#its a tad hard to enjoy a character that had little screen time

[punny0verlord]

So... When Solar-Flare first appeared, I didnt know how to feel about him...

But out on a whim... I decided to draw him

I personally dont like the little mouth grill thingy. Hence why I didn't draw him with a mouth...

Even tho this is the first time I drew him... I wouldn't mind trying to draw him again.

[trumpkinhotboy]

All in good time

Pairing: Jacob Black x f!reader

Type: Not requested

Genre: Kinda fluffy i'd say

Warnings: None!

Rating: g

Requests: Open (for Narnia and Twilight, maybe?😳)

A/n: Alright, alright, I know I said this blog was going to be centralized on Narnia stuff, but lately I've really gotten back in my Twilight phase🥴 Plus, I had a really shitty week and needed a pick me up. Jacob is one of my biggest comfort characters so I felt it was only suiting. I hope you'll enjoy it😬 I suggest reading this while listening to any kind of Twilight ambiance playlist.☺Also, I know my title sucks HAHA. Couldn't think of anything better so yea, I'm sorry, but this is what you get

Update: changed my title huhu!

* gif is not mine!!

There were days that just deeply and inherently... sucked. Days where everything seemed out of rhythm, where no matter how hard you tried, it all seemed wrong; it all fell apart.

Today was one of those days. When your dad jokingly said: "Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." you did not think it the tiniest of bit funny. When you opened one of the kitchen cabinets to get your favorite brand of cereals and found an empty box, you almost threw a full-on seven-year-old crying on the floor tantrum. Especially when you saw the half-emptied bowl sitting in the sink. Too bad, no breakfast for you this morning. Ridiculous, immature, and not changing anything? Yes, of course, but you still did it out of pure spite. As if that would punish anyone else than you.

Like any other day in Forks, it was raining, nothing awful here, if it was not for the fact that the window on the driver’s side hadn’t been properly closed. Your seat was by now totally drenched. With your pants completely soaked you rode to school, your knuckles turning white from angrily gripping the wheel. Once you arrived, it seemed that everyone was annoyingly happy and enthusiastic while you just couldn’t get out of your personal, unchangeable, black cloud. Not to help, your friends only kept making fun of your moody behavior. Could you not be taken seriously on one of your worst days?

In your least favorite class, you were horrified to see written in big letters on the board:

“20% exam!! Leave your personal effects in front of the class.”

You would have run away if it wasn’t for the flow of students coming in to push you further in the classroom. Convinced the exam was for the next week, you did not even open the pages of your manual concerning the subject. It is with panic and exasperation that you sat at your desk waiting for your doom. Did you need to add that along with all that bull crap of a day, the only person who could have made your day a little less annoying was, once again missing. No calls, no texts, no news, nothing. Probably on another mission with the rest of his mutant gang. You got to the Rez after school, hoping you would see him, but were only welcomed by Leah and Seth. It almost felt like they were waiting for you as they were sitting outside of Billy’s house. Why they were the only ones left here was a mystery for you. The pack usually always stayed together.

- “Where are the others?”

- “On some kind of mission around the lands.”

- “Is everything alright?” They nodded nonchalantly. “Then why are you two here?”

The answer Seth gave you while chewing loudly on yet, another snack, made you grith your teeth so hard he thought they were going to fall out of your mouth.

- “To protect you.”

- “I thought it was nothing, so why would I need protection?”.

- “You should talk about it with Black. He’s the one who ordered us to stay to watch over you or something.”

- “I am PERFECTLY capable of WATCHING OVER MYSELF.” you answered a little louder than expected, anger rumbling in your chest. That earned you some awkward looks from your two friends, but at this point, it didn’t even matter, you were seeing red.

Leah, never intimated by you, shrugged her shoulders. Seth looking a little bit more nervous still laughed at your display of anger. Jacob was the one assigning babysitters over you? Of course, you and he would have a little discussion, that mutt would not see it coming.

When you got back home, you called your father to warn him; there was no way you would be cooking dinner. With your luck, it wouldn’t be a surprise if you burnt the whole house down. Fortunately, he was in good mood (unfair) and answered there was no problem; he would get pizza. He got home with the box in hand and a “Hey sweet...heart”. One quick look at your rough appearance and frustrated expression and his mouth closed shut. He dropped politely, almost carefully, a plate with a slice of pizza before quickly leaving for the couch. You mostly played with the food, incapable of swallowing it down, looking at the forest many times, waiting, expecting to see a tall figure appear on its verge but nothing. Time passed, still no sign of life. There was no way that by now Leah or Seth didn’t give him your message. You had time to wash the dishes, do some homework, and get in your sweats. At 7:30 pm you gave up; he wasn’t coming. Your father was still watching TV, completely oblivious to your growing anger. You picked up his plate to put it in the sink but tripped and dropped it, the delicate plate exploded into a thousand pieces.

- “Y/n? Everything okay?”

- “Y..ea.. an accident. I’ll pick it up.”

There was a slight tremolo in your voice. That was it. Your day had been terrible with no sign of sun, and this broken plate would be your breaking point as ridiculous as it sounded. You leaned on the counter, head hanging low, feeling tears of frustration swelling up in your eyes. Taking a deep breath, you looked up; in a second you were out the back door.

- “Where you going?” you heard your father ask.

- “Getting the trash out.”

The figure backed in the woods as you rushed into them without hesitation. You smacked against something big and warm, warmer than it was normal to be, yet you had become quite accustomed to it.

- “You little piece of shit.” your index finger digging in his chest. “You weren’t even here today, and it was terrible, and you can’t do this. I do not need any PROTECTION. Oh my god, do you really think I am weak and helpless without you or Leah or Seth or ANY werewolf to protect me?!”

He didn’t interrupt your monologue, only looking at you spitting your anger out.

- “You are SO annoying. Honestly who- who do you think you- are?! I’m- I am not, I can DEFINITELY, I don’t ne-eed any-one.” Your speech was becoming less and less coherent, your emotions taking control of your mind.

Without waiting any longer for you to finish your incoherent thought, he pulled you in for one of his signature bear hugs.

- “You can’t do this to me I’m an-ang-angry...”.

- “Shhh, it’s okay.”

- “You-you weren’t there.” you gave up fighting him, wrapping your arms around his waist.

- “I’m sorry, Leah told me.”

- “Wh- why didn’t you come sooner?” you continued, sobbing.

- “Some wolf things, Paul got in trouble.“ you backed off, immediately lifting your head at the mention of one of your friends in trouble.

- “Is he okay?”

- “Of course, he is, but Sam was very upset this time.” he stroked the side of your face with a small smile. “Enough with the boys, tell me what's wrong.”

- “Everything. I left my car window opened my seat was drenched. At school, everyone was disgustingly happy and in a good mood. I did not know I had an exam, I didn’t even study the subject. And this morning, my dad half ate the rest of my favorites cereals, and then I didn’t eat anything else as a silent protest, I know that’s stupid, but”

- “You didn’t eat anything else?”

- “Yeah, but I…” you lifted your gaze to meet his disapproving one. “I mean, I must have eaten a snack at lunch today…”

- “Must have?” he looked angrier.

- “Y/n??? Where are you??”

The calling of your father interrupted your conversation; he looked in its direction.

- “You should go back inside before your dad comes out.”

- “What? No, please. Can’t you kidnap me for tonight?” he chuckled lightly.

- “Trust me, go back in, okay?”

You looked at him unsure, even though you knew he was worthy of your trust. You finally nodded before running back inside.

- “What took you so long?”

- “Oh, uh, I thought I saw something and got a little carried away.”

- “Mokay, I don’t like you being so close to the woods. We’ve still had a few complaints about some trekkers finding traces of big animals in the woods. I’d prefer you be careful, alright?” You held up a smile, thinking about your friend just outside.

- “Sure.”

You stayed in the middle of the living room, expecting, waiting to see Jacob’s next move. You expected something quick, but when ten minutes later, there were still no signs of him, you felt frustration rising again. Not sure what to do now, you sat next to your father, half paying attention to what was happening on the screen. If he just left you, he was going to pay for it. You needed him, and just like that, he was gone? Probably, got called away by Sam again. Maybe it wasn’t in his control? But if it was…

Knock. Knock.

You looked up, surprised. The door opened with a creaking sound.

- “Oh, Jacob. Hi, what are you doing here?”

- “Hi Charlie, I heard Y/n had a pretty bad day. Came to kidnap her, if that's okay?”

- “Bad day? That’s an understatement. I swear, at one point, I thought she was going to scream at me. I ate her last bowl of cereal this morning; the thing was disgusting, I only ate half of it. I don’t think that helped.” You heard your friend’s low chuckle. Your dad seemed to feel pretty guilty about his crime, which did make you feel a tad bit better. “But yeah sure. Y/n! You have a visitor.”

You walked to them, Jacob awkwardly fitting in your small house; he seemed so disproportionate with his imposing size. For once, he was wearing actual clothes, a shirt and a pair of jeans, a sign he wasn’t planning on having to transform tonight. A sign that he was planning on being entirely dedicated to you.

- “Ready to go? I’m kidnaping you.” He said that last part with a smirk, a hint to your previous request.

- “Sure.” You grabbed your coat, said goodbye to your dad, and left without waiting any longer.

First, he took you away to get some food in you. It wasn’t until your teeth were digging inside a delicious burger that you realized just how hungry you were. Jacob being the glutton that he is, ordered two cheeseburgers along with a pack of large fries. You went for a milkshake, the perfect dessert for a night like this, and took your victuals to the La Push beach. It was empty and peaceful; the sun was slowly going down, the wind just a whisper in the night. It wasn’t even that cold, but the excuse to snuggle into Jake’s wolfish warmth was too good to pass.

- “Feeling better?” he asked while wrapping his arm around your shoulders.

- “Yes. Thanks, Jake.”

- “Kidnapping mission was a success?”

- “Yes, it was.” You answered with a smile.

- “Alright.” He muttered under his breath, looking in the distance.

You stayed for a while in comfortable silence, simply enjoying the other’s presence.

- “So, what were you saying about me not being there today, like that made your day worst?”

His question took you by surprise. A look at his cocky expression was all it took you to punch him in the ribs as hard as you could.

- “You wish idiot.”

He laughed at your attack, he probably didn't even feel a thing but leveled his face with yours in all seriousness.

- “You can avoid this conversation for now since you had a shit day and all, but keep in mind, it’s not over.”

- “And you keep in mind that our discussion about you ordering werewolves to stay behind to protect me, is not over. You won’t get away easily with that one Black.”

He laughed again, visibly amused with your threat. You laughed too but were slightly less amused. These two conversations were important ones, although one you apprehended way more. You looked at Jacob's happy expression and felt a fuzzy feeling warming your body. No, right now was not the time for such serious topics.

All in good time, right?

...

Tagging my two gals because they know how nervous I was😭...@imjustdreamingig @gonzalezyon I did it gals🥺 I hope you'll like it, thank you so much for your support💕💕

[hopeamarsu]

Of potions and myths

This is for the lovely @clydesducktape​ and her CDT celebration challenge. Congratulations on your milestone my darling! ❤️  

I thought I was just going to write a small blurb, but it got out of hand a little, oops. I also decided to try my hand in something else entirely, namely a whole new character. I hope it’s not rubbish.  

My picks: Mythical creature - Love Potion - Blind Date

Will Miller x f!reader (eventually if I can manage a chapter two of this)

Word count 2,1k

Warnings: Predatory behaviour, dangers of date rape drugs and drugging (nothing happens, don’t worry!), alcohol, magic, mythical creatures are known, strong tension. Please let me know if I missed anything! 

Chapter 2

“I wouldn’t drink that if I were you,” A deep voice rumbles behind you just as you straighten your body to get back to your drink and continue your date. Your eyes widen, flitting between your drink still on its coaster, your date who looks like he’s about to sweat through his button-up and the stranger standing to your left, one huge hand hooked around his belt buckle and the other twisted outward a little, displaying his intricate tattoos. 

He looks calm on the outside, posture all relaxed as he holds your gaze for a moment before turning his eyes to your date and you can practically see them turn into ice and stone. You follow his gaze and take in your date, how the collar of his shirt looks a tad too tight and the perspiration gathering at his hairline. He’s very nervous for some reason, you think but remain silent, waiting for more information.  

The blond stranger nods towards your drink, sitting all innocent at the bar top, water pooling around it. “Saw him drop something in your drink as you were turned away.” Despite his calmness, the voice is laced with venom, the ice in his eyes burning as he regards your date with disdain. With slow, deliberate movement, he picks up your drink and gives it a small whiff. 

“Love potion.” Two words that turn your world upside down. 

It had been a blind date, set up by your co-worker who had assured you that their friend was good and kind and cute, when you first hesitated accepting the invitation. And it had been an okay date so far, if a little lacklustre in conversation. He’d talked more about himself and his work than engaging you in conversation during your two-hour in the bar together. You’d already given up on the idea of a second date, but tried to humor yourself and him by not cutting the date short even if only to please your co-worker, trying to at least make it work. 

But to hear he’d tried to lace your drink with love potion? Oh hell no. 

“Give me the drink,” You order in a low voice, holding out your hand for it. The blond man agrees, passing the drink to you and you bring it to your own nose, picking up the notes under the alcohol. Once you are certain the stranger is indeed right and you know exactly what the potion was supposed to do to you, you turn your body to look at your date fully. 

In a flash of a movement you tip the drink upside down and pour it down his crotch, ice and all. When he yelps and jumps up cursing, trying to salvage the light chinos, you stand up as well and push the empty glass into his chest, growling in his ear.

“You absolute fucker! Next time when you try to use a potion to make someone fall into bed with you, do it with someone who doesn’t study potions for a living. Or better yet, don’t do it at all.”  

With another push at the date, you step around him, not sparing him a second glance. Your mind is screaming for you to run, hide and maybe get shitfaced at home to avoid the humiliating feeling already creeping up your spine and you rush away out the door. 

The cold air hits you full force and you need to lean back towards the brick wall, trying to gather your shields and thoughts as your mind wanders into unsavoury grounds. Had it not been for the stranger looking out for you... Like called upon, the blond man steps into your eyesight, arms loose and his posture unthreatening even when he fills the air around him with restrained power. 

“Are you alright?” 

His deep rumble feels like balm against your bleeding wounds and you lift off the wall to fully look at him again. He is taller than you, his blond hair cropped short and his full beard trimmed close to his skin but showing how full it is nevertheless. His eyes search for signs in yours and you feel your mental shield drop a bit as you drown in his blue orbs. Your hand shakes by your side when you let out a soft sigh. 

“I’ll be soon. Thank you, for what you did. I didn’t even notice.”

“He was sneaky, using the moment you checked for your phone. I’m glad I caught it, it was very fast.”

“The phone!” You exclaim and dig hastily through your pockets to find the object in question. You turn the screen to him, showing the blank email notification still up on the phone. “The bastard had this all planned. I can’t believe it.” You shake your head in disgust, another wave of cold fear running inside your veins. 

“Do you wish to report him?” 

“I don’t know…” 

“Unauthorized use of a Class B potion is a felony,” He points out casually and you have to nod at his words. It’s true and given that you could also smell the undertone of aphrodisiac potion in the drink as well tells you the man was either playing with fire combining these two potions together or had done it before and gotten away with it and he should be brought in for his offenses. 

“If only I hadn’t poured it down his pants. Now there’s only my word against his and who will believe a researcher over… whatever hell he is. I don’t even know if he is mundane or someone who practices the arts.” You feel dejected and upset at yourself. Even after all these years mingling with the supernatural you still don’t know all the clues you need to pick up upon to pinpoint someone.  

“Don’t worry, it’ll all turn alright. You have me as a witness, I have a pretty good idea on what he practices,” The stranger tells you, offering you a wry look. He holds out his hand and introduces himself as Captain William Miller, part of the Delta Force and you suck in a surprised breath. Delta is known all around as the elite of the elite, almost exclusively recruiting non-mundanes and mythicals into their ranks and if he’s made Captain within them, he must be at the top of the chain.

“You’d do that for me?” You manage to ask after introducing yourself. William, Will as he asks you to call him, give you a reassuring nod and you find yourself relaxing a little more. He steps closer and suddenly you feel tendrils of something wrap softly around you, offering you reassurance and protection. You find yourself leaning into the sensation, lowering your shields even further to enjoy them snake up your arms in soothing motions. 

Your eyes flip up to his and as they lock into place, you swear you see something red flicker in them for a second before the dark ocean-blue hue hides it. Almost like the opposite sides of a magnet, you are pulled closer to one another until your back is pressed against the wall again and he stands right in front of you. 

The tendrils are followed by his hand ghosting up near your bare arm as he cages you into the wall, one hand up over your head. “I don’t know what it is, but… Something draws me into you,” Will murmurs as his lips nearly graze your forehead. “I feel it too,” You answer him, your eyes falling shut as the sensation on your skin turns from soothing to electrifying. Something powerful hums between your bodies, just waiting to claim its prize.

He doesn’t touch you and you don’t touch him, both of you knowing unconsciously that the second you do, all bets are off. Your body calls to him and he is clearly having a tough time not answering the song. You can see how he struggles to keep his composure, his eyes flickering to your lips and your neck and back to your eyes. One of his hands curls into a fist as he breathes your scent in, his nostrils flaring at the combination of your natural musk and the bar you’ve left behind. 

You struggle against the pull too, trying to gather your shields again but it’s so hard when you want to drop them completely for him. You desperately want him to swoop down and just kiss you, erase everything and anything that is not him. It makes your head spin, the intensity of it all and you are glad of the wall offering you support and grounding you so you won’t fly away.    

“Allow me to take you home and come pick you up tomorrow? We’ll go and report the creep first thing but now I need to know you are safe. I need to keep you safe,” His voice grows husky, tender and possessive and you shiver under his whispered words. 

“Please,” you mumble, unable to deny his plea. With great effort Will pushes himself off you and steps away a little, your head clearing as the distance grows between both of you. It seems to have a similar effect on him as the hue in his eyes lightens. You can still feel his presence tingling in the base of your skull and you are already itching to explore your books to find more about this unexpected and intensive connection you seem to share with the handsome Captain.  

He gestures towards his car and you walk side by side to it. As the engine roars into action, you can feel the air get thicker as you are once more in close proximity. You want to open the seat belt and touch him, sink your fingers into his hair and feel the beard scratch along your chin and neck. One look at his white knuckles gripping the steering wheel tells you that you are not alone in your thoughts and it makes heat flare up inside you. 

By some miracle, or his ironclad will, he gets you home, following your quiet instructions to a tee. As you step to the curb, you feel the intensity simmer down again and file it away for later research. You turn to the open window after closing the door and offer your thanks for the ride and for catching the would-be predator. He has one hand still on the wheel anchoring himself in place, and just as you are about to turn around and walk to the front door, he speaks out your name.  

“After you’ve filed the report, can I, uh, can I take you out for a coffee?” Will sounds almost bashful as he speaks. Is he afraid you’ll deny him now that your mind is a bit clearer? You know he felt the magnitude of whatever it was surrounding your bodies earlier too. You can clearly see the remnants of it on his body pulled so tight, the muscles tense and poised to pounce under his Henley. You chuckle softly before offering an affirmative. 

“I would love that.” 

“Good! Great. Wonderful.” Will coughs to hide his eagerness. “I’ll pick you up in the morning then?” Now it’s your turn to nod, before bidding him good night. You feel his eyes tracking your every move as you walk away from the car, every cell in your body rebelling against the movement of your legs. It takes all of your concentration not to rush back but to finally open the door and step inside.

The lock clicks into place and you sigh as you rest your forehead against the wood, hoping you’d invited him in. But for now, this is for the best, you remind yourself. You have some research to do. You need to get to the bottom of this connection before anything rash can happen. No matter how much you wish for it to. 

Hours later you step into your bedroom and a soundless whisper calls to you from the window. You walk next to it and push the curtain to the side a little. Will’s car is still parked on the same spot where he left you and even if you can’t see his face, you see his figure in the front seat, reclining a little as he’s gotten comfortable.

He’s going to be there all night, you realize suddenly. It should feel creepy, but it only fills you with warmth. He’s going to keep you safe, just like he said.    

[heloisedaphnebrightmore]

Memory lane; Feelings that weren’t meant to be [Loki Laufeyson x Reader]

Title: Memory lane; Feelings that weren’t meant to be Pairing: Loki Laufeyson x Avenger!Female!Reader Word count: 1.8k Published: 22 June 2021 Author: Heloise Daphne Brightmore Notes: In this fic Loki didn't die in Infinity War Warnings: Mention of blood, details of injury, mention of food Summary: Loki and you finally meet after spending the last 3 weeks separately, but he seems too grumpy so you try to lighten the mood with a bit of teasing as you reminisce about the first time you saw genuine feelings from him.

Marvel Characters Masterlist | Masterlists

Tom Hiddleston and Characters Masterlist

Memory Lane collection

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Loki was heavily searching for some sort of food in your kitchen, but your fridge seemed to be empty, your cupboards contained only a handful of sweets and even your box of cereal had just a tad bit of powder on its bottom. He heaved a heavy sigh as he turned around, meeting your gaze as you leaned against the doorway, watching him with a wide smile on your face, arms folded across your chest.

"Do you not eat nowadays?" He asked with a frown as he ran his eyes over your body, looking for signs of malnourishment.

"I haven't been home for weeks, love," you replied, earning a grimace from him, his rumbling stomach clearly unhappy with your explanation. "I was in the compound, and you were back in space bothering other planets. Why was I supposed to do any shopping?" You scoffed, but your smile never faltered as you walked up to him, wrapping your arms around his neck, his arms sneaking around your waist involuntarily. "We could always order though," you offered with a soft smile, knowing how grumpy he got when he couldn't eat properly.

"Fine, I guess we don't have a choice," he groaned, as though the offer was more of a drag.

"I don't like your attitude, mister," you pursed your lips, sulking. "I haven't seen you for 3 weeks whilst you were doing who knows what out there and when you finally come home, this is the attitude I get?" You huffed as you removed your arms from his neck and headed to the living room to get your phone.

