#i just….was shocked to see the scale where it was like i would’ve been so happy with half of that

[eversncenewyork]

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[honeym4rk]

skinship - backaches

in a relationship where your boyfriend finds physical affection rather awkward, you’d best believe it would’ve taken some time for him to warm up to the idea of skinship- skin to skin, a hand on his, cheeks crashing together as close as possible. but the patience comes at a good cost- mark has several ways to close the distance between you. 

it’s clear mark pays close attention to what you say and do- after hearing you perpetually complain about your back aches and seeing you slump down into a structureless figure on your desk chair, he begins to notice the fact that you are always very slightly hunched forward. 

not that it was ever too noticeable, but after realising this, everytime he sees you slouch it awakens an innate desire in him to straighten your back, like one wishes to remove any kinks from a wire. 

one day, as you stand in the kitchen waiting for your food in the microwave, he creeps up behind you, poking you right smack in the centre of your spine. 

“you should try improving your posture.” he says, as a matter of fact, “it’ll probably help your back pain.”

you arch your back like a cat, wincing from the discomfort. 

it’s sweet that he notices, and even sweeter that he consistently tries to look out if you’re standing or sitting up straight. sometimes he pokes you in the side when he’s sitting next to you in the library- which might’ve caused you to yelp a few times. you glare at him, but it does the job in making you flinch and aligning your spine as he points out your hunched back.

once, he even lightly taps the pads of his fingers down your spine, sending you shivers down that very bone. he drums on your back playfully before casually landing his hand around your waist as you stand side by side, waiting at the bus stop.

when you queue in line to buy food he puts his hands on your shoulders to bring them backwards and literally fixes your posture himself- letting out a brief, muttered reminder to “stand up straight, babe.” you can hear the small pout and whine in his voice even though he sounds so nonchalant. 

he gives you multiple massages even if he isn’t particularly good at them, but he’s improving and tries to remember the perpetual, specific points on your back that are culprits to your pain, rubbing, kneading with tender care into the knots. 

“woah,” he chuckles, “this one feels so stiff i can feel your pain.” his fingers are going deep into your skin, one hand holding your bare left waist in place while the other pokes its knuckles into the crevices of your back. 

mark also likes to survey for your customer experience- “does it feel better? rate my performance on a scale of one to ten, y/n. i feel like i was more helpful than i was the last time.”

“not bad, mark! i give you a seven this time. where’d you learn that thing where you pressed down with your elbow? it felt really good.”

“i watched a youtube video on it. you know, when i was looking, i stumbled across this back massage asmr channel. it’s really weeeird. but it’s kinda cool at the same time.” 

his antics hit a soft spot that melts you into a puddle of joy and a constant state of gratitude that he wants to do so much, wants to relieve the persistent tension in your spine even though he carries a massive weight atop of his own shoulders.

you feel that the distance between you two is the smallest it’s ever been in these moments- you feel him most intimately when he grabs your shoulders to pull them back and his fingers graze your neck after it taps your chin gently and slip away. moments like that. they feel better than even the static shock when your pinkies link, an electric force that binds your hands together. 

maybe it’s because there’s a clear intent to look out for you. in comparison to mere fingers pining to and reaching out to intertwine, it shows a deliberate effort to care. maybe mark wants you to stop whining about your pain. maybe mark just wants you to stop hurting. maybe mark wants for you not to damage your backbone so your health isn’t affected when you grow old together. maybe that’s a reach. 

but what you know is that it’s more touching to have someone care this way- maybe more touching than a meaningless peck on the lips or a hug that could last forever. 

next (facewash)

a/n: here’s mark fixing haechan’s posture lol i think it’s the cutest thing ever

[galaxymagitech]

Don’t know if anyone still cares about spoilers for this, but…

SPOILERS FOR TEEN TITANS (2003)

So I finished TT03 season 2. And cried. I was NOT expecting a teenager to die. When Terra defeated Robin, I thought “this can only end in a last-minute heroic sacrifice.” But it still took me by surprise that she was actually just gone. They make her a gravestone and she never comes back as Terra. It was shocking.

I tend to see most characters in the most sympathetic way possible, and that applies to Terra too. She did terrible things and she knows it. She made really bad, perhaps irredeemable, mistakes. But she also didn’t deserve the way her story went. Doing bad things and experiencing bad things don’t cancel each other out. Being hurt doesn’t justify hurting people, although you can certainly experience empathy for someone like that. But also—just because someone, especially a 15/16-year-old teenager, hurts people doesn’t mean it isn’t sad when they get hurt too.

Looking back on Terra’s story, I don’t know what the Teen Titans could have done differently. Fixing one mistake would’ve just delayed the inevitable. Slade was cunning enough to manipulate Terra and unlike Robin she didn’t have an established support system—Slade got to her before she could build one and undermined all her successive efforts. Terra says she’s looking for control, but I don’t think she’s right about herself. If she wanted control then she would’ve left Slade as soon as she got control over her powers. I think she was looking for safety and she considered herself a threat. She wanted to feel protected and secure, after so long on her own, and Slade offered her the opportunity to take the storm inside of her and channel it outwards. He offered her a place she didn’t have to fight him for, and Terra had never had that before. The Teen Titans couldn’t give her what she needed—and neither would Slade, but you can see why she thought he would. And Terra keeps repeating that she’s in control, that she wants this, as if trying to convince herself, and it was honestly horrifying to me.

I don’t want to take away Terra’s agency here. She was manipulated, but she still chose to betray the Titans. She isn’t a good person. But I don’t think she’s a bad person either. It’s not a dichotomy, it’s a sliding scale. She was just a person and she was trying but it wasn’t enough.

And Terra was a kid. She was a teenager who was lost and confused and scared and made the choices that seemed best to her in the moment. She changed her mind again and again. She gave up the best thing she ever had. In another world, she could’ve been happy. She could’ve even been “good,” maybe not in the profoundly heroic person at heart way, but in the “doing good things” way. If Terra hadn’t had out of control superpowers, if Slade hadn’t noticed her, Terra wouldn’t have turned “bad.” If she’d gotten a normal life, she wouldn’t have been “bad.” Terra was just as deserving of a good life as a normal person.

So I found myself with literal tears in my eyes over an animated TV show, because it just sucked so much that Terra’s story ended up like this and this was way darker and more horrifying than I expected.

Some of this goes for the comics character too. I think she’s genuinely a bad person in the comics, and a lot less sympathetic. But also—without getting into the specifics—her life really sucked. She did bad things and bad things happened to her. Deathstroke manipulated her, and although it was clear that she’d kill people/be evil on her own, the way her story went was really sad. And of course she’s still responsible for her own evil actions, but…any time you’ve got a teenager whose life is like that, whose mind is so messed up that killing people seems like a good idea, it doesn’t matter where the blame is assigned—it’s a tragedy.

I can’t help but have sympathy for Terra, in both forms. Because no matter how awful she was or how many cruel things she did, she was a kid and her story was sad.

(Me: Terra is a kid! 15 or 16 years old! A kid!!

Also Me: I’m…practically an adult.)

[jurassic-park-incorrect-quotes]

On the scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate Jurassic World Dominion?

(This becomes a very long post that goes all over the place, so I apologise. If your attention span is as short as mine, I won’t be offended if you just “too long, didn’t read”)

This is actually quite difficult for me to answer, because I’m easy to please when it comes to films - if I had fun watching it then to me it was a good film. And I had a lot of fun watching Dominion. So I’ll try putting on a logical head for this one.

Spoiler free opinion: 8/10

I’ll go more in depth with my opinion which means I will openly talk about stuff that happened in the film. So serious spoiler warning! (All you asked was to rate the film out of 10 but I guess I’m going full opinion time!)

Ok. I loved this film. Seeing Alan, Ellie and Ian back as main characters was OF COURSE a big part of that. I also loved seeing the dinosaurs in the world, how they were with the humans and other animals. And I liked that the ending was “so yeah. Nothing’s changed from the beginning. Dinosaurs are in our world now so deal with it.” With the exception that the humans and animals were no longer fighting back. The parallel between the beginning where the horses were being used to round up the Paras and the end where they’re a unified herd was great. And I liked Alan’s last look at a little girl playing with a dinosaur. It was him seeing that dinosaurs and man could co exist.

The amount of different dinosaurs was great! And the animatronics were. Top. Notch. That giga animatronic is beautiful. The scene where Maisie is with those workers and they watch the brachiosaurus in solemn silence was really nice actually. I liked the lack of dialogue. You could hear some indistinguishable shouts in the background and Maisie whispers to that one guy about the flare, but the fact you couldn’t hear what any of them were saying was just a nice way of showing what was going on without the brachiosaurus’ majestic moment being sullied by dialogue. It was just a nice gentle moment. I like how the franchise has used brachiosaurus as a symbol of peace amongst humans and dinosaurs since the Sleeping in the Tree scene in the first one. I feel like every time they show a brachiosaurus dying, it symbolises current animosity between the humans and dinosaurs - see: Jurassic World + JW: Fallen Kingdom. So maybe this little scene shows us (foreshadows??) that humans and dinosaurs can find a way to co exist. Maybe I’m thinking way too deeply into this.

Another thing I really liked was the family dynamic between Claire, Owen and Maisie. I felt this was the film where I liked Owen the most (don’t get me wrong, I liked his character a lot in the last two films, unpopular an opinion that is in the fandom). He felt more mature and grown up, less selfish and less quips, and I haven’t seen anyone actually acknowledge that yet. Although, that’s probably due to him being played by Chris Pratt and I understand that separating actor from character can be hard - a post for a different time.

As I was saying, I liked their little family. It was shocking to actually see a Jurassic Park couple stay together from the previous film. A first in the franchise I think! I’ve enjoyed Claire’s story throughout the 3 films, and it hasn’t ever felt forced to me. Trying to make up for treating the dinosaurs as money making attractions rather than the animals they are is a simple but good idea to make her character likeable. Maisie was a little grating at the beginning - girl, they’re literally trying to protect you! You are old enough to understand why they’re not letting you beyond the bridge! - but I could understand why she was fed up. Bet they didn’t even have WiFi in that cabin.

The bad guys were good enough, and they served their purposes. It would’ve been nice to see Dodgson act like book Dodgson though. The nice, friendly Dodgson when he’s welcoming Alan and Ellie to BioSyn, but in truth is cold-hearted and has no qualms about letting his underlings die to progress his company. That way I feel like his death would’ve been much more satisfying (don’t get me wrong I was grinning like a maniac the entire scene. It was still good to see an end to the guy responsible for starting the franchise).

Alan, Ellie and Ian were damn near perfect in this film and I’m disappointed that we only got the one scene of just the three of them together - a scene that was mainly Ellie and Ian talking plot related stuff while Alan was arguing with a barista (on behalf of all baristas, I apologise. You are my favourite character of the entire franchise Alan. I love you). Don’t get me wrong, I found that really funny, and it fits Alan’s character - see: Alan + Computers in the first film - but I wanted a whole scene of three of them. Maybe they’re discussing something together, and then the conversation escalates to Alan and Ian getting into one of their classic arguments until they realise Ellie’s gone quiet. And she’s just stood watching them like “… you guys done?” And then they split.

And then of course, they needed a second scene of them either:

Traversing the lands, somehow separated from the Jurassic World characters, where they maybe talk about how they never actually did the whole “surviving dinosaur infested jungle” thing together. Alan did it first with just Lex and Tim and then the second time the entirety of JP3, Ellie did it with Muldoon (rip) for a short while, and Ian only really did it in The Lost World, as he was resting up injured since Rexy broke out in the first film. They could come across Rexy, either as a short Dino hunt scene or as maybe just a nostalgic scene (she could be sleeping or something when they come across her and they realise she’s the same one from JP due to her age and scars)

There wouldn’t have been time, but it would’ve been cool if they’d taken the tour with Ian and we get a call back to the three of them in the car, maybe Ian flirting with Ellie a little and Alan is less than impressed. Or maybe it could have been a really nice catching up bit. Ellie telling them about her kids growing up and being in college and what she’s up to. Ian telling them about his own kids, perhaps slipping in something about his daughter Kelly having been with him on Sorna. At least give us a hint as to what Sarah’s up to? Are they still together? Where is she? It would be nice. And then Ian asks Alan what he’s up to and he just says he’s doing what he’s always been doing, and leaves it at that. Again, they could see Rexy while on the tour and like I said before, is just a nice throw back moment. I would say they could go through the lab area and try going in to see it, breaking in, but at that point it would just be ripping scenes from the first one (but man do I love the three of them simultaneously breaking out the seats. They’re so great I love them!)

The throwbacks and references to the old films were really nicely done, I thought! First of all, they didn’t just reference the first film. A lot of “final” films in a franchise do the whole nostalgia awakening thing, but they usually just use stuff from the first one - aka the most well known and liked one. But they didn’t. In fact there was a surprising amount of JP3 references! E.g. Billy’s 3D printed raptor vocal chamber thingy was on Alan’s desk in his tent, and you can’t tell me you didn’t hear Amanda Kirby screaming “BEN?!?!?!” in your head when Claire was hanging in the parachute from the tree. I thought overall, the references were tasteful and not forced in your face. You could say the giga hunting them around the car was directly ripped from Rexy’s after-Gennaro car tossing, but I felt there was enough difference for it to once again be a nice throwback. Actually, I like that scene a whole lot. It’s one of the bits where the film especially feels like a Jurassic Park movie, which to me wasn’t felt all the way through the film (more on that later). I liked how real Maisie was when the giga was chomping down on the bars around her. I didn’t blame her for freezing in terror, and I thought the acting from her in that bit was really good! However I didn’t like the film making me think Ian was going to die. Felt for sure like the film was going to go “haha! The original characters aren’t immortal! Nostalgia won’t save them from being eaten! They’re all in the same boat” but I’m really glad they didn’t do that.

I’m surprised they sidelined Blue for the entire movie! She basically just said “you better get my kid back” and dipped. I think it was for the best, she wouldn’t have fit in with everything else going on. But she was such a big part of Jurassic World and Fallen Kingdom, and after seeing the raptors in all three JP films as lethal and to be avoided at all costs, it was a big thing to see a raptor/keeper relationship that wasn’t based on mutual hatred (Muldoon and the Big One were totally Owen and Blue’s opposites). Not to mention the toys and other money making products they got from her, it was quite shocking for her to be absent and unmentioned for the majority of the film.

