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hmel78 · 4 years

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In conversation with Derek Forbes ...

Fans of ‘Simple Minds’, should need no introduction to Derek Forbes. From 1979 - 1985, he formed part of the creative force which drove ‘Simple Minds’ to the pinnacle of their music career and become one of the most successful bands ever to come out of Scotland. His bass lines pushed ‘Simple Minds’ through the boundaries of their experimental post-punk / new wave early albums, to the dancefloor, and more importantly, the charts. In 1985, with the release of ‘The Breakfast Club’ film - which has become something of a cult classic - the single “Don’t You Forget About Me”, catapulted ‘Simple Minds’ into the Top 10 around the world. Around the same time, Forbes left the band ... his reasons for why have been speculated on for decades, and with the recent release of his autobiography ‘A Very Simple Mind’, curious minds may finally find out what happened on that fateful day. Many folks are of the opinion that, with Forbes departure, the band lost it’s sound and became just another pop band, striving to make records and money on relentless tours, without much music of substance. That’s not in any way a criticism of the musicians hired by the band to carry the work forward, but for many fans of ‘Simple Minds’ early work, the new stuff has just never come close.

I caught up for chat with Derek when he was releasing the ‘ZANTI’ album “Broken Hearted City” back in 2018, but hadn’t published it until today! [18.02.2024] HR : We’ve known each other forever, but this is the first time you’ve allowed me to interrogate you.

DF : Aye, and don’t think you’re getting anything exclusive, you know I’m writing a book!

HR : I’ve a wealth of exclusives I could publish already ...

DF : [Laughs] You wouldn’t dare. That look says you would.

HR : I’ll play it safe today!

DF: Keep in printable ..........

HR : How did you get the gig with ‘Simple Minds’?

DF : I had met Jim Kerr when he was around 15. He came to a gig I was doing at Langside College in Glasgow, when I was a Lead Guitarist. We met again in 1977 at the Mars Bar in Glasgow, where I was playing bass guitar with ‘the Subs’ (Subhumans). Jim was a regular at our gigs, he wanted me to join his band, 'Simple Minds'. Jim and Charlie asked me to stand in on bass, after original bass player Tony Donald left, after one gig. My school pal Duncan Barnwell, who played lead guitar along with Charlie, in 'Simple Minds', was instrumental in my joining Simple Minds. I went for an audition with the Rezillos, and a good looking dude got the job, even though Jo Callis had voted for me to join. I was still playing weekends with Simple Minds at that time. They asked me to join full time again, but I said I wanted to get back to playing lead guitar, because that is what I was , a lead guitar player. One night in Glasgow, I turned up at ‘the Subs’ rehearsal room to find that my Gibson Les Paul guitar had been stolen, so I said “fuck it”, and told 'Simple Minds' I was in! I found out later, (2018), that it was Russell Barrie who nicked my guitar, and without whom, I would never have joined ‘Simple Minds’, and they would have been average.

HR : That’s not the most expensive guitar in the world is it? Remember that?

DF : No! That was the blue bass. [Laughs] Wikipedia ... that was funny.

HR : I know things have been tense between you and JK for a while, but what was the camaraderie like in the early days?

DF : It was all fun, although very serious when it came to recordings and song writing. Generally it was immense fun, always laughing and joking, with many a hilarious story to tell. Wind ups galore. We were five young men, who were just about to embark on a meteoric rise to fame. It was a magical time.

Simple Minds circa 1979 : L-R Derek Forbes, Jim Kerr, Mick MacNeil, Charlie Burchill, Brian McGee

HR : How did you work as a creative unit?

DF : Very simply, (forgive the pun, what pun?) The chemistry between the five of us has never been equalled in later formations. The first five albums were the most intensely creative in the bands history , numbers 4/5 Sons and Sisters, had us churning out songs and ideas with such ease, that we couldn’t decide what to leave out, hence the ‘double ‘ album. Which became two separate albums, ‘Sons and Fascination’ and ‘Sister Feelings Call’.

HR : When the bands original drummer Brian McGee left the band, the sound of the albums seemed to change - was that just coincidence?

DF : No! We were so used to ‘Irish Face’ Brian McGee, being there at the back, and it was a real blow to us. This period was the start of the demise of the chemistry. Brian brought a lot to the table, and with the original five guys, we were one of the coolest bands around. Gigs were always sold out. Later, in the following couple of years, we were to hold the record of 10 sold out nights in a row, at Hammersmith Odeon (now the Apollo).

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HR : There’s a distinct difference in style between ‘Sons and Fascination’ / ‘Sister Feelings Call’, and ‘New Gold Dream’ - what prompted that?

DF : I think it was going from one Producer to another, both with their own individual ideas of how the songs should be presented. Steve Hillage was incredible to work with. The fact that Steve was an astounding musician, and a guitar hero to boot, gave us the freedom to express our selves. It was anarchy, as both Steve and ourselves had no one to tell us when to stop! But, what a collection of songs we were left with. Steve got rushed to hospital one day, with a suspected heart attack.. but he was back the next day, and got straight back into the job.

HR : Knowing Steve, it was probably a bowl of stew he’d eaten!

DF : [Laughs] kin’ell, aye! Was it you who told me about that?

HR : Probably - the Deeply Vale collective mind altering incident ...

‘New Gold Dream’ was written by Forbes, Kerr, Burchill and MacNeil, with no mention of a drummer - what happened there?

There were three drummers on NGD. Firstly, there was Kenny Hyslop, (nickname John), on ‘Promised You A Miracle’. It was Kenny who came up with the idea. He used to listen to lots of radio stations whilst on Tour. ‘Promised You A Miracle’ came about from a track Kenny had taped in New York, which he had heard on a black radio station. I wrote a similar bass line to the song, and Mick MacNeil and Charlie Burchill chipped in with their parts. Kenny played the drum parts, and we had the music. Kerr then took the music away and wrote lyrics and melody (what melody?) to it.. hence our first big hit, and, at last, our first appearance on ‘Top of the Pops’!

Drummer number two on NGD, was Mike Ogletree, (nickname Velcro Heid). Mike was the drummer with ‘Café Jacques’, a Scottish band who were managed by Bruce Findlay, (Simple Minds Manager). I saw ‘Café Jacques’ on the ‘Old Grey Whistle Test’ around 1975/6, (I think), so I was familiar with Mike’s work. Mike’s cymbal work is fantastic on NGD album, and it’s probably the best on any of our albums. As time went on Mike got a bit overwhelmed with the bands ever shining star, becoming brighter by the second. We toured the World with Mike on drums, but it was clear that the job wasn’t for him. Take a step back to the recording of New Gold Dream album. Our Producer, Pete Walsh, had noticed that Mike was struggling with some of the parts, and put it to Mike and the rest of us, that we should bring in a session drummer, to complete the tracks. Step forward Mr Mel Gaynor. Mel finished the album for us, and at one point, both Mike and Mel played together in the Studio, each on a drum kit of their own. I was in the room with them, and we all played together .. the song? ‘New Gold Dream’.

Simple Minds circa 1985 : L-R Mick MacNeil, Derek Forbes, Jim Kerr, Charlie Burchill, Mel Gaynor

HR : I love the keyboard on ‘Hunter And The Hunted’, but that wasn’t Mick was it?

DF : No - that’s Herbie Hancock! He was working in the studio next door, and I asked him what he thought was missing from the track and he laid that down in one take.

HR : By the time NGD was released, your touring schedule was pretty rigorous - what are your best memories of touring? What was your favourite leg?

DF : Probably my right leg ... I love kickin’. I like meeting people, and travelling through lots of countries, so, all through the years, and albums , there have been many adventures. Too many to talk about.

HR : ‘Sparkle In The Rain’ followed fast on the heels of NGD- it had a different edge altogether, harder somehow, and it charted at number 1 in the UK - how did that feel?

DF : It rained the first night. It was the start of one of the best years with Simple Minds. America, then Australia with Talking Heads, Pretenders and Eurythmics, and back to America with the Pretenders, followed by Japan with the Pretenders , then out to Europe, before going to Barwell Court, home of John Giblin, to write the new album.

HR : Despite touring in North America “Sparkle ..” only charted at number 64 in the USA charts.

DF : Aye, but whilst we were there we were offered the chance to record ‘Don’t You Forget About Me’, which Jim was not keen on doing. We decided that I would sing it, if Jim didn’t, but I managed to convince Jim to do it, and the rest is history..

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HR : Did that success change the relationship of the band?

DF : It made the greedy brothers more greedy. Money seemed to be an issue. It was simpler in the past. When we had no money, we were more interested in the Art... money changes people.

HR : Within months of DYFAM giving Simple Minds the global success the band deserved, you’d ended up parting ways. There’s always been a lot of speculation about why that was - do you want to give us your side of the story?

Not now, no. You know it already, and Jim’s side.

HR : You’d better put it in the fucking book then! We’ve talked round it a lot over the years, but I know it’s a painful memory ... DF : It was like losing my family in a plane crash. I was on my own.

HR : But you managed to land on your feet again not long afterwards, right? I had to spring back into action, so I recruited my friends, Geordie Walker from ‘Killing Joke’, Billy Currie from ‘Ultravox’, Ray McVeigh from ‘the Professionals’, and Ray Weston who has played with that many people, you had best Google him. We went into Richard Branson’s barge Studios in London, and laid down some tracks. Virgin weren’t interested, so I was now truly free. I got the call from my Simple Minds Manager, Bruce Findlay, and he told me that ‘Propaganda’, the German band from Düsseldorf, were looking for a bass player for some Shows in London. The shows were at the Ambassadors Theatre in London’s West End. It was billed as ‘ZTT The Value of Entertainment ‘. We played there, every night, for two weeks. The only band missing from ZTT’s roster was ‘Frankie Goes to Hollywood’. The bands who did play were, ‘The Art Of Noise’, ‘Propaganda’, ‘Instinct’, ‘Andrew Poppy’ and ‘Anne Pigalle’.

‘Propaganda’ were Claudia Brücken, Susanne Freytag, Michael Mertens and Ralf Dörper (who didn’t play the shows), myself on bass, and the wonderful Steve Jansen (Japan) on drums.

HR : I know you’re going to frown at me for asking this ; You’re not credited on “Once Upon A Time”, but you did co-write some of the tracks ...

DF : Yes I did. We even did ‘Ghost Dancing’ at the Barrowland while I was still in the band. I didn’t write ‘Alive and Kicking’, which is one of the few tracks that I rate , after my departure. Charlie worked really hard to get me back in the band, and I had a meeting with the band at their Studios at Lochearnhead, Scotland. Jim played me the new album ‘Street Fighting Years’, and I thought it was poor. I left to mull over their offer, which was, even by today’s standards, very agreeable. I was working with ‘Propaganda’ in Abbey Road Studios at the time, and Charlie called to see if I had made up my mind, which I had. My answer was NO.

HR : Just going back to your earlier answer - Brian McGee ended up joining Propaganda - how did that come about and what was it like to work with him on something different?

DF : Going back in time to not long after playing in London with Steve Jansen and ‘Propaganda’, we did one last TV Show called ‘Bliss’, in Carlisle , and that was to be Steve’s last gig with us. One night, at my farm in Kilmacolm, Brian McGee turned up for a peace pipe of three, and I asked him what he was up to musically. He had just left the band ‘Endgames’ and was at a loose end, whose end, I don’t know. I asked if he would be interested in playing with ‘Propaganda’, and he said yes. I immediately called Michael Mertens in Düsseldorf, and he said ok, if you think he is the right man, then he is in. It was as if someone had turned on the fun button. We had the Germans in stitches. We went to London to rehearse for the World Tour. We had recruited Kevin Armstrong on guitar. Kevin said to me one day, after rehearsals, “I am going to meet Bowie and Jagger at 4am in Soho”, but he didn’t tell me why. It turned out Kevin had been asked to be musical director for the Bowie / Jagger performance of ‘Dancing in the Street’... if you know Kevin, then you know his history. He played in David Bowie’s band for years, at ‘Live Aid’ and even through ‘Tin Machine’ and beyond. Most recently he is with Iggy Pop and has had stints with Sandie Shaw and Thomas Dolby, to name a few... the mans a legend and a thoroughly nice bloke.

