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lara635kookie · 9 months

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Okay...Not the ship analysis yet but a little snippet of it. To write the analysis I had to think about why I like Red Crackle so much. And I realized one of the reasons why is that they remind me of another ship I also love:

(Warning:Spoilers of both Carmen Sandiego and Spider-Man Into/Across the Spiderverse ahead.)

Yes, they got differences but also massive resemblance either that once you notice, you can't unsee it. It isn't noticeable when you try to compare Gray and Miles and Gwen and Carmen, but once you switch...

Both Miles and Carmen are latino main characters, just that Miles is black and Carmen is brown. While Puerto Rico is a USA territory, in culture terms they share more with Latin America. And Even Miles not being born in Puerto Rico, his puerto rican roots and heritage are clear. 8/B in spanish is nowhere near as bad. As a Brazilian, we speak portuguese, which is a very similar language to Spanish(I myself know a little bit of spanish), but overall, both languages tend to sound very difficult, specially when you're learning in a place that doesn't speak any. Carmen didn't seem to be totally fluent in spanish either since in the Lupe Peligro episode she says her Spanish is getting better. So not fluent, at least in that point in time. Maybe that changes after that so I'll just assume both Miles and Carmen are working on their spanish. Another point is that they are both very smart. Carmen knows her geography and history AND can speak multiple languages and Miles is great at physics AND art, both very different areas from one another. Saying that, Carmen had everything to be a Mary Sue, just like Miles had everything to be a Gary Stu but instead, while they are extraordinary, we also see their weaknesses, flaws and mistakes. On the first two episodes of the first season of Carmen Sandiego and on the first spiderverse movie, we see Black Sheep/Miles Morales transition to becoming Carmen Sandiego/Spider-Man. And on that transition, someone was always by their side...

Both Gwendolyne Stacy(Spider-Woman) (or Gwanda ;) and Graham Calloway(Crackle) have a four letter nickname that starts with G and the protagonist always call them that(Gwen and Gray). Both have a surname that ends with Y. Both are a little bit older than the main character(Gray is two years older than Carmen and Gwen is 15 months older than Miles). Both are trans to a lot of people(I don't actually believe this, I think both Gwen and Gray are cisgender, specially Gwen, because of the comics and because while I think her revelation to her father was made in purpose to resonate and pass as a metaphor for coming out, I believe in the less popular theory that she was an ally and her Peter was actually trans and that is one of the reasons he suffered bullying and Gwen defended him and had that "Protect Trans Kids" poster in her room, this is literally the vibe she passes me:

Some time ago I saw a theory that the relationship of Miles and Gwen was a metaphor for one of the difficulties that interracial couples pass that the most privileged has to learn that the same society system that protects them, won't protect their partner in the same way, and that is shown through the way Spider Society treats Miles and I know there are more black spider people like Hobie and Margo but the parallel still works:he is not being accepted because he is different. The thing is, that theory kinda breaks the trans Gwen theory because if she was trans, sadly, the system wouldn't protect her either. I also don't believe it because of the voice actors. Some years ago, an adult could dub a children if he did the right voice. Nowadays, they cast a voice actor more similar to the character. Like, black characters need to have black voice actors, etc, otherwise they get canceled. And both of the voice actors for Gray and Gwen are cisgender, and I saw people complaining that if the producers wanted to make characters "potentially trans" they should have casted trans voice actors, for both characters. But anyway, I don't mind and respect the people who think they are trans). Both got competition for the other's affection(Gwen has now Spider-Byte and Gray has Ivy, Julia and pretty much everyone you can ship with Carmen in this show, which is a lot of people). Both are the lighter skin love interest not from where the protagonist is(Gray is from Australia and Gwen is from another dimension).

And now with the storyline similarities. Both pairings start as friends, so both lead to a slow burn. Both were an amazing partners in crime duo, working really great as a team, and being just the two of them or even with more people, their connection always stood out. Miles and Carmen never became official members of Spider Society/V.I.L.E. but disagree with them and escape from them to do what they believe is right. Both Gwen and Gray make a mistake and are expelled from Spider Society/V.I.L.E. (Gwen with the portal multiverse dimension go home machine or whatever and Gray by having his memories wiped) and then they realize too late they made a mistake with Miles/Carmen and now have to fix that mistake. Also both Carmen and Miles say "Goodbye Gray/Gwen." in the most DRAMATIC way possible before doing an grand triumphal exit and I love that for them. And the look Gray/Gwen gives them before they leave is THE EXACT SAME LOOK, I SWEAR. So as you can see, both ships leave a room for A LOT of angst and drama. Also just the way they look so fondly at each other and the way both Carmen/Miles and Gray/Gwen look sad when they have to leave or when the other has to leave them says it all. Platonic or not, both couples have an undeniable bond and just work so well together, being as friends, lovers, partners...They are each other's ride or die. They are each other's everything.

(Also just an personal opinion is that both Spiderverse and Carmen Sandiego have the MOST BEAUTIFUL ANIMATION I HAVE EVER SEEN) (Along with the new Miraculous movie) (Ladybug and Chat Noir are also very similar of Carmen and Gray but that's something more noticeable to pretty much everyone, I don't have to elaborate much on that matter) (I've got nothing to say about LadyNoir/MariChat being similar to Red Crackle that hasn't been said before)

The major difference about them is that, while both the Spiderverse movies and the Carmen Sandiego series don't have romance as their main focus, Miles and Gwen will most likely be canon in the films, just like they are in the comics. I think it will be a movie trilogy so they'll probably get together in the third movie(Beyond the Spiderverse in january? Anyway, 2024, save the date). I mean, Spider-Byte is cool and all but she's a game avatar or something so I don't think Miles and her can get together, even if he travels to her universe and decides to stay there or vice versa. They introduced her just now and we barely know anything about her, and Miles and Gwen clearly already have a whole build up story going on with a consistent arc so why mess it up? Besides, I think we need more main interracial couples representation in media. Aside from these two, the only GOOD main interracial couples I can think of are Druig and Makkari from Eternals(I never even watched Eternals and I know they are better than Ikaris and Sersi)(They are also an interracial couple but they clearly don't have the chemestry Drukkari does and Ikaris seems to be kind of a jerk tbh), Ricky and Gina(from HSMTMTS, which I don't watch either but their clips I saw on YouTube are just the cutest thing), Ben and Devi from Never Have I Ever, Daphne and Simon and Kate and Anthony from Bridgerton, and Julie and Luke(Juke) from Julie and The Phantoms(JATP) which is literally an impossible love story since Luke is dead(he's a ghost) and Julie isn't(she's alive) and the series was cancelled(still mad about it and will forever be). My point is:Couples with different ethnicities are not only little but the ones we do have are mostly either impossible to happen, unfairly treated/messed up by writers/not well executed or when treated right, we don't get enough content of them/they are forgotten, in the majority cases, and that needs to change. Anyway...Meanwhile, with Red Crackle, as Carmen Sandiego had a pretty open ending, canon can be whatever the hell you want, and for me is red crackle. That's it. Thank you for coming to my ted talk. Will be posting more "written podcasts" soon.

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blackfilmmakers · 9 months

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Ya know, it's becoming real clear that there are some fans who only value Miles to the extent that he is in service to Gwen and their headcanon(s) of her. Whether its conscious or subconcious, Gwiles' fans dialogue around Miles shows that for them, Miles' existance, his story, etc. is meant to primarily give Gwen her happy ending, to help Gwen have her epiphanies so she can live her best white life. He's only good and uwu to them, to the extent he benefits her. It's partly why the creators making the creative decision to have Miles' be so infatuated with Gwen when, in the comics, Miles is not pressed for Gwen at all, annoys me a lot. They risk perpetuating these fans miguided idea (and reinforcing racist real world views) that Miles exists to affirm Gwen's desirability and she can do with that what she wants, his job is to wait on her and tell him when he can move on with his life. It also ties in with the same fans outright dismissing Margo. To them, there's no way Miles could actually find Margo, a Black female attractive and intriguing - even though Miles loving and strongly desiring woman of color in the comics is absolute canon. To much media has reinforced a false narrative that black men and women loving and desiring each other is rare and not enough. And so, in their eyes, Margo can't be an actual threat for Miles' attention and affection, she also must exist in service to Gwen, to show that Gwen has complex feelings and can get jealous too. Miles feelings, his identity, his desires, his safety, his mental and overall health, his community, his family, his hurt, his trauma, his pain, his full potential, all of it should be pushed aside because to them GWEN's feelings, her angst and struggle should take priority, and he should just understand that his suffering is worth it because she gets to grow.

From what I’ve heard Miles and Gwen in the comics have gotten together a few times, and were even married at one point(somehow across dimensions???) But like you said he mainly dates girls of color, Black girls even, and we don’t usually get that. I was disappointed we didn’t get to see so many Black girl characters in the first movie

I don’t really care for shipping aspects, but all I know is that ITSV showed these two having a slight crush before forgetting about it, because there were more important matters on hand. And yknow, that all felt natural

So seeing Miles go into this crush on Gwen even harder, to the point where he practically forgets about the other Spiderheroes from the first movie until he sees them again? It didn’t seem right. It went from “I want to see my friends who understand me, and also helped me when I needed them” to “I really miss Gwen, sad angst teenage hours”

And yeah I was pretty annoyed how much the movie focused on Gwen, to the point where I questioned if this was her movie or not. There were some aspects I enjoyed, but also stuff that felt unnecessary given how little information we still had. Simple flashbacks would suffice to get the point across that Gwen was in trouble and she was taken in by the other Spiders. The first movie does this

We could’ve spent this time exploring different Spiderverses and the new characters. It just dragged on for so long, that by the time we get to Miles, I nearly forgot he was in this

I’m not so into this fandom that I can say I fully understand the shipping dynamics here. But yknow, if this is literally like every other fandom, then I don’t see why I can’t believe a good amount of Gwen stans make the experience unbearable

#anon

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discar · 11 days

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HZD Terraforming Base-001 Text Communications Network

Chapter 44 (non-canon omake) | Prev chapter | Next chapter Chapter Index

[FlameHairSavior], [Zo], [BoyNextDoor], [HIMBO], [MARSHAL Kotallo], [β], and [DIVINER] have joined [PZD Alpha Group Chat]

Captain_RobotKiller: ...did we just get hacked?

