#‘but look at the tool board!’ ‘fuck the tool board does look great actually’ ‘right??’
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Hi, Molly. In Nothing Good Starts, does Kate transition smoothly into all the media attention and modeling for sponsors that come with being with Anthony? Does she feel uncomfortable or annoyed or anything like that at first? Or something less fraught like just not instinctively knowing what to do in front of the camera during shoots?
I think it's not that Kate minds it, by the time she and Anthony start dating, she's reasonably comfortable doing press and she's comfortable enough with the fact that there are 40ft high billboards of her boyfriend smouldering away in cities all over the world. She's stunned honestly, when she was sitting on Anthony's sofa and she had a call from Daphne.
"So, I'm sure you know, Calvin Klein's a sponsor for the team."
Kate clicked her tongue, "Is that why am officious woman sends me jeans every few months?"
"It is yeah," Daphne chuckled and something in her voice made Kate more than a little nervous. "Calvin Klein's... really excited to be back on board for next season."
Kate blinked, "I'm... glad I'll get a ton of free jeans?"
"Great!" Daphne said, "So you'd be interested in doing an ad campaign with Anthony. Perfect."
Kate's mouth dropped open in surprise, "What?"
"Well," Daphne started, "They've noticed the sort of... excitement about the two of you, and they're excited to advertise their women's line with the team as well."
"Do I have to do this?"
"No, I can tell them no."
Kate sighed, her fingers running through Anthony's hair as he lay the length of her. "This is great for the team isn't it?"
"It absolutely would be, yeah."
"I guess we're shooting an ad campaign then."
Anthony was so excited, she could tell he was from the moment she'd told him. His eyes lit up and his smile was broad like it always was when they got to spend time together, his arm around her waist as they entered the garage.
"Are you nervous?"
Kate rolled her eyes, "Yes, I'm nervous. I've never done anything like this."
Anthony chuckled, "Oh come on, you've been topless in this garage before."
"You aren't funny." Kate poked his ribs, already feeling more comfortable.
"I'm fucking hilarious."
She wasn't actually topless, she knew that. Despite what it would look like when the concept was explained and they'd asked if it was something she'd be comfortable with, and she still wasn't sure if she was. Staring at herself in the mirror with a skin coloured scarp of fabric around her chest and a light wash pair of jeans.
"You okay?"
Anthony appeared in the mirror behind her, his brow furrowed. His hair had been artfully tousled by the hair crew, his moustache left untouched. They'd smeared oil over his chest and jeans just like they had with her hands, so it looked as though she'd had her hands all over him.
"Yeah."
"There's no need to be nervous," Anthony said gently. wrapping his arm back around her waist. "It's just you ad me, right?"
It's just you and me.
It was what she said to him when she could tell he was stressed on the radio, or before he started. When she saw his smile grow a little stilted, or she heard it in his voice. Anthony's eyes would find hers and his arms would wrap around her and he'd breathe more easily. and now she did as well.
"Yeah, just you and me."
"Perfect." Anthony grinned, tugging her up quickly so her legs were wrapped around his waist. "We're ready for our close up!"
He ran them in in front of the camera, pressing Kate against the bonnet of the car they'd wheeled into view, tools strewn messily around them, and suddenly, she didn't feel so nervous anymore.
#nothing good starts#kathony#anthony x kate#kate sharma#kate sheffield#anthony bridgerton#molly’s asks and answers
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Tools for emotional regulation
This is specifically things I do for end of day decompression. I take an hour and I do different things off this list till I'm relaxed.
I understand that alot of these are "basic" but it's less about what you do and more so about taking time to care for yourself and ne present in your body in ways that feel safe.
I've broken this down in to categories of self soothing.
Environment
A calming environment is beneficial for obvious reasons so here's things I do to feel more safe in mine.
1. Turn off over head lights and uses LEDs, candles, or lamps instead
2. Noise cancelling headphones
3. Phone off
4. Christmas lights for some reason
5. Someplace to sit that isn't your bed (you can put pillows and blankets on the floor if need be)
6. I usually cleanse (witchy, may not be your thing)
7. Protection spells on your room specifically (witchy, may not be your thing)
8. Stuffies
Stimming
If you don't know what stimming is it's stimulating your senses as a form of self soothing. It's ok to move your body in "weird" ways, make odd sounds, or look for sensory experiences you find comforting. Nobody is watching, there's no one around to judge you release the feelings! I usually windmill my arms, rock back and forth, hum/sing, jump, etc. Anything you want.
It's actually really important to set aside time for stimming! You don't realize how important it is until you do it! It's scientifically proven to be harmful (particularly for autistic people) not to stim. It's really hard to unlearn suppressing it, so giving yourself a safe place to do so where you don't have to worry about what people think is important.
Sensory Seeking
Using tastes, textures, sounds, and visuals you like as a tool for self soothing is extremely powerful. This can look like so many things. I personally use perfume. I find certain scents incredibly calming and when I have them on I take deeper breaths because of them so it's a win win.
Other sensory examples:
1. use slime/clay
2. Touch fabrics you enjoy (like ultra soft blankets)
3. Listen to soothing sounds like music, rain, or ASMR
4. Drink a hot drink like tea or hot cocoa
5. Take a warm shower
6. Heating pads
7. Compression (weighted blankets/stuffies work great)
8. Stim boards
Clear mind
Sometimes you just need to get your feelings out. Having an outlet where you just express how you feel without worrying how it's perceived is important!
1. Journal (it's important to write like no one will read it cause they won't, unless someone will lol)
2. Sit outside or by a window
3. Write your doubts on toilet paper then fucking flush that shit to the sewers where it belongs.
4. Draw your feelings
5. Scribble non sensically
6. Scream into the void
Inner child time
It's time to kick internalized shame to the curb. What does your inner child want right now? If you were a kid again what would you do? It isn't wrong to do things you would've loved as a kid. It's important actually. What can you now do that you wish you could've done as a kid?
This one is incredibly individual cause I don't know what your inner child wants I'm just giving out ideas.
1. Play with slime, clay, kinetic sand, or play doh
2. Draw
3. Play with toys (have no shame)
4. Color
5. Legos
6. Read
7. Write a story
8. Make a "potion" (don't mix chemicals though)
9. Play with shaving cream I know you want to
10. Build a fort
11. Fluffy pajamas
12. Dance
13. Preform for stuffed animals
14. Barbie soap opera
15. Rewatch comfort shows
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Oh fuck S17 trailer up early
Dan and I watched it again frame-by-frame so lots of screenshots and bullshit under the cut
hey calus, uh. your suns are looking pretty sick. no, no it’s not a compliment, take those things to the vet or something
but more importantly: see that thing at the top of frame? that’s the HELM. WE HAVE LIFTOFF, BAYBEE
Leviathan’s fucked, yeah. Pretty much every shot in the trailer is some recognizable part of the raids, but egrespored to hell and full of wee nightmares.
Like so.
Scorn bodies all over the trailer. Not a lot of Loyalists, but they’re still around.
Scorn portals, too. And still plenty of Calusbots. Gonna be disappointed if those nightmares don’t possess the bots and make them wiggle their fingers spookily or something.
Why wasn’t Caiatl invited to the weegee board session? Rude.
Seasonal artifact spotted. Hive magic rituals inside the Leviathan while surrounded by Calus’s Crown-of-Sorrow-fied Scorn...
New glaive? 10/10. New STASIS TRACE RIFLE? 15/10. Trespasser comeback? Nice/10. New Ghost shells? NICE/10. Seasonal armor? Scale broke, please call maintenance crew. /10.
Is - is that his -
she looks so COOL
Speaking of looking cool
Possible people Caiatl’s Nightmare could be:
- Calus, who is ”““““alive”“““““ and doesn’t wear armor like that
- Ghaul, who does wear armor like that but I feel like was way bigger than Caiatl sees him here?
- Umun’Arath, who we have no fuckin’ clue what she looks like, this could be her, fuck who knows
Is there some “become the Nightmare” aspect to this story or is it “he is also his own Nightmare” because either way I am DOWN
oh hey Uldren, still got the boots
Dan was confused and delighted to see the Menagerie guns coming back, e.g. Epicurean on the left. Looks like a new auto in the middle and CALUS Mini-Tool on the right?
As a professional bonk Titan, I lost my shit. Given this is the first time we’ve seen animation of a Titan catching the hammer, Dan and I came up with two different ideas. Dan’s: you now have to catch the hammer mid-air to get the full melee charge back (i.e., if it hits the ground and you pick it up there, you only get half the charge or something). Mine: Fuck it, bonkerang.
Cutting edge Hunter tech: two Tripmines taped together. This looks fun as hell.
Beloved is back, get ready to Crucible
That is a GREAT activity rally flag, also please yes more rally flags
Did they actually change the way the maul looks, or do I just never see it from this angle?
I have only played Voidstalker, can a Hunter main verify whether “stab ground, give buff” is new or not?
ngl feeling like I am going to fucking elope with this subclass rework. LOOKIDAT.
HEY WARLOCKS, WHO’S YOUR FAVOURITE FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST CHARACTER? I’LL PRETEND YOU SAID ROY MUSTANG. YOU’RE ROY MUSTANG NOW.
FUCK.
YEAH.
Here’s where Dan reached peak ????? because:
I never got Trespasser in D1, but Dan’s excited, so I am, too.
That ship is so gorgeous that it has to be from either Eververse or PVP. :(
Leviathan Underbelly my beloved and everyone else’s detested
Is that armor Iron Banner, Eververse, or Solstice? Season preview site says Eververse set? Also oh no Caiatl having even more of a bad time :(
the FUCK is THAT about. i literally got nothing here, what the shit is the Hellmouth doing now
Also, the clouds on Earth look like a Dreg yelling while he gives you the finger if you look long enough
Looks like that’s an event-specific flaming scythe of looking insanely cool rather than a class-specific one
Confirmed: Uldren, Zavala’s dead wife, and Crown of Sorrow. Not confirmed: whether Caiatl’s nightmare is Ghaul or Umun’Arath. Looking pretty Ghaulish there, though.
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Let’s Talk: Is it time to fukin LARP homies?
In minecraft of course... but in all seriousness with a basically illegitimate SCOTUS with the 6-3 loaded in a barrel, shooting down every civil protection we have at the moment, Jan 6 hearings being worse than Watergate, and the growing number of hate crimes recently...
It’s time to know the basics: From Voting to Defense
1) Voting (of course) but not only in the general elections, you should also be aware in the midterms, special elections, primaries, referendums, school board, etc. Talk to your runners and canvas for them if ya can.
[ Check Voting Registration | Check Elections news/updates | Check States’ Voting ID Laws ]
2) Donations, this can be anything ya care for, there are a like hundreds of orgs to donate to. A lot of shit is happening everywhere so please check your sources thoroughly.
does anyone have a donation spreadsheet or something? I would love to share that.
3) Know your neighbors, say a quick hello, take a gander at your surroundings (spot a confederate flag yet? I sure have), lurk on your neighborhood’s facebook page for all I care. Take time to look at your local news or your state’s reddit page. July 4 is coming soon, see which neighbors to lean on in case of emergencies. (Yes this also includes natural disasters).
4) Mindful protesting (no brainer), how to safely protest ya may ask (or not)? You’ve probably seen the protester chart with the Hong Kong protester decked out in all nines.
yep.
[ How to protest safely | Know your rights | Know your rights video | Wired | What is Mutual Aid? | National Bail Fund Network | Guide to police ‘Kettles’ | dognotman’s How to Spot a Kettle ]
5) Resources & First Aid, this is very broad, but it’s resources we should have whether it’s physical or instructional.
[What are Burner phones? | How to remove Metadata | American Red Cross First Aid Steps | First Aid Certification Class | Riot Medicine pdf | How to prepare a First aid Kit | Army Field Manuals ]
6) Protection, ya know this was bound to happen and no this is not some ‘take over the government shtick’, this is to ‘protect your self if some rightoid militia gets antsy and starts parading in their big ass SILVERADO for your upcoming death in your neighborhood’ (:
To reiterate, KNOW YOUR NEIGHBOR(s). If you live in a decently sized town/city, join some communities like your local chapter DSA or SRA or something
[ Democratic Socialists of America | Socialist Rifle Association ]
Tools! I mean why do conservative get to have all the ‘fun’ right?
Yes, Im pro-2nd amendment, Yes I’m down for adequate gun laws, No I do not like open/conceal carry (doesn’t matter if ya have a permit) in public spaces.
Check your state’s weapon laws, sign up for some training, hell take up martial arts/self defense classes. Know what best suits you. If you KNOW that you’re not at the mental capacity to handle a knife, gun, pepper spray, etc then do not get one. If you have someone you deeply and I mean deeply trust with your life, ask them to get proper training and invest in a tool of some sort.
While you yourself can either invest in first aid, body armor (do know that everything has an expiration date), stun flashlight, the lil keychain defense thingy’s | home surveillance, or car surveillance (great for insurance actually).
[ Knife laws state by state | Gun Laws state by state | Pepper Spray laws | Stun Gun laws | Taser Laws | Self Defense Laws by state (1) (2) |
Arm Your Friends | Armed Equality | How to clean your gun | | How to choose the right body armor | Basic Gun Safety |
Great Youtubers to watch for Gun / gun control / gun safety
Tacticool Girlfriend | Beau of the Fifth Column gun/gun control series
For those who say ‘fuck no’ to guns, lemme tell ya about history. If ya really want to get rid of guns, ya want the republican politicians to quiver in their boots knowing that more and more minorities are buying them. Turn the page to section B for the Black Panther party.
#politics#us politics#voting#jan 6 hearings#protesting#first aid#gun rights#first amendment#second amendment#self defense#donations#in minecraft#scotus
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Yeah I think they will be rid of the ranking system so hawks wouldn’t have to worry about #1. It will be an everyone effort.
a big company without a board to applaud outstanding employees of the year? nah, if mha world could be that pink it wouldn't be this devastated.
like i don't see why anon insists that the ranking system should be/will be yeeted because it's actually needed for this fictional society. the Hero role is, canonically, crucially chosen based on how they will influence the society with their morally great performance. that is why the ranking system exists, to inform the whole freaking civilization that yes, you can sleep peacefully tonight because these are the greatest heroes in your neighborhood. and at the same time, to inform the wanna-be-villains that you better not fuck around because we have these greatest heroes in our neighborhood who are ready to hook you at every hour every moment. that is why the ranking system is based on both total solved cases and public favor voting.
the ranking system itself literally isn't any menace. it's just a tool meant to be useful when you use it right but you can use it wrong too. what stops you from using it wrong? what stops you from using it right? it is needed because this war will not change the true villains. it is needed because civilians will always need reassurance. and even if it's no longer needed in what logically you think people will not look up again to the man who defeated afo, that afo who once defeated by the late no.1, now down at the feet of the new no.1? simply told them that hey no.2 hawks helped too, the kids helped too, can't change the fact that endeavor is no.1 and has defeated the demon lord.
ok, yeet the public favor voting part away, it's biased. but it's not that the "quirk" part of human will go anywhere, or the "quirk" part of villains will vanish completely. the no.1 title, or "strongest heroes" is something needed in order for this paranormal society and paranormal system to maintain. it's about not to dehumanize or overidolize heroes, not about yeeting their meaning of existence out of the door.
.
but then, again, everything i said only matters if Hori does think that far. if he doesn't, welp. his world-building is horrible.
#ask#bnha#world-building#like im not good at explaining#if you know this blog then you know every single long post i tried to write ended up as a mess#and i didn't even touch the foreign diplomacy bc Hori's determined to overlook it in the manga
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New Suit
Pairing: Sam Wilson x Black!Reader
Word Count: 3.8k+
A/N: it’s been forever since I’ve posted, but I have been writing since I was stuck at home with covid 😅 Hopefully I can post something else next week too! ANYWAYS, this fic does not have any TFAWS spoilers and (as usual) does not give a fuck about Endgame, meaning our favorite dysfunctional couple Tony and Steve are alive. Steve simply passed on the mantle. Enjoy!
So Sam was Captain America. And he was proud of that fact.
The day that Steve decided to retire and give him one of his most prized possessions was a day Sam would never forget. A whirlwind of emotions had swelled in his chest. Shock, unworthiness, gratitude. But after talking it over with Steve — and surprisingly enough, with Bucky — Sam agreed to take in the role.
The thing was, no one knew yet. At least, no one outside of the Avengers facility.
Immediately after Thanos, there weren’t really any Avengers level threats. Most threats could be handled by one team member, and it was usually one of the newbies — Peter, Scott, even Wanda. That being so, Sam didn’t have much of a reason to even make public appearances. So he didn’t.
Sometimes, he’d stand in the training room, the red, white, and blue shield strapped to his arm, and just stare in the mirror. Something felt wrong. Out of place. Like the reflection before him was almost right, but he still couldn’t tell what was wrong. Tony had caught him one time as he stepped into the room, a sports bottle full of ice cold water in his hand. “Mid-life crisis?”
Sam jumped at his loud voice and almost scrambled to detach the shield from his arm, like a kid caught with his grubby little hand in the cookie jar. “My bad, I’ll just—“
“No no, keep it on.” Tony waved a hand. “I gave it to Steve, he gave it to you. It’s yours, no give backsies.”
Sam nodded but took the shield off anyway. He decided that he didn’t need to train anymore and headed toward the door. “I’m just gonna go put this back.”
“What is going on with you, Wilson?”
“What do you mean?”
Tony raised a brow, “What do I mean? You staying cooped up in this facility. Barely training with the shield. Opting out of assignments. That’s what I mean.”
“There’s not much of a need.”
“There is. You just don’t see it yet.” Tony walked toward him. “Look, I know being the new Cap has you freaked out—“
“I’m not freaked out.”
“Sure. But Steve chose you and that should be good enough.”
“It is.” Sam huffed as he turned the shield in his hands. “I don’t know, man. I just… It’s just hard to believe. Hard to put in action, I guess.”
“Well, seeing is believing.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Head to room 626 when you get a chance.”
“What’s in room 626?”
“You’ll see.”
—
Sam exited the elevator on the sixth floor to loud muffled music. Looking around, he realized he’d never even been to that part of the facility before. The white walls and obscure art seemed strange and misplaced in a building full of superhumans. Too clean, too elegant.
Each of the rooms seemed that way too. Sam paused in the hallway, glancing through some of the glass doors with people’s names painted neatly at the top. Hardwood floors and marble countertops in each room. So impeccably clean that even dust bunnies wouldn’t dare step foot inside.
