#however y’all should watch the show it’s so good andrew or not | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

flames-bring-a-ton-of-ash · 3 years

Text

Irresistible Danger - Part 60

Synopsis: After being caught outside the compound on your own, Negan decides to punish you in the best way possible ;)

Words: 3,229

Warnings: nsfw, smut, swearing

ID Masterlist can be found HERE

Masterlist of all my fics can be found HERE

Author’s Note: We’re back! Omg y’all...I finally have a path to the ending for this fic! After this chapter, I’m planning for there to be 5 more chapters until the end, which will give ID a total of 65 chapters. I’m still working on writing and editing these last chapters, but I’m pretty confident in that timeline :D I also plan to post each Friday again, so there should be chapters now through September 10th, if all goes according to plan.

PDA

You woke with a smile the next morning, partially because of the happiness filling your chest like a balloon. The other part was because the warm body behind you, accompanied by a rasp of beard on your shoulder and soft lips on your neck, signalled that you weren’t alone.

The florid orange rays coming in the large windows told you that it was still early, the sun barely risen above the horizon. Turning over onto your other side to face Negan, you took in his tousled hair and heavy-lidded gaze.

“Mornin’ doll,” he said, voice raspy with sleep.

“Morning,” you whispered back, pressing a kiss to his irresistible mouth. “No crack-of-dawn meetings today?”

His lips quirked against yours. “Nope, thank fuck,” he murmured, before rolling atop you and spending a good portion of the morning taking you apart with pleasure, then putting you back together piece by piece with cuddles and toe-curling kisses.

When he later glanced over at the clock and saw that it was almost 10am, he gave a groan and flopped onto his back with a forearm covering his eyes. “Much as I’d love to stay here all day, I gotta go with a couple Saviors to check out one of the nearby outposts. They reported some concerns about their fucking security measures, and also requested a few more men be stationed out there to help divvy up their shifts, so I wanna go see if there’s any fucking issues for myself.”

While you felt a tiny thrill that he was so willing to tell you this information, to let you know about his duties as leader, you also had a moment of worry about him possibly assigning more men out to work the outpost. “Is that the one you brought Simon in from a couple weeks ago?”

Knowing exactly where your thoughts were headed, he said, “Don’t get your fucking panties in a bunch, doll. If the outpost needs more hands, I was planning to send a couple of my newer Saviors.”

Pleased at this response, you smiled and leaned in close so your mouth was hovering mere millimeters from his, before whispering, “I’m not wearing any panties to get in a bunch.”

Before he could react, you rolled out of the bed and strode to the bathroom, putting a little extra swing to your hips. The growl and unmistakable rustling sound of sheets being thrown off was your only warning before Negan scooped you up into his arms and marched into the bathroom.

An hour later and you were both sufficiently clean (after first getting extra dirty against the shower wall), and you saw Negan off from his rooms with a kiss and warning to be careful. He gave an arrogant smirk at that, which got him an eye roll and playful shake of your head as a response.

You watched as he strode down the hall towards the staircase, shoulders encased in leather and his whistle echoing off the walls. While they’d never dare ask him about it, you couldn’t help but give a little smile at the thought of his men wondering why the hell their usually punctual leader was almost ten minutes late to leave for the outpost...and why he seemed so happy about it.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Unable to contain your excitement over the events of the night before, you headed over to Ben’s room not long after Negan left. Thankfully he was there, having just returned from finishing up serving breakfast. His roommate was out this time, so you were able to huddle across from one another on his bottom bunk and catch him up on your conversation with Negan.

Ben listened intently, mouth slowly falling further and further open as you went on. When you got to the part about Negan admitting he wanted only you, and called you his partner, Ben let out a whoop of joy and threw his arms around you in a hug.

“I knew it!” he exclaimed. “That big lug is head over heels for you.”

The two of you chatted happily for a bit, before you left and wandered back down to your own room. It had felt like forever since you had a chunk of time to just relax in your bed without over analyzing or stressing over something Negan-related. Gone was the weight of that padlocked box of questions, which made both your brain and subconscious very happy. The three of you snuggled up on the bed and spent the next couple of hours finishing your re-read of Harry Potter before it was time to head down to the kitchen for dinner prep.

Today’s menu consisted of lasagna using leftover deer meat thawed from the freezer, with the signature side of rolls. Trixie had unofficially promoted herself as being in charge of roll duty, making sure the dough was the right consistency and the ovens at the perfect baking temperature. She wasn’t rude about it, but the little bit of authority she showed when instructing another staff member how to properly knead the dough seemed to fulfill her need to be seen as a knowledgeable and important part of the staff. And in all honesty, none of her feedback to the others was incorrect, so rather than reprimand her or say she was out of line, you had caught her eye at one point and given an almost imperceptible nod of approval. This caused her smile to beam so bright that it was a wonder you didn’t need sunglasses.

As it turned out, you weren’t the only one who had noticed Trixie’s presence and been keeping a stealthy eye on her. Andrew, a member of the food prep crew, had been not-so-subtly following Trixie with his gaze lately, and today was no exception. He was an attractive man in his early 20s with shoulder-length black hair and kind brown eyes, a much more appropriate candidate for Trixie than her previous choice.

It seemed safe to say that Trixie was aware of the attention as well, as she found every reason possible to flounce past where Andrew was busy loading trays of lasagna into an oven. At one point, she even stopped to chat briefly with him, and out of the corner of your eye you saw her toss back her head and laugh at something he said. If it seemed a bit overly dramatic to you, well, Andrew didn’t seem to mind. In fact, her reaction caused him to fumble with the tray of pasta he was holding, almost spilling the entire thing onto the ground. He thankfully saved it at the last second, otherwise you would’ve had to interrupt and lecture the two of them about focusing on their work and not chit-chatting. And you didn’t want to do that, not when Trixie finally seemed interested in a guy more her age who was actually available and seemed to genuinely like her.

Despite your initial tension with Trixie, you now realized that she had just been struggling to find where she fit in, to feel like an important part of the community. She’d initially been scooped up and led astray by Amber, but thankfully she had found her way back on the correct path and was making progress at getting along with the others, rather than isolating herself and using condescension as an emotional wall. Someone like Andrew, who was kind-hearted and considerate, not to mention absolutely captivated by her, was exactly what she needed.

Focusing your attention away from young romance and back to meal prep, you spent the next forty-five minutes making sure everything was baked to perfection before sending out the first trays of lasagna and rolls. However, your mind kept randomly returning to Negan, almost unable to contain a secret smile each time you remembered where the two of you now stood. The usual worry and second-guessing had been replaced by the stability of knowing how he felt, and each time you remembered his words from last night a flutter of butterflies went off in your stomach.

Negan had told you this morning that the outpost he and a small team of men were going to was less than an hour’s drive from the Sanctuary, so he planned to be back around dinnertime. Sure enough, about 20 minutes into when the first round of food was being served, you saw a small group of Saviors enter the cafeteria and settle down at a table. You guessed that they were the ones who had been out on the mini mission, and breathed a sigh of relief at seeing them back safely and with jovial expressions on their faces. You could always tell when things went wrong on a run, due to the overall aura of the men who returned, but this time they were smiling and talking animatedly with one another. Hopefully this also meant that Negan was in a happy, and perhaps affectionate, mood when you went to visit him later...

It was as if your thoughts had conjured the man himself. You were out in the cafeteria with a large water pitcher, making rounds to refill empty glasses for people, when a hush in conversation made you still and look up.

And there he was, standing at the entrance to the cafeteria with his signature leather jacket unzipped just enough so that the edge of a white tee peeked out over the top. He scanned over the tables like a king surveying his domain, looking both intimidating and absolutely delicious with the arrogant way he held himself, as if he had no cares in the world but was also ready to take on anything.

When his eyes landed on you, those sinful lips quirked upwards at the edges, and you swore that even from the distance of half a cafeteria you could see his golden gaze light up at the sight of you. He moved, striding with determination and purpose to close the space between your bodies. The breath caught in your chest at his beauty, at the raw masculinity and almost animal magnetism that surrounded him.

He stopped mere inches away, and you gazed up at him in both welcome and a bit of confusion. Trying to act calm and unaffected, and not show how much you wanted to grin and launch yourself at him, you said, “Welcome back.”

Your eyebrow cocked in question when he shook his head with a low chuckle. “Oh no, doll, that won’t do at all.” And with that, he wrapped an arm around your waist and lowered his head...

And kissed you in front of the entire Sanctuary.

A wave of shock jolted through you, at the same time as your body automatically responded, molding itself to his. Your brain was flatlined on the floor from the unexpected move, while your subconscious ran around it in circles screaming with excitement.

You could practically feel all the astonished stares from community members, as they watched their all-powerful leader break one of his cardinal rules and kiss you to within an inch of your life. And dear god, what a kiss it was! His lips were firm yet gentle, his tongue just barely tracing your bottom lip, as if he couldn’t help but steal a little taste. He wasn’t holding back, and the primal part of you recognized that he was publicly staking his claim for all to see. There could be no question after this moment that you were his, and that he wanted everyone to know it.

When he finally pulled back, you could only look up at him with what must’ve been an utterly dazed expression, if his pleased smirk was anything to go by. Glancing to his left and then right, his brow furrowed and expression turned serious as he bellowed, “What the fuck are you all looking at?”

His words had the desired effect, as eyes dropped back to their plates and the community stuttered back to action, obviously trying and failing to act like something monumental didn’t just happen. You’d have given a lot of points to know what they were all thinking, but you didn’t see any angry expressionsand no one had said anything or acted out of line, so hopefully that was a good sign.

Negan’s warm hand rubbed comfortingly up your bare arm, and it was then that you noticed he didn’t have his gloves on. That also sparked the realization that he wasn’t carrying Lucille, which was strange since he always had her on his person when making an appearance in front of the community.

Now that you’re thinking about it, did he even have her this morning, when he left?

You thought back to when you had kissed him goodbye and watched as he walked down the hallway. Surely he’d have taken her with him to the outpost...but you honestly couldn’t remember seeing her up over his shoulder. You had to just be forgetting, because there was no way he’d leave her behind.

That train of thought was brought to a halt when the hand on your arm trailed down along your waist and settled possessively on your hip. “I wanted to put in a request for one of your staff members to bring two servings of dinner to my room, for Simon and yours truly.”

Before you could ask if he needed time alone once you were done with dinner, he provided the answer. “We need to go over the fucking outpost inspection results, but I’ll come and find you once it’s done.” It was the second time he’d done that today, answering a question before you had the chance to voice it out loud, which was a sign of how well he was coming to predict your thought process.

You were still a bit in shock at all of this, especially how he was discussing his evening plan with you so publicly and audibly, as if to show that you were more than just his in a physical sense. He was broadcasting to the community that you were what he had already told you last night: his partner. His voice had been low enough that only the nearby tables would’ve heard, but you knew every moment of this interaction would be spread across the entire community within minutes after he left.

Giving a smile and trying to look like ‘yep, this is completely normal, no big deal, I am totally not internally screaming with joy and wanting to climb his fine ass like a tree’, you replied, “Of course. I’ll have it sent up immediately.”

“Thanks, doll,” he said with a final smirk. Then his face morphed back into the intense, badass expression of the Sanctuary’s leader, and he strode out of the cafeteria.

You were left standing there, still a bit shell-shocked by what had just occurred, but also giddy as hell over it. That emotional high was only slightly dimmed by the awareness that now, with Negan gone, you were the sole center of everyone’s attention. A quick scan of the cafeteria showed that most community members were trying not to openly stare. However, the lack of chewing and frequent side glances thrown your way as your legs finally unfroze and started back towards the kitchen were proof that they had all seen Negan’s display of affection.

While the rest of the community might’ve at least been making a feeble attempt not to obviously stare, the same couldn’t be said of the kitchen staff. At least a couple of them must’ve witnessed what happened when serving trays of food, and those members must’ve scurried back to the kitchen to report it to the others. Every single one of them was staring in wide-eyed silence with a mixture of shock and fascinated curiosity when you walked back through the swinging doors.

Even though your face felt heated and you were a bit off-kilter, you still managed to sound slightly firm when announcing, “Alright folks, back to work. And no, I don’t want to talk about it.”

You breathed a sigh of relief when they didn’t argue, but a couple of them did give knowing grins, Trixie included, though at least they all seemed good-natured about it. Trying to act as though your world hadn’t just been spun off its axis with that public kiss, you went over to Ben, who was the only one that had stayed fairly composed the entire time. In fact, his eyes danced with mirth and he was obviously trying to hold back a smirk, so you felt only minimally evil when telling him of Negan’s request that two servings of dinner be taken up to his rooms for him and Simon. Ben gave a playful glare when you told him to take up the food himself, saying it loud enough that some others heard, making him unable to say no without looking a bit suspect.

When the tray was ready to go a few minutes later, you quietly murmured to Ben as he passed by on his way out of the kitchen, “Say hi to Simon for me.” The words caused a hint of pink to flare in his cheeks as he gave a halfhearted glare. You almost felt guilty for teasing him, but knew Ben would more than forgive you when Negan came through on his promise to get Simon his own room.

Though the kitchen staff still threw glances your way here and there, they quickly fell back into their usual routine and no one made any direct comments. You were safe from scrutiny...at least for now. At least no one seemed to have any extreme concerns about what had happened, making you wonder how many of them had suspected what was going on between you and Negan before now.

Once dinner and cleanup were over, you headed back up to your room. Negan had said he would come find you when he was ready, so you planned to just lay back and relax until then.

Oh, who were you kidding. After that kiss, you were totally going to sit on your bed and think about all the dirty things you wanted to do to him the moment the two of you were alone.

Trying to convince yourself that you could be at least semi-productive and pretend to have a hobby other than fantasizing about the leader of the Sanctuary, you pulled the copy of Harry Potter off your bedside table. You were just opening to the first page, planning to restart it again from the beginning, when a firm knock sounded at your door.

Pulse jumping with excitement, you rose from the bed and didn’t even hesitate to cross the room and reach for the doorknob. It never occurred to you that it might be anyone other than Negan, let alone for it to be the last person you’d have ever expected to see at your door. But things had been going so well today that it was almost as if fate was bored with your happiness and wanted to add some drama to the mix.

Totally ignoring the warning prickle that ran up your spine, you opened the door with a welcome smile. It quickly died on your lips at the sight of who was standing on the other side, hands on hips and eyes throwing daggers your way.

It was Amber...and she looked pissed.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

#negan #ash writes #negan's thirst squad #irresistible danger #negan fanfiction #negan fanfic #negan x you #negan x oc #negan x reader #fanfiction #fanfics #twd #the walking dead #jdm #jeffrey dean morgan #twd negan #negan slow burn

89 notes · View notes

statticscribbles · 3 years

Text

Relocation

Summary: Sweet Pea,/Archie- Family Bonding Request: Sweet Pea and Archie become step brothers and learn to work out their differences as well as getting along with and defending each other against enemies. Tw: underage drinking

To Fred Andrews credit he doesn’t panic when FP and Jughead show up at one am rambling about Hiram’s plan to buy out the Southside. He waits, until they’d been fed, and are sleeping to call Mary at three thirty and panic to her. She assures him that it’ll sort itself out and that he should focus on not altering Hiram or anyone outside of the Serpent’s about what is happening. It takes her three hours to find a flight. It takes Sheriff Keller an hour to bring the Serpent kids in.

Toni’s let go within the first ten minutes, it takes them half an hour to release Fangs. Sweet Pea’s told he’ll be spending his night there. Sheriff Keller watches as Archie and Fred hang around slightly too long. “You two need to clear out and; hey Mary, just telling Fred and Archie that y’all need to clear out so;“ “I’m Sweet Pea’s lawyer.” Sheriff Keller sighs and shakes his head. “Alright, follow me.” “I know you don’t want to do this Tom.” He nods shrugging. “It’s what I was told to do, the mayor, and Hiram-“ “I know. It’s not your fault.” ———————————————————————–

Archie’s not upset with his dad; he doesn’t care that much, Sweet Pea had slept over more days that he wasn’t and Fred has casually mentioned that since Sweet Pea was emancipated it really didn’t need to be anything official: of course Mary refused anything else when Sweet Pea mentioned it while she was visiting. “Come on it’ll be funny, you know those cute little family photos.” She tries to angle it like that and Sweet pea shrugs Archie however seems upset on his behalf. “That you do for kids when they get adopted?” “You’re seventeen, we’re doing it.” Sweet Pea doesn’t say anything against it; sitting holding the chalkboard sign Mary had written for him. Archie can’t help but laugh and it quickly turns to annoyance when she makes Archie join him. “Look at it this way, we could have gotten matching outfits.” Fred chimes in and they both look horrified.

———————————————————————————– Sweet Pea glares from over the beer he’d pulled from the fridge. “Here.” He shoves an open one into Archie’s hands before he can say anything. “Now you’re an accomplice. Can’t rat me out.” “I don’t give a shit about rattin’ you out, you know that right? All that does is put more stress on dad which I’d like to avoid.” “Well if you weren’t such a stuck up Northsider then-“

“I’m not. You’d know that if you actually hung out with me, or listened to Jughead.” Archie snaps. Sweet Pea doesn’t say anything taking anther drink from his beer. “I don’t like this anymore than you do-“ “So go back to the Southside, you know no one will give a shit. Go back to your trailer where you can exist however you want and not have to deal with me pissing you off for being a Northsider.” “I can’t.” “Yes you can; it’ll be-“

“Sheriff Keller said if he saw me back on the Southside he’d lock me up, considered it trespassing or some bullshit; so I’m stuck, on the Northside.” Archie stays quiet swallowing. “Yeah, so believe me; if I could I’d go back in a heartbeat; but I’d rather not get thrown in Hiram’s prison.” Archie nods. “Sorry; I didn’t realize-“ “No you didn’t ask. If you actually asked I would have said something.” “Would you? Really? I don’t exactly pin you as the most talkative of the group; you’re the big brooding silent type.” “And you’re the dumbass jock; see we can play the cliché game all you want; doesn’t change where we are now.” Sweet Pea finishes his beer nodding to Archie as he passes him to go to the garage. “Sweet Pea; listen, just; you can talk to me if you need.” Archie smiles and Sweet Pea smirks back. “I know; I just did.”

Things seem easier after that, despite both of them getting chewed out by Fred, Mary assuring them she’s just happy they drank at home instead of out where someone could have seen. They eat dinner together and seem content to argue mindlessly about movies and video games. Archie scream as Sweet Pea for eating pineapple on his pizza and Sweet Pea screams back how Archie wouldn’t know a good comic book if it was printed on his face. Overall they seem to reach a content middle; they wait at least a week before telling everyone outside of the Serpent that Sweet Pea moved. Betty pretends to be shocked, both Jughead and her window had given her a clear picture of where Sweet Pea was living. Veronica, Kevin and Cheryl have no reaction beyond a nod; even reggie doesn’t bother with saying anything. ——————————————————————————————

It’s been a week, nobody says anything to either Archie or Sweet Pea, assuming they ignore each other in order to avoid fighting and dragging any drama back home. Archie can tell that everyone is waiting for it to blow up; for one of them to snap at the other and for the precarious truce they formed from Sweet Pea living with Archie to dissolve. It takes two days an a misplaced English essay for them to blow up. It’s not anything noticeable; they both stay silent as usually, but during lunch they hiss and glare at each other anytime that they would usually converse. The Ghoulies that hover on the fringes almost audibly purr as Sweet Pea storms off. They wait for a moment, no one following him; letting him cool off, letting them attack.

