#max even stands on his own which was a shocker

[ribbonbonny]

THEYRE HERE!! AND IVE GOT NOWHERE TO FUCKING PUT EM 🔥🔥🔥

[agathaarts]

Spidersonas forever!!!!!! Though she’s become less of a Spidersona and more her own weird spiderspinoff at this point, complete with a name change.

Some more Itsy stuff outta basically nowhere! Her spider-human hybrid form is where she’s most “comfortable” and ultimately where she winds up resting most of the time, though she’s still a pretty competent were-spider-shapeshifter-sort. She has a number of different and modifiable outfits, perks of living with a seamstress, and....I also wanted to draw a bunch of her, uh, rogue’s gallery together, though admittedly the Black Cats could be considered friends before long. Or at least, associates.

This is far from all of them, but these are the guys I have concrete looks for at least! Maybe I’ll do one of her allies soon. As is, most of her issues stem from the monsterous OZCORP, the company that not only created her, but continues to create it’s own forces, meddling in the nature of reality to do so!

Tiny blurbs below the cut for each of them, and if you’d like to know more about any of ‘em...let me know! I have an unfortunate amount of ideas for this AU!

ITSY-BITSY AKA SPIDER-WOMAN aka Aggie Appleton. While working for the unscrupulous OzCorp, unlucky intern Aggie Appleton is caught in the backlash of an experiment that fuses her with unstable realmatter and the test subject- a hyper-adaptive spider created using the same unstable realmatter! Now, she fights to protect her city from OzCorp’s increasingly dangerous experiments and the beings created by their experiments as ITSY BITSY aka THE INCREDIBLE SPIDER-WOMAN!

THE GREEN GOBLIN aka Norma Osborne. The CEO and leader of OZcorp, Norma Osborne has sacrificed everything for her company and their work, being a gifted and brilliant scientist in her own right. It has cost her family ties, friends, her social life, and now- her sanity and stability of form. Able to transform into the corrosive GREEN GOBLIN, she becomes a destructive force of chemical reactions and decay, with no more limits standing in her way! At least, until that annoying spider shows up...

THE KLYNTAR, represented by units VENOM and CARNAGE ~ Inter-dimensional beings, symbiotes (or, perhaps, parasites) who feed off of living beings, the KLYNTAR are horrors from beyond who’ve made a deal with Norma Osborne: a place to stop and feed in exchange for OzCorp to poke and prod and take samples to use their unstable realmatter forms to create new techniques and horrors! Of course, once mold gets in....it’s almost impossible to get it out, even if said mold is far more than anything native to Earth!

BLACK CAT is a mystery. A force of corporate espionage, a cat thief, a rumor, and mystery, a funny joke to poke fun at unsolved thefts and leaked information- of course, it’s very hard to find Black Cat. They slip in and out of secure warehouses, files, and companies with nary a trace, virtually impossible to spot. Especially unless you know they’re not one person, but three. At least, that Itsy-Bitsy comes to know of...

THE BUGS are a group of ne’er-do-wells who took up an offer to be bonded with biotech armor by OzCorp, all for their own various reasons, and now they’re beholden to OzCorp...and on an impressive payroll, that motivates being guards, bullies, and thieves as necessary.

SCORPION aka Mac Gargan. Once a private detective of disrespectful status, Mac Gargan was hardly in a place to turn down OzCorp’s offer after befalling tragedy and desperation. Unlike his fellow bugs, he tends to question a lot of his commands, and is well aware of the quote “hinky crap” going down behind the lab doors of OsCorp- but the pay grade is nice. And the benefits, well, the benefits are killer. Besides, he’s gotten to know the personality of his symbiotic armor well...and wouldn’t abandon him back to OzCorp’s nonexistent mercies by quitting.

BEETLE aka Abby Jenkins. Previously an engineer with white collar criminal aspirations, Abby Jenkins was hardly in a place to turn down OzCorp’s offer after befalling tragedy and desperation. Having bonded well with her symbiotic armor, she’s enjoying the steady work and respect she finds with OzCorp, and gets to spend her spare time tinkering with projects amongst brilliant inventors she’d have never had a chance to rub elbows with before!

FLY aka Richie Deacon. A career small-time criminal, Richie Deacon spent most of his life in and out of prison, halfway houses, and shelters, and was hardly in a place to turn down OzCorp’s offer after befalling a particular tragedy and desperation. Now they don’t care much about the work they do, happy to do whatever OzCorp asks in exchange for living a cushy life, even if it means having to wear the gross symbiotic armor. Still, small price to pay to fly!

SHR- i mean -SHOCKER aka Herman Schultz. Another career criminal, Herman Schultz worked as muscle for a few crime families in various cities, before getting bounced out of almost all of them and directly into OzCorp’s loving arms. No tragedy or desperation needed to convince him to get into a suit of powered armor (even if it’s more or less a giant lobster as far as he’s concerned) and start breaking things at a whim! Besides, everything at OzCorp is so damn weird, he’s never been more entertained anywhere in his life!

ELECTRO aka Max Voltage. Once one of OzCorp’s many test animals, an electric “eel” cobbled together out of various types of electric fish and a hodgepodge of other animals, Max taking on human traits was, well...an accident, but a happy one. Now settled into a form distinctly human, with intelligence to match (though some would argue otherwise) Max is capable of incredible feats of electrical manipulation and sensitivity beyond any creature in it’s creation!

DOCTOR OCTOPUS aka Octavia Otto. Respected young researcher and lead scientist of many OzCorp projects, Octavia Otto was caught in the backlash of an experiment that ultimately fused her with a number of test subjects, hyper-adaptive octopuses...except she’s continued to mutate and change, in ways nobody else can quite pin down (but it’s okay, she’s keeping rigorous, detailed notes on the process! For science!) and has assisted OzCorp’s goals since, happy to have a constant source of supplies and test subjects to work with. Her and Aggie Appleton had...history, before this all went down, too, so that’s not awkward at all!

RHINO aka Aleksei Sytsevich. Arriving in America as Anna Kravenoff’s bodyguard, Aleksei found himself out of work before long as Anna hastily shucked her father’s protections of her and kicked him unceremoniously out of her life. Once OzCorp decided he’d make a fine test subject, well, he’s been a professional mook for most of his life and didn’t have many complaints about the improved size, strength, and toughness. Aleksei may put on a blithe, dopey exterior, but he’s far too controlled to be an actual fool...which makes him quite dangerous, even if he only does as OzCorp asks.

THE SPOT aka Joon-Woo Ohnn. The Spot’s creation is a sort of mystery, even to himself and to OzCorp. An experiment, a failure, and...Dr. Ohnn is still certainly alive and aware, but some sort of bizarre 3D shadow cast by, well, wherever he is. While unable to speak, Ohnn is still fully capable of serving OzCorp, with his ability to function as a series of wormholes and perform strange acts of teleportation.

MYSTER.IO aka Mysterio aka thecrystalball aka The Mystery aka ??? aka aka aka aka aka..... Myster.io is a digital character- either a face for someone distant and anonymous, or many someones, or perhaps some sort of self-aware AI, Mysterio’s story changes every time he tells it and that’s just how it should be! This bizarre digital being pops up on people’s devices and is an information gatherer and peddler, always happy to tweak reality to better suite someone’s needs for a price.

KRAVEN the HUNTRESS aka Ana Kravenoff aka Kraven Jr. aka Lady Anastasia Kravenoff. Kraven the Hunter was a star, a legend- a man who battled beasts and travelled to impossible places and rose to reclaim an ancient family legacy, he was famous and infamous alike, and regardless of if you loved or hated him- he was a household name across the globe. Ana would like that. Ana might have been shipped off to America to live a carefully tailored “normal” life by her father and his estate, but Ana has aspirations that greatly outstrip those of her brothers and a goal to match her father’s infamy someday! But until she can secure a show, she hunts monsters for YouTube and enjoys her modest cult following- especially since she’s found a way to attend college in a sleepy Midwestern City that just happens to have a lot of monster-related issues. Her current target? Spider-Woman!

[themoonismymuse]

boyfriend || part two

Part one || Part three

Pairing: Billy Hargrove x Fem!Reader

Summary: now that you and Steve are over, someone else steps into the picture...

Word count: 2171

Warnings: cursing, angsttt, sad boi hour starts now :)

Song: boyfriend (with Social House) by Ariana Grande and Social House

A/N: this one is a little longer than part one because i combined part two and three! please enjoy!!

You are laying on Nancy’s bed, playing with her comforter. She invited you to stay over at her house, saying you needed a girls night. After taking a shower to get all the punch off of you, you had taken a spot on her bed to talk. “Why did he do it?” You ask, resisting the urge to cry. You had already done that at least three times since you left the party and didn’t want to do it again.

“Because he’s an idiot. See what happened when I left him? I’m so much better now,” Nancy says while she takes the pins out of her hair.

“But you had Jonathan to run to. I don’t have anyone.”

She looks at you. “You have me!”

You smile painfully. “Yeah, I guess so.”

She gives you a pitiful look and comes over to sit on the bed next to you. “Steve sucks. He can’t keep it in his pants.”

“It just hurts so bad. Why wasn’t I enough?”

Nancy wants so badly to make you feel better. An idea comes to mind, but she knows you’ll shoot it down. “What if we get you a rebound?”

“What? Like some guy for me to fuck and get over Steve?”

“Duh. It can be very helpful sometimes,” she smiles in a devilish way.

You sit up. “And who do you suggest for this endeavour?”

“Our own homegrown Billy Hargrove!” She announces this like he’s a prize you’ve just won on a gameshow.

You raise your eyebrows and laugh. “Are you being serious? Oh, no,” the smile slips from your lips. “You are being serious.”

She nods. “You’re hot, he’s hot. You’re sad, he’s probably sexually frustrated. It’s a perfect match.”

“How is he sexually frustrated? Literally every girl in Hawkins wants to screw him.”

She rolls her eyes like you’re missing the point. “Just trust me on this.”

“I am not having sex with him,” you cross your arms.

“You don’t have to have sex. Just show him off a little bit at school. Get Steve jealous.”

You think about it. “No.”

“Oh come on, Y/N! You need this right now!” She whines.

You lay back on the bed and get situated under the covers. “Still no.”

“Stop pretending to be asleep. I know you’re awake,” she says as you keep your eyes shut tightly.

You pretend to snore, but eventually do fall asleep. Nancy does the same, but her mind is filled with ideas to make you forget about Steve completely.

In the morning on Monday, you rub your eyes to try and take away any of the sleepiness. The sunlight is far too bright for December. Yesterday you had spent the day with Nancy, watching sad romantic comedies and eating until you felt like you were going to combust. Jonathan stopped by around three in the afternoon to pick up his brother, Will, but decided to stay and hang out for a while.

You dread going to school today. Everyone is going to look at you funny and it won’t feel the same without Steve’s arm around your shoulder. You sigh and get up. Your mother doesn’t know about your messy breakup, and you don’t intend to tell her until it’s impossible for her to not know. Hopefully that time will never come. You trudge down the stairs and your mother is sitting at the table, drinking coffee. “Steve called about twenty times yesterday.”

Ah, shit. Now you have to tell her. “What did you say to him?” You ask quietly.

“That you were at Nancy’s. Why?” She gives you a skeptical look. You know that she can see right through you.

You take a deep breath. “I broke up with Steve on Saturday.”

She looks at you sympathetically, but then stands up and briskly walks over to hug you. You burst into tears when she wraps her arms around you. “Let it out, baby. Let it out,” she whispers as she pats your hair down.

“He was kissing another girl,” you say through the tears.

“Shh… you don’t have to have any reason to dump his hair-gelled ass. I never liked him from the beginning, anyways.”

You laugh sadly and pull away. Mom hugs are always the best. “Thanks, Mom.”

She holds your head in her hands and wipes the tears away with her thumb. “Go get cleaned up, baby. You need to show him what he’s missing.”

You decide to walk to school today, the way there not being that long on a good day. Of course, this isn’t a great day, but maybe the fresh air will help clean out your lungs. At least you won’t have to see anyone’s faces on the bus.

As you near closer to the actual school, your pace slows and dread fills your body. This can’t get any worse, can it?

The high school is beside the middle school, so there are a few middle schoolers biking through the high school parking lot. You spot the redheaded girl who was at Nancy’s house when you were there on Sunday. You are able to recognize Mike, Lucas, Will, and Dustin besides Max. There’s another girl who came over to Nancy’s house when you were there, Elle. She is apparently homeschooled and very sheltered.

You walk up the hill to the parking lot and immediately regret coming to school today. The people who are hanging by their cars eye you, especially the girls. They seem triumphant, like they beat you for something you weren’t even competing for. You try to ignore the stares, but that becomes ten times harder once you enter the school. Your eyes find the ground as you walk past people, until you reach your locker. Luckily, you haven’t spotted Steve yet.

Unluckily, someone wrote on your locker in black lipstick: I guess the princess has fallen.

Your eyes widen and you try to scrub it off with the sleeve of your sweater. It won’t budge. “Fuck,” you whisper. At least there aren’t any obscene words. That would be so much worse.

“Need a little help?” A low voice asks from behind you.

You startle and turn quickly, your back hitting the lockers when you notice how close this person is to you. Billy Hargrove. “Not from you,” you snap.

You keep at it, rubbing the words aggressively with your sleeve. After a moment, you notice that he hasn’t left yet. “Can I help you?” You ask.

“No, I’m just enjoying the view.”

You groan and rest your forehead on the locker. “Great pick-up line. Really. Very original.”

“Hey, I heard you and Steve had a pretty horrific breakup at Tammy’s,” you open your locker as he says this, but quickly shut it.

You shut your eyes tightly to stop the memories flooding in. It’s easier to be angry than to show your real sadness. “So?”

“So,” he says, placing his arm on the locker over your shoulder so you can’t really move out of the way. “Can I take you out tonight?”

You roll your eyes and laugh a little. “Did Nancy put you up to this?”

“What?” he asks, looking surprised, but he covers it up quickly.

You narrow your eyes and reach up to move his arm out of the way. “I’m so sorry, but I’m going to have to say no. Must be a shocker since everyone always says yes.” As you walk away, Billy follows you, even though you thought you made it clear that you did not want to have anything to do with him.

“Come on, lighten up a bit,” he slides an arm around your waist, pulling you into his side. 

“Get off,” you push him to the side and readjust your jacket. You flatten your hair and walk briskly away from him, hoping to God that he doesn’t follow you. 

Billy watches you leave, a smile playing at his lips. He always loves a challenge… and you are going to be tricky to win over.

The rest of the day is tense, with people whispering about you, but also the fact that you hadn’t seen Steve all day. Not seeing Steve should’ve been a perk, right? Wrong. You were worrying if he was with some other girl or if he had taken your breakup terribly. Your worries slip from your mind when you see exactly who you don’t want to see in the hallway after last period. Steve Harrington.

With the same girl from the party.

Despite the fact that your heart had already been shattered into a thousand pieces, seeing him with her breaks those shatters into a million jagged pieces. He catches your eye and you see how little emotion is in his eyes. Just days before he seemed so happy. So loving.

Now there was nothing.

You feel the same emotion from the party and this morning when Billy spoke to you; anger. It boils the blood inside of you. He dares to come to school with that girl? You look around quickly for someone who you never thought you’d need until now.

“Hey, princess,” a voice says from behind you.

You turn around and are greeted by the one person you were looking for. You swallow your snappy response to that nickname and give him a forced smile. “Hi,” you say as though this is strictly a business matter. Which it is. Obviously. “So, do you wanna drive me home or not?

***

The ride home is quiet, except for constant questions from Max Mayfield, who is apparently Billy’s step-sister. “Why are you letting my asshole of a brother drive you home?”

“Because he offered,” you say shortly.

“Actually, you sort of offered yourself,” Billy intervenes, but is ignored.

Max rolls her eyes. “That’s so stupid. I’ve seen you around Mike’s house. You’re cool. Billy is not cool.”

You resist the urge to laugh at hurt look on Billy’s face. “I am cool. I am the epitome of cool. No one is cooler than me.”

“Y/N is. And you know it,” Max teases.

Billy scoffs, “Sure.”

You look out the passenger side window, watching the trees fly by you. Billy passes the street leading to your house. He had said that he knew where you lived when you told him your address. “Uh, my house is that way,” you point your thumb backwards.

“I know,” he says, staring at the road ahead of him.

When you reach what you presume to be Billy and Max’s house, Max hops out and says, “‘Bye, Y/N!”

You give her a friendly wave, then turn to look at Billy. “You are going to drop me off at my house and that’s it. No funny business.”

He looks over with an almost bored gaze. “Do you really think I’m going to try anything with your prudish self?”

You bite your tongue, keeping your sarcastic comments to yourself. Tomorrow Billy will have forgotten all about you, so there is really no point in arguing. “I just- I don’t want you to get any ideas.”

He laughs and smiles as he turns the car to go back towards your street. “Oh, trust me. I’m just being nice.”

“For what? Driving me home?”

“Duh. You practically forced me to take you.”

You cross your arms in shock. “I did not. You practically begged me to go with you this morning.”

His absolutely annoying smile hasn’t left him lips. “And I didn’t think people could change their minds so quickly.”

“Whatever,” you say, your lips forming a pout. “Also, how would you know if I’m a prude?”

He laughs. “It’s so obvious. You never do anything more with Harrington than little pecks on the lips. Why else would he cheat on you?”

Your eyes widen. “It’s none of your business what I do or don’t do with my boyfriend.”

“But he’s not your boyfriend anymore.”

Oh, now he’s just being a prick. “Could you stop being a pain in my ass and just drive me home already?”

“I’m trying to, princess. You’re just making it awfully difficult.”

“Don’t call me that.”

He glances over at you. “What? Princess?”

“Yeah. It’s stupid. And I’m not a princess.”

“You sure do act like one,” he mutters under his breath.

You ignore that comment and keep your gaze forward until he pulls up to your house. “Thanks for the ride,” you say lazily, pushing the door open.

“Your whole tactic worked really well, by the way. Steve’s face was priceless,” Billy says before you have the chance to shut your door.

“What?” You lean down to be eye level with him.

Billy smirks and rolls his eyes. “You only wanted a ride to make him jealous, right?”

“No,” you say defensively. “I just didn’t want to walk home in the cold.”

“Whatever you say, princess,” he looks forward again, still smiling annoyingly.

“God, you are such a know-it-all!” You accuse, practically slamming the door.

The window rolls down quickly and Billy says, “So I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning?”

A/N: yo so somehow i pretty much deleted this whole post and i had to add everything back to it again so sorry if there are any changes to anything! 

Part one || Part three

Masterlist

[immortals-malec]

So we’ve moved to comparing/making a rant on Lucelyn and Maruke. (this will be a lot of rambling probably.)  First we shall talk about Lucelyn, whom we all shipped for like one season, but that’s because we wanted Luke to be happy.  Anyways, what’s the problem with them and why they didn’t work. i had a little post on it while i was rewatching “The Mortal Cup” episode and have decided to expand on it.  Let’s go- we begin with the writing because no shocker there that the writing is the main reason why they didn’t work but that’s only on one character’s fault, Jocelyn! Luke seemed to have nice relationship building but Jocelyn’s a mess. So in the pilot we basically shown that Luke and Jocelyn are in a relationship, which is confirmed by Luke’s boss, telling him to marry Jocelyn, I know some might say oh it’s a coverstory but from how Luke acts and how they wrote the relationship from his side, they were in a romantic relationship. But with Jocelyn, they never really wrote her feelings for Luke, NEVER. From the beginning of her character to the end in s2, she’s never shown any romantic feelings to Luke, tbh whenever they interacted it was all about Clary, never about their relationship, it was always about Clary and the memory blocks/erasing she had Magnus do. They showed that Luke really loved her, but Jocelyn never showed that she loved him back as much as he did, makes you wonder if she really ever did love him romantically. Or if she settled for him as a substitute for Valentine.  (Get to that in a bit)  It really doesn’t help that development that Lucelyn had was all from like I said before Luke’s point of view and the fact is she was in a magical sleep for whole 13 episodes of season one.  And also doesn’t help that Jocelyn is a shit character with the writing she had, the show in the first season tried to tell us she was like savior to the downworld(ers), she saved them bah, bah, she’s pure of heart etc. When in reality she’s a selfish bitch and is just as racist as the Clave or as her husband is, just shows it in  a different way and never really grew and they just continued to write her that way. I’m basically dead set on her blackmailing downworlders into helping her, because she had the mortal cup so yeah there. Luke didn’t deserve her, when she acted like a racist half of the time to downworlders, he deserved someone who didn’t treat his kind like shit, which Jocelyn showed her true colors in s2, they were there in s1, just they really showed in s2.  (Jesus Christ Alec and Magnus were the only ones to call her out on her bullshit)  Anyways, she’s a shit character, who didn’t grow. Instead  put Alec’s life in danger, to find her daughter!  Who is someone’s fucking child. (Still angry)  But back to what I was saying the development  for them was all one sided, and now I feel like Luke could have been a substitute for Valentine... why? Oh boy let me explain this.  Remember 1x06? The episode that explains Luke’s/the Circle’s backstories? When Luke awakens and explained everything to Clary in Magnus’s (guest?) bedroom, he describes how Valentine was before he became a mass murderer. She basically says “He is Mom’s type, just like you.” And boy it rubs me the wrong way and made me realize holy fuck, Luke could’ve been just a substitute for Valentine??? Because this quote makes it seem like it. I mean- look, Valentine was Luke’s parabatai at the time, and when he started to pull away, and she noticed signs of him murdering downworlders, turning evil, she knew it would make her look bad (even though she’s racist herself, she denies it but she is) so she turned to someone else who was basically feeling the same thing: Luke, in a way reminds her of Valentine, I guess, while Luke fell for her, she just fell for the fact he was her husband’s parabatai and had the same qualities.  But if that’s not true, I don’t think she loved him romantically as he did her, Valentine’s crazy racist actions against the accords and Downworlders, supposedly pushed her and Luke together, to lean on each other’s shoulders, meanwhile it’s clear Luke hadn’t loved anyone before or at least he thought to himself, he fell in love. With Jocelyn, she loved Valentine, and it seems to be clear that they were meant to be (the alt world is proof) and maybe she thought she did but reality either got it confused with platonic feelings or she used Luke as a rebound which is probably more possible here. Because Jocelyn is just a bitch.   Either way it’s clear with the writing Jocelyn had, that she didn’t really love him the way he did her or whatever, just seems to be that she used him for a lot of things.  Anyways, now the second problem chemistry or as I should say the one sided chemistry just as there was one sided writing with the relationship.  Isaiah is not the problem, in fact he’s what made half of them work but it wasn’t enough.  Maxim was the problem- like okay she’s what I pictured Jocelyn to look like, she acts pretty good, but her chemistry with Isaiah is just eehhugh. She didn’t even try tbh, she didn’t try to ever give me emotions, never. She just stood there with the same expression her face when it came to somewhat romantic scenes she had with Isaiah, who did give you Luke’s emotions towards Jocelyn in that flashback in 1x06, that scene where he finds Jocelyn in 1x11, the standing by her side scenes in 1x12/1x13 and catching her at the end of s1? You felt it, you even felt his one scene with Jocelyn in 2x04 like he did it, but with her? Zero emotions! Like even if the writing lacked, improv exists.  Just everything with them was one sided and Jocelyn continued to be the worst character/mother alive.  The best change they ever did was killing her off, Luke got himself a sexy ass woman.  Oop- let’s move onto everyone’s favorite even though we weren’t sure about it at first, Maruke!  Now Maruke is everything Lucelyn wished it could be, with the writing and the chemistry.  So first we will begin with the writing- you could always tell with what little writing we got for Maruke that they cared about each other, and could be romantically in love with each other one day, which really lacked with Luke and Jocelyn’s relationship, Luke and Maryse isn’t one sided. And also some who still like Lucelyn are like Maryse is/was the same as Jocelyn!!! EVEN WORSE. Lol she had something Jocelyn didn’t.  Character development, Maryse’s development is also what makes Maruke works as well. In s1 yeah, she was racist, a bad parent, reminded you of Jocelyn in a different way, we disliked her, in s2 it continued for a bit up until she left and came back for Max getting his first rune, you notice she’s trying to change there, she’s trying to gain back her children’s trust, and also trying not to be so racist with Magnus, (Nicola mentioned at a con that 2x08 is when Maryse started to change her mind about Magnus because he saved Alec’s life when she couldn’t something along those lines) and she makes up with her adoptive son, and Alec brings  up their father, which caused her to break down because the whole cheating thing, and we get her sobbing and Alec confronting her, and you feel bad for her, and you see she’s trying to make up for what she did to her children and we were all like “is this the beginning of a redemption arc??? if so i’m fucking up” and she returns in 2b to continue making amends with people and how she treated them before hand, Luke and Izzy, which are both heavily important because she did sl*t shame her daughter, made her feel less compared how she treated Alec and Luke she treated differently because he turned into a werewolf, and honestly good shit, then they continued with making her own up to her mistakes by de-runing her and making full amends with Magnus (3x03 is really fucking important) and fully accepting Alec’s relationship with him! She had the character development to be with Luke.  And Jocelyn, was just lol nothing but undercover racist to showing in fully s2, when she died.  Back to what I was saying before, with what little we got with Luke and Maryse worked perfectly. Hell even the talk in 3x06 which I love because Luke comes in after Maryse has been deruned and she’s like “Lucian” and they sit down to talk about how they have been ripped away from being a shadowhunter, etc etc. and Luke goes right into how he fucking remembers the last time she had her hair down and that was like twenty years ago ( listen if you remember the last time she had her hair down, you’ve feelings for them okay) and they’re making hearteyes and shit its *chief’s kiss*  Their first kiss was oof, like it was damn good okay, they bond over shit and it fits them where you didn’t get to see that with Lucelyn.  Also not to forget that Maryse tells Magnus that her and Luke used to be rivals at the Shadowhunter academy and than in the Circle (I believe? I have watched it once I think she mentioned the circle too) which is like holy fuck, one of my favorite tropes is Rivals-Enemies-to -Friends then Lovers, because they really don’t hate each other, they like each other, whoo.  With the littlest things in their set up and writing, makes you ship them (along with Nicola and Isaiah’s chemistry which in a minute), and also makes you wonder, did they like each other back then and realize it but couldn’t act on it because they didn’t think the other liked them that way, just with little things you see it in their writing, with Lucelyn’s you didn’t.  And now the chemistry, tbh their chemistry is good shit. Like on the top tier as Harry and Matt’s, for Malec. You can see the emotions in the romantic scenes, which lacked with Lucelyn’s, it’s not one sided chemistry with one actor, both actors are showing the emotions, the hearteyes, and probably things that aren’t in the script.  Isaiah and Nicola played their strengths with each other, hoenstly, just honestly, even little eye contact was enough for you to be like woahhh.  All of their scenes never lacked anything, you could see they were a building romance, even though I don’t know if they were just planting it to see our reactions in s2, so they could build on it, or our huge interest in them and how they could be a romantic relationship made them do it, someone should ask this question.  Together, being able to show us the emotions along with the little writing they got, is how Isaiah and Nicola made Maruke work.  Bottom line: Lucelyn suffered from one sided writing/chemistry and Jocelyn’s shit character, who never grew, continued to be a racist, selfish woman, while Maruke worked because Maryse had the development, so did the relationship as a whole and were able to show me that these two care a  lot about/like each other and eventually will fall in love. Even with little writing. 

