#and she did speak decent french and we never get a hint that he tried to learn german lol

[fran-kubelik]

I actually had a good bit of sympathy, just on a human level, for Sandra's French husband in Anatomy of a Fall riiiiiight up until the moment he complained about her being "linguistically selfish" or whatever the fuck he said because they had to speak English to communicate. Motherfucker, she is GERMAN.

[ryik-the-writer]

Marinara on Main (11/?) - Burnt Bits (2/1)

previous

A03

“…Hello.” Belle greeted in an attempt to break the heavy silence that had befallen her small apartment.

Her father’s unexpected guest, Cora, continued to smile politely, though it reminded Belle of a snake that had successfully cornered its prey.

And like prey, Gold hadn’t moved.

Cora took Belle’s hand gracefully, giving it a quick shake.

“Hello dear,” Cora said, some of the light fading from her eyes. “Your father has told me so much about you.”

Belle’s eyes turned up to her father, who gave her a full smile.

“And he was saving you, I suppose,” Belle said.

Cora chuckled. “You were right, Maurice, she is cunning.”

Belle blinked. No one had called her father Maurice for years. It was too proper, he used to say, made him sound more like a silk merchant than a pizzeria owner.

Cora gaze turned back to Gold. “It’s been a long time.”

“Not long enough,” Gold croaked finally.

Cora seemed unperturbed, her gaze shifting to the confused teen holding his hand.

“Why, you must be Baelfire,” she said, her voice becoming sultry sweet. “I haven’t seen you since you were a baby.”

Gold took a sharp hold of his son’s shoulder as if protecting him from Cora’s apparently harmless words.

“Let’s go,” He said, pulling his son along.

Bae looked back at Belle, confused and apologetic. Gold didn’t even say a word.

Belle’s fingers still itched from his touch, the heat from her cheeks still fading after his impromptu proposal. Barely a moment had passed since then, but somehow the tension in the air made it seem like years.

Or, she thought as he began to drag Baelfire out the door, non-existent.

“Um,” Belle began to protest, slipping past Cora and Moe. “Where are you going?”

Gold didn’t answer, didn’t make eye-contact with anyone in the room.

Bae looked back, however, eyes as wide and confused as hers, unable to break his grip from his father as he drug him down the stairs.

“He hasn’t changed a bit,” came Cora’s low, sultry voice.

Belle looked at her, her mind whirling.

“Always avoiding conflict,” Cora finished, giving Belle this strange smile.

Belle blinked, a defensive fire rising in her. What the hell was going on, and who the hell was this woman insulting her boyfriend?

“Well anyway, it was lovely meeting you,” Cora said in a tone that left no room for conversation—one that demonstrated that she was accustomed to being in charge. “I just wanted to get a look at the place, but I do have other plans I must attend to.”

“Um, of course,” Belle said, waving Cora off after she said goodbye to her father.

A moment later, Moe poked his head out, seemingly oblivious to the confusion and hurt his daughter was experiencing.

“Dinner’s done?” he inquired.

Belle felt her eye twitch. The hallway felt smaller. She was suffocating.

“I…I need a minute.” She gasped, tearing off her apron and heading down the stairs.

The cool November air bit at her cheekbones, calming her enough as she searched for her boyfriend.

His car—the thing they spent so much time in, had built the majority of their relationship off of—was gone, the faint hint of gas in air.

Belle swallowed the knot in her throat, trying to find something to do with the pain and uncertainty boiling inside of her.

This was supposed to be a good day. A day for her and her family, no crazy pizza orders, no otherworldly shenanigans. Just a day where they could all relax.

She couldn’t have that, which only made her hype on the idea that the happiness she’d been building towards for months now was just a passing phase. She wasn’t meant to ---

“Darling?”

Belle rolled her eyes at the sound of Ana’s twinkling voice.

“Please, not now,” Belle groaned.

“Everyone’s waiting in your restaurant to see what happens next,” Ana explained. “It’s a lovely space. It’s so…simple.”

Belle’s teeth gnashed together. “I really want to be alone right now.”

Ana moved closer. “Are you alright?”

Belle growled and shot around, meeting the blonde’s startled gaze.

“No, I’m not alright, darling,” Belle snapped. “My dinner is ruined, my boyfriend just iced me in front of my entire family and somehow he has a connection to this mysterious woman my father dragged in, who might just be eyeing my business, I don’t know!” she paused to gasp, swaying her arms. “Not to mention I’m having to converse with a rich princess who thinks she’s better than me!”

Ana flinched. “What? I don’t think I’m better than you.”

“Yeah, right,” Belle scoffed, collapsing on a nearby bench. She buried her head in her hands as small hot tears escaped.

After a moment, she felt another presence slip beside her. They were both quiet for a while, not sure what to say until finally Ana sighed.

“You know, I never tried a hot dog before I met Will.”

Belle blinked and turned to Ana, wondering if the blond had suddenly snapped.

But she seemed just fine, reminiscent in fact, judging by her dreamy smile.

“In fact I hadn’t tried a lot of things before him. Ice skating, buying my own coffee, riding a city bus…though I could have done without that one.” She laughed.

“I loved how, well, simple he was, how he could do just about anything with nothing,” she chuckled slightly. “I also thought he was kind of a pest, but I grew out of that.”

Belle actually laughed. “I did too. He kind of grows on you.”

Ana agreed, but Belle noticed her smile had faded a bit.

“I was so excited to introduce him to my mother and sisters. I knew he’d be a spectacle, but I loved him so much I thought they’d just overlook it,”

Belle thought about how cool she’d been towards Will. Had he expected that from her? To overlook anything different between them and accept her?

“Yesterday, he’d put on his nicest clothes and even splurged for a decent bottle of wine. I thought we might just pull it off.”

Belle remembered that. He had borrowed a shirt from Merlin and Belle had hemmed it just enough to fit him.

“But, the second my mother laid eyes on him…”

Belle didn’t have to guess where she was going next.

“She rejected him?”

Ana nodded, the frown on her face not at all suiting her.

“She went on and on about she wouldn’t have someone like him in her house, and that it was them or him,” she straightened her shoulders. “And so I said him, of course, and that we were only stopping by because Will had already invited us here.”

Belle laughed so hard her chest began to hurt.

“Well played.”

Ana shrugged. “I practically dragged him to Storybrooke.”

Belle wiped her eyes, the guilt quickly overtaking her.

She’d completely misjudged Ana. Sure she was a bit lost when it came to real-world living, but she didn’t look down on it. She admired it, and she had stood up for working people like Will. Like her.

“Ana, I’m sorry,” Belle said. “I shouldn’t have said what I said to you.”

Ana scoffed. “I’ve had friendships build from worse things, Darling.” She stood and offered Belle her hand.

“Will says you’re someone who doesn’t give up without a fight. I’m no good in a kitchen, but I’m a damn good coordinator. You devise a plan to feed this crowd and I’ll be sure it comes together.”

Belle nodded affirmatively and wrapped her arm around Ana’s shoulder as they went into the restaurant.

Will, Jefferson and Merlin were harshly conversing with each other, trying to figure out a plan themselves. They paused when Belle approached, eyebrows lifting when they saw the newly forged bond between her and Ana.

“Alright, listen up,” she stated, causing the men to stand at attention. “We have a dinner to get going, and it’s actually dinner time.”

“Past if you ask me,” Will said, causing Ana to nudge him.

“We can pull this off, but we got to act quick before everything either dries out or clots,” Belle said. “Everyone go upstairs and grab a dish, even the turkey.”

“It’s burnt,” Merlin pointed out.

“Not what’s under the skin,” Belle winked.

Merlin smirked. Clever girl.

“Once again, hands in everyone.”

Four hands, roughed up from years of hard work, stacked on each other. Belle looked at Ana and motioned for her to join in.

“Oh!” Ana gasped in delight, adding her well-manicured hand into the mix.

Belle smiled. They were an odd group, but they knew how to get things done.

“Alright, let’s do it!”

“Yeah!”

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Bae was staring oddly at his father, noticing how his hands were shaking as he carefully worked on getting the antique diamond ring off of his—thankfully— shrinking finger.

His father had been completely silent since he whisked him away from French Bread’s. He hadn’t even scolded him for getting into this whole mess!

His odd behavior was bordering frightening, but Bae didn’t show it. He was able to mask that fear with irritation.

His father and he didn’t keep secrets. They didn’t have to with it being just the two of them (three when Belle came in).  When mistakes were made, they came out immediately, less they fester and ooze, Gold had always teased.

Now Gold was oozing to death, and Bae needed to know why.

“Are we going back to Belle’s?” Baelfire asked.

His father grimaced but focused on the ring.

“Dad?” Bae begged. “Please tell me what’s going on.”

“I’m trying to concentrate.”

Bae tried to yank his hand away, nearly cutting himself from the sharp tweezers his father was using to pry it off with.

“Bae!” his father yelled in a tone the teen hadn’t heard in a long time: fear.

“Give me back your hand, now,” he ordered more softly, but the secret was out. His dad was terrified.

“No,” Bae said, though his hand began to hurt once more. “Tell me who that woman is, why did we leave Belle’s?”

“Bae this is none of your concern!” Gold dejected.

“It is if you act like this!” Bae protested. “Is it because of me?”

“No, no,” Gold protested. “This is all me, son, I promise.”

“Then why won’t you tell me? I can help.”

Gold’s throat went dry. “No, no you can’t. I can’t let you.”

“Why not!”

“Because I said so now drop it, damn it!”

Bae flinched, feeling a spike of fear he had never known before. The man before him wasn’t his loving father, with who he could always speak openly with.

Before he was this trembling creature Bae couldn’t recognize, one who didn’t know compassion or honesty.

At that moment Bae needed Belle’s easygoing nature to flood his home. Belle would know what to do.

“Bae I—”

Bae pulled away from his father, yanking at the ring one last time.

It popped off with ease.

Bae placed it on the desk and made a quick escape out the door, his father begging him to come back.

The bell above the shop door screamed when the door slammed, and Gold was set to do the same thing.

The rage and fear and guilt boiled up inside him, spilling over instantly. Gripping his tweezer tool until his knuckles were starch white, he hurled the thing at the nearest wall, breaking a mirror for sale.

Gold gripped his counter, trying to calm down.

Maybe it wasn’t as bad as he was fearing, maybe Cora’s return was just a horrifying glitch that meant nothing.

But if she was here, that meant her psychotic daughter was close behind.

The thought created a pool of bile in his throat. He couldn’t handle this. He needed—

Belle.

“Oh Belle,”

He’d abandoned her to that woman. Left her completely and utterly alone.

After every terrifying misadventure between them, she’d never left his side, yet he’d left her without a second thought.

It’d been to protect Bae, but he could have protected her too.

He couldn’t call her now, no doubt that she was hurt and angry at him. His son was probably on his way to her to cool off. They’d be safe with each other.

And he’d be better alone.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Dinner was not … horrible.

True everything was a bit dry, but the turkey pizza was surprisingly good, especially with the cranberry glaze reduction Ana had suggested she drizzle on it.

Her father had helped himself to a large plate, but as usual, was not contributing much to the conversation around him.

Meanwhile, Ana was retelling a rendition about an amazing meal she’d had years before that reminded her of what she had just eaten.

It was actually humorous, and Belle found herself chuckling while the guys howled in laughter. Still, she couldn’t completely enjoy herself.

Gold had taken something from her tonight, something she couldn’t pinpoint just yet, but it made her feel empty.

Merlin was the first to notice her mental absence and nudged her with his beer bottle to get her to come back.

“Where are you?” he inquired.

Belle smirked. “Everywhere but here, it would seem.” She shrugged. “It’s just been a hell of a night.”

“Usually is, but this one was different,” he said cautiously. “What happened with Gold?”

Belle picked at a napkin crumpled up in her hands and scowled.

“I don’t know. I don’t know what the hell is going on with him, or that woman my dad brought in, or anything.”

They both stole a glance at Moe who seemed oblivious to any tension in the restaurant. It made Belle want to scream at him, for everything he had and hadn’t done.

“Why not put all that aside?” Merlin suggested. “Just let it all go tonight. We need you Belle, and we love you.”

Belle smiled at him – the older brother she wanted desperately as a child. Merlin was the one who always had an extra layer of control. Her second right hand.

And apparently enough sense for her to see how ridiculous she was acting.

Her family was around her and she was thinking of her boyfriend. They’d work this out later—of course they would.

But she was wasting the holiday moping when she should be celebrating.

She stood, nudging Merlin on the shoulder.

“I’m some air, and then we’ll get this party started.”

He chuckled and saluted her as she stepped out into the frigid December night.

Belle let the cool air wash over her, take away all the thoughts.

As the cold set into her bones, a panting figure plopped against her store wall.

Belle gasped before she noticed who it was, and sighed in relief.

“Bae, what are you doing here?”

The teen looked up between his locks, panting as he tried to compose himself.

“I…you see…dad…” he panted, bowing sheepishly.

Belle saw the hurt on his face and felt a strong surge of parental instincts.

“Does your dad know you’re here,” she inquired, earning Bae’s nod. “Come on in, we have some pizza left, and desert.”

Bae perked up at the idea of food. After all, he’d burned a lot of energy today.

Belle received him warmly, welcoming the boy in for desert.

She watched her odd cozy family, focusing solely on them and not the blank space that her boyfriend’s absence left.

They were what was important tonight, and all the secrecy and mysteries could wait tomorrow, on a normal business day.

She grabbed her place and joined them, feeling truly at peace for the first time that night.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

 Regina Mills did not like surprises, or really anything that did not go along with her clean-cut plan in he day-to-day life.

Some said she demanded absolute perfection with everything from a city council meeting to her son’s school projects—and that would be a correct statement.

Sure, she tolerated the occasional miffed citizen who stepped up to speak without signing up in advance, and maybe she allowed her son to keep (most) of his privileges even if he brought home anything less than a A.

