#dakota be normal challenge

[carpaltunnelofgirllove]

so basically my last post

[carpaltunnelofgirllove]

this is peterick i think

[breelandwalker]

Snow Moon - February 2025

Boots and mittens on, witches - it’s time for the Snow Moon!

Snow Moon

The Snow Moon is the name given to the full moon which occurs during the month of February. Despite what certain groundhogs will tell you, February is the month that sees the highest rates of snowfall across much of North America, according to the National Weather Service, and many alternative names for the moon and the month in which it falls reflect this.

As with many full moon names, we find the roots of the Snow Moon among the indigenous peoples of North America. In this particular case, a colonist explorer noted in 1760 that the Naudowessie (Dakota) people called this month Snow Moon specifically due to the tendency for snowstorms to come during that month. Some other indigenous names for this moon and month refer to commonly-sighted animals. Some examples include Eagle Moon (Cree), Bear Moon (Ojibwe), Groundhog Moon (Algonquin), and Goose Moon (Haida). Another notable example is Hungry Moon (Cherokee), denoting the scarcity of available food in deep winter.

The moon will be at peak illumination at 8:53am EST on Wednesday, February 12th. It will be below the horizon at this time, meaning the moon may appear to be full on the 11th and the 12th, depending on where you live. It should be highest in the sky around midnight EST on the 12th - the perfect time for magic!

What Does It Mean For Witches?

February is a month of change and transition. Though winter still holds on, many places may be showing early signs of spring. Little buds may be coming out on the trees, certain species of birds are beginning to migrate back, and hibernating animals start to wake up and reappear.

As we begin to turn toward the end of our long winter’s rest, it’s a good time to think about how we prepare for oncoming change and how we care for ourselves and our practices during times of stagnation.

We might also contemplate the concept of distance and stasis as it relates to our practices, be it keeping long-distance bonds fresh, doing things remotely either alone or as part of a larger group, or feeling distant from your craft or your deities. And yes, such things are normal and cyclical. Our inspiration and motivation wax and wane just as the moon does. If it feels like you’ve been far away from your craft for too long, perhaps it’s time to bring it back into your orbit.

What Witchy Things Can We Do?

Gather fresh snow or icicles for moon water, or make your own moon ice by leaving a bowl of water out overnight to freeze, if the temperature drops low enough.

If it snows in your area, you can wish upon a snowball. Grab a handful of powdery snow, whisper your wish to it, and throw the whole thing up in the air to release the wish into the universe

With winter scarcity in mind, practice creating a minimalist spell as an exercise. Create a workable spell with as few components, words, movements, or ritual elements as possible. This is more of a challenge if you’re used to using material components or rituals in your spellwork. Many witches cast spells with focused thought or energy work alone.

You can also try creating a spell with only components and materials that you already have on hand. Explore your home and see how many items you can identify a magical purpose for and brainstorm different ways they could be used in your craft.

Explore the concept of self care as magic. Use your routines to create moments of rest and harmony, make a point of being kind to your body and your mind, and cultivate a more positive relationship with yourself - it’s the only one guaranteed to last a lifetime.

Connect with your local biome by looking for any early signs of spring in your area. Feed the returning birds and identify the plant and animal species you see around you as they appear one by one.

Happy Snow Moon, witches! 🌕❄️

SOURCES & FURTHER READING:

Bree’s Lunar Calendar Series

Bree’s Secular Celebrations Series

Snow Moon: Full Moon in February 2025, The Old Farmer’s Almanac.

Snow Moon: The Extraordinary Full Moon of February 2025, The Peculiar Brunette.

Witchcraft Exercise - Home Brews, Bree NicGarran. (Masterlist here)

Moon Info - Full Moon Dates for 2025

Calendar-12 - 2025 Moon Phases

Everyday Moon Magic: Spells & Rituals for Abundant Living, Dorothy Morrison, Llewellyn Publications, 2004.

(If you’re enjoying my content, please feel free to drop a little something in the tip jar, check out my monthly show Hex Positive, and find my published works on Amazon or in the Willow Wings Witch Shop. 😊)

[f1ghtsoftly]

All The Women’s News You Missed This Week

3/10/25-3/17/25

Furious protests erupt in Bangladesh after an 8-year-old girl succumbs to injuries she sustained after being brutally raped. Indian health workers strike for better working conditions. The Queen sends a letter of support to Giselle Pelicot. The Supreme Court will take up conversion therapy bans in a Colorado case and in Kentucky state lawmakers have voted to protect the practice. Ukranian women’s organizations struggle without US funding.

In a piece of good news, Fatou Baldeh, a campaigner against the practice of FGM, has been named Time’s Woman Of The Year.

Want this in your inbox instead? Subscribe here

Opinion and Investigative:

As the US backslides, can China claim moral high ground on women’s rights?

Why US abortion restrictions matter beyond borders

Serbia’s Femicide Record Undermines Claims of Progress on Women’s Rights

The GOP’s Next Target? No-Fault Divorce and Women’s Right to Leave

Lorraine Kelly: Diversity push is leaving working-class people behind

Women, girls bear brunt of cyberbullying against persons with disabilities

“IT’S ALL IN YOUR HEAD”: ENDOMETRIOSIS PATIENTS AND THE PROMISE OF ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE

LGBT:

Supreme Court will take up state bans on conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ children, in a Colorado case

Angry response to how transgender lawmaker Sarah McBride introduced

A new anti-LGBTQ+ bill in Hungary would ban Pride event and allow use of facial recognition software

North Dakota Senate rejects resolution asking US Supreme Court to overturn same-sex marriage ruling

Kentucky GOP lawmakers vote to protect conversion therapy

Women’s Rights:

Iran: Authorities target women’s rights activists with arbitrary arrest, flogging and death penalty

Louisiana woman pleads not guilty to a felony in historic abortion case

Risks of state abortion reporting mandates outweigh the benefits, an advocacy group says

Iran using drones and apps to enforce women's dress code

Kentucky lawmakers add specific medical exceptions to the state’s near-total abortion ban

Driving ban puts brakes on young women in Turkmenistan

Ukrainian women’s rights organisations struggle as US aid suspended

Male Violence:

Search for US student in Dominican Republic intensifies

Things to know about the former megachurch pastor charged with child sexual abuse

Airman charged in killing of Native American woman who went missing 7 months ago in South Dakota

UN experts accuse Israel of sexual violence and 'genocidal acts' in Gaza

'He strangled me without asking' - experts say choking during sex now normal for many

Sean 'Diddy' Combs pleads not guilty to updated indictment

Disabled author swamped by hate speech after social media post on feminism

Women Fight Back:

Haitian women commemorate International Women’s Day spotlighting broken justice system

How Iran's 'Woman, Life, Freedom' Protests Live On Today

FGM campaigner honoured with Time magazine title

Teacher ordered to remove signs from classroom, including one saying 'Everyone is welcome here'

Mother of woman who died after Georgia’s six-week abortion ban calls for law’s repeal

Women Radio amplifies African feminist voices

Texas midwife accused by state’s attorney general of providing illegal abortions

BBC presenters settle sex and age discrimination dispute

Queen sent letter of support to Gisèle Pelicot

Yasmeen Lari rejects Israel's Wolf Prize over "continuing genocide in Gaza"

Fierce protests as eight-year-old rape victim dies in Bangladesh

India's frontline health workers fight for better pay and recognition

US arrests second pro-Palestinian Columbia University protester

Women in the News:

Democrat Rebecca Cooke to again challenge US Rep. Derrick Van Orden

Brown Medicine professor and doctor deported to Lebanon despite having valid visa, court filings claim

Woman arrested in US for allegedly holding stepson captive for 20 years

WATCH: Woman trapped in car films as tornado hits Central Florida

'For holding a wombat, thousands threatened my life'

Judge says Fani Willis violated open records law, orders her to pay $54K in attorneys’ fees

Feel Good Stories and Feminist History:

The forgotten story of the woman who invented the dishwasher

The Mexican women who defied drug-dealers, fly-tippers and chauvinists to build a thriving business

Early members of Philly’s roller derby league face off in a match circa 2005-2006. Jeff Fusco/The Conversation U.S., CC BY-ND Philly Roller Derby league turns 20 - here’s how the sport skated its way to feminism, anti-racism and queer liberation

'We couldn't get jobs in sexist garages - so we set up our own'

5 Major Historical Movements Led By Women In Rajasthan

Arts and Culture:

‘Just be radical’: the feminist artist giving Matisse a modern punk twist

The film exploring loneliness of migrant workers

'Santosh' review: Feminist police drama confronts harsh truths

Shabana Azmi On Feminism And Her Powerful Role In ‘Dabba Cartel’

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: I want my books to be read in Africa

Cannes award-winning actress Dequenne dies at 43

Legendary Russian composer Gubaidulina dies in Germany

Book Review: Patrycja Humienik’s powerful debut poetry collection is a conundrum worth mulling over

13 Nonfiction Books to Read This Women’s History Month

As always, this is global and domestic news from a US perspective, covering feminist issues and women in the news more generally. As of right now, I do not cover Women’s Sports. Published each Monday.

