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youngbugandtonystank · 5 years

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I was fascinated when I learned two years passed in universe between Homecoming and Infinity War. Could you please make some kind of list of all the training / fun / bonding time you imagine Peter and Tony undoubtedly spent together between those movies? Thanks

Hi!

I have a long list but I want to give you ‘things that are semi-canon’ for people who want to incorporate this info in their fanfics or just want to know more about irondad.

Things that are semi-canon

1. Doing projects together:

It’s semi-canon that Peter about helped tony build a program for kids interested in tech, see this post for info. Also, Joe and Anthony Russo confirmed Peter upgraded the web-shooters Tony made him, the only way Peter can upgrade such technology is in an advanced lab, and this happened between HOCO and IW, so guess who borrowed him a place to work?

Also: Tony’s invitation. Concept art for sure but since the Spider-Signal is something Peter used in Homecoming, this is pretty much canon.

2. Tony making projects about Peter:

Tony Stark founded the Worldwide Engineering Brigade or WEB, to develop advancements in super-powered technology and guess what’s his debut project? Spider-Man’s suit.

All of this is from Walt Disney Imagineering’s Global Marvel Portfolios, they work closely with Studios and Entertainment and with Ryan Meinerding, Head of Visual Development at Marvel Studios, he designed all of Spider-Man’s suits for the most recent films (Civil War, Homecoming, Infinity War, Endgame and Far from Home). ALSO, it was revealed that the organization is going to be incorporated into upcoming comics and movies, so yes we’re going to see this in future marvel movies so let’s just say this is also pretty much canon.

This is a Stark-founded organization with Spider-Man as the main inspiration. Let’s also take a moment to acknowledge that Tony made a vehicle called ‘Web-Slinger’ lmaooo

Here, there’s even a logo for this:

3. Tony gives Peter his own workshop/workspace at Stark Industries or his own lab:

YES, that’s right, now it’s pretty much canon just like in fanfics!

This is Peter’s commentary about Tony’s project about Spider-Man: ‘Now, you must be thinking: can’t Tony Stark just give all recruits a suit of armor or something? Why is he getting a bunch of science students and amateur inventors to make stuff? But, actually, it was Mr. Stark himself who said that he wanted to help up-and-coming inventors…See what we can come up with that maybe he hasn’t thought of. He’s even given us our own building/workshop to do that! Plus, he’s gotten people like Pym Technologies and the Wakandan Design Group to donate a lot of their old tech to WEB to see what we can reverse-engineer from it.‘

btw, to the people that SWEAR Tony is ‘jealous’ of other inventors… lmao He basically asked Hank, Hope, and Shuri to donate technology for genius students and inventors.

4. Tony gives Peter his credit card to buy whatever he wants:

Spoilers for Far from Home.

In FFH, Happy mentions that while Peter was staying at the Kurhotel Ströszek, he spent a night there before going home and he pay-per-viewed a video in his room to watch an adult film.

5. Peter has a room and visits the Avengers Compound:

As stated by Tony himself: ‘Happy will show you to your room…your new quarters. Where’s he between? He’s next to Vision.’

And between HOCO and IW, there’s a two-year gap, it’s safe to say Peter went there to train and possibly even spent nights in his own room. How do I know this?

Wanda said it herself in IW, ‘For two years, we’ve stolen these moments… trying to see if this could work and…I don’t know.’

Bruce as well: ‘Wow. You guys…really look like crap. Must’ve beena rough couple of years.’

In Ant-Man and the Wasp, the movie is before Infinity War:

‘He’s allowed to return to the U.S., provided he serve two years under house arrest’ ‘Give me a break. I haven’t driven in two years.’ ‘Oh, hey guys. Are my two years up already?’

6. Spider-Man and Iron Man fought together/did missions together and the public knows it:

This is for the social media irondad fanfic fans!

Spoilers for Far from Home.

In the movie, reporters asked Peter stuff that hardly a lot of people would know without Tony providing this information.

They asked Peter if he was the head Avenger now, they asked him what it’s like to take over from Tony Stark and that those are some big shoes to fill. Why are they asking Spider-Man out of all people when Thor is there, Bruce is there, Rhodey is there, Pepper is there, and the other amount of superheroes that are currently alive? I bet Tony never shut up about Spider-Man lmao.

Nick Fury repeatedly reminds Peter that Tony chose him and even tells him that Tony dedicated this quote to him: ‘Stark left these for you. Really? “Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.” Stark said you wouldn’t get that because it’s not a Star Wars reference.’ Something that wouldn’t happen if Peter wasn’t a topic of conversion very often.

Fury even tells Peter that everyone in SHIELD already knows who he is: ‘Remove the mask. Everyone here has seen you without it.’

And the way they work so well together in IW tells me enough.

Also, can we talk about how proudly Tony portrays Spider-Man everywhere?

7. Ironfamily spending time together:

I think it’s safe to say that the ironfam is no longer just a concept but something pretty much canon. I have the feeling Peter got to spend time with all of them, and here’s the evidence:

Pepper knew Peter back then in Homecoming and repeatedly tried to save him in Endgame. In Far from Home, Happy tells Peter that Pepper is sorry that she couldn’t attend to his charity and sent a check. She didn’t need to attend at all even if Peter was close to Tony, but she was going to and that should tell you something.

Happy’s been there for Peter as well since Homecoming, but he was really not that close to him, between those two years between HOCO and IW you can tell he got close to him as well giving by their interactions in Far from Home. He’s head of security and has the confidence of giving Peter his phone, his password and is there available for him anytime Peter needs it. Even if this is out of nowhere for me, the fact that Happy is practically dating Peter’s aunt, with May stating that she and Happy are always going to be friends no matter what.

This is a relationship that must’ve been developing between HOCO and IW because May did disappear during the Blip while Happy didn’t.

Rhodey knows Peter since Civil War, and he even teams up and goes along Peter’s plan back then. In Infinity War, when Bruce asks if there are an ant-man and a spider-man, Rhodey just shrugs like it’s something usual like he’s used to it. Last but not least, the fact that Rhodey steps away from Tony while he was dying to let Peter have his moment with him tells you A LOT.

This is a concept art from Endgame, Ironfam fighting together. The writers wanted this, so I’m going to take it as canon lmao

I’ll add some more content later and feel free to add more yourself if you want♥

Thanks for asking!

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everydisneymovie · 4 years

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Review #61: Big Red

Post #66

10/22/2020

Thank you for your patience, I needed that break.

Next up is 1962′s Big Red

Enjoyment : [4]

This movie falls into that category of “bad because of the lack of anything good” sort of movie. There is nothing glaringly bad about this movie beyond the pacing, in fact I would almost go so far as to say it is slightly good. The dogs are cute, the protagonist is likable and the conflicts all have satisfying resolutions. I guess it mostly just fails by being politely unobtrusive. It is a very mild movie, with very low highs and very high lows if that makes sense. While I can’t say I enjoyed this movie much, I have repeatedly stated that boring is better than hateful.

Quality : [3]

This movie is very simple. The camerawork is simple, the framing is simple and the editing is simple. The acting is pretty subdued and the setting is mostly just one section of woods, and alternates between two buildings. The biggest flaw with this movie is how poorly paced it is. It is oddly episodic for a feature length movie. A scene starts, a conflict is introduced and then it is resolved within two to five minutes, repeat until the credits eventually roll. Like, the dog gets injured jumping through a window, cut to the kid nursing the dog back to health, cut to the dog perfectly healed. Another scene has the dog run away into the woods, cut to the kid playing harmonica, cut to the dog following the harmonic for them to reunite. This happens multiple times throughout the movie and it really robs scenes of their impact. I feel like the conflict should have been focused into just one or two major plot points. I feel like this movie was made with budget in mind before actual storytelling quality.

Hold up : [5]

I spotted nothing terribly problematic in this movie. There are no cheap jokes at Rene’s expense because english was not his first language. There isn’t a lot of diversity but then again cast is 1 child 3 adults and a dog. While there is only one named woman in the whole movie she is at least a character and seems to have a healthy relationship with her husband. This movie is very neutral in almost every way and I think it would be fine to show most children.

Risk : [4]

The entire time I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had seen this movie a dozen times before. If you have seen any movie about ‘A boy and his dog’ well, you have seen most of this movie. I do like that Rene is shown to be a functional competent person despite being young, and I do like that the adults never treat him as a nuisance. I feel like Disney phoned this movie in a tad, but everyone who showed up actually put in some work so I can’t get too mad at it.

Extra Credit : [2]

There is actually a brilliant piece of visual storytelling in this movie, when the boss brings up “closed topics” it pans to a photo of a young man in a military uniform. While we are never directly told, we can assume he lost his son in the war, giving his adoption of Rene at the end more weight. I am always a sucker for grumpy adults coming out of their shell to protect an adorable orphan.

Final thoughts:

I can’t bring myself to hate this movie. Sure it can be boring and scenes often lack impact, but it isn’t garbage. Far from it in fact, I think this movie has the smallest hint of charm about it. I don’t have much to say when the movie is just sorta... average. I think they could have really amped up the emotions to make it about a lonely old man and a lost orphan who bond over a rowdy dog, but in execution this movie is more about a man and boy who politely talk about a normal dog for an hour. I think it can be improved upon in a lot of ways, but thankfully there is nothing glaringly upsetting about it. Give it a watch if you like this sort of story, but you lose very little if you decide to skip it.

Total Score: 18/50

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#Big Red #every disney movie #I watched Every Disney Movie #reviewing every Disney movie #Disney #movie review #Movie Reviews #live action movie #Dogs #Film Theory #movie theory #movie ranking #Rey Rapids

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hatsukeii · 4 years

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Hi! 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 14 for Kageyama from the headcanons list?? If it's too many, just choose whichever interest you the most! Thank you! 💜

Hhhhh ty for requesting!!

I have so many ideas from Kageyama after seeing the latest few chapters all over my explore page on ig, this should be fun~

Btw just because I crave fluff and made up romantic scenarios I will be including you as a female s/o, I hope you’re fine w that bc I’m terrible at writing same sex fanfics and I feel like including you might be fun too, sorry if it’s not what you prefer, I’ll write up another one if you want!!

(You aren’t mentioned excessively though, so don’t worry!!)

Warnings: Mild manga spoilers that have to do with Kageyama’s backstory, nothing too major though, and angstangstangstangstangst-

2. How are they like on social media?

- Kageyama’s probably one that doesn’t really have that much regarding social media.

- However he would probably have the most common ones.

- Instagram, snapchat, maybe twitter too.

- He also has tiktok now that you’ve basically forced him to download it.

- Definitely uses instagram the most out of everything he has.

- Username: milkboykags

- Followers: 992 (Since he’s pretty popular through playing volleyball.)

- Following: 745 (He tries to follow most of his followers back if they have mutual friends between them, even if it’s a fan.)

- Profile pic: Probably one of those grunge shaky pics of him with a few of the Karasuno team members and you with a dark background and stuff.

- Bio: If you don’t have milk, don’t bother looking for me. ~Me, 2k19 (He hasn’t updated his bio a year lol.)

- His instagram feed is actually pretty aesthetic.

- He has one volleyball post of the entire team at the beach playing beach volleyball while the sun sets.

- He’s way too proud of that post.

- Another one of his posts was taken when you two were on an arcade date (At that time he hadn’t confessed yet, but he asked you out just to do that) and he sneaked a photo of you trying to get a unicorn plush from one of those claw machines.

- That one he’s gonna be keeping in his feed forever.

- He has a collection of highlights.

- There’s one for volleyball practice shenanigans, one for those little dates he takes you on, another one for full on group hangouts, then one of camera wars with random people that try taking photos of him, most likely you or Hinata.

- His feed basically revolves around this filter recipe he made for instagram, which makes his photos look cooler toned and more faded.

(P.s dm me if you want the recipe bc i made it on vsco lmao no I’m not a vsco girl don’t worry.)

- He doesn’t really use snapchat and twitter.

- Only does streaks with you and the volleyball team.

- Tiktok though, is a whole other story.

- Username: givemethecows

- Followers: 1405 (People from both tiktok and instagram.)

- Following: 200

- Bio: I make videos and shit.

- Profile pic: Bass boosted you like jazz meme (Bass boosted but photo if you get me.)

- Kageyama has this whole lowkey eboy thing going on with his tiktok.

- Most the time his videos are just a way to show his weird sense of humour or his sense of style that screams casual eboy.

- Since you forced him to get tiktok, you also forced him to learn dances with you.

- He’s terrible at those.

- Like very bad.

- He managed to break a pair of Tsukishima’s glasses while doing the renegade at break.

- And almost twisted his hips trying to throw it back as a joke.

- Needless to say it’s both hilarious and embarrassing for Kageyama.

- There are also tiktoks of him doing insane volleyball tricks on camera like the demon quick, the synchronised attack, and his jump serve etc.

- Which have gained him quite the following on the platform.

- In conclusion, Kageyama is generally pretty good at social media, but sucks ass at dancing.

4. What is Kageyama’s preferred weather?

- Surprisingly, Kageyama doesn’t like sunny weather. At all.

- For him, it’s the absolute worst thing.

- He think that sunny weather is way too annoying and hot and stuffy and gross.

- Plus, going out for morning runs in sunny weather is like wearing 10 jackets in hell.

- Like you can put on an extra layer if you’re cold but you can’t just strip naked if you’re hot.

- Oh my god he hates it so much it pains him to even think about it.

- He likes rainy days.

- Definitely not his favourite though.

- Rainy days usually mean staying home for the entire day.

- He can just laze around in his house, do whatever he wants.

- The sound of rain against glass windows soothes him.

- The constant sounds of droplets hitting the windows give him a sense of tranquility and peace.

- He will quite literally, fall asleep to those sounds.

- However rainy days do have their drawbacks.

- One of them, is having to stay home.

- Kageyama likes going for runs just to take in some fresh air, but that won’t work when it’s raining cats and dogs now will it.

- Plus, it means everything he does is restricted in his house unless he can get to an indoor gym that’s open.

- Boring.

- So he prefers windy days, when the cold breeze grazes his skin and the sun hides behind the fluffy clouds.

- It’s those days where he doesn’t have to suffer the heat that the sun brings upon him, nor does he have to suffer the feeling of rainwater dripping from the tips of his hair.

- He can do whatever he wants and still feel at ease and comfortable.

- Quite literally everything he asks for in a day.

6. Favourite music?

- Let’s be real, Kageyama probably isn’t good at music.

- He can’t dance or sing to save his life.

- However, he does enjoy how listening to music calms his nerves and gives him a chance to relax, even if he’s in a situation where he should be focused on an assignment or a piece of class work.

- People would expect him to enjoy listening to EDM or alternative rock, but no.

- This boy likes to listen to lofi and love songs.

- This doesn’t mean that his playlist only consists of these two genres, but the majority of songs in his playlist are either chill lofi beats or songs that give you the feels.

- Some of his favourite artists are Jeremy Zucker, Blackbear, Conan Gray, Billie Eilish, Lauv, Clairo, Wallows, Khalid, BENEE, Post Malone, Coldplay, Rex Orange County, Green Day, Shiloh Dynasty, Kina, love-sadKID, and the Arctic Monkeys.

- Has like 5 different playlists for different moods and events.

- One for moody times, one for study beats, one for when he wants throwbacks, one for firing him up before volleyball matches, and one for if he ever has to DJ in the front seat of someone’s car.

- Prefers to listen to music by himself.

- You’re an exception though.

- If he’s with you, you get one earbud, but he’ll be the one choosing the music still.

- You two have pretty contrasting tastes when it comes to music.

- He likes softer songs and lofi the most, whilst you prefer old rock and alternative rock. Oh and also a lot of throwback songs.

- I feel like Kageyama has definitely cried to a few songs when he was going through hard times.

- To him, listening to music is also a way of releasing all the inner conflict and frustrations.

- (Spoiler for backstory) When his grandfather died, he put Fix You on loop for at least 20 minutes.

- He was just numb, curled up into a ball on his bed, staring at the wall. He couldn’t feel anything. Nothing in his mind registered properly. All he could think of, was everything his grandfather had taught him, before he eventually passed away.

- Submerging himself into the melancholy song he was listening to, he didn’t even feel the tears that were now streaming down his face.

- The salty tears were now staining his pillow, creating little wet spots.

- He listened to every single lyric in the song, clutching his sheets harder every time the chorus came up.

- He punched his mattress repeatedly, still unable to accept the fact that someone he held so dear to his heart had just left like the wind.

- It wasn’t long until he was a sobbing mess, shaking and whimpering as he knelt on the bed.

- Silently sang to the lyrics, plopping back to his bed in defeat.

- His sister lingered in front of the door for five whole minutes, eventually leaving to let Kageyama sort out his feelings himself.

- You introduce a ton of new songs to him, since he doesn’t know that much about anything else other than lofi and sad songs.

- Just please no one let him listen to Nickleback. Please. He doesn’t need to know about it.

8. Movie that he would choose for a move nigh?

- The monthly Karasuno volleyball team movie night was finally here, and it was Kageyama’s turn to choose a movie this time, much to Tsukishima’s dismay.

- He’s put a lot of thought into this, not wanting to disappoint his teammates by choosing a shitty movie.

- He basically tried to figure out what everyone wanted to watch.

- However, everyone had very contrasting requests.

- Tsukishima wanted to watch Jurassic Park, Yamaguchi wanted a Disney movie, Hinata wanted something Marvel, Tanaka and Nishinoya wanted a horror movie, (Mainly so they could hit on you whilst you were still single) Sugawara wanted a romcom, Yachi wanted a comedy, and the others were fine with anything.

- He stressed himself out way too much trying to choose one movie.

- He finally got an idea after 3 entire days of thinking.

- And it wasn’t anything the team expected.

- Kageyama pulled up with Pulp Fiction.

- He’s seen that movie at least 5 times already.

- It was the perfect mix of comedy, gore, action, and philosophy.

- Plus, anything that starred Samuel L Jackson was worth a watch.

- Till this day, it remains one of his go to movies, alongside any MCU movie. (Captain America: The First Avenger is definitely his favourite though.)

12. Something small that they enjoy?

- One of the two small things Kageyama enjoys doing is baking cookies.

- Cookies in particular.

- I mean, there really is no detailed explanation.

- He’s pretty good at baking in general, even Tsukishima enjoys the cookies he bakes.

- Plus, he gets to dip the cookies in milk, what’s there not to enjoy?

- Another little thing he enjoys a lot is actually photography.

