#i think action should have had an all new cast and then later on Owen being added back in should stay the same

[judahdenose]

I fully believe that Total Drama's biggest crime was not changing it's cast every season.

[lokiondisneyplus]

Yes, Loki series director Kate Herron knows about your fan theory about the show, the analysis you posted to social media. No, she won’t tell you what she thinks about it, or whether you were right.

“I follow all the conversations on Twitter,” Herron told Polygon in an interview shortly after Loki’s season 1 finale. “I don’t always weigh in on them, because I made the show, so they don’t want me weighing in like, ‘Actually, guys…’ I think that’s the whole point of art — it should be up for debate and discussion.”

[Ed. note: Spoilers ahead for season 1 of Loki.]

Loki has been a hit for streaming service Disney Plus — episode 6 of the show, the final installment for this season, was reportedly watched by more households than any of the platform’s MCU finales to date. The series has been a popular source of fan conjecture and argument, with one particularly big rolling conversation focusing on whether the budding romantic relationship between trickster Asgardian Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and his alternate-universe counterpart Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) is a form of incest.

Herron is willing to speak up about that one. “My interpretation of it is that they’re both Lokis, but they aren’t the same person,” she says. “I don’t see them as being like brother and sister. They have completely different backgrounds […] and I think that’s really important to her character. They sort of have the same role in terms of the universe and destiny, but they won’t make the same decisions.”

Herron says thematically, Loki falling for Sylvie is an exploration of “self-love,” but only in the sense that it’s Loki learning to understand his own motives and integrity. “[The show is] looking at the self and asking ‘What makes us us?’” Herron says. “I mean, look at all the Lokis across the show, they’re all completely different. I think there’s something beautiful about his romantic relationship with Sylvie, but they’re not interchangeable.”

Directing the final kiss between the two characters was a complicated process because it had to communicate something about each of them over the course of just a few seconds. Herron says the primary goal was creating a safe, comfortable environment for Hiddleston and Di Martino, and after that, she had to think about how to bring across Loki and Sylvie’s conflicting goals in that moment.

“It’s an interesting one, right?” she says. “Emotionally, from Sylvie’s perspective, I think it’s a goodbye. But it’s still a buildup of all these feelings. They’ve both grown through each other over the last few episodes. It was important to me that it didn’t feel like a trick, like she was deceiving him. She is obviously doing that, on one hand, but I don’t feel the kiss is any less genuine. I think she’s in a bad place, but her feelings are true.”

Herron says directing Hiddleston in the scene mostly came down to discussing the speech Loki gives Sylvie before the kiss. “That was really important, showing this new place for Loki,” Herron says. “In the first episode, he’s like, ‘I want the throne, I want to rule,’ and by episode 6, he isn’t focused on that selfish want. He just wants her to be okay.”

Loki writer and producer Eric Martin recently tweeted that he wished the show had been able to focus more time on two of its secondary characters, Owen Wilson’s Time Variance Authority agent Mobius M. Mobius, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw’s Ravonna Renslayer. “I wanted to explore her more deeply and really see their relationship,” he says, “But covid got in the way and we just didn’t have time.”

Asked if Loki and Sylvie’s relationship suffered from similar necessary edits, Herron says it’s true that the show’s creators and audience still don’t know everything Sylvie went through to make her so different from the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s original version of Loki. “We’ve seen her as a child, but she’s lived for thousands and thousands of years, in apocalypses on the run,” she says. “I think there’s so much more to delve into with Sylvie […] You’re filling in the blanks. You see [her on the planet] Lamentis, and it’s horrific. And you’re like, “Well, what kind of person would she be, growing up in apocalypses? What kind of personality would that give her?”

Herron says Sylvie’s backstory actually reminds her of the 1995 movie Jumanji, where a young boy is sucked into a magical board game in 1969, and emerges 26 years later as a full-grown man, played by with typical manic energy by Robin Williams. “It’s such a weird reference, but…” she says. “He’s a little boy when he ends up captive in that game, and when he comes out, it’s obviously been a life experience. With Sylvie, it’s similar. She was a child when she had to go on the run, so she’s had a very difficult life. I would love to see more of it. As Eric said, she’s a rich character, there’s so much to be explored.”

Herron says, though, that during her time on the show, material about Sylvie was added rather than cut — specifically, those scenes of her as a child, being kidnapped by the TVA. “This was before my time, but I know in the writers’ room, there were lots of avenues exploring Sylvie on the run and what her life was like,” Herron says. “I wouldn’t want to speak more to those, because I wasn’t there when they were being discussed. But something wasn’t in there that was important to me — I felt we should see her [history] in the TVA. Me and the team were talking about how it made complete sense, because episode 4 is all about twisting the idea that the TVA might be good on its head. And so that’s something that came in later, once I joined, was seeing her as a child. I think we needed to see that, not to understand her completely, but to get an idea of her motivations, why she’s so angry at this place.”

Talking more broadly about the series finale, Herron says the last few episodes weren’t as heavily referential as the first episodes, which she intended as “a love letter to sci-fi.” While early images like the TVA’s interrogation rooms had specific visual references from past science fiction, episode 6’s locations were drawn more from collaborations with the crew.

“The idea of the physical timeline being circular, our storyboard artists came up with that,” Herron says. “I had in the scripts, ‘We move through space to the end of time,” and then me and [storyboard artist Darrin Denlinger] discussed how we could play with the idea of time, while also adding MCU nods. He was like, ‘What if the timeline is circular?’ I think that’s such a striking image, like the Citadel at the End of Time is the needle on a record player. I just thought that was such a cool image, but it wasn’t necessarily taken from anything.”

Episode 6 focuses heavily on the mysterious figure He Who Remains and his citadel, a space she says was largely conceived by production designer Kasra Farahani. “I remember he brought in the art of the Citadel, and I thought it was beautiful,” Herron says. “He said, ‘The Citadel has been carved from an actual meteorite,’ which I thought was such an inspired idea. And He Who Remains’ office is the only finished portion of it.”

She says there are only a few direct homages in episode 6, including the zoom shot through space, which directly referenced a similar sequence in Robert Zemeckis’ 1997 film Contact.

“And then I have my Teletubbies reference for episode 5,” Herron says. “I wanted the Void to feel like an overgrown garden, like a kind of forgotten place. And I realized I’d pitched it as the British countryside. I remember trying to explain it to ILM, who did the visual effects, and saying, ‘Oh, you know, it’s like the Teletubbies. It’s just rolling hills, but they go on forever.’ That actually was quite a helpful reference in the end, which is funny.”

Asked for her favorite set memory from shooting the season, Herron says it comes down to Tom Hiddleston starting a mania for physical exertion before takes. “Sometimes he runs around set to get himself in the right mindset before he performs,” she says. “He does pushups. You know, you’re going into an action scene, you want to look like you’ve just been running. And it became infectious across all the cast. We’ve got so much footage of — I think Jack [Veal] ended up doing it, who plays Kid Loki. I’ve got [shots of] him and Sophia doing pushups and squats, just to get ready. It was so funny watching that echo across all the cast. I think all of them ended up doing those exercises with him at some point. It was so funny.”

“That might be my favorite set story, but it’s honestly, not a sweet one,” she adds. “I would say my favorite thing is his enthusiasm. He’s a very kind empathetic person. We were filming this in quite tough circumstances, a lot of people were far from home and isolating, and he brought this warmth and energy and joy to the set every day. And I think that made everyone feel very safe and very bonded. I’m forever grateful to him for doing that.”

[creativeashproductions]

Charlie’s New Friend // Charlie Gillespie

Summary: Charlie’s fallen for the casting director and Kenny’s right hand for Julie and the Phantoms. After a day doesn’t go the way it should the cast meets a little newcomer changing the dynamics with Charlie.

Warnings: Swearing, angst, single!parent!reader,  pure fluff

Words: 5.3k

A/N: Hi! In this fic there’s a stuffed animal and it’s important to speak about in this note. I found the stuffed animal on a website for Canadian Wildlife Federation that uses the money from each purchase to support the research and programs for species at risk. The Snowy Owl stuffed animal features in this fic has the proceeds go to protect the Canadian Arctic!

Website to the Canadian Wildlife Federation Adopt an Animal

Masterlist

Everyone has bad days when it happens, you often blared ‘Bad Day’ by Daniel Powter, in their lives. No stranger to those days it seemed today was the recent worse one when your coffee machine broke, your tea cabinet was barren, and Faye decided to dirty your shirt. Then the daycare called informing you of necessary renovations to bring it back to Code. That left you to do the one thing you really didn’t want to do.

You had to bring your daughter to work on the set of Julie and the Phantoms as Faye’s father was filming in England. You had no doubts he would have dropped everything to care for her if he was in the same town let alone state. The positive was that Kenny was aware of your situation and had pleaded for Faye to visit set.

“I need to go to the store after work.” You mumbled over the irritating children’s music that Faye adored. That or the flashing lights on the television during the half-hour each night you got supper ready.

Parking in your assigned spot you made quick work of release the baby carrier from the secure bucket. Faye slept through the entire transition to the stroller with the component that locked the car seat on it.

“Let’s rock ‘n roll Tink.” You told the sleeping infant with the baby bag slung over your shoulder and the pretty light purple blanket covering Faye’s tiny body.

Now while Kenny knew about your daughter, the rest of the cast was definitely unaware given you often passed on dinner. The few times you had joined was when Faye’s father was in town to see your shared daughter.

“Who’s this cutie?” Tori asked, stepping in unison with to view the adorable little baby with brunette curls hidden by her little toque.

“This is my daughter Faye.” You whispered as a suckling sound came from Faye’s open mouth as little snores came out, “Daycare is closed for renovations, and I don’t have a backup plan.”

Tori’s eyebrows raised as you dropped a somewhat surprising fact about part of your life you kept quiet. In no way, shape or form did you feel ashamed by Faye’s existence. Faye’s father was hands-on and very supportive, even if Faye had been a surprise.

“I never knew you had a child.” Tori blinked melting as the infant cooed in the stroller hidden from the sun via the visor.

Tori’s scrutiny of the little baby allowed her to catch the similarities such as the nose and mouth, but the rest was the father. There was something in Faye’s features that tickled her mind as if she had seen them before.

“It’s not something I like to flaunt. I prefer keeping my work life separate from my personal life.” You informed the seasoned dancer and choreographer.

A few more words of conversation commenced until Tori was called over to Paul with a clipboard in hand. The incessant feeling of eyes peering at you on the walk to the modest trailer you shared with Tori. It was easier for crew members to share trailers with the little time you typically spent in them.

With practised ease, your hands unstrapped Faye from her stroller into your arms where she cuddled into your neck. For the most part, Faye was an easy-going baby with an affinity for cuddling, but of course, that didn’t make her perfectly well behaved.

“Best be getting over to the office.” You cooed at the suckling sound Faye made with her fist pressed against her open mouth.

Kenny had personally hired you after working on Descendants as a casting director with healthy mutual respect. Often if at the time you were free, you found yourself working with the legendary man. He was lenient with the new addition of Faye as well, going as far as to see he was a great-uncle.

“Would this be Miss Faye?” Kenny asked from his seat at the head of the table with a handful of filled cars.

Jeremy, Owen, Madi, and Savannah sat with the newest script for the next episode leaving you to avoid looking at Charlie. Now it the typical Wattpad storyline you had fallen for the Canadian actor who reciprocated the feelings. A few hangouts and flirting, but he had no clue about the most significant piece of your life.

“I’m really sorry. I didn’t have a sitter, and the daycare had unforeseen extensive renovations.” You spoke softly bouncing as Faye’s little body tensed up with a whimper.

“I’ve been begging you to bring her on set. It’s about time.” Kenny retorted walking swiftly to coo over the little girl. His action bringing the cast members closer, Charlie’s solemn stare never leaving as he came closer.

“She’s so cute! How old is she?” Savannah questioned as the brown-eyed little girl blinked at the multiple faces.

“Eight months now. My little surprise.”

“Definitely a surprise for sure,” Charlie mumbled just on the cusp of everyone being able to hear, but Faye had all the attention.

Within seconds Faye had found herself in the arms of Owen with funny faces to get the little baby to laugh. Savannah, with your permission, had started snapping pictures of Faye’s interactions with everyone. Kenny had retreated to his computer while Charlie pulled you just outside the door.

“You have a kid?” Charlie hissed keeping distance between the two of you as the situation settled, “We’ve been on a handful of dates, and you kept your baby a secret?”

Your heart sank, “Do you know the chances of a guy dating someone with a kid? Joshua Jackson’s character in Mighty Ducks talking with his coach? Guys left his mom in the dust when they caught a glance of him.”

“You know me.” Charlie stressed glancing over his shoulder at the distracted group of young adults. Faye’s giggle drawing awes from every single individual in the room, even Charlie’s lips quirked at the sound.

“Charlie, that little girl is my blood. Every single decision I make has her in mind. I wasn’t keeping her from you maliciously.” You informed him trying to meet his gaze, “Her name is Faye Eloise. She adores music and this tiny fox her uncles got her.”

Charlie’s shoulder lowered slightly, “She is pretty cute.”

“Her laugh is my favourite sound in the entire world. She’s a replica of her father more than me.” Your lips lifted gazing over Charlie’s shoulder to Kenny, engaging in a one-sided conversation with Faye.

Charlie’s green gaze examine our expression pinned on the tiny little human you had bonded for months with. The pure adoration coating your features softened the ball of anger in Charlie’s belly, that didn’t mean he wasn’t hurt. But seeing the fundamental protective instincts you displayed, your body coiled to dash to Faye. Your gaze that periodically ensured Faye was safe.

Charlie saw the maternal love that poured out of you that he often caught in his own mother’s eyes. That very thought led to an in-depth conversation with his mom later when he was in the safety of his bedroom.

“Hey, sweetheart,” Jeanette spoke with her phone on speaker. The silence drawing her concern, “Charlie? Are you okay?”

“I’m not sure. That girl I’ve been seeing?”

“Y/N, she’s on the crew with Kenny. She’s all you’ve been talking about lately, and you’ve already told me she may be The One.” The words caused Charlie to involuntarily smile at the call after the second date with you. Charlie didn’t feel half-hearted, he felt with his entire soul.

“I still think she is, but she’s a package deal,” Charlie admitted scrubbing one hand through his hair sending the bandana keeping his hair out his face to his lap.

Jeanette took a moment in cleaning her kitchen to sit at the island to click the phone off the speaker. The phone resting against her ear, she gave her full attention to her youngest son.

“Charles. I don’t want to ask you this, but is she pregnant?” Jeanette questioned, holding her breath in complete anticipation. She’d like a few grandkids but preferably when the time was right for her children.

“No. Mom! I didn’t get her pregnant.” Charlie groaned at the hesitant toe tipping into a conversation he’d rather not relive from his teens, “She has a daughter.”

“And? Is that a deal-breaker for you? You talk like she’s the love of your life Charlie, you’ve never spoken about any of your previous girlfriends like that. You’re not even officially dating her either.” Jeanette replied, watching Meghan settle in for an episode of her current favourite show; the only Gillespie child visiting at the moment, “Are you willing to walk away because she had a child?”

“Faye is absolut-“

“-sounds like you answered the question with the adoration in your voice. You don’t have to run to the nearest chapel to get married. If you love both of them, give it a shot.” Jeanette advised her son smiling when Charlie’s breathing evened out more.

“Thanks, Mom.”

Jeanette knew in her very marrow that in time she would meet little Faye, call it mother’s intuition but she was sure of it.

It was the week of hell with the daycare still shut down, your back up babysitter on vacation and Faye upset. Charlie barely spoke to you as he tried to find his footing in the new dynamic and the space he had rightfully asked for. It was hell seeing him at work and only speaking for work requirements.

“Sh.” You hushed bouncing with Faye curled in your arms as her mouth twisted, “As a casting director and Kenny’s complete faith in me. I made a suggestion to Soyon.”

A line appeared between your eyebrows as Faye’s snuffled against your soft hoodie while trying to focus on the cast. The boys, Madi and Booboo sat in the room for a short meeting during the time the next scene was being set up.

“Kenny and I talked about your personal connection to your characters. There’s the smallest disjoint some of you have. Kenny’s always preached about everyone having a voice and to make suggestions.” You could cry as the ache in your arms increased from holding Faye, she’d cry every time you tried to put her down.

Mom life when you can’t put your baby down to pee alone in peace. Faye getting her shots and recovering from a stomach bug didn’t help.

“Are you okay?” Madi asked, catching the expression that came and went in seconds. The cast watching as you continued to walk around the room with Faye.

“I’ll be fine.” You shrugged the concern off closing your eyes to ground herself once more juggling the concern for Faye with your job, “Soyon and I want you to put a personal detail in your character’s style. If you think of anythi-“

Faye’s sharp cry echoed in the room, “Shh. I’m so sorry guys. I’d put her down, but she won’t settle-“

The cuts ended when Faye was gently tugged from you into a warm chest and soft coos in the little baby’s ears. Your sore arms dropping as Faye’s weight was coaxed into Charlie’s body and your jaw dropped. Charlie’s rhythmic pace and soft coos turning into a lullaby easing the baby.

“Wha-“

“-can’t have the little boss upset.” Charlie shot a coy smile resurrecting the confidence in the relationship. The smile grew when Charlie’s tiny nod at your unspoken question eased you.

“Is there anything you’d like added to your character? Outfit suggestions?” You inquired catching the hesitant gaze of the young actress.

The Puerto Rican teenager had quickly become a game-changer for the production as a first time with such an incredible talent. The second you saw Madi’s audition tape it had sealed the most critical role; Kenny adored the audition tape you had forwarded so fast.

“Could we do something for my mom?” Madi asked, biting her lip as your eyes encouraged her to delve deeper into the request, “My mom is in the army, and I’d like to pay homage to her?”

