#( they were v in love and good for each other and joey is affected very deeply by his loss ) ;

[cultfought]

 drabble: CHRISTMAS MAGIC ; this is a little drabble set before the events of fc5. i really wanted to explore a little bit of joey’s relationship with her partner, danny, before he’s killed, as well as write some unapologetic holiday fluff. hope you enjoy !!

“ho, ho, ho -- merry christmas!” she can hear him all the way from the other side of the bar. deputy daniel barrett, always so effortlessly the center of attention. the annual spread eagle christmas celebration is in full swing -- gary fairgrave is behind the bar, making sure the hands of the hope county residents are never empty. his daughter, mary may, is casing the room, in charge of empty bottles, effortlessly dodging the attempts of hurk jr. to get her under the mistletoe. then there’s pastor jerome, on his third beer, excitedly discussing his plans for the next morning’s christmas sermon with a politely smiling grace armstrong. nick and kim rye are fumbling around in the far corner with their conjoined monstrosity of a christmas sweater -- while sheriff whitehorse does his best not to laugh at their antics. a slight rumble and loud noise from outside gives away whatever ‘event’ sharky boshaw’s working on out back.

it’s a HOPE COUNTY CHRISTMAS EVE like any other -- perfect in all of it’s imperfections. deputy joey hudson is more than content to watch everyone in their holiday bliss with her beer in hand. danny, just like every year, is dressed up like santa claus -- stuffed belly, beard and all. it’s his TRADITION to dress up as the man himself and take up a post in the middle of the bar, sitting in a big, red chair. he stays completely in character as the residents of hope county, in their incresingly drunken states, plop down in his lap to tell him what is it they want for christmas. staci’s there now -- perched on his knee and excitedly telling him everything he wants for the upcoming holiday.

“. . . and i want a PUPPY!” joey hears him finish, watching as danny lifts staci’s elf hat from his head, ruffling his hair like he’s a child. it’s heartwarming, to say the least, to watch danny spread his holiday cheer amongst the people of hope county. . . especially when she knows he’ll do his best, with her help of course, to make sure everyone gets what they want. just last year a drunken nick rye had confessed to danny ( after setting his wife free from their sweater monstrosity for a bathroom break ) that he found a gorgeous necklace for kim -- but he couldn’t afford it. so, of course, danny did what any christmas miracle worker would do. . . he hired nick for flying lessons so he could make the remainder of the money to get kim her gift. a glance over to kim would show she’s wearing the necklace, just as she does EVERY SINGLE DAY. joey’s a lucky woman, and she knows it, especially as she watches danny interact effortlessly with everyone who comes over to him. he’s a good man -- maybe the best man she’s ever met -- and she can’t quite believe he looks at her the way he does. once, he was her mentor. . . but now? danny barrett is her WORLD. he catches her looking at him, and joey immediately deflects her gaze to the ceiling, studying the worn wood as he stands. soon enough, he’s at her side, even though she isn’t looking at him, his hand on the small of her back. “ho, ho, ho. . .” he leans in, murmuring in her ear. “danny, please --” joey counters, rolling her eyes, already aware of where this leads. “what do you want for christmas. . .”  “don’t you dare--” “little girl?” her immediate response is to press her palm against his cheek, shoving him away from her. although it isn’t violent, and much more playful in nature, her point is clear. “yeah, i heard it when i said it. . . kinda gross, right?” danny laughs, grinning at her. “kinda? you called me a little girl, danny.” joey raises an eyebrow, finally looking his way. “yeah, point taken. but still, i noticed you haven’t come to see santa yet. . .” “you would be correct,” “jo, everyone is supposed to see santa. how else is he supposed to know what you want for christmas?” he punctuates his sentence with a little flick to the reindeer antlers perched atop her head. they’re HIS IDEA -- danny loves christmas more than just about anything else. and he was so excited this year to present joey with a pair of antlers and staci with a red and green striped elf hat. now, joey wouldn’t have chosen to wear the antlers all on her own. . . but she actually finds them kind of cute and festive. not that she’d ADMIT THAT to danny. “well i’ve already told my boyfriend that i don’t want anything for christmas. maybe he can tell santa.” joey points out. “oh believe me, he has. and both your boyfriend and santa think you’re LYING.” “i mean it, danny. i really don’t want anything. i’m good. just. . . doing the christmas thing with everyone is enough,” she sighs, finishing off her beer, “i don’t need presents to be happy.” “no one needs presents -- they want presents. . .” danny begins, before reaching for her hand. before joey has any idea what he’s doing, he’s pulling her out of her seat, dragging her to his santa chair in the middle of the room. “no, danny, i am not -- not in front of everyone. . .” she protests in a low voice. but he’s steadfast, pulling her towards the chair. “everyone sits in santa’s lap, jo, that’s the rule.”  danny drops back into the chair, his hands on joey’s hips as he tugs her into his lap. she stumbles a little, before perching on his knee -- if only a little stiffly. danny tugs her a little closer, one arm around her waist and his free hand resting on her knee. it’s more COMFORTABLE than she wants to admit. “this is stupid.” “bah humbug,” danny teases. “shut up.” instead of continuing to bug her, though, he just lets her sit, coaxing her to rest her side against his chest. it’s actually relaxing, especially as his gloved hand rubs up and down her back. joey decides she likes this much better than where she want before. she can still observe, watching the party wind down as the hours drag on. . . but she doesn’t have to do it alone. it’s one of the things she LOVES about danny. . . he’s always happy being the center of attention, being the brightest spot in the room. but he knows that joey isn’t. . . and sometimes his need to be close to her overrides his need to be in the middle of it all. eventually staci pulls a chair over too, bringing danny and joey another beer. he’s going on and on about how much he really does want that damn puppy, and he hopes santa’s going to be good to him this year. . . and joey lives for the way his face lights up when he talks. the three of them laugh together, recalling memories of the past year, sharing hopes for the next. . . it’s heartwarming to see how much staci’s grown as a deputy, and joey can’t help but feel so excited for his future in that moment. and for her own as well.  it strikes her, huddled in the middle of their local bar on christmas eve, that she’s HAPPY. happier than she’s ever been before. . . and she never wants this feeling to go away. it’s another hour or so before the fairgraves close up shop, bidding everyone good night. the residents of hope county spill out into the snow covered landscape of fall’s end, their laughter filling the silent night. the three deputies pile into danny’s truck, and they drop staci off first -- and danny and staci hug about four times before they actually leave -- before driving home themselves. once they arrive to their little blue farmhouse, danny’s quick to help joey out of the truck, even if she rolls her eyes at him. once through the front door, joey almost pays no mind to anything, until danny grabs her by the hand, pulling her back. “what are you doing. . .?” “look up.” she does as she’s instructed, only to find a small sprig of mistletoe hanging proudly above their heads. honestly, she shouldn’t be as SURPRISED as she is. “when did you have time to do that? i’ve been with you all day. . .” “you don’t believe in christmas magic, joey?” she rolls her eyes, but tugs danny in for a kiss, santa beard and all. her arms wrap around his neck, his around her waist as they kiss in their doorway, not a care in the world. like a scene from a movie, just as they break apart, it starts to snow. ”see? christmas magic.” danny grins down at her. this might just be, joey thinks, the best christmas she’s ever had. ------ christmas isn’t the same two years later. she’d much rather be at the annual hope county christmas shindig, and she’s fairly sure staci would too. . . but neither of them feel very festive today, even if staci is wearing his elf hat, and joey’s in her reindeer antlers. she’s clutching a bright red santa hat in her hands, fingers gripping the fuzzy fabric with almost too much force.  a graveyard is the last place anyone wants to spend their holidays. DANIEL BARRETT BELOVED HOPE COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPUTY BELOVED SON, BROTHER, FRIEND they stare at the grave for a long moment, a pitiful monument to the man who was so full of life and love. a permanent stone reminder of what has been taken from them. eventually, staci sits on the blanket they’ve laid in the snow, shifting a small cooler tin between himself and joey. joey sits beside him, opening two beers -- one for her, one for staci. it still seems strange not to open a third. they sit in silence most of the night -- the wounds are still too raw to discuss openly. it doesn’t feel right to spend christmas without their santa claus. . . but it would feel even worse to leave danny alone on christmas. even though they both know he’s not really here. this grave is a poor excuse for the man it memorializes. after a few hours, it’s too cold for them to keep sitting outside, and staci packs up their effects in favor for a night spent inside on his couch. joey hesitates as he turns to head back to her car. “you comin’, jo?” “uh yeah. just. . . i need a moment.” staci gets the hint, and leaves her be with a little pat to her shoulder. she waits for a moment, listening to the crunch of staci’s boots in the snow, until she knows she’s alone. reaching into her pocket, she pulls out a little sprig of mistletoe -- the very same that hung over their door that very first christmas they spent together. she runs her gloved fingers over the leaves, before leaning down, to place the mistletoe in front of danny’s grave. “it’s. . . it’s really hard to believe in christmas magic, danny. but i’m trying. i promise you, i’m trying.” tears jump to her eyes, and she presses her fingers to the corner of her eyes. sucking in a breath, she turns her back on his grave, heading back to her car, to staci. she isn’t even a few steps away before it starts to snow. joey stops, chin tilting up to look at the gentle flakes falling from the sky. even now, she can’t help but smile. maybe there was something to this christmas magic thing after all.

[blu-joons]

DATING GOT7 HEADCANON A⇴Z ⇴ Mark Tuan

A ⇴ AFFECTION

Mark is incredibly shy with his affection, he loves to wrap his arms around you or offer you a kiss, but he’ll always do it with a red glow to his cheeks. You can always tell when he’s getting coy as you’ll hear his giggle in your ear.

B ⇴ BEFORE DATING

It takes him a long time to build up the confidence to really talk to someone, and you were no different. You were the first to say hello on your third time of meeting at the studio, Mark was so relieved that you’d made his job easier. It surprised him more than anything how comfortable he quickly felt talking to you, trying to know as much about you as possible.

C ⇴ CONFESSION

An impulse came over him one night as the two of you met up for drinks, he wasn’t sure what suddenly prompted him to tell you how he felt, but if he didn’t follow the impulse, he never knew when he’d find the confidence to tell you again. It definitely took you by surprise, completely out of the blue, but you were more than pleased to hear how he felt. As his cheeks blushed at the end of his speech, you happily let him know how you felt too.

