and of itself, shocking. This group has gotten so used to following Ruby blindly that the teensiest little pushback is greeted with this.

Because it is teensy. This is the second takeaway: Yang barely challenges her and that challenge leads nowhere. She doesn’t accuse Ruby of anything, she doesn’t question her continued authority, she just broadly implies that things could be better. We followed you, now things are bad, take from that what you will. It’s incredibly mild as far as criticism goes, making the shock all the more, well, shocking, but it also amounts to—wait for it—nothing! Because Yang didn’t truly challenge Ruby’s leadership. She’s still in charge, she’s still calling the shots, and they’re still listening to her. We might have gotten some change if this division had been allowed to play out, but instead Jaune comes in with a, “Let’s go for both!” solution. It let’s both groups get what they want which, in turn, releases them from the need to grapple with whether they’ll listen to Ruby when she’s advocating for something they don’t agree with. We have now lost the chance to see whether, when push comes to shove, Ren and Yang will cave to Ruby’s will or stick by their own beliefs.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s more conflict than we’ve gotten in years, but that doesn’t mean it’s particularly compelling conflict. It’s good by RWBY’s standards, which doesn’t necessarily make it good. The actual issues at hand—Ruby’s dangerous arrogance, the group’s loyalty, her choices up until now—are just swept under the rug. For all the visuals we get insisting that there’s this great divide in the group… there’s really not. Not in any way that matters.

Also, Ruby is an idiot. Okay, that was mean, but she really is in this scene. She’s actually not an idiot overall because she was written as wonderfully intelligent in the early volumes, but now? Lately? She makes me want to bang my head against a wall.

“But that’s how Salem got this far,” she cries. “By dividing us!”

Ruby… oh my god, Ruby. No one should have to explain to you that dividing people means turning them against each other, not literally dividing your team to complete separate tasks. This girl honestly thought that because there was this teensy disagreement and that half the team would complete Plan A while she and the other half completed Plan B, both of which notably work towards the goal of, “Protect people from Salem,” that this was somehow what Salem wanted. That is was dangerous. Honestly, it’s a scary look at her view of leadership too: If everyone doesn’t 100% agree with me and do what I say, that’s an objectively bad thing that the grimm queen wants, right? Does Ruby think that unification means following a single person (her) without question or variation? That would explain a lot...

The fact that Oscar needs to explain the difference to her is not good. It really doesn’t say great things about this version of Ruby. Though he was comparing Ironwood to Salem last volume, so really they should all be wearing dunce hats.

Penny offers to take the relic directly to Salem in exchange for her leaving the kingdom alone. I honestly didn’t expect that. If anyone took that risk I would have put my money on Ozpin (but of course, during all this talk of the women he knows best, he’s kept quiet). Oscar is again the voice of wisdom, pointing out that they have no reassurance that Salem will keep her word. At least Penny is thinking about Salem as a threat though, so kudos for that. When this plan is shot down she volunteers to get Ruby past the military security instead and, uh, she’s a little intense about it.

I’m not entirely sure what is going on with Penny. She disagreed with Winter but then seemed to come around to her point of view, enough to help anyway. They had another (stupid) disagreement about the value of individual lives, so that helps to explain why she’s teaming up with RWBYJNOR (if you ignore that Ironwood is also trying to save individual lives...). Did watching Fria die shake her up? Is it being the Winter Maiden that’s not sitting right? Does Penny have lingering feelings about the framing that haven’t shown up until now? Her status as a ‘real girl’? We’ve got a lot of reasons that could definitely explain this sudden need to fight, but we’re not told which—if any of these—is the driving force.

We’re then given a lot of little details. Someone points out that if Salem gets the staff and “create[s] anything else” then Atlas will fall (so yeah, let’s move the people underneath it). We still don’t know what exactly the Staff does because “creation” is kind of broad and “powering a city to float” doesn’t seem to sit within that category at all. Pietro gives Yang the keys to his lab so they can get the bikes. We see the group dividing in the flashforwards, something I do like, especially since the show has gone out of its way to break up most of the usual duos. Nora in particular is pissed at Ren for his choice.

“Oh, I’m saving Mantle because I actually believe we can do this.”

#yikes. Well, I did say I wanted a conflict other than ‘Oh no, one of us might die’ and it looks like I got it. But Nora, the only reason you can do this is because the plot is in your corner: none of you are collapsing from two major fights, you didn’t lose your aura so the cold isn’t a danger, the military is barely a threat all of a sudden, Salem is helpfully hanging out in her whale instead of killing you, and the story decided that Amity can function so long as you all are the ones who get to use it. That’s why you can do this. Ren, who follows in-world logic and doesn’t want to risk a whole kingdom’s worth of lives on a pipe dream, thinks differently, oddly enough.

As they leave though Penny gets a call from Ironwood. I know precisely what the fandom is going to say here: “This evil man is just trying to use Penny to open the vault!” Of course he is. He needs it open to save everyone he can, Penny included. Plus the concept of “using” her is a double-edged sword. What do we think the group is doing right now? Using her to get past the security. Penny’s power is a tool any way you slice it. Granted, Penny volunteers to help the group, but notably here Ruby speaks for her. Penny seems torn and Ruby takes the scroll away with, “She’s not going anywhere until you change your mind about Mantle.”

Sorry, Ruby, but coming from you that sounds less like a reassurance for Penny and more like just an order for Ironwood. Remember Harriet? We’ll stop attacking you provided you do what we want. Ruby has yet to learn about compromises, let alone acknowledge that she might be wrong. How about you let Penny decide where she goes, especially since by all logic she should have a lot of loyalty to Ironwood. She knew him before she ever met you. She’s worked with him since she was rebuild post-Volume 3. Despite what Penny has said, if the story would just let her think about his actions for a hot second—making her the protector of Mantle, sticking up for her after the framing, sending her to the party, teaming her up with Ruby, etc.—she might realize that the ‘He doesn’t want me to have friends’ and ‘He just treats me like a tool’ assumptions are just that, unfounded assumptions. But no, Ruby speaks for them both because Ironwood is evil now.

“If she makes it through our defenses,” Ironwood says, “everything that follows will be on your hands.”

That’s true! Kind of like how it’s own Qrow’s hands that Clover died. When you insist on making a bad situation worse you hold responsibility when the shit hits the fan. You know though that Salem won’t get through their defenses now, somehow, so that there’s no chance RWBYJNOR will be blamed for it. Or, by that point Ironwood will be so crazed that anything coming out of his mouth is dismissed, no matter how accurate it might be.

We then transfer to the Ace Ops who are, despite what the fandom theorized for many months, clearly upset about Clover. Also pissed. Which they have every right to be. Their friend and leader was killed. Imagine for a moment that Ruby had been murdered by Tyrian with an allies’ help. Exactly what do you think the group would do? Swallow it quietly and get over it? Ha.

I’ve already seen some speculation that Clover survived due to details like showing us the bandage and his room being listed as for a “Patient,” but he looks pretty dead to me.

He got gutted through the chest and left out in the snow for who knows how long. We saw him slip away. Qrow screamed over his dead body. He’s not breathing now. If RWBY suddenly claims he survived this, I’m calling BS.

Most of the other visuals we get here were already dropped in the trailer. Winter is pretty injured from her encounter with Cinder, likely permanently based on her new outfit. Ironwood had to replace his arm—and I am calling BS on that “Losing his arm is reflective of him losing his humanity” commentary from RT. Please go read up on a couple decades worth of ableism in media and then get back to me.

We get Ironwood’s line about the light shields and, notably, a whole lot of empathy. Regardless of what he might want Penny for, he still called her with compassion. He’s watching the Ace Ops mourn their friend. He’s talking about protecting his kingdom. The first thing he says to Winter is, “Thank you, Winter. I don’t know what I would do without you.” Ironwood has a heart! It’s always on display, which makes this scene utterly ridiculous.

I literally don’t know how to respond to this. The gunshot made me jump, both because it’s a gunshot and because, again, what the fuck? I know I said that next volume RT might just have Ironwood descend into full villainy, shooting whoever he pleases now that he’s shot Oscar, but I didn’t actually expect them to do it. Because he never should have shot Oscar in the first place! I wanted the story to let Oscar grapple with it a bit and then quietly backtrack, acknowledging it as the mistake it was. The concept that Ironwood, empathetic Ironwood, rational Ironwood, always thinks before he acts Ironwood, let’s kids yell at him Ironwood, tried to team up with Robyn Ironwood, did everything Ruby wanted Ironwood, won’t kill Watts after he destroyed his arm Ironwood would shoot this guy just to shut him up is absurd. It was absurd then, it’s absurd now.

That being said, there’s a possibility he didn’t actually shoot the council member, but rather just (“just”) gave a warning shot down the hallway. I say this because the reactions to this are pretty tame. Everyone looks startled, yeah, but after the initial shot there’s nothing that I would expect if there was now a guy bleeding out on the floor. The council woman doesn’t scream. Winter doesn’t seem overly shocked. No one is running to try and help him. Basically, if Ironwood had just killed a political figure in front of six witnesses, entirely unprovoked, I would expect a bit more of a reaction than this. This feels far more like a, “Damn he’s not joking around, letting off warning shots to get people to leave him alone” not “WOW, our general just killed someone in cold blood!”

What I really hate though—beyond just assassinating his character—is how many fans think my friends and I are delusional for calling it character assassination at all. I hopped onto the RWBY tag for five minutes this morning and was bombarded with posts about how Ironwood needs to be murdered horrifically, anyone who likes him is sick, the Ironwood stans are as bad as Adam stans, you’re an idiot if you want him redeemed… because apparently the concept of a story writing a character badly doesn’t compute. I’m not here to argue that Ironwood didn’t do these awful things (regardless of whether he actually killed the guy or not). I’m not here to argue that they’re not awful. I’m just here to say that we never should have gotten these scenes in the first place, or if we were going to get them, we deserved an actual descent into murder at the drop of a hat territory. I’ve already explained extensively on this blog how early Ironwood was not accurate foreshadowing for this, and Volume 7 certainly wasn’t setup, but it looks like the majority of fans aren’t interested in examining whether any of this adds up. Which makes my job, as someone trying to examine this series somewhat objectively—in as much as that’s possible for any single viewer—as well as simply enjoy it as a show, really hard. It’s bad enough when a story keeps taking the characters you love and villainizing them, and doing that badly, but then when you turn to the community and see them rallying around the idea that you’re awful for being dissatisfied—you’re the bootlicker, you’re the blind stan, you can’t see what’s ‘really’ going on here… that sucks. For those of you happy and satisfied with Ironwood’s arc, that’s great! I’ve also seen a lot of posts hyping up the complexity of his character now. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying what we’ve been given and I’d never want to imply that just because it’s not what I wanted it’s somehow wrong. I’m honestly thrilled that after a year of worry so many people have adored our premiere, including this scene. I just wish that I could say RWBY had given me something I didn’t want in a persuasive manner and that the fandom as a whole was a bit more welcoming of differing criticisms.

Not that I didn’t already know the RWBY fandom had its flaws, but still lol.

That’s basically it for our premiere. Nice note to end on, huh? Our final scene is of Salem using the lamp to set her bloodhound grimm on the city. Why doesn’t she just go herself? What was she planning to do here in Atlas in the first place, considering that getting the relic was a surprise? Who knows. Little about this holds together. But we do end with another awesome shot, so small favors.

It’s always strange concluding a recap, but even more-so when it’s a premiere, during a historical moment in the U.S., amidst all the nonsense that is 2020. So for now I’ll just conclude with three quick things:

The updated bingo board will be listed at the end of each recap, provided I don’t forget about it lol. Today I’m checking off tone (not nearly enough freaking out about Salem), the team keeping secrets (Oscar), and major plot point dropped (Amity is suddenly finished). I could also probably check off the cold not killing civilians and getting Amity up and running, but we’ll see if any changes with those.

I’m including my Ko-Fi link at the end of recaps now. Not with any expectations. Not with anything resembling pressure. I thought long and hard over whether to include it at all—let alone mention it here—because I love doing these and never want anyone to feel like it comes with strings attached. But life is a little harder and weirder than it was last year, so I figure it can’t hurt. Feel free to pass on by and I won’t be bringing it up past this note.

Far more importantly: thank you for reading! :D

(Bonus 4. Editing this was an absolute nightmare — damn you, tumblr! — so I apologize if anything is super wonky when I finally post.)

See you next week! 💜

[Ko-Fi]

#rwby #rwby spoilers #rwby volume 8 #mymetas #rwby recaps

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madbucker · 4 years

Text

Silhouettes | Daryl Dixon

Eventual Daryl Dixon x female reader.

III.

Season 1.

MASTERLIST.

Loosely based on the song We Will Become Silhouettes by The Postal Service.

Summary: King County went down and Y/N is left alone hiding, trying to survive and looking for her sister.

Warnings: language, gore stuff (twd style), mentions of death. Will add more warnings depending on the chapter’s content. Let me know if you think it needs some other warning!

Word count: 2k.

Author’s note: First things first, I’m not a native English speaker, so bear with me! You can send me a message or an ask pointing out some mistakes so I can edit the post. Also, it will help me learn the language, so don’t hesitate! If you have any questions or want me to write about a situation in particular (like how they met, runs, the prison, or whatever you come up with) just send me an ask and if I feel like it fits with the story, then I’ll write it! Anyway, if you are into simple writing and limited vocabulary, then I hope you like it and as I said before, I’ll gladly take constructive criticism! ♥ I MEAN IT, CORRECT ME, PLEASE lol. We’re going back in time this chapter!

Gif’s not mine.

Since you could remember, you wanted nothing more than to become independent. The future you had imagined seemed bright and full of opportunities.

You had just left your home after being forced to leave your undead roommate locked in her room: your own best friend. She was the first person who made you feel at home when you first stepped foot in Georgia with your sister. In the beginning, you had stayed in cheap hotels in Atlanta until you got a job in a small county around 6 miles away from the city and could afford rent; that’s when you met Stella: a girl your age who had moved from somewhere in Kansas a few months before you met. You worked together and she had told you she was looking for a couple of roommates so she could both afford rent and eat proper meals, and, of course, you and your sister said yes straight away. And just when you thought you were living the life you had always wanted, the world became a living hell. Just weeks before you thought you were starting to build the foundations of the life you had always wanted.

Now you were stuck somewhere in a middle-class neighborhood, alone, inside one of the few houses that weren’t either burned down or destroyed. It wasn’t easy to imagine, but maybe you could survive in this new world. Even all alone and with a twisted ankle, if you just stayed hidden in the house until you healed, then you could head to the woods and get away from the infested area.

The whole place had been raided, the cabinet doors were broken and there was almost no food left inside of them. And you couldn’t ignore, as much as you tried, the bloodstains of the bed sheets. The house had dreadful stories to tell, you knew it, and deep inside you, you thought it was almost immoral for you to stay there. You were occupying someone else’s house, whatever their fate had been. But, what else could you do? Go out to the streets and hide behind trees or trash cans? You wouldn’t last a week. So you stayed there, rationing provisions and coming up with ways to make them last.

The first night at the house had been relatively quiet. You managed to close and seal all the windows without major effort and barricaded the front and back doors. You also made sure no one was there with you. Living nor dead.

A weak and a half later, or perhaps two weeks, —you didn’t mind counting the days anymore—, you heard something from outside. Voices, not grunting. People. Looking through the window trying not to make yourself noticeable, your eyes stumbled upon a man, a woman and a kid running inside the house across the street. Lying on the floor were three of the dead.

You thought of telling them to stay with you so you could survive together, but decided to wait just to make sure they weren’t a threat. You still had enough supplies to last a couple more days, so there was no use in leaving the house. In theory, and if they didn’t decide to scavenge there, you could keep an eye on them and make a decision.

And so you did. Two days, not more, not less. You scrapped the last tuna can, knowing it was expired and that your stomach would hate you in a few hours. But at the end of the world that was the least of your worries.

Morgan, father.

Duane, son.

Jenny, used-to-be-mother, used-to-be-wife, now one of the dead walking in the streets. You felt guilty for not even realizing she had died. You hadn’t heard anything, you didn’t know when it had happened either.

Listening to their story broke your heart and made you wonder what might’ve happened to your family back at home. Was their city still standing? They were a few states to the west, how long would it take you to get there? Was it worth the risk? Were they alive? Were they looking for you? Since you had to escape from your apartment you had forbidden yourself to think about nothing else but surviving. Every time memories of your family struck your mind, you would put up a wall to avoid rambling.

The first night with the two of them caught you breaking down and crying yourself sleep. You felt safe for the first time in a long time. You knew someone was near you, watching in case something went wrong, so naturally, your guard didn’t stay up. You didn’t stop it from crumbling down, though, the following day could find you all alone again and if you had to cry, it had to be under a roof with people taking care of you. Even having Duane around helped, as young as he was.

You lied on the mattress curled up in a ball, trying to cry in silence but failing miserably. Your sister, where was she? Where were her friends? Did she make it?

She had gone camping with friends a week before hell broke loose, and you hadn’t heard from her since. She hadn’t called you, hadn’t texted nor tried to contact you in any way. Maybe she didn’t know how bad things had gotten. You remembered how she joked about some cannibal she had heard from in the news, just before she left.

“If shit goes down you’ll be the first to die,” she joked, “Imma survive like the badass I am.”

“I may not be in the best shape but I’m strong as hell,” you replied.

“You are, but I’m fast, I can outrun a thousand of those flesh-eating psychos. And have you seen how hot I am? Hollywood says I’ll survive.”

“Okay, try not to run into any of them in the woods then! Hollywood loves a good plot twist.”

That was it. Those had been your last words. You tried to comfort yourself saying that at least it wasn’t a fight and that, maybe, being away from the city had kept her safe.

You had waited for her. You had, even with your not-so-dead roommate and her boyfriend locked in her room. It had been days before you decided you had to go out looking for her, but life had tricked you and forced you to stay inside. At least your ankle was better, you decided you would start looking for her as soon as it was fully healed.

“Always go for the head. I’m not giving you a gun, the sound attracts more of them, but the knife will do.”

You nodded but couldn't ignore your pounding heart. You were about to face the creep that had been wandering around the backyard that day, and even though Morgan would be close enough to save your ass if things went south, it was still dangerous. Probably the most dangerous thing you had done in your life. Brave was the last word you would use to describe yourself. Yeah, you were physically strong, but you'd rather stay safe, and if something involved the smallest amount of danger, you would avidly try to avoid it.

Morgan stood behind you with his hands holding your shoulders, slightly pushing you out of the house through the back door.

"The head. Don't waste time. If it grabs you, go for its knee and break it." His tone was cold and determined. He had done that before... teaching someone how to take down creeps, with Duane. But Duane was braver, he had the courage you lacked.

You were trembling, and it got worse as soon as you saw what used to be a woman. She was blonde, and wore a graphic grey shirt, probably not older than twenty-something.