I liked how they had Rexy win against the Giga, honestly! She had to win, because she is the Queen of Jurassic Park, obviously. But this jester prancing about in her court was bigger than her and a lot younger than her. Rexy was there from the beginning and she’s been in a few tough fights! The Big One gave Rexy iconic scars but she was young and had a massive advantage at that time. When she was up against the Indominous, she was fairly old and almost didn’t make it. And then with the Giga, she had been through and suffered a lot, and she was even older. Yet she still got a bit of damage in there. I was about to throw hands when they made it look like she had been killed. I liked that the Therizinosaurus got some hits in before Rexy got up to finish the giga off. It was a good way of killing the Giga without taking the moment away from the franchise’s most iconic dinosaur, even when the odds were against her. In true Rexy fashion, as seen with Blue, that one Carno and now the Therizinosaurus, she gave her assisting Dino a nod and let them go. I just hope that Alan, Ellie and Ian saw the end of that fight, I don’t want them thinking Rexy died. And she’s got family now? She’s not the only T-Rex any more?? Good stuff. She’s the Matriarch of that little family for sure.

Now for some things that brought down my opinion to an 8/10.

The characters should’ve all met up a lot sooner, I felt. Just as you were settling into the story of the Jurassic World characters, it would cut to scenes of the OG 3 and you were immediately sucked into it. So when it cut back you had to try and focus on them while trying not to wish it would go back to Alan, Ellie and Ian. If they’d met up sooner, you’d be able to focus on the Jurassic World characters’ stories as well as get more OG 3 content.

The plot line with Maisie and her mum. I did like it and found it interesting. But honestly it felt like I was watching a different film entirely. It didn’t feel like I was watching a Jurassic Park film, just another SciFi. I mean, I get that if they can clone dinosaurs from incomplete dna, then they can do it with humans, and I liked how they tied in “filling the gaps in the genome sequence” thing. But there was something about that plot line. I don’t know.

Disappointed we didn’t get any information on some of the other main characters from past films. When we saw Barry again, we got to see quick pictures of Vivian and Lowery, which was nice, but. How about Sarah Harding? Or maybe Zach and Gray? Or most of all, Timmy and Lex? Couldn’t they have asked Ariana if she didn’t mind putting down the paintbrush to do a small cameo? And I’m sure Joe Mazzelo would have loved to have at least done a scene. He still put Jurassic Park pictures and stuff on his Social Media. He’s still an actor! Timmy and Lex were iconic. And Claire could’ve at least had a line or something where she tells Owen that she was talking to her sister on the phone and that the boys are doing ok. But I am at least grateful we got our original 3 back.

The film kind of forgot that Alan was a beacon of survival in the franchise. His knowledge of dinosaurs helped them survive in Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park ///. “We look for your son… in the direction he’s going” - Mr Udeski, 2001, gone but not forgotten. You stick with Alan, you do as he says, you live to tell the tale. It would’ve been great to have a “what do we do?” scene where they all just turn and look expectantly at Alan. Instead, he was just kind of there to do… not a lot of Dino related stuff to be honest. Ellie told him to get the locust, so he did, He could’ve tested Maisie’s knowledge of dinosaurs when they were just the three of them, like he did with Timmy. Or he could’ve had a scene to himself, a moment to remind the audience who the original Main Character was from the first film. I just love Alan so much, he needs the recognition he deserves!

They never found out what Dodgson did. They never found out that he hired Nedry. Imagine a scene where the OG 3 find that out and absolutely tear him a new one between the three of them. Alan, Ellie and Ian went through way too much in this franchise for them not to get the chance to verbally eviscerate Dodgson for his greed and desire to be ahead in the genetics race. That, along with them tweaking his character to be more like his book self, would just make it perfect. I’d eat it up. His “Dennis Nedry sends his regards” Dilo death was chef’s kiss though. I’d keep all that for sure!

I don’t know if it was just me but… there weren’t that many kills. The most we got was the breakout in Malta. BioSyn was full of Red Shirt employees! But they just got sent home? Did I miss a massacre or was this film just really merciful? Maybe it’s because the group was full of main characters from the pat films so they couldn’t kill off anyone there. So like, have some characters of note amongst the BioSyn workers and University students who get eaten! It just surprised me how so few people died in the final film of the Jurassic Park franchise.

Now for some miscellaneous things I couldn’t write a paragraph on:

I liked Alan and Ellie with Maisie. It was nice to see 2 characters from the very beginning, who had seen everything throughout the franchise, with a character who was not only new, but only just starting her life really. Thinking about it, Maisie was quite lucky! She got parents in her first film, and grandparents in her second! Nice. It would’ve been good to see Alan have a moment with her, maybe bringing back the whole “Alan isn’t good with kids but hey, he’s trying!”

Barry. Is. Back! And it was great to see him. Was very scared they were going to kill him off, although death by raptor would’ve been fitting. Sorry you never got to say goodbye to Delta, Barry. :(

Where did Zia go??? She was in the one scene at the beginning and then disappeared. Glad to see my boy Franklin again, shame we didn’t get to see his bestie Zia though.

Pleasantly surprised they let Dodgson’s protégée guy live. I was prepared to say goodbye as soon as we met him. He was prime Red Shirt material.

I liked how they branched out from just Dinosaurs! Of course Pterasaurs have been in for a while, and there was the Mosasaurus, but seeing the cute little Diictodon (took me back to Primeval with Sid and Nancy) in Malta was nice, and the Dimetrodon drowning itself to do a JP3 Spinosaurus reference was cool too! (Although I was a little disappointed it wasn’t an actual Spino. I know there’s no way a Spino would fit in those mines, and it did defy everything by killing a T-Rex, but I did love it. The roar, the design… it was cool).

Carno/Allo team up (Think it was an Allo)! Literally looked at each other like “it’s you and me against the world” before eating people left right and centre. Hope they’re doing ok.

Speaking of, I want to just gently hold the baby Carno. Even if it bites me. Dinosaur King taught me the Carnotaurus love!

I also want a Dimorphodon to sit on my arm like a parrot so we can also stare at strangers walking past like an old pirate in a tavern.

Alan triangulating around Beta with Owen and Maisie was great. You could see the respect he has for the creature, the fear he has for it, and the amazement that he’s helping control a Velociraptor all at the same time. Like, he’s seen the intelligence of these creatures and he’s seen them kill. He’s studied them and their habits. And now he has a measure of control over one. I just really liked that. This is just me as a Muldoon fan, but he could’ve slipped in a line like “Robert would be turning in his grave if he knew we were trying to save this thing” but hey it’s not too big of a deal.

I reckon, if they did want to confirm that kid from the first film was Owen, they could’ve done it in the same scene. When Alan was saying that they now know Raptors went straight for the throat instead of gutting, Owen could’ve said something about how he didn’t need to traumatise him with the raptor claw fossil when he was a kid. Would’ve put Owen in the Alan Grant Fanclub right next to Eric and Timmy, who he quotes - “I read your book” - and would explain how he got the job at Jurassic World in the first place. A tough navy guy who’s interest in Velociraptors means he knows stuff about them too. It just works.

I was kind of disappointed when Owen showed up and scared off those Dilos, kind of felt like “ok, there you go, years of wanting the dilophosaurus back and now you’ve had your scene. Shove off.” So I thought, hey, we’ve seen them again after all these years (not just a hologram), I am happy! Just hearing those little chirrups filled my heart right up. Shame they’ve only ever claimed Dennis. But I thought too soon! Very satisfying that the dinosaur that killed the guy he hired also came for him too. Just a shame we never saw a body or anything like that.

I’m actually surprised how happy I was to see Wu get a good ending. He was never a bad guy per se, but you did sort of think that if he died, he’d deserve it. Or I did, anyway. So to see how run down and exhausted he was, as well as how much he wanted to do something good with his work, it was really nice to see him fix one of his mistakes. That bit where he was celebrating in the end, throwing his hands up in excitement and relief? I was happy for him. Hope he got to retire somewhere nice and peaceful.

Can you believe this film cuts out TellTale’s Jurassic Park: The Game from being canon? Because I know Rexy crushed that can. Unless Dodgson hired someone to make an old Barbasol can look like it had been buried in mud, he must have recovered it when Jurassic World was being built. How he managed to sneak in and get it i don’t know. And why he’d go through the effort of recovering it when the embryos inside are useless. He’s sentimental I guess. I can understand that. Really added to his death scene.

I liked how it ended. There’s enough there to make another film if they wanted to, but also, it’s a really nice way to end it all. It all ties back to stuff talked about in the first film. I love it.

And one last thing before this whole thing is finally posted: it’s been 29 years since Jurassic Park was released. Despite being a couple in the first one, Alan and Ellie never kissed - cause, you know. They were stuck on an island with dinosaurs killing people all over the place, they didn’t have time to kiss (not looking at you Claire and Owen. People being attacked and killed by pterasaurs everywhere, not a good time to be making out). I think that’s why there’s a slew of people who are adamant Alan and Ellie were never a couple, somehow ignoring the whole “Ellie wants kids but Alan doesn’t” thing throughout the film. Strange running theme to have between two characters who are just friends right? Anyway, our hopes were dashed by Jurassic Park /// annoyingly following book canon. So thank you, Jurassic World: Dominion, for giving us that Alan x Ellie kiss we’ve been waiting for since 1993. And it happened when they were nice and safe away from dinosaurs. In the cinema I was in, someone literally said “it’s about time!” When she kissed him. Cause yeah, it was. Alan and Ellie are canon, y’all.

8/10 overall

Great film (in my opinion)

[learningnewways]

Egypt - Day 2

After sleeping a full 8hrs in an actual bed for the first time in probably over a week, I felt like I could sleep all day long... But adventure was calling! We had a delicious homemade breakfast on the rooftop with breads, cheeses, salads and falafel. Yum! Our driver Amir picked us up, accompanied by our guide for the day, Rasha.

We started our day at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, where we saw tools used in ancient times, as well as like 20 mummies including Ramesses The Great, who was possibly the Pharaoh from the time of the Exodus... Outside the museum is an absolutely stunning man-made lake and massive garden area. It is still under construction, so we couldn’t actually walk around it, but it was beautiful. It’s what I imagine the Nile River would’ve looked liked in its prime.

We then went for a boat ride on the Nile River. I repeat, we went for a boat ride on the Nile River. Whaaaaaat?! I’ve read about the Nile River in the Bible and now here I am on it... Wild! On this river, Moses was put into a basket, to be discovered by Pharoah’s daughter... Wow... It was just the boat operator, our guide, my mother and I on a private little boat. We only went out a short distance for about 30mins, but it was wonderful. It was great to see Cairo from another perspective. We were so surprised that the Nile River was so quiet. We only saw one other boat while we were out there. It was so peaceful. Such a change from the hustle and bustle of the city with its loud tooting of horns! I’m so glad we got to do the boat ride. It would’ve been nice to do a longer ride, maybe at sunset, but we were only in Cairo for a short time, so I’ll take it!

Our guide then took us on a bit of an unexpected tiki-tour to some random places, one was a perfume place and the other a papyrus paper making and art place. It was a bit awkward as we didn’t particularly want to go and we were pretty sure our guide got a cut if we purchased something... The perfume place was uncomfortable as I’m not into that stuff anyway and my mum didn’t want to buy anything. That didn’t stop them doing a full on 30mins explanation and demonstration... Awkward... After that we went next door to the papyrus paper making and art place, and that was so much better. We got a demonstration all the way from cutting the papyrus plant to the finished paper product, it was so cool! We then walked around and I found a painting that I couldn’t help but fall in love with. Unfortunately I don’t have a photo of it and it’s packed away safely, but I just looked at it and knew it was the one for me. I spent the next 30mins bartering the guy down until I paid only 10% of the advertised price. My mum was so shocked! I am the bargain queen!

Then it was time for the pyramids! Wahoo! We were able to drive right onto the Giza Plateau where they are located and drive between pyramids which was nice. It was so surreal... I don’t really know how to explain being somewhere you have dreamt of visiting your entire life... It was hard to process that I was really there! We saw camels and pyramids and desert. My parents have photos of when they were here 30 years ago and there’s one of my dad standing on one of the pyramids. It’s insane! He is very tall, so it was helpful to see a scale of just how big each brick is. I thought there would be no way that we’d be able to do that nowadays... Well, I was wrong and so happy about that! I got to sit on the pyramids!! Whaaaaat?! Insane! Crazy! Wild! Surreal! Incredible! All the things! 

I wish I could’ve just sat there on the pyramids, taking it all in for at least an hour, but unfortunately we were on a tight schedule... But even the little time we got there was absolutely incredible. The pyramids were made over 4,000 years ago... There’s a sign that says, “built for eternity” when you enter and that seems so true! How have these pyramids been around for so long and still be in such a good condition? Especially when you have thousands of tourists climbing on them everyday? How much more stunning would they have been originally? People I’ve read about in the Bible, they must have seen the pyramids. Jesus might have seen the pyramids! And here I am, seeing the pyramids! Words can’t express my feelings...

Our driver Amir said that he has climbed all the way to the top of the pyramids twice. I didn’t believe him at first, but then he explained that it was in the 1990’s and that it wasn’t really allowed, but that he paid someone under the table to be able to do it. I mean, if I grew up in Cairo, surely that would be the thing you’d want to do! Climb the pyramids! I’ll save that for next time I think... Just kidding, it’s illegal now.

After that we went back to our accomodation, ate leftovers from the previous night’s dinner, and were in bed by 6pm. We were so tired and needed all the sleep we could get!

[astaroth1357]

Brothers Accidentally Make the MC Cry

Hello, this is the obligatory italics blurb that I have to put under my titles or else things look weird and it bothers me. Don’t mind the blurb. The blurb is a friend. (Though I could start writing pieces of a little story up here just to see if anyone even reads them… Hm…. Ideas, ideas...)

Warning: Angsty

Lucifer 

If he were being honest, he’d say that a part of him had always feared this would happen...

Lucifer likes to tell himself that he’s invincible, but everyday stresses can get to him just like anybody else. And like other people, he may not always act his best when he’s dealing with a full plate…

The MC hadn’t meant to make his day harder when they told him that they accidentally broke a lamp. It was a genuine accident! But Lucifer was still dealing with the fallout from another one of Mammon’s failed schemes, Satan had cursed all of his ties again, and Beel had eaten every scrap of food in the House… for the second time that week...