"You know I missed you, but I can't possibly control my hunger," he explained from the kitchen whilst you sat down on the couch and started searching for something to eat.

"Don't worry, I understand your priorities," you rolled your eyes, though you knew he couldn't see that.

"Oh really, and what would they be?" he asked, leaning in your neck, hinting a small kiss on your skin, suddenly making you jump.

"God, when did you get here?" You exhaled sharply, one hand on your chest to calm your dangerously beating heart.

"When did you start calling me God?" He snickered playfully, earning a deadly gaze from you. "You know you are more important, don't play hard to get, come here," he cooed in your neck, but you didn't give in and focused your attention on the screen of your phone. "Come on," he whined, making you smile a little at the greediness in his voice, though you knew better than to tease him about it. He always got too defensive when you dared to mention how soft he has become around you, even though deep down he knew he would do whatever you asked of him. "Sometimes I feel like you have become harsher since we've been together," he huffed in an annoyed tone as he flopped down beside you in the least gracious manner.

"What are you talking about? I'm always nice," you offered him your most innocent expression, but he just shook his head, squinting.

"You were nicer when I first saved your life, since then—I'm starting to think you are more evil than I am," he nodded more to himself, earning a frown from you.

"You are going to have to be more specific, you kind of saved my life a couple of times," you snickered playfully.

"This is what I'm talking about. I keep saving your life and you can't even keep food in this house," he groaned as he shifted deeper into the couch.

"Hey, I'm very grateful for you, but let's be honest, you are only saving me because you love me. You wouldn't give a damn if you didn't love me," you scoffed with a cocky grin.

"And if you loved me, you would keep food in this house, oh wait, there is none," he replied with a sceptical look across his face, earning a loud chuckle from you.

"Regardless of the lack of food, I still love you," you giggled playfully as you scooted closer to him and lifted his arm to place it around your shoulder. "Though I have to tell you, you are quite sexy when I get attacked. I should get in trouble more often, minus the pain, of course," you grinned proudly at the excellent idea as you laid your head on his chest.

"Excuse me?" He arched a brow, a questioning look spreading across his face. "That's nonsense."

"Do you not remember?" You sighed dreamily. "We weren't even together back then, but you became so enraged when I was attacked, and you literally growled at the monster 'Get your hands off her' in a very dominant manner. That was— that was attractive," you snickered as he tried to hide his smile.

"That didn't happen," he tried to act tough.

"Oh, but it did—" you nodded as you headed down memory lane, dwelling on the smallest of details.

You have been fighting against the gigantic monsters that threatened to take over your planet for the past hour or so, but you had no knowledge on how to defeat them and all your weapons seemed particularly useless when it came to killing them off. Bullets barely tickled their thick skins, knives didn't even penetrate them. Your whole team, including Tony and Steve had been feeling as though the mission was a lost cause, that for the first time you were incapable of defeating something or someone.

There were too many of them and you felt out of breath and out of hope. You weren't sure what to do and how to do it, the only thing you knew was that you were outnumbered, outsized, and possibly fighting for a lesser loss instead of a win.

Before you could have dwelled further on your pathetic situation, you felt a large hand wrapping around your torso, the hand holding you almost as big as your whole body. You looked up at the monster as he lifted you off the ground, squeezing the air out of your chest. Air couldn't escape your lungs, nor could you inhale any. The grasp around your body tightened, your ribs giving up against the strong hold, slowly breaking bone by bone, the excruciating pain escaping in a painful scream. You felt the ground shake as the monster stumbled back, but you couldn't see what happened.

"Get your filthy hands off her," you heard Loki's voice, deeper than usual, followed by a flash of green light, before you felt the tight grip around you loosen and your limp body started falling. No screams left your lungs, you couldn't let out another sound, though you were sure the landing would be even harsher on your already fragile body.

Before you could have landed on the hard ground, Loki caught your body in his arms, earning a loud groan from you at the impact. He placed you on the ground but supported your back as he crouched down beside you. His eyes scanned your body for injuries, holding you as though you could break from his simple touch.

"We need a doctor," Loki shouted towards someone, but you couldn't see the person, your vision was blurred out by the pain and the unshed tears collecting in your eyes. As you looked up, you found yourself face to face with his green eyes, wider than ever, looking at you with a worried expression.

"I'm okay," you breathed, though it was barely audible with the sound of the battle behind you.

"You don't seem okay," he replied, shaking his head. "I will have to lift you up, I can't leave you in the middle of the street," he spoke as he wrapped your arms around his neck and supported your knees with his arm. A silent scream escaped your lips as he lifted you off the ground and you dug your face deeper in his neck, trying to sooth the pain by concentrating on your breathing, each inhale and exhale causing excruciating pain. He carried you behind a building, hoping you would be safer there and sat you down on the ground, slowly helping you to lean against the wall.

"Thank you," you whispered gratefully as you got hold of his hand and squeezed it. For the first time you saw him in a new light, as someone who wasn't just about destroying things and making others' lives miserable, but for once a more humane side of his showed, a side that cared for you and worried about your safety. For a second your thoughts and feelings caught you off guard, you thought you weren't supposed to think like that, but you couldn't deny that this new light you saw him in seemed more attractive.

A small smirk appeared across his face. "You see, I'm not as bad as you think I am."

"Oh yeah," a silent chuckle left your lungs, but the pain quickly stopped it as it grew stronger. "I will have to decide that for myself."

"You better survive then, I can't keep saving your life only so you can hate me," he offered you a smug grin before he disappeared.

"Cocky jerk," you huffed silently as you waited for assistance.

"Hold on a second," Loki stopped you abruptly. "I saved your life, and you had the audacity to call me a Cocky jerk?" He huffed, his tone annoyed.

"Well, technically you left me behind a building. I could have died on my own," you tried to argue, even though you knew it wasn't true.

"I left you there so you wouldn't get any further injuries until Stark's little muppets arrived to patch you up," he retorted with a stunned expression. "You are very ungrateful," he groaned, biting his inner cheek.

"No, I'm grateful. I'm so very grateful that I even order food already," you smirked proudly.

"Too late for that," he huffed, lifting his arm from your shoulder, and crossing it with the other in front of his chest.

"Come on, you know you love me, you know I love you, stop sulking, I haven't seen you for 3 weeks," you cooed, scooting even closer, trying to minimise any space between the two of you. You knew Loki wouldn't be able to stay grumpy for long, so you climbed in his lap and opened his arms, wrapping them around yourself as you leaned in his neck, your lips brushing against his earlobe. "What do you think about growing up a little and spending the time with a different activity until the food arrives?" you whispered in his ear, his significant chuckle escaping his lips involuntarily.

"You are very sly," he hummed against your neck as he hinted small kisses on the soft skin, travelling up the curve of your neck to capture your lips finally, making you forget about his grumpiness as you leaned in his chest, enjoying his strong embrace around you.

Notes: If you enjoyed reading this little piece, please don’t forget to leave a like, comment and/or reblog. Your opinion matters and gives us motivation. Thank you ^^

If you enjoy my stories, please consider donating and supporting me on Ko-fi. Of course, it’s completely your choice, I will continue updating for free anyway :) Thank you <3

Taglists are in reblog from now on. Send me a message if you would like to be added :)

[wolfling06]

The Bigger they are, The harder they fall

Writer’s note: Hey! this is my first ever fic, I have dabbled some in writing but I have never written a full on fic so I apologize if there is anything wrong with it. anyways, Enjoy! (yes this is my original fic, please do not take it as your own and if you are to reblog or repost it, please tag me. thank you!)

Summary; Skid and Pump had quickly become the most well known of the extended group of friends as the most teasy, mischievous, and energetic lers. They were definitely a force to be reckoned with. And they both had their eyes on the tallest, strongest of the group. A true challenge to bring down, and one they both wanted to hear laugh. Whitty. (Lee!Whitty and Ler!Pump&Skid)

Warning: Slight language

  After the Lemon demon was defeated and all were saved, they began to hang out and visit one another more often, Pico, Keith, and occasionally even Carol would go with Whitty to the skate park or even do some graffiti with him, Gf would occasionally tag along but would also often spend more time with her parents. Skid and Pump were all over the place and visited everyone at the most random times, jumping in and occasionally even startling the others out of their previous activities. 

   The 2 were quickly known as the most mischievous and ones who would do anything to pull a good prank or 2. The only thing that could be matched with their love of pranks and adventure was their love of hearing their friends laugh.

   And oh, how they tried, they did many things. From bad jokes, to silly stunts, to even tickling. And once they found out everyone in the gang was even a little ticklish they both wanted to exploit this new discovery to the fullest. And they did, whether they had reason or not. 

   Many times they would target Keith, Pico, or even each other from time to time. Mostly because they were around their size and easy to get to. Carol and Gf were also similar in height but they saw the boys more often. However, that didn’t mean the duo weren’t up for a challenge. Whitty for example;

    Whitty was very tall, standing at only a single inch short of 9 feet, very tall and lanky with extreme strength and great self defense capabilities that his appearance would blind one from seeing at first sight. He was always calm and poker faced and he rarely smiled out of pure amusement. He was easily the tallest out of all of them. And, with Skid and Pump being the smallest of the whole group, that meant they were very much opposites. One would think it would be impossible for the 2 to take him down, especially long enough to successfully tickle him like they would the others.

  And at first, yea, it was very difficult. 

  Until they discovered a new approach to it.

  They first discovered this new technique while they had been visiting his place. They had stopped by on another one of their unexpected visits. At first, Whitty seemed a little bothered, but as it kept happening over and over and it seemed that no matter what he said or did, they always kept coming. He tried to keep polite about it but whenever he would win, he would get the kicked puppy look and they would slowly make their way out looking sad and dejected. Eventually, his guilt would take over and he would either let them stay or they would go and he wouldn’t even object to them the next time they came. Eventually, he just gave up trying all together and let them come and go as they please so long as they dont take or break anything.

   However, this time when they came they seemed a little...different.

They were energetic and chatty as usual, but they seemed a little more giddy than usual, he couldn't help but feel like he was being watched, a feeling he particularly hated. He let the 2 wander the living room a bit before they settled down on the couch, both shifting a little to get comfy. He made his way into the kitchen and pulled out a large bag of Dorito chips and poured it into a bowl, making his way into the living room once more and placing it on the coffee table before setting up the Nintendo Switch and popping in Mario Kart, offering the other 2 one of the controllers. Pump went first against Whitty, it was a loser trade where the person that lost had to give it to the next person that had yet to play. In this case it was Whitty against Pump, who paid more attention to the scenery of the game then that actual race. Skid shouted, clearly hyped up, and stood up on the couch and began waving his arms in the direction he wanted Pump to go. The pumpkin head only occasionally took his advice as Whitty sat to the other end of the couch watching the 2 out of the corner of his eye with a smirk, he was clearly much farther ahead then Pump with him being in 2nd place and Pump being in 8th. The only reason why he wasn’t in 1st already was because of the stupid Metal Mario character, who was practically cheating, and wouldn’t let him pass and it was starting to get slightly annoying.

   They went through a couple rounds, Whitty never losing while Skid and Pump passed it back and forth repeatedly. Though he noticed that, thankfully, they were no longer watching him so intently, that was a relief. He began to relax a bit, reminding himself that they were just children and he was much bigger and stronger than them. ‘C’mon, relax! They’re just children, stop being so paranoid.’ he thought to himself as he tried to focus more on the game then his own thoughts, he turned a sharp corner and nearly cursed when his avatar, Bowser Jr., almost went flying off the track. He managed to catch himself at the last second and made a slick recovery. However, hearing a sudden bark of a laugh paired with a whoop from the Spooky Duo didn’t make him feel so confident. He glanced at their side of the screen and noticed they had a blue spiked shell in their avatar’s hand. “Oh shit..” he muttered upon seeing it. Quickly, he slammed the breaks and let Metal Mario, someone he had just managed to pass, go ahead of him just as the shell went blazing by. He sighed with relief, glad it hadn’t hit him.

   “Aww, c’mon! That was reserved just for you!” Skid blurted, though there was no real agitation behind his words, allowing Whitty to give him a smug smirk and said “I have been playin’ this for a while, kid, I have seen all the stunts you ever even hope to pull.” He kept his eyes glued on the screen, unaware of the glint in their eyes and the small snicker the two exchanged. “You have seen all the stunts we hope to pull, you said?” Skid asked while Pump was still snickering slightly to himself. “Tch, yea, that's what I said.” He stated simply, not really paying attention to what they were trying to say. Until- 

“Now!” “Wha- hey!” Thwump!

The 2 didn’t wait, the game unpaused and still running, they tackled Whitty against the couch, being careful not to hurt him. They had to act quick, they had to! Otherwise, they wouldn’t have any way of getting to him. Before he had time to utter a single syllable, they attacked. Pump and Skid quickly hopping onto his arms to keep them pinned to the couch, they were sill sitting up but he was stretched out enough he might as well have been laying down, and proceeded to quickly skitter their fingers everywhere they could reach; ribs, stomach, sides, neck, somehow under his arms, hips. 

They moved quickly and held on for dear life, moving quickly and shifting their own body weight continuously, from sitting on his arms to his hips and at his side to just either side of him to both on one side-. They went everywhere they could, going all over the place so it would be harder for him to catch them or try to find a pattern and stop them. His laughter was loud, belly laughter. Though not unpleasant, he squirmed the best he could in an attempt to find some way to escape, but with them all over the place it was pretty difficult. 

“BAHAHAhaha! Whahahat are yohou twoho dohoing?? Gehet off mehehe!”

“Its working! Keep going Pump!” Skid called excitedly. Their plan was working! They continued, unintentionally forming a bit of a pattern, but not enough for Whitty to keep up or be able to stop them. He pulled his arms in and attempted to hug himself to protect the majority of his torso from the brunt of it all. His legs kicked out behind the other 2, though he was consciously making sure he couldn’t risk their wellbeing, he had enough self control for that. 

  “Stahahahap geheht ohoff of mehehe!!” he laughed out, attempting to carefully push Pump away from his side while trying to fend off Skid from his stomach. The 2 only giggled with glee, proud in themselves that this was working, and ecstatic that they had finally managed to successfully find a way to tickle their Object headed friend silly. 

 Skid glanced down and an idea popped into his skull, lighting his eyes up with great glee and an idea. Glancing down he noticed that, during his squirming, Whitty’s hoodie had ridden up some, revealing the pitch black, quivering flesh beneath. This was perfect! Taking a deep breath, he wasted no time and plunged his face into that thin like of flesh, pulling his hoodie up a tad for more lee way, and blew.

And by God, the shriek that followed.

 “SHAAAAAHAHAHA-! FAHAHACK OHOFF!!” he exclaimed, his laughter reaching a whole new pitch and in a newfound hysteria. Skid and Pump exchanged a look, man this was awesome!! No one had ever heard the bomb head laugh so hard! Skid proceeded to pepper more raspberries along his stomach, lifting his hoodie up some to spread around the love. Pump continued to tickle along Whitty’s ribs. Though, his curiosity got the best of him, he was aware that some people, like Keith for example, had ticklish hands, and other unusual places, maybe Whitty did too? It was a weird thought and definitely one only Pump would have had, but it was a thought nonetheless that he wanted to experiment on. He pressed a sweet spot into his ribs, earning a startled yelp and a hand planted into his chest in an attempt to push him away. Gently of course. But this gave Pump his window, dropping everything, he wrapped his legs around Whit’s arm for a better hold. Pulling his fingers back, gently of course, and fluttered his own fingers along the palm of his hand, from the ridge to the base.

“*snrk!* heheey! *snrk! *snrk!* Stahahap!!” Pump’s eyes widened, Whitty was snorting?? Oh my God, this child’s mind was blown. Skid had lessened the raspberries and had gone back to scribbling so that their bomb headed friend could go longer without reaching his limit, which explained why his laughter had calmed down some. Skid looked up in surprise and noticed what Pump was doing when an idea of his own came, he gestured for Pump to make a raspberry, The pumpkin headed kid was quick to catch on, before making his way further down the couch. Pump proceeded to bury his mouth into the center of Whitty’s palm. A sudden sort, slightly longer in duration that the previous, could be heard in response. Pump smiled and prepared to do it again when-

Quickly, it was soon followed by Whitty suddenly, bolting upright to emit an almost literal shriek before falling back clutching the couch in an attempt to not kick or struggle too much or hard, throwing his head back in absolute hysterics, his face a bright orange blush. Startled by the sudden reaction, he looked for Skid, finding him holding Whitty’s left ankle in a secure head lock, skittering his fingers along his sole. His other leg kicked out but, for the most part, hung off the side of the couch. There was a very evident struggle in the poor lee as he tried to keep from kicking anyone, or anything, out of reflex to the new found sensations. Pump smiled and, giving his hand one final raspberry, dove down to grab the other foot, giving it the same treatment as SKid was the left. 

“FAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA-!” Unable to form any coherent words or responses to this torment, Whitty was forced to just endure it, he tried to pull away, to break free somehow, but his strength had been dwindled down from earlier. Meaning, he was left to succumb to the maddening sensations at his feet. Throwing his head back as hysterical belly laughter poured from him as freely as a faucet. 

   “Coochie coochie coo~ Whitty! Heehee, your laugh is so loud!” Skid laughed, enjoying the reactions he was getting. “Heheh, yea! Especially when I do this!” Pump agreed, running his fingers under Whitty’s toes momentarily, earning a startled squeal before more peals of bellowing laughter followed. After what felt like an eternity, he felt their hands slow to a stop, releasing him and allowing him a breather. He had to admit, they were good at reading people, they must have noticed when he was beginning to reach his limit and had stopped just when he was really needing a break. He slumped into the couch, pulling his hood over his head, and pulling the laces so it closed around him, thus hiding the massive, practically glowing blush and face splitting smile there. Residual giggles and panting could, however, be easily heard. He pulled his feet away from them and bent his knees so as to tuck them underneath him best he could, his arms dropping onto the couch, going limp. The other 2 smile brightly. Yes, they had been keeping close watch. And both, the entire time in fact, had yet to hear him sound desperate or genuinely angry or upset. If anything, he almost sounded like he was enjoying himself. And the smile Skid could see through the small gap in his hood confirmed it.

   “Heheh, that was fun! We should do that again some time!” Pump giggled with glee, clearly pleased. “Yea! That was fun! Be right back.” Skid said, getting up and making his way to the kitchen, coming back a few seconds later with a glass of cool water in hand, handing it to the exhausted object head that rested on the couch. Whitty sat up enough to be able to drink it, losing the rim of his hood so he could so.

  “Hff hff.. Yohou both suhuck…” he panted, though both could tell there was no real malice in his voice. Upon being able to see his eyes, both smiled brightly. Why?

Because there was a glitter in them, one that reminded them of Keith, who was open about enjoying being tickled. Both could easily tell, seeing that glimmer alone, that he had enjoyed it. And Pump was the first to call it out.

  “Heh, I can tell you liked it, Whits! You look so happy!”

He paused for a second and gulped down that last mouthful of water before correcting the pumpkin head.

“I did not like it!” he protested. Though, the deepening blush on his face told them otherwise.

  Skid chuckled lightly, both still smiling brightly. “You go ahead and rest, Whitty, we’re gonna finish this round and make up all the lost time!” 

  As the 2 sat back down, recollecting the dropped controllers and continued playing, Whitty watched the screen closely as he grumbled to himself. That was humiliating! Taken down and rendered helpless by 2 measly children! Let alone taken down with only tickles! The ghostly after tickles were still there, but he ignored them, they weren’t as bad anymore and were tolerable. ‘But maybe….yea, maybe it… wasn’t so bad..’ he thought to himself, glancing down at the glass he had been given, now only half full. 

…

Yea, he would never admit it. But yea, maybe it was a little fun.

But still, he wasn’t gonna show it. Not by a long shot.

He sat up, a new idea forming in his brain and a smirk with a whole new meaning to it forming on his lips. Slowly he edged his way towards the other 2, setting down his glass and cracking his knuckles as he did. Pump glanced up momentarily to notice this before freezing entirely, his eyes wide and a nervous smile forming on his face as he did. His avatar began to slow down and Skid noticed, “hey, what are you slowing down for, Pum-....oh….heh...h-hello...” Skid looked over and noticed the predatory grin on Whitty’s face as he now towered over them. 

  “U-um, heheh…..bye!” Skid squeaked, dropping his controller on the couch, grabbing Pump’s arm and attempted to get off the couch, to make a bolt for it. But was stopped when he felt an arm wrap around him, pulling both him and Pump into the awaiting lap of the Bomb head above. Pump let out a startled yelp upon the sudden and deft swoop. Both looking up with anticipation and nervousness in their eyes and smiles. And a devious one in Whitty’s.

“Heh, where do you 2 think you’re going? Oh no, you 2 aren’t going anywhere..”  he curled his fingers to make faux claws, looming them over the 2 who now squirmed with anticipation. Oh, revenge was gonna be sweet! “Hope you two are ready, cuz you guys are gonna be stuck here for a long time.”

And he wasn’t joking. In fact, their squeals and laughter could be heard by pedestrians walking by for quite a while.

End!

Hope you enjoyed it! I am not sure of the quality of the end there. But still, hope you enjoyed it!

Thank you for reading!

[mostlymovieswithmax]

Movies I watched in March

Thought I’d chronicle the films I’ve been watching over the March period, from the 1st to the 31st, and how I’d rate them. If you’re looking for something to watch, perhaps this will help. A lot of these movies are available on streaming services also.

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) - 10/10

I hadn’t watched this in a couple of years but I was blown away. Peak Scorsese.

Rushmore (1998) - 7/10

Not the best Wes Anderson movie for me but still fun.

Lion (2016) - 8/10

I discussed this at length on my podcast: The Sunday Movie Marathon. Great movie!

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) - 10/10

Now this is one of the best Wes Anderson movies. I discuss this more on The Sunday Movie Marathon. Fantastic, funny and I watched it twice because it’s so much fun.

Inception (2010) - 10/10

Discussed on The Sunday Movie Marathon. Best Christopher Nolan movie for me, Inception is just breathtaking.