Your hand landed on her own in a squeeze, “We can absolutely do that. Head over to Soyon when you have a moment. What about you, guys?”

The three boys had gone quiet as Faye settled into a sleep you had been begging for since she missed her morning nap. Charlie had gone from softly singing to humming in the infant’s ear while Jeremy and Owen watched.

“Do you think Luke could carry the Rabbit’s Foot?” Charlie whispered, resting his head against the infant in his arms.

“I’m sure Soyon would have no trouble with that. Jeremy, Owen if you figure something out just let Soyon know. All suggestions are welcomed.” You informed the duo before starting to reach for Faye.

 Charlie stepped back while the 2/3rds of Sunset Curve left with Faye still held securely bouncing a small degree. The scene warmed your heart as Faye slept for the first time in what felt like years.

“I can take her if you want.” You told the actor with arms already reaching out to him but contradicting your expectations he’d back off.

Charlie’s green eyes focused solely on the tiny mouth opened just slightly with the soft breaths wafting from her small frame. At that moment cradling the small life the wall separating him shattered; the love flooded his veins, and he knew. He would fight anyone that hurt the little angel with no consequences in mind.

 “I’d like to hold her longer. I need the practice for when you need a nap.” Charlie replied, shifting his gaze onto your form. Charlie’s heart clenched at the unsure glint in the eye of Faye’s mother.

“Oh.” You simply spoke stepping closer to the man that had easily stolen your heart, holding your entire world in his gentle hands.

“I know it won’t be easy, but I would really like to give us a real chance. No secrets anymore. The minute I saw her, my heart melted, but I got scared, and I’ll always carry that regret in my life. I want to be here for you and for Faye.”

Charlie fell into the father figure as easy as breathing creating a bond that almost made you jealous with the ease. He adored playing music during Faye’s bath time, and in the special bath time with bubbles, he would create a beard; it sent Faye into giggles every time. He absolutely loved when you brought Faye to set.

Leaving Faye in Charlie’s capable hands, you had taken your break from work to freshen up in the washroom. Grabbing a quick bite, you rushed back to Charlie having gone over your time by a complete accident.

“I am so sorry! I got distracted by-“ You were almost surprised the sudden stop in motion would cause a burnout. Working through lines was Jeremy, Owen and Charlie; Charlie new accessory being a baby sling with Faye strapped against his chest.

“Hey, Babe! We have no filming the afternoon of Friday, it’s blocked for Madi. Jer and Carolynn offered to babysit. We could do a date night.” Charlie fully turned to face you lightly bouncing to keep Faye settled.

The sight of Charlie with Faye securely in the baby sling, one that you didn’t own and was the best one on the market, was incredibly sweet. It was at that moment that you just knew that Charlie was The One and you are deeply in love with him.

“They don’t have to. I was planning on telling you tonight that Faye’s father is in town, he has Faye for Friday to Sunday. You informed Charlie as he walked closer to tug you into his embrace with Faye.

Now while you had been dating Charlie for two months at this point, the topic of who Faye’s father hadn’t come up. It was a topic that found its way for discussion, but his name never came up; it didn’t matter.

“Oh. we should give them a moment.” Owen whispered to his fellow actor and friend. With a withering glance, they froze in their places.

“Why? Faye’s father is an amazing guy. He has a specific time for calling Faye, we have a group chat for Faye. We send pictures and updates to him.” Charlie informed them, “There are no hard feelings. We all trust each other even if I’ve never met him.”

When Friday came along, it sent Charlie into a near-constant state of panic with the thought of meeting Faye’s father. He couldn’t sit still, well it’s Charlie he can’t sit still, but this was nervous energy. He’d contribute little to the conversations with eyes periodically checking the time.

Charlie was alone without you or Faye on set, you had let Kenny know the significance of the date. Charlie had left your apartment with a kiss from both you and Faye in order for the apartment to be cleaned up.

“What’s up with him?” Madi inquired as her tray made contact with the table shared by her ghostly trio. Jer sent a look to Owen before answering.

“It’s the weekend that Faye’s father will be in town. Charlie’s freaking out about meeting him.” Jeremy supplied typing a reply to Carolynn from just before lunch.

“Oh, is he worried about Y/N getting back together with him?” Madi asked jabbing the straw into her drink. Her brown gaze watching Charlie’s leg bounce like a jackhammer.

“No. Not about that. His scenes are done so he’s waiting for Y/N to pick him up.” Owen stated, leaning back as the man in question took off running in his street clothes to the parking lot, “Did he leave burn marks with that sprint?”

In the typical routine that never stopped the flutters in his stomach, you leaned over to hum into a kiss. Breaking apart Charlie caressed your finger gently before straightening into the passenger seat. Out of habit, he checks over his shoulder where Faye was strapped in her car seat.

“Oh, one moment,” Charlie exclaimed jumping out of the vehicle to open the back door. He quickly in to kiss Faye on her forehead, “I missed you Bug.”

Faye’s giggled in response as Charlie closed the backdoor to return to the passenger seat with a beaming grin. Charlie loved his girls with all his heart even in the short amount of time he had been in their lives.

“We’re meeting at his place.” You told the Canadian actor focusing on the drive, “He’s been renting a place since Faye was born. It’s easier for everyone to not stay in a hotel or an apartment.”

Charlie hummed in response, watching as you left the general vicinity of the set for one of the gated communities. It wasn’t the incredibly high-end community, but it was on the pricier side, but it was safe. His eyebrows raised at the houses the vehicle passed as he sang for the baby in the back.

“This is where he’s renting?” Charlie scoffed scanning the vast neighbourhood of houses, “Whoa.”

The chuckle fell from your lips as you pulled into the driveway of the address you had received via text messages. You had barely stepped out of the vehicle when Charlie already had Faye’s car seat in his arms. Cradled in the crook of his arm he held out his free hand to intertwine with yours.

“Any advice before we go in there?” Charlie questioned glancing at Faye gurgling with her stuffed Snowy Owl.

So passionate for nature, he had found an organization that sells the stuffed animals of animals in jeopardy. The money from sales of the stuffed animals when to saving the animal bought, so when he got Faye the Snowy Owl, it put money towards saving the animal. Faye adored her stuffed owl just as much as the person that bought it.

“Just be yourself. Tom and you are similar in terms of people down to earth and close with your family.” You informed him of pushing the button for the doorbell while Charlie stared at you.

“His name is Tom?” Charlie asked thinking back to the messages he had added as Faye’s father, he felt stupid he didn’t know the name of the guy who was a big part of your life.

“Did we never introduce you in the group chat?” You questioned as the door opened to the 5’8 brunette and glittering brown eyes.

Charlie’s eyes widened at the first physical appearance of your ex and Faye’s father standing in front of him. Tom was the same height as Charlie with brown eyes and a pale complexion but a childlike aura. Tom’s eyes met Charlie’s before they beamed down to the happy baby.

“’ello. Come on in.” Tom ushered you and Charlie into the home straight to the living room, “I’m Tom, can I get you anything to drink?”

“Charlie.” The Canadian actor spoke, shaking his hand with an equally welcoming smile as you gently took Faye out of her car seat.

“Hi, little Holly.” Tom cooed as his now eleventh-month-old child lunged into his arms with loud giggles, “That’s a cute owl you have there.”

“Y/N!” The overjoyed announcement came from Tom’s young brother Harry holding the camera that you’d never seen more than a few metres from him.

Faye’s uncle quickly squeezed you in a tight hug before pulling away to scan your form as if something drastic had changed. Charlie awkwardly watched as he settled into a little family, he wasn’t familiar with.

“Charlie, this is Tom’s younger brother Harry. Harry this is my boyfriend Charlie who I met on the set of his show.” You gestured for Charlie to come closer and just like that the three guys acted like they’d been friends for years.

You and Charlie didn’t linger at Tom’s house more than an hour to give Tom’s the entire weekend with his daughter. Of course, you would worry about her the whole time, but you also knew Tom didn’t need any help. You completely trusted him, but you can’t help it when the child is yours.

“Where’d you get Faye the owl?” Tom asked, leading Charlie to beam in excitement.

“Oh! Well, I use my platform to bring awareness and support to the environment internationally. The Canadian Wildlife Federation has a website that sells adoption kits for animals. Every purchase of the animal in their Adopt-an-Animal program funds the research and critical conservation programs for at-risk species.” Charlie used his hands as he rambled on, “By adopting this stuffed Snowy Owl it further funding for conservation efforts to protect Canada’s Arctic environments.”

Tom’s lips pulled into a grin, “My brothers and I have a charity we use to host events to raise money for the smaller charities. Maybe in the future, we sit down for a deeper conversation? You can send me a few links that I can share as well.”

“We have dinner plans. Keep me posted?” You interrupted, leaning into Charlie’s warm side with a kind smile to Tom.

Goodbyes shared you left the house with Charlie to the vehicle he adamantly asked to drive with that charming smile. The radio on low you watched the scenery go by.

“Tom’s an amazing guy. Family-oriented, kind, supportive, charitable and a really nice guy. Why did you guys break up?” Charlie asked, glancing at you from the corner of his green eyes. Your eyes, however, kept focused on the blurry landscape.

It wasn’t a way to avoid the question, “We became acquainted on Instagram back before he landed the role of Spider-Man. Over time it developed into a relationship that wasn’t serious or long term. We actually broke up a week after we conceived Faye.”

The two individuals stared stock still at the screen of black, white and shades of grey on the monitor. The tiny little bean moving around with the consistent thudding in the background. Your lips parted as the doctor’s words of a positive pregnancy, repeating like a broken record. Tom’s handheld tight as he digested the news.

His ex-girlfriend of three months, you to be precise, had been the safe place for a fetus to grow. Estimated gestation of eleven weeks it felt the two young adults spiralling with the large what-ifs making their presence known.

“Pregnant. That’s a baby.” The words came out shaky on the British man’s lips, “I put that baby in you. You are carrying my child, but it’s your choice if you want to keep the baby. It’s your body going through the changes.”

“I’d like to keep baby H.” You softly responded, sharing a smile of disbelief as it settled that a life-changing event would come to fruition in six months.

“We tried to make it work, but it became obvious that the spark had been gone for too long. I’ll always care for him and love him, but I’m not in love with him.” You told Charlie as he pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant chosen for the date.

“He’s a really good guy.”

“He’s an amazing father. I lucked out in the romance department, to be honest even if it didn’t work out with Tom.”

The topic was shelved for lighter conversation based on the things you missed on set today. Owen almost broke his nose in some stupid stunt that Charlie was involved in while you recounted the new music Faye had taken to.

Julie and the Phantoms renewed for a second season with a few new characters being introduced such as paramedic Lucy. Lucy would be a recurring character on the show with a connection to the boys. Julie would detest the woman that she believed was trying to replace her mother, and that would cause tension with her father. It would bring in a storyline for Ray manoeuvring his way through the guilt of finding someone attractive other than his wife. Beyond Ray, the boys would know Lucy as she was a rookie paramedic called to their accident site in the ‘90s.

With the new character and some more recurring ones, Kenny had wholly placed his trust in your again. Working from home due to the pandemic you compiled an extensive list of potential actors.

“Supper is ready.” Charlie breathed leaning down to kiss your cheek in the home office you shared together.

In his arms was Faye who had recently turned two years old with bouncy brown volumized curls with your eye colour. Faye loved being outside in the backyard or short hikes with Charlie vigilantly keeping an eye on her walking. Often you let the hiking be their thing together while you had the alone time or worked.

“Smells good.” You breathed kissing over to kiss the little girl, “Hello Tink. Are you excited to see Nana and Papa?”

“Mhm!” Faye spoke with her eyes twinkling at seeing her English grandparents with their silly accents. With her grandparents came their rambunctious uncles Harry, Sam and Paddy and her favourite family member Tessa.

“Daddy can’t wait to bring you to where he grew up.” Your fingers gently pushed the rebellious curl off her pudgy cheek.

“Then Dad and Mom can go on their honeymoon.” Charlie joked with a peck on the cheek of his little girl.

The glint of the ring on Charlie’s finger screamed at you with the recent memory of the intimate wedding. It had taken place a few months ago with your family and friends in attendance with Tom as well. He had even stood up with Charlie and even had a charming speech.

Gillespie Wedding

The Brit shuffled on the stage just before the guests all wearing masks and spaced following guidelines for the pandemic. His own black mask hung off one ear as he stepped up to the microphone.

“Hello, my name is Tom.” He introduced himself setting his eyes on the wedding party table with a grin, “Some may find it off for an ex-partner to be a guest at the wedding let alone being a part of the wedding party. Some of you know that I share an absolutely gorgeous and rambunctious little toddler with the bride.”

Faye waved enthusiastically from her seat beside her mother earning a chuckle from the attendants.

“I was blessed with meeting Y/N and having a daughter with her. We’re not like a lot of ex-couples because we remained close friends. She was open from the moment she knew there was something with a certain Canadian actor. The three of us created a group chat to share updates for Faye like when she popped her first molar tooth. The was a period I never want to relive” Tom laughed shaking his head with his deep brown eyes scanning the crowd, “Charlie had no clue that I was Faye’s father and his expression was priceless.”

“I never mentioned his name to Charlie! I never even realized until we dropped Faye off. Charlie knew Tom is an actor but not one of the Tom’s in Marvel.” You shouted over the laughter from the guests.

“We bonded, and we’ve never had any issues with our places in the lives of these darling young women. Faye has a loving mother and two fathers that will help her navigate life and protect her. I want to tell Charlie this: when Faye graduates from high school and maybe university if she decides to continue formal education and her wedding. You’ll be walking her down the aisle with me. I consider you one of my best friends, and there is no one else in this world I would trust with my little girl. I wish the bride and groom lifelong happiness in the new chapter. To Charlie and Y/N Gillespie!”

Now months later you had moved into a four-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles with Charlie and Faye. For the time being the third bedroom was rented out to Owen when he was in town to lower your rental fees and give him a stable residence. For a four-bedroom apartment, it was on the smaller size, but it was close to areas for Charlie to hike.

“How are you feeling?” Charlie murmured helping you off the couch revealing the bump you had been sporting for a while.

Baby Gillespie was healthy and robust and very much a surprise to the young couple. Charlie was sure the baby would be a boy while you full-heartedly believed Faye would have a little sister.

“Can’t wait for this little bun to be in our arms.” One hand coming to rest on top of his hand over the warm crewneck sweater.

The sweater came from a package of gifts Madison’s family had sent to celebrate the news of the baby on the way. The sweater was a light grey colour with the outline of phantom blobs with their guitars. The only addition was a baby phantom blob with over-ear headphones with a pacifier in the mouth. Absolutely adorable and a gift to be cherished.

“I still think if baby G is a girl, we name her Lucy.” Charlie teased leaning forward with the belly, keeping him at a distance.

“We are-“ The words unheard as Faye made her appearance known on the baby monitor keeping an eye on the toddler. Charlie was turning the corner from the living room to grab the little girl.

“Hey, sweet Angel.” Charlie’s soft words came through the speaker with the same care he’d shown her the entirety he’d known her.

You really did luck out with a beautiful daughter adored by both her fathers she had wrapped around her pinky. The paternity of Faye didn’t matter to Tom or Charlie, both mutually respecting each other with no ill will. The two male actors had grown a lovely friendship on mutual interests and passion for the environment and charity.

The fond smile grew as your eyes found the picture from Faye’s first birthday; her hands high in the ear coated in the smashed cake. Pudgy cheeks a rosy pink with Charlie and Tom on each side kissing her cheeks. Tom’s brother Harry had caught the candid picture with Faye’s infectious smile and surrounded by the love of her family.

Tag List (PLEASE SEND AN INBOX TO BE ADDED! I CANNOT GUARANTEE YOU WILL BE ON THE LIST VIA POST COMMENTS!)

@safehavenmuse @siennanoelle01 @whiterose291 @mell-bell @blackhood5sos @ficrecsideblog @ifilwtmfc @deadpoolgirl23 @crappy-unicorn @sunsetcurve-h @elioelioeli0 @lovesanimals @popcrone818 @lolychu @deepsleepnat @tenaciousperfectionunknown @aunicornmademedoit @just-a-writer-here @simp4reggie @parkeret @faithiebrock01 @overlyhypedup @differentsoulrascalsalad @aesthetic-lyss @versaceapa @carleywhittaker @lostgirl219 @itsalexx21 @elllaoo4 @merxxleighann @mediocremunge @fantomlovesjuke4ever @dpaccione @oswin05 @kaylinfayezink @aberette13 @faithie-brock-gillespie01 @eharvey0218 @overlyhypedup @benstormy @auriandthepussicats @sarcasticsagittarius1998 @whothefuckstolemykeds  @siriuswvrld​ @princessvader15​ @xoxbloodreinaxox @heimdoodle​ @joshy-obx​ @lovesanimals​ @oopsiedoopsie23​ @am3l1a-24 @flying-solo-without-you​ @jaskiers-sweetkiss​ @lostrandomfangirl​n @must-be-a-weasley-92​ @jatp-holland​ @ilikealotofpeople-younotsomuch @dxlanhxlland​ @dasexydevitt13​ @ifilwtmfc @arianagrandes-things @kinda-really-lost​ @marinettepotterandplagg​​ @ssprayberrythings​​ @morgandamrose @thedarkqueenofavalon​ @zukoshonourr​ @crybabyddl @spooky-season-bitch​ @kcd15​ @morganayennefertyrell @magnet-girl​ @all-in-fangirl​ @kinda-really-lost @tenaciousperfectionunknown​ @badwolf00593​ @blowakissbabe​ @talksoprettyjjx @thesweetestsinner​ @kaitieskidmore1​ @writerinlearning​ @aiofheavenandhell​ @sageellsworth05

[bi-bi-buckleydiaz]

i think not | owen joyner

requested?; - yes! Owen Joyner x reader - their characters might not be love interests on the show (readers is possibly a new one for Luke/which causes a rift in Juke) but they are in real life and are trying to keep it on the down low especially during cast interviews and with fans.

word count; 2K

warnings; language, yelling but only like two sentences

a/n; I didn’t know how to end it so the ending kinda sucks sorry. also side note, the character the reader plays on jatp is a character I’m planning on writing an x reggie fic with so be on the lookout for that !

that close up tho 

You didn’t mean for it to happen. 

