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daniel306gaming · 2 years

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¿What if Other Avengers went to Vormir in Endgame?

To: the Russo Bros., Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios

Intro

¿What if events went differently in the MCU? ¿What if Other Avengers went to Vormir in Endgame? In today’s fan fiction we’re going to be exploring what would have happened if other Avengers had gone to Vormir instead of Black Widow and Hawkeye in Avengers Endgame. ¿How can this affect the multiverse going forward? This is my own take of events taking inspiration from the Ultimate Marvel comics while following the mythology of the Avengers and the timeline of the MCU. Without wasting anymore time sit back and relax and enjoy this fan fiction.

Prologue

In my analysis of the multiverse I have seen people and even the defenders of Earth make some of the hardest decisions that no one else could. The biggest example being in our world where Black Widow and Hawkeye went to 2014 Vormir to find the Soul Stone but it came at a cost which was that one of them had to sacrifice a soul for a soul. Hawkeye wanted to do it but instead it was Black Widow who would be sacrificed instead. But today’s stories will take a different turn of events which one of them leads to terrible consequences and the arrival of a very formidable foe in the form of one of the most strongest Avengers while the other one could have a severe impact on the timeline itself. I am the Watcher. I am ur guide to these vast new realities. Follow me and pounder the question. What If…

Iron Man and Captain America

The events of Endgame were playing out the same as in our universe and we have to remember that going to Vormir to obtain the Soul Stone means that you need to sacrifice someone to obtain the Stone which is a soul for a soul. The team didn’t know about this because the information was withheld since Nebula did know about it before the time heist. Iron Man and Captain America knew that they needed to grab those stones in 2012 but our story begins here. After they read the time heist Tony told the team that he was willing to go with Steve to grab the Soul Stone because he thought that it would be too risky for him and Steve to go back to 2012. Steve agreed with Tony and told Black Widow, Hawkeye and War Machine to go to 2012 since it was easier for Black Widow and Hawkeye. They were trained to do that type of work like stealing the Stones as they could do it blindfolded. Black Widow agreed with Tony that it was going to be easy to get the scepter from Stark Tower and that all she needed to do was slip into the tower with Hawkeye not noticed. This small change impacts the rest of the universe since now we have Ant-Man and Hulk going with Nebula to get the Power Stone in 2014. Hulk knew that he needed to talk to Doctor Strange but War Machine said that he could handle it since he could slip by faster not being detected by anybody during the Battle of New York. The Avengers would agree to the new terms of this new alternate time heist and the team has changed big time. Iron Man and Captain America travel to 2014 getting the Soul Stone while Black Widow, Hawkeye and War Machine go to 2012 to retrieve the Stones during the Battle of New York and we have Ant-Man, Hulk and Nebula traveling to get the Power Stone on Morag while Thor and Rocket Raccoon getting the Reality Stone in 2013. The heroes grabbed their white suits and were ready for the jump to get the stones. They went quantum traveling far and fast throughout time and space. Captain America and Iron Man traveled to Morag and got into the Guardian’s ship. Hulk said to Tony and Steve good luck as they were going to need it and they got into the ship going to Vormir. As the ship was traveling in space Tony asked Steve how far they’ve come all the way up to this point to win. Steve explained that they were going to need to succeed and that he had faith in the team to bring all the stones back so they could do the final snap and bring everybody back. Steve could see it in Tony’s eyes that he was worried and Steve looked at the portal while they were going through light speed and they both smiled seeing the view until the ship stopped and they could see Vormir. The planet was massive and it was mysterious. Cap didn’t know what to think about it but it just felt weird about the planet and something just seemed off with it. “I hope u made the right choice here” Cap said to Tony as they landed the ship on the planet. It was dark, cold and things just didn’t seem right. As parts of the Avengers were traveling through space and time War Machine, Black Widow and Hawkeye were teleported to 2012. They could see the Chituari and they started looking around getting flashbacks of old times when they fought Loki. War Machine could see the portal and it was huge. It was something he never saw in person before but now that he could see it he could tell why Tony was so scared of it. War Machine asked where they were going and Black Widow told him that she was going to find Loki’s scepter before it got into the hands of Hydra. She told War Machine to snap out of it as War Machine was in shock. He agreed nodding his head and he left flying to Doctor Strange’s place. War Machine could see someone that fit the description of Doctor Strange and he flew down to the rooftop asking where Strange was. He wanted to open the door but he was pushed back by the Ancient One. She asked what he wanted and why he was there but War Machine said that Strange was around here somewhere and the Ancient One told War Machine that he was a few years too early and that he was performing surgery down the street a few blocks away. War Machine could see the stone around her neck and it was the one that he was looking for. He told the lady to step aside and he needed that stone. War Machine slowly started raising his repulsor blasts at her and she moved fast dodging them kicking Rhodey out of his physical body into his astral form. Almost like our universe Rhodey told the Ancient One that Doctor Strange gave away the Time Stone to Thanos. Since Rhodey wasn’t smart enough as the Hulk in this universe it was going to be an even more difficult time to get that stone from the Ancient One but she heard this thinking to herself that Strange wouldn’t do this unless there was a reason for it and she gave the stone to Rhodey telling him that these stones need to somehow be returned right after they’re used explaining to War Machine that if he could travel back giving it to her after they defeat Thanos then the timelines wouldn’t be overrun. He agreed to the terms getting the stone as it was revealed out of her hands. War Machine flew away with it telling Widow and Hawkeye that he has the stone. War Machine teleported away back to 2023. Black Widow and Hawkeye made their way sneaking past guards and getting through the security. She knew Stark Tower in and out as she did work there with Tony during the events of Iron Man 2. They made it up the elevator seeing the Hydra agents with the briefcases. Hawkeye went into the elevator and he was in the middle of the elevator slowly going down but he went up to a guard saying “Hail Hydra” as they were confused. They gave Clint the briefcase and he slowly was walking away when the elevator door opened. Black Widow saw Thor from afar walking with Tony and the tesseract. They were putting the tesseract in the case and she slowly moved to not be seen. The tesseract was on the table with the case and she was sneaking near the tables while she could hear talking. Tony picked up the case getting into the elevator with Hulk, Loki and Thor. Hawkeye told Black Widow that he had the case and he teleported back to 2023. She needed to get that stone no matter what the cost and she ran down the stairs having a flashbang on her. She was going to use it on the Hulk to try and distract him and grab the tesseract. The heroes were walking out of the elevator until a fire alarm went off. Thor grabbed Loki looking around. Stark Tower’s lights were flickering and they started blacking out while Black Widow threw a flashbang as people screamed and Hulk yelled smashing through the doors. The case fell on the ground with Tony Stark who had it but Black Widow used a flashbang kicking Stark in the face saying sorry and she picked it up traveling back to 2023. The events of 2013 played out the same as in our universe with Rocket obtaining the Reality Stone while Thor reunited with his mother and obtained his hammer Mojnier traveling back to 2023. Ant-Man, Nebula and Hulk could see Star-Lord dancing and Hulk used a massive clap knocking him out unconscious. He fell to the ground incapacitated and Nebula used her metal arm to grab the Power Stone through the shield. She gave it to the Hulk as he looked at the stone getting a flashback of him being defeated while seeing Thanos choking Loki out and Thor screaming. He snapped back to reality hearing screaming and it was Nebula. Her mind started glitching out as the 2 Nebulas just like our universe had a link. Thanos intercepted the link seeing through her data banks and the 2014 Nebula could see the Avengers, Stones etc. Thanos ordered them to retrieve the body on Morag demanding his Black Order to get it. They bowed knowing that Thanos in the future did what he wanted to do and they showed a video of his future self getting his face cut off fulfilling his destiny. Hulk looked in the distance to see a massive ship entered the atmosphere. Star-Lord slowly got back up seeing Hulk, Ant-Man and Nebula and he didn’t know who they were or what was happening but Star-Lord started attacking all 3 of them and Hulk was caught off guard having his suit shot at multiple times. He smashed the ground and it started cracking throwing Star-Lord to the ground and Star-Lord was knocked out once again. Thanos’s Black Order teleported from below and they could see Hulk, Ant-Man and Nebula. Hulk yelled at Ant-Man to travel back and that they would going to be compromised if they didn’t do this. He threw the Power Stone towards Ant-Man but he missed it not catching the stone in time. They were both teleported back to 2023. Thanos on his ship lost the connection between the 2 Nebulas altering the universe completely. Hulk tried getting his costume to work but the Pym Particles and his costume were damaged. The Black Order started attacking the Hulk and Ebony Maw used his powers on the Hulk levitating him in the air smashing his body around. Hulk was thrown to the ground and Ebony saw the Power Stone grabbing it. They lifted Hulk into his ship restraining him. Tony and Steve walked to the top seeing someone in the shadows call out Steve and Stark’s parents names. They could see someone and they didn’t know who it was but they thought that they were on top of this mountain and it had to be it. Iron Man got his costume on quickly raising his hands as the shadowy figure in the distance revealed himself. Steve knew that he heard the familiar voice before and it was the one and only Red Skull. He threw his shield at Red Skull but It didn’t work. It deflected off of him and he asked Skull how long he’s been there for and he just laughed at Captain America telling him that he was sent there after their fight to be punished. Red Skull explained that what they seek is something that is of high reward. Tony demanded to know where the Soul Stone was but Red Skull laughed at the both of them saying a soul for a soul was the only way they could require it. Tony’s face dropped in shock hearing those words. “Enough of ur game Skull” Steve yelled but Tony said to Steve that he was right. He explained that Nebula told them that her sister was with Thanos and she didn’t come back so he couldn’t be lying. This was the only way to obtain the Stone. “Strange said there was only one way to win and this might be the only way to do this” Tony said to Steve. “We don’t trade lives Tony” Steve said but there was no way around it. This needed to be done quick before it was too late. “I’m sorry Steve. I have no choice” Tony said to Steve as he shot him with a repulsor blast. Steve went flying back rolling on his back on the ground and he could see Tony get out of his armor but Cap yelled asking him to wait. Tony was getting ready to jump off the cliff until Cap ran as fast as he could and Tony jumped off of the cliff but Steve jumped almost doing an dolphin dive near the edge of the mountain grabbing Tony by the shirt as it was starting to rip apart. “Strange wanted this to happen and this is the only way” Tony yelled at Steve but Steve said that his time is up and he has a family. He smiled at Tony throwing him up above as Tony got onto his armor landing on the ground near the Red Skull. Steve saluded Tony as he dropped the shield in front of Tony and the Red Skull. He jumped into the abyss dying. Red Skull smiled knowing that in the end he got what he wanted. He can see Captain America’s Soul be traded and Tony woke up with the Soul Stone hearing old 50s music seeing Steve and Peggy in the Soul Stone. He heard voices of the past and future and he started crying looking in the water to see Steve’s shield. He teleported back to 2023. Back at the Sanctuary II the Black Order dropped off Hulk to Thanos. Hulk was hardly moving. He had metal around his neck and arms. The Black Order bowed giving Thanos the Power Stone and he looked at it knowing that he was going to need to make a Gauntlet soon. They threw Hulk in an anti-gravity chamber and they wanted to know more about the future and his conquest with the Infinity Stones. Hulk told Thanos that he was never going to talk no matter what and they kept torturing Hulk to the point of madness. Hulk revealed that anything he could say would destroy and harm the timeline and that he couldn’t do that but since time moves differently Hulk would stay in 2014 for over a month being tortured. The Black Order used the Power Stone on Hulk to try and make him talk but it wasn’t working. Thanos demanded Nebula to try and go through her databanks in the future and they would hack into the old safe files before they were deleted seeing more of the footage of the Avengers in the future. Thanos opened the anti-gravity chamber seeing Hulk floating around but he couldn’t talk. Hulk was turning back into his old self and Thanos said that he went through time trying to fix and change things in his original universe. He yelled at Hulk and explained that it wouldn’t work and that he was going to Earth and destroy it completely before they could ever have the upper hand on him. Thanos opened the chamber up and let Hulk’s body go. Hulk’s body smashed the ground and Thanos grabbed the Power Stone to finish the job saying that he was useless to them now but Hulk screamed becoming stronger in the chamber. He ran attacking Thanos in the chamber grabbing him by the neck and three would be a massive fight between the 2. Thanos used the Power Stone trying to overpower Hulk but it wouldn’t work. The Avengers were back most of them but some of them were missing which was the Hulk and Steve. Tony had Cap’s shield and he dropped it on the ground and fall to his knees. Tony asked where Banner was and Ant-Man said that he was attacked and Thanos’s ship came in capturing him. Tony yelled at the team saying that they failed and that he sacrificed Steve to make this work. Natasha and a few others on the team were crying and they couldn’t believe that the mission had failed. Tony asked War Machine to bring him all the stones and that he would meet him in the lab. Tony started creating the Gauntlet but it wasn’t fully finished because they didn’t have the Power Stone. The Gauntlet wouldn’t work unless they had it and for that they didn’t have it. Back on Thanos’s ship Hulk broke out becoming an uncontrolled monster. Thanos grabbed his double-bladed sword trying to stab it into the Hulk but Hulk caught the sword snapping it in half stabbing it into Thanos’s gut killing him for good. He screamed in his face knowing that he did it. He killed Thanos. Hulk grabbed the Power Stone murdering the rest of the Black Order and he could see that he was in the middle of space and the ship was damaged. It would take him a lifetime for him to return back to Earth and to get the Power Stone back in his timeline. Hulk was stuck in an alternate 2014 timeline knowing that his friends left him behind not finding a way to bring him back. Hulk would roam around space becoming Maestro. Hulk wanted to have his revenge on the Avengers for leaving him behind where he had to rot for 9 years waiting to return. Maestro would create a gateway through his suit for the past 9 year duration using Thanos’s broken down ship fixing it going back to Earth. Tony created the Nano Gauntlet but they were missing the stone. The Avengers could hear a loud noise coming from the sky as a massive boom entered into the atmosphere on Earth. Iron Man got into his suit yelling for Thor. They ran outside of the Avengers Compound to see a massive ship enter in. Thor said it was Thanos and a blue purple portal opened from above and it was none other than the Incredible Hulk now known as Maestro. Tony told Banner that they were worried and that he was late for the party but Thor knew this wasn’t their Hulk. Hulk was wearing Thanos’s armor with the Power Stone on the middle of his chest. Hulk threw a dead body of Thanos saying that they left him behind for 9 years and now he was coming back for revenge. He explained that he was suffering for years battling aliens in space trying to keep the timeline intact but after having a taste of the Power Stone he wanted them all for himself. Ant-Man, War Machine, Hawkeye and Black Widow came outside the compound but told them not to move. There was a standoff with Maestro and the Avengers. “Once we mess something up in the timeline there’s always something that will be willing to punch back and it seems like that’s just what we did”. Tony said to the Avengers. Black Widow ran calling for Bruce telling him not to do this but they could bring everybody back and Maestro said that he was going to be doing that but now he was going to keep the Power for himself. He called Thanos and Tony Stark a fool jumping in smashing the ground. Thor and Iron Man became off balanced from the attack as the ground was shook cracking and breaking. They could see the look in Hulk’s eyes though he definitely wasn’t normal. He had too much power and the taste of it only led to him wanting more. The universe is forever changed when Hulk switches roles with Thanos but since Hulk doesn’t have an army he is somewhat easy to defeat. During the battle Maestro grabbed Thor by the leg throwing him into Iron Man. He used the Power Stone on Iron Man throwing him to the ground and Ant-Man turned huge defending the Avengers Compound but Maestro jumped on his arm running on it and he used the stone smashing it into Ant-Man’s face and he fell into the compound turning back into a regular sized man but the roof would still be destroyed with Black Widow and War Machine trying to stop Maestro but Hulk picked up War Machine crushing and smashing him to the ground. Rocket was still inside the building and he would quickly run getting the Gauntlet from the laboratory but he was trapped. Maestro smashed his way through everything making it a little easy. Rocket skipped away getting out of the compound running near the front entrance and Iron Man slowly got up seeing that he had the Gauntlet. He asked Rocket to give it to him and he grabbed the Gauntlet putting it on his arm. He was being slowly destroyed from all the raw power and Maestro destroyed the compound and he saw everyone that he loved defeated. Iron Man used the Power of the stones but it wasn’t enough. It was beaming ripping Tony’s arm off and Maestro was walking towards Tony looking closer and closer and Tony couldn’t wield the Gauntlet any longer. Maestro grabbed Iron Man by the neck throwing him aside. He picked up the glove saying that he would become all powerful. Maestro removed the Gauntet from Tony and added the Power Stone from his chest into the Gauntlet and he was about to snap his fingers and save everybody but Thor got back up using his axe throwing into Hulk’s head. Green blood started spilling from his head and Thor yelled that he was sorry as tears streamed down his eyes but Maestro said that he should have gotten by the arm. Maestro snapped bringing everybody back and he used the rest of the Gauntlet’s powers on Thor. Thor was on the ground seeing Maestro aiming the Gauntlet on his face. “Steve wouldn’t have wanted this and he can come back” Tony yelled at Maestro as he dropped the Gauntlet on the ground. Maestro smiled at Tony saying the future would be imperfect for them and he used the Gauntlet on Thor creating a massive shockwave throughout the city. The revived Avengers and Guardians along with the rest of the armies from the Ravagers, Wakanda, Asgard and Masters of the Mystic Arts arrived to aid the Avengers against Thanos only to see that Thanos is already dead and they saw someone big and strong. It was none other than the Maestro himself who the rest thought to be the Hulk. Maestro told them that “Bruce Banner is still here but there’s no more Hulk. There is only Maestro now”. Everyone was horrified to see that their strongest ally has now fallen to the dark side. Black Panther shouted “Wakanda Forever” and the rest of the Avengers joined them as the final battle between Maestro and the Avengers has begun…