Yet, when Sam approached room 626, he realized this was where the loud music was coming from. Different from the other rooms, this one was messy and colorful. He slid the glass door open, flinching at loud volume.
He recognized the track — his father used to listen to it all the time when he was growing up. He could almost hear his dad’s deep voice teasing him: “You don’t know nothin’ ‘bout this, son. This was before your time.” Of course Sam knew the song. His dad was the one who put him on. Still, Sam’s dad always got a kick out the playful fight he put up.
The long, seemingly endless hallway was painted a blinding white. He could make out a peculiar smell as he walked toward the end of the hall. Wet paint or fumes, he wasn’t really sure. He just pulled his shirt over his nose and kept looking for… well only God really knew.
Finally, he arrived in the main room and saw you and your controlled chaos. You had ten or twenty different fabrics pinned to one wall and sketches of different outfits pinned to the opposing one. Against the back wall were mannequins wearing your works in progress. And just in front of Sam on a large wooden desk were schematics and what looked like engineering tools. Soldering iron, wires, circuit boards, and the like.
Everything seemed like a tornado of colors, clothes, and fabric. But you? You were as cool as a cucumber with your expensive looking spray painting mask strapped on as you sprayed the back of a jean jacket with bright pink paint. Sam chuckled when he heard your muffled voice sing along to the song, not noticing his presence. “Sherry bay-yay-by. Sherry, wontcha come out tonight.”
Sam pulled his shirt back down with a small grin on his lips, debating whether he should disturb you. In the end, he decided to save you the embarrassment, but by then, you’d already moved on to the next verse. You dropped your voice down low in an attempt to sound just like Nick Massi, singing, “Why don’t you come on.”
Sam let out a loud laugh, only covering it with his hand as you jumped, finally realizing someone else was in the room. “Sorry.” Sam chuckled. “Didn’t mean to interrupt your concert.”
You pulled the mask over your head, revealing a nervous smile. You jogged to the desk and grabbed the remote to switch off the stereo. “Concert’s a flattering choice of words.”
“Well you were really nailing that Massi.”
You raised a brow as you set down the can of spray paint. “You listen to Four Seasons?”
“Growing up, it was a staple in the Wilson household.” He offered his hand. “I’m Sam, by the way.”
“Y/N.” You shook it, an impressed smile on your face. “So what can I do for you, Sam?”
“I’m actually not sure. Tony just kinda sent me up here.” He raised a brow when you gasped, amused with your excitement. He smiled as the cute squeal that pushed past your lips. “I assume you know what that means.”
“I’ve been asking him forever if I could design your new suit!”
“New suit?”
“I mean, if you’re okay with it.” You added.
“I just don’t see why I need a new suit is all.” Sam shrugged as he looked around at all your work. He knew, way deep down in the rational part of his consciousness, that he needed a new suit. There wasn’t anything wrong with his Falcon suit, but wearing a new suit seemed too definite. If he put on a new combat suit, it meant that he was fully stepping into this new role. That he would be Captain America in more than just name. People would look at him, at his suit, and recognize that he was the Captain America.
“How about this?” You stepped toward him, prepared to bargain. “Let me make you a suit. If you don’t like it, I’ll just give your Falcon suit an upgrade. Deal?”
He let out a nervous chuckle at your offer. He had nothing to lose, really. Either way, he got upgrades. Still, he looked over at you and decided he couldn’t be the one to snuff the ambitious look in your dark eyes. He shook your hand, smiling softly at the triumphant grin that broke across your face. “Deal.”
“Great!” You were bouncing on your toes when he agreed. You practically raced back to your desk and started shuffling through your sketches and until you found the folder you were searching for. You handed them to Sam, “You can come back tomorrow morning so I can take your measurements. Till then, look through these sketches and tell me what you like.”
“So you’ve been working on this for awhile?” Sam asked, briefly flipping through the many colorful sketches.
“Ever since Tony told me about you.”
He let out a breath of amusement through his nose. Of course it was Tony, trying to set things in motion before Sam was even sure of what he wanted. Still, he knew Tony was trying to help. Sam gestured with the folder. “I’ll take a look.”
“Cool. Tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow.”
—
When Same woke up the next day, he found himself immediately thinking about meeting with you later. He felt weird. Nervous, even. Whether it was due to the idea of a new suit — of being Captain America — or seeing you, he wasn’t sure. All he knew was that he felt like a swarm of butterflies had flown from his stomach to his throat and decided to make a home there.
After stepping out of the shower, which took twenty more minutes than usual, he fumbled around for something to wear. What was he supposed to wear to fitting anyway? Sweats? Jeans? As his mind wandered, he thought of you. Rather, he thought of how you would see him. Maybe I should wear the green shirt, he thought. Girls always seem to like the green shirt.
He paused. Why was he thinking that?
He’d just met you. He knew a total of two facts about you: your name was Y/N and you listened to Four Seasons. That was hardly enough for Sam to be worried about how he looked for you. Yet, there he was, slipping on the dark green shirt that seemed to stretch ever so slightly across his broad chest. He settled on a pair of dark jeans before heading down to the kitchen for a cup of coffee.
As he stepped into the communal kitchen, Bucky was already sitting at the island, back facing Sam. He had just returned from his daily run, still in his sweatpants and white T-shirt with a cup of coffee in front of him. “There’s still fresh coffee in the pot.” Bucky mumbled into his cup as he flipped to the next page of the newspaper.
“Thanks.” Sam walked past him, slapping the newspaper into Bucky’s face as he walked by. “Why are you reading a newspaper?”
“To keep up with the news. Like a normal person.”
“There are these great new things called cell phones. Most people read the news on those now.”
“Well, I’m not most people, am I?” Bucky lowered the newspaper and furrowed his brow at the sight of Sam. “What girl are you trying to impress?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Green shirt.”
“What about it?”
“That’s your ‘I want a girl to like me’ shirt.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Sam scoffed as he poured a second cup of coffee. “This is just a shirt.”
“The shirt.”
“I’m not having this argument with you.”
“Not much of an argument when you know I’m right.” Bucky smirked. “Who’s the second cup for?”
Sam paused as he realized he’d been caught, but quickly recovered with an eye roll. “For me. So I don’t have to come back and hear your annoying ass voice.”
“Mhm. Tell the girl I said hi.”
“Screw you.” Sam left the kitchen to the sound Bucky’s chuckles, reluctant to admit that he was right. Moments later, he was waiting for the elevator, tapping his shoe to distract himself from the butterflies that were starting to flutter around again. When the doors slid open, Tony briefly greeted Sam before stopping and pulling off his glasses. “Green shirt?”
Sam stepped past him. “Shut up.”
Every step closer to your workspace had him jittery. Not only was he forced to deal with these unfamiliar feelings for you — if that’s what they were — but he was finally being confronted with his new position. One step closer to replacing Steve. To being Captain America. Yet, he couldn’t deny, he could envision himself in some of the suits you had sketched for him. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.
When he entered 626, there was loud music playing once again. Another old song he recognized, Van Morrison. He smiled at the thought of you dancing around your space again, singing along to Brown Eyed Girl. It wasn’t so much about him catching you in the act. It was nice, a privilege really, to see the natural you. Eyes closed, arms up, hips swaying. Seeing how you act when you believed no one was watching was like strangely endearing.
And there you were, almost matching his wandering thoughts to a tee. You were setting up for work, once again not noticing Sam’s arrival. You danced across the room as you moved things from place to place. You began to sing out the words as you prepared to lift your tri-fold mirror. Sam broke from the trance and called out your name. You jumped and placed a hand over your heart, laughing quietly when you saw it was only him. “Caught me again.”
“To be fair, you seem pretty easy to catch with the way you get lost in music.” Sam smiled, placing the coffee cups on your desk, far from any of your papers. “Let me get that for you.”
“Oh, you don’t have to—”
“It’s no problem. Just tell where you want it.”
You stepped away from the mirror, tossing a stray braid over your shoulder with a smile. “Just over there, in front of that pedestal. Thanks.” When he went to lift it, your eyes were drawn to his arms, watching his biceps flex. You caught yourself before you could begin to stare, heat rising to your cheeks as you went to look for your measuring tape.
“Oh, by the way, I brought you a cup of coffee.” Sam mentioned as he set the mirror down. “You know, if you drink it? I didn’t know what you put in it, if anything, so it’s black. Is that okay?”
“That’s perfect, actually.” You sighed happily. “I’ve been trying to replace coffee with loud music in the mornings, hence the dancing.”
“Of course.” He chuckled in response.
“And while I love to blast Morrison at nine in the morning, it’s not the same without a hot cup of coffee.” You took the cup he offered with a smile. “Thanks for thinking of me.”
Sam couldn’t help how his heart skipped a beat. “Don’t mention it.”
You took a sip, “So, you ready to get measured for your new suit?”
“As I’ll ever be.”
“Great, just step onto the pedestal for me, and relax.”
“Got it.”
It was quiet as you brought the tape measure under his arms and around his chest. It wasn’t exactly uncomfortable, but Sam was sure his nerves had to be radiating out of him. The butterflies were beating against his ribcage as you pulled just tight enough on the tape measure. You took note of the number and bent over to write it down on your notepad. Being so close to you, Sam felt himself tense up as you measured around his waist. You chuckled and looked up at him. “You gotta relax.”
“I’m relaxed.”
“If you don’t loosen up, your new suit is gonna be super tight in all the wrong places.” You joked. “Talking usually helps.”
“About what?”
“Anything.” You shrugged. “Like why are you so opposed to a new suit?”
Almost as if it was a reflex, Sam tensed up again with a nervous and playful chuckle. “Way to get me to relax.”
“I’m just saying.” You laughed, adjusting the tape once again. “It’s not like you’re not qualified. I mean, Steve chose you.”
“Yeah, he did. I wish it were that simple in my mind.” He admitted.
“What’s your mind saying?”
“What isn’t it saying?” Sam rolled his eyes at himself. “It’s just… I don’t know.”
“Yes, you do.”
“I don’t want to put that on you. That’s not your job.”
“It’s not.” You agreed with a chuckle. “But that’s not why I asked. You can tell me.”
Again, with a wave of confusion, he felt the tension melt away. He didn’t know why he felt this way, like he could tell you anything and everything. There was a familiarity about you, like you were someone he’d known his entire life despite only meeting twenty hours ago. His father probably would’ve called you an old soul. Maybe in some other lifetime, in another universe, you knew each other. Or maybe, this was just fate coming to pass. Destiny finding, not two halves, but two wholes — putting them together like some sort of experiment to see what would come of it.
“It’s just… how am I supposed to follow after Steve?” He asked. “He has such a huge story, this legacy just hanging over my head. He’s been saving people since before either of us were born. And now here I am, some dude from the Air Force that met Steve completely by accident, about to take up his shield. It just seems unbelievable. Literally.”
You nodded as you measured around his left thigh. “First, let me say that your feelings are completely valid.”
“Why do I feel like you’re about to decimate everything I just said?”
“Not decimate!” You laughed. “Just gently prove wrong.”
“Oh, in that case.” He smiled down at you.
“Shut up.” You snapped him with the tape measure before measuring his other thigh. “Steve is not the only one with a story. I mean, Sam Wilson, the guy who grew up in Harlem, lost his parents and his best friend, and still managed to not give up? The guy Steve Rogers trusted with his life almost immediately after meeting him? The same dude who stole a top secret government project and used it to become a superhero? I think that’s pretty badass.”
Sam considered your words with a small smile. Sure, he may have seemed normal — maybe even mundane — to himself, but the fact is that he had also been through a lot. Just like Steve, Sam realized that his life was no walk in the park. Not many people couldn’t have lived Sam’s life and come out the other side not just okay but strong. He wasn’t Steve Rogers, but that didn’t matter. He was Sam Wilson, and maybe that was okay.
“You’re good at that.” He commented quietly, looking down at you. He just about caught himself staring at you. The bright smile across your ruby shaded lips, the almost childlike excitement in your eyes. And your eyes — jesus. They were the same color as his, a dark brown. Yet, he couldn’t help but find yours so much more interesting.
“At what?”
“Talking to people.”
“Not everyone. Just...” You shook your head as you stood up straight. There was something indecipherable in his eyes — or maybe you wanted to believe it was. Still, it was there. Admiration, confusion, gratefulness? You weren’t sure. But the intensity of his stare made heat spread across your cheeks one more, and you ducked your head, moving to the side to measure the length of his arm. “Just people like you.”
Minutes later, you finished his measurement and moved on to the designs. You and Sam went through each and every one, noting his likes and dislikes. As time went on, it became very apparent that he was ready to be Captain America. Even if he wasn’t sure yet, you were. Much too soon, every detail of his new suit was planned out, and it was time for Sam to go.
“If I make this my top priority, I can have your new suit finished in two weeks, tops.”
“You don’t have to do that.” Sam said bashfully. “I’m sure you have other work to do.”
“None as exciting or as important.”
“Now you’re just stroking my ego.” He joked.
You scoffed painfully, “Like you need me to do that.”
You walked beside him, down the hall and to the elevator. He couldn’t help but wish he had some sort of excuse to stay, but leading the Avengers meant a mountain of responsibilities. Still, he wanted to see you again. Not for work and not for designing a new suit. He wanted to get to know you away from the fabric and tape measures. He wanted to find out how someone as sweet and breathtaking as you could even exist in a world filled with such evil left and right. So, he rocked back and forth for a moment before turning to you.
“And um, Y/N?”
“Yes?”
Sam fully intended to ask you out just then. But he felt like he couldn’t move. A feeling of nervousness he hadn’t gotten since he was a teenager, he was frozen. Staring at you like a deer in headlights, his brain screamed at him: Just ask her, you dumbass! Then, the elevator announced its arrival with a ding and broke his concentration. He cleared his throat and smiled nervously. “Thank you again. You’ve been a huge help.”
You blinked in confusion but stammered out, “Glad to be of service.”
It wasn’t until a few days later that Sam had gained the courage to do what he should’ve done in that moment.
The city was in danger — some high-level Hydra threat — and the Avengers were needed. Everyone rushed off to suit up, including Sam. That’s when he saw it. You had just finished his suit, and it was more than Sam could’ve ever imagined. A shiny white breastplate with red decals on the torso, blue pants lined with bulletproof material, and to top it off, his signature red wings. That was something he wanted to keep. They reminded him of his humble beginnings, of what made him the man that Steve chose to be Captain America.
And Captain America he was.
Sam was aware of all the stares he got as he fought the Hydra agents and ended the crisis with the rest of the team. He knew it would take some getting used to. But he was pretty sure — no, extremely sure that he could do this. He could be the symbol that the public needed.
He strolled back into the Avengers Complex, handing a handcuffed Hydra agent off to be questioned, when he saw you. You were usually there waiting, ready for feedback on your new toys and inventions. But what Sam said surprised you.
“Hey Sam,” You started. “Did your new suit fare well? I was already thinking of some modifications based on —“
“Would you like to go out with me this Saturday?”
You blinked, lowering your clipboard in shock. “What?”
“Would you like to have dinner with me on Saturday?” He smiled wide and unabashedly. Then, with no hesitation, you smacked him on the arm with your clipboard, making him bark out a laugh.
“Took you long enough.”
#sam wilson x reader#cap!sam wilson x reader#marvel x reader#marvel fanfiction#sam wilson x black!reader#cap!sam wilson x black!reader#marvel x black!reader#sam wilson fanfiction#cap!sam wilson fanfiction#captain america x reader#captain america x black!reader
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DWC Day 1 - Reunion - Daily Writing Challenge Entry - Mega Goes Home
[ This scene takes place after a two year storyline between the FBC Guild that I’m the GM of and a personal storyline between Megahes and his Fiance, Naturasu. During this time, Megahes was cursed by a Cultist to slowly die from an agonizingly painful hex that was slowly killing him and all hope of its curing/removal was stripped away when this Cultist was killed during the conflicts. Ammaelin came to save Megahes (and acquired some ‘favors’ along the way) by using fractured shards of a Naa'ru to force Megahes into becoming Light Forged in a sense. This process took several years thanks to the manipulation of time via magic and while Mega felt the strain of three-four years of work, for everyone else it was roughly eight to ten weeks before his return. ]
The Zeppelin ride to Orgrimmar was agonizingly slow, probably more than any other ride Mega had ever had on one before in his entire life. It was enough to drive him mad and the longer it took in combination with the closer it got to taking him home to Naturasu the worse it became. The goblin fidgeted, tugging at his clothes and making sure all the buttons on his shirt were done properly. His sleeves still crisp and the ironed lined still present. Hell, he even fought with the rolled up sleeves and their buttons that kept them pulled up to his biceps. The wait on returning home was killing him.
What was Nat going to say when he walked in the door? This reunion between her and him played in his head a thousand times just today alone, he couldn’t even count the amount of times that he played out similar scenarios while he was away.
“Nervousness does not become you Mister Frostbite.”
The voice was formal and flat, its source coming from a blinding armor clad Blood Elf that stood several feet higher than himself. Crimson red hair blowing in the breeze thanks to their mode of transportation. Ammaelin, the Blood Knight who was responsible for the absence that proved to be a miraculous, and most likely a very heretical, healing process. If one could butter their bread with his smugness, one’d choke on it just from looking at him.
“I’m aware, but that doesn’t make it any less. I been gone for three years now.” He quickly brings up a hand to stop the Elf, they’ve had this conversation several times before already. “And I know, I know. Months for her, for everyone else. Years only for You, Me and the others. But still years for me…”
“We did what needed to be done, especially in regards to our agreement. You would have surely died otherwise.” Ammaelin’s head turns if but barely, just enough to cast a glance down upon the golden metal that was imprisoned into Mega’s flesh near his wrists. “You are lucky that you had those shards hidden away. Had any other Paladin known you held those, my brother's curse would have been the least of your concerns. I have no doubt the Church or the Draenei would have come marching on your doorstep…”
Megahes’ face contorts as draws upon sarcasm to mock the Elf.
“I have no doubt…” Mega blows a massive raspberry in the Paladins direction, which causes him to turn and look back upon the horizon, not giving in to Mega’s provocations. “Look. I know how risky tha thing was and I appreciate what you did and I get that I owe ya. But… all’a that aside. I’m just nervous man. What if…” He just stops and breathes, voice quivering a bit as his eyes begin to moisten, forcing him to stop and look back over the side of the Zeppelin once again.
“If she doesn’t approve or she’s moved on due to thinking you dead or not coming back?”