[bizlybebo]

actually yeah while i’m at it im sorry for the huge wall of text and i know i’ve made so many posts about it before but i really wanna talk about it again. dakota cole does not celebrate his birthday like a normal person and something about that makes me so sick. he says “i just turned eighteen” at the end of s2ep29 after the statue/volcano/asking-for-help challenge. and i know him saying that was just a bit/joke but it essentially became canon and it . it honestly makes so much sense for him to arbitrarily decide it’s his birthday on a random day in december and just move on, not caring about the actual date. now this could have simply been because dakota didn’t feel right celebrating his birthday when the mission at hand was finding ashe and things were getting so dire. but . think about it . dakota’s parents died when he was like eight or something, and he was entrusted to alaska, who fell into addiction. he dealt with neglect + financial instability + like every problem ever and so his birthday, as well as the winter/holiday season as a whole, likely ended up being pretty miserable for him as alaska could afford less and less money-wise and health-wise (+ that’s also when winter break was, and as some1 who used to be in a kinda similar situation, a lot of kids will use school as a lifeline/distraction/escapism from their home lives) and so i personally believe that he left it all behind and celebrates neither his birthday nor any big holidays anymore, or at least doesn’t celebrate them nearly to the degree that they are “normally” celebrated. he just picks a random day in december and is like “cool i’m a year older now” and ignores all else and doesn’t really tell anybody or make any deal about it and i jsut. airiwkogjrh

[agent-of-imagined-chaos]

April fools is over and it still looks like FUCKING DECEMBER outside FUCK this Stupid Baka snow

what in the stupid fucking BULLSHIT do you MEAN it's snowing outside? Do they just let ANYONE participate in April Fools nowadays?

[fandomworld9728]

Total Drama: Revenge of the Island x Reader - Chapter 4:

Walking over to Anne Maria, Zoey shouted over the loud noise of the hair dryer. "Hey! How'd you sneak that in?!"

"Easy. I stuck it in my poof." The other girl explained with a smile, pulling out a can of hair spray from her hair to demonstrate.  

Getting ready with the rest of the girls on their side of the cabin, (Y/n) was trying to decide between a normal outfit or her cheerleading uniform. "As much as I'm not a fan of yours, that's actually pretty clever. Hey Zoey. Which do you think would be best?"

"Well, what are you most comfortable in?"

"Other people's clothes."

"....What?"

"Okay I know that sounds weird-"

"What doesn't sound weird comin' from you?" Anne Maria asked, cutting her off.

Ignoring her with an eye roll, (Y/n) continued, filing away yet another reason to dislike her. "Whenever I felt really nervous or stressed, my mom and stepbrother would let me wear something of theirs that was big, warm, and smelt like them. So, when I get close to someone, I like to wear their clothes."

~

Zoey: "Aww~ that's actually really sweet. Now that we're friends would she want to wear something of mine? Maybe we could trade clothes like other girls do."

~

Deciding to stick with her uniform for the time being, (Y/n) got dressed and headed outside just in time to see Jo and Brick crash into each other. "Are you two okay?" Going over, she offered them both a hand.

Ignoring the help, Jo stood and brushed the dirt off herself. "We're just fine. We don't need the help- hey!" The tomboy couldn't help the jealousy that rose up inside her at the sight of the cadet holding (Y/n)'s hand with that stupid little flustered smile. Pushing her way between the two, she decided to try and one up the boy. Both to impress the other girl and just for pure satisfaction. "Just did my morning 5k run. You?"

"8k." Brick said with a proud smile.

"I mean I did an 8k warm up then 5k at a full sprint." Jo shot back with a smug smile, throwing her arm around (Y/n)'s shoulders.

"What is happening right now....?"

Getting in the tomboy's face, Brick moved the adrenaline junkie behind him. He wasn't about to back down from this challenge. "My entire run was uphill."

"Yeah. Uphill with my eyes shut."

"I ran backwards with earplugs."

"Why earplugs?"

"I don't know."

"...Do you want me to leave so you two can make out?"

"Ew!" Both teens quickly moved back away from each other while (Y/n) tried not to laugh.

"Team Maggot is lucky to have us three. We won the challenge yesterday. We'll carry them all the way to victory."

~

Jo: "I'll carry them to victory. Maybe letting (Y/n) help me out since she's the only one I can stand here. Just being nice so that aptly named clump of cadet meat will be loyal. But when the time comes..." Snapping a twig in half to try and prove her point, she ended up hurting herself. "Ow. Splinter! You little-"

~

A horrible sound echoed through the camp to get everyone's attention. "Up and at em' my little morning glories." Chris started as the teens all gathered in front of him. "It's time for today's challenge."

"What?! But Lightning hasn't had his dpa!"

"Huh?" Sam asked what everyone was thinking.

"Daily protein allotment."

"Cheer girl gets it!"

"How did you know that?" Zoey asked her friend. No one really understood Lightning most of the time and she was curious how her new friend could.

"I'm a cheerleader at my high school. I tend to pick up jock lingo."

“And I haven’t had enough beauty sleep.”

“Come on. You look- great sons of Orion!” Sam flinched back, taken off guard by how the heiress looked without her sunglasses on.

Setting her hands on her shoulders, (Y/n) tried to cheer her up. “Ignore him Dakota. You still look great.”

“Really?”

Deciding the love fest had gone on for long enough, Chris continued. You can catch up on your sleep after the challenge. Right this way, to the Bay of Dismay.”

< Previous Next >

[fizzytoo]

Francisco "Cisco" Torres for @hauntedtrait's bachelor challenge <3 — info n such under the cut :D 👍🏽

// everyday, formal, sleepwear, party, hot weather

36, he/him, gay

5'11

spring baby (april taurus)

traits: maker, rancher, & jealous

Cisco owns and operates Little Apple Orchard alongside his aunt, Arabella. With apple season in Chestnut Ridge just around the corner, Cisco finds himself busier than usual. His aunt being older in her years, it's really just him on the farm. He's found it hard to meet people and date seriously as more of the responsibility of the orchard has shifted onto him.

This reality show has become huge gossip around Chestnut Ridge, especially in his aunt's social circle. With someone like Dakota, it's hard to expect otherwise. He's caught himself between wanting to participate for his own desires and avoiding becoming a spectacle for his aunt and her friends.

Francisco's the "strong and silent" type with a soft spot for animals, especially the small ones. He was especially fond of his late childhood dog, Princess, a miniature pinscher with a big personality. He keeps her dog tag tucked away in his wallet.

Besides producing apples and general apple flavored confectionery, the orchard also sells simple wood carvings that Francisco makes himself. Normally, they're small animals or nameplates but he's gotten quite confident recently and has started trying his hand at taking commissions.

As a lover, he's the generous and jealous type. He's starved for touch. He wants to hold and be held; he wants to leave his mark where it can be seen.

// other miscellaneous facts:

frequently "loses" his glasses (they're in his hair or he forgot he clipped them on his shirt pocket)

he's a morning person (not by choice but by habit)

He broke his nose and tore open his cheek (resulting in a pretty cool scar) after falling off a ladder and crashing into the unpaved road

His lower back is particularly sensitive to touch. Sometimes he'll catch himself tensing up without even meaning to when people walk behind him. (when the beefcake is ticklish 😔)

Despite how insufferable she might be, Francisco's closest relative is his aunt Arabella. She's the only one who looked after him after he came out.

mwah mwah tyyyy for the consideration <333 also if anyone can guess the video game character his looks are loosely based off of will get a kiss (the glasses and mustache might give it away).

[queeniecook]

April 4

Rain, rain and more rain had been the weather of late in Brindleton Bay. Normal for early Spring yet Jillian still craves the sunshine. She's made a decision - one she doubts Dakota will be thrilled about it.

"I want to go back to Strangerville to try to find out why Temperance tried to kill me." Jillian tells Dakota after they had gotten Slade to bed and the couple had settled in to watch the nightly news before going to bed. Jillian hates the news but Dakota likes to keep up on it due to his career. 

"What?" Dakota asks completely caught off guard. It takes his mind a few moments to process what Jillian had just told him. "She could try again. Why would you go there?"

"Don't you think it was odd though? Really think about it. I lived there for months and all of a sudden she tried to kill me?" Jillian asks her boyfriend. Ever since she had been able to summon Bonehilda again, the whole thing in Strangerville had been weighing heavy on her mind. Before she had just tried not to think about it but now she can't stop. 

"I think she's crazy. Guidry told us she wanted the house. That was her motivation. She was probably attached to some of those items you accepted from the house you stayed at during the bachelor challenge. Spirits like to attach themselves to something that was important to them during life."

"But don't you see that conflicts with each other? If she was attached to one of the items, why did she want that house? That house wasn't that old. Not to mention those items came from a totally different town and were antiques. It doesn't add up, Dakota. I'm telling you something is off about the whole thing."