- Most the time, when he sees a pretty sky, or a city street at nighttime.

- He can’t help himself but snap a few photos here and there.

- Something about a well shot photo just hits different.

- Sometimes, he brings his camera out just to takes nice photos.

- Whenever you two are on dates, he’ll be able to capture candid or motion shots of when you’re just looking out the window of a bus mindlessly, or when you’re twirling around on the street playfully.

- Photos speak a thousand words, and honestly? He lives by that.

14. What is enough to bring him to tears?

- Support.

- Kageyama really needs support from someone he cares about.

- And no, not like support from his teammates.

- That’s different from hearing someone cheer from the stands.

- (Spoiler for backstory) Kageyama’s parents never gave much attention to him, since they were always busy with work. The only person that ever showed support for him was his grandfather, who passed away while he was still young.

- As if that wasn’t enough shit directed towards Kageyama, his teammates abandoned him during a match in junior high not long after the death of his grandfather.

- Which means that Kageyama now has lowkey abandonment issues.

- All through his volleyball journey he never got the support and reassurance he needed.

- He watched in envy as people from opposing teams, or even his own teammates, waved at their family members after they won or lost a match.

- All he could do was stare at the stands, hoping to catch just a glimpse of a family member.

- Nothing.

- Nobody realised how alone Kageyama felt during and after matches, until they watched him break down in tears after a particular match.

- It was the Spring Match against Seijoh, and Karasuno was playing like normal.

- Kageyama was insanely good as usual.

- What he didn’t notice then, was that you had dragged his sister Miwa to the match just so you both could cheer for him.

- In addition to that, you were also wearing his jersey.

- It wasn’t until the final point was scored, did he hear you and Miwa scream from the stands.

- Hearing the familiar voices, his head basically snapped in your direction, scanning the stadium for someone familiar, before landing his eyes on you and his older sister.

- His eyes widened for a hot second, his mind running in circles.

- Nobody has ever cheered for him.

- But here you two were, cheering for him from the stands.

- And you were wearing his jersey.

- A hand went up to cover his mouth, a huge grin spreading.

- One drop.

- Two drops.

- Then came the waterworks.

- The entire team was shocked.

- Like shookth.

- The two of you ran down to the arena, engulfing Kageyama in a huge hug.

- Best moment of his fucking life.

- From then on, the Karasuno team members made sure to notify you of any matches they had against other schools, hoping you and Miwa could go cheer.

- You two haven’t missed a single match since.

Whoooo three hours of work and going straight to Netflix at 2:30am, what a life.

I couldn’t resist I’m sorry casual or slight angst is my favourite genre of hc and fanfic-

I hope you liked this xx😗👉👈

#haikyuu x reader #kageyama tobio #hq kageyama #haikyuu headcanons #hq headcanons #hq x reader #kageyama x reader #haikyuu #hq #writing prompt

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anna-mator · 5 years

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How to Draw a Toon - (In-Progress) Fandom: Warner Bros, Looney Tunes, Disney, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Rating: M Categories: M/M Relationships: (eventual) Bugs/Daffy Warnings: Language, moderate violence, cartoon violence, racism, Additional tags: friends to lovers, mystery, adventure

Somewhere in Toon Town, a rabbit sat uncomfortably in the only library in town. He was pouring over autobiographies of other Toons. Each chapter of every book began the same: humble beginnings with a chance of stardom. Most were poor, some were sheltered… every single one was literally drawn into their lives. Their family, their class, their religion, their politics; it seemed to be all predetermined. Whether it was intentional from the creator, or heavily influenced, he still wasn’t sure.

“Bugs?” A small voice spoke.

Bugs Bunny jolted, placing his hands over the piles of books he collected on instinct. He quickly regained his posture and settled his eyes on a soft-colored and familiar face. “Belle?” He asked, shocked.

Belle was hovering over him slightly with a few books in hand. “It is you… Did you need any help, Bugs?” She asked politely.

“Oh ehh… nah.” Bugs said, trying to keep some of the books from her view. “I’m all good here. Say ehhh… shouldn’t you be at like…. Disneyland or somethin’?” he asked.

At that, Belle laughed slightly. “Oh Bugs… just because I’m a Disney princess doesn’t mean they keep us all holed up in their theme parks. Plus, with all of the royalty checks, I don’t really need a job. I volunteer here.”

“Ah. I see. I didn’t mean to offend.”

“Not at all…” Belle said, then looked curiously at Bugs’ pile of books. “It looks like you’re about to check out the entirety of the Autobiography section.” She chuckled.

“Ahaha… just about.” Bugs said, suddenly feeling slightly nervous about her nosiness.

“All of them are Toons, too…”

Just then, Bugs had an idea. “Ah!” He exclaimed before he stood up and gently turned her away from his pile of books, “Actually, I’ve been watchin’ some kids recently and wouldn’t ya know it, I can hardly put ‘em to bed. If you could find me the very best fairy-tale book you can think of, I would be foreva in your debt.”

“Uh, sure.” Belle said with a weary tone.

Bugs didn’t like the sound of her voice. Once he believed Belle was out of earshot, he scrambled to gather his haphazard notes and supplies. “I gotta get outta here.” He said from under his strained breath.

When Bugs placed things away, he turned tail to find the closest exit. The rabbit managed to slip through a back door completely unnoticed. He found his car and sped off in a hurry. This kind of prodding had consequences. He had heard rumors of Toons going missing over stuff like this. Luckily, Bugs was smarter than that.

In truth, Bugs trusted no Toon nor Human with the kind of information he was gathering. It was starting to weigh on his conscience, and even take a blow to his general health. Typically, when a Toon became stressed it visibly showed. Bugs was no exception.

Which was why an hour later, with no one else to turn to, Steven Spielberg took a look at Bugs and simply said, “God you’re a mess.” He commented once he approached the Toon rabbit.

“Thanks, Doc.” Bugs said with a slight roll to his eyes. “You looked in the mirror lately, yourself?” He japed, commenting on the distracting and ugly anti-paparazzi gear Steven had on.

Deciding to ignore the comment, “Please tell me it’s not…” Steven asked, as he brought his shades onto the brim of his baseball hat.

“It’s not the kids. I can take care of ‘em jus’ fine.” Bugs shot Steven down immediately.

They walked down the sunny L.A. street, headed towards Griffith Park. They were both well aware it was the entrance to Toon Town. Still, the park itself was the only place that provided Bugs with any comfort.

“So… what did you bring me out here for?” Steven asked.

It took every ounce of energy Bugs had not to just start spouting out every tiny piece of information he had been gathering for the past six months. Instead, he took a breath and exhaled softly. “I’m over eighty years-old, mac. I’ve been repainted a dozen times and there’s no end in sight.”

Immediately, Steven knew exactly what Bugs was dealing with. It was obviously some kind of mid-life crisis, but a Toon equivalent. “Go on…” He prompted.

“So a few months ago, I got ta thinkin’... What else am I gonna do with my life? I can’t be slingin’ dynamite foreva. I already toured the world when I was younger… but I never learned anything!” Bugs cried out, “Sure the occasional script had some kind of historical tidbit, or a line from another language, but I still felt… uneducated.”

Steven was already connecting certain dots in his head, leading up to what Bugs wanted to say. Because of it, a small smile was beginning to inch onto his face. However, he continued to let the Toon speak.

“Then I realized… what if it ain’t just me? And as it turns out--”

“Eighty-seven percent of Toons are uneducated.” Steven finished and the smile vanished, ”And the number keeps growing every year. There isn’t a single school in Toon Town. If Toons want an education, they acquire it themselves or through scholarships the studios award.”

Bugs and Steven stopped and looked at one another. “I came to you nearly a decade ago... “ Steven started, feeling slightly irritated at Bugs.

Immediately Bugs cringed, “I know, I know!” he shouted, starting to move away from him. While he wanted to tell Steven more about his findings about Toon education, he decided to keep his mouth shut. Paranoia struck him again.

Still, Steven gave a small chase. “I asked repeatedly if you wanted to make Acme Loo into a real school, and you said there was no need. I gave you my pitch all those years ago, now give me yours.” He said in a harsh tone.

Bugs tugged on his ears before looking at Steven in the eyes again. “People love me, Toons idolize me… but for what? Bein’ the lucky one? Always comin’ out on top? What good is that when you can’t protect the ones you care about? I just… I want to give somethin’ back’.”

After hearing that, Steven was more than pleased. He gave a nod to Bugs, “Alright, I’ll help you. We’ll make Acme Loo.”

“Thanks, Doc.” There was still so much on Bugs’ mind, but he tucked it away for later. Right now, he allowed himself to relax and feel good about these life-changing decisions.

A year passes, and somewhere along the coast of Central America there was a lowly island on the horizon. With a closer look, anyone could see the stark-white mansion that stood nearly three stories tall.

Even as a young Toon, Daffy Duck had pictured his retirement from his acting career very vividly. He dreamed about being alone on a private island, with an enormous mansion and every luxury he could possibly think of. And wouldn’t you know it, after nearly a decade of work, few movies and a couple of reboots, Daffy had that private island. Staying there continued to be a blessing for many, many years. With the royalty checks and occasional paychecks from public appearances rolling in, he was able to upkeep the mansion very well.

Daffy’s desire for attention was somewhat satiated by social media. He had a big presence online and made sure everyone knew it. From when he woke up to when he was preparing for bed, he would cross post about every detail onto every feed. People ate it up, as they were fascinated by his lifestyle. While he wasn’t the richest duck in the world, he was certainly one of the most popular. At least, he was in his mind.

As Daffy was tweeting about his incredible breakfast one morning, he noticed one of his butlers carrying in some mail. “What’s the big idea? Checks go straight to my financial adviser, and fan mail without any valuables inside are shredded! You all know the deal!” Daffy barked. To his knowledge, he hadn’t been expecting anything either. Still, the butler came to his side and silently handed him a letter.

Before he could protest further, the Butler turned away. Daffy simply huffed to himself and opened the letter. He took his time to read it, just to make sure he was reading it correctly. Once he had finished he slammed the letter onto the counter top, and ran up the stairs towards his room in seconds flat.

He pressed his help buzzer multiple times and shouted into the speaker, “I need to pack, now! Book me a flight to L.A.! Let’s go people!”

It was time to move back to Los Angeles.

The next day, Bugs Bunny got out of his Oober (Toon Town’s Uber equivalent), adjusting his suit as he looked on towards his greatest accomplishment. A stairway from the curb stood Acme Looniversity. Despite seeing the building many times over the course of its production, Bugs still couldn’t help but feel his chest swell with pride at the sight of the finished school.

And there, in front of the entrance, he saw a huge crowd gather. This wasn’t even taking into account for all of the cameras and people lined up along the sidewalk. Not even the Toons who were celebrating in the streets. The crowd split like a wave as Bugs approached the doorway of the school, finding it partially blocked by a stage with a ceremonial ribbon. Bugs could tell it was painted because of how large and neat the bow in the middle of it looked.

As he approached he saw the only human at the event (besides a few brave reporters) Steven Spielberg, sitting beside the podium on stage next to three empty seats. Bugs’ felt slightly saddened by the sight of the empty chairs, still Bugs shared a smile with Steven before he approached the podium. A deafening silence went over the crowd, with all eyes on the Toon rabbit.

“My fellow Toons,” Bugs began, “For too long, we’ve been deprived of our own education. More than 87% of Toons have never stepped foot in a school that wasn’t a painted set. After learnin’ that, we decided that wasn’t fair.”

The crowd cheered and clapped for Bugs. Over the crowd he continued, “Our newcomers should know our history! They should know our culture!” He paused slightly to wait for the crowd’s enthusiasm to die down, “And they should know their limits.”

Bugs felt his stomach twist, “Too many Toons have been lost simply because they didn’t know how to survive their next fall durin’ a stunt. We owe it to them to inform newcomers of the risks. No one on Earth can do what we do, and we need to learn to do it right.”

Gesturing to the building behind him, “Now, thanks to Warner Brothers studios and Steven Spielberg, Acme Looniversity ain’t just a fantasy we all saw on TV all those years ago. It’s here for everyone!”

The crowd once again burst into applause and cheers. Bugs looked out into the crowd, noticing a slight disturbance that was making its way to the stage. He wasn’t the least bit surprised when Daffy Duck emerged from the crowd and began to crawl his way onto the stage, rather than using the stairs on the side.

Immediately, Daffy wormed his way in front of Bugs in order to speak into the microphone. “Helloooo, Toon Town!!” He shouted. The only sound he was met with was the sound of crickets. “As the Master of Deception, I just wanted to say what an honor it is to have been recruited by my longtime co-Star, Bugs, to teach at this wonderful place of edumication.”

Bugs saw the shifty eyes from the crowd when Daffy had mentioned his unofficial title. “Eeeh… We’re still workin’ on the curriculum.” He said, addressing the crowd. Then he turned to Daffy, knowing exactly how to derail him from hogging the spotlight. “Hey Daff, ol’ pal, wouldja wanna join me in the honors of cuttin’ the ribbon?”

Daffy’s head whirled around as he gave out a gasp, “Really? You’d let me cut the ribbon?” He asked.

“Togetha, yeah. It feels only right.” Bugs said, just to butter him up even more.

The two of them were approached by a Toon who held out comically huge a pair of golden scissors. They took the scissors, holding them open above the ribbon for a little longer so photos could be taken. After a minute, they looked at each other and cut the ceremonial ribbon. Daffy and Bugs posed briefly with the scissors that were nearly the same height as them.

Once they were done posing, Daffy turned to look for the first camera he could find. For Bugs, he turned to Steven and gave him his hand. “Thank you… So much. For everything.”

Steven shook his hand, “Anytime, Bugs. I have a lot of faith in you.” Then he gave a slight nod towards Daffy, “You sure about hiring Daffy, though?” He asked.

Bugs looked over and watched as Daffy chatted up the remaining reporters. “If there’s anything I’ve learned in the years we've worked together, it’s that I know how he ticks.”

“Well, it’s your call. It is your school, after all.” Steven said with a shrug.

“I’m gonna go check on ‘im. I’ll be seein’ ya, Steven.” Bugs said before slipping away.

Bugs hovered over Daffy’s shoulder while he spoke to a reporter. “And that’s when I told my buddy Bugs, the only way we’re going to reach today's Toon youth is through education! And what better teachers than the oldest Toons out there?” He said.

When he heard that, Bugs rolled his eyes. Of course Daffy would lie and make this his idea. Bugs decided to butt in. “We’re opening our gates to humans, as well.” He told them.

At that, more reporters surrounded them. A chorus of questions were being launched at Daffy and Bugs. While Daffy shied away, Bugs lifted his hands to quiet the small crowd. “I wanna stress this; Acme Loo is gonna be the only school to focus on the importance of learning about Toons. As citizens and as a species. So we ain’t gonna turn away humans who wanna learn more about us.” Bugs said.

A reporter’s voice spoke up, “Who else do you have in place as teachers? Any word about Mickey Mouse?” they asked.

“That hack—?” Daffy said before Bugs pinched his beak.

“Mickey sent us his best wishes, but regrettably makes no plans of joinin’ the staff.” Bugs said with a shrug.

Daffy rolled his eyes when he felt Bugs let go of his beak.

“As for the rest of the staff, we’re still lookin’. So if any Toon wants to come forward and apply, they’re free to do so on our website.”

“When does class begin? And what’s the class size going to look like?” The same reporter asked.

“We’re startin’ in the next coupla months, just in time for the school year. Dependin’ on how many teachers we get, we’re gonna be expecting anywhere between 500 to 900. Applications for students will also be online.”

“900?!” Daffy exclaimed. Just how was he going to teach to a class of 900?

Bugs sighed a little, knowing Daffy had misinterpreted his information. He turned to talk to him, “900 altogetha, Daff. We’re lookin’ at a class of 40 for each homeroom.”

“Oh.” Daffy said softly.

Then Bugs turned to the cameras, “No more questions now. Thank you!” He said and waved them away.

Disappointed, Daffy watched the reporters shuffle along and pack away their equipment. He had truly missed being in the limelight. Then a tap on his shoulder brought him out of his daydream-like state. “Huh?” He asked as he turned towards Bugs again.

“Ehh… Daff?”

“Yeah?”

Bugs sat there like he was fighting to say something. “I’ll uh… I’ll see you later. We’ll have to look over that curriculum of yours, before school starts.” He finally said.

“...Yeah sure.” Daffy said. After looking at Bugs more he noticed something was off, “You should get yourself a new paint job. You look awful.”

Bugs deflated angrily at the comment before rolling his eyes and turning away. He knew that, in Daffy’s twisted way, that he was concerned for his health. So he let the comment slide off of his back. The truth was, Bugs had never let go of his Toon research; and the paranoia had set in so much that it was starting to alter his appearance. He hoped that the success of Acme Loo would be both a distraction and a resource at his own disposal.

Later, after numerous phone calls and even a couple of live interviews, Bugs managed to find his way home. He paid and tipped his Oober as much as he was allotted, due to the fact that they had to travel out of Toon Town during rush hour. As Bugs approached the steps of his white porch, he loosened his bow tie and unlocked the door.

Bugs threw his keys on a stand next to the door, just before closing and locking it behind himself. Just as he was about to call out for someone, his long ears perked at the sound of rattling glass and plastic coming from the kitchen. Immediately, Bugs’ eyes darted towards a lowly baseball bat sitting in his umbrella holder in the foyer.

Quickly and quietly, Bugs’ removed his black blazer and rolled up his dress shirt sleeves. All the while his mind was racing: Where had he slipped up? Who was onto him? What kind of force would be pitted against him? All these questions burned inside him while he picked up the bat and held it tight and high. With as much stealth as possible, he rounded the kitchen corner. As he suspected, the figure hidden partially inside of his fridge wasn’t any of the kids.

The fridge began to close and the figure swerved around to meet Bugs. Several plastic containers dropped to the kitchen floor as they exclaimed, “Bugs?!”

Bugs brought down the bat, stopping it only inches away from Daffy’s beak. “Daffy?!” He exclaimed.

“What the hell, Bugs? Is that any way to welcome an old friend into your household?” Daffy barked while pushing the bat away from his face.

Only a few seconds later, Bugs and Daffy heard a stampede of footsteps coming from upstairs. Settling on the staircase, three Toons looked down on Bugs and Daffy. “Well what’d ya know, the old Duck has decided to grace us with his presence.” The tallest smiled.

“Daffy, darling!! We had no idea you were in town.” The smallest chimed with an obnoxious accent of some kind.