Not the, relationship, of course. You wanted that to happen. You’ve been wanting that to happen since you were an extra dancer on the first season of Julie and the Phantoms and danced right into Owen on accident during The Other Side of Hollywood. He was sweet about it, of course he was, asking if you were okay when he was the one that got barrelled into. The apology coffee date turned into a movie night at his apartment which then turned into weekly Friday night takeout dates which ultimately turned into Owen blurting out one night that he liked you and wanted to be your boyfriend. 

You obviously said yes. 

Which brings you to now, two years later filming season two of JatP, except this time you weren’t a dancer, but a recurring character - Delilah Alarie, a 17 year old girl who can hear ghosts, but can’t see them, and forms an unlikely relationship with everyone’s favorite bassist in a ghost band. This is where the problem comes in. 

When you and Owen started dating back in 2019, you two decided to keep it on the DL because you both weren’t totally sure where it was going to go. At the time you were both so busy: Owen having his first acting job as an adult so he was getting used to the long hours, and you working what felt like 25/8 to get all the dance routines down pat. So you both just...didn’t tell anyone. That’s not to say people weren’t suspicious. Charlie was present at many movie nights and Tori liked to tease you about you how you’d spend your time between takes staring at the blond drummer and his fidgeting fingers. 

Filming wrapped and you planned to announce your relationship at the wrap party, but a certain 19 year old thought it would be smart to get a little wasted and passed out before you could say “hey, we’re dating.” Then, you all went your separate ways and you and Owen didn’t see the need to inform everyone of the relationship, especially because you had to figure out the whole long-distance thing. 

Then Covid hit. And there really wasn’t a need because you both were fighting so hard to not get insecure and worried about the hundreds of miles between you two. But you got through it. Between many facetime calls, a spontaneous trip to Hawaii, and one memorable meet up at a halfway point between your two states, you were finally back in each other's arms after the last three months apart. Of course, it was on set, where everyone thinks you’re just friends. 

So yeah, there’s a problem. Because you didn’t mean for the secret dating to go on for so long. Life just, happened, and now you two are constantly sneaking around your fellow castmates and trading secret kisses in each other’s trailers and having little rendezvous meetings in the apartment building’s pool after your roommates have fallen asleep. You’re sure Savannah and Tori have heard you sneaking out a few times, but they wisely say nothing. Charlie sleeps like the dead so your certain Owen is in the clear. 

It’s not like you two want to keep it a secret. Of course you want to tell your friends, it's just, since it’s gone on for so long you’re scared of what could happen. If they’ll get mad about the sneaking around and the lying. 

But alas, you knew the day when the secret would slip out would come. And today just happened to be that day. 

Your friends were already starting to get suspicious, you and Owen were starting to lose your subtlety with the sneaking around, and some fans don’t understand the term BOUNDARIES and caught you two outside the apartment building one day. You weren’t doing anything relationship-y, you two were just coming back from a short day on set because you both ended at the same time and were looking forward to some much needed alone time. But you both knew better than to hold hands or kiss in public, which you were glad for that rule when a few girls bombarded Owen when you both walked out of the parking garage to head inside. The girls posted about the interaction online and of course, assumptions were made about why you two were together. The cast brought it up, but you both shut it down. You really thought the secret would be exposed because someone would catch you two together...Owen is not good at keeping his hands to himself despite his own PDA rule. 

But no, the secret came to a head because Owen is a big fat st0upid head and got jealous over his best friend. 

It started as a normal day. You got up at the last possible minute, Savannah and Tori already eating breakfast in the kitchen, knowing better than to wake you up before your alarm. You ate, showered, changed into comfy clothes for the ride to work. Madi joined you and the other girls that day, now being a little older her dad trusted her to be alone with the older cast members and alone on set for a little while. You jammed out to Doja Cat and HSM because “range, Y/N, range.” Then you arrived on set to Kenny calling you and Madi over for an impromptu meeting before any of you could reach hair and makeup. 

“Alright, now that the rest of you guys are here, I have an announcement to make.” You looked around to see that it was just the main four and you, and that’s when trepidation hit. The only scene you knew of today that involved you five was when the boys finally became visible to you, and you and Reggie share a moment. It’s a hug, much like the one Julie and Luke shared in the season one finale. But Kenny had come up to you a few days ago, suggesting adding a little something something. He told you he wasn’t sure yet, had to run it by a few execs, but that Jeremy was okay with it and he wanted to make sure you’d be okay with it too. You had said yes, after all Jeremy was the one married so you were really only worried about how he and Carolynn would feel about the kiss, you didn’t even think about Owen. 

That was a mistake. 

“So, I ran it by a few execs and of course, our own Delilah and Reggie, and have decided that after their big hug moment, a little kiss would really make the scene and ma -” 

“Uh I think not.” It was muttered, but everyone heard it. And everyone froze, Kenny stopping mid sentence to look at the culprit. Owen was looking at his hands, completely oblivious to everyone staring at him. He didn’t even realize he’d said it aloud until Jeremy cut the tension with a little forced chuckle. 

“C’mon Owen there’s enough of me to go around.” Everyone chuckled a bit, but Owen froze in his fidgeting, his face going firetruck red and eyes darting over to you. 

“Shit. Fuck I said that aloud didn’t I?” He groaned, putting his face in his hands and, before you could stop yourself, you walked up to him. 

“Hey. Hey c’mon.” You gently wrapped your hands around his wrists and pulled his hands away from his face. “It’s okay.” You expected him to look stressed. Based on his tone of voice you were preparing for a minor panic attack. But when you saw his face, all you saw was anger. It shocked you, causing you to stumble back a bit. 

“You knew about this?” And okay, yeah, you also expected a bit of that. But not to this caliber. 

“Owen I -”

“No. No you knew and didn’t tell me? Didn’t think to mention that you’d be kissing one of my best friends? What the hell Y/N?” You flinched, not used to Owen being this angry and loud.

“Owen, buddy, hey. Let’s just -” Charlie started, trying to diffuse the situation having noticed you flinching. 

“No! This isn’t a ‘calm down’ thing. This is a “my girlfriend lied to me” thing and I’m very upset about it!” And whoop...there it is. 

“Owen...” 

“God just, really Y/N?” Then he walks away, leaving you surrounded by your confused friends. It’s silent for a few seconds, everyone taking in what just happened. 

“Um...I know this probably a really bad time to bring this up but uh...y’all owe me twenty bucks each,” Charlie said. Then everyone started talking at one. Kenny apologizing for not knowing, Madi berating Charlie for the bad timing, Charlie firing back that Owen is just being dramatic, and Jeremy consoling you with Kenny. His hand on your back jump starts you into action. You quickly excuse yourself to make your way to Owen’s trailer, knowing that’s probably where he stormed off too. 

You don’t knock when you get there, just walk in, making sure to lock it behind you. Owen is there on the couch, elbows on his knees and head in his hands. 

“Owen Joyner what the hell was that?” That’s not what you had wanted to say. You were going to be nice and ease into it. But he yelled first and now you're anxious and stressed and upset. He sighs heavily and looks up at you, eyes red and glassy with unshed tears. 

“I’m sorry. I - Y/N I didn’t mean to freak. I realized halfway here that was not the way to go. I’m so -” You cut him off by pushing him back and crawling into his lap.

“It’s okay. It’s okay I should’ve - I shouldn’t’ve just yelled and I definitely should have told you when Kenny proposed the idea I just got so caught up in the fact it’d be my first on screen kiss and it’d be with a married man who’s in quite possibly the cutest relationship ever and I was worried about -” 

“You’re rambling babe,” Owen says with a smile. It’s a soft thing, one that makes your insides all mushy and your heart starts beating a little faster. “It’s okay. I mean, I would’ve liked to have found out earlier and not in front of our friends - oh my God! I just completely exposed us didn’t I? Oh God!” He whimpers out a whine and leans his head forward onto your shoulder. You giggle at the blonde beneath you, running your hands through his hair as he pinches your sides for the laugh. 

“Babe, I’m pretty sure they already knew.” Owen whips his head up at that, eyebrows furrowed. 

“Charlie mentioned everyone owes him twenty so, i’m pretty sure they were betting on when we’d tell them.” Owen groans and grumbles at that, throwing his head back in a dramatic way to convey his fake frustration. He brings his head back center and smiles softly again at you. 

“I will make sure to steal it from him tonight. That’s our money babe.” You giggle into the kiss he places onto your lips. You two sit there for a few more minutes, exchanging kisses and trading affirmations of love. After a final kiss, one that’s full of passion and heat, you decide to head back to set. 

You walk into the stage with the studio hand-in-hand, smiles on your faces. Madi squeals when she sees you both, running over to hug you. 

“Yay yay! I knew you’d work it out and now I have another couple to fangirl over. Yay!” You hug the small girl back before she bounces over to give Owen the same treatment. 

“Congrats bro,” Charlie says with a smile, clapping a hand on Owen’s back and ruffling your hair up. Jeremy smiles at you two, hugging you both as well. 

“Congrats you two, now can we get back to the meeting? You two dating is old news. Like, 2019 old. But congrats on finally announcing it!” You look at Kenny in shock for a second, before bursting out into laughter, everyone around you following suit. Owen squeezes your hand three times and you look back over at him. You both shoot each other a small smile. 

It’s gonna be okay. 

[plotting-against-you]

Will It Ever Be the Same (Part 2)

Fandom: Nancy Drew (TV 2019)

Characters: Ryan Hudson, Nancy Drew, Ace, Bess Marvin, George Fan, Ned 'Nick' Nickerson

Prompt(s): This is based on two prompts. One of those prompts is from Alicia, who asked: "Could you do one where Nancy is 13 instead, has blonde hair like Lucy, and blue eyes like Ryan? She goes to his place like in 1x17 to get help for the ritual and on the way out she gets dizzy because she's been working herself to exhaustion. In that moment Ryan notices how similar she looks to Lucy and himself but decides not to say anything but also knows Nancy is his. She eventually tells him before doing the ritual. They go back to his place and he just says 'I know it's you'. She gets overwhelmed, almost passes out, and he just sits with her and tells her to rest."

This is also for @nancydrewcentral's week 2 hiatus prompt: Time Period AU.

Warnings: Panic/Anxiety attacks, mentions of anxiety and coping mechanisms, mentions of character deaths (past and present), mentions of suicide

Part 1

“Do you need me because I’m your father?”

He watched as her eyes went wide again, and as she scooted her body backward on the ledge, he took a step forward.

“Please, be careful! I don’t want you to get hurt.”

She paused, moving to a safer position, and let the tears roll down her cheeks silently. “You know?”

He nodded. “I found out this morning when you had your panic attack. The way you scrunched your face was exactly how Lucy used to, and when you rolled your eyes at me, it was like I was looking in the mirror. Then the rest fell into place, and I figured it out.”

“But then…why did we drive all the way to Trenton?” Her breathing was still even, but he knew that could change at any minute.

He shrugged. “A selfish part of me—one that I am learning to work on—wanted to spend some time with you. The rest of me knew you didn’t want me to know yet, so I played along. You were freaking out, and I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“Thank you.” Her lip quivered. “Um…I’m really sorry.”

“Sorry?” His brows shot up in surprise. “For what?”

When she shrugged, it screamed “teenager” and almost had him laughing.

“For not telling you.”

“Hey, you didn’t look like you were in any place to tell me. I get it. This is all knew, and your whole life just changed.” He wanted her to know he understood her.

She shook her head. “It’s not that. I mean, it is that, but…I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“Me? How would you have hurt me?”

She bit her lip, and a flash of Lucy filled his head before he focused back on his little girl. “You just lost your wife and found out why the love of your life killed herself. I didn’t want to add more to your plate in case you were disappointed.”

Now he did step forward, holding his hand out to see if she’d take it.

She did.

“Nancy, I could never be disappointed in you. First of all, you’re my child. Second, you’re amazing. You’ve solved so many mysteries that even the cops couldn’t solve. Third, you are a brilliant young woman and a great student from what I’ve heard. I don’t think there is anything you could do to ever make me disappointed to have you as my daughter.”

She gave him a watery smile now, squeezing his hand. “Can we go save my friends now?”

…

Ryan stayed close to Nancy as they walked through the woods just off the Marvin estate. He wasn’t sure what was going to happen, but after hearing that some crazy sea spirit wanted his daughter’s life—as well as those of her friends—he had found himself growing even more protective than he had felt that morning. He was also unsure how she wanted to handle telling everyone about their relationship if they even had one.

Then he saw the group standing around a fire and let her lead.

“Ryan Hudson?” He heard Bess question, her British accent standing out amongst the others.

“Uh, what’s going on?” Nick was next to try and figure out what was happening but was also ignored.

“Let’s do the thing.” Nancy’s voice sounded off, but as she’d had a long day, Ryan let it slide.

“Um…without a blood relative?” Nick was back to questioning her, but Nancy cut him off once more.

“We have one.” She gripped the paper tightly. “’Make a fire. Burn seaweed as an offering to the sea spirit.’”

“Yeah, we have it all there,” Bess told her quietly, and as the only adult, Ryan felt the need to be suspicious as to how a group of teenagers knew how to do supernatural rituals.

Before he could question it, Nancy continued to read. “’Scatter signs of the curse into the offering flame.’”

George sighed and tossed a handful of sand into the fire. “Well, here’s what’s left of my pocket friends.”

Everyone moved back as the flame billowed higher with the offering, but he was the only one who seemed to be concerned about it.

Was the curse this bad that they all saw portents? Ryan wondered to himself. Was Nancy’s life in so much danger that he could possibly lose her before he even really had her?

“’Blood relatives joined hands over the fire.” She handed the paper to George and faced him. “Please.”

Her voice broke, and at the begging look on her face, he acquiesced.

“Start the incantation.” She told the group.

“I don’t understand, though. Are you two cousins or something?” Bess couldn’t help but wonder, even at such a perilous time.

“No. Can we get this over with, please?”

Looking around at the group Ryan noted that although most of them looked confused, Ace just looked sad.

He had seen the two of them together many times but never questioned it. Now, he realized, the two teens must be dating. He knew that he was new to the father business, but he wasn’t sure how he felt about her dating so young.

Then again, while everyone else questioned and stalled, Ace was the one to step forward.

“’In this fire, to end a spirit's desire, we burn the signs with the salt of the sea and two blended wounds. With this offering of blood for blood, we cast a veil between the kindred spirits and the vengeful one, so that it may no longer pursue us. Forever gone.”

As the young man spoke the words, Ryan felt his palms split and forced himself to keep contact with Nancy even as she gasped in pain and let tears spill from her eyes, now openly crying. He could see that she was in real pain, and he needed it to stop.

“Nancy, I have to stop this.”

“No!” She shouted at him over the pain, and his heart broke. “I…I need you to save my friends.”

The grunted in pain as she spoke, her words so desperate he did as she asked.

Nick stepped forward now. “Why do you need Ryan?”

Nancy let out a sob. “Because…Lucy was pr-pregnant with Ryan’s baby, and right before she died, she gave birth…to me.”

She let out a strangled cry of pain again, and as the group watched them in shock and heartbreak for their friend, Ryan focused on keeping her upright, wanting to finish the ritual as soon as possible.

…

Two hours later, Ryan sat on his back patio staring into a fire much like the one he’d seen earlier, though without the crazy offerings of sand and blood.

He’d stayed to speak with Nancy for a little bit after the ritual, but then Carson had shown up, and he’d left quickly to avoid that confrontation. He knew that she wasn’t happy with her adoptive father being there, but as he had the legal right to call the cops if Ryan intervened, the new father let them deal with their grief.

As he stared into the fire now, he thought back to the look on Nancy’s face as they finished the ritual. She was tired, and he guessed she hadn’t gotten any sleep the night before. Having overheard Nancy and Carson yelling at each other, he knew she’d run away the evening prior and had been out all night.

It made a lot of sense why she’d looked so pale upon arriving at his house.

The doorbell rang suddenly, causing Ryan’s brows to furrow in confusion. It was late, much later than anyone should be out, and he knew his parents didn’t ring the bell though he wished that they would.

Then he answered it and felt like he’d been hit by a truck.

“Nancy? What happened?”

The young girl stood on his front step, sobs breaking through her ragged breathing. Her whole body shook, and he could hear the anguish in her cries.

Laying his hand on her shoulder, Ryan pulled her into the house, shutting the door and locking it behind them. Then he felt two arms wrap around his middle and looked down to see his daughter holding onto him like a lifeline.

He copied her action and held her tightly to him, cradling her head to his chest. “Hey, whatever it is, we’ll figure it out, okay?”

She continued to sob. “O…Owen’s de-dead.”

His blood ran ice-cold, and he gripped her tighter. “Was it the Aglaeca?”

“I don’t…I don’t….”

“Shh, it’s okay.” He had to calm her breathing, or he’d be calling an ambulance.

“I killed him.”

“No, you didn’t.” He promised her. “This wasn’t you.”

“But…”

She trailed off, and he felt her body sag, dropping slightly as her legs gave out. “Hey, stay with me, okay?”

“Mmm.”

He knew that the shock, adrenaline, and exhaustion were catching up to her and was worried. Going on instinct, he dipped slightly and lifted her into his arms. When she didn’t respond, his concern grew.

