lonesomesam

[venus-haze]

She's Out To Please, She Pouts Her Best (Soldier Boy x Reader)

Summary: Soldier Boy’s been pulled from the European Theater to sell war bonds to the American people, the goodwill tour dotted by big cities and small towns alike. In the meantime, he gets familiar with the variety of women in dazzling costumes that accompany his speeches with carefully choreographed dances. You’re, without a doubt, his favorite of them all.

Note: Female (blink and you’ll miss it implied plus size) reader, but no other descriptors are used. This fic is so short because it’s pretty much PWP. Do not interact if you’re under 18 or post thinspo/ED content.

Word count: 2k

Warnings: Dressing room sex, mirrors, breeding kink, daddy kink, power imbalance, overstimulation, implied baby trapping. Do not interact if you’re under 18.

Chattering from the packed high school auditorium somehow seeped through the walls. The rural town that was the latest stop in Soldier Boy’s war bond drive had shown up en masse out of patriotism or sheer curiosity. Usually both. Electricity was always in the air before the show in small towns. Some of them didn’t even have movie theaters. 

You and the other dancers on the tour had set up camp in one of the bigger classrooms, using it to get ready in since it was near one of the bathrooms. Dresses, sequins, and makeup scattered about the room, making the place of learning look like a department store had exploded inside. You’d been helping another girl with the curlers in her hair until a masculine voice called out your name from the doorway.

“Soldier Boy wants to see you in his dressing room.”

You nodded, giving an apologetic look to your colleague, who waved you off. It wasn’t unusual for Soldier Boy to call on one of you to help him “warm up” before the shows. Lately, however, he’d almost exclusively been asking for you, to the detriment of your jaw. 

Grabbing a nearby tube of red lipstick, you hastily applied it in the illuminated mirror in front of you. The lipstick residue soon adorned a tissue that you discarded, and you used your fingertips to gently massage the muscles in your face in preparation for taking him again. You hoped you’d at least get to come this time.

A flyer had gotten you to this point, stark white with patriotic motifs, pinned to a board in the nightclub you had been working in prior to getting the gig. Uncle Sam declared, “Ladies, you can serve your country too!” You figured why not, there was a war on, and if you could do something to help, you might as well. 

Your qualifications led you to your local USO office, where you were handed a star-spangled outfit and joined a gaggle of other girls to be the supporting act on Soldier Boy’s war bonds tour across the country. At times, you felt silly, kicking and shimmying to audiences who were clearly only putting up with the opener just to catch a glimpse at the world’s first superhero. A man larger than life in every sense of the word, as you and your fellow dancers on the tour would learn.

Wandering the hallway, you checked each door for an indication of which commandeered classroom was his. Not one for subtlety, his dressing rooms always had ‘SOLDIER BOY’ printed in large letters, declaring his presence. You found the sign toward the end of the hall, giving a smile to the usual group of people who congregated around him, assistants and handlers to keep him on schedule.

You knocked on the door, announcing your arrival. 

“You wanted to see me, sir?” you asked when he opened the door. 

He smiled, putting his hand on your lower back as he ushered you inside. “Sure did, sweetheart.”

His dressing room always betrayed his vices—alcohol, drugs, porno mags. It didn’t faze you anymore, not like the first time he asked for you, a stuttering mess in his presence. Back then, you had to take a shot with him to settle your nerves enough to blow him without feeling too self-conscious. Now, it was routine. You moved to get on your knees, but he stopped you, to your confusion. 

Instead, he disarmed you with a passionate kiss that nearly knocked you over. You steadied yourself on his strong arms that had made their home near your hips. He squeezed them, pulling you closer so your body was flush against his as he slipped his tongue into your mouth. 

You let him take the lead, he always did—strong, masculine, hard-working. Wasn’t America lucky its hero was easy on the eyes too? Except he had a temper, a mean streak that could go for miles. Not that you’d ever been on the receiving end of it. No, for all his faults, you seemed to get the best of Soldier Boy.

“I’ve been thinking about you,” he whispered against your lips.

“You have?”

“Don’t sound so surprised. You’re—“ he paused, searching for the word he wanted to use, “special to me.”

You weren’t sure why he was laying it on so thick. It wasn’t your first rodeo with him. “Special?”

“‘Course you are. You wouldn't be here if you weren’t,” he said. “I wanna try something different today, alright, doll?”

“Alright,” you agreed softly.

He smiled. “That’s my girl.”

Your body came alive at his praise, and you pressed your lips to his for another kiss. He guided your body backward until you bumped into the vanity. Parting his lips from yours, he turned you around, bending you over it so you were face to face with yourself in the mirror. 

You looked at him from the reflection, brows furrowed as you wondered what he was doing. 

He leaned down, voice husky in your ear as he growled, “I want you to see how pretty you look when you come.”

Your eyes widened, and you grabbed either side of the vanity in preparation, to his amusement. He pressed a kiss to the back of your neck as he pushed up your shimmery skirt, exposing your red, satin panties, specially made to be on display. Soon, your panties were around your heeled feet, one of his hands reaching to play with your clit while the other squeezed one of your breasts through your top.

“We look good together, don’t you think, sweetheart?” he asked, intense gaze studying your reactions.

“Y-Yes,” you moaned, trying to keep your eyes open. 

He always wanted you to look at him. From your knees when you were sucking him off, when he’d be standing on the side of the stage during your act, in his hotel rooms when he couldn’t find local girls to fuck around with. This instance was different, though, able to really see him, and yourself. You didn’t find your glassy gaze or parted lips particularly flattering, but he couldn’t seem to get enough.

His fingers had already brought you close to climax, and you whined when he pulled them away from you for a moment to free his hard cock from his pants. You shuddered, feeling it on your skin before he guided it in your pussy. Your hands curled around the vanity you were bracing yourself on. You weren’t sure if you’d get used to how his cock seemed to split you apart every time.

One of his arms wrapped just below your chest to hold you up, as you struggled to support yourself when he started pounding into you. Your pussy was already wet and pliant for him, and you'd be embarrassed by the obscene squelching sounds if you weren't so focused on getting off when he had brought you so close to the edge already.

You were your own voyeur, your brain feeling like it was going to melt, watching yourself getting fucked by him. His superhuman strength always caught you off guard, from the first time he shocked you by lifting you above his head on stage for a roaring crowd to the way he could make your body feel—and look—like you were little more than a ragdoll. 

“Gonna put a baby in you,” he grunted as he thrust into you, items falling from the vanity and onto the floor at the force he used to fuck you. “Want you up on that stage with my cum leaking out every time you kick up those legs—fuck—you’re mine.”

Your pussy clenched around him at the vulgar image he conjured up. “Yours daddy.”

His voice was strained, words slurring together. He was close. “‘S right, baby. Keep fuckin’ you ‘till you make me one. You like takin’ daddy’s dick, don’t you?”

You had to force the short affirmation out of your mouth, pleasure’s chokehold creeping up on you. That wasn’t enough for him or his ego.

“I wanna hear you say it.”

“I love taking—oh fuck—taking your dick, daddy.”

He came, hard and sloppy as your pussy milked his cock. You cried out, feeling so full it almost started to hurt. Something in you finally snapped, releasing the pain and pressure as you rode out your orgasm on his softening cock. Your arms gave out from under you so that it was just his strength holding you up. You weren’t sure how you’d be able to go back to having sex with men who weren’t well-endowed superheroes. Go back to faking it, you supposed.

Your throat was sore. You hadn’t paid attention to how loud you were being. Everyone outside the room must’ve known what was happening if they didn’t have an idea when you first showed up looking for him. 

Soldier Boy pulled himself out of you, and you could hear fabric rustling and the sound of his zipper again. You didn’t bother trying to stand up, still needing time to catch your breath. 

He used his fingers to swipe up some of his cum that had begun dripping out of you, causing you to gasp at the slight sensation of them brushing against your pussy. You whimpered when he pushed his index and middle fingers inside you, already aching from the orgasm he’d just pulled from you. 

“I—I can’t—“

‘I can’t get pregnant and ruin my career,’ you wanted to say, but all that came from your lips was a desperate, animalistic moan.

“I got you, baby,” Soldier Boy whispered, voice low and husky in your ear. “Give me one more so it sticks.”

You choked on air as his thumb brushed your clit, rubbing circles in the sensitive bundle of nerves. His fingers pushed deeper, and your hips bucked at the overstimulation, your spent pussy reactively pulsing around his cum-slicked fingers that curled inside you.

The woman staring back at you in the mirror was a mess with her mascara stained cheeks and smeared lipstick. You were utterly unrecognizable as you came again, harder on his fingers this time, crying out as you gripped the edge of the vanity, threatening to break one of your manicured nails. 

“Good girl,” he praised, pressing kisses to your cheek, as you came down from your second orgasm, pulling his hand from between your legs. “You alright?”

“I think so,” you breathed. “Jesus Christ.”

Your legs felt like jelly beneath you, and you wondered how the hell you were going to be able to dance in less than half an hour. You’d have to reapply all of your makeup too.

He turned you around, looking at you with a brief fondness before kissing your lips, soft and quick. 

“I need to fix my face,” you breathed.

He smiled. “Why? You look great.” 

You laughed softly as he gave you space. You pulled up your panties from around your ankles, knowing his cum would stain them by the time you made it back to the dancers’ makeshift dressing room. Taking some of the tissues from the box on top of the vanity, you began wiping your ruined makeup from your face. He stared at you in silence from the spot he’d taken on the loveseat that’d been brought in for him.

“I think I’d be a good father. Better than my old man,” he said finally.

You paused, looking at him from the mirror, giving him a sardonic smile. “I don’t see you as the settling down type.”

“Maybe I just need a woman worth coming home to.”

“Maybe,” you echoed.

“C’mere.”

You obliged, joining him on the loveseat. He wrapped an arm around you, holding you close. You let yourself bask in the intimacy.

“Things aren’t always gonna be like this,” he said. “Once the war’s over, what’re you gonna do? Go back to dancing in nightclubs?”

“Why not?”

His jaw clenched, cheek twitching as he pulled his gaze from you. “I don’t want you doing this for anyone but me.”

This could have been any number of things, dancing, fucking, being at his beck and call. Knowing him, he meant all of it.

“Ben,” you said, grabbing his attention, “then you have to tell me what you do want.”

“I want you. I want the white picket fence, kids running around the yard with the dog,” he said, the intensity in his voice wrapping tendrils around your mind, pulling you into the world he was describing. “I want dinner to burn ‘cause I was busy putting another baby in you when I got home.”

“Oh,” you whispered.

A voice through the door startled you. “Soldier Boy, the mayor’s here to see you!” 

“Think about it,” Soldier Boy said, getting up from the loveseat to grab his helmet and shield. 

The door shut behind him, leaving you to agonize over the future he presented to you. Part of you wondered if you’d really have a choice.

[ncisfranchise-source]

Even the "NCIS" origin story for Austin Stowell has a Cracker Jack opening.

The impossibly rugged actor, 39, had tried to clear his mind after his February audition for "NCIS: Origins," the prequel series to the CBS police procedural (premiering Monday, 9 EDT/PDT, after the 22nd season opener of the OG series). After all, these were high stakes seeking the coveted role of young Leroy Jethro Gibbs, famously embodied by Mark Harmon for 19 TV glory-filled seasons. Gibbs is the guy in the "NCIS" universe, even after the iconic character retired to fly-fishing in Alaska when Harmon stepped aside in 2021.

So Stowell went off the grid, skiing with Charlie Jennings, his best friend and agent. It was robust bliss, until Stowell received a miracle message on the reception-patchy mountaintop saying Harmon, an "Origins" executive producer and narrator, wanted to talk.

"Mark wanted to speak to me, and you can guess what about," says Stowell, who went ski-hill rogue. "We had to get down the mountain and get reliable service ASAP. We race down that hill, take off our gear, jump into the Jeep, and fly down the highway to get reliable service. And we do. Mark calls. We literally pull off the highway."

Harmon signaled that Stowell would very likely get the role of his younger "NCIS" self in CBS' "Origins."

"Mark was very complimentary. He said, 'It's been you from the second you walked in the room," Stowell says. "And he asked me, 'Are you ready for this?'"

Austin Stowell said after 'Star Wars' casting disappointment: 'Onward!'

Oh, he's ready. Stowell has been prepping for takeoff since earning a guest role in 2010 on "NCIS: Los Angeles" and playing a big-hearted swim champion in two "A Dolphin Tale" movies alongside KrisKristofferson. ("He was an amazing man, talk about a real-life superhero," Stowell says. The music legend died lastmonth at age 88).

Stowell even had a serious run at a major "Star Wars" movie role with J.J. Abrams. He was flown to London's Pinewood Studios and donned the "Star Wars" costume and makeup for a day. But the role went to another actor. "Of course. it's devastating," Stowell says. "This is a wonderful job, but the process is tough. But I always have said the same thing when I don't get a job: 'Onward.'"

Austin Stowell was hard to reach after 'NCIS: Origins' audition: 'So Gibbs'

After his memorable audition, "Origins" executive producers Gina Lucita Monreal and David J. North faced familiar reception issues when they called to officially offer Stowell the role. "He was out in a cabin in the middle of the woods with no internet and almost missed our call," North says. "I got off the phone and said, 'That's so Gibbs.'"

Says Stowell: "One phone call that changes your life. And two phone calls that I nearly missed. But the Hollywood gods were looking out for me."

Monreal says his physical likeness to Harmon was important. But "Origins" places Gibbs in 1991 as a green Naval Investigative Service officer at California's Camp Pendleton, where the former Marine sniper deals with the murder of his wife and daughter. That required a presence that Stowell, who can turn on full Gibbs with one soulful-eyed look, inhabited.

In "Origins," Gibbs is far from the ultra-competent special agent in command. He's an unsteady newbie dealing with his trauma after failing his psychological evaluations. It was this raw premise, based on "NCIS" lore, that made Harmon's son Sean, who had played the young Gibbs in "NCIS" flashbacks, pitch "Origins." (He's now an executive producer.)

Young Gibbs has immediate "Origins" supporters, including Special Agent Lala Dominguez (Mariel Molino) and his eventual mentor Mike Franks (Kyle Schmid), whose power mustache is a scene stealer. "He's electric," Stowell says. "I already joke with him that we are going to see Franks' mustaches at Halloween parties."

Stowell dived into research, reading 1980 U.S. Marine manuals to understand the life and taking long runs with a weighted-down backpack. He stepped up the rifle training he learned in 2018's Chris Hemsworth-led Afghanistan war film "12 Strong" to look silently confident with Gibbs' rifle. Stowell still binge-watches "NCIS" episodes to pick up small mannerisms.

"I want to embody his essence. There are Gibbs-isms," Stowell says. "There is a head nod and he has this stare."

That stare, and Harmon's intense blue eyes, are so pivotal that Stowell wears blue contact lenses over his naturally green eyes. Seeing the world that way changes his perspective: "They make me feel different," he says. "They're such a powerful tool."

Harmon appears near a campfire in the "Origins" opening. The camera zooms up close on his stare, which morphs into Stowell's haunted look.

"It's not the passing of the throne; Mark Harmon has the throne," Stowell says. "If it's the passing of the torch, he lit the torch. It's my job to show how this kid becomes that guy that people admire so much. But I get to play one of the world's greatest heroes. And that's pretty rock and roll."

[james-stark-the-writer]

been thinking about the DCEU and how movies like Black Adam and Shazam! and Aquaman are extremely silly but aren't ashamed of being silly, or even basically modern day early 2000s camp-schlock like the Venom movies, which aren't ashamed to be what they are and just do what they want to extremely sincerely, and thinking about how the MCU recently tried to claim that they were doing something great by having Wolverine be in his stupid yellow costume and pretend like they're finally embracing comic book camp and are not ashamed of it when they have built their entire fucking universe on ironically making fun of their own silliness. it's genuinely infuriating, like i'm genuinely getting heated just thinking about it, i hate you so bad, Marvel.

like the devil was speaking to me a few days ago, telling me to catch up with Phase 5 because it wouldn't be a lot of work, and i had to stop myself and go "no, i don't actually care, like the memories i have are actually not reflective of how these projects think of themselves". like the reason i liked Phase 4 is bc beyond the experimental stuff which made it the most artistically interesting phase by far, it wasn't ashamed of being a superhero thing for the most part, like the best projects in it just embraced their silliness and didn't constantly make fun of themselves for it.

but the fucking audacity to claim that the MCU is embracing comic book silliness and isn't ashamed of being silly because they put Wolverine in a yellow costume is so beyond stupid, like you know what projects embraced comic book silliness and weren't ashamed to be what they were? Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Eternals. Thor. She-Hulk. Iron Man. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Hawkeye. Ms. Marvel. Werewolf by Night.

those were all silly as shit, and you know what they didn't have? jokes making fun of themselves for being silly. they were all deeply, deeply sincere projects, regardless of their level of stakes.

anyway, give people like Sam Raimi and Chloe Zhao and Michael Giacchino and Jessica Gao and Rhys Thomas and Kenneth Branagh and Adil & Bilal more shit to do, and if you're going to make stupid fucking jokes like that, don't build your universe on like ironic mockery of the source material for being silly bc it's so easy to prove you wrong. i miss phase one and phase four, even phase 2 was largely sincere about most things. phase 3 is genuinely so irony poisoned it's hard to go back to its projects, i haven't touched my rewatch after i saw Guardians Vol. 2 bc i can't make myself sit through Spider-Man: Homecoming like i genuinely have just let it languish for like over a year because i don't want to watch that movie.

i have a lot more fond memories of movies that aren't ashamed of being silly like Black Adam and Shazam! and Aquaman and Multiverse of Madness then i do of shit like the first Doctor Strange or Ragnarok or Homecoming or No Way Home. i would happily sit down to watch anything sincere, i can't make myself go through phase 3 bc i simply do not care for all that ironic comedy bullshit anymore.

to quote David Ehrlich's review of Deadpool and Wolverine: at a certain point, the story of the Marvel Cinematic Universe became more compelling than any of the stories in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

and i need the stories themselves to become more compelling and more sincere again. one of the greatest strengths of the DCEU has consistently been its sincerity and that's why even it's worst projects are still pretty good, outside of like Wonder Woman '84 and Suicide Squad (2016). even its weakest projects have a lot of sincerity at their heart.