Black Widow and the Hulk

In this universe Bruce Banner in his professor Hulk form was dispatched to Vormir instead of Clint. Bruce believes that he is more suitable to go to Vormir as its unknown territories. Clint himself went to New York City in 2012 with Ant-Man, Captain America and Iron Man. As Bruce and Natasha arrived at Vormir they were greeted by the Red Skull. The Red Skull reveals that a soul needs to be sacrificed to obtain the Soul Stone. Bruce was wondering on what the next course of action should be. He tried with coming up with ways to obtain the Soul Stone without the need to sacrifice himself or Natasha. Natasha then decided to volunteer herself to be sacrificed as she had done many sins in the past. She was grateful to the Avengers for the next chapter in her life and Banner then said that he has decided to sacrifice himself instead. The 2 tussled and fought briefly but Banner easily overpowered her in his Hulk form. Bruce said that he will sacrifice himself since he has merged his intelligence with the Hulk’s strength in the 5 years since the Blip. There was a time when he was more of a monster than a hero especially during these episodes of the Avengers and the events with Ultron where his damage was severe to the public. He also noted that while he barely remembered what happened on Sakaar he knew that he was a brutal fighting machine and killed other gladiators. Natasha said that this doesn’t justify the sins compared to what she has done in her earlier life. Bruce said that he doesn’t know if he will survive the fall or it will be a bargain for the Soul Stone. Will it be successful or not Bruce knocked out Natasha unconscious before leaping down from Vormir. As he was being plunged into the ground Bruce talked to the Hulk in his mind where Hulk said that although Banner was a puny creature Hulk still enjoyed the fact that he merged with Banner. Hulk then said that he will sacrifice himself instead. Bruce didn’t understand what was going on as he plunged to the surface. Sometime later Bruce woke up in his human form at Vormir. He wondered what was going on and tried to talk with the Hulk form but there was no response. Bruce saw in his hands a glowing light realizing that it was the Soul Stone. Realizing that the Hulk was no longer a part of him Bruce got up and used the Pym particles to get back to 2023. Meanwhile, in 2012 at the Sanctum Sanctorum Clint was assigned to retrieve the Time Stone from the Ancient One. He knew that the Ancient One was more powerful than him and decided to reason with her. Just like in our universe where she was hesitant to give the Time Stone Clint then tells her about Strange giving the Time Stone away in the future where they battled against Thanos. Surprised at this the Ancient One surrenders the Time Stone to Clint and in exchange they will return the stones to their proper points in time. Everyone else including Natasha returned back to the Avengers Compound. They were back with their stones except Bruce and present day Nebula. Natasha was crying and telling the others on how Bruce has sacrificed himself for the Soul Stone. However, Captain America was surprised that Natasha did not possess the Soul Stone. He believes that only Bruce has sacrificed himself. The Soul Stone should appear in her possession. Just then they saw the Time Machine charging up again. Appearing from the Time Machine was Bruce Banner in his human form. There was no more smart Hulk. Thor laughed while Natasha rushed and hugged Bruce. Bruce said that the other guy had sacrificed himself in return for his life. They then gave the Soul Stone to Tony who implanted the other stones on the nano Gauntlet that Tony and Rocket had built earlier. Natasha said that she was glad that Bruce was still alive. However, a problem arises now as they weren’t unsure of who was going to wield the Gauntlet. The OG plan was to have Bruce snap as he was the most resistant to the radiation from the Gauntlet. Tony wanted to do it but Captain America stopped him. Cap said that snapping could ultimately kill the other person which was what they were trying to avoid. Thor then said that among all of the others he was the only suitable choice left. Thor said that he owes it to his past mistakes of not killing Thanos properly that caused the entire mess to unfold. Steve Rogers warned him that even as the God of Thunder there is serious damage caused by the wielder of the Gauntlet. Thor braved himself and was about to wear the Gauntlet before they saw a bright light in the sky. Tony recognized the light and saw it was none other than Captain Marvel alias Carol Danvers herself. Carol Danvers told the others that she will wield the Gauntlet and Snap instead. She says that her cosmic powers will be able to tank the damage from the Gauntet and Thor was hesitant at first as he wanted to do it for his past mistakes. However, Carol replied saying that wielding and snapping for an unfit Thor could result in his death even if he is a god. The others agreed as Carol was the only one in top form who could withstand the damage. Carol groaned as she wielded the Gauntlet with the cosmic energy floating within her. Carol then Snapped and reversed Thanos’s disintegrations 5 years ago. Carol did not sustain much damage but she was weakened after the Snap. As she removed the Gauntlet from her hand Thanos and his warships started bombarding the entire Avengers Compound. Just like our Endgame universe the main trio Captain America, Thor and Iron Man would charge into battle against the mad Titan. Carol would assist as well but the damage taken from the snap earlier did not help much during the battle against Thanos. Much of our Endgame universe will play out the same where a restored Doctor Strange will arrive with the other Avengers, Ravagers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Asgardians and Wakanda arriving to fight against Thanos’s armies. Thanos later than overpowered Thor, Tony and Cap reaching for the Gauntlet. Before he could snap Tony has obtained the stones and transferred them into his own Gauntlet instead. Thor knows that this is the final chance at redemption and flew towards Tony. Thor told Tony to pass the Gauntlet to him as he still has a family unlike Thor. Tony decided to listen to Thor as the God of Thunder wielded the Gauntlet instead. Thor looked at Thanos and told him that “This is for the past 5 years” before he snapped. Thanos and his armies started disintegrating from Thor’s snap. Thanos was defeated but Thor himself lost the arm that wielded the Gauntlet. As Thor was unfit the damage he took was far greater. Thor passed out from the damage and bleeding some time later. Thor woke up with a new vibranium arm created by Shuri. Black Panther gave Thor the arm as a sign of gratitude. Thor then equipped himself with the vibranium arm and decided to join the Guardians of the Galaxy. Valkyrie was appointed as the new ruler of New Asgard and Rogers would return the Stones and the hammer to the proper timelines and remained in the past to live with Carter. Tony continued living with his family Pepper and Morgan while he has quit Iron Man for good. Tony was providing mentorship for both Peter and another genius named Riri Williams who would later become the IronHeart. Bruce and Natasha quit the Avengers and started dating. They left their past behind and started on a remote island from the rest of the world…

THE END!

And that is going to be it for what if other Avengers had gone to Vormir in Endgame. I wanted to make 2 stories in 1 fan fiction because I wanted to give these fan fictions a new twist giving the chance to explore other heroes going to Vormir instead of Black Widow and Hawkeye especially I liked how the 1st one ended with Maestro VS the Avengers and I wanna leave the fate of the battle to u guys. ¿What do you’ll think will happen there? ¿Do you’ll think the Avengers will win against Maestro or let Maestro defeat them leading to him conquering and destroying the world? Do make sure to be on the lookout for more what ifs coming soon. Take care guys and have a fantastic day. Peace out!

#marvel studios #infinity saga

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roseroro · 2 years

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Pathologic 2 areas that give me life, feel free to add your own

Peter's whole place, featuring the shoe

The Soul-and-a-Half Fortress

The bulls rocks scattered around town (this one is sleepy don't wake him up >:( ), adding the artbook stuff for those i really like them

Behind the Shelter

The Nutshell's lantern corner

All the Stairways to Heaven

The Stillwater

#pathologic #pathologic 2 #is the shoe at Peter's place a Ready-made attempt #also love that he has two bathtubs now counting the one outside but uh #too bad he has a bed lol ((tho he 100% still sleeps in the bathtub))#also the lanterns at the Soul-and-a-Half Fortress are Polyhedron blueprints if you look closely #so like did they steal them from there? biggest heist in the universe #my post

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deans-haunted-baby · 4 years

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Curious. What do you mean by Dust till Dawn going against it's Characters? I know I have my own feelings, or confusion, with how they left Kate's story.

From Dusk Till Dawn effectively character assassinated every single character in the very last episode including Kate Fuller. No one is acting like themselves in that series finale it's like some deranged fanfic writer came aboard and hijacked the show while no one was looking. If you thought 15x18 & 15x19 of Supernatural were bad and believe me they really are; those episodes are minorly salvageable against the slaughterhouse that Dusk 3x10 was. It utterly contradicts and ignores everything the show put forward in all 3 seasons. I will never watch that episode again.

I'll first explain what that piece of shit did to the show's lead protagonists, the Gecko brothers. Regardless of how you or anyone else feels about Supernatural's series finale; that show was a saint to Sam and Dean's storyline beginning to end compared to how From Dusk Till Dawn definitively butchered Richie and Seth. I'm sad saying this because Zane Holtz and DJ Controna are outstanding as these characters. I freaking love their chemistry man, it's a great rival to J2! They're the badass dark clones of the Winchesters. Their arc starts out fascinatingly complex because they went from cold-blooded criminals/bad guys and meanwhile during their escape over the Mexican border with this hostage family the audience is told pretty quick by Professor Aiden Tanner that the Geckos are destined to become these foresworn warriors The Mayan Hero Twins in an ancient prophecy (based on real Mesoamerican lore) who battle the Underworld. So right away the show is telling us ahead where Seth and Richie are suppose to end up in their journey and when you introduce a storyline this big I expect a satisfying payoff.

At the end of season 1, Richie Gecko is *SPOILER ALERT* transformed into a culebra (snake-vampire) while Seth Gecko remains human symbolizing their night and day Hero Twin counterparts from the legend. And they're separated in the first half of season 2 where both try to navigate this new supernatural world they've stumbled on individually. What they find, no different than the Winchesters, is that neither can function properly without the other making their destiny all the more valid. That season is practically constructed like their swan song to the criminal lifestyle since the brothers are meant to become more than crooks; and since Richie's a vampire they can't ever go back to basics. Their adopted father aka uncle Eddie actually says the line "this is my swan song" in 2x07 to Seth and Richie in reference to their final heist together which is not a coincidence. That's the writers telling us that the Gecko Brothers' role in the show is going to shift from anti-heroes to heroes very soon. Eddie and Kate Fuller's fates in S2 act as the primary catalysts for this transition taking shape in the finale.

Going into season 3 it's business as usual for the boys until the prophecy of the twins officially rips a hole in the damn universe via demon queen Amaru. Who's now possessing Kate. Throughout that season Seth and Richie embark on a journey of heroism; find themselves battling monsters, actually saving civilians and dealing with their own personal demons (guilt and remorse over past sins). That year is presented as their redemption arc and final phase into their new role. No one ever tells them about their destiny (despite most of the other characters knowing) but we as the audience are already aware as we watch the brothers in action. The best episode is without a doubt 3x06 the crown jewel of From Dusk Till Dawn because it's about overcoming the darkness inside. And who best represents that than Richie; the show's most important central character whom began the series as a deadly clairvoyant criminal into the tortured vampire hero struggling with his own humanity. Now I won't spoil the whole episode for anyone who hasn't seen it or the show in general but it's an incredible moment of character development for both the Gecko brothers. Not only does it cement their powerful bond it's the episode that defines who these two are once and for all. The ones who lead the battle between good and evil; keep the balance of light and darkness. One day I plan to do an entire analysis of that episode because it's so fucking brilliant and shot so incredibly eerie at the same time 😁

You want to know what 3x10 does to these characters? It shits all over their entire storyline and pisses away THREE FUCKING SEASONS of character development. Just flushes it all down the toilet rendering everything they've ever done up to that point completely pointless! Their destiny which is the WHOLE POINT OF THE SHOW is suddenly dropped last minute and the Geckos hit reset on their former criminal escapades; dragging Kate along with them. I hate that finale with the fire of a thousand suns for what it does to Richie and Seth 😡

Moving on to Carlos Madrigal. He is the best villain character in the history of show villains hands down. I can actually say that without blinking. Wilmer Valderama is phenomenal, he steals the show as Carlos. He's is so freaking awesome, evil and badass! I just want to keep seeing this man tear things apart while being the sexy asshole he is 😈For all intents and purposes I don't want to spoil his whole storyline on the show for those following me in case they're interested. But what I will say is 3x10 destroys this character; so don't watch it if you want to keep the memory of who he was alive. I'm actually depressed over what was done to him as much as I feel sorry for Wilmer having to perform that shitty script. It's laughable in a very bad way. Gotta hand it to the writers and showrunners of FDTD they certainly knew how to humiliate their best characters in this series. Carlos basically goes from charismatic yet lethal Hannibal Lecter to a very captain obvious Gandolf caricature. Yah you heard that right, it's really fucking sad.

Next we have Freddie Gonzalez; the audience's avatar into the series. This character is connected to everyone on the show for a reason because of the crucial part he plays in this universe. The "Peacekeeper" destined to police the line between the supernatural world from the human world. In the beginning he's a Texas deputy on a quest to avenge the murder of his father figure/partner Earl McGraw via the Gecko Brothers. But once he steps in that territory of monsters there's no going back. And FDTD repeatedly tells him and the audience this in the first 2 seasons. But then 3x10 pulls the ultimate fuckery by giving him the most cliched, nonsensical hallmark ending effectively cancelling out his entire purpose in the series. He instantly forgets that he ever cared about Kate, watching her bleed out on the ground, then leaves the Geckos high and dry rushing his family (who isn't injured) to the hospital. And he stays there while the battle continues 😣

Kate and Scott Fuller OMG words cannot describe my anger over what was done to them so I'll make it fast. I'll begin with Kate the bright light and heart of the series. Her arc in the first two seasons is excellent. It's emotionally driven because she begins as an ordinary girl in broken yet seemingly-happy family to a young woman finding her way around the supernatural world maintaining her faith and moral compos while trying to help her brother after he's *SPOILER ALERT* been turned into a vampire; paralleling the Geckos's situation. Scott being only a 16 year old kid, like Richie, struggles immensely after his transformation; searching for meaning as a cursed individual and coping with his duality. He was already different to begin with so being a vampire adds some interesting layers to his character.

Btw Kate plays a vital role in Richie and Seth's lives, though in my opinion is more strongly connected to Richie. The show even goes as far as developing the early glimpses of a romantic arc between Kate and Richie (seeing as they kiss twice) with angst at the end of season 2 that is never resolved. You want to know why it wasn't? Not only does season 3 mute Kate's voice and agency but 3x10 ruins her character and demolishes her whole arc with Richie (who spent all of season 3 trying to save her) at the last second due to fan pressure of those who shipped her with Seth. They don't exchange one word nor barely look at one another it's like seasons 1&2 never happened. This is the biggest fuck you to fans of these characters I've ever witnessed in a series and they did my boys Adam and Michael so dirty in Supernatural. Poor Scott whom the show enjoyed kicking around all season barely gets a thing to do in that series finale either than listening to his sister and Seth gab about prom lol. Yah you heard me I'm not making this shit up I swear. Then he gets abandoned by Kate while she goes off to be a bank robber with the character assassinated versions of Seth and Richie. How extraordinary 😖

Santanico Pandemonium is really the only character in the series who manages to get out unscathed. HOWEVER her arc is handled very poorly beginning to end. They set up an arc between her and Seth that also goes absolutely nowhere. Give her zero closure with Richie whom she sired, dated and used in S2. And randomly throw her in a scene with Kate that makes no fucking sense after these two had nothing to do with one another all series. On top of that Santanico is barely in season 3 so by the time the show wraps her arc feels incomplete.

Other characters go missing that no one notices, the new bad guy whom they've set up at the end is just left hanging. And Richie Gecko, you know the show’s other lead, is horribly sidelined after 3x06 to make way for the Seth Gecko solo show. When I say FDTD series finale is bad I mean it's really fucking terrible and blasphemous.

#from dusk till dawn: the series #from dusk till dawn #richie gecko #seth gecko #kate fuller #carlos madrigal #fdtd #scott fuller #kichie #richiekate #seth x richie #freddie gonzalez #Santanico Pandemonium #anti fdtd 3x10 #the Gecko brothers

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taetaesbaebaepsae · 5 years

Text

Villainous

A/n: This is a commission that spiraled out of control, omg, there’s so much angst and backstory I hope anyone reads this oof

Summary: It infuriates Yoongi, that the hero has something he doesn’t, and he takes it for himself, planning to use you for bait…but he hadn’t counted on how you’d affect him.

Warnings: oh boy, a lot of angst, abandoned boys, a little violence, some involuntary manslaughter (don’t judge listen I love my ragtag villain boys), mention of some emotional abuse, mention of sexual abuse (in a backstory), there’s just a lot going on here, I have 545 ideas for one shots in this universe

Word Count: 4586

He finds out that you're his arch nemesis's new squeeze by accident.

It wasn't as if any of his crew remembered you, he'd made sure of that before he'd gone to prison.

It was the new kid, Jungkook who'd told him, almost as an afterthought. "Shin has a new girl."

Yoongi had been playing cards with Seokjin, appearing to barely listen, but he's hyperfocused, tuning in on everyone's thoughts..

"In his crew?" He asks finally, discarding the 2 of clubs.

"I must be crazy, playing rummy with a mind bender," Seokjin mutters in a disgusted tone.

Yoongi's mouth turns at one corner. "Sometime today, Jeon." He snaps.

"N-no." The kid stutters. "His girl."

Yoongi snorts. "Poor soul."

He's only half paying attention, but then a pair of familiar doe eyes flash through Jungkook's mind, and Yoongi falters, dropping the wrong card in the discard pile.

"Yes!" Seokjin crows, picking it up. Then he narrows his eyes. "Are you letting me win?"

"Shut up," Yoongi mumbles, rubbing at his temples.

He'd been in prison less than six weeks. Less than six weeks, and already….

"Her name is Y/n," Jungkook continues dreamily, and Yoongi barks out a bitter laugh.

It wasn't surprising, how much of you Jungkook had taken in on his short scouting trip. The kid had always had a little crush on you, ever since the first day he joined the crew, when you'd been in the kitchen, and looked back at him over his shoulder.

"You like grilled cheese, kid?" You'd asked, and that'd been it, Jungkook had stars in his eyes every time he looked at you.

Yoongi had thought it was cute, then, but now, it makes his chest tight, makes his stomach roll, how Jungkook is thinking of the outer swell of your breast, your hair bouncing against your throat, and when Jungkook thinks of Shin's big forearm around your waist, Yoongi tosses his cards down on the table.

"Aish!' Seokjin protests, but Yoongi stands, nearly knocking over the chair, and Seokjin clams up.

Jungkook is almost wringing his hands, and Yoongi knows he's worried he's done something wrong, can see it in his thoughts, so he puts a hand on the kid's shoulder.

"New plan. Bring her to me."

***

Jungkook does what he's told. And fast. Of course, that's what he does, he's fast and eager and he'd run the 55 miles from Busan to Daegu in fifteen minutes when he was 14, away from home over some stupid fight with his dad. He'd been too scared and lost to find his way home and Yoongi and Taehyung had found him sniffling in the back alley behind the abandoned building they'd been living in.

It's sad to think about how Jungkook could've just called home, how his parents might have understood and accepted him, but it's not like they don't all have sad stories, Yoongi's crew.

Yoongi had met Taehyung first, in the psych ward when Yoongi had been 10 and Taehyung 8 and he'd been all big eyes and snotty nose, asking Yoongi a hundred questions, holding his hand tight when he realized he could, realized Yoongi could suppress that part of his brain that triggered his super strength. The part of his brain that had let him crush his baby sister when he'd hugged her, when his parents had let them hold her after she came home from the hospital.

Taehyung had never been more than a hundred feet from him ever since, even when Yoongi told him why he was in the psych ward, because he'd written a poem for a girl he liked in school and when she'd laughed in his face he got so mad and humiliated he wished she were dead and then ...she was, from a brain aneurysm, seizing on the floor in front of him.

He'd stopped talking for two years.

They met Jungkook by accident, and when the three of them got raided by Shin and the few boys he'd recruited, when their girl with the banshee powers burst out every window in the building they'd been living in and their invisible boy had stolen all their food and money, Yoongi decided to start his own crew.

Seokjin had been next, in a juvenile detention center because that's where they all ended up, eventually. He was in for arson but the papers said the dorm containing Seokjin, his girlfriend, and his best friend had burnt to ashes, almost like it had been napalmed, with Seokjin escaping without a single burn.

When Jungkook zipped Taehyung and Yoongi inside, the tall, broad shouldered boy had been in a steel room with smoke boiling from under the door.

Luckily, Yoongi knew what part of the brain to suppress and Taehyung could bust the hinges on that steel door and Jungkook was quick enough to whisk them all out of there.

Turns out that girlfriend had been fucking his best friend and Yoongi thought they kind of deserved it, anyway, but it still took months to talk Seokjin into using his powers again.

Then Jungkook told him about this boy he'd met in Busan who he swore had changed his eye and hair color in an instant when they had gotten caught shoplifting.

His name was Jimin and when they found him he'd been on the streets and instead of a boy he'd shifted into a girl, specifically his foster father's dead daughter so that he wouldn't hit him so much. But when he'd come into his bedroom late at night, Jimin had stabbed him in the jugular with a ballpoint pen.

Jimin had been the slowest to trust them but they'd gave him a bed and no one tried to touch him and it was the closest thing he'd ever been offered to home.

Then Hoseok, who'd come right to their door, wearing dark sunglasses and barely making eye contact. He'd seen the papers where they'd had a skirmish with the heroes and fancied himself a villain because he'd come into his powers late, killed his fiancee in her wedding dress when he'd been unable to control his joy and beams of electricity shot from his eyes and stopped her heart.

Hoseok had been difficult at first, breaking down when he clipped a security guard while shooting electricity into the keypad lock, but Yoongi had set him straight with a bitter laugh.

"I killed a fucking nine year old just because I thought about it, Hoseok, and you can't take a fucking security guard with a burn on his arm? Fuck you. You get to wear a fucking pair of sunglasses and forget about it, yeah? I get pissed off at one of you for cheating at rummy and have to focus not to burst a blood vessel in your fucking brain. Tae could kill you during fucking flag football. Seokjin could burn this whole place down if he has a fucking bad dream. Get your shit together."

After that, Hoseok kept his mouth shut, did the exercises to stay focused, quit complaining.

Namjoon was the last to join the crew, having been Shin's biggest weapon for years, ever since Shin had found him sleeping on a park bench in the rain, totally dry because he could control the clouds.

After a big battle in which Namjoon had flooded parts of the city, Yoongi spat out something that made Namjoon think twice about his loyalty to Shin.

"You don't have to steal. You don't have to hurt people," Namjoon had said in his even, calm voice, and Yoongi scoffed.

"At least we only hurt people who deserve it. How many innocents do you think drowned in this flood today, Namjoon? How many in that earthquake last month, trapped under the rubble?"

Namjoon couldn't shake the way it made him feel and he'd gone to Shin, who'd just shrugged.

"Gotta break a few eggs to make an omelette, Joonie."

So Namjoon left, came to Yoongi with intel because people aren't fucking eggs and at least Yoongi could help him focus it with his mindbending.

They'd become more brothers than a crew by the time you came around, and everyone was wary at first because you didn't have any powers.

Yoongi understood but he could read your mind, knew there was no ill intent and maybe he was a little naive to think it would all go smoothly, that Shin wouldn't find out and try to use you.

And use you he did, trying to woo you to his side but you, Yoongi's smart girl, you'd used that to your advantage, batted your doe eyes and pretended to be interested.

Yoongi hadn't liked it, not even a little, had been anxious for you and, if he were honest, a little jealous, when he saw in your mind how you'd smiled and cooed at Shin.

But it got them the right intel for the biggest heist they'd done yet, Shin's personal bank, where the so called "heroes" kept all that money they spent on fucking penthouses and caviar or whatever the fuck they ate.

Yoongi doesn't know where it went wrong but he'd heard sirens and called his crew to him, given himself a nosebleed erasing every memory of you so that no one could beat it out of them.

He'll never forget the way you looked at him, eyes wide, forehead pressed to his.