In comparison to everything else, a broken lamp was quite minor, but for Lucifer it was just the last straw and, for just a moment, he lost control…

His palm slamming against his desk hard enough to snap its legs and send it crashing to the ground. He scarcely knew what kind of look he had on his face, but whatever it was, he had made his human jump back in shock...

Really, it was silly for them to assume that he had gotten that upset over a lamp, but he saw tears starting to gather in their eyes all the same as they stammered out a quiet apology… 

It felt like an ice spike to the heart. Damn his temper… He really ought to have been more careful with them after… well, everything he’d done before…

He was quick to go over to them, catching their face with his hand and giving them the most sincere apology he could muster while wiping away their tears… Overreactions aren’t becoming of him and he hated to cause them pain… 

He, of course, took care of the lamp himself as penance and on the surface that seemed to be it (but to anyone paying attention, he had softened up on the MC considerably for at least a week. They probably could have sworn in front of Diavolo and he’d let it slide, he felt that bad about it...)

“I’m sorry, MC, I shouldn't have reacted like that… You haven’t done anything wrong, I promise… Please, there’s no need to cry…”

Mammon

Oh? What's that? His heart is now in a million pieces now...? Well, that seems fair…

He and the MC were out on one of his gambling nights and he was actually on a killer winning streak for once! Jackpots around every corner, he was rolling in it!

The MC had tried to convince him to just throw in the towel early, take his winnings while he had them and bail, but he wasn’t hearing any of it.

In hindsight, their insistence must have really shown how much the MC cared about him and wanted him to keep his earnings... but in the heat of the moment all he saw was someone trying to spoil his one night of fun.

To be fair to Mammon, it’s rather rare for him to lose control of his anger like he did. But when they tried to pull him away from the roulette table, he genuinely snarled at them and told them to get lost...!

Fortunately, he regretted his actions immediately after he saw the hurt in their eyes…

If their goal had been to get him to step away from the table, they achieved it. But only because he got up to pull them into a hug while stammering out apologies… Watching them actually shed tears hurt worse than any rope Lucifer had ever tied around him...

He spent the rest of the night away from the casino and trying to cheer up his human like his life depended on it... Seeing them in pain just tore him up that much.

"Ah, come on MC… I'm sorry, honest…! Please don't look at me like that, I'll do whatever ya want okay...? Just no more cryin…"

Leviathan 

Now thinks he's the worst, literally the worst. Lower than lesser demon spit. Lower than Cerberus' shit. Lower than… well, you get the idea…

Levi can get very… intense when things involving his passions are brought up. This can be a fairly endearing quality… but it also means he gets disproportionately impassioned about seemingly minor things.

Levi ended up snapping at the MC when they let him over-sleep one day. This wasn’t unusual for them to do as Levi’s sleep schedule was notoriously shitty, but they shouldn't have done it that particular day…

An item he wanted on Akuzon was going to go live that morning and he had to be awake to participate in the bidding. He had mentioned it to the MC the day before, but he blew past it so quickly they didn’t actually remember…

He found out that he missed the bidding after he woke up and he was pissed. Genuinely enraged that they didn’t remember to wake him up to the point that he was shouting and baring his fangs! 

… Really it was not a good look and he should have known better.

The look of fear and the tears gathering in the MC’s eyes snapped him out of it like a hard slap to the face, and somehow, it stung even more than that would’ve... It wasn’t long before he was crying along with them, practically begging for forgiveness...

He made it up to them by having a private showing of their favorite movie using a projector in the Planetarium, cuddling with them under a blanket while still, occasionally, muttering apologies under his breath.

“M-MC…? MC don’t cry…!! Please don’t cry, I- I’m sorry!! I… MC… I’m so sorry…”

Satan

Like Lucifer, he always worried this would happen and he hated when it finally came to pass…

He’d spent all his life learning how to restrain his temper, but it’s not a perfect science. There are the occasional times where the heat of the moment gets the better of him and he does something he regrets…

The MC had walked in on him one morning while he was fuming about Beel leaving the fridge empty again. It hadn’t been the first time they’d seen him like this, but this time he was absolutely furious.

He had told Beel again and again and again to get his snacking under control or to, you know, get up early and get more food so the whole family wouldn’t spend the morning starving but noooo! Mr. I’m Hungry never thinks about anything but his own stomach and then leaves whoever’s on kitchen duty to pick up the slack like some dimwitted muscle-bound meathead and THEN-!!

When the MC tried to take his arm to calm him down, he jerked their hand away from him and roared right in their face. He may not be a lion, but the full sound of a pissed off demon could make humans have breakdowns all on its own…

Which was more or less what the MC began to do as he gripped their wrist, panicking while taking shallow, stuttered breaths…

Satan's anger left him swiftly and he let them go, only reaching out to touch them again when he tried to wipe the tears from their cheeks… He had to coo and beg for them to calm down, which was only so successful because he was fighting back tears himself… 

On a scale of 1-10 of the worse things his temper has ever done, he'd rank this a firm 200... He refused to touch them for about a week afterwards and it took a long time for him to trust himself again… He just didn't want to hurt them...

"MC?? MC…? M… Oh no… MC, I'm so sorry, I would never hurt you! I… I wouldn't dare… please believe me..."

Asmodeus 

Oh baby! Sweetheart! Love of his life!! No, please no… don't subject him to this…

MC and Asmo were out dancing and some witch came by to try and flatter him.

Now, Asmo is a flirt normally, but get a few drinks in him and well… Let's just say his love of attention overrides his better judgment far more often than it should and friends don't let friends go home with creepy witches.

When the MC told the witch to scram, Asmo was confused and, frankly, quite irritated. That lovely lady had been stroking his ego in all the right ways and his human just scared her off so rudely!

Under most situations, Asmo would have kept his cool better but the haze of Demonus made his tongue loose... which let the venom fly…

He couldn’t quite remember what he said. The words left his mouth so quickly that they slurred together on his clumsy tongue, but it must have been enough because the MC flinched away from him.

That hurt all on its own, but as he started to process the pain in their eyes… he had never sobered up so fast...

He had their cheeks cupped in his hands and were kissing away their tears within the instant. Though the loud music at the club should have drowned out his apologies, the MC could see it written all over his equally tearful face…

He pulled them into his arms and then out of the club shortly after, the fog of Demonus that plagued him just moments before had long left him and all he knew was that the MC needed to be brought home and cuddled… stat.

“M-MC…? I’m sorry was it something… did I…? I’m so sorry… Please don’t cry…!”

Beelzebub 

He really didn't mean to shout so loud… honest... 

Beel becomes a completely different person when he’s hungry. He’s not entirely to blame, as his hunger can get so intense, but he still can snap from time to time when he really doesn’t mean to…

It was right after one of his practices and Beel hadn’t gotten a chance to eat in a few hours by the time the MC came to grab him from RAD. That already had him in a bad mood, but practice hadn’t gone too well for him either… 

He honestly didn’t realize how sharply he snapped at the MC when they asked him how he was. The irritation and frustration of the day all hit him at once and he became much harsher towards them than he ever intended…

It must have been the shock of seeing ever-sweet Beel suddenly get so aggressive with them that startled them so. He saw a couple tears gathering in their eyes before they could hide them and his heart just sank…

The MC was picked up in a crushing bear hug before they even let out their first sniffle. Beel didn’t even have to say how sorry he was, they could feel it in every squeeze he gave them. All while he completely ignored the growling of his stomach...

Beel wouldn’t let them go until he was certain they’d forgiven him which, honestly, took a while. Mammon was the one to ask why he had carried them all the way back to the House like a baby but… well, he didn’t need to know, now did he?

“MC, I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have shouted… Are you alright...?”

Belphegor 

Stubborn boi is stubborn and trying really, really hard not to crack right now...

That's not going to last long.

Belphie can be a bit of a brat and since he's the baby of the family so he's used to getting his way. He and the MC don't argue a ton, but when they do, he always digs his heels in and refuses to budge an inch on anything.

So what started out as a simple disagreement on how often Belphie would flake out on his chores turned into a kick-the-door-down argument over how much his laziness left the MC to pick up the slack...

It ended as all their barn burning arguments do, with demon-form Belphie sitting cross-legged on his bed refusing to look at them and the MC angrily pacing about the room until he cools off…

And then he heard it.

First a sniffle… and then a hiccup. Another sniffle then muffled whine…

Oh no… not this… Why are they crying…? They don't normally cry…

To his credit (or perhaps discredit), he managed to hold out for about two minutes before he finally glanced back at them. Seeing the MC wiping their tears all alone on the floor crumbled his resolve real quick.

The MC found themselves enveloped by Belphie's arms before they even noticed he got up. Naturally, he was pouting and trying to make it seem like "not a big deal or anything" but they could tell by the nervous twitch of his tail that he was hurting too…

Needless to say. Belphie started remembering his chores a lot more after that.

"Humans are so fragile… I didn't mean to make you cry, you know? I'll get things done just… Don't cry… please…"

[lolita-lollipop]

Royal siren erasermic family? They like adopt you after you hatch from an egg bc they found you or something idk and take you back to the castle and make you their little princess or something cute and fluffy like that.

YANDERE SIREN ERASERMIC FAMILY X BABY PRINCESS READER

Shinso was just out and about, swimming through some forbidden areas he wasn’t supposed to be in, avoiding sharks, when he found an iridescent little ball under some rubble of a shipwreck, it made his gills tingle at the sweet aura that it emmited, he knew, that this creature, was something to protect. It was up until he saw something moving inside that he thought it was just some ancient treasure that would’ve died with this ship, he examined it closer, squinting his eyes, that’s when he realized, it was a Siren. A baby one at that, usually they hatched out of boring white eggs, the royal family’s were gold, but a shiny color changing white that combated the finest of jewels? Never, this little pip was special, he could feel it.

So he brought it back home, through his “balcony window”, debating wether or not he should tell his parents. As you know, he was somewhere where he was not supposed to be, and they would throw a fit. Then again, whatever this thing was, he couldn’t just keep it to himself, something was living inside it, and he wouldn’t know if something was wrong, so he has too. When he did, it came as a suprise that his parents weren’t mad, they jsut kindof stared at the orb, inhaling the addictive scent it gave off, the three huddled around it, aizawa carefully picking the Small thing up, it was only about the size of a pumpkin, extremely easy to pick up, yet he could still feel the heartbeat of a creature inside, it just had to be one of the sirenfolk , there isn’t any other explanation. He stared at it in confusion, noticing the small cracks staring to form.

Then a little hand popped through, and scared the shit out of all of them.

———

As it turned out, you were in fact a siren, a rare subtype of them, thought to have gone extinct long, long ago. The opal-looking scales that littered your arms and tail showed proof of it, this species were intensely more fragile, and weaker, that’s why they went extinct, as they couldn’t hear, and a small crabs pinch could cause major bone breaks, they were just too weak, yet so beautiful. That’s why they were coveted among the royal family. It only helped their growing obsession taht you were so cute.

It might’ve been an act of I’mpulse, but they just needed to have you as their own, of course, their word is law, so they could’ve just kept you, but they felt the need to make it official, they’d already had two pips, you’re just their third! It was simple, of course, you specific species could be born into sirenfolk families, it was just so rare that it had only happened once. You were just so cute, so fragile, just something so breakable, they just

H a d

To protect this tiny lil thing, it was instinctual to feel a protective pull over their little pups, and boy were they feeling that right now, you were special, not just any baby, but you were theirs. Their special little pup, nothing would ever lay a hand on you, ever. It had only be a few days, and word spreads through the underwater kingdom like a wave, from the servant maid who showed them how to take care of you, to the head maid, to a citizen, to the fisher, and eventually, by the end of the week, the whole kingdom was eagerly waiting to get a glimpse of their new princess.

And boy were they shocked to find out it was an opalite, the most rare of rare sirens in the world. Immediately after they had shown you to the world, sitting in a large clam as it was pulled by sharks, the citizens fell in love with you, maybe it was the fact that you were related to their beloved royals, maybe because the royal family would intensely glare at anyone who made negative comments, maybe it was the fact that a few of those people went missing, but who knows right?

You still hadn’t been able to open your eyes yet, and you won’t be able to hear them for a very long time, your hands were about the size of aizawas eye, and you looked closer to a fish than a human, as you hadn’t even developed your face yet, another plus to being the endangered species, note the sarcasm. And guess what? They found it so adorable, just their cute little baby, their little pup who can’t even protect themselves from the water around them. They just loved every part of your little body, from your tails, to your tiny little hands, to your shiny gills. It was all just so perfect- you were so perfect, and you were theirs, they were gonna protect you at all costs.

So of course they did, you were just so tiny right now, they knows practically anything could hurt you, so they opted to be around you all the time, only leaving to hunt for humans that would suffice for their tastes, drawling them in, determined because of that little smile of yours. You motivated them to do it, they were doing this for you. It have them all a sense of pride to have you feel safe with them, to rite them you. On their own terms.

Eri was constantly around you, being that she was a young one just like you, and you were her little sister! So she wanted to always be around while you made those echoing gurgling noises, or flapped your hands around in the water, she didn’t have responsibility in the kingdom yet, unless being cute is a job, so she can be with you jsut as much as she wants. Always sitting with you while you played with the floating pearls that they had arranged over your play area, watching you feel new things, holding you while you dozed off with adorable little bubbles, she always was with you.

Like now, she’s been with you all day, giving you little snacks, glaring at the guards at the door who always had their eyes on you… creeps. The sun was almost setting, and when you’re low down in the ocean it goes pitch black after a little while, and that’s when the jellyfish come out, tonight was one of the most special days out of the year in the northern oceans, the jellyfish festival, the one night a year when the rare white jellyfish would come out to say hi, leaving trails of shimmering sparkle behind them, painting the upper levels of the ocean a shiny silver. It just so happened that it occurred on your first birthday, a very small increment to sirens, as they live almost a billion years, but still a big accomplishment in their eyes. Look! Their little baby girl is turning one! How amazing!

“Do you see them hon? Look, they’re just starting to appear” Aizawa asked both you and eri calmly, swishing his hand through the salty water to pint at the new appearance of white and purple blobs, slowly flouncing their way overhead. Eri smiled up at it, her pointed teeth displayed in full view, her eyes shined at the view, not only of the huge jellyfish, but also at you, who was placed delicately in mics lap, sat up against his chest. Little bubbles escaped your mouth as you blew raspberries into the water, just making the family laugh.

“Mm-hmmm! Look! Look! How pretty! I wanna touch em! Can I touch em!” She yelled at her parents, excitedly pointing towards the jelly’s floating towards the surface, her hair floated behind her as she swished around, shinsho just chuckled, knowing that she eventually would try to touch them, and get zapped, again, like last year, and the year before, and the year before.