Sweet Pea decides it’s just easier to leave, to avoid getting into a fight that’ll drag out all the way back to the house and risk Fred getting involved and giving him the eyebrow’s of dissappointment. He steps away from the lunch table nodding, Archie nods back he knows he’s not actually upset at him; as he walks away. Archie nudges Jughead when he sees a few other figure’s retreating the direction Sweet Pea went. “Ghouls.” He hisses under his breath and Archie stands, running over. “Can Y’all fuckin’ not.” Archie hisses, Sweet Pea looking up from where he leers over a ghoul, fist crashing into his cheek repeatedly.

“Sweet Pea get the fuck off him; that’s not fair and you know it.” Archie shoves him with his foot and the ghoul under him wiggles his fist free slamming it into Sweet Pea’s eye. “Fucking Christ.” Archie hisses hauling the ghoul up and slamming him into the wall. He can see the other ones retreating and he rolls his eyes, turning back to hit the one he’s hold cringing when he ducks slightly, Archie’s hand scraping against the brick. ———————————————————————

“It was my fault. I should’ve have been so bothered about it.” Sweet Pea shrugs at Archie’s grab for the blame. Fred just sighs, handing a bag of frozen corn to Sweet Pea to cover his swollen eye. He holds his hand out ad Archie places his bloodied knuckles onto the table. He pulls out disinfectant and bandages. “We were being stupid.” “I know. You don’t need to tell me that.It’s good you two aren’t at each other’s throats but if you two are supposed to be family now you at least need to act a bit more like it. The silent treatment doesn’t really work.” “Yeah, we’ll work on it.”

“Good, Sweet Pea like I’ve said before you’re welcome to the guest room, instead of the couch or the garage. You know that right?” Sweet Pea nods. “You should take it, might be easier to be a family if you’re in the house.” Archie volunteers; Fred doesn’t say anything but they can both see some of the tension in his shoulders is gone. “Thanks Dad.” Sweet Pea means it as a joke, not something to be taken seriously. He’s about to apologise to Fred, with how he seems to be frozen. “No problem son.” He shrugs turning away from the towards the fridge. Neither Archie or Sweet Pea comment on the mistiness in his eyes.

Support My Writing?

#Archie x sweet pea #swarchie #sweet pea x archie #archie andrews x sweet pea #sweet pea x archie andrews #riverdale #riverdale reader insert #riverdale request #stattic

2 notes · View notes

monicalorandavis · 4 years

Text

The Crown is back: Colman’s rule.

Olivia Colman is so good we’re all like, “Claire who?“

And slow your roll. I stan The Crown. I gobble up all things British royal family. My favorite house in Game of Thrones is House Windsor. And y’all don’t even know about it because in spite of it being the most vicious, it is also the most secretive. The Windsors are horrible and seductive and, above all else, secretive, and now you’re beginning to understand, that I truly ride for The Crown and those shady goofballs of Buckingham Palace (though Prince Andrew can kick rocks TODAY).

So I know The Crown. I know how good Claire Foy was. I left season 2 in shambles. How dare she leave us? We’d just come around to Elizabeth! Her life, with all her dull, unfashionable, yet dependable ways were imbued with a tenderness that Claire Foy brought. The young Queen that so many of us know is a portrait that Claire Foy created during her two astounding seasons. Peter Morgan struck gold with the first cast. And, as everyone will tell you, as good as Claire Foy was, we shall not forget to give Matt Smith his props. Oh baby, can he act.

Prince Philip, by all estimations, should be an insufferable, entitled man-child. And while he is all of that, he is so, so much more. Meticulously researched, The Crown delved into Philip’s childhood of abandonment and isolation. His air of indignation was as much with the world who’d let him down in his early years as it was indignation with himself.

And from there - from the personal insecurities that tie us all together in this fabric of humanity, did we find the heart and soul of Elizabeth and Philip. We fell in love with Matt Smith and Claire Foy as they seemingly fell in love with each other and embarked on their path as husband and wife. Something about them, actors and royals, just works. A natural chemistry emerged. Even when Philip is horrible (and he’s horrible sort of a lot), I rooted for him. I even rooted for Philip when he screwed around. But how he begged Elizabeth to take him back still remains one of my favorite moments of the entire series. Not very “I am woman, hear me roar” of me, but nonetheless, I rooted.

And while the first two seasons took place nearly 60 years ago, you’d think I’d be bored to death by the predictability of every story line. Yet, I know nothing. (We’re still decades from Princess Di and the crash that turned everyone’s attention onto Buckingham Palace.) The public eye should make the show predictable. And yet, we only know their public personas. (What would someone know of you if they’d only seen photographs?)

They live behind a window of double paned secrecy. We think we’re looking in, or rather, being let in, but we’ve never been privy to their private conversation. We’ve never heard who they really are.

Enter season 3. The middle age years.

Not the sexiest time frame, admittedly, but it does provide a new element into the royal marriage to which we can all relate - informality. These are people who have been through some shit. They’ve let go of pretending in their marriage and, too, to some degree, in their public personas. Long gone are the days of wearing makeup to bed and only eating salads. These are two grown people who have settled into marriage for the long haul. Yes, they nearly called it quits, but they fought through it, had some kids, and now they’re suffering through the normal bumps of having children - Are they normal? Will they fit in? Are we screwing them up? (For those keeping track at home: no, no, and yes.) But the gift of middle age could also be a curse for the actor portraying the royals during their “regular” years.

However, a curse it is not.

Left in the hands of Olivia Colman and Tobias Menzies, the characters of Elizabeth and Philip have never sizzled with such lived-in chemistry and humor. And I am using “humor” here very, very loosely. These are not people who take to spontaneous fits of giggles. Instead, the tight-lipped chuckles Colman’s Elizabeth elicits from Menzies’ Philip ring loud, brightening the face of a man who, at any moment, looks like he’d rather be anywhere but where he has the misfortune of finding himself.

For whatever reason Prince Philip only becomes more charming the more bristled he becomes. Whether this forever annoyance is a natural trait of Tobias Menzies or not is of no importance because, boy, he does it well.

The ungodly rich perform disinterest like it’s an Olympic sport and Menzies’ Philip is an all-time gold-medal winning champ. His face holds entire chapters of stories he refuses to tell. But just under the surface, Menzies shows us the tiniest flickering of light behind the eyes. You see, to be enthused is to admit interest, which is basically announcing that you care, and to care is just so, so dreadfully middle-class. No, no. These are people who wouldn’t care if their house was on fire. They’d buy a new one...a bigger one!

We should hate them. But, we don’t, and, we won’t, I fear.

I fear it because I hold onto the idea of democracy. Fair elections. Proper representation. All of that. We’re Americans. We fought the British. We should rule ourselves.

But then again, should we?

Trump got elected in a democratic America (if you count all that voter suppression and constant meddling from Russian moles it starts looking less so). And I think even the knuckleheads who elected him regret their decision. We’ve shown the world that democracy is a weapon in the hands of fools.

But tabling the larger political conversation for now, I push on. This, so far, has been a seamless transition from cast 1 to cast 2. And I would be remiss if I did not sprinkle a few words of praise onto Helena Bonham Carter’s portrayal of Princess Margaret. Talk about a revelation. (To be fair, I find Carter to be one of the most underused actresses of today so for her to have found her way onto one of my favorite shows, I could not be happier.) She is an actress that enlivens every role with a unique strangeness that never feels fraudulent.

Princess Margaret, ever the counter to her sister, grows even further from Elizabeth in middle age. Desperate for her place in the royal family, and her marriage, she flounders in excessive drinking. Her husband is distant, running off to corners of the world without any notice, leaving her to her own devices where she finds herself regretfully unfulfilled.

In a lesser actress’ hands, a rich, bored, drunk lady would come across a whole lot more Real Housewives of Orange County, but this is a woman that Carter has sunk her teeth into. Margaret is the role of a lifetime. The tragically younger, thus, forgotten sister to Elizabeth. Margaret always craved the spotlight and reveled in it. As queen, she would’ve made waves. She would’ve reinvented the entire monarchy. It’s the exact reason she was pushed to the margins. And Helena Bonham Carter does not exist in the margins. Ever the rebel, like Margaret, these are women who were born to perform. The parallels don’t stop there.

Carter herself is a woman that’s perhaps never been taken seriously enough in Hollywood. Yes she’s won BAFTA’s but stateside she’s never garnered the praise I thought she should. Has she, like Margaret, grown tired of living in the shadows? Could it be that through the role of Princess Margaret, Helena Bonham Carter has found the perfect disguise to finally get the proper recognition from Hollywood? I think yes. I think we’re watching the start of a second act for her.

The royals, though they possess a treasured space in pop culture in the States, also represent an old-timey class system that is deeply un-American. The Brits have their complicated feelings towards the royals, too. But we can look on at the royal family as these glamorous, bored robots. They affect none of our political decisions. They don’t even seem completely human. They aren’t on our currency, our stamps. So we can remain distant and removed. We can watch the stories about them, true or fictional, and restrain judgment. And that feels very...British.

#the crown #olivia colman #tobias menzies #the crown season 3 #netflix the crown #claire foy #british royal family #royal family #house of windsor #matt smith #helena bonham carter #princess margaret

91 notes · View notes

stattic-writes · 5 years

Text

Relocation

https://statticscribbles.tumblr.com/post/639099629845233664/masterlist

Support My Writing?

#sweet pea #archie andrews #sweet pea imagine #archie imagine #archie andrews imagine #archie x sweet pea #sweet pea x archie #riverdale #riverdale cw #riverdale imagine #riverdale fandom #written #female reader #female reader insert

28 notes · View notes

54fangirl · 5 years

Text

Can’t Wait

Requested: [Y]/N - Can I get a FP Jones imagine where the reader is Fred Andrews daughter and Archie’s sister and during the time FP goes to jail she falls pregnant with his baby and Fred finds out cause he found the positive pregnancy test in the bathroom. She told FP she was pregnant before he went to jail. Also could Archie and the core four find out about her pregnancy and if you want add a part where they’re both raising their kid? Please

Summary: She’s pregnant, her boyfriend is in prison, her family is on the outs, what’s she supposed to do?

Pairings: FP Jones x Andrews!Reader

Words: 2568

Warnings: Swearing, pregnancy (ADULT PREGNANCY. NONE OF YOU TEENAGE HOOLIGANS)

A/N: This took so much longer than I thought it would? It also ended up a lot longer than I thought. If anyone wants, I’ll do a part two with the kid and everything, but y’all gotta show interest (sorry, not sorry)

Disclaimer: I do not own Riverdale (CW) or any of its characters.

Part 1 => Part 2

xxx

“FP’s been arrested”

Archie told her over the phone that Jughead ran out of the school and that they were looking for him, but all Y/N could focus on were those three words.

Her dad took her mom and Hermione to the dance as well, leaving her home alone to deal with her emotions.

There was some screaming, then a lot of anger, a plot to break into the police station and break him out, then a whole bunch of crying.

xxx

She was crying again when there was a knock on the door a few days later. Knowing it wouldn’t be anyone from her family, seeing as they all had keys, she approached it cautiously. Opening it slowly she was graced with Tall Boy’s presence. She was familiar with him from her time spent at the Wyrm with FP.

“I had a much bigger group for Jones’ boy, but I figured your neighbors might not appreciate the gesture.” He took in her tear-stained face, “I’ll tell you the same thing I told the kid. Serpents look after their own. No matter what happens to him- however long he’s gone, we’ve got your back. He told me about the munchkin...”

She looked to be on the verge of tears again. Tall Boy sighed, not really prepared to deal with a pregnant woman’s emotions.

“Some of the younger Serpents miss you hanging around the bar, you should come by- maybe it could help.”

She gave him a genuine smile, seeing he was trying his best.

xxx

Her boyfriend was in prison.

She was pregnant.

Her dad had been shot.

And her brother was spiraling.

“Tell me again, how am I supposed to deal with any of this?” Y/N asked.

“I’d offer you a drink, but...” Toni nodded towards her stomach with a smile.

“Full of helpful advice aren’t you?”

“Always.” The girls chatted for a bit longer until Archie called telling her Fred had woken up.

xxx

Fred was awake and chatting with Archie when Y/N came in.

“Hey, there you are!” Archie hugged his sister with all his might. When she looked over at her dad she could see him looking at her with a strange look on her face.

“Hey, Arch, why don’t you go get something from the cafeteria so I can talk to your sister alone for a minute.”

Archie seemed just as confused as his sister, “um, okay dad. I’ll see you when I get back right?”

“Yeah, I’ll wait.”

Y/N sat next to his bed after Archie left and waited for her dad to speak.

“So you’re pregnant?”

She froze, feeling like her heart stopped along with the words.

“I found the test in the trash. If it’s Veronica’s-”

“No, it’s mine.” They both paused, “Yes, I am pregnant.”

Fred sighed and rubbed his face best he could.

“I didn’t know you were seeing anyone.”

“It’s...complicated, to say the least.”

“Complicated as in-”

“Complicated meaning that for the foreseeable future he’s not in the picture.” Tears springing to her eyes as she thought about her love, locked up.

“Oh, sweetie...”

“Don’t tell anyone, please?”

He sighed, “You know I'll always be here for you, right? What about your brother? Your mom?”

“I’ll tell Archie later, he’s not okay right now.”

“Are you okay right now?”

Y/N sighed, “No, but I will be. I have to be.”

xxx

“I’m telling you guys, something is off with my sister.”

“What do you mean off?” Betty asked.

“Like she’s disappearing for hours, her and my dad are having secret conversations- she’s hiding something.”

“You could follow her.”

“Archikins are you sure she’s not just dealing with everything that happened?” Veronica asked.

“No, we never have secrets...” He trailed off, realizing just how distant he’d grown with his sister.

She didn’t agree with his thoughts that the Black Hood was most likely from the southside. She certainly didn’t stand behind the Red Circle. She firmly stood with her beliefs that he was the little brother and it was up to her and her dad to protect him, not the other way around.

Maybe they never had secrets before, but they weren't sharing a lot these days.

xxx

Toni: Maybe skip the Wyrm tonight

Your brother is causing trouble

Not that we don’t love you

Just don’t want you getting shit because he’s a dumbass

Y/N wasn’t sure what Archie could’ve done, he wasn't here when she got home from the jubilee with her dad.

“Are you ever going to give me even the slightest hint of who got you pregnant?”

“Probably not.”

“Why the hell not!? Her dad yelled at her, making her eyes go wide. Fred doesn’t yell very often. “I’m not asking for much but give me something! I get it! You’re an adult! But I’m your dad, I wanna know who knocked you up before they split-”

“He didn’t leave me!” She yelled right back, tears falling down her face. “He’s a good man and I love him and I know you won’t approve so just leave it alone! Please!” She begged tearily.

“Y/N, I’ve given you space, I’ve let you keep this from your brother, I haven’t asked for much from you, but neither of us can keep living in denial. You’re pregnant and that’s not going away anytime soon. Your brother is going to find out- rather soon too- whether you tell him or not. And whoever got you pregnant isn’t around.” Fred heaved a deep sigh and rubbed his hand over his face, “You, Archie, and I...we’ve lost something. I want to say it started around the time I got shot, but if I’m being honest with myself I saw the distance starting a while ago. I think... it’s time we all stop living in this house of secrets and start opening up.”

The two sat in silence for a minute.

“I love him, Daddy...” Tears still rolling down her face, Y/N spoke softly.

“Is he from the southside? Is that why you think I won’t approve because, I don’t care where he lives, as long as you’re happy, Y/N-”

“It’s FP,” she blurted out, not wanting to hear him go on about how all he wanted was her happiness. Especially when she knew he wouldn’t give a passing thought to her happiness once he knew who her baby-daddy was.

The tense silence sat between the two.

“FP Jones. Jughead’s dad. Your brother’s best friend’s dad- My best friend!” The was no anger in his words. There was no emotion at all.

Fred stood up and walked upstairs without a word, leaving his tear-stained daughter to sit on the couch wondering how she became such a disappointment.

xxx

“If there wasn’t something before- well, there’s definitely something going on, now my dad and sister aren’t talking at all,” Archie spoke as he entered the student lounge.

“I mean, sometimes when I ignore daddy, it’s just to get a rise out him.” Veronica tried to comfort him.

“No, Y/N has never been like that. And it’s not even her- it’s like my dad can barely stand to look at her.”

“You think she did something?” Betty asked.

“I have no idea. You know my dad; I can’t think of anything she could do that could make him act like this.”

The group tried to gather their thoughts when Veronica spoke up, “Well, it looks like we’re getting the group together for some mystery solving again.”

xxx

Jughead and Betty sat in her room, watching the Andrews’ house, while Archie and Veronica were in the dining room, waiting for any movement from the older Andrews sibling.

“Archie!” Betty yelled from upstairs.

The couple ran to the window and peeked out from behind the curtains, they watched the girl get in her car and start off down the street. Betty and Jughead running downstairs to meet up with the other two, open laptop in hand.

“Okay, we were able to ping her phone so we should be able to follow her.”

“Let’s go!” Archie rushed out of the Cooper house first, everybody getting into the station wagon Betty was ‘borrowing’ from her mom.

The group found themselves driving past Riverdale, right through the Southside, and right into Greendale.

“Why would she need to come all the way to Greendale?” Jughead questioned.

“Maybe she just wanted to go to the mall,” Ronnie tried to reason. But that went out the window when she pulled into the Planned Parenthood parking lot, “Or not...”

“Planned Parenthood!? She’s pregnant?!”

“Archie there are plenty of reasons for people to come here. Birth control, STI testing, general healthcare- just because she’s here doesn’t necessarily mean she’s pregnant,” Betty spoke up.

xxx

The group sat in the car, waiting for what felt like forever before Y/N came out of the clinic.

“I’m gonna talk to her-” Archie started unbuckling.

“You will do no such thing!”

“Absolutely not!”

Betty and Veronica insisted.

“Why not?”

“What are you gonna say, Arch? ‘Hey, we were just out for a drive on a school day and ended up in this Planned Parenthood parking lot in Greendale when we saw you, my sister, coming out. Now, what exactly were you doing in there?’ Be real, Arch,” Jughead reasoned.

“Hey wait, look-” Veronica pointed to your car leaving the lot. “She’s not turning back to town.”

“Betty go, go now,” Archie spoke rushing his friend to hit the gas and follow his sister.

xxx

“Still think she’s going to the mall?” Archie asked lividly as they pulled up to prison.

When he saw you getting out of the car, without hesitation, he jumped out and rushed towards you. Ignoring the protests of his friends.