HR : “1234” is a stunning album, what are your memories of recording that?

Two years with the wrong Producers. During that album, I met my future wife, got married, had our first son, and moved house twice, and the album still wasn’t finished. I loved working with all the different musicians who guested on the album, from writing with Howard Jones, and having Greg Hawkes from ‘The Cars’ play keys on one song, and the top of the tops, was having Dave Gilmour of ‘Pink Floyd’ play a solo on one of my tracks, at Abbey Road, where we were to work for six months, after working in Bath for a year. The album took 2 years to record and mix, and if you include the 2 year sabbatical before we signed to Virgin Records, when Claudia left and they fought to be released from ZTT.. then you are looking at an album where a lot of the songs had been written for four years, before the finished album came out. Nightmare! The musical landscape had changed dramatically by the time ‘1234’ was released.

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Feat. David Gilmour

HR : You rejoined Simple Minds for the “Neapolis” album and subsequent tour in 1998 - but that reunion was short lived , how come?

DF : Have you heard the album??? I told Jim and Charlie that if I was to write a bass line for any of the songs, then I would be wanting a writing credit. Jim said “no, we don’t work like that anymore” it would just be a session in there eyes. I said “ok, you tell me what to play then!” For the most part I redid Charlie’s attempt at bass playing. ‘Glitterball’ was just strumming big, fat bass chords. The track in my head, was quickly renamed ‘Shitterball’. If you watch the ‘Live’ shows with me, then the bass obviously stands out, and I tried my best to make it more Minds like ... the VH-1 Show is probably the best for comparison to the finished album ... the show was miles better. I had fans coming up to me, and saying they didn’t like the album ...

HR : That’s very diplomatic of you - personally I thought the album was awful and I’d have been a bit embarrassed to have been a part of it, but that’s just me ...

DF : [Laughs] Sounds about right

SM 1997 : L-R Charlie Burchill, Derek Forbes, Jim Kerr, Mel Gaynor

HR : You ended up recording and touring with Big Country for a while - did you know Stu and the guys in their early days?

Yes. I knew Stuart from way back in 1977, before ‘Simple Minds’ existed. I was great friends with Richard Jobson. We would go out clubbing in Glasgow, and he would stay at my house, or flat sometimes. Once he said to my mother..”I’ll put you in touch with a good hairdresser “, and her reaction was hilarious.. she was small but very feisty, my mother. Once ‘the Skids’ were big, we, ‘Simple Minds’, would meet up in pubs, usually in London, with the whole band. Stuart was funny, but usually quite quiet, and shy. Jobson had moved to London. He stayed with my long long time friend Ray McVeigh, in De Vere Gardens , Kensington, and it was he who introduced me to Ray. After Bill left ‘Skids’, Richard asked me to join them, but I saw the bigger picture with ‘Simple Minds’. Later on Stuart Adamson told me, that he wanted me to play bass on the brand new band ‘Big Country’, but he was too shy to ask me...

HR : I didn’t realise that - strange that it came around eventually then. Was there a sense of pride when you were asked to step into the bass boots for them?

DF : Not really! I love Tony’s work, and I think the feeling is mutual.

HR : The album “The Journey” was the first one that Bruce Watson had recorded since Stu passed away - it had Mike Peters at the helm - do you think Stu would have been proud of it?

Not really! It was easy to spot who the real writer was. Without Stuart it wasn’t like ‘Big Country’ really, although I thought it was a great album. ‘The Journey’ album had Jamie Watson and I in the Studio during the week, recording and writing parts, whilst Bruce was working at the Naval Dockyard in Rosyth, and only appeared at weekends . Mike Peters hardly showed up, and he only lived about Forty minutes from the studio, and Mark Brzezicki would be off playing with ‘From the Jam’, and getting to the Studio when he could.

The mainstays were Andrea ‘Ando’ Wright (Producer/Engineer), Myself and Jamie ... we were the inbetweeners, whereas the rest were the weekenders. It was a fun time though..

You did all the artwork for that didn’t you?

HR : [Laughs] Controversially, Yeah, and the record store day stuff. I didn’t take the photos though, I’m not being blamed for those. I still laugh about the ‘new shirt’ that nobody could see the pattern on ...

DF : [Laughs]

Big Country circa 2013 : L-R Bruce Watson, Jamie Watson, Mike Peters, Derek Forbes, Mark Brzezicki

HR : On a personal creative front - you released your debut solo album “ECHOES”, which features a number of reworkings of Simple Minds songs. You played all the instruments on that - was it cathartic in a way? A reward for putting a completely personal spin on the compositions?

DF : I am not Cathartic, I am Presbyterian!

It was a mistake that went right. I was booked in the Studio to record an acoustic album of ‘Simple Minds’ songs. I was supposed to do it with Simon Hough of ‘Big Country’, but he had an important gig that had just came in, and had to cancel. I called Andrea, my friend and astounding Engineer, and told her that Simon couldn’t make it. She suggested that I do it on my own, and to bring every instrument; effect pedals, bells, whistles, cuddly toy, and a few Aleister Crowley books ... because we were going to need some Magick ...

HR : Did you put on a big pointy hat and all that?

DF : I did, and I played, sang and drummed everything on my own.. it was a fantastic experience ... I mentioned the fact that it was meant to be an acoustic album on social media and radio, and all of a sudden, ‘Simple Minds’ announced that they were doing an acoustic album and tour... [Laughs] I wonder where they got that idea? A similar thing happened when XSM were doing so well playing all the old songs accurately, to critical acclaim .. then suddenly out of nowhere the 5x5 Tour was announced.. funny that

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HR : XSM. That brings back memories. The Academy tour we did was funny, apart from your sulking. One day I’ll write my own book!

DF : Do that.

HR : You were part of another project recently with Anni Hogan, under the name of ‘ZANTi’ - I must say that the album is absolutely epic! How did your relationship with Anni come about?

DF : Anni and I met fleetingly, years ago, and I was looking for a keyboard player to write with. Andrea ‘Ando’ Wright, mentioned Anni, and I recalled meeting her at a Sci-fi convention, that by sheer chance, I had wandered into..so Ando called her, to see if she was up for it. It turns out that Anni was a huge admirer of early ‘Simple Minds’, and agreed to meet up with me. We met in Liverpool, and later we booked Parr Street Studios, after sending each other snippets of songs and ideas. We got together in the Studio, and finished the songs there, writing like demons.. it was like meeting your song writing soul mate. We just clicked, and we wrote and produced our first album as ‘ZANTi’ on Downwards Records - available in all the usual formats - it’s called ‘Broken Hearted City’.

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HR : Your vocals on the album are something else. What has it been like to work on material that is a complete departure from anything you’ve recorded before?

DF : A dream within a dream.

HR : And will there be more?

DF : You can count on it.

STILL WAITING ..........

Look out for Derek on the road with his current band “Derek Forbes & The Dark”; and be sure to grab yourself a copy of his autobiography “A Very Simple Mind”

#simple minds #80s music #80s movies #big country #bass #good reads #autobiography #scotland #ivor novello #scottish music #david gilmour #propaganda #Youtube

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cyarskaren52 · 9 months

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These shows deserve a second chance.

Here are some tv shows who’s cancellations are so unfair

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TVLINE'S YEAR IN REVIEW!

The Most Unjust Cancellations of 2023

BY TEAM TVLINE

DECEMBER 9, 2023 10:00 AM

Courtesy of Netflix, ABC, Prime Video, Hulu

Just as death is an inevitable part of life, so too are cancellations an unavoidable part of being a TV fan — but that doesn’t mean we have to like it.

As with every year, dozens of shows aired their final episodes in 2023. But before we start singing “Auld Lang Syne,” we want to pour one (or perhaps 15) out for the undeserving shows whose shocking, shortsighted and deeply regrettable cancellations will stick with us well into 2024.

Our picks for 2023’s most unjust cancellations include the revival of a popular Nickelodeon sitcom, the reboot of a coming-of-age classic, plus three series based on iconic films about baseball, wizardry and musically inclined gangs.

Other lamentable losses include a seven-time Primetime Emmy Award-nominated comedy, a promising superhero drama and a handful of other series starring several household names. It’s certainly a diverse collection of shows, but they all have one thing in common �� they all deserved to see at least one more season.

Read on for (in alphabetical order) the 15 shows whose cancellations we would reverse immediately, if only we could, then drop a comment with your own additions to the list. Which of this year’s cancelled shows will you still miss in 2024?

American Auto (NBC)

Photo : Courtesy of NBC

We’re still scratching our heads over why the automotive industry comedy, which was just as smart and funny as creator Justin Spitzer’s previous NBC sitcom Superstore, didn’t click with viewers. Be it bad marketing or a lack of audience interest, the show’s sharp satire — the abortion-themed “The Letter” was one of the best episodes of any show this year — and its stellar cast, led by Ana Gasteyer, deserved so much more.

A League of Their Own(Prime Video)

Photo : Courtesy of Prime Video

We’re not sure it gets more unjust than this, seeing as Prime Video had initially renewed this series adaptation for a second and final season… but the renewal was later rescinded after Hollywood’s simultaneous strikes delayed production on Season 2. Reversed renewals are always heartbreakers, but the sting of this one still lingers: In addition to ending on a forever-unresolved cliffhanger, A League of Their Own shined a refreshing spotlight on communities and topics that are woefully underrepresented on television.

The Company You Keep(ABC)

Photo : Courtesy of ABC

The romantic con drama seemingly had it all: A fun, sexy premise, a pairing with solid chemistry in Milo Ventimiglia and Catherine Haena Kim, and an impressive supporting cast (Sarah Wayne Callies, William Fichtner, etc.) Too bad ABC effectively killed one of its most promising new shows in years with a bad timeslot and a lack of faith in its potential to grow an audience.

East New York (CBS)

Photo : Courtesy of CBS

This CBS drama, led by Amanda Warren and Jimmy Smits and boasting a wonderfully eclectic and diverse array of supporting cast/characters, endeavored to offer a contemporary spin on the usual cop show — in that it spoke to the need for reform, and better policing. Alas, when S.W.A.T.‘s cancellation was reversed by the network, it was East New York that seemingly paid the price.

Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies (Paramount+)

Photo : Courtesy of Paramount+

Not only was Paramount+’s Grease prequel fizzy good fun, it delivered some of the season’s best musical numbers — and earned two Emmy nods for its fleet-footed choreography (see video above). On top of all that, the Season 1 series finale left us with approximately a bazillion unresolved cliffhangers.

The Great (Hulu)

Photo : Courtesy of Hulu

We might’ve thought that — spoiler alert! — killing off a character as hilarious and dynamic as Nicholas Hoult’s Peter would signal the end for Hulu’s alt-history comedy. But the bold twist actually reinvigorated the series midway through Season 3, inspiring some of Elle Fanning’s finest work as Catherine and opening up all kinds of storytelling possibilities. So we were royally ticked off, then, to see Hulu drop the axe after three criminally underrated seasons.

