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forasecondtherewedwon · 3 years

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Only in a Sitcom

Fandom: WandaVision Pairing: Darcy Lewis/Jimmy Woo Rating: T

Summary: Darcy has no idea what the hell’s going on with this WandaVision thing, but neither does Jimmy. It’s kinda fun to have somebody to binge-watch alternate reality TV with.

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Darcy, Jimmy, and Monica have been working their way across Westview in as straight a line as possible, knocking on every door in every cute little cul-de-sac in their path. It was Jimmy who asserted they should never put their backs to a dangerous situation, but Monica who overruled that statement, pointing out that they were more likely to stay focused if they didn’t keep staring at the fight in the sky.

Darcy thinks they were both right. There’s a tingle rippling up and down the back of her neck, like she gets when she’s up in the middle of the night, spooked by shadows her anxious, overtired mind is too eager to turn into monsters, but the heebie-jeebies give her the energy to work quickly. She takes on an entire crescent on her own, readying people for a departure she’s certain they’ve been longing for. As she’s coming out the crescent’s other end, she realizes the Hex is getting brighter; the red storm clouds are being sucked back into themselves to leave a thin daylight.

Standing at the corner, she watches Jimmy and Monica emerge from the street opposite. Darcy jogs over, wincing. Wanda could’ve put orthotics in these Escape Artist boots. They’re blistering her feet.

“This has to be a good sign, right?” she asks, motioning to the calm skies.

“Look,” Monica instructs. She jerks her chin and Darcy and Jimmy follow her line of sight to see Wanda, Vision, and the twins coming up the main road.

Darcy gasps.

Wanda’s gone from bumming-around-the-house sweats to battle-ready chic. With her armour-like bodice, gloves that leave those magic fingers free, and an usually-shaped tiara framing her forehead, she’s both intimidating and otherworldly. But she’s smiling. Darcy would call it a sad smile and it hurts her heart to see it, even though she doesn’t understand.

As Wanda passes them with her hand held fast in Vision’s, she turns her head to nod at Monica. It’s in her eyes too, the same thing that’s in her smile. Something tired but present. Gone are the comedically darting glances of her persona as the bumbling new girl in town and the frazzled energy of a mom trying to corral a couple of superkids. It looks like she’s finally letting go of the illusion/delusion.

“Can we do anything for her?” Jimmy asks as the family continues on down the middle of the street.

“No,” Monica says. “The rest is for Wanda to do on her own.”

“We might as well head back towards the center of town,” Darcy says. “We don’t need to waste time at the edges. They’ll be the first to wake up.”

She points to where the Hex is shimmering on the horizon. The seconds pass and the shimmer looks messier, a weave of overlapping wires fritzing with energy. The edge is coming closer, but unlike when Wanda pushed the boundary farther, closing it around Darcy and her S.W.O.R.D. nemeses, this isn’t menacing. Wanda’s powers are no longer looking to consume more territory, they’re contracting. Faster than the incoming wave of the walls, the Hex goes dark. The red glow is intensely magical in the sudden night.

The three of them fan out, hitting the houses in their new route, and make their way back to the town square. They’ve been telling everyone to remain in their homes until they receive further instructions to evacuate, but Darcy spots a figure on the sidewalk by the department story. It’s Agnes, except… not as they saw her lately. No wild hair or billowing, layered outfit. No levitation. Darcy’s wary in the face of the woman who appears so much like her former self, the one supposedly under Wanda’s control. This Agnes has a damn Peter Pan collar poking out of her sweater! She couldn’t look much less threatening.

“What do you think?” she asks Monica when she joins her.

“I don’t know.” Monica peers across the street at Agnes in the dark and when Agnes notices, she flashes a wide smile.

“Well, maybe we should— Hey, no, wait!”

But the Captain strides across to meet Agnes. Darcy almost follows in her idol’s wake, but she quickly remembers that Monica has powers to protect herself that far exceed the right hook Darcy used to drop Agent Handcuffs. Whatever Agnes’s deal is, Darcy knows she’s an entirely different kind of beast from an asshole S.W.O.R.D. agent.

“What’s going on there?” Jimmy wonders, coming up beside her.

Thanks to the stress of trying to speak to as many citizens as possible in a short amount of time, including looking dozens of people still under mind control in the eye and aching for their lack of agency, the fear of and for Wanda as she witnessed that clash in the sky, and, really, the car crash that’s still pretty recent, Darcy reacts to her boyfriend’s presence by wrapping her arms around him tightly. With his tie pressed to her cheek, she feels him hug her back.

“I don’t know,” she says, carrying on the conversation without pulling away an inch, “but Monica’s finding out.”

“Agnes looks like an average Westviewer again. It’s disconcerting.”

“She must’ve been faking right up until she went head-to-head with Wanda.”

“And now she’s one of them for real.”

“Seems like,” Darcy agrees.

When Monica returns to confirm Agnes’s newly mind-controlled status, Darcy peels herself most of the way away from Jimmy, leaving her arm around his back, beneath his FBI jacket. He rests his arm around her shoulders.

“I don’t know what we do with her,” Monica says, hands on her hips. “We can’t undo what Wanda did, but do we leave Agnes here in Westview, trusting that she isn’t able to hurt anyone? Do we bring her in?”

“If it’s beyond our power to help her, maybe we just leave her here,” Jimmy suggests. “Wanda knows where she is, so we let Agnes stay in a place she can be found when or if Wanda decides to release her.”

“It’s tricky,” Darcy says slowly. “Agnes is capable of doing so much damage, and I’m sure she’s going to get good and angry while Wanda has her trapped inside herself. You and I know how that feels,” she says to Monica. “But that Agnes is secure—as far as we know—inside Sitcom Agnes, like little Agnes nesting dolls. I don’t know if this is the kind of punishment she deserves for pushing Wanda to the brink, but I do know it’s not going to be pretty if that inner Agnes is unleashed with nobody around to mitigate the consequences.”

“Sentient Weapon Observation and Response Division,” Monica says softly.

��Hmm?”

“S.W.O.R.D. That’s what we’re supposed to stand for. I think, without Tyler Hayward around, it’s high time S.W.O.R.D. went back to its roots of trying to understand exceptional people, circumstances, and technology instead of just attacking them.”

“Sounds as though you might have a plan, Captain,” Jimmy says. Darcy glances at his face and catches his small, knowing smile.

Monica beams back.

“The former Director may have kicked me off the base, but I’m still S.W.O.R.D. and I still believe in my mother’s original goals for the organization.”

“Hey, it’s your legacy,” Darcy says. “You have my vote for Director.”

“You want to put Agnes under S.W.O.R.D. observation?” Jimmy asks.

“Not just Agnes. Not if Wanda’s willing to listen.”

With the sky rapidly lightening, Monica roughs out a plan that involves a partnership between S.W.O.R.D. and Wanda Maximoff. A partnership because any other dynamic would surely fail. After what they all witnessed today, it’s obvious that someone as powerful as Wanda can’t be held against her will. In exchange for Wanda making reparations to the people and town of Westview (not the least of which will be repairing all physical damage, which Monica knows Wanda’s capable of, since there’s no longer a Monica-sized hole in her living room wall) and an agreement to be held in the custody of S.W.O.R.D., under the leadership of Director Monica Rambeau, Monica thinks she has plenty to offer Wanda.

“You think she’ll do that deal?” Jimmy asks.

“That’s my question too,” Darcy says. “I mean, without the deal, Wanda can go where she pleases, right?”

“But she’ll be alone,” Monica counters. “We know what her loved ones mean to her. That’s what all this has been about—Wanda doing whatever it takes in order to go through life less alone.”

“What can you give her?”

“Vision,” Jimmy says abruptly. “The other one, the one who left. You think he’ll be back.”

“I think he’ll want answers,” Monica agrees. “Whatever Hayward did to him, he did at S.W.O.R.D. and I’m betting that Wanda will see that’s her best chance to reunite with Vision.”

“Vision will come back,” Darcy says, putting it together, “and Wanda will be there waiting.”

“And in the meantime, we use her expertise as we continue our work in a… more transparent vein. Give her access, keep her busy.”

“Keep her happy,” Jimmy cuts in. Monica nods her acknowledgement.

“Yes. Show her what it’s like to help people again. What better way to remind her there’s more to the world than her artificial paradise than to have her consult on the work we’re doing in space?”

“If you need somebody to sell Wanda on the space angle, I’m your girl,” Darcy volunteers.

“I’ve already had some ideas about that,” Monica promises with a smile.

Her eyes focus beyond Darcy and Jimmy and they turn to see what she’s looking at. Black hood drawn up over her head, Wanda’s walking back into the downtown. Alone. Darcy hopes that the fact that she’s black-hatted doesn’t mean she’s already decided against working to redeem herself to rejoin the good guys.

“You better stay in touch too,” Monica tells Jimmy, shifting as she prepares to intercept Wanda.

“If you reach out to Darcy, I’m sure I won’t be far,” he says. Darcy’s heart performs quick, happy thumps.

With that, Monica walks purposely towards Wanda. Darcy watches her cautious body language and Wanda’s tension in response to being accosted, but there isn’t any visible escalation. When FBI vehicles and the team Darcy assumes belongs to Major Goodner roll up the street, Wanda doesn’t flee. Darcy looks to Jimmy.

“You better go take charge,” she suggests.

He gives her a bashful smile.

“I will in a minute. The evacuation should run like clockwork after all the prep we did. With the Hex removed, everyone’s free.”

“They’re free, I’m free…”

“Are you free Saturday?” The smile’s a little slyer now.

“After all this, I don’t even know what day of the week it is,” Darcy admits, “but yes.”

He laughs.

“What are you thinking?” she asks, twisting to face him as his hand moves from her shoulder to her waist. “Quiet night in watching TV?”

“You know, I think I need a break from TV for a while. How about a movie?”

Darcy grins.

“You buy the tickets, I’ll buy the snacks?”

“Deal,” Jimmy says, and smiles against her mouth when he ducks his head to kiss her.

#my writing #Only in a Sitcom #wandavision #wandavision spoilers #Darcy Lewis #Jimmy Woo #Monica Rambeau #Darcy Lewis x Jimmy Woo #Darcy x Jimmy #Vision

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popculturebuffet · 3 years

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Loud House: 11 Louds A Leapin Review or It’s My Bobby in a Box

Happy Holidays errybody! Christmas returns to this blog after a bit of a break to tie up some loose ends, and celebrate my birthday with a return to the loud house. It’s honestly good to be back. While it can be a struggle to cover a pure comedy, I genuinely like the show a lot, even with it’s flaws i’ve gone into, and my regular reviews gave me a running gag in my hatred of rusty and a new respect for the show. It’s just with a buiser schedule and me not actually trying to have something resembling order to things, I kept shoving Banned Together back despite really wanting to see it since.. you know.. Luna episode.. until it ended up sliding into ANOTHER set of episodes. It’s things like this why I have a queue now: while it’s not set day by day, in case I want to do more than one i na day, it is there to keeep some semblance of order and keep me on track so this dosen’t happen again. So with all that being said.. why did I choose to do A DIFFRENT loud house episode for the second time in a row before getting back to the current season? Simple.. i’ve been putting this episode off personally for even LONGER. I meant to watch 12 louds a leapin back when it first came out at the start of season 2... and just never got around to it. And just kept never getting around to it, wanting to watch it at christmas but then forgetting to do so for the last 4 years. Spare a thought there.. 4 years. In that time 80 years have passed, an era of marvel movies have come to an end, a tick series has come and gone, She Ra has come and gone, ducktales premiered then annoucned it was ending.. my point is way too many shows are ending too soon, and i’ve let this slide for far too long. So I bumped this one up to finally take a look at it, as i’ve waited this long and didn’t want to risk missing it a fifth fucking time. So yeah i’m taking look at what’s probably a classic episode in the fandom with fresh eyes. Let’s see what I thought shall we? It’s Christmas Eve at the Loud House and Lincoln is once again Zach Morrising it up .