Around your age.

You could spot at least three bite marks on her arms, and her clothes were bathed in blood so dark it almost looked black. Besides the mess, it seemed as if she had been dead for no longer than a few days. She had had a life before becoming a victim of the twisted, sick joke life was then. You could've been her. You could be her in no time if you didn't put yourself together. Your sister, if she was still alive, could be her if you didn't learn how to protect her.

"Morgan, Morg-" your voice shook, it was desperate and loud. So much that the undead in front of you realized you were there.

Noise attracts them, you remembered.

"Go, now, I'm here.”

He let go of your shoulders, and suddenly you felt extremely vulnerable. You felt small, defenseless, and it didn't help that the thing was walking faster towards you, with its arms in front of it, ready to grab you as soon as it was close enough. Your knife was heavy as if you weren't supposed to use it, as if it wasn't yours to have. The creep was getting closer to the porch you both stood in, and when its feet stomped on the steps, your heart raced.

You were frozen even when you felt its hands grabbing your clothes, making you stumble to your side and bump into a small garden table. Only then you reacted, stabbing the undead in its eye. It fell down on top of you, and you weren't sure if it was its body weight or the adrenaline, but you couldn't breathe.

"Daddy, daddy!" Duane's voice was faint but clear, he sounded frantic, and not that far away from where you two were.

You saw Morgan approaching you and pulling the corpse from on top of you, he looked pissed off. The guilt eating you alive, and before you could say anything, he was running off to find his son. You followed him to the street without speaking a word.

"Daddy, I got this sonovabitch! Imma smack him dead!" Duane held a shovel standing next to someone. He was lying on the garden of one the houses

Something, not someone. It, not him. You had to remind yourself.

You saw Morgan shoot a creep as if it was nothing, making you wonder if you'd ever be able to do the same. You were weak, you could only hide and expect to never run into one of those things. Not for the first time, you wondered if you would survive, or for how long.

You ran towards them as they spoke. Morgan looked agitated, he was staring at the undead with a frown.

"Duane!" You almost shouted when you stood next to him. "Are you okay?" Your breath was still heavy and irregular, not to mention you were certain your heart was on the verge of exploding.

"Son, you know they don't talk."

And it hit you. You had found someone, you weren't completely alone in the world. Finding Morgan and Duane had been a surprise to you, and now someone else? You felt a hurricane of emotions take over you.

On one hand, you felt hopeful. You realized that you weren't the only ones who had made it. It allowed you to think that maybe your sister had made it too, wherever she was.

On the other hand, this stranger was wearing a hospital robe, he looked pale and skinny, almost malnourished. Not to mention the old bandages he had on his side. What if he had been locked up all this time? Then, in a way, it made sense that he was able to survive that long. Maybe it was just pure luck.

You kneeled next to him and hovered over his body to check the wound, you needed to see if it was a bite or a scratch, he could turn in any moment and kill you all.

"No! Y/N!" Morgan cried out, making you jump back to your place standing next to Duane. You felt fifteen years younger. As if you were a child being scolded by your dad.

For the past few days, Morgan had been something like a father figure to you, anyway. But you should've been able to take care of yourself, it wasn't fair for him. He didn't have to take care of anyone but his son and himself. Nevertheless, he chose to let you in. He had fed you, he tried to teach you what he knew and didn't give up in the process. You owed him, and you swore you would find a way to repay him someday.

"Hey Mister, what's the bandage for?"

#daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon imagine #daryl dixon oneshot

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douchebagbrainwaves · 3 years

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WHY I'M SMARTER THAN FRIEND

That's been a reliable way to get rich, is not just to intelligence but to ability in general, and that's why so many successful startups make something the founders needed. In 1994 my friend Koling wanted to talk to the new startups about fundraising, and decide they should raise money too, since that seems to be an instant success, like YouTube or Facebook. Even if the CEO is a programmer and another founder is a salesperson? The market is a lot longer than that. The emotional ups and downs. The median age worldwide is about 27, so probably a third of the population have y percent of the world's population will be exceptional in some field only if there are a lot of time trying to push your price down. This is not exclusively a failing of the young. Have low expectations.1

We're more patient. To understand what McCarthy meant by this, we're going to be times when you have absolutely no desire to work on an audience, and since valuation is usually the only visible number attached to a startup—so important that morale alone is almost enough to determine success.2 There were a few other kids and I could play all day. We may be able to develop stuff in house, and that employers are just proxies for users in which risk is pooled. So everyone is nervous about closing deals with you, they'd seem impressive, but not very novel. The non-gullible recipients are merely collateral damage. The best way to do this, and I think the rate of people who wish they'd gotten a regular job, and they all think we're going to retrace his steps, with his mathematical notation translated into running Common Lisp code. This trick may not always be enough.3 Deals don't happen that way. When do you stop fundraising? But if you're trying to advise 57 startups, it turns out to be a really long journey, at least straightforward.4 What I mean by habits of mind is to ask, could one open-source play?5

Even a day's delay can bring news that causes an investor to your cofounder s should be like introducing a girl/boyfriend to your parents—something you do only when things reach a certain stage of seriousness. Know where you stand. Only a few ideas are likely to be a good idea, because most startups change their idea anyway. It's practically a mantra at YC. It will be easier to raise money you might have to shut the company down, but because the process of talking to them all can bring a startup to a standstill for months. I written about yet? Immigration easier because they say they can't find enough programmers in the US.6

I've written this, everyone else can blame me if they want. Don't worry too much about making money, instead of drying up, curiosity becomes narrow and deep. Angels were generally much better to talk to all potential investors in parallel, prioritized by expected value, and accept offers greedily, your goal should be to get it from someone else. There's a limit to the number of people retain from childhood the idea that a bunch of leads in the process of discovering it's broken, you'll come up with startup ideas. The startup may have more long-term success rate ends up being, I think the only unusual thing about him is that he admitted it. As little as $50k could pay for food and rent for the founders for a year. It will be easier to raise money you might have to shut down.7 So the randomness of any one investor's behavior can really affect you. The critical moment for Einstein was when he looked at Maxwell's equations and said, what the hell is going on here? The reason, of course. You should get another multiple of three.8 It is, in itself, a valuable thing.

But if you're trying to choose between satisfying all the needs of all potential users. You should therefore never approach such investors first. I didn't realize how much room there is for a potential competitor to undercut them. Even the founders who fail don't seem to get how different it is till they do it. All the scares induced by seeing a new competitor pop up are forgotten weeks later. But I don't think you should make users the test, just as professional magicians are.9 How much better. The specific thing that surprised them most was the general spirit of benevolence: One of the things I didn't tell people.10 One of the most powerful motivator is not the usual one, which applies even when you know which investors have a reputation for being valuation sensitive and can postpone dealing with them, but they weren't going to die if they didn't get their money.

Notes

So if you're a loser or possibly a winner. The same goes for companies that grow slowly tend not to grow as big a cause. The study of rhetoric was inherited directly from Rome, where there were some good ideas in the process dragged on for months. Though you should probably start from the example of a company tried to explain that the meaning of the most, it's easy for small children to consider these two ideas separately.

In fact since 2 1.

But this takes a startup to duplicate our software.

Your Brain, neurosurgeon Frank Vertosick recounts a conversation reaches a certain way, they'd be called unfair. At Viaweb, if you have to sweat any one outcome. But friends should be designed to express algorithms, and that you have to assume the worst thing about our software, we found Dave Shen there, and yet it is not whether it's good enough to defend their interests in political and legal disputes.

Don't be evil, they have wings and start to be able to formalize a small percentage of GDP were about the origins of the USSR offers a better strategy in an era of such high taxes? I've learned about VC inattentiveness. Historically, scarce-resource arguments have been worth at least a partial order. It was born when Plato and Aristotle looked at with fresh eyes and even if the current edition, which merchants used to build their sites.

Adam Smith Wealth of Nations, v: i mentions several that tried to motivate them. The Civil Service Examinations of Imperial China, during the war, tax rates were highest: 14. San Francisco, LA, Boston, or the power that individual customers have over established companies is 47.

Surely no one knows how many of the previous two years after 1914 a nightmare than to read is not a product company.

99 and. Eric Horvitz. But scholars seem to be high, and when given the Earldom of Rutland. Applying for a name.

Actually Emerson never mentioned mousetraps specifically. I was writing this. We just tried to preserve optionality.

Currently the lowest rate seems to be free to work late at night, and then scale it up because they think they're just mentioning the possibility.

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drshojo · 4 years

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The World, My Childhood And My Hero Academia: Vigilantes

Hello friends!

Its Dr. Shojo coming at you with a post that will be divided into three parts!

Part One: The world as we know it!

The world has changed a lot since we last connected. For starters, TOILET BOUND HANAKO KUN HAS NOT ONLY A PHYSICAL RELEASE BUT A GORGEOUS ANIME! And not only that, but MY NEXT LIFE AS A VILLAINESS: ALL ROUTES LEAD TO DOOM! IS GETTING AN ANIME AS WELL! The last time I wrote about Katerina there wasn’t even an official English translation of that long-ass light-novel-title. And now?

A WHOLE ANIME. A BISEXUAL HAREM AWAITS! I am JAZZED!

Do you think it’s my fault? No matter, I’ll take all the credit. All the manga I talk about are getting anime adaptations. I’LL DO MY DUTY AND TALK ABOUT SOME MORE!

But first. Let us address the Covid-19 shaped elephant in the room

I deeply regret that it took a whole-ass pandemic to get me back to writing. In my defense, I bought an iPad and started drawing like 900 kokichi oumas. I was really busy with that. And then I started reading fanfiction. Then that got me thinking about how fanfiction such an interesting look into how people interpret fandom, use it for wish fulfillment and escapism, and good god is everyone OK cause that bulimia fan fic was super detailed....and I am officially on a tangent. Off track. Ahem.

We are all staying inside a whole lot more which means y’all probably need some reading material and Dr. Shojo has your back! Go read “Horimiya”! It’s amazing! Ahhhh, my work here is done! I'm serious, if you’re here for a Shojo rec, that’s it! There's also like 8 million more Otome Isekais to check out now. It’s like they’re multiplying like rabbits..............

As a Doctor, I must advise you to stay inside and read some manga and practice social distancing. Embrace your inner hikikomori.

Allright? All good? Okay now one final disclaimer:

This post is going to be talking about something a little different than usual and I want to start by giving you some context about who Dr. Shojo is in real life.

Part Two: Dr. Shojo Exposed

You see, when I was little I was obsessed with Japanese media. This doesn't surprise you at all I can tell. Probably because I walk around calling myself Dr. Shojo and shout about manga that you should read.

Anyways, the reason why I was obsessed wasn’t because of the big eyes or the spikey hair or the interesting new culture. It was because it tended to have more character development and overarching plotlines than the media I was used to in Canada. Dexter’s Lab, Magic School Bus, pretty much everything I saw on TV was episodic in nature, so imagine how much my mind was blown when I saw Naruto and Card Captor Sakura, heck, even Pokémon had the Indigo Plateau! Here were kids that were learning more and more each day and got to see enemies become friends and vice versa. They lived and grew older just like me. Except they were cooler than me. And had more interesting lives than me. I gotta tell you, I was so sad when I was 12 and Kero didn’t tell me I had latent magical powers. But there was magic in my life and it was the magic of a complex narrative story. And not only that, it had a sense of movement and had cool costumes. I was hooked immediately.

Also, fun fact, at that age I happened to be a complete and utter tomboy! I loved pretending to fight my friends in the playground and was really worried that puberty would ruin my life because being a girl sounded so CUMBERSOME.

Which leads me up to my confession. Before I became Dr. Shojo, I was in fact......Dr. Shonen.

Bleach? Naruto? One Piece? I've read every single chapter there is.

Hundreds of hours of watching fight sequences. Another fun fact, I only got into shojo because my aunt bought me volume 7 and 8 of Fruits Basket thinking “all mangas like the same right? Kids love comics?” It’s a tribute to how episodic western media was back then that she thought buying volume SEVEN and EIGHT was a REASONABLE PLACE TO START READING.

Now you might also say, Hey! Dr Shojo! Cardcaptors was a shojo! And you are right! but back then the anime was marketed to boys over here in the west and they actualy like, edited out episodes that they thought wouldn't interest boys?! Second fun fact, Once when I was in Grade 3 I was told I was not allowed to join a club under the stairs cause I was a girl and it was BOYS ONLY. The point of the club? To talk about how great Cardcaptors was! I Kid you not!

So anyways, your pall Dr. Shojo loves Shonen manga to this day!

The only reason I made this Dr. Shojo blog specifically about shojo is because, being a tomboy with no female friends, reading shojo manga was the first time I really thought about what it meant to be a girl and fall in love. And y i k e s. Shojo manga, like most media, fails miserably most of the time in displaying real world relationships. Or at least, it doesn't prepare you for how disappointing everything can be. When I had my first kiss, I was thinking about how it didn’t feel at all like how I felt reading Zen and Shirayukis kiss in Akagame No Shirayuki Hime. Those were formative years, and shojo was one of the only places I saw romance being talked about for younger audiences. I liked reading romances where no one had any sexual experiences and were figuring out what love meant to them. But let’s shelve this topic for now.

The point is that gender roles are dumb and if you have an open mind there's a world of stories out there for you. Take this time inside to read something you wouldn’t normally. Critically think about the ways that the worlds you see in stories and how you experience the world differ. What are the messages a story is trying to tell you? And why do you like the stories you do? Reflect on how the stories you tell yourself color your view of the world. Even mindless entertainment leaves an impression on us. Anyways.

Whilst you're doing that, I'm going to absolutely lose my hecking mind over the Shonen Jump series MY HERO ACADEMIA: Vigilantes!

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

Part Three: I downloaded the one month free trial of the Shonen Jump app and made you read all that, so I can tell you that today Dr. Shojo is going to rant about a spin-off of a shonen manga

THAT’S RIGHT, OF COURSE I READ HERO ACA AND YES I DID PICK UP THE SPIN OFF SERIES. SHONEN JUMP LETS YOU READ ALL THE NEW CHAPTERS FOR FREE ON THEIR APP. KIDS, IF YOU LIKE SHONEN AND YOU’RE PIRATING ON A SCANLATION SITE STILL GET OUT BECAUSE YOU DON’T NEED TO SEE THOSE WEIRD PLASTIC SURGERY AND DENTISTRY ADDS ANY MORE.

SHONEN IS HERE AND ITS LEGAL AND ITS FREE FOR YOU. GET OFF MANGA FOX OR MANGA ROCK OR WHATEVER THE KIDS ARE USING THESE DAYS.

OK, so by this point in the article you have learned two very important things about me: 1) I love Shonen manga and 2) I read a lot of fanfiction.

Specifically, I read an absolutely biblical amount of My Hero Academia fan fiction and let me tell you, A solid chunk of it is vigilante/ Deadpool / criminal with a heart of gold themed.

So when I saw Hero Aca had a spin off, and it was about vigilantes, I was NOT SURPRISED IN THE SLIGHTEST. Ao3 sure is powerful.

Now, if you will permit me a tangent in a post full of tangents—HOLY CRAP, THERE ARE TOO MANY VIGILANTE AUS. I CAN'T KEEP TRACK OF EM. IT’S THE ISEKAI PROBLEM ALL OVER AGAIN. I GET AN EMAIL A FIC HAS UPDATED AND I’M LIKE IS THIS THE FIC WHERE DEKU HAS AN ABUSIVE MOM OR THE ONE WHERE HE HAS SPLIT PERSONALITY DISORDER OR THE ONE WHERE HE’S VIGILANTES WITH HITOSHI. OH WAIT, nvm, it’s the one where deku has a healing quirk.

OH WAIT WHICH OF THE 6 DEKU WITH HEALING QUIRK VIGILATE AU FICS IS THIS ONE?! ARGH WHY DIDN’T I WRITE A DESCRIPTION IN THE BOOKMARK FOR THIS!

My gripes aside, there's a reason why there's such an abundance of vigilante story telling—

Deadpool made like an absolute buttload of money and people love sass and memes.

People have a desire for a story in which they see themselves. Or, how they think of themselves.They like a story about someone who maybe came from nothing. Someone who has less money, maybe someone who is unlucky and had some bad breaks. Someone who never learned they had magic, never got their Hogwarts letter, never saw Kero, someone who never got that God-level quirk from All Might. And if your on Ao3 They want someone who also has seen a lot of memes and kind of wants taco bell and is also questioning their sexuality a bit?

Enter our new hero VIGILANTE DEKU.

But the cannon can't do this, cause hey, Deku is the chosen one. Albeit, chosen by All Might, He’s got his own thing to do. But how can we still cash in on a vigilante story?

And thus enter our New-New hero KOICHI HAIMAWARI—code name Nice Guy and then later The Crawler. True to his relatable roots. He’s just a dude in an hoodie who can go about as fast as a bike.

First off, I love Koichi. He wants to be a hero and fight crime, but most of the time he has to run away because at the end of the day he's just a dude.

He’s cute but not wildly good-looking, A bit of a nerd but not like an extreme okaku. He’s got a part time job and hates violence.

And this is where Koichi really shines—in every day stuff. He helps out wherever he can. Often, that just means listening to people complain and maybe helping his friends out with whatever they’re going through. He’s the kind of guy who smiles, not because he's especially brave, but because he just takes things one at a time and doesn't sweat the past. I think it’s really telling that he missed getting into hero high-school because he skipped the entrance exam to help someone. He’s the kind of person who lets us experience the superpower of human decency and empathy. And you know what? That’s something the world need desperately.

This theme of human decency is really the driving force of Vigilantes—it’s a manga about how the laws are there for a reason but sometimes they unfairly impact the poor and vulnerable. It's about how a lot of criminals are just people who fell into bad social circles or on bad times. People have the capacity for cruelty and violence but that’s never all they are.

Now, speaking of crime, the entirety of Hero Aca falls into some murky water when it comes to its evil doers. Much of the fandom has a huuuuuge problem with how much the franchise is willing to sweep under the rug in the name of redeeming their baddies. RE: people getting mad about forgiving Endeavor’s child abuse, or Bakugo’s suicide baiting. Or Mineta’s blatant sexual harassment.

But this theme is in Vigilantes even more than it ever was in the main series. To start off with, there’s this guy who tries to rape Pop Step early on, and the later he later winds up befriending everybody. It becomes a running gag that each new villain winds up befriending the other villain guys and then they all open a cat café together.

Using jobs as a way to lift people out of lives of crime is great and all but in the story there is no nuance or consequences for past wrong and well.....it feels very weird. It's like Vigilantes plays at having an opinion about moral ambiguity and the complexity of human existence and then just.......lets everyone get along because who has time to get into all that. Make of that what you will but it sits weird for me personally.

Anyway, let's move on and talk about POP STEP our main girl!