But it was just that: tolerance. And Regina Mills had very little of it to go around.

She certainly didn’t have it from her estranged mother who came knocking at her door at dinnertime (actual dinner time mind you, not the strange 2 p.m. one that came with the Thanksgiving holiday).

“Mother,” Regina had gasped. “What—”

“It’s good to see you dear,” Cora greeted, kissing her daughter’s cheek hastily as she stepped inside her home.

Regina closed the door, her pulse rising as her mother turned to face her.

Barely a minute in her home, and she’d made it hers.

“We have much to discuss, dear,” Cora said, her voice calm and low, sickeningly sweet. Complete Authoritarian.

Regina gritted her teeth. “I try not to discuss business on a holiday.”

“I’m sure Henry is used to it,” Cora dismissed. “Where is he, by the way? It’s been ages since I laid eyes on him.”

Regina’s heart skipped a beat, thinking about the precious creature – her entire world – who was in the next room playing a board game with Mal and Ursula (Cruella had long passed out on the couch), no doubt wondering who his mother was talking to.

Mal would instinctively keep him back, blessedly, and by her enough time to get her insane mother out of here.

“Busy. What is it mother?”

Cora’s cold smile remained intact. Fair enough. There was no need to rush into a glorious family reunion yet. There’d be time for all of that later.

“Send your company home, dear,” Cora said. “We need to talk about Gold.”

[avantegarda]

The Jury Is Out

When the coronavirus comes to town, why then lads, I stay up late and write bits from my novel from the POV of another character. It’s a writing exercise, I say. 

Meet György Király: The World’s Grouchiest Dad

György Király was a man of not only solid but quick judgement, and once he’d come to a conclusion about someone he was nearly always correct. Hadn’t he known within two weeks of meeting Anna Lázár that she was the wife for him? Hadn’t he said, back in ‘52, that young Ben Arany from down the street was a no-good young fool—only two months before the boy was arrested for picking pockets? And hadn’t he been able to tell straightaway that Professor Strobel, the fellow from that Austrian music school, would immediately recognize young Andras’ talent?

No indeed, there wasn’t a soul on Szerdahelyi Street who was a better judge of character than György. Which was why there could be no doubt that the disapproval he felt towards his future daughter-in-law was entirely justified.

 Certainly, the girl had a certain appeal; Marta was a fine-looking young woman in that soft powdered aristocratic way. Nice eyes, good posture, and what the old ladies would call child-bearing hips. It was understandable that Andras was attracted to her—but good God, marrying her? It beggared belief. Pretty she might have been, but Marta didn’t know how to do anything useful. 

Over the two days since Andras had first brought her home, in fact, György had been compiling a mental list of things Marta had apparently never learned how to do. These included:

Speaking Hungarian (what had those fancy governesses of hers taught her? French? When did French ever do anyone any good?)

Cooking (Ilka, bless her, had tried to help, but Marta burned herself so frequently it seemed likely she would lose a finger)

Cleaning (how was it possible that a twenty-one-year-old woman, even a countess, had gone her entire life without using a duster?)

There were plenty more, an almost astonishing amount. Had he written in down György was certain the list would have taken up an entire newspaper. One could put Marta on a shelf and dust her every Sunday and she’d be about as useful as she was now.

But of course there wasn’t any good in talking to Andras about these problems. The boy was utterly smitten, a blind man could see that. He looked at Marta with the same level of passion he usually reserved for that violin of his, never let go of her hand for more than a few minutes. And the girls, usually a reasonable lot, weren’t much help either. Having a glamorous, aristocratic future sister-in-law seemed to have turned all their heads to the point where they couldn’t see what a mistake this whole affair was.

When György had, in the past, contemplated Andras falling in love with someone who wasn’t Clara (ridiculous business, giving a fiddle a name), he’d always hoped it would be someone like Andras’ late mother. What better wife could a man have asked for than Anna Király? Practical, hardworking, good to the children...not to mention a damned handsome woman. It hadn’t been any hardship to have four children with her, no sir. Bit of a relief, really, that Andras had gotten the hair and the height from Anna’s side of the family. Not that György cared much about his own looks, but it was obvious that Anna had been the better-looking of the two of them. 

He’d loved her, he really had. György wasn’t a man much given to sentimentality, but the twenty years he’d spent with that woman had been the happiest years of his life.

Andras deserved someone like that. Someone with backbone, with common sense. Someone who would stick with him through the hard times. Not some frivolous snob of an heiress who’d likely run back to her fancy relatives the minute she had to sweep a floor by herself.

There were two days until the wedding now. And, wrong as he knew it was, György couldn’t resist sending up a prayer that something would happen to stop it.

Voices in the hallway outside the flat brought György back to the present—none of the neighbors, as they were speaking German. Andras and Marta, then, probably back from inspecting their new flat. At least once they got their own home he wouldn’t have to try and make conversation with Marta every day, or watch Andras making sheep’s eyes at her. 

What were they talking about out there, anyway? It couldn’t have been anything good. As the footsteps in the hall grew closer György could detect in Andras’ voice a frantic note that could only mean he was slipping into one of his panicky spells.

He’d always been like that, not that the boy could help it. On the night before he’d left for music school Andras had been up nearly the whole night plagued by nerves, pale as a ghost, barely able to speak. György and Anna had sat with him for hours at the kitchen table, neither of them entirely sure what to do, but both determined to make their son smile again. He’d been so frightened, the poor lad, so convinced that he was letting down the family if he left.

It was a damn unpleasant sensation, seeing his boy like that. Especially as there was so little he could do to fix it. 

György had never learned much German (what was the point, really?), but he could still make out bits and pieces of the conversation going on in the hall. Andras, his voice tight and strained with worry, was saying something involving the words job and opera. No surprise there, those opera company folks had been decent to Andras. A situation like that was a hard loss.

Was this an argument he was overhearing, then? After all, the silly toff had cost Andras the job in the first place, and perhaps she had never properly apologized. Those rich Austrians never took a hint of responsibility for all the trouble they caused; why should this one be any different?

But Marta, when she spoke, did not sound argumentative. Her voice was gentle, almost soothing, and György could just about make out the words Vienna and love.

She sounded like Anna. 

Though György’s heart rebelled against the very thought of anyone being compared to his beloved wife, the way that girl was talking to Andras was just the way Anna had at times like this. Even more shocking, it seemed to work; Andras’ reply, after a pause, was considerably calmer.

When Andras and Marta entered the flat, György experienced a familiar flash of annoyance. Intellectually he knew that Marta had almost no possessions of her own, that she’d left everything behind when she’d fled England, but seeing her wearing one of Anna’s old dresses—a dark green one that was too long and too tight across the chest and altogether wrong on her—felt like a slap in the face. 

Marta’s wide red mouth curved into a hopeful smile, and she dropped into an elegant curtsy. “Szia, Mr. Király.” 

Once György had emitted a vague noise of greeting in reply, Marta nodded, kissed Andras on the cheek, and then—finally—retreated to the girls’ bedroom.

“So,” said György as the door closed behind her. “You and your fancy woman have a nice chat?”

Andras sighed. “I wish you wouldn’t call her that, Pa. It’s very inaccurate. But I hope we didn’t disturb you.”

“No. But I did overhear a bit...not that I could understand much,” György admitted. “Sounded as though you were upset. You all right, son?”

“I am now,” said Andras, with a faint smile. “Merely making a fuss over nothing, as I always do.”

“Your old job in Vienna?”

“It was a good job,” Andras said wistfully. “They didn’t pay me much, I know, but it was a fine little company. And it suddenly hit me that...I might never see any of them again. And that hurt like hell.”

György grunted in sympathy. “And what did your future wife have to say about that?” 

Andras’ face softened into an unbearably soppy smile. “Marta always knows precisely what to say when I get like this. She told me that we’d go back to Vienna one day, even if just for a visit, and it was highly likely we’d be able to see all my old mates again. And then she informed me that her expensive education enables her to know with utmost precision that things are going to be all right, and even if they’re not entirely, we’ll still be together.” He looked at György almost pleadingly. “I know you don’t entirely trust her yet, Pa. But I hope it will comfort you to know that when I panic like that, there are two things that keep me sane: music, and Marta.”

György felt a hot spike of shame in his stomach. An unfamiliar sensation, to say the least. Had he, perhaps, been marginally mistaken in his original assessment of Marta? Her words certainly didn’t sound like those of a woman who planned to bolt.

Nor, he had to admit, did they sound like the words of someone who would make a terrible Király.

Time would tell, he supposed.

“Well!” he said at last, in as gruff a tone as he could manage. “At least the girl knows how to do something.”

When György Király judged someone’s character, his impressions were never wrong.

Except, apparently, when they were.

[hunterartemis]

The Assistant: Chapter 8: Silver and Diamond

Word Limit: 5152

Summary: This is the Night that will be known not only the one that changed the fates of Two Nations, but also four lives

Chapter Theme: Vasily by Martin Phipps https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeA8K6sACiA

“May I have this dance, Miss Goldstein” Tina’s brows crinkled slightly with this most unlikely of proposal. She started to wonder what she did owned to this unlikely of pleasure, and most importantly… why Newt’s brother from all the people. She could sense a subtle politics behind it, but chose to think that it was beneath her.

As if Theseus could hear what Tina was thinking, he took his lips near Tina’s ears and whispered “It’s a changing dance, Tina… we may get the chance with the ones we really want… so” he straightened up to sport a natural courteous manner “are you in?”

Tina hesitated for a moment then without losing another word glided with Theseus into the dance floor.

He and Tina positioned themselves and started to glide to the rhythm and waited for the fated moment they all waited for. As the beat changed and their desired ones came closer, they looked at each other with a peculiar glance that looked shrewd and anticipating at the same time. One moment passed and then from the closest of quarters Theseus and Tina would drift apart from them. And he couldn’t resist the temptation to talk with the woman he was dancing with.

“So... you must be wondering why the man you hexed so badly six months ago is getting so friendly.” Theseus asked, swallowing his nervousness, “remember miss Goldstein, this is not a simple dance” he masterfully led Tina through the six principles steps around the circle, “in fact most important of society’s decision are made during dances. There is something mesmerising and distracting about it, that its motion stirs our rowdy mind and deposits all our thoughts at the bottom of the calmest part of our mind.” Tina, whose height rose up to Theseus’ eyes, looked at him with an unknown stare, “you are quite a philosopher Mr. Scamander… and it seems that you are not as short tempered as you seemed in the French Ministry” she let go off his hand and paired herself with a blond man.

“Does that surprise you…?” Theseus added with a smirk, peering over the shoulder of his current dance partner. With that passing inquisition, Tina’s eyes flashed with a certain severity which made Theseus almost regret his choice of words, but instead of a harsh reply, the woman counter questioned him quite smoothly.

“No… I would be a fool if it didn’t. I don’t pretend to understand a man I met only once. I wager even my legilimens sister would be able to figure out the whole in that short amount of time.” Tina added with a sarcastic smile “The only thing that surprises me that, why are you bothered to talk with me at all?” she said, while they once again united.

Theseus lowered his eyes in a mock embarrassment, “ah… the things we do for love, don’t we?” his eyes oddly fixated on the face of Tina, as if to imply she was in the same situation as he was, “we pretend, deny and avoid and the wretched thing keeps pulling us to it despite ourselves to make complete fools out of us...”he remarked abjectly as he changed his stance to go counter clockwise, contrasting with the inner circle of the waltzers, “look at them...” he glanced towards Newt and Maxine in the inner circle, “I envy them so much...”

“You don’t say...” Tina smiled sardonically and then changed her tone to reply assertively “we look at the people who truly belong to us and curse at our fates.”

“Oh no... You misunderstand me completely” Theseus denied, “I didn’t envy them for that... I envy them because they are so natural with each other... as if they were two sides of the same coin.” Tina huffed a laugh, that kind of laugh that people laugh when they don’t really respect the other party, “isn’t that the same thing being in love... being the sides of the same coin or whatever crazy stuff you are saying?”

“Who said that they are in love?” Theseus anxiously commented while they changed partners again and changed position towards the inner circle. Although his frown was causing distress with his very pretty current partner, but his eyes didn’t notice anyone but Tina, who danced in an obligatory manner with a man with sleek hair and thin moustache. He impatiently led himself and his partner towards Tina and very tactfully switched, against the rule, leading Theseus’ partner to stomp away from the dance floor angrily.

“Who said they were in love...” like a relief after an exhaustive labour, Theseus’ previous agitation melted to a huff which made Tina a little taken aback with him.

“What is it then... what do you think is between them?” Tina asked again with her characteristic assertiveness.

“A game...” Theseus’ eyes looked towards the ivory figure of Maxine, waltzing gracefully with Newt at the centre of the circle where the chandelier of a thousand crystal lights shone all over them. Maxine was cleverly keeping Newt within the circle so that he could not change partners, “She is playing a game of flirtation and Newt is enjoying all the attention he can get from her... we are men Tina, we may love a woman deeply with all our heart, but if another beautiful...ravishing one gives us positive attention we can’t help but to admire her. The world condemns us to fulfil the role of the governor, the provider, and the stoic responsible ones, meant to do our duties without any qualm. We crave for someone who will take care of us” Theseus tore his eyes from them and towards Tina, “don’t you think so?”

“I think it is utterly stupid to feel something like this for someone so cruel...” Tina scoffed at Theseus.

“And you said you’d be stupid if you knew a man you met only once...” Theseus’ smirked at Tina’s uneasiness.