D ⇴ DATES

He works hard on making every date night special for you both, he’ll often greet you at your door with flowers or something to eat. He loves to do something active, he’s not one for sitting around in a fancy restaurant and talking. Your dates usually consist of something sporty, ice skating, rollerblading, anything that Mark can show off to you doing is a good thing with him. You can’t lie, you love seeing how athletic and sporty he is, even if he’s not super competitive, he’ll hate when he loses to you at anything.

E ⇴ EXPERIENCE

There had been a couple of dates in school whilst he was in America, but since he came to Korea, he’d never been phased about dating, and instead wanted to focus on his career. He knew he was starting to reach an age where he had to think about the future, and that was something he really started to consider whilst with you. He had goals in his life that he wanted to achieve, he’d achieved a lot with his music, but also, he wanted to be married within the decade. He’d never focussed on anything but his career, but when he met you, he really began to consider a little more about his long-term future too.

F ⇴ FIGHTING

His temper definitely isn’t what it once was, but that still doesn’t stop the two of you squabbling from time to time. He’s become a lot more sensitive and understanding in recent years, and that definitely shows with you. He hates arguing with you, especially when he’s supposed to be the one that loves and supports you. If the two of you argue, he’ll usually take himself away from the situation to calm himself down, and then when he feels relaxed again, he’ll come back and talk things through with you, and quickly forget about the argument.

G ⇴ GETTING TO KNOW HIS FAMILY

You knew how close he was to his family, but they quickly took a liking to you despite that. Seeing that Mark had someone with him whilst he was thousands of miles away was a huge comfort for them, each time he arranged to head home they pleaded with him to take you too so that they could get to know you better.

H ⇴ HOME

He was quite keen on moving you into his place quickly, he enjoyed the company of having someone around too, even if the two of you were sat in silence. Milo also bonded with you as well, seeing the two of you curled up on the sofa when he’d come home late at night was his favourite sight, one that he knew he wanted to be able to see forever.

I ⇴ “I LOVE YOU”

Mark was the first to say, ‘I love you,’ at the end of one of your dates. You were convinced you’d be able to beat him on the air hockey table, but when you didn’t, and started to whine, he was quick to try and make you smile. Like his confession, it was a bit of an impulse, but he knew how he felt, even if he wanted to admit it in a more romantic setting.

J ⇴ JEALOUSY

There are definitely times where Mark can get jealous, he’s very protective of you and your relationship. It’s usually when someone around you gets loud and he begins to feel pushed aside, he has a lot of pride, and if someone is capturing your attention more than he does he’ll definitely feel sensitive about it. If Mark gets jealous, he’ll get quiet, which you’ll quickly catch onto. You’re very quick to reassure him and shut out whoever else is around you so that you can go back to focussing on Mark instead.

K ⇴ KIDS

He was very open about wanting children in the future, with his three nieces already, he was keen on adding to the family. Mark wanted to do things the traditional way, once he was married, then he’d consider a family. His family loved to tease him about when he’d start settling down with you, as they could see how happy you both were, but also, he knew they were desperate to have more grandchildren running around the house.

L ⇴ LAUGHTER

Mark’s laugh was one of your favourite things about him from the moment that you met; it was the sweetest sound that always brought a smile to your face. At times he was quite quiet, so his laughter was reassuring to you to know that he was alright. He found himself laughing a lot more when he was around you, he loved to tease you and tickle you, which also brought plenty of laughter out of you. You could hear his laughter often, especially when he was playing games with Joey which would always make your heart very happy.

M ⇴ MISSING

He’d had no choice for many years but to get used to being away from his family but being away from you made him feel sixteen again. He really struggled being away from you, he hated the lonely feeling of not having someone constantly around to laugh and joke with. It was hard on him, he’d try and call his family often, but also make time for you too, he never wanted to upset anyone when he was on tour. You’d send him Milo updates as often as you could to try and make sure he was happy, but he’d only smile properly when he came back from tour and went back to lazing around the apartment with the two of you.

N ⇴ NICKNAMES

Neither of you ever really settled on a nickname for each other, you tended to just speak whatever came to mind. Both of you had tendencies to use, ‘love’ more than anything else which others loved to tease you about.

O ⇴ OBSESSION

He was obsessed with your smile, he loved being able to physically see that he was making you happy, especially when he’d be able to hear you laughing away too.

P ⇴ PDA

PDA wasn’t something Mark was huge on, he’d often hold your hand or keep a hand against your waist in public, but that was usually about it. He loved to care for you though, he’d often offer you a sip of his drink or a bit of his meal, and he’d always try and make sure he was opening doors for you and keeping you safe.

Q ⇴ QUESTIONS

The question Mark often asks is to see if you and Milo are alright. He often feels like he burdens you by caring for Milo, even though you always remind you love to look after him, but if anything ever is wrong, he’ll be straight home in a heartbeat.

R ⇴ RANDOM FACTS

Whenever he’s streaming or playing a game, he’ll write down all the comments he sees written about you. Once his stream ends, he’ll sit down with you and let you know all the things that the fans said about you. Not only does it make you feel more comfortable around the fans, but it also makes him feel a lot happier that the fans are so accepting of you both.

S ⇴ SEX

It very much depends on the mood who takes control of these moments, Mark loves to assert his dominance sometimes, but other times he’ll be more than happy to sit back and let you do the work. Regardless of who’s in charge, sex will always be a very affectionate affair. You both like to take your time, and make sure nothing gets rushed, which often leaves the two of you with blushed cheeks by the end.

T ⇴ TEXTS

He’ll text you often throughout the day, so it feels like you’re there with him. He likes his own mind sometimes, but he doesn’t necessarily like enjoying that alone, so if he can receive a text from you whilst he’s lost in his head, it’ll always make him feel better.

U ⇴ UNIVERSE

Not many people truly appreciated how amazing his personality was because he was so quiet, but no one valued it more than you did. You made him feel special every time he was with you, because best of all, you understood him.

V ⇴ VACATION

Since he began dating you, he loved to try and use his holiday time for you both, but you had other ideas. Whilst he was talking to you about a trip to China, you were busy organising a trip back to LA for you both. Not only did it mean the world to his family, but also him, knowing you were willing to make such a huge effort for him.

W ⇴ WHINING

The only time you’d ever hear him moan was when he was playing games, if he ever lost, you definitely knew about it, even from the other side of the apartment.

X ⇴ XXXXX

Kisses are definitely frequent from Mark, whenever the two of you are laid together, he’ll love to kiss you, whether it be the top of your head, the back of your hand, or against your cheek. You can always feel his smile whenever he kisses you, whenever his eyes meet yours, he’ll always end up with a horrendous blush which you’ll definitely tease him for. He’ll never stop kissing you though, he’ll just hide his face whilst he does.

Y ⇴ YOU

You were his rock, no one was there for him like you were.

Z ⇴ ZZZ

It was a battle most nights for Mark’s attention against Milo, you’d often roll over to feel Milo’s paw resting up against you. When you’d wake up the following morning and complain to Mark that Milo stole you, all he’d ever do was laugh.

---

Masterlist

[princessamericachavez]

Fjorester in the Bjreaus talk

It’s yelling about Fjorester hours. I haven’t done this breakdowns in a while but there’s so much to analyze in that Bjreau’s talk and so much subtext and admissions and feelings in Fjord’s explanations that I really need to go step by step

this is mostly focused on the Fjorester side of the conversation because so many people have already broken down the BY in it and maybe i will too later but for now let me focus on my main OTP because wow 

Beau: So…. Jester

Fjord: *pikachu panic*

Fjord: There it comes. I was wondering when that melodic intro was gonna hit. 

Fjord: J-J-Jester?

THE WAY HE STUTTERS HER NAME. IM SO SOFT. 

Beau: You know what I’m gonna ask, dude, right? Like, what’s the deal?

Fjord, still deflecting: when you come with the ‘dude’, yes, I know what you wanna as.

Fjord, getting serious suddenly: What? What about Jester?

THAT’S THE FACE YOU MAKE WHEN YOU KNOW YOU’VE BEEN CAUGHT ON UR CRUSH AND UR TRYING TO PLAY IT COOL BUT YOU’RE FREAKING OUT ENTIRELY

I MEAN THAT SMILE

Beau: 

Fjord:

Beau:

THEY BOTH KNOW. THEY ARE JUST DARING THE OTHER TO SAY IT OUT LOUD. 

Beau, finally giving in: You know how she feels about you. Or, at least, how she did. I don’t know if she still does.

*Fjord, immediately, starts touching his mouth in that nervous mannerism he always has when his image insecurities are brought up, like he wants to hide his tusks*

*i start quietly sobbing*

Fjord: I don’t either! I have no idea. 

DO YOU HEAR ME SCREAMING ABOUT FJORD, AFTER 108 EPISODES, ACKNOWLEDGING ALL THE FLIRTING JESTER USED TO DO AND THE FACT THAT SHE MIGHT HAVE HAD A CRUSH ON HIM EVEN IF HE DOESN’T KNOW IF THAT’S STILL THE CASE?

HE’S NEVER ACKNOWLEDGED THAT BEFORE

Fjord: I’m actually the less clued in as to how Jester feels. I actually tried to… ask, but I don’t know. 

WHEN FJORD? YOU HAVEN’T ASKED. SO WHEN DID YOU TRY? WHEN DID YOU WANT TO AND DIDN’T? WHAT CONVERSATION WAS YOU CAREFULLY TRYING TO SEE IF SHE STILL LOVES YOU? I NEED ANSWERS

Beau: You have to kinda be direct with Jester. Like, if you tried to side-step it-

Fjord: I get that. It’s just that there are more pressing matters at hand

I KNEW HE WASN’T GOING TO DO ANYTHING DURING TC BECAUSE SHE’S SO STRESSED ALREADY AND HE WANTS HER TO HAVE HER TIME AND ALL THEIR SUPPORT WITHOUT ADDING STRESS

Fjord: And… I feel like I’m the fourth version of myself since I left Port Damali. And I feel like it could change again in a month or three months. I feel as if the ground is shifting underneath my feet every few nights that I wake up. And it’s crazy, I actually love cause it’s all been for the better, it no matter how crazy it’s been, but what I wanted when this all began is so far in the past I can’t… I forget about it sometimes. It comes for me in the middle of the night. But… Jester is hard to ignore. 

