#i do hate max but he was right about lucy being a good mom

[wetpuppets]

not my fav drawing but these three shoulda blazed it. lucy was a hippie she’d be cool about it. also paul and marko would gossip with her

[oldestenemy]

through another lens - an astounding pile of lies

Sam Emerson has decided that he hates the dark.

Is he “too old” to be afraid of it?

Probably.

But that hadn’t stopped him with the closet door and it certainly wasn’t stopping him now.

Being the grand old age of fifteen certainly didn’t stop the—frankly embarrassing—high pitched scream that escaped him on the sight of his older brother appearing on the other side of the closet door when he closed another “present” from grandpa inside.

“Jesus Christ! Where have you been!”

Michael doesn’t answer him immediately. He looks— honestly he looks more awake than he has all week. Ever since that first night out he’d been so exhausted and sour faced. Not anymore though, Sam isn’t sure if that should worry him or not...

Well rested or not— he still smells fucking terrible.

“Are you... okay?” Sam doesn’t really know what to ask. He knows what the Frogs would ask, but he really, really doesn’t want to do that.

To his immense relief, Michael smiles and says “Yeah, yeah Sammy I’m okay.”

“Okay good, because we have bigger problems right now.”

“I know— Max—”

“You know?!” Sam sputters, “Then why the hell did you let him in the other night—”

“—I know now, Sam. I’m working on it. This guy is dangerous and you need to stay away from him.”

“Tough luck.” Sam replies, crossing his arms. “I’ve got experts on the case right now.”

Michael looks like he wants to laugh, but to Sam’s surprise he holds it in, expression dropping serious again. “I mean it, this isn’t something out of your comic books, this is—” he cuts off and grabs hold of Sam’s shoulder, “—this isn’t a game, Sam. This guy is a killer and I don’t want you in danger. The hell would I do if something happened to you?”

Well that doesn’t sound promising for him and the Frogs plan...

But no, no, they’ve got this. They’ll have the safety of daylight on their side.

It’ll be fine.

Sam flashes a grin and claps a hand on Michael’s shoulder, mirroring his brother. “Don’t worry, Mike. We’ve got this. Everything’s gonna go back to normal, okay?”

Michael really looks like he wants to argue, but it’s at that moment they hear the front door open and shut. They share a look, and without hesitation, Sam pushes Michael back saying: “I’ll deal with mom for now. Take a shower bud, you reek.” and sprints out of his room for the stairs.

~*~

Lucy jumps a little bit as she hears the pounding footsteps that bring her youngest child downstairs. “Sam... why aren’t you asleep yet?”

Rather than give an immediate answer, Lucy finds herself rushed by Sam and enveloped in a tight hug. After a few moments he lets go and says “I wanted to make sure you got home okay.”

Any thought of reprimand melts away, and Lucy smiles at Sam, pulling him back into her arms. She couldn’t help the immediate flood of relief that comes with the hug. The last few weeks had been hard on all of them, and as happy as Lucy was that things were going well— it was nice, just a moment with the one so-called baby she had left. “Thank you, I had a lovely evening—although. Thorn is still a bit off-putting after our little escapade the other day.” She looks past him up the stairs as the sound of the shower turning on reaches her ears.

“Mike.” Sam explains, “I think being a garbage man is finally getting to him.”

She huffs a short sigh. “I need to talk to your brother about that, he doesn’t need to be working so hard. I know he thinks he doesn’t want to go back and finish high school but—” Lucy bites her lip, looking down at Sam as she lets him go, “—You keep an eye on him for me. I worry about him, and he doesn’t want to talk to his mother about being a man.”

It gets a laugh out of Sam that has her smiling again.

“Yeah, mom—somehow I don’t think he’s gonna want to talk to his little brother about it either.”

“No,” Lucy muses, “I suppose not.”

Maybe that was what Max had meant tonight. About boys needing both parents to confide in. There is a part of her that vehemently denies the idea—she is more than enough for her boys and they assured her so again and again both before and after the divorce was finalized. She was enough.

Read the rest here <3

[justamonkeyonautopilot]

My apparent top 100 on Apple Replay 2022 (I don’t actually remember half of these)

1. The Fine Print - The Stupendium 2. I Hope You Never Fall In Love Again - KiD RAiN 3. Trouble - Twin 4. Let’s Groove (2021 Remix) - Danny Darko 5. Toy - Netta 6. We on Top - Photoronique 7. Rich Boy - payton 8. Bad Girls - M.I.A.  9. I WANNA BE YOUR SLAVE - Maneskin 10. Last Night (Beer Fear) - Lucy Spraggan 11. The Story - Sara Ramirez 12. Fat Funny Friend - Maddie Zahm 13. Surface Pressure - Encanto Soundtrack 14. Anybody Have a Map - Dear Evan Hansen Soundtrack 15. Beggin’ - Maneskin 16. That Girl - McFly 17. Legends Are Made - Sam Tinnesz 18. Boyfriend - Dove Cameron 19. Down Under - Luude 20. Hey Mama - David Guetta 21. All I Want - Olivia Rodrigo 22. ZITTI E BUONI - Maneskin 23. Mad at Disney - salem ilese 24. Say My Name - Beetlejuice Soundtrack 25. In the Shadows - The Rasmus 26. Obviously - McFly 27. Harper Valley PTA - Dolly Parton 28. Before the Worst - The Script 29. Five Colours In Her Hair - McFly 30. Finale - Anastasia Soundtrack 31. Jumping All Over the World - Scooter 32. Bad Cinderella - Cinderella Soundtrack 33. About You Now - Sugababes 34. Insane - Black Gryph0n & Baasik 35. La Vecinita - Don Omar 36. Alexander Hamilton - Hamilton Soundtrack 37. Thumbs - Sabrina Carpenter 38. Arcade - Duncan Laurence 39. Absolutely (Story of a Girl) - Nine Days 40. Barbie&Ken - kate gill 41. Bad, Bad Leroy Brown - Frank Sinatra 42. The Greatest Show - The Greatest Showman Soundtrack 43. Peter Pan Was Right - Anson Seabra 44. Friend Like Me - Aladdin Soundtrack 45. I Know Him - Hamilton Soundtrack 46. And You Don’t Even Know It - Everyone’s Talking About Jamie Soundtrack 47. As Long as You’re There - Carrie Hope Fletcher & Oliver Ormson 48. The Last Shanty - Derina Harvey Band 49. Land of Yesterday - Anastasia Soundtrack 50. Bad Habits - Ed Sheeran 51. Androgynous - Joan Jett 52. The Fixer - Brent Morgan 53. Numb Little Bug - Em Beihold 54. You’re Welcome - Moana Soundtrack 55. From Now On - The Greatest Showman Soundtrack 56. A Little Party Never Killed Nobody - Fergie 57. Prince Ali - Aladdin Soundtrack 58. Rompe - Daddy Yankee 59. Feel It Still - Portugal. The Man 60. The Whole “Being Dead” Thing - Beetlejuice Soundtrack 61. YES MOM - Tessa Violet 62. Pinch or Snuff - Gaelforce Dance 63. Raise You Up/Just Be - Kinky Boots Soundtrack 64. Bad Girlfriend - Theory of a Deadman 65. The Other Side - The Greatest Showman Soundtrack 66. Finale B - Rent Soundtrack 67. God Must Hate Me - Catie Turner 68. All You Wanna Do - SIX Soundtrack 69. Let’s Groove - Earth, Wind & Fire 70. We Are Young - Fun 71. Back to Black - Amy Winehouse 72. It’s My Life - Bon Jovi 73. Dem Beats - Todrick Hall 74. Dance With Me Tonight - Olly Murs 75. Worth It - Fifth Harmony 76. Cover Girl - RuPaul 77. Green Green Grass - George Ezra 78. Kill the Director - The Wombats 79. Ex-Wives - SIX Soundtrack 80. My Shot - Hamilton Soundtrack 81. Black & White - Todrick Hall 82. Thank You for the Music - ABBA 83. If It’s Not God - Maddie Zahm 84. Rhythm of the Night - Moulin Rouge Soundtrack 85. We Don’t Talk About Bruno - Encanto Soundtrack 86. Sigue Con El - Dj Perreo Mix 87. Where Does the Good Go - Tegan and Sara 88. Gentleman Jack - O’Hooley & Tidow 89. Happily Ever After - He Is We 90. Jai Ho! - The Pussycat Dolls 91. Come Alive - The Greatest Showman Soundtrack 92. Thnks Fr Th Mmrs - Fall Out Boy 93. Go Your Own Way - Fleetwood Mac 94. Believe - Descendants Soundtrack 95. HandClap - Fitz and The Tantrums 96. There’s a Girl - By Abby Dewald & Amanda Barrett 97. Galway Girl - Ed Sheeran 98. Kings & Queens - Ava Max 99. Take This Job and Shove It - Johnny Paycheck 100. Wellerman - Nathan Evans, 220 KID & Billen Ted

[overenthusiasticcartoonlover]

Snippet of Conceptual

   She and Chat Noir look at each other after they leave and touch down on a new rooftop, before just bursting into laughter. 