“I mean, I could have put that in better words, but yeah.”
“I think perhaps you worry too much.”
Megahes grumbles and sighs, running his hands up and down his face several times before they slide into his hair, where he just grabs hold of himself and pulls out of frustration only to realize he’d fucked it all up. His head shakes and he sets out to fix his hair as best he can, a nervous tick, to be sure.
Mega was about to open his mouth to retort, but the Paladin stopped him by pointing to the horizon. Pandaria’s Jade
Forest. Pillars of tall stone began to rise and fall down into gorgeous forests, rolling hillsides and lily and reed filled rivers. The air was crisp and something about it just filled one's body with a rejuvenating sense of purpose and peace. “We’ll be at your domancile shortly, Mister Frostbite. I suggest you gather your things and we’ll drop you off directly.”
If Mega wasn’t nervous before this, he sure as hell is now! His nearly trips… Well, he does actually, right over his own two feet and in a fluster, he looks about for something that wasn’t there before he speedily heads towards the cabins to gather his bag. He’d had this ready hours ago. It wasn’t much, he had no time to prepare for this little ‘retreat’ of his, which he was thankful for now as he threw it over his shoulder.
He pauses and looks over at Ammaelin. “For as big of a pain in tha ass ya have been these past couple of years, thank ya. Truly. If it wasn’t for you and them Priests, I wouldn’t be makin’ this trip back.”
Ammaelins’ face during this brief statement was a rollercoaster! Disdain and irritation appearing quickly was soon replaced with an oddly peaceful smile by the end of it. “Our time has taught us much, Mister Frostbite, about a great many topics. It has been… enlightening.” His choice of words being an intended pun and irony placed upon Mega.
There were no hugs, no great exchanges of physical emotion. The two just look at one another before Mega turns and descends into the bowels of the Zeppelin so he can board the loading platform and get lowered down to his home.
Their home.
Gold, this was excruciating. The platform lowers slowly, painfully so, at least to him. Each inch makes Mega’s ears pound so hard that he can hear them in his ears and if it got any higher in his throat, he’d choke. “I’m gettin all nervous for nothin’, she probably ain’t even home. Probably in Orgrimmar havin’ some drinks or workin’ at the Knot.”
He blows through his lips with enough strength to cause a slight whistle. Stress and worry, all self-induced of course, at how this was going to go. He was happy, no doubt, but worry came natural. The lift jerks as the ground makes contact, nearly sending him sprawling down to the floor of it just for him to look up in utter irritation, sending up a solid middle finger at the crew whether they could see it or not.
“Ain’t no wonder these things fall out of tha fuckin sky so much…” He grumbles, straightening himself and clambering off before they end up actually managing to kill him somehow.
Once off, the Zeppelin began to hoist the platform once more as it turned to head off towards its next stop. Mega’s red eyes watch it drift off for a moment, offering an overhead wave in case Ammaelin was on deck and looking down upon him.
Given time, Mega turns away from it, looking at his pandaren styled home. The smell of the Arboretum orchids wafting through the air hit his senses and caused him to smile and for a moment, peace was welcome until he began to pick up his feet, swearing they are encased in lead the closer to home he became.
Much like a scene from one of those cheesy romance books he kept hearing people go on about, he freezes at the door, hand up and ready to knock but nothing comes. No, instead he pats himself down and takes the key out of his shirt pocket and uses that instead. Quietly, creeping open the door slowly as if he expected to walk in and find his place full of cobwebs and everything cold and abandoned.
The sight he gets is quite the opposite. Everything was nearly just as he left it. Albeit, more golden now. Naturasu loved her gold and it was a miracle that everything they owned wasn’t gold or khorium at this point in some facet or another. The sight brings a small smile to his face, sucking him into the house where he quietly closes the door behind him, fingers tracing over chairs and couch arms before he lets his pack slide down into the floor where it was quickly abandoned.
Quietly, he walks through the house, almost scared to break the silence just to realize that that’s all there’d be
but a sudden clattering coming from the kitchen broke what he hadn’t dared. “Oh gold… what is she remodelling in there now?” It was a good question to ask! Not one that he had malice towards however, as the modifications they’d made thus far were phenomenal.
His feet take him into the doorway where Nat can be seen in her usual home attire of thigh-high socks and underwear along with a set of tools, some powered and some not, as she was working on some of their retractable steps that allowed the two of them to cook shoulder to shoulder despite their obvious size differences.
And it was this image that made him choke in silence and just stare at her. She was still here and all of his fears, irrational or not, just vanished and all he’s left being able to do is croak out a cough and throat clear.
Nat’s voice calls out in irritation as the work clearly wasn’t going as planned. “Just leave tha rollers and frames there on the floor Sugah, thanks.”
She must have thought he was someone from the Contingents Engineering or Supply Staff. Had this been any other time, Mega probably would have played into this mistake and taken up the chance to pretend to be said person and elicit some lewd scene, but, no, not today… Well, at least not right -now-.
“Sorry, I uhh… must have forgotten them back at tha office. I can go back and get them if ya like.” Mega’s voice quivered in a nervousness that refused to leave his bones that were joining with both excitement and happiness.
Naturasu on the other hand, froze entirely just to drop the wrench that was in her hand to the floor. Slowly, she wheeled about, perhaps not sure if she heard the voice correctly or if it was just her senses fucking with her. Whatever her reasoning, the moment her copper colored eyes hit Mega’s own crimson hues, time stood still for them both.
No words came, they didn’t need them. Naturasu hit her knees and before she could even get her arms outstretched entirely, Mega was across the room, pinning himself to her and locking his own behind her in an embrace so strong that Titan Steel couldn’t have broken it if it tried.
The two remained conjoined and just wept.
[ Thank you again for reading my entry to the @daily-writing-challenge ! This is Day One (09/19/2021) and today's words were #Reunion and #Afterlife. I had the choice of using one or both, but decided to run with only Reunion today just in case I decide to pull out some deathly stuff later in the month. ]
[ Edit Addition: I apologize if there's some formatting issues. I tried to implant a couple of images to help convey things but Tumblr just wasn't having it, so I had to remove them. I've tried to correct the errors I did find, but I may not have gotten them all. ]
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So, I don't think I've ever asked you this... what IS the whole point of the Spider-Sense? It really seems like something that only exists for writers to ignore or work around when they want to inject Legit Tension into a story.
I’ve thought about this power so much, but never with an eye to defend its right to exist, so I needed to think about this. The results could be more concise.
Ironically, given the question, I have to say its main purpose is to ramp up tension. But it’s also a highly variable multitool that a skilled creative team can use for...pretty much anything. It does everything the writer wants it to, while for its wielder always falls just short of doing enough.
I went looking through my photos for a really generic, classic-looking example to use as an image to head this topic, but then I ran into the time Peter absolutely did not reimburse this man for his stolen McDonald’s, so have that instead.
A Scare Chord, But You Can Draw It
That one post that says the spider-sense is just super-anxiety isn’t, like, wrong. It’s a very anxious, dramatic storytelling tool originally designed for a very anxious, dramatic protagonist. I find it speaks to the overall tone of the franchise that some characters are functionally psychics, but with a psychic ability that only points out problems.
Spidey sense pinging? There’s danger, be stressed! Broken? Now the lead won’t even KNOW when there’s a problem, scary! Single character is immune to it? That’s an invisible knife in the dark oh my god what the fuck what the fU--
Like its counterpart in garden variety anxiety, the only time the spider-sense reduces tension is in the middle of a crisis. But in the wish fulfillmenty way that you want in an adventure story to justify exaggerated action sequences, the same way enhanced strength or durability does. Also like those, it would theoretically make someone much safer to have it, but it exists in the story to let your character navigate into and weather more dangerous situations.
For its basic role in a story, a danger sense is a snappy way to rile up both the reader and the protagonist that doesn’t offer much information beyond that it’s time to sit smart because shit is about to go down.
Spidey comic canon is all over the board in quality and genre, and it started needing to subvert its formulas before the creators got a handle on what those formulas even were, and basically no one has read anything approaching most of it at this point, so for consistent examples of a really bare bones use of this power in storytelling, I’d point to the property that’s done the best job yet of boiling down the mechanics of Spider-Man to their absolute most basic essentials for adaptation to a compelling monster of the week TV series.
Or as you probably know it, Danny Phantom. DON’T BOO, I’M RIGHT.
DP is Spider-Man with about 2/3 of the serial numbers filed off and no death (ironically), and Danny’s ghost sense is the most proof in the formula example of what the spidey sense is for: It’s a big sign held up for the viewer that says, “Something is wrong! Pay attention!” Effectively a visual scare chord. It’s about That Drama. And it works, which won it a consistent place in the show’s formula. We’re talking several times an episode here.
So why does it work?
It’s a little counterintuitive, but it’s strong storytelling to tell your audience that something bad is going to happen before it does. A vague, punchy spoiler transforms the ignorant calm before a conflict into a tense moment of anticipation. ...And it makes sure people don’t fail to absorb the beginning of said conflict because they weren’t prepared to shift gears when the scene did. Shock is a valuable tool, too, but treating it like a staple is how you burn out your audience instead of keeping them engaged. Not to go after an easy target, but you need to know how to manage your audience’s alarm if you don’t want to end up like Game of Thrones.
The limits of the spider-sense also keep you on your toes when handled by a smart writer. It tells Peter (everyone’s is a little different, so I’m going to cite the og) about threats to his person, but it doesn’t elaborate with any details when it’s not already obvious why, what kind, and from what. And it doesn’t warn him about anything else-- Which is a pretty critical gap when you zoom out and look at his hero career’s successes and failures and conclude that it’s definitely why he’s lived as long as he has acting the way he does, but was useless as he failed to save a string of people he’d have much rather had live on than him.
(Any long-running superhero mythos has these incidents, but with Peter they’re important to the core themes.)
And since this power is by plot for plot (or because it’s roughly agreed it only really blares about threats that check at least two boxes of being major, immediate, or physical), it always kicks in enough to register when the danger is bearing down...when it’s too late to actually do anything about it if “anything” is a more complex action than “dodge”.
Really? Not until the elevator doors started to open?
That Distinctive, Crunchy Spider Flavor
The spider-sense and its little pen squiggles go hand in hand with wallcrawling (and its unique and instantly identifiable associated body language) to make the Spider-Person powerset enduringly iconic and elevate characters with it from being generic mid-level super-bricks. Visually, but also in how it shapes the story.
I said it can share a narrative role with super strength. But when you end a fight and go home, super strength continues to make your character feel powerful, probably safer than they’d be otherwise, maybe dangerous.
The spider-sense just keeps blaring, “Something’s wrong! Something’s wrong! God, why aren’t you doing something about this!?”
Pretty morose thing to live with, for a safety net! Kind of a double edged sword you have there! Could be constantly being hyperattuned to problems would prime you for a negative outlook on life. Kind of seems like a power that would make it impossible for a moral person to take a day off, leading them into a beleaguered and resentful yet dutiful attitude about the whole superhero gig! Might build up to some of the core traits of this mythos, maybe! Might lead to a lot of fifteen minute retirement stories, or something. Might even be a built in ‘great responsibility’ alarm that gets you a main character who as a rule is not going to stop fighting until he physically cannot fight anymore.
Certainly not apropos of anything, just throwing this short lived barely-a-joke tagline up for fun.
One of my personal favorite things about stories with superpowers is keeping in mind how they cause the people who have them to act in unusual ways outside of fights, so when you tell me that these people have an entire extra sense that tells them when the gas in their house is leaking through a barely useful hot/cold warning system that never turns off, I’m like, eyes emojis, popcorn out, notebook open, listening intently, spectacles on, the whole deal.
It also contributes to Peter Parker’s personality in a way I really enjoy: It allows him to act like an irrational maniac. When you know exactly when a situation becomes dangerous and how much, normal levels of caution go out the window and absolutely nothing you do makes sense from an exterior standpoint anymore. That’s the good shit. I would like to see more exploration of how the non-Parker characters experiencing the world in this incredibly altered way bounce in response.
It’s also one of many tools in this franchise hauling the reader into relating more closely with the main character. The backbone of classic Spidey is probably being in on secrets only Peter and the reader know which completely reframe how one views the situation on the page. It’s just a big irony mine for the whole first decade. A convenient way to inform the reader and the lead that something is bad news that’s not perceivable to any other characters is youth-with-a-big-exciting-secret catnip.
Another point for tension, there, in that being aware of danger is not synonymous with being able to act on it. If there’s no visible reason for you to be acting strange, well...you’re just going to have to sit tight and sweat, aren’t you? Some gratuitous head wiggles never hurt when setting up that type of conflict.
Have I mentioned that they look cool? Simultaneously punchy and distinctive, with a respectable amount of leeway for artists to get creative with and still coming up with something easily recognizable? And pretty easy to intuit the meaning of even without the long-winded explanations common in the days when people wrote comics with the intent that someone could come in cold on any random issue and follow along okay, I think, although the mechanic has been deeply ingrained in popular culture for so long that I can’t really say for sure.
It was also useful back in the day when no artists drew the eyes on the Spider-Man mask as emoting and were conveying the lead’s expressions entirely through body language and panel composition. If you wiggle enough squiggles, you don’t need eyebrows.
Take This Handwave and Never Ask Me a Logistical Question Again
This ability patches plot holes faster than people can pick them open AND it can act as an excuse to get any plot rolling you can think of if paired with one meddling protagonist who doesn’t know how to mind their own business. Buy it now for only $19.99 (in four installments; that’s four installments of $19.99).
Why can a teenager win a six on one fight against other superhumans? Well, the spider-sense is the ultimate edge in combat, duh.
Why can Peter websling? Why doesn’t everyone websling? Well, the spider-sense is keeping him from eating flagpole when he violently flings himself across New York in a way neither man nor spider was ever meant to move.
How are we supposed to get him involved with the plot this week???? Well, that crate FELT dangerous, so he’s going to investigate it. Oh, dip, it was full of guns and radioactive snakes! Probably shouldn’t have opened that!
Yeah, okay, but why isn’t it fixing everything, then? Isn’t it supposed to be why Peter has never accidentally unmasked in front of somebody? ('Nother entry for this section, take a shot.) That’s crazy sensitive! How does he still have any problems!? Is everything bad that’s ever happened to characters with this powerset bad writing!? --Listen, I think as people with uncanny senses that can tell us whether we are in danger with accuracy that varies from incredible to approximate (I am talking about the five senses that most people have), we should all know better than to underestimate our ability to tune them out or interpret them wrong and fuck ourselves up anyway. I honestly find this part completely realistic.
*SLAPS ROOF OF SPIDER-SENSE* YOU CAN FIT SO MANY STORIES IN THIS THING
The spider-sense is a clean branch into...whatever. There is the exact right balance of structure and wishy-washiness to build off of. A sample selection of whatevers that have been built:
It’s sci-fi and spy gadgets when Peter builds technology that can interface with it.
It’s quasi-mystical when Kaine and Annie-May get stronger versions of it that give them literal psychic visions, or when you want to get mythological and start talking about all the spider-characters being part of a grand web of fate.
Kaine loses his and it becomes symbolic of a future newly unbound by constraints, entangled thematically with the improved physical health he picked up at the same time -- a loss presented as a gain.
Peter loses his and almost dies 782 times in one afternoon because that didn’t make the people he provoked when he had it stop trying to kill him, and also because he isn’t about to start “””taking the subway’’””’ “‘’“”to work”””’’” like some kind of loser who doesn’t get a heads up when he’s about to hit a pigeon at 50mph.
Peter’s starts tuning into his wife’s anxiety and it’s a tool in a relationship study.
It starts pinging whenever Peter’s near his boss who’s secretly been replaced by a shapeshifter and he IGNORES IT because his boss is enough of an asshole that that doesn’t strike him as weird; now it’s a comedy/irony tool.
Into the Spider-Verse made it this beautiful poetic thing connecting all the spider-heroes in the multiverse and stacked up a story on it about instant connection, loss, and incredibly unlikely strangers becoming a found family. It was also aesthetic as FUCK. Remember the scene where Miles just hears barely intelligible whispering that’s all lines people say later in the film and then his own voice very clearly says “look out” and then the room explodes?? Fuck!!!!
Venom becomes immune to it after hitchhiking to Earth in Peter’s bone juice and it makes him a unique threat while telling a more-homoerotic-than-I-assume-was-originally-intended story about violation and how close relationships can be dangerous when they go sour.
It doesn’t work on people you trust for maximum soap opera energy. Love the innate tragedy of this feature coming up.
IN CONCLUSION I don’t have much patience for writers who don’t take advantage of it, never mind feel they need to write around it.
#spiderman#peter parker#spiderverse#spidey#marvel#danny phantom#one day you'll see what i'm doing with it in the project i'm collabing on w/ my brother and then you'll all be sorry and hopefully impresse#mirrorfalls#asks answered#essays
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A Cure for Insomnia CH 18
The past three of four years have been terrible for you.
It all started with your two idiot cohorts, three if you want to count Tim, deciding to run away from The Operator's protection.
A late night talk between Tim and Toby clued you in to the plan but you hadn't regained control of your body in time to stop them. For all his bitching about the kid Tim had a soft spot for him; so of course the second Toby mentioned his fantasies of a “normal” life Tim tried to make it happen.
You say tried but he did in fact succeed. Tim succeeded in recklessly ripping you all from The Operator's territory and fleeing his grasp every time he made an attempt to collect you all.
At first you had thought that as soon as they realized what rough states they were all in they'd go crawling right back to Him for safety. But then came the therapists and psychiatrists, the daily affirmations and the medications.
Fucking pathetic.
Toby was getting treated for his issues and finding ways to cope with the tangled web he found himself in. It was agonizing to watch the brat slowly undo His ties, and little by little those strings started to fall away from him. He got a dog and trained it to assist him in his quest for normalcy and autonomy. Even going so far as to have it sense an oncoming seizure for Brian.
That was the only good thing Rogers had done, he'd found a way to tie them all together. Making it that much easier for them to all be found again. Sooner or later He would find you all and punish them for their misguided attempts to escape him.
You could only watch helplessly as Tim sought help and started taking medications for his “Schizophrenia”. Bastard knows Latuda will keep you away, trapped in your shared mind unable to gain access to your body.
Hoodie had been rendered near useless a bit after Rogers joined the team. Brian focusing on his relationship with Tim effectively putting such a tight lock on Hoodie that you rarely saw the proxy. Though if you were being completely honest Brian himself is a bit too much like Hoodie. It's hard for even you to tell what he's been doing to help himself these past few years. He keeps his cards pretty close to his chest.