I HAVE (as you might expect) SO MANY FEELINGS ABOUT THIS WHOLE LITTLE MONOLOGUE 

FJORD SUMMING UP SO MUCH OF HIS ARC AND HOW HE’S STILL NOW TRYING TO FIND HIMSELF AND WHO HE REALLY IS AND HOW HE KEEPS CHANGING AND GROWING

but clearly that lack of stability, as much as it thrills him, it also makes him anxious, not knowing who he will be next and what he will believe and what he will want

AN ALLUSION TO HIS DEATH THAT WE NEVER TALKED ABOUT BUT CLEARLY —CLEARLY— IS STILL IN HIS MIND AND SOMEONE NEEDS TO ADRESS ASAP PLS 

And then, right there after the nod to his death, Jester comes back into the statement. Fjord describes the changes and turmoil in his life like all of that is already too much to also focus on love… and then says but she’s still there, in my mind, by my side, all the time. In that mess of these pasts few months, Jester is his lighthouse

Beau: Yeah, no. I- I know! I’m pretty certain literally everyone has a crush on her. 

Fjord *panics like that Joey meme*: WHAT?

Beau: Like, at least all of Mighty Nein. I don’t know, though, but I’m pretty sure everyone she meets is like ‘well, I’d maybe kill for you, yeah’

Fjord: No, yeah, I totally agree with. 

ME TOO BJREAUS. ME TOO. 

Fjord: No, I- where is she?

I’M SO SAD THAT FJORD MISSED HIS PERCEPTION FOR HER BECAUSE I WONDER WHY TRAVIS WANTED TO KNOW SO BADLY 

I HAVE THE FEELING THERE WAS SOMETHING THERE OTHER THAN BEING CAREFUL SHE WOULDN’T HEAR HIM

Fjord: I... 

LOVE HER? WHAT WERE YOU GOING TO SAY FJORD WHAT

THIS PAUSE IS SO LONG IT’S AGING ME

Fjord: You know when someone makes you feel a way that you don’t think you have any right to feel? Or you never thought that you might?

I AM SCREAMING  

FJORD

BABY 

WHY DON’T YOU THINK YOU’RE EVEN ALLOWED TO LOVE HER

WHY NOT??

YOU DESERVE LOVE AND TO BE LOVED AND YOU ABSOLUTELY CAN LOVE HER LIKE PLS TRAVIS WHY ARE YOU GIVING ME ALL THIS PINING MY ROMANTIC ASS CAN’T HANDLE THIS

BUT ALSO LOOK AT THAT SMILE

HE’S SO IN AWE WITH HIS OWN FEELINGS AND HAPPINESS

Fjord: And that feels... off... because I should know how I feel or what I want! 

*low wisdom frustration intensifies*

Fjord: But... there’s a gravity around Jester, at least to me, and she’s the one I’ve known longest in this new part of my... life. And I really thought that when this started there would be an end for me in this, and I would get even or retribution or payback and then I’d be... done. And it hasn’t been that way at all! It shriveled up and died and in its place seven new interests sprouted and... 

[i can’t type the whole Academy thing, im too tired and this is so long already but what a great throwback]

Listen listen listen tho

i wanna talk about this

i wanna talk about fjord noticing jester’s crush and not acting on this because he was convinced the m9 were temporary

i want to talk about a part of him always feeling like this will eventually end and be ripped away from him and how then it kept going and going 

and this woman he met was just such a steady and supportive presence in his life through it all that finally, finally after months, he can’t deny that she’s part of his life for good??

but that also explains what he said before and how he’s afraid that he’ll change again and lose this

like, there’s SO MUCH TO UNPACK HERE GUYS SO MUCH ABOUT THEIR EARLY HISTORY AND WHERE THEY STAND NOW

Fjord: I... I... I want Jester to be happy. 

Fjord: I do feel v-v-very strongly for her. 

FJORD LOOK SO FRUSTRATED WITH HIMSELF AS HE —WHO IS KNOWN FOR HIS SILVER TONGUE— STRUGGLES TO PUT INTO WORDS HIS FEELINGS AND KEEPS FREAKING STUTTERING SO MUCH IM SO

Fjord: But I also know, when this began, her affections might have been based entirely on whimsy... I don’t know!

I AM LIVING FOR THIS ANGST

FIRST OF ALL: SECOND CONFIRMATION THAT FJORD NOTICED ALL THE FLIRTING

SECOND OF ALL: HIS INSECURITIES COMING FORTH AND TELLING HIM MAYBE SHE NEVER LIKED HIM ANYWAY

THIRD AND FOREMOST: I FREAKING LOVE THIS TROPE OF PINING SWITCHAROO AND THE WAY THIS REFLECT JESTER’S DOUBTS DURING THE PIRATE ARC ABOUT MAYBE FJORD NOT BEING WHO SHE FIRST MET AND THE WAY THEY KEEP SECOND GUESSING THEIR OWN JUDGMENT OF EACH OTHER EVEN WHEN THEY KNOW EACH OTHER THE BEST

AND LISTEN LISTEN IM JUST

this is the perfect parallel to her talk with caleb in darktow ok

and im fucking living for this angst and this doubts and to see fjord yearn for her the way she did for so long 

WHAT A DELICIOUS DYNAMIC 

Fjord: And I don’t really feel like asking, either. I almost don’t wanna... know.

THAT HESITATION DESTROYS ME SO MUCH

FJORD IS SO SCARED TO RUIN THINGS, TO LOSE HER, TO HAVE CONFIRMATION THAT HIS FEELINGS AREN’T RECIPROCATED

but here’s the thing. He’s ok with that. He doesn’t expect her to love him back, doesn’t need her to feel the same way. Fjord is just happy loving her and being her friend and being here to support her and make her happy. That’s enough. 

How selfless is that? How absolutely romantic and painful and heartfelt? 

I love this so much. This love isn’t possessive nor demanding. All he wants, all he really asks for, is the chance to make sure she’s happy and safe. 

He requires nothing in return. Being around her light and showering in her warmth are enough. She’s already given him so much support, he can’t ask more... certainly not love in the way he would want, in the way he would hope, because life has never told him he’s worthy of such thing —not a monster like him— so why would she? 

Fjord: I just like it and, to me, as long as she’s alright...

hOW MANY TIMES BY NOW HAS FJORD SAID IN DIFFERENT CONVERSATIONS “as long as she’s alright” “as long as she’s happy” “as long as she’s not getting hurt” “as long as she trusts him” HE KEEPS REPEATING IT LIKE IT’S THE ONE THING THAT TRULY MATTERS TO HIM IN THE WORLD IM-

Fjord: It seems like this is not a permanent... thing. It’s not like we’re gonna leave her in this island and we’re gonna just go off which I was worried about before, but it sounds like it’s all... for show and it might be the Nein again after all this.

HEAR ME OUT

FJORD WAS WORRIED ABOUT JESTER LEAVING

ABOUT JESTER STAYING HERE

ABOUT JESTER TAKING OFF WITH THE TRAVELER AND NOT LOOKING BACK

and we know that was a possibility right?

BUT I THINK BACK TO THE VERY FIRST TIME SHE MENTIONED THIS (iirc it was after the giants fight way back during their second xhorhasian mission) HE SEEMED CONCERNED ABOUT JESTER GOING FOR GOOD. THERE WAS A HESITATION THERE

But really I wanna know how long... how long has Fjord been worried about her leaving, about loosing her... how much of what’s been going on has been him —without saying it— concerned that she’s about to leave the group, how many of their interactions and conversations (”i’m glad you’re here”, “we are happy to have you”, all the talks about disappearing and leaving the sad parts of the world behind) had him secretly concerned that she would soon leave??

AND DON’T GET ME STARTED ON WHAT HAPPENED IN THE LATER HALF OF THE EPISODE

Fjord: and then, I don’t know what. I wanna explore the world! I want to see the lands we haven’t seen! I want to find the things that people are scared of and solve them or do what everyone else needs to do...

Fjord: but....... I- I hope- I hope she’s a part of that

I’M SCREAMING PLS BOY HE’S SO IN LOVE AND ALL BUT CONFESSING IT HELP ME PLS

the way he deflates and gets very quiet and earnest as he admits this????

im sobbing

[im not gonna get on Beauyasha territory because as much as that made me want to scream too this is soooo long already that i feel like that deserves a meta on its own]

i do wanna point out that fjord definitely seemed kinda jealous when Beau started describing her former crush on Jester

Like, he’s so excited to talk about her and Yasha but when Beau brings past feelings into this you can feel a note of panic and defensiveness as he says 

Beau: so I definitely had a crush on Jester, just since we’re drunk and we can be...

Fjord: when you said it before, it was like a thing... you had a real crush on Jester?

Beau: well, she’s so enigmatic, like you said and she just like... she’s got this way... just when she talks...

Fjord: 

Fjord: I’m talking about Yasha! You can go back to Yasha! It’s- uhm-

HE’S SO ANNOYED IM LAUGHING SO HARD

also fun thing

it’s similar to when he’s reacted to the traveler before and jester calling artagan handsome lmfao

im just saying 

and I like that he’s being supportive and he listens and all, even when Beau brings Jester back up... but then he confirms that Beau’s feelings for Yasha are deeper than for Jester and he definitely seems happy with that answer, both for Beau’s happiness (you know Fjord is so excited about these two since forever but especially the way he asks when he turns the tables on Beau he’s so excited for her!) but also because maybe it means one less chance that his own feelings won’t be reciprocated? like an... “alright, so we are good? with this? this is not going to hurt your feelings if i.. if i do love her?” and i think that’s very sweet? like regardless he’s gauging the depth of Beau’s feelings in this regard and I think if she confessed something deeper he would, heartbrokenly, step back and let her have a chance... especially since he’s happy just loving Jester from afar

ANYWAY

I WILL KEEP YELLING ABOUT THIS CONVO IN MY CORNER

AND OTHER MOMENTS THAT I WILL PROBABLY BREAK DOWN LATER

BUT THAT’S ALL FOR NOW

OKAY THAT’S A LOT OF YELLING

bye

[thelunaticbinge]

Kenny Omega is a Siren

And I am but a flailing sailor throwing myself onto the rocks.

I've been watching wrestling since I was about 10 years old, give or take. I'm now 28, almost 29. I fell in and out of watching it along the way, but have been pretty consistent for the past 6 years.

WWF/WWE has been the primary player in my story, understandably. I grew up in love with (and still am in love with Jeff Hardy).  I gravitated, as a kid, toward colorful characters and teams like Team Xtreme, and ones that were high flying dare devils.  The acrobatic, lightning fast nature of that style captivates kids easily, it can’t be denied.  I still love the style, and appreciate any performer that works that way.  It’s high energy and grabs the audience.

