#( text w. melissa. )

[p-seduonym]

Switched At Birth (Part Four)

A/N: I lied. I'm posting cause I'm bored. Also, since I've been getting mixed reactions, I might make the relationship between Mel and Reader ambiguous. Melissa will love Reader, that's a fact. But you can decide if it's familial, platonic, or romantic.

Taglist (I'll add you if you ask)@luludeluluramblings, @von-jour, @holylonelyponyeatingmacaroni, @kenyummy, @bunniotomia

Yandere!Batfam X Switched! Fem! Reader X Yandere!Wayne!OC

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

You stood out, just outside the gates of Gotham Prep.

Baggy jeans, a sweatshirt repping some nondescript band, and a backpack slung over one shoulder.

You could feel the passing glances from the sea of uniformed students as they spilled through the gates. Some whispered. Others brushed past without a second thought. The security guard who’d been watching you from a distance finally approached, making idle chit-chat.

“Hey, how’re you doing?”

“Fine.”

“Waiting for someone?”

“Yeah.”

Just as he was about to ask you to move along, Melissa appeared. She looked flustered, hesitating a few feet away from the both of you. Before she could say anything, you called out.

“Hey, Mel!” Sauntering over, you threw an arm around her shoulder. She jumped slightly.

“W-Why are you….”

“C’mon.”

You flashed the security guard a smile like you belonged here, then steered Melissa away from the gawking crowd.

“Where are we going?” she hissed—wary, but not resisting.

“Somewhere fun,” you said. “C’mon, quit acting like I’m kidnapping you or something, Mel.”

“You ambushed me outside of school,” she pointed out flatly.

“That’s such an ugly way to put it. I told you I’d be around, didn’t I?”

“T-That was a week ago! I thought you were joking.”

In all seriousness, you lied: “I never joke.”

After a beat of silence, Melissa sighed.

“I haven’t even told anyone I left”

“Then text them? You aren’t flaking on me, are you?”

She looked confused, like the idea never crossed her mind.

“No…”

“Then let’s go” 

And with that you were off.

Truth be told, Melissa rarely set foot in malls.

To her, they were nothing more than glittering temples of consumerism—designed to guide you from one impulse buy to the next, all while drowning your existential dread in a wash of piped-in pop.  

But she kept that to herself. You looked like you were having fun.

“Forever 21’s on its way out, so let’s see if we can score some deals! There are also a couple thrift shops a block over—best prices, promise.”

Melissa blinked. It was like you were speaking another language. The overly peppy music thumping from the ceiling speakers didn’t help.

“Thrift store?” she echoed.

“You know? Secondhand clothes?”

“Oh.”

“Mel, you’re missing out, I swear.”

She fidgeted. “It’s not like I ever had a reason to go to places like that…”

It was true. Her father had handed her a black card, and that was the end of it. Luxury brands never interested her, but she didn’t know anything else.

“Well, now you do. I swear, Prada’s got nothing on a good thrift find—oh, look!”

You held up a gingham dress against her, tilting your head thoughtfully. She flushed under your gaze.

“Not the best color, but an A-line cut looks great on you. Let’s see if they have other colors. What do you like?”

“Any is fin—”

“If you say ‘any,’ I’m pinching you.”

Her mouth snapped shut, startled.

“C’mon. What colors do you like?”

She paused. What did she like?

Normally, she’d say something neutral. Tasteful. Nothing too loud—Waynes didn’t do loud. But she wasn’t a Wayne. Not really. Not ever.

“…Bright colors,” she said, almost to herself. “I like stuff that’s bright.”

Something to cut through the gray.

“I knew it! Something light would totally suit you. Hey, there’s a pink one—what do you think?”

You held it out to her.  It looked mostly polyester and popped out against the darkness of her uniform.

“Some kitten heels and you’re golden.” You assured her, already scanning the shelves to find just that. 

It was kind of embarrassing that she didn’t realize straight away. Of course, you’d go shopping. What other use did she have outside of her purse. Well, it wasn’t hers, per se, but that's besides the point.

It seems you just want to take advantage of the opportunity.

She couldn't fault you for that. Many people tried in the past, before they realized she didn’t have much worth outside of her wealth.

That’s what she thought as she approached the counter with her black card in hand. Until you stopped her.

“Hey, woah, what’s that for? I got it covered— don’t worry!”

Really, this fake courteousness was a little stale.

“It’s fine” She assured you, but you didn’t budge.

“I’m serious. I’ve been saving up anyway.”

Melissa paused. The cashier was looking between the two of you.

“Think of it as a gift, okay?”

She would have argued– maybe– but you had already pushed her aside gently and rung up the clothes.

It was such a simple gesture—one that shouldn’t have meant anything. A thrifted dress, a stubborn insistence to pay. But for Melissa, it lingered. The ease with which you offered kindness, the way you brushed off her protests like it was nothing—it all struck somewhere deep, somewhere soft she didn’t like to acknowledge. She told herself it didn’t matter. That you were just another person trying to be nice for the sake of appearances. But something about you felt different. And that terrified her more than she’d admit.

Because Melissa was used to pity.

She had seen it in the too-long glances of strangers, in the hushed whispers they thought she couldn’t hear. In the way people softened their words when breaking bad news—another broken promise, another inevitable disappointment.

Pity clung to her like a second skin. When it started, she couldn’t remember. Maybe when they said her mother had “passed”—such a gentle way to say she’d overdosed in some seedy club. The mourners at the funeral were nearly drowned out by the snapping shutters of paparazzi, lingering just far enough back to seem tactful. Still, their heavy gazes never wavered from her tiny shoulders.

That was the first time she realized she hated that feeling.

But it couldn’t be helped. She was just… a pitiful person.

Mournful eyes. Pathetic demeanor.

So she got used to it.

Used to her peers staring when her father missed another recital. Used to Alfred gently informing her she'd be dining alone again. Used to the sympathetic nods from teachers who knew better than to ask about her weekend.

Used to being passed over in favor of her siblings—until some throwaway tabloid decided to spotlight “The Forgotten Daughter of Gotham’s Billionaire.” Once in a while, they remembered her. They crafted stories about the sad little girl in the big empty mansion, as if they knew anything. As if they cared.

Melissa learned early: people loved tragedies. But they didn’t care.

Pity was worthless. But it was all she had.

And even now, she was sure you pitied her. How could you not? The poor little rich girl—born with a silver spoon, but not a drop of love.

Yes, you pitied her.

And yet… she couldn’t bring herself to hate you for it.

Why else would you offer her your whole world? Your family, your home—everything that was yours, you shared like it was nothing. Without even thinking.

Okay, maybe part of her did resent it. That you showed her—so casually—all the things she’d been robbed of. Family dinners. Petty arguments. Noise. Mess.

What gave you the right to pity her when you were the odd one out? The misfit. The one who didn’t belong.

And still… she couldn’t hate you.

Because you were different.

You were kind.

Even with the sharp eyes and polished exterior of a true Wayne, you chose to be kind.

Not performatively, not out of guilt. Just… because you could. 

Melissa hadn’t known what to make of that at first. She kept waiting for the catch—for you to ask for something, for the mask to slip. But it never did. You tittered with a joy that could only be genuine as you observed her. 

“C’mon, let’s get some BatBurger– it’s in the food court over there. Then I can do your colors– I’m betting you're a spring and–” As you chattered on, you laced your arm with hers and walked forward.

Melissa had been surrounded by ghosts her whole life. Ghosts of people who left, ghosts of promises never kept.

But you weren’t a ghost. You were real. Solid. Warm.

And for the first time in forever, she didn’t feel pitied. She felt seen.

Loved? No. Not yet.

But maybe… Maybe she was starting to understand what that could feel like.

@GothamGal96 Just saw Melissa Wayne at a thrift store?? With some girl in cat socks?? 2025 is wild already 😭🛍️ #GothamSightings 🕐 1:42 PM · Apr 5, 2025 · Gotham Eastside

Reply to @GothamGal96 @mallratmayhem not cat socks 😭😭 she’s converting the billionaire one meme sock at a time 🕑 1:48 PM · Apr 5, 2025

@urbancryptid melissa wayne looked like a deer in headlights when that girl held up a pink dress to her. rich people rly don't know what polyester is huh 🕓 4:17 PM · Apr 5, 2025 · Near Clocktower Market

Reply to @urbancryptid @fauxfurfemme melissa was probably like “what’s a price tag?” 🕓 4:23 PM · Apr 5, 2025

@CoffeeAndChaos ngl it was kinda cute watching that Wayne girl try to argue over who pays for a $12 dress. Money can’t buy stubborn friends I guess 😂💳💥 🕝 2:31 PM · Apr 5, 2025 · Midtown Gotham

Reply to @CoffeeAndChaos @thriftybaddies this is what late-stage capitalism meant actually 🕜 2:35 PM · Apr 5, 2025

@batbratblog melissa wayne looked so awkward at the checkout… like she didn’t know what to do with her hands 😭 the other girl just smiled and paid like a pro. power move tbh. 🕖 7:03 PM · Apr 5, 2025 · Gotham Mall District

Reply to @batbratblog @chaoscrochet she held her card like it was a weapon and the other girl just hit her with ✨emotion✨ 🕖 7:08 PM · Apr 5, 2025

@thegothamsocial Spotted: The Forgotten Wayne Daughter™ being human for once?? 👀 Thrift shopping with a girl who clearly gives no f’s about her last name. Friendship goals or PR stunt?? 🤔 🕘 9:14 PM · Apr 5, 2025 · Gotham Heights

Reply to @thegothamsocial @gossipgargoyle i kinda hope it’s not PR. she looked… real? like, not camera-ready real. mascara smudge and everything. 🕘 9:21 PM · Apr 5, 2025

@pennyworthtruthers okay but the way that girl just knew melissa liked bright colors??? 👀👀 that’s not just friends behavior I fear 🕥 10:48 PM · Apr 5, 2025 · Gotham Northside

Reply to @pennyworthtruthers @roomtempteablog this is the slowest burn enemies-to-besties arc i didn’t know i needed 🕚 10:53 PM · Apr 5, 2025

@chaoticneutralvibes melissa wayne walking out of a thrift store looking like she just survived emotional whiplash… girl. blink twice if you’re being socialized against your will 💀💅 🕤 3:09 PM · Apr 5, 2025 · Old Quarter

Reply to @chaoticneutralvibes @thisisfinebat melissa walking like her soul just updated its firmware. girl’s emotionally rebooting in public 🕤 3:15 PM · Apr 5, 2025

[eightpackdiaz]

was listening to so high school and i got struck with a kingdon vision…an exes (to lovers) au

(there’s like 2k words under the cut, i dont know what came over me)

so mel and frank met in her first year of undergrad, he was already in his third year, and the way they met was…almost cliché, really, it’s the first day back from summer break, and half his classes already are swamping him with work so he walks his ass to the library because he wants to be a doctor, and he will do well in school, and he will prove his father wrong. except he gets there and the tables are full, because of course they are, it’s still summer and the library has AC so people are there and not even half of them are actively studying. But he looks for a table and there’s one little two person table right next to the back window and he can see a girl already sitting there. She has her back to him, so all he sees is a loose blonde french braid, the back of a pink tshirt, and a very neat pile of books to her right. He feels bad asking because he also doesn’t like sharing the table, but he really needs to start studying, so he walks up to her.

Once he’s in front of her, he forgets what he is going to say for a second. He can’t really see her face, but he can see glasses, and a face covered in sun-kissed freckles, and he thinks his heart is beating a little too fast, and oh fuck. she’s looking up at him with a tiny smile and, wow, okay, maybe that’s what it feels like to meet someone who is your type (even if he previously thought he didn’t have *a* type).

She says “can i help you with something?” and he white knuckles his backpack strap to keep himself from doing something stupid like reaching out and adjusting her glasses, he powers through

“Hi, sorry, do you mind if i sit here? i really need to get started on my papers, and people are here and they’re not even doing homework! how’s that okay? anyways, sorry, i know it can be annoying to share a table, but i promise i really just need to study” why is he rambling?!, he hasn’t been a rambler for years and now she’s looking at him funny but she doesn’t look put off yet, that’s good.

“of course you can! i understand, it can be upsetting that people don’t use the library for actual studying. my name is melissa, but everyone calls Mel, nice to meet you” she punctuates this last sentence with the cutest little wave he had ever seen anyone over the age of 5 make, and woah okay he’s staring, he needs to get a grip

“i’m frank! nice to meet you, are you new here? i don’t think i’ve seen you before, i would remember” okay why is he sounding flirty, he need to stop he said he was only gonna study and he really meant it, but she doesn’t seem to register it or simply chose to ignore it,

she gives him a bigger smile and says “i am! first year of undergrad, i take it you’ve been here longer?”

“i’m starting my third year of biochem, hoping to go to medical school after!”

“me too! not biochem, i mean, i want to go to medical school once i finish mine, i’m in biology!”

and so they start studying, he’s doing his best to not be fidgety and annoying, but he can’t help it and he finds himself stopping himself like four different times, until she very obviously catches him the last one.

“i understand if you need to fidget, it won’t bother me, and i’m sure it would help you focus more, i sometimes need to stim to really concentrate”

and he just looks at her, in awe, because this is the first time someone *isn’t* bothered by his fidgeting

And so they have little snippets of a conversation during their hours of study that day, at the end he tells her that he would like to do this again, and she smiles, and tells him she would too, and before he knows it they’ve exchanged numbers, with mel explicitly stating “i do prefer phone calls because i have a hard time deciphering people’s tones via text” and as he sees her walk away he gets a feeling deep in his bones that his life is never going to be the same again

during that first week they study together three times, he’s not ashamed to say he reached out the very next day after that first meeting, and actually, he’s not ashamed to say he reach out all three of those times, but every single time he called, he was met with a bright and warm “hi frank! how are you doing today?”, so all things considered he’s more than happy to keep doing it.

studying with mel is amazing, really. they’re a great team, he learns a lot from her, and tells her that. he has the wild thought that if they were to practice together, they would save s lot of patients.

they’ve been study buddies for about three weeks when for the very first time, they hang out without the pretense of homework, he invited her to go with him to try a new pizza place he heard about, and truly, he has no expectations.

he likes her, of course he does, shes so beautiful, and so smart, and her eyes are so bright, and even when he can tell that she’s missing her sister she never lets that affect the way she treats others, always so kind and patient. she’s in no uncertain terms someone who he knows he’s gonna fall inlove with, he just knows she doesn’t see him that way, and he’s okay with that.

mel is the funniest person he’s ever met. he spends half the dinner laughing and he thinks that maybe she doesn’t first get most jokes but my god her own sense of humour is amazing, and they have enough rapport now that she can appreciate some of his darker jokes, especially because since day one he now follows them immediately with “its a joke”, and it’s great, and god, he wishes this was a date.

he feels it important to note that whilst she does recoil to most people’s touch or proximity, after that very first day she has been okay with him standing or being near, he doesn’t touch her much, doesn’t want to test his luck, and also doesn’t think his heart could handle it. but he’s always near, always almost touching, and she lets him, and he feels like he has done something right.

so for about two weeks after that, they start hanging out more and more, yeah he has a friend group, and she’s making her own friends but they make time for each other. they meet for coffee on the way to campus, or meet in between classes just to talk about anything other than school, and little by little he can tell that this crush of his is becoming more.

they’ve known each other for about two months, when they’re in his apartment, his roomates aren’t there (yes he made sure of this, no not like *THAT*) and they’re watching a movie, and they’re sitting in the sofa and then she leans her head on his shoulder.

his heart is going a mile a minute, she initiated the contact and god, her hair smells like strawberries, and he can feel her breathing through his tshirt, and he feels her cheek move, so now he knows she’s smiling.

the movie ends, and she looks up, they hold eye contact for about 5 seconds before he blurts out “wouldyouliketogoonadatewithme” before he chickens out

she just blinks, and he sees her trying to process it, but he waits, he will always wait for her.

“yes, i would like to go on a date with you. i like you, and i could tell that you liked me too, but figured maybe i was confusing signals because you didn’t ask”

and so he explains, that no, he very much does like her but he is a coward. she just smiles and says “i would never call you a coward”

and so they go on a date, he’s had a handful of first dates in his life, but he has never felt this at peace in one before, there’s nerves of course there’s nerves, but it’s like his system knows, it’s like it’s saying “there you are, i’ve been waiting for you” and it lets him feel calm.

the date is amazing, he asks if he can hold her hand, and her answer is to take his hand and swing their joined hands between them and he thinks his heart will explode. at the end of the date, he walks her to her house. he asks if he can kiss her, and he sees her thinking about it, but he waits, he will always wait for her.

she nods, short and determined. he leans in, projecting his movements so she knows what to expect.

he swears he can see fireworks when he closes his eyes, he feels like floating, her hands are clutching the front of his shirt and he decides that it’s his favourite thing ever. they part, he bids her good night and takes a deep breath after she enters her house, he feels delirious to think it, but one day he’s going to marry that girl.

he meets becca after dating mel for six months. becca’s funny, and crazy smart. she tells him in no uncertain terms “i told mel to find someone to kiss at college, so you’re welcome” the responding blush in mel’s checks is what frank’s dreams are made of.

they have a lot of firsts, firsts for him, firsts for her, and firsts together.

they date for about two years. he knows this is it, he knows he’s never going to love anyone the way he loves her, he’s known it from the very first time he sat in front of her.

then he gets accepted to med school on the other side of the country, and he knows she won’t want a long distance relationship because they’ve talked about it, and she loved him but this was a boundary for her, and he applied there because his mom moved to pittsburgh last year after the divorce, and he misses her, and because he really likes their medical program, and because mel from the very beginning told him to stick to his life plan because as much as they love each other, they both have dreams, and those dreams might be similar but they’re not the same.