Dakota thinks about it for a moment and nods. "You're right, that doesn't add up but it's still dangerous. If you really need to go, we can go this weekend."

"What about our son? Mom and Dad are on a cruise and both Andrew and Joey the same hours." Jillian tells him gently, she knows he isn't going to want to let her go without him and she understands that. 

Dakota sighs "Just wait until someone can stay with Slade. Strangerville will still be there."

[galaxygurlll]

The Haunted Sanitarium that Changed Us Forever - Part 2

Reader is Alex’s younger sister (same age as Dakota) and best friends with Tanner, Chelsea, and Dakota and everyone else. Reader does get scared easily, but takes a challenge like a champ, most of the time. Some places affect her more than others and she does have her moments where she doesn’t know if she can continue but does with everyone else’s help. She has the most trouble with getting badly targeted at the Prison locations and can’t figure out if that’s a good or bad thing but at hospitals, she seems to be the most liked by the spirits and ghosts there. She does become the most vulnerable at times though. She also appears as a regular on Sam and Colby’s channel, but that’s when she’s not on the road, filming with her group.

The Haunted Sanitarium that Changed Is Forever video. You can watch/listen to this whilst you read through if you'd like since I do tend to skip/miss some things.

Around 10:00 for the vid

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Previous chapter

Part 1: https://www.tumblr.com/galaxygurlll

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LAST TIME ON PROJECT FEAR

"Dude, less than twelve hours we have to be up," "It's going to be very interesting to see how we handle being back and if we can make it through the night or not," "And you say we're weird," "I swear if one more of you scares me before we even arrive at Sweet Springs, you'll be joining the spirits there," "I can't believe we have to meet up with Chelsea tomorrow," "Project Fear starts now!" "Uhh, ones on the internet," "You vowed to never return! That's a vow!" "This was the place that made us all true believers in the paranormal," "I hate witching hour, it's the worst. I'm always targeted the most around then," "So Cindie Harper is her name. She, like, runs and manages the place," "Standing at the top of the steps very ominously! Just waiting for us," "Come on!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

COMING UP ON PROJECT FEAR

"Chelsea.../Tanner.../Y/n..." "Nah brah, I'm not doing that," "Hey! Are you okay!?" "What happened when you were alone last time? Does it fit with now?" "I'm so sorry this happened to you, I'm so, so sorry," "What if y/n-" "Ahhhh!" "Y/n!!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Day 1 - West Virginia

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Sweet Springs Sanitarium-

-Y/n pov-

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"It's good to see you guys, I'm so excited for your return," Cindie tells us as she claps her hands together as I stand next to Alex and Dak starts to talk, "So, when the episode aired, you tweeted us like a couple things that you've experienced that we also experienced last time," he tells her. "Basically, I- I get the screams. And they are very blood curling, loud, screams," Cindie begins to tell us making me sigh in annoyance at that, "It's almost like disemboded voices or some- you know it feels and sounds like it's right there with you," She concludes.

Me and Chels make eye contact with wide eyes and, with a shake of my head in disbelief, we turn back to Cindie who's still talking, "And sometimes, I will not hear them in person, but when I play back the video or audio, it will be there," She finishes and Dak talks straight away, "So, I have a question. So when doing the research you were talked about how you were, like, thrown down the stairs at one point," this makes my eyes widen since I'd forgotten about that.

"I don't normally get pushed down the stairs," She claims making me sigh in relief as she goes on, "That's only happened one time," which still makes me slightly nervous since last time I felt something slightly push me. I must of zoned out cause I feel a nudge and I quickly snap back to reality and turn to see Alex looking at me with that concerned older sibling look and I give him the best smile I could to reassure him and he gives one back and puts an arm around my shoulders and brings me in for a side hug before letting go.

Suddenly, crack, a firecracker sound goes off behind the door that me and Alex are standing in front of and we both jump and I scream, "Shit," and sprint from that door to Chels and we wrap our arms around each other as we all freak out over what just happened, even Cindie looks to be shocked as she has a hand over her mouth. Chels lets go of me but I stay by her side. "Ohhhhhhhh, okay," Tanner says with a nervous laugh as Dak approaches the door and why? I don't know!

"That was on the door, dude" He claims, "Thanks Captain Obvious," I tell him trying to calm my nerves and he can tell so he just gives me a funny look before I hear Alex again, "That was the loudest knock. This is in the middle of the day still," Tanner says into my camera which is luckily, being held tightly by me, "That sounded like, right in between our heads?" I claim pointing between my brother and me and he nods in agreement and says, "Yeah!"

"I will tell you guys, there is no one in here," Cindie tells us making me groan, "Great!" Causing the others to laugh and chuckle, " I don't see anything," Dak says and I look over to see him pointing his camera through a window to get a better look, "No one's in there," he confirms. "Wait," Chels begins and I focus back on the conversation, "Did you tell them we're coming?" She asks Cindie and I just hope she didn't. Suddenly, Cindie smiles and says, "Yes."

"Shit, fuck, gosh damn it," I mutter as the others freak out as well and call her out for this, "Cindie! Why!" Tanner screams out and Cindie laughs at his antics before quickly adding, "I said be nice! Okay? I said be nice," and she earns a 'really' look from me, "That sounded really nice," Alex says and we watch him gesture to the door that I haven't gone back to standing in front of, instead, staying by Chels. "Welcoming us back," Alex states with a nervous chuckle and me and him share a look of just terror and worry before focusing back to the others and I add in sarcasm, "Awesome," getting laughter from the others.

Chels then speaks again and I make my way to stand between her and Dak now, "Okay so, I have to ask, you told the spirits we're coming back, what was the reaction? What was the interaction that you had? Like..." She trails off as I think in my mind good question and quickly focus on what Cindie is telling us, "Okay, so, I said, do you know who's coming? And the ghost box, I had the ghost box on, it said, Chelsea," she concludes and points to Chels making us freak out.

"Stop it!" Chels exclaims with fear as Tanner celebrates for not having his name remembered and, to be honest, so am I. Then, Cindie suddenly points to Tanner with an evil look, "You're not out of it! No, no! Because I said, do you know who else is coming? And guess who's name came up?" She then points to Tanner and he reacts annoyed and scared which, is understandable. But, Cindie then turns to me and my eyes widen and she just nods her head, "No, nah uh," I say with a shake of my head and she just nods, "What?" Alex asks, "Well, another name came up, the clearest name, but in like, a mocking way, was in fact, y/n," she tells us and I mutter, "Fuck this crap."

Tanner's now more freaked out and walks a little distance away before I feel a tug on my elbow and look to see Chels pull me away from the group slightly before speaking, "I reckon I know why your name came up, and so clearly as well and in a mocking way," I just look at her to go on, "Weren't you the one who was mocking the spirits here last time, like, the whole time," that's when my eyes widen at the realisation that she's correct, "Shit," I mutter in response before making my way back over in a rush, seeing the others talking before looking at us.

"You girls good?" Tanner asks, "Yeah, Chels just reminded me of something that I did here last time that I shouldn't have done and that you never do, and is probably, most likely actually, why my name came out like that," they just look at me to continue, "The whole time I was here, and because it was one of my first locations with you guys, I mocked the spirits the entire night basically," I conclude with uncertainty and their eyes widen, "I remember that!" Alex claims, "Yeah, same!" Dak adds, "We tried stopping you but you wouldn't listen," Tanner concludes with a hint of joking and seriousness etched into his tone and I just nod, "Well, I'm listening now." Looking to Cindie, she has a look before speaking, "That would do it."

After a few more moments talking, Cindie says to us, "Good luck everybody, stay safe," getting nervous looks and sounds and 'thanks yous' from us. "Alright, well, let's get in there, let's load our gear inside and let's read the packet," Dak tells us and so, after saying our farewells to Cindie and getting her best wishes, we go to start unloading.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Sweet Springs Sanitarium-

-3rd pov, 8:20pm-

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The five make there way inside and head down a hallway whilst shining their flashlights around making sure nothing is there. Upon entering a room, Dak sets up a camera and then takes a seat on one end with Chelsea sitting down next to him, Tanner next to her, y/n next to him and Alex next to her on the other end. Alex and Dak keep their flashlights on whilst the other three turn theirs off.

"Basically, I've written up a packet of a bunch of information about the haunting and the history of this place for us to read," Dakota explains to the group before concluding, "Do you want to start us off Chels?" Dakota asks his older sister who relies with, "Oh my gosh," whilst getting it handed to her and takes it whilst turning on her flashlight and having her younger brother shine his in her face for better lighting. The atmosphere feels so heavy to y/n, she can't quite place whether or not the spirits here want them here.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Small time skip because I don't feel like writing down all the info, that's why I have the video link up top-

-Sweet Springs Sanitarium-

-3rd pov-

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Dude," Chelsea suddenly says causing everyone to jump and Alex is quick to stop reading and point his flashlight behind him, "I just saw a flashlight," She tells the group and y/n's eyes go wide before looking to the older girl, "You saw that too? I thought I was just imagining things already!" She tells her and Dakota just replies with, "What?" As this is freaking him out as well, "Straight up flash light down the hall," She tells everyone, "What!?" Tanner says this time and looks to the younger girl for confirmation and she nods, "Like, straight up flashlight," before looking the other way.

