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tharros-auris-black-asimi · 3 years

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Think of Me (Chapter 3)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reyna Woods (OFC)

Summary: Ten years ago, Reyna Woods had everything in life. She had a good support network, and she was in a long-term relationship with her boyfriend of six years, Bucky Barnes.

Ten years later, she is now a single mother and struggling to get by. When Bucky meets her daughter by chance, suddenly he wants to be back in her life again. Sometimes, she really wished life would leave her the fuck alone.

Chapter Warnings: A verbal fight, mentions of a runaway child, slight toxic relationship, Bucky being a bit toxic, Reyna not taking A N Y of his shit.

Additional Notes: Yup. No, I'm also mad at Bucky. I'm throwing tomatoes. James, we ride at dawn.

Word Count: 7336

The next day...

The loud sounds of an alarm blared loudly on her nightstand.

Her alarm was waking her up.

A groan came from Reyna as she struggled to open her eyes. When she did open her eyes, she almost immediately wanted to close them again. Sounds of Natalia getting up in the next room made her groan again. Louder this time. She swung her legs out of bed, hissing when her feet smacked on the ground. Managing to get herself off of her bed, she opened her door. Reyna saw Natalia shuffling into the bathroom. She saw the door close. Knowing that Natalia was going to get ready and refreshed for a day sitting on the couch to watch her cartoons, Reyna’s footsteps carried her into the kitchen where she turned on her coffee machine, beginning to make her coffee. Soon, the smell of coffee was wafting its way into the air as Reyna let out a yawn.

Realizing that her phone was still in her room, Reyna cursed underneath her breath. Scurrying down the little hall to her room, she got her phone from its charging cord. When she opened her phone, she let out a snort.

100+ missed messages from the bitches squad

Yup.

She wasn’t surprised.

Scrolling down the group chat, she caught wind of the conversation. Everyone was angry and having a field day about Bucky. Natasha threatened to go by Rebefing on Monday to give Bucky a piece of her mind. Tony had reminded her as his PA, she couldn’t do that, and that Bucky could sue her for trespassing. Natasha clapped back saying he couldn’t sue her because he was afraid of her. Reyna couldn’t read any more messages, because Natalia had come out of the bathroom. She caught her daughter hopping onto the couch in the little living room, grabbing the remote from the coffee table, and turning on Cartoon Network.

The sounds of Teen Titans! Go started to fill up the apartment. Reyna heard the birds chirping outside. People walking and talking in their neighborhood. Saturday always meant more people would come to the theater. Usually, on weekends, ticket sales were better. Everyone liked going to the theaters on weekends. As Reyna finished making her coffee, she put it in the fridge, so it would be waiting for her when she was finished getting ready. Natalia heard her walk into the bathroom and heard the door close. Natalia pulled out her phone, fingers tapping away at the screen. She was texting her Auntie Nat.

hey auntie nattie

are u up?

Natalia saw the three bubbles pop up. For a couple of seconds, all she saw was the three bubbles.

I’m up sweetie. Are you okay?

Natalia heard her mom curse under her breath in Korean, something about forgetting her clothes for her shower. The bathroom door opened, and Reyna scurried into her room to grab a change of clothes and scurried back into the bathroom. She heard the bathroom door lock. The sounds of the shower turning on were heard.

wat u know about Bucky Barnes?

Natalia saw the three bubbles show up and then vanish. This happened a couple of more times before Natalia got a response back, just as Robin started to bicker with Cyborg on the TV or something with Starfire’s pet, Silkie.

Well… why do you want to know princess?

Natalia was frowning as she typed back.

I met him a few days ago

And he looked really stiffy

looked like a big rock

big lump

rlly grumpy

u know anything about him?

Like anything???

Natalia had to lock her phone because she heard Reyna coming out of the bathroom. Resting her phone face-down on the coffee table, she returned her gaze back to the TV. Watching as Robin, Starfire, Beast Boy, and Raven went off to fight crime.

With Natasha… all the way in Manhattan that same morning…

Natalia Ailanova Romanov-Barton, or Natasha as everyone knew her, was really considering going to Bucky’s company and murdering him.

Or giving him a piece of her mind.

You know, whichever option sounded safer.

Because as she looked down at her phone at eight-forty-five AM that exact morning, she was really resisting the urge to do one of the two. The redhead had just stepped out of her very nice bathtub. Clint had been making coffee in the kitchen. The smell of Mocha Latte was wafting its way down the hall. If Natasha hadn’t been irritated at the subject at hand, then maybe she would’ve taken a cup of coffee without acting stiffly.

Clint suspected something up.

Like he knew something was up.

He always did.

Natasha was convinced her husband was a freaking ninja or something like that. If he was, she wouldn’t be surprised. At the sight of him in the kitchen, the freshly-bathed, freshly-dressed woman couldn’t resist the smile that was spreading across her face. Accepting the cup of coffee from her husband, the redheaded woman poured some milk and sugar, mixing it with a spoon before tossing it into the sink.

There was a beeping noise as Clint turned on his hearing aids.

“You okay?”

Natasha took a sip of coffee.

Then she inhaled deeply as if the next thing that was going to come out of her mouth was going to make her scream to her dead adoptive father’s ghost.

Ivan Romanov would’ve never stood for this shit.

Not ever.

“Natalia texted me. Says that she wants to know what I know about Bucky.” She confessed.

Clint nearly choked on his coffee.

“Come again?” was his response once he got his breathing under control.

“She wants to know more about Bucky,” Natasha told him. Clint coughed one more time. Then he blinked. Just to get her words into his system.

“Oh. You’re serious.” Natasha took another sip of her coffee.

“Mhmmm,” was all she said.

“Why would she want to know more about him?” Clint questioned his wife, looking very confused. “Does she know?”

The silence hung in the air.

Natasha had been thinking that too.

Did Natalia know about Bucky?

Was that why she wanted to know more about him?

Was that it?

“I don’t think so.” Natasha’s reply didn’t help the gears that were turning in Clint’s brain. Frowning, the blond, deaf man stood up from where he was sitting at the table, pulling out his own phone. Unlocking it with his thumb, he scrolled through his phone quickly before calling a number.

“What are you doing?” Natasha asked him in Russian. His phone was on speaker, the two of them heard his phone still ring.

It was a few seconds before Clint heard the person answer.

“Hello?”

Natasha’s eyes went wide.

“What are you doing?” Natasha frantically signed to him. “Hey, Dolores,” Clint began speaking, putting a hand to Natasha. Telling her to shush. “You work for Bucky Barnes, right?”

“Um, yes. You’ve seen him before,” Dolores replied from the other line, still very much confused.

“Why, did you need to call in or something? You know he only does appointments, Clint.”

“I know. I just need you to pass something along to him, okay?” He said. Confused, Natasha heard Dolores say, “Okay… what is it?”

“Tell him that he’d be one of the worst fathers in existence.”

And then Clint hung up. Natasha, who was still shell-shocked, immediately snatched her phone away from him. “What were you thinking, Clint?” hissed Natasha in her mother tongue, “What if she told Yasha? What if he suspects something is up?”

Clint let out a snort.

“Please Tasha,” said Clint, “Barnes couldn’t even crawl out of a paper bag if he tried. He’s not that bright.”

“He’s only thirty-three and he’s one of the richest men in all of New York,” Natasha pointed out to him. Clint just scowled in response. “Still not smart.”

“ Whatever you say, my Hawk. Whatever you say.”

Later that day… around the afternoon…

The sounds of people working were what greeted M’Baku as he pulled back into the garage of headquarters. His phone pinged, showing another message from the group chat he had with T’Challa, Shuri, Nakia, and her wife, Ayo. Pulling out his phone from his back pocket, he opened his phone to see the messages.

S.Q.A.U.D groupchat

Shuri: o mg

Shuri: r u serious????

Shuri: He rlly said that???

Shuri: y t ppl I swear

T’Challa: Shuri.

Shuri: u know I’m right T’Challa

Shuri: i swear if there’s a plot twist

Shuri: imma be there for that plot twist M’Baku

Shuri: u lemme know

M’Baku: yes, shuri, I’ll let u know

M’Baku shut off his phone and put it on his dashboard. Pulling out his lunch from the passenger’s seat, in his lunch bag, he deeply inhaled at the food he had made during the weekend. Shuri had gotten him into meal prepping. Something to do with her Pinterest board. Something like that. He wasn’t really hip with the kids these days. Kids that were around Shuri’s age, anyway. The thirty-five-year-old man knew nothing about what the younger woman and the other children in their twenties did nowadays.

The African-American man had been working for Bucky for a while now. A couple of years. When M’Baku wasn’t working, he just sat in his car and mostly watched YouTube videos about fishing. What could he say? They were entertaining. He watched them, especially during his lunch break. Like right now. Munching away at his food, he watched. The sounds of the video filling up the car.

It was great.

He had been getting into it.

… Until lunch had ended and his phone had started to ring a few hours later. Dot’s caller ID flashing on the screen.

Now.

Usually, M’Baku talked to Dot. Not often, but he had her email. Her number, personal, just in case of emergencies for the boss.

He liked Dot very much. She was nice. She kept everything nice and orderly to make sure absolute chaos wasn’t happening in the office. Dot kept things naturally afloat. He admired her work ethic. She worked during the day, and then went home to be a mother to her son. From what he knew, her husband was a stay-at-home dad.

She usually was very chill. Very well reserved.

However, when he answered his phone, she sounded very worried. Almost hysterical.

“M’Baku, there’s- there’s a girl, at the front desk. She- she’s askin’- she’s askin’ for the boss. She’s a freakin’ kid. Probably looks like she’s ten. Came up to me and demanded to see Bucky.”

The sounds of the car door opening and closing was all Dot heard from the other line. Her dark eyes swept over to still see the ten-year-old girl looking at her with a look of determination on her face. Dressed in a white, off-the-shoulder dress and a pair of Mary Jane’s, Natalia even tapped her foot.

“I want to see him,” she announced boldly to Dot.

“So what are you waiting for? C’mon miss, I don’t got all day.”

A few minutes earlier…

Natalia Wanda Woods was on a mission.

As soon as she pulled out her phone once she got outside of the building, she quickly pulled out her phone.

18+ missed messages from mommy

10 + missed calls from mommy

Her heart hammered.

She had to do this.

She had to.

When Mr. Barnes came into her classroom a couple of days ago, Natalia couldn’t help but wonder.

Natalia wasn’t stupid.

She saw the look on his face when she had answered his question that day.

James Buchanan Barnes looked like he had seen a ghost.

And she had seen it. Had seen it all.

Natalia didn’t mean to eavesdrop on his and Mrs. Baxer’s conversation. But she had been curious. Ear close to the door, she had heard it all. It puzzled her when Mr. Barnes had asked her about her mommy. Why would Mr. Barnes ask about her mommy? And in detail? Sounding like he had known her before?

Then the question had popped into her mind.

Was Mr. Barnes her daddy?

It would explain a lot of things.

Like why her mommy had suddenly avoided the topic of Mr. Barnes around her. How her mommy had suddenly gone so pale at the mention of him that same day when he had visited her classroom.

There had to be something.

Something.

A crumb, at least.

Which was why she was here. Standing here, in front of the building. People were walking in and out. She heard people working. Mustering all of her courage, Natalia marched inside, her head held up high.

You can do this.

Dot, who had been walking by, looked very confused at what appeared to be a ten-year-old girl who was at the front desk. She couldn’t reach it, so Dot decided to go to her by herself.

“Are you looking for someone?”

The girl turned her head.

Dot was thrown back for a loop.

Bucky.

She looked so much like Bucky.

This little girl had Bucky’s nose. And his lips. She watched the familiar pair of pink lips curl up into a smile.

But the eyes.

The eyes were different. The eyes, she would’ve gotten from her mother. Otherwise, this little girl was like a frigging carbon copy of Dot’s boss.

Dot was surprised and confused. All at the same time.

Was this Bucky’s kid?

She never really asked if he had kids. Heck, she never ever saw a wedding ring on his hand.

Then again, in this day and age, it didn’t matter if you were married. You could still have kids and not be married at all. Maybe that was it?

But then Dot remembered all of the flings that Bucky would bring to the galas. They would be bleached, blonde Barbies.

And this kid did not look like a bleached, blonde Barbie.

No ma’am.

Natalia looked like she could be of Asian descent. Dot guessed it was the eyes. They were big. Almond-shaped, chocolate brown eyes.

“I’m looking for Bucky Barnes. Mr. Barnes. Do you work for him?” the little girl asked. Blinking, “I… yes. Hold on.” Dot took out her phone. In her haste, she dialed M’Baku’s number.

Natalia tapped her foot.

“I want to see him,” she announced boldly to Dot.

“So what are you waiting for? C’mon miss, I don’t got all day.”

She waited.

For about a couple of seconds.

Then Natalia was speeding towards the elevators. Dot’s panicked voice following her. All Natalia did was grumble and mumble about how adults were so stingy and took far too long.

Why couldn’t kids rule the world?

It would make things far easier.

“… Hold on, wait! You can’t-” Dot was running up to her, cursing at herself because this had to be the day she chose to wear heels. Huffing, the brown-haired woman clasped a hand on Natalia’s shoulder. Natalia quickly turned her head. “I’m going up there,” she said to Dot, “you can’t stop me.”

Yup.

Dot was convinced this was Bucky’s kid.

One-hundred percent.

“… M’Baku, it’s okay. I’ve got it. Uh-huh. It’s okay.” Dot hung up the phone. Slipping it back into her pocket.

“Okay. Look- kid. I’ll take you up there. But you gotta tell me your name.”

Natalia’s eyes brightened.

“Natalia. Natalia Wanda Woods.”

Bucky was in the middle of a meeting with some executives when there was a knock on the door of his office.

All talk stopped.

“Yes?”

A high, feminine voice was heard from the other side.

“Papochka?”

He knew that voice.

Natalia.

“Excuse me,” Bucky said as he got up from his desk, quickly walking over to his door.

There was Natalia. Standing on the other side of the door, with Dot by her side. Dressed in a white, off-the-shoulder shirt with jeans, and a pair of Mary-Jane’s, the young four-feet-nine girl was a tiny little sprout compared to Bucky’s six-foot-four.

Bucky picked her up.

It felt odd.

Like he wasn’t supposed to do this.

This… it felt unnatural. Picking her up.

“Natalia. Where is your mother?” Bucky asked her. He was looking at her.

Play along, his eyes seemed to tell her.

“At work,” came her mumble.

Bucky raised an eyebrow.

“Natalia,” he sighed as he carried her back to his desk, ignoring the surprised looks he had gotten from the executives. With her arms wrapped around his beefy stature, Natalia was as happy as a clam.

“Wanted to see you,” Natalia mumbled into his neck. Bucky nodded to Dot to escort them out. He would continue his meeting another time. The mutters and surprised conversations of the CEO of Rebefing having a child filled Bucky’s ears. He knew he would be getting into some sort of drama with this. An inward sigh left him once the thought had crossed his mind.

Daisy was going to have a field day.

Bucky sat down in his chair. Natalia was on his lap.

At last, his office door closed.

It was just them now.

“You’re my daddy. I know it.”

Natalia was looking up at him. Bucky was looking down at the almost gender-bent version of himself. Just the eyes. Otherwise, it was all him.

For the first time in a long time, Bucky felt like his old self again. Adjusting her on his lap, “Yeah?” his voice was low. Unsure, almost. Natalia nodded brightly. “Mommy… mommy doesn’t like to talk about you a lot,” she confessed truthfully, making that part of Bucky twist and turn uncomfortably. “I think it hurts mommy to talk about you. She didn’t want to talk about you when you visited me at school. I told her later. Mommy wasn’t happy.”

Then she asked, “How did you and mommy meet?”

Bucky was confused.

“I heard you and Mrs. Baxter talking,” she admitted shyly.

“You were spying on me and your teacher?!” He had his eyebrow raised. Natalia blushed. Embarrassed, “I didn’t mean to!” she protested, “I just got curious! And then everything started clicking!”

To her surprise, Bucky chuckled.

“Just like your mother.” he even fluffed her hair. Natalia made a noise of offense.

“Dadd-y,” whined Natalia.

“Alright, alright. Your mother and I met one day on the streets of Brooklyn. You know your Uncle Stevie, right?” Enthusiastic nods came from Natalia. “Uh-huh!” she was happy now, “I love Uncle Stevie! He and Uncle Tony take me for ice cream sometimes!”

There was a harsh pang in his heart.

Bucky could admit to himself, he missed the punk sometimes. He missed catching up with the golden-haired man. Missed his japs at him. Missed hanging out with him.

There seemed to be a hole in his heart whenever he thought about the punk and his old friend group.

But he quickly brushed it off.

