#as far as i can tell hes unbeatable in solo

[fireflyskitters]

Almost Four Months in Taipei

I’ve been here in Taipei for four months and it’s almost the end of the year, so I guess some reflection is warranted. Normally, I reflect a lot–excessively, to the point of getting too hung up and being counterproductive–but I’ve had so little free time that it feels like I’m jumping from one activity to the next, from work to classes then chores and meeting people. In fact, I’m only able to write this now because I’m sacrificing some of my work hours (which is making me sound like a workaholic).

To put things into perspective, the pandemic felt like the worst two years of my life, and my time in Taipei so far has been the best few months. The pandemic was horrible because I got stuck with my family for two years with very little independence–I had to depend on my mom to drive me, couldn’t see anyone else, and frequently struggled with the nagging sense that I was wasting my mid-20’s away. My mid-20’s just seem like a blank period to me now–I went into the pandemic at around 24, then went out of it at the end of being 26. But as shitty as it felt, I don’t have any regrets about it because it forced me to grow up (learn how to be disciplined with work, how to save money, how to cope without external distractions). It also allowed me to spend time with my grandfather, who’d asked me then if I couldn’t stay with them forever so they would have company. Without the pandemic, I don’t think I would have been able to say goodbye to him properly, and just for that reason alone–being with my grandfather during his final years–I can say that all of it was worthwhile.

Taipei has been the best few months because–I feel accepted here? It’s not even about moving to a more developed country–I’d stayed in Singapore and US before for a while, and I didn’t really feel strongly about them. I suppose in Taipei, so many of the things that I like and am deeply interested in are validated, versus back home where I felt so out-of-place with them.

One is learning Chinese. My family was constantly griping at me about putting so much effort into it (“why not learn a European language? who cares about Chinese?”), and most people saw it as a quaint curiosity. But here, I sit for two hours every day with a teacher and other students who care about the language. I went for a hospital checkup the other day, and the doctor sacrificed a few minutes of his time to share a website with ancient Chinese texts, telling me to read them someday. My language exchange partner slash friend teaches classical Chinese. People regularly tell me, 加油, which in English can be translated as a variation of “Good luck!” or “Work hard, keep trying!” As someone whose interests were constantly being invalidated, it feels so nice to be connected to what I’m learning.

Second would be the remote work / digital nomad lifestyle. When I talk to my peers back home, their lives always seem to revolve around their nine-to-five job, and often in unfavorable ways. This might be more of a PH thing¬–my online friends from other countries don’t really seem to be like this. But here, I’ve met plenty of people who have less traditional careers or paths in life. For example: a guy who used to work as a product manager for a US tech company, but then he got a special visa in Taiwan for high-income earners, so he quit his job, relocated here, and travels around freely now. A girl who works as a clinical trial manager for J&J but squeezes in enough time to solo travel. A friend from Spain who does part-time marketing for a finance startup while taking Chinese classes. When I talk to them, what I do feels normal, and they’re also showing me what I want to be in the future. I don’t… feel so different.

That’s not to say I’m idealizing Taiwan–I can barely speak the language well enough, my friends here are all English-speaking–because there are a lot of things that I miss about PH. The unbeatable convenience of Grab (you can pretty much order anything from the app). Apartments with elevators and security guards¬–I have to walk up five floors to my apartment here every time. Mostly cashless payments rather than having to give cash to my landlord every time. European food that tastes decent and isn’t overpriced. Being able to cook (I’m dreading the consequences of all of the vegetable oil that my food is soaked in here). Having free time because I was mostly focused on work back then. Wearing dresses and tank tops (for some reason, people don’t wear sundresses as much here, even in summer). Maybe so many more things that will only hit me the longer I stay here.

I guess I can also count it as a turning point in my life because it’s the first… authentic achievement I’ve had in a very, very long time? I started out as an overachiever kid who didn’t really care about what she was studying, then lost my motivation after that because I was so confused about which direction I wanted to go in–I think I always knew, but my mother kept forcing me into programs and environments that really didn’t fit me as a person. Staying in Taiwan was an actual dream of mine. I’m still not sure how I made it work, but everything aligned. I got a scholarship for a few months which gave me an entry point, my remote job took off and it’s with a language learning app so this is helping my career, and once I got here, it was feasible–although a bit exhausting–to keep staying and working. But the fatigue is worthwhile because I’m following a dream.

So for the first time in a long time, I can say that I’m proud of myself.

[shin-hero-buster]

is Barioth supposed to be completely unfair?

#monster hunter world #as far as i can tell hes unbeatable in solo

[im-in-vin-ci-ble]

Hello~ Can I request a Mark x fem reader who’s a lot like starfire and is very Powerful close to omni man and is also an alien princess but she lives on earth and they go to the same school and she’s also a solo hero who one day sees invincible fighting off a tough villain with the teenteam but is losing so she steps in to help and he recognizes her and starts getting all nervous since he has a crush on her and then after that they introduce themselves get to know each other and eventually work they’re way up to mark confessing and she says yes :3

(If possible can it be a slow burn im a sucker for slow burn tropes and stuff 😤)

A/N: I gotchu, this bout to be a lil long 😮‍💨 making the fem!reader a little more human, figured since she’s in an actual school for humans she’d need to adapt to the humor/culture so she doesn’t get suspicious

Pairing: Mark Grayson x Fem!Reader

Rating: M, some swearing and gross monster guts

Warnings: N/A

Summary: Mark is finally joined in battle by an alien princess who has caught his attention. Turns out she goes to the same high school, and if he can throw around 150-pound monsters across the street, surely he can confess his true feelings to a girl... right?

"Are you fucking kidding me right now?!" Rex Splode yelled as he wobbled up off the ground. "We've been on this thing for hours and it only has one damn cut!"

"Calm down Rex," Atom Eve said from behind, "You're gonna get even more tired from yelling."

The two watched as Dupli-Kate attempted to distract the scaly kaiju, replicating herself second after second to give space for Invincible to hit the monster by surprise. The kaiju's screech echoed throughout the city and shook the foundations of the surrounding buildings, forcing Rex, Atom Eve and Robot to move aside and save however many civilians they could.

"Invincible," Dupli-Kate shouted, "I can't keep up much longer!"

A sonic boom overcame the surrounding noise and Invincible appeared from the clouds. Dropping in at maximum speed, the young superhero balled his hand into a fist and took a deep breath. A loud battle cry escaped his mouth but it was cut short as the kaiju's heavy arm slapped him away just in time, throwing him through destroyed buildings until he landed on the pavement.

Out of breath, dizzy, and in a serious amount of pain, Invincible laid on the broken road for a second to regain his strength. The wind softly blew down on him as he focused his sight on a contrail leading towards him, and he watched as a girl in purple land right next to him.

She bent down and held him upright, "Invincible, are you okay?"

"Mmhmm," Invincible croaked with a defeated smile, "Totally fine."

His sight reverted back to normal and the first face he saw shocked him alive. It was her. They never talked in school and he was almost sure she didn't know his real name, but here she was, basically cradling him in her arms and calling him Invincible.

So she knows who I am. At least with the suit.

"Come on, that kaiju is about to be destroy the entire city," she said, helping him get back on his feet and flying away to the seemingly unbeatable figure.

He huffed, "Stay cool, Mark. She's here to help," and he followed suit.

This marked the first time he really interacted with the new superhero; he'd only ever see her on TV or read about how she saved people on the newspaper. He'd be lying if he said he didn't find her attractive — as do most guys his age — but watching her blast the kaiju with the green bursts of energy from her hands made her only even more appealing.

Invincible regrouped with the rest of the Teen Team. "I don't know what else we can do to this thing," Atom Eve admitted.

"I do," the girl spoke up. "Distract it as best as you can but stay far away from the stomach. When I tell you to take cover, make a run for it."

Robot replied, "That seems highly dangerous."

"Let's do it," Invincible quickly replied in a high-pitched voice.

Everyone looked over at him, surprised at the sudden change in his voice and just how fast he reacted in agreement. 

"Uh, it's a good plan," he nodded, causing the girl to shoot a warm smile his way. "I definitely think we should do it... if all of you... uh, think, we should."

Exhausted and out of options, the rest of the group followed her orders and took different corners of the monster. Dupli-Kate handled one leg, Rex Splode handled the other, Robot and Atom Eve took the arms, and Invincible went back to the head. The kaiju struggled to keep its focus on just one of the heroes, and while it remained preoccupied, the girl absorbed all the energy she could muster and flew straight for the stomach.

"Take cover, now!"

Invincible and the Teen Team moved away and they watched as the flying hero's eyes opened in a bright shade of neon green, both her arms extended out as a large ball of green formed around her hands. The rays exploded right through the kaiju and it shrieked in pain as she briefly disappeared into the stomach. The kaiju lost balance and slowly fell forward as the girl, her eyes still green, appeared on the other side and harshly fell down on the ground.

The kaiju landed on the street with a loud boom and the group ran towards the girl who was now covered in parts of the kaiju's digestive system.

"Okay, that's kinda gross," Rex Splode commented, to which Dupli-Kate quickly responded, "Shut up."

Invincible dropped down on his knees and wiped the blood and guts off her face. Subtly admiring her facial features up close, he couldn't believe (and almost felt stupid) that he never recognized her despite the fact that he almost saw her everyday.

The girl groaned in agony softly shook her head, her eyes fluttering open to the sight of Invincible's dark hair, goggles and yellow mask.

"Hey, hey," he whispered, "Are you alright?"

She sat up and hissed at her injuries, holding her head with her bloody hand. "Mmhmm," she gently nodded with a half smile, her eye one still shut. "Totally fine."

---

Mark had a hard time focusing on school. His body ached from yesterday's injuries and he suffered a few bruises from literally tearing through buildings. He made his way to his locker and rested his head on the metal door, dreading the fact that he still has an entire afternoon of classes to go. Closing his eyes in hopes to quickly recharge, his moment of peace was disrupted when a shoulder rammed into his chest and several books landed right on his toe.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry," a voice exclaimed.

Mark's head snapped up at the sound of the voice. It's her. He momentarily froze and watched the girl bend down to pick up her things, and when he finally regained movement a split second later, he also bent down to help her out. He kept quiet as he tried to think of the coolest possible response to make her think that he was actually the coolest guy in school, but all he could think of was how heavenly and badass she looked yesterday.

"Thanks," she said as he handed her the book. "I hope your foot doesn't bruise."

They both stood up and he shot her a nervous smile. "T-totally fine," he replied, clearing his throat afterwards.

She crossed her brows at his response and nodded, and a look of suspicion replaced her worried demeanor.

"I'm Mark, by the way," he cleared his throat again and reached out his hand, "Grayson."

"Mark... Grayson, huh?" she responded, scanning his face as her suspicion grew. Her eyes finally landed on the hand that was waiting, and she took one last look into his eyes before deciding to shake it. "I'm Y/N," she introduced herself with a skeptical smile, feeling his sweaty palm wrapped around hers. "I'll see you around, Mark Grayson."

She walked away and Mark's eyes followed her trail as far as he could see. He quickly pulled out his phone to send a text to Eve, who was actually watching their interaction a few classrooms down.

"Mark," Eve called out as she moved towards him. “So I’m assuming...”

"You knew?” he asked her in disbelief. “Why didn't you tell me Y/N was a superhero? I just introduced myself to her as Mark Grayson and I'm almost positive she knows I'm Invincible."

"First off, it's not my secret tell," she answered with a shrug. "Second, you guys didn’t trade secrets or whatever?”

Mark shook his head in a panic, "No, but I'm guessing she also knows that I know her secret the same way I know she knows my secret." He rested his forehead on the locker door once again and groaned, "Ugh, I'm so into her, it isn't even funny. And this whole superhero thing just made it even more awkward."

Eve laughed, "Look, I'm not going to force her to tell you if she isn't up for it, but if you want, I can ask her to hang out with us later. Maybe — emphasis on maybe — my presence will make her comfortable enough to admit who she is."

"Okay, okay," he sighed, turning around to rest the back of his head. "My insides are dying."

"After the kaiju yesterday, be thankful you don't mean that in a literal sense."

---

Where in the hell is Eve?

Mark pulled out his phone for the third time in 10 minutes. Still no call or response from Eve to his text. He was getting evidently nervous; his palms were sweaty again and it felt like someone turned up the heat in Burger Mart. His left leg jerked up and down in anxiety as he stared at his phone, looking at the seconds on the clock icon tick by. If he were left alone with Y/N, he'd have no idea what to say. What does she like? Should I bring up the kaiju yesterday and praise Invincible? No, she'll just think I'm full of myself.

"Hey Mark."

He jolted and saw Y/N standing by the corner of the booth. "Hi!" he replied in that irritatingly high-pitched voice. Mark's heart began to race and the thoughts in his head ran wild. "Um... Have a seat. Sorry Eve isn't here yet, she actually hasn't answered my calls or my messages. Teenage girls, huh? What can you do?"

She crossed her brows again and chuckled, "That's fine, we can wait for Eve. But I think I'm more concerned about you."

"What do you mean?"

Y/N chuckled again, "You seem... nervous.”

He faked an obnoxiously loud laugh, “Me? Nervous?”

She watched him from across the table in silence, waiting for him to regain his composure.

When Mark couldn’t hear Y/N laughing with him, he finally shut up and shook his head. “Yeah, I am nervous, sorry,” he admitted, shutting his eyes tight. 

She giggled, “Totally fine.”

Hearing her say those two words calmed his racing heartbeat. A smile crept on his face and she reciprocated, their eyes locking for a few seconds before both their phones buzzed.

“Oh, I just got a text from Eve,” Mark said. 

“Me too.” She opened the message and began to read it out loud, “Sorry, can’t make it tonight. Something came up.”

“Have fun, you two,” he followed, his voice faltering. He placed his phone, screen down this time, back on the table and sighed, “Sorry, guess you’re stuck with me. That is, if you do want to stay and... hang out, and stuff.”

"Why wouldn’t I?” she replied, her warm smile easing Mark back into a relaxed state. “It’s nice to have a friend who...” she trailed off, “understands.”

“Understands what?” he asked.

“This thing people like us call life,” she answered. “You know, it took me a long time to acclimate here. I didn’t think I ever would, then I met friends who made this place feel like home. And home is a feeling I hadn’t felt in a really long time.”

Mark rested his elbows on the table and leaned in closer, “Well, I’m always here. You know, a-as a friend... or an acquaintance, even. I don’t, I don’t want to push it.”

Y/N giggled again, “You’re a funny man, Mark Grayson. This planet is lucky to have someone like you.” She reached out and held his hand, “And I’m even luckier to have you as a friend, or an acquaintance.” 

He felt the heat rush to his face and he could swear his heart nearly jumped out of his chest. The afternoon flew by in a hurry as they engaged in lengthy conversations, fatty fast food, and childhood stories. While Mark was open to sharing every tiny detail — down to the color of the bleachers at the park where he played little league — Y/N kept hers pretty vague, leaving out descriptions of family members and even the places where these stories happened. 

Mark’s phone buzzed again, but the vibrating pattern indicated it was a phone call. He turned the screen over and saw the unknown number; it was time to suit up.

“Shit, I’m sorry Y/N, but I need to go,” he said in a rush. “I have a... uh, an emergency.”

You couldn’t have thought of anything more specific?

“It’s cool. Um, don’t worry about it,” she said, shaking her head with her eyes glued to the vibrating phone. 

Mark’s one leg was already out the booth before he decided to finally just go for it. Sitting back down with his now quiet phone in his hands, he took a deep breath.

“Y/N, I think you’re really cool. Can I maybe, like, call you sometime, or something?”

Her lips formed into smile that extended to her eyes, and it was enough for Mark to melt a little. “Of course. Yeah, sure,” she replied in excitement and typed down her number on his phone. She handed it back, “Now you know how to reach me if you’re getting your ass whooped again.”

His mouth fell open as his shaky hands grabbed his phone. “Wait—”

She smoothly slid out of the booth, “See you later, Invincible,” she winked, “Don’t get killed today.”

---

Luckily for Mark, no one got killed today. Maybe a few wounds here and there, but nothing painful enough that will land him in the GDA hospital. After spending an hour in the shower, he finally managed to lie down on his bed and rest his body. He sank into the mattress and closed his eyes, taking in the seconds of undisturbed peace that have become rare moments since he got his powers. 

As he replayed the events of today’s fights in his head, his mind drifted off to the hours he spent with Y/N. He pulled out his phone and mustered the courage to press the dial button, and the repeating sound of the ringing was making his pulse race. 

“Hello?”

“Oh good, you didn’t die today.”

Mark chuckled and sandwiched his hand between his head and the pillow. “It wasn’t that bad today, just took a few hits,” he explained. “So listen, Y/N, I was wondering, uh—”

She cut him off, “What are you doing right now?”

“What?”

“What are you doing right now?” she repeated.

“Um, nothing, just getting some rest” he sat up and looked around. “Why?”

“If you’re not too tired, do you maybe...”

Mark smiled, “Maybe...?”

“I don’t know, sneak out? My roof is pretty comfortable.”

Silently fist pumping, he fully stood up and nodded, “Text me the address.”

Just as quietly as he exited his room via the window, he softly landed on Y/N’s roof. Swiftly flying up and greeting him, she took the place next to him and crossed her legs. 

“You’re right, your roof is pretty comfortable,” Mark said.

She chuckled at his remark then noticed a gash by his right temple. Her brows furrowed in worry, “You have a wound,” she said, making sure not to touch it.

“Don’t worry about it,” he replied, softly holding her hand and placing it back down with his. “Totally fine.”

Those words brought her some sense of comfort as her eyes softened, causing her to unconsciously squeeze his hand. Mark’s eyes widened and he looked down at their tangled fingers, frozen for a moment.

“Is this... okay with you?” he asked.

She nodded. “Wanna lie down? Since my roof is so comfortable?” she asked with a smirk.

“Sure,” Mark chuckled, removing his hand from her’s and stretching his arm out as they lied down. Y/N rested her head on his shoulder, keeping her eyes up at the stars.

“Hey Mark?”

“Yeah?”

A moment of silence.

“Thank you for coming.”

He looked down at her as she met his eyes, “You’re welcome.” 

The two shared a smile, and Mark took a deep breath as he prepared himself for the words that were about to come out of his mouth.

It’s now or never, Mark. Now or never.

“Watching you kick ass yesterday was... really a sight to see,” he began. “You’re powerful and strong, but more importantly, brave. And you’re so fucking beautiful and kind and smart and...” Mark trailed off, sighing, “I never thought I would be in this position — with you next to me in a very comfortable rooftop under the stars.”

“Mark...”

“And I really like you. Like, really, really like you.”

“Mark.”

“It’s okay if you don’t feel the same way, but I just wanted to let you know. It’s important that you know—”

“Mark,” she cut him off. “I like you too. A lot.”

He breathed a sigh of relief and covered his eyes with his free hand. “Oh thank god. Thank god!” he exclaimed.

Y/N shushed him, “You’re gonna wake up the neighborhood, Invincible.”

“Sorry,” he giggled quietly, “I got excited.”

She laughed and faced her body towards him. They locked eyes again, and Mark didn’t know if it was gravity or just the adrenaline that pushed him, but he finally leaned down and met her lips. Static ran through his body as he deepened the kiss, and he felt an excitement that was even more exhilarating than the first time he flew.

She pulled away and Mark ran his hand through her hair, resting his hand on her cheek. “How was that?” he asked.

She smiled gently and placed her hand over his, “Totally fine.”