Dakota and Tanner get up with their cameras and flashlights on and walk to where the light was seen by the two girls, "Like all the way into this next room?" Tanner asks with all seriousness, "All the way down the hall," She instructs them as y/n still refuses to look down there but instead plays with the bracelet on her wrist. She's had this since she was six, an old friend made it for her.

Few moments later, more talking and figuring out what the supposed flashlight did and Tanner calling up a flight of stairs and after waiting there for a moment to see if they get a response, they get nothing and so they make their way back over to the three that are still sitting down and y/n looks up once they arrive, not noticing that the other two were watching her play with her bracelet which she only does when she's scared or nervous.

"It's already starting dude," Tanner exclaims whilst walking into the room, "Well, crap," Alex responds in a worried tone and y/n just exhales deeply before concentrating on the others again to distract herself as the two take their seats again before Tanner speaks, "What the hell is going on already?" He questions, "I don't know," Both girls reply at once, and y/n allows and small smile to come on her face at that and Chelsea continues what she was saying, "Now I'm fixated on that hallway."

"Dude, it feels like it's getting a lot colder in here," Alex informs the group and they all agree with their own responses with y/n's just being a small hum. She knows this isn't the worst place she's been to, but it's the second most scariest place that's scared her out which most places, though she's really terrified, don't do that.

After a few moments, Dakota speaks up again, "Well, let's get to the packet and then get our night going cause it's actually happening already." Tanner takes the packet next and with his flashlight, begins his reading.

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-Small time skip again because I don't feel like writing down all the info, that's why I have the video link up top-

-Sweet Springs Sanitarium-

-3rd pov-

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"So the third floor is also where you guys were standing; you- and Alex and Tanner and y/n were on the third floor when me and Chelsea were in the basement-" Dakota is cut off slightly by Tanner adding in, "Yup," before he continues on, "And we both heard the same female moan," He explains to the group and this causes y/n to get the chills at the memory before hearing him continue. "And it doesn't make sense how you guys heard it all the way up there," he points upwards, "While we were in the basement," and then points to below.

"I don't like this place," Tanner concludes making y/n nod straight away in agreement, "No," Dakota says in agreement even though he picked it, "I don't like that we're back," Tanner adds before y/n looks up at him with a look of announce and confusion, "Really? Cause at least you weren't dumb enough to mock the spirits and ghosts and whatever else is here that might be demonic!" She claims and sees Tanner look down at her, "Yeah, well, they remember you, me and Chelsea for some weird reason, and we did try to warm you last time," He tells the younger Schroeder before Chelsea adds, "Yeah, but I feel as though she's going to be the main target," not settling the young girls' nerves but points to the older girl in agreement before they all sigh and Alex gets the packet back after giving the girl a worried look but her not catching it because, well, the darkness and because she wasn't facing him at the time.

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-Small time skip again-

-Sweet Springs Sanitarium-

-Y/n pov-

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"Oh no... the basement, okay," After hearing Chels say this, I hold my breath and hear Tanner exhale and Chels goes on, "The basement. This is where the slave quarters and the hospital wing are located. This part of the building saw the most death and torment. Clear disembodied voices are a common occurrence in this part of the building-" Tanner thankfully cuts her off and I exhale, not realising that I was holding my breath that whole time and feel something around my shoulders so I look to see a hand and so, turning the other way, I see Alex. He looks down at me and I give him a faint smile and nod, doing my best to let him know I'm okay before returning back to Tanner talking.

"I mean, last time we were here, that's where everything like, went down at the very end," Tanner reinforms us, "Speak for yourself," I mumble hoping no one heard but feel a squeeze on my shoulder, letting me know that Alex heard it so I just hope no one else did but I can't tell because there isn't much light. "I have a terrible feeling right now-" Dak starts before I cut him off, "Really?" In a joking manner, trying to ease the tension and the sound of his light laughter helps before he continues what he was saying, "I feel like we are not going to have a good night," He concludes making me sigh deeply and run a hand through my hair, slightly messing it up as the other two boys agree. I then feel Alex remove his arm from my shoulders, but I know it was getting uncomfortable, so I just don't say anything.

A few minutes later, after collecting ourselves, Dak speaks up, "Okay, now it is time for us to start our overnight, and I hate to say this-" Dak is immediately cut off by me, Tanner and Chels already disagreeing but he continues with an uncertain look, "I have an idea," Dak exclaims with nervousness, but is straight up shut down and questioned by the three again before Alex speaks up, "Let's, let's hear what he has to say, guys," in an 'I'm so funny' tone earning him a glare from me and I just get a shrug and smirk in response making me roll my eyes and turning back to Dak as he explains his so-called 'genius' "For the first part of our overnight, four of us will be going to the third floor, and one of us will be going down to the basement by themselves, to face the fear alone. There will be two people going down there, but not at the same time."

This just makes me shudder at the thought of being down there again, but this time, being down there alone and so I shout at him, "Shut the fuck up, Dakota, no way," raising my hand up in the air that isn't holding my camera, probably looking all dramatic before placing it back down on my leg. "I'm already crying," Chels states and, looking at her, I see that she is, "Are you picking this person because it can't be me," she basically begs her brother with so much hurt and pain laced into her voice, "You're tearing up," Dak tells her whilst chuckling, "I know! I'm scared!" She replies and I look to the sibling duo and hope that Chels doesn't get this.

"You don't get it, dude," Chels tells him, "You haven't been down there before by yourself and it sucks," Tanner yells at Dak who just sits there with an open mouth, "Yeah Dak, not cool," I add on after Tanner leaving him to pat me on the shoulder, which I hope is him but I can tell is him. "I'm sad," Chels says and looks at me getting a nod in agreement and a response from me, "Same," Tanner and Alex laugh at this but I can tell they're concerned, they better be concerned. "Chels," Alex says before Chels speaks again, "I don't want to do it," making them nod in agreement and mumble, "Neither do I," before turning back to the conversation chaos.

"You're making your sister cry dude, already!" Alex yells to him, "At least I don't make mine cry," He states before getting a hum of disagreement from me before laughing along with everyone at that. After the laughter dies down, I decide to speak up, "I don't think Chels, Tanner and I should have to go through it again," Getting agreement from the two I mentioned, "I think it should be for someone who hasn't experienced it before, which is both of you since you said two would be doing it!" Chels exclaims and she also gets agreements from Tanner and me and Dak just adds, "Girls, this isn't Project Pussies, okay?" Earning laughter again but not from us girls before he also breaks out into a chuckle and says, "Sorry."

Then, Alex asks, "Are you picking?" Making me add, "Please don't be picking," quite urgently and I get a pat on my shoulder from Alex, "No, I'm not picking. It's up to fate," Dak informs us making me groan and throw my head back before coming back up straight, "Fate's never done me justice," I call out. Dak then writes out the first letters of our names (A/n: If you have the same first letter as one of them, use your first letter and S for the last name), "Y/n, your beanie please," I take it off and hand it over to him, completely forgetting I had put it on before coming in here. He puts the names into my beanie and holds it over to Chels.

"Okay, can we please get this over with?" I question with urgency, "Yeah, can we? I want to know if I'm mad or I'm happy," Tanner adds to my question making me nod in agreement. I just have a really and feeling about this and I know fate has never been on my side, but I feel as though something is out to get me here. I know my mocking really won't do me justice here from last time.

Chels sticks her hand into my beanie a pulls out a name a moment later and we all go silent as she unravels it then she gasps, "I'm so sorry Tanner!" She claims in a scream whilst showing the letter T written on the page and he gets up screaming and Alex also stands up for whatever reason and I watch Tanner walk down the hall slightly before Dak calls out to him, "One more name Tanner! You and the next name will do a paper, scissors, rock," and Tanner comes back to us but stays standing and this time Chels hold out the beanie to Tanner and states, "Why do your reveal who's the next victim?" He then digs his hand into my beanie and pulls out a name.

Everyone is silent again and I watch Tanner's eyes widen when he sees the letter and looks away from me slightly before saying, "Y/n, you know how much I appreciate you right? And how much you appreciate me?" This makes me nod my head in confusion and he continues, "Well, please still do," he finishes and turns around the paper and I scream slightly at the sight of my y/f/i written on there, "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit," I mutter and scream as I now stand up and walk to a wall and start banging my head on it as I hear the others cheer.

Suddenly, a hand turns me around and I see Tanner in front of me and we hug each other because of what we're about to go through and then we head back to the others. I win the paper, scissors, rock and pick to go second. The others keep reminding him that whatever he remembers him making me feel even worse.