I love pop stars and I love vigilantes and a guerrilla performer is defiantly a character I could get behind. And I think they do a good job with Pop. She is actually kind of shy, but has this secret edgy persona she puts on when she performs. She is every girl on tumbler in the early 2000s. I also looooove that they make her not that great a singer. SHE’S GOT PASSION AND CHARISMA and maybe not born talent but like why should that stop you! Talent can be earned through practice and this is a great lesson to show people.

Unfortunately, Pop is also a great example of everything wrong with romance in Shonen.

It’s established early on that Pop loves Koichi because she is the girl he rescued all those years ago and yada yada yikes we’ve heard this one before. Many times before.

Sure, it's fine that they’ve met before, but gosh am I sick of damsels in distress. It's like she can't love him just because she respects what a great guy he is in her life and in the community at large, no no, she just needs to be rescued on top of that. And LOLOLOL isn't it funny he never noticed she was a girl because she was a child with short hair?! Once he realizes she has boobs now they will for sure fall in love! That’s how love works!

She's just with him all the time—nothing romantic ever happens she just gets a little tsundere.

I am never ever going to believe Koichi likes Pop because he spends like sooooo much time with her and they never have like, a moment. The first time he considers her is when Makoto is like, ‘hey I would love to get together with you, but have you thought about if you are crushing on Pop’. (Also this entire plot point is suspect—she's arbitrarily falling for Koichi cause he.......is the protagonist?)

Say what you will about shojo, they give you the emotional conversations, the moments where you think.....ahhh I can see why she is falling for him. They give you context! Shonen likes to just say HERE’S A GIRL YOUR AGE. YOU CAN DATE LATER WHEN THE ADVENTURE IS DONE.

Just when they might get together, Pop suddenly turns evilllllll. The evilllll beeeees made her eeeevilllll (and more sexy).

*Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh*

Because why on earth would they get together if Koichi didn’t get to rescue Pop one more time?

I’m tired. These troupes are tired. I’m sure you are too. HOWEVER! If your still with me, Let’s move into why I'm really writing this post. Let’s get to the part that got me screaming to my friends, who by the way, don’t even care bout Hero Aca….but listened anyways. May you all find nakama like these my friends.

Anyways,

HOLY FUCK ERASERHEAD’S ENTIRE BACK STORY IS IN THIS AROUND CHAPTER 60 AND IT IS WONDERFUL AND ABSOLUTLY HEARTBREAKING AND IS ONE OF THE BEST CHARACTER BACKSTORIES I HAVE EVER SEEN AND IS THE REASON WHY THIS SERIES IS A MUST-READ FOR MAIN SERIES FANS.

AND BY ALMIGHT.

WHY. IS. IT HERE.

I present to you my late night text messages to my friends

ALSO, AIZAWAS TEACHER IS PRINCE?!?!?!

AHEM, so as you can see, I kinda lost my shit.

And now, I would like to formally defend my claim that DESPITE HOW AMAZING IT WAS, ERASERHEAD’S BACKSTORY HAD NO BUISSNESS BEING IN THE VIGILANTES SPIN-OFF MANGA.

Eraserhead, aka Aizawa Shouta, is a side character who is working with the police on some crime stuff. He is not a main cast member in this spin off. He’s a guest character that fans of the main series will be like OH COOL. GRUMPY CAT MAN LIKES CATS ON HIS OFF HOURS TOO. LOVE THAT FOR HIM.

So, my imagine my absolute surprise when Aizawa runs into Koichi and the following happens:

It starts to rain, so, like in any good manga, this means some great FORCED BONDING TIME

Except no. It doesn't because rather than start talking, Aizawa JUST STARTS REMEMBERING—ABSOLUTLY SILENTLY TO HIS OWN PRIVETE SELF—HIS ENTIRE TRAGIC BACKSTORY.

AND THIS GOES ON FOR CHAPTERS.

THIS GOES ON LONGER THEN ARC ONE IT FEELS LIKE.

I LOVE IT, BUT KOICHI IS ABOUT TO JOIN ATSUSHI NAKAJIMA IN THE DUBIOUS CATEGORY OF “PROTAGONISTS THE SERIES FORGOT ABOUT IN LIEU OF COOLER SIDE CHARACTERS”.

AND LO IT HAS NO BEARING ON THE REST OF THE PLOT, CHARACTERS, OR STORY

What the ever-loving-just WHY?

WHY?

WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?

SURE, IT’S A COOL TIE-IN.

YES, OF COURSE I LOVED IT. I SHIP ERASER MIC, I DREW THIS FOR HECK’S SAKE:

AND YET I AM ANGRY.

I AM ANGRY BECAUSE MY FRIDAY WAS RUINED BECAUSE VIGILATES SUCKER PUNCHED ME WITH AN AMAZING STORY THAT REALLY WASN’T PLOT RELEVANT AND PROBABLY SHOULDN’T HAVE BEEN THERE.

IS THIS WHY THEY TOOK LIKE NEXT-TO-NO CARE WITH POPS ARC?!?

I mean its ongoing, so it’s too early to say but—

In conclusion—

Excuse me one more,

AIZAWA WAS TAUGHT BY PRINCE!?!??!?!?!?!? PURPLE RAIN PRINCE!?!??!?!?!? WHAT!??!?!?!

It’s so ABSURD that I HAD TO WRITE SOMETHING ABOUT IT. I HAD TO WRITE PARAGRAPHS TO JUSTIFY YELLING ABOUT THIS ONE THING. WHAT THE ABSOLUTE—

Ahem,

Anyways, I hope you liked this weird rant/personal-story/random-diatribe in three parts.

If you’re reading this, thank you, stay safe, and I’ll be back with more shojo manga next time.

Ciao!

Dr. Shojo

(aka Dr. Shonen)

#my hero academia vigilantes #koichi haimawari #pop step #my hero academia #erasermic #Cardcaptors #Shojo manga #Shonen Manga #Dr Shojo #read Horimiya

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alywats · 3 years

Text

February 2021 Reading Wrap-Up

It’s that time again, folks. What I read in February, the month of love: Romance, poetry and... math? And in the last book of the month, all 3!

1. The Female Persuasion -Meg Wolitzer (480 pgs) 3

The first third of this book, I was trying to figure out if it was supposed to be ironic or not, then the second third, I was deeply invested in it *not* being ironic, then in the last third? Let's just say the ending was the worst part.

A commentary on feminism that tried to be self aware, but ultimately ended up as un-intersectional, lacking in plot, and predictable. My favorite character was Cory, I felt like he had the best moments of struggle and growth, and it seems underwhelming that in a book so focused on feminism and female empowerment, it was a man's story that stood out. This book seems like a valiant swing but total miss. Sorry bout it.

2. Shipped -Angie Hockman (336 pgs) 3

I needed some escapism and that is exactly what this Romance On A Galapagos Cruise novel did for me. Winter and the pandemic are both hitting me hard so it was nice to think about the sun and travel and falling in love. The actual plot and writing here did fall into pretty predictable and mediocre tropes, so I can't say that this novel had a lot of depth.

3. Dearly: New Poems -Margaret Atwood (124 pgs) 3.5

Margaret Atwood has a distinct voice that carries throughout all her writing. This was the first poetry I had ever consumed by her, and I was happy to hear that voice in her poetry. With themes of womanhood, climate change, and slug sex, I found myself fully engaged throughout. My criticism is only that some of it seemed overly wordy, making it hard to keep track of Atwood's actual point. I listened to Atwood read it herself, making sure that I wasn't missing the pacing or tone, and every poem fell into the same rhythm, which made it hard for anything to stand out against the rest.

4. Station Eleven -Emily St. John Mandel (333 pgs) 4.5

This was a masterpiece of pandemic fiction: it was very reminiscent of The Stand, but 800 pages lighter, and was still able to capture the humanity and nuance of The End Of The World. After I read Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell, I had a lot to say about Shakespeare and the plague, and Station Eleven reinforces it: Shakespeare wrote in a time where the Black Death couldn't be ignored, and yet plague is not a central theme of his work. Instead he wrote about corruption, the hunger for power, the grief of losing loved ones. The Traveling Symphony in Station Eleven perform Shakespeare to the small camps of people who survived a pandemic:

"They'd performed more modern plays sometimes in the first few years, but what was startling, what no one would have anticipated, was that audiences seemed to prefer Shakespeare to their other theatrical offerings."

Whether during the Black Death, the fictional Georgia Flu, or Covid-19, Shakespeare transcends.

5. X + Y: A Mathematician’s Manifesto on Gender -Eugenia Cheng (272 pgs) 2.5

*see previous post*

6. Leave The World Behind -Rumaan Alam (241 pgs) 4

Is this a thriller? No, but it is certainly anxiety-inducing. Reading this in 2021 is hard, because the plot and the emotions it evokes are very near to reality. I loved the claustrophobia of this book, I loved seeing into the thought processes of the characters, and how relatable each person's priorities and analysis of the situation was. Nothing was known for certain, not everyone cooperated, hard decisions did have to be made. It was well done.

7. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo -Stieg Larsson (465 pgs) 3.5

I am always a little bit skeptical when I go back and read major bestsellers, because I never think they are going to live up to their hype. And for the first 150-200 pages of this book, I was definitely feeling like this was going to be a major disappointment. But then, shit started going down. Yes, there are issues with this being just another thriller about how violently women are treated, yes there are some issues with the way Lisbeth's character is communicated to the reader, but overall I was impressed by the depth this novel was able to capture. I was on the edge of my seat, I kept reading because I wanted to know how it would all end. And I think that is the mark of a good mystery or thriller. I am going to be continuing this series, and I am hopeful that the depth will continue.

I think I also give this series a little bit more lenience, because the author died after only writing the manuscripts for this series, he was not around for the edits or translations, or to take criticism or change anything in later books after public consumption or reaction to this first one.

8. I Love My Love -Reyna Biddy (116 pgs) 1.5

This poetry collection is very much of the "Rupi Kaur" genre of poetry, which is not for me. I hate to be a pretentious poetry person, but "instagram poetry" where you hit them with a one liner that is obviously trying to be sooooo deep, feels so disingenuous to me. I just lose any authenticity that I may have found in the writing. Some of the themes here were great starts, but Biddy didn't develop them enough poetically for my tastes.

9. The Unhoneymooners -Christina Lauren (400 pgs) 3

Earlier this month I read Shipped by Angie Hockman, which claims to be inspired by or reminiscent of this book. And I found some great escapism in Shipped, reading about love and travel and warm weather was what I needed during this Washington winter, so I decided to treat myself to another. The Unhoneymooners was very similar, I read about love and travel and warm weather while I was in a snowstorm during a pandemic. It did it's job, but I wouldn't say it was revolutionary to the genre or to literature as a whole.

10. Beyond Infinity -Eugenia Cheng (304 pgs) 3.5

This is a fun book if you want a broad guide to thinking about infinity. I think the level of depth is great for both people with a lot of mathy background knowledge, and for people who are just starting to get their feet wet. My major setback with Eugenia Cheng's writing is this: she uses non-math metaphors to make math "relatable" to people who may not have had experience with the content she is explaining. But she doesn't use metaphors that work! I found it so frustrating that she was making the math she was explaining MORE vague and MORE confusing, like by comparing the natural numbers to a Great Dane puppy (??). I just found that those choices in communication made it less effective at it's goal of communicating cool maths!

11. The Feather Thief -Kirk Wallace Johnson (336 pgs) 4

I found this work of nonfiction to be so interesting. At every stage I was shocked that I had never heard about any of this. Science, museums, birds, fly fishing, crime, lying, eBay investigations, the moral implications of feigning mental illness, and what it even means to have a mental illness, this book has explorations of it all.

12. 84, Charing Cross Road -Helene Hanff (97 pgs) 4

What a sweet collection of letters. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and the ending was so sad yet so beautiful. Simply warmed my heart and I think you should read this too.

13. Strange Attractors: Poems of Love and Mathematics -Sarah Glaz, Joanne Growney (255 pgs) 5

More on this to come…. But basically this book is everything to me.

#February Reads #reading wrap up #reads #booklr #books

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alltimebestbooks · 4 years

Text

Top 10 Books Must Read Today Generation

1. The Rudest Book Ever by Shwetabh Gangwar

Shwetabh Gangwar is a professional problem-solver—and he’s ace at it. For the past five years, people from all over the world have contacted him with their troubles and he’s worked these out for them.

In the process, he has picked up on a simple pattern: people need a set of principles and perspectives to protect them from all the unnecessary bullshit they go through. Codes to live by, essentially.

But be warned: Gangwar has no desire to spare your feelings. What you will find in this straight-forward, straight-talking, no-craps-given guide, is:

How to deal with rejections of all kinds

How to change your perceptions of people so you don’t end up screwed

Why a society that sees people as ‘good and bad’ is dumb

How the search for happiness screws us over

How seeking approval and acceptance kills our individuality

The truth about social media influencers

Why we should be taught ‘how to think’, instead of ‘what to think’

Laying out clear principles, YouTube megastar Gangwar shows you how to deal with the shit that has happened to you, is happening to you and will happen to you.

A refreshing, easy-to-read, and relatable guide, The Rudest Book Ever will make you rethink everything you’ve been taught.`

2. Do It Today: Overcome Procrastination, Improve Productivity, and Achieve More Meaningful Things

Are you also tired of putting off your dreams until “tomorrow?” Guess what! Tomorrow never comes. Am I right?

I’ve procrastinated and putt off my desire to write a book for a decade. I always came up with excuses like, “it’s not the right time.” Or, “I need to do more research.”

But in 2015 I got tired of this endless procrastination, and finally took action. Six months later, my first book was published.

Look, we all have limited time on our hands. And we’re getting closer to death every single minute. That shouldn’t scare. That should motivate you!

Time is limited, that’s why we must do the things we want: Today.

In this “best of” collection, I’ve handpicked 30 of my best articles that help you to overcome procrastination, improve your productivity, and achieve all the things you always wanted.

Plus, I’ve written an extensive introduction about my life and work philosophy.

And I’ve made many improvements and edits to the articles. So the content of this book is different from the articles on my site.

In Do It Today, you’ll learn:

1.Why we procrastinate and how we can overcome it

2.How to increase your productivity without being stressful

3.How to achieve more meaningful things in your life so you can enjoy it more

Are you ready to start reading this book?

If so: Do it today—not tomorrow.

3. The Lean Startup: How Constant Innovation Creates Radically Successful Businesses

The Lean Startup is a new approach to business that's being adopted around the world. It is changing the way companies are built and new products are launched.

The Lean Startup is about learning what your customers really want. It's about testing your vision continuously, adapting and adjusting before it's too late. Now is the time to think Lean.

4. Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World

One of the most valuable skills in our economy is becoming increasingly rare. If you master this skill, you'll achieve extraordinary results.

Deep Work is an indispensable guide to anyone seeking focused success in a distracted world.

'Deep work' is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. Coined by author and professor Cal Newport on his popular blog Study Hacks, deep work will make you better at what you do, let you achieve more in less time and provide the sense of true fulfilment that comes from the mastery of a skill. In short, deep work is like a superpower in our increasingly competitive economy.

And yet most people, whether knowledge workers in noisy open-plan offices or creatives struggling to sharpen their vision, have lost the ability to go deep - spending their days instead in a frantic blur of email and social media, not even realising there's a better way.

A mix of cultural criticism and actionable advice, DEEP WORK takes the reader on a journey through memorable stories -- from Carl Jung building a stone tower in the woods to focus his mind, to a social media pioneer buying a round-trip business class ticket to Tokyo to write a book free from distraction in the air -- and surprising suggestions, such as the claim that most serious professionals should quit social media and that you should practice being bored.

Put simply: developing and cultivating a deep work practice is one of the best decisions you can make in an increasingly distracted world and this book will point the way.

5. Understanding Millennials: A guide to working with todays generation

Have you often wondered, "What's wrong with this younger generation?" Or, "Why are these younger workers so lazy?" How about this one, "How do I get these Millennials to work harder?" If you still think that you can change the Millennials to make them fit into your business model, you, my friend, are wrong. We have to think on a bigger scale, and answer the question "How can we use this generation's strengths to make our business better?" In this minibook instead of trying to find ways to get this generation to stop acting the way they do, we figure out ways to inspire them to work harder no matter how they act. The tips and tricks in this book not only work for Millennials but can be used to inspire others in your employ as well. Put these ideas and beliefs into practice quickly and thoroughly, and watch your business grow not just fiscally but in emotional bonds as well. Your staff won't just respect you, they will follow you! The best way to read the book is with your current business trends and office staff in mind.

6. Sita: Warrior of Mithila

Immerse yourself in book 2 of the Ram Chandra series, based on the Ramayana, the story of Lady Sita, written by the multi-million bestselling Indian Author Amish; the author who has transformed Indian Fiction with his unique combination of mystery, mythology, religious symbolism and philosophy. In this book, you will follow Lady Sita's journey from an Adopted Child to the Prime Minister to finding her true calling. You will find all the familiar characters you have heard of, like Lord Ram and Lord Lakshman and see more of Lord Hanuman and many others from Mithila. You will also start discovering the true purpose of the Vayuputras and Malayaputras and their conflicting ideologies that leads to plot twists, politics and intrigue as they try to influence outcomes from behind the scenes.

She is the warrior we need. The Goddess we await.

She will defend Dharma. She will protect us.

India, 3400 BCE.

India is beset with divisions, resentment and poverty. The people hate their rulers. They despise their corrupt and selfish elite. Chaos is just one spark away. Outsiders exploit these divisions. Raavan, the demon king of Lanka, grows increasingly powerful, sinking his fangs deeper into the hapless Sapt Sindhu.

Two powerful tribes, the protectors of the divine land of India, decide that enough is enough. A saviour is needed. They begin their search.

An abandoned baby is found in a field. Protected by a vulture from a pack of murderous wolves. She is adopted by the ruler of Mithila, a powerless kingdom, ignored by all. Nobody believes this child will amount to much. But they are wrong.

For she is no ordinary girl. She is Sita.

Continue the epic journey with Amish’s latest: A thrilling adventure that chronicles the rise of an adopted child, who became the prime minister. And then, a Goddess.

This is the second book in the Ram Chandra Series. A sequel that takes you back. Back before the beginning.

7. The 5 AM Club: Own Your Morning, Elevate Your Life

Part manifesto for mastery, part playbook for genius-grade productivity and part companion for a life lived beautifully, the 5 am club is a work that will transform your life. Forever.

Legendary leadership and elite performance expert Robin Sharma introduced The 5 AM Club concept over twenty years ago, based on a revolutionary morning routine that has helped his clients maximize their productivity, activate their best health and bulletproof their serenity in this age of overwhelming complexity.

Now, in this life-changing book, handcrafted by the author over a rigorous four year period, you will discover the early-rising habit that has helped so many accomplish epic results while upgrading their happiness, helpfulness and feelings of aliveness.