“Really? I mean, he tweeted out his entire trip…” The middle one said in a thick Liverpool accent.

Daffy looked on in surprise and awe. “The Warner’s?! What are you three hooligans doing here?” He asked with a wide smile.

Bugs put down the bat, leaning it against the staircase, and turned towards Daffy. “They’re stayin’ with me.” He said simply.

Sure enough, the three siblings of undetermined origins ran down the steps and gave Daffy a group hug. “You three look a little different than I remember…” he said, looking over Yakko, Wakko and Dot.

Yakko peeled away first, “Haven’t ya heard? We got a reboot comin’ in! Two whole seasons, so far.”

“You don’t say? An’ they gave you a repaint jus’ for that? Your designs were fine before.” Daffy said, a little confused.

“It’s standard now. Nothin’ we could really do about it.” Wakko said as he pulled away with a slight shrug.

Dot continued to cling to Daffy, looking up at him with her glossy black eyes. “You don’t think we look ugly, do you?” She asked, her lips trembling.

“Ugly?! Nonsense!!” Daffy exclaimed, picking up Dot into his arms and holding her tight. “You three are the sharpest lookin’ Toons I know. Anyone who says otherwise is blind.”

Bugs looked curiously at the way Daffy was interacting with the three. He didn’t remember them being particularly close, but he assumed that was simply the effect the three had on adults and Toons alike. Still, he was certainly enjoying seeing this other side of Daffy.

“Alright, you three.” Bugs finally interrupted, “How’s about givin’ Daff and I some space?” He asked.

“Yeah yeah…” Yakko said before turning back up the stairs.

“See ya later, Daffy!” Wakko waved and followed the oldest.

“Always nice to see you, Daff.” Dot said when Daffy put her down so she could follow her siblings.

Once the three were out of sight Daffy turned to Bugs, “Now, I know it might not be the most convenient thing for you at this time…” He explained, “But I’m certainly not the richest Duck in the world. I had to sell all eight of my estates to get that private island.”

Bugs move towards the kitchen and began to clean up Daffy’s initial mess. He already knew what Daffy was about to ask, and he already knew his answer. Still, he let his friend speak.

“Each estate had to go, including the two I had in L.A.! Honestly, the price for rent in this forsaken city is so damn high, I really don’t know how you do it!”

“You can stay.”

Daffy gasped and looked deeply offended, “You would throw out your own flesh and blood onto the street? I thought I knew you better, Bugs Bunny!”

“Ehh… we ain’t related, but you can still stay wit us.” He tried again.

Daffy started to walk towards the door with a dramatic flair, “Fine! I know when I’m not wanted—” He stopped as soon as he draped himself on the corner of the closest wall, “Wait… what? You’ll let me stay?” He asked, bewildered.

“Of course I will, Daff. We’ll be able to look over your curriculum togetha, you’ll be able to do some shoppin’ for the house, maybe a few chores and you’ll be able to watch the kids…” Bugs said, closing the fridge door to get a better look at Daffy.

At that, Daffy looked even more surprised. “Watch those kids? Chores? Me?” He asked.

“Well yeah! What? You’d think I’d let you stay out of the goodness of my heart?” Bugs asked, leaning on the island counter.

“Well… Yeah!” Daffy exclaimed, manhandling the other side of the counter. Here he thought he could take advantage of Bugs’ feelings of existentialism and sudden generosity to fully weasel his way into staying with Bugs with zero obligations. But apparently this rabbit had other plans for him.

Bugs simply laughed in Daffy’s face. “Ahaha, oh that’s rich, Duck.” he laughed. Then there was a slight pause, “When are you gonna realize, we ain’t so different? You and I…”

Daffy and Bugs sat in silence for a little bit. Something about Bugs’ smug look made Daffy’s face feel warmer than usual underneath his feathers. He shook his head wildly. “Nope. I don’t see it.”

At that, Bugs simply rolled his eyes. “We can split chores in the mornin’... right now I just want to hit da hay.” He said, peeling himself off of the counter and moving to unbutton his dress shirt.

While Bugs navigated past the living room, Daffy gave a slight chase. “Wait, wait. I just gotta know one more thing,” then a slight pause, “okay a couple of things.”

A small sigh came from Bugs, then he decided to plop down onto the living room sofa. “Alright. A coupla questions.” He said, putting his feet up.

Daffy sat in a recliner adjacent to Bugs. “How’d you end up with the Warners?” He asked, his voice a little hushed in case they were being heard.

“...I was visiting the new set last year.” Bugs began to explain, “Steven told me that he was concerned about rumors that the Warners were livin’ in their trailer. No one was allowed to go near it. They even wrote up a contract about it, saying they’d leave the show if anyone on staff visited it. Because I wasn’t in the show, I could see the trailer for myself.”

The memory was still vivid in Bugs’ mind. A little more than a year ago, Bugs shared a weary glance with Steven before he slipped off the set. With the Warners busy in a scene, Bugs was able to make it to the trailer. And with a copy of the trailer key given to him by Steven, he pried it open.

The mess the three had accumulated was even taller than Bugs’ ears. He honestly didn’t know how anyone could navigate the trailer, let alone three Toons. Even as he was inside, he made an attempt to clean what he could. Still, it was a horrible mess.

After doing what he could, Bugs waited outside the trailer until the Warners began to approach it. Yakko was the first to catch eyes with Bugs, before rolling them. “God damn it…” Yakko groaned, seeing the look of disapproval spread across the rabbit’s face.

“Y’all really live in dere?” Bugs asked.

It was Wakko’s turn to be angry, “Yeah! What’s it to ya?” he barked.

“Guys, I’m jus’ concerned. A lot of the staff are concerned. Steven was even worried!” Bugs exclaimed, watching them weave around him and head into the trailer.

“Yeah? Well we don’t need your pity.” Dot snapped.

Bugs stopped the door from being slammed in his face with full force. The trailer door swung open and Bugs stepped inside once more. “Fine then. Lemme give you a place to stay. Eva since you were created, I’ve always told you guys you were welcome at my house!” He said.

“We’ve been fine on our own, Bugs. Didn’t need your help then, don’t need it now.” Yakko said. “Any day now, the show will air, we’ll get another wave of royalty checks and we’ll be livin’ it up in a mansion down the street from yours.”

“Those checks will only stretch so far. You already know this.” Bugs warned.

“Blah blah blah I learned my lesson. Like I said, I don’t need to stay at yours. I’m comfortable here.” To make his point, Yakko cleared off some space on the couch (which also acted as their bed) in the trailer and found his ideal position.

Immediately Bugs read this type of prideful attitude. He also knew where Yakko’s weak points were. “If you don’t do it for yourself, do it for your siblings.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Bugs saw Dot and Wakko perk up and look over at Yakko silently. Yakko sat up from the couch slowly and looked at Bugs with a hardened expression. “You’ve got a whole lotta nerve, rabbit.”

“And you’ve got a whole lotta attitude, kid.” Bugs snapped back.

And with that, Bugs took them in. Presently, he looked at Daffy across the way and gave a slight shrug. “I’ve always seen a lot of myself in Yakko. Scrappy, independent and plenty mature for his age. It took him the longest to adjust here and for me to adjust to him, honestly. That boy doesn’t let me lift a finger for ‘im. His siblings? Sure. When it comes to him? No way, no how.”

“Interesting.” Daffy finally said.

Feeling exhausted, “Any otha questions?” Bugs asked.

“Yes! Where do I sleep?”

Bugs got up from the couch and beckoned Daffy to follow him. Down the hall there were three doors. On the left side there was a white door with a gold star labeled Bugs Bunny in black lettering. Though, something told Daffy that it wasn’t his original master bedroom. The middle door was left open, so Bugs pushed in further and flipped on a light to reveal a bathroom. “Here’s the bathroom…” he announced, then pushed open the door on the right side of the hallway. “And here’s your room. G’night, Daff…”

Before Daffy could say anything else, Bugs slipped away into his bedroom and shut the door. “Night.” Daffy said more to himself. He maneuvered himself inside the bedroom and pulled out a suitcase from his Toon space. He flicked on the light and looked around, the decor was still predominantly white with the same hardwood floor that echoed through the house.

Daffy placed his suitcase on a chair sitting across from the bed and launched himself directly onto the comfortable mattress. It was something akin to a bed from a five-star hotel: soft as a cloud. It didn’t take long for Daffy to fall into a deep sleep.

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NEXT CHAPTER >>

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A/N: I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! It was a struggle but I’m happy with it and I can’t wait to continue. <3333

#looney tunes #baffy #my fanfiction #htdat

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thenightling · 5 years

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The several times protagonists have secretly kept slaves

Please note: This is not a “Call out” post. It is not meant to shame anyone or tell anyone that their favorite characters are problematic. Many of these characters come from cultures that are slave based (Ancient Greece / Ancient Nordic / Medical Fantasy) and realistically many of these characters simply would not know any better, in regard to what they do, even though, yes, there were people even in those eras and cultures that were anti-slavery.

This post is partly to remind us that even otherwise good characters can be seriously flawed and also show how often film and TV writers have written slave portrayals while making careful effort to not call it slavery...

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Now on with the list...

1. Faeries:

Sorry to spoil your view of sparkling pretty pixies but faeries (in folklore) are usually a slave culture. In most folklore faeries will lure away humans (often children) and promise them immortality as one of them, at the price of their freedom. Fae have a caste system and usually these humans turned into fae are kept as slaves.

A. Mab currently owns Harry Dresden in The Dresden Files novels.

B. In Lost Girl, the character of Lauren was literally owned by the Light Fae, and made to wear a pendant that showed her status as a slave of the Light Faeries.

C. In the original folklore Puck was actually Oberon’s slave and this is how he is usually portrayed in pop culture. In some lore he is the bastard son of Oberon and a human woman and Oberon decided to keep him as his slave.

D. in Disney’s Gargoyles Puck IS portrayed as Oberon’s slave. The word “servant” is a favorite stand in for slave in Disney properties but it’s very clear he is a slave. He wears manacle bracer cuffs similar to the Genie’s in Aladdin, which were the physical representation of the Genie’s enslavement.

And Oberon literally says (in the Gargoyles episode called The Gathering) “My queen comes and goes as she pleases. Puck is another matter. He forgets that he is MINE to command.”

E. In the original Midsummer Night’s Dream play by William Shakespeare, Titania and Oberon are arguing over who gets a certain boy and what they intend to do with him.

F. In Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman, Titania seduces Shakepseare’s son into eating faery fruit and later takes him as her slave.

G. Also in Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman, Titania gives Nuala (a faery woman) to Morpheus to use as a slave. Morpheus is very reluctant to accept this gift as he does not condone slavery.

F. Rumplestiltskin has no qualms about slavery in the TV show Once Upon a Time. Granted The Enchanted Forest does appear to be a slave culture and Rumplestiltskin is a kind of imp. So there may be some faery-like instincts even though he dislikes faeries.

G. The Black Faery in Once Upon a Time keeps child slaves for the duration of their lives.

H. The poem The Stolen Child by William Butler Yeats is about a child being enticed away to be a faery. The fae honestly think it is better to serve as a faery slave for all eternity than to be human.

I. The Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti depicts goblins trying to entice human girls with their enchanted fruit, which ensnare you to them.

J. In the movie Maleficent, the shapeshifter (formerly just raven) named Diaval promises to be Maleficent’s servant in return for her having saved his life. Disney has a habit of using the word “Servant” in place of slave, as we established with Puck. Welcome to another “servant” of Disney lore where the word “servant” is being used in place of another s word. Much like Puck in Disney’s Gargoyles this “servant” isn’t paid and is seen, by all the characters, as being owned by Maleficent. Granted, Diaval’s enslavement does seem to be willing.

He also seems to be in love with Maleficent so this could delve into a whole different kind of enslavement besides the “unpaid servant” version.

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2. The slavery in Once Upon a Time:

The Disney Fairy Tale / Soap Opera (It was a prime time drama but that WAS a soap opera. Don’t be offended by the term. It was a decent one) aired on ABC from 2011 until 2018.

A. There is one off-handed scene where a castle guard mistakes Hook (who is in disguise) as a common slave. This makes it clear that The Enchanted Forest (at last in Regina’s castle is a slave culture.

B. When Rumplestiltskin agrees to help Belle’s father deal with the war in episode 12 of season 1 (Skin Deep), it’s in exchange for his daughter. Rumple considers her his property. The word “servant” is used repeatedly but this is very blatantly a slave situation until he releases her. The only argument against calling it a slave culture is that she volunteered for it and her father was paid in the aid in the war. But that can arguably be semi-willing enslavement and that her father was paid for her. She was purchased. Note: He does ultimately release her though. And he falls in love with her.

Note: Rumplestiltskin, himself, is a slave to whomever possesses the magical dagger that gave him his powers.

C. Regina kept Graham (the sheriff of season 1 of Once Upon a Time) as her slave. Regina genuinely held his heart and could kill him at her whim if he didn’t obey her. And she did ultimately kill him. The writers downplayed this heavily later when they wanted the audience to see Regina as reformed and heroic.

D. During the Once Upon a Time musical episode in season 6, Snow White and Charming agree to pay Hook for transportation to Regina’s castle (which they never needed before...) That payment? They would give him Rumplestiltskin, whom they held prisoner at the time.

Not only is this enslavement, it’s amplified to far, far worse since they were standing right there while Hook was literally singing about planning to skin him alive. They were giving away someone at their mercy, for transportation they don’t need, knowing perfectly well that he would be killed slowly and painfully. And they didn’t even falter for a second or think twice about their own plan or have a moment of conscience. (God, I hate those later seasons...)

E. The Black Faery keeps child slaves that she raises into enslavement. Granted she was a villain so this is kind of predictable.

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3. Aquaman:

A. Aquaman is an interesting one. Thanks to Crisis of Infinite Earths in the mid-1980s this was reconned but there was a storyline in the Aquaman comics where a coup rose up against Aquaman and wanted to instigate a war with another underwater kingdom. Aquaman thwarted this coup and then... gave all the men involved (and there were a lot!) to the kingdom they almost went to war with, to use at their leisure as slaves...

B. Atlantis’s culture is based on Ancient Greece with some medieval attributes. It’s glossed over but this entails slavery.

C. In DC Universe online, the MMORPG, when you play out “Story mode” there is a mission where The Atlantians are trying to enslave humans in the Suicide Slum in Metropolis. It is true that this is the direct result of Circe manipulating Arthur (Aquaman) but he already had slavers and magical equipment specifically for transforming humans into water breathing merpeople so that they cannot escape their underwater captivity.

Just imagine the awkward conversations in The Watchtower when the other DC heroes like Wonder Woman and Superman confront him on having an elaborate and obviously long-ready plan for enslaving humans.

Note: Another gloomy fact, you never can rescue everyone who gets enslaved and there are simply too many NPCs scattered around the slum. So you know at least some got taken.

Wonder Woman’s own culture is based on Ancient Greece but as far as I can tell Themyscira does not have slavery whereas Atlantis does.

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4. Thor:

Let’s be blunt. Vikings were a slave culture. Asgard in Marvel comics and in the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) seems to have evolved to medieval Europe but it is still a culture of slavery.

1. According to Marvel comics lore, all the myths are true. There is myth where (after one of the children is tricked into accidentally laming one of Thor’s goats) two farm children are taken as Thor’s “servants” (slaves). They are made immortal servants of the Aesir (Asgardians) but they’re still slaves.

2. In the comics it’s much more blunt that there are slaves in Asgard.

3. There is a deleted scene in Thor (the first movie) where Loki messes with a castle “servant.” Note: Norse Viking culture almost never had actual paid servants. Even the Skalds (storytellers) were slaves.)

(Image of a viking Skald AKA a Storyteller.

4. In Thor: Tales of Asgard, the character of Algrim (A Drow AKA a Dark Elf), was the tutor of young Thor and Loki. He is a ‘servant” of Odin and deeply resents his status of unwilling / unpaid “servant” as the Asgardians spin the situation that he was essentially shown mercy and given shelter and position within Asgard (be it an inescapable one.) This is probably one of the first instances of Marvel dancing around the word slave, which gets poked fun at in Thor: Ragnarok.

5. Loki (who is the protagonist of this particular story) sleeps with a concubine slave in Marvel Knights: Blood Brothers.

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5. The Vampire Marius:

Anne Rice’s writing is no stranger to slavery.

A. Armand was purchased by Marius by slavers in the late middle ages / early renaissance period and though he served as apprentice he was owned by Marius, whom he casually referred to as his master.

B. Later, in Interview with the vampire, Armand kept a slave boy of his own, whom slept in a literal gilded cage, and was often used as a snack by the theatre vampires. It’s believed the boy eventually died.

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5. Aladdin:

This one is pretty obvious. Anyone who owns the magick lamp has the genie as their slave. This one is actually addressed, more or less, in story. But the only character who actually uses the word “slave” to describe the situation is the villain Jafar. Well, at least he’s honest...

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6. Stardust:

In the novel Stardust (and film adaptation) the protagonist, Tristran (Tristan) attempts to capture the anthropomorphisized star to give to the woman he is infatuated with, as a giftl.

Even after he learned the star was a sentient human-like being he still wanted to deliver her as a gift. Fortunately things ultimately turned out very different.

Tristan’s own mother had been enslaved by a witch.

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7. Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman.

A. Though Morpheus is firmly against slavery he has many subjects who identify as his servants and I do not think there is a method of payment in The Dreaming. And it’s not as if they can quit.

B. Titania takes Shakespeare’s son to be her personal slave.

C. Puck was Oberon’s slave and he escapes from his master during a performance of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream during an issue of Sandman.

D. During the storyline, Sandman: Season of Mists, Titania gives Nuala (a faery woman) to Morpheus as a gift. Morpheus is against slavery and Titania knows it. The implication is she hopes he will not accept the gift as an excuse for the faeries to see this as a slight against them, as an excuse for retaliation - as at the time various supernatural beings wanted the key to Hell, which Morpheus had just obtained.

Morpheus refused to give Nuala any commands and simply allowed her to stay in the castle. Later when the faeries came to reclaim her in Sandman: The Kindly Ones, Morpheus enchanted her necklace so that she could call to him for a boon of any kind as payment for her service to him, as a means to make the situation not enslavement.

___________________________________________________

8. Dracula:

This should be a no brainer but since there are some stories where Dracula is the protagonist people tend to forget Dracula has slaves. Historically Vlad III of Wallachia did NOT like the idea of the Ottomans taking his own people as slaves but as a vampire he keeps the occasional personal slave, such as Renfield.