Gotham Knights (The CW)

Photo : Courtesy of The CW

Doesn’t it always happen this way? Just when a new show that got off to a wobbly start starts firing on all cylinders, it turns out to be too late. At first handicapped as being yet another “Batman-less Batman series,” Gotham Knightsspun a haunting Court of Owls tale and gave Misha Collins a deviously delicious dual personality arc, all while serving #Tuernla and #StephHarper ‘shippers oh so well.

Home Economics (ABC)

Photo : Courtesy of ABC

The supremely underrated Topher Grace-led ABC comedy never got its due during its brief three-season lifespan, so its unceremonious — and painfully drawn-out — demise did not come as a complete surprise. But it stung, nonetheless.

iCarly (Paramount+)

Photo : Courtesy of Paramount+

This cancellation felt like a slap in the face, and not in a fun way. We’ve been following Carly and Freddie’s friends-to-lovers journey in real time for 16 years, and the Paramount+ revival’s third season finale put them at the altar, where they nearly swapped vows. In a cruel (but also exciting!) twist of fate, Carly’s estranged mother interrupted the ceremony, much to her daughter’s surprise. We were dying to see what the future held for #Creddie, as well as which sitcom actress would be tapped to play the elusive Mama Shay. Sadly, we’ll be getting answers to exactly zero of those questions, thanks to the streamer’s highly debatable decision to pull the plug early.

The Other Two (Max)

Photo : Courtesy of Max

Max’s wickedly funny showbiz satire had such a sharp eye for the absurdities of celebrity culture that it seemed like it would never run out of material. But alas, co-showrunners Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider abruptly pulled the plug on all the fun after three seasons, calling it a creative decision. Was the show actually scrapped due to the reported HR complaintsabout Kelly and Schneider? We’ll never know for sure… but we’ll never stop missing Cary and Brooke, either.

Reboot (Hulu)

Photo : Courtesy of Hulu

Hulu’s razor-sharp sitcom about a sitcom was a TV lover’s delight, packed with meta gags about vain actors and clueless network executives. It also boasted a stacked cast including Keegan-Michael Key, Judy Greer, Rachel Bloom and Paul Reiser, with scripts from Modern Family‘s Steven Levitan. But some of those clueless network executives work at Hulu, apparently, since they cancelled one of the year’s most promising new comedies after just one season.

Shadow and Bone(Netflix)

Photo : Courtesy of Netflix

Another season of this fantasy series should have been a slam dunk given its popularity and passionate fanbase. After an eventful Season 2 finale, which teased a King of Scars storyline as well as the proposed Six of Crows spinoff, fans were left as stunned as the Darkling getting ran through the gut with this unexpected and unjust cancellation.

Willow (Disney+)

Photo : Courtesy of Disney+

There was plenty of magic left in Disney+’s under-appreciated series adaptation of this 1988 cult classic fantasy movie, and we would have loved for the streamer to conjure up a second season. The show was mostly well-received by fans, and creator Jon Kasan considers the show to be more “on hiatus” than officially “canceled.” Kasan is hopeful that he can reassemble the Willow team for “Chapter II” sometime down the line, reminding his social media followers that the original movie “didn’t get its well-deserved sequel for 35 years.” So, you know, it’s something to look forward to with your future grandchildren.

Winning Time (HBO)

https://tvline.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/cancelled-shows-winning-time.jpg?w=1240

Photo : Courtesy of HBO

The demise of this ’80s basketball drama belongs in the Hall of Fame of boneheaded TV decisions. HBO’s vibrant retelling of the L.A. Lakers’ rise to NBA dominance wrapped up Season 2 with the Lakers suffering a crushing loss to their hated rivals the Boston Celtics… and thanks to HBO’s cancellation, the story ends right there, with only a tacked-on epilogue to tell us that the Lakers went on to beat the Celtics and win three more championships that decade. Why tell the tale of the Lakers’ glory days if you’re going to end the show before the glory days even start?

The Wonder Years (ABC)

Photo : Courtesy of ABC

We thoroughly enjoyed the first two seasons of this ABC reboot, which is why its premature cancellation makes us feel deflated, like an impotent balloon. With effortlessly funny writing and a charming, multi-talented ensemble, this solid comfort-watch deserved to live on for much longer, like its predecessor.

READ MORE ABOUT:

TV SHOW CANCELLATIONS

YEAR-IN-REVIEW

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#tv shows gone too soon #they deserved better #tv shows #year in review

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mayhemproduces · 1 year

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Derek Dillinger (c) vs Konosuke Takeshita vs Masato Tanaka

Derek Dillinger had one request for this show, one request for the MPW World Champion, VENY. He wanted his match tonight to be legendary- and he certainly got his wish. Stepping in the ring with both one of the fastest-rising stars in wrestling today, Konosuke Takeshita, and the hardcore legend, Masato Tanaka. This one promised to be absolutely insane.

The three circled each other as Derek adjusted his arm sleeve, this capacity crowd here tonight in Atlantic City hadn’t settled down all night, and it’s almost certain they wouldn’t during this one. Ziggy pounds on the apron, a surprising amount of this crowd actually behind Derek in this one, but most of the crowd was clearly on the side of the legend, Masato Tanaka. Don Callis wasn’t present for Takeshita tonight, but it’s clear just alligning himself with such a man doesn’t make Takeshita a popular man with the MPW fans. The three men reach out for each other, locking hands for a three way test of strength, but Derek quickly puts a stop to it by nailing Tanaka with a kick to the gut, before, with the help of Takeshita, grabbing Tanaka and whipping him into the ropes, both of them going for a clothesline on the rebound, but Tanaka ducks it, and slips behind both of them. Derek turns and tries to lift up Tanaka, but Tanaka quickly slips off his shoulders, and shoves Derek right into Takeshita! They bump heads, and Take falls out of the ring, as Derek turns and is blasted by a forearm from Tanaka. Derek huffs in frustration, and turns, grabbing Takeshita and throwing him into the steel guardrail, before Derek turns his attention back to Tanaka, rolling back into the ring.

Derek tries to charge at Masato again, but Masato leaps up and blasts Derek with an absolutely gorgeous dropkick! Derek hits the mat hard, and Masato is quick to drop down and lock in a headlock, trying his best to wear down the larger Dillinger. Derek tries reaching out for the ropes, before giving up on that and moving instead to try and get his feet back underneath him. Derek tried to pry at Masato’s fingers, before he moves to elbow Masato a few times in the ribs, following that up by lifting Masato up off his feet, and planting Masato with a back suplex! Derek covers!

1….Kickout!

Masato Tanaka with a quick kickout, it would take a lot more than that to keep the former ECW Champion. Derek grabs Masato and traps him in a chin lock, adding more pressure by driving his knee into Masato’s spine, and using that as a pressure point to apply even more pressure onto the hold. Masato manages get escape, prying Derek’s fingers apart, before knocking his head back into Derek’s chin to stun him. Derek got back to his feet, holding his mouth, potentially having bitten his own tongue from Masato’s headbutt. Tanaka gets up, and charges Derek again, blasting Derek with a HUGE Forearm, knocking Derek into the corner. Tanaka turns around, only to eat a chair to the gut from Konosuke Takeshita! Tanaka hunches over, clutching at his gut, before Takeshita drives the chair down across Tanaka’s back! Tanaka collapses, and now it’s Derek who comes charging in, only to eat a chair to the gut as well!

Takeshita gets rid of the chair, and grabs Derek, sending him off the ropes, before bending over and looking for a backdrop on the rebound, but Derek instead grabs a handful of Takeshita’s hair, and uses it to slam Takeshita down into the mat! Takeshita holds the back of his head as the crowd boos, and referee Jason Ayers lectures Derek about staying off the hair. Derek shoos him away and grabs Takeshita again, lifting him up and chopping Takeshita across the chest. Takeshita clutches his chest in pain, as Derek lifts him back up, and drives him down across the knee with the backbreaker! Derek holds Takeshita there for a moment, bending Takeshita’s back across his knee, causing Takeshita a few more moments of agony, before Derek shoves Takeshita back down to the mat. Derek gets back up and once again grabs Takeshita by the hair, dragging him over to the ropes. Ayers once again gets on Derek to stay off the hair, but Derek pulls him aside to argue with him, serving the purpose of distracting the ref while Ziggy chokes Takeshita on the ropes! Ziggy gets off of Takeshita just as the ref’s attention leaves Derek, and Derek rolls out of the ring. Derek once again grabs Takeshita by the hair, pointing to the hard cam.

“Smile for the camera, asshole!”

Derek then takes a step or two back, before charging and drilling Takeshita with a pump kick! Derek almost kicked Takeshita’s head clean off! Derek gets back into the ring and drags Takeshita off the ropes, going for the cover!

1….2…. Kickout!

Takeshita manages to stay alive again, but Derek stayed on him, wrenching in another headlock, looking to continue to wear Takeshita down further. Derek then begins dragging his forearm across Takeshita’s eyes, trying to disorient him even further, before dragging Takeshita up to his feet again. Derek tries to set Takeshita up for a suplex, but Takeshita manages to slip behind Derek and trap him in a wasit lock, charging for the ropes looking for an O’Connor Roll, but as Derek and Takeshita roll through together, Takeshita lets go, rolls to his feet, and catches Derek in the back of the head with a dropkick! Derek rolls out of the ring, clutching the back of his head, as Ziggy checks on him, but neither of them see it coming as Takeshita hits the ropes, and then dives over the opposite set, taking out both Derek and Ziggy with a suicide dive!

Takeshita gets back to his feet, just in time to turn around and get blasted with a chairshot from Tanaka! Tanaka blasts the chair over Takeshita’s head, dropping Takeshita, before Tanaka grabs him and throws him back into the ring, grabbing Takeshita, before lifting Takeshita and planting him with the Diamond Dust! Tanaka covers, to win the MPW Atlas Title!

1….2… Broken up!

Derek manages to break up the pin! Derek grabs Tanaka, and throws him out of the ring, following the FMW legend to the outside, but Derek is caught with a couple of stiff forearm shots from Tanaka as he climbs out of the ring, before Tanaka whips Derek into the barricade!

Masato slaps a few fans hands as he grabs one of the chairs from the apron, which he proceeds to crack over Derek’s back, causing Derek to arch his back, before Masato then cracked the chair over Derek’s head! Derek stumbles away, clearly dizzy at this point, before Masato whips the chair at Derek’s head, knocking Derek into the guardrail as it does! Masato was going absolutely ballistic here with these chair shots!

Masato asks the fans in the front row to disperse, and between that and a reminder of “If the action looks like it’s coming your way, it is, grab your shit and move!” from Steve Guy over the microphone gets the fans in the front and the next two rows behind to do just that. After exchanging some words with Ziggy Haim, Masato charges Derek, and clotheslines him right over the guardrail, taking the action out towards our fans here at Garden City Boardwalk! Masato climbed over the barricade and urged the fans to get louder, before he accepted a White Claw from a fan who handed him one of the big cans. Masato waterfalled the liquid before turning his attention back to Dillinger, and smashing the can over Derek’s head! Hard Seltzer went everywhere, and Derek fell to a knee, still bleeding profusely, as Masato looked around for other things he could use to batter the Director. While Masato was pandering to the crowd a little too much, though, Derek blasted him in the best with a chop. Masato turned around, clutching his chest, before he turned back to Derek, kicked him in the gut, and then answered Derek back with a chop of his own. Derek responded in earnest with a huge forearm shot, and now two of the heaviest handed men in pro wrestling history were trading bombs back and forth with each other out in the crowd, fist after first, forearm after forearm, back and forth, both men refusing to back down from the other!