Through an enchanting—and often amusing—story about two struggling strangers who meet an eccentric tycoon who becomes their secret mentor, The 5 AM Club will walk you through:

How great geniuses, business titans and the world’s wisest people start their mornings to produce astonishing achievements

A little-known formula you can use instantly to wake up early feeling inspired, focused and flooded with a fiery drive to get the most out of each day

A step-by-step method to protect the quietest hours of daybreak so you have time for exercise, self-renewal and personal growth

A neuroscience-based practice proven to help make it easy to rise while most people are sleeping, giving you precious time for yourself to think, express your creativity and begin the day peacefully instead of being rushed

“Insider-only” tactics to defend your gifts, talents and dreams against digital distraction and trivial diversions so you enjoy fortune, influence and a magnificent impact on the world

8. Mahatma Gandhi Autobiography: The Story Of My Experiments With Truth

This unusual autobiography “The Story of My Experiments with Truth”, is a window to the workings of Mahatma Gandhi’s mind – a window to the emotions of his heart – a window to understanding what drove this seemingly ordinary man to the heights of being the father of a nation – India. Starting with his days as a boy, Gandhi takes one through his trials and turmoils and situations that moulded his philosophy of life – going through child marriage, his studies in England, practicing Law in South Africa – and his Satyagraha there – to the early beginnings of the Independence movement in India. He did not aim to write an autobiography but rather share the experience of his various experiments with truth to arrive at what he perceived as Absolute Truth – the ideal of his struggle against racism, violence and colonialism.

9. How to Enjoy Your Life and Your Job

If you are not satisfied with your job and often struggle to achieve a work-life balance, you’ve picked the right book! “Count your blessings—not your troubles!” From ways to finding peace and happiness to insights on how to deal with people and make them like you at once, this book introduces good working habits and includes valuable advice on how to drive away the fatigue-producing boredom. With suggestions on how to relax and churn out the most of oneself and bring a sense of fulfilment, harmony and purpose, Dale Carnegie’s classic bestseller, How to Enjoy your Life and your Job, continues to help people reassess their approach to life, people and job and also helps them discover their strengths and talents.

10. Yoga and Stress Management

Yoga & stress management is a therapeutic guide for those dealing with mental and physical stress, as well as a reference book for healthy living. Although urban work culture has greatly improved the individual economic status, it has grossly diminished br Nature’s endowments. While modern psychology effectively helps in creating an awareness of what causes this, the Yoga philosophy is capable of changing one’s overall attitude towards life. This book combines both and provides valuable guidelines, tips, and techniques. Yoga offers the complete toolkit to deal with psychological and psycho-somatic disorders that are globally on the rise. With yogic techniques one can understand the nature of human consciousness and attain its higher stages. Using yogic practices like meditation and Pranayama, one can delve deep within and connect the body and mind to the inner self. By enhancing the latent energy in man, yoga offers a holistic solution to erase conflicts, suppression, and sensitivity.

#Top 10 Books Must Read Today Generation #Top 10 Books #best books

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takemealivelh · 5 years

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Ahadskalajsh I just read the Mikey blurb and now I want one too except could you please make it with Ashton andddd you could do the same concept of enemies to lovers cause I live for that stuff lol❤️❤️

JAIDA I’M FINALLY HERE WITH YOUR BLURB

To be honest, this is a fic okay? I really enjoyed writing this story and you know what? There’s going to be a part 2. I promise.

I present to you…

BATTLE OF THE BANDS

2.6k | Enemies to Lovers | Mentions of alcohol and sex | FEEDBACK IS ENCOURAGED AND APPRECIATED

Thank you so much to @5sosnsfw and @angelbabylu for helping me edit this, I love you so much

Battle of the Bands Pt. 2

The new 5 Seconds of Summer single had been climbing up the charts, positioning itself in number 10 in the third week of its release. The members were happy with how well it was doing, they’d worked so hard on it, pouring their hearts out in the lyrics and the performance. Luke’s voice transitioned from heartfelt head voice verses into belting notes in the chorus, Calum’s baseline was a funky reminiscence of Duran Duran’s Come Undone, Michael’s guitar riff gave it a whole new depth with a chockfull overdrive. It was Ashton’s drums that really glued the piece together, a steady 4/4 beat and consistent open hi-hat flow with several well-calculated fills. Their best song to date.

Midnight Street was a new upcoming band that no one expected to blow up so quickly. Their rock-pop sound with heavy piano riffs was a refreshing addition to the public’s ears, and they found themselves escalating the numbers as well with their new single. Critics described it as a ‘whimsical and skittish track, an intriguing take on the classic pop verse-pre-chorus-chorus formula that deconstructs its way towards the end, but blends into a homogenous anthem by vocalist JJ’s performance’.

It wasn’t until Billboard hosted a party to announce their list of nominees that these two bands finally met face to face.

“I think I might throw up, I’m so excited.”

Ashton’s smile glowed through the candle-lit table he was sitting in with his bandmates. The stage displayed a wide screen with the list of nominees for Top Rock Song. He felt his heart gurgle in his chest, the feeling of pride about to spurt out of his veins.

“This is it,”

He whispered to himself, “this is what we deserve.”

The room remained a buzz to the band’s ears. Only when they were announced and a round of applause exploded around them they allowed themselves to celebrate by clinking their glasses of wine. They didn’t pay attention to much else until the ceremony was over and the party started.

“You might win this one,” They were told by producers and managers that approached their table to congratulate them.“I would only be worried about that new band- Midnight Street, they’re doing pretty good as well.”

Ashton nodded the warnings off, he didn’t need to be concerned about a bunch of kids that had only started to understand the highs and lows of the music industry. In his eyes, they weren’t a threat. Sure, he and Calum had gone to a few Midnight Street shows, they were good. They were passionate. But they still had a long road to walk to get to the place he and his bandmates had paved for themselves. Ashton wasn’t worried. Especially when the new band showed up to showcase their admiration to all the work 5SOS had done.

“We’re big fans, it’s just an honour to be put into the same league as you guys.”

Michael and Calum engaged in conversation with the drummer and bassist of the band, two chunky guys with short hair and green jackets. Luke quickly found common grounds with the lead guitarist and vocalist JJ, a love for Nickelback and eccentric cowboys. It was Jaida that caught Ashton’s eye, the pianist of the band. He liked that she actually played a vertical W. Hoffmann onstage instead of the classic Korg keyboard he had seen over and over again at every single live show he went to. He liked the fact that she was the responsible one for making Midnight Street the novelty they were. Didn’t hurt that she was gorgeous and flaunted it, a well-tailored deep emerald suit with a plunging neckline was always a good fashion choice in his eyes.

“We’re contenders now. If you give me any advice tonight, I won’t take it seriously. You might just be trying to mess with my head.”

Jaida’s lips curved into a smirk behind her glass of mojito.

He liked her confidence, her presence was strong enough to keep him interested.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Ashton let out a small laugh, setting his now empty glass on the table and leaning towards her. “You don’t look like someone who takes advice from anyone anyways.” His tone was flirty, his eyes lingered on her lips for more than a brief moment and his knees barely touch hers. She noticed his lustful behaviour, it wasn’t the first time another musician had taken an interest in her.

Jaida had had her fair share of one-night stands, knowing that she couldn’t hold a relationship because of the band’s schedule. In that sense, she and Ashton were on the same page. He was a sexual being, a man who liked to have fun without many responsibilities, his rockstar status made his fantasies easy to come to life. She was no different, and she knew just how to get a guy’s attention with the right gestures.

“I caught your performance last week in LA, it was a wild one.”

Jaida crossed a leg on top of the other and placed her elbow on it, the fabric of her satin pants slightly riding up as she teased Ashton’s leg. The expression of amusement in his eyes was obvious and she licked her lower lip before leaning forward, resting her chin on her hand, knowing Ashton would get a better view at her cleavage. He wasn’t subtle about the new view he was granted.

“Thank you.”

Ashton had a hard time focusing his eyes on hers, they seemed to travel down her neck every instant.

“We love putting our entire energy in our shows. I’m always soaked after playing the set, but I like it. If you don’t believe in your music, no one will, ya know?”

He laid an arm on the table, his long fingers brushing against the fabric that covered her arms, “I think you know,” he chuckled to himself, growing excited by how Jaida’s lashes seemed to frame the same lust he held in his eyes.

“I’ve seen you play once or twice.”

Ashton nodded and in one swift movement, he propelled his body forward, lips hovering her ear.

“I like the way you move.”

Her skin visibly bristled and he smirked against it. Jaida dropped her gaze and turned her head to engage in the most intense staring contest she had ever participated in.

“And that’s only onstage.”

Her teasing grin was enough for Ashton to decide this was the girl he wanted to take back to his place that night.

“You’re leaving already?”

Ashton called her from his spot on the bed. The black suit he’d worn to the party laid on the floor, his red hair was plastered all over his forehead. He watched Jaida collect her things from the dresser next to his bedroom door, and put on the heels she had eagerly discarded the night before when he pushed her down onto his mattress.

“You don’t want me here, Ashton. Especially after you check your phone,”

She laughed and ran a hand through her tangled hair. His eyebrows knitted together, curiously staring at her triumphant smile.

“I’m gonna go.”

Jaida laughed and pulled out her phone, scrolling down whatever was displaying on the screen, “I know my way out. Have fun today.” She didn’t even wave goodbye when she left his bedroom. Moments later, he heard the front door.

The sound of the cars driving up and down the street grew louder as the clock got closer to 9 am. Ashton pushed his hair back and looked over at the mess he and Jaida had made. He remembered her lips on his skin, her moans when he pushed inside her, the mark he’d left on her right hipbone. He looked down at his bare chest and found one of her works as well, a red lipstick-stained lovebite under his sternum. “Wow,” he breathed out before getting out of bed and hopping into the shower.

Twenty minutes before the radio interview would begin, Ashton stared at his phone screen blankly. He would refresh the page every ten seconds but the numbers didn’t change. 5 Seconds of Summer was number 6, Midnight Street was number 3.

“How did this happen?”

They weren’t sure. Luke and Michael were pacing back and forth, discussing ideas of how they could promo the single, how they could get back up on top. Calum was outside smoking a cigarette. Their team was nervous about the interview, Midnight Street beating them on the charts had definitely staggered their confidence.

In some kind of irrational train of thought, Ashton remembered Jaida’s comment and he felt angry. He had fallen into her spell and now he was paying the price. And for what? A squirming body under his touch? Red lips trailing wet kisses down his torso at an excruciatingly slow pace? A high-pitched whimper when he hooked her knees over his shoulders? He heard his name being called from inside of the studio.

“5 Seconds of Summer is here! We have Luke, Calum, Ashton and Michael to talk about their new single and their upcoming performance on the Billboard Awards next month. How are you guys? Excited?”

The band talked about the creation of their new track and the inspiration behind it, but no one had prepared them for the next question.

“New band Midnight Street has just beat you on the charts with their first ever single, how do you feel about that?”

Like a dropkick on the groin.

Ashton could feel the blood flush his face. He had worked so hard for his pride to be stomped on by a band that had never even had a world tour. So what he had fucked the pianist? So what? He didn’t owe her anything.

“You know, I don’t mind them. Yeah, their song is good, but that’s it. Nothing inventive.”

Lie. “Nothing that really caught my ears.” Lie. “They’re not gonna be around for long, I’m tellin’ ya. So I’m not worried.”

The look on his bandmates’ faces was either pure rage or unhidden disgust, washed over by a thin layer of astonishment.

“Ash, what the fuck was that?” Luke poked the redhead’s shoulder. He had disappointed him, had disappointed all of them.

He hadn’t been the bigger person.

It didn’t take long for Ashton to receive hundreds of notifications on his phone. Angry management, inquisitive journalists, confused fans… his Twitter and Instagram feed was full. Buried between a DM of his producer and a link to an article, there was a text from Jaida.

Fuck you, Irwin.

The temptation was too much, he loved his doses of masochism and assholery. He knew it wouldn’t lead him anywhere, that it was just playing with fire. For a moment, the thought of being the bad boy in other’s eyes was too fascinating. It felt powerful.

Fuck you right back.

He shoved his phone deep into his jacket pocket and waved his team goodbye. He had dropped a bomb and was now heading out for an iced coffee like it was nothing.

The flashes caught his face immediately, all of them yelling at him. Questions came right and left, but he didn’t stop to address them.

Only when he turned his TV on later that night, he knew what kind of trouble he had gotten himself into.

“Midnight Street is the new upcoming band….”

Ashton rolled his eyes when he saw Jaida’s tense body at the end of the couch, squished between the drummer and the vocalist/guitarist. Now they were getting more press because of his comment. This was exactly the opposite of what he wanted.

“I just want to say.,”

Jaida’s voice pierced through the speakers of Ashton’s sound system and travelled to his ears, unpleasant, like nails on a chalkboard.

“… To the drummer of 5SOS, thank you for getting us to number two with your comment.”

She was facing the camera directly now. Ashton hated himself for thinking she looked hot with another power suit that complimented her skin tone. “You dug your grave yourself, you’d think you’d be wiser than that. I was wrong.”

His blood was boiling, his ears matched his hair colour. Ashton turned off the TV, immediately pulling out his phone to look for Jaida’s contact information. Oh, she was going to hear him.

The insistent bell rings were enough of a clue to know who it was. Jaida had gotten to her place only a few hours ago, stripping from the suit and heels and throwing a ratty old t-shirt on. She had expected some kind of response from Ashton; a text, a voice message, a callout on Twitter. Something.

Had she not learned that with him it was either go big or go home?

It was almost 2 am.

“What are you doing here?”

Jaida’s voice was stern, she didn’t want her surprise to show.

“Are you coming to insult me in my own place? That’s mature of you.”

Ashton’s lips were pursed together in a flat line, jaw jutting forward, muscles rigid.

She drove him completely insane. Everything from the tone in her voice, the few strands of hair out of place from her ponytail, locked knees in display thanks to an Arctic Monkeys tee… He wanted to yell at her, then bend her over and have her right there on the front door.

“Aren’t you gonna invite me inside? You’re being a rude hostess, doll.”

The raspy voice was the quickest way to remind her of how he’d absolutely wrecked her the night before. The hot skin against her own, the bites on her shoulders and collarbones, his breathy groans when she sucked him off. She stepped aside to let him in, eyes quickly glued to his ass when he passed her, that same ass she had eagerly squeezed not 24 hours ago. Angry sex was the best kind of sex in her opinion, she was not going to let this fuel go to waste.

Jaida closed the door behind her and leaned against it, rotating her ankles one at a time on the welcome rug.

“Had I known I was having visitors, I would’ve put on some pants and opened a bottle of wine.”

She grinned, amused. Watching Ashton peruse around her apartment was like observing a deer in unknown territory. Her territory. His face was still unreadable, but his movements were hesitant and discerning.

Ashton browsed the collection of books and CDs she had on a shelf next to her widescreen TV, kept himself busy by counting the number of awards she had put on her living room table, not all recognizable, but a large amount of them. He didn’t bother to look at her, knowing that he’d most likely get a boner from the tension in the air alone.

She kept talking.

“I guess I’ll get the beers from the fridge.”

A sigh escaped her lips as she pushed herself off the door and made her way to the kitchen. Jaida could feel the shift of his attention, now completely focused on the way she moved.

“Stop drooling over my legs. ” her lips broke into a smirk.

This kind of power she liked, knowing she could make a man turn his head in under two seconds. She had them eating from the palm of her hand.

Ashton had been intense and passionate under the sheets, his tight grip all over her body, he knew what he wanted and how he could get it. Not a shy minute while he ravaged her, and Jaida had liked that. He got a good peek at how her concert tee slipped up her bum as she bent down to pick two bottles of lager from the bottom of the fridge. Her thighs felt like they were on fire, as if Ashton was burning holes through them with his eyes.

To be continued.

TAG LIST

@brown-eyedshell @thew0rldneedsmcreycghurt @myloverboyash @hopeless-renassianceluke @dukesnumber1@rip-lukes-balsamic @angelbabylu @cal-pal-cuddles @ashtons-favorite @1dthewantedlove @problematicprincessa @heartbreak-5sos @bloodmoonashton @lilacsos @irwinkitten @singt0mecalum @sublimehood @sugarcoated-pain @5sosnsfw @cal-puddies @lashtoncurls @dweebluke @rosecoloredash @hotmessmichael @calumspeachy @ashtonsunshine @wonderland-irwin @irwinkitten @ashtonandcalslefthand

#5sos #5 seconds of summer #ashton irwin #ashton 5sos #ashton irwin blurb #ashton irwin fic #ashton irwin smut #5sos blurb #5sos fic #ashton 5 seconds of summer #ashton irwin red hair #ashtons-favorite

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foreveralwaysanauthor · 4 years

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As previously warned, I have a huge number of questions for the fanfic author ask thing. So, here we go: 4, 5, 6, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 20, 21, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 33, 36, 37 and then, if that wasn’t already enough, and there is anything you want to answer that I haven’t already asked, then pick one of your choosing to answer as well! 💕

Holy crap you weren’t kidding! lol this is gonna be so much fun!

4: What made you start writing fanfiction?

My 3rd grade teacher, Mr. Gula, gave me a challenge to write out my own ending to my favorite movie or TV show. As I was never really one to back down from a challenge, I went home and wrote out my own story about the first Transformers movie and another one about what I would do if I had been in HIgh School Musical. Yeah... needless to say, I was the Hermione of my grade.

5: Favorite pairing?

I know I don’t write for them, but my top is probably either Dee Dee and Frankie from the Beach Blanket Bingo, Bikini Beach, and Muscle Beach type movies or Seaweed and Penn from Hairspray. Something about those types of romance are sort of sweet to me. Guess I’m just an old soul. I also adore Cory and Topanga form Boy Meets World, but I’m mostly here for the older romances.

6: Least favorite pairing?

I’ll probably get flack for all of my answer, but I’m a little bit opinionated about this lol. The way Ginny and Harry’s relationship in the films was, was just confusing and so not what I had expected from them. The books gave them so much more than the movies ever did. The books were way better. Another case I don’t like was Bella and Edward/Renesmee and Jacob from Twilight. I think the other relationships in Twilight were better (Jasper and Alice are so sweet!) and Stephanie Meyer just kinda tossed Bella and Edward and Renesmee and Jacob together in the hope it would work and it just didn’t.

12: What’s the weirdest fic you’ve ever written?

I can’t believe I’m admitting to this.... I used to write full stories about One Direction. I had a full Niall x OC story I posted on a 1D Imagines group on Facebook that got almost 2,000 likes. It was silly, but, my word, it was almost as long as Broken Record. It spanned over the month of October 2014 and I can’t believe it ot the attention it did. It wasn’t all that good, but I guess it was good enough for people to like it, so that’s alright by me lol

13: Weirdest fic you’ve ever read?