Some moments of silence passed between them as they glided through the inner circles, changing and then reverting to their original partners. However they could not penetrate inside the circle where Maxine ad Newt dazzlingly danced. Theseus could not help but to admire their chemistry. Maxine put Newt in an absolute ease, and Theseus knew he could not be in love with her; he knew Newt was still in love with Leta when Theseus and her were engaged. There were some hints of shame and flusters about him when she was around, avoidance, a denial and a pain; even since Newt was in Hogwarts, but not here. Newt was in love with Maxine, but not the sense Newt loved Leta or Tina for that matter. It was something very beautiful and inexplicable. After all, it was impossible to love Maxine like any other woman. That’s what he had thought all along.

That’s why he gave her up for Leta.

It was her own impossibility that never let Theseus reach to her.

And yet, the strange dichotomy of despair and the ever-burning yearning was always present in his heart.

After a few turns the waltz came to an end. Theseus forcefully tore his eyes from Maxine and bowed to Tina as an after dance etiquette.

“Your plan failed Mr. Scamander...” Tina spoke with a futility in her voice and sarcasm on her lips. Theseus didn’t even tried to conceal his annoyance and defeat to Tina; with desperation of a wretched man, he kissed Tina’s hands and silently walked towards the bar.

“Martini, dry” Theseus ordered emotionlessly and leaned on the counter pensively; his eyes suddenly veered towards a voice that was addressed to him.

“Can you believe the British Ministry, can’t do politics and now can’t even party decently...” Theseus was slightly offended because no matter whoever spoke this he, Theseus Scamander, would be a loyal member of the British ministry. He could not identify the accent because he sounded like a Englishman—Theseus’ intuition could mostly let the speaker be a sarcastic Scot or an over-enthusiastic Irish, but nothing other than that. “... and the booze, tastes like piss...”—or maybe an Irish wizard.

“Do I know you?” Theseus asked annoyingly taking his martini from the counter. His annoyance made him look up at the Speaker, he was a man who looked he was very close if not in his forties, well proportionate hexagonal face, high forehead and his icy blue-gray eyes sported a kind of feudal arrogance. He was very pale, and looked even paler under the white-gold lights, whose shadows cast a skull like contours upon his otherwise handsome face, and his platinum blond hair was arranged in careful pinned curled waves that reminded Theseus of both polishedness of a nobleman and ostentatious manners of a muggle flapper.

“...it’s unlikely...” the stranger replied, “I studied and served abroad: Germany, Bulgaria, Russia...anywhere but in this murk.” He was speaking without looking at Theseus, “but I know you...” he finally turned towards his neighbour “Theseus Scamander, die kriegsheld.” He led his hand towards him. Theseus did not like him very much, but as this party was an unofficial Pan-European diplomatic summit, lest he offend any foreign official and badly represent the British ministry, he took his hand and shook it anyways. The man didn’t sound like he was supporting the British Cause against Grindlewald.

“Nice to meet you Mr.--”

“Anatole Malfoy...” he spoke in a pompous tone and let go of his hand, “I have utmost respect for you Herr Scamander... but I think you have made a poor choice of standing on the wrong side.” Anatole added with a half smirk, “The British Tolerance Policy has always been ineffective, the most witch burning, heretics, inter-mixing with the mudbloods... and the pureblood-lines dying out because they were committing incest... this country is nothing but a joke.” Anatole huffed, “take them for example...” he pointed at a tall dark haired man with wavy shoulder-length locks dressed exquisitely in purple velvet and black leather, “Hrothgar Bartholomew Valois... a beacon of the European purebloods, married and related to some of the most finest of the pureblood families in Europe. He is married to an Orleans, his sons married from the houses of Orsini and Gruzinsky, but for what? The man is a lily-livered coward who cannot see the brighter times that are coming.”

“I am sorry, but aren’t Orsini and Gruzinsky families two of the most extremist pureblood groups? Then why they would be wed to the Valois?” Theseus, despite his disgust could not help but to know a little about Maxine’s family, which she kept a secret all her time. the reply came in a form of a most cryptic of tones “There are many things that wretched family has that none of the family nowadays has: wealth and influence over muggles. The Valoises are as well reputed in the Wizarding communities as they are amongst muggles. ” Anatole huffed in disrespect, “can you believe? The French Muggle Histories record some of their ancestors are French Kings, and apparently they have two branches of the family, muggle and wizard to get best of both worlds. Fucking fence sitters I tell you, but their wealth is to die for.” There was a stench of greed in Anatole’s voice.

“Very nice to meet you Mr. Malfoy...” Theseus downed his drink in one go, “and now if you’ll excuse me--”

“—and their daughter, Mademoiselle Maxine.” Anatole threw another comment in the air with a vicious pride, “such a ravishing piece of work isn’t she?” he stopped, “I have travelled far and wide across Europe, and I swear many purebloods will stake their lives to lie with her.”

Theseus stopped for a moment on his walk, looked back at him slightly and then walked away without any word. This evening was getting worse and worse by the moment for him. He walked towards the men’s washroom without registering his mind to others. After slamming the door shut after him, he banged his fist hard on the counter. He was angry, but this time he was not only just angry. Something else worked inside him, which he could not understand...

He looked up at the mirror and couldn’t recognise the face that looked back at him, a reddened angered face, glaring back at him with icy blue eyes. His brunet locks were astray and he shook like a madman; who was he? How did he descend down to this level? His vision suddenly started to blur a little and blood pounded so fast at his neck that it felt like he would faint. The moment between wake and unconscious seemed like eternity

He didn’t realise how long he was in that position until he heard random thuds at the door. Before he could go and react, someone came in with hurried steps. It was none other than his boss Travers; it seemed that he was a bit out of breath and sweaty, even in the Christmas cold, and he looked a little cross also, which comically reminded Theseus of the days when Travers didn’t got the reports within the deadline.

“There you are... I have been looking for you all around.” He exasperatedly asserted. Theseus, being a straightforward man asked his superior “why, what is the matter” in the most curious manner, and within seconds, like a sudden chill felt right after stepping outside, a fear crept inside his heart: it was a Pan-European peace summit, was something wrong with the Allegiance?

“Is everything all right?” came Theseus’ second question with a unintentional tenseness.

“Yes, yes of course...” Travers almost pulled Theseus out of the washroom by his shoulder, “The French High Secretary has been asking for you.”

Theseus was almost dragged to the middle of the hall, in front of a bunch of people. He recognised the man at the very front from his luxurious gray waves, who was facing his back towards Theseus and chatting with a bunch of other men, who looked like they were in high offices of their respective ministries.

“Your Excellency...” Travers bowed deeply to the man with wavy hair, and he turned towards him. The man had a nice proportionate face. He seemed to be nearing sixty, but his age could not mar the natural beauty that was graced by him. He had deep set dark eyes, and wavy grey man and beard and there was something pleasant about him. On the other hand, in that cordial outlook there was something else in him that made the onlooker to be wary and on their best behaviour.

“Ah, Travers mon ami...” his voice was low and melodious, “comment ca va...?” he grabbed Travers by both of his shoulders and patted them very strongly. There was something condescending about that friendly gesture that made Theseus even more uneasy. Travers was well known for his irascible and firm nature, this man was nullifying that within seconds.

“Votre Excellence, let me introduce you Theseus Scamander... the Deputy Head of the British Law Enforcement and the War Hero... and Theseus, this is His Excellency Hrothgar Bartholomew Valois, Duke of Angouleme.”

“Enchante...” Theseus beckoned his hand and Hrothgar Valois took it to shake with his gloves on.

“Monsieur Theseus, how kind of you to meet me... I have been very excited to meet you, after all in these troubled times we need men like you to protect the Wizarding Law from the kinds of Grindlewald” He gave a professional, as if very well rehearsed smile, and then he hug him by the shoulder, “come, I have some matters to discuss with you... would you do me the honour to sit by me?”

Theseus walked alongside Hrothgar, and it would be prudent to say that he was locked under Hrothgar’s strong arm, and even if he wanted to escape there was no way that he can without making a scene. He could almost hear Hrothgar smiling, and it gave him a sinister feeling that he considered Theseus nothing compared to him, an arm candy to be graced and shown off—but why? People his kind were always haughty and dissosiative, but this man was going all over the way to make him feel humiliated. He and Hrothgar were walking towards a giant golden oak door, which opened to the most glorious banquet hall. Theseus knew all about it and he had all the feelings of avoiding it, but circumstances were very different.

Maxine and Newt, who were a little weary after their second dance took a break and went to the counter to have some drink. After ordering a whiskey and a champagne, Maxine turned towards Newt with a smile of satisfaction.

“Ah... can you die of happiness?” Maxine chimed silverly catching the glint in Newt’s shy eyes, “I hope not, or else I will end up with no assistant again... I do not want to go through the interviews again.” Newt gave a little smile as if enjoying the witty remark he passed on about himself.

“Of course not, I won’t leave you a destitute...” Maxine changed her tone while veering towards the side aisle of the dance floor, “As expected, all my family is present as usual... look at the regalia of the French Diplomacy!” Maxine gave a sarcastic huff, but in spite of her, Newt looked curious about Maxine’s family.

“Your family is here...?” Newt asked curiously, taking a sip of whiskey.

“Yes...but let’s leave them, all official stuff!” Maxine waved the matter way like a stray fly in the wind, and suddenly her tone changed into a more serious one,

“Newt, you trust me right?”

As if a lightning bolt has struck nearby, Newt bolted towards Maxine with an alarm in his eyes. Maxine was seldom serious outside of her work, and this tone didn’t suit her. He kept his eyes on his assistant, who was twirling the nearly empty glass of champagne with a faraway, forlorn look. As if realising that she was being watched, she veered her sight towards him and Newt’s heart thudded loudly against his ribcage.

“Maxine... is everything alright?”

But before she could confide, they were called in the Banquet, and they soon found themselves sitting near the middle left of the long table. The moment that scared Newt out of his mind, was shallowed within seconds by Maxine. No matter how much he pried, he could not get Maxine to open her mouth. She denounced it as a moment of drunken passion. Now he found himself in a new situation where Maxine couldn’t help but to spoke some fun at the officials.

“And there goes the Bulgarian Secretary...” Maxine led her lips towards Newt’s ears and laughed at his weird accent, “do you want to have some fun Newt?” she looked at her neighbour with the most mysterious and most mischievous of ways. She clicked towards a nearby valet and whispered something in his ears. Only Newt could see that she poured some galleons in his pockets.

“Ah... Charlemagne, bonsoir, viens...” Maxine called aloud and a gentleman with neat hair and moustache came near her and stooped to kiss her hand, “Charment as always Mademoiselle Valois...”

“Always a flatterer, aren’t you Charles...” Maxine said flirtatiously and covertly winked at Newt, “By the way, I forgot to propose you a toast for your latest promotion...” the previous waiter walked in with two drinks, Maxine picked up one and offered the other to the man, “to your health and success... ah ah, how rude...!” she prevented Charlemagne from drinking, “offer the Bulgarian Secretary first...” she spoke with a feign scandalous tone. The man nodded and walked away towards the secretary and Maxine slowly turned herself towards the table. Newt was looking at her with mildly offended and highly amused eyes.

“What did you do now...?” he asked with humour laced in his tone.

“You’ll see...” Maxine bit her lips to prevent herself from laughing out loud. Suddenly a commotion made Newt to bolt and to look at his back. The man who was offered a drink by Maxine, spilt it all over the secretary, and both of them were jumping on the floor to wipe off the liquor on the secretary’s dragon hide jacket. The Secretary on the other hand was painfully oscillated between uncontrollable laughter and inconceivable anger and annoyance and made quite a spectacle of him amongst the foreign officials.

“A shot of tarantula mescal on the old toad’s jacket... worked like a charm...” Maxine mused on her own and laughed in a manner that she was like another beholder of the incident, covertly and briefly. When she turned her face at Newt’s side, someone was already standing there.

“Do you play with people’s lives on the daily basis or this is just for the Holidays?” Maxine turned her head at Newt’s opposite and saw someone was already standing there.

“Tina...” Newt stood up, so abruptly that he took some of the glasses and napkin down smashing with him, “I didn’t see you the whole evening...” Maxine pulled his hand downwards to make him sit down so that he doesn’t make things more awkward. He was already getting some funny glances from the others. Tina smiled politely at Newt and attempted to focus her dark eyes upon him in a manner that seemed a little forced. “I was otherwise engaged... talking with some ministers and all...” Tina said and it didn’t escape Maxine’s notice that her lips quivered a little to give out the smile afterwards. It fell on no one’s notice that a cruel smile graced Maxine’s lips for a second, and she knew exactly how she was going to play her game.

“So... would you like to have a seat...?” Maxine couldn’t resist the chance to humiliate Tina a little and offered the seat right next to her. However it was not Maxine’s call to hold all the cards on the table. Tina, who completely understood the ploy, replied with her usual calm assertiveness, “no... I would like to sit by Newt, if he wants me to.”

“By all means Tina, come sit by me.” Newt invited.

“Ladies and Gentlemen... Dinner is to be served.” As soon as the sonorous voice announced, the dinner table filled with most fantastic of foods. It reminded Newt oddly of the start of term banquet at his days at Hogwarts. But the situation indeed felt very tense, he was sitting sandwiched between two very important women of his life and he wished they could get along; otherwise it was very cumbersome to lean to either side each time one of them spoke. Newt kept one eye at Maxine because in his heart he knew something was off. Maxine was behaving her usual way, but not really in her natural way. She wasn’t relaxed and it was three times when her hand slipped while cutting into the Wellington. Her jaw was stiffened between the conversation and casual flirtation and her black eyes reminded Newt of a wary animal. Despite Tina’s distress, he couldn’t help but to reach out to Maxine.

“Maxine... is everything alright?”

There was it, the faraway look... she tore herself from the state of gazing and tried to look at Newt. Her look was peculiar, as if she couldn’t recognise her boss rightaway, and then in a more unnatural stumble came the hesitated reply.

“Yes... yes, everything is fine... everything is fine...” then as if to establish that she was ‘fine’ she forcefully cut into the wellington.