[paullovescomics]

FCBD 2024, Part 5 of 5

Spider-man Ultimate Universe - This is not the same Ultimate Universe we saw years ago, but an entirely different one. Some powerful time-traveller has manipulated history to remove superheroes, and install a secret ruling elite of supervillains. Except he missed a bunch of superheroes, both in recent times and in the past, because here we have Spidey, Iron Man, Cap, and Doctor Doom. They're trying to find one of Cap's buddies from WWII. So that's another hero that this hero-erasing big bad failed to erase. This hero is held in a bunker that's filled with costumes and corpses of other heroes and villains. Where did these come from if they were prevented from arising? Clearly the blurb at the front of the comic left out a lot. When there are already so many alternate versions of superheroes running around, and status quos changing frequently, it's honestly hard to get excited about another alternate group of characters.

Blood Hunt - I like vampires, so we're off to a good start. The vampires have a plan that involves exploiting some Marvel lore and some characters who aren't seen too often. That's cool. The last page suggests it's not afraid of embracing a little camp, which suggests fun. Blood Hunt seems promising. The second half is about Jubilee dealing with the new status quo for mutants after the fall of Krakoa. I have to admit I can't be objective about this because I have seen the X-comics change their worlds and go to new interesting places only to come back to the same old thing over and over again. And here we have Jubilee watching the Xavier school get rebuilt for the 947,000th time. And mutants are again a persecuted minority who have to stay hidden. Of course they can make good stories out of this. I would prefer to have sense of progress or the X comics (and superheroes in general) that lasts more than a few years.

Marvel Voices - The first couple of stories here feel new. They are short vignettes that serve as introductions to Pavitr Prabhakar, the Spider-Man of Earth 50101, and Ghost Spider, aka Spider-Gwen. They're light, fun stories. The other three seem to be samples from upcoming issues. There's one about a character called Muzzle who I'm not familiar with. They're part of a gang of principled criminals, and get into a scrap with an unidentified version of Spider-Man. (I'm not up to date on Spidey comics.) Is this another alternate Earth? I can't tell. Then there's a few pages of Gambit fighting people. The sample is too short to convey anything meaningful about the story it's taken from. That's also true of the last sample, in which a literally nameless, mythological-looking guy is pounding on the shield around Wakanda, and Shuri is preparing to fight him. It's two pages. There are ads for other Marvel Voices series that look cool, but I hope there is more to them than what we see here.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Now for an entirely different kind of mutant. "Who Is…Nightwatcher?" Based on their general shape, I'm betting Nightwatcher is one of the turtles. But who knows. This one pulls a neat trick, where the narrative boxes don't match what we're seeing in the panels until a reveal at the end which puts them in a very different context. I get tired of characters narrating and commenting on their own stories through narrative boxes (just plain narration is often more efficient and more clear), but this put it to good use. Nicely done. This does make me curious about what has been going on over in IDW's version of the turtles' world. The second story is a fun one with the old school turtles and Master Splinter called "Splinter's Day Off".

Sorry if I was picky or generally a downer about the Marvel ones. It's still early as I write this, and maybe I am too uncaffinated or grumpy for some as yet undetermined cause. Feel free to take those reviews with a grain of salt, and as always, your mileage may vary.

[ejsandfarkleslovebot]

BIG TIME CONCERT - part two, final part, chapter fifteen

"Welcome to the Rocquewoods." Kelly says to Jennifer, Katie, and the boys as they walk into the recording studio that only had camping cots in there. "It's not much, but…Well, it's not much."

"And it's only temporary." Gustavo reassures them. "Until you guys rock the concert in four days and Big Time Rush gets some big time investors."

"Then we go on tour," Kelly added.

Andi chimes in with saying, "And get your album released."

"Then I get my studio and my mansion back." Gustavo smiled.

"This'll be fine." Jennifer nervously smiles as she went to go sit on one of the cots. "We can do this. And see how positive I'm remaining?"

Kendall sheepishly smiles at her and does the okay gesture with his hand. "But before we do anything, we need to find James and get rehearsals started." Gustavo said.

Kendall points at him. "Got it; We'll go straight to the Palm Woods so I can see Jo." Before anyone could say anything, he quickly leaves the room.

Logan nervously laughs. "What he really mean is, maybe somebody at the Palm Woods has seen Camille-I mean James." Logan was quick to leave the room after he said that.

"This looks like a job for…" Carlos opens his button up shirt again to reveal his superhero costume. "My still-unnamed superhero."

Andi facepalms and winces when he goes to jump as if he could fly and then falls on the floor face first. Andi looks at Gustavo and Kelly. "Don't worry, I'll go with him to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."

Kelly smiles. "Thank you."

When she gets to the Palm Woods the boys tell her that apparently James is living in their old apartment so that's where they're currently at now. Kendall pressed the doorbell and each of them jump back when a loud gong noise is heard. A few seconds later a butler opened the door.

"May I help you?"

Andi furrows her eyebrows, sharing a confused look with the boys before looking back at the butler. "Uh, we were told that James lives here. Can we see him?"

The butler gestures for the four of them to walk in. "Do come in."

"We shall come in." Logan said and leads the four of them inside. Andi's eyes grow wide at seeing how completely different the apartment looked. There were a lot of things she didn't like about this apartment now. No swirly slide, no dome air hockey table, and there was a big picture of James on the wall.

"This is our old apartment?" Kendall asked in disbelief.

"Looks like it's just James' apartment now." Andi said, a small pout on her lips. She missed their old apartment. It was a lot more fun and colorful and now it was just boring and dull. She hated the new color scheme of the place.

The four of them turn around to the kitchen when they hear someone speak only to realize that two sushi chefs were offering them sushi. Logan points at the sushi chefs with wide eyes. "Those are sushi chefs."

Carlos gasps, pointing at the stairs that replaced the swirly slide. "What happened to swirly?"

"Something terrible." Andi replied with a frown, shaking her head. She hated the new changes in the apartment.

A few seconds later James walks down the stairs. "Hey, what are you guys doing here?" He asked and for a moment it sounded like he was actually happy to see them. "I mean…" He then changed the tone of his voice. "What are you guys doing here?" He asked again, this time sounding bored and annoyed.

Andi rolls her eyes and she steps forward, ready to give him a piece of her mind, but Kendall had quickly grabbed her hand to pull her back, causing her to huff in annoyance. She wanted to yell at James and knock some sense into him, but she knew that she couldn't because they needed him and yelling at him wasn't going to make him change his mind. She took a deep breath to calm down, ignoring the butterflies in her stomach when Kendall had grabbed her hand and ignoring how she missed the warmth of his hand when he pulled away.

"Big Time Rush is back together." Kendall explained with a smile.

"Yes, so, let's get dressed and go." Logan ushered.

"Yeah," Carlos points at the stairs. "And what happened to swirly?" He frowned.

"James, you guys gotta get back to Rocque Records to get ready for the concert that's gonna happen soon." Andi chimes in. She crosses her arms, trying not to think about Kendall or the butterflies that fluttered in her stomach when he had grabbed her hand. She needed to focus and not be distracted. "Your band needs you, James."

"Yeah! No." James corrects himself. "You see, Hawk signed me to a three-record deal, modified the crib to fit my new personal style, and gave me…Sebastian!"

Sebastian then walks over to them, carrying hot towels rolled up neatly on a tray. "Hot towels, lady and gentlemen?"

Andi raises her eyes at him and looks over at James with disbelief. "So you rather have all of this stuff then your band and your friends? Wow, I'm so glad to know where your priorities lie, James." She scoffed, rolling her eyes at him. She noticed James' composure falter for a moment, but it quickly disappeared.

Andi didn't take a hot towel, but Carlos, Kendall, and Logan took a hot towel and each screamed at how hot they were. They fall to the ground, quickly getting the hot towels off before they stand up.

She rolls her eyes at them and shakes her head at them. "Idiots."

James points at Carlos, Kendall, and Logan. "As I recall, you were the ones who told me to get real and move on, so I did."

Sebastian appears beside James, holding a megaphone. "Megaphone for emphasis, sir?"

"Ooh, yeah." James smiles, taking the megaphone from him. He then faces Andi, Carlos, Kendall, and Logan with the megaphone. "I rock!"

They wince at how loud it was and James hands the megaphone back to Sebastian who goes puts it away. "James, I was mad, okay? We shouldn't have broken up the band." Kendall said. "But we've always promised that since we were peewee hockey players that we would stick together."

James nods. "Ooh, and you've never broken a promise?" He asked, raising his eyebrows and crossing his arms.

Andi glances at Carlos, Kendall, and James with confusion when they each look like they did something awful. Logan looks at Kendall and Carlos while he cringes. "We might be horrible people."

Kendall turns to Logan, sending him a reassuring look. "But we'll fix it. But first, we need to fix the band." He looks at James apologetically ."James, we're sorry. Now, let's go."

Andi and the three boys go to leave, but stop when they hear Hawk speak. "He's not going anywhere because he's got everything he needs here." They turn back around to see Hawk and his assistant walk down the stairs.

Andi's blood boils at seeing Hawk. "What the heck is he doing here hanging out at your apartment? Kinda creepy and weird." She commented, crossing her arms and glaring at Hawk.

Hawk and his assistant walk over to stand beside James and Hawk puts a hand on his shoulder. "Right, James?"

Andi's eyes grow wide when Sebastian comes back over with a tray full of toys and money. "Some toys or money, sir?" James smiled and picked up the Rubik cube.

Sebastian nods. "Excellent choice."

James looks at Carlos, Kendall, and Logan, shrugging his shoulders. "You guys told me to move on, so…I did."

"And now, my assistant Rebecca will show you the door." Hawk said, gesturing to the blonde haired girl beside him. And before the group knew it they were tossed out.

"What do you mean James isn't coming back?" Gustavo asked once Andi and the boys got back to Rocque Records.

"He got a three-record deal." Kendall replied.

Carlos nods. "And his own Sebastian."

"I could get you a three-record deal and a Sebastian." Gustavo said to the boys. He turns to look at Kelly with confusion. "What's a Sebastian?"

"Gustavo, we're eating PB&J on box furniture." Logan spoke, pointing at the table made of boxes and all of the other box furniture that they made.

Gustavo hits his hands on the table. "You just have to nail this concert!"

"What concert?" Katie asks from her place on a box chair. "There's no Big Time Rush without James."

Andi points at her in a sing of agreement. "Yeah, I agree. It's not the same without him."

"Then we'll find a new James." Kendall suggested. He looks at Carlos and Logan. "If he thinks he can do without us, then we can do without him.

"He's right: Bands do replace members all the time." Kelly chimed in.

Then everyone lists off bands that replaced members like The Rolling Stones and Destiny's Child. Carlos, Kendall, and Logan stand up with a determined expression on their faces. "Let's get a new James."

"Okay, guys." Kelly smiles. "Time to find a new James."

After they put an ad out that they were holding auditions, quite of few people signed up for it. The first one had the looks, but his voice was way off key. And after that one it just went down hill. They were each starting to lose hope they would find a new band member. But then the last one that came in was perfect. He had the looks, the singing voice, and he could even back flip.

Gustavo stands up and points at him. "Welcome to Big Time Rush!"

"Yes!" The boy cheers while Andi, Kelly, and the boys clap for him. "I'm so excited. I must now tell my dark overlord, Zorblok."

Andi furrows her eyebrows as he faces the floor with his arms outstretched. The more he speaks, the more Andi, Kelly, Gustavo, and the boys regret letting him into Big Time Rush. "Lord Zorblok, the time of prophecy is upon us."

He then spins and dramatically jumps at some of the boxes near the back wall and falls to the floor. "Maybe we can't replace James." Kendall realized and the others nodded in agreement.

"Hey, Big Time Rush is now a trio." Gustavo suggested.

Andi, Gustavo, Kelly, Jennifer, and Katie were now in the sound system room, watching Carlos, Kendall, and Logan try to practice the song. It was all completely different without James being there. Andi wished that he would just show up so things can go back to normal.

"Stop, stop, stop, stop!" Gustavo yells. The music and the boy's singing stopped. "Need I remind you that we have a concert in two days? And I put everything on the line for you, and you stink!"

"Yeah, well, the choreography is completely different with just the three of us." Logan pointed out.

Kendall looks at Gustavo with a determined expression. "Look, don't worry. We'll figure this out. Have we ever let you down?"

Andi looks at Gustavo with confusion when he starts laughing. Gustavo looks at her, Kelly, Katie, and Jennifer with furrowed eyebrows. "Have they ever let me down?"

The four of them shake their heads in response. "That's not the point." Gustavo turns back to the boys as he stands up. "The point is, James is not coming back. Now, I don't care what you sing, but look like you're enjoying it, or I will destroy all of you!"

A smile tugs on Andi's face when he starts singing the 'oh, you're such a turd' song. That was the song he sang on the day that changed his and the boy's lives forever. Carlos and Logan even joins Kendall on singing the song. Andi glances at her mom when she speaks. "Well, they do seem to be enjoying it."

Andi nods and chuckles lightly. She looks at Gustavo with an amused smile. "You did say you didn't care what they sang."

Andi's eyes grow wide and she looks over at the open doors of the room when she heard familiar singing. She was surprised yet happy to see James standing there. Andi grinned while Carlos, Kendall, and Logan excitedly pointed at James.

Katie raises her arms up in the air with a grin on her face "I'm gonna be rich!" After seeing the looks she got she lowers her arms and quickly adds, "I mean…Horary for friendship!"

The three boys go over to James and Andi chuckles when Carlos picks him up. Carlos puts James back down and smiles. "Big Time Rush is back together-Woo!"

"Yeah," James wraps an arm around Carlos, gesturing to the three of them. "I felt bad knowing how much you all missed me."

"And you're not gonna miss the cool pad, the hot towels, and Sebastian?" Logan asked him.

"Yes, no, and yes." James replied.

Kendall chuckles. "Well, don't sweat it because once we nail the concert we're gonna go back to the Palm Woods and get out own Sebastian, right?" He questioned, glancing at Gustavo who now stood in the recording studio with the boys along with Andi, Kelly, Katie, and Jennifer.

Gustavo just looks at him with furrowed eyebrows and Kelly looks over at him with furrowed eyebrows. "And what about Hawk?"

Gustavo points at the boys. "We'll talk about your Sebastian later," He looks at Kelly. "And we got bigger problems than Hawk," He looks back at the boys. "As in the concert is in two days and we haven't sold a single ticket and all the posters are now wrong!" He exclaimed, pointing at the poster they made that only has Carlos, Kendall, and Logan on it.

"Don't worry." Jennifer smiles, unrolling one of Katie's posters she held to show everyone that had the four boys on it. "Katie will donate her posters."

Katie looks at her with offense as she puts a hand on her hip and shakes her head. "No, I won't."

"Katie, donate them!" Jennifer exclaimed out of frustration and Katie agreed immediately.

Katie leaves the room and a few seconds later she comes back wearing a Big Time Rush t-shirt and hat. "But I get concession space for my hats and t-shirts."

Gustavo nods. "Deal." He looks at Kelly and asks, "Kelly, what money do we have left in the budget for street team advertising and local tv spots?"

Kelly then gets some stuff out of her pocket. "We got five bucks and a punch card for one free Schmetzel Pretzel." Gustavo's eyes grow wide when she said that and he groaned.

Andi cringes. "Yeah, that won't help at all."

Kendall gestures to himself, the boys, and Andi. "We'll go back to the Palm Woods and get some street team volunteers."

"And I think I may know a way we can get some free tv spots." Logan chimed in.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Gustavo questions. "I can't sell this band to investors if we don't sell out the concert." He gestures for the five teens to leave as he shouts, "Go! Go! Go! Go! Get out of here!"

After putting on some Big Time Rush shirts and getting some volunteers from the Palm Woods to help out everyone teams up to go put up posters or hand up flyers around L.A. Andi got teamed up with Carlos and James, Jo and Kendall teamed up, Camille and Logan were a team, and even Guitar Dude and Lightening helped them out with handing flyers. Camille and Logan even found ways to get on the news with some other people from the Palm Woods to advertise Big Time Rush's first concert.

They finally got to the point where the concert is sold out. At the music box everyone was setting up to get ready for the concert that night. Andi now wore a black cut off shoulder dress that stopped just above her knees. For her shoes she decided on wearing ankle high black colored boots.

"Okay, all that is left to do is-Oh, right, the concert." Gustavo stated.

"Gustavo," Kendall started.

"Have we ever let you down?" The four boys finished Kendall's question.

Gustavo takes off his sunglasses. "I'll let you know after tonight. Now, get your butts to your dressing room and get ready to rock this place for your fans and for my big investors."

It's almost time for the concert and Andi nor Kelly could find the boys. Andi was starting to worry that something bad happened to them. She knew that they would never be late to something this important on purpose.

"We can't find them anywhere!" Kelly shouted, rushing up to a frantic looking Gustavo along with Andi.

"Oh, what are the words I'm looking for?" Gustavo pretends to think and then looks at Andi and Kelly with a glare. "Oh, yeah. Where are they?!"

"We don't know!" Andi replied in the same tone he used, waving her arms around dramatically.

"Gustavo!"

The three of them look over at the investors that came to watch the concert. Andi, Gustavo, and Kelly looked at them with nervous smiles before looking back at each other again.

"Don't worry." Kelly assures both of them. "The concert doesn't start for 20 minutes. They have never let you down. They will be here."

Andi's eyes grow wide when her mom grabs a fistful of Gustavo's shirt, pulling him over to her she freaks out while he is the one finally calm. "Just stay calm!"

"Mom," Andi chuckles nervously and pulls her mom off of Gustavo. She looks at Kelly with a small smile. "Maybe you need to be the one to calm down."

Kelly takes a deep breath and nods. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right."

Andi nervously bites her lower lip, peeking out at the chanting crowd from behind the curtain along with her mom and Gustavo. The concert is supposed to be starting now and the boys were still nowhere to be found. No matter how many times she tried calling each of them or no matter how many times she texted them she got no reply which just made her more worried.