“Y/N!” He yelled, making you look back at him with wide eyes.

“Archie? What the hell?”

“Exactly, what the hell? What hell are you doing here?”

“Archie now isn’t-”

“I don’t care if now is good or not, what’s happening with you?! First, you start disappearing, then you and dad are hiding stuff from me and whispering all the time, and now he’s acting like he doesn’t have a daughter and you’re going to planned parenthood and Greendale Penitentiary! One of you better start explaining or I’m going to lose it!”

Anger took over her.

“First of all Archie, I’m a full grown adult, I can do whatever and go wherever I want. Secondly, dad and I don’t have to tell you anything. And don’t even act like you don’t keep stuff from both of us, you’ve turned into a completely different person- I barely recognize my own brother anymore. Lastly, who do you think you are? Following me around and demanding I tell you what’s going on?” In the heat of the moment, something in her snapped.

Her father wasn’t talking to her, her mom only made comments on how hard it was going to be for a single mother, why not make my brother hate me too? She reasoned.

“Fine. You wanna know what’s going on? I’m pregnant, a few months along. FP is the father and I love him. Yes, FP Jones; Dad’s best friend and your best friend’s dad. Dad won’t say a word to me after I told him, I don’t entirely blame him but-” She expected her dad to be angry, maybe yell at her, but she also expected that he’d still be there for her like he promised. “there. There’s your explanation, now I’m going to see the man I love because visiting hours are over soon and he deserves to know how my appointment went.” Y/N stormed into the building, wiping away the tears leaking from her eyes, unaware of the group of teens that accompanied her brother.

“Did she just say...” Jughead trailed off, not sure how to follow.

“Does that mean, you’re niece or nephew will also be Jughead’s half-sibling?” Veronica asked.

“I don’t think that’s important right now, right now I need to go talk to my dad,” Archie spoke, the shock wearing off, and her words finally settling in.

xxx

“Dad!” Archie yelled, walking into the house.

“In here,” Fred called from the dining room.

Archie walked in, to see his dad with papers surrounding him.

“What’s this?”

“Hospital bills, but uh, don’t worry about it. What’s up, what do you need?”

“For you to talk to Y/N again.”

His dad went rigid, “Archie, you don’t-”

“I do. Y/N told me everything.”

“Not every-”

“Everything,” Archie emphasized.

“You can’t really expect me to be okay with this?”

“Maybe not okay but- Dad, are you gonna hate your grandchild? Are you just accepting never talking or seeing them again? Because if you think she won’t move out, you’re wrong.”

Fred stayed quiet for a minute.

“I don’t know what to do here, Arch. I want her to be happy, she’s my daughter. But he’s my best friend. I’ve known the man for years and this just feels like a betrayal from both of them and I just-” Fred stopped. “I don’t know if I can ever see past that. I don’t think I could get used to seeing them together in that capacity.”

“Well, don’t worry,” a voice spoke from behind them, making them both look back. “I’ll be out by the end of the week, then you won’t have to see anything.”

Y/N calmly walked up the stairs, stopping to pull her luggage out of the hall closet.

xxx

Y/N gave herself to the end of the week, but with the help of Sweet Pea and Fangs, she got her stuff moved in 2 days later, as soon as she got approved for a trailer.

“You don’t have to do this, Y/N.”

“If he doesn’t want to be happy for me that’s one thing, but if he can’t accept my relationship with FP and the fact that I’m having his kid, well then I don’t really see the point in sticking around.”

“Can I come to see you?”

She hesitated, “Maybe now’s not the best time for you to be on the Southside, Arch.”

The ginger hung his head, knowing he brought it on himself.

“But...I’ll let you know, okay?” she told him, giving him the first real smile he’d seen on her since before their dad got shot.

xxx

“You’re getting out?!”

“Yeah, I’m not sure why but I’m also not going to question it,” FP told her over the phone.

She had been excited since she heard the robotic phone asking if she’d like to pay for a collect call from Greendale Penitentiary, FP never called.

“When are you getting out, I’ll come-”

“Don’t worry about a thing, sweetheart. Jughead said he was gonna come up with a ride so he could come to get me. But I’ll be at your trailer as soon as I get back to the southside, you can hold me to that.”

Y/N giggled. She couldn’t wait to see FP again, he’d already missed so much, she couldn’t wait for him to be there for the rest.

“Now that I got my news out of the way, what were you gonna tell me earlier?”

Y/N hesitated.

“You know what? It can wait until I see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah? Well, then I’ll see you tomorrow sweetheart.”

“Okay, I love you, FP.”

“I love you too, Y/N.”

The line clicked, signaling their time was up, but she couldn’t bring herself to be sad this time. He’d be back in her arms in a matter of hours, and this time she knows he’s not going anywhere.

“Well,” Y/N looked down and rubbed the small bump of her protruding stomach, “looks like daddy is coming home. I know he’s just gonna flip when he hears the news. But it’s okay, baby girl, he’s not going anywhere, soon we’ll all be together and I can’t wait.”

236 notes · View notes

aperfectsummerrae · 4 years

Text

Single Girls Valentine

INVOLVED: Ellie Rose, Summer Sanders, Erica Rose, and Jasmine Lewis TIME FRAME: Friday, February 14, 2020 LOCATION: Perch; Los Angeles, California SUMMARY: Out for a single girls Valentine’s night the girls, try to have a nice dinner at Perch but when Ellie shows up, shocking Summer, the cat comes out of the bag. Trouble brews between friends, Summer and Erica, and sisters, Erica and Ellie. Jasmine spectates full of amusement.

Jasmine sat at the table with her friends, smirking from behind her glass, sipping her champagne. “Here’s to another single girl’s Valentine’s Day!” she said holding her glass out.

Summer looked over at Jasmine, then Erica, before she held her glass out. “Here’s to finding love in 2020,” she said before she looked at Erica once more, wanting to hear what she had to say.

Erica lifted her glass up as she looked at the other two women around the table and she said. “Here’s to–” she paused thinking to herself as she bit her lip with a smirk. “Here’s to new beginnings and plenty of adventures,” she told them happily.

Jasmine smiled at her friends before she brought her glass to the center. “Cheers!” she squealed out.

Summer smirked, clinking her glass with Jasmine’s. “Cheers!” she chimed in half a second behind.

“Cheers!” Erica said in unison with the women as she took a sip from her glass before sitting down.

Giggling, Jasmine took a sip of her champagne before she put her glass down and said, “so what’s the tea?” she asked them both. “Both of y’all behinds disappeared the other day for hours,” she exaggerated as she picked up her menu to browse over it.

Summer sipped her champagne before she sat the glass down with a smirk on her face. “Tea?!” she questioned jokingly. “Ask Erica, she the one that had all the fun,” she said with a smirk as she leaned towards her friend knowingly.

At Jasmine’s words Erica hid behind her menu, chuckling at Summer’s words before lowering the menu, she looked to them both. “He broke my back in. I’m back in the game after a year… dear God. For moments, I actually thought to myself this would be a great way to go if I did,” she said looking up at the ceiling with a smirk. “He cooked me steak, the most tender steak I have ever had. Asparagus,” she emphasized “and Brussel sprouts,” she told them. “It was so good,” she dragged out. “And the sex… even better,” she admitted not leaving out any juicy details.

Jasmine’s eyes grew wide at Erica’s words and she laughed out loud. “Sheeeit,” she giggled. “Who was he?” she asked, looking between Summer and Erica. “Still can’t believe you bitches went out without me,” she said with a roll of her eyes playfully. “I couldn’t find a sitter,” she sighed out.

Summer listened to Erica and she nodded along with a smirk on her face. “I can’t believe that young motherfucker cooked for you,” she said honestly. “Jasmine you should have seen him. He was tall, at least 6’2 and he was fine as hell. Rich brown skin, pretty teeth and smile, a beard, dimples,” she said before she whipped her head back around to Erica. “You lucky bitch,” she giggled out.

“His name was Josiah,” Erica said rolling his name off her tongue as she thought about him in the back of her mind. Pure bliss was all she felt and thought about when she said that name. “He is so perfect, very perfect,” she urged on, “too perfect, almost,” she said thinking about it for a moment. “And trust me when I say, everything underneath his clothes matched as well, honey, those feet should’ve been my damn sign,” she told them before she laughed behind her menu. “Did I mention he sent me something today?” she said looking to them with wide eyes. “So sweet and considerate, fuck,” she said with a headshake. She looked to Summer and chuckled at her words before she told Jasmine, “we have to go out soon and maybe my baby sister can baby sit she loves children!” she exclaimed.

Jasmine sipped more of her champagne as Erica explained further and she leaned in interested in knowing more and more. “Well damn,” she said with a chuckle as she picked up her menu to fan herself. “What did he send you?” she needed to know. “Girl, I would love that,” she admitted. “You know Christopher is with his father tonight and that’s the only reason I was able to come out tonight. So, if your sister is willing, I would gladly pay her for her help,” she said honestly.

Summer sat back, glancing over her menu more as she listened to Erica. “He got you a gift?!” she asked shocked. She couldn’t believe he had gotten her a gift after a one-night stand but then again, she got Ellie roses, so maybe she couldn’t judge. Licking her lips, she said, “God, I haven’t seen Ellie in ages,” thinking about the last conversation she and Erica had about the younger girl. “I think I was like 20 the last time I saw her, so she was what? 15?” she asked thinking it over.

“I will ask her; no worries Ellie always comes through, trust me,” Erica told Jasmine. “She had a little god baby and she’s always with the girl. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think the child was hers,” she chuckled. “Yep,” Erica said looking to Summer. “She still looks the same girl,” she joked as she took a sip of her champagne from her glass as she sat it aside.

Ellie came rushing into the restaurant after having been with Andrew for a few hours before he had to head back to his wife. He’d spent the evening with her in her apartment and they had a cute dinner before he draped her in diamonds; around her neck, her wrist, and dazzling her ears. She still had the pieces on as she allowed the hostess to show her to her table and quickly tapped away at her phone setting Bryce straight about not having seen him today. He didn’t have a gift, why bother? As she reached the table, “oh my God I am so sorry I am late,” she said as the woman moved aside and revealed Summer to her. She looked around the table before she looked at her sister Erica. “Erica?” she said questionably as she leaned in to peck her older sister’s cheek, pulling the chair out and sitting down confused.

Jasmine nodded slowly. “I had no idea Ellie was a godmother,” she said shocked. “Wow, time has really flown. Like Summer, I don’t think I’ve seen Ellie in years,” she exaggerated before a young woman came rushing around to their table. After Jasmine got a good look at the girl, she slowly turned her eyes to Summer confused. “Summer, you didn’t?” she asked, trying to figure out why Summer invited the woman from the boutique to the restaurant. Was her friend that enamored? However, as the woman said Erica’s name, Jasmine’s eyebrows pulled together in shock and confusion.

Summer decided on the steak and potatoes as Jasmine and Erica spoke about childcare. Looking up slowly as Erica said Ellie still looked the same, she chuckled. “I’m sure of it,” she said. “Little E was so cute,” she said thoughtfully before Ellie came around their table excusing herself for being late. Summer looked at the girl wide-eyed. Late for what?! Summer blinked slowly, trying to keep her composure as she too looked at Erica. “You two know each other?” Summer asked Erica confused. Looking at Jasmine, Summer shook her head. “I didn’t…” she mumbled back to her, still confused as hell.

Erica chuckled at her friends. “Yes, her high school friend had a baby a few years ago,” she said. “She was an adorable thing wasn’t she,” she wasn’t being biased just because she was her sister, she really was cute. As Ellie sat down, she chuckled swatting Summer playfully. “Summer girl, this is little Ellie,” she said gesturing to her sister. “I invited her to join us, since none of us actually have men,” she chuckled playfully though no one in the room seemed to be in a giggly mood anymore. “What's up, what’s wrong?” she asked everyone.

As her sister spoke, Ellie sat her Chanel bag on the table and looked at the other two women. She’d know them from the store, was she supposed to know them from anywhere else. And how did her damn sister know either of them?

Jasmine looked at Summer, then at Erica, then at Ellie quickly putting the pieces together. Summer had been hitting on Erica’s little sister. Out of the blue, Jasmine began laughing, holding her stomach as she did. “Oh Summer,” she howled in the middle of the restaurant. “You’re going to hell,” she cackled.

Summer gazed at Ellie, then looked at Erica as she explained how she knew Ellie. Her eyes whipped back to Ellie and she pointed at her. “Erica that is not little Ellie!” she just about exclaimed out of shock. “You’re telling me that this is your sister,” she said still pointing at Ellie because she was baffled. She did not sleep with her friend's little sister. There was no way. Looking at Jasmine, Summer squinted. “Nothing,” Summer muttered out to Erica when she asked what the problem was. I am going to hell. “Nice to see you again…” Summer finally said to Ellie. “I haven’t seen you in ages,” she said looking into Ellie’s eyes as she tried to pull herself together.

Erica looked to Summer and she nodded her head. “Yes, the one and only,” she told her eyeing Summer curiously. “She looks the exact same,” Erica pressed, having made it up in her mind that it was a fact of life. Watching Jasmine, Erica grew even more confused by her statement to Summer and she looked to Ellie for a moment before she looked back at the two with a raised brow.

Ellie looked to her sister and to Summer before she looked to the other chocolate skin woman squint slightly. Ellie looked back at Erica, licking her lips slowly before she shook her head. She rested her elbow against the table and rested her chin against the back of her hand looking at them. Ellie just offered Summer a smile as she looked back to her sister silently, she didn’t know what to say.

Jasmine snorted with laughter looking at Ellie with a smile. “Nice to see you again Ellie,” she said sweetly to the younger girl. She had no idea what Erica had been smoking because Ellie looked absolutely nothing like the girl she had met all those years back. It was no wonder Summer didn’t recognize her. Ellie had grown up. Shit, Ellie was a woman, stacked more than Erica was.

Summer licked her lips slowly, hitting Jasmine’s leg under the table, trying to get her to stop laughing. This situation wasn’t funny in the slightest. Pressing her lips together, Summer looked away from Ellie. If she looked at her, all she would be able to think about was how she tasted as she spread the girl against the counter of her apartment. Clearing her throat, Summer picked up her menu and began to fan herself with it.

Erica looked to her friends and then to Ellie and said, “cat got your tongue,” to her gently. She stroked Ellie’s dreadlocks. “They spoke, so speak. I raised you better than that Ellie,” she told her. “You don’t remember Summer and Jasmine, when I went off to school, we all hung tight,” she tried to remind her. “Anyway, you didn’t miss much were just talking and having some champagne. We can get you some poured up,” she said with a smile.

Ellie eyes moved from Jasmine and then Summer. Nope didn’t ring a bell she thought before her sister spoke. She sighed. “Hi,” she said simply to them both as her sister explained she shook her head at her, “nope,” she said easily to them. As she shifted in her seat, she moved to open her menu and she looked at it slowly, “did you order?” she asked her sister.

Jasmine looked at Summer as she hit her under the table, and she looked at her friend. This is hilarious, she thought to herself. However, the look on Summer’s face as she began to fan herself told her it was more than just harmless flirting in the boutique. Her eyes slowly grew wider and wider and she gasped. “Summer, you never told what you were up to the other day when you weren’t responding to anyone. We know this one was comatose from the dick,” she said pointing her thumb at Erica, “but what about you?” she asked. “Wynter even called me looking for you,” she said as she tried to piece it all together. She just knew her friend didn’t sleep with her other friend’s little sister.

Summer continued to fan herself as Ellie said, hi, and she looked at Jasmine, fanning even harder before she sat her menu down, looking at her friend like a deer in headlights. “Oh, uh, I was preoccupied…” she muttered as she picked up her glass of champagne, throwing it back, her eyes on Ellie. “I just got a little drunk and had to sleep it off at a friend's house…” she said after she sat her glass back down, looking at Jasmine with pleading eyes to shut up.

Erica looked to Summer as Jasmine questioned her and she smirked before she turned to her sister. “No, we haven’t yet,” she told her moving her eyes back to Summer. “Shaking my head,” she said aloud, “all she drank was two sips of Chardonnay,” she told Jasmine. “She can’t hold water,” she said to her jokingly.

Ellie nodded to Erica, she looked to Jasmine and then to Summer for a long while. Lying bitch, she thought to herself as she flipped the menu still reading it idly and at her sister’s words she chuckled. How could you get drunk off of juice? Ellie would never know the answer to that. Sad.

Jasmine nodded slowly. “Mhmmm,” she hummed out before she looked at Ellie with an arch of her eyebrow. She was quiet. Too quiet. “How was your day?” she asked, deciding to let it go for now. But she had a feeling her friend was in deep shit, considering the way she clammed up as soon as Ellie approached their table and she had watched Summer order flowers earlier in the day and they couldn’t have been for Audrey. She’s allergic to roses. Slowly she turned to Summer once more. “Did you see Audrey today?” she asked curiously.

Summer wiped her hands over her bare thighs before she pulled her dress down a little, crossing her ankles. She just wanted the floor to open up and swallow her whole. Looking to Erica, then to Ellie, Summer couldn’t believe the resemblance. How did she not see it? They looked like twins damn-near as they sat side by side. “Audrey?” Summer said looking at Jasmine, having been caught up in her own thoughts. “Oh, no I didn’t,” she said. “I called her earlier though and wished her a happy Valentine’s Day. I sent her some chocolates too,” she murmured.

Ellie looked at Jasmine and she said, “pretty nice,” nodding her head as she looked to her sister again. “Got a few things from a friend,” she said touching the diamonds around her neck. “Some roses,” she listed, “a few other gifts,” she shrugged. “You?” she asked her now ignoring Summer and the little conversation about some other apparent woman.

Erica looked to Jasmine knowingly before she looked to Summer. “I am shocked,” she said slyly to the woman as she explained that she hadn’t seen the woman but did speak to her. “Would have thought y’all would have spent the day together,” she breathed. “Y’all all hooked like glue and shit,” she chuckled as she took a sip from her glass again.

“Roses?” Jasmine said with an arch of her eyebrow, looking at Summer once more. Oh, she had her now. Summer slept with Erica’s sister and then turned around and got the girl a huge bouquet of giant roses. She wasn’t slick. “That’s so sweet,” she said thoughtfully. “Oh, I spent the day with my son,” she said sweetly. “My little Christopher,” she explained. “He’s with his daddy now,” she added to clarify.

Summer choked on air slightly at the mention of roses and reached for her glass of water, guzzling that down too. She was going to be sick. This was too much. At Erica’s words, she looked at the woman with wide eyes. “No…” she said gently. “We’re definitely not, we’ve been broken up for a while now…” she said trying to coat it over to Ellie, though she didn’t know why. She could never be with the young girl now.

“Awe, how sweet. I made some cupcakes for my little goddaughter and I took them over to her earlier today,” Ellie said thinking of the child even now. Ellie looked to her sister as she spoke and her eyebrows rose to her hairline, the girl was taken but had slept with her. What? It was fine, she was used to being a piece of ass for some people.