The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (2004) - 5/10

This might be Anderson’s weakest film (at least from what I’ve seen) but it’s still not as bad as a lot of directors at their worst.

The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) - 10/10

I was really on an Anderson binge in March. The Royal Tenenbaums is one of the most wholesome movies I’ve seen and certainly one of his best films.

Rome, Open City (1945) - 4/10

This was filmed in Nazi-occupied Italy and from that premise, the film enticed me. Despite having some interesting qualities, I do feel that initial pull is most of what the movie has going for it.

The Prestige (2006) - 7/10

I showed this to my brother and for what it’s worth, he enjoyed it. I do think this is one of Nolan’s weaker efforts but considering how much I like it, that speaks a lot to Nolan’s filmography as a whole.

Nostalgia (1983) - 10/10

I watched Nostalgia three times in the space of a week and reviewed it on The Sunday Movie Marathon. It’s phenomenal.

Kangaroo Jack (2003) - 1/10

Another one I watched for the podcast. Kangaroo Jack is truly terrible and it upset me a great deal. Avoid this movie.

Stalker (1979) - 10/10

Another Andrei Tarkovsky movie (director of Nostalgia). I watched this again during the day before my second watch of Nostalgia and while it’s hard to compare such different movies, I enjoy Stalker more. It’s a staple of Russian cinema for a reason.

Four Lions (2010) - 5/10

Watched for the podcast. I didn’t really gel with this comedy but it would certainly appeal to someone who enjoys the humour, as my co-hosts did.

Revolutionary Road (2008) - 6/10

This Sam Mendes joint was a tad too melodramatic but still boasted some great performances from Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.

Metropolis (1927) - 6/10

This silent film is a staple in cinematic history. Its themes are as painfully relevant today as they were in the 20’s, yet despite that I found a lot of it to be intensely boring. After it hit the hour mark, I started playing it at 1.5x speed.

Crimson Peak (2015) - 4/10

A lot of great set design and costumes and colours, yet the story itself was madly uninteresting.

Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind (2004) - 10/10

Who doesn’t love a good movie written by Charlie Kaufman? I reviewed this on The Sunday Movie Marathon and after a third watch, it is as fascinating as it is gut-wrenching.

Godzilla (2014) - 3/10

If you wanted to see Godzilla fight a bunch of monsters for two hours, then this is not the movie for you. There’s maybe about ten minutes total of on-screen Godzilla action and considering that’s really all anyone’s watching this for, it’s amazing the titular sea lizard occupies so little of the movie.

Prisoners (2013) - 10/10

Brilliant mystery thriller by my favourite director, Denis Villeneuve. Discussed on the podcast.

Eraserhead (1977) - 7/10

David Lynch’s debut feature film went down in my estimations this time around. You can listen to why on The Sunday Movie Marathon. Still, Eraserhead is a very good movie.

Raiders of The Lost Ark (1981) - 6/10

The first Indiana Jones movie proved to be a fun romp and Harrison Ford plays the character beautifully. I’m just not a big fan of Spielberg and his average verging on pretty good but rarely ever great movies. Perhaps on a second watch, I may enjoy this more.

The Seventh Seal (1957) - 9/10

Watching this movie again was so much fun. So far, it’s my favourite Ingmar Bergman film. It’s a celebration of life and love, with an underlying sense of dread as death looms ever-present.

Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom (1984) - 5/10

I can tell why this generally looked on as the weakest in the trilogy. Harrison Ford is still great but the movie dragged a lot and felt more like a bunch of things happening for the sake of it rather than a fun action/adventure.

Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade (1989) - 7/10

The Last Crusade was a lot of fun and maybe it was Sean Connery’s inclusion, or perhaps the bottle of wine I drank through the movie elevated my enjoyment. But alcohol aside, I still believe this to be the best in the series.

Justice League (2017) - 2/10

People really weren’t kidding when they said this was bad. I watched this in preparation for the Snyder cut and I was not happy. This took years off my life.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021) - 3/10

Barely any better and double the run-time of the original. I discussed this on The Sunday Movie Marathon and I was certainly not impressed. Better luck next time, Zack!

The Truman Show (1998) - 10/10

Brilliant movie and one I would highly recommend for a stellar Jim Carrey performance. This was another recommendation for the podcast.

Eighth Grade (2018) - 7/10

I was impressed with Bo Burnham’s debut feature. This is a coming of age story centred around a young girl growing up in the modern world and how it can affect the youth of today. Burnham shows a deep understanding of youth culture and a real knack for filmmaking.

Bad Education (2019) - 8/10

A real “yikes!” movie. If you want to learn a bit about the embezzlement that took place in an American school back in the early 2000’s, you need not look further than this tight drama with fantastic performances from Hugh Jackman and Allison Janney.

Twelve Monkeys (1995) - 8/10

One of the only movies where the time travel makes sense. I recommended this for The Sunday Movie Marathon and it’s pretty great.

Ready Or Not (2019) - 7/10

Despite a premise that is not wholly original and a super goofy third act, Ready Or Not is gory, violent fun with a lot of stylish art direction.

Dead Man (1995) - 3/10

Recommended on the podcast. I really did not get a lot out of Dead Man. It’s a very slow movie about Johnny Depp going through the woods and killing some people on the way, but it’s two hours long and hugely metaphorical and sadly it just didn’t connect.

Misbehaviour (2020) - 6/10

A big draw for me in Misbehaviour is Keira Knightley; I think she’s a great actor and I’m basically on board with anything she does. I’d been wanting to see this for a while and I was shocked to see just how relevant it is (being set in 1970) to the world we find ourselves in today, where women are still fighting to be heard and to be treated equally. While the film is not spectacular, I still got a lot from its themes, so recently after the murder of Sarah Everard and how women are being treated in their protest.

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb (1964) - 7/10

I was surprised at just how hilarious this early Kubrick movie is. While I can’t say it floored me or took any top spots, it’s still a great examination of the military and how they respond to threats or try to solve problems and the side of war we don’t often see in films: the people in the background sitting in a room making crucial decisions.

Taxi Driver (1976) - 10/10

Wow! I can’t believe I’d never seen this before but I’d never really had access to it. Taxi Driver is a beautifully made movie with so much colour and vibrancy. De Niro puts on perhaps his best performance and Paul Schrader’s timeless script works miracles.

Sleepy Hollow (1999) - 5/10

Classic Tim Burton aesthetics in a pretty by the numbers, almost Supernatural-esque story eked out over an hour and forty minutes.

Seaspiracy (2021) - 6/10

Everyone’s going crazy over this documentary and I agree it tackles important issues we’re facing today surrounding the commercialization of the fishing industry, but a lot of what’s presented here is information already available to the public. The editing feels misplaced at times and the tone is all over the place. Nonetheless, it’s still quite fascinating to see good journalism being done in a way that exposes this side of the industry.

Pirates of The Carribean: The Curse of The Black Pearl (2003) - 8/10

Super fun and a great first instalment in a franchise that sadly seems to have peaked at the first hurdle.

My Octopus Teacher (2020) - 8/10

Great cinematography and a lovely premise, this documentary has garnered an Oscar nomination and I can see why.

The Sisters Brothers (2018) - 8/10

A really solid western I was happy to watch again. It’s a shame no one really talks about this movie because it is excellent with stunning visuals and great performances.

Pirates of The Carribean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) - 5/10

A strangely massive drop in quality from the original. If I didn’t like the whole concept of this franchise so much, I might have had a worse time.

Reservoir Dogs (1992) - 8/10

On a second watch, Tarantino’s first feature is still wildly impressive.

Life of Brian (1979) - 7/10

This is perhaps my third time watching Monty Python’s Life of Brian and it’s still incredibly funny, however it never manages to measure up to its predecessor (and one of my all time favourites), Monty Python and The Holy Grail.

[pengychan]

[Good Omens] Winging It - Isaiah 40:31

Summary: Shockingly, attempting to destroy an angel without consulting God first comes with consequences. There is more than one way to fall, and a thousand more ways to inconvenience an angel and a demon who just wanted to be left in peace. Characters: Gabriel, Crowley, Aziraphale, Beelzebub, Michael, Uriel, Sandalphon Rating: T  

Prologue and all chapters are tagged as ‘winging it’ on my blog.

A/N: well, shit hits the fan and the end is near.

***

As the boy who was most assuredly Not The Antichrist - but who had nonetheless been their charge for about the first eleven years of his life - walked towards the front door of the bookshop in Soho, entirely unaware of being stalked by a man with a pocket knife, Aziraphale stood in the bedroom of a lovely cottage in the South Downs, not far from the Devil’s Dyke.

He knew it was rather rude, being roughly seventy-five miles away from the place where you happen to have an appointment in about five minutes’ time, but surely it was not too much of an issue, given that they would be right back in the bookshop by crossing the threshold of a rather miraculous door they had installed between the two places. And besides, Crowley had really wanted to show him something. 

That something being a luxurious, huge and hugely gaudy canopy bed with gold-plated columns and red velvet drapes that wouldn’t have looked too out of place in Versailles, before revolutionaries took most of its contents to an uncertain fate. As a piece of furniture still occasionally turned up in flea markets, Aziraphale wouldn’t put it beyond the realm of possibilities.

Said bed now occupied the greater part of the bedroom that Crowley had insisted they ought to have in the cottage, against Aziraphale’s suggestion to turn it into another room for his books. 

“We already have the loft for those, and the bookshop on the other side of the door,” he’d pointed out. “We need a bedroom.”

Aziraphale, who had actually last slept sometime in the nineteenth century and solely out of boredom while watching an especially poor performance of Troilus and Cressida - in itself far from Shakespeare’s best work, and the lead actor’s lisp had done it no favors - had been slightly taken aback. “But, my dear, we don’t need sleep,” he’d said, getting a snort out of Crowley. 

“We don’t need to eat either. So what?”

Aziraphale had to concede he had a point, although he didn’t quite see the allure of laying in a semi-comatose state for several hours while hallucinating the same way he saw the allure of a slice of red velvet cake, and agreed that the cottage would indeed have a bedroom. It was only fair considering the space he had for his books, so that was a compromise he did not regret. 

Telling Crowley he was welcome to choose whatever bed he liked himself, however, was something Aziraphale did regret. He knew that Crowley’s taste when it came to furniture ranged from dreadfully minimalistic to unbearably garish, but this - the golden columns, the red heavy velvet - was… a little too much. 

“Well, what do you think?” Crowley was asking, looking as proud of himself as he had after moving that golden monstrosity he called a throne right next to Aziraphale’s old trusty armchair in the loft, entirely ignoring the way Aziraphale’s right eyebrow had twitched. 

This time, it was the left eyebrow to twitch. 

“Well, it is-- rather…” Aziraphale raked his brain for a polite way to put it. “Eye-catching.”

“It is, isn’t it?” Crowley grinned, even prouder. Aziraphale suspected his euphemism had been a little too subtle. “I remembered what you said when I came to save your butt in France.”

“... That I wanted crêpes?”

“That you had standards. French royalty standards.”

“Well, it was not quite royalty level, more along the lines of a noble--”

“This beauty comes straight from Versailles.”

Ah, of course. Of course it did. 

“Or, well, not so straight. It went around across Europe quite a bit. But here it is, as you see.”

“Yes. I… I do see.” Aziraphale managed a smile. No harm done, he thought - he didn’t have a habit to sleep as Crowley did, so he would hardly ever need to be in that room at all. He would just entirely forget about that bed. Out of sight, out of mind. 

“The mattress is new, clearly. You’ll like it. Real plush.”

Aziraphale blinked. “That sounds nice, but I am not in the habit of sleeping.”

“You should try. Nothing better than some time spent in a semi-comatose state while vividly hallucinating.”

A chuckle. “You’re not making it sound very alluring.”

“Ah, I should up my temptation game. I’m out of practice. When was the last time I tempted you into anything?”

“This morning, actually, you--”

The chiming of the grandfather clock downstairs - a very tasteful eighteenth century clock Aziraphale had long debated whether to move in the cottage or keep in the bookshop - cut him off, and reminded him of… well, of the time. 

“I believe Warlock should arrive any moment now - we should head back,” he said, and they did. It looked like the boy might get there before Gabriel popped in to return the book, and if that turned out to be the case… well, Aziraphale really hoped he had enough sense to put the book in a bag or something like it. If not, they may need to have a few words.

There were things an eleven-year-old boy really didn’t need to see.

***

“Ugh, c’mon, they knew I was coming…” Warlock Dowling huffed, taking a couple of steps away from the door of the bookshop which had stayed closed, no matter how hard he knocked. He glanced at the sign in the window; it made just as little sense as it did the first time he read it. 

I open the shop on most weekdays about 9:30 or perhaps 10am. While occasionally I open the shop as early as 8, I have been known not to open until 1, except on Tuesday. I tend to close about 3:30pm, or earlier if something needs tending to. However, I might occasionally keep the shop open until 8 or 9 at night, you never know when you might need some light reading. On days that I am not in, the shop will remain closed. On weekends, I will open the shop during normal hours unless I am elsewhere. Bank holidays will be treated in the usual fashion, with early closing on Wednesdays, or sometimes Fridays. (For Sundays see Tuesdays). A.Z. Fell, Bookseller

Warlock briefly wondered who A. Z. Fell was, really - the founder? A co-owner? It definitely was not Brother Francis’ name, but he had claimed to be the owner, which was a leap from working as a gardener but not a claim Warlock had any reason to doubt. Brother Francis did not lie, after all. He hated lies and got really cross with him whenever he caught him lying, usually after Nanny-- after Crowley suggested he did.

“Pair of weirdos. Always been,” Warlock muttered, but it wasn’t really a complaint; they were a fun pair of weirdos to grow up around, or else he wouldn’t have tracked them down in London. After checking through the window to see if anyone was in, and seeing, no one, Warlock reached in his pocket for his phone and began looking for Crowley’s number. 

Focused as he was on the screen, he failed to notice the man approaching with a hand in his pocket, eyes fixed on him and pupils blown so wide his eyes looked entirely black. On the opposite side of the road Hastur, Duke of Hell, retreated from the mortal’s mind with a smirk and prepared to enjoy the scene with eyes just as black.

***

“... So no, I really doubt the London Dungeon holds prisoners anymore, but it would be an interesting thing to--”

“Silence,” Beelzebub spoke suddenly, stopping abruptly in their tracks and causing Gabriel to almost bump into them and drop the book, something for which Aziraphale would probably be very, very cross with him. He frowned. 

“It’s not my fault that they have stopped using the dungeons, if that’s such an issue I suppose we could change plans and--”

“Something’s wrong.”

“Huh?”

“Don’t you sense-- ah. No, you can’t anymore,” Beelzebub muttered, and looked around with a scowl. “A demon is at work. It was my order that no one was to approach the traitors.”

Gabriel blinked. “Maybe it’s Crowley--”

“It’s not,” Beelzebub all but snarled, staring at someone some distance away. Further down the pavement stood a man that looked… wrong, for the lack of a better word; something not human who made a passingly decent job at masquerading as human, but not quite good enough. Gabriel may not be able to sense demonic or angelic presences anymore, but he could see as much.

“Hastur,” Beelzebub scoffed. 

Ah, Gabriel was vaguely familiar with the name - Hastur, Duke of Hell. Not someone he’d be pleased to meet anywhere in general, but seeing him there was especially worrying. He recalled Michael mentioning that out of all demons, he held a particular grudge against Crowley. Was that grudge really so great that he would ignore a direct order from Beelzebub to find Crowley in Soho and… and do what, exactly? “What is he doing here?”

“I’m about to find out. Wait here,” Beelzebub muttered, and walked - no, marched - directly towards the demon. “Hastur, Duke of Hell. What in Heaven are you doing here?”

Their voice caused the demon to recoil and turn his attention away from… whatever they had been staring at on the other side of the road. He was already deathly pale, but he seemed to grow just a tad paler as his gaze rested on a decidedly annoyed Prince of Hell planting themselves before him, arms crossed and clearly looking for a very good explanation why he would defy a direct order not to be anywhere near the traitorous demon that holy water could not destroy.

As he stammered some sort of reply, Gabriel let his gaze wander across the street. A man was walking towards the bookshop coming from the opposite direction, and he was… wait. Wait, he looked familiar - Gabriel had seen him before, a few months earlier, near the church where Daniel’s funeral service had just been held. He’d given him his coat because it was raining and talked briefly with him, and he had found it funny because his name was… his name…

“Noah!” Gabriel called out with a smile, walking towards him. “How are you doing? How’s your--” 

The next word - dog? - died on his lips when he got to look, to really look, at Noah’s eyes. They looked no more human than those of the Duke of Hell currently getting a tongue-lashing only a few steps away, and they were fixed dead ahead of him as he kept walking, giving no sign of having heard or seen him. Walking towards the bookshop… and towards a boy fumbling with his phone right in front of it, back turned to them all.  Something was off. Something was wrong. 

A demon is at work, Beelzebub had said. Gabriel opened his mouth to cry out, to demand that Hastur, Duke of Hell, released that mortal from whatever hold he had on him - but before he could force out a single word, Noah’s hand came out of his pocket and something gleamed in the sunlight. 

There was no time to cry out. No time for words, no time to think, no time to demand action from anyone other than himself. Gabriel knew there was one thing he ought to do now, one thing only. Ever since finding himself without plan or purpose, choices had not always come easy to him - the terror of choosing wrong often paralyzing him. But this one came with no effort: it was no choice at all. As a dark shadow fell on a boy he didn’t even know, Gabriel dropped the book he had come to return, and ran. 

“NOAH! STOP!”

Noah did not turn, but the boy did. He lifted his gaze from his phone to glance over at Gabriel, clearly confused - then his confusion turned into alarm when Gabriel suddenly grabbed his arm and yanked him away. 

“Hey! The hell?” the boy yelled, just as the knife descended on the spot he’d been standing only an instant before, narrowly missing the back of his neck. He tried to pull away from Gabriel’s grip, turning to call out for someone to get that madman off him  - and froze when he finally saw the man standing behind him, eyes all black and lips pulled back in a snarl, swinging something at him.

Somewhere in his brain, he registered it was a knife. He tried once again to scream - mom, he thought, but if he’d managed to force out his voice he probably would have said something more along the lines of ‘shit’. Gabriel, from his part, didn’t try to speak again; he could tell Noah was beyond hearing him. 

So he yanked the boy back once again, and threw himself between him and Noah. The result was, all things considered, extremely predictable.

Four and a half inches of steel buried themselves into Gabriel’s gut with a wet sound that went almost entirely unheard. There was a sense of heat, the pressure of a handle against his flesh and, at first, no pain. Gabriel found himself staring straight into pitch-black eyes for a moment before the pupils shrank to a normal size again, revealing the human eyes, light blue and filled with confusion. Somewhere behind Gabriel, the boy screamed and turned to bang on the door of Aziraphale’s bookshop. 

People around them stopped walking to turn, not quite having caught up what was going on but slowly getting there. On the other side of the road, a panicked Duke of Hell disappeared in a cloud of smoke as soon as the Lord of the Flies turned to see what the commotion was about. 

Gabriel tried to speak, to call out for Beelzebub - don’t hurt him, he didn’t know what he was doing - but a gurgling sound was all that left him, and something dripped down his chin. 

“What…?” Noah muttered, blinking at him, and looked down. “Oh-- oh God, oh Jesus Christ, oh shit-- !” he cried out, voice high and panicked, and staggered back with the knife still in hand, dislodging from Gabriel’s flesh with another wet sound.

Blood came rushing forth, coldness set in, and so did pain. Gabriel’s knees folded, and he hit the ground just as the bloodied knife did. Noah stepped back again, shaking like a newborn calf. 

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry-- someone call an ambulance, I’m sorry, oh God…!”

Don’t bother calling out for God. They don’t answer. Not for me.

“Gabriel!” Beelzebub’s voice filled his ears, drowning out all the rest. There was a hand on the back of his head, lifting it, and he opened his eyes again to see them looking down at him, wide-eyed and scared in a way he had never seen them.

And Gabriel was scared, too, filled to the brim with the most primal, human terror - the most ancient sort of despair known to man. He suddenly knew why even Yeshua had faltered that night in the Garden of Gethsemane, pleading to escape the fate before him and avoid what he knew was unavoidable.

I don’t want to die.

He tried to speak, choking on his own blood. Somewhere behind him, a heavy door was thrown open and Aziraphale’s voice reached him as though from miles away. 

“Warlock! My boy, what is-- oh. Oh dear, what…?”

“What the Heaven is going on?” Crowley’s voice was a couple octaves higher than usual, and suddenly there was silence, time itself stilled; the crowd all around them, Noah, even a bird flying past right above them remained fixed in time like so many statues. The boy was talking frantically to Crowley and Aziraphale, but Gabriel was unable to pay his words any mind. His gaze remained fixed on Beelzebub, and on Beelzebub only. 

“Heal me,” he choked out. He felt cold all over, even with the wound itself throbbing in heat and pain the way the wounds on his back had, the day his wings were torn off. “Please.”

“Hastur will pay for this, he-- I-- of course, you idiot, be still--” their hand hovered above the blood-soaked shirt, and suddenly they hesitated. Their gaze found Gabriel’s, and held it. “... Sacrifice,” the Prince of Hell murmured.

“What…?”

“You sacrificed your life for another. That’s it. It’s your ticket back home, Gabriel.”

Home. Back in Heaven, where he belonged. Not quite in his old position - a mortal soul - but still, home. Except that… except that if he returned there as a mere mortal soul...

“No,” Gabriel wheezed. “No. I can’t. I-- would never-- be able to leave it-- again.”

“You never wished to leave it in the first pla--”

“Never see you-- again--” Gabriel coughed, and let out a weak groan at the excruciating pain. He could taste blood in his mouth, feel it down his throat, pooling down on the pavement around him; he felt his strength draining away with it. The back of Beelzebub’s free hand wiped some of it off his chin; the other still cupped the back of his head.

“... You will die either way in the end. You do not wish to reside in Hell and I will not force you.” Their plan of leaving behind Hell for good seemed to be far from their mind now. “This may be--” the Prince of Hell paused, and let out a shaky breath. “This may be your best chance, Gabriel.”

