#John wants Carlos to be his boyfriend so bad

[connielovescas]

John Winchester has a lot of trauma and he might be kinda 💅 (we all saw the navy uniform scene) but that doesn't change the way he treated his kids and how abusive he was so I better not see any of you starting to like him just because of that.

Please and thank you.

[holidaydesigns]

My Saw X thoughts

“I have a few hobbies” okay

Knowing what happens later on, seeing John all happy that he’s going to live makes me want to claw my eyes out

I was in love with Amanda in this movie she’s my wife btw

Her calling Cecilia a bitch was the realest part of the movie I think

The sounds when Diego was cutting the bombs out of his arms were making me wince so bad 

I just know they had Lawrence working overtime for these traps

I mean if he was even on the team at this point idk

VALENTINA WAS SO DISRESPECTED she was the nuuuurse bro she didn’t even do that much but she had to cut her own leg off only to die anyway and then Cecilia used her intestines as rope and THEN they used her fucking head for that dummy

Valentina and Mateo’s deaths were similar in the way that they did what they were supposed to but since they hesitated, they couldn’t win

Cecilia urging everybody to participate in their traps is very sinister knowing that she wanted them to die

Amanda caring about Gabriela is so sweet, she saw herself in her for sure. I was so happy when Gabby lived

AND I WAS SO MAD WHEN THAT BLONDE DEMON WHITE WOMAN JUMPSCARE KILLED HER

“YOU SICK BITCH” Amanda was like my inner monologue throughout this movie I stg

I obviously knew that Amanda and John were gonna make it out but the whole part with Cecilia and her boyfriend who I can’t remember the name of had me scared bro

I was tapping my foot and sweating in the theater

Cecilia was fr just despicable for bringing Carlos in dude

It was so sweet when Carlos tried to save John and then John tried to save him

Imagine Adam and Lawrence in the trap they were in though I actually loved that trap

That was such a satisfying ending besides the fact that Cecilia lives

I reallllly see how this sets up Amanda’s thought process in the 3rd movie, with how everyone died but the truly truly evil one, and even after Cecilia saw all those ‘friends’ die she still remained that way

John and Amanda were so father and daughter in this movie

I was so expecting Hoffman to say epic fail 

He’s the real epic fail

I LOVE SAW X

[tarlos-spain]

Summary: TK believed that his life would be perfect forever. His marriage to Carlos is almost perfect, they have three wonderful children, Carlos has made detective... everything is perfect, until the darkest part of TK's past comes back to torture him. Someone has taken Carlos, someone is sending him videos that TK will take a long time to forget.

Pairing: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand

Acknowledgment: Time to thank the right and beautiful people helping me with this story. My betas, @lire-casander how are you so patient with me? @morganaspendragonss thanks so much for helping me write in proper English and @chaotictarlos for the beautiful art

Chapter 01:

"I'll be there in five minutes." TK said to Carlos over the phone, as he saw the uber finally arrive.

He looked at his watch, it was late. The cab was never late; just the day they were going to have dinner with their parents to start preparing the school holidays and the damn cab was late.

Add to that the fact that Carlos never left the police station on time because he was a damn perfectionist and had to close any open cases before he went home.

They were going to be late and the consequences of leaving their parents talking alone could be terrible for the next three months.

"I'm just finishing up some paperwork, but I'll be ready when you arrive."

"I know that's not going to happen, so remember we're booked at 8. My dad will be there at 7:45 and your parents will probably arrive earlier. We'd better avoid them having too much time to talk about the kid's holidays, or when we get there they'll have it all set up and we won't be able to say two words about it."

"Don't worry, tiger. I'm sure they'll behave themselves."

"I'm not so sure but I trust you. I'll get in the cab and see you soon. Be on time please," TK repeated again as he watched the cab park in front of him.

As the vehicle stopped, TK saw that the cab driver was someone different from the usual driver and that made him hesitate for a moment.

"I'm sorry Terry is at home with Julie. Did he tell you about Julie, his five year old?"

TK nodded. The usual cabbie, Terry, usually talked about his family a lot and sometimes it seemed like TK had known them forever, even though he had never met them before.

"Oh wow, I hope it's nothing serious."

"Nah, a little gastroenteritis; you know how kids are. But he's asked me to take you home. He'll give you 10% off for your trouble."

"No, really, it's been no bother at all. But I'm used to Terry and well...my partner's a cop, I guess it makes me overthink things.

He looked at the clock, it was getting late and if he counted the time it would take Carlos to finish and leave the police station, they could still make it to the restaurant in time.

Unlike Terry who kept talking, their driver for the day, John, was a quiet guy, who only cared about the drive and getting him to his destination.

He parked in the police station parking lot. TK looked at the time, he was going to give Carlos five more minutes before literally telling him to get his ass off his desk. But he was so nervous that he decided to relax for a moment, close his eyes, and rest his head on the cab seat.

A noise made him open his eyes and it almost seemed normal to find the barrel of a gun pointed at his face. But that didn't take away the fear that John behind the gun might shoot.

"What's this all about?" TK asked, trying to sound calm.

"You'll find out in a few minutes; don't worry. All you have to do now is stay here quietly with me and don't make a fuss."

"You expect me to sit here quietly while you point your gun at me and not ask for help?"

"I know what you're going to do, if you don't want us to hurt your boyfriend."

There were few things that really made TK nervous, but someone endangering Carlos was his weakest point.

"Who are you?"

"Too bad you don't remember me and my boys."

Two men opened the back doors of the car. One grabbed TK and no matter how hard he tried to scramble he couldn't get him off him, even less so when he wrapped an arm around his neck and squeezed him to stop him from moving. The other pinned his legs against the seat and grabbed his cell phone from his pocket.

"Let's go tell your husband we're waiting. We're late for the wonderful family dinner."

"Leave Carlos alone! Leave him alone!" TK protested as they dragged him out of the car, pulling him out and leaving him lying on the ground, in between the occasional, totally unnecessary blow or two.

"He's coming."

"Great." John said. "Get into position."

"Carlos!" TK shouted, hoping his husband would hear him before he got there, that he could do something, that he'd be ready.

But the new hits to the ribs left him breathless and unable to speak. The guy who had him by the neck squeezed a little more, while the other hand covered his mouth and almost didn't let him breathe.

TK, desperate, heard the footsteps of someone approaching; he knew perfectly the way Carlos walked, so he knew it was him.

"Shhh, don't spoil the fun now, TK. Maybe your respectable life now has wiped your memory, but you owe a lot of money to the wrong people, boy." TK looked at the man who had approached him and was holding him by the chin. "Remember that last party? Those funny pills you tried to get out of the way with?" he leaned close to his ear. "You forgot to pay for them and now, they come with interest...which your husband will pay."

TK pushed again, but it was impossible — the man holding him was twice as big as he was and if he squeezed any harder, he could break his neck. But that wasn't going to stop him from trying to break free.

Carlos saw the cab and smiled, he knew TK was going to give him a good telling off for being late.

But something caught his attention, something that at first he didn't know what it was, but it only took him a few seconds to realize. The car was empty, TK was not in the cab, and a noise on the other side of the car made him reach for his gun.

But he didn't have time to react; a kick in the back made him fall to the ground.

As he fell he saw TK's body. He grunted and tried to get up, but a new blow, a kick in the ribs, made him scream and roll on the ground.

The man pulled TK to his feet, without taking his hand off his neck. "Carlos... Run."

"No, no, no. Nobody runs here." John grabbed TK by the chin again and forced him to look at Carlos, still on the ground and being kicked repeatedly by the third man. "I was thinking of collecting here and now what you owe, but then I realized the interest was too high and I need my time to be satisfied."

A knife on the skin of his throat made TK stop struggling, and so did Carlos, kneeling on the floor as they watched.

"Please... I'll pay you... I swear I'll pay you, but don't hurt him."

Keep reading on AO3

[desert-bluffs-and-me]

WTNV quick rundown - 38 - Orange Grove

Welcome back, the 3 or so people who give me a like on these things, I see you, I love you (platonic) , hello.

You take the good. You take the bad. You take them both, and there you have spiders crawling out of a red velvet cupcake. Welcome to Night Vale.

John Peters (you know, the farmer?) reports an absolutely amazing crop of various oranges this year. He is looking for a particular orange that holds secrets to what is behind the old oak door he found in the desert. Anyone who touches his oranges begins to blink rapidly in and out of reality.

*Cecil asks Carlos (his boyfriend, the scientist -wink- ) about the oranges, since oranges are not native to a desert climate. Carlos says he doesn't study nature or plants, just science. He does confirm that it's very unlikely John Peters grew an orange grove at least naturally.

Despite this, the Ralph's now only sells JP's oranges and juice made from those oranges. Adam Bair, who works there, is seen taking endless oranges from his pocket.

Intern Maureen tells us that JP has actually been gone for 4 months now and was last seen by Dana (who is also gone, and still able to text him despite being without a phone charger or able to pay her phone bills for 8 months) so it's unsure where JP even is. Carlos clears this up by confirming that JP is in the House That Doesn't Exist so the JP in NV is not the real JP. Intern Maureen then drinks some of the orange juice and starts to flicker in and out of reality until she finally completely disappears.

'John Peters' (you know, the imposter?) then appears in the studio and attacks Cecil. He tries to get Cecil to eat an orange and Cecil unsuccessfully tries to talk him down. So instead, he smacks him with his phone which enough to knock Not-JP out (after Cecil decides that texting an assurance to Carlos that if he doesn't come home it's because he doesn't exist any more, not because he doesn't love Carlos or want to hang out tonight).

The SSP start to arrest not-JP, but Strex stops them. Daniel gives Cecil a disapproving smile. Strex has the majority stock in the orange juice (which has also taken the carpet where it was spilled) and is recalling it and all related products due to -dark red smudge-.

Weather: "Black White and Red" by Emrys Cronin soundcloud.com/emrys-cronin

Cecil and the real JP apparently hang out sometimes, being in the same bowling league, Cecil attending JP's old wood shop class, standing silent and trance like in front of the Ancient Chalk Spire (predecessor to the Brown Stone Spire) with their mouths frothing, minds spinning and ventricles showing - you know, fond memories.

*“As far as your other question goes, let's stay home tonight. We ate out last night. Plus, there's a new documentary about scatterplot matrices on Netflix I've been wanting to see. Also The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is on TBS again. We could re-watch that. I'll make pasta, if you can pick up some-” Et cetera et cetera. Carlos goes on about weekend bowling plans.... You don't need all this. Okay I think that's all he had about the orange trees. I do hope we watch Liberty Valance, though. I love that film. Awww~ however they end up not having pasta, instead there is left over falafel and an unopened bag of nutmeg seeds to snack on. Carlos ends his text with 'xoxo' AWWWW

He also ends it with a curiously detailed emoji of a two dinosaurs chasing a car.

Cecil apologizes for saying that anything is objectively real, as our perceptions of reality and things being real are only personal.

'Stamps.com. You live in a dying world. We love you.'

It is confirmed that City Council does not go by 'they/them' because they are non-binary, but because they are literally many people/entities merged together or a hivemind. They argue with each other when a smokescreen trick they try to use to get away because they are 'just can't be here any more' fails, instead of speaking in unison as usual.

And for now, let me make my own special announcement: Cecil Palmer would like to not be late for dinner. Stay tuned next for an hour that will feel like minutes but will in actuality take weeks. Good night, Night Vale. Good night.

Proverb: A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single command from a satellite-activated mind-control chip.

[pastrnaks-sainz]

You’re Gonna be Okay

Pairing: Brandon Carlo x female!reader 

Type: Fluff, kinda angsty if you love Carlo as much as I do 

Warnings: Swearing 

Word Count: 1k

Summary: Concussions suck. Concussions that were caused by a dirty hit suck even more. You weren’t allowed to see Brandon in the hospital, something that stung more than anybody could imagine. But when he got home, you were ready for him with a mountain of blankets and a warm, fuzzy sweatshirt. 