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-Small time skip again-

-Sweet Springs Sanitarium-

-3rd pov, 8:58pm-

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After clearing up how long Tanner and y/n will have to be in the basement for (A/N: I'm just putting them down there for around an hour and maybe a little longer), Tanner tells y/n's camera about the enhanced recorder that he has and making a few jokes with the loudness, Tanner walks away from the group to the basement door, "Alright, see you guys," He says to them whilst looking through his camera, "Be careful," The girls call to him at the same time but Chelsea adds, "Don't die! Or else I'll feel really bad!" But Tanner just talks over the top, attempting to drown out the older Laden. "They know you!" She calls out again, "I didn't hear you, I can't hear you," He replies in a sing-songy tone when through the door and slightly closing it.

"She said they know you," Dak tells him but he keeps singing over the top, "They freaking know you, Tanner," Alex tries once more before saying to the others up with him, "He's so done." Y/n just stand there, hugging herself as she hears Tanner's singing voice getting fainter and fainter, it still sinking in that that will be her in around an hour or more. "I do feel bad," Chelsea states, "You should!" Y/n adds, trying to put it in a joking way and they do laugh making her smile, "Dude, he's gotta be so freaking scared," Dakota says after the laughter ends and then silence for a moment, before someone sneezes, making y/n jump and Chelsea gives a disgusted look whilst Dakota just says, "What the fuck?"

And do you know who sneezed? Alex.

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COMING UP ON PROJECT FEAR

"Chelsea.../Tanner.../Y/n..." "Nah brah, I'm not doing that," "Hey! Are you okay!?" "What happened when you were alone last time? Does it fit with now?" "I'm so sorry this happened to you, I'm so, so sorry," "What if y/n-" "Ahhhh!" "Y/n!!"

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Next chapter

Part 3: https://www.tumblr.com/galaxygurlll

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A/n: Two more parts to bring across!

[denimbex1986]

'It’s one of those odd April days in Los Angeles, the type that locals know well: Hours after noon, the sun still seems ambivalent about whether it wants to make itself known. An outsider wouldn’t think it possible for the gleaming capital of show business to feel so grayed out. But if you grew up on an island where colorless skies are the norm, it might feel familiar.

“It’s like, Will I? Won’t I?” the Irish actor Andrew Scott quips as he settles into his chair on the rooftop of the Edition Hotel in West Hollywood. He’s been in town promoting his Netflix series “Ripley,” which launched a few weeks ago, and the foreboding weather seems apt. On that limited series, the Italian vistas seem as unsettled as its antihero’s soul. The show’s vibe is “almost like L.A., what we’re looking at here now,” Scott says, as I begin to regret not bringing a jacket to our alfresco lunch. “It’s cloudy. I come from a place where the sky is normally like this.”

Scott’s “Ripley,” an adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel about a grifter whose 1950s Euro-trip comes with a body count, is morally cloudy, too, and glamorously gloomy besides. Unlike the 1999 film “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” which placed an uptight Tom Ripley (then played by peak-heartthrob-era Matt Damon) amid the rustic charm of Italy and drew its charge from the contrast, this year’s version is a blunter object. Speedo-clad Damon romped through the Italy of your dreams; the baggily attired Scott staggers through a nightmare.

Written and directed by Steven Zaillian and likely to place Scott in contention for a limited-series lead-acting Emmy, it’s mesmerizing but cool to the touch, using Oscar winner Robert Elswit’s stark black-and-white cinematography to depict a landscape as forbidding as its central character. That may account for why the series got off to a slow start on Netflix’s weekly viewership charts. But “Ripley” has also attracted the kind of positive notices that suggest a potential long tail, especially as Emmy season looms.

The series was a crucial test for Scott, who, at 47, has proven himself a shape-shifter. The out gay actor, who in 2019 stole scenes as the “Hot Priest” on the second season of “Fleabag,” and who had an awards-season run for his lovelorn role in last year’s “All of Us Strangers,” knows how to win hearts. Even playing the villainous Moriarty opposite Benedict Cumberbatch’s Holmes on the 2010s BBC “Sherlock,” Scott became known for his loopy, outsized line readings. So what would it feel like to play a tamped-down sociopath?

But Scott didn’t see Ripley that way. “I found an enormous amount to like,” he says. “There’s something about that character that, I think, a lot of people see themselves in. And I think it’s to do with being an outsider.” Tom Ripley, plainly gifted, lacks the social connections of the wealthy American expats he meets (played here by Johnny Flynn and Dakota Fanning as layabouts and occasional boors). His flashes of rage — forcing him, later, to methodically dispose of multiple corpses — exist for Scott as a sort of frustrated creative impulse. “He probably is more of an artistic sort, but he doesn’t feel he’s got the class to call himself that.”

There’s something about Ripley, in other words, that’s tortured — a trait Scott can conjure with ease. On “Fleabag,” his unnamed Catholic clergyman struggled through a crisis of faith-versus-lust that was both funny and painful. In “All of Us Strangers,” his conflicted gay writer goes on a dreamlike journey to re-encounter his late parents, forgiving both them and himself for past miscommunications while falling in love with a character played by Paul Mescal.

“Fleabag” cut against, and “All of Us Strangers” leaned into, Scott’s rare status as a gay leading man. “And not afraid to talk about it and be open about it!” marvels Andrew Haigh, his “All of Us Strangers” director. There’s little Scott isn’t open about: In a wide-ranging conversation, he volleys back his answers with the relentless self-examination — and the fleeting tearfulness — of a person who’s spent time in his feelings.

It can be hard not to conflate the characters he’s played with the sense that Scott is Hollywood’s new prince of heartache. In fact, he has a direct line to the queen of such matters. “Taylor’s new album is sensational! I texted her yesterday to say how amazing it is,” Scott says about “The Tortured Poets Department,” which came out three days before our conversation. Taylor Swift, he says, is a friend, and he beams with vicarious pride about her 31-track magnum opus: “I think she is just a force of nature, just an extraordinary human, and this album is really, really amazing.” His favorite song on it, for the record, is “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived,” a ballad that begins with quiet heartbreak and builds toward a dramatic excoriation.

But Scott is perhaps being modest. Some believe that he is as much to credit for the title of the album as the men Swift sings about. Consider the explosion online after a 2022 Variety Actors on Actors conversation between Mescal and Joe Alwyn (who was dating Swift at the time, and is thought to have inspired a few songs on the album) in which they discussed their membership in a group chat called “Tortured Man Club.” Scott, they said, had initiated the chat.

“Let me tell you what that is!” Scott says. Just before Alwyn was to appear in the TV adaptation of novelist Sally Rooney’s “Conversations With Friends,” Scott — Alwyn’s co-star in the 2022 film “Catherine Called Birdy” — set him up with Mescal, of “Normal People,” another series based on Rooney’s work. “So they were about to play these tortured characters, and I had played a tortured character in ‘Fleabag.’ It wasn’t about our own characteristics!” The chat quickly died on the vine, he says. “I think there were three texts, like, ‘Hey, guys.’ You know those groups that you set up, and they just collapse.”

Short-lived or not, the existence of the chat had taken on a second life ever since the announcement of “The Tortured Poets Department.” And the whole incident speaks to Scott’s easy way of connecting people.

“He’s a great guardian of actors, if you’re lucky enough that he admires you or has respect for you,” Mescal says. “He’s got an overseeing quality, in terms of understanding that good art and good actors are hard to come by.”

Mescal, 28, and Alwyn, 33, feel in a sense like peers of Scott’s. “Fleabag” Season 2, which brought Scott to a new echelon of fame, was just five years ago, and in conversation, he has a Peter Pan energy: raffish, barking laugh and eyes that seem to twinkle with each new disclosure. And yet Scott makes for a notably older Tom Ripley — a character written by Highsmith to be just past college age.

“It was just a beautiful film,” Scott says of Anthony Minghella’s 1999 adaptation. “The idea of approaching that again, one of my first questions was ‘OK, who wants to do a carbon copy?’” Scott gestures at what, in the dim light of the patio, appears to be his delicately lined face: “Jesus, look at my age!”

Scott’s take on the character reads as more experienced, and wearier. More tortured, over a longer timeline. Scott can relate. Our conversation is the final stop on a lengthy press tour, which came on the heels of promoting “All of Us Strangers” during Oscar season; he flies back home tomorrow. Before that was “Ripley”’s long road to the screen: After some 162 days of principal photography from summer 2021 to spring 2022, the series, which had been made by Showtime, bounced to Netflix amid a fire sale at the Paramount-owned cable network.

Following “Ripley,” “All of Us Strangers” and his solo show “Vanya” on London’s West End last fall, Scott is on a career high, and he’s become a red-carpet fixture as a fashionista. (His all-white tux-and-tee combo as a nominee at this year’s Golden Globes deflated the pomposity of the event, while looking dazzlingly fresh.) “It’s a way of having fun, being creative — going, OK, well, this is a bit of a laugh.” Scott stammers, but goes on: “My mother was a very stylish, creative person, and it’s something I’ve always been interested in. Why not just have a bit of fun while we’re here?”