Despite this preferred style, however, I must admit that the actual wrestling wasn’t what initially drew me in, and it isn’t often what keeps me held nowadays.  Obviously, if I didn’t enjoy the physical aspect, I wouldn’t be watching, and I can recognize when someone is particularly talented at what they do in the ring.  But it was always the characters and the stories that pulled me in when I was younger, and which continue to do this day.  That being said, I’ve gravitated away from WWE in a lot of ways.  I appreciate so much of what the guys and girls do, and how hard they work, and how talented they are, and yet I’ve been terribly bored by it all lately.  The stories just aren’t there for me.  But that’s an essay for another day when I have more patience.

Fast forward to roughly a year and half to two years ago.  Enter Bullet Club/The Elite.  

I have far too much solitary time at my job so my mind tends to wander into daydreaming about what it would be like to meet some of these guys, or else what it would be like to sit down and actually spew my wrestling fandom story to some made up interviewer.  Doing this really helped me dissect what it is I love about Kenny as a performer.  Because I love him as a person too, but that much goes without saying.  I’ll get this out of the way right now so that I can be genuine and serious for the rest of this.  Most of what I explain in this essay lends A TON to the fact that the man is just sexy as fuck.  Kill me dead.

 God damn angel.

The first thing that drew me to Kenny was, in fact, his in ring ability.  As I said before, I don’t often over analyze what the wrestlers do in the ring aside from finishers or signature moves and if I like the way they look.  For instance, I think the RKO is one of the loveliest moves to watch.  Call me fake all you want, it’s fine by me.  I’ve been watching long enough to know what most moves are called and how an in-ring performance aids the story: I’m not uneducated, this is simply about taste.  I’m a plot person, a charisma and character person.

But Kenny is one of the special ones.

Something about the way he moves strikes a chord.  It took me a while to pinpoint what it might be, but I finally had an epiphany not too long ago.  He really does move like a video game character.  I grew up loving video games and while I don’t play as much anymore, I really appreciate how his passion for them bleeds into his wrestling style.  

And it isn’t just his moves, but his mannerisms.  I’ve seen a lot of people say they don’t like that about him; that he’s too over the top and goofy sometimes, and I just want to tell them, “That’s the point, though.”  He excels at being over the top.  Because depending on what he’s doing, who he’s fighting, what the current arc is, his mannerisms always make sense to me.  The deliveries of his finger gun, the “You can’t escape”, some of his crazy eyes.  I love it all.

I am 90% sure that the first match I ever saw of his was the one with Jericho at the Tokyo Dome.  So obviously I haven’t been around long as far as his career goes.  But if there was ever a match to fall in love at first sight with him, that was the one.

His moves, guys.  HIS MOVES.  The man is a machine.  But like a 95% organic, android machine.  Terminator, obviously.  Wink wink.

Think about it.  He is so crisp, concise, and articulate in how he moves.  He is both explosive and technical.  He mixes the powerful moves in with the high flying, manic style I’ve loved since I was ten in such a seamless way.  The one-winged angel is a great move for its established devastation.  Rarely have I seen anyone kick out of it, which is why I’m glad he never connected with it in the Mox match at Full Gear.  Mox was able to come out on top in his specialty match, and yet Kenny wasn’t lessened by having his finisher made ineffective.

But I’ve found that even though I adore Kenny’s finisher and his flying over the ropes and around the ring, it’s some of the other things he does that fascinate me.  For one, I adore the movement for his “You can’t escape” segment.  How, may I ask, does a person move like that?  And I’m not even talking about the moonsault part.  I provide a link to a twitter gif because I can’t save gifs off twitter.  Click HERE.

The man is like a gymnast with that stuck landing GOOD LORD.

To make up for the lack of an at hand visual, have this gif because I love it.

Secondly, the V-Trigger.  This is a signature, yes, but fucking beautiful to watch.  It’s speed and power and looks as life-ending as it does poetic.  Just ask Joey Janela.

Have I mentioned yet that I love Kenny’s run?  It’s so distinctive.  Especially when it first starts.  The high knee.  The acceleration.  The man is gorgeous in motion.  Just agree with me and we’ll keep trucking along here.

The one move, though, that really illustrates what I’m getting at here is one that should--at least to my not professional in any way eye--be fairly elementary.  I’m talking about the the snapdragon.

Please correct me if I’m wrong in saying this, but to my eye it seems like a move not developed for its power/match ending ability, but simply as a way to bring the opponent down and waylay them for a minute.  It’s a suplex of sorts, yes?  I imagine it isn’t meant to result in a pin.

But Kenny’s snapdragon is probably my favorite move he does.  The Speed.  The SPEED.  THE SPEED.  Whip-like and akin to the RKO in its tendency to strike out of nowhere.  I watched him do it 3 times in a row live in person and I could only stare with fucking heart eyes.  

He takes this move that should just be a trip up maneuver and makes it look like it could truly kill a man.  

This is the best gif I could find, my apologies.  Found on reddit.

Again, maybe the move was always supposed to spell obliteration for the opponent.  I don’t see it really outside of when Kenny does it.  But I think his style largely affects my view of it.

The motion of this man in his performance really drives home to me what so many people love about the art in wrestling.  I sit up and pay attention to the physicality in a way I don’t in other matches.  Don’t get me wrong.  I’ll be up out of my seat for a lot of guys and gals, screaming and electric with the crowd when shit gets crazy.  But when Kenny is in the ring, I find myself really absorbing what he does because of how well he does it.  His talent has really connected with me, but I get it doesn’t with some people.  Well, maybe I don’t get it, per-say, but to each his own.  

I find that a lot of the qualities I find so enrapturing about his wrestling transition into what I love about his promos.  His work on BTE is often very different from the NJPW/ROH/AEW stuff.  His BTE stuff is usually humorous and endearing in weird, chaotic ways.  I find him funny and cute and sometimes a bit unhinged.  I’ve always liked a little crazy in my faves, let’s be real.

His in-ring promos hit a different nerve.

As with his wrestling, Kenny’s speech is crisp, concise, and articulate.  It’s been a while since I’ve watched one, but I call to mind his introduction of Marty into Bullet Club.  The wording he uses in such promos really elevate his character, especially when he’s got The Cleaner vibe going on.  But for me, its all in his tone, the inflections.  He’s quiet and you listen.  The promos are smooth, easy to track, and evoke emotion.

It’s been a long time since a wrestler has really snatched my attention in the way Kenny Omega does.  I find myself listening to my faves’ promos in both WWE and AEW more often than “listening” to their matches, and this often leads to me missing parts of the story.  Do some promos fall flat?  Sure.  Depends on the character much of the time, and if I dig the current rivalry.

It hasn’t yet mattered to me who Kenny is facing.  I pay strict attention.  And in turn I pay attention to what the other person is doing, too.  I love the wildness of Kenny’s matches--a wildness that isn’t only made obvious by his high flying moves, but by the subtler ones, too, as well as his mannerisms and expressions.  The man can lay you out with a one-winged angel, 1,2,3.  But first he’s going to tear you apart with a plethora of poetry in motion. 

[freddiesaysalright]

Catching Up Part XIII

A Joe Mazzello x Reader Fic

Summary: Reader is a writer for an entertainment news network and after Joe comes in to do an interview, they reconnect. Unexpectedly, they’re having a child together.  

Word Count: 3K

Tag List: @crazylittlethingcalledobsession, @jennyggggrrr, @somethinginthewayiam, @grandaddy-roger-trash, @rogerloveshiscar @danamaleksworld, @mrsmazzello, @reedusteinrambles, @rexorangecouny, @caborhapch, @kurt-nightcrawler, @7-seas-of-fat-bottomed-girls, @queendeakyy, @hotttspace, @anxious-diabetic, @someone-get-a-medic, @psychosupernatural, @lizvxx, @cobra-anon, @anotherhystericalqueen @briarrose26, @ziggymay @hopefully-aesthetically-pleasing, @mazzello-lee-jones-malek This story is almost over, but it’s not too late to be tagged for the epilogue! Coming soon!

A/N: Okay, I thought this was gonna be the last bit, but nah, I want more. There will be a short epilogue to wrap it up :)

Part I  Part II  Part III  Part IV  Part V  Part VI Part VII  Part VIII  Part IX  Part X  Part XI  Part XII

Part XIII here we go!!!

“Joey!” Joe blubbered at his son. “Do you know that it’s your birthday? That you’re a year old today?”

They were sprawled out on the floor, on Joey’s favorite blanket as he played with a few gifts Joe had already given him first thing in the morning. He wanted today to be happy. A real celebration.

Joey said a soft “Da-da” back and Joe’s heart swelled.

“Of course you know, you brilliant boy!” He kissed him on the nose.

There was a soft knock on the door, so Joe stood up, bending over to pick up Joey, and he padded down the little hallway to answer. He opened it to reveal Ben. He carried a few gifts and a bottle of wine.

“Hey, mate,” he said to Joe and then beamed at Joey. “Happy birthday, darling boy!”

Joe smiled. “Can you say thank you to Uncle Ben, buddy?”

Joey just grinned and grasped for Ben. Joe stepped aside to allow Ben through the door. They made their way to the kitchen to Ben could set his things down. Then he took Joey in his arms and kissed his face until the boy was shrieking and giggling.

“I finally had to hide cardboard Ben,” Joe said as he watched. “Joey kept wanting him to hold him and then he’d cry when he couldn’t.”

“Oh, no!” Ben laughed. “Well, I’ll try to stop by more often so he can have the real thing.”

Gwilym arrived next. He also had too many gifts. Rami and Lucy followed, newlywed and looking thrilled. They all wished Joey a very happy birthday and he beamed at their affection.

“He looks more like you every day, Joe,” Gwilym observed, caressing Joey’s little head.

Joe shrugged. “Well, he’s got Y/N’s smile.”

“Well, she gave him a good one, didn’t she?” Lucy added, pinching Joey’s cheek softly.

“Where is Y/N, by the way?” Rami asked.

“Picking up the cake,” Joe said. “Apparently there was a mishap at the bakery. They thought she said ‘joy’ instead of ‘Joey.’”

Ben snorted. “That’s hilarious. I hope she got a picture.”

“Yeah, wanna see?” Joe offered, picking up his phone.