The day he gets the acceptance letter, they both know their relationship has an expiration date. They are officially together right until the morning he’s set to move away. They wanted to break up amicably, they still love each other so deeply, he thinks knows she will always be his one true love. They kiss goodbye, and they’re both crying, and as soon as they part she says “i love you, and i want you to be happy, so please. try to move on, we can be friends in a few months, but first, we need to try to move on”

the day they become friends again never comes. he loves her so much it aches, but he knows she’s right, and he also knows they might never see each other again, and he needs to focus on med school, and if he can do something is make his mom proud and prove his dad wrong, and…

goddamn it, its been two years and he still can feel the ghost of her touch, he can still hear the way he used to call her name, he can still….he needs to stop. he needs to get laid, he needs to move on. she probably has moved on already, he doesn’t know, because he’s been too much of a coward to check, and because she said to be friends when they move on, and he hasn’t moved on so why even try to reach out.

abby is the polar opposite of mel, she’s also clearly into him and he thinks she’s fun and attractive so he goes for it, he knows there’s a saying about getting under someone to get over someone, and he’s drunk enough that he doesn’t care that she’s not who he really wants her to be.

“i’m pregnant” abby says into the phone, it’s late, and he was studying for an exam, and he’s in the middle of his third year of med school. what the fuck is he going to do.

abby and him are friends, they like each other, they fuck sometimes, and she wants to keep the baby, and he likes her enough to think that he might convince himself one day that he loves her.

so life goes on, they get married because her parents want that, they have tanner and he loves his son, and there’s a pandemic, and he’s just starting his residency and the world is falling apart, but things get better, him and abby are still really good friends, he tells himself he’s not lying to her when he says he loves her, because he’s not, she’s the mother of his kids, and he does love her, she’s just not. well.

it’s just another random thursday, and he’s leaning on the desk in front of him because his back is killing him and he’s only been here like 20 minutes, but he’s trying to space out his pills so, he is doing his best, and then robby wants to introduce the….

he knows that braid. he hasn’t seen her face, and robby is talking but he knows that…

“…second year resident, dr melissa king, fresh from the VA” robby says, like this isn’t taking the air straight out of frank’s lungs. he blinks, looks away and at the computer because this can’t be happening, she’s here. his life is falling apart, his back is killing him, abby is angry at him for god knows why, but shes here, his mel is here.

“everyone calls me mel. i’m so happy to be here” he wonders if she hasn’t realized he’s right behind her. he’s looking at that braid, he’s standing behind her and he can’t stop staring, and he’s suddenly 20 years old again.

[janeyseymour]

La Cosa Nostra- pt 11

cowritten with @schemmentis

Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4. Part 5. Part 6. Part 7. Part 8. Part 9. Part 10.

Summary: Melissa's pissed with recent news, the Feds are back at it, and you go to a place and person to find some comfort.

WC: ~2.05k

At this news, Melissa quickly slips into the seat on the other side of Dom's table. “Are ya crazy? I told you they've already torn this place to shreds, and you want to bring the money in through here?” She hisses as she leans more into the middle of the table. “Listen, losin’ the salon is already bad enough. You know what it did to Y/N when you took her off it.”

“That didn't come from me, Mel. I just had to deliver the message. You know that.”

“I don't care who it came from. You knew, and you did it just the same. Now you have the coglioni to sit here and say we should run it through here. I already ain't gonna forget the slightin’ of my wife, youse know that- the lot of you. You wanna tell me I gotta run this shit through my restaurant? Then tell me. Don't act like this is some proposition, Dominic. Tell me what to do, and I'll handle it. ‘Cause you and I both know how this shit works, but I am tellin’ you,” Melissa points an index finger at the man across from her sternly. “Right here, right now, I am tellin’ you; this fucks up my restaurant and youse all are gonna have a much bigger problem than the fuckin’ Feds, capisce?”

Dominic's face remains neutral, though there is an amused glint to his eyes as his palm shifts along the head of his cane. He nods quickly and respectfully to Melissa. “We want things to go well even more than you do, kid.” He says softly.

Melissa leans back in chair, arms crossing over her chest. She raises an eyebrow, silently urging him to say what he needs to say. 

“We'll work out the details on our end. You only have to make sure you're here when the money comes through. Simple as that.” Dom says. He sighs when Melissa still merely stares at him expectantly. “Sí, sí. We're telling you this is how it's gonna work from now on. Clear out a spot in the office in the back. Nobody else needs to know it's anythin’ different than a regular shipment comin’ once in a while. None of it happens if you ain't here. This is big, Lissa. They're trustin’ you.”

“Like they trusted my wife?” Melissa spits out as she pushes herself out of the chair. “Texts only. They call and wake up my girls while they’re sleepin’, I'll take one of my bats to their kneecaps.” She adds on her way past Dom in his seat to storm back toward the kitchen.

You raise a brow as you watch your wife storm into the back and Dominic starts to slowly make his way out. You grab one of the other servers milling about, silently asking them to keep an eye on your girls while you go check on the redhead.

When you get into the back, she’s slamming her fist into the linoleum counter where they prep the food. Her hand is already bruising, and you take her fist gently into your own.

“My love,” you whisper as you hold her hand in yours.

“Let me go,” she hisses.

You shake your head, refuting her request. “You’re hurting yourself. You know I can’t let you do that.”

“I don’t give a shit,” she grumbles as she starts to curl her other hand into a fist. You grab the other one before she can even think about causing damage to that hand.

“Melissa.”

“They’re usin’ the restaurant as their new front,” your wife tells you quietly. “Said that it’s what we have to do, and they trust me… that we’re in the clear because the feds saw how busy we are and that we bring the girls around here, so it has to be safe.”

“I’m not letting you do this,” you tell her. “And I’m not letting them put the girls in danger.”

“We don’t got an option, Y/N. I told Dom I would handle it,” Melissa sighs as she leans against you. “And I will. You just… take care of the girls. No matter what happens.”

“Melissa, don’t talk like that- like you’re gonna die.”

“I’m just being realistic. You did the same when they were using the salon,” your wife says softly. “We both knew that if something happened, I’d have to keep the girls safe. But now, it’s on me, and I know that you’d do the same if something were to happen. We don’t have a choice.”

“Fuck,” you whisper again. “Shit.”

“Get… get the girls out of here, and tell them that I’ll be home late tonight,” your wife runs a hand over her face. “I have to make it work here.”

“No,” you say softly. “I’ll… I’ll get someone to come pick them up so I can help you.”

“Y/N,” Melissa grits out. “Go. I can handle this.”

You give her a look, one that tells her she doesn’t have to do this- that you’ll handle it. You don’t want to have her be the one in danger.

But she just shakes her head and insists you get the girls out of here- just in case Dom did give the two of you up, and he’s setting you up for failure. The girls cannot watch their mother(s) go down.

You cradle her face in your hands, kissing her a few times. “No more punchin’ things, hey? Can't have you bustin’ up those pretty fingers more than you already do.” You whisper. “I'll take care of the girls. You do what you gotta do.” When she nods, just a little, you kiss her one more time before finally turning away.

You gather your girls with a thank you to the server watching them for you. 

“Mam! We have to wait for Mommy!” Cat is insisting as you walk with both your girls out the front door.

“Auntie Val needs Mommy's help tonight, sweetheart. So, we're gonna go home and make sure everything is cleaned up and nice for her, okay?” You speak to your girls though you're glancing around the parking lot on the way to your car.

You take note of Dom's car pulling out but don't see any cars with sirens or lights careening into the lot afterward. You carefully buckle your girls into the backseat. When you're shutting the back door after making sure they're both safe, you look around again on the walk around to the drivers side. There's nothing different or out of the ordinary. No sign of agents or officers. Which means Dom has only done exactly as he said he did.

You slip into the driver's seat, throwing your seatbelt on. You swallow as you carefully pull out of the spot and towards home. Dom telling the truth is maybe worse than if he had flipped. They're really putting this on Melissa and Twelve Tables. Part of you despises it. The amount of risk it puts on your wife. You know it intimately. The other part, the part that grew up in all this and doesn't know anything else, that part is proud as hell. It isn't anything to turn your nose up at to be entrusted with the process of mafia money. It speaks volumes. Volumes that equally excite and terrify you.

Danik and Shaw are back at the precinct, contemplating everything that Dominic told them- that you and your wife had nothing to do with the murder of Bobby. He told them that even if you did have something against the man, you could never do anything- you rescue wasps because you don’t have the heart to kill them despite the fact that your wife is always screaming at you to kill the damned demons. They go over the fact that you bring your twins into your restaurant, you take the girls to church with you, you always are on time to get the girls to and from school. If you were a part of the mafia and mob that dealt with things pertaining to ordering hits and murder, you wouldn’t be such dutiful mothers.

But they also know that you never brought the girls into the salon- they’ve only ever seen the two girls with you at the restaurant. And that is a bit suspicious in their eyes. So, they plan to head back to the salon the following day.

When they get there, you aren’t there- which is unusual. You’re almost always there, and they know that. Instead, Tony is out on the floor with the other stylists. But you are nowhere to be seen; your car isn’t even in the lot. And it isn’t in the lot because you’re somewhere else.

You’re sitting in the sanctuary of your church. After dropping the girls off at school and leaving your wife to her restaurant turned mafia front, you go to the one place where you can find some sort of solitude- because even now your home reminds you of everything happening in your world.

There’s no service today, so you find yourself sitting in the back pew by yourself, looking up at the ceiling. You’re speaking silently to whatever God is out there to please spare your family from all of the heartache that you can only imagine is in your inevitable future. Finally, you bow your head, and you begin to weep silently. 

You’re shaken out of your thoughts when you feel someone slide into the pew next to you and wrap an arm around your shoulder. Your eyes pop open in surprise, and when you look next to you, Barbara is sitting there.

She doesn’t say anything. She doesn’t ask why you’re here and not at the salon or at the restaurant. She doesn’t mention that she knows what the two of you do outside of your legal businesses. No- she sits in complete and utter silence as she holds you gently. And you can’t do anything about it. You can’t explain why you’re here in a puddle of your own tears, not without giving away what she already knows to be true. So you don’t say anything. You just continue to cry out your fears and worries over everything while clinging to the shawl that Barbara has draped over her shoulders. And when you pull away, you let out an ugly, choked out laugh.

“You probably think I’m crazy.”

“Crazy? For coming to the one safe little corner of the earth where you can feel anything and do anything and not be judged for it?” the woman asks you. She shakes her head silently. She takes your hand in her own, and together the two of you pray. You don’t realize that she is praying for the same thing that you are, but she is. The two of you silently pray that you’ll somehow get yourself out of this mess- that your family will be able to return to some sort of normalcy- or better yet turn a new leaf and start a new life where there is no mafia or mob, no illegal businesses that put everyone in harm’s way.

And when you lift your head, hers is still bowed for a few seconds before she lifts it with a quiet, “Thank you, God.” And then, as if nothing happened, she pats your hands gently with her own and goes on her way. 

You take a few deep breaths once Barb is gone. Carefully trying to get yourself together. You wipe at your cheeks and eyes, focusing on the distant altar at the pulpit. You sit in the last pew, breathing deep and slow. Staring at the large depiction of Jesus on the cross behind the altar. Slowly, you feel the serenity you were hoping to. You don't know that praying will do anything, actually change anything, but it's at least felt like getting it off your chest. In a way that doesn't jeopardize your family or anyone else. You suddenly understand Barbara's devout faith. You can't say that will ever be you but you get it. You make the sign of the cross over your head and chest as you finally rise from the pew and slowly make your way out of the quiet church.

TAGS (and let me know if you want to be added!): @thesapphictimelady @marvel210 @itisdoctortoyousir @morgana-larkin @thesamesweetie @doesthatsuggestanythingtoyou @marvels--slut @gwennybriggs @megamultifandomtrashposts @lemz378 @http-sam @melissaschemmentisbranzino @imaginesmultifandoms @sexysapphicshopowner @lilfartbox1 @maybe-a-humanbean @imlike-so-gaydude @sapphicxrat @a-queen-and-her-throne @sunsol-22 @notinmyvocab @melanielaufeyson @dvrkhcld

[morgana-larkin]

Mwahahaha hi I’m back to test your limits. I LOVED Want You Back sooo much. Can I request an alternate ending tho?? Where Mel apologizes and we’re like “oh cool thank u but I can’t believe u were willing to throw away a long term relationship without even talking ab it or letting me explain idk if I can trust u again what if something else triggers u and u just run away without making room for a conversation” and she’s like o shit ur right idk I promise never to do it again and we’re like idk bro u kinda broke my trust. And then BOOM. Sad ending. Maybe we fuck first and then decide in the end that we don’t wanna get back together w her. MWAHAHAHA

🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️. So I’ll be honest, I started writing this thinking there’ll be a whole lot of angst, turns out it only starts with angst then just becomes sad. I don’t know where it came from but apparently my brain deemed heartbreak, so I was like “ok brain” and just went with it. It starts off a bit before the smut part in the original. Not edited in the slightest and I hope you like it!

On another note: I got more prompts I’m getting through, you can keep sending them and I’m adding Marilyn Thornhill to the list of characters I write for.

Ti amo - I love you

Original

Want You Back - Alternate Ending

Warnings: Alright where to start *checks notes*… angst and no comfort, no fluff, sad Mel, brief car accident mention, just angst and fluff, no happy ending, smut, good luck

Words: 4.1k

“Then what are you apologising for?”

“For 6 years ago, making a big mistake.”

“Wha-”

“I read your note.” She says, cutting you off. “I should have listened to you but I was just so angry that I couldn’t think.” She tells you and looks at you with guilt. “The real reason I said no to Gary is because I didn’t want to be with him because I still have feelings for you. And I felt so guilty about how I reacted and I unblocked your number when I got home after reading your note and read all the texts and I wanted to find you or contact you but I had no way of doing that.” And a few tears slip down her cheeks.

“I haven’t moved on, you know. I’ve forgiven you for that night but I haven’t gotten over you.” You say and Melissa is looking at you with wide puffy eyes. “I tried, I ended up living with a girlfriend for a year. But then she broke up with me when she wanted more and I didn’t. Said I was emotionally unavailable. Which I guess is true, you can’t develop big feelings for someone if your heart belongs to someone else.” You said and the look on Melissa’s face said it all.

“Who does your heart belong too?”

“You.” Melissa sucked in a breath. “When I saw you standing there in the break room after 6 years, I couldn’t believe it, and you still look beautiful and stunning.” She let out an airy laugh.

“You as well, you still look so damn beautiful. My heart belongs to you too.” Melissa then gets up and walks over to you and crouches next to you and holds your hand and you look down at her. “I want to be with you again, if you’ll have me.” She asks and you look at her.

A few tears slip down your face and you look away. “I do want to be with you again Mel but I can’t.” You tell her and she looks at you with wide eyes.

“What do you mean?” She asks, still full of hope that you’ll take her back.

“I mean I can’t.” You tell her and look at her. “You sacrificed a happy relationship and didn’t even think about anything or let me explain. You read my note and that’s when you finally knew you fucked up. If you let me explain that night then we might still be happily together now.” You tell her and she looks down at the floor with guilt. The hope she had fading away the more you talk. She brings your hand to her mouth and kisses it. She puts her other hand on yours and has yours in between both of hers.

“Please, let me make it up to you. I’ll do anything.” She says with tears running down her face and choking on her words.

“I really want to Mel, truly. But could you promise me that what happened won’t happen again? Can you promise that you won’t ever blow up at me and break up with me without letting me explain. I do love how passionate you are and how jealous you can be. It’s very sexy.” You tell her and you put your other hand on her cheek and wipe away her tears, she leans into your touch. “But you chose to let your jealousy take over instead of your love for me that night.” You tell her and she nods with a bunch of tears on her face.

“I’m so sorry y/n.” She tells you and she’s full on crying now. You get up and lean down to hug her. She grips onto you and puts her head on your shoulder and continues crying on you.

“I know Mel, I know.” You tell her and you rub her back soothingly. After a few minutes she calms down and leans her head on your chest near your heart.

“I really fucked up. If I were you, I wouldn’t forgive me either.” She tells you.