[jbuffyangel]

Undeserved Forgiveness: Arrow 7x18 Review (Lost Canary)

After seven years and 150 episodes (yes, I math’d it) Arrow has finally paid off a L*urel L*ance storyline in a way that makes sense and feels earned.

Let’s dig in…

Olicity

Sometimes the Arrow writers are so obtuse about their audience it boggles my mind. Then there are other times when they are so self aware I can’t help but laugh. “Lost Canary” is one of those self aware moment. It’s almost as if the writers said to themselves, “Okay. This episode is gonna be a lot about birds so we better give the audience some Olicity goodies to keep them happy.”

Smart move.

Arrow has to ship the boys off somewhere in order to have their all girls episode. Rene is off with Zoe on a school field trip while Oliver and Diggle try to find the person who killed Emiko’s mother, so they can convince her not to be evil. Or something? I think? It boils down to a interrogation of a Longbow Hunter. Yeah, remember the Longbow Hunters? Who knew they were still a thing? Not me. 

It’s kind of fantastic all the guys are stuck with monumentally crappy storylines while the ladies have their moment in the sun. Ah the gloriousness of reversing gender roles.

Anywho, Oliver is going to leave Felicity which means WE GET WORRIED DADDY! 

Oliver begs Felicity to take it easy. 

Pffft, it’s like he’s never watched Arrow before. Dude, know your genre. 

Felicity promises she’s going Netflix and chill. Oh girl, you totes just jinxed it.

And then it happens. Oliver rubs his stomach and says...

Source: olicitygifs 

April 15, 2019 will hence forth be known as Precious Cargo Day in the Olicity fandom. We shall drink and sing in merriment while binge watching Olicity moments in celebration of this blessed day. For this is the day fan fiction came to life.

We’re five minutes and twelve seconds into this episode and I already think it’s fantastic.

After Oliver returns from his Longbow Hunter thing (Seriously don’t ask me what happened)

and Felicity returns from saving a soul and giving Earth 2 a hero to fight for them, our wonderfully stable and unproblematic married couple cuddle on the couch. Honestly, I don’t understand why Olicity snuggling and watching Netflix isn’t a hit show? It’s Emmy award winning entertainment. 

Source: olicitygifs 

Felicity was away from Oliver for a day and she practically ran into her husband’s arms, so I really don’t know how homegirl is gonna do twenty years without him. It hurts to think about, so let’s focus on the happy. 

Source: olicitygifs 

Oliver wants to order whatever Felicity is craving because he’s determined to be fictional perfection so no one can have realistic expectations of non fictional men. Felicity informs him L*urel is going back to Earth 2. He doesn’t care. I cannot describe to you how much Oliver Queen doesn’t care about any version of L*urel L*ance. 

Once again I reflect upon the road we have traveled my friends. I don’t know how we got here, but our destination is glorious.

Worried Daddy is far more concerned that Felicity didn’t take it easy as she promised, but no worries the Green Arrow is here! 

Oliver promises to take care of Felicity and then promptly falls asleep on her shoulder because he’s so exhausted. 

Yup, that pretty much sums up the first trimester right there. You’re pregnant but you’re husband is the exhausted one.

She finagles a foot rub out of half asleep Oliver and they both collapse. MAX DOMESTICITY ACHIEVED. 

Source: olicitygifs

Honestly, the show could have ended right here. I’d be thrilled.

Felicity Smoak and Canary Corp.

Yes, that’s the official title of the episode. Don’t @ me. Arrow has tried this Birds of Prey thing before. Remember Helena, L*urel and Sara in Season 2? Yeah, neither do I and why? BECAUSE IT DIDN’T HAVE FELICITY IN IT. Too bitter? 

The Felicity Smoak/Oracle similarities were not lost on the Arrow writers and it’s clear they tried to adopt the moniker for our girl’s codename, but were shot down by the DC brass. Overwatch it is then and, as usual when it comes to Felicity Smoak and Emily Bett Rickards, she has made it her own.

This is Emily’s last season and therefore Arrow’s last chance to do a Birds of Prey themed episode with Felicity Smoak at the helm. Boy, they did not waste the opportunity. Thank goodness too because that would have been a real bummer. 

“Lost Canary” is full on girl power. Arrow has many female characters, but the storylines are dominated by the men. It’s not a shocker. The main character is male. The writing staff I believe has been male dominated until a shake up this season. That’s not to say the male writers haven’t crafted a fantastic show with some amazing female characters – Felicity Smoak being at the top of the list. However, this show is long over due for the spotlight to shine on the female characters, actresses and writers.  

Representation means hearing the voices of the marginalized, but “Lost Canary” is not simply Arrow ticking a box. Nor did the writers pad the episode with trite and insulting dialogue like...

(I will forever side eye The Flush for that one.) 

No, “Lost Canary” is steeped in big life questions as it addresses the season theme of redemption head on. Each character has her own perspective on Bl*ck S*ren and redemption as a whole. Each character is given ample screen time to voice her perspective as the women debate the best way to handle Bl*ck S*ren’s recent downward spiral… or perhaps it’s a stagnant upward spiral. The point is the women are written like the multi faceted characters they are. WOULD WONDERS EVER CEASE?

Let the redemption debate commence.

Source: dcmultiverse 

Bl*ck S*ren is back in the evil business. See, you can tell because of the all leather, black lipstick, cloak, tacky techno music and the sashay walk KC ripped off from Nina Dobrev. 

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

This is what I like to call an “Everything but the kitchen sink” visual trope. Oh hell, the kitchen sink was there too.

Bl*ck S*ren chucks the three piece power suits, with the shoulder pads that can fly her to Hong Kong, in favor of a more diabolical ensemble to convey her inner turmoil. The subtext is pretty much text. Arrow hammering away at it should be a monumentally huge tip off for where Bl*ck S*ren’s character is going.  

The surprise isn’t so much where Arrow is going with this character, but rather in how they get there.

Admittedly, I struggled with E1 L*urel L*ance. I couldn’t stand her romance with Oliver, couldn’t keep up with her flip flopping personality, grew tired of her blaming everyone but herself, couldn’t forgive her for Tommy, hated her disdainful treatment of Felicity, and found her to be a insufferable pain in the ass, which she compounded by becoming a drunken, insufferable pain in the ass. 

Whew. Season 1 and Season 2 were rough.

I had one bright and shining hope for this character – her Bl*ck C*nary storyline. It was a colossal disappointment. 

Not even my deep love for the Lance sisters could save my investment in L*urel and I was overjoyed when Arrow killed her. It remains one of the best creative decisions this show ever made.

Regardless of the reasons for KC’s return (and there are reasons my friends), the writers smartly chose not to resurrect L*urel. 

No need to bring back that mess. Instead, they started over with some doppelganger hijinks and crafted Evil L*urel aka Bl*ck S*ren from Earth 2. 

It turns out Evil L*urel is a hell of a lot more fun than Saint L*urel. The character plays to KC’s acting strengths and she didn’t impede on Dinah Drake’s storyline as Bl*ck C*nary. Well, not much.

But the dramatic linchpin in Bl*ck S*ren’s character is that she’s not L*urel.  Yes, she looks and sounds like the L*urel L*ance Team Arrow loved and lost, but no amount of time would ever make this woman into a replica of the one who died. This is a good thing because the woman Oliver Queen dedicated that ridiculous statue to was a hindrance to the story.

L*urel’s Season 6 arc was infuriating primarily because they reduced a meta human to a helpless victim. The writers shredded Quentin Lance’s character as he pursued his deeply unhealthy obsession with resurrecting his dead daughter through an entirely different human being. Let us never speak of it again.

Season 7 is a vast improvement. The good/evil push/pull remains the dramatic well the writers drink from, but instead of cramming old L*urel down Bl*ck S*ren’s throat they allowed her character to breathe. The fact she was different from L*urel is what made her interesting. Arrow didn’t run from it. They embraced it. And they paired her with an unlikely partner.

Felicity Smoak.

Bl*ck S*ren’s willingness to cross lines, including murder, was a necessary evil because Felicity’s husband was trapped inside the system. She needed help from someone with access and who wouldn’t be afraid to go over the line to get the job done. Suddenly, being evil doppelganger playing pretend lawyer was massive pro. 

Bl*ck S*ren’s a sardonic wit and glowering demeanor made the perfect straight woman to Felicity Smoak’s ball of sunshine. 

Except, Felicity wasn’t a ball of sunshine and more often than not L*urel was stopping her from going too far.  

The two women worked in tandem as they questioned their morality and what defines good and evil. The ebb and flow of light and dark allowed Felicity and L*urel to see each other differently. 

This sparked understanding, respect and finally compassion.  Their interactions felt more honest than anything that transpired between E1 L*urel and Felicity and as a result their friendship was more believable.

I’ve enjoyed the good/evil/push/pull dynamic that’s made up the majority of Bl*ck S*ren’s arc this season because it was fairly even handed. When L*urel tipped too far in one direction they would shift her the other way. Every time L*urel helped Felicity with Oliver’s case or pulled her back from the ledge, she would follow it up with almost murdering someone. 

Bl*ck S*ren’s instinct in almost any given scenario was to kill first and ask questions later. It flew in the face of the straight laced, law abiding DA image she cultivated by stealing E1 L*urel L*ance’s identity. The writers did this deliberately because everything that made Bl*ck S*ren “evil” is still there even as she tried emulating Quentin Lance’s dearly departed L*urel.

But eventually the writers need to pick a lane. Arrow has two choices – keep Bl*ck S*ren evil or redeem her.  It’s kind of a like a love triangle. You can play with the back and forth for awhile, but eventually the writers need to make a decision. Otherwise the story loses any emotional authenticity.

The real shock of “Lost Canary” is how the writers present both sides of the argument. It’s so fair and logical. A L*urel L*ance centric episode is making sense. Talk about feeling like a fish out of water.

Dinah and Felicity are diametrically opposed when it comes to who Bl*ck S*ren is and if she can be redeemed.  The argument boils down to nature versus nurture, but how Felicity and Dinah arrive at their individual conclusion fits not only within the scope of their own storylines, but within L*urel’s as well.

Dinah is nature.  She firmly believes L*urel is an irredeemable killer and all efforts to save her are for naught because a killer is who she is. Dinah issues a warrant for L*urel’s arrest and believes she killed Diaz. I’ve been loudly advocating for some jail time for L*urel, but I didn’t really expect Arrow to go there. I’m not that lucky. A warrant for her arrest and L*urel on the run is close enough. 

It’s understandable why Dinah believes Bl*ck S*ren is a lost cause. She witnessed her boyfriend’s murder at L*urel’s hand and a tearful apology doesn’t erase what happened. 

Dinah has also been there any time L*urel has decided to murder someone, typically out of frustration, anger or to protect her own self interests.  She would pull L*urel back from the ledge, but it’s difficult for her to believe BS was ever on the wagon when she so frequently fell off it.

Dinah is not wrong. L*urel is a murderer. Murder is L*urel’s default position whenever the going is rough, which is exactly what is happening now. Yes, L*urel is wrongly accused of murder, but let us not forget all the murders she did commit and has yet to pay for.  Dinah didn’t love Bl*ck S*ren’s approach when it came to interrogating criminals, but the answer to these problems is not a crime spree.

Felicity is nurture. In the beginning, Felicity did not see Bl*ck S*ren as anything but criminal pretending to be her dead friend. She emotionally manipulated people and was reaping all the benefits of E1 L*urel’s life. 

But the hubby was in the slammer and Felicity needed a lawyer, fake or real it didn’t matter. Desperate times call for desperate measures. L*urel was one of the only people to have Felicity’s back and their partnership grew into real friendship.  Felicity has been the beneficiary of L*urel’s kindness and love, so she knows without a doubt there is good but it needs to be encouraged.

Felicity is so ardent in her belief that she bizarrely blames herself for L*urel’s crime spree because she wasn’t a good enough friend. 

Let’s just pretend that’s true for a second (even though it’s not). The max penalty Felicity could incur would be paying for drinks some night. But L*urel tries to blow up Felicity and HER BABY.  I feel safe categorizing that as an insane overreaction.

The truth is Felicity has been an amazing friend to L*urel and she continues to be throughout the episode. She proves to Dinah that L*urel has been framed by Emiko for Diaz’s murder. Felicity offers L*urel her support even after she goes on a crime spree.

L*urel: Oliver’s sister did me a favor because I was really sick and tired of pretending to be someone I’m not. Plus, no one believed it any way.

Felicity: I did! Look, what happened to you wasn’t fair. You were accused of murder, you lost your job, Dinah didn’t have your back I get it. You got a bucket load of bad news, but you are not Bl*ck S*ren. Not anymore.

L*urel: That’s funny I used to believe that too.

Felicity: Think of the good you’ve done L*urel. Think of honoring Quentin!

L*urel: Quentin is dead. Nobody cares about Quentin. He only wanted his daughter back.

Felicity: That is not true.

Well… far be it from me to disagree with my Queen but it is kind of true. This is a wonderfully impassioned speech even if I don’t agree with all of Felicity’s arguments. Sadly L*urel pretty much spits in Felicity’s face and is generally undeserving of all this support and understanding.

Felicity and Dinah have it out after L*urel tries to blow them up. Felicity continues to blame herself for this Bl*ck S*ren spiral whereas Dinah is firmly entrenched in the “Bl*ck S*ren Is a Murderer” camp.  Felicity calls Dinah out on her hypocrisy when she boasts in a fit of moral superiority that she could have gone down the same road as L*urel, but didn’t. 

Felicity accurately points out that the reason Dinah didn’t go down the same road was because she had the team. Dinah had friends who loved and supported her even when she didn’t deserve it.

Felicity ain’t wrong! I forgot Dinah is a murderer too. Yes, there is a big difference between murdering bad people versus murdering good people, but it doesn’t change the fact that Dinah has also taken lives. 

While we’re on the subject on Vinnie, she also lied to the team about her relationship with him 

and went on a crazy revenge bender after Bl*ck S*ren murdered him. 

Dinah was in the Newbie tantrum up to her elbows, which included assaulting OTA when they refused to hand over Bl*ck S*ren.

Dinah was forgiven for all of these transgressions and welcomed back to the team with open arms without even apologizing. Now she’s the captain of the police force and a deputized vigilante. All of which would have never happened without Oliver Queen and Team Arrow. 

Dinah was forgiven when she didn’t deserve it. 

It was the second chance she needed to become someone who is deserving of that forgiveness. 

(We can argue the semantics of whether or not Dinah really has become someone worthy of Oliver and Felicity’s love and trust another day. For the sake of this episode let’s just roll with it.)

Dinah continues to argue that even if all of that is true (WHICH IT IS HONEYCAKES) it doesn’t apply to L*urel because she doesn’t want a second chance. She never did. Felicity pushes back once again and argues the opposite. She thinks L*urel wants a second chance more than anyone else and didn’t realize it until it was already gone.

WOW. What a scene. It’s so invigorating to see two female characters argue passionately about something that has nothing to do with a man. This debate is about friendship, faith and forgiveness. It’s about the true meaning of redemption, who deserves it, and who decides who deserves it. Felicity and Dinah are arguing about their fundamental beliefs and challenging one another’s morality.

Source:  hollandrooden

Dinah gave L*urel a chance and she blew it, so enough is enough. Felicity feels L*urel was succeeding at that second chance until she was wrongly accused. Sometimes people need several chances to get it right. I completely understand both Dinah and Felicity’s positions, which is how you know it’s a great storyline. If you can see both sides of the coin then the writers are mining drama with serious depth.

Both women are right and both are wrong. We’ve been exploring Bl*ck S*ren’s redemption since Season 5, but “Lost Canary” feels like the first honest conversation being had about it. I understand Dinah’s frustration because they are my frustrations. 

I do not believe throwing on a three piece suit, playing lawyer, living someone else’s life and enjoying all the benefits someone else earned qualifies as redemption. Pretending to be E1 L*urel L*ance has protected Bl*ck S*ren from facing justice for any of her crimes. While I appreciate she’s helped put criminals away, freed Oliver Queen, and is a good friend to Felicity Smoak, it does not even out the cosmic scales when compared to the evil she has committed.

Bl*ck S*ren is a murderer. She was coddled by Quentin Lance because she looks like his dead daughter. Felicity reaches out again and again and Bl*ck S*ren continually rejects her love, support and forgiveness. I’ve watched Bl*ck S*ren time and again head out to murder someone as a solution to whatever problem she’s trying to solve. I’ve watched both Dinah and Felicity stop L*urel from committing those murders. 

L*urel stopped because she was caught – not because she thinks murder is wrong. She doesn’t express remorse for wanting to kill someone either. She typically has a snippy remark for Dinah and Felicity as she slinks away from the scene of her premeditated murder.

Unfortunately, the writers are treating Bl*ck S*ren’s penchant to murder the same as E1 L*urel’s alcoholism. Felicity and Dinah tell Bl*ck S*ren to put down the drink and convince her to stay on the wagon. But we aren’t talking about booze. Bl*ck S*ren’s addiction is killing people. NOT. THE. SAME. THING. I get it, Dinah. Trust me.

Then there’s Felicity Smoak. She sees the best in Bl*ck S*ren even when she’s at her worst. Primarily because Bl*ck S*ren saw Felicity at her worst and pulled her back from the brink. 

Felicity is not a killer because Bl*ck S*ren offered her hope.  So, it’s understandable why Felicity refuses to abandon her friend especially now.

But that’s not all of it. Sure, BS was a good friend to Felicity, but that’s not why she is standing by her. The truth is Felicity Smoak is a really good person. She is intensely compassionate, loyal and supportive. Felicity sees the best in people and her ability to pull that light from those she loves is unparalleled. Nearly every character in the Arrowverse has benefited from Felicity’s steadfast encouragement.

I know this aspect of the character often frustrates some people. Some believe Felicity is used to prop up other characters. Her character suffers because she’s constantly launching another superhero. 

The fastest way to cultivate a positive fan response to a new character is to filter that character through Felicity Smoak. She represents the audience opinions more often than not. Her popularity has a way of spilling over to problematic characters and it casts them in a more positive light. I don’t deny Arrow employs this practice often.

But I never saw it as a negative. Felicity is the believer. It’s what I love most about her.  Diggle is the mind (moral compass) and Oliver is the soul, but Felicity is the heart. She is the hero of heroes.

L*urel L*ance was a wildly problematic character. The writers never quite knew what to do with her and they could never really settle on a personality with a defined set of characteristics. 

We never knew what version of L*urel we were going to get week to week. 

The writers struggled with her even more after rerouting the central romance away from Laurel to Felicity.  Her storylines never seemed to get the necessary focus they required even though it felt like we spent an inordinate amount of time on L*urel. Watching Arrow develop her character was a lot like running in place, as @callistawolf​ once said.

Her messy history with Oliver also seemed to be the elephant in the room when it came to any friendship with Felicity. There’s never any discussion around the events of the Season 2 finale. Felicity wondered if Oliver’s “I love you” was real and I’m sure L*urel had some questions too.  

Did she think it was all a ruse to save her life or did she simply accept that Oliver was really in love with Felicity? It seems like the latter although it’s never actually addressed. If there was any confusion on L*urel’s part I guess 3x01 cleared it up because the only thing on Oliver’s mind was Felicity Megan Smoak.

Arrow likes to pretend L*uriver never happened and it is completely understandable. It’s a bad dream we’d all like to forget, 

but L*urel’s central connection to the team remained an ex boyfriend she didn’t like very much. I appreciate the show wanting to define a relationship between Felicity and L*urel outside of Oliver, but ignoring L*urel’s romantic history with him didn’t feel very honest.

Perhaps their friendship would have been more believable if the writers set aside time for L*urel and Felicity to bond outside of Team Arrow, but they didn’t. L*urel just shows up in the foundry and starts barking orders. 

Even Felicity questioned their relationship status. Girl, same. They had moments of kindness, but we never saw them work as partners or enjoy each other as friends like Felicity and Bl*ck S*ren. 