BigMama: Travis, what did you do.

VAST_SILVER_SLAYER69: Wasn't me, boss!

MARSHAL Kotallo: Wait, what just happened?

DIVINER: Hello new people!

HIMBO: I DON'T SEE ANYONE ELSE AT THE BASE.

β: i thought you didnt give anyone else focuses

BoyNextDoor: I definitely didn't.

MARSHAL Kotallo: We appear to have suffered a security breach, do not treat this lightly.

BigMama: YOU suffered a security breach? This is a private military network, your actions constitute treason in EVERY existing nation.

Zo: ...I think we have some irrigation crossed.

Kitty_StopCallingMeThatTravis: Travis, what did you do?

VAST_SILVER_SLAYER69: Still wasn't me!

DIVINER: Maybe we could talk instead of yelling?

ShennyShen: Hi! I'm Margo Shen!

ShennyShen: But you probably already know that because you hacked into our network!

ShennyShen: Why did you do that, btw?

DoctorKilljoy: I'm fairly certain it was to spy, Margo.

ShennyShen: I don't think spies announce their presence on the group chat, though?

Zo: Aloy, PLEASE tell me you're reading this.

FlameHairSavior: Glinthawks, can't reply.

FlameHairSavior: I'm here though.

RobertFrostWasA_HACK: We are definitely missing something important here.

Zo: I'm sorry that we intruded, but we don't know how we connected to your network.

BoyNextDoor: Alva, these aren't your people?

DIVINER: Nope!

β: im checking things ill figure it out

Zo: Or we can just ask the nice people a few reasonable questions and open a dialogue.

BigMama: I don't know what sort of prank you're playing, but we don't have time for it.

MARSHAL Kotallo: I was about to say something very similar.

FlameHairSavior: Okay, I'm back, everything is dead.

ShennyShen: ????

FlameHairSavior: Who are you people, and how did we get connected to your network?

FlameHairSavior: You don't sound like Eclipse.

BigMama: This is the non-emergency group chat for the project leads assigned to Project Zero Dawn.

BigMama: I am Dr. Elizabet Sobeck, project head.

MARSHAL Kotallo: ...

HIMBO: HUH.

Zo: Um. Well.

BoyNextDoor: wbiufdb lhjasljbu

Zo: Yes, that summarizes my thoughts on the matter.

FlameHairSavior: All right, joke's over.

FlameHairSavior: Who are you and how the FUCK do you know that name.

Zo: Aloy! Beta's here!

β: i know curse words how old do you think i am

VAST_SILVER_SLAYER69: Fuck yeah, kid!

BigMama: Travis, NOT the time.

BigMama: If you people do not start explaining yourselves IMMEDIATELY, I am going to let Travis hack you back into the Stone Age.

FlameHairSavior: Beta, are these your people?

β: i dont think so the data doesnt look familiar

β: besides none of them have called us worms or scum or given us orders

BoyNextDoor: The person who may or may not be Elisabeth Sobeck gave us orders.

HIMBO: I THINK THAT'S MORE OF A DEMAND.

FlameHairSavior: Can you trace them back to wherever they're broadcasting from?

β: i can try

FlameHairSavior: Good. I'll pay them a visit.

DIVINER: Please don't kill them!

FlameHairSavior: I might not kill them.

BigMama: Okay, this has gone on long enough. GAIA, please execute standard intruder purge protocol.

FlameHairSavior: Wait, you know about GAIA?

BigMama: Of course I do. How do YOU know about GAIA?

BigMama: And how are you still here? She should have completed the purge by now.

VAST_SILVER_SLAYER69: Uh, Lis? I'm kiiiinda not getting any answer from GAIA or any of her subordinate functions.

Zo: Aloy, I'm in GAIA's chamber right now, and she's not answering.

ShennyShen: You're where?? I'm in the main AI core, and there's no one else here!

β: uh

β: so

β: i tried to trace the hacks and

β: things got weird

VAST_SILVER_SLAYER69: Yeah, I'm with the kid who or may not be too young to know fuck words.

VAST_SILVER_SLAYER69: If this is a hack, it's the weirdest one I've ever seen.

FlameHairSavior: I'm on my way back. What's wrong?

β: i cant find any trace of a hack

β: and the metadata says that theyre all texting from a thousand years ago

VAST_SILVER_SLAYER69: Yeah, that's pretty much the same on my end.

VAST_SILVER_SLAYER69: Except the new people are texting from a thousand years in the future.

HIMBO: WELL, SHIT.

HIMBO: I'M NOT DRUNK ENOUGH FOR THIS.

BoyNextDoor: All-Mother's eyes, hands, and soul.

HIMBO: I'VE GOT AN ALE WITH YOUR NAME ON IT DOWN HERE.

BigMama: Travis, what EXACTLY are you saying?

VAST_SILVER_SLAYER69: Time travel, boss. They're from the future.

DoctorKilljoy: This is fascinating on a thousand different levels.

RobertFrostWasA_HACK: And existentially terrifying on a thousand more.

DoctorKilljoy: Well, yes, there is some of that as well.

DrPBK: It means we succeeded, does it not? Humanity survived.

DIVINER: Weeeell...

ShennyShen: Oh god. You're aliens, aren't you?

HIMBO: WHAT? LIKE FROM ANOTHER CONTINENT?

MARSHAL Kotallo: Alva is the only one of us not from the local continent.

DIVINER: We really need to have that movie night because you are missing SO MUCH context!

DIVINER: Also I think Beta might technically be an alien?

BoyNextDoor: She's still locked in her loom and this isn't helping.

RobertFrostWasA_HACK: ...loom?

Zo: He uses autocorrect.

RobertFrostWasA_HACK: Ah.

DIVINER: But, uh...

DIVINER: Honored ancestors? (do you still count as ancestors when we haven't been born yet?)

PuppyParade: Speaking as an evolutionary biologist, yes.

PuppyParade: It makes discussion of inheritence easier.

PuppyParade: Though it usually doesn't involve time travel.

DIVINER: You all seem to be taking this rather well??

Kitty_StopCallingMeThatTravis: Speaking personally, there's only so much existential dread you can take before it just starts washing over you.

Captain_RobotKiller: I believe Elisabet might be having a panic attack in her office, though.

BoyNextDoor: Yeah, Beta has locked her door again.

Zo: And I suspect Aloy has gotten into another fight.

FlameHairSavior: Fighting is easier than talking.

Zo: PLEASE don't text and fight at the same time.

VAST_SILVER_SLAYER69: Ha! That sounds like something the boss would do.

HIMBO: LIKE MOTHER LIKE DAUGHTERS, I GUESS.

BigMama: ...I'm sorry, WHAT?

Zo: By all the songs, Erend...

HIMBO: OOPS.

ShennyShen: Elisabet has daughters??

BigMama: I certainly do not.

DrPBK: And if it has been a thousand years, I can't imagine any existing daughters would have survived. Even with some of the cutting-edge life-extension technology people have been talking about.

FlameHairSavior: Erend, I just ripped a cannon off a Thunderjaw, I'm going to come back and shoot you with it.

A.Larsen: ...I have questions.

HIMBO: YOU'RE NOT GOING TO DRAG THAT THING ALL THE WAY BACK HERE, ARE YOU?

MARSHAL Kotallo: I will help.

HIMBO: TRAITOR.

ShennyShen: Wait, does "flame hair" mean red hair?? Like Elisabet??

FlameHairSavior: Erend, have I ever thanked you for this stupid display name?

HIMBO: YOU PUNCHED ME FOR IT, IF THAT COUNTS.

BigMama: If it makes you feel better, I understand the sentiment.

BigMama: Travis hacked the network so I can't change my name back.

RobertFrostWasA_HACK: Oh good, you're bonding with your daughter!

BigMama: Tanaka, please don't.

β: am i the only one worried we dont know what kind of time travel rules were working with

β: we might delete ourselves from existence if we say too much

HIMBO: WE MIGHT WHAT.

DoctorKilljoy: I don't think anyone can call themselves an expert on this subject, but I expect if that was a real danger, it would have happened already.

HIMBO: NO REALLY, WHAT?

BoyNextDoor: I'm with Erend on this, what?

β: its probably fine

FlameHairSavior: If we can change things just by texting the past, I have a list.

MARSHAL Kotallo: An excellent point. Is someone here in charge of the HEPHAESTUS system?

ShennyShen: That's me!

MARSHAL Kotallo: Are there any weaknesses in the system you can tell us?

ShennyShen: wwwwhy would you need to know that?

β: there might have been a small

β: glitch

BoyNextDoor: I thought you said glitches were accidents.

ShennyShen: What's wrong with HEPHAESTUS??

FlameHairSavior: He wants to kill us.

ShennyShen: You specifically, or...

FlameHairSavior: Us specifically, and also everyone else, specifically.

DrPBK: Can we please go back to Elisabet having daughters?

ShennyShen: Can we please stick with what's wrong with HEPHAESTUS!

FlameHairSavior: They're all crazy.

ShennyShen: Who???

FlameHairSavior: The subfunctions.

BoyNextDoor: Wasn't MINERVA fine?

FlameHairSavior: Besides being suicidal? Perfectly fine.

Captain_RobotKiller: Wait, what?

DrPBK: Miss... Aloy, was it? And Beta?

FlameHairSavior: Yes?

β: what

DrPBK: Am I to understand that you are both the result of the Lightkeeper Protocol?

BigMama: Oh god.

FlameHairSavior: Sort of. It's complicated.

BigMama: I discontinued that protocol for a reason.

FlameHairSavior: Sorry to disappoint you with our existence.

BigMama: That's not...

BigMama: I didn't mean it like that.

FlameHairSavior: Okay.