“I told you I forgive you Mel, but I didn’t forget. I need to protect my heart.” You tell her and she nods. Then an idea pops into your head. “When we get out of here, maybe we both need closure.” You tell her and she blinks a few times before she understands what you mean and lifts her head up.

“Are you saying we should have sex one last time?” She asks and you nod.

“It’s ok if you say no, it’s just a thought.” You tell her and she wipes away her tears.

“I like that idea.” She tells you and you nod.

“Ok, your place after school or mine?” You ask.

“Mine.” She tells you and you nod. Melissa moves to lean against a wall, legs up and arms around them, hugging herself. You on the other hand went to lean against the door. Legs up but head back on the door. “You shouldn’t have your weight on it in 2 hours or you’ll fall when they open it.” She tells you and you look at her.

“I know.” You tell her. “I’ll move before they do.” You say, except you fall asleep and you do indeed fall back when they open it. Fall back with a “ah.” Splayed on the floor with everyone looking at you. Melissa slowly moves her head to look at you.

“I told you not to lean all your weight on it.” She tells you.

“Ya ya.” You tell her and you get up and then tell them all a good night and walk to your car.

Barb looks to you leaving then to Melissa who’s still curled up on the floor. She walks over to her and bends down, Melissa shakes her head, fresh tears coming down her face. Barb wraps an arm around her shoulders and rubs the shoulder furthest from her. “She said she forgave me for that night but said she can’t get back together with me. She said she has to protect her heart.” She says through sobs.

“I’m so sorry Melissa.” Barb says and everyone looks at her with sorry expressions.

“I understand, I made a huge mistake that night that I shouldn’t have. I mean I should have let her explain why that guy was kissing her but I didn’t. I mean he forced it on her and she was trapped and what did I do? I didn’t protect her, instead I yelled at her and broke up with her.” Melissa says, so much guilt that she carries.

“Melissa, you had no idea it was forced on her.” Barb says. “I mean you were at the table when she went to get the drinks. You didn’t see anything except the kiss.”

“I know but I loved her, I still do. I should have let her explain. I mean she tried but I kept pushing her off, I’m such an idiot.” She says and cries again, this time on Barb. The others decide to leave to let them have privacy. And honestly they’re shocked, they were hoping Melissa would have a happy ending and they’ve never seen her cry before.

After a few minutes Melissa calms down then gets off Barb and wipes her cheeks to get the tear stains off. Barb lets her go and they both get up, Melissa wipes her pants to get the dust off and sniffles a bit.

“Do you want me to come over tonight? Keep you company.” Barb offers but Melissa immediately declines.

“No, I just want to be alone tonight.” She ain’t gonna tell Barb the real reason she’s declining, she might not understand it.

“Ok, but call or text me if you need anything, ok?” Barb says and Melissa nods her head. Barb helps guide Melissa to her car and watches as she drives out of the parking lot before she gets in her car to go home.

Once Melissa gets to her place, she sees your car in her driveway and you still in your car. She pulls up next to you and you see her. You both get out and you walk inside to the house. You look around while Melissa gets wine. She comes out with your favourite red wine and 2 glasses while you’re still looking around. After all, you did live here when you were together, and it changed a lot. First of all there was plastic on the couch again and you roll your eyes at that. There was more family pictures up, she must have done it when you took your pictures off the wall. And there was more on the table, behind the couch, you walk over and pick up one and look at it.

“You kept it.” You told her and she walks up and sees the one you meant, even though she already knew. It was you and her on your first anniversary, you took her to a Philly game and she asked you to move in and it happened on the same day. You were dressed up in your Philly gear and you were hugging her with a bunch of boxes behind you. You both had huge smiles on your faces. You looked at it and remembered the day, like it was yesterday, and a tear slips down your face. You put it down and you turn to her. You see her with the 2 glasses and your favourite wine, you can’t believe she remembers.

“Of course I kept it. It was one of the happiest days of my life.” She says and walks to sit on the couch.

“I see you also put the plastic back on the couch.” You tell her with an eye roll.

“Obviously, you’re the reason I took it off. So since you weren’t here to complain, I put it back on.” She says and you smile and walk over to sit down beside her.

“Are you sure you want this Mel?” You ask her and she does a big breath in and out.

“Ya, I think we both need this.” She tells you and you nod and you take the offered glass of wine. You think that maybe you’ll be able to trust her again and might get back together but for now, you both need closure.

You both down the drinks quickly and then you stop. You don’t want to be tipsy or drunk so you’d remember this. Melissa then gets up and holds her hands out for you to take with a soft smile. You take her hands and she pulls you up. She then guides you to her bedroom and closes the door behind you. She brings you to the bed and pushes you on it then crawls on top of you, knowing you like the view. She then leans down and kisses you and you grab her head to push her down more to kiss her harder.

You run your fingers through her beautiful locks of orange hair, admiring how it feels as you kiss her. You then gently start scratching and rubbing her scalp and she begins moaning. You smirk, remembering what drives her to make the noises you love to hear. Melissa feels the smirk and pulls back to look at you. “Being cheeky are we?” She asks and you nod proudly. Melissa smiles at you then goes down to kiss your neck. She really wants to suck and do small bites on your neck but she doesn’t know how you’d feel about it and you’re not hers anymore.

“You can leave 2 hickeys.” You tell her, somehow knowing exactly what she was thinking. “As long as they’re on the side enough for my hair to cover them.” You tell her and she moves your hair out of the way and goes to your neck and starts sucking. You gasp and buck your hips under her and Melissa smiles as she keeps sucking, wanting to make sure they stay there for at least 3-4 days.

You take her shirt off and you stare at her chest and stomach. You then feel her all over with your hands, on her chest, on her stomach, all over her back. When trying to feel her back, the bra gets in the way and you unclip it quickly. You take her bra off and push her back as she was kissing your neck. You look at her breasts again and you always remembered how amazingly full they are. You put your hands on them and squeeze them, you run your hands all over them and then you look at her. Melissa can tell what you want and she scoots up a bit then leans down so you can put her nipple in your mouth.

You’re still able to have a hand on her boob while your mouth is on the nipple and you’re loving it. After having a few one night stands and a couple relationships, all with smaller breasts, you love having a big chest to touch and look at. Melissa knows how much you loved her breasts when you were together, she let you have however long you wanted with her chest when you were together and she’s going to do that again right now. “Take your time and touch them all you want baby, I don’t mind.” She tells you and you hum and nod. You take your time swirling your tongue around the nipples and sucking on the skin, leaving hickeys on her boobs.

She then pulls you shirt off when you pull back and she runs her hands all over you. She unclips your bra and takes it off and runs her hands all over your chest and cups your boobs. She always loved your smaller chest, she’s able to fit the whole boob in her hand, a perfect handful. She then leans down and sucks and licks the nipple, knowing it gets you very wet. Your neck and your breasts she knows are the most sensitive on you and it gets you wet very quickly.

She then trails down your stomach with kisses and stops where the top of your skirt is. She always loved when you wore skirts, easy and quick access, especially since you loved flowy skirts instead of skin tight pencil skirts. She looks at you and you nod, then she pulls your underwear down and off of you. She takes a look at you in nothing but a skirt on, a cute skirt as well.

She then spreads your legs and sticks her head under your skirt. She places kisses on your thighs, trailing up and down until you're whining and begging. Then she places a kiss on your clit and licks a strip up your entrance. You moan as you feel her hot tongue on your entrance and going up to lick your entire pussy. She licks your pussy a few times before she goes to your entrance and sticks her tongue in. You gasp and moan as she does that, remembering how good it always felt when she did. Melissa knew your body very well when you were together, she always pays attention to what you like and don’t like. Right now she’s doing everything you like and taking her time, wanting to draw this out as much as possible.

While she’s sliding her tongue in and out of your entrance, she slides her hands up your body and land on your breasts and she cups them. You begin bucking your hips and she uses her elbows to pin you down. “Oohh Melissa, that feels so good. Oh you’ve always known how to pleasure a woman with just your tongue.” You tell her and she smiles. She then travels her tongue up to your clit and she sucks and licks it. You keep trying to buck your hips to get more pleasure but she has you pinned down and she doesn’t plan on telling you to stop moving, just wants you to enjoy tonight. Before you come however, a minute later, she pulls back and you let out a frustrated groan at her.

“What do you want me to do to you baby? How would you like me to fuck you?” She asks and you think.

“Can you lick my clip and finger me until I come then fuck me with a strap?” You ask her and she smiles warmly at her.

“Of course.” She tells you then goes to get the strap and comes back. She goes to take off her pants but you stop her.

“Wait, I want to undress you.” You tell her and she stops immediately and stands there beside the bed where you are and you get off the bed then kneel down on your knees in front of her. You undo her pants then pull the zipper down. You then slowly slide her jeans down, over her amazing hips and then down her legs, then she lifts one foot off the floor at a time to take them off. You then grip the top of her underwear and slowly pull them down off her pussy. You noticed a wet spot on her underwear and you smile when you see she’s practically dripping. You can’t resist lifting up a bit and licking her pussy.

She starts bucking her hips while you lick her and then start sucking on her clit. Her legs get shaky and she puts her hands in your hair to keep you where you are. Without pulling away from her, you gently push her and she falls on the bed in a seated position and she spreads her legs to give you more room. She still has her hands in your hair and she’s rubbing your scalp while murmuring praises to you and moaning. “Oh that feels so good baby. Oh keep going. That’s my good girl. Your tongue feels so fucking good on my pussy baby. You move your tongue so it’s now sliding in and out of her entrance and you put a finger on her clit and start rubbing circles on it. She moans and gasps and starts bucking her hips and you’re able to pin her down enough to keep going. She has one hand on the bed to keep her up and she has one on your head, buried in your hair, and keeping you exactly where you are on her pussy. “Oh baby, is this turning you on?” She asks and you nod. “Why don’t you touch yourself baby? Pleasure yourself while you pleasure me, but don’t let yourself cum.” She instructs you and you move your hand in between your legs and you start rubbing your clit and you moan. And since your mouth is wrapped around her pussy, your moan vibrates on her and sends a shot of pleasure right through her and she gasps. “Oh baby, I’m so close, make me cum my good girl.” She says and you rub her clit faster and move your tongue in and out of her faster as well. She jerks her hips and her legs are shaking, then she cums with a high pitch gasp.

You then pull your tongue out of her once you lick up all her cum then you stand up. You let her calm down as she’s breathing fast and then she hugs your waist and lays her head on your stomach. You know physical touch helps her calm down so you massage her scalp and then her breathing slows down. She then pulls you on the bed, on top of her and you fall on her. You think this might have been her plan as your pussy is right near her mouth and she aligns it with her tongue and then dives in. You lift yourself up just as she licks your entrance and you almost fall down due to the surprise and pleasure. You position yourself so that you’re leaning back a bit to cup her boobs and enjoy her tongue on your clit. “Lean forward and go on your hands baby.” She tells you and you obey right away. “My good girl.” She says and some more wetness goes right to your core, as if you weren’t already dripping.

She then is able to now slip a finger inside of your entrance like you wanted and you gasp, she feels how wet you are and slips another finger in, and then a third. You moan as she slams her fingers in and out of you and curls them to touch your special spot. You don’t last much longer and you cum with a moan. She then pulls out of you and while still licking you, she pulls the strap on while you come down from your high. She knows your favourite position with the strap is doggy style and then move to both on just your knees with your back pressed against her front. So she slips out from under you then gets on her knees behind you and slides the strap inside. She then starts sliding it in and out of you slowly, wanting to hear all your gasps and moans as much as possible. After about 5 minutes of that, and some begging from you, she pulls you up so that your back is pressed against her boobs as you like to feel them. You move a hand behind you, in her hair and she cups your boobs and thrusts faster in and out of you.

She then moves your hair away from your neck and she sucks and kisses your neck. While still having one hand cupping your boob, she moves her other one to circle your clit. The sensation becomes overwhelming and you would have fallen forward if she wasn’t holding you up. You end up coming 10 seconds later and Melissa doesn’t stop as she’s close as well.

She starts praising you and calling you sweet nicknames in Italian, thinking you forgot what they meant, which you didn’t. You don’t say anything, you just let her do that, and if you’re being honest, you find it sexy when she speaks Italian.

With the overstimulation and the hot redhead pressing you into her boobs and saying sweet things in Italian to you, you end up cumming 2 more times before she cums. She slows down in you before pulling out, and even when she’s coming down from her high, she knows not to let you go so you don’t fall forward. She ends up wrapping her arms around your waist and resting her chin on your shoulder.

After you both calm down enough, she lets you go and takes the strap off before running into the bathroom. She comes out with a cloth and cleans you both before throwing it on the floor with the strap, then climbs into bed next to you and you end up cuddling on her. You put your head on her boob and wrap an arm around her stomach, and a leg to rest along her waist.

Melissa has an arm wrapped around your back and pulls you closer to her, she then kisses your forehead and whispers “ti amo” when she thinks you’re asleep, you weren’t and heard her perfectly.

You both end up falling asleep.

Melissa awakes about 3 hours later to an empty bed. You ended up waking up before her and slipped out before she woke up.

On Monday, you continue to treat her as you were, as if you never had sex with her and it broke her. She ends up not coming in the rest of the week, Ava mentioning that she didn’t hear from her on Friday, causing Barb to go check on her.

While visiting her house, she gets a call from the hospital, informing her that Melissa was in a car accident and in CCU. She then calls you and the both of you visit her in her hospital room. Barb goes to see if she can get some food for both of you, leaving you alone with an unconscious Melissa. You were holding her hand and at some point she squeezed it, letting you know that she knows you’re there and that she’s ok.

When Melissa wakes up a few days later, Barb tells her that you switched schools and states and might not return to Philly ever again. Barb also let her know that you want to tell her “I’m sorry.”

Taglist: @esposadejoyhuerta

@imaginesmultifandoms

@idonothingalldays-blog

@sexysapphicshopowner

@dvrkhcld

@lilfartbox1

Let me know if you want to be added!

[rollercoasterwords]

Do you have any papers/books/essays you recommend about sex work?

yes! my main rec is playing the whore: the work of sex work, by melissa gira grant. i also thought virginie despentes had some pretty interesting thoughts on sex work & labor in king kong theory, although i rec that book w a grain of salt--while i think the portion on sex work is pretty strong, many parts of the text suffer from an undercooked understanding of gender that falls back on bioessentialist assumptions (as in, despentes seems to want to challenge/deconstruct gender binaries but falls back a lot on sex binaries in the process). "cultural feminism: feminist capitalism and the anti-pornography movement" by alice echols is a good article examining & critiquing the way certain strains of feminism have talked about/treated porn + sex work, etc.

i also took a course on gender, empire, & imperialism this semester where we pulled a lot of readings from the routledge companion to sexuality and colonialism, ed. chelsea schields & dagmar herzog. the introduction touches on sex work & imperialism, as do various articles throughout the text. caroline sequin's article "white french women, colonial migration, and sexual labor between metropole and colony" was a really interesting piece on some of the roles sex workers played during colonization. there are also 2 articles i didn't read but both look to be specifically dealing w sex work based on the titles: "regulated prostitution in French-colonized northern Vietnam and its failures, 1920–1945" by christina firpo and "the league of nations and colonial prostitution" by liat kozma. we also read a really great article titled "the syphilitic arab? a search for civilization in disease etiology, native prostitution, and french colonial medicine" by ellen amster which explores how narratives of disease & contamination were a tool of colonization, looking specifically abt how these narratives became racialized--that piece focuses a good bit on sex work as well.

and then i also spent some time studying like. sex work in the late-19th century western u.s. as an undergrad, so if u want some texts related specifically to that topic lmk--it was so long ago now that i'm not sure if i'd actually rec any of the books i read anymore tho! the paper i ended up writing critiqued a lot of the history i was reading (which tended to fall into a dichotomy of portraying the sex workers it was speaking abt as either empowered or victimized, etc) so i had mixed feelings.

[blizzardsuplex]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY POETRY PARTNER-IN-CRIME, @powderflower! I hope you enjoy your day, have this edit :) Thank you for the opportunity to learn a lot making this, and also for the privilege of being your friend! Let's talk more ;)

[text from the poem Heart of the Texas Tornado by W. Todd Kaneko. Images, from top to bottom: Tornado Over St. Paul by Julius Holm; A field of Blue Bonnets, late afternoon sunlight by Julian Onderdonk; Richard Humphreys - The Boxer by John Hoppner; The Goddess Melissa Reclining By A Beehive In A Landscape by the French School]

[tableintheteacherslounge]

Abbott Elementary S03E08 thoughts

Melissa schemmenti angry slut

THIS COLD OPEN I WAS CRYINGGGG

Barb’s protective goggles

“We gonna be down about $700

The squeeze my cheeks kid

Every one getting hit in the damn face

Ava pushing gregory

Greg vs tariq 🥵

Barb shooting in the wrong basket then saying “i’m carrying this team”

Gregory flipping the table

Just PERFECTION

“Why dont u look better” ava really says what i wanna say to people

What IS up with melissa to be snappy, always on her phone, hookups, staying out late

Heyyy manny 🤭 he’s foine I’m SORRY

But if Janine’s meant to be in once a week whys she not seen her abbott friends - not her and jacob not seeing each other 😓

“Girl was there a fire?” See this delivery is why slr has an emmy

Ok I KNEW melissa would hookup with burt hummel. I cant deny the chemistry and at least he’s a better actor than g*ry, but lets keep it casual yeah?