"Don't panic." Kelly tells the both of them. "Bands go on late all the time. It's a rock and roll tradition."

"Right," Gustavo nods. "We'll just stall them and keep the curtain down."

Andi's eyes widen and she takes a step back off to the side so she's hidden when the curtain suddenly goes up. The crowd stopped cheering automatically when they saw the boys weren't on the stage. She looked at her mom with panic at seeing she was hanging onto the curtain. With Gustavo's help Kelly got back on the floor and the three of them turn around to look at the one who pulled the curtain up.

An angered expression forms on Andi's face when she saw it was Hawk. "Gustavo, did you not want the curtain open?" Hawk asked, pointing at the rope he just pulled.

Gustavo glares at him. "Hawk, I should have known it was you." He went over to Hawk but was stopped by Rebecca who was in a fighting stance.

"You know my assistant, Rebecca." Hawk gestured to the blonde-haired girl and moves to stand beside her.

"Aww, the crowd stopped cheering." Hawk notices. Andi, Gustavo, and Kelly look back at the crowd and Andi noticed that the investors looked like they were getting antsy to leave which was not good. The three of them look back at Hawk when he speaks again. "This is the part where I laugh evilly."

"Telling us when you laugh isn't an evil thing to do." Andi comments, rolling her eyes. "It's weird." She muttered.

Hawk ignores her comment and laughs evilly. At the end of his laugh, he raises his arms up like a hawk would raise their wings and lets out a caw. While she nods, Andi points at him. "Yeah, that's weird, too."

Andi, Gustavo, and Kelly grew more worried and nervous as the crowd boos and no boys have arrived. Gustavo was nervously pacing, and Kelly was biting her nails. Andi watched nervously when everyone started to leave, hoping that the boys would show up soon.

"Oh, look, all the people leaving." Hawk pointed out.

"Thanks for stating the obvious." Andi sarcastically comments, glaring right back at Hawk when he glared at her. She looks at her mom and Gustavo. "They're gonna be here soon, guys. I know they are." She hoped she was right about that.

"Oh," Gustavo shakes his head. "This can't be happening. They've never let me down."

"And they won't." Andi quickly says, looking at him with a reassuring smile. She wasn't for sure if she was reassuring herself or him. "They'll be here. I know they will."

Hawk smirks at Gustavo. "And this is the part where you faint."

Gustavo angrily points at him and just as he goes about to faint the boys quickly rush over and catch him just in time. A relieved smile tugs on Andi's lips. "You guys made it! I knew it." She was so relieved. She didn't have to worry anymore.

"Sorry we're late, Gustavo." Kendall apologized. His gaze landed on Andi, taken aback by how beautiful she looked dressed up. She was always beautiful, but tonight, he felt like his heart was beating even faster than usual.

"Where were you guys?" Andi asked them, blushing at the way Kendall was staring at her. She could feel the butterflies fluttering in her stomach. She was surprised that she could even form words with the way Kendall was looking at her. She had to tear her eyes away from him, knowing she wouldn't be able to function if she continued to stare.

She glances back at Logan when he replies to her. "We got a little tied up." He, Carlos, Kendall, and James looked at Hawk and Rebecca with a glare. She assumed the two had something to do with it.

"Oh," Carlos looks out at the crowd, noticing everyone leaving. "The people are leaving."

"We're gonna need some microphones." James smiled.

Kelly walks back over to them, handing each of the boys a microphone. "Do something!" Hawk demanded, glaring at Rebecca. Rebecca turned to them in a fighting stance.

Andi, Gustavo, and the boys step to the side when Sebastian walks over. Andi knowingly smiles when she saw Sebastian held hot towels. "Hot towel, sir?" Sebastian questioned. He then threw one at Rebecca and Hawk causing them to scream and fall.

"Hit it!" Gustavo exclaimed.

"Good luck, boys!" Andi called out with a grin, fist bumping each of the boys when they went past her. Her face flushed when Kendall suddenly kissed her cheek and whispered a quick 'you look amazing' to her.

Her hand slowly moved up to touch the spot where Kendall kissed her and she could feel her heart thumping against her chest. She watched with a big smile as the boys went onto the stage and the crowd cheers. She felt butterflies in her stomach when Kendall looked at her, flashing her a charming smile. She could never get tired of that smile.

The band started playing which made the crowd come back and start cheering again. The boys quickly ran onto stage, making the crowd cheer louder.

Andi grins when she notices the investors were quick to come back just before Kendall starts singing the song 'Famous'. The concert becomes a big success. Katie and Mrs. Knight ended up selling a lot of merchandise and halfway through the concert the investors rushed up to Andi, Gustavo, and Kelly wanting to sign the boys to a record deal.

Griffin then steps in front of the other investors. "Three-record deal, a worldwide tour, and immediate release of their album."

Andi's eyes grow wide and she looks at Gustavo, wondering what he would say. Gustavo points at him. "My mansion back, my studio fully restocked, the dogs want something called a Sebastian, and Andi gets to be their opening act."

Andi looks at him with surprise when he mentions that. She smiles widely and hugs him tightly, surprising him. He awkwardly pats her back and looks at Griffin. Griffin smiles, pointing at Gustavo. "Done."

A grin tugs on Andi's lips and she forces herself to not do a little happy dance right then and there. Kelly points at Griffin, looking at him with a glare. "And I want you to go straight back to that studio and write 100 times, 'I will never do this to Big Time Rush again'." Griffin looked at her for a few seconds, acting like he wanted to argue, but then quickly left after the other investors left.

Andi pulled away from Gustavo and when they were gone, Andi does a little happy dance and cheered along with her mom. At the end of the performance, Andi chuckled when a group of girls got on stage and started chasing the boys. She was beyond relieved the boys were back as a band and the fact that she was now the boys opening act was even better. She couldn't wait for her first gig with the boys.

[foxydivaxx]

Cassie Sandsmark: Wonder Girl Odyssey Prologue

I am in a midlife crisis. That I already know. For starters, I spent most of my teen years as a superhero and sidekick to Diana. I have been a Teen Titan and a member of Young Justice. I am also a demigod and happen to be Zeus' daughter.

I have helped save the world on more than one occassion. I have also lost a lot of people, both physical and otherwise. But all that is in the past now. Now, I am just a mere lonely 21 year old, in college studying archaeology in the hopes of following in mother's footsteps.

Truth be told, if I hadn't become Wonder Girl, this could have been the path I would have followed. Either that or possibly law. Regardless, I am back in the same old boring routine I was in prior to becoming a superhero.

I do miss the action yes. But I need to keep away from everyone and everything that reminds me of that time which was why I moved all the way to Detroit in the first place. I just need to find my bearing and re-discover who I am again.

The downside of being a superhero is that part of you believes that that title defines you. As if that is not enough, there is a certain weight, a legacy you have to measure up to. If I am being honest, I personally believe that I did not achieve half as much as Donna or Diana. The other Amazons do not seem to like me much as a result of my humour and childish antics.

Now this new Wonder Girl has shown up and she is clearly better than I am. I believe that I do not belong to the Wonder Family at all. Unlike the others, I do not have a standard superhero costume. Mine is just mere Wonder Woman merch I happened to possess at the time courtesy of being the President of the Wonder Woman Fan club.

Making matters worse is that my paternal family keep trying to drag me into their shenanigans. The Gods are as dysfunctional as it gets and Zeus does not help matters with the amount of kids he has sired all over the world. Father of all nations indeed.

I lost a ceremonial bout with Yara, which caused me to doubt my powers. I officially retired from the spotlight and gave up my Wonder Girl title to her.

Once the bell rang, I heaved a sigh of relief as I gathered up my stuff and made my way out of the room, not bothering to talk to anyone. Ever since I moved down here, I have become a social recluse. Not speaking to anyone or bothering to socialize. I have become like Raven at this point.

Putting my hoodie over my head, I make my way out of school and off to my apartment. How did I become like this you might ask? Well, a lot has happened to me over the years.

Now where do I start? Well, how about we go back memory lane to about 2 years ago before Yara even came into the picture. You see back then, I was sent off to Camp Half Blood where all demigods go to for training.

I skipped a couple years thanks to being trained the Amazon way and the advantage of being a superhero. Still, there were some things that I clearly lacked at the time.

For starters, I lack social skills as I felt awkward and out of place around my fellow demigods. Whenever they had conversations, I felt lonely. I guess hanging around with other young superheroes has a disadvantage.

Secondly, as strong as I am there were others that were stronger than I am. Like Hank, my half-brother who almost killed me during our first combat session together.

Lastly, I am the last person that should ever lead. The last time I ever led teams, tragedy and disaster followed. Now back to the incident in question.

One day, everything changed. Just when everything seemed to be normal and boring, the Titans of Myth staged an attack on the camp. This is why one should be careful what they wish for.

During the attack, one of the younger demigods Chelsea was about to get attacked. I rushed in to save her but alas I was too late. I got blamed for her death and it certainly does not help that I got blamed for said death by everyone else. I also lost my powers at that point as well. Great. Jusst great.

Yeah that's right. I Cassie Sandsmark got accused for a sign I never committed and was forced to walk away and abandon everybody and everything and start my life afresh.

After helping others, that is the thanks I get huh? But that was not the true reason everyone else conspired to have me kicked out. I was force to confess to something I had been hiding for a long time. Something I was scared of telling anyone.

I had a boyfriend named Jacob that I met in school. I loved Conner yes but I had since moved on from him, not just because I was leading the Titans then but also, because so much bullshit happened.

Jacob was a sweet guy. A welcomed change. He was also a non-superhero which was tough at first but also a good challenge for me. We ended up having sex and about a week later I discovered that I was pregnant. I was rushed to camp before I had the chance to process that.

How I managed to kick butt and take beatings whilst still pregnant is beyond me and very stupid. I ended up losing the baby on the night Chelsea died.

That was how everyone found out. Talk about the worst way ever. What I did not expect however was my father Zeus, Athena, Heracles my dear brother and Hera of all people to come to my defence.

Hera in particular gave the entire camp and the other gods an earful and called them out on their shaming. How did I end up here in Detroit? Simple. Zeus and Hera whisked me away from everyone so that I could have some time to myself and heal from the entire mess.

Hera has since taken up a surrogate motherly role towards me. I guess she felt the guilt and grief I feel on a daily basis and is trying to make sure that I do not fall into despair and is ensuring that I am well taken care of.

I am surprised but at the same time relieved that at least someone cares. Diana and Donna have been calling me and visit every once in a while. The rest of the gang haven't popped in and I am not that excited to see them at the moment. I am that emotionally bruised as you can see.

If there is one thing life has taught me, something I should have anticipated, is that no matter how hard you try, the past can never be truly buried. Just when I thought I would get some normalcy and privacy,the past decided to pay me a visit in the most brutal way possible. Man I hate my life.

[epicstuckyficrecs]

Weekly Recap | May 16th-June 5th 2022

Hiiiii! Sorry that I’ve been missing recaps, in the last three weeks I’ve been busy finishing a sewing project, watching Stranger Things, reading an actual book for once (!!), working a bit of overtime, and then I randomly decided to pick up Larry fanfic again and read like..... two 200K+ fics lol. I’m heading into a busy period at work so I might miss some weeks again! 

Complete

Decoys by littlerhymes/ @popliar​ (Canon Divergent, TFA | 19K | Teen): The serum makes Steve stronger, but not bigger. Instead of a superhero, he becomes a spy.

A Cross To Bear by Kalee60/ @kalee60​ (Modern AU | 2K | General): Bucky’s night had slid from promising to boring a lot quicker than he’d expected. He’d absolutely nailed the costume of his ‘favourite childhood movie character’ for Clint’s dress up birthday party, except - not one person guessed who he was. It was demoralising to say the least. Bucky was surrounded by people who wouldn’t know a good movie if it hit them on the head.But then he meets a gorgeous stranger who is having the same trouble as him, and suddenly his night is looking up. Could Bucky be in his own cheesy movie where he finds his soul-mate standing beside the buffet?

The Watery Expanse by buckybarnesdeservestobehappy (hutchabelle) (Modern AU | < 1K | Mature): Fellow teachers and best friends Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers are celebrating the end of the school year, but what they find is more than a holiday.

Dating During the Zombie Apocalypse and Other Problems with Bucky’s Love Life by buckybarnesdeservestobehappy (hutchabelle), rufferto (What If...? AU, Zombie Apocalypse | 5K | Mature): The problem with being a centenarian super soldier during the apocalypse is that it’s hard to find someone with shared life experiences, especially when half the dating pool has been turned into zombies. Although Bucky’s still not over Steve’s loss, he doesn’t have the energy to fight overly zealous and well-meaning Peter Parker. That’s why he agrees to an online dating profile, starts chatting with a user that goes by out_of_time, and figures out how to balance a social life with his very serious work of fighting zombies and saving the world. He also gets a surprise or two along the way.

Maybe You Were the Ocean by JJK/ @trenchcoatsandtimetravel​ (Mermaids | 7K | General): A collect of prompt fills for MerMay 2022

(I just need) your touch by HaniTrash/ @hanitrash​ (TFA | 1,7K | Explicit): When all the troops Steve rescued from the Kreischberg facility finally get back to camp, Steve and Bucky get some much needed alone time.

💙  Slut for Hire by buckyismybicycle/ @buckyismybicycle​ (Shrinkyclinks, Escort Steve | 6K | Explicit): Nat has a special gift for Bucky, who has too much energy to burn. Enter: Escort Steve Rogers, or: Slut for Hire.

WIP 

💙 Love isn’t always a ‘coup de foudre’ by Becassine/ @becassine, kocuria-visuals (kocuria)/ @kocuria (Bridgerton AU, A/B/O | 6/13 | 26K | Explicit): When Steve Rogers is presented at Court as a desirable Male Omega to the world, he has no idea what to expect. But after meeting the sought-after Duke of Buchanan through a chance encounter, his life is forever turned upside down.

[ultrahpfan5blog]

Retrospective Review: Batman Begins

To me, Batman Begins was really my first foray into superhero movies that were not action driven. As someone who was a crazy Batman fan as a kid and enjoyed the Batman movies in the 90's to some degree or another, I was excited to see this. But I didn't know who Nolan or Bale was at the time. For me, Batman Begins, to this date, is the gold standard of superhero origin stories for me. There have been lots of great ones like Iron man, Spider-man, GOTG, CA: TFA etc.... but Batman Begins remains right at the top. I think this film hit me just at the right age. At 15 years old, I think I was just starting to be able to watch longer movies and more serious movies. For me, Batman Begins was the first superhero film that was completely devoid of camp. Even Spider-man and Spider-man 2, as much as I like them a lot, have an element of camp in them, all on purpose due to Raimi's style. But Nolan's Batman was just a very different superhero movie for me at the time and it definitely gave me a version of live action Batman that I didn't even know that I wanted.

What is I think the film's greatest strength is that it makes me very invested in Bruce Wayne's story. In all previous Batman films till then, I always wanted to get to the Batman action. Its one of the reasons Batman Returns annoyed me so much, because Batman was barely around for half the movie. In this movie, Batman doesn't make his official costumed appearance until about an hour into the movie. But that first hour is gripping to me. The film wastes no time showing us who Bruce Wayne is. I love the prison fight scene because it establishes immediately that Bruce is incredibly skilled and isn't scared of any of these prisoners. They are child's play to him. So he is immediately a badass. I was sold on Bale from scene 1 due to this scene. The first hour explores his training with Ducard while flashing back to Bruce as a child and his trauma with the Bats in the cave, which indirectly led to the shooting of his parents in front of them. These flashback sequences are very key because Thomas Wayne is fleshed out a bit. We get to see a little bit of the relationship between Bruce and his father. It created an attachment for us to these characters which was missing in past and future versions of this incident. The flashbacks in Batman 89 were there more to showcase Jack Napier than to concentrate on the actual incident with Bruce, and the BvS version actually makes me annoyed with Thomas Wayne given he recklessly endangered his family. I liked the portrayal of Thomas Wayne in this movie as a calm, measured, and kind man and the shooting incident is actually portrayed really well. It happens just as fast and as suddenly as it might happen in real world. The flashbacks also sets up the various connections Bruce would have in the future with Gordon, obviously with Alfred, and with Rachel. It also sets up Bruce's revulsion of guns. I like how this storyline ties in with Carmine Falcone as the crime lord right at the center of it all, and how the confrontation with Falcone gives Bruce the jolt to set off on his journey. The training scenes are also terrific. I love the scene on the ice when Ducard says Thomas Wayne was the reason why the parents died. The expression of anger and shock on Bruce's face was brilliant, as if the sequence where Bruce burns down the league of shadows headquarters after refusing to kill someone.

Once Bruce returns to Gotham, the film very quickly and effectively establishes what the status of the city is. You feel that this is a city rotting on the inside. Gordon is the one good and honest cop, who is watching helplessly as cops like Flass abuse their power. Rachel and the DA continue to fight a losing battle while Jonathan Crane continues to keep Falcone's thugs out of prison due to his medical evaluations. The film does a nice job of showing how Bruce integrates back into society, first through meeting Fox and getting access to the technology he needs to get to his goals. What I loved about Nolan's Batman is that it actually uses a slew of Batman supporting characters in key ways. While Gough's had been a a crucial helping hand in Burton/Schumacher movies, Gordon has been a bit of joke. This film establishes use of Alfred as a very crucial supporting figure, who acts both as a parent and support system for Bruce, and makes Gordon and Fox both very essential cogs in Bruce's crime fighting operation. Watching Bruce build his suit is awesome and his first appearance is one of my favorite Batman scene till date. Its film purposefully in a manner that show him as almost a demon or a ghost that the thugs can't see. I love the scene of the thug screaming "where are you?" and he backs into Batman and we see his mask for the first time. The full reveal, when he captures Falcone, is awesome. The Begins bat suit is really badass and is my favorite Bat suit till date. The panning shot of the makeshift Bat signal and the shot of Batman perched like a Gargoyle are iconic shots in my book. I love how the film reintegrates aspects of the film from the first half, like Crane's scare gas being derived from the blue flower Bruce dealt with earlier, and how the twist of Ducard really being Ra's is revealed. Scarecrow is also an ingenious reinvention. Its such a simple way of making Scarecrow so effective and pretty frightening, despite not being physically intimidating. The scene of Batman summoning the Bats is something very much out of Year One. There is an epic chase scene where we see the Tumbler being used for the first time. Again, its my favorite batmobile. The entire last act is exciting and while it does have a slightly comic-booky sensibility, for Ra's to vaporize the water supply so that the fear gas infects all of Gotham, it makes sense given what Ra's wanted to accomplish. The train fight between Ra's and Batman is cool, as is the way Batman and Gordon stop him. The film then ends on what is honestly the best sequel tease that I have ever scene, again very much inspired by Year One, with Gordon and Batman discussing the presence of Joker. Its a fantastic ending and I couldn't wait for what came next. What came next turned out to be amazing as well.

