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celestialtarot11 · 5 months

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Capricorn Rising and their angular houses 💘🌸

Angular houses are the most important in an astrological chart. It represents our fundamental core selves, the parts in which we work with consistently in life, and what we value the most. Angular houses show huge change and how it plays a role in our life 💌 often deals with external change impacting us and our growth!

Capricorn rising ♑️- independent, loyal, reserved, and disciplined. But they do have a sarcastic form of humor! These natives can be great comedians, they somehow get the timing right and delivery 💅🏻 moving on from the core qualities of these natives, their life is centered around discipline, structure from their turbulent past, and inner mastery. Not mastery as in healing every wound and completing that process, rather reaching a point of understanding, releasing, and strengthening. Going back to themselves to revisit, rebuild, and solidify again. These natives-structure is important to them as it is equally essential to have fun. Because these natives are disciplined, it’s easy to fall into a loop of hard work which can limit their idea of fun in this lifetime. So just as it is important for capricorn risings to practice discipline, it’s important to let loose and have fun. These natives need breaks and to also have fun too, I think a lot of people mistake them for being serious all of the time, which can be true because life has taught them the value of so, but please don’t tie only that idea to Capricorns 💘♑️

4th house in Aries ♈️- Growing up, the mother was probably a prominent figure in the natives life. 4th house is the house of family, roots, ancestory, and our represents our inner longing. Inner child too. Capricorn natives have had a turbulent upbringing given a mars ruled 4th house. Wherever mars falls in your chart will tell you more. But having aries in the 4th, the mother could have been assertive, direct, arrogant even. Pushy, demanding of the child, and invasive of their privacy. On the upside, they could have had a mother who was their best friend (because not everyone with an Aries 4th house is necessarily bad!) their Mother could have been funny, warm, strong, and independent. Capricorns learned their sense of independence through the mother in a way. As a child, Capricorn risings could have been feisty, silly and had a lot of energy 💗 their sense of adventure was prominent, and they loved going out! They could have been prone to injuries as well. As they grew older their family life could have became unstable, and filled with tension because its a mars ruled house. Capricorn risings could have been a child of divorce ❤️‍🩹 but Capricorn risings value family, and it may not be their biological family depending on their personal choice, but when they develop a family they are quick to defend and stand up for the people they love 🙌 Capricorn risings will have your back through and through! And they know how to stick with you through conflict and issues, especially if a Capricorn rising native is open to their own emotional healing. I say that because Capricorn can close off from emotions as a way to survive, but once they reflect on their past and do the inner work, it brings them closer to themselves and the people around them. Their sense of right and wrong is solidified. With an Aries 4th house, they are protective of themselves and their past, and the people they love 💗🤍 Aries ruled 4th house can also bring inner conflict in how the native views family. Capricorn risings may prefer to be solo, because they are afraid of the hurt being repeated. They are at war within their past and and present moment ❤️‍🩹

Cancer descendant, 7th house ♋️- These natives are protective, intuitive and sensitive when it comes to their partners. It’s probably why Capricorn risings seem to be the last one in a relationship, and yes it can be due to their preference of not wanting to date. But also because they want a partner who understands them deeply, and to their fullest extent. Capricorn rising does not want an emotionally unavailable partner, and strays away from unnecessary drama in relationships. Whilst they can yearn and long for a partner to see them for who they are, they understand the value of being single too. Capricorn risings can be moody when it comes to relationships, because relationships is not something that necessarily comes easily to these natives. They have to learn to build with someone else, and to grow in a partnership. Capricorn risings are soft on the inside once they let their guard down in relationships. They are caring, and seem to pick up on their partners mood before their partner understands themselves 🤣 but this is because they have a strong sense of intuition. On one hand, building partnerships is something for Capricorn risings to learn, and yet they understand the needs of others 🤗🙌 for business, Capricorn risings have an intuitive nudge about their path and who they should negotiate with. Most of the time, they prefer to handle business alone, but when it comes to business partners, co-workers and such, they may find intuitive bonds along the way. Somehow, the business world understands them and what they’re looking for. In a way, the native is blessed with a spiritual guidance in their career 🤗 it is partly why Capricorn risings handle money efficiently. They don’t need marketing classes, marketing classes need them 🤣

Libra in their 10th house ♎️- Capricorn risings come across fair, balanced, and even angelic with this in their 10th house. People can also think they can take advantage of these natives, because people assume Capricorn risings are naive. Capricorn risings are not! Saturn is exalted in the sign of Libra, and being that capricorn risings are ruled by Saturn, they know exactly the game to play when it comes to navigating business, career, and fame 💅🏻🤍 Capricorn risings can be in tune with the trends and gain popularity because of that, they know it’s part of the game to building up. They don’t see trends as essential, rather a tool to their success. Their 10th house is Venus ruled, so people tend to idolize Capricorn risings, especially for their work ethic. Because Libra wants you to know they put in the work, Capricorns can pick up an excess amount of responsibility, because they want to show to others they are capable. They can do it. And they will. Taurus has a subtle way of showing up, but Libras are extra and we love that 💘 so when it’s in the 10th house, Capricorns are not afraid to show their work ethic! Later on in life, Capricorns will also learn the value of privacy. Especially in their business/career. People may try to stick their nose in, but Capricorns value their privacy! Libra in the 10th house can attract jealousy as well, because they want what Capricorn risings have. Their dedication, ambition, success, but beauty and idolization. At some point Capricorn risings may have thought about being a hair stylist, nail tech, hoke decorator, party planner or a designer! Or a construction worker, or therapist/ consultant 🤝

Thank ya’ll so much for reading! 💘🤍 I hope this helped a lot to understand Capricorn risings. If you’d love to see more definitely let me know in the comments. If there’s anything ya’ll want to add please do! 💌🙌 I actually really liked this!

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darks-ink · 3 years

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Spark

Prompt: How does being constantly exposed to high amounts of ectoplasm affect the citizens of Amity Park? Prompt by: @robotbeowulf Word count: 2,487

[AO3] [FFN] [more Phic Phight fics]

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Danny shrugged, shifting his backpack to lie a little more comfortably on his shoulders, and pretended very hard to be a regular student. It wasn’t easy, but it hadn’t been easy for the last two years. The constant secret-keeping from everyone was wearing on him.

Not to mention the constant ghost attacks, of course. He was pretty sure all of Amity Park was covered in a thick film of ectoplasm by now, considering how much of it he and the other ghosts spilled and fired during the almost-constant battles. Sure, his parents said that the stuff evaporated and then returned to the Ghost Zone, but his parents also said that humans couldn’t have ghost powers, and Danny was the (mostly) living proof that that wasn’t true, either.

He was jerked from his thoughts—literally—by a fist, grabbing him by the shirt and slamming him against the lockers he had been walking by.

“Hi, Dash,” Danny muttered, trying to hide away his weariness with apathy. “Good morning to you too.”

“Fentonia,” Dash growled back, leaning in close to Danny’s face. A little too close, thank you, ever heard of personal space? “Finally.”

Danny bit back the automatic reply—aw, were you waiting for me?—and settled for grimacing at Dash.

Not that that went over well, of course, because Dash’s other hand found its way to Danny’s shirt as well. With Danny well in his grasp, Dash lifted him, slamming him against the lockers again, this time with his feet off of the ground—no easy way of getting out. Not without using his powers, at least.

“What’s wrong, Fenturd?” Dash asked, pressing Danny against the lockers even harder. “Ghost got your tongue?”

Ha ha, how creative. How funny. Danny was sure he’d come up with funnier jokes in his sleep. “Fuck off,” he grunted at Dash as his back was slammed against the hard metal behind him again.

“Ooh, he’s got bite today.” Dash leaned back a bit, a vicious grin on his face, then crowded Danny against the lockers again. “Oh, no, never mind. Looks like he’s all bark.”

Danny snarled back at Dash before he’d really thought about it—before he could stop himself, really. It wasn’t even words, really, just an animalistic snarl and the pulse of his core that meant his eyes were glowing.

Oh, fuck. And Dash was way too close to miss that.

“Hey, there you go!” Dash… cheered? The fists clenched in Danny’s shirt released, and his feet thumped down on the ground before he’d really caught on to what was happening. Dash was already turning away from him, nudging Kwan. “See, I told you Fenton could do it too!”

That… was not the reaction he’d expected to get to ghostly glowing eyes. What the fuck?

Kwan laughed audibly, and Danny wrenched his eyes away from Dash and towards the other boy. The… the laughing, visibly cheery boy.

Seriously. What was going on?

“So, uh… No bullying anymore today?” Danny asked, and then felt like he could kick himself. Absolute moron. Who asks that sort of thing?

Dash snorted, apparently amused (amused???) by Danny’s idiotic question, and waved a dismissive hand. “What’s the point? I got what I was after.”

Okay? Good? That explained absolutely nothing. If anything, Danny felt even more confused. Had Dash seriously been bullying him trying to get him to glow eyes his? To snarl at him?

What???

Apparently he vocalized that last thought, because Kwan’s eyes turned back to him, a hesitant grin on his face.

And then Kwan’s eyes flashed a bright, glowing, cyan.

Danny, still leaning against the lockers he’d been pressed to, froze up automatically. He knew what that meant. Had spent enough time combing through his parents’ research—and with his own experience—to know that briefly glowing eyes couldn’t be caused by ordinary ghostly causes. An overshadowing ghost altered the eye-color of their host, but that was constant.

And, if there had been a ghost, Danny would’ve felt them. He’d grown more than strong enough to sense ghosts even if they were hidden in a host.

“He’s had them for a while.” Dash spoke casually, like this wasn’t a big fucking deal. “We couldn’t find anybody else with that brand of ecto-contamination, y’know, so Kwan was feeling super down about that.”

“Dash,” Kwan groaned, sounding put-upon. As carefully as Danny listened, the only thing he could hear was the undercurrent of care Kwan held for Dash. For his friend.

“Shut up, man.” Dash nudged his friend, then picked up his explanation that didn’t explain anything. “See, but I knew I had seen you do them too. The glowy eyes, I mean.” Dash underlined the latter with a vague gesture at his own eyes. “So I just had to push you into doing them while Kwan could see, to prove that he wasn’t the only one.”

“Uh.” Danny blinked at them, feeling like he missed everything Dash had said after the words “ecto-contamination”. What?

No, seriously, he knew he’d uttered that word a lot these past five minutes—even if only in his head—but what?

“You had to get him angry, though,” Kwan muttered, bumping shoulders with Dash. “You know that’s not the only way to make them glow.”

“Yeah, but it was the easiest to push him into,” Dash easily admitted.

And then, while Danny was still reeling, feeling like he’d missed at least seven steps in this conversation, Kwan stepped in closer and shot him a bright smile. “Thanks, Fenton. I feel a ton better.”

“Uh, yeah.” Danny blinked, watching the two of them wander off like nothing happened. “You’re welcome?”

“Man, what was all of that?” he muttered to himself, staring at the empty hallway for a moment before pushing himself away from the lockers. He desperately needed to talk to Sam and Tucker, see if they had any idea what all of that was about.

Somewhere, he kind of wished that Jazz was still in Amity. She would definitely know what the hell all of that was all about.

Seriously. Dash had just casually muttered the words ecto-contamination, and then suggested that it was common enough for there to be accepted variants of it.

How had Danny missed all of that?

!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-

“There’s Val,” Sam whispered, leaning in closer. Danny followed her gaze and, indeed, there was the girl they’d been looking for all morning.

Well, it figured that they wouldn’t manage to pin her down until lunch, but it was frustrating nonetheless. Sam and Tucker hadn’t known what the stuff with Dash and Kwan had been about, either, so they had decided to ask the only person they could reasonably ask: Valerie Gray.

But that, in turn, meant that they had to just sit on the knowledge until lunch.

At least she had picked a distant enough seat that they could talk in private. Small blessings.

“Let’s hope she actually knows what’s going on,” Tucker muttered, before nudging Danny forward. “You go first, dude.”

So quick to sacrifice him to the ghost huntress. Danny shook his head but walked over, slipping into the seat opposite of Valerie. “Hey, Val.”

“Danny,” she greeted him back, raising an eyebrow at Sam and Tucker, who sat down on either side of him. “Well, this feels like an interrogation all of a sudden.”

He shot Sam a meaningful glance, but she just grinned back, pushing herself to sit more squarely on the seat. Rude.

“Danny had a weird interaction with Dash and Kwan this morning,” Tucker started explaining, breaking the tension before it could really go anywhere. “We were hoping you could offer… I dunno, some clarification, since you know them better than we do.”

She snorted, leaning back slightly. “They’re Dash and Kwan. Every interaction with them is weird.”

“Well, yeah, but they were…” Danny paused, briefly hesitant to mention it—what would Valerie think of ghost-powered humans?—before powering through. “They were talking about ecto-contamination, and known variants of it.”

The look they got in response was flat. Flat, and clearly confused.

After a long and exceedingly awkward moment of silence, Valerie cleared her throat and asked, clearly hesitant, “None of you noticed?”

“Noticed what?” Tucker frowned, glancing between the three of them and Valerie.

“That pretty much everyone in Amity Park has ghost-like traits?” She raised a questioning eyebrow at them. “Everyone, but especially the kids here at Casper High, has ecto-contamination so bad that we’re all, well. Becoming a little ghost-like.” She paused, shook her head, then asked. “None of you seriously noticed?”

Danny drew back, considering his words, but before he could really think about it, Sam had already flapped a dismissive hand. “The three of us spend so much time in and around Fentonworks that we’re already contaminated to hell and back,” she dryly explained. “And honestly, Valerie, how much time do we really spend with anyone outside our direct circle?”

“Fair enough,” Valerie allowed with a shrug. “Right, so, it mostly seems to be caused by the Portal and the constant ghost attacks. I mean, obviously, right?”

“Right,” Danny agreed, ignoring the way his stomach was turning. He’d tried so hard to keep everyone safe, but had the presence of ghosts been endangering them all along? Had the spilled ectoplasm really affected people, and so badly too?

“Now, what we started noticing pretty early on is that people generally only display a single ghost power, once they become contaminated enough to actually have a discernible ghost power. Some people consider them distinct variants: people with invisibility, with intangibility, flight, etcetera.”

Sam and Tucker both hummed, thoughtfully. Valerie raised her other eyebrow at that, then shook her head and continued on.

“Generally people don’t get contaminated enough to display more than those basic powers, but exceptions exist, I guess. And your contamination is probably way worse than anyone else’s, except maybe actual ghost hunters like the Fentons.” She made a face. “And that’s assuming their jumpsuits don’t protect them, which I doubt.”

“I’m pretty sure they do,” Danny mumbled, trying to inconspicuously watch both of his best friends from the corner of his eyes. The more Valerie explained about the ecto-contamination that apparently haunted all of Amity Park, the more their expressions twisted into something they usually called “suddenly understanding weird shit that had been happening”.

It was, unfortunately, a somewhat common expression these days. What with ghosts becoming a common thing, and all that.

“I… Some of the plants in my greenhouse grow unusually well whenever I’m near. Some even seem to react to my presence…” Sam admitted, her voice quiet, uncharacteristically reluctant. After a moment of hesitation, she tacked on, “And sometimes, when I really really don’t want to deal with my parents, they just… overlook me, like I’m not there at all.”

Like she was invisible, they all heard, despite the fact that Sam didn’t say the words.

Seemingly encouraged by Sam’s admission, Tucker added on, “I rarely, if ever, charge my tech. Their batteries just don’t seem to empty as long as I have them on me. And sometimes when I’m digging into code, it feels like… like I can alter it directly, like I’m tapping into some inner world that doesn’t—shouldn’t—exist.” Just like Sam, Tucker also paused for a moment. “When I’m running from a ghost or whatever, sometimes I run into an alley that I know has a dead end and never hit the wall.”

Like he was just phasing through it, going intangible before he hit it.

Danny swallowed through the clog he suddenly found in his throat, watching Valerie turn a meaningful look to him. She wanted him to tell her about his— his ghost powers. But he couldn’t just pretend all of his powers came from the contamination of living at Fentonworks, could he?

And he definitely couldn’t pick certain powers as acceptable and others as not.

“I… I guess weird shit has happened to me too, yeah,” he finally admitted, cautiously, hoping she guessed the source of his reluctance wrong. “But I never really thought about it, to be honest. Anything I could blame the ecto-contamination for could just as easily be caused by actual ghosts.” And in a way it was, of course. Anything caused by his ecto-contamination was caused by an actual ghost: Phantom.

“But,” he tacked on, knowing Valerie wouldn’t just let that lie. She was far too stubborn not to investigate. “Dash and Kwan apparently saw me with glowing eyes?”

Valerie hummed, then nodded. “That makes sense, I guess. I know Kwan has the glowing eyes variant as well, so that would explain why they’ve been targeting you.”

“It’s been around that long?” Sam asked, leaning forward, clearly curious despite herself. “I figured it would’ve taken longer than that to show up.”

“Oh, no, that was long after I got kicked out of the group,” Valerie said dismissively. “But Kwan saw me with a ghost scanner one day, and he begged me to scan him. I guess he was seriously worried that he had been overshadowed, even if overshadowing doesn’t work like that.”

“I don’t think he got rid of that fear, to be honest.” Danny shrugged, uneasy. “At least, he seemed pretty cheered-up when I, uh, glowed my eyes at him and Dash.”

Tucker snorted, and Danny could see Sam crack a grin as well, probably at his word choice. Well, fuck them. What did you call it, if not “glowing your eyes at them”?

“Anyway, I can’t help but notice that we all told you, but you haven’t said a word about what you can do,” Sam prodded, nudging Valerie. “Come on, Val.”

“Yeah, that does seem a little unfair.” Tucker leaned forward as well, an expression of genuine curiosity on his face.

And, honestly? Danny kind of wanted to know as well. Her ghost hunting suit probably hadn’t protected her, and her new suit definitely didn’t. If anything, the Technus-made suit probably had just worsened it.

“I…” Valerie visibly hesitated, then gave in. “I can fly, a little. It’s not really all that great, but at least I won’t break anything if I ever fall out of a tree or something.”

She said it with a light tone, like it was just a casual joke. All Danny could think of, however, was all the times he’d seen Valerie fall off of her hoverboard, especially at the start.

He carefully does not wince.

“That’s pretty neat,” he forced himself to say instead. “Less lame than glowing eyes, at least.”

Valerie grinned back at him, but before she could say anything the bell rung.

“Guess we’d better head to class,” Sam said with a grunt, pushing herself off of the bench.

“Yeah.” Tucker got up as well, then nodded at Valerie. “Thanks for the explanation, Valerie.”

Danny followed suit, shooting her a smile. “Same. Thanks, Val.”

She had given him a lot to think about.

#phic phight #phic phight 2021 #danny phantom #dp fanfic #phanfic #danny fenton #dark writes

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itsclydebitches · 3 years

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I kinda wonder, what could bakugou do (hori write bakugou to do) to make him less popular with the "anti" crowd. Like He was a horrid child no doubt and people who try to put blame on Deku or lessen the terrible shit bakugou did aren't great. But as we don't rly see it, we have to assume bakugous behaviour wasn't stopped, we only ever saw his mum "punishing" him when he was being rude after getting kiddnapped. Nothing will excuse what bakugou did, but he has stopped? He's overall a harsh person but he's not harrassing and bullying people anymore, specifically not deku, he's trying to attone for what he did to deku and has now apologised for it. His behaviour was never viewed as justified or good in the series, he's a scary figure in middle school, we're not meant to like his behaviour, so the series itself hasn't justified his actions.

As someone who relate to both bakugou and deku more than I'd like to admit (never told someone to jump tho, that's fucked lol) so I can 100% understand not liking or even hating bakugou but as someone who's not 15 anymore, looking back I also made a lot of really shitty decisions and like bakugou have tried to make up for it, and like deku I was 'friends' with people who hurt me.

Is there anything he can do for the "antis" to just dislike him rather that be "anti"?

(I'm very sorry if you've talked about this somewhere, you can just tell me to look for it if you have, I'll continue to look for your posts on the subject)

Hey there, anon! I think I’ve spoken about this only tangentially and/or in my main Bakugo meta, which is too big for anyone sane to read. So yeah, let’s chat here!

For me personally—and that’s all I can ever do: speak personally. I think it’s important to keep in mind that there is no single solution to please the “anti” crowd. Each fan will be looking for something slightly different in Bakugo’s character, much of which might contradict what a “stan” is currently enjoying. Given how charged a character he is, I'm not sure it's possible to get the entire fandom to like him—what I’m looking for hinges on having a different reading of the story than you seem to. Meaning, I think the series does justify his behavior. Not in any overt, super obvious way like having all the characters go, “Wow, Bakugo! I sure do love how you threaten people all the time. That’s super cool and heroic!” Things are rarely that straightforward. Rather, it’s in a more subtle, but consistent manner that paints a rather conclusive picture across hundreds of chapters.

Simply put, Bakugo is continually rewarded for his actions. Or, if not outright rewarded, his actions are ignored in a way that implies silent acceptance. Characters may not always like what he does... but they're willing to let it slide because Bakugo's heroism was always treated as a given, not something he had to earn and prove.

With the ever necessary disclaimer that I’m not fully caught up yet, here’s a list of some of the things that stood out to me in the first half of the series:

Bakugo’s bullying made him the most popular kid in school.

Bakugo’s bullying was ignored by/outright supported by the teachers.

Bakugo’s bullying did not hinder him from getting into U.A., one of the most prestigious hero schools around.

Despite acting horribly throughout his time at U.A. too, this behavior was continually ignored by the teachers and other authority figures around him.

Bakugo’s struggle to realize that other people aren’t “trash” doesn’t hurt his achievements in any way. He still gets top scores, still wins the tournament, etc.

Bakugo’s behavior gets him special attention from All Might, the greatest hero and Bakugo’s personal idol.

His behavior doesn’t make others dislike him in any manner that’s taken seriously. Everybody is still willing to not just put up with Bakugo, but—in time—start treating his behavior as a quirk (no pun intended lol) that they’re secretly fond of, rather than something he should legitimately be striving to change. Kirishima is the most overt example of this.

This is compounded by his behavior constantly being framed as humorous. Much like with Mineta’s perverted actions, characters might superficially go, “No, that’s bad!” but the story never demands any significant development because then we’d lose the “joke” of Bakugo screaming in rage at the slightest inconvenience, threatening to murder someone over nothing, constantly belittling everyone around him in a “funny” manner, etc. When fans talk about development of a manga character as archetypal and extreme as Bakugo, most don’t really want to see significant change to his base personality. Because then that would result in someone who doesn’t look like the “real” Bakugo: someone nicer, more even-tempered, more mature, etc. But for those of us who were never drawn to that personality in the first place, the continued acceptance of his rude, egotistical, and violent behavior is discomforting. The easiest comparison I can draw is between this and Bakugo’s mother slapping him. That slap is meant to be another “joke”—we see it constantly in shonen anime, something "humorous" you shouldn’t take too seriously because haha, it's just an overprotective mother—but many fans do take it seriously, using it as the basis for a whole “Bakugo was abused and this explains his behavior” reading. Well, I take the “joke” of Bakugo’s threats and insults seriously, especially in a story that starts with something like telling Izuku to jump off the roof. In the same way that many fans want others to treat Bakugo’s mother as a serious topic that has had a negative influence on his development, I want the series to take Bakugo’s everyday actions seriously as a negative influence on… well, everyone around him. But it doesn’t. His base personality is grudgingly adored.

The above two points are seen most overtly in Izuku, who never wavers in his respect for Bakugo despite how Bakugo treats him. Not just prior to U.A., but during their training too. Izuku, as the protagonist, is the emotional heart of this tale, so when he talks about how inspiring Bakugo is, it encourages the reader to see his behavior as inspiring too. Rather than, as said, something that needs to change. Izuku's continued friendship with Bakugo, his adoration of him, and his acceptance of the way he's treated has severely warped how the entire story sees Bakugo's actions. After all, if #pure Izuku can see the good in Bakugo, why can't everyone else? He must not be that bad after all.

I could get into detailed analyses of all the above—like how Bakugo was the one comforted after attacking Izuku outside the dorms at night and how the messed up relationship he has with Izuku is upheld as something to nurture; how the remedial courses he had to take were made to be rather silly, thereby undermining their supposed importance to his development; how Bakugo’s kidnapping had nothing to do with his flaws, but much of the fandom uses it as a way to dismiss any appropriate consequences because, “Hasn’t he suffered enough?” etc.—but in the interest of keeping this within a readable length, I’ll leave it at that. The point is that Bakugo has always been privileged when it comes to his behavior, resulting in others either outright praising it, ignoring it, or demanding that he change a miniscule bit, which always keeps him far below the standards of both his peers and the expectations of a hero. Everyone in 1-A must learn to be even better than the good people they already are... Bakugo needs to learn that other people aren't dirt at the bottom of his shoes. It's never been a particularly impressive development when pit against the rest of the class. All of which can make something like an apology feel pretty hollow. Yes, he’s apologized and I say with all seriousness that that’s great! But how does that apology stack up against 300+ chapters of content? As Bakugo’s words highlight, he's been a really awful person up "until now": he was consumed by Izuku being “miles ahead of [him],” he “looked down on [him]” because he didn’t have a quirk, he “didn’t want to recognize that,” he “hated that,” “grew distant,” “tried to beat you down,” “opposed you and tried to show my superiority over you,” and ends it all with, “it probably doesn’t mean anything telling you all this” before finally getting to the “I’m sorry.” This is basically a laundry list of how horrible a person Bakugo has been for the entire series, with an acknowledgement that this apology is coming really, really late. This is the moment where I could START to like Bakugo, depending on how he acts form here on out, but that pivotal moment arrived after six years of content and in the final arc of the story. It’s too late. Bakugo needed this kind of self-reflection and positive action 250+ chapters ago so he could (hopefully) grow into a better person across the story, not at the story's end. What we got instead is 322 chapters of him being a really horrible person, but the story going out of its way to excuse or even praise that behavior the majority of the time.

As a quick comparison to end on, I think what Bakugo needed was what Soo Jin got in True Beauty. You don’t need to have seen the drama to follow along. The tl;dr is that she has a lot of the core qualities of Bakugo: an all-consuming drive to win that was created due to abusive parents with high expectations, resulting in her bullying a peer to a pretty horrific extent. The difference between them is how the story frames their actions. When Soo Jin becomes the bully she loses everything. Rather than succeeding academically, her grades plummet, making it clear that this anxiety and self-doubt (things the fandom keeps insisting Bakugo is struggling with, but that rarely ever show up in the text) is actually impacting her day-to-day life. Her best friend drops her because she’s not going to support her choices. The boy she likes rejects her. She’s eventually forced to start over somewhere new - which importantly separates her from the girl she was bullying - and get some distance from her parents, resulting in the growth needed to become a healthier, happier, good person again. So when Soo Jin apologizes to the girl she hurt, it feels earned. The story continually recognized how horrific her actions were and put her into a place where she either had to change, or continue losing at everything else that was important to her. Bakugo? Bakugo doesn’t lose. Oh, he claims he does because he’s comparing himself to Izuku constantly, but that’s just him thinking in extremes. He still wins academically. Still wins many battles. Still wins at having friends. Still wins by maintaining the prestige of being a U.A. student. Still wins by getting All Might’s attention. Still wins by receiving Izuku’s respect and an agreement to maintain this rivalry that Bakugo is so obsessed with. Bakugo comes out well 99% of the time, he just thinks he's "lost" because he can't stand not being the absolute best.

For me, the story needed to have Bakugo face consequences for his behavior, not receive rewards and/or have others ignore it, and that revelation/apology needed to come way, way sooner. For me the issue is not a specific action that Horikoshi can have Bakugo do in the next chapter and them bam, I like him now. The problem is Bakugo’s entire concept, how he’s received by the entire cast, and his run across this entire series. "Entire" is the key word there. Which is why the “But he’s apologized. What more do you antis want?” reactions don’t sit well. What we wanted is a better written redemption arc across those 300+ chapters, not a single scene that’s meant to have us forget all the other problems inherent in the story. At this point it’s a far more complicated situation than, “Bakugo just needs to do X, Y, and Z and then we’re golden.” At the end of the day, Horikoshi failed to make me like him as a person and I’m pretty sure he isn’t going to change Bakugo enough to make him likable to me. Bakugo was never the sort of character I’d be inclined towards without a serious, nuanced redemption arc, but sadly, a core, crucial part of that redemption arc took six years to arrive. At this point there’s no way to change the problems in Bakugo’s writing for that huge chunk of the series and not enough time left in the series, it seems, to do the work we should have seen across the entire run. Honestly, idk if the Bakugo we'll get going forward is someone I can just dislike as opposed to being really uncomfortable with, but my money is on there being too little story left and too much investment in upholding Bakugo's base personality for that to happen. I could absolutely be proven wrong! But I think the problems are structural and needed to be better dealt with from page one, not hastily patched over in the final hour.

#BNHA #My Hero Academia #anti bakugo

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makeste · 3 years

Text

my long boring post about chapter 293 and Kacchan’s hero name

lmao I think that’s all of them. anyways, so I said I was gonna do a post on this, and so here goes.

first off, I just want to say that people are allowed to not like the name! it’s a completely subjective thing, there’s no right or wrong “it’s good” or “it’s bad.” or rather, there is a right or wrong, and it’s whichever one you think it is. if you think it’s good, you’re right. if you think it’s bad, you’re also right. it’s an opinion, it doesn’t need to be backed up by peer review lol.

that said, here is my own completely subjective opinion: I think “Dynamight” (though please not with the capital “m”, I beg you lol) is a terrific name for him honestly. it’s clever wordplay, it’s a subtle callback/tribute to his favorite hero who is also his inspiration for becoming a hero, and it’s a perfect fit for his chosen aesthetic. it’s honestly great.

and what makes it even better is that at the same time, it is also stupid as fuck lmao. this is a name that encapsulates the duality of man. it’s the perfect metaphor for this boy who think he’s the hottest shit god ever invented, and has no idea that the number of people who take him seriously after interacting with him for more than ten seconds is actually in the single digits. this hero name is the equivalent of an excited puppy ferociously bounding towards a squirrel only to trip over its own feet and fall flat on its face. it thinks it is scary as fuck, and has no idea that 30,000 people on TikTok think it’s the most adorable thing they’ve ever seen. I unabashedly love it, and will also ceaselessly roast the everloving shit out of it without the slightest remorse, just like I roast the beloved boy attached to it. that’s just how it is lol.

so that’s how I feel about the name! however, this next part I need to emphasize: my opinion of the name, and my opinion of whether or not I actually think this will be his name, are two different things. I like the name Dynamight. I really do. and I also think there is next to no chance that this will actually be his hero name.

here’s the thing. this would have been a perfect name for him if it had been his chosen name back in chapter 45 when everyone else picked their aliases. it would have fit in seamlessly with the rest of his class. Red Riot, Chargebolt, Earphone Jack, Sugarman, Uravity; those are all names that stick in your mind and look great on official merch. those are names that sell action figures, but they also do a great job of representing the individuals behind the names. they have personality. and so does “Dynamight”, for sure.

but the thing is, for whatever reason, Horikoshi didn’t have him pick this name back in chapter 45. he went with a running gag instead. “King Explosion Murder”, “Lord Explosion Murder”, and so forth. and in the end, we never got a hero name at all. he could have had him pick Dynamight after we’d had our laughs. hell, he could have used it as an early easter egg hinting at Kacchan’s admiration for All Might, which wouldn’t be officially revealed until the final exam arc about twenty chapters later. “Dynamight” in Japanese is written out in katakana -- ダイナマイト (“dainamaito”). this is the word that’s used in Japan for actual dynamite. there is no inherent indicator that it’s a pun; it just so happens that the “mite” in dynamite is spelled out phonetically in Japanese the exact same way that “might” is. so the pun isn’t obvious unless you know to look for it. Horikoshi could have left us all thinking that “Dynamite” was his name until chapter 62 or thereabouts when he revealed that Katsuki looked up to All Might, at which point Horikoshi could finally reveal the official English spelling and it would be like a second name reveal. which would have been pretty sweet, actually.

but my point being, for some reason he instead chose not to do this. instead he chose to drag it all out for 250 chapters, content to let us all languish. this man had not a shred of mercy for the thousands of Bakugou fans who were all “please, sir, the fic,” before eventually giving up and adopting Ground Zero as the official-unofficial name until we either got a real reveal or died of old age. he dragged it out, and kept it as a gag, and eventually it was just like, fine, whatever.

and then this happened.

and it changed everything.

because you see, all of a sudden “Bakugou’s Hero Name” wasn’t just a running joke gag plot anymore. in the span of three sentences, Horikoshi changed the entire meaning of it. “your hero name represents your desires. the embodiment of how you wish to be. your ideal self.”

just like that, the whole mystery of “what will Bakugou’s hero name be” goes from being a funny little ongoing thing to an existential question, with the implication being that the choice he finally makes, whatever it may be, will in essence reveal the very core of his character. “your ideal self.” in other words this will really be almost the pinnacle of his entire character arc. his hero name, when he finally picks it, will show us just how far he’s come. it will show us his answer to “what kind of person do you want to be.”

that is an insane amount of meaning to suddenly dump onto something that up until this point had just been a funny little running gag. “lol Bakugou loves murder and death.” “lol at this rate Bakugou will graduate while still not having an actual hero name.” from that, to suddenly out of the blue, “Bakugou’s hero name will show us who he is as a person.” like, holy shit though. and mind you, this isn’t something that’s been done for any other character. this is very Bakugou-specific. all this build-up and significance has been ascribed to his hero name specifically. at this point his name is basically its own fucking plot. it’s literally its own individual little arc. all of that build-up. all of that meaning and importance given to it.

and then Horikoshi goes and gives us this.

so. like... okay, I guess??

like, just some quick things of note here though:

he is still doing the whole “explosive destruction murder” thing on top of the “Dynamight” part. indicating that there has not been the slightest bit of thoughtful consideration actually given on his part. literally the one thing that everyone and their mom was trying to explain to him not to do, and all of it went in one ear and out the other. which is fine!! he is adorable here and I want to ruffle his hair, honestly. but it’s clear to me that he still hasn’t grasped what Jeanist was trying to explain to him before, if this is really his answer to “what would you consider to be your ideal self” lol.

the name is INSTANTLY panned by every single person in the surrounding vicinity, villains included. hell, Mirio might as well have stabbed him all over again. obviously this is intentionally being used as a lighthearted moment to briefly give the audience a breather before we wade back into the Todoroki drama; but at the same time it indicates that this name isn’t exactly going to be taken seriously by anyone who hears it in-universe. they are literally wincing upon hearing it skjlklhkgf.

lastly, none of the people closest to him -- Deku, All Might, Kirishima, or Shouto -- are even there to hear it. all of that build-up, all of that “Kacchan’s hero name will show us how far he’s come in his character development”, and then when it finally happens, the people who have had the most impact aren’t even there to partake in the moment. Shouto and Deku are busy dealing with an entirely separate plot and trying very hard not to be set on fire while Kacchan is out here providing comic relief.

because that’s really what this is, though. this is a joke. like, I don’t mean that in a pejorative sense; I mean that it is literally a joke. and so what you’re telling me is, if this really is his hero name, we waited 250 chapters and Horikoshi built up an entire character arc around it, only to have the end result be a joke panel that in the end was arguably not even the biggest thing that happened in the chapter.

like, idk, maybe there’ll be a flashback about it later after all’s said and done which will imbue it with more meaning as some have suggested. maybe Horikoshi will explain how it’s a childhood throwback name that Deku once picked for him, like that theory that’s been making the rounds. I’m not saying it won’t be possible to build on this after the fact. but it will be after the fact, all the same. as far as the initial reveal goes... this is it. the epitome of anticlimactic. a brief joke reveal mid-fight where everyone immediately goes “are you fucking serious” and he’s all “I WAS FUCKING SERIOUS” and falls down out of comedy lmao.

and so, to wrap this post up finally, basically the way I see it is that there are two possibilities here. either (1) I have been way overthinking this from day one and it was never really that deep and Horikoshi thought this would be an appropriate and funny conclusion to a plotline which in his mind was always meant to be mostly lighthearted, with the Jeanist stuff mostly just thrown in there to push Bakugou into picking an at least halfway-decent name in spite of himself.

or, (2) this isn’t going to be his final hero name either. this is instead the last hurrah of the “Lord Explosion Murder” part of that plotline, and after he’s laughed out of the room yet again he will mope and cross out this one as well, and Horikoshi will sit on it for another 500 chapters until he finally reveals it at the very fucking end of the series. like at this point I wouldn’t put it past him to wait until the very last page. I s2g, this man. but the flipside of it is that when that moment finally does happen, I fully believe it will be a moment that actually feels earned. it will feel right. it will feel like the moment we spent all that time waiting for. or at least that’s what I hope.

so anyway, those are my thoughts on it! tl;dr, while I like Dynamight as a hero name in and of itself, I don’t think it’s going to be endgame, mostly because nothing about that reveal moment actually felt right to me. and of course, it’s very possible that I’m completely wrong about this; it wouldn’t be the first time (Kacchan’s quirk says hello). but on the other hand fandom isn’t totally batting a thousand either (Ground Zero says what up), so hey. we’ll see!