Newt’s foreboding was buried under the clinks and clangs of cutlery and wine glasses. But it is said that when the doom comes the human intuition senses it first. Fate was playing an even complex game which no one, even in their darkest of fantasies, could imagine. On the other side of the table, near the French Officials, Theseus and Hrothgar were dining with utmost luxury. Hrothgar had introduced Theseus with at least three ministers from different states, and was boasting about how his daughter was flourishing under the guidance of this brilliant and young war hero. Theseus could not bring himself to say that his dear daughter no longer worked for him. Neither heart, nor the gut. Between the meals, Hrothgar’s hands will find itself on Theseus’ back, slapping the heck out of it; to be honest, he was a bit frustrated with the scale of affection of the old man.

“Ah Theseus, tu es magnifique...” Hrothgar slurred after a sip of wine and looked at him with approving sort of way. Theseus, in the reply could only laugh in a nervous manner.

“I am feeling very nervous today mon ami, because I have something very important to announce today.” Hrothgar smiled with his cheeks glowing with the effect of the alcohol. “You see, it would be the foundation of my family and my people in the Duchy of the Angouleme. You may think that why does this old man is latching himself on me...”

“That’s not what I--” Theseus politely defied.

“—it is okay, mon chere, je comprends tout—but I know what the world is. The world I have known for so long is changing so rapidly that I cannot even recognise it anymore. With the brute burgeoning from Eastward, families like us are in the verge of extinction...” Hrothgar philosophised, “So I have taken the responsibility to change it forever...” Hrothgar slurred drunkenly and thudded the goblet on the table.

“How will you do that?” Theseus asked tentatively, he was a representative of the French Ministry and he was a second tier employee from the British Ministry, there was no way he could escape this conversation. Hrothgar looked at Theseus with unfocused eyes and gave a smile that looked a little strange to Theseus’ eyes. He felt that he knew that kind of smile, a smile of a fool hiding a truth that the beholder cannot even begin to comprehend. It was a smile of someone who posed his smile so craftily that under that drunken mask of a fool lurked mystery, madness and shrewdness that was either a bugle for something great or the premonition of utter catastrophe.

“Patience my dear friend... let them eat, drink and be merry, my announcement will come at the twelfth chime” Hrothgar gave a laugh that for some reason made Theseus’ heart stop in fear. Like a puppet he followed Hrothgar and the rest of the officials out of the hall, and the moment Hrothgar let go of him from under his arm, Theseus huffed a sigh and ordered a glass of champagne. The stress that he was put craved the alcohol to be down instantly.

After the dinner the entire ambiance of the Yule Party changed, as if they awaited for something great. Maybe it was because what Hrothgar said, at the twelfth chime, something was going to happen that could change the diplomatic relationship between Britain and France. Britain was at the isolated space right now, and their greatest of former allies, France and Italy were quite tentative about joining hands with England against Grindlewald, despite their cause being the same. Although he laudated the ministry, he wasn’t an idiot. The current ministry was infirm and faulty, and as much as he hated to admit, but he was with Anatole when it came to the ineffectiveness of the government. Maybe this will be the time when Hrothgar, the French High Secretary will join hands with Britain. He had made allies with Germany, Italy and Russia with political marriages, but what cards he has this time? He was the stronger party, what will he do?

The clock started to chime twelve. Theseus felt that the hammer that slammed against the melodious bells permeated through their bright brass bodies and hammered straight into his heart. A rumble in the crowd made him more attentive as he saw Hrothgar Valois moving towards the stairs and the entire crowd parting for him to make a way.

“Ladies and gentleman”, Hrothgar spoke sonorously, pointing the wand at his throat. “Today, I am honoured to be invited in such a prestigious celebration of Christmas in the British Ministry of Magic, and I am grateful to the ministers both countries to give me this opportunity to speak” Hrothgar looked upon the crowd proudly and continued, “At the twelfth Chime of the Bell, I am going to give you an union that will strengthen the Bond amongst two countries: Britain and France. Tonight, I present you, my daughter, Lady Maxine Adrienne Odessa Valois, Duchess of Croy...”

A shower of applauds followed as Maxine’s tall figure approached her father in the most graceful manner, and as she turned towards the crowd, Theseus could also hear some murmurs ensuing in the people, which he assumed caused from the British ministry stuff, surprised to know that this woman, who had worked for them held such a parentage.

“And I am proud to announce my youngest daughter’s engagement with Anatole Vasillius Malfoy, the newly appointed junior undersecretary to the British Ministry of Magic.”

Theseus couldn’t believe what he had heard. If the lightning deafened him, it would have been of less surprise. No matter how much he tried he couldn’t process the thing at all; no no... it must be some kind of joke, a cruel dream. He tried to screw his eyes shut and open it once again to wake up from his nightmare. Yet, there was some cruel and masochistic voyeur lurking inside Theseus that forced him to look beyond the past and into the finality.

His eyes started to burn profusely and a vacuum created inside the skull where the brain functioned in him day and night, keeping cool, solving crises. He vegetatively saw as the man he saw before walked towards Maxine and knelt in front of her; he had a burning urge to whip his wand and shoot him with the crutiatus curse on that wretched piece of work called Anatole Malfoy. His pretentiousness was so mercurial that he managed to fill his face with tenderness and love as he looked up to see Maxine, the Duchess, who looked down to contemplate whether she would accept her proposal or not.

Please say no... Please say no...

Theseus looked towards the inhuman spectacle that was happening in front of him. He was locked with an inconceivable hypnotism, like a fly to the flame, bend to self destruction. His whole concept of world and human beings shattering into pieces and there was he, standing like an abject statue to behold, and behold. And his eyes, that refused to glance anywhere found themselves locked with another. The same dark, angular eyes that dazzled him in the first day at the interview, however there is no mischief left in them. Their magnetic force locked Theseus to witness the pure feral revenge in them. The black eyes showed him the abyss to Maxine’s heart and echoed nothing but rage and empty.

“I do...”

Tags: @my-current-fandom-is

I have formally introduced the Paterfamilias of the Valois, Maxine’s Father, and soon I intend to expose them through an edit. 

I took the inspiration from the political marriages amongst European aristocrats, and I intend to present the Valois as dying aristocracy in the 20th century Wizarding world, who are doing their best to hold the glorious past. I tried to write other members of the families, but it felt unnatural. Usually the officials didn’t take their family into a state party, unless they are formally invited. So I thought to Write Hrothgar as a Diplomat rather than a family man, a side which I will explore later.

Herr: German for Mr.

Die Kriegshel: German for “The war-hero”

Fun Fact, Orsini and Gruzensky are in fact two of the noble families from Italy and Russia. I have taken the names from real nobles.

“tu es magnifique“: the pronoun ‘tu‘ is more informal and often avoided in official conversation, it was quite condescending of Hrothgar to use such terms, or may be he was just drunk.

The character of Anatole Malfoy was inspired by Anatole Kuragin from Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace. His middle name ‘Vasillius’ was inspired by father of Tolstoy’s Anatole: Prince Vasily Kuragin. Why his name was Anatole, will be revealed in later chapters. 

Fun fact, Anatole Kuragin was played by Callum Turner (the actor who played Theseus Scamander) in 2016 BBC version of War and Peace.

Anatole is a french given name that means ‘Sunrise’

[blue-collects-things]

The Losers Club + Singing

Warnings: Swearing (shocker), very brief mentions of Bev’s asshole father being an asshole, light homophobia and racism

Requested: Not implicitly

Author’s Note: This got real long so I’m just going to put it under the cut (like usual) but I really enjoyed writing this! I’m working on part 4 of YWISC, I promise, but until then, take these peace offering headcanons. *shoves this post towards you and runs*

((i’m so excited for this one!!))

🎶 ben 🎶

ben only sings if he’s 100% certain he’s alone

he won’t even sing in front of his mother, that’s how embarrassed he is

one time, bev caught him singing new kids on the block and he was red for a solid 20 minutes

she subtly drops hints around the other losers for a while just to see how red ben could get

his voice is decent, but there are songs he can totally nail if he tries and it sounds amazing

when he was little he was in his church’s children’s choir

he secretly wants to be able to serenade bev like in all the musicals his aunt is so fond of

he was dared once to sing karaoke at the restaurant the losers went to

he absolutely refused to go onto the stage alone

so mike went with him and didn’t take it seriously

ben thought it was hilarious so he went along with it and just sang

when he gets his own car at the end of sophomore year, he turns up the music he listens to as loud as it can go while he sings

only if he’s alone, of course

when he’s with his friends, he lets them pick so he doesn’t have to hear the comments about his music tastes

he likes to sing in different languages because it presents a challenge and he wants to be fluent in a ton of different language

like honestly, he gets super into k-pop when it becomes popular

but his favorite languages to sing in are italian and french because they sound pretty (romance languages ya know)

when he gets into a new band, he gets into a new band and learns literally every word to every song even if it’s not his favorite

🎶 bev 🎶

bev can’t sing for shit but that doesn’t stop her

the boys: please stop, i beg of you

bev: la la la i can’t fucking hear you

however ~however~ she can rap like nobody’s business

when hamilton comes out, she knows that shit better than lin-manuel miranda himself

she can do the entirety of guns and ships in her sleep

when her and richie go smoking, they open all the doors of richie’s car and turn up their music full blast

they scream all the lyrics and dissolve into fits of giggles

bev is actually a little self-conscious about her voice

her father always made her sing with him when she was little

and he would say shit like “mmm could be better” or “wow that was awful”

it actually hurts a little when the boys make fun of her but they always reassure her they’re joking

when she goes to concerts, she all but screams the words to the songs and the people around her are doing the same thing so she feels right at home

beverly fucking marsh, ladies and gents, gets up on stage during the high school talent show with one of the choirs every single year and raps while they sing

everyone looks forward to it

freshman year, she did the rap parts of Magic

sophomore year, she did the rap parts of Stereo Hearts

junior year, she did the whole song from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

senior year, she did the rap parts of Alexander Hamilton

when she graduates from college with her education degree, the first teaching job she gets, she helps her kids learn the material through rap

all the kids love her because she makes learning fun and easy to remember

when she and ben go to homecoming together their junior year, she sings softly under her breath to one of the slow songs

and she’s actually trying

like she practiced

and ben is beyond impressed

“wow, bev, that’s beautiful”

and she blushes but won’t say anything

at the graduation party, she and the losers have, she gets a little tipsy after the adults leave and sings the highest, loudest song she can

it sounds phenomenal

the guys are flabbergasted

richie: we should get you drunk more often, bevvie. you could win tv show contests with that voice.

bev: shut the fuck up, trashmouth.

when she has her first kid, she takes three vocal lessons so she can sing lullabies to them

because she wants them to her voice

she gets super sappy when the baby smiles after she sings

she may or may not have cried

🎶 bill  🎶

how does one describe the singing voice william “big bill” denbrough

the answer is: you can’t, you tried, you failed

when he sings, he shouts

like there is very little musicality when he tries to sing

he gives bev a run for her money when they go to concerts

he’s the type of person who, because he is a writer, writes his own songs

and they’re really good, but he can’t sing them correctly

when georgie was little, he would always want bill to sing him to sleep at night and his parents don’t get it because bill’s voice isn’t soothing or sleep-inducing in any way

at church, his parents have to quiet him down because the picky old ladies look scandalized he’s singing so loudly during mass

georgie just grabs his hand and sings loudly with him bc big brother idolization, ya know?

(he may or may not stick his tongue out at the old women when his parents aren’t looking to stick up for his brother)

he never stutters when he sings and richie thinks this helps him learn to speak without stuttering

stan starts picking up on it and will quietly sing with bill when he feels overwhelmed and can’t get his words out

bill is amazing at lip-syncing 

the losers will all be listening to music and suddenly they look at bill who’s like in the zone and mouthing every word

then a cyndi lauper song comes on and if you didn’t know any better, it would seem like her voice was coming out of his mouth

it freaks mike out

bill auditions for a musical (the first and last) in college and the people listening to him are like “why is he screaming at us?” and defer him to stage crew where he finds out he can wield a nail gun like nobody’s business

he wants to privately serenade stan on one of their dates and has richie help him prep for it

richie teaches him simple chords on his guitar and lets bill borrow it for the evening, coaching him to sing softly

bill sings “i’m yours” and stan is smiling so widely his cheeks hurt but he can’t stop

“did you like it?” bill asks when he’s done, not looking up

“like it? i love it!” stan just snuggles up next to him for the rest of their date (and bill thanks richie a million times later)

when he works out, he always listens to music and can be heard trying to sing along under his breath (and failing) by all the employees and other patrons

when he leaves whistling whatever he had just been listening to, the poor woman next to him sighs in relief

🎶 eddie 🎶

eddie’s voice is unnaturally high for a boy but he loves it anyway (think mitch from pentatonix)

he joined as many school choirs as he could during middle and high school and totally was captain of the tenor 1s in his senior year

unironically calls the other tenor 1s his children

dude has the range of a opera singer

it’s more comfortable to sing in the higher end of his range but he can do the equivalent of a singing death drop and slide all the way from a b5 to a g3

always gets the solos when competing because he has such an impressive range

starts an a cappella group his freshman year of high school and convinces stan to join (we’ll talk more about that later)

they get so good, they start to do travel competitions

it’s probably the most diverse group at derry high because literally everyone that has a good voice is welcome to audition

a kid named taylor helps eddie arrange music and choreography even though they’re in a wheelchair

sings duets with his mom in the car because it’s the only time that they seem to get along without arguing

their go-to song is “halo” by beyonce

eddie’s mom is so highkey proud of her son and his abilities that most of the time she’ll just sit back and listen while one of them is driving until eddie says “ it’s supposed to be a duet, mom”

loves to vibrato it up because he’s super dramatic when he sings literally anything

he gets teased because singing and dancing in organized choirs is “gay” according to the bowers gang

ok one time, bowers made fun of him and the rest of the tenors and eddie just straight up decked him before calmly getting on the bus to go wherever they were competing

the tenors (and the bases) were like “shit dude you okay?”