Recently, like the past month, you've started to regain control in a few places of Tim's mind before being able to front for a few moments at a time. Tim was unaware at first and then you'd gotten cocky with that hour when he'd been making amends with that local, YN. You just felt His presence, His thrall, around and wanted to see if it was on them. The lost hour was certainly unexpected but it gave you your answer. And gave Tim a new fear.
The webs had just started forming around them but they've lost someone to Him already and it appears they'd gained a proxy as a stalker. Smells like the beginning stages of recruitment to you.
Unfortunately Tim got clued into your “awakening” - so to speak – and learned everything as you pieced it together,
God this team should've been dead long ago without your guidance. You're actually surprised any of them have made it this long.
So, Tim learned that you were back and that YN was a one way ticket back to The Operator.
As always you and Tim had opposing feelings about the discovery. Where you were over the moon and relieved that this stent of rebellion was nearly over, Tim began to get paranoid as he tends to do. He had automatically informed the other two of the “issue”. Brian was on board with Tim's plans to do some reconnaissance on the newest recruit. But Toby was adamant that Tim's paranoia was finally catching up to him after all these years.
“Just 'cause some rando says 'mask' while looking at you doesn't mean anything.” you recall Rogers saying.
Even if he'd believed Tim, Rogers didn't want to fall back in with Him and saw the reconnaissance plan as a ploy for Him to gain control back over them once again. The kid was so transparent at times.
Rogers' point wasn't entirely untrue either. If anything their continued reconnaissance would have sped up the process and have them all back under The Operator in no time. YN wasn't showing too much of their potential as of right now. But you'd guess they were intended to be a plant. Much like the role Tim played when he was seemingly unaware of The Operator.
After being a fully realized proxy Tim's status was quick to change to puppet. Allowing you to gain control over your body and do His bidding. Your position was that of the leader for this group, with Hoodie and Brian as the stalkers – always watching and recording a target's every move, Toby was a sleeper – only waking up when his skills were needed. A good thing in a sense seeing as the kid couldn't focus on a lot of his tasks without some supernatural intervention. Not to mention as a sleeper he didn't argue or sass back after receiving his orders.
Simply followed without complaint, man do you miss that.
You're the smallest team He has but somehow you were the most effective of His proxies. Something you took great pride in. Being the best meant less proxies, less proxies meant less competition and that ensured that you stayed on top and in His favor.
Unfortunately you're the only one of the group to see it that way.
Before Tim got put on Latuda, you had tried explaining to Brian and Toby the trouble you four were in for if you didn't return to The Operator. But the brat was argumentative and kept snapping at you to leave and give Tim “his” body back. Brian wasn't any help to you, just as you thought he'd locked Hoodie away for good so you didn't even have your second to back you up here.
Neither listened to you and Toby even managed to knock you out of fronting.
A phantom ache drums in your skull at the memory of him tackling you into the radiator of that motel room. Kid really doesn't know his own strength sometimes. Or maybe he had that time.
It has been fun watching YN's recruitment though. The proxy assigned to them, Bandit or something – you never learned his name. He was a tool when you'd first met, in passing on your way back from a mission, and he's still a tool now. Honestly how a puppet gets to be a solo proxy you won't ever understand. But everything he's done so far to further YN's progress has only served to ignite doubt about them within the trio.
Brian and Tim frequently break into their home, well Tim more than Brian. It's always fun to see Tim put on your mask and act like you. He's even taken to slinking in and towering over them as they slept. You remember doing that to Jay, guess he does too. He may even miss working as much as you do.
Being useful, you miss being useful. Having a purpose.
They had even roped Toby into patrolling around the house whenever YN wasn't in during his off days. For all his complaining he still followed Tim's orders, Even that motion sensor he put in the bathroom, the very same one that alerted them to Tim and Brian's presence in their home.
The whole attack had been Brian and Tim. You wanted to say you saw Hoodie for a second as YN had been tackled into the bathroom, but Hoodie would've waited for a signal.
That was all Brian.
Bashing YN's head into the linoleum had been Tim. No matter how much he tries to blame it on you in his own mind.
Tim and Toby had been getting into catty fights left and right – what do you expect when three grown men live in such a small space with a dog. But the night YN had been attacked Toby just lost it. Toby wasn't aware of your recent activity yet, both Brian and Tim thought it would put him even more on edge. It was one of the rare occasions you and Tim agreed. Because otherwise he would've been blaming everything that happened on you. No, so far all of his anger had been properly placed onto Tim. And you certainly weren't about to help him out of this grave he's dug for himself, so when you fronted only to find Toby screaming in your face you took a swing at him. Fist landing directly with his eye.
That wasn't going to help Tim, but it serves the bastard right. All the shit he's put you through. Not to mention a bit of pay back for the radiator last time you talked to Toby.
You couldn't help but notice how Brian didn't mention that you were active or even try to pin anything on to you.
He's up to something, best to be careful around him. Hoodie was always a strategist – he'd do what you needed him to no problem but if he found a better way to get the same or similar results he wouldn't always follow orders to the T.
Maybe Hoodie isn't as sealed away as you'd thought.
After taking that swing and setting Toby off, you retreated for once back to your mental cage where you watched the scene play out. Toby's good eye flashing, more like glinting as he lept at Tim who responded to defend himself from what was to him a sudden outburst. Then the burly lodge owner had split the two up and had essentially kicked Tim and by extension Brian out of the lodge.
While Brian and Tim seemed to think he let Toby stay because of his condition you're willing to bet it had more to do with his little “friendship” with YN.
They seem to have captured the hearts of many of the residents of Kepler in their short time here. If what Ronnie says is to be believed then their personality would've lured Toby right in.
The kid's a sucker for a sweet face and a few kind words. Toss a couple of gentle gestures here and there and you'd have him by the balls in a second, a loyal dog till the end.
It had been a pain in the ass before, especially when dealing with Milens or even that ticking time bomb. Clockwork had been a real piece of work for sure. When Toby was first recruited the two got on like a house on fire, to your dismay. They had a twisted sort of puppy love going on for a while. You were lucky Tim had been fronting when you heard that she'd pissed him off about something or other and he was officially over and done with her. Otherwise the fucker would've gotten back together with her just to spite you.
But for once that idiot's mommy issues were working out in your favor. He's clearly attached and willing to fight his family for them. It's only been a month and this couldn't get better.
Well it could, you just need to figure out what to do with Brian.
Seeing as YN's personality shouldn't change during their transition, it's the whole reason they were selected to be a plant after all – Toby will want to follow after them to at least make sure they stay safe while working for The Operator. You're already fronting more than you have in the past four years combined so it won't be long till you can over take Timothy mentally again. Maybe lock him up for a change.
All that's left is Brian.
What will he do?
Will he follow after his love to make sure he's ok? Will he continue to run on his own? There's a chance he's been fighting Hoodie as long as you've been fighting Tim. That honestly the best case scenario for you so you won't dwell too long on the possibility.
You and Tim do share the same luck, and his tends to suck. Like a lot.
Though it's hard to hold in your giddiness when Tim hears all over town how Toby has been spending a lot of time with YN. Gossiping is practically a sport in these small towns.
You could taste Tim's fear when the transmission from the motion sensor had disconnected, either someone found it of Toby was acting in defiance.
Felt the drop in his stomach after hearing two elderly couples talk about how sweet it was to see a proper genuine courtship in the electronic age. The couple mentioned YN and Toby by name....or well description rather. All the same to Tim's dismay. And while they were probably just gossiping you and Tim both know Toby's MO by now.
Tim's mental health is suffering and it didn't help matters when he went to talk to Toby later in the week and the man barely acknowledged his pleas to stay away from them. All Toby cared about was Tim swearing to just leave YN alone and to stop hurting his friend.
Boy was he angry when Tim's response was silence and not a immediate agreement followed by an apology. It's been a while since you've seen a bloodlust in his eyes, more accurately eye, not induced by The Operator.
He'd be down right fucking feral if not for The Operator.
It's been a few days and your fun has ended. Brian having enough, had gone and spoken to Toby about everything. You're pretty sure he mentioned the fact that you're back, because when Tim finished his shift at the gas station Toby was fixing the AC unit in the RV. Of course there weren't any official apologies but Toby said he'd keep himself safe if Tim kept his head screwed on and a tighter leash on you.
Which was insulting and complete bullshit. You've only ever helped YN since meeting them. Really attacking them would only serve to keep you away from your end goal.
Returning to The Operator.
Tension in the Cowell house and at the shop has been on the rise ever since you've come to stay with the family. But it's been worse since Nate gave you the file. The file on Tobias Erin Rogers, your friend. The file you refused to read, and that's caused a rift between you and Nate. And with two days left into this stay you really hope your relationship with all of the Cowells hasn't been ruined.
Big Jo understands both sides of this argument and isn't doing much to have you reach a compromise. Seems whatever is in the folder doesn't have him as concerned as it does Nate. That reassures you a bit that Nate is in fact just being a worry wart and there's nothing actually wrong.
Dia and Little Jo have no clue about the fight or the file. They think you're just pushing against Nate's constant presence in your space. To the point that Dia has taken her smothering habits down a notch or two herself.
That you're very thankful for, it's nice having a bit of breathing room again.
The constant arguing over you needing to read and know all the gory details of Toby's personal life was something you'd very much like to do without. It just wasn't fair to Toby that you'd been handed his whole life without his knowledge. You're a firm believer that someone's past is their past and as long as they've changed it isn't their present or future.
He should have the ability to tell you his past if he wants....that's if you ever even get to that part.
Honestly if Big Jo isn't worried then it can't be that bad.
…..
Doesn't mean you aren't curious. But this is Tobias you're talking about. The sweet boy with a boxy smile who drinks iced coffees and sends his service dog to take care of you. He drove two hours to another town just for a slushie, get panic attacks from fireworks and car accidents.
….....To be fair a lot of people get that last one. And as they should, they're very serious. Hell the main contributor of you not getting your license until twenty-four was the possibility of car wrecks.
But that's besides the point.
The point is this is your friend, whatever he did...you think you'll stick by him. How bad could it be?
The mental image of a Toby drenched in blood with a wild look in his eyes races to the forefront of you mind.
Shaking your head to get rid of the imaginary scene, the one that never happened you had just imagined it after seeing the after math of his fight with Tim. Totally normal to picture your friends looking crazed as they have a horribly swollen black eye. Right?
It feels like your guilt about doubting Toby is eating away at you. You stomach rumbles and grumbles as though it's the perfect analogy for your whirling thoughts.
The witch hat embroidery lays forgotten next to you on the bed as you curl into a pillow. You don't know why but this is getting you all teary eyes. It isn't like you to be this emotional over...well anything really. And it frustrates you even more setting you up for even more emotional turmoil. Maybe it's the head trauma, maybe you're....
Fuck are you menstruating?!
With everything going on you've totally lost track. Pulling up P-Tracker on your phone you see the two days late notification on the screen. Goddammit, well that explains your emotional reactions. Jesus, you hate using the period excuse but it's accurate sometimes.
A knock at your door draws your attention away from your thoughts.
“Coming.”
Big Jo is standing on the other side, a small patient smile sits on his face. A wave of nausea hits you, you aren't sure if it's from the feeling of the imminent “dad” talk about to happen – or from you cramps.
“Can I come in?”
It's a simple request, one you don't feel comfortable denying the man in his own home.
Moving aside and letting Jo into you – his – room closing the door behind him. Jo takes a seat on the bed and picks up your embroidery.
“This 's real nice kid, you've got a real good eye for the edges.” he takes a moment longer to appreciate your craftsmanship.
You awkwardly stand by the door not saying anything. You aren't sure what to do, and even more unsure of what Jo could possibly need or want from you right now.
That's a lie you know it involves Toby. Everything seems too lately.
But why now all of a sudden, after nearly a week of not broaching the subject with you?
Looking up from your work he pats the edge of the bed, “C'mon kid we have some stuff to talk about.”, fuck he even sounds like a dad sitting his child down for a big talk.
On shaking knees you make your way over to the bed trying to will away the tears that well up due to your racing heart and haywire emotions.
“Hey 's ok, you ain't in any trouble....I....I just need to make sure you know what you're doing. You got a plan for any a this?”
You shake your head. Hell you didn't even know what you needed a plan for. What on Earth could Toby have done that was so bad?
Were they sure it was even the same Toby? Rodgers is a pretty common last name.
“I...I” your voice is scratchy as you speak, “don't even know what's going on.”
He gives you a pitying look and you hate it.
“Still haven't read that file?” another shake of your head, “You've got integrity kid, I can appreciate that.”
Jo pauses a moment as he looks at you, in a way that tells you he's comparing you to the you he's built up in his mind. Finally he's starting to piece together a more accurate picture of who you are.
“Hell I even respect it, but in a....case like this one....well” he sighs.
It's strange to see someone so normally eloquent and straight to the point be at a loss for words. To falter or hesitate with what to say next.
“That Toby kid, he.....what he's done-”
“Whatever he's done is in the past. He's in therapy I know that much so he's been getting help. Trying to move on. Surely you'd know that if you dug around to find out so much about his past.” the last part held a bit more venom than you intended but it didn't phase Jo one bit.
He even seemed to expect it.
“Didn't have to do much diggin'. His case was pretty public when he-”
“Stop!” Jo's a bit taken aback from your sudden outburst. “I don't want o hear it from you. If I hear it all it should be from Toby himself.”
You weren't stupid Jo was clearly trying to tell you the details in a subtle way but this wasn't his story to tell you. No matter what he did in the past Toby was still your friend right now and you'd respect his privacy.
“Ok, ok YN I get it. But if anything just...please be careful around him...he might not be all there.”
You knew that already and you knew Toby wouldn't hurt you. That day by the stream, just the two of you, played in your mind. The way he let you play with his hand while he was so out of it. The way he gently pushed your hands away from his when he started to come to.
No Toby wasn't all there but he's clearly trying to push past his short comings. And you'd give him the benefit of the doubt here. He may have done something awful but that didn't make him bad. Jo only knew about whatever was held in that file. He didn't know anything about the man you knew.
But did you really know Toby?
The guilt is back in full swing.
“I'll be careful but...”
You aren't sure there's anything else to say. Jo isn't forbidding you from seeing Toby again, unlike Nate. And he isn't forcing you to hear anything about Toby's past.
It hits you.
“I'm probably going to do something stupid.”
#a cure for insomnia#ticci toby#ticcitoby#ticci tobyx reader#ticci toby x reader#Timothy Wright#timothy wright x reader#timothy wright x brian thomas#Brian Thomas#brian thomas x reader#creepypasta fanfic#masky x reader
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The Swear Jar
Ok so I wrote some fanfic for yall :) its MCU fanfic, in an AU (idk which just go with it my dudes). I hope yall like it :D Here is a link to the fic on AO3. Characters: Peter Parker, Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes, Wanda Maximoff, Vision, Sam Wilson, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanov | Word Count: ~1900
This story begins on one fine Sunday when Mr. Steve Rogers purchased a rather large jar. He bought a package of labels and a large sharpie as well. When he got back to the Avengers Tower, he took a label, wrote “SWEAR JAR” on it, and stuck it to the side of the jar. Then, he put it on a side table for everyone to see.
“Rogers, what the fuck is that?” Tony had asked when he saw it.
“A swear jar,” Steve explained simply. “Which you should put a dollar in, by the way.” Tony sighed dramatically. He then took out his wallet, removed a single, and leaned over Steve to get to the Swear Jar.
“Fine. Here you go. One dollar.” Tony said.
Now, whenever a resident of the Avengers Tower heard the call of “Language!” from Steve, a few moments later they also heard the clink of the glass jar. Peter Parker, who was a spectator of these rather funny events, noted that Clint and Tony were the ones called out most often.
But, alas, most adults do swear, and everyone eventually put at least a dollar in the Swear Jar. Even Peter had added a dollar or two to the Jar. But it was truly self-imposed. He hardly ever swore around adults, and if he did, it was a “Damn!” or the occasional “Shit!” that had slipped out by accident. But, since the appearance of the Swear Jar, that hardly happened anymore.
This went on for about a month before The Incident, as Peter called it.
Peter had been working in the lab with Tony. They were working on their own projects but they enjoyed each other’s company, so they worked in the same lab. They had been working for a while when Tony leaned back in his chair and sighed.
“You want something to drink, kid?” Tony asked.
“Sure,” Peter said. “How about a coke?”
“Sure thing,” Tony said and promptly left.
Peter was unfazed by Tony’s abrupt exit and went back to working on his project. A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door.
“Tony?” Peter looked up. It was Steve. “Oh, hi, Steve,” Peter greeted him. “What’s up?”
“Is Tony here?” Steve asked. Peter shook his head.
“No, he just left. You can stay, if you want to, though.” Peter indicated to an area next to him where Steve could sit.
Steve sat, and Peter went back to his work. They sat there in silence for longer than Peter would have expected. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Steve flipping through papers and poking various parts and tools. Peter didn’t mind, but he wondered if Tony would. When will he be back? Peter thought.
Then, all of a sudden, Peter was ripped from his thoughts by a sharp yell.
“Fuck!”
Steve was sucking on his finger. He took it out of his mouth to look at it.
“Fuck, that hurt,” he said, quieter this time.
Peter realized in that moment that he had a decision to make:
Confront Steve now, make him deposit a few dollars to the Swear Jar, and tell everyone
Don’t say anything and use this as blackmail
Peter went with option number 2.
“What happened? Are you okay?” he asked Steve. Steve looked at him and they made eye contact for just a moment.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I just got a paper cut.”
“Oh, that sucks. Do you want a Band-Aid?”
“Sure.”
There is actually another Incident that Peter would rather not talk about. In his mind, this is dubbed The Moment.
Peter and Steve had been helping some SHIELD agents move some things from one side of a building to the other side. One of those things just so happened to be a fridge. The agents expressed that they would feel a lot better if Peter and Steve carried it together, even though either one of them could hold it by himself.
They were squeezing through one of the narrower doorways when Peter caught his hand between the fridge and the doorway.
“Fuck,” he swore quietly. Peter let go of the fridge with that hand and shook it out.
Before Peter could grab onto the fridge again, he made eye contact with Steve. Just for a moment. And when Steve didn’t call him out, he realized Steve had made the same decision he had made.
“Are you okay? What happened?” Steve asked.
“I caught my hand between the fridge and the door,” Peter explained.