RICHARD TYLER WILLIAMS 💀

The delivery on “interesting 😀”

Tariq hosting the panel?!? I love that for us

Badass janine get it girl! She is ON IT

Not ava and crystal speaking over each other 😭

“I don’t think this is on 🎤 “ “IT IS” ijbol 💀😭

Barb is stroppy and sad ☹️ but why wouldn’t melissa trust her! I get it! But also it’s casual so maybe I get not saying anything too! But barb is so sad (jealous) that melissa didn’t tell her (jealous)

CASUAL GHOST

No bc whys that ur face after ur friend tells u its just sex BARB? I get being upset at not being told but why are u upset its just sex … unless… jealousy

Why arent they clapping abbott 🙁

Why is tariq scoring 😭😭

“Give it some razzle For the love of god gregory give it some dazzle”

Janine just caring about the gossip she’s me

Friend of over 15 years!!! I appreciate the work wives lore but that is literally inaccurate I’m sorry

“Since your lips already touched” GASP (also br*no could never deliver a line like that I’m just saying)

The workwives having a marital spat while ppl are just trying to get their certifications

Is it different? Mmm lowkey bc melissa should know what’s going on in her house but also she can acknowledge that actually barb was validly upset but we know Melissa is stubborn sooo

On her roof? Ew! I dont need to know honestly

Janine not reading Jacob’s text 😖

MANNY CALLING JANINE BIG TEAGUES TEEHEEE 🤭 KICKING FEET TWIRLING HAIR

Gregory sit down 😭 honestly that speech alone could give tyler an emmy nom

MR BOHNSON FROM BABBOTT BELEMENTARY HELP

“You talked to me about gary” aww 🥺☹️

“Because that was a real relationship that YOU approved of” ok poignant emphasis on you - Barbara’s opinion is so important to her 🥺 that’s her number 1

“Awwwmygod congrats” “thank you baby”

Melissa’s true apology 🥺

MELISSA DRAGGING BARB CLOSER TO HER EVEN THO BARB WAS STILL MAD i feel like that was lisa and sheryl

“Look how coy this boy is” jacob always gets great ppl as love interests bc first zach and now i love this guy too “i even showed captain robinson” aw 🙁

Janine aced it! Quintas physical comedy is soo good

Wait is mr j wearing a jacket over his uniform 😭

Cancelling on the fireman for barb 🥺

I fear burt hummel doesn’t want it as casual as mel

“Ok did he just make me fall in love with him” 😭

BI AVA BI AVA!! Wbk but BI AVA (but yk im a hardcore barlissa truther so shipping them w ava makes me gag)

MR JOHNSON PANEL beep beep beep that to my face!!!

Wish they ended on barlissa at the bar tho :(

Ok overall I honestly didnt love that ep at first

And the big reason is i didnt think the panel needed so much and i wanted barlissa to have more

Their conflict didn’t feel as real and earnest as other examples

It got wrapped up surprisingly quickly - they fell out more over safety scissors and ‘yous’

And I’d’ve liked them to share a vulnerable moment away fro everyone else.

It just felt eh

Also being away from school felt weird too

Based on teaser clips i thought it could be a lisa emmy consideration ep but no - could be for tyler though

Barbara’s jealousy is v v interesting tho 👀

After a few days I like it more

I still feel a bit confused tho

OH MY GOD I FORGOT TO MENTION KEEGAN MICHAEL KEY HELLO??!?? What a guest actor to get oh my god

[jaggedwolf]

pll rewatch 1x22

get its own post for finale reasons, the show does its first hitchcock homage, and the liars become the liars

getting ezria out of the way: even as fan of vest + tie combos ezra's outfit sucks this episode, he sucks for his useless texts, aria's tantrum at the faculty party is dumb, all of this is so stupid

ok ok the other note is that my friend remarked that when one of the liars goes "who do we know that's interested in younger girls" after the creep videos, none of them even think of ezra in that vein

which is distressingly warped even as it makes sense for these girls' worldviews: spencer does not view ian negatively until A gives them the video of him possibly killing ali, she views him positively in her flashback of kissing him

Spencer is so bad for saying that Melissa's baby might be inhuman but she is so fucking funny for saying "humor is subjective" instead of apologizing. I just really enjoy it when Spencer takes a break from being tormented to be the teenage brat she was born to be

Pam takes ten fucking years to answer Emily asking if her dad is okay and that is wild to me, Pam y'all are a military family and you should know better

why did the writers come up with this Texas plotline by the way, did they ever explain that?

Emily and Samara are exchanging the blandest emails. Why do all these girls email each other so much, the only things I emailed my high school friends about was schoolwork, otherwise it was all about texts

do you think they have negative associations with texting because of A. does only Spencer get tormented via email is she special like that.

Lucas is back! And still miffed about the danceathon ploy. I completely misremembered him already knowing Caleb before he goes on this fetch quest, but no, this is solely a "Hanna should know the truth" move

anw my take on how he tracks him down is that (1) Caleb's cheap-ass bus ride has lots of delays because that is his fucking luck (2) Lucas gets Caleb's number from Hanna's phone before passing it over to Emily

Okay, I make fun of the liars a lot for being super weird about the blind girl (who they are partially responsible for blinding), but most of the time I enjoy it, because of moments like this episode's where Jenna will be like come on bro :/ I'm just a girl who raped my step-brother via threats :/ just a girl who made a mistake and regretted it :/ why you gotta be so harsh bro :/

jenna we all saw you this season still trying to creep on toby when you were back in the same house...

this episode reveals that Spencer and I have very different notions of burner phones, because she bought this

while I would have gone for a nokia brickphone. Then again I think Spencer and I have different budgetary considerations for burner phones. (717 is indeed an area code for southern pennsylvania btw)

The Ian plan is not bad but maybe would be better if they didn't all swivel to stare at him instead of staring at the phone, you know, the means you purchased to communicate with him

All of the liars leave when Mona shows up (w/o busing their trays! Emily and Aria, your parents raised you better than this! Spencer had no tray and Hanna was not raised better than that) and I know it's primarily because they need to plot, but Spencer also clearly finds Mona super fucking annoying and I respect that

Emily when accosted by a cop that she should really trust him goes wow, maybe he has a point, and indeed calls Garrett later. ACAB, Emily, ACAB. (Except Officer Barry Maple, who has never done anything wrong ever.)

Okay so the real reason they made Garrett her former neighbour is so they could pretend he was on this street to see family, when he was actually here to get in on Rosewood men's favorite hobby: underage girls

why does he take off Jenna's sunglasses before he kisses her, that seems unnecessary.

please remember that Garrett's actor was Paolo in The Lizzie Maguire Movie. swear he was less bland in that

The Hannily porch scene is very endearing, Hanna is so delighted at the notion that Emily might have a type

Toby gets Spencer to chill out before she goes off to do her convoluted plan, which is a good dynamic for them

Spencer calls him a "safe place to land", which will come up again, and says she wants him away from danger because of that

firstly, sweet sentiment Spencer, but I do not think asking him to keep Jenna busy is keeping him safe, he would rather wrestle Ian in the woods any day

secondly, thinking about who Spencer feels the need to protect like this - she is protective over all the liars and Toby, but is she more "don't let danger breathe on them" about Toby and Emily?

at no point does anyone mention the car that t-boned Spencer and Melissa or its driver like, was it a phantom car, are Rosewood PD falling down on even this

Veronica gets some good mom points in comforting Spencer and telling her the crash wasn't her fault and that Melissa knows she cares

S1!Spencer is all about guilt so she takes this as her cue to nobly walk to the church to get Melissa's phone, only to get fucking jumpscared for her trouble

I really love the sequence from when Ian shows up till when the liars find Spencer at the top of the tower. It escalates so well, the tension ramping up, there's a phone call that forces the liars to simply listen as Spencer begs for her life and Ian recites how he's going to construct Spencer's suicide (and would have anyone believed the remaining liars if he'd succeeded?)

Spencer Hastings while being violently thrown about: Uh, Alison didn't die of blunt force trauma, she died of suffocation. ILU Spence never change

And she really gets thrown about! Jeez, someone escort her to a hospital checkup after this, there's probably a fracture somewhere in there

Love the liars fussing over Spence while she clings onto that wooden post. They immediately go "do not worry about having killed Ian, you are so fucking valid" and Spencer has to be like "no, I know it sounds like a traumatized mind coming up with shit but there really was a random hoodie that showed up"

That pan down to the body swinging and that being what set off the bells....still sick

Officer Barry Maple cannot believe these teenage girls lied about a fucking body, cue the entire town going whisper whisper whisper because they're all at the goddamn church

Even Noel Kahn. My dude, don't you have dudebro things to do that are more fun than this.

you know I bet Paige isn't at the church I bet she's at home stressed out about swimming or whatever. this is going to be my take on Paige for a while: that she has minimal awareness of the plot drama the liars are enmeshed in. Bet she didn't even know they got interrogated about rat blood trophy.

I forgot they have "I'm Not Calling You A Liar" play us out. Perfect song choice, but amusing solely to me, because: it is the first credits song for Dragon Age 2, and a long time ago someone asked me for a Hanna Marin crackship and I proffered Hanna/Fenris. Imagine the Liars in Kirkwall....

Our final A message of the season: It's not over until I say it is. Sleep tight while you still can, bitches.

[cryptid-pet]

Azushin Mermaid AU Headcanons I Created at the Bottom of the Ocean Part II

Note: This is gonna feature other stuff and WON’T ONLY focus on Azusa AND Shin left alone. This is more informative details actually so ALSO keep that in mind

The vibrant colors of merman and mermaids are what make them the MOST unique

ALMOST can blend in with sea life (Coral, sponges, plants with wide variety of colors)

Yuma is the only Mukami with a slight tear in his tail >>> Towards the end

Any jewelry (For humans AND the Mukamis) are made from any pearls, deep sea gold, and other raw materials fresh from the source

The hardest material to find for the Hunter Brothers to produce a product is mostly gold considering the requirement of going deep down

This is pretty obvious but will be listed either way as The Mukami’s tail colors

Azusa >>> Light blue gradient w//faint pink

Yuma >>> Retro Orange w//faint red

Kou >>> Magenta (Sorta Like a hot pink) gradient w//faint turquoise

Hi I don’t know if this is a real fish, someone let me know but this is EXACTLY what I pictured 😭

Ruki >>> Honestly, it appears to be black depending on lighting and the highlights the sunlight, but there’s some silver//grey tinted everywhere

I really can’t see greens or blue on him so you can easily ignore that here

Kou and Ruki are the only ones who have a ALMOST translucent canal tails and move pretty much elegantly with the flow of water- This also means their tails are worth more money compared to Yuma’s or Azusa’s

A lot of smaller fish and crustaceans like to follow Azusa for no reason home, but isn’t allowed to be kept as pets

Justin is a conch, Melissa is a shell, and Christina is a star fish (The one Azusa wears actually)

The way Azusa got himself invested into the surface (Outside of his brothers) is from finding stuff//junk you’d typically would have in your house

Azusa once came home with a beer bottle and accidentally smashed it when Kou said “Toss it here, lemme see!”

Another time, Azusa brought back this tire when he was given permission from Yuma to be additional help finding any goods beyond where they normally go

Only Ruki and Kou know what human items are, but can sometimes confused them for something else (Little Mermaid moment when Arial used the for as a comb, it’s technically like that)

None of the brothers other than Ruki can read English properly, they can make out some words (Because books don’t exist in the ocean lmao)

There was a time where all four went down deeper than the normal deep blue water and stumbled across a piece of a ship that had text on it (Like maybe the company of who made the ship or whatever)

None of them could make out HALF of the word written

“Heyoo…Heyuu…Hy…”

“It says Hyundai, Azusa”

“I don’t get it…”

“Hyun what?”

“Hyunadadadadadad-“

“We’re heading back”

Faint knowledge of current events are given by either going to the surface OR finding new palates that have been trashed into sea

Because the Hunter Brothers are popular, a lot of newspapers will mention them but NEVER will provide a photograph for personal reasons

There is however one reason Carla is willing to hunt for creatures that are cryptic like: To find a solution to his illness (I’m not gonna say if there is a cure or not, I’ll leave that for y’all to decide)

Shin doesn’t EVER get asked why he wears an eyepatch and goes with the rumor if it being a “Worthy hunter” aesthetic

The first time Azusa has seen Shin was when Kou took him up to fresh air for once

Shin didn’t notice Azusa and Azusa couldn’t tell if he was glad or upset (Again, Azusa has never seen a human before so Shin is the first- I’ll go more on this in part three about this)

None of the Mukamis can write due to not exactly having the materials or ability to do so (Unless you really wanna see Kou tackle a octopus for ink because Yuma says learning to write is bullshit and refused to help)

Ruki has a random collection of sand dollars

The only times Kou sings is if he’s trying to catch the attention of animals such as dolphins or females humans up on the surface (He likes to pretend he’s human and makes up a silk story how he lives in a submarine despite not knowing what one is)

Kou’s jewel eye is actually a mystical pearl from the deepest part of the ocean, he can’t remember where or how he got it implanted in his socket (But you can’t tell it’s fake unless it turns red)

Yuma ONCE got caught in a net and was under there for maybe two hours (It wasn’t a place trap or anything, it was casually hangout lol)

The worst time to go out of home for the Mukamis is at night because that’s where Carla and Shin do MAJORITY of their hunting on water

The only one who had a little tiiiinyyyy encounter with the Hunter Brothers was Kou after an attempt to allure some females on land (It wasn’t something bad like a sudden conversation struck out, but Kou clearly gave Shin a side eye)

Thunderstorms is like heaven for the Mukamis because they KNOW Shin and Carla will go in the water, but WON’T travel as far out

[1/4] [3/4] [4/4] [Caruki Addition]

[somebodiesspecificstories]

Everything is Normal

"There's something weird happening, I'm sure of it." Betty said to Melissa as they got into the hotel room.

"Like what?" Melissa asked, locking the door "Everything is normal."

"I'm not sure." Betty admitted, as she got out of her dress, exposing her wet pussy "Everything is normal, but... something doesn't feel normal."

"Oh, come on, Betty, everything is normal." Melissa said, herself pulling down her jeans and panties at once, exposing her erect dick "I mean, do you see anything abnormal here? Everything is normal."

"Everything is normal." Betty said as she got onto the bed "But, well... when did we book a hotel room?" Betty asked she spread her legs.

"We didn't, but everything is normal." Melissa said "We're here to fuck. It's normal to get text messages that tell you to go to hotel rooms and fuck your friends. It happens to me all the time. Everything is normal."

"Ah, I guess, ah, I guess that makes sense, everything is normal, ah, wow, you're big, Mel." Betty said.

"Not the first woman to say that." Melissa chuckled "Everything is normal. We're here to fuck. Everything is normal.

"Ah, yeah, yeah everything is normal, we're, oh, we're here to fuck, that, ah, that makes sense. Oh yes, oh yes that makes sense! Ah, ah, everything is normal! W-we're h-here to fuck, aaaah!" Betty couldn't really keep talking after that.

"Yeah, we're here to fuck, everything is normal." Melissa concurred.

"Exactly, girls." A stranger who sat masturbating in a chair said to themselves as they watched the show "Everything is normal, you're here to fuck." the girls couldn't really register that the stranger existed, as per their programming, but hearing them repeat those phrases over and over, convincing themselves it was all 'normal'... wow that was hot. The stranger made a mental note to keep Betty's mild awareness intact. If this dynamic stayed fresh, she might overtake Melissa as the favourite.

[honor-every-part-of-you]

Hannibal S1E4 Timestamp List

And we’re back in the saddle!