Now, no film is flawless. I have some minor issues with the film. The biggest of which is the actual action. Nolan is not a great action director. I feel that is a fair assessment. His action scenes stand out because there is a lot of weight behind those characters. Some of the chase sequences are terrific, but the actual hand to hand fighting is not that great. Its clear not what he's best at and it showed in future films as well. Some of the editing is a little iffy, where the scenes abruptly cut from one scene to another. The character of Rachel Dawes is also a little bland. She is not terrible, but, as a love interest, she doesn't stand out.

What Nolan did expertly is he got a lot of really well respected actors into this movie. In the 90's, a lot of the concentration was to bring some of the biggest stars to play the villain roles, whether they are well cast or not, but Nolan brings in some serious pedigree to this film. Christan Bale is fantastic in this film. In my opinion, it is the single best performance by an actor in this role. I love everything he does in this film. While future films became more an ensemble, this film largely is on his shoulders. He delivers an entire arc, from him as a youthful, vengeful young guy, to the guy in training, to Batman, to the Bruce Wayne playboy facade. He brings a beastlike presence as Batman. I know people like to mock his voice but I think it was terrific in Batman Begins. He definitely showed the physical presence and ferocity in the role. There is a whose who of acting thespians surrounding him. Michael Caine is amazing as Alfred. There have been really good Alfred's in Michael Gough and Jeremy Irons but Caine is my favorite. He's witty but also serious. His relationship with Bale has a lot of warmth and fatherly love. I discovered Gary Oldman through this movie. He is fantastic as Gordon. JK Simmons and Jeffrey Wright have some tough shoes to fill. Morgan Freeman is charming and charismatic as Lucius Fox. He plays the role with a delightful twinkle in his eye, but at no point is he winking at the camera. Cillian Murphy as Crane/Scarecrow is a delightful surprise. He's just the right amount of creepy outside of the mask. Liam Neeson as Ducard who ends up being Ra's is a formidable presence. He just has it with his voice. You actually like him as Ducard and the twist that he is really Ra's works because he's so effective in the role. Katie Holmes is the one person who is a bit miscast in the role. I don't think she's as bad as people make her out to be. She just doesn't fit in the role of this tough ADA character that she's supposed to be and she comes across very judgmental of Bruce. Some of her delivery is not great. She also doesn't have that much chemistry with Bale. But I think most of this is down to the character being rather flat because I don't think Maggie fared any better in TDK. There are also thespians like Rutger Hauer the CEO of Wayne Enterprises, Tom Wilkinson as Carmine Falcone, and Ken Watanabe as decoy Ra's, all great.

All in all this film really gave me everything that I could have possible wanted in a Batman origin story and it left me wanting more. It definitely introduced me to Nolan and Bale, whose careers I have followed and enjoyed till date. Both Nolan and Bale became big names starting with this movie. The music by Hanz Zimmer and James Newton Howard is iconic to me and it kind of got me into listening to film scores. For me, this ranks right towards the top of superhero movies. A 9/10.

[coffeesuperhero]

Okay so not a soft ask but I need the content because this is a show that slipped through right to Xmas and I need??? the leverage ot3 Halloween headcanons, so like...

Pleaseeee

first of all re: halloween and this show-- you’re right and you should say it 

second of all, this got real long so apologies to your dashboards 

okay. so at first I was like, Parker loves Halloween, because she loves costumes anyway, she wanders around in Nate’s apartment in that nun’s habit for at least several hours for no reason other than she seems to really enjoy it, but then I thought, you know, idk if she does actually get Halloween at first, just because like-- they already wear costumes a lot, first of all, and second of all, she’s Parker, if she wants to show up in some random outfit she’ll just....do that, any day of the year, so like, what’s the deal with this one special day? Is everyone else just really that boring? The main appeal seems to be the sudden availability of large amounts of candy, easily stolen from stores or unwitting children, but it’s not like candy is suddenly unavailable the rest of the year. 

Eliot I think swears up and down he doesn’t care one way or the other about it, but secretly in his heart would not mind sitting around a campfire roasting marshmallows and telling scary stories with the two of them, except that they sort of tried that one year when Hardison was trying to Explain Halloween and put like a fake log fire on the tv and made microwave s’mores and neither Parker nor Eliot found Hardison’s stories particularly scary, and after Parker and Eliot each had a turn Hardison got up, turned on every light in his apartment, declared that a) he was never going to sleep again and it was all their fault and b) scary campfire stories are supposed to be about ghosts what the fuck  y’all???? and Eliot had to make him Special Popcorn with chocolate on it and sit through several zombie-themed movies before Hardison would stop complaining, so probably he’s never going to talk them into, you know, actual camping and scary campfire tales. 

Hardison I think really really enjoys Halloween. He likes that everybody in his online circles changes their social media profiles to some clever spooky shit for a month, it makes him laugh. He likes candy and he liked trick-or-treating when he was a kid, all dressed up like his favorite superheroes, and later he liked taking his foster siblings around the neighborhood when he was Too Old To Dress Up but not too old to enjoy how much the younger ones loved it, the thrill they got when somebody knew what their costumes were or the way they’d hold on extra tight to his hand when one of their neighbors opened the door dressed up as something spooky, or everybody laying on the floor of nana’s living room later that night dividing up candy and trading and squabbling over what they liked and didn’t and falling asleep to whatever halloween tv movie was on, and as an adult he knows now how much work it took Nana to save up for costumes but they had ‘em every year and every year he thinks about Nana and all of his foster siblings and I think he misses them a little. He tries to Make Halloween Happen with the crew for a couple of years, mostly with Parker and Eliot because it’s pretty clear that this is not Sophie’s jam and Nate has Bad Memories associated with this day because of his kid, but after the Very Bad, Horrible, No Good Scary Stories Incident of 2010, after which he swears he did not sleep for a week, he kinda gives up. 

But then they’re in Portland and they’ve got the brewpub which Eliot has worked really hard to turn into his own restaurant, which means seasonal stuff and sometimes community stuff happens there, and on October 31st the local restaurants in their district are all doing Halloween stuff and letting in families with trick-or-treaters and Hardison’s like, “We don’t have to,” but Eliot just kinda shrugs and mumbles something about how it’ll look weird if they don’t, maybe, and Parker says something like, they don’t want to stand out, this is still supposed to be a cover, so Hardison signs them up too. And families come in with their kids and it reminds him of his foster siblings and a little bit of himself, all these kids in their superhero costumes-- Thor and Iron Man and even!! a little Miles Morales!! and he isn’t crying, you’re crying, probably, about that!!, and he excuses himself for a bit from handing-out-candy-at-the-door duty for a second, but when he comes back he sees that Parker (who is wearing all black and a headband with cat ears and has painted whiskers on her face) has taken over handing out candy at the door and is smiling? and doesn’t?? seem to be stealing any of it??? or scaring the children???? and Eliot’s bringing plates of food to a couple of families and their kids and he isn’t dressed up but he does take a second to stop and point out a couple of their costumes that he recognizes and the kids smile and he gives them a high five (for morale, Hardison thinks, smiling) before he heads back to the kitchen, and this is the best Halloween that Hardison has ever had, probably, here with two people who did this just because he cared about it, no other reason. 

“Next year you’re gonna be Batman,” he tells Eliot later, when they’re all in bed. 

“Good luck with that,” Eliot growls. 

“See? You already got the voice down,” Hardison tells him. “Parker dressed up.” 

“I did,” she says. “It was fun. I told you he’d be happier if you dressed up.” 

“I’m not gonna be Batman,” Eliot tells her, and Hardison realizes this leaves the possibility open that he will be other things.

“How do you feel about Indiana Jones?” Hardison suggests, tapping his chin and thinking mostly of Eliot’s chest and back and half-unbuttoned shirts and trousers that actually fit. 

“You’d get to have a whip,” Parker says, and really, Hardison thinks, he should have led with that. 

“Oh yeah? What kind?” Eliot asks, sounding vaguely interested. 

“The whippy kind?” Parker says, flinging her arm out like she’s trying to use an invisible whip. “You know. Snap snap, whoosh. Whip.” 

"There’s a lot of different kinds of whips,” Eliot says, and of course he knows this, of course he does. “Bull whip? Cat o’nine? Snake whip? Signal?” 

Hardison peers over at him. “How,” he starts to say, and then shakes his head. “No, you know what? We are going to sleep, and tomorrow we are going to get a whip lecture, I guess, while we watch Indiana Jones.” 

“Okay,” Parker says, and Eliot grumbles something, but he doesn’t say no, and right before Hardison falls asleep Eliot mumbles something else that sounds like happy halloween, Hardison and yeah, this was a good year for Halloween. 

[hortensemitchell]

Into the Woods: Chapter Two

After Big Time Rush, their lives seemed to only get more hectic. So on the rare chance their schedules lined up, they had to make the most of it with an epic camping trip for the ages.

Rating: Mature

Pairing: Kendall Knight/Carlos Garcia/Logan Mitchell/James Diamond

Words: 2295

Logan has been pacing back and forth by the door for the past ten minutes, and looking at him was starting to make Kendall feel tired. He’d make it to one side of the room, check his watch and immediately trek to the other side. “We’re supposed to be on the road already.” Logan made his way over to where Kendall was laying across the living room sofa.  “I gave them a laminated schedule and everything.”

“You sent Carlos and James upstairs with James clad only in a towel and you think they’re up there packing?”

Logan gaped for a moment, his eyes instantly flickering to the stairs. “They wouldn’t.”

“I think we both know they would.” Kendall replied, trying to bite back a laugh. He couldn’t care less about a schedule, he’d always been more of a go with the flow type of guy. But he had seen the hard work that Logan had put into his planning for their trip, and he wasn’t about to hurt his feelings. “I could go check on them if you want?”

Logan just shook his head, and turned on his heels heading directly up the stairs. From his spot on the couch, Kendall could hear the bedroom door open upstairs and Logan’s exasperated sigh of “Really guys?”

Several minutes later, Kendall heard the telltale sound of footsteps coming down the staircase and the sound of luggage being drug behind them. Kendall finally sat up from his spot on the couch, loading his bags on his shoulders to bring to the car. 

Logan came down the stairs first, with Carlos not far behind. Logan was quickly shuffling around in the other’s bag, most likely checking to make sure he brought more essentials than his game system and snacks. 

James came down the stairs last with a slight pout on his face, no doubt caused by Logan’s interruption. He made a beeline to stand beside Kendall at the foot of the stairs and whispered into Kendall’s ear, “He’s such a cockblock when he’s on a schedule.”

“You guys do this every time, you think you’d have learned your lesson by now.”, Kendall replied with a laugh. He looked over at his taller boyfriend before something caught his eye. “By the way, you have a little something right there.” He said as he gestured to the developing mark right under James' jaw. 

James’ hand immediately flew up to touch the spot before he threw a teasing smile in Kendall’s direction. “Jealous?”

“Nah, there will be plenty of time for that later.” He readjusted the straps of his luggage on his shoulder. “But if we don’t get out this door, I think Logan will murder us before we get the chance.” With that he linked his fingers with James and finally headed out the door, ready to get this vacation under way.

For once the California sun wasn’t quite as overbearing, which Kendall was thankful for. A nice breeze broke through the normally dry heat and the cloud coverage was mild. It was almost like the entire state knew they were on vacation. 

In the passenger seat beside Kendall, James typed away on his laptop, no doubt answering some last minute emails to his agent. Having been in the entertainment industry together, the other men fully understood the sheer amount of obligations James was under.

In the back, Logan and Carlos were sitting together, the rest of their luggage piled on the seat behind Kendall. The two of them looked through a pamphlet of the campground they had chosen, quietly discussing where the best place to set up would be.

Kendall reached over, turning on the radio of the car, making sure to turn the volume down to not disturb James. The sound of an obnoxious car salesman flooded the car, and Kendall rolled his eyes.  When he was a kid, he actually could hear music on the radio, but now all he heard were commercials. He would have said those thoughts out loud if he didn’t think it’d make him sound like an old man. 

His thoughts were cut short when the radio announcer came back on air. “Welcome back, you’re listening to WYMZ, the station for all your favorite throwback hits. Coming up next, we have Big Time Rush’s hit, “Boyfriend.” The starting beats of one of their first songs filled the car, and all four men looked toward the stereo. 

No one said anything, the car silent except for the voices of their younger selves in the stereo. Until Logan started to laugh. “Throwback? Has it really been that long?” 

“Pretty soon, we’ll be on the Golden Oldies channel, right next to Taylor Swift and Beyoncé.” Carlos added. 

James finally closed his laptop and turned around to face the men in the backseat. “Speak for yourself old-timer, I happen to be in my prime.” 

Logan leaned forward in his seat, playfully shoving at James’ shoulder, “Yeah yeah, we know. Aren’t you at week eight topping the Billboard Hot 100 chart?”

“Just hit nine weeks actually. My agent Nigel says this is a good sign for the album drop in October. Soon you won’t be able to turn on the radio, without hearing my angelic voice.” 

When the conversation first came up about everyone taking a hiatus from Big Time Rush, James had been reluctant for the change. It had always been his dream to be on stage performing, but he’d grown to love the safety net of having Kendall, Carlos and Logan with him.

He had always planned to have a solo career at some point, but when that moment finally arrived he felt nervous. Anxious that no one would like him on his own, and that his boyfriends would see him as a failure.

None of them had ever doubted his ability to shine without them though. There wasn’t anything like seeing him step out on stage and sing his heart out. It was simply what he was born to do. And thankfully it seemed the world could see that too. 

Kendall leaned over, placing his hand on James' knee squeezing gently .“I’m proud of you, but didn’t we say no work talk on our vacation?”

The car filled with murmurs of agreement at Kendall’s careful reminder. It seemed like such a simple rule, but it could be so hard to follow sometimes.

After Big Time Rush officially ended the boys imagined that they would finally get a chance to relax. For four years they had been going from dance practice, to the recording booth, to concerts, and interviews. While they were all thankful for the chance of a lifetime, it really took a toll on them.

Logan was the first one to bow out of their quiet free time after just four days. He’d applied to several colleges in the surrounding LA area, anxious to get a jump on his studies. When Kendall thought about those days, he wondered how Logan had even made it out alive.

He would take 18 credit hour semesters, a decision he made to make up for the two years he claimed he was behind. And while that alone seemed like a lot to the other guys, the classes weren’t exactly easy either.

While none of them could keep up with the concepts that Logan had been learning, they all tried to help out where they could. Kendall was usually elbows deep in flashcards filled with medical terms that he still couldn’t explain to this day. And James would try his best to stay up with Logan as he studied late into the night, rubbing the stress from his shoulders and making him take breaks. 

The late nights and early mornings were worth it though, that much Kendall knew. One of his favorite photos of Logan was taken on the first day of his residency at a local hospital. His smile shined just as brightly as his new lab coat, and Kendall had never seen such genuine happiness etched on his features before. 

Logan had pretty much always known what his dreams were, Carlos on the other hand had chosen to get out into the world and explore. Letting his future come to him.

During those early years, he had held a variety of jobs, and he took to them with such exuberance and focus that it was always hard to picture him doing anything else. When he started working at a bakery, it was like he was born to do that. And when he took up a job at a local daycare, Kendall wondered why he hadn’t been doing that his whole life.

Carlos was simply the kind of man who thrived in any situation. But it became clear to everyone when he found exactly where he was meant to be.

Growing up when asked about his future, Carlos always said he wanted to be a superhero because he wanted to save people. And while he had long since put away his ‘El Hombre Del Flaming Space Rock Man’ costume, the urge to protect was still inside of him.

When he finally applied for the police academy, it was like it all had made sense. Following in the footsteps of the greatest man he had ever met, his father, Carlos understood how his boyfriends had felt everyday as they put all their hard work in.

It truly was something special, being able to see all of them achieve their dreams everyday. Kendall didn’t know what force of the universe he had to thank, but something somewhere was looking out for them. 

While they all loved where their futures had brought them, that didn’t mean there weren't some sacrifices to be made. 

From the very first time he had a hockey stick placed in his hands, Kendall knew he was going to be a center for the Minnesota Wilds. And to this day, he still couldn’t wrap his brain around the fact that he achieved his goal.

However, the sobering reality of just how demanding his career was always hit when hockey season began.

Being gone from your loved ones for months at a time was difficult, especially for Kendall who had gotten so used to seeing his boyfriends every single day. They all tried their best to make it easier, video chatting often, and flying out to see each other when the opportunity presented itself. That didn’t make up for the feeling that something was missing every night when they went to bed though.

The four of them had gotten pretty good at saying goodbye with how often Kendall and James had to be on the road. And when they finally had time to spend together, it was important to make it count. That’s why this trip meant so much to Kendall. He was looking forward to spending the weekend with the three men who were the world to him. Completely uninterrupted, they could be together just like they had as kids, when they would trek out into the Minnesota wilderness with Papi Garcia. 

 Kendall felt a warm palm cover the hand he still had absentmindedly rested on James’ knee and was pulled from his thoughts. He glanced away from the road to see the other man looking at him fondly. “We’ll be there pretty soon, you excited?”

James leaned into Kendall’s ear voice barely above a whisper. “Absolutely, don’t tell Logan but I’m totally gonna push him into the lake first chance I get.”