“That’s good,” his voice had gone soft again. Natalia had noticed but decided not to bring it up. Starting to talk again, “So, your Uncle Stevie used to be very skinny. He used to get sick every year, the punk.” Natalia giggled at that. Bucky managed to crack a small smile. Natalia couldn’t ever imagine her Uncle Stevie being small and skinny like her.

“One day when we were teenagers, your Uncle Stevie was getting beat up in an alleyway.” Natalia gasped in surprise. Bucky found himself grinning at the thought. “But I had gotten a little preoccupied. But just as soon as I was getting ready to beat that guy who was beating up your Uncle Stevie- boom! Someone had beat me to it.”

Natalia gasped again.

“Was it mommy?” She asked curiously. Bucky nodded seriously. “Your mommy came right outta nowhere. Shouted for the bully to leave her alone. They laughed in her face.” Another gasp. “How rude!” Natalia huffed angrily. “Very rude,” Bucky agreed with her. “But then she beat them up. They stopped laughing after that. I was so starstruck by your mommy that I didn’t have any words. After that, your mommy and I became friends.”

Natalia cocked her head.

“Why did you and mommy break up?” She asked innocently.

There was that familiar pang in his heart again.

How would he explain this to her? How could he explain that he broke up with her mother because he was afraid that she was only with him for the money? How could he explain that?

“Your mommy and I… we just wanted different things in life. That’s all.” was all Bucky managed to speak out. Natalia frowned. Even pouted her lips together. “Mommy said that too,” she grumbled unhappily, “said that I wasn’t the problem, that it wasn’t because you didn’t want me. Told me that you wanted me. Probably.”

Her eyes welled up. Natalia started to sniff. Bucky held her, brought her closer to him as she started to sob into his shoulder.

“I’ve always wanted a daddy…” her voice trailed off sadly.

“Don’t leave me…” she sobbed, “don’t leave me, please.”

Natalia’s phone began to ring again. Bucky managed to procure it from the back pocket of her jeans.

A beep.

“Natalia?” Reyna’s worried voice carried from the other line. “Natalia Wanda Woods, where are you? I’ve been calling you for the past hour! Your Uncle Clint and Auntie Natasha have been looking for you! They haven’t found you! Where are you, young lady?!”

Bucky paused.

Natalia’s sobs carried through the line.

“Natalia? Natalia? Why are you crying?” Reyna sounded even more worried, “sweetheart? What’s happening? Talk to me baby, please.” She pleaded.

There was another pause.

A rough, familiar voice of a man sounded from Natalia’s line.

“Doll.”

A pause.

“Bucky?!”

Later that night…

Disbelief.

Reyna was full of disbelief.

Bucky.

Bucky was here.

He had found out.

Natalia had suspected that Mr. Barnes was her daddy.

And her daughter’s curiosity had won her over. Her daughter had left the theater herself without telling anyone, headed to Rebefing, and showed up, demanding to see Bucky.

She truly was her father’s child.

Unlocking the door to the small apartment, Bucky watched Reyna open the door.

The three of them had just gotten back from her last show.

Bucky couldn’t even remember the last time he had attended a Broadway show.

Natalia had fallen asleep in her daddy’s arms, softly snoring away. Her arms wrapped around his neck, her legs wrapped around his taut stomach. Nestled into her daddy, breathing in the deep woody, musky scent of his cologne. Happily situated.

The lights flickered on.

Reyna didn’t even remind him to take off his shoes at door, like how she had done when they had been dating. She had taken off her own shoes though. Then she took off Natalia’s shoes, putting them by the door.

Motioning him to follow her, Bucky followed her to Natalia’s room.

He noticed how tiny the apartment was. There was a closed door across from Natalia’s room, which Bucky had deduced it was the bathroom. And the other room next to Natalia’s that faced the hallway, Bucky had deduced, was Reyna’s room.

Tucking Natalia into bed, the little girl turned in her sleep, mumbling something before both Bucky and Reyna stepped out of the room. When the two of them walked into the living room, Bucky sat down at the little table near the window. She watched him pull out his phone.

“Yeah… M’Baku… you can go home… I’ll call you when I need to be picked up.”

Then he hung up.

Bucky looked at her. His eyes hardened.

“We need to talk.”

“About what?” Reyna spat out bitterly.

Even now, Reyna hadn't changed a bit. She was still chubby, like how she had been when they used to be dating. She crossed her arms, her pudgy tummy sticking out a little. Her lips pursed as her chubby cheeks stuck out too.

“Natalia’s mine, isn’t she?” His tone was low.

“No she’s not. She’s mine.”

“But I’m her father.”

“No you aren’t.”

Bucky’s eyes narrowed.

“She looks like me, Reyna. She has my face. My smile. My lips. The only thing she has is your eyes. Do want me to do a DNA test? I’ll do one.”

"I'll do it right now. I'll get a DNA test tomorrow morning."

Reyna looked like someone had slapped her across the face. Her rage had been building up to this point. Like a ticking bomb ready to go off. After all that happened to her today, Natalia going missing, Reyna losing her absolute shit, and then Bucky answering Natalia's phone, and now this?

This?

No.

No, no, no.

It was too much.

"You can't do that!" Reyna shouted at him. "And why can't I not?" Bucky roared back in response, "the fucking timeline don't fucking add up, Reyna! What, were you screwin' someone else on the side? Someone I don't know about?!"

Reyna's jaw became tight. She nearly saw red. Pure, unfiltered, deep, dark red. The rage boiled in her so deeply, she was fully ready to punch her ex-boyfriend in the face. So it surprised Bucky when her tone came out controlled. Restrained. As if she was saying, watch your next move.

"Don't you ever accuse me of that shit ever again." Her eyes were glaring such deep daggers into his soul, that if looks could kill, he would be on her kitchen floor a bloody mess.

"So she's mine." His voice didn't sound smug. No. Bucky sounded so deep in his disbelief that he couldn't almost believe it himself.

A child.

He had a child.

Reyna's next words though, they made him angry all over again. "I never said that."

"But you were insinuating it. So it's either Natalia's mine, or you cheated."

"I DIDN'T FUCKING CHEAT ON YOU, YOU ASSHOLE!"

"Then just fucking say it!" Bucky was making his way towards her from where he was still sitting at the small table near the window. "You said it yourself! You didn't cheat on me! So she's mine! I'm the father! You kept this from me!"

"You're the one who broke up with me!" Reyna retaliated, eyes still burning with such a fury that even Bucky himself stepped back at the reminder. Almost as if he had been burned. Between all of the shouting, Natalia had woken up and had gotten up from her bed. The little girl had been so scared. She had never heard her mother so angry like this before. She hadn't even heard her mother shout before either. Cursing? Yeah, on the occasion? But full-blown yelling?

Nope.

Never.

Not once in her life had she ever heard her mother be this angry before.

As Natalia listened through her closed bedroom door, Bucky had actually gotten the seconds to think. Having shut his mouth for a couple of seconds.

"... You were going to tell me." The realization had seeped its way onto Bucky's face.

"Yeah, and look what happened." Reyna all but sneered at him.

"I still want to do it." Reyna cocked her head at that. "Do what?" she snapped. "The DNA test." Bucky clapped back at her. Reyna's face nearly paled. "No. No, no, no. No. I'm not doing that." "Then just tell me she's mine then. We can work out the details tomorrow." Bucky waved it off like it was just some paper he was signing. Reyna's anger returned again. "No."

"Then do the DNA test then." Bucky made it sound so simple. Reyna's stomach was twisting and turning. And not in a good way. Marching up to him, her voice began to rise again. "I'm not going to do either of those you son of a-"

"... Mommy?"

She stopped speaking.

Immediately.

Natalia Wanda Woods was standing at the threshold of the little hallway. She was holding onto one of her stuffed animals tight. Reyna recognized it as her purple stuffed elephant. Her little girl’s Turnip.

Natalia began to shake. Then she started to sniff.

“Why were you and Mr. Barnes fighting? Is it my fault? I’m sorry mommy, I didn’t mean to run away… I didn’t mean to… please don’t be mad mommy… I was scared mommy… so scared…”

Fat, wet tears started to stream down Natalia’s face. Loud wails filling the air. Bucky recognized it as such a Reyna response. It reminded him of her. It was something she would do when she was overwhelmed. She would get too worked up, too overwhelmed, her emotions would get the best of her, and she would start crying.

Like how Natalia was doing now. The Korean-Russian woman walked over to her daughter, mom-bear mode activated. Holding her daughter tightly in her arms, Reyna picked her up, Natalia’s legs wrapping around her mommy’s waist.

“Mommy,” Natalia hiccuped, her words becoming all slurred together, her face buried in her shoulder. “m’ sorry, mommy…”

“Shhhh… baby… s’ okay… it wasn’t your fault. Wave bye-bye to Mr. Barnes, sweetheart. I’ll tuck you back into bed. C’mon, baby.”

All Bucky did was stand there. He was left standing there as he watched Natalia weakly wave at him, seeing a pair of shiny, wet, chocolate brown eyes, and tear-streaked, chubby cheeks before Reyna opened Natalia’s door. Bucky heard the door slam before his feet started to move.

There were pictures hung up on the walls. Most of them were Natalia and Reyna with their small friend group. Bucky even saw one where Reyna and Natalia were with Rhodey. The three of them were at Central Park and seemed to be caught mid-laugh. Natalia was beaming at the camera, showing off her teeth. Natalia was wearing a light blue sweater and a pair of blue jeans with dark Converse. Reyna was wearing a black mini dress with a pair of midnight blue flats. Rhodey was in a simple hoodie and jeans, and combat boots.

As Bucky continued to see and obverse all of the pictures that were adorning the walls, it had sunken in for him.

There were no pictures of him.

No pictures of him and Reyna’s years together. Not even one of when they were teenagers.

None.

Not even one.

It made him stop in his tracks as he finally looked up to a picture hanging up on the wall. Their entire friend group was there. Tony, Steve, Rhodey, Sam, Wanda, Vision, and even Pepper Potts, Rhodey’s girlfriend was there too. Reyna was behind Natalia. They were all dressed casually, except for Natalia. The little girl was the star of the show. Natalia’s hair was curled and framing her face. Her chubby cheeks showing her dimples. Natalia had the widest smile on her face, wearing a poofy pink dress with a princess tiara on her head. Her eyes were lit up. Full of happiness. All of them were at the Stark penthouse, in the big living room area.

And then Bucky saw it.

A big pink birthday cake. All complete with pink frosting, with white chocolate dripping down the cake at the top. Gold sprinkles on top too. From the numbered balloons in the background, it appeared to be her tenth birthday party. Although he could’ve caught the ten part due to the number ten candle in her cake.

Tenth birthday party. Natalia was in fifth grade. Which meant it was recent.

Bucky felt like someone had run him over with their car.

The sounds of soft footsteps coming towards him made him turn his head towards the source of the noise. Reyna, who was still dressed in a plain t-shirt and jeans, stood beside him and looked at the picture too. A soft smile appearing on her face at the memory.

However, it was Bucky who broke the silence.

“When is Natalia’s birthday?” Bucky asked her in Russian. Reyna didn’t turn to look at him when she spoke back.

“October thirteenth.”

“Ah.”

So it had only been only a month ago. So, pretty recent.

Reyna had remembered it being slightly awkward when she had gotten there with Natalia.

Everyone had been causally dressed, except for Natalia. It was her little girl’s day. But she couldn’t help but feel slightly out of place. She had caught glimpses of Steve and Tony’s Rolex watches, the diamonds glittering. She didn’t miss Natasha’s Cartier necklace either. Even though she knew Wanda and Vision were pretty fine off, due to Vision having a nice position at the company he worked at, and Wanda being a stay-at-home-mom to her two twin boys, Billy and Tommy, she couldn’t help but feel isolated the entire way home on the subway.

Even now, when she had turned her head towards him, she saw his crisp silk, black button-down shirt that probably costed more than her entire paycheck combined. His black slacks were perfectly ironed. No wrinkle in place. His Scarosso Italian shoes were polished to the point where they were shining. Bucky wasn’t looking at her, having lifted up his wrist, showing his Rolex watch. Checking the time, his watch was telling him it was 10:45 PM.

Everything about Bucky just screamed that this Bucky was a Bucky she didn’t know anymore. This Bucky in front of her looked like he was a god. All-powerful and completely in his element. Like everywhere he went, people would bow to him. She couldn’t explain it, but it made her heart twist. And not in a good way.

A stretch of awkward silence filled the space before Reyna’s phone beeped from her jeans. Pulling out her phone.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Reyna, could you please come back to the theater? I know it’s late,” Bucky heard a woman’s voice speak through Reyna’s phone. He watched as his ex-girlfriend frowned and started to walk down the very small hall of her apartment into what he presumed was her room.

“Uh-huh… well you know Claudia… I’ve got Natalia at home… there’s nobody else home…” Reyna’s voice was traveling down from her bedroom door, which she had closed for privacy reasons. Bucky had sat down on the couch.

“… Yeah… besides… the nearest subway is forty-five minutes from here… and I don’t really want to call a taxi or an Uber… I’m sorry… do I still have to come in… oh… alright, I’ll figure something out…”

Bucky looked up just as Reyna got out of her room, the biracial woman making sure to close it behind her as she pulled on the little scrunchie she had gotten somewhere in her room, quickly tying her hair up, away from her face. Her mellow expression soured once she saw him sitting on the couch in her living room.

“You uh… need a ride?” Bucky asked her awkwardly. Reyna cocked an eyebrow at that. Giving him such a scathing look when she spoke back to him. Even switching to Russian. “With you James? I’d rather fling myself off a fucking cliff.”

“I’m not going. Who said I was going? I’ll stay here with Natalia while you go back to work.” Bucky crossed his arms as he got up, his tall stature making her small height feel even tinier.

Her eyes looked like they were about to pop out of her sockets.

“Absolutely not,” came her hiss. Bucky cocked an eyebrow of his own. “What, you’d rather call Nat and Clint? They’re all the way in Manhattan. First off, it would take them too long to get here. Second, everyone else doesn’t live in Brooklyn. Sam lives in Harlem. Rhodey’s probably in Manhattan too. Wanda and Vision are in New Jersey.”

Although she was probably seething through her teeth, she had to silently admit to herself, Bucky did have a point.

But she still didn’t trust him.

“And?” she clapped right back at him, “why should I trust you with her? Huh? You can’t just fucking waltz back into my life when you want to-”

“Who said anything about waltzing back into your life?” snapped Bucky, his eyes flashing dangerously. “Well,” Reyna huffed angrily, “I don’t know if you want to do some fucking damage control-”

“Stop putting fucking words in my mouth!”

A loud smacking noise echoed.

She had slapped him.

She had slapped him right across the face.

Really, neither of them would be surprised if one of her neighbors had called the police by how loud they were getting.

Bucky looked gobsmacked.

Reyna was panting deeply. Fishing out her phone, “Forget it. I’m calling Natasha. Go home, Barnes. You’ve overstayed your welcome here long enough.”

“Wait.”

“What?”

Her response was harsher than she expected it to be. Bucky was still looking at her. His cerulean eyes were still hard. Bucky was looking at her. The two of them heard Natalia’s door creak. They turned, seeing the ten-year-old wadding her way towards Bucky.

“Papochka,” she said, looking up at Bucky, giving grabby hand motions. Reyna watched as Bucky picked up their daughter with ease, one of his hands support her backside. His other on her back. Natalia let out a little hum. “Mamochka. I want daddy to stay. He can watch me. Auntie Nat’s tired. I don’t want her getting up. It’s late.”

“Sweetie…”

“Mommy. Daddy will go home when you come back. Right daddy? You’ll go home?” Blinking innocent eyes at the taller man, Bucky blinked himself. Looking a little surprised. “Y-Yeah,” he replied roughly, “don’t worry bout it, doll. I’ll go home as soon as you get back.” Reyna noticed he clutched her just a little bit tighter.

She still narrowed her eyes a bit though.

“You’ll go once I leave?” She questioned him. Just to make sure. Clenching his jaw, Bucky gave her a nod. Reyna released a frustrated sigh. Her phone began to ring again in her back pocket. Muttering the entire time she took to walk to the door, she grabbed her keys and unlocked the door.

Bucky saw and heard the door slam. There was a noise as Reyna locked the door.

Natalia blinked up at him.

They were alone now.

“… Do you want a tour of the apartment? I’ll give you a tour!” Natalia’s words slowly brought him back. Bucky blinked.

“Ah… a tour sounds nice. A tour sounds good, Natalia. Hold on. I need to call M’Baku back first, okay? And then you can lead the way.”

She beamed.

Reyna was exhausted.

Truly and utterly exhausted.