Erica looked to Summer oddly and she tilted her head. “Summer,” she said snorting, “bitch you just told me that y’all still fucking the other night when we went out, what you mean?” she asked with a chuckle. “You get in front of Jazz and now it’s all we broke up. Girl bye,” she waved off. “Y’all are practically the remnants of a married couple that has separated and is working resolving the issues out both sexually and physically,” she said giving her a ‘nigga really’ look as she took another sip of her drink.

Jasmine looked at Erica, then at Summer, snorting herself. “Oh, you don’t have to front for me, I know the tea!” she said with a smirk. “Just last month Audrey was all up in the studio,” she told Erica. “I saw her,” she said with a laugh, looking at Ellie curiously to see the girls' reactions. “You two know you’re meant to be together; I don’t understand why y’all broke up in the first place, talking about you had different wants out of life,” she said snorting once more. “Stupid.”

Summer looked between Erica and Jasmine as they blabbed out the mouth about Audrey and she kicked Erica under the table then Jasmine. “Would you two give it a rest,” she said hurriedly. “Audrey and I are not together,” she emphasized, her eyes moving to Ellie for a moment. “You both know that,” she stressed. “Yes, I’ve seen her recently but it ain’t all that,” she mumbled. Gazing across the table at Ellie, Summer bit her lip gently, her fingers dragging through her blonde tresses.

Ellie watched as the women laid it all out for her and she nodded her head, made sense to her. Someone had been blowing up her phone that morning with texts and calls, she heard the various noises though she hadn’t checked it out herself. She shifted in her seat sitting back and she looked to Summer again from across the table, her eyes darkened as she rubbed her lipstick stained lips together resting her arms in her lap. “This story is boring,” she said fanning the two women, “you tell us about tall dark and handsome,” she turned to her sister, she had heard enough.

Erica chuckled loudly at Jasmine only quieting herself as she remembered they were in a public setting and everyone didn’t need to hear them. “Girl,” she breathed out looking to Summer and then to Jasmine as she burst out with laughter again, her head shaking. “They should have gotten married, that’s all I am going to say,” she said raising her hands defensively. As she felt Summer kicking her, she whipped her head at her. “Summer,” she sneered caressing her leg, “what the hell?” she asked her. At her sister’s words she took in her rude demeanor. “El,” she said to her with wide eyes before she looked off. “What about him?” she asked shrugging. “It was a one-night stand, I don’t know much,” she breathed out.

Jasmine looked at Summer as she kicked her and Jasmine swiftly kicked Summer back, cocking her head at her friend. “Bitch,” she whispered irritated. Slowly she turned her eyes to Erica and Ellie, taking in how Ellie changed the subject. “Married indeed,” she agreed, rubbing her leg a little as she looked back at Summer, squinting at the girl.

Summer dropped her head as her two friends talked about marriage with Audrey. Were they crazy? They needed to stop talking! “No,” she said sternly at the thought. She and Audrey were great together, sure, but marriage material. Not even close. Audrey didn’t even want children. They could never be together for real. Licking her lips, she shifted in her seat. “Excuse me,” she said quickly as she stood, rushing off to the bathroom. She was so flustered that she didn’t know what to do with herself. Rushing into the restroom, Summer moved for the sinks, splashing cold water into her face.

Ellie looked to the two women before she watched Summer rush off, hm. Looking back at her sister she asked, “is the dick good or not?” outright. That’s what the hell they wanted to know, none of them gave a fuck about the other stuff she was sure.

Erica cocked her head to the side as she watched Summer leave before she looked to her sister. “El,” she repeated again before she said, “yea,” easily. “Indescribable,” she said with a smirk.

Jasmine watched as Summer rushed off and she looked at her friend as she fled before she turned her eyes to Ellie and Erica. She eyed the jewels Ellie donned before she asked the girl. “You’re single,” she began, “Erica said it,” she explained how she knew that. “You said someone got you jewels and roses,” she continued, “who was it?” she asked curiously, leaning forward, elbows on the table.

Summer patted her face dry with a napkin before she moved into a stall to relieve herself. She did so quickly before she moved to wash her hands. Exiting the restroom, she pulled her dress down some as she approached the table, her eyes on Ellie. As she sat, she cleared her throat. “What are we talking about?” she asked.

Ellie looked to Jasmine as she leaned forward and she tilted her head. “Oh, I have a male friend, who likes to buy me gifts,” she said touching the necklace again. “He bought the diamonds,” she told her leaning against the table herself. “And Summer brought the roses,” she breathed out with a smirk, if you played with Ellie you better play chess. She wasn’t scared, easily intimidated, or ever embarrassed.

Erica looked to Jasmine, shifting in her seat at her question she looked to Ellie. As she spoke, she nodded her head, yeah, her sister kept sugar daddies around, she knew that sadly. As she explained that Summer brought her the roses she looked to Jasmine, and then to Summer’s long body as it moved back to the table, shocked. “What?” she asked confused.

Jasmine nodded slowly before her mouth dropped. She was not expecting Ellie to expose Summer the way that she did. She honestly thought the girl would continue to beat about the bush and play the game. Slowly she looked at Erica, then to Summer as she sat back down. “You…” Jasmine said softly, answering Summer’s question.

Summer looked at Erica, her eyebrows furrowing before she looked at Jasmine, a panicked expression on her face. “Me?” she asked, her eyes flickering over to Ellie, then Erica. “Why me?” she asked, feeling very, very exposed.

“Because you bought me roses,” Ellie said outright looking to Summer as she returned to the table. “Now my sister wants to know why,” she told her. “You have the floor again,” she smirked at Summer easily as she tilted her head waiting for her to explain herself.

Erica looked to her sister and then to Summer, she didn’t know what the hell was going on, but she wanted to hear all this shit.

Jasmine blinked slowly looking at Summer expectantly. Ellie had put her on blast. She had to say something now.

Summer’s mouth went dry as she looked at Ellie shocked. Fuck! She tore her eyes away from Ellie to look at Erica. “I had no idea she was your sister,” Summer began quickly. “That,” she said pointing, “is not the little 14 year old Ellie I remember.” She looked at Ellie once more, then to Jasmine. Did Ellie want them to know that she had fucked her. Licking her lips, she reached for her glass of water and took a sip. “I mean… Ellie and I spent some time…” she said vaguely. “So… I sent her flowers…” she said looking at Ellie, “because I was hoping to be able to eventually take you on a date,” she said addressing Ellie now.

Erica looked to Summer, hoping with all hope that this was just a funny little joke among them. As she went on to explain Erica sighed as she rolled her eyes and sat back in the chair. “Are you serious Summer?” she asked her shocked. Out of all the people in the world it had to be her little sister, knowing she was still fucking her last bitch. Erica shook her head as she looked to her sister and then to Summer again. “I have no words,” she breathed.

Ellie watched Summer explain herself and she blinked slowly. “Ellie is grown,” she said looking to Summer. “So, what’s stopping you?” she asked her, her sister had no say over her love or sex life, Erica knew that. Nothing was off limits, Erica knew that. Who cared who or what Summer was, it would her choice, “or is it that this Audrey chick stands in the way,” she said toying with Summer as she watched her eyes.

Jasmine sat back as Summer explained and she shifted in her seat looking to Erica knowingly. She wasn’t happy, this she knew. But indeed, Ellie was grown and clearly Summer had no idea that Ellie was Erica's sister. Folding her arms over her chest casually, she looked between the three of them. This was some shit.

Summer looked at Erica with apologetic eyes. “How in the hell was I supposed to know that this was your sister?” She asked Erica honestly. “She does not look the same,” Summed stressed before she looked at Ellie shocked. “No, Audrey doesn’t stand in the way,” Summer told Ellie with a tilt of her head as she thought about what Erica told her about Ellie the other night. “Your harem?” She questioned.

Erica looked to Summer, her eyes darkening at her words she turned to look to Ellie as she challenged her. Stating she was grown and Erica chuckled at that. “Grown,” she repeated unamused. As the two spoke she stood up. “This has been fun,” she told him, grabbing her Gucci bag as she picked up her phone and her keys. “But I have to go,” she said shaking her head. “You and I will talk about this later,” she said as she tilted her head in front of Ellie, she was so close that if either flinched a brawl would break out. “Grown,” she sneered at her again as she moved to walk off agitatedly.

Ellie looked at Summer as she pleaded her case to Erica again. She wasn’t going to hear the last of this but in her mind she was innocent. As she mentioned Audrey not being a problem, Ellie laughed internally, what a liar, she thought. “Harem?” she questioned as if unaware of her many partners and sugar daddies. “I keep to myself,” she told her, uttering a lie. As her sister got up, she looked up. “Erica,” she tried to breath before the girl moved in close, she meant business. She was pissed off; her sister wasn’t one to run away from problems, so this was new for Ellie.

Jasmine looked around the table with wide eyes, her mouth hung still. She absolutely could not believe this. This was a shit show. Clearly, Summer had no idea who Ellie was for real, she barely recognized Ellie herself. How that made no difference to Erica, who was seething. Licking her lips, Jasmine picked up the bottle of champagne that sat in ice in the middle of the table and she brought it to her lips. Their single girls Valentine’s dinner was falling apart. “Erica!” Jasmine said as Erica ran off from the table.

Summer looked between Erica and Ellie wildly as they went back and forth. “Yes, harem,” she said, licking her lips. “I know ‘bout it,” she informed Ellie, eyeing the diamonds around her neck. As Erica collected her things and got up from the table, Summer stood up quickly, rushing behind her friend. “Erica wait,” she said quickly catching up to her with her long legs. She grabbed Erica’s hand gently, tugging the woman back to her. “E, let me explain,” she said pleadingly. “I really had no idea she was your sister; you know I would have never done it if I knew.” She gazed at Erica with sad eyes. “I would never do anything to hurt our friendship, you know that!”

Erica looked at Summer and then her hand as she held it, pulling her hand back from the woman. “What are you going to get out of this?” she asked her angrily. “You know damn well you aren’t going to leave Audrey alone and you think I am going to allow your old ass to fuck my sister over too?” she asked her seriously. “How selfish is that? To ask me,” she argued “to sit back and watch you play her like a fucking fool,” he said bitterly. “I practically raised her Summer, that is my baby. You need to leave her alone” she commanded. “I am not asking your ass; I am telling you,” she said.

Ellie smirked at Summer “I keep to myself” she repeated “I don’t know who or what you heard that from,” she told her softly. As Summer moved behind her sister, Ellie grabbed her purse and said to Jasmine “nice seeing you” she told her quietly as she stood up from the table.

Jasmine drank down more of the champagne as Ellie too got up from the table and she sighed, flagging down a waiter. “Yes, may I order the baked chicken alfredo pasta?” she asked the guy who looked at her bewilderedly, having been witnessing the whole situation unfold as he helped other patrons.

Summer dropped Erica’s hand at the look on her face and she sighed out. “I don’t know,” she said with a lick of her lips. “We’re grown Erica, all of us, we make choices,” she said trying to get her friend to understand. “I mean now that I know she’s your sister, I’m going to step back but E, who knows what would've happened otherwise. It’s a conversation. You know Ellie has a plethora of men, you told me yourself,” she said, “who’s to say I wouldn’t have gotten hurt?” she stressed. “I don’t know where things would have led,” she said honestly, “but it would have been figured out as time progressed. Audrey and I, we had our time,” she said sadly, “but we’ve both kind of moved on with our hearts it’s purely physical now…” she said, “and… and…” she looked at Ellie as she walked past them and she bit her lip hard, trying to stop herself from running after Ellie. Slowly she tore her eyes away and she looked at Erica. “Erica… I had no idea she was your sister and I promise you I’ll never happen again,” she breathed out, looking into Erica’s eyes. “I’ll stay away from her, but I don’t want to lose you as a friend,” she pleaded. “We’ve known each other too long and been through too much…”

Ellie moved past a few people as she found the entrance to the restaurant and she moved through it swiftly.

Erica folded her arms as she looked to Summer, blinking slowly at her. She was laying it on thick but that didn’t mean she wasn’t still upset with her. Raising a brow at her she sighed heavily as she nodded her head. “Okay,” she said with a bit of a bite to it as she did. “I’ll call you later,” she told her quietly she still didn’t want to go sit down among her and Ellie just yet. She placed her purse on her shoulder a she walked out of the building fully prepared to call Ellie over to her house so that she can straighten her out accordingly.

#thread #thread: single girls valentine #thread with: ellie beatrice #thread with: jasmine nicole #thread with: erica serenity #thread with: summer rae

1 note · View note

boyfriem-moved · 5 years

Text

the foxhole court bad

(aka the eden’s twilight chapter is gross, the thanksgiving chapter is also gross, andriel is an abusive ship, and nicky and andrew are two terrible people being terrible to each other, a passionate essay by a dude who’s real sick and tired of this garbage)

I was gonna try to reread the whole series so I could factually and definitively prove that tfc sucks once and for all but after 2 chapters I concluded that reading it again was killing my last 3 brain cells, so I stuck with rereading the worst two chapters and gathering a few other moments I thought were noteworthy, and we’re just gonna have to go from there. I’m gonna discuss a bunch of stuff so I’m putting the entire meta under the cut. Also! If you have no idea what tfc is and follow me for other reasons but are intrigued by my hatred I doubt you could get through this whole thing without being bored. I’ve made a couple short posts saying what’s wrong with tfc, most recently this one here, which you could read instead of this long ass mess.

If you know nothing about tfc and still wanna read, trigger warning for mentions of drug abuse, rape, physical abuse, emotional/psychological abuse, sexual abuse (both of children and adults... well of one adult who was once a child), actually. all abuse. just. don’t read if you’re triggered by any general categories of abuse

You still here? So sorry about that. Now let’s get going!

I can’t deny that there’s some sort of appeal to tfc. “Sports team for fucked up weirdos” is an interesting concept and one that can draw you in, if it’s done well. But Nora Sakavic thrives on shock value and can’t write to save her life, so it’s not done well. It’s done very, very badly. Now I’m not here to complain about the terrible writing (even though I could, believe me). I’m here to complain about how Nora writes like she gets into tumblr discourse with teenagers and makes anti blocklists. So we’ll just go in chronological order, because I think it makes the most sense that way.

Eden’s Twilight

Up until the Eden’s Twilight chapter, the bad parts are more or less excusable. Andrew is...being Andrew, but the book has just begun, and as long as he doesn’t get any worse he’s bound to have some character development soon (which ha funny joke but we’re hopeful, the night’s still young). Nicky is likable and seemingly the good guy who’s said maybe a couple iffy things, Aaron isn’t noteworthy (and boy does he stay that way), and we haven’t seen much of Kevin’s “fun alcoholism” yet.

And then there’s Eden’s Twilight. The setup to the chapter has a couple interesting moments, most notably Nicky pushing Neil to take out his contacts despite the knowledge that it makes him deeply uncomfortable because everyone just bends to the fucking whim of Andrew apparently (a running theme that I’ll get to later) and a gross bit of setup where Nicky comes onto Neil and Andrew threatens to kill him.

“...his happy expression faltered when he got a good look at Neil. “Oh man. Neil, you clean up good. Can I say that, or is that against the rules? Just--damn. Aaron, don’t let me get too drunk tonight.” (tfc pg 129)

(Nicky is an adult with a fiancee who he allegedly loves. Neil is 18. Just in case anyone’s forgotten.)

Then they go and buy some drugs! Nora shows a worrying misunderstanding of how drug withdrawal works (Nora do even one ounce of research for your shitty book please ma’am I’m begging you) and they buy some drugs with vague side effects (I have no idea if the stuff they take is based off real world drugs and I’d rather not find out) in a scene that seems unrealistic but I couldn’t tell you for sure (never bought drugs. not about to ask the people in my life who have.). They buy their drugs, Andrew takes some drugs, Nora continues to know nothing about withdrawal, they go to a nightclub! The night is still young!

And now comes the big problem area.

Their nightclub adventures begin with a complicit bartender who says, “Back so soon, Andrew? Who’s your newest victim?” (tfc pg 133). On a later page it’s established that the bartender was spiking Neil’s drinks and fully aware of everything the siblings planned to do (as is routine with them? apparently?) so. Fun guy.

They do some drugs, drink some alcohol. Neil refuses to do both. Andrew and Nicky are adamant about him doing drugs with them, but he refuses, so they concede.

“Drink with us if you won’t dust with us,” Nicky said, holding his open packet in one hand and his shot in the other.

And Neil does. Because there’s no reason not to, really. Andrew’s gang accepted it when he said he didn’t drink. They’ve so far not forced him to do anything he doesn’t want to. He watched the bartender pour his drink. He has no reason to suspect he won’t be fine.

So, of course, his drink is drugged, and Andrew, Aaron, and Nicky hold him down as he tries to run away. The twins force him onto the dance floor, then leave him with Nicky, reigning defender for World’s Most Predatory Man.

“Bodies and lights blurred around him, making Neil nauseous. He clawed bloody lines down Nicky’s arm as he fought to get free. Nicky didn’t let go until they’d reached the middle of the dance floor. He pulled Neil up against him and caught Neil’s chin in his fingers to force his head back. Nicky’s kiss was harder than Neil expected it to be, and there was more than just tongue in it. Beneath the burn of vodka Nicky shared with him was the sweet tang of cracker dust. Neil didn’t mean to swallow, but it hurt too much to hold it in his mouth. “This is how the game goes,” Nicky said against his lips. “Stop fighting if you want to survive.” (tfc pg 136)

Nicky is a good guy of the story. Not only that, he’s a fan favorite character. This isn’t even a chapter people gloss over to glorify their faves, either. People often point to this chapter and the surrounding scenes as one of the series’ most iconic moments. Neil’s night ends with him paying a bartender to knock him unconscious to put an end to the drugged abuse, which can be found near the top of pretty much everyone’s “top ten iconic Neil Josten moments” lists. This scene is fucking disgusting. He’s forcefully assaulted, allowed and encouraged by Andrew, who’s supposedly the force keeping Nicky in line, and who told him earlier in the chapter not to try anything. Aaron and Kevin are complicit in this, as is the bartender. As are the rest of the team members and Coach Wymack, even if it’s to a far lesser extent, because though they’re horrified that Andrew and his gang brought Neil to the club, they’re not surprised. For people who seemed to know it was coming, they did an awfully lax job of keeping Neil safe though they claim that’s their top priority, and Wymack hardly reprimands Andrew. And no one even shifts blame towards Nicky, despite the fact that he’s the worst person here out of all of them.

People tend to ignore Nicky in general when it comes to how bad of people all these characters are. Which is weird, because Nicky is a horrific predator, and this scene can’t be excused. Though he never assaults Neil again, he continues to be interested in him up until his lackluster apology (which, by the way, does not excuse his actions in this chapter so fuck off if you’re gonna say it does), and it’s pretty clearly implied that he only stops flirting uncomfortably with Neil (who, side note, is still barely not a child) because Andrew forces him to, and not because of any personal growth.

This should be the end of my explanation of why these books are terrible. Writing a scene like this, in which the assaulters are the good guys of the story and will, throughout the next three books, improve as people by exactly 0%, is reprehensible. There’s no coming back from that. But some of you obviously disagree, so let’s keep going.