“Dude you’re like a foot away from us, we can hear everything.” Carlos piped up from the back. “Besides, if anyone is throwing him into the lake it’s gonna be me.”

Logan looked frantically between Carlos and the front of the car, meeting Kendall’s gaze in the rearview mirror hoping for some backup. “I personally like the plan where I don’t get thrown in the lake.” Kendall fought back a smile, as he listened to Logan plead his case and his other boyfriends tease about their future plans. Up ahead he saw the worn sign for the campgrounds and pulled in already feeling much more at ease. 

As he got out of the car, Kendall had to shake feeling back into his achy limbs, as he fished his supplies out of the dogpile in the trunk. The sheer amount of bags they had managed to shove into the tiny vehicle was actually impressive. However, now reality had sunk into him that they would have to carry everything to the designated camping spot. 

Once they were finally loaded up with their belongings, Logan stood at the front, his nose buried in the map to lead them to their destination. James was not far behind him, carrying not only his own bags, but most of Logan’s as well. He didn’t seem to mind too much though as he hummed a soft tune that Kendall couldn’t place. 

Kendall took up the back and Carlos bounded up beside him and offered his hand for Kendall to take. It took him a couple of moments to rearrange all of the bags he had been carrying, but it was worth it for the smile that came across Carlos’ face as he intertwined their fingers.

They fell into a comfortable silence, enjoying the sounds of the wind rustling the leaves and the birds chirping in the trees. It felt like the calm before the storm, and Kendall knew the moment they arrived, things were going to get chaotic, it was just in their nature. 

But he would be lying if he said he wasn’t excited to see what the weekend had in store. After all, he had to see which of his boyfriends would get to push Logan into the lake first. Little did they know, Kendall would probably get to it first.

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Is It Really THAT Bad?

I’m going to warn you all now. This one is going to get a bit angry at the end. Normally I would try and remain as professional as possible, but in this case, I don’t feel like I would be able to.

Batman & Robin is a film that has lived in infamy since its release in 1997. Upon release, it was critically reviled, and this hatred of the film continued long into the modern day, where it frequently tops “worst films of all time lists” to the point where it actually is listed on the Wikipedia page for “List of films considered the worst.” It was nominated for at least 11 Razzies but only won a single one, and it went on to be a frequent punching bag on the {REDACTED] Critic’s web show, where he would get irrationally angry at the mere mention of the Bat Credit Card. In contemporary reviews, Mick LaSalle of The San Francisco Chronicle stated “"George Clooney is the big zero of the film, and should go down in history as the George Lazenby of the series,” which is less of a criticism and more of a compliment, if I’m being totally honest.

Most of the stars would take a negative stance towards it as well, with legend stating that if you tell George Clooney that you saw the film in theaters, he will refund you for your ticket out of his own pocket. Chris O’Donnell likewise is not particularly fond of the film, stating "It just felt like everything got a little soft the second time. On Batman Forever, I felt like I was making a movie. The second time, I felt like I was making a kid's toy commercial." And, perhaps most depressingly, Joel Schumacher himself was apparently very apologetic for the film, though this may or may not have come about because of years and years of vitriol being directed at him for making this film.

In the wake of Mr. Schumacher’s passing, I decided to re-watch the film, as I am famously rather fond of it, and I am going to tell you all why the answer to the question “Is it really THAT bad?” is a loud, resounding, NO.

THE GOOD

There’s honestly quite a lot to like here, more than you might think. I think first and foremost what you need to understand going in is that this is a silly, cartoonish take on the Burton style, blending the silliness and camp of the West series with the drama and aesthetics of the Burton films, all while adding some over-the-top, colorful flair. John Glover, who appears in the film as a cartoonish mad scientist, even has gone on record as saying "Joel would sit on a crane with a megaphone and yell before each take, 'Remember, everyone, this is a cartoon'. It was hard to act because that kind of set the tone for the film”… the last sentence makes the statement very baffling, but at least even the actors were aware of what they were doing. If this doesn’t sound appealing, well, the opening is sure to warn you off, as it is a suiting up montage with various shots of the firm butts, large codpieces, and stiff batnipples of the Dynamic Duo. The movie is very upfront about what you’re in for.

On the subject of the infamous batnipples, Schumacher stated "I had no idea that putting nipples on the Batsuit and Robin suit were going to spark international headlines. The bodies of the suits come from Ancient Greek statues, which display perfect bodies. They are anatomically correct." It seems a very odd choice, but it’s pretty clear that he meant it as an amusing little design choice and nothing more. Of course, this hasn’t stopped everyone and their mother from spewing homophobic comments about how he was purposefully making the film gayer, even from star George Clooney, who has said that he played Batman as a gay man and was told by Schumacher Batman is gay. It’s so disgusting that people did and continue to do this, because honestly, the costumes are fine, and even if they are meant to be fanservice… so what? O’Donell and Clooney’s asses look nice, as does Alicia Silverstone’s when she dons a suit. The fact hers is just as form-fitting as the other two really shows that the whole idea Schumacher did it because he was gay is ridiculous; the man was very egalitarian about the fanservice in the movie.

Whatever else Clooney says, he does a pretty great job as Batman and Bruce Wayne. His speech at the end of the film where he talks to Mr. Freeze and reminds him that he is a good man and offers to help him is honestly one of the few moments in any Batman film where Batman actually feels like the one from the animated series, a man who fights crime but also wants to help the people he’s trying to stop. Clooney just has a very natural charisma that lends himself to playing a hero, and while there are a few awkward moments in the performance, he captures the fun and charm a more lighthearted Batman should. Michael Gough’s last turn as Alfred is also surprisingly poignant, and a lot of mileage is gotten out of his genuinely tearjerking subplot.

Of course, the very best part of the film is the villains. Uma Thurman is clearly having a ball as Poison Ivy, and she gets to have a ludicrous amount of costumes as well as numerous moments of fanservice. She also has the power to turn every man around her into a simp, which is absolutely amazing and leads to quite a few scenes of Batman and Robin slapping each other over her. But f course, there’s really no doubt that the best part of the film is Mr. Freeze. He’s a combination of the sillier Mr. Freeze from the West days and the more modern take of the character most are familiar with, the tragic anti-villain who wants to save his wife; such a character would take a talented man capable of comedy and drama in equal measure. And who better than Arnold Schwarzenegger? Joel Schumacher wanted a man who looked like he was chiseled from a glacier, and Arnold certainly fits that description. He spends the movie juggling some of the most corny puns you can imagine and a lot of truly powerful, understated drama, and it really does work. You honestly get the sense that Arnold really gets Mr. Freeze and what makes him a great character. Also, that suit he has is amazing.

As a final note: the Bat Credit Card is absolutely not stupid. Linkara has defended it in the past, giving reasons why and how it could actually work, but really, all that needs to be said is… is this any more ridiculous than Shark Repellent Bat Spray?

THE BAD

So don’t get the wrong idea here; this film is far from perfect. As is the case with any comedy, the humor can be hit or miss; not all of the puns land, not all of the jokes are great. You’re never going to get a perfect comedy no matter how hard you try, and this is no exception.

As for performances, I think O’Donnell’s Robin and Silverstone’s Batgirl are a bit wonky. O'Donnell has long been a source of derision for his whining, and while I think the hate is a bit overblown, he does spend a ludicrous amount of time in this film being snippy, miserable, and arrogant. I think he actually fights with Batman more than any of the villains! Still, his performance isn’t horrible, he just gets a bit too whiny at a few points.

Silverstone is a bit of a bigger problem, but she’s not quite as bad as even I remembered. She’s pretty much Batgirl in name only, since she’s related to Alfred in this, but she’s mostly okay. The issue really is that her arc in the film is relatively bland and feels a bit shoehorned, which comes to a head where she fights Poison Ivy in a designated catfight, obviously because they didn’t want Batman to punch a woman in the face I guess. There’s just one issue with that:

On the subject of Ivy, while she definitely does have plant powers here, they’re strangely underplayed. She rarely uses them even when it would probably be beneficial, instead relying on Bane to do most of the fighting for her. Ah, Bane… Bane is one of the few things about this film I can’t really muster up any sort of defense for. While his creation scene is rather cool, it doesn’t lead to much of interest, as this version of Bane is pretty much a mindless supersoldier lackey who serves Poison Ivy. Now, this was still relatively early in Bane’s existence, as he had only debuted in 1993 and was really most famous for his signature “breaking the Bat” move, but it still is baffling why, with that famous thing fresh in everyone’s minds, that they would just choose to go and basically make Bane into Evil Diet Captain America. Surely they could have either saved him for a sequel or utilized him in a way more befitting of the character? I think this Bane is kind of responsible for the negative perception of Bane as this big, dumb bruiser, something that works like The Dark Knight Rises and Arkham Origins have thankfully gone a long way to rectifying. Bane is at his best when he’s a cunning genius bruiser; here, he’s nothing but a glorified prop.

Is It Really THAT Bad?

The answer is no. No it isn’t. AT ALL.

I’ve always felt this film came out at the wrong time. It was towards the end of the 90s, during the Dark Age of Comics when everything was dark, gritty, and edgy. The world didn’t want a movie like this back then; they wanted stuff like Blade, who would come in shortly after this film and show us how to make that aesthetic work. I guess in terms of Batman they wanted something more like Dawn of Justice, which really speaks volumes to how awful the 90s were for superheroes. 

Look, I’m not trying to convince anyone this is the greatest Batman film ever. Even I don’t think that; Batman Returns, The Dark Knight, and Under the Red Hood are all much better films. But is this really the worst Batman film now that we have the deeply misogynistic and disgusting The Killing Joke and the relentlessly bleak and unpleasant Batman v Superman? Hell, it’s not even worse than Batman Forever! At least the Batman in this film has some kind of emotional range beyond “plank of wood!” And even calling it the worst sequel ever is just… so baffling. Again, this is definitely better than Batman Forever, lack of Jim Carrey notwithstanding. And can you honestly look me in the eye and tell me that this is worse than any of the Terminator sequels after the second film? Worse than Iron Man 2 or Thor: The Dark World? The almost half dozen Alvin and the Chipmunk sequels? This is only the worst sequel or even a bad sequel if it is the only sequel you’ve ever seen in your life.

A lot of the hate for it from back in the day carries a strong undercurrent of homophobia. Much like the infamous backlash against disco, it’s seriously uncomfortable, and it definitely is cruel how accusatory people were towards Schumacher’s intentions for the suits of the heroes in the film. The fact that even the two main stars have gotten in on it is a bit disgusting, though O’Donnell questioning why there needed to be a codpiece is certainly less offensive than George Clooney saying he played Batman as a gay man for… whatever reason. Was he implying that Batman being gay made the movie worse? I’m not sure what he’s on about there. Even The New Batman Adventures made a cruel dig at the film; notice the sign and the effeminate-looking boy. You could only get homophobia this good in the 90s!

The hatred of this film is absolutely overblown. It’s so ridiculous. #70 on the bottom rated movies of IMDB? #1 on the 50 worst films of all time list from Empire? Doug Walker’s personal punching bag whenever he needs to talk about a bad sequel, to the point where he literally said no one wanted a comedic take on Batman in his worst sequels video? Come the fuck on.

Joel Schumacher may or may not have ended up hating this film, but he certainly was made to feel like shit for making it… and it is honest to god not that bad! But he was just absolutely eviscerated, to the point where this was a fucking headline when he died:

Literally fuck all of these people. Fuck io9 for their insensitive headline. Fuck Empire for rating this as the worst film ever. Fuck Doug Walker for his constant bashing and his shitty old “chimp out over the Bat Credit Card” gag. Double fuck Mick LaSalle for shitting on George Clooney’s performance while also trying to say George Lazenby’s Bond was bad. In fact, fuck George Clooney for his weird idea that playing Batman as gay is a bad thing (sorry George, but I can’t defend this). Fuck the Razzies. Yes, it was nominated, but I just feel it’s always a good time to say “Fuck the Razzies.”

I will never say you have to love or even like this film, but the sheer amount of vitriol and hatred for it is absolutely beyond me. At worst, this film is just a bit too goofy, and at best, it is a fun tribute to the campy days when Batman just couldn’t get rid of a bomb. I didn’t take off my score this time. I’m proud to say I gave this an 8/10, personally. If I’m being honest, a 6.6 – 6.9 is more appropriate, because it does have quite a few issues, but god, this film is not bad at all. It’s silly, goofy, campy, and fun… but bad? Not by any stretch of my imagination. And fuck the critics for convincing an entire generation that this is Batman at his worst, when we have Batman fucking slaughtering his ways through criminals and fucking Barbara Gordon on rooftops these days. I will always take stupid ice puns over misery, murder and creepy intergenerational sex, thank you very much.

I hope you can rest easy, Mr. Schumacher. Maybe you didn’t love your film in the end but, wherever you are, I hope you know I loved it.

[ladyloveandjustice]

Shadow of the Batgirl: A review type thing

I just read the graphic novel Shadow of the Batgirl by Sarah Kuhn and Nicole Goux, which reimagines the superhero origin of Cassandra Cain.

It was overall good and EXTREMELY cute! If you want an awesome story about a teenage assassin running away from her shitty dad and finding a neat library, a community of cool ladies and the hero within herself, AND WHY WOULDN’T YOU WANT THAT, definitely get this! 

It’s a standalone Batgirl story completely accessible to all and with none of the weird baggage and the complicated continuity of the regular Batman universe! it’s appropriate for younger teens but still a good read for adults, the art’s colorful and great, it’s packed to the brim with joy and hope.

And on top of all that, it gives a great character who’s been traditionally horribly neglected by mainstream comics for some reason (*cough its because she’s not white cough*) a spotlight and a chance to shine (and get written by an Asian American author for once!)! This also features one of my other faves, who had her disability and adult identity erased in the main universe, but not in this comic, hurray!

SO YEAH, if you like superheroes at all, highly recommend this!

NOW for a more detailed review, calling on all my expertise as a Cassandra Cain superfan and going into pros and cons. This’ll be long, but I’ll do it as a list to break it down.

Let’s start with the good stuff, there’s a lot of it:

- This story takes place in world where Barbara Gordon as Oracle (and former Batgirl) and Cassandra Cain as Batgirl exist, but Batman and The Killing Joke do not appear to. That is honestly transcendentally great to finally see this as an officially realized concept, Batgirl allowed to stand on its own as a legacy of powerful women, with all history of these characters being victimized for the sake of manpain erased. I am elated.

-The art was adorable, the designs were great, the clothes and Cass’s costumes were super cute, the setting was vibrant.

-Jackie was a really fun character and mentor figure for Cass. Loved her snark and how she and Babs basically become Cass’s two Moms and an awesome team in their own right. The relationships in this were just heartwarming. Loved the range of characters in general.

-Cass basically lived in a library aka my life dream. I mean, she did it because she was homeless and on the run from her assassin father, but like.

-Cassandra FINALLY knows her own race, (she’s half-Chinese) and gets to have a goddamn connection and basic feelings about it (Jackie bringing up what the bat means to Chinese culture), etc, god it should not have taken this long for this to happen.

(And it’s really important to have a version of Cass’s story where, y’know, the positive inspirational figures in her life include other Asian people, they aren’t just white people. it wasn’t until I read this it fully dawned on me how screwed up it is she never had that before.)

-For the first time in her entire existence, Cassandra Cain got to be in a canon romance that wasn’t fucking awful, can you believe it. Her love interest Erik was adorable, and him being a budding romance writer was an especially sweet touch- and I think there’s an implication/hint his dad’s the Bronze Tiger? Which is really cute Easter Egg for Cass fans, considering she had a strong friendship with the dude in her original series!

-The idea of Cass liking to draw and expressing herself through art is really fun and fitting. Her being visually focused, it makes a lot of sense.

-Cass extending her body language ability to sort of being able to guess at people’s underlying emotional problems from how they carry themselves is a really neat idea- it could have been implemented a little more smoothly but I like the concept.

-Cass going after the “evil-doers” in the library after becoming a hero was one of the best things I’ve ever seen. Deserves to be framed. I love what a huge nerd Cass got to be in this.

-The comic understood that core of Cass’s character is compassion and empathy, that how she reaches out for people, refuses to harm, and really believes in people and embodies change, rebirth, hope. THAT’S IT, THAT’S MY GIRL, THAT’S MY HERO..

-I’ve read a ton of comics with Barbara Gordon and this is the first one I’ve come across where she discussed her relationship with her mother having any sort of influence on her interests and personality, she isn’t even the main character of this and her mother matters more in it than every other comic I’ve read with her combined how sad is that

-I liked Babs just casually making gadgets and stuff all the time, and loved that she expressed she honestly preferred doing this and that was why she was giving Batgirl to Cass. MADE ME WANT TO SCREAM FUCK YOU DC ALL OVER AGAIN.

-Compared to the original Cass Batgirl comics, this story is obviously more accessible as a standalone, but it’s also just overall more appropriate for a wider range of ages since the darker elements of Cass’s story are way toned down. I was a young teenager when I read Cass’s series and was fine, but there are young teenagers that DON’T want like, graphic onscreen deaths in their comics, so it’s good there’s a lighter Cass story for them. It was just a really sweet, affirming story.

Now for some cons, none of them damning:

The romance was cute, but wish it’d had room to breathe. Ideally, it didn’t need to be happening alongside Cass’s origin, I think it would have been better if it was just hinted at and then was allowed to fully play out as an after-she-became-Batgirl thing, but I can get that Kuhn didn’t know if this would get a sequel and there were probably a lot of good reasons she wanted to include it.

-I think this came from Kuhn being used to writing as a YA author rather than doing comics, but it was weird to read a Cass comic with so much narration and the way it was used really detracted from the potential power of the story. We’re told through Cass’s super chatty narration she’s not a normal teen, she TELLS US that she barely knows how to read and speak and TELLS US she’s better at reading body language-but we never get a sense of this, not even at the beginning, because the story doesn’t trust the reader to take in the visuals without narration, and then she’s able to talk like a normal teen pretty much right off the bat.