Scott has brought up his mother a few times before I get the chance to offer my condolences. She died unexpectedly on March 7 — less than a month before “Ripley”’s premiere. “It came very suddenly to our family,” he says, “and it’s landed in the middle of all of this stuff. Her spirit is so alive in me in the immediate aftermath of her death.”

There are painfully mixed feelings at play: Scott is proud of the work he’s done (and duty-bound to promote it), while part of him is elsewhere. Talking about his mother is a way of keeping her close. She was an art teacher, “and her way of dealing with people was so kind, but she wasn’t very good at small talk,” Scott says. “She connected with people in a very particular way. What I was taught was the idea of being authentically yourself.”

Which extends to Scott’s self-presentation. In our meeting, he’s neon-bright, wearing a teal crewneck sweatshirt under a fuzzy cardigan the precise shade of cerulean that Miranda Priestly popularized. “People say that they look back at photographs and cringe,” he says. “Who cares? It’s about playfulness. It’s about going, How would I be if I wasn’t scared of criticism?”

“Ripley,” in its ambiguity, is a show unafraid to trigger debate. Among the choices Zaillian (best known for his Oscar-winning screenplay for “Schindler’s List”) made was a greater fealty to Highsmith’s text. Minghella’s film untangled her complications: Tom lusted after Dickie (played by Jude Law), and he had to destroy what he could not obtain. Here, though, Tom seems repulsed by Dickie, even as he admires his lifestyle and easy way of being. Tom doesn’t seem to fit into any identity at all, leaving some viewers to wonder whether he’s even gay in this version.

“Everything that I feel on that subject is in the show,” Zaillian says when asked to clarify Ripley’s sexual orientation. “I don’t like to do anything overtly; I think subtlety is best. It’s not that I’m trying to hide anything, but I think it’s all there.”

Scott is willing to go a bit further. “I didn’t want to diagnose him with anything in particular,” he says. “I don’t think he would be comfortable in a gay bar or a straight bar. I think his sexuality is elusive to him.” What he does to Dickie is an expression of frustrated heartsickness, perhaps. “I think he has a feeling of love for him. Sometimes it could be sexual. Sometimes it could be fraternal. And sometimes it could just be amicable.” What was a quarter century ago rendered as an outright homoerotic story here gets into levels of confusion that feel more challenging, more novelistic. “If she was alive today,” Scott says of Highsmith, “I’d love to ask her a bit more about that.”

Highsmith, whose own relationship with her lesbianism was complicated, likely wouldn’t recognize the world through which Scott strides. Indeed, he has previously expressed his dubiousness about language around sexuality — specifically, the term “openly gay,” which he derides. “It’s wonderful to be able to talk about sexuality in an open way,” Scott says. “But I do feel sometimes, other people — and by other people, I mean straight people — don’t have to explain or talk about their sexuality every time they go to work.”

Scott, thus far quick-witted and voluble, has begun to weigh his words carefully. “The idea that I’m being defiant by just being exactly who I am … Be open about it? Why wouldn’t you be open about it?” The distinction between disclosing one’s sexuality and not isn’t lost on Scott, and he doesn’t mind it — that’s what, to him, the word “out” is for. “But the word ‘openly,’ for me, just seems a little loaded.”

The actor’s newfound prominence as a gay leading man is both a turning point for our culture and a fact that might seem to lend him special access to certain characters. In his first conversation with Haigh about “All of Us Strangers,” “he understood so deeply what that character needed to be,” Haigh says. “You want someone to connect to the character on a personal level. And I don’t think Andrew is afraid of that. In fact, it excites him, and he wants to embrace how he can make it personal.”

And yet Scott resists the idea that the story is solely one for gay viewers: He remarks that just today, he received a note from a friend who watched with his wife, and was moved. “A lot of this stuff has really affected me in my own life growing up — God knows I didn’t have a lot of gay content,” Scott says. “We live in an identity-politics era. We’re separating each other more than we need to. This hysteria about your sexuality and how that is something that is only understandable to people who belong to the same tribe as you — it just doesn’t seem truthful.”

Part of Scott’s response might be a desire to sidestep misreadings of his intentions with “All of Us Strangers” and “Ripley.” In both projects, he plays a character who has experienced some version of same-sex attraction; in both, his character also seems miserable. “Sometimes I find it hard when you’re doing press,” he says, “because I feel so joyful and so emancipated. It seems like I always want to talk about the difficulties that I have with being gay, when actually, it’s the greatest joy of my life.”

His presence on the celebrity circuit, though, suggests that culture is still figuring out how to treat an out star at Scott’s level. At this year’s BAFTAs, a red-carpet reporter for the BBC asked Scott about Barry Keoghan’s genitalia as seen in the film “Saltburn,” implying that Scott and Keoghan (who is dating the pop star Sabrina Carpenter) had been intimate. Scott quickly walked away. “It was awkward,” he says. “It was a little bit weird. But I got an apology from the journalist. I think it was a series of unfortunate events. And I totally accepted his apology.”

Scott doesn’t dwell on the incident, saying, “I wouldn’t want him to suffer any more.” But the story resonates with a general sense that Scott’s work, or his public self, is held to a different standard. The understandable excitement around Scott booking massive jobs — and his experience of being the “first” or “only” in many professional settings — feels strange from the inside. “What is the best thing that we could do?” he asks me. “I don’t have the definite answer. Would it be unusual for us not to mention my sexuality at all?”

Well, yes — but we move on. The moment Scott’s experiencing is the culmination of an incremental build, after an initial leap of faith. He’d dropped out of Trinity College in Dublin (alma mater of Irish artists such as Oscar Wilde and, more recently, “Normal People”’s Rooney and Mescal) after six months to pursue theater. “Sometimes you shouldn’t have a safety net,” he says. “If you have a safety net, you’re going to be really, really safe.” Early screen roles included appearances in “Saving Private Ryan” and “Band of Brothers.” The parts gradually got bigger — his performance in the 2014 drama “Pride,” about the gay-rights crusade in Britain, is a fan favorite, and he was an appropriately sinister opponent for James Bond and MI6 in 2015’s “Spectre” before playing the lead in a 2017 London staging of “Hamlet.”

But it was “Fleabag” that lit his career aflame. Scott calls Phoebe Waller-Bridge “one of my main homies” and, to the extent that the Hot Priest phenomenon has followed him, says it’s all for the good. “It hasn’t prevented me from playing any other characters. And I just feel so proud of the process and the product.” Would he return to a hypothetical “Fleabag” Season 3, if Waller-Bridge asked him to? “Of course I would,” he says before unleashing one of those great Andrew Scott guffaws. “But she’s not going to!”

It’s hard to overstate the impact Hot Priest had, turning what had been in its first season a charming critics’ favorite into a world-devouring, Emmy-sweeping hit on the strength of Scott’s chemistry with Waller-Bridge. (Scott was not himself Emmy-nominated for “Fleabag,” but was the following year for an episode of “Black Mirror.”) Sad-eyed yet smiling, H.P. forges a deep understanding with Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag: They both know that they want to be together, and they both know that they cannot.

Which makes “Fleabag” an intriguing counterpoint to Ripley, a character who pushes his way past every limitation he cannot hack his way through. The monochrome look of the show turns Scott’s eyes into vampiric black pools of need; over eight episodes, we witness Ripley’s lower-class life and high-class ambitions, and his willingness to turn to violence to bridge the two. There’s an unholy gnarliness to Ripley that Scott sells well.

“Ripley” is a double risk, as Scott knew when he took on the role. The series updates — by more closely following Highsmith’s tricky, nasty novel — a film that’s widely beloved, and does so with a leading man whose reputation is for suffering sweetly. “I’m just concerned about how it would be perceived, how it would change things for me,” Scott says. He acknowledged that fear — then let it go.

“When I played James Moriarty, I was younger than people wanted the character to be. And they’d go, ‘I wanted the character to have a beard and wear a top hat, and this little fucker is now playing it like this, and I don’t want that!’ The biggest challenge for you is to put your dukes up and go, Sorry, but this is this.” Risk — in comparison to what Scott calls “cynical and unconfident” compromise — works.

His co-stars have noticed the chances he takes. “Technical brilliance is one thing. And then there’s this other part of Andrew that is incredibly raw in his performance,” Mescal says. “You could sit around and talk to actors about their lives all day — they love nothing more than talking about themselves. But Andrew lets an audience into the corners of themselves that we don’t talk about.”

Sam Yates, the director of Scott’s 2023 “Vanya” — which won an Olivier Award for best revival in April — describes the places Scott would go onstage as “trancelike.”

“How do you go through that without a level of someone else taking over?” Yates says, adding that Scott “is being led by a certain degree of technique, but by a huge degree by his aliveness to his own emotions. He would surprise himself constantly onstage.”

He seems to surprise himself in conversation, too, returning with frequency to a subject that’s evidently joyful to recall and painful to discuss. Previously this season, while being interviewed by Terry Gross on NPR’s “Fresh Air,” his voice got tight when she asked him, seemingly not knowing the answer, if his parents were both still alive. Now, though, his mother feels like the third person at our table under a gray L.A. sky.