Renfield is semi-willing even though he fears his master. He was promised immortality in exchange for his eternal service as Dracula’s slaves and in some depictions such as Love at First Bite, this clearly is the case.

__________________________________

#Once Upon a Time #Dracula #Maleficent #Loki #Thor #Aquaman #Diaval

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sergeanttpoliteness · 6 years

Text

➹bruised knees➹ (peter parker x reader)

The one where you wish you had spent more time at the roller rink as a little kid, because you just so happen to be on a date with Peter Parker in a roller skating place and you can't exactly impress him with your extravagant arm movements as you try to keep your balance.

word count: 2.4k, short and sweet

a/n: hello @ whoever’s reading this! this my first time ever posting my writing here so i’m sort of nervous? it’s certainly not the last, tho, so feel free to help me out w ideas and send me requests if you want :) (more mcu pete, ps4 pete, itsv peter b. parker, miles morales, gwen, other mcu characters, don’t hold back!!) hope you enjoy !!

There were several things in your short life that you were proud of yourself for doing. Like how back in third grade, despite how complex subtractions were for you, you worked hard and were the only person to get an A in your math test. There’s also that time you won second place (and some tasty chocolates) in your science fair in middle school; and getting a good grade on your last physics exam, even if you procrastinated studying until the night before. Most importantly, though, you also made the fluffiest, most mouth-watering pancakes in the world (it wasn’t a proven fact, but still). What you couldn’t stop appreciating past you for, however, was mustering the courage two months ago during your chemistry class to approach the cute sweater-wearing boy called Peter.

Alright, that was a lie; you didn’t directly make the decision. Rather, you didn’t share that class with any of your friends and neither did he, so it wasn’t a surprise when you two were the last two people left without a partner to work with. But that wasn’t the tragedy of the year— far from it, actually. Every single chemistry lesson, your gaze never failed to take a stop on his pretty curls; brown like the chocolate you eat after a particularly terrible day. Peter was just like that: his serene posture, sat where the golden daylight lovingly showered over him, warmed your body and left a sweet and addicting taste behind. You didn’t even know him; he was nothing more than a magical reverie in your swirling head, yet he never failed to embarrassingly heat up your entire body and make your heart run the mile. Perhaps all that staring resulted in more studying at home, seeing as you barely paid attention to your teacher’s lectures, but that boy deserved all the admiring in the world and you’re glad to deliver just that. So when his eyes met yours from the other side of the class, you wasted no time in raising from your seat, your hands clammy and clenching closed as you walked toward him with determination.

Obviously, he agreed to be your partner. Or tried to, at least, for he couldn’t stop fumbling over his words. Throughout the whole period, his cheeks and ears were the shade of roses in valentines day, but it couldn’t mean anything, you thought. He did always sit in front of the window, after all; possibly the forceful sunlight was finally getting to him. He also accidentally spilled a substance all over your lab coat and shirt— thankfully, nothing toxic, and your upper half didn’t burst in flames. On the other hand, it left you smelling like a dead town during the Black Plague, and Peter hasn’t stopped apologizing for it ever since. You forgave him without a doubt; not purely because of your-slightly-too-big crush on him, but you undeniably had to when he lent you his sweater for his mistake, and that was when you knew you were a goner.

Regardless of that catastrophe, you two really got along. That was what drove you to confidently approach his table at lunch, ready to ask if you could sit with him and his friend. You may or may not have lost that confidence once his curious puppy eyes blinked up at you, leaving you frozen and muttering a long ‘uh’ as you rummaged your brain for the words you had practiced over and over again beforehand. Nevertheless, if you forget about that one part, you handled it like an absolute smooth legend and earned a daily seat with them.

Two months of blushing attacks, you and Peter staring at each other with bashful smiles, chemistry, and Ned rolling his eyes at the both of you for being so ridiculous have gone by; and for the third time, you were giving yourself a pep talk to ask Peter out on a date once and for all. The tables turned this time, though (thankfully), and one morning Peter pulled on his sweatshirt’s sleeves and bit his lip as he asked if you wanted to hang out with him.

And that was the story of why you were here right now: tying the shoelaces of your heavy roller skates, and then grabbing onto the bench in great distress as you prepared to stand up. You panicked when Peter suggested going to a roller skating rink due to a small, somewhat important fact: you had no idea how to roller skate. The only time you’d ever done it was when you were five and your classmate invited you to her High School Musical themed roller skating birthday party— it ended with you skating (or, to be correct, stumbling) into the birthday girl, and her screaming as she held onto her broken ankle. Was it a silly trauma? Maybe; just like the time you showed up at kindergarten dressed as your favorite Disney character on the wrong day. But it certainly kept you away from ever practicing the activity again, which meant you had zero skill, and a hundred percent chance of turning out like the five-year-old birthday girl. However, you never confessed this fear to Peter. Because you’re dumb? Yes, indeed, but also because his eyes shimmered with excitement when he proposed the idea, and you really simply couldn’t bring yourself to shut him down. Instead, you marveled at him like you always did.

Peter swiftly rose to his feet, doing a suave spin in his roller skates perhaps to impress you; not that he would admit that to you, though. A wide precious smile spread across his face and he reached out his hands to you, offering his help. You accepted it, your fingers intertwining and spouting that glee within your chest that you repeatedly experienced whenever you touched; even if it was an accidental brush against your shoulder. “Ready?” He asked, squeezing your hands.

“Uh, yeah, of course,” You smirked, as if you hadn’t just been planning to twist your ankle so you wouldn’t make a fool out of yourself in front of the boy you liked. “I’m a freaking pro.” Why did I say that?!, you thought, wincing internally.

Peter was thankful the darkness and the dancing neon beam lights left you oblivious to his flustered face after you stumbled a little and your hand shot out to grab his shoulder, throwing yourself flush against his chest. Now you were hugging him like a koala, with your other linked hands squished between your bodies. You sheepishly smiled up at him, gently pushing yourself away from him. “Hah. Sorry, I’m just a little rusty. It has been like fifty years, y’know?” You lied, avoiding his gaze.

“Y-yeah, no, it’s alright. Let’s just take it slow,” He took a step back and moved further away from you, your hands still connected. You didn’t think twice (it really wasn’t that deep) before raising one foot to advance, but you instantly regretted that decision when your other foot slid backwards. Your feet skidded all over the place, until Peter grabbed your waist and steadied you. “Whoa! You sure you know how to roller skate?” He laughed.

“Just a little rusty!” You insisted again, and to prove that your lie was indeed true, you began to slide your feet. “See? I got it!”

You did not have it. Not at all— you looked ridiculous. Since you couldn’t lift your left foot without falling, you only picked up your right foot and it made it appear as if you were limping after someone kicked you in the shin. You accomplished to skate into the rink; however, it was possible that it was thanks to Peter, considering he didn’t let go of your hand in fear of you falling. The truth was that he also just wanted to hold and touch you.

A turtle could’ve been considered faster than the two of you at that moment; you kept your hand plastered against the wall, squealing each time Peter tried to pick up the pace. “I’ve got you, don’t worry,” He smiled reassuringly, but you stayed fixed in the same place, glaring down at your roller skates. “Y/N, we literally haven’t even moved an inch away from the entrance—

“No, not really, we moved like ten inches!” You grinned nervously, inhaling deeply. “Gimme a few seconds, okay? I’ve got it! I’m just preparing myse— oh my fucking God!” You screamed too dramatically when Peter stopped listening to you and began to glide forward. You held onto his sweater’s sleeve for dear life, not moving your legs at all; he was the one dragging you slowly. In your head, it was the most terrifying thing in the world, but then you looked up at Peter’s wrinkled eyes as he burst into laughter and, just for a second, you forgot about the deadly wooden floor beneath.

For some idiotic reason, the designer of the rink decided it would be a fantastic idea for the railing not to start until the wall all the way across from the entrance. Once you reached it, you launched yourself toward it, clutching the metal rail tightly, your skates bumping into the wall. Peter extended his hand again, and you gladfully took it, this time one hand on the railing whilst the other in his. It took about eight long minutes, but first, you released the railing and eventually, you released Peter too.

"You did it!" He cheered as he watched you carefully glide your feet, your palms facing forward to balance yourself. "Look at yourself, what a professional!"

You loved it, you had to admit, how proudly he beamed at you and applauded your below mediocre work; even as a five-year-old sped by you two, doing some Olympic-like tricks with recognizable grace. That was when you noticed the adoration in his gaze— that same infatuation laced in your eyes whenever you happily admired him during chemistry class; that same syrupy sweetness that engulfed your self just because of him. His face made you lose your balance, which wasn't a big deal, until you transformed it into one with your alarm. You flailed your arms wildly, staggering, and Peter reached out, ready to stabilize you. However, you managed to stop your fall.

You breathed out in relief at your victory, giggling. "I really just defeated death— ah!"

You immediately fell forward. Peter hissed at the painful sound of your knees smashing on the floor, quickly crouching down in front of you to see if you were okay.

"Ohh my God, are— are you okay?" He couldn't help the way his voice wavered as he tried to keep in his laughter. He didn't last a moment longer, though, a quiet laugh slipping through his lips. "You didn't defeat death after all, huh?" You rolled your eyes at him, but who were you kidding— you snorted, chuckling along with him.

"You really have the nerve to laugh at me. Just wait for the tables to turn once I see you fall on your ass." You playfully nudged his shoulder with your hand, yet gripped his own outstretched one to lift yourself. You advanced to continue skating, but stopped when Peter stayed put, smirking at you. "What?"

"I've got an idea," He said, smoothly sliding to stand in front of you with his back facing you. "You're not gonna get to enjoy if you're just worrying about falling, so hold onto my shoulders."

You lifted a brow, scoffing. "Wow, I can't believe you don't think I can do this on my own," You teased and shook your head, but did as he said nonetheless. He glanced back at you, telling you to prepare yourself and hold on tight, and then began moving at a normal pace. "If I fall on my face, then I swear to God—"

"Not gonna happen. Don't worry," He reassured, sliding his feet with ease. After doing one lap around the entire roller rink and you had the chance to become acquainted with the movement, he picked up his speed. "Tell me if you want to slow down, okay?"

You don't say a word, and soon you and Peter were dashing past the people, both howling in excitement and the muscles of your face aching from smiling so brightly. You watched the blurs of colors go by, similar to vehicles in a highway at night while the music blasted from the stereo and the breeze invaded you through your open window, embracing your cheeks with its icy fingertips. Peter occasionally grinned back at you; they were just short glances, but in that split second he got to see you, a heat blossomed within him just like a small and shy plant opening up to the soft daylight of the sun. That exact moment— the one he hoped would never come to end— he realized how deep he was in, and how content he was that it was you, and not someone else.

On the other hand, that also was the moment a little girl accidentally hit the back of your roller skates and sent you down straight to the floor, bringing Peter down with you.

Yet again, you crashed your right knee and this time your elbow, too, against the hard surface. Peter tumbled on his back, almost underneath you. Of course, you groaned internally, of course we had to fall on top of each other. Can't miss that. You're sure you broke your knee as well and after a quick check, you saw that your elbow was bleeding.

But despite the pain and embarrassment, you two laid there wheezing— your hand on his vibrating chest and his hands on your shoulders. And it happened, just like always: your laughter stopped, and you both stared into each other's eyes with adoration, timid smiles adorning your faces. His smile vanished, replaced by wide, big nervous eyes. He sneaked his hand up your skin until it reached your cheek and it remained there, his thumb caressing you tenderly. He lifted himself up to his elbows, and without a word or a second to hesitate, he leaned forward— a gentle, careful peck on your lips. He broke away. "I'm sorry," He whispered, "I probably should've asked, but you just looked s-so pretty and I didn't want to waste the moment—"

You collided your lips against his, kissing him deeply, your arms around his neck. He raised his other hand, cupping your face lovingly. And you're just there, on the ground, in a roller rink, with bruised knees, and creating quite the traffic. But you didn't mind at all; even if later you'd squirm with humiliation, even if your knees hurt so badly. Because you weren't going to break away from Peter, and neither was he.

#peter parker x reader #peter parker x you #peter parker x y/n #peter parker #mcu #parkerpete #tom holland #spiderman #spiderman homecoming #spiderman far from home #oneshot #imagine #peter parker one shot #peter parker imagine #peter parker fluff #gender neutral #fem!reader #male!reader #tom holland x reader

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qqueenofhades · 5 years

Note

The whole don't do what the audience expects blah blah blah is the main reason why the marvel movies done by the Russo brothers felt a little lackluster. It's also the reason why I became disappointed by the mcu. I find this way of storytelling problematic and shallow. It doesn't live up to the hype they build and doesn't withstand the test of time. A good story will drag you to it over and over again.

Ahahaha, well, having had a Long Ass Thing To Say about GOT, I guess I can say More Things about the MCU.

I had…. mixed reactions to Endgame. I also noted immediately that I had big problems with how the female characters were written, existing solely as bit-part supports to the male heroes, and how dirty they did Natasha in particular. Also, while I sympathize with not wanting the story to leak ahead of time, the spoiler paranoia for this movie was pretty beyond insane. If RDJ was the only cast member who got the full script, and the actors themselves didn’t know what was going on or who they were acting across from (aside from being told they were at a wedding with Tony’s funeral at the end, which… yeah), then just maybe the idea of having to outsmart the audience/keep them in the dark is a little out of control. I recognise that the MCU is at least as big a cultural property as GOT, but it’s still… a comic-book movie. A comic book movie that ended with a lot of aliens fighting superheroes with suits and flying horses and magic death jewels and whatever else. It’s not absolutely sacred inviolable stuff, here.

That said, while parts of Tony’s death did work for me and I didn’t think it was totally impossible, that was mostly thanks to RDJ’s acting rather than the overall writing for the movie. Why… why couldn’t he have survived? Why couldn’t he get to grow old with Pepper and officially adopt Peter and have him and Morgan be cute siblings and to actually get to rest after everything he had done? They already laid the tragedy on thick with the five years of post-apocalypse and getting to see everyone living with that and so forth. They didn’t also need to make Tony die in order to make it stick. I can see the bare-bones storytelling logic in defeating Thanos (who was a punk-ass villain to start with, but genunely terrifying in some ways, just for reflecting the sociopathic powerful white man identitype) requiring a cost/permanent death, but also… see above. Flying horses and super-suits and huge alien CGI battles. This is not remotely a “realistic” story. Nobody needs to go into a comic-book movie expecting some grimdark social commentary/homage to Realism. If anything, it has the liberty to be even more fantastic and to subvert the “People Need To Die/Suffer Horribly For Fiction To Be Realistic And Allow Sophisticated Cynical Modern People To Suspend Their Disbelief” axe that keeps getting ground.

Frankly, it seems as if all media for the past several years (thanks in no small part to the stratospheric popularity of GOT) has been competing to outdo each other in Grimdark Realism, while audiences beg, increasingly harried and Tired, to just let us have a happy ending once in a while. The thought has clearly been that happy endings are for old-fashioned sickly-sweet Disney movies and intelligent people these days want to Hurt over their fiction, and/or be battered repeatedly in the face with it. As anyone who has ever read my fics and/or yelled at me about them can attest, I am a big fan of conflict, drama, angst, and genuinely bad things happening in a story, and am often drawn to characters who are dark and flawed and have a lot of issues to work through and who mess up and make real mistakes, because all that is the messy, complex heart of a story and generates dynamic issues and compelling arcs. But the point is never to just have it happen and to leave it there and for it never to be dealt with. The point of those bad things and those messes is for it to be resolved in a way that, if not completely happy, at least makes sense and is emotionally resonant.

Basically, we are more aware than ever these days that the world is a nightmare and that horrible things happen to good people all the time. Part of the appeal of fiction is the notion that things can happen for a reason and be controlled and guided to an ultimate outcome and that a creator you trust won’t just put your favourite characters through the wringer and leave them there to make some pseudo-intellectual point about The Nihilism Of The World. That way we can experience stories and suffering and genuine high stakes and conflict and chaos, but have some undergirding rationale and to experience it as entertainment and escapism, rather than constantly be exhausted by media determined to be cleverer and Grittier than its audience. Human beings love stories and always have. But the happy ending going out of style in the last 5-10 years is… not a great development. Either it’s forced as a saccharine heteronormative nightmare that doesn’t serve the characters at all (see the Harry Potter epilogue, the Timeless Abomination) or it’s just thrown away entirely because we have to understand, as if we don’t know, that Bad Things Happen.

As a Steggy shipper, I admittedly had many feelings over Steve going back and getting to have a life with Peggy. But I could also see the point of the metas that argued the contrary and who wanted Steve to move on and face the world he had now (though I do 100% approve of Sam becoming Captain America and Steve getting to rest and passing the torch). It also did feel a little too much like See Look, No Homo with Steve/Bucky, even while they were patting themselves on the back for 5 seconds of a nameless extra talking about going on a date with a man. That is not and will never count as queer representation. So when we’re either getting exhaustingly boring and Straight ™ happy endings or none at all, that is also representative of a media that hasn’t really caught up to what audiences really want these days. Hence why, as many people have pointed out, fanfiction is so popular as entertainment right now. Fic writers love the characters and rarely write stories just to have them suffer pointlessly or not to develop the source material in any way. When you’re reading fic, you can have some confidence that the ship is going to get together and the bad things happen for a reason and the ending will not make you regret having started it or pants you over being involved at all. As long as media is trying to be Sophisticated ™ and smarter-than-thou and to pack in Plot Twists, it’s really never going to be satisfying, because honestly, there are very few creators that are both smart and empathetic enough to pull it off.

Anyway. Once again, I ramble. But yes.

#mcu #endgame spoilers #anonymous #ask

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profoundnet · 5 years

Text

Thank you to all these amazing people for participating in the Profound Bond’s Fairy Tale Exchange 2019! I hope everyone enjoyed their amazing gifts. The next round opens up soon, so keep an eye open on that! And special thanks to @foxymoley for creating this beautiful banner for us!!!

If you’d like to join the exchange, then head on over and join our discord! Information can be found on the wiki which you can access here.

List of creations below the cut.

A Kissing Story by @nickelkeep for morrigan (eliza_sugarcane)

Dean is nursing a cold and because he wants to make sure his immune system stays up to snuff, he refuses to let Cas heal him. Cas plays along and heals him in the old fashion way. With Orange Juice, Chicken Noodle Soup... and a Bedtime Story?

