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lov3nerdstuff · 4 years

Text

... because you're mine.

*Tom Hiddleston x reader*

Oneshot

Words: 4.7k

Summary: Things get steamy between you and Tom after another man asks you out.

Request: I was the actress in Betrayal, but Tom was playing Jerry instead of Robert. As the production goes on, the kissing scenes get steamier (he finds THAT spot on my neck!) until I tell him my feelings, he says he doesn't reciprocate & doesn't do romance in the spotlight. After another man asks me out & I say yes (but don't realize it's a date) he kisses that spot during the performance & whispers that I'm his. 🤯 --> @annwhojumps

A.N.: Prepare for some jealous Tom 😉 also, 'I put a spell on you' can be read as an independent prequel to this, but srsly doesn't have to!

Also check out my Masterlist!

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You had absolutely no idea why you had been cast to play one of the main characters in this highly prestigious production of one of your favorite plays… After all, you had only auditioned for fun! As a recent graduate from the school of dramatic arts, your chances really hadn't been all too high, and yet you had been selected for the title role. However the shock of it was only topped off when on the first day of rehearsals, you had discovered that your fellow actors were nothing but the brightest stars of modern age theater… and your scene partner was none other than Tom Hiddleston.

Yet, as surprising as it might have been for everyone in the theater, you and him had connected immediately, on a level neither of you really understood. But you had both been certain by lunch break that you would definitely enjoy being around each other from now on.

The first days of rehearsals went well, to say the least, and every single day you and Tom got closer. You got to know each other better, more than anyone else in the cast, and spent almost every waking minute at each other's side. And once the actual rehearsal period started and everyone got on stage, you found yourself enjoying the whole thing immensely. Acting with Tom was the greatest joy, for he seemed to really enjoy both your general company and your professional work together, and even the other A-listers seemed to warm up to you slowly. Still, nobody had an idea why you had been selected for the role, but honestly it didn't matter much. You fit in so nicely with the more experienced actors that in no time, everyone seemed to have forgotten that this was, in fact, your first real job.

Yet, as rehearsals continued on to a more detailed level, not just the blocking, you found your nerves and stomach in knots as you got ready to start the first real run through the scenes.

In the final act of the play, you would need to not only kiss Tom, but literally make out with him on stage, in front of your colleagues and the audience… The thought of stage kissing alone made you nervous, for it had never been your favorite thing even in school, and the thought of kissing Tom of all people simply had you close to hyperventilating.

The thing was… you wanted to kiss Tom. More than anything, actually, for with every new day you spent joking, bickering, laughing and talking with him, your adoration for him turned into the deepest affection, turned into sincere love. And even worse: Tom was so much more than you could ever have hoped for, and it was simply impossible to not love him more with every fucking day. Yet you didn't dare to confess your feelings. It was unprofessiona l, and you were supposed to work together with him here, not fall for him. If people got to know about your feelings, they surely would call you either starstruck or simply unprofessional, and nobody in the field would ever cast you again. Fuck.

So you ignored your feelings, pushed them away to as much as the by now close friendship you had would allow you to show. It was painful, but necessary. Even more so since he kept being overwhelmingly nice to you, walking the thin line between friendship and something more like it was a freaking highway. You couldn't tell what he felt for you even if you tried… one moment he was just being the dork he really was, and the next he would stand impossibly close to you, looking into your eyes like you were all that mattered to him in this world.

And now that you stood in front of him, looking up into his eyes with all the overwhelming nervousness and tornment, his soft smile and gentle eyes were balm for your soul.

"Relax, Y/n. It'll be fine..." He whispered to you so that the others wouldn't hear, only seconds before his nose brushed against yours ever so slightly, hot breath fanning across your lips as they parted ever so slightly on their own account. Your eyes fluttered shut. This wasn't Tom kissing you… this was his character kissing yours.

Soft, chilled lips connected with the corner of your mouth as his hands grabbed onto your waist, gentle fingers brushing against the small glimpse of heated skin just below the hem of your shirt. Your breathing hitched. His lips ghosted over your jaw as his hands trailed down to your hips, your thighs… you were supposed to push him onto the couch behind him.

Reluctantly, a little too reluctantly even for your character, your palms pressed against his toned chest, curling around the soft fabric of his shirt. He nibbled on your jaw, and you pulled him closer to yourself by his shirt. A low, growling sound escaped his lips as they left a trail of feathery kisses down your neck, and you finally managed to give him a little push that made him fall backwards onto the couch. Yet he held on to your hips tightly, and you came crashing down on top of him, straddling him as your heart threatened to jump out of your chest. A brief glance into his darkened eyes… you gasped, and Tom stared at you like a deer in the headlights. Awe mixed with fear.

"That was amazing, guys!" David, the director of your play, called from the side of the stage, and your breathing hitched yet again as you snapped out of this moment of public intimacy. How the hell were you supposed to do that every day from now on, without giving yourself away?

Rather awkwardly you got off Tom's lap, and forced away the blush as he tried to do the same.

"You, uhm…" Tom spoke up from right next to you, voice hoarse and heavy. "You did really well."

"Oh… thanks." You replied quietly, trying to calm down your racing heart for the next scene. And that hadn't even been a full on kiss to the lips!

_______________

For the next two weeks, David had Tom and you rehearse the scene every day, and every day things got steamier, more raw, more real… At least they switched out the couch thing for you sitting on a counter to be on eye level with Tom, but honestly… that didn't make it any better. Your fellow actors put it off as fabulous acting, but you knew that it wasn't quite the case. Every day, hiding your true feelings for Tom got more difficult, and every day you felt more desperate for a real kiss.