   "Did you see how worried they were? Did they really not take it as seriously before?" Chat Noir cackles, though it's more of a mad cackle, the heaviness of the situation getting to him.

   Ladybug leans on his shoulder, laughing mostly out of relief at being out of there, "No, they didn't. The city has had no clue how to deal with this, and well, we weren't even taking this as seriously when we were younger."

   Chat Noir rubs his eyes a bit, calming down some, "Yeah. Yeah, we didn't. At least you tried, but I just saw this as fun when I was younger. Several near misses later is when I started taking it a bit more seriously. I'd never really been free to do anything until recently, and that didn't help anything."

   Ladybug looks over at him, then just gives him a gentle smile, nudging his shoulder softly, "Hey, you and me against the world, right?"

   He looks back at her, giving a soft smile in return, "You and me against the world."

   She straightens at that, letting her shoulders relax and looking into the night, hope filling her for the first time in ages, "At least we have help now. Let's do identities. I want your phone number, so we can meet up and talk teammates, and I can tell you everyone I know that was compromised."

   Chat Noir makes such a soft, relieved noise, giving her an intense nod. 

   Ladybug grins back at him, taking his hand and pulling him off the rooftops, heading for an alcove on the rooftop near her house that she uses to detransform a lot now. She scoped it out earlier, and figured she'd be able to move them to her balcony to chat when they detransform.

   She gets settled in the space, then releases her transformation, her and Tikki having been working on wordless transformations lately. 

   Marinette looks up at Chat Noir and just smiles up at him, Tikki settling on her shoulder, "Hi, Chat Noir. My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

   Chat Noir's eyes are wide, his pupils dilated and he seems a bit winded. Marinette worrying for a moment about his response, before he releases his transformation. When the magic finishes clearing from him, it's Adrien that's standing there, the boy just watching her, his voice coming out a bit chocked.

   "Yo-u're my lady."

   Marinette understands the feeling, almost mimicking his shock for a minute, before her lips start slowly spreading into a smile, until she just bursts into laughter, surging forwards to hug him, "You're my kitty! Hahaha! God, that actually makes so much sense, now that I get to see you outside of school more often."

   Adrien stiffens a bit at that, before slowly relaxing and hugging her back, his arms practically enveloping her, as he tucks his face against her hair, "Marinette. Yeah. I can definitely see it."

   She just pulls back and looks up at him, her cheeks turning a light pink, as she fights back new thoughts, "Well, I'm glad we already know each other. Come on, let's go talk on my balcony. All the kwamis are with Luiza right now, which is going to feel really weird depending on how long she has everyone for. I've gotten kinda used to having a bunch of kwamis just chilling around the room."

   She just climbs over to her balcony, Adrien following her after a beat, a laugh escaping his throat, "That's why you were so okay with leaving them with her. I was wondering why you'd trust her so much with everything without knowing her well, but you do know her."

   "Yeah. I trust Luiza a lot at this point. And how did you not know we'd be walking into Gaige's house? I've only been there twice, and I knew that door led into their apartment." Marinette looks back at him, just teasing a little.

   "Ah, yeah. I haven't actually been to their house since they changed everything. It used to lead to a stairwell that went all through the building, when I was, like, ten." Adrien gives her an awkward smile, his eyes turning sad, "I haven't actually gotten to meet the rest of Luiza's family yet either. I'm really only allowed out to class events with Luiza, and aerial manifestation practices. Father always schedules things after those practices to make sure I don't linger too long in the magic side of town, where he can't exactly come get me."

   Marinette winces a bit, moving to lean against the railing of her balcony, "Oof, I know we say it a lot, but you're dad is a little too overprotective."

   "I know, but at least that's how I know he loves me. He's just been a little distant since Mom died. I think he's scared to lose me like he lost her, but you guys are right, the way he goes about it isn't helping. I think Eliott and Luiza are actually helping him loosen up a bit. I know Eliott and Amelie have been trying to bully him into going to therapy." Adrien lets out a heavy sigh and moves to settle against the railing with her, looking over at her after a moment and giving a smile.

   "Yeah. I'm sure therapy would help. It'd be nice to see him start being better with you." Marinette looks back at him, bumping his shoulder softly, "Either way, my door is always open if you want to come over and hang out."

   "My lady, are you suggesting I sneak out of the house?" Adrien waggles his eyebrows at her, his lips quirked up in a smirk.

   Marinette snorts at that, pushing his face, "You absolute dork. I'm just telling you, you can hang out here. If you happen to sneak out to get here, then that's not my problem."

   Adrien laughs at that, moving to hop up on the railing, "Thanks, Marinette. You may regret that invitation though."

   "Yeah, probably." Marinette chuckles, moving to lean her head on her hand and look up at him, "Hey, I don't even need to get your number now. I already have it. Did you see who all was compromised? You know everyone."

   "I did, yes. Alya, Nino, Max, Kim, Luka, and Kagami. We already have Luiza as a teammate. Should we do identities with her? It'd make it easier for us to talk to her about enchantments without having to go to her house and risk being seen having a connection to her." Adrien kicks his feet a bit, hands on the railing.

   Marinette thinks on that for a minute, scrunching up her nose, getting just a bit distracted by the soft way Adrien's watching her, "Um, actually, that's a good idea with the new cloaking enchantments. Try calling me Ladybug."

   "Okay, Marinette. Marinette. Marinette. Yeah, no. It still works." Adrien leans back a bit, his eyes not leaving her.

   "Good. Thank you, Adrien. Adrien." Marinette gives out a delighted giggle, when trying to call him Chat Noir doesn't work, "Ahaha! I love these enchantments. I need to get Luiza to teach me enchantments. I've been trying with Maman, but her magic is so much different than mine, and I only visit Adalita so often."

   Adrien gives a soft smile at that, looking away from her for a moment, "Yeah. I really want to meet Adalita sometime. Los primos talk about her all the time in our group chat."

   "You guys have a group chat?"

   "Yeah. They all wanted to be able to chat with me, and I still haven't been able to see Lucie and Akash since the whole thing with Jackson. We'd invite Félix too, but Amelie hasn't exactly told him about magic yet. I don't know why. I just know I'm not allowed to mention it around him." Adrien shrugs, turning back to her and tilting his head, "Hey, do you have any cousins? I know you have an uncle and a few grandparents, but that's about it."

   "Oh, yeah. I have a bunch of cousins. They all live in China though, so we're not exactly close, and Papa is an only child. I think it's really cool that you've got close family though. I've always wondered what that's like." Marinette moves to sit on the railing with him, kicking her feet to get steady.

   "It used to be a lot nicer. I can't quite imagine not having them though. It kinda makes up for the lack of siblings." 

   "I bet." Marinette leans her head back and looks up at the stars, her mind still buzzing with thoughts, "If we do a reveal with Luiza, do you think we should do a reveal with the rest of the team, when we finally get one up?"

   "Yes, please. I really don't like anyone being left out of the loop. I do think vetting them first is a good idea, and maybe people around our age. I think I would also prefer they be magics, so they understand what we're talking about when we talk about enchantments and the like, but I get it if we don't have much choice." Adrien watches her lights for a bit, his eyes drooping a bit, looking kinda tired, "Sucks that Alya and Nino got compromised. Alya at least would be incredibly excited."

   "She would, but I barely trusted her with the miraculous in the first place, and she almost kept it after I told her not to. She's grown a bit since then, but she's still got some more growing to do. I want people that are more mature and can handle things delicately, if we come across some heavy situations, as is incredibly likely anymore." Marinette closes her eyes, humming softly to herself, "Alix is only one that really comes to mind from our class. I want her as one of our permanent teammates; I'm just not sure what miraculous yet."

   "Yeah, we should figure out when ones would be best for permanent teammates, so we can have Luiza enchant those first." Adrien kicks his feet a bit, "I hate to say it, but I don't know nearly as many people as you do, or as well as you do. Do you think anyone from our aerial group would work?"

   "Yeah. Honestly, I'd trust just about anyone from our aerial group, except for Cerise. I love Cerise, but I do not trust her not to keep asking me questions about everything, constantly." Marinette snorts.

   "Fair. How many teammates are we thinking? We've got me, you, and Luiza officially so far, and you want Alix, which would make it two extra so far." 