and eddie says “no one makes fun of my kids” while shaking out his hand

and the tenors kind of crowd around him for a hug because they love their mom captain

he sings the national anthem a lot at high school games but one time, he was invited to sing it at a red sox game in boston and he freaked out

richie: you’ve sung this shit like a million times. all that’s changed is the number of people listening to your beautiful voice. now go out there and make hot baseball players fall in love with you.

eddie: *blushing* shut the fuck up.

sings lullabies to literally everyone and it soothes them so much

richie is falling asleep on his lap? lullaby

stan is having an anxiety attack? lullaby

bill is freaking about his stutter? lullaby

mike is overwhelmed by the amount of work on his plate? lullaby

ben has a nightmare? lullaby

bev is crying about her father? lullaby

needless to say it works wonders

🎶 mike 🎶

has such a low voice and it drives everyone nuts

he has all the girls (and some guys- mostly richie) salivating after him when he sings once at a high school talent show 

can harmonize with anything like a song will just be on the radio and he’ll drop in a perfect lower harmony that just works

cantors at mass on sundays sometimes and usually sings with the choir

he has a real knack for the baptist religious music and his voice is just perfect for it

his college did a production of “the drowsy chaperone” (A/N: great show) and when he tried out in a spur of the moment decision, he got the part of george

he killed it

also, he learned a tap number with the actor who played robert and the losers were thoroughly impressed

ben: i didn’t know he could move like that

bev: *shouting* that’s my son!

stan: *mortified* shh!

when mike becomes the derry librarian, he starts a story time for the little kids and when there’s music in the books, he’ll sing

a little girl only comes on days when he sings and that amuses him to no end

he plays classical music through the loudspeakers when he closes up the library because it gets lonely, you know, and tries to sing all the instrumental parts with his voice

he does the best with cello parts

one time, someone came in late and he didn’t even realize it and they started to clap

he now locks the door before he starts to clean up

LOVES karaoke and always drags his friends to bars and forces them to sing with him

tries out once for a really prestigious travel choir who do lots of shows in europe because they were looking for a bass

the snooty old man in charge of auditioning says “we don’t take your kind here”

and stan is livid when mike tells him about it

stan: hypothetically, if you told me their names and i went to their houses, what would happen if i killed them?

richie: jesus, stanny, remind me not to get on your bad side.

sings with eddie at ben and bev’s wedding and makes them cry tears of joy while they’re doing their first dance

mike’s twin daughters maisie and charlotte clearly have the same vocal skills as their dad and they sing together while they get ready for school

mike’s wife, louisa, has plenty of videos on her phone of them trying to sing around their toothbrushes

🎶 richie 🎶

richie tozier, my friends, is a wonder when it comes to singing

typically, he doesn’t try too hard and goofs off with silly songs

sings shit like “never gonna give you up” and “barbie girl” unironically

stan is neverendingly exhausted by it

stan: anything but blue again, please

when he applies himself, he drives people wild with his raspy, amazing voice

and by people, i mean eddie

he taught himself to play guitar when he was 12 and then when nobody would sing with him, he did it himself

in a stroke of bad decision making on the school faculty’s part, they allowed him to be the announcer at a football game and he sings all the announcements- all of them

richie: *singing* number 27 (bill) looking feisty tonight

richie: *still singing* when will the quarterback (mike) love me?

principal: that is quite enough

richie: *singing some more* you can’t do that (whole stadium claps)

every once in a while (quite often) when richie stayed over at the denbroughs, georgie would ask him to sing with his brother so that his lullaby could be a duet

for just a year and one year only, richie is in eddie’s a cappella group

he gets lovingly kicked out because he distracts not only eddie but a lot of the others in the group because he’s a really great singer when he tries

but he helped make a killer arrangement of feel again that they still use to compete even after eddie graduates

is actually very knowledgeable about music theory because it was always part of the youtube videos he watched when he was learning guitar

richie: you know, i think this would sound better with a major third chord instead of this minor seventh

mike: what

richie: what

mike: i have no damn idea what you just said

joins a band as lead singer and guitarist when he gets to college and gets really popular locally because of his “just got out of someone else’s bed” voice

you know those songs bill writes? yeah half of them are with help from richie

they start a youtube channel anonymously and sing them as duets with richie’s soft guitar music (think jem and the holograms)

they have a really niche cult following, some of whom try to figure out who they are, but mostly just to enjoy the music

georgie claims it’s his influence from lullaby time when he was younger (and the boys humor him)

🎶 stan 🎶

woo boy, where to even begin with stan?

he never sings in public and the times that he does sing are so few and far between it’s like a cryptid sighting

bev: i once heard stan singing in the shower after we all went swimming in the quarry

the rest of the losers: bullSHIT

but ~buuuuuUUuUUUtttt~ this boy has the voice of a god and he uses it like a weapon

stan: *doesn’t want to do something*

stan: *singing* billy, you know how much i love you right?

bill: *totally taken aback* not fair

he once sang in the talent show because it was his senior year (and he lost a bet to richie)

he decided to sing a sappy love song that was popular and the whole auditorium was so stunned it took them a full thirty seconds to give him a standing ovation once he finished

this boy is the only person in the losers club who can do any p!atd song, like any of them, and do an accurate impression of brenden urie

it’s a little scary how close their voices sound

his mother teaches him the hebrew prayers they sing during shabbat and sometimes the losers will catch him singing them when he’s not paying attention

he got tipsy once while he was out with bev and eddie and sang a super raunchy song on stage during a karaoke night and totally crushed the hell out of it

nobody believes that this happened

not even stan supposedly

bev and eddie: i swear on my life

mike: over my dead body did this happen

ben: yeah no way

stan: *winks at bev and eddie*

when he and bill move in together, stan will sing to bill when he thinks bill is asleep

stan will run his fingers through bill’s hair and sing something like blackbird and bill is just... goosebumps everywhere

stan sometimes knows bill is awake by the way his breathing hitches and keeps going because bill is the only person he trusts to be totally unafraid in front of

he can hit high notes like nobody’s business but only if he’s taken a shot of hard liquor recently

at the graduation party, he and eddie got into a high-note-off

a video exists somewhere on ben’s phone of the two just going at it

richie can be heard in the background just losing his fucking mind

stan never accepts solos when he’s part of eddie’s a cappella group and nobody understand why (again voice of a god)

there was a competition when eddie was getting over laryngitis and the only person who knew his solos were (drum roll, please) stan!

needless to say, they blew the judges away and won first place

~ ~ ~

There you are! I hope you enjoyed this little treat while I work on part 4 of you were in screaming color (which I have recently edited chapter 1 of and put it on ao3 here). Got a request? Submit one here. See my masterlist here.

[orangepunkwitch-blog]

Not dead!  Not an abandoned blog, either!  This kinda happens from time to time, so lemme explain myself:

Did the read-more page-breaking thing so nobody has to scroll for eons if they don’t care to read...

Anyway, my absence.  My mental and physical health have been absolute shit, and I’m starting to think I may have seasonal depression on top of situational depression as well since every damn winter I have no energy to do much of anything.  But as this year progresses, I’m finding myself perking up some.  My physical health is largely due to flare-ups (I haven’t been diagnosed but it’s strongly considered that I may have endometriosis; I need to get a laparoscopy to find out and currently cannot afford that, etc. etc. long story for another time) and lack of proper dieting and exercise.  The flare-ups and shitty periods are why I can’t exercise when I’d like to, and we can’t always afford healthy food for strength and energy I need to do things (my metabolism is high enough to where gaining weight isn’t exactly an issue with me despite being almost 30).  The worst of my pain occurs the first couple of days on my period, to which I have ultimately resorted to smoking marijuana which helps tremendously.  The only time I use it off the rag is during an extremely bad flare-up, which are thankfully rare.

‘Kay... mental health...  My husband and I still live with my parents here on the farm and it’s been stressful to the point where I’m getting anxiety-related chest-pains from time to time lately (long story-short: my parents---especially my dad---are assholes and even Loki said that no amount of magick can help them so I just rely on my wards in my room to have a safe haven).  This and the fact that we may have a lack of proper oxygen in this house might be contributing to it.  I plan on beginning my luck at growing pet-safe indoor house plants such as succulents and aloe vera to help with this after visiting a friend’s house whose mom pretty much has an indoor garden and realizing how much better I feel just being there for a few minutes.

With that out of the way, let’s talk about a topic relating to what this blog is about: Paganism, witchcraft, and being a Lokean.

Nope, still a solid Pagan with Druid beliefs and such, still a Lokean, but I haven’t practiced entirely too much witchcraft because there haven’t really been ways for me to use it where it’s needed.  You can’t expect certain spells to work if you’re not doing anything to help it along (such as a job wouldn’t just fall into your lap because you still have to apply for a job).  Money spells can get expensive if you’re doing it constantly for your spouse or parents because you’ll eventually run out of candles and such (I can’t do it without ingredients because I’m scatterbrained and need a damn decent point of focus and stuff).

I’ve got plans, though!  I still haven’t invoked Loki for practice (which he’s cool with) so there’s that; I need to work out a ritual, and Loki says that for me, being short, sweet, and too the point is the best way to go.  So I’ll be working something out with him in the (hopefully) near future.  There’s also the fact that I plan to try out my green thumb and see about growing pumpkins and sunflowers.  The sunflowers are to help with luck or prosperity or something on the property (honestly, I really wanna grow some out front to make the place look nice and having half a field of these flowers will be great for the faeries living there).  The pumpkins are because I fucking love Halloween and love pumpkin pie and have a few recipes involving pumpkin I wanna try.  I’d also like to try my luck at selling some, too.

While Loki tells me he isn’t associated with pumpkins, he sure as fuck likes to press the whole “come on, you know you wanna” bit onto me with growing them, and I’m getting this feeling that he’ll show up presence-wise whenever I go out to the pumpkin patch, so...  Whatever, I’m gonna grow pumpkins because pumpkins are fucking awesome.

I’ll be asking the neighbor that owns the property across the street from us if I can do some bone-hunting and maybe a little bit of fossil-hunting.  I still have the deer bones that my friend gave me that I need to wash, plus a dead young skunk I’m trying to decompose for bones, but winter makes this shit hard, so that’s part of my spring/summer activities.  Loki wants me to try and articulate the skunk and have it mounted on a wooden platform and put onto his altar and I’m sitting here like: uuuuhhhhhh you don’t have much in a way of room...  Regardless, articulating a mammalian skeleton will be beneficial in starting myself out in first-hand osteological studying, which is something you kinda have to know if you wanna be a paleontologist (which I do).  I’m also interested in creating a staff involving animal bones, but I’m not sure what I’ll be using it for.  If not for magick use, then it’d make for a great bring-along prop for a future druid character for D&D night (my husband and friends and I are just starting out with D&D because we haven’t been able to afford the books to play in the past, so we’re real excited about this).

Speaking of osteology, I plan on going to the museum with my husband and some friends in Pittsburgh and taking as many reference photos of all the fossil skeletons as I possibly can so I have decent and varied angles of the animals for reference when I practice to better my paleoart.  I don’t wanna keep on using artistic renditions or limited angles of the same damn pics of fossils on the internet for references.  I just need a decent camera, and I’m hoping my mom will stop acting immature and demand from a supposed friend that they give her her camera back.  She has more authority to demand it back than I do, and I never talk to those people anyways, so it would make sense if she tried getting the damn thing back.  Even though it’s sort of old, it’s still very high quality even for today’s standards and cost my parents nearly a grand to purchase.  If not, my husband (who is extremely knowledgeable in technology and quality) can help me get a new decent camera (because my iphone sucks and his samsung phone can only hold so much memory for the amount of pictures I wanna take).

I do plan on doing more magick this summer, largely to help with learning a new instrument.  While I do wanna properly learn the French Horn since I simply have the instrument, I need the proper mouthpiece (not sure if I’ve bitched about this in past posts), but every damn time I try to get the proper mouthpiece that I need, shit happens and I never get it.  However...  There’s a very strong possibility I could be learning how to play drums.  I’ve always wanted to play but my parents did their damnedest to keep me from that thinking I’d just be annoying on drums.  Turns out I’m quite proficient in terms of knowledge on how to play after a clerk at the local music store permitted me to play around on a drum set in one of the tutoring rooms because I paid very close attention to my band teacher helping the percussion section back in middle school.  That knowledge stuck with me because I wanted to play drums so damn bad.  So as it turns out, looks like I’ll be a drummer after all!  It’d be a great way to help me stay in some upper-body shape and help relieve stress through movement while creating music.  I’ll worry about starting a band later once I’ve actually become proficient in actually playing the drums, though.

Loki has made sure I stayed on the right path to where I don’t completely go on hiatus regarding creativity.  I have a deviantART now if anyone is interested, and I’ve been working on some DIY punk clothing for myself.  I’ll also be working on getting my hair how I want and learning how to apply makeup.  It’s apparently time that I start expressing myself how I want now that I know what I’m doing.  I’m going to go for a goth-punk look that I’ve always wanted since forever, just didn’t know how to achieve the look without spending a fuck ton of money (turns out that I never needed to in the first place).

....yay tangents.

Loki’s basically been trying to teach me to stop relying on the pendulum so damn much.  Basically I have to accept that I’m not going to know everything and find some other coping mechanism unless I absolutely have to consult with a pendulum, otherwise he’s just going to lie to me to hammer the lesson into my head.  I mean, his opinions?  Fine, sometimes I can’t take a hint on my own, he knows it, and sees the pendulum being something that could work.  But other stuff I won’t get into, he’s like, “Okay look...”  He’s also apparently preferring that I use tarot readings in general divination than runes.  I think it’s because the runes were a nice beginner’s way of helping me figure out the whole divination thing.  I’ll Sometimes combine tarot with the pendulum if I’m not sure and very damn confused on certain things, but other than that, I’ve been getting the hang of it.  I still need the handbook because holy dumbfuck, I can’t remember every little thing about every damn card.