General Rating

Tags: Fairy Tale Retelling, Domestic Fluff, Established Destiel, Story within a Story, The Princess Bride References

Pearl Diving and Other Magical Acts by @drawlight for JessJessTheBest

There are no such things as fairytales. Except maybe the one about the angel with the human heart. How does it go? Oh yes, that's right, Once Upon A Time.

Teen Rating

Tags: Soulmates, True Love, Pining, Fairytale Elements, The Snow Queen Elements

Turning Pages by @tobythewise for saltnhalo

When Dean and Castiel find themselves thrust into the pages of a storybook, Dean has flashbacks of Gabriel's tricks. He assumes that if he can go through with how the story is supposed to be told, he can navigate himself back out. But can he really go through with what the Book expects him to do? OR The one where Dean attempts to be Prince Charming five times and fails and the one time Castiel succeeds.

General Rating

Tags: Canon Divergent, True Love's kiss, Fairytale elements, Crack treated Seriously

I Found by @unholy-wine for Jess [thatpeculiarone]

On the day his new neighbor moves in, Dean finds a plant on the sidewalk in front of his house. Perhaps it’s generous to call it a plant: it’s small, and doesn’t seem like it has much of a life left without interference. He hesitates. Maybe the plant is his neighbor's. He should go ask.

Teen Rating

Tags: Fluff, Witch!Cas

With Conviction by @profound-boning for iCeDreams

Once upon a time, a simple encounter changes the course of two boys’ lives forever. It all begins at the market.

General Rating

Tags: No warnings apply, historical au, royalty au, fantasy au, alternating POVs, love at first sight, happy ending

The Hunter and the Angel by @a-insominia for snarkysnartes

The monsters are still around, but so is the angel. And on the darkest of nights when your blood could freeze, when you hear a creak on the floorboard, see a shadow at the window, hear a whisper on the wind - that's when he comes, fulfilling a promise he made to the hunter.

Teen Rating

Tags: Major Character Death, Post-Canon, Heavy Angst, Post-Canon, References to Canon, Winchesters in Heaven, Future Fic

The Happiest Place on Earth by thatpeculiarone for robotsnchicks

Somehow Team Free Will 2.0 end up in Florida and somehow, they end up in Disney World. Dean finds himself in a land of fairy tales and make believe but is ultimately prepared for a day of nightmares. Yet, it turns out Disney World has a lot of surprises.

Teen Rating

Tags: Disney World, First Kiss, Canon Universe, Dean's Fear of Heights

Aladdean by @alessariel for profound-boning

There’s no nice way to put it: Dean’s a thief (among other unsavory things). But no matter what the palace guard claims, Dean only steals what he and his brother need to survive. Down on his luck and starving, Dean is approached by a strange man offering him the chance of a lifetime. It’s supposed to be an easy job. What could possibly go wrong? *** After the storm summoned by his rage and desperation had died down, Castiel collapsed on the smooth metallic floor. Castiel‘s mind wandered back to the one thing occupying it since he’d found himself imprisoned here once more. For an ageless being of insurmountable powers it was kind of pathetic how he couldn‘t stop thinking about one lowly, inconsequential human. Only Dean was anything but low or inconsequential, at least to Castiel.

Mature Rating

Tags: Fairytale Fusion, Angst, First Kiss, Wingfic, Djinn!Cas, Mentions of Prostitution, Desperate Dean, no smut, minor Charlie/Meg

Kiss Me Like One Of Your French Frogs by @nox-lee for sunny/blueeyesandpie

When a routine hunt goes sideways, Cas is hit with a curse and turned into a frog. Sam and Dean hit the books to find a cure, and Dean finds more than he bargained for.

Teen Rating

Tags: canon universe, fairy tale curses, animal transformation, true love's kiss

(Pillowfort)

Disappear in the Trees by @wildsofourhearts for MalMuses

In a library that once entered, can't be exited, Castiel, against his will, works as the lone librarian, doing his best to make the people who wander inside comfortable in their final moments. Forced to weave human lives into storybooks for the library to devour, he hasn't seen the outside world in decades. Enter Dean Winchester. Can the chains of the library hold Castiel with another, more profound, bond forming between he and Dean?

Teen Rating

Tags: Hunter Dean Winchester, Librarian Castiel, Dark Fairy Tale Elements, Castiel and Dean Winchester Have a Profound Bond, Falling in Love, Hurt Castiel, Protective Dean Winchester

Under the Red Hood by iCeDreams for noxlee

Do not go into the woods, do not go when the moon is full and the wolf howls, hiding in the thicket. Having been under Wolf’s Night for more than ten generations, Dean trained under the Order of the Hunters to slay the wolf that has been taking the children from Chesterford. Donning his red hood, he seeks out this monster to make Silver Ash safe again.

Teen Rating

Tags: Injured Dean Winchester, Mentor/Protégé, Snarky Castiel, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Red Riding Hood,

(Fanfiction.Net)

Of Bears and Dinosaurs by @elizasugarcane for canadduh

Dean sometimes wonders what he did to deserve this.

Teen Rating

Tags: Fluff, parent cas, bedtime story, cute

You Broke Up With Me by turningthepages for Pimmy

"Fairytales ain’t real and if they were I wouldn’t wanna have that shit. I mean who’s that happy all the damn time? If you always have sunshine coming outta your ass then where’s the passion?"

Mature Rating

Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Friends to Lovers

What All Fairy Tales Have in Common by @blueeyesandpie for Insominia

Dean is struck by a sleeping curse, and there doesn't appear to be a cure...

Teen Rating

Tags: Fairytale elements, Sleeping Beauty, angst with a happy ending, canon compliant, Sam feels guilty when he shouldn't

i'm where i'm meant to be by @hanneswrites for usarechan

DeanCas Tangled AU || Fluff Dean has been crushing on Cas since they first met, their feelings come to a head during the yearly Lantern Celebration (from Tangled).

General Rating

Tags: Shipper Sam, Oblivious Dean, Alternate Universe - Tangled (2010), First Kiss, Getting Together

Old Tales Made New by @malmuses for sternchencas

Cas enjoyed a quiet, pleasant life. A little lonely in the love department, perhaps, but he had a pleasant rhythm to his days thanks to running his basement bookstore, Subtext. His days got a pleasant little shake-up when a hurricane blew a fantastically beautiful book-lover into his store; Unfortunately, Dean wasn't from Sioux Falls, and Cas wasn't sure if he was interested in any more than a dry place to pass the time. Obviously, Cas didn't pine. He was far too sensible for that. Or so he told himself.

Teen Rating

Tags: Alternate Universe - Bookstore, Bookstore Owner Castiel, Mechanic Dean Winchester, Mutual Pining, Epistolary, POV Castiel, First Kiss, Awkward Flirting, Castiel recites Shakespeare

Shifting Stories by @malmuses for turningthepages

Gabriel had seen a lot of pining in his time. Over the slow passing of millennia, he’d observed some of the world’s greatest love stories. Antony and Cleopatra. Orpheus and Eurydice. Mary and Joseph, not to toot his own horn. But these two… these two might be the death of him... Gabriel had only been in the bunker three days, but he was already totally done watching Dean and Cas dance around each other, awkwardly no-homoing their way through life. So, he came to a decision. He was going to make them fake it. He might have been a little low on grace, but pocket dimensions and reality manipulation? Child's play, for him! Time for some new roles for Dean and Cas, in their very own fairytales. "Changing Channels" but with fairytales. Or, when Gabriel gets fed up and forces the hunter and the angel to play at getting together... repeatedly.

Teen Rating

Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Inspired by Changing Channels, Fake/Pretend Relationship (or kind of), Dean Winchester Needs to Use Actual Words, Friends to Lovers, Gabriel Ex Machina, Miscommunication

Groundhogs in Sweaters by @saywhatjessie for unholywine (floor)

“You ever think about what our lives would be like if the monsters looked like how they were supposed to?” Or Dean muses over what life could be like and Cas is too cute for words about it.

General Rating

Tags: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, Castiel (Supernatural), Canon verse, fairytales - Freeform Profound Bond Gift Exchange, Crack

#pbexchange #pbexchangemasterpost #pbexchangefairytale #member fic #member art

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cleverbroadwayurl · 6 years

Text

Quiet Destruction (Christine Canigula x Reader)

Word Count: 3790

A/N: OH MY GOD FINALLY I’M POSTING SOMETHING. I’m so sorry this took so long and it probably isn’t great bc I’m a little out of my writing groove. Work and writing is tough for me bc I put all of my social time into it, which, bc I’m an introvert, makes me exhausted. But! I promise more and better stuff is coming!! You guys want Part 17??? You’re gonna get it.

Trigger Warnings: Self depreciation, people being snappy, mentions of math,,,, I think that’s it??? LET ME KNOW IF I MISSED ANYTHING OKAY YOU GUYS SHOULD KNOW WHAT’S IN IT BEFORE YOU READ.

The house lights in the auditorium barely kissed Christine’s face as she worked harder and harder on the script that had been given to her when she got the part in the play that Mr. Reyes had picked for that year. The red padded seats around her allowed her body to sink into a specific one; one that was seated exactly next to you as you worked on some packet for some class. With another breath, Christine scanned the lines, marking notes in the white pages, noting the moment before, the way she was supposed to say the line, the way that she was supposed to contort her face to appear upset in the situation. The line was to be delivered as a line of betrayal, a line of doubt, a line so full of passion and a scathing murder by the end of it. Not literally, of course. That would be intense, even compared with the previous year’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. But the line was written by someone who clearly didn’t say it out loud, or had any clue as to what real people sounded like when having a conversation with one another. It was choppy, wrong, came out almost like food poisoning from gas station sushi: a jagged pain in the stomach, and just completely ruining the air with vomit mere seconds later.

Christine decides she should diagram it again, her pencil marking a large slash in the line, previous pencil marks almost barely erased, lines that used to be so dark just wasted on a lackluster moment. She could feel her flatness against her scene partner—she hated that. But maybe this, this simple cut, this new way of thinking, this precise train of thought would change everything. Maybe Mr. Reyes would finally have his faith in her restored. Maybe this was the correct way, and would roll of her tongue so naturally she could practically see the scene as if she were the character, not Christine putting on a mask and waiting for it to morph to her face.

Christine says the line out loud into the empty theatre, the echo ricocheting back to her. It isn’t right. She didn’t need to hear the echo to know that, but with the sound waves returning to her burned her flesh almost like acid rain would. With a grunt, she erased the dark line she’d just drawn to cut the line into something more magical than it was. But all she got in return was the sorry lonesome aura of defeat tumbling around her. It was now she silently thanked herself for using pencil instead of the ever permanent pen. Another scratch, another attempt, another failure, another eraser mark.

But she tries it again, deciding to take a breath in an old place and use different vocal inflection. Christine cringes as the last syllable exits her mouth, the echo almost as unbearable as last time, the cushy red seats doing nothing to muffle the noise as it attacks once again. She swears the lights flicker in disappointment, almost sending her into complete darkness, complete failure. An exhale escapes her as she rolls her head back, her feet remaining on the seat in front of her, pressed against the back in anguish while her backpack is sitting innocently underneath, unaware of the violation Christine was about to commit.

Her hands dive into her backpack, pulling out a one sided worksheet she’d already gotten back, participation points given in full, and scribbling with her now dull-pencil. While she hated diagraming sentences, it was the only way—it had to be the only way, to make this line sound correct, sound like magic, and make everything in the world make sense, even if the world she was acting in was imaginary. The dim lights around her forced her eyes to look closely at every mark that was made, the yellow glow not relaxing her even in the slightest as she attempted to diagram the sentences. The line perfectly divided the sentence, seemingly making it flow better than Christine had ever attempted before. But if wasn’t enough. It couldn’t be enough.

So she diagramed it several different ways—as many as she could think of while her brain moved ever-faster than her fingers. The most she could get down were three, each diagram different from the last, before her brain finally gave out and couldn’t produce any more variations of the awkwardly written syntax. But hopefully, the answer would be written and displayed in front of her. It had to be. There had to be something so magical that she would be able to feel it in her heart, like she was actually the character and her scene partner was actually their character. The answer had to be in front of her. She was out of options and out of time. While the three diagrams stared her down, full of opportunity and options, she hoped and prayed that the first diagram would open the door to success and newfound ways of ringing out the line of passionate distaste into the audience and her scene partner. It wasn’t wishful thinking, Christine just saw that one diagram and had decided to make it her best ever. It flowed in her mind easily, lazily creating a pattern of beauty like watercolor across a canvas, the motion working with her rather than against her.

Christine attempts the line out loud, giving it her all—only to find the world she’d created in her mind to turn grey and fall apart right in front of her. The golden frame she’d put the painting into burned in an instant, causing a surge of anger to course through her veins and forcing her hand to cross out that diagram repeatedly, until the ‘x’ couldn’t be erased even by the best erasers in all of mankind. She knew that Mr. Reyes was going to be on her again, frustration infiltrating her brain, causing the usually calming theatre around her to turn red as she stared at the now ruined work she’d just done.

A few breaths, and Christine decides it’s time to focus on the second option. The first one is done—it doesn’t matter anymore. Wipe the slate away and attempt it again. Inhale. See the scene, smell the smells, and let the words flow through her veins organically like some kind of Disney movie song. She was ready, she was working, she had everything set. The colors were there, a lovely blue and white checked tablecloth with yellow daisies on the table—just like Mr. Reyes had talked about for the set. She could see her scene partner there, the face so clear in her mind that this felt like it could be it. Another inhale. She was ready. The words flowed from her, but almost like sappy sticky unsavory bubblegum. It plagued the scene, completely deteriorating everything around her. It was a source of dark matter and Christine could already tell just how flat and fake she sounded.

A grunt comes from her before she decides to scribble that one out as well. This time, it’s more of a panic, hands slightly shaking as she does so. Because that was 2 out of 3. This last one better be it. If not, Christine is going to be in deep shit. Mr. Reyes might even take her role and just give it to the understudy if she couldn’t get this line just right. But this third one might be her saving grace. It might be her life preserver, it could be the one note she’s missing in the chord that feels like home. So, Christine makes a choice to give it a whirl, the best whirl she can muster, trying to still see her surroundings as the character, attempting to have something at least a little better to work off of this time. She sits up, inhales, and in an instant—

“Christine, can you not?”

The words almost cut her as she exhales. For a few minutes there, Christine had forgotten you had been there. You—her partner in crime for a few months now. She’d gotten close to you a while ago, and later struck up something like a romantic relationship with you. It wasn’t like you two weren’t explicit about what the relationship was, Christine just liked the theatrics in telling people that you two were somewhat definitely an item. She can still remember the looks on the faces of her friends as she flaunted the fact that yes, you two were essentially dating and that you were definitely off limits to everyone else, especially those that could hear her project her voice across the room. Of course, there had been the worry of how Jeremy would react, but when everything was said and done, there was nothing to worry about; they were friends, they had remained friends, and they would probably always be friends. At a previous time, he had been good to her, consistently being a good partner and actively keeping the relationship going. But the romantic aspects of it were almost too much for Jeremy, worried he was going to make a mistake, nightmares, and so much more that this newer situation—good friends—worked better for both of them.

Christine got a little worried—you could’ve asked that about anything. She assumed it was her shifting around with each failed attempt, but she wasn’t sure. You’d been quietly doing homework beside her, pencil only adding to the white noise of the theatre. Or maybe it was the fidgeting she had been known to do. While it was often encouraged in rehearsal and in the theatre because it encouraged physical decision making, around you doing homework it probably wasn’t ideal to say the least. But fidgeting made things easier, it helped her remain somewhat calm at all times of the day, it made her head clear and her heart flow freely. You knew that. You’d even gotten her a fidget cube the last holiday season. She’d left it in her locker by accident, maybe this was a sign to go and get it—an attempt to sneak into the rest of the school might clear her mind and help with this line as frustrating as it was. But then again, maybe it wasn’t the fidgeting or shifting or whatever else was running through her brain a million miles a minute. It could be anything.

“What do you mean?” She asked, looking at you sharply, knowing that she wasn’t angry, just curious as to why you were acting this way.

“You just keep repeating that line. Can you just…I don’t know, give it a rest? Just for the rest of tonight?”

Christine could feel herself deflate, everything going from moving fast and positively to nothing. Silence surrounded her; fidgeting stopped. Out of everyone in her life, she assumed that you would understand the need to get this line right. Mr. Reyes had been getting upset with her more and more in the past few rehearsals because it’s a tough line, and he assumed she’d be able to handle it. And she’d confided in you about that a few weeks ago. You’d comforted her, and assured that she wouldn’t lose her role, no matter how annoyed Mr. Reyes got with her. Now, that seemed like false hope, and those words were just ones said were half truths. You didn’t know the future, and with you telling her to shut up, Christine was worried about it so much more than before. While you’d admitted that the line was nearly impossible to get right, here you were turning your back on her, when she wasn’t even doing something that intense like she sometimes did. The shifting, the fidgeting, the everything, she could understand, but you knew how much this meant to her. Why the change of heart? While the words didn’t create a deep cut, she could understand that the same thing over and over again could be annoying, especially to you, who is trying to do homework as she attempts this one thing over and over again. So, she decided to take your request, and apologize for bothering you when you obviously were so deep into homework. She’d apologize for forgetting your needs and putting her own above yours. “Oh. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

“No, Christine, that was my fault. I’m sorry, I just need to do well on this exam and I have zero confidence on any of the answers to the open ended questions.”

“What class?” She asks, more chipper than before, now understanding your social cues. You weren’t upset with her practicing, you were upset about the problem at hand. Christine laced her arms around yours, giving your arm a hug while she rested her head onto your shoulder as she brought her legs up onto the red velvet chair she’d been sitting in for what must have been hours now. She sat almost kin to criss crossed, her feet slanted towards her left on the velvet chair. Her fingers quietly drummed against your bicep, knowing that these moments of touch, these moments of softness, helped you calm down when things got tough, when the world felt like it was against you and you alone. You’d mentioned it briefly once at 3 AM some random night a few months back, when both of you were more than a little tired. Christine wasn’t sure why that specific moment, fairy lights being the only thing that was lighting up your figure, was the one that stuck out and the one that she remembered the most clearly, but the image was clear. And after that, there was lots of blushing and new contact, but Christine liked contact, just like you did. She was just more forward about it—initiation came easily to her. Her eyes scanned over your work as she felt your body exhale.