DrPBK: Elisabet canceled the Lightkeeper Protocol because she did not agree with the idea of creating generations upon generations of human beings born with the express purpose of performing a specific task. She was worried about your own lives.

Zo: Oh dear.

BoyNextDoor: Ooh.

HIMBO: OUCH.

MARSHAL Kotallo: Now that is unfortunate.

Kitty_StopCallingMeThatTravis: THAT'S a worrying reaction.

FlameHairSavior: Long story give me a sec.

β: are you fighting again

FlameHairSavior: It's fine, just some bandits harrassing a caravan.

FlameHairSavior: There are only twenty or so.

BigMama: Wait, what? Are you attacking a group of twenty people?

FlameHairSavior: They're distracted, it's no big deal.

A.Larsen: Why are there bandits at all?

ShennyShen: And why did HEPHAESTUS go crazy?

HIMBO: DON'T WORRY ABOUT ALOY, SHE DOES THIS ALL THE TIME.

BigMama: She kills people all the time?

MARSHAL Kotallo: Well, yes. But I believe Erend was referring more to saving the caravan.

DIVINER: She saved my people from our insane leader who thought he was Ted Faro reborn! (no, that doesn't make sense in our religion, he was just crazy)

DoctorKilljoy: I have multiple questions?

Zo: She saved my people as well, though that was more of a religious crisis than a practical one.

β: didnt she kill your god

Zo: It was more of a mercy.

PuppyParade: I'm with Samina on the questions.

HIMBO: SHE SAVED MERIDIAN TWICE!

BoyNextDoor: Wait, twice?

HIMBO: YEAH, THERE WAS A WHOLE THING WITH DERVAHL AND MACHINE LURES AND ALL THAT SCRAP.

FlameHairSavior: That doesn't count as saving the city.

HIMBO: JUST BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T BUILD YOU A STATUE THAT TIME DOESN'T MEAN IT DOESN'T COUNT.

VAST_SILVER_SLAYER69: Of course they built a statue!

BigMama: Not helping, Travis.

VAST_SILVER_SLAYER69: I'm supposed to be helping?

BoyNextDoor: She saved the Sacred Lands at LEAST twice.

FlameHairSavior: I did not. I saved it exactly once, when the Eclipse attacked the second time.

BoyNextDoor: You drove them off the first time, too.

FlameHairSavior: I didn't "drive them off," they finished killing everyone and LEFT.

MARSHAL Kotallo: She saved my chief and restored the sacred Visions of my people.

DIVINER: Oh! And she saved Vegas!

FlameHairSavior: Vegas was not in actual danger, I refuse to take credit for that one.

DIVINER: You still saved it, though!!

ShennyShen: Is anyone going to explain what happened to HEPHAESTUS, or the Lightkeeper Protocol, or ANYTHING?

FlameHairSavior: Basically, GAIA needed an Alpha to open some doors, so she made one.

BoyNextDoor: That is vastly understating your own value and you know it.

Captain_RobotKiller: Why would GAIA need an Alpha? Why not use one of the new Alphas that took over in the new world?

Zo: That... wasn't an option.

Captain_RobotKiller: Why not?

HIMBO: SLAG WENT BAD.

A.Larsen: Expand on "bad."

MARSHAL Kotallo: Ted Faro is an affront to humanity and you should save yourselves a great deal of trouble by stabbing him in the heart.

A.Larsen: ...ah.

BigMama: Ted is under control.

BoyNextDoor: For now.

PuppyParade: I'm just worried that after a thousand years, people apparently STILL hate Faro. I mean, I hate him too, but I would assume it's all just history to you now.

MARSHAL Kotallo: Ted Faro is an affront to humanity and you should save ALL OF US a great deal of trouble by stabbing him in the heart.

PuppyParade: Ah.

HIMBO: ALOY REFUSED TO PISS ON HIS GRAVE.

PuppyParade: ...okay?

Zo: Maybe don't bring that up right now.

FlameHairSavior: Or ever, thanks.

Zo: Are you done with the bandits?

FlameHairSavior: Yeah, just have to talk to the caravan.

MARSHAL Kotallo: Are they Tenakth?

FlameHairSavior: Oseram escorting a Carja priest.

MARSHAL Kotallo: ...how have they possibly survived so long in the Clanlands?

FlameHairSavior: I've been listening to this guy for thirty seconds and I'm already wondering why his own guards haven't killed him yet.

DoctorKilljoy: Oh, are those new cultures? I'm curious to hear about how APOLLO influenced human development!

Zo: Samina Ebadji, I presume?

DoctorKilljoy: Yes, you know me? Did you like my introduction holo for APOLLO?

β: i did

β: it was nice

PuppyParade: How did the re-introduction of the stage two organisms go?

BoyNextDoor: That's the part where the new humans help GAIA rebuild the ecosystem, right?

PuppyParade: Part of it, yes.

BoyNextDoor: What's a puppy parade, anyway?

β: puppies are baby dogs

PuppyParade: ...why do you not know what puppies are

HIMBO: SLAG WENT BAD.

RobertFrostWasA_HACK: Dear God in Heaven, what exactly happened?

VAST_SILVER_SLAYER69: I've got the data.

ShennyShen: You what?

β: i sent him everything that might possibly be relevant

β: history politics that sort of thing

VAST_SILVER_SLAYER69: And I'm sending her everything on HEPHAESTUS, then anything else I can think of! Not sure how much it will help, but it can't hurt!

BigMama: Ah, I was wondering why you were being so quiet.

VAST_SILVER_SLAYER69: Silent and effective, that's me!

VAST_SILVER_SLAYER69: [MissionAccomplishedExplosion.gif]

FlameHairSavior: You're like Alva's skills with Erend's personality.

VAST_SILVER_SLAYER69: I'll take that as a compliment!

FlameHairSavior: You shouldn't.

DIVINER: Uh, should I take that as an insult?

FlameHairSavior: Of course not, you're fine.

HIMBO: THERE IS NO WAY THIS GUY IS ANYTHING LIKE ME.

VAST_SILVER_SLAYER69: ...why am I offended by that??

HIMBO: I'VE SEEN PICTURES. THERE'S NO WAY THIS GUY COULD EVEN LIFT A HAMMER, MUCH LESS HOLD HIS LIQUOR.

BoyNextDoor: Wait, you finally looked at GAIA's orientation packet?

HIMBO: I DID THAT AGES AGO. AND I CAN TELL YOU THAT THIS TATE GUY WOULD NEVER WIN A DRINKING CONTEST.

VAST_SILVER_SLAYER69: Oh buddy, oh pal.

VAST_SILVER_SLAYER69: How fall you have fallen. How much culture has been lost.

VAST_SILVER_SLAYER69: The point of a drinking contest isn't to WIN, it's to experience a drinking contest.

HIMBO: ...

HIMBO: ALL RIGHT, MAYBE THIS GUY'S NOT SO BAD.

BigMama: Oh good, you have the reincarnation of Travis Tate looking after you. That's... great.

FlameHairSavior: We're doing fine.

BigMama: Are you? You've mentioned multiple fights in the short time we've been talking.

FlameHairSavior: And I survived.

BigMama: Is that all you have to say?

FlameHairSavior: Yes.

Zo: Aloy, perhaps don't be so short with your mother?

FlameHairSavior: I don't think cloning counts.

β: its not like well ever meet her for real

Zo: A woman who shares your blood is worried for your well-being, that sounds like a mother to me.

DrPBK: Oh, certainly.

RobertFrostWasA_HACK: I have to agree.

ShennyShen: Yeah, that combo of competence and social anxiety had to come from Liz!

DoctorKilljoy: You know the more we tease her, the more she's going to deny it?

MARSHAL Kotallo: It seems you figured out Aloy quite quickly.

DoctorKilljoy: Actually, I was talking about Elisabet?

HIMBO: LIKE MOTHERS LIKE DAUGHTERS.

BigMama: You people are going to be the death of me.

β: thats in the data packet too

BigMama: ...right.

BigMama: So, Beta, was it? Is that a nickname of some sort?

β: no

BigMama: So you were literally named Beta.

β: yes

HIMBO: WAIT, I THOUGHT IT WAS SHORT FOR ELISABET.

BoyNextDoor: Same here.

β: its not

BigMama: And why, exactly, did GAIA see the need to create two clones, one LITERALLY named Beta?

β: she didnt

BigMama: What's that supposed to mean?

FlameHairSavior: Tilda is a bitch is what it means.

BigMama: Tilda is dead. I mean, she's dead NOW, her ship blew up. How is she relevant to your time period?

FlameHairSavior: Let me clear this up:

FlameHairSavior: Tilda IS a bitch.

BigMama: ...oh ffs.

A.Larsen: I always knew there was something fishy there.

BigMama: I never should have trusted them.

RobertFrostWasA_HACK: We can deal with it later, after we've looked through the data. We shouldn't waste any of this time with business, we should try to connect to our descendants.

Kitty_StopCallingMeThatTravis: Correct. We don't know how long this will last.

BigMama: I suppose.

ShennyShen: Wait, wait! Future people!

ShennyShen: What's the date on your end?

VAST_SILVER_SLAYER69: Same as us!

Zo: Winter solstice, to be specific.

β: december 25

ShennyShen: So that means this is a Christmas miracle!

BoyNextDoor: I suppose there's no way to describe randomly connecting two groups over a thousand years as anything but a miracle.

BoyNextDoor: Though I'm curious what GAIA will think when we talk to her about this.

HIMBO: WHAT'S CHRISTMAS?

[FlameHairSavior], [Zo], [BoyNextDoor], [HIMBO], [MARSHAL Kotallo], [β], and [DIVINER] have left the group

This omake was more fun to write than it had any right to be. Clarity for anyone who hasn't bothered to memorize the list of Alphas (because only two or three of them are relevant): BigMama: Elisabet Sobeck (GAIA) A.Larsen: Anders Larsen (AETHER) DoctorKilljoy: Samina Ebadji (APOLLO) PuppyParade: Charles Ronson (ARTEMIS) RobertFrostWasA_HACK: Tanaka Naoto (DEMETER) DrPBK: Patrick Brochard-Klein (ELEUTHIA) VAST_SILVER_SLAYER69: Travis Tate (HADES) ShennyShen: Margo Shen (HEPHAESTUS) Captain_RobotKiller: Ayomide Okilo (MINERVA) Kitty_StopCallingMeThatTravis: Catalina Garcia (POSEIDON) Now guess which ones were named by Travis Tate.