Actually, this one tarot spread tried to basically tell me to compare what I’m going through to a caterpillar’s life and I’m currently in the pupa stage.  Meaning: I’m working on the appearance that I want, and when I finally achieve it, something something butterfly/moth analogy.  Of course, it isn’t narrating my whole damn life, just a part of my life.

Regarding art, I’ve been working with Kenaz, and that’s the rune I have on the Loki painting I may or may not have shared here sometime ago (I’m pretty sure I did but I’m too lazy to go get it so...)  The painting has now been moved to a new part of my room (after rearranging shit for the millionth time) and it’s lined up to where it’s directly across from where I sit to do art.  Ever since then, I’ve been able to dish out projects with higher quality than what I usually do at a faster rate.  It’s just that lately, thanks to precipitation, I can’t do charcoal drawings for a while.  Reason being is that I have to go to the outer garage to spray fixatif on it when I’m done and I need proper air circulation for that, and my windows aren’t meant to be opened... the architect of this house was a fucking idiot.

I am not entirely sure if I’ll be purchasing and reading anymore Pagan/witchcraft books for a good while, especially after being better informed, checking my amazon wish list, and finding out that some of the stuff I wish-listed is empty garbage because a lot of crud cranked out by Llewelynn tends to be garbage for money (note: I said “a lot,” not “all.”)  But I do make purchases of incense from a small business witchy shop (they make their incense sticks).  Lately, I’ve been focused on finding affordable boxes suitable for Bast’s, Thoth’s, and Cernunnos’ altars because my asshole cat likes to knock only the tiny shit off them.  I’d also like to get proper statues for Bast and Thoth, too.

I’m also interested in making a smaller besom for general workings, and putting my bigger one up above the front door for protection purposes.

I don’t know how to end a ridiculous post like this, so that’s all I’ve got for now.  I’m not disinterested, it’s just I don’t have a whole lot going for me, plus my health isn’t entirely the best right now.  Take care, everyone!

[caffeineivore]

And more

Title: Yuan Fen

Ship: R/J AU

Notes: Yuan Fen: Fateful coincidence; destiny which brings two people’s lives together at some point, often through astronomical odds. “It takes hundreds of rebirths to bring two persons to ride in the same boat; it takes a thousand eons to bring two persons to share the same pillow.” A concept related to karma in Chinese Buddism.

Rating: PG/PG13. May reach the PG13 end of the spectrum in this segment. *cough* 

Thanks again to @apsaraqueen for all the help!!! I am word-vomiting at this point now...

She’s slightly dishevelled when she meets John in the lobby, juggling purse and cell phone and trying to shrug on a jacket. “Sorry! I’d gotten a call from people back in New York, and lost track of time, and... oh, shit, your jacket’s still in my room! Do we have time to get it now?”

“Don’t worry about it,” John adroitly helps her into her jacket and smiles down at her, though his eyes are full of concern. “Is everything all right?”

“Oh, yeah. Peachy.” Certainly there’s some type of huge etiquette no-no in discussing her ex with her-- well, no, John wasn’t... This was not the time for that particular train of thought, not when she was about to face a busload of people, and...! Rachel rushes up the steps of the bus and takes her seat, and feels blue eyes glancing her way every few minutes even as he greets the group with his usual friendliness and introduces the activities for the day-- the last leg of their tour.  

If he’s at all put off by Rachel’s somewhat irritable and preoccupied demeanour, he says nothing of it, and is uncharacteristically quiet as he walks with her through their last destination of the day-- a massive garden filled with fantastical topiaries and blooming roses and perennials. It’s beautiful and lush, and he waits until her gait has slowed down from a pace to a slow walk before he asks her, again, if something was the matter.

Rachel pauses in front of a plot of tall white lilies that nearly reach her shoulders, and smirks wryly. “Well, nothing too important. If I were in New York, though, I’d probably be calling my friend Cali and the rest of the girls for a night of wine and junk food and bashing men. But no, nothing important.”

“Oh, dear. Whatever I did in stereotypical male ignorance and idiocy, I apologize,” John says somberly, and when she musters a smile and shakes her head as though to tell him that he didn’t do anything wrong, he gives her his usual teasing grin. “Well, that’s better, now isn’t it? You’re cute when you’re riled up, but prettier when you smile.”

Rachel had been told to smile far too many times before-- by asshole jocks in high school, by creepy men on the street, by Kade, even, during fancy, exhausting public events. But never before had it been said in a tone as though the speaker wanted her to smile for herself, rather than for him. She slowly turns to John, clears her throat. “Would you like to grab a drink with me tonight, somewhere? Or, wait, you have to go home to Ms Xu...”

“No, Ms Song’s there tonight,” John tells her, then digs in his bag for pen and a sheet of paper, scribbles down something in Chinese. “Okay. Here’s the name and address of a place I know that’s decent, if you’d like to go. You can just give this directly to a cab driver, and they’ll know it. We can meet up there.”

**

The bar’s located on a street in old town, in a quaint old building amidst what looked to be a quite-active night bazaar, and John is waiting at the door when she arrives, his hair shining bright under the lights of countless signs and red lanterns. Rachel had not been quite sure what type of bar it would be, and certainly had not brought anything too fancy to wear on the trip, and was therefore quite glad to see that he wore casual jeans and a soft blue t-shirt. She’d switched her hiking boots for Louboutins, though, and the added height brought the top of her head almost to his nose. 

“They do make cocktails, and you can also get western liquor here if you’d like-- Jack Daniels and Chivas Regal bottle service is popular with people looking to show off, but I’d recommend the wine, personally. Their house red is a local blend made from wild plums.” His eyes take in the sight of her, from the classic red lipstick to the lavender jade bangle on her wrist to the tops of her shoes, peeping out underneath her black jeans. “You’re really very beautiful.” 

“Thanks.” They get a table, and within minutes, two glasses of wine are placed in front of them, along with a tray of salty snacks. The wine is fruity but delicious, as promised, and Rachel lets the taste of it wash away the unpleasantness of earlier. 

“So, who is it that we’re drinking and bashing?” John asks lightly, taking a sip of his own wine. 

“My idiot ex,” Rachel tells him, after a few sips. “It’s so stereotypical it’s almost a joke. He’s the son of the other partner in my dad’s law firm-- was in his second year of law school when I started undergrad. You know the type-- sophisticated, good-looking, comes from money, plays and watches golf religiously every weekend, has a chauffeur who drives him around in a Bentley, can order a meal in a French restaurant with a snobby French accent... and a complete ass. We started dating my second year of law school, went steady until I finished, and then I found out, right after I took the bar, that he was sleeping with this yoga instructor on the side. So I kicked him to the curb. That was like three months ago, and now, out of the blue, he calls me. I actually had a ton of missed calls from him last night while I was at your place.”

Her glass is refilled, and she swallows more wine. “I call him back, thinking it’s something serious, because why would he be trying so hard to reach me while I’m out of the country, right? Nooo, he just wants me back.” She almost sets the glass down hard enough to slosh wine on the table, but stops herself at the last minute. “Not because he really cares about me one way or another, mind. But just because we’re suitable. Like I’m that sensible three-piece suit he can wear to all formal occasions even if he’d like to rock a biker jacket on his downtime. It’s bullshit. Calliope-- she’s my best friend in New York, we’d roomed together through all four years of undergrad-- would probably be making noises right now about handing some thug out of the ass end of the Bronx a suitcase of cash and letting him take care of business.”

“I see.” John frowns at his own barely-touched wineglass, then reaches over the table and takes her hands gently in his. In contrast to the cool jade against her wrist, his fingers are almost blissfully warm. “I don’t have to tell you that you deserve so much better. You know you do.” 

“I know. I told him to fuck off, more or less.” Rachel tries not to focus on the fact that his thumbs are rubbing soft circles into the backs of her hands. “I’ll still have to deal with him on a regular basis in New York, since he’s working in my father’s firm, but... I’ll never be involved with him in any other context, ever again.”

“You did the right thing. You deserve to be happy, and to do whatever makes you happy.” 

The look in his eyes is so intense that it almost sends a shiver down her spine, and Rachel looks at her half-finished second glass of wine, trying not to remember that it’s her last night here-- that while she was getting ready to come to this bar, she’d already gotten a text from the driver who’d be picking her up in the morning to take her to the train station so she could return to Beijing. There’s nothing and everything left to say, and that’s a concept far more scary, somehow, than being all alone in another country where she didn’t speak the language. It’s suddenly imperative to break the tension at their table, and she stands up, glancing at the dance floor at the other side of the bar. Some Chinese pop song is playing, and while she doesn’t know the words, it’s got a catchy rhythm. “Let’s go dance.”

He lets her pull him up, and they make their way through the crowd of people, but by the time they’re actually on the dance floor, the song is winding down and another, much-more-familiar one takes its place. Certainly, Rachel isn’t expecting a random club in China to be playing some throwback from her teenage years, but the opening chords of “She Will Be Loved” by Maroon 5 come through the speakers. 

It should be awkward, she thinks, even as his arms wrap around her waist and her head lands against his shoulder. A month ago, she didn’t even know of his existence. But it doesn’t feel awkward at all, and she clenches her hands around fistfuls of the shockingly soft fabric of his shirt even as she feels his cheek press against her hair. She turns her face slightly as they sway to the slow music, and the pulse in his neck is right there against her lips. It’s too quick for this slow song, just like hers, and this song is too short for them to be together like this. 

His breath stirs the hair at her temple even as Adam Levine’s voice fades off singing about not trying so hard to say goodbye, and he pulls back just enough to stare down into her face. “I should get you back to your hotel room.” His voice is even, but even in the dim lights, there’s a hint of anguish in his eyes which echoes her own. “You have a train to catch in the morning.”

**

But he doesn’t let go of her hand, even as he hails a cab. The ride back to the hotel takes all of five minutes, and he walks her inside. But when he would have finally taken a step back, she tightens her grip on his fingers, stares up at him through her eyelashes. “John.”

“Yes?”

“Your jacket is still up in my room. The one you loaned me, the other night.” Rachel doesn’t plan to lead him towards the elevator bay, but it’s as though her body is acting without any conscious thought from her brain at all. “You should come up and get it.”

The elevator door opens and she steps through, and even as his eyes kindle, now the hot blue of gas flame rather than cloudless sky, he still holds the open door button with one finger. “Rachel. I’m not... I’m not him.”

“I know.” She reaches for his hand even as her other one reaches up into the soft blond hair at the nape of his neck. “Thank God,” she whispers as she presses her lips to his even as the elevator doors slip shut. He only stills for a moment before his hand fists in her hair and his mouth crushes down on hers. 

By the time the elevator reaches her floor, his mouth is buried somewhere against her neck and her hands are reaching under the hem of his shirt and coming in contact with smooth, hot skin. Somehow they find themselves in her room, and nobody says anything about his jacket at all. They can barely stop kissing each other to drag off each other’s clothing, but somehow they manage. He lifts her off her feet, stepping around the haphazard piles of discarded clothing, and when she lands on the bed, her breath escapes in a sharp exhale. But neither of them say anything, because it’s only a few short hours before sunrise, and they can’t possibly be close enough. 

The first time is fast and hungry and a little desperate, and she comes so hard that she can barely draw in enough breath to say his name. The second time is slower, after a long shower where he washes her back, and the smell of her body wash is incredibly different on his skin. Her damp skin is chilled in the cool night air as he lifts away the towel, but not for long as his body covers hers and his fingers slide over every inch of her as though trying to memorize the way she feels. And sometime after the third time, exhausted, still tangled up with him, she falls deeply asleep. 

[vieuxnoyesrp]

Charlie. We were so, so excited to see an application for Lydia Martin; whose trademark persona has been sorely missed from our storyline as of late. We like the amount of detail you gave us in your application; especially for the ‘day in the life’ question as well as your para sample. It gave us great insight into your understanding of Miss Martin’s character. Moreover, it was refreshing to see right off the bat that you understand the sheer number of layers and complexity that make up Lydia’s exquisite personality. You saw right through her facades, and your headcanons were thoughtfully-constructed and unique. In particular, we love that you recognized how important the connection is between Lydia and her grandmother. Although strongly hinted in the bio, we don’t know many roleplayers who would - of their own accord - choose to write a sample revolving around Lydia and an elderly woman who is, for the time being, an NPC. It was a unique choice and a fantastic tribute to the importance of this relationship. Well done!

Charlie, thank you very much for applying. As for Lydia…

                 ⚜ ~ WELCOME TO VIEUX NOYÉS!!! ~ ⚜

Wondering what to do next? Click here and let the good times roll!

⚜ Roleplayer:

⤜ Name/alias: Charlie ⤜ Pronouns: She/Her ⤜ Age: 21 ⤜ Timezone: GMT -3 ⤜ Activity: I’m a solid 7/10, I’d like to think, mainly because I’m always around even if it’s through my phone. I work some afternoons and go to Uni every morning, but aside from that, I’m always with my computer around and I can get on most times of the day. ⤜ Best form of contact: Through this Tumblr here, I’m always here lurking since It’s the one I’ve got on my phone right now. ⤜ Any Triggers? Thankfully, no! ⤜ How did you find Vieux Noyés? Through the rp recommendations tag ⤜ What drew you to the RP? The diversity of characters, the intense storyline and the deeply involved and developed plot which just sucks you in from the start. ⤜ What is one subplot/element from the Plot page that you are particularly looking forward to seeing in this roleplay? I am gasping to see the Lost Relic part of the plot developed. I think hunters have it in their nature to stay alert and want to have the upper hand in every situation, that’s why they train and are always prepared, so I can’t wait to see how that gets developed to slowly make a plan to get them up there with the first card to draw against the vampires.