That was until one Friday night, when David made you run through the entire play yet another time. It was already fairly late in the evening, but he'd promised to just have ONE more go before everyone could go home. Everything went well as always, you played your part with the greatest joy and focus, right until it was time for that scene again. It started off like all the times before, Tom stepped closer to you with the most intense energy that alre ady had your skin covered in goosebumps before he even touched you. Gentle hands on your waist, pulling you close as he stood in between your legs… a ghost of a kiss to your jaw, down your neck… your eyes closed as they always did. This time however, be it for the late hour of night or your increasingly shrinking resistance to your own emotions, your hands moved to his neck before you could will them not to, gently tugging on the lush curls in his neck. Almost immediately the faintest sigh, almost a quiet moan, escaped his lips and their loving work on your neck grew bolder, firmer… Until he found that one, secret and crazy sensitive spot that upon the touch of his lips made your back arch towards him and your mind become even more hazed. Now it was you who let out the faintest moan, unable to keep quiet, yet only for him to hear. The grip on your waist tightened ever so slightly, and before you knew how to hide the effect he had on you, he gently bit down on that oh so sensitive spot, sucking and nibbling on your delicate skin.

You felt like exploding, inside out, within your mind and in every cell of your body. Every single nerve of your being was ablaze, the feeling of his lips on your skin, his hands on your body… it all contributed to the hidden coil of pure energy within you that was dangerously close to bursting. If you snapped now, the entire production crew would become an involuntary witness to your impossible love for Tom. And that would be your downfall even before the rise.

But just then the scene continued on, and you were pushed around by other characters, spoken to and spoken for, all until at last, the play ended and the crew applauded, before you practiced who would bow when and leave to which place. Yet, your mind wasn't even in the same theater anymore. Your thoughts were far gone, to a place where only you and Tom existed, a place where you could let yourself love him.

Before you knew, David had finished his commentary of the performance, all the actors had said their goodnights and even the staff had sorted out the last of lighting and audio. Only you were left on stage, frozen in place with only the dim emergency lights illuminating the area around you. The entire audience room lay in darkness, as did the sides of the stage… only the center was lit up so sparsely that it was almost spooky.

"Are you alright?" Tom's voice from right behind you made you jump yet again, and he chuckled upon your flinching.

"God, you scare me!" You breathed, holding a hand over your racing heart. At least, if he could hear your frantic heartbeat now, you had an excuse.

"Nah, you can keep calling me Tom. 'God' is a bit too much." He winked at you with a smirk, and you just had to laugh. Tom was the greatest dork, and you absolutely loved it. "Why are you up here, all alone? Everyone else is heading home."

"I'm not alone. You're here." You smirked at him, wiggling your eyebrows in an attempt to make him laugh. It worked, and even in this minimal light, you could still see his eyes sparking down at you… oh, that darn spell he put on you.

"Wanna tell me what's up?" He inquired, leaning his head to the side.

"Why would something be up?" You frowned, but the slightly too high pitch of your voice gave you away. For an actress, you were horrible at lying. Especially to Tom.

"I can always tell when you're distraught, darling." He mused, then turned around and walked to the edge of the stage, jumping off and vanishing in the darkness of the audience room.

"I'm not distraught!" You protested into the darkness. "I'm just… stressed. Because of the opening night in a week. That's all. And what are you doing over there anyway?"

"Making sure you, my darling Y/n, feel less stressed!" He replied cheerily, and mere seconds later you heard soft tunes coming from the theater's speakers, flowing through the empty room like a soft wind, a breath of fresh air. A smile came onto your lips, and a few short moments later Tom got back onto the stage with you. "They've all gone home, so we shouldn't be bothering anyone."

Again you smiled, resisting the urge to rip your heart out of your chest and tell it to slow the heck down. Tom was ALWAYS around you, wherever you went… this wasn't new. But usually you weren't completely alone, and usually your steamy scene didn't leave your heart screaming and begging for more this badly. For something real.

"Here…" He handed you his phone as he came to stand right in front of you. "Choose a song and we'll dance."

"We can't…" You frowned, but still took his phone upon his request. "This is work, I cannot lose my job, you know that very well, and the theater…"

"Will still be here tomorrow morning just like it is right now." Tom interrupted you with a mischievous yet happily excited smile. "Dance with me? Please?"

Oh, how could you resist those puppy eyes? Never, not in a million years could you refuse that man anything at all. With a sigh you considered your options… it was now or never. This was your chance to tell him, to SHOW him how you felt, despite everything that spoke against it. But he needed to know, and he deserved to know. And thus you made your song choice accordingly.

For a short moment Tom frowned, but once the lyrics started his eyes widened in recognition, and he smiled brightly. "Hey, I actually know a version of this song!"

"Good…" You chuckled, then returned his smile. He took a step towards you, taking your hands in his reluctantly and carefully, but still with that adoring smile. Slowly he pulled you closer to himself while his eyes never left yours, until at last he wrapped an arm around your waist and kept holding your hand in his own.

"Dance with me?" He asked again in a quiet voice that barely stood out over the music surrounding you, and all you could do was nod as you lost yourself in his eyes once more. Only that you couldn't yet say if you lost your bravery or your restraint.

Gently swaying to the music, Tom's hold on you seemed to tighten by the second while your emotions tightened around your throat in a menacing grasp, squeezing until you could hardly breathe anymore. Your hand on his back, clasping his shirt tightly, and your head fell against his shoulder as your eyes closed to the strong beating of his heart. Could he be feeling the same for you? He surely was all about you, every single day… but always reluctant to cross the line of friendship. You had to know, or your mind would tear your soul apart.

He had always been there to comfort you once you had started to doubt your place among the cast, and always pointed out how absolutely amazing you were in his eyes, both as an actress and as a person. And after you had told him about your fear of getting kicked out of the production, he had hugged you tightly and told you that he would make sure that nothing of the sort would happen.