“You keep your Irishness alive by telling the story,” he says. “Thinking about my mom recently and talking about her — it was really important to me, in the eulogy, to celebrate her.”

I remark that his mother — her artistic sensibility, her impatience with pleasantries — feels very present to me. He pauses, seems to shudder slightly. Like a sudden storm, tears are rolling down his cheeks, and he takes a moment to speak. When he finally does, his voice is steady.

“It’s a really funny thing, to be honest,” he says. “I can’t disappear the fact that this has happened in the midst of all this. The juxtaposition of these two extremes in my life where all these projects are coming out, and I’ve had to be much more public-facing than I usually am, at a time when I’m going through this extraordinary personal loss.”

He begins talking more rapidly, becoming more animated as he wills himself out of crying. “I’m not even sure if it’s the right thing to do, but you have to tell your own truth. My job is to understand what it’s like to be a human being, and I don’t like perpetuating the myth that we’re all perfect. That you have to be a movie star.”

Scott’s production company, he tells me, is called Both/And — he notes the slash in the middle. “I’ve always believed that things are always both something and something else. It could be the happiest day of your life, and you’re hungry. You’re at a funeral, and you have a laugh. There’s always something else.”

I can relate: I’m pleased to be connecting, but sorry that I upset him. And so I apologize.

“No, no, listen! I’m upset anyway!” he says, then lets loose another hearty laugh, loud and rich enough to crack the tension of the moment. In its gusto and its surprising timing, it does feel like a laugh at a funeral, but sometimes those are the kind one needs.

“Ripley” may represent the greatest challenge this versatile actor has experienced — he’s at the center of each of its eight episodes, and nothing happens without him.

“We would do what we could in our time off, but I know it was really taxing for him,” Fanning, Scott’s co-star, says. “We found a lot of common ground, because we’ve both done this for the majority of our lives. We approach work in a very similar way — there’s a time and place to be serious, and there’s a time you need to tell some stupid joke. And we did that too.”

The presence of co-stars was a balm, but Ripley, necessarily, is alone a great deal. “Spending a lot of time with a character who is solitary when I was feeling solitary myself was quite tough,” Scott says. “I love that about my job — that you can go into a particular world — but it was very different from what gives me joy. It’s the sheer stamina that was needed: It’s a lot of acting.”

The show’s two bravura set-pieces involve the disposal of bodies. “It was important to me that this character was not a professional killer,” Zaillian says. “And so we have to see him think each one through. And Andrew can bring us into his thoughts and feelings.”

Scott, compact of frame, lugged his fellow actors (rather than dummies) as much as was feasible: “I remember doing a long take, seven or eight minutes, me just trying to lift something up, and Steve just let the camera go as I struggled, and didn’t cut.”

He doesn’t linger on this aspect of the shoot. Easily able to access heartache and joy, he tends to stop short when specifics about the work come up. “It goes into a sort of PR-speak,” he says, “where you have to tell people how much suffering you’ve been through.” He draws an analogy of a host throwing a dinner party: “If you spend the whole night saying, ‘Well, I couldn’t find any organic chicken, and the vacuum wasn’t working’ — they’re like, ‘Just give me my fucking dinner!’”

“He’s aware that his work isn’t for him,” Mescal says. “You’re providing a service to an audience. Nobody really gives a fuck about your process, and if they do, they’re boring.”

Elsewhere in our conversation, Scott edges up to describing his method for finding Ripley: “I’m always really interested in the vulnerability of people. What’s the thing they’re unconfident about? What are they hiding? It was hard to access that.” What he found, in the end, was less “a biographical sort of solution,” he says, than an absence — of the ease it takes to get through life. “Not everybody is charming and capable and socially adept and sexy. You have to advocate for people who don’t have it easy. That’s what made me have some degree of affection for him.”

Affection, even on a dark project, is what it’s all about. “He’s a big advocate for play,” Mescal says. “He takes the work very seriously, but he wears it lightly. And that allowed our chemistry to be pretty playful and organic.”

On “All of Us Strangers,” the pair, already acquainted, bonded deeply. “It developed into a genuine love between them, and you can still see that now,” Haigh says. “I felt like I’d been a dating agent, and I brought these two people together.”

The film, shot quickly after “Ripley”’s protracted production, helped Scott emerge and reset after playing Tom. “Sometimes a change can be as good as a rest,” he says. “Although, I have to say, I do need a rest now.”

I have one last question before I let Scott go. He’d said he wondered how “Ripley,” with its grand ambition and with Scott at the center of the story, might change things for him. What kind of change would he want?

It turns out the real question is what kind of change doesn’t he want. “You want to keep your life,” he says. “I like my life. I don’t want people to become the enemy. Because I like people.”

He lets out a sigh. “I’m glad to be wrapping up the promotion aspect of it, because it’s been quite a big journey, and obviously, I need to go and be with the people I love.” He smiles, and his eyes turn down slightly. “So it’s just time for me to exit stage left for a little while.”

I turn my tape recorders off; Scott has given me enough. But he waits a second, his gaze once again as eager as during the formal part of our interview: What had I meant when I used the word “obversely”? (I’d said that the Hot Priest persona seemed like a gift, but — obversely! — potentially limiting as well.) He usually uses the word “conversely” to describe what he thought I meant.

We both look up definitions on our phones, and conclude that the two words mean the same thing: two feelings coursing at once, in seeming opposition to one another. Like the lovability and loathsomeness dueling within Ripley; like happiness and sorrow in a single charged moment. Both/and, or something like that. Words are funny things! And isn’t it amazing, Scott muses, that we can use language to communicate what we’re feeling. What an invention. What a gift. He grins. And if there’s another feeling behind it, both the smile and something else, the sun is suddenly shining too brightly for me to see.'

[carpaltunnelofgirllove]

being a fall out boy fan is so unserious okay yeah whatever they had their own episode of teen titans go and had a song on big hero six i guess. and their lead singer worked on the soundtrack of a disney junior spiderman spinoff as well as having various cameos in it but not only that he sang a song for the lego batman movie yeah whatever who cares right

[auntiechele]

Been wanting to do this for a while but finally decided to do some fanfics here! Here’s one that I started

I thought waking up on a college game Saturday would be like it normally would be sleeping in, pregaming, wearing my NDSU bison pride colors (green and gold) and not seeing anything burnt orange Texas Longhorns colors. That was until I started dating Glen. Don’t ask me how I got in this position of choosing from wearing my bison gear to wearing longhorns stuff. All I know is that something inside of this North Dakota heart..: this is either gonna be a huge pill to swallow or complete utter chaos that this poor girl could barely handle. Met Glen thanks to a bar here in Austin when I moved from Fargo, ND to Austin for a new start and a teaching job for the school here in Austin as a 1st Grade class. Now here I am almost a year later since I moved to Austin and 5 months into my relationship with Glen. Regretting only one thing….My knowledge of football teams. Did I expect this to happen? I think nobody did.

 I slowly started regretting every decision when I woke up seeing little by little Burnt orange (regret #1).

Meeting Glens family finally (slight regretting #2)

But I’ve decided to put my best foot forward and see what will happen if I wore my bison gear to a Texas longhorns game.

I walked down the steps in my bison gear at glens house and see what I repeat did and didn’t wanna see. Glen was up making breakfast. But what I didn’t wanna see a Texas longhorns T-shirt to fit me.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. Do I have to?” I groaned seeing the shirt.

“Well good morning to you too sleepyhead. And yes it’s a right of passage.” Glen said with a grin.

“Ugh you and your mindset of a morning person.  right of passage is to not see this shirt this early in the morning.” I mumbled as I started to pet brisket.

Glen laughed at what I said because he knew it was gonna be like pulling teeth for me to wear the burnt orange.

“Well it’s either that or you wear the cowboys colors on Sunday.” He said with a smirk.

“I will repeat what I have every Sunday since we’ve been dating…. You will not catch me wearing anything that has to do with the cowboys.” I said with an eye roll.

“Yeah yeah just wait til we start having a family.., then your little go birds will be going bye bye.” He said as my stomach flipped around a couple of times. Yes glen and I have talked about this off and on but it never gets old.

“Eh I’m pretty sure one of em will be saying go birds. Or even better singing (fly eagles fly) on the top of their lungs.” I laughed as I heard the commotion outside. *and it starts* I said to myself when I saw more people with burnt orange on.

“Oh boy… haven’t convinced her yet to wear that shirt yet I see?” I heard glens dad say as he walked in.

“Nope not yet. Been trying though.” Glen said shaking his head

“You haven’t even tried! All you did was just put it out for me to see. And I’ll say it now… no.” I said as I grabbed a cup of coffee for me and glens parents.

“Is that a challenge?” He asked

“No no no. It’s not a challenge because I already know I’m gonna lose this challenge. Just let me wake up a little more before I regret putting on the shirt.” I said when I heard more footsteps coming through the door.