   "Six. We know for sure Luiza and I will be able to clear akuma, and I don't want to be blindsided by anymore mass akuma things, not to mention the sentimonsters. Six people that we can actually sit down and train with, plus you and me should be just enough to handle that kind of situation, and because we can train with them, I can have some of the extra teammates train to handle different kwamis, so we can change them around if we need certain skills. And that also will help spread the work around the team. 

   Luiza seemed pretty confident in making the rest of the miraculouses in the box heavily reliant on guardian permission, so I'm thinking we can put a bit more trust on the extra teammates." Marinette stretches out her arms a bit, "We can sit down with Luiza sometime this week and chat with her about it, once we tell her who we are."

   "Yeah, that would certainly help. I'll keep in mind who I think would be a good match too." Adrien gives a yawn, moving to lean on her shoulder, "I hate to leave so soon, Marinette, but I have an early photo shoot, and I'm really tired. Is it okay if I go home to sleep?"

   "Yes, of course. You don't need to ask me if you can leave, kitty. You do look pretty tired." Marinette leans her head on his for a moment, before hopping off the railing and holding out a hand to help him down, "I didn't expect to talk this long even. We can talk some more about this tomorrow. Can you tell your dad you've got a spontaneous aerial manifestation practice with Luiza tomorrow?"

   "Mmhmm. I'll text Luiza about it. She helped me enchant my phone my second practice with her, so he can't read my messages on the magic apps." Adrien takes the help down, rubbing his eyes and smiling at her, moving to wrap her up in a hug, "I'm glad to know it's you, Marinette."

   Marinette blinks a little at the affection, before just getting up on her tip toes to hug him back as best as she can, "Me too, Adrien. I could never have kept being her without you, you know?"

   Adrien just squeezes her softly, Marinette feeling a couple teardrops hit her ear, "Thank you, Marinette. I couldn't be him without you either."

   Marinette pulls away at that, looking up to see the tears in his eyes. She gives a gentle smile at that, and reaches up to clear away a couple tears, "You are the best partner I could've asked for."

   Adrien sniffles at that, eyes filled with vulnerability, before he just hides his face in her hand, his voice watery, "Thanks."

   Marinette just moves to softly bop his nose, "Mmhmm. You should probably head home and sleep. You really do look tired."

   He gives out a watery chuckle at that, giving her a gentle squeeze, before letting her go, "Okay. I'll see you tomorrow, Marinette."

   "I'll see you tomorrow, Adrien. Be safe on your way home." Marinette lets her hand fall, smiling as he calls out for Plagg, the kwami phasing up to them from her room, where she'd set out a snack for both him and Tikki, before she left earlier.

( Full fanfic on AO3 )

[noxrose]

Will u tell me more bout how the lost boys came to be?

I guess that depends on what you mean? 

If you mean, how did the movie come about, it was originally a Vampire version of the Goonies that was heavily influenced by Peter Pan. Supposedly, David was originally named Peter and Lucy was originally named Wendy. Max was given that name not long before shooting began. I don’t remember what his name was before Max. When Joel Schumacher was asked to direct it, he said he’d only direct it if he could make the Vampires sexy teenagers or 20 somethings. He drastically changed the script from there! Star was originally a boy! He wanted the Vampires to have killer style and be gorgeous young adults. He added the motorcycles to the script too. 

If you mean where David, Dwayne, Paul and Marko came from, we don’t have much of canon answer for that. We know Max was their sire so they had to listen to him to some degree it seems. 

With David being the leader of the Lost Boys we can guess Max turned him first. Dwayne seems to be the second in command so I think he was turned second. The novelization of the movie stated Paul was the youngest of the 4 Lost Boys Vampires so that’s canon. 

I’ve seen a few places that have said David was like 130 years old in the movie, but I can’t find any official reason for people saying this. I like that idea though. I like to think Dwayne is only a few years younger than David. David could have been a cowboy, maybe even a young bounty hunter for a living. Dwayne’s actor is part Native American, so I like to think of Dwayne as a Native American Vampire.  

That’s all the cannon information we have on the Lost Boys. I have lots of headcannon about them so here it goes! 

Now some of my personal headcannon for Dwayne is since he’s a bit light skinned for a Native American, he could be part European, which would have made one of his parents white. There were colonist women encouraged to marry Native American men at some points. There were a few schools of thought behind it. Some wanted to water down the Native American bloodline. Some thought it would make Native American men less 'savage' and the women would 'tame' them. It was all pretty racist. Some of these women were institutionalized by their families and this was an option out of those facilities. Maybe Dwayne loved his parents and hated how America treated them, so that’s why he wears a communist flag in the movie. He wears to honor his parents. It couldn't have been easy to find a communist flag in 1980′s America! How gentle Dwayne is with Laddie makes me think he had a kid before he was turned into a Vampire. I like to think Dwayne was once happily married. He married his childhood sweetheart, who was also the sister of a good friend of his. Dwayne’s friend is pissed  about it! He’s even more pissed when they have a daughter. The woman he married was white. The brother and some other white supremacist kill the wife and daughter. They leave Dwayne dying in the dirt and that’s when David finds him. David find Dwayne’s rage impressive and begs Max to turn him. David has a ball hunting helping Dwayne hunt down all the men who killed his family. 

Some of my David headcannon is that his mom died giving birth to him. He has a dad and older brother who blame him for this. As soon as he can ride a horse and aim a gun he’s expected to join the family business of bounty hunting. David and his brother are tracking a bounty when they come across Max feeding on the bounty. Max jumps at his brother, but David tries to protect him. David’s brother leaves David to die. Max is so impressed with David, he turns him right there. 

Some Paul headcannon for me is that he was hippie from 1967 in Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco during the Summer of Love. That’s when he comes across the Lost Boys at a party. They all like him, especially Marko. Paul is the rebellious son of a Preacher in San Francisco. His father HATES Paul! Paul is everything his father can’t stand and is planning to get rid of him. His father is convincing some of his flock that Paul is possessed by the devil and they must do an  Exorcism on him. The Lost Boys have been keeping tabs on Paul and his family so they get something is up. The Lost Boys find Paul dying from the Exorcism. They save his life by turning him into a Vampire. 

My Marko headcanon is that his dad died in WWII. His mom dies when he’s still young. Marko gets bounce around to various relatives before ending up on the streets. He’s small but a real brawler! His fiery temper and pugnacious nature is what catches David’s attention. David convinces Max to let him give this little imp the blood. After that, Marko is one of them. 

Sorry it took me a moment to answer your question. Hope you like the answer ^_^ This was fun! Feel free to ask more questions! 

[rhubarbplants]

Lucy green and Max Everhart

Max sat in the hospital as non prodigies rushed around him. Well sat was a stretch. It was more along the lines of between propped up against a slope of pillows while being tied down to the mattress. The nurses were adamant that even if he was nearly fully recovered he wasn’t allowed to move from the bed for the next few days. So the beeping machines had become background noise and the rushing surgeons had become mundane. But in some ways this had been one of the best times of his life. He had been put in a room with some other kids around his age, and while most of them had mild injuries, they were all non prodigies. He had talked with them, a few that could walk had even come over to give him a hug. One of his best friends was Lucy. She had a chronic lung disease and no prodigy could help her. She stayed in the room with max. She wasn’t allowed outside, something Max could defeat relate to. She and Max had bonded the very first day. He had told her all about what had happened by the sky bridge. How a Renegade had hurt him and an Anarchist had saved him. Today he decided he would tell her about his theories about Nightmare. He was contemplating how he would do this when the doctors rolled her back in to the kids room. Max noticed that Lucy had a new breathing tube, a green one this time.

“How does it feel?” Max asked as she was rolled up next to him.

“Better,” she said cheerfully “It will never be normal, but they are getting good at faking normal. It’s much better than the last one.”

“Is there really no way to fix it?” Max asked

“There is,” Lucy said “This is the fix. The doctors are working on it, but there’s no quick fix, there never is, so things keep getting better and better until it’s fixed.”

“Yeah, I guess that's right, I actually think, it’s true for other things too.” Said Max

“Like what?” Lucy inquired. Turning on to her side so that she could get a better look at Max. She adjusted her breathing tube so that it wasn’t crushed. When she realized Max was waiting for her to get settled she gestured for him to continue.

“I mean with the Renegades, they started creating a better world, but it’s definitely not perfect yet, if it was, there wouldn’t be any villains, and like you said there is never a quick fix, no matter what.”

“True,” Lucy said, nodding, and staring off into space, as if questioning the universe. “But are you sure there wouldn’t be villains in the best world we could manage. Because no matter what perfect worlds are myths.” Lucy said.

“True, but I think Nightmare wouldn’t be a villain, in the best possible world.”

“Why not?” Lucy asked.

“Well, I think I know who she is and she’s a really nice person.” Whispered Max.

“Who is she?” Lucy replied, also lowering her voice.

“You know the person who killed the detonator, right?”