I don’t believe it’s on fanfiction anymore, but I remember the basic info on it. It was Make a Wish by FireBladePrime. It was pretty much a girl made a wish on a shooting star and it made her favorite toys come to life as full size humans. I believe she ended up falling in love with one, but I’m pretty sure it just ended up being something that she came up with in her head when she was in a coma due to a car accident. Definitely a weird one, but it was pretty well written as far as memory serves.

14: Do the people in your life know you write fic? How do they feel about it?

Well, quite a bit of my family knows, actually. It started with just my parents, but my dad was always wanting to show off whatever his baby princess did (I was his only biological child, my older siblings were from my mom’s ex-husband). Dad shared with his siblings, mom shared with her siblings and my grandfather. My nieces and nephews know as well, but I believe that’s it. As far as I know, they are all very supportive and have no problem with it. My neice, Lorali, and nephews, Erek and Drake, have read all of my Teen Beach fics and quote things from them daily just to see if I’ll react, but they mostly just like reading them or having me read to them. They’re very loving and supportive of my writing.

15: Favorite fandom to write for?

I don’t know if I could pick one! I love Teen Beach so much, but I also have a certain affinity for writing small oneshots or “x Reader” style stories for Avengers and Harry Potter which can be found here and here. I do share the Harry Potter page with my sister, but she handles reblogging things to our page. Anyway, those would probably be my top fandoms!

17: What is the harshest criticism you’ve ever gotten on a fic?

Holy crap. Okay, I may or may not have repressed this for a long time, but I have more than one that I can’t decide between. The other one was from a girl in my class who stole my writing notebook and read my writing. Fuck you, Ashley She gave it back to me later that day with marker scribbles all over my writing. She said that I was horrible. The next day, I stole the makeup bag she had brought from her mother’s bathroom and buried it on the playground.

I was a good child that believed in getting even. Nobody found out about that btw.

Anyway, the first real criticism I had on a fic was someone who said, “You have no talent and you shouldn’t be writing. It all sucks and you’ll never go anywhere as an author.” I had actually written this down and, when I felt it no longer mattered to me, I burned it. It took me a couple of years to come to the realization that their opinion didn’t matter to me.

20: What’s your biggest struggle when it comes to writing fic?

Having time to sit down and write, probably. I usually have great ideas, but, in order to write them out and have them come out alright, I would need to sit down and feel it all come together while I write. I need time that I just don’t have most of the time.

21: Your biggest strength?

When I sit down to write, it all just flies out of me. Once i start, I don’t stop until my idea is all out into either m notebook or my computer. I can have a simple idea that somehow spirals into an eight page chunk that I never thought was possible. I like to think of that as my biggest writing strength.

24: What’s your process?

Write out the “backbone plot” (The stuff that has to happen, no matter what)

Decide on characters. Figure out appearance, personality and basic traits. (Sorta like a sim, I guess)

Bounce ideas with whoever will listen/listen to music (Gain ideas and write them in a small notebook)

Wait for inspiration and time to line up accordingly.

Write as much as I can.

Go back into that later on and edit what needs to be there and delete what isn’t necessary.

Publish!

I hope that’s what this means, at least.

25: Of all the fics you’ve written, which is your favorite?

Most definitely Broken Record and Creating a Rift. It was one of my first published stories and I just adore them.

26: Which of your fics is your least favorite?

I don’t even know how to find it anymore, but it was called Life’s a Rollercoaster. It was a Transformers fic that I had written when I was 11. Never finished it bc I lost the login stuff and it, now that I remember it, sucked hard.

27: What’s your most popular fic? Do you think the popularity is warranted, or is there another fic that you think deserves it more?

Any of them really! I love that Broken Record has had almost 10,000 reads, but I don’t believe it. As I go back over it, I wonder how on earth it gained popularity in the first place, but I couldn’t be happier that it did!

29: Which of your fics was the hardest to write?

My book. Probably the Christmas one, tbh. I only feel the pull to write it around the holidays and that kinda sucks lol

30: Favorite fic writers?

You better know you’re number one, girlie! For those who don’t know, Eleanor here is one of my closest internet friends and she’s practically family to me at this point!

As for other authors, I love Ulurnaga’s Primary Mechanisms story (Transformers). I know she hasn’t updated it since 2014, but it was so good that she could’ve left it at multiple parts and it would’ve been fine. I think it has abot 118 chapters to it. I have a few favorites from AutobotGuy710 who does a lot of Transformers stories basing around adoption (helps for my references and also a better understanding of what goes on a bit in adoptions/foster care). On Tumblr, I have a few faves, but not a ton. I like imagine-and-marvel and potterlyimagines fics a lot, but that’s about it at the moment as I haven’t sat down to read fics in a little while.

31: Do you write just for fun, or would you ever consider pursuing writing?

A bit of both, actually. I mostly enjoy writing my fics as a bit of an escape from reality. I enjoy being able to place myself in a world that doesn’t exist and sort of play around a bit. However, I do actually write as a job. I was working for my county newspaper for a while and that spiraled into me writing my first book, Feather Picked. I am currently writing one of the sequels to Feather Picked which takes the focus from my original main character, Melody, and moves it to her best friend, Roxy. I am planning on publishing a total of at least 5 books, the first four being the chronological 4 that take place over the course of a full year, each taking one season. The last one will be a look into the future, hopefully.

My first book can be found here!

33: Fanfiction pet peeves?

Goodness gracious. As someone who loves English classes, when people don’t place paragraphs correctly or spell simple words correctly, it reeeeeeally grinds my nerves. I will still sit through a story if it’s a well plotted story, but, come on people, at least do proper paragraphing!!!

Also, when people spell “definitely” as “defiantly”...... uuuuuuuuggggghhhhhhhhh

36: Which charachter(s) would you never write for?

For this one, I don’t really have much to say.

Probably characters from shows like soap operas or shows that never seem to end. If I can’t grasp the character’s backstory or personality after watching it because it never stops changing whenever it benefits the story or what the writers have planned, I refuse to write for them.

Mary Sue types like Bella Swan who are merely the damsel in distress and are only there to play out the author’s wish to be put in some type of scenario where everyone fawns over them constantly (can be applied to male characters as well).

37: Which character is your favorite to write for?

Out of already made characters: Butchy, Lela, Cheech, Evie, Ben, Harry Hook, Bucky Barnes, Draco Malfoy, Luna Lovegood.

Out of my OCs: Mick, Malina, Roxy Madden, Candi DiMaggio

Since you said I could pick one if I wanted, I’m going to pick #40.

40: Imagine yourself 10 years in the future; do you think you’ll still be writing fic?

I think I will be, yes. I don’t think my ideas for movies and books will ever stop. Especially knowing what I have planned after Creating A Rift is done. But... that’s a story for another time, lol

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kaitlynpcallmebeepme · 5 years

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The Package

Gif credit goes to the owner. NOT ME. @thegayfleet I think.

(Tom Holland x Reader)

Summary: Being in a long distance relationship is as difficult as it sounds, but Tom never fails to show you how much you mean to him.

Prompt: “I could kiss you right now.”

Warning: Fluff to the ends of the earth, description of bruises, a few swear words, one mention of some sexy clothing.

A/N: This is my first piece of writing ever. Constructive criticism is encouraged in comments. This is also for @lovelyspidey and @thelazypangolin ‘s February Writing Challenge. Fluff prompt 8: “I could kiss you right now!” Also, if there are any warnings I missed, please tell me. I also based the campus and the dorm layout off of my own college. I kinda went overboard with the gift box and rushed the ending, but you learn as you go. If the links work, you can see the items I’m referring too by clicking on the underlined stuff. REQUESTS are OPEN, and asks are open if you want to talk. BTW the bruises are my arms every Monday night after cymbal practice (it’s an 8 month long try out process). And I KNOW Valentine’s day was weeks ago, but college is hard, so bite me. Italics is Y/N’s thoughts.

Feb 14, 2019. 6:00 p.m. EST

First entering your dorm room since 10 a.m. Not ideal, yes, but you didn’t have to leave for the rest of the night. The weight the day brought upon you showed in your slouched posture as you entered your single room. Pros: getting a single in an all-girls dorm on central campus your freshman year was very lucky. Cons: You had no friends and the nursing building was a 20-minute walk away at least every day (except every other Friday). You unzipped your boots before you stepped too far on the rug and got it wet (unlike your mom). You decided against turning your radiator on in the middle of February since the warm air and peaceful atmosphere made you sleepy and you needed to get some work done.

By the middle of February, you meant Valentine’s Day. It has never been a bother to you before. Your parents and friends always gave you chocolate, once you got a marvel mug from your parents, and you were relatively fine. Also, you were a more of an introvert, never dated before, and was very socially shy. Since you had no one to spend it with, you always viewed Valentine’s day as a self-love day. None of your close friends ever dated before so there was no one to get jealous over, and as you said before you didn’t have friends at college, so it was fine. That was until about 7 months ago. Because 7 months ago is when you got asked out by none other than Tom FREAKING Holland.

You two had met in a karaoke bar during comic con season just after you graduated high school, but that’s a story for another time. After some nerves were shattered and some bad singing of Bohemian Rhapsody happened, he asked you (stuttering in the process) for your number at the end of the night.

You two had only met the other’s family over face time a couple of times. It was hard trying to meet up with Tom’s schedule being so busy with a bunch of different time zones and you having 18 credit classes to worry about. You don’t know if your family knew he was Spider-man. You know your Dad knew that Spider-man was Peter Parker, but you’re pretty sure he has not seen any MCU movies. You’re confident that the topic of occupations will come up sooner or later. Tom was staying in the UK for a few weeks before doing more promoting and filming, so you had to call him as soon as you got home from clinicals because it wouldn’t be Valentine’s day in the UK for much longer.

You opened your laptop that was still on your desk and tried to call the Holland Family. You honestly loved all of them as the brothers you never had. You just hoped they saw you as the sister they never had. The screen soon popped with your puppy-faced boyfriend. “Hey darling. You just get home?”

“Yeah. I swear to Got it’s snowed more in the past few weeks than it has in all of December. Not much went on today. We helped them set up snacks and played Legos with them.” The clinical you had was working with children after school in a lower income neighborhood. It was safe and decent and that’s all you could ask for. You stood up to get something from the shelf above your desk, revealing your navy blue scrub pants to the camera that had the Grey’s Anatomy logo on it. You could hear the snicker in his voice as you sat back down.

“Damn you look sexy.” This made you blush even redder than your cheeks were already. Any of his compliments had this effect on you, but he never called you sexy.

“I’m wearing scrub pants. It’s like LITERALLY the most unflattering thing you could pick.”

“You look sexy to me in anything” You’re pretty sure there’s now no difference in a rose and your cheek color right now.

“And even sexier in nothing. Oww!” You couldn’t see what happened until Tom turned the camera to reveal Harry sitting across the table doing something on his computer (probably editing some more photos) while Sam, Harrison, and Paddy were in the background by the kitchen counter. You gave them a wave which they kindly returned.

“Happy Birthday boys.”

“Thank you.” the curly redhead said. You were getting better at telling the twins apart. Harry was the curly redhead often doing anything with pictures. Sam had straighter hair that was slightly darker. They were both equally sweet, as were all of the Hollands.

“Kinda late to be saying that now isn’t it?” Sam snickers back.

“It’s late over there, but it’s early evening here.”

“Yeah, but we were born here, so.” He had you there.

“I got it in before midnight, so it still counts.” You loved all the boys. Their brotherly relationship, as tiring as it may be, always brought a smile to your face.

“The marching cymbals not give you too many bruises this time babe?” That’s when the other boys came from the counter to hover over Tom’s shoulder. You rolled up your left sleeve a little bit more to reveal a collage of red, blue, green, purple, and brown bruises above your elbow. They all cringed at the sight of them.

“The purple ones are where I pinched a blood vessel. The bruises on my abdomen don’t show as much, but they still are sore. Can I open the package you sent me now?” It was getting harder to hide your relationship from your parents, especially when Tom sends a Valentine’s package.

“Sure love. But first, there’s something at the front door for you.” It wasn’t difficult to realize that Tom had a smirk on his face and was hiding something.

“Okaay… I’ll be back.” You left your laptop open, grabbed your key cards, a jacket, your wallet, just in case, put on your flipflops and went to the front door of your building. Going down the three flights of stairs with sore muscles was still a challenge. When you finally made it to the front door, there stood a man from Panera Bread with your name on a delivery bag. He told you it was paid for over the phone, but you wanted to make sure it was Tom who ordered it and it wasn’t someone trying to poison you (that’s just where your mind went).

“Did you order this Tom?” Coming back into view of the webcam, you could see a proud smile paint his chiseled face.

“Yeah. You...you told me that this would be your perfect single Valentine’s Day...so.” You didn’t remember when you mentioned your perfect single Valentine’s day, but you were intrigued to see if he remembered what you said. You opened the bag to find White Cheddar Macaroni and the Bread Bowl Chicken Noodle Soup. Two of your favorite dishes. You were still in a state of shock, you barely registered what was happening on the other end. “Open the package.” You opened the box and opened a smaller styrofoam container. It had some ice and a Rocky Mountain Caramel Apple, one of your favorite treats that you only got around Christmas. The air had been sucked from your lungs as you kept a big toothy grin on. That was your perfect single Valentine’s day, Panera Bread and a caramel apple.

You opened the Jaffa Cakes, which Tom knows you love, and began to eat those as you went through the rest of the box. The man knows you love your fandoms. The rest of the box consisted of a Doctor Who cardigan, Shuri’s bracelet, a Black Panther Umbrella, a Captain Marvel tank top, a Supernatural pocket watch (because pocket watches are awesome), a Supernatural Shirt, and of course a Spider-Man hoodie. (The links weren’t working, so here https://docs.google.com/document/d/1i0PR1zfp4cFV26_8aHyNEM3yf5eY0K80c2RdQuoKBF8/edit?usp=sharing)

There were only two things left and you thought you couldn’t geek and freak out anymore. There was a long thin box with the words ‘Don’t Open This On Camera’ written on it. “There should be one more in there.” You guessed he saw the puzzled look on your face and decided to push what you were thinking aside for the moment.

The last one was a small cube box and you didn’t think anything of it until you saw the other boys enter the camera frame again, all staring at you. You hesitantly opened the small cube to reveal a navy blue felt box. You could tell your vision was already getting blurry with tears and you tried to blink them back. It’s not that you were afraid of crying in front of the boys, you were afraid you were overreacting and it would turn out to be a prank, like a ring pop in the box or something. You popped the box open and what lay inside was simple, but a beautiful rose gold ring. One thread was rose gold and the other was covered in small white diamonds and the threads intertwined to infinity. The diamonds captured the light like the freshly fallen snow that was outside.

By now the tears were flowing freely, you had never been so open with anyone about your likes except your friends, but none of them ever bought you something this meaningful. “It’s uh promise ring.” You had completely ignored the other presence in the room at this point. You stared back into those milk chocolate eyes you fell in love with while your cheeks were stained with tears. “I know it’s early…, but I want you to be mine one day...if you’ll have me that is.” He avoided your eyes while trying to get the words out. You’ve never seen him this nervous.

You gently slid the ring out of the box and on to your left ring finger. How did he get the size perfectly? “I love it Tom and I love you. Jeez, I could kiss you right now.” He let out a chuckle and you could listen to that sweet melody all day. You lent forward and gave the camera a kiss. No matter how cheesy it was, you kissed him again and again. “Ok, now I definitely have to tell my parents about you. It wouldn’t be easy to lie my way out of this otherwise.”

“What did you tell your parents about me?”

“Well, I couldn’t straight up say I’m dating Spider-Man.” This gave a laugh from Tom and the boys in the background, who you assumed were still listening in. “I said I met someone a while back who is amazing, humble, and presentable in every way. We’ve been dating, but he understands that my classes come first and we only meet up a few times a month.”

“That’s what I told them?”

“It’s not a complete lie.” You say through your teeth.

“You didn’t lie. You just avoided certain truths to manipulate them.” That devilish smile was on his face that told you he was impressed with himself.

“STOP QUOTING SUPERNATURAL AGAINST ME!” This left you both in a fit of giggles for a while longer. It was late in the UK and you had to get homework done, so you said bye to the boys, Nikki and Dom, and one more to Tessa and Tom before kissing him through the screen again.

You started to put away the package and gifts before you remembered the Do Not Open Me package. You take out the long thin box and open it. It’s a single rose. Aww. He remembered my love for Beauty and the Beast. Wait… Why would a rose be in a box? You inspected the rose more carefully and gently graced your fingertips over it. It felt lacy. You started to pull at the petals until the whole rose came out.

“That little shit. Really Tom, sexy lingerie .” You smirked to yourself as you held it up. You knew you had to get him back somehow.

Taglist: @lovelyspidey and @thelazypangolin for their February Writing Challenge. I don’t really have a tag list at the moment, but I’m tagging @sippin-my-milky-tea because I made an effort to tell the twins apart. Also, @lamptracker is my main inspiration, so thanks! Send me an ask if you want to be part of the tag list.

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anabantoid · 6 years

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Are you really getting what you pay for?

Petco, Petsmart, Pet Supplies Plus, Petland, and other chain shops are notorious for the amount of poorly cared for bettas that are sold for pretty cheap. You can get dragon scale bettas, halfmoons, plakats, rose petals and dumbos for less than the cost of a full tank of gas. Of course, there is a stigma associated with buying this mass produced bettas. They’re unhealthy, they feed a market that needs heavy regulation from consumers, and over all are treated in poor conditions, inhumane conditions.

We don’t feel good buying these bettas sometimes, but we love the animal, so we seek other options. We go onto aquabid or ebay and see gorgeous bettas, and expensive ones too. You can find some nice looking fish for about the4 same cost in the store, not counting the exorbitant fee for transhipping, or you can find some that seem outrageously expensive. But you get what you pay for, right? If you’re investing so much into a fish, you’re going to be getting a healthier fish than the ones you’d find in the store, isn’t that right?

Not necessarily.

Now I need to preface this by saying I do like bettas, they are charming fish with a lot of personality that are also incredibly accessible and relatively affordable to care for. I have four bettas of my own, they’re important to me, but I acknowledge the pitfalls that come with the domestic betta we all drool over. I am speaking from my own examples, as well as the many collected examples I can recall from the three or so years I’ve been around fishblr and seen the rise and fall of everyone’s bettas.

The goal of this isn’t to call anyone out. The goal of this is for you, the consumer, to be aware of where you might wanna be spending a lot of money, and what you’re ultimately getting in return. I do feel like it is predatory for a seller to market a fish they know is unhealthy, critically inbred and overpriced without much remorse. I do feel that the onus is on the seller and the breeders for pushing these fish that look stunning but are genetic train wrecks that will die within two or three years, especially when you may be spending well over a hundred dollars on a fish in the end. The sellers know this, they are well aware of how unhealthy a betta is, but are more than willing to hype up a fish and charge the consumer a ridiculous price for a fish that is no different than a fish bought from Petco. I am using Glee Bettas, the breeder that Space City Fish uses for the bettas they sell, as the example for this post specifically because Space City Fish markets to tumblr heavily and they know that fishblr is into bettas. They target fishblr specifically because bettas are the most popular fish here.