"Oh gosh…" Tom suddenly breathed and you were forced to lift your head again, eyes locking back with his.

"What's up?" You frowned ever so slightly as you spoke, only to find your voice laced with the impossible weight of bottled up emotions.

"I… uhm, your skin…" He started, letting go of your hand in order to touch a gentle finger to the small bruise forming on your neck.

Your breathing hitched as his fingertips traced over that certainly spot once more, but you couldn't bring your eyes to leave his even though they were doomed to darken upon his gentle touch. The song ended, the theater fell quiet but for your shivery breath. Tom's eyes remained on yours, blown and unfathomable in the depth of their ever concealed emotions… his fingers ghosted over the spot on your neck yet again, and you visibly jumped right under his fingertips. His eyes darkened.

And before your mind could come back to its right place in the shadows of worry, your lips were ghosting over his in a gentle brush of reluctant innocence. Careful, asking for silent approval… but it never came.

You took a step backwards, tearing your own heart out in the process, while looking into Tom's wide eyes that were so hopelessly full of mixed emotions that you couldn't possibly tell what he felt. He only stared at you with the saddest face as his chest rose and fell too quickly and the silence between you became unbearable.

"I'm sorry…" You breathed and finally allowed the tears to gather in your eyes, blurring your vision and making it luckily impossible to see the pained expression his own gaze held. "I'm so sorry… I… I love you Tom. I love you… I'm so sorry."

For a few seconds he just stood still right in front of you, the very incarnation of a torn soul, until he finally took a step backwards. Your heart shattered into a million pieces.

"I'm sorry, Y/n…" He breathed with an expression that through your tears looked utterly unfathomable. "I… I can't."

"It's okay…" You smiled through the tears, adding just one more dagger to your already shattered heart. "You don't have to love me. It's okay."

Tom's lips parted immediately as if to reply something he knew he shouldn't, but he closed them again and looked down to the ground with a frown. Silence…

You couldn't bear it any longer, neither the pain nor the sight of his regretful face. It really wasn't his fault that you had fallen in love with him, and it wasn't his fault that he didn't love you back.

"You, uhm… you may not want to kiss that spot on my neck again, in rehearsals. It would be rather painful." You said quietly, as you walked past Tom towards the stage door without another word. And had you turned around only one more time, you might have caught a glimpse of the tears in his eyes.

_______________

You honestly didn't know what you had expected. That someone like Tom would actually love you back? Well, maybe. That telling him would make you feel better? Definitely. But had it? No… it made everything worse, and you could only hope to pick up the pieces now before it would be too late to save the friendship you had established.

And yet, on Monday morning when rehearsals went into the final week before opening night, you couldn't bring yourself to face Tom. Just looking at him, drinking coffee or eating sugar cookies or whatever, it made you want to bawl all over again, despite your attempt to convince yourself that you had run out of tears by Sunday night. And as Monday continued, you did your job and played your part surprisingly well for someone who hadn't slept a single minute in three days. Only that you avoided speaking to Tom despite your heart's ardent yearning to be close to him again… you honestly didn't know what you should've said.

And so the week continued with as much professionalism as you could manage, however the play's happiest scenes seemed a little more dull, like December's prevailing grey, while the sad ones appeared downright tragic in their deep sorrow. Yet, luckily, nobody but you seemed to notice. Almost nobody… for Tom's smile these days seemed to differ not from his character's, fooling even the most watchful eye but yours. You knew him better by now, knew that his honest smile did inexplicable things to you while his feigned one merely served to set lose the smallest butterflies. Or maybe they were moths indeed.

All your energy went into doing the best possible acting job you could, and actually succeeding in it.

Yet, on Thursday night, the second to last day of rehearsals, an event as unexpected as dawn at midnight momentarily lifted you out of your gloom.

"Hey, Y/n?" David called to you once everybody moved to the backstage area to pack up for the night.

"Yeah?" You managed as much as an acknowledging frown, but not a smile.

"Uhm, you know… I was wondering if you would fancy some dinner tonight? Nothing special, really, but there's this nice pub around the corner, and they serve the best burgers in town. I'm paying! Still owe you for that ingenious idea with the counter." He shrugged as he came to stand in front of you with a small smile, looking at your face expectantly.

In all honesty, you were starving. Luckily the first paycheck from the theater had come in, but that had barely sufficed to pay off the debt you'd gotten into over the previous period without work. That still left you with very little money to spend on quality food, and the prospect of both getting something to eat and some distraction from your thoughts about Tom sounded very tempting all of a sudden. And David had said it was nothing special, after all. Only payback.

"Sure, sounds great." You returned a weak attempt at a half smile. "Just let me grab my things and I'm all ready to head out."

He nodded, and you did just as you had said, walking over to the dressing rooms to get your bag and jacket as quickly as you could, for your stomach wouldn't hold up much longer before it would start digesting itself. And yet, just on your way out of the shared dressing room, rounding a corner, you bumped into someone. The someone was Tom.

Your eyes locked with his immediately as they went wide with both surprise and shock, and for a few long seconds you only stared at each other in this unfathomable expression of mixed guilt, sadness, pain and longing. It hadn't even taken one single, broken second however for him to have you under his spell yet again.

As your lips parted at last, in an attempt to force your brain to form sentences, his gaze darkened and he looked away, a deep frown falling upon his face.

"Tom…" You started, but he interrupted you before you could bring out any expression of sincere remorse.

"Have fun with David." Was all he said before he pushed past you into the dressing room and left you standing in the dim overhead lights of the hallway, alone.

_______________

The evening went alright, for you at least succeeded in one thing out of the two you were hoping for, namely getting something proper to eat. Forgetting about Tom however didn't even remotely work out, for David kept going on and on about how amazing the two of you were doing in the play, except for the last scene, which according to him had gotten a little stiff, beginning with this week. You'd agreed of course, but not told him the reason for that, and only promised to do better on Friday.