0:00 opening credits 0:21 cut to black 0:22 Recap 0:52 cut to black 0:53 text on screen: Baltimore, Maryland 0:56 Exterior of H's house 0:59 W and H in H's chairs in profile H leaning forward W talking about walking at night and looking back at his house in the night 1:09 Exterior of W house lit up in the distance at night 1:16 Medcloseup on Will - I't really the only time I feel safe 1:21 H leans forward in profile - you stood in the breathing silence of GJH's home 1:27 W listening in profile - H - the very spaces he moved through 1:30 mecdloseup on H in quarter profile - tell me will did they speak to you? 1:33 silent flashback to w entering hobbs's kitchen 1:36 W very intense - with noise and clarity 1:40 H still staring intently - you could sense his madness like a bloodhound 1:44 W - I tried so hard to know GJH 1:47 flashback to GJH with knife to Abi's throat 1:50 W - to see him 1:52 flashback to W shouting - GJH, FBI! 1:54 W remembering unhappily 1:55 flashback of GJH slitting Abi's throat 1:56 flashback of GJH stumbling backwards as he's being shot 1:57 flashback of W continuing to fire at GJH 1:58 W past the signs and vials 2:03 flashback of w putting pressure on Abi's wound - beyond the lines on the police report 2:05 the pixels on those 2:07 flashback of W putting pressure on abi's wound 2:09 w - printed faces of sad dead girls 2:13 flashback of terrified w looking over to see GJH in the corner looking back 2:17 flashback of bloodspattered w looking toward GJH 2:18 w subtley shaking his head 2:21 H staring at w - how did you feel seeing melissa impaled in his antler room (is he hoping for w to admit to the same level of congruence?) 2:26 w staring at h in a daze 2:27 flashback to ms hanging from the antlers 2:29 w blinks out of the daze - (quietly) guilty 2:35 H - because you couldn't save her? 2:37 w - because I felt like I killed her 2:40 flashback to W examining marissa 2:42 closeup on w examining marissa 2:43 wideshot of w and h facing each other, w leans forward in emphasis 2:43 w - I got so close to him, sometimes it felt like we were doing the same things 2:54 h listening to w talk about feeling synced with GJH 2:56 W - showering or sleeping at the same time 2:59 H - even after he was dead? 3:00 closeup on W considering the question 3:02 flashback to GJH dead in the corner of the kitchen 3:04 W nods and confirms 3:06 H - like you were becoming him? 3:10 W remembers his nightmare of killing Abi 3:12 closeup of W killing Abi, while insisting he knows who he is 3:14 W - I'm not GJH, Dr Lecter (oh Will, you weren't empathizing with GJH, you were empathizing with Marissa's killer) 3:16 closeup on H considering W's statement 3:19 Opening Credits 3:39 Cut to black 3:40 closeup of maggots on moldy food 3:44 medcloseup of maggots on moldy food 3:46 closeup of bloodspattered family portrait 3:48 blood on individual family pictures 3:50 medshot of corpses at moldy dinner table 3:56 zoom in on closeup of W looking into camera, half light half dark on his face, shift into warm colors of pendulum time 4:05 cut to black 4:06 pendulum swinging over black background 4:08 wideshot of pendulum reversing flies on moldy food 4:11 pedulum reversing flies, then mold on Christmas Ham 4:15 zoom out from closeup on W now in pendulum time 4:19 blood on Christmas table reversing 4:23 zoom out on W continues to medwide shot 4:24 reverse bloodspatter on individual portraits 4:26 reverse bloodspatter on group family portrait 4:28 medcloseup blood fully reverses on mother, she begins to sit up 4:31 Entire family sits up from the positions where they died 4:32 closeup on Christmas ham 4:34 zoom out from closeup on W as he begins to narrarate the murder scene, finish on wide shot of entire family at table 5:02 W points to little girl and tells her to eat her "growing foods" 5:06 little girl immediately eats forkful of broccoli 5:10 zoom back in on W as he cont to narrarate with smug/stern expression 5:35 closeup on W as camera flashes 5:35 camera flash on W's face 5:36 closeup on W's eyes as camera flashes 5:36 camera flash on W's eyes 5:37 extreme closeup on W's eye with camera flash 5:40 closeup on W staring 5:42 wideshot on W and mother sitting at the table with the rest of the family slumped over dead 5:47 W turns from table to mother 5:50 mother looks sadly at W 5:53 W looks regretfully at mother, aims a gun at her 5:59 W pulls trigger 5:59 W shoots mother 5:59 mother is shot in the forehead 6:01 blood spatter from mother on group family portrait 6:02 blood spatter on individual portraits 6:03 mother falls forward onto table while W continues sorrowful thousand yard stare 6:05 Jack watches W as he mentally recreates the scene, then interrupts to ask what W sees 6:18 medcloseup on J - Who's family values? 6:23 J watches W - no answer 6:26 H's bentley driving along a country road 6:32 H drives up to W's house 6:40 H exits car, framed by W's porch 6:48 W's dogs look up toward fron of the house 6:49 H looks in through windows to see W's dogs waiting at the door 6:52 H walks up to W's door and pulls a chain of sausages out of a paper bag 7:03 H enters W's house, holds sausage out to dogs 7:14 med shot on dogs catching sausage bites 7:17 med shot on H begining to walk between the dogs 7:18 H walks across the room to W's piano and tries a note 7:34 medcloseup on H standing up from W's piano and looking down toward the dogs 7:37 medwideshot on H in front of W's fireplace and bookshelves, turning and considering the room 7:41 closeup on a boat motor on a stand 7:43 H pulls open a drawer to reveal undershirts and socks 7:47 medwideshot of H closing the drawer and continuing to look around 7:52 H approaches W's fly tying station and leans down to look through the magnifying glass 7:56 closeup of H's eye through the magnifying glass 7:58 H sits down at W's fly tying station 8:00 H moves the magnifying glass away from the fly in progress 8:03 wideshot of H in profile sitting at the fly tying station and petting one of the dogs 8:05 closeup of H considering the fly tying equipment 8:07 H pulls a feather out of a tray 8:09 closeup of H positioning the feather onto the fly in progress 8:10 H winding a thread around the addition to the fly in progress 8:12 closeup of H's hands adjusting the fly in progress 8:15 closeup of H winding the thread around the fly in progress 8:17 medshot of H continuing to wind the thread 8:18 closeup of the thread being wrapped the last time 8:20 closeup of H looking closely at the fly in progress 8:21 closeup of the fly being tied off 8:23 H sets down the tool while holding the thread on the fly in progress 8:25 closeup on the thread being snipped off the completed fly 8:28 medshot of H stroking the completed fly 8:29 closeup on H stroking the completed fly and removing it from the tying station 8:31 medshot on H removing the completed fly from the tying station 8:32 closeup on H pressing the hook of the completed fly into his thumb until it bleeds 8:38 closeup on the fly being lowered to reveal the bead of blood on H's thumb 8:40 closeup on H putting his thumb to his mouth to suck off the blood 8:47 bloodspattered group family portrait from the opposite angle as before 8:50 camera flash on the blood spattered group family portrait 8:50 medshot of W in profile listening to J describe the family while CSI takes pictures 8:53 J walks along table describing the family 8:56 medshot on W off center pointing out that one of the children is missing from the tabeau 8:58 J continues walking while looking at notes to confirm missing child 9:00 gloved hand picking up blood spattered picture of young boy 9:03 W looking down in classical painting pose looking down toward picture while cameras flash 9:05 00:09:05:11 9:05 camera flashes as W looks at child's portrait 9:05 medshot on J - possible runaway probable abduction 9:08 medshot on W - or both 9:08 camera flash on W saying Or Both 9:09 J - when misery rains, it pours 9:11 camera flash on J - when misery rains it pours 9:11 closeup of blood spattered picture of family's children including missing boy 9:13 W looking down on pictures, saying they depict layers of lies 9:16 camera flash on W looking down at children's pictures 9:18 J listening to W looking uncomfortable (I should start numbering that description 9:20 J crouches to take a picture - Norman Rockwell with a bullet 9:22 first camera flash as Jimmy says Norman Rockwell with a bullet 9:22 second camera flash as Jimmy says Norman Rockwell with a bullet 9:25 B - no broken windows or torn screens 9:27 camera flash on B - no broken windows 9:27 wideshot of J listening to B, gestures - they probably rang the front door 9:30 first camera flash on J looking toward front door 9:30 second camera flash on J looking toward front door 9:30 B looking to side - bullet holes 9:31 wideshot of whole team around the table as B points out bullet holes 9:33 camera flash on wideshot of team around the table 9:33 second flash on wideshot of team around the table 9:34 W still in rennascence martyr pose, looks back at table of portraits 9:37 closeup of bloodspattered picture of mother kissing the missing boy holding a stuffed octopus 9:40 medcloseup on W as he looks down at picture 9:43 wideshot on team standing around table as Z describes evidence 9:46 wideshot on Z describing low angle of shot as J looks closely at the table 9:48 medcloseup of W turning to side - when did jessie go missing? 9:50 J stands up - a little over a year ago 9:53 meshot of W nodding and turning back to pictures 9:55 closeup on mother kissing missing boy picture again 9:58 W back in martyr pose looking thoughtful 9:59 exterior of abi's psych facility 10:04 mirrored shot of Abi running her hand over her scar then covering it with a scarf 10:18 extreme wide shot of Abi and Alana walking through outdoor corridor 10:21 Alana walking next to Abi - sharing will help normalize 10:24 Abi looking skeptically at Alana - I'm not normal, not anymore 10:30 landscape shot of other patients at the facility with a and abi walking in background 10:37 A and Abi walking - trauma can arrest vocal development 10:44 medwideshot of A and A from front - victims can broadcast victimhood / not me / that's not necessarily true 10:52 Abi looks irritated and curious at Alana 10:53 Alana to Abi - your victimhood has a high profile 10:55 Abi - a celebrity victim, somone asked if I kept my stained clothes 11:02 Alana - how did that make you feel? 11:04 Abi - like I want to go home, but I don't have a home anymore 11:10 Alana - you will, I'll help you find it 11:14 Abi looks skeptical 11:16 Alana - give the support group another chance 11:20 Abi, angry - support groups are sucking the life out of me 11:21 Alana - isolation can suck just as much 11:25 Abi looks stubborn 11:28 Alana - you have to find someone to relate to in this experience 11:32 medwide shot across H's desk, H looks up at knock on the door 11:36 H opens office door 11:38 Alana gives H chirpy Hi 11:39 H looks stern - do you have an appointment? 11:40 Alana - do you have a beer? 11:43 H's stern expression cracks, smiles, moves aside to invite Alana in 11:44 Alana smiles and accepts invitation 11:45 Alana walks by H, H closes the door, they're comfortable with close proximity 11:49 wideshot of H bringing drinks to sit next to Alana on settee, A thinks Abi might have low-grade depression 11:56 H and A toast their drinks 12:09 H watches A drink his beer and smirks (you little shit) - she? 12:12 Alana to H - nothing wrong with a little self-medication, right doctor? 12:16 H toasts the statement and drinks as A takes in a deep breath 12:20 camera begins to circle around the settee as they discuss keeping abi in the facility 12:25 camera cont to circle as H suggests releasing Abi 12:30 camera conts to circle as they argue 12:37 camera slows as they argue 12:42 camera comes to a stop, Alana - Abi's in no condition to tackle real-world issues 12:45 H - I'm not suggesting abandonment 12:50 Alana - this is a girl who was very attached to her parents 12:53 H listens as Alana says Hannibal stepping in would be a crutch 12:56 Alana - Abi needs to figure things out in a clinical environment 13:04 H bows to Alana - I defer to the passion of my esteemed collegue 13:09 Alana looks like she thinks H is teasing 13:10 H - passion is good, it gets blood pumping 13:13 H and A toast each other again - no clink 13:16 wideshot of W looks on from foreground TSS processing bodies in the lab 13:18 medshot of J looks under a blanket at a body on a lab bench 13:22 wideshot with J looking at another body 13:24 medshot on J looking through a file folder 13:26 wideshot with TSS turning to look at W 13:29 medshot on Will starkly backlit  - why do you say that? 13:31 med closeup on Z - because family friction is a catalyst for personality development 13:35 medcloseup on W starkly backlit 13:37 medcloseup on B, smiling toward W and glaring at Z 13:39 wideshot on TSS with J walking toward black blanketed body 13:43 medwideshot of W looking uncomfortably toward J 13:45 medshot of J looking under black body blanket 13:47 medcloseup on Z smirking at W and looking away 13:49 medwideshot of J and W standing on either side of body on lab bench 13:52 medwideshot of Jimmy and B listening to Z talking 13:53 medcloseup W starkly backlit 13:55 Z turning from away from camera toward camera, smile falling 13:57 med wide shot of W walking from corner of room toward lab benches 13:59 Z looking irritated and frustrated as W walks past 14:01 med wide shot of W walking by B and looking back to Z - or lousy onese 14:03 med wide shot of Z giving irritated grin and nodding at W's comment 14:05 med shot of J handing photo printout to W across body blanket 14:07 W in martyr pose facing J 14:08 closeup of mother with bullet wound lying on dinner plate 14:11 medcloseup on J discussing photo 14:14 W listening to J, turing back to photo 14:19 closeup on mother's corpse with bullet wound in forehead on lab bench 14:21 medcloseup on W looking up at J in sad realization 14:23 J nodding at W in sad realization 14:24 cut to black 14:27 closeup on H looking almost directly to camera - Tell me about your mother 14:30 closeup slight zoom out on W - some lazy psychiatry Dr Lecter, low hanging fruit 14:34 closeup on H - I suspect that fruit is on a high branch, very difficult to reach 14:39 closeup on W - so is my mother 14:43 closeup on H - an interesting place to start 14:45 medshot on W - tell me about your mother, let's start there 14:50 med shot on H with an "I see your shit" expression - both my parents died, orphan until Uncle Robertus adopted me 15:00 med shot on W - YOU have "orphan" in common with Abigail Hobbs 15:03 medshot on H - WE have a lot in common with Abi - she's already demonstrated an aptitude for the psychological 15:11 medshot on W - something so foreign about family, never connected to the concept 15:22 wideshot on both - you made your own family - I connected a family of strays, thank you for feeding them 15:32 H nods - I was refering to Abi 15:37 medshot on W, who's smile falls and he looks away 15:41 medshot on H, stares at W - tell me about the turner family, were they affluent? 15:46 medshot on W, looking annoyed - they lived like they had money, we were poor, moved from one boatyard to the next 16:01 medshot on H - always the new boy at school, always the stranger 16:03 closeup on W - always 16:05 H - what grudge was this mother's killer harbouring against her? 16:09 W, shakes head, thinking - motherhood 16:12 H - not motherhood, a perversion of it 16:17 W looks up, thinking 16:20 buiscuit with assorted veggie looking things 16:26 wideshot on J starting to eat before H has sat (bad manners, Jack) and smiling up at H's description of the food 16:28 wideshot on H - you promised to deliver your wife to my dinner table 16:31 wideshot on J - we'll have to polish up our act, what am I about to put in my mouth? 16:39 wideshot on H - rabbit 16:39 wideshot on J holding up fork and laughing - he should have hopped faster 16:41 wideshot on H grinning - yes he should have 16:43 insert of man wearing black and red plaid running through trees in a panic and tripping 16:44 closeup on large piece of meat being butchered 16:44 closeup on chunk of meat being flambe'd in a skillet 16:45 H grinning - fortunately for us, he did not 16:52 J chewing and talking with his mouth full (is he suicidal??) - our friend will seems haunted today 16:55 H - we don't know what nightmares lie coiled beneath will's pillow 16:58 medcloseup on J - children killing other children is not that unfamiliar a concept to Will 17:03 medcloseup on H - you still suspect Abigail? 17:05 J - maybe the nightmare under will's pillow is that he was wrong about her 17:11 wide on H - children transport us to our childhoods, will may feel the tug of life before the fbi and you 17:18 closeup on J 17:19 closeup on H - simple times fixing boats with dad - that time is an achor streamed behind him in heavy weather 17:27 J nods thoughtfully 17:30 night falls over building obscured by trees 17:32 wideshot on the front of W's house as he lets the pack out 17:43 dogs snuffle around the base of a tree 17:48 W watches the dogs run around, not happy but content 17:55 extreme up angle of sun obscured by the FBI building 17:59 medwideshot of Z examining mother's bullet wound 18:00 Jimmy and Bev at a lab bench describing evidence 18:02 Bev and Jimmy in foreground at bench with Z in center background at body tables 18:08 medwideshot of Z walking around body table discussing asymmetries cause by puberty 18:14 medshot on B and Jimmy in profile saying no one's seen Jessie Turner in over a year 18:17 medwideshot on Z saying he extrapolated from measurements at time of abduction to establish height/weight limits 18:20 medwide on Bev and Jimmy at bench zooming in facing camera 18:22 medshot on Z - he'd be four foot eighty pounds tops 18:25 return to over Bev and Jimmy's shoulder, Jimmy examining a game controller - god's gift to trace analysts 18:27 medshot on Jimmy at bench examing game controller, saying there's no matches 18:32 medshot on Bev going through papers at bench 18:34 Bev and Jimmy in profile medwide, ruled out family's prints 18:36 fingerprint analysis on computer screen 18:38 medcloseup on J and B J looking quarter profile to camera, B looking to bench in profile 18:40 fingerprint analysis on computer screen 18:41 medwideshot on Z looking thoughtful and sad - the Lost Boys 18:42 Jimmy stands up and walks to the computer screen - I think I found on of them 18:46 tracking shot through W's classroom as he lectures on hickeys, saying in their current case the bite marks don't have suck bruises 18:59 wideshot on Jack storms into lecture hall announcing class is dissmissed and telling everyone to get out 19:02 medwideshot W behind his desk holding papers looks up toward J 19:03 medwideshot as J approaches desk and turns around to look at students 19:04 medwideshot on J and W as J yells at students to leave 19:06 wideshot on students shuffling and packing their things 19:09 medwide on J and W, J glowering at students and W dropping papers in frustration 19:12 J crosses arms and sits on edge of desk as students file out 19:14 medwide on J and W - You're making it hard to provide an education Jack, we found a match for another missing kid 19:27 tracking wide shot on J and W at desk 19:31 W realizes how many similarities there are between the families 19:41 J stands and turns to face W - we're ready when you are and you're ready now so let's go 19:43 W looks grim - you're expecting a crime scene 19:48 Balcony and railing in nice suburban house with Christmas decorations, panning down to living room with bodies of the family 20:01 medcloseup on adult man with bullet hole in forehead lying on the ground 20:03 medwide shot on blonde woman with bullet hole in forehead slumped over on sofa surrounded by wrapped presents 20:05 shot of fireplace surrounded by detrius of Christmas morning 20:07 charred and blackened body of child curled up in the fireplace 20:09 swat team passes garlanded staircase followed by team visibly reacting to a bad smell 20:19 medcloseup on swat, J and W entering living room, still flinching from the smell 20:21 wideshot of team entering living room and seeing the dead family 20:24 medcloseup on W with Jimmy in background looking grim as he surveys the scene 20:27 cut to black 20:30 exterior of FBI 20:32 wideshot of team in the lab surrounded by new set of bodies, saying the mother was killed last again 20:38 medwideshot on J listening to W 20:41 medwideshot on W - not exactly the same, something went wrong 20:43 Bev and Z looking at mother's body - not single present under the tree for mother 20:45 J turns around to look, W in background - they took her presents they took her motherhood 20:48 up angle on Z saying she was shot multiple times 20:51 Z facing away from camera pointing out that the first bullet didn't kill the mother 20:53 W listening to description of crime absorbing the imagery 20:56 Bev pointing out that the bullet would hav caused brain damage 20:59 W - her body went into convulsions 21:00 Z - shot her again to put her out of her misery, but with a different gun 21:04 medshot on Jack and Jimmy - so someone else shot Connor's mom 21:06 W still processing 21:08 wideshot on full team, J asks who the burned child in the fireplace is 21:09 J pulls back blanket to reveal the burned body 21:11 W looking at ceiling says he thinks it's connor frist 21:13 J and J turn to look at w 21:15 W - he'd been prepped to shoot his mother, not watch her suffer 21:16 wideshot on everyone looking at the burned boy again 21:17 J talking to Jimmy - connor couldn't put his panic back in the bottle so he got shot too 21:20 W - whoever shot him, disowned him 21:26 camera looking at RV through diner window, pulls back to see a woman and three boys sitting at a table looking sad 21:37 medcloseup on teenage boy looking toward woman 21:39 medcloseup on woman and small boy - I couldn't make him understand, the family you're born into isn't really family 21:45 medcloseup on second small boy listening to woman 21:47 closeup on woman - we're making our family 21:51 second small boy - what happened to your family? 