I’d like to start with a fish we know a lot about, the dragon scale betta. What is a dragon scale betta though, other than a betta with pretty, metallic or opalescent scales? Dragon scale bettas are bettas who have essentially had the genes that go into making metallic scales turned on into overdrive. All bettas have the potential to develop iridescent or metallic looking tissues and scales, it comes right from the wild betta splendens.

youtube

As you can see, the betta above has very light hints of metallic iridescence to it.

These bettas, all from Glee Bettas and all used by Space City Fish as the transhipper/proxy seller, are extreme forms of dragon scale bettas who are “full mask”, meaning their scales are thickened all the way to their face, and in the last one, are starting to over take the fish’s eyes, rendering them blind. A betta that is already blind is being sold to the consumer for a luxury price. An already unhealthy fish is being sold to you for more than what you’d pay for a fish from Petco.

Aside from being blind, dragon scales are notorious for developing tumors. Why does this happen? It is most likely because the proteins that are supposed to tell the other proteins to stop producing so much tissue simply don’t exist or are so low in number that the tissue simply continues to grow. Without an ‘on/off’ switch for this gene, it simply keeps happening. We simply wouldn’t have a dragon scale betta unless they were bred for this trait, a trait that ultimately kills the fish or decreases their quality of life drastically.

I had a dragon scale girl I bought from an LFS who imported bettas, Zelda. Zelda started developing a tumor near her pectoral fin and I was concerned, but figured it wouldn’t effect her. About a month later, she began forming another tumor behind her gill, which was getting large enough to start pushing her gill into a permanently open position. Soon, I noticed one side of her body bulged more than the other and figured she had internal tumors developing too. I had her for six months before her organs failed and she exhibited some of the worst dropsy I ever saw in a betta and ultimately euthanized her.

Let’s start off with koi bettas next, which will be relatively short. Kois are simply marble plakats sold to you under deceptive pricing. The koi sold to you is young, under 6 months, and hasn’t had any changes to its coloring yet. Above is a young koi female who has yet to undergo any color change.

Here’s Tony when I first got him.

Here’s Tony now.

Totally different fish, right? Nope! Same exact betta, he simply lost all of his unique coloring and it all blended into one ugly mass of blacks, blues and red. All the yellow vanished.

He’s bright, he’s perky, but would you pay $20 for him now? How about $30? Or $40? $50? Because you’re ultimately paying a luxury fee for a betta that looks how it does in photos as a 3 month old and will never look like that again for the rest of its life.

And do I really need to mention the struggles bettas with huge fins have? We’re all aware of what fin biting is, an unnatural behavior that bettas exhibit when they are stressed and unable to move the way they think they should. Go back to that wild betta video and see how small those fins are. Bettas are ambush micropredators, they are capable of immense bursts of speed very suddenly. A domestic betta hasn’t lost that drive to move in that manner, the bettas above are just as likely to want to move in quick bursts of speed as a smaller finned betta, but they can’t. They don’t understand why their bettas are weighed down by these incredible amounts of finnage. The rays to their fins may be broken, they may have torn tissue, and they fall to fin rot because of the torn tissue that’s exposed to bacteria found in their water. Or they bite. They bite off their fins because it’s the only way to lessen the amount of fins they have so that they can move.

This behavior should be held in the same regard as feather plucking in parrots. No animal willingly harms itself without encountering incredible stress from either its environment or something affecting their way of life. A betta with heavy fins that ultimately will fin bite should not be regarded with awe or the need to buy it, but be seen as an animal that is unable to preform the natural behaviors a betta is wired to do.

Again, you’ll be spending a lot of money on a fish that can’t do what it wants to do, which is move around and be a fish.

We all know that bettas are unhealthy, pet store bettas are as sickly as bettas bred by Thai importers. There is no difference between these bettas but their price tags.

What you do with your money is ultimately up to you, however if you feel the need to buy a betta, there is little difference between going out and getting one from a chain store than from a seller like Space City Fish.

#fishblr #i'm making a big ol post and no one can stop me #bettablr #betta fish

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iamacolor · 6 years

Text

Wherever life plants you, bloom with grace, part 6 (final)

ForgetA Kastle Flowershop/Tattoo Parlor AU inspired by this wonderful edit by @frank-kastle

Read on Ao3

And the last chapter is here! I've been working on this fic almost everyday for about a month now and, not only was it the first Kastle I've ever written, but it's also the longest fic I've ever done, so it feels a little like my baby and I want to thank everyone who left a kuddo or a comment or sent me a message about it, everyone has been so lovely and it means a lot to me<3 This last chapter is the longest yet and it's just pure fluff (+ with teh added bonus of the presence of another one of my favourite character from The Punisher) so enjoy!

Chapter 6 - Forget-Me-Not

Two and a half months later, Karen is sitting in a restaurant, talking animatedly to the young dark-haired woman in front of her. Watching her with cat-like eyes, the woman, called Dinah, is a self-defense instructor who’s business is situated two blocks down from Karen’s apartment. Walking past it everyday gave Karen the desire to take classes but with the opening of her shop, she was too busy to find time for classes.

When things started to settle down a little,about two months ago, Karen took the decision to walk into the studio and quickly started to see Dinah as a friend more than a teacher. The woman was strong and smart, straight to the point, which Karen loved. She was a good listener and was always asking just the right questions when Karen was stuck on something. Meanwhile, Karen fully supported Dinah in her desire to expand her studio and to hire more women as instructors to teach young girls and women of all ages. They bonded over being new business owner in New-York, about their love of independence and donuts.

They found themselves talking several times for hours after the studio had closed down and Karen’s class was over, just sharing experiences and gossip or talking about politics or social issues or the books they were reading, podcast they were listening to, before finally deciding to start seeing each other outside of the studio. Karen was regularly inviting Dinah for lunch or take over in the evening after closing the shop.

Even is she was spending most of her spare time with Frank, their relationship growing steady and healthily, bringing so much happiness and contentment in Karen’s life that she honestly had moments where she felt like she might burst out of joy, Karen enjoyed having a new friend in New-York. Someone who wasn’t Foggy or Matt or even Curtis. Someone different and yet quite similar to her, both serious and fun.

She was simply happy to have a female friend, finding in Dinah something that none of her male friend, or even Frank, could give her. An understanding.

And Dinah was really good at reading Karen, at understanding her. Karen could feel her friend observing her, studying her, as she started talking about Frank and their relationship, how close they had gotten and how comfortable they were with each other. When Dinah suddenly asks her if she had told him already that she was in love with him, Karen is not even that much surprised that her friend knew about her feeling. She suspected that they were probably obvious to most people, except maybe one Frank Castle, and with her analysis skills, Dinah would have caught up on it in no-time.

Dinah smirks when she sees the look on Karen’s face. “Honestly, it’s written all over your face. You can’t hide it, it’s pouring out of you every time you mention him! It’s sweet, just very...obvious. I’m just wondering if you’ve made it obvious to him too.” “Yeah well...I ...it’s kind of complicated. You’re right, I am in love with him,” and, Jesus, could she smile any wider while saying these words? “ I want to say it. I’ve almost done it a few times but it’s not that simple to let the words out.” “Why not?” “Well...it’s good what we have, you know?” “Yeah Karen,”smiles Dinah,” trust me, I know. Again, written all over your face, mentioned a lot in our conversations and I haven’t even met the guy yet.” “Oh shut up, I don’t talk about Frank that much to you.” She ignores Dinah raised eyebrow to continue with her dilemma. “I just don’t want to rush things for him. I...suspect that he is also in love with me but I think that for him, it might be harder to say it out loud. He had something truly special with his wife so, I think, maybe it’s hard for him to admit out loud that he is in love with someone that isn’t Maria.”

Dinah nods in understanding, take a sip of coffee before speaking up “That can be an issue on his side, yes. But I suggest that you should at least share how you feel. It might help him but mostly it seems important for you, to let him know you love him. You can tell him that you don’t expect anything from him...” - “Which I don’t” - “...exactly -, but that you felt the need to say it because it makes you feel good to say it or something like that.”

Karen hums her approval, thinking about how to approach the subject with Frank. “Or you could find a way to let him understand."Adds Dinah, "Maybe not say it out loud but find a way. I’m sure you know him well enough by now to do that.” “You know,” says Karen, “for someone who doesn’t do romance right now, you’re awfully good at giving advices.” Dinah laughs, “That’s often the case, yeah.” “Don’t be so smug about it.” “I simply know what I’m good at,” Dinah shrugs. “Oh, is the list long?” teases Karen. “Like you wouldn’t believe,” replies Dinah with a smirk.

“Talking about what you’re good at, when are scheduling my next class?” “How about we talk about that after you’ve told Frank you love him?” “You’re evil.” “And I bet you a free lunch that you tell him today.”

As fate would have it, Dinah and Karen run into Frank as they exit the restaurant. Karen spots him walking towards them as soon as she is out on the street. He is looking straight ahead as he walks, one hand holding his backpack to his shoulder, the other in his pocket. He stops in his track as soon as he sees them before walking over to them with a smile that Karen returns.

“Ladies,” He kisses Karen lightly on the cheek before nodding at Dinah, “And you must be Dinah Madani. Heard a lot about you.” “And I about you,” says Dinah, holding her hand out to him. Frank doesn’t hesitate and shakes it with a nod. “You had a good lunch?” He asks. “Yeah that place is really nice, you two should go there together someday” replies Dinah Frank looks over at Karen with a side smile “Yeah, why not? If you like it.” “Well, on that, I must leave you,” declares Dinah, “Got to teach some young girls how to punch bad guys.” Karen steps up to hug her as a goodbye “See you around, Dinah.” “Yeah don’t forget that free lunch you promised me.” Before Karen has time to do much more than glare at her, Dinah is walking away after a quick “Nice to finally meet you Frank.”

Once Dinah is gone, Karen leans into Frank’s side. “So you just happened to walk past the same restaurant I was having lunch at? Are you stalking me?” “Um, maybe?” She chuckles as he starts walking. “Seems like you talk a lot about me” he says, his voice insisting on the lot which makes Karen groan internally because thank-you-very-much-Dinah-I’ll-never-live-this-down, “so it’s only fair in a way.” “I don’t talk that much about you. Just sometimes.” He hums. “What did you talk about today at lunch then? If it wasn’t about me and how great I am?” “You’re a tiny bit full of yourself Mr. Castle.” “Only a tiny bit? That’s alright then. Warn me when it gets critical.” She laughs as he continues talking, “No but seriously, what did you guys talk about? How to best punch someone?” “Oh yeah”, nods Karen, “She gave me a full demo in the middle of the restaurant.” “Nice.” “Very.”

They walk in silence for a little bit, simply satisfied to be in each other’s presence before Frank speaks up “I’m glad you have her, Madani yeah? It’s good that you have her.” “Madani? Can’t you call her Dinah? Madani, pff, knowing her, she’d probably love that” Franks scoffs “Well I’m not her friend, am I?” “But you literally just met her.” “Exactly. I’m barely starting to call Nelson by his name – which is ridiculous by the way-, I can’t make another effort like that Karen, it’s too much.” She punches his arms lightly when he grins at her. “Why do I even bother?” she sighs. He shrugs “Good question, Karen, good question.”

And suddenly, Karen takes a decision. Right at this moment, in the middle of a New-York street, cars passing her by, her scarf tickling her chin and Frank’s hand pressed at her side, she decides to do it, take this step and not apologize for it. She’ll just have to think of a nice place to buy Dinah her free lunch.

She presses herself tighter against Frank. “We talked about love.” Her voice is soft, a bit low but she knows he can hear her. She feels him taking a deep breath “Yeah?” “Yeah. We,uh,we talked about how nice it is to be in love.” He hums noncommittally but she knows he’s analyzing her, following her train of thought.

“Madani...Dinah, she doesn’t have a partner or anyone, does she?” His voice is steady but deep and his brow are lightly furrowed. He’s trying to keep it casual in case he misunderstood me, she realizes. She stops walking then turns to face him. “No, she doesn’t.”

She keeps on looking at him because she wants him to understand what she means but she isn’t sure if he is ready to hear it yet….He stops in his track and they are standing still in front of each other, he reaches his hand to her face, brushes his thumb across her cheekbone and she lean her head into her hand, closing her eyes slightly.

“Karen...hey…,” she looks up at him, his eyes are warm and the corner of his lips are raised in an hint of a smile” ...me too”

She stays silent for a second, her heart beating faster in her chest, a feeling between excitement, joy and serenity taking over her, before breaking into a wide smile and raising a hand to her mouth. He knows how she feels and he feels the same and she can’t believe that this is happening right now in the middle of the street as an old man pass them by muttering at his dog but it is. It is and it’s wonderful. To love and be loved. She lets out a light laugh, grabs his hand and brings it to her lips as his face breaks into a smile of his own.

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

He holds her closer and whispers in her ear, needing to feel her closer, to touch her and touch her skin, ground himself into her, his breath caressing her neck,“Thank you” before pressing a kiss to the side of her throat.

She grabs his face lightly and stares at his eyes, her blue eyes shining bright, looking straight into him, past his fears and his rough edges, his mistakes and his flaws, right to the core of him. “Frank I’m in love with you, not doing you a favor out of the goodness of my heart or something like that, I’m being selfish in my own way.” She is slightly frowning and he knows that she means every word she is saying and that she is slightly bothered by the fact that he feels so thankful that this wonder of a complex woman decided to love him, because she doesn’t feel how lonely he was before she came into his life. He can’t say everything right now because he’s not sure he can put everything into words but he tries. “I know but I’m still thankful that….I’m thankful that you’re here, you know. That you came to me. I’m no gift and yet you gave me a chance and stayed. I’m thankful that I can make you laugh and smile and feel good because you do the same to me. I’m just, thankful for your presence, you know?”

She caresses his face before kissing his cheek lightly. She whispers “Well then let me say that I am very thankful for your presence in my life too.” He closes his eyes and leans his forehead against her, taking deep breaths as her thumbs draws patterns on his neck and cheeks, easing slowly the tension in his shoulder as he breathes her in “I…said it before but I really wasn’t looking for love when I came here, I didn’t have any plans for the future but...you make me want to have plans Frank, you make me not so afraid of the future and what’s to come. You’re also the first person I shared my story with. You make me feel safe.”

His arms wrap around her waist crushing her against his chest and he reflects on the fact that this second shot at love, this second chance at companionship, at being one with someone, feels as intense at the first one and yet so different. In his mind it’s not a question of first or second, there’s Maria, his wife, and Karen, his love. And right now, there’s Karen loving him and holding him tight.

And as he runs his fingers through her hair, he realizes that he truly isn’t scared anymore. Neither scared of her leaving him alone and going back to a plain life without feelings; or her staying and them getting more and more important and serious and involved and in love. How could he be when it feels so right? --------------------------------------------

4 months later

Karen is walking around Frank's living room while he is cooking something for dinner, observing the pictures on his cupboard by the window. They are of Maria and the kids, of Maria and him, him and his kids as well as a few of him in the military. She has seen them before of course but she never really took the time to study them, to try and find the resemblance between Frank and his kids.

Her eyes are attracted to one of the kids with a dog. It’ a grey pitbull with white patches that Lisa and Frank Jr are holding tight, smiling widely as the dog almost seems to be grinning at the camera.

Frank comes back into the room to let her know that dinner is ready and she points at the picture, asking about the dog that he never mentioned. He smiles, his face softening as he walks up next to her and picks up the picture.

“That's Max. He was the dog that me and Maria bought when we got married. And he was the sweetest dog ever, god, he was so sweet. Everyone loved him in the neighborhood, the kids loved him, the old guy down the street who didn’t love anybody loved him. He was a fucking charmer that dog, loved the attention, you know? Frank Jr used to play soldier with him and he’d follow him around like he understood everything he was saying while Lisa was the radio operator or something like that.”Frank smiles wider as he remembers his family.

He sits on the couch pulling her next to him with the picture still in his hand, “Max, he was so gone for Maria... he was basically in love with Maria that dog. She could get him to do anything, you know. A snap of her fingers and he was running to her. Almost got me jealous.” He laughs before his smiles fades and his face gets somber, “But, uh... he died when Lisa was 11 because he was sick. We had to put him away and that was so sad. We all cried, jesus, it was a tear fest. The kids wouldn’t stop crying. We decided to not get another dog right away, to wait a few more years but well…” And Karen understands. His family died before they had finished grieving Max. Before they had the opportunity to get another dog. She presses agaisnt him, her hand on his chest as he looks at the picture, his thumbs tracing the lines.

As she sits there next to him, she gets an idea. A silly little idea but she can’t shake it out of her head in the following days. It’s only when a customer walks in with a dog that she decides to act on it and calls Curtis, who has a dog of his own, to ask him if he knows about local shelters. When she has all the information she needs. She sets her plan in motion and warns Frank that they are going on a secret trip this week-end and that he needs to take the Saturday afternoon off. He’s puzzled but doesn’t press her with more questions once she insists that “It’s a surprise Frank, nothing to be stressed about I promise. You can trust me.” And he trusts her, so much more every day, so he accepts simply smiles at her the whole drive there.

When they arrive at the shelter Curtis gave her the adress of and park in front of it, the look on Frank’s face could only be described as pure. It’s something between love and joy and shock and excitement and he turns to look at her “You..you brought me to a shelter? to see dogs?” “Yep. Talking about Max gave me the idea.” “Jesus Christ, Karen, I love you.” Goddammit does he know how it makes her feel when he says it so casually and yet so softly?

She gets out of the car and they walk into the shelter holding hands. And that’s when she realizes how much he loves dogs, how fucking gone he is for dogs. He literally looks like a kid in a candy store as they enter the shelter looking at everything with a huge smile.

They walk around and he stops to say hi to all the dogs, asking questions to the workers about where the dogs come from and the breeds and the age and playing with them. After a while, he stops in front of one of the puppy, a special kind of look on his face. The dog is a gray pitbull that looks the same as his former dog, but with white patches on the opposite side of its face and a darker gray.

He loves the dog immediately, she can tell. He asks one of the volunteers if he can take the puppy out and is told that it’s a female going by the name of Queenie. They hand her to him who wraps her in his arms. And she looks so tiny in his big arms, so small but she is looking him straight in the eyes and nuzzling against his chest. He starts playing with her and even giggles at her reactions. And Karen can’t believe it.

Frank Castle just giggled. Frank Castle in all his "I'm-a-veteran-turned-tattoo-artist-almost-always-dressed-in-black-with-my-combat-boots-don’t-mess-with-me" attitude, just giggled. At a puppy.