There’s more scenes like this, one in particular, but I’m gonna talk about it later. My point is just that “token gay character is a blatant predator” is not a good look, especially when written by a straight woman.

Thanksgiving

Nora Sakavic would not know how to write a rape victim if one punched her in the face and told her she was a horrible writer. I wish I didn’t have to say more. But I obviously do, so let’s go.

(as always: necessary disclaimer that I am not a csa survivor and if anyone out there is and disagrees with me I’m more than willing to hear you out, however, i don’t think it takes one to tell that Nora Sakavic is a Fraud And Hack)

This one wasn’t quite as hard to reread as the Eden’s Twilight chapter, probably because even though the acts are worse, it doesn’t have a bad message overall. The rapist is, thank god, the bad guy in this one.

It does, however, have problems. Because Nora is still unable to write about serious issues without incorporating scenes purely for the purpose of shock value.

Like, y’all, it’s really not hard to say “this character was raped as a child and has problems with consent and intimacy because of it”. You don’t need to bring the rapist into the story and have them rape the character again only for the main characters to walk in on it and kill the rapist with a lacrosse racket.

Oh yeah, spoilers, that’s exactly what happens.

The chapter starts out fine. If anything, it’s tame for a chapter of a book out of The World’s Most Unnecessarily Over The Top Book Series.

The basic setup is: Nicky’s parents have invited him and the twins home for Thanksgiving after being estranged for 5 years. Andrew refuses to go. He won’t tell anyone why, but after a talk with him Neil learns that it’s because he was raped by his stepbrother and when he confided in Nicky’s dad about it, Nicky’s dad told him it was a misunderstanding.

Y’all know what that is? Perfectly fucking adequate writing. We learn this thing about Andrew’s past. He has, for probably the only time in this entire series, adequate motivation to do something. But Ms. Sakavic, known Fraud And Hack, said fuck that. We need more. We need to really know what Andrew went through. “Like in a longer conversation sequence?” Someone sensible asked. Nora shook her head. “Like in the second worst scene I have ever written because I am a Fraud And Hack.”

So they go to Nicky’s house for Thanksgiving! This also gives Nora a chance to remind us all that she is a straight woman and Nicky is a gay stereotype. Andrew is on edge the entire time, but Neil manages to keep him under control for the most part. Then we learn that Nicky’s dad invited Andrew’s rapist ex-stepbrother to the house. And than they’re upstairs together. Alone.

So y’know, Neil and Aaron run upstairs, break down the door, there’s a page and a half of description of the scene of Andrew about to get raped before their very eyes, Aaron kills the rapist with a lacrosse stick (exy stick, whatever), and scene. I’m not gonna quote this one, because I don’t wanna make anyone read it, but it runs roughly from page 215-220 of The Raven King if you wanna see for yourself. Highly recommend against it. It’s nasty.

This is a chapter that goes from 0-100 in pretty much too seconds. Someone should probably tell Nora that forcing Andrew to have dinner with the man who discredited his rape is enough digging up of his traumatic past. We don’t need to go deeper. She can stop now. She should stop now. We know Andrew’s history of csa at this point. If Nora thought that wasn’t enough, there are a million ways she could go more in depth without doing this. This scene doesn’t even go more in depth. In terms of advancements in the story, all that happens is that Aaron, Kevin, and Nicky find out about Andrew’s past (something that could have happened in so many different ways) and Aaron kills a man (which doesn’t actually matter because it takes no toll on him and is never mentioned again because nora is a fraud and hack). I was appalled and horrified the first time I read it, and rightly so, because that’s it’s only purpose.

And putting a rape scene in a book for the sole purpose of shocking your readers is just a nasty thing to do.

Bonus Point: Riko Moriyama Is An Evil Monster And That’s Bad Even If He Is The Villain

Riko’s an evil monster! Yeah! Obviously! We’re glad he died! He sucks! But...he’s a very badly written evil monster, and I don’t feel like unpacking all of him, but I just want to point to a couple scenes towards the end of The Raven King real quick since they fit with the whole “Nora don’t write about rape like this” theme.

I’m not gonna quote this one either because it’s Real Gross. But basically, Riko convinces Neil to spend winter break with him by telling him that he arranged for Andrew to get raped over Thanksgiving, and that if Neil doesn’t comply with his terms, he’s paid off one of the doctors at the psych ward Andrew is staying in and will get that doctor to rape him again.

So that didn’t...need to happen. It’s quite frankly disgusting that Nora wrote all this (the language in this scene is very explicit). It’s disgusting that she couldn’t think of any other way to portray her villain as evil. This is bad writing. Riko doesn’t need to be cartoonishly villainous. It’s unnecessary, it’s over the top, and it’s sickening to read.

Also? That scene at the end of The Raven King where Riko handcuffs Neil to the bed and like...stabs him and it’s never said he rapes him but he definitely rapes him because Nora’s predatory subtext is more obvious than a slap in the face? That didn’t need to happen either.

Andriel is a terrible ship, Nora you FRAUD AND HACK

So Andrew and Neil get together in the last book, because every series written by a straight woman needs a super unhealthy gay relationship for fangirls to call cute.

(This one is...weird because a lot of the fanbase are gay themselves, but I’ve heard there’s gay people who like the captive prince too so. i guess it just be like that sometimes.)

I don’t have time to comb through the entire book looking through problematic moments, and I wouldn’t want to. I’m just gonna grab a couple noteworthy scenes in what I hope will make an adequate outline of this fucked up relationship.

The Foxhole Court starts by setting up a running theme of Everyone Disrespecting Neil’s Boundaries All The Time with Wymack, Andrew, and Kevin coming to his high school and refusing to leave until he agrees to sign on with their Not Lacrosse team. His first meeting with Andrew is when Andrew hits him with a lacrosse racket to forcibly stop him from leaving the locker room, a pretty good encapsulation of the sort of person Andrew is. They spent the next three books allegedly falling in love.

Neil establishes boundaries. Andrew breaks them.

“I don’t need to be persuasive,” Andrew said, putting a hand to Neil’s chest as the elevator slowed to a stop. “You’ll just learn to do what I say.”

This is on page 33 of tfc, during their second meeting. Andrew establishes that he’s controlling and manipulative pretty damn early.

A list of other “romantic and iconic” Andriel moments include:

Andrew breaks into Neil’s room and goes through his belongings

Andrew drugs Neil and allows Nicky to assault him (after threatening to kill Nicky if he tried anything??) because he doesn’t trust him

Andrew uses threats of sharing personal information to force Neil to tell him secrets

Andrew is repeatedly physically violent (their first meeting, beating him up at Eden’s Twilight)

Andrew tells Neil’s secrets to the team psychiatrist, knowing full well it’s a betrayal of Neil’s trust

Andrew delights in Neil’s fear and goes out of his way for most of tfc to make him fear for his safety

Andrew didn’t look at Wymack. “Neil wants to come with me.” A day ago, those words might have been an order or a threat, but today Neil heard only truth. He’d chosen the Foxes. He’d chosen to trust Andrew, whatever that meant and whatever consequences it brought down the road. (tfc pg. 152)

After that quote the moments are harder to spot (read: I reread less of trk and none of tkm so I don’t have any bookmarks to turn to), but they are still there. The last moment there is from trk, so the abuse doesn’t stop, I’m just too exhausted to keep looking.

And let me be clear, that quote is barely consent. Andrew physically and psychologically abuses Neil into the position he’s in when he surrenders and sides with Andrew on page 152. This scene takes place right after Eden’s Twilight, and above all of what went down there, Neil has just been forced into telling Andrew more personal information than he’s ever told anyone. After a night of abuse he feels trapped, like resistance is futile, so he gives in. Saying he wants to be part of Andrew’s crew doesn’t count as consent when his hand is being forced.

Even though scenes towards the end of the series show Neil beginning to learn how to control Andrew and the two of them coming to stand on a more level ground, their relationship is one built on abuse and violence, and it’s important not to forget that. It’s unrealistic that Neil would come to trust Andrew, honestly. And having the abusive, more mature character give Neil his first ever relationship and teach him that he’s gay (or bi, or whatever he is) is not a good look. Especially when this book has everything else I’ve already mentioned. Especially when Nora is, once again, a grown ass straight woman.

Nicky And Andrew Are Two Terrible People Being Terrible To Each Other And Actually I Hate Both Of Them

So Nicky’s predatory and Andrew is violent and their relationship is as unhealthy as can get. Andrew’s relationships with Nicky and Aaron are both unhealthy, but Aaron’s much less so, so I’m just gonna get into Nicky today because I’ve been writing for almost 3 hours and I kinda wanna die right about now.

We’ve already established that I don’t like either of them. But let me be clear, it takes a lot for me to admit that Andrew “knives hidden up my sleeves” Minyard is right in any situation. And yet, in pretty much any situation where he threatens Nicky, it’s easy to see him as the good guy, at least up until a certain point.

Andrew is a bad person. He’s violent and manipulative and has no regard for people’s boundaries. Nicky is arguably worse, painting himself as the peacemaker while being horrifically predatory.

(A point on Nicky: Nora spends pretty much all of the first book showing Nicky as predatory, then abandons it entirely for the next two books, making it easy to forget the kind of person he is. Just because the predatory behavior stops doesn’t excuse it. Just because Nora thinks one lousy apology makes Nicky a good person suddenly, doesn’t mean it does.)

I’m gonna paste in a pretty massive chunk of text from the foxhole court, but I think it’s all important, so bear with me.

“Andrew is scary territorial of him. He punched me the first time I said I’d like to get Kevin too wasted to be straight.” Nicky pointed at his face, presumably where Andrew had decked him. “So yeah, I’m going to crush on safer targets until Andrew gets bored of him. That means you, since Matt’s taken and I don’t hate myself enough to try Seth. Congrats.” “Can you take the creepy down a level?” Aaron asked. “What?” Nicky asked. “He said he doesn’t swing, so obviously he needs a push.” ... “Nicky’s scheming to rape Neil,” Aaron said. “There are a couple flaws in his plan he needs to work out first, but he’ll get there sooner or later.” “You’re such an asshole,” Nicky said as he started for the door. “Wow, Nicky,” Andrew said. “You start early.” “Can you really blame me?” ... Andrew caught Nicky’s jersey in one hand and threw him hard up against the wall... “Hey Nicky,” Andrew said in stage-whisper German. “Don’t touch him, you understand?” “You know I’d never hurt him. If he says yes-” “I said no.” Jesus, you’re greedy,” Nicky said. “You already have Kevin, what does it-” He went silent, but it took Neil a moment to realize why. Andrew had a short knife pressed to Nicky’s jersey...Neil knew Andrew meant it. If Nicky so much as breathed wrong right now, Andrew would cut his lungs to ribbons, any and all consequences be damned.

So there’s a lot to unpack there. I loose Andrew at the point where he’s ready to murder, but though he’s extreme as fuck, it’s not like he’s unjustified. We learn later from his backstory why he’s so extreme in shutting down any behavior he sees predatory, and rightfully so. (Even though there’s still Eden’s Twilight soon after this... it’s Nora’s incompetent writing isn’t it.) Nicky is a creep. He’s an adult. He has a fiance. And he’s talking about how he’s going to coerce a teenager into having sex with him because he won’t tell him his sexuality.

He says he wouldn’t do anything without consent, but we know that’s not true. He’s just saying what Andrew wants to hear.

And as for Andrew, though his violence is excused by backstory and mental problems, it’s a big fucking deal. He nearly killed his cousin, who we know he feels at least some sort of fondness for, because it’s established at this point that the reason he’s so heavily medicated is for attacking men who threatened Nicky. Would he regret it later? It’s impossible to say. He killed Aaron’s mom and assumed Aaron would be grateful. He’s threatened or attacked pretty much every member of the Not Lacrosse team. And I honestly don’t know what Nora is trying to tell us about him. He gets tamer once he’s permanently off his medication, but he was violent before it. I suppose that’s because by then Neil has learned how to calm him down, but is that the message? Abuse a boy into hanging out with you and eventually he’ll be a boyfriend who knows how to deal with you?

Nicky is a predator and Andrew is a violent abuser and neither of them are the good guys and that’s the only conclusion I can possibly draw from the way they’re written.

Assorted noteworthy moments that didn’t fit into any larger part:

the part in trk where Nicky’s parents are homophobic and he tells them he loves his fiance and this is the moment that’s supposed to make us sympathize with him? “The sexual predator has homophobic Christian parents feel sad for him” nice try Nora but he’s not getting shit in the way of sympathy from me, your straight is showing

the part in tfc when Seth says the f-slur is bad because uh. Nora that’s not your word to say

bonus Nicky is predatory bit: Nicky waggled a hand at Aaron. “Quick, have we said anything totally incriminating these past few months?” “Aside from your endless inappropriate comments about what you’d like to do to [Neil], I don’t think so.” (tfc pg 239)

Kevin is also manipulative! I felt like covering it would be a bit of a rehash of Andrew and this was getting really long but he continually uses exy as leverage to get Neil to do things he feels will put him in danger the same way Andrew uses threats of sharing his secrets.

bonus bonus Nicky is predatory bit (I’m discovering more and more as I go): Nicky’s stare was appreciative when Neil returned, but for once he kept his mouth shut. (tfc pg 243) Is this supposed to be character growth? Being predatory without explicitly saying anything is barely better Nora!! (Side note, in this same scene Nicky does make a comment about Neil jacking off in the bathroom stall which? Seems kinda bad considering everything else with him?)

I didn’t touch on it very much because no one cares about it and it’s way harder to convince people poor writing about drug abuse is bad than poor writing about sexual assault is bad (even though it shouldn’t be, and i could have tried both but again. long post) but Nora’s attitude to drugs and alcohol is bad. Every character and their mom is addicted to something, with Kevin and Andrew being the most obvious touched on (also Seth but I don’t think anyone cares about him), and Nora’s attitude towards writing it is quite frankly disgusting. She’s offensively misinformed and it pisses me off to no end. But that’s a rant for another day.

Every sex scene between Neil and Andrew is gross. (I think there’s two of them from what I remember? At least two, maybe more.) I googled plenty and I couldn’t find Nora’s age anywhere, but I know for a fact that she’s an adult, and I also know the series took her 13 years to write, so I’m fairly sure she’s at least in her 30s.

I know I said I wasn’t gonna complain about bad writing but. It’s so bad y’all, and I honestly think it gets worse as the books go along. Every time Neil monologued it took a year off my life.

So yeah. There’s a lot that’s fucked up about the foxhole court. And the worst part of it is that it never gets better. Andrew makes marginal improvement, but Nicky never does. Nora writes shock value scenes until the series end (I didn’t write about the scene in tkm where Neil gets tortured because it’s the same shock value effect of the thanksgiving chapter in a different sort of way but it’s also bad). I am of the honest belief that this book is far too fucked up to salvage. This is my official tfc bad masterpost, because every time I criticize it someone wants to know more. But I’m also putting it in the fandom tags because it annoys me to no end that y’all support these books, and I’m hoping I can at least change someone’s mind.

#ok here it is #if you made it to the end holy fuck why would you do this to yourself #fun fact this is over 4000 words!!#im very angry and i have a lot to say ok #all for the game #the foxhole court #the raven king #the kings men #aftg #tfc #trk #tkm #ok. yeah. fandom tags. not 2 be all 'holier than thou' (i was part of the fandom once upon a blue moon) but yall need to hear this #this took me 3 hrs 45 min to write and proofread yall better appreciate it #my meta

19 notes · View notes

nickireadstfc · 6 years

Text

The King’s Men, Chapter 13 – WHAT THE FUCK, Pt. 2

In which Neil’s father happens.

Sounds good? Who are we kidding. It’s time for Nicki to read The King’s Men.

So.

We finally made it here after all, huh?

Glad you’ve come around to watch the show, friends. Gather round, sit down with a blanket and a book to clutch, and get ready for literal hell.

Our boy has been running from this for two and a half books, and now he’s finally – unfortunately – made it. Neil has stopped running, has stopped hiding, has shed his lies and his disguises and even his name, and has overall wished his life goodbye.

Except, well.

We, of course, have not.

Let’s go.

Lola had lined the back of his hand with crosshatches and burned angry circles into his knuckles. Another burn mark stained the tender flesh between his thumb and index finger. The burns were starting to ooze, but dried blood smothered most of the mess.

Holy shit.

My non-native English speaking ass had to look up what crosshatch is, and yeah, Lola essentially cut Neil’s (Nathaniel’s?) hand up into a nice argyle pattern.

What the fuck. #deathoutforlolamalcolm

(Thank you to permanentchaos for this gem of a hashtag.)

He was in the cellar, which meant they’d come in through the garage. An underground tunnel led from one to the other, installed for the sole purpose of moving the occasional body.

Natch.

Fucking natch that this man would have a BODY MOVING TUNNEL.

The Extra™ runs in the family, apparently.

Nathaniel and his mother had escaped through it nine years ago. It was only fitting that he was returned home the same way.

Okay, nice. That’s some good ass poetic symmetry right there folks.

I’m in a state of anxiety and dread right now, but that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate some sweet sweet writing.

Nathaniel brandished his hands at [Lola]. “These are going to get infected if I don’t clean them soon.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it if I were you.”

“You’re not me,” Nathaniel said, and got to his feet.

Glad to see that Nathaniel is as much of a sassy shit as Neil was.

I’m not kidding, this had been an actual concern of mine.

However, my tiny flicker of enjoyment of this scene is quickly dissolved as things developed and they had to develop – we meet The Man™.

Mr Chop Chop himself, Nathan Wesninski, has entered the room, accompanied by his bodyguard Arnold Schwarzenegger, Evil Edition.

Oh boy.

“On your feet,” Nathan said. (…) “You know better than to sit in my presence.”

Nathaniel told himself to stay put, but he was already getting up.

Heck nope.

Just this bit right here already tells us so much about this character and the power dominance in his relationship to Nathaniel, and those are legit his first few lines.

Nathaniel has been so conditioned to follow his father’s orders that he literally can’t not do it. Jesus fuck.

Bless you (but also curse you), Nora, for always introducing characters so spot on.

“My son,” Nathan said. “My greatest disappointment in life. Where is my second greatest?”

“Mom is dead,” Nathaniel said.

Holy sHIT.

“My second greatest”, can Nora STOP WRITING SUCH GOOD VILLIANS.

This is a+ wording right there.

I am very, very quickly eating my words about my appreciation of Nathan’s character as he shares some of his, well, fantasies. And not the sexy kind.

(Although I would have a similarly repulsed reaction to hearing Nathan Wesninski’s sexual fantasies, thank you very much.)

“I’m indecisive. I might skin you alive. I might take you apart one inch at a time and cauterize the wounds. I think no matter what I choose we are going to start by slicing the tendons in your legs.”

Any other time, I would have called him out for being ~Dramatic~, but after what Lola did to Nathaniel in the car and how much she was not overstating her cruelty, I’m kinda fucking terrified.