A/N: this was mainly to make myself feel better but I know a lot of people love Brandon and probably need the same comfort I do

~~~~

You were pissed. Marchy was pissed. Bergy was pissed. Cassidy was pissed. Boston was pissed. Your heart stopped as you watched Brandon lay helplessly on the ice after Wilson delivered the nastiest hit you had seen in a while. 

Anger slowly bubbled to the surface as you listened to the intermission report. Your phone started buzzing with a FaceTime request from Sean Kuraly as Brad Marchand’s goal was being talked about. You answered with a look of absolute rage on your face. 

“I’m pissed,” you said. 

“Me too,” Sean responded. “Are you okay?” 

“I will be as soon as Wilson gets his clock cleaned,” you snapped before sighing and running a hand over your face. “I’m sorry.” 

“It’s fine,” Sean reassured you. “There’s some talk in the locker room right now, they’ll take care of business in the second period.” 

“You’re right,” you nodded. “I just hate seeing him hurt like that.” 

“I do too,” Sean’s voice was soft, reminding you of why he was your best friend. “Do you wanna stay on the phone for the rest of the game?” 

“No, I’ll be okay,” you offered up a smile. “I should probably wait for a call from the trainers or something.” 

“Right,” Sean nodded. “Promise you’ll call me if you need anything?” 

“Promise. Thanks, Sean.” 

You tossed your phone down to the cushions beside you and let your head fall back against the pillows with a groan. You knew what you were getting yourself into when you agreed to date a hockey player, but this was something you were never going to get used to. 

Seconds later, your phone rang again. This time with a call from one of the trainers. 

“Hello?” you answered politely. 

“Hi, Y/N, this is John from the training staff. I just wanted to let you know that Brandon took a bad hit and is going to be going to Mass General.” 

“I saw the hit, thank you for letting me know,” you desperately wished there wasn't a pandemic going on so you could be by your boyfriend’s side. 

“Of course. Someone will be dropping him off in a couple hours,” John said. You thanked him and hung up the phone. 

Even though you were watching the game as goal after goal was scored, you felt disconnected from reality, like your head was being held underwater. You were completely disconnected from reality and had no idea how much time had passed between the time Brandon left the ice and when the buzzer rang. 

You vaulted off the couch and grabbed a mask on your way out the door. You didn’t even bother to put on shoes. A member of the Bruins training staff was standing with Brandon at the door. Brandon’s face softened once he saw you. 

“Don’t let him fall asleep,” the trainer said as you attached yourself to Brandon’s side, hands on his hip and back to support him. You nodded, thanked him, and led your boyfriend to the elevator. 

“How do you feel, baby?” you asked, your voice soft. 

“Like shit,” he responded sadly. You frowned. 

“If I ever see Wilson in person I’m gonna make his life a living hell,” you grumbled as you stepped off the elevator. 

“It’s not worth it,” Brandon shook his head. You watched as he slowly made his way to the couch, a frown on your face. 

“Stay awake for me, okay?” you murmured as you kiss the top of his head. “I’m going to be right back.” 

You went to your bedroom and pulled a fluffy blanket from the closet as well as Brandon’s favorite sweatshirt. The one you always wore so it smelled exactly like the perfume he got you for Christmas. 

“What’s this?” he asked when you got back. 

“Your favorite sweatshirt,” you said, passing it to him. “And a fuzzy blanket because we’re going up all night so we might as well be comfy.” 

“I love you,” Brandon looked at you with nothing but complete and total adoration in his eyes as replaced his dress shirt with the sweatshirt. You smiled and leaned over, kissing his lips gently. They were cold and chapped. 

“Baby,” you rested your hand on the side of his face, thumb gently rubbing over his cheekbone. He leaned into your touch and closed his eyes. You studied his face. His pink cheeks, the freckles dotting the bridge of his nose, the way his eyelashes rested against his skin. 

“What?” he asked quietly as he opened his eyes. 

“Nothing,” you shook your head and kissed the tip of his nose. “I just really love you.” 

“I love you more.” 

You leaned against the back of the couch and opened your arms. Brandon laid back against you, head resting on your chest and arms wrapped around your waist. You rested your hand on the spot Wilson hit him. 

Brandon sighed, staring at a spot on the wall beside the TV cabinet. He could have sworn his head started to feel better just from you having your hand on his head. And when you started running your fingers through his hair? Oh boy, all bets were off. 

“That feels nice,” he hummed. 

“Don’t fall asleep on me down there,” you responded, continuing the motion of playing with his hair. 

“I won’t,” he promised. He perked up when your phone rang. “Who’s that?” 

“Bergy,” you responded. “Want me to tell him to call tomorrow?” 

“No, no,” Brandon shook his head. “Answer it.” 

“Hey Patrice,” you answered as the captain’s face popped up on the screen. Just the top of Brandon’s head was in frame. 

“Can I assume he’s with you?” Bergy asked quietly. 

“You can,” Brandon said. You moved the phone so he could talk to Patrice. 

“Hey big guy,” Bergy smiled. “You feeling alright?” 

“Better now that I’m home,” Brandon answered. “How did the rest of the game go?” 

“We won 5-1,” Patrice said. Brandon smiled brightly. “And Tinny punched Wilson’s face in.” 

“That should make you feel better,” you said, flattening your palm on the top of Brandon’s head. 

“Remind me to buy him a beer once we can actually socialize again,” Brandon said, making Patrice laugh. 

“Get better soon, man, we need you out here.” 

“I’ll be back before you know it, you’re not getting rid of me this easy.”

[starstruckzipperoperatoralmond]

This might contain some mpreg and little bit of smut *maybe*, but I'll try my best to satisfy you guys.

I might bring a collaboration of other ships from different shows or movies, just for you guys!

Carlos, Evie, and Mal are decorating Carlos and Jay's apartment for their housewarming and Christmas party, they just moved in around December.

"OMG, Carlos be careful!" Screamed Evie, "you shouldn't hold this, it's too big for you," she said as she hands the box to Mal, "Yeah, E, he's only 2 months pregnant, so the baby is just fine and the box is not even that big!" Mal retorted.

The pregnant boy rolled his eyes, "guys, I'm just fine, and E, I know you do want anything to happen to me but there is no need for any of that, and with you and Jay being overprotective of me is putting more pressure and stress in me and the baby." Carlos explains to his blue haired best friend.

Evie started to sigh, "I'm sorry, Carlos. I didn't mean to stress you out or anything, I promise that I won't be overwhelming for you and the little bean growing inside of you." She laughs as she puts her hand on the freckled one's growing stomach, Carlos scoffed and pushed her hand away. Carlos decided to just make some cookies and eggnog for the party, Evie of course helped him reach for some ingredients from the cabinets.

Hours passed by, Jay had finally came home with the boys with the Christmas tree and food for the party, "hello ladies," the taller boy greeted his two best friends and gave them both a warm embrace, though his jacket is really cold from the 27* degree weather and snow from outside. "Hey let go of me! You're way colder than frosty the snowman!" Mal grunted as she pushed Jay's cold body away from her and tried to get warm by the fireplace.

Jay and Evie rolled their eyes playfully at the purple headed girl, Evie went over to Mal and tried to warm her with her body and kisses. Let's say that worked immediately, Jay started to look around for Carlos and asked Evie where he was, "oh he's in the kitchen with the cookies and stuff, he's been waiting for you..." Evelyn explains to Jayden as he smirks knowingly and quietly walks inside the kitchen.

As Jay looks inside the kitchen to see what Carlos is doing, he sees him mixing cooking dough and smiling at his little baby bump while wearing his boyfriend's oversized green sweater that fits his small frame so right. He bit his lip and slowly walked up behind him, his large hands gripped onto his small boyfriend's hips and startled Carlos De Vil.

"Oh, Jay! Why didn't you call me or text me that you were coming back home!" He whined, "I'm sorry, baby. You look so cute when you're startled..." The Arabic boy grins at the puppy boy and kisses the temple on his head.

"Hey, now, I'm gonna need you to back up. I'm making another batch of cookies just in case there are any more guests coming over." Carlos says matter factly, "Well, I'm sure you're not going to need that because we're having Peggy, Eliza, Angelica, De Lafayette, John, Alexander, Hercules; Julie, Alex, Luke, Reggie, and Willie. I'm pretty sure we have enough food and beverages for everyone who's coming."

"You're right, maybe this would be enough," he said as he wrapped the bowl with a plastic wrap and handed it to Jay, "put it in the fridge, maybe we'll make some cookies for ourselves."

Jay did what he was told and put it in the fridge, "you know before we can get into this party maybe we should...."

"No."

"Why not?" Jay whined, "because the guesses should be here in any minute—"

There was a doorbell at the door and a voice from the living sounded like Ben's, "I'll get it!"

He opens the door and there was more than three people at the door, "hey, I'm Julie," says the Hispanic girl who's wearing a burgundy dress with a velvet forest green jacket with black boots, "and these are my friends: Alex, Luke, Reggie, and Alex's boyfriend William but we call him Willie."

They're somewhat wearing the same thing but formal, the blonde was wearing a pink suit with a red rose in this tux pocket, the short haired brunette was wearing a dark blue tuxedo with a black bow tie, the jet black haired boy was wearing a tux too but in red. The long brunette wears just a black tux with shorts that reaches the knees and the rest of his hair was in a ponytail with a lob strand of hair dangling on the side of his face.

"Well come on in!" Ben invites them in.

More and more guests came, they danced, chatted, and sang Christmas Carols; after the party the last person that was left was Evie who was carried out from the alcohol inside of the eggnog in her cup she put inside.

"It was a great party, Los. Just going to be bad hangovers and shit." Muttered Mal, "Yeah I know, but things happen for a reason."

"I hope E will be okay." He looks at his best friend with worry, "C, she'll be fine don't worry..." she leaves the apartment, "bye..."

"So, you ready now?" Jay said eagerly, Carlos is already tired, but maybe Jayden can help him, if you know what I mean.

"Yeah, come on, the bed's going to be really cold without you to help me warm it up..."

Jay's ears started to perk up at the sound of this, "oh, you don't have to tell me twice!"

He chases Carlos upstairs as he giggles as Jay closes the door behind them.

[iwillbeinmynest]

The Monte Carlo Job - Steve x Reader(f)   Chapter 2

Authors Notes: Here comes Part 2 Y'all! I hope you are enjoying this series. I know it came out of nowhere but I was feeling sad and wanted to just post something so I started a new series, even though I haven’t finished my last one... Anywayyysss, Have some more Steve!

Word Count: 1.8k

Notes/Warnings: Your typical action/MI type trope. There is glitz and glam as well as running for your life and fighting to stay alive. Bad guys and allies, guns and galas. Mentions of death, one sleazy and creepy guy who makes one too many passes, use of guns, fighting, drinking, being framed for murder and clearing your name. It’s a wild ride folks!

Masterlist   Series Masterlist

Chapter 2

Y/N and Steve walked hand in hand back to the main floor of the museum where the actual Gala was being held.

The grand room was littered with tall tables and waiters with trays of glasses. There was a quartet in the back corner playing classical music and a small stage to the right with a lone microphone on it.

Bucky waved at them through the crowd and caught Steve’s eye.

“There you two are.” Nat smiled when they reached the table. “What were you up to, huh?”

Y/N shook her head. “Not what you think, we actually looked at the art.”

“Of course you were,” Bucky said. “Cause Stevie, here, wouldn’t dare do anything scandalous.”

“I would.” Steve defended himself. “I just happen to know the guy in charge of security and I know that all of the cameras are running.”

They chuckled.

“So,” Y/N looked around the room. “Who’s the target?”

Steve raised his brows as he scanned the floor. “Not sure yet. I recognize a few faces so I’ll have to make my rounds but I’ll let you know when I need a trophy on my arm to close a deal.”

Y/N smacked his arm and Nat and Bucky laughed.

“Please,” Y/N laughed, “If anything, you’re the trophy in this relationship.”

“She’s right.” Nat gracefully snatched two glasses of champagne from a passing tray. Bucky did the same. “You should hear the dirty things the women at our spin class say when you pick us up every thursday.”

“Excuse me?” Steve’s eyes widened.

Y/N laughed. “Oh come on, sweetheart. Girls will be girls, right?”

Nat held up her glass for a toast, “Here’s to another fantastic evening together. May we land a new client or have a blast tryin’.”

“Cheers!” They all raised their glasses.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Y/N and Nat usually stuck together and tonight was no different. They were standing a few tables over speaking with what Steve could only presume were other wives and girlfriends.

Steve and Bucky had been making their rounds, speaking with previous clients and making new acquaintances. These men were the richest of the rich, and that’s coming from Steve who lives beyond comfortably. The men tried to talk to Steve and Bucky about the military and people they knew that served.

It took Steve all he had not to roll his eyes, clearly these men had never seen war and the fact that they talked as though they had was infuriating.

“So, I say to the man,” A gentleman in an ascot smiled and waved his cigar around. “Either you pay me or I’ll send Howard!”

The other men around them laughed, Bucky and Steve smiled politely but shared a look.