“Hey, you still awake?”

“Mhm.”

Breathing out a sigh of relief, he carried her over to the couch and laid her across it. Then, pulling the blanket off the back, he draped it over her and plopped to the floor by her head. “I think you need sleep, Nancy.”

“But…”

He gripped her hand tightly, and her eyes shot to his. “I know you’re worried about nightmares. But I’m not going anywhere. I just got you. I’m not letting anything happen to you now.”

“Thanks.”

He nodded and waited as she drifted off to sleep.

He was glad he’d gotten a deep sleep the night before when he still believed everything they’d learned. He figured it would probably be the last for a while.

For now, though, he settled himself on the floor and kept guard over the scared teenager, praying that one day soon all she would have to worry about what bad grades, dates with her boyfriend, and worries about what to wear to prom.

[deanandthephantoms]

I'm going bananas for you. (a Charlie Gillespie story.)

A/N: So. I was talking with @julie-thefatones and we stumbled upon the topic of Charlie and how he loves bananas.. - listen it was 3am we we're having fun you can't blame us.- ANYWAY. i turned that conversation into this little story. Enjoy reading it haha!

Wordcount : 1328 --

Today was gonna be a good day. The cast of Julie and the Phantoms had, after 2 years of waiting, finally been able to go on a world tour. A little over two years ago Charlie met Y/N and not long after their first meeting they started dating which quickly turned into them being an official couple. Due to Covid and quarantine they practically ended up living together and both had loved every minute of it. When things stared to get better and the world slowly became normal again the official JATP-World tour was announced and as excited as Charlie was he was not excited about the fact that he would have to miss Y/N for literal months. He couldn’t be away from her for that long! So he had, one day, gotten down on his knees – causing a bit of panic and confusion, making people think he was about to propose- only to beg Y/N to come with him on tour. A proposal Y/N happily said yes to under the condition she could bring her best friend Hannah, so she wouldn’t be lonely during rehearsals and stuff. She also would have said yes to a marriage proposal by the way, but that was apparently something for another day. At this point the cast had played different states and cities and every city had organized his own Fan-action. From all waving a flashlight during unsaid Emily. to throwing colorful balloons around during Edge of great. It had been awesome. And it had inspired Y/N and Hannah to organize a little something as well.. and that brings us to Today..

I was woken up by soft kisses that were being placed all over my face. Before actually opening my eyes I enjoyed the feeling of Charlie’s arms around me, there really was no place where I felt more at home than in his arms. The soft kisses making my heart flutter. I snuggled closer to his bare warm chest, giving away that I had in fact woken up. “Morning sleepyhead” He said in the morning voice I loved all too much. “Morning” I smiled before I kissed him. “Are you ready to play your biggest show yet?” I asked him. They were playing in New York tonight, the biggest venue they had played to date. “YEAH I AM! There’s gonna be so many cool people to rock out with I can’t wait!’ Charlie was always excited to get on stage but I could tell the show tonight got him a bit over excited. “you know what babe, me too. Can’t wait to see you kill it on stage again.’ ‘ Yeaah you like seeing me pretending to be a rockstar ey?’ there was a teasing tone in his voice. “What do you mean pretend? You are a rockstar Charlie.” I reply dead serious before adding “Cause you’re a star and you rock my world.” “ooof. Not your best pick up line babe..” “Oh i know.” and then we just both laugh. There was never a grumpy start of the day with this man.

Later that day we arrived to the venue for Soundchecks and a short rehearsal for the night. That’s when I meet up with Hannah. “Did you bring the costumes for tonight?” I ask her. “She laughs at me “yeah was kind of hard to sneak them in without anyone noticing but they’re in the building” “Goooood! I’m curious to see if the fans will work with us on this one.. and even more curious to see Charlies face if they do.” Just the image of it in my head cracks me up. That’s when I hear Owens voice behind me “What’s so funny?” “nooothing.” Me and Hannah reply in our most innocent ways. “You’re up to something aren’t you?” I share a look with Hannah trying to decide whether we should tell Owen or not. That’s when Hannah makes the decision for us. “We may have kind of planned a prank on Charlie?” Prank on Charlie is all Owen needed to be fully on our side. “ooooh what are we doing?” he asks. “Well you know how he’s kind of know for eating bananas right?” “yeah. The dude is eating them all the time. But..” Hannah cuts Owen off: “Right. So as a Joke we asked all the fans to come in dressed in normal clothes, but to put on their banana costumes when now or never is about to happen . And then once he gets off stage we’ll be wearing a banana costume as well just to make it clear where the joke is coming from.” Owen bursts out in laughter “ok. That’s gold I hope it works’ he says after composing himself. “ Don’t mention a thing to Charlie okay? Just act normal or he’ll know we’re up to something” I say to Owen before he gets back on stage. He just gives me a nod as assurance.

Hannah and me are alone again and decide to log on to our fake fan account to hype up our idea one last time. We had over the last few days gotten a lot of reactions of fans who told us they were gonna do it. Now we’ll just have to wait and see what happens tonight.

After all having dinner together with the whole cast and crew the show was about to begin. The venue was starting to fill gradually and one glance into the crowd had told me and Hannah that at least everyone had gotten the message about wearing normal clothes to begin with. Seconds before the cast is about to go on stage I find Charlie, wrapping my arms around his waist I pull him close to me. “Go rock their world, rockstar” we share a deep kiss. Before I let him go up on the stage. I don’t think I will ever get used to the sound of all those screams when the cast first appears on stage. It really is deafening. They start of with a song they al wrote together and after that a few more songs by other cast members follow. The fans know that after Savannah’s ‘all eyes on me’ performance it’s time for Now or never. This is it. This is the moment me and Hannah have been waiting for all day. Sav gets off the stage and the first notes of Now or Never start to play. In no time the entire crowd starts turning yellow. “ WE DID IT Y/N! THEY’RE WEARING THEIR COSTUMES !” Hannah yells at me. “ I KNOWWW!” I just say waiting for Charlie to come on stage and see his reaction. And there he is. I see Owen laugh at the scene. Charlie seems genuinely confused at the sight of an entire crowd of bananas. He shrugs it off like a total pro and gets into the song skipping and hopping around like he always does. But that moment of confusion was enough to have me and my best friend dying of laughter. At the end of song Charlie takes the mic and goes “YOU’RE ALL LOOKING WONDERFUL TONIGHT!” making the crowd go wild with cheers. Before coming of the stage only to be greeted by me in my banana costume. He stops and looks at me with a confused face. “Youu… you did this?”

I step towards him and pull him closer to me. “Welll.. What can I say? I’m going Bananas for you and I just had to show that to you.” He laughs at me “You’re so weird. I love you.” and then pulls me in for a kiss. That’s when Owen walks by ‘You also just eat a crazy amount of bananas dude. It’s a problem.’ That made me laugh. It ruined our sweet little moment but that was fine. Charlie gives Owen a offended look. “He’s not wrong you know.. You do love you bananas” I laugh before pulling him in for another kiss.

[wwe-smackdown-s21]

[Full Watch] WWE SmackDown | Season 21 , Episode 37 : Full Episodes

Heyy Guys… Watch WWE SmackDown Season 21 Episode 37 : September 10, 2019 (New York, NY) || Full Series Premiere | Full Episodes Online 370370 | Watch Full Episodes Online Complete. All Sub title. Enjoy watching!

?? WATCH WWE SmackDown EPISODE 37 ? https://flixsio.com/tv/1549-21-37 - SHOW IS FREE 21-DAY TRIAL ON HERE

?? Shane McMahon thought he had it all figured out when he inserted himself into the King of the Ring Tournament Semifinals against Chad Gable and appointed Kevin Owens as the special guest referee with promises of lifting Owens’ $100,000 fine. However, Gable wouldn’t quit in the face of Shane-O-Mac, prompting Shane to fire KO.. A modern adaptation and sequel of the iconic Prisoner series. ?? WWE SmackDown (HD) Full Episodes : Complete ? Official Partners showcase TV Shows & Movies.

WWE SmackDown WWE SmackDown 21x37 WWE SmackDown S21E37 WWE SmackDown Cast WWE SmackDown showcase WWE SmackDown Eps. 37 WWE SmackDown Season 21 WWE SmackDown Episode 37 WWE SmackDown Season 21 Episode 37 Trailer WWE SmackDown Season 21 Episode 37 Online WWE SmackDown Full Streaming WWE SmackDown Preview WWE SmackDown Watch Online WWE SmackDown All Subtitle WWE SmackDown Full Show

Thanks For All And Happy Watching! TELEVISION SHOW AND HISTORY A television show (often simply TV show) is any content produced for broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, cable, or internet and typically viewed on a television set, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed TNTween shows. Television shows are most often scheduled well ahead of time and appear on electronic guides or other TV listings. A television show might also be called a television program (British English: programme), especially if it lacks a narrative structure. A television series is usually released in episodes that follow a narrative, and are usually divided into seasons (US and Canada) or series (UK) — yearly or semiannual sets of new episodes. A show with a limited number of episodes may be called a miniseries, serial, or limited series. A one-time show may be called a “special”. A television film (“made-for-TV movie” or “television movie”) is a film that is initially broadcast on television rather than released in theaters or direct-to-video. The first national color broadcast (the 021521 Tournament of Roses Parade) in the US occurred on January 021, 021521. During the following ten years most network broadcasts, and nearly all local programming, continued to be in black-and-white. A color transition was announced for the fall of 021375, during which over half of all network prime-time programming would be broadcast in color. The first all-color prime-time season came just one year later. In 0212137, the last holdout among daytime network shows converted to color, resulting in the first completely all-color network season.

FORMATS AND GENRES Television shows are more varied than most other forms of media due to the wide variety of formats and genres that can be presented. A show may be fictional (as in comedies and dramas), or non-fictional (as in documentary, news, and reality television). It may be topical (as in the case of a local newscast and some made-for-television films), or historical (as in the case of many documentaries and fictional series). They could be primarily instructional or educational, or entertaining as is the case in situation comedy and game shows. A drama program usually features a set of actors playing characters in a historical or contemporary setting. The program follows their lives and adventures. Before the 021210s, shows (except for soap opera-type serials) typically remained static without story arcs, and the main characters and premise changed little. If some change happened to the characters’ lives during the episode, it was usually undone by the end. Because of this, the episodes could be broadcast in any order. Since the 021210s, many series feature progressive change in the plot, the characters, or both. For instance, Hill Street Blues and St. Elsewhere were two of the first American prime time drama television series to have this kind of dramatic structure,while the later series Babylon 5 further exemplifies such structure in that it had a predetermined story running over its intended five-season run. In 37002137, it was reported that television was growing into a larger component of major media companies’ revenues than film. Some also noted the increase in quality of some television programs. In 37002137, Academy-Award-winning film director Steven Soderbergh, commenting on ambiguity and complexity of character and narrative, stated: “I think those qualities are now being seen on television and that people who want to see stories that have those kinds of qualities are watching television.

CREDITS Find all the movies that you can stream online, including those that were screened this week. If you are wondering what you can watch on this website, then you should know that it covers genres that include crime, Science, Fi-Fi, action, romance, thriller, Comedy, drama, Anime Movie, etc. Thank you very much. We tell everyone who is happy to receive us as news or information about this year’s film schedule and how you watch your favorite films. Hopefully we can become the best partner for you in finding recommendations for your favorite movies. That’s all from us, greetings! Thanks for watching Videos Today. I hope you enjoy the videos that I share. Give a thumbs up, like, or share if you enjoy what we’ve shared so that we more excited. Sprinkle cheerful smile so that the world back in a variety of colors, Stay safe and Stay home. Thank you very much and Enjoy for watching.

[watch-julieandthephantoms-s-blog]

▷ ▷ Watch — Julie and the Phantoms Season 1 Episode 1 Full Episode

4KWatch Julie and the Phantoms Season 1 Episode 1 Full Episode Online Free Streaming hd.

🎬 Watch Julie and the Phantoms Season 1 Episode 1 Full Episode 🎬

Full Movie Online Free? HQ Reddit Video [DVD-ENGLISH] Julie and the Phantoms Full Watch online free Dailymotion [#Julie and the Phantoms] Google Drive/[DvdRip-USA/Eng-Subs] Julie and the Phantoms!

Official | 123Movies | ABC | HBO | NETFLIX | All Sub title !

► P.L.A.Y H.E.R.E ==> Julie and the Phantoms Season 1 Full Episode

► P.L.A.Y H.E.R.E All Movie Series Free sign up ==> https://t.co/JXT3Pnq35S?amp=1

| 4K UHD | 1080P FULL HD | 720P HD | MKV | MP4 | DVD | Blu-Ray |

🎬Thanks For All And Happy Watching!🎬

SYNOPSIS Teenage Julie finds her passion for music and life while helping the Phantoms -- a trio of ghostly guys -- become the band they were never able to be.

Title : Julie and the Phantoms Genre : Comedy, Family, Sci-Fi & Fantasy Air Date : 2020-09-10 Season Number : 1 Episodes Number : 1 Overview : Teenage Julie finds her passion for music and life while helping the Phantoms -- a trio of ghostly guys -- become the band they were never able to be. Stars : Madison Reyes (Julie), , Owen Patrick (), , Jadah Marie (Flynn), , Charlie Gillespie (Luke), , Savannah May (Carrie),

🎬TELEVISION SHOW AND HISTORY🎬

A television show (often simply TV show) is any content produced for broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, cable, or internet and typically viewed on a television set, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed TNTween shows. Television shows are most often scheduled well ahead of time and appear on electronic guides or other TV listings.

A television show might also be called a television program (British English: programme), especially if it lacks a narrative structure. A television Movie is usually released in episodes that follow a narrative, and are usually divided into seasons (US and Canada) or Movie (UK) — yearly or semiannual sets of new episodes. A show with a limited number of episodes may be called a miniMovie, serial, or limited Movie. A one-time show may be called a “special”. A television film (“made-for-TV Movie” or “television Movie”) is a film that is initially broadcast on television rather than released in theaters or direct-to-video. The first national color broadcast (the 1954 Tournament of Roses Parade) in the US occurred on January 1, 1954. During the following ten years most network broadcasts, and nearly all local programming, continued to be in black-and-white. A color transition was announced for the fall of 1965, during which over half of all network prime-time programming would be broadcast in color. The first all-color prime-time season came just one year later. In 1972, the last holdout among daytime network shows converted to color, resulting in the first completely all-color network season.

🎬FORMATS AND GENRES🎬 Television shows are more varied than most other forms of media due to the wide variety of formats and genres that can be presented. A show may be fictional (as in comedies and dramas), or non-fictional (as in documentary, news, and reality television). It may be topical (as in the case of a local newscast and some made-for-television films), or historical (as in the case of many documentaries and fictional Movie). They could be primarily instructional or educational, or entertaining as is the case in situation comedy and game shows. A drama program usually features a set of actors playing characters in a historical or contemporary setting. The program follows their lives and adventures. Before the 1980s, shows (except for soap opera-type serials) typically remained static without story arcs, and the main characters and premise changed little. If some change happened to the characters’ lives during the episode, it was usually undone by the end. Because of this, the episodes could be broadcast in any order. Since the 1980s, many Movie feature progressive change in the plot, the characters, or both. For instance, Hill Street Blues and St. Elsewhere were two of the first American prime time drama television Movie to have this kind of dramatic structure,while the later Movie Babylon 5 further exemplifies such structure in that it had a predetermined story running over its intended five-season run. In 2012, it was reported that television was growing into a larger component of major media companies’ revenues than film. Some also noted the increase in quality of some television programs. In 2012, Academy-Award-winning film director Steven Soderbergh, commenting on ambiguity and complexity of character and narrative, stated: “I think those qualities are now being seen on television and that people who want to see stories that have those kinds of qualities are watching television.

🎬CREDITS🎬 Find all the Movies that you can stream online, including those that were screened this week. If you are wondering what you can watch on this website, then you should know that it covers genres that include crime, Science, Fi-Fi, action, romance, thriller, Comedy, drama, Anime Movie, etc. Thank you very much. We tell everyone who is happy to receive us as news or information about this year’s film schedule and how you watch your favorite films. Hopefully we can become the best partner for you in finding recommendations for your favorite Movies. That’s all from us, greetings! Thanks for watching Videos Today. I hope you enjoy the videos that I share. Give a thumbs up, like, or share if you enjoy what we’ve shared so that we more excited. Sprinkle cheerful smile so that the world back in a variety of colors, Stay safe and Stay home. Thank you very much and Enjoy for watching.

(2020) Full Movie Watch online FULL Movie Sign Up 123 Movies Online !! [DvdRip-HINDI]]Julie and the Phantoms! (2020) Full Movie Watch online free 123 Movies Online!! Julie and the Phantoms(2020)Watch Julie and the Phantoms(2020) Full Online HD Movie Streaming Free Unlimited Download, Julie and the PhantomsFull Movie 2020 Online Movie for Free DVD Rip Full HD With English Subtitles Ready For Download.

Watch Julie and the Phantoms Season 1 Episode 1 : “Full Episode”

Tensions between Third Class and First Class are boiling as Melanie stages the trial of the Julie and the Phantoms killer. Third Class threatens a work stoppage, demanding representation on the jury, and Melanie makes a fateful decision about which side to favor. Julie and the Phantoms Julie and the Phantoms 1X1 Julie and the Phantoms S1E1 Julie and the Phantoms Cast Julie and the Phantoms Justice Never Boarded Julie and the Phantoms Sky1 Julie and the Phantoms Eps. 1 Julie and the Phantoms Season 1 Julie and the Phantoms Episode 1 Julie and the Phantoms Premiere Julie and the Phantoms New Season Julie and the Phantoms Full Episodes Julie and the Phantoms Watch Online Julie and the Phantoms Season 1 Episode 1 Watch Julie and the Phantoms Season 1 Episode 1 Online

[askiisoft]

FAN ART FRIDAY: Triple Dragons

Imagine dragons. It can be the European winged lizards or the long, windy Asian ones, it doesn’t matter. Now imagine that, like most lizards, it molted its skin every so often. But afterwards, that shedded skin came to life, put on a suit, and started trying to take over the identity of the original, creeping out its friends and war buddies in the process.