"Don't, Yoongi. Not me. Don't make me forget you, please."

He'd stroked your hair, twirled a curl between his fingers. "I'll make you remember again, doll. I'll make you remember just as soon as things are safe."

"What if things are never safe, Yoongi?"

He'd smiled at you, kissed you soft, not even realizing his nose was bleeding until he saw the blood smearing your mouth.

He'd watched the light of recognition fade from your eyes, and it'd hurt so much more than he'd expected.

It hurts worse, now, with you panting, your curls sweaty and sticking to your forehead, you banging against the glass and glaring at him with absolutely no recognition at all.

You'd been kicking and screaming when Jungkook brought you in and Yoongi hadn't know what else to do but put you in Tae's room.

The creation of Tae's special room had been necessary after an unfortunate incident with one of Shin's girls a couple of months back, a room that was made of the strongest, reinforced glass, like the glass they used to make shark tanks.

Taehyung was standing next to him, biting his nails down to the quick. "Yoongi...what if I need the room while she's in there?"

Yoongi rolls his head on his shoulders, frustrated. "You won't, Tae."

"You don't know that! I might! What if something happens, like it did with…" He trails off, face almost pained, and Yoongi softens.

"I know. I know, Tae. You don't have to say her name." He takes Taehyung's hand where he's worrying at his cuticles and holds it, squeezes it to ground him.

Taehyung sighs and leans into him a bit, and Yoongi feels a wave of affection for his touch starved friend.

"I'll calm her down, take her to my room if it comes to that, yeah?"

Taehyung nods, squeezes his hand back so gently anyone but Yoongi might not notice.

Yoongi is watching you, watching you sit down in the one metal chair in the room, crossing your arms over your chest and sulking, and suddenly he wants so badly to tell his best friend. Suddenly he wants his advice, wants to talk things out, ask Taehyung what he should do next.

Something pulls in Yoongi to make you remember, look you in your eyes and watch the light and love come back into them, but another part of him, the cunning part, the villain part, knows that you’ll have intel on Shin, deep intel, things he’d never been able to know before. That intel will hurt, like how you know where Shin’s bedroom is and how he sleeps, how he fucks, probably, and he knows that and if you remember, you’ll know that too, and hide it from him in that little part of your mind you’d created when you’d been together, keep your secrets.

And of course it’s Taehyung he wants to ask, sweet Taehyung, his best friend for all these years, but he also knows Taehyung might not react well to remembering...to knowing someone he trusted with his mind for all these years had altered his memories.

In the end, he decides to start small, to reverse the memories for Taehyung and Namjoon together, so that maybe Namjoon’s calming voice can help him understand.

He knows Namjoon will understand, knows Namjoon will understand more than anyone that sometimes you have to do the wrong thing for the right reasons.

Yoongi calls them both into his office and he hates how nervous Taehyung looks, how he’s fidgeting. Namjoon just stands there, hands behind his back, steady, as always.

“I needed you two because I need your advice...and I want to say I’m sorry that I had to erase your memories.”

Namjoon doesn’t react, but Taehyung blinks, startled.

“You...you did what?”

Yoongi sighs and closes his eyes, turns it back on, focusing on that one section of memory he’d boxed up in each of them, and then Namjoon does react, taking in a sharp breath at the rush of memories.

Taehyung sits down hard in the chair opposite Yoongi’s desk, hands tight on the arms of the chair.

“Tae Tae-” Yoongi stands, comes around the desk. Namjoon looks over at Taehyung, alarm evident on his face.

“Don’t,” he says, voice shaking. “Don’t you fucking touch me, Yoongi, you know better, you know you can’t touch me when I’m…”

“Hey, bubs, it’s okay,” Namjoon says, softly, and Taehyung jerks his gaze to the taller man.

“Don’t tell me it’s fucking okay, Joon. It’s not okay. Don’t you get it? He’s already in our heads, all the time, and I thought...I thought it was to help us but-”

“It is! It is, Tae, I did it so that they couldn’t get information from you, so that-”

That’s when Taehyung breaks the chair, it bursts under his hands like it’s made of popsicle sticks when he stands up.

“I would never give up one of our own! Never! They’d have to fucking kill me first, and you know that!”

“That’s what I was afraid of,” Yoongi says, softly, and something in Taehyung’s face softens.

Namjoon makes a mistake puts a hand on Taehyung’s shoulder too soon and Yoongi winces when he hears it pop.

Namjoon cries out, but only for a moment, and Taehyung’s face...it’s a knife in Yoongi’s gut, every time this happens.

Taehyung crosses his arms over his chest, trapping his hands under his armpits, shaking all over, and Yoongi comes toward him, trying to find that switch in Taehyung’s brain to calm him but he’s all over the place and he can’t.

“Joonie, I’m sorry,” Taehyung sobs, fat tears streaming down his face. “I’m so sorry.” He looks to Yoongi, eyes wild and wet. “I need the room.”

“Tae, you don’t, we just need to calm down-”

“I need the fucking room!” He yells, and Yoongi nods and leads him there without touching him, feeling like shit for all of this, for any of this. God, it’s so fucked up that he’s able to do any of this, that he’s been given this fucking curse…

And then there’s you, there’s you with your chin jutted out defiantly but he knows you’re scared, can read it in your mind how terrified you are, how Shin’s told you over and over what a monster Yoongi is, how he’ll leave you drooling and helpless with no memories and no way to ever make new ones, and he hates Shin and he hates himself when he hauls you out of there into his bedroom, when you fight him and he has to shove you in the bedroom and lean his back against the door, breathing hard.

Turns out Namjoon’s shoulder isn’t broken, just dislocated, and Hoseok pops it back in while Namjoon bites down on his belt and after that it’s just a handmade sling for a few weeks.

Yoongi thanks God for Hoseok’s EMT training prior to joining, and goes to tell Taehyung the good news, but Taehyung isn’t listening.

He's balled up in the corner of the room and humming to himself, and Yoongi is so fucking tired when he comes to his room that you almost barrel right past him.

He catches you by the shoulders and you struggle and he looks you right in the eye.

"Shin told you what I can do, yeah? You know I could paralyze you with a fucking thought. So calm. Down."

You freeze, and he hates the flash of fear in your eyes but he can still see you back behind your eyes, how you're still defying him even as you sit down on the bed, crossing your arms.

"I'm not telling you anything."

Yoongi fights the smile that tugs at the corner of his mouth. "You don't have to, doll. I can read your mind, you know."

You shake your head. "He taught me how to compartmentalize. Just in case this happened. I can fight you until he gets here."

Yoongi barks out a laugh at that.

"You think he'll come for you?"

Something flashes in your eyes and your lip trembles, just for a second. "H-he loves me."

Yoongi knows that shouldn't make him angry. He knows he did this, that you'd begged him not to and he'd done it anyway but even so blood rushes to his face and he slams his hand down on his nightstand and you flinch.

"Let me tell you something, sweetheart. Shin Junyoung has never loved anything in his whole miserable life except himself. And he never would have had a chance with you if-"

You shake your head, put your hands over your ears. "He loves me and I love him. He loves me and I love him."

You chant it over and over, like a mantra, so much that he can't even read your thoughts and he wants to scream, has to leave the room before he jerks your hands from your ears and makes you remember, breathing hard.

He's fucking mad, he could burst Shin's brain with a single thought right now but there's broken glass in his chest because some part of that was true, he felt it coming off you in waves and every single bit of this was his fault.

He spends the night on the floor next to Taehyung's room with a bottle of bourbon, and wakes up with a pounding headache and Tae knocking on the glass softly.

"I'm ready to come out now," he says hoarsely, eyes red rimmed, and Yoongi's so grateful he feels tears welling in his eyes.

Taehyung cleans up and comes down to breakfast and Namjoon is in the kitchen, pouring coffee with his good arm.

Taehyung takes in a deep breath and leans his head against Namjoon's shoulder, gently.

"I'm sorry," he says softly, brokenly, and Yoongi watches, feeling a wave of affection for his friends, his brothers, when Namjoon flashes a dimpled smile and pats Taehyung on the top of the head.

At breakfast,Yoongi can't eat, feeling like there's rocks in his stomach.

"So, from your drunken ramblings last night, I take it you haven't given her the memories back yet?" Taehyung says, almost casually, popping a slice of bacon into his mouth.

Yoongi shakes his head. "There's so much intel we could get," he mumbles.

"You know if you weren't my best friend, I'd snap you like a twig for saying that."

Yoongi blinks at him, a little shocked.

"I remember everything now, and I know how much she loved you, Yoongi. You're telling me intel on Shin is more important than that?"

Yoongi frowns. "No. No, I just…" he sighs and puts his head on the table. "I just feel like if I don't get something, all of this is for nothing."

"She'd tell you anyway, Yoongi. You know she would."

"Not the good stuff," he mumbles. "Not where he sleeps, or how he sleeps…"

"What, you want her to tell you how he fucks, or…"

Yoongi lifts his head to glare at his friend, and Taehyung just smiles, lifting an eyebrow.

"Do what you want, bubs, but you're gonna snap and make her remember and it'd be easier if you were calm when you do it."

Taehyung takes his plate to the kitchen and leaves Yoongi alone to think about how the fuck to do any of this.

It's not Yoongi but Hoseok who brings you breakfast. In fact, you don't see Yoongi alone for two days.

Shin had told you about all of them, made you read about them, sitting you on his lap with a big binder with blurry photos of them and their powers, their weaknesses.

You never thought much about it, assumed it was for your protection, but the more you're away from him, the more you wonder.

Hoseok's nice to you, has a bright smile when you thank him in a small voice, and were it not for the dark sunglasses and the way he wouldn't meet your eyes, you'd never notice anything out of the ordinary.

The kid, Jungkook, he had been nice too, apologizing over and over for having to hold you tight and restrain you.

It's the shapeshifter, Jimin, or the snake as Shin called him, and Taehyung, the one Shin had said could snap your spine, who bring you lunch.

They sit for a while and talk with you, and you find yourself laughing at something Taehyung said and wondering how this puppy eyed man could be as dangerous as Shin had said.

There's something almost familiar about all of them, and they're all so much more handsome than the blurry pictures had shown, and maybe you felt like you knew them because of how much Shin had forced you to study them but….

Everything was different, here. They all seemed so close, no stiff shoulders and "yes sir, no sir," and even when Yoongi gave an order, they discussed it.

There were times, in that couple of days, when you could have escaped, although you know the kid could catch you easily, or Yoongi could stop your brain from speaking to your muscles, but you don't feel like a prisoner.

You hear arguing amongst them only once, and you think it's the one with the fire, although you don't know why, since you can only hear his voice.

Your ear is pressed up against the door but you can only catch a few words..

"You fucked with our memories? We all-"

Then Yoongi opens the door and you fall forward into his arms, your nose brushing against his.

You can't say why your breath catches in your chest, why his hand smoothing the curls at the back of your head feels so familiar and soothing, but it makes you feel guilty, remembering Shin kissing you goodbye on that last day before he left that you shove him backwards and retreat to the bed.

Yoongi's eyes flash and you think idly that you should be afraid, but you aren't.

"Y/n, I need to tell you something."

This is when it happens. This is when he brainwashes you, this is what Shin had warned you about and he'd told you over and over that if it happened, he'd kill you because you wouldn't be you anymore. Because you wouldn't be his.

You clap your hands over your ears and start the chant again but it's too late, you'd neglected to hide your thoughts and Yoongi climbs onto the bed, taking your hands in his own, glaring at you.

"He said...he said he'd kill you?" His voice is firm but also calm, he isn't raising his voice.

In fact, he hasn't raised his voice to you at all, not like Shin…

You're still spewing out thoughts, you can't help it.

"He yelled at you? Y/n...baby...did he...did he ever hit you?"

Tears are threatening at the backs of your eyes and you shake your head fiercely, trying desperately to stop your thoughts, trying to remember that you love Shin, remembering his eyes and his smile.

Then Yoongi puts his forehead to yours.

"I'm sorry," he says, voice cracking. "I'm so sorry."

You feel something like fingers edging into your mind, and then everything changes.

At first, Yoongi is just mad because he's jealous and because he misses you so fucking much, but when he reads your thoughts and you're more afraid of Shin than Yoongi, more afraid of your so called boyfriend than the man you thought kidnapped you, the rage he feels is unbelievable.

If he'd been Seokjin, the whole room would've burst into flames.

But it gives way to sorrow so fast when he sees the tears in your eyes, when he realizes he did this, and he's not even surprised when you remember and burst into tears, pummeling his chest.

"Fuck you, Yoongi! You made me forget! You made me forget you and he-"

He tries to hold you but you push him so hard he almost falls of the bed and eventually he leaves the room, slides down against the door and puts his head in his hands.

He sits there all day, waiting for you, waiting until your thoughts turn from a rolling sea to a calmer lake.

You're sniffling when you open the door and he almost falls backward inside.

"Come and kiss me, you idiot," you say, and your voice is broken and hoarse but it's the most beautiful sound he's ever heard.

Your mouth on his is like coming back home, hands in your curls tight like he'll never let go, and when you murmur his name he feels like his heart will break.

Later, after you're lying with your head on his chest, you tell him everything, even the things he doesn't want to hear, even the things that make his chest ache and his stomach roll and he knows part of you thinks he deserves it for making you forget.

He does, after all, he does deserve it but when he covers his face with his hands after you tell him about the first night Shin got you into his bed, you roll on top of him and move them away, kiss his eyelids where he’s got them screwed shut and his pouty mouth.

“You did this for a reason, yeah? You didn’t want me hurt but you also needed the intel, and I’m giving it to you.”

He’s still pouting when he opens his eyes, but a smile tugs up the corner of his mouth. “You got my intel, all right, my tough girl.”

You smile back at him. “Damn straight, I did. I got everything you need to take him down, and how I did it doesn’t matter, right?”

He nods, smile fading a bit, and then you kiss him again.

“I love you. Even when I thought I loved him, I loved you. You can read my mind to see that’s true.” You say, staring down into his eyes fiercely.

Yoongi searches your face and then smiles.

“I don’t have to,” he says, and he kisses you over and over until there’s no trace of Shin in your mind at all.

#yoongi x reader #min yoongi x reader #suga x reader #yoongi imagine #supervillain!Yoongi #bts angst #bts fluff #emotional abuse tw #violence tw

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chiseler · 4 years

Text

Public Enemy Number 1, No. 1

It was unexpected and unlikely at the time, and would be completely unthinkable today, but on April 7th, 1923, the venerable and dusty New York Times ran an editorial which opened:

Something Almost Heroical

It is getting very difficult to keep in mind the fact that Gerald Chapman is a thoroughly bad man, whose right place is in jail. The difficulty arises from the fact that in his battle with the law he shows qualities—courage, persistence, ingenuity and skill—which it is impossible not to admire. The result is that unless one is careful, one finds one’s self hoping that he isn’t caught...

Sadly, at least to those millions of Americans who’d found in Chapman a new folk hero, he was indeed caught and, worse, sentenced to the gallows. Even H.L. Mencken, in a 1926 American Mercury essay in which he unwaveringly defended the death penalty, had to pause and offer a tip of the hat to Chapman as a unique and admirable individual, a man of grace and character who’d undertaken his chosen profession with a splash of real style. He stops short of suggesting Chapman be spared the noose, but does quietly mourn the loss of such a charming rarity.

Chapman was a bank robber, burglar, bootlegger, safecracker and con man who spent two-thirds of his life either in stir or on the lam. He was also a darling of the press who became the first legitimate celebrity outlaw of the twentieth century, paving the way for the likes of John Dillinger, Al Capone, Bonnie and Clyde and Pretty Boy Floyd.

In the summer of 1887, Gerald Chapman was born George Chartres either in Brooklyn or on the Lower East Side of Manhattan (the details are a little sketchy). Like so many other youngsters in that particular time and place, he began practicing the criminal arts early, and pulled his first stint in jail when he was fourteen. From that point, he would spend most of his formative years in assorted jails and prisons around New York State.

In 1908, while serving a term for bank robbery in Sing-Sing, a 21-year-old Chapman was transferred to the more experimental Auburn State Prison, where he would essentially begin his graduate studies with the stylish bank robber, counterfeiter and con man George “Dutch” Anderson.

Born Ivan Dahl von Teler, Dutch Anderson came from a wealthy and respectable Danish family. He grew up knowing all the finer things in life, and attended universities in Heidelberg and the States, though he eventually dropped out of school in order, just for the thrill of it it seems, to pursue a life of crime. By the time he met chapman in Auburn, he was a seasoned professional who could sense in the unpolished street tough a youngster with smarts and a lot of potential. He would, in essence, play Henry Higgins to Chapman’s Eliza Doolittle, but in, y’know, criminal terms.

Of all the lessons Anderson taught Chapman at Auburn, the one that had the most impact on the fledgling crime boss was very simple. If Chapman could pass himself off as an educated, respectable and erudite gentleman of the highest order, it would help deflect any suspicion should some John Q. Public be looking to put the finger on a wanted criminal. Who would ever suspect some well-dressed, well-spoken gent of pulling off a cheap smash-and-grab?

Chapman took the advice to heart, and began reading voraciously to better help pull off that “educated” shtick. He also, with Anderson’s help, learned how to carry and present himself as a proper gentleman. To top it all off, he cultivated a British accent.

Both men were paroled in 1919, and promptly put Anderson’s teachings into practice. Noting that the passage of the 18th Amendment earlier that year offered a golden opportunity, they set up a bootlegging empire that operated out of New York, Florida and Ohio.

Another Auburn alumnus, seasoned wheel man Charles Loeber joined up with Chapman and Anderson in 1921. With Chapman posing as a wealthy British oil magnate, Anderson acting as his business partner, and getaway driver Loeber playing their chauffeur, the trio, along with overseeing their growing bootlegging operation, began pulling armed robberies and con jobs around New York.

Easily adjusting to his new role as Wealthy British Aristocrat, Chapman dressed to the nines and moved into a swank apartment in the swank Gramercy Park section of Manhattan, charming his neighbors with his impeccable manners and British accent. He became a familiar face at the city’s finest restaurants and nightclubs, as all the while he, Anderson and Loeber were plotting a big score.

After closely studying its route and schedule for several weeks, on October 24th, 1921, the trio used two cars to block off Leonard Street in Tribeca, forcing a US Post Office truck to stop. They pulled their guns, pistol-whipped the driver, and got away with $2.5 million in cash, bonds and jewelry. It was to date the biggest heist in U.S. history.

The cops didn’t have a thing to go on, leaving the trio free to move their operation upstate for a spell, where they continued to pull bank jobs, though on a much smaller scale.

Chapman’s luck ran out eight months later, however, when he offered to sell a batch of Argentine gold notes pilfered during the Leonard Street heist to a stock broker, unaware the stock broker was actually an undercover postal inspector.

He was taken into custody on July 3rd, 1922, and brought to police headquarters in Manhattan for questioning. His stature in the public imagination began to grow that afternoon, when The Count of Gramercy Park (as he would be dubbed in the press) made a break for it an escaped his interrogators. Chapman’s freedom lasted only a few minutes, however, as he was nabbed before he was able to find his way out of the building.

Anderson was arrested not long afterward, and both were found guilty of the postal truck heist and sentenced to twenty-five years in the federal pen in Atlanta.

In early March, 1923, Chapman—who had apparently picked up a few more skills along the way—escaped from the Atlanta prison, knocking out the power supply as he fled. Three days later in Eastern Georgia, he was shot four times as he attempted to evade a posse of 200 well-armed cops and locals. The wounds were not life threatening, so Chapman was returned to Atlanta General Hospital to recover before being slapped with a few new charges.

A week later, his bullet wounds sufficiently healed, Chapman escaped from the hospital, but was quickly recaptured and returned to his old cell.

After keeping a close watch on him for at least two or three days, on March 27th a couple guards were either dozing or taking a bathroom break, and Chapman escaped again, this time making a clean break of it.

It was during this stretch on the lam that Chapman’s legend really took hold, with newspapers—including the Times—building the myth of a new Jesse James. Along with “The Count of Gramercy Park,” various newspapers also dubbed him “The Gentleman Bandit” and “Gentleman Gerald.” Most notably, however, after being added to the feds’ 10 Most Wanted List, one clever reporter tagged Chapman “Public Enemy Number One.” It was the first time the phrase had been used, and in short order law enforcement agencies at every level would co-opt it as their own.

Nine months after Chapman escaped from Atlanta, Anderson followed suit, clearing the prison walls on December 30th. It’s assumed the old partners in crime teamed up yet again, but even if they didn’t, it hardly mattered. Without a shred of evidence, cops in half a dozen states accused Chapman and Anderson of pulling off every unsolved armed robbery on the books. Meanwhile, Chapman’s status only grew in the public consciousness. After all, he hadn’t hurt anybody—all he did was steal money, which he did in a gentlemanly way.