Yet once Friday afternoon came, and it was time to run through the entire play one last time, you stood on stage chewing on your bottom lip. The first half of the play had gone well, and you used the break in between now to try to gather up some courage to do the scenes with Tom the best you could. David however interrupted your train of thought as he slalomed around your co-actors on stage, towards you. As he politely pushed some people out of the way, you spotted Tom on the other side of the stage, watching you intently.

"Y/n!" David said cheerily as he came to stand in front of you, and you put on a fake smile. "Y/n, I… I just wanted to thank you again for the lovely evening. It was a little… spontaneous, for a first date, but-"

"Date?" You blurted out, interrupting David. Behind him, you saw that Tom was walking away. Damnit. So you focused back on the man in front of you with a blush and an irritated expression. "Uh, I… we… but…"

Recognition flashed through David's face, before a sheepish smile spread on his lips and he chuckled in what you could only call embarrassment. "Well, I see we didn't really have the same idea about last night then… Uhm… I… I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable, I really didn't mean to. If you'd prefer it not being a date, that's perfectly fine. Sorry."

"Oh, no, I mean yes, I mean… I'm sorry! I kinda didn't get the gist last night, and I thought we were only going for dinner as colleagues, or friends… because that's really all I consider us to be…" You said, feeling a little bad for him. But you really didn't have any interest in him like that, and your mind was entirely elsewhere at the moment. "But you know, it's totally fine… We had a fun evening and now that we're on the same page about that, all is good. Right?"

"Yeah… All's good." David gave you another apologetic smile. "Thanks for being so chill about this… misunderstanding."

"Oh, don't worry… I have enough drama in my life right now to suffice a lifetime. I don't need any more of it." You chuckled softly, and David gave you a thumbs up before making his way off stage to announce the end of the break.

_______________

Something was off. Not only because Tom was actually a good five minutes late for the second half of the play to begin, but also because he refused to even look at you during the first scenes. Your stomach was in knots, as were your nerves. Gods, you missed him...

Then it came to your scene… and Tom's eyes were on yours so suddenly that they felt like a strike of lightning that went right to your core. He had you under his spell again in an instant, and you were lost for the outside world.

His gaze was dark, intimidating… dangerous, as he came walking towards you, and you felt like prey sacrificed to a starving god. The hand that usually fell to your waist in such a gentle manner was replaced by a strong, demanding grip that had your skin covered in goosebumps immediately as he pulled your frozen frame against his own once he stood in between your legs, tightly pressing you against him. Your lips parted.

An inch between your face and his, quivering breath fanning across your skin… the gentlest of kisses on your cheekbone, a ghosting of his lips down your cheek. Your eyes fluttered shut as your head leaned to the side, willingly surrendering to him the most sensitive skin of your neck.

A sigh from the depth of his throat, and your breathing hitched, your hand reaching out to touch him only to halt mid-air in a shiver of reluctance, of remembering… The sweetest of kisses in a torturing slowness down your neck, the tickle of his breath on your skin, and your hand became entangled in his curls without your permission.

A low hum met your ear from the depth of his chest as his lips grew bolder and his hold on you stronger… You pulled him closer to you with the faintest gasp, tugging on the silken strands of hair between your fingers. The echo of his heartbeat in your chest, drumming with your own.

A growl… his lips found your weakest spot where last week's bruise was fading alongside the memory of his touch. A bite. Your quiet moan into the silent room, his name falling from your lips like a silent prayer. You pulled him closer… He stilled. A deep breath.

Tom's lips were on your own in a heartbeat, intense and passionate like licking flames, taking and giving the love previously denied. You gasped, and he took the opportunity to trace your bottom lip with the tip of his tongue, asking, trying… and you allowed him.

Like troubled waters that roughly wave, your mind's twists and turns ebbed down only with the passing storm at last, and finally you could see, could feel, through the sudden regained clearness, to the very bottom of the sea of truth. Tom loved you… he had all along.

Then your thoughts stilled once his lips left a haunting trail of feathery kisses as they moved to your ear, and at last he spoke in a whisper. "You're mine."

______________________________

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I sincerely hope you guys enjoyed this 😊💚💚 I was kinda inspired to write something more steamy both by @hopelessromanticspoonie and @just-the-hiddles , for they just write the greatest steamy stuff 😁 I'm still trying to improve though, so feedback is more than welcome 💗 hugs!

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newx-menfan · 6 years

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I think one of the reasons why the NXM aren't used much anymore is that their creators and writers have moved away from Marvel. So while you have Bendis shoehorning Goldballs into Miles Morales and Tom Taylor putting Gabby on an X-Men team, Nunzio, Weir, Kyle and Yost have all moved on into other things, and the new Marvel writers don't have the same connection to these characters they did.

I definitely think that *IS* part of it; but I also think it’s really telling that the majority of characters getting pushed tend to be less diverse.

I still fully believe the real reason the time displaced original five happened in the first place was it was a convenient way for Marvel to avoid using POC and LGBTQIA characters.

You can argue that the original five are ‘A-listers’- but let’s be honest, how popular realistically are the original five? While there definitely are some fans of the original team, most X-Men readers prefer Claremont’s Uncanny.

Other than Bobby, you had no other LGBTQIA characters on the team. Oya and Bloodstorm were from the beginning represented as secondary characters (in the Extermination event, writers are even semi-fridging Bloodstorm for Scotts characterization on top of it…).