Not what I meant.. whatever that is. It’s been 30 years since that episode aired, probably a good 12 since I first saw it and I still have no idea why they did this or if it was giong to end in a three way before the girls showed up. We just don’t know and the greatest minds in the country are baffled.. and you know working on the vaccine and making sure it’s safe.

No Linc is talking to the camera about it being christmas while gearing up to go sledding with his sled big red. Meanwhile the rest of the louds are doing their usual christmas activities which we get introduced to as Lincoln gets ready. The girls sub-plots here are, outside of Lori’s., less plots and more running gags, various shenanigans by the girls tying into their personalities and christmasy stuff. It works perfectly.. while it’s a bunch of gags.. the gags are funny and it’s neat to learn more about just how the girls celebrate christmas and what they get up to every year. It’s part of what’s to love about holiday specials as you get a once or twice in a series chance to see how our heroes celbrate the holiday and thus a look into stories, gags and character stuff very unique to the holiday. It also uses the fact LIncoln was the protaganist at the time very well, using him as our viewpoint to set up all the christmas goings on as he makes his way out of the house, so we can cut back to them later as his plot goes on. It’s really good stuff. So what are the girls up to? Let’s go down the list by age shall we?

Lori: Lori has the most involved plot anyway so it’s best to start here. Lori and Bobby are having their first christmas together... though it does bring up the fact that they’ve only been dating 2 years at most, yet plan to get married.. I mean that is a lot but your also 18. Then again time is nigh incomprehinsiable to unpack in the loud house, and at least 3 years passed in the one year it took to get them all aged up, so I wouldn’t think about it too hard. Lori, still being in huge bitch mode as she was early on, pressures bobby to get a good gift. She later gets said gift but despite being told to open it immideitly, her siblings chide her on her habit of tearing presents open and thus get her not to open it. So that’s a runner through the special, with Lana even putting her on a leash at one point, which I found hilarious. Less hilaroius is the conclusion as it turns out in the box on christmas day.. is BOBBY, who understandably is not looking so good...

Thankfully bobby’s not dead or they all would be, but still the poor boy missed christmas eve with his mom and sister for this stunt. I mean I get it’s his fault, he’s apparently LITERALLY too dumb to live it turns out and should’ve you know made a noise sooner and probably didn’t want to ruin the suprise.. but we still nearly got an episode where a 4 year old had surivviors guilt for letting her older sisters boyfriend suffocate in a box. That’s dead santa from gremlins levels of fucked up. Thankfully Lori loves it and I assume bobby’s worried family joined them for christmas eve. That image fills my heart with hope. But seriously bobby never again we can’t loose you. At least not before Sergio.

Leni: Leni’s is very simple it’s just a running gag of her taking various christmas things, making them into outfits then saying shhhh to whoever’s around when she hears, or in later cases is right there, with the person asking. Just a funny bit. Luna: Is working on a christmas song. It’s one of the weake runners as the failed songs just aren’t that funny, but the payoff for the main plot makes up for it. WE’ll get to that. Luann: Has one of my faviorite bits, her 12 puns of christmas which is both really adorable and leads to an adorable moment with her dad. Always loved their relationship.

Lynn and Lucy: Are teamed up this episode which makes me genuinely miss how the two would be used as a pair ocasionally earlier on but just .. arne’t anymore> The rest of the girls status as roomates is used liberally but not so much these two. IT’s just weird and disheartning to me. That being said their plot is simply the two digging around to find where the presents are hidden, which I never got as why would you want to know weeks ahead of time. You can’t use any money to buy the stuff you dind’t get or they’ll know and they usually figure out you knew ahead of time and it just brings thigns down. But from a kid’s perspective I guess I get it and while it’s weird to have Lucy be one of the ones following I like it, as it shows that benath her gothy demanor she’s still just an 8 year old girl excited for christmas, and that’s adorable. A decent enough runner.

Lana: Gets a good one: She keeps accidently catching people, and a passing car in one case though she has a jack to help, in her reindeer traps. Its not only funny but really adorable especially since she dosen’t care about trapping SANTA persay, she just wants her own pet reindeer and frankly who wouldn’t want a rideable woodland critter who can fly. Dammit now i want one too.

Lola and Lisa: Lola gets a fairly standard one tha’ts still pretty damn funny; She wants to get offf the naughy list by playing good for a day. What makes it funny is that last part.. that instead of doing it over a few days like most of this plot she’s trying to cram it all into one day while also trying not to strangle Lisa, who keeps showing up to say santa’s route is impossiuble. As ducktales covered he slows down time.. also you know.. not every kid celebrates christmas so ther’es probably a good number of houses he dosen’t have to cover in one night. Lily: Just randomly pops out of stockings a bit. it’s precioous as it sounds. The Parents: It had honestly been so long both since i’d seen a season 1 episode, and since the two had been both given actual names and fleshed out considerably, that i’d forgotten Rita and Senior had their faces obscured for all of season 1. It’s REALLY weird and jarring to go back to after getting to know them as fully formed people of their own over the past 3 seasons, and especally gorowing to love Senior, as he’s a loveably goofy dad but without the incompetence of most comedy dads. He can bumble but he’s also genuinely supportive, talented and pulls his weight in his marriage and family. We do however start to really see their fully formed , full member of the cast perosnalities here: Rita is clearly tired from the sheer amount of shit she has to juggle, but is also nice and warm and while Lynn Sr.’s goofiness was established already, here it’s tempered into his current shape and his love of cooking and through role as the family chef is established. While he was established as cook earlier he goes from someone who’d use frozen food just to get by to a master chef who probably does use a lot of frozen stuff but can make anything taste good and will eventually have his own restraunt. It’s really fascenating to see them slowly emerge. They don’t really have plots themslves, and Lynn’s only real gag is wanting everyone to try his figgy pudding.

So with the rest of the family covered let’s get to our main plot. Lincoln is sledding.. on the slide out back.. for some reason.

The reason is simple.. his sled ends up in the yard of Mr. Grouse, their neighbor and old man who yells at louds. Lincoln explains grouse keeps everything that ends up in his yard and has taken a lot from the Loud Kids over the years. So lincoln.. uses the slide to sled.. DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF HIS YARD.

I’ve been wanting to use pigtail kim since I made that one recently. But her points stands. What?!. I mean Lincoln can be stupid, he’s only 12 it’s allowed, but usually more out of not realizing what he’s getting into or using kid logic. He’s not this brain dead. That’s Leni’s job. It just feels like plot contrivance. Just have him build some sort of contraption as a makeshift hill and tell the audience he’s doing this because his family dosen’t want him going to an actual hill on christmas or is too busy to take him. There are easier ways than this half assed rube goldberg machine of a setup. So naturally his sled ends up in the yard.. and he calls on Clyde to help....

Now if you’ve been reading my reviews for a while, you know that reactoin is normally reserved exclusivley for this guy.

But since Rusty was in his larval state with only a few apperances and hadn’t emeerged from his coocoon as the douche I know and love to take pot shots at, there was actually something WORSE. Something more obnoxious. And with far far worse implications. And that my friends was seasons 1 and 2 Clyde. Clyde in the early seasons CAN be fine, and the self we know now. In fact I wish he interacted with the sisters more as the slumber party episode early on gave him a nice dynamic with all of them and the episode with him and leni was terrific. The problem one there was running gag with him, one character trait that utterly sucked the joy out of the room at best and made him into an unlikeable little shit at worst; HIs crush on Lori. When she’s around at BEST he has a Master Roshi nosebleed, stammers her name and passes out, something that wasn’t funny the first time and quickly became grating the 80 other times they did it. But at worst, as he is here? He’s creepy, obessevie and worst of all. .a real dick to bobby. Who as we’ve established is...

So that was NEVER going to go over well and even ignoring that is still very bad. The little creep just constantly treats Bobby with hostility, which given this is Bobby, he dosen’t realize is going on. Any time their relationship is threantned Clyde’s main goal is to swoop in during the aftermath and win lori over. He constantly wants Bobby out of the way, The ONE TIME he dosen’t come off as a massive dick is when Lincoln thinks Bobby might be cheating, and that’s because Clyde isn’t planning on swooping into the wrecakge of someone’s relationship to get a girlfriend, but to punch the guy out for cheating on her. Bobby wasn’t and Clyde obviously isn’t capable of that, but it’s a bit more understandable and even CLYDE wants to make sure there’s evidence first. But more often than not he’s just under the assumptino Lori will be his despite the massive age gap, her having made it obvious she’s not intrested, and her being in longterm relationship she’s really happy in with someone else. And this was season 1 lori who reacted to this, so the fact she’s not being the queen of all bitches about it only makes him look that much worse. And to add to that, Bobby not only KNOWS he has as crush on Lori but is suppportive of clyde, cheering him on when she kisses him once for doing something noble, and generally treating “Clydsdale” like he would any of Lori’s blood siblings. It was excurating then to sit through this every few episodes.. and it’s even worse now because the gag’s complete dissaperance from Season 3 onwards really paints the picture that this gag was entirely because series creator Chris Savino thought this was FUNNY and no one else did. And given he got fired for, you know, HARASSING WOMEN AND NOT TAKING NO FOR AN ANSWER you kinda see how an already bad bit was made worse. So yeah while the sled thing is bad this.. is objectively worse and drags the special down more. It’s thakfully not omniprescent but man is it hard to watch. Clyde being in full dickhead mode is trying to get a kiss from lori and is using a missletoe hat for it.. And can we just agree that while Missletoe can be used well in stories, to help two shy people finally kiss or to ramp up romantic tension or what have you, that it’s often used by creepy douchebags to get kisses they don’t deserve both here and presumibly in irl before the plauge hit? We can? Good. But yeah that’s his plot, no suprise he gets one, bah hum bug. He also throws in some Bobby bashing by fantasising about him ending up in the yard and clyde ending up with lori since Grouse keeps bobby.. even though instead Lori would just ignore clyde, storm over there and rip an old man’s spine out mortal kombat style.

So yeah Lincoln wants his sled back, but he can’t do it alone as the old man scares him, hence Clyde coming in. They make an elaborate plan using some careful blueprints.

Their real plan is to have Clyde disract grouse while Lincoln grabs the sled but it fails and mean mr mustard finds it and takes it inside. Desperate, Lincoln prepares to do some crimes and head into his house. Clyde is afraid he’l end up in jail and never get to visit because only family can. Clyde you are family. Plus Prison visits aren’t limited to relatives only, any show with a character in jail storyline will tell you that. But Lincoln makes a valid point that Grouse stole his property.. I still dont’ think this is the right way to handle it and his parents should just go over and ask the loud, irate asshole to give the kids stuff back he stole to be a dick, but this is a kids show and again we wouldn’t have a plot but unlike last time my head dosen’t hurt from this. He’s desperate, he knows that probably wouldn’t work and again he’s 12. 12 year old logic is fine. Naturally he ends up getting caught as Grouse didn’t leave for long, though having found a photo of Grouse with a sled as a kid, understandably fires back on him that he wasn’t always like this. Why he like this. He also has the much farier point that again, it’s his property and “My yard my rules” is about as much a legal rule as a note saying “I can do what I want, ron”. But Grouse understandably, hey he’s a dick but the boyd id be and e, makes him clean up and after Grouse fails to get the loud parents Lincoln, via a comination of a charming family photo and Grouse talking to his sister on the phone, finds out the real reason he acts like this: He misses his family and being on a fixed income can’t visit them often as he tells his sister he won’t be home for christmas to see his sprawling family.