#sorry this turned out way longer than expected #mark grayson x reader #invincible x reader #mark grayson #invincible fanfiction

[transthaumaturge]

Squirrel Girl is Super Gay for her Roommate and I Want Everyone to Know

A gay infodump of sensible length by Rachel Tikvah

ALRIGHT, SO The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl was the very first comic that I ever read regularly, back when I was looking for more stories with strong female protagonists but didn't really know why. Back then I just thought I really liked strong female characters and not that I was being gay on main, but now I know the truth. The comic had a 5-year run, and it was the first time that Squirrel Girl, AKA Doreen Green, had had her own series. She had a brief run in the mid-2000's where she was established as someone who could beat up Thanos with her bare hands well, more like squirrel hands but was mostly a joke character that happened to be incredibly buff and had indestructible plot armor. USG decided that Doreen's next major life goal would be to enroll in college to become a computer scientist, because her writer, Ryan North, is really into computer science and they basically gave him free rein over Squirrel Girl canon for five whole years. Like, a solid third of the plots are solved with some kind of computer science smarts. It’s really cool. Anyway this is Doreen in one of the gayest solo pictures I could find of her on short notice, which is also one of the variant covers from the actual series:

And this is her college roommate, Nancy Whitehead:

I'm like, 99% certain that Ryan North intended for them to end up as a couple and Disney!Marvel told him no. So he decided to make them AS GAY FOR EACH OTHER AS POSSIBLE without explicitly saying that they were a couple, and it ended up going under the radar. What follows is evidence for that claim. I’m going to put a "read more” after this so it doesn’t clutter everyone’s dashboards, but please read on if you’re interested. There’s a lot of cute gayness after this point. I’m also going to put all of the image descriptions at the end, since they take up a lot of space and I don’t want to break up the flow of the post. Finally, a quick spoiler alert for one arc in the middle of the series and a couple major plot points from the final few issues.

AND THEY WERE ROOMMATES

So for a while it was just kind of hinted at that they’re in a relationship, mostly because they were basically domestic life partners for like, two whole years in-universe before the comic run ended. But it really came to a head with an arc that was ran about 2/3 of the way through the series. Some pictures of them being, like, so cute together in general and/or talking about how much they care about each other before I get to that arc, though: 

Also Doreen describes her and Nancy's cat as "co-parented" in one of the last issues:

ANYWAY, THE ARC. THE HYPERTIME ARC. So one of the villains created for the Squirrel Girl run (I think they liked making weird shit canon just because they could) was a dude who went by the name "EpicCrimez". He’s a crime streamer. He livestreams his crimes to an online audience. I don't know. *Throws up hands*

He had some kind of laser gun that he built out of scavenged alien tech but didn't really know what it did, so he shot it at Doreen and Nancy for kicks. It shot them into hypertime, so suddenly the rest of the world was moving at a fraction of the pace that they were. They were moving so quickly that they were slated to live out their entire lives over the span of a single weekend if they didn't figure out how to reverse the effects. And...they did. Live out their entire lives together. For the two of them, they were the only two people in the world. There were other people, but they looked like statues unless you spent a very long time observing them. Doreen and Nancy grew old together in a world where they only had each other. This is an incredibly cute domestic scene from a little while after they found themselves in hypertime:

Gosh, I wish I could find more official art from that arc of them just living together, it was so good. But the point is, they were both old by the time that Nancy figured out how to get them out of hypertime. And it wasn't ideal. Their bio signatures were stored in the gun that EpicCrimez shot, and they could essentially "reboot" their bodies from when they were first shot and send themselves back into the regular timestream. But they wouldn't remember anything about the life that they had shared together. Nancy almost didn't want to do it. She raised the possibility of them just living out the rest of their lives together, because she didn't want to forget their life together. This is the conversation they had:

"I don't regret any of it. I don't want to lose it, and I don't want to lose us." "You're not getting rid of me that easily." Every time I look at that last picture, which took up an entire page of the comic, I start to cry. We’re seeing the final moments of two people who love each other more than anything, who were each other's entire lives, savoring their last moments together and wondering what the future holds. Sacrificing the life that they built together so that their younger selves could live a better, fuller one. Dying in each other’s arms, scared but comforted by the fact that they had each other. And then the arc ends, and they can't remember anything, so the status quo is restored. They have some paintings they made of each other while they were living together in hypertime, but they move on pretty quickly without ever knowing the significance of those lived decades. Still, it's clear in the arcs that follow and the adventures they embarked on afterward that they would die for each other. All of that continues until the end of the last arc. Their shared apartment's been blown up at this point by a supervillain who wanted to ruin Doreen’s life before eventually killing her. And in the aftermath of the fight, they're sifting through the wreckage for anything that survived (don't worry, the cat got out in time) when they find the picture that they painted of themselves during the hypertime arc:

They have a really cute conversation about how this chapter of their life is over, but they're going to be okay and they're going to build a new life together. And then Nancy basically tells Doreen that she can't live without her:

And then Doreen says something super queer-coded about how she likes the idea of the world knowing her secret identity now:

On the very last page of the comic, after all of the action is over and the series is about to end, they're talking to each other in what's supposed to be a twitter thread and Doreen asks Nancy a very thinly veiled question about whether she still wants to spend time with her now that her identity's out. She pretends it's about a class project, but it's really not about the class project. Here's how that conversation goes:

With no knowledge of what happened during the weekend when they shared their entire lives together, without ever having heard Doreen say it to her before, Nancy’s heart still knows which words to choose. "...you're not getting rid of me that easily. <3" I believe that the author of the series, Ryan North, did as much as he possibly could to portray them as a couple without saying it outright. And as the last piece of evidence to support that claim, I want to share a response he wrote in one of the series' last-ever letter columns:

"as for more Doreen and Nancy, I hope so too. A Squirrel Girl book without Nancy would feel like--like--like some sort of hypothetical "Super" "Man" book without an equally hypothetical "Lois" "Lane"!" It's easy to write off this analysis as wishful thinking, or as a misreading of the subtext. But when the author of the series says that these two characters are meant to always be together and compares them to one of the most famous couples in any comic series ever, it's clear that there's more to it than that. 

Some Additional Thoughts: 1) Doreen and Nancy are both probably bisexual or pansexual, since they both expressed romantic interest in men throughout the series but they’re both clearly interested in each other too. There might be an element of demiromanticism there as well if part of the reason that they’re into each other romantically is because of how emotionally close they’ve become over the years. I want to make sure that that facet of their romantic orientations doesn’t get erased, because bi and pan folks get erased enough as it is. Neither Doreen nor Nancy are lesbians, just super-cool WLWs.

2) HERE’S WHAT THE ISSUE 50 VARIANT COVER LOOKED LIKE

That’s NOT a fun, totally straight way to pose with your platonic gal pal. They’re so incredibly cute together! I have no words! In Closing If you got this far, thank you so much for letting me talk to you about a comic that’s very important to me, and a couple in that comic that I care about very much. I spent way too long making this (six hours and counting), mostly in writing the image descriptions, and I’m very proud of my work but very tired now. Hyperfixation is a hell of a drug. If this resonated with you, please consider reblogging it so that more folks can see it. If not, even a like is nice. I’d also love to engage with people who have their own thoughts, so feel free to leave some comments in the notes if you’ve got an idea/a reaction/any additional cute Doreen/Nancy scenes that you’d like to share with me. At any rate, this post has gone on long enough and I don’t want to ask y’all to read any more than you have to. So have a great day, good morning / afternoon / night, and stay safe. Thanks again for reading! ~Rachel Tikvah, AKA @transthaumaturge Image Descriptions: Image 1: [ID: Squirrel Girl, a young woman with light skin, is posing in front of a brick wall that she seems to have crashed through, leaving a perfect outline of her body. She’s facing away but looking backwards over her shoulder at us and smiling. She’s flexing upward with her right arm and has her left fist resting on her left hip. Her sidekick, a squirrel named Tippy-Toe, is standing in the cutout she left in the wall and is making the same exact pose while wearing a light pink bow around her neck. Squirrel Girl is wearing brown lace-up boots, fur-lined hot pants over grey tights, and a brown fur-lined jacket with sleeves that come up to her forearms and a symbol of an acorn embroidered into the back. She’s also wearing a hairband with fake squirrel ears on it over short reddish-brown hair. She has a large squirrel tail coming out of her hot pants that sweeps down in a curve behind her lower legs. The illustration is drawn so that everything is bathed in the light of a sunset, and Doreen is casting shadows on the wall in front of her.] Image 2: [ID: Two frames depicting a scene between Doreen and Nancy in their college dorm room, with many cardboard boxes still not unpacked and sitting on a bare bed mattress. Nancy Whitehead is a young woman with dark brown skin and short, curly black hair. She's wearing black tights, a white dress-top, and a yellow cardigan over that. Her arms are crossed as she holds her white cat, Mew, against her chest. Doreen is wearing grey tights and a black long-sleeve shirt with a wide collar and white stripes across the chest. She's holding Tippy-Toe up to Nancy with both hands so she can see her better. The following dialogue ensues: Nancy: "A squirrel? But weren't you the one who was all about pets not being allowed in--" Doreen: "Yeah, I know. But this really interesting person I met today told me that obeying an unjust law is itself unjust." Nancy: "...You know, I was worried I'd get a weird roommate, but you're all right, Doreen Green."] Image 3: [ID: Doreen and Nancy are both sitting on a lavender-pink couch in nightclothes. Doreen has short, orange hair. She is wearing a loose-fitting grey long-sleeve shirt and steel-blue cutoff shorts; Nancy has cropped black hair. She is wearing a dark purple top with sleeves that come down to her upper arms, and loose-fitting navy-blue shorts that come down to her lower thighs. Doreen is side-hugging Nancy as she says, with an ecstatically happy smile, “Nancy, you’re the greatest. You know that, right?” Nancy gives Doreen a full smile as she responds, “I’d always suspected it, but it is nice to have it confirmed.”] Image 4: [ID: Nancy is shown from the shoulders up. She has short, curly black hair. She’s wearing large, disc-shaped gold dangle earrings, and a red jacket with prominent shoulders and a yellow collar. She’s fixing the observer with an angry, determined stare as she says, “She knows this man wouldn’t dream about betraying her, or he’d have to answer to me.”] Image 5: [ID: Doreen and Nancy are eating breakfast at the brown, circular kitchen table in their apartment. Doreen’s wearing a skin-tight athletic crop top that’s striped in black, red, white, and blue. Her arm muscles are well-defined and clearly visible as she puts a spoon in her mouth, closing her eyes as she does so. She has a bowl of cereal in front of her, and half a banana in front of that. Nancy is sitting to her left in a pink camisole top that’s also exposing her muscles, scrolling through something on her smartphone. Her hair is in a yellow fabric wrap that’s knotted on one side of her head. A cup of coffee sits in front of her. The clear blue sky is visible through the window centered on the wall behind them.] Image 6: [ID: Nancy and Doreen are facing away from the vantage point, walking towards an Empire State University campus building and holding hands with their fingers intertwined. Nancy is wearing a long knee-length grey coat and black knee-high boots, with a baby-blue side bag hanging from her left shoulder. Doreen is wearing a magenta sweatshirt with the periwinkle-lined hood down, light brown form-fitting denim pants, and black ankle-high boots, with a dark brown side bag hanging from her right shoulder. Trees and bushes hem the walkway in on either side. The building in front of them is dark red, with glass doors and a row of floor-to-ceiling windows on the second floor. Doreen is saying “...we’re just going to have to take the long way around.”] Image 7: [ID: Doreen is facing towards the vantage point and is visible from the legs up, standing in front of a pile of rubble in the background. She’s wearing high-waisted light blue shorts over black tights, and a red windbreaker with sleeves ending at her upper arms that’s opened to reveal a white t-shirt underneath. Tippy-Toe is sitting on her shoulder. There are two people facing Doreen, each slightly in frame and silhouetted in black against the light of the setting sun. Doreen is fixing them with an angry, determined expression, resting her right fist at her hip while she gesticulates with her left hand and says, “So! I don’t know about you all, but Melissa kidnapping my friend and blowing up my life and my house and almost blowing up my co-parented cat makes me feel like giving her a piece of my mind. Friends...”] Image 8: [ID: A full comic page. EpicCrimez is looking like a dork in a green and black skin-tight jumpsuit, bright red ski goggles, and a green wig cap with his brown hair sticking out the back in a mullet. He’s standing inside a jewelry store and holding up a fist of expensive gems and pearls-on-strings as holds up his smartphone and speaks into it. He’s facing off against Squirrel Girl, with her allies Koi Boi and Chipmunk Hunk on her right, and Nancy and Brain Drain on the left. The following scene ensues: EpicCrimez: “And for those of you just tuning in, welcome to another successful heist by your boy EpicCrimez, streaming live! Now with 10% more live crime action than any other streamer! Don’t forget to like and subscribe!! I know some of you in EpicCrimez Nation have been forgetting to do that lately. Not acceptable.” Squirrel Girl: “You picked the wrong small business to rob, crime-initiator! Because this mall is protected by super heroes.” Brain Drain: “HELLO” SG: “And also an unrelated civilian friend I brought along too!” Nancy: (Not looking up from her phone) “ ‘Sup.” EC: “Check it out--Squirrel Girl and her miscellaneous friends are here! It’s action you won’t find on any other channel!” SG: “Are you...streaming your robberies?” (Nancy pockets her phone) EC: “Yeah I am! For money reasons! And with you “heroes” in it, I’ll make even more!” SG: (Whispering to Nancy:) “Question: a fight scene just gets him more traffic, which lets him profit from this crime even more--so does this mean we don’t fight him?” N: (Whispering back:) “I feel like letting him go causes more harm, but I look forward to us teasing apart the moral implications of this later.” SG: “Nice.” SG: (No longer whispering:) “I’ll like and subscribe, EpicCrimez! I’ll like fighting crime, and subscribe... to a worldview wherein the strong protect the weak!” EC: “Oh my gosh, are you like wholesome Spider-Man or something??” At the bottom of the page, small text says: “Wholesome Spider-Man, Wholesome Spider-Man/Does whatever a wholesome spider can/Is he tough?/Listen bud/He’s here to hear you talk about your day and tell you it’ll all be fine while taking you out for your favorite meal for dinner because he knows you deserve it.”] Image 9: [ID: Another full comic page. Doreen and Nancy are in their apartment together, and their friends Tomas and Brian (AKA Chipmunk Hunk and Brain Drain respectively) are frozen as they look down at the machine that Nancy is on her knees in front of, working on. Nancy, barefoot, is wearing cerulean-blue athletic pants, a black long-sleeve spandex shirt without shoulders, and narrow-framed glasses. Her hair is partially covered by a yellow cloth head wrap tied on the left side, with black dreadlocks spilling out the side and back. The machine in front of her is made of dull grey metal, about a meter tall and roughly circular. Wires dangle out of a hatch that Nancy is fiddling with. Doreen is wearing a flowing, dark-purple pantsuit with wide, ankle-length legs and a halter top with the sleeves tied off at her shoulders. Her shoes are light-brown ankle boots with a horizontal gap on the bridge of each foot. Her wavy orange hair is parted in the middle and down past her shoulders. She looks incredibly cute. The following scene ensues: Doreen: “What do you think?” Nancy: “I think--come on you stupid screw--I think we’re still years away from this thing working, if it ever does. Who knew time machine construction is really hard, except of course for everyone who has attempted it?” (She wipes her forehead with the back of her hand) D: “Hah! No, I mean my new outfit.” N: (Looking up and checking her gf out:) “Doreen! You look amazing!!” D: “Liberated it from a very expensive department store uptown!” N: (Now standing) “Tony paid for it?” D: Tony will eventually discover he was kind enough to leave some expensive jewelry in trade, yes. I pinned a note to him so he knows.” N: “There really are advantages to being friends with billionaire playboy genius philanthropists.” D: “Right?!” N: (Taking Doreen’s hands in hers:) “It’s a shame we can’t take a picture of you all dolled up.” D: “Not without standing still for a few months, yeah. But I was thinking about that. I picked up something else at another store downtown. Thought maybe it could help us with that.” (Holding up a shopping bag with one hand while still holding onto Nancy’s hand with the other:) “Nancy Whitehead, I thought you and I might take up painting sometime.” At the bottom of the page, small text says: “Tony Stark moves from meeting to meeting, his body accumulating dozens of notes every second. He sighs. Stuff like this didn’t happen before he knew Doreen. But then he smiles, because after all...stuff like this didn’t happen before he knew Doreen.”] Images 10-16: [ID: Several pages worth of comic frames, posted together to depict one scene. Doreen and Nancy are now old women, likely in their seventies or eighties. Doreen has short, grey hair. She’s wearing a tan button-up waistcoat and an orange ascot, brown flats with an olive-green skirt, knee-length and softly pleated. Her tail is sticking out the back of her skirt over the top, bushy and brown but with stiffer, less-dense hair. Nancy has her grey-black hair done up in a ponytail, a mass of tight curls behind her head. She’s wearing thin oval glasses, black dress pants, black flats, and a lavender cardigan with a flower motif along the edges, open to show the yellow-orange top underneath. They’re standing in front of a completed time machine. On either side are tall pieces of machinery, and in the middle is a round, flat metal dais hooked up to everything else with snaking cables. The following scene ensues: Nancy: “So...this is it, babe. The new machine.” Doreen: “Your secret project! Nancy, it looks like you started from scratch!” N: That’s because I did. I finally realized our old machine was never going to work. Maybe if we had a few more decades, but...there’s no time. And given that our backs are to the wall, I took a risk. I disassembled the gun right down to the metal, and examined all the parts. And I did find something: a data chip. Doreen, the gun stored our bio signatures when it us.” D: “What are you saying?” N: “I’m saying my new machine won’t send us back in time, and we’ll still have lost a weekend of real time. But it will restore our bodies to normal time.” D: (Hugging Nancy tight:) “Nancy! You saved us!!” N: (Resting her hands on Doreen’s shoulders:) “Not--quite. There’s a catch, Doreen. Our bodies will make it...but we won’t. Look, Doreen...I’m an old woman. I’ve spent most of my life in hypertime. This wasn’t how I saw my life going, but...I don’t regret any of it. I don’t want to lose it, and I don’t want to lose us.” D: “I don’t understand.” N: “It’s like restoring from backup. Our bodies will be restored to how they were the moment we were first hit. But--that necessarily includes our brains, too. Everything we’ve done since we entered hypertime--our entire lives spent together...we’ll forget.” (She looks at Doreen in distress) D: “I don’t either, Nancy. You’ve been the most important person in my life. But if we do go back--we can do it again. All of it. It might not happen again quite the same way, but--well, like you say...we’ll have all the time in the world.” N: (Their faces inches apart, they both tilt their heads down and smile sadly:) “Twist my arm, why don’t you.” (They both step onto the dais holding hands, and blue energy starts to ripple around them:) “You filled up Spidey’s web-shooters before we go?” D: “Yep. Again.” N: “You and me, saving the world.” D: “Well,” (holding Nancy’s hand in both of her own) "No reason we can’t do it twice.” N: “You know, there’s a chance things could turn out differently, now that we’ll have video games to distract us. In 40 years we might decide we don’t like hanging out after all.” D: (Hugging Nancy even tighter than before as the energy from the time machine starts to envelop them, resting her face in the nape of Nancy’s neck:) “Nah. You’re not getting rid of me that easily.”] Image 17: [ID: Doreen and Nancy are sifting through the charred rubble of their apartment as night starts to fall around them. Doreen is wearing faded blue jeans and a navy blue t-shirt with a Captain America star in the middle. Over top of the shirt, she’s wearing a dark reddish-brown leather vest with four metal studs at the four points of the folded-out collar. Nancy is wearing black tights and a light green long-sleeve shirt with olive-green sleeves. The front of the shirt has a picture of Cat-Thor, Cat God of Cat Thunder’s head on it. The following scene ensues: Doreen: “So I know we’re only a few hours into it, Nancy, but I think my identity being public isn’t gonna be as bad as I thought.” Nancy: “Oh?” D: “Yeah, Tony’s given me lots of tips, and it does honestly help to know that my parents are protected by a robot tree with laser eyes and my friends live in a city with the most super heroes per square mile.” N: “Most super villains too, but--Hold on. I think I found it.” (Nancy lifts a picture frame out of the wreckage, charred around the edges but otherwise no worse for wear. It has a painting inside of it of Doreen and Nancy, arm-in-arm, from hypertime. Doreen is wearing the lavender pantsuit from before, and Nancy is wearing a tight-fitting lilac dress.) “...And it looks like you and I made it through just fine.”] Images 18-19: [ID: Two later comic panels from the same scene. They’re wearing the same outfits, but Nancy’s now cradling her white cat, Mew, in the crook of her left arm while she holds onto the picture frame with her right hand. The following scene ensues: Doreen: “Come on, let’s talk about it! If we’re starting a new chapter in our lives, and we can decide what’s in it, what do you want it to contain?” Nancy: “Doreen...” D: “What are the three things you can’t live without, Nancy Whitehead?” N: (Holding up the picture so that Doreen can see it:) “Fine. If you must know, all this girl needs to be happy are cats and squirrels and knitting and computers and friends and secret tattoos and super heroes and lots and lots of love. Also food and shelter. And water. And internet.” D: “That’s more than three things.”] Image 20: [ID: Same scene as before, a single frame with a close-up on Doreen from her chest upwards. Doreen cups her chin with one of her hands and says, “Honestly--I thought about it. I really did. But I realized that where I am now, I’m safe and I’m loved and I kinda like the idea of not having to lie to people anymore, you know? Even if it is just a lie of omission. I want to share my whole self with the world. I don’t want to have to hide who I am anymore.”] Image 21: [ID: Something resembling a twitter thread, with dialogue between Nancy and Doreen stacked chronologically as horizontal boxes. Their respective names and handles are at the top of each of their comments. Nancy is Nancy W. and @sewwiththeflo, Doreen is Squirrel Girl and @unbeatablesg. The following conversation ensues: Nancy: “You think I’d leave you high and dry??” Doreen: “I think I don’t want our lateness harming your grades and therefore harming your post-secondary education or career choices and therefore harming your ENTIRE LIFE?!” “So yeah I think you should switch to someone else, real talk. I honestly don’t mind, I promise.” Nancy: “Please. If there’s one thing I know about you, about me, and about how we spend our future together, it’s this. Doreen Green...” “...you’re not getting rid of me that easily. <3″] Image 22: [ID: A paragraph of text, black text on a yellow background. “As for more Doreen and Nancy, I hope so too. A Squirrel Girl book without Nancy would feel like--like--like some sort of hypothetical “Super” “Man” book without an equally hypothetical “Lois” “Lane”!”] Image 23: [ID: A group picture of Squirrel Girl and friends sitting down on a grassy hill and watching the sunset together. Kraven the Hunter is in the foreground for some reason, looking almost directly at the camera. In the background we see Koi Boi, Mary Mahajan, Chipmunk Hunk, Brain Drain, and Mew the Cat. In the middle of the shot, Doreen and Nancy sit together. Doreen is in her superhero outfit with Tippy-Toe on her right shoulder, and Nancy is in a yellow cardigan and jeans on Doreen’s left. They’re holding hands, fingers intertwined, as Nancy leans against Doreen with her whole body. Their heads are tilted inward towards each other, the side of Doreen’s head touching the side of Nancy’s, as they look off into the distance together.]