And mind you, Lola is supposed to be the watered down version of Mr Chop Chop.

Where do I sign up for an exit program right the fuck now.

“Fuck you,” Nathaniel spat at him, voice sharp with horror.

Glad to see Nathaniel keeping up the Brand™ even in this time of stress.

And by glad I mean absolutely peeing myself in fear.

Metal flashed a scarce inch from [Nathaniel’s] face as Nathan took a swing with the axe.

And with that, Nathaniel’s father, his gang, his cleaver and his axe set to doing good on their word.

All of this is of course very reminiscent of Neil’s scar-inducing trip to Evermore in The Raven King, except in TRK most of the torture done to him was off-screen, whereas here it is very fucking not so.

I am attributing it solely to my dad exposing me to violent action movies at a young age that I did not get sick reading this.

This is an 18+ book, folks. And in all seriousness, I feel like there should have been a warning about that somewhere.

I am sparing y’all the descriptions of the following pages because you’ve already been through it once already, but.

Please know that this is the most explicitly violent, brutal and terrifying shit that has gone down in this entire series so far (and also, I hope, ever.)

“We’ll slit your ankles, then your knees,” Nathan told Nathaniel. “And if you try to crawl away I will take your arms from you too.”

Literally HOW IS THIS MAN REAL.

(He’s not. He’s fictional. I know that. Shut up.)

HOW DOES SOMEONE DO SHIT LIKE THIS. HOW DOES SOMEONE DO SHIT LIKE THIS TO THEIR OWN SON.

I’m quitting. I am the fuck OUT.

Nice knowing y’all, but I am deleting this account, see y’all nev–

“Lola,” Nathan said, but he didn’t get to finish.

The cellar door opened from the outside, and a swarm of strangers came in shooting.

Wait, what.

Oh SHIT.

STUART’S HERE, the badass distant uncle has come to save the day.

Does this feel a little ex machina? Yes.

Do I care? Absolutely the fuck not, because now my boy Nathaniel gets to live another day with both of his legs intact.

Nathan was kneeling in the middle of the room with four guns aimed at his head. He started to get to his feet, but someone knocked him back down with the butt of a rifle.

Now that’s what I like to see, folks.

Hit that fucker.

“How dare you,” Nathan said savagely. “You defy Moriyama by coming here and killing my men. You are a dead man walking. You don’t have the power to–“

Stuart didn’t let him finish. Nathan’s body jerked as two bullets punched holes into his chest.

NOW THAT’S WHAT I CALL QUALITY CONTENT.

HECK YEAAAHHHHHHH.

When his father is killed, though, Nathaniel has an interesting experience:

That wrenching feeling in his chest wasn’t grief, but a need so fierce Nathaniel thought it would kill him. (…) He couldn’t breathe, much less explain the terrifying exhilaration.

Sounds to me like he’s experiencing Wanting To Have Killed Daddy Himself, but I could be wrong?

Could also be relief, if you consider that Nathaniel legit spent over half of his life running from that guy.

I am mildly confused here as to whether this is what Nora means or if we’re not supposed to understand this feeling either and it’ll be revealed/explained later.

If anyone has anything (spoiler-free) to offer on this, hit me up.

Moving on – Stuart Ex Machina gets Nathaniel out of the house and hands him right over to the FBI, which is at least better than the Torture Cellar of Hell.

“My name is Nathaniel Wesninski,” he said, “and my father is dead.”

HECK YEAH.

Tattoo this sentence on my forehead, please and thank you.

We’ve been waiting for this for TWO AND A HALF BOOKS, I lowkey can’t believe we’re finally here.

This new development is also pretty okay by Nathaniel (and me), seeing as it’ll finally provide him with some good good medical attention.

Oh, and also opportunities to be a sassy shit.

“Are you going to be a problem for us?”

Nathaniel struggled to look up and focus on the man’s face. “I’ve been a problem for nineteen years. I’m too tired to be one tonight.”

I love this boy, whether Neil or Nathaniel or whoever.

Said boy then – understandably – passes the fuck out, and wakes again in a place where I wished he would have been approximately fifty times those past two and a half books:

A goddamn hospital, getting himself goddamn patched up.

Oh, also the feds are here.

Oh, also he’s kind of under arrest.

What can you do.

“We’ve got a string of offenses we could charge you with, starting with the fake IDs in your wallet and escalating to your mother’s current whereabouts. Just let us know if we’ve got to play hardball.”

Nathaniel made a rude noise. “You couldn’t at least use an Exy idiom?”

I am CACKLING.

This absolute NERD.

„Yes officer, you have me arrested, but gosh fuckin darnit honor the might Exy, will you.”

Nathaniel, despite what he said to them last night, continues being A Problem for the FBI, answering only the minimum of questions and then turning to repeating pretty much one phrase, despite what the feds try to bribe/threaten him with:

“I want to see my teammates.”

Fucking iconic.

Oh yeah, also said teammates have been brought in for questioning and now know everything about Nathaniel’s dirty gritty backstory. Oops.

I doubt they will care, but apparently the FBI does not share my opinion.

“You’re wrong,” Nathaniel said. “They can’t leave without Andrew, and Andrew won’t go anywhere until he talks to me.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Yes, I do.”

HECK YES HE DOES.

Andrew will absolutely rip him a new one for hiding all this shit from him, but I’ll be damned if he won’t activate heaven and earth to see his boyfriend.

“You can take me to him, or you can let me rot silently in a cell somewhere. Those are your only options.”

Heck YES.

God, those two. <3

The FBI are not as hyped about Andreil as I am, sadly, and the next day they take him away into custody without letting him see anyone.

A blasted shame.

Nathaniel couldn’t sleep, but at least he could daydream his father’s death over and over again. That was almost enough to make him smile, and eventually it thawed the chill from his veins.

And in a way, that is strangely comforting.

I’ll see y’all next week.

If you like what I do here and you want to help me through the heartbreak of this chapter, why not buy me a coffee? Every lil bit helps, getting me through uni and all that jazz. Thanks so much!

#tfc #the foxhole court #aftg #all for the game #andreil #tkm #the king's men #nora sakavic #nicki reads tfc #I'M BACK Y'ALL #regular updates again from next week on #thx for bearing with me #please come cry in my inbox if you have feelings bc bish me too

114 notes · View notes

lxme-xss-imxgines · 6 years

Text

Mutual Protection // Platonic!Reggie Mantle x Reader

Prompt: Reggie Mantle is your best friend, and you protect each other, albeit in different ways.

Word count: 1074

Warnings: hinting at unconsensual sexual content.

A/N: I didn’t really wrap it up, so let me know if y’all need another part or sum

“Reggie Mantle!”

Reggie Mantle and Archie Andrews both turned to see Y/n L/n, Reggie’s best friend, standing at the end of the hall.

“And that’s my cue,” Archie puts his hand on Reggie’s shoulder,”Good luck, man.”

He rolls his eyes at Archie, turning as Y/n angrily marches toward him.

“What’d you do this time, Mantle?” Chuck jeers at Reggie as he walks past, causing him to throw his arms up.

Y/n finally approaches him,”Hey Y/n, what-” he stops mid-sentence as Y/n’s palm meets his head.

Reggie’s hand instantly flies to his head,” Y/n, what the fuck?”

“You know the fuck! Selling the JJ, really, Reg? Are you insane!” Your face is red with anger, and almost everyone in the halls had stopped to watch the commotion. “You are getting yourself involved with some dangerous shit.”

He sighs,”N/n, it’s okay, I know what I’m doing.”

“Do you, Reg? Because I really don’t think so,” you glare up at him, and he closes his eyes.

“I have a stash still. I’ll get rid of it, and then I’ll be done,” Reggie declares.

You raise your eyebrows,”Do you promise?”

“I promise,” he holds up his pinky finger, and you wrap yours around his. He then pulls you into a hug,”Gotta go to class.”

“We have first hour together.”

“Oh, yeah.”

***

A couple weeks later, Reggie kept his promise and got rid of the last of his Jingle Jangle stash. You were really proud of him for listening to you, although he usually does.

However, Reggie felt somewhat fun-deprived, and decided to throw a party, but let’s be honest- Reggie isn’t very organized.

“Hey, Y/n,” he slides next to you on one of the tables outside,”Do you wanna help me throw a party?”

You look up from your phone,”Yeah, sure. For tonight?”

“Yeah, I’m thinking big. My parents are gone for the weekend, and everyone around here is so stressed all of the time. So, party time.” He sends you a wide smile.

“For once, I agree with you, Reg. Party on.”

***

After school, you and Reggie went on ‘errands’ and got everything you needed for the party. Keg stands, alcohol, cards, speakers, food, the whole shebang. It was going to be a total blow out.

At Reg’s house, the party routine was basically him sitting on the couch while you set everything up, occasionally asking his help for heavy or out of reach things.

“Well, it’s all set up. What time is it?” you look at Reg who then clicked on his phone, reading that it was 8:34. “And when did you say people should start showing up?”

“9:00. But there are always people who show up early-” three knocks on the door cut off his sentence, and you quickly go to retrieve it.

You pull open the door to find Jughead and Betty, to your surprise,”Hey Betty, Jughead. Come on in!”

They smile, walking past you and into the living room.

“Great turnout,” Jughead mumbles, causing Betty to look at him disapprovingly.

“Party doesn’t officially start until 9, and people like to show up an hour late. You guys can help yourselves to whatever you want,” Betty smiles at you again, and you turn and take a seat next to Reggie on the couch.

Jughead and Betty retreat to awkwardly standing by the drinks making small talk.

Eventually, a half hour passes, and people gradually continue to show up. Then an hour after that, the party is in full swing.

You’re on the dancefloor (Reggie’s living room), drunkenly dancing with some random cute guy when you start to feel parched.

“I’m gonna go get a drink!” You yell at him.

“No, it’s alright! I’ll get both of us drinks!” You smile and nod as he retreats to the drinks table, and you continue to dance.

Only two minutes later the cute guy returns with your drinks, handing you yours. You drink it as you continue to dance, whirling around.

You start to feel dizzy, slowing down a bit.

“You alright?” the guy asks, and you just nod. He takes your drink, setting it down on a nearby table before coming to help you stand. He says something to you, but you can’t even hear him.

Then you feel hands all over you, and your feet leave the ground. You try to open your eyes to see, but they are just so heavy.

You can feel something. Thudding. Repeated, rhythmic thudding. You’re going up the stairs. You can feel yourself start to panic. You start trying to wriggle out of his grasp, but you can’t move. And even if you could, you doubt you’re strong enough to get out of his grip.

You suddenly feel the embrace of something soft and realize it’s a bed.

Dear god, you think to yourself, somebody please help me.

***

“Hey, has anyone seen Y/n?” Reggie walked around his living room packed with sweating teenaged bodies, trying to locate his best friend.

“I saw her being carried upstairs by some random dude,” Archie slurs.

“And you didn’t think to go see what was happening?!” Reggie rolls his eyes, instantly beginning to push through the crowd of people. Once he gets to the stairs, he rushes up them. Something feels off in the pit of his stomach, making him nervous.

He surveys the area, trying to see if anything is off. Then he notices a door - his bedroom door - is cracked open.

His heart drops, and he runs down the hall and pushes his door open. He sees you on the bed, topless, squirming around with your eyes closed as a guy tries to undo your pants.

“Get off of her!” Reggie bulldozes the guy off, getting on top of him and swinging on him. Reggie doesn’t stop hitting the guy until he’s knocked out and bloody, even though he knew if you were awake you would’ve told him to stop.

Reggie gets up, breathing heavily, and makes his way over to you. He gets one of his t-shirts to put on you, and quickly takes your pants off and puts you in a pair of his sweatpants. You would’ve stolen his clothes at the end of the night anyway. He pulls his blanket out from under you, covering you up. He then kisses you on the head as you fall into a deep sleep.

#reggie #reggie mantle #reggie imagines #reggie x reader #riverdale #reggie mantle imagines #reggie mantle x reader #riverdale imagines #riverdale x reader

138 notes · View notes

phoenixknightv2 · 4 years

Text

State of the REALUnion: CoronaPaused (The version with a very raunchy yet funny yet true prospective moment)

Hi everybody,

First and foremost i hope everybody is doing well and staying safe during this tough time. It has not been easy, i can only imagine. My thoughts and prayers are with everybody during this time. I’m here tonight to bring some prospective on the current situation at hand. Here is what is on tap.

-The state of the Pandemic

-Conservative vs Liberal Media During this

-Personal Message for President Trump and Congress

-Where i stand

-A Message to my loved ones

In the Great Words of Chris Cuomo, Lets get after it.

The state of the Pandemic in the US

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

Never in my lifetime, never in any of our lifetimes did we ever expect to go through something like this. Ever since the Influenza Pandemic, the swine flu, the H1N1, ebola. Those were easily controllable. CoVid-19, holy dear mother of god this has just gotten out of control. We’re reopening yet the numbers in a good chunk of the country have continued to go up. POTUS yet thinks that is a badge of honor. Seriously?!?!?!?!!??!?!!? In Texas, we are emerging as a hotspot. I’ll address that more in a bit. As i have said before, capitalism has taken over this country where the money talks. If money talks then ok there we go, we’re going to do what the money tells us. That is what the Red states like Texas, Florida, Georgia, etc have done. The Blue states continue to play it smart. New York especially.

The Winners of the CoVid 19 Pandemic

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

Doctors

Nurses

Chris Cuomo

My Girlfriend

Joe and Mika Scarborough

Mitt Romney

Dr. Bright

My Father

His Team

H-E-B

Andrew Cuomo (Yes i know about the Nursing Home mistake. He’s been better than most Of Congress however. Congress does shady shit on purpose. No one bats a fucking eye)

Bernie Sanders

The Last Dance Documentary

President Obama

Dr. Fauci

Mayor Adler

Dr. Birks

Senator Lamar Alexander

Bill Lee

Mike DeWine

Liz Cheney

The Losers

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

Greg Abbott

Donald Trump

Dan Patrick

Ron DeSantis

Brian Kemp

Fox News

Sean Hannity

Louie Gohmert

The Majority Of the Rest of Congress

Trump Supporters

Now i get it, we all have to make money to survive but the experts continue to say hey reopening without a proper plan is not the way to go but a good chunk of the states especially the red states are saying no no no, we’re reopening anyways. Its because of the fucking money. Yes we need to survive. Yes we need to make money for rent, for food, for bills, for all the responsibilities and then when the responsibilities are caught up then for the fun shit. But if experts are saying woah woah woah hold on a second we’re rushing fast here, if we start to lean back on the things that were working to fight CoVid-19 then we’re going to have a second wave and it’s going to be alot worse. We are going to have to lock back down, and let me tell you what, if that happens Riots are going to happen and more people are going to die. Let me tell you this as well, it scares me.

It scares me for afew reasons.

1. Crimes are going to be at an all time high.

Note: My old man and i are ready to defend ourselves and our castle. If we have to fight to defend ourselves and our loved ones, i won’t be afraid to do so. I’m not going to let the stupidity of our state government and our federal government igniting sick people to start riots stop us from protecting our loved ones.

2. It scares me for my girlfriend and her cat (And i love that cat like it’s my own daughter)

3. It scares me for one of my best friends who lives alone and her dog. (I love that fucking dog like it’s my own nephew and it’s the closest thing to a doggy friend i have since my three dogs left me years ago when they left with my bitch of an ex stepmom)

4. It scares me for the vulnerable

5. Scares me for the kids

6. Scares me for the rest of my loved ones.

It is very disgusting and the more this immature shit continues to happen, the more the riots are likely and i will do whatever i have to do to protect my loved ones. This country is falling apart. Just earlier tonight, i got pissed off when my father told me that a good chunk of people were back downtown and a good chunk of them were not following the safety guidelines just after Dr. Escott said earlier yesterday, we are effectively flattening the curve but we need to continue to do so especially if we want events like ACL and Longhorn football to start on time. Governor Abbott even though he’s a greedy brainless little pussy (i’ll give him some points on SOME not all but some things. More here shortly) has even said now is the time more than ever to continue to follow the guidelines even though we are all getting out of lockdown. (I’m still not out of quarantine unfortunately because i along with my old man have major skepticism of reopening earlier. More on THAT later on) Continue to wear masks even though they’re not required. (Governor, come on. I know you’re alot smarter that. If masks aren’t require then why is A) The numbers continue to go up tremendously to the point of where we are now a hot zone. Oh but wait a minute we’re still going to open. B) Why are people deciding to NOT listen to you and are deciding to say HEY THE VIRUS IS OVER!!!!!!!!)

I’m sorry no it is not. As a matter of fact, the numbers continue to go up especially in the Lonestar State)

It’s going to be alot worse governor if you don’t do the right thing. We got one shot to do this right so you better pray to god you’re right because the 90,000 deaths are already on POTUS’s doorstep. Right now the Texas numbers recovery wise and death wise are actually pretty good. 29,359 Recovered and less than 2,000 people have died (RIP to those people by the way. My heart goes out to families of the victims of CoVid 19. I’am really deeply sorry that you’re going through this. It is saddening that y’all going through this.) Just really hope you don’t fuck it up governor. The cases continue to go up so hope you’re right and if you aren’t right, i’m going to laugh at you because of your failure and you realizing that ok i’m a moron.

To everyone who has lost someone or something, whether it’s your job, business, or someone you love and care about, i cannot even begin to imagine the pain you are going through. If there’s anything i can do whether it’s pray for you or be here for you just to talk to, i’m here. I will never fully understand but i’m here because i certainly don’t ever want that to happen to my loved ones.

Now before i continue, anybody wanna know why i posted a pic of this scumbag?!?!??!?! Because this ladies and gentlemen is Dan Patrick. Our Lt. Governor. I have criticisms of Abbott but this fuckass right here is well.....a fuckass. I would say Dipass like Rick did one time on Rick and Morty but no i’m going to take it a step further. Fuckass. You Dan Patrick are a die hard fuckass.

Here’s why...........

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP1GkV06PYY

‘‘I’m sorry to say i was right on this!!”

A scumbag thing to say Mr. Lt Governor. Now what am i talking about?

When this first started, Dan Patrick said and i quote

‘‘There are senior citizens who are willing to die for the rest of us!!” ‘‘There are more important things than living!!”

I’m sorry what?!?!?!?!??!?!?! Yes i know the rest of what he said but Mr. Lt Governor that is the stupidest thing i’ve ever heard and one of the most crooked things i’ve ever heard. You sir i don’t give a rats ass if you’re 70, you deserve to get punched in the face. If not by me then by someone else or if at the very least a bag of diarrhea that consists of shit, hot sauce, the hottest tacos from torchys tacos, chips and queso. Because that is a shitty thing. Wanna know why?