Chapter 44 (non-canon omake) | Prev chapter | Next chapter Chapter Index

#horizon #horizon zero dawn #horizon forbidden west #HZDBaseChat #aloy #zo #varl #beta horizon #erend vanguardsman #kotallo #alva #elisabet sobeck #travis tate

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moralesmilesanhour · 10 months

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Thank you for sharing that post on Gwen because I thought it was just me who didn't like that they made her such a big part of Miles story...like this is supposed to be HIS story and HIS journey of being spiderman , he should've been the sole focus and her story should've been it's own seperate thing instead of tying it to his...but it's like you can't say anything because then her stans are gonna come crying about the Gwen hate and her poor white woman pain (and not even focus on what Miles went through or even the hate Margo and Jess get that's far more horrific than what Gwen receives )

Yeah I would've loved a solo Gwen film! I don't hate her, I hate what they chose to do with her story and that's what folks arent getting lol. (long ass post under the cut I tried so hard not to rant but I failed)

The people reducing criticism of the writers' choice to make Gwen SO important on a meta level to "Gwen hate" are honestly missing the point.

Literally everyone in this film has had a rough go at it, but somehow it's always Miles' pain that gets pushed aside whenever it comes to discussions about Gwen or Miguel or whichever nonblack character people have latched onto (I say nonblack bc it's clear people only give a shit about Hobie on a surface level).

Not only does Miles' story suffer (what do we actually know about him and his world beyond "hey look it's Brooklyn" and his issues w his parents?), but hers does too because they shoved all of that information into a series of flashbacks and cuts to her world. As a result, it feels like we don't know enough about either characters' respective relationships.

But the most IMPORTANT part that people like to gloss over is the choice to make a WHITE WOMAN as pivotal to Miles' character development as they did.

Everyone has already said their piece on the betrayal, but I actually want to zoom out a bit.

Like I said before, this movie feels like it wanted to be...something else. From jump, we see that Hobie instantly takes an interest in wanting to protect Miles and steer him away from joining Spider Society because he knows they will not have his best interests in mind.

He is not the only character that goes against Miguel (the FIRST time 🙄) to protect Miles, though.

Margo, the one Black female character in Miles' age group, looks at him while he's running from Miguel and decides to send him home (or what she thought was his home) instead of turning him in.

The movie even tells us that Margo is supposed to be a part of Miles' story too when they first see each other! Why else would she help someone she just met???

What I'm trying to say is, this movie has a ton of racial subtext woven into it. And it CLEARLY wants you to know that. Hobie and Pavitr even share a common hatred for Britain and it's not by accident!

And YET! It's the white characters that get sooo much development and exploration! Even though both Peter B and Gwen end up being the ones that momentarily betray Miles because they have both been convinced that suffering (even preventable suffering) is necessary and central to who Spider-Man is.

Idk my thoughts are so messy lol. I don't hate the movie and i understand that there was a lot of bullshit happening behind the scenes that may have also impacted the story. But there's just so many directions that it could've gone in...? IDK IDK sjfhdksk

My hope for Beyond the Spiderverse is that the movie will take all of these little nuggets that they dropped and give us some pay-off, in order to drive home the idea that:

A) Spider-Man is not defined by his trauma or arbitrary "canon events" (obvious jab at comic book fans lol)

B) Spider-Man is not defined by isolation. He is allowed to have friends and deserves community

Anyways rant over ✌🏾

#sorry for all the discourse guys it will happen again #i am so normal about this movie :)#blabbering #asks #also you are allowed to disagree with me just dont be racist about it

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chano4kauwu · 6 months

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Maybe drop some oc lore? Like what they're like, interests, that kind of stuff? :0

Thank you for such a question/request! I am pleased to hear that someone is asking me about my OC :") I will try not to stretch this post by millions of letters. I have nothing to say anything definite about the characters, because all the action takes place in a world like ours. In America. About the characters, I will tell you a basic little information about each : ") I have 19 of my characters.

Here I showed their physique and height. Plus I only needed the base colors of each character.

I'll start with the main three characters that I most often draw:

Fritz Hagen. He is 22 years old. He's German. He's a biology teacher at school. He is not a serious person at all, he constantly jokes stupidly and tries in every possible way to make amends to his ex-boyfriend, with whom they met - with Ron. He killed his parents as a teenager, so Ron has been afraid of him ever since, that he might kill him too. Fritz and Ron broke up two years ago. And Fritz can't let go of their breakup in any way, wanting to meet Ron again.

Ron Williams. He's English. He is 25 years old and works as a chemistry teacher at the same school as Fritz. Ron is a terribly hot-tempered, dissatisfied person. He is well able to pretend to be an intelligent, well-mannered person - but in fact he swears most of all. He tries to avoid Fritz. But Fritz comes to him without asking. Deep down, Ron still loves Fritz and worries about him. In this world, the main role is played by the pupils in the eyes. His pupils are the same in his eyes, so he is gifted in the exact sciences, he has an excellent memory, logic, thinking. He had already had some knowledge of chemistry since he was 4 years old. He is also an albino.

3. Ben Summers. He is an American and he is 17 years old. He goes to school with Ron and Fritz. They are his teachers. Ben was born with his Siamese twin brother. His brother died at the age of 5. He got a small and unhealthy heart, which could not stand it and stopped. Ben has been suffering from amnesia related to his parents since childhood. All his childhood he could not remember either their names or their faces. He was often scared of them because he saw them "for the first time". His mother died of an illness and his father crashed in an accident. He still doesn't know about it. His parents died when Ben was 10. He lived for some time with Fritz's family, who sheltered him. Ben also happened to witness the murder. Fritz knows Ben saw it, but he threatened him - if anyone finds out about it, Ben will face the same fate. He has been friends with Ron and Fritz since he was born.

Ben (right) and his brother Al (left) 4. Claire Taylor. He is 27 years old. American. He works as a physics teacher at school with Ron and Fritz. He was called by a female name because the family was expecting a girl, but a boy was born. His mother bought a lot of things for the girl, and until the age of 7 he went in dresses, played with dolls, addressed himself in the feminine. He is a very touchy person. Manipulator and he is very jealous. He is also an owner. He dated Ron for a while. Until he found out that Ron was also dating Fritz at the same time, whom he hated. He hates his younger sister Margo more than anyone else in the world. Claire is the heaviest, nasty-looking person. nobody wants to have anything to do with him. Some are even afraid of him. There is also a pendant hanging around his neck. It's a gift from his girlfriend who died in a plane crash. She was the only one who could see a good person in him.

Ron, Claire and Fritz/Claire and Edith are stuck together in an elevator.

5. Margo Taylor. She is 17 years old. American. She's a classmate with Ben. She is most afraid of her brother Clare. Especially at home. At school, she is the most beautiful girl, she wins many competitions wherever she participates due to her appearance. But in fact, she is a quiet, not noisy girl who only plays a role in public. She understands that many friends will turn away from her if she shows herself real.

6. Edith de Fleur. 29 years old. A Frenchwoman. She is a French teacher at the school where Fritz, Ron and Claire work. She was most unlucky with relationships. Men do not look at her, considering her boring and not very interesting. She is a quiet, modest girl who has a personal home library. Her twin sister was married twice and she had many partners. She is madly in love with Ron and shows it to him in every possible way. But he doesn't seem to see it. At the same time, she does not notice the courtship from Claire, who already loves her, but she does not notice him already. Also, Edith's whole body is covered with many different freckles. Especially a lot of them on the face, shoulders, hips.

7. Rick Evaco. 27 years old. Brazilian. He was born in the favelas of Brazil and lived for a long time in the poorest family. He is the oldest child. There are three children in their family. His father became very good friends with one of the influential people on the black market. He earned enough money so that Rick could leave Brazil and move to a prestigious place. He moved to Spain, where he was able to pass the exam and go to college. There he was able to show himself, his knowledge. Rick turned out to be not the stupidest, on the contrary - one of the smartest students. During the summer holidays, he visited America and became friends with Ron and Fritz, who helped Rick a little with money. Now he is a successful businessman who has two companies in Spain, one in Brazil and one in America.

Rick with his sister. 8. Ines Sarto. 25 years old. Italian. A sweet, calm, quiet girl. She was in the same class as Ron at school while she was living in America. In Italy, she met Leah in a cafe. At that moment she was working as a waitress. Now Ines is engaged to Leah after a long relationship. Inez still communicates with Ron on the Internet. She often uses a translator, since she began to forget English.

Ines and Leah 9. Leah Gentile. 26 years old. Italian. She was born in a large family. She is the second oldest child. There are 7 children in her family. Leah's parents are terribly religious people. She ran away from her family at 17 and stopped communicating with them at 20 when she said she was dating a girl. She smokes a lot, is a rude and tough girl. She protects Ines and worries a lot about her if she goes somewhere alone. She often swears and does not behave culturally in society. But not in front of Ines.

10. Engel Weber. He is 26 years old. German. He is rude, not polite, harsh and uncomfortable person. For a long time he was close friends with Fritz. They were friends until Fritz pushed Engel's sister into a pit with iron bayonets. When Engel found out that Fritz had killed his sister, he swore revenge on him. But by the time he realized, Fritz had moved to America. Due to the loss of a loved one, Engel stopped caring for himself, he gained weight, he has mental and not only health problems. His hair was dyed gray with white tips. The only goal left was to take revenge on Fritz for what he had done.

11. Josh Carter. 30 years old. American. He works as a teacher of several foreign languages at the same school as Fritz, Ron, Claire and Edith. He's a terribly deceitful, cunning man. He is never interested in the affairs of another person. If he asks something like that, it means he needs something. He was in three relationships, and only the last girl was able to injure him. There's a burn on his left side of his body. His ex-girlfriend threw a kettle of boiling water at him in the hope of killing him. But it didn't work out. He realized that all girls are fools and he remains single. The only one who really matters to him is his friend Henry.