“Well said, John.” Steve set a hand to the man’s back. “Excuse us.”

Both he and Bucky nodded and walked away from the table.

“I swear, Steve,” Bucky clenched his jaw and tried to take a subtle deep breath. “I don’t know why you make me come to these things.”

“I know,” Steve shook his head as they headed for Y/N and Nat. “But if I have to suffer, I’m not doing it alone.”

“I thought that’s why Y/N is here?”

“And make her listen to that crap, no way. I bring her so I can see her dolled up like that.” He nodded at his wife.

“We got lucky didn’t we?” Bucky watched Nat run her ring finger around the brim of her whiskey glass. She looked over and gave him a wink.

“That’s an understatement.” Steve smiled when Y/N followed Nat’s gaze and smiled at Steve.

Y/N and Nat excused themselves from the group of women and walked arm in arm to their husbands.

“You boys havin’ fun, yet?” Nat asked as she let go of Y/N and leaned into Bucky’s chest.

“Not at all.” He kissed the top of her head.

“How about you?” Steve asked Y/N.

She shrugged her shoulders, “Those women don’t know anything about what their husbands or boyfriends do. They’re just having a bragging party.”

“I wasn’t talking about prospective clients, babe, but I appreciate that your mind is on the company.”

Y/N smiled. “Well, you’re really gonna wish we’d landed one when you see the receipt for this dress.”

Steve closed his eyes and chuckled.

“Your girl has expensive taste.” Bucky teased his best friend.

“Nat picked it out.” Y/N clarified.

Both Steve and Bucky nodded.

“Now, see,” Steve grinned. “That makes more sense.”

Steve leaned down and kissed the side of Y/N’s head. “You ready to call it a night?”

“Yeah,” She smiled up at him. “I am.”

“Okay, then.” Steve held out his elbow and she wrapped her hand around it. “Shall we?”

As the two couples were making their way towards the exit, a man stepped out in front of them.

“Are you Mr. Rogers of Stealth Security?” The man asked. His Russian accent slowed his words but he spoke english well.

Steve held out a hand and the man took it in a firm shake. “I am. Have we met?”

“I’m afraid not.” The man straightened his spine and leaned his head back slightly. “My name is Petrov Lebedev and your reputation precedes you.” he grinned.

Steve raised his brows and lowered his arm, taking Y/N’s hand in his and squeezing it as an apology for staying longer. “Does it?”

“Yes. I have heard that you offer exceptional service in the matter of private security.”

A woman appeared at Petrov’s back. Y/N smiled at her but, the woman simply looked Y/N up and down then at Petrov.

Y/N was shocked at her blatant rudeness but kept quiet.

Beside her was another man, who could only be described as seedy. He was shorter than Steve but just as fit. His beard was stubbly and seemed to have a few scars in it where the hair no longer grew. He also eyed Y/N but in a way that made her squirm.

Steve didn’t miss that. He shifted his weight to land mostly in front of Y/N. “And who escorts you tonight?” Steve asked with very little patience, but he covered it with politeness to Petrov.

Petrov looked over and then back to Steve. “This is Sacha, my right hand and partner. And this,” He put an arm around the woman’s waist, tugging her forward. “Is Katryana.”

Steve nodded but didn’t address them. He turned to Bucky. “This is my partner, Bucky, and his wife, Natasha. And this,” he eyed Sacha hard, “Is my wife.”

Y/N straightened and tipped her head up. “Nice to meet you.” She made sure to only say that to Petrov, who hadn’t offended her, yet.

Petrov smiled then turned his attention to Steve. “I have an event coming up in three weeks in Monte Carlo and I am looking for a full team to escort myself, Sacha and Katryana around. I’m looking for everything from bodyguards to security during transportation and whatnot for the two days that we are there.”

Steve inhaled to speak but Petrov cut him off. “Money is no object and I assure you I can pay whatever you ask. Please, I want the best of the best and I have been promised that that is you.”

Steve recognized the touch of flattery but didn’t care for it.

“Well, how about I take your card and I will have my secretary check our schedule and see what we can come up with?” Steve offered. No way was he about to accept on the spot.

“Of course, of course,” Petrov smiled. “I do have one additional request though, which I understand might make a difference on the bill.”

Steve smiled and waited.

“I would like to see you there, personally. You can even bring your wife and make a trip of it, yes?”

Steve took a deep breath to unclinch his jaw and grinned. “We will consider it, schedule pending, of course.”

“Yes, of course.” Petrov pulled a card from the inside pocket of his coat. “I look forward to working with you.”

“Likewise,” Steve took it and slid it into his pocket without a glance. “Have a good evening.”

Steve took Y/N’s hand and escorted her to the foyer where all four of them collected their coats.

“I don’t like him, Steven.” Y/N said with a sigh. It was rare that she spoke out against a client but there was something about Sacha that she absolutely did not like.

“I know, I’m sorry.” He stood behind her as a shield, separating her from the ballroom, “We can discuss it on Monday. Forget about him for now.” He took her hand and kissed her palm.

Bucky huffed. “If Sacha had looked at Nat that way, I’d have laid him out right there.”

Steve snapped to Bucky and glared at him, “You think I didn’t want to?”

Bucky swallowed and took a breath. He held the door open for Nat and then Y/N and Steve. “I didn’t mean it like that. I know you would, I just-”

Nat put her hand on his chest and he wrapped his arms around her. “Let it go, baby.” She cooed and kissed him quickly.

Steve walked away to pay the valet. Y/N walked half way and waited for him.

“I’m sorry.” Y/N said sincerely when the valet ran off to bring the car around.

Steve looked at her curiously, his frustration fading slightly, “For what?”

She shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. “All of that. Sacha, Petrov, Bucky. And you know he didn’t mean it like that, right? He was just as heated as you.”

“I really doubt that.” Steve grumbled.

“Steve,” She said his name with a tone that urged for his attention. He looked down at her. “I’m fine. Totally over it. He didn’t touch me, everything is fine.”

“He didn’t have to touch you, did you see-”

Bucky passed with Nat to retrieve their car and Steve inhaled sharply.

Just then the valet returned and handed the keys to Steve.

Y/N took his hands. “He loves you, and me. He just talks too much.” She offered a small smile.

Steve nodded. “Yeah, I know.” He fiddled with the keys to his Tesla.

“Don’t be mad at Bucky for something you would have done if the situation was reversed.” Y/N added.

Steve nodded then pulled Y/N into a tight hug, kissing the crown of her head. “I hate it when you do that.”

“Do what?” She looked up at him.

He leaned down, close enough to kiss her. “Fix everything.” He smiled against her mouth and kissed her softly.

Bucky and Nat approached calmly.

Y/N hugged Nat and Steve and Bucky clasped arms in a firm shake. Steve nodded to Bucky and Bucky nodded back.

“Have a good night.” Y/N said to Nat with a kiss to the cheek.

“We will, you too.” She smiled. Both of them were relieved to see the balance restored between their husbands.

Steve waved to Bucky as they walked off then turned to open the door for Y/N. She stopped close against him before she sat down into the car. “Thanks for protecting me.” She patted his chest.

He took her hand and held it over his heart, “Always.”

* * * * * * *

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[secretlittlerandezvous]

Nightmare - Brandon Carlo

Summary: The reader wakes up from a nightmare that left her anxious. Brandon wakes up and calms her down.

Note: May this imagine comfort the beautiful soul that requested this after waking up from a nightmare. You’ve been on my mind since yesterday and I hope(d) your day ended up being a good one! 🌈☀️💫🌸🌿🕊😌

Words: 817

“All of the things you choose in life, you don’t get to choose what your nightmares are. You don’t pick them; they pick you.” - John Irwing

I opened my eyes sleepily and stared at the ceiling trying to sort out my thoughts. My knees were intuitively pressed to my chest, palms sweaty and fingers shaking unnoticeably but surely. Chest was heavy and breathing was shallow. Heart was pounding fast against my chest. I felt like it would never slow down again. My mind was freaking out. It took me minutes to fully wake myself up and even longer to finally figure out what was the reason for the sudden anxiety. A nightmare. Not necessarily a scary one but disturbing. Uncomfortable enough to wake me up and make my whole body tremble. I looked at the watch on the nightstand. It was only 2:05 am. The night was uncomfortably quiet and cold. I was supposed to be sleeping, getting that much needed relaxation after the longest and hardest day of the week. But instead, I felt like I’d never sleep again. Thanks to a stupid nightmare.

I rolled over to look at Brandon. I wanted to wake him up and tell him what happened. I hoped he would stay awake with me and hold me. Maybe he’d tell me some funny story. One that would most likely include Torey or David like in all of his stories. But I let him sleep. He looked so peaceful. His plump lips were slightly parted, slow and regular breaths escaping from there disturbed that horrible silence. Just knowing that he was there gave me a little bit of courage. A little bit of motivation to handle this myself. I was not a child anymore.

I never understood what it was about Brandon. Why his presence made me feel so safe. Why I believed nothing bad could happen when he was around. He comforted me without saying a word, without doing anything. He could just sit on the couch while I was in the kitchen and I’d feel a warm feeling all over my body. I guess some people are just like that. Warm enough to become your new home. Understanding enough to accept all your flaws and differences. And loving enough to support you always.

“Babe, are you okay?” Brandon’s low and sleepy voice caught me off guard and I shrugged when I heard him speak.

“Yeah,” my eyes found his face and even in the dark, I could recognize that caring look on his face. “Yeah, I’m okay. Just had a bad dream. That’s all.”

“Come here,” he whispered and pulled me into a tight hug. My head was on his chest so I could listen to his heartbeat. Something he knew I liked to do. He was kissing me lazily on my shoulder and the top of my head while his fingers traced soothing circles on my hand. “I’m right here okay? I’ve got you.” He held me tighter against him almost as if I could break in any second.

“I’m sorry,” I mumbled against his chest. “Didn’t mean to wake you up.” I felt guilty as hell. He should’ve been resting. Recharging his energy after the last three games. Instead, he was dealing with me and my childish fears in the middle of the night.

“You didn’t wake me up, honey. I woke up by myself and noticed you were awake,” I felt almost stupid for getting so emotional. It was just a freaking nightmare and not the end of the world. I was an adult perfectly capable of handling this without a problem. Yet there I was disturbing my boyfriend to top it all. “It’s my job to keep an eye on you after all.” Brandon chuckled sweetly. I ultimately felt my body relax and my mind focus on him instead of the nightmare and anxiety.

“I swear if you tell Charlie or Torey about this, I’ll kill you. They wouldn’t stop making fun of me.”

“I’m gonna make an exception this time and I won’t tell them. I don’t understand the deal with you guys anyway. No, seriously I don’t get you guys and your jokes.”

“That’s just between us, you know?” The truth was I didn’t know when the constant joking and teasing started or why in the first place. And I didn’t understand why we continued in it. I was always okay with the joking. No matter what Brandon told them - accidentally, of course, I always laughed together with them. But I wasn’t sure if I needed them to know I had a nightmare that kept me awake all night.

We talked for another couple of minutes until I fell asleep. I woke up in the morning still wrapped in Brandon’s arms. No trace of anxiety or nightmare from before. Just the warm feeling of his love expressing itself in my smile.

[blookmallow]

im starting to realize there’s a bunch of connections going on between tma episodes.. i dont know what it Means yet and dont tell me!!!!! ill get there!! but. hmmm. im going through the transcripts after i listen to them to make sure i didnt miss things/checking the details and i just. Keep Finding More Shit, it’s all connected, i feel like there’s something huge going on behind all these and i Do Not Know what it is yet 

this is. very long and disjointed i went through all the transcripts for every episode ive listened to so far and kept noticing more things 

like Don’t Tell Me if im right or wrong ill find out im just gathering thoughts. setting up my little conspiracy board. red strings everywhere

- firstly theres an obvious running thread going about the cursed jurgen leitner books, gerard keay, the. worms. and jane prentiss 

- carlos vittery in Arachnophobia mentions offhand that his complex had an infestation of “small, silvery worms” which passed right over my head the first time but looking at it again thATS THE FUCKIGN WORMS!!!! and martin found. Probably Jane in the basement of that same complex. so. well, (that also means like Who Knows how many people in that building might have gotten infected) (i also wonder whether the spiders might actually be Good, if the worms are hideous parasites maybe the spiders are showing up to eat them/get rid of them, martin says he likes spiders, the spiders almost definitely killed vittery but he was violently trying to wipe them out so maybe it was a greater good kind of thing) (or they’re just spiders and dont have that level of comprehension and like the nasty silver worms. either way) 

- there’s also a lot of Foretelling Of Death but i dont want to go through and list all of those rn

- in Anglerfish, there was some kind of. shadowy hand thing beckoning people into the darkness. Amy Patel in Across The Street describes seeing a similar shadowy hand thing reaching into Graham’s apartment before his. replacement. both of these are described as “folding” in on themselves/moving in a really unnatural way. smoking was also mentioned in both but i havent really been following that as a symbol very closely. possible link with Fire? i dont know