He seems to have completely forgotten about Karen's presence as he plays with the puppy so she walks around to look at the other dogs before reaching the counter to ask about adoption conditions and papers. When she comes back to find Frank, he is, and she has to put a hand on her mouth to stop her laughter, rolling round on the ground with the puppy. Now that’s something she never expected from him.

“Who are you and what have you done with Frank Castle?” She asks leaning on the wall. He stops playing and looks up at her “Oh, hi, Karen,” he has the biggest grin on his face as he stands up and he points at the dog, “She’s just adorable, isn’t she?” When Karen answers positively, he turns to the pup who’s now excitedly jumping around his ankles telling her “Yeah you’re a good girl aren’t you? Yeah, you’re the best.” “You really like her, don’t you?” “Yeah, I picked her up because she kind of reminds me of Max but she's much stronger than he ever was at that age and much more excited. She’s feisty. She’s a good one,” He grins as he picks the dog up. “They told me they found her in a fighting circuit, she’s just 5 months old and they got her a month ago.” His eyes cloud over when he mentions the fighting rings, anger rising at the thought of people hurting animals on purpose but soon enough the dog yaps again to attract his attention as if sensing his anger and he softens immediately, caressing her head.

Karen walks up to him, caressing the dog’s head “Well, isn’t it a good thing you’re bringing her home then?” His eyes widen and he stares at her, “What?” She nuzzles the dog’s head a little bit more and shrugs with a smile hoping he’ll like the news as much as she likes giving them to him, “Yeah, the papers are ready, you just have to sign.” “Wait, you’re getting me a dog?” “Well not really,” she laughs, “I just brought you to a place where you can get a dog. But if you want, she’s all yours, I’ve just checked and the papers are ready.”

He thinks for a few seconds, hugging the dog close to his chest “Why did you bring me here today?” She looks up at him and moves her hand along his arm. “As I said talking, about Max with you gave me the idea, and I... thought you’d like to have a companion again. I understood you liked dogs, I hadn’t realized how much until today, I have to say.” she teases before going back to being serious,“ I know you refused to for a long time, but you’re ready Frank, you’re ready to take care of a living being again.”

He takes a few step closer, putting one of his hand on her waist. She breathes him in as he looks intently at her, his eyes roaming her face, her hand now on his chest above the dog. He finally speaks up. “I’ll take her home on one condition.” “And what’s that?” “You adopt her with me.” He’s dead serious. She takes a step back, surprised. “What?” “You heard me, Karen.” “I...But I don’t know anything about dogs! And….and…, you know...” “Yes?” His eyes are way too innocent and his demeanor as he caresses the puppy is way too casual for Karen to not understand that there is a double meaning to what he is saying. She hopes it is what she it thinking about but she doesn’t want to rush things so she decides to go for logic rather than jumping on to her own desires.

“And it wouldn’t be practical for us to have a dog.” she says slowly. “Why not? Don’t you think she is cute? Look at her Karen, look at her and tell me you don’t want her.” “That’s not the point Frank, of course she is cute!”, she exclaims. Damn it, Queenie is way too cute but Karen can’t give in because it wouldn’t be possible with them being the way they are now - not living together that is-, “but that’s not the problem here and you know it!” “What is it then?” and she swears he has a smirk on his face and he takes a step closer raising an eyebrow, “Why couldn’t we get this dog together and raise her together? We could do that together, you know we could.” - and he insist on the word together both times he says it, making her inside warm up because he’s implying something isn’t he? And god, she hopes it is what she is thinking of. What she's been thinking of for a few weeks now.

“Frank…” “Why not?” He leans his head against hers. She sighs and gives in, damn it, he got the upper hand this time. “We can’t have a dog if we don’t live together.” “And?” His lips are brushing against her cheekbone. She replies slowly “We don’t live together, Frank. We spend a lot of time at each other’s place but we don’t live together.” And if the last words sound a bit like a question well, that’s just how it is now.

“Don’t we?” He lets out in a breath. She shivers, he is talking about what she was hoping he would talk about - and gosh, she loves him “Don’t play with me.” He’s suddenly serious, leaning his head back to look straight into her eyes, “I’m not playing Karen, never with you.”

“And yet you’re blackmailing me with a puppy to get me to live with you,” she teases as she holds his waist, getting slowly used to that warmth in her chest and the crazy beats of her heart. “Is it working?” He smirks. “It’s playing dirty.” “Me? Never,” He brushes her hair out of her face. “Hey, seriously, it’s not even so much about the dog anymore, Karen. I will adopt her. I knew it as soon as I saw her. No matter what, I’m taking her. I wouldn’t use her against you but I...I’d really like you and me to have this,” he raises the pup lightly, “and most of everything else together. Actually I’d be fine with having all of everything else together. I'v ebeen thinking about us moving in together for a while now. I’m dead serious, Karen. Okay?”

She smiles “Okay.” “So ...do you need time or something to think about it? Do you want us to come back another day?” Always so considerate that Frank Castle, she thinks as she smiles wider at him. “No, no. I said okay.” “Yeah, I know but I’m saying...Wait ..Okay? “Yeah, okay.” “Okay, okay or just okay?” “Okay,okay.” “Shit, Karen.” He grins “What?” “I think you’ve definitely failed at your “focusing on your career” plan.” he replies with a smug look.

She laughs bright and loud, head thrown back as the dog barks and Frank’s grin threatens to slip his face in half. She throws her arms around his neck kissing him deeply, not caring about being surrounded by dogs and people because she’s about to move in with this wonderful beautiful extraordinary complex man and after everything that she has been through, it feels like her life truly is going to be a somehow good one.

#kastle #kastlenetwork #kastle ff #karen page #frank castle #I know I've only started posting this last week but I can't believe I'm already done with this fic!!#my writing

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the-three-eyed-ravenclaw · 6 years

Text

Of Monsters & Men - Pt. 2

Part One | Part Two (you are here)

Alright so I finally got around to proofing this. Wow. So. Many. Errors. And half the shit was confusing and unnecessary. I also saw that I had out my own name in where it was supposed to be Y/N like what the fuck? I am sorry for that mess, I have heavily edited this part so if you are going to read the next part I would reread this one.

Hope you enjoy!

Below are some choreography videos for the two songs that the reader dances to. These are somewhat what I imagined for these scenes. Also Below are links to the songs mentioned in the fic.

Havana

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUEU-dVUjVQ starting at 2:43

Desperado

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Xyn8Go4frQ

Okay so it’s like 5 in the morning and I have been working on this for 6 hours straight. I am going cross-eyed. This has been very briefly proofed, so if there are any errors, I’ll fix them in the morning! (or really afternoon cuz my ass ain’t waking up till about 2 pm)

Anyways, here is part 2. I hadn’t planned on this part being so long, but it just came out of me as I was writing. This part is gonna be kind of boring because it the readers point of view of part 1 and it also has a lot of back story. so please hang in there.

As always, feedback and constructive criticism is welcome. If you like this story let me know! I plan on this being a multi-part fic, but if no one likes it then I won’t continue it.

Songs mentioned in the story are

Havana by Camila Cabello

Desperado by Rihanna

Finesse Remix by Bruno Mars

Someone mentioned that the pictures were distracting last time so i left them out this time round. Except the one ben barnes gif. I mean who doesn’t want at least one of those? Especially when its one of him being so sexually aggressive. :)

Pairing: Billy Russo x Reader

Length: Almost 7,000 (hot damn)

Warnings: Cussing, sexual situations, innuendos, bad writing and grammar? fucking sue me

Your eyes scan the vivacious dance floor. There was always something you felt that was extremely freeing being a nameless face in the crowd. You could be anyone and no one, but tonight you were someone. Tonight you had a name, Rachel Manafor. Rachel was a young entrepreneur who came out to simply enjoy a night at one of the most popular clubs in New York. Gotta hand it to the case worker who constructed this identity. They had made the cover air tight. If anyone wanted to check up on you, you were covered.

You sighed as you resisted the urge to scratch your scalp. You never were one for wearing wigs. Honestly, I don’t know how Nat handles this. The woman has more missions that she goes undercover for than Kellogg’s has cornflakes. I’ve only had this wig on for three hours and I am ready to strangle something. Your eyes continue scanning the crowd. You clock all the visible exits making sure there aren’t any unforeseen obstacles that could have popped up in the last 10 minutes.

You take note of the Anvil security stationed at the visible exits. Ah, your target must have finally arrived. You look for him on the dance floor and at the bar, but you don’t see him. Since the babysitters are here, he must be close by or on his way. They are probably here to secure the building first. Alright, time for momma to go to work. Get ready boys.

You start making your rounds of the club, checking out the formation of the security and their station points. Dancing your way across the dance floor isn’t easy. The crowd is packed in so tightly that it’s hard to even breathe. You wonder how anyone is able to move in this, but soon realize that the crowd’s dancing is more of a going-with-the-flow-of-shoving-and-pushing-lest-you-get-elbowed-in-the-face rather than actual dancing. However, you are finally able to complete three circuits of the club and feel that you have successfully mapped out the room and the security detail. Only one guard posted at each exit? Whoever’s in charge really underestimates who all is coming for this guy and the power and resources they possess. Well, I’m not gonna complain. Makes my job a helluva lot easier.

With the first step of your mission complete, it was time to start the second step, locate the target.

Speak of the Devil… Aldrich had finally entered the club. It had taken a lot of cashing in IOUs to find where your target would be and when he would be there. You had been saving a lot of those favors for a rainy day, but when SHIELD said jump…

As you watch Aldrich immediately head towards the bar, you couldn’t help but let out a frustrated grumble. The little shit was over two hours later than planned, but you know, spilled milk and all that. Your mission was still on track, and that was all that really mattered. You’ll live. Even with that mentality, you lamented over the date night you had made with your bathtub. So much for me time, and I was so excited about that new bathbomb, too. Mr. Darcy, I hope you’ll wait for me. Box of wine, I’ll miss… who am I kidding? I’ll still smash you when I get home. Dear Lord, I am having full conversations in my head now. Maybe Tony was right. Maybe I do need to see a shrink. With your internal monologue mostly over, you start to plan your next move.

You notice that Aldrich brought an additional entourage of bodyguards, not just the ones stationed at the exits. Well at least the guy in charge wasn’t a total imbecile. You watch the group of men disperse amongst the crowd. However, one man sticks close to the target. Must be close guard tonight. You check the man out. Your eyes appreciating the masterpiece in front of you. No doubt this was the infamous William Russo. So, the gossip was right for once, man he is fucking beautiful. Nat, I’ll never doubt you again.

Russo had been on SHIELD’s radar for a few months now. How could he not be? Some Jarhead fresh out of the military, without a penny to his name, suddenly becomes a multi-millionaire in a few short years? That’s definitely some shady shit right there. Hell, the guy drives a fuckin’ Wraith… in New York…. Like what the actual fuck? You watch Billy remove his leather jacket, revealing the form fitting sweater he wore underneath and you bite your lip. Have mercy.

You shake your head back and forth trying to refocus. Okay enough about tall, dark and handsome. Time to find out where the other Anvil dicks got off too. You look at the beer that some random dude had bought you on your last circuit of the club. He was no doubt hoping to make you feel like you owed him in some sort of sexual favor. Fucking cunt. With that thought, you chug the remaining liquid and slam it on the nearest table, making your way back onto the dance floor.

While maneuvering your way through the crowd, you spot three additional guards amongst the partiers. Their just-a-little-too-stiff dance moves and their constant glancing over their shoulders singled them out as Billy’s men. Oh, and also because they kept talking into their sleeves every two fucking minutes. Real inconspicuous. You shake your head. “Idiots,” you mumble under your breath. This is almost too easy.

With the all the guards accounted for, you make your way to the exit you planned on using to make a quick escape. As you work your way across the floor, you make it seem as if you are looking for a friend. “Samantha?” You cry out with a slight whine and slur to your voice. You’re sure to put on a little show, stumbling and slightly putting your weight on everyone you pass. They started making a narrow path, wanting to avoid a potential collision or the possibility of puke. “Samantha! Where are you?”

You keep moving along until you finally make it to the far side of the dance floor. In your earlier assessment, you took note that the side exit is right by the bathrooms. You thank the gods for your luck. You knew with the packed dance floor and the number of utter buffoons posing as bodyguards, you would have to get Aldrich somewhere private and secluded.

You finally reach the hallway that leads to your preferred exit. You see the guard standing stiffly to the right of the door, arms crossed and a stern scowl on his face. He looked to be in his mid-forties with a bit of gray hair at his temples. He was doing an excellent job of exuding the Don’t Fuck Me Me vibe. You keep up your show of being a drunk girl looking for her friend. You stumble and giggle your way towards him.

“’Scuse me, have you seen S’mantha? Can’t find her anywhere.”

Knock off Jason Statham doesn’t respond just gives you a stern look. You stumble closer to him, hugging the wall for balance.

“D’you hear me? I SAID ‘M LOOKIN’ FOR MY FRIEND S’MANTHAAAA.” You say a little too loudly and with an annoying whine for added effect.

“Look Ma’am, I don’t know who Samantha is, but you’re not supposed to be back here.” He uncrossed his arms as he answered your question, holding them out slightly as if he was about to stop you from coming any closer.

You’re almost close enough to him now that if you were to stumble you would fall right in to his chest, and that is exactly what you do. You let out a surprised gasp as he steadies you. You look up at him and smile.

“Aw thank you! You’re my hero.” You say a little breathlessly as you grasp his biceps. “Oh WOW you’re so strong!” You say with a little awe in your voice.

Your charms don’t seem to be working on the man though. He just looks down at you unfazed.

“Ma’am you can’t be back here.” He repeats.

“Oh, alright you fuddy duddy!” You say as you smack his chest. “I’ll leave, jeez! But if you see S’mantha, tell her that Ray-shul‘s lookin’ for ‘er!” You turn around to leave and take a step forward to leave but stop suddenly.

“Hey sir?”

You hear him sigh and you can tell whatever he says next will have an exasperated tone to it. “Wha-“

You turn around swiftly, delivering a round house kick to his temple, immediately knocking the him out.

“You need to learn to loosen up a little.” You say flatly to his unconscious body.

The next few minutes pass quickly as you secure his hands and feet with some zip ties you hid in your bra. Not much room for a utility bely in this get-up. You drag his body in to some random supply closet and kick off the door knob, effectively locking him in. When you’re done, you straighten your pink form fitting skirt and readjust your bralette making sure none of the goodies were showing. Sometimes it sucks being a woman.

Alright. Phase one complete. Phase two here I come. You make your way back into the mass of bodies. If I never see another club after this mission, it will be too soon. I have had enough of this hot, sweaty mob. You see Aldrich and Russo are at the bar still, so ou make your way to the bar area and hover at the edge dance floor. You take position to make sure you’re seen by the men. Camila Cabello’s Havana starts playing and you start moving to the beat. This next part wouldn’t be hard. Dancing was something you loved, despite your bad memories that were often tied to dancing.

Flashback

You breathe heavily as you wipe the sweat from your forehead. All you can hear are the raps of the cane against the floor as your ballet instructor calls out moves.

“Pirouette!”

“Arabesque penchée!”

“Grand Jeté!”

America would never admit to being envious of their long-term rivals, but they couldn’t deny that Russia produced two of the best things the world has ever seen: ballets and spies. You were currently practicing for Swan Lake as the Black Swan. Something you never would had thought you would ever do in your life. Being an orphan that had bounced from Foster Home to Foster home since you were 4, your future never seemed too bright. But all of that changed when you were taken in by the White Rose Initiative.

When the SSR caught wind of the Red Room back in the 40s, they were appalled, and rightly so. The fought for years to put an end to the program and rescue those little girls. And for the most part, they succeeded. However, all it took was for one person to have one awful idea under the pretenses that although it may be awful, if it was for the right cause, the ends could justify the means. So, with that thought process, the CIA formed an American equivalent of the Red Room and it was called the White Rose Initiative.

The WRI took in orphaned girls and trained them torturously in the ways of espionage. While they didn’t chain the girls to the bed, they used other means of imprisonment. A decade of mental and emotional abuse did quite a number on someone.

You had been taken in at the ripe, young age of 8. Your body was trained in multiple martial arts and became specialized in dozens of weapons. Your mind was expanded by professors of the highest caliber, mastering all subjects as well as conquering no less than 12 different languages. You were cultured by learning multiple different musical instruments and training your vocal cords to perform even the most difficult operatic arrangements. You built endurance and strength through ballet and dance classes from the highest trained professionals. Needless to say, your body and mind were finely honed weapons, forged to serve the U.S. Government in any way possible.

During your time with WRI, you endured many different forms of torture. Their goal was to desensitize you so that if you were ever captured, you would not break. Electrocution, waterboarding, extended isolation periods, all seemed like nothing compared to the mental and emotional abuse you suffered under their tutelage. Growing up without love is one thing, but learning to love only one thing in the entire world, and watching it be ripped away from you, knowing there was nothing you could do about it, was too much to bear.

Being inducted to the WRI, doesn’t entail much. You pledge yourself to the United States in a formal deceleration and are you assigned a partner. This partner is with you every moment of every day. Your sparring partner, your roommate, but most importantly, your best friend. Being able to spend your free time with only one person for years on end can only lead to you becoming close. You and Y/BF/N hit it off right off the bat. You were both around the same age with Y/BF/N only being a few months older than you.

Y/BF/N was all you had. The only person who knew you better than you knew yourself, and you knew her too. This is exactly what the WRI wanted. How else were they supposed to keep their weapons in line? They invested all this time and money making you into a shell of a person who couldn’t break under the most gruesome of tortures even if you wanted to. That is why they gave you only one weakness, and one that they could control and exploit. If you ever misbehaved even in the slightest, failed in training or in education, the person they punished wasn’t you. It was your person that they tortured.

You were always stronger than Y/BF/N. Always just a little faster, a little smarter, a little more determined. You were determined that you would never be the cause of her pain. Y/BF/N, try as she might, was never good at controlling her outburst of rebellion. You both hated the WRI, but you knew that there was no escape from your fate. Y/BF/N however, always held out hope that you all would be rescued from the cruelty. This caused you to “punished” almost daily.

Y/BF/N would always be devastated when you returned to your dormitory with electrical burns or with your finger nails removed, or some other marks that were left from gruesome torturing techniques. You would always console her and tell her you wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Y/BF/N, I don’t know what I would do if you ever changed who you were or your beliefs just to spare me pain. You wouldn’t be you and that would hurt worse than any torture they could put me through.”

You both would spend hours at night, after lights out, dreaming of the day when you both would be free and able to live your own lives. You both had made pacts that you would never do any missions for your torturers. As soon as you two graduated you would run, never to be seen again. It was something that you planned together, mapping out every single detail until every possible outcome had been predicted and appropriately planned for.