As I’ve said in previous posts- In comparison, New X-Men WAS always about Surge, David, and somewhat Wind Dancer in the beginning; in many ways I think you could make an argument that Prodigy WAS the clear protagonist of the series, since most of the storytelling hinged on him (DeFilippis and Weir’s future storyline and his struggles with Elixir, Kyle and Yost showing him struggling with his power loss and relationship with Surge before him finally accepting his situation in ‘Quest for Magik’…).

What characters are getting pushed right now?

-X-23, a white female in the comic books; who does have a history of mental illness and abuse. Honey Badger as well.

- Quire, a white male character who started out as commentary on extremism in Morrison’s writing… whose now being written as sympathetic despite basically being an allegory for INCELS and school shooters (remember, the riot at Xavier’s STARTED in part because the Cuckoos refused to give him attention…).

-Glob Herman, another character involved with 'Riot at Xavier’s’.

-Out of the New Gen X. Kids, who’s getting pushed the most? Eyeboy, the white male heterosexual character.

-Out of the Generation Hope, it mainly tends to be Hope. Sometimes Oya as well, but her characterization has been all over the place; from decently written to a caricature in Jason Aaron’s work…

-The Stepford Cuckoos have also been getting a push; white upper class young women

-Ink, which is basically a white heterosexual male committing cultural appropriation of mutants

-And then again the original five + Jimmy…

The only diverse characters getting REGULARLY pushed in the past few years are:-Gold Balls-Shark Girl -Oya-Kid Apocalypse -(occasionally) Bling!-(occasionally) Armor-(occasionally) Bloodstorm-Young Iceman

I’m not saying you can’t have white/male/heterosexual/Cis/upper to middleclass characters in your writing- what I AM saying, is it starts to look questionable when that’s the majority of characters getting pushed by editorial.

This, on top of mass cancellations of more diverse titles, Marvel’s comments PUBLICLY about diversity, and other choices do kind of all seem to indicate that Marvel writers have an issue with diversity. Again, if Marvel DOESN’T want readers to assume prejudice is factoring into their decision making, then they need to take a look at some of their current words and choices. If you don’t want to be thought of as catering to the Comicsgate movement, MAYBE they shouldn’t have publicly used diversity as a scapegoat for bad sales.

(The real problems with Marvel are- poor marketing, using old or outdated business practices, bad writing, not enough editorial, overworked and underpaid workers, overuse of events and cheap marketing gimmicks, dependency on movies and Disney to sell their products, and so many other problems that ARE NOT DIVERSITY…).

* Young Avengers has the exact same issue- it wasn’t Eli, Billy, or Hulking out of the original YA who has received a large push after the series ended.

It was Kate Bishop/Hawkeye.

While America Chavez (Part of YA vol. 2) has also been pushed, it tends to overwhelmingly be Kate Bishop that writers will give solos to and use in a majority of books.

Recently, a writer/artist team was gunning for Marvel to let them do a Wiccan/Hulking miniseries or ongoing-still didn’t get made, despite the fact that Wiccan has a huge fanbase…

So yeah, while part of it may be that the new writers and editorial aren’t big New X-Men fans… It still looks questionable to me when you really look at the characters getting pushed vs. the ones that aren’t.r

#opinion #controversial opinion #hot take #Marvel #new xmen #new x men #original five x men #young avengers #academy x #diversity #representation #Jordan D White #new x men academy x #bring back the new x men

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mrdaps · 7 years

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Every Hero! Every Title! Every Story!

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Rock Music and Marvel Collide This September When Five Marvel Rock Variant Covers Will Accompany Select Marvel Titles!

New York, NY—June 19, 2017— This September, Marvel will start the celebration of the close connection between music fans and comic readers with five Marvel Rock variant covers, straight from some of Marvel’s most acclaimed artists!

A truly unique and limited collection, only five covers will be released, each paying tribute to a classic rock band that defined and expanded the music form. Look for Marvel’s Rock variant covers on these select titles beginning this September:

Guardians of the Galaxy #9 – Marvel Rock Variant by MIKE HAWTHORNE & NATHAN FAIRBAIRN

X-Men Gold #11 – Marvel Rock Variant by MIKE DEL MUNDO

X-Men Blue #11 – Marvel Rock Variant by DANIEL ACUNA

Mighty Thor #23 – Marvel Rock Variant by MARCO RUDY

Inhumans: Once and Future Kings #2 – Marvel Rock Variant by DAMION SCOTT

Don’t miss the opportunity to be a part of this limited series, when these Marvel Rock Variants make their way to comic shops this fall!

Sweet Christmas! THE DEFENDERS #1 Returns For Second Printing New York’s ultimate street team is off to an explosive start

New York, NY—June 22, 2017—Individually, they’ve kept the city of New York safe from its biggest threats. Together, they’re a force to be reckoned with – and the world agrees! Ahead of its highly anticipated second issue, Marvel is pleased to announce that DEFENDERS #1 has sold out and will immediately return for a second printing.

Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Daredevil, and Iron Fist have all had their share of hard fights while protecting the streets of their city. But with Diamondback having returned from the dead, The Defenders are now being targeted – and it’s a fight they can only win if they stand together. Writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist David Marquez bring their A-game to a story that Comicsverse calls “a fantastic beginning to a series perfect for both long-time fans and new fans looking to scratch The DEFENDERS itch before the new season on Netflix.”

“The Defenders may not appeal to readers specifically hoping for a traditional take on this superhero team, but anyone who enjoyed Brian Bendis’ work on books like Daredevil and Alias will be happy to see him return to this cast of characters. And with David Marquez at the helm, this series immediately gets off to a strong start.” – IGN

“Defenders #1 feels a lot like a veteran musician revisiting the sound that made him great (and won Bendis Eisners) over a decade ago.” – Graphic Policy

“This team might not be A-listers like the Avengers, but that doesn’t mean that Defenders still don’t pack a heck of a punch.” – Newsarama

Don’t miss the comic everyone is talking about when it makes its way back to comic shops this July. Already caught up and itching for more? Make sure you pick up DEFENDERS #2 when it hits comic shops next week!