“Is there anything I can do?”
“No, thanks. I’m fine.”
This arrangement continued for around a month and a half, where Steve and Peter felt comfortable swearing when they were alone together, but kept the secret when they were around others.
The only thing that threatened this secret, was Bucky Barnes.
Bucky Barnes had been on a mission in California for the past two months and was finally allowed to come back to New York. When he walked into the common room in the Avengers Tower, one of the first things he spotted was the Swear Jar. Peter watched him eye it for a few minutes. Finally, Bucky caved.
“Steve?” he called.
“Yeah, Buck?” Steve called back.
“What’s this?” Bucky asked, his voice sounding like a parent that had just discovered an impromptu mural.
“...It’s the Swear Jar. See? It’s got a little label on it,” Steve explained, indicating the label on the front.
“Ah, I see,” Bucky nodded condescendingly. Peter watched him from across the room and came to a realization: Bucky knew that Steve had the dirtiest mouth out of all of the Avengers, but he decided to use it as blackmail, just as Peter had.
About a week later, Peter decided to organize another video for the Avengers YouTube channel that he ran, called Miscellaneous Inc.
The video begins with this opening card:
It’s animated. The sparkles come and leave out of sync.
[cut]
Some of the Avengers are sitting in a circle. They each have a whiteboard. Someone speaks:
“I swear to god, Clint, nobody’s forcing you to do this!”
[cut]
Peter Parker is sitting on his bed, criss cross applesauce. He waves at the camera.
“Hey, YouTube,” He greets the audience. “It’s me, Peter, saying hello to you on this fine Wednesday afternoon. Today, I have somehow convinced a whole bunch of the Avengers to play ‘Who’s More Likely To’ with me! I honestly don’t know how I convinced them to do it, but I did. Anyway, I asked you guys to ask some ‘Who’s More Likely To’ questions on Twitter, and I went through them! FRIDAY’s gonna read them out, though, so if you put emojis it might sound a little weird.”
[cut]
Peter, Tony, Steve, Bucky, Clint, Natasha, Sam, Wanda, and Vision are sitting in a circle, each equipped with a handheld whiteboard and a pen.
“Hi, camera!” Peter waves to the camera, mostly to make sure everyone else is aware of it. “You may notice that we are a few Avengers short. I promise, they are not dead. These are the only people I could convince to play with me. So far, that is. Should everyone introduce themself?” Peter asked and looked around the circle. Nobody really gave a definite reaction.
“We’ve all been on your channel before, yes?” Wanda asked.
“I guess…” Peter said.
The video froze and became a bit dimmer. Suddenly, names and arrows appeared on the screen, going around the circle, each appearance being noted by a small ding.
← Tony Stank (Iron Man)
← Peter Parker (me :D)
← Steve Rogers (Cap)
← Bucky Barnes (the coolest)
← Clint Barton (Hawkeye)
← Natasha Romanov (Black Widow)
← Sam Wilson (Falcon)
← Wanda Maximoff (Scarlet Witch)
← Vision (Vision)
“Peter,” Peter said to the camera. “Do something cool during editing. A message came up on the screen: “I got you ;)”
[cut]
“Okay.” Peter clapped his hands. “Let’s get started. To reiterate, this is the ‘Who’s More Likely To’ Challenge. How you play is basically, a question is asked, like, ‘who’s more likely to land an arrow in the bullseye on the first try’. Then you write down who you think would be more likely to do that and then we all compare our answers. Does that make sense?”
Everyone nodded their heads.
“Great. FRIDAY, please read the first question.”
“Who’s more likely to say something they’re not supposed to in front of the press?” FRIDAY’s disembodied voice said.
Everyone wrote on their whiteboards for a few moments.
“Okay, let’s see your answers,” Peter said and turned around his board. Everyone followed suit. There were quite a few answers. The two most popular were “me” (“That’s not an answer, you guys,”) and Peter.
“Next question!” Instructed Peter.
“Who’s more likely to break something and leave it for the next person to fix?”
The most popular answer for that one was Tony.
Who’s more likely to accidentally knock someone out?
Steve.
Who’s more likely to keep saying “one more try” on a trick shot?
Sam.
Who’s more likely to have a weird secret habit?
Clint.
Who’s more likely to tip off a metal detector by accident?
Answers evenly split between Natasha and Bucky.
Who’s more likely to swear the most?
Peter had been waiting for this one. He curated the questions so he knew this one would show up eventually. He saw Steve and Bucky make eye contact. He watched as Bucky turned toward him and looked him straight in the eye. It was as if he was saying, “Now is the time to break our silence.”
“Turn your boards!” Peter instructed. They all did. Apart from Peter and Bucky, the most common answers were Tony and Clint.
“Steve?” Tony asked. “Peter, did you hear the question? They said the dirtiest mouth.”
“Yeah, I know. Bucky, you can back me up, right?” Peter looked to Bucky for someone to back him up.
“I only have my word, kid,” Bucky said solemnly.
Then Peter remembered.
“Hold on, actually. I have something. FRIDAY, show me that day Steve and I were in the lab together!”
FRIDAY rolled the clip. Then, everyone was able to see the true Steve Rogers. They were all shocked, to say the least. Steve sat there with a dumbstruck expression, as if he wasn’t sure what to do with himself.
“So what do you have to say for yourself, Capsicle?” Tony asked him.
“Uh...I’m sorry?” Steve tried.
“You’re damn right you’re sorry!” Clint yelled playfully. “I’ve lost at least $100 to that damn Swear Jar! Speaking of which, what do you do with all the money?”
Steve stalled for as long as possible, but it was inevitable. He would have to tell them.
“I spent it on art supplies and ice cream.”
“You did what?!”
[cut]
Peter was back on his bed. He waved to the camera again.
“Thank you guys so much for watching! I can try and convince them to do this again sometime if you’d like! See you next time!
The video ended. Peter turned off the camera.
“Steve is going to kill me…”
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Have you noticed the latest edition of Charlie Bowater can only draw one (1) face? She did The Princess Will Save You and Cast In Firelight both YA Fantasy set to be released this year. And they are how you say... the same fucking cover
Ah yes so you saw the same tweet I did
I know I literally just posted that we cannot outlaw book covers from looking like each other, but ! Oof!
The only thing that softens the blow here is that Charlie has improved at representing nonwhite features such that characters look like POC rather than tan white people, although,, that bar was low. Anybody remember the ACOTAR coloring book.
(Would you have guessed that 2/3 of these people are nonwhite? Or even that they’re supposed to be three different men? I guess all the men in Prythian have the same haircut?)
But that minor victory is mostly lost in the quagmires of the fact that Charlie’s style is to give everyone instagram face:
I wouldn’t even call this “Sameface” necessarily: that implies limitation, that an artist is only capable of drawing a single facial structure competently. Bowater is incredibly technically talented, she just chooses to give everyone catlike fae eyes and the cheekbones of a starving nymph. (My previous post on this here.)
But I don’t really blame her for that, or for these hilariously identical, nearly devoid of personality covers. Artists are allowed to do whatever they want. Artists who make art for covers are being art directed by designers and marketing teams who bear responsibility for how the finished pieces turn out.
No, this is our fault, as a community and an industry and..... society, kind of, for valuing character portraits that are “pretty” (“pretty” being an extremely loaded, culturally subjective concept) over art that actually Says Something About The Story. Bowater’s style happens to dovetail perfectly with what we currently collectively find pretty, and so we’ve put her art on a pedestal at the cost of everything else art can or should do for our stories.
And this is understandable: in contemporary western culture, pretty is a value unto itself. Seeing our characters portrayed as pretty denotes them as special, as smart, as powerful. It’s almost impossible to de-program ourselves from that reaction. There are approximately five kajillion studies on how beautiful people are at personal and professional advantages; how they’re perceived to be happier, healthier, more successful, and how those perceptions can translate into realities. (Nevermind how thinness and whiteness enter that equation, see above note about “pretty”.) I would love to see more “average” or weird- looking characters abound (and be accurately visually represented) in the YA/ Genre lit sphere, but for now... everyone is pretty.
Which sometimes means everyone is pretty boring.
But that’s just the specific, "What’s the deal with Bowater’s success in book circles and her style and all the sameiness” part of this equation. What if we backed up and asked: why character art at all? Beyond a question of “pretty”-ness (and general obvious Artistic Quality), why do we gravitate towards it, what's the purpose of it, how does it fall flat in a general sense, and how can it be utilized more effectively?
This is something I think about all the time. I follow writers on social media (because..... I am a writer on social media, regrettably), and we have an enormous collective boner for character art. “Getting fanart [of the characters]” is one of the achievement pinnacles constantly cited when people get or want to get published. Commissioning character art is something we reward ourselves with, or save up for (WHICH IS GOOD AND CORRECT. FREE ART IS GREAT BUT DO NOT SOLICIT IT. PAY YOUR ARTISTS). And like???? Same????? We love our stories because we’re invested in our characters. Most humans, even prose writers, are visual creatures to some extent, and no matter how happy we are with our text-based art, it’s exciting to see our creations exist in that form. So we turn that art into promo material and we advocate for it on our covers-- because it’s so meaningful to us! It goes with the story perfectly!! Look at my dumb beautiful children!!!!!
But on an emotional level, it’s hard to grasp that it only means something to us. Particularly when you take into account the aforementioned vast landscape of beautiful visual blandness of many characters (in the YA/ genre lit sphere, that’s pretty much all I’m ever talking about), character art can be like baby photos. If you know the baby, if that baby is your new niece or your friend’s kid, if you’ve held them and their parent texts you updates when they do cute shit, you’re probably excited to see that baby photo. But unless it’s exceptionally cute, a random stranger’s baby photo isn’t likely to invoke an emotional reaction other than “this is why I don’t get on facebook.”
Seeing art of characters they don’t know might intrigue a reader, but especially if the characters or art are unremarkable-looking, it’s doing a hell of a lot more for the people who already have an emotional attachment to that character than anybody else. And that’s fine. Art for a small, invested audience is incredibly rewarding. But like the parent who cannot see why you don’t think their baby is THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BABY IN THE WORLD???? I think we have trouble divesting our emotional reaction to character art from its actual marketing value, which.... is often pretty minimal. This is my hill to die on #143:
Character portraits, even beautiful ones, are meaningless as a marketing tool without additional context or imagery.
I love character art! I’m not saying it should not exist or that it’s worthless! Even art that appeals to only the one single person who made it has value and the right to exist. And part of this conversation is how important for POC to see themselves on covers, whether illustrations or stock imagery, particularly in YA/kidlit. I’m not saying character portrait covers are “bad”.
I am saying that I have seen dozens and dozens of sets of character art for characters who look interchangeable, and it has never driven me to preorder a book. (Also one character portrait for a high-profile 2019 debut that was clearly just a painting of Amanda Seyfriend. You know the one. There’s nothing wrong with faceclaims but lmfao, girl,,,,)
I’m sure that’s not true for everyone! I am incredibly picky about art. It’s my job. There’s nothing wrong with your card deck of cell-shaded boys of ambiguous age and ethnicity who all have the same button nose and smirk if it Sparks Joy for you.
But if your goal is not only to delight yourself, but to sell books, it’s in your best interest to remember that art, like writing, is a form of communication. The publishing industry runs on pitches: querys, blurbs, proposals, self-promo tweets. What if we applied that logic to our visuals? How can we utilize our character design and art to communicate as much about our stories as possible, in the most enticing way?
Social media has already driven the embrace of this concept in a very general sense. Authors are now supposed to have ~ aesthetics. “Picspams” or graphics, modular collages that function as mini moodboards, are commonplace. But the labor intensity and relative scarcity of character art visible in bookish circles, even on covers, means that application of marketing sensibility to it is less intuitive than throwing together a pinterest board.
Since we were talking about it earlier, WICKED SAINTS, as a case study of a recent “successful” fantasy YA debut, arguably owed a lot of its early social media momentum to fanart.
(Early fanart by @warickaart)
The most frequently drawn character, Malachiasz, has long hair, claws, and distinctive face tattoos. WS has a strong aesthetic in general, but those features clearly marked his fanart as him in a way even someone unfamiliar with the book could clearly track across different styles. Different interpretations of his tattoos from different artists even became a point of interest.
(Art by Jaria Rambaran, also super early days of WS Being A Thing)
Aside from distinctiveness, it's a clear visual representation of his history as a cult member, his monstrous powers, and the story’s dark, medieval tone. The above image is also a great example of character interaction, something missing from straightforward portraits, that communicates a dynamic. Character dynamics draw people into stories: enemies-to-lovers, friends-to-lovers, childhood rivals, platonic life partners, love triangles, devoted siblings, exes who still carry the flame-- there’s a reason we codify these into tropes, and integrate that language and shared knowledge into our marketing. For another example in that vein, I really love this art by @MabyMin, commissioned by Gina Chen:
The wrist grip! The fancy outfits! These are two nobles who hate each other and want to bone and I am sold.
In terms of true portraits, the best recent example I can think of is the set @NicoleDeal did for Roshani Chokshi’s GILDED WOLVES (I believe as a preorder incentive of some kind?):
They showcase settings, props, and poses that all communicate the characters’ interests, skills, and personality, as well as the glamorous, elaborate aesthetic of the overall story. Even elements in the gold borders change, alluding to other plot points and symbology.
For painterly accuracy in character portraits on covers, I love SPIN THE DAWN. The heroine looks like a beautiful badass, yes, but the thoughtful, detailed rendering of every element, soft textures, and dynamic, fluid composition form a really cohesive, stunning illustration that presents an intriguing collection of story elements.
The devil isn’t always in the details, though: stark, moody, highly stylized or graphic art with an emphasis on textural contrast and bold color and shape rather than representational accuracy can communicate a lot (emotionally and tonally) while pretty much foregoing realism.
The new Lunar Chronicles covers are actually the best examples I found of this (Trying to stay within the realm of existing bookish art rather than branch into All Art Of Human Figures Forever):
Taking cues from styles more typical of the comics and video game industries. (Games and comics, as visual mediums, are sources of incredible character art and I highly recommend following artists in those industries if you want to See More Cool Art On Your Timeline.)
TL;DR: Character art and design, as a marketing tool (even an incidental one) should be as unique to your story and your characters as possible, and tell us about the story in ways that make us want to read it. I tried to give examples because there are so many ways to do this, and so many different kinds of art, and I could give many more! But I’m bored now. So to circle all the way back:
These are not just bad because they look like each other, although that is embarrassing and illuminating. These are bad covers (although,,,,, PRINCESS is the far worse offender, at least FIRELIGHT suggests a thoughtful cultural analogue) because a desire for Pretty Character Art overrode the basic cover function to tell us about the story. We get no sense of who these people are, what their relationships are, what these books are about beyond the most general genre, or why we might care. The expressions are vague, the characters generic-looking, the compositions uninteresting and the colors failing to be indicative of anything in particular.
They’re somebody else’s baby pictures.
(And yes, that’s the CRUEL PRINCE font on PRINCESS. I better not have to do a roundup post but it’s on thin fucking ice.)
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So like you said, in the show they say flat out that Wei Wuxian didn't die, he was injured by the fall instead and the sacrificing curse used Mo Xuanyu's life force to heal him completely (even his scars other than the four slashes). Why do you think Nie Huaisang kept Wuxian in a coma for so long without trying to heal him?
Hum...
First off, highlighting this ask is about the S-H-O-W (that means *not* the novel)
So just to state it a little more clearly:: In Episode 42(?) when Wuxian unsheathes Suibian in the Jin treasure room, Jin Guangyao says he remembers an old scroll written by Wei Wuxian himself showing a spell in which “a severely injured person can be healed” by someone else’s sacrifice.
Making this change has a cascading effect on the story, since Wei Wuxian does not resurrect into a different body but back into his own (thank god, because we got to keep staring at Xiao Zhan an extra 19 episodes). In general what I think happened is that Huaisang was either instructed by Mingjue to stand in wait or that he just was watching from afar when the Battle of Nightless happened. If anyone understands the dangers of out-of-control resentful energy it is a Nie.
The writing was on the wall, they couldn’t stop Wei Wuxian’s death even if they wanted to. He was going to die sooner or later- by execution, suicide, his own magic destroying him, etc.
So the Nie- probably unknown to anyone else- were prepared to contain his soul and the resentful energy therein as they do their ancestors. No other sect deals with explosive resentful energy, it was always going to be on the Nie to handle that one (but not in a way the other sects know about because that would risk exposing the Saber Tombs).
Now, in the NOVEL- putting little clues together- it looks like Wei Wuxian was contained in a Spirit Trapping Pouch, like what Xiao Xingchen’s soul is contained in. He’s bound in some way- no one, not even Wangji, could reach him with any form of spirit inquiry.
So since his body wasn’t destroyed in the SHOW, context clues here say that Huaisang found Wuxian around the same time Jiang Cheng came down the side of the cliff to look for the body. Jiang Cheng has Chenqing at the showdown in Guanyin Temple- so he found the flute. Again, a Nie knows how dangerous resentment is, and they’re EXPERTS at containing spiritual weapons. That Huaisang took Wuxian but didn’t/couldn’t search thoroughly enough to find Chenqing suggests he was rushed.
Wei Wuxian was presumably on death’s door. He burned away the arrow wound to his heart, but I’ll dip to the novel to say that it clarifies that the Stygian Tiger Seal drains Wuxian’s spiritual power VERY quickly. Between that and just how long his attack on Nightless ran, the boy’s batteries were on empty and he probably couldn’t heal a granite belly-flop.
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So, Huaisang leaves with Wuxian’s body (probably with Mingjue’s knowledge because Huaisang couldn’t do this all on his own), then what happened? I straddle the line between two schools of thought on this one.
#1 :: Keeping him in a coma was the safest way to contain him
If Huaisang somehow froze Wei Wuxian so that his injuries neither healed nor bled out, it would be like entombing him in his own body. Generations of Nie went insane at the end of their lives and turned into violent rage monsters. Huaisang- and probably Mingjue because, again, you’d need the Clan Leader on board for this- wouldn’t look on Wuxian in the same light as the others because of Nightless. They don’t consider their father/grandfathers/etc. any less because of how their lives ended, they’d understand Wei Wuxian wasn’t the problem, the Yiling Patriarch was.
Wuxian was so lost and so powerful, he was going to be HARD to contain when he died. If that was possible at all. So while they looked for a solution or delayed the inevitable, it is safer to prevent Wei Wuxian’s death at all. If there is a way to freeze someone (that time stop spell Wuxian uses but on a long-term scale), they could pin him at his last breath to buy time.