- Repetition. Graham was obsessively filling hundreds of notebooks with the words “Keep Watching,” mary keay’s skin was completely covered in unreadable script tattoos, the paper found by the garbage men was the Lord’s prayer written in latin over and over again, ivo lensik’s father became completely obsessed with fractals and couldn’t stop drawing them. the unnamed burned man in First Aid repeats an unclear phrase over and over again. gerard keay is also covered in tattoos of eyes in First Aid, which was not mentioned before (though probably wouldn’t have been visible before) 

- Graham was convinced he was being watched/followed by Something, harriet was concerned about being followed after she was attacked by prentiss (which. matches with martin’s experience too, though he was much more fortunate), vittery was followed by The Spider, lensik’s father also believed Something was coming for him (and “all the bones are in his hands” sounds very. leitner), and there was. whatever approaching darkness was coming after robert montauk, as well 

- Graham has a weirdly hypnotic table, the first Leitner book found by dominic swain had oddly vertigo-inducing woodcuttings, gerard keay’s eye painting is similarly hypnotic, lensik finds a box in the old tree with the same hypnotic carvings on it 

- not sure if the Spider Apple has any relation to the Arachnophobia episode, but, there’s that, also 

- swain’s book had an image of the sky, which he described felt like you would “fall into it” if you looked at it for too long, and robert kelly sort of “fell into the sky” in Freefall. laura popham describes a sense of being swallowed up by the earth in Lost Johns’ Cave, as well 

- same theme of becoming “lost” in Lost Johns’ Cave and in Alone, similar concepts of being consumed by the earth 

- i dont think its necessarily related to anything else as far as i know but just wanted to mention also i didn’t process the... extra audio recording in Lost Johns’ Cave correctly, i thought she was saying “help me, help me, please help me” which was unnerving, but didn’t really seem all that critical to add, until looking at the transcripts i realized it was “take her, not me” which was a HUGE punch to the gut when i discovered it lmao. dont ask how i managed to mishear that badly but i am very very bad at auditory processing which is why im reading all these scripts to make sure i didnt process them wrong

- Graham mentions he’s gay, and the man who had the dream about gertrude mentions having broken up with his boyfriend, Graham. jon doesn’t comment on this and it’s not necessarily the same graham, and im not sure what the significance is if it is, but it seems like an odd coincidence if it isn’t. “antonio” doesn’t go into detail about why they broke up, but mentions they had been living together 

- the name Joshua Gillespie stands out to me for some reason, like I’ve heard “gillespie” somewhere before, but I haven’t noticed it coming up again in any of the transcripts unless I just missed it. could just be that my brain decided to Remember that name for no reason though. he’s the guy with the coffin 

- jon mentions this, but Breekon and Hope deliveries were responsible both for the weird coffin and the yellow stole from the incident with father burroughs 

- there’s a major ongoing theme of Fire and Burning, both just in general, and a more specific Fire With No Apparent Source thing continuously happening. the prayer paper in the trash had been burned, timothy hodge burned his apartment after the Worms Incident (and martin mentions noticing one of the worms looked slightly burnt - maybe it survived the fire and returned to jane?), sgt. berry was “distinctively marked” by an incident with a flamethrower, the vampires are supposedly very very vulnerable to fire, raymond fielding’s house burned down and his. ghost? disappears with a burning smell and a burnt spot on the floor, lensik experiences an intense, unbearable heat with no clear cause soon after the encounter with raymond, which father burroughs also experiences in his account. the mysterious coffin in Do Not Open had an unnatural heat to it. gerard keay burns the leitner book and picks up the still-smoldering ashes but isn’t concerned with the heat, and then appears again as one of the burned men in First Aid, having apparently experienced second-degree burns on every inch of his skin, but had completely undamaged clothes. the nurse describes feeling a burning sensation when the chanting starts, but dismisses it as a nervous reaction, then experiences the. boiling drink bottles and the burning hot door handles. she says she could feel a burning heat from gerard’s hand. the burned man’s body immediately self-cremates when gerard kills him. lee rentoul also gives specifically a lighter to angela for her Piecemeal curse, though that might be coincidental. he does burn the first box after he discovers it, though

- the garbage man describes the last Weird Trash as “tied off with a dark green ribbon, arranged in a bow like an old-fashioned Christmas present” - which contained a copper heart, possibly symbolizing alan’s real heart, with the rest of his body never being found. this matches both with robert montauk’s killings and the cursed boxes from angela’s curse- “brown paper and string, like an old-fashioned Christmas present.” there was also the weird thing with raymond’s hand, but im not sure that’s related 

the vampires’ victims bodies also seemed to disappear, not sure that’s related either 

- jon confirms that the pendant julia describes (the one belonging to her mother and also her father’s last victim) is a symbol of the People’s Church of the Divine Host cult. wondering if this is related to what father burroughs experienced. gerard keay is searching for a lost pendant in First Aid, but its design is unclear, and he describes it as brass. unsure if related. the fact that gerard’s tattoos/etc were of eyes, and the other pendant is of a closed eye, while one is made of brass and the other of silver seems like there might be some connection though even if it isn’t the same one. there didn’t seem to be any burning involved with the montauk case, anyway 

then there’s. this entire thing im just gonna paste it here, from sebastian adekoya in the Boneturner’s Tale: 

“Books are amazing, aren’t they? I mean, when you think about what they really are. People don’t give the actuality of language the weight it deserves, I feel. Words are a way of taking your thoughts, the very make-up of yourself, and giving them to another. Putting your thoughts in the mind of someone else. They are not a perfect method, of course, as there’s plenty of scope for mutation and corruption between your mind and that of the listener, but that doesn’t change the essence of what language is.

Spoken aloud, though, the thought dies quickly if not picked up. Simple vibrations that vanish almost as soon as they are created, though if they find a host, then they can lodge there, proliferate, and maybe spread further. Still, it is not a reliable method in terms of a thought’s endurance, as humans are fragile creatures, and rarely last a century.” 

this definitely seems relevant to jurgen leitner (and this is. one of the episodes about a leitner book, so) it definitely seems likely that he’s spreading some kind of.... Belief or Self or Power or Something through his books, possibly even his own consciousness is within them somehow, or at least the consciousness of Something or Someone. the man with all the bones in his hands. taking bones and warping them. bones appearing in the pages but Wrong. might be related to the bag of teeth, too, hundreds of All The Same Tooth

definitely something to the... immortalization of thoughts/memories/Consciousness through written word, especially when we consider the words literally tattooed into mary keay’s skin/the book possibly bound in her skin. i cant put a coherent thought together on this but its definitely... important, i think 

sebastian also for some reason specifically mentions he was holding a copy of Stephen King’s Misery in the confrontation with Jared’s mother, which is a story about an author being forced to write something against his will/words that aren’t really his own, to appease someone else, which. seems like it might be relevant somehow too, maybe. the fact that it was named specifically when it wasn’t apparently relevant to the story seems interesting 

[gokinjeespot]

off the rack #1292

Monday, December 16, 2019

 I sure got a heavy cardio workout yesterday scraping off the ice from both vehicles after the rain on Saturday froze under a layer of snow overnight into Sunday morning. That kind of temperature change will give you whiplash. The frozen blowing snow covered half of our birdfeeders too so I had to clear those off for our feathered friends. It's despairing when the temperature drops during the day instead of getting warmer. Stupid Arctic Air Mass.

 The Red Mother #1 - Jeremy Haun (writer) Danny Luckert (art) Ed Dukeshire (letters). The first page with the disintegrating skull will give you an idea of what this beautifully drawn new story is about. Daisy and her boyfriend Luke are walking home from dinner when they are attacked in a scary black space behind an iron gate. Luke is hauled into the blackness and Daisy has her right eye plucked out but survives. By the end of this issue she's seeing scary things through a haze of red. I loved the art in this and look forward to meeting Mother.

  Harley Quinn & Poison Ivy #4 - Jody Houser (writer) Adriana Melo (pencils) Mark Morales & Wade von Grawbadger (inks) Hi-Fi (colours) Gabriela Downie (letters). The Floronic Man attacks the girls again. This time in a roadside dinosaur theme park run by a crazy old lady. Poison Ivy figures out how the bad guy is tracking them and Harley fixes that problem with a machete. This is one crazy story.

 Punisher Soviet #2 - Garth Ennis (writer) Jacen Burrows (pencils) Guillermo Ortego (inks) Nolan Woodard (colours) Rob Steen (letters). Frank has reluctantly taken on a teammate in his fight with a Russian mobster. This issue starts that guy's origin story.

 Something is Killing the Children #4 - James Tynion IV (writer) Werther Dell'Edera (art) Miquel Muerto (colours) AndWorld Design (letters). Erica goes shopping for monster killing tools and into the woods we go. Time to meet the monster.

 X-Force #3 - Benjamin Percy (writer) Joshua Cassara (art) Guru-eFX (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). The enemy is revealed and they are Xeno. Kind of reminds me of the Court of Owls from Batman. Wolverine and Kid Omega rescue Domino from their clutches while a new Charles Xavier is hatched with a rebuilt Cerebro to lead the war. I liked how Magneto made a sword for Charles from the broken Cerebro helmet.

 The Dollhouse Family #2 - M. R. Carey (writer) Peter Gross (layouts) Vince Locke (finishes) Cris Peter (colours) Todd Klein (letters). Maybe I'm wrong but I suspect that the M. in the writer credit stands for Mike. I loved Mike Carey's Vertigo books and this has a very familiar feel. I like how the house is a character too.

 The Immortal Hulk #28 - Al Ewing (writer) Tom Reilly & Matias Bergara (art) Chris O'Halloran (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). The villain gets the spotlight this issue as Roxxon C.E.O. Dario Agger tries to find a way to fight the Hulk. He goes to find an ally on Monster Isle and I laughed when I saw who it was.

 Valkyrie #6 - Al Ewing & Jason Aaron (writers) Pere Perez (art) Jesus Aburtov (colours) VC's Joe Sabino (letters). What a great read. This is an example of how two good writers can produce a highly enjoyable issue of a comic book. Add to that very nice art and you've got a "pick of the week". Part one of "Strange Aeons" starts a new story where Val needs to put together a team to save Death. Doctor Strange is her first recruit and Night Nurse, Cardiac, Doctor Faiza Hussain AKA Excalibur and Manikin make the journey to the valley of the shadow of death. Talk about D-list, but I trust that Al and Jason will make good use of these heroes.

 Detective Comics #1017 - Tom Taylor (writer) Fernando Blanco (art) John Kalisz (colours) Travis Lanham (letters). This is a great one issue story if you want to see why this comic book is on my "must read" list. Batman solves two crimes and I was happy to see Damian helping out. If Tom Taylor did a Robin book, I'd read that too.

 Fantastic Four #17 - Dan Slott (writer) Luciano Vecchio, Carlos Magno, Bob Quinn & Sean Izaakse (art) Erick Arciniega (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). I was wondering why this story was called "Point of Origin" and this issue explain why. We all know that the Fantastic Four were bombarded with cosmic rays when they took their maiden flight and that's what gave them their super powers. Little did we know it wasn't an accident. It's a subtle change and doesn't make a lot of difference in the grand scheme of things but it is kind of neat.

 Miles Morales: Spider-Man #13 - Saladin Ahmed (writer) Javier Garron (art pages 1-2, 16-20) Kevin Libranda (art pages 3-8) & Alitha Martinez (art pages 9-13) David Curiel & Protobunker (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). I usually get annoyed when an issue is drawn by a bunch of different artists but Javier, Kevin and Alitha all did a splendid job and the story flowed seamlessly. The awesome colouring job helped too. Say hello to Billie Mariana Morales. Miles is now a big brother.

 Superman #18 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Ivan Reis (pencils) Joe Prado (inks) Alex Sinclair (colours) Dave Sharpe (letters). As big a Brian Bendis fan that I am, I stopped reading this title because I wasn't interested in what was happening in the book. Now I'm interested again. Superman drops a bomb that's going to explode into all kinds of repercussions. I liked how Wonder Woman, Batman and Lex Luthor reacted to the news even though they don't utter a word. That's great art right there. The cover will give you a hint to what Superman's announcement is.

 Fallen Angels #3 - Bryan Hill (writer) Szymon Kudranski (art) Frank D'Armata (colours) VC's Joe Sabino (letters). Cable, Psylocke and X-23's mission to save some children continues and one of the heroes is captured by the enemy. I hope their next story happens in the daytime because these issues have been very dark.