21:53 teenager - we are her family 21:55 medcloseup of teenager and second boy in profile, tense - I meant your other family 21:59 woman- the family you think is family is just a stepping stone 22:04 teenager and second boy look up at woman 22:06 woman looks at second boy with concern - you feeling okay sweetie pie? 22:10 teenager insists "he's fine" angry at second boy 22:12 woman - CJ - gentle scolding 22:14 teenage looks back at his milkshake 22:16 woman looks toward teenager with exasperation 22:18 second boy looks down at the table warily 22:19 woman smiles and takes a deep breath - are you excited to go home? 22:23 second boy keeps eyes down on table 22:25 closeup on woman - even if it is to say goodbye, because we're your family now christopher 22:28 second boy looks up toward woman 22:29 closeup on woman with gentle smile - you can only have one family 22:33 wideshot of W sitting at his desk in his empty lecture hall 22:36 wideshot with W in foreground, Bev opens lecture hall door 22:39 wideshot as W continues to stare at his computer 22:42 medwideshot on Bev walking into the lecture hall with coffee, smiling 22:46 W continues to stare at the computer 22:48 Bev smirks - ever hear of Willard Wiggin? 22:50 tracking shot of Bev walking toward W - he's an artist who does micro sculptures 22:56 W continues to stare at computer, Bev walks around the desk - he's so focused he works between his heartbeats 23:00 W stares stock still 23:03 Bev walks up to W's side and looks at his computer 23:07 missing child posters on a computer screen 23:12 medwide shot at Bev leans over to look closer 23:18 W in profile with Bev looking at him - ritalin etc can delay growth 23:22 W rubs forehead as he describes medical side effects 23:26 B stands and smiles - Willard Wiggin had a lonely childhood 23:33 W looking up at Bev sitting on the edge of the desk - who is Willard Wiggin? 23:36 Bev laughs and says Price got a match on the bullet from a murder involving a 13 year old boy 23:43 W leans back listening to Bev, catches on to the connection 23:49 Bev describing the old case 23:53 W looking apprehensive - 13 year old milk carton material? 23:58 CJ's missing poster on the computer screen 24:08 medshot on full team looking at computer screen, saying CJ was too nice a kid to become a sophisticated murderer and kidnapper 24:27 tracking shot on CJ walking through store aisles and coming around to stare at Christopher 24:41 Woman finds money in her purse and hands it over to the cashier with a smile 24:46 CJ stares menacingly toward Christopher 24:48 Christopher so frightened he wets himself 24:55 woman accepts change and turns to notice Christopher's accident 24:57 medshot on woman and cashier smiling then looking worried as they realize what happened 24:59 Christopher snaps away from CJ to look at woman 25:02 woman looks worried an checks Christopher for fever 25:08 Christopher watched woman as she stands to get napkins 25:09 woman grabs a bunch of napkins, mops up puddle, and apologizes to cashier 25:19 Christopher looking down passively as woman cleans up 25:21 Woman stands up to reassure Christopher that he shouldn't be embarrased because accidents happen, smiles sweetly 25:27 Christopher looks back at CJ 25:29 quick zoom in on CJ continuing to stare threateningly 25:35 Hannibal opens the door of his office - good evening Will 25:38 W stands up looking especially grumpy and carrying a bag 25:40 H steps aside to let W in, looking interested in the bag 25:42 wideshot of W walking into H's office with agitated body language, throws bag onto setee 25:44 closeup of bag landing on settee, a wrapped gift showing in pocket 25:45 wideshot as H closes the office door and turns to look at W 25:46 H nods and points at the bag and gift 25:47 medwideshot on W taking his jacket off and saying the gift was for abigail 25:50 H still standing by the door - was? 25:50 wideshot - I thought better of it, I was upset, maybe still am 25:57 closeup on H carefully tucking the gift into the pocket - what is it? 26:00 W in profile H in foreground stands up 26:03 H walks toward W, turns to sit in his chair - you want to teach her how to fish? 26:08 H sits, leans back, crosses legs, links hands, and looks at W questioningly - her father taught her to hunt 26:10 W figeting with the stuff on H's desk - that's why I thought better of it 26:12 H stares at W's ass - feeling paternal Will? 26:14 W turns harshly to H - aren't you? 26:16 medcloseup on H looking up toward W - yes 26:17 W nods strongly and continues to look around 26:19 H continues to eye W - Dr Bloom advised against taking too personal an interest 26:23 W turns away from H 26:24 H looking lusty at W's agitation - tell me, why are you so angry? 26:27 medwideshot of W turned away from H - I'm angry because I know I can't help those boys 26:31 medcloseup on W - I can't give them back what they just gave away 26:35 medcloseup on H looking thoughtful - family 26:36 wideshot with W in foreground trying to calm down - yeah 26:39 H looks back up and listens to W 26:41 wideshot with W in foreground walking into the shadow of a cabinet - we call them the lost boys 26:47 H still looking contemplative - it's our responsibility to help Abi find her way 26:55 exterior of Abi's psychiatric facility 26:59 Abi closes book, camera zooms out to reveal H sitting next to her - I don't think I'm allowed to leave after I climbed the fence 27:09 medshot on H explaining that he's one of Abi's guardians and he made arrangements 27:12 Abi - where are we going? 27:14 H - my home, I'll cook and bring you back before bedtime 27:23 medwideshot on Abi and H - can I spend the night? I don't like sleeping here 27:27 medcloseup on H - you have to sleep in your own bed - this isn't my bed - tell me about your bad dreams 27:36 slow zoom in on Abi looking down and describing a dream of Marissa sending her pictures of NB gutted 27:52 H - how you left him 27:54 Abi looking up at H in distress and aprehension 27:56 H looks back patiently 27:59 Abi - even though she's dead I worry she's going to tell everyone and they'll think I'm just like my dad 28:06 H continues to listen 28:08 closeup on Abi as she sits up - sorry can't talk about this in group 28:15 H - you don't have that luxury 28:17 Abi nods and steels herself - I'll just have to get used to lying 28:20 H smiles proudly 28:22 wideshot of Abi standing up and goes to her dresser as H turns to stand up 28:24 H stands - you only have to lie a about one thing, and when you're with me you don't have to lie about anything 28:32 tracking shot - Abi puts on jacket as H returns book to dresser and squares it up - in my dream I wonder how I can live with myself, when I wake up I know I can 28:51 medshot on Abi - does that make me a sociopath? 28:54 H - it makes you a survivor - opens door for Abi and closes it behind them 29:05 cut to black 29:08 exterior of H's house 29:10 extreme closeup of mushrooms at the bottom of a glass kettle as water begins to fill 29:13 mushrooms in kettle as water fills again 29:15 mushrooms floating at surface of water in kettle 29:16 closeup of glass kettle with mushroom tea turning from upside down to rightside up 29:22 closeup of mise en platz in steel ramikens 29:23 closeup on H's hands cutting into white round vegetable 29:26 Abi watches H cooking 29:28 medwide shot on H cooking and Abi standing across the counter - have you thought about applying for schools? 29:30 medshot on Abi - my dad killed girls at all the schools I applied to 29:35 H, blinking - perhaps that can wait then 29:38 medshot on Abi looking at H with determined expression - I want to work for the FBI 29:41 medcloseup on H, smiles - I would certainly feel safer if you were in the FBI protecting my interests 29:48 Abi, knowing exactly what he means - they wouldn't let me because of dad 29:54 medcloseup on H - only if they believe that's in your nature too 29:57 Abi - nature vs nurture 29:58 medshot of H looking up at Abi - you're not your father's daughter, not anymore 30:02 Abi, upset, looks down 30:04 medcloseup on H, looking compassionate and speculative - what if it weren't painful anymore to think of him? 30:12 Abi confused shaking her head - my dad? 30:15 H - yes. Have you ever tried psylocibin? 30:21 med two shot, Abi - mushrooms? that's what's in the tea? 30:26 medshot of H - yes 30:27 medwideshot of H  walking around counter to pour out tea -  you need to supplement your traumatic memories with positive associations 30:40 medcloseup on H leaning over the tea - no more bad dreams abigail 30:42 closeup on H's hands pouring tea from glass pot into gold rimmed cups 30:44 medcloseup on Abi in profile looking skeptical - you want me to do drugs? 30:46 medwide shot on H finishing pouring the tea - I want you to do this drug with my supervision 30:52 medcloseup of H handing Abi the teacup - do you trust me? 30:56 medcloseup of Abi in profile looking at H like are you kidding, but takes a deep breath and reaches for the teacup 31:00 closeup of Abi taking the teacup from H 31:03 medwideshot of H watching Abi accept the teacup 31:05 Abi sips the tea, looking up at H 31:09 H watches Abi drink and smiles 31:10 closeup on evidence board tracking the murders down the eastern seaboard 31:17 medwideshot on J and Bev looking at the evidence board 31:19 very wide shot of tss listening to J with W against the back wall 31:22 medwideshot of J listening to Jimmy 31:24 medwideshot of Jimmy over J's shoulder, turns to listen to Z 31:26 medshot on Z - trying to construct a geographical pattern when the murders are weeks apart 31:30 medwide on W - we have other patters, middle children from traditional affluent families 31:37 closeup on Bev looking concerned at W 31:39 very wide shot on whole team with J walking back to the evidence board 31:42 closeup on pictures of missing boys on evidence board 31:45 slow zoom in on medshot of W - what kind of kid follows a kid who does this? 31:54 J and Z looking toward W - there's no indication these kids came from abusive families 31:57 slow zoom on closeup of W - capture bonding, a passive psychological response to a new master 32:20 sausage and eggs on brioche in a skillet on H's stove 32:22 medshot on H tending to stuff on the counter and stove, looks up and smiles at Abi 32:25 Abi looks down with disoriented and queasy expression 32:27 autumn trees shaking and warping in Abi's drugged memory 32:29 Abi sighting the deer with her rifle beside GJH 32:30 closeup on Abi pulling the trigger 32:32 medcloseup on deer looking toward camera with bloody ear 32:33 crane shot of Abi firing her rifle among autumn leaves beside her dad 32:34 Abi back in H's kitchen looking down in a daze 32:36 GJH and Abi in the cabin, GJH walking Abi through butchering the deer- remember just like we talked about 32:37 closeup on Abi's hunting knife 32:38 closeup on Abi's hand stroking through the deer's fur 32:40 closeup on Abi as she begins to butcher the deer 32:41 medshot on Abi and NB as she stabbs him 32:41 medcloseup on NB as he looks down in pain at the knife 32:42 closeup on Abi's frightened and horrified face as she pulls the knife through NB's torso 32:43 medshot on Abi in H's kitchen, she lets go of the teacup, which falls 32:44 teacup falls to the floor and shatters with heavy blur and some slow motion 32:47 H looks up from the stove to look at the broken teacup as Abi looks down at her hands, distracted 32:48 Abi still watching her hands, tilts head and asks if Dr Bloom approved thisr 32:52 medwide shot of Abi walking stiffly off screen while H walks forward to assess the mess 32:56 closeup of Abi in profile as she walks through kitchen, her attention caught on something else 32:58 closeup on fruit in a wooden bowl wavering from the drugs 33:00 medshot of Abi in profile selecting an organge fruit 33:03 closeup on H kneeling and picking up the shards of the teacup - you and I will have many secrets 33:07 Abi drops into the armchair in the corner, examining her orange fruit 33:09 H turns away from looking at Abi, back to the floor where the shards are 33:11 closeup on orange fruit being fiddled with in Abi's hands, smearing slowly from the drugsr 33:14 medshot on Abi navelgazing at the orange fruit 33:17 medshot on H kneeling in profile- it can be a spiritual experience for patients 33:19 medcloseup on Abi putting her fruit down and turning to concentrate on H 33:22 medshot upangle of H walking toward Abi - psychological trauma is an affliction of the powerless, I want to give you your power back 33:26 closeup on Abi looking dazed and nauseaus - I don't feel so good 33:29 H knees in front of Abi with reasurring expression - That will pass, let it wash over you 33:33 medcloseup on Abi with an intense expression as H cradles her face 33:36 closeup on H - through you, let me be your guide 33:40 Abi looks over to the kitchen counter - you're making breakfast for dinner? 33:45 closeup on H as he grins at Abi 33:46 medwideshot on H standing up and walking back to the kitchen counter, Abi grinning happily 33:49 medshot on H walking around counter talking about the history of breakfast for dinner 33:53 medwide shot of H catching a peeled potato on the edge of his knife 33:54 medshot on H holding up the speared potato with a showy grin 33:55 medshot on Abi making an exaggerated impressed expression 33:56 medshot on H continuing to cook - taste is not only biochemical it's also psychological 33:59 medcloseup on Abi looking from the potatos to the stove 34:00 closeup on sausage and eggs in the skillet 34:02 medcloseup on Abi - sausage and eggs was the last meal I had with my parents 34:04 medshot on H with reassuring smile - it's also the first meal you're having with me 34:09 medshot on Abi smiling with wide eyes 34:11 Alana, Bev, and Will in the lab around a table covered in paper evidence 34:15 closeup on Alana holding a folder with a missing child printout on the front 34:17 medwide on W over A's shoulder, speculating on the personality of the remaining Lost Boys 34:29 medshot on Bev reading description of one potential Lost Boy 34:39 medshot on Alana - what makes these boys susecptible? 34:43 they're isolated from their brother - a brother without a brother 34:50 medshot on Alana - brothers looking for a mother 34:52 medshot on Bev listening to Alana 34:54 Alana - they're killing the mothers last 34:58 W looks up at Alana and processes the idea 35:01 pan up from desk covered in neat stacks of files to W entering 35:03 medwide shot on J looking up from the computer on his desk - yeah? 35:05 medwide on W - not just CJ, there's a woman a mother figure 35:11 medshot on W - looking to form a family 35:13 medcloseup on J thinking it through - family can have a contagion effect on some people 35:18 medshot on W, with a well yeah expression 35:20 medcloseup on J - it can influence them to adopt similar behaviors and attitudes 35:24 W walks toward J from medshot to medcloseup - this woman wants these children to burst with love for her, she has to erase their families 35:35 medshot on J - she convinces them no one can love them like she does then makes sure of it 35:38 medshot up angle on W saying a security camera caught Christopher close to his family 35:55 wideshot Christopher approaches the front door of a house, rings the bell, looks around, then goes back to the door 36:11 medcloseup on Christopher as the front door opens to him 36:12 wideshot on brunette woman recognizing and grinning at Christopher 36:15 med wide zooming to med of brunette rushing to hug Christopher while he doesn't respond 36:18 medwide on woman hugging Christopher then pulling back to kneel and smile up at him 36:21 medcloseup to closeup of Christopher unresponsive to his mother's reaction 36:28 cut to black 36:31 nice suburban home framed with autumn leaves from across the street 36:36 black SUVs with police lights speeding through the suburban street 36:38 wideshot of SUV's approaching the house 36:40 low up angle of swat teams' boots running through leaves on the lawn 36:42 very wide shot of SUVs pulling up to the house and the team exiting with weapons 36:48 medwideshot of swat approaching the front door and preparing the ram to breach 36:51 swat rams open the door from the perspective of the door 36:52 cut to black 36:53 swat team enters the house and begins to sweep 36:56 swat swarms through house with TSS coming in behind them 36:58 wideshot of swat exiting from the back door3 36:59 wideshot of TSS running through the living room, armed, toward the back door, passing through the wall and panning out to the team arrayed on the patio 37:02 medshot of Christopher standing beside CJ, still impassive 37:03 wideshot of Lost Boys facing off with Christopher's family across an idyllic backyard, CJ raises gun 37:04 wideshot of mother and father panicking and trying to sheild other children 37:06 medshot of Swat firing rifle 37:06 closeup on bullet hitting CJ's shoulder from the back 37:06 medcloseup from back of CJ falling and mother turning toward other children 37:07 wideshot of CJ falling and everyone else running toward center 37:08 wideshot of Christopher running away from the group along walkway 37:09 wideshot CJ falls from grill to ground, Swat gets other Lost Boys to kneel on the ground 37:11 very wide shot TSS and swat swarm off the patio toward family and LBs 37:15 Christopher pushes through white picket gate into pool area, followed by Will 37:21 medwideshot on Christopher turning and pulling gun on Will 37:22 medshot on Will pulling a gun in response 37:23 medwideshot of W gesturing for the Swat member to hold fire 37:24 wideshot of Christopher and Will holding each other at gunpoint, W raises gun off Christopher 37:27 medshot on W with hands in the air telling Christopher to put the gun down 37:29 medshot upangle of Wendy exiting the pool house, patting Christopher's head, then wrapping an arm holding a gun around him 37:35 medshot of W reacting to the situation getting a lot worse 37:37 medshot of Wendy looking intense and Christopher looking resigned 37:39 medshot of W kneeling down, still talking to Christopher 37:41 wideshot of Wendly holding a gun to Christopher and Christopher holding a gun on W kneeling with hands up 37:43 medcloseup of Will putting gun on the ground - please 37:45 medwideshot of Bev screened by trees, firing a gun 37:46 medcloseup of Wendy being shot in the shoulder and falling away from Christopher 37:46 medcloseup of W ducking away then looking up to see what happened 37:48 medshot of Bev running in front of autumn leaves 37:49 medwide shot of Christopher turning away to look down at Wendy 37:50 medshot of Bev continuing to run toward C and W 37:52 medshot of W walking past Swat looking grim 37:55 wideshot of Bev leading Christopher away while Will and Swat look down at Wendy 37:57 med closeup strong upangle W looks down toward Wendy 38:00 medshot slow zoom in on Wendy bleeding on concrete 38:03 medshot up angle Will looks down on Wendy, blinks, and turns away 38:04 closeup on Christopher in the back of a car, zoom out to see Jack get in the driver's seat and looking back at Christopher 38:14 closeup on Christopher - can I go home now? 38:16 medshot on Jack looking back at Christopher - you're not going home for a long time 38:19 closeup on Christopher looking down sadly - you came here to kill your family 38:22 J looking back at Christopher - that's all anybody knows 38:27 closeup on Christopher looking away - I wasn't going to do it 38:30 closeup on J looking back - you're going to have to talk to a lot of people about it 38:38 closeup on christopher - she told us we had to make our own family, asks J if he has a family 38:55 closeup on Jack - I don't have any children, no 38:58 closeup on Christopher looking down, shaking head - then you don't know what it's like 39:04 closeup on J looking up and nodding in acknowledgement 39:08 closeup on Christopher looking down - can I talk to my real mom? 39:14 closeup on Jack, nodding - in a little while, but first I need to to talk to me 39:22 closeup on Christopher looking down sadly 39:25 exterior of Hannibal's house 39:27 medwide shot on Hannibal looking down feigning apologetic expression 39:30 medcloseup on Alana dressing H down for taking Abi out of the facility without consulting her 39:33 medwide on murder puppy getting smacked with a newspaper 39:36 wideshot pan of Alana confronting H 39:40 medcloseup on H looking down apologetically and nodding 39:42 medcloseup on Alana over H's shoulder - I'm not a professional scold, don't put me in this position again 39:48 medshot of Alana walking away from H angrily, H apologizes 39:52 medwide on A over H's shoulder - RUDE! SHOCKINGLY RUDE! 39:56 medwide on H - you have every right to be upset 39:58 medwide on Alana with don't fuck with me expression - where is she? 40:02 medwideshot on H - she's in the dining room 40:04 Alana with a I'm Not Done With You face, turns toward dining room 40:07 medwide on H with abyssal eyes watches Alana walk toward dining room 40:09 wide to med wide as Alana walks around counter past H - Alana, you were right 40:16 medcloseup on Alana - often am, be more specific 40:20 medcloseup on H up angle - she wasn't ready, had anxiety, I gave her a sedative 40:27 medcloseup on Alana looking further enraged - what did you give her? 40:29 closeup upangle on H - only half a valium but she may be hazy 40:34 Abi sitting alone at H's table, looks up sluggishly and looks to side 40:36 wideshot as Alana walks in, smiles and greets Abi, notices a third place setting 40:45 Abi looks up to H 40:47 wideshot of Hannibal pulling out chair from third place setting for Alana 40:50 A sits down to table, Abi dazedly asks if she's hungry 40:59 Alana smiles stiffly - I could eat 41:03 Abi continues to stare vaguely at Alana 41:05 H pours orange juice and notices Abi's focus on Alana - what is it? 41:10 closeup on Abi's creepy dazed smile 41:12 medshot of Alana and Hannibal looking concerned into the camera, shifting out of focus and into Abi's parents and back - what do you see? 41:21 closeup on Abi's creepy smile - I see family 41:29 wideshot of all three at table, H turns to look at alana 41:31 closeup on Jack wearing pajamas and readers in bed, turning and smiling 41:35 wideshot on J sitting in bed - hello 41:37 wideshot of Bella approaching the other side of the bed, avoiding eye contact 41:42 closeup on J putting his readers back on as Bella settles into bed 41:47 medcloseup on J taking the readers back off again - you think it's too late for us to have kids? 41:54 closeup on Bella blinking and turning to Jack with a frustrated expression 41:56 medshot on Jack looking lovingly at  Bella, she blinks at him, thinking 41:58 closeup on Bella withdrawing and turning away 42:01 closeup on Bella faced away - it is for me 42:09 wideshot of J looking over at Bella as she reaches up to turn off her light 42:12 closeup on J turning away from Bella and turning off his own light 42:23 exterior of Will's house with red white and blue lights flashing across it 42:26 wideshot of will's dogs arrayed on beds around a space heater in the fireplace 42:32 med to med closeup of W settling down for sleep 42:45 fade to black 42:46 end credits 43:12 DDLC logo 43:14 Living Dead Guy Logo 43:16 AXN logo 43:19 Gaumont Logo