Then Mingjue disappears, Huaisang keeps Wuxian sealed away, and eventually Mo Xuanyu brings up the sacrificing curse and Huaisang realizes that unleashing Wei Wuxian might be the way forward against Jin Guangyao.
******* Click HERE for my post arguing that Mo Xuanyu might be the original mastermind (Though “Fatal Journey” rendered some of it moot, the overall logic is still sound) *******
I also want to note just somewhere in this whole answer that Nie Huaisang seemed supremely confident that Wei Wuxian wasn’t going to go full Yiling Patriarch when he emerged, either because Wangji was nearby with baby Lan or he trusted that Wuxian wasn’t the monster he was painted to be. Either via a friend’s intuition (Huaisang never seemed to really fear him) or perhaps he had someone playing something like Cleansing over his body to make sure he was calming down. IDK, but the boy doesn’t seem worried in the least. He’s even right next door throughout the resurrection and Saber Spirit Attack, not worried about getting away from the crater in case Wuxian goes nuclear again.
OK, back to my answer---
#2 :: Sometimes they just don’t wake up
Xiao Xingchen had no will to live, even trapped in the soul pouch. Wei Wuxian was very much in the same state mentally.
Physically though, it might not have mattered WHAT his mental state was, he was simply too injured to ever regain consciousness on his own. Even if Huaisang tried from Day 1 to heal him, helped re-set bones and stitch his wounds closed, Wei Wuxian’s body was too shattered.
It is possible for someone to simply sustain too many injuries or suffer too great a trauma to wake up from a coma. It happens IRL too. People will even wake up after YEARS in a coma. So Huaisang might not have intentionally kept Wuxian out of it, he may simply have been unable to wake without massive healing work to re-set the body to where it was when it was first injured (like if Wuxian was brain dead).
I will say this theory has a flaw, IDK how fatal it is though:: Jin Ling isn’t dead yet, but Wangji still reaches his soul via Inquiry in the Saber Tombs. So if Huaisang healed Wuxian and just let him lay in a coma undisturbed for 16 years, Lan Wangji should have been able to reach him. I mean, even if it’s hard and the odds of success are terrible, he played Inquiry every single night for 16 years. Even a blind squirrel finds nuts sometimes (unless distance played a factor, or any other protections the Nie had up, which is why I say this may not be a fatal flaw).
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**I do want to make a note about the Sacrificing Curse as a healing tool that wipes out ALL of Wei Wuxian’s injuries. Watch the Doctor Who two-part episode set “The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances” (from Season 1 of the reboot). Sorry, but to make my point I need to spoil the big twist:: The “monster” wreaking havoc on London during the 1940s Blitz is actually a crashed medical ship with healing drones who find a dead child but aren’t programmed to human DNA, so they create terrifying creatures with gas-mask faces because that’s how they think humans are (they save the child, don’t worry).
At the end of the 2nd part, the Doctor reprograms them with human DNA so they burn themselves out healing the individual people and turning them back to normal. There is a line where a physician is approached by a patient who shockingly says her long-missing leg has even grown back.
It is wrong to say the Sacrificing Curse healing all of Wuxian’s injuries- even his scar- is “convenient” (as some people did on a previous post of mine). I think it’s like the drones in the Doctor Who episode- you tell them to heal, they’ll heal abso-fucking-lutely everything that is imperfect or incorrect. Think about it- Wei Wuxian even got a Golden Core out of the deal. The curse used whatever it needed from Mo Xuanyu to heal Wei Wuxian. No exceptions. If he had a PAPERCUT it would treat it as an imperfection no different from a crushed skull.
A powerful healing spell like that is powerful precisely because it works on a massive scale. Mo Xuanyu was dying to save Wei Wuxian, so he was going to get his money’s worth. Yeah, Wuxian’s burn scar disappears. IDK why that’s so hard for some people to process when they can easily accept that he’s no longer puddle-shaped.
TL;DR:: IDK, but I’ve put a ton of thought into it.
#ask#long answer#Anonymous#mine#nie huaisang#mo xuanyu#wei wuxian#i've actually put very very little thought into this#most of this was off-the-cuff#my brain fills in and spirals out while I type which is useful when I'm writing but not great when I'm trying to answer an ask#in less than 150;000 words
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lol okay so I dashed off most of this the day of and then kept not posting it because I kept thinking I needed to add stuff, but then I ended up adding more stuff mostly in reblogs instead (should all be under the “my meta” tag if anyone’s curious) and now episode 2 is technically coming out tomorrow night in my time zone so obviously I need to just post this. bullet points of disconnected thoughts, some of which are probably at least slightly outdated by now but whatever, here you go
seems very possible Mobius left the tape with him on purpose because he figured Loki wouldn’t be able to resist looking at it
would have to check the timing but I’m pretty sure he started looking terrified as soon as Thanos came onscreen without really knowing the context (aside from the very basic outline of “it’s been several years and he reconciled with Thor”), which at least underscores that they weren’t buddies--Loki knew something awful was about to happen the second Thanos showed up sadly this is not true, the clip he sees first is him trying to stab Thanos, so...yeah it stands to reason that he’d know it was about to end badly no matter what
other people have mentioned this but I love that we got to see Loki just like...existing?? like I know he’s never been the protagonist before and seeing him as the protagonist has always been one of the things that’s excited me most about the show, but now that it’s here I’m just kind of struck by how HE’S THE PROTAGONIST so we’re getting all these emotions and little gestures and moments when he’s alone that we only got in tiny, sadly easy-to-overlook snatches before (and it also occurred to me that I don’t think we’ve ever seen Loki eat anything, which is something else that might change)
also his projection is fascinating, and so is the fact that he explicitly turned it around on himself, which seems relevant to all the theories about a lot of his other statements (”freedom is life’s great lie,” most of what he said to Natasha, etc.) being things that were drummed into him on Sanctuary rather than stuff he just came up with on his own, so that seems to cover a lot of the stuff he says in Avengers and here
on the other hand it seems unlikely we’re ever going to get confirmation that Bad Stuff happened to him on Sanctuary aside from what we already saw in Avengers, which is frustrating, although to be fair I also wasn’t expecting to see Loki crying about his family in the first episode (and the most I’m really hoping for, still, is that nothing will explicitly contradict the idea, so...we’re good on that thus far, I guess)
so the first half of the episode was...ehhh, I don’t know, but the second half was amazing. I know some people didn’t like that part either, but I felt like...okay, I don’t love him being humiliated so I would’ve preferred different framing for some of this BUT a lot of casual viewers still see Loki as a cackling caricature without having picked up on any of the stuff that very clearly showed otherwise, and this show wants to treat Loki as a person, someone worthy of audience sympathy, so they kind of had to go in hard and fast on that aspect to get everyone up to speed. like, yes, fans who’ve been paying attention know that Loki’s a person, that he’s wounded, that he doesn’t hurt people just because it’s fun for him, that he feels things very deeply, that he loves his family, but somehow the mainstream perception of him has missed like 85% of that, and the show’s just not going to have much impact unless it gets everybody on board with those very basic ideas. in terms of story structure it probably doesn’t make sense for this to be his lowest point, but starting from the bottom and eventually getting somewhere better is fairly standard, so at this point I can imagine tons of ways things could improve for him
yeah I do hate the whole Sacred Timeline thing, see also my posts about how much I loved that Endgame canonically (I thought) established multiple timelines where everything was fine, so yeah I’m pissed about that because it means those timelines were canonically pruned
like I don’t...hate it as a storytelling device? I just hate it for fandom reasons, and I’ve hated it in other fandoms when canon did something that seemed to open things up to all this incredible possibility and then went “actually no, we’re boxing it up again into this one specific Way That Things Happened” and for fanwork purposes it doesn’t matter all that much, I don’t think it’s actually that much harder to do AUs or go “okay well in this universe the TVA doesn’t exist, whatever” (in fact I wouldn’t be surprised if AO3 quickly develops a new canonical “not TVA compliant” tag for basically all Loki fic), but it is annoying that it’s now like “canonically, every AU is Not Allowed”, and if that ends up sticking as the status quo with the TVA considered good guys or at least a necessary evil then yeah, I’m going to be annoyed
HOWEVER
I don’t think that’s inevitable for a variety of reasons
this whole show is going to deal with multiverse shenanigans and so will Dr. Strange 2, so it seems completely possible that the end result could be a status quo of “there’s a multiverse actually and that’s fine” (...although yes, I’ll be doubly annoyed if the end result of this show is a restored multiverse of some kind and the end result of Dr. Strange 2 is condensing it back down to a single timeline)
the multiverse is a long-running comics tradition, which still seems to be the case even after...whatever event it was that collided a bunch of them and tried for a Highlander thing, look I wasn’t really following it and I know some characters ended up in other universes from where they started but I’m pretty sure we still have a multiverse of some kind
almost all the recent Loki-centric comics have focused on questions of fate and agency
Agent of Asgard in particular was about Loki eventually going “fuck you I won’t do what you tell me” and forging a new path (and, okay, it does seem like runs other than AoA have been the most influential here but again we’ve only seen one episode)
Loki, specifically, is an agent of chaos and change, like that’s his whole thing going way back to mythology, because sometimes stagnancy is death and chaos is healthy, and of course myth!Loki (and earlier versions of comics!Loki) is always responsible for triggering Ragnarok, which isn’t just the end of the world but is also a natural, crucial part of a cycle of renewal, and yes the MCU already did Ragnarok but that doesn’t at all mean they can’t play more with those ideas
Tom Hiddleston has brought up this specific point several times in recent interviews, that sometimes chaos is the one thing that's really needed
also, on Jimmy Kimmel the day of the episode, he kind of...planted a seed about the TVA maybe not being uncomplicated good guys because seriously what gives them the right to make these decisions for literally everyone
so at the very least I think it’s completely possible that things aren’t quite what they seem, and that for instance we’re supposed to discover that Mobius is consciously manipulating him to turn him into the type of tool the TVA wants him to be
also “the timeline wants to break free” shows up on a lot of merch, which does seem to indicate a free will vs. predestination theme
I’m not at all familiar with comics!TVA, although I understand they’re considered villains (although to be fair, so were the Skrulls, and at least thus far that’s been inverted for the MCU), but their whole thing reminded me of a few other entities in a way that could be relevant:
the tape running out was like the Norns cutting the thread of somebody’s life
Those Who Sit Above In Shadow in AoA (and also maybe whatever was below the God Quarry in Infinity Wars although I’m less familiar with that)
the gods in Cabin In The Woods, who were also kind of audience proxies in that they really just cared about the sacrifice being entertaining, which kinda seems like the only logical reason for the Timekeepers to prefer any given series of events over another
my personal hope for the series: the Timekeepers are ultimately the Big Bad and the rogue Loki variant is ultimately right in trying to wipe out the TVA (because sure I realize it’s maybe dumb of me but I still don’t want any Loki to be completely a bad guy!!); the major named TVA characters realize they’re the baddies actually and team up with a whole army of Lokis to take them down and GIVE US BACK OUR MULTIVERSE
#meta#my meta#loki meta#loki spoilers#loki series spoilers#loki show spoilers#loki show#loki#marvel cinematic universe
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I Entered a Dangerous Dungeon
Acchan’s Story
Acchan’s story was very touching and sad. I thought the anime did a great job adapting her POV chapters concisely into this episode.
I love the scene of Acchan reading Past Katarina’s last text message and breaking down crying.
That got me right in the feels.
One slight criticism, is that in the Light Novel we learn that because of Past Katarina, Acchan has made many friends and is able to live on without her best friend. Because of the positive impact Past Katarina had on her life and how much she changed it for the better.
So, while in the anime, Acchan does say she will live on without her best-friend, I feel like it doesn’t come across as strongly as it did in the Light Novel.
That being said. I thought Acchan’s story went really well with the flow of the episode.
In LN Vol.2 her POV honestly felt disruptive and broke the flow of the story for me. So definite kudos to the anime for fixing that.
The text message scene got me, but so did Past Katarina’s funeral.
It’s easy to forget, with Katarina’s silliness, density and antics, that she died tragically young in her former life.
So well done on the anime’s part for hitting me right in the heart with that reminder.
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Sadness and friendship aside. I like how Fortune Lover appears in Katarina’s Past Life.
The poster on Acchan’s wall gives the impression that Prince Geordo and Prince Alan are the two main love interests or the more primary capture-targets.
As they are more front and center than Keith and Nicol.
But since this is Katarina’s story, Keith takes precedent over Alan because of his closer proximity and relationship to Katarina.
There’s also something I really like about Past Katarina struggling to succeed in the Prince Geordo route in the game and technically dying because of it.
It feels like her new life is good karma or the universe trying to make it up to her…so to speak
As in Katarina’s new life she easily wins over Prince Geordo without even trying and by being herself. Hell, she doesn’t even notice that he’s in love with her or that anyone else is.
I’m probably looking way more into that detail than is actually needed, but I just like that small detail to Katarina and Geordo’s relationship.
The Exam Plot
Sophia want to see Katarina after her sad dream (memories) was very sweet and touching. I just love their friendship and how it has cross time, worlds and lives. It’s beautiful.
I don’t think the Exam Plot is from the Light Novels (6-9) and it wasn’t in the manga or Light Novels (1-5).
So, kudos to the Anime for introducing this exam plot and exploring more of the academic life for Katarina and her friends.
I loved their school uniforms for the exam.
It was nice seeing them in the same outfits and they all look pretty damn good in them.
I don’t know why I really like their uniforms so much, but I really do. I just really do.
As much as I love their day-to-day outfits, I would not be mad if this was their school uniform and what we saw them in for the majority of the time.
But that’s probably just me.
Katarina is 100% right about the insanity of this exam.
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But thanks to this crazy exam we got to see more magic and it was great.
I’ve always felt like the Light Novels and the Manga didn’t elaborate or explore on this being a magical world and the fact that all of our main characters have magic (at least in the First Year/Game Arc). The later novels (3-5) do elaborate a bit further.
In Fortune Lover, it’s clear that magic was just a mechanic in the game to explain why all these characters were in the same school and a slight twist to making Maria different and special, as well as make Fortune Lover different from other Otome games.
And if I’m not mistakes Katarina even says the same thing about Fortune Lover.
Fortune Lover gave a limited view of this world. Even when it came to Maria Campbell’s life and background, but the actual Hamefura story explores the world to a much greater extent.
So, it always seemed liked a wasted opportunity not to do the same with magic.
As it never really felt that magic matters for certain characters at all.
For example in the Light Novels’ Character Profiles -- Sophia is said to have Earth magic and Raphael is said to have Light Magic…
But clearly that doesn’t really matter, because the anime (and maybe manga) can easily change their original types of magic to Wind Magic (I’m assuming it was Raphael who used that wind-tunnel to save Sophia and Katarina).
HOWEVERE, there does seem to be a mistake in Sophia’s profile as it’s just Katarina’s in regards to her likes, dislikes, etc.
Sophia’s Profile in Vol.5 (english-translation) is more than likely wrong in regards to her magic. Which might mean Raphael’s magic in his profile is also wrong.
So, we should take that into consideration.
My point being that I’m very happy that the anime is taking different route with how it handles magic in comparison to the LN/Manga.
It’s been a huge improvement.
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Katarina is so fucking dumb (I love her).
Not only does she push the red button on the floor without even thinking about it for even a second, but in addition, her contributing to the group with her earth-bump was hilarious and adorable.
Plus, her picking the most poisonous mushrooms that ever existed was just so stupid and so amazing.
I also love how both Mary and Sophia are pretty fucking dumb when it comes to Katarina (and really only when it comes to her).
Mary is fully prepared to eat deadly mushrooms as long as Katarina is the one who prepares them and Sophia just hops right on board.
And Sophia was really the only who was genuinely complimenting Katarina for her earth-bump move in the exam. Which is just so sweet and also so dumb.
I love the three of them so goddamn much + Maria being the only one of the girls not willing to the deadly mushrooms.
While I am a bit disappointed that Katarina’s videogame knowledge wasn’t of any use to her in the exam, I did genuinely love Geordo pushing her towards the the path they decided to take.
I also enjoyed Alan saving Mary and her slighty blushing and him looking slighty embarassed as well.
I will say I was disappointed that we only really saw the boys be capable during the exam, not any of the girls. Except for when Sophia helped Nicol locate Katarina…but still.
And of course, Katarina found the magic-stone because she needed a tool to help her gather mushrooms. That’s 100% Katarina. Though, a part of would have prefer it if Katarina was very knowledgable about plants in general and knew that those mushrooms were deadly. (either way it works for me)
And the one councilmember in her head (happy) seeing a lizard as food was fucking fantastic.
I love the noble girls being jealous of Katarina and talking about her.
It’s nice seeing them before the big accusation scene happens. Just by showing the noble girls being mad and jealous of Katarina feels more organic to the story.
Plus, Maria noticing the Dark Magic behind Katarina.
I’m very happy with the past two ‘filler’ episodes building up to the two big climatic scenes and events.
--
The main problem I had with this episode is that -
The Exam Makes No Sense…
I know that not unusual for anime or plenty of other stories, but the exam really makes no sense.
Aside from one group, basically everyone else is basically set up to fail. Right?
If you find the magic stone than you pass. If you don’t find the (one) magic stone, then you fail.
The exam isn’t really testing what they’ve learned or improved upon.
It’s more based on luck and the amount of magical power one has.
Which seems unfair, as we know that a good portion of the magic population is closer to Katarina’s level of power than Keith’s, at least in LN, but maybe it’s different in the anime (or maybe I read the LN wrong).
I guess it’s possible that even though the team that finds the magic stone automatically passes, the other teams can pass based on how they navigated through the ruins...maybe. That would make more sense.
Though, it’s very possible that Alan, Mary, and Maria didn’t pass the practical exam because they weren’t on Katarina’s team.
And while I doubt that will be addressed later in the anime - If Alan, Mary and Maria actually failed the practical exam then that would be a great reason for why they arrived late during the accusation scene.
They weren’t there because they had to retake the practical exam or do another one.
So, even if the anime doesn’t say that’s the reason, that’s going to be my headcanon for right now.
ALSO
The teachers literally split the top students of the entire grade into two separate groups…
I’m not exaggerating.
The students who get picked to be on the Student Council (the harem) are the ones who ranked the highest in the evaluation exam at the beginning of the school year.