All that changed in October of 1924.

Unbeknownst to anyone, Chapman had been on a bit of a crime spree in Connecticut with a new associate, another rich kid turned bad named Walter Shean. As the pair was holding up a department store in New Britain on October 12th, they were surprised by five local police officers who burst in, guns drawn. In the brief shoot out that ensued, Chapman shot and killed Officer James Skelly before escaping.

The remaining cops arrested Shean, who, likely in order to avoid the gallows, quickly fingered Chapman as the triggerman. The funny thing is, though, that the cops didn’t believe him, and they didn’t believe him because they couldn’t imagine Public Enemy Number One bothering to spend any time in a dusty little burg like New Britain, Connecticut. And even if he had, there’s no way he could hang around town without being noticed. But in time other corroborating evidence materialized, and they put out an APB for Chapman.

Chapman, meanwhile, made his way to Muncie, Indiana, where he hid out on the farm of a man named Ben Hance for the next three months.

Apparently tired of sheltering a wanted fugitive who’d overstayed his welcome, on January 18th, 1925 Hance went to the cops and told them exactly where they could find Chapman.

When cops showed up at the farm, Chapman pulled a gun and began firing, but didn’t hit a thing. He was taken into custody and returned to Atlanta, where he still had most of that 25-year sentence waiting for him.

Now, historical accounts begin to diverge wildly here, at least as far as the timeline is concerned, but I’ll do my best to keep things straight.

Although the federal charges in Atlanta took precedence, Connecticut was understandably eager to try Chapman on capital murder charges, so in March of 1925 he was extradited to the Connecticut State Prison to await trial.

The trial got underway the last week of March, amid a courtroom packed with journalists from across the country and hundreds of citizens squeezing and craning to catch even a fleeting glimpse of the notorious Count of Gramercy Park.

Over the course of the six-day trial, both ben Hance and Walter Shean testified against Chapman, and a ballistics expert reported the bullets which killed Officer Skelly matched Chapman’s gun.

Chapman, in his own defense, insisted he’d never seen Hance or Shean before in his life. He also insisted he’d never stepped foot in New Britain. Most curiously, he claimed he wasn’t even this “Gerald Chapman” everyone kept talking about, that some terrible mix-up had occurred.

The jury apparently found Chapman’s claims that he was not, in fact, Gerald Chapman less than convincing, and on April 4th, 1925, after deliberating eleven hours, returned a guilty verdict, sentencing him to death by hanging.

Upon hearing the verdict, Chapman reportedly turned to his attorney and quipped, “Death itself isn’t dreadful, but hanging seems an awkward way of ending the adventure.”

As the appeals process began and until the very end, Chapman proclaimed his innocence, declaring repeatedly that what he wanted was “justice, not mercy.” The appeals made their way up to the Supreme Court, but were rejected one after another.

His lawyers, in a last ditch effort, argued Chapman was bound by Law to complete his sentence in Atlanta before he could be hanged. That would give them at least 23 years leeway to start working on a new round of appeals.

Word of the ploy reached Attorney General Harlan F. Stone, who mentioned it to President Calvin Coolidge. After some careful deliberation, Coolidge granted Chapman a pardon.

Well, sort of anyway—he pardoned Chapman for the Postal truck heist, which ended his term in Atlanta and freed up Connecticut to hang him whenever they pleased, the sooner the better.

Think about it. Coolidge and Attorney General Stone were fully aware how dangerous it was, especially during Prohibition, to have this celebrity outlaw grabbing all the headlines—I mean, you can’t have the press and the general public cheering on a bootlegger, bank robber and cop killer if you’re trying to maintain law and order, now can you? Better to eliminate him as quickly as possible.

On April 6th, 1926, a year after the verdict was handed down, Chapman was delivered to the Connecticut State Prison’s death house, where he was confronted with an unholy contraption known as the Upright Jerker.

As the name implies, the Upright Jerker was the flip side to the traditional gallows. It was, in fact, a barbaric and notoriously unreliable Rube Goldberg device. Instead of a six-foot drop through a trap door, the condemned man had the noose placed around his neck as he stood on the ground. Then several counterweights looped through a pulley were dropped from the top of the scaffolding, jerking him into the air. The argument, of course, was the sudden jerk skyward would snap the prisoner’s neck, resulting in an instantaneous death. Things, however, rarely worked as planned, and more often than not the condemned was left struggling and strangling to death for several minutes.

Although there is no record of how well the Upright Jerker did or didn’t work in Chapman’s case, by the end of the day America’s first Public Enemy Number one was dead, though the improbable novel Gerald Chapman had crafted around himself wasn’t quite over yet.

Now, depending on who’s doing the telling, either three months after Chapman was convicted (August of 1925) or eight months after he was executed (December of 1926) , Ben Hance and his wife were driving just outside out Muncie when they were forced off the road by another car. Two men—Dutch Anderson and Charlie “One Arm” Wolfe, emerged from the car and unloaded their .45s into the Hances. Anderson and Wolfe quickly split the scene, with both men going their separate ways.

Although both Hance and his wife were killed, some stories have it that Hance remained alive long enough to tell responding officers it was Dutch Anderson who had exacted retribution for Hance’s ratting out Chapman. Other stories have it Hance was already dead when cops arrived, but everyone simply jumped to the same logical conclusion. Walfe was taken into custody not long afterward and confirmed the story, and the hunt was on for Anderson.

Hoping to maintain a low profile and stay at least three or four steps ahead of the law, Anderson drifted around the Midwest for the next few months. Instead of robbing banks or setting up elaborate scams, he simply began passing counterfeit $20 bills. As seasoned a professional as he was, however, he made two mistakes. First, it had been a pretty sloppy counterfeit job, and the bills weren’t terribly convincing to anyone who was paying attention. And second, he spent a little too much time hitting stores in Muskegon, Michigan’s business district.

After word started to get around that someone was spreading funny money around the area, one sharp-eyed shopkeeper gave Anderson’s description to a passing beat cop, Charlie Hammond, who spotted a man fitting the description a few minutes later.

After trying to bluff his way out of Hammond’s sidewalk interrogation without much success, Anderson turned and ran, but made the mistake of ducking down a dead end alleyway. Hammond followed, and in the ensuing shootout, Hammond took a bullet to the lower belly, and Anderson was shot through the heart. Both men died.

Despite Coolidge’s best efforts to nip in in the bud, within five years, an American public long weary of Prohibition and now being battered by the Great Depression on top of it, were rooting for a new generation of bank robbers and bootleggers, and the high-class derring-do of Gerald Chapman, Public Enemy Number One, was largely forgotten.

by Jim Knipfel

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christarango · 4 years

Text

I Interviewed the Guy Who Went Into a Museum & "Vandalized" a Picasso.

In 2012, a man in a suit entered the Menil Collection in Houston, Texas. That man was Uriel Landeros, a self proclaimed artist and a student at the University of Houston. A cell phone video captured his visit to the prestigious musuem and was posted on YouTube the same day. The video quickly went viral and set the "Art World" on fire. That's because Mr. Landeros brazenly walked up to Pablo Picasso's 1929 painting, "Woman in a Red Armchair" and spray painted directly onto the priceless piece of art. In just a few seconds, the Picasso was altered, hanging there with a mysterious image of a bull and the word "Conquista" spray painted across the surface. "Conquista" is a Spanish word that means "conquest" or "to conquer". But why? What did it mean? The incident pissed off plenty of people worldwide and started heated debates about the true value of "art". I had the opportunity to catch up with the artist.. vandal.. visionary.. terrorist. or whatever it is you choose to call him.

CT: Who are you, where are you from?

UL: I am CONQUISTA, the kid who conquered Picasso, but the name my father gave me is Uriel Landeros. I was born in South Texas in the city of Edinburg, located in the Rio Grande Valley, but I consider Houston my second home because I went to art school there. I am a Native/Mexican American.

CT: As an artist, can you describe the work that you create?

UL: The Majority of my work comes from my dreams and the subconscious, that other spiritual realm that most people don’t pay attention to. I try to write down all of my dreams and create images from them. I also use all forms of meditation to influence my work, from fasting, sun gazing, prayer and psychedelic rituals. This is the spiritual side of my work but I also spend a lot of time watching news and current events, not only on TV & newspapers but also the Internet. I compare articles from different countries, independent and mainstream newspapers and bring about a conclusion of closer truth, and then I create political art from this. I try to create a voice that is a little rawer with truth trough my images; I stopped making art years ago though all I make now is art history. But both my spiritual and political work is intertwined. The world is one, everything is connected.

CT: How did the concept to "destroy" a Picasso piece come about? Was it carefully planned or was it spontaneous?

UL: The year 2012 was very chaotic for America and for the world, Like I said my work is influenced from all this mayhem, I meditated for so long trying to come up with an image of power and symbology. The image of the Conquista in particular came directly from a lucid dream. Once I obtained the image of the bullfighter slaying the golden bull with the all Seeing Eye, I began to plan the heist. It took about 2 months to completely plan everything; I drew blueprints, counted guards, created exit strategies, etc. It was like a hacker stealing classified information. My plan was never to destroy the Picasso painting, if I wanted to destroy it I would have slashed it with a knife or poured acid on it. The whole point was to leave a message to create a voice and spark another fire against this NEW WORLD ORDER. Believe me I know about paint, I am a professional; I knew that the painting would be easily restored.

CT: Obviously you pissed off a lot of people. At the same time you suddenly had lots of attention on you & your work. Was that the idea from the beginning or did it accidentally happen that way?

UL: Not everyone was pissed off, some people were very happy with what I did, many strangers clapped @ my actions & and continue to do so. Most of the people who were hating on me where so called “artists” who have never been able to break the veil of success. I did not know the future, I did not know that galleries would take interest in my art, especially not the world renown museum “The Palace of Fine Arts, MACG” in Mexico city. When those things began to happen, I was skeptical because I thought that the museum and galleries were working with the F.B.I. and U.S. Marshalls. But after some research I found out those opportunities were legit, so I welcomed them. This helped me spread the message further. CT: What's the deal with your solo art show in Houston following the incident? Apparently you were on a live video feed from Mexico. Can you tell me about that? Also, I heard some of your own artwork was destroyed.

UL: James Art Gallery gave me a solo show in Houston; James Perez has been a friend of mine for several years. Ironically the title of the show was “ Houston, we have a problem”. We promoted the event saying that I was going to show up at the event, I had been a fugitive for several months & already there was a $15,000 reward for me, so I knew that the cops were going to show up, but we tricked those pigs. As you know I was there but through live video feed “Skype”. I was logged in from an ice cream shop in Monterrey, Mexico. I gave several interviews and said hello to all the people that attended the show. My work was not destroyed, James and me invited all the local graffiti writers we could find and let them tag whatever they wanted on several of my paintings. The whole point of this was to show the art community that art is not about paintings but rather the message. Fuck the paintings, this is what Picasso would say “Art is a lie that enables us to see truth” For example The Guernica was not about making a pretty painting but rather transmitting the message of the horrors of genocide and war. Art is a weapon, painting and drawing is secondary to the true purpose of the art tool. So I don’t care if people tag or graffiti my work, what matters is the message I convey.

CT: I definitely feel like you have a message that you're trying to convey. What are you all about, what's all this about?

UL: First of all fuck the NEW WORLD ORDER, once more; I did this for the people who are tired of being treated like slaves. The Conquista was an artistic metaphor with much symbology. A lot of the art community successfully digested the message although the reactions were diverse. I stenciled a bullfighter killing a bull with the word Conquista below it with spray paint in color gold on a 1929 Picasso painting. It was a lot of work to pull the heist but all the details are another story. This graffiti was a form of protest/activism against the government and the corrupt church, who continue to abuse their power of imperial rape. A way to tell the people conquer your fear and stand up for injustice. There was much civil unrest all around the globe in the year 2012, the year of the conquista. Remember the Occupy movement? The anonymous organization, the immigrant protests in Arizona, and Wikileaks? And even after I turned myself in to the authorities, it continued with Edward Snowden and the unraveling of the N.S.A. surveillance, abusing their power to infringe in our privacy. The word Conquista is my artist name, it is also the Spanish word for conquer, in reference to the conquistadores and the Spanish inquisition, the biggest unrecognized genocide in the world, because of gold and greed, “Capitalism in its cradle”. Those who converted the natives into Christianity through murder and rape, those same characters who are now looked upon like heroes such as Christopher Columbus. The word Conquista is also in reference to so many innocent kids who got raped by priest who went unpunished because pope Benedict XVI protected them by sending them to the Vatican and granting them political asylum. This was so controversial that the pope had to resign. Conquista is also in reference to the immigration reform and the dream act that president Obama promised and never fulfilled. My people my culture and my family is bullied around society because of the color of our skin because of racism and discrimination. Just look at the laws in Arizona, its as if its still the 1960s in that state. Discriminating against immigrants when in fact the only non-immigrants are the natives/Hispanics, my people. Nobody ever asked any conquistador for a passport or green card, how was this fucking hypocrisy born? What the fuck is going on? All this seems like a big joke, nobody in power cares to make a positive difference; they are worried about policing the world and selling guns. This is the history that I have begun to convert into my story. The majority of native culture/archeology is now displayed in museums throughout Europe as trophies of genocide, and thus disables the Hispanic community to truly understand their history & culture, because that art is not in its native land. I cannot bring back all the art that was stolen by the conquistadors but I can create new history. New art, so that is what I did for my people. The golden bull represents the stock market, wall street, gold, money being idolized, The federal reserve, the biggest deceiving ponzi scheme that enslaves us all, and the president & government working for wall street banksters instead of the people. The golden bull also represents Picasso “ the Art Beast”, he who understood that art is not a painting or a drawing but rather a political tool to educate and influence the form of thinking of the masses. I am the bullfighter inspired by Picasso to use the art tool, doing the daring move to kill the golden beast. Conquering Picasso in his own game. Fighting against this whole corrupt system. The bullfighting culture and Picasso are both originally from Spain and this is the irony of a Native Mexican American conquering a Spaniard.

CT: Whoa, thats heavy. You were just released from jail for what you did, that's fucking crazy. How long were you locked up?

UL: I was in prison for 21 months, almost 2 years.

CT: What were you thinking about while in prison? Any new concepts or artwork created during that time?

UL: I was a prisoner before I went to prison, but it was in that dark cold place, in that cage, when I was hungry, when I meditated, that I understood what freedom was. If your mind is free they can never imprison you. The power of the third eye is limitless, the universe is born from it. I created over 100 paintings and thousands of drawings. I will soon publish all these works online and I will exhibit them in a prison series for my next Art show. My force of creation has only gotten stronger.

CT: What's next for you?

UL: I am organizing my next event. I will soon publish the date and details. I am also in the process of publishing a book about the entire story, all the things I could not say because of lawful repercussions, how I pulled the heist (it was some oceans 11 shit) and also my life as a fugitive.

CT: How can we follow you and see how this evolves?

UL: I’m always accessible through Facebook that is the social media of my choice, but I also have twitter, instagram, pinterest, photobucket, vine, we heart it and email of course. Or just watch the news or Google me.

CT: Best of luck to you! Anything else you want to add?

UL: Yea I just want to give a shout out to everyone out there trying to provoke and stimulate a positive change in the world, all those free hugs people, all the honest police and every activist who has put their life in danger for the benefit of the community, especially Edward Snowden, thank you.

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s-j-ace · 5 years

Text

The Same Question

Chapter One

Characters: Shuichi Saihara, Ouma Kokichi

Words: 6738

Summary:

After Detective Shuichi Saihara encounters mysterious thief Kokichi Ouma for the first time, a game of cat and mouse ensues as both men ask themselves the same question. Why exactly does the elusive phantom thief do what he does?

Sequel to the events of That’s the Thing About Airplanes and New Plan!

Read on AO3

Kokichi Ouma had always found it strange how he could sit in a room full of people yet feel utterly alone in the universe at the same time.

The thought occurred to him once more as he sat among his crew in a little hole in the wall cafe tucked in the shadows of the city of lights, and it was very much out of character. The scenario Kokichi described to his crew, as they drove away from the Louvre in the beat up looking SUVs they had secretly loaded up with stolen plumbing parts, was that of a birthday party. They were all twenty something Parisians who had gotten out of bed extra early to take their friend out for a birthday surprise. How fun! How quaint! How unsuspicious!

… but in reality it was just an excuse for Kokichi to try and shake off the weird mood he was in with decadently sugary crepes. He had pitched it to DICE as a sort of celebratory feast of a heist well done, but honestly Kokichi had never felt so bored after stealing something in his whole life.

For some reason or another he had felt exhilarated on the plane ride in, but as soon as he got to the actual stealing part everything felt all samey and routine again. He even let Queen make off with a painting of some big dumb flowers that he wanted, hoping that it might spice things up, but now it was just lodged under the seat cushions next to a bunch of fancy looking elbow pipes.

Ugh.

Now that he really thought about it the painting would probably make escaping Paris even more boring… News outlets wouldn't run the headline "Pipes and toilets stolen from the Louvre," when they could run the headline "Priceless painting of pretentious looking flowers stolen from the Louvre." It'd make it easier to sell the plumbing because interpol would be keeping their eyes on the fine art black market instead of Craigslist offers for scrap metal.

Well maybe that was a good thing. Kokichi didn’t want them to get caught selling the pipes, after all. DICE was a bit of a scrappy group from the start and their heists had been decreasing in profitability recently for the expense of spectacle. Bishop told him that their accounts were doing fine and they had enough cash saved up for some frivolous heists, but Kokichi could do math too and thought Bishop’s accounts were slightly suspect.

They were probably just telling him that to make him feel better. Maybe they had noticed that something was off with him. Maybe they were planning with the rest of DICE to overthrow him as the boss and put someone less stupid and predicable in charge instead.

No, Bishop couldn’t do that to him. They weren’t a good enough liar. None of them were good enough liars. Kokichi knew them too well. For instance, right now he knew that Bishop and Ace were having a conversation that Rook was waiting to butt in on, Spade and Club were talking about Mario Kart and Spade was acting like she agreed with what Club was saying even though she didn’t, Queen was pretending to be doing some important coding but was definitely on reddit, King was planning to shove some whipped cream in Rook’s face as soon as he finished his crepe, and Hearts and Jack were leaning in the corner of the four person booth they had all crammed into like a clown car with their legs on top of everyone else’s with Hearts on top of Jack’s lap about to fall asleep while Jack was very noticeably not noticing even though she definitely did notice because Hearts’ boobs were right in her face.

There was so much lying happening, so much play acting, yet everything added up into an equation that seemed all the more sincere. DICE were genuinely celebrating another successful heist. For them, nothing was wrong.

That was so bizarre.

Everything seemed wrong to Kokichi. He felt trapped. He felt like they were all trapped. How could he ever know that his people were genuinely happy when to his knowledge people had to question everything that they found themselves doing. Take, for example, the crepe he had eaten moments ago. He had eaten it in an odd way where he started from the bottom of the crepe’s fold and ate outwards, preserving a perfect ring of outer crepe rind. It didn’t really enhance the taste in any way, seeing as the crepe had a completely even cook, but Kokichi had insisted it did as he ate it regardless because he knew that was in character of the person he had established himself to be. He was the kind of guy who just casually committed food crimes. It’s not that it didn’t still bring him joy to see the faces of his crew scrunch up in disapproval, but it made him wonder if the rest of them realized the same thing about their own behaviors. That they acted a certain way and thought a certain way because of a tacit, invisible social code of who they should be and how they should act towards others, regardless of their own intrinsic motivations.

It made it hard to tell what lay behind their faces. If they were really happy behind the smiles.

They had to be happy, right?

Yeah, if he looked up happy in the dictionary he’d probably see a photograph of King shoving whipped cream in Rook’s ear. Like he was doing right now.

Everyone was safe and having a good time, and yet Kokichi felt like he was watching it all happen from a far away place.

Was Rook really angry as they slugged King in the arm or were they just pretending to be angry because they knew that was the part they had to play in the overall scene of this social interaction?

Kokichi glanced at the other DICE members’ faces. Spades and Clubs were still having their own conversation about a Blue Shell conspiracy theory, but everyone else seemed to be laughing at or pretending not to laugh at King. The thought occurred to Kokichi that he should probably try to match their facial expressions, but upon inspection he found that he was already grinning full force.

Weird.

He let the lie lay flat.

Immediately everyone turned to look at him. That was normal, he was their boss. If he wasn’t happy it meant something was wrong. Except it was also weird. There used to be times when Kokichi was very young where he could be in the middle of a room full of people say anything he wanted at the top of his voice without being heard. He wasn’t the same person on the outside of his head as he was on the inside of his head and he knew that and he used it to his advantage. But would he ever be able to escape it?

…

Okay! That was a series wrap on overanalyzing shit and having memories! Time to not think about any of that ever again!