 Dark Knight Returns: The Golden Child#1 - Frank Miller (writer) Rafael Grampa (art) Jordie Bellaire (colours) John Workman & Deron Bennett (letters). No returning Dark Knight since this story features Lara, Jonathan and Carrie, the kids of the Big Two. They battle old man Joker and old man Darkseid. I loved the art. The writing was annoyingly repetitive. That seems to be Franks writing style now using lots of verbs and choppy little captions. I don't like it. The thing about comic books is that the art and writing go hand in hand and I just couldn't stop reading the words part way and just look at the pretty pictures. Seeing Greta Thunberg on the last page just made me love Rafael even more.

 Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #14 - Tom Taylor (writer) Marguerite Sauvage (art flashback) Ken Lashley (art) Marguerite Sauvage & Rachelle Rosenberg (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). Crappydoodles! This is the last issue. I am sad. I enjoyed the entire 14-issue run. It was Juann Cabal's art that got me hooked but Tom's writing kept me reading. His stories were very Mister Rogers and I liked them a lot. He showed Peter committed to his sense of responsibility and ended this issue nicely. I'm going to miss this title.

 The Batman's Grave #3 - Warren Ellis (writer) Bryan Hitch (pencils) Kevin Nowlan (inks) Alex Sinclair (colours) Richard Starkings (letters). Batman is working on a case of murder disguised as a suicide. I like how this issue starts and ends with him working the case with Alfred in the Batcave that bookends 10 pages of wordless solo crime scene investigation and a fight with an intruder for a crucial clue.

 2099: Doom #1 - Chip Zdarsky (writer) Marco Castiello (art) Chris Sotomayor (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). This one-shot doesn't add much to the overall story but I like Chip's writing so I read it. Victor winds up in 2099 fighting his future self. The last page doesn't make a lot of sense so skipping this comic won't hurt much.

 2099: Spider-Man #1 - Nick Spencer (writer) Ze Carlos (art) Brian Reber & Andrew Crossley (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). I was as confused as the Miguel in this story when I got to the end. We get a sense of what's happening in 2099 that's bad for everyone but there's no connection to the main story as far as I can make out. These 2099 one-shots have been a waste of time, which doesn't bode well for Marvel's next big event. I'll read 2099 Omega to see if there's a point to this story and I'll read The Amazing Spider-Man #36 that ties into this event because that book is on my "must read" list, but Nick Spencer is skating on thin ice with me.

 Annihilation - Scourge: Beta Ray Bill #1 - Michael Moreci (writer) Alberto Alburquerque (art) Jay David Ramos (colours) VC's Joe Sabino (letters). This was a good single issue story. Beta Ray Bill goes up against the Sentry and saves our universe from the scourge of the Cancerverse. I liked that he's teamed up with Lockjaw.

 Annihilation - Scourge: Silver Surfer #1 - Dan Abnett (writer) Paul Davidson (art) Matt Milla (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). I was asked recently if the Silver Surfer was good or evil after the Silver Surfer Black story and I didn't know the answer until now. This tie-in one-shot takes place right after Silver Surfer Black as Norrin Radd breaches the barrier between the positive universe and the Negative Zone to investigate what's causing the mass exodus from Annihilus's realm. Here he finds the means of defeating the Void controlled Sentry and thereby save two universes. He also discovers the ability to merge with another being sort of like DC's Deadman.

[emrose-gold]

Defending the Duke: David Bowie’s “problematic” actions debunked

You’d think that after two years people would have figured it out by now, and yet here we are. Alright let’s get started.

“David Bowie was a sexual predator.”

TW: CSA, statutory rape, rape

This claim originated from an interview with former groupie Lori Mattix of the “Baby Groupie” scene of the 1970s that was republished on The Thrillist the day after David’s death, where she claimed she lost her virginity to him in 1973 when she was 15 years old and he was 26. Additionally, she claimed that she kept seeing him over ten years, however this causes a problem with consistency because David’s personal life was scrutinized more than the average rock star (most likely because of him coming out as bisexual), and the two were never photographed together unlike Mattix’s relationships with other rock stars during the 1970s. More problems with the consistency of her claims include that in some interviews she said she lost her virginity to David and in others she said she had her first time with Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, and certain circumstances that contradict her side of the story (or stories).

For example, in an 1985 interview with Stephen Davis, she stated that she had her first time with Jimmy Page in 1972 while the band was in California for their summer tour. She later said that she was having sex with David before Page. This provides an inconsistency because David’s Ziggy Stardust tour came to California in October 1972, months after Led Zeppelin’s summer tour. In a later interview, which was made available online in 2009, she said she was a virgin when she met Page.

In an 1986 interview with Peter Gillman, she said that while eating at the Rainbow Bar in March 1973 with her friend and fellow groupie, the late Sable Starr, David spotted her and got his bodyguard to invite her to his suite, and she accepted. She said they had sex for five or six hours and she convinced him to let Starr join them, and all fell asleep afterwards, and the two snuck out before David’s then-wife Angie would arrive. In a different interview with Paul Trynka however, she said that in October 1972 she and Starr snuck into his Beverly Hilton suite and convinced a tired David to sleep with them before they snuck out without being seen.

In the Thrillist interview, Mattix said David approached her in October 1972, but she rejected him. When he came back in March 1973, he called her and invited her to dinner. John Lennon and Yoko Ono joined them for dinner before she and David left for his Beverly Hilton suite, they and Sable Starr had a threesome, and Angie walked in on them the next morning. In addition to her earlier interviews contradicting this so-called recollection, David didn’t meet Lennon until September 1974 when they were introduced to each other by Elizabeth Taylor at one of her parties.  And David stayed at the Hyatt hotel in March 1973, not the Beverly Hilton.

In the same interview, she said she attended a recording session in 1975 when she was 17, where John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Mick Jagger, and a bunch of other artists were there, and she slept with Jagger after the session wrapped up. Another inconsistency with this is that the only time Lennon and McCartney jammed together after the Beatles broke up was the year before, in march 1974. Not only that, there is no evidence to suggest that Jagger was at that session in 1975.

Mattix’s claims were further contradicted by Pamela Des Barnes, another former groupie who was in her 20s during the 1970s (one year younger than David), in her memoir, I’m with the Band. Des Barnes was in a relationship with Jimmy Page by 1972, however she ended their relationship and moved in with Frank and Gail Zappa and worked for them as a nanny in February 1972,  because he was sleeping with Mattix and leaving Des Barnes in the dust. The breakup and move happened a month before David’s tour came to Long Beach, when Mattix claims she lost her virginity to him.

(Additionally, along with changing her story about it many times including how old she was when it happened, she said once how she met him in LA in 1973 five months beforehand, but the his tour didn’t have a stop in California at that point, and the last time he really visited LA at that point was 1972.  She said it happened at the Beverly Hilton in 1973, but the only time he is photographed there is in 1972.)

Sources: X X 

In 1987, he was falsely accused of rape by 30 year-old Wanda Nichols who claimed he exposed her to AIDS. They were both tested and both their results were negative. He was cleared of the charges. (x) (x)

Not to mention that this kind of behavior sounds completely out of his character. On one of his later tours, he threatened to fire his drummer for directing teenage girls to his hotel room (x), according to one of the commentaries of the 1986 Jim Henson film Labyrinth, a kiss scene was originally written but he refused to do it because his co-star Jennifer Connelly was 14 at the time (x), and when he was in the band Tin Machine he wrote the song “Shopping for Girls” which is about and brings awareness to child prostitution in Thailand (x).

Now with that said, this isn’t to say that the “Baby Groupie” scene never happened. Although Mattix obviously lied about him, there are perverts in the rock music industry like Kim Fowley and Gary Glitter, and the whole Baby Groupie scene and the idea of teens having sex with adults were being encouraged in the 70s, according to the June 1973 issue (pages 59–61) of Star Magazine 

and this quiz in the March 1973 issue (pages 62–63) of Star to see if you have what it takes to make an older guy like you.

They were encouraging these young girls to go out, dress up and wear makeup to make themselves look older, act older by smoking and drinking, carry fake IDs, and lie about their ages. Even though I don’t trust her word, I do feel really sorry for her for being manipulated by disgusting men and bad influences in the 70s into thinking this was okay. It’s especially horrid once you consider how rape culture was at a high point in the 70′s and how a lot of disgusting things were being romanticized and encouraged.

(The Runaways promotional poster from the 70s with bodice,  ass and crotch shots of the then teenage girls and  a then 24 year old Tony Parsons calling them nymphets and saying the “young and extremely horny teenage females was a bonus”)

(Love’s Baby Soft Perfume ad from 1975)

Disgusting. Moving on.

“David Bowie was a racist and a n@zi sympathizer.”

This claim came from Bowie’s comments in 1976 under his persona the Thin White Duke that supposedly supported fascism. However, at this time his diet consisted only of milk, red peppers and cocaine, and he really was out of his mind at that time because he was at the height of his cocaine addiction, when he was convinced Jimmy Page was trying to steal his soul, that witches were trying to steal his semen, and wanted an exorcism done on his swimming pool because he believed Satan lived in it. When he was getting clean and coming back to his senses, he became horrified and disgusted of how his image was being used by neo-nazis.  With all that crazy shit and more, do you honestly think he meant all the garbage he said? He was so out of it, he barely had any recollection of recording the album for Christ’s sake. Also, around this time he was photographed supposedly giving a n*zi salute but he was really just waving hello to his fans. He retracted and apologized for his statements in a 1977 interview for Melody Maker and later called the Duke an “ogre,” and again looked back at that period with unkind words in 1983. 

Additionally, while making his blue-eyed soul album Young Americans, he gave credit to where credit was due, saying, “It’s the squashed remains of ethnic music as it survives in the age of Muzak rock, written and sung by a white limey,” and collaborating with Ava Cherry, Luther Vandross, and Carlos Alormar to give the album an authentic soul sound. (x) (x) He also encouraged Nina Simone to continue performing, and a huge supporter of Tina Turner’s career. (x)

David wrote many songs and videos with anti-nazi and anti-racism themes. The “China Girl” video serves to parody Asian female stereotypes as well as to protest colonization by making the lyrics in the POV of a colonizer to show how fucked up the mindset is, and the video, as well as the Let’s Dance video, were made as statements against racism. The Let’s Dance video in particular was very influential in Australia. David even openly criticized MTV for not playing videos from black artists. The first Tin Machine album had a direct anti-fascism and anti-neo n*zi stance. He continued to protest racism throughout his career. 

And also marrying Iman. Yes, yes I know. It’s true that many white celebrities who enter relationships with black partners often do it either as a front or to satisfy some eldritch fetish, and usually try to start relationships with black people who are either naive or ignorant (like, “my black boyfriend said it’s okay” and shit like that). *cough cough* K*rdashians *cough cough* But here’s the thing, this is Iman Abdulmajid we’re talking about here. This is the same woman who started her own cosmetic company for women of color, protested the lack of black models on runways with Naomi Campbell and Bethann Hardison, and supports many charities and human rights causes. Just take a look at her Twitter page. She is absolutely not ignorant or naive. She and David worked on many charitable activities and events together, including her I Am African campaign.

And I know what you’re thinking, he could have used his charity support for publicity or as a front like many celebrities in the past. *cough cough Sp*cey, W*instein, H*ffman *cough cough* But when Iman was given a Voice Award at the Save The Child’s Illumination Gala in 2016, she dedicated the award to him, saying “David was also a staunch supporter of human rights and devoted an innumerable amount of time and resources, which he chose to do anonymously. [...] I share this award with him, knowing that the fire in him lit the fire in me, and vice versa. [...] Good partnerships have a habit of doing that.” 

And finally,

“David Bowie was never bisexual.”

(X)