“Math.” Now Christine wasn’t the best at math, probably far from it, but she at least could understand concepts well enough to get pretty good grades on exams. And she always remembered things the teacher said that most students couldn’t—she knew what she was doing until she didn’t. She skimmed over your hard writing, searching for basic mistakes: the things she could actually help with. Her eyes landed on one, and her body lit up, energy suddenly surging through her.

“I see why you’re getting fractions,” she giggled.

“Why?”

“Because you multiplied by the constant 13 rather than the slope, silly.”

You threw your head back, and Christine could feel the groan erupt from you, the vibration so violent she was sure it would cause her head that was resting to shake. With another eruption, a loud FUCK escaped, causing Christine to try and suppress her giggles. She moved her hand and joined it with yours, giving your hand a gentle squeeze as you began to erase the incorrect work you’d done. She doesn’t look up—she doesn’t have to, knowing that the contact with you was enough to help you calm down a little more than you would’ve if you were by yourself. Because that’s what partners do, right? Help comfort the ones they love. “If it makes you feel any better,” Christine began, “everything else was right. You have nothing to worry about, I don’t think. I mean, I could have Jeremy take a look at it, he’s a really good teacher who often tutors me on similar stuff.”

Another sigh left you, this time without the vocal violation, but Christine could still feel your frustration and movement through her body. She kissed your clothed shoulder before smiling into it, knowing how much you adore simple and easy contact. It was easy to love, easy to do, and easy to ignite something more from it. But right now, in the quiet theatre and surrounded by more yellow light, it was enough to just have her there, and have her give soft touches and kisses anywhere she felt the need to place them. There was another second before she got up and began to pack up her extra papers into a random folder in her bag before refocusing back onto you.

She couldn’t help but commit everything about you to memory: the way that the light made your eyes glow even though you weren’t in a good mood, the way your hair seemed to glisten, your hands scribbling notes and your face almost scrunched in concentration. While to you, it was painful and upsetting, to Christine, it was the world, the little moments, and something that was worth documenting. It was in this moment that she realized you were still going, despite being angry with yourself. She always preached about self-care; now was the time to monitor it in you. “Hey,” she smiled as she sighed out the word, “don’t worry about trying it again right now, you’re already upset. You’ll make more mistakes.”

“Christine, I need to get this done.”

She pouted for a second before an idea—something that would pull you away no matter what, emerged. “We should go, it’s late, and I think they’ll want us out of here. I like being rebellious onstage, but I’m already in jeopardy of losing this part,” Christine joked, a small giggle leaving her as she wiggled a little bit, knowing that this plan was perfect, it was the way to get you to be your usual self again.

“Christine.”

Now was the time to implement the idea, the plan that would help you relax into her arms, which she so desperately wanted, especially after the frustration that radiated off of you had hit her. Your eyes hadn’t moved from the problem, but that didn’t matter or make a difference in this plan. “You remember how we first started talking?” Christine smiled wider, so wide her cheeks hurt but she didn’t want to stop this feeling. As good as an actress she was, Christine was never a good liar or secret keeper, unless it was something bad. Every trip or surprise was somewhat ruined because she just couldn’t keep it in.

“Yeah,” you nodded.

“I was debating with that one guy about how women have a right to their bodies and was running out of evidence until you” she shook the arm that wasn’t writing before kissing your cheek, “swooped in and saved the day!”

Now it was your turn to not be able to hide the smile on your face as Christine looked at you with wide eyes. Her plan had worked—you were already starting to crack under her positivity and smiles. Your pencil was doing less work as Christine continued smugly, knowing that she was wearing you down. “And then we obliterated him about gay rights and gun control.”

A small giggle came from you now, the pencil ceasing all movement as you threw your head back. Christine joined in the giggle, knowing how badly both of you needed this moment of softness, moment of pure angelic laughter ringing through the rafters of the theatre. Although everything had seemed dim before, the entire room was lit up in golden light as the two of you smiled at each other, echoes still ricocheting off of the walls and ceiling. You finally made eye contact; your eyes shined, the world became faded, your smile was so genuine, almost perfect in the darker lighting. This look was different to Christine because suddenly, in an instant, everything made sense. The world, the math, hell that one line she’d been tirelessly working on made sense. You radiated positivity and light in that moment, and Christine wouldn’t trade it for anything else.

“See?” She swallowed hard. “You’re smart. You know what you’re doing. You hold your place beautifully—onstage and at school. I have faith that you’ll do great on this test.” There was another beat of her looking into your eyes, deciding that this was another moment to document into her long-term memory. She was completely infatuated by the muted color, the widened pupil, and everything about them. You tore your eyes away, but Christine couldn’t seem to do the same. She watched with curiosity as you moved through space. While usually, everything wasn’t full of grace, you seemed to be oozing it as you put your papers away, smiling to yourself as you softly set things back into the cloth bag. Christine could feel her face become rosy, probably noticeable to you, even when you weren’t looking directly at her. But it didn’t matter, no matter how embarrassing it might be for Christine. You deserved to know that she still got butterflies around you and still felt the same, even after hardships and a few months of dating. From doubts that stemmed from her and Jeremy’s relationship to your own insecurities, she still felt the same and couldn’t change that if she tried—if the entire world tried to tear you two apart.

“Chris?”

“What?” she jumped in surprise at your sudden call out.

“I said, maybe this problem can wait until later. Do you want to come over to my house? My parents just went shopping, we have food, movies, and fuzzy blankets.”

Christine blinks a few times, processing the information that was just given to her. You were proposing a self care night after the painful ideas and thoughts that surrounded you two in this moment. You had decided to push everything, the entire world, away for a few hours. Plus, free food and movies. The mention of fuzzy blankets was enough to get Christine fidgeting more than she had that entire night out of excitement. “What are we still doing here? Let’s go!” she exclaims, throwing her hands above her head as the word “go” left her. There isn’t even a second before Christine stands up, throws her backpack over her shoulder and grabs your hand, ready to exit the theatre and the situations that you two had been thrust into just in the past few hours. With a twirl to look behind herself, a look of pure love is shared between you two, each of you falling harder and faster with every passing second. After a bit, Christine runs, leading you by the hand out of the row, out of the theatre, and to your mom’s car that she let you borrow to go to school and so that you and Christine could study in the theatre after classes. You catch up to her in the parking lot, still running towards the car, running and giggling the entire way. The only lights leading the path are street lights, and of course, the sweet light that was the enjoyment of each other’s company.

#Christine Canigula x reader #Christine Canigula Imagine #bmc x reader #bmc imagine #be more chill x reader #be more chill imagine

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writesbatty · 6 years

Text

days 14-29

complete with unedited content notes from the facebook group i’m in

29/30

i love to rewrite the classics

to make persephone send hades running

(keep that 'rewriting the story of persephone as a love story’ shit several hundred miles from me, thanks.)

to give echo back her voice

to let arachne weave her tapestries once more

rewrite pride and prejudice so lydia bennet does not marry a rapist

get jane eyre out of her aunt's home sooner rather than later

find ophelia a therapist

remind everyone that tragedy can still have a happy ending

28/30 content warning: mentions/discussions of sex and consent. this is very vulnerable and im uncomfortable and DOING IT ANYWAY rip

i tell my boyfriend i think we should start scheduling sex

but that this is not some indication of failure in our relationship

i know he worries that my complicated relationship with sex is some reflection of how attractive i find him

(it doesn't help that the past few years seem to have taken my ease of flattery away from me

i don't know when it got so hard to tell the love of my life he looks good in tank tops

and black jeans like the ones he wore when i met him)

but it's not that

it's that i don't think about it, the same way i don't notice i am hungry till i'm starving, don't notice i'm thirsty till my head aches and spins, don't notice i am anxious until i am already in the middle of panic

it's that i was in a relationship where i never thought about the word no, it never occurred to me as an option, and now i end up consumed with pointless worry that i do not really want this

i try to talk to my therapist about these things, but i never really know what to say

how to explain my ex never set out to hurt me and half of it was my fault, but i am still feeling the aftershocks years later

without sounding like i am making excuses

(maybe i am, i don't know, i have always had a hard time with blame, with holding others accountable)

but at the same time i never want to imply what happened was more serious than it was

nothing like a genuine violation, nothing that should label me victim or survivor

nothing like what others have gritted their teeth and fought through

maybe some of it is the meds

it's hard to tell

how much is the meds and how much is the trauma and how much is just me

and why has it been six years and i still can't

-casually tell my boyfriend he has a nice ass

-sit in my boyfriend's lap

-fearlessly messily uninhibitedly make out with my boyfriend

because some paranoid corner of my mind is afraid to say 'no'

(nothing would happen if i said no, because everything would stop happening, it's not fear that makes me question, it's the idea of disappointing someone i love, and that's all on me, not on him)

my boyfriend is an angel with a nice ass

(seriously, i am not overstating this, he has a very nice, round butt)

and when i tell him

i think we should start scheduling sex

he kisses the top of my head

and talks about how bob and linda on bob's burgers schedule sex, and they have like, the best marriage on television, so clearly we're in good company

and pulls me over to the couch to feed me ice cream and scratch my back

27/30 warning for like. harry potter/jkr 'discourse' or something i guess?

listen, we all should have known jk rowling was going down in flames the moment she made harry james potter a fucking MAGICAL COP at the end of the series

i have a list of problems with the deathly hallows epilogue that is longer than the actual epilogue and this is at least three of them

will somebody cut harry a fucking break?

why on earth would someone punish this abused, traumatized, exhausted person by giving them a career that will repeatedly remind them of every bad thing that has ever happened, which is most things that have happened to harry potter

harry potter should have been the defense against the dark arts instructor

harry potter has intimately seen both sides, every inch of light and dark

and he saw them as a child, he grew in them like a weed in brackish water, an in between neither fresh nor salt

(but he chose good, he always chose good, and it was always a choice, and it wasn't always easy)

let him teach other children to protect themselves

let him eat lunch with neville longbottom so they can discuss their students and make sure no teacher ever treats kids the way snape treated his students

the way snape treated harry and neville

let harry spend his weekends in hogsmeade with friends both old and new remembering only the light spots in the dark days of his schooling

let him know the joy of helping a struggling student

(this is how he will carry on remus lupin's legacy; that and the bar of honeyduke's finest chocolate in his desk)

let harry potter retire and spoil the ever loving shit out of all of his grandchildren

let harry potter put the past behind him

consider the fact that we don't all want to devote our lives

to fighting the demons we met in childhood

26/30

nightmare at 20,000 feet is the most terrifying episode of the twilight zone

and what an apt title

what an apt metaphor

because what could ever be more nightmare then knowing the worst is just outside the window

but no one else can see it

25/30 this ends like super abruptly but idk how to end it Properly and i need sleep so. shrug emoji.

it's like a bad joke, this harmless word that never stops following me

you know those tasteless reddit posts about trigger warnings? how there's 'no way' someone could be traumatized by something so normal

so small

that's me. i am that joke.

a man at the aquarium calls his young daughter pumpkin and i–

i swallow a wave of nausea

i try to ignore the way my skin begins to crawl

and my heart speeds up

and i can hear the sound of his voice

it's like time travel

it's like a curse

just say 'pumpkin' and i fly back in time and it's like my body does not know that he is dead

that he hasn't called me pumpkin in nearly a decade

you would think it would be the mocking, the insults, that would ring like shots through my echo chamber brain

but

it's that fucking petname

it's 'i'm sorry, pumpkin' in his voice and the look in his eyes as he digs the hole in my chest just a little bit deeper with another fake apology

an apology all for him

when he came to my high school graduation there were rules

-he could not drink

-he could not apologize

-he could not call me pumpkin

24/30

it's funny

this disconnect between the me i know and the me other people know

at home i pace the floor, building up the courage to call for a cab

at work they tell me i am good with people, that i am no nonsense

at home, i twist my hair in my fingers as i struggle to tell my partner of nearly six years i need something to eat

at school they called me confident, self assured

i wonder where this other me is when i need them most

where is this confident and self assured version of me when something actually happens?

when someone is in trouble?

when someone gropes me in the street?

when someone needs them?

when i need them?

23/30

weirdly specific sections i wish i could find at the bookstore:

unconventional sci written by women and queer people

dystopian fiction that ends hopefully

non-ableist romance novels with disabled protagonists written by disabled people

young adult romance novels about lesbians and magic with happy endings

poetry for queer girls who really like artemisia gentileschi's art

collections of personal essays about hospital waiting rooms

college kids from dysfunctional families getting their shit together and falling in love

narratives about found families of misfits

young adult novels about queer romance and theatre kids

the exact novels you needed to read at 15 when you were scared and alone and will still make you cathartically sob while reading in a public park

(this last section is real except it's just the francesca lia block shelves in the young adult section)

how to guides on how to be a person when your body and the world you live in are crumbling to pieces rapidly

advice on how to make your best friends move out of state to be closer to you

novels where the protagonist goes through hell but they come out the other side and are still an essentially good and optimistic person despite their trauma because the world is a terrifying place and we need fiction and narrative to remind us of the potential for hope

22/30

edit: i just word vomit typed this directly into the comment box and it got weirdly long so Be Aware

elle woods is my personal hero

i'm blonde

'yes sarah'

i'm sure you're thinking

'i know, i have seen you'

but it's more than that, okay? i am blonde on the inside. my heart and soul are blonde. i talk to people and they say 'i can't imagine you not blonde' because the concept of me any other way is absurd

maybe because its the one thing everyone always loved about me. when i was a kid, everyone wanted to play with my hair. i had barbie hair, disney princess hair. long blonde waves like strands of gold.

i grew up telling blonde jokes, so everyone would know i was Smart and Cool. i got teased for being a nerd and a four eyes and for awhile everyone called me 'dictionary' because i knew how to spell zombie. smart was more important to me than cool, but i still told blonde jokes. the blonde swims ninety percent of the way to the other shore, gets tired, and swims all the way back, and god if that isn't a metaphor for my life. god if i haven't spent 25 years fighting not to be the blonde who turned back.

when i almost failed math in my freshman year of high school my father told me i should give up and become a playboy bunny because i didn't have a future. a childhood friend asks when i will grow out of the color pink.

i am a blonde the way i am pink. spiteful. elle woods walking malibu barbie through the halls of harvard. elle woods taking notes in pink sparkling pen. elle woods handing in her scented resume printed on pink paper.

elle woods saying

'what, like it's hard?'

i tape my thesis pages to the wall with glitter tape and pin my blonde hair back with a flower clip and i wear baby pink leather heels with bows on them.

'what, like it's hard?'

21/30

why do the aliens always want to kill us?

why do we always build a giant weapon?

why can't the aliens come to earth to help us?

why aren't scifi movies about healing?

20/30

ode to vestibular stimming

i do not like metal music

i'm sorry, it's just not my thing

but good god do i understand why people head bang

and why people mosh

when i was a kid i loved jumping on the trampoline, and the way it made my heart and brain jump and soar and bounce

now i can't jump on trampolines anymore but

i can listen to british pop music in my living room and laugh and feel that soar and jump and bounce as i swing my head from side to side and up and down and sometimes, for extra fun, twist my torso around a little

like i am so much energy and so little body but finally it has somewhere to go as my hair swishes against my face and an unstoppable grin spreads across my face and

don't you ever wanna just let go?

don't you ever wanna shake your head until the dizzy chases everything else away?

19/30

i like to talk to the creatures in the tanks when i do my aquarium rounds

the old man of an octopus in the floor tank i call gramps

my favorite sea star, a purple velcro star in the touch tanks, i call zippy

mostly i just call everything 'buddy'

'hey buddy, how ya doing today?' or 'come on buddy, scootch down from the top of the glass'

i apologize to the anemones when they close up because people have touched them too much

and i apologize to the jellies when it takes me more than one try to scoop them out so i can change their water

in middle school i noticed a rip on my baby doll's neck so i made her a neck brace from the sash of a build a bear robe and propped her up on pillows every night, so she wouldn't rip anymore

i am nearly 25 and i still feel guilty when my stuffed animals fall to the ground

i am nearly 25 and i keep multiple stuffed animals in the bed i share with my boyfriend of nearly six years

a common misconception of autism and other similar social disorders is that people on the spectrum do not experience empathy

and in some cases this is true

but an often ignored aspect of these disorders is that anything you could lack, you can also have too much of

hyper-empathy is when you are so receptive to others feelings they become your own

they become so much your own it causes you physical distress

and everything

everything

has feelings

i once got sad about throwing away a pair of pants because i had them for just... so long

i once cried on an apartment balcony because my neighbors i had never met, never even SEEN, were fighting

today i watched a young boy scare simon, a seagull who hangs out by the aquarium, by screaming at him

and it broke my heart a little even though i not especially fond of birds and am, in fact, kind of afraid of them

sometimes i sit and think about the things my dad experienced and my aching too big heart thinks

maybe it was okay

maybe the things he said were okay, because of what happened to him

my aching too big heart always forgets

things happened to my mother, too

things happened to me, too

and neither of us turned out like that

articles on the internet talk about hyper-empathy like a super power

call it 'being an empath'

to me it has always felt more like a bruise

like my aching too big heart just can't stop pumping blood to the tender surface of my skin

18/30

a very angry letter to a lady who came into the aquarium yesterday. less poem and more just 'complaining' but wow, i am still mad like 36 hrs later

for the love of god, lady

what is your fucking problem?

you are a grown adult. you have multiple children, some of whom are teenagers, and this is how you behave, in public, in front of your family?

are you incapable of basic human decency? did no one ever teach you manners?

yes, there is a disabled person and their caretaker in this aquarium, and yes the person is making noise. people make noise. you are in a fucking public place. children scream in here literally all the time. the seals scream. parents scream. sometimes the people who work here scream, because it is the only way you can hear us over the damn seals.

so why, lady, do you feel the need to make some rude ass comment about a person you don't even know, and look at me like

you expect me to play along

i wish i could say something to you but i am an employee and that is not polite but

if i was just a person i would tell you to shove it

but i wish i could have been a staff member AND told you to shove it

so i could have told you, hey, lady

this person helping you, telling you all this information about sea stars, is also fucking disabled

and your rude as hell eye roll and 'oh great, here we go' and 'really?' and loud scoffing is not appreciated

and frankly you can kiss my autistic ass and get the fuck out

17/30

capitalism is broken

and the reason i know this is because of jurassic park

not the franchise but the canon, the universe it exists in

every time i complain about the jurassic park universe

demanding to know why, for the love of GOD, do people keep opening these parks full of dangerous dinosaurs

someone always tells me 'the money, obviously'

as if capitalism was a reasonable excuse for making a super t-rex that eats people

as if money were an excuse for making yet another death trap

yet another super dinosaur that's going to –inevitably– escape and eat and/or traumatize someone

the idea that the people who built jurassic world looked at the events of jurassic park and thought

the money is worth it

we won't fuck up this time

is completely fucking baffling to me

i suppose maybe i am meant to see this as a heartwarming representation of the american refusal to fail

if at first you don't succeed, try try again, after all!

but i think about the news article i read last night

about how insurance companies worry curing diseases is not profitable

and i think about all the lives lost and therapy needed because everyone in jurassic world refused to learn from john hammond's mistakes

and i don't think any of this is saying americans refuse to fail

it's just saying we don't care how many times we kill people if there's good money to be made

16/30, inspired by how affectionate the characters on new girl are with each other

all through high school i did theatre, and i don't know if this is a universal theatre kid thing, or just something we all did

but we were all about physical contact

we were a bunch of misfit touch starved pets

piling seven teenagers on one sofa, every part of you touching somebody, every part of you warm

and i miss that

all that platonic but physical affection

i am a very affectionate person, and i find myself fighting to seem 'normal' in social situations

reminding myself not to wrap my arms around people, or rest a hand on someone's leg, or call casual friends babe, or offer people bites of food

this is how i lived all of high school

sitting in laps, holding hands in the halls, kisses hello, shared drinks and forks

i miss it

i don't understand our desire as a society to deem intimate touch romantic

why shouldn't i kiss my best friend on the cheek? why shouldn't friends hold hands?

we are social creatures, after all

we don't start out like this

we sleep in heaps at slumber parties, we play doctor, we play house, we do each other's hair

why does all that stop because we get old enough to want to kiss people?

doesn't that seem silly?