“No hon. Don’t do that to us again, you wanna wish your sister a happy birthday? She’s probably really exited!” Mic cheered, distracting his daughter from touching the jellyfish, yet again, meanwhile, you were happily bouncing up and down on his lap, enjoying the freedom of your arms, swishing them all over the place, grabbing the beads around your neck, jsut anything.

“But dad! Why not! It’s not like it’s hurt me or anything I’ll be fi-“ she begged, throwing her hands up in a small tempter tantrum, clearly forgetting her previous events of pain, and idiocy.

“No- nope no no, we aren’t doing this again, please honey, just please, remember last time, we had to clean up your wounds OUTSIDE-of water, you hate going to the surface remember? “

“Yeah but-“ she started speaking, but was soon cut off with a loud giggle, resonating through your lips, kindof rare for you, you hadn’t been very vocal outside of a few gurgles here and there, so it had each and every ones heads turning. That’s when they saw it, your beautiful eyes, shin sing in reflection to the jellyfish. Those beautiful little eyes of yours mesmerized all of them, a pitch black (for protection from the salt), with a shiny silver-like pupal, immediately after they opened, a burst of color filled your vision. You giggled and clapped your hands together with a small toothless smile, watching as the floaty creates went overhead, glittering with the light.

The absolutely gorgeous splash above was admired by the family form their own viewing post, the blues and whites combined to make a heavenly display. You could feel the cool sprinkles of light they emmited hitting your skin, smiling at the feeling, you splayed your hands out and flailed them against the water.

“Ohhhhhh- oh wow. Honey! Honey look! Her eyes opened! Look at taht! Aren’t you just so magical! Look at you, my little pup.” Mic smacked Aizawa over the chest multiple times, pointing at your clearly opened eyes, you just remained oblivious, staring up at all the new things around you, like.. everything! He turned you around to face him, letting you actually see his face for the first time, taking in the long yellow hair, the (also) black eyes, the ethereal face dotted with shiny yellow gills, him, you could see him!

“She’s developing smoothly, I’m glad. Awww, that’s pretty cute.” Aizawa replied to him, holding in his emotions, as soon as he met those new eyes of yours it’s like everything else disappeared, like the world itself didn’t exist, outside of him, and his fmaily. You took his breath away, or what you could call breath, so cute and innocent, such a small thing, that brings so much joy. Your little tail swished back and forth as you stared up at them happily, taking in the features of the people you’d learned to recognize by touch. Blowing raspberries out of your lips with a stream of bubbles.

“Awwwww! I’m gonna cry, she’s growing so fast! Soon she’ll be swimming in her own! In like 200 years! Too soon, way too soon. Comers baby- mm hmmm” mic spoke, knowing full well that even if he did cry, his tears would get sucked in by the ocean. He pulled you close, moving your head I’ve this shoulde is it would rest in the crook of his neck while he hugged you, eventually, the others joined in, eri practically flopping ontop (with careful regard for you of course).

They all stared at you, while you stared up at the “sky”, oblivious to their stares, to the ways they would growl at anyone who came close, to how they kept you from seeing anyone other than what they personally approve. After all, you are jsut their little pup, of course you wouldn’t notice! Their little pup… feels right to say that, it isn’t like you have any family waiting, they aren’t ever gonna come here.

And if they ever did?

Then, well, a few mermaids are going missing

———————————————————————————————————

Thanks for requesting, this was fun to write!

Have a great day today! Goodbye.

[tasmparkerr]

Hostage

Part one

Part one - Part two - Part three

Peter Parker x fem!reader

word count: 1.2k

warnings: slight violence, talk of injury, little blood, angsty asf, borderline smut (intense make out lmao) and very very fluff

summary: you got mixed up in a battle and Peter can’t stop apologizing… what would he do if he lost you?

A/N: I like to imagine this in TASM universe but I don’t specify for your own preference! The villain is basically Lizard, just not Dr. Curtis Connors? So just a crazy, blood thirsty reptile. Hope that clears things up :)

————————————————————————

“Please not her! Please, please please anything but her! Just set her down and you can tear me to shreds, j-just not her!” Peter pleaded, his fingers digging into the ground as he fell to his knees. The monster held me tightly around my neck and it held me over the side of the building. I couldn’t breathe… I clawed at the large scaled hand, wriggling to get free, but there was just no use. It was my fault really, I was the one who ran up here to help Peter. Stupid… What was I thinking?

It released a gnarly series of grunts, which seemed to be its laughter as if it was enjoying Peters pain. It’s grip tightened. If it hadn’t been for the helicopter crashing into the roof I would’ve been crushed.

————————————————————————

I sat at the edge of the hospital bed for what seemed like hours. The clocked ticked for what seemed like eternity. I winced as my fingers brushed my neck, the skin still sensitive from the strangling. The doctor said I was lucky nothing snapped.

Peter was no where to be seen, which I knew he wouldn't be. Whenever these Spider-Man incidents happened he had to be AWOL for a couple hours.

A spring of anxiety fluttered across my chest. I couldn't remember what happened after the crash. It just went black. The doctor said it was probably from lack of air, but what made me so nervous was I had no idea what happened to Peter. Where he was or if he was hurt, well, how badly he was hurt. I understood the super fast healing spider power thing to an extent but... it still made me worried.

The door creaked open to reveal the doctor telling me I was good to go. Officers where going to escort me home since the creature was apparently still on the loose. I could be a possible repeated target…. They would be in touch with me.

I stumbled into my apartment, still discombobulated, throwing my now torn up purse on the floor. It was only when I looked up I noticed the figure leaning against the wall.

"Peter?" I whispered, almost asking for the confirmation that he was really here.

He stepped forward, his face grim. "Hey, (Y/N)..”

I finally took a breath, stumbling forward to get to him. He seemed to noticed how jumbled my limbs where and rushed to meet me half way. "Hey hey hey… slow down, are you okay? What did the doc say?" He said, easily scooping me up in his arms and bringing me to my couch.

I shrugged, trying to make it seem like it was no big deal. I knew how bad Peter must be hurting. "Not as bad as I thought. Just some throat discomfort, few bruises, and probably in shock"

Peter glared at me, crouching in front of the couch so he was eye level. "You're lying. Please, (Y/N), be honest with me……. I need to hear it.?"

My shoulders slumped, sighing as I said very quietly, "It could've snapped my neck. It got close… I've got some neck trauma. That's why my voice is a little raspy and I could expect to suffer with some difficulty breathing, intense coughing, difficulty swallowing, etc. through these next few weeks. I'm covered in scrapes, stitches, and bruises. But overall, it could've been worse."

Peter scoffed, standing up in frustration. “Could've been worse? Yeah you could've DIED! Do you not understand that?" He said angrily as he paved back and forth in my living room, “Do you not see how serious that was? You ran towards the danger and you could have been killed!"

I looked down, not wanting to see the anger or hurt on his face. “I-I’m sorry, Peter… It was hurting you and I couldn’t just stand there and watch.”

Peter sighed, rubbing his face with his covered hands. He was still wearing his Spider-Man suit, all bloody and ripped. I would have to fix that later…

He walked over and sat next to me on the couch, staring at the floor. “I could never recover if you died. I would never be able to look at myself if you got killed. You’re my everything, (Y/N)… I know it’s scary watching me fight all sorts of people and things on the TV but that’s my job. That’s the responsibility that comes with powers. I can’t have you running towards the danger when things get scary. Am I making sense?”

I nodded, wiping a tear that had formed in my eye. “Yes, it does… it just… I can’t stand this sometimes. I can’t just sit there while you get thrown around!”

He nodded, looking up to meet my eyes, “I know. I know it’s hard. As soon as I heard you call my name I felt this overwhelming urge to get you out of there. I couldn’t bear the idea of it getting you and it still did. It was so close to killing you… god I’ll never get that image out of my head.”

It was silent for a moment, both of you staring at the carpet as time slugged by. I ever so gently scooted my hand over so I was touching his and he gladly accepted my touch. “I love you,” I whispered softly, giving him a light squeeze, “I promise I won’t do it again.”

He gave you a smirk, “For some odd reason, I really doubt that.” He said with a much lighter tone. Peter leaned in to kiss me, pressing his lips to mine very softly. He kissed me once, twice, three times… four… I eventually lost count. It started soft and slow and then the eagerness kicked in. The fear from losing each other tonight had us both shaken, and I could physically feel the need of comfort oozing from us both. He gently shifted us so I was straddling him, his back against the couch.

His fingers dug into my hair as he kissed me feverishly, pressing his body against mine. “God I-I don’t….” he kissed me again “I don’t know what I would’ve done if you’d gotten hurt out there,” his lips moved to my jaw, causing me to suck in a quick breath. “I love you, (Y/N), I love you so fucking much”. He was at my neck now… “I won’t let anyone ever touch you again, I swear.” I managed a small “Mhm” as he continued to move down to my collar bone.

There was suddenly a knock on my door. We both froze, staring at the door. Peter tightened his grip around my waist, tugging me closer to him. “Are you expecting anyone?” He whispered, clearly uneasy.

I shook my head, “No… No one. It’s also almost 3:30 in the morning… who visits at a time like this?”

Another knock.

“Let me answer it,” Peter said, setting you gently on the couch once more. He grabbed a jacket he had left here before and threw it on over his suit to cover at least some. He opened the door slightly, just revealing his head and left shoulder.

And then the door flew off.

to be continued…

[averagewriter-inthedark]

Got Ink? | Their reaction to you having tattoos | Marvel HC P.2

Marvel Masterlist | Other Masterlist

Part 1 here

Below are Sam Wilson and the 3 Peter Parkers. Slight nsfw w/ Andrew’s Peter.

When Sam finds out you have tattoos, and a lot of them at that, he’s a little shocked but definitely finds them to be badass. He’s intrigued by them for the most part and asks questions like “what made you want to get this one?” Or “How bad did this area hurt?” Because he more than likely does’t have ink so he’s curious.

The day he finds out was a day you both decided to go for a early morning run, so you equipped yourself with a simple tank top and running pants. You had a lightweight sweater on but eventually took it off when you started to sweat. His eyes are immediately drawn to your arms, where several tattoos scaled from shoulder to elbow. He could see some on the small portion on of your back that was visible from the tank.

“Woah, woah, woah,” he calls out with curious eyes. “Hold it Hawkeye. How come you’ve never mentioned your inked up, Y/N?” You tie the sweater around your waist, raising a brow to him. “The topic never came up. What you didn’t hear Clint and I talking about them the other day at Tony’s party?” He shakes his head with an exaggerated roll of the eyes.

“Obviously,” he drags out, picking up the pace when you go to run again but not before giving another glance to the color on your arms. “I think I would’ve said something if I heard you talking about them—and you were wearing a suit/pantsuit so how could’ve I have known?”

The rest of the run basically continues with the man asking questions and eventually promising you to let him come the next time you go get one done. And it isn’t long before that he starts joking you should get the shield or his wings tattooed in the future, which you obviously laugh at—but you don’t necessarily deny the idea.

(Tobey’s) Peter finds out in an embarrassing way when he swung in through your window unnaounced when you’d been changing. While you screamed at the sudden appearance, this man was frozen like a deer in headlights. You were only in your undergarments, something he had never seen you in as your relationship was just starting out.

“Peter! What the hell!?” You kept screaming and eventually he broke from his daze with his hands raised. “Sorry! Sorry, sorry, sorry, Y/N—I didn’t mean to scare you.” You quickly pulled your clothes on, not missing how the man had stayed staring at you instead of turning around. “You, you have tattoos. When did you get those?”

You’re almost confused by the question, but then realize it was the first time he had seen you practically naked. The ink on your body was scattered, but there was enough to show you had a liking for the hobby. “Yeah,” you brushed it off like it wasn’t a big deal, “I’ve always liked them and I knew I wanted some since I was a kid.”

He took his mask finally, his eyes soft and in wonder. He’d be lying if he said you didn’t just get hella more attractive than you already were. He was already head over heels in love with you, finding every inch of you amazing, and this just made him even more under your spell. “That—that’s amazing. You just look so cool—beautiful and the artwork on you is so beautiful too.” You couldn’t help but melt by his words.

The two of you cuddle for the rest of the evening, with Peter lazily tracing over your tattoos while asking questions about them. It becomes a tradition after he finishes saving the streets of New York every night, and he can’t help but wait for your new additions so he can trace over them and help you with the care of keeping them clean when they heal. Much like you do for him when he’s injured and it becomes your thing—although you don’t really look forward to having your spider all bloody while he loves watching the ink heal and set into your skin.

To (Andrews) Peter, he finds it to be the most sexiest thing he’s ever laid eyes on. You never told him you had any tattoos when you first got together and most of them were on your back, hips and side so he never saw them even if you wore simple clothes. It wasn’t until you two had a date night with him taking you to a fancy restaurant that he was in for quite the shock.

You wore something a little more revealing than you usually did when you went out, which showed off your upper and mid back. He had arrived before you were ready so he camped in your living room while you finished up. Once dressed and ready to go, you entered making him stand with a grin.

“How do I look?” You started to spin and when you turned back to his direction, you tilt your head at his perplexed expression. “Uhh, babe you okay?” His jaw was dropped, and you thought you could see a little bit of drool making your face heat up. He lifts a finger, making a spinning motion. “Uh-Uh you have tattoos…on your back—you have tattoos on your back.”

Your mouth makes an ‘o’ shape, forgetting he didn’t know. “Haha, yeah….I have a few actually.” When he doesn’t say anything you feel your heart panic a little. “Do you have a thing against tattoos?” The question immediately shakes him out of his little naughty visual image he had conjured in his brain. “No, no, no. No, no, no. I’m not against, hell no I’m not. I think that’s just so sexy—you’re, you’re sexy. You have tattoos and you’re sexy—wow.”

Yeah, as you could guess mans could not keep his hands off you after than and would purposely have his fingers trace the raised ink whenever you walked next to each other with his hand on your back. The entire night he couldn’t stop looking at you with absolute awe and desire. So much that he couldn’t wait to make that image he had earlier come true.

(This is more of a sibling/platonic approach)

Peter was never one to think about getting tattoos, but always thought they were cool. So when he finds out you—his mentor and unofficial sibling—is decked out it various designs permanently inked into your skin the boy is jumping in his feet. You’re the coolest person he knows, so the fact you have all this artwork on you—that he knows must’ve hurt in certain places—makes you even cooler in his eyes.