“Yeah, my mom showed me her fight against gargoyle, she pretty cool.”

“Well, I’m pretty sure that she’s Nightmare.”

“What?” Said Lucy her voice raised a fraction of a percent. “Aren’t you going to tell someone?”

“I don’t think so, because I think Nova is going to be the right thing.” Max said confidently. Then she and Max proceeded to talk about other stuff, stuff that had nothing to do with betrayals or superheroes. About half an hour later, Adrian and the team, minus Danna, arrived, well sort of. They stood behind a glass wall, like they always did. Lucy and Max were rolled up to the window, as Max’s cot rolled over a wire, his hand flew to his stomach, he didn’t feel the pain when he lay still but the jolt brought back the memory of the pain in full force.

“Hey guys.” Adrian said with a wave, he wore a sad smile but he seemed happy enough. “You must be Lucy, Max talks about you alot.”

“How are patrolls going?” Max asked

“Pretty well” said Ruby, “nothing interesting though, no Nightmare sightings.”

“Speaking of Nightmare, how are you feeling little bud?” Oscar asked

“Fine.” Max said

“Sure… you totally didn’t flinch as they pulled you over here.” Adrian said knowingly.

“Alright alright, I’m mostly fine.” Max amended. He looked over at Nova who so far hadn’t said anything and was looking very guilty, one more piece of evidence for his case.

“I’m really sorry about what happened.” Nova said.

“Relax it’s not your fault.” Said Adrian. Nova muttered something but no one heard it, Max had a feeling he knew what she said though.

“Just because you were there the first time I got hurt doesn’t mean you always have to be there.” Max said

“Well we have to go now,” Ruby said looking at her watch. Adrian started to protest giving a pitying look to Max.

“No it’s fine, if you have to go you have to go.” Max said. They all turned to leave, but right before, Lucy called out.

“Nova can I talk to you for a minute?” Max turned to her, with a look he hoped said Really? Now? Nova looked confused too and a little nervous.

“What’s it like?” Lucy asked

“You mean being a Renegade? Well its-” Nova started.

“No” Lucy said lowering her voice to a whisper. “I mean being an Anarchist.”

Nova looked absolutely taken aback, she look of shock and fear on here face was so extreme it was almost hilarious.

“I’m… I’m not a…” Nova stuttered “how did you find out?” She whispered meekly.

“I told her” Max said “I saw your face the night Gennissa stabbed you. And saw all the other signs everyone else keeps missing. The way you fail epically in disguising your hate for the renegades, the way, your never there at the same time Nightmare is. The way the puppeteer knew you were alive even though he shouldn’t have known. And Adrian told me about Danna’s ‘fainting’ and the kiss. You haven’t been subtle Nova.”

“Yes I have!” Nova protested.

“You’ve kissed Adrian?” Asked Lucy.

“Yes, but back to more pressing matters, is it really that obvious?”

“Well to me yes, but I mean I didn’t know for sure until I saw your face.” Max said. Nova breathed a sigh of relief,

“Max, are you going to tell Ad- anyone?”

“I don’t think so, you’re a good person Nova.” Max said “and I think you should tell Adrian yourself.”

“Tell Adrian?!” Nova asked “absolutely not, he would hate me he would leave me and I would be completely alone.”

“He might just surprise you.” Said Max.

“Maybe, Max, we’ll see.” She smiled and made for the exit, right before she left both she and Max turned to face each other and at the same time said

“Thank you.”

[weekendwarriorblog]

The Weekend Warrior 9/11/20 – I AM WOMAN, BROKEN HEARTS GALLERY, RENT-A-PAL, UNPREGNANT AND MORE!

Thankfully, we’re getting a slower week this week after the past few weeks of absolute insanity with so many new releases. This week, we also get a nice string of movies about women that are mostly made by women directors, so hopefully these won’t get lost in the shuffle of theaters reopening.

To be perfectly honest, I went into Unjoo Moon’s I AM WOMAN (Quiver Distribution) – this week’s “Featured Flick” -- thinking it was a doc about ‘70s pop sensation Helen Reddy. Imagine my surprise to discover that it actually was a narrative film with Tilda Cobham-Hervey playing the Australian singer who moved to New York in 1966 after winning a contest, expecting a record deal but only winding up with disappointment.  Once there, she’d meet journalist Lilian Roxon (Danielle Macdonald, being able to use her real Australian accent for once) and Jeff Weld (Evan Peters), the man who would become her manager and then husband. Once the couple move to L.A. with Helen’s daughter Traci (from her previous marriage), things began to pick up at the same time as Reddy starts dealing with issues in her marriage and friendship with Roxon.

Listen, I get it. To some (or maybe all) younger people, including film critics, Helen Reddy represents the cheesier side of ‘70s music. I only know her music, since I was a young kid who listened to AM Top 40 radio for much of the ‘70s, but by the end of the decade, I had already switched to metal, punk and noisier rock. As you can tell from watching I Am Woman, Reddy is a particularly interesting music personality, particularly once you realize how hard she struggled to get into the business with a husband who only feigned to support her after dragging her to L.A. for “her career.”

There were many takeaways from watching Moon’s film, but one of the bigger ones is how amazing Cobham-Hervey is at portraying a woman that few of us may have actually seen perform even on television. I’m not sure if Cobham-Hervey did any of her own singing or is lip-syncing the whole time, but it doesn’t matter because she instills so much joy into the performances, especially the two times she sings the highly-inspirational title song live.

Although there isn’t a ton of major drama in Reddy’s life, most that does exist revolves around her relationship with Wald, who is depicted by Peters as an out-of-control coke-sniffing monster. Those in Hollywood may have dealt with Wald as a movie producer or during his stint as Sylvester Stallone’s manager, and only they will know how exaggerated this performance is. Far more interesting is Helen’s friendship with Macdonald’s Roxon which would inspire her to perform the song “You and Me Against the World.”  (Seriously, if you want a good cry, throw that song on after watching I Am Woman.)

Moon does a great job with the material, whether it’s recreating New York in the ‘60s – often using music to set the tone of the period -- or by framing Reddy’s story with Phyllis Schlaffly’s fight against the ERA, as depicted in FX’s mini-series Mrs. America.  Still, it never loses track of Reddy’s journey and her role as a mother to Traci and slightly less to Wald’s son, Jordan. The movie ends with a wonderful and tearful epilogue, and I will not lie that I was tearing up more than once while watching this movie.

I Am Woman may be relatively uncomplicated, but it’s still a compelling relaying of Reddy's amazing story bolstered by an incredible knock-em-dead performance by Tilda Cobham-Hervey. It’s also one of the most female-empowering film I’ve seen since the Ruth Bader Ginsburg movie On the Basis of Sex, starring Felicity Jones.

This week’s primary theatrical release is Natalie Krinsky’s THE BROKEN HEARTS GALLERY (Stage 6/Sony), starring Geraldine Viswanathan as Lucy, a young woman who works at a gallery who is still obsessed with her ex-coworker/boyfriend Max. On the night of her  disastrous break-up, Lucy meets-cute Nick (Dacre Montgomery from Stranger Things), who later inspires her to rid of her hoarding issues by creating the “Broken Hearts Gallery.” This is a place where people who have broken up can bring the remnants of said relationship by donating the mementos they’ve maintained from their partners as sentimental value.

I’m a big fan of Viswanathan from her appearance in Blockers and TBS’ “Miracle Workers” series, as she’s clearly very talented as a comic actress, but I couldn’t help but go into this with more than a little cynicism, because it does follow a very well-worn rom-com formula that can be traced right back to When Harry Met Sally. Yup, another one.  Much of this movie comes across like a bigger budget version of a movie that might play Tribeca Film Festival, and I wish I could say that was a compliment because I’ve seen a lot of good movies at Tribeca. But also just as many bad ones.

The problem is that The Broken Hearts Gallery isn’t very original, and its roots are especially obvious when it starts interspersing the recently-heartbroken giving testimonials. It’s also a little pretentious, because rather than the real New York City that would be recognizable to anyone who lives there, it’s more of a Millennial woke fantasy where everyone is a 20-something LGBTQ+ of color.  Even so, the main trio of Lucy, Nick and Nick’s business partner Marcos (Arturo Castro from Broad City) do keep things fun even when things are getting predictable.

To be honest, I’ll be perfectly happy to see Viswanathan become the next Meg Ryan, because part of the reason why I warmed up to the movie is because I thought she was quite great in it. (I hate to say it but she’ll definitely need a simple name to remember to make that happen. I’d like to suggest G-Vis… as in G-Vis, she’s awesome!) There’s no question she’s the best part of the movie, but it also thrives from some of the other women cast around her, including Molly Gordon, Phillipa Soo and (surprise, surprise!) Bernadette Peters. (At times, I was worried Lucy’s friends would get particularly annoying, but you’ll warm up to them as well.)