Okay, but let’s talk serious. This claim is more specifically saying he used bisexuality as shock value and he isn’t a good icon for the LGBT community. In 1983 he called his coming out a “mistake,”said he was only experimenting, and called himself a “closet heterosexual,” in 1993. However, there are things to heavily consider. In the 1980s he was going through a depressive period in his life with alcohol problems. In addition, he felt that his sexuality overshadowed his music in America and and wanted to change his image to appeal to a more mainstream audience (to make his career survive during that time when homophobia was on the rise so he had to shield himself; may I remind you of when he was falsely accused of giving Wanda Nichols AIDS, not to mention dealing with ignorant interviewers acting so clueless over such a simple concept). In 1993, Tin Machine failed to revive his career after the critical failures of his last two solo albums of the late 1980s, of course those problems continued. And if you think I’m reaching, take a look at what he said in an interview for Blender in 2002.

You once said that saying you were bisexual was "the biggest mistake I ever made." Do you still believe that? WHOODAAMANN, SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA

Interesting. [Long pause] I don't think it was a mistake in Europe, but it was a lot tougher in America. I had no problem with people knowing I was bisexual. But I had no inclination to hold any banners or be a representative of any group of people. I knew what I wanted to be, which was a songwriter and a performer, and I felt that [bisexuality] became my headline over here for so long. America is a very puritanical place, and I think it stood in the way of so much I wanted to do. (x) 

And it’s not like his impact on the LGBT+ community is nonexistent.

He was bi and a damned good LGBT icon.

And with that said, just because his most high-profile relationships were with women that doesn’t mean he wasn’t bi. A bi person can have a preference towards one sex or gender but that does not in any way diminish their attraction to the other sex or genders. There are plenty of examples of bisexual people who enter monogamous relationships with people of the opposite sex. That doesn’t make them any less bi.

Reflections & Conclusion

One of the biggest problems I see when the Bowie/Classic rock fandom talk about this is how they completely derail the conversation to how “feminism and sjw culture is toxic and spreads lies” and other dumb shit like that. You can’t blame an entire movement for trouble caused by a few assholes on a site like this. This is Tumblr, remember? You can’t expect people to be perfect to know everything about everyone famous. Newsflash: I’ve made mistakes too. There are many more people who make up for their mistakes than you give credit for. It should only be a real problem if they refuse to believe you or ignore you after you give them solid corrections. Chances are the people like that have generally shitty views or have something to hide (like every TERF blog on here). It also upsets me when people, who I will not name (you know who you are) defend him by slut-shaming Lori Mattix or the other groupies (I won’t say why, I hope you can figure that out for yourselves). 

So in conclusion, don’t believe everything you read, be patient with people but don’t take shit from anyone, don’t use people screwing up as an excuse to spread your own ignorance, stay away from books written about David by Lesley-Ann Jones, Dylan Jones, and “Backstage Passes” by Angie Bowie, and if you have written a callout post about David Bowie, don’t ever fucking do that shit again. Have a nice day.  

[elliepassmore]

The Hate U Give Book Review

5/5 stars

Recommended for people who like: strong female lead, realism, activism, and social issues; honestly, I think everyone should read it, thus why it went on my rather pretentious ‘Books Everyone Should Read’ board.

In honor of the movie coming out today, I thought I’d post my review of the book. 

The Hate U Give is such an amazing, heartbreaking novel that deals with police brutality, identity, and how you use your voice. The story follows Starr over the few hours before and several weeks after her childhood friend is murdered by a white cop. The situation is, unfortunately, familiar, as Khalil was unarmed at the time of the shooting—and true to form, the media twists facts. Virtually from the start of the book I was shaking, Thomas weaves the prose so beautifully, so realistically, it was easy to get caught up in the events of the novel as they were unfolding. My heart ached for Starr, Khalil, Starr’s family, and Khalil’s family. It ached for the people *SPOILER* Khalil, DeVante, Iesha *SPOILER END* in the novel who did things because they had no other choice. It ached for the people who wanted things to change but weren’t sure how to make it happen, or if they could.

 The book starts off with Starr at a party, talking to her half-brother's sister. It's shortly followed by an incident in which Starr and her childhood best-friend, Khalil, leave the party in Khalil's car and are pulled over by a white officer. Automatically, the officer is suspicious of the two, and the incident ends with him shooting Khalil, who was unarmed. It's such an intense scene, Starr is panicking about her friend, she was already afraid about the cop before anything happened, she knows Khalil was dead--or dying--as he hit the pavement, the cop points a gun at her, and to compound it all, *SPOILER* she saw another childhood friend shot and killed when she was a child *END SPOILER*. The whole scene gave me chills.

 Starr is then faced with a decision: come forward as a suspect and risk being targeted by the cops and media, or stay silent and risk the officer walking free.

 One of the best parts of the book is that Starr isn't automatically a revolutionary activist, it occurs in stages. The first decisions Starr must make involve 1) what to do about the people at school, who she tries to be a different person around, and 2) what to say to the cops, if she should say anything. These first few decisions shape the way the rest of the book plays out.

 Thomas expertly weaves the different aspects of the book, from Starr's neighbors in Garden Heights, to the gangs there, to her family, to her friends at school, to the police officers involved. Each have their own version of what happened that night, and each version plays into how each group reacts to the events that occurred. Some react violently, others think Khalil deserved it, many are angry.

 The book discusses the natural weapon we are all given—our voice—and what we decide to do with said weapon. One of the people at the school Starr goes to uses her voice to show how she supports the media. A barber in Starr’s neighborhood uses his voice to disagree with violence done against innocent cops as well as the violence done to black people. Starr’s Uncle Carlos uses it to support Starr and Khalil. And Starr uses hers.

Starr’s character development is interesting. From the beginning, she doesn’t want to step away from knowing Khalil, but she also has this idea ingrained in her head that she has to act one way in Garden Heights and another when she’s at school, away from Garden. So, she makes the decision to keep quiet to people, but come forward and talk to the cops as a witness. It’s a step. Soon she’s deciding to talk to her friends and boyfriend about it, to talk to an attorney/activist who helps Starr pro-bono *SPOILER* and also organizes rallies for Khalil *END SPOILER*, and eventually leads to Starr *SPOILER* making a speech at a protest after the cop who murdered Khalil isn’t indicted *END SPOILER*.

 While the main vein of the story is Khalil and the cop and how that plays out, Thomas also included family as a major part of the novel. Starr’s family supports her through every step of the process. They support her in not speaking, and they support her when she decides to. Her parents obviously play a major role in her life. It’s her mother who comes to her defense in many of the scenes involving the cops and the DA, and it’s her father who helps her stay grounded in life outside of the tragedy and gets outside protection involved when things start going bad. We get to see how the tragedy plays a role in the dynamics between her brothers, Sekani and Seven, and in the dynamics with Seven’s mother and other half-sisters. We also get to see the connection outside of blood family. The people of Garden Heights are angry over what happened to Khalil, rightly so, and they band together to not only protest, but also to help one another—another point where her father plays a major role *SPOILER* he helps one sect of the King Lords and Garden Disciples make peace and set aside turf wars so they can properly unite for Khalil, he’s also shown to help kids (main ones mentioned are Khalil and DeVante) get out of trouble by giving them jobs and even a safe place to stay *END SPOILER*. And while the tragedy as the chance to rip apart the neighborhood family as well as the blood family, both groups end the story with a stronger sense of unity and connection than they started with.

 This last bit also plays into the theme of identity throughout the book. Starting off, Starr has two identities: Garden Heights Starr and Williamson Starr. In one, she gets to use slang and be proud of where she lives, though she feels slightly outside of the neighborhood since she attends a private school. In the other, she tries to fit into the role of an ‘acceptable black woman,’ and that involves not using too much slang, trying not to get angry, and other things like that. Garden Heights Starr is friends with Khalil, Williamson Starr is not. It, perhaps obviously, causes friction, as after Khalil is killed, Starr has to deal with how she feels and what she knows to be true about Khalil, and what the rest of the world, and even some of the people at Williamson feel and think to be true. The resulting friction definitely causes changes in how she perceives people at school as well as who she deals/hangs out with *SPOILER* I was lowkey happy when she and Maya dumped Hailey because W O W was she awful *END SPOILER*. In the end, Starr reaches a happy medium, deciding to incorporate aspects of both Garden Heights and Williamson Starr into the ‘other’ Starr, allowing her to be the person she actually is, instead of catering to expectations.

 The last few pages of the book also gave me goosebumps, though for a different reason than the beginning. In the end, Thomas lists names—

“It’s about Seven. Sekani. Kenya. DeVante.

It’s also about Oscar.

Aiyana.

Trayvon.

Rekia.

Michael.

Eric.

Tamir.

John.

Ezell.

Sandra.

Freddie.

Alton.

Philando.

It’s even about that little boy in 1955 that nobody recognized at first—Emmett.

The messed up part? There are so many more.” (443)

—and she also gives us this quote:

“Others are fighting too, even in the Garden, where sometimes it feels like there’s not a lot worth fighting for. People are realizing and shouting and marching and demanding. They’re not forgetting. I think that’s the most important part.” (444)

 Many have been touched by tragedy, by this tragedy. And the ending reminds us of that. It’s a book about activism and social issues and change and identity, and it’s about family and using your voice. Starr is a strong character because she’s real. She’s had something terrible happen and she wants to speak up about it but she’s afraid and angry on so many different levels. She’s afraid of getting death threats, of the cops, of not doing Khalil justice, of what will happen if the cop isn’t indicted. And she’s angry about these things as well. Angry at the cop who killed her friend, angry at the media for twisting who Khalil is and what happened that night, angry at people who didn’t know Khalil thinking he ‘deserved it,’ angry at how everything turns out. Everyone has felt afraid at some point. Many have felt afraid to speak out, just like Starr. And there are many who speak out anyway.

[classic-rock-roller]

1. It’s Kevin’s birthday, and at the party is you, Bonham, Kevin, Randy, Rudy, Danny, Arin, Linus, Erik, and Sean. At one point, Bonham brings him a beautifully frosted cupcake and says, “I know we’ve been fighting lately, but I came with a peace offering. Here.” “Wow, thanks.” He says. He takes a bite of it, chews, grimaces, and spits it out. “Augh, what is that?” “It’s lotion, you bastard! That’s for taking a knife to all my stage clothes!” She yells it loud enough that everyone hears. What does Kevin say, what do you say, and how does everyone react?

Kevin: You bitch! 

Me: Enough! 

I grab both of them by the ears. 

Bons and Kevin: Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow. 

Me: I’ve had enough of the both of you bickering and fighting with each other. You’re friends. Friends don’t act this mean towards each other and if I have to treat you like children I will. 

Rudy: Whoa 

Randy: You should do this to them more often. Might stop them from fighting. 

Sean: Mama Carrot is out. Watch out! 

Erik: I remember her doing that to me it’s not pleasant. 

Linus is outside smoking 

Danny: Jesus Christ 

Arin: Don’t mess with BabyCarrot. Ok, noted. 

2. You and Bonham are hanging out with QR one day and at one point she and Rudy are talking to each other in Spanish. Frankie comes up to them and says to Bonham, “I didn’t know you knew Spanish.” She responds with, “Yeah, I do. It’s how me and Rudy talk shit about you guys to your faces.” How does Frankie react, and what do you, Carlos, Kevin, and Rudy say?

Frankie: *fake scoff* Well, I never! 

Carlos: That never works on me though. We all talk shit about interviewers a lot. 

Kevin: I honestly don’t care how you talk about me. 

Me: Doesn’t surprise me to be honest. I trust Bons enough not to talk too badly about me. 

Rudy: ...you realize she was joking right. 

Bons (looks to Kevin): Only partially joking. 

3. Linus has just outed Sean’s reasoning behind reading War Angel fiction, and he hasn’t denied it (continued from number 9). How do you, Bonham, Erik, and Linus respond, and how do you all move forward?

Bonham: While I’m very flattered, Sean. You’re much younger than I am and I don’t like you like that. I see you as a little brother. 

Erik: Ooh you’ve been relegated to little brother. 

Linus: Finally, now that that is taken care of. 

Me: I told you, you couldn’t date Bonham, Sean. It’s almost broken up our band in the past. 

He does move on from Bons. He soon dates a really nice girl named, Kelly. Who he does eventually marry. It actually made him and Bons closer in their friendship and our band closer as a whole. 

4. Your band is getting ready to go onstage one night, but all the dressing room doors look the same. You’re in yours with Kevin, Bonham’s in the one next door, and the rest of the boys are scattered around. You step out to ask Bonham for more eyeliner and see Sean walk in. Bonham screams and says, “Get out!” Sean says sorry, then steps out, but he looks dazed. Kevin follows you out, and asks him, “Everything okay?” He looks past you and right at Kevin and says in a small voice, “…her rack. She wasn’t dressed yet.” How do you and Kevin respond, and what does Bonham say when you go to get more makeup?