Josh and Henry 12. Henry Gate. 30 years old. American. He works as a psychologist at the school where Fritz, Ron, Claire, Edith and Josh work. He is a terribly sentimental, empathic person with weak nerves. For a psychologist, he takes everything too close to his heart. He often tries to help everyone to his own detriment. The only person who is particularly important to him is Josh. It is still a mystery to everyone how they were able to make friends. He is terribly fond of collecting books and drawing. Especially landscapes.

13.Ed Ryder. 17 years old. American. He's a classmate with Ben and Margot. Ed lives with one father, his mother left them when Ed was 9 years old. My father's salary is not enough for normal living, and sometimes not enough for normal food. Ed is endowed with a slightly feminine physique and appearance. Therefore, he followed in his mother's footsteps and went to earn money through prostitution. So he was finally able to provide for himself on his own. Despite his position, he remains optimistic and often jokes. Especially on sexual topics.

14.Amintas Exarchidis. 31 years old. Greek. He works as Rick's bodyguard. They became good friends, despite the closed and not verbose nature of Amintas. Aminats has three younger sisters and one older brother, who provided great support in his youth. He, like Rick, lived in a poor, not rich family, so they quickly found a common language. Despite the numerous scars that are on his body, he still tries to resolve any conflicts peacefully.

#scetch #art digital #my art #oc #oc artwork #my original characters

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guessillcallitart · 2 years

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A girl with soft, golden curls wild around her head stands on a cliff. Her forest green eyes are locked in the stormy, gloomy waves of the ocean before her. "Dive in", the giant mass of water seems to call her. "Dive in, we'll catch you." The girl hesitates taking a step back. "But I've never tried it before", she whispers. "You have to save her. She's a prisoner." She listens to the quiet, mysterious voice intently. "Who?" she asks all of a sudden face to face with a pale, freckled, sandy haired girl, resembling a ghost. Her eyes are closed and she doesn't seem to be breathing. The golden girl reaches out to touch her. She's cold. "Where is she?" the curly haired girl whispers. "Under the waves. Hurry up. You don't have much time." The ocean goes silent and the girl disappears. The golden girl sighs deeply, her mind swirling with thoughts. She walks down to the beach. She takes off her shoes and socks. "I'm coming for you", she says determinedly. Feeling a hand on her arm, she turns around. She sees a girl with bright, tawny eyes and long, auburn hair. "I've been looking all over for you", the girl says exasperatedly. "Your grandmother keeps glancing out of the window and repeating the words: 'They want her back. They'll choose somebody else.'" The golden girl goes pale on her face. "Margo", she starts off unsurely. "I'm sorry, alright. But I have a horrible secret that only my grandmother knows about."

"Oh, Gene, you can tell me anything." Margo smiles at her reassuringly. "You might not believe it", Gene warns her. Margo nods. Gene turns to look at the merciless waves again. "My grandmother is a mermaid." She is afraid of the other girl's reaction. Genevieve sighs deeply. "She's a changeling and I am one too." Margo is completely silent for a little while. The only voice the girls can hear is the roar of the ocean. "What does that exactly mean?" Margo finally speaks. Her voice sounds a bit hoarse. "So, you believe it?" Genevieve asks and without a warning she throws herself in the other girl's arms. "Thank you", she keeps whispering over and over again. Margo, as a bit taller girl, presses a tiny kiss on Genevieve's head. "Sure, I do. You wouldn't just come up with something like that." A bit embarrassed, Gene takes a few steps back on the soft sand. "I was born in the bottom of the ocean", she says quietly. "My grandmother was too. She adopted my mom so my mom isn't a changeling. My grandmother didn't want her child to be linked to the ocean in any way. It's too risky and terrifying."

"So, do you have a tail?" Margo asks, seemingly curious. "No, but I have gills in the water." Gene lets out a little, hollow laugh. "Every hundred years the ocean wants back what it once owned. It has taken human babies and turned them to mermaids after they drowned, and given back changelings in exchange. The ocean needs human blood to keep its balance. At least that's what my grandmother has told me and now..." Gene sighs. "The ocean wants me. It has already taken a girl. I don't know where her soul is but her body is on the bottom of the ocean. I have to save her. I can't let her suffer for me." There's a terrified look in Margo's eyes. "But that means you'll be gone." Gene nods. "There has to be another way", Margo says fervently. "There has to be."

#original story #original character #victorianshannon #fantasy #fiction #original characters #ocs #wattpadstories #wattpad #writerblr

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maxwell-grant · 3 years

Note

The idea of the Shadow co-existing with Superheroes brings the question: How does the Shadow react when events escalate beyond the point where he can have an impact? How does he feel when the entire world is at risk, and he can't help?

Basically the above panel. By refusing to acknowledge the possibility that he can’t help, even if just to save one person, one life, at the end.

By doing whatever he can, even if he can’t save everyone or finish those causing it. Even if he is taken aback by it (and he definitely would, because he is rarely if ever out of his depth to such an extent), there is rarely, if ever, a time where nothing can be done to help someone, even if it can’t be done by addressing or fixing the problem, even if a lot of the times, we don’t know what to do to help.

There’s a particular passage that came to mind when I read your question, from a story called The Living Joss, where The Shadow stops to mourn a man, a total stranger, whom he failed to protect in time. We rarely ever get to see scenes like this as usually The Shadow expresses thoughts and feelings through non-verbal gestures and laughter (sometimes he almost laughs more often than he talks), and this moment always stuck out to me.

Amid the misty drizzle, The Shadow lowered himself from the side of the bridge, and dropped to the craggy side of the ravine. He reached the smashed car. Blaine Goodall, in a mad effort to escape death, had opened the door of the failing coupe. Caught beneath the rolling body of the car, Goodall had met his doom.

The Shadow stood in silence. Again, fate had contrived against his surpassing skill. He had arrived in time to shoot down one squad of blocking enemies. He had turned and driven back to deliver death to another corps of skulking assassins. But in the midst of conflict, the man whom he had come to save had hurtled to his own destruction.

Long minutes followed The Shadow's sad discovery; then a figure clambered into the speedster, and the powerful motor roared as it started along the road that led back to New York.

The Shadow had another score to settle. Never again would Koy Shan slay. Death would strike him before he had the new opportunity.

Here, after he manages to stave off the assassins and finds the guy, he takes a moment to mourn, to reflect, to think, and then he immediately gets back on track to pursue vengeance against the ones responsible for said death to stop them from killing others.

Obviously The Shadow outright failing is a very rare occurance, unless it’s by narrative design heroes very rarely botch rescues so badly that people die or don’t manage to get at least one victory at the end of the story. But The Shadow failing or miscalculating, failing to protect people, failing to calculate certain factors and so on, was nowhere near as unthinkable of an occurance in the pulps as people seem to think.

No matter how unshakeable his confidence in himself is, how prepared he is for everything, or how his willpower is so strong than in the radio show it allowed him to protect himself and Margo from a literal time loop through willlpower alone, he’s not the omniscient demigod he pretends to be, and he’s aware of it. He has to be, because arrogance is the downfall of every villain he’s ever fought, and third-person speaking black-clad cackling ghoul he is, he is all too aware of his proximity to them.

I...have concerns about my clarity, and my mental focus. I’m not one to suffer doubt...nor to take the scope of my actions lightly.

Yet of late, I’ve felt...untethered. And subject to foul emotions I’d long since thought buried.

But I am a commander in a war. There are people who risk their very lives under my authority.

But no matter how badly it got in the stories, how hopeless circumstances got or how many people had already been killed by the villains he fought, The Shadow never appeared close to giving up protecting others, no matter the cost to himself.

It’s one of the things that runs contrary to the common idea that he’s an unfeeling sadist murder machine, how often he completely disregards everything to go and throw himself in danger to rescue anyone who’s in any danger. Creeping Death has one such sequence where he jumps out of cover to the middle of a gunfight, and gets shot in the process, to literally throw Vic Marquette into safety (Marquette, who is not an agent, or an especially likeable character for that matter), and then sticks around after the bad guys are dispatched to ensure that help is on the way. Or in Invincible Shiwan Khan, when he gets injured throwing himself on the path of a flying Moe Shrevnitz to cushion his fall, and because of it, gets beaten so brutally by Khan’s minion that he staggers barely conscious out of the fight, even though by this point he’s racing against the clock to stop Khan from acquiring his doomsday devices. At these moments, all he really could do, regardless of the odds, was to try and stop people from being hurt or killed, no matter the personal cost to himself or the mission, and so he did.

Throw a superhero apocalypse his way, and he’s going to be doing whatever he can to recruit the right people, obtain the right resources, anything he can to stop as much bloodshed as he can. And if he can’t? He’s going to be there to rescue people caught in the crossfire. If a zombie apocalypse hits town, he puts all of his agents to work on containing it as much as they can or finding a cure. If a giant monster’s rampaging downtown, he’s going to hitch a ride in a train and fire at it so it chases him and gives others time to run. If there’s an earthquake or tsunami, he gathers as many agents as he can and starts finding ways to ferry people to safety. If everyone he knows is dead, his greatest enemies have been winning for decades, and he’s stuck in a world that hates him and has no use for him, and he has no idea anymore what he even used to be? Still not gonna stop him. The Twilight Zone traps him in constantly shifting dimensions that break down his identity until he learns he’s nothing more than a fictional character, and he walks out of it having learned a lesson in humility.

If he’s thrown, alone, in a full on dystopia setting completely unlike his own, where he has to learn single-handedly to fight alien hordes to save Earth?

It's not that he never fails, can never fail or become emotionally distressed at it, it's that it ultimately does not stop him from doing whatever he can, whatever needs to be done, as The Shadow. His whole thing is knowing what to do above all else, and when he doesn’t know, he learns, studies, does whatever he can to remedy that as soon as possible.