He opened it to show them a picture Christy took of you holding the cake and pretending to cry. It was followed by one of the baker fixing it while you did a thumbs up and grinned. They all laughed.

“I tried to tell her he wouldn’t care, but she said this was mostly for her anyway,” he said, chuckling.

“God, I love her,” Lucy said.

“She should be home pretty soon,” he replied, glancing out the window. “I’m not sure what’s taking so long.”

Rami put a comforting hand on Joe’s shoulder. “She’s probably just driving, Joe.”

Since the day Joey was born - the day Joe nearly lost you - he was more protective than before. It took Ben, Rami, and Gwilym practically kidnapping him to get him to the Oscars the following week. Christy stayed with you and Joey, since eclampsia could cause postpartum seizures sometimes. Thankfully, you didn’t have another one and Joe had nothing to worry about. He also insisted on getting married as soon as possible. He had told you that when he thought you were gone, his biggest regret was not marrying you. So, on March first, you went to the courthouse and sealed the deal. Christy served as your witness, and she held Joey in her arms.

Since then, he took you and Joey everywhere with him. Wherever he was filming, you guys got to go. It was actually really fun. You had hated being apart from him during your pregnancy, and you liked that Joey got to spend more time with his dad. You quit your job at Everything Entertainment to be a full time mother, so you didn’t mind this new lifestyle.

You did not remember most of the day of Joey’s birth. You remembered childbirth, of course, but the hours before and the seizure after were blank. Joe tried to explain it to you, but he got so emotional that you told him it was probably best you didn’t know. Dr. Jones acted quickly, and they were just barely able to save you. You remembered the way Joe held you when you came back to him. The sound of his sobs as he thanked God you were alive. That was the part you would never forget.

To this day, Joe went to bed when you did. He was sure to tell you he loved you every night before you fell asleep. It was also the first thing he said each morning. He told you he would never again take for granted the fact that you were there to say it back.

When your car pulled into the driveway, he let out a small sigh of relief. He watched you and Christy walk up to the front door, cake in tow, and within seconds you appeared in the kitchen.

“Hi, everybody!” you greeted, as Joe beat them to you and took you in his arms. “Hi, honey!”

He kissed your cheek. “The cake come out okay?”

“It’s perfect,” Christy answered, placing it on the counter where everyone could see.

They “oohed” and “ahhed” over it for a moment and then you freed yourself from Joe to say hello to everyone, including your son, who was currently in Gwilym’s arms. Joey let you kiss him but clung to Gwilym’s sweater, so you let him stay there.

“Oh, Joe, you’ll never guess who I saw at the grocery store!” you said.

“Who was it?” he wondered.

“Nick!” you cried, still in disbelief. “He’s working at the deli there as a butcher basically. But he showed me his one year chip, so he’s doing really well.”

“Good for him!” Joe agreed. “Glad to hear he’s on the right track.”

“Yeah, supposedly he found Jesus or something in prison,” you explained. “Whatever helps, I guess. I told him I was proud of him.”

“You’re so sweet, baby,” he said.

You all chatted for a little while longer, sipping drinks and picking at snacks you had put out before you left to get the cake. Joe was making spaghetti for dinner, but that wouldn’t be until later. You were finally holding Joey again and talking to Lucy when he suddenly squirmed in your arms.

“Bee!” he cried, reaching for Ben and opening and closing his tiny fists.

All eyes turned on him at his little outburst.

“Beeeeeeee!” he said again, struggling harder.

You laughed. “Okay, I get it, you want Ben!”

Ben walked over and relieved you.

“I guess you’re Bee now,” you joked.

“He can call me whatever he wants, really,” Ben returned. “He’s my favorite person in the whole world.”

“I’d say the feeling’s pretty mutual,” you replied.

Joey affectionately grabbed Ben’s nose.

“How’s he doing on the talking?” asked Lucy.

“Pretty good!” you said. “He knows ‘Mama’ and ‘Dada’ and ‘No,’ and a few other simple words. Now apparently he’s got half of Ben’s name.”

“I’m trying to get him to say ‘Christy’ but no luck so far,” said Christy.

“I don’t have a prayer, do I?” Gwilym joked.

You chuckled and shook your head. “Not for a while, anyway.”

You looked on as Ben spun Joey around in circles until the boy was breathless from laughter. When Ben would stop, he would cry, “Bee, go!” and Ben would start again. This went on for several minutes until both Ben and Joey were giggly and dizzy.

“Should we open presents now?” you asked, checking your watch.

Everyone agreed and moved to the living room, taking seats on the sectional. All save Ben, who sat on the floor with Joey. You and Joe gathered up all the presents and set them down around him.

“Are you ready, Joey?” Ben asked. “Bee’s gonna help you, so which d’you wanna open first?”

He reached for a package from Brian and Roger. They were on tour, but had sent the gift and a card with their love. Ben helped him open it and it turned out to be a toy guitar and some Queen jammies. You were writing everything down so you could do thank you cards later.

There were so many gifts that Rami and Gwilym ended up pitching in to help open as well. Lucy and Christy took so many photos you were sure their phones would run out of memory. Joey was blessed with an abundance of love and gifts. The guys helped him sort them out while you went to get candles on the cake. You laughed as you watched them from the kitchen. Rami was passing Joey a ball.

“Ami!” Joey said with delight, bouncing up and down.

“Really close, bud!” Joe praised.

“I’m thrilled he got that much!” Rami returned.

Lucy joined you in the kitchen to offer her help. You assured her it was fine since you only needed one candle.

“You and Joe have made the perfect little boy,” she said.

“Thank you, Luc,” you replied. “Honestly, I want to try for another.”

She cocked her head to the side with a questioning look. You shook your head.

“Nevermind,” you said. “I shouldn’t talk about this now.”

She sighed, then stepped closer so she could speak in a lower voice. “Joe’s hesitant to have another baby?”

“Yeah,” you whispered back. “It’s weird because he was the one who wanted more kids from the start.”

“Okay, I’m gonna tell you something but you didn’t hear it from me,” she said, and you nodded. “Joe really blamed himself for your near death experience. He told Rami he felt terrible because he felt like he could have done more to help with your blood pressure or reached out to Dr. Jones when you said you had the headaches. He even said something like ‘if I hadn’t gotten her pregnant in the first place…’”

“Oh my God,” you breathed. “He really felt that way?”

“Just for a little while,” she told you. “They had that conversation after the Oscars, but it could mean that he doesn’t want to risk losing you again.”

“I can’t believe he never told me he was going through that…” you said.

“He didn’t want you to worry,” she explained. “He was so scared you were gone, Y/N. We all were. But it really just...tore Joe up.”

Tears welled up in your eyes. You blinked them away and refocused on the cake. You quietly thanked Lucy for telling you before calling the boys and Christy over. You lit the candle and Joe carried Joey over and placed him in his high chair.

As you brought the cake over, everyone started to sing the birthday song to Joey. He looked confused, although pleased to have everyone’s attention. After the candle was blown out and your little boy had made a proper mess of himself with the icing, everyone clapped for him. You started to take him upstairs for a quick bath and a change, but your friends insisted on doing it for you, so all of them took Joey upstairs, leaving you and Joe to clean up the kitchen.

Joe started cutting slices of cake for the adults to enjoy while you swept up the crumbs from under Joey’s highchair. Lucy’s words were still fresh in your mind as you went, and you wondered how to bring it up. It just upset you so much that he never confided in you.

“I can’t believe it’s been a year already,” you said casually. “I feel like he was born yesterday.”

“No offense, but I’m pretty glad that day has passed,” he said with a chuckle.

Tears clouded your eyes again.

“I’m sorry, Joe,” you said, your voice thick with emotion. “I know that was a difficult day for you.”

“It’s not your fault, baby,” he said sweetly.

“It’s not yours either, you know,” you returned. You turned to face him and saw him stiffen at your words. “Joe, do you...do you regret having Joey?”

“What?! No!” he insisted. “I love our son. I wouldn’t trade him for anything.”

You sniffled. “I’d go through it all again for him,” you choked out. “For him, and any other children we have.”

“What are you trying to say, Y/N?” he asked pointedly.

“I’ve been talking a bit about wanting another baby and you keep blowing me off,” you explained. “I think it’s because you’re afraid of a repeat of Joey’s birth, but that wouldn’t happen. We know what to look for now.”

He averted his eyes. You stepped to him where he leaned against the counter, wrapping your arms around his waist and pressing your lips to his shoulder.

“I love you, Joe,” you said. “I love you so much. I’ll never leave you again, I promise.”

He turned around in your arms and held you closer. He kissed the top of your head. “I love you too. I’m sorry I’ve been avoiding that conversation. I just...I’m so scared of losing you. Even thinking about it now...God, my heart can’t take it.”

You squeezed him gently. “I’m right here, Joe. In your arms. Forever.”

He rested his cheek on your head. You stood there like that for what felt like hours, just holding each other.

You heard your friends thundering back down the stairs. Rami held Joey, who was in his new Queen pajamas, smiling and laughing. You quickly wiped your eyes and smiled at him.

“Wow, we have the coolest baby in the world!” you said excitedly. “Thanks for cleaning him up, guys.”

“It was fun,” Gwilym assured you.

“Your bathroom might be a mess now, but that’s not important,” Christy said lightly.

You rolled your eyes. “Oh, God.”

Joey reached for you, so Rami allowed you to gather the boy in your arms. You felt a little bad that you hadn’t practiced hardly any walking with him the whole day, but you figured on his birthday he could be a little spoiled. You adjusted the little tuft of hair on his head.

“Did you have fun with your aunties and uncles?” you asked. “They love you so much! You are a lucky boy!”

He spent the remainder of the afternoon playing with his new toys. But he probably had the most fun when Ben and Gwilym put him in one of the larger boxes and dragged him around the living room. Again, you rolled your eyes. All the toys he got, and he loved the box. He was also fascinated by the toy guitar, which, when strummed, played famous rock songs. From Queen, it played a portion of Bohemian Rhapsody.

Around seven, it was time for him to go to bed, so you let him choose one of the books Gwilym got him for a bedtime story, and then everyone told him goodnight before you carried him upstairs to put him down for the night. Joe was finishing up dinner.

“Ben can you watch the stove?” he asked. “I’m gonna run up and give Joey one more kiss.”

Ben agreed and Joe followed you upstairs. He watched from the hallway as you read aloud to Joey on your bed. It was a story about a family and Joey was riveted by the pictures and the pages turning.