And while it doesen’t excuse his actions.. it does explain why Grouse is so bitter: you would be too if you had a massive family who clealry loved you and your on good terms with.. but through no fault of your own and presumibly despite working hard toa fford retirment you just.. can’t see them. Their there and you have the phone, but you don’t know how to work the internet and it’s just.. not the same as seeing them. Your just seperated from them and can’t be near them or hear their voices or get hugs. Which.. given the current pandemic i’m sure MANY of you can relate to that.. to being seperated from your loved ones and trapped, and especailly many people mr grouses age are facing that. While this special is good even without the context of seeing it this year it especailly resonates and i’m glad I waited this long simply beaause it came at just the right time. Grouse tells him to leave not planning on calling his parents.

So in christmas special fashion, Lincoln is touched byt his story, and feels bad for the old curmudgeon. Sure they don’t get along and the bastard broke his sled.. but again you’d be bitter too in his shoes. The guy has nothing and is alone.. and Grouse has done nothing to deserve that, even with his actions resulting from it. No one should be alone on christmas. So Lincoln tells his sisters, all of whom rally around him, including Luna whose writer’s block is broken as she finally realizes...

And not singing about that was holding her back. Luna has her song and Lincoln, as expected has a plan. And we soon see that plan as Grouse gets a knock on the door.. and finds the Louds, parents included, and The McBrides all there singing him a christmas song. It’s pretty decent and the first time we really get to see Nikka Futterman sing and i’ts beautiful> Ther’ed be better, and worse luna songs to come but this is still pretty neat and sweet. THey came to offer him deocrations, dinner, company.. and a one way bus ticket to his family... presumibly the family will pay the other way or he can easier the day after christmas. Point is he’s touched, and genuinely and sincerly thanks them and invites them in, with Grouse’s actor John DiMaggio REALLY selling it hard.

So our heroes gather for Christmas Eve all together, and under Grouse’s roof with Grouse giving the kids their stuff back having had a change of heart. Sure he misses his family.. but the Louds and Mc Brides have shown him he dosen’t have to shut everyone out as a result. And while Grouse apologizes tht his sled is gone.. Lincoln’s fine with it he got something better. So the next morning we end on the kids opening presents, and Lori saving her boyfriend from axphisxiation, seriously between this and strife of the party i’m really starting to sour on lana. Regarldess Lucy finally belivies in santa both due to gifts nd seeing him last night, while Lincoln finds a sled from santa.. and then goes outside to see Mr Grouse off, recognizing he’s the one who played santa in a really sweet and senitmental bit. The two part on good terms even if Lincoln breaks another window. Things have changed if not that much. Final THoughts: If it wasn’t obvious, I REALLY loved this one. While it has it’s flaws, and Chris Savino sucks dirty ass in thunderstorms obviously.. it’s still a really sweet, well constructed special and I really recommend checking it out. It’s on the nick app if you have cable and on CBS All Acess if you have that. Until next time merry christmas to all and to all a good day.

And if ther’es an episode of the loud house you’d like me to review leave it in the comments or you can comission a review of it for five dollars. Just direct message me to work out the details or send an ask for my discord.

#the loud house #lincoln loud #lucy loud #lola loud #lori loud #leni loud #luna loud #lynn loud jr #lynn loud senior #rita loud #lily loud #lana loud #luann loud #lisa loud #clyde mcbride #harold mcbride #howard mcbride #bud grouse #christmas

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searchin-for-an-urchin · 4 years

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Like Happiness is in your Reach Aaron Burr x Reader Chapter 11

Tags @fangirlandnerd @ milena-millennium @fangirl570 @studysafeplace @bees-are-more-important

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12

Masterlist

I’m back (sort of!) I had an insane year, and a few months ago I posted a life updated here BUT I want to start writing more consistently again! I’m also going to try to write for other fandoms too- so hopefully this goes well!

Without further ado, here is chapter 11! I’m thinking a few more chapters. I have a couple more things I want to accomplish in the storyline, but it won’t be long now.

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The next morning you’re woken up by your alarm clock. You glance and see the 5:30am flashing and you reach over to hit the off button. Before you could groan about getting up to take your daughter to school, you hear three identical groans from around you. You smile sleepily and start to wake Charlotte up by gently shaking her. When you see her smile, you sweetly say,

“Come on, Charlotte. Time to get ready for school.” You reach over and lightly tap Peggy and John as you climb out of bed. “Time for work, you two.” Normally, you hate waking up early, especially when you only got four hours of sleep anyway. However, this morning, you didn’t have to force your smile to go along anyway.

You don’t remember changing into your pajamas, but you’re grateful that you did. The soft and warm red flannel pants and worn out PTA shirt were comforting, and you opted to stay in it as long as possible. In fact, everyone dragged their feet off to school and work today. Peggy and John left shortly after waking up so they could go home and grab a change of clothes, and Charlotte stood in the bathroom brushing her teeth for a solid five minutes before she realizes she’s just standing there. She eventually snaps out of it when you undo her braids and brush out her hair for the day. Charlotte skulks off to get changed into her clothes while you stare at your closet, combing your hair out. At about 6:15am, before you can figure out what you want to wear, you hear a knock on the door. As you walk to the door, you loudly ask Charlotte,

“Did John or Peggy forget something, Charlotte?” You open the door and simultaneously hear your daughter’s grumbled response and find Theodosia and Aaron in front of you, Theo holding a small box from a local donut shop, and Aaron holding a drink carrier with coffee and chocolate milk in it. .

“Good morning, Y/N!” Theo exuberantly greets you.

“Oh!” You reply, a little bit surprised. “Good morning, Theo. Please come on in.”

“Thanks!” the young girl replies cheerfully. You move to the side as she literally skips past you and sets the box down on an island in the kitchen. A little shocked that anyone could be so energetic in the morning, you turn back to face Aaron. He also walks in your home and you shut the door behind him.

“Good morning, Aaron,” you stumble to say when you realize you only greeted his daughter. He smiles and leans down to place a kiss on your cheek and replies in kind. Before he could pull away, you turn your head and place a chaste kiss on his lips. The smile on his face is contagious and exhilarating, and you almost forget that you were exhausted less than five minutes ago. After a moment you ask, teasingly,

“Does one of those coffees happen to belong to me?”

“Hmmm, maybe,” he teases back, inching his way closer to you. You can hear Charlotte closing her bedroom door and walking out into the living room. Aaron hears her as well because he hands you the coffee and faces your daughter.

“Good morning, Charlotte,” he greets your daughter cheerfully. “Theo and I thought we would bring the two of you breakfast and head to school together today.” Charlotte nods groggily, and says a quiet “thanks” heading to her food.

“Charmander here,” you explain, walking over to the table where she had just sat down. “Is not a morning person, coupled with the fact that her Uncle John and Aunt Peggy let her stay up way too late last night.” You stroke your daughter’s hair.

“Mama, can you braid my hair into pigtails again?” She looks up to you with a smile and a bit of chocolate frosting on her face. You hand her a napkin and nod, picking up sections of hair and beginning to plait it for her.

“Theo, did you have a good time at the Hamiltons’ last night?” You inquire about the giddy girl, sitting next to her father who is eating his donut and taking a drink of his coffee. She nods her head enthusiastically as she finishes her donut.

“Yes ma’am! We played hide and seek and then watched the Spongebob movie before we went to bed.” Charlotte gasps, and it makes you jump because you weren’t expecting her to make such a loud noise this early in the morning. Aaron lets out a small laugh at your surprise, a blush appearing on your cheeks. Your daughter didn’t realize your reaction and added to Theodosia’s story,

“That’s my favorite movie! Me, Uncle John, and Aunt Peggy watched that movie last night too!” Charlotte, finally waking up, continues to chat energetically with Theodosia as you finish your daughter’s braids. You give Aaron a knowing look and he shakes his head with a smile. Theodosia had sat down first, and made sure Charlotte sat next to her. On the other side of the counter/table is where you sat down - within inches of Aaron. The donut and coffee disappear pretty quickly from everyone’s grasps. While you were watching the girls talk to each other, you see Aaron looking at you from the corner of your eye and turn to face him, noticing a soft smile on his face. He really does have an incredible smile, you think to yourself. He reaches out his hand and you do the same, intertwining your fingers together. Both of you missed the smiles between your daughters.

*****************************************************************

Two days later you receive a text message from Nathaniel in the morning.

“Are you available to meet for coffee at 1:30?”

Without hesitation, you replied.

“Yes. Starbucks on Broadway sound okay?”

“Sounds good! See you then.”

It only took you 15 seconds of consideration before you’re hitting the call button and speaking to Aaron. It wasn’t that you felt like you needed permission, but you wanted to talk to him about Nathaniel.

“Do you have a moment?” You ask carefully.

“Sure. What’s up?” Aaron says in a calm, but concerned voice.

“Nothing’s up, really, but I’m ready to tell you a bit more about Nathaniel.”

“Okay,” he replies. You can hear the chatter in the background, but Aaron’s attention was on your voice.

“Before Charlotte was even a possibility, I was a workaholic.” You take a breath and clarify, “Well, a worse one than I am now. I never took breaks, and I always found reasons to stay at the cafe rather than hang out with friends or family. My logic was ‘If I see my brother and best friend at work, why should I spend time outside of my job to do just that?’. My focus was the cafe and nothing else.

“One night Peggy and John dragged me out of the cafe and forced me to go out with them to a bar to let off some steam, which in their definition meant me getting drunk and going home with a random guy.”

“Let me guess,” Aaron interrupts your soliloquy. “The random guy was Nathaniel?”

“Ding ding ding, we have a winner.” I let out a chuckle. “I remember meeting him and talking to him, but I never learned Nathaniel’s last name. I just learned it the other night at the restaurant.” Aaron makes a noise to signify that he understood.

“So we both know that you don’t need my permission to do anything and vice versa, but I assume you’re bringing me in the loop because you’re meeting Nathaniel today, right?”

“That’s correct.”

“Is there anything I can do for you?” You think about it for a moment, but nothing comes to mind - not even a joke.

“No, but thank you though.”

“Thank you for sharing, Y/N. I hope you didn’t feel obligated to do so.”

“Oh no, not at all. In fact, I feel as if I can rely on you with the information I’ve never really shared before, and I really appreciate that about our relationship.” The word falls out of your mouth before you could catch it, and you aren’t even given enough time to walk your statement back because Aaron is suddenly saying in a sly voice, a bit quieter than his initial volume.

“I know our relationship hasn’t been defined, but I would also like to inform you that my feelings for you are very real, and of a romantic nature.” You’re grateful that you’re sitting in your office with the door closed because you don’t want anyone to see the bumbly mess that you are turning into as a result of Aaron’s words.

“Well the definition could be quite simple as I return those real, romantic, feelings towards you, Aaron.” A moment passes, and you could picture the wide, full tooth smile that he had on his face.

“I’m glad to hear that, Y/N.”

*********************************************************************

Over the next two weeks, Aaron and Theo would come over for breakfast before school, sometimes bringing coffee and donuts, other times giving you a heads up, allowing you to make the coffee and breakfast. Theodosia said your eggs were the best she ever had, and Aaron complimented you on your ability to hide the veggies so the girls would actually eat them. Each morning started with a greeting from Theo and a kiss on the cheek from Aaron, which would turn into a kiss on the mouth from you (“they already know we’re dating, Aaron”). On the second Monday after your first date, you ask Aaron if he was free on Wednesday evening for a second date. He happily agreed. This time, you paid.

Wednesday nights became date nights. From finding the “best ice cream cone” in your part of New York to riding the bumper cars ten times in a row at Coney Island (Aaron let you drive, and he held his arm around you the whole time), the time you’ve spent together allowed both of you a much needed release from your everyday lives. Fridays became sleepover nights. Whether Charlotte went to the Burr household or Theodosia spent the night at your place, the girls were growing in their friendship just as quickly as you and Aaron were growing in yours.

It was the Wednesday a week before Thanksgiving when Aaron asked what you were doing the Tuesday of Thanksgiving week, and you replied that you would be deep-cleaning your apartment for family coming in the following day for Thanksgiving festivities.

“It’s a big celebration, really”, you explain. “My parents HATE New York, but they love Charlotte, so they compromise. Mama and Papa come here for Thanksgiving so we go to them for Christmas.” Your fingers are intertwined with Aaron’s and you are walking back to your apartment. Before Aaron could get out why he asked about your plans, you (hopefully) nonchalantly add,

“I would love for you and Theodosia to join us for Wednesday and Thursday family festivities if you don’t have any plans”. Aaron stops in his tracks, naturally stopping you as well. A bit worried that he stopped in abject horror, you’re pleased when you see a shocked smile start to curl on Aaron’s face. Aaron had confided in you on your last date that he had lost his parents shortly after he passed the bar exam, and Theodosia Sr. lost her parents before they had met, so Theo grew up without grandparents or extended family, really, which is the opposite of your daughter.

“Would your parents mind?” He asks carefully, not hiding his smile at all.

“Not at all. In fact, they’re dying to meet the little girl who is best friends with their granddaughter,” you tug on his hand for the two of you to start moving again. “And, your name has come up once or twice,” you add, coyly, while your cheeks start to turn pink.

“Theo and I would love to attend your family’s festivities. Count us in on both days. Would you come with me on Tuesday evening to my work’s Thanksgiving party? Alexander and Eliza will be there, so you’ll have other friendly faces besides mine.” This conversation could not have gone any better. You’re smiling widely as you respond enthusiastically.

“Sounds like fun.”

#Chapter 11 #Aaron Burr #Aaron Burr x Reader #Reader insert #Hamilton Fanfiction #hamilton

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moonlightreal · 4 years

Text

Winx Club season 8/11

In which I enjoy many headcanos.

11 Treasures of Syderia

I do wish I had any Winx friends who could tell me if that last episode was really that cringeworthy or if it’s all in my head, but I’m pretty much an island in this fandom since Una di Noi closed.

But I love this show so much that I have endless hope it’ll get better! let’s try another episode!

From the intro: “Musa ans Riven seemed to reconnect, but the peace between them won’t last long.”

-_-

Valtor’s asteroid! A pretty cool wider angle shot so you can see the room has high thin windows and some banners or tapestries hanging up high. Valtor’s got his mark glowing above his throne, twice, and the throne is at the end of a sort of bridge over a typical Chasm of Evil with some typical Lampstands of Evil leading up to it. Very cool, but very generic other than the mark it could be the throne room of any villain.

Also we never see any other rooms of the asteroid; do Valtor and Obscurum eat or sleep or bathe? This is another reason my headcanon is that Valtor is really some kind of homunculus, not a human being. He doesn’t need to eat or sleep, he recharges with only starlight. But I bet Obscurum has a cozy little lair somewhere on the asteroid that he stuffed with pillows and cute things he steals with his portals.

...what? This is an episode synopsis not a celebration of headcanon? Oh, yeah I guess you’re right.

Valtor hollers for his minion. Obscurum is down to his last chance! “What is your plan to get rid of the Winx?”

Uh, Valtor, maybe you should do that bit instead of leaving it to your bumbling minion? Just maybe?

Obscurum’s plans: Go undercover as a Winx. Shrink them. “Maybe some kind of trap.”

Valtor has been making progressively more evil faces during this. Now he summons a portal and dumps Obscurum through it. I’m kinda bored with Valtor’s Expressions of Evil but I love the nice neat gestures as he dumps his poor minion down another hole. It’s good clean spellcasting, just sayin’.

Obscurum falls into Super Mario and falls down a bunch of levels and gets blasted with some pixelated bombs.

Valtor has a rush of common sense to the head and decides Obscurum may need some time to think of a plan.

Cut to Alfea! Stella is asking for fashion advice but Aisha says she just wears what she wants anyway. Flora’s on her phone, worried about her disagreement with helia the night before. Seems they’ve never not been in synch before. Bloom reassures her that it’s normal to disagree and Stella makes a fashion comparison. flora’s still worried because she and Helia never have different opinions. Bloom starts to say that this is actually a bad thing… When we’re interrupted by Brandon sending a picture of his new hat, which Stella calls a hat-tastrophe. Heh. It’s a winter hat that I automatically see as the Jayne Cobb “Cunning, innit?” hat even though Brandon’s is not orange.

Tecna suggests sending an “emogix” which I think must be a Winx emogi library or app or something they have in Italy. Aisha says talking in person is the only way to go. Brandon sends a video of him bringing flowers and… falling into a mud puddle? Stella says even though Brandon isn’t here she knows he’s thinking about her. Yup, ‘cause he’s texting.

Flora worries that Helia doesn’t know she’s thinking of him and sets out to let him know.

Meanwhile at red Fountain, a school that made more sense back when it was located on the ground, Helia is brooding about how to show Flora his feelings. When in a hedge nearby a magic sparkling rose blooms. Helia recognizes it as a message from Flora. Ok, that’s kinda sweet.

Back at Alfea Flora is wearing a cute green and pink dress that reminds me of her season one clothes. She gets a heart text from Helia and is happy.

Twinkle floats in carrying a magic wand and looking for help setting up party lights. Flora can’t help, she’s going to meet Helia. But that’s ok; Twinkle, Knut and Kiko can certainly handle the giant pile of fireworks for the party!

I’ll spare you what happens, since you already know.

Twinkle: “Thaaaaaat was starsome! Can we do it again?”

I… I can’t dislike her. She should be so annoying, but she isn’t.

Also: a)that was a very plain magic wand, I think the first non-Mythix wand in the series other than Obscurum’s if you can call that a wand. And b)there was a party literally last night and now you’re having another one?

Flora and Helia rust to meet, and bang into each other. Flora says “It doesn’t matter if we don’t agree on everything. I still believe in… us.”

Then we move to a mysterious icy world! Make that an icy STAR, since here come the staryums! They seem more interested in playing than sucking up starlight and Obscurum yells and them, calling them ‘useless furballs” to get them into action. Staryums slurp the core while Obscurum sets a trap for the Winx!

The inhabitants of this star are green lumens with adorable lil bottom-fangs and bone necklaces. Let’s call them cave-lumens. They notice things have gone dark, and go to bed.

Obscurum pops in and uses his staff thingy to cast a spell convincing the sleeping cave-lumens that the “rainbow fairies” are baddies. Apparently there’s a legend that there’s some treasure here on Syderia and the cave-lumens will now believe the Winx are here to steal it.

Back at Alfea Knut, Kiko and Twinkle are helping the Winx set up for a concert when Twinkle’s star detection system alerts them to trouble on Syderia! The winx seem delighted and Twinkle magics them into their space clothes. And up we go!

Then Twinkle decides to bring Knut and Kiko along and magics them some space clothes too! They both get skirts, and Knut is in pink while Kiko’s in green.

Headcanon: There are no male lumens, so Twinkle doesn’t get the notion of gender differences. To her people are people, and people wear skirts!

The Winx fly through space, leaving their rainbow trail, and I guess that’s a thing in their world since Stella says, ‘I hope our rainbow gives the Syderians hope.” so people on planets can see that the Winx are coming to rescue them? That’s… I kinda love that idea.

The hypnotized cave-lumens, of course, see them as dangerous!

The winx switch to Cosmix to check out the star core, which Obscurum seems to have left with a little bit of light in it to create the trap.

Cave-lumens attack! The Winx fly away!

Twinkle and her unwilling passengers arrive on Syderia, but a ways from the core. They’ll have to walk.

With the Winx running away, Obscuum and his staryums return to finish off the core. Obscurum hopes the lumens will get rid of the Winx, which seems optimistic of him. But this plan cannot fail! Obscurum will definitely get to be king of Lumenia now!

He keeps harping on being king of Lumenia, I wonder if that’s foreshadowing...

Adorable byplay with a staryummy leaving a leftover bit of light.

The core is out, staryums flee, and Obscurum breaks the core and puts up a barrier around the lumen city! Twinkle, Knut and Kiko arrive too late!

The Winx barricade themselves in a cave to get a little breathing room to figure out why the cave-lumens won’t stop chasing them. Tecna uses “Cosmix analysis” to figure out that the lumens are “really sure we’re enemies, and we’re here to steal the treasure.” So it’s a mind reading technological spell? Cool. Musa says they don’t even know about the treasure and Tecna guesses, ‘someone must have told them lots of lies about us.” Stella can guess it’s Obscurum.

Weird moment where Bloom interrupts and everyone is startled. Maybe that was something different in the Italian? Or maybe they were just supposed to be concentrating so hard they were startled.

The girls try to fly away but bang into the barrier. Tec realizes the star is broken and that made this barrier. Guess it wasn’t Obscurum.

Musa: We’re trapped in a world where the residents want to vaporize us!

And here they come!

The Winx fly down and hide in a cave, and there Twinkle finds them. She says the weird rhyme the cave-lumens keep repeating is Syderia’s nursery rhyme. So it’s not something Obscurum made up, it’s an actual rhyme about rainbow fairies stealing the treasure.

Knut and Kiko arrive, and here’s the lumens again! But Knut knows how to handle this, because these are OGRE-lumens! And the secret is slapstick comedy! So Knut falls on Kiko a few times, and the ogre-lumens laugh. The Winx look confused, which makes me want to laugh.

Tec: ‘Do you find this… funny?”

Flora: “Actually no. But it’s working.”

Bloom has the bright idea to find the treasure and give it to the lumens to win their trust. Luckily it’s only a few caves away! The treasure is a mountain of glowing crystal, and Bloom has the idea to juice it up with Cosmix power and basically make it the new star core. Cool

So they do, and then the lumens come in with Knut and Kiko tied to a stick since they ran out of ways to be entertaining. Bloom tells the lumens that the winx never wanted to steal their treasure, and the lumens believe it. Yay, we’re friends now!

Meanwhile Obscurum is boasting how he used a silly legend about treasure to turn the lumens against the Winx, and broke the star core. But Valtor brings up his magic-TV and shows that Syderia is still lit and the Winx are fine. Obscurum despairs.

Why does Valtor care if the stars go out? Seems like he should want them to stay lit so he can come back later for more starlight.

Then our villains hear Bloom ask if she can have a shard of the glowing crystal. The head ogre-lumen is happy to oblige, and Bloom says that Orion can use the crystal to make new star cores! This is a disaster for Team Baddies! Obscurum is ready to leap into action, but Valtor says he’ll take care of the Winx this time, and Obscurum can go conquer Lumenia to his heart’s content.

Valtor: “Bloom’s stood in my way too many times now. I know now, to beat the Winx once and for all, I must start with her.”

Well, that’s one way.

I think this is also the first time all season that Valtor has singled Bloom out in any way, even said her name. that’s the other reason I think this is a different Valtor. Season 3’s Valtor had a mystical connection to Bloom that they could both feel, because they both were connected to the Dragonfire. The Italian website even said Valtor was in love with Bloom! I don’t know that “love” is the right word for someone doing all the evil stuff Valtor was doing, but “creepy magic-fueled obsession,” yeah. They had a thing. This season, they do not have a thing. It’s Valtor 2.0, people!

#winx club #winx season 8 #winx club valtor

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our-smooty · 5 years

Text

I’m Not Your Baby Girl

Fandom: Gorillaz

Rating: Teen

Relationships: None

Tags: Family, angst, noodle is a grownup, drinking

Summary: Let's get one thing straight, Noodle wasn’t a kid anymore. As much as people liked to treat her as such, with her being the baby of the band, she hadn’t been a kid for a long, long time. Maybe not since El Manana, even.

Let's get one thing straight, Noodle wasn’t a kid anymore. As much as people liked to treat her as such, with her being the baby of the band, she hadn’t been a kid for a long, long time. Maybe not since El Manana, even.

Say what you want about Murdoc, but at least he treated her like an adult now. He didn’t try to lecture her--probably because he was too drunk to--or tell her right from wrong--probably because he didn’t care--like Russel did. And he didn’t try to give her sage advice on things he knew nothing about like 2D did unless he was really, really high. Because of that, Noodle found herself spending more time around him than the others now that they were all back together and Ace was gone.

It was one of those days when they had nothing to practise and nothing else going on and everyone was stagnant. Noodle was laying on the sofa with her phone out, idly tapping at her screen. She didn’t know where the rest of the band was, but she could make a few guesses. It was still early, too early for the likes of 2D and Murdoc, and Russel was most likely out. The drummer tended to spend his mornings wandering around town, getting a coffee, and generally avoiding the snarkiness that was the rest of the band in the morning. Noodle would usually do the same, keeping to her bedroom, but her room was so hot in the summer she’d relocated to the living room out of necessity.

She heard the sound of someone bumbling about on the second floor and was surprised to see Murdoc, not 2D, ambling down the stairs. Noodle watched as he took breaks every few steps, an obvious sign of his terrible hangover. When he got to the bottom floor he made a quick stop in the kitchen for a glass of something strong, then came back through into the living room and folded himself into a chair.

Good morning,” Noodle greeted with a raised eyebrow. “I thought you were supposed to be cutting back?”

Murdoc glanced to her, then back to his drink. “It’s watered down, get off my arse.” Noodle rolled her eyes but didn’t say anything else. They sat in silence for a long while, the only sound coming from the ice in Murdoc’s glass and the app on Noodle’s phone. Eventually, Noodle got bored of her game and tossed the phone off into the couch cushions before leaning back with a sigh.

"What crawled up your arse and died?” Murdoc asked, his voice rough with sleep and alcohol. Noodle looked over at him and shrugged half-heartedly with a small pout.

“Last night,” she started, “ Russel was giving me the whole ‘responsibility’ lecture when I wanted to go out to the club. 2D said he’d go with me but you know he started that whole ‘healthy lifestyle’ thing last week and now he refuses to go anywhere that might ‘pollute him’.” She was no stranger to her families idiosyncracies, but as she got older they began to wear on her more and more. “I’m 28! I can go out to the club on my own without a chaperone.”

Murdoc didn’t reply and Noodle had to look over at him to make sure he wasn’t asleep. Instead, she caught him looking right at her, a pensive expression on his face that was unfamiliar to her.

“What?”

He shrugged. “Nothin’. Jus’ think you’re being a bit of a brat right now, to be totally honest.” Noodle felt her blood boil. Murdoc thought she was being a brat? Last week he’d thrown an honest-to-God tantrum over 2D losing his favourite lighter. Who did he think he was?

“That’s rich, coming from you, Murdoc,” she snapped, sitting up and getting ready to leave the room. She didn’t need this, she thought Murdoc saw her as an adult, unlike the others.

“I’m jus’ saying, love. No need to get your knickers in a twist,” he answered, his gaze still oddly calm despite Noodle’s simmering anger. “And I think I’d know best, takes one to know one and all that.”

His oddly calm demeanour put a damper on her temper, and she sat back again. “But I’m 28!”

Murdoc sipped the last of his drink then set the glass aside. “And you’re still our little girl. Trust me Noodle, D Russ and I know how bad the world can be and we jus’ wanna keep you safe.”

“Fuck that!” Murdoc’s eyes went wide as Noodle exploded. “I’ve been through Hell, I’ve been shot at, you replaced me with that bucket of bolts! This is bullshit!” She kept going, listing all the horrible things that had happened to her, one after the other.

Murdoc let her run herself down, not interrupting her ranting even once. Instead, he sat and watched as she slowly wound down, all the anger and sadness leaving her body as she put those hurts into words. When Noodle finally stopped to take a breath, scrubbing a hand over her face, he sighed.

“You ever think that’s why those idiots are overprotective?” Murdoc asked, looking right at her. He was surprisingly sober. “You’re the heart of Gorillaz, Noods, we couldn’t do this without you.”

She scoffed, suddenly uncomfortable with how real he was being. “You managed for Plastic Beach."

Murdoc laughed darkly, spinning his ice around in his glass. “Would you really call that managing? It’s a good album, but what about the rest of that mess?”

He had a good point, she hated to admit it. After El Manana the band had gone to complete shit. 2D still had nightmares, and so did she.

“Fine. But I’m still an adult and they don’t treat me like it! You treat me like one, so why can’t they?” She glared at him, daring him to keep going. Noodle knew she was in the right here and she’d just been looking for someone to back her up.

“I’ve always treated you jus’ like I treat anyone else, Noodle, and that’s not always a good thing.” Murdoc stared straight at her like he was trying to show her he was being deadly serious. “I got you nearly killed. I let you play in bars when you were barely 10. I nearly got you killed again by El Mierda.”

Noodle deflated slightly and looked away, unable to meet his honest stare any longer. “Noodle, I’m fun Uncle Murdy who should never be trusted to watch the kids. 2D’s not much better but his heart’s in the right place. And Russel adores you.”

“You’ve always been strong-willed and pig-headed, jus’ like Uncle Murdoc. But take it from my kiddo, hold on to the people who care about you.”

She still felt angry at being denied her adulthood, but she also felt like Murdoc was right. Noodle might be an assassin and a super soldier, as well as an adult, but were Russel and 2D really being that unreasonable? They only acted that way because they loved her, and she didn’t want to think about what that meant in terms of Murdoc’s feelings about her.

“You’re right, at least a bit. I still think they need to back off…”

“Then ask them too, or jus’ do whatever you want. You’re your own girl, go crazy,” Murdoc said as he got up and moved back into the kitchen--probably for another drink. Noodle followed him this time, trailing behind just like she’d done when she first arrived at Kong.

“You never try to tell me what to do… why?” she finally asked as Murdoc finished pouring his drink. This one was definitely not watered down and she made a mental note to tell the others.

Murdoc had been edging closer and closer to the doorway, obviously having filled his quota if “real talks” for the day. He didn’t make it though, and he knew Noodle wouldn’t let it drop, so he paused.

“Because all of my advice is shit, kid. You shouldn’t be doin’ anything I do or listenin’ to anythin’ I say. But Russel and 2D are good people, much better than I am. You should hear them out from time to time.” He then turned around again and walked out the door before she could say anything. What did she want to say? Thanks? Fuck off?

Instead, she took a seat at the kitchen table, head in her hands. She was still frustrated and angry but her talk with Murdoc had left her kind of… sad? She knew Murdoc cared in his own way, and that their relationship was beyond damaged. It showed in their every interaction but especially this morning. Murdoc was supposed to be the fun one, why had he left her feeling like she was in the wrong the whole time?

Noodle stayed at the table for a while, eventually getting up to put the kettle on, then to get some toast. Russel wandered into the kitchen sometime after she’d just finished her meagre breakfast, already dressed for the day. He greeted her and she nodded back, still a little testy from their spat last night. But now instead of wanting to rekindle the argument, she felt the need to apologize.

“Russel?” The drummer looked up from his coffee and newspaper at her. Noodle felt a sliver of shame run through her.

“I’m… sorry, for getting upset last night,” she said, taking care not to rush any of her words. “I was… being childish.”

Russel looked surprised, almost like he hadn’t expected her to apologize at all. Maybe she was more like Murdoc than she thought. “Oh, s’alright baby-girl. I was probably bein’ a little paranoid anyway.”

She had the urge to hug him, so she did, getting up and wrapping her arms around his shoulders. “You were right, I should be more careful. But I am an adult too now, Russel,” she said quietly, returning to her seat.

Russel nodded. “You’re right, you’re right. I’ll try to back off a little bit, I know you can take care of yourself.” She smiled and nodded again, unsurprised that Russel accepted her apology so easily. The drummer was a simple man, it didn’t take jumping through hoops to keep their relationship solid. “We just can’t lose you again, OK?”

“I understand Russ. I can't lose you guys either. I’m gonna apologize to 2D too when he gets up too.”

“Well you might have to wait a while, he was up all night again fiddling with his keyboards,” Russel warned. 2D had been doing stuff like that a lot recently, staying out late, changing his diet on the daily, buying entire new wardrobes every few weeks. She should have taken that into account when she was demanding to go out to the club last night. Just because she could be in that atmosphere and not over-indulge, didn’t mean that 2D could do that same.

“I’m sure he’ll appreciate it, you know how he gets with people.” Noodle did know, had seen it happen a million times with Murdoc and the singer. She didn’t want to continue the legacy or yelling at their most fragile bandmate.

“Maybe we could have a game night or something tonight?” she asked, desperate to make things right. Russel looked up and smiled the same smile she remembered from her childhood.

“Sounds good, we can run out for snacks later.” Noodle nodded enthusiastically and got up with a big stretch.

“I’m going to go see if 2D is awake,” she said. Russel waved a hand and went back to his paper, pausing when he saw she was still there. “And… say thanks to Murdoc for me, if you see him?”

Russel looked confused, probably because in all there past together, Murdoc had seldom done anything that deserved thanking. Still, he agreed with a shrug, not asking questions.

“Sure, I’ll pass the message along.” Noodle thanked him and left the kitchen, making her way up the creaky stairs as quietly as possible. If the singer was still sleeping, she didn’t want to wake him up. As she rounded the corner she saw 2D’s room, door wide open with soft music emanating from the doorway. Not asleep then.

“Hey D,” she said, standing at the threshold. “I didn’t think you’d be awake.”

2D was on his bed, one of his keyboards laid out in front of him covered in sheet music and notes. He looked up when she spoke, his black eyes surrounded by equally dark circles. Noodle took his hesitant smile as permission to enter his room, so she sat on the edge of the bed away from the papers.

“Good morning Noodle,” 2D greeted in his usual, twangy accent. He sounded tired but cheerful. She wondered if he’d slept at all.

“Good morning 2D, what are you working on?” He beamed and shuffled all the papers together before placing them to the side and getting ready at the keyboard. The melody he produced was jaunty and bright. He didn’t seem to have any lyrics to it, and the song was over quite quickly but it left her enchanted. “That was lovely!”

“Thanks,” he said, looking down at his hands. “I’ve been workin’ on it a lot recently…”

There was a mild tension in the air. Noodle knew it was time. “I’m sorry for shouting last night, I was being a brat. I had a talk with Murdoc and--” 2D looked skeptical. “No, really, he gave me some very good advice. I understand why you and Russel are so protective of me. I just want to be able to live my life the way I want.”

Stu seemed to stop completely for a few seconds as he processed her apology. “I forgive you love. And I’ll try not to nag anymore. But advice from Murdoc? That’s not right.”

Noodle laughed lightly. “No, not usually. This morning was quite strange.” 2D nodded like he was agreeing with her.

“Yeah, yeah it was.” He scratched the back of his head while yawning. Noodle noticed his posture drooping and decided she’d kept him long enough.

“You should get some sleep,” she said quietly, carefully moving his keyboard to the floor and the sheet music to the desk. “I will wake you later for lunch.”

2D yawned, watching her move around his room. “Thank Noods, I dunno what I’d do without you.”

Noodle stopped for a second, remembering that Russel and Murdoc had basically said the same thing. She hadn’t realized they felt that way because she’d been too angry, too hurt after all the years to notice. Had there been other things she was missing? That was something Noodle didn’t want to think about.

2D tucked himself between the sheets and lay back, giving her a smile. “G’nigh’ Noodle. Or Good morning.”

“Good night, 2D. Sleep well.” She left and shut the door behind her. Well, that had gone well too. It almost felt good to have apologized and finally figured out what their deal was. Noodle went back down the stairs to the living room where her phone was still laying on the sofa. Russel must have still been in the kitchen, and Murdoc was god-knows-where, so she laid back in her spot and reopened her game. Hopefully, Russel would be ready to go to the store soon and they could go shopping. A pretty good plan, she thought, especially after yesterday.

#gorillaz #fanfic

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mitigatedchaos · 6 years

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Pirates Tell No Tales

Netflix has Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales up. I want to note that I haven't seen the movie before it.

First: was it worth watching? For me, as a learning exercise, perhaps. For you? It might not be. Audiences rated it more highly than critics, but I’m not the kind of person to watch a lot of movies these days. It did well internationally, but not in North America, where it was the lowest-grossing movie in the franchise.

I suspect that were Dead Men Tell No Tales the first movie, it would have failed to establish the franchise.

Now, as you may know, I tend to believe that people know things that they don't know they know.

I believe that they also notice things that they don't realize they notice. That's how good design works. The average Joe can't tell you about a good visual composition, and doesn't have the words or concepts to describe it, but he can tell a good composition when he sees it because it *feels right*.

I think it's the same way with writing, and particularly with writing for movies. Various movies are made with enormous budgets that rival government expenditures, and then they flop. Why? Well, aside from mismanagement causing the movies to cost more than they should in the first place, and issues with advertising, the answer is probably that they don't *feel right*.

And the root of it is probably the writing. Now, "good writing" doesn't mean "pretentious writing" or "writing for the Literary-Genre Literature Fandom." Nor does it always mean "popular writing," as something can be well-written but not *for* everyone. It doesn't even mean "original writing" - a well-executed "standard" movie can do well.

(Note: Reasonably-good writing doesn't guarantee box office success. The Robocop reboot was, in my opinion, reasonably well-done. But it came out in the wrong time. You get more points for originality by being in the past, and it's hard to recapture the 'magic' of being within the right time context. In this sense the "correct film" to make is actually Netflix's Altered Carbon series. Sometimes you have to throw out the whole premise or radically rework it. On the other hand, having worse writing isn't going to *help* unless you have a budget so low you can afford for your movie to be primarily enjoyed ironically.)

Given that a script should be relatively cheap, it seems better to improve the script before the first frame is shot to avoid costly flops.

With that in mind, here are some thoughts about *Dead Men Tell No Tales*.

Keep in mind that my tastes and sense of aesthetics may differ from others’.

[ SPOILERS FOLLOW ]

Witchery

The first issue is the handling of Carina being considered a witch.

The problem is that it isn't funny. We have a female character that's being called a witch by establishment authority figures because she knows mathematics and astronomy. It works when the pirates do it, because we have a running joke that most of them are uneducated - and the one pirate that does seem to know academic knowledge isn't in this movie.

The established authority figures shouldn't be that stupid / uneducated, which means there should be some motive beyond just "they hate women" for why they want to get rid of her. That could be some spooky-looking fake magic on her part (which would show her as clever), a personal grudge by the governor, a social attack by a clique of other women, someone wanting to steal her research, etc. If necessary, we could do this with one or two lines by one of the officials during the chase that shows hints enough at his real underhanded reason, though a scene would be preferable. If it isn't funny, then we should make it dramatic.

And if the concept isn't dramatic, then we should make it funny. Play up the absurdity of mathematics being considered witchcraft. The scene with the telescope doesn't work well for this. It's just "he's an effeminate man and hates and envies women so he calls her a witch." It's a status-play. If you want to show the dichotomy between treatment of men and women, have her disguised as a man and have him nodding along until he realizes she's a woman, then shout "witch!"

But as it stands, it isn't working well for either drama or humor. She's the cool smart protagonist girl, therefore they call her a witch because they don't like her. This honestly makes her harder, rather than easier, to relate to.

Ironically, this could work for an RPG character, because then the players would be in on the joke. You'd have the (probable) woman playing the female character take the flaw that people think the character is a witch, then stick an item in the character's backstory to justify it or wallow in the absurdity and apply a Witch Penalty to charisma rolls at opportune times for hilarity.

However, people like to mock weak men, so let's imagine that we keep the weak man and the witch accusation. How can we reconcile this? Simple enough - have the woman humiliate Mr. Telescope earlier in the movie by showing him up intellectually in front of someone who doesn't know enough to realize she's the better one. Then, have Mr. Telescope concoct an accusation of witchcraft, which gets her put in jail. Now, for the humor element - this starts a rumor which spreads among the townsfolk, getting more ridiculous and elaborate each time as the townsfolk attempt to outdo each other. (You still get to have the townsfolk be misogynistic!) One important element of comedy is timing, and I think that the appropriate timing, aside from a short piece to establish why there is popular support for jailing her, is for this to come up as a recurring gag throughout the early part of the movie, until it hits a point where someone claims that she "couldn't possibly be the real witch" because the rumor has diverged so far from reality.

Want to work this in elsewhere? Have the rumor end up hurting the actual witch that shows up later, falling into the custody of the British Empire because she does resemble the wildly-exaggerated rumors.

Captain Salad Bar

The main villain is introduced too early. While that helps establish that there is a real threat against Jack Sparrow and Henry Turner, the problem is that it makes him NOT SPOOKY ENOUGH.

The problem here is the previous movies. The protagonists in the other Pirates of the Caribbean movies have overcome supernatural captains and supernatural foes before. So the guy is a ghost? That doesn't establish that he's more of a threat than any of the other defeated antagonists that were bested before. (He’s certainly not as cool as Davy Jones.) Unfortunately, this basically means they've spent the value of his Ghost Points and not gotten much intimidation for it.

So how do we get more intimidation for it? Well, consider their boat, the Silent Mary. It does this empty ribcage / jaw thing where it rises up and crashes down on a ship like it's going to eat it. Now, it gets style points for running around floating without a complete hull. But you know what would be cool?

Captain Salazar is a ghost. A phantom. Ethereal. The echo of a time when pirates were nearly destroyed.

What if, every time his ship attacks another ship, it gets either bigger or more complete, and every time he kills a pirate, he gets more powerful? As the movie goes, he - and the threat he represents - are becoming more and more physical, more and more real. The era of mass pirate death is returning from the dead by the will of one extremely vengeful spirit.

This keeps him mysterious, and thus preserves his supernatural aura, for longer. It also builds tension, since if he gains power from killing pirates, what's to prevent him from becoming unstoppable?

This is *different* from what would necessarily make sense in a book. But since it's a movie, we have the luxury of visual presentation to play with.

The British

Now, once we've done that, we have another problem to overcome with the script. One that's already there.

Pirates of the Caribbean has done non-supernatural villains working for the Empire that are credibly-threatening as villains and personally relatable. You can watch Dead Man's Chest if you like for comparison. Commodore Norrington is made a chewtoy by the movie, but he has some touch of dignity and a relatable goal. He's also actually dangerous as per the plot. As for Cutler Beckett of the East India Company, he is ruthless, not stupid, and his motivations are understandable enough and come with a thematic backdrop of the emergence of order tied to capital.

The Brits in Dead Men Tell No Tales are incompetent, unlikeable, and unmemorable. They're just bumbling assholes overshadowed by the main villain.

However, that bank heist? That's a good scene, conceptually. It's actually funny! It takes advantage of both movies as a visual medium and the special effects budget.

So we need them to bumble, only we've created a hole in the first part of the movie where we need a credible antagonist to threaten Jack Sparrow & Company.

The solution is simple - put a metaphorical shark in charge of bumbling oafs. That can even be humorous! Lampshade it, even. A smart man in charge of idiots can still be threatening. Let's go back to the start, where we want Carina the Science Girl to be considered a witch. The existing character is so forgettable that I can't even remember his name, so we'll call our replacement Captain British.

Captain British will be in a foul mood because he has been assigned to this backwater port in the middle of nowhere, with a company of men he believes are incompetent (which is relatable, because they actually are incompetent), because of some earlier screw-up that wasn't entirely his fault. He doesn't understand the obscure technical detail being argued between Mr. Telescope and Carina, but this is because he's not educated in the field, not because he's stupid. But remember how Carina has that stubborn streak? We simply imply that she's been a troublemaker for him prior to the start of the movie (this we don't have to show directly like the humiliation of Mr. Telescope), so he takes the witch accusation as an opportunity to get rid of her with plausible public backing of the townsfolk.

He also understands the value of commerce. And prior to his assignment, the town was raided or robbed by pirates. So he's pleased to have secured the bank vault opening in town. Suck it, pirates! Which gives us more investment - and potentially makes it funnier - when the bank is stolen.

He finds out about the Trident of Poseidon in his pursuit of Jack Sparrow - for stealing the vault - and of Carina for siding with him. While he's mistaken that the two were cooperating at first, he develops a clearer understanding of the situation later. Seeking the Trident would thus not only put him back in good-standing (if he even returns to Britain after obtaining it), but help him to spite Sparrow.

All of this makes it more powerful when he's ultimately defeated by Salazar and overtaken as the villain in the second half of the movie.

Jack the Sparrow

Jack lacks his normal charisma for some reason, and I don't think it was entirely planned. Something about the dialogue. He seems to get a bit of a boost when he's back on a boat, but it still doesn't seem quite right.

Maybe bad luck was a curse from before? Let's start with that. Sparrow's bad luck should either be a literal curse or not be a literal curse. If it's a curse, then we have the terms of the curse make others less likely to believe that it's a curse. If it's *not* a curse, then either everyone else thinks Jack's cursed and wants to leave him, *or* Jack maintains that it's just a curse while everyone else says he's become too incompetent to be a captain. There's a balance to pick here, since thinking it's a curse when it isn't carries that "pirates are kinda stupid" joke that's been a running theme in the movies and which contributed to some of the more amusing bits of the movie as it exists. And, on the other side, it being an actual curse provides more potential motivation for Jack. And if it's *not* a curse, but Jack thinks it's a curse, then there's some way we could reveal this at the end when curses are broken for humor value.

As for Salazar? Jack needs a nightmare, earlier in the movie. But it's not really a nightmare, it's a premonition. He's sleep-deprived and is using alcohol to get drunk enough that he can actually sleep by being too drunk to get /remember the nightmare, which is why he's less lucid. However, because of this, he (and thus the audience) doesn't see enough of the premonition to realize what's going on until shortly before Salazar overtakes Captain British as the main villain.

#miti does media

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writingwithadinosaur · 7 years

Text

“Intervention” - Part 2

“Intervention” - Requested Oneshot

My Masterlist - Here

Part 1 - Here

Father!Tony Stark x Reader

Word Count: 1,150

Key: Y/N = Your Name, H/C = Your Hair Color, E/C = Your Eye Color

Warnings: Self Harm, Anxiety, Self Hatred, Intense Drinking, Mental Issues, Blood. If I missed any, please let me know.

Summary:

Author’s Note: This is one of my most heaviest stories. I really hope you all get something from this. I hope this helps anyone who needs it in one way or another.

Also, I apologize to everyone who has requested prompts to me. Things have been more difficult than I thought recently and caused me to have a delay in all of my writing.

If you would like to be tagged in any of my future pieces (All Works, Specific Fandoms, or Specific Multi-Parts), please let me know! And as always, feedback is greatly appreciated!

I hope you all are okay. If you ever need a friendly conversation or need someone, please talk to me. If you can’t confide in me, please reach out to someone. There are people to help you through any situation. You are not alone. You are loved.

- DreaSaurusREX

You’re in the familiar lab with Tony and Bruce. Bruce was still in his pajamas but ready to help. Your dad put you down on the medical bed they kept around for times like these. Your breathing has gotten closer to normal. You still felt sort of numb after all of the injuries you caused to yourself tonight, but now you were also very tired. It was difficult for you to sit up straight.

You tried your hardest to avoid your father’s face. You knew you hurt him. His little girl was a messed up basket case that sliced herself up and stole liquor in order to slow her self deprecating thoughts when they took over at night. So you just closed your eyes and tried to ignore everything, which didn’t help your sleepiness.

Bruce quickly assessed the cuts and started working on the two big ones that were under the washcloth. You tried your best to ignore the pain of the process of stitches. This was made a bit easier when you had conversation to focus on as Bruce was finishing up the last of the stitches.

Tony sat in a chair next to you and grabbed your hand as he spoke.

“Honey, you know this isn’t something I can just brush off and ignore. What I walked in on was not okay. You’re not okay. And I’m scared about you.”

You knew what people thought about self harm and drinking, but you saw it as a way to bring yourself back to reality and punish yourself for all the stuff you do wrong.

“I’m fine. I don’t have a problem or anything. I do it cause it makes sense to me. Don’t worry. I got it. You got better things to worry about.” You were still a bit tipsy, but not as swimmy as you were before your dad found you in your bathroom. But you still talked as if you weren’t really all there mentally.

Tony sighed and just sat there confused, running a hand up his face and through his hair. Bruce finished off the stitches and cleaned the rest of the smaller cuts. He had you lay back a bit for comfort.

“Don’t fall asleep just yet. You can do that when you get back to your comfortable bed instead of this lumpy cot.” He then looked over at Tony. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

The two men walked into the hallway, out of earshot of you. Bruce took a sort of deep breath before speaking.

“(Y/N) needs help. She needs professional help. More than what I can provide. She honestly doesn’t see the damage she is doing to herself as damage. I don’t know what exactly drives her to this point, but if we don’t get her help, this could go a lot further, and deadlier, than tonight.”

Tony just kind of stood there and nodded for a moment. He was kind of in shock from everything. You had seemed a bit off the past few weeks, but he would have never thought you would feel bad enough to self harm and steal his alcohol.

“I’ll look into help for her. For now, I am going to go back with her and make sure she sleeps tonight. It’s been a long night for all of us.” He then looks at his watch and sees that it is 1AM, earning another rubbing of his face. “Very long.”

Bruce just nods and then they both head back to you. Tony sees you laying back, fighting to keep your eyes open. You are still a bit aloof from the Jack Daniels. He takes your hand in his and catches a glimpse of all of the cuts and scars on your arm. He takes a breath and then puts a small smile on his face so he didn’t look so upset to you.

“Hey there, kiddo. Bruce is gonna wrap you up and then we are gonna go to bed. Sound good?” You just smile and nod your head. Bruce then takes plenty of bandages and wraps your arm and thigh. He gives Tony some extra, just in case, before sending them off.

Bruce wanted you to try to walk so you could get blood flowing to your leg more. So you slung your good arm around Tony’s shoulders and used him like a crutch. Thankfully it wasn’t too long of a journey back to your room.

As soon as you were back in your room, you went straight to your bed. Tony grabbed a bottle of aspirin and a couple of water bottles to put by your bed for the morning. He then laid down next to you and you instantly cuddled up next to him like when you were younger. Tony sighs and feels his heart break again as he goes over everything that happened tonight.

His little girl was suffering silently and he never noticed until it was serious. He leaned down a bit and kissed the top of your head, and then pulled the blanket up around you.

“Alright, (Y/N/N). Get some shuteye. We’ll talk tomorrow. I love you.”

“I love you too, dad.” You bumbled as you drifted to sleep pretty quickly. The effects of tonight finally catching up to you and making you truly exhausted. When he felt you were fully asleep, he took a couple of breaths and ran a hand up and down his face. He then looked around your room from where he was laying down.

He saw the 7 missing bottles of alcohol that he had been looking for for the past few weeks, under your desk. He also saw a few more bloody tissues in your trash can nearby. There weren’t too many other signs in your room indicating that you needed help. You kept up too strong of a facade to cause and alarm until tonight.

It was difficult for him not to cry. He kissed your head and pulled you a bit closer to him. Knowing you couldn’t hear him, he decided to speak his mind.

“What happened, sweetheart? Why are you hurting yourself like this? This isn’t good. At all… You could have come to me for help. You could have gone to Bruce for help. Hell, you could have even gone to Steve for help. Or if it’s girl things that I can’t do much to help with, Natasha or Wanda would have been more than glad to talk to you. Anyone would be willing to help you out. We’re your family, (Y/N). We love you and want you to be okay.”

Tony then got an idea. He had to show you how much you really meant to the team. He had to show you how doing this stuff to yourself made everyone else feel. He pulled out his phone as a tear rolled down his cheek. He clicked a button that would send the message he was typing out to the whole team excluding you.

“Sorry for the late message. Team meeting at 3PM. It’s about (Y/N). She isn’t okay, but I think we can help her. We are going to all talk to her at 5PM tomorrow after our meeting. An intervention. I will explain more at the meeting. Please be there.”

He hit send and took a breath. He was going to get you okay again. He is going to she is girl happy and living better.

He spent the next hour or so looking into resources and online articles. You slept solid. He eventually joined you and fell asleep with your head on his chest. A moment of peace after walking into the battlefield and saving you.

Tags: @goodnightwife @purplekitten30 @red-writer13 @thetigersclaw @8181pjh @willowtighe @latibulemark @melconnor2007

#Tony Stark x Reader #Father!Tony Stark x Reader #Dad!Tony Stark x Reader #Tony x Reader #avengers fandom #avengers fanfiction #avengers imagine #WritingWithADino #WritingWithADinosaur

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erurifluff · 7 years

Text

Sacrifice

Welcome to chapter 1/10 of my first multi-chapter eruri fanfic! This fic started as a 3 chapter idea about how Erwin Smith’s romantic encounters had affected his decisions that led him to become Commander, and that quickly morphed into the thing I am now writing which explores the above, and then has 6 chapters about his relationship with Levi. I make no apologies for it. <3

I hope you enjoy reading it. The entire thing is essentially finished bar editing so it’ll be updated fairly rapidly and regularly. Eventually I’ll put it into Ao3 but someone (that is, me) didn’t realise that it’s still in beta right now, so until I get my invite through, I’ll just post it here.

Thanks to everyone in the eruri fandom here for inspiring me to write this.

***

Chapter One – Marie

“Why have you brought us here?” Nile grumbled as he slumped down onto a polished wooden stool with frayed stitching on the cushion. He was looking accusingly in Mike’s direction.

“Because I want a drink,” Mike replied, taking his own seat next to me behind a small, bare circular table. “And no one here is going to know us so we won’t be bothered.”

“You don’t think the uniform is a bit of a give-away though?” I asked playfully, thumbing the collar of my jacket. Though a glance around the tavern made it clear he was right; there was not another military uniform in sight and the other patrons seemed to be enjoying quiet conversations together, not interested in much else.

Mike shook his head as I turned back to face him.

“The uniform will attract the right kind of attention,” he explained. “The feminine kind of attention-“ He paused and added a shrug. “-or the whatever kind of attention.”

“Oh. strategic attention? I see,” I chuckled. “Well if you can actually get us a drink I’ll take that sort of attention.”

“Nile, why don’t you give it a try?” Mike challenged with a smirk, swivelling his head round to face him instead of me. Goading Nile was one of Mike’s favourite pastimes. And Nile always fell for it. Every time.

“Just because I’m not hoarding charisma in my facial hair like you are, you think I don’t stand a chance?” Nile scowled, a slight flush to the tips of his ears. “Though some luck we’ll have in cadet jackets – either with the drink or the romance. Even if half the barmaids in this city are barely older than us.”

“Just tell them we’re joining the survey corps,” said Mike. “Girls love the tragedy of it.”

“Maybe the kind of girls you like,” Nile rolled his eyes exaggeratedly. “What a cheap way to get what you want.”

“If it was a lie I’d agree,” I said, frowning. “But it is the truth, only presented at the right moment.”

“See Nile? Erwin gets it.”

“I didn’t say I approve of it,” I added quickly.

“Even if you did I wouldn’t take that as an endorsement,” Nile retorted. I looked away uncomfortably, the subject of my reputation amongst the cadets was not one I enjoyed discussing, and my friends so loved to tease me about it anyway.

“Fair point,” Mike nodded and eyed me for a moment in his quiet way of his. “Just out of curiosity Erwin – and I’m not saying that you have – but if you had to cheat on a test, would you do it?”

“You can’t ask me such a broad question as that,” I replied, unsure how to answer without sounding far too serious for the situation. “I mean consider all the external factors that might influence that decision an-“

“-Hypothetically,” Mike insisted.

“For the wall’s sake Mike, leave him alone,” Nile interjected with an irritable growl. “What the hell good would it even do Erwin to cheat on tests? First of all he’s already pathetically smart-“

“-Thanks Nile-”

“-Secondly he’s trying to join the Survey Corps,” Nile continued, ignoring me. “People usually cheat on tests to avoid them. All you need to do to get into the Survey Corps is show up able to swing the blades around a bit, they’re so desperate.” He tapped the table with his knuckles and started to look around to his left, trying to flag down a barmaid. “Let’s get a drink before we kill each other.”

“Finally a sensible suggestion,” I agreed.

“Evening soldiers,” said a voice to my right. “What can I get for you?”

I looked up to see a young woman there, standing over us, arms crossed over her chest. Her hair was long, with the fringe falling over the top of bored eyes, and there was no smile on her mouth; serving us with beer was clearly not her interest. It made me wonder what was. There was a depth in her eyes that I found instantly interesting. I wanted to know who she was, where she was from, what she liked. It was a few seconds into my burningly curious thoughts before I realised I was staring at her. I abruptly looked away, towards Nile, whose own head had whipped round and he too was staring. Unlike me, he had not yet stopped.

“Three beers, thanks” Mike responded and I saw his fingers literally crossed under the table, his smile completely confident and relaxed, almost a smirk.

“I’m going to join the Survey Corps!” Nile blurted out in a sudden splutter of words rushing after one another to get out of his mouth. We both stared at him. Mike did a completely appalling job of hiding his amusement behind his hand.

“Oh, uh,” the woman said slowly, clearly completely taken back by the outburst. She too stared at him now. Then her nose gave a little twitch and she begun to laugh, a smile breaking across her features.

“Nile is very brave, Miss,” I said, taking pity on my friend as he sank down in his seat as if he wished he could just get under the table and hide until she went away.

“Well I bet you are – Nile,” she said once she’d stopped laughing. “Don’t think your bravery gets you a discount though because it doesn’t. You still have to pay the full amount just like everyone else.”

“N-no!” Nile managed to say. “I wouldn’t dream of it! Of course!”

“I’m Marie. What are your friend’s names then?” she asked him, the smile now staying put.

“Uh,” replied Nile, looking like he’d forgotten, so I answered for him.

“I’m Erwin, and this is Mike,” I said pleasantly. “We’re all going to join the Survey Corps.”

“Nice to meet you all,” Marie nodded at each of us and I marvelled at how her demeanour had changed once we started talking to her. I suspected that she was used to being spoken to at best like some kind of tray that existed to deliver alcohol. Now, quite unlike before, she was expressive and looking upon her was easy to do – far too easy. A glance at Nile said that he felt the same but there was a touch of something different in his eyes, a feeling I didn’t think was quite one that I was feeling, something quiet but heated. Marie was looking back at Nile in exactly the same way, her eyes exclusively on him.

“So,” she continued with a wry quality to her smile. “If you’re all going outside the walls to fight does that mean you’re all equally brave or all equally foolish? Either way I think I’d better get you your drinks. I’ll be back soon.”

“Yes, th…thanks!” Nile stammered, watching her as she walked away.

“Nile you’re about as subtle as a titan to the face,” Mike said.

“Get lost Mike. Marie didn’t seem to think so.”

“I agree,” I confessed. “She looked quite taken with him actually.”

“Oh don’t encourage him,” Mike sniffed at me. “He’s already big-headed enough without pulling the barmaid on his first go.”

“Hey bastard!” Nile glared. “It was not my first go, or my first success.”

“Nile the only thing you’ve ever pulled before is a door open, a chair out and your di-“ Mike retorted but was cut off by Nile kicking him under the table, hard enough that Mike grunted. Nile’s eyes were so full of sulky fury that I couldn’t help chuckling at him, which only served to make him wheel round and point the expression at me as well.

“Oh screw you both!” he fumed. “I’m going to ask her out.” He stomped off before either Mike or I could say anything more.

“Poor woman,” Mike grinned, then he looked at me with a more serious expression. “If you like her too Erwin you should go for it, don’t let Nile get in your way. You’d be doing her a favour.” I shook my head.

“I won’t deny she’s intriguing,” I replied, choosing my words very carefully to explain properly my dilemma. “But I only just met her – I don’t know her – and I’m not about to start wooing a civilian two months off joining the Survey Corps. Besides which, I think she really does seem interested in Nile. He can have quite a bumbling sort of charm about him.” I nodded in the direction of the pair across the room, just visible through the crowds. Nile was rubbing the back of his neck and Marie had her hands clasped in front of her. They were both smiling brightly. The very antithesis of mutual attraction.

“Hm, it better not delay us getting our drinks,” Mike sighed and rested his head on his hand, looking at me through his floppy fringe with a wistful expression. “I just thought…I’ve never really seen you look that interested in anybody before. I thought you’d at least want to give it a try. It’s not like you have to marry the woman, just have some fun, while we still can?”

“I’m fine,” I assured with a smile, staying patient despite feeling that Mike had completely missed the point. “It’s not really me.”

Nile fell back into his seat at that moment, a grin running from one side of his face to the other like a rail track, and it was no surprise when he told us that Marie had said yes. She was soon a frequent addition to our nights out, so it was equally no surprise that at the Scouting Legion recruitment rally Nile - the friend who had been at my side since the day his family had taken me into their care - shot me a look of unadulterated guilt and walked away, towards a life with Marie and the Military Police.

#eruri #erwin smith #erwin x levi #clarissathewriter #mike zacharias #nile dok #marie dok #fanfic #attack on titan

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jules889-blog · 7 years

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My problem with Stydia

Stydia was established from day one through Stiles' crush on Lydia. The dynamic was so interesting that it even helped set up both their characters on the show. In other words, Stydia helped build up Stiles and Lydia characterization through their interactions. This is what a good relationship development on a show does, it builds character not only when paired together but also on their own. This was done very well between Scott and Stiles in the first season. From Sciles we learnt that Scott is not the smartest person but ultimately he's sweet and caring (much like the ever lovable Joey from Friends). Similarly, Stydia punctuated who Stiles and Lydia were. Stiles as the funny, awkward, bumbling, obsessively loyal "Robin" to everyone else's "Batman" and Lydia was self-assured but also insecure, she wanted to feel appreciated but also wanted to stand on her own two high-heeled feet. Stydia is undeniably important to both characters on the show because it created multiple levels to their personality outside of other pairings on the show. Without that dynamic, Stiles would have just been 'the best friend' and Lydia would have been the 'self-absorbed prom queen'. The fact that Stydia is real is undisputed, they have always had that "connection". The question here is 'is Stydia romantic or platonic?'

This is a relationship that could have gone either way. If Stydia was endgame, Jeff Davis should have cashed out on the development a long time ago, way back in Season 3B when Lydia and Stiles were starting to build up a friendship and Lydia could be seen developing feelings for Stiles (the red string, the staring, leaning on each other for support, staying back with him when he passed out). Jeff could even have done it after their first kiss which could have been passed off as Lydia actually wanting to kiss Stiles because she was starting to develop feelings for him. Instead, time went by, nothing happened until Stalia and we could only assume that the kiss was just to calm his panic attack and there was absolutely no romantic feelings behind it after all. The fact that Jeff Davis is now claiming it was always his intention all along cheapens all character development that both characters had after the kiss (and let's be honest, there wasn't much development since Season 3 to begin with).

If Jeff didn't want Stydia to happen then he should have stuck to his guns and kept it that way. The rush to push Stydia in 6A now seems forced and much like fanservice that doesn't even please its fans because they've run out of time to properly develop it (what with Dylan O'Brien leaving). It is almost impossible to develop a romantic onscreen relationship when half of its participants isn't there. Not to mention most of the fanbase isn't there anymore either.

I was 13/14 when Teen Wolf first came out in 2011 and as a straight, white girl who was just discovering my sexuality, I hopped onto the Stydia train along with my group of friends with whom I used to watch the show. Growing up we weren't big on computers so we weren't involved in the online fandom but we had our own little Stydia ship happening. Fast forward a few years and my friends all slowly lost interest in the ship and the show, leaving me as the only one left watching the decimation of this once beloved show which was a huge part of my teenage years.

I'll admit, Stalia completely destroyed any interest I had in the Stydia. I would have been happy if neither of them ever ended up dating anyone as long as they were happy and had strong characterisations. Why give them a relationship for the sake of having a relationship without any real substance? The fact that Jeff is pushing Stydia together now after most of its fanbase is no longer invested just reeks of desperation to keep the few fans who remain. This, to me, is not only an insult to the fans who have stayed in hopes that the show will again become what it once was but also an insult to himself. He is hanging himself and ridiculing all the work he has done in the past by devolving into fanservice and ridiculous plotlines.

It also shows just how incapable Jeff is of actually creating strong, original content that keeps up with the ever-changing fans. As I said, I grew up watching the show, I now have more opinions on the show than I ever had before and am now starting to think for myself. The problem is that the show just refuses to grow with me. I see Jeff throwing new writers and characters at the show in hopes that something will stick. What he should have done is gone back to the characters that made the show successful (Scott, Stiles, Lydia, Derek, Isaac, Deaton, the mamas and papas, etc.) and developed those characters. This show has been on air for six years... it could have been very sentimental to the audience if they got to see the characters grow with them (this is the reason Harry Potter has kept its audience throughout the years). This is also the reason Stiles in the FBI was such a success with the few remaining fans (even though it made no sense at all). It was poorly written and had no business being in the (already screwed up) timeline but for once, we actually got to see some development that we've been itching for instead of the constant stalemate.

That said, fans have to accept that Jeff is not obligated to make a ship canon just because a fanbase wants it to happen. He is the creator after all, he has the right to decide which artistic direction his show should take. However, the same can be said for the fans... if the show no longer caters to our interests, we are not obligated to keep watching. This in no way makes you a 'bad fan' (a term I hear the Stydia shippers using more and more lately) nor does it make your past eperience with the show any less valid. It simply is what it is... and that leads me onto the next thing that bothers me about this show, Tyler Posey.

Although I was a Stydia fan in the beginning and I never picked up any other ship, Tyler Posey's comment on "watching the show for the wrong reason" really rubs me the wrong way. There is absolutely no right or wrong reason to watch a show. The audience can watch the show for any reason they choose. They don't even have to like a show to be invested in it. Sure, most people watch a show because they enjoy the plot but you can go in the extreme opposite and be invested in the show because of how bad it is. A show can be so bad that is keeps you entertained (God knows that's the only reason to watch Jaws 4). The fact that Posey thinks he can dictate the reason we should watch 'his' show is not only immature but also extremely misguided. It is not his place to tell a fan that they can't watch the show because they want to see Stiles or Derek (or a romantic Sterek). Heck, it's also none of his concern is a person is watching the show for a guest star or a recurring character like Danny or Coach or even Deucalion. Any reason to watch a show is valid if it makes you want to watch it. Don't get me started on the "twisted, weird and bizarre" comment because that is plain insulting to the show's dedicated fans. Oddly, he never stopped to think that maybe he should be encouraging any reason to watch the show. It doesn't matter how small or inconsequential it seems to him as long as they are watching 'his' show. He is the main character of this show and he has staked his professional reputation on it. Surely it is more important that 'his' show is successful even if it turns out to be a collaborative effort.

This brings me to the other actors in this ship... Holland Roden and Dylan O'Brien. To be honest, the actors just don't seem invested in the relationship. Like I said earlier, I never used to pay attention to fandom and behind the scenes interviews. It was not until the show really started to decline in quality (ahem, Season 4) that I started wondering "what the hell is going on?" and decided to look it up. From looking at cast interviews, I have come to the conclusion that Holland Roden's perspective has always been 'I don't care about about Stydia, but I'll do it if I have to'. On the other hand, it is Dylan O'Brien's attitude throughout the years that has had a massive change. At first, he was very interested, his attitude towards the romance was 'yes, give Stiles a romantic interest. I would love to act on the romance'. In one interview he said, "it will happen one day". Then along came Stalia and it seemed like he was ready to move on to other potential directions that his character could go and his attitude towards Stydia changed into 'it could be fun if it happens but I'm also willing to explore any other relationship'. Fast forward another year and he came off as 'I don't care about this anymore. It's time to move on from not only Stydia but also the show'.

Normally, I don't care about whatever is going on behind the scenes, and I don't care about how an actor feels about their character as long as they portray it well (Harrison Ford can hate Han Solo as much as he wants, he portrayed that character too well for me to do so). The difference here is that Stydia was very poorly executed by both cast members. Holland and Dylan are both very good actors and have both given a solid performance throughout the past seasons (despite the horrible scripts as the seasons progressed). Despite their acting ability, neither of them were able to sell the relationship at all.

This begs to question, if even the actors could tell that the relationship had lost momentum, why couldn't Jeff Davis (the creator/ writer/ producer/ god of all things good and evil on heaven and earth? I don't even know what he is anymore) realise that this story arc had missed its opportunity and is no longer feasible? Who thought that the best way to develop one of the most demanded ships on the show was to have them kiss, look at each other then never do anything about it ever again? In what universe could this have possibly ended in any other way besides disappointment?

#teen wolf #stiles stilinski #lydia martin #stiles x lydia #bhadpodcast

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