⚜ Desired Character:

⤜ Why do you want this character? Because I think Lydia can often be portrayed and seen as such a flat character who’s the Queen B of the school but when she gets back home she cries all night. And I think she’s so much more than that, she has so many sides of her than just crying. Of course, she suffers just as much as the next guy, but she’s also a fighter and even if she has to hide her wits, she’ll put them all to use when it comes to protecting those she loves. And in this roleplay, there’s also the relationship with her grandmother which is such a big place to develop something relevant, and how she’d help her find and channel the mystery voices in her head and try to open herself and how she is and her true nature out to the world.

⤜ What are your future plans for this character? I think I just wrote a little bit of that, but mainly I wanna give her depth. I want her to develop friendships outside of her comfort zone and even if she is quite a strong personality and maybe sometimes a bit abrasive, she’s also a person and she needs friends in her life. I want to develop the understanding and developing of the voices in her head, I want to see how that could take her to her grandmere and how together, she’d help Lydia realize that she’s been trying to silence this incredible power and all the responsibilities that that comes with.

⤜ Put yourself in your character’s shoes. Give us a few lines to describe a day in the life of your character… Where do they live? Where and how do they spend their time?

In New Orelans, it doesn’t get any nicer than the Mayor’s house. Sure, sometimes she wished she wouldn’t have been followed by cameramen asking her opinion on something her mother had said, or she wished she didn’t have to deal with her step-father and his son, but you grow used to those things in time, don’t you? Lydia certainly has. On a regular day, she wakes up about an hour earlier than she’s supposed to just to make sure her look for school is up to par with her make up. After that hour’s done, she gets in her car and drives to school. And then for seven hours, she plays pretend. It’s class after class where she pretends she doesn’t understand what a latin word in a history book means, how the hardest of algebra pages on textbooks aren’t as easy as the alphabet for her, it’s class upon class to where she feels her brain turning to mush. Her only salvation there are her friends. She hangs out with them as much as she can, and when it’s time to go back home, that’s when she turns back into herself. She goes into her room, avoiding any kind of interaction with her step-father or step-brother, even if she’s finding him a bit more to her liking at times, and switches her brain back into overdrive. She reads latin, both old and modern, she paints, she watches PhD lecutres through YouTube and has even dared to start an application process for Tulane University, but she’d never tell. Only when it’s time for dinner she rejoins her family down at the main dinning room and shares a few hours with them, as little as possible, before going back upstairs and delving into her own world, until it’s time for bed, where she takes as many pills as possible to dull the voices that have been taunting her through the whole day so she can have a decent night rest.

On a weekend, though, she wakes up a bit later and tries to spend as much time as she can with her friends. They go to parks and walk around shopping malls and she’d even go as far as saying she’d even spend a few minutes of her time with her step-brother if he asks. Lydia enjoys spending time at the antique shop. It’s a place where she can go and feel immersed in a different time, as if she had been suddenly thrust into the French 17th century, surrounded by paintings and tea sets and old book smell. It could probably be one of her favorite places in the world, but she’d never speak about it. She’d spend time by herself there, or at auctions for paintings and antiques, buying as much as she fancied only to get a little grief from her mother but then a request for her to buy something for the living room, she had amazing taste and her mother knew it. And at night? Well, she was the most popular girl in school, so party invitations were never scarce. She’d doll up, dress up and drink until the voices left her again.

⤜ Give us three headcanons regarding your character of choice.

Lydia wants to be a doctor. Not a regular “tell me where it hurts“ doctor, but a psychiatrist. She’s smart, and she has seen and read what schizophrenia and paranoia will do to you, and even if she knows that she’s not crazy, her mind would not betray her like that with how smart she was, she wants to be ready and she wants to understand everything about the human mind and how to trick it to stop the voices… if she can.

Lydia has never fallen in love, and honestly does not believe in the idea of love. Her parents were supposed to be in love, and guess what, that didn’t last long. That’s when she started to look into it. Love is a combination of three chemicals in the brain that makes you feel things and suddenly sparks fly in your heart and… For someone as smart as her, she knows it’s not real. Jax has been her on and off boyfriend for the past year, and as much as she thinks she could’ve fallen in love with him, she still knows that love is as much a chemical as oxygen, and she doesn’t have the time to think of that. The voices in her head occupy a much bigger portion than love ever could.

Lydia blames herself for her parents divorce. She wants to see it rationally, as two people who just couldn’t bare to co-exist together anymore. Things like that happen, love isn’t real, so why would two people who don’t even like each other keep on enduring what they hate? Things like that she told herself daily when she saw her mother next to her step-father, but she never could manage to believe it herself. It was all her fault, possibly. The voices, her grandmere, something, but it was related to her.

⤜ What are some plots you’d like to explore with your characater?

I really want to get to develop Lydia’s connection with her voices and her psychic side, maybe develop a little more of the Banshee she is on Teen Wolf, but if that’s not possible then turn what we know about that into a more psychic perspective.

I also wanna develop friendships for her, especially ones with the people she’s friends now, to make her more comfortable around them and they, in that way, would help her unleash her full inner goddess of wisdom and stop being the plastic she is on the outside.

And I’d also love to be able to develop Lydia’s relationship with her grandmother and how that’d be a secret she’d keep to her mother and the rest of her family, how maybe Tyler would be able to play into it and be her confident, and in that way work with the relationship between the two siblings and have them trust each other.

⤜ Para sample:

(Retained for privacy)

⤜ Would you like to be considered for another character if not accepted as your primary choice? Kira Yukimura.

⤜ Have you read the rules? Yes, I have

⤜ Anything else? The first part of the para sample is a little bit of a backstory that managed to get me into a mindset where I could actually write, and then there’s the dialogue part of the para sample. Thank you very much for reading!

[niamsuggitt]

The Ides Of June 2017

Hello there! And welcome all to this month’s ‘The Ides Of’ column, where I write just a little bit about all of the various stuff and nonsense I’ve been enjoying over the past 30 days. Yes, this instalment is late, but it’s been lovely and warm, so I haven’t had the inclination to stay indoors and write this stuff. I’ve actually been outside and I’ve even been wearing shorts! What is the world coming to?

This month is a decent one I think, there’s a lot of movies (although some are rewatches), 2 intriguing books, more great TV and I bought another Switch game! Unfortunately there’s no new music this time out, but next month will change that, with new Royal Blood and Public Service Broadcasting albums on the horizon.

So let’s do it to it!

—

Movies

Lot’s of movies to talk about this time, so let’s not waste any time with preamble! First up is Prometheus (Ridley Scott 2012), which I finally actually got around to watching due to the release of it’s sequel, Alien: Covenant, which I haven’t actually seen. That’s kind of me in a nutshell really, the release of a new thing makes me realise I haven’t actually seen the old thing yet! See also Schmidt, Kimmy later on. Anyway, I mostly enjoyed Prometheus, although as the rest of the internet has already explained ad nauseum, it certainly has it’s problems and, at a bit of a remove, doesn’t really make that much sense. I like the previous Alien films, and have the Quadrilogy box-set, but wouldn’t say I was any kind of mega-fan, so I don’t have any real issues per se with Scott going back and removing some of the mystery. Especially because, every answer he gives only raises more and more questions! I came out of the film wanting to know more, so in that way, it was a success. I think the things that really stood out to me here were the visuals, because whatever you think of Ridley Scott, the man has one of the best eyes for science fiction out there, and also the fantastic performance of Michael Fassbender as the android, David. He is just superb, although his role in the plot is one that frustrates me, as it’s never really explained why David is fucking with things, he just… is. Maybe the answers are waiting for me in Covenant? I also found that frustration with Charlize Theron’s character. She’s just kind of a dick for no reason, you find out Weyland is her dad… and then she dies. There must be more to it than that, but there isn’t. A lot of the other performances are like that really, good actors doing something potentially good, but not as much as you like, Idris Elba, Race Spall and Sean Harris all deserve more I think. Especially as Noomi Rapace, who is nominally the lead, isn’t quite as interesting, at least to me. Her performance is good, particularly in the fantastic ‘abortion’ scene that’s probably the film’s highlight. Unfortunately for Rapace, in an Alien film, a female lead is always going to be compared to Sigourney Weaver, and she doesn’t quite match up! Prometheus is, I would say, not a particularly great film, but it is a very interesting one.

Next, I watched a documentary that actually uses footage from Prometheus in parts, Jodorowsky’s Dune (Frank Pavich 2013). This film tells the inside story of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s failed attempt to adapt Frank Herbert’s ‘Dune’ novel into a movie in the 1970s, and wow, this movie that never got made is far more interesting than most ones that do make it! Jodorowsky’s ambition here was huge, and I would go as far to say a bit insane. If you’ve seen any of his actual films (I really like El Topo), you’ll know that he’s a bit out there, but this would have been something else. He wanted Salvador Dali, Orson Welles and Mick Jagger in the film, he made his young son learn to swordfight, it is mental. The film features some fascinating interview snippets not just with Jodorowsky and others who worked on the film, but also with outsiders like Nicolas Winding Refn, who once sat with Jodorowsky all night whilst he acted out the film. In the end, this is not just an intriguing look at a film that never came to be, but also a great monument to the power of creativity, and a unique creative mind. Because even in failure, Dune had a massive impact. It brought Jodorowsky together with Moebius, and they would later collaborate on the Incal comic series. It had a huge influence in so much other science fiction, including Alien (Dan O’Bannon and HR Giger worked on Dune, and some of the structures in Promethus are straight from the Dune sketchbook), Flash Gordon, Star Wars and basically… everything we nerds love today. My only complaint would be that, a lot of the interviews were in French, and there were no subtitles, so I couldn’t grasp what Michel Seydoux was saying. But other than that, highly recommended.

I wrote earlier about a Michael Fassbender performance being the best part of a movie, and whilst that’s true for Prometheus, it’s definitely the case for X-Men: Apocalypse (Bryan Singer 2016), which I found to be really quite a mess, and definitely indicative of how far behind the X-Men film franchise is lagging behind others right now (please note, I haven’t seen Logan yet). As a comics fan, I of course love the X-Men, but I must admit that I haven’t really been behind the X-Men movies in a while. X3 was the last one I saw in the cinema, and Deadpool and First Class are probably the ones I would actually say were good movies these days. I haven’t watched 1 or 2 in ages, but I fear they won’t have aged well. Apocalypse is indicative of this malaise really. The plot is incredibly perfunctory, with Apocalypse just coming back, being evil, and the X-Men stopping him. There’s barely a hint of a plan from him, which is incredibly disappointing, especially as it means the normally brilliant Oscar Isaac is just wasted under layers of Ivan Ooze make-up. The rest of the cast is actually good, I mentioned him earlier, but Fassbender is just superb as Magneto. He and James McAvoy’s Professor X basically make this period piece series work singlehandedly. I initially rolled my eyes at the film manipulating our emotions by giving Magneto a family only to immediately kill them off, but damn, Fassbender sells it. Jennifer Lawrence is once again inexplicably front and centre as Mystique. I really find it weird how they’ve insisted on making her such a big hero, obviously it caught them off-guard after First Class how big a star she became, but it just doesn’t make sense to me, especially when compared the the comics. The film re-introduces a lot of familiar faces with new actors, so we now have a teen Cyclops, Jean Grey, Nightcrawler and Storm. These young actors are fine, but they aren’t given too much to do really. It pissed me off how the film has Storm side with Apocalypse for most of it and then switch sides and tries to plays it off as a big surprise. Storm one of the most famous X-Men of all of them, everyone knows she’s a good guy, you can’t get away with silly shit like that. This film just felt a bit flat and uninspired throughout, there’s an entirely unnecessary Wolverine cameo (that I actually managed to be surprised by), a decent enough Quicksilver sequence that just feels like a poor re-tread of the one in Days Of Future Past, and just a whole heap of bad CGI and lame moments. I liked parts of it, but it in no way stands up to the MCU, and isn’t even aggressively stupid bad like Suicide Squad. I really hope the X-Men movies can improve, I know that Logan is supposed to be good, and the Legion TV show was amazing, but there needs to be another good, main franchise X-Movie. Will Dark Phoenix manage that? I have my doubts. Maybe New Mutants will be good.

Speaking of New Mutants, the future Magik, Anya Taylor-Joy, is the star of the next film on the docket, The Witch (Robert Eggers 2015). This is a very atmospheric and creepy horror film set in 17th Century America, as an isolated Puritan Family comes face to face with, well, a witch. This is my kind of horror movie, not so much made up of jump scares and gore, but instead an overall unease about it, and slow ramping up of terror until everything boils over into weirdness and a talking demon goat. There are some truly unsettling sequences in this story, and it really did keep me guessing throughout as to what was going on. One thing I really appreciated was the script, as Eggers tried to make it as period accurate as possible. At first the language seems odd, but you soon get used to it. The performances are all strong, Taylor-Joy is excellent as Thomasin, and it was great to see Leeds’ own Ralph Ineson get a starring role after being excellent on so many TV shows throughout the years. And what can you even say about  Black Phillip? A tour-de-force from that Goat. The Witch is really strong film, but it is genuinely scary, it took me about 3 months to build up the courage to watch it, and it has stuck with me!

I continued the horror by watching The Babadook (Jennifer Kent 2014), and yes, I was inspired to watch it because of the ‘Babadook as a gay icon’ meme, which is just hilarious. I didn’t find that much queer subtext in the film (although he does come out of a closet…) but I did very much enjoy it. Like The Witch, this film delivers the kind of scares I like, psychological, and lingering in the background, and most importantly, rooted in real human emotions. The Babadook might not even be real, and is probably some kind of grief manifestation. But, again, like The Witch, I enjoy the ambiguity about it. Another thing I really liked is how willing the film was to make the kid into an unlikeable dick, whilst also still allowing us to care about him. The two main characters here a very complex, and there’s a lot to unpack still. The design of the Babadook is another really cool thing about this film, it’s just iconic (gay or otherwise) and I think this character could end up in the pantheon of great monsters, it really is that effectively creepy.