#the unbeatable squirrel girl #squirrel girl x nancy #squancy #squirrel girl #nancy whitehead #queer comics #WLW comics #long post #described #squirrel girl spoilers #thaumaturgethoughts

[prose-for-hire]

Clueless

Pairing: Angel x reader

Request: As I said, Spike will always be my favorite, but every now and then you gotta mix it up. 😅 So here comes my Angel request! 😀 The scoobies find out he has a human girlfriend. And when they meet you they get the impression that you have no idea of the supernatural. So they try to subtly prod if you're aware of what Angel is. You on the other hand are enjoying to play with them. Pretending to be clueless as hell even though you're well aware. 😂 Thank you Darling! 💞

Requested by: @kind-wolf​

A/N: I really enjoyed this one !! Reader is older than the Scoobies and works in the school library. The timescale is reaaally made up. Giles left to open the Magic Box while the Scoobies are still in high school.

[Also i know the gif has nothing to do with anything but it makes me giggle every time so I had to use it !!]

You were the new School librarian. Giles had left to open the Magic Box but still always managed to be in your library when you turned around. The excuse at the moment was that his personal collection had been left behind, but you new there was something more going on. You had a boyfriend that told you of the real side of Sunnydale.

His name was Angel. You had met him after dark, a shining ember amongst all of the despair. He was kind to you and you had kept running into each other until he decided it must be fate. So he asked you on a date. It was the Bronze and you both stuck out like a sore thumb – him for his dark clothing and because you were both slightly older than the regular clientele. You and Angel had been going steady for a while now. He was heavy into courting and doing everything properly. He wanted to keep you happy and ensure you felt safe with him at all times.

He called you his sunshine. You were the one thing that made his un-life worth living. The brightness in the centuries of black. The fiery flame of passion that could never be put out. You were his light. A kind of salvation he didn’t know he needed. All of his guilt. The doubt. The brooding about whether he was enough for you, for the world. For any of it. You filled in these cracks with light. With love and the most important thing: hope.

He knew that he needed to limit the amount of people that knew about you together to a minimum. You hadn’t understood why at first, but one evening when you had been wrapped around each other in bed, he confided in you. His relationships were not destined to last. Literally. He told you everything, almost reducing the both of you to an emotional mess. You laid there, underneath the sheets as you both recounted the worst moments of your lives. The secrets, the fears. Everything.

“Are you embarrassed about dating a human? Is it frowned upon in vampire… culture?” You asked, half embarrassed and half fascinated. He shook his head as you were still speaking, clasping a hand to yours and brought it to his unbeating heart.

“I, uh, just want this for us. You’re too special to me, y/n. I don’t want anyone else to ruin it. I love you more than you can imagine”

“You love me?” You ask, eyes shining with emotion. He nodded, pulling you into him as you told him how much you loved him back. Your voice muffled as you rested in the crook of his neck. He held you to him so delicately as if he was scared that you would break. That if he didn’t hold tight enough, you would disappear into nothing.

The Scoobies had caught glimpses of you around school and sometimes after school when you popped into the magic Box to ask to speak with Giles. Just to ask for tips on your new job in the library (and to check if he had stolen any of the dusty occult books you had started to lock away in case he was snooping again). You didn’t really know the Scoobies, you just recognised their faces from around school and now obviously you had heard the lowdown from Angel. But you weren’t so familiar that you could tell which one the slayer was if you were asked to pick her out of a line up.

One afternoon after you called your goodbyes to Giles and nodded at the teenagers on your way out of the store, talk quickly turned to you. Anya, Xander, Willow, Buffy and Cordelia were all whispering before the door had even closed properly behind you. The Scoobies loved to gossip. And each of them had their own titbit of information that they had heard from someone who had heard from someone else about you. Even Giles had become involved in the discussion as he had started to become aware you were making his life difficult and

“I heard they mastered kung-fu judo which is the most lethal form of martial arts”

“Apparently they were fired from their last school for literally throwing students out for talking too loud in the library”

“Well, they’re apparently an undercover agent planted by the CIA to monitor the supernatural”

“I heard that one – but they’re FBI, not CIA”

The piece of information they found most interesting was that you were human. Despite being the coolest librarian like, ever. Most of the librarians the student body had come across were positively fossils, most recent librarians not included. Suspected kung fu martial arts hybrid training aside, you didn’t have any supernatural powers to speak of. As far as anyone was aware. So, this became the most interesting thing about you, until Cordelia told all.

“They’re totally sleeping with Angel!” Cordelia said, as everyone looked extremely interested in this news, “I saw him open a door for them as if they were in some period drama! Way over the top but their eyes said everything! They’re having sex”

“You can’t tell that from a look”

“You can!” Anya insisted as Cordelia nodded along.

“Yeah, I can tell from hot librarian and the salty goodness that is Angel” Cordelia replied matter-of-factly.

“Do you think they know he’s-” Xander mimed fangs and held his hands up to imitate a vampire, “They can’t know. Why would anyone want to do that with Angel?” Xander insisted as the women of the room, and Giles, stayed silent. He looked around looking for some support for his statement but got nothing.

But now the fact was, they were concerned that Angel hadn’t told you about himself. The vampirism. The soul. The curse. So, the meddling kids decided it was their duty to make sure that they were acquainted with you and made sure you knew who Angel really was. Which was exactly what Angel presumed was going to happen. They were convinced that they were worried about how clueless you obviously were, but also it was their duty is seemed to get involved in other people’s personal lives.

This had been the plan, but it appeared that you were a very busy. You never stayed long hours after the school day ended like Giles used to. Nobody could follow you home because you always sped off in a shiny car. Plus, you often wore headphones in the corridors so you didn’t have to talk to the students.

It had been a while after their plans to befriend you and they had almost given up seeing you in your private time. They wanted to make sure the rumours weren’t true. That Angel wasn’t taking advantage of some clueless human.

Unfortunately, the whole gang stumble into you both while they’re on patrol. On date night. their eyes widen, it looks so normal. You’re both sat in the restaurant in the window seat and they all just stopped and very obviously stared. As if you were zoo animals. They noticed that Angel had ordered human food and had been moving it around the plate a little for appearances. This confirmed it. they decided they needed to save you. Who knew what horrible bad luck would befall you if you kept dating a vampire. 

Angel looked a little embarrassed when he sensed being watched and looked up to see none other than the people he had wanted to keep this from. Buffy had scowled at him, shaking her head. She wasn’t impressed that he would do this. Especially if you didn’t know – it wasn’t fair she decided. You noticed his look but didn’t comment until the group had walked past with their wooden stakes badly concealed under their jackets.

After your meal, you walk back together (he always insists on walking you to your car) and you softly ask why he was embarrassed. You wondered if it was because you were a librarian. You tell him you know people don’t think it’s a great job, but you really enjoy it.

“They just don’t think us being together is a great idea” He said and you nodded along. You understood. There was a history there. The Slayer obviously is the only one that makes and breaks the rules.

“Well lets introduce them to me properly?” You offer, trying to soothe him. Reduce the fretting. He had wanted just one thing. One good thing that was yours and his. “I know they’ve been trying to talk to me all week. I’ll make some lemonade and you can invite them over” You offer. He nodded, curling an arm around you as you walk together both in thought.

It had been a week and the day was finally here. You were meeting the... friends? Weird kind-of family? Annoying brats that were always under both of your feet? 

Angel had gone out to pick up some blood from the butchers before it closed now that the sun was down. This left you hosting solo for the moment. You showed them to Angel’s living room and started to offer them lemonade and snacks. They start dropping hints instantly to try and gauge whether you know about Slayers or vampires. For some reason, you decide to play dumb.

“Have you, uh, ever seen Angel’s teeth up close?” Willow asked, barely above a whisper.

“Yes, we do kiss if that’s what you’re asking sweetie. Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll have your first kiss soon” You smiled at her mock-sympathetically as you turned to the rest of the room.

“What about, ah, those specialist books I told you about, y/n? Have you read them as of late?” Giles questioned, his hint much craftier than the younger members of the group. The books had been vampire history and very specifically passages were highlighted about Angels past.

“Oh yes, Angel said he would give me the overview - he’s read them before” You smile as Giles shook his head and started to clean his glasses. This wasn’t a lie, Angel had told you instead of reading through that book he would tell you anything that yo uwanted to ask. Every gruesome detail if that was what you needed. But you had told him you cared for the person you knew now instead. “Isn’t he just the perfect man?” You continue, smiling dreamily (which if you’re honest isn’t even an act). 

“Man isn’t the word I’d use” Xander muttered and Buffy had to elbow him to make him be quiet. You frowned, but they didn’t realise that you had caught onto what they were doing. Angel entered and the room quietened. He nodded at everyone but came straight to sit beside you.

You sat comfortably, leaning against Angel as chatter started to warm up a little again. After a while, there was a bit of doubt from some in the room whether meddling was the right thing to do or not. You appeared friendly and you definitely cared about Angel. And he definitely cared for you. His eye was always on you and he had kissed your forehead more than once when he thought the others were wrapped up in conversation.

“Do you like Halloween? What about vam-” Cordelia was cut off as she yelped and scowled as someone had stepped on her toes to get her to be quiet. Especially after he had already said something himself that could have made things obvious. You and Angel shared a look and then a shrug as conversation started up again.

You excused yourself to make more lemonade after three more not-so-subtle-hints about your man’s true identity and Angel followed you. Meanwhile, they were whispering about how clueless you appeared and how familiar you both were in front of them – as if you were going to hide that you were in a committed relationship. You knew this as Angel was telling you everything that they said, between light kisses he was pressing against your neck. From your position pressed between his body and the kitchen counter you were grinning as you rested a hand against his side and used the other to lock your hand with his. He hummed softly, only able to get through this strange indirect interrogation was that he knew he always had you.

When you returned and offered everyone refills, one of them asked while you were pouring, “Does, uh, Angel like garlic bread?”

“You might have to ask him on that one, we’re still getting to know each other” you smile sweetly before catching Angel’s eye. He raised his eyes at you but didn’t say anything to ruin the fun. In fact, he had a glint in his eye too. This was the reason he loved you, you turned even a potentially serious situation with the Slayer into something that you could make fun.

 “Uh, have you ever seen Angel in the light?” the questioning continued.

“Have you seen his face? He’s beautiful in any lighting” You smiled sweetly, looking over at him again. He shook his head at you and you knew he’d be blushing if he had any circulation.

“Yeah but- in the daylight?”

“No, he has a sun allergy, isn’t that right sweetie?” You smiled around the room at their horrified faces. They knew it! They knew Angel had been lying, they just needed to find a way to break the news to you. Or warn him away from you.

When asked about his (and your) sleeping habits, you replied, “Some nights he’s dead to the world” You smile, “He sleeps really deep, sometimes I have to check on him – it looks like he isn’t breathing” You have to stifle a laugh at this one as Angel snorts out loud. It was awkwardly covered by a cough and he had to leave the room to hide his laughter.

He was happy with you, the only sunshine he wasn’t allergic to apparently. He was so happy in this relationship he was often worried that Angelus was only around the corner. You caught him stuck in his head, worrying about the what-ifs but you always offered your comfort any way you could. He was glad of you being there for him. Willow and Giles had been talking of working on a way to lift the curse, or at least make it so that it wasn’t so simple for him to change back into Angelus. That was the last thing any of them needed.

The evening started to darken further and conversation had started to lull. You were trying to think of a way to politely hint yourself that maybe it was time for them to go (your hints a lot more subtle and well-practiced than theirs). But before you had chance to open your mouth, you were interrupted, “Demons. Thoughts?” Anya asked bluntly. Nobody cut in this time, they wanted to hear your response now they suspected Angel was lying.

“The ones that creep in late at night when you’re trying to sleep? I try and just ignore them, or get a book to read if I really can’t sleep” You say smiling as you knew Angel had heard that one too when some plates clattered in the other room. You knew him inside out and, although rare, when something like this tickled him it really made him smile. You just wished he had been in the room so you could see his expression. His face lightened when he smiled and you told him all the time his smile was your favourite feature of his. He would also probably be shaking his head at you, trying to discourage you from getting into too much trouble with them.

Angel returned to the room and you couldn’t help yourself. You stood up and instantly closed the space between you. You looped your arms around his neck and kissed him softly on the lips. It was only a lingering peck, nothing too scandalous as these were students at your job. You always missed him when he wasn’t close by. You felt like a lovestruck teenager when he was around and admittedly, so did he. Giles saw the way you both looked at each other. Moved around each other, anticipating  and saw how real it was. It was the same he had with Jenny. He couldn’t let the rest of the group ruin this kind of love. It was rare and he wouldn’t wish it on anyone to lose it (not even the man with the face that tore his from him).

Giles shook his head as Buffy was about to shout something to break you both apart. Something about demons and vampires. About Angel and evil. His apparent lying. To try and warn you. She closed her mouth, rolling her eyes.

 “We need to go patrol- uh, not patrolling, just – walking. At night” She muttered instead, taking her jacket and giving Angel a hard stare.

“Make sure you watch out for vampires. There’s a couple extra stakes in the weapon’s closet if you’d like to take them” You smile sweetly, “You can never be too careful, some bite” you teased before kissing Angel on the cheek and reluctantly moving from his arms which were loosely looped around your waist still. You started walking over to clear the coffee table from the glasses everyone had used when they visited. Leaving the others wide-eyed and eventually laughing at the way you had kept up the pretence so well.

#Angel #Angel btvs #Angel btvs x reader #Angel x reader #Angel x you #Angel imagine #ats #btvs #Buffy The Vampire Slayer #buffy the vampire slayer imagines #weird timeline #gender netural reader #gender neutral #angel the series #btvs x reader #btvs x you #btvs imagine #Rupert Giles #Buffy Summers #Anya Jenkins #Willow Rosenberg #Cordelia chase #Xander Harris

[thorne93]

Unforeseen Chasm (Part 60)

Prompt: Two sisters fall for men that are absolute enemies. The love they have could tear all of them apart, or it could bring them together.

Word Count:3295

Warnings: arguing, sickly Tony, endgame plot Song for this part: Dark Paradise- Lana Del Rey Note: This is by far the longest thing I’ve ever written (including my novels). It’s a collaboration with the amazing @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo​​. It started as a funny “What if…?” and it evolved and got huge. This took two years to write. We are both proud and happy and we hope you enjoy it. It follows from Thor 1 to Endgame in the MCU. Some of the timelines may be off in order to fit certain people, and some characters may show up earlier or in different ways than they have in the movie. But for the most part, it follows the MCU. It also has a bit of crossover with some other Marvel characters throughout the story.

Masterlist for Unforeseen Chasm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once Tony got settled in, you came into his room. Steve looked up to see who had entered. He nudged Rhodey slightly and nodded toward you. The two of them swept past you and out of the room, leaving only you, Shannon, and Tony. 

“Hey, Tony,” you greeted softly as you stepped in, nervously fidgeting with your hands. 

“Hey, kid,” he greeted. “Where’s Reindeer games?” he asked. 

Your throat closed as you frowned, tears welling in your eyes before you glanced away. 

Shannon leaned forward slightly on the bed, squeezing his hand. “Tony, he..” she started, glancing to you. “He’s one of the vanished,” she finished. 

Tony glanced to you, sympathy in his eyes. “Shit, my bad. I… Sorry,” he mumbled. 

You took a deep breath and turned back to him, trying to move past the pain to ask what you needed to know. “Tony, I was wondering… Well.. I know Shannon said you went after Stephen on the spaceship. Did he..um…” 

“He vanished too. I’m sorry,” he informed, sympathy in his voice. 

All you could do was bite your lip and nod before you started to sob. You didn’t want them to see you like this, but there was no time to hold in the pain. 

Shannon quickly jumped up to hug you tightly.

“I’ll give you two some time to talk,” she offered. She thought maybe Tony would tell you of his final moments or something. Tony and you had become quite close during and after the Accords. 

Once the door shut to the room, you took a seat next to his bed, the opposite side of where Shannon had been. 

“How are you feeling?” you asked gently. 

“Better, now that I’m on Earth. But forget me. I’m alive. Shannon filled me in on what happened in Wakanda. She hadn’t gotten to...Loki.” 

“It’s fine,” you assured, shaking your head slightly. “So did uh… did Stephen say anything before...” That was all you could get out. Losing Loki was hard enough, but to start to relive another friend’s death was torment. 

“Well, Dr. Strange ultimately gave up the time stone to save me, which frankly I didn’t see why he would have, but right before all of that happened, he did say that out of all the outcomes there was only one where we win.” He stopped to get a drink of water. “Giving up the stone might have been part of the plan..I-I’m still not quite sure.”

For a moment, you frowned. “Stephen… gave the time stone up to… save you? That doesn’t sound like him,” you assessed.

“I’m not even sure if it was for my sake really, there must be more as to why he did that.” Tony shrugged, scratching himself. “You knew him well enough. Would he willingly give something up for the sake of something bigger?”

“I know he would,” you whispered, tears filling your eyes. “I’m not saying your life isn’t worth a great deal, Tony. You mean a lot to a lot of people, including me. But I know Stephen, at least, I like to think I do. I don’t think he would’ve given it up if it weren't of vital importance. Did he say or do anything else?” 

“After he gave up the stone, Thanos left through the portal he had created and then Pet--the kid said he didn't feel so good and then became dust in my arms.” Tony got quiet for a bit focusing on not letting his voice quiver. “And the only thing that Stephen said was ‘We’re in the endgame now’ and then vanished… But about Wakanda, what did you see? Were you with Loki when it happened or…?” He looked up to you. “Did he get to say anything before disappearing?