Masato gets the better of Derek, catching him with a few stiff chops right in a row, before grabbing Derek and whipping him back into the barricade! Derek crashes hard into the steel! Masato takes a few steps back, and charges Derek, but Derek sends Masato up and over the guardrail… but Masato lands on his feet! Derek hasn’t realized it, as Masato grabs another chair! Masato waits for Derek to turn around, before smashing the chair over Dillinger’s head! Derek leans against the guardrail in a daze, before Masato grabs him and suplexes him over the guardrail, right down onto the wood!

Masato picks Derek up, and rolls him into the ring, before sliding in himself, looking to end it!

1…2… Kickout!

Dillinger out at two. Masato tries to pick Derek back up, but Dillinger manages to catch him with a couple shots to the gut, before getting up and raking Masato’ eyes! Masato stumbles away, but Derek recollects him, before grabbing him and driving Masato’ jaw down onto his shoulder with a Bareback Jawbreaker, shades of Danny Doring. Derek pulls himself back up to his knees, and starts gathering chairs in the ring, setting up a couple of them to form some sort of makeshift platform, pushing the seats of four chairs together. Derek then picks Masato up, wraps a hand around his throat, and chokeslams Masato down onto the chairs! Masato might be done for, Derek covers!

1….2… Kickout!

Masato out at two! Derek huffs and puffs in frustration, but knows he has to stay on top of Masato. Derek shouts for Ziggy as Masato tries to crawl to the corner to regain himself. Ziggy rolls into the ring as Masato tries to get up, only for Derek to charge him and send him into the turnbuckles with a Sunset Flip Bomb! Masato’ head hits the middle turnbuckle as he slips down into the corner! Derek then gets up and grabs Ziggy, using her as a battering ram and tossing her right onto Tanaka! Derek runs across the ring and hits the turnbuckles as Ziggy clears out, before charging into Tanaka, and drilling him with double knees to the face! Roll Credits from The Grindhouse! Goodnight, Tanaka!

Derek drags Tanaka out of the corner, looking for the cover!

1….2…3!

“Here is your winner, and STILL MPW Atlas Champion, Derek Dillinger!”

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sfbanana · 2 years

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Download cars 3 characters

#DOWNLOAD CARS 3 CHARACTERS PLUS#

After Lightning accidentally destroys a simulator, Sterling then tells Lightning in his office that his racing days are ending, and that in order to provide Sterling with revenue, he will be selling legacy merchandise instead. Lightning travels there, only for Rusty and Dusty to tell him that in order to pay for the facility, they sold Rust-eze to a car named Sterling, who introduces him to his trainer, Cruz Ramirez, who is a big fan of him. Lightning calls Rusty and Dusty, the CEOs of Rust-Eze, saying that he wants to train like Jackson Storm, and they inform him that they're opening the new Rust-eze Racing Center. She tells him to try something new, and Lightning decides to start training again. Lightning tells his girlfriend Sally that he doesn't want to be forced into retiring, like Doc, but also that he can't race like before. Lightning has mostly been watching a video of the last race of his late mentor Doc Hudson. Lightning tries to catch up, but pushes himself so hard that he spins out of control, has one of tires blown out, and collides with the wall, launching him into a rollover crash, leaving him seriously injured.įour months later, Lightning is recovering back in Radiator Springs but is afraid he might never be able to race again. On the last lap of the final race of the season, Lightning has the lead, but Storm, Danny Swervez and Chase Racelott catches up and overtakes him. After a few more races, most of the other veterans (including Bobby and Cal) have either retired or dismissed by their sponsors to make way for the Next Gens. One day, a rookie named Jackson Storm, who is part of a new generation of race cars who use the latest technology to run faster than veteran racers, comes from nowhere and beats him. Mater leaves and Lightning soon races with his rivals Bobby Swift and Cal Weathers. Lightning then asks Mater to give him some quiet. Lightning McQueen, now a 7-time Piston Cup champion, is preparing for a big race, when suddenly Mater visits him in his trailer, keeping him company. People start to wonder and ask when he might retire." Plot is not an old man, but he's one of the older cars on the circuit with new rookies coming in. Fee elaborated: " Think of where he'd be in his career now in real time. Following a defeat to Jackson Storm, Lightning enlists the help of a new trainee, Cruz Ramirez, a sleek female race car, to prepare him for the the Florida 500, in the hope that he can give a game-changing performance. In May 2016, Fee gave the first details regarding the plot: the film sees Lightning McQueen, now a veteran in the racing world, facing the rise of a new generation of race cars epitomized by Jackson Storm. Proving that #95 isn't through yet will test the heart of a champion on Piston Cup Racing's biggest stage!

#DOWNLOAD CARS 3 CHARACTERS PLUS#

To get back in the game, he will need the help of an eager young race technician, Cruz Ramirez, with her own plan to win, plus inspiration from the late Fabulous Hudson Hornet and a few unexpected turns. “I think we all learned a little about the sport from Doc Hudson.Blindsided by a new generation of blazing-fast racers, the legendary Lightning McQueen (voice of Owen Wilson) is suddenly pushed out of the sport he loves. “Paul was a big fan of racing and really knowledgeable,” says producer Kevin Reher. The conversations were fortunately captured, proving invaluable to filmmakers who wanted to reignite Lightning McQueen’s love of the sport and the mentor who helped him discover it in the first place. When Newman recorded for the original “Cars,” he and director John Lasseter often exchanged thoughts on racing between takes. The late Paul Newman can be heard in the film reprising his role as The Fabulous Hudson Hornet aka Doc Hudson. The lovable duo Dusty and Rusty return as Rust-eze’s chief proprietors-though they have big things in store for Lightning McQueen. World-renowned sports announcer Bob Cutlass is still calling the races, and Chick Hicks is back-this time as a commentator on the Racing Sports Network. Loyal transporter Mack, big-hearted Italian Fiat 500 Luigi, and charming little Italian forklift Guido continue to support Lightning McQueen’s racing endeavors. Friends supporting their hometown hero include Fillmore, Sarge, Lizzie, Ramon, Sheriff and Flo. “Cars 3” also welcomes back Lightning McQueen’s gang of friends from Radiator Springs, including Lightning’s best buddy Mater, and #95’s No.

#Download cars 3 characters

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courtneysmovieblog · 3 years

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“Ghostbusters: Afterlife”: The third movie we’ve waited for

It’s been a long road to get the third Ghostbusters movie. Among the many road bumps was the death of Harold Ramis and an increasingly toxic fanbase that simply couldn’t abide an all female-reboot. And now, after two delays due to the pandemic, fans finally have Ghostbusters: Afterlife.

Was worth the wait?

Absolutely.

The next generations comes in the form of Egon Spangler’s estranged his daughter Callie (Carrie Coon) and her two children Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) and Phoebe (Mckenna Grace), who inherit a farmhouse from him in the town of Summerville. Neither Phoebe nor Trevor are aware of their late grandfather’s past, until they discover his old PKE meter and the Ecto-1 in the garage -- not to mention all the old ghost traps. Phoebe of course makes the mistake of opening one of them with her new friend Podcast (Logan Kim) and her summer school teacher (Paul Rudd), which triggers a series of supernatural events...

You know what? I’m going to have to stop right there. This movie needs to be watched without being spoiled. I managed to avoid them, and it was was worth it. Trust me.

For those still smarting under the sexist trolls that took all the fun out of the 2016 Ghostbusters, you’ll be happy to know that it is Phoebe who takes the lead of the new squad. Mckenna Grace as usual is brilliant; her character pays tribute to the late Harold Ramis with all of Egon’s quirks and brains. Oh, and did I mention there’s another female Ghostbuster in the new group: Lucky (Celeste O’Connor), Trevor’s coworker and love interest. So suck it trolls, your little gatekeeping attempts failed!

I’ve heard complaints that movie relies too much on fanservice and references to the first movie. While it does feel like a little much at times, there’s nothing ultimately nothing wrong with that. Who doesn’t love a little nostalgia? It’s still nowhere near as egregious as the hamfisting that was Rise of Skywalker.

It also turns out to be a lovely and poignant tribute to Harold Ramis. Longtime fans will be happy to with the closure that’s given to Egon’s character. While it unfortunate that he didn’t make it to the third movie, he is the heart and soul of the film.

So ignore the gripes and critics: Ghostbusters: Afterlife is fun and epic ride that remains true to the spirit of the original film. And yes, there are two credits scenes that fans won’t want to miss.

8 1/2 out of 10

#ghostbusters afterlife #bill murray #dan aykroyd #harold ramis #review

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velvetmel0n · 4 years

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No More Than a Name For Yearning

Summary: It’s a late night at the office when the tension becomes too much.

Rating: Explicit

Word count: 6.5k+

Warnings: Alcohol consumption, vaginal fingering, a threesome (tag teaming?? idk man they take turns), Javier and Carrillo being competitive? penetrative sex, multiple orgasms, egregious use of italics and em dashes, exhibitionism and voyeurism? little bit of dom!Carrillo, Javier smoking as per usual, mutual pining, angst

A/N: let’s hope I didn’t overhype this lmao. Special thanks to @tintinwrites and her knowledge of musicals for the title💕

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“I’m done.” Steve’s voice, all Southern hospitality and exhaustion, breaks you out of the haze you’re in and have been in for the last two hours, English and Spanish swimming before your eyes and you smile up at him reflexively, grateful for the distraction, however small it is. It had been a bad day for everyone, bad intel and a bad raid and now you’re stuck shifting through mountains of files, looking for where you went wrong and the next plan of attack. “Do you want a ride?”

“I’m good, I want to work on this a bit more,” You say confidently, trying for a tone and an expression that says ‘I’m staying because I want to finish this, not because I don’t want to be alone yet’ while his blonde eyebrows knit together high on his forehead. Your smile doesn’t crack under the weight of the energy he’s putting out, brotherly and almost concerned as his eyes flick towards the only other people in the office with you; Javier and Carrillo.

“I’ll be fine, I promise,” You snort when Javier waggles his eyebrows dramatically at you over a stack of his own files to go through. “Javi’ll take me home,” You say because he will. You don’t have a car, having wanted to save money and not fully grasping the inherent dangers of being a DEA agent who relies on public transport in the middle of Escobar’s territory before you had moved here.

You’d started saving the second week of living in Colombia, but somewhere along the way it had become less of a pressing issue and more of an afterthought as you fell into the rhythm of jumping into Steve’s car as he swung by on his way into work or pounding on Javier’s door, just down the hall from your own with some sort of baked good in your hands as the customary bribe.

“You sure?” He’s giving you another chance, another out, because it’s late and it’s hot and his nerves are probably still frayed just like everyone else’s who aren’t showing it and he no doubt thinks you need a break just as much as he does.

“I’m a big girl, Steve. I’ll be fine,” You turn a page, sending him the message that yes, you’re staying. You’ll wait Javier out, promising him some muffin or cookie you’d picked up from the store, crumbly and too sweet but he gobbles them down anyways.

“Oh—kay,” He drawls out, sounding unconvinced but he’s picking his jacket up from where it’s been laying on his desk. “You crazy kids don’t have too much fun now,” He digs his keys from his pocket as he walks out and the hollow slam of the door shutting behind him doesn’t shake anyone.

And it takes a moment for the gravity of what you’ve just done to sink into you, how you’ve just stranded yourself on a desert island of paperwork and intel. How you’re trapped between the two men you think about late at night when you’re alone and hungry, now hunched over one singular desk with them and your mouth goes dry.

Your skin prickles and some part of you thinks that this might be better; better than the stress of the day and the frustration that rises in your blood every time you have to ask one of them to translate for you because cartel slang isn’t taught in any class and at least Carrillo tells you. You’ll tilt the paper at him and point and he leans close, brows heavy over his sharp eyes and he’ll say it once in English, only once and his tone is equal parts exhaustion and frustration but it’s enough.