Kevin: Dude, you seriously went in her dressing room?

Sean: It was an accident! I didn’t mean to. It’s not labeled and I thought it was mine and...

Me: Whoa, whoa, whoa. It’s ok it was an accident. Just apologize to her when she comes out and don’t do it again ok?

I slip into her dressing room and she says, “I can’t believe he just popped in here like that. It’s like Daryl watching me shower all over again. 

I explain to her it was an accident and he didn’t mean to and he felt bad about walking in on her. 

5. Bonham’s been learning to play the guitar and she’s got a special way of going about playing it. One day, she’s doing this while playing when Kevin comes in and says, “You sound like an unbelievable douche.” She sings the last bit of this (after Brian comes in. In this situation Stewie is Bonham and Brian is Kevin). How does Kevin respond and what do you say?

Kevin: You’re incredibly annoying. 

I have gotten good at tuning out their arguments so I’m not really paying attention. 

6. You’re hanging out with Kevin and Bonham one day when Erik comes in and says, “I have a boss question for you. Someone called my phone and said that you and Bonham are up for awards and asks if you accept.” “What are they?” you ask. “Yours is Best Female Lead and Bonham’s is “Sexiest female backup musician.” She just looks up from the chips she is eating and says, “You should call them back and tell them I think they fucked up with mine.” before stuffing another handful in her mouth. Technically, you have the authority to make the executive decision. Do you accept your nomination? Do you say that Bonham accepts hers? Do you win? How does Kevin respond?

I accept my nomination and tell them that Bons accepts hers and I don’t win my award but Bons wins hers. 

Kevin: See, if you hadn’t accepted you wouldn’t have won. 

7. Kevin and Bonham are arguing one day about video game history. Bonham googles their question and is proved right. “Hah! I told you! I may be dumb, but I’m not stupid.” She says. How do you and Kevin respond?

Me: You are not dumb or stupid and don’t say that. 

Kevin grumbles about being proved wrong. 

8. You come home one day and you hear a weird thumping coming from upstairs. You go to investigate, and it’s coming from Sean’s bedroom. You open the door to see what it is and you find him and Bonham in the middle of doing the act, even after you deliberately said no. How do they react once they know you’re there and what do you do?

I scream seriously?! And then both jump but I soon realized that they’re both really, really, really drunk so I tell them to knock to the fuck off and once they’re sober we have a band meeting about how to go about this. 

9. Some time has passed since War Angel has retired. You’re all in your fifties, and can’t keep up like you used to. You’re content with life, but Kevin isn’t. Even though he and Frankie are the only ones left of QR, they’re making a new album and calling it Rehab.You’re happy for him, but Bonham is skeptical. “He should quit it soon, he can’t keep up the way he’s going. The best things come to an end. That’s why you never see a classic with a sequel.” What do you think of this attitude, what does Kevin think?

I agree with her and I keep a close eye on Kevin. He’s no longer doing drugs (thank god) but he should take it easy he should enjoy his grandkids while he still has the time to. 

10. Bonham comes to yours and Kevin’s house one day super excitedly. She’s barely made it in the door before she squeals, “I’ve been invited to be the clarinettist for the new Dragon Quest game! And guess what else! They want you two to be the male and female chorus leads! Isn’t it great?” How do you two respond? Do you accept? How does it turn out?

We both say we’re love to and the game turns out great. The three of us have a lot of fun. 

11. Your band and QR are hanging out one night, and at one point the subject of fetishes comes up. Frankie goes into detail about all the fucked up stuff he’s into, and at the end, you’re all in a bit of stunned silence. Bonham finally says, “I’m sure we’ve all already realized this, but Frankie is one fetish away from being a serial killer.” How do you, your band, and QR respond?

Me: No, Son of Sam was a bit crazier and John Wayne Gracy had an unsettling fetish. So did H. H. Holmes and he was insane. Zodiac killer I have no idea. So Frankie isn’t close to a serial killer. 

Erik: How the fuck do you know all that?!

Carlos: Yeah, man that's freaky. 

Rudy: We had to do a project on it in highschool. 

Sean: what high school did you go to?

Linus doesn’t say anything but nods. 

_____________________

1) After your singer screams at Sean about hiding coke in a candy box, Kevin gets up to get something. Your singer grabs his arm and goes, “If you think you’re going to rehide YOUR stash don’t bother I already flushed it all. You’re another matter. I will not be having my kids dealing with a constantly strung out father. You’re quitting cold turkey and I’m taking you to a rehab center today. You're in your fucking thirties, you have three kids who want to have their father for a long, long time.” Kevin glares at her and goes, “I’m not going to rehab. I’m fine and have it in control.” “Oh, is that why I had to rush you to the hospital last week because of a cocaine overdose? Just so you know our kids were terrified. They kept asking if they’d have to say goodbye to Daddy.” Kevin pulls his arm out of her grasp, “I don’t need to go to fucking rehab.” Your singer glares at him and you can see the tears sliding down her cheeks, “I honestly don’t care what you do anymore, Kevin. I love you with all my heart. You’re my soulmate but apparently, I and our kids aren’t enough to outweigh the sweet release of a high. But just know, you’re pushing everyone you love away. Go get yourself some help.” She heads upstairs and you hear her and Kevin’s door slam. What does Kevin say after she leaves and how do you and Sean respond? Do you go check on your singer?

2) It’s your birthday and Kevin was in charge of the cake. (Why your singer put him on that you have no idea, But she later regrets it.) He won’t let anyone see your cake until it’s time to eat it. He puts the candles on it and brings it out to you at the table. When he places it in front of you it reads, “Happy fucking  birthday, you fucker.” How do you, your singer, Rudy, Danny, and Arin respond?

3) Your singer broke up with Kevin over his drug use and has been dating different guys ever since. One day, she comes to your and Rudy’s house while Kevin is there with Tom Keifer. They run into each other at the door and your singer goes, “Oh...Kevin. This is my boyfriend, Tom. Tom, this is...Kevin.” Kevin shakes his hand and looks him up and down before saying, “Hello, fucker. Thanks for taking my girlfriend.” How does Tom respond and what do you, your singer, and Rudy say?

4) Your singer takes you, Kevin, her friend, Mick, and Rudy out for sushi. You’re all ordering and Mick orders something that’s not sushi but your singer doesn’t say anything. When the waiter leaves, Kevin goes, “Why does he not have to try sushi?” Your singer looks at Kevin and goes, “Because he tried it already when I took him out for food before I met you and he doesn’t like it that’s why.” How do you, Kevin, and Rudy respond?

5) You're with Crüe and Tommy is sitting on the hood of his car. Your singer has had a bit to drink so she’s a bit drunk. Tommy goes to you, Nikki, and your singer, “Come sit on my lap.” You look at him and go, “Not in this fucking lifetime.” Nikki is too busy making out with another girl but your singer goes, “Ok.” She sits on Tommy’s lap and the next thing you know, they’re heavily making out. She soon gets up and goes, “I’ll be waiting for you later.” Tommy didn’t expect that at all. How does Tommy respond and what do you, Nikki, Vince, and Mick say?  

6) Your singer and Kevin’s wedding is getting nearer and Kevin still hasn’t gone tux shopping. One day he’s talking to you and Randy and he says, “Maybe I’ll just get married in that suit I own. I don’t want to go tux shopping.” Your singer’s head pops into the kitchen and she says, “I swear if you get married in that god awful pink suit. I’m divorcing you.” How do you, Kevin, and Randy respond?

7) You and your singer come back to her and Kevin’s house one day to find a stuffed lobster in the bathroom holding a platter full of pads and tampons. (I have a picture of it somewhere.) Your singer calls out to Kevin and goes, “What’s in the bathroom?” Randy and Kevin come to the doorway and Kevin goes, “That’s a menstruation crustacean station.” Your singer blinks and then rolls her eyes. What does she say and how do you, Kevin, and Randy respond?

8) You and your singer are in an interview with Tommy and Nikki about your upcoming joint tour when the interviewer says to your singer, “You curse a lot. You do realize that’s not ladylike, right?”  Your singer leans back and goes, “I know it’s not ladylike. Good thing I’m not a lady.” How do you, Nikki, Tommy, and the interviewer respond?

9) You and your singer are on the set of a QR music video. Kevin comes over to the two of you and goes, “So what do you think?” Your singer looks at him and goes, “Kevin, your wig looks very fake.” He steps back a bit and goes, “What?! I’m not wearing a wig. Give me my son please.” Your singer hands over nine-month-old Mal and Kevin is talking to him. Before you know it, Mal has pulled the wig off of Kevin’s head. How do you, your singer, Rudy, and Carlos respond?

10) Kevin comes to bring you and your singer lunch while your recording with Crüe. He comes in wearing this really feminine scarf. Tommy comes up to him and goes, “Nice scarf, Kevin. Really brings out your femininity.” Kevin glares at him and goes, “Shut up.” How does Tommy respond and what do you, your singer, Nikki, Vince, and Mick say?

11) You're still in the interview with Tommy and Nikki and the interviewer keeps digging at your singer and being an ass towards her. She makes a comment about her dating Kevin and about how he’s an idiot and just really nasty things about him. Your singer stands up after that and goes, “Ok, I am officially done with your attitude and how you’re treating me. I don’t appreciate it and I don’t have to stomach it anymore. So fuck you,” She flips the interviewer the bird, “Good night.” She walks off the set and you hear the stage door slam. How do you, Nikki, and Tommy respond what does the interviewer say?

12) Your group therapy sessions with Sean are still very strained and he constantly makes comments about your singer, “Well if that bitch didn’t put me in here we wouldn’t have a problem.” You go off on him every time he calls your singer a bitch but she doesn’t say anything. One day he says it again and she looks at him, “You know, Sean. No matter how much you don’t want to admit it, you’ve very reliant on me. You live with me and the reason I sent you into rehab after your six-month coke habit was because it was becoming an addiction. And my kids look up to you as an uncle. You’re like a little brother to all of us. We love you. And I refuse to have my kids grow up with a strung out father and uncle. Because that’s what the both of you are. And Eddie and Roxanne may be too young to pick up on it just yet, but Mal is already picking up on it. Every time I leave the house to visit you and Kevin in rehab I get, “you’re going to see dad and uncle Sean again aren’t you?” and it breaks my heart because he knows the both of you have a disease and are sick and yet the two of you can’t pull your heads out of your asses to see how it’s affecting your loved ones. And that’s just sad.” How does Sean respond and what do you, Kevin, Erik and Linus say? 

@osbournebemydaddy your move, Bons :)

[dulcedemon]

Current Attractions...

Lost in Space: Season 1(2018): There is a lot of science in this sci-fi series, which is how I like it. The ever rapidly changing planet is a brilliant plot point. The bots are beautiful, and terrifying. Molly Parker(Maureen Robinson) and Parker Posey(Dr. Smith/June Harris) play some amazing point-counterpoint. Molly Parker also deserves an award for the Best Implied Use of an Expletive in Space. It's a family show, so you don't hear her say the complete word, but you know what it is; it's the only word appropriate for the given situation.

Tokyo Decadence(Topâzu - 1992): This is my second time around with this one. I watched it instead of biting my nails over election results coverage on November 6th. Over the years, titles featuring adult sexual content have been culled from [movie rental service]. Of what remains, Tokyo Decadence is one of the more interesting and less tame choices. Ai(Miho Nikaido) is a sex worker, whose specialty appears to be BDSM. She is timid, soft-spoken, but very professional. At first, she seems well adjusted, lonely, but not unhappy. In truth, she is superstitious, consulting with a fortuneteller(Yayoi Kusama). She also has an unhealthy fixation on her ex-boyfriend. The best parts are in the first hour. The rest is a minor nervous breakdown. For the most part, it follows her mundanely through her work day, which would be considered anything but mundane by many people. The works of Xavier Cugat and Pérez Prado enhance the soundtrack, though their CDs take some abuse in the longest, and perhaps best scene in the movie.

Fitzcarraldo(1982): No one portrays terminal madness quite like Klaus Kinski. Here he plays a desperate(and always sweaty) entrepreneur, whose previous business endeavor to build a railroad across the Andes mountains met with failure, and made him a laughing stock among his collegues. His fetish-like love of opera cements his reputation as an eccentric fool. The story begins with him seeking a loan to build an opera house in what is basically the jungle in South America in the early 1900s. No one will loan him money for his opera house, which leads him to purchase of a boat for yet another business endeavor in the hopes of being able to finance his pet project with the proceeds. With the boat lies the rest of the story...a story is based in truth, which is drawn from certain events in the life of rubber baron Carlos Fitzcarrald. Yes, there really was a boat, and it was really taken over a mountain, but not in the fantastic way depicted here. I liked this, but not as much as I liked Aguirre, Wrath of God, which I have seen twice now, and hope to own a copy of someday. I strongly recommend both titles.