 I’m okay with Cass becoming a chatty girl, and her voice in this comic was fun- I know “silent Asian” has a lot baggage and Cass’s original character leaned into some stereotypes- but the first chapter/part would been far more powerful if it had her world be a little more silent and fully emphasized the visual, for her interactions with people and words be garbled and confusing, and if it gave us more of a sense of the world she comes from and how her perception of things differs from the average person. Cass’s original debut and the beginning of her original series did a really good job giving us a sense of this, and took great advantage of comics as a visual medium, and I missed that.

-Cass learns to read and talk SUPER EASILY and it just comes off as unbelievable. I do like the idea of her camping at a library, eavesdropping, and teaching herself, but I would have liked to see her actually struggle like a person would. Moreover, while I know the presentation of it was very flawed, Cass basically had a learning/language disability in the original series. I was kind of hoping this comic would lean into that, and actually give a more realistic and nuanced representation of that kind of disability (it could have been presented as something she always had that was exacerbated by how she was raised, not caused by it!).

 Honestly, I think her romance with Erik would have been far more interesting and meaningful and tied in better if she’d actually struggled to read, maybe even discovered she was dyslexic and couldn’t quite read the same way he could. That could have been a source of development between them.

-David Cain’s a super flat as a character in this comic, he doesn’t have much presence, menacing or otherwise, and Cass’s complicated feelings and relationship with him is not nearly as painful as they were in her original series.This is partly because there wasn’t a lot of a space for it though, and that’s fine.

-Overall, the main thing that hurts the story is that we don’t see all that much of what Cass’s life was like as an assassin, and her life with David Cain was like. It’s harder to invest in Cass’s transformation into a hero when we don’t really have a sense of who she was before,it’s hard to appreciate her breaking free when we can’t get a sense of what kind of cage she was even in. How much language DID she know? How much of the world was she exposed to? What was she really deprived of? I hope if there’s a sequel we can see more of this.

-Babs isn’t the main character of course, so this isn’t a real complaint, but I did miss her cynical and angry edge. She’s pretty much just a chipper nerd with no sign of her own baggage in this, and it makes her relationship with Cass less interesting. It’s implied that her “accident” did affect her and she just managed to work through a lot of it before she met Cass, but I missed the element of their relationship where they both were hurting from losing  “the world they knew” and working through it together, sometimes clashing, etc.

-I read one of Sarah Kuhn’s YA novels in anticipation of this, and while I’m relieved this is better about it than her first book was (I expected it to be, writers improve, I definitely know how messy a first book is) there’s still some cringe-y ideas of how “average” teens talk creeping in, occasional clunky pacing etc.

But all in all? It was a really nice little story that did a lot of cool things, and I really want a sequel and want more of this version of Cass and her universe. As someone who was driven away from DC comics in part because of how badly they treated Cass, Oracle and the Batgirl legacy. it’s really like a salve on old wounds.

[russian-romanova]

hurt

title: hurt

pairing: natasha romanoff x reader

word count:  2.5K

warnings: mentions of torture, language, mentions of drinking, crappy writing at parts

notes: hope this is what you were looking for! I kind of had to rush the ending to get this out before I go camping, but it turned out to be a little more lighthearted than it probably should have been but happy endings are good for the soul. :)

request: “May I request a Natasha Romanoff x reader fic where reader is tortured, brutally, I mean, brutally. And maybe NR has to go find her. But it’s been a while or something like that I don’t know. But thanks!”

summary: requested. for the past month, you’ve been tortured for information you don’t have. it may be up to a certain red-headed avenger you hadn’t seen in months to save your life. 

             +      +       +

You had no idea how long you’d been in the dark room. Hell, you had hardly any idea as to why you were in said room, but you had long ago figured that your first priority was getting out. You had survival instincts, after all. 

What felt like half a year ago, you had been perfectly fine. Saturday took forever to arrive that particular week, but that was nothing unusual. To the best of your knowledge, you had gotten up at your usual weekend time and gone grocery shopping as soon as you were ready to. You weren’t ever thrilled to have to shop, but that was the last commitment you had on weekends. You found it easier to get it done. 

Your mind struggled at that point. You attributed it to whatever drugs they had been shooting you up with to knock you out whenever it pleases them. There were dots missing in the puzzle, but they were easy enough to write in yourself, at least roughly. You had been captured -- kidnapped, really -- by a group of people who seemed to think you had more information on the Avengers then you really did. That’s where you were most surprised and even slightly honored, really. The Avengers? They thought you knew literal superheroes? 

They didn’t believe that, obviously. They hadn’t believed you for the past however long you had been here, and you didn’t think they ever would. No, you knew in the back of your mind that you’d wind up dead before they thought you didn’t actually know the heroes. 

Only half a dozen or so of their people had come down here to “talk” to you, the most recurring being a woman with hair dark enough that it made the pitch black around you seem like simply dusk. She was the main one who had questioned you, although “questioned” wouldn’t have been your word of choice.

She was the main one who had tortured you. 

You were bruised and bleeding so much you could hardly tell the source of so many of your wounds. In all honesty, it all just felt numb. Your face hurt the most, you had decided in one of your periods of sitting in the blackness. It hurt from being punched relentlessly, your hair being pulled forward and head slammed back when the answer you gave wasn’t the one she wanted. Your eyes were sore from crying, despite not having shed a tear in the past few days. You had given up, and that was the sad truth. You didn’t know what you were supposed to do from here. 

If you lied and gave them false information, they’d either know you were lying or kill you. If you continued to give them your truth, they would continue to accept it as only lies and kill you then too. If you just stayed silent every time the woman came down here -- you didn’t even have to think of where that one went because you knew. You knew because all other situations here ended the same, and you had stopped even dreading it. Hell, you welcomed an end to your misery. 

Your body tensed as you heard the door at the top of the stairs twist open. 

Whoever was walking down the stairs was almost silent. You let your breathing slow to try and listen, but the pounding of your heart blocked out any lighter noises you could hear. Your breath hitched in your throat when you realized that more than one pair of feet were echoing towards you.

Three figures descended towards you, and an unfamiliar man spoke up, although not to you. “Is that her?”

You froze, watching the dark blurs of people all look at you.

“Yeah, idiot, of course, that’s her.” A second man spoke up. “Do you have a flashlight? I lost mine.”

“You lost-” The first man seemed flabbergasted. You would have laughed had you not been so confused. You thought they had come down here to either continue with the whole torturing deal -- or maybe just kill you. Instead, they seemed to come down to banter and talk about you as if you couldn’t hear them. “You lost your flashlight? Man.” 

“Shut up, boys.” The new voice was feminine, and seemingly came from the one in charge as she walked towards you, the men hanging back and they searched for a flashlight. “We’re with S.H.I.E.L.D. We’re here to get you out.” This time she spoke to you. You habitually squinted to see her better -- as if that would have helped -- and found yourself reeling back when a small light flooded the area. 

“Found it.” The second man -- who you now saw was blond -- looked up from the flashlight in his hands. For a moment you looked between the two men and realized that these seemed to be the people who were going to get you out of here, and if that was true you were screwed. 

“Wait,” The realization came out weak and hoarse, and drew all the eyes in the room towards you. “Are you guys the Avengers?” 

Your question went unanswered as banging and shouts came from the door above. “You guys deal with them,” The woman spoke. With her words, your gaze looked towards her, and you tilted your head. She was definitely familiar, although it took you a moment to place your finger on it. It was in the back of your mind, but the longer you stared at her profile the more it nagged at you, pushed you into remembering.

All at once it seemed to come to you. “Natalie?” She looked from the other two who were rushing to fend off any enemies to you. Behind her eyes, you could see her processing the connection, running over your name and face to find a connection. 

“Y/N. From the O’Connells. The bar.” She noted confidently, seemingly unsurprised. 

“You know each other?” The man dressed as what seemed to be a bird at the single glance you had gotten-- you quickly recognized him as the Falcon -- shouted down. 

“Yeah, I guess so. We met at a bar.” You muttered, unsure if he could even hear you. You gazed at her costume. “You’re the Black Widow? How did I not make that connection?” “Staying in the shadows of the big guys works magic,” She spoke cooly from behind you. 

Hawkeye -- you were pretty sure his name was Hawkeye, at least -- spoke next, shouting so Natalie could hear him from the bottom of the stairs. “How’re those restraints coming?” “Just about there,” She shouted back. As if on cue, you could feel the tension around your wrists release. “Here,” She slid a knife across the ground to you. “Your legs are just rope. Get them and Clint will get you out of here.”

Your hands felt foreign as you reached for the blade. “Clint?” 

“Hawkeye. Blond guy with the bow and arrow.” She jumped to her feet before extending her hand for the knife. You had made quick work of the ropes around your ankles, passing her the handle of the blade. Your curiously dangerous childhood interests seemed to have paid off. 

Natalie was less impressed, more focused on speed as she moved past Hawkeye to join Falcon. Hawkeye stopped firing his arrows and glanced back at you. “There’s a window over here and we’ve got a team outside. C’mon, we’re gonna get you out of here.” “Okay,” Your voice came out timid and childlike, but you were too relieved with the idea of a potential escape to care. For a split second, you considered disputing his notion that there was a window down here that you could escape through. You had known the dark downstairs for what felt like much longer than just a month and had never even heard talk of a window, much less seen one. You figured the Avengers knew best, however.

Luckily, Hawkeye was right. Behind the pillar you had been constantly attached to, back quite a few yards was a small basement window covered in thick black fabric to prevent light from coming in. Once he got his footing on the stone wall and his grip on the window sill, Hawkeye was able to grasp onto the cloth with his other hand, yanking it away from the window. 

The light returned, flooding the small area along the wall as you squinted, your hand shooting to cover your watering eyes. “Shit, that’s really bright.”

He used the back of his hand to smash the glass. “You’ll adjust, sorry.” Hawkeye apologized as he hopped down. “First we gotta get you outta here. We’ve got a van waiting outside. I’m gonna get you to them and they’ll check you out and bring you somewhere safe to help to patch you up,” You nodded, stepping towards the wall. For a moment you thought he expected you to lift yourself up, and you almost pointed out how any arm strength you might have had before had disappeared this past month. However, he knelt down and put out his knee for you to step on. Cautiously, you did and he slowly stood up, grabbing onto your lower legs to lift you. 

The sun was burning your eyes, and you kept trying to blink away the light. The further out you got, using the wall to push yourself up, the less you felt you could see. When you thought you were going to have to simply close your eyes and guess your way out, you were met by a brunette woman who helped pull you out. 

It took you a while to realize that you were free. There were a million other thoughts rushing through your mind -- Natalie the most vivid -- but you were too happy to focus on anything but the sunlight -- no matter how painful. 

 +      +

Before your eyes even opened, you heard a steady beeping that seemed to bring you further out of your drowsy state. Your eyelids were heavy as you opened them, and everything was blurred for a moment before it cleared. The area around you was unfamiliar, in shades of brown and grey. A hospital room, you slowly realized. 

“Hey,” You turned your head to the door, to see the only speck of color in the room. Natalie was leaning against the wall next to her door, her arms crossed as you watched you. 

“Hi,” You attempted to speak, but the words hardly came out. “Hey.” You tried again. 

The side of her mouth turned up. “How’re you doing?” 

“I’m not sure yet. Better, I think.” “Better is good.” She nodded slowly, uncrossing her arms and she wandered towards a chair. 

There was a pause as you found a spot in the wall particularly interesting, unsure of what to say next. “You’re seriously a superhero too? That’s crazy.” She let out a soft chuckle. “Is it?” “To me, I guess.” You wiggled your body upwards to get into a more comfortable position. “What were you doing in the bar?”

“I’m surprised you remember that.” 

Of course, you remember the cute redhead that flirted with you for almost three hours. “San Francisco. Two and a half years ago. My girlfriend had just broken up with me. What was your excuse?” She paused, watching your face. Trying to analyze you. In an attempt to seem tougher than you felt in the face of the Black Widow, you furrowed your eyebrows a little. “I was working a case.” Her face didn’t change as she spoke. “The target was in the bar, two stools down from you. You seemed sad, and it was a way to blend into the crowd.”

“You know we were the last two people there, Natalie.” You quickly realized that she probably had just used Natalie as a cover name, and likely preferred Natasha. 

“I had eyes on him,” She spoke coolly. “He was in the bathroom. Passed out. I had lots of time.” 

“Oh. Well, thanks. You’re a nice person to talk to.” You smiled. “Well, from what I remember of our conversations. I got pretty drunk.”

“I remember.” Natasha looked almost past you, and you watched someone recollect a moment in time you couldn’t remember. “You were a silly drunk though. It was nice.” “Oh, me making a fool of myself was funny?” You joked, comfortable with Natasha all over again. “Glad someone was laughing. Because let me tell you - that hangover? Not worth it.” Natasha laughed the heartiest you had seen so far today. There had been no laughing in that basement, not from her nor you, but here it was okay. It was okay to laugh and be happy. You were safe now.

“You hungry?” Natasha asked as she stood up. “I can grab you something. I have to hit the bathroom first, but I’ll be back. If you want me.”

“Ew, wash your hands.” You joked, in a good enough mood that all of your pain felt behind you. It would come back, of course, but you liked the idea of enjoying a moment in time before it all hit you. Quickly, you added, “But I’d, of course, love you back. You and a sandwich”

Natasha smiled. “Sandwich it is. I’ll be back in a jiffy.” She turned to leave, her red hair falling in waterfall-like waves behind her.

“Thank you,” You spoke suddenly, and Natasha turned to look back at you. “For the whole rescue mission.”

“Yeah.” She smiled, her gaze lingering for a moment before she turned back around. “You got it.” 

[shezowhero]

Bumblebee though out animation.

Here’s Bumblebee though out cartoons. With the DC Superhero Girls reboot being out I’ve been thinking about Bumblebee, so let look at Bumblebee’s evolution in cartoons. 

First we have Bumblebee in the old Teen Titans cartoon. This is her first appearance in animation. She’s in 8 episodes but doesn’t talk in one episode and in another episode is just a cameo. She is probably one of my first times seeing a black female superhero after Storm and She-bang. This is my favorite version of Bumblebee. I wish she was in more episodes, she doesn’t do much in the later episodes with her. I really like her character design. It’s one of my favorite designs for her. I wish they had her be a scientist or a scientific genius. She’s very smart in the show but they don’t explore it. Being a scientist or scientific genius is a big important part of her character. I also wish they had her be with The Herald.

 Next we have her in Teen Titans Go. She’s kinda just a background character in the show until now. For a long time she didn’t do much or anything. She was just there until now. I really wish she did something sooner in the show. She was the only Titans East member who hadn’t had a episode about her. Could they not get her original voice actor or something ? They could easily have her be in the Girls Night Out episodes. The episodes that focus on the girls are some of the best episodes of the show. Her design is really cute. It’s just her design from the old show but with hoop ear rings and different shoes. They changed her design a little bit later on when they finally did stuff with her. They gave her yellow shoes. She’s in the tie in comics for the show. I was making this post before the 6th Titan episodes so I had to change somethings. I’m really happy they’re finally doing stuff with her in Teen Titans Go. The episodes with her start out with the Titans going to superhero summer camp and the Titans East are sick except for Bumblebee. The camp episodes reminds me of those episodes when the Titans were stuck on a island. Bumblebee asks to hang out with the Titans at camp since they were the only people she knew there. Robin didn’t want her to join them but after bugging him and helping the Titans win he let her join them during summer camp. After superhero summer camp ended the Titans wanted her to the join the team so she joined them. She could only be a member of the team for the summer but I hope she stays a permanent member of the team. I’ve seen people say it doesn’t sense for Bumblebee to be the 6th Titans and that it should be Terra but it does make sense. Bumblebee actually is a member of the Teen Titans and has been for a long time while Terra is actually a villain and the old show made her sympathetic when she’s not. Bumblebee is a great addition to the team and show. She makes the show fresh. I just wish they had be a super genius. I’d hate to have another Teen Titans show ignore her being a scientific genius like the old show did.

Than we have Bumblebee in Young Justice. This is her second animated appearance. We see her in the first season as one of Miss Martian and Superboy’s classmate. She was a cheerleader. In season 2 she is a member of the team. She has a slightly bigger role in season 2 but she still doesn’t do much. She’s The Atom’s lab assistant so she’s a scientific genius. I like that they remember her relationship with Mal Duncan. He is Bumblebee’s boyfriend and later husband. Most people don’t know Mal or know her relationship with him. They are one of the longest lasting Titans couples. Mal was in the old Teen Titans cartoon as The Herald but outside the tie in comics they didn’t interact with other in the old show which is weird knowing their history together. As of this post she hasn’t done much in season 3 so far. She’s only been in 2 episodes so far this season. She is pregnant which great but I hope she does more this season. I also hope we get to see her baby cause she recently had a baby in the comics but we never got to see her on panel or learn her name. We know the baby is a girl and that’s it. Bumblebee has a nice design in the show. It’s reminds me of her second costume from the comics. I like this version of Bumblebee but I wish she did more in the show.

Bumblebee from the Teen Titans Judas Contract movie. She’s only in the beginning of the movie so we only see a little bit of her. I hope if the Teen Titans get another animated movie in this universe I hope we see Bumblebee again.

The DC Super Hero Girls franchise. If you ever wanted Bumblebee to get more focus or have centeric stories about her, this is it. She get’s more focus here but still not enough focus. Wonder Woman, Supergirl and Batgirl get the most focus in the show and franchise. Luckily she does have a book about her, Bumblebee at Super Hero High by Lisa Yee. It’s a very good book and it dives more into her character than the show does. Everyone should read it. This is a really good version of Bumblebee. This is my second favorite version of her. They actually remember that she’s a scientific genius, especially in her book. She has a fun personality. On the old web site they say one of her personality traits is bubbly but she was more peppy and spunky than bubbly. She’s different from how black girls are usually portrayed in cartoons. DC Superhero Girls isn’t just a show or web show. It’s a franchise. It’s got toys. It was created to sell toys cause there was no toys of female superheroes. It’s got comics, graphic novels and books. It’s got movies, dress up and Halloween costumes. So Bumblebee getting a lot  of exposure but she didn’t get that many merchandise from the old version. She only got 5 dolls, 2 action figures and some other stuff but the dolls and action figures were the main merch. Hopefully she’ll get more mech in the reboot. Since she’s getting more exposure I think DC should push her more in the comics. 