Krinsky’s movie is cute, and while it certainly gets a little overly sentimental at times, there are also moments that are quite heartfelt, so basically, it’s a tolerable addition to the rom-com genre. The fact that the characters are so likeable kept me from outright hating the movie, especially once it gets to its corny and somewhat predictable ending. Another thing I like about Broken Hearts Gallery is that at least it’s making an effort to have some sort of theatrical presence, including drive-in theaters.

Next up is Jon Stevenson’s RENT-A-PAL (IFC Midnight), a rather strange and very dark horror-comedy. It stars Brian Landis Folkins as David, a lonely 40-year-old living with his elderly mother suffering from dementia, who has been using the services of a dating service called Video Rendezvous. This is the ‘80s after all, so it involves getting VHS testimonials from various women. One day, David finds a tape labelled “Rent a Pal” and he decides to check it out. It turns out to be a video of a guy named Andy (Wil Wheaton aka Wesley Crusher from Star Trek: The Next Generation) who David begins having conversations with, but once David gets his chance to have a real relationship with a nice woman named Lisa (Amy Rutledge), he’s been dragged too far down the rabbit hole with Andy’s evil urgings.

This was recommended to me by my own personal rent-a-pal, Erick Weber of Awards Ace, who saw it weeks ago. I totally could understand why he would have liked it, because it’s pretty good in terms of coming up with an original idea using elements that at least us older guys can relate to (especially the living with your Mom part which I had to do a few years ago).  I wasn’t sure but I generally thought I knew where it was going, because David’s trajectory always seemed to be heading towards My Friend Dahmer or Maniac territory. What I liked about Folkins’ performance is that you generally feel for him right up until he gets to that point. I also really liked his innocent relationship with Lisa and was hoping things that wouldn’t get as dark as where they eventually end up. I also have to draw attention to Wheaton’s performance, because as one might expect if you only know him from the “Star Trek” show he did as a kid, this is a very different role for him similar to Seann Michael Scott in last year’s Bloodline.

Either way, Stevenson is a decent writer and director who really pushes the boundaries with where Andy takes his new friend, and it’s especially great for its synth-heavy soundtrack that reminds me of some of John Carpenter’s best scores, as we watch David’s inevitable descent into madness. You’ll frequently wonder where it’s going, but for me, it just got too dark, so I only really could enjoy it up to a point.

A little cheerier is UNPREGNANT (HBO Max), the new film from Rachel Lee Goldberg, who directed the recent Valley Girl remake, although this time she’s adapting a book written by Jenni Hendricks. It stars Haley Lu Richardson (from Split and Support the Girls) as 17-year-old Veronica who discovers that her dopey boyfriend Kevin has gotten her pregnant. Since women under 18 can’t get an abortion in Missouri without a parents’ consent, she goes on a road trip with her estranged childhood friend Bailey (Barbie Ferreira) to New Mexico to get the job done.

It’s more than  little weird seeing this movie come out in the same year as a much more serious version of the same movie in Elyza Hittman’s Never Rarely Sometime Always. That aside, Goldberg and her cast do their best to make this something more in the vein of last year’s Book Smart, although that’s also a fairly high watermark for any movie.

Because this is a road trip comedy, it tends to follow a fairly similar path as other movies where they meet a lot of strange characters along the way, as they try to get a ride after being busted cause Bailey stole her mother’s boyfriend’s car for the trip. For instance, they meet a friendly couple who tend to be pro-lifers who want to change Veronica’s mind, and the best side character is Giancarlo Esposito as a conspiracy theorist named Bob.

I guess my biggest problem with the movie is that it just isn’t that funny and feels fairly standard, but at least it has a decent ending to make up for the predictability of the rest of the movie.

Now streaming on Netflix is Maimouna Doucouré’s French coming-of-age film Mignonnes aka CUTIES, a film that premiered at Sundance and then stirred up quite a bit of controversy last month due to its marketing campaign, but is actually not the pervy male gaze movie which it may have been sold as. It’s about an 11-year-old Sengalese girl named Amy Diop (Fathia Youssouf) who wants to join the school’s “cool girl” dance group, known as the “Cuties,” even though it goes against her family’s Muslim beliefs.  Amy learns to dance so she can be part of the dance team and take part in a dance competition, but you know that this decision will led to trouble.s

Cuties got a lot of backlash from for the trailer and Netflix’s decision to release Doucouré’s movie, which is about a young girl discovering her sexuality, although it isn’t really something lurid or gross but actually a very strong coming-of-age film. I haven’t seen the trailer, but I can only imagine what scene it focused on that got people so riled up, since there are dance scenes that felt a little creepy to me. Other than that aspect of the film, Cuties is as innocent as a Judy Blume book. I mean, how else do you expect kids to learn about real life than movies like this? (Unfortunately, the movie is TV-MA so young teens won’t be able to watch it.)

The big problem with the Cuties is that they’re actually kind of bratty and bullies, almost like a younger “Mean Girls” girl gang, so it’s very hard to like any of them. They’re also trying to act way older than they really are, and you can only imagine what dark places that might led, as you worry about Amy getting dragged down with them, just because she wants to have friends and feel popular.

Despite my issues with Cuties, Maimouna Doucouré is a fantastic filmmaker, and this is a pretty amazing debut, especially notable for how she’s able to work with the young cast but also make a movie that looks amazing. That said, Cuties is a decent coming-of-age film, although I feel like I’ve seen better versions of this movie in films like Mustang and The Fits.

Also from France comes Justine Triet’s SYBIL (Music Box Films), starring Virgine Efira (who appeared in Triet’s earlier film, In Bed with Victoria) as the title character, a jaded psychotherapist who decides to return to her passion of writing, getting her inspiration from an actress patient named Margot (Adèle Exarchopoulos), who she becomes obsessed with. I don’t have a lot to say about this movie other than it wasn’t really for me. As far as French films go, a movie really has to stand out from the usual talkie drama filled with exposition, and though I thought the performances by the two women were great, I didn’t really care for the script or the pacing on this one. After playing at last year’s Cannes, Toronto and the New York Film Festival, Sybil will be available via Virtual Cinema through Film at Lincoln Center and the Laemmle in L.A. as well as other cities. You can watch the trailer and find out how to watch it through your local arthouse at the official site.

Now seems like as good a time as any to get into some docs…

 Liz Garbus and Lisa Cortés’ doc ALL-IN: THE FIGHT FOR DEMOCRACY (Amazon) follows Stacey Abrams through her run for Atlanta Governor in 2018, but it also deals with the laws that had been put in place to try to keep black voters from taking part in their right as Americans to be able to vote. I’m not sure what’s going on with me right now, but I generally just don’t have much interest in political docs right now, maybe because there’s so much politics on TV and in the news. I also have very little interest in Abrams or even having the racist history of the American South drilled into my head by another movie. I was born in 1965, my family didn’t even live in this country until 1960, and I’ve spent my life trying to treat everyone equally, so watching a movie like this and being preached to about how awful African-Americans have been treated in parts of the South for hundreds of years, I’m just not really sure what I’m supposed to do about it here in New York. I guess my biggest problem with All-In, which is a perfectly fine and well-made doc – as would be expected from Garbus – is that it lacks focus, and it seems to be all over the place in terms of what it’s trying to say… and I’m not even sure what it is trying to say, nor did I have the patience to find out. I thought Slay the Dragon handled the issues with gerrymandering far better, and I think I would have preferred a movie that ONLY focused on Abrams and her life and political career than trying to make a bigger statement. All-In will open at a few drive-ins (tonight!) and then will be on Amazon Prime on September 18.

I was similarly mixed on Jeff Orlwosky’s doc, THE SOCIAL DILEMMA, which debuted on Netflix this week. This one looks at the addiction people have for social media apps like Facebook and Twitter, and how the information of what people watch and click on is collected into a database that’s sold to the highest bidder. Basically, it’s your worst fears about social media come to life, but my issue with this one is that the filmmaker decided to hire actors to dramatize parts of the movie, showing one family dealing with social media and phone addiction, which seemed like an odd but probably necessary decision other than the fact that the topic is so nerdy and so over my head that maybe it was necessary to illustrate what’s being explained by programmers. Again, not a terrible doc, just not something I had very little interest in even if it is an important subject (and I’m probably spending too much on social media and essentially more of the problem than the solution).

I saw S. Leo Chiang and Yang Sun’s doc OUR TIME MACHINE at Tribeca last year, and I quite liked it. It follows influential Chinese artist Ma Liang (Maleonn) who collaborates with his Peking Opera director father Ma Ke, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s, on an elaborate and ambitious project called “Papa’s Time Machine” using life-sized mechanical puppets. I don’t have a ton to say about the movie but it’s a nice look into the Chinese culture and traditions and how the country and art itself has changed between two generations.