“I’m bored of crepes.” He whined. “We should go somewhere else.”

Instantly everyone’s face lit up with excitement. “We should go somewhere else” had become a sort of ritual phrase that now meant “Convince me what our next heist should be.”

Everyone started talking at once.

“There’s this casino-”

“The Taj Mahal! We should do the-”

“Fort Knox! I wanna-”

Kokichi raised his hand and the clamoring voices stopped instantly.

“One at a time, shortest to tallest, and not so loud.” He nodded slightly to the woman sitting on a stool behind the cash register. They probably didn’t have to worry much about her. It appeared that she only understood french when she took their orders earlier and now she seemed to be checking her phone disinterestedly. They had also chosen to sit in the booth furthest from the register so really there was very little chance she would overhear them say something that would get them in trouble, but you could never be too sure.

“Well, boss. Most esteemed mastermind. You lovely bastard you,” Spades, the shortest of DICE save for Kokichi himself, schmoozed exaggeratedly. Kokichi could tell she didn’t really have an idea but wanted to draw out her turn as long as possible because Clubs had an idea and she was teasing him like an annoying older sister. She was probably going to pull Buckingham Palace. “I have the best idea. The most creative. The most innovative.” Buckingham Palace was so ridiculously easy to get into that there was entirely no point in wasting a trip to Britain on it. There was some drunk guy who just wandered into it and found the Queen’s bedroom. Twice. “It’ll be tough, but with our unique set of skills I think we’ll be able to pull it off.” So when someone didn’t have an idea, to pass they’d say Buckingham Palace. “And it’ll be well worth it. Our names will go down in history.” And then Kokichi would give a funny excuse why they weren’t going. He should probably start thinking of one now while Spades was still blabbering. “The biggest heist of all time.” Hmm… How about… Yeah that was a good one. “Home of her royal majesty herself, Buckingham Palace!”

Everyone groaned as if this weren’t an entirely predictable twist to Spade’s monologue.

“Uggh, Spade you know I can’t go back to Buckingham Palace.” Kokichi groaned. “Last time I was there I saw Prince Phillip dressed in a corgi fursuit being tugged around by the queen on a leash. I’m still trying to erase the image from my mind.”

That got an easy guffaw from Ace and a smattering of giggles from everyone else. Not bad, but he’d come up with funnier before.

Jack giggled longer than the others. Kokichi knew that meant she was waiting for everyone to quiet down so she could one up him with her own bit.

He raised an eyebrow. “Something to say, Jack?”

“Ooh… Well… I was just wondering if that’s the real reason we can’t go back.”

She paused for a second as if expecting him to “yes, and” her, but he decided to let her fend for herself on this one.

“I mean. What was it you said to your husband on the plane?” Shit. “Didn’t you tell him you wanted him to beg like a dog?” How much of that conversation did she hear? “I don’t know, sounds like Prince Phillip might’ve awakened something in you.”

“Awwww,” King crooned, “Boss Baby’s first fetish.”

Kokichi wasn’t really bothered by this implication beyond the fact that, judging from the smattering of snickers, it was getting better laughs than his original comment. He needed to swing this.

“Puhlease. Who would be into pet play when feral rats are clearly the sexiest creatures on the planet?”

“Is that why you spend so much time trying to look just like one?”

“Why Jack, I’m flattered you think I look just like the sexiest creature on the planet, but I’ll have you know I’m married.”

Hearts was nice enough to take the bit. “To who?”

“Not that plane detective?” Bishop prodded. Or maybe they said “plain” detective? Maybe it was a pun. Good on you Bishop.

“No, heavens no. I’m married to Ratatouille himself.” Kokichi’s rather strangely eaten crepe was about to work out pretty well in the grand scheme of japery. He unfurled the remaining ring of crepe edge and put it around his wrist. “Want proof? Here’s the ring. Isn’t it beautiful?”

“Gorgeous!” Queen enthused. It didn’t seem like he was really paying attention, with his eyes glued to his laptop, but Kokichi appreciated his support nonetheless.

Jack frowned. “Isn’t the rat from Ratatouille’s name Remmy?”

“You’re right it’s not Ratatouille, it’s Ratatouille’s monster.” Rook chimed in, definitely quoting a tumblr post. “No, no, no, I’m not married to the rat, I’m married to the concept of Ratatouille.” He made a romantic gesture. “The one we hold dear in all of our hearts.”

“Oh, of course, of course.” Ace tried to nod sagely, but the effect was ruined by the big grin on their face. Ace had a hard time not laughing at everything, especially their own jokes.

Club had been pouting this whole time. With this whole thing about Kokichi being into dogs diffused it was probably time to hear out his suggestion. Kokichi was about to say as much, but before the mirth died down long enough to change the subject, Queen interjected.

“Uh, boss.” He said, turning around the laptop he had been fiddling with the whole time. “Speaking of rats… There’s one on the news making himself a loose end...”

On the screen was a distressed looking headline in french accompanied by a picture of the detective himself, Shuichi Saihara.

Kokichi’s heart leapt.

Then he noticed that it leapt.

And that his hand had begun moving to fiddle with the bandage on his finger.

He stopped himself just in time.

---

Shuichi Saihara had always found it strange how quickly his body could turn on him.

He had been fine, on the plane untangling his seat belt while alarmed chattering spread like wild-fire throughout the plane.

He had been fine, explaining to a frazzled flight attendant and captain that no he was not in fact married to the gentleman who jumped out of the plane, who was, as it turns out, an internationally wanted thief.

He had been fine, making the call to 112 and explaining to the respondent that yes he knew all the police cars were busy with a high profile break-in and that the incident he was reporting was, in fact, related to said break-in.

And yet, when he sat down, alone on a bench in front of the Paris-Charles De Gaulle airport surrounded by the crisp night air the thought crossed his mind that DICE had robbed the Louvre by now. That they had gotten away, and it was all his fault. All his fault.

And then Shuichi pulled out his phone and dialled the number of his very good friend Kaito Momota because he was having a panic attack.

*Beeeeeep….*

Shuichi knew he was having a panic attack because it felt like the world was ending for no good reason.

*Beeeeeep….*

His breathing got shorter. An immense pressure built up behind his eyes, trying to force tears to leak out from underneath them. His hands locked in a vice grip around his phone.

*Beeeeeep….*

Three words repeated in his head over and over again like a broken record. All your fault. All your fault. All your fault.

*Beeeeeep….*

If Shuichi had any presence of mind right now, it might occur to him that there was, in fact, a reason behind this panic attack. That he’d been privy to and partially responsible for so many high stakes cases in his career that the idea of failure made his imagination sick with all the horrifying outcomes his mistakes could cause, including the ones that had actually come to pass. A man looking at him with hatred in his eyes as the police car door shut on him. All your fault . A fourteen year old girl hanging from a noose. All your fault . The sound of a gunshot in an alleyway. All your fault . The phrase was like the slightest twitch of a finger that could pull back the trigger of a gun loaded with every horrific thing he’d ever seen, heard, or felt. Everything hit his brain in one compact shot and Shuichi didn’t have time to respond in any way except try desperately to avoid going into shock.

It felt like the world was ending and when the world is ending you call Kaito Momota.

*Beee-*

*Click.*

“...”

“Shuichi?”

Kaito’s voice sounded groggy and confused over the phone.

“...”

“You there, man?”

Shuichi tried to answer in the affirmative, but he couldn’t seem to force himself to speak. God, he was an idiot. He should’ve just texted. Kaito probably hated him anyway.

“What’s up, dude? Something the matter?”

No, Kaito is his friend and things are fine and he just needs to calm down right now.

“Hello?”

Okay. Okay. He was just trying to talk the wrong way. His throat was tensed to accommodate his heavy breathing instead of human speech.

“Shuichi, is that you breathing weird into the receiver?”

Yeah, okay, see? He was breathing weird. He should… stop that…

“Ok, dude, whatever’s going on I’m gonna need you to not asphyxiate. Here, breathe with me. Inhale. Two... Three... Four... Five... Exhale. Two... Three... Four... Five...”

Oh yeah. Shuichi was definitely breathing too fast right now. Panicky fast. Like close to hyperventilating fast. The kind of breathing fast that started squeezing liquids out of your face if you weren’t careful. Not doing that was like the first thing on the not having a panic attack checklist but somehow it was always the one Shuichi forgot first.

“Inhale. Two... Three... Four... Five... Exhale. Two... Three... Four... Five...” Kaito repeated the rhythm and Shuichi could hear his friend matching it with his own breathing as Shuichi struggled to do the same.

Inhale. Two... Three... Four... Five...

As Shuichi counted in his head he felt almost every part of his body loosen to some degree.

Exhale. Two... Three... Four... Five...

With the exhale the pressure behind his eyes began to dissipate.

Pretty soon Shuichi was breathing in a way that the kids these days would call normal. While breathing normally was something human beings needed to do to not asphyxiate, it was quite shocking how physically helpful it was in preventing Shuichi from crying on a bench in front of an airport in Paris.

He could still feel his heart pounding in his head, but at least his breaths weren’t fighting to outmatch its volume.

The pounding went away by about the third exhale. He felt his power of speech return after the fourth.

“... Sorry.” He murmured into the receiver on his cell phone.

“Nothing to apologize for man. What’s going on?”

“I. Uh. Am having a panic attack in front of the airport for some dumb reason.”

“Gotcha gotcha gotcha.” Some shuffling, as if Kaito was repositioning himself on the other side. “I bet it’s not as dumb as you think man. You wanna talk about it, or do you want a distraction?”

A woman bleeding out on the floor, her face eternally frozen in a scream. All your fault .

“... A distraction is good. Just having, like, intrusive thoughts right now.”

“Yeah, okay. Gimme a sec to make myself sociable, it’s pretty late here.” Shuichi heard some more shuffling through the speaker. He’d probably woken Kaito up.

“Sorry.”

“It’s all good man.” Kaito shuffled around some more. “Hmm… Oh yeah, I had a question at dinner, no one was around to answer.” “Oh, is Maki out again?” Maki was Shuichi’s friend, Kaito’s partner, and a professional bodyguard. She stood next to people and looked intimidating in a suit for a living. Sometimes she stood next to Shuichi and looked intimidating for free.

Maki holding a pipe, the end coated in blood. All your fault .

Inhale. Two... Three... Four... Five... Exhale. Two... Three... Four... Five...

“Yeah, that’s our Maki Roll. Busy as a bee.” There was a scritching sound over the phone that could’ve been static or Kaito itching his stubble. “Since I was cooking for one last night I made Saturn-ghetti.”

Shuichi wrinkled his nose instinctively. “Ew.”

Saturn-ghetti was what Kaito called regular spaghetti with one big meatball in the middle. It sounded tame enough now that Kaito made the big meatball on his own, but when he first introduced Shuichi and Maki to the concept it was in their college’s cafetorium and he had just taken all the meatballs from a regular spaghetti and meatball dish and mashed them all together into one big ball in the middle. Shuichi had quite literally seen murder scenes less gruesome.

“Hey man, I don’t judge Maki Roll for dipping fries in shakes or you for dipping bread in soups.”

“Dipping is normal Kaito. You’re supposed to dip carbs. Everyone does it. You’re the only person in the whole world who mushes meat.”

What about that guy who used a meat tenderizer to mush his victim’s faces in…

“Why would you want to eat tiny meatballs?”

“So you can eat them with the spaghetti.”

“Can’t a guy just have a separate meat and noodle experience? You can’t even process the flavor if you eat both at once!”

“They’re supposed to go together. Otherwise, you would just make a meatloaf.”

“Well I don’t have a recipe for meatloaf Shuichi, I have a recipe for meatballs.”

“Do you mean meatball, singular?”

“Yes, I do. Glad we can both agree that’s what I mean since it’s the best way to eat spaghetti. Anyway, back to my problem.”

“I thought this was the problem.”

“Saturn-ghetti is not a problem it’s an art. My problem was that when I was making the noodles I realized that I had forgotten what that metal bowl thingy is called. You know, the one with the holes in it.”

“If only that had stopped you.”

“Yo, I’m serious! I have no idea what it’s called and it’s been driving me insane all night.”

“Do you mean a strainer?”

“No, I know it strains stuff but like there’s a different name for it. Like. It sounds like cauliflower? Except not because it’s not a vegetable.”

“A colander?”

“Yeah, that’s it! Jeezus Louizus that was driving me crazy. You’re a lifesaver man, where would I be without you?”

“Uh probably googling ‘another name for noodle strainer.’” Shuichi didn’t really see how knowing what the metal strainy thing is called could save a life. Maybe if you were getting murdered and had one chance to write down the name of the culprit and you knew their name was the same as what that metal strainy thing is called but you forgot what it was. Wait, no, in that scenario you still got murdered. God, what was wrong with him? Did his brain always have to jump to murder right away?

“Nah,” Kaito said with conviction. “I wouldn’t be half the man I am without my awesome sidekick around to back up.”

At the familiar phrase, Shuichi felt his heart warm and the tight ball of anxiety in his gut loosened in turn. “Sidekick,” was admittedly an odd term of endearment for a friend of almost ten years, but if you knew Kaito you knew it was a word that meant something to him. To him, having a sidekick means having someone who you backup no matter what. Even if they make mistakes or aren’t sure of themselves quite yet. Because you believe in them. No matter what.

“I wouldn’t be where I am today without you either, Kaito.” He sighed. “Not that that’s saying much…”

“What do you mean by that?” Shuichi could hear the frown in Kaito’s voice.

“Ugh. Nothing. Or. It’s just.” Inhale, two, three, four. Remember to breathe. “It just feels awful to be having a freak out like this again. I haven’t had a panic attack in like a year. It just feels like sometimes that I’m doing okay and I’m not still some stupid teenager still freaking out because I feel a little guilty about a guy being in prison and my parents not being around because of me and then I have a panic attack at an airport and it feels like I’ve made absolutely no progress at all in dealing with any of my anxieties at all and even though I’ve tried so hard to change who I am I’m still the same pathetic kid I’ve always been.”

Keep breathing. Exhale, two, three, four.

“Hey man, it’s okay. We all get those days sometimes. You feeling up to talking about it now?”

“Which part?”

“Like, why you were freaking out. It’s usually not for no reason, even if it seems like it.”

“Uh.” Yeah okay. Breathing was really helping to clear out his head. He was feeling more in control of his general brainspace than he was a second ago, which was good. “Honestly it’s not the worst thing that could’ve happened. No one died. All that happened was the Louvre got robbed.”

“Yeah, okay that doesn’t sound that bad.”

“But on the other hand, it was the Louvre that got robbed. It’s a national treasure here. The whole country is going to blame me for it.”

“Wait, sorry, what’s the loo in French again? I know it means the toilet in the UK, but does it mean something else in French?”

“No, not the loo. The Louvre. The famous museum.”

“Oooh, yeah. Right, right, don’t listen to me I’m tired.”

“Oh, sorry-”

“No, no, keep going. Listening to my sidekick’s problems is more important than catching forty winks.”

“Uh. Right. So I’ve been tracking DICE for a while now, right?”

“Uh-huh, the clown guys, I’m familiar.”

“And I know Maki thought I was crazy, but I knew that they were going to pull this job on the Louvre, right? And so I get on the plane and this weird guy sits next to me. He breaks my seat and pretends to be married to me so that the flight attendant upgrades us to first class.”

“What the hell?”

“Is that weird? I couldn’t tell if that was weird or not.”

“No yeah, that’s shady as shit. Do I need to come to Paris and tell him to step off for you?”

“No, uh, you’d probably have a hard time finding him, because it turns out? He was the thief the whole time?”

“Whaaaaaat.” “Yeah, apparently I was just shooting the breeze with a criminal mastermind and I’m such an idiot I should’ve jumped out of the plane after him without a parachute.” Like that guy they found impaled by a lamp post...

“Hey man that’s on him, you can’t blame yourself for the existence of criminal- wait did you say he jumped out of the plane?”

“Yes.”

“Like, while you were in the air?”

“Uh, yeah, through the emergency exits.”

“Duuuuude that’s super dangerous. I don’t know how high up you were but the pressure change could’ve caused all of the oxygen to suck out of the cabin.”

“That’s… Alarming…”

It also brought up some interesting questions. Shouldn’t the pilot of the plane have been able to tell that there was a life threatening pressure change in the cabin? Or did DICE do something to tamper with the equipment? Did they manage to jump out at an altitude that wouldn’t be lethal to everyone in the cabin through chance or calculation? In the latter case that might add to the traits profiling the group, the ability implying at least some form of higher education. What about other sources of information? Maybe they bribed the pilot? He’d need to be interviewed. Shuichi would need to make that suggestion when the police got here. They’d probably also want to do a forensic analysis of the drug that was used on the passengers. There’d most likely be some trace of component that they could utilize to locate possible business contacts or country of origin for the thieves. Knowing their flight information was also a great advantage, it meant they could track down several forms of ID. Even if they were faked it would allow for higher scrutiny on future flight paths if Interpol decided to pursue this investigation seriously. Toilets wouldn’t really keep their attention, most investigators at the Smithsonian were more concerned about the mammoth than all the stolen picture frames, so unless DICE made off with something more valuable this time around Interpol probably wouldn’t waste time sending agents over. Then again Agent Ishimaru was the agent in charge of the DICE case now and he was very thorough when it came to his investigations. If Interpol showed up, maybe Shuichi would get a chance to look at the next note when it was sent to them, like he had in America...

“Hey, am I supposed to be able to track everything it is you’re muttering to yourself there or is that just for you?”

“Oh, uh,” Hghk he was muttering out loud. “Just for me, sorry. Stuff about the case.”

“Oh, yeah, okay cool, cool, cool.” Kaito paused for a moment. “Wish I could be there to back you up in person, man. Hurts my soul as a man and your friend that I didn’t support you all the way on this Louvre thing when you brought it up before.”

“What?” Oh, he meant that thing that Maki said about him needing a vacation. “No, no it’s understandable. I was running on like… fifteen minutes of sleep and fourteen cups of coffee when I told you two about my theory.”

“Man, I just want you to know that no matter what we’re always here to support you. Even if we get it wrong sometimes we’re just worried you know. Also, you need to sleep more.”

Shuichi frowned. “You make it sound like you and Maki are my parents.”

“Nah, parents suck. We’re your friends. Much better.”

Shuichi laughed at that. “Yeah, okay, fair.”

Was that a siren Shuichi heard? Maybe?

“Kaito I think police are gonna be here soon. I gotta go.”

“Oh, yeah, okay. You feeling better now?”

Shuichi paused to take mental stock of himself. He tried to remember how he felt before he came outside. Things were fine, he was just doing some damage control. By all means this incident was a break in the case rather than the wrecking ball to his career his more panicked thoughts were trying to convince himself of. He was fine. Things were fine.

Except…

“Uh. Yeah, mostly. I guess maybe I’m just tired?” Yeah he was definitely tired. His eyes felt like they’d just spent the last ten years trying to watch the wind on a mountain peak. “I dunno. Logically I know that everything is fine and I’m doing alright, but that part of me that feels like I’ve failed and I’m going to mess everything up forever is still there no matter what I do.”

“Hey man, you know what I always say. There’s nothing you can do about the past, but you will always have the power to change what’s happening right now. You’re my sidekick and a brilliant detective to boot, you can do anything.”

“Right. Yeah. You’re right.” It didn’t really matter that DICE had gotten away with the heist on the Louvre. Plumbing parts and paintings were replaceable. What Shuichi’s investigation had always been concerned with was the amount of unregulated capital DICE was accumulating and what exactly the shady organization was planning to do with it.

“Now tell me what it is you wanna do right now.”

“I… I’m gonna track down those thieves.” That would have to be the next step of course. There’d probably be some evidence at the Louvre if the police would let him take a look…

“Heck yes you are!”

“And I’m going to figure out what they’re up to.”

“Hell yeah you are!”

Shuichi laughed a little at Kaito’s unwarranted enthusiasm, but he let the mirth drained from his expression when he looked up to see the police cars he heard before pulling into the lane in front of the airport. An officer stepped out of the first one and Shuichi stood to wave her over.

“Ah, the police just got here. I gotta talk to them.”

“Fuck yeah you do!” Kaito exclaimed with the same level of pep talk energy he’d said every other encouragement with. “Go get ‘em Shuichi!”

“I will.” Shuichi said, not entirely sure.

“You will.” Kaito said, completely certain.

I will. Shuichi repeated to himself as he hung up and made his way over to the police officers. It seemed like there were three cars. That was kind of odd considering the 112 responder said it’d be two cars. Wait, was that last one a news van?

Shit.

---

Parisians are in shock after the theft of Dutch painter Van Huysum’s priceless, centuries old painting “Vase of flowers in a niche” from the musée du Louvre just this morning. The following interview was conducted with M. Saihara, a private eye known for the recovery of a stolen mammoth skeleton from an american museum, called the Smithsonian, just a few weeks ago.