DEFENDERS #1 SECOND PRINTING VARIANT (MAY178289)

Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS

Art and Cover by DAVID MARQUEZ

FOC – 7/3/17, On-Sale 7/26/17

DEFENDERS #2

Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS

Art and Cover by DAVID MARQUEZ

On-Sale 6/28/17

Marvel Comics News Digest 6/19 – 6/23/17 Featuring Marvel Legacy Every Hero! Every Title! Every Story! MARVEL LEGACY Changes the Comic Book Industry! Honoring the Past while Proudly Stepping Towards the Future…

#defenders #Legacy #marvel comics #News #rock #Spider Man #Thor #two in one #variant cover #X-Men

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maxwellyjordan · 6 years

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Kavanaugh on net neutrality: U.S. Telecom Association v. Federal Communications Commission

One of the opinions from current Supreme Court nominee and D.C. Circuit Judge Brett Kavanaugh that has garnered significant attention is his 2017 dissent from the denial of rehearing en banc in the net-neutrality case, U.S. Telecom Association v. Federal Communications Commission. A majority of the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit declined to reconsider a panel decision upholding the FCC’s net neutrality rule, which essentially forbade internet service providers (ISPs) from discriminating in certain ways among content providers delivered through the ISPs’ networks. (The rule was subsequently repealed by the commission.) Kavanaugh’s dissent argued that the FCC was not authorized to impose its net-neutrality regulations on ISPs for two reasons: first, because the regulations constituted a “major rule” that lacked clear authorization in the statute; and second, because they would violate the ISPs’ First Amendment rights. Proponents have pointed to this decision as Kavanaugh standing up for liberty and free speech, while opponents claim that it shows his political opposition to — and perhaps imperfect understanding of — the broadly popular net-neutrality policy. A concurrence from Judges Sri Srinivasan and David Tatel (both of whom were previous Supreme Court short-listers) contained an extensive back-and-forth with Kavanaugh’s decision, and readers can look at the opinions themselves to see who they think has the best of the arguments. The more interesting point for present purposes is probably that the two arguments Kavanaugh endorsed, and the way he deployed them, lend credence to those who argue that — for better or worse — Kavanaugh will be friendly to powerful business interests on the Supreme Court, and will tend to stand in the way of efforts by the administrative state to regulate them.

Kavanaugh’s first argument was that the FCC lacked authority to impose the net neutrality rule because it is a “major rule” and the Supreme Court has recently required that major rules have clear authorization in the statutes those rules purport to carry out. In his view, the ambiguity over whether Congress intended ISPs to be regulated as common carriers (like telephone companies) or information services (like AOL or Prodigy were at the time of the 1996 law at issue) means that the FCC cannot treat them as common carriers, because it is too major a regulatory step.

As an initial matter, it’s useful to point out that the “major rules” doctrine is itself somewhat controversial. The cases that Kavanaugh cites for the doctrine are useful examples of how that doctrine would work, but those cases don’t explicitly refer to a “major rules” doctrine by name. The major rules doctrine actually looks like the opposite of the predominant administrative law doctrine (called Chevron deference), which treats statutory ambiguity as a congressional invitation to rulemaking rather than a bar on it. This isn’t to say that there’s no good argument for the major rules doctrine — it’s been endorsed by leading scholars of regulation and statutory interpretation. It’s only to say that, even in deploying it, Kavanaugh is making a choice about how to approach the interpretation of an ambiguous statute that tends to disfavor big regulatory moves.

Beyond that, it is worth observing that Kavanaugh’s invocation of the doctrine in this case shows a rather expansive view of it. This isn’t a situation in which a court is taking a statute that is clearly about one thing (say, “drugs” and medical “devices”), observing that the statutory definition is ambiguous enough to cover an arguably pretty different thing (say, tobacco and cigarettes), and then denying that Congress intended to grant an agency regulatory authority over the latter item because it wouldn’t hide that elephant in a statutory mousehole, as the Supreme Court did in 2000 in Brown & Williamson Tobacco and in 2006 in Gonzales v. Oregon. Congress plainly intended to allow the FCC to impose common carrier obligations on some class of services, and then left it unclear whether a modern ISP like Comcast or Verizon would fall within that class of services. And the Supreme Court even held in 2005 in National Cable and Telecommunications Association v. Brand X Internet Services that this was the very kind of ambiguity that Congress’ statute had empowered the FCC to resolve. Accordingly, Kavanaugh is adopting a very broad conception of the major rules doctrine, one that would essentially prohibit agencies from doing anything that seems like a really big deal unless Congress expressly called for it. That is consistent with his general criticism of existing Chevron doctrine. But it is also a move that tends to hamstring the efforts of regulators.

Again, there are arguments for and against this kind of judicial doctrine. Kavanaugh points out that net neutrality has been under active consideration in Congress, and a broad conception of the major rules doctrine forces Congress itself to answer more big policy questions. Institutionalists may well hope that insisting on that action from Congress will tend over time to reduce some of its evident dysfunction — encouraging it to do more, to seek out more bipartisan policy solutions and to be more engaged in smaller-scale policy disputes. Skeptics will note, however, that it is obviously very hard to get Congress to do anything these days, and so a broad conception of the major rules doctrine tends inevitably towards restraining government’s ability to solve problems — even the very kinds of problems seemingly addressed by an agency-empowering statute Congress already passed. Like much of his writing, Kavanaugh’s opinion is quite scholarly and certainly embraces a doctrine of American government whereby Congress does more and the agencies do less. But the upshot is a judicial doctrine that clearly favors established business interests over regulators identifying and trying to fix (what they see as) problems in the market.