Bumblebee in the DC Superhero Girls reboot. In the reboot she is still a scientific genius but it’s more explicit. They don’t just say she’s super smart they show her being super smart by her saying smart things and inventing things. They say her real name, Karen Beecher. Like the old show she is different from how black girls are usually portrayed in cartoons but this time she is shy, timid and awkward. She’s very cute. She’s got a good design but the only thing I don’t like her design is her skin being light. Bumblebee is a dark skin girl. She has always been canonly a dark skin black girl. Like stick to the canon. Every time there’s a black character with dark skin I’m like ‘Bumblebee should’ve been dark like that’. Her skin is dark in promo art and on her doll. She looks kinda dark when her helmet’s on and when she’s small. Dark skin black girls never get to be soft, shy, timid and nerdy in media especially in cartoons. It would’ve been nice to see Bumblebee be that. She should’ve been as dark as Catwoman. Besides that her design is nice. This is a good version. They’ve said there isn’t going to be a any romance in the show but I think it’s a missed opportunity to have her be with Mal.

 So that’s Bumblebee in different cartoons. I feel like she’s gets more love in cartoons, she’s very criminal underused in the comics. She does more in cartoons so of course the cartoons versions of her get more love. I hope being in so many cartoons helps makes her popular so gets used more in comics.��Y’know for someone who’s DC’s first black female superhero, DC sure don’t seem to care about her but someone at WB animation seems to care enough about her to put her in both DC Superhero Girls shows and Teen Titans Go. I’m glad todays kids get to grow up with her with those shows.

I want to post this sooner but Teen Titans Go decided to finally do stuff with her and I wanted wait to see how she was in the show and the DC Super Hero Girls reboot was still new.

Things I want in future cartoons with Bumblebee...

I want them have her be a scientist or at least a scientific genius. Being a super genius is a important part of her character. Her having powers is cool but it’s more interesting having her be a scientific genius who makes a super suit to give herself powers.

I want her to be with Mal Duncan. Mal is the whole reason why she becomes a superhero in the first place. They’re a good couple. Bumblebee is one of the few black girls to be in a romantic relationship. Black girls rarely get to be in romantic relationships in media. Like just let Karen and Mal be together. Let them be the power couple they’re meant to be.

Another thing I want in future cartoons with her is getting more focus. Luckily she gets focus in both DC Super Hero Girls shows and Teen Titans Go right now but I want it to continues. Getting more focus gives her more attention which could help her do more in comics. Outside media really do help comic book characters do more in comics. She doesn’t get focus in comics. Give her centric episodes about her.

And that’s what I in future cartoon adaptations of Bumblebee. Let her be a super scientific genius. Let her be with Mal and give her more focus.

[lemonsandstrawberries]

One Night a Year

fandom: Stony (Steve x Tony), MCU, after Endgame but a happy ending, mentioned Winterfalcon (Bucky x Sam) and Scarletvision (Wanda x Vision)

summary: Halloween parties in the Avengers headquarters are always a big hit, but this time neither Tony or Steve attend. At least not in a traditional way.

length: 1 242 words

a/n: Happy Halloween! hope you all will have fun and stay safe! this fic is just Halloween fun and fluff, but it won’t make a lot of sense if you didn’t see Avengers Endgame (of course you can still read it, but you will be missing the fun part ;D). hope you like it!

—————

One Night a Year

"That shouldn't be allowed."

Natasha didn't answer. She just leisurely swirled a candy eyeball in her red-colored, fizzy drink. A lovely Halloween refreshment.

"It is just such an easy way out!"

Maybe a tiny smile showed on the agent's face before she masked it with taking a sip of the beverage. Sweet and tart like a raspberry. Could use a nice, alcoholic kick, but it would do for now. The night was still young and the party was just starting, just like Clint was starting his whining fest.

The annual Halloween party at the Avengers headquarters was always a big hit, mostly thanks to Tony, who definitely didn't spare money for Halloween decorations and catering. Lifesize skeletons sitting or standing casually in every corner, cackling witches, fake spiderwebs, colorful lights and food that looked absolutely disgusting and horrid but in reality, was tasty and fresh and made from the best ingredients. The open bar was a great option too, brimming with colorful drinks and swathed with the subtle mist coming from the blocks of dry ice submerged in black cauldrons. Spooky, eerie and mesmerizing. It was a picture-perfect Halloween party and it just seemed to get better and better each year, Tony somehow always managing to outshine the previous party. That was a gift.

Watching everybody in costumes was the best part. One could think that after the whole superhero thing, walking in costumes during their free time would be a hassle, but the truth was, that in those moments they all felt the most human. Having certain skills and abilities didn't isolate them from the rest of the world and it was a good feeling to be a part of something almost everyone on the planet enjoyed and partook in.

One of the cutest costumes definitely belonged to Wanda, which consisted of frills, a long red cape, and a red dress and a picnic basket, her own take on the Little Red Riding Hood's costume. Vision matched his girlfriend, in a plaid shirt, and a werewolf like appearance, that kept changing all the time for more and more realistic after talks with his teammates about how a proper werewolf should look. Someone wise once said that there were as many opinions as there are people and Vision kept adding to his werewolf look, becoming more ad more frightening, while Wanda remained a sweet balance to him. They were not the only couple wearing matching costumes and Bucky and Sam also came in pair, but no one knew why they chose salt and pepper shakers costumes, probably there was no big reason behind it, just pure desire to have fun. Or forgetfulness and it might have been one of the last costumes available in the shops.

The costume Clint had the most problems with, was Steve's. Each year, Tony showed in a stunning, detailed costume and Steve, like Tony's, at first boyfriend, then husband, had also the best stuff. They usually didn't match, but their costumes were always nice to look at.

This year seemed that Steve didn't have a costume at all.

"Cheater!" Clint called after Steve, when the soldier was squeezing past him and Natasha, seemingly in a hurry.

"Excuse me?" Steve stopped, looking at Clint, who this year decided to get a very nice and stylish vampire costume, ruffle on the front of the shirt and cape on his back included, while usually he just collected some lost clothes and tried to make the best out of it, often dressing us one of his teammates. That joke never got old, but this year Clint decided that he needed a slight change.

"You are not even wearing any costume, Steve!" Clint complained, eyeing up and down the green army fatigues and a military cap Steve had decided to wear. If the Captain of Avenger's team decided to use minimum effort for this year's costume and go as a soldier, the least he could do was tore the material here and there and splash it with fake blood, creating a zombie-soldier look. That would be cooler than the boring, too normal version Clint was looking at in an offended way, while Natasha, quite happy with her devil inspired costume, and, she wouldn't admit to it, loving the black hairband with attached plush red horns.

Steve smiled good naturally and straighten himself, standing in a typical military pose, feet slightly apart and arms crossed behind his back.

"You must be mistaking me for someone else, civilian, I am Captain Roger Stevens," Steve said, sounding almost as if reading from a script, keeping a straight face, even if his eyes sparkled with humor. "I am looking for Doctor Howard Potts, have you seen him?"

"Who the hell is-"

"Captain."

"Doctor Potts," Steve brightened, turning in the direction of the voice. He reached his hand and pulled the just arrived person closer to himself.

If Clint thought that Steve's costume was a lazy idea, Tony's costume was the epitome of laziness. Just a regular dark blue suit, one of many Tony had in his wardrobe, nothing special or Halloween about it. Only the dark blue tie speckled with colorful circles was eye-catching, but again, not reflecting the spooky holiday.

"Fancy seeing you here, Captain Stevens," Tony said, smiling tiredly, his hair a bit messy and showing that he was clearly in a hurry to make it earlier to his own Halloween party instead of his usual fashionably late.

"The pleasure is mine, Doctor."

"What's going on?" Clint asked, voice colored with some nervous laughter. He looked from Steve to Tony, while the couple already seemed to be lost in their own world, holding hands and foreheads pressed together. "Tony?" Clint asked, hoping to get a more precise answer from the genius.

Tony blinked and moved slightly away from Steve, just to get enough of space to look at Clint. "I am not Tony. I am Doctor Potts. Howard Potts. You see," Tony said quickly, cutting off Clint who had just opened his mouth to say something, and locked his eyes with Natasha's instead, "I and Captain Stevens worked together at Camp Leigh back in the 70s. It wasn't an easy time for people like us, and this is the only night a year when we can come back and finally be together. Right, my love?" Tony put his hand on Steve's cheek, and Steve turned his head slightly to the side, kissing Tony's palm tenderly. After that, he took a step back, clacking his heels together and slowly bowed.

"Doctor Potts, may I have the pleasure of dancing with you?" Steve said, reaching his hand for Tony's.

"I thought you will never ask, Captain Stevens," Tony replied charmingly, taking the offered hand and both men moved to the dance area, Steve taking the lead.

"Wow," Clint grinned mischievously, his fake fangs sparkling in his mouth as he observed the couple, the fake love story fresh in his mind, "that's… so lame."

"Nah," Natasha scrunched her nose, also looking how Steve and Tony held each other, slowly swaying in a dance resembling foxtrot, completely ignoring the cheerful and loud notes of The Monster Mash the rest of the team and guests were dancing to. Maybe it was a tad sappy, but also incredibly sweet. "That's just them," she concluded, fishing out the candy eyeball and crunching it between her teeth.

After all, it was just Steve and Tony, being in love during every possible occasion.

[txladyj-blog]

Chapter 4 - This Time Around

a Daryl Dixon x OFC collaboration written by @xmistressmistrustx​

Rating: Explicit

Relationship: Daryl Dixon/Original Female Character

Tags: Friendship, Friends to Lovers, Awkwardness, Awkward Flirting, Awkward Crush, Fluff and Humor, Angst and Humor, Mild Smut, Strong Language, Eventual Sex, Eventual Romance, Slow Burn, Canon Divergence, Some Canon Scenes and Dialogue

Chapters 15/?

Before the turn, Jess had packed her car for her annual visit to the same Renaissance Faire she’d been attending with her friends for the last five years. It was a much-anticipated event for her and her collection of costumes had grown into an impressive variety of elaborate garments. Being indecisive about which ones to take with her was always an issue and so on this occasion, she’d crammed her car with as many clothes as possible, along with a few casual outfits that she kept in the trunk anyway due to many, spur of the moment road trips to see friends and visit conventions across the state. Her best friend, Ben had made fun of her for never being able to make a decision when it came to clothing and for always being prepared for anything. 'Just in case' was her favorite phrase and it was usually met with Ben replying with 'just in case of what, exactly?". Little did she know that the car journey to the Faire would be the last time the two of them would ever argue over what music to play in the car, what greasy food they would start the day with and where was the best place to park. It would be the last time she'd ever laugh at one of his cheesy jokes or tell him not to bother checking out any cute girls, because he was so forgetful he wasn't likely to remember he had a girlfriend if he ever managed to bag one. Two hours after the car door slammed and they began their final journey together, Jess had watched in utter horror as a Walker tore out his jugular and chomped on it like it was eating a burger.

Her interest in such activities and active participation in events that required outfit changes in meant she was lucky enough to not only have more than one change of clothing, but also a backpack big enough to hold her journal and a couple of books. Unlike some of the others at the camp, Jess had the luxury of being able to change her clothes every day and therefore, made the effort to help out with the laundry where she could. When Rick and some of the others returned from the city with bags full of clothing, the laundry duties increased and meant that Jess found herself with a job and a way of contributing to the group.

Her superhero and cult film T-shirts were both an entertaining talking point with Carl and a source of ridicule to the likes of Sarah and Jodie. While Daryl also enjoyed making fun of her for them, his lighthearted mockery only resulted in debates about which was the better character in the films they'd both seen and her crush on him intensifying to a dangerously consuming level. She blushed around him. Stared at him so much he continuously caught her and felt a slither of drool escaped her lips when she saw him emerge from the water one day, shirt soaked and stuck to his body. One of her eyebrows had shot up to the sky so fast she had little control over it. She held her breath and let herself indulge as he ruffled his hair with one hand, flicking drops of water everywhere. Jess could only liken it to a scene from some kind of 80's romance movie, where the unpopular, dorky girl falls for the ridiculously attractive bad boy that smokes too much.

Stood in front of him in a bright yellow Pulp Fiction T-shirt and her jeans, her face was expectant and waiting for an explanation, she squinted in the sun and propped a hand over her forehead. Heat beat down on her head, her scalp burning. She wished that she’d picked up a baseball cap when she’d left her apartment for the Faire that day.

“Alright, don’t freak out.” Daryl told her. “Wait here”

She sighed and tapped her foot while crossing her arms. Information about the days expedition was minimal. He was taking her to the woods and she wasn't to argue or he'd push her off of the RV. When he turned and disappeared into the woods, he left her alone around five feet from the tree line. After a few minutes, she began to slowly wander back and forth, stopping occasionally to crane her neck and check for movement in the dull light of the trees.

This better not be some kind of stitch up. She thought. 

She knew it must have been at least fifteen minutes before the rustling of leaves and the crunching of twigs beneath boots caught her attention. Along with the snarling of a Walker. Her heart rate quickened. Instinctively, she took a couple of sizable steps back and frantically scanned the ground for something sharp with which to defend herself. A part of her was cross with Daryl for having left her here in danger of being seen by a hungry, walking corpse that would make a quick meal out of a slow, chubby girl with no means to defend herself.

I hope I taste like acid when it bites me.

Seeing nothing to use as a weapon on the ground, she looked back up to see Daryl bunding a Walker out of the woods. He had tied a belt around its neck which he used to keep it in line like some kind of macabre, oversized dog and was shoving it along in front of him. Both of its arms had been hacked off at the elbows and the bloody stumps waved about like two coagulated, beef patties.

Jess was rooted to the spot, paralyzed by fear and totally confused. Daryl grunted as he pushed the Walker against a tree and wrapped the remainder of the belt around the trunk, fastening the corpse to the tree. It bucked and gnashed its teeth at him as he stepped back, bloody drool seeping from its jaws and pooling at its feet.

Daryl beckoned her over with his hand “C’mon. S’alright.”

“Ha-have you lost your fucking mind?!” She gasped. “What are you going to do? Feed it a bone and teach it to sit?!”

“No, smartass.” He huffed. “I’m gonna teach ya how to kill one of these things.”

Her enlarged; terrified eyes stared at him in disbelief. “Why?” she asked.

She thought she saw him swallow hard before he locked eyes with her and took longer than she was expecting to answer her. The Walker’s noises now drowned out by her mind racing and the panic welling in her chest.

“Case I ain't around.” He replied quietly.

“Why would you not be around?”

“I dunno. I killed seven of these things in a day yesterday. Numbers are goin’ up. We’re either gonna have to move or we’re all gonna have to know how to fight. Ya gotta know how to do this, Jess. Ya ain’t safe if ya don’t.”

Is he saying he cares about me here?

Unsheathing his knife, he felt its weight in his hand for a moment before holding it out to her. She gingerly took hold of it, the heavy handle providing it with the majority of its weight. The blade was sharp and shiny. She often saw him sharpening it as an almost mindless task while sitting around the campfire.

“You right-handed?” He asked.

“Yes”

He moved behind her and it took all of her self-awareness not to flinch when she felt his fingers curl around her left wrist. He lifted it up and she slowly turned her head to see her pale flesh in his tanned grasp.

“Get closer” He rasped in her ear, encouraging her to step forwards by pulling on her wrist “use this hand on it’s forehead to steady it.”

Her breath caught in her throat when he took hold of her other wrist, sliding his hand up further to move her fingers into the correct position around the knife. The warmth from his torso hummed against her back.

“Raise ya hand up, good n’strong. Move closer.”

But Jess stilled. Her feet were rooted to the spot at the sight of the monstrosity before her. She wondered how Daryl had managed to hack off both of its arms and wrestle it out of the woods by himself. She shook her head and swallowed a deep breath.

“No” She squeaked “Please, I don’t want to go near that thing.”

With his hands still tightly gripped around her wrists, he leaned closer to the side of her face, both of them more than aware that as the weeks turned into months and as their friendship had grown, the sensation of their skin connecting had been unknown until now.

“Look at it’s arms.” He told her “It can’t grab ya. I made sure of that.”

And he had. Snapping the bones was easier than he'd anticipated and hacking through the flesh to dismember it's limbs was not unlike preparing an animal for food. So, he told himself it was just a kill from the hunt like all the others, except this one was larger and the odor it gave off was enough to make even the strongest of stomachs flip. 

“I-I can’t.” She stammered, her hands beginning to shake. He could feel her bones trembling as he gently urged her forwards.

“Yeah, ya can.” He countered “S'alright. C’mon. Just try.”

Turning her head to the side, the first thing she thought was how close his face was to hers and how icy blue his eyes were. 

"What if it gets loose and I can't kill it? Don't leave me with it" She pleaded. 

"I got it if it gets loose. I ain’t goin' nowhere. I'm right here." He confirmed. 

She neared the Walker, Daryl allowing her a little more freedom with each step like a parent urging their child to ride a bike without stabilizers. His hands loosened their grip and drifted down her forearms, before he broke away and she was standing inches from the bloody stumps of the waving arms attached to the Walker.

“Don’t overthink it, just do it.” He said from behind her.

She lunged forward, slamming her hand against the cold, dampened forehead and smacked it against the tree. She didn't know why, but she expected it's skin to be warm somehow, like regular people that are wandering around, going about their day. But this man was dead, so it stood to reason he'd be cold to the touch. She lifted her other hand and paused.

“The eye, it’s the easiest. As hard as ya can.” He instructed.

She fought against the Walkers attempts to break free, the blood from it’s missing arms now smearing across her T-shirt. Her stomach churned at the putrid and rotting smell that grew stronger with each thrash of its head. She screwed up her face and with all her might, drove the blade into the weeping, white eye of the Walker. The wet sound of the blade against its skull meant bile began to rise in her stomach and an involuntary cry left her throat. The scrape of metal on bone, but loose, like sand along the sharp edge of the knife. She slumped forwards and tried to yank the knife from the bloodied hole in the Walkers face but it stuck fast. She fought with it, twisting it and tugging on the handle, until Daryl’s hand closed over hers once more and he pulled on the weapon with brute force, freeing it and catching Jess when she stumbled backwards.