Journaliste: What can you tell us about the robbery at this time?

M. Saihara: It is the working theory of the Paris Police force that the culprits behind the break in at the musée du Louvre are the internationally wanted criminal group known as DICE. These police sketches have been released of two members of this group. If you spot anything or anyone suspicious, please report it to the Paris Police Prefecture.

Journaliste: Are these the same criminals who robbed the Smithsonian in America a few weeks ago?

M. Saihara: I believe so.

Journaliste: Is it likely that the robbers are still in Paris?

M. Saihara: Very likely.

Journaliste: What are the chances that the stolen piece will be reclaimed?

M. Saihara: We don’t have enough information to determine that at this time. Just know that the Paris Police Prefecture is doing everything they can to return it to the people of Paris.

Journaliste: What of the criminals? Is it likely they will be caught?

M. Saihara: If I have anything to say about it, yes they will be.

Journaliste: M. Saihara, do you know if-

M. Saihara: Je suis désolé Mademoiselle, I must be going now. The Paris police will most likely release a more elucidating press statement when more information is received. Bonne journée.

Journaliste: Merci, M. Saihara.

Kokichi Ouma exited out of the google translate tab he’d opened up on Queen’s laptop. At the end of the article were two police sketches. Jack’s didn’t look all that accurate (thank god for contouring) so Kokichi supposed they could all breathe a sigh of relief on that front. Now, the sketch of him on the other hand…

King whistled and Kokichi realized the taller DICE member was leaning over his shoulder to peer at the screen in front of him. “That detective really got a good look at you.”

Kokichi scoffed, not wanting to raise unnecessary alarm. “Please. The nose and eyebrows are all wrong.”

“He really got down the bird’s nest though.” King pointed out, reaching to muss up Kokichi’s effortlessly stylish coiffure.

“What’d I tell you?” Kokichi preened. “No living creature could forget a face like mine.”

“You’re right,” King quipped back “It’s a face that haunts nightmares.”

“A face only a mother could love.” Rook chimed in.

“And yours gave you away after just one look!” Chirped Bishop.

“Hey maybe that Saihara guy wants to try lovin’ it instead.” Queen interjected suggestively

“Okay, okay, can it everyone,” Kokichi raised his hand to silence the spontaneous roast. “I’m thinking.”

“Club,” He pointed at his second shortest croney.. “Where are we heading?”

Club, who to his credit had been extremely focused on being polite and waiting for his turn and had definitely earned a heist after mixing ten liters of knock-out drugs in the back of a plane, exclaimed, “Theresthiscasino-” like he had been holding his breath, “-andtheyjustgotthesefancynewlightfixtures and, and, alsothesevintagearcadeconsoles-”

“Sounds cool.” Kokichi’s tone didn’t give away the fact that he had no preference as to where their next hit was and only had getting out of Paris in mind. “Where’s it at?”

“Uh. Like, Reno. Which is in Nevada. I think.”

Kokichi frowned. “Nevada? Is that like a country in South America or something?”

“Nah, it’s one of the United States.” Informed Ace, the only member who ever got genuinely interested in sight-seeing and therefore the only one who looked at maps that weren’t building schematics.

Kokichi squinted at that. “We were just in the states. You know I’d rather jump off a building than rob the same place twice.”

“Boss, you know, actually Nevada is further from D.C. than France is from Ukraine.”

“What? But aren’t they in the same country?”

“Yeah, the U.S.A. is just broken like that.”

Ugh. Weird. Maybe Kokichi should also look at a map of the world some day.

“Fine, okay, I guess since you twisted my arm, we’ll have to go to Reno.” If Kokichi remembered correctly telephones calling from France started with the area code of one of five regions. Paris had the code of 01, but if they were on the western outskirts it may be 02, or 03 on the eastern outskirts. Then the rest of the phone numbers were eight more randomly assigned numbers. “Let’s head out. Queen, do you still have that program for a spam call bot you showed me three months ago?”

“Uhh maybe, but I’d need wifi for that.”

“Okay.” He stood up, pulling out his phone to do some quick googling. “We’re gonna split in two groups. Red smiles with me in group one, we’re driving out to the Tours Val de Loire Airport down south. Make sure you have the right cover story IDs, it’s a three hour drive so prepare yourselves. Bishop, you’re going to have to do my makeup in the car. Everyone else will be in the other van with Queen, group A. After you’ve found a source of wifi, you five will be calling in some false reported sightings. Not too many, but enough in specific places we won’t be going that it’ll misdirect the police. I’ve written down the phone number rules for France on this napkin. If it seems like we’re in the clear you can overflow the system if you want to. Message us with progress updates and we’ll confer about flights and cargo control after group one has reached Tours Val de Loire. Group A will take off from the Orly airport and we’ll meet at Reno-Tahoe International in a few days. I've sent a message in the groupchat with everything I’ve just said, so don’t worry if you missed a detail it’s all there verbatim. Let’s get rolling.”

“Yes, Boss!” The members of DICE said with varying levels of conviction.

Kokichi handed Queen the napkin he had written on as the rest of DICE started to stand up from the four seater cafe booth they’d all crammed into like a clown car. He grabbed another napkin that he would use to write the next note to interpol. What would the six layers of cipher be this time? What about a set of random symbols equated to numbers that would represent the coordinates of katakana strokes in a one unit box which would then translate to english letters in a polyalphabetic cipher which would reveal the riddle? Wait that was only five layers. Eh, he could work on it in the-

Kokichi saw detective Saihara’s photograph on the monitor out of the corner of his eye and his swirling thoughts came to a momentary hallt.. It seemed like the picture had been taken hurriedly outside of the Paris de Gaulle. It was blurry and a little dark. All Kokichi could really see was that his shirt was half untucked and his hair was so messy you could hardly tell he had eyes. Kokichi found himself wishing he could get a good look at those eyes. Just to tell what the detective was thinking.

Not that it mattered.

Kokichi closed the computer and slid it over to Queen as he exited the booth.

As he handed it over, Queen gave him an odd look, like he had noticed something. “Where’d you get that cut, boss?” he asked.

“I punched through a window with my bare hands, just to feel something again...” Kokichi replied, putting on an exaggerated grimace.

Queen gave him a look that said ‘what did I expect’ and followed the rest of the gang out of the shop.

The Louvre heist was as good as over. He’d gotten away with it already.

Kokichi wondered if any of the heists to come would be at all helpful in the war against tedium he had been fighting his entire life.

“If I have anything to say about it, yes they will be.”

Kokichi realized he was fidgeting with the bandage on his finger.

…

Good bye, Paris.

#shuichi x kokichi #shuichi saihara #shuichi danganronpa #kokichi ouma #kokichi danganronpa #oumasai #fanfiction #Phantom Thief AU #yeah im still here haha #this fic is long and im still working on it #Thank you everyone for your support!#danganronpa v3 #drv3 #danganronpa #I would read on AO3 if you need warnings #writing

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watchathon · 4 years

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Carmen Sandiego, S1E2: Becoming Carmen Sandiego Part II

In case you’re finding this post just by browsing the tags I’ve used for this post, this is the Watchathon, a blog where I’m hoping to watch an episode of a TV show every weekday, with a short blog post where I write down my thoughts as I watch. Each new thought starts with a hyphen and a bolded first word.

- Like so. Now that the introductions are over with, here’s my thoughts on Becoming Carmen Sandiego Part II:

- I like the casual tone Player uses when he talks about finding Carmen’s location. It’s like it’s just an average day for him.

- There’s like, definitely an alternate universe where Carmen’s stunt with the parachute and Crackle had, uh... “permanent” consequences, right?

- Even VILE are starting to regret the whole idea of making a mime one of their own.

- “Mission first, sightsee later.” Something that Player said (word for word IIRC) in the last episode. Nothing meaningful to it that I can discern, I just think it’s neat.

- I like this scene of Carmen talking to the leader of the archaeological dig. I think, more than anything, this (combined with another moment just a bit later on) is what motivated her betrayal of VILE, and her future philosophy when it comes to her heists.

- And that other moment, is when Crackle almost kills the leader of the archaeological dig. It’s probable that even if Carmen did graduate, she would’ve drawn the line at murder. Knowing that such a thing is expected of VILE operatives definitely helped inspire her new path.

- Cutting back to present day, we see that it also tarnished her opinion of Graham. It was like she saw some entirely new side of him.

- “Villains International League of Evil.” Do ya think that any VILE students ever graduate, hear the real name of VILE, and then start thinking “Are we the baddies?”

- When Julia gets Carmen’s motive right, she not only tells the audience about the premise behind the series, but also proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that she’s the brains between her and Devineaux.

- So it would seem that Carmen’s biggest motivation to escape from the isle of VILE really was the events of the archaeological dig. Judging from her narration, she was committed to ditching the place as soon as she returned there.

- I like that Carmen’s first order of business in her escape attempt is getting the phone back so she can have Player as a partner in (escaping from a life of) crime.

- Seems Carmen’s savvy enough this time to stop Mime Bomb from ruining her plans.

- Also, Mime Bomb miming running away instead of actually running away will never not be hilarious.

- I like that the elevator music is the theme music from “Where On Earth Is Carmen Sandiego.” Especially fitting when Cookie Booker’s voice actor was the VA for Carmen in that show.

- Shadowsan seems at first glance like he’s hunting down Carmen, but this is one of those things that reads differently once you’ve watched everything so far...

- And, Carmen also gets the iconic red coat from Cookie Booker. These are the sort of subtle references to the past that I just love.

- So, I always thought it was Shadow-san, but looking at the subtitles, it’s actually Shadowsan, sans (heh) hyphen.

- I love this scene of Carmen deciding on a name. But... it is just ripe for humor, isn’t it? First off, there’s the joke about her calling herself “Brand Outerwear.” But, that aside, if Carmen Brand Outerwear had been located in some other city, that could be comedic gold, too.

Just looking at a list of funny town names, she could’ve become Carmen Boring, or Carmen Whynot, or Carmen Cranky Corner...

- Doesn’t matter in the slightest, but I do wonder how Carmen’s hat went from having a yellow stripe to having a black stripe...

- And now I’m wondering how she got her outfit back. Maybe this is the answer to my previous question? She’s just gone through a few different coats and hats in the process of using them as diversions. Proceeds from thievery go to nonprofits, and also replacing her iconic outfit if need be.

- Speaking of, nice touch that Carmen’s donating most of the money she does get her hands on. She is using her “wicked skills” for good, right? So she’s not just preventing VILE from stealing, she’s also giving to those who need it.

- I like that this pilot two-parter ends with a brief part of the theme song, or the audio, at least. It tells us that now the show is really getting started.

#TV #Carmen Sandiego #Carmen Sandiego Season 1 #Becoming Carmen Sandiego Part II #Player #Carmen #Graham #Julia Argent #Mime Bomb #Cookie Booker #Shadowsan

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thecartoonuniverse · 6 years

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Currently Airing Cartoons to Watch: 2019 Edition Part 1

You may remember my list of upcoming cartoons to look out for last year, but this time around I would like to do something different! I am personally recommending cartoons that are currently airing (or are confirmed to get more seasons) and give my opinions on each of them. There may be other good cartoons out there, but if they are not on the list, it means I was not a huge fan of it, it’s a super popular show like Steven Universe or Star vs. the Forces of Evil, or I have yet to watch it. If you are looking for something to watch, this is the list!

Currently Airing:

The Dragon Prince

Summary: The Dragon Prince is an epic fantasy series by the head writer and director of Avatar: the Last Airbender. In the magical land of Xadia, magic comes from six primal sources. But when human mages create a seventh kind of magic, Dark Magic — they begin capturing and harvesting the unique magical creatures they need as ingredients. This sparks a catastrophic war between Xadia and the Human Kingdoms. Three kids from opposite sides of the conflict — two human princes, and the elven assassin who was sent to kill them — discover a secret that could change everything. They decide to join forces and go on an epic journey that may be their only hope of ending the war, and restoring peace to both their worlds.

Opinion: This is probably my favorite currently airing show right now, mostly since I am a huge fan of fantasy shows. Dragons, extremely hot elves, and magic- what more could you ask for? Every one of the characters is complex and likable (well most, depending on who you ask). But even the antagonists are compelling at there are always shades of gray present. Season 2 truly blew me away with how much the stakes were raised and the number of surprises that occurred. There is even going to be a AAA cross-platform video game coming soon set in the same world! The company that creates The Dragon Prince, is doing a fantastic job on their social media (it’s hilarious, trust me), and I cannot wait to see what else they create. A quick warning, the animation from season 1 will take a little while to get used to, but for the most part, it has been improved for Season 2.

Also, there a lot of memes, so get ready for that.

gen:LOCK

Summary: In gen:LOCK, Earth’s last free society is on the losing side of a global war, and recruits a diverse team of young pilots to control the next generation of mecha—giant, weaponized robot bodies. These daring recruits will find, however, that their newfound abilities come at no small cost. As Julian Chase leaves behind his life as a fighter pilot to become the first candidate for the program, he finds his endurance, as well as his very identity, will be tested beyond anything he ever imagined.

Opinion: For any current/past fans of Voltron: Legendary Defender- WATCH THIS SHOW! If you are a fan of mechas, you will surely enjoy this. But if you were more a fan of the character interactions from VLD, this show also has you covered. It has an amazingly diverse cast and even has a canon genderfluid character. It is a show made for adults, so the stakes are real and dark subjects are treated seriously. Even the romance is done very well with the characters acting like adults instead of arguing over each other like teenagers. Even from the first episode, you can tell that the show is willing to take risks and is sure to become one of the greatest shows of the decade. The animation is also beautiful, and is definitely the best looking show Rooster Teeth has created. The fan base is super small right now since the first season just aired and is RT First exclusive. But trust me, it is worth a watch.

Carmen Sandiego

Summary: Carmen is a modern day Robin Hood traveling the globe and stealing from V.I.L.E. and giving back to its victims. Carmen is publicly perceived as a criminal by most law enforcement agencies – correction, make that a master criminal due to the sheer scale and theatricality of her heists. We will follow her escapades and get to determine not only where but WHO in the world is Carmen Sandiego?

Opinion: This show really caught me by surprise- I was fully expecting a kiddy edutainment show, but what I got was something much more complex and intriguing. Carmen this time around, as the summary suggests, is an anti-hero, and not an antagonist or villain like she was in the past. While some may not want to watch it due to this, I think this take on her is done very well, and once you get past the two-episode backstory, you will find the show is fun with a diverse cast of characters from all over the world. This GIF doesn’t quite do it justice but trust me when I say this show has some one of the best looking art styles I have ever seen. Surprisingly the weakest aspect of the show is the educational factor, which is puzzling as it was very much promoted as a show to teach children geography. In some cases, I have seen posts/tweets pointing out factual errors the show made! Normally it wouldn’t be the biggest deal, but this is a show that prides itself for its educational value. Also, some of the characters have pretty flat personalities or are just straight up incompetent, but hopefully that will change as the show progresses further. The finale was amazing, and I am patiently waiting for the next season!

Tangled: The Series/ Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure

Summary: Set between the events of the feature film and the start of the 2012 CGI short film, Tangled Ever After, the animated series unfolds as Rapunzel acquaints herself with her parents, her kingdom and the people of Corona. Her irrepressible spirit and natural curiosity about the world drives her to the realization that there is so much more she needs to learn before she can truly accept her royal destiny. She boldly puts her crown and impending marriage on hold to seek out epic adventures, much to the dismay of the King who, after missing out on Rapunzel's childhood, must accept that his daughter is now an independent young woman. Accompanying Rapunzel on her journey will be Eugene Fitzherbert; the plucky chameleon sidekick, Pascal; the no-nonsense horse, Maximus; most of The Snuggly Duckling's pub thugs; and newcomer Cassandra, a tough-as-nails handmaiden, who becomes Rapunzel's confidant.

Opinion: This series is truly a delight, and definitely exceeded my expectations for a television series based off a Disney show (I did not expect much as most of those types of shows from my childhood weren’t the best). But I was truly wowed, and this is a must see for any Disney fan.The series does not ignore anything that happened in the movie, far from it. Events that occurred in the movie still impact Rapunzel and are treated seriously. The cartoon mixes comedy, adventure, lore, and mystery quite well. It is also very beautiful, much like Carmen Sandiego (both have similar styles but I like CS’s lighting a bit more). The show can even get quite dark, as is evident with the season 1 finale. This show deserves a much biggest fanbase, so give it a watch!

Hilda

Summary: Hilda follows the journey of a fearless blue-haired girl as she travels from her home in a vast magical wilderness full of elves and giants to the bustling city of Trolberg, where she makes new friends and discovers mysterious creatures who are stranger –and sometimes more dangerous– than she ever expected. Based on graphic novels by Luke Pearson, who storyboarded for Adventure Time.

Opinion: Hilda is definitely a comfort show, and if you liked Gravity Falls there is a good chance you will also like this show! The art style is simply adorable, and Hilda is a delight to get to know. I love the way that the show not only has magical creatures, but it goes in depth into how these creatures live and survive in a modern world. Having read all the comics, I personally enjoyed the addition of Hilda getting some human friends. I know some people did not like this, but she seemed quite lonely once she moved to the city, and I liked seeing her interact with children her age. Season 2 is coming out next year, so there is plenty of time to watch the first season! If you love a feel-good show with mystery and magic, this is the show for you!

Star Wars Resistance

Summary: The series is set between the events of Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi and Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens, in a time when the Resistance is still learning about the growing threat of the First Order. It centers on the character of Kazuda Xiono, a young pilot in General Leia Organa's Resistance who is tasked with spying on the growing threat of the First Order.

Opinion: This show was one I was not expecting anything from at all, but as the show has progressed throughout the first season I have begun to enjoy it more and more. This show, like many on this list, features a very diverse cast (including some aliens, of course). Probably the thing that surprised me the most was the fact that the main character, Kaz, is 20 years old! I feel like that is not something you see with action shows these days, as they usually make the protagonist 16 or 17 years old. I really like the animation style, as I always felt that without the big budget, the Clone Wars style just didn’t look that good in Rebels. Resistance is so... shiny! As for the plot itself, it is sad that most of my favorite aspects of Star Wars are missing, namely the Force, Jedi, and Light Sabers. But since it may eventually tie in more with the sequels, there is hope to see more of that eventually! It’s definitely not at Clone Wars level of good, but I am finding it more enjoyable than Rebels (excluding a few episodes and the season finales). It may never end up being as serious as Rebels, but I am sure it will get darker as time goes on and the stakes get higher.

Young Justice: Outsiders

Summary: Young Justice: Outsiders is the third season of Young Justice. The backdrop for the season is one that will touch on “all corners of the DC universe,” and this time the team is tasked with stopping a metahuman trafficking ring, as well as dealing with the “intergalactic arms race for control of these super-powered youths.” You can also count on new heroes Arrowette, Spoiler, Thirteen, Halo, and many more joining in the fight.

(^I can’t recall if this is the exact line from the show but this whole episode is the best)

Opinion: If you loved the first two seasons of Young Justice, it is easy to say that you should give this one a watch. But now that it is on DC’s streaming platform, DC Universe, IT IS DARK. Seriously, this is no longer a show for children. And that’s pretty great. I truly love that the show can now explore darker themes and have some adult jokes from time to time. However, unlike the first two seasons, I feel constantly confused about new characters or things that have happened to returning characters offscreen. Unless you are very knowledgable about DC characters, there is a good chance you will feel this way. So, it is sadly a bit more unwelcoming to those unfamiliar with the comics. I still love the show’s characters and superhero stuff, in general, is always a lot of fun. There’s also LGBT characters apparently already in the show (and some that were LGBT in the comics have appeared, but nothing in-show is confirmed), so hopefully, there is also that to look forward to in the second half of the season when it airs in June.

Big Hero 6 The Series

Summary: The series continues the adventures of 14-year-old tech genius Hiro and his robot pal Baymax. Joining the pair on their journey is control freak Wasabi, scientist Honey Lemon, fanboy Fred, and no-nonsense Go Go Tomago, whom together form the Big Hero 6 superhero team. As the new prodigy at San Fransokyo Institute of Technology, Hiro faces daunting academic challenges, not to mention the social trials of being the little man on campus. The stakes are also raised for the high-tech heroes when they must protect their city from an array of scientifically enhanced villains.

Opinion: Another very well made series based off a Disney movie. Once again, this show stays faithful to the source material. The art style is very interesting, and while not my favorite gives the show a very cool feel. Once the main villain is introduced, I was glad to report that he became a major threat very fast. And the season 1 finale was pretty great as well. My biggest issue concerning this series so far is that is still really hasn’t developed the side characters at all, despite them being in almost every episode. These are college students, so their families should still be quite important to them. But besides Fred, we have yet to really learn about them, and with that, a potentially important part of who they are as a person is missing. After a movie and a whole season, these characters should not seem as flat as they are, so I hope we learn more about them too. But we also get flashbacks of Tadashi, so for that alone the show may be worth a watch.