Her phone was telling her that it was nearly one AM.

Having just gotten to her street from the subway, the Korean-Russian woman lugged herself down to the street and towards her familiar apartment. Fumbling with her key, she unlocked the door.

The front door being open awoke Bucky from his slumber. He had fallen asleep with Natalia in her bed after she had given him a tour of the apartment.

The apartment screamed Reyna. It was very minimal, with abstract paintings all over the walls. Natalia’s room reminded him of a little princess’s room. There was a pink canopy, with Barbie posters littered generously all over. There were even Monster High posters too. But just very few.

Reyna didn’t see Bucky in the living room. Panic arose in her throat.

Did he go home?

No, he couldn’t have, right?

Sudden relief flooded her when she saw Bucky coming out of Natalia’s room, looking bleary-eyed.

“Doll,” his voice was raspy, still full of sleep. Reyna’s chest tightened at the familiar nickname.

“Gotta tell ya somethin’.”

“What?”

She wasn’t angry this time. She was too tired to be angry.

“Earlier… in my office. I said that Natalia was my child.”

Horror filled her.

“By tomorrow… people are going to be wondering who the mother is.”

“I’m not interested in what the people in your world think.” Reyna replied coldly. “I don’t care about that,” Bucky spoke roughly, “but I want to get to know her. My daughter.”

“I told you,” she hissed, “she’s mine. Not yours. Mine.”

Bucky stepped closer to her.

“She’s already convinced I’m her father. Look- I’m not saying I want to get back together.”

She scoffed.

“That makes two of us,” she muttered. Ignoring her bratty comment, he continued. “We can co-parent. You can get her Monday-Thursday. I can get her Friday-Sunday. I’ll pay the child support. You didn’t put my name on the birth certificate, did you?”

Silence.

He took that as a no.

“We’re changing that too,” he said.

“Absolutely not,” Reyna snapped, crossing her arms.

Again, his eyes narrowed at her.

“Do you really want to do that DNA test? Anyone with a fucking brain can tell she’s mine, Reyna.” He spoke stiffly.

Reyna’s lips pursed. Her eyes narrowed dangerously.

She did not want to do that fucking DNA test.

She really didn’t.

“Fine,” she finally bit out, “I’ll put you on the fucking birth certificate.”

“But-” she said, and Bucky listened. Knowing that she was going to say something important. “You know we have to go to court for this, right? We can’t just bounce her around.”

“I know.”

Reyna took a deep breath.

“So what? You really want this?”

“I do.”

Bucky was looking at her. His face was full of determination. It chilled her, how he looked so much like his younger self.

“I’ll think about it.”

“Fine.”

He turned around, beginning to walk to the front door. She watched as he unlocked her door, and stepped out, slamming the door behind him.

Her heart sank.

Walking up to her front door to lock it, she heard it.

“… Yeah M’Baku, can you come and pick me up? Yeah… yeah… yeah. Alright. Thanks. Bye.”

The door swung open behind him.

Reyna hadn’t locked the door.

“Do you want some water?”

Her mother hadn’t taught her to be rude to her house guest, anyway. That was before her parents had gone through a messy divorce. Reyna knew after the divorce, it had hit her dad pretty hard. Darian Woods had become a drunk. Ivan Romanov, Natasha’s adopted father had stepped in. Darian had given his custody over to the Russian man and abandoned Reyna too.

Just like Bucky.

Did all of the men in her life have a thing for leaving her or something?

Bucky’s response was rough when he answered her, snapping her out of her thoughts.

“Sure.”

Reyna held the door open for him. Bucky walked inside.

And suddenly, it was like they were teenagers all over again.

Except this time, Reyna was the one who was inviting him in.

And they weren’t in love.

Not anymore.

Taglist: @bxnnywriting, @greeneyedblondie44, @hawsx3, @sunflowerfive

Fic Taglist: @buckysswinter

#bucky barnes x original female characters #bucky barnes smut #bucky barnes fanfiction

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crystal-moon-101 · 4 years

Note

Y and U? For the unnamed ask?

Y - What are your secondhand fandoms (i.e., fandoms you aren’t in personally but are tangentially familiar with because your friends/people on your dash are in them)?: I familiar with shows like Troll Hunter & Miraculous Lady Bug through a friend of mine, and I have been meaning to get into them, just a little busy and have a lack of energy 😅. I am also familiar with Yugioh (At least the earlier series), mostly because of the abridge and because I’m really into Season 0 stuff, as it’s more my kind of thing.

U - Three favorite characters from three different fandoms, and why they’re your favorites: Given you gave me three, I think it’s only natural for me to pick from The Secret Generator 10 trio, as I always up to talk about these three and what they mean to me. Of course, they’re hardly perfect character, but they all are special in their on way for me, and I thought I’d discuss why.

Rex: My favourite out of the three, with his show being my all-time favourite. Development, interesting background, mystery, angst, tragic, fun to watch, mostly consistent, amazing powers, and gets so much found family stuff going on, he hits a lot of marks of what I love to see in a character, and the same does do good enough of a job with him. Rex is a character that plays well with the concept of being a child soldier, having amnesia, and being the key to the larger story at hand, and the show still treats him like a real person, living and breathing, and not just a means to screw over every time they want to plot to work.

He has many layers to him, at the start seeming like a cocky, daredevil, rule-breaking and rebellious teen, who you sometimes question he understands the weight of what is happening to the world and himself, but then you learn that he does understand, so much more than he lets on. While he is naturally charismatic and a jokester, you can tell he often puts up this mask of joy and playfulness just to make a dark world around him feel a little lighter, along with hiding how alone and scared he actually feels. Because well, who wouldn’t be when placed in a role like that? He knows very well he has powers tied to saving the die, even if he doesn’t fully understand them. He knows the danger the nanites and EVOs pose, but also knows the danger that humankind can pose if they’re not willing to listen to reason. When things do get tough, he knows when to cut the crap and be serious. He’s someone who knows the world isn’t black and white, even if he hates to admit it at times.

While we didn’t get to see much of it, I’ve always seen Rex as a part of three worlds. He works closely with normal humans, like Six and Holiday (As normal as you can be at Providence), and he understands how scared the world is, how scared every day people are that any second they or someone they love could turn into a monster and go on a rampage. And sometimes that hurts for Rex is that he often tries to connect to this part of the world, because he knows he was once part of it, and he thinks it can make him happy, but the obstacle blocking him is that he isn’t human anymore, and that many people are scared of him, even if he saves them. And yet despite all the harsh things people have said or done to him, Rex always comes back to be the hero, because he knows he can help and that there are people that need his help, and it’s commendable that he’s willing to put aside those issues to save the day, even if he doesn’t get a thank you out of it.

His second ties are, of course, to his EVO world. It’s interesting that, at the very start of the show, Rex use to have this view that everything EVO was wrong, most likely something he picked up at Providence, despite being one himself. He’s hesitant around them, and while he’s not one to kill, he’s often quick to think they’ll be a danger. And while he can be right about that most of the time, he does start to learn it’s not all that it seems. His Hong Kong friends, Circe, Breach, even someone like Biowulf eventually. He even eventually learns that, while he’s not normal, he’s not a bad person for being something not human. And it’s an interesting thought that while he’s one of the most human-looking EVOs, he can be considered one of the most dangerous, even more so than EVOs that look like overgrown monsters. His ties to the EVO world are what make him start to see the world isn’t black and white.

And then his third ties, kind of, are to his nanites and history. Despite how human looking Rex is, and that he is an EVO, he’s very much something different to both sides, a middle ground thanks to his connection to the nanites. It’s always fascinated me that something about him, out of anyone in the world, he has this tie to nanites that no one else has. That can be explained by a number of things, but I also like to think it’s also because of the person he is. I mean, you get someone like Black Knight who got similar powers to him, but you never see her have a level connection with them like Rex does. And that can be explained by poor writing, but again I like to tie it back to who he is as a person, and how the nanites have evolved to be around him. And with how long he’s been tied to him, they just feel like a natural part of him, even if he may reject it sometimes. And to have him be once part of the past that involved how the nanites came to be, it adds a whole another layer to this boy. I will admit the writing can get to him at times, sadly, especially around season 3, and we don’t get certain answers to question about him, but he’s still a great character in my eyes, with so much potential for the stories and ideas you can play around him. I respect him for his hope for wanting to do things a better way, and yet knowing that sometimes you have to do the hard and logical things to do good, even if it’s not easy to do. I could ramble on more, but I got to move onto the next one. 💙

Zak: Ah, my sweet cryptid boy, have season 2 gave you crippling anxiety. Zak I would say, out of these three, is the most consistent with his writing. He’s still the same cryptid loving, cool kid, with a passion for his job back at the start of things, but he also grows in a believable way over time, especially when learning what he really is. The twist with making Kur adds such a spin on who he is and how he feels in a great way that I love, because he was someone who was building up to be the hero of the story by everyone around him, only to learn that the supposed villain he was meant to fight was himself. I think one of the interesting things that The Secret Saturdays does is that it never really answers the question if destiny is real, and if Zak is meant to kill all humans. It’s a question left up in the air, and while there seems to be facts that say otherwise, the idea that this boy could kill all humans makes people scared or eager, making everyone say that his destiny is real, even if there is no proof. And because of this, it makes Zak fear and believes that it’s real too, that he is bad just by simply being Kur’s reincarnation, even if he hasn’t done anything that makes him bad. And yet, as easy as it would have been for Zak to just accept this, he doesn’t, he still plays the hero and goes out of his way to help those that need it. Because whether or not destiny is real, Zak is willing to fight it, and that makes a noble character. And while we don’t get clear answers about destiny and Kur, many of us get to play with the idea of what it means for Zak and this world he’s in. I personally thing that Kur’s history is more complicated than him being ‘evil’ as I’ve written before, but Zak is his own character, his own person, and it’s fun to see who he is, how he reacts and how he grows. I also love that, while he’s pitched as one of those classic kid/teen boys during the 2000s action cartoon eras, he does things you wouldn’t expect. While he can get into fights and combat and have fun with it, if he knows the fight endangers someone or a cryptid, he will always take it seriously. Like when they found the cryptid fighting ring, he was always disgusted by it and keeps repeating the notion that he wanted to stop it as soon a possible, even hating to have to put Fisk into the fight just to stall and get info. He clearly as a loving passion with cryptids and the world he’s in, and is always out there looking to see more to the story than others may see. He’s not quick to label someone as a monster unless he’s 100% certain that’s what they are. And his family relationships are just golden, I love the Saturdays. It’s adorable how, instead of calling them pets, he treats Fisk, Zon and Komodo like his siblings. He respects them as equals, and while he can argue with them, he’s willing to listen and understand that they have their own needs and wants, and the four of them are always by each other’s sides. Drew and Doc, being one of my favourite couples of all time, have different relationships towards Zak, but both love and respect him very much. Even when they find out Zak is Kur, not once do they ever turn their back on their own child, and do everything they can to help him see he’s not a monster. Zak clearly looks up to them, and it’s great to see the growth they have by letting Zak spread his wings, and stop trying to be over-protective with him. And, of course, Uncle Doyle is great, in that he’s always respected Zak, even if he’s a child. He’s willing to be level with him, and push him when he knows Zak needs it, and the fact that Zak was the one in the family to be so quick to have him join is just so well done, as he never had a doubt that Doyle could be a better person. Zak love the world he’s in, and the beings and secrets that lay within it. Despite how it might push and hurt him, he’s often willing to get back up and show who he really is, that the labels that people put on him don’t define who he is. Despite how his world turned upside down with one sentence, he’s doesn’t give up.🧡

Ben: Oof, right...*Cracks knuckles* Time to get into the more iffy ones of the trio. Right away, I have no trouble saying that Ben has a lot of issues and flaws as a character. I have no issue denying that he can be an ass, and has done many dumb things. However, I’m not one to hate or fault characters when it’s the writing that screws them over. Because at his concept and core, the person he was meant to be, Ben is quite an interesting character. He’s not the standard hero with a cape, he’s very much flawed, can sometimes be a jerk and cocky often, and has been shown to be young and naive. But that doesn’t make him a bad person, in fact he adds an interesting element to the normal hero archetypes. When written well, he’s quite fun to follow and has quite the concept to play around with. Despite his outgoing and witty outside, Ben does go through a lot of crap ever since he got the watch. His teen years and parts of his childhood are mostly just dealing with the foes he’s made, and the troubles that comes with being the main hero of the galaxy, which is defiantly not an easy task to take. And yet he does it, he goes through all the dangers just to help people and the worlds around them. He’s often willing to stand back up and crack a smirk because he’s not one to give up. He sees hope, he sees potential and light beyond the darkness, and he wants to give others the chance to see that. And while his cocky nature can get in the way when written wrong, I do think it’s a trait that makes sense. People across the galaxy praise him since he was young, which can cloud his judgement, it’s a natural flaw that fits him as a character, and it has been shown he acts this way to hide how scared he really is. Cause I mean, with all that he has to fight, it is actually quite a struggle, so it is amazing to see just how much he takes and never backs down. He’s not a boring character to watch, he’s not a perfect hero that gleams in a golden light, he’s flawed and hows so many issues to tackle, but have a noble and bold side to him that you can respect. He’s been shown to bring people up, to teach and to guide, to take on the hassles of others just so they can get by in life. And while he does like the praise he gets out of it, you know deep down he does this because it’s good to just do good, even if it doesn’t benefit you always. He could have easily given up the watch and hand it back to Azmuth, but he never does. And his connection with alien and the watch have always been a personal interest with me, even if canon doesn’t delve much into it as they should. The thing with Ben is that he’s perfect for the watch, because he has no problem shaping into another being. And while it’s still Ben underneath, he does change parts of himself for the time being. And the reason he’s fine with this is because he sees life and potential with all the aliens he can be. He sees the different powers they hold and wants to show just what they can do to help, what the galaxy could build if they worked together. It’s funny that the omnitrix was build for peace purposes, and while Ben took it a different way than what Azmuth wanted, he found a way to make it work. I know other characters wouldn’t be able to handle the watch like this the way Ben does, even Albedo proves this by how he acts with his aliens, seeing them as nothing but tools while treating himself as the higher being, while Ben accepts what he turns into, and understands what makes certain aliens special. Sadly, Ben is a tragic character when it comes to the poor writing and constant switch in series, as Cartoon Network can’t seem to understand what to do with him. But that does make him a fun character to work off of and write, and I’ve seen some amazing things in the fandom with what they’ve done with him. So I've seen hated Ben, because I often see his as wasted potential for the character he could have been, and he does have great moments that are canon that I love. 💚

#I did not mean to make this long #Whoops!#But I hope some of you enjoy my essay about these characters I love #Got too much to say lol #my answers #Ben 10 #ben 10 alien force #ben 10 ultimate alien #ben 10 omniverse #ben tennyson #ben 10 ben tennyson #generator rex #generator rex rex salazar #rex salazar #GR #the secret saturdays #secret saturdays #zak saturday #the secret saturdays zak

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percyinpanties · 4 years

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hey I'm the pipeyna anon and that's ok!!! can u do pipeyna with piper pining after hot jock Reyna which hopefully ends happy (smutty)

just a quick warm-up, i say, i won’t spend too much time on this. i really had to resist just going on and on and on with this. i miss writing this ship, damn.

anyway - this fits really well with an enemy to lovers prompt i have for jercy, so thats what im hinting at too here.

Read on Ao3

for context : i always write college aus from a UK uni perspective bc that’s all i know and i don’t care to adapt to how it might or might not work in the u.s. (sorry)

rating: teen+ (no smut in this one, but let me tell you, this TEMPTED me)

words: 2.2k

___

“An actual goddess” Piper says wistfully from where she’s leaning against the wall next to Percy, taking back the cigarette she’d just bummed of him. Her eyes are glued on the field, and more precisely on Reyna, smile on her face and water bottle in her hand as she jogs over to Jason standing at the side of the field. They greet each other with a hug, even as Reyna wrinkles her face, seemingly complaining about her own sweatiness.

It’s coincidence that the end of Reyna’s soccer practice collides conveniently with Piper’s and Percy’s late seminar on Mondays. It isn’t coincidence that Percy and her have taken to sharing a cigarette on the side of the building that looks out toward the field during their break, however.

Percy makes a non-committal noise and his eyes follow Piper’s gaze while she takes a drag of the cigarette and wrinkles her nose. She needs to quit smoking for good, she thinks, and flicks the ash to the ground. There was a brief moment in first year when Piper thought that Percy might be interested in Reyna, or she in him, but luckily, nothing ever came of that.

“You think they’re dating?” Percy asks, arms crossed over his chest now, making no move to take the cigarette back again. He’s not even pretending not to be staring, his eyes intense where they flit between Reyna and Jason. Piper on the other hand has the common decency to at least cast her eyes away every now and again before she’s caught looking for a little too long.