15/30 write more love poems about your friends guys. love your friends tell people you love them. i love telling people i love them. i love u. all of u. here's a poem about my best friend aka the greatest human on earth, the guildenstern to my rosencrantz

so i've known my best friend since 9th grade

except

except actually i met her in 3rd grade and didn't know it until 10th grade

and she wasn't my best friend until college

except

except she was, i think, maybe the whole time and we just didn't know it

on my fifteenth birthday she came with me to get my nose pierced and gave me a hand drawn birthday card that quoted my favorite green day song

once we spent six hours on skype drawing bad caricatures of celebrities

and when i left to grab a snack she yelled after me

"don't you go where i can't follow"

our senior year we read "rosencrantz and guildenstern are dead" for ap english and we started calling each other rosencrantz and guildenstern

and when she gave her senior project speech on william faulkner she cried, not because she was nervous, but because she loves faulkner and she got emotional

she is exactly 12 days older than me, and a taurus, and she plays a bunch of different instruments and one day we're going to start a folk punk band called the rebel amish

last summer we went to the deyoung together and laid in a shag covered bean bag chair watching the light show in the summer of love exhibit for like an hour

and we took a selfie in some giant gold antique mirror

and when i picture my future, she is as much a part of it as my boyfriend

this other love of my life, this girl with the bright eyes and the once broken nose and who is always willing to sit and talk about books

or the shitty people we went to high school with

or weird titles for potential memoirs

this amazing person, who is the only person i would trust to drive me through marin county while eating a mcdonalds cheeseburger

it is a different kind of love, sure

but it is a love story

and it is ours

14/30 which i wrote but forgot to post because i was playing video games

i wish my own mysteries were this easy to solve

just look for the spot that glows

and unearth what's hiding

no crying

no years of therapy

no buried memories

just point and click

#napowrimo #National Poetry Month #National Poetry Writing Month #LONG AS FUCK im sorry

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theclaravoyant · 7 years

Note

What do you mean by “persistent rejection of nonviolence in media” I mean I understand media as a whole but this is a superhero/spy/action-adventure show where taking about. It wouldn’t be any of those without “violence” persay, we’ve seen superhero shows without “violence” normally aren’t popular DC’s Powerless for example

Hi there! Thanks for the ask (regarding this post). My feelings on that are a bit complicated and gets into a lot of philosophy and stuff but I’ll do my best to explain what I meant by that particular line in that particular context.

So, re the violence and genre thing, I’m actually on the same page! I’m not expecting violence to completely disappear from our screens, or even decrease that much. I’m not opposed to it as a concept and in fact, I actually like it! I love this genre. I really do. I love kickass fight scenes, I love how visually satisfying they are, and I love MANY examples of violence and badassery being liberating and powerful. I’m not opposed to the existence of violence in media at all, even though it is glorified to some extent and blah blah blah, that’s a Whole Thing. What grates on me is how often nonviolence is thrown under the bus. Not the absence of violence, I mean nonviolence, eg, forgiveness, redemption, and restorative justice (that is, healing through coming to an understanding and fixing a situation, rather than seeking vengeance or punishment). (and which, imo, are especially important in these kinds of genres).

Characters’ willingness to forgive is very often treated as naive, or weak, and all the characters who ‘recognise that the world is a terrible place’ are the ones that know better. We can see this very clearly with Fitz eg at the end of Season 1 where everyone is warning him about Ward, for example. This willingness to forgive is often trained or drained out of a character as a series goes on and characters lose their innocence. Typically there will come a point when it’s Really Important that this particular bad guy dies, rather than being stopped any other way (said other ways being rarely discussed, and sometimes other perfectly good options eg ICERs are taken off the table for no reason) and the ‘naive’ character ‘steps up.’ Sometimes, a character will demonstrate forgiveness only for the bad guy to throw it back in their faces and for something to immediately happen (typically, they fall off something and die) that means they meet their violent end anyway but the hero’s hands are clean. (this happens a lot in Disney, and Doctor Who). That’s a little closer to the nonviolence I’m talking about but because of how common it is as a narrative device, I still consider it cheating: it’s a way for the writers/narrative/moral to be violent and punishing without the character having to take the blame.

Willingness to forgive is also often treated as unjust. People who have been wronged, abused or oppressed in some way are expected to want vengeance on the person who wronged them. Fighting back, injuring or killing one’s enemy is portrayed as a powerful, freeing move. I’m not saying it can’t be - I love me some vengeance/emancipation stories - but what I do not love is when a character (especially the victim) says “hey, maybe we shouldn’t actually kill the person who wronged me” and other characters, and/or fans, respond with cries lamenting their naivity, or Stockholm Syndrome, or other ways of expressing concerns that basically say “aww, poor baby doesn’t want to kill their oppressor? that’s okay we’ll do it for them / coach them through it” or “how can you not want to kill them, something must be wrong”. Again, we saw this with Fitz re: Ward, and also when he hesitated about killing Aida. Jemma noticed this hesitation, but her reaction was not clear. Many fans, however, went nuts going “omg!! he’s still the Doctor, he’s still in love with Aida because he doesn’t want to kill her!!” when really he might just… not want to further the saga of horrible things with another murder? when what Aida wanted was actually quite simple? maybe he thought that the situation could be resolved without anyone having to die?

(and this was another one of those times, though not so hypocritical and slightly more literal than usual, when a mysterious force of divine judgement took Aida out rather than any of the heroes, let alone Fitz, having to do it. also note that Jemma’s visually satisfying but in the end meaningless (”I just really wanted to do that”) violence against her (by shooting her indestructible body multiple times with a machine gun) has been endlessly praised, while Fitz’s hesitation about killing her is treated as naive and part of his victimhood, and is also often used to ship them rather than like……… in regards to him simply being a good and compassionate person who doesn’t want unnecessary death).

Nonviolence is often portrayed poorly too, which doesn’t help. It’s almost always raised, but often in a way that it is designed to be shut down. For example, “we don’t kill people, unless it’s REALLY important, like now (and that time, and that other time, and-)”, and don’t forget the good old “if we kill them, we’re just as bad as they are” OBVIOUSLY YOU’RE FREAKING NOT. so another character comes along and talks the hesitant character out of that funk, or takes care of the danger for them, because don’t be ridiculous of course X bad guy deserves to die (and/or because the Good Character believes they are protecting the victim character by taking the blow to their own soul or whatever by ‘doing what’s necessary’ kind of thing). Another one of these that shits me is blood-family obligation. “of course they did all these horrible things to you, but you have to forgive them because they’re family”. That’s shit. as is “forgive them because you don’t actually have the power to fight back, so you might as well.”

Basically what I’m saying is, I’m all here for what can be a powerful and freeing experience of violence and even revenge. I’m not opposed to that existing. I’m opposed to alternatives to those kind of stories, and characters who don’t want that, being constantly shut down, punished and infantalised. Forgiveness and redemption (*real, earned redemption, which a lot of TV also fails hard at) takes a lot of courage and compassion and I hate seeing it treated so badly. If characters can free and heal themselves through violence they should be able to free and heal themselves through peace too. What I’m sick of is violence being treated as the only or the best way, and for learning violence to always be seen as an empowering character arc, even when it is not.

We can see this again with Fitz, in comparison with his fellow agents. Daisy, for example, became an agent as part of finding her place within Shield, and her powers help her to do that role even though she could if she wanted to be quite violent with them. Notably, her powers are also emphasised as a positive and powerful part of her identity, and also being capable of creating beauty as well as used as a weapon. This is a storyline where accepting violent or potentially violent elements into her life was empowering and/or brought with it other empowering elements such as her found family. Jemma also, while she has less of the identity aspect going on, somewhat willingly picked up a weapon when she was feeling defenseless and wanted to stop needing help. Though she was reaching out from a dark place, she is now better able to protect herself and the people she loves and she did it by making a choice. While less positive than Daisy’s, this is also a storyline where she has grown in some way through learning violence. (and notably, by choosing it - at least in-universe, though because violence is so favoured by stories and genres like this it was unlikely to go any other way in the grand scheme of things).

Then we have Fitz, whose current noticeably-high levels of violence (he did have some violent encounters etc beforehand, but these are repeatedly identified as more severe/brutal) come directly from his experience in an alternate universe of sorts where he was abused as a child, raised as a violent and ruthless man, and became a top hydra scientist/torturer. He had no agency in that storyline being done to him, with his memories and the love of his life replaced and his entire life trajectory forcibly rewritten. He had no agency in his escape, or determining what he took out from it, he simply remembers that life as well as his real one. The best he has in terms of agency in dealing with it is “learn to use it to your advantage/under your control.” Currently, this is being treated as an empowering thing - he has a tool now, and it is great when he uses it properly. However, given the origins of this violent side, and the fact that the best anyone can do is say that he should make use of what he’s been left with from a horrific experience they otherwise haven’t dealt with much (they’ve dealt largely with his guilt, not with his trauma), to me that is not empowering. To kill Aida before Fitz, her main victim, could decide or verbalise what he wanted to do about her is not empowering. To have the level of brutality of his violence repeatedly shock and worry other characters who know and love him, and yet for the characters and narrative to insist that it’s part of his character now and that he should accept it, is not empowering. (particularly given the uncomfortable parallels between this and his disability acceptance/~recovery arc earlier in the series). This is an example of a storyline in which I believe nonviolence can and should be explored, but because nonviolence is consistently undervalued and poorly treated I don’t think that’s going to happen and that frustrates me.

That’s… basically what I meant. Hope it helps!

#leo fitz #aos meta #aos speculation #aos s5 #feel free to #ask me stuff #aos spoilers #restorative justice arcs 2k18 #abuse mention #Anonymous #long post

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the-girl-in-the-band-tshirt · 8 years

Text

Rum and Cupcakes (Chapter 8)

Here’s more, @a-city-dove ! I made a lot of progress on chapter 14 last night, and it’s looking like that will be the end. Not 100% positive, but for now, here’s chapter 8/14.

Chapter 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Ao3

Emma didn’t want to leave after The Princess Bride ended; she was far too comfortable pressed up against Killian. He leaned forward to brush some cupcake crumbs off the remote before putting on the pilot of BBC’s Merlin.

“Just trust me, Swan. You’ll like this.”

“Another one of your geeky sci-fi shows?” Emma overexaggerated her eye roll.

“It’s about Merlin, but before all the legends we know. There’s magic, a dragon, and - what’s that word you kept using to describe The Doctor and Captain Jack Harkness?” Emma sighed.

“Bromance.”

“Aye. That’s it. You’re going to love the bromance between Arthur and Merlin,” Killian put air quotes around the word, “bromance.”

“Alright. Even I’ll admit a show about an early Merlin sounds cool.”

“Shush, Swan. Telly time.” Killian sat back against the back of the couch. He casually wrapped his arm back around Emma’s shoulder and pulled her into him. Emma unconsciously cuddled into him, not that either of them minded. Killian was so warm and solid, and her body fit perfectly against his. Emma still didn’t notice the cuddling as anything out of the ordinary because the closeness seemed so natural, it’s like they’ve been doing it for years. They worked so well as best friends emotionally, the physical connection just seemed right. Emma would’ve fallen asleep on his chest had she not been so invested in Colin Morgan’s Merlin getting put in the stocks yet again. Both Emma and Killian were fighting to keep their eyes open three episodes later, so Emma took her exhaustion as her cue to head home for the night, but not before making plans for Killian to come over Emma’s for dinner the following night to continue their Merlin marathon. Emma yawned her entire drive home, and she crashed the second her head hit her pillow.

Emma ordered pizza and chicken wings for dinner the following night. Killian came over directly after work. Shedding his leather jacket, Killian jumped into his favorite spot on her couch. Emma sat beside him and handed him a plate for his food. She put Merlin on Netflix and watched Killian grab and devour a chicken wing in a matter of seconds.

“Impressive,” she remarked. Killian responded with a cheeky eyebrow wiggle as he licked the sauce off the thumb and index finger on his right hand. Emma swatted Killian’s hand as he reached for another wing. “Ew! No!”

“What?”

“You just licked your fingers. Don’t go touching all the wings with spit-covered fingers. Wipe your hands first.” She handed him a napkin.

“Oh, please.” He used the napkin anyway.

“Savage.” Emma shook her head jokingly.

“Savage?”

“Fine. Umm… scoundrel.”

“That’s better.” Killian grabbed another chicken wing. Emma grabbed a slice of pizza and sat back, crossing her legs in front of her. She and Killian made their way through an entire pizza and an entire order of buffalo wings during the duration of only two episodes of Merlin. They paused before the third episode of the night so they could clean up before they ended up mostly passed out on her couch; they learned that lesson the night before when Killian just left the cupcake trash on the table until he woke up the next morning. The two settled back onto Emma’s couch for another three episodes. Emma and Killian ended up in the same position as the previous night. At least the cuddling was totally platonic.

Much like everything else in Emma’s life, her movie/television marathon nights with Killian became routine. They didn’t have regular, set-aside days for movie nights, but they agreed to have them at least once a week. Killian was appalled that Emma hadn’t seen Titanic, so he screened that movie first. Then they watched all their favorite Disney movies. They started with 101 Dalmatians. Emma pointed out the similarities between Killian and Flynn in Tangled, and Killian spent the entirety of The Lion King telling Emma how the movie is a really cute retelling of Hamlet. They alternated whose apartment they went to, and if one of them fell asleep, the other let them stay overnight. She had a drawer full of her clothes at his place, and he had one at hers. Killian had become such a wonderful part of Emma’s life, and she wasn’t sure what she’d do without him.

Emma was finishing putting out her chocolate covered pretzel-flavored cupcakes when there was a knock on her shop door. She was positive she flipped the sign on her door to “Closed,” so she couldn’t imagine why there was someone knocking on her door.

“Killian, you know the way into the back!” She went back to her displays. Of course Killian would knock even when he knew he was welcome to walk in the back entrance at any time. The knocking began again and Emma sighed and closed her display case. She walked over and opened the door. “Look, I’m a bit-” Emma froze mid-sentence.

“Ruby?”

“Hi, Em!” Ruby waved at her and grinned. “I know you hate surprises, but I couldn’t resist.”

“Oh my god! Ruby!” Emma gestured for Ruby to follow her into her shop. Once safely inside, Ruby squealed and pulled Emma into a hug.

“I missed you, girl!”

“I missed you too.” Emma pulled out of the hug, still smiling. “What are you doing here?”

“My first movie is in post-production, and I had some time off. I thought I’d come visit my best friend.” Emma grabbed a churro cupcake and handed it to Ruby. “I missed your baking.”

“I can’t believe you’re here. I’m so happy to see you!”

“As if,” Ruby exclaimed with churro cupcake still in her mouth. “I follow you on Instagram, Em. You’re so busy with Killian, I can’t believe you even remember my name.”

“Are you kidding?”

“You basically replaced me.” Ruby popped the rest of her cupcake into her mouth.

“I could never replace you, Ruby.”

“Killian is in over half of the Instagram pictures you’ve posted since I left.” Ruby didn’t look hurt; she looked more intrigued than anything.

“Yeah, well. You told me you wanted me to make friends after you left. I did.” Emma shrugged and looked away from her friend.

“I’m glad you did. It’s wonderful. I’m not jealous or anything,” Ruby reassured Emma.

“Well good.”

“So.” Uh oh. Emma knew that look. “When do I get to meet Killian?”

“Not now. I have to open for the afternoon.” Ruby sighed overdramatically.

“Alright, girl. I get it. Avoiding the question.” Emma rolled her eyes as she flipped the door sign to “Open” for the afternoon.

Turning back to Ruby, Emma suggested, “why don’t you go visit Granny until I close up? I know she’d love to see you.”

“Trying to get rid of me so you can go see Killian?”

“No! I just know you. And you’ll be bored with me working.” Ruby waved as she strutted out the door, yelling behind her, “I’ll see you later, Em!”

“Later, Ruby!” Emma smiled as she relaxed onto her stool. She had both of her best friends in town; this was amazing for her. She never had more than one best friend in her entire life, let alone more than one in her small town. She picked at one of her green tea and honey cupcakes happily as she finished out her day.

Ruby came back to Swan’s Cupcakes a half hour before the shop was closing for the day. Ruby sat at a table in the corner of the shop and occupied herself with her phone as she waited for Emma. Ruby got bored enough to help Emma sweep the shop floor as Emma cleaned the kitchen area. Both women jerked their heads to look at the door when it opened suddenly, scaring them both.

“Swan,” Killian sang as he walked in. He stopped in his tracks upon seeing not one, but two females. “Swan?”

“Killian, hi. This, um… this is Ruby.”

“Hello there. Pleasure to meet you.” He took Ruby’s hand and kissed the top of it. “Emma has told me so much about you. You seem like a lovely lass.”