One doc I missed last week but will be available digitally this week is Michael Paszt’s Nail in the Coffin: The Fall and Rise of Vampiro about semi-retired professional wrestler Ian Hodgkinson aka Vampiro, who is a Lucha Libre legend.

There’s a lot of other stuff on Netflix this week, including THE BABYSITTER: KILLER QUEEN, the sequel to the Samara Weaving-starring horror-thriller, again co-written and directed by McG (Charlies Angels: Full Throttle). This one stars Bella Thorne, Leslie Bibb and Ken Marino, as it follows Judah Lewis’ Cole after surviving the satanic blood cult from the first movie.

I don’t know nearly as much about the British comedy series The Duchess, other than it stars comedian Katherine Ryan as a single mother juggling a bunch of things. Julie and the Phantoms is Netflix’s latest attempt to be the Disney channel with a movie about a young girl named Julie (Madison Reyes) who decides to start a band with a group of ghosts (hence the title). It’s even from Kenny Laguna, who is best known for the Disney Channel’s biggest hits High School Musical and The Descendants.

Other stuff to look out for this week include Kevin Del Principe’s thriller Up on the Glass (Gravitas Ventures), which is now available On Demand, digital and Blu-Ray; the Russian dogs doc Space Dogs (Icarus Films) – available via Alamo on Demand; Phil Wall’s doc The Standard  (Gravitas Ventures), and Andrei Bowden-Schwartz, Gina O’Brien’s tennis comedy All-In (on Amazon Prime and VOD/Digital) and Sam B. Jones’ Red White and Wasted (Dark Star Pictures).

Next week, more movies not in theaters!

By the way, if you read this week’s column and have bothered to read this far down, feel free to drop me some thoughts at Edward dot Douglas at Gmail dot Com or drop me a note or tweet on Twitter. I love hearing from readers … honest!

[hockeygods14]

Auston Matthews- New Leaf- Chapter Eight

Masterlist

word count: 1,984

When I got up in the morning I order breakfast and sat there in the room in silence with only my thoughts. I already book my plane tickets early this morning to make sure I was able to get one. The airport is only about ten minutes away. I had to wear my clothes from yesterday. I didn't want to go out and by new ones. I might just pick up a t-shirt at the airport if I have time.

The phone had rung telling me that my taxi was here. I didn't have to look to make sure I had everything because I didn't bring anything. The ride there was quite which was nice. Glad that I didn't get a driver that likes to talk all the time but is also super early in the morning he might not be fully awake yet.

Once I got to the airport checked in. I was waiting for security. I was scrolling through my phone nothing interesting was showing up. Buffalo lost yesterday against Arizona. Chicago had off last night. The next post on was the Toronto game, Leafs won five to nothing. The line started to move. I looked around at everyone that was in the airport some in suites some in comfortable clothes. I paused on one person though trying to hind my face but did work out.

“Emily!” Mitch yelled out my name. How did he know I was here? The people around me looked at him and looked around to see who he was talking to but I looked the other way. “Kane.” I knew he was closer now. I turned slowly and looked at him. I didn't know what to say to him. I left his best friends jersey with his girlfriend to give to his best friend. I wouldn't blame him if he hated me and wanted to yell at me.

“Excuse me the line is moving.” A man in a suit behind me said he looked like he was in a hurry. I don't know if I should move up or get out of the way.

“Em please.” I knew what Mitch wanted me to do. I looked at the line and back at Mitch. I decide to talk to Mitch.

“Mitch.” I didn't look at him I looked down at my feet.

“Where have you been? Auston was worried. Then Steph had him the bag with his jersey and told him that you left. What happen?”

“When Auston and I were talking in the dinner, I thought I was ready but I have many loose ends that I need to tie up.”

“Those loose ends are Max aren't they?” I finally looked up at Mitch. I glance over his shoulder and see Steph standing there looking over at the both of us. I hate myself having her give that jersey back to Auston.

“There are many loose ends. I am going to miss my plane I have to go.” I was turning around but stopped when I heard Steph yell out for me.

“Emily stop! You can’t keep running away. I understand that you have had a rough past. Some guys would turn around and not think twice about you but Auston stayed and wants to get to know you more. He wants to be there for you when you have a bad day, he wants to be there for the good days too but you're pushing him away. He’s not the only one you are pushing away either. You are pushing Mitch, Will, Matt, Sidney, Lucy, and myself we all cared for you in such the little time of knowing you.” I looked at her in shock. I took a fell step back while she was talking. I didn't realize I had tears in my eyes

“Steph I get the letter from Max from jail. I can’t move on when he is still writing them and I keep getting them in the mail. I want nothing more than to move on but I can’t not with those letters. I am planning on going to see him and tell him to stop sending them.” I saw Steph was about to speak but Mitch didn't give her time to.

“Like hell, you’re going to go see him.” In a little time, I have gotten to know Mitch, I already see him as a good friend. “You are not going to see that man. Have you told your brother? I am sure he wouldn't let you go.” Pat wants me to go with someone but I don't want anyone else there. I need to do this on my own.

“I have already told Patrick.” I couldn't look Mitch in the eyes. I had a feeling he would know that I was leaving something out, but not looking at him is telling him that I am leaving something out.

“Well, what did he say? I know he didn't say he would be fine with that.”

“He wasn't fine with it at first but he told me that I had to bring someone with me. I don't want anyone to come through. This is something I need to do on my own.” I looked up at Mitch.

“I don’t think so Em. That is a bad idea.” Steph spoke and stood next to her boyfriend.

“It's not like he is going to be able to do anything to me in there. There will be guards in the room and outside of the room. He won't even be able to touch me. I will make sure of that. I thought about it last night, I am going to talk to him as soon as I get off the plane. I plan on coming back and talk to Auston and hope he understands.”

“Is there any way that we can change your mind and have you stay? Or have one of us come with you? More like Steph come with you I have a game tomorrow.” Mitch asked.

“No, I need to do this on my own. I am going to miss my plane if I don't go now.” I was about to turn but Steph stopped me by pulling my arm back.

“I brought you this. I thought you might want it.” She handed me my bag and gave me a hug. Mitch came up behind her.

“How did you know I was here?” I asked really wanting to know. Toronto is a big city and out of all the place to look, they looked at an airport? That wouldn't be the first place I looked if I was looking for someone.

“Don’t get mad but we call Patrick and he tracked your phone.” Mitch gave me a goof smile.

“Pat as tracking on my phone?” I asked him. I should be asking Pat this not Mitch.

“Don’t ask me I was shocked but thankful.” I can't believe this Pat is going o get an ear full when I talk to him next. He is going to wish he never helped Mitch.

“You really are going to have to go. Auston is going to be here soon. I am surprised he isn't here now. We took two different cars to look around the city. I got a text from him saying that he was almost here.” I started to look around the airport to see if I could find him but nothing. I gave Mitch a hug.

“Tell him I said I was sorry,” I whispered in his ear. I picked up my bag and went to security

***

I got off the plane in Buffalo and started toward the front to get a taxi. I saw kids with says saying ‘Welcome Home Mom’ people greeting their family members or friends. Some were crying. A few men and women were in uniforms looked like an army. I stood still when I saw Jack and Sam looking around. I started to hind behind people. Man, I am acting like a kid that is trying to hind from their parents.  When Jack and Sam see me they are going to want to go with me to see Max. How did they even know I was here?

“What do you think you are doing?” I froze where I was not looking behind me. My eyes went wide. I can't believe he is here as well.

I turn around slowly on my heels. “Hey Alexander, what are you doing here?” I gave him a smile.

“Answer my question!” I don't really want to. “Will called me and told me that Mitch went to the airport to see you and said that you were getting a plane here. The three of us have been waiting for you.” Alex pointed at the other two that were next to me. I didn't need to look up to know that Jack was on my right and Sam on my left.

“What happens with you giving Matthews a shot?” Sam asked I still wouldn't look at him. I stopped looking at Alex and looked down at my feet. I can’t tell him. There is a part of me that is yelling out to tell them and let them come with, but the other parts are scream running out of this building right now and not say a word.

“Emily you have to talk to us. We are here for you. What’s wrong?” Jack spoke now getting in right of me. He probably wants me to look at him but I can’t. I picked up my bag and turned around hoping they wouldn't stop me but that was too good to be true. Sam stepped in front of me with both his hands on both my shoulders. Still wouldn't look up.