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Summary: Deep in the sewers of New York City, four mutant turtle brothers lurk. Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michaelangelo are in their early teen years, and the brothers go on new and exciting adventures. They tap into their mystic ninja powers to learn to work together as a cohesive unit and become a team of heroes as they navigate the modern world and other hidden realms. The brothers get a whole new look, new weapons, and new powers as they discover the hidden city beneath New York and find time for a slice of their favorite pizza.

Opinion: Okay I will admit this is one I haven’t actually seen all of yet. But the art style is just so cool I had to include it and will likely update this entry when I catch up. This show may be a worthy successor to the 2012 series, which I know a lot of people loved.

So that’s the end of my list. If I remember any other good shows airing, I may update it. But, if I got you to watch any, let me know and tell me your thoughts!

Shows to Look Foward to: Glitch Techs, Amphibia, Owl House, Twelve Forever, Hazbin Hotel, Villainous, Infinity Train, 101 Dalmatian Street

Shows Omitted due to being super popular already: Steven Universe, Star vs. the Forces of Evil, RWBY, Bojack Horseman, OK KO, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Duck Tales

Join my Cartoon Themed Discord: https://discord.gg/cartoonuv

And give us a follow if you enjoyed the post! We talk about cartoon related stuff a lot! I will probably do a part 2 later in the year when more of the cartoons to look forward to have aired. And I might even add some shows omitted or other shows I may have forgotten!

#tdp #the dragon prince #gen:lock #tangled #hilda #carmen sandiego #tmnt #bh6 #young justice #star wars resistance #rwby #she-ra

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rebelsofshield · 5 years

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Panels Far, Far Away: A Week in Star Wars Comics 5/15/19

Scoundrels, pilots, and rebels take the spotlight in a solid week of Star Wars comics from Marvel.

Star Wars #66 written by Kieron Gillen and art by Angel Unzueta

Kieron Gillen has only two issues left on Star Wars for the forseeable future and fittinglyt he is closing the door on many of his longest running stories. The penultimate chapter of “The Scourging of Sho-Torun” not only functions as a set up for what looks to be an overstuffed conclusion but also closes the book on some long running characters and themes.

In particular, Queen Trios shines here. Next to Doctor Aphra and Triple Zero, Trios may be the best original creation to come out of Gillen’s four year run on Marvel’s Star Wars titles. Her dark pragmatism and shifting loyalties made her an interesting foil to both Darth Vader and later to Leia and the way her story wraps up here is fitting and suitably tragic for such a tortured character. One can’t help but wish that Gillen had given her more time to bounce of Leia in recent issues as their dynamic was one of the dramatic highlights of this run of stories. Trios and Leia represent sort of cautionary tales to one another. Trios sees Leia as a leader who failed her people and is floundering for a purpose in the wake of calamity and Leia sees Trios as a twisted version of what she could be if she abandoned her morals. There is an unspoken question in the air of if Leia could have saved Alderaan with a dash of Trios-inspired cynicism and Gillen’s script is at his best when he forces both characters to confront this. Where the story goes from here could have disastrous results for our princess and it will be interesting to see Gillen or follow up writer Greg Pak explore the fall out.

Leia and Trios may be the standouts but that doesn’t mean that Luke also doesn’t have his hands full. Luke’s Captain America-like “aw shucks” idealism is pushed to its limits here as he is forced to find a way to save Sho-Torun from his former allies. Cornering Luke with the sort of moral conundrum of having to save innocents or kill other rebels is a brutal twist and Gillen handles it in a manner that doesn’t betray the young hero’s pre-Empire Strikes Back naiveté. It could’ve used more breathing room but it adds another thrilling wrinkle to this jam-packed issue.

However this leads to what is ultimately the biggest let down when it comes to how “The Scourging of Sho-Torun” is concluding. While early issues saw lots of stage setting and playful heists, we have rapidly upped the stakes and introduced new complications to Leia’s scheme and not all of them get the time they deserve. The Empire’s intervention here feels a little half-baked and even flippant and how exactly this plays out with Trios and the larger culture of Sho-Torun could’ve been further explored. It’s hard to tell if this is a problem that could have been alleviated with another issue of runtime or whether some of the attention in past chapters could have been diverted. Regardless, we find ourselves running out of time with a lot of plates spinning in the air.

Angel Unzueta’s art is for the most part solid here. His facial expressions can still feel oddly exaggerated and unnatural on his characters but he is for the most part able to nail the bigger moments. The final showdown between Leia and Trios in particular is a standout and Unzueta not only nails the choreography but sells the complicated emotions of this clash as well.

One to go. Let’s get scourging.

Score: B+

Star Wars Age of Rebellion: Lando Calrissian #1 written by Greg Pak and art by Matteo Buffagni

Unlike past hero issues of Age of Rebellion, Lando Calrissian isn’t concerned with filling in the blanks of Lando’s story. Instead, Greg Pak attempts to tell a holistic Lando tale. “Cloud City Blues” tries its best to not only show us Lando the scoundrel and swindler but also Lando the leader and Lando the bleeding heart and Lando the loyal friend. Surprisingly, it works, if not perfectly.

Cloud City is proving to be a costly investment. Despite his new position of power, Lando Calrissian finds himself routinely having to dig into his own resources to keep the floating city running and to placate its overtaxed work force. However, when a wealthy off worlder approaches Lando with a business proposition that seems too good to be true, his financial worries may have found a solution. Of course though, not everything is at it seems.

We have seen a lot of Lando as a smuggler and a gambler as of late. Much of his recent portrayal in Star Wars media has built off his scene stealing charisma in Solo: A Star Wars Story and has delved deep into his ties to the criminal underworld or his moral fluidity. It’s refreshing then to see Greg Pak take the time to explore Lando as a responsibility driven leader. While it is easy to get caught up in his betrayal of Han Solo in The Empire Strikes Back, Lando did in fact do it to protect a city of people he was responsible for. Pak’s ability to blend Lando’s sense of duty to his people into a story that also allows him to smuggle, gamble, and brush shoulders with criminals is commendable and a refreshingly rare take on the character.

That being said, the narrative itself is fairly predictable. As soon as Lando takes the job that will supposedly solve all of his problems it is clear that things will eventually take a turn for the worse. It is undeniably told well and filled with some great character beats, but its various twists and turns are clear from the outset.

Matteo Buffagni fills in for Chris Sprouse here and luckily their styles prove similar enough to avoid any large sense of creative dysphoria. That being said Buffagni’s art is largely unremarkable. Outside some clever creature designs for Lando’s benefactors (they are drawn as cape wearing dinosaur-mantises), Buffagni fails to leave much of an impression.

Score: B

Star Wars Tie Fighter #2 written by Jody Houser and art by Roge Antonio and Josh Cassara

Between Age of Republic and TIE Fighter, it is clear that Jody Houser is most at home when she is given a taste of the dark side. While this glimpse into the origins of Shadow Wing may not have the delightfully demented twists of some of her best work over in the prequel era, Houser does a great job at humanizing the Empire better than most other contemporary Star Wars media.

There is a frustrating tendency in Star Wars media where complex Imperial characters tend to flip sides to the side of the heroes. In a way, this makes sense. You don’t really want to populate much of your fictional fascist dictatorship with many heroes or even misguided regular people. Part of Star Wars’ myth has always been the stark binary of its morality and muddying that too much runs the risk of losing sight of what makes this universe so appealing. The hidden gem of a Star Wars story appears to be one that stars an Imperial lead that isn’t a full on anti-hero but also doesn’t end their arc as a rebel defector.

Houser manages to balance this mostly by allowing us glimpses into the various characters’ interiority and framing their mission as one of misguided loyalty and war weariness. Having the pilots of Shadow Wing face off against an enemy that isn’t tied to the Rebellion also adds a nice bite to the story and offers some unexpected moments of self-awareness to the cast and their place in this galactic war. It may not be a truly gripping narrative in its own right at this point, but that doesn’t seem to be Houser’s main priority.

The strength of this series to date has been its rather arresting ensemble and that continues here. It is impressive just how organic this cast feels so quickly. The decision to end each issue with a sort of mini-story centering on one individual cast member is an inspired one and it adds a larger humanizing affect to the narrative and its action. (This issue centers on a carryover member from Han Solo: Imperial Cadet and in the process actually helps elevate what was mostly a clumsy and disposable series.)

The shared art effort by Roge Antonio and Jose Cassara also works rather well here. Antonio finds clever ways to help us keep track of our protagonists in the various dogfights and action that Houser’s script throws at us. Whether it’s by offering us glimpses of the characters beneath their helmets or showcasing talking head like call signs for dialogue, the action is clear, well-paced, and adds a personal bite that avoids any confusion that might have resulted from the Empire’s infamous homogeny.

I may not be anxiously awaiting the conclusion to Shadow Wing’s particular mission here, but just getting to know these flawed and human pilots continues to be an unexpected source of intrigue and disarming empathy for one of pop culture’s most infamous villainous organizations.

Score: B

#Star Wars #Star Wars comics #review #reviews #Marvel #Age of Rebellion #Lando Calrissian #Kieron Gillen #Angel Unzueta #Greg Pak #Matteo Buffagni #Jody Houser #Roge Antonio #Jose Cassara

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itsmajel · 6 years

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Majel Reads - June 2018

Flash / DC - Coldfalsh

[What is this?]

At the End of the Rainbow by Crimson1

Fear Effect by Crimson1

My Barry by Crimson1

His Barry by Crimson1

Spellbound by Crimson1

Everyday Kinks by Crimson1

Silhouette by Crimson1

Veritas by Crimson1

You Make Me Swoon by Crimson1

Never Call Me Leo by Crimson1

Like a Natural Disaster by Crimson1

Only Tease If You Promise To Deliver by Crimson1

We Cannot Meet Death Better by Crimson1

The Immaculate Barry Allen by Crimson1

Hands-On Stimulation by Crimson1

Ride like Lightning, Crash like Thunder by Crimson1

Vertigo by Crimson1

Out Cold by Crimson1

Timeless by Crimson1

The Color of Love by Crimson1

A Model Escort by Crimson1

Consummating a Marriage of Convenience by RedHead ( @coldtomyflash)

Detailed List including summaries, ratings and wordcounts under the cut.

At the End of the Rainbow by Crimson1

Just as Captain Cold is being taken into custody after a foiled heist, the Rainbow Raider manages to put the whammy on Flash. He whisks Cold away to a secluded warehouse intent on taking his rage out on him, when his anger leads to confessions of other things he'd like to do to Cold, and Cold decides to encourage that to save his skin. Better than getting his face smashed in. Much, much better.

Part 1 of At the End of the Rainbow

[Explicit] [4,682 Words] [Read on AO3 here]

Fear Effect by Crimson1

Rainbow Raider has learned to instill more than just rage in his victims, so when Captain Cold gets hit with paralyzing fear, it's up to The Flash to save him, and then comfort him in the aftermath.

Ongoing series of various ways Bivolo whammying someone with a particular emotion leads to sex.

Part 2 of At the End of the Rainbow

[Explicit] [8,586 Words] [Read on AO3 here]

My Barry by Crimson1

When another Snart falls out of a dimensional rift unconscious, of course Barry has to save him. He just doesn't expect this Snart to be so different, or for the way he says 'my Barry' when talking about his universe to make Barry so very, very curious.

[Not Rated] [2,915 Words] [Read on AO3 here]

His Barry by Crimson1

Direct sequel to My Barry, per reader request.

Len starts receiving regular visitations from a certain Barry Allen, who seems to want more than just to save his soul, maybe...to get to know him, with the subtle flirtations Len often dismissed before seeming more plausible. Thus canon events turn out slightly differently with Jesse, Mardon, and Christmas in Central City, and Len eventually meets Earth-3 Len and Barry, which has the opposite affect on him as it did Barry because he's certain he can never be what his Barry wants.

[General Audiences] [3,252 Words] [Read on AO3 here]

Spellbound by Crimson1

After a meta (or magic user, Barry isn't entirely sure) whammies him to play out his most secret desires, without having any control over his body or his words until he fulfills that, he is understandably surprised that he winds up at Leonard Snart's door.

[Not Rated] [7,133 Words] [Read on AO3 here]

Everyday Kinks by Crimson1

Len ponders loneliness watching his sister get closer to Cisco, only to receive company and an offer from The Flash he never expected. Or, Barry gives Len a backrub after a mission

[Teen And Up Audiences] [1,741 Words] [Read on AO3 here]

Silhouette by Crimson1

Barry takes advice from Iris and Cisco to defeat Cold in a whole new way - by being a better thief. Donning a new persona and costume, Barry becomes Silhouette, the best thief in Central, who consistently beats Captain Cold to his heists, stealing the loot out from under him (while secretly having made a deal with the proprietors, and returning the loot later). Cold isn't sure if he's upset by this new player targeting him...or intrigued. Eventually, the truth comes out.

[Explicit] [12,839 Words] [Read on AO3 here]

Veritas by Crimson1

Len gets hit with a truth spell while helping Barry take care of a wayward sorceress. Spending an entire day at S.T.A.R. Labs with Cisco and Caitlin to figure out how to undo the spell, and eventually spending the evening with Barry, pulls more confessions from Len than he ever thought possible - especially when his biggest secret is his larger than life crush on a certain Scarlet Speedster.

[Teen And Up Audiences] [7,287 Words] [Read on AO3 here]

You Make Me Swoon by Crimson1

When Barry rushes home to eat something after almost passing out on the job, finding nothing in his cupboards or fridge to help him is the absolute last straw. Lately, it's just been too much, and he collapses in tears and barely controlled consciousness. The last thing he expects is for Leonard Snart to come walking into his kitchen after him.

[General Audiences] [1,038 Words] [Read on AO3 here]

Never Call Me Leo by Crimson1

Leo is what Lewis called Len. Fine when he was a child, but the name roils in his gut to hear as an adult, especially after his father's death and traveling through time. When a man from his father's past uses the name, everything in Len snaps, and it takes Mick and Barry to rein him in and help him heal in the aftermath. For Barry, it seems there might be something more than respect for his nemesis that draws him to Len's defense.

Spoilers for Legends episode Blood Ties.

[Teen And Up Audiences] [3,785 Words] [Read on AO3 here]

Like a Natural Disaster by Crimson1

When Captain Cold sacrifices himself to kill Zoom, he rises from his seeming demise as a meta human. As Barry seems to be the only source of heat that comforts Snart, and the only one unaffected by the chill of his touch, what builds between them with the connection of their powers is like nothing either could have expected.

[Mature] [9,185 Words] [Read on AO3 here]

Only Tease If You Promise To Deliver by Crimson1

Barry, in a stroke of mischief after accidentally copping a feel of Snart's ass, starts messing with the man at high speeds on purpose to see if he can get a reaction from him. Snart, while seeming flustered by the attention, is not going to let this go unpunished. He comes up with a trap...and Barry finds himself at the mercy of Captain Cold.

Tumblr prompt: Barry's super speedy sexual harassment.

[Explicit] [2,832 Words] [Read on AO3 here]

We Cannot Meet Death Better by Crimson1

“Someone else should be here,” Barry said with a frown. “You’re a hero.”

Snart snorted, cocking an eyebrow at Barry as if they were back in 2024, maybe even back in 2014 when everything started. “You expecting a parade for the death of Captain Cold? All things considered with the Justice League, kid, I’m not all that memorable.”

“You are to me.”

Barry wakes up after being stuck in the Speed Force for forty years because of the crisis of 2024 to find that almost everyone he loves is dead. After seeing Iris and Snart, he decides to go back in time to change things. What he doesn't expect is just how differently a life he decides to lead.

[Mature] [10,738 Words] [Read on AO3 here]

The Immaculate Barry Allen by Crimson1

Barry is cursed to lose his powers until he loses his virginity. Sounds like a job for Captain Cold.

AU with everything being the same except no Earth-2 or Zoom, just normal Flash business Barry has been dealing with since the Singularity.

Legends still happened, and Len was found soon after the Oculus explosion adrift in time, and is now ‘on leave’. To pass the time, he’s decided to get back to his roots by robbing a few places.

Barry is not amused. He’s also a virgin. But no one’s supposed to know that. Except that the meta of the week (or witch? Barry doesn’t even know) seems to be able to look right into his soul and see that he’s never had sex. She also thinks it’s funny, apparently, to curse him to lose his powers until he does something about it.

Enter Snart. Which is definitely a very bad (very good?) idea.

[Explicit] [11,073 Words] [Read on AO3 here]

Hands-On Stimulation by Crimson1

When Barry runs to the Legends for some time away from the mess he's made of the timeline, an accident robs him of the use of his legs, but a special balm and a volunteer to apply it are all it will take to help him walk again.

Len, who remembers every version of the timeline Barry created thanks to his time in the Oculus, is only too happy to take one for the team, if only to have the chance to touch Barry again, like he had in one of the lost timelines Barry changed.

Neither are being honest, and both want something they don't think they can say.

*Canon-divergent, but more or less in line with this season.*

[Mature] [5,944 Words] [Read on AO3 here]

Ride like Lightning, Crash like Thunder by Crimson1

Barry has finally given up on ever meeting his soulmate. He just wants a night to forget. Saints and Sinners seems like the perfect place and has nothing to do with possibly running into Leonard Snart.

[Mature] [8,920 Words] [Read on AO3 here]

Vertigo by Crimson1

Len didn’t know how he got into these messes with Barry.

Only of course he did. He was the one who chose to go out into the field every time because he didn’t trust Barry to play hero without delving back into his villainous ways. He was the one who’d blackmailed a thief into being a hero in the first place.

[Mature] [6,856 Words] [Read on AO3 here]

Out Cold by Crimson1

Captain Cold's plan for a bit of fun with his nemesis results in more than he bargained for when a head wound from dashing to Flash's rescue leaves him without any memories of who he or The Flash is. As Barry nurses Len back to health, both of them quickly start to hope that he never remembers being Captain Cold as the attraction they feel for each other turns into something more without the pitfalls of being enemies to stand in their way.

AU with everything having happened up to the Season 1 finale, except Eddie shot Eobard instead of himself, killing him, and the singularity didn’t happen.

[Mature] [ 200,156 Words] [Read on AO3 here]

Timeless by Crimson1

A voice in the Speed Force reaches Barry in his Timeless state to convince him to come home. Barry misses that voice once he’s back in real-time, but he has to set things right and save as many lives as he can.

While that means Iris will be with Eddie instead of him, he can’t mourn her. She’ll always be dear to him, but he wants her to be happy above all, and he has seen every timeline and knows the life and love he will get to have instead. He just needs to keep fighting to finish his calculations in time to defeat Eobard and return to his loved ones for good.

Thankfully, a certain thief brings clarity like no one else can.

AU season 1 with Barry from pre-season 4.1 returning from the Speed Force to the moment he woke up from his original coma.

[Explicit] [59,824 Words] [Read on AO3 here]

The Color of Love by Crimson1

Len gave up on love a long time ago. In the aftermath of the Oculus explosion, when an old flame comes back to haunt him, he just wants something normal to distract him from it all. He never expected that two of his favorite things—a heist and the Scarlet Speedster—could end with him drowning in the very emotion he spurned.

OR Rainbow Raider strikes again – Len gets hit with LOVE.

[Mature] [157,217 Words] [Read on AO3 here]

A Model Escort by Crimson1

Barry Allen just got out of a long-term relationship he wants to forget. Lucky for him, his new career in Star City allows him to start over hundreds of miles from his ex. The only problem is...he's lonely and terrible at starting new relationships. He just wishes that part of his life could be easier.

Leonard Snart is an escort for Nick of Time Escort Service. He is especially picky about the clients he takes on, but lately, he's felt like something is missing from his life. He doesn't usually take on regulars looking for companionship more than sex, but the right client might be able to change his mind.

Len is an escort and Barry needs someone to hold him - no powers AU.

[Mature] [63,309 Words] [Read on AO3 here]

Consummating a Marriage of Convenience by RedHead ( @coldtomyflash)

Stuck in Iron Heights, when Len gets told it’s time for his conjugal visit, he can’t help but be surprised because the last he checked, he wasn’t married. But then, Barry Allen always manages to surprise him.

[Explicit] [5,670 Words] [Read on AO3 here]

Consummating a Marriage of Convenience by RedHead ( @coldtomyflash)

[Explicit] [5,670 Words] [Read on AO3 here]

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( All summaries are the official summaries of the author. Stats and infos as according to hosting site or information given by the author. If any of the authors that have been tagged don’t want to be tagged, or if any of you know the tumblr names of the ones I haven’t tagged please let me know!)