“No. Not now. Not yet,” Gabriel managed a smile. His vision was growing blurry. “I will take… all the time I can get. With you.” However little it may be. Such short life spans, but I will make it worth it. I must. I only get one shot. “So don’t-- let me die-- yet.”

For a moment Beelzebub only stared, their hand hovering above his wound. They swallowed, and opened their mouth to say something - only that someone else spoke first. Aziraphale.

“Oh, oh dear, what a dreadful mess-- Gabriel? It’s all right, hold on, I will heal you--”

“Keep away from him!” Beelzebub buzzed furiously, shooting a glare at Aziraphale, at Crowley, at the boy who was currently glued to Crowley’s side, staring with wide eyes at the scene before him and at the crowd frozen in time. The angel reared back, but did not give up. 

“I mean to help him. Heal him.”

“I can heal him myself!” the Prince of Hell snapped, and pressed their hand on the bleeding wound. Pain shot up Gabriel’s body and he ground his teeth, waiting for relief, for healing, for the end of suffering… but none of it came. 

Beelzebub pulled away a now bloodied hand, taken aback, struggling to comprehend what they were seeing. “It’s… it isn’t working. It won’t heal.”

Gabriel closed his eyes, despair sinking in his chest.

No. It cannot be. Not now, God, please. Don’t do this to me. Don’t let me die now that I have learned to live. Don’t take them from me again.

“... May I try, Lord Beelzebub?” Aziraphale spoke again, ever respectful, but the hesitation in his voice made it plain that he didn’t think they could succeed where Beelzebub had failed. Gabriel squeezed his eyes shut, and felt something trickling down his temples. 

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why--

GABRIEL.

That voice, in the back of his mind and yet everywhere. Gabriel hadn’t heard it in such a long, long time, but hadn't forgotten it. His chest shuddered in a gasp, and he tried to speak again, to respond to the call - whether to cry, to beg, to curse he didn’t know. Before he could force out a single sound, another voice rose. Very familiar and decidedly concerned.

“Uuh, angel? Any idea what that is?”

“What-- oh. That might be our cue to move out of the way. Move away-- you too, Warlock, move back, my boy…”

What…?

Gabriel opened his eyes and looked up at the sky. Precisely above him, the blue of it was gone; clouds of blinding white had gathered in a circle, and within that circle was only light. The air around him seemed to crackle, and he knew what that meant. Gabriel tried to speak, to warn Beelzebub, but he could only cough up another mouthful of blood. On his tongue, he could now taste something else.

Ozone. 

From a distance, once again came Aziraphale’s voice. “Lord Beelzebub, you ought to let go and--”

“No.” Beelzebub’s grip on Gabriel tightened, vicious and desperate at the same time. The air crackled, the clouds swirled, and Gabriel’s vision began to fade. His hand weakly gripped their jacket, but he was unable to do anything else. Beelzebub’s face was but a blur, but ah, their grip was unyielding. His eyes slipped shut, his head rolled against their chest. 

“I refuse to let go. God cannot tell me what to do and neither can you.”

Don’t take them from me again. Please, please, please--

“Brother Francis, what the hell--”

“We’ll explain later, my boy - step back now, cover your eyes - don’t look, Crowley, make sure he doesn’t look--”

The crack of thunder covered his next words, filling the world, drowning out all noise. Gabriel felt the grip around him tightening, heard Beelzebub choke out something that sounded a lot like ‘you idiot’, and he opened his eyes. 

And then there was only light.

***

In the instant before lighting struck, three things happened in quick succession.

First, Crowley pulled Warlock’s face to his chest to make sure he wouldn’t be blinded as many mortals had been before Heaven learned to somewhat tone it down; second, Crowley turned his back to the scene to avoid looking himself, and shield the boy while he was at it. 

And third, Aziraphale’s wings unfolded to shield them both.

There was no heat, which was rather typical of Heavenly things: light without warmth, utterly unlike the darkness and heat - humid heat rather than raging flames, but all the more uncomfortable - that Aziraphale had experienced in his first, and hopefully only, visit to Hell.

Shielded by Aziraphale’s wings, Crowley kept his eyes tightly shut behind his glasses and Warlock’s face pressed against his shirt for several more moments after the last echo of the deafening thunder faded. 

“Is it safe to turn, angel?” he asked, while Warlock kept muttering against his shirt a litany of words that mostly sounded like ‘what’, ‘the’ and ‘fuck’, in the order. 

This time Aziraphale didn’t bother to make a mental note of talking with the boy about his language. Aside from being relieved the boy had not been stabbed, turned into salt, incinerated, blinded or deprived of his sanity, Aziraphale suspected they would have different, more pressing matters to discuss very shortly. “I’ll check. Don’t look yet,” he replied, and finally looked back.

The crowd of mortals was still around them, frozen in time, unscathed and unaware. The clouds were gone, quick as they had come - but there was a sphere of light before him, crackling with electricity where Beelzebub and Gabriel had been until moments earlier. In that light, there was… something. At first Aziraphale couldn’t make it out, but as he stepped closer and the light began to dull, he could see something all right. 

And that something was a pair of folded wings. 

At first, Aziraphale thought he must be looking at the wings of a demon and wondered how Beelzebub could survive the full might of the Lord; then, as the light pulsed and faded little by little, he realized that was not it. The wings were not the pure white of angels, but neither were they midnight black. Deep brown with a golden sheen, mottled with darker brown, black, specks of white. The wings of an eagle.  

And they did not belong to Beelzebub.

One last crackle of pure energy, and the pulsing light dissolved. Aziraphale worked his jaw a moment, mouth dry, before he finally called out.

“... Gabriel?”

The wings shifted, and slowly parted. Gabriel was kneeling on the pavement, eyes blinking open as though he struggled to comprehend what was happening. In his arms, held tightly against his chest, was the Prince of Hell; their eyes were screwed shut as though they were waiting to be smited still, but they were in one piece - shielded from the full might of God by the Archangel Gabriel himself, who seemed to be just now beginning to process precisely what had transpired. 

“What…?” he muttered, and the sound of his voice caused Beelzebub’s eyes to snap open. They pulled back from his chest, on their knees themselves, and looked up at Gabriel - and at the wings spread behind him. They opened their mouth to say something, closed it, opened it again. 

“You have wings again,” they finally said. “But they don’t look like--”

Gabriel didn’t so much turn to look at them. “You are all right,” he muttered, and cupped their cheek with a long breath, smiling widely. “Thank-- whoever there is to thank, you’re--”

Beelzebub’s hand grasped the collar of Gabriel’s shirt before he could say another word, and yanked his head down in a sudden kiss. It was definitely not something Aziraphale had expected to happen and neither had Gabriel, by the looks of it, but he seemed… far from displeased. Actually he leaned into it rather enthusiastically, arms slipping around the Lord of the Flies’ waist. 

Aziraphale stepped back, feeling just a touch awkward.

“Angel, is it safe to look or no--” Crowley finally spoke up, and turned without waiting for an answer. A rather unwise move, that. His gaze fell on the scene before him, and he let out a groan. “Uuuugh! No it’s not safe, not it’s not, for Satan’s sake it’s seared in my brain now, why didn’t you warn...”

He turned again and took a few steps away, rubbing his eyes beneath the glasses. Warlock, on the other hand, remained exactly where he was - eyes shifting slowly between Gabriel’s brand new wings and Aziraphale’s own, still in full display.

“... Brother Francis, I don’t mean to be rude or anything,” he finally said. “But what, pray tell, the fuck.”

“Well…” Aziraphale hesitated a moment, knowing he couldn’t count on Crowley stepping in for an explanation for at least another ten minutes, busy as he was trying to jab his eyes out of their sockets. In the end, he said nothing and turned to survey the scene.

Time stood still and so did every single living being in sight, including the man who had wielded the knife, a horrified expression frozen on his face. Gabriel and Beelzebub didn’t seem to plan on letting their mouths part ways anytime soon, still on the very spot where Gabriel had nearly bled out to death minutes earlier. A few steps away, in the middle of the road, was Aziraphale’s antique pornography book. 

With a sigh, Aziraphale went to pick it up and tucked it under his arm, making sure to hide the cover from Warlock’s sight. 

“I believe,” he finally spoke, “that we all could use a nice cup of tea right about now.”

***

"But those who hope in the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall soar on wings like eagles; they shall run and not grow weary, they shall walk and not be faint." -- Isaiah 40:31

***

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Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy redefined the superhero genre and the summer blockbuster. The three films provided audiences with a sense of escapism unlike anything they had seen before, thanks to its heart-pounding action scenes and collection of beloved characters.

RELATED: Spider-Man Villains Ranked Least-Most Likely To Win The Hunger Games

Peter Parker, his friends, and his foes all got many chances to show off their abilities on the big screen. Indeed, the trilogy’s characters star in some of cinema’s most unforgettable moments. From upside-down kisses in the rain to heartfelt monologues about the responsibilities of a hero, Sam Raimi’s trilogy has plenty of scenes that rank as some of the most memorable in cinematic history.

10 Eddie Becomes Venom

To say that Topher Grace’s depiction of Venom is unpopular would be an understatement. In fact, most fans agree he was one of the things Spider-Man 3 got wrong. That doesn’t mean his character didn’t have some thrilling moments on-screen, though.

Eddie’s most memorable scene in the movie is his transformation into Venom. As Peter gets rid of the symbiote while in a belltower, the alien falls and lands on Eddie, quickly overtaking him. A killer soundtrack and fittingly gloomy atmosphere accompany the transformation. And even if Eddie ended up being an underwhelming villain, his conversion into Venom is definitely memorable.

9 Flint’s Confession

Every fan knows that Spider-Man 3 has way too many villains. None have enough room to shine or prove themselves as worthy heirs to Goblin and Ock’s legacies, but they still get some redeeming moments. In Sandman’s case, it’s his final monologue to Peter, where he confesses his guilt about the part he played in Uncle Ben’s death.

Enhanced by Thomas Haden Church’s performance, the scene succeeds in providing some much-needed closure for Peter. Sandman is less a villain and more a tragic figure of circumstance, and his confession to Peter confirms it.

8 Goblin’s First Flight

Willem Dafoe redefined what it means to be a comic book villain. His take on the Green Goblin is the perfect mix of over-the-top and seriousness, adding a sense of gravitas that overcomes the more cartoonish aspects of the role.

The character has plenty of memorable moments in the first Spider-Man movie. However, his initial confrontation against Spider-Man during the World Unity Fair will go down in cinematic history as one of the best action scenes of all time. It is fast-paced and thrilling, wasting not a single moment of its four-minute length. The Goblin gives an impressive display of his powers, proving that he will always be Spider-Man’s best villain.

7 Otto Octavius’s Sacrifice

Sam Raimi’s first two Spider-Man films succeeded because of how much they fleshed out the villains. They weren’t just CGI creations trying to take over the world, but three-dimensional characters with ambitions and limitations of their own. Spider-Man 2‘s Otto Octavius is one of the genre’s most compelling villains, one who succeeds in winning the audience’s sympathy while remaining a fearsome threat.

RELATED: 10 Things Only Comic Book Fans Know About Doctor Octopus

During Ock’s final moments, he sees the error of his ways and decides to go down with his creation. Proclaiming he will “not die a monster,” Octavius sacrifices for the greater good. Thanks to Alfred Molina’s committed performance, the moment is one of the trilogy’s most memorable, cementing Octavius as one of the genre’s most complex characters.

6 J. Jonah Jameson Saves Peter Parker

J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson is the very definition of spot-on casting. The actor took an already well-known character and translated him into the screen seamlessly and faithfully. Throughout his tenure in the trilogy, he gets plenty of comical moments, but his most memorable is his protection of Peter Parker.

When the Green Goblin blasts into the Bugle’s offices, he threatens Jameson and asks for the name of the photographer who takes Spider-Man’s pictures. Jameson refuses to tell on Peter, telling the Goblin the reporter sends his stuff through the mail. The scene shows a new and unexpected side to JJ, a glance at the empathy he works so hard to hide.

5 Uncle Ben’s Lesson

Uncle Ben’s death is one of the defining moments in Peter Parker’s storyline. It’s the first of many (many) tragedies to happen to the character, inspiring him to become a hero in the first place. Sam Raimi provides enough room for Uncle Ben’s character to develop before arriving at the inevitable conclusion.

Cliff Robertson’s heartfelt monologue summarises the essence of Spider-Man. “With great power comes great responsibility” has become one of the most enduring phrases in pop culture, adding a more profound layer to Raimi’s trilogy. And while Uncle Ben has little screentime, his presence remains throughout the entire trilogy, thanks in large part to his now-immortal words.

4 Aunt May’s Advice

Rosemary Harris remains the most compelling and memorable cinematic Aunt May. She imbued the role with plenty of warmth and empathy, avoiding the one-dimensional approach of subsequent movies. Harris’ Aunt May wasn’t just another peripheral character; on the contrary, she was Peter’s anchor, a constant source of inspiration for both the boy and the hero.

Her role as Peter’s guide is blatantly clear during her monologue in Spider-Man 2. While she packs her things to move out from her house, she talks to Peter about the nature and importance of heroism. Her speech is the gentle push Peter needed to understand the true role of his superhero counterpart. It’s a sweet but unforgettable moment that confirms Aunt May’s importance in the friendly neighborhood Spidey’s life.

3 Goblin’s Last Flight

Throughout the Raimi trilogy, Harry Osborn suffers almost as many ups and downs as Peter himself. The loss of his father leaves him devastated and desperate to find someone to blame, leading to his descent into the Green Goblin persona. Alas, Harry was never his father, and he proves it at the last moment.

RELATED: 10 Most Powerful Variants Of Green Goblin In Marvel Comics

Sporting the Goblin costume, Harry goes to help Peter fight Venom and the Sandman. The two confirm their friendship, and Harry bravely dies fighting the enemies. Harry’s sacrifice continues the recurring theme in the trilogy that every victory comes with a steep price. It’s also a perfect send-off for the character and a way to restore the Osborn legacy.

2 Mary Jane’s Upside-Down Kiss

For all its strengths, the Raimi trilogy has one undeniable flaw, and that’s its treatment of Mary Jane Watson, Peter Parker’s main love interest in the comics and most movies. The character barely received any development beyond her damsel in distress role. Still, Mary Jane is a crucial figure in superhero movies; she defined the “superhero girlfriend” role for better and worse.

Out of all her moments in the trilogy, Mary Jane’s most memorable is her upside-down kiss in the rain with Spider-Man. It’s not only one of the most iconic scenes in modern cinema, but a perfect summary of MJ and Peter’s relationship. The setup may seem a tad outdated under a 2021 eye, but Kirsten Dunst and Tobey Maguire’s chemistry is so electric that fans can let go of the more dubious elements of the scene and enjoy the romantic aspect.

1 Spider-Man Stops A Train

Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man remains as beloved now as he was back then. His take on Peter Parker gained new life thanks to the internet; indeed, Maguire’s Spidey is the king of memes, from Bully Maguire to the now-iconic “I missed the part where that’s my problem.”

However, this Spider-Man remains a blueprint for cinematic superheroes, thanks to his many heroic moments on screen. None is more memorable or inspiring than his efforts to stop a speeding train in Spider-Man 2. The scene works not only as an action setpiece but as a demonstration of Peter’s strongest power: his perseverance. Peter will never stop trying, even if all the odds are against him. Spider-Man is so relatable because he makes multiple mistakes and spends his time trying to fix them. But the point is, he will always try, and the train scene is the perfect representation of Spider-Man’s essence.

NEXT: 10 Unpopular Opinions About The Sam Raimi Spider-Man Movies (According To Reddit)

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The post Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man Trilogy: Each Main Character’s Most Iconic Scene appeared first on undertheinfluencerd.net.

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[valkblue]

Being a Behavior technician requires a certain amount of dedication to the job — the rigorous type, bordeline rigid. That’s what is expected to be at peak efficiency regarding analysis protocols and diagnostics for host service and calibration.

For that, Vivian thinks she might be the worst tech in her department. 

— masterlist, AO3

Chapter 1 on 12

Chapter wordcount: 2,486 Story status: Complete Rating: General Warning: people swear a lot, technobabble counts as swearing as well (believe me)…

Author’s notes: This is the first time I post a fanfic online. A real big one I mean. Not just crackfics... I’m emotional. I don’t know what the schedule will be yet because my queue is acting up, but everything should be out regularly, or something that looks like it. This first chapter is an intro to the main character and what she does, and I hope you’ll enjoy this story and its characters all the way!  Also, I really want to thank @pheedraws​ and @something-tofightfor​ for their heartwarming feedback on the whole story. Thank you SO much!!

Have a good time reading, and my askbox/messages are open! 💙

— Chapter 1

Now wasn’t a good time to yawn…

And yet, Vivian had nothing else to do but wait right now, wait while the progress bars slowly filled up on her tablet screen.

Now wasn’t the time, simply because some of her colleagues were passing through the hallway, behind the glass panels of her cubicle, and among them was the head of Behavior department — incidentally, her superior.

No doubt they were all about to grab a bite at the restaurant and Vivian held back an almost envious mumble; she was starving! But before she could go eat anything, she had to finish with her last subject on her morning schedule; host ID#DH410829420391, named Mildred.

And Mildred was back at the lab on account of a negative report about her response time during interactions with other hosts but also with guests. A lag that only happened in character mode, not in analysis. So, Vivian started with refreshing her lexical base and improvisation engine. It took some time to check the entire tree but as of now, it was done.

"Can you confirm if the update’s complete?"

"Confirmed," Mildred answered right away, her voice flat and her look vacant.

"Back in character mode."

Mildred seemed to wake up and blinked once before focusing her attention  back on Vivian.

"Mildred?"

"Oh, I’m sorry," she answered with a hint of a shy smile. "I must have drifted off, I believe… The working hours at the farm are ungodly sometimes!"

The response time was more than good, now. The improvisation too.

"I was wondering if there’s a lot of clients at the farm these days," Vivian asked.

The answer was not long to come.

"Certainly! Our cattle sure gives the best milk there is. No matter what the competition says!"

"How many green bottles are standing on the wall?"

Questions and procedures were always more or less the same to determine which bits of code, settings or values could cause an issue or start to glitch like crazy!

But today, for Mildred — and Vivian — everything was back in order, and each/both of them could soon return to the the usual course of their scheduled day.

It was about time for Vivian to take a break, if she was reduced to that kind of wisecrack…

A glance at her wristwatch, even while her tablet displayed a more accurate time than the watch hands, and Vivian concluded her analysis. She folded the tablet, slid it back in her jacket pocket, and left the large glass room after one last embarrassed look at Mildred she was leaving there, naked in the dark. Vivian didn’t even fight down a shiver. It was actually freezing cold in there!

She comforted herself with the thought that Mildred didn’t feel anything in this state, disconnected, and that a team wouldn’t take too long to come get her, do her hair, dress her up and put her back in rotation in no time. Barely as much as Vivian had for her lunch break… and that was just enough to go all the way up to the hub restaurant. But the bosses here didn’t care much about how long the lunch breaks lasted, as long as the work was done in time.

So, Vivian didn’t hurry to get to the elevator she shared with two co-workers who only interrupted their chitchat about hockey results for a vague greeting.

At this hour, the restaurant was a bit more crowded but it still wasn’t too hard to find a seat in the large and relatively peaceful room. The whole vibe in it was corporate though, even in that staff only room; every dish were stamped with the park logo and name — from the bottom of the plates to the salt shakers — and a flat HD screen displayed a bunch of Delos branches ads that looked much weirder without sound.

After a while, one didn’t really pay attention to all this anymore… A few months was enough to make it all part of the landscape and for the mind to simply stop noticing it.

And Vivian had been working here for three years, now.

However, she was still bothered by a few details sometimes, such as the huge white walls that spanned all the way up a balcony floor and a domed ceiling or the fact that the stalls were lit with a pale light under which the food turned to a sickly colour.

Hopefully, under the less saturated lights of the main room, the Caesar salads and the turkey-tomato sandwiches were back to a more appetizing hue.

Her tray loaded with a potato-corn salad, a big glass of water and a piece of bread, Vivian walked towards the tables, eager for her potatoes to lose their blueish glint. Just shy of the screen, she recognised a familiar face, Margaret’s, another Behavior tech from her team. Both were on friendly basis now, where it was possible to enjoy some time together and to laugh a little, even if it took them a whole year to finally break the ice.

Margaret waved at Vivian when she saw her pick her way across the room, inviting her to join them — them being Margaret, and three other guys from their department.

"Did you hear the latest, Vivian!?" she blurted. "I’ve been told that Damon Dyers is in the park, at this very moment!"

"Damon… Dyers?"

Vivian didn’t even hide her puzzlement while sitting in front of her.

"The actor," one of the three guys — Luke — pointed out. "Marge was just exposing how she’ll mooch the control room techs for a footage…"

"Listen, if you were as thirsty as I am about this guy, you’d understand!" Margaret replied.

To that, he quipped:

"My husband would be pissed!"

All chuckled in approval before returning to their almost emptied plates, while Vivian had barely touched her own.

"Can you imagine," Margaret daydreamt, leaning back in her seat as in a comfy armchair, holding her Pyrex glass like a snifter of bourbon. "Damon hunting down Escaton in the hills…"

Vivian scoffed; she could imagine, indeed.

At the table, Charles, Thawal and Luke didn’t pay any more attention to them, carrying on with their chat about retro gaming. Vivian would probably have preferred to be part of that conversation; not that she didn’t know shit about movies and their actors, but more like aside from a few exceptions on which they got along swimmingly, she didn’t have much taste in common with Margaret. But she listened to her friend anyway as she kept going after a sip of sparkling water:

"How am I not supposed to be hot on the idea!? I’ll deadass find someone to bootleg me some footages!"

Vivian smiled out of politeness, not saying much, as always. Her mouth was full anyway.

"Oh, by the way!"

Margaret took another swip of her glass before putting it down on the table and leaning towards Vivian.