That’s the sordid history of Gamma Fifteen, a.k.a “The Dragon of New Mecca”. I think no one behind Katana ZERO imagined he’d become the game’s breakout character, receiving more fan love than the rest of the cast combined. But we’re not here to talk about him...or at least, not just him. Thanks to the raw talent and wild imaginations of fans, there have become at least three different versions of Fifteen in fanon.

So buckle in, because today we’ll be going on an expedition into the urban jungles of the Third District, to get a look at the three species of The Dragon in the wild.

Thanks to @55_yamisan for drawing all the species illustrations below! You can see the original artwork here.

[WARNING: Contains plot spoilers for ‘Katana ZERO’]

Ssshhh. Stay low, and be careful of snapping twigs underfoot. Just through the brush, we can see a juvenile Dragon in its natural habitat. Here, have a look.

Don’t be fooled by his boyish charm—at the tender age of 15, this NULL specimen is already a proficient killing machine. From this juvenile form, a Dragon can eventually grow into one of three different forms depending on its diet, habitat, and artist. 

—

Exhibit A. Here, we have most prolific and successful species of The Dragon. Using his long, spindly legs, he prowls the Earth’s upper atmosphere for small birds, passenger planes, and other prey.

One of the mandates for Katana ZERO’s promotional art was that spoiler characters like Fifteen and Headhunter couldn’t be shown. It was a smart move for hiding the game’s various late-game twists, but as a consequence, fan artists had nothing but his in-game sprites as reference material. 

This led to debates about whether he wore sunglasses or had cat ears, until natural selection produced the perfect assassin; a bishonen-yet-deadly apex predator.

by @IERotAK

I love hatched lines. They’re useful for drawing the eye or adding texture, shadows, and folds without the use of color. Unfortunately, a combination of shitty tablet drivers and my own unsteady hand means I can only draw lines a couple dozen pixels long before they start losing their straightness.

That’s clearly no issue for IEROtAK, who manages to convey the distinct textures of glossy leather gloves, a dark suit, and cold steel using nothing but amazingly neat hatched lines and negative space. The thick webs of intricate lines dazzles the eye from afar before it slowly makes out the clean shapes and low perspective of this masterpiece. Real badasses don’t look at explosions.

by @PsykoShipht

One of the best ways to make dynamic action is by accentuating movement; things like Batman’s cape, Strider Hiryu’s crimson scarf, or Rad Spencer’s dreadlocks billow and sway with their every movement, giving a sense of momentum and a clear line of action. 

PsykoShipht gives Fifteen’s stylish ponytail a life of its own; I can already picture it straightening with each Chronos Rush attack or forming zig-zags and right angles and he navigates platforms. Even Fifteen’s comparatively lanky proportions and clean silhouette scream ‘agility character’ before he even draws his sword.

—

This species is a rare sight in the wild, and thankfully so. His briefcase is lead-lined, so even X-ray scans have been unable to reveal its contents.

It all began in The Concept Art of Katana ZERO and seemingly normal piece of concept art by Kenju, depicting an alternate version of Fifteen bearing a green sheath, green hair, and what looked like mild burn scars on his face. 

by Kenju

Fan artists immediately took the idea and ran with it, inventing a bizarre, disfigured, and delightfully mad doppelgänger—first dubbed “Proto Fifteen″ and later, “The Snake” or “The Serpent”. He carries around that mysterious silver briefcase and a creepy yandere obsession with Fifteen’s old comrade, Zero. 

Is he a failed clone? A bizarro-version from another dimension? And what’s inside that briefcase? We may never know. But the idea of having a stalker with Fifteen’s level of speed and swordsmanship is an utter nightmare...

by @55_yamisan

Why drown a drawing in rainbows when just a few spots of color makes all the difference? 

Adding red eyes to Yami-san’s black-and-white art style immediately leads one’s gaze in a serpentine spiral, from the snake’s glare and up its graceful coils to The Serpent’s cocked head and seductive smirk that distinguish him as the ‘evil twin’. Even without the green in his hair or his signature briefcase, it’s easy to tell this is a totally distinct character from The Dragon. 

Let’s hope Zero can tell the difference, too...

“There’s something important inside.” by @moryu​

When Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction hit in 1994, everyone had their own guesses about what was inside the ‘mysterious briefcase’. Diamonds. Nuclear launch codes. Perhaps even a human soul.

In this case, however, my guesses are a lot more morbid, as anything The Serpent holds dear is likely slick, smelly, and related to Zero in some way. The way fan artists took a discarded detail from concept art and transformed it into The Serpent’s central conceit is beyond impressive.

I shudder to think of the kinds of reference photos @moryu​ used to achieve such realistic-looking burn scars in this picture. It doesn’t stop there, though; the mottled glow of The Serpent’s suit and hair and dull metallic sheen of his briefcase add an extra dimension of warmth to this otherwise creepy portrait.

—

“The Crocodile” is a relative newcomer to this ecosystem, but has carved out a niche of lifting his prey with a single arm, then drowning them in a toilet or other convenient body of water.

Truth be told, this one’s on me. When drawing some Steam Backgrounds for the game’s PC version, enough time had passed that The Dragon was fair game for publicity material. What I drew ended up like a blood-spattered cross between Clint Eastwood and Owen Wilson.

by @godsavant

This sent shockwaves rippling through the Katana ZERO fan community. Where was the sharply-dressed samurai prince everyone thirsted for? Surely this stomach-kicking, mobster-torturing beefcake couldn’t be him, thus earning him the moniker “The Crocodile” or “The Alligator”: muscular, deadly, and singularly obsessed with revenge.

by @sbserpent

Dragons are a consistent theme in art across many Asian cultures; for example, the Chinese once believed their emperor was descended from dragons, and thus bore their wisdom and benevolence. Here, sbserpent demonstrates just how frightening a human embodiment of a dragon really is.

Where The Dragon carries himself with an air of calculated composure, The Crocodile exudes sheer terror. The thick, angular brush strokes evoke Japanese sumi-e artwork, yet blotchy ink spots and harsh shadows are a far cry from the koi fish and bamboo forests of those traditional paintings. 

by @Zebralineku

Chiaroscuro is a technique that uses bold contrast between light and shadow to leave certain parts for the viewer’s mind to fill in. 

Here, Zebra gives us an imposing film-noir bust of The Crocodile as glimpsed through narrow blinds or a slat in a dark alley: the foreboding red mixed with heavy shadows evoke a hitman staring out at crimson neon signs, and his dark suit mixes with the black background to make him almost a shadow. Yet we can envision the other half of his face and ponytail in our mind’s eye from the scantest details; truly the touch of a master.

—

Remember, the specimens we’ve observed must be viewed from a safe distance; should you spot any of them in the wild, do not approach!

If you’d like some artwork featured on a future Fan Art Friday, just use the Submit Button on this blog!

by @Kazzang3

[latetothegreysparty]

15x11: Subtle Brilliance

I might be in the minority here, but I really loved 15x11. Absolutely loved it. I thought it had a beautiful way of subtly showcasing the characters’ personalities and vulnerabilities, particularly Amelia and Tom. So without further ado, here’s my deep dive. Thanks to @omeliasource for allowing me to use their YouTube clips in this post.

This was the first scene that I really loved. It was such a lovely, in-character way of handling the nerves for Amelia and Tom. This was the beginning of this episode’s exploration of Tom’s “arrogance” and what function it really serves in his life. The way he openly acknowledged that he was failing to achieve his usual level of outward cockiness illustrated how much he relies on this for coping with stress and anxiety. He is an extremely talented surgeon who knows how skilled he is, so in most procedures, he probably is very confident that he will achieve a good outcome. However, just like anybody else, he experiences nervousness and doubt. His chosen way of handling that is to present a facade of over-the-top confidence that convinces everyone around him that he thinks he can do anything. When he steps into that character, it’s a signal to his brain that it’s time to push aside the nerves and perform. In this scene, we see the first failure of his air of over-confidence to pull him out of his emotions.

Then we have the part about Amelia’s rambling. The fact that Tom even suggests it shows two things: that he understands Amelia well and that he affirms her ways of working through intrusive thoughts and emotions. He says it so casually, but it has so much meaning behind it. This is one of the things I love most about Tom’s character: that he conveys such deep and meaningful messages in understated ways. In a show that often deals heavily in long-winded, passionate rants, it’s nice to also see meaning presented more subtly. I enjoy the tear-filled monologues as much as the next Grey’s fan, but it’s just not realistic to have all of the moments of revelation come in such spectacular fashion. Most often, life reveals poignancy to us in the form of seemingly mundane words and actions. Capturing that well is where the art of film and television goes from good to great.

Lastly, I loved how Tom’s “Amelia word vomit” starts out as an expression of concern about the men whose penises won’t be saved if they don’t succeed in Catherine’s surgery. This is something Tom and Amelia share: a tendency to deflect tough situations and emotions by cracking a joke or saying something crass. Amelia calls him on it, and then he gives us a glimpse of where his thoughts are really at. This was a lovely scene from start to finish.

“Could you call it something else?” “Like what?” “Literally anything else.” That exchange had me rolling. Amelia and Tom’s banter is legendary, and that alone is reason enough for me to want Tom to become a permanent member of the cast.

The conversation in the last minute of this clip was fascinating. The way they communicated was so uniquely them. They were talking rapidly and in a way that would make seemingly no sense to an uninformed bystander, but yet nobody batted an eye. I think this speaks to the camaraderie and understanding between everyone at Grey-Sloan. They understand each other, and they understand the relationships their coworkers have with each other. Everybody knows how Tom and Amelia work, and they all trust and respect them enough to step back and let them work through things in the ways that work for them. Amelia’s final remark, “For the record, I do not like you,” was also a brilliant inclusion. It was a way that was unique to their style of communication to say: “I know you’re right, but I hate that this is the only way.” It was the perfect way to say many things with few words as well as keep from saying things that shouldn’t be said in front of Catherine’s friends and family. But more on that later.

This was my favorite scene in the entire episode. I word-vomited to @omeliathehurricane about it last night. This was the best example in the show of doing so much in small ways. For the first time, we seem Tom Koracick falter heavily. He saw Catherine’s face and struggled to continue with the procedure. Amelia had the most perfect response for so many reasons. It was a way around the issue to allow them to continue with the procedure. But it was more than that. She knows exactly how Tom’s mind works, so she knew that the best way to bring him back into himself was to simultaneously remove him from the difficult moment and give him an opportunity to pull out his arrogance as a way to quell his doubts and emotions and move forward. She respected his coping mechanism and subtly gave him a way in which to utilize it.

But her handling of that situation was merciful to more than just Tom. She was also looking out for every other member of the surgical team. Everyone knew that the stakes were high and the procedure would be difficult. If the nurses, scrub techs, anesthesiologist, etc. knew that the surgeons were having difficulty even moving forward with the procedure, that would introduce a whole new level of stress into the room. Amelia found a way to draw attention away from Tom’s struggles and protect the rest of the surgical team. She also protected Bailey and Webber. Her quick and discreet way of dealing with the issue kept it from being visible in the gallery. If Bailey and Webber had detected Tom’s difficulty, the whole situation could have devolved and gone down one of many not-so-good paths. Amelia was faced with a potentially massive problem that could’ve created a domino effect of issues, but she was able to come up with the optimal solution within seconds. That short little exchange showcased her ingenuity, her emotional intelligence, her understanding of the people who she cares about, and her ability to see the whole picture. This was an incredible example of a small, easily missable moment that contained a massive amount of nuance and meaning. 

“To be present enough to have felt every terrifying, exhilarating, imperfect moment.” That is such an important note. Life rarely gives you moments of pure perfection. On rare occasions it does. And when it does, you should hold onto those moments and savor every second. But if the only moments you can appreciate are the perfect ones, you’re going to go through life chasing a high that you’ll never find. The key to living a fulfilled life is to find and embrace the beauty in imperfect moments. Moments that are challenging and heartbreaking and not the way you pictured them, but are nonetheless filled with wonder and joy. Amelia encapsulated that so well here, and it really resonated with my own personal experiences of finding joy and hope.

I’m so glad Richard was there too. There’s the obvious connection that he is Catherine’s husband, but to me, that’s not the biggest message from his presence at this meeting. He was there with Amelia in the moments when she was struggling to find that beauty in imperfection, so it seems rather fitting that he was there when she fully embraced and appreciated it.

Okay, I think that’s about it for my extremely long-winded thoughts on this episode. As you can tell, I loved it, and I found it deeply thought-provoking. Yes, it didn’t have any Omelia in it, but that’s okay with me. I love Omelia, but I also love Owen and Amelia each individually, and I love exploring relationships they have with other people and aspects of their characters that are showcased outside of their relationship with each other. This was an amazing episode that beautifully showcased the relationship between Amelia and Tom as well as many aspects of each of their personalities. Caterina and Greg did breathtaking work bringing the subtleties of this episode to life.

[jazy3]

Thoughts on Grey’s Anatomy: 15X18

I liked this episode better than the last one, but DeLuca and Owen still drove me nuts! I liked that this episode was more fast paced. The patients’ storylines were good and I really liked the side plots. The main plot though really sucked. One thing I didn't like about this week's episode is that it treated Meredith as a secondary character in her own story. She had few scenes and only propped other characters up. It happened in the previous episode as well. I don't understand this because we've only seen this technique used previously in standalone episodes, where it makes sense, but not in regular ones where it doesn't. It's not Karev or DeLuca's Anatomy. It's Grey’s Anatomy. The second half of Season 15 has gone off the rails!

Maggie introduces funky mood rooms as an alternative/complimentary approach to tradition medicine. It produces hilarious results. We learn DeLuca’s Dad has gone back to Italy. Him and Meredith appear to have temporarily broken up again. Ugh. We go through this EVERY episode! Can they just stay broken up?!?! There’s some Owen and Teddy and Tom awkwardness surrounding a birthing class. LOL! Gosh Tom makes Teddy so happy! I hope they make him a regular cast member next year! They can cut Owen or DeLuca or one of the interns. Just saying. And as soon as everyone leaves Teddy starts feeling intense pain! Oh no! She calls her baby Soldier! She gives it orders like a loving drill sergeant! I love it!

Meanwhile Alex can’t get a hold of Jo! He comes to talk to Meredith and it turns out Jo went to find her birth mother. Meredith is still knee deep in her research. Alex asks how DeLuca is. She changes the subject as usual. Very telling. Apparently DeLuca’s being weird (when is he not?) and he’s on Alex’s service today. Alex calls him The Italian! Haha! I love Alex! He’s so calling BS on this relationship while being supportive. That’s true friendship! Meredith says she’s giving DeLuca space because of the fallout from his Dad’s nonsense. Alex accuses her of hiding out with the plants.

Maggie and Amelia talk in the blue room. Amelia reveals she had some insanely good sex at the conference! And then Link walks in! And he accidentally reveals they slept together! Oh and it looks after the fire the hospital added a new sealable hallway to the helipad! It’s about time! Alex throws DeLuca a bone and gives him a chance to be the hero. DeLuca is ungrateful and a jerk. I hate this guy. They treat an 11 year old patient named Nora who is a math genius! She stumps Qadri and it’s hilarious! Her Mom is great too! Alex steps aside and let’s DeLuca get the hug from her Mom and the glory because he really is a good guy. Which makes how horribly DeLuca acts later so much worse. He’s so ungrateful!

There’s another Teddy and Parker scene. I like their dynamic. Tom and Owen are both at the birthing class. Owen gets Teddy’s page and doesn’t tell Tom. What an asshole! Teddy’s not in labour. Thank goodness! She has cervical insufficiency. Owen comes to see her. Meanwhile Amelia and Link have an awkward sexy talk about not telling people about their tryst. Amelia is hilarious! They agree to stay away from each other. That will last 10 minutes. Link is very sexy! He’s really growing on me. I wish Meredith could find someone just as good. Amelia and Link end up working on a mother who rolled her snowmobile. It’s a very difficult case.

Jackson, Helm, and Richard wind up working on the woman’s adult child who is gender queer non-binary and uses they/them pronouns. Richard finds using the pronouns difficult. I really like how this storyline was done. It felt very authentic and nuanced. Some good television here. Meanwhile Parker is quizzing Nora and Qadri. They find out Nora’s insulin level has shot up but they can’t figure it why. They have to postpone the surgery. Alex apologizes to DeLuca because the surgery’s been postponed. DeLuca says he should be sorry for Nora. He then throws a temper tantrum and asks if Meredith put Alex up to this. Jo used to do this all the time and it’s one of the reasons I came to dislike her character. It’s not a flattering look on anybody. DeLuca’s an idiot. He needs to grow up.

All he does is piss Alex off. Also DeLuca is lying. He hasn’t moved on and it shows up later. He should’ve taken a few days off work and seen a therapist. For a doctor he really can’t take care of himself. Meanwhile Amelia and Link find out their patient could end up a paraplegic and decide to work together. Qadri grabs Schmitt for back up! Numbers! Haha! Schmitt’s hilarious! Qadri, Schmitt, Bailey, and Maggie form a mathematical dream team and slo mo walk it to Nora’s room! Now back to Teddy. I love her line, “Insufficient is something I’ve never been called in my entire life!” I love her! Owen starts talking to Teddy’s stomach in a high pitched voice. It’s obnoxious. Teddy tells him to stop thank god! He starts talking instead in an animatronic sergeant voice. It’s hilarious and the only good thing he’s done all day.