Alot of my loved ones are the elderly. My grandma Sandra, my grandmother Bren, my grandpa Ben, and my grandfather Lou. And that’s just to name a few. But especially My grandma Sandra, Bren, and my grandfather Lou. Very close with them and you know what? I don’t want them to die. I want them to be able to meet the love of my life. And you know what else, i’m not the only one who has elderly loved ones that they’re close with. Alot of people in this country are close with their elderly relatives. That is a very offensive thing especially because almost 100,000 people are dead because of this virus. You should be ashamed of yourself Mr. Patrick. Lets address that second part. More important things than living? Money? Well how can we enjoy the money if we are dead? AHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA See i just answered your own question. Shame on you Patrick shame on you. I would like to be able to have my loved ones meet my love. I would like to meet my queen’s father as well. So shame on you Dan Patrick

Now lets get back to Abbott. Do i think he’s an idiot for not following the guidelines set by the white house that the White house itself and majority itself ain’t following? Oh yeah. But it’s not as bad as DeSantis who apparently is allegedly being accused of asking Florida Scientists to manipulate the numbers? Ok that’s just crooked as hell. So far Abbott hasn’t been found of doing the same thing but if a scientist in Texas came out and said that too....that wouldn’t surprise me but here’s what i will give Abbott credit for.....Actually caring about the nursing homes and the staff and residents especially making the tests available to them. Kudos for that. That doesn’t mean you’re safe from other criticisms but i hope you’re right because we cannot afford to continue the back and forth. Shut down for afew weeks then boom back open. The back and forth needs to not happen. I hope you’re right because i would love to get back to the fight but i will not be surprised if this backfired because you choose Trump over Science.

The Ongoing Liberal Vs Conservative Media War

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

The Following are Exempt from this

-Chris Cuomo

- Joe and Mika Scarborough

Show you why here in a minute

But the rest are not exempt. If there is one thing ONE thing that Trump is not wrong on, it is in fact the media except Fox news needs to be added. Mostly His puppet Hannity, Tucker Carlson (Even though i sense and been seeing a turn in him lately) and that Bitch Laura Ingraham. Spewing Conservative conspiracy theories out the wazzoo. The Liberal media isn’t exempt from this either. I’ll get to them next. But conservatives are still spewing lies out of their mouth. Attacking the Medical community and of course STILL NOT LETTING GO OF RUSSIA!!!!!!!!!! CAN WE PLEASE JUST PUT THE FUCKING POLITICS ASIDE FOR ONE SECOND AND ALL OF US WORK TOGETHER!?!?!?!?!?!??!?! I thought this was gonna bring us closer together but no it has divided us further apart. Conservatives on fox news etc saying this is a hoax by the deep state, come on. I always make the joke of conservatives and liberals in the media and in congress need to just lock the door on capital hill for one night and either argue all night or order a shit ton of drugs and fuck it all out with one massive orgy like the orgy in the Seth Rogen animated movie sausage movie. If you don’t know what i’m talking about, watch that movie but viewer discretion advised that movie is raunchy as hell and the final scene where the orgy happens.

I’m serious.

Does Kaitlan Collins and Kayleigh McEnany need to go down on each other or have a threesome with Mitch McConnell’s wrinkly ass and have a Cuckold while his wife is watching?

Does Rachel Maddow and Poppy Harlow need to use a vibrator on each other while Hannity and Tucker are jerking each other off?

Does Lindsey Graham need to get it in with Tomi Lahren and her Fiance while Chuck Schumer is licking their assholes?

Does Nancy Pelosi and Melania need to take turns swapping POTUS’s cum?

Does Joe Biden and Donald Trump need to have a bisexual fuck in the presidental suite? (House of Cards Reference)

If it gets to the point where Kaitlan Collins is wearing her one night stand outfit and doing the walk of shame then Tomi Lahren and Kayleigh McEnany come up to her and do a threeway kiss on the news and wolf blitzer is asking how was your night with the biggest shit eating grin and Kaitlan Responds ‘’Wolf it was amazing. How was yours?’’ Wolf replies with something and then makes a body movement in regards to his nose being fucked up from snorting cocaine or where Trump and Biden are in the oval office actually working together. If a giant orgy takes them all to work together i’m all for it. LOL I had to get that out there now lets be serious.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/kayleigh-mcenany-slams-cnns-chris-cuomos-use-of-less-safe-drug-to-fight-coronavirus

I saw that article of Ms. McEnany slamming Chris Cuomo for taking non-hydroxychlorquine. I’m sorry Ms. McEnany, do you realize that you made yourself stupid by saying POTUS knows that his medicine doesn’t work yet SLAMMING CHRIS CUOMO WHO ACTUALLY HAD COVID-19!!!! Kayleigh you ma’am are dumb as rocks. Have you had CoVid-19? No. Chris and his family did. His wife and his son both ended up having CoVid you fucking FUCKASS. Did POTUS? NO!!!!! SO SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH AND JUST FOCUS ON TRYING TO SAVE YOUR JOB!!!!!!!! God such a fuckass.

But lets get to the rest of Fox News, watch this video made by Trevor Noah https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAh4uS4f78o

Then by the now this channel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DmW_H4U-MI

See where i’m going with this?!?!?!? THEY LIE!!!!!!!!!!! ONE MINUTE SAYING ITS A HOAX!!!!!!!!! NEXT MINUTE SAYING THEY NEVER SAID THAT!!!!!!

WHAT IN THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!?!??!?!? ARE YOU DRINKING BLEACH LIKE TRUMP RECOMMENDED!?!?!?!?!? DID YOU DISINFECT YOURSELF WITH DISINFECTANT?!?!?!??! NOW IS NOT THE TIME FOR BULLSHIT CONSPIRACY THEORIES AND YES I’M LOOKING AT YOU AS WELL LIBERAL MEDIA!!!!! IF YOUR NAME IS NOT CHRIS CUOMO AND MIKA SCARBOROUGH OR JOE SCARBOROUGH THEN THE REST OF YOU IN THE MEDIA NEED TO REALIZE WHAT ARE WE DOING?!?!?!?!? CONGRESS IS DIVING US!!!!!! THEY CONTINUE TO LIE AND WE FALL FOR IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!!!!!

Now lets go to the Liberal Media of MSNBC and CNN

Before i continue, Shoutout to Miss Mika for this video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khmEjO-FEaE&t=62s

Someone finally had the balls to say it. Enough is enough. Trust me and i called POTUS out weeks ago for his whole Liberation tweets which is what i keep saying is what will lead to riots and i’m just going to say something and i need to get it off my chest. I’ll take it a step further. I have enough of the corruption of our country. Now i’m going to still continue to speak on it but i will not do anything further than that, but if i lose any of my loved ones then its game on. I’ll go to war. I’ll protect my loved ones or i will die trying. Enough is enough. This country is falling apart. Now do i thank the men and women who have risked their lives overseas for our freedoms? Of course. Do i especially now thank all the medical workers for fighting this horrible enemy that is CoVid 19? So that the rest of us are safe and we have a chance despite the fact our country is ran by idiots and also is filled with about 85 percent idiots who don’t give a damn about doing the right thing. Millennials including who think OH MY GOD THIS ISN’T A BIG DEAL!!!!! LETS GO OUT AND GET DRUNK AND POP BOTTLES AND PILLS ETC!!!!! Absolutely. I have a new found appreciation for the medical community.

But i will use my first amendment rights because the United States of America has a brand new nickname

What is it?

The United States of Stupidity

Land of the Rich

Home of the Stupid

That is what this country has become. If anybody is offended by that i’m sorry but it is true and the way congress has handled this CoVid catastrophe has proven my point. With the way POTUS has acted during this, is wrong.

Before i begin the Liberal side,

I’m proud to be an American, i’m proud of all the doctors and nurses, i’m proud of the men and women who have all risked their lives so that the rest of us can be safe. I tell my Girlfriend alot who is a nurse by the way that i’m proud of her and that she is my number 1 hero. Not all heroes wear capes. So to all the doctors and nurses and the military and the firefighters and the police offices (not all cops) i say thank you for your service. To all the doctors and nurses during the CoVid Pandemic, Thank you and god bless you now while i’m proud of them

A good chunk of this country’s citizens and A VERY GREAT CHUNK OF THIS COUNTRY’S LEADERS IN OFFICE, not so much.

Quick story, My old man and i hate Sean Hannity with a passion but one night while we were having Dinner, he did make a very great point why are we not hearing from more survivors of CoVid? I have to give him that but the difference is on the Liberal media we ARE hearing from more CoVid survivors compared to Conservative media. Conservative it’s conspiracy after conspiracy oh they’re going to take your rights away.

Now i have a question for people like Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham etc. Do you guys have kids? Do you guys love your loved ones like how the rest of us do? What happens if they catch CoVid? Are you still going to think it’s a hoax? Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo because then hopefully you people will wake up and realize what the fuck are we doing? Enough with the conspiracy theories

Now to the liberal media. Guys, you have the opportunity to say why are we doing this? Mika already called out POTUS earlier, you guys could have the opportunity to call for unity with Fox news. Why are you not doing so? When this is over if y’all wanna go back to hating each others guts, fine by me. I will be busy focusing on my loved ones and my future. Matter of fact when this is over , I probably won’t watch the news hardly if ever again unless its Cuomo or Morning Joe. I got a future with my queen to focus on and i got a trip i need to get ready for but right now it’s the time to work together. Now it’s no guarantee that Fox News will budge but at least you can say you tried but seriously can you please just try? Now is not the time for war. Also Fox News for the love of god, Y’ALL ARE PART OF THE MEDIA TOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! JUST STOP!!!!!!!!!!! It really dumbfounds me that they can get shown videos of what they said and it’s oh we never said that, it’s just stupid. Hopefully these people will learn but lets be real they won’t

Where i stand with the pandemic

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

I have been in quarantine for 8 weeks about to be 9 weeks. Unlike most others, i’m waiting with my old man to see if we don’t go under another lockdown and our state of Texas doesn’t spike to New York Level. As i’ve said earlier, cases not good but recoveries and the death rate, not bad. It’s just up to the others to keep the improvements going. Earlier my father told me that he was downtown at whole foods and as he was driving home, he saw a SHIT TON OF PEOPLE NOT WEARING MASKS And of course he can speak for me on this but i was frustrated. If they don’t want to follow the guidelines especially when more places can reopen soon then if we go back under lockdown, don’t fucking bitch about wahhhhhhhhhhhhh why can’t we go back outside?!?!?!?! Well the answer is simple, you people are fucking dumbasses. You didn’t follow the guidelines like you own the fucking place and here we are again.

My loved ones if they sometimes need a break from the masks, that’s different. There’s going to be times where i need a break from it to give myself some oxygen. All i will say to my loved ones and i’ll say it again later on, please just be safe. I love you guys and i don’t want anything to happen to you guys.

Back to where i stand. These last 8 and a half weeks have been a test. It especially sucks because before all this happened, i made significant progress. My relationship was moving in the right direction, and after leaving my shitty shit shit job, i got the job i wanted for awhile and it was a great feeling. Now to feel like i’m being tested again, it sucks. Especially after coming out of one of the darkest times of my life a year ago that involved me going to a mental hospital to have a safe place to fall apart so i can pick up the pieces where i also discovered i have PTSD after one day waking up not wanting to live anymore. It especially still haunts me because my love had to endure that with me. Fast forward to this pandemic, i was hoping that last year was the end of Dark times for AWHILE especially because my queen deserves the world and i want to be able to take her to the dinner she 100 percent deserves. She works hard, she puts up with alot and i don’t care if i have to pay it off, when i’m cleared (and i’m going to stay cleared. I’m not doing a second round of this shit) i’m fucking taking her to that dinner barring any unforseen even for sticking with me through some of my roughest times. Before i take the rest of my loved ones to dinner, she gets first priority before i get back to my job (after my thyroid hint hint Pops if you’re reading this). She deserves that and i want to be able to give that to her or if i have to cook for her and set up a very nice candle light dinner at her place or mine, barring not having to deal with any more bullshit when i’m cleared. Now if there is one positive i can take away well actually two, its these

1. It has made me realize that i need god in my life more than ever because i refuse to relapse back to the dark side.

2. It has brought me and one of my best friends back to each other to reconcile.

Now i cannot stress this enough, i’m not happy with being under lockdown but i understand why. I’ll get to that here in a minute. I would so much rather be at work, i would much rather be with my queen, i would much rather be with my loved ones. Having a long awaited reunion. Our first since the night one of our own passed away and this time because we’ve all had to do some growing up, hopefully it won’t be sadness. It will be celebration and hijinks lol I’ll make sure of that and if i have to get super drunk, i will because as i’ve always said, i’m a funny funny drunk. I don’t always drink but when i do, i’m hysterical lol.

I do however understand why this is happening and which is why even if it’s frustrating, i will continue to fight for my future with my queen and my job that i busted my ass for. Those are the two things that are important to me. Just think of me as the Sam Ehlinger of everything else.

I’ve come so far and i’m not going to just give up without a fight. If and when i’m cleared, if i catch CoVid i’ll do whatever it takes to fight it. If i die, i die. It was a good run, at least i went out guns a blazin to fight CoVid. Now before i continue, i’m not saying i want to die. Last year, i had nothing to lose. This year is a different story, i have everything to lose and i’m not going to let anything take my progress away from me. If and godforbid if i have to fight it in the hospital alone, i’ll do what i have to do to beat CoVid. No problem because unlike everything else i’ve been through, i have more to lose now and more to fight for and i’m not giving up easily on anything. Should i catch CoVid and BEAT IT?!?!?!? It will be another story to add to the legacy of the Phoenix Knight. Knock me down, i’ll continue to rise from the ashes again and again and again, nothing will keep me down easily which is why despite the rocky situation i’m in, well that we’re all in. I’m not giving up. Despite that this has kept me from not being able to see my queen in the normal capacity that we both want and that hasn’t been easy for the both of us, i will not give up. As Daniel Bryan once said ‘’If you fight for your dreams then your dreams will fight for you!!!’’ This is a test of my character and i have every intention of passing with flying colors.

Now in three weeks (Bare with me here), my old man and i are going to have a BIG revaluation conversation about where we stand with the pandemic. I’m nervous, scared, yet excited. While i desperately want to get back out there and i’m hoping phase one will lead me there (phase one something i worked on for my father to try to tell my side of the story about why i think i’m ready to get back out there), i will do what is right. I will do what is safe and i will not be like the rest. I will be smart. I refuse to put my loved ones in danger let alone myself in danger as well. One wrong move just like with all the other re-openings then its right back to the start. This is where it’s tricky. So as you all know or well alot of you know, i want to be in san marcos at some point in the very near future. I do not want to fuck it up. My job was step one of that plan before all this happened for i’am not happy here in austin anymore. I need something more quieter but yet something more close to my people. My father, and my 4 best friends. It is not cheap here but because of the pandemic, it has led me to a bit of a rock and a hard place. Now before i continue, i always tell my girlfriend and i guess i need to practice what i preach, we just don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t know what’s going to happen. Maybe Abbott was right and i look like a jackass and i can get back to a little bit more normal of a life and back on track. I just don’t know. Now here’s the rock and the hard place, it is not easy and not cheap AT ALL here in Austin. If i want to go back to work if it is not safe enough then something different would have to be arranged. Someone i know or by myself. A) I don’t want to get someone else sick. B) If i’m living on my own and i get sick with CoVid god knows what’s going to happen. Or if i’m still here at home, if i get sick i don’t want to get my old man sick with CoVid either. It’s a very tricky situation and that is why i’m nervous about making the wrong move but as long as i keep my team in the loop and they do WHATEVER it takes to help me make sure i’m safe to keep my job and at my location or (Riverside or southpark meadows if SoCo is no longer an option) i guess it’s not terrible but i do miss it but which is why i feel between a rock and a hard place in this. Also if i do crack and say its time for me to try living on my own (has to Be close to work, safe and REASONABLY PRICED) One wrong move and it can set off a giant pandoras box but maybe worse. Just like with the immature state openings, one wrong move and we are back under lockdown. Hence why i want to go to san marcos but like i told my father, the whole point was to transfer there AFTER WORKING at my job for several months to a year and i refuse to go into san marcos dumbfounded. I wanted to go in a smart way but also because it’s cheaper, more quieter and did i mention its cheaper? Lol well its because i want to be able to travel more with my queen and i want to still live my life and do things i want to do all while being responsible.

The perfect scenario: If the curve really is flattened or something like that, the numbers are not too bad and my old man clears me after our revaluation talk or if not, he pretends to not clear me but saves it for my 27th birthday on July 1st and says even though its still tricky, happy birthday YOU’RE CLEARED FROM QUARANTINE!!!!!!!!!! Oh how beautiful that would be. Granted the sooner i’m cleared, the better. I would love for the signs for me to be cleared after our revaluation conversation. The minute i’m cleared, i’m going full Phoenix Knight and i’m not looking back

Message for Congress and POTUS

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

I’m going to keep this simple. Ladies and Gentlemen of congress along with President Trump, i’m going to take it a step further along with what Mika said. All of you need to KNOCK IT OFF!!!!!!!!!! Enough with the fucking games and do your job. Orgy joke aside, do what we elected you to do and do your jobs. Enough with the greed, stop using god and religion as an excuse for your bad behavior.

I would say more but Mika took a good chunk of the words out of my mouth

Mr. President, grow up!!! Calling for Liberation in the middle of a crisis, you’re sick bro. Get off twitter and do your job. You think you’re making America Great again? Guess again Donnie, you’re not!!!!!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0239jHlMYY Evidence 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hB8icFsfJe0 Evidence 2

Mika already said what i was going to say. Do your job and do it right because the more you fuck up, you are going to be on the wrong side of history.

I’ll leave it at that

Closing statements and a message to my loved ones

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

I’m going to close it with this. First by starting off with a plead, to everyone else who isn’t my loved ones, please.....please......please do not be stupid. Please be smart, follow the guidelines, maybe not always but a good chunk of the time, this is not a secret government conspiracy this is a serious situation and the more you don’t be smart, you’re going to ruin it for the rest of us. Normally i would rant but i’m begging you please be smart here. When the virus goes completely away or calms down tremendously, if a good chunk of you want to be stupid, greedy and going back to the clubs to post explicit pics etc popping bottles etc be my guest, but right now, please just be smart and considerate. I’m begging you.

Now for the message to my loved ones.

I’ll start with my queen, my best friend, my love Nicole: Baby, i just want you to know i love you with all my heart. I’m sorry this situation hasn’t been easy. But i appreciate you for sticking it out with me. I promise somehow someway i will make it up to you big time when i’m fully cleared but whatever happens in 3 weeks if its a step in the right direction where at the very very least we can spend more time together again, i’ll take it. I love you and you and Roxie are two of the main things that are keeping me going. I Love you with all my heart and i’m not giving up. Ever since the mental hospital, i just continue to fall more in love with you. I hope i make you proud like how you make me proud. You are one of the most beautiful kind hearted funny smart human beings i know. I’m honored to call you my girlfriend, my hero, my queen, my best friend. I love you with all my heart my pookieroo, my queen.

My father Chris: Pops, well done with the business and advancing with the masks. I’m very proud of you. I’m thankful for all that you have do and have done during this pandemic. I’ll save the rest for phase one

Andria: Thank you for being one of my best friends over the last six years, it has been an incredible ride and because of you, i met three of my other best friends. Love ya dude. I cannot wait for whats to come.