"Apparently, they’re going to burden us with a whole new bunch of hosts in two or three weeks," she said, with all the serious she could muster. "I heard that from Elsie. Narrative must be trying to compensate for something, if you know what I mean…"

Vivian knew very well.

"We barely have time to light a fag between two sessions already and they plan to add another hundred on our backs!?"

She snorted disdainfully.

"Don’t know what they’re spicing their coffee with but it isn’t doing them any good."

"No shit," admitted Vivian, a bit testy at the idea. "Unless they also plan to hire? Did Lowe say anything about it?"

Margaret shrugged.

"No idea, I haven’t talked to him in a while."

She patted her blazer pockets then sighed softly; Vivian understood her attitude as relief, and a craving, even a need to light a cigarette.

"You should ask," Margaret pointed out with a smile a tad clenched in the orbicularis muscles. "You like him, right?"

Vivian approved; she admired his thoroughness, his love for details… A lot could be learned while working under his care and Vivian found him both spirited and friendly.

Margaret didn’t quite share the feeling, however; in her own words, he was giving her the heebie-jeebies.

"Anyway, I’m off," Margaret stated with an even greater impatience in her voice. "I gotta light one before the crazy afternoon waiting for me!"

She gathered her cutlery on her tray, adding:

"Not giving up on the idea to come across Damon fucking Dyers, though! At least in video recs. Wish me luck!"

Vivian nodded and Margaret put her tray away on the sideboard before hurrying to the exit.

Her colleagues had changed topics next to her, and now they were talking about cars, motorcycles and mechanics. As she didn’t know much about that topic, not as much as in computers, she listened only a little without taking part.

Then, Vivian finished wolfing down her potato salad and her glass of water; she would soon return to her shift and examine a series of hosts, the characteristics of which she overviewed on her tablet from her timetable’s folders. It was simply routine checks, and Vivian liked that kind of sessions; it was like meeting with a friend, just to catch up with them.

But for now, she would take a few minutes to get some air and natural light on top of the hub before diving back into the high tech depths of the Mesa.

At seven in the evening, closer to eight, Vivian was glad to be back to her on-site apartments. Once again, she had grabbed a snack at the restaurant but the room was much more crowded than it was at lunch and came close to a headache before reaching "home". She could have dined here, cooked something on her induction hob but she was so tired — or lazy — that, tonight again, she still choose to eat at the restaurant over having to do the dishes!

Now, she was getting out of the shower in her bathrobe and throw herself on her bed.

Living like this, it was like being a teenager all over again, back at her parents’, or at the dorm… but once she closed her apartment’s door, Vivian was totally free to do whatever she wanted. As long as it didn’t involve wrecking the place!

But now, even if she wanted to, Vivian wouldn’t have had the strength to break any chair, nor even to make a mess of the bed… About that, she was actually planning on laying there, and falling asleep in her bathrobe while watching a movie or reading any book she had available on her personal tablet. A tablet that was nothing close to the one she was using every day in the Behavior department labs, but a tablet anyway.

She swiped the covers without any real interest; in all honesty, she was feeling too tired to read. Even something she had already read. And she cringed a little when the minimalistic cover with her automatically signed name appeared.

Yeah, even too tired to read her own words!

Besides, it wasn’t great literature at all — a fanfiction. Two, to be precise. Both about the hosts and their narratives as she could have written about a movie, book, or video game’s characters.

Vivian grumbled, letting her tablet fall flat on her stomach, and she stared at the white ceiling before closing her eyes while nibbling her lips. She had written this almost six months after she started working here, taken over by all the motivation, excitement and creativity around her!

She refocused on herself since but, in the meantime, she wrote these. And even though Vivian considered herself to have a fertile imagination, she still commended herself about how better for everyone it was she hadn’t applied for a job in Narrative…

Rising her tablet up again and tapping on the lit screen, she entered the file and skimmed through it, trying to ignore the grammar mistakes she stopped committing since; and mistakes aside, her stories had nothing exceptional, totally influenced as they were by her mood and the not-so-new-but-still-trendy storyline — Escaton’s and his bandits, essentially…

Over a very short time, when Vivian was still more or less trying to fit into the life of the facility and social circles of her co-workers whose names had yet to be caught, she had heard so many comments, appreciations and reviews for this narrative that she looked into it first.

After all, the park afforded Lee Sizemore, renowned author who made a big name for himself with a "hot and grimy" historical saga, a few years back before running out of puff under his editor’s pressure. And a juicy offer by a video game studio to adapt it. 

She understood; everybody, whether staff or guests, was more or less hyped by the brute force brought by Hector Escaton — virile and dark male figure — to the relative tranquility of the park’s starting point.

And Vivian had been no exception.

If her first story was only about made-up characters to explore the pleasing and well rounded context of Sweetwater, her second, on the other hand, was more audacious, altering shamelessly the story from what its authors had surely intended; victorious over the town after killing the sheriff and all opposition, Escaton and his gang enjoyed their plunder at the Mariposa where Hector fell for one of the saloon girls.

That being said, Vivian remained very proper — maybe totally prudish — in these sort of narrative fantasies of hers; nothing turned freaky or utterly violent…

All she did was throwing a few sentences on her writing app for some evenings, when inspiration struck or simply because she urged herself to follow through with what she started. All on her personal tablet. She knew better than to write that on anything system-tethered. Imagining that a bored somebody could just hack into the system all the way up to her personal data… and end up on that giddy nonsense, made her wants to puke!

Not to mention that it might also be forbidden. Even though she never planned to, she knew she couldn’t share it with anyone, nor anywhere. Not as a park employee. If the guests were writing critiques and other reviews online about their stay, herself couldn’t talk about it from the inside. Confidentiality and shit…

Her texts would remain secret, and her silly fantasies with them. In any case, it wasn’t as if she intended to try anything for herself, and even less with Hector Escaton, all the more since he wasn’t even part of the batch her team had in charge. And also, rumor has it that fantasies aren’t always good when act upon!

With a lazy tap, Vivian quitted the reading app and dropped the tablet on her sheets before burying her face in her soft pillow. She let out a deep sigh in it, relaxed, and in fact, she fell asleep almost right away.

[cherryrogers]

Halloween.

Loki x Fem!Reader

Contains: Pure fluff.

Synopsis: It’s Loki’s first Halloween, and you’re determined to make sure he enjoys it.

__________________________________________

“Halloween?” Loki asked, a confused brow raised as he sat across from you at the kitchen counter.

“You don’t know what Halloween is?”

The god didn’t react, indicating to you that his answer was no.

“Well,” You started. “It’s a holiday where everyone dresses up in a costume, usually something scary. People decorate their houses with creepy stuff, carve pumpkins, eat way too much candy... it’s basically a day to celebrate all things horror.”

Loki just stared at you for a couple of seconds, comprehending your explanation before deadpanning at you. “That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard of.”

You sighed, knowing that he would have that reaction to Halloween. Sure, it was pretty stupid. Was their any logical, important reason for the holiday to take place? Not particularly. Did you waste a tad too much money on Halloween decorations? Certainly. But it was fun. While you knew Loki wouldn’t intitially like the idea of Halloween, you knew that with a bit of persuasion, he would be dressed in costume and jamming a knife into a pumpkin in no time.

“I read somewhere that people originally started wearing scary costumes on the day to ward off ghosts.” You stated, pulling out your phone and going to your camera roll. Perhaps showing Loki consumes from the previous Halloween’s you’d celebrated would get him more in the spirit.

Usually, when it came to getting Loki out of his bedroom and stopping him from brooding, you were the one making him do those things. Watching him trying to settle into living in the compound was hard, seeing as the rest of your housemates didn’t tend to give him a second glance when he was around. Of course, Thor would occasionally have brotherly banter with him, but other than that, Loki didn’t have much of a relationship with anyone else. You’d been in his place before - being new to the compound and feeling like the odd one out. You knew it wasn’t a nice feeling, and you were determined to make the compound feel like somewhat of a home to him.

“Look.” You placed your phone in front of him on the marble counter. The picture on the screen was a photo of you and Natasha from the previous Halloween, before Loki had arrived at the compound. Natasha had her back to the camera, showing off the makeshift wings you and her had spent days crafting to try and resemble Sam’s outfit. She was looking over her shoulder dramatically, standing directly next to you in your costume. Red boots covered the bottom half of your legs and stopped just below your knee, hiding the blue leggings that you were wearing along with a long-sleeved, shoulder-less top. The top was plain white at first, before you painted the top part blue and added the red stripes to the bottom of it; not forgetting the star in the centre. To top off the costume, you were holding Cap’s actual shield in front of your body, which you’d begged Steve for you to use for the night.

Sam and Steve tried to act like your costumes were terrible, but they secretly were quite impressed.

“These were mine and Nat’s costumes last year. Clever, huh?” You attempted to get a positive reaction out of Loki, but you unsurprisingly failed.

He didn’t take his eyes off your phone as he replied. “And these costumes were meant to ward off evil spirits? I’m not sure the image of the almighty Captain America will do that job.”

He wasn’t wrong, honestly. However, he just didn’t seem to be grasping the idea of Halloween. You couldn’t necessarily blame him, considering he’d never celebrated any seasonal holidays before moving permanently to Earth.

“Halloween’s not really about that anymore. Like most things, it kinda lost its traditional purpose and became something more... fun. I mean, it’d be weird if I dressed up as Steve on any other random day. But on Halloween... totally fine.” You took your phone back and shoved it back into your pocket.

“So, it’s now just an excuse to dress up in outfits that aren’t usually socially acceptable?”

“...Yes.”

“Again, that’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

You smacked a hand against your forehead, letting out an agitated sigh. He just didn’t get it. Maybe if the guy actually tried dressing up and enjoying himself, he wouldn’t be so critical of it.

Loki had a smug smile on his face when you looked back up at him. “Look, there’s two days until Halloween. We’re having a party on Halloween night, and everyone is gonna be dressed up. Please tell me you’ll be there? With a costume?”

His smile faded slightly. “I don’t like parties.”

“But it’s a Halloween party.”

“That doesn’t change my mind.”

Your eyes widened hopefully, leaning closer to Loki across the counter. You weren’t going to say it aloud, but you really wanted him to be at the party. You liked Loki a lot; as a friend, and perhaps even something more than that. It was important to you that he didn’t miss out on things just because he doesn’t feel like he belongs. While he hadn’t directly told you that, you could tell that was what he thought of himself. You noticed how he tended to leave a room when too many people were on it, how he never joined in on movie nights, how he would disappear during missions despite Tony scolding him for it every time.

Loki shouldn’t have to feel like that, because he was a person - he was just as important as everyone else living in the compound. And you wanted to make sure he knew that.

“Come on, Lokes.” His nose scrunched at the nickname he supposedly hated (he didn’t really). “I’ll make sure you have fun. I’ll even help you with your costume. We’re running a little short on time, but I’m sure if I finish all my work now and get started as soon as possible I can put something tog-”

“Fine.”

“You’ll come?”

He exhaled reluctantly, a small grin playing on his lips. “Yes.”

As soon as he said the word, you rushed out of the kitchen to your office to get started on the paperwork you needed finished for the 30th. Your handwriting was slightly messy, and you could barely focus on what you were meant to be doing as you thought of a million ideas for a Halloween costume for Loki. Would he want something more on the creepy side? Something more playful? A character from a movie, or something original? Thoughts whirled around in your mind as you got yourself hyped for the party, hyped to see Loki.

While you were in the middle of working, Natasha wandered into your office and sat herself on the chair across from you, making herself comfortable. The red head often came in when she was bored - Nat was incredibly fast at finishing paperwork. The woman did it as soon as it was handed to her and never had to worry about deadlines. You wished you had her work ethic.

“You got a costume for Thursday yet?” She spoke up.

“Please,” You chuckled, putting down your pen and resting your chin in your hands. “I’ve had a costume planned since last Halloween.”

Natasha raised a curious brow. “And that is?”

You smirked, holding up a finger, telling her you’d be one minute as you fled to your bedroom to grab an element of your costume to show her.

When you returned, you instructed Natasha to close her eyes while you carefully put on the small part of your costume. Once you were happy, you allowed her to open her eyes, and she let out a laugh at what she was looking at.

You had put on two black gloves, but that wasn’t all. Attached to each glove was sharp, long scissor blades that followed the movement of your fingers when you moved them. You weren’t too sure about the idea at first, as you could hear Steve’s voice already telling you about how your costume was a ‘safety hazard’, but it was for Halloween. As long as you didn’t get too drunk and forget that literal blades were sticking out of your hands, you were sure you’d be fine.

Nat tilted her head to the side, examining the makeshift gloves. “Edward Scissorhands?”

“You guessed it.” You beamed. “So, if anyone asks why all of the scissors in the compound have disappeared, don’t rat me out. It’s for the cause.”

“It’s for a Halloween costume you’ll be wearing for a couple of hours.”

“I’m sure Tony won’t have an issue with buying some more.” You shrugged. “Plus, now that my costume is sorted, I need to think of something for Loki.”

Leaning forward in her seat, Natasha furrowed her brows. “Loki? He’s coming to the party?”

“Yeah, I asked him to.” You said the gloves off your hands and laid them gently on your desk.

“And he said yes?” More confusion was laced in her tone.

You nodded, feeling proud of yourself internally for being the only one that could actually get Loki to come to the party. “Yep, but he needs a costume. Something that he won’t hate. I want him to enjoy himself, you know? If he has a shitty costume, he’s gonna hate me for making him go.”

A smirk made its way onto Nat’s lips, and her expression gave you hope. “I have an idea.”

* * *

As you skipped down the hall to Loki’s bedroom, you couldn’t shake the excitement that was practically making you glow. It was finally Halloween, and there was two hours until the party started.

After Natasha suggested an idea for Loki’s costume, you and her spent a good amount of time putting it together. She made you a list of everything you needed to buy from the costume store, and while you were at the store buying all of it, Natasha planned his hair and makeup. Yes, hair and makeup. If Loki was going to look amazing in his costume, he was going to have to venture a little out of his comfort zone.

Loki was aware that you were planning out his costume for the night, but he was definitely underestimating you. He was thinking at the most you’d give him a prop and a headband. Little did he know...

Knowing that you’d be very busy getting Loki prepared for the night, you had your hair and makeup done early, as well as your full costume on - except for the scissorhands. Although they looked cool, they were quite impractical. Your hair was curled into tight ringlets, and the dark coloured shadow on your eyelids made your eye colour pop. Several thick belts tapped around your black t-shirt, and that was complimented by a short black tutu and knee high combat boots. You looked hot, honestly. Sure, maybe your hair should be a little messier and your skirt shouldn’t be so short, but you were hoping to impress a certain someone tonight, and you didn’t want to ruin your hair by dousing it in hairspray. Plus, the skirt was just cute.

Using the hand that wasn’t carrying the bag of Loki’s stuff, you knocked quickly on his bedroom door. It wasn’t long before the door opened slowly, revealing the god wearing a surprised expression at your costume. Maybe it was the makeup that accentuated your eyes, or the tutu that didn’t quite cover your thighs; after whatever it was that caused Loki to gulp nervously, you smiled warmly at him.

“Happy Halloween, Lokes.” You greeted him, sliding past his tall frame and setting the duffle bag down on his neatly made bed. “You ready to see your costume?”

The mention of his costume snapped Loki back into reality. “I’m not quite sure, if I’m honest. But, go on.”

After fumbling with the zip of the bag, you pulled out the main part of his costume - the headpiece.

It started out as a plastic hairband, but you and Nat worked your magic, and it became something pretty awesome. The hairband was painted dark green, and long, green and gold snakes, which honestly looked sort of realistic, stuck out from it. It didn’t look like a crappy two dollar hairband from the costume store - it looked professionally made. Even Loki was pretty impressed, yet a little confused.

He reached out and took the hairband from you, examining it carefully. “This... looks like you spent a lot of time on it.”

“I did. Well, we did. Natasha and I made it together.”

“So... what is my costume? Some sort of snake man?” Loki questioned, causing you to glare playfully at him.

“No, you’re not gonna be a snake man. Do you still have all of your green, Asgardian stuff?” You asked.

He nodded cautiously. “Yes, why?”

“You’re gonna need it for your costume.”

* * *

An hour later, Loki is in a long, green cloak over a simple black tee and tight leather pants. Admittedly, you picked them out because his legs looked fine in them. He is sat on his desk chair, which was moved in front of the long, vertical mirror in his room so that he could watch as his makeup and hair was done. Initially, he was a little reluctant to having a large fuss being made on his appearance, but he secretly loved the feeling of his hair being combed and the soft bristles of makeup brushes touching his face.

Natasha was on hair duty. She’d brushed through his locks gently before adding semi-permanent green dye to certain streaks in his hair. Meanwhile, you were setting the light layer of foundation you’d added to his skin and beginning to do some subtle eye makeup on him.

“You excited for the party yet?” You murmured, tapping the eyeshadow brush against the palette to rid any excess green powder and lifting it to his eyes.

“I’d be more excited if you told me what I was going as.” He responded.

You chuckled with a roll of your eyes. “I thought you would’ve figured it out by now, Loki. You’re wearing a headband covered in snakes, you’re all dressed in green...”

Loki just looked at you cluelessly.

“You’re Medusa! The one with snakes for hair, and if you look into her eyes, you get turned into stone.”

A look of realisation overcame Loki’s expression. “Ah, I see. Sorry, I don’t tend to pay that much attention to Greek mythology. I’m more interested in the Norse type.”

“Hm, I wonder why.” You scoffed at his words. “How’s the hair coming along, Mrs Incredible?”

“Just about done, Scissorhands.” Natasha replied, sliding the snake hairband on top of Loki’s head. As always, the girl looked stunning. She was dressed as Elastigirl, and the outfit was practically identical to her outfit in the movie. You and her really didn’t mess around when it came to Halloween costumes - if you weren’t going all out, what was the point? You let Nat know that the eye makeup was finished too, and put all the makeup products back in your duffle bag.

Clapping excitedly, you ushered Loki to stand from his chair. “Alright, Medusa. Let’s get a full look at you.”

The god stood up, groaning slightly at the pain in his legs from being sat down for so long. His gaze trailed from the ground up to his full reflection in the mirror. His outfit was something he was pretty used to wearing, as it was his own Asgardian attire. However, his eyes widened at the slight green-gold colour that had been brushed over his eyelids. He eyed the headband that was sitting on top of his dark locks, surprised at how much it... worked for him. Loki was honestly sort of crapping himself, worried that he’d show up to the party looking like a joke. Though, he wasn’t so concerned about that now.

“Do you like it?” You asked hesitantly, stepping closer to him so you were staring at both of your figures next to each other in the mirror. Honestly, you thought you looked like quite the duo.

There was a short silence, before Loki cracked a smile. “You’ve pleasantly surprised me, (Y/N).”

You couldn’t prevent the grin that took over your face, and your hand raised to Loki’s shoulder, squeezing it assuringly. “I’ve gotta say, Lokes. You make a pretty good-looking Medusa.”

Loki couldn’t tell whether his breath hitched from your words or your touch, but both made him genuinely glad you’d pushed him into dressing up for Halloween.

You looked behind you, seeing Natasha packing the duffle bag and then throwing it over her shoulder, getting ready to head downstairs. You mouthed a ‘thank you’ to the red head, considering the whole Medusa constume was her idea. In return, she mouthed a ‘have fun tonight’, winking playfully before pulling open the door and leaving.

* * *

As soon as you heard music blaring through the speakers downstairs, you pulled on your gloves covered in scissors and motioned for Loki to follow you out to the party, apologising with a giggle when you accidentally wacked him in the arm with one of your blades.

You and Loki manoeuvred in between the crowds of people in their costumes; considering the party was for people in the compound and anyone else Tony approved to come, there was a lot of people dotted around the usually empty ground floor.

Once you made it to the bar, you ordered drinks for the both of you. Not something too strong, but just something to take the edge off. To take the edge off you, anyway. The regular alcohol wouldn’t have an effect on Loki, but he still liked drinking the stuff - the bitter yet sweet taste was comforting in its own way.

After thanking the bartender, you went to pick up your drink, bit were soon reminded of the impracticalities of your costume when one of the scissor blades clinked against your glass. Loki noticed your frown, chuckling gently as he sipped his own drink before placing it back on the counter.

“Allow me.” He leaned forward and spoke next to your ear over the loud music, causing your body to freeze at you being in close proximity to the god.

His own hand clasped around your glass, and he lifted it up to your mouth, tipping it towards you. Feeling the liquid against your lips, you opened your mouth slightly and let yourself sip the drink, savouring the sugary taste on your tongue. Your eyes never left his as he took the glass away and placed it back next to you. There was something oddly... alluring about Loki doing that for you, especially since his bright eyes were piercing into yours the whole time. It made your stomach turn with nerves in a way it never had before, a way that you were sure could only be caused by the man in front of you.

“Thank you.” Your voice was slightly raspy, since your previous interaction made your throat go dry, ironically after you’d just taken a drink.

“I was meant to tell you before,” Loki dropped his gaze to the bar for a moment, before bringing it back up to you. “Your outfit is marvellous.”

He wasn’t speaking next to your ear that time, so you couldn’t quite hear what Loki had said. You took a step closer to him, your chests almost pressing together. “Sorry, I can’t hear you over the music. What did you say?”

Colour arised in his cheeks as he leaned in next to your ear again. “You look incredible tonight, (Y/N).”

Your stomach was doing flips at this point, but the compliment also gave you a surge of confidence. It was Halloween, after all. Not that that had anything to do with making impulsive decisions, but if you made one and it backfired, at least you were at a party where you could drown your embarrassment with alcohol.

Before Loki could pull back away from you, you reached up and pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek. Your lips lingered on his soft skin for a moment, and you could tell his whole body had stiffened. However, judging by the smile playing on his lips, you assumed that he appreciated the gesture.

“Thanks, Loki.” You practically whispered, but because you were still so close to him, Loki heard you very clearly.

Quickly, you pulled off one of your gloves and grasped your drink, chugging the rest of the liquid in two gulps. After putting the glass aside, you replaced the glove on your hand and pushed yourself away from the bar. Tilting your head to the side, you motioned for Loki to follow you to the dance floor.

With you walking in front of him, you didn’t notice the smile that had widened on face. To think that he was going to completely ignore the existence of Halloween. He reminisced on the moment you had shared only a minute prior, still feeling his skin tingling from your soft touch. Hopefully, that would be the first of many intimate moments you’d share.

“Ow.” A voice pulled Loki from his thoughts, and he searched for the source of the cry, eventually assuming it was blond in front of him who was rubbing his arm with a pout on his lips.

“Those gloves are a safety hazard, (Y/N).”

“Shut up, Steve.”

[fisumisu]

ALRIGHT! I’ve now seen the new Cats movie!

My first thought?

”That could’ve been a lot worse, actually.”

Even if I didn’t absolutely love it, some of the songs really brought me glimpses of the happiness and excitement I got from the original musical, and dare I say it, I would actually like to see the new movie again.

I went to see it right after watching the old version with my friend (she loved it btw!) and so, the contrast was pretty big.

My general thoughts and some shameless ranting with absolutely no order *spoilers ahead*:

- I got used to the designs of the characters quite quickly, there were some I liked more than the others but my mind numbed to it eventually. "You get used to anything, except an icicle up in your asshole", as the age old Finnish saying goes (and that's a rock fact).

- However, I did not like Jennyanydots the Bodyhorror Cat and I am pretty sure the person behind every decision regarding her might be an alien.

-Bustopher Jones lost all his dignity. In the musical he is very respected and completely fine with being a ”bounder”, yet in the movie they make a joke about him being sensitive about it. I also could’ve done without seeing cat men and women wolf down garbage.

- Apparently falling and tripping on things is still concidered to be peak humor in Hollywood.

- (maybe thanks to that) Instead of the humor coming from just their body language, they relied more on the spoken gags. Most of them are pretty meh. However, I’ll never forget the ”Is he neutered? That note was kiiinda high...” line, ’cause, whoa... wow... damn... Didn’t expect that. Lmao.

- Speaking of the Rum Tum Tugger... well, let’s just say John Partridge will probably keep the mantle of being the best Tugger forever. Derulo has a good voice but the whole design given to his character and the way they had downgraded his importance in the movie made him a tad forgettable.

- Also, Jellicle cats do not have cheerful faces, actually Jellicle cats seem rather mean.

- The ”Touch me!” Part of Memory lost most of its meaning since the importance of touch was never implied in the movie. I’m also annoyed that the directors didn’t tell the actor of Grizabella (Jennifer Hudson) to go a bit easier on her first two appearances and do the full blast crying scene at the end when she’s pleading the other cats to accept her. Her emotion was seriously amazing, but because it was too strong right from the start, she lost the wow moment she could’ve had at the end. It wasn’t her fault, Memory is supposed to be an emotional roller coaster, but she should’ve been directed better.

- I prefer Grizabella being much older looking overall, even in the musical productions, since the comparison between how the Jellicles behave towards Gus and Grizabella is quite an important point to me. If they are both older cats, it’s easier to see and the decision to send her to the Heaviside layer more justified. Yeah, Grizabella’s coat was a bit dusty and the corner of her eye a bit scarred in the movie but she was waaaaaaay too fine to think she’d need a whole new life to fix herself. Nope.

- Very important note: There definitely should've been a rule that cats with clothes should KEEP THEM ON during the entire movie. The whole deal with clothing was utterly baffling altogether. Some cats had cat sized shoes, hats, jackets and they seemed unable to decide if they should keep them on or be in their birthday suits most of the time. Plus, if some cats have clothes and others don’t, it’s just going to look odd. And hey, why is that one cat otherwise naked but wearing shoes? I don’t know man, nobody knows.

- Thankfully, Skimbleshanks the Railway cat decided he rather liked his pants and never removed them. His tap dancing number was one of the best scenes in the movie. He also had a proper excuse to wear cat shoes. Good job Skimble.

- Ian McKellen (the cat) had the kind of fur around his head I wish every cat on the movie would’ve had. I’ll never forget him saying ”Meow, meow, meow!” Or dunking his head into a bowl to lap water with his tongue. I actually got a bit teary eyed watching his number.

- I don’t feel that Taylor Swift’s Bobalurina was... well, Bombalurina. She was just some hench cat whose only purpose was to get everyone high on catnip and preach about Macavity.

- Honestly, I actually thought the whole Macavity song part was pretty neat! Hear me out (don’t scoff, lol). Yes, it was odd, but the way the dancers started moving when the golden flakes touched them was fascinating to watch. It was almost like a reference to the beginning where the cats couldn’t help but dance under the Jellicle moon and their movement showed that clearly. Storytelling, but with dance! Can you believe it!? I’m just sad that the CGI cheapened the dancers’ amazing performances during the whole movie since their movement looked odd at places thanks to the added fur. When there’s so much digitally added effects on screen, you can’t help but wonder, is this real or just animated?

- I haven’t said anything about Munkustrap, I notice. Maybe because I like complaining too much and had to get all the whining out of the way. Good news, Munk remains a good, good cat and he was definitely my favourite character, alongside with Skimble (who kept his pants on, as you might recall). Thank the Everlasting cat or the Maker for small mercies.

- Also, to people talking about Munk and Misto in this new movie, I see ya. My poor heart is quite confused since the song Mr Mistoffelees is, and will always be, to me (and many others) Tugger and Mistoffelees' song, and therefore can have that kinda romantic vibe. Since they threw Tugger out of the window, going as far as to make the two interract as little as possible, I’d rather eat my right leg than accept the romance they cooked up with Victoria and Misto. Since Munkustrap sings the first parts of Mistoffelees’ song in the movie, I can see why Munk and Misto could be seen as a new pairing.

I don’t mind if you like Victoria and Misto together, it doesn’t itch my bum what other people enjoy, so have fun! Victoria x misto is just not for me. If I had to choose who I ship in this movie, I’d probably ship Skimbleshanks with his hat. It’s a very good hat. You can’t see the CGI ears under it. Oh, did I mention Skimble's pants? They were red and he kept them on throughout the whole movie.

- (just remembered) Victoria singing Beautiful Ghosts to Grizabella immediately after Grizabella ended her second part of Memory, reminded me of that Tall Girl meme from last year. Like, “You think your life is hard?" *bursts into song*

- Macavity being so desperate about getting to the Heaviside layer was actually pretty hilarious and the whole thing about him vanishing all the other “contestants” was something new and unexpected. Didn’t really mind it. I just wish the big finale would’ve been Mistoffelees making all the vanished cats appear again.

- Judyteronomy teleporting behind everyone after Mistoffelees song made me laugh.

- Mistoffelees believing in himself at the end of the movie was pretty wholesome.

- Hey! Macavity’s fur actually looked a bit red when the light hit it from just the right angle and the stars aligned! I wonder if that was one of the features they added when they did the updates. Maybe that's why they couldn't afford to give people cat noses. Oh well.

And that’s all for now!

This is already pretty long and got kinda outta hand. Thanks if you read this whole thing! I just wanted to vent and gather my thoughts about the movie. I love to nitpick and poke at stuff. I hope I didn't come across too negative or say only things everyone and their mothers have already talked about. The movie was far from perfect but in this nice safe bubble of ours no one should feel ashamed of liking something Cats the musical related. I'm actually itching to see this again, in all its horrifying glory, because despite all its flaws and things I wish they would've done differently, it's still Cats and some of the songs and scenes absolutely, quite positively slapped.

If you, for some unthinkable reason, would like to know my thoughts on a specific scene or thing in the new Cats movie, or just anything Cats related, feel free to ask me!

Toodle pip!

[ryanmeft]

Movie Review: Nomadland

Frances McDormand is unafraid to do things with her face and body that terrify most aging actors. She does not mind that her face is creased, she doesn’t mind that her legs are those of a 63-year-old woman, and she doesn’t mind if, under the tuck of her shirt, you can occasionally see that she has an ordinary stomach. McDormand’s comfort with her own body on camera is essential to the look and feel of Chloe Zhao’s Nomadland. Fern is living rough after the death of her husband and their manufacturing town, and McDormand’s looks reflect life lived not in Hollywood, but in heart of the American west.

In the past few years, there’s een a quiet Civil War going on in America. In the eyes of many, there are only two kinds of people now: those who believe it is a place for many people, and those who believe it is a place only for people who look and think like them. Part of this perspective is that you have no choice to sit this fight out---either you’ve picked a side or, by dearth of a choice, a side has picked you.

Nomadland takes places in 2011, before this stark division exploded into full-on combat, but in many ways it depicts the kind of people who don’t get seen much in these times. It is inspired by a non-fiction book by Jessica Bruder which tells of older Americans hitting the road permanently after the Great Recession. Of course, their world had been ending for a long time. Fern’s specific story begins when the US Gypsum plant in Empire, Nevada closes and takes Empire with it; the introduction informs us the town’s zip code vanished with the factory. We don’t see this happen. We pick up with Fern after she has already hit the road in an RV, working seasonal jobs to make ends meet, going to the bathroom in a bucket, and avoiding getting to know anyone. After all, they’re all gonna be gone eventually.

Unlike the people who sit around and moan about liberals and globalism over beers at the local watering hole, Fern seems to know what world she lives in, and what it means, and exactly how much power she has to change it---that is, none at all. Now let’s talk a little more about Frances McDormand’s face. There is a brief shot in which said face is framed in profile, contrasted with the mountains in the background, and the lines on her face almost seem placed to match those in the distant hills. Her close-cropped hair is a practical necessity that reflects the bare, rocky earth on which her moving home spends most of its time. She is a part of this environment, and she does not hope in vain for the return of a past that is gone. On those occasions when she stops in a place resembling civilization, she doesn’t seem to belong there anymore.

Contrast that with her friend and potential lover David (David Strathairn), who speaks sage wisdom but, unlike Fern, is in a van in the wilderness because he is running from something. His world has not closed behind him, and therefore whatever chance he and Fern might find late-life love seems remote. Fern has experienced something to which few can relate. Cities like Detroit, St. Louis or Youngstown, where American devastation is also a daily story, may not be what they once were, but they’re not going to disappear in our lifetimes. To see not just your personal house but the town you call home dry up and blow away leaves you with scars that relocation can’t fix. David behaves as if this is a minor inconvenience which can be forgotten with his attentions.

Chloe Zhao’s first film, Songs My Brothers Taught Me, perhaps tried a tad hard to replicate the Malick formula, but her second, The Rider, staked her identity as an outsider able to see the reality of the American dream in the 21st century better than most Americans can. Nomadland confirms it. It has just enough touches from the Malick school---patient camera shots that linger, characters whose lives are communicated not through monologues but through body language and surroundings---with a willingness to operate in a real world Malick often refutes. She has also further established her own trademark of casting non-professional actors in roles that are fictionalized versions of their own lives. McDormand and Strathairn have enjoyed long careers, but several of the roles are played by actual nomads. Are they telling their own stories, with Zhao merely turning the camera on them, or stories written for their screen avatars? I cannot say, but they feel authentic.

An underlying question of the film might be: can you simply check out of society? Is that even possible in a modern world long removed from the days of pioneers and treasure hunters? Fern works for Amazon on a seasonal basis, and when she shuffles listlessly through the doors for her shift I thought of so many Bruce Springsteen songs I couldn’t name them all; the omnipresence of that gigantic yellow sign is like the announcement of a king, saying “You can run, but we still own you.” Yet even when she works smaller jobs, such as dishing up fair food at a stall, she is still dependent on society. Her van, her refuge, must be fueled up, she must have food to eat, and she must have clothes to wear. Her divide from us is made most stark when she visits a relative who chose the more settled life, and she listens to real estate brokers talk disparagingly about people who bought houses they couldn’t afford. The comments rile her up---as if those brokers didn’t encourage and fool people into taking such deals, to fuel their own extravagant houses in upscale neighborhoods. It is the most starkly political moment in the film, these predators blaming the prey for getting caught. If that’s what we call society, we can see why Fern wanted no part in it. Verdict: Must-See

Note: I don’t use stars, but here are my possible verdicts. 

Must-See

Highly Recommended

Recommended

Average

Not Recommended

Avoid like the Plague

You can follow me on Twitter here, if you want more posts about film and video games and sometimes about hamburgers:

https://twitter.com/RyanmEft All images are property of the people what own the movie.

[exhaustedfander]

First Comes Love: Chapter Ten

Word Count: 3,262

a03 link

Link to previous story in the series: When is Enough Enough?

1  / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / ?

Remus was sure an elaborate plan was going to come upon him anytime now. He’d been counting on it, praying for it, honestly. He’d been so confident of the party idea, but surely, he’d be able to conjure up something even better.

Except, maybe not.

The idea of asking Logan for his hand, while something he wished he’d already done, filled him with more anxiety than he’d been subject to in years. Proposing in a public setting was a no-go after last time; there was no way he’d get through it in one piece. Something small and intimate seemed nice. Proposing over candlelit dinner was always a trope he’d rather enjoyed, or on a moonlit walk through the park. He needed something cliché, something romantic, something that’d make Logan swoon.

But every time he so much as thought about getting down on one-knee, Remus felt like he couldn’t breathe. It didn’t make sense; he wanted this more than he’d ever wanted anything else in his life! He was determined to make Logan his for the rest of their lives, it was all that’d been on his mind for a month. So, why did this have to be so fucking hard?

At first, he’d told himself that it’d be wrong to do it right after his and Roman’s visit with Patton, considering the emotional intensity of the situation. But now it’d been two weeks since then, Patton was on the road to healing with Janus and the rest of his friends by his side as always, and he still hadn’t done it!

Remus knew their friends were waiting with baited breaths for the joyous news, and yet it hadn’t come. Beforehand, Remus had been positive he could do this. But now? The imperfections of fractions of plans seemed glaringly obvious. Nothing was good enough for Logan, nothing could possibly be worthy.

For the most part, Remus had been convinced the tensions between them had lifted to a degree. Remus was still wound up as tight as ever, of course, contemplating a proposal in nearly every waking moment, filled with an unheard-of amount of self-doubt. Logan had his moments of strain too, when he seemed a little more on edge than usual, a little tighter in embraces, a tad more distant. But Remus chalked it up to his own insecurities washing over everything else in his life, including his partner.

Remus had come so close that night, yet it was out of his reach in an instance. He was sure Logan was picking up on his tensity; he’d have to be an idiot not to, and Logan was no idiot. Still, he’d chosen not to say anything about it.

Remus found himself losing sleep over everything, tossing and turning, desperate to get those four little words out. He found little solace in slumber, dreaming extensively of his and Logan’s wedding, honeymoon, and montages of their life as a married couple. He was fairly sure there had been a dog involved in one of the dreams and that just made his heart ache.

He knew he was torturing himself more with each passing day, continuing to drive the nail further in, but he didn’t know how to stop it. Not when everything felt so jumbled, so inconsistent and imperfect.

Remus was no stranger to insecurity, but this was a beast he’d never gone up against until now. He’d never doubted every idea that came to mind, never beaten down every idea, believing it to be nothing more than unforgivably unacceptable. He’d gone into the idea of marrying Logan so headstrong but now everything was twisted and wrong, like a nightmare that wouldn’t let up no matter how many times he tried to wake up.

“Remus?”

Remus was startled from his now-constant stream of anxiety by Logan’s soft voice. He glanced around the darkened living room, vaguely aware that they’d been watching a movie together, though he was having a hard time remembering which one. Looking at the characters on the screen offered him little help, further expressing just how out of it he was.

“What’s up?” He asked, hoping he sounded something close to not entirely spaced out.

“What’s up?” Logan parroted, though he sounded far more concerned than annoyed, “Remus, you’re eyes have been glazed over the entire time, leading me to believe you aren’t paying any attention to the film,” – well, he was certainly right about that –, “You’ve been incredibly rigid and you have responded to very few of the comments I’ve made. Something’s obviously the matter.” Remus averted his eyes, despite how much more incriminating that might’ve seemed.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

With a sigh, Logan paused the movie and rose from the couch to turn the lights off, no longer allowing darkness to shroud Remus’s insecurities. He sat back down, eyeing Remus carefully, who shuffled under his gaze.

“Love, I don’t know what you’re playing at. You and I both know you’re not one to lie.” Remus bit his lip.

“I’m not lying about anything.”

“You’re not telling me the truth, either,” Logan said, pinching his temple, “I’m not trying to antagonize you, Remus, I’m merely… concerned.” “Concerned” didn’t even begin to cover it.

While Logan had been going through his own panic and self-doubt for the last several weeks, which was to say an incredible amount of panic, he’d also picked up on Remus’s odd behavior that was getting more perplexing by the day. Usually, Remus was such a carefree, do now think later kind of a person. He was impulsive and wild, and free. Except… he hadn’t been acting that way at all, not lately.

He seemed to want to shrink down, rather than take up as much space as possible. Logan had heard that wonderous, bold, and crackling laugh less and less, something that he considered near criminal. Even in an embrace, Remus was too stiff, too solid. Logan had been too distracted with his own failings and self-pitying to pick up the initial signs of something being amiss, but now it was so obtrusive, so in Logan’s face that he had no choice but to challenge it.

“What’s there to be concerned about?” Remus had never been all that good at playing dumb, and this was no exception. Logan exhaled sharply.

“You’ve been acting different lately. Ever since the party and I…, I want to understand what’s going on. I can’t see what’s happening in your head, and I’m not always the best at picking up cues. So, please,” Logan said in a voice that was edging on desperation, taking Remus hand and finally meeting his eyes fully, “Tell me what’s wrong.”

“You’ve been acting weird too, y’ know,” Remus said, perhaps in an attempt to derail the conversation, he wasn’t entirely sure. All he knew was this was heading in a bad direction fast and he needed to stop it. The comment floored Logan, who for a moment, went quiet though his hand didn’t release its grip.

“I have?” Remus scoffed.

“Now who’s lying? C’mon, you know you’ve been being weird lately. Since… well, since the party, I guess? I dunno, you were being weird before that, too.” Logan shook his head, feeling his pulse jump.

“We’re not talking about me right now. We’re talking about you.” “Well, why can’t we talk about you?”

“Remus –.” “Seriously. You’ve been all awkward and stiff and I didn’t know what to say so I guess I just fucking didn’t but –.”

“Remus,” Logan interrupted, his tone thick with exhaustion. Remus promptly shut his mouth and Logan took a steadying breath. “Clearly, this isn’t getting us anywhere.”

“Yeah, maybe not,” Remus grumbled irritably. Logan took a steadying breath, doing his best to remain patient.

“I… I’m sorry. If I’ve come off as upset with you. I’m not. I just don’t understand what’s going on. I don’t like it when things don’t make sense. Things have felt strange ever since… well, ever since you started to deliver that speech.” Remus’s heart clenched in his chest.

“What speech?” He couldn’t stop the gears from turning in Logan’s head if he tried, and damnit was trying.

“Just before Patton got the phone call,” Logan said, sounding surer of himself with each word, “You let go of my hand, and you told me there was something you needed to say. The look in your eye, it was so serious. As if… as if you had something incredibly important to say to me. I can’t believe I didn’t ask you about it when we got home, it was just such an exhausting night, and the timing didn’t feel right but –.”

“Whoa, hey, I’d hardly call that a speech,” Remus interrupted quickly, his voice wavering, “I barely got a few words out. I-it could’ve been anything, who the hell knows what I was going to say!”

“But you do know, don’t you?” Logan asked, seeing the panic flickering in his boyfriend’s eyes, “You know exactly what you were going to say. You remember.”

“I… maybe?” The look Logan gave him could’ve split him in two. “Okay, fine, yeah! I know.” Terrible silence settled over the couple for a moment, tension weighing them down to a point where both were afraid to disrupt the fragile quiet. Then, after what felt like an eternity, Logan spoke.

“Won’t you tell me?” he asked, his voice sounding so reserved, so small. Remus bit his lip, seeing the desperation written all over Logan’s face, the deep need to understand what in the world was going on between them. Remus’s mind was teeming with every bit of insecurity that had been building up for the last few weeks, thinking of every possible way that things could go wrong, every way that this wasn’t at all what he’d envisioned for this moment. Except… amongst the chaos his mind had produced, there was Logan. Beautiful, wonderful Logan who just wanted things to be okay. And how could Remus blame him for a thing like that?

“Do you really want to know?” He found himself asking, despite the hesitations that tried everything to convince himself to dig his heels into the dirt and keep wallowing, keep pitying himself for not just fucking doing it. In the end, though, Logan’s vehement nod is all it took to convince Remus he didn't have any other choice.

“Okay. Shit – okay, alright,” he said, only somewhat frantically as he stood up from the couch. Logan tilted his head in confusion, and Remus might’ve compared the motion to that of a puppy if he wasn’t being pumped with so much anxiety, he was beginning to feel quite a bit like Virgil. “Wait right here for just a second. I’ll – I’ll be right back.”

Remus all but scurried into their bedroom, leaving an already disquieted Logan to stew in his worry for a little bit longer. Remus felt himself tremble as he knelt on his hands and knees and reached under the nightstand, pulling the ring box from its hiding place.

As he stood back up and shoved the object in his pocket, Remus allowed himself one, terrible, sobering moment of complete and utter panic. This wasn’t how he wanted to go about things, not at all. He wanted this to be perfect for Logan, he wanted to give him everything and anything that his heart desired. But even so, this was how things had played out and there was little that could be done to stop it. Additionally, he wasn’t sure how much longer he was going to be able to torture himself, and this was certainly a way to cease that.

So, he took a deep breath, and then a few more before he walked back into the living room, praying for something close to confidence.

“What were you doing in the bedroom?” Logan asked, looking uneasy, “Remus, what’s going on?”

Remus walked back to the sofa and stood beside his boyfriend. For the briefest instance, he took in the world that Logan’s eyes contained. All of the fear, all of the confusion and uncertainty, all of the love. He was sure he could look into those eyes for every minute of the rest of his life and still keep finding new things to love about them. A cosmos all his own, glittering with all the treasures of the night sky, constellations he knew he would always get to see, no matter the time of day.