Back at Nora’s room everyone’s being quizzed and she’s kicking their buts! Her mom thinks they’re being nice! She doesn’t know the half of it! Qadri accidentally finds a juice box Nora secretly drank. She’s sabotaging her surgery. Amelia and Link go see their patient. There’s a very emotional well-acted scene where they tell her she might be paralyzed from the neck down. Cut to the plant room. Alex tells Meredith that DeLuca’s being a jerk. She says it’s none of her business and that he has to work it out all by himself.

She talks about him like the child he is. Why is she dating him? DeLuca is then a jerk to Meredith. Again, why is she dating someone with the emotional capacity of a 2 year old? The team finds out that Nora sabotaged the surgery because she doesn’t want to go back to school because she has no friends and is being bullied. Been there. She likes being at the hospital because she has friends here. Nora refuses the surgery again and says it’s her body and her choice.

Alex and DeLuca talk with her mom outside. She’s upset that she didn’t know that she hated school and that she wasn’t friends with Lauren anymore. Alex gives her some sage advice. DeLuca rolls his eyes at her scared mom like an asshole. Then tells her she’s supposed to make her get the surgery today. That’s illegal. Unduly influencing a patient or their family is illegal. For good reason! To protect both sides from abuse. In real life DeLuca would be written up, possibly fired, and could lose his medical licence. This whole scene makes no sense.

Alex tells him to back off. He doesn’t. DeLuca says most kids hate school and get bullied at some point. Her mom counters and asks if she’s supposed to hold her down. DeLuca says yes impatiently. Alex corrects him and says no. All of DeLuca’s actions are immoral and illegal here. He is telling a scared mom to participate in the physical assault of her child who is a minor! This is so messed up! DeLuca’s a monster! He’s taking his own problems out on a mom and her scared kid! In real life he would be fired and possibly charged and sued and rightly so!

I hate him so much! Alex says it’s his patient and to back off. DeLuca then says he just wants her to not die. The mom angrily reminds him she’s not dying. Great now he’s delusional and an asshole and a monster. He tells that she’s in pain as if her mom doesn’t know that. He says she should make her get the help she needs. Which is illegal! It’s also clearly about his messed-up dad and not about Nora at all. He is beyond awful! Alex keeps a cool head and tells him he’s dismissed. He tells him to walk away or he’s fired. He should just fire him Vik Roy style. He’s a monster.

Qadri tells Alex that Nora’s glucose panel came back and it looks good. They can do the surgery if they can convince her. They find DeLuca talking to Nora after Alex specially removed him from the case. In real life that would be cause for dismissal or suspension. Alex tells Qadri he tried to help DeLuca out and now he has to fire him. I wish he would. He deserves it. When they arrive, he’s telling a story from his own childhood. He convinces her to get the surgery. It’s all very sweet but that doesn’t change the fact that he tried to convince her mom to participate in her own child’s assault.

Amelia and Link bond during surgery. Meanwhile Alex, Qadri, and Schmitt operate on Nora. We learn Qadri grew up in Utah. They all share stories of being bullied in school. Schmitt and Qadri are hilarious! Then DeLuca storms in. Alex reminds him that he’s not on this case. He tells him he’s the reason she consented to this surgery. Alex loudly reminds him that he talked to her and did that after he told him to stay away from her and that he meant what he said. He kicks him out of the OR as he should! Amelia and Link do great work, but their patient loses the signal in her limbs and she becomes paralyzed.

Back to Owen and Teddy. Owen is still talking to her stomach. Baby talk is actually bad for babies and children so I’m not sure why they’re pushing it. Teddy talks to her stomach and then freaks out that she’s a bad mom already. Owen comes and lies down next to her. One of the few nice things he’s done for her and his future child since she told him she was pregnant. God he’s such a jerk! Jackson, Helm, and Richard are in the OR. Richard is still struggling with the pronouns and tells a story about a mechanic that called him Ricky.

He fired him because he’s not a Ricky. Helm days that’s a false equivalent. Richard says he’s trying to understand and that he’s been called a lot worse than Ricky as a black surgeon at a time when there were very few. He says the world moves fast and he’s trying to keep up and adjust and their attitudes are not helping the process. He’s right. Jackson shares a story about a girlfriend he dumped because she called him Jacky. They share a laugh.

Back to Teddy and Owen. Owen says some nice things to Teddy and her stomach. And then Tom walks in. Tom calls the baby to be peanut! Awww! He calls Owen out for not updating him. Teddy says she didn’t want to worry anymore people then she needed to. Tom says he’s glad to be here. Then steps outside to talk to Owen. He asks Owen if Teddy had actually been in labour if he would have told him. Then Tom spills ALL the tea!!!!! He tells Owen he knows he doesn’t like him and he doesn’t care but if Owen plans to make a play for Teddy and show up with a ring and take advantage of the pain and vulnerability of a woman he’s hurt over and over again and abandoned he should rethink that. Yes Tom Yes!!!! You tell him! You go! Finally someone says it!!!!

He tells him further that and won’t lie down or walk away and that he’ll fight for her! Yes Tom!!! And that it will bring on a lot of drama and pain for the woman he claims he just wants to be happy. Spill that tea Tom!!! Owen says Tom doesn’t know anything about his history with Teddy. Tom corrects him and says that his history is that he chose Amelia more than once. Go Tom Go! Owen seems like he’s realizing this for the first time. What a tool. Tom says his history is that he loves Teddy!  Awwwww! And only her! And that she deserves to be with someone for whom she is the first and only choice! Yes! Finally! Go Tom Go! Amelia and Link have to tell Jackson’s non-binary patient Toby that their mom has been paralyzed from the neck down. It’s very emotional. Jackson can relate and gives some sage advice Webber style. Alex keeps calling Jo and not getting an answer.

DeLuca walks up to him and is a total asshole. He’s says he’s not just some intern he can kick around. Alex didn’t kick him around. He did his job as Chief / Attending Paediatric Surgeon. In real life DeLuca would be fired for this. This is insubordination. You do NOT talk to your boss that way! He tells Alex what he did was unprofessional. To his boss. The Chief of Surgery. WTF? DeLuca has the maturity and intelligence of an acorn. Again, he would be fired for this in real life. The only reason he’s not is because he’s dating Meredith on the show. Which makes this whole storyline and his behaviour even dumber. Ugh. I hate him. Alex calls him on his BS and says what he did was unprofessional. That the way he helped out Nora should’ve been the first thing he did. And he’s right. But that he’s too pissed at the world about his dad and that while he sympathizes DeLuca let it mess with his job and Nora’s amazing mom.

And it’s messing with his relationship. Alex is right. Also DeLuca should know that since he upset Meredith earlier. Seriously how stupid is he? DeLuca acts like Alex doesn’t know what he’s taking about despite the fact that he’s got over a decade of experience and is Meredith’s best friend. Seriously DeLuca is the worst! DeLuca asks what his horrible behaviour to everyone today has to do with ruining his relationship with Meredith. Gee DeLuca I don’t know. Maybe everything? Alex tells him not to let that happen and that when people reach out a hand you don’t bite it. Wise words. That he did it for years and that if you do it eventually people stop reaching out.

Meanwhile Maggie is checking Meredith’s stats & they’re off because she’s pissed at DeLuca. She gets a text from him asking her to come over. Maggie misinterprets and thinks it’s a sexy thing. Owen looks through an exam room window to see Teddy with Tom and Carina laughing and looking happy. He decides to walk away. FINALLY!!! Amelia is in the blue room feeling sad over what happened to her and Link’s patient. Link comes to see her. You all know where this is going! He takes her hands in his. She locks the door. They kiss and you all know what happens next. Also side note: They are going to have to bleach that floor because that’s blue ultraviolet light!

Meredith comes to see DeLuca at his house. She tells him she doesn’t do sitting at work wondering if her boyfriend is avoiding her or being weird. She’s past that point in her life. A few things here. She’s now calling him her boyfriend. Gross. She previously avoided the term and said he wasn’t. Also, her being past this point in her life is why shouldn’t be dating him! She’s at a different life stage and DeLuca is still very immature. She needs to break up with him and find someone more her speed. She’s not interested in it and has no time for it. DeLuca says he knows which makes him even more of a douchebag.

DeLuca says he needed a minute to be hurt. Which is fine but he should have take time off work instead of attempting to assault a child, screw up Alex’s day, and upset Meredith. I hate this guy. He has no redeeming qualities at this point! He says he’s had his minute and now he needs her. He makes everything about him. Never about her. Meredith has had enough of that in her life to last a lifetime! Thank u next! Meredith says maybe she needs a minute now. Yes! Take that minute! And keep on going! But she doesn’t. She laughs instead and they kiss. Ugh. DeLuca made her dinner. She is wooed by his cooking and his ability to speak Italian. Yawn.

Also, I get that Alex is worried about Jo, but he really needs to tell Meredith that DeLuca attempted to assault a child. She’s a single Mom with three small children under the age of 10. DeLuca is a danger to children! Also, as far as we know they haven’t even had sex yet so why is she doing this? This is not a long-term relationship. Why is she bothering with this? She doesn’t even know if he’s good in bed or not. This plot line makes no sense. Every episode since DeLuca took an interest in her is the same. DeLuca does something immature or stupid and upsets her or someone else. They break up. They get back together. At some point they kiss. Nothing ever goes anywhere. There’s no development good or bad. DeLuca keeps getting worse as a character. I don’t understand what kind of reaction they are trying to elicit from fans. This makes no sense at all. Alex arrives home. Jo’s luggage is there. She’s asleep in bed. He kisses her on the forehead and tells her he missed her. Jo opens her eyes. She looks upset. ‏ Now onto next week’s promo! It’s a flashback apparently as we see Jo go find her birth mother. It does not go well. The woman at the door says she can’t be here. They go to a diner. She asks who her father is. Whatever she says upsets Jo to the point that she’s breaks down crying. It does not go well. The promo ends with a warning that ‘Due to sensitive subject matter viewer discretion is advised.’ Which makes me nervous. Grey’s has covered a lot of sensitive subjects and I’ve never seen a content warning before. Someone on Twitter posted that they used one for the Season Six Finale which was the shooting episode. I’m easily triggered by things that come with heavy warnings so there might be parts of next week’s episode that I don’t watch.

That’s all folks! Until next time.

Au revoir!

[likos064]

More Free-Thought Ramblings

Posting again, though no one’s listening

RAMBLING 8

The one person on The X-Files that Miles Robbins looks the most alike is Billy Miles. More than Krychek or any version of the Cigarette Smoking Man (Chris Owens or the new guy). 

It is amusing that the casting department of Twin Peaks didn’t care about parents and children looking alike, thus hiring the actor who played Scully’s father, Don S. Davis to play the father of Bobby Brigss, portrayed by Dana Ashbrook, who has dark hair and that kid looking more like Miles Robbins, however, that doesn’t mean that anyone resembles anyone. It is just a fun observation. Especially since they were more careful about making the Scully siblings look alike, and have a small resemblance to their father, but not mother. Why no one has dark haired when their mother has is a genetical mystery, recessive redhead line in her blood?

RAMBLING 9

I would argue that the child most fucked up by the Scully-Family dynamic is Bill. I don’t know Charlie as a person besides being absent at every family crisis and using his older sister as a baby sitter, per Home she babysat her nephews who watched Babe the entire time. However, from what we learn in One Breath and Christmas Carol, Melissa did whatever the fuck she wanted. In Anazazi, deleted scene, she stays with Maggie, and she doesn’t seem to have returned before Scully is in a coma. It seems like Mulder is the only support Maggie had during Scully’s abduction. Bill is introduced during the cancer arc, and then when he is to have his long awaited child, he and Tara had fertility issues. I think Bill tried to be the man but was crushed under the enormity of his father. So he became a stricter version. Bill Scully Sr seems way less overbearing.

Maggie is abusive and emotionally manipulative when the only time her daughter calls her is when she needs something. 

Would someone run to a person that they only have an obligation bond with when they are scared, and sad. Scully runs to Maggie when she believes Mulder is dead, meets up with Melissa first - who sucks at comfort, and asks for her mother and when she believes that he is part of the conspiracy. She feels safe with her mother. Why? Calling her mother when she needs someone to talk to in Within.

Vilifying good characters and defending evil ones.

The insistence on making women who are portrayed as cruel towards Mulder victims; flawed and imperfect as we all are while not giving the same consideration to men: Bill Mulder vs Teena Mulder, Phoebe and Diana vs Jeffrey Spender.

When should Maggie have defended Mulder to Bill? Scully never does it either.

Scully and Mulder being dismissive of Melissa’s spirituality

Maggie only following her daughter’s wishes in One Breath, it is in accordance with Scully’s living will.

RAMBLING X

Chris Carter’s writing focus being the message, not necessarily the plot but the greater societal commentary.

Vince Gilligan focusing on character, always character and not necessarily Mulder and Scully

Glen and James clearly showing their disdain for Mulder and David in their writing and that being rationalised as writing for both characters and writing the true Mulder and Scully.

MSI being about Mulder

MSII being about Scully

MSIII being about the Cigarette Smoking Man

MSIV being about William/Jackson

The breakup not being Chris Carters construct, but he being forced to take the public blame. The other writers giving much more of a mileage than Chris. Chris writing Plus One, but having to explain in an interview that they aren’t back together, referencing the later episodes particularly Rm9sbG93XJz (Followers) and Nothing Lasts Forever.

Glen and James never wanted Scully with Mulder. They wrote Scully the victim of the man who will simply never be worthy of her in their eyes. She can do whatever she wants and he is just supposed to be there without any thoughts and feelings of his own. A silent, nay silenced stoic rock that she can lean on when she needs him. That doesn’t exist outside of her.

Chris always seeing Mulder and Scully together but focusing on the spiritual romantic platonic connection, same as Gillian did with Scully and Daniel in all things, and not the sexual one.

Chris being blamed for other writers decisions. James seemingly killing off Jackson in Ghouli, the parallel to All Souls, somehow becoming Chris’ fault.

Kristen Cloke Morgan and Shannon Hambling arguing that a woman cannot exist as a person if she is with a man.

The obsession with equality in number of lines in Followers, but no real critique at the sidelining of David and Mulder in Home Again and Ghouli.

The Scully Effect panel complaining that Mulder gets one line about his son in Familiar. Whiie the entire episode of Ghouli focuses on Scully’s feelings about her son.

The MSR fandoms female contingents hatred of men. 

Glen Morgan and James Wong coming back to finish what they started in season four. Separate Scully and Mulder, destroying any chance of a romance, destroying any connection by having Scully sign Mulder into a mental institution.

Leaving him over a clinical depression.

Equality meaning equality not preferential treatment.

Scully’s sister and Mulder’s father both being killed in the season 2/season 3 three parter. Season 3 being about Scully getting justice for her sister. Mulder’s father’s death being swept under the carpet and unexplored.

RAMBLING 11

Questions: Who named Jackson, Chris or James, or rather renamed him? - commentary: Chris refers to him as William in his cue cards for the episodes, while James uses Jackson - so probably James

Does the renaming mean something?

Is it a hint that we should question Mulder’s paternity, William being named after his father, Fox Mulder’s father, William Mulder to ascertain paternity in Existence.

Name something and make it yours.

RAMBLING 12

If Mulder and Scully had a sixteen-year-old living with them in This said child would’ve ended up in the middle of a gun fight - their home not being safe. If the kid is at school or at a friend’s house to explain the absence, mom or dad would have to call/send a message so the kid stay safe. However, that could alert the bad guys to the kids present and they might use the kid to draw out the parents in a hostage situation.

RAMBLING 13

FOX the network waiting such a long time to announce a hiatus for The X-Files despite having filmed Conversation on the Fox Lot in January at the TCA.

RAMBLING 14

Gillian announcing that she is not doing anymore season of The X-Files after filming the first five episodes: My Struggle III, This, Plus One, The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat and Ghouli. Her and David’s Conversation on the Fox Lot centring around their age taking a toll on them in action scenes. Making her run, the handcuffs drawing blood. Is it the physicality of The X-Files that makers her reluctant to continue? The most physically taxing episode for her was This, sliding under a table, running, fighting and running in handcuffs. They also spend more time on camera when doing The X-Files than their other projects. I guess that is what happens when you’re not doing a traditional ensemble show.

RAMBLING 15

Emily - The doctor trying to confer fatherhood on Mulder but Scully denying it while claiming motherhood.

RAMBLING 16

The debunking of regression hypnosis. Malleability of memories. Convincing people they killed someone through memory manipulation experiment

RAMBLING 17

The ridiculing of men, the pedestalizing of women 

Personal preference of actor guiding the writing, humiliating David. Also present in fanfic, writers taking their frustations of David leaving the show out on Mulder. Interestingly such a practice has never been done against Gillian. No matter how angry people get with her they never punish Scully.

Penalising of male actors, sunflower seeds, hanging off buildings 

Men deserve to be punished, evil = men, male

RAMBLING 18

Infantilising Mulder, making him a flat farther, even as a joke

Difference between not doing something because of time prioritising and inability to complete a task due to executive function disabilities, never learning how to do it = not equating with incompetence, stupidity

Ignoring Scully’s issues, disturbing tendencies in discussions other than to defend Iolocus.

RAMBLING 19

Writing about the separation, which isn’t necessary and only TV show related, as a failure of one person = read male 

RAMBLING 20

Blaming Mulder for MSR not happening sooner, ignoring Scully not being ready or willing to date him before all things, dedicated relationship.

Complaining and ridiculing Mulder’s need for Scully’s consent while complaining about men’s inability to ask for consent, their ignoring consent when it’s not given, and assuming that they always have consent.