First Year Rankings
1. Geordo Stuart (Canon)
2. Maria Campbell (Canon)
3. Alan Stuart (Canon)
4. Keith Claes (non-canon)
5. Mary Hunt (non-canon)
6. Sophia Ascart (non-canon)
We don’t actually know the rankings of Keith, Mary and Sophia but since they’re also on the student council, we know that they must be ranked 4-6. We just don’t know the exact order. .
Having the highest ranked students in two groups, basically feels like setting up all the other students for failure.
Then you have Katarina who is right smack in the middle of the rankings (#80) as part of one of the two groups.
That gives me the impression that Geordo and Keith basically demanded that Katarina be on the same team they are on, not realizing the other was doing the same.
Which is par for the course.
As all the members of the harem (minus Maria), threatened the teachers that if Katarina didn’t get permanent permission to be allowed in the Student Council chambers, then they would all resign from the student council (Manga/LN).
I know I’m thinking about this too much.
And that of course the main characters are going to be together, because they’re the main characters. But still...
Really with just one or two lines from the teacher would have at least solved one of the illogical problems here.
Teacher – “We have place several of these stones in the labyrinth, your goal is to find one of them. If your team leaves the dungeon without finding a stone, your team fails.”
Or something to that affect...
As much as I love Geordo and Keith being exasperated by Katarina and protecting her.
This also could’ve have been a nice opportunity to introduce Katarina’s non-council friends. Rather than us just seeing them right before she gets accused of bullying.
But again, it does make more sense to have the main characters to be teamed up together...because they are the main characters. I just can’t help but point out the logistical problems for this exam.
Though maybe the anime will build off what’s been established in this episode...maybe.
--
Overall, I really enjoyed this episode.
I was hit in the feels right away, laughed so hard, and it was just a lot of fun.
And of course, I was very happy to see the anime is adding its own stuff to the story and elaborating beyond the Light Novels and Manga.
#Katarina Claes#Bakarina#Hamefura#destruction flag otome#Otome game no hametsu flag#Geordo Stuart#Gerald Stuart#Keith Claes#Sophia Ascart#Acchan#Mary Hunt#Alan Stuart#Maria Campbell#Raphael wolt#Sirius Dieke#Nicol Ascart
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Maybe Steamrolling Games is Bad Actually
Videogames are unique in that they are inextricably tied to corporatism and have been since birth (this is an oversimplification but roll with it). This means that to an extent most companies even since the ’80s have never really cared about proper preservation or easy access to their titles. Nintendo carts were originally manufactured to have their battery die in 3 years so you would have to buy a new one (this failed, but it’s why you still see a lot of dead carts floating around). I think there's a nostalgia issue within the gaming fandom regarding "oh x was great back then" but a lot of the time, games manufacturers have been historically shitty and anti-consumer and it’s just that they now have the tools to execute it much more effectively. Regarding obtrusive DRM, that’s an issue PC games have had since their zenith, where if you lost your original copy of a manual or a small plastic key you could never play a game again because the codes were individualized for each copy and support would refuse to give you a new one. Even back in the arcades, there were particularly batshit examples like the CPS board, which I shit you not was built to explode a battery pack filled with corrosive acid if it detected you were attempting to repair or modify it. There’s a lot to say about the current state of games but what I would likely illustrate is that 2/3 major consoles are racing to decide who will be obsolete first. Games consoles are reaching a point where they are trying to emulate PCs with more restrictions and DRM. We're already seeing interest in steam spike again and it’s likely that eventually, we will see almost a crash for consoles where no one can justify the price for games they can play on a PC rig. The only solution I see there would be a merger between the two consoles which feels inevitable.
That being said as interest in the PC space increases again so does attempts at entering the bubble. We have Epic, Origin, Microsoft, Indiegala, Itchio, and Steam all vying for attention, requiring accounts, and offering exclusives to justify the use of their storefront over others. Some people think this is a good thing because it's breaking up Steam's monopoly but it literally is not, if you ever really wanna hear me rant ask me about Leftist obsession with itch being some sort of ethical steam, which it is provably not. In the end, the real sort of saviour figures that work to preserve games are random ass people on the internet. I know people who automatically assume that at the end of the day, companies care about games preservation too, and they usually have a three-pronged argument that cites a) Steam’s ability to allow the redownloading of delisted games, b) retro companies periodically rereleasing titles for modern consoles in compilations, and c) companies doing limited reruns of a game that fans request. All three of these examples are basically an incredibly effective use of diversionary tactics, but most of the time when someone cites these I just assume it’s a misunderstanding and not outright malicious intent because a lot of the time companies will attempt to actively implant these ideas to build brand loyalty.
My main dissertation is usually that Steam is incredibly selective with what titles you can redownload, and most importantly, corporate benevolence is more-so a band-aid on a gaping wound! There’s no contingency for when Steam might migrate to a new service, go belly up, or become obsolete when a new OS is created. That means thousands, tens of thousands of dollars worth of games are just gone, permanently, along with fan mods, DLC, and content. It’s a terrifying thought that not many people bring up when discussing the problems with game storefronts that focus so much on providing a cloud and have DRM attached to every purchase. In a way, Steam preceded the trend of not allowing consumers to actually own the things they purchased, and they’ve avoided criticism by strategic use of silence and creating the illusion of a company being made by the consumers they’re attempting to serve. At the end of the day, Steam is a business, and if you ever lose access to your Steam account, or they decide to up and leave one day, you will not be able to play almost all of those games, even if you have them installed on a hard drive, because if you’re online, they connect with a server to ensure your steam account has the ability to play them. When it comes to other arguments like the limited rereleases or use of compilations to preserve arcade titles, I usually just beg people to look at community-driven options that have existed for years. The Scott Pilgrim game is a big source of contention, but I would point out that for years now, it was playable, for free, with all the DLC, on PCs. Preservationists didn’t wait for the gods of Universal and O’Malley to rerelease it for 30 bucks or save up to snatch the fucking ridiculous 200$ limited edition with shitty paper cut-outs, they straight up just did the work to make the game free and available. RCPS3 has (with a contemporary build) been able to run the game pretty flawlessly for years now, in fact, it was how I played through a majority of the game in high school on my shitty brick of a laptop. If you look further out than this one example then it gets even better, MAME and other emulation backends have been able to play obscure, unfinished, and homebrew titles with 100% accuracy, on almost any setup, for free, for decades! I found out about many of these options back in 2015 or so, certainly late to the curve, but I never really questioned as to why emulation, games preservation, and some key titles being available on PC remained some sort of arcane, unknown knowledge to most people interested in games. In the end, the answer was a highly effective propaganda campaign that combined with strategic use of DMCA takedowns has resulted in the concept of communal games-preservation and emulation becoming some sort of debate, where people will wholeheartedly side with corporations in some sort of quest for preserving things the “ethical and correct way,” which is code for preservation on the condition that it remains profitable for the IP owners.
I think the best way to illustrate this would be with the community built around the preservation of an infamous PS4 title, PT. The story of its inevitable delisting from the storefront and the messy breakup between Kojima and Konami is well known, so I won’t regurgitate it, look it up at your own leisure. What is significant here is corporate reactions to attempts at preserving the game, which can basically be boiled down to Konami acting with borderline rabid fervour to prevent redownload, redistribution, or recreation of a seven-year-old demo, released for free download. Mentions of solutions to redownload the game have been taken down, fan-made recreations for PC, and archival servers that store a copy of the game for future preservation or emulation. Usually when this is brought up a debate occurs citing that technically speaking, Konami has a right to do this whenever they want, for whatever piece of media they believe infringes on their copyright. On one hand, yes this argument is factually correct considering the current state of copyright and ownership of media, but on the other hand, what compels someone to step into the ring for a multi-million dollar company with the primary argument being “well actually, people SHOULDN’T be able to play this specific video game until it benefits the shareholders”? In my opinion, it’s some sort of corporatized symbiosis where players believe that, if you cull the bad actors and play by the rules of the company, you may be able to eventually play the game a couple of years down the line. Sure, this has happened in the past with a few isolated cases, but it can’t be stressed enough that this is a genuinely dangerous and reductive position for people to take regarding games preservation.
I have two colleagues, Mariken and Fotocopiadora, who released a short interactive title called Videopulp (playable here: https://fotocopiadora.itch.io/videopulp). It’s a dramatic reimagining of a real historical event, wherein a promotional event was held in 1994 at Lelystad to destroy bootleg carts by a figure in a Mario costume. This perhaps best encapsulates something I am pleading with younger generations to understand, as an archivist, art historian, and creator: corporations are not your friends, and they never will be. With the rise of online circles of leftism, this concept is starting to gain traction but is starting to be polluted with concepts of fandom and tribalism. This has lead to arguments that while *most* corporations are bad how could you say that about Nintendo? Or Valve? Mario is so innocent and characters like Wheatley are beloved by all! I feel some people don’t realize that they can enjoy a select title or character without enlisting in a corporate faction in the battle for “best company” or “best videogame”. It leads to a parasocial kinship with a nonexistent figure that was hand-crafted to ensure consumer loyalty to a certain brand. It’s depressing, terrifying, and should stand as a disquieting example of how the grip of capitalism on works of art has permanently distorted how we think and engage with media today. So, what’s the solution? As always I can never really provide something concrete that’ll act as a cure-all, only things that people in games need to work towards. Bring up conversations about games preservation, create archives for your own work, support archivists and boost their work whenever a new discovery is created, and try to promote optimism and solidarity in your hobbyist communities. I’ve noticed a lot of futility being intertwined with the future of AAA gaming, use of online storefronts, and the inability to own pieces of media anymore, and I feel this should be pushed back against, even in a minute way. Open-source programmes still exist that allow you to hold on to what you have purchased, offline and ad-free options exist for games launchers, e-readers, and media players. The future isn’t bright, but it is not a place without hope, and as long as people continue to enter communities with passion and ingenuity, I think we have a chance at stopping the events at Lelystad, 1994 from happening again.
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Take it Slow - Part Sixty-Six
a/n: okay this is my first shot at a harry:y/n fic, and it will be multiple parts. y/n had a bad experience with an ex over a year ago, and finally accepts her coworker and good friend Niall’s invitation to go on a blind date with his friend Harry.
Warnings: Fluff. Smut…there’s, um, some more butt stuff…
Masterpost (all previous parts can be found in the masterpost)
Friday after work you meet Harry at the first of three locations he wanted to look at. He really trusted your eye and vision for things. You didn’t like the first location.
“Not enough foot traffic. You’ll want people to be able to walk in and make appointments.”
He agreed with you. Harry’s main thing was to make sure there were two offices in the back. He needed a private space for himself, and for Mariah if she decided to join him.
“You should also see if you can sell frames and other products to help add to your profit. You could offer special deals for those booklets you make.”
“Good idea. That’ll give Isaac somethin’ to do too if he comes along.”
You liked the second location the best out of the three. It was closer to home, and near a park. There were other businesses and a ton of foot traffic. There were two offices, one in the back, and one upstairs. Harry liked the idea of it being two stories. There was also a large storage closet.
“With some paint and some new furniture, this could be a really great place.”
“Yeah, and the price is right in my budget.” Harry says looking over his paperwork. “Are there many offers on this space yet?”
“Not yet, but it’ll move fast. Take the weekend to think things over and let me know Monday, yeah?”
“Alright, sounds good.”
You and Harry were having Mariah and Isaac over for lunch Saturday, so that would give everyone time to think a lot of things over.
“You have the money in your budget for renovations and stuff like that?” You ask him as you get into the car.
“Yup, I think I’ve thought of just about everything. I’d need to put my two weeks in at work quick though because I’d need to spend my free time fixin’ the place up.”
“Which means you’d need to file for insurance soon…”
“Yeah, and I’d need to get my LLC insured too. This is all happening so fast.” He says excitedly. “When can we start working on the website?”
“How about tomorrow night? Once we know if Mariah’s on board we can add her info to it.”
“Thanks again for helpin’ with all this, I don’t know what I’d do without you.” He gives your hand a squeeze.
“I’d do anything for you, Harry.” You smile at him and he nearly starts to cry.
//
“So…what exactly are we doing here, other than to have lunch?” Mariah asks as you set a plate of sandwiches in front of everyone.
“Well, I’m finally jumpin’ into my own business, and to be up front, I want you both to come with me.”
“Me?” Isaac asks in shock.
“Yes.” Harry hands them his business plan. “It’s all right there. Y/N and I looked at some spaces yesterday and found one we think could suit all of us. My freelance work alone would be enough to sustain us, so imagine the few people you work with on top of that Mariah. And Isaac, there’s no one else I’d trust bookin’ shit f’me. I know I’m asking you to leave something comfortable, and it might seem rocky at first, but I think this could be great.”
“What would you call the business? Or is it just a space we’d use together?” She asks flipping through.
“Well, that’s somethin’ we could talk about. I mean I’d want us to have business cards that match. It could just be our last names or we could come up with somethin’.”
“I think we should just call it Styles Photography.” She suggests.
“But you’d be my partner, so where does your name go?”
“I’d be working for you, and it would go on my business card. Your name should be everywhere, this is your thing.” She smiles.
“Harry, I have to say, I’m really impressed with this. I mean the salary you’re suggesting for me is way more than I make now.” Isaac says.
“It’s what you deserve to be paid, you work really hard. And Y/N suggested we sell other little things to help offset other costs, which I think is brilliant.”
“Yeah, we could sell some of those techie frames where you digitally load the photos. People go nuts for those.” Mariah says. “Fuck it, I’m in.”
“Me too.”
“Are you both serious?! I wouldn’t be able to provide many benefits…that’s the only thing.”
“I’m still on my parent’s insurance for a couple more years.” Isasc says.
“So am I, actually.” Mariah says. “So we’d have time save up for all that.”
“My question is, when would we start?”
“Well, I’d be leaving Plant Geo far before either of you. I need to lease the space and fix it up. I’d say by June we could be up and running. Y/N’s going to help put a legitimate website together for us, and she’s going to do this social media campaign to help get the word out.”
“Harry, do you think you could have some legitimate contracts made up for us?” Isaac asks.
“Definitely. I could have them to you by the end of next week probably. So we’re doin’ this, I can go lease the space?”
“Yeah! Do you have any pictures?” Mariah asks. Harry hands her his phone. “I was thinkin’ of putting a wall up in the back and adding a small kitchen area. There’s an office in the back for you, and I would take the one upstairs. Huge storage closet for all our shit. I was thinkin’ of getting a custom desk made for you too Isaac.”
“Can you do all that yourself?” You ask.
“Yeah, I’m pretty handy. So are Lou and Niall, they could help when I need it.”
“My dad could help too…” You bite your bottom lip. You hadn’t really spoken to your dad in a while.
“We’ll see…” Harry smiles. “Anyways, I’m really excited you guys are on board.”
“Me too, I’ve been getting sick of all the drama there.” Mariah says.
“Chris is gonna flip losing her three best people.” Isaac says.
“You two need to keep quiet that you’re comin’ with me. I’m not even tellin’ her I’m getting my own studio, I’m just telling her I’m going to freelance full time.”
“Good idea.”
The three shake on it, and Harry tells them they’ll get proper contacts soon. After they leave he calls the realtor and tells him he’ll take the space and will have a check for him Monday.
“Once I get the blue prints of the place I can get the permits I need for renovations.” He tells you. “Do you really think your dad would help?”
“Sure, I mean it would be good to have him there in case you stumble into any electrical mishaps. Plus he has a ton of tools. He could borrow my brother’s truck and meet you out there. And he’s free labor. Well, mostly free, you’d need to buy him a beer or two.”
“What’s his number I’ll call him.”
“You wanna call my dad?”
“Why would I have you call him? So he can ask you a ton of questions and make you angry? No way, I’ll talk to him.”
You give Harry your dad’s number and he dials it on his phone. He picks up after a few rings. Harry puts the phone on speaker.
“Hello?”
“Uh, hi Mr. Y/L/N, it’s Harry…”
“Oh! Um, hi. Is everything okay with Y/N?” You two smile at each other.
“Yeah, she’s fine, I asked her for your number actually.”
“Oh boy…you’re not calling for the reason I think you are?” Harry’s face goes beat red.
“Uh, no, no, no, not yet anyways.” He laughs nervously. “She actually told me to call you because I’m officially renting my own studio space and I’m going to be doing some renovations to it. Y/N said you could be a great help.”
“Oh! Well, that’s a much better reason to call.” You roll your eyes and Harry swats an arm at you. “What do you need help with?”
“Well, a lot actually.” Harry takes the phone off speaker and walks away so he can explain everything to your dad.
About an hour or so later Harry comes back to you and plops down on the couch. He takes a deep breath and looks at you.
“Your dad is a chatty guy.” He laughs.
“Yeah, no shit. Did he really think you were calling to ask if you could marry me?”
“Yes, and he talked my ear off about how even though he knows we love each other, we just need to slow down a bit and that it’s too soon for all that.”
“I’m sorry.” You can’t help but laugh.
“S’alright. Don’t really need his permission though do I.” It wasn’t a question.
“Nope.” You smile. “So what did he say about helping?”
“Oh, he’s all for it. Said it would give him somethin’ to do. He said your brother could probably help too. He said once I get all the right permits he’d be able to jump in wherever.”
“That’s great!”
“God, I can’t wait to give my two weeks to Chris on Monday. Been there for four years, feels way longer.”
“I’m so proud of you Harry, this is going to be great.”
//
Monday morning Harry walked into Christin’s office and handed her his two weeks notice.
“What’s this?” She asks looking up at him.
“I’m leavin’ Plant Geo. I’m goin’ to invest more into my own work. No hard feelings, I just can’t do this anymore. The work doesn’t make me happy like it used to.”
“There’s nothing I can do to convince you to stay? You’re the best photographer we’ve got.”
“I’m sorry, Chris. It’s just not what I want anymore. I wanna be my own boss.”
“I understand.”
“I’d like to keep this quiet, I don’t want anyone makin’ a fuss.” She nods and he walks out of her office to go to his own.
//
Harry made a ton of phone calls all week to get the ball rolling on the permits he’d need to start making renovations to the studio. He also worked on the contracts he’d need to give Mariah and Isaac. He asked Rachel if she’d be able to help paint once it was all ready for that. Harry felt lucky to have so many friends that were willing to support him.
Every night you and Harry sat at the dining room table getting his website together. He loved watching you work. He was beyond grateful for you. You’d make sure everything looked the way he wanted. You both worked really well together.