“Wow Y/N when did you get this one? Did it hurt as bad as the one on your back? Can I go with you to get your next one? I don’t think I’d ever get one but its so cool you have all these. Do you think maybe you can get a spider one day?” Are just some of the questions spewing from his lips.

How did he find out you wonder? Well the young vigilante had never seen you outside of your suit so the day comes when he asks if you could spar with him. You agreed, so you changed into something loose which consisted of a plain t-shirt and thin capris. You obviously had some skin showing which made his eyes go straight to the half sleeve you had on your forearm that needed to be filled in.

You both spar, with him successfully dodging your attacks and you helping him on his form with his defensive mechanisms. All the while he’s still admiring the tattoos and part of you is impressed he’s managed to ramble on without getting distracted. When it comes to an end you finally say. “Okay kid, I’ll cut you a deal. If you don’t cause any trouble for the remainder of the month and complete all your missions, then I will let you pick out my next tattoo.”

You’re not surprised when just two weeks later Peter is at your door with a sketchbook in hand—with majority of the designs involving little spiders.

[beels-burger-babe]

Waiting in the Wings

***Happy Birthday Week Luke! This is a fluffy one. I don't get to write Simeon and Luke often, so this was interesting to sort of experiment with. I hope you guys enjoy! *** Summary: A talent show is being held at RAD; knowing the vocal talents of a certain young angel, you encourage Luke to join. Only Luke doesn't seem too fond of the idea. Together, you and Simeon do your best to give Luke the courage to shine.

The doors to Purgatory Hall slammed open as you raced inside with a blue flyer clenched in your hand. You rushed into the kitchen where you knew you would find your target. Luke, as expected, stood there is a light blue apron, whisking some kind of batter in a bowl. You excitedly waved the flyer in Luke's face. "Did you see this?! There's going to be a talent show?"

Luke squeaked at your sudden appearance and almost dropped the bowl. He took a moment to set it on the counter and grumbled something under his breath before taking the paper from your hands. You watched eagerly as his eyes scanned the page. He gasped and looked up at you in excitement. "RAD is hosting a talent show?! That's so cool! I wonder if Simeon's going to enter? He could probably read a poem he wrote, or act out one of his monologues," a tender look of admiration spilled into Luke's expression as he looked at the flyer. He shook his head and looked over at you. "What about you MC? Are you entering?" You chuckled and shook your head. "No. It's not really my thing. But I know someone with an incredible voice that would blow the rest of the competition out of the water!"

You thought that your words made it quite obvious that you were talking about Luke. You had first heard him sing months ago when Asmodeus dragged you to a tea party that he had been invited to by Simeon and Luke had performed for the three of you and Barbatos. His voice was truly the work of angels and was unlike anything you had ever heard before. It was remarkable to think that such a large talent could fit inside his small body.

Evidently, you weren't obvious enough.

Luke's eyes got even wider and he bounced slightly in excitement. "That's amazing! Who is it? You should definitely get them to enter! I'd love to hear them sing. Maybe they could teach me a couple of things." You smirked at his obliviousness and light-heartedly pushed the young angel. "Well, it'll be sort of hard for you to teach yourself what you already know."

Luke blinked at you several times, and you could practically see the math equations floating around his head. As he had his light bulb moment, his face paled and Luke quickly shook his head. "No! Absolutely not! I am not doing it!" "What aren't you doing?" The two of you whipped around to see Simeon watching the two of you in amusement. Your heart fluttered at the mere sight of him.

This, unfortunately, wasn't new. Although your feelings for Simeon weren't something that was apparent right away, they had grown more and more as you spent more time together. There was no denying the angel was handsome, however, there was so much more to him than that. He was intelligent and creative, able to outwit even some of the brothers with ease. He was incredibly compassionate and open-minded about the creatures in the Devildom. In one word, Simeon was bright. He radiated joy and peace where ever he went. You didn't know if it was an effect of being an angel or if it was who he truly was, but regardless, it was slowly but surely winning over your heart. You smiled at him and handed him the flyer. "I was telling Luke how I think that he should sing in the upcoming talent show." Simeon grinned widely at his charge, "Oh, that sounds like a wonderful idea! You have an incredible vo-"

"NO!" You both looked at Luke in shock. He didn't lash out often unless it was at one of the brothers. He most certainly never raised his voice at Simeon. Yet here he stood with his eyes screwed shut and hands balled into fists as they shook; whether they shook with anger or something else, you weren't sure. He scowled at both of you. "I'm not going to sing for a bunch of filthy demons on a stage in f-front of hundreds of students! Are you insane?" Simeon and you exchanged glances of concern. Simeon moved closer to his charge and placed a hand on his shoulder; like a parent trying to soothe their child. "Luke, if you really don't want to do it, that's okay. No one will force you. But I have to ask...Is the reason you don't want to perform because you have stage fright?" Luke blushed and looked away. "N-No! I don't have stage fright! I-I just don't want to waste my celestial talents on these demonic scum!"

He was clearly lying. Yes, he was upset, but behind that anger, you could see a small trace of sadness; as though his mind, which filled him with fear of the audience's judgement, and his heart, which yearned to sing for all to hear, were at war.

If the angel you had come to know as a brother wanted to perform, that god damn it, you were going to make sure he would be able to perform! "Well, what if I was there with you?" You asked in genuine curiosity. His head snapped up to look at you. "B-But you said it's not your thing?" You tried not to smile at his concern for you, and instead casually shrugged it off. "I could stand in the wings and be right there cheering you on. I could also help you practice and get ready; that way you feel more confident about it." Simeon nodded and patted Luke's hat. "You wouldn't be doing this alone. MC and I would be right by your side if this is something that interests you. I'm sure Barbatos would love to see you perform. MC and I would certainly enjoy it." Luke shifted from foot to foot as he thought about it. The room held its breath as you waited for his decision to be revealed. He glanced over at you nervously. "You'll be right there?" Your chest warmed as you were momentarily reminded of just how young Luke really is. You gently squeezed his shoulder and nodded. "I won't leave you for even a second." Luke let out a big breath before a gleam of determination filled his eyes and he balled his fists. "Okay! I'll do it! I'll sing at the show!" You smiled brightly in silent victory as Simeon laughed and hugged Luke. "Wonderful! Looks like the two of us have our work cut for us! When would you like to begin preparing?" "Now!" Luke took off out of the room, "I know the perfect song! I have the sheet music in my room! I'll be right back!" Simeon chuckled as Luke vanished from sight in a white and blue blur and looked over at you. There was a shimmer of fondness and affection in his eyes that caused your breath to catch in your throat.

"Thank you for talking him into this. He truly does enjoy singing, and I think he would've regretted it if he didn't join. He's very fond of you," Simeon's voice was as soft as the clouds that he had descended from. You scratched the back of your neck and awkwardly tried to brush off his thanks. "It's nothing. Luke means a lot to me too. He's like a little brother, you know?" If possible, his expression became even more tender as he looked deep into your eyes and gave you the most gentle smile. "Yes. I suppose I do."

The two of you sat in comfortable silence for a moment, before you noticed Simeon shift a little. You wouldn't quite say it was an action of discomfort but there was clearly something on his mind.

"Penny for your thoughts?" You asked with a reassuring smile.

Simeon, much to your surprise, blushed. "I was just thinking. I suppose with you aiding us, you'll be spending more time here at Purgatory Hall, will you not?"

You blinked a couple of times at the question. You supposed it was true. Within the next two weeks leading up to the talent show, you would probably be spending the majority of your time here with Luke, and as a result, with Simeon as well. You nodded in response to the question as you felt your own cheeks grow warm.

Simeon's twinkled as his expression lit up. "It will be lovely getting to spend more time with you. You-"

Before Simeon could say much more, Luke burst back into the room waving a stack of papers.

"S-So this is what I'm thinking. I have options, but I don't know which ones to choose!" He paused as he picked up on the obvious energy change in the room and frowned. "What's going on in here?" Simeon chuckled and leaned back against the kitchen counter. "Nothing at all. Now, you mentioned you had options?" Luke took the bait easily and began excitedly explaining each of his song selections. Throughout the next two weeks, you and Simeon worked together to help get Luke in tiptop shape to perform. You ran vocal scales with him as Simeon played the notes on the piano. You helped him memorize the lyrics, while Simeon aided him in getting the melody and key right. Using your influence with Diavolo and the brothers, you were even able to get him into the theatre that the show would be hosted at, and gave him the opportunity to practice on stage while in advance. During this time you found yourself growing closer and closer with Simeon. The two of you would exchange secret smiles with one another when you thought Luke wasn't looking. You found yourself more aware of his presence and his notable attention towards you. You would glance over at him, only to find he was already looking at you. Simeon would frequently put his hand on your shoulder or ruffle your hair. The actions always left you flustered, which simply made him smile even more.

Luke wasn't oblivious to the budding romance between the two of you. He noticed all too easily what was happening and instantly approved. After all, it was much better that you be courted by a gentleman such as Simeon than one of those fiendish brothers.

So he decided to do his part in aiding the matter. He often made up excuses in the middle of practice that would leave the two of you alone in a room. He always made sure you two sat down beside each other. Luke would come up with clever little things that "Simeon needed to do," just after practice ended and would always turn to you immediately after insisting that you help.

If either you or Simeon noticed what he was doing, neither of you mentioned it.

The two of you may have started this as a mission to help Luke feel comfortable on stage, but Luke quickly turned it into a mission to get his two favourite people together.

Time flew by, and before anyone could blink, the day of the show had finally arrived.

The theatre was elegantly decorated with red and gold streamers hanging on the balconies and bouquets of roses lining the aisles.

Backstage, dozens of performers anxiously fretted about, running over their talents one last time before their big moment in the spotlight. Simeon had performed a romantic monologue earlier in the evening. As he spoke, you couldn't help bet notice that his gaze would continuously fall onto you; something that made Luke beam with joy. Since then another handful of performers had gone up, Luke was next. The angel stood between you and Simeon in the wings, as he nervously twisted his hat in his hands. "I-I-I can't do this. I change my mind. I'm not gonna do it," he tried to turn and flee, but you quickly caught him.

"Woah, woah, woah. Easy there, Luke. You worked so hard on this. You can't just back out now!" Your heart broke as you felt just how badly the poor boy was shaking. You knelt down in front of him and placed your hands on his shoulders as you looked deeply into his eyes. "Luke, it's going to be okay. You've practiced day and night for this. You're going to blow the socks off of everyone out there. Simeon and I will be right here with you the entire performance."

Luke sniffed and wiped at his eyes. "Promise? You'll be here when I finish?" Simeon came up behind you and placed a hand on your back as he knelt down beside you. "We aren't going anywhere."

Luke smiled faintly at the sight of the two of you so close and nodded. "O-Okay. I suppose I can do it then."

You pulled Luke into a hug and held him tightly. "You've got this Luke. Go show them all what the Celestial realm is really made of!"

Luke hugged you back as his name was called out by the emcee. With a nervous smile, he put his hat back on and walked out onto the stage. You held your breath as he approached the mic. What if something went wrong? What if the mic didn't work? What if the audience was mean? A hand wrapped around your own and gave it a gentle squeeze. You looked over to see Simeon holding onto your hand. He grinned at you and brought your hand to his lips, delicately kissing your skin. "Have faith, MC. Everything is going to be fine." You weren't sure if it was the heat from the spotlights or the number of people in the room, but you felt like you were going to melt. You nodded and squeezed his hand in return as the music began. Just as expected, Luke was absolutely incredible. He sang with all the glory of the heavens. As his voice filled the theatre, you could've sworn that the lights shone just a little bit brighter. There wasn't a dry eye in sight; no one could deny the beauty in his talent.

Once he took his final bows, he practically sprinted back to the two of you where he was immediately scooped up into the arms of a proud Simeon. "That was incredible Luke! Truly a remarkable performance!"

Luke laughed and hugged his mentor back. "You guys were right! After I started singing, it wasn't scary at all! Thank you so much for helping me do this." You fondly ruffled Luke's hair and beamed at him. "All we did was give you the confidence to go out there. You did everything else yourself."

Luke's chest puffed out in some well-earned pride as he soaked in the praise from the two of you.

Simeon finally let him go and smiled down at him. "Now, what do you say we go celebrate? I have reservations for the three of us at Restaurante Six."

Luke's eyes widened, and you could practically see the scheming thoughts cycle through his brain. The young angel let out a dramatic yawn as he stretched. "You know performing really tired me out. I think I'll head home with Solomon. It'd be a shame for that reservation to go to waste though; you two should go together."

You blinked at Luke in shock, as a knowing smirk climbed onto Simeon's face. He turned to you with coy, yet loving, eyes and held out his hand. "Well, what do you say, MC? Care to accompany me to dinner this evening?"

You gaped at him for a second, as Luke watched the interaction in excitement. You stumbled upon your words for a second before finally getting them out. "I-I, um, yes! Yes. I would l-love that."

"YES!" The two of you quickly looked over at Luke as he jumped around in celebration. Seeing that he was caught, he froze before chuckling nervously and scratching the back of his neck. "I-I mean, bummer that I got join you two. Have a good night!" Just like that, Luke took off to go find Solomon.

You sighed and shook your head. "He's a trouble maker."

Simeon laughed and took your hand into his and he pulled you close to him. "Perhaps, but if the result of his mischief allows me to spend more time with you, then I, for one, am grateful," he kissed the top of your hands once more and offered out his arm to you. "Shall we?"

Your heart fluttered as you took his arm and allowed him to escort you out of the theatre and into what promised to be a memorable evening.

***This was a process for sure, but I think I'm happy with how it turned out! Thank you everyone for reading and supporting me and HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SON, LUKE!!!!***

Taglist: @thegrimgrinningghost @henry-and-the-seven-lords @satans-beloved-riv @cosmixbun @sufzku @pebblesgengar @victoireshaven @obey-mes-treasure @kissed-by-a-dementor @yukihaie @justtiarra @mammoneybb @obeys-world @poly-bi-mf @armycandy10 @burrixino

[lokitvsource]

‘Loki’ miniseries producer-lead writer-creator Michael Waldron chats about Marvel’s favourite troublemaker finally harnessing his true power and wit while at the behest of the Time Variance Authority 

“Everyone has been asking ‘when are we going to see Loki’s real power?’,” starts Michael Waldron, as he animatedly dives into the upcoming Loki miniseries, starring Tom Hiddleston. “To have six episodes to explore his power has been so liberating because just from a ‘pure superhero abilities’ perspective, we wanted to explore the awesome stuff he can do, and also dramatically too.”