Javier is more of a bastard about it. The way he smirks every time you ask him for anything, smooth and suggestive and asking what you’ll do for him as payment and as much as it gets on your nerves you can’t help but rise to it, batting your eyelashes and threatening to do one thing or another which of course never fazes him. It helps soothe the more ragged edges of your nerves, falling back on the familiar rhythm of your friendship, the push and pull wrapping around your shoulders like a security blanket.

You both know that you’ll each fall apart in your own way as soon as goodnights have been said and your apartment doors have closed, but that’s a problem still hours away. It’s a problem you’ll deal with alone in your bed, hugging your pillow and wishing you had someone warm and solid sharing your bed because you could attach yourself to them somehow you think. Anchor your body to theirs, to reality, so you don’t float off into nightmares.

Carrillo seethes beside you, quiet and his mouth set in a hard line but you still find yourself wanting to reach out to him. It’s stupid but you want to reach out and smooth your hands over him, want to bleed the tension form his body because he carries too much of it and he can’t bury it under innuendos and harmless flirting like Javier can, like you’ve learned to.

You think about it sometimes, what might happen if you acted on your desires with the Colonel. You know what will happen with Javier if you ever take him up on the offer, one that’s stood since your first week here. You’ll know that he’ll treat you right, that he’ll take you out of your head and take you apart piece by piece. Maybe he’ll even put you back together again and you can’t deny that you’ve been thinking about it more and more lately.

But Carrillo is a puzzle and maybe that’s why you keep thinking about him as much as you do, maybe you want to take him apart just as much as you want Javier to do the same to you. You want to know what it’s like to have all that energy focused on you, intense and bordering on obsessive. All consuming.

The next exhale is shaky and you realize you need to stop before you start staring at them, at the way Carrillo’s shoulders fill out his uniform or catch Javier’s profile out of the corner of your vision, the way his mouth twists with displeasure underneath his mustache. You need to stop before you start thinking about what that mustache will feel like against your skin or how tight Carrillo’s grip on you would be.

You try to bury yourself back in the files and grainy photographs, trying to ignore the ache between your thighs and you realize that you were wrong, that this is worse.

The next hour passes in a haze, steeped in frustrations and stress and an insidious kind of tension, the air plucked taut like a bow string. You’ve untucked your blouse and have already undone the first button but you’re reaching for the next two barely ten minutes later and you don’t know if you’re overheated from the weather or the look you’d seen Javier give you when you reached for your collar the first time, thick eyes slid over to you and following the motions of your fingers. You think Carrillo might be watching you, too— see his head tilt from the corner of your eye, see his fingers still as they turn a page. You keep going, slipping the buttons from their closures and maybe you make more of a show than you should of opening your collar. Of fanning yourself and slipping your hand underneath your shirt to rub your shoulder.

No one says a word and you keep your eyes fixed on the ones in front of you, absently kneading your own shoulder as you wait for their eyes to slide away, for the moment to pass because it feels like it’s clogging your throat.

“Need a hand?” Javier raises his eyebrows, points his chin at the one you have stuck up your shirt, your fingers squeezing at the knot that’s formed and you snort. It splinters the tension enough that you can breathe.

“In your dreams, Peña,” Because the last thing you need right now is for him to touch you, the rasp of his fingers over your smooth skin with Carrillo watching the entire thing, less than three feet away. Your stomach clenches at the thought, a traitorous thrill forcing its way up your spine and you dig just a little too far into the tendon and a noise slips from your lips.

You expect Javier to call you out on it, on the way the sound just...flows out, low and keening but pitched up towards the end and you don’t breathe. You don’t know if anyone breathes because it’s like you’re the only three people awake right now. The only three people alive and the glow of the streetlights outside is pulsing and hazy as it slips through the cracks in the blinds and it’s making you feel like you’re in a fever dream, like suddenly all the consequences of bad decisions, of feeding the monster in your gut are going up in the smoke that bleeds from Javier’s cigarette.

But he doesn’t. He doesn’t and neither does Carrillo and your breath shakes itself out of you, your fingers smoothing over the tendon you had just curled into and you have half a mind to go home, to try and call Javier off the hunt so you can curl up in your own bed and try to sleep off the stress and the heat, the thoughts that keep rising to the surface.

The sound of Carrillo yanking a drawer open drags you out of the daydream that’s trying to coalesce and you see him pull the bottle out; think that the frustration must be getting to him. You can’t blame him for it.

“I hope you’re planning on sharing, Carrillo,”

Because there’s something to be said for warm alcohol and the way it burns the whole way down like it’s holding a grudge. You don’t know what it is— it’s something clear and biting that smells like window cleaner when Carrillo unscrews the cap and passes it to you, the bottle half drunk already and the thought is dim in the back of your mind that the Colonel himself must’ve done this dozens of times before, that your lips are wrapping around the very same rim as his must have as you swallow a mouthful and try your best not to grimace. Your lips tingle on contact and you know whatever it is it’s strong, probably enough to fuzz your better judgement.

You’re already passing it to Javier when you see him reaching for it, fingers hungry in the way they wrap around the bottle. He gulps, bares his teeth at the taste and holds it out to Carrillo who swallows a mouthful of what you suspect to actually be paint stripper without blinking. Rinse, repeat.

The alcohol loosens your tongues and before you know it Javier is cluing you in on the things that are said behind your back, when you’re not in the room. Warning you about a young agent who’s been making noise about asking you out, maybe getting you in bed and you can’t help it.

You chuckle and the words rise unbidden to your tongue, spurred on by a combination of alcohol and stress, of sleep deprivation and the oppressive heat. You don’t realize your mistake until a second after the words are out of your mouth and you can feel your stomach drop to the floor.

“I’d rather fuck you grumpy bastards,”

Because it’s just as much about the wording, how you said it as much as it’s about the fact that you said anything at all. You’d rather fuck them. Not either, not one of. You’d rather fuck them.

“What was that?” There’s a change in Javier’s voice, some new chord resonating in the air and it makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Carrillo drinks slowly from the bottle and you can see his throat working, his Adam’s apple bobbing and he’s looking at you with intent. It makes you want to squirm.

“I— I just mean if I had to choose, between you and Miller I mean, I’d— I would choose you,” You fumble it and you know it. You’re not looking at either of them, eyes staring down at the files still on the desk because you feel warm and prickly all over, trying to keep your breathing even because you’re spiraling. You’re afraid; afraid of their reactions, if they’ll snort and reject you after all and afraid of what will happen if word gets out. The fear tangles with arousal in your gut, as exhilarating as it is confusing and no one is saying anything.

You see motion out of the corner of your eye, a large hand gripping the back of your neck a moment later and he almost pulls you out of the chair with his urgency to crash your lips against his own— Carrillo. You melt into the kiss, welcome his tongue into your mouth and you’re abundantly aware of the fact that Javier is just on the other side of you, that you’re being watched.

Your breathing shallows and it’s like you have a fever you’re so hot, drinking down every bit of attention that’s being lavished on you between Carrillo’s mouth on yours and Javier’s hands, sliding around your middle and squeezing your sides before you feel him crowding further into your personal space. It’s already verging on too much for you, too many things happening at once and not going to stop until you’re boiled down to a creature of lust and sensation and nothing else.

Carrillo keeps one hand in your hair while he eats at your mouth, keeping you in place for him while his other drops to your thigh, palming it before he slides his hand down to your knee and holds, stopping you from creating any friction for yourself before you could even try. You whine and Javier’s even closer than before, covering your neck with kisses now and his mustache tickles enough to have you trying to recoil from it, chills sweeping throughout your body and his chuckle dark in your ears.

Carrillo’s teeth drag over your bottom lip at the same time Javier starts to unbutton the rest of your shirt, his hand deft and seeking as it slips underneath the fabric, his other mirroring Carrillo with the way it grips the meat of your thigh. You whine, trying to grasp Javier’s shirt in an effort to ground yourself or to pull him closer you aren’t entirely sure because all you know is their hands on you and the ache that’s burning you up inside, the taste of the alcohol on Carrillo’s tongue as it sweeps through your mouth.

Your shirt flutters to the floor in a soft heap and Javier’s attention stays on your chest for what feels like ages, palming your breasts through your bra while Carrillo’s head dips, mouthing along your jawline and down your throat, and in that moment you want nothing more than to feel his teeth. To have him suck marks into the fragile skin that you can look at in the morning to make sure this isn’t some fever dream brought on by the heat and frustration because you feel like you’re being melted down between the two of them and reshaped into something new, something hungry and aching and empty.

A hand trails from your chest and down your stomach while teeth scrape along your neck, your shoulder, and you almost hold your breath when you feel the button of your jeans being fiddled with. A whine builds in your throat, a sharp sound undercutting it and sending a jolt through your body when the Colonel smacks Javier’s hand away before he could slip it inside your pants. Your eyes flutter open for the first time since this all started, just in time to see the way Carrillo’s jaw clenches, hostility or just plain competitiveness you can’t be sure belying the heat in his eyes as he glares at the other man.

It shouldn’t turn you on— you know it shouldn’t, having him snapping over you like that, like you’re a new favorite toy he’s loathe to hand over but you can’t deny the way you squirmed, either, heat curling in your gut at the thunderous look on his face. And then Javier is huffing and for one insane moment you’re afraid that he’s going to give up without a fight, that he’s going to stop.

But then he’s turning your head towards him, wrenching you away from Carrillo so your chest is pressed against his own and he can have his fill of your lips. His kiss is different from Carrillo’s— the bristles of his mustache tickle and it’s less like an onslaught but no less heated, his groan sinking right down into your bones.

Carrillo’s fingers make quick work of your jeans and you almost leap out of your skin at the first touch, thick fingers slipping underneath the band of your underwear and dragging through your soaked folds.

You moan into Javier’s mouth, the sound ripped from the back of your throat and you hear one of them chuckle— self satisfied and almost mocking and you want to snap at them and call them names, want to regain the edge you maintain so carefully in this line of work but you can’t. You can’t because Javier’s teeth are scraping along your jawline now and his hand is working its way underneath your bra to start thumbing over your nipple, the edge of his nail against the sensitive skin making a chill skate through your body and Carrillo— he’s— he’s rolling the rough pads of his fingers over your clit, using enough pressure to make your thighs jerk and the insults wither on your tongue.

Then it’s your hands that are moving, unclenching from their shoulders to follow the lines of their torsos down, down, down and the scrape of chairs across the floor is loud and disjointed as they’re yanked closer. Half of you wants to take your time, to explore the both of them at your leisure and finally have your fill of each, to run your hands along their bodies and kiss each of their scars but the other half of you is louder. The other half of you is greedy. Impatient.

You smooth your palms along the front of their pants, reveling in the feel of their cocks twitching through the fabric and how Javier’s breath hisses through his teeth, how Carrillo drops his head to your shoulder and squeezes the inside of your knee, his fingers stuttering against you. It’s heady, knowing that they both want you like this and holding evidence of their arousal in your hands and you can’t help but stroke them, biting down on a grin when a moan works itself from Carrillo’s chest.

Javier recovers first and pulls you until your body is fully facing him, hunching over you with his fingers working at the closure of your bra, mouth trailing down your throat. Carrillo huffs behind you but he doesn’t pull you away, not yet. Instead he shifts closer, close enough for you to sag into the solid mass of his chest because his fingers are moving again, slipping lower and teasing your entrance, circling and only barely dipping the tip of one inside. At the same time Javier’s mouth is engulfing one of your nipples and sucking, teeth glancing off of it and you don’t know whose name to moan, writhing between the two of them and trying to get a grip on Javier’s hair.