“What are you walking way again. Running away from your problems? You ran away because Auston actually treated you the way you should be treated? You ran when they locked Max up. You stayed away for six months we didn't even think you were coming back at some points. Jack and Sam both knew you wouldn't but the way you talked when we were on the phone together I didn’t think you were. Jack said they you would be home in no time. No time turned into six months. Where are you going to go now Em? Let me know how long you're going to stay away this time.” I finally looked up at Alex. I could see and hear the hurt in his face and voice. I didn’t realize it hurt him so much that I left. Did everyone feel that way when I left for six months? I felt a tear leave my eye as I watch Alex walk away.

“Do you both feel the same way?” I looked up at Jack and Sam.

“Not as much as Alex. He was hurt when you left. He thought he could have done more to help you. To be honest I think we all thought he could have done more to help you. We left like we let you down.” Jack looked to where Alex walked off not being able to see him anymore though.

“There was nothing else any of you could have done. I want you to know that.” I reached out for Jack and Sam to give them a hug. Once I pulled away I knew I was going to tell them I just hope they will let me go alone. “I need to tell you something but you can't freak out and you have to let me do this on my own.” I waited for them to answer and they both nodded their heads.

I took a deep breath. “I have been getting letters from Max, that I haven't opened. I have also gotten one package that I also haven't opened. I am going to see Max. I need to tell him to stop sending me the letter.”

[amorremanet]

10 facts about meme: Lucy? And Adelaide, if you don't mind doing two?

send me one of my oc’s and i tell you ten facts about them

This is the shitty, “I fell asleep instead of doing this last night, and then, when I was almost fucking done, trying to make tumblr instant messenger stop doing something made it decide to click over somewhere else, and Firefox apparently doesn’t let the Lazarus extension work anymore, so I lost everything and am completely skimming out of frustration because the original was detailed and cool, and I lost basically all of it” version

LUCY

1. Has never completed a Pokémon game with a grass or water starter. She just doesn’t bond with them as much as she does with the fire starters, and any time she tries to pick a grass or water starter, she inevitably gives up, restarts, and picks the fire starter instead.

2. Since she turned 18, she’s made a point of giving blood as often as possible, because she’s type-O negative (the universal donor), and the Red Cross is pretty much always running short on blood, which can leave a lot of people totally screwed when they need to get transfusions.

3. Doesn’t believe in astrology and dismisses most of things in that vein as a cold-reading scam that’s based on exploiting people’s ability to project themselves onto anything…… but she does have an interest in dream interpretation.

4. She finds recipes confusing, and is even more befuddled by the Food Network and, “how to make [x baked goods]” videos on youtube, to the point that she finds them more stressful than getting a, “We need to talk” text from her parents. And yet, she is not confused by instructions in a chemistry lab.

5. She loves her red hair, but hates being called, “ginger.” It’s not that she thinks the word is offensive or anything; she just thinks that it sounds weird and slightly disgusting.

6. One of her favorite forms of, “teenage rebellion” was watching televangelists (or more accurately, having them on while she did other stuff because it’s really easy for Lucy to tune them out), which Lucy wouldn’t have liked so much if she’d actually paid attention to any of them (because of how televangelists exploit their viewers’ pain and suffering, get rich off of it, and don’t have to pay taxes on most of that money because they call it, “religious donations”) — but it did successfully annoy her very Catholic parents and very Catholic, “he’s a legit priest and everything” uncle.

7. A horror movie can be as political or politically coded as it wants. Unless it does something truly novel with the genre, like Get Out, then Lucy will probably just roll her eyes, complain about how many people value, “edginess” over quality, and then go watch The Great Mouse Detective for the umpteenth time. It’s not even that she gets squicked by horror movies, because she stops at dismissing all of them as edgelord garbage and doesn’t give them a chance.

8. She has even less patience for the films of Christopher Nolan, and literally the only one that she doesn’t go in too hard on is The Dark Knight, which only gets any consideration because Heath Ledger died not that long after making it, in ways that were pretty heavily associated with the movie in popular culture.

Not that she really cares about Heath Ledger, or even about the taboo on speaking ill of the dead, but she figures that he isn’t Ronald Reagan levels of terrible, or worse, so it’s easier to just not get into it with people over Heath Ledger when all that she wanted to say was that The Dark Knight isn’t actually that great

She will, however, talk shit about Ronald Reagan pretty much any time she’s given an opportunity, and especially if her Mom and Dad are around (because they were big Reaganites, back in the day, and annoying them with her hatred of the Gipper keeps them from paying attention to things like how her, “best friend” Sara Grace is actually her girlfriend)

9. Her answer to the question of whether she prefers cats or dogs will probably be something like, “iguanas” because she hates the assumption that it’s not possible to love cats and dogs more or less equally, but she also has better things to argue with people about.

10. She can’t whistle, she’s not really a very good dancer, and the last time she tried to tie a cherry stem in a knot with her tongue, she wound up swallowing it.

ADELAIDE

1. At 5’11”, Addie is taller than her big brother and their Mom (who are both 5’10”), and when standing up as best man when Max and Linda got married, she didn’t try to make him feel short, but she did wear a nice pair of heels and didn’t really go out of her way not to make him feel short, either.

2. By all rights, Addie probably should’ve been diagnosed with ADHD a while ago, but because her childhood and adolescence lasted from about 1986-2000 (when she turned 18), and because in 2017, ADHD is still badly misunderstood and under-diagnosed in AFAB kids, Addie got missed and made it to 33, thinking that all of her ADHD symptoms are just personal quirks or failings.

3. Her favorite color is purple. The darker the shade, the better.

4. Her ability to interpret song lyrics is often questionable. Like, on one hand, she’s totally made the mistake of hearing, “There’s a bathroom on the right” instead of, “There’s a bad moon on the rise” during the chorus of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Bad Moon Rising”

—and on the other hand, she completely missed that most of Missy Elliot’s “Work It” is explicitly about cunnilingus until Pete asked her what the Hell she thought the lyric, “Go downtown and eat it like a vulture” was referring to, especially given its proximity to Ms. Elliot talking about shaving her chocha. (All Addie has to say for herself is that she got caught up on the, “Girls, girls, get that cash / If it’s 9 to 5 or shakin’ your ass” verse.)

She also thought that Spice Girls were singing about group sex in “Wannabe,” rather than singing about making sure that your significant other can get along with your gal pals, and she kept thinking this until mid-September 2012.

5. As far as her family knows, Addie almost got arrested on her 18th birthday and had to run from the cops while she and a few friends were kinda drunk and screwing around in New York City. What really happened was that her birthday was on a Saturday, so they signed themselves out of school for the weekend, went to NYC, and saw the revival of Jesus Christ Superstar because her parents bought them tickets.

Then, they used fake ID’s to get some alcohol and got kinda drunk. Then, while they were screwing around in Brooklyn instead of going to cousin Jeremy’s place and crashing for the night, they wound up going by a gay bar, where Addie tripped over her own feet and got caught by a cute butch lesbian who happened to be dressed as a sexy cop for a themed party at said gay bar and had gone outside for a smoke break.

Then, one of Addie’s friends mistook this poor woman for a real cop and insisted that they run, and despite putting it together in the cold, sober light of day that there had been no actual danger, Addie told Sebastian the, “We so totally almost got arrested” story because she thought it sounded cooler, and at this point, it’s been 15 years, and she doesn’t see a point in correcting her family when her younger cousins get the, “Don’t get too rowdy on your 18th birthday or you may end up running from the cops like Adelaide” cautionary tale.

6. She would probably try to play real-world Quidditch, if she could get anyone to play with her, but that’s not going to happen, because everyone who knows her also knows that Addie is competitive as fuck, and that playing “muggle Quidditch” with her is a good way to get at least mildly injured.

7. She can see where the dislike that a lot of people in her life have for the All-Stars comes from, but personally, Addie doesn’t buy into it herself. She doesn’t really care to defend them, either, but at this point, she feels like most of the world’s problems can’t be solved with super-strength or heat vision, and they’re more complicated than the All-Stars’ image would allow them to handle, so it’s best to see the All-Stars as entertainers, rather than actual heroes.

Not that she begrudges anyone their annoyance with the fact that the All-Stars make, “we are actual heroes” a cornerstone of their so-called “brand,” but if you ask Addie, it’s not all that much different from how U.S. politicians lie up one side and down the other about basically everything, and how much of U.S. politics is increasingly little more than a theatre spectacle to cover up what’s actually going on

Oddly enough, Addie is accidentally on to something with that, because a lot of the supervillains in this universe are not truly participating in any shadowy conspiracy…… but they are being manipulated by members of one, and alternately being used as a source of talking points, or as distractions, so that the folks in said shadowy conspiracy (who are a mix of mutants and not) can push through their own agendas and try to secure their own power at the expense of anyone who gets in their way

Not that it’s really here or there at the moment, but this is totally going to bite them in the ass, partly from the people they’ve been exploiting and screwing over for decades putting shit together and pushing back, and partly because they decide to bank on installing a puppet who isn’t as easily controlled or as easily made to serve their agendas as they think. Anyway, as I was saying.