“Can you find the mommy?” you asked him.

He slapped his hand down on the page and you smiled.

“Very good!” you praised. “Can you find the daddy?”

He did the same on the other side of the page.

“Very good! And can you find the baby?”

Again, he hit the mark.

“Very, very good, Joey! You’re my smart boy!”

You kissed his cheek and he giggled. He pointed to another part of the picture and looked questioningly up at you.

“That’s a doggie,” you said. “We don’t have one of those.”

You continued the story. Joe appeared in the doorframe and you smiled at him. Joey’s sleepy head finally plopped onto your shoulder and you carried him to his crib, Joe close by. When Joey was settled, your husband looked at you, something flickering behind his eyes.

“Okay,” he said.

“Okay, what?” you wondered, as you closed the nursery door.

“Let’s have another.”

You gasped. “Joe, really?! You really want to?!”

He nodded and grinned at you. “I really want to, Y/N.”

You threw yourself happily into his arms. He spun you around and kissed you. Then, taking his hand, you followed him back down to the kitchen to have dinner with your friends.

Dinner was fun, and you realized how much you missed everyone when they had to leave. But the evening wound down, and it was time for them to head to their hotel rooms or home. You would see them again in the morning when you were all going to brunch, but pretty soon after that, they’d all go their separate ways, and you were never quite sure when you’d all be together again. It always made you a little sad.

When everyone was gone, you watched Joe lock the door behind them. He slowly walked back over to you and took you in his arms. He kissed you fiercely. You thought you might melt from the heat of it.

“I love you so much,” you whispered breathlessly. “So much, Joe.”

“I love you, Y/N,” he returned, holding you tightly. “Fuck, I love you so much.”

He carried you to your bedroom and made sweet, slow love to you. Throughout, he told you again how much he loved you. He also showed you through the way he touched you and kissed you and thrust into you. You held tight to him, gasping and moaning softly, but taking everything he had to give. All you could say or think was Joe, Joe, Joe, Joe.

You fell asleep that night completely engulfed in one another. Taking comfort in each other’s presence. Knowing you’d both be there in the morning and every morning after. Your family would grow, but this tangled heap in the bed was the heart of it. Where love began and never ended.

[analytic-chaoticism]

HIVESWAP: ACT 1 LAUNCH TRAILER And Press Kit Analysis

When I saw this video in my subscriptions on a humble Wednesday morning I thought the game dropped without warning on a school day and I was going to hypershit into the nth dimension and I’ll be discussing the Hiveswap press-kit exclusive screenshots so buckle up this is probably going to be a thicc bih

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAEs-NlcRtU 

First, we have the thumbnail, which is great. In case anybody was confused (because I’ve seen a lot of confusion) Dammek’s beam is red, not orange, as in the red/green cherub dichotomy. I really like this piece it’s AesthetiqueTM (which is something I’ll say about this game a lot), I like how they’re just ogling each other as they hurtle through space and time, and I like how you can see Hauntswitch reversed behind Hiveswap. You just know in the Hauntswitch launch trailer we’ll get a reverse of this shot. 

Sorry that the following pictures all got compressed ew

Not much to this besides noting the sacrilegious Signless plush, which is great and I hope will be official merch one day. Just thought I’d point it out because it’s The BestTM and I’ll address now the fact that everything that was branded has been fictionalized (which would have taken a long ass time to change everything which accounts for some delay time) and I’m not sure if they were threatened with copyright or if they were just hedging their bets but that’s what’s happened. 

Oh hey look a mysterious fucking Nuclear MissileTM dropping from the fucking sky. Note that we’re working with a dark blue and light purple palette here (which will be relevant in a few frames). 

These monsters (which I call antiguardians) are either really easily startled (which makes sense because they legitimately don’t have eyes - note that the no-eyes trend has been bucked for animals and adults in Hiveswap so these things are legit just blind I think) or are just as scared as Joey as she is of them (or enemy varieties have different personalities and the T-Rex arm-leg beans are just TimidTM. I can see this one being the case and it’s cool and interesting so hopefully).

The return of the dark blue and light purple palette. We keep returning to these scenes of fear and destruction throughout the first half of the trailer, and @theenglishmanwithallthebananas and I are willing to bet the nuke from earlier was what destroyed Xefros’ neighbourhood, which would explain how everything got fucked up so quick and why he’s so scared in these sequences. 

hi,m., angery,, . 

Bye bitch. In case anyone was interested, the red and green stripes turn blue and yellow for some reason, and whether that’s a nod to trickster palettes or will be developed as colour imagery later is yet to be seen. Also this portal looks... amazing. The art in this game is phenomenal and I really really love the lighting it’s so high quality and everything is good and this portal design is rad.

The closest view of the weird neighbour mansion we’ve seen so far. I can’t say yet how prominently events on Earth will feature during Hiveswap (but for a cohesive narrative with the games playable in either order they have to affect each other somehow, especially considering how what happens on Earth has to be as important and predestined as what happens on Alternia), but we probably won’t see much of this for a while. Looks cool tho. And big. Real big. 

Every good game needs a good death screen. Now I won’t say that antiguardians can’t shapeshift, but all of the ones we’ve seen have flat teeth and don’t have mouths this big, which makes me think this is perhaps the first boss encounter of the game? A giant antiguardian? Maybe an upgrade on the centipede enemy. 

Xefros panicked, traumatized, and roughed up by the destruction of an entire fucking neighbourhood. I’m assuming that the cherub portal survived, if not all of Dammek’s hive - considering that his lusus is still around after this. I hope Xefros’ house was lucky enough to make it too if Dammek’s survived the blast, being across the street from each other and all. If it didn’t... that means bye bye sloth, which will make me real fucking sad (but doesn’t line up with concept art we’ve seen of the sloth walking with the trio, unless that’s been changed as we haven’t seen it in the trailers). Of course, this could be another neighbourhood, as we saw the destroyed areas in concept art from Dammek’s lusus’ back, meaning they already rode it somewhere. Who knows what this is. I just hope the sloth is okay. Please. Also I love Xefros’ hive???? so??????? let them be okay.

What the fuck is this Actual TesseractTM????????? We’ll come back to this later, but we will say now that it’s most likely that Joey finds this on Alternia after arriving at Dammek’s hive (considering it interacts with his doors). @theenglishmanwithallthebananas noted that it looks like a “perfectly generic object but useful” which is so true and thematically really interesting (and likely intentional). I can’t wait to see more with this Mystery BoxTM. 

In case anyone was confused like I was, Jude’s text is now light green and Joey’s light blue. This palette swap is the same as John and Jade’s and I love it. I don’t know when this change was made but I never noticed and I am here for it. There’s some gerbil tubes on the wall, so unless those are used for a transport system, the Harleclaires have more pets than Tesseract and

OH MY GOD I JUST REALIZED THEIR DOG WAS CALLED TESSERACT AND

WHAT DOES JOEY FUCKING FIND

God fucking dammit I swear to God... If the likely plot-critical Glow CubeTM is actually called ‘the tesseract’ I’m going to have a conniption of fucking course this would happen. ANYWAY. Potential rodents, not just Tesseract and the pigeons. Also notice the captain mummy off to the right who survives to become one of Grandpa’s esteemed foyer couch guests. 

This is possibly an entry-level style of puzzle, where Joey dances hard enough to JiggleTM the environment and Make Things HappenTM. A cool use of her dancing mechanic I really like it. 

Y O U T H R O L L also???????????????????? why is Dammek such a fucking nasty boy? We’ll see how fucking FilthyTM it gets in the next frame but he really needs to do some dishes (I’m not sure how he affords them all as a bronze but he also has 1000000000000 guns so hey). I love his deercat lusus so so so much and I want to know how it feels having another of the same lusus taxidermied and used as a fucking sockrack in it’s son’s basement. This is the recording area from promotional art we’ve seen, Xefros and Dammek are cool and good moirails, Dammek needs to do his laundry as well as his dishes, the Bandcestors print exists in-universe, there are some references in the other posters I don’t get, and trolls eat giant bugs in stew which is gross and I’m absolutely not here for it at all. 

Look at all these dishes. And all these guns. Wow are there a lot of guns. I mean I guess rebels need guns but... that’s still a lot to just have lying around. Maybe he has a riflekind specibus. The same dark blue/light purple sky as the missile shot is seen through the window so we definitely know the missile is on Alternia, and we can see one of Trizza’s cool imperial drones skulking around ominously too. I really love their design. Other things of note here are a potential microwave and those cool headphones which curve out for his horns. How are those sold? Horns don’t all grow in the same spot, so are headphones custom made, or are there a set amount of standard areas that horns grow from and you can get different headphone styles designed for each? It’s attached to some sort of Walkman. 

My favourite shot from this trailer. I love Xefros’ room. The lighting is again, fantastic, and also really concerning. Pool balls on the wall, on the floor, in the lights... Obvious connections to LE and it makes sense if you consider Doc Scratch’s involvement. We know Xefros is a Sports BoyTM (we can see his helmet and uniform in the back there) and we know he’s a butler (nice to see the cutlery and proper cutlery position chart on the wall) and I was thinking that billiards is a real sort of refined sport which would align with his gentlemanly image and - if he’s influenced by Doc Scratch, a very gentlemanly aesthetic’d individually who likes to raise proper servants - possible outside interference. I love his little butler suit. His bunk recuperacoon is nice. I like how the UI changes between humans and trolls. I like the telekinesis button design. I like how he has a FLARP manual (FLARPing My Chemical Bromance please), and this writing is fantastic. It really speaks to troll society in a really succinct and witty way which is reminiscent of the earlier Homestuck style and will be great for exposition and I can’t wait to see more. Cohen seems really capable and I can tell the writing will be fantastic already. Also of note is the athlete poster who seems to play the same sport he does based on the gear, and the sexy poster by his recuperacoon. His recuperacoon is a cool shape too, it actually looks really comfy in that reclined upright position. That would be so good for me RN because I am sick and My SinusesTM are Not Happy With Lying DownTM. I absolutely love Xefros’ hive (I just adore those pink and blue trees, and also treehouse houses) so I can’t wait to see more. I really just can’t wait for a lot of stuff.