[dankusner]

‘We Can Bury Anyone’:

Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine

Private messages detail an alleged campaign to tarnish Blake Lively after she accused Justin Baldoni of misconduct on the set of “It Ends With Us.”

If you've been keeping up with all the drama between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, you might have read this line from Lively's lawyers: "This is an age-old story: A woman speaks up with concrete evidence of sexual harassment and retaliation, and the abuser attempts to turn the tables on the victim. This is what experts call DARVO: Deny. Attack. Reverse Victim Offender."

Last summer, as the release of “It Ends With Us” approached, Justin Baldoni, the director and a star of the film, and Jamey Heath, the lead producer, hired a crisis public relations expert.

During shooting, Blake Lively, the co-star, had complained that the men had repeatedly violated physical boundaries and made sexual and other inappropriate comments to her.

Their studio, Wayfarer, agreed to provide a full-time intimacy coordinator, bring in an outside producer and put other safeguards on set.

In a side letter to Ms. Lively’s contract, signed by Mr. Heath, the studio also agreed not to retaliate against the actress.

But by August, the two men, who had positioned themselves as feminist allies in the #MeToo era, expressed fears that her allegations would become public and taint them, according to a legal complaint that she filed Friday.

It claims that their P.R. effort had an explicit goal: to harm Ms. Lively’s reputation instead.

Her filing includes excerpts from thousands of pages of text messages and emails that she obtained through a subpoena.

These and other documents were reviewed by The New York Times.

There have long been figures behind the scenes shaping public opinion about celebrities — through gossip columns, tabloids and strategic interviews.

The documents show an additional playbook for waging a largely undetectable smear campaign in the digital era.

While the film, about domestic violence, was a box office hit — making nearly $350 million worldwide — online criticism of the actress skyrocketed.

“He wants to feel like she can be buried,” a publicist working with the studio and Mr. Baldoni wrote in an Aug. 2 message to the crisis management expert, Melissa Nathan.

“You know we can bury anyone,” Ms. Nathan wrote.

In the following weeks, Ms. Nathan, whose clients have included Johnny Depp and the rappers Drake and Travis Scott, went hard at the press, pushing to prevent stories about Mr. Baldoni’s behavior and reinforce negative ones about Ms. Lively, the text messages show.

Jed Wallace, a self-described “hired gun,” led a digital strategy that included boosting social media posts that could help their cause.'

An attorney for Wayfarer said in a statement to The Times that the studio, its executives and public relations representatives “did nothing proactive nor retaliated” against Ms. Lively, and accused the actress of “another desperate attempt to ‘fix’ her negative reputation.”

“These claims are completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media," the lawyer, Bryan Freedman, wrote.

Mr. Freedman did not address her allegations about misconduct during the filming by Mr. Baldoni and Mr. Heath.

He alleged that Ms. Lively planted “negative and completely fabricated and false stories with media” about Mr. Baldoni, which he said “was another reason why Wayfarer Studios made the decision to hire a crisis professional.”

The effort to tarnish Ms. Lively appears to have paid off.

Within days of the film’s release, the negative media coverage and commentary became an unusually high percentage of her online presence, according to a forensic review she sought from a brand marketing consultant.

Ms. Lively — who is married to the actor and entrepreneur Ryan Reynolds of “Deadpool” fame, and is close with Taylor Swift — experienced the biggest reputational hit of her career.

She was branded tone-deaf, difficult to work with, a bully.

Sales of her new hair-care line plummeted.

“Is Blake Lively set to be CANCELLED?” read a Daily Mail headline one week into the attacks.

Mr. Baldoni, by contrast, emerged largely unscathed.

This month, he was honored at a star-studded event celebrating men who “elevate women, combat gender-based violence and promote gender equality worldwide.”

On Saturday, however, after this article was published, the talent agency William Morris Endeavor stopped representing Mr. Baldoni, said Ari Emanuel, chief executive of Endeavor, the agency’s parent company.

Justin Baldoni received an award this month for being an ally to women.

A legal filing has since accused him of harassment and retaliation against the actress Blake Lively.

Ms. Lively’s complaint — against Mr. Baldoni; Mr. Heath; Wayfarer; Steve Sarowitz, a co-founder of the studio; Mr. Wallace; Ms. Nathan; and Jennifer Abel, another public relations executive involved in the campaign — alleges sexual harassment and retaliation, among other claims.

The complaint, filed with the California Civil Rights Department, is a precursor to a lawsuit.

In a statement, Ms. Lively said, “I hope that my legal action helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct and helps protect others who may be targeted.”

She also denied that she or any of her representatives planted or spread negative information about Mr. Baldoni or Wayfarer.

‘WE SHOULD HAVE A PLAN’

In May, several months after the filming wrapped, Mr. Baldoni realized that Mr. Reynolds had blocked him on Instagram.

“We should have a plan for IF she does the same when movie comes out,” Mr. Baldoni wrote of Ms. Lively in a text exchange that included Ms. Abel, a publicist who has long worked with him and Wayfarer.

“Plans make me feel more at ease.”

Mr. Baldoni, 40, and Mr. Heath, 55, had a lot riding on the film, which is based on a best-selling novel by Colleen Hoover.

Mr. Baldoni was best known for the CW satirical romantic dramedy “Jane the Virgin.”

Wayfarer provided the resources for bigger ambitions.

It was bankrolled by the billionaire Steve Sarowitz, who is co-chair of the studio with Mr. Baldoni.

They and Mr. Heath, the chief executive, are all deeply involved with the Baha’i religious organization, which promotes unity, peace and gender equality.

Mr. Baldoni has presented himself as an ally to women, writing books, co-hosting a podcast with Mr. Heath and giving talks on toxic masculinity.

Ms. Lively, 37, was by far the bigger star.

The TV show “Gossip Girl” catapulted her to early fame, and she appeared in films ranging from “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” to “The Town.”

She built businesses outside the entertainment industry, appeared on the covers of glossy magazines and amassed more than 45 million Instagram followers.

Ms. Lively had expressed concerns about Mr. Baldoni from the beginning, according to her legal complaint.

Before shooting began, for example, she objected to sex scenes he wanted to add that she considered gratuitous.

In November 2023, as the cast of “It Ends With Us” was preparing to resume shooting after a monthslong writers’ strike, Ms. Lively went to Wayfarer with the side letter seeking safeguards.

“Our client is willing to forego a more formal HR process in favor of everyone returning to work and finishing the Film as long as the set is safe moving forward,” her legal team wrote to the studio.

She detailed her complaints during a meeting with Mr. Baldoni, Mr. Heath and other producers in January, according to the legal filing.

She claimed Mr. Baldoni had improvised unwanted kissing and discussed his sex life, including encounters in which he said he may not have received consent.

Mr. Heath had shown her a video of his wife naked, she said, and he had watched Ms. Lively in her trailer when she was topless and having body makeup removed, despite her asking him to look away.

She said that both men repeatedly entered her makeup trailer uninvited while she was undressed, including when she was breastfeeding.

In agreeing to the terms that Ms. Lively sought, Wayfarer acknowledged that “Although our perspective differs in many aspects, ensuring a safe environment for all is paramount,” according to her legal complaint.

By the spring, Ms. Lively told people she worked with that the men’s behavior had improved with the new protections.

But she was now in a creative battle with them.

With the support of Sony, the film’s distributor, she made her own cut of the movie, bringing in editors and a composer and adding one of Ms. Swift’s songs.

In the end, Sony and Wayfarer went with Ms. Lively’s cut, and she got a producer credit.

As the film release neared, Ms. Lively and other cast members informed Sony and Wayfarer that they would not do any appearances alongside Mr. Baldoni.

So did Ms. Hoover, the author, who had her own dissatisfactions with him and had become more upset after he told her about Ms. Lively’s allegations, according to text messages from Mr. Baldoni and Mr. Heath.

‘MOST IMPORTANTLY UNTRACEABLE’

By the first week of August, Wayfarer and Mr. Baldoni had retained Ms. Nathan, who had worked with high-profile clients including Mr. Depp, whose ex-wife, Amber Heard, accused him of physical abuse.

Mr. Depp successfully sued Ms. Heard for defamation, and the trial became a spectacle amid suspicions of an online campaign to damage her credibility.

This year, after a decade at the New York consultancy Hiltzik Strategies, Ms. Nathan started her own firm, TAG PR.

Its majority stakeholder is a company run by the entertainment industry executive Scooter Braun.

In an initial planning document sent to Wayfarer and Mr. Baldoni on Aug. 2, Ms. Nathan suggested media talking points, including that Ms. Lively used an imbalance of power to take creative control of the film.

But Mr. Baldoni wanted more.

“Not in love with the document they sent,” he responded in a text exchange that included Ms. Abel and Mr. Heath.

“Not sure I’m feeling the protection I felt on the call.”

Ms. Abel relayed his frustration to Ms. Nathan:

“I think you guys need to be tough and show the strength of what you guys can do in these scenarios. He wants to feel like she can be buried.”