8. If Adelaide hadn’t gone into the family business and started vying with Max to see who’s going to become CEO when their Dad retires, she probably would’ve gone into advertising. If not that, she most likely would’ve gone to law school.

However, despite the fact that her Mom and several of her cousins are lawyers, Addie’s notions about how being a lawyer works are mostly derived from Legally Blonde, Ally McBeal, and Law and Order: SVU, so it might be a good thing that she has no idea what she’d actually want to do at law school.

9. Popular wisdom holds that she only isn’t the worst driver out of her siblings because Sebastian is the one who should’ve racked up multiple DUI charges by now, by all rights shouldn’t have his license anymore, and rarely uses it these days anyway because he, “doesn’t have PTSD, he just doesn’t like driving okay, it kinda freaks him out” (…which it does because of the PTSD that he allegedly doesn’t have but that’s another matter)

Addie holds that this popular wisdom is misogynistic bullshit being passed off as familial teasing, because actually, she’s a much better driver than all three of her brothers (with both cars and motorcycles, though only she and Seb have ever driven one of those, so it’s a little unfair to Max and Ambrose)

—and she may not know how to fix more complicated car problems, but she can at least get a better grasp on what might be wrong than, “I don’t know, it keeps making a thunka thunka thunka sound if you go above 60 mph” and she has more than once fixed something for her brothers that turned out to be something like, “You were driving with the parking brake on, dumb-ass”

10. Her go-to karaoke night songs are Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” and Rick Springfield’s “Jessie’s Girl” — the latter of which would be funnier to Adelaide if she’d intended to sound hella bi when she first started doing it, rather than picking it because she was kinda drunk and knew all the words, then getting really into singing it and having no conscious idea where those emotions were coming from

[amorremanet]

describing my oc’s like a, “tag urself” meme because i felt like it:

Sebastian:

is full of love but also sadness and confusion

too soft to be Chaotic Gay, too chaotic to be Soft Gay

doesn’t get why his morbid, self-deprecating “jokes” aren’t funny

the, “hey hold my beer/coffee” friend but also the, “hey hold me, if i’m alone with my thoughts, i go to a Bad Place™” friend

high-key human disaster but he’s trying his best, okay

looks like a sinnamon roll, is actually a burned cinnamon roll, has literally been to hell and back, slightly charred

Pete:

constantly Dramatic™, perpetually Extra™, fluent in sarcasm and talking shit

Theatre Gay to end all Theatre Gays, he will fight you; acts like a Mean Gay™, but is soft inside and scared of getting hurt

aggressively supportive AND supportively aggressive

acts like he has it all together, but doesn’t think before starting shit

says he doesn’t care, actually does tho

stale cinnamon roll, has been in this world too long, too cynical

Margot:

high-key Judging You™, always Done with everything and three days past her bedtime

stone-hearted ice witch with a citrus-flavored center

Mean Gay™, but hey, she has a set of ethics

hums the mission impossible theme song when she’s working, it makes her feel cool

probably the Vodka Aunt friend

looks like she could kill you, is actually a stale sinnamon roll

Josie:

looks calm, but screaming on the inside

Neutral Goth, Chaotic Bi, Mom Friend™

dresses so nice because they have to be in control of something

their life is like trying to avoid the youtube comments, then seeing them anyway

too beautiful for 90% of the shit they go through

looks like a cinnamon roll (too good for this world), actually is a cinnamon roll; would give you their cinnamon rolls

Lucy:

HEY YOU GUYS LET’S TRY SCIENCE

CHAPSTICK FUTCH BABY LESBIAN SHE’S JUST HAPPY TO BE HERE

NO EDGELORDS ALLOWED, IT’S GOOD TO BE NICE AND EXCITED ABOUT THINGS, LET PEOPLE BE EXCITED, JEEZ.

doesn’t need to use all caps but she has SO!! MUCH!!!! ENTHUSIASM!!!!!!

get her on your team for roller derby or the scavenger hunt. seriously. do it.

looks like a cinnamon roll but could actually kill you (but she’d rather not)

Stephen:

low-key Art Gay™, high-key Soft Gay™, the Dad Jokes Friend

laughs at his own jokes before he says the punchline

single, trying really hard to mingle, he may have misinterpreted?? ………or did he??? was that flirting or did he imagine it, like???? someone please help him??????

drag queen, sister of perpetual indulgence, wants to dance with somebody who loves him

would hum the pink panther theme for extra stealth

looks like he could kill you with his cinnamon rolls… and his tembleque… and his homemade ice cream…… aaaaand………

Sara Grace:

High Femme Ballet Lesbian, high-key Art Gay, Fruity Cocktails Cousin friend

says she speaks fluent cat, mostly just makes, “prrrrrfb” noises at her kitty

doesn’t think it’s pretentious to want to make out in an art museum, fuck you

one time, she won a law and order: svu trivia contest while totally shit-faced

she’s beauty, she’s grace, if she has an issue with you, she’ll bring it right to your busted face

looks like a cinnamon roll, is actually a princess

Todd:

tries too hard, really needs to chill

high-key Hipster Bullshit Gay

that white boy in every philosophy class who thinks he knows what he’s talking about, but doesn’t

bashes all the things he loves for fear of being mainstream

please do not confuse the problematic fave

looks like a cinnamon roll, is actually a low-key sinnamon roll

Conrad:

have u ever met the human version of a headache

don’t call him Hetero Satan, satan did nothing to deserve that

thinks loki is the true hero of the thor movies and the avengers

hey come on, he said, “no offense,” so why are you offended

doesn’t get why, “for the greater good” and, “some animals are more equal than others” are bullshit

garbage. like, really, he’s just………… trash

Adelaide:

Neutral Bi, Lawful Prep, Wine Mom Friend

always ready to DO ALL THE THINGS!!! JUST YOU WAIT.

is everybody’s cool big sister, whether they particularly want her to be or not

snarkmaster 5000 from the planet Done™

but if she keeps her mind active and her body moving at all times, she will avoid falling into a bottomless pit of despair and/or punching someone in the face

looks like a sinnamon roll and actually is a sinnamon roll

Max:

tries too hard, always stressed

the Dad Friend, also a literal dad

how do you interpersonal skills, we just don’t know

my god, does he try

here’s your token hetero character who doesn’t suck, straight people. the rest of them are pretty much garbage.

looks like a jerk, is actually a stale cinnamon roll

Yael:

Low-Key Femme Protest Lesbian, Mama Bear Friend, Badass Grandma, loves her wife so much

Chaotic Gay, Political Angry, actively repels anything even remotely resembling chill

always looks like she’s plotting and/or up to something, but that’s because she usually is

excuse you, children, but she and her wife and so many fallen friends didn’t spend their lives fighting against oppressive systems for you to hate yourself, you are a star and you don’t have to listen any white hetero-capitalist patriarchal pigs who say otherwise, don’t you dare let the bastards get you down for too long, because that is NOT what these fights have been about — yes, she is do re mi fa so done with your shit, but in like, a loving and supportive way

isn’t allowed to chaperone the girl scouts when they go sell cookies at the stop and shop anymore, she got too enthusiastic, people got scared

looks like a sinnamon roll, and probably wouldn’t kill you. ……probably. but you are cordially invited not to test her on this.

Elizabeth:

Soft Butch Library Lesbian, Whisky Grandma Friend

Neutral Gay, Chaotic Prep, calm but terrifying when enraged

has a constant twinkle in her eye, especially while being subtly snarky at people who don’t get it

she’s very sorry for her wife’s lack of chill, but also usually thinks Yael is right, sooooo……… she’ll only rein Yael in if things get really out of hand

isn’t like a regular teacher, she’s a cool teacher, right, kids? gets a rush of excitement whenever she gets an excuse to make a dirty joke while teaching

looks like a cinnamon roll, is actually a sinnamon roll

Julian:

hiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeee! he’s here to ruin everything!!

high-key Chaotic Neutral Gay, high-key Nihilistic Gay

got a “cease and desist” letter from kesha this one time

is the Tequila Cousin friend

got sick of people hurting him and decided to hurt other people for a change

sinnamon roll that you bought two years ago at a backwoods gas station, then lost on the floor of your car, and now it’s all grody and there’s mildew inside the wrapper and ugh, gross

Annie (Antoinette):

genuinely doesn’t understand how Extra™ she is

feels like the fuck-up twin because she’s always treated like the fuck-up twin

smiles like a stepford daughter, is actually made of rage and sadness

Chaotic Bi, but she’s so deep in the closet that the Narnians are charging her rent

says she’s just happy to be here, but only because her bullshit family made her say that

is exempted from the cinnamon roll meme pending attempts to get her away from her abusers and into therapy