On board as Loki’s creator, executive producer and lead writer by Marvel Studios’ president Kevin Fiege, Waldron is itching for the series to drop already. It is evident as he gesticulates expressively as he puts forth how much Loki as a character means to him.

Last we saw the Norse trickster god, he had a giant purple hand wrapped around his neck. The shocking demise of Loki at the hands of the mighty Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War broke the hearts of millions everywhere. What would the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) be without his quick-witted jests and pranks and devilish smile?

In 2019, the announcement of Loki, fans already speculated that it would take place in one of the Marvel Universe’s alternate timelines — and they were right. Dissecting and peeling back the layers of the multiverse has been “thrilling” for Waldron, director Kate Herron and the series cast and crew. “It’s a new sandbox, a new corner of the universe to play in. It was certainly a challenge to define the rules of these spaces, the Time Variance Authority and how these branching timelines work. It wasn’t just about going ‘anywhere’ it was about going ‘anywhen’.”

At the D23 Expo in 2019 when the project was first announced, Waldron called himself and Herron “custodians of the fans’ love for Loki.” Though he was not a comic-book reader growing up (he admits he came to truly know about Loki through the MCU), storytelling remains an utmost priority for Waldron, who almost reminds us that “this is television we’re doing.”

He continues, “We can pick our spots and slow down in a way a feature film never could, and we can do long and quieter dialogue scenes and build tension and emotion in the way best television has been doing.” But Waldron was keen on creating his own original storyline; taking existing elements from past Loki comics and existing TVA bits and putting his spin on them.

So far, the MCU has been extended into successful miniseries such as WandaVision, following Wanda Maximoff’s evolution into the Scarlett Witch, and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, detailing Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes’ partnership.

Loki meets bureaucracy

In the series, Loki is seen tumbling into the hands of the regulation-body Time Variance Authority, headed by Mobius (played by Owen Wilson). The best storytelling comes from an out-of-comfort-zone experience and seeing natural troublemaker Loki at the mercy of the TVA’s bureaucracy is sure to be a spectacle.

At this, Waldron chuckles, explaining that “it was a blast” to tip the scales for Loki while making room for his inevitable naughtiness, Waldron says, “It was a chance for our writers’ room to delve into some therapy, if they ever had to go to the DMV (U.S. Department of Motor Vehicles). While we were writing the show, I was in the process of getting a new passport. And you go back to work and go ‘ugh, you’ll never guess the bureaucratic red tape I have had to deal with! But we got excited, too, and were like ‘That’s the TVA!’ so we used that.”

This in mind, he continues, “Taking an organisation that is so soul-crushing by-the-book, so to speak, in their managing of time and dropping the most chaotic character in all of the MCU smack-dab in the middle of that is just amazing juxtaposition. It’s a great way to have both entities drive one another crazy, instigating a lot of amazing conflict right from the start.”

Waldron-Hiddleston-Wilson trifecta

Waldron — who has worked on notable projects such as Community, Rick and Morty, is writing for upcoming wrestling drama series Heels, and producing Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness — has nothing but high praise for Hiddleston and his versatility as an actor and storyteller. It was integral that he pushes Hiddleston’s boundaries.

“That’s where the collaboration between writers and actors is such a joy...when you push one another,” he explains, “and my goal from day one was to tell a story of Loki that had never been told before. There had been 10 years of stories of this character and we hope folks would’ve seen a fully-realised redemptive arc. Now we are starting with this version of Loki at the end of the first Avengers film. So it was our responsibility to not retread old ground. Tom was more than game for that, in fact, he wanted to do that and go deeper into Loki’s shape-shifting identity.”

Probably one of the best surprises is Owen Wilson thrown into the mix. Known for being the early-2000s romantic-comedy must-cast, seeing him take on the meticulously attentive and seemingly diabolical Mobius will be a delight. So what about Wilson struck a chord with Waldron? “I am the perfect age [33] to have grown up with Owen Wilson in Wedding Crashers, Zoolander and Armageddon. I love Owen and he is so great in this show.”

Waldron elaborates on how Wilson and Hiddleston bring varying energies to the show. “Loki is proper and pompous, Owen is folksy and down-to-earth – so right away, energies clash in a way that’s harmonious. But what he shares with Tom is a hard-to-even-put-into-words unique charisma. They [Owen and Hiddleston] both have natural comedic abilities and they can have a purely dramatic conversation and they could play off one another’s energies and make certain the right moments funny and right moments dramatic. I didn’t even have to set up punchlines to get laughs in this show!”

[fallowsthorn]

listen i wanna talk about the bit in the (3rd? 4th?) episode of ofmd when the bartender guy whose name i didn't catch takes off jim's disguise for spanish jackie's nose jar after selling them out to, uh, some stabby people (look, i had no subtitles and i can't understand speech for shit)

because it very easily could have been the sort of spiteful gender reveal we see all the time, from twelfth night to mulan to mrs doubtfire. character dresses up as another gender for plot reasons, shenanigans happen and the disguise is revealed, other characters' reactions are played for drama or comedy accordingly. the revelation is always about the character's "real" gender and usually about how shocking and/or hilarious it was that they weren't performing it correctly.

but bartender guy doesn't give a shit about that. he unmasks jim, yes, but it's to illustrate that jim is the person they've been looking for. it's stede who's stunned that "jim's a woman???" and only that because he obviously doesn't have the vocabulary for anything else (and was just stabbed, iirc). bartender guy taunts jim about seeing through the disguise, but it's "i know what you did last summer time you were here," not "lol u thought u could pass? what an idiot." jim's gender or lack thereof is a nonfactor until the next episode when the crew want to know what was up with the disguise, and even then it rates the same as questions like "if you're not jim anymore, can i be jim?"

(side note, i love the "women's bodies have crystals" bit both because it's hilarious and as a jab at gender essentialism/transmedicalism/that fucking thing where cis people are like "ooooohhhhhh nooooooo it's science!!1!!!1" blah blah shut the fuck up and google it, horatio, your philosophies are for twelve-year-olds aNYWAY)

and then NO ONE BRINGS IT UP AGAIN. that's what fucking flattens me when i think about this, that there's no Very Special Episode (or, well, Very Special Two and a Half Minutes, these episodes are packed) where all the cis people suddenly have to relearn basic grammar and there has to be a whole investigation and Trans 101 handholding session and it's just sooooo haaaaard to rememberrrrrrrrr!!!!

no. none of that. jim's pronouns are they/them and not a single person slips once.* even the nun who raised them and hasn't seen them in [an indeterminate amount of time implied to be on the scale of years] gets it right! (she does call them by their birth name, but jim seems to be using the name jim mostly out of convenience anyway, not as a "new identity" kind of thing.) even black pete, who's the character i was expecting to be a dick about it (obnoxious, openly derisive of stede (previously the most visibly gender-non-conforming character), snarky), just. uses the right pronouns for jim. every time. no questions. no eye rolling. no scoffing or sighing or checking if jim is in earshot or pretending he's forgotten how to conjugate verbs. i can't remember if izzy ever refers to jim in the third person but i definitely** would've remembered if he misgendered them so even this feral repressed trash fire of toxic masculinity and internalized homophobia can do it!

so i think what we can conclude from this is that i need to start stabbing more people? it seemed to work for jim. i don't see any flaws in this plan. it's perfect and i need to make dinner good night.

*(presumably someone updated stede about this offscreen, since at the time he was, uh [checks notes] berating himself via gut-wound-and/or-sepsis-induced hallucination)

**probably, see above re no subtitles

[kieraelieson]

In which Virgil has taken lessons on how to demand affection: Part Six, Janus.

Virgil Roman Patton Remus Logan

Janus had been swamped in work. With all the affection flying around, the inner workings of Thomas’s mind were shifting. Which meant a lot of hidden things uncovered and some open things hidden, and some things he’d had to hide and then reveal multiple times now. He was exhausted.

It was that, above all the other reasons, that made him first consider demanding affection himself. He was relatively certain he could finagle and guilt his way into being spoiled for a day.

It just… would open doors if he did.

With Virgil and then Roman, it was just a kiss. Then he’d seen how Patton had been acting, and opened himself up a bit more. Then Remus managed to sneak upstairs. And with Logan he’d spent a whole, admittedly pleasant, hour. But for him to ask them for affection, even weaseling it out of them, it would break the separation between the ‘dark’ and ‘light’ side completely. He could tell already, the door at the top of the stairs would vanish, make the mindscape more cohesive.

In his opinion, it would be good for Thomas. But his opinion wasn’t necessarily the one that mattered. What mattered most was Thomas’s opinion. They all had gone rearranging his mind with this affection business, and Thomas could be either loving or hating it.

If he decided he wanted it, he would have to talk to Thomas first to be sure it would be ok.

— — —

Janus appeared in the kitchen while Thomas was making himself some breakfast.

“Oh! Janus. Are you here for the affection thing too?”

Janus waved at him to continue his cooking. “In a way. I wanted to talk with you about the effects of the requests for affection.”

Thomas raised an eyebrow. “Ok?”

“You know we’ve been asking affection from each other and from you as well. I’m sure you’ve noticed that as a result you’ve become a lot more… comfortable, with the aspects of yourself you previously considered to be dark.”

Thomas frowned in thought. “Yeah… I guess I have… I’m, not sure that that’s a bad thing though, or maybe it is, cause you’re coming to talk to me about it—“

Thomas was about to spiral into anxiety, so Janus held up a hand to stop him. “It’s not bad unless you think it is. If you’re content with it as it is, it could be a good thing. If you’re upset by it, it could be a bad thing.”

Thomas, still frowning, nodded. “What if I just want to see where it goes?”

Janus leaned against the counter. He gave Thomas a slow smirk. “I can’t tell you everything.”

Thomas huffed a short laugh. He set his bowl aside and held out his arms. “But you’ll be around while I figure things out.”

Something about those words slammed into Janus in such a strangely soft way. Despite bringing up problems and not offering a solution, he was accepted, wanted, counted on. Thomas was offering him a hug.

He stepped forward tentatively, and Thomas met him halfway, holding him safe and secure.

— — —

Janus flopped onto the foot of Virgil’s bed. “You owe me. You and your affection, making so much work, now you have to be nice to me.”

He almost hadn’t expected it to work. He thought Virgil might shove him off, yell at him to leave, perhaps he’d even be scared by Janus’s sudden appearance.

But instead Virgil snorted. “You could ask like a normal person, you know.” He flipped a corner of his blanket over Janus.

Janus made his way up to the head of the bed, stealing one of Virgil’s pillows.

Virgil took his hat in retribution, setting it on his own head. Janus hissed half-heartedly, and Virgil hissed right back.

Virgil ended up letting Janus nap there, and even scritched gently at his scalp while he dozed.

— — —

Roman looked shocked to see Janus lounging on the couch.

Janus slowly waved, smirking.

“What are you doing up here?” Roman asked, clearly suspicious.

Janus rolled his eyes in a way he knew was infuriating. “What were you doing downstairs?”

Roman blinked. “Oh. Ok then.”

It was Janus’s turn to be shocked. Roman stood down just from that?? Virgil he could understand, their history had both good and bad to pull from, but Roman?

“You want, like, a hug?” Roman asked, holding his arms out.

Janus just stared at him, unconsciously pulling his legs in closer.

Roman raised his hands. “Hey, it’s ok if you don’t, I just figured, if you were here for affection, I might as well offer.”

Janus was still processing that Roman was not only no longer suspicious, but also offering affection without the slightest bit of coercion.

“Perhaps… you’d prefer a kiss, like you gave to me?”

Janus really wanted for time to pause until he could make sense of everything. But it didn’t, the relentless thing, so he just nodded silently to Roman, not yet capable of forming an answer.

Roman came close, swooping off Janus’s hat with a flourish, and gently kissed his forehead.

Janus’s mind fuzzed over.

— — —

He still hadn’t figured it out when Patton came in the room later. He was just staring at his hat in his lap.

“Hey there, Jan, Roman said you were around,” Patton said cheerfully.

“You all really are open to us being here,” Janus murmured.

Patton’s face went from cheerful to serious, and he sat down next to Janus. “Yes, we are. I know there’s been an awful lot of division between us all, and I’m sure we’ll still hurt each other’s feelings sometimes, but I’m actually hopeful that we can all get along together now. I’d like that a lot.”

The door to the stairs, replacing the door to the closet in this facsimile of Thomas’s living room, vanished.

Janus stared at the doorframe. Gone. Passage between the ‘dark’ and ‘light’ side now completely open.

There were feelings crowding in at his chest, and he couldn’t parse them.

“Can I give you a hug?” Patton asked.

Janus silently nodded, reaching out and letting Patton hold him.

— — —

Janus knocked at Logan’s door.

“Come in,” Logan said from inside.

Janus went inside, carefully shutting the door behind himself.

“Oh, Janus. Interesting to see you here.”

“Can I stay a while?” Janus asked. “I have… a lot to think about.”

Logan’s forehead creased in worry, but he nodded. “Would you be open to talking about it?”

Janus sat on the edge of the bed, one hand idly scratching at his scales. “The door between the dark and light side disappeared.”

Logan nodded slowly and seriously. “Do you consider that to be a good or bad thing?”

Janus was suddenly reminded of his conversation with Thomas. “I don’t know. But it scares me not to know.”

“I can relate to that fear.”

Janus looked up at Logan, hoping for an answer.

“There are many things I don’t know that scare me. But I have you all to face them with me. If something does turn out to be harmful, I know I have people on my side that will help me.”

“But you’ll be around while I figure things out.”

Janus nodded, his eyes starting to well with tears for no reason.

Logan pulled a blanket out of a basket and tucked it around Janus’s shoulders. “If the change become overwhelming to you, my room is open.”

“Thank you,” Janus said, his voice shaky.

— — —

“Remus, would you stay with me tonight? If you don’t mind, I would appreciate some company.”

Remus, who’d been about to leave and go to bed, stopped immediately. “No problem, Janny, I’d love to stay.”

Remus wiggled his way under the covers, latching onto Janus and holding him in a close cuddle. “Are you doing alright?”

Janus nodded, hugging Remus back. “A lot has changed. I feel like I’ve lost my footing, and instead of falling I was caught by five pairs of hands. But now I have to trust them not to drop me.”