Daredevil: Season 3(2018): I give it an "S" for satisfactory. The dynamic of three holds it together for yet another season. Having done eight years hard time in Catholic school during my childhood, the heavy-handed Catholicism both entertains and irritates me. I still think they are cancelling the wrong Marvel shows. Not that I want any of them cancelled, I don't, but Iron Fist was just starting to get good, when they killed it. So, yes, I neglected to do a real review here, because I'm still sulking about Luke Cage, and Iron Fist. Also, Misty Knight should have her own show.

Nite Owl(AKA: Night Owl - 1993): For good, this is bad, but for terrible, it's truly great. A very low budget vampire movie, John Leguizamo is the biggest star, though he was not yet a star at the time this was made. Quick appearances by Michael Musto, and Holly Woodlawn add to the off-kilter ambiance. It's fairly traditional as vampire stories go, though more sexually graphic than many of the classics, which is a plus in my book. Being shot in black and white gives it an extra gritty feel. It's also a glimpse of a less commercially homogenous NYC circa 1990. This is the second movie with the title Night Owl that I've seen this year. The other one starred Jennifer Beals, and came out the same year as this one. Maybe that is why this one has that deliberate misspelling... I had no intention of seeing either of them. I was looking for a much older movie of the same title(proper spelling). [Movie rental service] had never heard of it, and suggested two completely different movies that happen to have the same title, which makes no sense, but here we are.

Earth(1947:Earth - 1998): I don't want to put down a movie for reasons unrelated to its content, but I have a duty to warn those who would rent it on DVD. The copy I was sent promised a choice of original language with English subtitles or English audio, but it would only play in English. English would be fine, but it's not entirely in English, and much of the English that is spoken is heavily accented. Fine...English with English subtitles it is. The problem there is the heavily accented English has no subtitles. For me it's just an annoyance, but for people with hearing difficulties, this one is an absolute bitch. Thus concludes my complaints about the disc itself. Now, onto my complaints about the movie: It has story, but no heart. Characters are not fleshed out enough to care much about them. Nandita Das is good here as Shanta the nanny of the young girl, Lenny(Maia Sethna). It is through young Lenny's eyes that we are supposed to view the life and strife of 1947 India, immediately before the India-Pakistan partition. The trouble there --the kid is just not very likeable. She seems too naive for her age, whether it's a product of her insulated, privileged upbringing, or maybe she is just not that bright. She spends most of her time with her nanny, who spends a lot of her time getting fawned over by at least one man of every religion in India. Everyone is good friends, but conflict grows as the day of "independence" draws near, dividing people as well as land. The hate toward a certain group is not subtle, and neither is the violence. I think having seen Fire(1996) and Water(2005) before this set a certain level of expectation on my part, which simply was not met.

[betelgeusessonajblog]

AJ’s Therapy Session (Part 1/?)

AJ sits nervously in a waiting room whilst his new therapist finished up what they were doing. He rubs his arms a little as he looks at the time, it was 5 minutes until his appointment.

AJ takes a couple deep breaths to calm himself down before the therapist eventually came out and said goodbye to another one of his clients. The therapist turns to AJ and smiles “You must be my next appointment, Alex right?”

AJ nods a little as he stands up “Y-Yeah that’s me.”

“No need to be nervous, we won’t dive into big things today.” The therapist said as he lead AJ into the room.

AJ walks over to the couch and sits down whilst the therapist sits across from AJ, he takes out a pad and pen “Alright let’s start simple, introductions.”

“Ri-Right....I’m Alex Junior Garcia, I’m 21 years old....I love to play video games, read, I love scary movies/horror movies, I like to play the guitar and I like to hang out with my friends.”

The therapist smiles as he writes down some stuff “Well I’m John Clawson, Doctor Claws to some or Doc C to others, I’m a happily married man been with my wife for 10 years now, I am a sci-fi, romance, action and comedy fan. I have a sweet tooth, my wife doesn’t know I like to snack on sweets when I’m at work wants me to be on a diet. And i have been a therapist for about seven years now.”

AJ couldn’t help but chuckle a little, the therapist smiles “So what brings you here?”

“Well....it’s all kinds of things actually, I broke up with my latest boyfriend due to him disappearing for weeks on end, no texts or phone calls, his father made me feel like I’m worthless, I got drunk and kissed an ex-boyfriend and that’s something that’s plagued me my entire life, drinking.”

The therapist frowns as he writes down something in his note pad “May I ask why do you drink?”

AJ sighs a little “Well.....I um...I was abused by my dad, mentally and physically since I was like three years old maybe. He was drunk some of the time but the rest of the time he was sober.....when I was maybe six years old I got into some of my dad’s beer and began drinking it....I think I was hoping for something to numb me, take the pain away for a while.”

“I see....I’m so sorry you had to go through that, Alex.” Doctor Claws said as he wrote in his pad “You’ve been drinking ever since?”

“I used to drink daily for a while then when I got to high school I’d sneak a drink on the weekends. Oh I ran away from home when I hit 16 years old, couldn’t stand being there anymore y’know? So I just grabbed my guitar and ran off.”

Doctor Claws nods a little as he listened to AJ  

“....Listen Doc I’m not exactly a normal guy....I’m...I’m part ghost, part monster.”

“Oh? Well that’s interesting to know. Used to have a fascination with the Supernatural as a kid, always believed that there was an Afterlife.” Doctor Claws smiled

“If you want proof...” AJ said as he changes his head to Doctor Claws 

“Wow that’s impressive. So I’m assuming your from a different world?” Doctor Claws asked

AJ nods a little “Netherworld, where the people that recently died go. I was raised there, born in the Monster world.” he explained before rubbing his neck “As for how I ended up there I found out that I was part monster, part ghost when I was ten. I didn’t know what to think about it but I decided to bide my time then run away, it took six years but the day my dad left for a long job thing  took my guitar and just ran to the Monster World.”

“Did you go to your mother?”

“N-No...she didn’t want me either, neither of them did. So I wandered the streets for a while when i got there, stole some food when I could but I wound up not being able to do that anymore. 

So one night I tried to steal form someone, just to have a decent meal, and the first guy I tried it with caught me in the act. 

He chased me down the street, cornered me in an alleyway and instead of taking me to the cops....he took pity on me. Took me in and basically raised me as his own.”

“That was very kind of him. Do you consider him to be your father?”

“Yes, yes I do. He asks me to call him Uncle heh he thinks Dad makes him sound too old I think.”

Doctor Claws chuckles a little “Most feel that way. Tell me did he pay for you to get an education?”

AJ nods a little “He did took extra hours at his job to make sure he could send me to school. It felt...weird that someone cared that much about me but it also felt nice. Uncle Carlos, Carlos Garcia is his name, gave me a life I never had basically and I couldn’t be more thankful.” he smiled a litle

Doctor Claws noted the smile “Do you still live with him?”

“Yes, after I dropped out of College due to stress and some other issues I moved back in with him. He liked the fact he had company, someone to talk to.”

“May I ask what was the main reason you left college?”

AJ sighs a little before thinking he then said “Well it’s because I had a really bad break up with my boyfriend, I couldn’t cope with school or anything so I dropped out. Only good thing that came out of the last couple months of that school was....well my son came into my life, adopted son.”

“A son?” Doctor Claws asked as he looked at AJ

“Long story short,,he just showed up in my life one day and I instantly fell in love with him. I started raising him alone at first until I left college then Carlos started helping me. I made a vow to give him a loving family, raise him as my own and I have been doing that ever since.”

Doctor Claws smiled a little before looking at the time “I think that’s enough for today. I’m proud of you for talking as much as you did. Came here very shy within a few minutes you were able to open up to me about some personal things.”

“Thanks Doc.” AJ smiled

“Now I want you to come back on Thursday a little earlier so we can talk more.” Doctor Claws said with a small smile before he and AJ discussed the payment. AJ nodded then paid the therapist before leaving, feeling a bit happier that he started something that was very needed.

[tabloidtoc]

Life & Style, February 11

Cover: Justin Theroux meets Angelina Jolie’s kids 

Page 1: Photo Flash -- Super thin Celine Dion in Paris 

Page 2: Contents 

Page 3: Say What?! Matthew McConaughey on Anne Hathaway, Chrissy Teigen on her romantic history, Gwyneth Paltrow on daughter Apple, Kourtney Kardashian wants to be in love, Melissa McCarthy on Nicole Kidman 

Page 4: Top 10 Dundas Looks -- Reese Witherspoon, Emily Blunt, Emily Ratajkowski, Kat Graham, Naomie Harris 

Page 5: Victoria Justice, Alessandro Ambrosio, Alison Brie, Shay Mitchell, Kendall Jenner 

Page 6: Twinning -- Tilda Swinton vs. Dree Hemingway, Cameron Diaz vs. Tracee Ellis Ross, Maia Mitchell vs. Keltie Knight 

Page 8: Carrie Underwood and Mike Fisher introduce their new son 

Page 9: Alec Baldwin sentenced to anger management for punching a man over a parking spot, Throwback -- Kim Kardashian, Biggest Spenders of the Week -- Cristiano Ronaldo, Nick Zano, Iggy Azalea, Mariah Carey, Miley Cyrus 

Page 10: Priyanka Chopra planning Sophie Turner’s wedding to Joe Jonas, Rihanna suing her father for false advertising and invasion of privacy, Whose Manicure Is It? Hailee Steinfeld, Katie Cassidy, Lady Gaga, Cardi B, Kesha, Mel B 

Page 11: Fyre Festival fraudster Billy McFarland swindled from investors and forged documents to make it seem like artists like Drake, Jennifer Lopez, Foo Fighters and Selena Gomez were involved to obtain bank loans 

Page 12: Bradley Cooper struggling to accept that he wasn’t nominated for Best Director Oscar for A Star Is Born

Page 13: Ariel Winter’s amazing slimdown, Kourtney Kardashian struggling to bond with Scott Disick’s girlfriend Sofia Richie but Sofia prefers Kylie Jenner, VIP Style -- Olivia Culpo, Lucy Hale, Madison Beer, Bret Michaels, Violett Beane, Kristina Schulman, Derrick Barry, G-Eazy and JonBoy 

Page 14: The Week in Photos -- Kendall Jenner 

Page 15: Rob Lowe, Gwen Stefani and son Kingston 

Page 16: Reese Witherspoon and mom Betty, Kit Harington, Ryan Reynolds 

Page 18: David and Victoria Beckham, Patrick Schwarzenegger, John Mayer and Jimmy Kimmel and Andy Cohen 

Page 19: Alessandra Ambrosio 

Page 20: Kristen Stewart, Sophie Turner and Joe and Kevin Jonas, Anne Hathaway and Fred Savage on Ellen 

Page 22: Angelina Jolie and son Pax, Busy Philipps and Terry Crews 

Page 23: Robert Downey Jr., Hailey Baldwin and dog Oscar

Page 24: Kaia Gerber, Gina Rodriguez, Drew and Jonathan Scott 

Page 26: Stars Behaving Badly -- Sir Patrick Stewart and Daniel Ricciardo, Mila Kunis, Jennifer Garner and boyfriend John Miller 

Page 30: Pregnant Jessica Simpson is uncomfortable and unable to sleep and picking fights with husband Eric Johnson

Page 31: Leonardo DiCaprio ready to propose to Camila Morrone, Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin postpone wedding again, Romance Report Card -- Mark Consuelos, Kendra Wilkinson, Adriana Lima 

Page 32: Emma Heming was mortified when husband Bruce Willis drunkenly stumbled out of a club in London, Paris Hilton’s ex-fiance Chris Zylka is proposing they get back together, Celine Dion couldn’t keep her hands off handsome backup dancer Pepe Munoz at Paris Fashion Week, Can You Believe They Dated -- Conan O’Brien and Lisa Kudrow

Page 33: Chrissy Teigen and John Legend cracks in their marriage 

Page 34: Cover Story -- Justin Theroux and Angelina Jolie’s family outing in Paris 

Page 38: Brad Pitt and Charlize Theron are more than friends? 

Page 40: Ben Affleck can’t drop his bad habits 

Page 42: Trisha Yearwood still madly in love with Garth Brooks 

Page 44: Not-so-real Housewives -- Bravo’s leading ladies make news as much for their on-air tussles as their nips and tucks -- Bethenny Frankel 

Page 45: NeNe Leakes, Lisa Rinna 

Page 46: Lisa Vanderpump, Cynthia Bailey, Teresa Giudice 

Page 47: Kim Zolciak-Biermann, Melissa Gorga 

Page 48: Who Lives Here? Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard 

Page 50: Entertainment 

Page 51: Star Review -- Christina Ochoa, As Seen On Screen -- Kelly Ripa’s ba&sh folia wraparound floral dress

Page 52: Style -- Corduroy

Page 53: Olivia Wilde 

Page 54: Minidresses -- Kristin Cavallari, Olivia Munn, Nina Dobrev 

Page 56: Camila Mendes of Riverdale shares her beauty secrets 

Page 58: Style Crush -- Cara Santana 

Page 60: How She Got That Body -- Kelly Rowland 

Page 62: The fabulous life of Kevin Hart 

Page 64: Diva or Down-to-Earth? Lady Gaga, Joey Fatone, Jaime King 

Page 66: Social Stars Posts of the Week -- Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady, Catherine Lowe and son Samuel, Kelsea Ballerini, Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Mario Lopez #30YearChallenge 

Page 67: Heidi Klum, Kesha, Sara Haines and the cast of Schitt’s Creek, Alexa and Carlos PenaVega 

Page 68: Horoscope -- Aquarius Emma Roberts, They’re Not Together But They Should Be -- Aquarius Jennifer Aniston and Aries Taylor Kitsch 

Page 70: Made Ya Look -- Mark Consuelos 

Page 72: What I’m Into -- Dorit Kemsley of RHOBH