Kavanaugh’s second argument in his net-neutrality dissent is very different, but it shares the same deregulatory upshot. He argues that ISPs have a First Amendment right to exert editorial control over the content they convey over the internet, and that the net neutrality rule abridges their right to free speech. Once again, this is a highly debatable proposition that turns upon a question on which smart judges can take both sides: What kind of corporate, market behavior is just “conduct” rather than expressive “speech”? And, once again, Kavanaugh’s broad conception of what constitutes constitutionally protected corporate “speech” serves to insulate far more profit-driven, corporate behavior from regulatory control.

Kavanaugh draws much of his argument from a set of decades-old Supreme Court cases about rules that governed which channels cable companies had to carry. These “must-carry” regulations were held to at least raise a First Amendment concern because they forced cable companies to convey messages with which they might not agree. Kavanaugh sees the same problem in the net neutrality regulations, but there is at least one key difference: The net neutrality rule doesn’t force anyone to carry anything. ISPs are allowed to carry only certain websites, and advertise themselves to their customers as such. Instead, the net neutrality rule largely prohibits ISPs from favoring certain content providers over others in seemingly nonexpressive ways, like taking money from some content providers to deliver their websites faster, or to make their competitors websites run worse. Whether one ultimately agrees with Kavanaugh or not, it is fair to say that the view that these are free speech regulations does not follow inevitably from the Supreme Court’s must-carry cases.

Kavanaugh is once again staking out a pretty broad take on existing doctrine that tends to disfavor government regulation. Almost everything that the government does in the sphere of market regulation impinges on what one might identify as corporate “speech.” That includes rules about marketing cigarettes to minors, rules against competitors “talking” about their prices, rules against threats and bromides regarding worker unionization, and on and on. And the issue isn’t just corporate speech: It theoretically sweeps up laws that impinge on a business-owner’s personal view that serving people of a given race or sexual orientation conveys a message they don’t want to endorse. Kavanaugh or others who fall on the free-speech side of this argument may well find ways to distinguish some of these classic content regulations from laws that they think infringe too directly on speech. But the point is that there is a line-drawing problem between corporate speech and market conduct, that judges will vary in where they draw that line, and that Kavanaugh falls relatively far toward the side of the spectrum that finds more corporate behavior to be speech and thus holds more regulations of that behavior to be unconstitutional.

Again, the upshot is that Kavanaugh endorses certain judicial doctrines that tend to favor businesses over regulators. That does not distinguish him that much from Justice Anthony Kennedy, and it is not to say that he is a reflexive friend of business for political (rather than judicial-theory) reasons. But those who worry that Kavanaugh’s judicial philosophy will stand as a barrier to government regulation of big businesses — including when it comes to policies like net neutrality — are right to feel that way. Conversely, those who celebrate that philosophy as tending to make the market and the country a freer place will find a like-minded champion on the Supreme Court.

[Disclosure: Goldstein & Russell, P.C., whose attorneys contribute to this blog in various capacities, was among the counsel for the intervenors in United States Telecom Association. The author of this post is affiliated with the firm but did not work on this case.]

The post Kavanaugh on net neutrality: <em>U.S. Telecom Association v. Federal Communications Commission</em> appeared first on SCOTUSblog.

from Law http://www.scotusblog.com/2018/07/kavanaugh-on-net-neutrality-u-s-telecom-association-v-federal-communications-commission/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

#law #justice

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sochawrites · 1 year

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Obsolete – part 1

Dave Lister x reader

part 2 (soon)

They/Them pronouns are used for the reader, with no other gender indicators. N/N for nickname. This was getting long, so I cut it into two parts. I was heading for a self-indulgent rewrite of the Inquisitor, so this is just a prelude, but it can be read as a standalone. TW: anxiety, minor depression episode

"-o Y/N! Holly to Y/N! Are you awake yet?" you stirred up in your bed, Holly's voice finally penetrating through your ears, yet taking a while to get processed in your brain. "No." you mumbled out, turning around and nuzzling deeper into the sheets, hoping that she had nothing else to say. Sadly not. "The boys are asking you to join them for lunch. What should I tell them?"

A dry chuckle escaped your throat, "Is everyone asking for me, or was it just Rimmer? I can't imagine he hadn't had any remarks on my behalf.". Holly excused herself and disappeared for a moment, but that gave you all the answers you needed. "I am not supposed to tell you that." she blurted out right after blipping onto the screen again. " 'course you don't…" you hummed, "Don't let them wait then, I'll come later."

You waited for Holly to fade out once again before you let out a long, tired yawn, stretching your limbs out and letting your body spasm for a bit. You turned onto your back, burning a hole in the ceiling as you tried to make your body listen to you. Waking up has been getting harder and harder, almost ever since you boarded the Red dwarf. You felt empty and lethargic, something you blamed your bad conscience for, as you had some unresolved disputes you could no longer settle. And since Kryten was the main cook, you were completely obsolete as a head chef, so what else were you supposed to do? Besides, sleeping helped to shut out unwanted thoughts and emotions.

But the longer you lay there, the more time will Rimmer have to prepare his spiteful comments, and you were not interested in giving him any ammunition. You tried to get dressed as fast as you could, silently thanking Kryten for cleaning your room daily, it would have been one big mess a long time ago, and you wouldn't have anything clean to put on.

You didn't bother to run, after all, your ubication was on the other side of the hallway, if anything, you slowed down. You cleaned the residual crust out of the corners of your eyes right before you stepped into the occupied ubication.

Lister and Cat were sitting by the table, the latter too busy stuffing his face with a second serving of grilled fish to notice you, at least Dave managed to wave at you. You waved back, a small smile appearing for a moment before the annoying pompous voice cut through the room. "Well, well, well, look at that! The sleeping beauty had finally woken up!", you sighed, sitting down at the table and grabbing a plate, there it was again. "Hello to you too, Rimmer.", you murmured, really hoping that was all he was going to say.