You bit your lip again, hoping you wouldn’t break the skin to keep from crying. But at this point, it didn’t matter. You let the tears fall freely, talking with a thick voice. “He, uh… He was trying to tell me that he loved me. I kept talking, asking him what was so important right now during the battle that couldn’t wait. I wish I would’ve just shut my mouth...” You hung your head and shook it, the pain becoming overbearing. “He...we were right next to each other. I should’ve been watching Vision. It should’ve been me, not Wanda. I was stuck on the field protecting... Well… everyone. When Thanos came, I could’ve stopped him I could’ve--” You cut your speech short, trying not to get wrapped up in the anger of it all. Tony had asked you about Loki, you needed to focus on that. Not Thanos. “Loki asked me… or he tried to ask me to … He tried to ask me to marry him. He was cut short because of the snap but he got enough out for me to make it out.” With that, you finally looked up to Tony with red, puffy eyes. You hadn’t told a soul, for fear it would rip you apart. 

“Oh, Y/N, I’m so sorry to hear that. I know how much you and Reindeer Games loved each other. I’m sorry you’ve had to go through this alone. I hope Shannon has been there to console you during this time.” He stopped and he patted the spot next to him. You immediately left your chair and sat next to him on the bed. “I know there’s not much we know now but I will promise you this if there’s even a remote chance I can find a way to bring everyone back or even just him, I will okay?” He wrapped his arm around your shoulder and squeezed you close.

You nodded fervently, resting your head on his shoulder. “We’ve come a long way since New York, haven’t we?” You slightly laughed. “The worst part is… I didn’t even get to say yes.” And that was it -- the true floodgates opened and you were violently sobbing to the point of him just holding you close. Tony had lost a lot too. He’d lost Peter. He lost members of the Avengers. But he at least still had Shannon and Rhodey and others he cherished, and he knew this. 

For you though, he knew you’d lost a great deal more. 

-------------------------------

By the next morning, everyone met to reconvene to discuss things. Rhodey told everyone it’d been 23 days since the snap, and that Natsha had confirmed by the remaining governments that half of all life had been wiped out. 

“Where is he now? Where?” Tony demanded as he sat at the table, hooked up to his IV in a robe. He still looked like shit but at least he had some fight back. Last night he seemed almost delirious. 

You stood in the room with everyone, nothing to say, nothing to add. You just wanted… well you weren’t sure what you wanted. You just needed to hear maybe what had happened. Maybe what had happened with Strange. Maybe there would be a clue on how to get them back. 

“We don’t know. He just opened a portal and walked through,” Steve informed and those words sent a sad rage through you. 

Tony turned and saw Thor. “What’s wrong with him?” he asked. 

“Oh, he's pissed. He thinks he failed. Which of course he did, but you know there's a lot of that's going around, ain't there?” Rocket answered. 

“Honestly, until this exact second, I thought you were a Build-A-Bear,” Tony sarcastically said looking at the creature.

Dejectedly, Rocket said, “Maybe I am.”

“We've been hunting Thanos for three weeks now. Deep Space scans, and satellites, and we got nothing. Tony, you fought him,” Steve stated.

“Who told you that?” He looked over at Cap, surprised. “I didn't fight him. No, he wiped my face with a planet while the Bleecker Street Magician gave away the store. That's what happened. There was no fight.” Tony retorted beginning to get upset.

He nodded, understanding that Tony was upset. “Okay.”

“He's unbeatable,” he replied dejectedly.

“Did he give you any clues, any coordinates, anything?” Steve pried, hoping to get Tony to focus up and provide something they could use.

“Pfft! I saw this coming a few years back. I had a vision. I didn't wanna believe it.” He looked off to remember from long ago. “ Thought I was dreaming.”

“Tony, I'm gonna need you to focus,” Steve urged, desperate to find Thanos.

Seethingly, he looked up at Steve “And I needed you. As in past tense. That trumps what you need. It's too late, buddy. Sorry. You know what I need?”  Tony stood, pushing things off the table with a clatter. Everyone winced at the loud noise. “I need to shave. And I believe I remember telling all youse—” he stopped and began to walk towards Steve. Rhodey quickly came in front of him, trying to stop him.

Rhodey stopped him, cautioning him, “Tony, Tony, Tony!”

“Alive and otherwise, what we needed was a suit of armor around the world! Remember that? Whether it impacted our precious freedoms or not-- that's what we needed!” His voice was getting louder as he reminded the super soldier of what he had said before.

“Well, that didn't work out, did it?” Steve argued, becoming angry and upset himself.

Clearly, he said, “I said, ‘We'll lose’. You said, ‘We'll do that together too.’ And guess what, Cap?” He stopped for a moment  and pointed at Steve. “We lost. And you weren't there. But that's what we do, right? Our best work after the fact? We're the Avengers, we're the Avengers. Not the Prevengers.”

“Okay,” Rhodey tried, holding Tony upright and away from Steve.

“Right?” Tony asked again.

“You made your point. Just sit down,” Rhodey all but begged, wanting this nastiness to be over.

“Okay…”

“Okay?” he asked, unsure if Tony would actually listen.

 Shaking his head Tony responds “Nah, nah. Here's my point. You know what?” 

“Tony, you're sick,” Rhodey reminded.

“She's great, by the way.” Tony points to Carol on the other side of the room.

“Sit down. Sit,” Rhodey ordered.

“We need you. You're new blood. Bunch of tired old mules!” Tony walked right up to Steve's face, his voice hushing down to a venomous whisper. “I got nothing for you, Cap! I got no coordinates, no clues, no strategies, no options. Zero. Zip. Nada. No trust. Liar.” At that same moment, Tony grabbed at his chest, ripping the nanotechnology arc reactor off his chest. He placed it in Steve’s hand. “Here, take this. You find him, and you put that on. You hide.”

After all that fighting, Tony fell to the ground. Steve and Shannon were by his side and everyone is starting to gather around him.

“Tony!” Steve said with concern as Tony fell down.

“I'm fine. I…” Tony managed to get out before collapsing and being rendered unconscious.

Everyone in the room made a move towards him, quickly getting him to a bed.

Moments later, Tony was resting in the room nearby, with Shannon at his side. From that point on he would have to be bed ridden until he was back to his normal health. Rhodey walked out of the room, informing everyone, “Bruce gave him a sedative. He's gonna probably be out for the rest of the day.”

“You guys take care of him. And I'll bring him a Xorrian Elixir when I come back,” Carol stated as she started to walk away.

“Where are you going?” Nat asked after her.

“To kill Thanos,” she confidently informed. 

You raised your eyebrows in surprise, and somewhat offense. Why did she think she was capable?

“Hey, you know, we usually work as a team here, and between you and I, morale's a little fragile,” Natasha explained.

“We realize up there is more your territory, but this is our fight too,” Steve reminded.

“You even know where he is?” Rhodey asked.

“I know people who might.”

“Don’t bother,” Nebula suddenly said from behind everyone. She stood in the doorway. “I can tell you where Thanos is.” 

You turned to face her, emotions returning to your body very quickly. You were blinded by rage in an instant. All you’d wanted since Loki disappeared was to find Thanos, use the stones, and kill him. That was it. And she held the key to it all and she’d withheld it for twenty-four hours.

She led everyone into a room with a holographic map. She and Rocket explained where he was and how to get there. 

Everyone was in disbelief. You’d all been waiting for this, having no idea the chance to go after him would come so soon. 

“We’d be going in short handed, you know,” Bruce reminded uneasily.

Rhody chimed in, “Look he still has the stones, so....”

“So let’s go get him… Use them to bring everyone back,” Carol added in. 

“Just like that?” Rhodey asked. 

“Yeah just like that,” Steve affirmed. 

Natasha added, “Even if there's a small chance that we can undo this... I mean we owe it to everyone who's not in this room to try.” A pang of heartache hit your chest at her words. 

“If we do this, how do we know it's gonna end any differently than it did before?” Bruce asked desperately. 

“Because before, you didn't have me,” Carol answered. 

“Not to mention I’ll be offense, instead of defense. Thor and I made mistakes. We can right them this time,” you answered. “This is our one shot, and I think every soul in this room is ready to give it everything they’ve got,” you reminded ominously. 

Thor walked up and called stormbreaker, right next to Carol’s body, judging her, sizing her up. She didn’t even blink at the gesture. “I like this one,” Thor announced before he smiled. 

In one sense you felt somewhat proud of this new Carol Danvers for winning Thor over. In another sense, it almost made you feel like she was replacing you. You and Thor used to have a special bond. Now, it appeared that bond would belong to them. 

“Let’s go get this son of a bitch,” Steve said as he glanced to all of you. 

Steve rallied the troops as you all agreed to go after this bastard and bring everyone back. Everyone talked about how they would approach, how they would attack, who would hit where. This time, you weren’t a quiet pawn sitting in a field. You were one of the heavy hitters, using every resource they had. 

All of you boarded the ship, and set navigation for “The Garden” as Nebula referred to it. Once outside of the planet, Carol said she’d head down for recon. When she got back, she said that there was no army or defense, it was just him. 

“And that’s enough,” Nebula said and you almost wanted to say, ‘You can say that again’ but you refrained. 

You shared a look of worry with Shannon before she squeezed your hand. The two of you knew this could just make everything so much worse. But you both had that small flame of hope that maybe… it could make everything better. In a few moments, maybe you’d have Loki back.

That was enough to ignite your heart. 

All of you invaded the atmosphere, but slowly, deliberately. Surprise was the absolute key. 

Carol was the first to invade. She flew in through the roof, knocking Thanos down, and grabbing his neck. Bruce in the Hulkbuster armor burst from the ground, and grabbed Thanos' Infinity Gauntlet arm. That’s when it was your turn to burst in. You used your dark, purple powers to keep his arm held down, away from his body and kept the gauntlet from closing or snapping. You used your electrical part of your powers from your other hand to keep Thanos subdued in an amount of pain that wouldn’t kill him, but at least disable him. Then Thor came flying in, and chopped off his arm. 

Hearing him scream from pain was probably the absolute best sound you’d ever heard in your life. 

Rocket turned over the gauntlet, and gasped, “Oh no.” 

You glanced down to see why he was upset and when you saw the stones were missing, you were livid. 

“Where are they?” Steve demanded. 

You tried to keep your cool. You knew you couldn’t lose it. You absolutely could not afford to lose it. But you wanted to, so badly. You wanted to just snap and kill him. But you had to know where the stones were. 

“Answer the question,” Carol ordered as she tightened her grip on him. 

Your hands glowed with your magic as you released it in a threat to hurt him further if he didn’t give you what you wanted. Tears were streaking down your face before you even knew it. 

“The universe required correction. After that, the stones served no purpose, beyond temptation,” Thanos answered and you curled your lip in disgust and heartbreak. 

“You murdered trillions!” Bruce yelled, lashing out and pushing Thanos. 

“You should be grateful,” Thanos responded. 

“Grateful is what you’ll be when I give you a swift death,” you promised darkly as you stepped forward. You supercharged your power and poured it into him. He began to cry out from each of your three powers going into him. “Where are the stones?!” you nearly screamed. 

“Gone!” he answered, barely able to speak from the pain. “Reduced to atoms.” 

“You used them two days ago!” Bruce said. 

Shannon put a hand on your shoulder, signaling you to ease up on him. Despite everything telling you not to, your head still had some logic and you knew if you wanted answers you needed to let him breathe. 

Once he resituated, he replied, “I used the stones to destroy the stones. It nearly killed me. But the work is done. It always will be. I am...inevitable.” 

The news of this hit you harder than the initial snap. This was your one shot. This was the sign of hope that everything would be okay. He’d taken that away from you… again… for the last time.

“We have to tear this place apart. He-he-he- has to be lying,” Rhodey tried desperately. You agreed with Rhodey. 

“My father is many things. A liar is not one of them,” Nebula remarked as she stood off to the shadows slightly. 

“Ah, thank you, daughter. Perhaps I treated you too harshly.” 

You and Thor exchanged a look. If he wasn’t lying, then he was of no use. 

You used all of your dark energy to force every one of Thanos’s limbs outright, making him levitate in the air, almost as if he were a star, each limb facing a different direction. The kinetic charge energy, you used to heat Thanos up internally, so that he felt as if he were being boiled alive. Thor swung his ax quickly, and he lobbed off Thanos’s head. 

From the time you’d begun to the time Thor ended it, it was all only a matter of a few seconds, no time to allow anyone to properly respond. In tandem, without saying a word, you and Thor had righted the wrong that had been done to Loki and trillions of others -- a fault that should’ve never happened to begin with.

“What...what did you do?” Rocket asked, desperation and shock in his tone. 

“I went for the head,” Thor answered before he glanced at you for a final time, a look of almost… forgiveness, respect, gratitude, sorrow, and closure all rolled into one was nestled in his eyes. 

Your eyes found Shannon’s full of torment and grief before you walked out of the hut, completely in a daze… completely lost as to what to do in your life now.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tag List: @essie1876​ @magpiegirl80​ @letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked​ @iamwarrenspeace​ @marvel-imagines-yes-please​ @superwholocked527 @missinstantgratification​ @thejemersoninferno​ @rda1989​ @munlis​ @thefridgeismybestie​​ @bubblyanarocks3​​ @igiveupicantthinkofausername​​ @kaliforniacoastalteens​ @feelmyroarrrr​​ @kaelingoat-blog​ @friendlyneighbourhoodweirdo​​ @damalseer​​ @heyitscam99​​ @yknott81​​ @sorryimacrapwriter​​ @glitterquadricorn​​ @xxqueenofisolationxx @little-dis-kaalista-pythonissama @bittersweetunicorm​​ @alyssaj23​​ @sea040561​​ @princess76179​​ @thisismysecrethappyplace​​ @sarahp879​​ @malfoysqueen14​​ @ellallheart​​ @breezy1415​​ @marvelmayo​​ @random-fluffy-pink-unicorn @cocosierra94 @hardcollectionworldtrash @capsmuscles​ @marvelloushamilton @paintballkid711​

Loki: @lostinspace33​​ @ultrarebelheart​​ @lenawiinchester​​ @esoltis280​​ @tngrayson​​ @wangdeasang​​ @harrymewmew @jayfantasyatyourservice​​

UC: @lokis-high-priestess​

#unforeseen chasm #loki fic #loki x reader #Loki Laufeyson #tony stark #tony stark x ofc #tony stark fic #bruce baner #natasha romanoff #rhodey #rocket #nebula #carol danvers #steve rogers #thor #thanos

[amateurwordbender]

I Would Now

Summary: He looks deeper into the exhibit, glimpsing more video screens and photos accompanied by walls of large text, a few displays with uniforms that are achingly familiar. He recognizes faces and his eyes catch on names. His entire life has been laid bare here. “Stay—please. If you want.”

(5 times Steve dared to ask Natasha a personal question +1 time when he didn’t have to)

chapter one

also on ao3

thanks again to @likearollingstony for beta-reading!

—

Steve wakes to a darkness that presses in from all sides, shoving itself down his throat and freezing him from the inside out. He’s back in the water, lungs burning while his body goes numb. He’d told himself that he’d accepted his death, but his fingers are still scrabbling for the surface, every drop of the serum that was supposed to make him unbeatable rendered completely useless as the plane fractures around him, dragging him down in an unforgiving vortex, and he’s moments away from losing consciousness for over sixty years, from losing everyone forever, from…

“Breathe, Steve.”

Natasha. The darkness recedes just enough that he can feel the warmth of her presence beside him, even if he can’t physically reach out to her. He remembers to breathe. Every inhale is sharp and painful, and the chains shackling his wrists above his head clink lightly from his full-body shivers, but the cold is far less oppressive now that he knows he’s not alone. He lets out a slow breath.

“You alright?” Natasha’s voice is calm. She’s somewhere to the right of him, and he squints in her direction, but he can’t make anything out.

“Yeah, I just—I’m good. How long have I been out?”

“A little less than an hour.”

Okay. He’s been on enough missions with Natasha to fully trust her sense of time, and that’s not too bad. He activates his comms with a subtle click of his tongue. Static. “Are your comms working?”

“No.”

“Shit.”

There’s a pause. “Did Captain America just swear?” He can hear one of Natasha’s tilted almost-smiles in her voice, and he wishes she could see him visibly roll his eyes.

“Captain America was a soldier in World War II, not a nun.” He punctuates this with a sharp pull on the chains, but they don’t give. He jerks them again, straining until he physically rises off of the floor and the metal cuts into his skin. Not an inch.

“They’re composed of some kind of reinforced steel and anchored deep within the wall. Save your strength; you’re just going to injure your wrists with all the pulling. They knew who they were dealing with.”

Steve sighs around catching his breath. “Could’ve said that a second earlier.”

“You would’ve tried anyway,” Natasha says, again with that audible hint of a smile. Steve bites back a huff that would be far too petulant for a 96 year old man.

“You’re awfully calm for someone who’s been captured by enemy forces. This happen to you a lot?”

“Oh, all the time. It’s usually on purpose, though.” Steve can’t entirely tell if she’s joking.

“Wonderful. Glad to be with an expert.” He leans his head back against the wall, attempting to stretch his legs out in front of him. He startles when he feels resistance and hears rattling. His feet are so numb that he hadn’t noticed there were cuffs around his ankles, too. There’s a pulsing behind his eyes that has been building every moment he’s been awake, and it’s getting harder to ignore. “What even happened?”

“Well, how much do you remember?”

Steve shuts his eyes—not that it makes much of a difference with how dark it is.

Back at the Triskelion, Fury had given him this assignment at the last second. It was supposed to be a covert recon op for the legendary Strike Team Delta, but Clint wasn’t back from his solo mission yet, and Steve was the only one he trusted to take his place by Natasha’s side on such a high-stakes mission. Or at least that’s what Fury said. Steve has a sneaking suspicion that nobody else wanted to take on a deadly op with a Black Widow who was particularly prickly with worry about her rightful partner, so they saddled the task with a newbie who couldn’t refuse. In any case, Fury’s faith had been misplaced. Steve knows that if Clint were here, working alongside Natasha in that terrifying synchronicity he’s had the honor to see in person—hell, if Clint were just back and Natasha wasn’t so tense that even Steve has been able to pick up on it—they never would’ve been ambushed. Natasha would have prevented his mistake.

“The exterior walls were too thick for your tech, so you went ahead to see if you could scan the layout of the building from the inside,” he recalls. “I stayed outside to keep a lookout, and then I saw four sentries going in after you. I warned you over the comms, but you didn’t respond for several minutes, so I followed them in—it was dark, nobody was there, and then all of a sudden the sentries—and others, I think—surrounded me. I was fighting, I saw you drop in from somewhere, and—that’s all I remember.” He winces, and his face would probably be burning if he had any warmth in his body to spare. “Sorry, I should’ve known you knew what you were doing. It’s my fault for following you in. I mean—”

“Steve,” Natasha interjects, “stop it. I was in the wrong, too—I could have found some way to signal to you that I hadn’t been taken. Besides, the intel was bad. It’s clear that they’re well trained and they knew we were coming.” She shifts—he can hear her chains for the first time, and it’s a wonder that she hasn’t been shivering like him so far. Either it’s part of her apparently superhuman endurance, or she’s passed that point. Steve really hopes it’s the former—he’s pretty sure he read somewhere that once a person stops shivering, they’re close to death. She sounds okay, at least. As unruffled as ever. But sounding however she wants is one of Natasha’s specialties.

“They were able to hit you with a blast from what looked almost like a Chitauri weapon—I’ll need to look into that later,” she continues, the last part almost muttered to herself. He supposes it’s encouraging that she’s so confident in there being a later. “It was enough to knock you out, and they must have injected you with something to sedate you until now.”

“Well-funded terrorists, huh.”

“Almost certainly state-sponsored,” Natasha agrees, grim. “Especially since their intel was so good that they were prepared to deal with you—Fury didn’t decide to give you the assignment until last night.”

“Great.” Steve’s still catching up on the far more complicated methods and politics of international conflicts in the 21st century. The more he learns, the worse it sounds. “Should we be talking this openly? Aren’t we under surveillance?”

“Their cameras and audio are playing on a loop right now. Didn’t think to sedate me, so I had a chance to fight back.”

He allows himself a moment of dark satisfaction at that. “Stark?”