Ignoring that Mulder has to make every move, and complaining when that doesn’t happen quickly enough.

Inability to understand that men can be scared of being in a relationship for the same reasons as women, and not dismiss it as commitment issues.

RAMBLING 21

The double standards in the fandom, anything is okay as long as the writer is a woman, see people complaining about scenes in episodes written by women and blaming it on Chris Carter, not remembering who wrote it or being allowed to do anything in fanfics without being criticised.

Defending Mulder torture fanfics while calling Chris a misogynist for anything horrible that happens to Scully. Ignoring any pain dealt to men. Making Scully the only victim. Minimising Mulder being hospitalised more than Scully, kidnapped and endangered more, while insisting that Scully is always portrayed by Chris as a damsel in distress. Equality can’t happen when we can’t hurt both main characters.

Perpetuating the stereotype that women’s violence against men is funny and or acceptable.

Assault is assault even when it happens to a man and even when the assaulter is a woman. Anything you would call assault if it happens to Scully is assault when it happens to Mulder.

RAMBLING 22

That feeling when you realise James Wong cast Jackson (William) for season 11 after writing Mulder/Scully’s dreams about him in season 10 and the kids looking nothing alike.

RAMBLING 23

After thinking about it I don’t believe that David Duchovny’s Mulder has PTSD after his abduction episode would’ve been so happily received. Even now when people write about Mulder and Scully post his abduction it is always with the implication that he is in the wrong. That he should “man up” for Scully and the baby’s sake. An episode written by David would most likely have been much more sympathetic to Mulder, and quite possibly have been quite Mulder-centric. Justifying his need to find balance before taking on the role as a father, which is something he has to assume rather than know.

RAMBLING

Where does the idea that Mulder is not kind or attentive so that Scully would be surprised if he shows kindness coming from?

RAMBLING 24

Related Rambling, but I’m still waiting for that answer.

Paternity of William being an issue due to the implication of lack of consent. Would you be okay if Mulder wasn’t William’s biological father because Scully slept with another man while dating Mulder, tried IVF with someone different - someone else that she knew or an anonymous donor? Which method is preferred? What is more important Mulder being Jackson’s biological father or his creation being consensual?

Let’s stop pretending. Make William’s Scully’s alone and Glen Morgan and James Wong can finally write what they want to, the Scully panel won’t be pissed that Mulder got one line about their son in Familiar, and all the pain and all the feelings can be hers alone, like they already are.

[sleemo]

Daisy Ridley: How to survive Star Wars

— The Telegraph | Dec 8, 2017

Almost two years ago to the day, Daisy Ridley was propelled into the stratosphere via the Millennium Falcon. One minute she was a little-known actress from London who had had a bit part in Casualty and the dubious honour of being cut from an Inbetweeners movie, the next action figures were being created in her likeness.

As Rey in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Ridley wowed audiences with her punchy portrayal of a scavenger who discovers that she in fact has mighty powers – the force is strong with her, if you will.

The film ended with her seeking out Luke Skywalker and presenting him with his father’s lightsaber. Are the two related? Is Rey Darth Vader’s granddaughter? So many questions, so little chance of anyone being able to answer them before Christmas 2019, when the last of the current crop of Star Wars movies is due to be released. 

So we come to The Last Jedi, episode eight of the franchise and the reason that we find ourselves in a galaxy far, far away – or at the very least, a hotel room in Los Angeles. When we meet, Ridley can’t tell me anything about it – partly because then, she’d probably have to kill me, partly because she hasn’t actually seen it herself.

It has been directed by Rian Johnson, who worked on Breaking Bad and, Ridley says, ‘is far more secretive than JJ Abrams, who directed episode seven. But what I can tell you is that [the film] picks up right where we left off, and what Rian and I were discussing is that it’s not always a good idea to meet your heroes, because occasionally it doesn’t work out. And it may do. I’m not saying that it’s all awful between Luke and Rey. But Luke is not expecting Rey, and his reception is perhaps not what she thought it would be. She looks at him like a myth, but they actually have to communicate – and it’s not this mystical thing that’s away from her and up in the clouds, it’s this thing that is happening right here. There’s a threat, obviously, but also there’s room for both of them to grow. So now she actually gets a chance to ask herself questions like, “Why is it that I’m here, what is it that I’m doing, and where am I going to end up?’”   

These are questions that most of us ask ourselves at some point in our lives. For Ridley, who is just 25, they came up a little sooner than usual due to the avalanche of exposure that comes with being in a film franchise so huge that it has spawned its own religion (people are now allowed to choose ‘Jedi’ when asked their faith on the census). She had therapy for six months last year, once filming had wrapped on The Last Jedi.

‘I have always suffered with anxiety since I was a teenager, I should have done it way before, but I suddenly realised how good it is to talk about this stuff. Going through the whole thing with the same group of people is wonderful, but also occasionally it’s really good to step away [from the cast and crew of Star Wars] and actually really process what went on, and how I felt in it all.’

Ridley made the decision to leave Instagram last year, after posting a picture of herself at the 2016 Teen Choice Awards, accompanied by a caption in tribute to people lost to gun violence. She was targeted by trolls; a shame, given that she had previously shared honest posts about her battle with endometriosis (which has had since she was 15) and the acne she suffers as a result.

‘[After the Teen Choice Awards post] suddenly people were not very nice. I had put on weight after finishing filming, and I thought, why do I have to be slender to have the views I have? For three days I was shell-shocked. It was the most rude awakening to what the internet could be. So I came off, because I just thought my soul was more important. As I’m in more films and everything gets more public, I savour the private stuff more.’

She tells me that she also read a report linking teenage anxiety with Instagram. ‘I suddenly thought, what world are we living in, where we are affected by things that are edited online? I’m pretty solid in myself, but my confidence was ruined. It was really unhealthy. I’ve felt so much happier since I came off [social media].’

Ridley worries about the need for online validation. ‘Everything is for someone else now. How we look on our holiday has become for someone else. It’s really nice to have stuff that’s just for you, that you can do and go home and say, “Hey Mum, this, this and this happened, I still have pictures to show you, but I can also tell you the story and it will be a wonderful, personal thing I’m sharing with you.”’

She describes 2016 as a ‘total head-f—’. Why? ‘The film coming out and seeing people’s reactions and freaking out a bit and hearing people talking about whether you did a good job in it.’ But she got great reviews, I say. ‘But I didn’t see that, so it’s also sort of reconciling what other people are seeing and you’re not, and then realising that it’s OK not to see that.’

Ridley says that her sudden fame was hard for others, too. ‘I know it was really difficult for my mum. I mean, it’s difficult for someone’s youngest child to suddenly be this thing that people are claiming parts of. Sometimes I’ve felt like I was limiting myself in [talking about] the good or bad things, because I never wanted to seem ungrateful – what I am getting to do is extraordinary. But it’s also not easy all the time.’  

Daisy Ridley was born in London in April 1992, the youngest of three daughters. Her mother works in communications for a bank, while her father is a photographer; Daisy attended the Tring Park School for Performing Arts in Hertfordshire, where she specialised in musical theatre, but she has said that she never had a burning desire to act.

She credits  a drama teacher with being the first person who made her think she could do it as a profession; after leaving school, she started a degree in classical civilisation at Birkbeck, University of London but dropped out to pursue acting.

There were small TV roles in Silent Witness, Toast of London and Mr Selfridge, but when Ridley heard that JJ Abrams was seeing unknowns for the next episode of Star Wars, she lobbied her agent to get her an audition – the films have a rich history of turning nobodies into somebodies (not least Harrison Ford), and Abrams was keen to stick with that tradition.

Five meetings with Abrams later, she landed the role of the girl from nowhere thrust into the centre of the Star Wars universe. Ridley says that in Rey, there is a lot she can relate to.  She remembers meeting the late Carrie Fisher for the first time at a dinner before shooting started on The Force Awakens.

‘All the men were on one side of the table, and she said to me, “Come and join the oestro-fest!” And she was wonderful. The Leia thing… I mean, yes I did look up to [that]. But, to me, it was much more that Carrie didn’t shrink from everything that she was and everything that this is too. She owned it. She knew what Star Wars was in her life, and what it had done for her. She was just incredible.’

Fisher advised Ridley to ‘fight against being the slave girl’, in reference to the gold bikini Leia famously wore in Return of the Jedi. ‘But what is amazing is that I didn’t have to fight against anything. I thought it was a super-cool role because Rey wasn’t making choices because she was a girl, she was just making choices because that’s what people have to do.’

When we meet, Ridley is wearing a Roland Mouret dress with Jimmy Choo heels. ‘I’m so scruffy usually,’ she says. ‘My goal in life is to be really elegant and smart. My sister says, “Dais! Stop buying men’s jumpers then!” But I love a man’s jumper.’

How much has life changed since Star Wars? ‘Well that’s the thing. I don’t know if it has.’ She is aware how ridiculous this sounds; what she means is that she tries not to let success go to her head. ‘Career-wise it’s changed everything. There’s no way I would have recorded with Barbra Streisand [on her album Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway] had I not met her through JJ.’

She has recently been in cinemas as Mary Debenham in Murder on the Orient Express, ‘and there’s no way I would have been able to do that because Ken [Sir Kenneth Branagh, who directed the film] may not have seen me. So that stuff is different. But life stuff is… I don’t know. I hope I’m smarter than I was and make better decisions, but I think it’s pretty similar.’  

She catches the cynical look on my face.

‘Obviously I am living a different [life] to the one I was before, but I still live in the same place [London], my family are still my favourite people, my friends are the same, I still go on the Tube.’ Does she get recognised? ‘Not really. Everyone has their own stuff going on, they’re going to work, they’re living their lives.’

Ridley adds that she’s not sure what it is that everyone assumes she should be doing – perhaps living in a gold palace, I suggest?

‘Yeah. I don’t think people necessarily actually think that, it’s just a thing that once you get into conversation with someone, they realise that you still have to buy friggin’ tampons. My friend texted me the other day to say that her sister had seen me getting my eyebrows threaded in Superdrug for £3.50. And you know how they do it in the middle of the shop. She was like “Dais! Go somewhere else!” But I won’t because Superdrug is the best place.’

Today Ridley’s modus operandi is to look after herself and try to stay as calm as possible. ‘Reading a book or running  a bath – that to me is self-care, because you get a moment to be tranquil and listen to your own music.’

She recently finished playing the title role of Ophelia in a new film that tells the story of Hamlet through the eyes of the tragic heroine, also starring Naomi Watts and Clive Owen, due for release next year. She says, ‘I worked pretty much every day for eight weeks. What I needed to do was go home and sleep. And that is self-care too, deciding what I need right now.’

In her spare time, Ridley does Pilates and then she likes to ‘sit on the sofa. I don’t drink very much, but last week I was back for three days so I went to the pub with a smattering of my friends and my parents and sisters and we had a little drink and made merry. Also, I love washing. People take the piss out of me – on a day off I’m like “leave me alone with my detergent”.  Nothing is sweeter to me than being in my flat and hearing the washing machine go.’ She laughs.

After Ophelia, there’s Chaos Walking, an adaptation of  the young adult novel by Patrick Ness. She has just been signed by Netflix to star in a superhero comedy alongside Josh Gad, and of course there is the ninth (and final, for now) instalment of Star Wars.

What then? ‘Well, I just want to keep working with people who give me as much joy as the people I’ve got to work with so far. Just that. That is what I want.’ She pauses, smiles. ‘And also to be able to continue to have a voice. To be able to take a month off if nothing right comes along. That would be wonderful.’

Star Wars:  The Last Jedi is released on 14 December.

— The Telegraph

[puckiety]

sitting on an overpass, screaming at the cars // chapter 1

"The whole affair is Ben’s fault - at least, that’s what Luke’s father says. After all, it was Ben who prompted him to drive across the country just for a quote-en-quote “talk” - a talk which ended in one tp’d Beverly Hills mansion, a very angry CEO, and a whole new generation of relationship drama in the Skywalker family."

Or,

It's 1988, and 17 year-old Luke and Leia Skywalker go on a road trip with Han, Chewbacca, and Wedge to teepee Palpatine's house in Beverly Hills.

(read on ao3)

The whole affair is Ben’s fault - at least, that’s what Luke’s father says.  After all, it was Ben who prompted him to drive across the country just for a quote-en-quote “talk” - a talk which ended in one tp’d Beverly Hills mansion, a very angry CEO, and a whole new generation of relationship drama in the Skywalker family.

But if one really thinks about it (at least, this is what Luke figures), it’s all Aunt Beru’s fault.  She’s the one who pushed Luke to go to Bible Study anyway, which is why he started talking to Father Ben about his familial issues, which is why Ben told him to go visit his father.  If Beru had listened to Uncle Owen, Luke would have continued living a life where the word of God had no impact on his everyday actions, let alone the word of one of God’s rather more questionable followers.

(That was how Uncle Owen referred to Ben, anyway; he’d never liked the older man, possibly because of his friendship with Luke’s father - before Luke’s father threw out his rosary and sold his soul to a capitalistic devil, aka going to the “dark side”.  Those were Ben’s words, not Luke’s.)

And if one looked at it from a certain point of view, it was Anakin who began the whole affair.  He was the one who couldn’t be bothered to take care of his children after Padme died, which led inevitably to the Skywalker twins being split up.  Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru took in Luke, citing that they had an actual blood relation, while Leia was left to the care of Bail Organa, whom they called “Uncle” but was really just an associate of their mother’s. Beru often tried to reassure Luke that they would have taken Leia in, too, had they the income necessary to raise two children, but Luke’s never believed it - not really.  He didn’t know the real reason he and his sister had to be separated, but he knew it isn’t what his aunt and uncle tell him.

(Granted, Albany wasn’t exactly far away from their New York farm, but it was far enough that Luke only saw his twin for holidays, and otherwise spoke only through letters or over the phone.)

In the end, it doesn’t matter whose fault it is, who pushed Luke into such a reckless course of action. What does matter is what he did on the way to that great big mansion belonging to his father’s boss.

The answer? Quite a bit.

--

“Hey, Aunt Beru?”

He barely pokes his head around the corner into the kitchen; Beru is elbow-deep in some floury mixture, probably cookies of some sort. For a second, Luke is almost sorry that he’s leaving before they get out of the oven - but only almost.  He’s already packed, and Han’s on his way; all that leaves is to convince his Aunt that it’s all his father’s idea.

“What is it, Luke?”

“Dad wants his yearly visitation.”

Beru pauses, and her lips purse into what Luke likes to think of as her Very Unamused face.  He winces, wondering if she’s going to say he can’t go - or if she’s going to ask too many questions.  But after a moment she sighs, her eyes falling closed, and she says, “Okay.  I suppose we can’t stop him.  When is he taking you?”

Luke laughs a little, and he knows it sounds nervous but he’s always been terrible at lying, especially to his aunt and uncle. “Actually, when I called him today he said he’d sent us a letter.  His driver is set to arrive today.”

Beru turns and pins him with a flat look. “Today?”

Luke nods, hopefully convincingly. “I told him we never got a letter - it probably got lost in the mail?”

There’s a moment of silence as Aunt Beru stares him down, waiting for him to flinch.  Luke continues looking apologetic, and finally she lets out another sigh.  This one sounds very tired.  “Today,” she repeats under her breath, then, “I swear, that man will be the death of me.”

Luke waits in silence for her to deliver the final judgement - yes, he can go, or no, he can’t.  Beru shakes her head a little, sighs again, and finally speaks.

“Fine,” she says, then, “Your uncle won’t be happy about this.”

“Thanks, Aunt Beru!” he chirps, kissing her cheek, “The driver’ll be here any minute, love ya, bye!”

“Luke, wait - ”

But he’s already halfway down the hall to where his suitcase waits at the door, his guitar case leaning against it. He pulls his key off the hook, slides his guitar onto his back, and wraps his fingers around the handle of his suitcase.  Before his aunt can catch up to him, Luke tugs open the front door.

Wedge is standing on the porch, drumsticks in his hand and backpack by his feet.  His other hand is raised as if he’d been about to knock on the door when Luke had opened it, his mouth open in surprise at Luke’s sudden appearance.

“Where’re you going?” Wedge asks, dropping his hand to his side.  His words spill out of his mouth in a big jumble, Brooklyn accent coloring his vowels even though he hasn’t lived in the city in ten years.  With his relaxed posture and the way he lazily twirls his drumsticks, it’s clear why everyone at school thinks he’s a stoner.

(The irony of that situation is that Wedge has never touched a drug in his life.  Well, as far as Luke knows, and Luke’s known Wedge since they were seven.)

“Road trip to see dad,” Luke says, because he doesn’t trust Aunt Beru not to be listening in and he doesn’t want the plan put in jeopardy. “You wanna come?”

The twirling of the drumsticks stops.  “Serious?”  Wedge asks. Luke nods.

“My ride’ll be here any - ”

Before he can finish his sentence, a beat-up VW Bus comes careening down the road, going at what is probably top speed.  Wedge turns at the sound of tires squealing, and squints at the van.

“Is that…”

Luke steps outside, slamming the door behind him.  “Yes,” he says, voice low enough that Aunt Beru wouldn’t be able to hear him even if she had her ear pressed to the heavy oak behind him.  Wedge frowns.

“You sure this is a good idea?”

“Wedginald,” Luke says, allowing exasperation to creep into his tone, “when have I ever let you down?”

Wedge pauses for a moment, considering this question, and then shrugs.  “Well, never, I guess.”

“Exactly.  So get in the van, and we’ll worry about any specifics later.”

As soon as he finishes his sentence, the VW bus screeches to a halt, and the back door is thrown open.  Luke throws his suitcase in, pushes Wedge in as well, and then clambers over the mess lying on the floor as he pulls the door shut behind him.