#pulp heroes #the shadow #pulp fiction #replies tag

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my-mt-heart · 4 years

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Hey there! I really liked the first chapter of “How It Works.” Curious to hear why you think Daryl should have been the one to release Negan?

Thank you so much! Now hear me out. I know back when it was first being speculated who released Negan on the show, a shit ton of people thought it was Carol, myself included. Then when we finally found out it was in fact Carol, a shit ton of people were ecstatic about it. And I get it, there are plenty of arguments to be made for why it needed to be her. First, it further highlights the similarities between Carol and Alpha who both resorted to espionage to defeat one another. It also shows Carol being the badass we all know and love while the rest of the group twiddled their thumbs. More importantly though, it gives Carol a critical and well-deserved role in Alpha's defeat without pissing off comic fans who desperately wanted to see Negan get his comic storyline.

For me though, by the time 10x08 aired, the possibility that Carol let Negan out seemed a lot less plausible given where she was emotionally. Now you could say letting him out was a result of her destabilizing, but then you get to 10x09 where Carol speaks so adamantly about wanting to hurt Alpha and wanting to watch her suffer. To me, that shows she's not just hell bent on taking her down. She needs to do the job herself in order to truly be satisfied, so why would she ever allow Negan to take that from her? It didn't track, and that's when I started to feel like there were much stronger arguments to be made for Daryl.

Think of his arc this season. He's trying to reconcile his love/loyalty to Carol with his new leadership role in the communities, so if he's the one who sends Negan to kill Alpha, then in one way he's actively pushing for what he wants because assuming the plan works, it'll avenge Carol without putting her directly in harm's way and it'll ultimately free his people from the major threat of war they've been under. Then in another way, he's risking everything he holds dear because if Carol and/or the communities find out, they're obviously going to be super pissed at him for going behind their backs and threatening their safety even further. Of course there's also the guilt about Glenn to contend with. Drama. Stakes. Inner turmoil. Give them to me!!!

I get that we're being introduced to the "new and improved" Daryl who doesn't make reckless decisions anymore, but just because we don't want him to completely regress doesn't mean we can't still see him struggle. 10x04 actually sets this up really well with him feeling conflicted about whether or not Negan should be executed for killing Margo. The payoff just wasn't as strong as it could have been because even though he voiced his opinion to the council, which in itself was a tough decision, Carol is the one who acted on it. As much as I love seeing her drive the story this season, at the same time, I'm still craving a little more from Daryl. He is also the show's main protagonist, so you'd think he'd be doing a lot more than just reacting to what others are doing.

I'm going to try to approach this next point carefully because it seems to be pretty sensitive and I don't want to give anyone the wrong idea. I'm not demonizing Carol at all for her actions on the show, but purely from a writing standpoint, I just feel like she's been given more weight to carry than was necessary. There's a phrase used in writers' rooms (the ones I've worked in anyway) to describe things that feel redundant, and it's called "a hat on a hat." We already see Carol hit rock bottom when the cave explodes, so do we really need to tack on guilt for letting Negan out right after that? Obviously Daryl and Carol were always going to make up no matter what, BUT, in my humble opinion, it is much more believable and more powerful if during their heart-to-heart, they both have something to confront each other about as opposed to one of them being way up on their high horse (this is another rant entirely) while the other has her tail all the way between her legs.

I realize this sounds like I'm just beating a dead horse at this point. Thankfully, I've managed to get out a lot of my frustration while writing HIW. Plus with the spinoff announcement, I am much more accepting of how everything unfolded and absolutely cannot fucking wait to see what happens next. Love the show, especially love these two characters, and will follow their journey to the very end or until I die, whichever comes first. It could go either way, honestly.

#caryl #carol peletier #daryl dixon #release the negan #twd season 10 #twd #the walking dead

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starbright18 · 2 years

Text

FRAYED

☾*✲⋆.☾*✲⋆.☾*✲⋆.☾*✲⋆.

"Back to your seat," Coach Finstock blew the whistle at one of the students who stood, making his way to the front to ask him a question. We were on the way to a cross country meet, much to my dismay.

Scott, Stiles, and I sat in the back, replaying the events of the last few days in our heads. I sat across from the boys, curled into a tight ball in the seat with my back against the window, staring straight ahead. I felt empty and guilty, both emotions forcing me back into a position where I had to wear sunglasses on the bus to avoid anybody noticing my abilities going crazy on their own. Plus, on top of my abilities going crazy, Scott's were seemingly nowhere to be found as he still hadn't healed from his wounds made the night prior.

"Yo, Scotty," Stiles snapped his fingers. "Hey, yo, Scotty? You still with me?"

"Yeah, sorry," Scott breathed, turning his attention toward my twin. "Uh, what's the word?"

"Anachronism."

"Something that exists out of its normal time," Scott answered quickly. The two boys were doing PSAT prep per Scott's request, something that I was originally in on but could no longer find the motivation to do.

"Nice. Okay, next word — incongruous."

"Um, can you use it in a sentence?"

"Yes. Yes, I can. It's completely incongruous that we're sitting on a bus right now, on our way to some stupid cross country meet after what just happened — incongruous," Stiles retorted.

"Out of place, ridiculous, absurd."

"Perfect. Okay, next word. Um, darach. Darach, it's a noun," Stiles tried, recoiling at the look Scott sent him. "We have to talk about it sometime, okay? And we're gonna be stuck in this thing for, like, five hours, so why not?" When Scott ignored him, Stiles relented. "Next word, intransigent."

"Stubborn, obstinate," Scott defined. When the bus hit a large bump, he groaned, moving his hand toward his stomach. I sat up almost immediately, leaning closer to the seat.

"Are you okay?" I spoke quietly, my voice coming out in a rasp. I had barely spoken since the night before, choosing to spend my time suffering in silence. However, that wasn't something I could do when Scott was still gravely injured.

"We shouldn't have come," Stiles sighed. "I knew it, we shouldn't have come."

"We had to," Scott replied. "There's safety in numbers."

"Yeah, well, there's also death in numbers, okay? It's called a massacre," Stiles sassed loudly. "Or bloodbath, carnage, slaughter, butchery—wow, that's a—" Stiles was cut off by another groan from Scott. "Alright, Scott, I'm telling Coach that—"

"No, no, no, no," Scott refused. "I'm alright."

"Well, you don't look alright. Will you just let me see it?" Stiles tried raising Scott's shirt, who fought back immediately.

"I'm okay," He breathed out. I leaned forward a bit further, shooting my arm out across Stiles to grab Scott by the jacket.

"Let me look," I ordered, not waiting for an answer before I tugged up the bottom of his top. He chose not to fight me, allowing me to reveal his gnarly wound. "Scott, that isn't okay."

"I know, but it's because they're from an alpha. It'll take longer to heal," Scott explained.

"How come Boyd, Isaac, and Margo are fine then?" Stiles replied, glancing between us three betas. I sat back in my seat, taking my original position up against the window while I recalled the events of the previous night once more.

"I can't believe he's dead. I can't believe Derek is dead."

With a snarl, Ennis flung Scott roughly to the floor. The two had collided in mid-air just before Scott's eyes flickered red for a brief moment and in a rage, Ennis grabbed Scott by his collar and tossed him as though he was weightless. I roared out in frustration, taking two large steps forward and slamming my nails into the alpha's back, forcing him to face me. When he did, he slammed his forearm into my face which caused me to stumble back and he took advantage of my lack of focus to grab me by my upper arms and lift me.

For a moment, time slowed down while I went airborne but even then I was left with no time to prepare as my body smacked into a concrete pillar, part of which crumbled from the force. I screamed out in pain when I felt my ribs crack before curling into a tight ball on the floor, taking shaky breaths while spitting up blood. Ennis wasn't done, however, as he took several steps toward me before picking me up by my throat and holding me against the pillar. He raised his free hands with his claws out and just as I began to mentally prepare myself for death, another roar sounded out.

Derek slammed into the alpha, who dropped his grip on me and allowed me to crumble to the floor. Derek punched him roughly in the face before grabbing him by the shirt, the two werewolves stumbling dangerously close to the edge. With Derek appearing to have the upper hand, Scott and I sprung into action. I slashed my claws against Ennis's knees while Scott took his heels and he stumbled from his injuries. However, just as we thought we were successful, he tipped over the edge of the landing, taking Derek with him where both bodies would land on the concrete below with a sickening crunch.

Derek Hale saved my life, and in return, I ended his.

"Two of you, back to your seats," Coach blew his whistle, motioning for the two girls who stood to move closer to their friends to return to their places. "Jared, again, car sick, every ti—how do you even get on the bus? Look at me—no, don't look at me. Look at the horizon. Keep your eyes on the horizon. McCall, Margo, not you guys too." Coach whined loudly.

"No, Coach, I'm good," Scott sat up quickly. I silently peered over the seat and gave him a thumbs-up before laying back against the window.

"Hey, Scott, you're bleeding again. And don't tell me it's just taking longer to heal, okay? Because I'm pretty sure that still bleeding means not healing, like, at all," Stiles examined Scott's abdomen.

"He's listening," Scott nodded his head up toward Ethan, who was sitting next to Danny a few rows up.

"Is he gonna do something?"

"Not in front of this many people."

"Okay, well, what about the two ticking time bombs sitting right near him?" Stiles motioned toward Boyd and Isaac.

"No, they won't. Not here."

"Okay, well what if they do, are you gonna stop them?"

"Do we have to?" I frowned. Stiles glanced over at me with an exasperated look on his face and I sighed lowly. "Yeah, I guess we'll stop them." The bus came to a harsh stop, revealing that we were stuck in standstill traffic. Great.

"Woah, Scott, where are you going?" Stiles held his hands out toward Scott who was forcing himself to his feet.

"Boyd. He's gonna do something."

"Okay, what? How do you know?"

"His hands," I nodded up toward Boyd's seat, noticing the claws that were digging into the leather on the seat in front of him. Stiles moved so Scott could leave the seat and I watched tensely as the boy made his way toward the two betas.