I also re-watched 2 big blockbusters on Blu-Ray that I wrote about more extensively when they were in the cinema; Doctor Strange (Scott Derrickson 2016) and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (Gareth Edwards 2016), or as I like to call them ‘Mads Mikkelson does Disney’. Both held up on a second viewing, and I think I actually liked Doctor Strange more this time around. The visuals were amazing, and, along with Guardians Of The Galaxy 2, show that they really are willing to take the Marvel Cinematic Universe into different places. Rogue One’s tragic ending didn’t quite hit me as much this time out for obvious reasons, as I knew it was coming, but I still enjoyed it. I paid more attention to the performances, in particular Diego Luna and Ben Mendelsohn. I think Cassian Andor might be one of the most interesting characters in a Star Wars movie, I certainly would like to see more of his story, so get on it Marvel!

Television

There’s no new or returning shows this month, it’s all quick hits, and I will try and be quick!

Brooklyn Nine-Nine (FOX) wrapped up it’s season in fine form with a bunch of double-episodes. I really enjoyed Gina Gershon’s guest role, and the way the season ended, with Rosa and Jake being sent to prison was a great cliffhanger, even topping last years! As an Earwolf podcast nerd, it was of course also great to get cameos from Scott Aukerman, Kulap Vilaysack in the finale. I get a kick out of hearing those familiar voices come out of actual faces. This is now one of the most consistently funny US sitcoms out there… hell, it’s one of the few.

The ending of Better Call Saul (AMC) Season 3 was also very good, particularly the fate of Chuck, which was just shocking and tragic. When BCS is on, it’s the best drama on TV, and it certainly has the best characters. I will say though that this 3rd season has been a bit too disjointed, as those characters were too disparate. I can’t remember the last time Jimmy and Mike shared a scene (Episode 4?) and the same can really be said for Mike and Nacho. At times it felt like 2 different shows, maybe even 3, happening concurrently. Now, all of those shows were good, but it didn’t cohere as well as it might. Hopefully Season 4 will bring things closer together. Gus’ knowing look at the end seems to indicate he knows what Nacho was up to, so I can imagine the criminal element consolidating. Plus, with Chuck dead and Kim sidelined with injury, things are bound to change for Jimmy McGill, and I imagine we’re only going to get more and more of Saul Goodman. This was an odd year for the show, but it’s still excellent, and Michael McKean really should win all the awards, he was superb throughout this season, making us loathe and sympathise with Chuck all at the same time. Any awards that don't go to him should go to Odenkirk of course.

I’m basically just going to be talking about finales this month aren’t? Archer (FXX) ended it’s ‘Dreamland’ storyline with some seriously surprising violence, I couldn’t believe how far they actually took Barry’s rampage. In the end, I thought the concept of Archer being in this Noir fever dream petered out a bit, and they didn’t stick the landing. But it was still funny, with all of the voice actors on full cylinders. I do think that it might be time to end Archer though, they’ve stretched this tone and character as far as it can go. After a whole season that’s a dream, what next? Take a leaf out of the LOST podcast joke and do a zombie season?

Gotham (FOX) got even more silly and ridiculous at the end of Season 3, with the introduction of Ra’s Al Ghul and the revelation that long-time henchman extraordinaire is Butch Gilzean is actually called Cyrus Gold, and is therefore eventually going to become Solomon Grundy. As dumb as this is, I loved it. This show is best when it verges on the camp, and these last few episodes delivered, particularly as Morena Baccarin finally got to be a bit interesting when playing an ‘evil’ Leslie Tompkins. It was great fun seeing her chew the scenery. And man, that final scene, where Bruce Wayne goes out on the streets to fight crime… it’s mad that they are doing that so soon, but I don’t care at this point. Gotham needs to go full on Adam West (RIP by the way) and never look back.

I must admit to being rather disappointed by the finale of The Flash (The CW), because the fake out of it actually being HR to die instead of Iris felt way too easy, and also because HR was just the best. I’ll miss him, but I’m sure whatever the hell version of Wells Tom Cavanaugh plays in Season 4 will also be great. The real highlight of this last set of episodes was the return of Captain Cold in ‘Infantino Street’. I can’t say it enough, but Wentworth Miller is just the best in that role. The ending of the Season redeemed things for me somewhat though, with Barry disappearing into the Speed Force, in what I think is meant to be the show’s version of his ‘death’ in Crisis On Infinite Earths (a story I have actually never read). How cool would it be if Wally was the Flash for like, half of Season 4? I would dig that. But it won’t happen.

Rounding out Superhero Corner until The Defenders comes out in the summer, Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. (ABC) had a great finale to a really strong season. It’s brilliant to see how far this show has come. They managed to tie all of the separate ‘pods’ of the season together, as Ghost Rider returned to help take out Aida in a very satisfying way. I really hope they keep this up in Season 5.

Like with Better Call Saul, it really has been an odd year for The Americans (FX), as the series shifted gears and became much more of an introspective character piece, particularly when it comes to the character of Philip. It took a while to get used to, and by the finale I was still a bit let down by how little ‘happened’, but in the end, I like where we are now. The characters, who were already well rounded, are even deeper now, and things are set up for a fascinating final season. And when you think about it, these smaller stories actually show the impact of Philip and Elizabeth’s job better than big missions. That slow grind, that loss of humanity, as driving a teenage boy to attempted suicide becomes the aim of a mission. It’s the more human side, rather than just chess pieces. And that’s really what I think The Americans is about, seeing what the Cold War was like on the ground. Let’s hope that Season 6 can marry what was good about Season 5 with the previous 4, and we really do go out with a bang. You can rest assured the acting will be fantastic, because Rhys and Russell always are.

Now for some shows that I haven’t watched the end of yet! American Gods (Starz) is still rolling along very nicely indeed, and even though as I said, I don’t really remember the book all too well, it’s adapting the story well, and even in some places improving on it. What I’ve found interesting is that, in a season of only 8 episodes, they’ve had the confidence to do 2 whole episodes that didn’t feature the 2 main characters of Shadow and Wednesday at all. One of those was all about Laura Moon coming back to life, and the other told the back-story of Mad Sweeney and Essie. Both were fantastic, and that willingness to switch things up really impressed me. The visuals of this show continue to be superb, and I am excited for the finale. It’s sitting there waiting for me right now…

iZombie (The CW) is rocketing towards it’s finale by piling on storyline after storyline and mashing them all together. At times it’s felt a bit over-stuffed, what with Blaine, Harley Johns, Stacey Boss, the conspiracy about the guy committing suicide in his cell, investigating Wally’s murder and the Mayoral Election, but mostly I think it’s worked. The most recent episode in particular did a good job a streamlining things I think and the ending was great, the world now knows zombies exist? What the? The performance of Rose McIver continues to be superb, and I loved the conceit of having her, Blaine and Don E all on the same brain at the same time, it’s awesome how they can still switch things up. I’m also enjoying the arrival of Logan Echolls himself, Jason Dohring. Can we dare hope for a Kristen Bell appearance?

Silicon Valley (HBO) is still delivering consistently strong laughs and intriguing twists and turns. I think my favourite part of this run of episodes has been Haley Joel Osment as Keenan Feldspar, he’s just really funny. I am worried about the finale now that we know that T.J. Miller is leaving the show, I don’t know how they are going to write out Ehrlich, but I don’t want them to! Hopefully Bighead will return to fill the void. I swear, he hasn’t been in like, the last 5 episodes or something.

Veep (HBO) has kicked it up a notch towards the end of Season 6, as a lot of chickens came home to roost, and Selina Meyer’s secrets were leaked to the world. It was a great episode, and was a strong use of continuity. I do still think this show has gotten a bit too broad when compared to the Iannucci years, but it is still very funny and the level of profanity and meanness still at times truly shocking. I can’t wait to see how the finale up-ends things. Selina is in a good place right now with the world finally knowing that she freed Tibet, but that can’t last, we all know it.

And finally, inspired by the start of it’s third season, I finally got around to finishing off Season 2 of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix). I did the same thing with Season 1, and will probably do the same thing with this new season. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Anyway, this was another very funny, surprisingly dark season of what is a fantastic show. I loved Tina Fey’s role as Kimmy’s therapist, and the casting of Kimmy’s mother was brilliant. I also found the romance between Titus and Mikey to be surprisingly sweet, but mainly because Titus is one of the best characters on television. My only complaint would be not enough Jon Hamm, but given that cliffhanger, I’m sure that will change!

Music

As I said in the intro, no new music this month so I won’t be able to contribute to any ‘Song Of The Summer’ debate just yet. Although that’s not actually a thing and we all know it.

Books

2 books to talk about this month, and both of them are from writers linked to my one true passion, comics. First up is Norse Mythology (2017) by Neil Gaiman, which as the title would suggest, is a re-telling of the Norse myths from Gaiman. It’s pretty cool to read his take on the direct myths, as these characters have popped up throughout his work. Whether in Sandman or American Gods, Gaiman has put his stamp on the likes of Odin and Loki, and it’s interesting to see him interpret the original stories. Like Gaiman, I first encountered the Norse Gods in the pages of Marvel Comics, and whilst these versions are therefore familiar, there’s something different about them, something darker for sure. This felt like a faithful, albeit poetic adaptation of the stories, as most of them were ones I knew, whether from the comics (if you’ve never read Matt Fraction and Patrick Zircher’s series of Thor one-shots that re-tell the myths you need to rectify that) or from previous takes on the myths or even just cultural osmosis. All of the familiar Gods appear, and you get stories like when Thor dressed as a woman to kill a Frost Giant, or the old beggar who built Asgard in a year. One thing I liked is that Gaiman really gets across how these stories are part of an oral tradition, and not all of them survive, so you get intentional continuity errors and characters just disappearing. It’s clear that there were other myths back then, but not all of them have survived to today. The short chapter length means that this book would probably actually be perfect for reading aloud, and I may even listen to the audiobook if Gaiman is reading it himself. He has a fantastic voice for audiobooks, it’s how I read The Graveyard Book for the first time. One other advantage this re-telling has over the comics is that Gaiman is able to actually reach ‘Ragnarok’, the death of the Gods, and go through with it. In the Marvel Universe, even though Ragnarok has happened (a couple of times in fact) and Thor has died or been replaced even more, you still know that nothing will change, but not in this case. All of the Gods, particularly Balder and Loki, meet their eventual tragic ends. This is a very enjoyable read, especially for someone who, like me, has an interest in myths and legends. It’s clear that Gaiman has a lot of affection for these Gods (particularly Loki, who is wonderfully complex here) and stories, and he more than does them justice. I would certainly be interesting in seeing Gaiman tackle other Pantheons, I personally like Greek Myth the best, but would like to know more about Egyptian as well.

I’m currently just under half-way through Michael Chabon’s Moonglow (2016) and am very much enjoying it. This novel is styled as a memoir and sees Chabon detail the life of his grandparents, particularly his grandfather. Jumping back and forth throughout his life, Chabon allows us to see what his grandfather was like as a child, as a soldier in WW2, as a newlywed, and and as an old man. So far it’s a fascinating book, both in terms of how Chabon details the complex characters of both grandparents, and also in how he tackles the hazy nature of memory and truth. It’s never clear just how much of the book is actually true, the characters are never actually named (it’s just ‘my grandfather’ or ‘my mother’) so it could all be 100% fiction. I tend to lean into it mostly being true, but in the end, it doesn’t really matter does it? As is usual with Chabon, the writing here is very strong, with some very beautiful sentences and moments. The fact that we know that the central characters here die at the very outset makes everything, particularly the romance, bittersweet, and Chabon nails that. It’s interesting, but the book I keep comparing this to is Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow. Both books are about V2 rockets in WW2, but one is a weird, sprawling epic, whereas the other is an intimate character piece. It just shows how different writers can approach the same topic in completely differing ways. I don’t think Moonglow is quite as good as Kavalier and Clay, but what is? It’s still a very good book and I am excited to read the rest of it.

Games

After going months, nay, years, with no games section, I now have 2 games to write about! You wait for a bus…

Anyway, along with Zelda, I’ve now also bought Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo Switch 2017) and whilst I haven’t played it a whole lot, is a whole lot of fun, because, well, it’s Mario Kart! Those games are always fun, the more things change, the more things stay the same. They may have added a boat-load of new characters (including Link, which is weird) and added a bunch of bells and whistles and para-gliders onto the Karts, but it’s basically the same game I’ve been playing since the N64, a mad-cap race on some insane courses. I haven’t played every track yet, but I’m getting there. One thing I really appreciate about this particular version is that you can use a single Switch Joycon as a controller, so I didn’t need to shell (heh) out £60 for another controller in order to play multiplayer. I’ve always enjoyed playing against someone else who’s actually in the room over online, so that’s a huge plus, not just for Mario Kart but for the Switch in general if future games follow suit. Mario Kart is hard to really talk about critically because it’s so pure at what it is, but I do love it. And who do I play as you ask? Yoshi of course, always Yoshi. Although sometimes Toad.

As for The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild (Nintendo Switch 2017) I’ve spent most of my recent time trying in vain to capture and train horses. I’ve really been embracing the freedom the game provides to do things in whatever order I want. I haven’t even gone to Kakariko Village yet! I’m probably a bad player, but I don’t mind, I’m having a lot of fun and the game is still as beautiful and clever as ever. There’s a real romance to this game, I find it an emotional and exhilarating experience to play.

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So that’s your lot, hope you enjoyed it. I’ll be back in about a month with some more. It’s summer, so expect there to be a lot less TV and maybe just a whole lot less of everything if this weather keeps up! Although you can take Switches outside…