Your other hand is still over Carrillo’s cock and you squeeze, a whine bursting from your lips because of course the bastard was waiting for that, waiting for just the right moment to slide one of his thick fingers home while Javier laves across your chest, licking and sucking at your tender flesh. “Fuck,” Your voice is high and reedy and you feel like you can’t breathe. It’s the first word you’ve spoken during this entire thing, whatever it is, whatever it’s going to turn into, and you think you feel Carrillo’s lips pull into something sharp that might be a grin against your cheek when he starts to move.

The angle means the heel of his hand is bumping into your clit and his pace is a cruel thing; dark and twisting and somehow it’s too much and not enough all at once and your head is spinning from it. You hear him in your ear, speaking low and soft and his praises are clogging your throat. Encouragements, teasing when he asks you if you want more, can take more because he knows you can, that you want it because you’re good for him, aren’t you? For them?

And Javier is murmuring his agreements against the pillow of your breast, dragging his teeth along your nipple and you think if it’s possible for a human being to go up in flames you would right at this moment, trapped between the two of them with no buffer, with nowhere to go.

“Need more already?” Javier’s voice is thick like honey, almost gloating as he picks his head up from your chest, taking in how it rises and falls in time with your rapid breaths, shining from his mouth underneath the fluorescent lights. His eyes drop lower and he can’t see you, not with Carrillo’s hand in the way and the thick denim of your jeans still biting into your thighs, but he can hear you, slick and obscene with little whimpers falling from your lips like you’re trying to stay quiet because you are. It’s not working, but you’re trying.

“Javi—” Your voice tilts up at the end, high and whining and you don’t know how much more of this you can take. You feel like you’re melting down, burning up from the inside out and you can’t remember if you’ve ever felt like this before. If you’ve ever felt this on edge, coiled up tight and vibrating with this much tension, if it’s because you’ve been wanting each of them for months now, if it’s because they’re both here with you. Both watching you, both stringing you out further and further and pulling you in different directions. Each trying to get their fill of you before the other.

And maybe you’re asking for Javier because Carrillo is cruel, working you with his fingers but never giving you quite enough, working you up and up and up. Like he wants to see how far can push you, if he can make the need swallow you whole. You know he can, that for all your wanting to take him apart piece by piece he can do the same to you, is doing the same to you just as you know Javier will show you more mercy.

Javier reaches for you, curls his hands in your jeans and pulls them down over your knees and maybe he meant to pull them off, to get you naked in the middle of the office but his eyes catch on the way Carrillo’s finger is sinking into you over and over again. The way he gives you another and how you still when he does, your breath stuttering.

You almost don’t feel the way Carrillo hooks his chin over your shoulder to watch for himself because you can’t think over how his fingers feel, thick and heavy and buried up to the knuckle and you whine. You whine because he’s just holding them there, seemingly content to just feel the way your cunt is squeezing around them, the way your thighs are shaking and listening to you crying in his ear.

You hand fists in the material of his pants, your other digging your nails into Javier’s shoulder and you use them for leverage, rolling your hips on Carrillo’s fingers. Someone groans, ragged and strung out and for terrifying seconds you think that they’re going to leave you like this. Leave you to fuck yourself on his fingers without any help.

But Javier doesn’t last that long.

Javier doesn’t last that long before he’s reaching for you all over again, pulling you away from Carrillo and you almost protest, almost call him a bastard for cutting off what little stimulation you’re managing to eek out for yourself but then he’s pressing you up against the desk and you forgive him.

You try to brace yourself on the desk, hands slipping on file folders and you look back, over your shoulder because you can hear his belt jangling, loud against the background of hurried breathing and arousal-softened voices. You don’t see it but Carrillo leans back in his chair, sucking your slick off his fingers and thinking about eating you alive even while he watches Javier line himself up with your weeping cunt, the way his head leans back as he pushes in, the way you go still. The way your chin drops to your chest and how you rock your weight onto your hands, spine curving when his hips meet yours.

Javier isn’t moving, not yet, and Carrillo almost feels sorry for you because another of those whines is falling out of your mouth, soft and needy and you lick your lips before you speak, begging him to move and so he does. They both do.

Javier’s hands curl around your hips and he starts to thrust as Carrillo stands, rounding the desk and his lips might pull into something crueler than a smile but pleased nonetheless when you reach for him, a moan on your lips. He lets you fumble with his belt and untuck his shirt with shaking hands and his chest swells with a twisted pride, that you can be filled with another man’s cock and still reach for him.

It goes to his head a little bit while he watches you, glassy eyes fluttering and your hands slipping. Your head drops to his shoulder with a high pitched moan, your hips rolling back, and that’s when he grabs your face, his fingers pressing into your jaw, lifting your head and forcing you to look at him.

It’s too much, you realize, trying to remember how to breathe while you stare into Carrillo’s face. His nostrils are flared and his eyes are swallowed up by his pupils, and he’s not looking away. Your breath is puffing into his face and you’re trying to keep your eyes open, you are— but Javier’s cock keeps dragging through your walls, catching on something bright and sharp and it’s almost enough.

You don’t realize that you keep closing your eyes until Carrillo is almost throttling you, tightening his fingers on either side of your jaw, the meat of his palm pressing against your windpipe and tomorrow you’ll feel embarrassed at the pathetic sound that leaves your throat. How you sway towards him, his "look at me” ringing in your ears, soft and biting all at once.

Javier hunches over you then and you feel his teeth in your shoulder, feel the rasp of his mustache on your skin. Carrillo’s shoulders move but you don’t look, don’t let yourself get distracted from the way he’s looking at you like— like—

You don’t know because Javier’s hand is moving, slapping Carrillo’s away before he can touch you and you see the muscle in his jaw tick before you crumple, would have spilled across the desk if his grip wasn’t holding you up because Javier is slipping his hand between your shaking thighs.

Your hands fist in the material of Carrillo’s shirt, your quest to get his belt undone long since falling by the wayside and being replaced by focusing on the way your nerve endings are lighting up under Javier’s fingers, buzzing and firing and the knot in your belly bursts, thick and sweet like syrup. You sob into Carrillo’s shoulder, bearing down on Javier’s cock and he groans behind you, ragged and grating.

But he doesn’t let you enjoy it, not really. Because the next moment he’s pulling away from you and you feel so empty you could almost cry, shaking yourself apart against Carrillo’s chest, dense and warm and the part of your brain that’s still functioning wishes you could feel his skin on your own. You don’t get the chance to dwell on it, on Carrillo’s hands and his arms, the feel of his torso through his shirt because the next thing you know liquid is splashing across your lower back, hot and dripping and you shudder right down to your bones.

“Fuck,” Javier sounds as wrecked as you feel and you can hear him pant, the air whistling over his teeth but the ache between your thighs isn’t fading away. If anything it’s getting worse as you try to pull yourself back together, trembling against Carrillo’s body because you don’t necessarily trust yourself to stand on your own quite yet and apparently neither does Javier, rolling his forehead on the space between your shoulder blades.

After a few moments he straightens and you feel his eyes on you as clearly as you do his hand, stroking down your side and squeezing your hip. He starts digging through the desk then, opening and shutting drawers until he finds what he’s looking for, wiping his cum from your skin with what you assume to be an extra shirt Carrillo keeps in his desk, always prepared.

Your fingers unclench from the shirt he’s wearing, sliding over his stomach to pull on his belt because you aren’t satisfied, won’t be until you know what it feels like to make him fall apart right along with you. You mouth at his neck, slipping your palm into the front of his khakis after you conquer the buckle and zipper.

“You’re breaking my heart, baby,” Javier sits back in one of the abandoned chairs, his voice hoarse and colored with exertion, and if you didn’t know any better you might think he’s serious, that his feelings are well and truly bruising with your efforts to get in Carrillo’s pants, still greedy for more after he had his turn with you.

“Fuck off, Javier,” You say it without any real venom against Carrillo’s skin and the other man might have barked out a chuckle, bared in his teeth in something that might have been a grin, but the only thing you can focus on is the way Carrillo groans when you close your fingers around his cock and stroke. You want to hear it again and again, want to have it vibrate through you while he’s pressed impossibly close.

He’s a sight as he pulls himself away from you, his uniform shirt stretched across his broad shoulders, unbuttoned now and his undershirt wrinkled from your fingers, his jaw set and you have to turn, all loose limbed and soft as you seat yourself on the desk, able to finally peel your jeans the rest of the way off and spreading your thighs in blatant invitation. He takes it, slotting his hips between your knees and wrenching you to him and you’re able to wind your arms around his wide shoulders like you’ve been craving to.

You rub yourself against him, your breath catching in your throat from how your sensitized cunt slips across the coarse fabric and it almost hurts, sharp and corrosive in the way it floods through you, dissolving in its wake. But you can’t stop, chasing after the pleasure with a whining moan because he’s just watching you, eyeing the slowly growing wet spot on the front of his underwear because of it and you squeeze your thighs around him, trying to spur him on.

"Horacio,” The name slips out unbidden, tinged with something you can’t describe and it’s the magic word. He huffs as if he’s coming back to himself, as if he’s realized that he can move, that you really do want this despite the circumstances. Despite Javier watching with rapt attention and a fresh cigarette.

He doesn’t make you let go of him, doesn’t make you pull him out because you’re clinging to him so sweet and nice and purring for him that he can’t imagine it and you’re grateful. Actually grateful that you can keep yourself wound around him, touching and tasting like you’ve thought about for months now, raking your fingers through his short hair and arching against him until you’re balancing on the very edge of the desk, his arms the only things keeping you from slipping right off.

And then you’re being split open.

You warble something that might have been his name, choking on it and you scramble at his shoulders for a better grip. He groans deep in his chest, rough and filthy as his head drops to your neck and it’s overwhelming. You want to blame it on the fact you’ve already cum, that you’re still overly sensitive from Javier because he’s making you feel better than he has any right to as harsh as he is, as stone faced. As mean.

But then his hand is slipping between your thrusting bodies and he’s anything but, unerringly finding your clit and it’s almost embarrassing. It’s almost embarrassing how hard your body jerks, grinding into his calloused fingers while he breaks you apart, your cunt pulsing around him as he keeps up the onslaught, hips snapping into yours.

You cling to him, fingers digging into his shoulders, his back, as the pleasure sweeps through you, glimmering and razor sharp and you say his name again, only this time mewling and shattered. And it’s the combination of everything that does him in; your cunt fluttering around his cock, your voice in his ear saying his name like that, you trying to pull him infinitely closer. He grunts as he spills himself within you, the sound strangled and you can’t help but gather his face in your hands to pull it to your own, slanting your lips against his and drinking it down.

Your thighs are quivering as you pant into each other’s mouths, Carrillo almost languidly stirring his cock in you as you both come down. You didn’t expect it— didn’t expect any of this to actually come to fruition, to exist somewhere outside of your mind and the four walls of your bedroom but here you are. The smoke from Javier’s cigarette hangs in the air and Carrillo— Horacio, now, is nosing underneath your jaw, staying right where he is and kissing the salt from your skin. If an ache wasn’t blooming between your legs, in your thighs and your hips you don’t know if you’d believe it happened at all, letting the memories turn hazy in the sunlight that’s only a few short hours away.

But it is and when you blink your eyes open you see Javier looking at you with an unreadable expression, flicking his eyes to Horacio and back again and a different heat starts to suffuse your body, this one prickling and bordering on uncomfortable. That’s when you unlock your ankles from behind Horacio’s back, your heart slipping into a nervous rhythm and you don’t want to press your palms into his shoulders and apply pressure, telling him to move without so many words but you do because you can’t take it.