“As you’re renovating we should post on Instagram to show everyone updates. You’ll need to give me the login to your professional insta.”
“Should we just make a brand new one for the LLC?”
“No, we can just update yours. Then we can post an announcement to Facebook, and let everyone know about the site. I can set it up so they book with you on the site too. Isaac would have the final approval on the reservation of course, that way you wouldn’t get overworked.”
“I’ve told a few people and they said they were really excited. A lot of people have more time during the week to get their pictures taken than I thought. Plus I can still freelance for other magazines if I want.”
“Did Christin tell you that?”
“Yeah, we spoke and she said if I ever needed the work she’d give it to me.”
“That’s good.”
“Yeah, I appreciated it.”
//
A couple of weeks later, your dad started helping Harry with the renovations. Your dad was actually impressed that Harry had a lot of the proper things he needed like masks and goggles. Harry made sure to take before and after pictures for you to post updates on social media. One night he came home in a pair of jeans, workboots, and a longsleeve shirt. It was starting to get warmer out, but the longsleeve helped keep dust and other scraps off his skin.
“I can’t believe I’m sayin’ this, but I’m actually havin’ fun with your dad. He’s helpin’ me get the kitchen together this week.”
“That’s great.” You bite your bottom lip while he runs a hand through his hair.
“What?”
“Nothing…you just look…hot. Where’s your tool belt?”
“Left it in my trunk.” He smirks. He comes over to you and rests his hands on your hips. “Why?”
“Be nice if you brought it home some night.”
“You should come by one of the mornings your dad isn’t there.”
“I’m not fucking you in your studio.”
“C’mon, why not? Now that would be hot.”
“Harry.” You suck your teeth and pull his hands off you. He pulls you back closer to him.
“Okay, okay.” He presses his forehead to yours. “I have a wedding to shoot this weekend.”
“I know.”
“So we won’t have much time together again, I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. I’m gonna spend some time with Rachel.”
“Oh good.” He kisses your nose. “I needa shower, I must smell like a goat.”
“A very sexy goat.”
//
Rachel comes over Saturday while is off taking wedding photos. You’re enjoying catching up with her. She tells you how excited she is to help paint at the studio, and how excited Mariah is to work with Harry.
“I’m really glad she’s my girlfriend, she’s awesome.”
“I’m so happy for you! I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so happy.” You take a sip your tea. “Can I ask you something kind of personal?”
“Always.”
“Well…you know about the things Sarah and I bought for the boys?”
“Oh yeah, she filled me in on all that.”
“Okay cool, so it’s been a while since Harry and I dove back into all that. He’s just been so busy with everything, I’ve sort of felt bad asking you know?”
“Sure.”
“So like…how do straps work?”
“Oh my god, you wanna peg him?”
“You have no idea how badly I wanna get into that ass.” You both laugh.
“Yes, oh my god, okay, well, I’ve never used one in someone’s butt before, but using the strap in general just makes it easier to like hold onto the person. It’s not like using a dildo where you have to keep your hand gripped on it.”
“But how do you know what you’re doing?”
“You just feel around, talk to your partner make sure they like what you’re doing. Does he know you wanna fuck him like that?”
“Yeah.”
“And he’s cool with it?”
“He didn’t seem not cool with it. You should have seen how amazing he looked when I used the plug on him, Jesus, he was beautiful.”
“I never expected you to be into something like this, I love this for you.”
“I didn’t expect it either. I just don’t know how to bring it up. He hasn’t had a free second.”
“Have you had sex otherwise?”
“Oh sure. We always make time for it. We just haven’t had time for the things that take a little longer.”
“Do you think he’ll want to do it to you?”
“He’s not really a give to get kind of person. I don’t want it for myself and he knows that.”
“Oh that’s nice. Yeah, I don’t really like the strap used on me, I don’t need the dick.” You both laugh.
“So sex with Mariah is good then?”
“So good. I’ve never really connected with someone the way I’ve connected with her.”
“That’s great Rach.”
“Please don’t keep me in the dark about if/when you actually peg Harry. I’m gonna need all the details.” You both start laughing just as he’s walking in.
“Oi, what’s so funny.” He smirks at them, loosening his tie.
“Hi!” You say blushing. “Did you just walk in?”
“Mhm. Hi Rach.”
“Hey Harry.” She smiles at him then at you. “Well, I’ll get going, I have some projects I need to grade actually. God, summer cannot come fast enough.”
“I hear that.” You stand up to walk her out. “Thanks for coming over today.”
“Course! It was fun to catch up. Bye!” You turn back to look at Harry.
“She didn’t need to leave.”
“Oh she’s been here for hours it’s fine. You’re home earlier than I thought.”
“It was an early morning wedding, and they didn’t need me for the reception, just family shots, so I got outta there as soon as I could.” He slips hit suit jacket off and walks down the hall to your bedroom. You follow him. “What was so funny when I walked in?”
“Hm? Oh, I can’t even remember. Sometimes we just get into these laughing fits.” You sit on the bed and watch him undress. He hangs up his suit and looks at you. “You know Aunt Flow left yesterday.”
“Did she now?”
“Mhm.”
“Is that your way of tellin’ me you wanna bone?” You giggle and bite your bottom lip.
“Maybe.”
“Well, we gotta make it quick. I need to go to the studio and get some things done.” He stands between your legs and you can’t help but pout. “Whatsa matter, angel?”
“We’ve been making it quick a lot lately.” You say looking up at him. You put your hands on his hips.
“Aw, you want us to take our time baby?”
“Yes.”
“How about a quick shag now, and then tonight when I get back we can take our time, hm? We’ll do whatever you want.”
“Whatever I want?”
“Sure.” He smiles. “Now take your pants off.” You grin and stand up to take your leggings off.
Harry fingered you until you came and then fucked you into the mattress before he left for the studio. You got caught up on some homework while he was gone and made dinner. He got home around seven, exhausted.
“Please take a day off from it tomorrow.”
“I will, I will. I just wanted to get some things done. Your dad is comin’ back to help Monday so I brought some lumbar over and some other things we’d need.”
You both eat quickly. He goes over to sit on the couch, but you put your hands on your hips and make a grunting noise.
“What?” He looks at you just as he was about to turn the TV on. You point to the bedroom. “Babe, I just need-“
“No, you said when you got home we could do whatever I wanted. Now get that ass up and into our bedroom.”
He couldn’t say no to that, so he stands walks with you into the bedroom. He sees that you’ve pulled out the special box and stops short.
“You…you wanna do this tonight?”
“Neither of us have anywhere to be tomorrow, and we haven’t done it since the first time.” You bite your inner cheek. “If you don’t want to we don’t have to.”
“S’not that I don’t want to…what’s the end goal here?”
“I want to be able to fuck you in the ass.” You say bluntly and he nods. “Are you okay with that?”
“I think I could be.” He sits down on the edge of the bed and you stand between his legs. He looks up at you. “I’ve been reading into it a little.”
“You have?”
“Yeah, can’t say I’m not curious…but there’s gonna have to be things that you’ll have to do. I mean you’re legitimately going to need to finger me to stretch me out and stuff. Are you comfortable with that?”
“Maybe if you shower first.” You giggle.
“Alright, let me go shower.” He stands up and starts taking his clothes off. “I want you naked on this bed ready f’me when I get out. I’m still a little hungry, and I really only want one thing.”
You do as he says and excitedly get on the bed and wait for him while he showers. Harry makes sure he’s all clean and comes out to you. He gets on the bed and hovers over you. He kisses your lips and then makes his way down your chest. He takes your nipple between his teeth before sucking on your breast.
“Ah.” Your head rolls back while he sucks on one and kneads the other.
He makes his way to suck on the other, wanting to give equal attention. He kisses down your chest and belly. He kisses one of your hips and sucks on the skin harshly letting it go with a pop. He spreads your legs apart and dives in. He licks a flat tripe up from your center to your clit. He laps at your folds and sucks where he pleases. His tongue goes up inside you while his thumb works your clit. He was really taking his time, only make small, slow circles. Your chest was rising and falling rapids. When he wraps his mouth around your clit, your hands fly to his hair. His middle and forefinger plunge inside you, going in knuckle deep.
“Shit.” He looks up at you while your eyes are rolled back.
He took a great deal of satisfaction knowing that even though in a few minutes you’d totally be in charge, but no matter what he’d always be the one in control. If he really wanted to he could fuck you so hard you wouldn’t be able to walk for a week, let alone stand.
He curls his fingers up inside you while the tip of his tongue flicks back and forth against your swollen nub. You tug at his hair harder. He feels you start to clench around his fingers as he hits that spongy spot you love so much.
“Harry.” You moan. You moan his name over over until you’re coming. He takes his fingers out of you and slips his tongue back inside to suck on you. He wanted all you’d give him. “Fuck.” You were out of breath.
He sits up between your legs and wipes chin with the back of his hand.
“Go get the towel and the lube.” He says to you.
You practically squeal while you grab everything. You lay the towel down for him and he sits on top of it.
“Are you sure it won’t be easier on your stomach?”
“No, I want to be able to look at you while you do it. I’ll just hold my legs up like last time.”
“Okay. I’m just gonna blow you for a few minutes first.”
“Sounds good to me.”
You smile and lick up his shaft. You wrap your lips around his tip and slide down. His hips buck up slightly. He felt like he could explode at any second. Going down on you really got him going. Your tongue slides back forth on his slit, lapping up at his precome.
“Shit.” He groans. One of your hands cradles his balls and massages them lightly. “So good, babe.”
You come off him with a popping sound. You grab the lube and put some on your fingers. You warm it up as best you can. You look at him.
“All clean right?”
“Mhm, I sprayed the water right up in there.” You both giggle.
“Okay.”
You lean up and press your forehead against his while he hooks his arms under his knees to give you better access. Your finger tip lightly grazes around him. You start laughing and so does he.
“I’m sorry, I’m just nervous.” You look at him.
“I am too, it’s okay. We can laugh through it, we don’t need to be so serious. S’kinda funny anyways.”
“Yeah, like, my bare finger is gonna go into your ass.”
“Yup.” You both laugh again. “Hold on, before you push in, just like squirt some of th lube directly on me.”
“Won’t that be too cold?”
“It’s fine, I’ll adjust.”
You grab the bottle and put it directly on him. He clenches at how cool it is but he relaxes again. You kiss him as you lightly play with his hole, getting him to relax more and more. Eventually you start to push your middle finger inside of him. He winces at first.
“Nail’s a little long.”
“Shit, I should have clipped them.”
“S’okay, just be careful.”
You continue to kiss him and you feel him relax around you as your finger goes in deeper. There was so much trust between the two of you and you were so happy. You get it all the way in and you pause.
“What should I do now? Curl it up? Move it?”
“Bring it out all the way slowly, put more lube on, and then put it back in.”
You nod and do just that. Eventually you’re able to get a second finger in, and he seems to be enjoying it by the way his cock twitches.
“Doing okay, Harry?”
“Mhm.” Beads of sweat were rolling down his forehead. “Doesn’t feel too bad actually. DO you wanna get the plug now, think I’m stretched out enough.”
“Yeah!” You pull your fingers out of him. “I’m just gonna go wash my hands, one second.” You race into the bathroom and scrub your fingers quickly. You return with the plug in your hand. You get it lubed up and start to push it inside him.
He gasps but relaxes. You had done a pretty good job of stretching him out. Once you get it all the way in, you focus your attention on his cock. You wrap your mouth around his dripping tip and suckle on it.
“Did you…did you wanna try…” He was panting. You look up at him and you can’t help but smile at the beautiful blush covering his cheeks.
“What is it, Harry? Tell me what you want.” You coo as you pump his dick.
“The, uh, you know…the dildo.”
“Babe, it doesn’t have a base.”
“So tie somethin’ around the end of it.”
“Is that safe?”
“I just…I need somethin’ to go deeper.” Your mouth falls open and then you bite your bottom lip.
“Okay, don’t be mad, but I did buy something else.”
“Why would I be mad?”
“I don’t know, we haven’t done this in a while and I didn’t want you to get freaked out.”
You get off the bed and go into the back of your closet. You grab a bag and your hands shake as you take the item in it out.
“Oh.”
“I…I’m a little nervous to put it on. Is this going to be weird for you?”
“I think we’ve crossed the point of weird, don’t you?” He chuckles.
“But it’s going to be me…with a penis.”
“Not really. Let’s just remember to laugh, okay?”
“Okay.”
You slip it on over yourself and you look at him.
“Straps around your ass look nice.”
“Stop” You laugh. “Should I put a condom on it?”
“Um, I think just the lube should be fine.”
“Okay.”
You take a deep breath and get on the bed. You carefully pull the plug out of him.
“You’re about this, we don’t have to do this, Harry.”
“No, I want to.”
“Not just because I want to?”
“Y/N…” He cups your cheek with his hand. “If you’re too nervous, we don’t have to go this far tonight. I’m honestly okay.”
“Alright.”
You take the lube and squirt it into your hand. You rub it all over the dildo attached to the strap.
“Ready?”
“Mhm.” He keeps his legs held back for you as you slowly slip inside him. He lets out a deep breath and relaxes as much as he can.
“Okay?”
“Okay.”
“How does it…how does it feel?”
“Lotta pressure.” He says through gritted teeth. He looks up at you and smirks.
“What?” You start chuckling.
“You just look…sexy, I don’t know how to describe it.”
“It is pretty hot isn’t it?”
“Little bit, yeah.” He relaxes more and you’re able to fit the whole thing inside him. “Holy shit.”
“Did I hurt you?”
“No, opposite of hurt.”
“Oh! Maybe I hit your prostate.”
“Look at that, you’re a natural.” You both laugh.
You starts to pull out a little and you get some more lube on the dildo to add to his comfort. You thrust back in slowly and he lets out another breath. Eventually it actually starts to feel really good for him. You pump his cock while you go in and out of him. Keeping your eyes on his face the whole time to make sure he’s alright.
“You’re doing so well, Harry. How’s it feel, am I making you feel good?” The tip of the dildo keeps brushing against just where he needs it to, and your hand wrapped around hip, thumb working his tip, was pushing him over the edge.”
“I think I’m gonna come.” He gasps. “Oh my goooodd, please let me come on your tits.”
His moans were really getting to you. You angle his dick towards his chest, and with a couple final pumps and thrusts he was coming all over you.
“Fuck, Y/N.” He groans.
You both take a second to catch your breaths. You slowly slide out of him and take the strap off. His legs fall onto the bed. A lot of the lube comes out of him, but you try not to look. You straddle his hips and hover over him. You hug him close to you, neither of you really caring about how messy everything is.
“Are you okay? You did so good, sooo good Harry.” You give him gentle kisses on lips and cheeks. “Thank you, thank you, we don’t ever have to do it again if you didn’t like it.”
“Babe.” He says breathlessly. “I’m good.” He cups your cheeks in his hands and brings you down to kiss him. “We can do it again.”
“Really? It felt that good?”
“I don’t think I’ve ever come so hard.” You smile at him. “And you looked…I mean…it was hot.” You kiss him again. “Not an all the time thing though…maybe for like…special occasions?”
“Sure! How ‘bout if you’re in the mood for it, you tell me.”
“That sounds like a good deal.”
“How are your legs, you had them up for a while?”
“They’re fine, just tired. I feel like I have a whole new respect for what I put your body through all the time.” You giggle and kiss him.
“Would you like me to draw us a bath? Get all clean and cozy?”
“Yeah, I think that would be nice.”
“Okay.”
You climb off him and he watches you go into the bathroom. His asshole was on fire, but he couldn’t muster the energy to care. He was exhausted. You throw a bath bomb into the water and the room fills with the smell of cinnamon and apples.
“Baby? Tub’s all filled.”
“Okay.” He swings his legs over the edge of the bed and you help him up.
“I’ll clean the bed up when we’re done.”
“Alright.”
He lets you get into the water first so he can sit in front of you. He leans his head back against your shoulder and closes his eyes. He just needed some time to come back. You massaged his scalp and peppered light kisses to his temple.
“Y/N?”
“Yes, baby?” You coo.
“Do you think you’ll ever want to try it?” He tilts his head to look at you. “M’just curious.”
“I…don’t know. Maybe. I could try the plug some time I suppose.”
“Only if you want.”
“We’ll see.” You smile and he nestles back down. “So…did it hurt at all?”
“Um, it’s not that it hurt, it was mostly like discomfort for a little bit. But then it sort of just started to feel good, I can’t explain it. You were really careful with me, I appreciate it.” He takes of your hands and kisses the back of it.
“I love you, Harry.”
“I love you too.” He sighs happily.
“Wanna watch a movie tonight? We could get cozy on the sofa in our robes, and I could do your nails for you, and I could pop some popcorn.”
“I will never say no to you offering to do my nails, that all sounds great.”
Harry gets into his robe and meets you to the sofa after you’ve cleaned the bedroom. You come over with some popcorn and a couple of beers. You let him pick through your polish colors, and you let him pick the movie. Believe it or not he really wanted to watch To All The Boys I Loved Before.
“Read the book when I was younger.”
“Don’t have to explain yourself to me.”
You take his old polish off and file his nails. You end up painting them a nice pastel blue and purple.
“How’s it look?”
“Perfect, thank you.” You lean in to kiss him.
“You’re more than welcome.”
“Now, come lay with me so I can spoon you. Time to may some attention to the other bum in this house.”
You giggle and lay down with him, one of his legs slipping between you. He holds onto you and you both enjoy the movie. When you think about what had happened only an hour or so prior, you feel like anyone on the outside looking in would think it was weird. Or that maybe Harry wasn’t as into women as he led on. But you knew none of that was the case. It didn’t matter what anyone else thought because it wasn’t weird for either of you. And if there was one thing Harry loved, it was a vagina. It wasn’t really about him needing or wanting something up his butt. It was about the two of you exploring something together, and seeing where the journey took you.
You roll onto your back and he looks down at you with an eyebrow raised.
“I love you.” You say.
“I love you too.” He says back, and gives you a tender kiss.
Even though he had just been freshly fucked, and he honestly still looked like it, he had caught a second wind. Before you knew it the two of you were giggling with your legs over his shoulders while he fucked you on the sofa. Yup, he still had complete control.
#harry styles#take it slow#harry styles x reader#harry styles y/n#harry styles x y/n#harry styles imagine#harry styles fluff#harry styles smut#harry styles smut fic#harry styles fluff fic#harry styles fic#smut#fluff#im so sorry#i blacked out while writing this#i have zero control over my hands anymore#come hang in my ask box!
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