“Hello everyone! What is Chele wearing!? I thought you were going to get her to wear that shirt little bro??” Lauren said as she walked in with Leslie right behind her with the twins.

“He tried… he failed.. all he did was put it out for me and said nothing less.” I said sipping on my coffee as glen was being over dramatic.

“Your gonna make it hard for me to turn you into a longhorn fan aren’t you.” Glen said as he got attacked by his niece and nephew.

“Maybe.. I will wear this shirt under one condition… you have to wear anything that has to do with the ndsu bison if the cowboys lose their games on Sunday.” I said nonchalantly.

“Nope not gonna do it.” He said laughing. As I grabbed the shirt.

“Your no fun. I guess I’ll just put this on.” I said sighed as he grinned. What he didn’t know is that I had a plan under my sleeve today as I put on my bison tank top, white bison hat and the Longhorns T-shirt.

[hello---cello]

I just found your blog via a retweet from someone I follow. What is Intern AU?

Also, does the AU affects the Ridonculous Race?

Oh hey first ask ever how fun!

Also, I have no idea how you saw that on twitter since I don't have one lol but ah well.

And as for your question, I'll do you one better and give a rough outline for the AU's timeline (If you only care about the RR stuff, skip to the end.)

So, during TDI Noah starts to help around the Playa De Losers a lot, first by chance and then because the interns began to subconsciously rely on him since he is a responsible dude.

Then after the TDI special and Noah fails to qualify for TDA, Chris approaches him with the offer to become an intern behind the scenes. He still makes his Aftermath appearances, but he's also managing the staff and other logistical stuff. He also gets to hire Eva as security, since a certain purple haired girl keeps trying to sneak onto set.

Then, he gets into TDWT, and instead of going home in London, Noah gets out in "Anything Yukon can do, I can do better!". How? Chris rigs it against him and basically forces him to get eliminated, orchestrating the challenge to make Noah look bad by making things harder for him.

Then when Noah gets eliminated, Chris brings him back as an intern. since he can't hide behind the scenes (plane lol) he gets to make small cameos on camera while he also does his other stuff.

While on the plane he also discovers Ezekiel in the cargo hold, and after talking with Chris, invites him to the intern team. But Zekes role is to pretend to be feral like in the show. so that stuff still happens just know Zeke is acting.

Anyways, yadayadayada WT happens, then ROTI (Where Dakota also gets to be an intern lol) then Pakhitew (Where Topher imprints himself on the intern team and he is reluctantly absorbed into it) and after being through so much he decides he needs a break.

But unfortunately for Noah, his contract says he needs to work for the network for another year at least before he can get a break, so he gets. creative.

RR is an up-and-coming show produced by the same networks as TD, and Noah proposes the idea of the "Reality TV pros" As a way to get out of the studio. Owen's just happy to spend time with his little buddy.

So, Noah still gets to join the RR cast like normal, BUT the difference here is he is more overworked and only taking the competition seriously cause he knows as soon as he gets out, he's gonna be slated as an intern for the remainder of RR.

He'd also get out later than he does in canon, and other teams' placements would change too? Also, I think Nemma would just become a close platonic friendship during RR but could develop into a relationship after the show. I feel like Noah knows better than to date while the camera's rolling lol. Idk I hadn't really thought as far as RR until now.

But yeah, that's the timeline of the AU as of now, I know it's not completely what you asked for but I hope it covered your question!

Also I'll post more au stuff eventually, but, yaknow, life and stuff sometimes makes things very difficult.

[breelandwalker]

Snow Moon - February 23-24, 2024

Boots and mittens on, witches - it's time for the Snow Moon!

Snow Moon

The Snow Moon is the name given to the full moon which occurs during the month of February. Despite what certain groundhogs will tell you, February is the month that sees the highest rates of snowfall across much of North America, according to the National Weather Service, and many alternative names for the moon and the month in which it falls reflect this.

As with many full moon names, we find the roots of the Snow Moon among the indigenous peoples of North America. In this particular case, a colonist explorer noted in 1760 that the Naudowessie (Dakota) people called this month Snow Moon specifically due to the tendency for snowstorms to come during that month. Some other indigenous names for this moon and month refer to commonly-sighted animals. Some examples include Eagle Moon (Cree), Bear Moon (Ojibwe), Groundhog Moon (Algonquin), and Goose Moon (Haida). Another notable example is Hungry Moon (Cherokee), denoting the scarcity of available food in deep winter.

The Snow Moon this year is what is known as a "micromoon" - basically the opposite of a supermoon. Where a supermoon brings our beloved satellite closer to Earth, at the perigree (or zenith) of its' elliptical orbit, a micromoon is at the apogee (or nadir), placing the moon at a point comparatively farther away. The moon will be at peak illumination at 7:30am EST on February 24th, meaning the moon may appear to be full on the 23rd and the 24th, depending on where you live.

What Does It Mean For Witches?

February is a month of change and transition. Though winter still holds on, many places may be showing early signs of spring. Little buds may be coming out on the trees, certain species of birds are beginning to migrate back, and hibernating animals start to wake up and reappear.

As we begin to turn toward the end of our long winter's rest, it's a good time to think about how we prepare for oncoming change and how we care for ourselves and our practices during times of stagnation.

With the moon in apogee, we might also contemplate the concept of distance as it relates to our practices, be it keeping long-distance bonds fresh, doing things remotely either alone or as part of a larger group, or feeling distant from your craft or your deities. And yes, such things are normal and cyclical. Our inspiration and motivation wax and wane just as the moon does. If it feels like you've been far away from your craft for too long, perhaps it's time to bring it back into your orbit.

What Witchy Things Can We Do?

Gather fresh snow or icicles for moon water, or make your own moon ice by leaving a bowl of water out overnight to freeze, if the temperature drops low enough.

If it snows in your area, you can wish upon a snowball. Grab a handful of powdery snow, whisper your wish to it, and throw the whole thing up in the air to release the wish into the universe

With winter scarcity in mind, practice creating a minimalist spell as an exercise. Create a workable spell with as few components, words, movements, or ritual elements as possible. This is more of a challenge if you're used to using material components or rituals in your spellwork. Many witches cast spells with focused thought or energy work alone.

Explore the concept of self care as magic. Use your routines to create moments of rest and harmony, make a point of being kind to your body and your mind, and cultivate a more positive relationship with yourself - it's the only one guaranteed to last a lifetime.

Connect with your local biome by looking for any early signs of spring in your area. Feed the returning birds and identify the plant and animal species you see around you as they appear one by one.

Happy Snow Moon, witches! 🌕❄️

SOURCES & FURTHER READING:

Bree’s Lunar Calendar Series

Bree’s Secular Celebrations Series

Snow Moon: Full Moon in February 2024, The Old Farmer's Almanac.

Snow Moon: The Extraordinary Full Moon of February 2024, The Peculiar Brunette.

Moon Info - Full Moon Dates for 2024

Calendar-12 - 2024 Moon Phases

Everyday Moon Magic: Spells & Rituals for Abundant Living, Dorothy Morrison, Llewellyn Publications, 2004.

(If you’re enjoying my content, please feel free to drop a little something in the tip jar, check out my monthly show Hex Positive, and find my published works on Amazon or in the Willow Wings Witch Shop. 😊)

[ambagelbraindump]

Prickly Pear Mojito

Hello from North Dakota*

*pretend I’m writing this on the scene and not two weeks after my trip.

I wanted to do something fun with the cactus liqueur bestie and I picked up on a whim, hence the prickly pear mojito.

This drink was challenging due to (i) great difficulty in acquiring prickly pear syrup or prickly pear fruit (wegmans if you’re reading this, I want my $12 back) (ii) me realizing my recipe was hot garbage after dragging all my shit to my friend’s house (iii) said friend missing several vital drink-making components such as tablespoons and ice (her roomate had bar tools though which was nice)

All of that being said, I genuinely enjoyed making (and drinking) this one. I also feel that this was a turning point in my mixology/wizard drinks journey—rather than following the recipe to a T per usual I was able to adapt and synthesize instructions from several different recipes, in addition to including my own twists (i.e., adding cactus liqueur and changing up some of the proportions of spirits.) This is also the first drink I’ve made using my hyperfixation station (pictures to come, I’m being so normal about this entire hobby).

I also learned that you can, in fact, take alcohol on a plane (in checked bags), that you should practice making a drink at least once before showing it off to your friends and making a fool of yourself, and that there’s a huge alcohol superstore in ND but not in the DMV and I’m kind of mad about it.

I would really love to experiment with this one some more—more specifically I want to continue messing with proportions and additions like shots of tequila or other liquors. Unfortunately I’m out of soda water and all the mint has gone bad but one of these days I’ll do it! I also really want to use different garnishes—attempt #2 used mint and a lime slice, but I think prickly pear fruit would also be fun, if I could actually find it.

Rating: the prickly pear mojito gets a 4/5; a bit challenging and required running all over town, but such is the nature of wizard drinks, and I really learned a lot from this one. Also very tasty/pretty.