Can’t take the way Javier is looking at you, can’t take how much you want Horacio to stay, to wonder and find out if he stays as gentle as this when the fog clears from his head.

You can’t take the way he’s looking at you either as he shifts, following the directive of your hands and you swallow the gasp that tries to burst from your mouth when his cock slips from you. You weren’t expecting this either, how bereft you feel without him filling you up, without him in your arms if you’re being honest with yourself. You can’t even blame it on the alcohol, not really. None of you had drank that much, the bottle still not empty after being passed between the three of you and now on its side, knocked over at some point from your combined haste but miraculously unbroken as it lays there on the corner of the desk, liquid pooling on the linoleum below.

Javier is the one who sees it first and throws Horacio’s crumpled, used shirt on the caustic puddle while you’re pulling your jeans up, dressing as if your clothes could become your shield from the emotions that are trying to flay you alive.

“Are you okay?” It’s Horacio who asks how you are while you button your blouse, his voice gruff and threaded with something that’s going to haunt you.

“I’m good, I promise,” You try for a light smile, like you’re not turned inside out, like you won’t keep thinking about this for the rest of the night and maybe into the day when you have to pretend like everything is fine, that nothing has changed.

Javier throws the shirt onto the desk then and it hits with a wet plop that makes you cringe. You see Horacio’s mouth thin, any traces of the softness from just moments ago bleeding away and you want it back.

But it will have to wait for another time, maybe a better time or none at all because Javier is crushing the end of his cigarette into an ashtray and picking his leather jacket off the back of a chair, looking at you expectantly because he knows you can’t refuse him, not without revealing anything. “Ready to go?” And maybe Horacio has some inkling about the arrangement, gleaned from comments that have piled up over the weeks and months but maybe he doesn’t. Maybe he thinks you’re going home with the agent, not bumming a ride to the same apartment building because you were naïve and are now complacent.

You nod, looking again at Horacio and running your eyes over him, as if you don’t want to forget how he looks in this moment despite everything. His uniform a mess, cock tucked back into his pants but his belt staying unbuckled for the moment and for one second, one harebrained second, you think about kissing him. Just kissing him, just a peck— just enough for him to maybe know.

But you don’t.

“Goodnight, Horacio,” Your lips wrap around the syllables, turning his name into something gentle as you drift towards the door after Javier.

The Colonel nods and you think you might see his lips part but the shadows make it impossible to tell and you don’t know what’s in his eyes either, just know that they feel heavy on your skin. Javier calls your name and you finally look away before you do something even more stupid than anything else you’d done tonight.

The door closes behind you and he knows you can’t hear him but he says it anyways, alone and looking at the door like you’re going to walk back in.

“Goodnight.”

#javier pena x reader #horacio carrillo x reader #javier pena x reader x horacio carrillo #javier pena x you #narcos smut #narcos fic #horacio carrillo x you #if you listen closely you can hear my hs english teacher screaming at all the run on sentences

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statelies · 3 years

Photo

( * 💀 / jessie mei li, questioning, she/they ) — is that emmeline vance i just saw rushing down the corridor? i hear they’re a twenty year old hufflepuff, returning for their sixth school year, but their friends would tell you that they are industrious & compassionate as well as blunt & graceless. if you want to know more about them, i guess i could tell you that they’re muggleborn, and from what i hear, they’re currently allying with the order. when our divination professor looks into their crystal ball, they see: falling asleep studying over open books, split open pomegranates, working under flickering candlelight, casual intimacy between friends, a kitchen full of laughter.

CHARACTER INSPIRATION: Izzie Stevens (Grey’s Anatomy), Callie Torres (Grey’s Anatomy) (+ Sara Ramirez, the they/she icon we all deserve), Kara Danvers (Supergirl), Charles Boyle (Brooklyn 99), Alina Starkov (Shadow and Bone), Janet (Not a Girl) (The Good Place), Penelope Garcia (Criminal Minds).

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Implied Racism.

LINKS: Pinterest. Playlist (Coming Soon).

𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐒

I N T R O

full name ➵ Emmeline Huan Vance

nicknames ➵ Emmy; Emma; Line; Em; Melly; Melsy; Vance; Hurricane

pronouns ➵ she/they/her/them

birthdate / age ➵ October 24th, 1959, 09:47 am / 20 years old

birthplace ➵ Brighton, East Sussex

childhood home ➵ Unknown home in Brighton, East Sussex — 162 Orchard Croft, Harlow, Essex

current residence ➵ Hogwarts, Scotland

religion ➵ agnostic; paternal grandparents were Methodist ( Protestant ) while maternal grandparents were also Christian

occupation ➵ full - time student at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry

P H Y S I C A L

height ➵ 5 feet, 2 inches / 157.5 cm

weight ➵ 48 kg / 106lb

body type ➵ hourglass shaped figure

hair ➵ dark brown, bordering on black; soft and wavy

eye color ➵ dark brown

dominant hand ➵ right

FC ➵ Jessie Mei Li

voice ➵ Jessie Mei Li

special characteristics ➵

small waist

has a birthmark on her right ankle that looks like an apple

pierced septum

smells of ➵

lavender hand lotion

pomegranate

cardamom, jasmine and orange blossom perfume

E M O T I O N A L

zodiac ➵ scorpio sun (x); sagittarius rising; cancer moon

MBTI ➵ ISFJ (“The Defender”)

positive traits ➵ industrious; compassionate; generous; warmhearted; benevolent; selfless; observant; honest; personable; kind.

negative traits ➵ blunt; graceless; meticulous; well-meaning; impatient; internalizes feelings; oversensitive; tactless; overbearing; clumsy.

likes ➵ Pumpkin pasties; duelling club; laughter; the rush of incoming patients; cooking for friends; Ballycastle Bats; Diagon Alley; being barefoot at the beach; roadtrips; apple juice; hugs from friends; nicknames; vanilla candles; the heat of a boiling cauldron; Sugar Quills; warm sweaters; pizza; pomegranate seeds; cheek kisses; taking photographs; finishing essays early; coffee with milk and two sugars; Queen; Aston Villa; cats

dislikes ➵ spam (the food); apparition; the Daily Prophet; starless nights; Kenmare Kestrels; karaoke; losing bets; skinned knees; snakes; pigeons; the colour fuschia (it’s too bright); ticking clocks; banana flavouring; funerals; Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans; Celestina Warbeck; mayonnaise; blue M&Ms; her lao ye; the word mudblood; leprechauns; fans of Kenmare Kestrels; losing football matches; witch Halloween costumes; rugby

amortentia ➵

birthday cake

fresh mint

old books

orange blossom

M A G I C

blood status ➵ muggleborn

wand ➵ Aspen, dragon heartstring core, 8 inches, hard

wand-quality aspen wood is white and fine-grained, and highly prized by all wand-makers for its stylish resemblance to ivory and its usually outstanding charmwork. The proper owner of the aspen wand is often an accomplished duellist, or destined to be so, for the aspen wand is one of those particularly suited to martial magic. An infamous and secretive eighteenth-century duelling club, which called itself The Silver Spears, was reputed to admit only those who owned aspen wands. In my experience, aspen wand owners are generally strong-minded and determined, more likely than most to be attracted by quests and new orders; this is a wand for revolutionaries.

patronus ➵ Hippo

E D U C A T I O N

Hogwarts class ➵ Hufflepuff, 1981

extracurriculars ➵

Hufflepuff Prefect / September 1979 - June 1981

Herbology Club & Greenhouse Keepers / September 1977 - June 1981

Toothill Duelling Club / September 1979 - June 1981

Wenlock Study Club / September 1979 - June 1981

courses & exams ➵

Ancient Runes - O

Astronomy - E

Charms - O

Defense Against the Dark Arts - O

Herbology - O

History of Magic - O

Muggle Studies - O

Potions - O

Transfiguration - O

Care of Magical Creatures - E

M I S C E L L A N E O U S

health ➵

walnut allergy

hayfever

pets ➵

Jíngyi; the long-eared owl

Shu; the white cat

handwriting ➵ Abuget

F A M I L Y

Deirdre (née Wilkinson) Vance ➵ paternal grandmother; retired nurse; deceased May. 1980

Edward Vance ➵ grandfather; retired soldier and miner; deceased Jan. 1980

Xiulan Wong ( Wong Xiulan ) ➵ maternal grandmother (lao lao); homeschooled; housewife; alive

Da Wong ( Wong Da ) ➵ maternal grandfather (lao ye); homeschooled; shop-owner; alive

Dr. Cillian Vance ➵ father; worked for/with the Red Cross UK (and the Hong Kong Red Cross); alive

Mei (née Wong) Vance ➵ mother; teaching assistant; alive

𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌

emmeline had always known they were different. at first, it was because of her skin, the way she looked and spoke and could never find anyone to play with on the playground, her chinese middle name and her lao lao being the one to pick her up from school every morning. she would cry to her mother at night, cling to her arms like they were the port keeping her safe from the storm, and listen to her father sing, voice warm and tender as she drifted to sleep, but she never got the answers for why she was treated differently — never got answers for why she was the only non-white child in her school, never got answers for why they hated her so much, hated her existence. but she weathered through primary school, finding her footing in secondary school with her only friend, aisha, who never cared that she was different, that sometimes she could do things that nobody else seemed able to do, that she’d been encouraged to always tell the truth, nothing but the truth, that sometimes she’d say things that hurt, things that stung even though she never meant for them to.

for a while, the feeling of being wholly different faded, or at least, emmeline didn’t notice it quite so prominently anymore, and then suddenly it appeared again — but this time it had been because she didn’t know if she always felt like a girl. not a girl in the traditional sense, anyway, not some days. she liked dresses and fancy heeled shoes and tiaras, but found herself equally at home in plaid shirts and her father’s way-too-big suit jacket and kicking around a football, and for a half-asian barely a teenage… person (she’s still working on it), suspended constantly between two identities, it confused them (even though they’re perfectly aware now that those things are superficial, but the feeling still remains). the only person they ever talked to about it back then was aisha — their lifeline, their best friend, the one their parents reluctantly approved of because they had been so lonely for so long. while aisha was crushing on boys, sweaty and loud and just this side of too teasing, and starting to wear makeup and changing herself, emmeline was trying to find where she fit in, trying to understand who she was, who she is, why they feel so different.

in the midst of all that, emmeline’s letter to hogwarts came. just another difference for emmeline to feel, the knowledge that they have magic was unexpected and tore her family in two. the family she loved - her mother, her father, her lao lao and lao ye, and granny and pops - all had differing opinions on whether or not to accept it, whether or not to send them to school and deal with the fact, up front, that emmeline was, and always would be, special. in the end, emmeline’s pops snuck her out, following instructions from a professor mcgonagall, to find diagon alley, the place where emmeline suddenly felt she fit in. she could feel the magic in the air, could feel it almost crackling in the space around her, almost inviting her in. of course, it took some time — a little too much time, really — to buy everything she needed, and when she cried into her ice cream on the way home, overwhelmed and tired and feeling so many things, he was the one who held her all the way home.

he and their granny were the only ones there to send them off the hogwarts that first year, their parents reluctant to accept anything so unnatural about their child, but emmeline hardly cared at the time (even though it hit them later that night and they sobbed into their pillow), too excited to remember to even wave, too excited to remember to cry because she was leaving behind the only friend she’d ever truly known, and when they saw hogwarts, that castle appearing, they just knew. they were home. she knows, after years and years of being torn between two identities on so many different fronts, that people aren’y happy she’s here, happy she has magic, happy she calls this place her home away from home, that she laughs loud at the hufflepuff table and wears yellow and black face paint for quidditch matches and tried out for the muggle football team, but there’s nothing they can say to change who she is, her pride in the blood flowing through her veins, in the magic at her fingertips. emmeline’s always known they’re different, but having magic, being home at hogwarts, is the first time she’s ever felt proud to be so.