Chris: Brother, words cannot even begin to describe how proud i’ am of you. You have made tremendous progress over the last year and i feel like i got my brother back. I love you man and i’m so blessed that we met and that you have become like a brother to me man. I cannot wait for the new memories to come

Don: I know you’re going to make a funny out of this lol so i’ll leave a good chunk of it to you to make a funny. Just i love ya man and thank you for always making me laugh. (There will be tacos and nachos in your future soon hopefully really soon)

Bri Bri: The biggest blessing to have come out of this pandemic is that i feel like i got one of my best friends back. I know it hasn’t been easy between us but that doesn’t matter now. I’am so blessed you and i are doing well again and that i can see mav again soon, Fucking love that Dog. Anywho, proud of you. You are cool shit. And i got nothing but love for ya. Cannot wait for things to be better than ever.

I hope i make you all proud.

To everyone of my loved ones: Guys, i love y’all. I don’t know whats going to happen next but all i know is that we will get through this together and we will come out of this stronger than ever. I pray for y’all almost every night. My heart and my thoughts are with you guys. Anything y’all need at anytime, i’m here. It may not be easy but we will get through this together. As Bernie Sanders always says ‘’We’re all in this together’’. I love y’all, please stay safe and things will get better. I have faith and in the great words of Bobby Rhoode, it’s going to be glorious!!!!!!

Remember my friends, when you feel what you want to feel, you’re being real and being real is a very big deal.

Stay Safe, Love you guys, God bless you all

Phoenix Knight Forever

-Sky-

0 notes

womenofcolor15 · 4 years

Text

NFL Airs Anti-Police Brutality Ad During The Super Bowl + Blackballed Colin Kaepernick Does Charity Instead + The Carters Criticized For Not Standing During National Anthem

There’s drama following Super Bowl LIV! (Shocker, right?) The NFL interestingly aired an anti-police brutality commercial during the game, sans blackballed player Colin Kaepernick. Find out what Kap was doing during the game, plus the controversy surrounding Beyonce & Jay-Z sitting during the National Anthem inside…

The behind-the-scenes drama seems to be just as entertaining as the actual game for this year’s Super Bowl LIV.

As we all know, the commercials that play during the Super Bowl are a big deal, so when an anti-police brutality ad popped up during the big game it def took folks by surprise. Like, the hypocrisy and irony is unmatched.

After blackballing former 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick for kneeling in protest of police brutality, the National Football League had the nerve to air an anti-police brutality commercial during the big game. The spot featured the murder of Botham Jean – a black man killed inside his own apartment by white cop Amber Guyger. In the clip, Botham’s family share photos and videos of Botham, explaining how the world lost a wonderful human being in a senseless act of violence.

Check it:

https://t.co/0k9IQU4xM5 We are in this together.#EveryonesChild #InspireChange pic.twitter.com/yaH04eG2OA

— NFL (@NFL) January 22, 2020

The commercial was good. There’s no taking away from the message of the commercial. However, isn’t this what Kaepernick was kneeling for? To bring awareness to police brutality?

In 2016, Colin Kaepernick started a silent protest where he took a knee during the National Anthem to help bring awareness to police brutality and racial injustices. His actions eventually resulted in the former QB being blackballed from the league, yet they air a commercial with the SAME message he has been trying to spread to the masses?

The ad seems to be part of the NFL’s initiative called Inspire Change, which is a campaign spearheaded by Jay-Z last year when he inked his deal with the league. The campaign is dedicated to “education and economic empowerment, police and community relations, and criminal justice reform.”

So why now does the NFL seemingly see the issue with police brutality, but didn't see the vision about why the NFL platform IS a place for this to be discussed when Colin Kaepernick took a knee?

It didn't go unnoticed:

And then, in an ultimate hold my beer moment, the @NFL, who blackballed Kaep for years for protesting cops killing unarmed black men, had an ad about effecting social change by fighting to reduce the number of unarmed black men killed by police.

You can't make this shit up.

— JayQwellin (@DarkCovfefe) February 3, 2020

lmao the fucking nfl has an ad about addressing police brutality hmmm if only someone was trying to do that years ago pic.twitter.com/XWRaacUg8j

— jordan (@JordanUhl) February 3, 2020

No, no, no @NFL! DO NOT HALF-STEP!!! You want to do the right thing by running the "Inspire Change"/ Unjustified Police Brutality commercials? I sincerely think that's great. But don't you dare continue to do it without giving @Kaepernick7 a fair shot at getting back into the NFL

— Cornell Lawrence (@CornellLawrenc3) February 3, 2020

Black people are not to be tokenized for political exploitation.

Two rich, racist presidential candidates conveyed white savior complex. @Kaepernick7 took a knee to protest police brutality, only to have the @NFL publicize an ad on police brutality.

Billionaires are https://t.co/ZynV6GOL6d

— Shaniyat Chowdhury for US Congress NY5 (@Shaniyat2020) February 3, 2020

The hypocrisy.

Meanwhile...

February owes me nothing..#SuperbowlSunday #BlackHistory365#Harlem#ColinKaepernick pic.twitter.com/CrYYRz4G8R

— K. Poitier! (@harlemhoney77) February 3, 2020

While his former team played in the Super Bowl, Colin Kaepernick was busy giving back!

The former NFL star made his way to the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem yesterday where he spent time meeting the employees and touring the building. Then, he teamed up with Carolina Panthers safety/his friend Eric Reid and 100 Suits for 100 Men at the SCO Family Shelter in Jamaica, Queens to pass out suits to men. The organization 100 Suits for 100 Men is a non-profit that gifts clothing to men and women looking for jobs.

After that, Colin helped serve meals at the Shelter with help from the LES Girls Club and Know Your Rights volunteers.

Check it below:

THE GIVE BACK Yesterday at SCO Family Shelter in Jamaica Queens, NYC @Kaepernick7 @E_Reid35 @100suits @girlsclubny #imwithkap #nokapnonfl pic.twitter.com/5y50XWng0s

— Know Your Rights Camp (@yourrightscamp) February 3, 2020

There was more controversy from the Super Bowl...

WATCH: While thousands of proud Americans stood in-allegiance for the National Anthem, Jay-Z and Beyonce sat in silence.

America has no place for unpatriotic scum like these two.

Kick them and Colin Kaepernick right down to Mexico!#fixit pic.twitter.com/4JlEAKhd4i

— Andrew Pollack (@AndrewPollackFL) February 3, 2020

As Demi Lovato belted out the National Anthem, Beyonce & Jay-Z were recorded sitting during her performance. And that caused social media to go into a frenzy.

Beyonce and Jay-Z should be thanking America not disgracing it! pic.twitter.com/Zu6iw7kReK

— ACT for America (@ACTforAmerica) February 3, 2020

There was backlash when Kaeprnick kneeled during the Anthem, and now Beyonce and Jay-Z. Thing is, there's too much information on this matter for people not to understand why African Americans are disinterested in standing during the Anthem.

— SirVincent Rogers Sr. (@SirV55) February 3, 2020

What a disgusting act of shame.

Beyonce and Jay-Z remained seated during the National Anthem at the Super Bowl.

This country has given them the opportunity to be everything they are, and they reward it by disgracing the Flag and Anthem!

Our service heroes deserve more respect!

— Nick Adams (@NickAdamsinUSA) February 3, 2020

Beyonce and Jay-Z should be thanking America not disgracing it! pic.twitter.com/Zu6iw7kReK

— ACT for America (@ACTforAmerica) February 3, 2020

Eric Reid also posted up on tweets, seemingly firing shots at the Carters:

https://t.co/yhenyO2oex pic.twitter.com/Khr9Leuf53

— Eric Reid (@E_Reid35) February 3, 2020

He also retweeted these tweets on his timeline:

Ladies and gentleman, I present Mr. “I think we’re past kneeling.” https://t.co/f4GXDjio8r

— Resist Programming (@RzstProgramming) February 3, 2020

Y’all the fake caring about Black people and injustice ads aren’t for us. It’s for white people, to make them not feel bad about supporting racist politicians & policies. Why would you think they care about us when they continue to kill us?

— Bree Newsome Bass (@BreeNewsome) February 3, 2020

After news of Hov's deal with the NFL, the Hip Hop mogul said he still supports Kap, but said, “We’ve moved past kneeling. I think it’s time to go into actionable items.” Mr. Carter also said he had spoken to Colin about the deal before it was made public, but the former QB denied those reports.

After Bey & Jay's video went viral, Colin himself even fired a shot. He reposted an IG Stories originally posted by Miko Grimes, the wife of Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Brent Grimes, where she's criticisizing Bey & Jay sitting during the National Anthem with the "thinking" anamoji and the caption, "I thought we were past kneeling tho?":

Bigot Barbie Tomi Lahren didn't waste any time verbally attacking The Carters on social media:

Beyoncé & Jay-Z (former crack dealer)sit for the national anthem because apparently the United States of America has oppressed them with millions upon millions of dollars & fans. Sounds rough. Maybe they should try another country that allows them a little more freedom & success?

— Tomi Lahren (@TomiLahren) February 3, 2020

"Beyonce & Jay-Z (former crack dealer) sit for the national anthem because apparently the United States of America has oppressed them with millions upon millions of dollars & fans," she tweeted. "Sounds rough. Maybe they should try another country that allows them a little more freedom & success?"

She's always looking for her little 15 minutes of fame. She knows more than anyone that exercising the right to protest is more American and shows more love for this country than anybody in her party.

Decked out in Ivy Park x Adidas threads, daytime talk show host Wendy Williams said Bey & Jay should have stood during the anthem while delivering her Hot Topics segment today:

@WendyWilliams her always telling it like it is! pic.twitter.com/nvTppyhGv2

— vanessa zayas (@silzayas) February 3, 2020

So, she's dragging Bey while wearing her clothing? Oh. She also threw in that her stylist "received the clothes a few weeks ago," seemingly trying to hint Beyoncé - who is known to not have a relationship with Wendy - gifted the clothes to them. But who even knows.

Outside of the drama, Bey shared flicks from her personal stash of her Super Bowl outfit:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Beyoncé (@beyonce) on Feb 2, 2020 at 4:37pm PST

The Lion King star rocked a green Balmain suit accessorized with Messika Paris jewelry.

The Carters brought their daughter Blue Ivy for the Super Bowl festivities:

Jay-Z x @MeekMill at #SBLIV

: #SBLIV | 6:30pm ET on FOX : NFL app // Yahoo Sports app pic.twitter.com/aUDcoSc6Lw

— NFL (@NFL) February 2, 2020

Blue & JAY-Z at the Hard Rock Staduim #SuperBowl pic.twitter.com/xtNxw2gZJA

— Moe Samir | Pop Culture & Music Expert (@TheMoeSamir) February 2, 2020

pic.twitter.com/g2v5TIhoXX

— Família Carter (@familiacarterbr) February 2, 2020

Beyoncé and Jay Z have just arrived at the Hard Rock Stadium #SuperBowl pic.twitter.com/19AytDhSrl

— Moe Samir | Pop Culture & Music Expert (@TheMoeSamir) February 2, 2020

Beyoncé pic.twitter.com/vCM3u3yOPO

— Família Carter (@familiacarterbr) February 2, 2020

Beyoncé e JAY-Z pic.twitter.com/JR0JhHfY79

— Família Carter (@familiacarterbr) February 3, 2020

So, what are your thoughts about the NFL's anti-police brutality ad? Also, how do you feel about The Carters sitting out the National Anthem?!

Photo: Twitter

[Read More ...] source http://theybf.com/2020/02/03/nfl-airs-anti-police-brutality-ad-during-the-super-bowl-blackballed-colin-kaepernick-give

0 notes

1upmushrooms · 7 years

Text

My Thoughts on Spiderman: Homecoming.

This Saturday, I’ll be doing something different. Instead of uploading a short story I thought I’d talk about a movie I just recently saw. Namely this one:

Before I get in deep, I wanna warn all of y’all.

I will be getting into SPOILERS for this movie.

If you don’t want to be spoiled, here’s a quick spoiler-free review: It’s great. One of the most fun Spider-Man movies I’ve seen and it is easily my favorite of all the 6 Spider-Man films (I even like it more than Spider-Man 2). So yeah, I highly recommend it.

Again, SPOILERS from here on out. If you don’t wanna be SPOILED, read no further.

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

I really can't state my love for Spider Man: Homecoming enough. It's really good and so far one of my personal favorites of the MCU (though both the Guardians of the Galaxy movies are a very close second).

Obviously, Tom Holland is an incredible talent. The previous on screen Spider-Men have been commonly critiqued for expertly portraying one side of the character and falling flat for the other side. Toby Maguire was a great Peter Parker but an awkward Spider-Man, whereas Andrew Garfield was a fantastic Spider-Man but his Peter Parker came off a bit too cool and confident. Tom Holland was great at portraying BOTH.

I also felt that this incarnation was the most relatable. Peter's eagerness to join the Avengers on another mission (to the point where he's constantly leaving voice messages on Happy Hogan's phone) is absolutely adorkable and his sheer devotion to his duties as Spider-Man is admirable to a degree. At the very least, he's taking "With great Power, there must also come great Responsibility" seriously.

And good God, when he's in peril it's actually a little tough to watch. Especially the scene where he’s stuck under the huge amount of debris and there’s no one to help him. After all, he's still a kid with only a little experience to this whole superhero gig. So when he's in true danger, danger that might actually do him in this time, it's both suspenseful and even heart wrenching to witness.

I also found Parker's friend, Ned Leed's to be a rather fun character. His constant squees of joy are rather relatable (I know I'D get excited if I knew my friend was Spider-Man). While there are moments where he comes dangerously close to being a guy Peter should stop hanging out with, he fortunately manages to never get TOO annoying and he also proves to be truly helpful as he saves Peter from the Shocker and then goes on to be a rather promising “Guy in the chair”.

The interactions with Peter, Tony, and Happy Hogan are also really good. I really like that they got Faverau back for Happy Hogan and he does a great job of portraying a grump with a complete disdain for Peter. However, he also grows to respect Peter later one. The scene near the end where Happy straight forwardly tells Peter he did him a solid by fighting the Vulture is a really touching scene that shows how much his perception of the kid has changed from the beginning.

Tony Stark is...well Tony Stark. You really think RDJ's gonna turn in a bad performance? But yeah, he's fantastic in the few scenes he's in and I appreciate that he doesn't steal the spotlight from Peter. He's there when he needs to be there, and he leaves when he needs to leave.

Flash Thompson......eeeeeeh. It's not that this is a bad character or even a bad performance. I just think it's a bit too far removed from the original character. Really, the only real similarity between Movie Flash and Comic Flash is that they're asshole bullies. Sure, Ned Leed's is nothing like his comic counterpart but he's an extremely obscure character in the comics. Flash, on the other hand, is practically one of Peter's most pivotal and most enduring antagonists.

It'd be like if they included J. Jonah Jameson and made him a young man in his 20's who rarely raises his voice and is rather supportive of Spider-Man. I dunno, I think they could've at least made Flash a Spider-Man fanboy to give him some more ties to his comic counterpart.

Peter's crush, Liz is fine. She didn't really leave that huge of an impact on me. Though I did feel sorry for her after Peter ditched her at homecoming. (Not that he didn’t have a good reason, mind you).

Alright, I honestly fought myself to keep this post from just being a Michael Keaton praise-fest and I think I did alright so far. However, I think I’m gonna stumble a little on this next part because I cannot praise Michael Keaton enough.

His performance as Adrian Toomes (AKA: The Vulture) is the highlight of the movie for me. His backstory as a blue-collar family man who, along with his cleanup crew, have had their jobs taken away from Damage Control (Hey, Comicbook reference!), is sympathetic in and of itself. It also makes Adrian a scavenger of sorts (fitting). However, Adrian Toomes has a fair amount of sympathetic qualities as well.

For starters, the major reason Toomes is an arms dealer is so his family (not to mention the families of his employees) doesn't have to suffer in poverty. He's also a benevolent boss to his underlings and only kills an employee who coldly threatened to harm his family (it's even implied he didn't intend to kill him). He's even surprisingly grateful to Peter for saving his daughter's life. In fact, because Peter saved his daughter, Toomes was actually willing to leave Peter alone....provided he leaves HIM alone of course.

Of course, this doesn't mean The Vulture is a soft villain. God help you if you continue to interfere with his business. Adrian Toomes is incredibly ruthless when he has to be and, since he's played by Michael Keaton, is downright terrifying when he gets serious.

My absolute favorite scene is the one in the car where Adrian figures out Peter is Spider-Man. You see, Adrian turns out to be the father of Liz, Peter’s crush. And as he takes them to Homecoming, Liz let’s it slip that Peter has been disappearing a lot lately. It's genuinely chilling to see Toomes' face glimmer as he slowly puts two and two together.

I also liked how they handled the Shocker. He's not 100% faithful to the character but there is definitely one element I'm glad they got right. Near the third act, Shocker actually announces that he's leaving the Vulture's crew. The job has gotten too much unwanted attention from both the feds and Iron Man. He even urges Adrian to do the same and only stays when he thinks there's a much better chance of success.

THAT is the Shocker of the comics. Yeah, he's a butt monkey with a silly costume, but he's also a career bank robber who's a veteran in the field for a reason. He always keeps a low profile, he never holds grudges, and always tries to get out a job when it goes sour. Yeah, this version of him isn't shown to be a technical genius (at least from what we've seen so far), but at the very least he's still a pro who knows when to fold 'em. I hope we see more of him in future installments.

Speaking of villains I wanna see more of, Marc Gargan (The Scorpion) is in this for about two scenes...and boy does he make good use of them! We don't know much about him, but we do know that he is bad news and is out for Spider-Blood by the end of the film. Also, in a post credits scene, he mentions "Several friends" outside who might wanna have a go at Spider-Man. I'm probably reaching here, but what if there are "Six" friends of his? Six friends that happen to be quite "Sinister"? Ah? AAAAH?

But seriously though, I really hope Marc Gargan makes another appearance in the sequel. It'd be a terrible waste if he just disappeared with not even a mention.

One more thing I wanna mention before I (mercifully) end this post: Michelle Jones....whose friends call her MJ.

Honestly, it's another Flash Thompson situation of a good character and performance (One of my favorite jokes in the whole movie is when Michelle snarks about the Washington monument being built by slaves) having absolutely nothing to do with the comics character. Michelle is a love interest. Mary Jane is a love interest. That is literally it.

This instance is even more egregious because Mary Jane Waston is one of the franchise's most iconic characters. Even regular Joes who don't read comics can easily tell you who Mary Jane is and for this movie to completely change her personality is annoying. Not helping matters at all is the fact that the Raimi films didn't get her right either so we can add "Wasted opportunity to get the character right" to the list of problems. Again, Michelle is great as her own character but the MJ stuff just annoys me.

However, that is still a blemish in what is otherwise a fantastic addition to the MCU. I’m definitely getting this one when it comes to blu-ray.

#spiderman #spider-man: homecoming #thoughts on

3 notes · View notes