Remus nuzzled into Janus’s hair. “We won’t let you fall, Janus.”

Janus gripped tight. “Thank you.”

Remus chuckled. “Virgie sure did a big thing, didn’t he?”

“Much larger than I think anyone would’ve guessed,” Janus agreed.

“I think it’ll be a good thing though,” Remus said. “I mean, I’ve gotten loads of hugs and cuddles out of it already.”

Janus smiled, relaxing into Remus’s hold. “I’m glad for you. Do you know your brother tried to copy my forehead kiss?”

Remus laughed. “Bet he’s not half as good at it.”

Janus huffed a small laugh. “There’s not much to be ‘good’ at.”

“Of course there is! And you’re the best.” Remus asserted.

Janus rolled his eyes fondly.

Maybe this would turn out to be good.

[learningnewways]

Israel - Day 8

Today was the final day of our Israel guided tour. I can’t believe it’s the end already! Some days it felt like the tour would never end, thanks to John never slowing down for a second! But these past final days in Jerusalem have gone really quickly.

We always start by singing the same song on the bus each day which is quite fun and of course today was the last time! Here’s the lyrics for my memory: “Oh the suns coming up, on a bright new day, and you maybe wonder why, I’ve been feeling this way. Yeah I’m felling good, and I’m feeling alright, cause the Lord took my life and He filled it with His ever-loving light.” Pretty cheesy, I know!

We started the day by visiting the Garden Tomb, which is a site that visually represents the site of Jesus’ crucifixion and burial better than the Church of the Holy Sepulchre from yesterday. It was really helpful and made it easier to picture in real life. As John said yesterday, “we worship the person not the place.” We had communion together as a group and sung some worship songs on the garden which was really nice. One of my favourite worship songs is Build My Life by Pat Barrett and it was special to be able to sing that in Israel.

Our guide talked about how as we draw near to God, He will draw near to us. You don’t have to physically come to Israel to be closer to God, but I think there is something special about being in the land where the Bible is set, and where Jesus ministered. Although I don’t feel like I’ve had any big lightbulb or life changing moments spiritually on this trip, I’ve still learnt a lot and I think all little learnings and cool moments will add up. I think I’ll look back and see what I’ve learnt. It’s hard to see it now in the busyness of it all really.

During our communion and worship, I was reminded of how crazy my past two years has been, and I am so grateful to God for how He has brought me through it and provided for me. My life looked so different two years ago, even one year ago. I remember being so afraid and crying out to God from my lonely bed so many times, wondering if He still loved me and would use me. It still shocks me how gracious God is and how He truly does use us all the more in our failings and weakness. I have been broken down and re-moulded, I’m the clay and He is the great Potter. Now here I am, in Israel, two weeks in to my 6 month, totally God-orchestrated world trip... I still can’t quite believe how awesome God is...

Another thing I loved about today’s time at the Garden Tomb and just in general on this trip, is the realisation from the Gospels that, “He is not here, for He is risen.” It was on the wall in the Cave Church in Egypt too. And it’s true! Jesus isn’t in Israel, He’s risen! He is with me now in Israel, just like He was with me in Egypt, as He was with me in Singapore and the USA years ago, how He is with me in New Zealand, will be with me in The Gambia, and everywhere I go, every day of my life. How incredible it is to know that. Now I just need to actually believe it and not forget!

After the Garden Tomb, we went to the Israel Museum, where we saw a 1:50 scale of what Jerusalem would have looked like before it’s destruction in 70AD. It was so cool to see all the places we’d been and get a feel for the orientation as well as what it would’ve looked like in Jesus’ day. Inside the museum we saw actual sections of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which was amazing as we’d been to the place they were discovered in the Qumran caves a few days ago, so that brought it all together. I didn’t realise that they recovered parts of every single book of the Old Testament in the Dead Sea Scrolls, other than Esther... It’s pretty incredible really. And Esther is also one of only two books in the Bible not to mention the name of God, along with the Song of Songs... Interesting stuff...

We stopped for lunch, then visited a church called Christ Church, pretty cool name right! Apparently it was the first Protestant Church in the Middle East. There’s supposedly a tunnel that goes from the church site to the Temple Mount, but they aren’t going to excavate it anytime soon. We sung another few worship songs in there which was nice, old churches always have great acoustics too!

The final thing we did was the Rampart Walk, which is where you walk on the Old City walls of Jerusalem! It was so cool! We only went from the Jaffa Gate to the Damascus Gate, but it was still awesome to be up higher than the city, looking in to peoples homes, schools and businesses. I think you can walk around most of the wall, but obviously not the Temple Mount. We popped into the Muslim Quarter and walked around the shops, with some stopping to buy some spices. After that we headed back to the hotel so the group could get their bags and head to the airport.

It is strange that I’ve just spent the past eight days exploring Israel with a group of awesome people I will probably never see again... It would have been great to have a debrief night or something where everyone could share what we learnt or what our takeaways were... Once again, the schedule was too jam-packed for that unfortunately. I’m looking forward to the Kenya trip with the young adults from my church at the end of the year, as we’ll get to experience it all together and will forever have that bond and understanding of each other, which is super special. 

As I mentioned before, I still need to reflect on what I’ve learnt and experienced during my time in Israel. This blog has been great to pop down some thoughts and of course to keep a record of all the activities we’ve done, but I’ll need to think more deeply about what’s been happening inside of me. Maybe that doesn’t need to be shared on the blog... Tomorrow is my mum and I’s final day in Jerusalem before we go to Jordan. We’re hoping to try get to the Temple Mount if we’re allowed and just chill out a bit more. I also have some business admin to do before we leave, so it should be a relaxed day.

[nevertheless-moving]

Unnamed Extremely Bad Plan to Defeat Darth Sideous AU - SW AU NO 9

Hopefully writing down this star wars au will help me exorcise the cringe demon that helped midwife it. Time travel au where obi-wan and Anakin come up with an extremely SPECIFIC and UNCOMFORTABLE plan to defeat Palpatine because it unfortunately, would actually work, as it capitalizes on one of Palpatine’s easiest to reach political vulnerabilities. This is not a unique plan- there are other au’s like this, but this one is mine. When searching for ways to explain exactly why this anti-sith strategy inspires such cringe and delight in myself I realized, with sinking dread, I have seen this in an Always Sunny episode...which yeah. I might be over reacting but hey, cringe is a personal phenomenon, everyone’s different.

Anyway! Uh here’s a bunch of plot that will eventually culminate in the plan. 

*Too much plot, aaaah*. **All plot actually.** ***Its 1 am and this is still a draft*** ****It’s 2am**** *****This post will be just be background I guess.*****

*******STAR WARS AU NO 9 LAZILY OUTLINED CHAPTER ONE*********

Force ghosts Darth Vader and Ben Kenobi have had time to yell at one another without need for breath, and have more-or-less come to terms with the trainwreck that was their shared life. I wouldn’t call them well adjusted, but they’re more stable then they were the last decade or so of their living existence. 

In haunting Luke, they end up encountering an artifact in an ancient Willis temple that offers spirits the chance to fix the mistakes they made in life. It doesn’t truly unwrite what’s been done, but it lets you create an alternate timeline. So this galaxy will still be what it is, but some alternate galaxy somewhere could at least have it better. Its almost never been used, because becoming one with the force usually lets you accept the past, but viewed objectively, Vader and Ben’s lives involved an extreme amount of yikes. They say goodbye to Luke and are flung backwards and sideways.

Anakin is holding his mother as she dies. Obi-Wan is landing on Genosis. 

Vader just barely manages to avoid slaughtering the tuskens. To be honest, he doesn’t really get why he shouldn’t- his moral compass is still pretty f-ed up. He’s fairly certain the force is just torturing him, but still he controls himself (for Padme for Luke for Leia).

I’m gonna say well-adjusted!Vader sees murder in general as more of a vice than a sin- on par with having a beer. And really well adjusted Vader is willing to admit to himself that he’s an alcoholic, he seriously cannot regulate, its a problem. He really can’t let himself go, because he’ll just end up spiraling. And so he restrains himself and only seriously maims a few of the adult raiders.

Vader figures he can always come back later and slowly torture them to death if this whole ‘save the future’ thing doesn’t pan out.

Obi-wan leaves his shuttle and hides under a rock for 30 minutes. He calculates thats just enough time for him to pretend he went on an extremely effective and sneaky fact finding mission- just in case anyone checks R4′s records. Gets back in shuttle and gets the fuck out of there, much to Dooku’s chagrin, who lost sight of him after the shuttle landed and is now going to have to switch to one of his alternate start-the-war plans. 

On the flight back he reports everything to the council- fallen Dooku and the separatist leaders, the trade federation and the massive droid army, Jango Fett the clone template of the republic army (?) working for the separatists. He briefly comms Anakin, but anyone hacking into their conversations would hear only a nonsensical, rambling conversation. Later, a hacker might turn over the idea that they were speaking in elaborate code, but why would Jedi invent such a thing during peacetime?

The war still starts; at this point in the timeline it was inevitable; the artifact was only designed to give them the chance to correct their own failings, not the galaxy’s. Palpatine still gets his emergency powers. 

The same day the armies are discovered, separatist war ships take off to engulf Ryloth. The Jedi are instructed by the senate to lead the clone army and provide immediate relief-this will not be a repeat of the republic’s inaction on Naboo. It’s both better and worse than the first Battle of Genosis. So many more civilians are caught in the crossfire. The first titanic battle is not contained to evacuated droid factories, but rages across an entire populated world. The battle lasts for weeks.

The main reason this fight is less deadly is solely due to the fact that General Kenobi manages to maneuver his way into high command of the entire army.

 “I believe assumptions were made since I was the first point of contact with Kamino, Masters,” the Knight explained apologetically to the arriving high council members. “I realize its not quite appropriate, but for right now I am the Jedi most familiar with our forces and the enemies. I would, of course, prefer to cede the role to someone else.” 

The assembled Jedi can feel the truth in that statement.

“For better or for worse, advance troops were directed by the senate to land planetside and have met heavy resistance. I managed to redirect them to a more defensible position, where they can provide surface based cover fire for incoming reinforcements. The battle has already begun.” He received a grim nod of approval from Master Windu.

“I feel the need to say now, that if there’s one thing I learned from my time as a general on Melida/Dann, or in working against Death Watch on Mandalore, its that having a clear chain of command is vital for a military to succeed. I don’t need to remind some of you that leadership breakdowns were what ultimately ended both the Stark Hyperspace War and the Yinchorri Crisis,” Masters Koon and Tiin exchanged looks before deliberately sending forth a small force wave of approval, understanding where this briefing was leading. 

“I believe that unnecessarily restructuring command before the battle is won here could do far more harm than good.” The reminder of Obi-wan’s unusually militaristic apprenticeship put some of the assembled knights at ease even as it inspired a twinge of guilt in the older masters. 

“In command you are, General Kenobi,” Master Yoda finally acknowledged. “A Jedi Master you will be, once done this battle is. Have us do, what would you?” 

The battle lasts for weeks, and when its over, the commanding Jedi and Troopers involved will openly acknowledge that had anyone else been in command, it would’ve lasted months, if not years. Facing down logistical, strategic, and tactical problems on a scale unheard of for a thousand years, High General Kenobi does not falter.

Enemy reinforcements seem unending. For all their preparation, every single trooper is new to war, and secretly concerned that should they fall, they will be replaced with cadets who hadn’t even finished their training.

Obi-Wan is putting out fires before they can start. Much to their shock, clone commanders are informed that they will, for the time being, remain in charge of their troops. With a handful of exceptions, Jedi ‘Generals’ were in fact, to be treated as a cross between highly skilled commandoes and advisors with abnormally sourced field intelligence. 

“All of you have spent your lives training to lead your brothers into combat. The Jedi Masters and knights who are being assigned to your divisions have not received such training.” 

General Kenobi addressed the division commanders, some in person, some over holocomm. All focused in rapt attention as their General reordered the shape of their lives using language they could understand.

“The command structure I am issuing is designed to maximize our ability to utilize our respective strategic capabilities, while minimizing potential loss of your life. It will be our great privilege to serve alongside such an army, and while I fully expect a complementary exchange of knowledge in time, for now, focus on survival.”

The Jedi received similar briefings, tailored for their broader array of combat and military experience. Some, including Jedi Master Pong Krell and Grandmaster Yoda, were pulled aside and tasked with the essential mission of infiltrating and destroying the Droid factories on Genosis. If they were to have a chance of winning this war, they they would need to cut off the seemingly unceasing flow of droid reinforcements. 

An elite squadron of Arctroopers and Jedi field operatives were covertly dispatched, Grandmaster Yoda himself in command. Considering Count Dooku had yet to appear anywhere near Ryloth...the grandmaster had the best chance of bringing in the fallen separatist leader alive for questioning.

Shortly after they left, Anakin arrived, having finally turned over Padme’s protection to her regular guard. With the military creation vote past, the assassination risk was considered minimal. The real delay in his arrival came from her repeated attempts to join the Grand Army of the Republic on Ryloth with the intent of coordinating humanitarian assistance. Eventually he managed to convince her that she could do more good in the senate. 

After all, he pointed out, someone would need to followup the military creation act with a bill to grant clones equal citizen rights. Otherwise, the legal grey area that cloning fell under and their non-republic origin would inadvertently make the clones slaves. 

His borrowed Nabooan cruiser entered the warzone with the grace and efficiency as a small neutron bomb.

Those close enough to see its flaming descent watched in horror, realizing that the high generals own padawan would likely be a war casualty before he ever engaged in combat.

The legion nearest to soon-to-be-ground-zero, under the command of Captain Rex of the 501st, were distracted by heated combat, as the temporary barricade they had put up to defend the civilian population gave way to droidika artillery. 

While reloading, several dozen troopers happened to look up to see a speck detach itself from the hull as at spiraled in the lower atmosphere. Hope spread that the Jedi had managed to activate some sort of eject hatch. A skilled shocktrooper could probably control and and survive such a fall with luck, which mean a Jedi almost certainly could. 

A few tactical scouts charged with watching the skies confirmed that the speck was indeed a humanoid. No chute was visible, but even 8 days into the war, rumors had already spread about how Master Windu had passed off his chute mid-air to a troopers who had been damaged by suppressing fire, cushioning his free fall solely with the tank he crushed upon landing. 

Only one trooper, stationed in the town clock tower specifically to track the Padawan’s arrival and issued with a high-resolution farscope, saw the whole thing. Fortunately for his credibility later, in its current setting, the scope automatically logged photos every 5 seconds, ensuring that for years to come Obi-Wan would have a flipbook as evidence that he was not the crazy one.

CT-3609 or Blink (as he was named after winning the division wide staring contest on Kamino two year prior) forwarded the trajectory of the vehicle to command, who confirmed his analysis that it would impact two clicks out from their makeshift fort and not present a risk to civilian or trooper lives. 

As it traversed the stratosphere a figure (desperate repair droid, Blink assumed) emerged from the cockpit to perch on the nose of the ship. As it entered the troposphere, it became painfully obvious that the figure jutting out from the hull of the ship was in fact not a humanoid droid, but an unarmored human. The Jedi stood on the prow of the ship, seemingly impervious to and oblivious of:

air resistance 

centrifugal force

normal space gravity 

Blink’s slack-jawed bewilderment

the flames engulfing the ship below him

At this range, the smirk on the man’s face was visible (man? boy? kriff is he even through puberty?). Several miles above the surface he leaped, diving towards the ground like a bird of prey. 

To the west, the ship made impact with the ground, sending a shockwave that shook the tower just enough for Blink to lose visual in the final moments of descent. Cursing, as while he was confident the Jedi would inexplicably survive, he really wanted to see how. The trooper scanned the droid-engulfed farmland to the north for a crash site, to no avail. Lingering smoke from the burnt countryside negatively impacted visibility low to the ground.

Rather than trying to articulate his report into words, he sent the 50-odd frames the farscope had saved, as well as the coordinates for the jedi’s projected radius of touchdown. A quick radio over to long range electro-ballistics ensured that his landing wouldn’t be marred by friendly fire.

He awaited follow-up questions on the absurd entry method, which, when they came, mostly consisted of variations on “...Is this for real?” and eventually “Can you set the scope to video for a little while?” and finally “Do you think that’s how he got the name Skywalker?”

There was a temporarily lull in fire from the west, likely a ripple effect from the ship’s explosion. From his vantage point Blink could see his batchmates using the opportunity to try and plug the holes in their barricade with broken droid pieces. Regardless of the itch to join them, he knew he couldn’t leave his post until the Jedi actually arrived in camp. Finally, a distant explosion and thick pillar of smoke gave the Jedi’s position away.

He tried to make out details, but the scope had a difficult time focusing through the haze. Manually trying to fine tune the scope’s settings, Blink caught a glimpse of what looked like half a hover tank sailing through the air to impact with a trade federation troop carrier in a fiery explosion. Several more explosions, flying droid artillery, and plumes of smoke were caught on record before visual contact with the source was established. He was mostly visible as a blue blur, lightsaber mowing a meandering path towards their location. 

It wasn’t until Skywalker braced himself in place to punch a droidaka into pieces that Blink caught actual sight of the man. Only his eyes were visible, nose and mouth covered by layers of cloth. He blurred, then reappeared on top a massive missile launcher attached to an absurdly heavily armored vehicle. A minute or so of rapid blue flashes passed, the longest he had seen concentrated in one area. Then Skywalker was gone, movement clearly visible as he for once he moved in a straight line, plowing a rapid path away from the launcher. 

Less than 30 seconds later, Blink had to wince away from the scope, as a burning white explosion temporarily overwhelmed the direct light filter. The trooper panicked for a moment, thinking he had gone both deaf and blind, but the abrupt, sucking silence ended after a moment with a deafening sonic boom. The shockwave rattled the farscope, nearly knocking it over, but Blink managed to steady it and himself in time. 

A cheer emerged from pleasantly surprised vod below. The entire droid legion that had been guarding the missile launcher and apparent ordinance bay was flattened. 

It took a moment for the realization to set in that the background noise of missile and and anti-missile collisions directly overhead had slowed pace. With the northern flank gone, artillery were able to redouble efforts to the east, and a second white hot shockwave ensued, signaling that the tide of battle had shifted. It was almost too easy for the republics electro-ballistics to tactically devastate the surrounding forces. 

Eventually some sort of win/loss programming must have set in and all forces outside of a certain radius began retreating southward, conceding the scorched land to the republic army. It was cadets work to clean up the final suicidal droid charge. 

A commotion ensued as Skywalker leapt the barricade with a mid-air flip. The vod greeted him with cheers, as they correctly assumed his appearance had something to do with the skirmish’s decisive victory.

Blink sent the video of the battle to command and quickly packed up his scope and assorted equipment. Hurrying down the battered tower, Blink thought to himself that this Anakin Skywalker was the best sort of Jedi a trooper could ask for.

uh sorry i got really sidetracked there moving on

Kenobi and Skywalker quickly become the face of the war once again

they grit their teeth a bit, but when they finally have a moment to really plan they eventually agree that to take down Sideous they have to cut off his political power in addition to everything else, and taking advantage of their public personas was the most accessible way to do so (*evil laughter*)

While Dooku wasn’t captured, Yoda heard the truth in his old student’s cryptic warnings about a Sith in the Senate, and the council begins carefully editing their release of tactical plans to the Chancellor’s office in the hopes of ferreting out the spy in their midst.

Pong Krell looses two arms in his duel with Dooku. Obi-Wan successfully hides his smug pleasure at the news. Anakin enjoys makeing comparisons between him and Grievous. 

Kenobi doesn’t allow the origin of the clones to go unexamined, although he agrees that if the public were informed that they don’t actually know who ordered them it would probably cause panic.

The ‘inhibitor chips’ are ‘discovered’ early on and Anakin leads the effort to ensure that they are phased out and removed immediately. This consists of reminding every Jedi who even hesitates about how how he as a child slave had some experience with control chips and unless you want to take a leaf out of the hutts books lets start doing brain surgery chop chop mmmkay?

(This isn’t to say that Vader doesn’t still a twinge of shame at acknowledging his slave roots. But it is eclipsed by the burning guilt that he knowingly acted as slave master to his troops for decades after Sideous wiped their minds. He tried to rationalize it to himself, after all he didn’t immediately understand what Order 66 had done to the troopers. But while the morality of murder was more of an intellectual concern than a personal one, treating people as things...)

The Kamonions are a little harder to budge, referencing contracts that they refuse to allow the Jedi to see

Finally Vader snuck into the Chief Medical Scientist’s home while she was sleeping and straight-up threatened to murder her and burn down her lab. At the risk of losing her life’s work, Nala Se complied.

Vader left with the final threat that in the event that Darth Tyranus caught wind and activated Order 66 prematurely, he would kill 100 Kamonians for every Jedi felled by troopers. Shaak Ti was pleased by the cloners sudden change of heart. Tyrannus, and by extension, Sideous, are in the dark. 

Obi-Wan frequently publicly confronts Palpatine about the troops citizen status, urging him make use of his emergency powers to grant them citizenship and full pay, with the option to leave the army should they so wish. 

Anakin manages to play off his avoidance of the Chancellor as disappointment in his perceived lack of dedication to anti-slavery efforts

Finally Palpatine gives in- regardless of what happens next, the troops will be looked after.

With 2/3rds of the troopers dechipped, Vaderkin is eager to kill Sideous again, but after several intense screaming matches and sparring sessions, the time travelers come to the agreement that even if they succeed in their duel, with things as they were, the perception of the Jedi military coop would cause mass civil unrest. The scattered sith apprentices, while individually weak, were more than capable of magnifying that fear and anger until the galaxy breaks. Darth Sideous wanted to ensure that if he couldn’t have the galaxy, no one would. 

(Vader knows this. Sideous enjoyed monologuing, and much of his plotting couldn’t be safely bragged about until after he had decisively won, leaving Vader as the unwilling receptacle for years of pent-up rants and self-satisfied gloats about the inevitability of his victory)

Continued Here

[redbeardace]

I was asleep.

Everyone remembers where they were. I was sleeping.

I was in college then. Summer quarter had ended a few weeks ago, and Fall quarter was a few weeks away, so I had nothing to do that Tuesday. I was sleeping.

My mother would get up to help get my father ready for work. He'd leave a little after 6 AM. Then she'd stay up and turn on the KTLA Morning News. We weren't in Southern California, but we'd lived there and had family connections there, so it felt like a "local" newscast, even though it was a thousand miles away. So most weekdays, I'd fade into consciousness, hearing the rhythm of the broadcast.

Carlos to Mark, Mark to Jennifer, Jennifer to Sam, Commercial, Repeat.

That morning, none of that.

I couldn't really hear what was going on, but it wasn't normal. There were no jokes, no music, no commercials, no changes. Just a steady drone.

I started to listen, to try to hear what was happening.

I heard something about the Pentagon and a bomb at the State Department.

Well. That's not good.

I roll out of bed and into the living room. It was a little after 7:30.

There's a helicopter shot of giant cloud of dust on the TV. Dust. A few buildings. here and there. But dust. Everywhere. It looked like Mt. St. Helens had moved to the city and erupted.

It wasn't the Pentagon. It wasn't the State Department. Was that New York?

"Planes hit the World Trade Center towers." My mother's voice is shaky.

Okay, then, somewhere in that dust are the towers. They build those things to survive plane strikes. It survived the bomb in '93. The Empire State Building got hit by a plane and it's still standing. She told me that they'd fallen, but I didn't believe her. I couldn't believe her. They're just hidden by the dust and the dust will clear.

The dust will clear. The towers can't just fall. You'll see.

The dust will clear.

There was nothing there.

---

We watched what was unfolding on the other side of the continent all day long. I think my father got sent home early and joined us.

Watching a day like that unfold live is an experience that's hard to describe. You look back now, and there's a clear timeline, there are clear events. But on that day, nothing was clear. The news was an unbroken stream of numbing repetition and confusion. The anchors narrating what's going on have a worse view of it than you do, because they're squinting at small monitors halfway across the studio. You can flip between CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, and pick up little tidbits here and there, but they can't. They only have what comes through their earpiece, what ends up on their TelePrompTer, what's handed to them on paper. No one knows what's going on, not even the people telling you what's going on.

That day was full of rumors and confusion. There were attacks at the State Department and the FBI, there was a plane that had crashed in rural Pennsylvania, there was a plane that had been hijacked in Alaska. We didn't know what was real, and what was a phantom of fear. But mostly, it was just the numbing repetition. There was nothing new to add. Nothing more to say at 1 PM that hadn't been said at noon. What got repeated is what had happened, what didn't get repeated hadn't. The plane crash in Pennsylvania got repeated. The attack at the State Department didn't.

All day long, it was the same video from earlier in the day. Maybe a new angle as reporters and survivors got their footage to a TV station. But we watched it again and again. Maybe there'd be a new detail to see, something to fill in another piece of the What The Fuck Just Happened puzzle we were now living in.

In a weird way, that day didn't seem as bad as it went on and the rumors subsided and the scope became clear. My morning started with a dust cloud that covered all of Lower Manhattan and obscured what had happened. Had the towers toppled sideways and crushed dozens of buildings for blocks around? It was 9 AM on a Tuesday, a work day, those buildings were full, and the area was a major commuter hub. 10000 people in each building, maybe tens of thousands passing through, hundreds of thousands in that cloud of dust. There's no one alive down there. The initial estimates they gave were 20-30 thousand in the collapsed towers alone, to say nothing of the people suffocated by that cloud of dust and smoke. And then Washington DC is under attack and they're even hijacking planes in Alaska. What are they going to do to us next? But the death toll steadily dropped, other rumored attacks were found to be false alarms, they didn't come back for a second round. But that "good" news didn't make us feel any better. What would've made us feel better would've been word that they had been rescuing dozens of people from the rubble, stories of survivors being found days later, but that news never came.

---

Where's the President? Why haven't we seen the President? Why hasn't he said anything?

"He's safe and in an undisclosed location."

On September 10th, George W. Bush was just a bumbling dumbass who'd stolen the election from Gore. He wasn't yet a warmonger, although he'd surrounded himself with them.

On September 11th, Bush was still a bumbling dumbass, but he was our President. I was actually glad that he was invisible and hidden most of that day. We didn't know what in the hell was going on. If I knew where the President was, then the assholes who did this to us would know where he was, and no matter how much I didn't like the guy, I certainly didn't want to see a terrorist attack on Air Force One or the White House.

But I was worried that he'd send in the missiles and bombers and turn everything from Morocco to Pakistan to ash, which is what some people were calling for before we even knew who was responsible. And that's not what happened. All that happened that day was... nothing. I respected that, and I still respect that. Rushing headlong into revenge isn't what we needed that day.

---

We ended that day, not with Dan Rather or Peter Jennings or Tom Brokaw, but with Hal Fishman, legendary anchor on the KTLA News at Ten. He was a plane guy. He'd know what happened. He was comfortable to us, familiar, and we needed to know there was still something out there comfortable and familiar.

---

The next day, my mother wanted a break from it all, so we went shopping. I don't think we needed to, and Wednesday wasn't the normal shopping day, but we just had to get out, so we went to Wal-Mart.

Throughout the store, there were TVs hanging from the ceiling. Normally, they'd show ads and music videos and things. Not that day. They were all tuned to CNN. People stopped in the middle of the aisle, watching Condoleezza Rice or Donald Rumsfeld or Colin Powell or whoever giving a press conference.

There was no break from it.

---

Does everyone else know it was a Tuesday? I mean, just know. Like somehow that is an important, integral part of what happened that day. Because I know it was a Tuesday with that same fierceness as I know that the towers fell. I don't remember all the flight numbers or which tower was hit first or which one fell first or even a single word of what the President said that night, but I know it was a Tuesday. And I don't understand why.

---

I've cried over it. I just did while writing all this. It's one of the few things I have cried about. But it's never sustained weeping. One tear. Maybe two. It feels like it should be more, but then it's like the scale becomes incomprehensible and unreal and it stops. What good will my tears do? They won't fix it. They won't change it.

---

"Never Forget", they say, but twenty years on, many of you have no memory of that day, maybe even weren't born yet. You've only seen the packaged videos from the perfect camera angles. You know what happened, the full story told from beginning to end across three acts in a two hour movie. You know the death toll, you know about the box cutters, you know how Osama Bin Laden ends, you know where the undisclosed location is, you know about the plane that said "Let's Roll". We didn't know any of that, sometimes for days or weeks or years. We only knew shock and confusion and sadness and anger and numbness and a giant cloud of dust that has not cleared and will never clear and still coats everything in our lives, even if we were thousands of miles away.

For those of us who saw that day...

Never forget?

How could we?