Looking for more reading inspiration? Check out my fic rec tag here on tumblr, this month reading list masterpost for what I’ve read in other fandoms this month, my all-time reading list masterpost for more of this fandom or just check out my AO3 bookmarks.

#fic rec #rec list #coldflash #dc #barry allen/leonard snart #reading list #majel reads #june 2018

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wonderfulworldofmichaelford · 6 years

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Solo: A Star Wars Story review

As a lifelong fan of Star Wars (I’ve been watching these movies since I was a little kid), there is one thing that has always and will always be true about the Star Wars fandom, no matter how many movies, TV shows, and books come out:

The Star Wars fandom is a malignant tumor on the franchise.

This is not anything new, but seriously, I saw so many people writing this film off before even seeing it – with one guy even going so far as to call it a trainwreck on par with that new David Cage game – that frankly I am confident in saying Star Wars has the worst fans of any property ever. You give them one really divisive film and then they immediately decide everything after is garbage as soon as it’s announced. But hey, I could rant all day about how awful Star Wars fans are; hell, I could write a book about it. But I’m here to talk about the movie they were so insistent would be utter garbage and a disgrace to the Star Wars name. How was it?

It was fucking excellent.

This film is just a fun, exciting space adventure; think Indiana Jones… IN SPACE! While it doesn’t reinvent the wheel or really do anything particularly new story-wise, it’s just a fun, thrilling, adventure film with heist film elements sprinkled in, it is the first Star Wars film in ages that actually invokes the feeling of fun and adventure that the original trilogy did. Do what exactly happens in this film that is so much fun? Well, a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…

...Han was living on the streets as a petty crook, serving some nasty criminal to stay alive and help find money to get himself and his girlfriend Qi’ra off the planet. Of course, things get complicated when they try to escape, and she’s dragged off while Han is left to join the army to fulfill his dream of being a pilot. Promising to come back for Qi’ra some day, he joins the Imperials, where he meets the thief Beckett and his crew, as well as his soon-to-be BFF Chewbacca. They decide to team up to pull off a heist that will have them rolling in money, but things go awry and soon Han and Tobias find themselves having to do ANOTHER heist for crime lord Dryden Vos, lest they wish to be killed. Can the gang pull off the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs, or is Dryden Vos gonna add their skulls to his collection of jewels, statues, and Indiana Jones props?

So this movie is easily the best Star Wars movie Disney has produced yet – and for the record, I enjoyed at least two of the previous Star Wars films. The reason I call this the best, though, is it just recaptures that fun, adventurous feeling the old movies had in spades, but ALSO because the movie invokes the other great Harrison Ford character, Indiana Jones. There is a lingering taste of Indy to this movie, and man is it nice to see two of the best adventure franchises’ spirits blend into one fun package. If you ever wanted to see an Indiana Jones movies with aliens that is inarguably excellent, BOOM, you’ve got it.

The cast is actually the biggest surprise, especially Alden Ehrenreich, who had insurmountable odds stacked against him as he is playing a younger version of what just might be the most beloved character in the entire franchise. Thankfully, your worries will be erased only a few short minutes in; while this is clearly a younger and more idealistic Han than the bitter, cynical jerk with a heart of gold we all know and love, the inflections, facial expressions, and “everyman who keeps getting dragged into crazy shit” feel of the character is all still there. I fully believed this Han and the later Han could be the same character, giving a level of prequel consistency that has on occasion been missing in Star Wars films. I’m looking at you, backflipping super Yoda.

Of course, the rest of the cast is excellent as well. I don’t think I need to spend any time convincing you that Donald “Childish Gambino” Glover is probably the most perfect casting choice in the universe for Lando; as soon as everyone heard this casting choice, it was just collectively agreed this was the most perfect casting imaginable. Lando really steals the show when he’s onscreen which is the least surprising sentence ever typed out. Chewie, of course, is as good as ever, but is that really a shock either? What’s really a shock is how good the supporting cast is. Beckett is the least surprising with how good he is, because he’s Woody Harrelson, a man who just exudes greatness. Qi’ra, on the other hand, is a bit more shocking, seeing as she’s one of those love interest characters who is obviously doomed by canon despite this, she’s given quite a bit of characterization and depth, to the point it really is kinda sad things between her and Han don’t work out. Then there’s Lando’s droid gal pal L3-37, who despite the stupid name and a rocky start actually becomes very amusing and enjoyable as her screentime progresses. Dryden Vos is a suitable villain for a story like this, with Paul Bettany giving a great performance. And then there’s the badass space pirate Enfys Nest, who sadly I cannot go into great depth without spoiling; just take my word for it, Nest is awesome. Overall, this is a really solid cast of characters we got here.

One of the best things about this film, though, is just how fresh it feels why still incorporating all sorts of old ideas. This film actually canonizes a lot of stuff from the Legends continuity, so if you were sad about some of that stuff seemingly being rendered non-canon, well boy are you in for a treat! Planets, areas, even parts of Han’s backstory, all of it appeared in the old EU before appearing here. For some of the more fresh stuff, we get a lot of cool new alien and droid designs, and while there’s obviously some CGI mixed with practical effects, it’s not ridiculous, and when we get cool aliens like Therm Scissorpunch, the Summa-verminoth, and Lady Proxima, it’s really hard to complain. There’s stuff here for everybody, old fans and new. You can’t really complain about them not caring about fans anymore now.

Sure, there are some really corny moments and some dumb, nitpicky things here and there, but that’s really in line with the spirit of the Star Wars and Indiana Jones films this movie most emulates. It’s just a fun, exciting adventure film showing how everyone’s favorite lovable rogue got his ship, his best friend, and learned the tricks of his trade, and it doesn’t try to overachieve and push things to new heights, which is a problem I have with The Last Jedi. This movie knows what it is, and it just wants you to have some fun. Casual fans will love the exciting thrills and the backstory, and longtime fans will enjoy all the shout-outs to the expansive lore of the series and appreciate the cameos and appearances of some characters, particularly a certain villain who has a brief appearance at the end. This is just a seriously great and fun film, which isn’t really something I’ve been able to honestly say about Star Wars in a while.

People who initially wrote this off and have seen it have reacted positively to it, so I guess not all hope is lost for the salty Star Wars fans out there. But the fact so many wrote this off due to the overblown hateboner for The Last Jedi is just ridiculous to me. Give this movie a chance, because whatever you feel about Star Wars right now, this will probably improve how you feel. Don’t go in expecting a reinvention of the franchise and just go in expecting a fun time like A New Hope or Raiders of the Lost Ark and you’ll be golden.

My only real issue with the film is that they did not once reference or use this song at all:

youtube

Come on, would it have KILLED them to play this over the credits?

#Review #Movie review #Star Wars #Solo #solo: a star wars story #Han Solo #Lando Calrissian #Disney #action #adventure #sci-fi

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subtlehysteria · 6 years

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back at it again with the lame-ass AU’s

I recently watched Ocean’s 8 and you already know where I’m going with this soooooo

VOLTRON’S 8 AU

(no major spoilers, promise)

Lance is a criminal mastermind in a family of criminal masterminds

He’s the youngest, so he’s learnt from his siblings’ mistakes

But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t trip up sometimes as well

After seeing through his prison sentence of 5 years (thanks to his ex-girlfriend Nyma selling him out) Lance is ready to pull off the biggest heist in history

Stealing a 150 million dollar diamond necklace that hasn’t seen the light of day in over 50 years

But he’s gonna need a team of people that no one would suspect, all highly skilled in their professions and in need of this kind of money

So obvs he’s gonna go to Keith first because these two have been working together since forever

They were once a thing, but then Lance cheated on Keith with Nyma

They broke up, Keith told Lance Nyma was no good and whoops, wouldn’t ya know it. Keith was right

Anyway

Keith owns Club Marmora where he makes a decent living but it's not where his passion lies

He’s mainly doing it to save up enough money to get his mom out of jail

For once it’s a crime she didn’t commit

And, on the side, he’s been eyeing this cherry red ducati motorcycle for a long time

I’m talking 15-year-old-Keith-wanting-a-motorcycle kinda long time

So, Lance approaches Keith and, after a little persuasion, he’s willing to put their past behind him to do this job

SEXUAL TENSION ANYONE???

Despite Keith’s unsociable nature, he has a lot of connections and is good at observing people

Hence how he finds Pidge Gunderson, the wunderkind hacker

Lance is sceptical at first because this kid looks barely older than 14

Just keep in mind everyone’s in their mid 20′s here, Pidge is around 18-19

But then Pidge hacks into the seemingly tight-knit seal that is the security system of the museum

They’re instantly hired

Pidge has got a mouth on them

Is always seen with a green apple lollipop and their headphones

Do not touch their equipment. They will maim you and smile whilst doing so

Okay, so how are they gonna get this prized necklace out of its volt and at the Met Gala?

On the neck of the biggest DivaTM this side of the Universe

None other than Lotor Kingsley

He’s a model/actor who is known for his daring fashion choices and being a ditz (this is OOC, I know, and I don’t care because Drama Queen Lotor is a fav of mine)

He doesn’t care about gender norms so wearing a 150 million dollar diamond necklace is no biggie

And who is gonna make Lotor’s spectacular suit/dress to go with this necklace?

Coran Hieronymus Wimbleton Smythe

His designs were big in the 80′s but since his Singing-Cape line came out its been downhill ever since

He also may or may not be a fugitive from Austrailia. Maybe

So, a second chance at getting his name back in the industry and paying off his debt? Sign him the fuck up

Now, they need someone who is an expert on sparkly stuff

We know who is the expert on sparkly stuff

Allura Altea

She runs a very small jewellry store that was once her father’s and has always wanted to expand it but has never had the money

And now you’re letting her touch this necklace and get paid to do it? Hell yeah she’s gonna take this job

Cool, so we have a hacker, a designer, someone to break apart the necklace for easy transport

But we need someone with light fingers

Enter Romelle

Romelle does card tricks and pickpoketing on the street

Needs to support her brother Bandu who is in hospital

Good at what she does, although she’s looking for a fresh start for her and her brother

And Lance and Keith can offer that second chance

And now you’re probably wondering where Hunk is?

Hunk owns his own catering business

He used to work with Lance and Keith when they were younger on their smaller jobs but has supposedly “given up” on that life

But Lance can see right through him

Hunk is still doing jobs on the side selling tech for small-time swindlers for a good price

When Lance tells him what his cut would be, Hunk really can’t refuse

This means opening his own restraunt and he also can’t stand FOMO so yeah

So, we have our crew

But Lotor needs a date for the Met Gala

And guess who that lucky sucker is gonna be?

Nyma

Now obvs Keith is furious because you don’t do a job within a job, Lance

But Lance assures him it’s got nothing to do with petty revenge

It’s got everything to do with petty revenge

Lance is petty, he knows it, everybody knows it, so let’s move on, hm?

Team dynamics is a little shaky at first but eventually everyone starts warming up to each other

Coran is super nervous about getting this design right cause not only is this Lotor, but he’s also fucking terrible at lying

But Lance and Keith give him a few pointers, (albeit at the same time which is confusing guys, come one, give Coran a break)

But he does the trick

And this suit/dress (I say both because it’s kind of a mix between the two, the suit flares out into a skirt) is gorgous, probably his best work yet and if Lotor loves it? Then you know you’ve achieved the impossible

Lance knows a girl at Vogue who helps organise suits/dresses for everyone else as well

Lance is in a velvet navy blue suit, very simplistic although the jacket lining has a galaxy pattern

Plus his shoes are silver/metallic because why the fuck not

Keith donns a black-silk suit with embroidery roses on the jacket and with his hair tied up and the shirt open at the collar hot damn

Pidge is rocking an emerald green suit with tails and a top hat (no, its not for added height, fuck you Lance)

Hunk is lookin’ fine in a cream-white suit with gold-thread detailing all along the sleeves along with a bowtie because its cute okay

Something like this but also not (I have a feeling I’m gonna be drawing everyone in their outfits sometime soon...)

Coran looks... well it’s Coran so obvs its gonna be over the top but he still manages to pull it off and yes he’s wearing a cape because god-dammit they’ll never go out of style

Allura looks breathtaking

She’s wearing this and has stars in her hair and she is working it and no Romelle isn’t staring what are you talking about?

Speaking of Romelle, she is so pretty wtf

She is a disney princess done right

I’m talking cotton-candy pink tulle that looks like a cloud at sunset and Romelle is the sun (Allura’s words not mine)

Allura doesn’t even deny that she’s staring because look at Romelle, look at her holy

I can’t really say anymore without spoiling the movie, only that Shiro is the investigator and is also Keith’s cousin

He’s been fighting for Krolia because he knows her, he knows she didn’t commit the crime she’s been put away for

But obviously he’s conflicted now because this is his job but Keith and Krolia are family

Sigh... gotta make a choice Takashi

Anyway, thanks for sticking around till the end if you did and until the next time I make another lame-ass au, thank you for reading, enjoy your evening, good night! *mic drop*

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bastardnev · 7 years

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Steal Your Heart Ch. 3

nev may be a loser, but he’s WADE’S loser

(crossposted from ao3)

Chapters: 3/? Fandom: World Wrestling Entertainment, Professional Wrestling Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Wade Barrett/Pac | Adrian Neville, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added Characters: Wade Barrett, Pac | Adrian Neville, Other Character Tags to Be Added Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Detectives, Alternate Universe - Thieves Summary: Random happenings in the lives of Wade, a detective, and Neville, a thief who took a liking to him and decided to tag along with him during his investigations.

Wade let out an impatient sigh, resting his arm on the car window and propping his head up while his other hand gripped the steering wheel. No matter what state he went to -- be it back in New York or here in North Carolina -- he always found himself stuck in rush hour traffic. The rain that had been falling all afternoon certainly wasn't helping much either. I swear, it's like everyone forgets how to drive whenever it rains... Wade grumbled to himself, rolling his eyes when the person in the car behind him started repeatedly honking their horn. "Yes, because that's totally gonna fix everything!" Wade complained. "That's gonna get us out of this mess quicker."

"Ooh, you tell 'em, Wade," Neville chuckled from the passenger's seat, not looking up from his DS. Wade looked over and noticed that he was completely focused on the screen, his tongue poking out from between his lips as he did whatever the hell it was that he was doing.

Wade forced his gaze back on the road and was about to respond when the horn honked again and cut him off, and he leaned his head back against the seat, letting out a deep sigh. "The universe is actively working against me, I swear to God," he said, prompting another laugh from Neville. He knew that it was a bad idea to meet up with the witnesses this late in the day -- when he knew that once they were finished it would be around 5 PM -- and yet he did it anyway. Had he proposed that they do it earlier or even on a day when the weather wasn't so poor, then this whole thing could have been completely avoided.

"Dammit, come on!" Neville huffed after having fallen silent again. "Just stay in the damn ball, you bastard..."

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to catch Lugia."

"Lugia? Nev, are you really playing Pokémon right now?" Wade snorted. "What are you, a child?"

"No, I'm not, but I do like to have fun, unlike you," Neville snapped back, pursing his lips and raising his eyebrows at Wade for a moment before going back to playing.

"Wow, okay," he scoffed. "I didn't realize that this was such a sensitive topic for you." Wade needed to learn to keep his mouth shut. The last thing he needed was an angry Neville -- if provoked, Neville might steal his wallet. Again.

"You should try playing it one of these days. I think you'd really like it."

"I've never really been much of a video game person. I'm all thumbs with controllers."

"I'm gonna name the next non-legendary that I catch after you. I'll raise you to level one hundred."

"I feel so honored," Wade replied sarcastically, watching as a raindrop slowly slid down from the top of the windshield. What he would give to be back at the hotel at that moment, warm and dry and not sitting in a car surrounded by so many impatient drivers...

"... God, and now I'm out of Ultra Balls!" Neville annoyedly switched the system off and shut it, setting it down on top of Wade's notepad, which was resting in his lap. "I'll try that again later. Lemme tell ya, catching legendary Pokémon is pretty much impossible. Their catch rate is so damn low... How am I supposed to complete the Pokédex when they make it so freaking difficult?"

"I'm gonna pretend like I understood what you just said," Wade replied. His eyes fell on the DS. "Y'know, Nev, I've been meaning to ask you: Where'd you get that thing, anyway?"

"This old thing?" Neville picked it back up, admiring it proudly. "Well, where do you think I got it from, Wade? Take a guess."

Wade thought for a second before he smirked. "You stole it, didn't you?"

"Correct!" Neville ran a hand over the top of it, his finger tracing along a small crack. "It was easily my most successful heist. You wouldn't believe the hours of entertainment I've gotten out of it. It doesn't owe me a damn thing."

Wade noticed that the traffic was slowly letting up, and he was able to move his car up, but it still seemed like they would be stuck there for a little while longer. Letting up or not, it was still bumper-to-bumper, which meant that the person in the car behind them was sure to start up with the horn again any second now... Wade knew that they needed to pass the time somehow, so he looked to Neville and asked, "Why don't you tell me about it? The heist, I mean. How'd you pull it off?"

"Oh my God, it was awesome, Wade. Literally no one saw it coming! I caught them all off guard." Neville suddenly grew incredibly animated, like he was thrilled that he was given the chance to talk about his thievery. Wade got the feeling that Neville probably didn't know many people who would listen to him ramble about his illegal activities, and the fact that Neville trusted him enough with this information made him smile.

"Well, go on now!" He encouraged him, motioning with his hands for him to continue. "No need for the suspense. Gimme the details. Where'd it take place?"

"It was in the hotel in Miami. Y'know, the one we met in?" Neville explained. "In addition to being murderous, the people that work there are really inattentive."

"As seen by the fact that no one noticed you were secretly staying there for months."

"Exactly! No one even batted an eyelash when I swiped this bad boy from the lost-and-found."

Wade's brow furrowed. "Wait, you got it from a lost-and-found?"

"Yeah! I was snooping around one night and found it sitting in there with a game and a charger. They were all dusty, like they'd been there for awhile before I found them. I figured that since no one else seemed interested in giving it the proper care that it deserves that I would take it for myself. None of the staff even knew that I dropped by." Neville grinned at the white DS, his tongue poking out from between his teeth. "So oblivious. I was so proud of myself afterwards."

Hold on a minute. Wade was confused. A lost-and-found is full of items that people lost, and in most cases no one ever drops by and claims them. In the end, it technically didn't matter who took the DS, be it Neville or the actual owner. Is he saying that the best heist he's ever pulled off was picking up a lost item? One that had been left behind for months that the owner probably forgot about?

The silence in the car was broken by the sound of the car horn going off again, and Neville was the one to let out a frustrated noise this time. "God, can't you just honk your horn back at him?" He reached towards the wheel.

"Hey, hey, we're not doing any of that today," Wade swatted his hand away. He drove the car up a little further, what Neville told him still at the forefront of his mind. If that was the biggest thing that Neville had ever done since becoming a thief, then did that mean that he wasn't much of a thief at all? No, there had to be more to it than that. There must be more that he's not telling him. "So that was how you stole the DS, huh?"

"Mmhmm. And I don't regret a thing."

"So what about some of your other heists? What's the next big thing that you've done?"

"Well..." Neville drew out the 'l' at bit his lip as he thought, clicking his tongue a few times. "There was this one thing I did recently at a store that I thought was pretty sweet."

"Ooh, alright." Wade liked the sound of that -- things could actually be stolen from a store. "What kind of a store was it? A jewelry store? Did you steal a bunch of diamonds?"

"No, it was a convenience store," Neville responded. "Took a bag of Skittles when the cashier wasn't looking. You wouldn't believe how little attention those people pay, especially when it's after dark."

"I... I see..." Wade knew just from experience how skilled Neville was at stealing. Had it not been for him and his abilities, the case in Miami would have taken much longer to solve since Wade would be working on his own. Neville has this talent, but he doesn't even use it properly... He acts like he's a big criminal, when really his biggest crime is just petty theft! Once again, Wade found it almost funny how he of all people was the one griping about Neville not committing any serious offenses.

After what felt like forever, the traffic was finally moving, and Wade hurriedly stepped on the gas pedal before the person in the car behind them exploded out of pure rage. It was once they were driving steadily that Neville asked, "You okay? You've been thinking for awhile."

"I'm fine," Wade replied. "Look, kid, I know I've told you this before, but... You are a very interesting person, you know that?"

"An interesting person, and an amazing thief." Neville grinned.

"Yeah, sure, you're amazing." Not too long after he said that, Wade heard the sound of the Pokémon game that Neville had been playing start up again. "You're giving it another shot?"

"I don't have a choice!" Neville tapped the stylus against the screen. "If I give up, then I'm just letting Lugia win. I can't have that!"

"Nev, it's only pixels."

"They're more than that! You would know if you actually played."

"Oh my God, you really are a child..." Wade breathed a sigh of relief when he saw their hotel, and he drove into the parking lot.

#neville #adrian neville #wade barrett #barrett x neville #wwe fanfiction #jess.txt

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