Rebelgram. I wonder how many messaging systems there’ll be in this game (if we want to count Prongle as messaging). I like the style and simplicity of this UI, as well as text option convenience. Speaking of, we see some rudimentary dialogue choices which I’m sure will get more complex and interesting as the story and relationships progress. Quirk wise, it seems Xefros uses perfect grammar with no capitalization besides ‘X’, removes ‘e’ from ‘ex’ pairs, and uses ‘X’ in his emojis for his horns. I’d like to note that ‘X;)?’ is probably Joey being confused about the use of the ‘X’ as me and @theenglishmanwithallthebananas looked into together last night and Joey could very feasibly be familiar with emojis considering the date of their invention preceding 1994. I’m excited to see more websites in-game, like troll!eBay, which will potentially make for an interesting mechanic. 

Dammek’s bedroom is a mess too. We can see another gun in the foreground as Joey climbs out of this vent (presumably from the basement), and another fucking dish stack. There’s a giant hole in the floor and ceiling from the cherub portal beam. His recuperacoon is fucking WeirdTM and... I honestly have... no idea?????????????? how you get in that or why it has so many oddly placed holes (and speaking of how it retains the sopor slime?). There’s a weird magenta box there and I’m really not sure what it could be. A drum set up the back there, and... are those more guns by the window? Really. Where the fuck did he get all these guns? Troll!eBay? More posters in here: Grubbels on the ceiling on the right, some more deercat lusus stuff. Troll!Judge Dredd. Troll!Robocop. I don’t recognize the two at the back, but I do know the troll!Anarky symbol (I feel like that might specifically be a Batman reference because of the antihero/gritty-inclined superhero theme going on here? Could very easily just be a normal anarchy thing tho). 

Here we see what I think is meant to be a troll!Terminator poster which I swear we saw in HS cuz I remember those horns but I might? be crazy. Another gun is held above the door, which is locked by a biometric bypassed by the tesseract (which goes dark in the next few frames). It’s too small to see because unfortunately these screenshots all compressed, but during this sequence, the cube emits some white sparks, as if the whole ‘lime green and probably really important’ stuff didn’t already make it look related to first guardians/the Green Sun. I’m not sure why it loses power here but... I mean it’s interesting. There’s also a model of a troll getting abducted which is of course A Very Funny CoincidenceTM. From all of these posters I’m getting a very strong Lawless Law, Moral Code, Violent Disestablishment And Vigilante Action vibe for Dammek, which makes sense considering he’s a rebel (potentially a leader??? with all these weapons and the infamy of the Grubbels? with in-world merch? how is that allowed?), and I’m sniffing some Mind on this boy, but obviously that’s super tentative bare bones. 

Wow this is beautiful. 

Fucking same.

So that’s the trailer! I figure I might as well also go over the presskit while we’re here: 

https://www.hiveswap.com/press-kit

None of the info provided here is new, but to recap: Hiveswap takes place in 1994 as a prequel to HS and the birth + arrival of the beta kids on Earth, who will get here in... two years. Enough time for Grandpa to pack up shop and ditch the wife (is Anna Claire still alive?). Every item combination is possible with unique flavour text (I can’t wait to extend the standard 4-5 hour play by testing everything), there’s at least one third wave ska song, frenemies is a possible relationship option (quadrants please and thank you), and Hiveswap and Hauntswitch will be playable in either order. Moving on to those good exclusive screenshots: 

So many dead animals. I find the bear/deer combination quite tasteful myself, as well as the bull head and hooves mounted above the fucking door. Wow that wolf, am I right? Really happy to see ‘play haunting x’ is still a thing, and I’m excited to see what recurring commands/gags pop up in these games. The rug coordination in this household is awful but I love it and the texturing on these things is fantastic. I’d also like to draw your attention to the corned of the shot, in the back corner above the arrow on the piano and behind the stair rails: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVEQ3v9RRR0

It’s this monster from the concept art in the asset reel that came out oh my God 2 years ago. Anyway, it looks lime green in the former screenshot, and if there’s one thing I know about exotic snake monsters (which we’ll get back to in a second) and Grandpa, this is probably a new denizen minion, and subsequently a hint at a new denizen design! Nothing else on Earth looks this cool, right? With the colouration and AesthetiqueTM I considered this being an Abraxas minion but Abraxas looks - from Jake’s browser - to be bird themed so that doesn’t quite line up, but the prospect of finding minions for more denizens and thus new denizen designs in the Harlehouse is really exciting to me. Basically this is all just Really Fucking ExcitingTM. Also trust me to focus on this one background thing.

Here we see the fight with the centipede antiguardian in the basement which we see later that Joey is in to turn the power back on:

I’m still really here for dance combat and this game’s beautiful art and insane attention to detail. Most of note for me here are the Typheus minion head and what I’m 100% positive is a Cetus minion head (purple narwhal AKA purple whale AKA Cetus). Although Cetus was never shown Rose’s browser showed a human woman head so if denizen minions can vary a bit from their denizens design then perhaps that snake on the stairs up there is related to Abraxas. I feel like of all the denizens to include a nod to, the one associated with the cherubs - so potentially a Yaldabaoth minion too? - makes sense. 

More messy rugs and I still love how ugly and tasteless it is. I also love this little blue lady corner with the tiger skin armchair by the French doors we’ve got here. There is so much illegal game in this house. 

God bless these family photos (pretend Joey is standing on those stairs a little more - I’m fine with the models not quite lining up considering it’s 2D). As we saw in the photo of Grandpa and the buffalo by the piano, it seems Joey and Jude specifically decorate Grandpa’s hunting photos. But I don’t think this is because it unnerves them:

Once again the art and lighting in this game is phenomenal. But Joey seems quite excited by all these dead things so no I don’t imagine the hunting bothers her very much. That’s funny to me because Joey wants to be a vet, so maybe the excitement is just standard for one of her dance cycles and she’s not actually normally very happy about all the dead things. I guess we’ll see. Note the katana below the orange cat. @Dirk next time Grandpa. It’s cool to see more nods to the alphas and the environmental storytelling is going to be great in this game. 

I like how Jude’s calling the antiguardians the cryptid vanguard and I almost want to do the same. 

I only just realized that we’ve seen all this gerbil tubing before but it’s what got me to freak out about Tesseract so I’ll leave that in there. I’m still not really sure how the combat system works at all from what we’ve seen but it looks interesting UI-wise and I really like the death bubbles that pop up at collision points. It’s a cool skull graphic I think we only saw once in Homestuck, and that one on the left looks a bit like the ~ATH face.

Also wow that bat thing has a manly chin.

I love Jude a lot. 

These theatrical encounter screens are still great.

All in all: WOW! SO MUCH STUFF! WOW! GREAT! I’M! E!X!C!I!T!E!D IF YOU HAVEN’T NOTICED. Hopefully you enjoyed my thoughts and I’ve pointed out some details or ideas you might have missed. I’m also sorry for being too lazy to edit out the YT bars on the trailer screenshots but hey whatever.

This game looks so fantastic and I can’t believe it’s going to be here in 13 days after I’ve waited for so long (since 2013) and I’m just... yeah this is going to be cool. 

Stay tuned for more Hiveswap theorizing and coverage, which will only increase by a Whole Fucking LotTM when the game actually comes out. Hopefully I’ll be hot on the scene the day it drops but that’s also a Friday so I might lose some time at school but we’ll see how it goes. 

For reference, I will be tagging Hiveswap spoilers as ‘HS spoilers’ and/or ‘Hiveswap Spoilers’ in the future. 

My Hiveswap theories are here:

Antiguardians: http://analytic-chaoticism.tumblr.com/post/164851214030/hiveswaps-antiguardians-possibly-solving

Horror: http://analytic-chaoticism.tumblr.com/post/158878144610/hiveswap-and-horror-possibility-of-scary-segments

Plot: http://analytic-chaoticism.tumblr.com/post/155283894895/hiveswap-cherubs-fantrolls-first-guardians

The Handmaid/Doc Scratch: http://analytic-chaoticism.tumblr.com/post/154670995195/the-handmaid-in-hiveswap-homestuck-ancestors-in

God Tiers: http://analytic-chaoticism.tumblr.com/post/151553862535/tentative-hiveswap-classpecting 

[tocinephile]

The Morning After - The Golden Globes 2020 Edition

Morning/Afternoon/Night have lost meaning to me in this post holiday stupor, but I assure you I watched Sunday night’s awards.  Our methods of media consumption have altered every so slightly each year that at least 1/3 of the celebrity outfits I was checking out this year came from my Twitter app compared to the big TV screen in front of me (which often had a split screen happening to begin with).  No matter, it made it all the easier to share via my own twitter and to send to friends who sent me their comments and input through the pre-show and ceremony.

Even more than usual, the Globes felt like a warm-up to me this year.  I’ve barely digested the turkey and finished my Top Films of the Decade list and we’re already off to the award season races.  As a result, I’m not quite prepared to comment on every single win/loss, but what I can say I have embedded in the list below:

Best Motion Picture — Drama

“The Irishman” (Netflix) “Joker” (Warner Bros.) “Marriage Story” (Netflix) “1917” (Universal) (WINNER) “The Two Popes” (Netflix)

1917 has rocketed to the top of my movies to see list as a result of last night’s Best Drama and Best Director win.  Need to see this before the SAG Awards.

Best Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy

“Dolemite Is My Name” (Netflix) “Jojo Rabbit” (Fox Searchlight) “Knives Out” (Lionsgate) “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” (Sony) (WINNER) “Rocketman” (Paramount)

Let it be known here and now, 2020 is going to be the first (and hopefully only) time I speak out against Quentin Tarantino winning an award.  I don’t dislike Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood, not at all, I just didn’t think it was anywhere near his best and in the awards race, there were far better this year. I’ve seen all the films in this category with the exception of Rocketman and I liked Jojo Rabbit and Knives out much more, and Dolemite is My Name equally as good as Once Upon A Time.

Best Actress in a Motion Picture — Drama

Cynthia Erivo (“Harriet”) Scarlett Johansson (“Marriage Story”) Saoirse Ronan (“Little Women”) Charlize Theron (“Bombshell”) Renée Zellweger (“Judy”) (WINNER)

I’ve actually only seen Marriage Story and Judy in this category. Renee is phenomenal no doubt, but part of me did question whether her performance would shine through an otherwise mediocre film.  Turns out it did.

Best Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama

Christian Bale (“Ford v Ferrari”) Antonio Banderas (“Pain and Glory”) Adam Driver (“Marriage Story”) Joaquin Phoenix (“Joker”) (WINNER) Jonathan Pryce (“The Two Popes”)

Joaquin was the favourite in his stacked category, but I recommend all of these performances (though The Two Popes slightly less as a film, not my cup of tea). I was really on the fence about his acceptance speech though, the delivery was channeling too much Joker though the message was in the right place.