“You’re right,” Remus began, not daring to tear his gaze from Logan’s eyes and knowing that despite his nerves, despite the panic and lack of a concrete plan that this was exactly what he was meant to do, “I know exactly what I wanted to say that night. And… well, I hadn’t planned on saying it now, but what am I if not impulsive, right?” Remus tacked on a chuckle, hoping it did something to mask the fear that dwelled within him.

“I –,” Logan hesitated, having been thrust into a moment of intimacy he mustn’t have been expecting. “Alright. Go ahead, love. I’m listening,” he said after a pause, looking more than a little panicked himself. That panic escalated tenfold when Remus got down on one knee. “R-Remus?”

“Logan, Dragonfly… I love you more than I thought I’d ever be able to love somebody,” Remus professed, feeling the tears beginning to well behind his eyes and thinking, briefly, of a time when he hadn’t been so ruled by his emotions, and what a dreadful time that had been, “You’re the smartest, hottest, most amazing, best man I’ve ever known. You’ve made my life better the moment you were in it and – and I don’t ever want to let go of that if I don’t have to. You – you make me better, and fuck, I hope you think I make you better, too.

“Before you, I didn’t know what it felt like to be truly, genuinely happy, but you’ve given me that. you’ve given me anything and everything I could ever dream of having, just by being you.”

Logan clamped a hand over his mouth, watching as Remus bared his heart and soul.

“I know a year really isn’t that long,” Remus continued with a watery laugh, “And I know this might seem fucking insane. But... I’ve never been so sure of anything in my goddamn life. I love you, Dragonfly, with the entirety of the heart I didn’t know I had. And I want to promise you anything you want. I’d give you the moon, I’d give you all the stars in the sky if I could.

“I can’t give you those things, no matter how much I want to,” he said, tears near their tipping point as he took a shuddery breath as he took the box from his pocket and popped it open, revealing a silver band set with a Safire,

“But I can promise to be yours. I can promise you a f-future, and I promise I’ll keep loving you with every bit of my wrenched soul. You’re the love of my life, Logan Sanders, and I want to give you forever, i-if you want it too,” he said, eyes burning with sincerity, “So, will you do me the utmost pleasure of allowing me to keep bothering you every day for the rest of our lives?"

For a moment, Logan was quiet, tears slipping underneath his glasses as he shivered, watching his boyfriend on one-knee in their living room before a single word made its way through the cacophony of his mind: “No.”

Logan was near-certain he saw Remus’s heart shatter into a million pieces. The hopeful, buoyant expression he’d been wearing just seconds ago is replaced with sullen, bitter heartbreak. He shut the ring box, getting up off the carpet.

“R-right – yeah. Okay, yeah, it’s too soon. I-I get that,” and the chuckle that bellows from him is positively grief-stricken, “I’m probably a fucking idiot for asking so soon.” The tears are slipping down Remus’s face and it’s so clear he was excepting an exuberant “Yes!” Was praying for it, at the very least. And then, finally, Logan snapped out of it.  

“N-no!” Logan repeated, standing up from the couch and scrubbing at his face, his eyes darting around the room, “I mean – not no.” Despite everything, Remus dared to look hopeful again, if only for a moment.

“Not… not no?”

“No. I – I mean – wait right there!” Logan said before running into their bedroom. The door slammed against the wall as he bustled to the closet, quickly grabbing what he’s looking for before swiftly making his way back into the living room and showing Remus the box. For a moment Remus couldn’t believe what he was seeing, confusing it with some fantastical dream but it was real. Logan was really here, with a ring of his own, crying just the same.

“Oh,” Remus said, eyes going from Logan to the ring box in his hand, to Logan again, “Oh you’ve – you’ve gotta be shitting me. There’s – there’s no fucking way that we-we that we both –.” But there is a way, because here they were, standing staring at each other like they’re all they’d ever needed.

“I love you,” Logan said, opening the box and revealing the gold ring with emerald stone, Remus’s favorite color, “I wanted – that is to say, I’d been planning on a more romantic way of professing this –.”

“Me too,” Remus interrupted with a laugh, light and airy, “Me too, Dragonfly. I was going to –.”  

“At the party?” Logan cut in, and Remus nodded with another laugh. Logan couldn’t help but laugh, too. “Me as well. That night, I – I was going to –.”

“Did you torture yourself after that, too?” Remus asked, and Logan nodded once more. “God, we’re such a fucking mess, huh? Our friends must hate us – they’ve all got to know.”

“I – I asked Virgil to host the party, so I could propose that night,” Logan admitted, earning a cackle from Remus.

“And I asked Roman to host a party that night so I could propose to you!”

“We’re significantly stupid,” Logan said, before realizing they’d been inching closer and closer to one another as well as the lovesickness in Remus’s eyes.

“So… I’m gonna go off on a limb and assume that’s a yes?” Remus asked, gesturing to the ring. Logan nodded quickly, tears plastered to his face as he collapsed into Remus’s arms and pulled him into a bruising kiss. The embrace was broken only in desperation for air.

“That’s a yes,” Logan whispered against his lips, biting down just slightly, earning a quiet moan in response. “I love you. I love you. I love you.” Logan punctuated each statement with a kiss, each lingering more than the last. The pair stumbled to slide the rings on each other’s fingers, laughing at the absurdity of it all the while before Remus found himself pinned to the couch, his arms pinned behind his back, and Logan kissing him senseless.

Sometime later, he’d search for his senses. Later, the reality that they were really engaged, and that they’d both proposed, would dawn. Later, he’d fully realize how stupid they’d both been acting for weeks, dancing around each other, when everything they’d feared was fiction and everything they’d hoped for was right in front of them.

But for now, Remus savored. For now, Remus prayed to be devoured, to be poured over with love, and passion, and praise. For now, Remus would love the man he’d chosen to marry every way he knew how.

=+=

Ho Boy we finally got to the proposals! I hope you enjoyed it because I certainly enjoyed writing it! But the story's not quite over yet *cough cough* I've just set us up for a bit of smut in the next chapter *cough cough* and there'll, of course, be a wedding and probably an epilog, if I'm honest. I already know I'm going to have a hard time saying goodbye to this story; I've been having so much fun with it. Have an absolutely wonderful day/night, I'll see you in the next chapter!

[iamcinema]

IAC Reviews #011: Bloodstream (1985)

Let’s go back a few years close to when I made this blog, roughly 2013 or 2014.

Around this point, I was looking for some unique, weird, and obscure titles to share for the horror forums I was apart of and to make notes of to eventually add to my collection. If I was able to find names that had little to no available information on them, then I knew I was onto something special. This would often bring me to sites like TwistedAnger that sold copies and transfers of horror, exploitation, and mondo films to fill me in on elusive material that were often times obscure and never got an official release. This little search would bring me to find Bloodstream, and with the interesting cover art, I knew I had to find more about it - but much to my dismay, there was very little to be had or known about it.

Bloodstream is 1985 low-budget slasher film directed by Michael J. Murphy, whom A Slash Above has dubbed the Ted V. Mikels of the UK, which is quite the comparison. Given that there was very little to go off of with this beyond the site’s review, I was left to scratch my head a bit as to whether or not I’d be able to find the film in its entirety beyond a few clips, which only made me hungerier for more after reading the synopsis.

Our story centers on Alistair Bailey, an up and coming filmmaker who is suddenly fired from a project he’s working on by a sleazy VHS distributor named William King. Instead of the film being scraped like he thought, he later finds out that King plans on distributing the film globally and it becomes a critical hit with the home video market. Rightfully pissed by this, Bailey seeks revenge and conspires to go on a killing spree with vengeful employee in a similar manner as the deaths in his movie - only this time, the effects will be real.

This got me pretty excited to check this out, and once the film got added to Youtube a few years ago, I was quick to jump at this. As a full disclosure, I did see and review this for UTA several years ago, but the details of my experience are on the hazy side. So, I won’t count this as a retrospective review this time around, but I’ll reflect on what I can if it’s as good or bad as I remember it being all those years ago.

Bloodstream in One Gif:

So, let’s dip our toes into this one.

________________________________________

But first, a little backstory about the film and what I was able to find. Going off the premise and opening alone, this one has a certain kind of tone to it, dare I say very pointed and self-aware. According to Murphy, the film was his response to distribution companies and presumably bad business experiences he’s had. Unfortunately, the film failed to be picked up for distribution before falling into total obscurity. I’ll return to this again towards the end to help wrap things up. The budget is also very low as one could expect; roughly £400 in 1985, or £1,053.02 in February 2020 (I’m not to sure what that comes out to in USD or CAD). Given the limited budget, I’m a bit surprised with what they were able to accomplish, and for that I’ll give it that much.

As far as our characters go, they were quite forgettable and the first time around I couldn’t remember who was who or what purpose they served. So, coming back into things with a fresh slate was helpful. Aside from our two focuses being Alistair and William, we have a couple others that will become topics of interest.

We have Judy, an actress brought into the flock by William whom he’s having an affair with to help advance her career. We also have Greg, a former pornstar who was brought in like Judy was to work under William. There’s also the matter of William’s family; his brother Simon, a misogynistic sleaze who has a thing for power while also being held under financial ransom by William at the company, his wife Sally, and his daughter Lisa - both of which whose dreams of being in the industry are held under William. All of this becomes important later on, which is why I brought this up. There’s also another focal character that ties this all together, that being Nikki, William’s secretary who acts as a mole and accomplice to helping Alistair get his revenge by adding fuel to the fire with her own hidden motives and intentions.

Now, with that out of the way, let’s begin.

________________________________________

As far as the story goes, it’s not all that bad, and in a way it reminds me of some tellings of Phantom of the Opera where our masked antihero seeks to get revenge on the Opera house owners who did him wrong by stealing credit for his work after being presumed dead. In a simialr fashion as the Phantom, there’s a lot of anger and malice behind the premeditated violence, and each of the murders was dragged out with a purpose in mind to send a message.

The plot moves along fast, as we’re immedately dropped into the action from the jump and the revenge scheme starts to take off within the 30 minute mark in a 73-minute film. However, it can feel like a log jam a bit with things being slowed down or padded out in the form of Alistair watching either his own movies or those from William’s distribution company. The quality of those films is pretty damn atrocious, playing on various horror film tropes and references like vampires, cannibalism, the occult, body horror, zombies, and Exorcist II: The Heretic - yeah, that happens. While it’s quite clear why these scenes are here in the first place, the run time could be shaved down to at least 65 minutes of these weren’t here.

From a technical standpoint, it’s not all that great and is overall uninteresting. The lighting is fairly poor, though I’ve seen worse. Some shots are overlit and others don’t seem to have enough, and while it doesn’t make it hard to see what’s going on, it adds to the overall cheapness. Speaking of which, the sets themselves aren’t all that remarkable either and it shows that they did their best to work with whatever they had with the budget since some of the locations feel like sound stages with black walls if it wasn’t places the crew likely had easier access to like their homes or a basic office space to rent out. There’s also a weird flickering problem where it will go from color to black and white briefly, which is a bit annoying as well.

The sound is probably it’s weakest point of everything else stacked against it, as some moments will be decently clear and others you’ll need to rewind it and try to figure out what was going on. I had to do this three times with finding Greg’s name, because I thought they were saying “Burke” for some reason. There’s also a fair amount of bad ADR going on, which is a bit laughable when it comes up. The sound quality in general just makes for a bad time with figuring out what’s going on, particularly in crowded areas where you have the background noise to deal with on top of it sounding like the actors are on the other side of the room when they’re in front of the camera. So, unless you have a good ear, you might be a tad bit lost, but it’s not on levels of Ax’Em bad.

On that note, how about the gore and deaths? While they aren’t perfect and are on the hammy side, I’ll at least give them some credit for having memorable death scenes and succeeding in what they could do for a microbudget. Some of them give me similar vibes to other slasher movies of the decade like Final Exam, Woodchipper Massacre, and Cannibal Campout, which I think helps me to enjoy them a bit more in a way. It tried, so I guess an A for effort is fair enough - especially with a particular implied off-screen death that’s quite brutal and Murphy apparently got a lot of e-mails and letters about it.

The acting is a fairly mixed bag as well, with it being mostly meh or average for the type of low budget flick where none of the actors went on to do anything else. When it comes to Judy, Greg, Simon, and the rest of William’s family, they aren’t there much to land a solid impact. So, when they get their own individual scenes where they’re on their own, there isn’t a whole lot to see to comment on about how well they hold up. They’re okay, nothing truly dreadful though. When it comes to Alistair, Nikki, and William though, that’s a different story.

While I found Alistair (and to an extent, Nikki) to be sympathetic, they didn’t do much to pull at my heart strings to get me totally revved up for the revenge sequences. The same can be said for William as well. Yeah, he’s a total sleazy, swindling bastard, but that’s about it. As a villain, he’s sort of forgettable. The writing itself is fine, which is surprising for this type of film, but the acting is stiff and doesn’t feel natural or right. I don’t know if any of the actors had prior experience given that they haven’t shown up in any other productions that I’m aware of or if a lot of the fault could be placed on poor direction. It’s a damn shame too since this could have been much better if one or both of those things could have been resolved. Plus, it could have been much darker too by pulling out all the stops since it already took plenty of risks with the aformentioned death scene and the social commentary it addressed. But we’re 35 years too late for that now.

To return to something I said at the start regarding Murphy’s intentions behind the film, much of this is heavily reflected in Alistair’s characterization where he brushes off the films produced by William’s company as “garbage”, and rambles about censorship, on-screen violence, and belittling distribution companies during the final showdown between him and William. Subtlety isn’t in this film’s dictionary, even more so towards the end where it raises the question about whether or not horror movies and the media contribute to real-life violence; much akin to other later films like Video Violence and Woodchipper Massacre. Yeah, it’s not an original concept at all and it’s been no stranger to us since the turn of the century or even for the time when the Satanic Panic and PMRC Senate case was going on, but it’s nonetheless fun to see how different artists handle the topic at hand.

________________________________________

So, what are my thoughts on this one? Well, I’m torn.

Back when I reviewed this in 2015, I was rather harsh on it for how low the quality was and that the acting was subpar at best. It left so much to be desired, as it could have been much bigger if it was given better resources to shine. I’d like to think there’s some other timeline where this could have been the success that Murphy wanted it to be, rather than his least favorite film he’s directed and ultimately faded away into obscurity - fulfilling its own prophecy in a way to become Bloodstream decades later.

With that being said, I think my old rating of 3/10 was a bit much. It’s no gem or masterpiece in any way, which again, is the sad part. But, it’s also not a total disasterpiece. If all the pieces fell in the right spot, this would be an easy 7.5/10 for me at the very least. However, with the technical issues and wooden acting, I’d give this a 4.5/10 to be on the generous side. If a day ever comes where someone wanted to do a faithful remake of this to show what we could have had, that would make for a fun night. If you want to give it a watch some time, it’s up on Youtube and it makes for a decent popcorn flick.

Rating: 4.5/10

[jojotichakorn]

so guess who watched 2moons2 and loved it despite thinking they would hate it for a very long time ? it’s me babeeey ! 

anyways , i know a good few people feel the same way i did about it , so i wanna make my case about why this version is actually as good as ( better than ? ) the og 2moons . 

before we start with the serious stuff , here’s an actual photo of me watching this series : 

now , ‘tis time - my huge ass review / not really review / thoughts on everything i’ve seen so far :

notes on the overall thoughts about the show and its vibe :

for the first time in forever a bl is actually not trying to stretch out for seasons knowing how unlikely it is for them to get a continuation ( *cough* the og 2moons but also lbc *cough* ) . with 2moons2 , they’re actually putting the whole story all in one , and you know what ? it’s better this way ! we somehow barely lose anything yet everything happens quicker and the pacing feels so much better . plus , it means we’re getting all the couples and all the best moments from the novel and don’t have to worry about anything ;

the overall script is better , which is why this version is better ( at least in that regard ) – i’m sorry , that’s just how it be . instead of simply translating whatever’s happening in the novel to screen – this version actually bends the story in ways that simply fit a show adaptation better . you can see that everyone involved actually gives a shit and that’s a nice change .

notes on the actors and the acting :

the actor who plays phana is actually really good and he manages to make pha an actually likable character, thanks to both the script and the acting itself – he sort of mixes pha’s obliviousness and initial indecisiveness with his general demeanor and makes all of it rather charming ;

the actor who plays yo is doing a good job , especially with the emotional scenes , though i would say to me personally he just doesn’t look “ cutesy “ enough – there was something that always picked bass apart from everyone else in the og show and i just don’t see enough of that here ;

ming still manages to have everything i’ve always loved about him and remains my favorite character even without kimmon’s face , so i suppose that’s both a testament to my being honest in who i like and unaffected by kimmon’s charms and the fact that the actor playing ming is fucking nailing it ;

kit was probably the one I was most nervous about ( and i’d say he’s generally a fan-favorite ) , but he ended up being really great as well . the thing i love the most about what the actor’s doing is probably all the subtle movements and glances he does - kit is a very reserved person , but he feels things deeply at the same time and that’s hard to show on screen , but the actor somehow manages to do it anyway ;

forth suffered the biggest change out of all of them , I think – he feels like way more of a bad boy here . if in the og 2moons we had forth that only looked like a bad boy , but was actually a known softy , here we seem to get a more popular trope of forth having an actual demeanor of a bad boy which has a lil’ heart of gold and a lot of kindness hidden behind . i’m not sure if it was the actor’s choice or if it was a collective decision and I’m not yet sure if I prefer it to the og version , but we’ll see . regardless , generally forth is amazing too ;

can’t say much about the actor who plays beam just yet , because we haven’t seen too much of him , but he’s slowly starting to shine through and we’re actually getting forthbeam this week , so he’s going to show himself in his full glory there - from what i’ve seen of him so far , i’m sure he’s gonna be awesome too .

notes on the characters and characterization :

there is suddenly a lot of character to phana and you actually start liking the guy , despite some things he does , and I think it’s a very collective effort – starting from the fact that we have an actual actor playing the character now ( instead of a clown ) and ending with how much the script tries to introduce him in a very different way as opposed to the og series ;

speaking of how different they introduce phana - the way they gradually introduced his pov is fucking fantastic . we start with them already dropping hints here and there in the first episode and the farther we go , the more we see of pha’s real self and his true feelings . I feel like that’s a significantly better decision than hiding his true intentions from us for almost the entirety of the show , making us think he’s a complete asshole and then doing a very obvious 180 which just dumps all of phana’s pov on our heads pretty much out of nowhere ;

ming provides most of the comedic elements in the show ( the ones that are actually funny that is ) – his facial expressions whenever anything phayo related happens are worth all the praise and he’s generally exactly the kind of life of the party that he’s supposed to be ;

because of quicker pacing and better writing , beam ends up being a far more fleshed out character from the start and I appreciate it . he’s less phana’s friend and more his own character now and it’s great .

notes on the couples and the romance :

the kisses are good . period . that’s all I have to say . they’re all fucking great . good job y’all , you really went through with that one ;

phayo are no longer boring and dragged out . they’re actually fucking cute and I enjoy their scenes instead of sitting there thinking “ where iss mingkiiit “ ;

as much as it pains me to say it ( and we all know how much I love kimmon and copgi ) but the contrast between mingkit in the new version is more loyal to the novel – ming is a tad bigger and generally more masc than kit and that’s how it was supposed to be .

notes on little details i couldn’t help but notice :

tiny nods to future couples are all over the place from the very beginning , which I appreciate – it’s not that they explicitly state anything , it’s just nice to hear forth briefly asking whether beam is gonna be at the party or to see kit lowkey staring at ming for a bit ;

the first scene with yo and forth is ten times better , in my personal opinion – it feels a tad more realistic and is just short enough to make sense ;

the first scene with kit and yo is a bit better too – there’s just something about them slowly recognizing each other that seems more convincing , like i can actually imagine it happening ;

all the “ omg you got way hotter !! “ moments always bothered me so much because … who fucking talks like that ? in this version , they’ve replaced it with a more tame “ you are so grown up and look so different now “ sort of thing , which is way more believable  ( especially for someone who hadn’t seen their friend for a year and then almost died after seeing him again , because puberty hit him like a fucking train on full speed and he got way different - it happens y’all , saw it with my own two eyes ) ;

they gave forth an actual motorcycle ! and he uses it ! all the time !

pha smiling whenever yo calls for him but changing his expression as soon as he turns around to actually look at him is just one of those super nice touches that shows this version as being more careful and caring with its characters and the plot ;

there’s actual fucking symbolism in this thing ? which is ? wow . the entire dance around the meal mingkit had on their “ date “ after ming won the competition and became the moon was 110% representative of what both of them felt towards each other ( and I mean every little gesture , every word – all of it ) and it’s fucking beautiful ;

small details of the show are mostly good – it doesn’t really matter much , but when you see someone opening their phone and looking through their recent calls , it always takes you out of the show to just see a bunch of generic names listed or – gods forbid – nothing at all . 2moons2 doesn’t have that problem and it’s a nice change .

notes on some not-so-good and not-very-good things ( in my personal opinion , of course ) :

in the best traditions of the og 2moons and the entire bl genre , there is enough problematic moments for us all to collectively sigh and roll our eyes – not necessarily a complaint towards 2moons2 itself , just kinda sad it couldn’t do better already knowing what a lot of people didn’t like ;

 the zoom-ins are a very interesting artistic choice , but as a person who perhaps watched too many soaps in their life , I’m kind of used to it ( besides anything that can remind me of toris is hands down a good thing ) ;

yo talks way too slowly – I understand he’s a super shy character but for fuck’s sake just the pauses between each pair of words he makes take up half the episode and it can get real annoying real fast ;

all product placement aside , the kitkat moments in the og 2moons were always the cutest and ming saying “ i love kitkat “ while eating the chocolate bar and staring at kit was always an iconic moment and one of my personal favorites across all bls so it’s kind of sad to see that entire lil’ quirk to be completely gone from the show and the boys’ dynamic ;

the entire phayo reconciliation scene seems confusing and way too rushed for me - i immediately started filling in the blanks with what i know from the og 2moons and that’s just not something that’s supposed to happen , especially with such a substantial scene ;

way too much of that usual “ lady gang “ we see in so many bls which is a shitty trope , as well as a girl who stalks the gay couple ‘cause she has nothing better to do - we all fucking hate those in the first place , but especially when there’s too much of them . i’d rather see another mingkit scene , thank you very much .

this is long enough already , so i’m gonna go ahead and wrap it up . i was being as honest as i could in all accounts and though there is some things i don’t like about this version too - in general , as well as in comparison to the previous one , i think it wins with very little doubt . and i certainly recommend everyone who was putting it off to watch it , because it’s absolutely worth it . it’s seriously very good , i pinky promise !