“I’ve heard a lot about you too.” Ruby could play the smooth flirting game just as well as Killian. He looked in Emma’s direction and raised an eyebrow. Ruby nudged Emma with her hand at her side. When Emma looked over, Ruby nodded her approval of Killian. Ruby whispered a “he’s even hotter in person” into Emma’s ear, and Emma elbowed Ruby to get her to stop. Killian’s gaze switched between Emma and her friend.

“I suppose this means movie night is postponed.” Emma caught a flicker of disappointment in his clear blue eyes.

“Killian, I’m sorry. I didn’t know Ruby was coming to visit.”

“Not a problem, love.” Killian made his way to the door. “Oh, I forgot this last night.” He handed Emma a new book: The Princess Bride. She tried to keep from grinning as she read the sticky note:

“This is my favorite book in all the world, though I have never read it.” Actually, Swan, you have never read it, but I remain hopeful it could be your favorite book in all the world; it is certainly one of mine. -Killian

“Thank you, Killian.” Emma hugged the book to her chest. “Sorry again about movie night.” Ruby’s eyes bounced from Emma to Killian like she was watching a tennis match.

“Actually, Emma and I were going to go to The Rabbit Hole tonight before having a movie night of our own. Why don’t you join us?” Emma’s eyes widened as she stared at Ruby. Emma mouthed the word “no” at Ruby repeatedly, but Ruby was going to do what she wanted. Killian chuckled and scratched at that damned spot behind his ear.

“Ah. Thank you for the offer, but I would hate to intrude on your plans.”

“You’re not,” Ruby stated before Emma could get a single word out of her mouth.

“It’s not a problem. Really. I’ll just head home.” He ran a hand through his hair and pointed at the door.

“Come with us, Killian.” Ruby crossed her arms; she wasn’t going to take no for an answer. Killian looked at Emma for permission.

“Swan, would you mind terribly if I joined you? Your friend here is quite persuasive.”

“It’s fine, Killian. You can come.” Emma stared at her boots.

“Are you sure, Swan?”

“Yeah. It’s okay.”

Ruby broke the tension, “Alright. So, let’s go. I could really use a drink.” Emma and Killian hesitantly followed Ruby. They all got in Ruby’s convertible and she drove them all to the bar.

“So, Ruby, Swan tells me you work in the film industry.” Killian sipped his water.

“I do costume design. I just finished all the costumes for the new Beauty and the Beast movie.” Ruby swirled the wine in her glass.

“That is very interesting, lass. Tell us more.” Emma couldn’t believe Killian was so interested in Ruby and her life in LA. She felt a twinge of something that could only be described as jealousy. She knew she was foolish to be jealous because Killian flirted with everything that moved, but she couldn’t help it; he was her best friend, not Ruby’s. Emma took a sip of her rum as she realized she wasn’t listening to Ruby’s stories.

“What happened with the director?” Emma interrupted Ruby, hoping this topic would make Killian back off.

“Actually…” Ruby grinned.

“Ruby! What?” Emma sat up straighter as she waited impatiently for Ruby to finish her glass of wine and answer.

“I’m in a relationship. A steady one.”

“Rubes! That’s great! So he finally gave in?” Killian stared intensely into his glass of water as he let the girls do their talking.

“Not really. I met someone else.”

“Who? Come on, Ruby, tell!” Killian may have smirked as he listened to Emma gossip. He wasn’t used to hearing her so excited and energetic.

“The actress who plays Belle in the movie. Her name is Dorothy. She couldn’t stop thanking me for the gorgeous dress from the finale scene, and she asked me to eat in her trailer one day. We had more lunches, then dinners. And, well, we’re going out now.” Ruby got her phone out and showed Emma and Killian pictures of herself and Dorothy.

“Congratulations, Ruby! This is amazing! You both look so happy.” Ruby and Dorothy looked incredible together. Emma was so happy for her friend.

“Congrats, Red. Many years of happiness.” Killian raised his glass before sipping again at his ice water.

“Red?” Ruby asked Killian. She started to wonder just how much Emma talked about her.

“Your nail polish, and lipstick, and the ends of your hair.” Ruby nodded in understanding.

“My favorite color. I like it. Maybe even better than ‘Swan.’” Ruby nudged Emma again.

“Don’t change the subject. I can’t believe you’re finally in a serious relationship.” Ruby dated a lot of people, and Ruby slept with a lot of people. Ruby did not participate in real relationships often. Plus, “Red” was not better than “Swan.”

“Well maybe I finally met the right person.” Ruby seemed almost bashful. “And I’m really happy with her.”

“Ruby, that’s great!” Emma stood up off her stool and hugged Ruby. Killian watched the two girls reconnect and he smiled to himself. Emma sat back down after pulling away. She finished off her first, and only, glass of rum before Ruby spoke.

“So, tell me about yourself, Killian. I’d like to get to know the person taking care of Emma in my absence.” Emma wanted to disappear. Ruby wasn’t exactly wonderful at keeping her thoughts to herself; she was nosy and liked to know everything.

“I’m afraid I’m rather boring. Emma informed me I own the building your store was previously inhabiting.”

“You opened a bookstore, right?”

“Aye.”

“Do you have any family in Storybrooke? Emma never told me anything about your family.” Ruby was really trying to get some information on him. “Alas, I’m on my own here in the states. My family is rather small. My brother is back home in London. That’s about it.” Ruby nodded, clearly giving up on prying any more information from him. He hid his life story as much as Emma.

“So, back to Emma’s place for movies?”

“Sounds good.” Emma made her way straight to the door, Killian and Ruby following closely behind. Ruby told them all about her relationship with Dorothy on the car ride back to the stores. Ruby dropped them both off at their cars at work so they could drive their own cars to Emma’s apartment. Emma and Killian waited on Emma’s couch for Ruby to get her suitcase from her car. “I’m really sorry we had to cancel our own movie night.” She hugged her knees and rested her chin on her knees.

“I already told you, it’s alright.”

“I still feel bad. You’re probably bored out of your mind. And Ruby is trying to meddle into our lives-” Emma rambled.

“Swan, don’t worry. It’s nice to see you so happy.”

“What?” She looked up at him.

“You’re participating in ‘girl talk’ and gossip and you’re hugging and giggling. It’s a new side of the Swan I already know and love.” Their conversation was cut short when Ruby came barging into the apartment with a suitcase in her hand; Emma didn't even have enough time to dwell on Killian's casual use of the word "love." Ruby threw the suitcase onto the floor and settled onto Emma’s couch.

“So, what are we watching?”

“What about something light and cute, like Zootopia?” Mary Margaret had texted Emma mere days before, telling her she just had to see the movie. Her two best friends stared at her. “What?” Neither of them answered as Ruby grabbed the remote and hit Zootopia.

“Wait!” Ruby immediately paused the movie. “Snacks.”

“I’m on it, love.” Killian ran into the kitchen.

“Okay, Em. Neither of you want to talk about yourselves much, but I want you to know I’m happy for you.”

“You told me to make friends. I did.” Emma shrugged, hoping Ruby would take the hint and move on.

“You made more than a friend.”

“Oh no, Ruby, I-”

“Good for you. I’m glad you got yourself a man. Especially one as hot as Killian. Seriously girl, damn he’s sexy.”

“Let me clear this up. Killian and I are just friends.” Ruby rolled her eyes.

“Uh huh, Em. Sure you are.”

“It’s true. We’re just good friends. Best friends.” Emma glanced to the kitchen where Killian was taking a bag of popcorn out of her microwave.

“Whatever you say, Em. But I saw the way he was watching you at the bar. And I saw you staring at him every chance you got.”

“I- I wasn’t staring. And he was probably looking at you, but he was behind me. So it only looked like he was looking at me.” Ruby sent Emma an unconvincing expression of defeat as Killian placed the bowl of popcorn on the couch between Emma and Ruby.

“Everyone ready?” Ruby saw her company nod and she pressed play. Killian wasted no time before he had his arm around Emma. Ruby’s suggestion echoed in Emma’s mind as she was suddenly made aware of his arm on her back and his hand on her shoulder. She tried to focus on the movie, but he pulled her closer. She looked up at him; he seemed totally unaware of what his arm was doing. She definitely didn’t mean to rest her head on his chest as she finally distracted herself from the thought that she was unconsciously dating her best friend. The only downside was when the movie ended and she had no distraction from his firm chest and the soft fabric of his navy blue sweater (one of her favorites) under her cheek. She was hyperaware of every place their bodies touched. Her heart raced in response to Killian cuddling her, and she couldn’t let herself enjoy the feeling. Maybe the platonic cuddling wasn’t so platonic after all. She excused herself to use the bathroom, even though she didn’t actually have to go, just to get away from Killian. She threw some cold water onto her face before taking a couple breaths while looking into the mirror to psych herself up. She would never make it through the night if she got flustered every time he looked at her. Emma knew she had been in her bathroom for a while, so she had to get back out there. She returned to her place on the couch and Killian immediately resumed cuddling her: their usual movie watching position. This was going to be a long night.

#rum and cupcakes #captain swan #cs ff #a-city-dove #once upon a time #chapter 8 #update #emma swan #killian jones #oncer #oncerfamily #cs shiptmates #cs crew #cs fanfic #cssv #cssv 2017

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k-so-you-2-are-sos-now · 8 years

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Just Rogue One Things (I Noticed in the Movie)

I know a lot of people have made these posts already, but I wanted to make my own. Sorry if I point out stuff you’ve seen on other lists.

-SPOILERS-

-8 year old Jyn runs like a girl. Just sayin’.

-Saw seems like a great guy, and I’m not trying to attack him or anger his fans, BUT... What the HECK was he thinking, leaving 16 year old Jyn in a BUNKER of all things??? Literally ANY OTHER PLACE WOULD’VE BEEN BETTER. Does he not remember finding her so many years ago, alone in the world, scared, mourning her mother, missing her father, IN A BUNKER??? *screams for days*

-On I calmer note, I love the outfits in this movie. Jyn (and everyone else) dresses SO modestly. Like, the most skin she ever shows is her wrists. I cannot even begin to say how much I appreciate that.

-Jyn is trembling a bit when the Rebel Commanders and Cassian explain why they busted her out of prison.

-We get to see Cassian put on/take off that coat SO MANY times. Actually, he changes his clothes a lot in this movie... THANK YOU DISNEY.

-Cassian says, “That’s Jedha” in an awkward attempt at small talk, and Jyn is having NONE OF IT. It’s basically the equivalent of him coming up to her and going, “So, crazy weather, huh?” Nope, try again, sir.

-Cassian loves the way Jyn talks to K-2SO. Don’t even pretend you didn’t notice.

-”You seem awfully tense all of a sudden.” Girl, have you been paying ANY attention to this guy? He’s the very definition of tense. Seriously, look up the word ‘stressed’ and you’ll find his frowning face. (A related search will probably ask you “Did you mean /stress/?” Click on that and you’ll get Jyn’s picture.)

-Right after Jyn shields Cassian from the explosion behind them, he gives her a very brief look of complete shock. Blink and you’ll miss it, though.

-I’m sure most of you saw this the first time, but it took me 3 viewings to realize that Chirrut. SAT. ON. A. DEAD. STORMTROOPER. Ah, to one day achieve that level of sass...

-So, to sum up Jyn’s actions in Jedha: She saved a little girl, destroyed several Stormtroopers, protected Cassian’s butt, and topped it all off by JUMPING IN FRONT OF K-2SO TO KEEP HIM FROM GETTING SHOT BY BAZE. And y’all are wondering why Cassian couldn’t just leave her behind???

-What was Saw thinking as he watched Jyn’s REAL father tell her that he loved her, that he thought of her every day, that the pain of losing her was almost more than he could take, that she was still his beloved, his stardust...? I have so many feelings.

-Saw approves of RebelCaptain when he says, “Go with him [Cassian], Jyn!”

-Also, Cassian pulling out his blaster when he sees Jyn on her knees, like, “WHAT’D YOU DO TO HER, YOU MONSTER??? FIGHT ME!!!” is gold.

-Poor Cassian. The man just wants to do his job, his horrible, murderous job, and now he finds himself surrounded by people who are huge fans of the Erso Family. Even K is starting to warm up to Jyn. He’s doomed if he kills Galen, doomed if he doesn’t.

-You can actually see the sheer panic on his face when Jyn starts defending her father. He looks like he wants to throw up. Outstanding acting there, Mr. Luna. Well done.

-These guys would be dead so many times throughout the film if not for Bodhi. He is arguably the most important member of the Rogue One team. (And he has no idea.)

-”Your father’s message. We can’t risk it. You’re the messenger” is THE most bull crap excuse ever. Cassian could’ve said, “No, this is a job for men” and he would’ve fared better.

-Seriously, though, watch Cassian’s body language in this scene. He won’t face Jyn, won’t look at Jyn, does his best not to talk to Jyn. He’s an experienced spy with hundreds of secrets buried in his mind, and yet, around her, he’s a mess.

-K is probably so confused after getting yelled at by Cassian. “I’m finally civil with your little girly-friend and this is how you treat me? #humansarecrazy”

-Jyn calls Galen ‘father’ once. After that, it’s only ‘papa’. Why? Because, deep down, a part of her is the same little girl who hugged him and told him she loved him. That part resurfaces when she sees him after SO LONG, and it’s painfully clear how much she wants to be his little girl again. This scene has so much psychological depth, I can’t even...

-Also, Galen’s body was so twisted. Getting blown up is not a gentle way to go.

-MEANWHILE: Bodhi manages to steal an Imperial cargo shuttle. But apparently that’s too boring to show on screen.

-AND IN OTHER NEWS: Chirrut shoots down a TIE Fighter. From the ground. With a crossbow. Also, he’s blind. “Is he a Jedi?” “No. The Jedi wish they were HIM.”

-At some point when Cassian and Jyn are having their little spitting contest (just kidding I love that scene and both of them so much), Chirrut stands. Check it out. He was sitting. Now he’s standing. (Ooooo, you’d better watch out, Captain Andor. Jyn has friends in high places.)

-I wanna high-five the person who shouted, “Just let the girl speak!”

-Anyone else notice that Cassian and Jyn both said “I do” in this movie? No? Just me? Okay, then. *cough* They’re married. *cough*

-”I’ll be there for you. Cassian said I had to.” WHEN? WHERE? HOW? I NEED ANSWERS, DANG IT!

-Cassian, you smug little jerk, you could at least pretend to be embarrassed about K-2.

-Okay, so I love the cute scene on the ship. Like, so, so, SO much. But I just have to ask- what was Jyn’s plan there? “Awe, Cassian’s smile is so adorable, and I’m just so happy right now. Imma go, uh... stand awkwardly close to him, freak the both of us out, and then make it look like an accident.” Real smooth, Jyn.

-Grenades are pure evil.

-”Who are you?” Krennic asks, after hearing Cassian scream her name in the data vault. Repeatedly. “Who are you?” he asks, after witnessing her hop out from behind some crates on Edu and shout, “FATHER!” in Galen Erso’s direction. “Who are you?” he asks, and then stares like an idiot when she answers, “You know who I am.” Orson, boy... You’re done. Go home.

-When Cassian keeps Jyn from attacking the dying Krennic, he says, “Leave it.” IT. Like Krennic isn’t even a human being. (Or maybe he meant leave ‘it’, as in her anger, because they’d won.) Either way, Jyn listened, and that’s awesome.

Okay, I’m finally done with this WAY too long post.

#rogue one #rogue one: a star wars story #star wars #rebelcaptain #jyn erso #cassian andor #orson krennic #saw gerrera #bodhi rook #chirrut imwe #baze malbus #galen erso #rant #rogue one movie

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trendingnewsb · 6 years

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5 YouTube Personalities Who Escaped From Scandal Unscathed

I’ve come to the conclusion that a big YouTube personality could hunt people on a private island, make a video about it called “Human Death Prank,” and that it would A) get several million views and B) would have no lasting consequences for the YouTuber.

We’ve fallen into a pattern wherein there’s a new scandal featuring one of these people every month, and it always ends the same way. The performer will lay low for a few weeks. YouTube might slap them on the wrist, maybe an advertiser drops. Then they’ll just start churning out the exact same content, having learned nothing and making just as much (in some cases more) money than before. Here, let’s revisit some recently scandalized social media celebs and see where they are now …

Logan Paul

You probably know Logan Paul as one of the many YouTube celebrities who looks like all of his hair is trying to escape from his head.

Logan Paul/YouTubeHis father is a Bloomin’ Onion and his mother a can of Red Bull.

You might also have heard of his most recent scandal, in which he posted a video of a suicide victim’s corpse in Japan’s Aokigahara forest. After a public uproar, he spoke to Michael Strahan on Good Morning America, saying, “I am a good guy who made a bad decision” — a claim that is 100 percent true if you remove the word “good” from it.

For you see, good guy Logan Paul has a storied past of doing things that are objectively dumb and also terrible. Like the time he pretend to be shot in the back of the head in front a crowd of screaming 10-12-year-old children. As soon as he returned to YouTube after the suicide forest video controversy, he immediately showed his respect for the sanctity of life by pulling a fish out of a pond and pretending to give it CPR and tasing some dead rats.

YouTube cited Paul’s “recent pattern of behavior” (corporate speak for “We’re secretly worried this person might be a budding serial killer”) when they decided to suspend ad revenue on his account, which has 16 million subscribers, many or most of whom are children. The suspension lasted for two whole weeks. It’s been reported that he actually gained around 80,000 subscribers after his recent controversies. And why not? He made international headlines. You can’t buy that kind of publicity!

And the next time he thinks his channel needs a boost, well, now he knows exactly how to do it.

Carter Reynolds

If you Google “Carter Reynolds,” the first result is a Business Insider article titled “The Rise And Fall Of Cater Reynolds.” Directly below that is the link for Reynolds’ Twitter account. He has 3.08 million followers. That … seems like a pretty cushy fall, but we’ll come back to that.

Reynolds got his start on Vine (remember that?), where at some point he is reported to have had four million followers — enough that he was able to get sponsorships from brands like Coca-Cola and travel the U.S. with “The Carter Tour.” He’s the kind of social media star who’s not particularly famous for anything more than being affable and good-looking in a non-threatening way that’s especially appealing to young girls. A few weeks ago, he tweeted “frozen yogurt sounds so good right now” …

Carters Reynolds/Twitter

… and it was retweeted 451 times. That’s pretty representative of his creative output.