At the edge of the field, Reyna and Jason are standing close together now, chatting about god knows what, smiling and laughing. They’re certainly comfortable with each other, but Piper can’t say that’s much of an indication given how she’s around Percy.

“I hope not.” Piper mutters and Percy laughs at that, even though she knows he agrees. Percy wouldn’t admit it in a million years, but Piper would bet real money that he has a thing for Jason, too, as much as he claims to hate the guy. She’d have to be deaf and blind not to notice the tension between them.

It would make sense, though, in a way. Jason is captain of the men’s rugby team, Reyna of the women’s soccer team. Some of their practices collide and the two clubs do most of their weekly socials together, and Piper’s seen the two of them hanging out aside from that plenty as well. Reyna and her haven’t talked much about Jason, maybe because Piper hasn’t actually exchanged more than five words with him and never had much of an urge to change that, but she knows that Reyna and Jason have known each other before university.

Around Jason, Reyna seems to let her guard down, something Piper has only managed to achieve a handful of times since they met during their first year.

Jason laughs at something Reyna says, eyes bright and head thrown back and Piper can’t deny that he’s handsome, at the very least. He’s fairly decent, too, as far as guys go, and really, Piper knows she shouldn’t be hoping that there is nothing between Reyna and him if that is what would make Reyna happy.

“Invite her to the party.” Percy suggests then, drawing Piper’s attention back from the tangent her brain was so insistent to start on. When Piper turns her face to look at him, he’s already looking back at her, one eyebrow arched. “I was going to, anyway, but it’s different coming from you yourself.”

He’s not teasing her, it’s an honest suggestion, and technically not even a bad one. It’s Percy��s birthday this weekend, and if nothing else, it would be a good excuse to hang out again. Percy knows a ton of people, but he usually doesn’t invite too many to his party, so with any luck, it won’t be too crowded to actually spend some time with Reyna.

More than that, though, it’s another opportunity for Piper to finally get a move on. Percy, Piper knows, thinks that Piper’s pining had reached a point where it’s almost comical halfway through last year, but even so, Piper has yet to manage to actually act on her feelings.

A party is casual enough that she can always play it off as nothing serious when it ends up blowing up in her face. Piper might finally get over herself and just ask Reyna out already – although she’s tried that a few times before only to find herself tongue tied and staring at Reyna like she hung the moon in the sky. She’s been head over heels for Reyna since maybe three weeks after they met in first year, and now that they’re starting their third and final year, Piper needs to get a move on or it’ll simply be too late. Granted, she’s scared shitless at the prospect of being turned down, but at this point, even that would be better than pining forever and never finding out if she’d even stand a chance.

“Yeah… maybe.” Piper says finally, and manages a small smile towards Percy who bumps his shoulder against hers playfully. They should be heading back inside, so Piper sneaks a last glance toward Reyna and this time, finds her looking back.

They don’t share any classes this year, and Piper doesn’t usually run into Reyna on campus, so on Wednesday morning, she ends up texting Reyna on her way to class. She fumbles with her phone, almost tripping over her own two feet trying to type the words out as fast as possible, and ends up having to sidestep off the path to actually send the texts.

Hey you.

we’re having a party on Saturday, it’s Percy’s birthday.

Piper wants to add more, but instead, she bites her lip and stuffs her phone back into the pocket of her jeans. It’s almost an open invitation like this already anyway, and Piper wants to gauge Reyna’s first reaction before deciding exactly how she’s going about asking. Technically, it would be so easy to just as Reyna to go with her, specifically, to the party, but the intention might be lost over text and anyway, wouldn’t it be simpler to just invite her generally?

Piper frets throughout the entirety of her first lecture, and most of the second one, for nothing. Reyna doesn’t answer, even though the messenger app shows Piper that she’s read both texts already, and Piper tries not to be disappointed about it. She doesn’t know what Reyna’s schedule is like today, the girl might just be busy and planned on replying later. It makes sense, much more than Piper’s second thought that Reyna is not answering because Piper is annoying and Reyna doesn’t actually want to spend any time with her. She knows that thought is stupid, knowing that however does nothing to ease the anxious knot in Piper’s stomach.

Piper finds herself checking her phone more often than not. It would be funny if it wasn’t so ridiculous, and if the lecturer wasn’t so clearly catching on that Piper isn’t paying as much attention to the class as she is to her phone. She texts Percy as well, but she knows he’s in that seminar he shares with Jason, so chances are that she won’t be getting a reply on that end anytime soon either. In the end, she has to force herself to put her phone away and actually focus on the lecture up front, even though by that point, she is already lost as to what they’re even talking about in the first place. It’s no good, and Piper can’t deny being relieved when the lecturer eventually dismisses the class.

She doesn’t allow herself to check her messages until she’s across campus in the coffee shop, queuing for some much needed caffeine and fishing out her phone so she doesn’t have to make small talk with anyone while she waits in line. Reyna still hasn’t replied, but at least Percy has messaged her after his seminar.

I’m gonna strangle him, Piper. You’ll have to bust me out of prison because they are going to arrest me for goddamn murder.

All she’d asked was if his classes were as boring as hers today, and while she had expected Percy to go off about Jason in reply, this isn’t exactly what she’d thought to be reading today. She smiles at her phone, types out a quick reply and moves up in the queue.

That bad? What’s he done now?

The way Percy talks about Jason makes Piper think of a Cartoon Network villain, always plotting, provoking and scheming. The few times she’s spoken to Jason, the guy wasn’t half bad, and if Piper is honest, she doesn’t quite get the vendetta these two have with each other. She suspects though that it has something to do with how ‘infuriatingly attractive, like fucking superman or something’ Percy described Jason after their first class together.

It’s like he thinks I’m stupid or something. Got a dumb fucking project to do together and he honestly told me that he ‘needs to pass this class so iif I’m not planning to put in the work, we might as well ask for new partners right away’

Like, excuse me, bitch? My grades are better than yours, for one thing

And for another, it’s not like good-old Dodds is gonna let us switch anyway

Piper huffs audibly while she reads the texts. It’s clear Percy’s actually upset by this, and she figures it will only get worse if they actually have to do the work together in the coming weeks. Before she can shoot Percy a reply though, she’s next in line.

Piper orders her coffee, steps aside to wait once she’s paid, and rereads Percy’s texts before she types her reply to Percy.

Sounds like a dick move.

Piper’s almost inclined to defend Jason for a moment, since Percy mostly doesn’t pay much attention in class, especially in Mrs. Dodds seminars – so how is Jason meant to know how much effort Percy puts in outside of it? On the other hand, though, Piper knows how Percy is, and how personally he’s clearly taken Jason’s comment already, so trying to convince him otherwise would simply be fruitless.

Once Piper’s coffee is done, she heads back outside, finding an empty bench to enjoy the break before her next class. If nothing else, at least Percy’s ranting is distracting her from Reyna, and the party, and asking the other girl out – and in between the rapid texts Percy and her are sending back and forth Piper almost forgets about it entirely. Until she has to head back to her last class, that is, and sees that Reyna has, so far, still left her on read.

Piper hesitates for a moment, clicking on the text field without typing anything just yet. Is she going to come off as desperate if she texts again, or should she just clarify now before it gets too late and Reyna already makes different plans for the weekend?

Piper types out a few words, deletes them again and pockets her phone only to get it back out a few seconds later to try again. She shouldn’t be walking and texting, especially given that she should be going faster to actually make it to her lecture in time, but Piper knows that if she doesn’t send this text now, she’ll spend another lecture agonising over what to say.

So yeah, I wanted to invite you too ofc :)

Piper cringes at her wording, but figuring it won’t get much better, she sends the text anyway and finally tucks her phone back into her pocket to actually hurry to class.

By the time Reyna replies, it’s late and Piper is sitting on the beat-up couch in her shared flat’s living room, watching something trashy on TV without really paying much attention at all. Percy is clanking around in the kitchen, making something that smells good enough to remind Piper that she should probably be getting herself some food, too. She’s about to get up and rummage through her fridge compartment in search of something edible when her lock screen lights up with a message from Reyna, and that derails any thoughts of food immediately. Piper isn’t subtle in the way she practically lunges for her phone, but luckily, Percy can’t see and judge her from his position in the kitchen.

Sorry, long day, reads the first text, following a few seconds later by another one.

Promised Jason to hang out but I’d love to :(

Piper bites her lip, knowing before typing out the words that Percy won’t like what she’s doing in the slightest.

You could bring him? Percy won’t mind.

Except that Percy most certainly will mind, Piper thinks, and grimaces. If she hadn’t come off as desperate before, she most certainly does now – texting back within less than a minute after having been left on read all day, only to offer that Reyna can bring her friend (boyfriend?) along as well if that means she’ll be there.

There’ll be other opportunities, Piper tells herself, and scrubs a hand over her face. She needs to chill, and maybe she needs to grab a cigarette and step outside and calm down before she embarrasses herself even further.

Piper stares at the screen. How on earth is she meant to interpret this? At this rate, she won’t make it until Saturday, dying of one crisis or another before then.

if you’re sure? I’ll ask him.

haven’t seen you in a while, would be nice to hang out again ;)

I’m sure.

#will i continue this? maybe #i do kinda wanna write the party part and have it ending ~spicy~#pipeyna #piper mclean #reyna ramirez avila arellano #my stuff #my fic #prompts #teen+#pjo #Anonymous #jercy #in the bg

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rosykims · 3 years

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💙🧺👀💎✈️☔️💧 for miss triss !!!

thank u miss maia MWAH

💙— how do they say/show that they miss their partner?

i wanna say "draping herself over ava's furniture and whining softly" NFJFJDNFFN and honestly its not that far off. triss has been known to pine, on occasion. usually subtle tho, lots of little absent minded touches to the shoulder/waist/hands, standing closer than she normally would so she can soak up the attention thru osmosis rather than ask for it directly lmao

🧺— random domestic headcanon

oh she's definitely a borderline horder ❤ growing up without rebecca meant she didnt rly have anyone around to like. beg for toys or Items as children often do lol, so her personal possessions were fairly sparse until her teen years. as a result she rly doesnt show any restraint when it comes to buying the dumbest knick knack decor imaginable as a sort of balm for feeling so lonely? im talking like..... garage sale figurines of 1970s soviet russian children's cartoons, a kettle shaped like a garden gnome, the tackiest b-rated horror movie rip-off merch she can find ..... thankfully she never got into online shopping so most of the stuff she buys is limited to what she can find in the wild lmao.

👀— what’s their favorite body part on themselves? on their partner?

on herself??? hm. if not her smile, then probably her arms ! she worked hard on those sleeve tattoos damn it. on ava i was going to say arms as well BUT i think thats just me projecting t b h lol. so probably her stomach/chest ! she runs her hand down ava's torso and suddenly feels transported into the body of a virgin Y/N maiden in a 19th century high romance smut novella 😌 as she deserves !

💎— do they like to tease?

yes. incurably so. annoyingly so ❤

✈️— how far will they go in public?

not far enough to like. be arrested lol fbdjdjd she's mostly considerate of the people she's around who um dont wanna see that shit. but she's very pda friendly by default and did get a little (a lot) crazy back when she was living/partying in new york...... but ya it also rly depends on the person and their comfort/limits. with bobby – who's even more obnoxiously pda than she is – they were rly unbareable to be around in public lol. but that was bc bobby was ok with it. with ava she would be respectful of her boundaries and personal space no questions asked and no judgement. and i think despite being down to clown she'd be pleasantly surprised by a more lowkey relationship. triss has dated a lot but hasnt had much experience with intimacy/vulnerability so. that would be nice !

☔️— what are they like when they’re emotional? how quickly do they recover?

triss recovers pretty quick, mostly because she hates burdening people with her low moods. she likes to keep a happy/nonchalant façade no matter what, even if its a detriment to her actual state of mind at the time lol. when she's sad she tends to isolate herself so ppl cant ask what's wrong, and if she can't do that she'll just crack jokes until she sounds convincing enough that they stop worrying

💧— random angst headcanon

hm. triss had a drug problem prior to returning to wayhaven (it's why she left university and returned home in the first place). she's clean now but it's still a daily battle. even around unit bravo, when she gets in a bad place mentally it's hard to dismiss the urge to take off again and get back into old habits.

#oc: triss #/ drug mention #triss voice i dated bobby marks and all i got was this lousy crippling addiction #thats a lie she also got a shitty matching tattoo with him too💀 im sorry queen u can get it covered up one day i swear !!!!!!#thanks for the ask bestie !!!!!!

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floorbed · 4 years

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hey guys i wanted to do a little annotation of my playlist 4 holland vosijk bc lyric annotations r fun and i have added Many Songs! under the cut >:) i just love this funky guy a lot so much. if u have song recs dm me!

hymn 1 - teen suicide

he took this ailing body from me / for he knew it was causing me pain / he won’t give me a new one cause i had my chance / but he forgives me

nobody - mitski

my god i’m so lonely / so i open the window / to hear sounds of people / to hear sounds of people

in the woods somewhere - hozier

i turned and ran / to save a life i didn’t have / deer in the chase / there as i flew / forgot all prayers of joining you / i clutched my life / and wished it kept / my dearest love i’m not done yet / how many years / i know i’ll bear / i found something in the woods somewhere

guilty - alex g

are you guilty? / are you waiting to be found? / do you think that you’d be happier with no one else around? / are you hiding / but the trial never comes?

is the truth trapped / behind iron lock and key? / have you buried all the evidence / of what you used to be?

capable type - momma

before you go you try your best to save me / you’re playing with the capable type

i keep looking out the window / i keep finding stuff to fight / i keep looking out the window i don’t / i don’t wanna play nice / i keep looking out the window / i keep finding stuff to fight / i keep looking out the window i guess / i’m just the capable type

hollow - alex g

don’t talk too much / you’ll hurt yourself / i know (i know) / i’m hollow

coming up roses - elliott smith

and i don’t need your permission / to bury my love under this bare lightbulb / the moon is a sickle cell / i’ll kill you in time / your cold white brother alive in your blood

the body is a blade - japanese breakfast

try not to get so righteous / about what’s fair for everyone / find what’s left in you / channel something good

kicker - alex g

white bird in a black cloud / rain coming down thinking hey / maybe we should turn this boat around / heaven maybe freedom / whats the word? right i forgot / quiet is the closest thing we’ve got

gardenhead / leave me alone - neutral milk hotel

we feel no emotion as we spiral down to the world / and i guess it’s worth your time / because there’s some lives you live / and some you leave behind / it gets hard to explain

follow me through / a city of frost covered angels / i swear i have nothing to prove

when you die - mgmt

i’m not that nice / i’m mean and i’m evil / don’t call me nice / i’m gonna eat your heart out / i’ve got some work to do

tongues & teeth - the crane wives

i know that you mean so well / but i am not a vessel for your good intent

body - mother mother

i’ve grown tired of this body / a cumbersome and heavy body

brutus - the buttress

or am i just wishing i could be like you? / that the people would see me, too, as the poet / and not just the muse

and even if i can’t be the one / maybe i could at least make way for him / until the day that he comes / maybe my name could also be known

100 years - florence and the machine

and then it’s just too much / the streets still run with blood / a hundred arms a hundred years / you can always find me here / and lord don’t let me break this / let me hold it lightly / give me arms to pray with / instead of ones that hold too tightly

my heart bends and breaks so many times / and is born again with each sunrise

abbey - mitski

i am waiting / i have been waiting / i was born waiting / i was born waiting for that something / just one something / i was born something / i was born

there is a light i feel it in me / but only it seems when the dark surrounds me / there is a dream and it sleeps in me / to awake in the night crying set me free

sleepless - girlpool

the room’s beige it’s a mess / you dream to be sleepless

the same things happen to me all the time even in my dreams - teen suicide

and i am warm and i am bored / and i am drifting through this place / it’s no better or worse than anything else that’s ever happened to me / but i wish that i’d never met a lot of the people that i’ve met / not because i don’t like them but because i’ve only let them down

constantly i feel this weird shameful feeling / like i’m being watched by a thousand glowing vengeful eyes

bag of bones - mitski

clickety-clacking through the night / i’m carrying my bag of bones

and i can take a little bit more / let’s shake this poet out of the beast

soup - girlpool

your dad saw you crying when you looked at the world / sit and stare at your hands cause there’s so much to do / crawl into the birdcage become a cartoon / cause all of the flowers were too much for you

thorns - alex g

this thing / it haunts me like a shadow / never lets me go

out he goes / part of a whole / puppet of mine / where will they find me?