“Of course- but you know when we send over documents we can’t send over the work we will or could do because that could get us in a lot of trouble,” Ms. Nathan responded, adding, “We can’t write we will destroy her.”

Moments later, she said, “Imagine if a document saying all the things that he wants ends up in the wrong hands.”

“You know we can bury anyone,” she wrote.

Three days later, Mr. Baldoni texted Ms. Abel, flagging a social media thread that accused another celebrity of bullying behavior and had generated 19 million views.

“This is what we would need,” he wrote.

Ms. Nathan soon floated proposals to hire contractors to dominate social media through “full social account take downs,” by starting “threads of theories” and generally working to “change narrative.”

“All of this will be most importantly untraceable,” she wrote.

JENNIFER ABEL

I think we need to put the social combat plan into motion

MELISSA NATHAN

So do I

Within days, the group was working with Mr. Wallace, whose company, Street Relations, offers services ranging from public relations to more opaque crisis management.

He is a somewhat enigmatic figure with very little digital trail.

But court records show that his clients have included Paramount Pictures and the YouTube personality Adin Ross.

And in a since-deleted LinkedIn profile, Mr. Wallace described himself as “a hired gun” with a “proprietary formula for defining artists and trends.”

‘THAT’S WHY YOU HIRED ME’

The Aug. 6 premiere brought the first wave of press coverage questioning what had happened during the filming.

A Hollywood Reporter story speculated about a rift between Ms Lively and Mr. Baldoni, after TikTokers noticed that the two stars didn’t pose for photographs together and that Ms. Lively and other cast members didn’t follow Mr. Baldoni on Instagram.

JUSTIN BALDONI

The unfollow situation is what everyone is pointing at.

Seemingly that something is much bigger under the surface - as why would they all unfollow

TAG PR EXECUTIVE Weve flagged to Jed and his team as well

Ms. Nathan had already been speaking to other journalists, according to text messages.

When Ms. Abel wrote to her Aug. 4 that “I’m having reckless thoughts of wanting to plant pieces this week of how horrible Blake is to work with. Just to get ahead of it,” Ms. Nathan replied that she had spoken off the record to an editor at The Daily Mail.

“She’s ready when we are,” Ms. Nathan wrote.

A flurry of articles followed the Hollywood Reporter piece.

Many made it seem as if the only rift was over creative control.

Some journalists had gotten wind of complaints about Mr. Baldoni’s behavior, but none of the most serious ones were published.

“He doesn’t realise how lucky he is right now,” Ms. Nathan texted Ms. Abel.

In other exchanges, Ms. Nathan claimed that she had kept allegations against him out of stories, writing in one message that major news outlets were “standing down on HR complaint.”

JENNIFER So are we in the clear now?! Did we survive

MELISSA We survived ALL Press is so overwhelming Weve confused people So much mixed messaging It’s actually really funny if you think about it

Messages have been edited for length.

Meanwhile, an online backlash against Ms. Lively was underway.

It is impossible to know how much of the negative publicity was seeded by Ms. Nathan, Mr. Wallace and their team, and how much they noticed and amplified.

On Aug. 10, Kjersti Flaa, a Norwegian entertainment reporter, uploaded to YouTube a 2016 interview in which Ms. Lively snapped back when Ms. Flaa commented on her baby “bump” and remained testy for the rest of the conversation.

Ms. Flaa titled it “The Blake Lively interview that made me want to quit my job,” and told The Daily Mail that “it’s time that people behaving badly in Hollywood, or anywhere else for that matter, gets called out for it.”

After publication of this article, Ms. Flaa on Sunday contacted The Times and said she had not participated in any orchestrated effort to harm Ms. Lively’s reputation.

In an email, she said that she had resurfaced the 2016 interview independently this past August.

“It was neither coordinated nor influenced by anyone associated with the alleged campaign,” she wrote.

It wasn’t the first time she had posted a video aligned with a client of Ms. Nathan.

In 2022, in the midst of Mr. Depp’s legal battle with Ms. Heard, Ms. Flaa posted clips of her interviews with the actor, tagged #JusticeForJohnnyDepp.

During the film rollout, Ms. Lively was also accused of being insensitive about domestic violence.

The official promotion plan instructed the cast to focus more on the uplifting aspects of the movie than on abuse, and to embrace a floral theme (her character has a flower shop).

In several appearances, she never made reference to domestic violence at all.

And she faced criticism when her Betty Booze beverage company was promoting the film, given the role alcohol can play in abusive relationships.

Seeing that blowback, the text messages show, Mr. Baldoni and his P.R. team decided instead to highlight survivors of domestic violence in his interviews and social media.

More criticism came when Ms. Lively said in an interview that Mr. Reynolds, who had no role in the film, had helped rewrite a scene, prompting snarky comments about the actress leaning on her husband and speculation that he had violated the writers strike.

It is unclear exactly how Mr. Wallace operated.

There are references in emails to “social manipulation” and “proactive fan posting,” and text messages cite efforts to “boost” and “amplify” online content that was favorable to Mr. Baldoni or critical of Ms. Lively.

We are crushing it on Reddit,” Mr. Wallace told Ms. Nathan, according to a text she sent Ms. Abel on Aug. 9.

The next day, one of Ms. Nathan’s employees texted, “We’ve started to see shift on social, due largely to Jed and his team’s efforts to shift the narrative.”

Ms. Nathan wrote to Ms. Abel:

“And socials are really really ramping up. In his favour, she must be furious. It’s actually sad because it just shows you have people really want to hate on women.”

When a TikTok sleuth started asking questions about Mr. Baldoni, Ms. Abel texted that “this girl is on a very dangerous crusade.”

“We’ve flagged to Jed and his team for more serious action on the social side,” she wrote.

Throughout the text exchanges, Mr. Baldoni encourages the P.R. team, sometimes flagging social media posts for them to use.

On Aug. 15, he proposes “flipping the narrative” on a positive story about Ms. Lively and her husband by “using their own words against them.”

Other times he appears to vacillate, seeking assurances about the tactics being deployed.

When he notices a tabloid article critical of Ms. Lively, he sends a worried text:

“How can we say somehow that we are not doing any of this — it looks like we are trying to take her down.”

On another occasion, he wondered whether they were deploying fake “bot” accounts on social media.

“I can fully fully confirm we do not have bots,” Ms. Nathan wrote, adding that any digital team would be too intelligent to “utilise something so obvious.”

Mr. Wallace’s operation, she wrote, “is doing something very specific in terms of what they do. I know Jamey & Jed connected on this.”

Mr. Baldoni, Ms. Nathan and others on the team claimed in their text exchanges that Ms. Lively was using her own public relations team to create bad press about Mr. Baldoni but cited no evidence to support those claims.

By mid-August, the team was reveling in the damage to Ms. Lively’s image.

JENNIFER ABEL The narrative online is so freaking good and fans are still sticking up for Justin and there literally has been no pickup of those two articles which is actually shocking to me. But I see this as a total success, as does Justin. You did such amazing work

MELISSA NATHAN Narrative is CRAZY good So did you. The majority of socials are so pro Justin and I don’t even agree with half of them lol Messages have been edited for length.

On Aug. 16, Ms. Nathan shared the Daily Mail article headlined “Is Blake Lively set to be CANCELLED?” with references to ‘hard to watch’ videos and a ‘tone deaf’ promotional Q. and A.

“Wow. You really outdid yourself with this piece,” Ms. Abel responded.

“That’s why you hired me right?” Ms. Nathan replied. “I’m the best.”

‘WE MEN HAVE TO STEP UP’

A brand marketing consultant, Terakeet, produced a report in August for Ms. Lively that concluded she had likely been the object of a “targeted, multichannel online attack” similar to one against Ms. Heard, and that it was damaging her reputation.

The report did not identify who was behind the attack.

But by analyzing “the entirety of Google’s search index” for Ms. Lively’s name, it found that 35 percent of the results also included a reference to Mr. Baldoni.

This was highly unusual given the length of her career, the company said, and suggested that the media environment was being manipulated.

A separate report, by Ms. Lively’s hair-care company, Blake Brown, concluded that the social media onslaught also had a negative effect on that business.

Her product line, which had launched in August with record-breaking sales, estimates that it lost as much as 78 percent in sales.

With the recent arrival of “It Ends With Us” on Netflix, Mr. Baldoni has begun another round of promotion and messaging.

In an interview on “Access Hollywood,” he said “there is never an excuse” to “hurt a woman, physically or emotionally.”

He added, “We men have to step up and figure out how we can be better allies.”

[lateralcast]

Lateral Podcast #72: Billy Joel's 'Kohuept'

Sabrina Cruz, Melissa Fernandes and Taha Khan from 'Answer in Progress' face questions about bricked-up buildings, money misunderstandings and transmuted text.

[ashleysingermfablog]

Wk 16, 4th of May, 2024 Artist Reference

Seshee Bopape: 〰️

ineo Seshee Bopape, "〰️ [when spirituality was a baby]”, mixed media installation, picture by Tom Jeffreys at Collective, 2018

From the text: Affirmation Arts presents PS: Parsing Spirituality by Micaela Giovannotti...

Affirmation Arts Gallery is pleased to present the most recent exhibition from international curator Micaela Giovannotti opening January 10th 2009.  PS: Parsing Spirituality examines the recent resurgence of spirituality in contemporary art. Featuring artists: Janine Antoni, Sebastiaan Bremer, Melissa A. Calderon, Gordon Cheung, Graham Caldwell, Andrea Galvani, Dan Kopp, Ivan Navarro, Lisa Ross, Courtney Smith, Xaviera Simmons, and J. G. Zimmerman.

“Every work of art is the child of its age and, in many cases, the mother of our emotions” (Concerning the Spiritual in Art, W. Kandinsky.)

After being neglected for quite some time, spirituality has risen to the surface in contemporary art. Spirituality based on religious belief has been part of art history since the dawn of time. Art has both advertised and glorified religions, but contemporary art has generally distanced itself from the spiritual realm, focusing its lens on formal and conceptual tenets. Not surprisingly, as often happens in times of secular uncertainties and political and economic turmoil, there is currently a resurgence of interest in spirituality, wherein artists are exploring and re-defining themselves in their work with very introspective and personal means and approaches. However, from a different perspective, these new spiritual elements can be interpreted in part as a contemplative reaction. Layered with complexity, these explorations include universal issues that, while external, are nonetheless of primal importance to the self.

access here:

From the text: Dineo Seshee Bopape's "〰️ [when spirituality was a baby]” by Tom Jeffreys...

Dineo Seshee Bopape, "〰️ [when spirituality was a baby]”, mixed media installation, picture by Tom Jeffreys at Collective, 2018

At once named and unnamable, Dineo Seshee Bopape’s installation 〰️ gathers myriad references (astrology, classical sculpture, Afrodiasporic spiritual practices, the Anthropocene) and materials (soil and rocks, satin and spices, glass and plastic, charcoal, jute, feathers, clay). It weaves them together thrillingly, with gold wire, cotton thread, and lines scraped into the concrete floor. In scale, the installation oscillates from tiny holes made by drawing pins to the vastness of a universe. Seen as a single entity, this is a work that marks itself, maps itself, archives its own making and its own meanings. It is a work that prompts a pile-up of words and renders them all inadequate. All my notes are lists.

The first mystery of the exhibition is its title: a glyph designed by the artist consisting of six wavy vertical marks, represented here by the “〰️” symbol. In print it is like rising steam (or is it falling rain?). Scratched into the gallery floor, or marked in tiny biro lines on the wall, these wobbly lines read more like the Egyptian hieroglyph for water: a linguistic echo of tidal marks in sand or the flowing of a river. It does not translate into letters or sound or language; it cannot be converted into Unicode. In square brackets is a clue: [when spirituality was a baby]. This phrase reaches back toward a nascent state before belief had crystallized into institutional religions, before land ownership perhaps, before meaning itself had yet solidified.

Like many of Bopape’s expansive sculptural installations, 〰️ is almost overwhelming. There are so many things and so little space for the visitor. The octagonal City Dome, one of the buildings of the recently renovated former observatory atop Edinburgh’s Calton Hill, is not big. But the installation contains such an array of materials that they are listed on an accompanying paper: 57 of them, in alphabetical order. These materials span the globe. Bopape has brought soil from the Congo, Germany, Iceland, Palestine, and South Africa. There is citrine from Brazil and verbena from Ukraine. Deep time and a shallow present lie side by side: mammoth bones and charcoal, 225-million-year-old wood from Madagascar alongside tinfoil and plastic bottles.

It feels at first like a place of ritual: there are candles, semi-precious stones, and the smell of incense. Bopape has made dozens of clay shapes, some like tiles, others formed by the clenching of a fist. Snowy owl feathers are tied to bowed branches that hang on golden thread from the high domed roof. And, befitting of an installation that took nine months to birth, there is also life: jars of kombucha. 

This is a vital clue. What is a constellation but a series of lines imposed on a world to make it mean something? A constellation is a silhouette, a gathering, a metaphor, knowledge itself—the layout of Bopape’s entire installation mirrors the stars of Canis Major. Perhaps, after all, this is less about all these material objects than about the wavy lines that connect them—sound, light, language, history, truth—and who has had the power to draw them. Everything here is imbued with meaning. It seeps out across the floor, into the air, and suddenly there is no empty space: not a void between objects, but a breathy and unmappable tapestry of infinite affinities.

This work in that way links to my 'like a constellation of marks' installation strategy. Inferencing many ritual means (artefacts, domesticated nature, fairy rings, grove lines) the works coalesce in a series of marks on the floor space. Connected by histories, their find spots, place and shape, these floor arrangements speak of connected sources.

Left: Ashley Singer, Installation strategy in DEMO Gallery 1, 2024, greenware porcelain, space size approx 1M by 5M

Right: Ashley Singer, Installation strategy in DEMO Gallery 2, 2024, greenware porcelain, space size approx 8M by 5M

[raybeanschildrenslit]

Mermaid Kenzie: Protector of the Deeps - Picture Book

Mermaid Kenzie: Protector of the Deeps by Charlotte Watson Sherman, Geneva Bowers (Illustrator) Published 2021 by Penguin Random House

Written by author Charlotte Watson Sherman and Illustrated by Geneva Bowers, Mermaid Kenzie: Protector of the Deeps follows a young black girl and her love for the ocean and its inhabitants as she raises awareness to the impact humans have on them. As Kenzie cleans her room, she reflects on wonderful memories of the ocean that she has with her mother before taking a visit to it after cleanup. When she gets to go, she studies the water with her microscope and goes for a swim with her mother when she starts to notice the presence of trash in the ocean. Despite the sorrow the littering brings her, Kenzie vows that as a mermaid she will clean up the ocean for her underwater pals, even recruiting new friends to the cause. We end this lovely story with an author's note about the plastic in our oceans and a question for the reader: “What will you do?” (2021).

In Vardell’s 2019 text- Children’s Literature in Action: A Librarian’s Guide (3rd ed.)- we are given evaluation criteria regarding children’s picture books such as characters, plot, setting, theme, style, illustrations, and cultural markers- let’s take a look at a couple (2019). The Theme of Kenzie’s story is that of caring about the environment and taking action to make a difference. The reader gets a great sense of the range of things one in Kenzie’s shoes enjoys about the ocean, the activities, the memories it holds, and the potential it has. When she discovers that there is human waste like plastic affecting the homes of her ocean friends, she resolves to be the mermaid for the job and works to clean up and do her part- as I mentioned before, even recruiting new friends to help the cause. We even have the author’s note at the end of this story discussing the issue of plastic in the Earth’s oceans. Kenzie’s Character is a fantastic one concerning the story she is a part of and the reflection she can be to young readers. She is a young girl with a fantastic love for the ocean and she expresses this and her great imagination through playing mermaid and learning about the ocean- she even doesn’t like to clean her room which I am sure many of us can relate to regardless of age. She is also not just a young girl, but a young black girl- giving readers like her a chance to see themselves reflected in the stories they are reading in a fun and positive way.

I think this book would make an excellent addition to any display or discussion regarding environmentalism, especially that of the impact humans have had on the ocean and what we can do to combat what has been done and what can be done to do better in the future. I can see it taking a place next to Mother of Sharks by Melissa Cristina Márquez and Devin Elle Kurtz- this wasn’t my intention with reading either of these but I am glad there is a connection that can be made between them in this way. Selfishly, I thought the Ocean and Sharks were cool and the art of both these fictions were beautiful so I picked them up but it is important for readers to have this but also be challenged by prompts like “what will you do?” Maybe in a public library- or a range of library entities- not only can displays be made and discussions had but I wonder if there could be a way to organize an environmental cleanup locally. Encourage individuals to be conscious of the impact we have both positive and negative on the spaces we occupy.

-Ray 01/20/2024

Sherman, C. W., & Bowers, G. (2022). Mermaid Kenzie: Protector of the Deeps. Boyds Mills Press. 

Vardell, S.M. (2019). Children’s literature in action: A librarians’s guide (3rd ed.). Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio.