* THEY WILL CHOP YOU DOWN JUST TO COUNT YOUR RINGS

JASON TODD @ UWS HQ

[rougehoods]

wbbing‌:

CONTINUED    |    @rougehoods

“    MINUS THE SPIT.    ”    

His suit is black now, fitting with a certain motif of a city he had only previously been acquainted with in his periphery. And while not exactly squeamish, there is a certain assault to the carefully honed nature he has to mind in examining the lifeless form before them.   (   A slightly altered design doesn’t help him much in fitting in.   )    

“    So    ——-    you seem well adjusted.    ”

❝     WOW, IS OBSERVATION YOUR SUPERPOWER     ?     ❞     Red Hood kneels, tilting the man’s chin to the side with the butt of his gun. He snorts after a moment.     ❝     --- ---     Speed skating convention’s that way. Scram.     ❞

[dawn0fsanity]

Steve Schofield: Rami Malek by me, London 2018. Outtake from a shoot originally commissioned by Empire Magazine.

(photos by Steve Schofield on IG)

[rougehoods]

purrfectioniist‌:

A LARGE PART OF HER YEARNS TO REACH OVER AND KNOCK HIS BOOTS OFF OF THE SEAT IN FRONT –  scold him and roll her eyes. But what good would that do ? The theatre is half destroyed anyway, she wonders for a moment how it hasn’t been burned to the ground already - plush velvet brushing against the back of her exposed neck, cowl hanging between her hands. 

❝     No —–    ❞  she paused for a moment to let out a huff of exasperation, one hand casing up and along the plain of her cheek and back through her short ( not quite buzz-cut. it’d been a few weeks ) scruffy hair. Smiling she to herself, she closes her eyes for a moment, trying to enjoy the break - the rain  outside hammering at the old vaulted ceiling covered up with decaying plaster. 

❝     The girls from the club along the street use it to cool off, some have guys on the balconies. You know —-  Which I suppose would explain the screams …      ❞  

A sensible, if not a more GROUNDED explanation.  

Selina opens one eye, studying the back of his shoulders for any sign of a laugh. 

❝     Lets do each other a favour and not get too philosophical. Leave that to Bruce, he enjoys it. I tolerate it when I need too —-    ❞   the other eye opening slowly,  she studies him more carefully - nudging the back of the seat with her boot. 

❝     ——  Maybe he’s rubbing off on you more than you think, kiddo.     ❞   

HE GREW UP IN A PLACE THAT WAS HALF - DESTROYED BEFORE THE CEMENT HAD EVEN DRIED.     Crime Alley’s biggest draw was how deep the cracks in its sidewalk were ; yawning chasms that made it oh, so easy for anyone to fall through and keep right on falling forever.

❝     ... Think I’d rather deal with ghosts.     ❞

Jason pulls a face, craning his neck as though he might catch a glimpse of some illicit encounter right then and there. 

❝     Maybe I’m rubbing off on him,     ❞     comes the knee - jerk reply, even as Jason pulls his feet from the seat and turns around.     ❝     You started it. Anyway, if death meant that beauty stops, then people wouldn’t be so obsessed with writing poetry about it. Do you know how many poems there are about death     ?      ❞

Jason didn’t, not before he actually started going to school. And for as crass a question as it comes across, he’s had Wordsworth rattling around inside his head for a week straight like a constant, stream - of - consciousness mantra.

[rougehoods]

YEARS FROM NOW, THEY WILL STAND ACROSS FROM ONE ANOTHER EVERY BIT AS VANDALISED AS THE OLD THEATRE AROUND THEM     --- ---     so changed by the passage of time and tragedy that all familiarity will have been lost to a self - fulfilling prophecy.

But Jason isn’t there yet.

❝     Yeah, so what     ?     ❞     He’s made himself at home in one of the red velvet seats, feet kicked up on the next row over.     ❝     Just because something is temporary doesn’t mean it’s not beautiful. Even when it does die.     ❞

Jason thinks of the dried flowers Farid keeps pressed in between the pages of the big book of Hafez’ poetry he likes to read in the evenings. They are no less beautiful than they were, but they are certainly more fragile.

Maybe that’s what Selina means, he thinks. If sturdy, brick buildings are vulnerable, then what does that mean for us     ?

He gestures to the ghost light, still proudly illuminating the barest hint of the stage before them.

❝     Is it true this place is haunted     ?     ❞

@purrfectioniist     /     CONT’D

[iillusiionary]

’Lines that have made me cry at one point’ starters!

Feel free to change any names/pronouns!

“I found love where it wasn’t supposed to be.”

“Give us more to see.”

“What did I give you?”

“I want to move on, I want to explore the light.”

“I want to know how to get through, through to something new. Something of my own.”

“You’re a good person, Peter. It’s such a weakness.”

“Is he- is this real?”

“However you live there’s a part of you always standing by, mapping out a sky.”

“How do we feel in that photograph and how can we feel it again?”

“Maybe I’ve done enough.”

“Your golden child grew up.”

“For the first time, I see an image of my brokenness, utterly worthy of love.”

“I finally see myself through the eyes of no one else.”

“You’ve got a second chance. You could go home.”

“You’ve got a warm heart, you’ve got a beautiful brain, but it’s disintegrating.”

“I was just a kid who grew up strong enough to pick this armor up, and suddenly it fit.”

“I was little, I was weak, I was perfectly nieve, and I grew up too quick.”

“I won’t let you in, I swore never again.”

“I can’t afford, no, I refuse to be rejected.”

“But I can’t let you see all that I have to lose.”

“Here I am, pry me open. What do you want to know?”

“Everything was fine until you came around.”

“Man, you really brought me back down.”

“After all you put me through, don’t say it wasn’t true, that you were not the monster that I knew.”

“Another summer day is come and gone away in Paris and Rome, but, I want to go home.”

“I can’t call you a stranger, but I can’t call you.”

“You may hate me, but I can’t hate you.”

“I won’t replace you.”

“The way she tells me I’m hers and she is mine, open hand or closed fist would be fine.”

“If you’re still breathing, you’re the lucky ones.”

“Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows.”

“I have never known anyone who actually believed that I was enough.”

“Smile, my boy, it’s sunrise.”

“I wish I knew how to quit you.”

“You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But, it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.”

“S’that motive enough for ya?”

‘Isn’t it lovely how artists can capture us?’

‘You would have liked her. Honey, I’m wrong- you would have LOVED her.’

“You can’t trick me anymore.”

“But, for what it’s worth, Peter, I really am sorry.”

“You didn’t see that coming?”

“It’s been a long, long time.”

“What if all the things I’ve done we’re just attempts at earning love?”

“George misses Marie. George misses a lot. George is alone.”

“No, I don’t think I will.”

“I love you 3000.”

“So, you better run for cover when the pup grows-” *gunshot*

“I could look at him forever.”

“What if who I hoped to be was always me?”

“Why are there so many songs about rainbows and what’s on the other side?”

“Is a better home awaiting in the sky?”

“My love, are you sitting down?”

“It felt like my life, but a better version.”

“I held onto my life and who I was with you.”

“We could just kiss like real people do.”

“Leave me to dream.”

“George would have liked to seen people out strolling on Sunday.”

“Move on.”

“Chimerical. C-H-I-M-E-R-I-C-A-L. Highly unrealistic, widely fanciful.”

“I love you.”

“I think dad is angry, ma, and I do not know what to do.”

“I think he takes out on me what he wants to take out on you.”

“How I wish you were home.”

“Nothing can make sense of all these things I’ve done.”

“No, I’d rather pretend I’m something better than these broken parts. Pretend I’m something better than this mess that I am.”

“Cause what if everyone saw? What if everyone knew? Would they like what they saw? Or would they hate it too?”

“I think I’m made of stone.”

“I should be feeling more.”

“You can still be what you want to.”

“It’s just medicine.”

“Seeing all the parts but none of the whole.”

“And it burns inside his eyes.”

“And you catch him now and then.”

“So you want him even more.”

“But he’s never really there.”

“We do not belong together.”

“We do not belong together, and we should have belonged together.”

“I care about many things.”

“Things, not people.”

“Who am I to say what any of this means?”

“I have been sleepwalking since I was fourteen.”

“I have been half myself for more than half my life.”

“Fall in love again, and again, and again.”

“Are you going to age with grace?”

“You taught me the courage of stars before you left.”

“Who cares what you are listening to, it’s who you’re listening with.”

“It’s sad but true how much I miss you. I miss you, Cecily Smith.”

“Life is not the things that we do, it’s who we’re doing them with.”

[elliotaldersmol]

[rougehoods]

all this for a family squabble.

RED HOOD LIFTS THE EDGE OF HIS HELMET AND SPITS CLEAN AT A DEAD MAN’S FEET.

❝     They were like this when I got here.     ❞     Not that it matters, he’d come to kill them anyway. 

(     The only good Falcone is a dead Falcone, as far as Red Hood is concerned.     )

@wbbing     /     MEME WEEKEND

[liasprompts]

a collection of muse headcanon questions inspired by the major arcana of the tarot  /  send the corresponding number(s) for headcanons surrounding the given prompts !

00.  the fool  :  what are your muse’s thoughts on new beginnings ? does it frighten them or  excite them ? 01.  the magician  :  how does your muse feel about fate ? do they believe they can change their own destiny ? 02.  the high priestess  :  how does your muse make decisions ? do they trust their instinct or would they rather trust their heart / their logic ? 03.  the empress  :  does your muse have parental / nurturing figures in their life ? how do they impact them ? 04.  the emperor  :  how much respect does your muse have for authority ? why is this ? 05.  the hierophant  :  what are your muse’s morals / ethics ? do they follow their moral code strictly ? 06.  the lovers  :  how important are relationships to your muse ? do they value having a significant other ? 07.  the chariot  :  how much does your muse care about winning ? are they a sore loser ? 08.  strength  :  how does your muse use their energy ? do they tend to work towards their goals steadily or in bursts ? 09.  the hermit  :  how introspective is your muse ? how often do they self - reflect ? 10.  the wheel of fortune  :  how well / badly does your muse take setbacks on their goals ? 11.  justice  :  does your muse find it easy to be impartial in emotional situations ? 12.  the hanged man  :  how open is your muse to new opportunities ? do they constantly look for them or do they simply take whatever comes their way ? 13.  death  :  is there anything in your muse’s life that they should be letting go of ? 14.  temperance  :  does your muse make plans ? how impulsive are they ? has this gotten them into good / bad situations and how have they dealt with them? 15.  the devil  :  is your muse addicted to any substances ? is there anything that could possibly make them quit ? 16.  the tower  :  what event drastically changed your muse’s life ? do they resent that event or are they glad of it ? 17.  the star  :  what does your muse take inner comfort in knowing ? what guides your muse ? 18.  the moon  :  what does your muse long for ? is it a realistic desire ? 19.  the sun  :  in general, how optimistic is your muse ? does your muse appreciate the small things in life ? 20.  judgement  :  is your muse forgiving of themselves ? how about of others who wrong them ? 21.  the world  :  is there one thing in life that your muse must accomplish ? what will they do when they complete that goal ?

[mitchellwrites]

deathless ♚ sentence meme

You will always fall in love, and it will always be like having your throat cut, just that fast.

You are going to break your promise. I understand.

You’re lonely too.

It will stop your breath, how cruel I can be.

I am a demanding creature. I am selfish and cruel and extremely unreasonable.

I am your servant.

I crawl at your feet; for before your love, your kisses, I am debased.

For you alone I will be weak.

I belong here, and you will not deny me.

I say these things, and the world listens.

I do not tolerate a world emptied of you. I have tried.

In the dark, I have pored over the loss of you like pale gold.

I will not let her speak because I love her, and when you love someone, you do not make them tell war stories.

I moved the earth and the water for you.

You will always run away with her.

You will always lose her.

You will always be a fool.

You will always be dead, in a city of ice, snow falling into your ear.

You have already done all of this and will do it again.

No one should be judged for loving more than they ought, only for loving not enough.

We look terrible to you, and severe, and you see our blood flying.

What we carry between us is hard-won, and we made it just as we wished it to be, just the color, just the shape.

There need never be any rules between us.

Let us be greedy together; let us hoard.

Do not leave me, swear that you will never leave me.

I am selfish. I am cruel. My mate cannot be less than I.

Sleep with fists closed and shoot straight.

I can’t abide a poor liar.

You look like a winter’s night. I could sleep inside the cold of you.

Oh, quit that. Blushing is for virgins and Christians.

Scold me; deny me. Tell me you want what you want and damn me forever. But don’t leave me.

Bad luck relies on absolutely perfect timing.

In his own country, Death can be kind.

What is the world but a boxing ring where fools and devils put up their fists?

Men die. It’s practically what they’re for.

I am no one; I am nothing.

Nothing in me was not made by you.

A revelation is always the end of something. It might even be cause for grief.

Just tell yourself a story that’ll satisfy you and pretend he told it.

Forever isn’t bright; it isn’t like that. Forever is cold and hard and final.

I savor bitterness - it is born of experience. It is the privilege of one who has truly lived.

If you want to kill yourself, do not use us as your knife.

What did I do wrong? Was I boring? Did I ignore you?

Don’t you dare speak to me like that.

I have worn nothing but blood and death for years.

I have fought all your battles for you, just as you asked me.

I have learned not to cry when I strangle a man.

I have learned to watch everything die.

I am not a little girl anymore, dazzled by your magic. It is my magic, now, too.

Are we not devils?

No one is now what they were before the war.

I have not seen you without your skin on.

Close up your head; your brain is getting loose.

We obsess. It’s in our nature.

I’ve a devil of a habit for being right.

In war you must always choose sides.

If you try to be a bridge laid down between them, they will tear you in half.

We are all dead. All equal. Broken and aimless and believing we are alive.

My old bones will follow yours soon enough.

It is better to be strong and cruel than to be fair.

I will see him with his skin off before I agree to fall in love.

After love, no one is what they were before.

I have survived, but I have not been spared.

In the space of one heartbeat to another I loved you and I was lost to you.

Frighten me, make me cry, only come back.

It’s not so bad, my darling. Being dead. It’s like being alive, only colder.

You’ll think it’s love, while he dines on your heart.

You will be so beautiful when you are old.

I cannot keep you and I cannot let you go.

You will live as you live in any world…with difficulty, and grief.

I look at you and it is like my throat being cut.

She said you’d come and I swore to eat your heart.

I still want to kiss you.

My heart is being cut in two. I cannot bear it.

What happens to anything beautiful?

I have to know, I have to or else you will just rule me until the end of everything because you know and I do not.

[rob-pattinson]

RAMI MALEK Esquire UK / 2020 › ph. Dexter Navy

[rougehoods]

legrandsaut‌:

cahrter‌:

FORTY - FIVE CALIBER ROUNDS ARE SUBSONIC.  The likelihood that a single shot would ignite the explosives pinned in neat rows across the Hood’s armored vest is minimal, but the odds that that same shot would piss him off enough to detonate them himself are much higher.

❝ Yeah, my accountant keeps telling me the same thing. ❞  There’s a twelve - man S.T.R.I.K.E. Team fifty seconds behind her ; she can hear their Commander breathing in her earpiece, tattle - tale - ing his own spiking blood pressure.  REMIND HER TO TAKE HIM OFF THE ROTATION THROUGH DIRECTORATE DETAIL.  Sharon lowers her weapon ten degrees.  ❝ — — I still don’t fucking know what it means. ❞  Another ten, her gaze dropping from the passive expression molded into that stupid fucking helmet down past that vest that could level a city block to glance off the moonlight sticking to the curves of that dagger.

Up above, the whip of helicopter blades finally registers where wind seemed to, at least for a moment, have fallen still entirely.  A FLOODLIGHT spills all over the both of them like a can of white paint hurled by a protestor.

❝ Pass ?  You mind telling me where you’re headed ? ❞

❝     IT’S A RISK - MANAGEMENT STRATEGY.      A wide variety of assets are always going to minimize risk over relying too heavily on just one investment.     ❞      Nightwing drops down from the hangar on their left, jerking his head in the direction of Agent Carter’s S.T.R.I.K.E. team.     ❝     — —     Or twelve.     ❞  

Hi, I’m your diversified portfolio. Pleased to meet you.

❝     You guys in need of some crisis counseling     ?     I took this online course the other day so I’m pretty much an expert.      ❞

A second light shines down on him from up above like the beginning of the world’s worst SNL opening monologue. But despite the jokes, Nightwing hasn’t taken his eyes off Red Hood aside from a cursory glance in Carter’s direction meant to assess her for any sign of injury.

@rougehoods​

THERE IS NOTHING LEFT BUT WORN - DOWN ENAMEL BETWEEN THE BITTEN SYLLABLES OF RED HOOD’S JEER.

❝     You’re no knight in shining armour.     ❞     Then, to Agent Carter:     ❝     New deal : you shoot this clown, I’ll turn myself in.     ❞ 

There is nothing left but bile in the saturated contempt of Red Hood’s offer. He rolls his shoulders, serious as a heart attack. There is nothing left.

❝     --- ---     It doesn’t even have to be fatal, just take out a kneecap. Go on.    ❞

@cahrter​

[memetaped]

the office iconic michael scott quotes.

i am not to be truffled with.

well, well, well. how the turntables.

okay, um… count me in as “who cares?”

catch ya on the flippity flip!

don’t ever, for any reason, do anything to anyone, for any reason, ever, no matter what, no matter where, or who, or who you are with, or where you are going, or where you’ve been, ever, for any reason whatsoever.   

i wouldn’t miss it for the world. but if something else came up, i would definitely not go.

do you think that smoking drugs is cool? do you think that doing alcohol is cool?

sometimes i’ll start a sentence and i don’t even know where it’s going.

i’m not gonna cry over it. i did that in the car on the way home.

this is an environment of welcoming, and you should just get the hell out of here.  

whatevs.

bippity boppity give me the zoppity.  

absofruitly.

there’s no such thing as an appropriate joke. that’s why it’s a joke.  

HEY! NOBODY CARES.

the only thing that could make this better is ice cream. 

christmas is cancelled.

well, this is gonna hurt like a motherfucker.

just poopin’, you know how i be.

please don’t send ___.

i’m not superstitious but i am a little stitious.

daddy’s here, and daddy’s gonna take care of you.

i am not gonna give up that easy. i’m gonna make this way harder than it needs to be.

would i rather be feared or loved? um, easy. both. i want people to be afraid of how much they love me.

yeppers.

NO, GOD, PLEASE, NO!

yesh.

mo’ money, mo’ problems.

what’s missing? the turtles. where are the turtles? where are the turtles? WHERE ARE THE TURTLES?!

i tried to talk to ___ and be his friend, but that is like trying to be friends with an evil snail.  

i’m going through a bit of a rough patch. whole year, actually.

i don’t hate it. i just don’t like it at all. and it’s terrible.

i’m an adult. i don’t have to think or do anything.

halloween should be a day in which we honor monsters and not be mad at each other.

can i just say that, of all the idiots, in all the idiot villages, in all the idiot worlds, you stand alone, my friend.

i am running away from my responsibilities. and it feels good.

i’ll kill you.

i am beyoncé always.

you know, what eats a lot of the day are naps. you go to sleep, it’s lights out. you wake up, it’s dark. that’s the whole day. where did that day go? i have no idea.

you’re the worst. i hate looking at your face. i wanna smash it.

i am dead inside.

i hate so much about the things that you choose to be.

i understand nothing.

the only time i set the bar low is for limbo.

if i can get them depressed, then i’ll have done my job.

i’m okay. no, i’m not.

[movierpmemes]

BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (2005) SENTENCE MEME. feel free to change details and pronouns as you see fit. some nsfw and triggering material.

beats working for my old man.

can’t please my old man, no way.

your folks run you off?

well, we got to do something about this food situation.

i wouldn’t mind sleeping out there.

that ain’t the point.

i warn you, i can’t cook worth a damn.

you can’t be no worse than me, then.

that’s more word than you’ve spoke in the last two weeks.

hell, that’s the most that i’ve spoke in a year.

you may be a sinner, but i ain’t yet had the opportunity.

you’ll freeze your ass off.

just quit your hammering and get in here.

fuck me!

see you for supper.

it’s a one shot thing we got going on here.

it’s nobody’s business but ours.

i don’t need your money.

i can’t believe i left my damn shirt up there.

you’re wasting your time here.

it’s not so lonely now, is it?

i’d like to buy ___ here a beer.

so where do you figure the most pussy’s at, las vegas or california?

hey, you might wanna keep it down.

___, just leave them alone. let’s just move.

you wanna lose about half your fucking teeth, huh?

wait, hold on. you don’t think i’m too fast, do you?

maybe we should put the brakes on?

fast or slow, i just like the direction you’re going.

you are in a hurry.

i’m supposed to be at home with the car by midnight.

i got a million things to do here before i can leave.

i’d rather be at my job, if i lose my job.

what about my job?

we’ll more likely just go out and get drunk.

___ fuckin’ ____!

we might not get back tonight, when we get to drinking and talking and all.

would you get me a pack of smokes?

didn’t think i’d hear from you again.

i figured you were sore from that punch.

i got out while i could still walk.

i swear to god, i didn’t know we was going to get into this again.

i couldn’t get here fast enough.

what are we gonna do now?

well, i doubt there’s nothing we can do.

i’m stuck with what i got here. and making a living is about all i got time for now.

i’m starving. wanna get something to eat?

i’m enjoying my peace and quiet.

you know it could be like this. just like this. always.

it’d be a sweet life.

we’re around each other and this thing grabs hold of us again in the wrong place, in the wrong time, and we’re dead.

we can get together, once in a while. 

if you can’t fix it, ___, you got to stand it.

i’m sure as hell sorry. you know i am.

i’ll see you next month then.

we don’t eat with our eyes.

now you sit down, you old son of a bitch.

now you sit down before i knock your ignorant ass into next week.

that don’t mean nothing, ___.

don’t try and fool me no more, ___. i know what that means.

shut up, listen to me, you don’t know nothing about it!

get out. get out! you hear me, ___? get out!

hey asshole! watch where you’re going!

that’s some high class entertainment, if you ask me.

you and ___, it’s normal and all?

you remember getting the feeling when you’re in town, and someone looks at you suspicious, like he knows?

maybe you ought to get out of there, you know?

go to hell, ___.

you want to live your miserable fucking life? then go right ahead.

i was just thinking out loud.

yeah, you’re a real thinker there.

he got it all figured out, ain’t he.

wanna dance?

my feet hurt.

i’m trying to get a foot rub, dummy.

thank you for asking to dance with me. i really appreciate that.

he wouldn’t listen to me even if he knew he was going deaf tomorrow.

you don’t think i’m the one for him?

you’re good enough.

you don’t say much, but you get your point across.

sorry. i didn’t mean to be rude.

you’re standing on your feet, cowboy.

i was thinking, maybe i could come stay with you.

you probably deserve it.

the truth is, sometimes i miss you so much i can hardly stand it.

there’s something i’ve been meaning to tell you, bud.

you know, you had a fucking week to say some little word about this.

why is we’re always in the friggin’ cold?

you know me. about all the travelling i’ve ever done is around a coffee pot looking for the handle.

there ain’t never enough time. never enough.

this is a goddamn bitch of an unsatisfactory situation.

you forget what it’s like being broke all the time.

you got a better idea?

i did once.

is that a fucking problem?

we could have had a good life together. a fucking real good life.

but you didn’t want it, ___.

everything’s built on that. that’s all we got.

so i hope you know that, if you don’t never know the rest.

you tell me you’ll kill me for needing something that i don’t hardly never get!

you have no idea how bad it gets!

i can’t make it on a couple of high-altitude fucks, once or twice a year.

you are too much for me, ___.

i wish i knew how to quit you.

why don’t you? why don’t you just let me be, huh?

it’s because of you, ___, that i’m like this.

i’m nothing. and i’m nowhere.

get the fuck off of me.

it’s all right.

you’re sleeping on your feet like a horse.

i don’t get you, ___.

i was probably no fun anyways, was i?

he drank a lot.

we was good friends.

want a cup of coffee, don’t you? piece of cherry cake?

i’ll have a cup of coffee.

i feel awful bad about ___.

i can’t begin to tell you how bad i feel.

like the car?

___, you need more furniture.

if you got nothing, you don’t need nothing.

we’re getting married.

[rougehoods]

slvicshdow‌:

FOR SOMEONE WITHOUT THE INCLINATION     towards subtly, direct approach appears to make him just as skittish. A reaction to something, rather than a weaving thread. Not in the mood much    (    or wearing the outfit for    )    interrogation, she again establishes her polite distance.

“    If was fishing, or out for blood, this would be a much different conversation.    ”

If she were feeling more playful, if she were in the mood to draw more out. She’d do well not to cause much of a scene out on her own volition, so she remains casual,    “    I believe you work with an old colleague of mine.   ——-   But as I said, I’m curious. Typically with power vacuums there is a next step to take.    ”

❝     TYPICALLY WITH VACUUMS, ONCE THEY’RE FULL YOU PULL THE PLUG.     ❞

He’s good at keeping vital organs draped in shadows cast by the various pieces of antique machinery dotting the abandoned warehouse they’re currently haunting like a good cliché. Not that Red Hood disbelieves her ; the Black Widow has a reputation, after all. But any connection to that illicit past is an opportunity.

❝     This old colleague got a name     ?     ❞

For as little reason she has to lie, they are on the same page thus far.

[rougehoods]

slvicshdow‌:

“ THAT’S A RELIEF. ”     (     She has an eye for talent, and a habit of keeping it close.     )    Natasha doesn’t particularly care much about the greed of men and what happens when that particular carnivorous train gets disrupted. To question methods of another other than to offer critique would also fall squarely out of her realm of decorum. Her head cants to the side,    “    And I’m not here to change that.    ”

As it were, she has no dog in the fight. Still, it’s always best to be made aware of each other.    “    But you’ll have to forgive me if I am a little curious.   ——-   Are you consolidating or starting a new enterprise entirely?    ”

YOU CAN PRACTICALLY FEEL HIS EYES NARROW BEHIND THE MASK’S FIXED IMPASSIVITY.     

❝     Ah - ah. I don’t think so.     ❞     Truth is, the Red Hood is less a person and more a compulsion, muscles and bones driven out of atrophy by whatever byproduct vengeance gives off after it’s been fermented under six feet of tightly - packed dirt.     ❝     If you’re fishing for information, you’re going to have to do better than that.     ❞

Distillation requires both high and low temperatures in order for extraction to occur. This line of questioning is unfortunately lukewarm.

❝     --- ---     What’s got you so interested     ?     I kill a friend of yours or something     ?     ❞

[rougehoods]

cahrter‌:

❝ I DON’T APOLOGIZE TO MEN.  THAT’S MY 2020 RESOLUTION. ❞  Laser sight angles as he does, negative ten, twenty, thirty degrees as he bends, but Sharon isn’t quite willing to take the bluster about the helmet’s protection as a bluff.  At least not yet.

( RED HOOD IS AN UNKNOWN QUANTITY, the solve for X kind.  And usually, those kind just want a space to lord their own unsolvability.  She can wait. )

If it’s a REACTION HE WANTS — — stupid question, of COURSE IT IS — — the only inkling he’ll get is the white - knuckle way her own grip seizes, lips pressing into a thin - and - thinner line as the watery light of Pier 84 makes his point far better than he could.  So, she downshifts, pumps the clutch, runs out of metaphors for slows the fuck down while she digs her weight more solidly into the concrete.

❝ — — Trying out a new market ? ❞  Everything they have on the Hood is straight from the gangbanger playbook, some brand - new nobody looking to Goodfellas his way to the top of the trash heap.  But there’s been a notable unreliability from the beginning : erratic, unafraid to leave the kind of finger - paint bodycount that would see the less - skilled slipping up.  A profiler’s nightmare.

LITERALLY.

❝ ‘Cause I’ll be honest, suicide by cop seems off - brand for you. ❞

❝     NOW THAT’S THE FIRST SMART THING YOU’VE SAID ALL NIGHT.     Men are trash.     ❞

(     Hey, who says you can’t be a burgeoning criminal overlord with homicidal tendencies and also an ally     ?     )

He opens the other lapel for good measure, making sure Agent Carter gets a good eyeful of the particular variety of heat he’s packing     --- ---     no, not that kind.

❝     I’ve been told it’s important to have a diversified portfolio.     ❞

You only get once chance to make a first impression, according to every recruiter on LinkedIn. Red Hood knows the longer he stays in the game, the easier his inevitable patterns will become to pinpoint even in the bitting sandstorm of criminal activity that rages and down the East Coast in perpetuity.

This initial period is, therefore, crucial.

❝     You’d actually be the one committing suicide, technically. Y’know, if you pulled the trigger. I’m minding my own business.     ❞     Well, he was, anyway. Somewhere along the line of conversation, Red Hood pulled out his kris.     ❝     You gunna let me pass     ?     Last chance.     ❞    

[rougehoods]

casswayned‌:

@rougehoods​ cont. from here

                     A faint growl escaped her little.    “ Pft. Not his puppet. “    It’s not the first time someone implied that, some even heavily do so than Red Hood did.   “ That’s not what I want. Violence…is not answer to everything. “

                       It would be easier to slip into her old habits but Cassandra always wanted to be better than that.

❝     IT ISN’T     ?     Do tell.     ❞     Chin in his hands, Red Hood does a pretty good impersonation of a man utterly awestruck by some great revelation.     ❝     What’s your answer here, then     ?     Wanna bake brownies and talk about our feelings     ?     ❞