"You know, I would like to know how you sleep so well, knowing you contribute absolutely nothing. I mean, how did you even become a head chef?", you really didn't want to get into an argument with him, fortunately, Lister came to your aid. "Zipp it Rimmer. I've told you, if you want to be salty, go talk to the salt shakers." it looked like they had already argued today. "But you can't deny you had never actually seen them cook either!", so it was this topic again, Lister had assured you that Rimmer was just pissy about you having a technically higher rank than him, something that presumably attacked his ego. "What if I had? Besides, you know we only let Kryten stay as a cook 'cause he would whine 'bout being inefficient.", Rimmer wasn't giving up, "Why do they keep their rank then? It's useless for that gimboid!".

"Rimmer! Smeg-off!", Lister was getting irritated, and you were starting to get upset. Rimmer was right, but it truly wasn't something you had to listen to first thing in the morning or noon for that matter. You felt the pressure building up behind your eyes, and that just couldn't be, Rimmer would never shut up about it, so in between the fight or flight, you chose flight. But not without running your mouth just a tiny bit.

"You're right, Rimmer." you stood up with the plate in your hands and walked towards the door, locking your eyes with his as you stood between the frames. "I am completely useless here, but you know what? At least I know when to keep quiet." and with that, you stormed out, heading to your favourite spot with blurry vision.

The overpass over the chasm was quiet as always, the air pleasantly cold and the floor you sat on warm from the heater pipeline that ran below. You dandled your feet as you tried to get some more food into your stomach. You weren't even halfway through, and you were hungry, but something in your head was against every bite you tried to eat. It made you too aware of every movement your jaw did, and it felt repulsing. The chicken curry was great, but you just couldn't take another bite.

As soon as you put aside the plate, Lister showed up around the corner. "Thought I might find you here, are you alright?" he sat down beside you, quietly sighting at the unfinished dish and tear stains on your cheeks. You shook your head, "I don't know, Listy, probably not.". Dave put his hand on your back, your heart skipped a beat, but you subconsciously shrugged it off, not wanting to be touched, "You know, you don't have to put up with him. You have a higher rank, use it against him. Even if it means turnin' him off for a while.".

"I would rather not. You know what happened the last time I pulled that card." you knew that he knew, but sometimes it wasn't a bad idea to remind him since it was one of the roots of your current problems.

"That was on a different ship.", you were taking in a breath to protest, but Lister was faster, "Hey, I know that it's not somethin' one would get over easily, but shuttin' yourself in won't help anythin'. So… If you ever decide you want to talk 'bout it, or 'bout whatever you've got goin' on right now… We- I'm here… I'm here, whenever you need me, alright?".

You finally looked at him, he was looking at you reassuringly with a warm smile, hands folded in lap. He was so cute. "Anyway, I wanted to ask if you would join us on an expedition to that moon we found yesterday. We'll be leavin' in a few hours, Kryten's almost done preparin' the bug. We might be gone for a few days…".

"I would love to, but I'm not feeling well. Maybe next time?" you threw him an apologetic smile. You'd really like to go, you loved spending time with Lister, but the vision of being locked in a confined space with Rimmer didn't spark joy, especially today. "You sure?", you looked away, down into the abyss, nodding, feeling bad for turning him down, "Well… Alright… But promise me somethin'."

You hummed, slightly interested in what Dave was going to say. "N/N," he cautiously reached his hand towards you again, this time squeezing your shoulder, you glimpsed his way, he had your attention, "try to take care of yourself. And I mean it, I'm worried 'bout you.". You sighed, were you really looking that bad? You never wanted to cause the crew any distress with your own problems. Yet there you were, being fussed over by the last person who needed to be worried about you.

Nodding your head, you hesitantly reached for his hand, "You don't have to worry about me, Listy. I'll be fine.". "You don't sound too convincin'… But… at least try to finish that plate, ok?", you huffed, of course he had something to say about it. "I'm working on it, just give me some time." you smiled shyly, waiting for where the conversation will be carried to next.

Smiling back at you, Dave squeezed your shoulder again, you could swear you had to be blushing at this point, but if you did, he hadn't made any comments, he never did, "I'll have to believe you then, won't I? Well, I should go and pre- Oh! I almost forgot, I've got you little somethin'!". You arched an eyebrow as he turned around, pulling out a little chocolate muffin, "Aw," you pursed your lips, "that's for me? Where'd you get it?".

"Kryten made them for us as a dessert. But after you left, Cat made up his mind 'bout sharin' and was dead set on keepin' all of the muffins for himself. I almost lost a finger when I was snatchin' this one away from him!" Lister laughed a bit at the last part, but knowing Cat, he probably wasn't joking. You reached for the dessert in his hand, smiling as you inspected it, not looking for flaws, but rather looking at it with fascination, "Thank you, but you shouldn't have, I'm not worth the trouble.". If only you knew that for him, you were worth every single one.

"I'll safe it for later." you set it down next to the plate, returning your full concentration back to Dave. "I hope you won't stop at just keepin' it for later." Lister chuckled as he patted you on your back for the last time, moments later excusing himself before stepping up. He turned to you once more before you would disappear out of each other's sight, you were no longer paying attention to him, but that didn't stop him from beaming at you, as you held the half-eaten plate in your hand once more.

#dave lister #dave lister x reader #dave lister x gn!reader #reader insert #red dwarf x reader #david lister x reader #david lister #lister x reader #tw anxiety #tw depression #this blorbo #this mf #this smeghead #there's not enough content out for him. there'll never be. he deserves all the love #I had to get this out before I got to requests. they'll come after the second part

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