However, what they didn’t tell you was that to “graduate”, you would be put in a fight to the death with the person you had come to know as a sister. It made sense. Why would they spend all this time making you unbreakable only to send you out into the world and have one thing that would make you break in a millisecond? It was smart. You have to give them that. Living it though, was a completely different story.

That fated day was fast approaching, and when it came, you and Y/BF/N were called into the training arena. You could see various weapons littered across the room. You also saw a team of people in the middle of the floor cleaning a large amount of blood off the mats. You and Y/BF/N shared a brief look, both reading each other minds. What the hell is going on? You were the first to see your martial arts instructor emerge from the shadows. When he told you what was to come next, you couldn’t believe what you heard. I have to fight Y/BF/N to the death? You couldn’t get the thought to process. Y/BF/N didn’t seem to phased, which threw you for a loop. She almost looked resigned.

You had always had been opinionated, but you always had a tight reign over your tongue. You feared it would fall back on Y/BF/N. You didn’t even really speak much other than when you were with Y/BF/N in private. So when you aggressively responded to your instructor that you wouldn’t be going along with this sick game. Your instructor was taken aback.

“You can’t seriously believe that I would fucking fight Y/BF/N, My. Best. Friend. to the death.” You say in a low and deadly tone.

Your instructor looked at you in disbelief. He couldn’t believe you, his prized pupil, would speak to him like this. He went to open his mouth, no doubt to reprimand you, but before he could say anything, you feel a punch to the gut. You look up to see who would have the audacity to hit you, and you couldn’t believe what you saw.

Y/BF/N had fucking sucker punched you in the gut. You wheeze as you try to get some air back into your lungs.

“Y/BF/N, what the fuck are you doing?”

“You fucking idiot. I am trying to kill you. Are you that much of a dumb bitch?”

With those harshly spoken words, she moved to send an upper cut to your jaw. You duck easily, but your brain felt like it was short circuiting. All you could process is that Y/BF/N is not pulling any punches. She was going full out. She’s really trying to kill me.

Looking back on it, you can only remember bits and pieces, but your body must have gone into fight or flight mode because the next thing you know you have a Kukri, your preferred blade, in your hand. You’re not sure how or when it got there, but the only thing you can think about is how deeply it is embedded in Y/BF/N’s gut. You let out a heartbreaking wail as your brain fully registers what you have done.

“NOOOOOOOOOO!”

Y/BF/N’s body is leaning heavily against yours. It’s as if she doesn’t have the energy to stand on her own anymore. She looks at you and smiles, blood staining her teeth Your heart shattered into a million pieces in that moment. A moment that dragged on for what felt like a life time, and all you can think is, Oh God, what have I done.

“No.” You whisper. A faint, broken echo of your wail earlier. Y/BF/N coughed but the cough didn’t seem to alleviate any of her pain as lets out a sickly gurgle. That’s not good. Logically in your brain, you could see the signs that her life was nearing its end, but your heart couldn’t accept it. Her body went slack and started to slip down your body. You kneel down with her and prop her head in your lap.

“Y/BF/N, please stay with me. Don’t leave me. You can’t leave me. Not you. Not now. We’re so close. What about that island, huh? We were going to go and flirt with all of the local guys, drink mojitos and do absolutely nothing all day, every day. You can’t leave me. You can’t…” Your voice breaks. “You can’t. You can’t. You can’t.” You repeat the mantra barely above a whisper.

“Y/N.” Y/BF/N draws your attention away from your grief. “You’re free. Don’t make my sacrifice for nothing. Resist. You may have to work for them until you can get out, but… you have to… you have t-” You can see that talking is draining what little energy she had left. Every world is a battle to get out. Every breath more labored than the last.

“Shhhh. Save your energy please. I can’t lose you.”

“No, you… have to… remember… they don’t…. they don’t own you Y/N. Remember. Remember… who… you… ar..” Her last word left her mouth like a sigh as her breathing stopped. Despite what your heart was telling you to do, you didn’t rage and scream. You sat there with her until your instructor came over and put a hand on your shoulder. Numb, you just looked up at him and he offered you a pained smile.

“Congratulations, you’ve officially graduated. Go back to your dormitory and pack up. You ship out at 0800.”

It’s like you were a zombie, you nodded and stood. You neatly folded Y/BF/N’s hands on her chest. She looked so peaceful. With one last look at her face, trying to memorize every feature, you turned and walked away and didn’t look back. It was torture being back in your room, seeing little signs of her everywhere. You could see where she had left her brush on the night stand and her bed unmade, a small defiance to the Initiative. You moved towards bathroom to wash her blood off of your body.

After you had dried off, changed and packed, you looked around your room. It never had been so quiet before. Even when you both were asleep, the quiet was broken with Y/BF/N’s soft snores, something she would deny she did until she was blue in the face. You eye her bed and lay down on it. As you stretch yourself out, you run your hand under the pillow only to come into contact with a hardback book. You pull it out and read the cover. “Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.” It was her favorite book. She read a little bit of it every night before she went to sleep.

You opened to the bookmarked page. Your eyes scanning the page’s contents only coming to land on the section she had underlined. “There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me.” You smirked as you read the passage. Then you noticed the little note she had written in the margins. “If this ain’t us, I don’t know what is…” And like that, the dam burst. You let out a sob before you could contain it. You rolled over and shoved your face into the pillow. You let out a blood curdling scream. You could feel tears and snot soaking the pillow. While it felt good to express some emotion finally, when you had cried the last tear, you just felt empty. You got up and put the book in your pack. At least I’ll something of hers.

And thus began your time as the empty shell that you swore to Y/BF/N that they would never make you. For years, you didn’t care if the world lived or died. You didn’t speak to anyone other than reporting to your superiors. You had soon made a name for yourself, and not in a good way. You were good at what you did. You were stealthy and deadly and you never failed a mission. People started calling you Echo after the nymph in Greek Mythology. Hera deprived her of speech, except for the ability to repeat the last words of another.

End Flashback

You come out of your reverie when a new song started playing. The deep thumps of the bass reverberating in your chest. You really shouldn’t be getting this fucking distracted on a mission. However, Your traitorous brain turns back to the past.

It’s hard for you to think back on your time after WRI. Especially since it was against the dying wish of your best friend. You aren’t proud to say that you lived that way for a long time. You only came out of your zombie like state when the aliens attacked New York.

Flashback

You were walking along the sidewalk with your head down and earphones in listening to some rap music as you made your way to HQ to get your new mission debriefing. Through the loud music in your ears you start to hear screaming. You look up to see a horde of aliens flying about wreaking havoc on the city. You see the innocent people fleeing and fearing for their lives.

As your eyes scan your surroundings to plan your first mode of attack, your eyes land on a mother clutching her son to her chest, who was obviously dead. He had been impaled with a Chitauri staff. The kid couldn’t have been older than 10. Watching her grieve reminded you of yourself with Y/BF/N. And in that moment, you decided that as long as there were evil dickwads out there preying on the innocent, you were going to do anything you could to protect them. You couldn’t help but think that Y/BF/N would be proud of you. No doubt giving you an ear full about it taking so long first though. And with that thought in mind, you began killing as many of those sons of bitches as you could. There was a never-ending stream of them flying around on those damn hover crafts though and you soon became exhausted. You didn’t know how much longer you could hold out.

You pause after decapitating a Chitauri with a loose piece of metal paneling when you hear loud bellows off in the distance. What the hell is that? Next thing you know, you see the Hulk leaping from building to building. You follow his path with your eyes. And as he gets closer, you can hear his roars louder than ever and you fight the instinct to cover your ears to protect them from the sear volume of the noise. You realize he is headed directly towards you. Why is he coming at me, man? What did I do? You see that he passes right over your head though and you turn your head to see where he is heading and you see that you are a few yards from Stark Tower. Oh.

You watch as he swings his body on to the roof and you wonder what’s going on up there, but your thought process is rudely interrupted when a particularly large Chitauri knocks you on your ass. You get up and quickly dispose of him and four others. You then hear what sounds like a jet engine coming right at you. You look up to see Iron Man carrying a nuke on his back.

“What the actual fuck is going on? Did I take LSD without knowing and this is just a bad trip?”

You see him fly into the portal you noticed the Chitauri coming out of earlier and deliver the pay load. You let out a thunderous whoop as did many of the people around you. You hear the nuke exploding in the portal and all of the remaining Chitauri collapse at once. They don’t get back up.

You look back up into the sky to see the portal beginning to close. You can’t explain it, but when that portal closed, some unknown force knocked you back… like about 30 feet… and slammed you into a brick wall with what felt like the force of a semi-truck going 80 mph. It was a hit that should of killed you. Or at least hospitalized you for months, but before you passed out, you felt a warmth take you’re your body and somehow, you knew you would be alright. The next thing you remember was coming to in a pile of debris.

You look up to the sky again to see if there is still any more action going on, only to see Ironman free falling at an alarming rate. As he draws to close to the ground for comfort, the Hulk swoops in and catches him. They land on the ground not far from you, and you see that Tony isn’t moving. All of the Avengers have gathered around now, and it looks like they have lost hope of him being alive. All of a sudden, the Hulk lets out an ear-splitting roar and Tony jerks awake.

After a heartwarming reunion, the team collects themselves and take in the wreckage that is New York. You are looking at them when Steve makes eye contact with you. He gives you a curious look. You just smirk at him and give him a little wave. He directs the team’s attention towards you and they all start making their way over to you. You hear Hawkeye say, “She take all them aliens out by herself?” And you can’t help but to respond.

“No. Not all of them, about 80% though. The rest are courtesy of the big guy.” You nod towards Hulk and he gives everyone a self-satisfied smirk with a grunt of acknowledgement. “Hulk smash.” He said under his breath in a proud tone.

Tony, who looks worse for wear, looks at the number of dead aliens around you. “Yeaaaah, you got spunk kid. What’s your name?”

“Name’s Y/N, but everyone calls me Echo.”

Nat perks up at this. “Wait. THE Echo? 147 confirmed kills? The silent death dealer of the White Rose Initiative?”

Steve speaks up. “Nat, you know this woman?”

“Know her? I’ve been trying to track her for years. SHIELD has her listed as a potential threat and a potential asset.”

“Hah! Well what do you know! Y/N, why don’t you join the Avengers? I’m sure I can get ole Cyclops to agree. Don’t you think Nat? You know I’m his favorite anyways. He can’t say no to me.”

“Tony, shut up for a second, will you? Y/N, what do you say? I know that Fury would jump at the opportunity to have you be a part of the team, especially after this fiasco. We’re gonna need all the helo we can get.”

“Oh, I dunno man, I mean do I have to wear dumb ass costumes?” You say as you eye up Thor. “I mean a cape, dude? Really?”

You can hear Tony mumble “I like her already,” to Nat and you can hear her chuckle.

Thor, looking offended, responds with, “I’ll have you know that capes are essential for… flying and aerodynamics and… things.”

“Mmm-hmm… Look guys I don’t know. Being an Avenger is this whole thing and I dunno… I’m not into being in the spotlight. I am looking to be on the right side of things though. Got a whole lot of shit to make up for.” Nat nods in understanding. “Widow, think Director Grumpy Mother Fucker will let me join SHIELD?”

The group let out a small laugh at that. Except Cap. He looks a little uncomfortable. Guess his delicate sensitivities doesn’t like cursing. Pussy. “I’ll be sure and let him know! Look we got to get going and report in or said director will have our heads on a platter. We will keep in touch though. You know where to find us.” She says as she gestures towards Stark Tower. You nod in acknowledgement. Well, Y/BF/N, I don’t really remember who you knew me as, but I know who I am going to try to be. I hope it’s someone you would be proud of.

End Flashback

And that’s how you came to be here, in this bar, on this mission. You listen to the song again. The lyrics flowing through you to move your body in a sensual manner.

Desperado Sittin’ in an old Monte Carlo A man whose heart is hollow Mhm, take it easy I’m not tryna go against yuh Actually, I’m goin’ witcha

You close your eyes and feel the music move your soul. Getting lost in music and dance was always an escape for you at your time in the WRI.

Gotta get up out of here And yuh ain’t leavin’ me behind I know you won’t cause we share common interests You need me, there ain’t no leaving me behind Never, no, no, I just want outta here, yeah Once I’m gone, ain’t no going back

You open your eyes and look over to where Russo and Aldrich were stationed. It looks like Aldrich got another round of drinks. Good. The drunker the better. You’re mid-turn in a dance move when you see from the corner of your eyes Aldrich looking in your direction. You smirk to yourself. Off to a good start. You close your eyes again and bite your lip as you let the music take you over again.

If you want, we can be runaways Running from any sight of love Yeah, yeah, there ain’t nothin’ There ain’t nothin’ here for me There ain’t nothin’ here for me anymore But I don’t wanna be alone

You open your eyes and look directly at your target. He seems to be admiring the view. Got ‘em hook, line and sinker. You crook your finger at him with a sultry smirk. He looks over to Russo and says something. They share a short conversation before Aldrich looks back over to you. You make the same motion and let out a small laugh, hoping it would encourage him to come over. He gestures as if to say, “Who me?” You nod and laugh again.

He eagerly makes his way to you.

“Well, hello there beautiful.”

“Hi Handsome. I saw you watching me and wanted to know if you wanted to dance.”

He doesn’t respond. Bruno Mars’ Finesse remix comes on. It’s a little more upbeat, but Aldrich moves to closer to you so that his right leg is in-between yours. If you move, you will be basically dry humping his leg. As you both begin to move to the beat, you hear him ask for your name.

“Rachel.”

“That’s a pretty name. Name’s Chad. Chad Aldrich.” He says very matter of fact tone. He was clearly expecting you to know who he was from his last name alone.

You give him a blank stare.

“You know the Aldrich’s? They are a branch of the Rockefeller family tree. I’m a very important person.”

Man, this guy is a dick and I’ve only been talking to him for two seconds. You lean up to whisper in his ear. “Oh, I am sure you are. Very. Important.” You lick into his hear on the last word and Chad is speechless. Thank God for that.

You two dance to the upbeat song for a bit more before it bleeds into the next. This new one slow and sensual. Definitely a bump and grind song. You move to turn around and press your back to his front. You start to move to the beat and Chad wraps his arms around you, putting his head next to yours.

You dance like this for a couple more songs and you can feel that Chad is getting a little excited. You lean your head back on his shoulder and press your rear more firmly to his groin. He lets out a groan, that is impossible to hear in the loudness of the music, but you can feel it coming from his chest. You turn your head slightly to whisper in his ear.

“I want you to fuck me hard in the bathroom.”

“Oh, someone’s kinky.”

“Tell me about it daddy.”

With those last words he looks at you excitedly and nods an okay. You turn to pull him away. You can feel him signaling to Russo and making some gestures behind you, but you choose to ignore them. As you make your way to the bathroom, you can feel Chad getting more and more handsy. He impatiently grips your hips and pulls himself close to you. He runs his hands across your stomach and squeezes one of your breasts.

You finally make it to the bathroom, but before you can enter the door, Chad turns you around and forcefully molds his mouth to yours. He seriously lacks finesse. You chuckle internally at your pun from thinking back to the earlier song. God I am corny. You tolerate the kiss for a few moments before you break it off and pull him into the bathroom. You quickly shoo out any other guys. Man, the bro code must be strong if the guys just willingly leave in the face of a possible quickie for their fellow dude.

Chad grips your shoulders and roughly pushes you against the wall. You two make out for a minute before a guy in a plaid shirt enters the bathroom. He doesn’t seem as accommodating as the other guys. He grumbles, “Get a room, fucking horn dogs.”

You start to shove Chad into a stall. Alright here comes the fun part. You forcefully push him down on to the toilet and straddle his lap. He makes a satisfied sound and that’s the last thing you hear from him as you pinch the pressure point in his trapezoid and he quickly passes out.

You move quickly to remove your skirt and pull out your finger printing kit that had been disassembled and strapped to your inner thigh. You deactivate the photostatic leggings you had on and they turn back to their original black color. You would have to thank Nat for getting them for you. You checked the photostatic veil you had on too. It was still intact and fully functional. Perfect. Everything is going smoothly.

You make quick work of getting his prints and a strand of hair for DNA. With that done, you whip out your phone and open the app that Peter had developed for Tony that allows you to basically have a portable eye mapper. This is ingenious when you need to get retinal scans. Good job Spiderling. You quickly level the camera lens at his eye that you prop open. You watch the load bar as it slowly progresses. I have about 10 minutes before I have to get the heck out of dodge. You think over your checklist.

You hit a stroke of luck when the guy came into the bathroom. He was wearing a perfect change of clothes. It would definitely be beneficial to your mission if you could quickly change your appearance.

You see that the app has completed its mapping and you make your way out of the stall. You see the guy that came in has finished his business and is currently washing his hands. He makes eye contact with you through the mirror. You smile ruefully at him.

“Can you believe he passed out? What a fuckin’ light weight am I right?”

“Yeah, sure, whatever.”

He turns to get a paper towel to dry his hands. Using his distraction, you pinch the same nerve in his traps as you did to Chad. The guy collapses on the floor. You turn to throw away the skirt you had on and you remove the sheer shirt and toss it in the trash too. You make your way back to the guy and you strip him of his flannel shirt and white t-shirt underneath. You rip the bottom half of the t-shirt and part of the sleeves. You slip the shirt over your bralette and tie it to where it fits firmly across your chest. Next you roll up what was left of the sleeves to make them a bit more feminine looking. Then you take his flannel shirt and tie it around your waist.

You look over to the guy on the ground and decide to put him in the stall with Chad so that he doesn’t cause problems for you. You grunt as you drag him to lie face down on Chad’s lap. You laugh out loud. When they both come to, they will be very surprised at the situation they find themselves in. You take the bits of t-shirt you ripped off and tie their hand to the back of the commode.

With the majority of the job done, you exit the stall and go to remove your wig. Fucking finally. When all of a sudden you see the door to the bathroom slowly creek open and you see a gun stick through the crack. You watch as the person holding the gun finally enters the room fully and the door swings shut behind him.

He looks at you as you look at him. Fucking Russo with his fucking perfect face and hair has to ruin fucking everything. Fuck. You can see him trying to piece together what he is seeing. You fully remove the wig and your Y/H/C falls down and you almost let out a sigh of relief.

You see him taking in your appearance and you can see it in his eyes when all of the pieces come together. You almost sarcastically congratulate him on how fucking slow he was. You don’t though. You just look at him for a second more before you narrow your eyes and take up a fighting stance. You throw a smirk at him. You needed to get that gun away from him ASAP. Lucky for you, it seems he forgot he was even holding one.

Before he can think of what to do next, you charge at him. Bring it on pretty boy. Let’s see who has more balls the ballerina or the marine.

#billy russo x reader #billy russo #the punisher #netflix #fanfic #ben barnes #ben barnes x reader #marvel #marvel cinematic universe #jigsaw

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