“His tech has proven to be more reliable than SHIELD’s.” There’s another quiet shuffling and clinking—Natasha seems to be moving a leg. “Speaking of, when are you coming back to the Tower? I think Tony’s missing his favorite verbal target.”

Steve laughs lightly. They should probably be working on an escape plan right now, but his head’s still pounding, so he’ll take the subject change. “Just Tony, huh?”

“I’m sure Thor’s mourning the loss of the only person still willing to spar with him,” she concedes. The smile is back, and Steve finds the corners of his own mouth turning upwards as his teammates come to mind.

“Hey, you don’t live there anymore, either. Don’t put all their depression on me.” Actually, Steve has no idea where Natasha’s living right now. He doubts she would give him a straight answer if he asked.

“I visit, though.”

“Well, tell them I’m sorry, but I’m not the type of guy who can handle or afford an hour-long flight every morning just to get to work. Take it up with SHIELD. They should move HQ to New York.”

Natasha hums. “They really should. I miss waffle Fridays.”

At this, he feels a full grin forming. “Did the Black Widow just admit to liking something normal?”

“Shh.”

“Wow, can’t take what you dish—”

“No, someone’s coming,” Natasha hisses. Steve’s eyes widen, and a moment later, he hears it. Footsteps. Still far, but coming closer. “You’re unconscious,” she orders, and he follows suit without question, forcing his muscles still with considerable effort. Beside him, Natasha’s chains start rattling, and he’s grateful—he knows it’s partially to mask any movement of his own. Her breathing also changes so that it’s audible and slightly labored, and he fights a frown. That has to be intentional. He’s missing something here, and it’s killing him that his brain is still moving too slowly to put together the pieces.

There’s the click of a lock, a door opens, and light floods in through his closed eyelids. It takes every ounce of willpower he has not to screw up his eyes. The intensity of the light shifts—it must be from a lantern or flashlight. He feels Natasha flinch, and again, though he knows it’s got to be on purpose, he has to fight back an instinct to try and reach out to her.

A gruff voice rings out, haughty and harsh. The man’s speaking French, and Steve concentrates, trying to conjure up everything he remembers about the language.

The man’s asking Natasha if she’s ready for another… another what? Steve’s blood turns cold.

“I wasn’t told anything else,” she responds, angry but with a convincing tremor in her voice.

There’s a thud, then Natasha lets out a strangled cry, and Steve can’t help his hands twitching into fists for a moment. Thankfully, the man seems to be too busy gloating to notice.

“Doesn’t matter. We’ll be in touch with your—” Here, the man says a word that Steve doesn’t know, but he assumes it’s something along the lines of ‘superiors’. "They will be wanting the captain back. But perhaps we can keep you.” Steve grits his teeth.

Natasha says something that he assumes chalks up to SHIELD doesn’t negotiate. There’s an exchange too rapid for him to follow, then what sounds like—fuck. Fuck. The man’s kissing her, and Steve can’t do anything, and it’s becoming harder and harder to pretend to be a limp rag doll. He hears Natasha spit, probably in the man’s face—good. Steve’s nerves are on edge, tingling with pinpricks of discomfort, and if he doesn’t move soon, he’s going to combust.

Finally, finally, the man leaves, but Steve forces himself to remain still even as the deadbolt clicks back into place, taking his cue from Natasha. It isn’t until he can’t hear the footsteps at all that she speaks up.

“Not bad, Rogers.” Her breathing’s back to normal, and she sounds unbothered, but how much of that is an act?

“Natasha,” he whispers, unable to hide the horror in his own voice.

“Steve, it’s fine.” Her calm only makes his frustration grow. “More than fine. I got an access badge from him to make things easier when we get out of here.”

He pushes down any inklings of being impressed. She shouldn’t have had to do that to get the badge. “Okay, well, what did he mean when he asked you if you were ready for another… something?”

For a moment, Natasha doesn’t say anything. Then she mutters what sounds like a curse, this time in a language that Steve can’t understand. Then back to English.

“Dernier.”

“What?”

“Your Commandos buddy,” she continues with a groan. “You learned French from him, didn’t you? I can’t believe I didn’t think about that.”

She’s right, of course, but Steve ignores that can of worms for now. “You didn’t answer my question.”

Natasha lets out a long-suffering sigh, which he thinks is supremely unfair of her. It’s not like he’s being unreasonable. “Fine. They interrogated me while you were under; don’t make it a whole thing.”

“Don’t make it a—” Steve splutters, chains clanging as he tries and fails to throw up his hands. Suddenly the labored breathing, the fake cry of pain—except was it even fake? It all makes sense. He shivers with a chill that sinks into his bones, and not just from the cold. “I didn’t realize torture wasn’t a big deal to you.”

She sighs again. “Stop worrying; it wasn’t that serious, and it wasn’t anything I didn’t let them do.”

“God, that’s worse.”

“It was a good way to get some of the intel we came for, Rogers.”

Steve wants to shake her. “Right, because the Black Widow never fails a solo mission. You know, I used to admire that, but now it just seems unhealthy.” He can’t seem to stop his mouth from running. “Why do you do that? Why do you give up all of yourself for the sake of a mission? You’re not just a tool for the Russians anymore, Natasha; you don’t have to—”

“Oh, relax—”

“You tell me to relax a lot; have you noticed that?”

“Maybe that’s because you’re a little uptight,” she shoots back. If Steve didn’t know better, he’d say Natasha’s taken on a defensive tone.

“Right, I’m so sorry I’m not completely comfortable with voluntary torture.”

“Well, that’s why I’m the one doing it.” Definitely not defensive now. Definitely edging towards smug, towards the more comfortable realm of their morbid banter, and Steve isn’t sure if he should let them move into it.

The last thing he wants to do is drop the subject, because there’s definitely more going on here—fine, he doesn’t have all the details of the situation, and he doesn’t know Romanoff well enough to presume to understand her thought process behind what she does or doesn’t do. But the fact remains that Clint isn’t here, and they don’t know where he is, and Steve can’t shake the feeling that Natasha’s acting differently—reverting, maybe—in some part as a reaction to that. She hasn’t been communicating as much, she’s taking all these risks to her own safety like they’re nothing, and Steve knows that Clint has historically been a check on at least the latter. But they both know that a conversation isn’t going to go anywhere—and he doesn’t want to risk making Natasha close off.

“We’ll talk about this later.”

“Sure.”

Steve lets out an exasperated breath, but he relents, leaning back. His head is buzzing. “How did you know about Dernier anyway?”

“I do my homework, Cap; it’s my job.” She huffs a small laugh, but there’s no condescension behind it. “Most of your story is also public knowledge.”

“Oh.” He isn’t sure how he feels about that. He supposes he always knew, but it’s something else to have Natasha pluck out a memory of Jacques helping him improve his French around a flickering campfire right before they go behind enemy lines.

“There’s probably a legion of grad students out there who did their dissertation on you,” she continues, still teasing, but with a softened edge to it.

“Anything in particular I should be aware of?”

“Oh, I’ll pick out a few papers for you to read.” There’s a little clicking noise, then a small chink, and then Natasha lets out a sigh. “Finally.”

“What?”

“Picked the locks. Don’t tell Clint it took me so long; I’ll never hear the end of it. In my defense, it’s a little harder in complete darkness without a tool or properly functioning fingers.” There’s a shuffling noise as Natasha moves, probably to unchain her feet.

“You—” Steve shakes his head, caught somewhere between grateful and sheepish that he hasn’t been doing a thing this entire time to get them out of here. He’s going to defend himself, too—it’s cold and he’s recovering from being knocked out and drugged, right? And Natasha seems to have been actively distracting him since he woke up in a panic. “You’ve been working on that this whole time?”

“Well, not when our buddy was in here with us.”

“I didn’t hear you, though.” Steve startles as he feels Natasha’s icy hand on his forearm.

“Discrete lock-picking is day one in spy school,” she says wryly as she fiddles with his handcuffs. A minute later, Natasha frees his left arm, and Steve lets it fall to his side with a sigh of relief. His right arm is released a moment later. He tries to rub some feeling back into his hands.

“Thanks,” he murmurs as she moves on to the cuffs on his ankles. As soon as they’re gone, he stretches his legs, shaking them out.

“Don’t thank me yet. You’re going to have to take point on this next part.”

Steve hears Natasha heading towards the door, and he gets up, trying not to stumble too much as he forces the numb bricks at the ends of his legs to follow her. “Wait, why?”

“Jesus, Rogers, I ask you to do one thing—”

“Natasha.”

“We’ll avoid attracting attention, but this place is too well manned for us to get out without a physical fight.” She starts on the lock on the door—this one must be a great deal more complicated, as he can actually hear her working at it. “And—I’m not exactly in the best physical condition right now.”

Steve frowns at that, but resolves not to comment. This becomes harder as they leave and head down the long hallway outside their makeshift prison. The hallway winds upwards towards the surface, and as they progress, it gets lighter. Before long, Steve can make out the silhouette of Natasha beside him. She isn’t limping or anything, but there’s something noticeably careful in the way that she holds herself. Once they round a bend and reach a door with light pouring in from the cracks, he gets a good look at her. His stomach drops.

Natasha glares at him. “You don’t look so hot either, you know. How’s your head?”

“Hey, I didn’t say anything. Just impressed that you managed to pick all of those locks with a broken wrist,” Steve manages, nodding to the offending arm curled around her torso. He’s failing at matching her nonchalance; he knows that. It’s just a little hard to do when his partner is sporting dark bruises on her arms and neck while pressing a blood-soaked piece of her uniform to her side with her one good hand. “Let’s get out of here.” Before you bleed out in this hallway.

They make short work of escaping the compound, even retrieving Steve’s shield and some of Natasha’s confiscated arsenal on their way out. She also snags one of the weapons that knocked him out for further analysis back at HQ. She was right; there’s a fight, but it goes a lot better for the both of them now that he doesn’t have to worry about where Natasha’s disappeared to and they’re both prepared for the high-tech weaponry.

Steve tries to limit his worried glances as they hurry away from the building, especially since Natasha reciprocates with an eye roll every time he does. She’s matching him step for step with seemingly no effort, but he still doesn’t want to risk her exacerbating the injuries.

“I’ve called for extraction. The jet should be here in less than an hour,” she says once the base is out of sight. Steve nods, taking this as a cue to stop. They’re in a stretch of woods, frosted grass crunching beneath their feet. It’s still warmer than it was inside that cell, though.

“Is your side okay? And your wrist? And whatever else I can’t see?” He’s prepared for the eye roll, but what he doesn’t expect is the fond little smile Natasha gives him before she scoffs.

“It’s really not that bad. Helen Cho will make sure the worst doesn’t even leave a scar.” She sits down on the ground, leaning her back against a tree. Steve joins her, masking his surprise when she shifts a bit closer to lean against him, shoulder-to-shoulder. He straightens, glad and gratified to provide any support she’ll allow him. Natasha lets out a sigh.

“Don’t fall asleep just yet,” he murmurs.

“Not my first rodeo, Rogers.”

Steve lets out a small chuckle. “Right. You want to give me the details of the intel you retrieved? I’ll write up and give the report to Fury.”

“And that’s why it’s great to get injured on missions.”

“Too soon, Romanoff.”

—

When Steve exits Fury’s office, he’s fully intending to go check in on Natasha in the medical bay. So it takes him an embarrassingly long moment to realize she’s standing right outside Fury’s door, dressed in civvies and a slight smirk on her face as he does a double-take. Her wrist is in a splint and a scarf covers the bruises on her neck, but besides that, you could never tell she’d been suffering under enemy hands just a few hours earlier.

“Should you be here?” Steve makes sure to inject as much exasperation into those few words as he can.

“Helen works fast,” Natasha supplies with a shrug.

“You ever heard of recovery time?” He knows it’s a futile question from experience, though. Both she and Clint—and Tony and Thor and sometimes even Bruce, actually—are notoriously horrible with adhering to bed rest. Sure enough, she only grins in his face.

“Come on, old man.” She starts down the hall. “And wear a hat.”

“Come on where?”

Another futile question.

Natasha leads him outside to where a frankly ostentatious car is parked. Bucky would have swooned. Steve’s heart twinges in his chest.

It’s a short drive made long with traffic, and Steve groans when he realizes they’ve pulled up to a museum. The National Museum of American History. “I swear to god, Natasha, if this is all just for a joke—”

She kills the engine. “Don’t you trust me?”

“After what you just pulled on our mission, not really,” he mutters. Natasha elbows him in a very mature gesture as he gets out of the car.

He follows her up the marble steps, pulling his baseball cap lower over his face as they step inside. Thankfully, the museum is crowded—it’s only afternoon back here in the US right now, and there are hordes of tourists and harried parents dragging around their kids on winter break—so nobody gives them a second look. They weave through a few tour groups, and Steve’s about to petition that they head back so he can take a nap when Natasha stops.

It takes him a second to understand what he’s looking at. It seems to be a relatively new exhibit, and the first thing he sees is a large glass screen with a video of a rippling American flag.  Standing in front of the flag is an image of his own face from seventy years ago. A male voice narrates the text beside the image. Steve continues into the exhibit, stopping short as he reaches the next screen. It’s an interview with Peggy.

He blinks back the stinging in his eyes before he turns to Natasha. Words won’t come to his mouth.

“I don’t think you’ve had a chance to fully stop and process everything,” she says softly. “When we were talking about Dernier today, I remembered you probably don’t know about this. It might help.”

Steve swallows a lump in his throat. “I—thank you.”

Natasha smiles, lopsided but gentle. “I’m just doing it for the joke, remember?” She shifts her weight back into a more relaxed stance. “Do you want some time alone?”

He looks deeper into the exhibit, glimpsing more video screens and photos accompanied by walls of large text, a few displays with uniforms that are achingly familiar. He recognizes faces and his eyes catch on names. His entire life has been laid bare here. “Stay—please. If you want.”

Natasha only gives an easy nod and falls into step beside him, silently siphoning away bits of the pain before it overwhelms him. Steve sticks to skimming the words, letting his eyes linger just long enough to stir something within him without churning. There are photographs he hasn’t seen before, commentaries about him that were filmed after he was gone. One day, he’ll come back here when it’s closed and devoid of people. Then, he’ll properly take in this meticulous record of a legacy he never could have imagined. He’s sure Natasha will help him sneak in.

This works for a while in helping him keep his composure. But then he comes to a panel that he can’t move on from. Bucky’s face looks off to the distance, heroic and solemn, polished in his mint-condition military uniform and Commandos badge. This alone is hard enough to face, but Steve’s breath catches in his throat when he sees another photograph in the glass: Buck grinning, camo rumpled, his arm slung carelessly around Steve’s shoulder. He can almost hear his best friend saying something completely stupid, easing that tension of war without even trying. And he can hear that cry, echoing between the unforgiving mountains, helpless as Bucky plummets so far that he never hears a thud or sees the body hit the ground. Steve wrenches his gaze away.

“You know, Clint’s managed to contact me,” Natasha speaks up quietly. “Back while you were reporting to Fury.” He looks over at her, clings to the now.

“That’s good.” His voice is hoarse.

“He hit a snag, but he’ll be back in a few days. I don’t know what I would have done if I’d heard something happened and I couldn’t do anything about it.” She pauses, meeting Steve’s eyes. “Nobody would truly understand, but I’d know that I wouldn’t be alone.” He nods, taking the unspoken acknowledgement for what it is.

“I know that, too.” He can’t quite force a smile, but he knows she can read his gratitude loud and clear.

Natasha is still working on casual touch that isn't with Clint or for a calculated agenda, so Steve understands the weight of what she's doing when she steps closer to him, placing an arm around his torso. He returns the gesture, letting himself lean into her side. The knot above his heart loosens just enough that he can breathe.

#natasha romanoff #natasha romanov #steve rogers #clintasha #romanogers #(platonic tho) #mcu #marvel #she speaks #my writing

[f4liveblogarchives]

Fantastic Four Vol 1 #116

Thurs Jul 25 2019 [06:01 PM] Wack'd: Yes, it's our first Doom team-up! But more importantly--holy shit is that a gradient on the title at the bottom?!

[06:01 PM] Wack'd: A bold new age of comic book coloring is upon us! [06:02 PM] Wack'd: Meanwhile, in the credits, Lee's title has been changed from "plotter" to "editor" [06:04 PM] Wack'd: The remaining three decide they need to make a plan themselves and I gotta admit? I'm surprised that this is our first issue where Reed literally can't work out the solution for them [06:04 PM] Wack'd: With this established a pattern, that's a good hook [06:05 PM] Wack'd: So it turns out the machine Reed slipped into earlier was radioactive [06:05 PM] maxwellelvis: oops [06:06 PM] Wack'd: And Sue determines that they might be able to trace that radiation signature to find Reed, using one of his gizmos [06:07 PM] Wack'd: (They can't use an actual geiger counter because, if an ordinary device could find the amount of radiation on Reed, he'd be very very screwed) [06:08 PM] Wack'd: Unfortunately, the landlord has got out and led the cops to the Baxter Building [06:08 PM] Wack'd: So Johnny fire-bombs them [06:08 PM] Wack'd: He fire-bombs the cops [06:08 PM] Wack'd: Normally I'd be all for this but, uh, time and a place, dude [06:09 PM] Wack'd: Good luck avoiding jail after that! [06:09 PM] Bocaj: Consequences are for people without superpowers [06:09 PM] Bocaj: like money [06:10 PM] maxwellelvis: "Fuck da police!" [06:10 PM] maxwellelvis: "Not now, Bic-head!" [06:10 PM] maxwellelvis: "JOHNNY NO!" [06:10 PM] maxwellelvis: "JOHNNY YES!" [06:10 PM] Wack'd: So rarely do heroes wading through the sewers acknowledge that actually it's not a fun time

[06:11 PM] maxwellelvis: Spider-Man grumbles about it all the time. [06:11 PM] Wack'd: So! Was Reed mind-controlled? Yes and no [06:12 PM] Wack'd: Reed's earlier boastfulness was him daring the Over-Mind to try and take him over [06:12 PM] Wack'd: Counting on the idea that he'd be able to resist [06:12 PM] Wack'd: And, well [06:12 PM] Wack'd: NOPE! [06:13 PM] Wack'd: Reed's arrogance gets his ass completely, thoroughly kicked [06:13 PM] Bocaj: Good [06:14 PM] Wack'd: Even the ol' "power of love" trick doesn't work!