#revelio.intro #emmeline;#god this is actually a mess but i am way too tired to deal with it #SDFKJDSF #so! here's. something ig. i'll decide if i hate this after i pass out and wake up tomorrow lmfao #implied racism cw #racism cw #i guess????#it's mentioned so briefly.#but #better safe than sorry

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hallmark-movie-fanatics · 3 years

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HALLMARK CHANNEL'S "FALL HARVEST" All premieres are 9 p.m. ET/PT.

Roadhouse Romance Starring: Lauren Alaina, Tyler Hynes Premieres: Saturday, Sept. 11 Country music fan Callie (Alaina) is determined to continue her late grandfather’s legacy, but TV director Luke (Hynes) teaches her that sometimes it’s best to look forward instead of back.

Raise a Glass to Love Starring: Laura Osnes, Juan Pablo Di Pace Premieres: Saturday, Sept. 18 Aspiring Master Sommelier Jenna (Osnes) returns to her family vineyard to study and is intrigued by the natural methods of the handsome new Argentinian winemaker, Marcelo (Di Pace). Master Sommelier Jennifer Huether consults and appears as herself in a cameo role.

Taking the Reins (working title) Starring: Nikki DeLoach, Scott Porter, Corbin Bernsen, Janine Turner Premieres: Saturday, Sept. 25 A writer (DeLoach) goes back to the family ranch to write an article about her passion for horses and discovers what ended her marriage and why she stopped riding horses.

Love Strikes Twice Starring: Katie Findlay, Wyatt Nash Premieres: Saturday, Oct. 2 Maggie (Findlay) and Josh (Nash) are an out-of-sync married couple. Maggie wishes for a do-over and wakes up 15 years earlier. Will she choose Josh again or is an ex-boyfriend her happily ever after?

South Beach Love Starring: Taylor Cole, William Levy Premieres: Saturday, Oct. 9 From New York Times Bestselling Author Caridad Piñeiro and Hallmark Publishing comes a story about rival quinceañeras, glorious Cuban cooking, friendship, family ties –- and romance.

Flirting With Romance (working title) Starring: Erinn Westbrook, Brooks Darnel Premieres: Saturday, Oct. 16 When a “love advice” author (Westbrook) crosses paths with a dating columnist (Darnell), an attraction begins to blossom into more. As both use strategies from their own playbooks to win over the other, is it possible that they’ve both met their match?

HALLMARK MOVIES & MYSTERIES All premieres are at 9 p.m. PT/ET.

Redemption in Cherry Springs Starring: Rochelle Aytes, Keith Robinson, Frankie Faison Premieres: Sunday, Sept. 12 After fallout from a story, reporter Melanie (Aytes) goes home to Cherry Springs for a break. When a friend disappears, she uses her skills to get to the truth, to the local detective’s (Robinson) dismay. From executive producer Judy Smith (Scandal).

Finding Love in Mountain View Starring: Danielle C. Ryan, Myko Olivier Premieres: Sunday, Sept. 19 After learning that she’s been entrusted to take care of her deceased cousin’s children, an architect (Ryan) is torn between focusing on her career and honoring her cousin’s wish.

One Summer Starring: Sam Page, Sarah Drew, Amanda Schull Premieres: Sunday, Sept. 26 Jack (Page) takes his son and daughter to his late wife’s (Schull) beachside hometown hoping to heal and become closer. The summer brings visions of the past that could forge a new path forward. Based on the New York Times-bestselling book by David Baldacci.

Rise and Shine, Benedict Stone Starring: Tom Everett Scott, Mia Maestro, Ella Ballentine Premieres: Sunday, Oct. 3 Benedict Stone’s (Scott) life is turned upside-down when his teenage niece (Ballentine) arrives on his doorstep -- except she might be the change that Benedict desperately needs.

The Vows We Keep Starring: Fiona Gubelmann, Antonio Cayonne, Linda Thorson Premieres: Sunday, Oct. 10 An event planner (Gubelmann) must organize the perfect wedding for her sister in less than a month when she finds out that the Rosewood, a historic inn and beloved wedding venue, is being sold.

Untitled Signed, Sealed, Delivered Starring: Eric Mabius, Kristin Booth, Crystal Lowe, Geoff Gustafson Premieres: Sunday, Oct. 17 As Shane (Booth) and Oliver (Mabius) prepare for their wedding, they must pause to help a young boy fighting leukemia reunite with his long-lost friend. Their search is complicated by Shane’s mother who arrives with her own plan for their wedding. Meanwhile, Rita (Lowe) and Norman (Gustafson) navigate the challenges of trying to start a family, but a new employee in the Dead Letter Office may deliver the answer.

#news #schedule #hallmark movies #hallmark channel #fall harvest #roadhouse romance #raise a glass to love #taking the reins #love strikes twice #south beach love #flirting with romance #hallmark movies & mysteries #redemption in cherry springs #finding love in mountain view #one summer #rise and shine benedict stone #the vows we keep #signed sealed delivered #link

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jazy3 · 3 years

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Thoughts on Grey’s Anatomy: 17X14

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

So, if you read my review from the previous episode you know I turned out to be mostly wrong about this one. That being said, I really enjoyed the episode. I was never a ride or die japril shipper so I don't think this episode was as emotional for me as it was for other fans, but I enjoyed it. It was nice to see Jackson and April back on screen together! They always had great chemistry and I really enjoyed their scenes. And how cute was Harriet in this episode? She was SO adorable! I like that Jackson went to go visit his father to try and figure out what his Mom was talking about and I'm glad he got some closure there. That was nice to see. The scene where Robert tells Jackson why he left was super emotional and the acting was sublime!

I'm glad that Robert is giving lunches to people who need them in the community and is helping in his own way. It doesn't make up for what he did, but it's nice to know that he's making a go of the life he has with the diner and his coffee blend. It did bug me a bit that they played with time so much because it was difficult for me to figure out in the beginning what order the events went in which kind of took me out of the episode a little bit.

My biggest pet peeve with this episode was the whole thing with the meat slicer. Let me explain. It would have taken Robert a few minutes maximum to teach Jackson how to use it, but instead Jackson acts like the entitled pretty boy that he is and says he can operate it no problem. It's because of attitudes like this that people get hurt in workplace accidents because they assume that because it looks easy that it is. Anyone CAN operate a meat slicer, but you shouldn't without proper training.

Attitudes like that perpetuate the idea that people who work in hospitality, retail, construction, and other such fields are "simple" and that anyone can do it. It devalues the important work that so many people do, and it often results in untrained people getting hurt. So yeah as someone whose worked in both hospitality and retail and whose family works in construction I could have done without the harmful stereotype that we are all simpletons and Jackson's BS elitist attitude and him cutting himself on the meat slicer. Jackson's clearly never worked a day in his life outside of being a doctor and it shows.

I too was surprised when April agreed so suddenly to go with Jackson to Boston. I didn't think it was fair for her to agree without talking to Matthew first, but then she revealed that they split up. Going into this episode I really thought they were faking us out because April, a deeply religious woman, leaving her husband and step-daughter for Jackson didn't make any sense to me. But finding out that April and Matthew split up changes that. At first, I thought that would be impossible because getting a divorce in the early months of the pandemic was pretty difficult but the fact that they've separated but not officially divorced makes more sense.

Jackson says in the first half of the season that Matthew is spending more time with Harriet than he or April are because they've both been taking so many COVID shifts which at the time came across as them being a happy family. But taken in context with what April says in this episode it makes it sound like Matthew was spending time with Harriet because Jackson and April were working all the time and that put strain on their marriage. What Jackson is talking about would have happened in March or early April and this episode takes place sometime in June. Sadly, a lot of couples have split up during the pandemic in the way that April describes so while sad it was realistic.

While it would obviously be sad and confusing for the kids April makes it clear that Matthew and Ruby have the support of his sister and mother and her and Harriet have Jackson. I’m sad that April and Matthew’s relationship didn’t work out. I really liked them together. I do think it was nice though that they had Jackson ride off into the sunset with April and Harriet having left the door open for reconciliation the way they did with Arizona and Callie when Arizona moved to New York with Sofia.

Also let’s talk about the big elephant in the room. I get that this is Jackson's send off, but I still don't understand why Jackson couldn't run the Foundation from Seattle. That's what Catherine has been doing on and off for the last few years. Tom and Richard the previous and current Chief Medical Officers of the Catherine Fox Foundation are both based in Seattle. Why is moving to Boston necessary? It's their foundation can't they just move the Headquarters? Also were in a pandemic wouldn’t Jackson be working remotely anyway? Why do they have to move to Boston? What’s in Boston that they need so badly?

That being said, I'm glad that Jackson is getting a proper send off and will have time to say goodbye to everybody and have some heart to hearts and do it properly. We don't get that with every character. What in the heckity heck is Jo going to do next season? She doesn't have anyone to sleep with or date and she's leaving general surgery for OBGYN. That doesn't leave a whole lot of story for her. What is she going to do? Talk to Levi about his relationship problems and deliver babies? You could make a reoccurring character out of that sure but not a main character which is what Jo is currently billed as.

I'd like to see Jo adopt Luna and I think that could be really interesting so if they go that route, I could get on board but if not, I don't know what she's going to do. To be honest Jo isn't my favourite character, but I still feel bad for her. She has serious abandonment issues and every time she heals someone else leaves her! Jo's mother left her at a fire station as a baby. She wanted nothing to do with her as an adult. She did the work to get all whole and healed and was finally ready to have kids with Alex when finds out about the twins and leaves her for Izzie.

Jo does the work to get better and work on her issues and begins a friends with benefits relationship with Jackson only for him to disappear to the woods after Jo called him out on it at the beginning of their relationship and has now decided to move to Boston with April and Harriet to head up the Foundation. Girl can't win. Also does April know that Jackson has been sleeping with Jo? I mean she didn’t tell him that her and Matthew separated so I guess she can’t be too mad at him, but still. Awkward.

I think Jackson loves camping more than anyone else ever loves camping. His departure means he won't be attending Maggie's wedding. I have to admit I was looking forward to the awkwardness. I’m curious to see what Catherine is going to do now. Will she retire? Will she go back to being an attending surgeon full time? Does this mean they are going to have to find someone new to head up Plastics? Are they going to introduce a new character for Season 18?

I feel like finding a replacement for Jackson could go either way. Because I didn't think I would like Hayes when he took over Peds but now I love him and he's one of my favourite characters! I still miss Alex, but Hayes has been a great addition. I root for him and Meredith so hard and he was one of my favourite parts of Season 16.

Also, poor Bailey! This woman is just trying to keep the hospital afloat and she's losing surgeons and doctors left, right, and centre. Alex moved to Kansas. DeLuca died. Jackson is moving to Boston. Jo is switching specialties. Meredith's out with COVID! And let's not forget that Bailey lost her Mom to COVID not that long after she suffered a miscarriage after having a heart attack way too young and she deals with OCD which the pandemic is doing nothing to help! This poor woman!

Onto next week’s promo, I'm glad that they are doing a proper send off with Jackson. I'm also super excited that Meredith is up and talking and moving around! I've missed her! Although I am mad we have to wait another two weeks!!! I mean come on! We waited two whole months for the show to come back and then we waited for two weeks between episodes 13 and 14 and now we have to wait another two weeks for episode 15. Come on! Meredith and Hayes better rise as a couple when the show returns because if they don’t I will be so disappointed.

Until next time!

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