Best Actress in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy

Ana de Armas (“Knives Out”) Awkwafina (“The Farewell”) (WINNER) Cate Blanchett (“Where’d You Go, Bernadette”) Beanie Feldstein (“Booksmart”) Emma Thompson (“Late Night”)

Another stacked category (I’m gonna make the assumption that Emma Thompson was great in Late Night), these are all movies to see.  Awkwafina being recognized in a non-comedic role is a boon for the Asian community. Sidenote: I seem to be in the minority when it comes to Where’d You Go Bernadette, but I quite liked that movie. 

Best Actor in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy

Daniel Craig (“Knives Out”) Roman Griffin Davis (“Jojo Rabbit”) Leonardo DiCaprio (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”) Taron Egerton (“Rocketman”) (WINNER) Eddie Murphy (“Dolemite Is My Name”)

I’ve not seen Taron Egerton’s performance but predicted he would win anyway. 

Best Actress in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture

Kathy Bates (“Richard Jewell”) Annette Bening (“The Report”) Laura Dern (“Marriage Story”) (WINNER) Jennifer Lopez (“Hustlers”) Margot Robbie (“Bombshell”)

Should have been J. Lo. (opinion based on having seen 2 of the 5 performances)  Not that Laura Dern isn’t spectacular in everything she does, but is her character in Marriage Story not identical to her role in Big Little Lies?

Best Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture

Tom Hanks (“A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”) Anthony Hopkins (“The Two Popes”) Al Pacino (“The Irishman”) Joe Pesci (“The Irishman”) Brad Pitt (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”) (WINNER)

Brad Pitt’s good, and this is one of the awards that I’m cool with Once Upon a Time picking up, but was he better than Pesci and Pacino? I mean, is anyone??

Best Director — Motion Picture Bong Joon-ho (“Parasite”) Sam Mendes (“1917”) (WINNER) Todd Phillips (“Joker”) Martin Scorsese (“The Irishman”) Quentin Tarantino (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”)

Again, the winner is the only film I haven’t seen.  I can vouch all the other directors were great.

Best Screenplay — Motion Picture Noah Baumbach (“Marriage Story”) Bong Joon-ho and Han Jin Won (“Parasite”) Anthony McCarten (“The Two Popes”) Quentin Tarantino (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”) (WINNER) Steven Zaillian (“The Irishman”)

Ok, it pains me to say this, but Tarantino should not have gotten this one.  Give his film any other award but this one! He did a decent job of directing, his cast gave great performances, the wardrobe and production design was fabulous, the editing is solid, even the music was alright (ok, fine, don’t nominate the film for its music neither)... but the weak link in Once Upon a Time...In Hollywood is the story.  It’s so beneath what QT can do, it’s like QT made palatable. So please don’t recognize him for this script out of all his scripts.  Don’t encourage him to write more scripts like this one.  Nevermind that every other film on this list had a better script than his. If I got to pick, I’d have chosen The Irishman, but would have accepted any of the other three as winner.

Best Motion Picture — Foreign Language

“The Farewell” (A24) “Les Misérables” (Amazon) “Pain and Glory” (Sony Pictures Classics) “Parasite” (Neon) (WINNER) “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” (Neon)

“Once you overcome the one-inch tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films” Preach Boon Joon-Ho!  I’m actually very impressed with the list of nominees this year and I’m even more pleased the best film won.

Best Motion Picture — Animated

“Frozen 2” (Disney) “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” (Universal) “The Lion King” (Disney) “Missing Link” (United Artists) (WINNER) “Toy Story 4” (Disney)

Best Original Score — Motion Picture

Alexandre Desplat (“Little Women”) Hildur Guðnadóttir (“Joker”) (WINNER) Randy Newman (“Marriage Story”) Thomas Newman (“1917”) Daniel Pemberton (“Motherless Brooklyn”)

I don’t know that any score in particular stood out for me this year, but now that you mention it, Joker did have a pretty great score.  It was mentioned that Hildur Guonadottir also wrote the score for Chernobyl and that one was affecting.

Best Original Song — Motion Picture

“Beautiful Ghosts” (“Cats”) “I’m Gonna Love Me Again” (“Rocketman”) (WINNER) “Into the Unknown” (“Frozen 2”) “Spirit” (“The Lion King”) “Stand Up” (“Harriet”)

Why don’t I know a single one of these songs?

Best Television Series — Drama

“Big Little Lies” (HBO) “The Crown” (Netflix) “Killing Eve” (BBC America) “The Morning Show” (Apple TV Plus) “Succession” (HBO) (WINNER)

I should watch Succession.

Best Television Series — Musical or Comedy

“Barry” (HBO) “Fleabag” (Amazon) (WINNER) “The Kominsky Method” (Netflix) “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (Amazon) “The Politician” (Netflix)

I should really watch Fleabag.

Best Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

“Catch-22″ (Hulu) “Chernobyl” (HBO) (WINNER) “Fosse/Verdon” (FX) The Loudest Voice (Showtime) “Unbelievable” (Netflix)

Everyone should watch Chernobyl.  I stood in front of Reactor 4 shortly before the series aired and when I shared my photos from overseas people were freaking out. I got home and watched the series for myself and truly understood why.

Best Actress in a Television Series — Drama

Jennifer Aniston (“The Morning Show”) Olivia Colman (“The Crown”) (WINNER) Jodie Comer (“Killing Eve”) Nicole Kidman (“Big Little Lies”) Reese Witherspoon (“The Morning Show”)

Best Actor in a Television Series — Drama

Brian Cox (“Succession”) (WINNER) Kit Harington (“Game of Thrones”) Rami Malek (“Mr. Robot”) Tobias Menzies (“The Crown”) Billy Porter (“Pose”)

Best Actress in a Television Series — Musical or Comedy

Christina Applegate (“Dead to Me”) Rachel Brosnahan (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”) Kirsten Dunst (“On Becoming a God in Central Florida”) Natasha Lyonne (“Russian Doll”) Phoebe Waller-Bridge (“Fleabag”) (WINNER)

Best Actor in a Television Series — Musical or Comedy

Michael Douglas (“The Kominsky Method”) Bill Hader (“Barry”) Ben Platt (“The Politician”) Paul Rudd (“Living With Yourself”) Ramy Youssef (“Ramy”) (WINNER)

Best Actress in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Kaitlyn Dever (“Unbelievable”) Joey King (“The Act”) Helen Mirren (“Catherine the Great”) Merritt Wever (“Unbelievable”) Michelle Williams (“Fosse/Verdon”) (WINNER)

Michelle Williams for best acceptance speech for the night - amiright?

Best Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Christopher Abbott (“Catch-22”) Sacha Baron Cohen (“The Spy”) Russell Crowe (“The Loudest Voice”) (WINNER) Jared Harris (“Chernobyl”) Sam Rockwell (“Fosse/Verdon”)

Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Patricia Arquette (“The Act”) (WINNER) Helena Bonham Carter (“The Crown”) Toni Collette (“Unbelievable”) Meryl Streep (“Big Little Lies”) Emily Watson (“Chernobyl”)

Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Alan Arkin (“The Kominsky Method”) Kieran Culkin (“Succession”) Andrew Scott (“Fleabag”) Stellan Skarsgård (“Chernobyl”) (WINNER) Henry Winkler (“Barry”)

Well, that’s me and my two cents. Between the SAG Awards being a couple weeks away and us being in the midst of our January 30 Films in 31 Days film challenge I gotta get back to watching more films stat!

[kutee-boutique-fan-blog]

All I Want To Christmas Is You Just Kidding Give Me Beer Shirt, Hoodie, Sweater, Longsleeve T-Shirt

Do you love it? https://kuteeboutique.com/shop/want-christmas-just-kidding-give-beer-shirt/

All I Want To Christmas Is You Just Kidding Give Me Beer Shirt, Hoodie, Sweater, Longsleeve T-Shirt

They say the person that has it is in there own happy place .. Well are they ???? Who know that … God love them it the most frighting exasperation for them and for loved ones each stage is driffent and very hard to see i could keep wrighting.. And go on and on but i am sure any one that is going All I Want To Christmas Is You Just Kidding Give Me Beer Shirt this knows what i am saying and were i comeing from i wish you the bery best with your lovely mam and my toughts are with you at this sad time in your life but try make the most of the happy ones regards sharon grab and enjoy every moment ..

All I Want To Christmas Is You Just Kidding Give Me Beer Shirt, Hoodie, Sweater,  Ladies T-Shirt

Want Christmas Just Kidding Give Beer Hoodie

Best wishes. I was visiting a rehab facility on a fairly regular basis and saw many dementia patients that were so hungry for personal contact. I always tried to smile and chat with them. Sadly the nurses and assistants said that most of the people never had any visitors and family only came if the nurses called them. Sad sad situation. I am a member of joey’s group, having cared for both parents for over a decade when they were afflicted with dementia.

Want Christmas Just Kidding Give Beer Sweat Shirt

Joey has a heart of gold, his compassion and love for his mom is wonderful. The support for caregivers is so important, and needed, and i hope, in some small way, i can help joey, molly, and all the others along the way by sharing my experiences with them, too.  I recently lost my mother to this horrible disease and i miss her more then words could ever describe because not only was she my mother she was my bes friend and in the last days my precious baby but i find comfort in knowing that she no longer suffers and we will be together again one day!!!

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Always praying for a cure for all those who suffer with this disease and for the families of those as well. I can’t watch your video because i’m going through this right now with my mom. She’s 93 now and has been affected for 10 years at least, the last 5 the very worst. She lived with my oldest brother and his family for 3 years until recently she suffered from her age and face it the illness is more than we are equipped to deal with.

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She was in the hospital after her last bout of falling and very unhealthy living habits. They helped us find a place for mom for her final days and we are very happy with the place. That’s the best we can do as a family since we all live out of state and traveling is difficult. You will have to do what’s best for you. Good luck and god bless.  I have said to many people it’s killing me watching my mom go thru this.

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And it got the best of me spiritually. I have now lost my way in life and given up on faith. I work two full time jobs….i have 6 kids and very little time to show the world what is going on. So ur lucky u have time to spend with her and love her. It’s the craziest things i have ever come across. But learning as All I Want To Christmas Is You Just Kidding Give Me Beer Shirt go.