[06:15 PM] Bocaj: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrvh_jB6c70 [06:15 PM] Bocaj: Hey this is some good imagery though [06:15 PM] Wack'd: It is! [06:15 PM] Wack'd: Buscema rules, actually [06:15 PM] maxwellelvis: Pretty sure that's why they got him to draw all those Conan comics [06:16 PM] Bocaj: I mean, he still can't draw children like a lot of artists can't [06:16 PM] Bocaj: Franklin is an unending nightmare [06:16 PM] Bocaj: Cherubic terror [06:16 PM] Wack'd: Anyway Reed is two seconds from being full-on mind-flayed when Johnny and Ben show up to kick the Over-Mind's ass [06:16 PM] Wack'd: Considering this went great when it was all four of them I'm sure this'll be no sweat [06:16 PM] Bocaj: wtf is sue? [06:17 PM] Wack'd: Glad you asked [06:17 PM] maxwellelvis: Getting backup, I think [06:17 PM] Wack'd: She's on monitor duty [06:17 PM] Bocaj: 😐 [06:17 PM] Wack'd: But seeing the guys getting their asses kicked she's like "actually, fuck this" [06:18 PM] Wack'd: And flies over to force-field Over-Mind into submission [06:18 PM] Wack'd: But hey, uh, remember last issue when he effortlessly broke her force field? [06:19 PM] Wack'd: And also how he just kind of in general is impervious to fire and brute force? [06:19 PM] Bocaj: yes [06:19 PM] Wack'd:

[06:20 PM] maxwellelvis: I was kinda hoping you'd say "Archie doesn't" [06:20 PM] Bocaj: So its not going great is I think what you're insinuating [06:21 PM] Wack'd: You know what? Picking up Johnny by the head *while he's flamed on* is one hell of a move [06:21 PM] Wack'd: Respect [06:21 PM] Wack'd: Also I initially interpreted this as Over-Mind hitting Ben with Johnny [06:22 PM] Bocaj: you gotta hit that motherfucker with this motherfucker [06:22 PM] Wack'd: Which also woulda been pretty cool [06:22 PM] maxwellelvis: You know, for a guy called "Overmind", he's surprisingly beefy [06:22 PM] Bocaj: Might overmind [06:22 PM] Wack'd: He was super strong first and then his entire race filed their brains into his head [06:22 PM] maxwellelvis: Ahh [06:22 PM] Bocaj: As ya do [06:23 PM] Bocaj: If you're a space nonsense [06:23 PM] Wack'd: So with Johnny and Ben out of commission and Reed being promoted to Over-Mind's second-in-command, Sue decides she needs backup [06:24 PM] Wack'd: (She also evades Over-Mind ordering Reed to kill her by taking her weird space bike as high as it could go, and then doing a hairpin turn which causes Reed to topple over, which is pretty neat) [06:25 PM] Wack'd: So anyway, about backup [06:26 PM] Wack'd: The Marvel Universe has conspired to that basically every single superhero has some out-of-NYC stuff happening in their own books [06:26 PM] Wack'd: (Or so the narrator claims--I'm certainly not about to go check) [06:27 PM] Bocaj: It was neat but probably unsustainable how the marvel universe used to do that [06:27 PM] Bocaj: If Iron Man was said to be too busy to do Avengers one month then his book tended to reflect that [06:27 PM] Wack'd: Huh! [06:27 PM] Bocaj: If Beast popped over to do an X-Men crossover, then he's not in Avengers [06:28 PM] MousaThe14: Yeah I’m relistening to Jay and Miles from the start again and it’s interesting to know that they at least attempted to keep that sort of thing consistent with Wolverine disappearing from the main book to have his own solo series and other such things [06:28 PM] Wack'd: Man Buscema out here killing it with the splash pages

[06:28 PM] Bocaj: I know that during Jim Shooter's era he tried to keep things organized like that so that the shared universe felt more unified. And with New Universe every book was supposed to progress a month at a time with every issue but not all the writers got the memo [06:29 PM] Umbramatic: oooh [06:29 PM] Wack'd: Kinda makes long-form storytelling tough [06:29 PM] Umbramatic: but huh [06:29 PM] Bocaj: It does [06:29 PM] Umbramatic: ye [06:29 PM] Bocaj: Its more manageable if the universe is smaller [06:29 PM] Bocaj: That space bike looks unnecessarily unergonomic [06:30 PM] Wack'd: And while I'm handing out kudos, the color department's doing killer work

[06:30 PM] Bocaj: Anyway, there's a website that tries to put all the marvel universe in a chronological order. I'll go check what they have to say [06:31 PM] Bocaj: (Huh, Franklin looks less horrific here) [06:31 PM] Wack'd: I feel like with Stan and Jack gone, everyone's starting to stretch their muscles a bit [06:32 PM] Wack'd: Or maybe it's just the natural progression of time, who knows [06:33 PM] Bocaj: Ok so the Avengers were busy with the Kree/Skrull War, including having to deal with the skrull cow loose ends that Reed left behind [06:33 PM] Bocaj: Thanks Reed [06:33 PM] Wack'd: Sue rolls a nat 20 on persuasion

[06:34 PM] Bocaj: Did she invent his honor and nobility out of whole cloth and mindfuck him into thinking thats who he was for decades to follow? [06:35 PM] Wack'd: It's been there in a few previous issues, though thanks to Stan it comes and goes depending on the needs of the plot [06:35 PM] Wack'd: I remember during the arc where he trapped them in Latveria the story couldn't make up its mind whether or not he cared if his subjects died [06:36 PM] Bocaj: Where he had the DOME? [06:36 PM] Wack'd: He also has a tendency to let the Four go when he's bored, which I suppose is kind of honorable [06:36 PM] Bocaj: if you think Goku is honorable [06:37 PM] Wack'd: But yeah, the idea that he isn't just an egomaniacal loon has kinda gently poked him on the shoulder now and again [06:38 PM] Wack'd:

[06:38 PM] Wack'd: "In about 20 other issues, but I don't recognize it either" [06:39 PM] MousaThe14: Old Man Johnny [06:39 PM] Wack'd: Doom and Goofy have the same dentist apparently

[06:39 PM] Bocaj: "I'm glad we don't have to deal with a bossy autocrat who tells us what to do everyday" [06:41 PM] Wack'd:

[06:42 PM] Wack'd: So Doom's plan is that Over-Mind will be too distracted by Johnny and Ben to fight Doom, who will use a "stop hitting yourself" device on him [06:43 PM] Wack'd: But anyway Doom does the comic book thing of announcing his moves [06:43 PM] Wack'd: And Over-Mind is, as established, not an idiot [06:43 PM] Wack'd: So he ignores Ben and Johnny and just wails on him [06:44 PM] Bocaj: Ha [06:44 PM] Wack'd: Sue was the contingency--she could use her force fields to protect Doom [06:44 PM] Wack'd: But, uh [06:45 PM] Wack'd: Well, he was supposed to take more of a beating first [06:45 PM] Wack'd: To weaken him [06:45 PM] Wack'd: So her force field does nothing and Reed is still convinced he needs to murder her, so [06:45 PM] Bocaj: This plan is butts [06:45 PM] Wack'd: It would've worked if Doom wasn't a boastful idiot! [06:46 PM] Bocaj: It was fundamentally flawed [06:46 PM] Wack'd: Fair

[06:47 PM] Wack'd: So! [06:47 PM] Wack'd: Doom is down. Sue is down. Johnny and Ben are worthless. The gizmo is broken. And Reed is more of a jerk than usual. [06:47 PM] maxwellelvis: Only the author can save them now [06:48 PM] Wack'd: Man, Archie Goodwin's way more buff than I thought he'd be

[06:48 PM] maxwellelvis: Oh no, not THIS asshole [06:49 PM] Wack'd: You're acquainted, I assume [06:49 PM] Bocaj: He's a gem fusion [06:49 PM] MousaThe14: The Stranger is looking less like a hobo than I last saw him [06:49 PM] maxwellelvis: He's the guy who basically heralded in one of the X-Men's lamest periods by literally spiriting away Magneto and Toad to his alien zoo. [06:49 PM] MousaThe14: But last I saw him was in an Essential X-men [06:50 PM] Bocaj: I like that his icon is his own mustache [06:50 PM] Wack'd: So turns out murdering Sue is a bridge too far for Reed, even as mind-whammied as he is, and he passes out [06:50 PM] Bocaj: They call that the ghola test [06:54 PM] Wack'd: Stranger: You call yourself unbeatable, and yet you are the sum of the Eternals, who were once beaten.   [06:54 PM] Wack'd: Over-Mind: By the survivors of Gigantus. What of it? [06:54 PM] Wack'd: Stranger: 😏 [06:54 PM] Wack'd: Over-Mind: well shit [06:55 PM] MousaThe14: The Eternals? You mean the Irrelevants? [06:55 PM] Wack'd: These Eternals will eventually be retconned to be those Eternals [06:55 PM] Wack'd: Don't worry about it [06:56 PM] Wack'd: Anyway the Stranger traps Over-Mind in the Micro-verse and pisses off [06:56 PM] MousaThe14: This is one hell of a deus ex [06:56 PM] Wack'd: It was actually set up earlier in the story! [06:56 PM] maxwellelvis: That's all the Stranger is is a walking deus ex machina [06:56 PM] Wack'd: It's more of a Chekov's gun, really [06:57 PM] Wack'd: If you put a race of beings capable of defeating your baddie above the mantle in the first act... [06:57 PM] MousaThe14: Oh well that’s fine. [06:57 PM] MousaThe14: Setup payoff, only the most basic form of storytelling. You’re free to go, F4 comic. [06:58 PM] Wack'd: Anyway Doom decides he's gonna go walk it off and next time, Richards! Next tiiiime, that whole bit. [06:59 PM] maxwellelvis: "Oh, by the way, Reed, I despise you, and all that you stand for, and oh you know the rest!" "He's a good kid" [06:59 PM] Wack'd: Johnny's pissed that the Stranger let them get their asses handed to them for like three issues when he coulda curbstomped Over-Mind whenever he wanted [06:59 PM] Wack'd: And concludes this was an act of deliberate malice on someone's part [07:00 PM] maxwellelvis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U96sqmTFsss [07:00 PM] Wack'd: For once, Johnny actually has a point before storming off

[07:01 PM] Wack'd: The Watcher, seeing this, decides "fuck it, I'm gonna make this mean something"

#1971 #Archie Goodwin #John Buscema #The Main Book

[wellhalesbells]

I see you reblogging some comic stuff an I was wondering if you have a favorite comic or favorite character or ship?

this ask is from so long ago but [DEEP BREATH IN] i’m finally going to answer it, nonny.  finally.  i kept wanting to read a little bit farther in my comics stack because.... maybe i’ll like that and will regret not having recced it, i just hafta--get--to it, see?  and, honestly, i’m still there BUT, come on, i’ll never be caught up because that would mean comics would just have to stop coming out and i would be sad forever if that happened, SO

i’m not even going to pretend like i can narrow this down to one comic.  (one ship?  sure, that’s spideypool.  one character?  sure, that’s the merc with a mouth, the regenerating degenerate, wade motherfucking wilson.  but one comic?!)  there is just straight-up too much out there to make a definitive ‘yes, this is it, this is THE ONE ™ ’ statement.  instead, uh, let’s break this shit down, yeah?  (super special secret bonus round, will note all lgbt+ rep and standalone comics.)  in no particular order, here the frig it goes!

HORROR

infidel, by pornsak pichetshote and aaron campbell.  in case you haven’t seen this on every 2018 best list ever, here it is.  and, yeah, it was good.  a muslim-american main character living in a haunted apartment building where the entities feed off the xenophobia of its occupants.  if that’s not a fucking modern horror story i don’t know what is.

spread, by justin jordan and kyle strahm.  THIS IS ONE OF MY NEW AND ALREADY ALL-TIME FAVORITES.  what an awesomely weird and epic story.  the spread is an uncontrollable, unstoppable monster-making force that humanity accidentally unleashed by digging too deep.  it infects everything it touches and basically all of humanity is running from quarantine to quarantine just hoping for the best.  and speaking of hope.... she’s a baby, rescued by no, and the only thing that’s ever been able to stop the spread.  also, no’s gay?  and i just DID NOT see that coming.  it seems like it’s going to be such a formulaic, bro-y story about the action hero who kisses the face off his girl (her name’s molly and she’s batshit insane and amazing) and instead, nope, it is not that at all.  lgbt+ main characters.

the black monday murders, by jonathan hickman and tomm coker.  hate capitalism?  think all the rich and powerful are evil, soul-sucking monsters?  [obnoxious, low-budget commercial sound effects] MAN, HAVE I GOT THE SERIES FOR YOU.

the beauty, by jeremy haun and jason a. hurley.  i just started this recently but so far, oh my good golly gosh, i looove it.  a sexually transmitted disease that makes you conventionally gorgeous.... at least before it explodies you.  [wide, creepy smile]  the art is gorgeous, the characters are aces and i am very, very pleased so far.  lgbt+ minor characters.

the great divide, by ben fisher and adam markiewicz.  this?  was a COOL idea.  the execution stumbled a bit but, gosh, was it neat.  it’s post-apocalyptic where touching another person will literally kill.... one of you.  the survivor then absorbs the memories of the person who dies, taking on a ‘rider.’  some people collect them, some people go mad, some form a bond, all have the side effect of dyslexia.  like i said, neat as all get out.  lgbt+ minor-ish/main-ish character.  standalone.

revival, by tim seely and mike norton.  a rural town in wisconsin experiences ‘miracle day,’ where the dead rise again.... except, they were kinda already mourned and buried and this is really just fucking up the status quo.

the woods, by james tynion iv and michael dialynas.  a high school gets picked up and plopped down in an entirely new, and wickedly hostile universe.  it’s all survival and alliances and seeing what you’re really made of when it comes down to it.  lgbt+ main characters. 

clean room, by gail simone and jon davis-hunt.  a cult, a journalist and a clean room walk into a bar...

anya’s ghost, by vera brosgol.  you think it’ll be a cute story of a girl and her ghost.  HA HA THAT IS NOT WHAT HAPPENS AT ALL, OKAY.

FANTASY

rumble, by john arcudi and james harren.  SCARECROW WARRIOR GOD, SCARECROW WARRIOR GOD, SCARECROW WARRIOR GOD!!!  okay, first off, the art in this?  pushes every friggin’ button i’ve got, and many i did not know i had.  second, this book is so fucking fun.  it’s mythology that’s balls to the wall ridiculous, funny, and features a main character whose life motto is basically: ‘do i have to?’  infinitely relatable and then some.

heathen, by natasha alterici and rachel deering.  UGH, ONE OF MY FAVORITES.  the art is just horribly, horrendously gorgeous and it’s LESBIAN VIKING MYTHOLOGY, OKAY.  OKAYYYY???   lgbt+ main characters.

the wicked + the divine, by kieron gillen and jamie mckelvie.  one of my favorite ever series right here.  it’s a hella cool concept (gods reincarnating as humans every twelve years, and burning up their hosts in two), whip-smart and if you’ve ever met a human being who likes a pun more than kieron gillen i defy you to produce them.  lgbt+ main and minor characters.

batgirl, by gail simone and adrian sayaf and vicente cifuentes.  you know how people rave about gail simone?  there’s a reason people rave about gail simone.  honestly, i’ve never had much interest in babs.  i don’t tend to go for superheroes who don’t kill and i have even less interest in ‘the killing joke’ story line and i am convinced only gail simone could’ve done the recovery on that and she did a GLORIOUS job of it.

red hood and the outlaws, by scott lobdell and dexter soy.  (ignoring recent - and annoying - developments), this is my favorite of all the rebirths dc did.  scott lobdell is the only writer to have gotten the idea down of: okay, we’re starting over, i assume you don’t know anything but i also assume there are a bajillion people reading who know everything, and hit the perfect medium between those two things.  so if you want to start a jason todd run, you legitimately can here, and get all the found family, badassery, batman-teasing enjoyment there is to be had.

iceman, by sina grace and robert gill (covers by kevin wada).  classic super-heroing here and bobby’s first solo title.  he’s figuring out coming out while fighting (and flirting) with baddies.  sina really gets his humor and how truly wonder-awful it is!  lgbt+ main character.

spider-man/deadpool, by joe kelly and ed mcguinness.  watch those names there, those are your guys right there, period.  they looked at the void of a spider-man/deadpool series and filled it with absolutely everything you could possibly want for the pair (sans a hardcore make-out sesh, though they did get a few variant covers with some puckered up lips in there!)

limbo, by dan watters and caspar wijngaard.  a fusion of 80s aesthetics, voodoo elements and a noir tone.  just some remarkably cool shit in this.  the ending, for me, left something to be desired but it was more than worth it to see worship via mixtapes.  standalone.

hawkeye: kate bishop, by kelly thompson and leonardo romero.  kate bishop is, apparently???, a super impossible character for a lot of writers.  kelly thompson is not one of them.  kelly thompson is my favorite kate bishop writer, actually, and the fact that she is ever not writing her is a gd travesty.

the unbeatable squirrel girl, by ryan north and erica henderson.  honestly, i’m so tempted to just stick this under ‘contemporary,’ because it really does just feel very... normal.  doreen’s navigating college, new friendships, and y’know... the squirrely-ness.  this had every opportunity to suck and instead it’s funny as heck, never takes itself too seriously, and is just pure good-hearted entertainment through and through.

wolf, by ales kot and matt taylor.  a paranormal detective and the-possible-antichrist go on a road trip.  people hated this comic and i don’t know how you can hate a comic that has a character called freddy chtonic who has tentacles for a mouth??? 

ms. marvel, by g. willow wilson and adrian alphona.  hi, you read ms. marvel because the world is a garbage fire and people are terrible and your cynicism is at an all time high and then kamala khan waltzes in and reminds you people generally want to help each other and the world improves when we work together and that thing optimists feel?  you’ll feel that for as long as you’ve got the pages open and that’s a magical thing.  lgbt+ minor character.

monstress, by marjorie m. liu and sana takeda.  psychic links with monsters, matriarchal societies, magic and witchery, half-human/half-animal (and other ratios) characters, all through a steampunk lens.  what’s not to like about that??

inhuman, by charles soule.  i love this series, i love the idea of being a total average joe/joanne, getting smacked in the face by a cloud of mist and suddenly having to figure out how to live basically a whole new life.  also, if you don’t fall madly in love with dante pertuz, i don’t even know what to tell you, my dude.

heart in a box, by kelly thompson and meredith mcclaren.  break-ups suck, but only because of that whole pesky broken heart thing, right?  so emma gives hers away.  problem solved, no?  standalone.

i kill giants, by joe kelly and j.m. ken niimura.  i didn’t cry my eyes out or anything.  did not.  standalone.

sex criminals, by matt fraction and chip zdarsky.  having sex = stopping time, which leads suzie and jon to the only logical conclusion: let’s rob some banks!

hawkeye, by matt fraction and david aja.  honestly there are a lot of other artist combos in this run but the only ones that are worthwhile are the ones that have fraction and aja’s names on them - sorry not sorry.

SCIENCE FICTION

black bolt, by saladin ahmed and christian ward.  saladin revived this character one hundred million percent.  there is absolutely a reason this was parading around all over ‘best’ lists when it was released.  it really, really did the damn thing.

saga, by brian k. vaughan and fiona staples.  this is the comic you recommend to people who don’t even like comics because it is that good.  like, my dad - who hadn’t read a comic since he was a pre-teen, eagerly awaits each new trade.  the world-building, the characters, the care put into every single solitary bit of all the things?  unparalleled.  lgbt+ minor characters.

frostbite, by joshua williamson and jason shawn alexander.  a post-apocalyptic story that has humanity dying from a plague that literally freezes you from the inside out.  very neat, very cold, very readable.  standalone.

descender, by jeff lemire and dustin nguyen.  this had a rough start, for me, with the main character of the first trade being tim-21, an android who is literally incapable of having the depth to be a lead BUT that does not last through to the next trade, thank god.  lots of space and found family and world-building in this to be had!  but you know how people rave about jeff lemire?  there’s a reason people rave about jeff lemire.

paper girls, by brian k. vaughan and cliff chiang.  the 80s and time travel and lifelong friendships.  it’s brian k. vaughan, you know it’s good, okay?  why do i even have to sell you here, man?  lgbt+ main characters.

injection, by warren ellis and declan shalvey.  this is another one on my list that started out a little rough but really appealed to me later on.  there was just a lot to absorb in that first trade but, once you’ve got it, the ride gets way, way smoother.   lgbt+ main and minor characters.

black science, by rick remender and matteo scalera.  this was a rocky start, because the main character is such an asshole but in a way where he can’t see he’s an asshole, he’s just a tortured genius who’s superior to all of you, don’t you know? but i am so glad i persevered because if that’s the set up?  the rest of the series is knocking him back down.  super scientist grant mckay finds a way to access the eververse, every possible reality the universe has on offer, and that’s really what causes every single problem that follows.  hard to cause the apocalypse and be an arrogant prick, ya know?

CONTEMPORARY

giant days, by john allison and lissa treiman.  this series is so funny and smart and warm.  these girls are so kind to each other and relatable and failing at adulting regularly and often and i love reading about them.  lgbt+ main character.

lumberjanes, by noelle stevenson and grace ellis and brooke a. allen.  this is funny and ridiculous and kind and cool and all other awesome adjectives and you should read it, fact.  lgbt+ main characters.

my brother’s husband, by gengoroh tagame and anne ishii (translator).  this is such a sweet story about acceptance and family tbh.   lgbt+ main character.

fence, by c. s. pacat and johanna the mad.  i mean... i need to see nicholas and seiji hook-up, i need that, stat.  stat means now!   lgbt+ main characters.

WEB/INDEPENDENT COMICS

long exposure, by kam heyward.  so mitch and jonas are my absolute faves and i love them to death and the author is so kind in that they actually put this up in print on indyplanet so i can read it the way i, personally, love to read comics (and - bonus! - support them with the monies).  lgbt+ main characters.

modern dread, by pat shand and ryan fassett (editors).  i’ve been trying to find more better horror comics lately so i’ve been kind of half-heartedly stumbling through kickstarter on the hunt and this was SUCH a great find.  it’s an anthology but more cleverly done than any other kickstarter anthology i’ve read, with a main story line that seamlessly strings together the would-be-disjointed ones.  this was really thoughtfully put together and really well done!  standalone.

heartstopper, by alice oseman.  a very sweet story about two high school-aged boys becoming fast friends, playing rugby and falling in love.  the two characters are mentioned as an aside in the author’s book, solitaire, and she became so invested in them that she wrote their backstory as a free webcomic.   lgbt+ main characters.

the pale, by jay fabares.  JUST started this (like, just a day or so ago) but i’m enjoying it so far!

hotblood!, by toril orlesky.  i mean... is it a webcomic about a centaur falling in love with his boss?  it just might be.  did i get a bound edition through a kickstarter campaign?  maybe.  maybe i did that.  who’s to say?   lgbt+ main characters.

the bay, by bbz.  life on mars through the lens of three young professionals who form an odd but lasting friendship.  lgbt+ main characters.

hard drive, by artroan.  is it a nsfw comic about a dude and a robot?  .... it might be a nsfw comic about a dude and a robot.  [coughs]   lgbt+ main characters.

seen nothing yet, by tess stone.  a nsfw comic about two amateur ghost hunters.  can’t imagine why i might be interested in that [coughs]   lgbt+ main characters.

captain imani and the cosmic chase, by lin darrow and alex assan.  i mean did i want a starship captain who can’t help but lust after the smuggler he’s chasing.  i mean, maybe i did.  maybe.   lgbt+ main characters.

taproot, by keezy young.  ghost falls in love with boy, boy falls in love with ghost, AND THEY LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER.  lgbt+ main characters.

always raining here, by bell and hazel.  just two boys falling in lurve.  lgbt+ main characters.

#marvel #dc #image #batgirl #saga #giant days #long exposure #the wicked and the divine #heartstopper #jason todd #kamala khan #the unbeatable squirrel girl #clint barton #kate bishop #heathen #iceman #inhumans #wade wilson #monstress #blackagar boltagon #okay i'm done tagging stuff i'll find this later and add if i can manage it lol #i'm not all the way through ALL of these but from what i've read of them THEY ARE GRAND #!ask #Anonymous

[mostlytiredoffs]

You’ve seen Samodelkina’s 3A attempt in the warmup?

yeah I did see the video. The jump is definitely still short of rotation, but mostly, I’m not convinced by the way she uses her upper body on the axel takeoff? It looks a bit muscled. I really like her, but I’ve noticed some ? things lately, such as her Lutz going flat on 3Lz3Lo combos and I wish they worked on these things right now first. That said, I do think she has the potential to work and perfect the axel. 

ladywisteri asked: What are your thoughts on the new changes made to Rika’s Beautiful Storm choreo? :)

if someone’s curious, a fan made a series of video comparisons between the program in the summer and through the season.

so, there were two things that I hoped would be back: the exit out of the solo 3A and the high kick out of the 3F. Rika did the exit out of the solo 3A in practice so I hope that one will be back (I really love it ;;), but the 3F exit seems to be gone (I guess she gets better goe with a running edge out of it). 

As for the things they added, I really love the beginning. I feel like it’s smoother, more fluid. The movement is a bit less mechanic and it flows better, even tho it still hits all the accents in the music.

I don’t mind the change of movement at the end of the StSq, tho I’m not sure if I like it more than the old one. One thing I really like is how the worked on the expression. Rika mentioned Tom gave her a series of images to differentiate between the differents mood and parts of the program (like “happy here”, “dark here”) and I think it showed. The beginning is more intense than before imo.

Not to be that person but I still can’t believe Evgenia broke Mao and Yuna’s WRs…………………

Oh boy, we are going down this road XD

In general, I think Evgenia’s scores were definitely inflated, as were Alina’s, but I don’t think they ever won something they shouldn’t have (perhaps besides NHK17, where Polina should have won, imo). Do I think at least the SP WR should have been historical? Yeah probably (also can’t say I’m not mad at the fact that the FP WR should have been Rika’s all season lol) but also food for thought: Evgenia and Alina’s programs were designed to milk the IJS. They lacked in quality on some elements and I think there scores did not reflect the quality of the elements in some ways, but their programs were designed to tick the bullets and hide the weaknesses. 

Eteri understanding and exploiting (not meant in a negative way) the system also changed ladies’ skating. There’s a middle level between empty programs and overly busy ones, and I do think several ladies in this field are finding it and I can’t hide I like ladies’ skating as it is right now. Not the scores, but this field is all kinds of amazing. 

That said, can’t tell you her scores were ok, because in my opinion they weren’t, but I wanted to give a more complex reply. 

not sure if it’s been asked before but something light: your fave costumes this season?

Mmm. Yuzuru’s Origin costume, Rika’s Beautiful Storm and Mai’s Mission costumes…and Alyona Kanysheva’s FP costume. These are my favorites I’d say.

Also didn’t mind Wakaba’s blue costume for her FP. 

What are your thoughts on Nathan’s FP? I’ve only seen it for US Nats so I know I can’t judge the scoring there. Is he unbeatable like they want me to believe?

No, he’s not unbeatable at all. Clean Yuzuru should still be unbeatable. And tbh if the system was actually used properly even not-so-clean Yuzuru should be. 

As far as his program goes, I don’t have much to say. His last season SP had potential for example, but his programs are just…too empty for me. Especially the FP, both last and this year, because there’s simply too long of a set up into every jump. He’s sacrificing everything that is choreography in order to get the jumps done to me.

Who do you think will make the Russian team for Worlds if that hasn’t been decided versus who should?

who should make the team: Alina, Sofia, Elizaveta

the most likely team: Alina, Sofia, Elizaveta. Does Evgenia have a chance? Probably? But it’s very rare to see rusfed change their team after Russian cup final. Polina had the chance, Yulia as well before and no one ever made it. I think Evgenia will have to be amazing to be considered. 

What’re your thoughts on Tatiana Tarasova?

Very interesting figure, legendary coach and choreographer for sure (and looking at Polina’s FP she hasn’t lost her touch), but I can’t say I like her commentary (the things she says about weight and such are simply gross most of the time) nor her…choices re politcking. I mean, she said Stasya should have won nats? That’s an alarm big enough for me not to trust her lol

Tfw Rika’s technique is so impeccable that not even KK can bitch about it... 😍🤧😭

Too bad Rika has her own crazy youtuber, a JP Mao uber who hates her and posts lies about her underrotating and prerotating every jump .___. sigh impeccable technique, but some crazy ppl nonetheless

#anon #replies #replies post #ladywisteri #if anyone has interesting qs send them in uwu

[eleanor-writes-stuff]

10/10 would buy again [Ficlet]

Rey has spent all her life living on a tight budget and scavenging for the best deals around. Now in college, she's developed a tiny bit of a reputation for her reliable product reviews - and they get even better when hints of her personal life start popping up.

A relationship chronicled in Amazon reviews.

Also available on AO3.

KNEE-LENGTH EMERALD GREEN SLEEVELESS TEA DRESS Bargain_Scavenger

⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆   Perfect summer dress June 19, 2016

I spent a good two hours searching for a decent summer dress before landing on this steal. It arrived in time for a first date at a summer festival, and held up just fine throughout an entire evening of fair activities.

Definitely consult the size chart to get a perfect fit! Re: length, I’m 5’7’’ and it falls just below my knees. The material is listed as polyester, but it feels nice and silky and didn’t wrinkle much even after two hours on a picnic blanket. All in all, a great dress at an amazing price.

Bonus: even my date loved it. We’ve known each other for two years now, and this was the first time I’ve ever seen him speechless!

INTERMEDIATE AND ABOVE 33-PIECE CALLIGRAPHY SET Bargain_Scavenger

⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆   A diamond in the rough December 27, 2016

I bought this as a Christmas present for my boyfriend, who’s been practicing calligraphy for about a decade now. I had to rely entirely on reviews and my gut since I couldn’t consult him, but I’m so glad I picked this over the dozens of similar-looking sets! My boyfriend loves it as well, and he’s already putting it to good use – I woke up this morning to a beautiful note on my nightstand.

If you’re looking for a professional set at an affordable price, this is the item for you!

PEACHES AND CREAM FRONT-CLASP LACE BRALETTE AND PANTY SET Bargain_Scavenger

⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆   Bye, Victoria’s Secret October 21, 2017

Half the price and double the quality! I wanted something special enough for a birthday surprise but comfortable enough to wear to dinner with his parents beforehand. I was worried that this might be more bra than bralette thanks to the front clasp, but it’s not uncomfortable at all! All the comfort of a bralette without the awkwardness of getting all tangled up in it when you’re in a rush to get undressed ; )

The lace is slightly stretchy so if you’re between sizes, I would advise sizing down rather than up. No loose threads or change in shape after the first wash, and it looks like this will hold up for a while. I’ll definitely be buying from this seller again!

NAVY BLUE THREE-SEATER MID-CENTURY MODERN SOFA Bargain_Scavenger

⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆   Suspiciously great value for money July 6, 2018

My boyfriend and I recently moved into our first Real Adult Apartment, which we had to furnish on our tiny fresh-out-of-college salaries. We’re happy with nearly all of the pieces we purchased, but this is our favorite by far. It’s long enough for him to stretch out on (for reference, he’s 6’2’’) and wide enough to accommodate cuddling. We’ve also dozed off during a few movie nights, and woken up with no complaints in the morning.

If this is the kind of sofa you’ve been wanting, go ahead and add it to your cart! I know it seems too good to be true, but trust me on this one.

12-PIECE CRYSTAL CUT STEMWARE SET Bargain_Scavenger

⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆   Ballin’ on a budget November 23, 2019

My fiancé and I are hosting our first proper Thanksgiving next week, and we decided it would be best not to serve drinks using the mismatched assortment of glasses we’ve collected over the years. He was actually the one who found this set (I’ve started teaching him the ways of bargain-hunting) and is very pleased with it, which is probably saying something coming from someone who grew up in a household with heirloom crystal glasses.

Here’s hoping his mom will be just as impressed!

FLUTTER-SLEEVE V-NECK FLOOR-LENGTH WEDDING DRESS Bargain_Scavenger

⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆   David’s Bridal could never June 13, 2020

After a lifetime of bargain hunting, I knew I was definitely not buying an overpriced off-the-rack dress for my wedding. Still, I’d heard enough horror stories to know that wedding dress hunting on Amazon is a challenge even for the most seasoned of internet shoppers. It took me eight months and two returns (if there’s ever a time to be careful with return policies when purchasing, this would be it!), but I’m writing to let you all know that it’s definitely possible to find the perfect wedding dress on Amazon.

Consult the chart very, very carefully – if you can get measured by a professional, that would be great – and be prepared to take the dress to a reliable tailor for small alterations. I used professional measurements and still ended up going in for three fittings. To be fair, the dress was perfect by the second fitting - an unexpected surprise necessitated the third.

All in all, this is a beautiful, unique dress at an unbeatable price – and trust me, no one will be able to tell that you bought it off the internet unless you choose to let them know (if that’s the kind of thing you worry about).

I can’t wait to see my fiancé’s face when I walk down the aisle next week!

IMPORTANT: the note Ben writes for Rey using his new calligraphy set says 'I love you' - and yes, dear reader, that is in fact how Ben Solo chooses to tell his girlfriend he loves her for the very first time.

ALSO IMPORTANT: Rey is four months pregnant when she and Ben get married on their fourth anniversary.

Okay, now that we've gotten those very important details out of the way...

I have no idea what this is, or how I managed to keep it this short. Is this the shortest fic I've ever written and will ever write? Quite possibly! Is it also one of the oddest ones yet? You bet! But I hope you enjoyed it all the same, and thank you for giving this a chance. I'm not at 100% - haven't been in a while, really - so thank you for bearing with me while I try to get out of this rut and get back to normal.

As always: if you enjoyed this, please don’t hesitate to like/reblog/comment!

#reylo #reylo fic #reylo au #rey/kylo ren #rey/ben solo #reyben #star wars #modern au #rey #ben solo #kylo ren #ficlet: would buy again #my fics #fic archive

[a-patheticapathetic]

Beck - The Information: Review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=theer88rQ5g&list=PLX0wu3Da6IoZ8ULDFhAR-3qJZtp9smMCY

Switching it up from FFTB updates, mainly because I don’t have enough ideas for God is in the Radio. Beck has always been on my radar, but I never got around to listening to any of his music in-depth. I have a friend who has been a fan of his earlier stuff, and he would often put a few Beck songs into the queues of music we listen to when playing games together. I usually liked what I heard, but I didn’t actually listen to a Beck album on my own until about a year ago. 

I chose The Information on a whim, and it completely blew me away. The complexity and depth and feel of this album was far beyond what I was expecting. It makes sense, given that Nigel Godrich (producer of every Radiohead album after the first two) produced and mixed it. Every time I listen, I hear something new, something that I didn’t notice before.

Last time I did one of these, I feel like I wasn’t very coherent. I’m going to try to keep my thoughts together as much as I can.

Elevator Music - 8/10

What a start. You instantly are sunk into the feeling of the album, and with a beat that you can’t resist knocking your head to. There are like 5 different lines of percussion in the background but it’s mixed well and doesn’t sound cluttered. Vocals sound great, are mostly nonsense, but that’s okay. Every few lines there’s some kind of change-up to keep things interesting. Fragments of a third verse, vocal melody, and an ending that sounds like the song is breaking a little bit. This happens a few more times on the album.

Think I’m in Love - 6/10

Instantly hitting you with a very infectious bassline. I will say, that this song isn’t my favorite. Doesn’t really do much with the instrumentation compared with Elevator Music. This seems to be the designated “radio single”. The bridge is nice, though. Very nice strings there. The strings also come back in the outro, which I had forgotten about.

Cellphone’s Dead - 9/10

This song is probably the thematic centerpiece of the album. I absolutely love it. It has two distinct phases that it switches between effortlessly, several times. Beck’s flow here is flawless, especially during the second verse. That transition is water-tight. One by one, I’ll knock you out. The synth and piano combining, somehow. Eye of the sun, listen to that low string. This build-up is absolutely incredible. Just get lost in it. Another broken outro

Strange Apparition - 7/10

Beck’s country side comes out a little here. This song is driven by cowbell-infused percussion, slammed piano chords, and a careless acoustic guitar. One thing that you may also notice is a very nice synth line in the background. I especially like how the second chorus is sung a register higher than the first one. After that, the song shifts into a much more minimal sound and slower tempo. The acoustic wins out over the piano, and Beck really pushes his own voice.

Soldier Jane - 9/10

This may be my favorite song on the album. The drumming is spotless and that low sawtooth synth in the background really gives this song a unique feeling. Then one of the the best basslines I’ve ever heard comes in. Some kind of massive chord plays in the background, it sounds like heaven coming to Earth. The chorus is perfect. During the second verse, so much more interesting instrumentation is being layered on. Then, the buildup. The bassline gets even better and this awesome sense of scale is built upon. The conventional instruments fade out, and heaven blows your face through your skull.

Nausea - 7/10

First of all the complete lack of transition from Soldier Jane is absolutely hilarious. This song couldn’t be more different. An angrier flow and punchy percussion working alongside the bass. Some strange noises and vocal samples permeate the rest of the song. An ending so abrupt you think the song broke.

New Round - 7/10

A breather. Very soft vocals with a delay effect that really comes together on the “chorus”. Lullaby synth notes every once in a while. Is it comforting, or depressing? I couldn’t tell you. Very nice outro. What? Dinner time, yeah.

Dark Star - 9/10

Holy hell, the atmosphere of this song is beyond my ability to describe. I don’t even know if this is a bassline. I just know that it’s completely perfect. ESPECIALLY the transition into the chorus. The flow here is dark as night. In the second chorus the song shows the last ace up its sleeve; the string section. I am a total sucker for string sections tastefully implemented into modern sounds, and this is the best example I have ever hear of that. What an unbeatable groove.

We Dance Alone - 6/10

This is one of the songs that my friend would play the most often. Maybe because of that, it feels a little burnt-out for me. I feel like Dark Star did a better job with this vocal style, and the instrumentation doesn’t really evolve that much. I do like the way the vocals are kind of swimming through the chorus, and the bridge is a neat change-up. But there’s just too much of this song that is just repeated.

No Complaints - 7/10

This is probably the song that made me listen to The Information in particular. Heard it on some kind of “radio” thing, either Spotify or GPM. It’s a nice little acoustic singalong about the disenfranchisement with modern life. Love the lyrics on this one, and the chorus is very catchy. 

1000BPM - 7/10

Now here’s a strange one. Almost a straight-up rap song with a very eccentric flow. Abrasive, glitched percussion. The gltichiness starts to infect Beck’s vocals after a while, distorting them beyond recognition.

Motorcade - 7/10

Basically an unnerving version of New Round. A plucked main guitar line and a softer vocal melody. But there are a few building electronic moans in the background that sound very off. Especially during the spoken-word part in the bridge. A tapped synth note begins distorting around itself, and what sounds like filtered feedback starts drowning everything else out. 

The Information - 7/10

Almost a combination of No Complaints and Motorcade. A simple verse-chorus structure that begins to have some oddness creep into it. The drums are just a little bit too intense, which adds to the slight feeling of unease. The background vocals sighing every once in a while is a strange touch. A very weird outro. I recommend turning your volume down until the next song starts. No reason.

Movie Theme - 8/10

Such a nice way to end the album, after all that strangeness. This almost 16-bit synth wraps around you in a very comforting way. The vocals are appropriately soft. It just feels like a warm blanket. Various sounds and instruments continue layering as the song progresses. Listen to the voice on the radiowave / Somebody needs you, somebody who’s far away.

The Horrible Fanfare (6/10) / Landslide (8/10) / Exoskeleton (3/10)

Movie Theme is the real ending of the album. I treat this 10-minute song as a kind of collection of three B-sides. Horrible Fanfare is an interesting, creepy instrumental with a Dark Star-esque flow and no chorus. It samples Cellphone’s Dead and only lasts just over 2 minutes. The transition into Landslide is very nice. A bassline similar to Black Tambourine, a song off of Beck’s previous album. The chorus for this section is honestly really good. Satisfying lyrics and melody, and the closest thing to a guitar solo on the album. After this is about 5 minutes of Beck playing Swans. Eerie and ambient instrumentation and a strange, sampled conversation. Cellphone’s Dead comes back again. There’s also a part at about 7 minutes that sounds really similar to one of the menu tracks for Killing Floor 2. 

Alright, hopefully that was more coherent. Overall thoughts; I wish Fanfare/Landslide/Exoskeleton were separated onto their own, on a side project or B-side. Landslide honestly could have been its own song. Otherwise, I think this album is Beck’s best work, and an album I am unlikely to ever forget. On a scale of “No complaints but it’s overrated, that’s for sure”, to “Don’t be afraid, take your heart out of its shell”, The Information gets a “Little worse for wear but wearing it well.”

#music reccs #music #album review #beck #the information #track review

[ardentalgor]

little writey thing that i think y’all might like

It’s exhilarating to be up so high, to feel like your hands can touch the sky and your eyes can see forever.

You can see why some people hike at night.

Tonight was a greatly needed change of pace for you. A solo mission in the unbeatable multiplayer game that is life.

Hiking was not something you did too regularly, especially not hiking up a remote mountain alone at night.

So far it has been a relatively pleasant experience.

You take a deep breath, the crisp mountain air tickling your lungs. Arms and legs burning pleasantly, you stand, adjusting your backpack. Glancing upwards over your shoulder, you realize the peak is still a few miles away. You’ve already climbed up this far. Why not go even farther?

The trail winds up the side of the mountain, becoming more treacherous with every step. Looking back down the side of the mountain, you can spot the concrete head of the trail disappearing into the sparse forest that surrounds the base of the mountain. If you squint hard enough you can even see where the concrete changes to gravel and the trail continues on up the mountain.

You sigh happily. Tonight is the perfect night- not too chilly, not to dark, and the full expanse of the heavens can be seen from your vantage point, high above the world and far from the sickly yellows and cold blues of the cities.

You turn away from the base of the mountain to face the peak that looms above you. A small smile creeps across your chilly face as you take your next few steps forewords. For a minute you walk in a blissful silence only broken by the gentle chirrup of the crickets. Sighing happily, you absorb the calm and quiet of the night around you.

That’s when you hear it.

Gravel skitters down the mountain, sounding louder than an avalanche in the quiet night.

The peaceful quiet suddenly transforms into a dangerous, sinister, almost unnatural silence.

The hair on your arms stand on end as you turn, ready to face whatever is walking behind you.

When you turn, you don’t see it. You don’t see anything.

There’s nothing there.

Quickly and quietly you backtrack, looking about the trail and surrounding grassy areas desperately until you come across fresh animal tracks. You set down your backpack with a thump, quickly rummaging through the main pouch until you find what you need.

You pull a small, handmade journal whose worn black leather cover proudly proclaims ‘Essential Travel Journal- Never Leave Home Without’. This was perhaps your most useful purchase from the locals in the town a few miles from the base of the mountain. The journal had remarkably detailed sketches of the mountain’s flora and fauna on nearly every page.

The only downside was that the townspeople were almost ridiculously, outrageously superstitious.

You frown as you flip past a drawing of something called the Chimera before landing on the exact page you needed.

Right across from the page on the so-called Chupacabra is a page on mountain goats.

The tracks match up almost perfectly.

It was just a mountain goat, nothing more.

You release a breath you weren’t even aware you were holding. It was just a mountain goat. Something normal, something mundane. It’s absolutely nothing to worry about.

Once again you stand and shoulder your backpack, eyes fixed once more on the mountaintop. No more distractions. No more putting this off, no more excuses. You’re going to climb this mountain even if it kills you!

You set off again, determination in your step. As you near the end of the trail and top of the mountain peak, you slow down. Extreme caution is your best friend on this mountain.

If you’re honest it’s your only friend on this remote mountain.

The trail, now marked only by rotting mulch and a few rotten stumps were a wooden railing should have been, hugs the wall of an almost sheer cliff that leads to a rickety wooden platform that overlooks the whole mountain. You smile upon seeing your destination only a couple of feet above your head. You’re almost done!

You pause for a minute to catch your breath. The view here is phenomenal. You can see for miles and miles- farther than ever before. The horizon glows with a faint warm light, lending the far away colors of the sky a faint glow. The sheer drop a mere two feet away from you only adds to the beauty.

In only a few more minutes of tough climbing, you’re at the top, clutching the worn wooden railing, smooth to the touch thanks to some long ago people’s hands. You turn your gaze downwards, eager to behold the view from the top.

It’s beautiful. Magnificent. Stunning.

You can make out the little town where you purchased your gear, and beyond that the huge, foreboding forest you drove through to reach the mountain.

Then you raise your eyes heavenward.

If the view of the ground was beautiful, this is beyond beauty.

The wisps of clouds high above you barely obscure your view of the Milky Way and the multitude of stars scattered through the infinite darkness of space. The colors- infinitely deep and dark purples and blues, shimmering, slight hues of green and hints of yellow and pink- swirl across the sky, engaging in a complex dance across the heavens. The stars themselves seem to hang like a luxurious diamond chandelier from the ceiling of the sky. The constellations are as clear as a sparkling clean spring of water. It’s an extraordinary sight.

Even the Man in the Moon seems happy with the sky above. He shines his light down to kiss your chilly, red face and bring a joyful, soft light to the infinite darkness of the night.

You never want to leave.

This place, this mountain… This is a place of extraordinary beauty the likes of which you have never seen before.

After a few more minutes in the moonlight, soaking in the light of the stars in the sky, you sigh. All good things must come to an end, including your brief stay on the mountaintop.

With a heavy heart and slow feet you make your way down the mountain, back to your old life.

You can’t help but wonder- will you ever see a beauty this profound ever again?

Halting every now and again, you debate with yourself. If you stayed on the mountain to watch the stars forever, your death is inevitable. However, if you choose to continue back to the town and though the forest and to your old life, what would be the point? Nothing compares to the beauty of the mountain. Nothing. Neither human beings nor animals, flowers or cities, sunrise or sunset will ever hold a candle to the mountain.

And what is life without beauty?

Absolutely nothing, you decide and promptly turn around, eager to head back up the mountain.

That’s when you see it.

A strange yellow light in the sky, about eye level and a stone’s throw away. It’s too close and bright to be one of the many stars in the sky above, but too small and still to be anything else.

The scenery seems to shift, thanks to this strange light. Shadows deepen to darkest black, the colors seemingly leached from the surroundings. The stones and rocks around you seem to almost glow with a brilliant light.

Suddenly you remember what one of the locals said to you as you were purchasing the journal.

“Don’t hike, especially not at night. Mountains are a tricky business. Never trust them, no matter what they tell you.”

The light is shifting now, coming closer and changing from the faint warm yellow to a cold, almost clinical white. Memories of your last doctor’s office visit flicker into your mind but are soon outshone by the brightness of the light.

Your breath fogs the thin, freezing air surrounding you as you move to inspect it. As you near it, the light moves too.

It moves away.

Why is the light doing that?

You walk faster and faster back up the trail, yet it remains a stone’s throw away. You’re tempted to leave the path in an attempt to outsmart the strange light. You glance down at your feet, and to your delight the edge of the gravel path is closer than you originally thought.

The moment you step off the mountain path, the light shoots backwards, widening the distance between the two of you every second.

You follow it up the mountain, sprinting like your life depended on it.

Finally, it stops just a few tantalizing feet away, bright against the background of stars and night sky. Only a few steps more, and you’ll have reached it. Your fingers stretch out, close to grabbing and holding that beautiful, strange, otherworldly light in your hand.

Fingertips brushing the strange source of the light, you fall.

Now, you are one with the stars.

#writey thing #this is actually the work i’m trying to get published #hope y’all like it #especially you nate

[atamascolily]

Mara Jade in The New Rebellion, by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Mara Jade has a few brief appearances prior to the final act of the novel, but her role in the plot kicks off with this:

Whoever he was, this Kueller had Force abilities. And he already held Luke prisoner. Which meant he was strong in the Force.

Like Vader.

Han clenched his fists. He had never been any match for Vader. The man had hurt him at every turn. The abilities that Luke, Leia, and the children possessed sometimes looked like magic to him.

But sometimes magic could be used against its owner.

“Chewie, see if you can find Mara Jade for me. Lando says she’s with Talon Karrde. Tell them I need their help.”

Chewie growled a query.

Han grinned at him. “A plan? Of course, I have a plan. Have you ever known me not to?”

Smuggler Dad Talon Karrde drops his adopted daughter off for playtime, but not without some stern fatherly admonishments: 

“I believe it, Solo. And every once in a while, I donate my services too. Mara’s outside with your ysalamiri. Say thank you.”

Han hadn’t expected Karrde’s quick capitulation. It made him instantly suspicious. “Yeah, ah, thanks,” Han said. He waved a hand at Chewie. “Go let her in.”

Chewbacca was already out of his seat.

Han turned back to Karrde. “You’re letting Mara come with us?”

“I’ve got no need for her. Seems she has some interest in what happens to Skywalker. Says you might need her.”

Yeah, sure, Karrde, I TOTALLY believe you there.

“She knows this Kueller, then?”

“I doubt it.” Karrde’s pet vornskr put its face near the screen. The creatures were ugly, even from a distance. “I think it’s more personal than that. She’s been having daylight dreams. She thinks she’s hiding them from me, but she’s not.”

“Kueller’s after her too.”

Karrde nodded. “I’m beginning to think the phrase, ‘May the Force be with you’ is a curse.”

“I sure hope not,” Han said. “The Force has been with me for years now. My family’s steeped in it.”

“You know what the ysalamiri will do, don’t you?”

Han grinned. “That’s why I want them. Thanks, Talon.”

“Don’t mention it,” Karrde said. “I mean that.”

Rusch really plays up the impact of the ysalamiri on Force users for dramatic effect:

[Mara] shook her head, and then put a slim hand against her forehead. The ysalamiri affected her Force senses. Han had heard about this but never really seen it. He’d only had Luke’s descriptions.

I don't believe this for a moment, because Mara lived on Myrkr back in TTT and the ysalamiri didn't bother her that much. What's actually bothering her then?

“I’ve been seeing Luke on a sandstone street, burning alive.”

Her husky voice sent chills through Han. “Can you see the future?” he asked.

“I don’t think so,” she said.

So Mara is having visions of Luke dying - no wonder she's in such terrible shape. Of course, she's not actually going to admit it, though.

“Why did you really come?” Han asked.

She swallowed. Her color was poor. Luke said the ysalamiri pushed the Force away from themselves, creating a bubble in which the Force did not exist. He said it was like suddenly going blind and deaf. Han thought of it as leveling the playing field. In the Force bubble, a Jedi Knight had no more powers than a normal person.

She leaned against the wall. “Do you know how many people have died in the last few weeks, Solo?”

“Enough,” he said, thinking of the Run.

“More than enough,” she said. “Too many. Kueller’s using them to build strength. He’s absorbing the dark side like a droid hooked up to a power cable. If this continues, he may be unbeatable.”

“You don’t believe that,” Han said.

She raised her head. She was stunning, he had to give her that, with her bright green eyes, and red, almost auburn, hair. A woman to respect. A woman that no one ever should tamper with. “I haven’t felt power like this since Palpatine in the early days. If this continues, Han, Kueller will be stronger than the Emperor ever was, and he’ll do it quicker.”

“So you’re not here for Luke after all.”

She swallowed. “It may be too late for Luke. I’m here for the rest of us.”

YOU GO, MY GIRL, determined to save the galaxy from yet another Force-using megalomaniac! But also, you're not fooling me about your feelings for Luke.

Later:

Han was seated in the cockpit, Chewbacca beside him, and Mara Jade in the seat behind. She was still pale and weak. She claimed that the ysalamiri were affecting her Force sense even though they were as far from her as they could be.

You can believe that if you want to, but my shipper heart knows what's what here, and you can pry that theory out of my cold, dead hands. 

Anyway, there's a space battle and Mara shoots the guns on the Falcon while they rush to rescue Leia with their ysalamiri cargo.

"Chewie?” Han shouted.

Chewbacca growled something about losing a deflector shield.

“Chewie, that was more than a shield!”

Chewie growled again. He nearly had the shield fixed but he didn’t have time to say any more. It was Mara who finally reported.

“That was my cannon,” she said.

“You okay?”

“If you call third-degree burns okay,” she said. “My hands’ll live.”

So they arrive on planet and Han uses Mara to locate Leia, or tries to, anyway.

Mara had kept her distance. Both Han and Chewie had agreed to allow her to stay far behind them—far enough so that she wasn’t caught in the ysalamiri’s anti-Force bubble.

But Han wished she were closer. He should have known better than to rely on her Force abilities when she had been so close to ysalamiri. Obviously she had been wrong. Leia couldn’t be nearby. This place was deserted.

All this is GREAT... and then Rusch has a giant-but-harmless-murderbeast eat the ysalamiri and waltz over to the Final Battle between Luke and the Big Bad, just as Luke is about to pull the Obi-Wan Kenobi Sacrificing Yourself Stunt (to Leia's horror).... and that's it for Han and Mara for the rest of the book. Except for this one line at the end:

"Mara, Luke, and I were stuck in the Falcon, playing holographic games while Han and Chewie argued about who would repair the damage.”

“They must have fixed it.”

Leia grinned. “They did. After Mara threatened to shoot them both.”

While this is a hilarious image - and totally in character - I'm so not okay with Rusch abandoning Mara right at the most dramatic possible moment and not having her play a larger role in the story. And having set up so much shipper potential with Luke... it just feels like such a waste.

What was Mara's reaction to seeing Luke? What was Luke's reaction to seeing Mara? And we don't get any of that at all. Even if you argue there was all kinds of stuff behind the scenes and Luke and Mara's relationship not being official yet, it still seems like she could have had a greater role than a fancy way of ferrying Han and the ysalamiri from Point A to Point B. As it is... it's such a letdown.

But that's what fic is for, right?

#star wars #star wars legends #the new rebellion #kristine kathryn rusch #Mara Jade #ysalamiri are awesome #MY SHIPPER HEART #fanfic references #such a waste of potential #eu fuckery

[violent-optimism]

Critiquing my Favorite Songs

Hey ya’ll!

Just thought I would do something fun and spontaneous and do a little review of some of my favorite songs ever. I’ll basically be talking about why I love them so much and what it is about these songs that makes them so awesome.

In no particular order, let’s just jump right into it!

“Chopy Suey” - System of a Down (Toxicity, 2001)

Like all of the songs on this list, this is one that I will NEVER get sick of listening to. I discovered this song in 2007 which means I’ve been rocking to it for ten years! “Toxicity” is SOAD’s best album in my opinion, but this song is definitely the highlight of it.

I think everyone remembers this song for it’s insane verse lyrics. Serj Tankian sings so fast you can only keep up with him if you’ve heard the song as much as I have (which is A LOT). It just adds to the great blend of craziness and elegance that the song balances extremely well. Speaking of elegance, the song is full of beautiful yet disturbing lyrics as well as some truly amazing and soul-touching moments such as the bridge. The last 30 seconds of the song are heavenly and you can’t help but feel sad yet somehow uplifted. This is an incredible song and I become so happy every time I hear those beginning chords.

“I cry when angels deserve to die...”

“Had Enough” - Breaking Benjamin (Phobia, 2006).

I will admit, I can’t really pick a FAVORITE when it comes to Breaking Benjamin songs. They are all so good in their own ways, but when it came to this list, “Had Enough” just popped into my head so I thought I would go with it.

“Phobia” is an incredible album full of so many kick-ass songs, but “Had Enough” is good in particular because it tells a very clear story. The singer is obviously talking about a person that he hates and someone he hopes will get what he deserves someday. It’s definitely a story we can all relate to which is why I think BB fans love this one so much. Aaron Fink’s guitar harmony’s are unbeatable and they really make you want to bang your head (in a good way!) The bridge is amazing and quite often gets stuck in my head. Ben Burnley’s vocals are intense and fantastic as always, lending such raw emotion to the context of the song. If you like BB as much as I do, this one is a repeater for sure.

“I will be the one to leave you in your misery and hate what you’ve become...”

“Animal I have Become” - Three Days Grace (One X, 2006).

I think I discovered this song around the same time as “Chop Suey”, at first I thought it was the coolest thing ever because I thought the singer was referring to his experience as a werewolf or something. It took me way too long to realize that Adam Gontier is singing about his struggles with drug addiction and the monster that he becomes when under the influence of them.

With that said, this song is the definition of “bad-ass”. That bass riff at the beginning is catchy as hell, and sets the mood for what is about to come. The lyrics are dark and disturbing in the coolest way and make you feel like you are reading (or listening to) someone’s diary. In my opinion, it’s the perfect song for a work out because it gets you so pumped up. You feel so energized after you listen to it. The guitar pick drag at the end of the song is the icing on the cake.

“No one would ever change this animal I have become!”

“Jesus of Suburbia” - Green day (American Idiot, 2004).

This is probably my favorite Green Day song. I mean it’s my ringtone so it kinda has to be! I would define this song as something that kept me going during high school. Something about it just spoke to me and and perfectly encapsulated what it’s like to be a teenager who feels lost in some way. The music video did a splendid job at portraying this as well!

Clocking in at just over 9 minutes, this is a song that you will want to listen to until the very end. I love the pure randomness of this song. Some parts are slow, some parts are fast. Some lyrics are emotional, and some are just fun. Speaking of the lyrics, they are all written with the prestige intellect that we have come to expect from Billie Joe Armstrong. “Jesus of Suburbia” is a roller coaster of music that you don’t want to get off of. It’s punk rock in it’s truest form and it’s a crazy good time until the very last chord. Although I love almost everything that Green Day has put out thus far, I always find myself coming back to this album, and indeed, this song. I think it will always feel like home to me.

“In a land of make believe, that don’t believe in me!”

“In the End” - Black Veil Brides (Wretched and Divine, 2013).

Coincidentally, the last song on this list has “end” in the title. Now, let me just start off by saying that I know there are a lot of people who really dislike BVB’s music, maybe even hate it. And that’s okay. But this is my list, and this is, in my humble opinion, a f*cking fantastic song. If you don’t like it, just click away.

BVB has a lot of epic sounding songs in their repertoire, but I think this one beats them all. This is another one of those songs that is perfect for pumping you up, it is extremely intense and energizing. The vocal harmonies, the guitar solo, the drum beat, the rhythm of the chorus, all these things (and more) combine to create a song that is almost too amazing to describe. I remember when the music video for this song got released and I listened to it over and over for days. “Wretched and Divine” is somewhat a hit or miss album for me, but this song is a home run for sure. I think it’s great that BVB is fighting to keep rock and roll alive in a time where most audiences are shifting to Hip hop and Rap. Who cares if they wear make up or dress in black, when their music is solid, it’s solid as rock.

“Cause it’s the end, and I’m not afraid, I’m not afraid to die!”

And there you have it guys. Critiques for some of my favorite songs. I’d love to hear what your guy’s favorite songs are! Thanks for reading :)

#Favorite songs #my list #my opinion #BVB #Green Day #SOAD #Breaking Benjamin #Three Days Grace

[duaneodavila]

Want to Practice Law Like an Ironman? Know Your Metrics

Steve Adams, criminal defense/DUI attorney and author of Practice Law Like an Ironman: Unbeatable Checklists for any Lawyer Creating a Solo and Small Practice, recalls when he started his practice almost two decades ago. In just one year, he made the leap from earning $42,000 a year as a county prosecutor to making more than $240,000 as a solo lawyer. “I executed a game plan,” he explains. That was, essentially, reaching potential clients via direct mail. He knew the precise zip codes to draw in the clientele he wanted and it worked – so well, in fact, that within a couple of years other attorneys saw his success and followed his lead. (By then, he moved on to other ways to target his marketplace.)

However, earning nearly $200,000 more annually meant more responsibility and expenses – like significantly more taxes. “I was like, ‘Holy cow! I made it!’” he laughs. But he also learned he needed an accountant and a bookkeeper if he was going to continue his success. “I knew law, what I didn’t know was metrics. But I didn’t want to fly by the seat of my pants. To run a successful practice, you need to know what’s coming in, what’s going out, and how you’re making money.”

That’s why, after that first year, Adams has made it a point to meet with his bookkeeper weekly. (That was a smart move, considering there’s a lot more money to track today – in 2016, he grossed more than $1 million.) They review his revenues, where he’s making his money, and where he’s spending it. “She helps me set my weekly and monthly goals,” explains Adams.

We’re very goal-oriented around here, because we practice law like an ironman, and to do that, you’ve got to be big-time into goal setting. You must be focused on your long-term goals, but to achieve that, you have to set a lot of short-term goals, track them and meet them, too. Knowing your metrics makes that happen – you know where you’re on track, or what you need to change to get there.

An easy way to track and understand your firm’s metrics is through financial performance data available in Firm Central law practice management software.  Firm Central, in addition to automating your matter management and invoicing processes, provides real-time reports on the financial health of your law firm.  With an easy to read financial performance dashboard you can quickly see at a glance your revenue, current work-in-process as well as billed and collected dollars.  You can also easily keep track of your aging accounts receivable and understand your top revenue generating clients and practice areas on the dashboard.

Adams confesses that to emulate his success, you must be a good lawyer and a good businessman. What Adams never wants to be, however, is a bill collector. So, he’s thoughtful about who he represents, and even then he collects about 90% of his fee upfront. For the remaining 10% he’ll do a payment plan over the course of two to three months, and always has a signed fee agreement in hand before moving forward. Of course, sometimes clients do end up owing money. He’s glad those are very few and far between.

***

Amy Larson is a Director in Small Law Firm Customer Marketing and Firm Central at Thomson Reuters. She has over 17 years of experience in technology marketing with extensive focus on learning how technology can meet the needs of attorneys. Amy has been involved in numerous product launches throughout her tenure, public relations efforts, interviewing customers and telling their stories, and often writes and distributes information on legal practice management.

Want to Practice Law Like an Ironman? Know Your Metrics republished via Above the Law