In fact, one of the most common arguments against L*urel being in the grave was that Felicity would never be that upset because she wasn’t that close to L*urel. HA! A lot of L*urel’s character was built upon telling rather than showing and her friendship with Felicity is one of the many areas the writers made that very frequent mistake.

The writers did not make that same mistake with Bl*ck S*ren. They gave her friendship with Felicity time to develop. They started off as enemies, but as circumstances evolved so did their relationship. 

Bizarrely, this is why Bl*ck S*ren’s and Felicity’s friendship feels more honest and earned than anything Felicity had with E1 L*urel L*ance. Bl*ck S*ren’s connection to Team Arrow is through Felicity. She has absolutely nothing to do with Oliver Queen and IT’S FANTASTIC. 

The writers tried to connect L*urel through Oliver for four years, but he was never the solution. Felicity is.

Felicity is the solution because she has a big bandwidth when it comes to forgiveness. No one has benefited more from it than Oliver Queen. Murder isn’t a deal breaker for Felicity. She fell in love with Oliver when he was dropping bodies. She barely blinked at Sara’s assassin history. Diggle murdered his own brother and I don’t think Felicity even commented on it. Remember when Roy thought he killed Sara? Who did he tell first? Felicity. She was freaked but calm. Dinah was a murderer and Felicity welcomed her onto the team with open arms. Rene pulled a gun on her and it was totally cool. I mean, sweet mother of Moses she was friends with Curtis Holt and tolerated his mansplaining and misogynistic bullshit, which says it all. 

So is it really a shock Felicity is ride or die when it comes to Bl*ck S*ren? No. I identify with Dinah’s frustrations, but recognize Felicity is on the higher road. Simply put, Felicity Smoak is a better person than me. The belief she is giving Bl*ck S*ren is no different than the belief she gave to Oliver or Sara.  

So, she’s challenging me as well. I cannot cheer Felicity on when she offers unconditional love to Oliver or Sara or John, but admonish her when she offers the same to L*urel L*ance. Sara was an assassin and I didn’t demand a prison sentence for her.

That said, I see one massive difference between Bl*ck S*ren and Oliver Queen. Oliver was remorseful about his past and crippled with guilt. He didn’t need additional punishment because he was already punishing himself enough. Oliver also spent five years in hell, lost nearly everyone he’s ever loved and is constantly sacrificing his happiness for the greater good. 

His redemptive journey is wildly different from Bl*ck S*ren’s. Oliver didn’t get to just toss on a nice suit and call it a day. And he killed bad people!!! So, I maybe I can’t hold Bl*ck S*ren to a higher standard than other characters I love, but I can damn well hold her to the same standard. 

So, is L*urel remorseful?

We don’t have to pick between Felicity and Dinah because it is possible to hold L*urel accountable and be compassionate. This is where Sara comes in.

Source: canarygifs

I have been incredibly frustrated with how Arrow has used Sara in the past when she’s come back as a guest star. I’m still ticked she didn’t get a goodbye scene with Quentin. The Sara I know on Legends isn’t always the same on Arrow, but “Lost Canary” is different. The writers give Sara her due and she reflects on her journey in a way she’s been allowed to before.

Everyone knows I’m a huge Lance sisters fan. The one saving grace in L*urel’s Season 2 storyline was when it stopped being about her relationship with Oliver and she began to focus on repairing her relationship with Sara. 

I bought into the Bl*ck C*nary storyline in Season 3 because I believed Sara’s death was a life altering catalytic event for L*urel.  “The Calm” remains my favorite L*urel L*ance episode and I will always believe Sara is her great love and vice versus. We all need something or someone to live for and that love doesn’t always have to be romantic in nature.

So, Sara coming back to town to protect her sister’s good name and offer some wisdom to Bl*ck S*ren made a lot of sense to me. Sara is the one who pieces together that maybe failing to kill Felicity and Dinah wasn’t a mistake after all. She uses her sisterly intuition and finds Bl*ck S*ren at Quentin’s grave.

Source: canarygifs 

Sara gives it to L*urel straight in an EPIC speech. She owns all her past mistakes. Sara cheated with her sister’s boyfriend, let her family believe she was dead and then became an assassin. 

Yuuuup. Sara Lance history sure is colorful! Each one of these errors in judgment is an unforgivable offense. And yet, L*urel found a way to forgive Sara. Well, after she blamed her for absolutely everything that went wrong in her and boozed her way through the liquor cabinet, but let’s not get bogged down in the details.

This remains my favorite Lance sister scene of all time because L*urel does not go to Sara offering forgiveness. No, L*urel comes to Sara begging for forgiveness. Despite everything she’d done and everything she suffered, Sara survived whereas L*urel was crippled by her pain. These two women found their way out of the dark together. Sara’s forgiveness put L*urel on a path to sobriety. L*urel’s forgiveness put Sara on a path to heroism. Neither of them truly deserved forgiveness for what they had done, but that’s not the point of forgiveness is it?

It was L*urel’s love, not Oliver’s that gave Sara the second chance she needed. Maybe Sara didn’t deserve forgiveness when L*urel gave it, but it sparked the beginning of her journey towards someone who did.  Sara is the Original Canary, the captain of a time traveling superhero squad and the one and ONLY White Canary. She offers the wisdom of her life experience to help Bl*ck S*ren.

Source: canarygifs 

 She also calls Bl*ck S*ren out on her bullshit. She tried to be a hero for six months. TRYING? SIX MONTHS? She thinks that evens the score for years and years of mayhem, theft and murder? 

We’re supposed to feel sorry for BS after she’s spent six months living in a comfortable apartment and getting paid well to do a job she didn’t earn.

Great, she helped Oliver out of prison. She also tried to kill him multiple times, so they aren’t exactly equal yet. When Sara tried to quit the murder business a lethal team of assassins came after her and she had to commit suicide to get them to leave her alone. But L*urel knows the horror of the Balmain double breasted, wool blend jacket. Poor baby.

I forgot she was accused of working with Diaz and lost her job. Yeah, except she did work with Diaz and SHE IS NOT A LAWYER SO SHE SHOULD LOSE HER JOB. 

Then there’s being falsely accused of Diaz’s murder. Hmmm… who killed Vinnie again? L*urel being falsely accused of ONE murder compared to the multiple homicides she has committed and has yet to pay for in any real or substantial way does not equate. Yet, here she is with a stick up her ass and expecting everyone to feel sorry for her. You know, I take it back. She really is like E1 L*urel sometimes.

Sara explains what real redemption is and it is my favorite line of the episode.

Source: canarygifs

She’s right. Redemption is not a light switch that can be flipped on. L*urel can’t do a couple nice things and say, “TA DA! I AM REDEEMED!” It’s not how it works. There’s no endgame here. This is something L*urel needs work at for the rest of her life. She needs to fight every day to be a person worthy of forgiveness. When L*urel falls down, or life doesn’t go her way, she can’t throw an evil temper tantrum.

A real hero isn’t looking for a reward. A real hero doesn’t look for someone else to blame. A real hero doesn’t keep score. A real hero sacrifices and fights the good fight because it is the right thing to do. Does Bl*ck S*ren qualify? 

No. She is not a hero yet. She is undeserving of the love, compassion and forgiveness Sara and Felicity are offering her.

But we all are undeserving of forgiveness. We are all broken in some way. We all do or say hurtful things. Each of us will either do something unforgivable or feel like we’ve done something unforgivable. What makes the difference in our life is having someone who loves us despite our sins. 

We can see the people who have been loved when they are unlovable and those who have not when we look at the landscape of humanity. Sometimes we need a push in the right direction when we are at a crossroads, but not all of us have someone in our life who loves us enough to give one. The ones who do are blessed.

Bl*ck S*ren’s sins are deeply evil. She has dug herself a very large, dark hole. L*urel stopped Felicity from falling down the same hole because she knows there’s nothing but pain, emptiness and loneliness at the bottom. She knows how to stop someone from falling in, but L*urel does not know how to climb out. Bl*ck S*ren is stuck in a self destructive cycle. Felicity fundamentally believes every human being is redeemable if they want redemption, but some need more of a push than others.

The truth is we all need help out of the darkness. We all need someone to love us unconditionally. We all need someone reach down into the hole and offer a hand. But our redemption remains in our hands. It’s not enough for someone to reach out. We have to reach back.

All the evil hijinks boil down to a faceoff with Bl*ck S*ren and Felicity.  Felicity tells BS one last time  she believes in her, but ultimately it’s not about what she believes. It’s not about L*urel L*ance’s legacy or who Quentin wanted BS to be. This is about who Bl*ck S*ren wants to be. Free will my friends. It is a bitch.

COME ON! Nobody is killing Felicity Smoak least of all Bl*ck S*ren. L*urel is picking out china patterns in her head, so she ain’t killin’ bae. She joins Felicity and the rest of the birds and together they defeat the villain of the week. Sorry I really didn’t pay much attention to the partner.

Source: smoaktechs 

In their victory celebration, Dinah decides not to arrest Bl*ck S*ren and even comes up with a get out of jail free card excuse aka “working undercover.” A relieved Felicity tells L*urel that everything can go back to normal.

But L*urel disagrees. It is time to stop running. It is time to stop pretending to be someone she’s not. It’s time to go back to Earth 2. She has to made amends in the place where she created so much pain. I. AM. SCREAMING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No, it’s not a stint in the pokey, but I WILL TAKE IT. Going back to Earth 2 is the next best thing. It addresses my primary problem with L*urel’s redemptive arc and that is pretending to be someone she’s not. Being Earth 1 L*urel L*ance protected Bl*ck S*ren from all the damage she caused on Earth 2. If she really wants a shot at redemption then she has to go back to the place where everyone knows her as Bl*ck S*ren. Earth 2 is where L*urel will be forced to confront everything she’s done and accept responsibility for it. There’s no hiding, running or easy outs on Earth 2. That is the place where an honest redemptive arc can begin.

Felicity understands and gives her a parting gift – E1 L*urel’s Bl*ck C*nary suit.

Source:  nyssaalghl

It’s a beautiful full circle moment. I don’t make the rules! Felicity anoints the superheroes, assigns the names and hands out the couture! If she says L*urel should be Bl*ck C*nary on Earth 2 then L*urel is going to be Bl*ck C*nary on Earth 2. Fine with me!

L*urel meets Sara once more at Quentin’s grave. Her story always comes back to Sara no matter what version of L*urel it is. Felicity was the push, but Sara’s words lit the spark. She launched L*urel L*ance’s hero’s journey once again. Cuz see the light?!!!!

Source: canarygifs

This scene also feels like a goodbye to the Lance family. Quentin is gone, L*urel is dead, Sara is off hero-ing through time, and Bl*ck S*ren is returning to Earth 2. This isn’t the end of L*urel’s redemptive journey. It’s the beginning. But it is the first time I believe she might deserve it someday.

Source:  nyssaalghl 

FLASH FORWARD TIME!

Dinah created the Canary Network to be a support system for women, so someone always had their back. It’s a reminder to Dinah of what she failed to give Bl*ck S*ren once. It’s a whole conglomerate of leather clad ladies supporting ladies! LOOOOOOVE IT!

There is no singular Bl*ck C*nary. No one woman holds the title. It fulfills L*urel L*ance’s dying wish in a way she couldn’t even imagine at the time, which is why it is so fitting.

Unfortunately, Galaxy One massacres the network in “Lost Canary” and Dinah loses fifteen of her girls. It’s a devastating loss for Dinah, but I couldn’t help but cackle a little. Arrow never misses an opportunity to throw a little petty at the LL fandom. Oh you’re made we killed once Bl*ck C*nary? Watch us kill fifteen! How do you like them apples?!

Dinah, Felicity and Zoe want to lay low and regroup after such a big hit, but Mia is fired up and ready for pay back. 

Source: amunetblack 

Dinah tries to convince her to wait for the surviving canaries to fight back when the time is right, but Mia defiantly says...

Source: amunetblack 

It’s like they tailor made her for us fandom. Mia Smoak is perfection on every level. 

Dinah calls in some back up to keep an eye on Mia.

L*urel.

She saves Mia from some Galaxy One goons. Unfortunately, the horror show of a wig is back, but let us pray there are less buckles on the suit. The lipstick has changed from black to red so serious upgrade in that department.

Source: dcmultiverse

It’s a beautifully symbolic moment because L*urel saves Mia in an alley where a body of a dead canary is lying. It’s the same kind of alley where Sara fell to her death and launched L*urel’s Bl*ck C*nary journey. 

It’s the same kind of alley where L*urel’s journey was foreshadowed in the pilot,

but with a significant change. L*urel is no longer connected to the man in the story, but to the women.  Sara, L*urel, Felicity, Dinah, Bl*ck S*ren, Zoe and Mia all weave together in one beautiful thread. Bl*ck C*nary no longer belongs to one woman. It belongs to all of them.

The beauty of this is I don’t have to sit through another half baked Bl*ck C*nary storyline for L*urel. I trust she’s earned the suit on E2. Even better she’s still Bl*ck S*ren. This isn’t 2.0 of E1 L*urel L*nce. Hopefully, all the snarky wit, aptitude for zingers and glowering that made me fall in love with BS remains. I just needed her to stop murdering people. That’s all. All of this means I might finally have a version of L*urel L*nce that I can enjoy.

L*urel gives Mia some wisdom that screams THERE IS GOING TO BE A SPIN OFF, 

but what I loved most is L*urel is still trying every day to prove she is a hero. 

Redemption is a journey and not a destination. And undeserved forgiveness is often the beginning of that journey. Nobody knows that better than L*urel L*ance.

Stray Thoughts

#Fact. Source:  felicitysmoakgifs

Bl*ck S*ren pretending to be L*urel acts somewhat normal. She ratchets up the cheese factor when she's Bl*ck S*ren. I forgot about that.

Emily is having an A+ hair season. Really it's like a Vidal Sassoon commercial every week.

This made me emotional. Source:  olicitygifs

"Let's just call her a genius and leave it at that." Hubby is so proud of bae.

Bl*ck S*ren versus White Canary is like a heavy weight boxer fighting a chipmunk.

Felicity and Sara flirting is everything I didn’t know I need. The love triangle was centered on the wrong person in Season 2. It should have been Felicity and not Oliver. Source:  ebett

Yup. We all knew. Source:   felicitysmoakgifs

“Felicity Smoak is killing people now." Sara is my spirit animal.

Sara has seniority Dinah. It should've been you sitting it out. Respect your elder. Source:  canarygifs

The great evil of this episode is the grommet sweater. We must protect the actresses from this atrocity because it's spreading. 

This  was cute. Source: hollandrooden

Sara has a baby on Earth 2? I NEED THE NAME. WHERE ARE PICTURES?

Don’t tell me L*urel is not in love with Felicity. I know my truth.  Source: hollandrooden

Spit my drink out when Sara said this because it’s ridiculous. That said, Arrow continually painting Laurel as a saint is a constant reminder they are never bringing her back. the more Arrow paints Laurel as saint. Source:  danverskara

Was it snowing in the future? What was up with the weather?

Disclaimer: Any gifs on the blog are not mine. If you would like a gif removed from my reviews, please message me. 7x18 gifs credited.

The *** in names is so the review doesn’t show up in the tag.

If you’d like to support the blog, please buy me a cup of tea!

[visionsofus]

Field Trips, Infinity Stones, and oh mY GOD IS THAT SPIDER-MAN?

CH1  |  CH2  |  CH3  |  CH4  |  CH5  |  CH6  |  CH7  |  CH8  | AO3

| CHAPTER 9 - betrayal and broken ones | 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Instinctively, Peter’s hands shot upwards, trying to grab onto anything that would stop his fall, but it was too late. As he dropped, he got the uncomfortable feeling that his stomach had been left behind and while it was a funny feeling to have on a rollercoaster, it was not as pleasant when you were about to fall to a fiery end.

Before Peter could do the whole ‘last thoughts’ thing which inevitably probably wouldn’t have been as grand as he would have liked, the wind was knocked out of him as the iron spider suit hit him square in the back. At record speed, it unravelled over his skin, a little uncomfortable considering it was going over his regular clothes, but the suit seemed to try and shift to accommodate them.

“That’s what I’m talking about!” Peter yelled enthusiastically and pointed his wrist upwards, shooting a web to break his fall and swinging past his backpack grabbing it right before it fell into the inferno below. “You never disappoint, Karen.” Peter said as he landed on the floor, he had thrown Flash onto not long ago.

“Naturally, Peter.” Karen’s voice replied in his helmet. “Hostiles are currently contained to Alpha Vault 3 and Ms Potts is trying to get inside but it appears they have barricaded the doors.”

“Alright, let me get Flash down to the others and then I’ll try and work something out with Pepper.” Peter said walking over to Flash who was still unconscious. “By the way, is he ok?”

Peter’s suit did a scan of Flash and brought up a replica of Flash’s vitals on the screen before his eyes. “I believe that he has a mild concussion and bruising to his shoulder and back but nothing severe.”

“Alright, that’s good then.”

“The bruises will likely be painful.” Karen added.

“I didn’t ask.” Peter said but he grinned anyway as he hoisted Flash up and into a fireman’s lift.

“You thought it though.”

“What floor is MJ on now, has she reached the rest of the class?” Peter asked, striding out the door of the destroyed lab and towards the stairwell near the lifts. With the hand that wasn’t braced against Flash’s back he webbed up his backpack strap to stop it from tearing any more than it already had.

“Based on the limited access that I have to back up security cameras, Michelle and your classmates are currently on floor 6.” Karen told him as he reached the top of the stairs and peered down between the flights. Nothing like 11 floors to get the blood pumping before having to tackle six bad guys.

“Well, all in a day’s work, I guess.” Peter said shrugging and started to take the stairs two at a time.  

The time allowed Peter to think up what he was going to say to MJ so that she wouldn’t suspect anything. He wasn’t sure what he would say if she asked about how Peter had asked for his suit whilst hanging from a water pipe fifty feet in the air and what exactly the ‘suit’ was. It wouldn’t necessarily take a genius to connect the dots… and MJ pretty much was a genius. Perhaps she would’ve forgotten that part because of shock or something? Peter knew it was wishful thinking.

“S-Spider-Man?” Flash mumbled from behind Peter’s shoulder.

“You bet.” Peter said, deepening his voice a little to make him sound different, though he doubted Flash was in any condition to ID him. Flash mumbled something unintelligible and then stopped talking and Peter wondered whether he had passed out again.

According to the time on his suit interface, it took Peter one minute and 12 seconds to get down to his classmates, who had now reached Floor Four and counting.

Peter caught up with them in the stairwell.

“Ahem.” He cleared his throat and gave a little wave as half the class and Mr Harrington turned to look back at him.

“Spider-Man!” Ned said gleefully.

“I believe this belongs to you.” Peter said walking a few more steps to Mr. Harrington, unshouldering Flash and passing him off to his teacher.

“Right… yes thank you.” Mr Harrington said guiltily, “Is he alright?”

“Just a concussion… but he should probably see a medic.” Peter added hastily, naturally a concussion was ‘just a concussion’ to him at this point. Peter had legitimate concern for the number of brain cells he himself had lost from hitting his head too hard during fights, but he supposed the situation was more critical for Flash considering the lack of brain cells he seemed to have begun with. Dammit if Flash had been awake that would have been a really good joke.

“What about Peter!” MJ said and bounded back up the stairs to him. “He was with Flash.”

“He’s fine, I uh…” Peter faltered despite having rehearsed his tale down eleven flights of stairs, “I got him out too, but he insisted on helping the civilians still upstairs, brave guy.” Peter wanted to slap himself for that last part. “Ned, good to see you again, Peter asked you to hold onto this and take very good care of it.”

Peter handed Ned his backpack and watched Ned beam as his classmates began to whisper:how does he know Spider-Man?

“Alright then,” Peter said dusting his hands off now that he had handed his cargo off. “You all head out of the building while we handle the situation up here.”

At that exact moment Flash managed to get his eyes open, groaning from where he hung supported by Mr Harrington and one of his friends. Peter rounded the next flight of stairs just in time to hear Flash’s enthusiastic, “oh mY GOD IS THAT SPIDER-MAN?”

Peter grinned as he leapt up onto the railing, gave a wave to the students who craned their necks out to watch him. He shot a web upwards and used it to pull himself up past flights of stairs.  

“Ms Potts has successfully breached Alpha Vault 3.” Karen informed Peter when he reached Level 15 and burst out the stairwell doors and onto the main floor.

“Shall I activate instant kill?” Karen asked.

“Nah, let’s see what we’re up against first.” Peter said as he jogged down the corridor towards the door at the end. It was, or rather had been, a heavy-duty steel alloy structure but was now lying a few feet away on the ground, having been blown out by an explosion. “Can you link me into the Rescue suit so I can communicate with Pepper?”

“Done.”

“Hi Pepper.” Peter said hesitantly as he stepped through the doorway, dodging pieces of rubble.

“Peter, what happened to your tour?” Pepper said, her voice drowned out in the middle by a loud boom.

“Oh, you know, something came up.” Peter said when he reached her.

Pepper was standing with her hands raised, pointed in the direction of another set of what seemed to be, impenetrable doors. She turned to look at him, “Good to see you changed your mind about the suit.”

“I can take care of this now if you’d like,” Peter said hesitantly, shying away from her comment. He wasn’t so sure he could ‘take care of it’ as such but wanted to offer nonetheless. What with Morgan and Happy still in the building and everything that had happened last month he wasn’t sure how involved Pepper wanted to be in the whole superhero scene.  

“I appreciate it Peter, but this is my company, my work and nobody threatens myfamily.” Pepper said fiercely.

“Ms Maximoff, Princess Shuri and Dr Banner have arrived at the premises, I have brought an elevator back online to escort them up.” Friday said speaking up from both Pepper’s suit and Peter’s.

“Friday, I just ran down eleven flights of stairs, you didn’t tell me you could do that!”

“Now isn’t the time, Peter.” Pepper said as the doors trembled. “They need to come out one way or another, it’s just a question of when. Friday, any update on what sort of weapons they have activated?”

“I am unsure, my entire system is offline behind those doors, whoever blew out Arc Output 2c knew what they were doing.”

“An inside job?” Peter asked and saw Pepper tilt her head.

“It better not be.” She said and without warning shot two blasts, one after the other at the doors before them.

“Karen, shocker webs charged please.” Peter said hearing the clicks from his wrists as the suit readied itself. At least with the iron spider suit he didn’t have to worry himself with replacing web fluid, the suit seemed to produce it on command. Peter wished that he had taken the time to study the suit in the last month and mentally kicked himself for letting his emotions prevent him from understanding his own weapon.

Pepper shot another round of pulses at the door but all they did was make dents in the metal.

“Friday, max power.” Pepper said and Peter stepped back as he heard the familiar sound of the arc repulsors building in energy. They went off with a blast and Peter threw his hands up instinctively as the doors exploded. He waited for some sort of impact, but none came.

“Heads.” Wanda Maximoff said, and Peter spun around in time to see her scarlet energy pulling what remained of the doors over their heads and behind her, past where Shuri was standing.

“Sorry we’re late.” Shuri said.  

“Bruce has gone up to try and get your systems back online so that your AI can do… whatever it is that she does.” Wanda said her powers crackling as the group stepped forward through the hole in the doors that Pepper had just created.

“Well then, let’s get rid of these bastards.” Pepper said and then looked to her companions and though Peter couldn’t see her facial expression he could guess it, “and ladies, no casualties… and Peter. I want to know why they’re here first.”

“Naturally. This is just a little hiccup compared to what we are used to.” Wanda said shrugging and raising her hands, power dancing around her fingers. They made their way past more steel doors, leading off into rooms Peter didn’t even know existed.

“Alright miss high and mighty.” Shuri joked and Wanda smiled in response.

“Shock webs charged and engaged.” Karen informed Peter and he readied his hands as they came to the end of the corridor and where the carnage began. The explosion of Arc Output 2c above them had blown through to the floor below, as it had done to the two floors above it.

Beyond the destruction was another room and inside it Peter could see the six hostiles Friday had mentioned earlier.

“Don’t use anything explosive, some of the artefacts in that room are highly reactive.” Pepper yelled and together the group of Avengers went on the offensive. Pepper made it into Alpha Vault 3 first, bashing the first guy over the head. Wanda and Shuri went in together. Shuri had disengaged her blasters but that didn’t make her any less lethal as she drew out two Vibranium daggers.

Peter was last and felt his stomach drop immediately when he got a better look at who was inside the room… Daniel. Daniel, his Launchpad mentor. Peter’s mind flashed back to less than two hours earlier at lunch when he had seen a group of students by the elevators, he recognised their faced among the other people in the room. What had Daniel done?

Peter ducked as Tony’s trademark repulsor tech was turned on him, he was not used to being on the receiving end. Each of the six appeared to have taken a piece of Stark weaponry, all arc powered, and were turning it on the Avengers. Karen scanned the weapons and immediately brought up their specs on his interface, which Peter read rapidly. It seemed they weren’t new tech. Tony had created them for S.H.E.I.L.D but had, luckily, never had the chance to distribute them. As such they had been confined to Alpha Vault 3 to be forgotten about, or at least that was what was supposed to have happened.

Peter dodged as another blast shot past him, taking out a portion of the wall behind him.  

“Hostiles identified.” Karen said. “Peter-“

“I know.” Peter said. Seeing that Pepper had already taken out one of the girls and Wanda and Shuri had the rest relatively under control, he kicked off the wall, spinning and aiming his foot at Daniel’s shoulder.

“Just let us take the damn stones!” Daniel yelled, turning his weapon on Peter and meeting him mid-air. “We’ll give them back afterwards!”

“We don’t have them!” Peter yelled back angrily. Almost everyone had heard of the sacrifice that the Avengers had gone through to get the stones and then return them. So what made these six so desperate that they’d risk that kind of sacrifice?

“Liar!” Daniel snarled. The hatred with which he yelled sent shivers through Peter.

Peter flipped to dodge another blast and without looking sent a shock web at one of the guys who was about to fire on him again. The web encased his chest, sending shocks to what Peter knew were his key pain receptors, bringing him to his knees in pain.

Peter had never seen Daniel like this before. Just earlier they’d had a perfectly easy conversation, Daniel had been sympathetic even. What had made him become like this?

“No more of that thanks.” Peter snapped, wishing that he could talk to Daniel instead of fighting him. Peter shot a regular web and tugged the weapon from Daniel’s hand and threw it up to the roof, shooting a web to keep it in place.

“I just need to get him back…” Daniel said dropping to his knees and raising his hands. “Please… just let us have the stones.”

Peter’s heart dropped and he stood before Daniel as the fight came to an end almost as quickly as it had begun. The other assailants, most of whom didn’t look to be much older than him had been apprehended and were gathered in a corner, Wanda, Shuri and Pepper standing before them, a force formidable enough to make anyone surrender.  

“Afraid the stones don’t work that way.” Peter said bitterly as he grabbed Daniels’ raised hands and pulled them behind his back, webbing them for good measure. Peter stood Daniel up and one by one shot each of the other hostiles, webbing their wrists together. There was no way they were getting through that stuff any time soon. From the looks of their faces, it didn’t seem like they were even keen to try. They had already given up.  

“Let’s get them out of here.” Pepper said, her helmet rising up to reveal her face. “Friday has authorities out the front.”

Peter rode the lift that Friday had gotten back online with the three Avengers and their recently apprehended hostiles all the way back down to the ground floor of Stark Industries. It was a solemn journey and Peter itched to ask Daniel. But there was little that he could say without risking his identity by being too familiar with his friend. Luckily Pepper spoke up as they went past the eighth floor.

“You’ve been a loyal and hardworking employee at this company for a decade, what made you decide to go rogue now?” Pepper said, her voice cold as she refused to look at Daniel.

“You think I enjoyed being stuck down there in with the interns? I only stayed there because it made me invisible. Invisible enough to steal a clearance card when the time came. Everyone got everything back after the snap.” Daniel muttered. “But there were people who lost everything because of the snap and then lost more after it. My fiancée died because he lost his sister and parents to the Decimation. Said he couldn’t live without his family… I was supposed to be his family.” Daniel spat the last bit out. “Those stones brought everyone else back so we figured that they could help us out again. Everyone here lost people who didn’t get brought back. Do you know what it’s like to watch everyone get their lives back knowing that you aren’t going to see your loved ones ever again?”

Pepper was silent for a moment. “Yeah I do.” Her voice was raw and broken as she stormed out of the lift, pushing two of the assailants before her out onto the ground floor. “But you don’t see me going crazy.”

“Probably didn’t care enough then.” One of the guys muttered under his breath and Pepper spun around in a fury, but Peter was quicker to retaliate.

At that comment he shoved Daniel to the floor and turned on the guy who had said it. Wisely, Wanda let go and let Peter at him. He wasn’t a looker, with a nose that had been broken a few times and a blonde buzz cut done so unevenly it looked like he had used garden sheers.

Peter’s helmet slid back to reveal his face. “Say it again.” Peter yelled slamming the assailant up against the wall beside the elevator.

“Peter.” Pepper said quietly.

“Say… it… again.” Peter said slowly, his fists coiled in the high school blazer the guy was wearing, clearly not his own. He had to be at least 5 years too old.

“You didn’t care enough.” He spat in Peter’s face and with a furious yell and a burst of strength Peter threw him 25 feet across the room, sending him sprawling on his back with a crash. It was either that or Peter would have broken his nose another couple of times.

“Peter…” Shuri said as Peter’s mask closed over his face again. Peter wasn’t sure if he had teared up, it felt like he had but the automatic temperature gage of the suit that stopped him from sweating too much probably got rid of whatever moisture may or may not have fallen onto his cheeks.

“I’m fine.” Peter said and pulled Daniel to his feet, who was now gaping at Peter in surprise. Daniel now knew his identity, but Peter couldn’t bring himself to care. “Walk.”

“There they are!” Someone yelled from the crowd that had gathered outside of Stark Industries, mostly consisting of employees but also a considerable amount of press, cameras raised to attention.

“We’ll be taking these guys off your hands now.” A sergeant said, stepping up to the Avengers and gesturing for his officers to take them away. “Neat stuff you got here,” he said indicating Peter’s web on one of the criminal’s wrists, “reckon you could lend some of that to the force?”

“No can do,” Peter said, trying to put on a light attitude, “it’s one of a kind I’m afraid.”  

“You better head off for now, the press is going to have questions for you if you don’t leave.” Pepper said quietly and Peter nodded, slipping through the crowd before anyone else could approach him. Wanda and Shuri followed, dodging people who were luckily too focused on what was happening with Pepper to pay them any attention.

“Well that was a bit of a mess.” Shuri said flicking her wrists, sending the Vibranium daggers somewhere into the Kimoyo beads she wore around her wrist.

“You alright?” Wanda said looking at Peter who was peering over the crowd and trying to pick out his class. He needed his backpack to put the suit back in before anyone saw him.

“I’ll be ok.” Peter said shrugging.

“Peter!” Cried a little voice and Peter turned to see Morgan scampering up to him, a puffing Happy in hot pursuit.

“Oohh hey kiddo, are you ok?” Peter said lifting her up as she reached them.

“When Peter has his mask on, we don’t say his name remember Morgan?” Happy puffed once he reached them.

“Shhhh.” Morgan said pressing a finger to her lips and Peter mimicked the motion, smiling as he did.

“Peter Parker!”

Peter put Morgan down, turned around and had the breath knocked out of him by May who had just stormed through the crowd. She enveloped him in a tight hug.

“Peter!” Morgan echoed and pointed up to him. Happy shushed her again, picking her up.

“Honestly, would it kill you to have one normal high school field trip?” May said drawing back to get a good look at him.

“Tell me about it.” Peter said laughing. “What are you doing here?”

“I came up early for the memorial, and lucky I did!”

“Hello again” Shuri said hesitantly and May jerked her head to look at Peter’s companions in surprise.

“Oh, May, this is the Princess of Wakanda and Wanda Maximoff, you sort of met them last month.” Peter said looking to the two women beside him. “And you obviously already know Happy and Morgan.”

“Nice to meet you… again…” May said shaking their hands slowly and uncertainly. “Hey sweetie.” May then said smiling warmly at Morgan, or at least Peter hoped she was and not at Happy.  

“We’ll let you get on,” Wanda said catching sight of Bruce who had just exited SI and had been met with a flurry of camera flashes. “I’ll probably see you later at the memorial.”

Peter nodded, “thanks for all your help.”

“Anytime.” Wanda said smiling.

“Oh, and Peter, how did it go with those beads I gave you? Did they give that bully a bit of a shock?” Shuri said hopefully and May looked at Peter with a quizzical brow raised.

“I didn’t get the chance to give them to him, but he ended up getting a concussion and some bruises so—"Peter shrugged to finish his sentence.

“Wait don’t tell me that you still have them on you then.”

“Yeah why—” Peter began before his heart lurched as he felt a warm burning sensation begin in his right-hand pocket. “Gah!” Peter exclaimed, falling to one knee and throwing his head back in pain as the bead seemed to react with some part of his suit and electricity crackled through it.

“System overload, too much energy is being inputted into the suit’s main power receptors, disengaging.” Karen said and Peter gritted his teeth at the electricity that charged through him. When the suit had drawn back enough, he reached into his pocket but found nothing there, whatever the beads had been they had apparently disintegrated upon detonation. He picked the suit up gingerly as it smoked slightly.

May helped Peter to his feet as he coughed, the burning feeling fading eventually.

“Ahhh… sorry about that.” Shuri said, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly. “I didn’t think you would still have them on you, they aren’t supposed to be that strong though…”

“Must have had something to do with my suit.” Peter said as the suit failed to fold itself up into the small box that it usually did. “Damn.” He said turning the smouldering suit over in his hands.

“Next time, just don’t take anything Shuri gives you.” Wanda said shaking her head.

“Hey, that’s strike one, three strikes and I’ll tamper with Vision’s new interface so that he autocorrects ‘I love you’ to all three minutes of ‘what does the fox say’.” Shuri retaliated.

Wanda made a face and stalked away, Shuri running after her and spouting apologies.

“Crazy day, huh?” May said putting an arm around Peter and turning to look back at the crowd that had gathered outside SI.

“Sure was.” Peter said folding his suit into thirds to the best of his ability. “Can you get my backpack off of Ned?”

“Sure thing.” May said, squeezing Peter’s shoulder once and heading off in the direction of his class. Morgan squirmed out of Happy’s arms and was off again, running through the crowds back to her Mom. Happy gave a tremendous sigh but smiled at Peter nonetheless as he jogged off after her.

While he waited, Peter turned his gaze up to the building before him, peering up to his lab. Even his eyes couldn’t see inside it, but he could see which level it was, the glass’s opacity was similar to that of Pepper’s offices on the top floor. He looked from the lab down to his suit but didn’t have much time to put his feelings into thoughts before May had returned and was handing him the backpack.

“You better get over there, they’re all worried about where you’ve been.” May said jerking her heading the direction she had just come from as Peter stuffed the suit into his bag. “You can tell me all about whatever just happened afterwards. We’ll go get something good to eat.”

“Thanks May.” Peter said hugging his aunt as she pressed a kiss to his cheek.

Peter ran a hand through his hair and straightened his Midtown blazer, trying desperately to make it seem like he hadn’t just been in fight, or mildly electrocuted for that matter.

“Parker,” Mr Harrington said, “thank god you’re ok.” Peter blinked in surprise, he had been expecting reprimand for not staying with the rest of the class. “You wouldn’t believe the paperwork,” Mr Harrington muttered to Abigail who looked sideways at the teacher in concern and edging away.

“Hey man.” Ned said coming up to clap Peter on the back. “You ok?”

“All fine.” Peter said smiling at Ned.

“Where were you.” MJ said from behind, tapping him on the shoulder. Peter was disappointed to find her face stony and arms folded. Perhaps if he hadn’t told her that ‘peter parker’ was ‘fine’ then this reunion might have been a little more heartfelt.

“Oh y’know,” Peter said scratching the back of his neck. “I came down with Happy after getting some of the employees off of the top floors.”

“But I didn’t see you with him.”

“I was… I just ahh- I bumped into May and you know she was all freaking out and stuff.” Peter scrambled for words as MJ’s eyes bore into him.

“Aright.” MJ said, relenting her interrogation. “Considering I last saw you hanging for your life from a pipe this is definitely an improvement.”

“Do I get a hug?” Peter said hopefully, not really thinking before he spoke.

“What? You think your existence deserves a hug from me?” MJ said indignantly but settled for a one-armed embrace that Peter could have sworn lingered a moment longer than it should have.

Peter grinned and looked sideways at Ned who was giving him a not so subtle thumbs up.

Together Peter and MJ moved forward with the rest of the class to watch the procession of assailants be escorted to cop cars.

“Guess you and Spider-Man really are friends then.” MJ said glancing at Peter’s bag and the web that was holding one of the straps in place.

“I told you.” Peter said shrugging and keeping his eyes on each of the six criminals as they were escorted into custody. His eyes lingered sadly on Daniel, wishing that there was something that he could do and wondering how things had gone so wrong.

Peter’s eyes drifted to the final one, the guy with the dodgy nose and bad buzz cut. It was terrible timing apparently, because at that moment his eyes caught sight of Peter and they locked on him in determination as he twisted his head out of the cop’s grasp.

“That’s him, that’s Spider-Man!” He yelled and people around them turned to look at Peter before being drawn back to the action as the guy was thrown up against the vehicle, his hands properly cuffed this time.

“Dumbass,” Flash said from where he was sitting at an Ambulance, ice pressed to the back of his head. “I’ve met Spider-Man and he certainly isn’t Penis Parker.” Peter decidedly, ignored the comment.

“Any idea what he’s talking about?” MJ said nodding in the direction of the assailant and the cop cars, whose lights were now flashing as they edged their way through the crowd and out into traffic.

“No clue.” Peter said shrugging but standing a little taller, casting one last glance up to the Lab on level 27.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 NEXT > CH10

[elliepassmore]

A Spark of White Fire Review

5/5 stars Recommended for people who like: sci-fi, fantasy, mythology, Indian mythology, strong female characters One of the highlights of this book is the backdrop and pantheon Mandanna has created. It's a futuristic sci-fi world, yes, but there are also gods and curses and magic and pieces of jewelry that protect its wearer. Combining fantasy and sci-fi elements beyond the idea of aliens can get pretty complicated and end up coming across as more messy than the author intends, but none of that occurs here. The gods and curses fit within the story just as well as the space ships and man-made planets. Esmae has a complicated decision to make in the book and, in the end, it's sort of made for her. On the one hand, she wants to help the rightful heir to Kali, Alexi, get his throne back from his uncle, Evar, who took the throne from him. On the other hand, when she goes to the Kalian palace to spy on Evar and the royal family, she finds herself growing closer to them and doesn't necessarily want to see them dead. Beyond the scope of that she also doesn't want there to be a war. As a sort of compromise, she ferrets information out to Alexi, but she also helps to train the Kalian force known as the 'Hundred and One.' As for the war-aspect of things, there's an adviser to Elvar that's doing most of the warmongering, which it doesn't take her long to figure out, and thus Esmae works to roust him and smooth over the rising tensions between Elvar's and Alexi's factions. Side-characters include, shocker, Alexi. Everyone lauds him as the golden boy, the prince who was wronged, and yet...the entire story he just felt slippery to me. He's nice to Esmae and his brother, but there's something unexplainable about his mannerisms and the way he talks that just made me side-eye him in basically every scene he's in. *SPOILER* Which, after the way he broke the rules of dueling, turns out to be the right instinct. *END SPOILER* Another side-character is Esmae's long-time friend, Rama. Rama is generally lazy, but it's obvious how much he loves Esmae and would stand by her side no matter what. He's the first person to see through the lie she uses to get close to Elvar and the royal family, and he continues supporting her throughout the book in varying ways, even when he's planets away. Elvar's adopted son, Max, is another main side-character. He might very well be the next person to see through Esmae's trickery and, shockingly, he doesn't seem to mind it. Despite being the son of Alexi's enemy, Max doesn't want war any more than Esmae does. The more Esmae, and we, learn about the way things work on Kali, the more it becomes clear that, despite Max siding with Elvar's warmongering assistant on many things, he also works around him to avoid war. It's a tricky balance that's caused him to get some nasty titles across the galaxy, but it works ...for the most part. Amba is another main side-character and, in the world Mandanna created, she's the goddess of war who has taken care of Esmae for most of her life. Amba flicks in and out of scenes, giving advice or admonishing Esmae, though there's little she can physically do to intervene due to the rules of godhood. The last character I'd count as a 'main side-character' is probably the ship, Titania, who is sentient. She has a personality of her own, getting giddy when she gets to take Esmae out to the stars, even having a favorite place to visit, and even has her own opinions. Esmae talks to her when she needs help, and so do some of the other characters. For a warship, Titania is pretty war-averse. Esmae mostly runs the plot, transferring between helping Alexi and helping Elvar, but there are other elements at play that are out of her hands. The gods, for one. The two we see are Amba and Kirrin--god of tricks and bargains--each of whom have their own favored people, naturally on opposite sides of the war; we also get a glimmer of an introduction to the god of wisdom, Valin, and I'm pretty sure who his mortal form is, though if I'm right, Mandanna really didn't work to be subtle with that one, but I bring it up because it seems it'll be important for future books. Curses are also a rather large element in the story. The former queen of Kali was cursed and, indirectly, so was one of her children; Esmae was cursed; I'm pretty sure Alexi gets cursed; etc. The idea of a fixed moment in time is also introduced to be a factor guiding the plot. The gods can see possibilities of the future, all of which have the potential to change depending on one's actions--sort of like the multiverse theory--but some moments become fixed if one takes a certain action. Esmae's action of firing the arrow in the beginning of the story fix an action for later on that involves another arrow being used, which goes on to cause another variation of a fixed action. While there's some predictability for the overarching plot if you're familiar with the Mahabharata story, the individual book-by-book plot isn't too predictable so far, even with fixed points in time. Overall, the characters, plot, and setting were all remarkably well done and I can't wait for the remaining two books. I'm actually super curious about Esmae's next steps.

[aion-rsa]

Spider-Man: No Way Home – Breaking Down The Sinister Six Villains

https://ift.tt/3DiBJ0a

In retrospect, it was poetic that the now-arrived Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer preemptively leaked in a dimensionally-layered video of someone watching a video on his phone. After all, the genuine article—highlighted by the confirmed continuity-crossing return of Alfred Molina’s Spider-Man 2 villain, Doctor Octopus—has engulfed the Wall-Crawler’s various cinematic continuities like a set of Russian nesting dolls, the byproduct of which will be Sony Pictures’ spinoff movie for antagonistic tandem the Sinister Six. Now, what has been a decade’s worth of planning from the studio is finally set to pay off in a major way.

Spider-Man: No Way Home is unlikely to take shape as a Sinister-Six-centric movie, but the film will evidently send consequential ripples down the shared timeline of the Marvel movies of Sony’s SPUMC (Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters) and Disney/Marvel Studio’s Avengers-housing MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe), as the March-scheduled MCU follow-up film, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, now clearly suggests. Indeed, an ill-advised spell by Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to erase the previous film’s post-credits doxing of Peter Parker (Tom Holland) as Spider-Man will tear the fabric of the multiverse (a concept recently introduced on Loki), resulting in a greatest hits rogues gallery being unleashed. Consequently, while Sony’s spinoff route was circuitous, it now has a destination set for its Sinister Six designs.

Marvel debuted the Sinister Six in 1964’s The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1, sporting an inaugural lineup of Doctor Octopus, Electro, the Vulture, Mysterio Kraven and Sandman. Interestingly, that alliance was formed by Doc Ock himself, who, frustrated by consistent defeats at the hands of Spider-Man, reached out to fellow villains to form the terrible tandem. However, there have been several lineups of this team over the years with myriad members, leaving nearly unlimited possibilities for its imminent in the SPUMC, especially in light of the No Way Home’s confirmed multiverse implications. However, before we get ahead of ourselves speculating on the full lineup of Sony’s Sinister Six movie, let’s take a quick look at the prospective members revealed in the trailer.

Sony Pictures

Doctor Octopus, as played by Alfred Molina, is the obvious pick, and likely the only member whose presence is truly essential. While buttressed by a tremendous performance, the villain’s tragic backstory made him into beloved standout in 2004’s Spider-Man 2, depicted as a good man made into a villain by the (literal) hands of fate. Yet, the elephant in the proverbial room is that the character (17-year-old spoiler ahead!) ended up coming to his senses and died heroically in the film while attempting to undo his own destructive nuclear experiment.

That fact alone likely indicates that the versions of the returning villains we’ll see in No Way Home are variants, ones who avoided their film fates. However, the potent “Hello, Peter” greeting he delivers seems to imply a prior relationship, possibly indicating that he’s actually addressing another Spider-Man, like, say, one played by Tobey Maguire. Yet, with this version of Molina’s Doc Ock presumably being one who didn’t have his climactic face-turn, the tentacled terror seems destined to play out his comic fate of fomenting his Spider-Man hate, forming the Sinister Six and becoming its de facto leader.

Sony Pictures

The Green Goblin, as played by Willem DaFoe in 2002’s Spider-Man, is also obvious, albeit to a slightly lesser extent. While not seen in the trailer, a shot of one of his signature pumpkin bombs dropping to the ground against the audio of a familiar sinister screech was all we needed for confirmation of his return.

While, in the comics, the Goblin has been part of past Sinister Six lineups, this version of the character, Norman Osborn, is not known as a team player, and his schizophrenia could create some alpha tensions between him and Doc Ock, which could come to define the film’s dynamic, for better or worse. While Osborn’s fortunes make him a convenient benefactor, it should be noted the first comic lineup to include Green Goblin notably saw him as the leader amid the absence of Doc Ock. Consequently, the arrival of DaFoe’s Green Goblin—which also defies his movie demise—doesn’t necessarily guarantee his presence in the Sinister Six lineup.  

Sony Pictures

Electro, as played by Jamie Foxx, was also interpreted as having a presence in the No Way Home trailer, since one quickly-shown scene depicts a lightning bolt—per his signature powers—striking a police car. Seeing as the character’s comic counterpart is an OG member of the Sinister Six, his presence here is a given, and Foxx’s reported return as Electro last year has helped further feed the Sinister Six speculation. Yet, it will be interesting to see if this appearance will further reflect the notion Foxx’s Max Dillon being a downtrodden every-man who was a major fan of Spider-Man until his corruption from his electrical powers put them on opposite sides.

Sandman, presumably by Thomas Hayden Church, who played the character in 2007’s Spider-Man 3, has also been a topic of speculation for this scene, since far behind the presumed-Electro-bolt is what appears a tornado of sand forming in the background. Church, like Dafoe, has long been rumored for a role reprisal as his Raimi-era movie villain. Yet, when it comes to backstories, this version of Sandman stands as the most potentially intriguing. While the film maintained his real name as Flint Marko, his story was combined with that of the burglar who shot and killed Uncle Ben, thereby making the rivalry with Spider-Man more personal.

However, as with Doc Ock, he was assigned a tragic backstory, attributing his criminal motives and subsequent prison escape to his desire to care for his sick daughter. While much of that baggage is unlikely to manifest in No Way Home, it will be hard to overlook the fact that he’s Uncle Ben’s killer, which despite the possibility of multiple Spider-Man, should hit hard for Tom Holland’s Peter Parker. In fact, Sandman’s presence potentially opens the possibility that the whole Uncle Ben situation will finally be addressed for his version, since solo debut Homecoming opted to skip the whole “power and responsibility” prologue story, with it being the third iteration to arrive in a decade.

Read more

Movies

Spider-Man: No Way Home Trailer Breakdown and Analysis

By Mike Cecchini

Movies

Spider-Man: No Way Home – Is Doctor Strange Mephisto?

By Alec Bojalad

Beyond those, the final Sinister Six cinematic lineup is anyone’s guess at this point. The existing array of SPUMC players include Michael Keaton’s Vulture (an front-runner who was not teased in this trailer), Tom Hardy’s Venom, Woody Harrelson’s Carnage, Naomi Harris’s Shriek, Riz Ahmed’s Riot, Bokeem Woodbine’s Shocker all have chances (to varying degrees) of being slotted into the group. Additionally, Sony could pull a swerve and bring back some of the more controversial iterations of Spider-Man villains such as Topher Grace’s version of Venom from Spider-Man 3, or even some of the maligned villains from 2014’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2 like Paul Giamatti’s Rhino or—in a scenario in which they want to watch the world burn—Dane DeHaan’s Green Goblin.   

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Regardless, we have a long way to go until the full extent of the multiverse mania set to unravel in Spider-Man: No Way Home can be fully gauged. The film is currently scheduled to hit theaters on Dec. 17. Additionally, the presumed follow-up to said mania, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is scheduled to arrive on Mar. 15. Until then, we’ll all just have to enjoy the speculative ride.

The post Spider-Man: No Way Home – Breaking Down The Sinister Six Villains appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3899nqu

[miss-wanderlustwriter]

The Sky (Part 3)

Billy Hargrove (Stranger Things) x Reader 

~4000 words (Each part just keeps getting longer, sorry guys) xD

Let me know what you think, this is my first Billy fanfic!

Feedback, suggestions & requests all welcome ♥

Summary: That night at the Byers.

Warnings: Violent Billy. Arguments. Angst. Language.

Part 1  Part 2  Part 4  Part 5

(Of course I don’t condone the actions of Billy at all in the show, but I’m intrigued by the character and let’s face it Dacre Montgomery is hot as hell, and such an amazing actor!)

The next week at school flew by. Billy felt confident in his maths test for the first time ever, and did carry on meeting me for lunch, sometimes we actually sat in the canteen as opposed to the library; ignoring all the stares and whispers surrounding us, or trying to at least.

He drove me home from school most days and I finally got to meet Max properly. She definitely had her walls up but I managed to get a few smiles out of her eventually, when I think she realised I wasn’t just another one of Billy’s one night stands and that I actually cared about her as a person.

She was a really cool kid, a great skater and I was interested in her how her day had gone and how she was fitting in at school. It sounded like she’d made friends with Lucas and the guys so that was a good sign!

Another Friday rolled around and I was sat at lunch thinking about calling round Nancy’s that evening. This has been going on far too long now, I hadn’t seen her or Jonathan in weeks and I was getting nothing out of Steve when he was around. I’m pretty sure Max is probably involved. It’s a mess.

I was so far gone running around my own head I jumped when Billy slammed his tray down opposite me, looking pissed off and wearing another one of those bloody shirts with practically no buttons done up.  

“What’s wrong with you? I questioned his attitude.

"Nothing.” He answered in short. “So are we going for a drive tonight or what?” Changing the subject and forcing a smile, clearly not wanting to talk about it so I let it go.

“Yeah sure!” Trying to recover from my worry about a certain alternate universe.

That’s when I heard it again, the whispers.

“They’re sat together again.”

“I know I told you, it’s everyday.”

“It’s weird!”

I lowered my head playing with my food, the doubts creeping back in along with all the other words I’d heard over the past few weeks: Are they friends? Are they fucking? Why is Billy hanging out with her? What does he see in her? She’s so weird. Maybe he took pity since her other friends have left her.

Billy notices my silence. “Hey. Princess.” And when I don’t answer “Hey, look at me.”

I put my fork down and sigh, looking up at Billy. I see his cute furrowed brow and find myself wanting to reach over and smooth the worry away. He just waits, eyes fixed on mine, giving me the time to gather myself.

I sigh again. “It’s just… We’re friends right?”

He looks so confused “Yeah of course, we shook on it didn’t we.”

“Yeah but I mean like actual friends, like you’re not just bullshitting me and this is all some joke where I’m the punchline?”

“What? Where is this coming from Y/N?”

“People here. I hear them whispering every day: I’m weird, why would Billy Hargrove want to spend time with me.” I looked down embarrassed by my confession, expecting him to admit it.

“Hey, look at me right now. Don’t you listen to these idiots, they are not worth your time. I like you Y/N, I like spending time with you, you’re different than everyone else in this shit town. Besides, you’re a pain in my ass, so do you think I’d voluntarily hang out with you if we weren’t friends.” He raised an eyebrow at me as the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

I was momentarily taken aback before my face lit up, I could feel it, and a smile spread across my face. “True. Thanks Billy.”

“Anytime Princess.”

When the school bell rang to signal the end of another week, Billy met me by my locker.

“What’s up, I thought we were just meeting at your car like always?”

“Just want to make sure you get there without anyone filling your head with lies Princess.” A smirk creeping across his face as we started walking to the parking lot. “Seriously though are you okay now?”

“Yeah I guess so. I mean, I just have one other genuine question.” I bit my lip with concern.

He took a deep breath before replying “And what’s that?”

“Well, do you actually buy your shirts with no buttons or do you just pull them off yourself?” I broke into a smile and a run as we got outside.

“Hey get back here! You cheeky…” He shouted after me and started to chase me towards his car. My pace slowed down because I was laughing so much, I turned around and tried to dodge him but it was a failure. He grabbed me, arms wrapped around my waist and lifted me off the floor twirling me round, both of us a laughing mess.

“Okay, okay, I can’t breath!” I protested. He lowered me to ground and put his arm around my shoulders as we walked the rest of the way to his car, trying to catch our breaths.

Max was waiting for us at the car and her eyes flitted between me and Billy as we go closer, his arm still around me. “Hey kid, you okay?” I smiled as I broke away from Billy to give her a hug, which she returned.

“Yes thanks.” And it sounded like she meant it, and I swear I heard her whisper to Billy as she got in the car “I like her the best.” I pretended not to hear, but saw Billy slightly shake his head as he tried to suppress a smile.

We chatted all the way home, Max actually getting involved, and once I’d waved them off I ran straight to the phone. Both my parents were away this weekend, thankfully, if anything kicked off they were better far away from this town. I rang Nancy but Mrs Wheeler said she was out, shocker. I tried Steve’s house but he wasn’t home either. Something was definitely wrong I could feel it.

My fears were confirmed later than night as Billy rang and cancelled our drive. It was a short conversation, and worrying. He sounded upset, angry and stressed but he refused to talk to me and hung up before I could protest.

I was facing my long night in of worrying about everyone I knew it seemed. I started doing some chores before heading to bed when the phone rang again.

It was Nancy. She was panicking.

“Nancy, Nancy slow down! You’re where?”

“At the Byer’s place, please Y/N can you come?! I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.”

“Yes of course, is everyone there?”

“Yes, it’s like last year. We’re currently safe here and forming a plan.”

“Okay I’m on my way!” I hung up, grabbed my old converse and my hoodie to throw on over my Def Leppard t-shirt and ran out the garage. Thankfully Mom and Dad had taken the project car my Dad had been working on for months so I was left with the family car.

As I was pulling up at Jonathan’s house I saw Chief Hopper leaving with a girl I’d never seen before as everyone else was gathered on the porch. He nodded to me as he climbed in his truck. Nancy flung herself forward into my arms before I was barely out the car. I’ve never hugged someone so tight, all my fears from the last few weeks just burst out of me and I was so glad she was here, I missed her so much.

We broke apart both wiping tears and she lead me inside with everyone else as Hopper and the girl drove off.

“So let me get this straight, this,” I pointed to the hundreds of drawings covering the walls, “is a map of tunnels underneath Hawkins that are basically the Upside-Down, with… Demodogs? Running around in them?”

Everyone nodded.

“Hopper and El, who is from Hawkins lab, have gone to shut the gate to the Upside-Down which will stop all this, while you, Jonathan and Mrs Byers take Will to Hopper’s cabin to sweat out the Mindflayer that’s currently controlling him?”

Everyone nodded again.

“Yeah pretty much.” Nancy confirmed.

“Oh okay. Great. Glad I’m caught up.” I let out a breath I didn’t realise I’d been holding. “Wait, what are those?” I asked alarmed, pointing to two syringes on the side.

“Oh, we need to sedate Will before we move him so the Mindflayer won’t know where to find us.”

“Okay. Reasonable.” My voice was small, my head was mashed.

Steve took Max, Mike, Lucas and Dustin to the living room to give me some space, and Mrs Byers went to prepare the sedative for Will. Jonathan looked at Nancy hesitant to leave her side but she gave him a nod and he went to his Mom. I saw the look on both of their faces and knew. I clung to a moment of clarity in this madness and turn to Nancy “So, you and Jonathan?”

“Is it that obvious?” She asks sheepishly.

I nudged her with my shoulder “Only to me. I’ve known you both a long time and all I can say is finally.” I smile at her “And I’m really happy for you both.”

“Thanks Y/N. I think we need to go, but I’ll see you once this is all over, I promise. I’ve missed you.”

“Me too Nance. Stay safe.”

And with that they were gone.

Max took Nancy’s seat next to me, and my mind flew back to Billy. I hoped to God he was okay.

I looked at her, she was carefully watching me. “It’s okay Y/N, I’m in the same boat as you. I just found out as well. It’s crazy.”

“I can’t believe you’re caught up in all this. Wait. Does Billy know?”

“God no! What made you think that?”

“He rang me earlier, cancelled our plans. He seemed stressed and upset but wouldn’t say anything else, just hung up. I’m worried about him.” I answered, my optimism destroyed, something else was obviously wrong with him.

“Oh. Can I ask you something?” She shifted in her seat.

“Yeah sure.”

“Are you and Billy still dating?” She looked down as she spoke.

I couldn’t help but laugh “Aw Max, we’re not dating, me and Billy are friends.”

Her head shot up and a confused look fell across her face, and I know they aren’t blood related but I could swear it was the same frown as Billy’s, the one I’d only seen earlier that day.

“Oh.” She hesitated before continuing “Well I’m rooting for you. He’s been changing since he started hanging out with you. He hasn’t shouted at me once. I like you being around.”

“Max, come here.” I say as I wrap my arms around her. “Me and you are friends now, no matter what happens with me and Billy. So if he ever shouts or does something horrible, you come to me okay?”

She gives me a small smile. “Okay, thanks Y/N.”

“Anytime.” I give her a squeeze and we head through to the rest of the guys in the living room.

“Okay so house rules.” I start “One: no one leaves this house. Two: Any problems, thoughts, worries you come to me or Steve. We’ll just stay here, stay safe and wait for news from the others.”

Steve looks shifty as he adds “Rule three: no on go in the freezer.”

Max, Lucas and Mike all mirror my confusion. “And why’s that Steve?”

But Dustin answers for him “There may be a dead Demodog in there. Potentially.”

“Oh Jesus. Okay no one go in the freezer.” I run my hands through my hair and tie it up in a ponytail. “Right guys, stay here I’m going to do a perimeter around the house, just to be sure.”

“No Y/N I’ll do that.” Steve interrupted.

“Honestly Steve, I need to do this to put my mind at rest and I could do with some air.”

“I’ll come with you.” Dustin offered with a smile.

“Okay kid let’s go.”

Dustin followed me out the front door as I was armed with Steve’s bat, and we started circling the house being as quiet as possible to listen for anything suspicious. We got round to the back of the house and checked the shed at the bottom of the yard, where they had evidently been housing Will. I let out a sigh of relief as we left the shed with nothing to report.

We stopped dead in our tracks as we heard a car engine pull up.

“They can’t have closed the gate and helped Will already can they?” I turned to Dustin, his eyes wide in shock? Fear? I couldn’t tell.

“I don’t think so, follow me.” We crept down the side of the house, peeking out to see Billy’s Camaro parked next to my car.

“What the hell, that’s Billy’ car.” I whispered to Dustin.

“Oh this can’t be good.”

“Come on.” I took the lead this time, striding back to the front door, my pace picking up when I heard raised voices.

Me and Dustin burst in the house to find Mike shocked into silence beside Max, who was shouting at Billy, who was holding Lucas against the wall while Steve advanced on them. Before I could process what was happening Steve pulled on Billy’s shoulder spun him around and landed a right hook across his face drawing blood.

“Yes! Looks like you’ve got some fire in you after all!” He mocked Steve, laughing while his nose was bleeding.

I did not recognise this person at all. It was terrifying.

“Billy! What the hell?!”

Everyone stopped.

Lucas took the opportunity to run to Mike and Dustin, who held him and pushed him behind themselves. Away from Billy.

Billy’s eyes locked on mine and for a second I thought I saw him in there, the guy who remembered that I loved the sky; but then he broke it, and his gaze flew from me to Steve.

“You… You and Harrington?”

“As if Billy. Don’t be stupid.” I scoffed.

“Yeah because that’s me! Stupid Billy! You. You were worried and it turns out all along you’re the one bullshitting me! Been laughing about me behind my back have we? You and Harrington all cosy together while I’m the joke? Am I right?!”  

I could not believe what I was hearing right now. I walked up to him, he stank of whiskey and cigarettes, and was still laughing manically to himself under his breath shaking his head.

“Billy. Do you hear yourself right now?” I tried to take his chin in my hand and make him look at me. “You’re wasted, let me clean -”. But I couldn’t finish. He slapped my hand away from him, and in the same instant Steve pushed me out the way and pushed Billy backwards away from us all. “Hey man, get out.”

“You don’t tell me what to do.” Billy’s voice lowered to a threat and he lunged for Steve, who dodged out the way and landed another punch.

“Woo! I’ve been waiting to meet this King Steve that everyone has told me so much about!” This time he gets his punch back in on Steve.

It was mayhem. We were all shouting at them to stop, no one could be heard over the barrage of noise. Shouts and punches filled the air. I didn’t realise I was crying until I felt the sobs ripping through my chest. Two of the people I cared about most were beating the shit out of each other.

“Billy. Please.” I pleaded, I begged. But my voice fell to a whisper, I couldn’t breath properly.

He had Steve pinned to the ground now, he was unreachable, the red mist was down and he would kill Steve.

Then Max appeared, syringe in hand and before anyone could move another inch she had plunged it into Billy’s neck. He stopped, span around and already started wobbling as he pulled the needle out “What did you do to me?” He tried to step towards Max but couldn’t and he fell to the floor while we all looked at Max in shock as she picked up the bat I’d dropped and threatened Billy with it before he passed out.

I turned away, tears still streaming down my face trying to gather myself. Okay breath. Focus.

I wiped my tears, took a few more breaths just to hear Max jingle Billy’s car keys “Let’s go.”

I twirled around “What? Go where? And no!”

“Ooh where are we going?” Dustin questioned.

“You’re not going anywhere!”

I was ignored as Mike answered “To the tunnels, we’re going to the hub to light a fire and distract the Demodogs, to give El a clear shot at the gate.”

“Err hello! No you’re not.”

“You sound like Steve.” Lucas chimed in with a sigh.

Steve.

We all looked down at the two unconscious boys lying in the Byer’s kitchen. Oh Jesus.

“Right. Right. Someone go see if there’s any first aid stuff in the bathroom.” I saw Max make a move, and got the boys to help me move Steve to the sofa. He was messed up, and was my main priority at the moment as I barely glanced at Billy.

Max came back with some coloured plasters and nothing else. Shit.

I got a damp cloth to try and clean the blood up on Steve, but it wasn’t great.

“Okay, guys, I need you to look at me and promise me right now that you will stay here and not leave this house. I need to go to mine to get some proper first aid things to help Steve.” Not even able to think about Billy or say his name. My despair had transformed into anger.

I glared at Mike, Lucas, Dustin and Max in turn as they protested. “No. This is important. Promise me.”

They all nodded. Little did I know that each one of the buggers had their fingers crossed.

As I was driving back down with the Byers’ house in view, first aid kit on the passenger seat, I noticed straight away; Billy’s car had gone. No way, he can’t have woken up this soon and bolted. I ran straight through the front door nearly trampling Billy as he lay exactly here he’d fallen.

Steve however was not there, and neither were the kids, or the bloody plasters. Shit.

I tried to stay calm. A million thoughts running through my head: Maybe Steve woke up and agreed to the kid’s plan. Who am I kidding, Max took the car keys and they took the unconscious Steve. I really hope Max knows how to drive, oh god.

Okay breath. They’ll be fine. Steve will wake up with one hell of headache, but he’s good with them, he’ll look after them, and he knows more about this situation than I do, and what we’re actually up against. I was trying to convince myself more than anything. But obviously none of us expected Billy to be one of those obstacles.

The first aid kit got disregarded on the table, and I turned to the house itself. Cleaning and tidying as best I could without disturbing the drawings, and distracting myself from that person lying on the floor because that was not my Billy. That was not the beautiful boy I had left hours earlier. How could it be. How could he do this. He had been so mad, no, he’d been furious.

I thought I could get through to him when our eyes met, he stopped when he saw me, but seeing me and Steve together fuelled the rage within him. What ignited that rage? And why did thinking I was with Steve make it worse? This is Billy Hargrove, he didn’t catch feelings; did he?

After doing what I could I came to a loose end, I couldn’t sit still, I was fidgeting and pacing. I couldn’t stand it any longer and I forced myself to walk to kitchen and look at Billy.

My heart ached. The contrast between the pure fire and anger to this peaceful innocence as he slept. No lines, no scowls, no frowns; just a 17 year old boy who must be going through so much pain but never lets anyone close enough to help. But even as I pushed his hair off his face and cleaned the blood away I couldn’t forgive him. The pain in chest deepened as I sighed “Oh what have you done Billy.”

With great effort I dragged him over to the sofa and lifted him onto it. I wiped my brow and then I just sat with him; savouring the moment before wakes up and the inevitable takes place.

As he started to stir so did my anger in the pit of my stomach. I got him a glass of water and some headache tablets before he woke up properly. I left them on the table in front of him and retreated to lean against the kitchen counter.

I saw the initial panic flit across his face as he tried to sit up looking around the room before his eyes rested on me. “Take those and drink that while your memory comes back to you.” I said with as little emotion as possible. He did as I said, elbows now resting on his knees and head down for a moment before standing up and turning to face me. He was still a bit unsteady on his feet as he took a step towards me “Y/N…” He whispered. Almost begging.

“No. Billy. No. You don’t get to say my name like that.” Tears were already rising in me, and I was internally cursing myself for being an angry crier.

He stopped trying to come to me, whether that was because of my reaction or his own ability to walk I don’t know. He stared hard into my eyes across the room, but just like the first night we met, I wasn’t backing down.

“I know, I’m sorry.”

“You’re sorry? You’re sorry?!” I spat out a humourless laugh and pushed myself forward to stand up straight and give myself confidence. "You physically threatened Lucas, a 13 year old boy! And you nearly beat Steve to death!” Emotion was getting the better of me as I threw my hands in the air “What is wrong with you?!”

His eyes hardened and his jaw set “What’s wrong with me Y/N? I get shit off my Dad for not knowing where Max is every second of the goddamn day, so I get sent out to look for her, and she’s here at this crazy house, where low and behold I find you and Steve fucking Harrington playing happy families!”

“Are you kidding me right now Hargrove?” The volume in my voice rising. “There is nothing going on between me and Steve, not that I even have to explain myself to you. And why do you even give a shit?!”

He glanced away and a nervousness overtook him for a split second.

“Are you…” I nearly couldn’t get the words out “Are you, jealous? Is this how you get when you’re jealous Billy?”

“No.” His gaze back on me, even more intense and determined. “This is how I get because I’m a piece of shit that you should never have trusted to be friends with.”

My own voice dropped, along with my stomach, all my fight had gone. “Well, maybe that’s the most sensible thing you’ve said all evening. I don’t know this person standing in front of me right now. This is the person I assumed you were before you sat with me in the library.”

“No Y/N you don’t know me, so stop trying to.” He fenced himself back in behind his walls and stormed right passed me out into the night.

And in that moment the pain in my chest intensified, I collapsed to the floor, my tears finally making their appearance; and I swear I could hear my heart break.

[strangerererthings]

peaches iii

Summary: What if Bob had an adopted daughter?  What happens now?

Pairing: Billy Hargrove x Reader

Disclaimer: Don’t own the show or the characters.  Shocker, right?

Word Count: 1,759

part one/part two/part four/part five/part six/part seven/part eight/part nine/part ten/part eleven/epilogue

The next day found you in your usual place in the library.  There was a bay window overlooking the outdoor basketball courts towards the back of the stacks of books.  It was right next to the historical fiction.  You had your legs pulled up onto the window sill, a book resting on your knees as you read quietly to yourself.  Your mouth moved slightly as you read along.

Despite how cold it was, you could see that hour’s gym class heading outside to play on the court.  Instead of their usual short shorts, they sported sweats and t-shirts with jackets thrown over top.  That is, everyone except Billy Hargrove.

Billy, of course, was still going without a shirt despite the fact that it was forty degrees outside.  You could see him down below and you couldn’t help but scoff at his utter stupidity.  Steve also seemed to be thinking the exact same thing on the other side of the court.  He looked up just in time to catch your gaze and waved with a bright grin.  You returned it, covering your mouth to stop you from laughing.

You turned back to your book, missing Billy Hargrove look up and try to catch you eye.  You also didn’t see the way he kept trying to get your attention.  He scored double the amount of points he usually would’ve, much to the delight of the coach.

The night before had gone back to relative normality as soon as Billy had left.  The kids had all chosen their suits and dresses.  Max had insisted on hiding her outfit so no one could see, and El had quickly followed by example.

Dinner had been chaotic, with six kids, Joyce, Hopper, Steve, Jonathan, Nancy, and you.  Steve didn’t even seem that bothered that Jonathan and Nancy had shown up--or that they held hands all through dinner.  You felt as though his anger had just been because it was Hargrove of all people talking shit.  Something about Billy just pissed Steve off.

You hadn’t been able to fall asleep until almost four in the morning that night, tossing and turning, crying a little.  It seemed no matter what you did, you were constantly getting uprooted.  Life was never stable, never comfortable.  You were always left right on the edge of your seat, wondering what was going to happen next that would shake everything up.

Hopper had been talkative that morning.  He usually didn’t have to drive El to school--said she was homeschooled.  Despite you telling him you could walk, he insisted.  “You’ll catch your death in this weather,” he had chided.

That’s what had led you here.  You were ahead in all of your classes, leading your teachers to let you spend most of your time in the library.  You were even taking some general education classes through a local university.  You just had to read the book and do the assignments given to you.  Bob had made it possible, helping you apply for scholarships so that the classes were almost completely free.

“Hey, there, peaches.”

You jumped, almost falling off the window sill as you turned to see Hargrove standing there, still covered in sweat.  You could see the rest of the class still outside.  “Hargrove.  What are you doing here?” You asked, your chest heaving.  Your heart was pounding in your chest.

He chuckled, taking a step forward.  He leaned against the wall, effectively blocking you in.  “Just wanted to see your pretty face again, sweetheart.”  He reached out, pushing a strand of your hair behind your ear.  “Tell me, how have I not seen you around before?”

“Well, I’m not Carol or Tina, am I?”  You raised your eyebrows at him expectantly.  Turning back to your book, you continued, “I’m not a party girl, or a cheerleader.  And, I’m a junior.  Completely out of your radar.”

“And I’m guessing you spend most of your time cooped up in here, don’t you?”

You huffed, looking up at him once more as you shut your book.  “I wouldn’t say cooped up.  I like being here.  I like the quiet.  Which, by the way, you’re ruining.”

Billy leaned in closer, and you could smell smoke and cheap cologne.  “There’s that fire I thought I might find in you.”  His lips were curling into a smirk.  You backed away as much as you could, rolling your eyes.  “What do you say I take you out tonight?  Take a ride in my Camaro?  Park somewhere dark...”

“Don’t you need to get back to your game, Hargrove?” You snapped, utterly disgusted.

He sighed as he stood up straight again.  “You’re right.  They’ll be missing me.”  Billy winked playfully at you, blowing a mocking kiss.  “Until later, peaches.”

After he left, you let out a groan.  “Peaches?  What the hell?”  You tried to go back to reading your book, but you just couldn’t focus.  Your mind kept going back to how pissed off you were now and how you could now understand why Steve loathed him.  He made your skin crawl.

A minute later, you could see Billy run back out on the court, nodding at the coach.  He was immediately passed the ball and within seconds, made a three pointer.  Billy turned, catching your eyes through the window and winking obnoxiously.  You blushed a dark red and turned away.  Steve caught the exchange, his blood boiling as he redoubled his efforts to beat Billy at basketball.

After school, you had a shift at the record shop downtown.  The job was better than you could’ve hoped for--you had flexible hours, decent pay.  Not to mention the 50% discount and free coffee.

“Hey, Y/N, I have to run to the store.  I’ll be right back.”  The owner, Connie, was pulling on her coat.  “Do you want anything to eat?”

You shook your head, smiling warmly as you waved a goodbye to her.  “No, I’m good.  And I’ve got the store covered, don’t worry,” you reassured her.  You’d been working here almost a year now and Connie had become almost like another parent figure to you.  Or, at least an aunt-like figure.  She had no kids, had never married.  So she had taken you under her wing.  You had walked in for an application and she practically hired you on the spot.

You rummaged through the albums behind the counter that were there to be played on the store record player.  You finally picked out some Frank Sinatra, gently taking it out of it’s sleeve and putting it on.  You hummed softly along with the music as you pushed a cart around that was full of albums to be put on the shelves.  Vaguely, you were aware of the front door chiming as someone entered.  You began to sing softly as you wandered around the store.  You were a sucker for jazz.  “I get no kick from champagne... mere alcohol doesn’t thrill me at all.  So, tell me, why should it be true that I get a kick out of you?”

“I didn’t peg you for a jazz fan.”

You practically jumped out of your skin as you whirled around, knocking records everywhere.  “Billy.  You scared me.”

He smirked as he took a step forward.  “I can see that.”

You couldn’t help but scoff, rolling your eyes as you bent down to start picking up records.  “You know, you could not try to scare the shit out of people.  That’d be a nice thing to do.”

“But then I wouldn’t get this lovely sight of you on your knees, now would I, peaches?”  Billy bent down in front of you so that when you looked up, his nose was almost touching yours.

“You’re absolutely disgusting.”  Your voice could curdle milk.  Your cheeks were dark red as you continued to pick up the records that were scattered everywhere, and it surprised you when Billy began to help you.  “Thanks,” you murmured, coughing to clear your throat as you stood back up and placed the records on the cart.

For some reason, his demeanor seemed different tonight.  Like, a chilled out version of Billy.  Sure, he was probably always going to be an asshole--his words earlier proved that.  But he seemed... softer?  More vulnerable?  Maybe it was just the dim lighting of the shop.  The smile that covered his face seemed genuine.  Of course, from yesterday with the shop attendant, it was obvious he was a good actor.  “Of course, little darling.  Anything for my baby.”

And he ruined it.  You scoffed as you crossed your arms over your chest.  “Excuse you?  Since when am I your baby?”

“Since I decided, peaches.”  He took a step towards you, almost like a challenge.

“And why the hell do you keep calling me peaches?!”  Your voice had raised up an octave as you got angrier and angrier.  “God, you infuriate me!”

Billy, however, seemed to think this was absolutely hilarious.  “You look like a peaches.  Sweet.  Like I could just...”  He leaned in, his warm breath fanning over your face.  “... take a bite of you.”

Your eyes were wide as you stood frozen in place for what felt like eternity.  Your brain was struggling to catch up, to try to find something to reply with.  “You... You...”

“Cat got your tongue?”

“You need to leave,” you suddenly managed to get out.  “I’m closing the store in ten minutes.”

Billy leaned against one of the stacks, taking out a cigarette and lighting it.  “And let me guess, you’re going to walk home in this weather?”

You rolled your eyes, placing more records back where they belonged on the shelves.  “You mean like you playing basketball shirtless despite it being almost freezing today?” You challenged.

“Fair enough.  But I’m still not going to just let you walk home in the dark by yourself.”

“I can take care of myself.”  You’d been walking everywhere by yourself for years now.  After all, it wasn’t like Bob had always been able to just drop everything to drive you where ever you needed to go.

Billy smiled cheekily at you as he stepped closer.  “Not changing my mind.  I’ll be waiting outside, peaches.”  With that, he left you standing in the store by yourself, completely baffled as to what was happening.

[beebovee]

Hope Underneath (Ch. 1-2)

Introduction: The Girl I Once Knew

Sometimes I still believe I'm that little girl who would do cartwheels all day, singing christmas songs in september, and running barefoot after the ice cream man. She was so fragile, yet, extremely alive. Waking up at 5AM almost everyday, watching her favorite disney movie, followed by eating chocolate for breakfast. This little person, she had so many dreams; she could get lost for hours just in her own mind. Everyday there was something to be done, a new adventure awaiting, all in the same house and simple backyard. She overflowed with kindness and understanding, there was no way anybody had a chance at stealing that from her. Until eventually, this little girl changed, and as much as she tried to stay who she was, life’s trials overtook her.

Yesterday, I was somebody that I can probably never be again. Today, I am deeply troubled, punished by my own decisions. I would not say I’ve grown up, because in me there’s a child who is trapped in a black box, waiting, still believing there’s a chance that her life will begin; the life that she has always prayed for. And it’s difficult because I am the one who makes every decision, I call the shots. At one point, it was like I didn’t even decide anymore. I just surrendered. I just threw my hands in front of me, willingly allowing myself to be cuffed, chained, and thrown into the river. If it wasn’t for Jesus, I would have drowned by now, but at least I know there is one good thing living in me that can never die. For a moment I felt done for, a lost cause, a deteriorating corpse with skin. Thanks be to God that He has promises on my life.

There was always something about that time in a romantic comedy when everything got serious for a moment. When the girl stops falling for the jerk, or the boy finally realizes it was time to stop being a jerk, and tell the “nerdy” girl he loved her. I lived for those moments. Then there were the pure moments in fictional films, where the fairy godmother showed up, or when true love broke the spell. All together, when good prevailed evil, when the sun came up, when the tears only lasted but a moment's time; those moments, were the ones I yearned for in my life. So much faith that, when I was feeling hopeless, I would remind myself of the things in life we can be sure of; like how the sun will come up every morning, even on the darkest of days, behind the clouds, that the sun was always shining bright. 

Today, I have trouble being so hopeful. Although I'd like to think I am, I have to be honest with myself; there was a time very recently where I felt like I had given up. I completely let myself slip away, almost as if I put my true self into a coma. The only reassurance I had  was that underneath all of the resentment and self doubt, I still believed. I still loved the beautiful things, the things that appeared almost impossible. I loved good news, and the fact that babies were being born everyday, and people were overcoming diseases. I realize that loving these things, admiring the goodness, it is only a sign of an undying hope in my heart. I, myself, have not recently acted as a person of hope, but I have it, nonetheless. 

It’s difficult being in a position where you can enter the path to victory, or continue to choose the path of desire, which not only leads to dissatisfaction, but leads to destruction. Those fairytale movies truly did me in, because although they are beautiful, for someone like me, a love-sick, hopeless romantic, they caused trouble. I tried so hard to find adult romance at such a tender age. I was always hoping for a love story, a miracle. A man who would change everything about himself and do everything possible to make me happy. Someone who was troubled, but turned their life around because I’m just so special. Yeah, well, that didn’t work out so well. I got the “bad boy” but didn’t get much good out of it  (woah, shocker). We’ll get more into the details later. What we are going to do right now is go back to the beginning. Where it all started, and why I am where I am today. I am unashamed, and I believe there is power in sharing a story, and sorting through trauma. I know I am not the only one who has gone through what I am about to share, and I firmly believe that doing this will continue to help me move forward and heal, finally. Without further ado, let’s dive in. 

Chapter One: Almost Free

At the tender age of seventeen, I was getting out of my first “serious” relationship. It was definitely High School puppy love and lasted a little over a year. During this time, I was also heavily in church and was entering the last six months of my High School career. My plan was to graduate, enjoy the summer and then do a 9-month internship at my church come Fall. My boyfriend and I,  at the time, were shaky. I knew he was messing around with another girl, but I was so naive and just fearful of facing the truth. I also truly believed I loved him so much. It wasn’t too long until it was blatant in front of my face. At school one day, during the passing period, he was standing there cupcaking with a girl, casually in front of my class. I didn’t know how to act, I was so hurt so I just proceeded like I didn’t care, but I knew I had to make a decision. 

That same night, I went to a small group that I was in for church and I was just crying, and saying how much I loved him and wanted to try to make it work. Everyone there was telling me how there should be no question at all, it was time to leave. Block him off of everything, avoid him at school, etc. I kept saying to them “I’m not ready!”, until I realized, I would never be ready. Jesus himself pleaded with God before He went to the cross, but He knew it’s what needed to be done (Matthew 26:39). Moses doubted himself, but God ensured Moses constantly that He was with him. So after this revelation, I was feeling empowered to the max. I blocked that boy and didn’t even give him the chance to see my face. And for months after this, I heard from so many people how he had been cheating on me for a while, so it was good riddance.

 After a week, I was glistening with joy, just happy, free. And for a split second, it seemed like I was on my way to better days. I was making new friends and even had a little flame with this boy in my English class. I just had constant smiles, until one Sunday came around. I was eating at Applebee's with my family and I got a message on twitter from a boy named Sonny. Little did I know that my next step after this moment would dictate the next six years of my life. 

Sonny had popped up in my life about two years prior to this day, but it was very brief. That explains my confusion when he messaged me on twitter that day. His exact words were, “I like the blonde look” and heart emoji(s). Since I didn’t remember who he was at all,  he expressed his shock which helped jog my memory of this person. Then, ofcourse, in my painfully naive “single girl” mind, I thought to myself, ``It doesn’t hurt to play”. So at that moment I had already decided I was going to entertain him, because he had always expressed his interest and attraction to me in the years before this. I mean, why not just have a little fun, right? 

We began to text and then talk on the phone constantly. I am a major talker, so it was always very fun for me. We did this for about three months before we went on our first date. I learned he was in college, played basketball and also lived in a nice area. Sounds like a clean cut kid, right? At this point,  I am loving the attention. We were always laughing and joking, and he just made me feel like I was the most beautiful thing to touch the planet. I grew fond of him quickly. On our first date, he picked me up from a friend’s house and took me to a waterfront. We got hot and heavy fast. Although at this point, I was still a virgin, and the worst I had done was make-out with a guy. Honestly, I would never even let a guy touch my leg or anything, it was that serious. Things were different with Sonny, though. That’s something I admired about him, he always made me feel very comfortable in my decisions. I know you’re wondering if I did the big three letter word that night, but no, I did not. He surprisingly “waited” eight months for me. 

I got my first hickey that night, and experienced a level of intimacy that I never knew could be possible without being naked. When he drove me home, he said, “At every stop sign or stop light, I want to kiss you.”, which was the cutest thing ever to me, and the butterfly’s just never left. When he dropped me off at home, he almost crashed into the mailbox when I kissed him goodbye. I went inside and my mom saw the hickey on my neck and went crazy on me, she was so angry and I started to cry because I realized I had done a horrible thing. Maybe some of you reading this might think, “that’s literally nothing”, but at that time, it really was everything to me simply because I had always held myself to very high standards. I had dated other boy’s for months and never let them touch my arm, or even put their tongue in my mouth but now all the sudden I was comfortable enough with a practical stranger. I would like to point out how significant this was. This was the first situation between him and I where I was convinced  to give up all of my morals, virtues, and beliefs. He truly made me feel so comfortable, and I ate it up. A hopeful, faith filled girl like me, I began to trust him with everything.

We got serious very quickly, and I was falling hard. He made me laugh, he was sweet to me, he treated me like a baby and I loved it. We were always talking, always. He always wanted to show me off to all of his friends and would make me sing for them on the phone. Pretty soon he started to invite me around them. They were all really funny, and for months I could never truly bond with any of them because I was so shy and nervous. Sonny wanted me around everyone, any chance he got. We would either be in the car or in his friend Manny’s garage, which always gave me anxiety because I would be the only girl most of the time. There were also times during the week where Sonny would take me on lots of dates and adventures. We would go to tons of places, he was always really fun and creative. We spent every waking moment together. If we weren’t together, we were on the phone talking for hours upon hours, and we’d sleep on the phone too. Everything seemed amazing to me because we were so inseparable. I fell hard for him, very hard.

Sonny smoked a lot of weed, and I didn’t really mind it, even if I didn’t smoke. That’s pretty much what he and his friends would do, just smoke, play video games, watch funny movies or even play basketball. I never expected him to dabble in other drugs because I just didn’t think people our age really cared, of course, because I was very naive. On my 18th birthday, Sonny came with his friends Sal and Darnell, whom I had never heard much about before this day. I was expecting the other friends that I was used to. I was confused as to why they were all holding coffee cups (which ended up being Codeine and Promethazine mixed with soda), and I actually believed they were drinking coffee that night. This was obviously recreational but sadly, it opened doors for him, but we will get more into this later. Sonny was so shy but I remember my family being welcoming and even my sister was trying to include him (which is surprising to think since she absolutely despises him now, for good reason). It was a fun night, but the days to come would bring a major shift.

Chapter Two: True Colors

Sonny started to hang out with Sal a lot more and Sal would always come with Sonny to my house. Sometimes we’d watch movies and would all fall asleep. One time, I woke up to Sonny’s phone vibrating and it was in his hand so, myself, being nosey, I looked at it and saw messages from someone in his phone named “best friend” with the dancing girl emoji. We were already four months into our relationship, I thought I had met all of his friends already, so how could I miss his “best friend”? I was too scared to ever bring it up so I eventually opted for being sneaky instead. I wasn’t a very vocal person at this time, I never wanted problems with anyone, especially the love of my life. I also would notice a girl on Twitter who would like a lot of his tweets and I often wondered if she could be the same person, but I just didn’t have enough evidence or energy to look further.

About seven months into our relationship, Sonny and I went on a date and that night things got really heated for us and he said it was the perfect time to do it. I was scared, but like I’ve said before, he made me feel so comfortable, and I also thought maybe if I did this, he wouldn’t want to talk to other girls. After three days of going back and forth, I eventually gave in. As an 18 year old girl who is a sucker for the romantics, you’d think my first time would have been amazing, but it was not, it was only amazing for him. It was just not at all how I thought it would be. I was expecting a bed, flowers, gentleness and kissing, but it was just the opposite. I started to cry after, only because I felt I was spoiled goods at that point, and was hoping it would have at least been romantic to make it worth my while. I never stayed sad for long, though, and it wasn’t too long until I began to love doing it. The next few weeks to come, that’s all we did whenever we had the chance.  

One night, I snuck out and Sonny picked me up so I could sleep at his house. That night, he fell into a deep sleep, and I couldn’t help but look at his phone. Let me tell you, I was not expecting at all what I was about to see. Maybe girl’s flirting with him or something, but not this. I not only found out who “best friend” was, but I saw sexting, and flirting like if he was in a relationship with this girl. Her name might as well have been, “Girlfriend” in his phone because of how much they were talking. I was so confused. I saw FaceTime calls, phone calls, and all I could think was, how does this man have the time? He had been talking to this girl for months. Her name was May and I guess they had known each other from camps that they would both attend every year. Let me tell you, this girl was the biggest hater on planet earth. In their text threads I would see how she would spend so much time saying horrible things about me. It made me think about how I had no idea who she was at all, yet, she was spending her time talking about me everyday? It blew my mind. It just didn’t add up, and was extremely pathetic. And Sonny never stood up for me either, he would just laugh at the things she’d say. I always think about how I should have just ended it there, but I was just not who I am today. I was too soft and always gave people the benefit of the doubt.

Not only did I see this, but I found naked pictures of some girl on his phone, and a video from March of that year where another girl was performing a sexual act to him while he recorded. I was crushed, all I could think was “What do I do about this? Why is this happening? I thought we were happy? March? We went on our first date in March? How did I miss this?” It drove me nuts. But I still didn’t know what to do. After we woke up the next morning, Sonny drove me home and I just texted him about it after he left. And I tried to break up with him but he swore that that video was so old and that there was no way it could have been from March. In regards to that girl May, he said that he used to talk to her the year prior but that he left her for me. He swore to me that the only reason he kept talking to her was because she was a good friend, and a nice person (my eyes are rolling). He also said that all the things he had said to her was just him messing around, that she knew he was with me and that’s just how they would “joke” with each other. He said to please give him another chance, that she meant nothing and he was going to tell her how much he loved me. 

Sonny posted a picture of me on his Instagram where he expressed how much he loved me to all of his followers. He also sent me screenshots of the messages where he told May that he couldn’t be her friend anymore. He told her that he loved me and was serious about me only. Of course, I ate it all up. I mean, this is my man, he loves me, of course he would never hurt me. I was crazy, and just too overdramatic. Obviously, my man got my back; or, so I thought. 

Chapter Three: Turn The Cheek

As I look back and remember all of this, it just makes me realize how mentally and emotionally absent some people can be. Sonny was one of those people. His way of life truly confused me. I would see the truth but would delete it, copy his truth, and then paste it onto my mind. I did not think anyone would go so far to keep someone. I thought, if he loves her, wouldn’t he just leave me? But he would not let me go. There was no chance in hell. It makes no sense. How did he cry and beg, and beg, and beg again, then beg more for me to stay with him, and promise to change, and then go and do it again, that many times. Obviously, this goes back to my big heart, vulnerability and easily manipulated mind, because I should not have stood for this. You have no idea how hard it is to forgive myself for that. What’s even worse, this was only the beginning, not even a year of us being together yet. I just had so much hope that he would change.

Clearly, Sonny did not stop talking to May. There was even an incident where this girl messaged me saying, “He loves you and you only, I promise. Please don’t leave him. I promise I will leave him alone. I really care about Sonny as a friend, but for you both, I will leave him alone”. Yes, I believed the girl and had sympathy for her, which was pathetic of me. I told her they could stay friends, and obviously the same situations kept happening. This began to feel like a never ending cycle. Wasn’t she tired? Clearly he was with me. However, that can be turned around. Wasn’t I tired? Clearly he was not going to let her go. I hate to say it, but I saw him as a prize. I wanted to win. I wanted to be on top and show that girl how he loved me and could care less about her. I wanted her to hurt. I wanted her to cry. I wanted her to feel as humiliated as I had been feeling. Eventually, I forced him to block her (Ladies, do not ever force your man to block someone, that is their responsibility. If they cannot see it's wrong, leave. If you do not trust him, leave.) which did nothing, because he always let her back in. 

Remember how I had mentioned an Internship at my church? Well, it was still going to happen… (To Be Continued…)

[meditatemoremedicateless]

Dear Kate, (There are Pieces of you everywhere there used to be Me)

Fandom: Life is Strange

Pairings: Chasemarsh, Ambermarsh

Major Tags: Angst, possession

Words: ~ 3,200

Summary: Kate Marsh wins the Everyday Heroes Contest. She never entered.

Kate hadn't realized Mr. Jefferson was at the party until she heard the wave of sharp feedback cut through the Blackwell pool, followed by everyone suddenly cheering. But there he was, recoiling from the microphone he had just turned on until it settled down, at which point his laugh could be heard over it.

Max nudged Kate's side as if she wasn't already looking, while Luke just sat forward in his seat to get a better look.

"Okay, everybody calm down."

Of course, they did the opposite as everyone started yelling and whistling, making it almost impossible to hear him, nevermind command their attention.

"Thank you, thank you. I appreciate it. I don't want to get in the way of the party," he made a quick, pointed glance backstage - Kate could only imagine what he might be looking at -, "but it's time to announce the winner of the 'Everyday Heroes' contest."

Everyone started to quiet down a little, and Max started to twitch excitedly. Kate knew entering a photograph had been a big deal for her - she'd ripped up her original entry and only gotten a new one in recently, and she'd loved it.

"Before I do, I want to thank everybody who entered their photograph this year."

As if on cue, girls from around the pool started to whoop and cat call Mr. Jefferson, but he just laughed it off and continued. "Now this is the most important step in being an artist - sharing your work with the world." Max nodded along - she reminded Kate of someone hearing a sermon that went straight to the heart. It was just normal teacher stuff, but, well, Max was cute in that way.

Meanwhile, Luke just rolled his eyes.

"All of you represent Blackwell Academy and everything our school stands for. As far as I'm concerned, you're all Everyday Heroes."

"More like Everyday Monsters," Luke joked quietly.

Max snickered. Kate silently agreed.

Jefferson pivoted, looking back at the DJ. "The envelope - please."

He's so dramatic all the time. Doesn't he get tired of-

"And the winner is . . ." he peeked down at the envelope. Max snorted, but also scooched to the edge of the bench. She was on edge, literally.

"Oh my, what a shocker." He looked up over the crowd and announced, "Kate Marsh!"

"OH MY GOD!!" Max yelled the loudest she'd ever yelled in front of Kate. There was a slight delay, but some cheering and clapping followed suit.

Meanwhile, Kate just sat there with her mouth open. "Wait . . . what . . .?"

Luke shot her a look to let her know he wasn't impressed with her humble performance. "You won, you goon."

That doesn't make any sense.

"But I didn't even enter a ph- fuck."

It's true, she hadn't. But she had gotten a message that read, 'Dear Kate,' that said otherwise.

Now that the cheering was dying down a little, Jefferson spoke again: "Congratulations, Kate! Want to get up here and say something about your photo?"

The noise died down almost immediately to let her speak, and she desperately wished it hadn't. Max was looking at her. Luke was looking at her. Warren and Brooke and Courtney over next to the drinks were all looking at her. She got the sinking suspicion she might pass out - which, given how her life was going, might be the best solution for what was happening.

Kate stood up, and, as loud as she could, replied, "Uh, no thanks!"

Jefferson laughed, but Kate's peers were less amused - with the exception of Luke, who had to cover his mouth with his hand to keep from laughing, too.

"Typical Kate humility, everybody. But don't worry, I'm sure she'll have something more to say tomorrow. We'll be showing Kate's photo before she heads off tomorrow at 9:00am in my class, so if you want to stop by and give Kate congratulations - and you should - or look at the prints gallery we'll have set up tomorrow, you'll have to wake up a little early. Now, you kids have fun."

He tapped the button on the mic, handed it off, and left.

I'm going to kill her.

Dear Katie,

Congratulations! You won the Everyday Heroes contest. I looked through your photography folder to try and figure out which one you entered, but I couldn't really tell which one - they're all so good! You're a really talented photographer, I wish you'd told me sooner.

I hope you'll be the one to wake up tomorrow morning so you can accept the award and fly down to SF with Mr. Jefferson. If you are, I think he wants you to say something at the awarding - which is at 9:00am tomorrow in the Photography room.

I don't know if it's you or Max who is friends with Luke, but we hung out a little today at the party. He seems nice but also kind of mean. I think he means well.

In regards to your offer to set up a Her profile for me, please don't. I'm not sure how I feel about dating in high school to be honest, and doing that I think suggests I have clearer ideas about myself than I really do. Plus, what if someone from school is on there and tells someone? I don't think apps like that have chastity vows in mind. I don't need more people thinking I'm weird, so just, please don't. If you make an account for yourself, please try not associate it with me.

I think Stella has been avoiding me. Do you know what's going on? I've barely seen her this year. Alyssa hasn't seen much of her either.

Also, I know you think Max and I should get closer, but I don't think that's a good idea. Max likes to be close to me and I think it's too much for me. Please don't lead her on about me, I don't want to stop being friends with her.

Please be advised: I'm lactose intolerant. I found your bags of Hot Cheetos in my drawer, but being vegan -> lactose intolerance -> please don't eat dairy products. I'm glad you haven't been eating meat, but I think that is probably what's been making us sick.

I've started a period calendar on my phone. My cycle's pretty inconsistent but JUST IN CASE it starts this weekend I'm packing you pads for the trip.

I found that you texted Mom about my doctor - what's wrong? My doctor's Dr. Zimmerman in Tillamook, you can look him up online and set up an appointment if you need to.

If you get to go to SF, tell me everything.

I hope you are well,

Kate

Unfortunately, Katie was not the one who woke up Friday morning at 6:25, she was not the one who had to give a stumbling acceptance speech when her photograph was unwrapped and shown to her, she was not the one who was told that she'd be leaving with Mr. Jefferson for the airport at 10:30. The picture was beautiful, of course - it was the interior of the Two Whales diner, at just an angle so that the entire bar was visible. Most of the people there were truckers and other regulars, but there was also a police officer clearly present, Preston, the former dockworker-turned environmental advocate, and, behind all of them, standing next to the jukebox, there was a tall, lanky girl with blue hair hugging a waitress who still had a tray in her hand. Her mother, Kate guessed. Of course, while that was all pretty clear, the shot was taken to include an out-of-focus poster that took up the middle-right. Kate hadn't noticed it when she'd just been looking at the jpeg, but once she had a chance to look at the print, she realized it was a poster about the use of prison labor to fight forest fires in California. She thought it might have been unintentional, until she realized that the fire referenced in the poster ended in 2011 - she managed to find a copy of the poster online later with minimal effort.

Katie, as it turned out, was a lover of irony.

It wasn't until they were after security at the airport that Kate got a text she hadn't been expecting.

Unknown: Congrats on the win

Before she could ask 'who is this?,' she got a second message.

Unknown: You're a better photographer than I realized. Don't get cocky though, I'll get you next time.

Kate did her best to text while walking, but she was terrible at it, and Jefferson just slowed down with a bemused smile and a glance at his watch.

Kate: Who is this? Sorry, I don't have your number.

Unknown: It's Victoria. We all switched numbers the first day of Photography, remember?

Kate: Oh right. My bad, I hadn't created a contact for you. Kate: But yeah, I was surprised! I'm sure you'll beat me next time too, haha :)

She added the contact info and put her phone away so she could speed up again. She felt her phone buzz again immediately, but ignored it until they were at the terminal.

Victoria: real cute Victoria: Learn to banter, Katie, it'll make this more fun in the future

Kate smiled. Teasing and outright bullying from Victoria had the same tone, the teasing just didn't sting on the level of personal shame and insecurity.

Kate: Oh are we bantering? Here I was thinking I was having a run-in with my first fan.

This time, the '...' stayed around a bit longer, but the wait was nevertheless rewarding.

Victoria: Touché Victoria: Have fun in SF. I hear it's pretty gay there this time of year.

That actually made Kate feel less comfortable, but at least she knew Victoria was, for once, trying to be nice. Maybe one-upping her really was the way to get her to stop being mean. She'd have to start writing witty comebacks with Max sometime soon.

Kate kept her laptop on her lap during the flight so she could check out Katie's photographs some more, studying them in detail. After looking over the big print, she had the feeling that if she could just figure out what gave her pictures their wit, their two-steps-ahead quality, then maybe Kate could approach her own work like that. After all, Katie was using her eyes, her hands, her brain, her camera to make these images, wasn't she? So Kate must be capable of the same.

"Well, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think I remember you saying your passion is painting, isn't that right?"

Kate's ears felt warm as she realized what this must look like. She slowly turned towards Mr. Jefferson with a warm, albeit fake smile. "Oh, yeah, of course! I just . . . uh . . . I can't help but second-guess myself. Bad habit."

She closed the laptop as Mr. Jefferson laughed quietly.

"Now, there's no need to be embarrassed," he said, scooting back to sit more upright in his seat. "I just didn't realize what a dedicated photographer you were when you first joined my class. You play an instrument too, don't you?"

Kate nodded. This was getting uncomfortable - not that her skills outside of photographer were less legitimate, really, as not liking the attention.

"Violin and piano," she replied.

"And what do you want to do after this, Blackwell Academy? Going to study art?"

Kate shook her head. "No, actually, I'm applying to be an English major. I'm also interested in journalism but I feel like switching from journalism to English will be harder than English to journalism, so . . ."

He looked amused, but quite pleased. "My, my, you're quite the all-star."

Kate hadn't realized she had shared so little about her academic interests during her time as Mr. Jefferson's assistant. Admittedly, sometimes it wasn't even her working with him, but most of their conversations started with some polite conversation and questions about her friends and life around school, followed by an hour of him prattling on about his work abroad. Not that she minded, really, but her keen interest in the life of a celebrity photographer had waned after about a week of it. There was nothing that made something quite so mundane as constant exposure to it.

"Thanks," she replied, and turned her attention out the window to California.

"You know," he started, shuffling around in his seat again, "You remind me of a former student."

Kate looked back at him now, curious. It's not like he'd been teaching very long - who could he possibly remind her of?

"Rachel was very multifaceted in her talents and interests as well. She was a gifted photographer, of course, but oh, she wouldn't have any of my suggestions to pursue it. She wanted to be a legal scholar, and started modeling in our very own little Arcadia Bay."

Kate nodded, looking back towards the window. "She was probably going to be valedictorian, too. I guess . . . that'll probably be Warren now."

There was a short pause while Kate let herself wonder where Rachel was and what could have happened to her. Then, Mr. Jefferson said, "I take it you knew her?"

"Yeah," she replied. "Up until the end of last year, it was the three of us still in the running - me and her and Warren. But . . . she hasn't come back, and I'm getting a C in physics, so."

No one had ever compared her to Rachel before, and she'd never had a reason to, either. They had been from different worlds that the other could not understand, and Kate, for all of Rachel's charisma, could not hold a conversation with her. Warren was easy to get along with, so long as you could take not understanding the pop culture references shooting out of his mouth every five seconds. Rachel was . . . well, whatever she was, Kate hadn't figured it out, and with her gone, it didn't look like she was about to.

All of a sudden, as Kate caught her reflection in the window, she felt a wave of sadness. Where are you, Rachel? I know someone here misses you.

"I wish . . . Rachel were back," Kate mumbled.

Mr. Jefferson seemed to hear, though. He let out a sigh and reclined his seat as well as he could. "As do we all," he said.

But, for some reason, Kate didn't believe him.

Dear Katie,

I'm sorry you missed the Everyday Heroes awards. This was your big day and I feel like I stole it from you. But, don't worry - I'm recording the information of everyone I met who was interested in your photography so you can give them a call if you want. I really liked your photograph - Evan had a lot of critique of it I didn't really understand but I'm pretty sure he liked it. I missed doing homework Friday, though, so if you wake up this weekend please take a look at the planner so we don't fall any more behind.

Also, I'm sure you've seen the posters, but there's a girl who used to go here named Rachel Amber. It's so weird to try and describe what the school was like with her here because I transferred here, but, to me, Blackwell feels like Blackwell minus Rachel. Back when Rachel was here, Victoria wasn't half so bad to anyone because she was so busy trying to get at Rachel. I didn't even share with any classes with Victoria then and I'd still hear about the stuff she'd pull. But let's just suffice it to say that Rachel was a golden child. You can tell how perfect she was by the number of people who try and talk mean about her with graffiti and stuff - even people who didn't like her seemed obsessed with her.

Anyway, Rachel disappeared at the end of last year. She still had another year to go, (another month, too), but one day she was just gone. Some people told me she used to deal drugs and she might have gotten hurt because of that. She's probably fine - basically everyone thinks she just packed up and left one day - but, I don't know, I just wish I knew what happened to her. I really have missed her the past couple of days, even though we were never friends. If you ever find something out, tell me about it, would you? I wish I knew she was OK.

I saw on Amazon that you were looking at clothes. Do you want to buy some new clothes? I hadn't even thought about the fact that you might not like what I wear. I know it's really hard for us to schedule things but maybe we can work out a way for you to go shopping? I know it's impossible, but I sort of wish we could go together. I think it would be fun to be friends. At least, I like to think that.

Oh, also on Amazon - I know you really want a vibrator but I don't think I can afford it. And if I could, I'm still not sure how comfortable I'd be shipping it here to school. I'm sorry.

I hope you have a good day today;

Kate

P.S. Alice says hello

That night, as many other nights, Kate cried in bed without really knowing why. In her dreams, she saw a lanky girl with blue hair playing around with the jukebox inside the Two Whales diner. When she finally saw Kate, she smiled.

Then, there was nothing, and Kate Marsh was gone.

[wickedharlotblogs]

The Grammy’s are music’s biggest night and this year the performers didn’t come to play. We had world premieres, throwbacks, hits, and some major surprises here’s the breakdown of what you missed if you didn’t tune in. 

Essence Woods - National Anthem

In a more stripped-down performance featuring a live quartet, guitar and Aziel Jones on the piano, Essence delivered vocally, which made us not even care about how she kinda just stood on the stage. Seriously, she hasn’t delivered vocals like this in a long time and motherhood looks really good on the new mommy. Essence left us wanting more but left us in anticipation when she walked off the stage at the end of the song, letting the musicians carry it home to a standing ovation. 

Joanna Martel and Ryland James - Senorita

Where do we even start? You can’t help but wonder if these two are a couple after such a steamy performance (how awkward for Roman who had to sit in the audience and watch his date get a little too personal with her partner) A+ stage setup, the lighting leaving the focus solely on the couple. Unfortunately for Ryland, Joanna outsang, outperformed and he could have been almost any warm body on that stage next to her however she sure did try and make us find him attractive. There were two moments where the couple teased us, making us think they would kiss and then left us hanging. Are they or aren’t they? We have no idea at this point but definitely a contender for performance of the night. 

Carter Blue feat. King - Suit and Tie/(Unreleased Pusher Lover Girl)

Where did Carter come from and why are we just not realizing he’s a real player. Breaking out of his sister's shadow, finally, Carter delivered vocals and performance with a full band and a classic look. He and King played off each other well but, well be honest, our eyes were pretty much locked on Carter for most of the performance. He cut Suit and Tie early and premiered what we assume is a new song off his much-anticipated album. Needless to say, we cannot wait to hear this album and see what else Carter can do. 

Penny Lane - Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored

Welcome back, queen. There was a moment in time where we worried we wouldn’t be getting any new Penny music, and, after what she’s been through the past year, it was pretty understandable. However, she started teasing a new song a few weeks back and confirmed her performance and premiere earlier this week. Complete with a full catwalk performance, Penny served. While the song isn’t challenging vocally (we’ve got a review coming don’t you worry) she performed and by the end the audience was singing back the chorus as if they had known it the whole time. We will say, with the London Calling sample we can’t help but wonder who’s attention she’s trying to get. 

Aoife Sawyer - Rich

Aoife recently rejoined the music scene with a surprising move into country music and, while she only has one single so far, we’re pretty excited to hear what else she can come up with. However, you could tell she had some nerves on that stage last night. Vocally she was fine but she seemed to struggle to know where to go or what to do on stage. Plus side, she looked hot while doing it. Hopefully, the comfort on stage comes with time. 

Olivia Marie - Confident

Not going to lie, we’re disappointed in the song choice. Olivia had the opportunity to sing Praying directly to the man she probably wrote it about and decided to go back and do Confident instead. Can’t say we’re surprised though, it is Olivia after all. The performance was good, she sang, performed and all, but what a missed opportunity. However, we’ll give her props for being vocally on point the entire time and she looked good doing it. 

Skyler Valentine-Griffin - Rehab

Rap Goddess? Where’d she go? I mean, sure, this is great. She’s a good singer, great even, but we’ve come to expect a certain something from Skyler and this just wasn’t it. I don’t even know what I’m supposed to say about this performance. The song isn’t all that interesting and her outfit was weird. Definitely a low of the night. 

Callan Duffy and Kylie Blue - Everything Has Changed

A throwback! Kylie and Callan have been at this a long time and the chemistry really showed on stage. They knew exactly what the other was doing at all times and had complete trust that the other had their back. And they’re cute. Just the two of them, a pair of guitars, you barely noticed there were other people on that stage with them. It was unexpected but a very welcomed surprise performance. And it made sense, given Kylie can’t really perform her own work anymore. We assume Callan gave up his slot to share with Kylie. 

Camisado - Hey Look Ma, I Made It

Another shocker, Camisado going back to perform a song off the last album after starting work on the next already. We kinda expected a performance of one of the new ones or at least Champion, however, Austin made up for it by SERVING. Does anyone have as much fun on stage as Austin? We really don’t think so. The man clearly loves it up there, dancing and singing somehow in pretty much perfect pitch despite the high energy song. We don’t know for sure, but we can honestly say that we’d be proud if we were his mom. 

Maxwell Harper-Bennett - Too Good At Goodbyes

Brb crying still. Performing his co-write with Olivia which also took home an award tonight, Max broke our hearts with this one. The song starts with just him and a piano, a group of singers joins him for the chorus. He soon joins them on center stage. While there wasn’t anything overly fancy about this performance the vocals were on point and despite the sad nature of the song it really looked like Max and his singers were feeling themselves on that stage. 10/10 the best performance of the night.

Maia Karim - Single Ladies

Words cannot describe how happy we are to see Maia explode out of Penny’s shadow and surpass her. This performance was everything. The sass, the vocals, the dancing, we’re fully in love with this performance. Maia shared the stage with two dancers who did a fantastic job of keeping the attention on Maia the entire time. We want more. 

Cherry Novak - Truth Hurts

Turns out, Cherry is 100% That Bitch. Who knew? Another former girl grouper who’s finally getting the recognition she deserves. And she certainly delivered. This song is everything and this performance was even more. We love the confidence, the delivery and everything that Cherry touches.

Kelsey Ambrose - Last Hurrah

Kelsey looks and sounds really good, which is not something we could say last year if we’re all being honest. No, seriously, sobriety looks really good on her. The song isn’t overly challenging vocally and it’s pretty well known Kelsey isn’t the best dancer in the world but she pulled off a very entertaining performance, the pyro was visually stunning and her stage costume was hot. 

PRE SHOW

Naya Parsons - Happy

As much as we love Max, Naya was robbed of Best New Artist this year. This young woman has everything, the stage presence, the vocals, the confidence. We love watching her perform and, by the looks of it, so did her fans. The packed preshow screamed the chorus of a song off Naya’s debut album perfectly back to her while she glowed on stage, clearly living her best life at that moment. 

Winnie Kane - Same Old Love

Another newcomer who we’ll argue that probably deserved Best New Artist more than Max also rocked out the pre-show stage. While her performance was more sultry than Nayas, she certainly kept our attention the entire time she was on stage. The women who’ve run pop for years should be a little worried, Winnie’s coming for wigs. 

[biofunmy]

25 best TV shows of the year, from ‘Fleabag’ to ‘Pose’

CLOSE

After 2019, TV will never be the same. 

This year, TV got bigger than we ever could have imagined back when there were only three channels. Over 500 scripted series premiered new episodes, two major new streaming services (Apple TV+ and Disney+) debuted, “Star Wars” and Meryl Streep came to TV and “Game of Thrones” ended with massive ratings but disappointed fans. And yet we still are mostly talking about where we’ll be able to easily access reruns of “Friends.” 

But there were some really fantastic TV series we hope some of you managed to watch between all the Twitter reactions and marathons of Disney animated movies. And spoiler alert: “Thrones” and its terrible ending didn’t make the cut. 

You still have plenty of time before New Year’s Day to catch up on USA TODAY’s top 25 series of 2019.

Joe (Penn Badgley) stalks a new woman (Victoria Pedretti) in “You” Season 2. (Photo: Tyler Golden/Netflix)

25. ‘You’ (Netflix)

The soapy thriller starring Penn Badgley was a pleasant surprise in its original home on Lifetime, and became a sensation once it moved to Netflix, which will stream its second season Dec. 26. The second outing with self-aggrandizing stalker (and murderer) Joe is just as addictive as the first, if a little repetitive. But of all the current series that traffic in bad men doing bad things, “You” remains one of the few that asks interesting questions about its bad guy.

24. ‘Evil’ (CBS) 

Akin to “The X-Files” for religion – in which a psychologist, a priest-in-training and a tech expert investigate claims of miracles and demonic possessions – “Evil” is a hard sell on paper, but a surprisingly coherent and gripping series. Created by Robert and Michelle King (“The Good Wife” and “The Good Fight”), it is thought-provoking as an investigation of organized, institutional religion and as a source of thrilling horror stories about exorcisms and evildoers.

23. ‘Living With Yourself’ (Netflix) 

Paul Rudd is one of Hollywood’s most charming (and ageless) actors, and he does welcome double duty in this dark comedy about a man who ends up with a clone that is significantly better at living his life. Full of existential angst and pratfalls, the series neatly balances comedy and drama. It’s also a great showcase for Irish actress Aisling Bea, who turns in a breakout performance that isn’t overshadowed by Rudd’s star power.

22. ‘Country Music’ (PBS)

Ken Burns rarely disappoints. The legendary filmmaker turned his lens on the history of a uniquely American music genre for this 18-part documentary that traced its roots and rise. It may have also changed some minds about what country music really is and who it is for.

Sadie Sink, Noah Schnapp, Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, and Caleb McLaughlin in Stranger Things 3 . (Photo: Netflix.)

21. ‘Stranger Things’ (Netflix) 

After a disappointing and derivative second season, the ’80s-set supernatural series – Netflix’s most popular – returned with new episodes that took more risks and repeated fewer plot points. With the Soviets as new villains, new horror inspirations for the monsters and new relationships to explore – particularly the friendship between Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and Max (Sadie Sink) – the series crafted a third season that was almost as captivating as its breakout first.

20. ‘Veronica Mars’ (Hulu) 

In our current nostalgia-obsessed TV era, there are plenty of truly terrible reboots, remakes and revivals (“Fuller House”), but sometimes bringing back the original cast and creators years or even decades later results in good TV. The most successful attempt in recent years is “Veronica Mars,” the cult neo-noir series canceled by CW in 2003, revived in 2014 for a movie and brought back yet again for eight episodes by Hulu. Kristen Bell and creator Rob Thomas found a mystery worth Veronica’s talents, and room for the beloved-but-damaged detective to grow. Its shocker ending divided fans, but nothing about the new “Mars” felt cheap, forced or dated, and that’s a true achievement.

19. ‘A Black Lady Sketch Show’ (HBO) 

If you missed this small but mighty new sketch comedy series in August, it’s worth catching up on all six episodes of the hilarious first season. Created by Robin Thede and produced by Issa Rae (“Insecure”), the series’ talented black women comedians excel in sketches that are unique to their experiences and universal in their humor.

Mj Rodriguez as Blanca, Billy Porter as Pray Tell on “Pose.” (Photo: Michael Parmelee/FX)

18. ‘Pose’ (FX)

FX’s groundbreaking LGBTQ drama became bigger and more intimate in its excellent second season, homing in on its best characters while making its stories more ambitious, tragic and complex. The season was more focused and compelling than its promising first year, with especially strong performances from Emmy-winning Billy Porter as Pray Tell, Mj Rodriguez as Blanca and Indya Moore as Angel. 

17. ‘Stumptown’ (ABC)

There is nothing particularly revolutionary about this procedural drama starring Cobie Smulders, but it stands out among the new network offerings this year because of the thoughtful and fresh way the writers make age-old detective stories. Smulders shines as Dex Parios, a deeply caring if not always smooth private investigator, and her performance elevates “Stumptown” beyond just-another-network-cop-show.

16. ‘The Good Fight’ (CBS All Access)

Despite getting a little more fantastical every year, CBS All Access’ “Good Wife” spinoff is still the drama that best captures the current sociopolitical era. Its third season, with the addition of Michael Sheen as a Roy Cohn-inspired lawyer, was a little wacky without getting too weird, with smart scripts and great performances, most notably from Christine Baranski and Audra MacDonald.

15. ‘The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance’ (Netflix) 

This prequel to Jim Henson’s 1982 film manages to go above and beyond the beloved original. On aesthetics alone, the series is a huge achievement, but it also tells a fantasy story as lofty and politically complex as “Game of Thrones.” That “Crystal” manages to make fully-realized characters and plots through mesmerizing puppetry rounds out a superb epic.

Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth II on “The Crown.” (Photo: Sophie Mutevelian/Netflix)

14. ‘The Crown’ (Netflix)

God save the Queen, whoever happens to be playing her. Netflix’s British royals drama proved it can go deep into the reign of Queen Elizabeth II by successfully swapping its original cast for an older set of actors, including Oscar winner Olivia Colman in the lead role (previously played by Emmy winner Claire Foy). The third season has a few bumps, and struggles to make Elizabeth the center of her own story, but the addition of a young Prince Charles (Josh O’Connor) and his romantic escapades makes up for Colman’s brief screen time.

13. ‘Superstore’ (NBC)

Like a cheap bottle of wine at Target, “Superstore” just gets better with age. NBC’s workplace comedy is smarter and funnier every season, and 2019 episodes represent the show at its peak. “Superstore” kept its stories and character dynamics fresh this year by promoting Amy (America Ferrera) to manager of the Cloud 9 big box store, changing her socioeconomic status in an instant and drastically altering her relationship with her co-workers, including boyfriend Jonah (Ben Feldman).

Kayvan Novak as Nandor and Harvey Guillen as Guillermo on “What We Do in the Shadows.” (Photo: John P Johnson/FX)

12. ‘What We Do in the Shadows’ (FX) 

Based on the cult 2014 film from Jemaine Clement (“Flight of the Conchords”) and Taika Waititi (who directed “Thor: Ragnarok” and “Jojo Rabbit”), “Shadows” is the funniest show this year, an outright bacchanalia of vampiric failures, energy draining and nerdy virgins. The comedy moves its focus from hapless vampires in New Zealand to an even more inept clan in Staten Island, New York, with lofty goals such as taking over the world via city council meetings. 

11. ‘The Good Place’ (NBC) 

The philosophical afterlife comedy hasn’t been quite as brilliant in its fourth and final season, but even at 85% strength, “Good Place” is still smarter and funnier than most shows on TV. Nailing an ending to a series that asks questions as big as this one does (what does it take to be a good person?) is always tricky, and most crucially the series is staying true to its delightful characters.

10. ‘Shrill’ (Hulu) 

At last, “Saturday Night Live” standout Aidy Bryant has a starring role worthy of her talents in Hulu’s “Shrill.” The actress finds a quieter side of her comedy in this Portland, Oregon-set series based on writer and fat-acceptance activist Lindy West’s memoir. It marks the best portrayal of life as a plus-size woman on TV, neither patronizing nor unrealistic, and tells stories beyond its protagonist’s weight on a scale. With just six hilarious episodes, it’s one of the few TV series that would have excelled if it had expanded.