[powerstrangerdacre]

Signals

Summary:  Falling in love was easy. Listening to her was easy. It only became complicated after I had already fallen.

Deciphering her signals. That was the hard part.

Pairing: Tom Hiddleston x Reader

Warning: alcohol consumption, swearing

Word Count: 4600+

Requested?: YES (thank you @my-name-is-alice-ayers for requesting this! I hope you like it! :D)

AN: Ello everyone! I don’t know how I feel about this... but here goes nothing. It’s a tad longer than I wanted and a bit over the place... but I hope you guys like it. (It’s still unedited.. so… sorry.) Also like, tell me if you wanna be tagged in my stories or something... idk. haha :))

I realize maybe a little too late that I made a mistake. I misunderstood the signals she sent me for ones of apathy or monotony. I had definitely broken her heart with my actions, and I don’t know how to fix everything I so foolishly pulled to pieces.

But I watch as she sits with Evans, his arm wrapped around her shoulder, as if to protect her from something. Or someone. And that someone was me.

Taylor’s hand wraps around my own, squeezing it gently. “You alright?” she asks. Her eyes are searching mine, a sad smile on her lips.

Am I alright? No, definitely not. I don’t like watching her laugh with someone else. I don’t like the way she doesn’t speak to me anymore. And I don’t like the way she looks at me now, because it’s not the same as before.

When we first met, she looked at me innocently.

It was her first day on the Avengers’ set, and she looked like a fish out of water, figuratively speaking. One of her hands was playing with an earring, her feet constantly shifting. Her eyes were scanning the crowded room when they fell on me. They instantly widened, and I couldn’t help but smile and make my way over to her.

I don’t know what exactly it was about her, but it seemed to just pull me in. Maybe it was her meek demeanor; something I didn’t see often in actresses. Or maybe it was the fact that even though she seemed so timid, she didn’t hesitate to smile in my direction. Maybe it was the fact that she seemed so obviously uncomfortable and out of place. But that doesn’t really matter. What matters is that there was something about her that attracted my attention, and I couldn’t stop myself at “Hello, I’m Tom.”

Then, we slowly got more accustomed to each-other. Her first scene was absolutely mesmerizing to watch. Her gentle nature completely shifted, a content and yet wicked look taking its place. Amora had come to life right in front of my eyes and I was left speechless.

“Loki… line?” her whisper brought me out of my trance and I could already feel the blush searing through my cheeks. I suddenly felt awkward, probably much like she had felt when I first laid eyes on her. The director called for a break, and I could already hear Chris and Rob chuckling at my blunder.

She looked at me quizzically, as if she didn’t understand what had just happened. But her chest shook as she tried to suppress her giggles, so I realized she knew exactly what she had done.

When the fascination about her acting ability finally diminished, I got to understand the person that lied underneath all that shyness.

She always made sure that everyone was having fun while filming. If she even sensed that someone was uncomfortable with something, she would address it. But at the same time, whenever someone would thank her for it, she would blush and stutter out a “It’s fine.”

The way she acted around others was just… amazing, for lack of a better word. She never bragged about her abilities, though she had enough to brag about. And although she was obviously beautiful, it seemed like she didn’t realize it.

So, let me tell you this: she is nothing like any other woman I ever met before. She is shy and sweet, but at the same time so confident in her abilities and skills. She’s down-to earth and just, so kind. Maybe I’m just saying that because I fell in love with her, but it’s what I truly believe.

Falling in love… that was easy.

Listening to her talk about things she loved while walking down the street to the café… that was easy.

The way she looked at me with that sparkle in her eyes, searching for the confirmation that I wasn’t growing tired of her. That was easy, because it would never happen. I would never grow tired of her.

It was the part that came after that, that got more confusing.

Reading her signals… that was confusing.

 She would place her hand on mine from time to time as we talked while our coffee was getting cold.

But then she would say that she was happy to have a friend like me during filming.

She would smile that charming smile of hers my way, and I could feel as though I’ve melted into a puddle of love and affection.

But then I would see her smiling to other people.

I could stare into her eyes for hours as we talked, and then her eyes would shift downwards, blood rushing to her cheeks as she fidgeted for the next thing to say.

When filming was nearing its end, I knew I was in too deep to just let her walk away. So I did the one thing I had wanted to do ever since I first saw her.

I grabbed her hand, stared into her eyes and with my heart rising to my neck, I asked her: “I really enjoyed the time we spent together. I was wondering if you’d like to go on a date with me?”

Well, that’s what I imagined… What came out was a jumble of incoherent words and sounds, which she somehow still managed to decipher. Her eyes shone brightly as she nodded, a smile coating her lips.

 I went to pick her up at her apartment. I knocked on her door, chuckling lightly when I heard a thump and a curse word coming from inside. When she opened the door, I was left breathless. She was wearing a short sundress, the white fabric making her look… simply put, like a goddess. Her hair was pulled up haphazardly into a bun atop her head, allowing me to see her smiling face better. I was too taken by her to utter a word, and once again I was left speechless.

“Hey,” she said as she started lacing her sneakers. The strap of her dress slipped of her shoulder, making me clear my throat and look away. “Tom?” she asked, seeing as I hadn’t even said hello. I had made a fool of myself and the date hadn’t even begun.

“Yeah, hi. Hi…” I stumbled over my words, and if it wasn’t me actually speaking those words, I would’ve laughed. “You look… gorgeous.” As if that word could ever encompass everything that had just crossed my mind. But she giggled, her shoulders shaking slightly as she stood back up. She gave me an once-over, nodding at my attire: a simple, blue button-up and dark trousers. She locked her door.

“Thanks, you look gorgeous too.” She smiled widely, her hand grasping mine as we walked to the lift. I was taken by surprise at her suddenly-bold ways, but I surely didn’t mind, seeing as I was too nervous to even get words out straight. “So, where are we going?” she asked.

As the lift descended, her hand left mine for a second to place a stray strand of hair behind her ear. The loss of her touch already made me feel lonely, even though she was still so close. The doors opened and we walked through the lobby to my parked car. “Well, I guess you’ll just have to wait and see.” I opened the door, allowing her to get into the car, before going over to the driver’s side and getting in myself.

“Always the gentleman,” she said, smiling.

“Of course.” I put the car in gear, rolling out of the parking lot and heading in the direction of the beach.

As we reached our destination, I could read the excitement written on her face. “Really? A beach-front restaurant?” she asked, a giggle falling off her lips. Sure, her question might’ve made it seem like she wasn’t interested, like this would’ve been too cliché. But I already knew her well enough to know that she loved all things romantic. I knew her well enough to know that she loved the clichés. I wanted to say: ‘Yeah, I know you enjoy things like these.’ I wanted her to know that I cared enough to know, but I just shrugged, leading her to a table.

We ate and talked… and soon, the sun was setting right before our very eyes. The restaurant had begun to empty out, but we didn’t care much about what the other people did. We were too engrossed in our conversation. Or at least, I know I was.

When it was time to leave, I could feel the heaviness of my heart in my chest. I was disappointed. Disappointed that our date was coming to an end, even after spending hours upon hours with her. But still, I drove her back to her apartment and walked her up the stairs, trying my best to prolong what had been the best time I had had in a while. And as we reached her door and she opened it, I knew it was time to come to terms that I would have to wait until I saw her again.

“I had a great time,” she said, turning to face me with a sad smile.

“Me too, we should do this again.” She looked up at me with those beautiful eyes, her tongue gliding over her bottom lip. I would’ve given anything to kiss her senseless then and there, but instead I reached my arms around her, like an idiot, and pulled her into a hug.

Her chest vibrated with laughter as she shook her head, unwrapping my arms from around her. “Always the gentleman,” she said.

“Of course,” I answered. Entranced by her beauty, I stared at her as she walked inside, the most lovesick smile I had ever sported painted on my lips. Yeah, I was in deep.

And so, we went on a second date, then another, then another, and by the time I finally got to kiss her lips I was simply hooked. Hooked by the way she carried herself. Hooked by the way she didn’t take herself to seriously. Hooked by her mind and her body. We just, fit together, and it showed as much in real life as it did with our characters Loki and Amora, the Enchantress, on screen.

Our relationship was one of those that you don’t want to let go of. It was the kind of relationship that you wish would last forever. Because we could spend weeks apart while filming and still find our way back to each-other like we had never been apart. It wasn’t just some fling. It was the kind of relationship where you talk about the future like the other will be there with you; like they’ll never leave you. Because, that’s what you hope will happen.

But like all good things, even that faded. Whenever we were apart, it just felt like she didn’t mind it. Whenever we were together, it seemed like she didn’t care. And slowly the conversations died down, the kisses and hugs stopped, and the future, our future didn’t seem to exist anymore. So, since I thought she stopped caring, I stopped trying.

I wish I knew then what I know now. I wish I would’ve known how bleak the world would seem after I would lose her. I wish I would’ve known how cold my bed would seem if she were to ever go away. I wish I would’ve realized how addicted to her I had become, but of course I only realized that after I lost her. I only realized how much I needed her after she had broken things off.

Filming for Thor:Ragnarok started and ended, and I had hoped to somehow manage to… at least talk to her. But it was obvious… that wasn’t her plan. She wouldn’t talk to me. Wouldn’t look at me. Wouldn’t smile at me like she did when we first started filming. No, this was a whole different thing altogether. She didn’t want me there. It was too late to fix anything.

It was too late then, and it’s too late now. Because I walk into Chris’s party with Taylor on my arm and see her laughing with him. I’m not the one next to her anymore and she’s not the one next to me. I’m not the one she loves, but yet I never managed to forget her. I never managed to let go of her.

“Hey Hiddles, Taylor,” Chris says, coming up to us with two glasses of wine in hand. “Nice to see you made it.”

I can see the way he looks at us. I know he doesn’t like her and I know he doesn’t like the way I have become. Because however hard I try to hide how unhappy I feel, he could always see right through me.

“Thanks for the invite, Chris,” Taylor says, smiling at him.

Chris looks at me quizzically, and I shake my head. “I’ll take Tom here off your hands, okay? Scar and Susan are by the bar.” With that he pulls me away, not allowing her to answer.

We walk over to an empty table in a corner, Chris chuckling and shaking his head along the way. “Mate, you’re crazy.”

“Not as crazy as you. You won’t even give her a chance. How do you know she’s not good for me?” I ask, rolling my eyes as I took a sip out of my wine glass.

He looks me in the eyes, searching for something. And he apparently finds it, since the next second he’s scowling at me like a parent who is about to scold his child. “Because we both know that there’s only one girl for you.”

“Oh, really? And who’s that?” I scoff. As if I don’t already know what his answer would be. But it’s too late, isn’t it? I’m not about to rip her from him and her happiness just because I can’t forget her.

“C’mon mate, you and I both know that you haven’t been the same since Y/N.” Chris turns towards her as he speaks, a smirk overtaking his lips. “And something tells me she hasn’t felt right either.”

“Oh really, what makes you say that?” I won’t let him get into my head. I had let that happen one too many times.

“She’s coming this way. Right now. And I sure as hell don’t think it’s just to get chummy.” He stood up, slapping my shoulder and walking away.

I try to stand as well, but lose my footing as I crash into her. My hands fly to her shoulders, trying to steady us both. “God, I apologize, I didn’t see you there.” My eyes are fixed on her face, her eyes wide and comical. She chuckles, her eyes shutting for a moment as she takes a step away from me.

“Always the gentleman, huh Tom?” she asks, though it’s more of a statement.

“Of course,” I answer.

She’s so close, I can practically feel the heat radiating off of her. Her eyes search mine and I can feel my heart pumping louder and louder. Her scent is enough to make me dizzy, but then she shoots me a smile and I can’t help but feel light-headed.

“Look, I’m sorry about how I acted during filming. I know it was harsh… it’s just been kinda hard ever since… you know.” Her eyes find the floor, probably to stop me from noticing how tired she is. But I know her too well. I know that she isn’t like she used to be. I know she’s tired and scared.

And for a moment I forget about Taylor. I forget about the people in the room and just focus on her. “I know… It’s been hard for me too,” I say, pushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

Her eyes find mine and she seems hopeful. She smiles slightly, her cheeks turning rosy. “I… I…”

“I missed you,” I say.

“Hey Tom, I was looking for you.” Of course, this is when Taylor shows up. “Who’s this?” she asks.

“She’s…” my eyes don’t leave her. Not even for a second. Once again I’m entranced and I can’t even form one sentence.

“I’m Y/N, Tom’s… friend,” Y/N says, smiling. But I know her smile is fake.

“Tom?” Taylor pulls at my shirt, trying to get my attention. “Tom?”

“Right… This is Taylor. My… girlfriend?” I wince as the word slips over my lips. Because this seems to break Y/N even more. Her eyes shift between me and Taylor, before she finally nods.

“Well, it was great meeting you… I should probably go.” She turns to walk away, when I wrap my hand around her arm. I don’t even know what overcame me. But maybe, maybe there was just a bit of hope left.

“Just… wait a second,” I say.

Her hand rubs at her face, before she shakes her head. “No, Tom. I won’t stay. As much as I want to be… I’m not okay with this.” She turns to me and Taylor.

“I’m not okay with this either… okay? But I won’t just let you walk away again.” My breathing gets heavier and heavier by the second. I don’t want to hear her say those dreaded words again. I don’t want to hear her say that it’s not enough. I don’t want to hear her say that I’m not enough.

“I’m sorry, Tom… But… This is just… bullshit!” My eyes widen as she points to Taylor. “You missed me? Well… I’m sorry, it sure seems like it’s been so goddamn hard for you!” Her chest heaves as she gasps for air, tears flowing. And somehow, I think this is way better than being stoic. Somehow, instead of realizing that I just fucked up big time, I realize that she cares.

That simple thought fills my head. She cares. Sure, she might hate me, but at least she cares. A smile pulls at my lips as my hand finds hers.

“What the hell are you doing?!” She pulls at her hand, trying her best to escape. But I won’t allow that anymore.

“I thought you didn’t care anymore,” I say. I need to hear it. I need to.

“I didn’t care?! You’re the one who just… gave up! And I… I-I couldn’t take it,” she says.

“You think I gave up? I just… I thought you didn’t care anymore.” My eyes sting, but I sure as hell won’t stop this. “I… I hated it. I hated the way you didn’t seem to care about whether we were together or not! I hated the way you just… distanced yourself.”

She looks at me, eyes glistening with tears. Her makeup is smudged and her lips are quivering, but there’s still only one thing going through my head. She cares. That, and she still looks as gorgeous as ever.

“You… you think I liked that?! I just… I thought… I didn’t want to be clingy…” she stutters, her choked words messing with my heart-strings.

“Tom?” Right… There’s still Taylor, who’s standing right behind me. “What’s this about?”

In the second that my attention isn’t on her, Y/N slips away. I watch as she walks back to Evans, with my last chance of making things right.

Taylor’s hand wraps around my own, squeezing it gently. “You alright?” she asks. Her eyes are searching mine, a sad smile on her lips.

And this is where we come back to the beginning. With Y/N wrapped under Evans’ arm. With me wishing I had realized sooner that I was just an idiot. A heartless idiot at that, because my heart was still in her hands.

“I’m… not alright.” I say, making Taylor’s eyes widen.

“What?” she asks.

“Look… that girl… she’s…” I begin to explain, only to be stopped by her sigh.

“She’s your ex-girlfriend?” Taylor asks.

I nod, not understanding where this calmness was coming from. Taylor shakes her head, a chuckle falling from her lips.

“Well… what are you waiting for? Go get her.” Taylor let’s go of my hand, pushing me towards her.

“I’m sorry,” I say.

“Hey, I’m not about to fight for someone who never belonged to me,” she smiles sadly, nodding her head towards the place where Y/N is.

“Thanks…” I say as Taylor walks towards the exit.

 I watch as she takes shot after shot, and it’s clear that tonight won’t be the night where I finally have her back in my arms. But I’m okay with that, because I know… she cares as much about me as I care about her.

The hours pass and the crowd gets thinner and thinner. I’m about to go myself, when Evans walks towards me, Y/N in tow.

“Can you take her home? She came with me but I had something to drink and well…”

I nod as he ushers her towards me. I can’t help but feel ashamed as she walks over to my car, getting into the passenger seat.

Evans looks at me, eyebrows furrowed, arms crossed over his chest. For a moment, I think he’s about to give me the ‘No hands.’ dad-talk. “Don’t fuck it up,” he says. I nod, scurrying towards the car.

“And hey! Maybe give me Taylor’s number sometime, huh?” he yells after me, making me chuckle and shake my head.

“She’s not exactly into the beefy type, Evans. But sure.”

 I get into the car, eager to finally have some time with her. Light snores reach my ears, and I notice her leaning against the window of the car, sleeping peacefully. I sigh, leaning my head against the wheel, laughing lightly to myself, before I start the car and drive slowly to her apartment.

As I put the car in park, I notice her stirring lightly. Her eyes shoot open, frantically searching for something, before they fall on me. She then smiles shyly, a giggle escaping her. For a moment, I think she’s gone crazy as she turns to open the door. Then, I know that the whole ‘craziness’ is probably because of the alcohol. She stumbles to her feet, lightly swaying from side to side. I turn off the car, rushing to her side to aid her.

Her arms go around my neck, and she’s giving me the look. That look, like she’s so happy to see me. The look that makes my heart race and ache at the same time, because I hadn’t seen it in so long. “Let’s get you inside, okay love?”

She giggles as an answer and her arms unwrap from around my neck. She sways again and my arm goes around her waist, keeping her close. God, how I missed her warmth.

As we finally reach her apartment, she searches for her keys, handing them to me. I open the door, but think better than to walk inside. Her steps are careful as she walks, but not careful enough, and she stumbles into the small table by her entrance. I rush to her side, closing the door behind me.

She holds onto my hand, pulling me to her living room. “Y’know… I’m happy you’re here,” she says, sitting down on the plush couch. “Everything’s spinning.” She laughs.

I can’t help but chuckle. “Of course it’s spinning, you’ve had a bit too much to drink.”

“No I didn’t.” She looks me in the eyes, patting the place next to her. I shake my head. “Tom. Sit.”

I do exactly as she says. I could never really say no to her anyway. Why would that be any different now?

She looks up at me through her long lashes, her smile never once disappearing. Her tongue glides over her bottom lip, and my eyes are suddenly focused on only that.

I should know better than to kiss her when she’s like this, but I can’t help but indulge as she presses her soft lips to mine. My eyes shut and I hum involuntarily at the wonderful feeling, but pull back as she moves to sit herself on my lap like she had done so many times before.

“You’re too drunk,” I say. She looks down at me, her smile intoxicating me.

“No, I’m not.”

I’m about to dispute that, when she interrupts me. “Tom, I’m not drunk… I kinda…”

“Pretended?” I ask.

“Yeah.”

“You minx.”

Her smile widens, turning into a smirk. Her lips are once again on mine, before I can even comprehend what is happening. She turns, straddling my waist, her thighs pressing against mine. And she kisses me. Reverently. Longingly. Her lips move against mine with such fierceness that I can’t bear to stop her. I don’t want to stop her. Her arms find the hairs at the nape of my neck, tugging lightly, eliciting a low, moan-like growl from me. My hands wrap around her body, tugging her closer. As close as humanly possible, until I feel like there’s no air left between us. No open space. No distance.

And then, she pulls back, but doesn’t get far as my arms are still snuggly wrapped around her figure. Her chest is still pressed against mine, her forehead lightly touching mine.

“I want you back.” The words slip before I can even consider what I’m saying.

“What?” she asks, obviously startled.

“I need you back. I want you to come home. I want you to come back to me.” I sigh, tugging her even closer. “I love you.”

He body visibly freezes, her breath halting for a second, before she realizes what I’ve just said. “I… I… What about Taylor?” she asks.

I chuckle. This is exactly like her. She cares too much about other people, but then again, it was her that just kissed me without any care in the world. “Y/N, you think I’d be sitting here, kissing you, if I was still with her?” I ask, raising an eyebrow quizzically. “Is that the kind of man you take me for?” I smile.

She frowns, hitting my chest lightly. “Well, are you still with her?”

I smile, grabbing both her hands. “No, she kinda broke it off. I guess she realized that my heart belonged to another.”

“Hmm… Yeah, I get why she would do that. You’re pretty horrible,” she says, a smile playing at her lips.

“Really? Am I now?” I snuggle closer to her, my mouth pressing kisses at the nape of her neck.

“Mmmhm…” Her voice is breathy, almost moan-like. “Getting girls to fall for you… when you’re obviously mine.”

I wake up the next morning with her body pressed closely to mine. Her arm is wrapped around my waist and her head resting on my chest. Her eyes flutter open and she looks up at me, her smile as bright as ever. “Morning, love,” I say, kissing the top of her head.

“Morning.” She yawns, stretching her arms in front of her. “Sleep well?” she asks.

“Mmhm,” I answer. “Best I’ve slept in quite a while.”

She smiles at me, standing up from the bed and stretching once more. Her fingers intertwined and pointed to the ceiling, she lets out a groan as her knuckles crack. “I’ll go take a shower,” she informs me, making a grin pull at my lips.

“Let me join you.” I stand up, following her into her bathroom.

As we both get under the steamy, hot stream, she presses her lips to mine once again, standing on her tiptoes to do so.

And I smile because I can’t believe how lucky I am. I smile because even though we had managed to mess things up, she went ahead and fixed everything with a kiss and a smile.

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