#bakugou katsuki #dynamight #bnha 293 #bnha meta #bakugou meta #bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #bnha manga spoilers #makeste reads bnha #asks #anon asks

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escapetodreamworld · 3 years

Text

Angelique x Reader

one shot

@generally-likeable

hey... remember when you ask for this one shot 2 months ago, but my requests were closed at the time, well I was thinking about your request a few days ago and well...

a meeting the family fic where readers family doesn’t like Angelique at all. with a happy ending because you left the ending up to me. and I made it thanksgiving themed sort of.

a/n I can’t write short fics, I try but then they end up like this.

Feeling your girlfriends arms wrap around your waist from behind as you finish making a pie crust, you lean back into her, sighing happily.

You feel her hot breath on your neck as she trails kisses up to your ear, you giggle at the feeling. Causing her to tighten her hold on you slightly, you can feel her grinning against your ear. "Tomorrow's our first thanksgiving together, just you, me and a few bottles of wine. What could be better than that." Angie says, then presses a kiss to your cheek.

"Nothing, nothing could be better than that." You say, agreeing with your girlfriend. You turn around in her arms, leaning against the cabinet. You press a soft kiss to her lips, but of course, Angie being Angie the kiss turns into a deep one.

She pulls you closer to her, keeping one hand around your waist she snakes the other one up your body to your cheek. She has her pinky finger behind your ear, pulling you closer. Just has her tongue swipes against your bottom lip you hear a knock on your apartment door.

At first you both try to ignore it, hoping whoever it is will go away. Sadly, they don't. You whine, pulling yourself from Angie's embrace. She groans at the lost of your body against hers. You give her a quick kiss and say. "I'll get rid of them. pour us some wine and I'll be right back." You wink suggestively before heading for the door.

On your way to the door you hear Angelique moving around the kitchen quickly, wine glasses clinking together, and you hear the pop of Angie using her magic to take the cork out of the bottle. You can't help the smile forming on your face.

That smile disappears when you open the door.

"Mom! Dad! Alex! What are you doing here?!" You say, loud enough so Angelique will hear. You can't hear anything coming from the kitchen anymore.

"You told us you had to much work so you couldn't fly back home, so we came here too surprise you. Surprise!" Your mother says, cheerfully. Your parents look excited, your brother, bored.

"Wow that's so nice of you, but, I have plans for tomorrow." You say, trying to figure out how to get yourself out of this deep hole you're about to be in. Your mother's smile drops slightly, but she quickly recovers.

"Well, we'll just do our Thanksgiving plans earlier or later in the day to accommodate for your schedule." Your mom says, and you slowly lose hope of getting out of this.

"(Y/n) dear, aren't you going to let us in?" Your dad asks, peering over your shoulder looking into your apartment. You look over over to the kitchen which is blocked from they're view by the door. Angelique is standing in the door way watching you, an unreadable expression on her face.

You look at her, pleading for an answer to this problem. She shrugs before mouthing "let them in." Then straightens out her pants suit and reapplies lip stick in the mirror.

You turn your head back to your family, forcing a smiling and opening the door wider. "Come in." You say, voice cracking from nerves. You look back towards the kitchen doorway but Angelique is no longer there. You turn back to your parents quickly.

"So my living room is through there." You say, pointing to the another door. Your parents looking around the entryway. "if you could head in there and I'll be right back to give you the tour." You say, your parents "oohing" at the idea of a tour of your apartment and head into the living room.

You quickly move towards the kitchen, only to be stop by your brother whispering your name. "(Y/n)!" He whispers, loud enough for only you to hear. You turn around to see him in the living room doorway. "What?" You whisper back.

"You've got lipstick on your neck, might want to clean that off." He says quietly, you quickly slap your hand over your neck. He rolls his eyes and disappear into the living room.

Finally making your way into the kitchen, you see Angie sipping her wine. You grab a towel and start wiping your neck vigorously, trying to get the red lipstick off. You see Angie watching you, amused. You put the towel down and make a grab for the other wine glass on the table. Angelique snatching it up before you could, she swirling the wine in the glass, it starts glowing.

"Here." Angelique says, finally handing you the glass. You eye it suspiciously, you raise an eyebrow at her. "What did you do to it?" You ask, still not taking the glass.

"Just a little calming spell, you look like you need it." She says, but puts the glass back on the table. Angelique steps closer to you, she gently brings her hands up to your face, running her thumbs over your cheeks. You close your eyes, taking a deep breath, relaxing into her touch.

"Baby, it'll be okay. We're going to go out there, I'll meet your parents and we'll have a nice visit." She says, reassuring you. You nod, opening your eyes. She pulls you closer, kissing your forehead. Once she pulls away she pick up the wine glass again, offering it to you.

You accept it this time, bring it to your lips. Angelique puts her finger on the base of the glass tilting it up, making you drink it faster.

You empty the glass, and Angelique takes it from you, placing it in the sink. She turns back to you, and runs her thumb over your lips, wiping away any traces of wine. "Good girl." She says, causing an ache in your core. She smirks, knowing exactly what she just did to you.

"Later, my dearest. We have company." She says, grabbing a hold of your hand, lacing your fingers together. "Are you ready?" She asks, and yes. you are. You feel so much calmer than before.

"Yeah." You say, smiling at Angelique. You start for the living room, pulling Angie with you by your joined hands. You stop in the hall before you're in your parents line of sight, you turn around to quickly say. "I love you, no matter what happens." After an "I love you too." You start to move again, until your both standing in the wide door frame to the living room.

Your parent are snooping through your things unaware of your presence, your brother's laying on your sofa, he notices you, looking between you and Angelique. He puts the pieces together, and starts grinning.

You clear your throat, gaining your parents attention. "Mom Dad, this is Angelique. Angie these are my parents." You say, introducing them. Your parents immediately looking too each other, confused.

Your Dad recovers first, walking up to Angie. Shaking her hand, and like any father would do, starts asking questions. "Nice to meet you Angelique, how do you know my daughter? Are you two, roommates?" Your Dad asks.

Angie let's out a laugh. "God no, I'd never live in a place like this. You should of seen this place before I started coming over, her landlord never fixed anything in this building." Angelique grins, causing you to roll your eyes.

"Angelique threatened the man, scared him half to death. But my ceilings fixed. And my water pressure is better, so I can't really complain." You say, and flash a smile at Angie.

Your Dad chuckles, shaking his head before say. "Well, thank you. I hate the thought of my daughter living across the country, in a run down old apartment." Your mom laugh along with your father, but it's short lived.

"So if you don't live here, where do you know (y/n) from?" Your mom questions, looking between you and Angie. You watch as your mom come up with the wrong answer "You two must work toge-" "We're dating." You interrupt, and the room goes quiet. Your brother sits up on the couch, incredibly interested in what might happen next.

Your Mom frowns. "That's not a funny joke (y/n). Your Mom scolds, you glare back.

"It's not a joke mother." You say, unable to get angry because of the spell in your wine. But you hold your ground anyway. Angelique looks angry and is about to interrupt, but you shake your head. Nope, your going to handle this calmly.

Your Dad seems to want to do the same. "Sweetie, your Mom and I don't have a problem with you liking girls. But Angelique is our age, there's no good reason for her date someone half her age." Your dad explains, you can see Angie ready to snap.

You sigh. "Dad Mom, I'm glad you both accept me for liking girls. But Angie and I are dating, have been for ten months. She hasn't forced me to do anything, she's never hurt me, she never even yells at me. And we've had plenty of fights, but she NEVER raises her voice at me." You finish, and wait for they're response.

"No."

"What?" You ask, shocked.

"No, we won't let you date her." Your Dad replies.

You look at Angie, who's boiling with rage. "Angelique, I can't fight them at the moment. So, I'm going let you handle this." You say, and she nods. then you quietly say. "Don't break anything, don't hurt them, and NO magic. Make them accept it, if they can't. get them out." You turn to your brother, motioning for him to follow you. "Lets go." He jumps up, quickly following you out of the room and into the kitchen, you close the door.

Lucky Angelique isn't really a yeller, she can instill fear in people in the softest voice you've ever heard. luckily you've never been on the receiving side of that voice, probably never will be considering its only used for her board members, and the Collins.

You and your brother sit in the kitchen for an awkward minute, you wonder how it's going. until your Mom stormed in. "Alex, we're leaving." She says, before addressing you. "(Y/n) we think you're making a big mistake. But know that we'll be there for you when it ends terribly." Then leaving the kitchen.

You stare at the door shocked, your brother speaks up. "Your girlfriend's hot." You smile. "Thanks." You say, and hug your brother. You walk him to the door, where your parents are waiting. You all say bye, but not much else is said by anyone. Angelique's leaning against the living room door frame, watching over you.

You close the door after they leave, you mean your back against the door, and close your eyes. "I know I should feel sad or angry, but I don't." You say, and open your eyes. Angelique looks at you sympathetically, and makes her way over to you, gently pulling you from the door and into her arms.

"The calming spell is stopping you from feeling emotions that counteract with it, like anger and sadness. It'll wear off really soon and you be hit with those emotions again." Angie stats, while tracing calming patterns on your back.

"Great, can't wait for that." You say, sarcastically.

Angie pulls away. "I need to say something, before the spell wears off." Say says, and you slowly start feeling concerned. "Okay." You nod

"I never thought I'd love someone as much as I loved Barnabas, I'd been living with an emptiness in my heart for centuries, but then I met you. And I started to feel again, you gave me the one thing I never had. Someone's love, you were the first person to truly love me. I don't want to lose you." Your crying now, the spell having worn off.

Angelique takes both your hands, and get down on one knee. You have to pull your right hand away and cover your month so you don't let out a gasp as you cry tears of joy.

"Will you marry me?"

#angelique bouchard x reader #eva green

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dragonrajafanfiction · 3 years

Text

Genji Heavy Industries (Part 9) Majesty

Chisei simps come and get your FOOD Come and get your FOOD.

The female Deadpool is panting. Her tongue flops over her extended mandible like a dead thing. She lies on the floor unable to lift her head. Her hair lies around her face like a dark shaggy curtain. But still she reaches out and swats a red dot. She’d pursued this red thing through the hall, jealousy preventing her from letting any other curious ones from claiming her prize. And yet she still didn’t have it.

Her claw lands on the red dot and it appears on top of her hand. She tries again, still failing to capture the red dot.

But before she could let out a hiss of frustration, a gentle touch fell on her head. She didn’t notice the human walking up to her as she was focused on the red dot. Her muscles twitch but before she can turn around and strike at the attacker, the touch turns into a massage on her scalp.

MC, you remember how it felt to be gently and lovingly caressed like this. The Female Deadpool made a significant dent in the numbers of beasts in the room and you felt she deserved a small reward. Like you, she was born to be a killer and had no affection shown to her in life. So you figured affection would be a nice thing to feel in her last moments. She makes a little noise, almost like a whimper and her jaw drops as she stares, vision focusing beyond the red dot now.

You press the muzzle of the mercury core pistol against the back of her head and pull the trigger. For the deadpool, it was a flash of light and oblivion. The beast falls flat, the pattern of her black blood making a fountain shape that extends out from her head.

Your laughter fades back into a cold sort of boredom. “That was fun, while it lasted.”

You step over her body and shoot down at her hand, neatly severing the nearly foot long serrated sickle shaped claw. You pick it up.

Caesar strafed as he advanced, closing in on the shaded wall in the center of the hall, with Deadpool gathering on all sides. In their eyes, he and Zihang were like two dishes that were ascending to the table on their own. .A Deadpool approached Caesar from the side while Caesar's fire was focusing on the front. Caesar did not even turn his gaze. Chu Zihang dashed up with a bayonet and stabbed it. The Deadpool closed its hands to block. The gun went through its palm bone. Not only did not have a painful reaction but fiercely closed his hands to hold the gun’s muzzle. Chu Zihang leaned down and charged, forcing Deadpool back with his gun, when Caesar pulled out the Colt pistol that was etched with the words "Western Watch" from his waist.

Western Watch fired like a thunderstorm, large-caliber bullets landing accurately into the abdomen of the deadpool, and then they exploded. The splash of mercury inside the bullets was heated by gunpowder, and the air filled with mercury vapor. The scales of the monsters who were splashed by the mercury became pale and then fell off, and a greenish-white mercury scar appeared on their skin.

"Wow! The Japanese weaponry looks more useful than the Academy's mercury core bomb!" Caesar was quite surprised.

Chu Zihang nailed the Deadpool to a column with the enhanced crossbow through the hole Caesar punched through its abdomen. The mercury was eroding its body at high speed. The bayonet penetrated its chest, but it still hissed and lunged at Chu Zihang, letting the whole gun barrel pass through its chest until the barrel was covered with thick black blood. Chu Zihang pulled the bag on his shoulder, and a bundle of swords fell at his feet. He grabbed a hilt in his hand and stabbed straight through the chest to cut off the spine of the monster. The nervous system is the weak point. After the destruction of the spine, it was finally powerless and could only hang there. Chu Zihang sheathed the blade waist, then drew a shotgun and returned to stand back to back with Caesar.

He turns to you. “MC! Come closer!”

Although you felt fine on your own, military discipline was too ingrained for you not to immediately obey your Senior Brother.

As soon as you turn to hurry, you’re cut off by a tall man-shaped serpent. His coil surrounds you, a foot and a half high of pure muscle, intending to keep you from running away and corral you into his strike zone. But this stupid creature didn’t understand that you weren’t a rabbit to run away from a serpent.

In the story of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, Rudyard Kipling explains, “If you read the old books of natural history you will find that they say that when the mongoose fights the snake and happens to get bitten, he runs off and eats some herb that cures him. That is not true. The victory is only a matter of the quickness of eye and quickness of foot, - the snake's blow against the mongoose's jump, - and, as no eye can follow the motion of a snake's head when it strikes, that makes things more amazing than any magic herb.”

The golden snake-like beast lunges at you and you jump to the side, landing on its massive coil while raising your gun. The strike brought the snake man’s head in line with the barrel just as you fired. But this all seemed to happen in an instant of time.

To observers, the snake lunged and you jumped at the same time as you shot. And then you kept shooting in quick succession. You couldn’t kill the beast with your puny pistol, but the power was enough to act like a punch or a kick and you used it that way, using bullets as a fist slamming into its jaw. It recovered, shaking the ringing from its head, but you weren’t in front of it.

Snk-snk-snk.

The claw of the dead female deadpool was sharp enough and hard enough not to need the assistance of mercury. With it, you severed the beast's cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine. The creature sat back on its coil but it could no longer move at all.

You hurry to Ceasar and Chu Zihang and they stand in front of you.

Caesar emptied the six mercury bursts in the Western Watch. The smoke of refined mercury filled the hall. The fire driven wind intensified the speed of the spread of smoke. The Deadpool instinctively feared this smoke, and, for a time, did not dare to approach you. Caesar took the opportunity to do suppression fire with submachine guns.

You approached the center of the hall step by step, hundreds of deadpool around you. Their baby-like cries echoed in all directions. Countless pale human faces emerged in the firelight. Some are old and some are young. Some faces have been distorted and deformed. Some faces can still remind people you may have met in the street passing by. There are shy teenagers and mature women, but when their skulls open to reveal thorny sharp teeth, they all turn into evil spirits.

"We're like rats breaking into a snake breeding ball with leather slingshots in our hands." Caesar discarded the Sten submachine gun in his hand and also drew his Winchester shotgun.

You glance up at him and smile. You hadn’t smiled this much since you met. You want to tell him to speak for himself. Caesar was trying to use strength and force to kill these beasts, but his strength and his force were barely enough. The best way to fight these creatures was with speed and with wits.

But military discipline in battle requires absolute reverence for authority. “Yes but you are the pretty blond rat, and Chu Zihang is the scary black rat and I’m the cute one.” You feel a slight pain in your chest. “I miss Lu Mingfei… He would have been a funny rat.”

“I’m sure he’s fine. Let’s just focus on getting out of here.” Caesar shakes his head in amazement at your response. Chu Zihang shoves one of the submachine guns in your hand and you scarcely resist pouting. You didn’t want it.

In the center of the hall, the strongest Deadpool is devouring the dead. It is more than twice the size of the other Deadpool. Since the beginning, It has not joined the attack on you. It is single-mindedly dealing with the meal in front of it, first vomiting out slime to lubricate the corpse, and then slowly devouring it with large audible gulps like a snake. It seems that the group has a hierarchy like a herd of animals. The strongest deadpool are like the head wolf dominating the freshest bloody food. Others dare not share food with it. Otherwise they might end up swallowed with their companions. It was closest to Caesar and looked like a middle-aged balding man. He may have been a middle-aged balding man in life, but no one could have imagined that he could have such a large body after dragonization. His bloated belly wriggled against the ground. His swollen head and neck jiggled as it moved.

It turned its head to the three of you with what appeared to be a smiling expression, saliva dripping down. This was not the first time a Deadpool had shown an expression that approximated a smile, and it looked like it was expressing joy at the sight of food. The group of Deadpool had driven you to the center of the hall to let the strongest Deadpool feed first.

This is why Chu Zihang had given you the machine gun. There was no way the claw you were using as a dagger could penetrate this boss-monster’s fatty layer. You tuck it into your belt.

Caesar’s Winchester shotgun spewed out a dense stream of sparks, and the middle-aged balding man version of Deadpool was blasted in the face. Its upper body tilted back as if broken. Its bloated belly is still sitting on the floor.