Merritt Weaver, left, and Toni Collette play detectives who initially butt heads but learn to work together in Netflix miniseries “Unbelievable.” (Photo: Beth Dubber/Netflix)

9. ‘Unbelievable’ (Netflix) 

True-crime stories can be many things: seedy, enthralling, vindicating, angering or satisfying. Based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning ProPublica article, “Unbelievable” is both infuriating and triumphant, highlighting the deep flaws in our criminal justice system while also celebrating the work of two genuinely heroic policewomen. With a stellar cast, “Unbelievable” tells the story of a rape victim (Kaitlyn Dever) who isn’t believed by police, and the two detectives (Toni Collette and Merritt Wever) who bring her attacker to justice years later – after he raped several more women.

8. ‘Undone’ (Amazon) 

As deeply emotional and affecting as it is unsettling, Amazon’s animated series gets under your skin, in a good way. The series’ rotoscoping technique, in which animation is drawn over live footage, provides an eerie edge as it tells a magic-realist story of a stagnant 20-something woman (Rosa Salazar) who can travel in time and communicate with her dead father. But for every psychedelic trip Alma takes, she also takes a more grounded one as she tries to repair damaged relationships and plot her next course. 

7. ‘Dead to Me’ (Netflix) 

Christina Applegate gives her best performance in Netflix’s black comedy about a widow who unknowingly befriends the woman (the great Linda Cardellini) who killed her husband. Twisty but not gimmicky, “Dead” is addictive. The series has an abundance of acting talent, including James Marsden, who finally gets a role that takes the sheen off his perfect smile. 

6. ‘Watchmen’ (HBO)

Although it started off a bit unsurely, HBO’s very loose adaptation of the graphic novel has blossomed into one of creator Damon Lindelof’s best series, and from the man behind “Lost” and “The Leftovers,” that’s some achievement. The series has a superb cast – including Regina King, Jean Smart, Jeremy Irons and Tim Blake Nelson – that elevates smart scripts that get better as the season progresses. Lindelof and his writers find surprising ways to bring the superhero story from the 1980s into today’s culture, helping “Watchmen” upend the comic book formula once again.

Asante Blackk in “When They See Us,” Ava DuVernay’s retelling of the Central Park Five. (Photo: NETFLIX)

5. ‘When They See Us’ (Netflix) 

Ava DuVernay’s striking miniseries gives voice to the so-called Central Park Five, a group of five black and Latino youths wrongly convicted of assault in one of the biggest trials of the 1980s. With an extremely talented group of young actors as the falsely accused adolescents – Asante Blackk, Caleel Harris, Ethan Herisse, Emmy-winner Jharrel Jerome and Marquis Rodriguez – the series brings the story to the screen as a brutal, unrelenting tragedy.

4. ‘Back to Life’ (Showtime) 

This British tragicomedy, starring and created by Daisy Haggard (“Episodes”), focuses on Miri, a woman who returns to her small seaside village after spending 18 years in prison for a crime that’s explained as the series progresses. Although Miri has left iron bars and jumpsuits behind, her small town is a prison of its own, where she is hated by all but her parents, her new boss and her kindly neighbor. Touching on themes of forgiveness and deception, the series is breathtaking in its emotional scope, despite the small story it tells over just six episodes.

3. ‘Chernobyl’ (HBO) 

The brilliance of this historical miniseries, which chronicles the 1986 nuclear disaster at a power plant in Soviet Ukraine, creeps up on you as you watch its five episodes. Despite portraying so much death and despair, “Chernobyl” is never crass or exploitative, but rather it simply, anger-inducingly explains the failures and hubris that led to the disaster, and the people who tried to mitigate its consequences.

2. ‘Leaving Neverland’ (HBO)

Among 2019’s many true crime documentaries that made viewers question established media narratives and powerful people, this one – about two men who accused Michael Jackson of sexual abuse when they were children – stood out. Wade Robson and James Safechuck were given a platform to tell their harrowing stories, and director Dan Reed is unflinching as he captures the pain and suffering of the men and their families. Tough to watch, it’s also an eye-opening look at the lasting effects of abuse, and the way the media handles allegations against powerful men.

Phoebe Waller-Bridge as Fleabag in Amazon’s “Fleabag.” (Photo: Amazon)

1. ‘Fleabag’ (Amazon) 

Could there be any other choice for No. 1? Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s dark comedy ran away with the 2019 Emmy Awards for good reason. Few series have ever been as emotionally affecting and brilliantly written as “Fleabag” in its second season. The story of a self-hating and self-destructive woman (Waller-Bridge) falling in love with a Catholic priest (Andrew Scott) was both a shocking sequel to the first and an exquisitely perfect ending to Fleabag’s tale. We’ll miss her dearly. 

Autoplay

Show Thumbnails

Show Captions

Last SlideNext Slide

Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2019/12/04/25-best-tv-shows-2019-fleabag-stranger-things-leaving-neverland/4300681002/

Sahred From Source link TV and Movies

from WordPress http://bit.ly/2PdC4ZD via IFTTT

[ask-the-phan-site]

The Shell Shocker of Wrath

WARNING: This may contain spoilers for Persona 5: The Royal.

>It’s time.

Let’s get him out of his shell.

(laughs a bit) That’s a good one, Joker!

All set to go?

I’m all ready.

Mona: Then let’s get going!

>Mona becomes our van and we drive off to take Hun’s heart.

>Hun’s Palace takes the form of a medieval castle, something more like out of an RPG. Mikey says this game is called SuperQuest. In the center of the castle that is the throne room, we find Hun’s Shadow that has taken human form for now.

Took you long enough.

Well, going through all those traps you set up wasn’t going to get us to you any faster.

Shadow Hun: It’s your own fault for not being competent enough. I swear, you’re just like turtles. So slow.

Excuse me?

He must really hate them.

Well he does blame them for his mutation.

Shadow Hun: (getting upset) I don’t just hate turtles! They make me SICK! Because of them, whenever I look in the mirror, that’s all I see! Turtles! Turtles! TURTLES! For a long time, they have been a thorn in my side! And now they’re everywhere I look!

It’s your own fault! You chose to go down a dark path and that lead you to your just reward.

Shadow Hun: I was merely trying to make a living. I can’t help it if a bunch of reptiles decided to meddle in my affairs.

Queen: If by ‘affairs’, you mean threatening innocent people for money to the point where they can’t defend themselves?

Shadow Hun: You know nothing. I’m just offering a little protection.

Mona: From who? You?

Shadow Hun: And what of you? Aren’t you just as guilty of using force to change people’s hearts?

Don’t say we’re alike! We take the hearts of criminals and make them see what shit bags they are! Shit bags like you!

>Darkness begins to surround Hun’s Shadow.

Shadow Hun: I have already told all that you need to know of the world, and you choose to take it as just pure nonsense. Very well. I’ll just have to make you listen... Even if it kills you.

>Then, the Shadow changes his shape.

Oracle: It looks like I’m going to have to go Ultimate for this.

>Oracle goes Ultimate.

Oracle: PERSONA!

>Prometheus scans Shadow Hun. But suddenly, something happened... Prometheus retreats to Oracle’s mask.

What!? You mean this is even beyond Prometheus!?

Queen: It must be his cognition. His anger and hatred must be too strong.

Oracle: Okay then, I see I have no choice.

Mona: You mean...

That’s right, Mona chan. I’m going to have to go... Beyond!

>With that, Oracle goes Third Tier.

Oracle: PERSONA!

>Al Azif scans Shadow Hun.

Oracle: Success! He’s weak to Ice and Wind. Inari, Mona, you two are going on.

Fox: If your strongest Persona is the only one that can scan that monstrosity, it’s safe to assume the same is for us.

Mona: (smirking) Heh heh! Time to show Panther just how strong I can be.

I can be super strong, too! Fine, I’m fighting, too.

Joker: If that’s what you want, go for it. Just don’t push yourselves too much.

We know, Joker. I trust you.

I know, Fox. I trust you, too... Especially with my heart.

WARNING: Usually, Third Tier Personas gain a new Skill when awaken. But since ATLUS has yet to name them, only show them, they won’t be used.

>Fox, Mona, and Panther go Third Tier.

Fox, Mona, and Panther: PERSONA!

>I change Personas.

Joker: Persona!

(Insert song: Nothing is Promised)

>Shadow Hun just hesitates. Earlier, I used a Skill Card on King Frost which gave him the Skill, Marakukaja, which he uses. He already has Auto-Mataru. Gorokichi uses Masukukaja. Diego uses Garudyne. However, Shadow Hun dodges it. Celestine uses Tarunda. Shadow Hun uses Charge. King Frost uses Bufudyne. It knocks him down.

Joker: Let’s do this!

>After the attack, Shadow Hun was still up. Gorokichi also uses Bufudyne. He is knocked down again.

Fox: Everyone, with me!

>After the attack, Shadow Hun was still up. Diego uses Garudyne. He was knocked down yet again. We don’t do an All-Out-Attack this time. Diego uses Garudyne again. Celestine uses Concentrate. Shadow Hun uses Heat Wave. It was a critical hit on me and Mona. Shadow Hun uses Megaton Raid on Panther. Luckily, she dodged it. I get back up and King Frost uses Megaton Raid as well. However, Shadow Hun resists it. Gorokichi uses Bufudyne again. Shadow Hun dodges it. Mona gets back up and Diego uses Garudyne. He is knocked down.

Mona: Time for some bloodshed!

>After the attack, Shadow Hun was still up. Celestine uses Agidyne. Shadow Hun is Burned. Shadow Hun uses Terror Claw on Fox. He is afflicted with Fear. The Burn eats away at Shadow Hun’s health. I use Relax Gel on him. Gorokichi uses Masukukaja. Diego uses Salvation. Celestine uses Tarunda. Shadow Hun uses Charge. King Frost uses Bufudyne. He is knocked down. No All-Out-Attack this time. I pass the baton to Mona and Diego uses Garudyne. It’s a technical hit because of the Burn. Gorokichi uses Bufudyne as well. Diego uses Garudyne again. Another technical hit. Celestine uses Agidyne again. Shadow Hun gets back up and the Burn wears off. Then, Shadow Hun uses Memory Blow. Me, Mona, and Panther Forget. I am unable to use my Persona.

Fox: Joker, snap out of it!

>I snap out of it. Then, Fox uses Mental Floss on Panther. Mona does nothing. Panther uses Harisen Recovery on Mona and Celestine uses Concentrate. Shadow Hun just scowls at me. King Frost uses Bufudyne. Shadow Hun is knocked down.

Joker: Let’s go!

>After the attack, Shadow Hun is still up.

Joker: Damn! We’re not putting a dent in him.

Mona: Actually, I think I might know what to do about this. Panther, I know I said I wanted to show you just how strong I can be, but I might need your help with this.

Panther: Right, I’ll help.

Shadow Hun: I’d like to see you try it!

>Gorokichi uses Masukukaja. Diego uses Garudyne. However, Shadow Hun dodges it. Celestine uses Agidyne.

Shadow Hun: I may look like a brute to you, but I know your plan. Let’s see you get past this!

>Shadow Hun uses Wind Wall.

Mona: This could be bad. We’ll just have to hold on until it wears off.

Oracle: But until then, I’ll do something about this!

>Al Azif recovers our SP. King Frost uses Bufudyne. Shadow Hun is knocked down.

Joker: Let’s do it!

>After the attack, Shadow Hun is still up, but now slightly weaker. But we still hope Mona and Panther can do their thing. Gorokichi uses Bufudyne, too. He is knocked down again.

Fox: Now! Let us strike!

>After the attack, Shadow Hun is still standing. Diego uses Salvation. Celestine uses Agidyne. Shadow Hun is Burned. Shadow Hun uses God’s Hand on me. Luckily, I dodged it. The Burn eats at his health. King Frost uses Bufudyne. Shadow Hun is knocked down.

Joker: Let’s go for it!

>After the attack, Shadow Hun is still up. Gorokichi uses Masukukaja. Mona defends himself. Celestine uses Tarunda. Shadow Hun, after the Burn wears off, uses Assault Dive on Mona. It looks like Shadow Hun is getting weaker from using too many Physical Skills. King Frost uses Marakukaja. Gorokichi uses Bufudyne. Shadow Hun is knocked down.

Fox: Everyone, with me!

>After the attack, Shadow Hun is still up. Just one more move until the Wind Wall wears off. Mona defends himself. As does Panther. Shadow Hun, not knowing the Wind Wall wears off, uses Charge. King Frost uses Bufudyne. Shadow Hun dodges it. Gorokichi also uses Bufudyne. Shadow Hun is knocked down.

Fox: I will slice you to pieces!

>After the attack, Shadow Hun is still up... But not for long.

Mona: It’s time! Panther?

Panther: I’m ready to go anytime!

Mona: Then let’s go for it. Show your might, Diego!

>Diego uses Garudyne. Shadow Hun is knocked down.

Mona: Too late for apologies!

>After the attack, Shadow Hun is still up.

(so excited that he changed back to cat form) NOW WE DO IT! TOGETHER!

Panther: (also excited) THEN LET’S BEGIN!

>With that, the battle is over. The Shadow resumes his human form and a light comes out of him.

Mona: (returning to human form) Joker, the Treasure!

>I take the Treasure.

(please ignore the fingers)

Shadow Hun: My Purple Dragon Cane. It was a gift from the last leader when I took over.

Queen: Now will you let go of your hatred of the Turtles for just a while so you can be cured and return to human form?

Shadow Hun: ... I know. I will do so if it would at least give me some peace.

Queen: Good.

Noir: And there’s something else.

Shadow Hun: Let me guess, you want me to turn over a new leaf and disband the Purple Dragons, or at least, lead them to be good people?

Royal: Maybe?

Shadow Hun: ... I’ll think about it. But know this: The Purple Dragons will never be gone. We have friends. The Foot Clan. Their leader, the Shredder... Even the Kingpin.

The Kingpin!? Who is he?

Shadow Hun: (laughing) How should I know? Ask Sid.

>With that, the Shadow returns to his true self. We leave the vanishing Palace as well.

>The next day at Horizon High, Peter, Harry, Miles, Gwen, Anya, Aleksei, Max, Rena Rouge, Carapace, Flint, the Living Brain, Carolyn, and even Casey and April were in the lab in front of the glass cell were the mutated Hun is. They saw that Hun’s endless rage and been replaced with tearful remorse.

It looks like the Phantom Thieves came though.

Alright!

Was there ever any doubt?

They actually did it. They changed his cognition.

No kiddin’. They’re amazin’.

If only you knew.

April: What do you mean?

Gwen: Oh, nothing.

So, Hun, Hunter, are you ready to take your medicine? I promise that you’ll soon be fully human again.

Hun: ... Okay.

Right. Better let me do it. Just in case.

>Peter enters the cell and puts a headset on Hun.

Is this going to hurt him?

The pain will only last for a minute. Soon, it will be over.

Max: Are you ready?

>Hun nods.

Living Brain: Then let us begin. Ms. Trainer, if you will.

Will do.

>Carolyn activates the headset. After a few minutes of pain, spark, and tears, it was over. They watch as Hun changes back into a human.

Max: It’s done.

How do you feel?

Hun: I feel... Smaller.

Not really, more like you’re just you.

Hun: Thanks... I think.

Casey: So, what’s gonna happen to Hun now?

???????: We can take it from here.

>They turned to see the three Avenges that just came in. Casey and Peter were not happy because they recognized one of them.

Casey: Oh, it’s you again.

Now that’s a little harsh, Jones. We haven’t seen each other in sometime and that’s how you greet me?

Peter: Actually, I’m with him.

Back on subject, we’re here to take Hunter Mason.

Hun: Where?

We were originally going to take you to The Vault. But when we learned that the Phantom Thieves may have given you a change of heart, we thought a simple S.H.I.E.L.D. facility would do it... For now.

Hun: ... Fine. Just get me out of here. Especially from Jones, O’Neil, and... Those friends of theirs.

Black Widow: Alright then.

Max: (puzzled) What friends?

April: Let’s just say, they’re one shell of a group.

>Max was still confused.

Now that we’ve cured Hun, does that mean I’m next? 

Living Brain: It might take some time. Unlike Mr. Sytsevich and Hunter Mason, they were mutated into animals. You, however, were mutated into mineral.

Max: It’s alright, Flint. We’ll make sure things will work out... For you and your daughter.

Flint: (happy) Thank you.

>With that, the three Avengers take Hun away.

Hawkeye: You think it’s a good idea to leave Sandman here?

Falcon: Max Modell said he the students will try their best to cure him.

Hawkeye: I know. It’s just... That Living Brain gives me the creeps.

Black Widow: Yeah... I feel the same way.

>Back inside, we came in.

It looks like things have worked out.

Peter: It wasn’t easy, but we did it. Just a shame Akechi isn’t here. But we’ll see him soon.

I’m sure you will.

April: Oh, are you students here, too?

>Keep in mind, April, Casey, the Turtles, Master Splinter, Rena Rouge, and Carapace don’t know we’re the Phantom Thieves.

No, we’re visitors. We just wanted to see if that man is human again.

April: He is. I think this turned out a happy ending... I think.

Rena Rouge: Anyway, we’ve done what we could. Now to return to Paris. Those two kids we brought with us already left after one of them interviewed Mr. Parker here.

Peter: And I’m very happy for it. Hopefully, Jameson will get off my back for at least a little while.

Carapace: I hope so, too, dude.

>So, with a wink, Rena Rouge and Carapace leave... I’m sure it’s not the last we’ve seen of them.

Now that that’s done, it’s about time we left as well.

Gwen: Do you have to? It feels like you only just got here.

I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other real soon. Why not come to the End of Summer Stride Tournament? We can support my friend together.

Gwen: Thanks, but that’s on the last week of August and we’ve got plans. But I’m sure they’ll live stream it.

Then what about Dream FES? That’s a week before the End of Summer.

Gwen: I guess we can do that.

Harry: I can’t wait. I won’t get to do much after I become CEO of Oscorp, so I’ll enjoy it.

And I’ll make sure you do.

Very well, until we meet again?

>We nod in agreement.

>Another successful heist.

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

How I’d Ruin It: MST3k

Inspired by @tyrantisterror‘s post on breaking the Batman universe, here’s an outline of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode that I (and probably no one else) would like to see.

Kinga’s version of the Forrester experiment differs in one major way from Clayton and Pearl: the primary goal isn’t to drive Jonah insane. She tells us her real plan in the first episode: revive Mystery Science Theater 3000 (which was an in-universe television show during the days of Deep 13) and eventually sell the rights to Disney for a billion dollars.

This episode would take place a few years into Jonah’s imprisonment on the Satellite of Love. With the help of his robot friends, his riffing is as sharp as ever, but the ratings (we’ll ignore the Netflix format) are in a tailspin. Everyone makes fun of entertainment these days; MST3k no longer stands out in the comedy landscape it created. So Kinga decides it’s time for a mid-season shocker: she’s going to show Jonah a movie certain to break him once and for all. Not an abomination like Manos: The Hands of Fate or Invasion of the Neptune Men -- Joel and Mike endured them both and kept on trucking. No, she has a different approach in mind to make her father and grandmother proud. Her confidence in its success is such that she’s already set a trap to lure the next host: a Moon 13 internship. Unpaid, of course.

“I’m sure they’ll cause a flame war or twenty, but the fans always get over it.”

OPTION 1: UNRIFFABLE CLASSIC

The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928), dir. Carl Theodor Dreyer

A silent movie presents a unique challenge for riffing. The removal of sound beyond musical accompaniment gives you nothing to write around, forcing you to set your own pace. You also face a handicap: nobody’s voice can be mocked, and dialogue in general is minimal. MST3k never tried it. I don’t believe any of the writers’ later projects have either. RiffTrax has proven that classic films can be mocked the same as awful movies, but what if a film was both classic and silent?

The Passion of Joan of Arc, as a source no less reputable than Wikipedia states, is one of the greatest films of all time. Focusing on Joan’s imprisonment, trial, and execution rather than the battles she participated in, it draws much of its power from Renée Jeanne Falconetti’s performance. The majority of the shots in the movie are close-ups, and the majority of the close-ups are on her, capturing her emotional turmoil in haunting detail as she wages a different kind of battle for her soul. It’s a film as impervious to riffing as any I’ve ever seen.

The obvious alternative is to enjoy it. One problem: the Satellite of Love doesn’t have satellite TV. Or a Netflix subscription. Or a Blu-ray library. Jonah has gone years without seeing a movie he could enjoy on its own terms. The ‘Bots have it even worse. Joel programmed them with knowledge of classic movies, but once they returned to Earth, they never quite got around to watching any. (They also reveal that their post-Satellite riffing wasn’t limited to what was on their apartment’s TV. Servo: “We’re banned from every movie theater in the Twin Cities area!” Crow: “Sometimes before we even bought tickets!”) As Joan struggles to stay true to her beliefs, her audience rethinks their own beliefs about the power of film.

A moment I see as key to the success of either option for this episode is a jarring cut from familiar Shadowrama to a frontal or side view of Jonah, Crow, and Servo’s faces as they realize that something is amiss. In this case, it would also give them an opportunity to mimic the film’s many uncompromising close-ups, which has plenty of potential for comedy. I mean, c’mon, the show’s already parodied Bergman.

In the last segment, they watch the film in relative silence, then conclude with a round table discussion on the bridge.

OPTION 2: CORPORATE B-MOVIE

Sharknado: The 4th Awakens (2016), dir. Anthony C. Ferrante

I despise Sharknado 4 with all of my being. Plenty of franchises have overstayed their welcome, but none have sold out as completely as the Asylum’s flagship series, which by its fourth entry is more a series of quasi-celebrity cameos and product placements than anything resembling a movie.

Jonah and the ‘Bots are aware of the Sharknado phenomenon; Crow and Servo even remember riffing the original with Mike when it first aired on the SyFy Channel. (”The new name’s so weird. Looks like you’re supposed to pronounce it Siffi.”) They’re surprised that Kinga is sending them such a recent movie, but they figure it’ll be standard fare: low-poly sharks and a 90210 has-been picking up a paycheck. And Sharknado: The 4th Awakens does turn out to have both -- but wrapped up in something much darker.

The blatant Xfinity plug and the Carrot Top cameo they can shrug off. What disturbs them is the fact that this movie wants to be mocked. All of their previous experiments were sincere (if frequently misguided) attempts at filmmaking. Kinga and Max were the ones passing judgment on their quality; our heroes’ jokes were just to amuse each other. Here, the laughs feel... hollow. Forced. Desperate.

But when they’re at their lowest, Kinga’s taunts give them their fire back. Isn’t she in the same business as SyFy, trying to turn the family experiment into a billion-dollar franchise? For the final stretch, they hop up on literal soapboxes and take pointed aim at the commercialization of schlock, targeting both the movie and the mad scientist herself.

In either version of this episode, Kinga is furious with Jonah’s adaptability, and decides she’s just going to kill him. Instead, the born Gizmocrat earns his episode-one praise from Wesley Crusher and defeats her in a Technobabble Battle, escaping to Earth at its conclusion. Crow and Servo make an increasingly detailed series of bets about what “the next guy” will be like.

Instead of a stinger, a post-credits scene shows Kinga scrolling through emails from applicants to the Moon 13 internship. One catches her eye, and she dashes off a reply.

“Say, Kate, what size jumpsuit do you wear?”

(Kate would be played by Kate Micucci. Blame the Kickstarter telethon.)