He took the knife from between her fingers and noticed his other hand had ended up around her waist, stopping her from falling. He ripped it away in seconds and stepped back, dropping his gaze. Jess turned and tried to steady her breathing as she watched his ears turn pink and his shoulders sag.

“I did it” She whispered.

If anything, it was a desperate attempt to draw attention away from the fact that he had just touched her somewhere other than her hands and that was something she’d only dared to imagine during nights scribbling in her diary in her tent or while drifting off to sleep. Even then, it was with some reluctance, as if somehow everyone around her could hear her thoughts and see her imaginings like they were displayed on a projector screen for all to see. He had just touched her and yes, it was accidental, but it was a moment she knew would guide her through many more nights alone with her thoughts. A moment that was as funny as it was tragic and would most likely never happen again.

“Yeah, ya did it. Good job.” He mumbled. She stood immobile while he cleaned the blade with a red rag from his back pocket and offered it to her once more, all the while avoiding having to look at her.

“Why are you giving that back to me?” She wanted to know.

“Take it. It’s yours.” He said flicking the handle up in front of her and urging her to take it.

“No, it’s yours” She corrected, smiling at his now vividly apparent awkwardness.

“I got a another” He told her, tapping at another knife holster on the other side of his belt. “Shouldn’t walk around these days without a knife. Take it.”

“I can’t, it’s-”

“-Take the goddamn knife, Jess.” He interrupted.

She smiled at him again, pleased to see that he couldn’t seem to look away once his eyes met hers. She delicately slipped the knife from his hand and resisted the urge to jump on him and hug him for believing in her and pushing her out of her comfort zone. It was working, she was learning, getting better at surviving in the new world and she had him to thank for that. Aware that hugging him would go down like a lead balloon, she simply smiled at him instead. 

“Follow me” He grunted before setting off into the trees with intent.

“What? Where are we going?!” She called after him

"Ya just levelled up.” He barked back at her. “Now ya gonna complete level two.”

 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

The next few days consisted of Daryl teaching Jess everything he’d picked up in the short while since the world had lost its footing and plummeted into what now resembled one of the levels of hell. He also continued to pass on his already established and extensive knowledge of hunting and tracking. It was not only productive but unequivocally enjoyable to Jess to be able to spend so much time with him. She knew not to question his desire to train her, accepting it simply as a mutually beneficial act somehow. Although quite what he got out of it still remained a mystery to her.

He’d even taught her to fish, a skill which wasn’t altogether alien to her due to many family vacations at the lake house and boat trips with her brother. But she feigned ignorance and politely listened when he showed her how to reel fish in and swallowed the urge to vomit when he made her fillet them, a task she had always left to the men in her family.

It was no more than a few lingering smiles, one or two occasions when she would catch him watching her perform mundane tasks like writing in her diary or sewing up a hole in her jacket, but it was there. The feeling of something a little more than friendship that Daryl just couldn’t seem to fathom. He had given his all, put everything he had into teaching her to survive and if someone were to ask him why, he wasn’t sure he had an answer. He hadn’t taught anyone else a single thing, hadn’t felt the sheer panic at the thought of anyone but her being bitten by a walker. With Jess, it was different. What he did know, was that when other people looked at him, they saw nothing but a damaged, unpredictable criminal that wasn’t to be trusted. But when Jess looked at him, when Jess spoke to him, she really saw him. He was a person, another person just like she was. Right from the start, she hadn’t given up and persevered with a most unlikely friendship.

 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 

On top of the RV for what had become their habitual time to unwind at the end of every day, Jess hummed to herself as she propped her legs up on Dales cooler. Her book rested on her lap and she batted away the smoke from Daryl’s cigarette beside her. The cool night air carried it up into the atmosphere but the smell still hung heavy around her. 

“Those things will kill you y’know.” She remarked with a scrunched-up face.

“You gonna miss me?” He quipped, deliberately expelling a large plume of smoke at her. She waved her hand dramatically and fake coughed.

“No. I’ll get some peace and quiet.” She joked with a light chuckle.

Thinking the conversation to be over, Jess opened her book and began to read. It wasn't unusual for Daryl to just cease speaking when he'd had enough or when he felt like whatever had been said didn't warrant a response. Jess pushed the end of her pen between her lips and bit down on the lid, leaving the end peppered with small, teeth marks.

“What was that s’posed to mean?” Daryl eventually asked with a tone akin to mild irritation. She closed the book and looked quizzically at him.

“I just mean you making me run around in the woods killing things.” She grinned “It ruined my Pulp Fiction T-shirt. I’m going to have to beat the holy hell out of it against a rock to get the bloodstains out.”

His eyes were narrowed at her, and worry that she’d offended him prodded at the back of her mind.

He’s touchy tonight.  She thought.

“I don’t make ya do nothin’. S’for ya own good.” He grumbled.

“I’m just playing.” She tried. But his jaw was clenched and he looked away, taking a forceful drag on his cigarette and exhaling it in the opposite direction to her this time. Instead of stoking the fire that apparently had appeared from nowhere, she lowered her eyes back to her book and tried to ignore the now taut atmosphere between them.

Daryl rarely lost his temper with her, even out in the woods after hours of training, coated in sweat and blood and gore, repeating the same things over again, he never got angry when she couldn’t get it right. He never usually took her jokes the wrong way either which made their current situation both baffling and extremely awkward.

Why am I being such a jerk to her? He thought.

But he didn’t know the answer. All he knew was that the churning ball of anxiety in the pit of his stomach was for a reason and it was always at its worst when he was sitting quietly beside her, watching her be nothing else but herself. It was frustrating and enraging and entirely mystifying to him. 

“It’s only you.” He muttered. Him facing away from her meant that she only just caught the words. Far from wanting to jump to conclusions that would only land her in an awkward and uneasy mess., she needed more information. 

“What?” She questioned, closing the pages of her book once more.

“That I teach stuff.” He added.

“I know” She said softly. “I’m grateful for everything you do for me. I don’t know why you do it, but I know it’s only me.”

He nodded at her statement but still didn’t turn to see her, opting to carry on staring out into the darkness and watching the smoke from his roll up dissipate into the blackness.

“Want ya to be safe.” He uttered.

Jess’s heart lurched and her face broke out into a strong smile that was just too stubborn to shove away. Biting her bottom lip, she gently nudged his upper arm with her hand, thinking it a shame he’d put a leather jacket on and scuppered her chances to cop a feel of the biceps she so admired on him. Feeling braver than ever, in part due to the confidence that Daryl had instilled in her with his belief in her abilities, she took a risk.

“That you saying you care about me?” She jested.

Not turning to her straight away, she saw his body jolt when an amused exhalation followed a small head shake and it took all of her self-control not to blurt out what she really wanted to say.

I think you care about me and I care about you too. I have such a huge crush on you. You are the most interesting and amazing person I have ever met.

The look on his face when he gradually worked his line of vision around to her took her by surprise. Chewing on his lower lip, she could see him hiding a smile, one that didn’t need hiding because it was in his eyes.

“Maybe a little.” He told her.

“Wow” She laughed loudly “A little, huh? Lucky me!”

Oh lord. What the hell was that, Jess?! ‘Lucky me!’ I’m such a dork.

Footsteps below silenced them both and Daryl leaned to his left, catching a glimpse of a figure wandering past the RV. When the sound of whistling danced through the air, Daryl realized who it was.

“It’s just Merle.” He dismissed. Jess nudged her head up in acknowledgement and re-opened her book, feeling like the moment had passed to delve even deeper into what appeared to be Daryl caring about something other than running out of smokes and hunting deer. Her eyes scanned the words on the page, but none of them actually registered as her mind raced with thoughts of confessing her feelings. With no intentions to actually do so, all she had was her vivid imagination and the ability to simply dream.

He cares about me. 

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Two nights later and by the flickering glow of the fire, Jodie rummaged through her laundry at the opening of her tent, carefully folding her minimal wardrobe, enough to fit inside a backpack should they have to pack up and leave. Sarah, who sat beside her was painting her nails. A necessity of the apocalypse, of course. Along with applying her eyebrows in a pocket mirror and curling her lip in disgust at the thought of having to go to the makeshift bathroom in the woods. A far from pleasant necessity that everyone else had come to accept, as was the way of the world now. They were all thankful to be alive, Sarah and Jodie were just happy to have their matching, Gucci belts still intact.

Jess was busy on the other side of the fire, sharing a few overcooked squirrel strips with Carl. They were so dry and tough that it was more like eating jerky than anything else. Carl winced and chewed relentlessly on a piece of meat that looked like a leather shoe while Jess snorted with laughter as she pointed at him and covered her own mouth which was also full of food.

Daryl was at her other side, the two of them now barely apart for more than half a day and just about able to ignore the jibes and attempts at humor at their expense from Jodie and Sarah. Daryl’s threat seemed to have worked to an extent, but whispers and mockery could still be heard if they listened hard enough. By now, the entire camp had accepted that Jess and Daryl had become friends and that Jess was the only person that Daryl would tolerate being around for so long. Likewise, he was the only one that didn’t drain her energy after more than an hour with incessant chit chat.

Merle hadn’t expressed an opinion but Daryl knew it wouldn’t be long before he made his feelings known and was waiting for the day when he would have to bite his tongue and remember that Merle was not the smarter one of the two of them. From a distance he watched, sneering and tutting as if Jess’s mere presence was at a detriment to his existence and the downfall of his plan to rob the camp was somehow her fault. Jess was none the wiser, blissful in her ignorance and Daryl had no plans to change that.

“Oh. My. God!” Jodie’s voice rang through the camp and everyone at the fire stopped what they were doing to look up. “There’s a frickin’ tent…in my tent! Look at the size of that!”

Daryl was the first to register what was happening and immediately snapped his head around to see Jess, leaning on her elbow to see past Carol, who was opposite her. It was like slow motion had kicked in when her eyes widened and the color drained from her cheeks.

Her body suddenly flushed with heat from embarrassment and fury and her surroundings increased in volume, the shrill laughter from the two girls holding her underwear a loft began to echo through her ears. The sound was deafening and her eyes glazed over, her vision glassy. Tears dripped down her cheeks.

“Sorry, Jess. I guess this wasn’t how you imagined Daryl seeing your panties for the first time.” Sarah announced.

With an inferno burning in her cheeks, she sprang up from the floor, stomped across the clearing, snatched the garment from Jodie’s hand and raced off into her tent. Daryl sat frozen for a moment, watching both girls fall about in hysterics before he also got up and went off into the woods with his crossbow. A backdrop of people expressing their disgust did nothing to quell the anger he felt as he departed. He wanted to go to her, to tell her it was alright and that it was just two dumb girls that didn’t mean anything. But his legs took him in the opposite direction so he could take the time to retreat into himself and try to push past his own humiliation.

Through tears and sobs in her tent, Jess took out her pen and journal and started to pour her feelings onto the page. Her teardrops tainting the ink.

'I don’t know if I can stand this anymore. Daryl is literally the only good thing about being at this camp. I have these urges to just leave. But I am reluctant to leave him. We’ve become friends, good friends and I think we actually care about each other. I made progress with someone, I spoke to a person I wouldn’t normally have bothered with and something amazing happened. But now those assholes have stamped on it all. He’s never going to want to be around me when I’m such a glaring target for those two bitches. Carol once told me that they’re just jealous of me. But I don’t have a single thing for anyone to be jealous of.' 

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Tracking, hunting and fighting lessons had become less social and more strictly on a need to learn basis between Jess and Daryl. He had less and less to say as the days crawled on after the humiliating scene at the campfire. Her efforts to engage him in conversation feel on disinterested ears and with each new day, Jess felt their friendship slipping further and further away. She still sat with him on the RV every night, her stubborn streak refusing to let her give in. The only sounds came from her turning a page or him lighting a cigarette. He’d still look over at her, she registered it every single time and she so wanted to look right back at him, to smile at him and crack a joke, but she knew any attempts to fix things would be futile.

She wasn’t sure what she was guilty of exactly, except being the reason Daryl was mentioned during the horrendous ordeal of the panty announcement. Now, it was apparent to Jess that there was every possibility of Daryl wanting to distance himself from her to avoid being targeted again.

More and more Walkers appeared every day and the Group made the collective decision to start gathering supplies in order to move on and find another safe haven. But with food, medicine and weapons running low, a supply run into the city was arranged and planned which Merle very quickly attached himself to due to the prospect of stocking up on something he deemed to be a priority; Whiskey. Daryl initially agreed to go along, but Jess could tell it was simply because he couldn’t tolerate his brother’s complaining about his lack of interest.

On the way back from a hunting lesson, Jess carried a large hog which she was immensely proud of hunting by herself and with the aid of Daryl’s crossbow. Once the animal had been taken down, he’d offered a simple appreciation of her skill that could have been missed if Jess wasn’t paying attention

“Good job” He’d muttered.

“Gee, thanks.” She replied with a roll of her eyes before she surged through the bushes and claimed her prize

Now, she was getting used to being out in the heat, creeping about in the woods and had even killed three Walkers without Daryl having to step in. As she trudged through the thick, hot air towards the camp with the hog around her shoulders, she sighed to herself in frustration and stopped walking, flicking her head and freeing a few strands of hair that were obscuring her view. Daryl walked on and it wasn’t until he was a good ten feet away that he noticed she wasn’t beside him anymore.

“Why ya stopped?” He enquired.

Jess looked down at her feet. Once brand-new sneakers that had seen better days. Tatty and stained beyond repair. She kicked about in the mud and tapped a finger on the hoof of the hog she held onto her back.

“Are you angry at me for something?” She said quietly.

“Say what?” He questioned, bringing a hand up to his ear to signal that she wasn’t speaking loud enough.

“I said, are you angry at me for something?” She repeated, much louder this time.

Jess expected him to look confused at least, but his expression was deadpan, almost blank and with not a single scrap of emotion.

“No.”

“Then why are you being off with me?” she demanded.

He shrugged his shoulders and wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his wrist.

“I ain’t.”

“Yes, you are. You barely talk to me anymore. We come out here and wander around like a couple of strangers. It’s not like it was.” She explained. It had taken a lot of courage for her to address the situation. Daryl wasn’t known for having a gentle nature and she was not unfamiliar with how hostile he could be. But she missed the way things were before, when they would talk into the night, make fun of each other while training in the woods or simply sit in each other’s comfortable company.

“I ain’t being off. I am off. This is how I am.” He snapped, turning around and walking off. “Get over it.” She heard him grumble under his breath.  

In her chest, she wrestled with anger and sadness. The one person she had a connection with was now further from her than he’d ever been. As he vanished from her sightline, it occurred to her that it was physically as well as emotionally.

When she deposited the hog at the food station, she caught sight of Daryl sat on a rickety, plastic chair outside the RV with a smoke between his lips and his knife clamped in his hand. He was buckled forwards, carving something into the dirt with the pointed end.

“Everybody! Can I have your attention please?” Sarah’s voice sounded out through the camp and people stopped their tasks and chatter in anticipation of some kind of announcement. Beside Sarah, who was stood on top of the RV, Was Jodie. The sleeve of her bright pink sweater was pulled up over her hand and she chewed excitedly on the fabric while she waited for her friend to speak.

Jess’s veins stung with dread when she clocked what Sarah was holding in her hand. A leather-bound journal.

I left it on the RV last night. Shit. Oh no. No, no, no, no! Please no!

“I found this awesome book up here! It really is gripping stuff! So I thought y’all would like to hear an excerpt!”

She opened the journal and cleared her throat, holding it out in dramatic fashion in front of her.

“Sarah.” Jess blurted out. The blonde girls vicious glare swung over to Jess. “Please. Don’t do this. Please.”

Without a single glimmer of apprehension, Sarah’s eyes moved back to the page and she began to read aloud.

“To everyone else he just seems to be this angry, unpredictable redneck. But to me he’s different. Daryl is an enigma. He has a personality that he tries to keep hidden but I see it and it’s so interesting.”

As she spoke, the mocking tone to her voice added to what was already a mortifying and agonizing moment for Jess, who was stood, red faced and wishing the ground would open up and she would fall into an abyss, away from Sarah, away from Daryl, away from all of them.

Daryl was totally still, his Jaw taut and the veins in his neck popping with rage. He wasn’t even watching Sarah. Instead, his eyes were fixed on nothing in particular at floor level. Sarah continued and with every single word, the fire inside Daryl was stoked and a piece of Jess fell away to nothing.

“He’s snappy and rude at the moment but I still really like him. But alas, I shall carry on admiring him inside my own head and outwardly being his friend. Friend zoned without ever having to have that awkward conversation, as usual. There’s no point in being any other way, anyway. He probably thinks I’m weird and a total loser and doesn’t even see me as a friend. Just the clingy nerd that follows him around. That’s me. The cling on.”

The cackles of Sarah and Jodie were soon stopped by Dale climbing the ladder, snatching the book from Sarah’s hand and scolding them both for being so cruel and childish. Below, Lori and Carol looked on, both shaking their heads in disgust as Andrea shouted up to them, asking how they would feel if the same were done to them. Everyone was there. Rick, Carl, T-Dog, Glenn. They all heard it as clear as day and could clearly see the damage done to Jess.

But that’s just it, isn’t it? It’s never done to them. They’re never made to endure the torment that people like me have to live with. Some people are the lucky ones. Me? I’m not.

As if a bass guitar was droning in her head, her despair grew so much, she could no longer hear what was going on around her. Her vision was a blurry haze and her feet felt like two cement blocks. But she knew she had to move. Remove herself from the situation. Someone was laughing. Merle. Chuckling loudly and mentioning Daryl’s name. She couldn’t see, but then there was yelling, swearing. Daryl’s voice.

“SHUT THE FUCK UP, MERLE!”

Picking up the dead weights of her legs, she ran to the slope. Down to the water's edge. To the calm and quiet where she sat in the dirt and sobbed so hard her throat and chest were raw and her tears sliced down her skin like razors. 

Chapter 5