"Baldness and bloating like this is also something I do not like!" Caesar yelled.

“I was thinking more of the disgusting vomit and macrophagy but… sure yeah… Ew, a fatty.” You mutter.

The vast majority of people would have fainted in fear in the face of the Deadpool's slight smile, but it was facing the thugs out of Cassell College. Chu Zihang drew his Sten submachine gun and expressionlessly sent the dense bullets to punch a bloody hole in that Deadpool's snake belly. You frown at yourself. There was no point in mindlessly firing at such a bullet sponge.

The bloated death servitor slowly sat up, like a sleeping human bending down to get up. Its bloated belly squirmed and boiled inside, and its body grew taller. It was only a man tall when it moved with its belly against the ground, but now it had reared up and transformed into a three-meter-tall giant, not counting the tail coiled on the ground. The tiny human body on the magnificent snake looked so incongruous, like a pregnant mother mantis.

Chu Zihang takes two swords and slowly stretches his arms forward. There is no road ahead. This is your last battlefield. All the deadpool follow their chief and also "stand". Strong tails support the sturdy upper bodies as they rear up like cobras, their height ranging from two to three meters. All around you, these trembling snake bodies are like a fleshy forest.

“Whale.” You say to yourself. Only a long harpoon could penetrate all that flesh to get to the tender parts inside but you didn’t have anything like that and the way back to the weaponry room was completely cut off.

A black shadow descended like a diving eagle and landed along the back of the chief of the deadpool with the light of a clear blue blade! Chisei Gen brought his full force down onto his twinblades, Onimaru and Dojigiri, sank them in completely, almost to the hilt, and cut the chief of the beasts from the back of the neck along its spine in a long bloody line. He violently twisted his hands and a piece of vertebrae cracked. The monster deadpool’s entire spine collapsed section by section to the floor. Chisei landed in a crouch, then he spun, Onimaru in his right hand, slicing in a flat rotating swing parallel to the ground that cut off the deadpool’s tail. The huge body completely lost support, tilted and fell forward toward Chisei. Chisei dodged sideways, still cutting at the massive beast with twin swords.

Chisei Gen had your speed and wit, but he also had strength that you didn’t have. You stared, face blank. Your eyes following this gorgeous and effortless blade dance. You sigh, eyes wide. “Woah.”

The leader of the deadpool was dead before he hit the ground. It was breathtakingly beautiful to you and you shoved your machine gun back into Caesar’s carry bag without saying a word or even looking at him. You drew your knife and ran forward leaving the two men who had been your companions for weeks. It was as if you had suddenly switched sides in the middle of the fight!

Chisei was still wearing the clothes from the document room, though his trench coat was gone. His upright and muscular body is wrapped in a bloody torn dress shirt, black slacks and leather shoes. He turns that body as you approach and you see his face in profile. It was delicate and feminine, with skin that was not quite pale, just like Z’s. A dark drop of black blood makes a tear like trail down his face. His mouth is moving, teeth flashing slightly behind pale lips, speaking a chilling series of forbidden words. The winds change and stir his dark hair as his eyes slowly blaze gold. You stop and freeze in place. Chu Zihang and Caesar are still firing their guns but Chisei is no longer moving.

The field of the wind expanded slowly, seemingly gently, with a faint violet fluorescence at the borders. The Deadpool in the field prostrated themselves on the ground with fear and trembling. Their hands pressed spasmodically to the ground, black tears of blood flowing from their eyes.

Chu Zihang and Caesar were shocked. They couldn't feel any difference, but the group of deadpool seemed to be sensitized. They knelt down to Chisei, like a defeated general facing a victorious king. The field eventually covered the whole mural hall. Chisei walked into the group of monsters with the Dojigiri and Onimaru, waving his sword along the way to cut off the head of one deadpool after another, advancing like a lawn mower. Black fountains of blood burst from their necks. The effect of Gen Chisei’s Yanling is surprisingly to make the enemy willingly accept the killing.

He glanced back at you briefly and you find your wits again. It was if he were leading you. You bounced after him like a young wolf, joining in the bloodshed with your knife, stacking up bodies in his wake, like a young chick following the example of a mighty eagle parent.

"Shit! Is this mind control?" Caesar muttered.

"No, it's not mind control, look underneath the bodies of those monsters!" Chu Zihang said.

The marble floor is slowly cracking, which means there is an amazing weight pressing on the ground. What kind of weight can crack the marble floor? A few tons or a dozen tons? What does it feel like for bones to bear this super-gravity?

You understood that these beasts were not willingly allowing you to slit their throats, but they could not resist. Their weight increased dozens of times in an instant, so heavy that it was difficult to even lift their arms. If they didn’t lie down, their vertebrae would be crushed.

Speech Spirit - Majesty, serial number 91, belongs to that category of speech spirits that have surpassed the scope of human understanding.

It was a Speech Spirit much like your own.

#Dragon Raja #Gen Chisei #Chisei Gen #Yuan Zhisheng

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brelione · 4 years

Text

Wish I Was Sarah PT.1(Kiara Carrera X Reader)

Kiara had first met you 3rd of December.You had been at a party,a christmas party to be specific.You were a kook which meant your parents forced you to go to all the big mansion parties all the time.All of the big ones were there,Sarah Cameron,Topper Thornton,Rafe Cameron,Kiara Carrera.All of them.

You had worn a sweater over a simple t shirt,too lazy to put on a dress like all the others.Your parents were just glad that you had agreed to make an appearance even if you looked like shit.You had sat in the corner of the couch,earbuds in.You were listening to Sweater Weather,thinking it was funny because you were,in fact,wearing a sweater.

Kiara had stood at the snack table for a while,holding a disgusting monstrosity of a cookie,debating on picking off the sprinkles and throwing them away.She had never really been a fan of sprinkles.She had glanced around the crowds,the moms talking as they ate cheese cubes,the dads talking as they drank beers and wine,the other teens probably getting high up in the bathroom.Then her eyes fell on you.

She felt her face heat up immediately,staring at you for a while.You were underdressed for the occasion,your earbuds in as you sat curled up on the couch,seeming tired of being there.She debated herself in her head,trying to decide whether to approach you or not.Eventually she gave in,walking across the room with fake confidence,sitting down next to you.She watched as you tensed up,your eyes going wide,your bottom lip between your teeth,wondering what she wanted.

You pulled out an earbud,looking up at the beautiful girl that had decided to sit next to you of all places. “Hey.”She smiled,holding out her hand to you. “Im Kiara.”She introduced herself.You pulled out your other earbud,a small grin on your face. “Hi.Im (Y/N).”You shook her hand,feeling your face heat up a bit. “So um….yeah.What song were you listening to?”She asked,trying not to laugh at how dumb she sounded.You showed her your phone,finding yourself moving closer to her on the couch. “You like Frozen ll a lot.”She laughed,watching you scroll through the playlist.

You nodded,handing her an earbud to make her listen to Lost In The Woods. “Ive never seen Frozen ll.”She admitted,watching as your jaw dropped and your eyes widened. “Kiara!Oh my god-whats wrong with you?”Your voice became higher as you talked,your hand covering your mouth.She laughed at you,shrugging. “Wait,have you seen the first one?”You asked.She nodded,watching as a look of relief came across your face. “Okay,did you like it?”You asked.She shrugged once again,smiling at your enthusiasm.

“The second one is better I promise.”You answered.She rolled her eyes,leaning back against the couch. “Im serious!The soundtrack,the animation everything is so much better!”You exclaimed,shaking your phone as you spoke.She nodded. “Yeah,whatever you say.”She replied,watching as you tried to convince her. “You have to watch it!Please?”You pouted.She nodded,making you clap your hands in excitement as you went into your disney plus app.She watched as you scrolled through the movies,a big grin on your face because you had easily defeated her.

“Its so cold in here.Who puts air conditioning on in december?”She complained out loud.You handed her your phone for a moment,not hesitating to pull off your sweater and hand it to her. “That’s pretty warm.”You told her,not really thinking about it.Her face turned red,biting her bottom lip as she held back a smile.

She had originally regretted her wardrobe choice of a green dress,the fabric light and flowy,her arms exposed which caused goosebumps to rise across her caramel skin.She didnt regret it now though as she pulled on your sweater,the warm fabric making the goosebumps go away.Her heart was thumping as you moved incredibly close to her,handing her an earbud and holding your phone in front of the two of you.

As you reached the point of Into The Unknown it was announced that dinner was ready,ham,turkey,potatoes,corn,rolls,pretty much everything imaginable.It disgusted you that you all had a feast of expensive,high quality food while people in The Cut were lucky to have a meal a day.The adults called the other teens downstairs for the meal and you promised Kiara that you’d finish watching it after.You two decided to sit next to eachother at the table,your sweater still on her.

She offered it back to you,saying that she didnt want to get food on it but you told her that it was fine and that it looked better on her anyways. “So the movie...what do you think about it so far?”You had asked softly as Kelce and Topper came down the stairs. “Its good.Its good,like you said,better than the first for sure.”She nodded,eyebrows furrowing when she noticed your eyes falling away from her and towards someone walking down the stairs.Sarah fucking Cameron.The blonde was wearing a nice,light grey dress that looked amazing on her figure,her hair in pretty braids.

Kiara saw the look in your eyes,the way they were full of wonder,mesmorized by Sarah Cameron.She felt like dying,like being eaten up by a black hole as she wondered how she could be so stupid.She had thought that maybe you were interested in her but it was probably because she had been the only girl there.Now that Sarah was here she would be lucky if she could get your attention back again.

“So what do you think of the theory about Elsa?”She asked,glaring at Sarah.Your face heated up,taking your eyes off of the pretty blonde and back to Kiara. “What theory?”You asked,glancing over at Sarah every couple of moments.Kiara tried to hide her anger,covering it with a small grin. “The one about her being a lesbian.What do you think of it?”She asked,trying to learn more about you and if she even had a chance.You bit your lip,looking over at the plate of biscuits.

“I mean,I think at this point we all just want representation in disney and in like,media in general but I dont think Elsa is a lesbian.I feel like she might be aromantic or maybe...well,I dont really know.There’s nothing-well,you know she actual might be a lesbian,”You paused,leaning forward to grab a biscuit and put it on your plate.

“There’s this one scene in Frozen ll,ill point it out to you that has like vibes to it.But then again just because she doesnt have a male love interest doesnt exactly mean she’s a lesbian.Moana and Merida didnt have guys that they were in love with but that doesnt mean they’re lesbians.Merida might be a lesbian,have you seen how good she is in nature and cooking fish in the wild?And how she knew those berries were poison?Thats some cottage core lesbian shit.What was I talking about?”you asked,realising you had gotten caught up in the topic and had forgotten the original question.

Kiara smiled,glad to hear you speak so passionately about something. “If Elsa is a lesbian.”She held back a laugh,watching as the realisation came across your face. “Right,so the answer is yes but also no but also yes.Like at least fifty percent yes but also no but im 1000% confident in Merida being a lesbian.”You confirmed,cutting open your biscuit.She nodded,trying to think of a new topic before she lost your attention again. “So the whole thing of people shipping Else with Jack Frost.What do you think of that?”She asked,laughing when your fists slapped down in your lap,gaining the attention of Rafe and Sarah.

“Dude literally it makes no sense!Jack Frost isnt even disney!Like the only reason anyone ever shipped them was because they have the same powers but Jack is like 300 years old and hes like...energetic and giggly and child-like and immature and she would get so annoyed so quick!She’s introverted and serious and of course theres nothing wrong with that but she gets like too embarrassed too fast and I cant see them ever getting together or even being friends.Like,Merida is most definitely a lesbian but if they’re gonna ship Jack with anyone it should be her!Their personalities are so similar.”You huffed,biting into a half of your biscuit.

She nodded,grabbing a scoop of mashed potatoes and putting it onto her plate. “Yeah,definitely.So who is your favorite disney princess?”She asked,sending a bitter glare towards Sarah.Sarah had been staring at you during your passionate speech,filtering out the other voices to listen to you.She found you fascinating,intriguing.She was trying to figure out why she didnt know you or if you were new to the island.You glanced her way,smirking to yourself when you saw her blush. “Um...I dont think I have a favorite.They’re all powerful and wonderful in their own ways and they all have pretty cool stories.Except Pocahontas,I hate that they romanticize colonization and in reality she was like ten and he was in his late twenties.The soundtrack was great though.”You shrugged,taking a sip of root beer.

She nodded,listening in to what the old folks were talking about.There were more people outside who had opted to take plates of food out there.Kiara wouldve preferred to go outside but it was colder out there and she hadnt been prepared.Her mother was looking at her from across the table but Kiara couldnt care less,too busy searching for your parents. “Hey,(Y/N)?”She asked quietly,getting your attention off of your biscuit. “Where are your parents?”She asked.You shrugged,getting your own scoop of mashed potatoes. “I think they’re outside.I dunno.”You answered.She nodded,continuing to eat,sending a glare towards Sarah every couple of moments.

“Eat faster so we can finish the movie.”You told her,not thinking about it as you spoke.She smiled,hurrying to eat. “Wait,why dont we just go outside and watch it?”She suggested.You bit your cheek,trying to figure out why you hadnt thought of that.You nodded,standing up and picking up your root beer,balancing it on your plate and walking out of the house,Kiara close behind you. “Where are we going?”She asked.You grinned,careful as you walked down the hill. “I know a spot.”You answered,walking across the sand of the beach.

You had explored pretty much all spots of the beach and had found your favorite one,a cave behind a wall of rocks that you had personalized.You walked towards the rock wall,slipping through the crack. “What is this place?”She asked,still following you.You smiled,turning on your phone flash light so you could see the lantern that you had put in there,turning it on.Her face lit up,looking around the cave.Pillows,sheets,blankets,pretty curtains hanging from the walls,a bin of paints so you could paint the rocks. “Thats such a good question.I really dont know how it got here,I just went through the crack one day and kind of just found it.”You shrugged,sitting down in the pile of pillows and patting the spot next to you.She sat down,shifting so she was as close to you as possible,leaning her head against your shoulder to test the waters.You pulled the earbuds from you phone,turning up the volume of the movie.

@poguestyleskye @jjtheangel @balanceofgray @outerbongs @copper-boom @httpstarkey @teenwaywardasgardian

If you’d like to be tagged in all future JJ imagines/headcannons/series comment with a heart,if you’d like to be tagged in all future Pope imagines/headcannons/series comment with a smiling face,if you’d like to be tagged in all future Rafe imagines/headcannons/series comment with a frowning face,if you’d like to be tagged in all future Kiara imagines/headcannons/series comment with a question mark and if you’d like to be tagged in all future Sarah Cameron imagines/headcannons/series comment with a plus sign.If you’d like to be tagged in all Kelce content coment with a “>” and if youd like to be tagged in all Topper content comment with a “%”.Or if thats too complicated you can just comment whose name you’d like to be tagged in.

#kiara carrera #kiara x reader #obx kiara #kiara carrera x you #kiara carrera imagine #kiara carrera headcanon #kiara carrera series #sarah cameron #sarah cameron x reader #sarah cameron imagine #sarah cameron x you #obx sarah

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jerichomere · 3 years

Text

MBS EPISODE EIGHHHHT

weak. I hate to say it but I could feel it in my heart from the start. It had good moments but this episode just didn’t bring it home. I’m going to break this up into my usual notes and then some general evaluation. Notes: What is the deal with curtain and food? He has so many weird scenes with meals.. there’s probably some hidden meaning here but I don’t know what it is And they didn’t get to chuck-root the school :((((( Constance? Wants to pour acid on curtain’s feet Haha I liked Kate’s little “Nyoope” when the recruiters found her Martina redemption and the fighting tetherball team, sure Jackson and Jillson get even more unhinged. they terrify me We got Kate yeeting Constance up the tower, but her bucket had a built in rope motor somehow WE GOT KATIE-KAT but we didn’t get Sorry it took me so long And Milligan’s still moody instead of joyous Go Constance, break the thing, yay Number Two and Rhonda had some real shippy energy in this episode and PLEASE they are SISTERS Two more close profile shots of curtain in this episode, one where he is physically shorter than Milligan but dominating the interaction, and one where he’s physically looking down at Reynie but Reynie’s getting to him. Reynie has a heart to heart and curtain passes out. That’s different. Sticky even said, “it’s anger” and he was like “no, it’s vulnerability” oooooookay then. The whisperer is not an intercom/loudspeaker. sheesh. So the kiddos leave and the twins talk, resolving nothing, then curtain escapes REYNIE AND MISS PERUMAL NO COMPLAINTS HERE *sobs* Kate and Madge at the end <3 Constance refuses adoption!?!?!?!??! And no age reveal obviously rip Sticky’s family redemption he’s going to the totally not made up Boatwright Academy now Mr Benedict is like, I love you all, no snowball fight, the end. SIKE Curtain, SQ, and a totally real engineer lady are on a BOAT. You know, I felt bad for the engineer this whole series, as she is portrayed as kind of doing the technical work hoping it’ll be used for good, while curtain abuses its practical application, but her mood really shifted in that last scene. She was like heheh hey guy that I know is definitely is evil, howabout this mysterious blueprint... are they really trying to set up the sequel. Some tree branches will have to get pretttty bent.