Just nights prior, Scott, Deaton, and I had a long conversation about Derek and our pack, where Deaton advised us to lead and guide our packmates rather than stop them. It was a long, hard conversation to have. I was in no position to guide anybody and Scott...well, Scott had a flicker of red eyes the night before at the abandoned mall, and I assumed it was because of his position within our pack. Scott was a leader, whereas I was an omen for death.

"Crisis averted?" Stiles asked, standing to let Scott back into the seat. Scott declined, moving my feet to take the place next to me. When he hummed in response, Stiles sighed. "Okay, good, because we've got another problem. Ethan keeps checking his phone, like every 5 minutes. It's like he's waiting for something. You know, like, a message or a signal of some kind. I don't know, something evil though, I can tell. I have a very perceptive eye for evil, but you know that."

"I don't like him sitting with Danny," Scott sighed. Careful not to hit his wounds, I placed my legs over his knees and allowed him to place his hand on my thigh, leaning my head back against the window. I hadn't said very much to Scott since last night. Not because I blamed him, but because I blamed myself for not seeing what was happening and not being able to stop it. And truthfully, I feared my pack would blame me too.

"Yeah, neither do I," Stiles pulled his phone out of his pocket and sent a quick text. "I'm gonna see what he's waiting for."

"What are you doing?"

"I'm gonna ask." Just a few seats up, I heard Danny's phone ding. He glanced back at Stiles who grinned, waving his hand toward him. When Danny shook his head, Stiles pouted, sending him another text. The cycle repeated a couple more times before Danny shoved his phone in his pocket. Stiles' thumbs moved rapidly across his phone screen, and from our spot in the back, I could hear Danny's phone dinging like crazy. Moments, later, Ethan and Danny looked back at us, causing Stiles and Scott to duck immediately. "Well, that wasn't very subtle."

"No kidding," I snorted. Stiles showed Scott and me a text message silently.

"Ennis?" Scott asked incredulously.

"Okay, so does that—so does that mean, uh..."

"He's not dead?"

"Not yet," Stiles frowned. The revelation made me feel significantly worse when I realized Derek died for nothing. If we hadn't even managed to take out one of their pack members, ours died in vain. My lip trembled and I immediately moved my legs from Scott's lap, turning away from him and toward the window.

"Hey," Scott whispered, reaching for my hand. I pulled it just out of his reach, focusing on the cars outside rather than the hurt look I felt him give me.

"Jared, I'm warning you," Coach narrowed his eyes at the carsick boy at the front of the bus. "I'm an empathetic vomiter. You throw up, I'm gonna throw up right back on you. And it will be profoundly disgusting."

"Please don't talk about throwing up. It's not good."

"I might throw up on you just to make a point, Jared."

"It's not good, it's not good," Jared whimpered.

"Now the rest of you, don't think we're gonna miss this meet because of a slight traffic jam," Coach motioned toward the stopped traffic in front of the bus. "Or a minor tornado warning...Jared. We're gonna make this thing. Nothing is gonna stop us! Stilinski put your hand down."

"You know, there's, like, a food exit about a half a mile up. I don't know if we stop and then maybe traf—" Stiles tried.

"We're not gonna stop."

"Okay, but if we stop—"

"Stilinski!" Coach blew his whistle. "Shut it! Seriously, it's a little bus. Stop asking me questions!"

"I hate him," Stiles leaned back in his seat. "Did you call Deaton?"

"I keep getting his voicemail," Scott informed him.

"That's it, I'm calling Lydia and Allison," Stiles decided, pulling his phone from his pocket.

"How are they gonna help, back in Beacon Hills?" Scott panted.

"They're not," He clicked Lydia's contact quickly. "They've been following us for hours. Pathetic." I glanced back toward Allison's car which now sat three cars away.

"Hey, Stiles. Yeah, we're just about to walk into a movie. Uh, you know, the popcorn—" Lydia lied.

"I know you're behind us, put me on speaker,"

"Okay," Lydia relented.

"Look, Scott's still hurt, and Margo...Margo's still doing her dark and gloomy thing," Stiles explained.

"What do you mean still? He's not healing?"

"No, he's not healing. I think he's actually getting worse. The blood's turning, like, a black color."

"What's wrong with him?" Lydia interjected.

"What's wrong with him? I don't—do I have a Ph.D. in lycanthropy? How am I supposed to know that?" Stiles sassed.

"And Margo?" Allison questioned softly.

"Has barely said a word and won't look at us."

"We need to get them off the bus," Allison decided. "Stiles, there's a rest area about a mile up. Tell the Coach to pull over."

"Yeah, I've been trying."

"Well, reason with him."

"Reason? Have you met this guy?" Stiles retorted.

"Just try something." Allison hung up and Stiles groaned before making his way up the aisle of the bus.

"Coach, it's five minutes for a bathroom break, okay?" He tried. "We've been on this thing for, like, three hours—" Coach blew his whistle. "It's 60 miles to the next rest stop—" Whistle. "Being cooped up for hours is not good—" Whistle. "You know, our bladders aren't exactly—" Whistle. "Coach, this is—" Whistle. "Can you—" Whistle. "Please—" Whistle. Whistle. "Let me talk! I'm—" Whistle. "Every time—" Whistle.

"Back to your seat, Stilinski."

"Okay!" Stiles shouted, turning on his heel.

"And Jared, keep your eyes on the horizon," Coach turned toward the front of the bus once more. Stiles paused in the aisle, turning toward Jared with a devilish smile on his face. Just moments later, the bus was forced to pull off at a rest stop because Jared vomited, something I knew was Stiles' doing. I gagged on my way up the aisle, carefully stepping over a pile of puke before making my way down the stairs.

"Jared, you suck!" Coach yelled. I threw one of Scott's arms over my shoulder and together, we hauled him into the bathroom followed closely by Allison and Lydia. Scott whimpered when we placed him on the floor and I sighed, squatting in front of him.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Allison frowned.

"Sorry," Scott breathed shakily. I lifted his shirt, revealing deep claw marks that were surrounded by black blood.

"Oh, my God," I mumbled.

"Okay, just give us a second, okay?" Allison pulled me from the floor to step away with Stiles and Lydia.

"This shouldn't be happening," I shook my head. "I've seen him heal from worse than this. We've both healed from worse than this."

"Okay, what do we do then? Do we just call an ambulance?" Stiles rushed out.

"What if—what if it's too late? What if they can't help?"

"You know, it could be psychological," Lydia realized, glancing between us.

"What, like psychosomatic?"

"Somatiformic," Lydia corrected. "A physical illness from a psychogenic cause. Yes, it's all in his head."

"All in his head? Because of Derek. He's not letting himself heal because Derek died," Stiles put the pieces together slowly.

"So, what do we do?"

"I can heal him," I shuffled nervously on my feet. "I—I can do it. Can you guys—can you make sure the bus doesn't leave?"

"I can," Stiles nodded.

"I'll help," Lydia turned to follow him out of the bathroom.

"I can help—"

"You too, Allison, please," I refused to meet her eyes. She hesitated, but with Lydia's guidance, the three of them were exiting and leaving Scott and me alone.

"It's okay," Scott breathed softly, his eyes fluttering shut.

"Stay with me, please. Stay with me, okay?" I gripped his face tightly in my hands.

"I'm tired."

"I know," My voice cracked slightly. "I know, but just stay with me. I'm gonna heal you, okay? Just look at me. You said that's one of your favorite things to do, right? Just keep looking at me." I moved my hands to his bare abdomen, barely noticing just how hard they were shaking. With a deep breath, I placed my hands on his abdomen, willing my body to heal him. Nothing happened, however. "Come on." I lifted my hands before placing them back down. Still, nothing.

"Margo," A soft voice called out. "Margo, what are you doing?"

"I can do this," I sobbed softly, lifting my hands once more. "I can—I can do this."

"Margo, honey, you need to breathe."

"I can't, mom!" I cried, placing my hands back on Scott's wound. "He's—he's dying, and I can't—I can't heal him. Come on!"

"Margo, take a deep breath."

"I can't!"

"You need to."

"Okay," I breathed softly, drawing in a large breath.

"Remember what we used to tell you?" Her figure crouched next to mine. "Admit that you're scared."

"I—I'm terrified," I sobbed, pressing my hands harder against the wound.

"Imagine yourself calm."

"Okay," With another deep breath, I closed my eyes and let my mind take me back to Beacon Hills. I wasn't here, I was on the couch before I left for France, squished between Scott and Stiles, laughing way too hard at Ice Age on the TV. Slowly, my hands stopped shaking.

"Good, now try again," My mother cooed softly. I nodded to myself and raised my hands, focusing all of my energy on the boy in front of me. When I touched him again, I felt my body drawing in his pain, slowly drying the blood and pulling the torn pieces of skin back together. I felt drained, but it was a small price to pay for Scott being okay. At least, I thought.

"Scott," I whispered, lightly tapping his shoulder. When he didn't move, I felt my heart rate pick up again. "Scott?" I leaned in close, listening for his heartbeat that couldn't be heard. "Scott?" More tears began to flow while I shook his shoulder nervously, praying that he'd wake up. "Scott, baby, wake up. Wake up!" He drew in a deep breath, forcing me to jerk back in shock.

"It's my fault," He frowned.

"Scott," I put my hands on either side of his face. "It's gonna be okay. We're okay. But you're lucky you're already hurt or I'd kick your ass. Don't you ever do that to me again, okay?" "

"I'm sorry," He sighed, grabbing my hand that rested on his cheek. "Did you do that?" He glanced down at his abdomen which was fully healed.

"Yeah."

"Nice," he breathed.

"Can you stand?" I asked, helping him to his feet. I passed him a shirt to put on before throwing his arm around my shoulder and guiding him out of the bathroom.

"Is he okay? Are you okay?" Lydia rushed up to us.

"Yeah. Stiles. Where's Stiles?" Scott panted.

"Trying to stall Coach," Lydia took the bag from his shoulder and helped guide him forward. From beside us, Allison approached. "We still don't have gas."

"I'm not leaving them."

"Then we have to leave the car."