pearl diver - mitski

oh hunter if you didn’t want the beautiful so badly / perhaps you would have found it in your spirit singing softly / but hunter you were human / don’t forget it and go safely

it will come back - hozier

jesus christ don’t be kind to it / honey don’t feed it it will come back

oh, please, give me mercy no more / it’s a kindness you can’t afford

untitled-oct19 - teen suicide

when i go back home / i’ll go to sleep

being alive - stephen sondheim (sung by raul esparza)

somebody need me too much / somebody know me too well / somebody pull me up short / and put me through hell / and give me support for being alive

somebody crowd me with love / somebody force me to care / somebody make me come through / i’ll always be there as frightened as you

judge - alex g

that day meant nothing to me / a hiccup in my memory / this life will leave you hungry / i am completely guilty

#mel talks #adsom #holland vosijk #holland appreciation hours baybey!!!#death //

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opalsiren · 5 years

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W.I.T.C.H. Reboot! W.I.T.C.H. Reboot! W.I.T.C.H. Reboot!

hi love! so, with the plethora of reboots kicking around mainstream media these days, its no surprise that the question of a w.i.t.c.h reboot has been broached by its fans. i have so, so, so many thoughts and this, but ill divide them into three categories for the purpose of brevity: firstly, general thoughts on what i would like to see if a w.i.t.c.h reboot is on the cards; secondly, what i would like to see in a live-action w.i.t.c.h reboot; and finally, what a decent animated reboot of w.i.t.c.h might entail. this is not an exhaustive list so please feel free to add onto this if youve any more thoughts! without further ado because jesus, we might be here a while….

general thoughts:

a w.i.t.c.h live action reboot should largely use the comics are source material. while the cartoons are beloved by many including myself, i reckon the good parts of each should be combined to be thematically consistent, fix plot holes etc. but the comics should be the bible here

the target demographic of younger women and girls would need to be established early on by the producers (personally i would love to see a slightly more mature, w.i.t.c.h college AU where the target demographic could be teens/young adult women and girls, but more on that later). this isnt to say that young men and boys would be absolutely excluded as an audience, but misogyny is alive and well in 2019, and our voices as women need to be uplifted. this is exemplified by the fact that caleb was given far, far, far too much screentime in the cartoon so that the show could reach a young, male audience, and his characters was mangled by chauvinistic tendencies. thank u, next.

i have my own preferences wrt to ships, but i think we can all agree that introducing male characters as mere plot devices for drama/conflict only to put them ‘on a bus’ when theyre no longer useful is just plain bad writing. this is a critique levelled both at the cartoon and comics, but largely the comics (see: Eric)(rip in peace).

i also believe that sticking to the conventions of a particular genre, or hybrid genre, would be preferable if a w.i.t.c.h reboot were to take place. some shows get it right, but I’ve seen a ton of shows go off the rails when they try to be a fantasy/comedy/crime/drama/horror/sci-fi/occult/soap-opera extravaganza all in one. i reckon a YA fantasy drama with comedic moments, something with a similar vibe to Shadowhunters or The Shannara Chronicles, could work really well. if we’re talking animated reboot, something with a similar tonal atmosphere to The Dragon Prince or Into the Spiderverse, would also be great

this shouldnt even need to be said but please, for the love of god, no musical episodes (heres looking at you, Riverdale).

i think i speak on everyones behalf when i say that, irrespective of the age demographic of the show, LGBT rep in w.i.t.c.h would be amazing. irma/cornelia have always been a practically canon fan favourite, but cassidy and nerissa’s relationship is definitely more than strictly platonic, so that could be developed upon too. trans/nonbinary!will is also a popular headcanon that could work. once there are lgbt heroes, and not just lgbt villains, i think we’ll all be happy.

similarly, seeing some neurodivergency in the characters could also be great: elyon dealing with pts after the fallout with phobos; irma struggling with adhd in school or college; hay lin and taranee also exhibit some traits of anxiety in canon. autistic!will would also work, and someone else in the squad is bound to be affected by depression given its pervasive nature these days.

much and all as i adore the guardian outfits, i think there would need to be a few changes made. the midriff-and-leg-baring get-ups, though very cute, become very jarring when you realise the characters are meant to range in age from 12 to 14. i dont have any specific thoughts on how improvements could be made, but lengthening hemlines could be a start. if anyone has any more thoughts, i’d love to hear them!

of course, there needs to be women in the writers room, lgbt people in the writers room, poc in the writers room, people with neurodivergencies in the writers room, etc. we all know what happens when writers rooms lack diversity, and it sure as hell aint pretty.

body diversity was something that was tentatively approached in the comics (irma is curvier than the others, at least in her mundane form), but eschewed almost entirely in the cartoon, with all the girls maintaining similar heights and waifish proportions. it would be worthwhile, not to mention realistic, for the girls to go through some body-image hang ups. maybe will is insecure about her ‘underdeveloped’ body, or maybe taranee longs to have the same curvaceous figures as other dancers her age. i think if they were to go for a message of body positivity, irma, loud and brash with no fucks to give, should love every inch of her fat body and encourage the girls to adopt her 'devil-may-care’ attitude. the patriarchy be damned.

one flaw with the comics AND the cartoons are that they dont really explore the worldbuilding a lot. we do spend some time on meridian in the comics and the cartoon, but largely from the perspective of either elyon, or caleb and the rebels. i wonder what a day on meridian would look like for the average meridianite peasant? what do meridianites do for fun? what language(s) do they speak? what are their religious/spiritual belief(s)? what are the styles of dress dictated by? meridian is based on medieval societies, and a caste system is suggested, but i would have loved to see the social hierarchies expanded on a little more. does the matriarchal nature of meridian rule value women and their labour? what about LGBT people on meridian? people with disabilities and neurodivergencies? is there any discrimination against the different species on meridian? in fact, i dont know if it was ever explicitly outlined to us the different species of peoples on meridian, in the cartoon or the comics. honestly id be happy to see a filler, AtLA Tales of Ba Sing Se-esque episode on meridian to cover all of these bases

one thing i loved from the comics that didnt translate as well in the cartoon were the girls’ passions and interests. will is obsessed with frogs, she rides her bike to her job at pet store, she swims, stresses over math homework. irma loves music and talking to her pet turtle, leafy; i could totally see her doing a stint at the college radio station or working part time at a record store. cornelia loves ice skating and has received tons of awards and accolades for her achievements on the ice. taranee is an avid photographer and dancer, but i could totally see her spending her spare time at rallies and protests too. hay lin is a proficient artist, making her own clothes and poring over paintings between shifts at the silver dragon. all of these things and more are what make these characters so well-rounded, relatable, likeable. their hobbies need to be weaved into the fabric of the show (not just brought up once for a silly plot device in cornelia’s case, or never brought up at all in taranee’s, as seen in the cartoon) in order for it to work

live action reboot thoughts:

this should go out without saying, but a live action w.i.t.c.h reboot should cast actors of colour to play characters of colour. hay lin, and by extension her family, need to be played by Chinese actors, while taranee needs to be played by a black actor, preferably one of east asian descent, etc. if they add a little more diversity to the cast i would be totally pleased. latina!irma is a popular headcanon that i ascribe to, and will has always been kinda ambiguously brown, so adding less ambiguous representation for poc to the cast would really be excellent

of course, age-appropriate casting is a must. more specifically, there should not be any 25-30 year olds playing characters in their mid-late teens, unless ofc they could actually pass for the age they are trying to play. shows like The OA and The End of the Fucking World really get this right (most other teen/YA dramas, not so much. less of the chiseled abs and rock hard pecs on teens, please)

this one might be tricky to get right, particularly with budget constraints, but i think a really good CGI/visual effects team is necessary for a w.i.t.c.h reboot to work. unless an adequate amount of the budget is spent on making sure the magic looks realistic, almost plausible, it will make everything else look cheap by comparison

also, this is more of a personal preference, but i’d love to see someone with a really beautiful visual aesthetic and scope of cinematography. i’m talking Sense8-esque levels of cinematographic beauty

i’m really rambling now but, similarly, it’d be so cool to see someone who could use lighting/colour theory in very particular ways. in Marvel’s Netflix Originals, each character has their own theme colour; in Jessica Jones, for example, all of the scenes are very blue and almost leeched of warmth, while in Luke Cage there seems to be a warm yellow filter over everything. how cool would it be if all Taranee-centric scenes had a slight gold hue? or if all of cornelia’s scenes were lit with green? maybe all of the colours could combine in the a subtle yet effective way when all of the guardians are together to show their unity and combined strength.

thoughts on an animated reboot:

i know very little about animation so these thoughts will be brief, but an art and animation style something like that of Into the Spiderverse would be really gorgeous. it is fluid, dynamic, beautiful to look at and, most importantly, reflects the comic format in a moving image perfectly. alternatively, the animation studio behind The Legend of Korra could also be wonderful. the visual effects used for magic would look absolutely incredible

one thing i have to praise the Jetix cartoon for is their choice of voice actors, which were, in many cases, spot on. while cornelia’s VA was annoying and shrill, the actors playing characters of colour were themselves people of colour. if an animated reboot was on the cards, i think it could be a great opportunity to once again include some diversity to the cast, namely hiring actors of colour to play characters of colour

please let no one who worked on voltron near a w.i.t.c.h animated reboot with a ten foot pole. no i will not elaborate

tl;dr at the risk of sounding like an entitled millennial, a w.i.t.c.h reboot should be less about creating something entirely new for a brand new audience, and more about building on what the longtime fans of w.i.t.c.h already love and bringing it forward for the older generation. all on all, we grew up with w.i.t.c.h, so it’s time for us to have our reboot. thanks for coming to my TED talk!

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party-of-rpg-muses · 5 years

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A Look At Stuff You Probably Never Heard Of: The Animals of Farthing Wood

Oh, I’ve been wanting to talk about this series for quite some time since seeing this series myself. And since Game of Thrones has ended this month, what better time than now to take a look at a show that’s quite like Game of Thrones. Today, I give you... The Animals of Farthing Wood.

The Animals of Farthing Wood was a British-French Kids’ TV show that was commissioned between 1992 and 1995 with the first episode airing on January 6th, 1993 and the last episode airing on December 21st, 1995. It is also an animated adaptation of the book series of the same name by Colin Dann.

The series starts with Farthing Wood being subject to construction by humans to make a town and in the process, many animals living in Farthing Wood have either fled or died. With living space and clean water running out, the surviving animals hold an assembly on what to do with Toad, he had just returned, suggesting they go to a nature reserve called White Deer Park, which is where he was prior to returning home.

With no other options, the animals; Fox, Badger, Owl, Weasel, Adder, Toad, Mole, Kestrel, the Voles, Shrews, Hares, Rabbits, Newts, Hedgehogs, and Pheasants, all agree to leave, electing Fox as the leader and Toad as their guide and invoking the “Oath of Mutual Protection”, meaning that no animal in their group may kill or consume another member and instead, they all look after each other, even though Adder is less than agreeing. However, the path to White Deer Park is fraught with danger and peril.

One thing that should be noted is that despite being a children’s cartoon, this show doesn’t impart morals and life lessons, nor are they all that comedic, though there are some comedic elements (usually because of Weasel and her antics). Instead, this series follows a strong plot with a focus on the characters, much like many current cartoons aimed at older kids to young teens. However, unlike current cartoons, death is very prominently featured with any and every character present being likely to die. Even the main characters, including Fox, are at risk of dying. And they aren’t off-screen deaths either, but on-screen, with a character’s body going limp or just dying in horrible ways. Blood is even featured, but no gore.

So, now, it is time for my Final Recommendation: Never Let Go Of It||Get It||Hold Onto It||Try It||Consider It||Stay Away From It

Honestly, this show is quite entertaining and really doesn’t act like a traditional kids’ show. Like I mentioned before, any and every character is at risk of dying, much like Game of Thrones or The Walking Dead. Death is a very common thing in this show, so much so that out of all the deaths in the series, only one character dies of old age; all others are killed in one way or another, usually by another character. And yet, surprisingly, the series overall has a U (Universal) rating, meaning it can be watched by anyone, regardless of age, but may still require parents to decide if the content is suitable for their children. And it was only season 2 (and certain episodes throughout the series) that got the PG rating.

But one thing I want to mention is that, as you can tell, the style for The Animals of Farthing Wood is meant to be as realistic as possible. Of course, some leeway is given, such as Weasel moving about on her hind legs or some of the facial expressions many characters make. However, in the third season, character designs are much more cartoony. A major example being with Owl. For seasons 1 and 2, her wings acted just like wings with no deviations. They looked and acted no different than any other bird’s in a realistic sense. But in season 3, her wings can act and look moe akin to fingers on a hand, like Owl from Winnie the Pooh. The third season is also rather infamous for having more focus on comedy, though there’s still quite a bit of plot, death, and tension in the show.

Alright, now that that’s done, I bid you adieu. I’ll see you guys next month.

#The Animals of Farthing Wood #A Look At Stuff You Probably Never Heard Of #outofexp #animal death

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moviegooo · 6 years

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DJ Khaled had big shoes to fill, in all ways. The star DJ and music producer will take over from John Cena as host of the “Kids’ Choice Awards” next month, Nickelodeon announced on Tuesday. Khaled will bring a party atmosphere to the annual slime-filled awards show for his inaugural hosting gig on March 23, thanks to his signature catchphrases and gregarious personality. Also Read: Nickelodeon to Revive 'Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader' With New Host John Cena “Father of Asahd is here to let you know the biggest party of the year is about to go up! That’s right, March 23 – I’m your host, DJ Khaled for the Nickelodeon ‘Kids’ Choice Awards.’ I’ll see you soon!” the musician said in a statement. This year’s top nominees include “Avengers: Infinity War,” “Black Panther,” Cardi B and “Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation.” First-time nominees include Jason Momoa, Emilia Clarke, James Corden, Noah Centineo, Bebe Rexha, Tyra Banks, Neil Patrick Harris and “Riverdale.” Khaled himself is nominated for three awards: Favorite TV Judge, Favorite Male Artist and Favorite Collaboration. Also Read: John Cena on Nickelodeon Conquest Plans, From 'TMNT' Villain to Hosting 'Kids' Choice Awards' This year’s show also introduces five new categories for voting: Favorite TV Host, Favorite TV Judges, Favorite Superhero, Favorite Gamer, and Vote For A Cause. Nickelodeon’s 2019 “Kids’ Choice Awards” airs live on Saturday, March 23, at 8 p.m. (ET/PT) from the Galen Center in Los Angeles. See the full list of nominees below. TELEVISION Favorite Funny TV Show The Big Bang Theory BUNK’D Fuller House Henry Danger Modern Family Raven’s Home Favorite TV Drama A Series of Unfortunate Events Chilling Adventures of Sabrina The Flash Riverdale Stranger Things The Walking Dead Favorite Reality Show America’s Got Talent American Idol American Ninja Warrior Dancing with the Stars: Juniors Double Dare The Voice Favorite TV Host* Ellen DeGeneres (Ellen’s Game of Games) Kevin Hart (TKO: Total Knock Out) Liza Koshy & Marc Summers (Double Dare) Nick Cannon & JoJo Siwa (Lip Sync Battle Shorties) Ryan Seacrest (American Idol) Tyra Banks (America’s Got Talent) Favorite TV Judges* Simon Cowell, Mel B, Heidi Klum, Howie Mandel (America’s Got Talent) Luke Bryan, Katy Perry, Lionel Richie (American Idol) Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli, Carrie Ann Inaba, (Dancing with the Stars) Sean “Diddy” Combs, DJ Khaled, Meghan Trainor (THE FOUR: BATTLE FOR STARDOM) Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson, Adam Levine, Blake Shelton (The Voice) Jennifer Lopez, Derek Hough, NE-YO (World of Dance) Favorite Cartoon ALVINNN!!! and The Chipmunks The Boss Baby: Back in Business The Loud House Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles SpongeBob SquarePants Teen Titans Go! Favorite Male TV Star Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair, Stranger Things) Grant Gustin (Barry Allen/The Flash, The Flash) Jace Norman (Henry Hart/Kid Danger, Henry Danger) Jim Parsons (Sheldon Cooper, The Big Bang Theory) Karan Brar (Ravi Ross, BUNK’D) Neil Patrick Harris (Count Olaf, A Series of Unfortunate Events) Favorite Female TV Star Candace Cameron Bure (DJ Tanner-Fuller, Fuller House) Kaley Cuoco (Penny, The Big Bang Theory) Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven, Stranger Things) Peyton Elizabeth Lee (Andi Mack, Andi Mack) Raven-Symoné (Raven Baxter, Raven’s Home) Zendaya (K.C. Cooper, K.C. Undercover) FILM Favorite Movie Aquaman Avengers: Infinity War Black Panther Mary Poppins Returns The Kissing Booth To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before Favorite Movie Actor Chadwick Boseman (T’Challa/Black Panther, Black Panther) Chris Evans (Steve Rogers/Captain America, Avengers: Infinity War) Chris Hemsworth (Thor, Avengers: Infinity War) Dwayne Johnson (Will Sawyer, Skyscraper) Jason Momoa (Arthur Curry/Aquaman, Aquaman) Noah Centineo (Peter Kavinsky, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before) Favorite Movie Actress Emily Blunt (Mary Poppins, Mary Poppins Returns) Joey King (Elle Evans, The Kissing Booth) Lupita Nyong’o (Nakia, Black Panther) Rihanna (Nine Ball, Ocean’s 8) Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, Avengers: Infinity War) Zoe Saldana (Gamora, Avengers: Infinity War) Favorite Superhero* Chadwick Boseman (T’Challa/Black Panther, Black Panther) Chris Evans (Steve Rogers/Captain America, Avengers: Infinity War) Chris Hemsworth (Thor, Avengers: Infinity War) Jason Momoa (Arthur Curry/Aquaman, Aquaman) Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark/Iron Man, Avengers: Infinity War) Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, Avengers: Infinity War) Favorite Butt-Kicker Chris Pratt (Owen Grady, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom) Danai Gurira (Okoye, Black Panther) Dwayne Johnson (Will Sawyer, Skyscraper) Emilia Clarke (Qi’ra, Solo: A Star Wars Story) Michael B. Jordan (Adonis Johnson, Creed II) Zoe Saldana (Gamora, Avengers: Infinity War) Favorite Animated Movie The Grinch Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation Incredibles 2 Peter Rabbit Ralph Breaks the Internet Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Favorite Male Voice from an Animated Movie Adam Sandler (Dracula, Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation) Andy Samberg (Johnny, Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation) Benedict Cumberbatch (Grinch, The Grinch) Channing Tatum (Migo, Smallfoot) James Corden (Peter Rabbit, Peter Rabbit) Shameik Moore (Miles Morales/Spider-Man, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) Favorite Female Voice from an Animated Movie Gal Gadot (Shank, Ralph Breaks the Internet) Hailee Steinfeld (Gwen Stacy/Spider-Gwen, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) Kristen Bell (Jade Wilson, Teen Titans GO! to the Movies) Selena Gomez (Mavis, Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation) Yara Shahidi (Brenda, Smallfoot) Zendaya (Meechee, Smallfoot) MUSIC Favorite Music Group The Chainsmokers Fall Out Boy Imagine Dragons Maroon 5 Migos twenty one pilots Favorite Male Artist Bruno Mars DJ Khaled Drake Justin Timberlake Luke Bryan Shawn Mendes Favorite Female Artist Ariana Grande Beyoncé Camila Cabello Cardi B Selena Gomez Taylor Swift Favorite Song Delicate (Taylor Swift) In My Blood (Shawn Mendes) In My Feelings (Drake) Natural (Imagine Dragons) thank u, next (Ariana Grande) Youngblood (5 Seconds of Summer) Favorite Breakout Artist Billie Eilish Cardi B Dan + Shay Juice WRLD Kane Brown Post Malone Favorite Collaboration Girls Like You (Maroon 5, featuring Cardi B) Happier (Marshmello, featuring Bastille) I Like It (Cardi B, Bad Bunny, J Balvin) Meant to Be (Bebe Rexha, featuring Florida Georgia Line) No Brainer (DJ Khaled, featuring Justin Bieber, Chance the Rapper, Quavo) SICKO MODE (Travis Scott, featuring Drake) Favorite Social Music Star Baby Ariel Chloe x Halle Jack & Jack JoJo Siwa Max & Harvey Why Don’t We Favorite Global Music Star Africa: Davido Asia: BLACKPINK Australia/New Zealand: Troye Sivan Europe: David Guetta North America: Taylor Swift Latin America: J Balvin United Kingdom: HRVY OTHER CATEGORIES Favorite Video Game Just Dance 2019 LEGO The Incredibles Spider-Man Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Super Mario Party Favorite Social Star David Dobrik Emma Chamberlain Guava Juice Lilly Singh Miranda Sings Ryan ToysReview Favorite Gamer* DanTDM Jacksepticeye Markiplier Ninja PopularMMOs SSSniperWolf How Do You Want to Help? Help Animals (pet rescue, wildlife preservation, service animals, and more) Help the Environment (disaster relief, clean water, recycling, and more) Help People in Need (homes, food, care, and more) Help Prevent Bullying (positivity, emotional support, respect, and more) Help Schools (supplies, after-school activities, arts/gym/STEM, and more) Related stories from TheWrap:'Paddington,' 'LEGO City' TV Series in Development at Nickelodeon'All That' Revival Ready at Nickelodeon, Kenan Thompson to Executive Produce'SpongeBob SquarePants' Spinoffs in the Works at NickelodeonNickelodeon to Revive 'Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader' With New Host John Cena

http://www.movieg.ooo/2019/02/dj-khaled-set-to-host-nickelodeons-2019.html

#DJ Khaled Set to Host Nickelodeon’s 2019 ‘Kids’ Choice Awards’ http://www.movieg.ooo/2019/02/dj-khal

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mycome2travelposts-blog · 6 years

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http://www.come2travel.com/Visit and Discover all that is possible in Dubai

Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates and known for luxury shopping, ultramodern architecture and a lively nightlife scene.

Dubai has its own distinctive flavour in the Middle East and its city of luxury and relaxation with a few extremes. This city is truly extraordinary to see as a blend of the past and ultra modernization.

Dubai the city of high-rises and shopping malls has transformed itself from a desert outpost to a destination du-jour, where tourists flock for sales bargains, sunshine, and family fun. Dubai is one of the most famous for sightseeing attractions such as the Burj Khalifa (the world's tallest building) and shopping malls that come complete with mammoth aquariums and indoor ski slopes.

But this city has many of cultural highlights and things to do, as well as all the glamorous modern add-ons. Take a ramble around the Bastakia district, and you'll discover the Dubai of old, then cruise along Dubai Creek in a traditional dhow, and you'll soon realize there's more to this city than its flashy veneer. Learn more about the best places to visit with our list of the top attractions in Dubai.

Why choose Dubai?

Dubai has emerged as one of the world’s growing international regional hubs and business centres. This cosmopolitan city of diversity is at the crossroad of the globe and has transformed itself into a buzzing international metropolis. With easy accessibility, state-of-the-art infrastructure and modern venues, Dubai is the place to be when it comes to business. Here is some reasons;

Easy to get international travel hub

A world-class infrastructure, City of future

Hotels for all needs and budgets

State of the art of venues

A growing knowledge hub, Centre of innovation

Safe and secure for all

Rich on adventures and experience

Restaurants and entertainment galore

Experienced industrial support

Abundance of business opportunities, Tax free advantage

Activities in Dubai :

Ferrari Bronze

Ferrari Premium

Warner Bro.World

Ferrari +YAS

Ferrari +Meals

Ferrari +YAS+Meals

YAS+Meals

Aquaventure

Aquaventure COMBO

Lost Chamber Only

Underwater Zoo Dubai Mall

Ski Dubai Polar Pass

Dolphin Show General

Dolphin Show VIP

BURJ Khalifa 124 Normal

BURJ Khalifa 124 Fast Track

BURJ Khalifa 148 ( 19:00H-Closing)

BURJ Khalifa Prime Time-124(16:00H -18:00H)

BURJ Khalifa Prime Time -148 (9:00H- 18:00H)

BURJ Khalifa + Aquarium

ICE Land Water Park

Wild Wadi + UWZ

IMG World

Big Bus

Bollywood Park

1 day 1 park

1 day 2 park

7 day 4 park

Creek Show Cruise

Marina Show Cruise

Desert Safari

Helicopter Ride 15 MINS

Ferrari World: Ferrari world bronze is an amusement park on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, U A E. It is the first Ferrari-branded theme park and has the evidence for the leading space frame structure ever built. Formula Rossa, the world’s fastest roller coaster, is also located in Ferrari world. Ferrari premium ticket includes unlimited fast pass access to the Ferrari World theme park. Ferrari World is the world’s largest indoor theme park that is particularly remarkable for its sprawling 200,000 square meters, 50 meters high roof, boasting the biggest ever Ferrari logo, besides more than 20 exhilarating rides and numerous shopping and dining choices to cater to all palates.

Warner Bro.World : Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi is an indoor amusement park in Abu Dhabi, an enthralling, immersive world of all your favorite Warner Bros. characters and more!

The park contains 29 rides, restaurants, attractions, shops and shows. It is organized into six themed areas; Gotham City, Metropolis, Cartoon Junction, Bedrock, Dynamite Gulch and Warner Bros Plaza. Gotham and Metropolis are based on the fictional settings of DC Comics super heroes Batman and Superman, respectively. Warner Bros.'s Looney Tunes and Hanna-Barbera cartoon libraries are represented in Dynamite Gulch and Cartoon Junction, respectively, along with Bedrock, which is themed around The Flintstones. Warner Bros Plaza is meant to mimic the Hollywood of the past.

Rides :

· Scarecrow Scare Raid

· The Riddler Revolution

· The Joker Funhouse

· Rogues Gallery Games

· Justice League Warworld Attacks

· Green Lantern: Galactic Odyssey

· Superman 360: Battle for Metropolis

· Teen Titans Training Academy

· Tom and Jerry: Swiss Cheese Spin

· Scooby Doo: The Museum of Mysteries

· Cartoon Junction Carousel

· Daffy Jet-Propelled Pogo Stick

· Tweety Wild Wockets

· Ricochet Racin' with Taz

· Ani-Mayhem

· Acme Factory

· Fast and Furry-ous

· The Jetsons Cosmic Orbiter

· Marvin the Martian Crater Crashers

· The Flinststones Bedrock River Adventure

· Batman: Knight Flight

Yas Island : One of UAE’s fastest growing tourist destination. Yas Island in Abu Dhabi offers you holiday experiences that are bound to delight and inspire, no matter your age or taste. The park is home to more than 40 rides, slides and attractions, including Bubble’s Barrel, Rush Rider, and Bandit Bomber which is the longest suspended roller coaster in the Middle East over 550 metres long. Its theme is based on an original story about a brave girl named Dana, who went on a journey to retrieve a lost pearl (because of a strong storm) that used to bring prosperity to her village. All the characters, shops and restaurants are also based on the story.

The water park has a variety of attractions grouped into 4 categories: Adrenaline Rush, Exciting Adventures, Moving & Grooving and finally, Young Fun. The highest ones are Jebel Drop & Hamlool's Humps and the fastest is the one where the floor opens from beneath the feet and into a closed tube called Liwa Loop. The Slithers Slides are a collection of 6 slides and tunnels which are all designed like giant fanged snakes - these use single and double tubes. The park's newest attraction is Cinesplash - it is the first water cinema in the region which shows the story of the 'Legend of the Lost Pearl' which is the theme of the Park through a 12-minute movie while having unexpected and fun water and lighting effects making it a 5D experience.

Aquaventure : No.1 Waterpark In the Middle East Vast water park with zip lines, slides through shark-filled lagoons & a splash area for kids. There are lots of exciting activities that make Atlantis beach resort the epicentre of adventure and the greatest holiday experience ever.From the world’s largest circumference water ride to the longest zip line circuit in the Middle East, Aquaventure Waterpark has always had the monopoly of cool ideas and innovative experiences when it comes to pumping up the fun factor in its massive 17-hectare water playground.

Aquaventure is the only waterpark in the Middle East that has 700 meters of white sand beach that every single one of its guests is entitled to throughout their delightful time at the resort. The waterpark also offers a different kind of thrill with several Marine Animal Experiences including; Shark Safari, a magnificent walk underwater in shark-infested Lagoon; Dolphin Experience, an up-close and interactive session with dolphins; and Cownose Ray Feeding, which involves feeding and interacting with the hungry Rays.

Underwater Zoo Dubai Mall : Experience Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo with over 485 Species .Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo is one of the most captivating attractions in Dubai. Located at The Dubai Mall, the largest mall in the world. Underwater Zoo is one of the largest indoor aquariums in the World and it has won a Guinness World Record for the world’s ‘Largest Acrylic Panel.’ and it houses over 33,000 aquatic animals, comprising over 140 species. Over 300 sharks and rays live in this tank, including the largest collection of Sand Tiger Sharks in the world. Underwater Zoo brings its visitors up close with penguins, piranhas, crabs, water rats, sea horses, jellyfish, and more.

Ski Dubai : Ski Dubai is an indoor ski resort with 22,500 square meters of indoor ski area. The park maintains the temperature of -1 degree Celsius to 2 degrees Celsius through out the year. It is a part of the Mall of the Emirates, one of the largest shopping malls in the world, located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. , The indoor resort features an 85-metre-high indoor mountain (equivalent to 25 stories high building) with 5 slopes of varying steepness and difficulty, this is 80 sq. meter wide, including a 400-metre-long run, the world's first indoor black diamond run, and various features (boxes, rails, kickers) that are changed on a regular basis. A quad lift and a tow lift carry skiers and snowboarders up the mountain. All the equipment, such as skis and jackets are provided with the ticket and you can buy equipment in the nearby stores.

Burj Khalifa : Standing 828 metres high, the Burj Khalifa in Downtown Dubai is the world's tallest building. Described as both a 'Vertical City' and 'A Living Wonder’ .

Level 148

· Enjoy a personalized tour, guided by a Guest Ambassador.

· Step out onto the world’s highest observation deck with an outdoor terrace at 555 meters.

· Refresh yourself with signature refreshments at SKY lounge.

· Explore Dubai’s most famous landmarks with a unique interactive experience, using motion senses.

· Continue your journey to levels 125 and 124.

Level 124

· Be thrilled by the world’s fastest double deck elevators, cruising at 10m/s.

· Take a closer look at the world below through avant-garde, high powered, telescopes.

Level 125

· Level 125 offers a spacious deck tastefully decorated in Arabic mashrabiya for stunning 360-degree views.

· Set off on a virtual reality experience to the pinnacle of Burj Khalifa.

Ice Land Water Park : The Ice Land Water Park is the first offering of the WOW RAK destination, a unique water park with extensive theming in snow and ice offering a mix of traditional water park attractions as well as non conventional and novel water park attractions.

Ice Land Water Park will operate 15 attractions this summer, including the family pools, the beach and the new attractions: KICK! and Watergun Fun Games.

With its dedicated kids pool and areas suitable for children, it has something for everyone.Ice Land Water Park also specializes in offering team building activities for the corporate sector also have dedicated events team ro plan and cater for other private functions,parties and special events.

Wild Wadi : The Wild Wadi Water Park is an outdoor water park in Dubai, offers 30 rides and attractions for all the family. Wild Wadi is themed around the tale of Juha, a known character from the Arabian folklore.

Rides :

Ring Rides are the traditional downhill slides. Riders can choose to sit in either a single or double ring.

Tantrum Alley & Burj Surj are two new slides that replaced the family rides. Both are the first of its kind in the region. Tantrum Alley is a slide with a combination of 3 tornados & Burj Surj has 2 bowls.

Jumeirah Sceirah is the tallest and fastest free-fall water slide outside of North and South America. Rising to 33 m (108 ft) with riders reaching speeds up to 80 km/h (50 mph).

Flow Rider rides, Wipe-out and Riptide, are surfing simulators that shoot out more than seven tons of water per second in a thin sheet across moulded foam structures. These rides produce a realistic wave effect which allows riders to body-board, knee-board or surf.

Breakers Bay is the largest wave pool in the Middle East. It produces parallel and crossing 1.5 m (4.9 ft) waves in five different configurations.

Juha's Journey is a 360 m (1,180 ft) long river which allows guest to relax and slowly float around the park.

Juha’s Dhow and Lagoon is Wild Wadi's play area for children and has over 100 water games/rides.

Wipeout AND Riptide have only four of its kind in the world. It is devised by the maverick American lawyer/surf fanatic Thomas Lochtefeld, the Wipeout working by releasing seven tones of water in a second on a thin sheet, which is molded by a foam structure.In this way it produce a fantastic wave effect which is ideal for body-boarding and knee-boarding (or surfing during private parties).

IMG Worlds of Adventure: is an indoor amusement park in the United Arab Emirates,Dubai. It is Dubai’s first mega themed entertainment destination. The park is divided into five"epic zones". Two of the five zones represent global brands Cartoon Networkand Marvel, while IMG Boulevard and the Lost Valley – Dinosaur Adventure zones are original concepts created by the IMG Group. Novo Cinema is the fifth section of IMG Worlds of Adventure and agreement was signed between Novo Cinema and IMG World of Adventure in May 2015.

Rides :

IMG Worlds of Adventure is the world’s best and biggest indoor theme park, packed full of truly immersive thrills for all the family. Visit today to see dinosaurs roam the Earth, or to be transformed into Ironman in time to save the world, or to experience the mind-blowing thrill of raptor flight. IMG Worlds of Adventure is the perfect place to unlock your imagination and have fun like never before. Use our ride filter to find a ride just for you.

Movies :

Coming soon: IMG Worlds of Adventure – in partnership with Novo Cinemas – will soon boast a twelve screen multiplex offering Novo 7-star comfort and stunning 3D IMAX technology.

Watch the best movies in style: then head to IMG Worlds of Adventure and meet some of your big screen heroes in real life.

Let us transport you to worlds beyond the silver screen…

Dining :

Want to eat and drink with your favorite Cartoon Network or MARVEL characters, or to share a meal with your family while watching dinosaurs in their natural habitat? Now’s your chance.. chefs use only the freshest ingredients to prepare the finest meals in incredible interactive settings.

Shopping :

Why not take a souvenir of your day at IMG Worlds of Adventure home to remind you of the fun you had? Or buy someone a present they’ll never forget! IMG Worlds of Adventure retail stores have an exclusive range of thematic merchandise and branded goods from all your favorite Super Heroes and cartoon characters, taking immersive retail to amazing new levels…

Meet and Greet :

Want to hang out with your favorite Cartoon Network or MARVEL characters? Now’s your chance. Head to the IMG Worlds of Adventure Meet and Greet zone to make friends with the full IMG Worlds of Adventure cast, including Spider-Man, Thor and even the Powerpuff Girls.

Desert Safari : Enjoy BBQ, Camel Ride, Dune Bashing, Photography & More.

This is one experience you can’t miss when in Dubai. Choose from the 3 options we offer ! Our desert safari drivers are all professional and have a passion for giving you a thrilling ride. So all you need to do is contact us and we will take care of the rest.

A must for everyone who is visiting UAE. A memory to share with your family and friends back home, This is one safari you cant do back home. We recommend it highly and it will be worth every penny spend !

This tour departs in the afternoon across the desert of Dubai with several photo-stops during an exciting dune drive to the first destination a camel farm. The drive continues across the desert. We stop to watch the beautiful sunset before reaching our campsite where you have the opportunity to do a camel ride, sand boarding and try out a henna design on hand or feet. After working up an appetite enjoy a delicious barbecue dinner and shisha (the famous Arabic water pipe). Before returning to Dubai/Sharjah watch our belly dancer performing her show around the campfire by starlight.

come2travel provide best travel and tours and providing best holiday package in the best country all year round.

Come2Travel. Journey is a part of Life.

Visit

http://www.come2travel.com/

#come2travel #best tours #hotel booking #transportation #explore the world

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transformersreviewer · 7 years

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Transformers Prime review

(Some images may be blurry. The quality in the beginning and in some spots are due to the buffering of the video. Images will be stacked OVER their respective text most of the time. Though sometimes images will be in the middle of their text.)

Season 1 Episode 1

Ah, the nostalgia from this opening scene. And to hear CliffJumper’s voice again after so long. It’s a true bummer that he dies in this same episode. RIP CliffJumper, you will LITERALLY be missed throughout the whole series. Speaking of voices, I completely forgot how smooth Arcee’s is. It really has been too long since I last watched Prime. Though, after Cliff tells Arcee that he got ‘the boot’, she feels compelled to describe what a boot is. I know this is a cartoon but this series was, and still is, mainly watched by adults who know what a boot is, in terms of cars. Especially since the movie Cars came out in 2006 and TFP premiered in 2010.

Anyway, after Cliff describes what he did after he got booted, Arcee almost literally said that the cops who booted him shit themselves. So, if you don’t listen carefully to Arcee, what she says may confuse you at first. what she says is, “Like Jasper, Nevada’s a party…” when I first heard this line, I thought she said, “Like Jasper Nevada siparty…” You can hardly hear the spacing in the sentence. And the second part, “…we’re alone where ever we travel on this rock, Cliff.” The last two words sound merged into “rock-cliff”, as though she was talking about a mountain.

Cliff: “I got a signal.” Arcee: “You need backup?” Cliff: “Do I ever need backup?” Me: “This time, I think ya do.”

And there he is. The first sight of a Cybertronian in robot mode.

Ah the return(?) of the Decepticons. I adore the vehicons/eradicons. They don’t get the appreciation they deserve. They have to put up with their insane superiors.

So, one thing that some people might’ve noticed is that this series utilizes hand painted backgrounds. Not as liberally as RID 2015 but they still use them. The paintings are incredible. [image] Look at that. The way the trees look is amazing. You can see the texture of the paint and the paintbrush.

Oh boy. Ratchet’s voice. Oh geez. It sounds like he just finished a spoon full of peanut butter and his tongue is sticking to the roof of his mouth as he talks.

Hey look, the vehicons are playing ‘Bot in the middle’.

And there goes the horn. Cliff is pissed but that doesn’t matter ‘cause he loses anyway.

Hey, uh, StarScream? What’s going on with your, uh, w-with your eyes? You okay buddy? Do you need a doctor or something?

Ah yes, the first time (in TFP) that someone gave StarScream a nickname. Admittedly, ‘Scream’ doesn’t quite roll of the tongue as nicely as ‘Screamer’ does. It sounds kinda weird.

Has anyone else noticed how shiny StarScream’s chest is in this scene? Did he polish it before hand to show off or something? How could he have known that they’d take a prisoner?

There he is! Big Papa Prime. Y’know i’ve always wondered how he still looks shiny and new. He’s been at war for over six million years, you’d think his paint would have dulled over that much time. *shrugs*

Also, just a small note. In this first episode it’s clear that they were still learning the models. The lip syncing is a little off, but if I remember correctly, they get better and even manage to exaggerate expressions in later episodes.

*squints* is that? It is! It’s modern Cybertronic. I’ll send that over to my linguist blog and I’ll try to translate it there. Here’s a link to that blog. {link}

FIRST OF ALL!!! KO Drive-in. They are foreshadowing Knockout!!!! Secondly, I hate the models for the humans.

I mean, it like they didn’t even try. They could have at least put texture on the clothes. Also, Jack is an idiot. why would you leave the bags on the sill after you insulted them, you shoulda known they were just gonna grab them and leave.

JACK!! why would you sit on a bike that wasn’t yours. Even if she is a Cybertronian, you shouldn’t sit on a bike that’s not yours. what if she had an owner and they caught you on their bike without permission. You’re a teen and you look like the kind of person who’d steal an expensive looking bike like that.

Look at these two handsome gentlemen. I love the vehicle modes for the vehicons. what car are they based on? I wanna know.

Arcee enter’s an alley, pulling a U-turn then drops Jack off. Jack runs into an alley on Arcee’s right. Vehicons’ magically appear behind Arcee even though they were following her before she entered the alley. They coulda gone ‘round the block but they got to the other side real quick Arcee looks in rearview mirror. Vehicon turns left into an alley to chase Jack. First off, that alley got real long real quick. Secondly, wrong way bud. He went right not left.

Keep an eye on these pedestrian cars.

WHERE THEY GO?! They disappeared!

even though they supposedly don’t have faces, I think the Vehicons are fucking sexy as hell!

Oh my god the glass is clear. I never noticed it. I just thought it was flat black. Oh my god!

Oh wow. it would take some careful aim to impale someone on a knee spike like that. it’s not a part of the joint so it wouldn’t stick straight up. it’s part of the shin and would require a perfectly vertical angle to stab someone with that.

Did anyone else notice that you can see the anatomy of Arcee’s eyes? I think Arcee is one of the few, if not the only, bots who display the actual shape of the eye. Most of the cybertronians I remember don’t show it as clearly as she does. The others look to have some sort of screen display or coloured glass over their eyes that hides the anatomy.

Ratchet rolls his eyes but doing so makes it look like his right eye is completely black.

why does Optimus have his mask up when he enters this scene? That’s just unnecessary and strange. the moment passes so quickly that it makes you think you’re seeing things.

Um… Optimus claims that they are at war because of Energon. Last time I checked, the war started because Megatron wanted every bot to be free to do as they please but instead of being granted Primeacy (Prime-hood? The title of Prime) like he wanted, you cut in, initially to try to help the council understand what Megatron meant, and became Optimus Prime, making Megatron furious. The war started because of; 1. the inequality of the planet’s people 2. the councils’ refusal to acknowledge the fact that their were bots whom were unhappy with the situation they were forced into and 3. Megatron’s rage of your betrayal that sparked because of a misunderstanding.

On a positive note, after OP explains some random stuff, that doesn’t quite line up with the actual origin of the war, If you watch his neck closely, you can see parts of his anatomy shifting over the core surface. The attention to this detail is very cool.

Megatron’s back but it looks like the Chameleon Eye syndrome is contagious.

And thus concludes episode 1. Thanks for reading. I’ll be posting episode 2 soon.

#transformers prime #review #tfp review #TFR

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grodyego · 7 years

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i keep thinking about all these posts that r (understandably) trying to make light of the events of three buckets like “at ep 1: pb and finn host a sleepover to fight zombies! latest at ep: finn kills an alternate version of himself and furthers his trauma” but like... that’s the thing to me. this ep rlly does seem mostly dedicated to furthering finn trauma, which seems a little weird (narrative-wise to me) for a few reasons

this got really really long and kind of all over the place bc i care too much about cartoons so if you read it all i owe you my life

adventure time, to me, doesn’t seem to have any overreaching plot, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing! i think it’s why it’s gone on for as long as it has, bc the world and the characters who inhabit it are interesting enough to push themselves along with their own kind of personal narrative elements that develop and come to a head. like, think about it, do u actually care about the lich, like as a villain, at all? or do u care more about the threat he poses to the land of ooo and everybody in it??

so that being said, ppl who watch the show r really gonna care about finn and be invested in what he does and how he feels, i know i definitely am!! ive been watching at since it came out and, while finn is like a teen still in the show, it kinda feels like ive grown up along side him you know? this is my own personal bias showing thru rn but ive gone through some stuff, growing up, and just now am i learning how to like... get better, or have the hope i’ll get better, and i guess where most of my confusion and frustration stems is i want the same to happen to finn. finn’s been through so much traumatic stuff: the lich, farmworld, finding his human dad only to find out hes gonna get no answers out of him about what happened to the rest of the humans and why he is alone in that sense, almost dying in space (multiple times), like... the list really goes on. so my question is why does it KEEP going on, especially when the show is ending after this next season and after to me it seems like... from islands, elementals, and the episodes surrounding this, it seemed like the direction was going to be finn becoming like, i dunno. actually ok

like, lets look at islands as the main example: finn being the only human left in ooo came up a lot, even early on in the show: it was weird and confusing and sad!! i remember early on in the at fandom that was like the prime material for angst, and the shows really spent a long time all throughout its running building on this one thing about finn (and there are a lot of at episodes, trust me, ive been rewatching all of them). up until islands i was really on the fence about getting answers about the humans, about finn’s background (since he already had a family, really) how they might attempt to resolve finn’s feelings about this thing they’d been building for most of the show- but i absolutely ADORED islands! i still do! i think it was done really really well bc, you kind of get closure, yeah, you know humanity didnt go extinct, and you know how finn got out into the world of ooo, but like... finn got closure. it wasnt like he was instantly over it and everything was better, but it was just like... this step for him. and it was really heartfelt and really sweet and really satisfying bc finn’s gone thru so much and like, his earlier attempt at closure with his dad went so south and was so traumatic so this moment of like, i dunno, growth?? just, ugh, i dont even know how to put into words how i felt about it, this is already so long lmfao

related that tho was fern, and i loved fern!! i didnt once think he would go evil, even with being a cursed, bc even when we find out he isn’t really finn, and instead kind of new, his... origin i guess is finn?? and theres nothing that could make finn wholly evil, like, the kid who overcame the fcking lich with nothing but the power of friendship and liking somebody???? how could ANYTHING from him ever resort to evil, to me it just makes so little sense, especially since fern was the one himself who told finn he wasn’t just a finn copy, and had to go and find out for himself what being a hero and being somebody new meant to him. to go the “original” route and try to kill and replace finn, and then fight him to the death, from fern’s own story- it just doesn’t make sense and it just seems so disappointing. it seems so quick for him to go “being myself isn’t working” and then to go the route of attacking somebody who, up until now, he was probably closest to- and could understand him the best and reason this with him??? i dunno man, it seems like kind of a waste

and then finn has to kill somebody he was beginning to consider a brother, if not even closer, who was working on his own closure- and then to be traumatized again??? and with the rest of the episodes in the bomb too!!! learning that you can change and still be the same, marceline’s line about having difficulty dealing with some stuff because shes never talked about with anyone, even herself- and sweetpea asserting no matter where he came from, he’s good! this could have all come together with fern figuring out that it takes a lot to learn how to be yourself and that its often really complicated, and finn helping him like im sure he really wanted or was already trying to do! but finn has to be traumatized again because... i dont know???

at usually sticks to changing the status quo pretty well imo and taking more than one episode to end or solve things, so again with islands- if three buckets had ended differently, it wouldnt have automatically solved everything, but it would have been at least a step towards a happy resolution, for both finn and fern

#adventure time #at spoilers #three buckets

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kie-ndness · 8 years

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Title: the sun on my chest

Part: one

Paring: Dan Howell and Phil Lester

Word count: 2,294

About: A soulmate au where markings much like tattoos appear on your soulmates body. The markings pertain to your interests, passions, personality or life events. Things like interests tend to fade away when they don’t pertain to you anymore, but some stay, these are the things that really make you you and shape your life.

Edit: I updated the story and put it on these websites. So if you want to continue reading it please do so here and here. Thank you!

Part one: Markings Form And Finding Out

The sun. Ever sense Dan was a born he had a large marking of a sun on his chest. It grew and shrank as he grew older but it was always there. Dan didn’t quite know what it meant, if his soulmate liked the outdoors, warm weather, the color yellow, was important in many people’s life’s, or something entirely different. But he did know, thanks to this marking that whoever his soulmate was, they were older than him probably by at least 3 years, as 3 years is the average age of the younger when the older of the soulmates gets the youngers passions on them in the form of the marks.

Nothing. Nothing on his body no marks, no pictures for over 7 years. Phil now knew he was the oldest, somewhat glad he would be older, so therefor in his mind, in charge. But this also led to so many questions. Not knowing anything about his soulmate, if they were born yet, if they had things in common, just nothing about them. But Phil was still young, he didn’t care much to be honest and he couldn’t grasp the whole concept very well either so I suppose it didn’t really matter that much.

Then on a cloudy day as Phil sat in primary school, something appeared on his arm. Phil was excited to finally know something about this person that he knew he would be best friends with, as the friendship part was all that mattered to the little boy at this point in his life. But what he saw, on his arm was a baby toy. A picture of one of those baby toy pianos that light up and talk. It was a bit strange to him, to think that the person he would spend his life with was at that moment a baby. If he met them that day they would have nothing in common. I mean he’s seven and his soulmate is A BABY probably no more than 4 years old. But nevertheless he was still happy there was something.

As the years went on the markings on each changed, came, went away. Sometimes each would lay awake at night pondering their bodies. Appreciating the form of art covering them and wondering just what each image meant. Wondering when they would meet the other and if they even knew themselves well enough to know when that happened.

Colors and games and words and of course the sun. These things made Phil happy. Made him who he was. Was who he was. And they were a part of Dan. And they made him happy.

Music and games and space and a brain surrounded by colors. These were the things that made Dan happy. Made him who he was. Was who he was. And they were a part of Phil. And they made him happy.

Now Dan, in his late teens and Phil in his early twenties. Phil had noticed many of the markings going away. Not particularly odd, except new ones didn’t appear replacing the old near enough. And the disappearing was happing so quickly. Phil didn’t know what was wrong. Why this was happening? And his friends or his parents or even the internet didn’t give him a straight answer. There were too many things they said it could be. So Phil stayed wondering and stayed worried.

Dan was noticing changes too. Not with his markings. But with himself. He just didn’t care anymore. Almost like he couldn’t feel anymore. Nothing seemed to fill that need deep inside of himself. And he hated it. Hate and confusion and loss and sadness and if you could somehow feel emptiness, he felt that too. And all of that just kept on building up in his attempt to just act normal, like nothing was wrong.

Until one day when he just broke down. Alone in his room he wept, cried bawled his eyes out and whatever other synonym for it that there was. He did. And everything came out. And stayed out.

On that same night, somewhere on the other side of the country, there was Phil. And he knew what was happening. His marks changed. Various hues of greys they became. And that one factor was enough for a direct answer. His soulmate was having a break down. Was sad, depressed, ill. And so as his soulmate broke down, crying, Phil cried for them. With them.