Evaluation: keep reading! (sorry it gets long)

To recap what I’ve said from the start, I think the casting is fantastic but the tone is wrong. The darker, more saturated filter, the isolating camera shots, and very understated music make things colder and stilted. This is a constant throughout the whole series. The book was warm, messy, and full of charm, which I didn’t feel watching the show.

characters were.. compromised? Mr B starts off with a LIE about test winners going to Boatwright Academy. That undermines EVERYTHING he does from then on. “Regrettable but necessary” DOESN’T cut it. He’s also just so anxious and jittery instead of his gentile, kind, strong book self. Just from the show, they didn’t frame his genius very well. He seems more like a fool. Not really confidence-inspiring. In the same way, Being directed to cheat is one thing, but Reynie should NOT have lied to SQ to manipulate him into seeing the forest or whatever. Yeah reynie felt bad about it and SQ called him on it, but this is like the core values of our protagonist team, the strong love for truth. Also, I feel like in the show Reynie’s leadership isn’t highlighted. Like, everyone else has their thing but you almost wonder why he’s framed as the main character. The girls got bonding and the boys got bonding but there was hardly opportunity for him to really bring the team together into a cohesive unit Also, as much as I love Number Two’s life of crime (because it’s funny), she too should have that love of truth, but instead regularly does unlawful things. AND they never explained her eating, and even stopped having yellow clothes :( Additionally, the side story of her and Rhonda’s friction (entertaining I suppose) also really changed the character dynamic. In the book, the adult team was unwavering and wise, a sturdy basis for the perilous missions of the children. But their internal strife, while adding drama, makes them seem unreliable and less absolutely good and trustworthy. And I think trust and integrity are key parts of the book’s solid narrative. Constance’s refusal of the adoption felt wrong too. She was like, “Respectfully decline, but. I’ll stick around here.” I think they were trying to keep going with her contrariness, but it just comes across as foolish pride? Constance is a LITTLE GIRL. She DESERVES a FAMILY. SHE DESERVES A LOVING PARENT (and two wonderful sisters). Yeah family doesn’t have to be by blood OR lawful paperwork, but her actions in this scene really just. cuts off the feels at the knees. We KNOW she’s strong and independent but that doesn’t mean she HAS TO BE or even necessarily WANTS to be all the time. Over the course of the series we see her warming up to people, a kind word here, a little smile there, but this adoption refusal is.. harsh. Then we’ve got Sticky. Yes, he struggles with the comfort of the whisperer. And he overcomes it. BUT in one of the earlier episodes, they had him fighting with the team, defending the whisperer, dismissing his friends... and I count this as betrayal. It may be extreme on my part, but I think he went too far. The Society is the Society. In the book he bested his fears for them and with their support. Yeah he desperately wanted to just give in but he had PRINCIPLES and knew why he couldn’t. His honor, his responsibility to stop curtain, and his loyalty to his friends got him though. But in the show he just dumped them. And then was like, oh oops jk I’m back. (I knowwwwww the book has the privilege of being able to explain characters’ thought processes and emotional states, while shows have to work with more tangible actions and words but stilll I did not Like That) And finally, curtain wasn’t smart. He had hired people doing all the work. He just used it to his ends. Less evil genius and more manipulating creep. But this? I’m more ok with. As an villain, he got the job done. But this makes him less of a foil for Mr Benedict and more of an antagonist, if that makes sense. In the book they never knew each other, but were both alone in the world and greatly smart, and they chose verrry different paths. Whereas in the show he and B were always kind of opposites, warring in motivation and method from the start.

Let’s talk about the boss battle (such as it was). I said it was weak and I meant it. The book is heart pounding. There is so much going on, and so many people in play, the narration jumping all over the place in real time, all culminating in that clash at the top of the tower. Now, the show... the highs weren’t the highs. It felt more like checking off story points. Kate and constance outside - check. Resist the whisperer to stall for time - check. Milligan reveal - check. Reynie starting to figure out narcolepsy triggers - check. Constance shouting then you are the greatest fool of all - um, no, that didn’t happen. Constance defeating the whisperer - check. Curtain escapes - check. We got zero action. No good fights. I know Emmy Deoliveira is a kid and I’m not mad at her for not being able to do action sequences or run with Constance piggyback. But there was almost no physical conflict on-screen, and that’s Kate’s real time to shine. Also they had Number two and Rhonda in the tower ready to fight and then they just didn’t. All this build up for nothing. Furthermore, and I think this is the biggest problem, there was no momentum. Yeah they cut from scene to scene, but the music and tone cut scene-to-scene too. So there was like, dramatic music, Kate’s ready to fight! Get hyped! and then cut to absolutely silent, mr curtain staring at someone. feel mildly disturbed. and then cut to Rhonda and Number two being friends and ready to fight! Aww! And yay! Get hyped! And then cut back to Sticky sitting in a chair, dead silent. It goes on like this. The music, the urgency, should have carried throughout, building in intensity and desperation as the kids come together and curtain unravels more and more and then BAM! curtain down and OH NO! the whisperer and finally Constance’s “I... DON”T.... CARE!!!” and then the madcap escape from the island. Watching, I just couldn’t get swept away. Storywise, they tied it all up and logically it made sense but the emotional culmination just wasn’t there. It was over and done too quick. It fell flat. I didn’t feel the struggle, the suspense. And then they gave us a fabricated Mr B and Curtain conversation that didn’t really help anything. And then the falling action had some nice moments but as I mentioned, the things with constance and sticky kind of made it feel less relieving, joyful, and sweet. I know a snowball fight is elaborate to set and film but I would have loved to see it.

Final thoughts I can’t help but love the kids. I’ll say it again, I sure liked this casting. And for all the changes they had to make, the original central plot was there, and most of the characters were recognizable even with all the alterations. So I did have problems with some of that underlying integrity, as well as the overall tone and execution, but I also laughed at the little funny things, jammed to the title theme, and was excited to see this, my favorite book in the world, get more recognition. I can’t imagine how hard it would be to adapt a work of prose into an audiovisual medium, and considering how outlandish the book sometimes got, they gave it their best shot. I didn’t love it but I can recognize the accomplishment. In terms of faithful and well-made adaptations, on a scale of Percy Jackson to Harry Potter, I’d give The Mysterious Benedict Society a 6.5/10.

#mbs #The Mysterious Benedict Society

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icedthoma · 4 years

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While crying with Todoroki. Are they angsty tears? are they happy tears? I don't know. But I want Todo because. MY HEART. belongs to this boi.

18. While crying

Modern AU!

Just when you think the day can’t possibly get any worse, it starts to rain.

Now, you don’t hate rain, but there’s the kind of rain you can laugh in while jumping around in stray puddles or run through screaming with your best friend, and there’s the kind of rain that chills you to the core and drenches your socks, sucking every last bit of warmth out of you.

Guess which kind of rain you’re experiencing right now?

You’re silently trudging through the pouring weather, umbrella-less and soaked to the bone, the prospect of getting to the nearest place of shelter all that’s encouraging you to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

All you want at this point is to go home.

The sudden sound of your name draws your attention amidst the onslaught of rain, and raising your gaze from the slick sidewalk, you squint through the moisture in your eyes (half from the rain) to where a tall figure is standing in front of you, all concerned eyes and red and white hair.

“What are you doing here?” Todoroki Shouto asks incredulously, immediately stepping forward so the umbrella covers both of you. “Aren’t you on a...?”

You’re well aware how awful you look at the moment, but at the sight of your best friend, you abandon all attempts to save your dignity and throw your arms around him, vaguely hearing the small oof that escapes him as he stumbles back a few steps under your sudden weight. You feel slightly bad about hugging him with soaked clothes, but that’s quickly tossed out of your mind as the heat Shouto naturally emits transfers from his body to yours, your frantic shivers quick to disappear. His free hand not holding the umbrella finds its way around your upper back, holding your shaking frame closer to him.

“Hey,” he murmurs, breath lightly tickling the shell of your ear. “Can you walk a little bit further? There’s a cafe not too far up ahead down the street. I don’t want you to have to stand in the rain any longer.”

You nod, face still buried in his shoulder, and he takes his jacket off without another word and tugs it around you, wrapping one arm around your shoulder and keeping you at his side until you reach shelter. Once inside, you choose one of the bench seats to huddle in, figure swamped in Todoroki’s jacket while he shakes his umbrella off at the front of the shop, placing it inside the umbrella holder and sliding into the bench right beside you instead of sitting in the one across.

“Are you going to tell me what happened?” he gently prods, and you hide your face deeper into the jacket’s collar while you speak, the words rushing out of you in a way that would be nearly incomprehensible to anyone except him.

You had been asked to go on a movie date with someone in one of your classes, which was all you had been talking about to him for the three days leading up to it. No one had ever asked you out before, and you were finally starting to believe that maybe you weren’t so hopeless in the love department after all, only to be left standing outside the movie theater for almost an hour, your supposed date in question finally answering his phone after your third call to tell you that it had been a dare all along. Angry that you had naively gone along with his game, you had been walking home when the skies opened up above you, turning this already crappy day even worse.

“That piece of--” Todoroki cuts himself off, because the cafe is rather empty and he’d rather not draw any more attention to you than necessary. “The next time I see him, I’m going to...” He tightens his hands into fists, jaw furiously clenched.

“S-Shouto!”

“He hurt you, my best friend, and is a terrible person for not even bothering to tell you the truth before the day came! How can I not want to beat him up?” he hissed.

“I’m not defending him,” you murmur, hot tears pooling in your eyes as you voice the concern that had been rolling around in your head this whole time. “I just--it felt really good, to think that someone possibly had feelings for me. And I got my hopes up...so stupid, right? I should have known no one would ever like me that way.”

He’s staring at you with a dumbfounded look on his face. “Are you crying?”

“No,” you say shakily, jerking your head away so you face the wall. “It’s just from the rain. I’m f-fine.”

Todoroki gently turns your face back towards him, his previous anger replaced with genuine confusion. “You...you really think that lowly of yourself?” he asks softly, brushing away the stray moisture by your cheekbone with the pad of his thumb.

You can’t bring yourself to answer.

“Because you shouldn’t,” he insists. “You’re always making people smile and laugh, and your jokes are actually funny. You send me memes when I’m having a bad day, and you’re kind to everyone in our class even though you might not be friends with them. You’re smart and a hard worker and have great taste in music--” Shouto pauses, taking a moment to breathe in deeply. “--so don’t stress over that loser, as he’s clearly the one missing out.”

All the water your clothes had absorbed might as well have evaporated from the blush that floods your cheeks, heating you all the way down to your toes. He really thinks that about you?

Leaning over, Todoroki unexpectedly presses his mouth to your cheek, the last tear left on your skin gone with the retreat of his lips. “So don’t feel bad if you’re still single. You’ll find someone you genuinely like one day, who will love and appreciate you for the beautiful person you are.” With one last soft smile, he lets you lean your head on his shoulder while he orders your favorite dessert.

Having calmed down enough to acknowledge the pounding of your heart as you rest on him, wearing his jacket and surrounded by his scent, part of you believes that day might come sooner than you think.

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

one year event masterlist

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icecreamkink · 3 years

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so i watched cobra kai all in two days and i have so many -

this show has so many cool and smart angles to it, but the same time.... its so stupid oh my god everyone is so dumb literally mr miyagi held all of the braincells in this whole universe

like i am but at the same time i am not surprised it was made like this, bc in hindsight of course there were hordes of ppl simping over johnny lawrence .... but it still amuses me that this is like... an Actual Official Thing

ok this will get long so cut it is

how much fun this cast has is super visible and i love it

i rly enjoy how the world was expanded ! i did grow up watching the karate kid movies, so watching how they progressed the world of the movies so organically was pretty cool. it rly feels like its the same universe

i fucking LOVE stories that are largely about a Thing. dancing ,skating, sports its just so thrilling to experience this all consuming relationship people can have with this type of activity? and martial arts are just that much more intense, so yeah, grown ass men kicking each other around at the lightest provocation and a war veteran caring so much abt teen karate is Ridiculous.... but i love it all because thats the intensity i find so thrilling

was kinda surprised with how much im missing mr. miyagi. first because, like everyone is so unhinged jesus christo, it just really throws into relief how much his character grounded the narrative of the movies. but also hes just a really great character

and on that note it rly Gets Me that the show itself aknowledges that and plays that into daniels angst and all the little ways they sorta weave myiagisms into the whole show........ im not getting emotional over this dumb karate dads show OK

related - i really miss hearing ‘daniel-san’ ��🥺

ACE DEGENERATE oh god oh no

they really went down the down and out johnny lawrence route huh. like i was always kinda bummed we see kreese choking him and then we never see him again in the movies, and while i love dumpster fire problematic trash himbo ck johnny, its like......................... actually really sad that his life turned out like this fjngn

everytime i hear ‘babes’ and ‘pussy’ i die a little inside. i know thats the point but i am a v cringe easy person, have mercy (ehe)

loved the way they are constantly drawing parallels between johnny and mr. myiagi of all people. hes the handy man of his building that has a bullied kid asking for help and eventually steps up to teach them karate, beats up a bunch of bullies for him, creates a friendship with said kid, estranged from family, drinks his sorrows away, surprisingly one of the least quick to anger characters (which says more about everyone else really but.... Well.), no schemes or ulterior motives hes just tryna vibe here.... oh and ofc magically heals miguel of is asthma apparently. the true disciple.. meanwhile daniel is his usual messy petty self even tho he wants to be mr myiagi so bad

also interesting about that is how miguels character is a parallel of both johnny and daniel at the same time

overall the parallels in ck are done really well, drawing comparisons and also subverting them constantly. theyre well thought out

THE PARALELOGRAMS

fr tho, the angle being explicitly the cycle of trauma and its effects and how trumatized adults in turn traumatize kids, maliciously or not, is so interesting

but! on the flip side of that, it feels like the writers are getting in their own way @ letting the characters grow. especially this last season. theres only so many times you can do "johnny and daniel are getting along but 5mins later they are (literally) fighting over some dumbass random issue" or "johnny puts in 20% of effort with robby and then gives up" before it gets on your nerves yknow?

i see daniel no longer talks like macchio ingested 15 shots of espresso before every take and idk how to feel about that tbh

interesting tension in daniel, as in, in tkk mr miyagi was there and daniel was frankly, kind of a lil shit, this messy petty spitfire hot tempered sassy kid,(johnny lawrence voice: just... stop being so annoying) but now hes the adult, and he wants to be mr. miyagi... but hes just not, and never will be to his very core and it shakes him and in a way hes trying to find who he is now that he sees himself in a position to be a not! cobra kai figure. i kinda really like that

plus how that relates to his cobra kai trauma. idk if the writers thought abt it Like That, i think so, but in any case, its interesting bc it seems like daniel has told everyone whod listen about johnny lawrence his Pretty Boy Karate Rival and high school and 84 cobra kai... But. no one seems to know what went on in 85 (or 86? idk) which was just so much worse

like ye og cobras were shitheads, but tkk iii is just two hours of daniel being emotionally and physically tortured.

like, the third movie is.............chaotic, to put it nicely, and many people ignore it, but the writers clearly didnt. daniels actions are, in a way, responding so much more to the events of tkk iii than to the first movie ie. johnny himself, AND. daniel doesnt rly seem to have dealt with that trauma? he never told sam? doesnt feel like hes ever told amanda? he doesnt even say terrys name out loud? freaks Out over kreese ? the way he reacts to robbys deceit? his FACE when he walks past the new "fear does not exist in this dojo" paint or kreeses photo? hmMm i sense Pain

his fashion tho........... disappointing. where are the flower shirts daniel huh we had one (1) shirt what a tragedy STOP WEARING SUITS ALL THE TIME . also the band ts/grunge bi are a look for johnny but part of me longs for the preppy lovable 80s bully chic johnny lawrence getups

weird that they never used that last moment of karate kid where johnny kinda... snaps out of his anger and hands daniel the trophy almost in tears. like “youre alright larusso, good match” “thanks a lot” that being their last direct interection seems like itd be perfect fruit for cobra kai but... they just dont. weird.

especially when, the FIRST SCENE they see each other, suposedly in 30+ years, the first thing to come out of daniels mouth is QUOTE "u still got those golden locks huh?" WHO SAYS SHIT LIKE THAT DANIEL FUCKING SAN

also amandas immediate reaction "your pretty boy rival?" like. can we talk about the fact that daniel had to have imparted to his wife the very important information that his high school bully/karate rival was like Really Cute and Fucking Hot Actually

the writers Knew exactly what they were doing and honestly.............. power to them

tkk director voice: and billy was just so cute

also I was thinking that daniel sounded strangely fond in that first scene, and i wonder if he developed a weird affection for johnny on the grounds that of all of his Karate Rivals johnny was actually the only one who didn’t actively tried to literally kill him

i was actually delightedly surprised with how great the chemistry between them is, like from the get go i am Invested. their rl friendship totally bleeds through and its fantastic

. granted, idiots enemies to lovers friends is my Thing so i am biased

johnny lawrence: i am down in the dumps, i fucked up my whole life and my sons probably, largely in light of the trauma that the father figure sensei and the philosophy of my karate inflicted on me and all my friends. u know what i should do, as a traumatized, unreliable mess of an adult? teach that same philosophy to some other kids! what could go wrong!

but really i enjoy the setup of it. i kinda like that i watched it late because, season 1 was johnny setting himself up for failure in a way and it was exciting to watch it all go to shit sjfn

Like. his heart might be in the right place, but theres just.... not a way to teach something like ‘strike hard, no mercy’ and not have it fuck up a kid

case and point: aisha, miguel and hawk become annoying as all hell over that bullshit in the end of s1, even before shit gets truly fucked up

billys subtle panicked eyes when he sees hawk and miguel fighting dirty in the all valley was SO GOOD especially in parallel with the panic that is so visible in his face in the movie when kreese tells bobby to injure daniel and in the sweep the leg scene

seen people question wether kreese should have returned and i absolutely think he needed to. johnny needed to realize that cobra kais fundamentals are flawed, at the root, beyond kreese himself being a toxic piece of shit

also who are we kidding? we are here to see the tkk characters play on new playgrounds!

i get what they're doing abt kreeses backstory, ( also. cobra kai. pq eles caem nas cobras djjs sorry) but did it need to take up that much time? feels like they couldve done it in half the run time and developed some other stories better

martin kove has such an evil eye. i love it

love that we get a good follow up to kreese breaks johnnys trophy and tries to CHOKE HIM in the parking lot, which happened in the movie and then....................... was never mentioned again

“the gang is all back together again” aaaa u piece of SHIT

also. terry silver is definetely appearing ha ha ha PAIN i cant wait

seen ppl say kreese was too much of a cartoon villain like..........................oh......... sweetie........... u dont even Know

interested how johnny will fit into that bc kreese was simping rly hard for johnny here. like i did not expect him to be so adamant to have him with cobra kai ... under his control, sure, but he really wants johnny by his side despite already having control of the dojo and how will terry silver self appointed jon kreeses forever simp going to feel abt that?

like bitchs dropping by every episode like ‘joooooohnny ..... come bacc to me joooonny......... this ur last warning! for real this time johnny! i wont say it again! watch me ! im leaving johnny! im rly leaving ! im dragging a chair” and johnny is just like. dont let the door hit ya bitch it was so funny pls

and on that subject oof, johnny! doesnt! Know! he doesnt get that side of daniels cobra kai trauma. and i kind of.............. cannot wait for ck 2021 johnny lawrence to meet terry silver like. what a shit show i need a front row seat and popcorn (imagine terry tries some greasy charm and johnny just roundhouse kicks him in the teeth bc he just doest Not Have the Patience for This. glorious)

feels like we, as a society, should acknowledge that cobra kai will never die................ bc their sense of design is just chefs kiss. their name is COBRA KAI. they have sexie sleeveless black gis. theyve sneks. colorful leather jackets with embroided naja insignia, the get ppl thru the aesthetics. evil geniuses

the flashback cuts : masterpiece behavior

the other takes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! of the movie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the differente angles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! of the FIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE CLOSE UP ON JOHNNYS FACE AT THE KICK

that scene of daniel and johnny vibing to 80s music in the car. just. oh my god. the fan wish fullfilment. no thoughts head empty.

the new characters! theyre .... good. but. idk. i really like miguel (save for the annoying phase mid s1 - end s2) and amanda, who is a damn riot and has some functioning braincells, but everyone else is

like dont get me wrong, i dont hate anyone,its not a jane and rafael from jtv situation, and i am interested and invested in their arcs, but i wouldnt say i like Like them, as in, personality wise

like, sams grappling with ptsd was rly gutting and i enjoyed that plus her slight rage issues,

which nicely parallel torys rage issues. torys background is all over the place tho so im pretty on the fence abt her so far

robby deserves better in every way, and i like how smart and cunning and surprisingly sweet he is

hawk............... is there i guess,

demetri is annoying in the best way possible,

carmen is sweet but. i just feel like her character is blunted to make the johnny relationship easier. like when shes furious with him after miguels injury but then forgives him like an episode later? and then convinces him to fight for the tournament bc she had a karate epiphany off screen even tho she was always against it? meh. feels like with the plot thiccening she was swallowed and now shes like a crutch for johnny mora than anything, which is disappointing.

aisha was cool and im kinda mad she wasnt in s3, especially bc a storyline with her tory and sam was like RIGHT THERE , but also... cant say i was super super fond of her... doesnt feel like we ever spent enough time on her

moon the bi icon,

overall its a good cast but the main draw for me remains the og cast

the tory/sam miguel/robby Thing. enjoy how theyre Narrative Foils and i like how their stories were so dramatically entangled but oh god give me a break with the teenage love square for the love of god. if u gonna put us through that at least have the decency to not make it so straight

and honestly some sam/tory miguel/robby romantic tension would even make more sense. just saying!

also im not sure how i feel abt the cobra kai: red miyagi do: blue theyre going with since some of daniels most iconic looks in tkk are also red. like it was a color they (johnny and him) sorta shared. i get it, opposite but complementary but idk... a little too fire nation and water tribe for me .

and like the cobra kai kids are so funny abt it bc their outifts grow progressively more ridiculously coordinated. its like do they group chat every morning before leaving their houses?

robby still sticks out like that tho. he went thru an athleisure/daniel san tsleeves phase and now hes back in the bandts grunge, but his color scheme doesnt fully blend with the other cobra kais. hmmmm.

LOVED LOVED LOVED both the okinawa episode and the cobra kais easy rider episode just such good good heart aching fun

bobby is an icon. he was in tkk and he is now ck hope appears more and more

tommy is like the most iconic background character. all his lines, freaking gold then and now. sigh :(

the framing in the okinawa trip was so good everything was so good

i stand by the fact that kumiko was the love interest daniel had the most chemistry with and shes is overall such a joy to watch, loved to see her again, idola, fashion icon

also tkk ii is good u guys are just mean

also really enjoyed chozens role in the episode, his evolution; i love that they introduced the pressure points (ty lee the blueprint) and! the honk + karate! cousins! absolutely iconic

when kumiko reads mr miyagis letters........ oh my god, my eyes FILLED with tears, it was so heart wrenching :(( tamlyns delivery was so emotional and lovely and its so obvious everyone involved in ck has so much love and respect for pat morita and mr miyagi as character, and i adore that it exists like this electric current through the show

when we were watching i told my sister i thought that ali would be miguels big shot surgeon and ngl i am so disappointed that didnt happen. hire me cobra kai writers

also the johnny ali daniel amanda chemistry? off the charts

AND the sassy retconning of daniel and alis breakup! LMAO ‘I HOPE U DIDNT TELL MR MIYAGI IT WAS MY FAULT’ HFDJJGNKFKSD

i am preeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetty sure back injuries dont work like that but oke

daniel and johnny are so good together whenever, like they never actually help the kids or get shit done and end up fighting anyway but its just so much fun when theyre hanging

JOHNNY LAWRENCE AND DANIEL LARUSSO FIGHTING TOGETHER

daniels “plan” on how to get robby to juvie was so stupid. literally were u TRYING to make him hate you. dumbass

parents at those hearing rly brave for ppl that did not do ANYTHING as their kids got involved in a karate gang war until now

“bullshit i heard u were the real bully!” i mightve screeched

this s3 ending was SO DRAMATIC omg

everyone is such a MESS go to THERAPY u unhinged motherfckers

also im sorry but uh. a richass neighborhood in california doesnt have some type of neighborhood watch? the larussos rly dont have any security at all? neighbors wont hear the sound of a damn karate brawl happening next door??? also wasnt tory all like ooo i cant go to juvie, my mom yada yada yet shes always running around town getting into fights even at the rich girls house she was kicked out of school for fighting?? ? ?? ?? ? ? ? ?? ? ? girl??

stop destroying the larussos house, its so pretty :((((

sam finding her center looking at mr miyagis picture... uwu maybe

robby yelling ‘U ARE WEAAK’@ johnny \as he is easily blocking him is like.... so funny and so sad to me. sweetheart.

also i know it was meant as ‘oh johnny pushes him and HURTS HIM’ but it just looks like robby runs himself into the lockers and IM SO SORRY I FEEL SO BAD BUT IT WAS SO FUNNY

i like that he and tory are the cobra kai kids now. we need ppl we care abt there to not revert to a good vs evil schtick, and this is the most engaging it could be... tho it hurts that these kids cant catch a break

ah yes "lets bet some real shit on the result of this teen karate tournament bc that is always a great idea" is BACK

so daniel saves johnny from kreese..... maybe johnny will save him from terry 🧐

and dojos unite ohohoho. lets SEE how that’ll work out

miguels face of Despair when the ck defectors and the md kids are bickering like 'this is never gonna work' : gold

also. Johnny Lawrence is gonna learn some myiagi-do karate AHAAHSJAKDFH

ive been waiting for this moment all my lifeeee oh lawrd

final thoughts! there are def things i hope the writers will improve on the next season, but i am very excited for it either way AND i feel like it has made me enjoy the movies even more and that is a win for a reboot/sequel to me!!

#m.#did i procrastinate watching this since it came out and only watched it now bc my sister nagged me to when i said we should #watch karate kid over the holidays?#and then binged the whole thing in two days??#mayhaps and what abt it #cobra kai #the karate kid #its funn #y bc like karate kid is a Childhood movie but i wouldnt say #it was like particularly special for me?#like i wasnt in a fandom or anything #but now.#i might be invested #maybe #talvez

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jayjaysocks · 4 years

Text

Listing my favorite animes (because I’m jumping on the bandwagon)

❗️⚠️ *spoilers!! (Duh)* ❗️⚠️

5. Deadman Wonderland

I was really really sad when I found out this anime got cancelled. The music was fantastic, the animation was really good, and the voice acting was incredible. Even the fucking dubbed version (I loved the voice they chose for Senji. God he was hilarious). I binged this show so fucking fast it wasn’t even funny. I loved watching the characters go through their own struggles and grow as people in the very small amount of episodes provided. There was a lot of development within the snippet that we actually saw, and I was thoroughly impressed with how well it was done. I wanted to scream or something when I found out there wouldn’t be a second season.

Sigh. Oh well. At least we got some of the manga’s masterpiece translated into a show, even if we were missing some fucking awesome characters.

4. Guilty Crown

Ugh, don’t even get me started. This anime was beautiful and I got so invested so freaking quickly. I literally go back every few years to rewatch it because I get ship starved.

Shu and Inori’s story was so beautifully done; between Shu uncovering his courage and Inori’s journey of self-discovery, I was continuously awe-struck and filled with feelings—I mean, I had never felt such raw emotion while watching something and I was completely blown away by the affect it had on me. Anger, hatred, sadness, it was all there (even for the main character lmao) and it was one of the first times I had ever felt a ship so heavily that I literally cried at the end. It was one of the very first Animes I’d ever seen and was one of the reasons I got such a taste for them. Thanks for throwing me down that rabbit hole, GC.

3. Soul Eater

This was literally the first Anime I’d ever seen, and my god I couldn’t have asked for a better starter. What I like about this one is that it’s style is so unique and different. It’s very punk and grunge, something I admired and appreciated in a genre that is normally the opposite (like Guilty Crown, for example). Also the fight scenes were badass, like holy shit just look at that gif ??? Freaking amazing.

I loved the way the show transitioned from light hearted to intense and adrenaline pumping so effortlessly. That can be said about a lot of shows, but this one went from *haha cute show* to *holy shit, like they’re actually gonna die ohmygod howaretheygoingtosurvivethis* so smoothly I was genuinely surprised. They made one of the main villains actually cool and each character had their own beautifully done arc. I loved and adored how the show solidified and expanded on the different friendships/relationships that were involved—specifically Soul and Maka’s (also, holy shit, Stein’s arc? Fucking prime, dude). There was a lot of growth in each and every friendship (CRONA!!!), and that really pushed the viewer to invest in the individual characters.

I am fucking delighted that this was my first anime, and (though the ending was a little anticlimactic) it remains one of my top favorites to this day. It set the bar pretty fucking high, and for that I am extremely greatful.

No one asked for Soul Eater: Not! It is the unspoken sin of the Soul Eater world (then again, it is called Soul Eater: Not!)

2. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

If you have been following me for a while, then you are no stranger to my love of FMAB. Some of my most popular posts are about this anime, and for good reason.

Unfortunately, I was late to the party. I actually didn’t watch this until last year, but got invested really damn quick. I have a tendency to be extremely picky about the animes that I watch/like (which is why NONE of these shows are that recent), to the point that I will literally research them before I start watching (a bad habit, do not copy me). I have an incomparably hard time finishing a show when I start, because I get bored really quickly, but this was an exception. I started watching and I just... didn’t stop. I spent a straight week watching FMAB, gobbling it up during any small amount free time I could manage, and finished it before I even knew what happened. I wasn’t picky about it, I didn’t research it, I just dove right in and gosh, I was not disappointed.

The subtle romance that was alluded throughout the entire show was super cute, the devotion the brothers had for each other was to die for, and the struggles that each person went through was more than moving. I never once found myself bored while watching, and that’s saying a lot for my adhd ass. I was invested in each and every second of that damn anime and I was never, ever left underwhelmed. That probably had to do with the fact that every. Single. Character. Had a purpose. I’m not even kidding. Every single person contributed to the big fight at the end and that alone is fucking fantastic.

Not to mention ALL the women, every female character, was a badass bitch. None of them were reduced to sex appeal or romantic subplot, they all had real feelings, real arcs and real, unadulterated badassery that I thoroughly admired and appreciated. I could watch this anime over and over again every single month and I wouldn’t get bored. Between the emotional struggle, self discovery, and personal development of each character, I promise you will not see a lack of plot or meaning here. The more you watch, the more you discover and that is not a lie. There are so many layers to its story, which only makes me wish I had watched this sooner.

There is nothing I have to offer in the ways of criticism, and for that I couldn’t be happier. Thank you, Hiromu Arakawa, for such an incredible piece of art. You deserve every bit of love that this manga/anime gets. You go girl.

1. Cowboy Bepop

Holy shit holy shit holy shit this anime is so fucking good and it has been my favorite for so damn long. I have been watching anime for years, and while some of the shows in my list have moved around, this one has yet to be bumped down from the top (and I doubt it ever will). There’s a reason it became such a cult classic.

For starters, the animation. I mean, just look at Spike and the way they animate his fighting (yes I am aware that this gif is from the movie, but that still doesn’t change my point). The sequences in the show/film have been reused in many other shows and for good reason. It’s good, incredible, actually and they make him look so badass with just a few hand movements. I was consistently impressed with the way the fight scenes were portrayed and wasn’t ever left underwhelmed or disappointed (or, for that matter, feeling like they completely over exaggerated/overcompensated the scene with huge close-ups and tons of debris and lights). I loved watching this and my heart was always pounding with every intense interaction. I didn’t feel bored during any of the episodes and always found myself laughing when they cracked a joke—pretty much all of their funny lines hit and that’s saying something, dude.

The show, while having a lighthearted surface, has a heavy meaning that you don’t see at first glance. It’s about dealing with grief and loss, and how the characters themselves accomplished that in different ways. The most prominent quote is the biggest indication of its moral “you’re gonna carry that weight”. Basically: ‘You’ve gotta pick up your baggage, because the world moves on, with or without you’. Or ‘You’re going to carry that weight whether you like it or not, because life keeps going’. When I figured out the show’s actual message, while staring at my ceiling in the long hours of the night, I almost cried. This realization brought something entirely different to the table, a new understanding of the show’s characters and overall essence.

The main characters, all of them, had depth. They had real, palpable depth, and even if you didn’t want to care you found yourself seriously interested in their lives. Each of them had relatively shitty pasts. Faye with her lost memories, Spike with Julia and the people who fucked him over, Jet with his old flame and the ISSP, Ed and her/his father... throughout the entire show we got to see how all of them dealt with these things, whether they wanted to continue on with life or not. The way they portrayed it was engaging, because the characters individual, contrasting journeys weren’t repetitive or one note. The beauty that the show holds so achinging close to its core, the layers of grief that the characters are wrapped in so delicately is almost suffocatingly real—because they’re all different. It’s something you discover when you think on the subject in a deeper light, which is another reason why I enjoy it so much. It has both a surface story and a deeper one. You can either take the show at face value or choose to understand the underlying moral.

This show inspired my very first, thoroughly fleshed out OC, and continues to inspire me to this day. It has contributed to my own personal growth, and has helped push me to continue my art and writing. It is beautifully written, beautifully executed and even though some of the episodes seem like filler, it has never disappointed me. I rewatch it all the time because there’s something so infinitely refreshing about the beauty of this anime, whether it be the way we watch the characters develop or the overall moral it portrays. This show has given us a message that is essentially timeless, it can be ‘carried’ through generation after generation, and still have the same impact—something I absolutely fucking adore.

I owe so much to this anime, including my very own artistic development. I discovered it during a really shitty time in my life and I couldn’t have asked for better timing. I will never tire of the bittersweet message or the thoroughly fucking fantastic animation. Everyone who contributed to this masterpiece deserves love, because it’s seriously fucking gold.

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frasier-crane-style · 4 years

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Terminator: Dark Fate

I have no idea how TSCC came up with two seasons’ worth of innovative scenarios about Terminators and these cinematic universe motherfuckers can only redo T2 with more CGI.

This movie is plotless. It has no real plot. It’s like Now That’s What I Call A Terminator Movie! There are so many callbacks and borrowings from all the other Terminator movies that it passes the point of homage and just becomes plagiarism. The bad Terminator is the same as the T-X, metal endoskeleton with a T-1000 shell. They kill him with a Terminator power core. They say Come With Me If You Want To Live and I’ll Be Back (twice! It’s the first thing Sarah Connor says and it makes no sense in context, it’s just something people say in Terminator movies). In fact, it has anti-plot, since it undoes a lot of the story developments in Terminator and T2.

The premise is basically just we’re going to remake Terminator 1, but people don’t like reboots, so we’re going to bring back Linda Hamilton and make it a technically kinda sorta sequel (sure, Skynet was wiped from existence, but another, completely different, yet exactly the same AI called Legion was created and did the exact same thing. Which also happened in T3, but they had the decency to still call it Skynet). But otherwise, it’s entirely people being chased by an evil robot from the future and trying to destroy it.

That’s it. That’s all there is to it. T2 had the whole thing about preventing Judgment Day before it happened. T3 had Judgment Day actually happen. This one, nothing. There is nothing going on under the surface other than a bunch of action sequences and explosions. Even T3 got some mileage out of the idea that Judgment Day was inevitable. Here, our cast learns that Judgment Day was already ‘averted’ once slash that it’s destined to be repeated and they basically go “Eh. Figures.” I’m not kidding.

Wait, that’s not fair. Let’s count out the TWEEESTS.

1. In a very contrived way, the script waits an hour and a half to actually explain why heroine Dani has been targeted for termination--you know, the thing Kyle Reese explained to Sarah Connor the moment they were out of danger--all to set up this big ‘reveal’ that Dani isn’t the NuSarah, she’s the NuJohn (yes, they actually say this aloud, just so you soup sandwich motherfuckers in the audience get it). Hear that, neckbeards, John Connor is now a woman! And Mexican! And she’s got a bit of a gay vibe, because it’s 2019 and God forbid we have a heroine that isn’t a bit bicurious. If she has a cock and balls, my bingo card will be a winner.

2. Months after killing John Connor and thus completing his mission, an Arnold-model Terminator started a family (wow, that was quick) and learned the value of human life and eventually switched sides. This is a crazy new idea that also happened in Terminator: Genebissss, so it’s done and dusted in ten minutes, even though Arnold is the most engaging character. (He’s saddled with a lot of yuk lines about how he’s a comically serious Terminator, yet (teehee) works as an interior decorator, but at least he has a personality.)

3. The other good Terminator is Grace, who needs meds to keep up her cyborg strength or she’ll crash (this never affects the plot) (it’s like they read something about Rey Palpatine having no flaws and so they decided to give Grace the ‘flaw’ of literally having her own Kryptonite). She’s not a Terminator, she’s an augmented human, which means she can make MCU-style wisecracks every five minutes. (”I didn’t hear anything.” “That’s because you’re not a cybernetic super soldier from the future.” Actual dialogue.)

4. Linda Hamilton is back, baby! Yes, that’s right, they dragged her away from doing guest spots on Lost Girl! Can you believe???? She’s become a Terminator hunter that ambushes Terminators as they come back from the future and destroys them, because Skynet was both able to send back an infinite number of Terminators AND because now they can easily be destroyed by one five-hundred-year-old woman.

This makes it a bit confusing why they have so much trouble taking out Ghost Rider, given that he’s a T-1000 skin with a creamy T-800 center. It seems like if you hammer him enough, he’s got no endoskeleton, and that’s all she wrote. That’s what happened to the T-X. Can his liquid metal skin just walk around without the other half of him? If so, what’s the point of the endoskeleton? The T-1000 managed without it and that seemed a lot harder to kill. At one point, Sarah hits the bare endoskeleton with a bazooka, which seems like it should’ve been a mortal blow, but it’s the first act, so I guess not.

And is it supposed to be funny that the opening takes place in a car factory where (in 2019!) the human workers are losing their assembly line jobs to machines? Because they’re all Mexicans? None of them ever look at a Terminator and go THEY TOOK OUR JOBS, but man, that one is all teed up for the Rifftrax boys.

For a movie with, as I said, no plot, it’s very rushed. They seem to be saying “yeah, it’s a dumb Terminator movie, you know the score,” (even tho it’s halfway aimed at people who aren’t Terminator fans; more on that in a minute) because it seems to take all of ten minutes for both good guys and bad guys to find Dani and start getting into CGI stunt double fights, which means the story has very little time to breathe and we have very little time to get to know any of the characters. The bad guy spawns practically at Dani’s front door! And pretty much does everything by massacring a bunch of people and then hacking a computer. The T-1000 had some intelligence, some charisma. This guy’s a big nothing.

And the Dani character is useless. She starts the story already super assertive, is barely traumatized at all by her loved ones being killed and her own life being endangered. There’s none of that relatable feel of an everyman suddenly being told they have a grand destiny and an incredible responsibility, because right from the start she’s standing up to her mean boss and doing the Nevertheless She Persisted thing. And all this while being literally five feet tall and looking all of twelve years old.

I love these Spy Kids movies.

And at least the original two movies were smart enough to leave the future John Connor mostly to the imagination. This one actually shows us Dani as grizzled military badass, beating up guys and delivering inspiring speeches (would it surprise you to know that humans fighting among each other “is exactly what Legion wants”?), and it’s just--oh man. If ever a political leader is enough to make people think back to the good old days of Trump and Biden...

And if we’re going to talk shit (rightfully) about Jai Courtney’s Kyle Reese not being at all scruffy or traumatized or feral, it should be noted that Grace seems pretty well-adjusted for a post-apocalyptic guerrilla fighter (who all wear Starship Trooper uniforms). Aside from a tendency to smash the face in of everyone she comes across, whether they’ve done anything to deserve it or not (Sample dialogue, to a doctor who is looking at her X-rays after performing life-saving surgery on her: “Did I give you permission to look at my private parts?” SMASH. No, really!)

They really go all in on this cringey, woke af “You’re not the mother of some MAN, Dani. YOU ARE THE FUTURE!” And yet, there’s a hilarious amount of toxic masculinity in this movie, just without the dongs. About every other line Sarah and Grace have is generic tough guy bullshit about how they’re going to kick someone’s ass, how they’re suspicious of someone, how they’re hostile towards someone. If they had dongs, you would think they were the smallest dongs possible, because they are compensating for something, BIG TIME. Between the T-800 and Sarah and Grace, everyone in this movie seems to outright hate each other, to the point that Arnold’s killer cyborg is one of the more pleasant characters. It gets to where you just want someone to order a fucking decaf. Does the fact that Sarah Connor has a vagina keep it from being ridiculously over the top how she spends all her time either blowing up robots or drinking herself into a stupor? C’mon. You can’t complain about male characters having ‘man-pain’ then give Bad Grandma a pass over her ovaries.

And that’s it. It’s a Brundlefly shit between yet another dumb girlpower reboot for the people who’ve never seen a Terminator movie and a sequel with Sarah and Uncle Bob to try and get that last drop of blood outta this stone. They’re trying to make something that appeals to both people for whom this is their first Terminator and people for whom this is their latest Terminator and it just doesn’t work. The newbies don’t have any emotional investment in these characters and the Terminator fans don’t like it that all the old movies were rendered meaningless to prop up Grace and Dani.

Hilariously enough, I actually played Terminator: Resistance recently, which is a fun little mid-tier shooter that was meant to tie in to this movie... and it completely ignores all the Dani/Grace/Legion BS to take place in John Connor’s future war and tie in to the first two movies. That’s how forgettable this movie is. Its own damn video game adaptation pretends it doesn’t exist. Fuuuck.

Oh! Oh! Oh! And in that big, bad, sexist original Terminator, which was so unwoke and problematic, Sarah saved herself and finished off the Terminator herself. Here, Dani has to be saved by Arnold at the climax. The 35-year-old movie is more feminist than this one. Fuck you very much.

#terminator

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press-x-tojason · 3 years

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Giant Bomb is dead, and I care way less than I thought I would. Probably because 83% of the people who I ever cared about had already left or died, or were already relegated to reduced content roles.

Honestly, though, the writing’s been on the wall for a bit. They haven’t had anything worthy of paying for premium in several years, and, even though they’ve had well over a year to figure out a plan for the COVID era, they maybe made it a month with their plans to have a series of streams daily. I actually managed to forget I followed them on Twitch at all, for about 4 months, because they only streamed the podcasts and the occasional former Harmonix employee (who was literally paid to make content with their games while employed at Giant Bomb, which was funny because he blocked me on Twitter for making a post, addressing no one, back in 2014, which was asking about the legitimacy of the leaked list of “games “””””journalists”””””” who had taken money from publishers for positive reviews, a list which included him and multiple then-coworkers. I didn’t follow him, he didn’t follow me. He was manually searching the keywords, because he was, and is, a prick.) solo Rock Band stream in the last 8 months or so. Even when Jeff would manage to do one of his 20 streams from home a year, it would be on his own channel. There was just no content. And they’re surprised their “pay for our unique premium content!” model failed. They always “feigned” anger at Dan for “making” them do the Mario Party Parties, and literally never promoted his and Drew’s Metal Gear series after the first game... but I bet that, when only those, UPF, and the ad-free versions of the podcasts were premium features, those two series were keeping them afloat. Well, that and the remaining goodwill they miraculously managed to hold onto for a few years after Ryan died. Shit, I follow several people who are GB staff-adjacent, and... I can’t think of the last time they mentioned anything that happened on-site. Even the people who’ve been directly supporting them for over 10 years were out.

But yeah, the site is super dead. They pretended in the announcements like they’re going to make a go of it still, but... you’ve got like 4 content people left, and the only one people give a shit about is Jeff. You just saw 3/4 of the side of the site that was still trying these past several months jump ship in a 3 month span. One of those was, by nearly any definition, a founding member. Of which you had already lost one, and are losing another from the main side. Jeff’s been way less active until the last week or two, probably because he heard they were leaving and was like “oops, should probably check on the ship that’s been sinking for years!” Then you have Jason “The Human Mumble” Oestricher, the charisma vacuum, whose legitimate public-facing reaction to first hearing that all but one of his GB predecessors were going to be gone. was, and I quote, “Hoo Boy.” Ben and Jan are the definition of “fine”. They would have been great, as they are today, as secondary members 8-10 years ago. But carry the site, they cannot. They’re down to, what, 5 named members now? It hasn’t been that dire since the beginning of 2009, before they hired Drew, when they hadn’t even started the P4 endurance run. You know, that surprise massive, internet-changing thing that essentially popularized the Let’s Play concept, loosening its definition and making it something that could be as personality-driven as game-driven, made simply to give them something to put on the website, beyond the rare review and, slightly later, quick look. This kinda illustrates the problem with modern Giant Bomb. When they were figuring shit out, flying by the seats of their pants, they came up with great shit, and they gave enough of a shit to make it happen. 0.000% chance they do a 10 hour Thanksgiving Kinect stream if the Kinect was new today. 0.000% chance the core members would have done an endurance run in the last 10 years if CT and Shenmue (which I haven’t watched) weren’t driven by the younger members. And you could see it in the fact that they never made a real, true mobile app. The number one thing that would have made them indispensable this past decade, an app to integrate premium features, the podcast, their video player, etc. all in one place in a mobile-friendly package, that could sync with the website... and they never even raised the idea publicly. I wonder how much of the innovation was the group think-tank of the first 5 years. Beyond Dan’s couple major contributions, I don’t think they added a single new type of content after 2012, which... still means the last 6.5 years lacked any semblance of innovation. I guess that’s a big part of why I fell off tremendously quickly after late 2014. There was just nothing new, and believe me, I was looking. I wanted reasons to stay watching. I supported them with my dollar. I believed in those brave early days. And I went back yesterday to watch the DP endurance run from VJ again. I still miss that rapport. And really, that hurt, too. Vinny moving back east, less than a year after Ryan passed... short term, it was fine. You had more people than ever to cover the gaps. But the spark was gone. The chemistry made the site. When I think of Giant Bomb, I still think of Jeff, Vinny, and Ryan, first and foremost. Those early podcasts, the NintenDownloads, the crazy tangents that everyone could seamlessly follow up on(well, except Brad, because he essentially slept through most of the podcasts, unless he was talking about the thing he did that week), the weird high-concept GOTY stuff... it wasn’t perfect, but you were entertained. You laughed. You were engaged. It never felt like you were watching them working, even though you could see the work they put in. It felt like, when they released something, you were experiencing a group of legitimate friends doing what they wanted to do anyways.(And boy have I seen enough groups do everything they can to NOT be enjoying doing that, and break up as a result due to hating the jobs that they chose to do).

Part of me would love to make it as simple as “Ryan died, and so did the original spirit”, and... to a degree, it’s true. If you go back to any retrospective they’ve done about the founding of the site, or the podcast they recorded after Ryan passed, you can’t help but recognize that Giant Bomb never happens if these core members don’t all quit their jobs, led by Ryan, because they respect their boss/manager, Jeff, and know he’s doing the right things(for them, for the reader/viewer, etc.) ahead of what GameSpot management wants him to do. Jeff could have been left in the wilderness, trying find a spot elsewhere, with the rumor going around between executives that Jeff wasn’t going to help them promote anything, essentially killing their revenue. He would have been done in terms of getting employed by a major site. But Ryan first, and soon after, Vinny and Brad, gave up their jobs to make this fledgling little project go. As much as the ERs brought me in and gave the impression that Jeff and Vinny were the long-standing duo, no, it was Ryan who was Jeff’s partner in crime. And, 8 years later, I can comfortably say... Giant Bomb never recovered from losing him.

But it was so much more. Everything that set them apart slowly went away, in time. I don’t think they’ve posted reviews for games in consecutive MONTHS since 2017; 2018 at the latest. They have done one Endurance Run in 9 years. They have not had a meaningful live event in 6 years. Unprofessional Fridays were more formulaic and lesser in volume and frequency after the major players started moving east. The lack of coordination between coasts killed the camaraderie, to the point that I think one of the last 5 true gameplay crossovers was their series of 2016-2017 PUBG shitfests. I remember when Vinny starting GBEast was supposed to be the start of a new era of content, and... it was, but not in a positive way, like it sounded. When half of each side seemed to constantly have no interest in making anything, nothing got made. But I guess that’s what happens when your second in command in one of your headquarters is just a former marketing grunt with an attitude problem, and the guy with the biggest ego on the team is the one who refuses to move to join either side, and just pushes out the most self-important drivel as a header to what were literally just copy-pasted articles from other sites every week while sitting at his desk, dreaming of the days Gawker would pay him to plagiarize political drivel instead, because that’s what really gets the soulless clicks. One of your founding members becomes depressed due to losing his two closest work friends, one for real, one to a 3000 mile separation, within a year, while the other one who is left virtually stopped playing anything but DOTA 2 for 2 years. Suddenly your most prominent personalities are the 2 new guys(one the aforementioned charisma vacuum, the other a walking mark) and your previously-mostly-off-camera producer who is best known to the wider Internet for... blinking. So, yeah, lifeless. And NOW, all you’ve got is old melancholy dad, charisma vacuum dad, and the two ADHD kids whose defining trait is that they choose to exclusively refer to their partners as “my partner” in voices that make it sound like they are embarrassed to have partners, while also talking more about what their partners are doing than what they do. It’s confounding.

But yeah, TL:DR: RIP zombie Giant Bomb. Glad you’re finally getting taken behind the shed. It took 3 years too long, minimum.

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bubbletimestories · 3 years

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Dance with me, doll

Summary : Do you remember the Stark expo where Bucky and Steve go with two young women? What if you were James' date for one night? What if it was a wonderful evening?

Themes : love, dance, hugs, friendship, Stark Expo

A/N : As usal, translated with Google. Quick prompt for a dear friend, happy birthday @harlekin6 ❤️ 🖤 ❤️ 🖤

https://archiveofourown.org/works/27903499

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For the sixth time in an hour, you change your mind about the dress you plan to put on for tonight, examining yourself in the mirror from every angle and regretting that you can't wear nylon stockings, that's more chic. Sitting on the bed, your friend puts on lipstick, sighing, the prospect of spending the evening holding the candle does not delight her at all but you promised you would earn her one. Besides, she will not be alone, this is the opportunity for her to meet a charming young man full of qualities even if there is little chance that she is interested in a weakling with fragile health. You love Bonnie, but she's very… superficial.

- Y/N, is he a soldier at least? - No, he would like to get involved, but there are a couple of things that stop him. It's no worse, it means he's available. - Pff... why are you the only one entitled to the sexy guy in uniform?

The uniform... this is something that attracts women but not you. Well, James is very elegant in his, he wears it beautifully but this outfit reminds you constantly that he is going to risk his life, he who always puts himself at the service of others. You don't want him to be hurt or worse. The truth is, you don't see the soldier in him, only the boy you knew years ago and became friends with. But it would be a lie to say that you don't think of him as a man. At night, you think of him far too indecently for a simple friendship. This way he smiles, as if all the misfortunes in the world didn't matter… You couldn't say when your heart started to beat faster when you saw him but you dream of his smile like a light that would warm you.

Daydreaming too much you'll miss your bus, it's time to finish getting ready and jump in your shoes, there's no way you'll be late. Your gaze lingers on the framed photo on your dressing table, the two young men staring at the lens even though the smaller of the two looks embarrassed. The three of you had gone to see a baseball game but Steve felt sick, poor man. The two nicest guys in Brooklyn, for sure. They have hearts of gold, but tonight you hope you can spend some quiet time with the one you love. Maybe even tell him how you feel.

***

Tomorrow's World Expo has drawn far more people than you ever imagined, people flock to the various demonstrations while you wait impatiently, leaning against a large statue and watching for the crowds. Above your head, a suspended train goes back and forth, sliding with a slight noise. You are still a little worried about it falling on your head, but your attention is constantly being diverted by the music, the fireworks and especially your expectation. Finally, you see Bucky and his friend appear and give them a big sign without being able to stop you from smiling or preventing your heart from beating very hard. What reassures you is that James looks as happy as you that you are together, which is a good thing. He’s even bigger tonight, more manly, but it's probably just your imagination. Your friend gives you a little nudge, her gaze says it all when she sees Steve. Sorry Bonnie, but you'll see he's got plenty of qualities.

You enter the expo, passing between display cases presenting the latest innovations, future inventions such as a spacesuit or research into the use of heat from the Earth's core. This is all fascinating and you go into ecstasies with every step, Bucky's hand tight in yours, your fingers entwined without being ashamed. You can feel him enjoying the moment, happy to be here just as you are to be with him. At no point does he stop smiling, even when you start to pull him more excitedly towards the stage where Howard Stark is going to present his latest invention. You've heard a lot about this playboy engineer but genius in his field and you can't wait to see what he came up with. Applause crackles as lovely young women in tuxedos announce the arrival of Mr. Stark, just as you manage to slip into the front row. Having not said a word since arriving, Steve uses the moment to offer a peanut to Bonnie who ignores him royally. For their part, it will be a sword in the water, it's official.

"Ladies and gentlemen, what if I told you that in just a few short years, your automobile won’t even have to touch the ground at all. With Stark robotic reversion technology, you’ll be able to do just that. "

As the engineer speaks, the ladies remove the wheels from the vehicle and you lean in a little more curiously, feeling an equally attentive James close to you. An engine noise is heard, the car hums and lifts several inches under your astonished eyes. How amazing is a flying car? This is original, even futuristic. All excited, you hug yourself against the soldier's arm, happy to share this special moment with him. Unfortunately, the technology is not yet fully developed and sparks start to crackle before the car slams into a crashing crash. Howard Stark makes fun of it and you laugh heartily before asking Bucky to go dancing. The night is beautiful, the mood is right and you can feel his fingers against yours, it's perfect. The young man turns to suggest the idea to Steve, but he is gone, disappearing into the crowd.

"Sorry Doll, I’ll go see what he’s doing and I come back soon. Don’t fly away "

You promise to wait for them, your smile way too big and way too bright right now, you can't help it. It's stronger than you, Bucky makes you feel like that every time. You watch the soldier cut through the crowd easily, he looks so good in his uniform but you prefer him in a shirt, on days when you were just chatting together, when he happened to chop wood. The eyes shining with the effort, the muscles sticking out and the sleeves of his shirt rolled up… You had felt so funny in front of him. While James is gone to find his friend, you turn to Bonnie with a laugh.

"Don't look like this, cutie, we're having fun. Okay, Steve isn't muscular and very manly, but he's kind, caring, very smart and… you don't really care. Okay, I got it, I promise to make it up to you again. But I'm having a magical time! "

If she is mad at you for forcing her to hang out with a weakling, your friend is glad to see you so happy and she's fixing your hairstyle, making sure she can figure out how to charge you. You both laugh as you watch your partners return from the army pavilion. What makes sense when you know Steve's desire to get involved and serve his country in this terrible war. The two are arguing and it seems the tone is rising, you don't want them fighting since they are like brothers. How many times has James told you about his friend, his worries about him ...

“Hey, Sarge! Are we going dancing?"

You wave at him, hoping to divert attention and interrupt their argument, your hand clenched in Bonnie's, who rolls her eyes. Your intervention nevertheless seems to bear fruit as the two men give each other a brief hug before Bucky comes back to you, putting a hand on your waist with that smile that would melt an iceberg. He gives you a glance, declaring that the orchestra is playing your song and without further ado, he leads you to the track, not without asking Bonnie if she doesn't mind that he steals you from her for a moment. Your friend bursts out laughing, too happy to be able to throw herself into the arms of the first handsome soldier. Maybe you should be worried about her, but she knows how to defend herself and you want to enjoy every second with the sergeant. James takes your hand in his as you spin around in the middle of the other couples, your bodies tight as you keep your eye on each other. You gladly get lost in icy blue pupils, listening to music only with a distracted ear.

- Is the evening to your liking, doll? - Obviously, I've seen some amazing inventions and I'm dancing with the most beautiful soldier of the event, what more could I ask for? - Um ... I have an idea or two ...

The teasing look James gives you makes you blush and you can't imagine what he's got in mind, he's still so playful but a gentleman. You lean lightly against him, letting him guide you to the rhythm of the songs that come together without you realizing it. Bonnie slips away after a while, in lovely company even though you know nothing will happen. She has a knack for stopping things when she wants to. For now, you are not sure how far you would like to go with the young man tonight, you only think of the touch of his hand in the small of your back, the way he looks at you as if you were the most beautiful woman in the world.

Most visitors are long gone by the time you finally decide to come home after a drink or two and too many dancing to count. With rosy cheeks, you catch your breath as you squeeze the flaps of the jacket Bucky put on your shoulders so you don't get cold. It's far too late to take a train, he walks you back to his car, one arm around your shoulders hugging you gently against him. If this is a dream, you don't want to wake up. Everything is perfect and you are enjoying it all the more since you know the man you love is going to go fight soon. You suppress a smile when you see James' car, it's far from a Rolls Royce with its noisy engine and dented hood, but it's his little treasure and he takes great care of it. You sit on the bench which smells like its owner, a mixture of cinnamon, sandalwood and obviously leather. For a brief moment, you imagine coming home, to an apartment that is all your own, where you are newlyweds. Luckily, it's too dark for anyone to see you blush. The journey seems way too short to you and you refuse to go back, staying on the steps in front of your building, keeping Bucky's hand in yours. He traces circles with his thumb, his blue eyes shining like two stars in the night.

- I had a great evening, thank you Buck-buck. - The pleasure was mine, Y/N, I can't wait to do it again. - You better come back soon so we can dance again then. - Promised. In the meantime, we just have to seal this deal.

And with infinite gentleness, he puts his hand on your cheek as he straightens up, pulling you against him as he envelops you in the warmth of his arms, catching your lips in a tender kiss where you feel a touch of impatience. You've been holding yourself back for a long time and you close your eyes, kissing him in turn, a hand on the back of his neck whose short hair you stroke, being careful not to drop his cap. You don't even feel your leg lift up like a pin-up on a poster, but that’s the impression you make, the pretty young woman kissing her soldier.

#fic #stark expo #1943 #love #happy birthday my dear friend #bucky #bucky x reader #sebastian stan #james bucky barnes

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aedelia · 4 years

Text

The Core of the Matter

(Phic Phight 2020) ( @dalv-co-official prompt An AU where Sam and/or Tucker also gain ghost powers )

AO3

FF.net

The Core of the Matter

Sam first noticed something was off when she started feeling emotions coming from her plants. At first she thought it was her imagination, then she thought maybe a ghost was messing with her, but when she was able to revive a nearly wilted flower with just her touch she had to accept that she was the source of whatever this was.

She didn't tell Danny at first, she didn't want to worry him, but now that she seemed to be developing ghost powers of her own, she decided she had better consult with Tucker and bring it up with Danny. She put the pruning shears down on her workbench and exited her greenhouse. At this time of day, Danny would probably be doing his early morning patrol. Tucker was probably still up playing Doomed in the carryover of an overnight binge. She washed her hands and then slid into her computer seat once she reached her bedroom.

She was right, Tucker was still online, grinding for some item or other on a medium level. She teleported to him and requested a party invite so she could voice chat with him. Once the invite was accepted she wasted no time getting to the point, "Hey Tucker, I just had something weird happen to me today with my greenhouse plants- like ghost weird." Tucker blasted apart a few more enemies before responding, "Like what kind of ghost weird? Accidentally plant a ghost seed? Was it a ghost pepper?"

"Haha very funny. No I was picking up a plant that was wilting and getting ready to transplant it when it perked up before my eyes and by time I had it in its new pot it was ridiculously healthy. I rescued the poor thing from a home and garden store, but even with attentive care, it takes more than a minute for a plant to recover."

"Ok, yeah that is pretty strange. Have you talked to Danny about it yet? This seems more like his area of expertise."

"I'm going to but I wanted to check with you first, have you had anything ghost-weird happen to you lately?" Sam asked as she vaporized a few weak monsters that tried to attack her.

"No, not since Technus hijacked my PDA a while back. Though, actually, I haven't had to charge Meredith in over a month. I thought it was some carry over from the possession but maybe it's something more."

"So do you think we're getting ghost powers? Because that would be totally cool, but neither of us have a good history when it comes to having ghost powers. I don't want to worry Danny but we might need to ask an actual ghost if we can't figure this out on our own."

"Yeah I can see that making him stress out. Maybe we should ask Jazz too? She might have an idea from listening to their parents go off about ghosts. I know Danny usually leaves when the dissection talk starts so he might have missed some information."

"That's a good idea, I'll message her once I get off Doomed. Try to be up by noon so we can all hang out."

"Will do." Tucker replied as he continued to mindlessly blast apart weak enemies in his quest for rare items.

Sam left the party and walked her character back to the teleportation point for the level. Once she was safely logged off of the game she pulled up quickMessage to get a hold of Jazz.

Ever the early riser, Jazz was already online, with a status of 'The early worm reads the book'. Sam quickly typed up a greeting, "Hey Jazz, are you at the computer?"

"I sure am, I just finished reading an online article for the paper I'm working on." was the quick response.

"I have a potential issue I'd like your feedback on."

"Go on."

"I somehow healed one of my plants this morning and when I asked Tucker he said he hasn't had to charge his PDA in a few months. Have you had anything ghostly weird happen to you lately?"

The typing indicator lit up for a solid two minutes before a message came in, "Yes. Now that I think about it, I have. Sometimes when I talk with someone face-to-face, I think I hear some of their thoughts. Also, when I'm reading a book I've been getting bits of what I think were thoughts of the last person to read or hold it."

“Ok first off, that’s way cool. Second, I think we need to have a talk with Danny. Do you know if he’s up?”

“He must have just gotten back in from morning patrol, I can hear the shower running. When and where should we meet up?”

“I told Tucker to be up by noon, he’s still playing Doomed right now but he was getting off soon. Meet at the Nasty Burger? Or in the park?”

“I think the park would be better, less chance of being overheard. That one spot that you need ghost powers to get to easily?”

“Yeah sounds like a plan. Meet up around noon? And I’ll bring a picnic basket. Make sure Danny doesn’t know why we’re all hanging out way out there until we get there. Don’t want him to freak out on us before we are all together.”

“I’m alright with this because I know we’ll be telling him right away. Once he’s out of the shower I’ll let him know we’re meeting up there and the time. Once we’re all together he can fly us to the spot.”

“Ok, see you guys then.”

Jazz sent a thumbs up emote before going offline.

Sam sent a quick text message to Tucker letting him know the plan before signing off of the chat app as well and heading for the shower.

Once she was dressed in her favorite outfit she packed up a basket of both healthy food she grew or made herself, and junk food that would appeal to the boys.

She killed the last couple of hours reading some poetry that she was peer reviewing for the next poetry slam at the Skulk and Lurk.

Once it was time to leave she snagged her packed basket and headed for the park.

It only took her a short walk to reach the entrance of the park and a further few minutes to meet up with Danny, Jazz, and Tucker in a secluded spot near a small pond.

Danny had a suspicious look on his face when she joined the group but still gave her a smile when they all linked arms to fly to their hang out spot.

Sam grinned as the fizzy, light, feeling of intangibility rushed over them before they flipped invisible and lifted off. Danny’s ghost powers always have a bit of an electric tingling like when someone was lightly running their nails over your skin. It gave her goosebumps, but in a good way.

‘It would be pretty amazing to have ghost powers of my own.’ She mused as they flew.

A few silent moments later and they gently touched down in a secluded clearing well away from any park visitors. Considering that if you didn’t have the ability to fly, the only way to get there was through an old and crumbling drainage pipe, they weren’t going to be bothered by anyone.

Danny transformed back to human and immediately started asking, “Ok, I know something’s up. We don’t usually hang out way out here unless we need to talk about ghost stuff. So what’s going on?” He looked between the three of them as they sat down and opened up the lunch basket.

“Calm down my dude, nothing is immediately wrong. Have a seat and we’ll get into it.” Tucker was the first to respond, patting the ground next to him before chomping a few of Sam’s homemade potato chips.

“Don’t worry so much Danny, I don’t think anything’s wrong. We do need to have a discussion about some things that are going on though.” Jazz said as she offered him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on untoasted bread.

Danny finally sat and once he was eating Sam spoke up, “So this morning I noticed something weird while working with my plants. I talked with Tucker and Jazz about it earlier, and I think we’re developing our own ghost powers.”

Danny started choking on his sandwich and Tucker had to pound his back for a moment before he was alright.

“Ghost powers?” he wheezed once he was under control again.

“Yes. Ghost powers.” Sam deadpanned before breaking into a grin, “All three of us have had different things happening that seem like powers unique to ourselves. I’ve been able to feel emotions from my plants for a bit but didn’t notice until I healed a wilted one this morning.”

“Rescue plant?” Danny asked, knowing Sam’s opinion on Home and Garden stores and their care of plants. She nodded.

Jazz was next, “I’ve noticed that I’m picking up thoughts of the people around me and from previous holders of books and papers that I’m reading. Which is why I know you’re suspicious right now, but consider how slowly these have been developing, this points to them being particular to each of us and not the result of ghostly interference.”

Danny pulled a face, “That would make you a scary good psychologist,” before turning to Tucker, “And you Tuck?”

“I haven’t noticed much unusual myself, but I haven’t had to charge Meredith in months. Not since the last time Technus possessed her. I didn’t really think about it until this morning though so maybe other things have happened too.” He shrugged.

Danny sighed and ran a hand through his hair, dropping breadcrumbs without realizing it. “I guess this is a thing that is happening. I can’t say I’m feeling too optimistic about this whole thing but you do have a point, these seem to really run in line with your interests.”

He stood up, brushed crumbs off his lap, and said, “Well, if something ghostly is going on with you guys we should go get it checked out. The Far Frozen is the only place in the Ghost Zone that I’ve seen medical equipment so I guess that’s where we’ll go.”

“Doesn’t hurt that they’d be more than willing to help the ‘Great One’.” Tucker smirked as he also stood.

“Ew! Tucker, don’t talk while you’re still eating!” Sam scolded as she wiped potato fragments off of herself. She was packing up the empty containers as Jazz asked Danny, “The Great One?”

Danny just groaned and shook his head. Tucker helpfully filled her in, “When Danny saved everyone from Pariah Dark the people of the Far Frozen, who are huge yetis by the way, made drawings and now they call him the ‘Great One’. They were pretty happy that he stopped him from taking over the whole Ghost Zone. And you know, saved the world too.”

Jazz ruffled Danny’s hair, dislodging the crumbs, and said, “Aw you should accept that people appreciate you and want to thank you little brother.”

Danny made a halfhearted attempt at fending off her hands but they could all see that he was happy with the affection.

“Alright,” he said as he they linked arms once more, “Next stop, FentonWorks. Good thing Mom and Dad are out on a ‘romantic’ paranormal getaway trip.” he grimaced slightly as he said the word “romantic”. They took off and made short time in reaching their destination.

“Ok, if we’re actually getting powers, I want flight.” Tucker stated as they touched down in the kitchen.

Danny gave a small grin at that, “Yeah definitely my favorite power by far. Alright we’ll want the speeder, I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t want to have to fly all of us to the Far Frozen under my own power, it’d be too risky if another ghost wants to pick a fight. Also tiring, so yeah.” He finished lamely before going down the stairs to the lab.

The rest of the group followed him down and Tucker slid into the driver’s seat. “If your parents went on a paranormal trip, why didn’t they take the speeder?” he asked.

Danny made a disgusted face, “It was a romantic paranormal getaway, I didn’t ask, and I don’t want to know.”

Jazz shook her head, “They just wanted to go on an old fashioned ghost hunting trip which meant no fancy weapons. I think they’re actually taking the scientific approach to this one instead of the violent one they’ve had in the past, and I’m glad for that. It means that they’re more likely to accept that not all ghosts are bad.”

“Yeah I guess, but I still don’t want to know any more.” Danny said.

Once they were all seated, they flew through the portal and towards the Far Frozen. They chatted about different ideas for the rest of the summer and Jazz’s college plans.

Tucker smoothly flew them to the Far Frozen, avoiding ghosts fairly easily by this point. He was considered the best at flying the speeder for a reason. He was also the only one other than Danny to actually know how to use all of the buttons.

They touched down on the snow with a light crunch and Danny flew out of the speeder in ghost form before the others could even get the door open. They were still putting their coats, mittens, and hats on while he greeted Frostbite.

“Great One! It is good to see you again!” Frostbite boomed as he swept Danny into a hug.

“And Sam of the Very Vegan; Tucker, Lover of Meat; and who is this?” he asked as he met Jazz for the first time.

“I’m Jasmine, but I prefer to be called Jazz. I’m Danny’s older sister, it’s nice to meet you!” she held out her hand to shake and yelped as she was pulled into a hug.

“Jazz, sister of the Great One, it is wonderful to meet you!” Please all come inside and we shall hold a feast in your honor!”

Danny spoke up, “As great as that sounds, we do actually need some help and advice. My sister and friends seem to be developing ghost powers of their own and I thought you would be able to check them out and find out what’s going on.”

“Of course! I would be delighted to help your companions! Please, follow me to our lab.” Frostbite led them to a short building and beckoned them inside.

Inside was a large, technologically advance lab, complete with computers and various machinery that looked more advanced than the lab in FentonWorks.

Danny ran his hand along the tank that he recovered in from his core freezing him when his ice powers developed.

“Now please, one at a time, stand in that marked circle and I shall scan you for ectoplasmic anomalies.” Frostbite pointed to a large metal circle that was embedded in the floor of the lab.

Sam was the first to step forward. She walked to the center and asked, “Now what?”

“Just wait there for a moment while the machine scans you.” A few seconds later, the console beeped. “You may step from the circle and the next person may enter.”

Tucker went next and as soon as he was out Jazz followed suit. “Great One, we should scan you as well, it has been quite a while since the last time and it would be good to compare your scans with your companions.”

Danny took a turn in the scanning circle as well and once they were all finished, they gathered around Frostbite by the display.

Frostbite hummed thoughtfully as he looked at the symbols flashing over the screen. He then pulled up a visual representation of each of their scans on the screen.

“I believe I know what’s going on now. Your cores are developing. All of your companions have developed their own ghostly cores and as they grow, they are experiencing inconsistent power surges. That would cause them to manifest various ghostly powers.”

On the screen it showed five scans, Danny’s old scan from when his ice powers developed, his current scan, and the other three pictures were of Sam, Tucker, and Jazz. Danny’s first picture had a fist sized flowing blue center, his second it was about half again as large, and much brighter. Sam had a bright green dot in her center, Tucker a small pulsing blue and yellow, and Jazz had a very light purple pinprick in her scan.

“Those are ghost cores?” Jazz asked.

“Yes, they are very small right now, but if you nurture them properly, you will eventually be able to control your own powers and perhaps even develop a secondary form.” Frostbite said. “It is not unheard of; I believe your foe, Plasmius, had a similar incident that led to him becoming a halfa.”

Danny finally relaxed upon knowing that this wasn’t some ghostly shenanigan being pulled by a ghost bent on causing chaos. “So this would have happened anyways, eventually?”

“Likely so,” Frostbite answered, “there was a possibility that the cores would have ceased developing early on if they did not have frequent enough exposure to ectoplasmic radiation, but we are well past the danger point of that now. It is likely that your presence, Great One, is what kept them from withering to nothing. As things are now, I recommend at least an hour a week spent in an ectoplasmic rich environment, such as the Ghost Zone, to keep them developing properly. This is a rare opportunity; you will have the ability to guide your growth in beneficial ways. Take some time to think about what is important to you and what the negative qualities those things may have. Doing so will help to avoid developing unhealthy obsessions or overly dangerous powers.”

Sam was smiling as she asked, “Does this mean we’ll be able to choose what outfit we have when we get our own ghost forms?”

“Indeed it does, however you should take care not to try to force the change yourself. Once your cores have reached a sufficient size we can monitor you when you attempt to shift. That would be best done here where we can help if something goes wrong. Please come back and visit us every month so that we can keep an eye on your growth and answer any questions that you may have.”

“Thank you so much Frostbite,” Danny said as they left the lab building, “unfortunately we don’t have time to stay for a feast, we don’t want to be missed by our families.”

“No worries Great One! We can have a planned feast upon your next visit. I shall let the others know of these plans so that we will be prepared for your arrival in the next month’s time. Feel free to come beforehand if you find you have urgent questions or concerns.” Frostbite swept them all into a hug at the same time before releasing them. “Have a safe journey home!” He stood and waved as the teenagers boarded the Speeder and flew away.

As they flew home, they chattered excitedly about what outfits and powers they wanted to have.

“I need a cape, capes are so Goth” Sam said.

“No capes!” Tucker piped up in an Edna Mode voice.

“If I can go intangible then capes are fine!” she argued back.

“At least patrol should be a lot easier whenever you guys get ghost forms, we’d be able to work together even better for fights.” Danny said.

“Hey! I wonder if Skulker will find me less unique and desirable as a trophy now, or if he’ll want all of us individually?”

“I dunno dude, Vlad is a halfa too but Skulker doesn’t try to hunt him. I think he’ll want all of us.” Tucker said.

Danny sulked but made a noise of agreement as they approached the Fenton Portal.

“I guess we’ll find out eventually.”

#phic phight #phic phight 2020 #team ghost #I'll probably add more in the future #I have a lot of notes on ideas for how this would go #prompt filled #procrastination half killed me #crossposted

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