"Sounds good," Allison shrugged, taking my free hand into hers. Lydia fell back and together, Allison and I led Scott toward Stiles who was standing just off to the side of a large group of students.

"Stiles, what's happening?" Scott asked in surprise.

"I told 'em what was happening with you and he just went after them," Stiles nodded his head down toward the two fighting figures.

"Boyd?" Scott asked incredulously. On the ground in front of us was Ethan who was being beaten to a pulp by Isaac.

"Isaac! Isaac! Isaac!" Coach shouted. Danny grabbed Isaac's arm from behind him only to get pushed roughly away before Isaac went back in on Ethan.

"Isaac!" Scott shouted. Immediately, Isaac's hands fell away from Ethan and he turned, staring at Scott in shock.

Just minutes later, our group of teenagers was getting back on the mostly clean bus. Scott and I took the seat in the back while Allison sat across from us and Lydia and Stiles in front. We sat in awkward silence for a long moment listening to Stiles ramble before I sighed, turning toward him and taking his hand.

"You know, if Derek is really dead, then it isn't our fault," I raised my eyebrows at him. He sighed, glancing over at me.

"What if it is?"

"If it's your fault then it's mine too," I pointed out. "I hit Ennis the same way you did."

"You remember that whole thing we talked about where I told you not to risk your life for me?" He asked softly. I nodded, turning my head toward the floor. "Thank you for not listening."

"I'll always protect you, Scott," I smiled weakly, searching his face. "Every time."

"What?" He asked, giving me a confused look when my eyes stayed locked on his.

"Just looking at your eyes."

His eyes that flashed red when Ennis collided with him. Perhaps Deaton was right after all...Scott was the leader of our pack. Our alpha.

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rogue-barnes-16 · 5 years

Text

BLIND (part XV/?)

Summary: Steve brought Bucky to the compound for him to join the Avengers. While some of them welcomed him with smiles, others prefer to judge him for his past. But, could that change?

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x reader

Genre: angst-fluff

Tags:

Blind:

@goodnightmode @superhero2552 @thejourneyneverendsx @wishingforahome @thefandomzoneisdangerous @catsandbooksinafarawayplace @learisa

Permanent taglist:

@notexactlythatgirl @thisismysecrethappyplace @sofreakinmanyfandoms @pizzarollpatrol @bubblycypress87 @sinviix @loislp @lovenaturefirst @dyanna-corona @2ptonpt @goodnightmode @disneyprincessbuffyannesummers @mannls @cutie1365 @catch22inareddress

Warnings: language, mental breakdown

A/N: I'm gonna be honest, I was planning on posting the next part of HEAL ME to make y'all suffer, but then I watched Avengers: Endgame trailer and I thought: "not today, Sofía. Not today". I'm not gonna say I'm bringing you fluff because I'm obviously not bringing you fluff lol, but it's not gonna hurt that much, I promise <3.

Blind masterlist

Rogue-barnes-16 masterlist

"And she asked me if I could give them a condom!" I kept narrating the previous night to Wanda, who was lifting weights while I ran on the treadmill.

"a condom?" she asked confused, giving me a questioning glance. I nodded in response and she let the weights fall before sitting up. "doesn't Bucky have condoms?"

"apparently not" I replied, increasing the speed of the treadmill. "and why me anyway? He could've asked Steve or Sam, and everything would've been less awkward"

"well" she got up and walked to the treadmill besides mine, switching it on in a slow speed. "Your room is right across the hall, and it's not like they asked you to join them Y/n. It was just a condom"

I glared at Wanda wide-eyed, and when she shrugged, I groaned, a bit pissed off. "Wan, you don't understand shit" and it was true, she didn't understand shit.

But did I?

"Y/n" Natasha approached us, unraveling the bandages she had put on her hands for her morning sparring. "have you seen Barnes? We were supposed to start the sparring session fifteen minutes ago"

I huffed, rolling my eyes, and when I didn't answer Natasha, Wanda spoke. "he got laid last night." Natasha widened her eyes, opening her mouth in agape "Y/n was just telling me the amazing story of how Margo, that girl from Statistics, asked her for a condom."

"a condom?" Nat asked, just as confused as Wanda. "why the hell- he doesn't have condoms?"

"No he doesn't!" Wanda replied, stopping the treadmill. "it's weird as fuck, isn't it?"

"yeah it is" I rolled my eyes again right after Natasha response. Such a good topic to talk about, I thought, attempting to put my earphones on "Y/n"

"what now?" my reply, which was a growl more than a proper question, caused Wanda to stare at me dumbfounded.

However, and for some reason I didn't understand, Natasha just grinned at me. "since you almost finished your training routine, can you go and see if he's still in his room?"

"can't you just spar with Wanda?" I whined, already stopping my treadmill before climbing off. "she needs to improve her self defense skills, they suck." I didn't really want to see Barnes. Not right now.

"I'm not gonna skip the essential part of my routine, Y/n" Natasha stated, her arms crossed over her chest "getting laid is not an excuse to skip training. Go up there and bring him back here."

"You're an insufferable little bitch" I hissed, wiping the sweat off my face before walking to the exit.

"I love you too, Y/n!" she shouted, making me smile and shake my head. "bring Barnes lazy ass down here to this insufferable little bitch."

"Aye aye, Romanoff!" I exclaimed back, getting out of the gym and making my way to the elevator.

Once I was in our floor, I walked until I was in front of Barnes' door, and, after taking a deep breath, I knocked it a couple of times. "hey It's Y/n!" I talked loudly for him to hear before I opened the door.

His bed was made, and I saw his pyjamas folded on top of his pillow. He wasn't in his room, so he was probably having breakfast.

Before I could get out of the room, I heard a quiet sob coming from the bathroom, and my heart automatically clenched.

I didn't know what to do, but that didn't matter, because the second after I had heard the sob, I walked to the bathroom.

And there he was, in front of the mirror, hands tightly gripping the sink and jaw clenched. He most likely had just come out of the shower, since there was still a towel wrapped around his hips and his hair was wet.

But I ignored all of that because, fuck, he was trying so hard to hold back his sobs, and it wasn't because of me —I was completely sure he didn't acknowledge I was there.

I chewed my lip, gripping the bathroom's door frame "Bucky?" he widened his eyes, staring at my reflection in the mirror. And then I realized what I had just said.

It slipped out. I didn't mean to call him by his name, but it happened, and we didn't need another reason to be nervous as fuck, so I thought play it cool Y/n.

He didn't dare to speak —I wasn't even sure if he could—, he just kept staring at my reflection with wide, bloodshot eyes and his jaw clenched.

"what's wrong?" I spoke as softly as I could, taking a few hesitant and careful steps in his direction.

His gaze flicked to another part of what was reflected in the mirror —I didn't know what he was looking at until he spoke— "I hate them" he muttered "I hate these fucking scars"

I wasn't sure if he was having a random breakdown, or if something had triggered it, but I knew I had to help somehow.

"Scars" I whispered, getting closer until I was standing by his left side "are a reminder of what we went through" I spoke calmly, trying to transmit that feeling to him "but they also mean that we survived. That we're alive"

He probably was a bit taken aback by my words, because he took a moment before giving me a response.

He scoffed, staring at the sink "I'm sure Margo doesn't think the same." my lips parted when I heard his words.

So Margo triggered this. "that's because Margo got no scars." I replied, softness vanishing from my voice, letting out a passive aggressive attitude "she doesn't understand shit about it."

He nodded, letting his grip on the sink loosen a bit. "she had 'disgust' written all over her face when I took off my shirt." he explained, taking his flesh hand to his face to wipe some tears away "didn't wanna touch 'em"

"the scars?" I asked, and he nodded in response. "so... You didn't..." I trailed off, unable to finish the question.

"we did"

"then- I mean- how?" I asked, confused. He was covered in scars, if she was disgusted, how the hell did they manage?

"she avoided... Touching-" Hi gestured at the area where metal and flesh met, disgust and shame plastered on his gaze. "Touching it."

"Uh... I don't know what to say" I admitted, looking at anything but him when I felt his gaze on me. "want me to talk with her?"

He shook his head no, completely loosening the grip of the sink and removing his hands from it. "asking her out was a mistake in first place" I looked up to see his eyes trained on our feet, eyes glassy again, and an emotionless attempt of smile dancing on his lips. "I knew something like this would happen, and still I-"

I chewed my lower lip when his voice cracked and his lip quivered.

I had no clue of what to do, I knew nothing about Barnes, and here I was. Natasha should have been the one coming here, she was the one who asked for him after all.

But no, it had to be me. I had to be the one finding Barnes —a person I barely got along with, despite all of our pathetic efforts— having a breakdown.

And then I remembered what I could do. He's touch starved, my inner self scolded me, don't fucking touch him, it'll get worse.

But, let's be honest, had I ever listened to my inner self? No, or else I wouldn't be this mess of a poor attempt of person.

"Hey" I stepped towards him, closing the space between us, before wrapping my arms around his neck, bringing him even closer into a hug.

And fuck, he went stiff, and at some point, it felt like he was going to try and pull away. But then his fist were clenched around the sides of my shirt and his face was buried in the crook of my neck.

Goosebumps ran through my body while I felt his uneven breathing fanning over my skin.

The reason why I had come there, and that had long been forgotten until the moment, was reminded by my phone buzzing.

"fuck my life" I cursed while pulling away from him —something that I found even more difficult than I had expected— to grab the phone.

Russian firecracker: found him?

Y/n: yup

Russian firecracker: bring him ASAP we already lost half an hour of sparring

I pursed my lips, taking a quick look at Barnes, who was currently resting against thee wall, looking at me.

"Natasha sent me" I broke the silence turning the phone screen for him to see the texts. "said you two were gonna spar, but you didn't show up and..." he looked down and I cleared my throat "want me to tell her you're not feeling well"

He shook his head no "it's fine, tell her I'll go down there in a couple of minutes" I nodded, walking out of the bathroom. "and Y/n, if Margo asks-"

"I won't tell her anything, don't worry" I quickly replied, giving him a quick ghost of a smile before exiting his room.

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