Everything was still kinda messed up after that. But what were they supposed to do? What was Phil supposed to do? He had no way of helping. No way of comforting them. Him. He was pretty sure they were a him. Phil was interested in boys. That’s just the way it was. He would look at all the pretty boys while he was in town, in crowded places and sort of played out a dream in his head where they were his soulmate and that this one moment in the supermarket was fate or something. And secretly Dan would do the same, even if he wasn’t as proud of it as Phil was. But Dan still didn’t know if his soulmate was a boy or a girl or something else entirely. His heart didn’t care who they were, even if his mind did.

Phil wanted to talk to people. Share his life and create things. He also kinda wanted to get himself out there, show his marks to the world so maybe by some chance his soulmate would watch and see and know who he was. So he made a youtube. He didn’t have a good camera at all and he didn’t know what he was doing. But he decided to take the plunge and record then post his first ever video.

Surprisingly a good amount of people started to watch his videos. Phil was not expecting this. Youtube was fairly new at the time and not many people were posting videos of themselves on a regular basis. Just cats and babies and funny clips. No one expected people to gain an audience from this. But Phil did and he liked it, it gave his life a sort of purpose. It gave him something to do and people to do it for.

Skip a few years later into 2009 and youtube was getting bigger and bigger. Sense Dan didn’t have many friends he spent a lot of time at home, on the internet. He liked youtube, he wasn’t obsessed with it but he did like it and he did go on there and explore every once in a while. One time he found this boy “Amazingphil” just talking in his bedroom being what Dan thought to be super cute! So Dan subscribed and began watching more videos from this guy. And he noticed that his marks were grey. Dan knew what this meant. But he also noticed that the marks were of things he liked, things that he could attribute himself to. But it couldn’t be right? Maybe he was just trying to make Phils markings fit into him. And it’s not like Dan could see that many, all he could see were the ones not covered by clothes. There must be at least a few other people that fit those few markings. He couldn’t be this super cute guys’ soulmate. He just couldn’t.

But he was. And maybe it’s because Dan could feel it or maybe because he was lonely or because Phil was cute. But Dan began to obsess a little bit over the youtube boy with dark hair and the prettiest eyes he had ever seen. Following him on every social media he had. Watching all his videos. Thinking about him at night. Just trying to find the courage to say something. Anything. But he never could.

“A marking of me?” a new video from Amazingphil sitting right in Dans subscription box. Hitting play.

“Hey guys so something weird happened with my markings? I mean they were a bit usual before, being all black and white and all. But this time there is a picture of me! My face, on my hand. MY SOULMATE KNOWS WHO I AM GUYS! But the problem is I don’t know who they are. Gosh who are you, mystery man? Well anyway here’s the new marking close up!” Phil then proceeded to get up and put his hand in in front of the camera, showing a grey picture of him. Well not completely grey, the eyes were bright and the same color as the real Phils eyes. “So anyway I don’t know if you’re watching this but if you are soulmate, please tell me. If you even think a little bit that you’re him. Talk to me, please. I want to be there for you. And I’m glad my eyes could bring a little color to your life hah. So bye bye! See you next time!” and the video ended.

Could it really be? Was Dan Phils soulmate? Was there even enough evidence for him to justify telling Phil that he might be? “do you know what? Yes, I’m gona tell him!” he said outload, luckily no one hearing. But he was too busy opening twitter and figuring out what to say to such a lovely boy to care anyway.

“@Amazingphil ur markings kinda match me and my markings kinda match u but idk” entre.

And so those words that Dan typed got sent off into cyber space. Dan wondered if Phil would even see it. Dan wondered if Phil would even care or believe it. Dan wondered if Phil would reply to him. Phil wondered who this boy was.

Phil recognized the username “danisnotonfire” he saw that name a lot recently, everywhere he went. He didn’t know a lot about this mystery person but he recognized the name when it popped up in his mentions. Saying that their markings matched. There were other people sending him messages of the same sorts but none grabbed his attention more than this one. He should probably try to see what this Dan looked like, if that was even his real name. As all his profile pictures were of a cartoon llama. In his twitter bio Phil found out that his name was Dan, he was 18 years old, and he liked Muse. He had to scroll a bit back into his twitter to find a picture of the boy. And dang he was pretty attractive! Phil hoped Dan was telling the truth and the truth was enough for their markings to actually match. To be soulmates. Ok maybe Phil rushed into hoping all of that a little too fast, but he couldn’t help it.

Phil followed Dan and DMed him. “Hi J I’m Phil, well you probably already know that but nice to meet you! Do you mind telling me a bit about your markings? Maybe a picture of them if that’s okay?” and sent it off hoping for the best.

Wow. Just wow. Dan was not expecting a response. I mean he was hoping for it but not really expecting it. But what would he do now? Would he try to explain his markings, or send a picture? Markings are kinda all over the place, how much was Phil expecting? How much was he willing to send?

Dan decided to take his shirt off, he felt a bit silly and perverted doing it. But it allowed Phil to see a lot of the markings that way, especially what seemed like the most special one. The sun on his chest. So with his stomach showing, one arm to his side and the other stretched out and a bit up to hold the camera he took the picture then transferred it to his computer.

“sorry for the shirtless pic but this allows you to see a lot more of them. and if our markings do match maybe you know what the sun means, as it seems to be important” send.

“Thank you! And it’s no problem. I actually do like a lot of the things that are in your markings. However, I’m not really sure what the sun would mean? But there are a lot of similarities with the other ones that our markings could actually match. I would like to talk to you some more and share some more markings if that’s all right? You haven’t seen all of mine either so.” Phil sent the DM and then a second later he sent a picture of him topless. Phil also thought that Dan looked really hot but he didn’t mention that at all to him.

Sweet Jesus on a boat! Damn Phil was really fucking hot! And now Dan had to figure out what other part of him he would send. His shirt was still off so maybe his back? But that would be really hard to take a picture of. His legs? Dan didn’t really like his legs, they were all hairy and a little bit chubby, but what else was he going to send?

Dan and Phil sent picture after picture until ever part of them was seen by the other. Well almost every part. Each one confident that the others markings match them almost perfectly. A few markings were left to interpretation and they didn’t want to get their hopes up when it could just be them reading into it too much. So they weren’t sure. They also didn’t want to bring up that they were most likely soulmates to the other so soon, that seemed like a weird thing to do.

What did this mean? Other than the markings, an age, a name and a face, Phil still didn’t know much about Dan. And even though Dan felt like he knew Phil through his videos, he didn’t really. There was still much to learn. And they would have to start a friendship before falling in love.

#fanfic #phan #phanfic #fan fic #fanfiction #dan and phil fanfiction #phan fanfiction #i wrote this #i haven't really written many stories #i usually write other types of things #so i'm not that good at it #but i hope it's alright #i like this au idea a lot #tell me if there's any mistakes pls #my writing

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zipgrowth · 6 years

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The Evolving Role of Race in Children’s Lit, From ‘Harry Potter’ to ‘The Hate U Give’

Most people can recall a book that changed their life. For Ebony Elizabeth Thomas—as for many people who came of age in the 1990s and early 2000s—it was the Harry Potter series.

Ebony Elizabeth Thomas. Source: University of Pennsylvania

Thomas, now a professor in the Literacy, Culture and International Education division of the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education, was a 5th grade teacher in Detroit when she first opened a Harry Potter book. Like so many millions of readers before and after her, she was drawn into the novels almost instantly. But for her, the turning point came when she read a sentence in one of the early books that started with four simple words: “A tall black girl.” This new character, Angelina Johnson, would go on to become captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team—a big deal in the wizarding world.

“I was thrilled—and I was in my early 20s when I first read those words,” Thomas says. “But it just goes to show that by age 22, I had not read a popular fantasy with a character that looked like me. There wasn't the sea of materials that there were for my friends who were white.”

Hungry for more examples of well-developed, stereotype-defying black protagonists, Thomas went to graduate school and became a researcher and critic of children’s literature, focusing on how people of color are portrayed in books intended for younger audiences.

This week on the EdSurge On Air podcast, Thomas describes her desire at a young age to read books about detectives and superheroes of color, but finding instead only stories about those who were enslaved, marching for civil rights or living in ghettos. She speaks candidly about how the depiction of diverse characters in children’s literature has evolved since the early 20th century, how far it’s come since she was growing up and how far it still has to go.

Listen to the podcast episode here. You can follow the podcast series on the Apple Podcast app, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play Music or wherever you listen. Or read a portion of the interview below, lightly edited for clarity.

EdSurge: So, as someone who now studies the role of race and class and culture, when you think back at your own experience as a child reader, did you ever think about how those characters related to you, and whether they were characters that you could see yourself in?

Ebony Thomas: Definitely. So I have begun theorizing my experience as a child reader in my forthcoming book, The Dark Fantastic: Race and the Imagination from Harry Potter to the Hunger Games. So I don't begin the book with Harry Potter because I was in my late teens and very early 20s when J.K. Rowling first began publishing those books. I grew up during the 1980s, so I read quite different literature. I feel as if there was always a rebellion in my soul. So unlike the generation before me and every generation before mine, I had some African American children's literature to read. However, most of the African American children's literature that my generation had was like eating our vegetables.

Thinking about the black child characters in those stories. They were meant to teach us something, to teach us about our glorious past and the fact that we had come so very far as a people. These narratives were all about racial uplift. So they would be about slavery and freedom. The characters would be enslaved. They would be about overcoming racism during Jim Crow and the civil rights era. Or, more rarely, they were, “This is what it's like to live in the ghetto.”

So those were the only three kinds of black characters that you tended to find in stories as protagonists. But when I was younger, it just felt like I was doubling up on history lessons. I wanted to read about fairytales and science fiction and fantasy. I wanted fun reads. It's not necessarily fun to have to be confronted with racism, whether or not it's in the past or the present, as a child. And unfortunately, a lot of those early books, that was all we had.

Now you do need those stories. All kids need all kinds of stories. You do need stories that are historical in nature and reflect our contemporary reality. But we also need stories that are meant to foster the imagination, that are to stretch our sense of what is possible. And I argue in my forthcoming book, The Dark Fantastic, that only some kids get all kinds of stories. The rest of us don't get that. We exist for a purpose in children's literature, we don't just exist.

So would you say, then, that almost a measure of our progress in terms of representing diversity in literature is how much they involve fantasy and imaginative stories?

I think so, but I also argue that we need to figure out what is actually happening to the black character in the fairytale or in a fantasy or science fiction novel because sometimes we're present, but bad things happen to us.

So I traced the story of four black girl protagonists in The Dark Fantastic. So these are stories where we are present as one of a cast or an ensemble of characters, which is very common in speculative fiction. But for some strange reason, even when that black girl character is meant to be sympathetic, strange things happen to her. And I traced that journey that the black girl character takes from page to the screen. So I look at Rue from The Hunger Games, Angelina Johnson from the Harry Potter series, Gwen from the BBC's adaptation of Merlin, and Bonnie Bennett from the CW series, The Vampire Diaries.

You were talking about growing up in the ‘80s and the kind of literature that was available then. How do you compare that to what it looks like today? Is this something that has improved over time? Are we at least tracking in the right direction?

We have pivoted towards the right direction. I mean, sometimes I'll say, ‘Oh, we've made such progress.’ I tend to be on the optimistic side and perhaps the more liberal, moderate side.

I'm critical, but some of my colleagues believe that children's literature really hasn't done enough—and that as a matter of fact, what they've done is more insidious. They have only done so much so that we'll be quiet. So it's like painting lipstick on a pig. I actually do think that we're starting to pivot just because of demography. I mean the demographics of where children and teens are going in the United States means that very, very soon the vast majority of kids in the country are not going to reflect what kids look like in literature and media. And so that disconnect means that many of those kids are going to begin to disengage. And as we've seen with the generations after mine, the Millennials and especially Generation Z, they are demanding more.

I didn't even know that you could demand more, because I grew up entirely before the Internet. I was born in the late seventies. And so I didn't get an email address until I was a sophomore in undergrad. And there was no way for me to say, well, you know, it kinda stinks that in most books I'm a slave or I am marching for civil rights. Both of those are part of my heritage, but I don't think that that should determine whether or not I could see myself as a magician or detective or a superhero.

But as a kid, there was nothing around me to even point toward what I had been longing for.

Why do you think that is? And do you have ideas for how we can begin to move the needle or maybe just move the needle faster on that?

Well, I think part of the problem is that the history of publishing in the West, so not just children's literature, but the very history of publishing and media and advertising and representation in the West has been extremely and incredibly racist from its inception. Publishing was a primary means by which negative information, stereotypes and other controlling ideas were spread to each successive generation.

If you look at children's literature published before the civil rights movement, most of the time when a black child character appears, he or she or they are a caricature. So they are not an actual representation of a black child. And the more popular the narrative, often the more skewed that character tends to be. So one of the most popular stories from the early 20th century that is still being published today is Helen Bannerman's Little Black Sambo.

And so what happened in children's literature that's quite unfortunate is that you began with racist images and stereotypes from the period of Atlantic slavery, the period immediately after where there was backlash against emancipation and manumission and then that brings us to the very early 20th century. You have generations upon generations of people who grew up seeing everything from Little Black Sambo to the golliwog figure to the mammy figure in children's literature and in the very earliest cartoons.

So if you look at early Bugs Bunny and if you look at early Mickey Mouse, there are some incredibly racist stereotypes there. So you have that generation that grew up around the turn of the 20th century. But then you move forward, and then you have a generation of children's writers who grew up reading those books. Those are the only representations of people of color that they had. So then you have Dr. Seuss, who early on was really problematic in his depictions of race, but then evolved and grew over the course of his lifetime. You have Roald Dahl, where the Oompa-Loompas were originally meant to be African pygmies because they grew up on very colonialist, racist children's literature. And then our generation, so late boomers, Generation X, early Millennials, re-read Dr. Seuss and Roald Dahl growing up.

So do you see how the first step in changing things is not saying, “OK, let's paper it over and put diverse books out on the shelves and in kids' hands.” I think we have to understand how representations of children have been passed from one generation to the next, examine them, and then interrupt that cycle, so that going forward we're very cautious.

It's not to be afraid. So sometimes people think we diversity advocates, we want you to be afraid about what you write about people of color or indigenous folks or lesbian and gay or trans kids, you know, ‘Ooh, be very careful.’ But that is not really it.

What we want people to do is to be thoughtful about the fact that you only know what you have learned and then experience throughout your lifetime. And so, therefore, if you're writing about experiences outside of your own, it would behoove you to be mindful and thoughtful about how you're representing people. And to assume that you, like I, have been unconsciously absorbing some very problematic stereotypes from our earliest memories, from the earliest times in our lives. And that's not because we're bad people, but that's because we live in the world that we live in.

Each year you publish a list of recommended titles for young readers, and these span from picture books to young adult fiction to comics and graphic novels. Could you share some books from the last few years that really stand out?

One phenomenon that I have watched over the past few years is Angie Thomas's The Hate U Give, from the time she was querying agents four or five years ago as a would-be author to her finding an agent, finding a publisher, and then remaining on The New York Times bestseller list.

So one of the things that doesn't get said in Angie's phenomenal story is that where she began was as the We Need Diverse Books coalition's first grant recipient. It was a wonderful story, but I must admit to you that 10 years ago it couldn't get published.

So now with the advocacy around diverse books over the past five years, yes, we see that not only can a story like that about Black Lives Matter, about activism, in the South, we have this phenomenal runaway success story in The Hate U Give. And now her second book is out, On The Come Up, and I've read it. I love it. I think that she's a spectacular addition to children's and young adult literature.

If you look at the past five years, there has been a pivot in the right direction because we are getting some phenomenal indigenous and authors of color. Another debut author whose work I love is Ibi Zoboi. She has three books out now. So in 2017, her debut novel American Street was a finalist for the National Book Award. And since then she's come out with two more books: Pride, which was a hip hop retelling of Pride and Prejudice, and Black Enough, which is an anthology that collects stories from some very exciting authors of African descent.

Beyond black children's and young adult literature, which is my area of focus and specialty, other amazing authors whose work I've enjoyed include Sayantani DasGupta, who wrote The Serpent's Secret series and is a sociology professor at a university in New York. But this is an amazing South Asian fantasy story for middle grades. So that was the kind of story that I would have loved reading as a seventh grader. And then, of course, we have Elizabeth Acevedo's The Poet X, which is just incredible. She just won the National Book Award and the Printz Award for her novel.

The Evolving Role of Race in Children’s Lit, From ‘Harry Potter’ to ‘The Hate U Give’ published first on https://medium.com/@GetNewDLBusiness

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