“Hey, kid!”

“Han,” Wedge greets, a little coldly.

“You should drive,” Luke says quickly, “Or else Aunt Beru’ll find out I lied.”

“You lied?” Han sounds incredulous, but he hits the gas anyway; Luke almost falls forward at the sudden burst of speed, but he grabs the seat.  Wedge does fall forward, swearing as he bangs his elbow on the door.

“I only lied a little,” Luke says once he’s situated himself back in his seat, guitar case firmly situated between his legs.  “We are going to California, we are going to see my dad, it’s just I didn’t tell her that you were driving me there.”

Han crows with laughter, banging on his steering wheel. In the passenger’s seat, Chewie laughs and says something rapid in Papiamento that Luke doesn’t catch because even after two years of friendship he only knows a fraction of the language. Whatever he says only makes Han laugh harder; Wedge casts a confused glance in Luke’s direction.  Well, at least somebody’s as lost as he is.

“What’d he say?” Wedge asks.  Chewie says something vaguely condescending – even if he can’t understand words, Luke’s gotten pretty good at tone – and Han’s laughs falter into chuckles.

“He said that we’ve corrupted Luke,” Han says.  Luke scoffs.

“I’m not corrupted.”

“Sure you aren’t, kid.  Well, I guess it’s to California, then.”

“Actually, we have another stop to make.”

Han hits the breaks, turns around to look Luke in the eye, and frowns.  “You didn’t mention anything about that, kid.”

Luke holds up his hands. “Listen, Han, this was all Leia’s idea, not mine.”

The older boy’s brow furrows.  “Leia?”

Luke sighs, dropping his hands back into his lap.  “My twin sister?  We have to go pick her up before we head out west.”

“You have a twin?”

Luke blinks, because has he really never brought up Leia before when he’s with Han?  It seems unlikely, but then again, Luke has a tendency to be forgetful – and Han doesn’t seem like Leia’s type.  Nor does Han seem like Leia’s.  Quite honestly, Luke thinks Leia might kill Han before they even make it to Beverly Hills, which would not be ideal.  He doesn’t think his sister has a license, he knows Wedge doesn’t, and Luke?  The only thing Luke can drive is a tractor.  And he can’t do that well.

“Uh, yeah?” Luke fiddles with the strap on his guitar case, wanting to take it out and play but also not wanting to annoy his best friend. Well, his best friend besides Wedge. And Biggs, but Biggs went off to the army a year ago and Luke hasn’t seen or heard from him since then. “Uncle Bail adopted her when mom died and dad…” he makes a gesture that doesn’t really do a good job of encompassing left us to work for some CEO and stopped giving a crap about us.  “I don’t get to see her very often.  I’ve never mentioned her?”

Han shrugs. “You might’ve, kid, I don’t know.”

Luke glances at Wedge, who gives him a look like what do you want me to do?  I know who your sister is.  Which is true; Wedge has crashed enough family Christmases and birthdays that he’s known Leia nearly as long as he’s known Luke.  In fact, Wedge arguably respects Leia more than he respects Luke, but Luke can’t blame him for that.  Leia’s a natural born leader, and she gives off the vibe that she could absolutely murder someone who crossed her. At the same time, she’s incredibly charming – Wedge likes to say it’s because she’s been raised by a senator.

“Well, she’s real,” Luke says, which is something he instantly regrets saying, because nobody was doubting Leia’s existence and now he’s just made a fool of himself.  “And she’s in Albany, so. Head that way?”

“You’re gonna owe me for this, kid,” Han says.  Luke shrugs, partially because he knows Han won’t dump them halfway across the country and partially because Leia’s the one with the money, not him.  “Fine.  Albany it is. Chewie, put in a tape.”

[dipulb3]

Looking to 2024, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem gets caught in GOP culture war over transgender athletes

New Post has been published on https://appradab.com/looking-to-2024-south-dakota-gov-kristi-noem-gets-caught-in-gop-culture-war-over-transgender-athletes/

Looking to 2024, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem gets caught in GOP culture war over transgender athletes

After saying earlier this month she was “excited” to sign a bill preventing transgender ​students from competing in ​same-gender sports, Noem effectively killed the legislation last week that had been passed by Republican majorities in the state House and Senate — citing concerns the bill as-is would invite lawsuits.

On ​Monday, however, she followed up by issuing two executive orders that implemented a ban on people assigned ​male on their ​original birth certificates from participating in women’s sports in public high schools and colleges. That predictably sparked opposition from ​trans rights advocates who say the orders are unconstitutional and discriminatory because they reference the supposed harms of the participation of “males” in women’s athletics — an echo of the transphobic claim that transgender women are not women.

But the move also prompted criticism from conservatives, who claim the executive orders are unenforceable and toothless.

Noem’s action is the latest in a growing trend among Republican-leaning states, where GOP politicians are embracing laws and executive orders to limit the participation of transgender students in school-sponsored sports. In recent weeks, Republican governors in Mississippi, Arkansas and Tennessee have all signed similar bills into law. There are dozens of other bills proposed by Republican lawmakers in states across the country. The subject has been discussed frequently in conservative media and featured prominently at the recent Conservative Political Action Conference.

All of that suggests Republicans have found a new way to drum up support in their base by challenging the rights of a minority group. It’s the latest front in their ongoing culture war, one that puts them in the familiar position of having to choose between social conservatives and the business community. It indicates the challenge Republicans have in balancing the cultural concerns of the party’s base with assembling a winning national coalition.

It also recalls the fight in 2016 over North Carolina’s so-called bathroom law that people at a government-run facility must use bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond to the ​sex on their birth certificate. ​In practice, the law meant that many transgender and nonbinary people were unable to use a restroom in government buildings, and felt unsafe to do so elsewhere in public. The law was enacted by Republican Gov. Pat McCrory and sparked an immediate backlash in the form of economic boycotts and saw the relocation of two major sporting events — the NBA All-Star Game and part of the NCAA basketball tournament — out of the state. McCrory lost his bid for reelection later that year.

Some social conservatives say that in rejecting the original bill, Noem bowed to pressure from the business community and the fear of lawsuits ​– a fear Noem herself cited in her statement at the time. Business groups like the Sioux Falls Greater Chamber of Commerce, for instance, were opposed to the original bill.

“The chamber’s long-term policy is to not pass laws that are discriminatory in nature that would affect our economy,” said Debra Owen, the Sioux Falls chamber’s public policy director.

And Noem herself expressed concern the bill as worded would put college programs out of compliance with collegiate athletics governing bodies. Six colleges and universities in South Dakota belong to the NCAA, the largest such governing body.

Social conservatives were not convinced.

“What we saw play out in South Dakota is the divide within the Republican party, and the divide is between the elites … and the voters,” said Terry Schilling, the executive director of the American Principles Project. “Noem ultimately capitulated to the chambers of commerce, the NCAA, and gave them what they’re wanting.”

Noem has insisted the executive orders are temporary and has called the legislature to hold a special session to draft a new bill that addresses her concerns.

“She’s still vocally supportive of the issue, and is still excited to sign a bill” achieving the same result, said Ian Fury, a spokesman for the governor​.

Bubbling up at CPAC

Noem herself appeared poised to handle the ​competing constituencies effectively.

As the breakout star at CPAC, she touted her strident resistance to mask mandates and shutdown orders in South Dakota, even as ​her state has seen one of the highest per capita death rates from Covid-19, and governors across the country did otherwise during the pandemic. Unlike many potential presidential candidates who spoke there, Noem articulated a broad definition of what the party’s principles should be.

“We must more closely articulate to the American people that we are the only ones who respect them as human beings,” Noem said. “That we are the only ones who believe the American people have God-given rights. We are not here to tell you how to live your life, how to treat you like a child or criminal because you go to church or you defend yourself.”

But ​trans rights issues were already surfacing at CPAC. One panel focused on the perceived problems of allowing transgender ​girls to compete in girls’ school athletics, and multiple speakers criticized the Equality Act, passed by the House of Representatives earlier this month, which would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include protections against discrimination over sex, sexual orientation and gender identity.

And CPAC’s headline speaker, former President Donald Trump, asserted President Joe Biden was seeking to “destroy women’s sports.”

“We must protect the integrity of women’s sports. So important. Have to,” Trump said.

Focusing on children

Republicans have raised related topics in Congress, including at the recent confirmation hearing for Dr. Rachel Levine, Biden’s nominee for assistant health secretary and the first Senate-confirmed out transgender federal official. In a line of questioning criticized as transphobic, Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky ​equated life-affirming medical treatments for trans kids with “genital mutilation.”

Meanwhile, a number of social conservative groups have taken up the issue of fighting against transgender rights and are focusing on issues involving children. Among them is the Family Research Council, which has lobbied on behalf of what it calls a “biblical worldview” and in opposition to what it refers to as a “gender ideology” that promotes transgender rights.

“There are a number of manifestations of this worldview and this idea which we see as harmful, many see as harmful,” said Travis Weber, the vice president for policy and government affairs at the Family Research Council. “I think many are saying, look, this needs to be addressed in our communities, in our states.”

Weber says the FRC has identified more than 90 pieces of legislation in states across the country to limit participation of transgender women in girls’ school sports or to ban gender transition procedures for minors.

The Human Rights Campaign is also tracking bills and counts 48 anti-transgender sports bills in 26 states.

But advocates for transgender people say the actions of Republicans in state legislatures are alarming​, and risks bringing real harm to the lives of kids who are already at risk.

“As trans people, we still very much live in a world where our existence is an act of resistance and our visibility is an act of bravery,” said Carrie Davis, the chief community officer at The Trevor Project, a suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ youth.

“In the face of such constant, vitriolic rhetoric and a record number of anti-trans bills, it is crucial to show up and show support for transgender and nonbinary youth year-round,” she added.

While it’s unclear if the South Dakota legislature would actually take another look at the legislation in a special session this year, Noem continues to insist she’d support a ban under the right conditions.

“Governor Noem has been engaged in this very fight for years,” said Fury. “But we have to pursue this fight in a smart way, with the same type of strategic approach​” used by activists who oppose abortion rights.

Schilling, however, said it’s disappointing Noem cast her lot with what he characterized as the business wing of the GOP.

“The business elites have been so entrenched in the Republican party forever,” Schilling said. “They don’t like these cultural fights.”

[pass-the-bechdel]

Nikita full series review

How many episodes pass the Bechdel test?

95.89% (seventy of seventy-three).

What is the average percentage of female characters with names and lines for the full series?

38.17%

How many episodes have a cast that is at least 40% female?

Thirty-seven.

How many episodes have a cast that is at least 50% female?

Twelve.

How many episodes have a cast that is less than 20% female?

ZERO.

Positive Content Status:

Strong, and refreshingly comfortable with itself (average of 3.07).

Which season had the best representation statistics overall?

Season three clocks in highest in every category but the content rating, for which season one scored highest.

Which season had the worst representation statistics overall?

Season four clocks in the lowest in every category other than the percentage of female characters, for which season one scored the lowest.

Overall Series Quality:

A real treat - significantly better than I expected on both the representation front and for entertainment, it’s high-octane excitement riddled with well-rounded and powerful female characters, and Maggie Q is an absolute jewel in the crown. The show has many virtues, but it’s worth it just for Nikita herself. Reviewing this show has been an absolute pleasure.

MORE INFO (and potential spoilers) under the cut:

Ok, straight up: I kinda adored this show and I am super-glad that so many o’ y’all came forward to recommend it to me. I believe I’ve made it pretty clear already that I love Maggie Q’s performance, as I love her character, and I’m not sure I’ve got much to add on that front so I’ll just reiterate how refreshing it was to be presented such a rounded and complete female character, flawed but never narratively punished or lessened for it, emotional without it being equated to weakness, strong without being masculinised, feminine without it being treated like A Statement. Nikita just is, and as wildly unlikely as it is that you’d ever encounter someone like her in reality, the ease with which her rounded character is presented gives her a sense of harsh realism. You can’t get that without a creative team that is both talented, and open-minded enough to believe in what they are creating, and that confidence in crafting Nikita without feeling the need to apologise or explain is what makes the entire show function a cut above many of its fellows in the spy-action genre.

Nikita is; Alex, on the other hand? That’s a little more complicated. Let me head this off by saying I do enjoy her as a character and there’s a lot they did with the details of her story that I really appreciate (her arc from victim of human trafficking to powerful and successful public advocate against human trafficking is a wonderful thing). The trouble I had with Alex was that I never felt like the show really settled on how it wanted to handle her. In season one her role was at its clearest, though it was plain that the mole-inside-Division schtick was not gonna last; the limitations it set on the kind of stories the show could tell were abundant and almost immediately strained as the season in its infancy struggled to keep Nikita and Alex actively involved in the same issues without blowing Alex’s cover. Just getting Alex out in the field wasn’t enough; thus, season two saw Division and Alex in uneasy alliance for mutual benefits. The bad news? As interesting as it was to have Nikita and Alex on the outs with one another for a while, the immediate consequence was that Michael became Nikita’s primary partner, and he maintained that role for the rest of the series. Alex, initially introduced as Nikita’s second in both work terms and in character standing within the series, was heavily B-plotted and otherwise sidelined through season two onwards, and in a way that sat very awkwardly with her centralised position in the first season. It was like the show wanted to ditch her in order to tell the Nikita-and-Michael story, but recognised how intensely anathema that would be to Nikita’s personal narrative and so begrudgingly kept Alex on. Even once Nikita and Alex were in the same place and explicitly working for the same purpose again, they were frequently distanced from one another and did an excessive amount of their Bechdel-passing over the phone, when they did it with one another at all. The fact that the original twosome of the show was frequently kept apart even when there was no nifty narrative excuse for it made the decision especially egregious.

This also segues into my other primary gripe with the series: romances. As I have freely admitted, Nikita and Michael’s relationship surprised me by proving far more believable and compelling in practice than it appeared in theory as the show began; that it was allowed to impact the plot without overwhelming or derailing it was a large part of what made this a functional relationship within the narrative, instead of just unnecessary romantic trimmings that occasionally cause cliche drama. The rest of the show’s romantic entanglements fared less well. Nikita’s initial motivator in the form of her fridged boyfriend, Daniel, was a generic nonentity of a story thread which the show seemed embarrassed to recollect later on, and as nice as it is to subvert the Fridged Girlfriend trope, I’d have preferred that they avoid the invocation altogether by being more original and working in something more character-relevant for Nikita. The thing about Daniel as a concept - leaving aside the narrative implications of Fridging - is that his limited existence was just a form of lazy shorthand: Nikita was given a romance, specifically a romance, because for all its progressive elements and positive qualities, this show still suffers heavily from compulsive (hetero)sexuality. And because she’s the ‘other’ girl in the story while Nikita is busy having a Destined One True Love story with Michael, Alex is the one who really gets the compulsive sexuality laid on thick. In the first half of the first season, the show toys with the idea of a romantic link between Alex and Thom. As soon as they kill off Thom and Alex is allowed out in the field, we have the odious Nathan. After ditching Nathan, they immediately introduce Sean. And before Sean is even killed, they start planting the seeds for an Alex/Owen relationship to close out the series. Alex hardly gets to take a breath in between love interests being foisted upon her, because whatever else they’re getting right, The Powers That Be still can’t handle the idea of a beautiful young female character who is not currently embroiled in romantic intrigue. Considering Alex’s story, this is especially irksome. If anyone on this show needed to be given significant space to grow without simultaneously juggling a romance, it was her.

While I’m segueing - Owen. I had a rocky road with that dude, and it started with my concern that he was being intro’d as a romantic prospect for Nikita. To be honest? I maintain that. My read on the subject is that they brought Owen in initially as a potential alternative, in case they decided that the Nikita/Michael plan was a bad idea. I really was consistently surprised when Owen didn’t get killed off at various points - not least after his Sam reveal - and I felt like the show was as unsure of what it wanted to do with him as it was with Alex, only it manifested in a very different way for Owen since he was only recurring. Every time it appeared that they had found a narrative purpose for him that should keep him around as a regular, he seemed to go ahead and disappear for a while again anyway; it seemed the writers just couldn’t make up their minds. All things considered, I can’t help but wonder if the only reason Owen/Sam’s frankly bizarre story maze didn’t end with his death was because they wanted all of the lead characters to finish the show with a partner, because, oh yeah, compulsive sexuality. Nikita gets Michael, Alex gets Owen - even Birkhoff gets a girl, though they crassly failed to even include Sonya in the finale episode. It’s not that I don’t want characters to have happy endings, but come on. ‘And then everyone hooked up with everyone, the end’ is only fun and interesting if you’re talking about literal polyamory; when it’s just convenient hetero pair-offs, it’s a snooze. When it feels like certain characters only remained in the plot so that they could participate in the pair-off, it’s worse.

The good news about the above griping is that these complaints, while broad and in most cases series-long, are fairly thin on the ground, easily ignored, and potentially all just a matter of personal interpretation anyway. As such, they are just that - complaints, not glaring faults, and certainly not devastating issues that ruin the enjoyment of what remains a very solid and fulfilling experience with a lot of powerful and dynamic female characters getting the narrative complexity they deserve and are so often denied, within a kickass action framework that respects them instead of exploiting them while simultaneously allowing the struggles, fears, and pains of their past to have presence within their present. When Nikita is good, it is very, very good, and when it is bad it is...mildly annoying. Let the fact that I spent this series review mostly whining not imply that the show was not riotously on-point at near every moment for three great seasons (excluding season four, which wasn’t awful but honestly I think the show was better off without it); if ‘mildly annoying’ is the worst you’ve got, you’re on a damn good track. All in all, the singular part of the show which was clearest and most coherent was easily its titular character, and if we all took nothing more away from the show besides the knowledge that Nikita herself is fucking awesome, it would still be time well spent.